#the experiences are all so unique but the feelings? universally complicated
Note
when you wrote that translation fic and when i read it and i shed a tear and when you ripped my chest open and filled it with both tenderness and grief and when i couldn’t help but be transported to my childhood and when you said aventurine cannot lie in his language and when i remember how i change depending on which language i read and when you and when i and and and and and an
when i read this ask and got so happy 🥺💗💗
#AWKDSHAK anon . thank u so much im so glad that you found the fic so moving#and that it RESONATED !!! T_T#language and childhood....#language and codeswitching ...#the experiences are all so unique but the feelings? universally complicated#thank u for reading and sharing ur experiences w me 💞#sending u love 💖💖💖#yueshuo.asks#asks.anon#aven.feedback
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
I actually do have very complex thoughts about many different things, it’s just a bit challenging to connect the inner voice to the outer voice sometimes </3
#random post#I have SO many thoughts and ideas. I love to create and I love to build on what I have and I like to connect to existing things#there is lots of oc lore in my brain! it graces my blog sometimes. not always. it’s hard to put abstract feeling and thought into words#and it’s challenging trying to find the best place to start talking about things yknow? like I as the creator of this whole unique universe#pretty much already know how things end up. how they’re going. how it started. some are easier to know than others. but that doesn’t stop me#from trying create for it. or searching for the missing piece to start the domino effect of development and fulfillment#it’s hard to see where the pieces fit sometimes. but getting a new angle or changing something about the piece can make finding where it#belongs easier. this is what I mean when I say I have very intricate and complicated thoughts. not spending too long writing my sentences or#overthinking them helps to keep things as they are in my head. since I’m not filtering them into something almost unrecognizable#writing a paper in a single sitting in a set time really helps me produce a unified and intricate product. I’ve been told I write well#which I find mildly humorous. I’ve never been a writer by choice really. I’m an artist that works with a physical visual piece rather than#letters that convey meaning. I’m more of a thinker than a writer. but in some instances they’re one in the same. I’m rambling but y’all know#that about me by now I’m sure hahagahaha. yea. my OCD makes me spend too long on words and that’s why I always talk in a short way#a more simplistic way. leaves less room for the mind to pick out flaws if everything is flawed on purpose yknow? haha yea. I like me yknow?#and other people like me too! that will never cease to surprise and amaze me haha. I’m one of those people that has an easier time with#people different from themselves. the people I’ve known and spoke to throughout my life are so very different from me. but they all feel#comfortable to share their experience with me. a lot of these people on paper would be ones I’d try to avoid I guess. differing opinions and#world views yknow? but the way I am. gives people comfort I’ve found. I’m not bragging about that it’s just interesting. it’s the same with#my whole household like we meet people that are like. idk a good descriptor but they’re very set in a specific way. and then we just?? they#like us?? idk it’s just funny to think about my dad getting along with legit crazy people or my mom being the person who’s the favorite of#the least liked / polite person in the office. or my brother and sister being very well liked in their schools but are just average students#who aren’t trying to be more than kind. or when I as myself. with the thoughts and opinions I have. am able to get along with anyone I#come across. I’m really not trying to be bright about that I’m just an. empath? I guess? I’m just very nice to people and meet them at their#level and don’t try steering the conversation to smth bad or controversial. but even then people will still talk to me and like me cus I’m#not putting them down or hating on them for how they think and feel. I listen. I can understand them. not agreeing with their views doesn’t#mean I can’t get why people think or feel how they do. I try to not be biased or entirely antagonist to things different than me#I’ve gone my whole life not understanding a lot of things. and over time I’ve learned them. I go into experiences with people like that#I may not understand yet. but I’ll learn to. that’s probably the main reason why people feel comfortable around me. that and also I have#a smile pretty much always lol. I’m small and non threatening lookin with a single dimple on the cheek and eyes so dark you could see the#faintest light reflected in them. anyways I have gone into several different directions with this and kinda lost the main point I was making
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
I've just finished "Adventure Time Fionna and Cake" and I'm impressed by how much for the best this show is the anti-"Rick and Morty".
In Rick & Morty, the immediate conclusion of the existence of a multiverse is nihilistic and individualistic, that nothing makes sense, and everything is replaceable, yourself especially included. Nothing is beautiful, because nothing is unique. Consequently, the characters are all depressed, self-hating, alcoholic, or generally miserable.
On the contrary, in Fionna and Cake, the multiverse is pictured as infinite beauty and discovering opportunities. Every universe, even cheap fan-made ones, is worthy of being cherished, loved and appreciated. The characters want to fight for their universe, because they love it and despite the comparison to the others. Even when they're insane the characters can be happy, they can heal from their depression, etc.
Coincidentally, this leads Adventure Time to tackle the notion of "multiverse" much better than Rick and Morty by really exploring the possibilities it offers. In Rick and Morty different universes are mostly "same universe but everyone has a mustache" or "same universe but Morty is inherently evil" (which has consequences for the plot, but not his own universe) or "same universe but in this one Rick OOC failed an experiment and died there". Universes from Adventure Time are treated with imagination, intelligence and beauty, and even "sad" universes like the post-apocalypse one. "She didn't have a me" is a so powerful line, and the way Bubbline is pictured in this universe is so poetic, for me it crystallizes all the difference between the two shows.
With this in mind it's funny to me that it's Rick and Morty that is considered as an "adult show" compared to Adventure Time. Regarding my (complicated) life path it's a lot more "adult" to know how to appreciate beauty and to feel good and find a purpose in your universe than being nihilistic, self-hating and depressed, and consequently edgy and trashy to hide this. This isn't "adult", it's precisely what I was doing as a teen who couldn't manage my problems and emotions, and precisely what I'm learning to avoid as an functionning adult.
175 notes
·
View notes
Text
In the Tyler Family panel, Billie recalls the 2000s fashion as a strange time in fashion history but loved Idiot's Lantern, and they agree Jackie would have shared Rose's clothes to be the Cool Mom. 🤣
Shawn says he was surprised to be asked back at first since his character died, but it made sense for him to come back in a multiverse story.
He says it was easy to come back and Camille adds it's the quality of writing makes it easy because you know who you (the character) are at that point because you can trust the writers are guiding it.
Billie says she struggles with how much she didn't understand how it was going to take over her life before s1 airs. Before social media, even though everyone hated it and the idea of her doing it, but it wasn't the constant stream of trolls the new actors have to hear about now with social media. She says with RTD, Julie, and Phil, there was so much confidence and joy, it was easy to believe it would be good.
Camille says her neighbors and friends were surprisingly fans. She didn't realize how many people she knew who loved it and knew about it.
They talk about how cold it was filming the Cybermen. Billie says her jaw locked because it was so cold!! The trick to getting through them was "youth" and she doesn't do night shoots anymore if possible because of that experience.
Camille talks about how Jackie "grew a pair" lol
Billie: "She's a boss!
Camille: "It's Russell, really."
Billie: "No, it's you!"
Love that Jackie's speech and situation in Love and Monsters got a shout-out. Especially going off on Elton for taking advantage of her: "Many people can relate to that moment, I think."
Talking about Pete not being the perfect husband:
Billie: "Why did they break up again?"
Shawn: "Because I died!"
Billie: "I forgot!!!" 🤣
They banter so well! Total family vibes between them all.
Fun moment where Shawn thought Billie was saying "old Pete" when she was saying "alt Pete!" Lol
Rose having the "rose-colored glasses" taken off: Billie says many can relate to realizing their parents are flawed people, and things are more complicated than you thought.
Camille says the Tylers spoke a language people understood, making something fantasy into a relatable story that was relevant to the audience.
Mod jokes that Rose "parent trapped them" across multiple universes!
Billie talks about how she enjoyed the overall romance and human element of their series, as opposed to the more sci fi feel in other later seasons.
Camille says Chris's intensity helped launch the reboot, but David's "Labrador" energy was different and special too to keep it going.
Billie says there was a totally different energy after they knew it was a success, allowing for more playfulness with David's Doctor and in general on set.
Billie says she always thought there was something complex about the romance with the Doctor, it's weird for a 19 year old to just take off in a box, and maybe wasn't written with Chris but it was there in spirit, and then was written in more explicitly in their relationship with David. Hard to keep that intensity of awe and adoration platonic! Camille adds the chemistry between them was a big element as well.
Billie says it was always a thrill to get the script, eager to read the script as soon as she got it to see what new world they were building with each episode. She says she didn't want to go to set when shooting Tooth and Claw because she was riveted reading the Doomsday script! Haha
Billie says the costume tricks can help body language shifts when changing character, like with Rose possessed by Cassandra, the push-up bra helped develop a unique physicality for the previously (literally) flat character!
Camille says they got in trouble for talking a lot because they got on so well!
Billie says she loves the new episodes, especially the dance numbers and theatrics now, and that's exactly where the show should go. "It's super fun again." Sitting down and watching a family show with the kids, an event for everyone to watch together.
Camille said it was good but it would be better if the Tylers were there! 😁
They love Ncuti as well. Excellent casting.
Billie praises RTD's heart and rooting for all walks of life. Everyone can feel represented. Camille says he is so good at pulling heartstrings and "that's what we want as Doctor Who fans." They also love his joy but also his power if they are being unkind. He defended the actors from stupid questions from the press and "told it like it was" when he needed to be the man in charge.
86 notes
·
View notes
Text
i'm v happy to discuss my partial & conditional male privilege as a trans guy. my frustration is that people are never asking this question in good faith.
by good faith i mean genuine curiosity and expansion of our shared understandings as people: these discussions never seem to be about how my experience can help illuminate the oppression of being a woman or what that consists of, where the line is, what our lived experiences are like. i have never seen people ask/assert "trans men have male privilege" in ways that weren't v obviously trying to give people permission to not think about us. trans men have male privilege i'd argue can be partially true, depending on contexts, but it should be pretty blatantly bad-faith that such a complex topic is treated as a settled issue.
we have male privilege, it's settled, that's it, and you never have to think about effeminate trans men, flamboyant gay trans men, the complexities of how we move through the world, what it means (in my case, for example) to be a guy who's generally seen as a guy, but has not had top or bottom surgery, has long hair, & what that means for how i get treated in different contexts.
what are we talking about? the privilege to not be seen/treated as a woman on sight? reproductive freedoms? respect in the workplace? economic security? etc.?- so many trans guys, even guys who have passed for quite some time, never experience so many of these things, and instead of having genuine curiosity about our unique experiences you want to slot us all categorically into the cis-het-white-man box so you don't need to think of us as people who can ever have power leveraged against us
people seem to have two settings, either "trans men are women and don't know what it's like to be a guy" or "trans men are cis men and never experience their own unique challenges," even though i think it's pretty obvious that we have a mixed/complicated gender experience simply by virtue of being trans
and every tguy i've ever seen say "i have male privilege all of the time" never brings up all the things he had to do to get & retain patriarchal power. having- idk, been a guy, it's so fucking disingenous to pretend like being a man doesn't involve a performance of ten thousand different choices & behaviors to make sure other guys continue seeing you as a dude. it's not just "having facial hair" or w/e, and if that's what you think then you are literally by definition a transmisogynist lmao. it's the high-and-tight haircut, the gym shirt, the workouts you did to build those arms, the ways you learned to socialize with straight-acting men so they feel comfortable, the things you don't express & feminine mannerisms you stopped using because it would get you clocked. IMO, participating in sexism is a system men participate in so they don't become targets of it.
like, insisting trans guys universally attain male privilege isn't an innocent statement, it's one that in my experience gives dudes a skewed idea of their own safety. what do you think happens when i have a scruff, deep voice, and people realize my boobs are not cis guy moobs? why do so many people think that i'm seen unilaterally as a cis straight man, rather than a mostly-man sort-of-woman you're allowed to condescend to & also physically fight?
#and it's funny because as a guy with a chest and facial hair- whether i am seen as Passing As Male or not is a moving goalpost#depending on whether or not people want to be allowed to be mad at me in a certain way#like i'm a Privileged Cis Passing Trans Guy until i talk about how you can be passing and still subject to frequent harassment & violence-#and then suddenly people's tune changes to 'oh well that's because you didn't get top surgery so technically you don't actually pass"
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
Spider-Man 2 Post-Credit Spoilers
Time for some more signature Amageish overthinking!
Sooooooooooooo.
How about that Cindy Moon appearance, huh?
From this Gizmodo article, we do have a bit of insight into the decision to have her appear where they mention the challenge of making a Cindy unique to the GamerVerse specifically - though it's obvious they are keeping their cards close to their chest here as well.
io9: Along with giving Miles a promotion, you’ve introduced Cindy Moon, aka Silk, into your universe. Of all the Spider-heroes, I don’t think anyone was expecting her. What made her so appealing over someone like Eddie or Gwen Stacy?
Arfmann: Cindy’s always been a really compelling character in the comics who, similar to [SM1's] Martin Li, hasn’t really gotten a ton of exposure outside of the immediate fanbase. There’s something really exciting about taking a character who we love, who not everybody’s had a chance to meet, and exposing her to a wider audience.
Morris: I’m so excited to see what we do with Cindy.
Arfmann: Exactly. That was the real drive with her, and figuring out who Insomniac’s Cindy Moon is a really exciting challenge. And we also have this interesting complication that [Cindy’s dad] Albert is dating [Miles’ mom] Rio, and we’re thrilled to explore how that creates a new iteration of this character that folks already love.
So this confirms that they will be changing stuff too! This is going to be a unique take on her, but they are also self-aware that this will be plenty of people's introduction to the character.
The main question on my mind is a pretty basic one: Does Cindy Moon need to be shoved into a bunker for 7-10 years in order to be recognizably Cindy Moon? Her father is already in the game, so we know the "parents are missing" story is probably off the table, but does she need to still spend all that time in isolation to be Cindy?
In the comics, her time in the bunker is credited in-text with being a source of so many of her defining character traits.
It is something that separates her experiences from Peter and the other Spider-heroes.
It's something that fills her with a drive to prove herself and is the experience that made her such a talented martial artist.
It informs her understanding of modern technology and the level of pop culture awareness she has - the former of which helped her develop her uniquely positive relationship with J Jonah Jameson.
And, lastly, the time she had in isolation is credited with causing her to develop her anxiety disorder and communication challenges.
So, with all that in mind, it feels like Cindy does have to be put into a bunker, right? As it's such a core part of her backstory?
Well, no. Maybe this will be a hot take, but I honestly don't think she does.
While I do think everything I've listed here is a key aspect of Cindy Moon as a character, I don't think they need to lock her in a vault for 7-10 years in order to explain why a Korean-American woman in New York city has anxiety or practices martial arts or feels a need to work twice as hard to have her accomplishments recognized. These are all very relatable experiences that do not require a fantastical superhero origin story to justify them.
Honestly, with how emotion-forward the Insomniac Spider-Man games are already, I think her being a woman who has had a depressive episode recently which she describes as having felt like being trapped would work just as well as literally having had her be trapped by a supervillain. I would not be surprised if the ability to tell a story about anxiety and depression was a factor in them selecting Cindy as the next playable character as well - the potential for a Silk game that incorporates actual mindfulness and grounding techniques into the gameplay is really high IMHO.
I also think that the final scene kind of supports the idea too? Cindy has no lines, but she does have a silent awkward wave. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but her introduction makes me think she already has social anxiety - so unless she's already been in the bunker and we'll get a story about how she escaped, then I think she will probably jut be getting powers and moving forward from there.
Anyway, that's a lot of thoughts brought about by like 5 seconds of Cindy waving. I'm just really eager to see where things go from here and am hoping we'll get a DLC trailer or a Silk expandalone announced sometimes soon...
(PS: Having Peter already be in a committed relationship with MJ and Miles, who is also already in a relationship with Hailey, being in a psuedo-sibling relationship with Cindy is an excellent way of desexualizing the Cindy + Spider-Men relationship. I have no fears about Insomniac stumbling on that particular hurdle.)
(I do, however, have fears that I will be seeing unironic speculation about pheromones in reddit threads for the next 2 years until whenever Spider-Man: Miles Morales 2 or Silk: Cindy Moon is announced... but that probably cannot be changed, unfortunately.)
32 notes
·
View notes
Text
Thoughts on gender locked magic. Specifically the concepts of Witches. Discussion of gender essentialism and transphobia.
Ok this is a pretty common thing to run into in fiction. The idea that “Only women can become witches.”
But I have always wondered, but Why though? What is the reason only women get access to magic? What about their soul makes that a thing and why is that gender locked to woman as a gender specifically?
These fictional worlds with such a magic system always come with gender essentialism to me. They were not structured to include trans people. More likely because we weren’t a thought to the author.
Would a trans girl suddenly be able to do magic when she realizes? Would she always have had magic? Likewise, would a trans boy suddenly lose the ability to do magic? Did he never have any? People’s individual transitions are so unique, how would that effect their access to magic and how would that not be exclusionary? What about nonbinary people? What are genderfluid people who are women sometimes going to do? It all gets very complicated the moment you consider trans people and anyone whose gender is not binary.
It just strikes me as gender essentialism to say that only one gender has access to magic. I can never understand what in particular makes a character “worthy” of magic because of their gender, If we are going to look at gender with less binary expectations, then gender locking magic kinda goes against that goal.
Why has this cosmic magic or being that gives magic chosen “being a woman” as their qualifications?
If it’s about the oppression of misogyny, there are trans men and nonbinary people who experience that as well with no choice in the matter of how other people misgender us.
If it’s about a specific kind of physical body or genital, then there is no way to make that not exclusionary. If it’s about the trauma that young girls go through (Example: Madoka magica’s answer to this, where that trauma creates Energy to stop the heat death of the universe.) then that *still* becomes trans exclusionary, because there are people whose childhoods may have looked like that of young girls to society but were not, and were still traumatic in extremely similar, or the same ways. (right now i’m talking specifically about trans men and women who came out after adulthood and didn’t 100% know they were trans as kids. Madoka’s system also has no room for nonbinary people. )
The gender essentialist concept of "women are Closer to Nature and More Primal and have Secret Knowledge" also plays into this, and on top of that being something I don’t believe. I don’t think it’s smart to treat any gender as somehow secretly better than another.
Talking a bit more personally here, I did struggle to come out, and one reason because of people, who called themselves progressive feminists(in actuality this was a mindset from radfems), who treated the possibility of me being a boy as some kind of threat or loss. I’m definitely feminist, I want to make that clear. But I don’t stand for any kind of system that treats one gender as better or treats you as some kind of traitor because you didn’t turn out to be a woman.
I think that is the heart of the issue of why gender locked magic hits a sore spot.
The frustration that the experiences I have had, being treated like facets of womanhood. I know I and people like me don’t fit in magic systems like these, that there just isn’t a place there. So that part is alienating all on it’s own. I don’t have fond feelings for this trope. On top of all this, Trans men just aren’t considered in most media. There’s a sense of invisibility to finding representation. That isn’t just what I’ve noticed. Glaad has some stats laid out.
I feel like i’d be more interested in a world with this kind of magic if the point was about breaking and challenging this exclusionary magic system. Or perhaps, centering a transmasc perspective about losing magic because the system is exclusionary and how truly fucked up of an experience that must be in a society that places your value in magic.
Even in the few cases where a magic system is trans affirming to trans woman, trans men don’t seem to exist in the creator’s eyes. I am not going to name where this came from, but it did frustrate me that in a specific world that called itself queer friendly, cis and trans women and nonbinary people could become witches, but trans men got basically nothing. Didn’t seem to exist. A huge flaw in a world I really wanted to like and now just can not engage in without being reminded that people like me don’t belong. I get enough of that in real life.
My personal feeling is “fuck exclusionary magic!” like anyone in these fictional worlds should have the ability to become a witch. It shouldn’t be locked to a nebulous gendered expectation. (It shouldn’t just extend to magic too. Gender locked hair styles and clothing and pitches of voices in games also fall into gender essentialism. “You can’t be X if you look like Y.” Is exclusionary and transphobic, just on it’s own.)
#agito speaks#I get a little personal#transandrophobia#transphobia#gender essentialism#magic systems
28 notes
·
View notes
Note
I do understand people are allowed be upset with DD2 but it gets really frustrating when people point to things that aren’t even true about the game. It’s one thing when a game is designed maliciously to use and abuse players like a gacha game, games that rely on fomo, or are pay to make a game playable. But DD2 is not. It was always made to have certain design choices. Which people can dislike but also existed in DD1 at launch. The micro transactions don’t ’improve’ the experience. The micro transactions are NOT about grinding. The intended experience of the game is it without micro transactions and the game is NOT interested in making you buy them.
I wasn't going to answer this because things are already starting to settle with the amount of articles coming out clarifying the situation (that all the things are easily obtained in game nor is the game designed to be harder to make the mtx more desirable - it's not that's just how DD is)
Ultimately how I feel is:
-It's a single player game. The only person being 'cheated' by buying those items is the person that bought it. If other people want to buy it, it did not effect you. It's not like buying better weapons or power-ups in a competitive game, where $$$ gives you an advantage over other players. It's just you in your box, and them in their box. It's also not gacha mechanics - you're getting exactly what you pay for. I got every single unique blade in XC2 without buying a single core crystal pack. I've been in those mines before.
-I don't necessarily object to ease-of-play microtransactions in single-player-games. It's for the lazy or the busy. It's not some penalty on 'the poor', because the game isn't designed to push you toward buying them. If some guy out there can only play a few hours of video games a week because they're a parent or work so much and wants to fork over a whopping two or three whole dollars to maximize their play time then whatever. That doesn't affect me.
-I think a lot of the loudest voices are people that didn't actually play DD1. The complaints I'm hearing with regards to "locking fast travel behind pay wall" tells me what I need to know about that, lol. Or, they don't actually like "obtuse fantasy roleplaying games with a purposeful lack of modern 'qol' features as a conscious design choice" as they say or think they do. Not to mention DD1 launched with dlc/mtx ON THE DISK. Now that was heinous! I do think it's funny the sequel is launching with near the exact same reception as the first though, lol.
Things that people SHOULD be focusing on as real actual issues with the game:
-The poor optimization. It's dogshit on PCs. Inexcusable. The main reason I haven't bought the game yet and why I probably won't for a few months.
-The design choice to not let you easily restart. This is a complicated issue, because it's clear at this point this was a purposeful design choice and I get why: DD is all about making you live with your decisions and failures. It's VERY anti save-scumming, and now it's 'evolved' to "play the game straight through." A lot of people don't like this, and I totally understand, but consider there is another matter with this though that i don't think people are considering is the pawn system. Such a core system of the game relies on the exchange of player-tied companions that grow in power based on how many people they're passed around to and their owners. It's an amazing system that's universally beloved... but as for what exactly happens when the owner of a pawn is deleted or a pawn that's with someone that deletes? 😬 Do they keep all their progress? Items? Does it go away? Capcom has already said they're working on adding an easy way to Restart, but I believe it was in the works already for the future. They probably wanted to limit the amount of restarts in these crucial early days so that a big library of pawns can healthily develop. Not an issue further into the game's lifecycle.
15 notes
·
View notes
Text
.
I was chatting with my manager earlier about coming out to my parents as nonbinary (in the larger context of telling my parents that my partner and I are gonna be getting engaged later this year) and it's really made me a little bitter that I'm not... a trans man. Like at least a binary transition from one "thing" (their daughter) to another "thing" (a trans man), I think, my parents could understand, even if they wouldn't like it or approve of it. But how can I expect these two people, who I barely talk to, to understand the incredibly unique experience (and pain) of not wanting to exist as any one thing, of wanting truly to exist as nothing (since the most genuine expression of my personal identity is agender). In a society where nothing is not in the slightest way an option. How can I tell them that I'm taking testosterone, not to feel like a man, but to feel less like a woman, and expect them to understand? Being nonbinary in a world that is literally structured around and filled with and run by the very concept of a binary is exhausting to exist in, much less to then explain all of this to two people who I already have very complicated feelings towards.
Really, things would be so much easier (for me personally, not saying this is a universal feeling) if I could just be fucking cis or a fucking binary trans person.
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Flame Toys Go! Kara Kuri Power Rangers Dino Megazord
So much to say. Firstly, we've known about this toy since January of 2021. I remember being very excited at the initial reveal, because while it was the Dino Megazord, it was so hyper stylized and cool looking, that I would definitely own a second one for something like that. (Look at the pictures, then think about that statement for a second...)
But it wasn't until August of 2022 that it actually went up for order. And y'know what went up for order shortly before it? The ZAP Megazord. Good job communicating with your third party developers Hasbro. But I was still way more interested in this one. I even had $300 set aside to buy it. But when it went up for order, it was over $400, and I realized that I could be both the ZAP Megazord and the newly unveiled ZAP Dragonzord for less than it combined, which is how I ended up owning them... And then I caved and preordered it anyway.
But we're not done, because this thing was originally supposed to release in June of 2023. But it got delayed. And again. And again. It had multiple production delays that set it back until the last day of February 2024 (thank goodness it was a leap year). And the whole thing just got me feeling a little... jaded. I just felt like I had waited for so long, and that it had been delayed so many times, that I just didn't think it was ever going to come out.
But when I finally got that email saying it had shipped, I let out an audible gasp. The next two days we me antsily waiting for it to get here. And when it did, everything was, like, "they did that?" "Wait, they thought of that?" "That transforms, too?" It was a magical experience I haven't felt since Glacialord. So let's get to why this toy makes me feel like that:
The Good: Where to start? The T-Rex, I suppose. It puts the other three I have to shame. It GaoGaiGar's the legs, so they're able to have more articulation than the others, which fold the legs up onto the back of the thigh. It has pretty decent ankles, fully posable arms, the robot's waist, and a tail with a ton of universal joints in it (not balls, like ZAP Dragonzord). The tail can even expand and compress at every joint. Its only part with subpar articulation is the head, but that's only due to all the transforming it has to do, and even then it's still a great, unique sculpt.
If you've handled the ZAP or Lucky Cat mastodons, you'll understand what they tried to do with this interpretation, but it's just a bit more and feels a bit better. Like, it can balance on its back legs, its front toes can articulate, the trunk has a ton of joints. Its definitely the most brickish of the set, but I can't imagine giving it, say, a neck joint without encumbering it. And speaking of neck, the new head position gives it such a great identity that sets it apart from its predecessors.
The triceratops has legs! But if that's not your thing, they can flip around to reveal those usual treads. Those tiny legs are also very strong, and quite posable. Definitely the second-most brickish, but that's saying a lot considering how many poses you can get it into with what it has.
I find it really hard to get good looking quadruped articulation, but the saber-tooth tiger nails it. Pounce pose, run pose, (I haven't tried sit pose yet) any pose you can put it in looks great. It also has a really emotive neck, which helps a lot.
And the pterodactyl has the biggest glow-up. It has an actual neck like an actual pteranodon! And that head on top is very articulated, giving it a lot of emotiveness. Those wings are also very articulated, and having the hip skirt serve as actual feet makes it feel like such a better package than even the Lucky Cat's version, with the double ptera that mostly ends up as a backpack.
And onto the transformation, it's not actually that complicated. Its big thing is it has a lot of locks all over the toy to prevent certain joints from moving in different modes, but it doesn't take long to realize "if it doesn't move, look for a lock." And there are so many weird and cool transformation bits, like how the head assembles, the T-Rex's nose compressing, the mastodon toes becoming the elbow guards, the shield actually transforming, etc. It's fun.
Now, before we get to the main attraction, lets pivot and talk about the tank mode real quick. There's quite a bit of dedicated engineering for just this mode, with there being a slide in the legs, cuts in the hips, dedicated parts in the T-Rex chest and mastodon head, etc. Also, credit to this one over the others, the pterodactyl really brings it together.
And the actual Megazord is so well engineered. When combined, it feels like a solid piece; I'm not really worried about it falling apart, or untransforming as I play with it. All those locks really do make a ton of difference. And it's incredibly posable. I never had any trouble getting it into the pose I wanted; wings were super smooth to work with, arms never fought me to do anything, ankles are good, tail caused a few problems but only because I was trying not to poke my monitor. And that's the most amazing thing about this toy; that it is a toy. This isn't just some big display piece, it's playable, it's fun, and that's what probably surprised me the most about the whole experience. I was expecting to be scared that I'd shatter this thing if I looked at it funny, but it's just a super solid toy.
And everything is very self-contained, like the original. There's no extra hands, no adapters, no weird super-complex dismantling going on. The guns don't store (from what I've found), but apart from them, there are no spare parts. Heck, even the sword stores away. The sword. It's exceedingly impressive what this accomplishes.
The Bad: Two things. One, some of my glue didn't set? The front of the T-Rex pelvis, and the back of one of my hands both pop off. These aren't super important, load bearing areas or anything; I can glue them myself and they'll be right-as-rain, but I worry about other people where maybe more important areas didn't set right? Hopefully this is a rare issue and never on anywhere important.
And second it the saber-tooth tiger bit me, and it drew blood. Like, it's the next day and I can still see the mark. I also tried to set him on my lap, and his tail poked me right in the ouch. Very spiky, very pointy, be aware.
The Next: When this went up for preorder, they did also show off their grey prototype for a Go! Kara Kuri Dragonzord. And I think the only other time they've mentioned it was when that same proto showed up at a toy show. I follow them on The Twiblies, and they talk about this line maybe once a year, if that, so my hopes are not high that we'll ever get it. But after handling this, I do hope it eventually comes out. Heck, with how much work I've been putting into redesigning Titanus, this feels like the company that might actually do something interesting with it, besides the mono-boot.
Overall, I cannot sing enough high praises about this release. It's a beautiful, well engineered, very playable toy. It is incredibly expensive, though. I just hope that if you walk away from this review with anything, it's that if you do bite the bullet, you'll be getting your money's worth.
#Power Rangers#Mighty Morphin Power Rangers#Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger#Zyuranger#Megazord#Dino Megazord#Flame Toys#Go Kara Kuri#tyranosaurusrex#tyranosaurus rex#mastodon#mammoth#triceratops#saber tooth tiger#smilodon#pteradactyl#pterodactyl#pteranodon#Super Sentai#Review
9 notes
·
View notes
Note
Dear Sebastian,
Its my Birthday today..
But mostly I feel like
https://open.spotify.com/track/6qz8wrOej4MNian3TFofgD?si=sXDjsmSNQUiq1b8_vuSPpg
Can't celebrate with love one since not home till tomorrow.
I don't feel like my age at all.. and being reminded how old I really am gives me goosebumps. I wonder where the time went.. and what comes next. I still feel like sweet 21 but sadly that time is long gone... any advice for an emotional unstable woman who would rather live in her delusion than facing reality?
Sincerely,
Denise
Dearest Denise,
Many happy returns on your special day, darling.
Birthdays get complicated as the years go on, don't they? It may because we as humans have such a complicated relationship with time. I have long since believed that time – be it either as a nebulous concept or one of the universe's measurable absolutes – translates differently in terms of how we experience it physically and how we passively observe it. Either way, we struggle to hold onto it. Sadly the more we try to contain or preserve it, the faster it slips through our fingers.
That said, I think one of the greatest injustices inflicted upon us by societies that idolise youth is that we so easily forget that “ageing” truly is a privilege. Time, itself, is a privilege. Every sunrise gives us the most precious gift of opportunity. For laughter and happiness, love and pleasure, heartache and grief. From the purest joys to the most arduous struggles, they are the unique experiences that become our memories at sunset, intricately woven into the fabric of who we are.
And when we look in the mirror and see someone seemingly unrecognisable to our inner selves, it is not because we have aged. It is because we have lived. We see the map of our life’s adventures and that always deserves celebration.
We are never less for the passage of time. Only more. Today we celebrate another beautiful year of Denise and what a gift it is to experience it with you.
With love,
Seb
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
Look, I KNOW Hozier is singing from the perspective of an Irishman with a complicated relationship with religion who is often criticizing the Catholic Church, but “Sing” is just so very Jewish.
I know it probably wasn’t meant that way, and that there are universal themes of oppressed people finding their voices, but as a Jewish person it just makes me so happy and resonates so much with the collective Jewish experience.
Allow me to explain: our prayers are sung. Christians have psalms and hymns and prayers, and a Christian friend once asked me what our words for all of these things are and I realized I didn’t know. There may be words for them, but I’d there are then I don’t know them.
Because for me, to pray is to sing. Song is so inherent in our cultural and religious experience that the cantor can perform rabbinical duties in the absence of a rabbi (we didn’t have one at our reform congregation growing up. Granted, I grew up where there was barely a Jewish community, and I didn’t know anyone outside of my family that was Jewish and in my age group).
I can’t sing at all, can’t carry a tune for the life of me, but I sing my prayers. Every Shabbat and every holiday, I light my candles and I sing the kiddush. And the spirit of my people sings with me, for all they’ve tried to silence us.
The fact that hozier’s music can be so universal and at the same time feel so uniquely *Jewish* is astounding to me. I love him.
24 notes
·
View notes
Text
limiting any kind of trans healthcare is always a tragedy, but I get especially riled up when people say they want to limit puberty blockers or physical transitioning for mature teens/young adults "out of concern they'll regret it." maybe stuff like hormones or surgery isn't right for every single young trans person, but that doesn't mean the option should be taken away from them! Every trans person and their situation is unique. Hopefully all young trans people have strong support systems that can help them figure out the best path forward while respecting their agency. We should absolutely encourage the idea that one doesn't have to physically transition (or want to) to identify as trans, but if an informed young person of age really wants to transition, then let them goddammit! It's their body, and physical transitioning is considered the most effective treatment for gender dysphoria for the trans people who really *want* those physical changes. Of course a small amount will regret it, but there's usually complicated (often societal) factors involved and taking the risk usually leads to a better outcome. I think what conservatives and radfems don't get is that they have a hard time empathizing with people who have physically transitioned and *don't* regret it, because they are only thinking of how if they themselves were given hormones or surgery, that they *would* regret it... but that's usually because they aren't trans or aren't the kind that would really want those physical changes!!! They are ignoring that their experiences are not universal. They are so afraid that young people might be "manipulated" into physically transitioning because of gender non-conformance or stereotypes, but that's just like, transmed-esque logic that we need to push back against anyways! There's a whole wider world of trans people/allies who don't give a shit about gender stereotypes or gender conformance and just want others to feel comfortable in their bodies and lives, cis or trans or nonbinary or whatever! Who want detransitioning to be destigmatized. Who are perfectly fine with people who identify as a "binary" gender and nonbinary at the same time, or as agender, or as just cis and gnc, etc... who think gender affirming care can be for trans AND cis people, and that no one should feel pressured into it! Stand with these people and values!!!
the point is, trans healthcare is a very nuanced process, and we shouldn't put limits on potentially life saving options for a vulnerable group of people because of reactionary fear and black & white blanket thinking. that would border on fascism.
#i saw a post earlier that really pissed me off so here you go#trans#hope this makes sense i started falling alseep while writing
20 notes
·
View notes
Text
Koushiro Izumi Week 2023 Prompts
Koushiro week aims to offer flexibility and a variety of prompts, so that fans with different talents and amounts of free time can participate! This year, Koushiro and Tentomon took care to include folks who prefer to chat about their fandom experience or write short essays, as well as explicitly welcoming fans of Izzy <3
Entrants are free to select among the prompts on any day, or treat every day as a free day! You can post as many or as few times as you choose.
There is only one day with a set theme. Saturday October 14th will be Reblog Day! Entrants are encouraged to reblog their Koushiro and Tentomon content on that day, but please only reblog items that are not already on the Koushiro Week archive. I will make a special post on reblog day honoring our beautiful archive! Let’s share the Koushiro and Tentomon love, even if we are busy!
Event tag: izumikoushiroweek2023
Please find the prompts beneath the cut!
New Prompts for 2023
Crest of Knowledge
What does the crest of knowledge mean to you? What do you think it means to Koushiro and Tentomon? How about the people who love them?
It's lonely at the top
What is it like to be an outlier? Over the course of Adventure, Koushiro learns to use his gift to connect to others, rather than as a means to cope with lack of connection. This is beautiful, but still, being an outlier has to… complicate things. Do you think classmates or coworkers resent him and his success? Koushiro launches a business after high school. What is it like to have people relying on him for their livelihoods at such a young age? Do his older employees balk at having someone so young above them? Does he feel that he's missing out on higher education and fun college activities?
What are your Koushiro headcanons?
Alternate Universe
Do you have any AU Koushiro designs? Alternate haircuts? Show us your wildest Koushiro dreams, from mermaids to crossovers to epic fantasy!
Koushiro the mentor
Koushiro often takes on the role of mentor. He's a member of both the Adventure and the 02 teams and works hard to support everyone. Show us Koushiro offering support to the Chosen: younger, older, or both! Explore his unique role and what it means to him. Does he enjoy sharing knowledge? Does he want to remain as involved as possible with the Digital World, even when the 02 crew takes over?
So many Koushiros!
What is your favorite iteration of Koushiro? Adventure, 02, Tri, Kizuna, the reboot, the movies? Izzy and the various Koushiro dub iterations?
What is your favorite canon Koushiro outfit?
Show us a screenshot or draw it!
What is your favorite Koushiro or Izzy quote? How about Tentomon?
Screenshots/illustrations are encouraged, but not required.
Koushiro and Tentomon Screencap redraw
Koushiro memes!
Koushiro is Extremely Online, the boy has seen a meme in his day. Invent a Koushiro meme, or place him in an existing one! What memes do you think Koushiro would like?
Do you relate to Koushiro?
How so? Alternatively, what do you love about him and Tentomon?
What is something you wish we saw happen for Koushiro in canon?
I know we all have wish lists! Share yours!
Koushiro interacting with his parents
I cannot get enough of the Izumis!
Prodigious!
What is your favorite prodigious moment? What do you love about Izzy? What are your thoughts about Koushiro vs Izzy?
Emotion
As Koushiro grows more confident, perhaps he begins expressing his feelings more. Does he see this as a good thing (growth, trust that he is allowed to show how he feels), or regression (why can't I control myself like I used to)? How does Koushiro feel about personal expression and his emotions?
2022 Prompts
Feel free to use prompts from last year, or to re-interpret and explore ones you already used!
Koushiro and Tentomon
Wanna try your take on the classic Koushiro and Tentomon hug in the trolley? Or show us the boys being adorable, living their best lives together? The Koushiro and Tentomon relationship is so sweet, there is so much to explore here!
Adoption/family
Koushiro tells his friends about the adoption, visits the graves of his biological parents, meets his first ever biological relative when he has his daughter, spends time with his parents, etc. Also, Tentomon absolutely sobbing when he meets Koushiro’s kids, lol!
Friends/life outside of the Chosen
We don’t see much of Koushiro’s personal life throughout the Adventure content. What does this boy get up to? Who are his friends, both local and spread over the world? What are his hobbies? We know Koushiro is an incredible researcher/tech expert, but he is also a normal kiddo.
Confidence/the Chosen love you for you/everyone loves Koushiro
Koushiro struggles with self worth and confidence over Adventure. We see him find his way as the Digimon Tech Expert, but we know he’s so much more than that! Let’s explore Koushiro realizing that he’s needed and valued beyond his skills, and that he doesn’t need to be helpful to connect to and be loved by others- and that he very much is loved.
Confiding
Koushiro doesn’t discuss his personal life onscreen during Adventure, except to Tentomon and his parents. It would be amazing to explore him confiding in his friends.
Casual
Koushiro tries to speak more casually to his friends- this is inspired by this post.
Koushiro as the head of Chosen information/Koushiro’s company
What does Koushiro get up to in his company in Kizuna? How is he funding global Chosen activity and also researching and also having a life? How does he juggle everything? Does everyone look up to the guy who is making sure the global Chosen have the resources and information they need to operate? Are his friends concerned?
Plz help
Koushiro needs help, and the others rise up- whether he asks them to or not, lol! Maybe he’s stressed by work, juggling too much, or just in a research vortex and hasn’t come up for air in a while. Maybe a Chosen convinces him to lean on them and take a break. Or maybe someone pushes him to do “something fun,” and shenanigans ensue! Maybe Tentomon secretly calls the Chosen when Koushiro enters a Work Vortex or seems down.
Oolong tea
A classic, lol!
FASHUN
Koushiro explores fashion and style! Show us your best Koushiro Disaster Kouture ™, or show him growing out of that stage and settling into what you imagine his style might become. Does all the screen time result in glasses someday?
Eyebrows
Show us a range of Koushiro facial expressions! Dem brows are there for a reason >:3
Assistant Tentomon
Tentomon the mighty, making sure Koushiro remembers to Human (eat, sleep, call friends, etc). Tentomon, acting as Koushiro’s secretary/assistant. Tentomon learning how to research on his own! Tentomon sending an SOS when Koushiro needs some help, but is too polite to reach out.
Mochimon
HIM CUTE! HIM ROUND! SHOW US HIM!
Koushiro and Bugs
Koushiro sipping from a ladybug mug, Koushiro being gifted ladybug items, Koushiro finding ladybugs or beetles and thinking of Tentomon, Koushiro taking a bug outside when someone else wants to squish it, Koushiro casually revealing that he has an encyclopedic knowledge of beetles for Reasons.
Computer Club President Koushiro
Koushiro was the computer club president in 02 (hopefully this is true of both the English dub and original Japanese)! That would be so cute to explore!
Koushiro Playing Violin
Inspired by this.
16 notes
·
View notes
Note
I don't mind a discussion of the gods and their roles in Exandria, I do think they can be really interesting to have - especially for what it might say about a specific character. Incuriosity is one of my least favorite character traits, so asking questions is good!! But ngl some of the more recent arguments do take me out of the story, because they feel less Exandrian and more a 21st century discussion you might read on Twitter, if that makes sense?
To be honest...I'm not entirely sure which specific arguments this refers to? The discussions in the most recent episode, to give an example, still rest on the (in-universe, provable) premise the gods and the afterlife are real, whereas a modern day argument is far more likely to be about whether the gods exist in the first place. This feels much more like Enlightenment-era arguments of theology and the rise of Deism to me.
Everything that's been said that I can recall offhand fits in-universe, and I think more to the point I believe that complicated feelings about religion and the use of higher powers as a way to shift blame are a great constant of humanity (or personhood/mortality in the context of Exandria). Like, the idea of "why would the gods create a world in which there is suffering/why don't they intervene during tragedies/what have the gods done for me" is both an ancient argument and one that continues into the present day, and it is valid for Imogen to explore it; it's just that the answer of "let's kill them" the Vanguard puts forth is stupid. Deanna and FRIDA's arguments both feel very understandable to me from their perspectives. Deanna was brought back from death by her husband and by a cleric and, based on what we know of resurrection, her own will (ie, her soul was willing) - all those three people are ultimately much more culpable in this than the Dawnfather, but when she ends up finding that coming back after so long is strange and unsettling, it's easier to blame a remote and powerful entity than a random stranger, her husband, and certainly herself. FRIDA was awoken from sleep that they found peaceful in its emptiness, and finds their awakened experience to be much messier and stranger, and so yeah, they're projecting onto the gods and believe they also wish to rest. People throughout all of history have projected their own will, or anger onto ideas of a higher power, and I don't see why it would be different in a world where those higher powers are, objectively, real.
I know I tend to come down pretty hard on modern, 21st century (and usually, Christian and Westernized) understandings being projected onto fantasy settings, but I guess what I'm saying here is that these theological questions are not uniquely Christian, western, nor modern; they're fairly universal.
22 notes
·
View notes
Note
Can we get some positivity? (This is also kind of a confession of sorts, about feeling like an imposter/attention seeker for not having the typical dissociative disorder/system experience)
We're a system that almost never uses we, or thinks of ourselves as a system. We think of ourselves more like a fusion from steven universe, one person most of the time, and multiple people when we need to be. We just feel really insecure in our plurality and identity as a system.
We like thinking of ourselves as one person, it helps us feel and be more functional. We like being referred to by the body's name, most of us identify with the body in some way, shape, or form. We feel like we're faking it by not hating the body and liking being treated as one person.
We feel like we aren't a system because our disorder only causes mild distress, not the horrible experience most systems seem to have with it.
We also feel insecure about our innerworld. It looks like the control panel/riley's innerworld from inside out, and it makes us feel like we're faking it. We feel like we embody stereotypes way too much, so much so that we feel like we made up being a system for attention; even though we're only open about it to 4 people.
(Sorry for the multiple topics/disjointed subject matter, we had a lot we needed to get out)
You can. Thank you for your confession - we're proud of you for coming to us with this.
Impostor syndrome is a hellish companion. When there's a narrative on how to be plural the right way, it rears its head, and your feelings are very valid - but we believe you won't be defeated by it.
Sometimes, if we need to defeat our own insecurity that stems from external sources, we ask ourselves: Who made that narrative? The medical complex, or maybe the most popular plural blogs. Who does it benefit? Not you, Anon, and not people in the fringes like non-disordered systems, not spiritual systems, not soulbonders or tulpamancers or muses, not systems whose members have wildly differing opinions. It doesn't benefit individual systems - it's an (over)simplification of a complex, multi-layered experience that spans a long history.
And narratives are just that: narratives. They do not account for the diversity in the plural spectrum. There are medians who feel more like facets or AU versions of one person, and empty systems who are alone but can or want to be plural in the future, and polyplexes with multiple systems in one body... those narratives don't define people, and it shouldn't.
You're more than a narrative. You're a person, and you're allowed to be complicated and messy and not fit the mold. You can be whatever you want, and you should be whatever/whomever feels most comfortable to you. Because no, you're not "making it up for attention" - you're plural for yourself! You're not faking for being different, from being yourself. You're allowed to like the body and identify with it.
(Besides, wanting attention is not a bad thing. It's a need that should be fulfilled, and we're glad you have those 4 people you trust with your true self.
Moreover, if you just want the attention, I think you'd probably be get more "positive" attention from following the narrative, and you're certainly not doing that, from what I know about your system's uniqueness.)
Also, jumping off from the fact that plurality is a spectrum, many systems do identify as a single person in parts, or as a fusion, like you. It's a good way to be. You're allowed to exist, and should be allowed to live without judgment. You can slide from being One to Many as needed - plurality also fulfills an adaptive need sometimes, and it's good that you work this way.
Speaking of "adaptation"... your disorder being "lighter than others" is part of the fact that your plurality, the way you are, works for you. And we reiterate: you do not have to follow the narrative that all plurals, particularly those with a dissociative disorder, are suffering, hate themselves, can't be functional, hate being plural, etc..
You don't have to be or perform suffering for your system or your disorder to matter.
Your inner world being based on a cartoon doesn't make it fake, either - I've heard of Star Trek cockpit headspaces, for example - being "stereotypical" does not undo your existence. Having interests that are reflected in your inner world isn't a shameful thing.
You're not hurting anyone by being yourself/ves. You're not hurting yourselves by it, too, you say you function better this way. What right do other people have to tell you that you're doing it wrong? They don't know what's going on in your head, and they should not presume jack shit.
I hope this helps at least a little. Please take care of yourself/ves.
Mod Vintage (⭕ & AC)
9 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
vipersd4
Viper SD4
kijutamu
なんか気になる
stellalucia
Stella Lucia
bigboy-0218
Untitled
wapindart
Wapind'Art