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megwritesnstuff · 2 years

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Mmkay fuck it. I’m just gonna go for it.

Naruto Modern AU with southern flair. I’m calling it “A Small Town Affair” for now, although I do like that title a lot and think it would become the real title if I don’t think of anything better. Here’s some details/HC’s I have so far already.

Credit where credit is due! While I have definitely considered a fic like this in the past, I really got inspired by @tired-biscuit and the way they portray Kiba and Naruto, specifically their Cowboy!AU ideas. After chatting with them a bit I couldn’t stop thinking about it and decided to just go for it and not worry too much about weather I’d be able to pull this off ““GOOD”“ or not. Please go check out their writing and support them! They deffo deserve it!

SETTING: I’m basing this off of my own hometown, but the name of the town in the fic will obviously be different because I don’t want people to know where I’m from aside from “Southern US” lol.

Mainly, it takes place in and around a smaller city in the south and the even smaller towns and rural communities near it. The city, while much smaller and less progressive than say, New York City, is still one of the most progressive, diverse, and inclusive places around. As you get out to the small towns surrounding, and even further out into the country/rural farming communities, it ends up being more hateful, less inclusive and accepting.

I think the story can take place over the wider region of this area, but it’ll mostly take place in the city (because, even irl, if you don’t go into the city you can’t get much done, lol. Its very centralized to all of the communities where various characters may end up working/living).

PLOT: Obviously, every story needs a central plot, or it just devolves into fluff. I like fluff, don’t get me wrong, but this will be the first “real” story I’ve written in a while, so I want to A) give it a strong central plot and B) actually end up finishing this fic at some point instead of going in too many directions and basically fizzle out when it becomes too hard to keep track of, lol.

I’d thought of the idea of going the whole “Country song murder mystery” route, considering the setting I’ve chosen, but I don’t write a ton of mystery/intrigue, or at least, I haven’t in the past. I also think I’d rather keep things lighter, so it’ll probably end up being more of a fluff/angst romance tale, while also exploring the ideas and themes really prevalent in a setting like this; Racism, homophobia and transphobia, cultural heritage(as in race/where your family is from) vs cultural identity(the region you grew up in/the culture you’re part of now), as well as things that are relevant to the IRL setting this fic is based on. Things like changing traditions and loosing traditions of a region as tourism gains traction, gentrification, and the melding of cultures and how locals react to that.

I feel like people will say that’s a lot to fit into one fic!! And how does that even relate to Naruto?? And I hear you, and I feel the same way, lol. This is basically gonna end up just being an exploration of things in my own life through the lens of my favorite anime/comfort show, and maybe people will like it, maybe they won’t. IDK. Isn’t that how all fanfiction is though? Ahaha

CHARACTERS: So, as far as characters go, they’re obviously gonna be the Naruto characters we all know and love, but I do have a few specific headcannons about these characters and how they would act in this particular setting.

Oh, also!! I have some very specific HCs about characters race! I know people say “oh well its a show made in Japan by Japanese people so OBVIOUSLY they are Japanese” but in a modern AU that takes place in the Unites States I think they could be somewhat different races! I’ll talk about it more in the HCs below lol.

I’m only gonna do the rookie 9 kids for now but if people want to hear more about these guys pls let me know!!

Naruto: Good ol’ Nart, lmao. Not too much I think would be different from how he normally is tbh, he’s still loud, clueless, earnest and amazing. He probably has ADHD, not to mention the trauma from having both of his parents die at a young age. I kinda think he lived in Florida before moving to (insert town name here). He got into some trouble in his last year of high school and ended up in a psyche ward to get help for his PTSD and other neurodivergencies. Once he graduated from school he decided to get the hell outta dodge and bought himself a one way Greyhound ticket to where he lives now. He just really thought that going some place where no one knew about his past would make things so much easier, but, life isn’t so simple. Eventually though he made friends, found a job as a farmhand that keeps him fed (and doesn’t drive him absolutely insane like office work or retail probably would have. ChriST SO BORING) and settled down here. Also!! I HC him as mixed white/Japanese. idk really why but yeah ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sasuke: Broody, moody, standoffish and generally just “weird” to the locals of this town. Was totally goth/emo in middle/high school. Would have gotten picked on a lot more if he wasn’t the sheriffs son. In this fic the Uchiha massacre wouldn’t have happened, so his family is alive and well, and Fugaku is part of the local police/sheriffs office. The Uchiha family immigrated to the US several generations ago and settled in this town because it was the best they could do at that time, but over the years they did a lot to help enrich the community at large and gain everyone’s respect, so no one really gives them crap even though its a majority white area. It was Fugaku’s grandfather who initially got involved with the police, and the men of the family have followed in his footsteps ever since, until Itachi and Sasuke, that is.

Sasuke really didn’t care to follow in his fathers footsteps, but he’s doing it anyway because he wants his approval and love. He’s got to clean up his image first, though. No one wants a sheriff who wears eyeliner and parades around holding the hand of a local farmhand (who also happens to be a guy. What a scandal.)

Sakura: Honestly. HONESTLY. I always have and probably always will feel like we got robbed of seeing Sakura’s development in the anime. Unfortunately, I’m an anime only, so I can’t say much for the state of the manga but I could rant about this for hours. That’s a different post.

In this fic and my headcannon for her in general, I think Sakura is a boss bitch. She grew up in this town, she loves her hometown, but she’s ready to leave. She wants something bigger than what the (1) university or community college here can offer her. She wants to be a doctor, to save lives, to make *real* change in this world, and this town just isn’t big enough to hold all of her ambition.

She’d already have been gone, were it not for her parents and her friends here. How can she manage to balance all of her hopes and dreams, versus the love she has for the people in this place? Can she really leave them behind?

She’s also definitely having a personal crisis with her sexual orientation and she’s afraid thats not gonna fly with her folks. Weather it be because of her Japanese mother and her traditional, conservative attitude towards marriage or her white dad whose spent his whole life in the southern US until he was enlisted in the airforce and met her mother, she’s afraid one of them will have something to say about it. Yeah, they’ve never been anything but encouraging of her in everything else, but still, what if they freak?

Sai: My personal headcannons of Sai and how they interact with this setting are... interesting, to say the least, lol. I completely HC Sai as a transman who uses his shitty humor and sarcastic snipes as a way to deflect anything anyone might have to say about how he doesn’t look like a guy/isn’t a real man/is going to hell/ ect ect ect. He used to live up north, near Boston, but right before starting his senior year of HS got thrown out of the house by his shitty homo/transphobe grandfather (aka Danzo) and had no where else to go except to live with his older brother who’d already left home five years prior.

He totally can’t understand why his brother chose to move down south, right into the middle of the so called “Bible belt” and settle there, but it was his only option to fuck it, it’s that or be homeless on the streets of Boston. It was definitely a huge adjustment period, but eventually he made friends with Sakura (they had their elective art class together in senior year) and she introduced him to Sasuke, Ino, Naruto, and other people.

Sai lives right in the central part of the city, and it isn’t so bad. He has friends who respect him and he’ll tell off any redneck that so much as squints in his direction wrong, but underneath all of that he is a real softie who gets hurt easily. He just wants to finally, actually medically transition and start living his real life.

For the time being, he works as a waiter. He hates dealing with shitty tourists, but at least he usually never sees the same people twice, so its better than working on one of the local farms or local hangouts where people could potentially figure out he isn’t really a guy, just a really skinny girl wearing a binder. Also!! I HC Sai as just being white. He’s so pale come on. No melanin in there dudes. (also bc the way he acts, at least when he first gets introduced, reminds me of a shitty white fuckboi lmao)

Shikamaru: He’s lived here his whole life. He doesn’t have any really strong thoughts about it, doesn’t hate it and want to leave like Sakura, and he doesn’t love it and think its the best town in the whole of the USA like some of the kids he went to school with, either. He’s very meh about this place, like how he is about most things in life, lol. His dad is an elected official on the city council, and he’d love if Shikamaru went into politics as well, but the little lazy ass can’t be bothered. He thinks it’s a drag and he also doesn’t really see the sense in spending thousands of dollars to go to university. He’d rather just go to the local community college, chill with his pals, and (maybe) raise a little hell on the weekends, if he has the energy for it.

Just like in the cannon, he’s super happy to be a chronic underachiever if his family/friends will let him get away with it. Of course though, his dad tries to push him, and choji will encourage him to do better though he isn’t very pushy about it. Ino, though, will nag him every time she see’s him, lol.

I sort of HC the Nara family to be Native American/Indigenous, or at least mixed/partly Indigenous, however I am not NA/Indigenous myself and don’t know enough about the culture or nuance of the different cultures of different indigenous nations to properly write that, without it getting sterotypical/tropey, which is NOT something I want to do. I suppose I could say that the family is mixed, and the older generations are more traditional while the younger gens like Shika are more “americanized” or not as in touch with their culture, but even then, I don’t want to offend anyone or misportray the indigenous identity in any way that could be harmful, so in this fic they will probably end up just being white.

I do think theres a lot that could go into the Nara family’s connection with nature/deer/ect and how most Native American cultures have a very close connection with nature, though.

Ino: Okay, so, right off the bat, I envision Ino as Hispanic AF. Lmao. People are probably gonna give me shit about that, but let me tell you why. I’m married into a Puerto Rican family, and after living with the women of that family for many years, they remind me of the way Ino acts... SO MUCH. Loud, sometimes brash, so fucking fierce, literal goddesses who aren’t afraid to speak their minds whenever, wherever they need to. I’m not trying to say that Hispanic women are rude or can’t read the situation or whatever. Those are all qualities that I admire SO much from my MiL and my partners cousins and aunties. I think Ino is super Hispanic-coded honestly.

Her family probably either moved from Florida, or possibly several generations ago the family were migrant workers who came to this area during some seasons to help with farm work, and eventually saved up enough and settled down in this area (something which is really common in the IRL area this fic is based on). I haven’t really decided yet honestly but one of those two. I think the latter option could give a lot more drama, like, stupid people always giving Ino shit about it and there could be racial tension and different stuff. Ino doesn’t take anyones crap though. Someone is about to feel this babes chancla lmaooo

Wear shoes inside of the Yamanaka home and feel. Her. Wrath. FEEL IT.

Choji: Literally a baby, golden boy, he’s just shy and has no self confidence but hopefully that’ll grow. With Ino always hyping him up and Shika giving him subtle nudges as well he slowly comes out of his shell. I totally HC him and his family as being locals to the region. They live on a farm and own a farm-to-table restaurant that’s not only popular with the tourists that have begun coming into the city but also the locals. Its REALLY popular and for Choji its a source of pride knowing he’ll be able to take over when his Pa retires.

His mom wants him to go to college, even if its just the community college, but even with the success of the restaurant he worries about the money it would take for him to get a quality education, and honestly, it’s not needed, right? He’s gonna take over the family business anyway so there’s no reason for it.

In this fic he really is the poster child for “Good ol country boys.” He works hard, no matter if its in the kitchen with his Pa or helping his cousins pickin crops to bring into town. He’s honest, and a little filled with anxiety, but he doesn’t let it show. Happy to work for the weekend and have some beers with the boys when the week is over. Goes to church every Sunday because his Ma tells him to.

Also drives a pretty ratty pick up truck, lmao. Keeps saying he’ll fix it up one of these days but never gets around to it. Ah, well.

Shino: Definitely one of the “weird” kids in school. He never fit in with the goth/emo crowd, but also didn’t really vibe with the artsy kids either. He was definitely a loner. Is on the autism spectrum, but he’s able to mask pretty well, Really, unless you’re a family member, or Hinata or Kiba, you wouldn’t really be able to tell you’d just think he’s weird. He’s been friends with Kiba forever even though they’re drastically different, personality wise. Kiba’s kinda a fuckboy, sweet talking, ladies man type, but he’s still really sweet and cares about his friends with a ferocity that can’t be matched. Shino and he became friends after Kiba stood up for him on the playground in fifth grade, and the rest is history. Hinata joined their group when they all attended the same summer camp between 7th and 8th grade.

Shino feels more comfortable around those two than basically anyone else, and isn’t afraid to infodump about his special interest (bugs) as long as the other two have time. He’s aroace, but not afraid to tell those two that he loves them (platonically ofc)

He wants to go to uni to become an entomologist, but he’s gotta save up the money first. His family said they’d pitch in to help him so he doesn’t have to take out a bunch of loans, but his family is kind of poor and he doesn’t want to burden them. He feels like being born with autism is a burden enough, although literally NO one else in his family thinks that.

Hinata: I read somewhere one time that Kishimoto had intended for the Hyuuga family, as well as all of the members of team Guy, to have a much more Chinese feel to them and that has stuck with me forever so of course in this AU Hinata (and Neji) are Chinese. Hiashi is VERY strict still and imposes a lot of traditional Chinese cultural values onto Hinata starting from a young age. Originally the family lived in NYC but moved to Florida because Hiashi (and other older members of the family)wanted to go someplace warmer. Turns out, though, Florida is HELLA hot and it was too much, so they ended up settling in TN/NC where the climate is warmer, but more mild than Florida.

(Fun fact: We have a term for people that do this. We call em “half-backers.” Because they moved half way back hgfjhgdl)

Hinata is still very quiet and reserved as in cannon, but I’d like to imagine that when they moved to this town and she met Shino and Kiba, she comes out of her shell, even moreso than in the cannon. She ends up living a sort of double life, where she is quiet, respectful, never talks back and takes care of the household duties at home, but when she’s at school/work/with friends, she’s able to smile, talk, laugh and just generally be more carefree. She doesn’t even stutter, when she’s with the other girls or Kiba/Shino. She only really does it at home because she’s just, SO anxious being there.

Really, it’s quite the toxic situation, and gets even more so when Hiashi finds out that she went to a PARTY with BOYS in senior year of high school. In reality, she only went because she was invited and she didn’t want to be rude, but he really cracks down on those “traditional values” and even starts to suggest that maybe he should try to find a nearby Chinese majority community and see if they have a matchmaker. Or send her back to New York to live with her grandfather.

She quickly moves out and cuts ties with most of her family when she graduates HS. She does feel guilty for leaving her little sister in that house, though. :(

Kiba: Just like Choji, he’s another “good ol country boy” lol. Although in Kiba’s case, he leans a little more “Hell raising Redneck” type in contrast to Choji’s “sweet well mannered church boy”.

His family owns a ranch that raises chicken, goats, and cattle. They sell a lot of the butchered meat to the Akimichi family for their restaurant, and the rest they sell commercially. Kiba’s a good son and helps out with what he can between balancing school and just being a kid/young man. Although, he DOES think it’s fucking annoying when his mom makes him help out during the busy seasons. He complains, Tsume yells and maybe knocks him upside the head every once in a while, he ends up doing what she says anyway even if he grumbles. It’s routine at this point, lmao.

When he isn’t helping out on the ranch or struggling to stay afloat with his studies, he’s out partying with his friends, defending them from other locals, chasing skirts and just generally... raising hell lol. He thinks he’s really smooth with the ladies, and to be fair he DOES get a lot of tail, but mostly from tourist girls who come through on spring break or with their families in the fall to see the Blue Ridge parkway and such. Local girls? Couldn’t nab one if he begged. They all know him and see through his shit.

Although, maybe there is one local girl he could get, if only he’d stop seeing her as just his childhood friend and notice her as a woman.

And yeah!! Those are most of the ideas I have for now, but I’m sure I’ll think of more ahahaha. I’m gonna try to tag this really well so hopefully a lot of people will see. PLEASE let me know what you think and hit up my inbox to talk to me about Southern Modern!AU Naruto stuff. It’s seriously always open and hungry for asks. Also, I get lonely lol.

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mautadite · 5 years

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august book round up

22 books this month! which is the most i’ve ever read in a month i think. most of them audiobooks. i usually don’t listen to audiobooks while i’m at work but since we’re doing a lot of repetitive data entry these past several weeks i can afford to. also it helps with drowning out my obnoxious coworkers whom i fucking: hate.

temeraire 8: blood of tyrants - naomi novik ⭐️⭐️⭐️ i liked this a little better for rereading it, though i will always and forever hate amnesia plots. i remembered soooooo many things wrongly about this book it’s ridiculous! it did contain one of the highlights of the series: laurence saving tharkay, for once.

temeraire 9: league of dragons - naomi novik ⭐️⭐️⭐️ eh. a satisfactory end, but it let me down in so many ways. NOTHING HAPPENED for so much of this book, it meandered aimlessly and so many of the resolutions were underwhelming (ning in particular was just sort of... there). don’t get me wrong, there was some VERY GOOD character stuff... but goddammit i wanted more! (ps laurence/tharkay 4 life, naomi novik is a coward)

just jorie - robin alexander ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ another VERY CUTE lesbian romance, this time a late in life coming out, which is a genre i think i’m starting to really enjoy lol. robin alexander’s characters are very true to life, and there’s something about her writing style that’s just very very appealing in a romance. and the narrator for the audiobook was super talented. definitely going to be on the lookout for more of her books.

a charm of magpies 1-3 - k.j. charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ AHHHHH. SO GOOD. witchery and adventure and history and SO MANY GOOD TROPES. i’m definitely a fan of k.j. charles, this was the second series of hers that i’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed. lucien and stephen were such good characters, played very well to the sappy romantic FOOL in me heart. i loved reading about them falling in love. T__T also: tol and smol. very good.

jackdaw - k.j. charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️ spin off novel of the charm of magpies series. i enjoyed it; not really a ‘redemption’ book, but tells the story of one of the minor villains and had me rooting for him all the way. his love interest ben was one of those unfailingly GOOD people who made me want the best for him.

a queer trade - k.j. charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️ a short story that introduces the characters of the next charm of magpies book. yay black men in historical romance!

rag and bone - k.j. charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️ another enjoyable instalment, though it didn’t have me as hooked as the first three stories did. one thing i like about k.j. charles is that she explores all aspects of victorian england. i would have never expected to read about a waste paper man as one of the heroes of a romance novel, but here we are. sort of fell short on the sympathetic warlock storyline, but i enjoyed it.

think of england - k.j. charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ murder! mystery! blackmail! spies! scheming guests at a house party in the country! all of these parts of the book were very good but the romance was the best. A Wounded Vet Learns to Love. also there are surprise lesbians. let me tell you, so many m/m books could be improved with a sprinkling of dykes.

the children of gavrilek 1-3 - julie kirton chandler ⭐️ it pains me to rate this book so lowly. physically pains me. i recced this book on a femslash post years ago without reading it, i just saw the synopsis and read an extract and it seems good. it COULD have been good. the first book in the series was weak, but had promise, the second started off SO STRONG but fizzled hard, and the third was a fucking travesty nightmare. god i don’t even want to talk about it.

beneath the surface - harper bliss ⭐️⭐️⭐️ after subjecting myself to the children of gavrilek i went hunting through my shelves for something with cute lesbians and settled on this, the second in a series about austrailian gays. it was pretty good! it’s about a long term relationship and their ups and downs throughout 20 years of being wives. i like when books show you what comes AFTER the happily every after.

femme - marshall thornton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ a really sweet m/m comedy romance, that tackled intra-community discrimination in a way that managed to be serious and genuine but still stuck to the light-hearted tone. joel leslie on audio killed it as usual.

40 souls to keep - libby drew ⭐️⭐️⭐️ neat concept (guy wakes up with amnesia and gradually discovers that he’s been tasked to save 40 souls, after which he’ll be given back his memories) and style, but the execution flopped a bit. always unfortunate when you figure out who the villain in a crime/mystery is, 20 seconds after he’s introduced. cute though, really liked the love interest.

blackmail, my love - katie gilmartin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ favourite book of the month maybe? a mystery/suspense set in the 1950s about a lesbian searching for her missing gay brother. in her search she gets pulled into a whirlwind of blackmail, murder, and the queer nightlight of san francisco. this was painfully good, well researched and lovingly written, and it’ll stay with me for a long time.

boundaries - jane retzig ⭐️⭐️⭐️ lesbian romance; dealt very competently with abuse and youthful longing and growing up. there were a few narrative things that left me ?_? (ALICE SHOULD BE IN JAIL) but i enjoyed it overall.

a king undone - cooper davis ⭐️ bad bad bad. m/m fantasy romance that dragged. you could find more chemistry in a primary school baking soda volcano. someone tell this author that they’re allowed to say ‘men’ and not ‘male’ all the time.

axel’s pup - kim dare ⭐️⭐️⭐️ see, this was well written and appropriately slow burny and had so much meaty character interaction and a decent enough plot and world-building but when it comes down to it... MAN i hate lifestyle d/s. it's all fun and spankings until character b needs to fucking. ask character a’s permission to visit his dying grandfather, and then my skin starts crawling away from my body i’m so skeeved off. subjective! character b was chill with it! but oooof.

lillian byrd 1: holy hell - elizabeth sims ⭐️⭐️⭐️ lesbian murder mystery with a splash of comedy ahoy. this was okay but also meh. we just flat out knew who the killers were pretty early on; the books pretty much became about proving motive. which wasn’t as entertaining. also (and this is one of the FEW times you’ll hear me say this) i’m not sure we needed the romance.

a hundred thousand words - nyrae dawn ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ new adult m/m romance, very cute. the love interested was open and honest in a way that surprised me, it was so atypical of your run of the mill romance character. and i liked the way this dealt with family and friendships and getting to know and develop YOURSELF. this book surprised me with how much i liked it.

that’s it for august! no grand plans for september; i’ve gotten a bunch of extra stuff dumped on me at work and i won’t be surprised if i don’t read as much. but there’ll still be lots of romance, i’m betting. currently reading the first in the society of gentlemen series, which i’m liking very much.

#book talk #long post

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smoria · 5 years

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Ok so obviously you know I don't really watch, nor do I like, Riverdale. But tbh as cringey as S1 was, it wasn't that awful. I started watching bc I live where they filmed it and I thought ok sure why not. It was a good 'dont need to think too hard' tv show to have on and it was no worse than some others I've watched (lookin at you PLL) S2 had me like :/ ugh and by the end of it I knew I was jumping ship. The characters and plot because Too Much wow I'm running out of ask room

But yeah S2 is what made me jump ship they were trying too much and getting nowhere? like the plot didnt even really make sense. And now s3 dont even get me started like what the fuck how can you possibly write such trash and have people think its good? I’m genuinely embarrassed for the actors in this season because its so bad.

I had so much to say that I put it beneath the cut. You can tell how passionate I am. This is why I call it my five cents because I end up saying more than what needs to be said.

Though you really don’t watch, I appreciate your input. I actually like season one and it was a decent start that I was genuinely curious to see where it would go, but boy oh boy! the rabbit hole that it ended up going down. Did season one have cringeworthy moments? HELL YES, but it felt appealing to me for some reason or another and the show knew what it was doing and exactly what it was, which I have stated was a campy, overdramatic teen soap opera, but it had promise. It had potential that was immediately flushed down the proverbial toilet and turned into the roman orgy we know it as now.

Characters had aspiration and room to grow. The writing still needed work and the dialogue made me want to wring my hands in frustration, but as we got into season two, I saw where it was headed in terms of writing and character motivation and development. It got right down to all things uncanny and wild, which I wasn’t a fan of – developing storylines that seemed to have no real end in sight which didn’t help when they wouldn’t even get to the actual main plot [whatever that ended up being] and it pulled a pll in my eyes when it started to become more centralized on the ships.

I felt no mystery unless I was meant to feel it which was very far and few between. It felt like it got longer with filler and it just kept getting worse. I started feeling like these teenagers [which we all know they’re supposed to be] were going into their late twenties into their thirties, ready to settle down, get a mortgage, and have a couple of kids – white picket fence with a golden retriever. They are already so ride or die, it doesn’t even feel real. Season three is by far the worse because it feels so supernatural that we aren’t even supposed to take it seriously – which we both know that I don’t by the way my posts look.

I’m not into the whole R/V/A love triangle shit. Might as well have them be in a poly relationship, but know like hell they won’t since R and A are too hard headed and stubborn to let V go. They have B looking like Miss Perfect even though this whole damn town needs therapy. Riverdale skips over so much of mental health aspects with each character having their own issues completely skated over. The Farm makes no sense, G&G is just an off brand of D&D that took its own fizzle rocks and went for a ride in a Mustang, and I don’t think they’ll ever penetrate much of the issues they have with this current season in ONE episode.uih

TL;DR: Get the town of Riverdale therapy, let V be single and figure her shit out before she gets into a relationship with someone else, pump the brakes on the what feels like several mini subplots and focus on at least two, and stop making me forget that these are juniors in high school. #savemefromgettingmyentireliferawdoggedbyriverdale #getmeagreasemonkeysoicangetthatlube.

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monkey-network · 5 years

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Mini Stuff of Good: 2019 2nd Quarter

We’re doing a lightning round of anything up to this point, no holds barred! 3. 2.. 1...

One Punch Man 2

The story certainly made up the utter downgrade of its animation. If anything, I’d seriously stick with the manga if we’re talking good spectacle. (Grade: C+)

Care Bears: Unlock the Magic

I can say this is Turner’s answer to Hasbro’s My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic. The look of it is a plus and the episodes are on the same level of quality as MLP, but I had my doubts that this would get the same level of traction, especially since it’s Boomerang. It’s not bad, just not much to write home about. (Grade: C)

Uglydolls

An upbeat movie that I say didn’t deserve the disdain it received. Like yeah, it’s pretty by the numbers, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t entertaining in the slightest, and surprisingly heavy in its racial undertones if you’d believe me. (Grade: B-)

Avengers Endgame

Was certainly conclusive and fun, but inferior compared to Infinity War, especially when it unfortunately has to undo everything that happened in that movie. Not as many good memes from this as the interchangeable Thanos snap meme. (Grade: B)

Tuca & Bertie

Honestly a fun series that makes its cancellation just depressing to hear. The duo themselves made every episode enjoyable and while I wish certain plot points could’ve been better, the overall story arc with our MC’s friendship was very investing. In the least, the season ended on a good, optimistic note. (Grade: A-)

Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart

Essentially the Adventures of Puss in Boots, anime edition. Not to say that’s a bad thing, because there are plenty of differences, but come on, the similarities between the two leads and the premise are eeriely similar. As such, it gets the same grade (Grade: B+)

Shazam

A DC comic book movie that actually tries to be a comic book movie. Bonus points for the director being one that mostly made horror movies. (Grade: A-)

Scooby Doo and Guess Who?

Scooby Doo and self humor doesn’t sit well with me since the fun came in taking its campy nature straightfaced while having some good sitcom laughs, i.e. Monsters Unleashed, Mystery Incorporated, or Be Cool, Scooby Doo. The celebrity guests are almost always a highlight, but they also admittedly take away from the characters we’re meant to see. (Grade: B-)

Archer 1999

Finally, a season of Archer that has everyone together doing space adventures, and it’s not the final season! (Grade: B+)

Dick Pikachu

Lovely to look at, not so much in remembering it. It has the same grade I gave the game it’s based on. (Grade: C+)

Gokushufudou: The Way of the House Husband

The most perfect yakuza based slice of life comic around. (Grade: S)

Burning Effect

I honestly haven’t seen a webcomic that went this hard before. It’s like Bakugo from My Hero Academia went into every character design and impacting visual, with a story and premise that gradually makes sense the more you carry on and a female lead that is a upcoming warrior in every sense. (Grade: A)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

There’s a Youtube channel that reviews this show episode by episode and I found them more insightful and entertaining than this series. A shame since I like the original She-Ra and I was hoping for a good series about princesses fighting. But this series was slog to get through and it doesn’t help that my attachment to most of the characters has fizzled out. Season 3 certainly picked things up, but it shouldn’t have took this long to pick things up. (Grade: C+)

The Secret Life of Pets 2

Just as good as the first one, if not better, which I bet many who reviewed this will probably say otherwise. The scene near the end is honestly cemented in my mind, it just worked. (Grade: B-)

SMG4, The Anime Arc

This definitely fun. A middling 1st half, but things definitely pick up in the 2nd half. There are some contrivances and conveniences, but man was that the most engaged I’ve ever been with this Youtube series overall. (Grade: B+)

Aladdin (2019)

Oh wow, another remake that pales in comparison to the original. A takeaway from all this is Disney needs to hire directors that aren’t boring. (Grade: D+)

MIB: International

Oh wow, it’s Jurassic World: Men In Black edition with two great actors that are heavily underutilized in it. Where’s Taika when you need him? (Grade: C-)

Lion King (2019)

Oh wow, a remake that doesn’t understand why the original worked. This here was honestly the final straw for me as I am distancing myself from these remakes because unless one actually looks and feels appealing, my sensible bias towards them will never change. I feel annoyed that I DON’T know what people see in these. (Grade: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!)

DC Super Hero Girls

Honestly what I wanted Nu She-Ra to be, better animated, better characterized, and reminds me of the new Ninja Turtles series with how it is setting things up. As a DC fan, I am more than impressed. (Grade: A)

X-Men, Dark Phoenix

They honestly weren’t trying and this movie resulted in me getting Ligma. (Grade: D+)

Our Cartoon President

We had our laughs a couple years ago, but let’s be real. Trump is a dried up meme and there was no reason for a 2nd season of this. (Grade: F+)

Final Space

Season 2 has its hits and misses but I am very much enjoying this series still. The latest episode deep down made me wish it didn’t try to make things drama heavy for the previous episodes, like it’s trying to recapture the sharp turn that was season one’s episode six. Needless to say, they’re certainly keeping the momentum going for this series and I’m all for it. (Grade: B+)

Aero (Comic series)

Imagine if Nejire from My Hero Academia was a Marvel superhero. The dialogue and writing is generic and simple, but you not only get a nice grasp of our heroine but this is one of the first anime looking Marvel comics that looks incredible. This really stood out at my comic shop and I am very intrigued to see more of this character and this artwork. (Grade: B)

Infinity Train

Very compelling, nicely visualized, and the 10 episode work to a good strength of pacing. Though I will be honest, One-One wasn’t a character that stood out to me, I dunno, I felt distant towards him compared to the other characters. But I enjoyed this no doubt and I’m glad there is more to come. (Grade: ???)

Twelve Forever

This is one of those rare shows where I’ll gladly say it’s good but not entertaining. As much as I enjoy randomness every now and then, I felt bored watching it. The Butt Witch was the saving grace, immediately being my favorite character, but she wasn’t enough to make me keep going. I’ll give it a good grade tho with the effort they put into everything. (Grade: B)

Rocko’s Modern Life, Static Cling

I already reviewed this before, but I honestly considered this a great comeback to a very nostalgic and influential show. (Grade: A)

Meta Runner

A new series with surprisingly good pacing and a empathetically great main character. The dialogue can be give and take, with a villain that’s honestly too evil for his own good, but I can’t help but say that this is an engaging series. And it’s youtube sooo bonus. (Grade: B+)

Amphibia

A series that definitely got better as it went along. I like the episodes that had good ties to the season’s climax, the main four are especially the highlight with their personalities, and the character growth felt natural if on the nose sometimes. I’m stoked for part 2,,, hopefully they schedule it better. (Grade: A-)

Angry Birds 2

It was fun. Probably forgettable to many, but I won’t deny that it’s one of the better popcorn flics of the Summer (Grade: B+)

Toy Story 4

I grown tired of people questioning whether or not this movie was pointless, so I’ll come out the gate to say that this is the best movie of the Summer so far. It was a more solemn movie that was organically thoughtful with itself, there were plenty of laughs, I loved Bo Peep, and the way they handled the antagonist is something that rocked the franchise’s themes to the core sensibly. This film makes for one of the few times a fourth sequel can actually come out great. (Grade: A)

T I M E’S U P ! ! ! ! ! !

Welp, looks like the spring and summer have indeed strengthened itself for the better. Can the latter half of 2019 keep the momentum as we reach the new decade? Stay tuned.

#cartoons #movies #anime #critical #reviews #Good Stuff #long post

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recentanimenews · 7 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 10/9/17

Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 20 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | VIZ Media – There really was zero chance that Soma’s contest with Eishi Tsukasa would end with Soma becoming the new first seat, but still, I didn’t expect that to fizzle out as much as it did. Thankfully, the rest of the volume makes up for it. I really enjoyed the scene between Erina and Soma in which she a) eats the totally delicious-looking tempura egg rice bowl that he makes and b) comes to completely reject her father’s plans for the homogenization of Totsuki cuisine. It’s great to see her fired up and training other students how to pass Central’s exams. (Also, by the end of volume 20, the cast is only at the end of the second term of their first year. We’ve hopefully got a long run ahead of us!) – Michelle Smith

Flying Witch, Vol. 3 | By Chihiro Ishizuka | Vertical Comics – I was right, the idea that this series has a plot was laughable. Nothing much continues to happen in this third volume, though we do expand the cast a little more with the addition of a secret cafe for supernatural beings, run by a mother/daughter combo and their shy ghost waitress, who is probably the cutest thing in the volume. There’s no real romance to be seen—Kei barely exists in the manga, and when Akane briefly thinks he has a girlfriend, it’s shot down immediately. What people are reading the series for is the cute girls doing magic (sometimes) very peacefully and seeing impressive sights, such as flying whales that resemble ancient civilizations. Flying Witch is a calm oasis, though risks putting you to sleep. – Sean Gaffney

Golden Kamuy, Vol. 2 | By Satoru Noda | Viz Media – The joke I’d heard about this volume was that the manga decided to turn into a foodie series, and there is an awful lot of attention devoted to the preparations of the wild animals that our heroes kill and eat while in the jungle. It also shows off their chemistry, and when we visit Asirpa’s village we find that they are very much in favor of hooking the two of them up. That’s unlikely to happen right away (if at all), though, as Sugimoto decides that it’s unfair to take her away from her loving family and friends and immediately goes out and gets captured and tortured. He’s a self-proclaimed immortal, but that doesn’t mean we can’t graphically show what he goes through, so it’s a foodie manga with a gore warning. Very good, though. – Sean Gaffney

In/Spectre, Vol. 6 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – I thought this was going to be the final volume, and it does wrap up the novel it’s adapting, but apparently more stories are coming, though I wouldn’t believe Kotoko as to the content. Things wrap up nicely here, with the artist finding new and entertaining ways to show off what is basically a giant internet forum argument and make it a compelling mystery, as well as showing the sordid creepiness that comes from strangers raking over the past of a broken family. Also, the romantic triangle is resolved with no surprises whatsoever—the most interesting girl wins easily. I had a lot of fun reading this series, and am delighted that there will be original stories coming after. – Sean Gaffney

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 25 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – Another shoujo manga comes to a close, this one with a more satisfying ending than some, though it be full of fast-forwards. Nanami has been allowed to remain at Mikage Shrine until she finishes high school, and before that time is up she and Tomoe decide to get married while they’re still ayakashi and kami. I’m grateful that one of her friends brought up that getting married as a teenager is not generally a good idea, but I find that I don’t mind it in this case, since they’ve been through so much together. The ending is satisfying and bittersweet, a combination I really appreciate. Too, if you get the limited edition of this volume, it comes with a snazzy hardcover extra including an illustration gallery and a bonus manga! I’ll miss this series, and look forward to reading Suzuki’s next work. – Michelle Smith

Plum Crazy!: Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat, Vol. 2 | By Natsumi Hoshino | Vertical Comics – Much like Flying Witch, it’s hard to even fill up a Bookshelf Brief with what happens in this volume—cats are cute!—but I’m going to try anyway as it really is a fun series, and Plum is a very sympathetic heroine even as she’s getting bitten and scratched and otherwise pummeled by the tsundere kitten Snowball. You can tell the author is very good at observing cat behavior, both on their own and with groups of humans—the reaction of the kids at the ballet school to “NEW KITTY!” was hilarious. There are a few sweet moments as well, but for the most part this series is going to be a mild tickle to the funnybone, as you smile and nod your head at the wacky cat antics. – Sean Gaffney

Princess Jellyfish, Vol. 6 | By Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics – Most manga is more or less predictable—readers pretty much know what to expect with a sports manga or shoujo romance. Princess Jellyfish is an exception. At the end of the last volume, at which point Kuranosuke was hit hard by the reality of the fashion business, I never would’ve guessed at the place where the characters find themselves at the end of this volume. It’s too good to spoil, really, but I’ll mention the standout moments are Shu delivering Kuranosuke’s dress to his mother in Italy, where we see how much she really does love her son, and a certain character saying to herself, “So this time, I’ll be the one. I have to save everyone.” Reader, I sniffled! I have no idea where this story is going, and that is truly delightful. – Michelle Smith

Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 7 | By Tomo Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics – Last time I said that Ballroom‘s fault was that it tended to hammer on the angsty drama a bit too much, and this volumes takes that drama and doubles it. Honestly, it was pretty hard for me to plow through, particularly the first half. I really enjoy watching the dancing and the art is terrific, but there needs to come a time when we see our leads genuinely enjoying themselves, and they’re both just wallowing in misery here. It’s even piled on with their major rivals going to Germany instead of coming to the competition they were going to meet up at. Sports titles always get like this, and I know we’re going to have to have a breakthrough next time, which will be amazing. But only read this to get to that. – Sean Gaffney

By: Michelle Smith

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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