#overall it's just kind of a really cool metaphorical piece i had fun doing | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

irishanimefan · 9 months

Text

One Piece Anime Watchalong: Alabasta Saga 3/5

Little Garden (Eps 70-77):

Started: 28/7/23 Finished: 29/7/23

I said in the last post I would be quicker getting these posts out there, but real life and the video I just uploaded a couple days ago kind of distracted me from that.

With Vivi now apart of the Straw Hat pirates, the crew head off to their next destination, which is the Little Garden. However, when they get there, the realise that the island's inhabitants are not what they expect. Not only do they discover dinosaurs living there, but the island is also home to the two giants Broggy and Dorry, who have been fighting with each other on the island for 100 years. However, their evenly matched duel is disturbed when Baroque Works invade the island.

I don't really have a lot to say about this arc, mainly because for the most part it was a little uninteresting. There were some aspects that I liked a lot from it, but it didn't really grab me in the same way like previous arcs had. While the Straw Hats realising what was on the island and their interactions with the giants was fun and playful, it was a bit slow to start with. Then it's tied back to the main plot of this saga, which involves the Baroque Works preventing the Straw Hats from getting to Alabasta. I'll be honest, the Baroque Works are kind of a mixed bag for me. Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine are kind of dull as far as antagonists go. They have cool Devil Fruit Powers, Mr. 5 with the Bomb-Bomb fruit, and Miss Valentine with Kilo-Kilo fruit, and their designs are neat, but they don't leave a great impact. That being said, the higher ranking agents we see in this arc, that being Mr. 3 and Miss Golden Week, I found to be really entertaining. Mr. 3's over-the-top and extravagant personality juxtaposed with Miss Golden Week's very stoic attitude was a highlight of the arc. They have more unique Devil Fruit powers too, having the Wax-Wax and Colours Trap powers, respectively, leads to more interesting fights. The only issue is that I wish we could've seen more of them, as the way they were defeated in the end felt anticlimactic.

Onto the stuff I did like about this arc. Firstly, the reinforcement of the Straw Hats ideologies, namely Luffy and Usopp. It's stuff that we already seen before, but I always love seeing it. Luffy getting along so well with Dorry, hearing about their tradition, and feeling so passionate about honouring their duel is great. I really love Usopp in this arc and it's further solidifies why he's my favourite Straw Hat member. While he was initially terrified of Broggy, thinking that he might eat him, upon seeing the giant's duel Usopp's admiration for what Broggy does and what he stands for really affected him, to the point where he aspires to be just like him -- metaphorically not physically! I also like how he was the one responsible for saving Nami, Zoro, and Vivi from being further incased in wax by realising that heat can melt it. If it wasn't for his quick thinking, it would've been curtains for the Straw Hats. It demonstrates how Usopp is slowly but surely embodying that "brave warrior of the sea" mantra he respects so much. It is implemented very gradually, at points glacially, but that's just what makes him so relatable to me. These issues don't get magically resolved because of one singular act of bravery, it happens because of repetitive action. Even though the story is set in a fantastical world, where I have no doubt will get crazier from here, the emotions are still very much grounded and believable.

Other thoughts I have on this arc: Sanji and Zoro's symbolical dick measuring contest in this arc was pretty funny. The way Nami and Vivi emerged from the flames to save Usopp from Miss Valentine, and the close up shot of them with their backs against each other was so hot.

Overall, while this was decent, it wasn't my favourite arc. So far the Alabasta saga hasn't grabbed me like East Blue did, even though there are moments that I think are awesome. I'm hoping as we get edge closer to the end that I will be proven wrong. Onward to the next arc, which is Drum Island!

#one piece #one piece anime #monkey d luffy #roronoa zoro #nami #usopp #sanji #straw hat pirates #little garden #watchalong

1 note · View note

come-on-shitty-boys · 4 years

Text

//general dating headcannons//

Characters: Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou/Akaashi Keiji

Warnings: none :)

Word Count: 2K (~630 a piece)

Notes: kdhfesdkfje catch me getting carried away on Kuroo’s ope 0-0

Bokuto Koutarou

My literal husband ;-;

He’s such a sweet boyf oml hi yes, where do I order one?

Bokuto 100% dates to marry. He’s not here for flings or anything like that, so your relationship will turn serious pretty fast.

Bo is a simp and no one can tell me otherwise, so when it comes to PDA? Oh, he’s C L I N G Y

He always wants to hold your hand or sometimes he’ll walk behind you and cling to your waist. It’s definitely super hard for both of you to walk, but it’s adorable and makes him happy, so you’re not really going to complain.

If you hug onto his arm? He’s going to melt, especially if you trail your fingers up and down his bicep

It’s the same when the two of you are in private. He likes to have contact with you whenever possible. He’ll lay your head in his lap if you’re both laying on the couch or he’ll sit you in his lap and place little kisses at the base of your neck, right above the collar of your shirt.

His clothes are your clothes. At this point, you wear his training jacket more than he does. Sweatshirts? Flannels? Shorts? That’s shared territory right there.

And my G O D does he love it. He already has to buy bigger clothes because he’s got those wide shoulders, so his clothes tend to either fit you perfectly or completely swallow you, there is no in between.

If you’re thicc too? He has 100% stolen your leggings, just to see the appeal of them. Please hide them, because oH he understands now.

He gets jealous jealous. As in, he will place himself between you and the guy trying to talk to you and he’ll act all big and tough. But the minute the other dude backs off? Baby boy is back, wanting hugs. He’ll kiss you all over your face and be really pouty, asking if you’re okay and telling you that he loves you ;-;

Bokuto hoots bye i don’t make the rules. Okay yeah i kinda do, but still.

It’s not like HOOOOOT, but like a really soft h o o and he probably kinda wiggles in his spot, real happy

Bo has N O control over how he sleeps. He’ll always start out really normal, like you’ll be tucked into his side or something, but by the time you guys wake up? S T A R F I S H he is on his face, limbs covering the whole bed, just snoring away

When he’s away for games, he’s always on the phone with you. Like, the guys will try to hang out or something and he’ll definitely go off to his room with a “Oh, I want to call Y/N before she goes to bed, but I’ll come by later!”

And then he just doesn’t because he’s the one who fell asleep, not you.

Compliments the shit out of you. You’re his hype man and he is yours. He’s constantly telling you that you look beautiful or if you send him a selfie, he’s absolutely sending back the simp emoji, asking how he got so lucky.

He calls you ‘babe’ but usually only when he wants your attention or if he’s in another room and needs something, so expects lots of “Baaaaaaaaaaabe”s to be headed your way.

Other times? He calls you by name. Because there’s a million people who get called babe or sweetheart, but your name is yours, so it feels special and kinda intimate to him? So, if he’s feeling a little extra sentimental, he’s going to bury his face in your neck and just whisper lots of quiet, “I love you, Y/N”s over and over again.

Kuroo Tetsurou

R O O S T E R H E A D A S S that I love very very much

He’s a complete dork and I know the fandom makes him to be some kind of smooth talking God I’m guilty of it too but-

He’s literally not. He fumbles over his words so much when he’s around you. You guys can be dating for years and he’ll still have his moments where he’s a stuttering mess in front of you.

Asking you out? You suffered second-hand embarrassment. His face was about as red as his jersey and the boy was so nervous, rubbing the back of his neck, refusing to look at you, but then just shyly raising his eyes to look at you and muttering,

“Do you maybe wanna go out sometime?”

INSTANTLY STARTS APOLOGIZING

“But- but only if you want, of course! Don’t feel like you have to say yes, I can take rejection! I’m so sorry. I probably made you really uncomfortable. You know what? You don’t have to answer. I’m just going to go.”

He’s so shook when you say yes, but then immediately puts his cool guy act back on, like “psshh of course you do.”

I don’t see him being super into PDA or physical contact period? There’s something really special about just being near each other to him. Just accidentally bumping shoulders or brushing hands while the two of you stroll, talking about anything and everything.

Even in private, there’s not a ton of physical contact. Maybe tangling legs together as you sit on opposite ends of the couch, but that’s really it. He likes being in close proximity with you, but he doesn’t need to be touching you at all times.

But he’s down to cuddle if you ask. He’ll let you lay on top of him and hide your face in his neck or his chest. Sometimes you guys will talk, but most of the time? Cuddle time = nap time

He doesn’t get super jealous, but he won’t hesitate to come stand behind you if some guy is trying to hit on you. Kuroo will probably just play with your hair or make some kind of comment about how that bracelet he bought you looks really nice on you. Just dropping subtle hints that you’re taken.

Afterwards, though, he just drops it. It doesn’t really bother him. He knows well enough that if you didn’t want to be with him, you would’ve broken up with him. He just wants to be there in case someone tries to make you uncomfortable.

Gamenightgamenightgamenight

I’m talking like board games. Hours and hours of just sitting at the kitchen table with a bunch of your guys’ friends, slowly ruining relationships, but overall having a good time.

Kuroo plays Dungeons and Dragons. I’ve said this SO many times and no one is going to tell me otherwise. So, if you show any interest in maybe wanting to play, or, better yet, if you already know how to play? He’s bringing you to A L L of the future sessions.

He’s probably going to write your character into his character’s backstory, so when Dungeon Master!Kenma scolds him for playing reckless in order to protect you, Kuroo can retort with, “Well, actually, if you paid attention when I was telling my backstory, you would know- *insert long-winded backstory of how your characters know each other and how his character vowed to your character’s dying father that he would protect you etc etc*”

Kuroo is super into domestic life with you, so you guys probably moved in together as soon as possible. As in, if you started dating in high school, you were sharing an apartment your first year of college.

He just has a lot of fun doing little household things with you, like cooking, cleaning, or just enjoying quiet evenings together after all of the work is done for the day.

Kuroo said “I love you” first, but it took you both forever to say it, because you were both kind of new to this dating thing and you had always been told that it was a really big deal, so you didn’t want to rush that.

;-; please take care of my dorky rooster

Akaashi Keiji

Akaashi is pretty easy-going in relationships, but he’s also super romantic.

As in, he has hand-written you love letters. He’s got really neat writing too, so that just adds to their appeal. Akaashi probably has a wax seal that he seals all of the envelopes with? I don’t know why, but he seems like the type of guy to have one.

You guys have a book club, just the two of you. Oh, it’s so cute. It started as the two of you forcing each other to read your favorite books, but then, you guys ran out of books to share? So, once a month, you guys will go to the local bookstore and just spend a good hour or two trying to decide what book to give the other next.

Akaashi 100% always recommends classic novels. Things like Sense & Sensibility, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, and Brave New World am i saying that because that’s my favorite book? more likely than you’d think.

He’s a lot more prepared for these shopping escapades that you are. He usually knows exactly what he wants to get you. If they don’t have it? That’s fine. He has a list.

You on the other hand? You’re asking the clerks what they recommend, reading the back of every book that seems like something he might enjoy, but you usually resort to dystopian novels (Never Let Me Go, Gone, The Handmaid’s Tale, etc), because he likes analyzing the politics and seeing how they could be metaphors for today’s world.

Damn this really turned into me just recommending books huh

After you two pick out the selections for the month, you two coffee hop. So, each month, you try a new cafe and you will spend hours just sipping coffee and reading.

He gave you a first edition copy of the first book that you recommended to him for your anniversary one year. Akaashi wrote you a letter, telling you how happy he was to have spent so much time with you and that he can’t wait to share more books with you and probably some really poetic stuff, because he’s a good writer, but he hid it in your favorite part, so you don’t get to read it right away.

Okay, now that I got that out of my head. Like Kuroo, Akaashi isn’t super into PDA, but he does like to hold your hand. He also always offers to carry your bag.

Akaashi likes to fidget with your fingers. The two of you could be out or just hanging at home, but he’s playing with your fingers. It’s just a habit for him. He used to fidget with his own hands a lot, but now he’s got yours, so not only does he get to keep his hands busy, he gets to hold onto your hand

He doesn’t get jealous. Or at least, you don’t think so. He’s really good at hiding any sense of envy he might feel. He doesn’t say anything. He knows that you can take care of yourself, but he’s likely right there next to you, possibly playing with your fingers behind your back.

It’s a really chill relationship dynamic for the most part. You two could be dating for a week and it’ll already feel like you’ve been together for years. You guys just vibe really well, so there was never that awkward stage at the beginning of the relationship. Likely because the two of you started off as friends, so slipping into dating wasn’t a very hard transition.

Akaashi isn’t one to say “I love you” a lot, but he really does love you more than anything. He likes to take care of you and he tries to give you the best life possible and that says I love you more than any words ever could.

317 notes · View notes

guyinlovewitheremika · 3 years

Note

Oooh could you expand on why you liked the op?? I honestly don't know what to make of it yet, especially since it felt so different from other ops, but I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Absolutely will do!! This took longer than I wanted cause everytime I sat down to write I started getting distracted from the OP and just listening to it on repeat lmao

To start this off, I should add that throughout the week leading up to release date, I was following a couple of leakers on twitter who did drop some info on the OP; mainly that Shinsei Kamattechan were returning, the title, that it wasnt gonna feature any characters and instead be a metaphor for the “cruelty of war”. Knowing all of that had me pretty excited but also gave me the right expectations, so it wasnt too jarring to see at first.

But, to jump into this, first of all, I just loooove the visual style in general. It mostly just being static shades of white and light grey, with these very washed out colors exploding and flowing onto the image...it’s absolutely gorgeous! Like I just really dig this color scheme. And it’s highlighted even further by the gorgeous, fluid animation...these explosions look so good! I’m also just a big sucker for familiar characters/entities being represented in a sort of timeless way...be it a portrait, a statue, a monument, whatever (think smth like this), so seeing Eren and the other titans at the end there was just an absolute treat. Whatever that thing is, I want some kind of print/purchasable piece of merch of it because that heap of titans looks amazing.

The song also just bangs tbh. It’s such a weird agglomeration of instruments and vocals but I find it comes together really well. The childrens choir, the piano at the beginning, the distorted vocals and most importantly that E-violin!!! so fucking good! Honestly I just love the way this song sounds and Im more hyped for the full version than the ost release atm (even tho I love what we heard so far from that too). The combination of the visuals with the music too is great here...I’ve never seen a flamethrower used in combination with the beat of a song before (outside of mad max fury road I guess lol?) but goddamn its just such a cool fucking combination I cant get over it.

I have some thoughts on the imagery and the symbolism and my interpretations of it all, and I wanna get into those too, but really, the main thing I absolutely love about this OP is how different it is. Just as the marley arc is probably the most different of all in the manga, just as the new studio has made a show that, in many ways, looks feels and sounds vastly different from the old Attack on Titan, the OP encapsulates all of that by just being this new thing and succeeding at it

I love WIT’s OP’s, I love Linked Horizon’s work on the show. But honestly, the “Linked Horizon hype OP” genre pretty much peaked with Guren no Yumiya for me. I still like all the others, but overall, OP 1, 2, 3 and 5 just feel a bit too same-y for me, especially given that I honestly don’t think any of the follow ups surpass the original. Heck all these other songs even reference GnY in some capacity--I cant help but feel like they could never let go of Guren’s success and never tried something else. Except for Red Swan of course, which is also my 2nd favorite WIT OP. It’s slower, it’s sadder, it’s melancholic, and vastly different from all the others, and I really appreciate that. It tries to be its own thing and it succeeded for me. And “My War” even more so feels like it has a very distinct, unique vision, goes all out in that way, and it just works beautifully.

And it’s that distinct, unique vision that I wanna dig into lastly here, because, just as the marley arc does for this manga, I find that out of all the OP’s, My War most explicitely depicts and visualizes many of the core thematic ideas of Attack on Titan and brings them directly into the forefront. I’ve seen a bunch of cool interpretations of the song at this point, and someone may have somewhere already said all this, but I wanna throw it in here regardless

After countless battles, sacrifices, victories and losses, Eren and the survey corps were able to win the war against the titans that their walled world was stuck in for a hundred years. Their gigantic enemies were defeated, and freedom ought to lie ahead. But no, beyond the shores is just more...more oppression, more war, more death and more sacrifice. The history their king to from them is one of war and oppression, a never ending cycle of violence, spanning back 2000 years, continuing forward. One oppressive regime falls, only for the next to take its place. This has been the history of mankind since the dawn of man, and it continues on and on and on.

This is what this episode shows us, another military battle around another walled encampment, and this is what this opening shows us...a world perpetually at war. Man’s hatred for one another leads to conflict, to war: it’s continued existence in history and continued technological advancements are the perfect visual representation of this. Man’s capacity for war breeds more war, and it takes lives and it takes freedom and it doesnt stop, it just keeps consuming.

The Opening starts off with battleships, artillery fire, mortars, flamethrowers, nuclear explosions and a titan spine forming among them all, until the birds of freedom fall dead out of the sky. Neverending armies of soldiers march the streets, airships rule the sky, but all the soldiers, all the military craft, the marleyan military and the paradisian soldiers all fall to pieces and get destroyed. War and conflict rage on and all the pieces fall to the ground, littering the earth in nothing but death and destruction. And at the end, atop this mountain of corpses and mayhem, the titans arise, reaching forward, attacking. They are born from mankinds neverending cycle of destruction, the physical manifestation of our inner demons that lead us to kill each other.

I thoroughly believe that this sequence of events most perfectly encapsulates all of attack on titan. Look at the marley arc: the years of their attempts to wipe out Paradis island lead the island and the attack titan straight to them, delivering a terrible blow to them during their declaration of war. 2000 years ago it was the warmongering, slave hording king fritz who had a girl hunted for sport who brought about the era of the eldian empire, creating a system to eternally maintain the titan’s ability to wage war and rule the lands that would wind up ripping humanity apart. Look at the final arc: all of humanities hatred towards the island devils birthed the final attack titan and his horde of demons who have come to trample the world underfoot. The titans have always arisen as the consequence of man’s tendency towards conflict and death. Eren’s titan first formed from inside a titan who just killed him, his last titan was born out of his own death yet again. Titans are man’s desire to kill given shape, and the more man kills and fights, the more titans arise.

It’s a bleak and terrible look at the cruelty of the world, that I think the OP highlights immensly well. It’s a gorgeous looking and sounding 90 seconds, and despite its contents being essentially horrifying, its fun to look at and listen to. Isayama once said about Eren’s attack in marley that “what eren does here is the worst thing. but if you were able to feel just a little bit of excitement from it, then it was worth drawing manga all this time”. Somehow, one way or another, we’re drawn to conflict, despite how terrible it is. And I think this opening manifests this beautifully

#waaaayyyy too long of a tangeant there but #yeah this basically #I love that we got to have a full on anti war opening #its perfect #and it bops hard #attack on titan #snk #my war #snk the final season #anonymous #answered #Anonymous

14 notes · View notes

eccentricpony · 4 years

Note

Hi, your kaomojis were so cute! UwU Could I request a movie theater date hc with Tenma? ty!!

Hey anon, thanks for visiting my page! I’d be happy to write this for you! I’m going to write in the style of bulleted imagine if that’s okay. My writing style is usually a usually a little campy humorous, a little emotional, a little sexy, and sometimes flowery.

I apologize if my tenses changed, or the style changed, but I just wanted to have fun with it. Maybe possibly a tiny bit implied NSFW but not really.

· You were determined to take Tenma to a movie theater as soon as you had found out he had never been to one.

· Despite his fame, you had learned that this child star beau of yours had missed out on many opportunities that you had taken for granted growing up. Your boyfriend was an odd blend of mature and immature due to his isolation and the pressure to manage a full-time profession at the age of seven. Fame has a price, as they say.

· He was hesitant at first – visiting a heavy traffic social scene meant donning sunglasses, avoiding eye contact… but you had already figured that part out! You’d be soliciting Monster Movie Night at the old theater-turned-cinema in the town square. You were sure Tenma would appreciate the 19th century theater aesthetic, and it was sure to have less attendees than the cinema at the mall.

· And what better movie genre to experience in an old, darkened theater than a classic horror!

· Yeah, no, Tenma was having none of that.

· He claimed that the movie you chose had received bad reviews.

· You then forwarded him the 97% fresh rating from RottenApples.com.

· He argued that the antagonist of the film was an actor he had worked with before and it would be “too weird” to watch someone he knew go on a killing spree.

· You proceeded to locate said actor on IFDB.com to find that he had passed away two years before Tenma was born.

· The lake of excuses having run dry, Tenma agreed to pick you up at 1pm that coming Saturday.

· Tenma was a bit more fidgety than usual in the back of his family limo. You assumed that it was date night jitters, which was so very precious. The old-fashioned theater marquee came into view, and you excitedly shuffled closer to the window. Nightmare on Birch Street! It had been ages since you had seen the film, and you couldn’t recall how the victims had all been killed… was it Chauncey who had been impaled by the school flagpole? You continued to jabber excitedly, the exhilarated sentiments floating through your head remaining unscathed as Tenma had the common courtesy to feign a cough so you couldn’t glimpse his sour expression.

· The journey from the ticket kiosk to the theater was uneventful. There were a few stares, and a “Aren’t you that kid? From the show? At that school?” but you made it to your seats in under 10.

· Wow, they really renovated this place! It was a bit sad to see that the creaky wooden seats of the theater had been replaced with cushy, high-tech armchairs, but it was comforting to know you wouldn’t be suffering a butt-ache following the film.

· Immediately, Tenma started messing with the seat like he was in a dentist’s chair. Leg rest up, back down, leg rest down, back straight, back flat. 123 degree angle…

· “Don’t you have chairs like this at home, rich boy?”

· “Yeah, but I never sit in my living room. There’s never anyone there.”

· Oh. You held out the bag of popcorn as a peace offering. “Well, you know that you’re welcome at my house any time you like.”

· “Yeah so I can recite the monologue from Shinobi Love Song to your mom for the 100th time? I’ll pass”

· “Forget it, sunshine. It was hasty of me to assume you’d be able to find my house without the guidance of Igawa…”

· Cheeky banter was the norm with the two of you, and you never tired of it. He handed you the box of Soup Patch kids with a feigned scowl as the lights in the theater began to dim. Leg rest up, back at a 95 degree angle was his final decision.

· He figured he’d have sometime before the killing started, so he decided to try and pay attention to the overall plot and characters, in case you had questions for him later. So wait… the killer doesn’t actually murder them in real life, but in their dreams? What kind of late night, infomercial hour, made-for-TV junk is this…

· Time to do the classic yawn and stretch. Smooth as a milkshake, he performed what he felt was a very believable yawn (practiced to a fault due to all of his roles as a too-cool-for-school hottie) and casually rested the stretch of his arm across your shoulder.

· You had been dating for about 7 months now. You had been moderately intimate. For Tenma to put on this song-and-dance just to hold onto you was a surefire tell that he was nervous. You hadn’t even really considered that maybe he didn’t like horror. You just assumed that because he was an acting professional that he was also a film aficionado, and a fan of all genres, at that. Stop pigeonholing him! you reminded yourself. Sure, he was perfect to you, but you had to let go of those preconceived notions.

· You turned and leaned closer to him, close enough to kiss. His throat constricted, he had heard there was more to these cinemas than just watching the movie. He prayed to God that this was your intention all along.

· “We can leave if you’re not into it” you insisted into his cheek.

· Pulse still quickening through his neck, he sat back and shook is head.

· “Nah babe, it’s cool. I liked the…” He proceeded to regurgitate every possible fact he had learned about the film within the last 15 minutes.

· Damn, so he was paying attention. You knew there was no point coaxing him to leave once he had made his mind up to stay, so instead you leaned forward and gave him a peck on the nose.

· “You’re adorable.”

· “Tch…” He bristled returning his back to the seat, but with the pouty pleased grin of a child who received praise for a shitty drawing. He watched as your eyes returned to the screen, and you flicked a few pieces of popcorn into your pretty mouth. Now what to do?

· Anything but look at the screen, really. Beads of sweat began to collect on his brow as the movie soundtrack reached a crescendo. He swiftly brushed them off into his already unruly ginger mane. He needed to distract himself, at least until the slicing and dicing had desisted.

· What’s this hole for? Tenma located an out of place hole attached to the arm of the chair. It doesn’t seem to have a bottom, but it does taper off deeper down. Curiosity got the best of him, and he casually slid his hand down into the soft drink cupholder. That’s freakin’ weird, there’s nothing even down there. Dumb. And he promptly finds his hand very much stuck.

· Shit, now what? Now he was really sweating. Some freakin’ great newspaper article this would make. “Teen drama heartthrob finds himself arrested not by the eyes of a young beauty, but the grasp of a plastic cupholder.” His father would kill him, to be sure. He’d probably have to sign autographs for all of the firefighters who removed the plastic cupholder from around his sore wrist. Here he is, trying so very hard to be a man’s man, to weather the barbarism that is horror cinema just to impress you, and now he’d gotten his hand stuck in the metaphorical cookie jar like a damn kid.

· He twists and pulls but he can’t get the heel of his palm back through the opening. He jerks his hand in frustration and elbows your flimsy paper cup of Canada Dry. Oh, so that’s what they’re for…

· “Hey! You got ginger ale on me, what are you doing?” You cocked an eyebrow at his hunched form.

· “Sorry, sorry! Yeah, I- I think I’ve got it. Don’t worry about me- hey! I think that guy in on a TV show with my father.”

· Snapping your head back to the screen, you consented that the man did indeed work with Tenma’s father (you’ve told him this before, he’s one of your favorite actors, and now you need to remind him again why his acting is so transcendent that even in a horror movie he can make the most mundane gestures seem so…)

· To Tenma’s great relief, it turns out ginger ale makes a passable lubricant. Using the splash that now trickled down his forearm, he twisted his wrist and managed to retrieve his very sore hand, tingling with pins and needles as he returned it to his lap. He sensed that you’ve finished your rant and offers a vacant smile. “Yeah… he’s a talented guy…” Crisis averted.

· Back to all the crazy shit happening on Birch Street. Tenma blanched as the whir of a chainsaw could be heard offscreen.

· “You okay? he asked, leaning over to comfort you which really wasn’t necessary whatsoever since you actually seemed extremely excited and not the least bit worried or bothered by all of the disgusting blood and guts and weird fleshy ceiling splayed onto the wall by the projector overhead.

· Before you had a chance to reply, he nuzzled in close to you, his hair brushing your cheek as he snuggled next to your chin. D’aww. You wiggled closer, touching the side of your forehead to his as the shrieks of the Final Girl could be felt penetrating the very seat below you. Great acoustics.

· Tenma wiggles his head into the crook of your neck to avoid looking at the carnage, murmuring an almost devious “Don’t be scared” into your ear before pressing a kiss to the column of your throat.

· Your heart leaps into your ears at the sudden burst of semi-public affection; Tenma wasn’t big on PDA, and you were cool with that. He smelled like a mix of clean cotton and Cool Water (they still make that?) He didn’t really do much besides camp out there above your collarbone after that, but his ghosting breath gave you pleasant chills, so you didn’t tell him he was missing the best part.

· You smelled like almonds and Freesia, he considered. His mother loved Freesia and she had planted them all along their estate courtyard, though she was rarely at home long enough to enjoy it. Tenma enjoyed sitting in the courtyard as a child. While the house was always eerily silent aside from the sterile hum of electricity, the courtyard was always full of tweets and twittering after school, and a discordant chorus of various chirping in the evening. That was what homes are supposed to be like, he had always thought. Chaotic and noisy, but full of life. It was his safe haven, and you carried the scent of it on your skin. You were his new sanctuary… a little pocket of protection from the pains of fake friends and real insecurities.

· These are his last thoughts before he fell asleep. You realize he’s out like a light as the credits roll, and you feel a sliver of drool trail down your clavicle. Hot.

· “Tenma? Hey!” He startles awake and you attempt to suppress a grin. “Hope it was a good dream.”

· Tenma may not have book smarts, but he’s far from stupid. He knows that you know he hated it, and he knows that you know that he knows he was just playing the brave guy to shield his ego. He was beginning to confuse himself, so instead he focused on the core of the matter – he loved you enough to feign interest in something you liked, and you loved him enough to go along with it.

· “They’re always great when they feature my favorite co-star.” He leaned forward and gave the bridge of your nose a chaste smooch.

· Gahhh. The right side of your mouth pinches up in a grin. Damn you and your flawless smileyou’re your immaculate stage presence.

· After he returned his hat and sunglasses to their proper place, with twin grins syrupy-sweet enough to make Yuki vomit, you exited the theater.

· Once outside, he took your hand and pulled you off to the side of the theater, at the mouth of the little alleyway that led to a street behind the theater. His wide palm and long fingers felt warm and comforting, though rather sticky and smelling oddly of ginger.

· “Thanks for coming out with me. I know it’s a pain in the ass for you,” you offered before he could speak.

· “Nah,” he deflects. “I’m used to it.”

· You knew he still hated it.

· “Plus, you’re worth it,” he added, feet shuffling and pink tinging the tips of his ears.

· Butterflies, oh so many butterflies. Rolling onto your toes, you leaned up and kissed him. After a meager gasp of surprise, he returned it with fervor, nose brushing against yours as he experimented with a few different head angles. Sour Patch kids never tasted so good.

· The thump of a closing car door was unfortunately audible above the sounds of your smacking mouths – Igawa was on the move and ready to shuffle the prince of teen dramas and his beloved to the safety of the Sumeragi Cadillac CT5. You groaned in unison, and not the good kind.

· Dragging your mouths apart, your mutual stares shared a silent vow that you would find a way to pick this up again later. Without a word, you both emerged from the shadows, fingers tangled tighter together as you steeled yourselves for a lecture from Igawa on the dangers of lingering in crowded places.

· You had no doubt there would still be plenty more adjustments to be made by both parties, and many a wall to gently tumble down. But that was a future nearly too resplendent to imagine, when where you were now was already a pretty fantastic place to be.

#a3!#a3! actor training game #tenma sumeragi #tenma x reader #a3! imagines #a3! headcanons #a3 imagines #a3 headcanons #a3 tenma #sumeragi tenma #a3! tenma #a3 actor training game #act! addict! actors!

37 notes · View notes

rwby-nwbe · 4 years

Text

Just Finished RWBY Volume 4...

...and I actually liked it?

[Spoilers Ahead, Y'all Know The Drill]

I mean, from what I've heard the Volume gets a lot of flack but honestly? I don't think it deserves it.

Yes, this is the first volume without Monty, and yes, the fights lost a bit of their momentum compared to earlier volumes, but aside from that... it's actually pretty good?

Alright, let me give you the play by play character style.

Ruby Rose

There goes my baby... off to destroy evil.

Ruby hasn't changed much, at least to a noticeable degree, compared to the rest of the cast. Actually, no, that isn't true, she just hasn't changed in a way that would force her overall character to noticeably shift. And I think that's fine. She's still a child at times, and is still really optimistic. But the thing is, she has matured. She doesn't immediately jump head first into danger like she used to, and it's clear she's still trying to process what happened at the Fall of Beacon. And yet, she's pressing on, and I'm glad that she and the rest of Team RNJR have each other's backs.

My only concern is what will go down in Mistral...

Weiss Schnee

Welp, Jacques Schnee, congrats! You've joined Cinder and Adam on the hit list I'm writing up!

The a-hole aside, I really like how Weiss played out this volume. According to what I've heard, volume 4 took place about 6-8 months after Beacon, so I'm kinda sad that Weiss was stuck home for all that time. On the bright side, we get a look at her progress on her summons, which looks to be coming along quite nicely. Then we see the concert, and ooh does that make my blood boil. I'll get to Jacques in a bit, but personally, I'd have no qualms watching him burn, figuratively, or literally.

Fly, Weiss, fly from the coup. Give your bastard of a father the metaphorical middle finger he deserves! (P.S. Klein is best dad.)

Blake Belladonna

Oof. I hurteth.

So Blake tends to stay away out of fear that she'll hurt her friends (i.e. some alternate version of survivor's guilt). In order to make amends from her point of view, she heads home to Menagerie. And once again, we're reminded on why humanity sucks sometimes!

Humans: Here, have this desert island for your large spanning species that covers just as much ground as we do.

Faunus: But... but it's so small!

Humans: Is it? Oh well, we can't have everything!

Me: Y'all LITERALLY have several freaKING CONTINENTS-!

*Ahem* That said, Sun came along! And we met Blake's parents! But first, Sun; I'll admit, I had mixed feelings about him being there at first, but that was mostly because Blake was being angsty and despite Sun's best intentions, virtually nothing he did help. Although, towards the end of the Volume, he managed to help Blake realize why her way of thinking was wrong, so props to him for that. Uh, Sun, could you maybe knock like a normal person? Wait, Blake, DON'T SLAP HIM FOR IT!!!

Ah, Kali, you're just as chaotic as Sun, oh dear... Ghira, never change, man. Never change.

Yang Xiao Long

Oof. I hurteth again. (ADAM!! LET ME DESTROY YOU, DANGIT!!!)

So Yang has been... adjusting to life after Beacon and without an arm. Oh, and Adam gave her PTSD! Isn't that just swell?

[When the find your corpse it'll have Wilt running through your spine and your skull severed with bullet shots from Blush I swear-]

Luckily, Yang gets a prosthetic from Atlas. I was afraid she'd reject it, but it's actually kinda nice to see that she takes to it rather well. And after seeing Oobleck (YAY!) and Port again, it's cool that she's just trying to find her footing. Though, Tai, you might wanna consider NOT flying to close to the Sun Dragon, capiche?

And all this culminates in Yang finally getting back out in the end of the Volume, hoping to find some answers. Hopefully she takes Tai's words to heart.

Jaune Arc

IT'S BIG BOI SWORD HOURS!!

But seriously, it was... kinda off-putting to see Jaune act so... morose. Granted, we all know why (PYRRHA!!!), but still. I'm glad his team is looking out for him and that he's slowly starting to recover like everyone else. His conversation with Ruby in Kuroyuri was also really touching. Come to think of it, didn't Blake have a similar conversation with Sun? The PARALLELS!

Also, that upgrade, tho. CUT THAT NUCKELAVEE INTO DUST, MY DUDE!!!

Nora Valkyrie+Lie Ren

You can't talk about one without bringing up the other.

Guys, this was as much a Renora volume as it was a RWBY-Post Beacon volume. The Fall triggers some odd behavior in Ren, but we figure out why pretty quickly once we reach the Kuroyuri episode.

First, young Ren and Nora... adorable!

Second, I was NOT ready for when Nora had to talk Ren out of charging blindly at the Nuckelavee. The slap. The way Ren sees young Nora and then sees current Nora. Nothing could prepare me. Nothing.

They are so SOFT together, it's just... <3

New Characters (and Old ones, too)

Lightning round, baby!

Qrow Branwen. So Qrow serves as the inside man. He knows what's been going on, and he fills the rest of us in. We also know why he tends to keep his distance, because his semblance brings bad luck to allies and enemies alike. The poor birb. Glad he managed to survive Tyrian!

Jacques Schnee. Egotistical manipulative piece of garbage whom I will not feel sorry for once he's put in his place. 'Nuff said.

Whitley Schnee. Mixed feelings. Mixed feelings everywhere. 'Cause on one hand, I've seen plenty of the fandom's takes on his character putting him in a positive light, but on the other he starts getting kind of unbearable after Weiss loses her title as heiress. Then I have to remind myself that Whitley is the "Fawn" reaction to trauma. Weiss is "Fight," Winter is "Flight," their mother is "Freeze," and Whitley is "Fawn." Stuff like that helps me contextualize that when Whitley says things about their dad like "It's foolish to not do what father asks," or "It's barbaric. It's beneath me. Beneath father," Whitley's not just saying that 'cause he's a bit of a brat. That's his coping mechanism to the abuse Jacques put him and the rest of his family through, and it's probably been a long time that he's been telling himself stuff like this so he can keep in his father's good graces and not risk getting a slap to the face like Weiss, while also trying to deal with the fact that Weiss and Winter get a freedom that he never had a chance to get. And you have to remember that Winter and Weiss were abused to, and that trying to blame Whitley's current condition on the two of them doesn't make things any better. They're not obligated to care about Whitley just as much as Whitley isn't obligated to care about them. It would be nice if either one of them could get through to him, but they were all trying to combat Jacques in one way or another. Whitley was just the odd one out. And if you really think about it, the biggest brain play you can take from all this is to blame it solely on Jacques. I swear, when I get to Volume 4 in my NWBE AU, one of my top priorities will be getting Whitley the ever loving hell out of that accursed mansion alongside Weiss, mark my words.

Klein Sieben. Ladies and gentleman, the only valid man under the Schnee roof! And a Seven Dwarves reference no less. Thanks, I love him! Glad he helped Weiss escape his father's clutches.

James Ironwood. Oh boy, boss man is starting to lose his grip on things. Granted, he's trying to do the right thing, but it's clear his paranoia is getting to him. You know crap is getting bad if the most valid person in all of Atlas simultaneously needs to be told to get a grip from Jacques of all people (especially if he's making a point). Hope this doesn't trigger a downward spiral...

Ghira and Kali Belladonna. Ghira is done and Kali just wants to have fun. I love their dynamic and interactions with Blake and Sun! It was a nice wind down from everything else going on, though I don't think that'll last for long.

White Fang. So we got three more WF members: Fennec, Corsac, and Ilia. The Albain brothers are sleezeballs already, since they're working with Adam and all. Ilia's working with them too, but I'll have to withhold my judgement since she appears to have an as yet undisclosed connection to Blake, but I don't want to get my hopes up since she already stabbed Sun, so... Low expectations, but still expectations.

Salem's Group. Yup, Salem's a villain alright. I'll be keeping my eye on her, she just reeks of trouble. Cinder apparently lost her voice... eh, probably for the best. Emerald, Mercury, get the ever-loving FRICK outta there, you're clearly out of your element! Hazel, you're... fascinating. Neutral Evil, perhaps? Watts, you're on my radar, especially with the last episode of the Volume. And Tyrian... well, he's clearly beyond the point of no return, entirely devoted to Salem, and his psycho-sadistic tendencies are enough to freak Cinder of all people out. Needless to say, I hope something or someone takes care of him before the damage becomes irreversible.

And for now, I'll wrap this up with Oscar Pine. I'll admit, it was interesting how they set up Oscar's character as a slow burn this Volume. We learn he lives a quiet life with his aunt in a barn, and at first we're wondering "Who the heck is this kid?" But then Ozpin shows up and suddenly everything is like "Oh... wait, WHAT!?" So yeah, Ozpin just brought another child into thia conflict. At least they're both not happy about it, and hey, they met Qrow! Hopefully that keeps things from getting too crazy down the line. We still need answers, after all.

Well, those are my thoughts. Sorry they took so long. Hopefully Volume 5 won't be so hard to complete. Well... cheers!

-Mathewton, the RWBY Newbie (15 May 2020)

35 notes · View notes

felassan · 4 years

Note

So from the tease that we got so far, I think the south is doomed,it looks like red lyrium has spread so far and wide destroyed everything on it's path (like that second picture of the Ferelden styled ruin/building) do you think blight and red lyrium will destroy or at least ruined some part of southern continent like Ferelden? And what about red lyrium in tevinter? Is the red lyrium growth in the north as bad as the south?

Hi Nonnie. This became long so I put it under a cut. TN spoilers beneath

My takeaway from it was bit different in some respects. I would guess that the WIPs were less of a “here’s what’s happened in Thedas between Trespasser and the next game”, and were a bit less specific on the major/main storybeats front than the DWR trailer and than a normal proper trailer would be. I would guess that the WIPs are more like a mini tech demo (a tiny slice of next gen capabilities), a nod to fans to show the franchise is still alive and a reel put together to act as an example of environmental stuff that looks cool while also being something which was suitable/safe to show at a corporate event like EA Play.

I took it as telegraphing the following:

‘Hey guys! DA is still a Thing. DA4 is still coming and it’s in development. Here’s a little snippet to reassure / feed / excite you [delete as appropriate lol] and keep the tiny spark alive. Haha lol we still can’t formally announce the game because top-level leadership rules and NDAs’

‘Wow omg! We’re excited about our next-gen stuff. Get a load of that raytracing (and so forth)'

‘Check it out! It’s red lyrium and stuff. These segments are Noticeably, Recognizably Dragon Age™’

‘This is conceptual. We’re still early in development and can’t show you anything more specific than this’ (compare to the similar early conceptual teases of MEA and Anthem)

In terms of major plot aspects*, I took it as:

Indicating or setting the kind of tone, aesthetic and overall feel the next game will have (‘Ooh ominous - dark - creepy.’), like set pieces or color swatches or a free sample/taster session of something

red lyrium is dangerous and the threat of it and its spread will feature in the plot of the next game. (‘The red lyrium threat shown in the background of DAI as in Emprise is returning, and with a vengeance’; ‘Expect to learn more about red lyrium in the next game’)

‘Omg!! What is that beating mass? Ooh!’

I don’t think we can say for certain that the WIPs are set in the south. It can probably snow in parts of the north of Thedas for one thing (see all that Equator stuff), and since several of the assets in the WIPs such as the bearded statues and skull-topped urns are straight out of DAI, it could be a case of asset reuse. If it’s simple asset reuse, devs were probably just making use of what resources they currently had available or were able to currently show, not trying to telegraph a specific location. Given the statues and urns, it’s possible that the buildings were also reused assets, and so not necessarily specifically Fereldan despite the resemblance. It’s also possible that given the nature of the WIPs as a mini tech demo and as a ‘tone setter’ of sorts, that they weren’t created with any specific location in mind. The game was also rebooted and is still far out from release - things could change and such scenes might not even make into the game (see the Crestwood scenes from the DAI marketing cycle).

About the far and wide and destroying everything in its path, stuff. I don’t doubt red lyrium has spread some and is destructive, but it’s worth mentioning I think, that the three shots we saw look to have been ‘connected’. They seem to have been ‘taken’ in the same place (that place could either be a specific place in Thedas, or just the same ‘set piece’ made for the teaser), going by the similar lighting and how it looks like snow is tracked onto the foreground of the second shot. Example: The mass in the third shot seems like it’s located inside the fortress which is in the top right of the second shot. So it’s possible there’s a tighter ‘focus’ in terms of the spread of red lyrium in the surrounds than what we think.

This is all speculation of course and so I could easily be wrong, but: so, I am unsure about the south being doomed. I do think we’re leaving the south behind, that red lyrium destroys what’s in its path, that it will have spread more by the time of DA4, and that it is a serious problem and is going to be a grave threat faced by Thedas and the PC and crew in the next game. (This was shown in the background plot in Emprise.) Just more like, the threat of red lyrium dooming whole regions is something we will be contending with and trying to stop in the narrative, or at the very least is something which will be part of the backdrop to plotbeats (like why Solas is doing his thing). Would they change whole nations so dramatically like that off-screen between-games, effectively removing or drastically ‘reducing’ those nations as settings? That’s a lot more of a radical change than “And now the Qunari are invading.” They might, that would be something different to what’s been done previously and so be dramatic and new, and you could potentially have an updated south which amounts to ‘Red Lyrium Future Ferelden and Red Lyrium Future Orlais’, but idk. The south doesn’t have to be doomed to cause a narrative move north. I’m thinking about how in DAO, the Fifth Blight threatened to spread across and ruin all Ferelden, but it was stopped and only really properly environmentally scarred parts in the far south near the Wilds. If they did do this, I would expect the story to have a big influx of refugees from Ferelden and Orlais travelling north to escape the issue. I feel like that’s something we’ve already seen before, that was already explored in the Fereldan refugees crossing the Waking Sea and the effects of the influx on Kirkwall in DA2.

I think red lyrium is a major threat to the world (a threat of doom, to all nations, north and south), and that it will have spread further than it had before by the time of the next game. This was seeded as a beat in DAI (literally in the nodes of lyrium in the land and metaphorically in the lore in codexes and such). I think this spread would at least ruin or seriously damage certain regions in the south and possibly elsewhere before the next game, like what we could expect to have happened as a result of the expanding spread in the region of Emprise despite the Inquisition’s efforts. I think it’ll feature prominently in the narrative and that we’ll learn more about it in terms of Dramatic Lore Reveals (considering the intersection it has with the Taint/Blight and the corrupted fleshy sacs in the WIPs). I’m hesitant in thinking that the south more as a whole has been doomed by red lyrium by the time of DA4, and in thinking that’s what the WIPs are saying. Hope this makes sense. 😰 Ofc, all any of us are doing when speculating about the trailer is guessing, so who knows really. 😄

About red lyrium growth in the north: We know less about its growth in the north than we do about its growth in the south. It does seem that it is worse in the south, because after the Breach opened, nodes of it began appearing throughout the surface of the south. The aforementioned Emprise du Lion is the best example of this so far. Makes sense, aside from the Breach it’s in the south that the red lyrium idol was found and in the south that the red templars were largely operating. I do think it’s still a big threat to the north though - it’s clear from stories in Tevinter Nights that some Magisters in Tevinter are messing with it (e.g. the Wigmaker’s experiments) and that remnants of the Venatori are still active in parts of Tevinter. In DAI we saw the Venatori just like the red templars messing with red lyrium: poisoning the well in Wycome, trying to start a supply line in Antiva, trying to smuggle it from the Storm Coast to Minrathous in order to convert the Imperium's slaves into an unstoppable army to turn the tide in the war with the Qunari for Seheron.. (TN was also careful to present us with similar instances of Tevinter nationalism and Tevene desire to restore the glory of the Imperium.. And here we note that both Antiva and Minrathous are northern locations). Stupid behavior like that is exactly how this kind of dangerous thing gets out of control and spreads. And so, I’m sure we can expect to see red lyrium threatening the northern regions in a serious way in DA4.

* I mean I still have been and am gonna speculate wildly and overanalyze, but primarily because doing so is fun for me

#dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #dragon age #bioware #mj replies #video games #tevinter nights #tevinter nights spoilers #tevinter nights spoiler #spoilers #spoiler #anonymous #tumblr fcking up the read more coding on an ask reply yet again #solas

16 notes · View notes

nonbinarysasquatch · 5 years

Text

I decided this time to just copy my review of The Dragon Reborn straight from Reddit rather than copy my not really detailed Goodreads review:

I'm back in the saddle again!

Yeah, my one week to finish this turned out to be a month. Oops. But it sure wasn't because I didn't enjoy this book, oh no.

As a reminder for the final time: I read New Spring first and if you are a fellow new reader who hasn't read it that might be something to keep in mind. That said, I'm not planning on referencing anything to it in this review as I don't feel it has any bearing on my thoughts for this one.

Overall thoughts on this book:

Woo, this series just keeps getting better. Even though this book is the shortest yet it really felt like so much happened. Jordan is really getting a feel for the story he's telling. This felt in many ways like the culmination of a lot of things from the first two books. Rand is the Dragon Reborn and is now embracing that role.

Do I have any complaints about this book? You know, not really. Well, beyond issues with one character which I'll get into below. This was a really solid entry.

Character thoughts:

Egwene: Egwene is starting to fight Nynaeve for being my favourite. I loved how much more brash and harsh she's become. It feels a bit like she's mirroring Rand in terms of becoming more powerful and becoming less nice. She's not at his level yet but she's showing herself to be comfortable with, even enjoying, torture. It's a dark turn but I like it. Complex, flawed characters are always more interesting than safe characters who never make mistakes. I am surprised by how fast she, Elayne and Nynaeve are moving up the ranks in the Aes Sedai but it's not super shocking since if they all spend a decade moving up the entire plot would have to be put on hold which would kill the dramatic tension.

Perrin: OK, I guess, saying that I'll admit Perrin isn't that complex, but I still continue to love him. He's also kind of mirroring Rand, at least in terms of power. I loved the wolf dreams (and all the dream stuff in this in general, I'm weak for dream stuff.) Unfortunately, Perrin's plot has a mark against it but I'll get to Faile further below.

Mat: Heyyy, Mat actually got to do stuff. He's evolved being a foolhardy prankster to being a gambler with luck on his side. I'm a little unclear if it's literal magic luck or just general good luck from being ta'veren. I liked Mat in this one. He's not my favourite but he's fun.

Rand: Sir Barely Appearing in this Book. I thought keeping Rand to a minimum in this book was an interesting choice. It gave the other characters more room to breathe and I also think it highlights how he's changing. And boy is he changing. Rand using the one power to make a bunch of corpses kneel before him is pretty eerie. I also thought it was interesting exploring the effect he's having on the world and those around him by simply existing instead of focusing on how the changes happening are affecting him. This book felt more about the world than it was about Rand.

Nynaeve: Still my favourite for the time being. She did get overshadowed by Egwene in this book.

Elayne: I'm not really super certain what my feelings are on Elayne at this point. I like her but don't have strong feelings about her yet. I just like reading about the friendship between the three ladies.

Moiraine: Moiraine really upped her intensity in this one. Whatever niceness and patience she had before are getting shed. I do feel like the characters should start putting more faith and trust in her. She's saved their lives a whole heck of a lot at this point and been right about basically everything, that should earn her something.

Lan: Not much development for Lan in this but he was great as always. Even the Nynaeve romance only got little mentions here and there.

Loial/Thom: You know, I like both these two but I'm starting to feel like they aren' that important to the plot? Granted, maybe there was just not much for them to do in this book. Thom definitely could've been cut from Mat's plot without losing much. I'm glad he wasn't since I like Thom but I'm not really clear what his and Loial's places are in the overall narrative.

Min: I was hoping I'd get more of her beyond the opening bits. We haven't gotten that deep of a look at her yet. I guess she must've arrived at the Tower at some point.

Siuan: Glad we got a fair bit of her in this. I feel like her fishing metaphors increase with every appearance haha.

Faile: I'm always really reluctant to be negative about a female character. I've noticed in pretty much every fandom I've ever interacted with the female characters tend to... get more negative attention for doing less wrong than the male characters. A flaw that adds complexity to a male character will be seen as something unforgivable when given to a female character.

That said, hooboy, Faile has really tested me. Faile stalks Perrin, forces herself into their group, forces her way into their plans, is inappropriate and creepy with Perrin the entire time, is given numerous opportunities to bail but sticks around because she wants to be part of a good story but then complains the entire time like she's being put-upon even though literally no one forced her into this and then for some reason at the end I guess she and Perrin are in love now? And the saddest thing about that is its somehow the best-developed romance these books have been given so far.

My guess is we're supposed to find all her inappropriate behaviour charming? Perrin's the sweetest, kindest character in these books, what'd he do to deserve this? Hopefully, this is just a rocky start and she'll be toned down in the next book. I can honestly deal with harsh and not necessarily nice characters but Jordan's choices with her are really strange. The way she acts just isn't earned. There's no good reason for her to demand to be a part of this then complain about it as if she were a child.

Apologies to anyone who loves her. Just remember I didn't care for Mat at first either haha.

Ba'alzamon: Well. I'll admit, I'm confused at what the point of this character was. Rand kicks his ass 3 times then we find out he was just a pretender who was this other bad guy that seems to have been built up but now he's dead. It's particularly odd since I didn't think he was the Dark One in the first place. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Robert Jordan's plans for this character may have changed along the way. Perhaps in EOTW he was meant to be the Dark One or possessed by the Dark One but decided that the series was growing longer and having Rand beat the main villain several times would cheapen him in the long term. I'm hopeful that the next book will clear things up since Moiraine didn't have much time to explain things at the end.

Some broad stroke thoughts:

I'm starting to feel kind of numb to all the different inns and innkeepers. I know some of them may come back and be important but 3 books in there really have been a lot of them. I can't really blame Jordan for giving them all names and descriptions but I don't think my brain can really retain that much information haha.

I felt a similar thing with all the different captains in this book. He goes into so much detail about the ships and the captains but it just kind of blurs together. Also, I missed Domon in this book. Kept expecting him to show up. Alas.

I really would read an entire series of books just about the Aes Sedai. I want to read about all the inner Tower politics and the nuances between all the different Ajahs. It's a shame there aren't enough female leads so that we can have one character joining each Ajah. I'm looking forward to seeing which Ajah Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne will join. Elayne does seem to be leaning green. I do hope they all go for different ones just to get the different looks.

The entire climax was so great. For every book the climax has gotten better than the last. Just so many cool pieces with Egwene trying to get them out of the cell, Perrin trying to save Faile, Mat trying to rescue the ladies and Rand being an absolute beast and taking down not one but two forsaken. I love a good magic sword. They might be cliche but Callandor is still pretty rad.

Ohhh I haven't said anything about the Aiel. I'll admit having desert people look Nordic is definitely different. I thought the characters in this were interesting and I'm glad that we're seeing everyone's preconceptions of them being proven false. Given the ending, I assume the next book will have a lot more of them (and at some point Rand will need to dig into his past.)

Adaptation Talk:

Even though this is the shortest book so far, I really feel it's the one I'd want to see given the most episodes. You can easily squeeze the first two books into a ten-episode season but this one might be tough to fit in if you try to put another book in there. But it's hard to say what they should do without having read the next one (and hooboy, TSR appears to be the thickest yet.) I hope the show at least gets a second season so we can get the visual feast of the Heart of Stone battle.

Ranking:

The Dragon Reborn

The Great Hunt

New Spring

The Eye of the World

So far no stinkers. TDR was very, very good with my only real complaint being Faile in general. Starting the Shadow Rising this evening and I actually already have The Fires of Heaven waiting at the library because I just want to keep momentum going and not get sidetracked like I did this time haha.

#wheel of time

6 notes · View notes

gonzagasearchsecrets-blog · 5 years

Text

Gonzaga Search Secrets

Hello everyone,

Some of you are going to be very angry at me for making this post. If you are one of those people I’m sorry that you think secrets make a cohesive and friendly campus experience, but they do not. This post is for everyone who did not have the chance to or is still thinking about attending the Search retreat at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA. It is also for the people who feel excluded from their friend group by constantly being told “you just need to go”. Consider this a tell-all review of one of Gonzaga’s best kept secrets.

Search is a denomination agnostic retreat offered 4 times a year at Gonzaga University for current undergraduates. The search retreats usually sellout for the entire year in August before the school year even starts so it is near impossible to be able to go as a Freshman unless you know prior and most of the people there are Sophomores or higher. I’ll give a quick rundown of the timeline of events and what you can expect:

Day 1:

You leave from Cataldo circle and arrive at Bozarth mansion in the evening. You do some ice breakers and meet your retreat leaders and then you do this really obnoxious song thing that the leaders have made up. Get used to this song, because you will be doing it multiple times a day and it will be painful every time. You have a few moments to hangout and then it’s off to bed. I have to say that the dorms are pretty decent and the food is solid.

Day 2:

Here’s were things get weird. The leaders have little speeches throughout the day about events in their life that usually coincide with a certain theme. They tell pretty personal stories about self worth and loss of faith in God. You have a journal session after that and then everyone is broken up into guys and girls for small groups.

They have some VERY probing questions in these groups about sex life, depression, relationships, you name it. The leaders do not ask directly about these things but they do encourage people to get deep on these topics. People who I had just met talked about suicidal thoughts, sexual assault, parents being abusive, etc. Why should you tell all these people who you barely know about all these personal things? What’s to stop them from spreading the information later on when we are back on campus. People tell me that this is their favorite part of Search, but is it so that they can vent? Or is it because they like to hear to fucked up things that have happened to other people and feel superior and have dirt on them? The worst part is all of these people with serious issues were not encouraged to seek mental help after and as far as I know they never did. Just a lot of pats on the back and there-there’s for them in the small group.

After that, another annoying song and then you get introduced to the idea of Fred. Fred is a metaphor for God and he has “prepared” a nice little pamphlet thing of all the things that you like. You can usually figure out at this point that they sent out some sort of questionnaire to your parents and friends to see what you like to make this thing. I never felt more alone in my life than reading all the things that my parents thought I still liked from middle school. Maybe this would have been cool if they had done better research or if my relationships were better with my parents.

There are a few big secret reveals that night. One of them is that you have letters waiting on your bed from your loved ones and friends. This was a cool thing that they did and I did appreciate it. This practice is similar to a Kairos retreat if you’ve been to one of those. The next big secret is the reveal that there are a shit ton of people that have been hiding around the mansion helping to do things. They have this massive skit/play which is pretty funny and then they talk about how they are sponsors for certain searchers. They then proceed to tell embarrassing stories about you that they got from your friends which is kind of shitty and an invasion of privacy in my opinion but it is all in good fun. One thing that did freak me out though is that there were videos shown of you throughout the week that were taken by your friends or by people who had been at Search before. Pretty creepy to say the least.

This is a common theme as throughout the night they reveal more and more teams of people that helped plan the event and what they did to help. They have Search alum from across the world send in videos about how they are praying for you and it all culminates in a final ceremony where they have you burn a piece of wood to represent your sins/fears/anxiety or whatever.

Day 3:

Not much to say for this day. You have breakfast, another small group, and then you get to go into the attic area to see that they have murals put in place for each Search retreat that has happened since the beginning. That’s right, just when you thought you were finally in the club there’s an even higher club that you can try to get into. It was cool to see but it just continued the theme of me feeling like I don’t belong and excluded. You take the bus home and you see all the people who helped out waving to you at random points along the way which I thought was a nice touch.

Overall, not the best experience for me personally but I can see why people would enjoy it if they had a good friend group at Gonzaga and stable mental health. I was in a really rough spot mentally and already feeling excluded in other parts of my life which is why some of the things I outlined above probably impacted me more than they should have. I was also salty because I was a senior going on the last retreat for the year so I couldn’t even help out in the future like my other friends. The truth needs to be known though. I’ve seen Search used more as a tool of exclusion than a tool for good at my time at Gonzaga and it needs to stop. No more exclusion, only transparency. The best is yet to come.

#kairos #gonzaga #gonzaga university #retreat #search #search secrets #secrets #tbiytc #religon #catholocism #jesuit #mental health

3 notes · View notes

fireflysummers · 6 years

Text

Delta Rune: Addendum

People have asked me if my opinions have shifted at all in light of Toby Fox’s FAQ.

The answer is yes and no.

Also, I’ve gotten a fair amount of...unasked for feedback on my other post, which was mostly just my own musings and opinion? So I might as well just kinda...address a bunch of things here, based on a couple observations over the last 48 hours.

What People Didn’t Like (And Why)

The Repetition of Plot Elements from Undertale in the Dark World

This one’s pretty common, and very justified given that, when the demo first launched, we had no idea that it was a demo. For all we knew, it was some kind of finished product.

Although I didn’t want to believe that this is the case, it’s not uncommon for creators to accidentally fall into a sophomore slump of sorts, where under the pressure of measuring up to their freshman fame, they end up creating something dull and uninspired.

Despite that, there wasn’t any level of self-awareness that indicated that the Dark World was supposed to be a cheaper version of Undertale. And then it ended by falling into the “it was just a dream” trope (not entirely, but close enough), which is one of my least favorite tropes, so I was just turned off altogether.

The Battle System

I didn’t really enjoy the new combat system (that’s definitely a personal thing though...turn-based jrpg games have always been a struggle for me, and I straight up don’t have the time for the strategy that it often takes). That aside, Fox himself admits that the system is rough and really unbalanced.

Also, I get the sense that he wants to bring home that theme of your choices mean nothing, but isn’t exactly sure how to do that yet, which explains a lot of the issues with ACTing in the demo.

Even after he gets it fixed up, I’m not sure I’m really going to enjoy the battle system, although I do commend him for his creativity and the attempt to integrate Undertale’s bullet hell into a turn-based game style.

Underdeveloped Characters

This one I can forgive almost entirely, by nature of it being a demo rather than a finished piece of work. I can relax my criticism of the Dark World NPCs as a result.

That said, I still failed to really feel anything other than aww...cute a couple of times (usually as Ralsei)

Oh, that and a shit ton of existential horror at Undyne and Alphys not knowing each other, the world being generally indifferent to whatever made Susie the way she is, and that everybody is turning a blind eye or actively punishing Asgore for some unknown crime.

But I’ll talk about that a bit more in the next section.

The Vague Relation to Undertale and the Re-Use of Characters

Okay so like. I understand that Toby Fox insists that it’s Not Undertale.

Except that like.

I don’t buy that for a second.

Like, it’s Not Undertale only in the sense that it’s not related to the pacifist ending, but doesn’t disqualify it from being a follow-up to the genocide run (and therefore a direct sequel of sorts).

That aside, if it truly was Not Undertale, then he wouldn’t have named it Delta Rune, brought Gaster into it, and drawn visual and flavor text metaphors to the original game. It’s related, it might be an AU, but that doesn’t make the OOC meanness of the familiar faces easy to swallow.

It could easily interpreted as “unsettling and OOC to show the player that their expectations will be subverted and that there is something Seriously Wrong with this world,” and a lot of people have interpreted it that way! I’m on the fence there myself, but you gotta understand that not everybody shares that interpretation.

For others, including myself to some extent, the message was:

In the absence of dire circumstances, the characters that you were led to believe cared deeply about each other and you, are indifferent, apathetic, and downright mean.

I mean, even if Kris on their own is a total dick? That doesn’t justify the way that the other characters treat each other.

And that lack of warmth in the story was felt like a gut-punch to a small number of people.

On top of that, the weird twist ending didn’t do much to subvert that message. It gave no sense of whether or not the entire thing indicated a fundamentally sick world, or disprove that sense of they only cared about you and others out of a mutual need.

And if you can put yourself in that mindset, you can understand how that could be painful.

What People Didn’t Like About Me (And Others) Not Liking It

You’re Complaining Because it’s Not Undertale

No, I’m complaining because it’s Too Much Undertale. Because my personal prerogative is that Undertale is perfect the way it is and any additional content would only detract value from the original.

I was sincerely hoping for a totally new game, with maybe cameos or nods to Undertale, because I didn’t want to risk that horrible sequel syndrome.

And while we, as fans, can opt to ignore horrible sequels (see: the entirety of the Harry Potter fandom), at the same time...sometimes you can’t unsee what you’ve seen. Sometimes sequels are enough to mar your affections and feelings for characters, especially because it comes from The Voice of God Dog.

You’re Can’t Complain that Things are OOC When It’s an AU!

-rubs forehead-

Look. I don’t know if you know this, but I adore AUs. Not every AU, of course, but I loved the concept and how the community came together to create some kind of semi-cohesive multiverse.

I mean, I literally drew over 100 different AUs: SET 1 || SET 2 || SET 3 || SET 4 || SET 5 || SET 6 || SET 7 || SET 8 ||

But there’s a difference between fandom AUs and canon AUs--namely in that fandom AUs can be as out of character as they want, because it’s a fan creation.

There are multiple series that play with that multiverse theory as well, within their own canons, starting with the entire body of Osamu Tezuka, but also including the works of CLAMP (most notably XxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles), Adventure Time, the Final Fantasy series, and so on.

And the key to making an effective multiverse? The thing that makes it work?

Keeping the characters in-character. There has to be that kind of consistency, otherwise it doesn’t function on a narrative level. You’re just reusing character designs and assigning new personalities, because you’re too lazy to design new characters.

Or worse, you’re baiting in previous players on a sense of nostalgia which is a trick I do not appreciate.

You Shouldn’t Rely on Fictional Works to Aid Your Mental Health

Screw you.

Everybody has Real Issues in their lives. Sometimes we need a hand from something or somebody else to keep moving.

Fine, But There’s No Reason To Be Publicly Upset by DR

It’s okay to dislike additional material, for whatever reason, so long as you’re not attacking others for liking it. It’s okay to be upset by something, even if it’s not rational, and you don’t need to force others to like what you like, nor should you feel guilty that somebody else doesn’t ‘get it.’

Will You Play Chapter 2?

I will purchase it to support Toby Fox on his endeavors.

But you gotta understand, I straight up don’t play video games most of the time. Don’t have the time or the energy.

I only played Undertale after I’d had the whole thing spoiled to me, and knew it was worth the investment of my time. I should’ve waited on this one too, but I was too eager, and instead lost 4-5 hours of critical time for my graduate coursework (which definitely contributed to my annoyance).

TL;DR

You guys realize it’s okay for people to dislike deltarune? It’s okay for them to have been hurt by the characterization in deltarune? And people don’t have to write an essay in order to hold those opinions?

And that you don’t have to aggressively convert people to it like you’re some kind of church missionaries?

-sighs- At any rate, beginning to feel a bit more optimistic overall, and after that interview I can feel Toby Fox’s enthusiasm (he had something cool and he couldn’t wait to show it off!!), and I can get excited for him and others, even if as a whole the entire game experience fell flat.

Some day, I might even warm up to the game well enough to draw some stuff some time. I’ve got some fun ideas and theories, but still refuse to be hopeful that it’ll actually shape up.

Because I am made of salt.

#undertale #undertale spoilers #deltarune #deltarune spoilers #delta rune #delta rune spoilers #text #long post

122 notes · View notes

0poole · 5 years

Text

Psychonauts is a funny thing

So, I got recommended the game on Steam after playing A Hat in Time because the games are uncannily similar (and Hat in Time definitely, 100% took some things from the game, I’m absolutely sure of it) and I just sort of passively cared about it for a while. I watched one of those compilations of the boss battles in the game, and it did look pretty cool to me. Then, the trailer for the sequel came out, and I watched it, had no idea what was going on, and reasoned I could probably play the original between then and the time it came out. The sequel looked pretty visually interesting, and if a sequel looks interesting surely the original has to be too. And, after a few months of sporadic playing, I finally finished it a few seconds ago. Basically, I’d recommend playing it.

But, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten this mad at a game before. It’s an odd feeling, being mad.

First of all, I bought the game on a Steam sale where it was literally only 99 cents. It was soon after the sequel trailer released, so surely it was there to draw people like me in. But, the issue was that the game wouldn’t even start when I first downloaded it. It played the intro, but it instantly minimized itself whenever I tried to pull it up. So, I put that off for a few weeks, and sure enough with no rhyme or reason it started working as intended again. Great. Surely this wouldn’t be representative of the future, right?

Well, sort of. There were a ton of glitches in the game. Most of them involving sketchy platforming, where I should’ve landed or grabbed onto a ledge but didn’t somehow, but only one legitimately stopped me from progressing. Not exactly spoilery, but I confused the first knife thrower you meat (no joke that was unintentional, but I’m keeping it) in the last (second to last?) level, and that made him completely stop doing anything, so I had to reset there. Not very fun.

But, before that, there was a glitch that actually was relatively cool. During the Den Mother boss fight, I used clairvoyance as intended, but after the first time it glitched (but I didn’t realize it) and the platform when completely invisible, but I could still see Raz’s body, so I just reasoned that it was just a progression of the difficulty of the fight. I could still piece together where I had to go to hit the boss, it was just going to be harder. Then, I died, and it started working as intended. It was a little lame, to be honest. Nothing changed from that point. I was obviously having trouble, though, so I wasn’t going to complain.

Then, an issue on my side of things was that I very often was stuck on what to do, and basically just ran around confused for 30+ minutes. I’m a pussy when it comes to video games, to be honest. I genuinely appreciate direction when I play, even if too much of it is obviously a bad thing. It’s usually because of how many Nintendo games I play. They usually give pretty clear hints where to go. I swear, if I couldn’t call on Cruller to help me, I would’ve never made it.

The funny thing is that, most of the time my confusion was a result of me just forgetting about the floating power. I would jump, fall, try again, and stare at the ledge until something magically appeared. Once I looked up the answer to my first problem online (where the old meat’s stench was the thing you had to float up on) I realized it, but still got stuck on later instances where you had to use it. I don’t know why that one mechanic constantly slipped my mind. I play video games. I should know updraft = you can float on it. That, and wood = burnable.

I do wish they forced you to get an item/power that you needed to get before you progressed BEFORE you actually got to the point where you needed it. Mainly when it came to the cobweb duster, at least. That thing was hella expensive, but I avoided it because I thought it was just one of those things for collectathon-ers who wanted to 100% the game. But, turns out, there’s only like one or two points where cobwebs are actually blocking your path, so I had to stop all progress and farm arrowheads to get that. Even worse, I bought other stuff with the arrowheads I got up until that point, so I had to farm a lot more.

But, apart from more specific stuff, that’s basically all the negative things I have to say about the game. Even though I did actually, legitimately get mad at multiple points, looking back on it all with a sound mind, it’s actually a really good, interesting game.

Honestly, the overall concept of the game is the best part. It has such insane potential, probably more so than any other concept I’ve heard of. The idea that you can go inside a person’s mind and interact with it in the form of a physical world/level is so cool. Really, there’s no better form of characterization. The serious contrast between the minds of someone like Milla, who’s clearly a partier, and Sasha, who’s clearly straight out of the Matrix, is such fun to experience. Obviously anyone would have a metaphorical, sprawling land as their mind, but how Sasha can control all of that and pull it out at will is really cool. On the other hand, Fred barely has a world to explore. He cares so much about the game that he only exists in a room, and the game is represented in the larger land, with all the different types of people. Then, Boyd the conspiracy theorist is trying to connect everything with winding pathways that flip over and cross with each other. Apart from the obvious ““normal”” neighborhood that’s constantly spying on him.

That level has to be my favorite in the entire game, even though it’s one of the ones that I got stuck on. A lot of that definitely came down to how the G-Men clearly inspired the C.A.W. Agents in A Hat in Time, who were really well done in both games. I noticed it instantly, and that made it so much more fun. Plus, that level introduced Clairvoyance, which might be the must useless yet the most interesting power in the game. They put so much effort into how you appear in the eyes of other characters (even the NPCs and enemies) that it’s kind of shocking. You really only use it for a part or two of that level and the boss fight (which made really good use of it), and then it just becomes a device for Easter eggs. Considering each of the other campers were mostly seemed like occasional throwaway jokes or funny images, they really thought about who they were and what they wanted.

Obviously, I’d be remiss to not talk about the character designs. This is essentially The Nightmare Before Christmas on steroids when it comes to character models. Some were obvious references to other things, like Sasha looking like Neo, or Cruller looking like Einstein, but even then they felt like their own characters. Overall, they’re a little too crazy to be at the top of my tastes, but they’re perfect for the atmosphere. I especially loved the Butcher’s design for some reason, even though it’s pretty standard for an over-exaggerated butcher character. He just looked really cool. The only design I was kinda iffy about was the Censors, who were awesome in concept, but looked a little too mortal-looking for something present in pretty much everyone’s mind. Maybe people just associate censoring with Cog-esque business people, and that’s why they always look like that. I do like the idea of them progressing into the giant Judges you see in the sequel trailer, though.

Then, the unsung hero of them all: The little bubble bug you always see in everyone’s psyches. I don’t think I ever actually used him, but he was adorable. Apparently his name is Oatmeal too? That’s adorable. I love him.

Back to the Butcher, though, with spoilers if you care: I liked the idea that both Oleander and Raz were embellishing their parents’ impressions of them and who they themselves actually were. It made sense, because children are so much more impressionable. They’d think that their dads are monsters, and carry that into adulthood (or, just later childhood in Raz’s case). Although, I do understand why Oly would be scarred by his father, but I don’t think we really got confirmation as to why Raz thought his father was so against his Psychic powers. Maybe that’ll be explained in the sequel? Maybe there’s some backstory I forgot about/didn’t know about? Probably. I doubt the writers just forgot about it.

Worth the 99 cents? Fuck yeah man. It sold me on the sequel, so they’re gonna get my money one way or another.

#psychonauts #opinions #review #rant #rambling #poole #2

15 notes · View notes

jooshthepunished · 5 years

Text

Spoilers!

I didn't realize there were so many episodes of Love, Death + Robots, it's already taken me hours to watch 7 and a bit episodes (I also pause to unpack information, as I do with everything), so I'm gonna limit my general complaints and praises to what I've seen so far.

Firstly, I've noticed a trend in these stories. It's not in all of them but so far it's been in most of them. I'll expound on this later.

I'm going to list these in order.

Sonnie's Edge put me off right from the start by injecting a hard political statement in the first five minutes that influenced my perception of the piece as a whole. If I were to watch it again, or perhaps a few times, I don't think it would bother me quite as much. I can brush it off as a character quirk that adds depth or perhaps even shallowness to the characters. It is a little hard to shake that the ultimate antagonist is a man literally named "Dicko" who at one point is talked about with very general and possibly metaphorical language (which, perhaps ironically, is a failure of the Bechdel test). The odd way that the female characters are... Displayed... For lack of a better term, is quite hilarious to me. Throughout the piece Sonnie wears a practically see-through wife beater tank top and her nipples are perpetually erect. One of her cohorts merely wears an open leather jacket as a top. I don't personally see how either of these wardrobe choices adds to the story beyond the world's aesthetic, so they're just kind of there. Even more on this later.

Three Robots was a fun little short with lots of charm. Its ultimate political message was still underlying as the catalyst for the setting of the piece, while also being played off as a joke, but it didn't bother me much because personally I think no one will have the last laugh on the matter of climate change because regardless our descendants will be too busy trying to survive whatever ills either nature or their form of society brings to them. Good luck with that, kids.

The Witness was the most like an episode of The Twilight Zone, but instead of being broadcast on a public access channel, it's on fucking Pornhub. It had a really interesting premise of this sort of infinite loop with alternating roles, but all the extremely graphic nudity and sexual themes are really distracting from it. But more on this weird theme of completely gratuitous sex and nudity later (I promise I'll get to it, and I feel I have some very good points to make). I somewhat enjoyed it, but Jesus someone just tone it down. Not everything has to be Skinemax. It really does injustice to an intriguing story to compound it with needless flash.

Suits was so far my absolute favorite. I thought it was fun and exciting, with several bagsful of charm. It was so good that I don't have a lot to say about it except that I wish it had been longer. But it kind of speaks for itself in that regard, so if you watch anything at all from this anthology series based on my recommendation, make it this one. It also doesn't suffer "the theme."

Sucker of Souls was... Interesting... It had lots of fun violent action and it's portrayal of Vampires is extremely cool. It thankfully only has one bit of graphic nudity, and it isn't sexualized, it's more just benign. What is sexualized, however, is cats and dialogue. And that's a shame.

When the Yogurt Took Over was stupid and I don't care what anybody says. It was pointless. Something something man, something something arrogance and hubris, something something save us from ourselves, blah blah blah shut up. I hated this short so much that I'm not giving it the courtesy of a proper analysis. Also, tits in the Thumbnail.

Beyond the Aquila Rift was pretty good, despite some bizarre slipping accents. There was literally no reason for the primarily English cast to nebulize their accents for this one, and hearing a slip kind of takes me out of the story a little. It's a personal nitpick that doesn't apply to everyone's experience, I know. Not everyone can pull a perfect accent for multiple full-day sessions on a Mocap stage or in a recording booth. I get it. That's a me problem, not an it problem. Anyway. Like The Witness, Aquila Rift was very reminiscent of The Twilight Zone. And it did have it's own problem with gratuitous sex and nudity, and I PROMISE I'M TRYING TO GET THERE BEAR WITH ME PLEASE. The story could absolutely have been told without the graphic sex scene, and I find the implicit to be a far better storytelling tool than the explicit. Overall, I thought it was an interesting sci-fi mystery with a good (if somewhat predictable) climax (heh ignore that).

I'm still in the process of watching Good Hunting, so I think I'll wait until later to give my opinion on it. Though so far the furry vibe does not inspire much confidence. At the very least it can be justified in the plot.

Now I think I'll get to my thoughts on how some of these stories are linked.

It's this sort of sexual gratuity that I've observed Feminist-leaning Hollywood giving us whiplash over for a long time. Gratuitous sex and nudity in Hollywood exist as tools which males use to objectify females, and as female empowerment symbolism simultaneously. It's very selective and arbitrary to the point of being confusing. They seem to either worship or vilify sex, particularly the naked female form. Aquila Rift did turn it on its head by intentionally using it as a story point to distract a character (and by extension the viewer) from the insufferable reality around him, but again, I feel like the implicit rather than the explicit would have been a better choice for the story. In Sonnie's Edge (which indeed was very, very ow tha edge kind of edgy) there's a clear and obvious sapphic fetishism which tells me a lot about whomever wrote it. Personally I tend to think of lesbians as fellow human beings that I share a planet with, and not as golden fucking calves that can be exploited through marketing, posturing, and signaling, but what do I know? I have a penis.

I'm tired of everything in media being turned into softcore (or in the case of The Witness, practically hardcore) pornographic posturing. It's a dull storytelling tool that they formulate to keep the idiots interested, then they come up with a justification for it later (typically a metaphorical one, something something symbol of male gaze, something something symbol of empowerment, something something symbol of vulnerability, take your pick, there's a whole deck here). I'm not advocating that they be censored, I just wish they'd lift some of the pressure off of this particular visual crutch. It's becoming vapid.

I do want to say that I feel like we've come very very far in terms of sheer visual quality with computer animation. The photoreal graphics are slowly becoming almost indistinguishable from live action. It's very impressive, and I see it as a net positive for entertainment and only entertainment.

It does flicker a crazy conspiracy theorist switch in my mind that mankind has the capacity to use this technology for its own ends, be they political or otherwise. It scares me a bit that animation might one day become so good that we might never know what's actually going on when we watch the news media, not that we know much from the news anymore anyway. It's just frightening to me that the media could fake political statements from powerful people just to cause and stir controversy, or to cover up unsavory comments made by whatever party controls the prone-to-bias media at the time.

Deep existential dread aside, I've enjoyed much of what I've seen so far. Sorry for the long post, Tumblr hasn't added Read More to mobile. It's the most egregious of their crimes.

1 note · View note

whatscoolaccordingtodom · 6 years

Text

July 2018

As winter nyasto settles into the Southern Hemisphere, I can’t help but think that maybe we’re doing something wrong and whoever has been in charge of the weather these past few years is mad. Our ancestors wore nothing but a bit of hide over their groins 365 days a year, my great-great grandfather never slept inside anything his whole life. They say on particularly cold nights, his family would come down from the hills to sleep around his fire, where he would sit there playing his mbira into the wee hours.

Umphako floated down to us on the 6thof July and I’ve been Mascandi through the streets ever since. The 4 track EP sees most of the songs go in different directions, but still make sense on the overall project. “Abangani” features label mates Emtee and Saudi, it’s definitely in the running for Squad Song of the Year. The “Confession” sample sounds like it was taken from an old hip-hop song, maybe a 50 Cent track and; the vocals though beautiful as they may be are overshadowed by the lyrics. I’m sure a few Zulu boys are convinced though. “Intombi” -also about a girl- talksis about all the lies she hears from interested suiters. The remaining is the hustle track, even the production is more upbeat than we’re used to from him. 2018 has been good to Sjava too, he came out from under the shadow of his labelmate and established himself as a serious contender with the Black Panther nod, BET award, and oh so Afrikan press run; this EP serves to show he’s still the guy who gave us favourites like “Before”. At least for now...

Strings and Blings is one half songs that can be bangers and the other is half is talking RnB. Nasty C’s on and off long-time girlfriend is kind of like the centerpiececentre piece, often finding herself being spoken to, of, from, about, and with; but he uses inconsistent angles. (Also, S/O to the girl who always sings on his songs but never gets credited). “No Respect” is my favourite offering on the project by far, it sounds like it was getting good, like he was about to rip at niggers, he’s about to start going in at the 1-minute mark then the just stops.; Tthe track ends 25 seconds later preventing what probably would’ve been a PR nightmare for him. “Jiggy Jigga”, “Givenchy”, “Strings and Bling” and “Gravy” are all easy plays in the club. We would like to thank Nasty for saying a Zulu word on “Blisters”. The whole album plays very well except for “My Baby”, that song is terribly cheesy; it sounds like every song by a boy band with a potty mouth lead singer. “SMA” is a standout from the other side, the dialogue verse’s add a layer to the rapper and Rowlene is just perfect. “Mrs Me” and “Everything” are the other emotionally heavy songs. “Casanova” cements just how much Nasty loves Metro Boomin and is perhaps the one track that doesn’t really fit into the 2 sides of album, it sounds emotional, but the lyrics really just aren’t.

A welcome addition to my favourite rappers in South Africa is Zakwe, he’s been around for a while but Cebisa is the first project by him I’ve listened to and honestly, it carries itself even without Sebentin. In true South African fashion, the remix is a who’s who of our rap elite but it’s all overshadowed by the obvious trade of bars by HHP and Cassper., Cass just seems to rub some people the wrong way, poor guy. At 20 songs, averaging well over 3 minutes each. The album is a long play but it’s well worth the listen, with a plethora of features to keep you entertained it plays like a Zakwe and friends playlist. The man himself has honed his sound, this nonchalant cross between hip-hop and kwaito is best described by the albums stand out line “Pac was Jesus, Zola wrote the Bible”. He isn’t stuck in old hip hop either, trap beats found themselves nestled in the playlist too.

Future gave us Beast Mode 2 and I am satiated, but Atlanta spoils us (I have a theory about how it had a direct influence on how music is frequently now released), they understand that the streets need new music often. Jeffery needs to give us something more now since Hear No Evil was a while ago and it was 3 songs long. Future seems to be the only one of late who can get Young Thug into the studio too., Tthey did release Georgia, but a Thug feature was not on the cards for BM2 which really only has 2 features, both young artists who were given a wide berth to shine. People who say Future isn’t a lyricist need to take time out to listen to the first Beast Mode. On these albums over Zaytovens most almost gospel like production, he addresses a wide range of issues from his self-medicating drug problem, he checks himself trying to hold onto some sense of reality I think, but he makes it so that you have to listen to know what he’s saying. Being a workaholic -the man releases projects at an alarming rate- and the excess that seems to come with the life of having your “Racks Blue”, he talks about his anxieties both external and psychological. BM2 is the classic mix of Futures braggadocio and insecurities. It plays like one long thing the first time, but if you take the time to listen to what he’s saying you might realise why his spot amongst those at the top of rap is a non-debatable topic.

Unjayam uSliqe… this calling card annoyed me when I first heard it, but it’s kinda grown on me since then. I know I’m about to hear a hit when it plays. His sophomore album is a shining example of how hip-hop albums by DJ’s have evolved into their own league. Jam packed with features, feel good songs, and amazing production from the man himself, I don’t know if he just makes the beats and let’s people do their own thing or if he composes and directs each song, maybe he does a bit of both. The formula works, Navy Black is like a calm afternoon with your friends, most of the songs share a skeleton, so the vibe is carried well. “Biskop” is a fitting way to begin the album, it’s an ode to how the journey Sliqe, Kwesta and Makwa has transformed the artists’ lives since they started hustling, when is a Kwesta verse not welcome? Chiano Sky is the new naughty white girl, “Aunty” was nice, but “Girls Jungle” is a lot; the sample is so perfect and her lyrics are irreverent. Sy Ari saw Black Panther 5 times, I was going to discuss this but then I found out he’s American; him and AKA really came through for “Oh Well” though, Supa Mega talks like the big brother all young rappers have always wanted. I’m kind of torn between “Fully” (because we get to say FULLY a bunch of times), and “Town Talk”, it’s cool to see Wrecking Crew members make hits without their big gun. “Backyard” is the vibe of the album, and who better to call for a feature than Mr Hennessy, Tshego can sound like him featuring him with the different pitches he can sing at; it’s smooth and never overly emotional?

Gigi Lamayne, in her short time has built an enviable career finding her place in the league of our small handful of rappers. “VI” is a 6 track EP, her first since signing with Ambitious and it was built kind of like this version Maslow'sMaslows pyramid.; Tthe top is tiny and signifies the worst song as we descend into the album the sections get thicker until the bottom where we find “VI” waiting for us. The tape gets much better immediately with “Iphupho”, this song see’s the artist sing her truths about living in this concrete jungle while demanding to cash in on her dreams. “Roll” is dirtier, real trap shit reminiscent of “Beez in The Trap”. “Stimela” is fun, Gigi even gets in some good raps and punchlinespunch lines, a highlight being “I’m Gautrain, you Shosholoza”. “VI” is really easy listening, with a light sprinkling of zulu lines, the beats are catchy but maybe none more so than “Twinkle”; “Londie London” croons the memorable chorus and Gigi offers her most solid verses on the project. Until you hear the title track, she does the correct thing on the outro; no chorus, shit she barely lets it breathe until the last minute.

Ice Prince is an established name in Afrikan hip-hop and his confidence oozes out of his songs too. A few of them seem to be more about weed than anything else in particular and I’m okay with that. The albums opening track is a bass heavy banger, with the help of Jethro Faded, Ice-Prince “Shuts it Down”, which might be a weird way to start an album. Remy Baggins comes through for “Space Funk”, a Bruno Mars-y chorus with solid verses by Ice. “Hit Me Up” is the albums single, a typical South African trap track, PatricKxxLee & Straffitti help bring the head nods out. “‘Interlude”’ is his way of letting us know that this is the emotional track of the album and “Die For Your Love” does not disappoint, mans really promises to die for her love; but doesn’t miss the opportunity to mention weed again. I think I noticed all the weed references because of how frequently and prominently most of them are placed. “254” has one right in the chorus, but the verses are some of the most enjoyable on the whole album; they play like one long story. The uncredited singing bit at the end of “254″ is really nice, if that is Ice then kudos to him. “So High”, seriously, has Ice Prince always been this proud about his stoner ways? Anyways, “So High” is an anthem dedicated to just how high Ice Prince and Kay Switch get. By the sounds of it they use regular rizla and not Raw like Nasty C and Snoop Dogg, I might suggest switching to unbleached rizla if he really does smoke from Niger to Ghana. I mean, it’s an obvious metaphor for other kinds of highs too, success, girls, etc, but with the sound effects and lines like “puff puff pass, real nigger smoking that gas” the weed references might be all we get. “Watching You” is a simpler, way more vibey track where Ice Prince gets back onto his singing shit, helping keep the song as smooth as possible. The album closer is arguably the best, the production is really enjoyable, and he made sure to use easy to remember lyrics.

In The Faculty NEWS; on August 2, Human Error turned 19 and Tinayeishe Elisha Makoni better known by his stage name S.K.eye released his debut solo tape titled “Pseudology”. Please listen to it on Soundcloud @ https://soundcloud.com/tinayemakoni/sets/pseudology

Couldn’t leave without acknowledging Stay Dangerous and Astroworld, but that’s for later.

Beyonce and her husband are coming on the 2nd of December, but you have to earn a ticket. The only other ticket you work this hard to get in life is the one to Heaven, if you’re into that type of thing.

Edited by @NyraBlac

#Umphako Sjava Stringsandbling Nastyc SaB Zakwe Cebisa Future BM2 BeastMode2 #Navy DJSlique GigiLamayne VI #IcePrince Cold #S.K.eye Pseudology TheFaculty YG StayDangerous TravisScott Astroworld NyraBlac

8 notes · View notes

myassbrokethefall · 6 years

Note

Do you have any favorite scifi shows? Or any recommendations?

Well! This is a fun ask. Let me see…

So, I really like sci-fi, but sometimes I also don’t like sci-fi. I overdosed a little bit on spaceship stuff after my years of Star Trek obsession and then BSG (and like, I hear The Expanse is great but I just…haven’t been in the mood), and these days my favorite sci-fi is talky, high-concept atmospheric mystery stuff in a fairly realistic world where something is a little bit weird. What I really DON’T like is violence/shooting/chasing/action, and a lot of sci-fi, unfortunately, is that. (Westworld, I am looking at your ass.) I also am a LITTLE bit over sci-fi as sledgehammery social parable, again a la Star Trek. Even though I’ll always love Star Trek (and will get around to watching Discovery one of these days).

Some sci-fi TV that I’ve enjoyed recently includes:

(hey surprise, this got very long! so it’s under a cut)

Dark. There’s just one season of this on Netflix right now, but I LOVVVVVED it. Talk about atmospheric. It made me want to move to Germany and live in a forest where it rains all the time. It’s in German – this isn’t a bother to me because I like subtitles, but it’s available dubbed as well if you prefer that. It takes place in a small town and starts with a missing child, and it quickly becomes clear that something strange is going on. Time travel is an element. A central part of it becomes about the way all the characters in the town are interconnected and how the events of the past affect the future. It’s part Lost, part Stranger Things, part Back to the Future.

The Returned/Les Revenants. So there’s an American show called The Returned as well, and this is not that one – the one I’m talking about is in French (sorry…I swear some ones without subtitles are coming) and was on uh, IFC or something like that. One day in a(n extremely attractive and cinematic) French town in the mountains, a girl comes home from a class field trip…except she died on that field trip years ago, in a bus accident, and her family is completely shocked and freaked out. The same thing is happening all across town. Includes one (1) very creepy child. Very spooky and also super atmospheric. (One reason I loved Dark so much was that aesthetically it reminded me of Les Revenants.)

The 4400. I binged this show and had a window of time in my life where I was super obsessed with it. Premise is similar to The Returned, actually: A bunch of people (4,400 of them to be precise) who were believed to be the victims of alien abductions – across many years – are returned to earth all at the same time, all at the age they left. So you have a man who was taken in the 1950s (Mahershala Ali!) and a little girl from the 1930s, etc., all dropped back into modern-day America – and most of them (all of them? I forget) have mysterious powers of various kinds. Two police detectives (am I predictable or what) investigate. Things escalate from there. It is a little XF-y in a way I appreciate, while also being totally different (and much less arty than something like Les Revenants).

Stranger Things. I might as well list it…everyone knows about this show but it really is pretty great. Season 1 especially. Huge ET vibes, creepy/Spielbergy, not a cop-out where it’s all a metaphor or something (pet peeve).

Fringe. This isn’t so recent (well, neither is The 4400), but if you like sci-fi and you haven’t watched it, you should! It starts out being a liiiiiiittle bit of a less-hooky ripoff of XF (a group of FBI folks, including a retired mad scientist basically, investigate paranormal cases), but after a few episodes it finds its groove and it becomes its own weird and wonderful thing. It was a show I really enjoyed and it ended satisfyingly. John Noble as Walter Bishop is fantastic, and one thing I really loved about it was that it was not afraid to make things happen and shake up the premise if needed.

Jessica Jones. I really, really am not into Marvel or any of the superhero stuff, but I like this show a lot. It puts the idea of having “powers” in a very grounded kind of gritty, cynical, noir-y setting and I enjoy that. It’s also woman-focused, which is nice, and it’s just different from other stuff on TV. I dig it.

Orphan Black. Man, I loved Orphan Black. What a fun show, and – not necessarily the most important thing to me in a show, but hugely refreshing nonetheless – it’s also very woman-centered. The premise is that a woman named Sarah sees someone who looks exactly like her – right before the doppelganger throws herself in front of a train. And in unraveling the mystery, Sarah learns that she’s a clone and she has a bunch of “sisters.” Tatiana Maslany is FREAKING AMAZINGGGGG as all the various clones. It is definitely sci-fi, but it’s also a lot of fun and just a fast-moving, action-packed (but not in a way that makes my eyes glaze over) cool-ass show.

Grimm. Grimm was a pretty silly network-y show, but my affection for it really never waned (though it also never really went too far above “mild”). Premise: Basically, that fairytale monsters (broadly speaking) are real and walk among us (disguised for the most part), and there are these people called Grimms who can see them and are supposed to fight them. Lots of ancient documents, old books, mysterious keys, etc. This one dude who is a police detective in Portland (it was shot in Portland and is basically the second Portland-iest show after Portlandia, as far as I can tell) finds out that he’s a Grimm, and he meets this guy who is one of these monsters but also a delightfully civilized clock nerd who becomes his friend and helps him learn about this hidden world, and it’s pretty much monster-of-the-week episodes every week (though there is a mytharc of sorts involving an evil cabal of European royalty or something, snore). I think it’s the people who did Angel (which I never watched; I’m not a Buffy person). It also started the same year as Once Upon a Time, so it was the “other” fairytale show.

The Leftovers. Technically, it’s sci-fi. It’s also just very imaginative storytelling, and is a good example of what I mean by high-concept and atmospheric and something being a little bit weird in an otherwise contemporary setting. (This is a post-Lost Damon Lindelof, and Damon Lindelof has learned from his Lost mistakes, with wonderful results.) The central premise is a sci-fi one (2% of the earth’s population mysteriously vanishes), but aside from that there are also just a lot of kind of fantastic imaginative leaps and surreal settings and…ah, The Leftovers. My standard intro/warning: Season 1, while really good, is VERY depressing; Season 2 becomes marginally less depressing while also changing things up considerably and in my opinion becoming much better; Season 3 is even better than that. Love you, show.

Lost. I suppose I should mention it even though it’s another obvious one. I have rarely been hooked as hard as I was by the pilot of this show. It doesn’t necessarily deliver on everything it promises, and it’s interesting to think of it in terms of it being one of the first shows to, basically, cancel itself – to choose to end so that it could pace its story effectively and lead to a deliberate ending instead of just vamping forever and trying to keep sucking the audience in for one more season until that stopped working and it was canceled. However, before that happened there was some time-killing, and I think that maybe contributes to people’s perception that it didn’t know what it was doing half the time. A divisive ending that I did not have a problem with. If you watch it in the spirit of being taken on a ride and enjoying the feelings that the twists and turns give you in the moment, you’ll find it more satisfying than if you’re trying to solve every mystery and trying to make it all work out perfectly with every loose end tied up.

The OA. This was a weird-ass motherfucking show on Netflix and I still don’t know what the fuck it was about. I feel like I dreamed it. It maybe involves angels? And stuff.

Carnivale. Lord, talk about atmosphere. This was an HBO show several years ago now about a creepy traveling circus in the 1930s. Being on HBO, it’s very violent and dirty and twisted and stuff. I was obsessed with it, and loved watching it although I vaguely remember the ending being not super satisfying? I should rewatch it, really, because I have forgotten a lot about it beyond impressions (it started in 2003). It’s not that sci-fi, but it has kind of mysterious portents and shit like that all over the place. Anytime I see anything remotely carnival-y I’m like AAAHHH CARNIVALE

Westworld. Sigh…I’m having a lot of trouble connecting to the season of Westworld that’s currently airing (Season 2, on HBO). I loved Season 1. My opinion is that they blew their premise too quickly and now they have nowhere to go – it’s just been violent chaos of the sort that puts me to sleep. Literally – one episode a couple of weeks ago I tried to watch and fell asleep during TWICE – two evenings in a row – before I finally got through it on Day 3. Because it was just a bunch of shooting. But the premise is cool – in the undetermined nearish future, there is a giant elaborate theme park where extremely realistic robots interact with the superrich guests who pay to come and basically be super destructive and violent (this show doesn’t have a particularly high opinion of humanity) in an Old West-themed setting. Like Disney World if your dream was to fuck and murder everyone in the Hall of Presidents. It’s made by one of the Nolans so there are lots of twists and also you don’t know what the hell is going on half the time. But there are some high-budget groovy sci-fi set pieces in it, and if you like amazing piano covers of popular songs (sometimes but not always in the in-show context of the player piano in the saloon), that is a fantastic bonus (the music is terrific overall). ROBOTS.

Battlestar Galactica. Speaking of robots. I loved the hell out of this show, although I have my issues with it. I felt when I first saw it (this is the 2000s remake I’m talking about, not the 1970s original) that it was like Star Trek had grown up. It gets more and more high-concept the longer it goes on, and some people weren’t fans of where it ended up (I, again, was fine with it), but it starts out with a hell of a premise: Cylons (humanlike robots originally created by humanity, which then evolved) destroy almost all of the human race except for a few stragglers in a few scattered ships, who have to pull together and somehow survive. Great acting, great writing, big themes, Laura Roslin.

Black Mirror. This is an anthology series, meaning each one is a short story basically, with different characters, a different near-future setting, and a different premise (often having to do with technology going wrong. In the words of Mallory Ortberg: What If Phones, But Too Much?) Some of them are better than others but if you can take some upsetting conceptual stuff, it’s really a super interesting show. Your bingeing tolerance may vary, but I personally could not handle more than a couple of episodes a night.

Roswell. Holy shit I was so into this fucking teen soap opera about aliens. Also not recent. They might do a remake of this I heard?? MAX + LIZ 4EVA

Millennium. Yes…Chris Carter’s Other Show. I’ve said this before, but in a weird way I feel like this show is…CC’s best work???? Without the chemistry supernova of Mulder and Scully dimming everything around it, the “scary stories” he’s always talking about actually have room to be kind of interesting. It also works with his inclination to do what is essentially an anthology series loosely connected via recurring characters that are almost more narrators/observers than participants. In XF, this makes me want to break things when it results in stagnated character growth and no continuity and endless reset-button-pushing. In Millennium, Frank wandering grimly through the show universe encountering fable after fable (grimmer than XF – less on the stretchy mutants and fat-sucking vampires and lake monsters and Reticulans and spooky green bugs; more serial killers and cults and angels and apocalyptic stuff) actually worked pretty darn well for me. It’s not that the characters aren’t good, but they are VERYYYYY archetypal (kind of like how M&S could have been if not given such aliveness and humanity by David and Gillian, and Morgan and Wong and Vince Gilligan at that). Frank Black is the tormented detective, he has a beautiful kind wife and an innocent young daughter and they live in a beatific yellow house and he has to keep them safe from the evils out in the darkness. You might say this is hammered home a lot. But: the kind of mythic tone of it is a much better fit here than on XF. Lance Henriksen is perfect as Frank, and some of the stories are really absorbing and emotional. I cried during WAY more Millennium episodes (I can think of three or four off the top of my head that I remember WEEPING openly over, one of which stars Darren McGavin) than I ever have at XF.

Everything changes in Season 2 when Morgan and Wong take over as (I believe) showrunners – things lighten up considerably versus S1; there’s even a Darin episode! With Jose Chung! And the Spotnitz Sanitarium! – and then everything changes again in S3 when they leave. The show does suffer from a lack of cohesion in that sense, and frankly the “mytharc” parts never did a lot for me (loosely, the world is going to end in the year 2000 and a cabal of mysterious dudes something something). But there is a lot of cool shit in this show. There really is. Every few years I attempt a rewatch and never finish; I should try again. In late fall, which is the only time Millennium should be watched.

BONUS

Face Off. This isn’t sci-fi per se (it’s a reality competition show, on Syfy), but if you’re a sci-fi person you might love it. The way I describe it to people is very simple: It’s the exact same premise and structure as Project Runway, except instead of fashion, it’s FX makeup. The best thing about it is that everyone is NICE and HELPFUL to each other. It’s a bunch of creative nerds making monsters together and the competition element is there but no one is a dick and there’s no fighting and drama. Michael Westmore, who did the makeup on Star Trek: TNG among many other acclaimed projects, is the mentor (and the dad of the show’s host, McKenzie Westmore), and he pops in to give dad advice to all these starstruck dorks. The new season just started and it’s just a fun show. I have, at times, thought of it as my FAVORITE show on TV.

Well, that was probably more than you wanted, anon! I feel like I’m missing some, too. TV! I like it.

#scifi #this is very long #hit me up with your faves!#how did it get to be 12:30? i might reblog this tomorrow since no one is awake lol #ask: can you recommend any scifi shows?#me: transcribes every thought i have ever had about any scifi show in my entire life #i feel like these answers are all super basic oh well #Anonymous

8 notes · View notes

hollyplays · 6 years

Text

The Roundup: July 2018

It’s been a shitty, shitty month. I’m getting evicted, we got into a car accident, the new insurance has my girlfriend confused for someone with a horrible speeding ticket record, and my little brother, who is learning to drive, has started hiding the car keys for some reason.

I have a tendency to hoard media. During my first year of college I was extremely depressed and contemplating suicide when I read a piece of advice- find something to look forward to, and you’ll never do it. So I started hoarding comics- I think I have 180 GBs of comics on my computer- and movies.

Well, at some point during July things got so bad I started burning through my movies. I’m not sure exactly how many I watched, but...it’s a lot. This is going to be long.

(I have since stopped watching multiple movies a day, and gone back to semi normal movie watching habits.)

Tampopo: I think I technically watched this in June and forgot, but I love it. Tampopo is a “food western” about a group of food enthusiasts helping a young woman perfect her ramen restaurant. Tampopo has lots of smaller vignettes about how food affects our lives, and the result is lovely and comforting and meditative. Tampopo is excellent, and manages to have one of the best opening scenes to a movie I’ve ever seen.

The Exterminating Angel: This was my first movie by Luis Bunuel, and I loved it. This kind of supernaturalish, surreal horror really really works for me. Plus, the rich suffer, which is always nice. This movie is really wonderful, plus the behind-the-scenes stuff on the blu-ray was super interesting. Apparently to make the actors more uncomfortable in the scene, Bunuel would rub honey all over their arms. Nasty.

The Fisher King: My second Gilliam movie. Better than Jabberwocky, but I still wouldn’t call it good. Robin Williams was excellent as always, but I felt like Jeff Bridges was playing half a character. It had some touching scenes, but overall kind of forgettable. I don’t think I’ll be seeking out Gilliam anymore.

Badlands: I try not to judge directors on their first movie, but Badlands really comes out in Malick’s favor. This is as wonderful a movie about a serial killer as I’m likely to ever see. It’s like a landscape painting with characters. It manages to never be slow or drag despite long flowing scenes. I’m still thinking about Badlands more than a month later, and that says a lot.

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine: This is a really interesting game. WWTLW has one of the most unique mechanics I’ve ever seen in a video game, and the process of watching your stories grow and evolve is so, so cool. I wish the overworld map wasn’t so barren, and that the sprinting mechanic wasn’t such a pain, but beyond that this game is excellent. The writing here is top-notch.

Eraserhead: I’d technically seen this before, but I was half asleep so I’m counting it. Eraserhead is obviously good- it’s film history for a reason- but on a second viewing I’m struck by just how impressive the visual storytelling is. The dialogue in this movie could fit on half a page, but there’s still so so much to it. You need to see this at least once.

Frances Ha: “Frustrating, but enjoyable” seems to be Baumbach’s general ouvre, and Frances Ha is no exception. Still, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Frances is likable, even when she’s fucking up, which is more than I can say for her life partner Sophie. For as much time as Frances spends making mistakes, it’s really lovely and warm to see things come together for her in the end. Worth a watch, especially at an hour and fifteen minutes.

The Thin Red Line: Jesus christ, this movie is so long. It’s two hours and forty minutes long, and nothing of worth happens after the forty minute mark. It’s a war movie that manages to be beautiful and haunting, which would be impressive if it didn’t just fucking drag. I might watch this again and just turn it off at two hours, honestly.

Days of Heaven: I wanted this to be better than Thin Red Line and it was. Days of Heaven brings Malick’s landscape painter sensibility to labor in the 20th century, and the result is genuinely fantastic. The visuals here are stunning, even if the story is a little lacking- my biggest frustration is that most of the story events take place in the third act, like Days of Heaven is the first part in a series of novels that doesn’t exist.

Fat Girl: I get what this movie was trying to do. I understand the metaphor for how dangerous it is to be a woman. I get it, and I can respect it, but fuck do I hate this movie. I just don’t wanna watch 2 hours of a young fat girl getting shit on by her family, interspersed with rape scenes. I’m not interested in that, no matter how pretty it’s shot.

Mary and the Witch’s Flower: I watched this as a palate cleanser after Fat Girl, and it served that purpose just fine. It’s an okay movie on it’s own, but in the shadow of the rest of Ghibli it kind of pales. The animation and visuals are as phenomenal as ever, but the story is a little all over the place. Definitely still enjoyable, but sort of middling.

Sounds of Summer by Ten Toes Spumoni: If we’re Facebook friends, you’ve probably already seen me talk about this album. It’s been on repeat around here pretty much since it came out. Ten Toes Spumoni is a good friend of mine, and I genuinely believed nothing he made would top Journal of Hypnosis, but Sounds of Summer blows it out of the fuckin water. Throw a few bucks his way, because he deserves it.

Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette: This is a standup comedy act that isn’t particularly funny. It’s amazing, and full of toothed commentary on the world and LGBT issues, but it isn’t funny. It’s heavy, and hard to watch, and worth the trouble. I think this is one of the few things I gave 5 stars this month, and it deserves it.

Wizard of Legend: A big part of watching movies for me this month has been finding the perfect roguelike to play while I watch movies. I eventually settled on Gungeon, but Wizard of Legend was a strong contender too. It’s roguelike elements are really enjoyable, and finding the perfect combination of spells is fun, but resources are a little too scarce for my liking.

My Own Private Idaho: I loved this movie more than I expected to, and I knew I’d like it. My Own Private Idaho offers an exceptionally gay take on modern Shakespeare, and River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves are absolutely phenomenal here. The interview segments are a little hard to watch, but the rest of the movie is beautiful and sad and lovely. One of my favorites in a long time.

Coco: Similar to Witch’s Flower, I thought this was fine. The music is wonderful, and the animation is beautiful, but the story is a little lacking, especially towards the third act. I think Pixar forgot how to write villains that aren’t just ‘good guy’s been bad the whole time’. Hell, even Incredibles 2 did it.Those complaints aside, Coco is really enjoyable and well worth your time.

The Spirit of the Beehive: A meditation on childhood, the Spanish civil war, early film, and Frankenstein. I enjoyed thinking about this movie later more than I actually enjoyed watching it, I think. It’s a little slow, but the third act picks up and wraps the story up nicely. Definitely watch Huellas De Un Espiritu if you watch it, it adds a lot of context which helps the movie out.

Simon Of The Desert: Short movies are nice when you’re watching three a day, so I really appreciated Simon Del Desierto’s 45 minute runtime. It’s both less surreal and funnier than I expected- Simon Del Desierto feels more like Monty Python than Jabberwocky did. Highly recommended.

Cronos: A little disappointing, I’m not gonna lie. I’m a huge Del Toro fan, so I was really excited to watch his first movie, but it left me lukewarm. He describes it as a vampire film, but it takes a long time to find it’s legs. Worth the watch just for Ron Perlman and the scene where a little girl breaks his nose.

The Devil’s Backbone: This is what I wanted Cronos to be. A Del Toro twist on gothic romance and ghost story, Devil’s Backbone is as unsettling as it is charming. The kids in this movie are exceptional actors, and the script sells their childhood so, so well.

The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins: I didn’t expect too much from the graphic novel of TAZ’s first arc, but it really surprised me. Carey Pietsch’s art is just cartoony enough to bely the adult humor in the series, and the characters have been deftly adapted. The first arc in the podcast suffers a lot from ‘pregen syndrome’, where Taako and Merle weren’t super fleshed out, but the graphic novel rights the ship really well.

Black Girl: At 59 minutes, Black Girl is well worth your time mostly for how angry it’ll make you. Black Girl tells the story of a Senegalese woman who is deceived into becoming a house maid for a rich French woman, and the sheer amount of bullshit she puts up with before losing it makes her a saint in my eyes. I enjoyed this movie a lot, and I’m excited to see more African cinema.

A Hat In Time: I’ve played the shit out of this game and it never gets old. A Hat in Time is as charming as charming gets, and it perfectly recreates the feeling of playing Mario Sunshine for the first time. Only, you know, Hat in Time is fun.

Pony Island: Pony Island is one of those games that’s just a little too short- not because it feels rushed, but because I wished there was more when it ended. It’s a little cheesy in places, and the dialogue is a little slow, but the puzzles are perfectly scaled and the sense of humor is really great.

Styx: Shards of Darkness: This game might be good. I don’t know. The main character’s dialogue was so shitty I only played about 40 minutes of it. Imagine the mechanic in Jak & Daxter where Daxter makes fun of you when you die, but they got the writers from Family Guy really drunk and had them write it and never told them no.

#holly talks #holly plays #the roundup #july 2018

3 notes · View notes

dylawa · 4 years

Text

Having Lived and Loved: The Playlist (Part 3)

Here is Part 3 to my HLAL Playlist description series! The purpose of this post is to put all the important songs in one place, as well as add descriptions for where they fit in, and my reasoning as such. I’ll put it all under a Read More of course.

The series is split up since I can only share five videos per post, so expect more to come, and know you’re entering in media-res if you haven’t read the first post! I will also mention, there will be more songs in the playlist than there are directly mentioned in this series of posts. That is because the playlist will include all songs related to the chapters’ titles, not just the ones that have significance character/story-line wise. Links to all parts and the full playlist are at the bottom of the post!

For this part, we’ll be focusing on character-specific pieces (for members of Comet’s agency, in particular), not just story songs! For obvious reasons, All Might will not be included, but if you really want me to assign a song to him, let me know! In the meantime, strap in!

Comet: “Four” -- Sleeping At Last

youtube

Now, as a disclaimer: there are dozens of songs I wish I could assign Comet all in this one post, and maybe I’ll make a separate playlist for that! But for now, we have this one selected piece, and this is for my personal interpretation of Comet-- feel free to assign her whatever song you think fits best for your own version (Psst, in fact, I encourage you to send them to me)!

Bodies fashioned out of dirt and dust For a moment we get to be glorious Ice sculptures adorned in light Sand castles built tall in between the tides Maybe I'm hiding behind metaphor Maybe my heart needs to break to be sure One day I'll wear it all on my sleeve The insignificant with the sacred unique

Now, Ryan O’Neal’s “Atlas: Year Two” project encompasses all personality types on the Enneagram type test (which is more like an astrology type thing than anything actually based in science, similar to the Myers-Briggs test), and this is what a four is described as:

“Fours are self-aware, sensitive, and reserved. They are emotionally honest, creative, and personal, but can also be moody and self-conscious. Withholding themselves from others due to feeling vulnerable and defective, they can also feel disdainful and exempt from ordinary ways of living. They typically have problems with melancholy, self-indulgence, and self-pity.

At their Best: inspired and highly creative, they are able to renew themselves and transform their experiences.

Basic Fear: That they have no identity or personal significance

Basic Desire: To find themselves and their significance (to create an identity).”

Seems Comet-esque to me!

Next, I’ll pick a song for our resident mechanic and armor-tech, Ayane!

Ayane: “Akkala Ancient Laboratory” -- Breath of the Wild

youtube

Now, I would like everyone to know, I DID NOT base Ayane’s design off of Purah from Breath of the Wild! That being said, they share... a lot of undeniable similarities. Fan art of all HLAL characters will becoming eventually, but for reference, Ayane is also short (think Gran-Torino height), has white hair, side shaved and tied into a ponytail, and her goggles most definitely give her the same big-eyed look as Purah. Unlike Purah, however, she actually looks her age, crows feet and all. The woman is not young, my friends.

I would be remiss to gloss over the fact that Ayane and Purah also share a similar bubbly and scientific personality, and are constantly working on a new project of some kind (either to the joy or dismay of their acquaintances). It’s for this reason that, instead of seeking out some other technologically-sounding song, I decided one of the laboratory themes from BotW would fit best.

I’m kinda flipping Purah the bird by using the Akkala lab theme instead of Hateno, but it just fits better overall.

Modi-Mutation (Mod): “Natural” -- Imagine Dragons

youtube

Not so fun fact about Mod; I... don’t have a name for him yet. So I’m going to fix that right now! Let’s see... Rin Masashi. Rin meaning cold and disciplined, and Masashi meaning, basically (and I mean basically), “leader’s will”. Cool! Moving on.

Mod doesn’t necessarily want to be the Number One Hero, but he’s still clearly passionate about his work, and desires to work alongside only the best of the best. Anything less would slow him down, and prevent him from doing his job properly, in his eyes. Therefore, it’s absolutely necessary to surround himself with competent heroes. Being hired on by Shimuzu, aka The Boss, was equally a dream come true and a skeptical circumstance, given her questionable past, but her power was something Mod could not ignore.

All that being said, he doesn’t have an issue with inexperienced or low power heroes being in the industry itself... he just doesn’t want anything to do with them for himself. Which is almost just as bad as the alternative.

Ichiro: “Intriguing Possibilities” -- The Social Network

youtube

First, I’m going to get just a little vulgar here: fuck Mark Zuckerberg. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, this soundtrack slaps, and has the overall aura of “progress at a price,” as well as sounding both technological and other-worldly. The morality and ethical nature of Ichiro’s use of his Quirk is... foggy, at best, depending on your interpretation of what the concept of a human soul-- or, really, any soul-- encompasses. I don’t feel like I did the concept enough justice in WWICB, but I did what I could with what I had, and I hope I explained my thoughts on it well enough to make sense and to make a good, if not valid, point.

Funnily enough, if you think about it, Ichiro’s Quirk is closer to something of a poltergeist than it is to anything technological in nature, but as a result of his upbringing, he was inspired to use his Quirk towards electronics instead of, say, plants, or furniture. The possibility is absolutely there, the only issue is, if the item in question doesn’t have its own form of locomotion or communication... well, that would be a pretty crappy fate, and even a mindless, heartless soul doesn’t deserve that kind of life.

The boy may now be a man of science, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand morality. It may just take him a nudge here or there to remember his own humanity.

And, finally, we move on to the leader of the agency’s operations.

The Boss: “Thirty Three” -- Smashing Pumpkins

youtube

Speak to me in a language I can hear Humor me before I have to go Deep in thought I forgive everyone As the cluttered streets greet me once again

I know I can't be late, supper's waiting on the table Tomorrow's just an excuse away So I pull my collar up and face the cold, on my own

Manami Shimizu has lead a tumultuous life. I’ve hinted at it here and there throughout the series, but now I’m going to be spelling it out, mostly because I haven’t seen anyone else comment on it. Practically nothing is known about her childhood, as it’s something she never speaks about, and only marginally more is known about her time as a criminal. The main factor everyone knows, is she became very influential in her sphere of activity, rising the ranks of her own criminal organization to become its leader in short time. This was only stopped when a very young All Might stepped in to handle the reality-ripper/borrower himself.

When Shimizu was offered a second chance, no one expected it, least of all Shimizu herself. After all, second chances were non-existent throughout the course of her life thus far. However, All Might knew her power was valuable, almost as much as her will and her heart, powerful and brave. What was even more surprising than that act of mercy, was the fact that Shimizu took it. So, almost overnight, Shimizu changed from being one of the fastest rising villains Japan had seen, to becoming a hero who knew villains from the inside out almost better than any other, and she dived into the role willingly. She was given her agency after the previous owner retired, and from there, she has created one of the most efficient hero agencies in Japan.

Despite all of this improvement, of course, it makes sense that one cannot always fully leave behind the life they once knew. Even if her actions today translate into nothing that could be related to her old gang, the memories are still there, in the corners of her mind; the things she fought for then, and how they have changed her now.

Ultimately, all she wants, all she has ever wanted, is for life to be better. Even back in the day, that was her ultimate goal; a better life, a happier life. It’s impossible to strive for perfection, but that doesn’t mean she won’t try, even if she has to do so on her own.

And that concludes this third post regarding members of the hero agency we’ve come to know and love! Next post, we’ll go over non-agency characters, some beloved, and some a little less known!

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Full Playlist]

0 notes