#i guess this bird specific post is also because SO MUCH media has generic birds that are formless blobs with vague features

[p2ep]

one of my fav things about medieval manuscripts is many of the illustrations of birds are recognizable as real bird species. i can go birding in here

my man the european goldfinch!!!!!!!

short-eared owl?

magpie!

sparrowhawk !

like idk. i get mad at posts making fun of medieval art because 100% of the time it's a drawing that is deeply steeped in iconography and its own visual language that is difficult to interpret if you don't know the symbols and what they mean. and i feel like wider pop-culture does not ever think about the fact that these people were illustrating the world as they saw it !!!

[atamascolily]

some thoughts about the Clara Dolls

A year ago, I posted a very long essay about Homulilly and her familiars which was inspired by all of the questions I had about the Clara Dolls (specifically, why there are so many of them). While I feel like I have a decent grasp of their canonical attributes--at least as they have been revealed thus far--there's one area that still puzzles me, and which by definition, doesn't have an easy or authoritative answer.

Over my time in fandom, I've noticed that many people have a radically different interpretation of the Clara Dolls than I do--that they pay far more attention to them as individuals than you might expect for minor background characters that are never directly named in their source material, especially given their limited screen time. Which naturally begs the question: what is it, exactly, about the Clara Dolls that appeals to people so much, more so than any of Homulilly's other familiars?

Here is my guess: the Clara Dolls are compelling precisely because they are so individually detailed. Unlike the interchangeable masses of Lieses (birds), Lottes (soldiers), Lilias (teeth), Lisas (airships), all of which are variations on the name "Elizabeth", each Clara Doll has its own name and costume. While they are all still clearly variations on the same theme, both in terms of their doll-like bodies and the "sins" they represent, each of them is unique in a way that the other familiars aren't, and the supplementary material released with Rebellion goes into great length about their different personalities.

Most media follows what TV Tropes The Law of Conservation of Detail, meaning that there is a tendency for any given details to be relevant; unlike real life, superficial and unrelated details are omitted for narrative convenience. Thus, I think it's only natural that people would look at the individualized Clara Dolls and assume that they must be important, or else why would the creators go to so much trouble to distinguish them from each other?

To be honest, though, I'm not sure the Law of Conservation of Detail applies to Rebellion, at least not in its entirety. Rebellion's defining visual characteristic is its copious attention to details, many of which are barely visible or discernible outside of freeze-frame. Rebellion is a kind of fever dream, dominated by excesses and so packed that I've spent years untangling the meaning in each still frame, and barely made a dent in it.

It's not that these details aren't important. Far from it--they greatly add to my enjoyment of the film and my interpretation of Homura's character. And while I enjoy unpacking the symbolism, I'd argue that the film's meaning does not depend on any one in particular--that they support what is already there. They are icing on a particularly complex and elaborate layer cake, but it's possible to enjoy a hefty slice without ever digging into them.

And I think the Clara Dolls fall into this "decorative" category, in the sense that plenty of casual viewers watch Rebellion without ever realizing that there is more going on with them than is apparent on the surface--to the point where you could remove their scenes entirely, and the general plot would progress more or less without a hitch (and casual viewers or first-time viewers might not even notice their absence!) They are excellent, but I'm not sure I would call them essential.

Narratively speaking, the Clara Dolls are a mass, a mob, a chorus. Unusually for such a group, they are also visually distinct from one another. Hence the disjunct, I think. This is true for a lot of things in Madoka Magica as a whole, and can be best summed up as the difference between Gen Urobuchi's script and Inu Curry's vision of it, but that's a whole 'nother essay in and of itself, so I'll leave it at that for now.

Inu Curry very clearly loves and cares about the Clara Dolls or else they wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of creating them--but that's different from how the Clara Dolls appear in the final product, which is a composite of multiple peoples' work and effort and all the competing priorities that go along with that. What works for a worldbuilding draft or a still image doesn't necessarily work for a finished film, and while I enjoy the Rebellion Production Note and other supplementary materials immensely, I will always treat the finished film as the primary canon, which supersedes all else.

Thus, I find it hard to get excited about the Clara Dolls as distinct individuals or to believe they will play a larger role in future installments. It's not that they couldn't, it's just different from the role that they were playing before in Rebellion, which seems like a dramatic shift to me--especially if we're talking adding 14 distinctive characters into a 2-3 hour movie! The question I ask myself is, "what would be gained, narratively speaking, by doing so?" and I keep coming up blank. Maybe Walpurgis no Kaiten will surprise me by providing an answer, but I doubt it.

This is not to suggest that people who see the Clara Dolls as individual characters or who want to see them with an expanded role are doing something wrong, by the way. I think it's fine if other people want to flesh them out in fan creations--that's the whole point of fanworks!--just that this particular aspect doesn't appeal to me personally, and I don't think it will ever be of major canonical important. You do you.

It probably doesn't help that I don't have a very sympathetic view of the Clara Dolls in general--there are strong hints that Homura was horribly bullied as a child and that the Clara Dolls are simultaneously the dolls she played with as a substitute for friends and the bullies who tormented her. They don't seem to have any respect for "God" ("Gott is Tott!" and the thrown fruit at the Madokami stele) or their erstwhile master (they mock Homulilly on her way to her execution and cry crocodile tears; they throw more fruit at devil!Homura at the end of the movie). Homura can command them, but it's not clear to me that they will obey; they are wild cards more than anything else. The Clara Dolls are only interesting to me inasmuch as what they reveal about Homura herself, not as characters in their own right.

For what it's worth, I have the exact same reaction to Hitomi: I've seen a lot of people get very excited about the idea of Hitomi becoming a magical girl, to which my reaction has always been a blank stare and a ".... and what would that accomplish, exactly?" Hitomi's narrative role is to be the Ordinary Friend who gets drawn into the protagonists' problems, the perpetual victim who must be rescued from the monsters again and again. Hitomi is defined by her normality; removing it would completely change the character and derail the story as it stands.

Would that divergence be an interesting story? Sure. But that doesn't seem to be the story Madoka Magica is interested in telling. You can sense that in Gen Urobuchi's most-likely-unserious answer to the question of what Hitomi would wish for: "for Kyubey to disappear immediately". Kyubey is the messenger of magic, his narrative role is to guide Madoka and her friends into their roles as magical girls; for Hitomi to reject him as her wish sends a pretty strong message. But it's a moot point, because it will probably never happen--as soon as Hitomi became a magical girl, her role would have to be filled by someone else, and she wouldn't necessarily add anything else to the existing team. (Again, not to say that she couldn't, but that it would be a very different story if she did.) Madoka Magica is centered around a core cast of five magical girls, with Nagisa Momoe already serving as an impromptu Sixth Ranger in Rebellion--what else is there for Hitomi to do?

As I mentioned earlier, I think many, if not all of the disjuncts between various fan interpretations hinge on the difference between Gen Urobuchi's script and Inu Curry's interpretation of it. AFAIK, the Clara Dolls as distinct individuals only exist in the latter, but it's an open question for me how much Walpurgis no Kaiten's script will build on the visual elements in Rebellion versus ignoring them or going in a different direction. So much of the movie ultimately hinges on this question, and I think the role of the Clara Dolls is definitely one of them.

Given that Walpurgis no Kaiten appears to be focused on mirrors and reflections, with at least two different Homuras running around, I think it's natural to wonder if the Clara Dolls are involved in all of this in some capacity. That said, they're not the first thing that leaps to my mind in all of this, and I find the divergence between my assumptions and that of other fans absolutely fascinating. Can't wait to find out what is actually going on when the film is released!

[fennecthunderfox]

Figured I should probably life update.

It's been a looooong time since I've posted here. Various factors got in the way of art in general and I figure I need to at least post a text update if nothing else.

Where have you been?

I have been mostly gaming in my free time and lurking on the internet. I didn't realize it, but I guess social media had been chipping away at my mental health without me realizing it. Namely Twitter (it's gonna stay twitter forever to me, I don't care what it's actually called now). I wanna try to get active on tumblr again, but they changed the layout in such a visually suffocating way, I can't do that site right now either.

So I just lurk.

What about your art?

Art has been hard. As I've complained about a lot in the past, I have a full time job and this job has had me on mandatory overtime for 3 years at this point. I also have chronic pain episodes that- while they have improved- still occur on occasion.

So you haven't drawn at all?

I've drawn very little UNDERTALE/DELTARUNE art recently, but I actually HAVE drawn some Zelda-centric art. I just haven't shown it because it's extremely self-indulgent and I am aware that the one canon character I draw the most is one people tend to hate. (Revali. It's Revali. He's a jerk, but I love him and I love inventing Rito characters that both admire and acknowledge his skill- but also knock him down a peg.)

The future of your Undertale/Deltarune comics?!

There should still be a future, yeah. Problem is, it's been so long since the beginning of the comic, I've kinda... gotta figure out what the heck the story even is anymore. Cause I don't really like WD Gaster being a villain? And that's sorta how we framed him to be in the comic, but I don't like that anymore.

"Fenn, Gaster made Ralsei disappear. Or SOMETHING, we still don't know what happened to Ralsei."

Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I've said from the beginning that Ralsei isn't dead, and that's still true. Also if I do change Gaster's motives, the Flowey/Ralsei thing (Flowsei?) will remain the same. So basically what I'm saying is Gaster was framed kinda like a villain in the comic, but he may shift to just a very, VERY morally grey guy, and you'll understand WHY in time.

Aaaaaaaand Vesseltale?

Vesseltale's a weird one cause it's the secondary plot comic and it's still stuck on-hold in the best possible place to be on hold. I might have to write that comic to a point where the biggest twist of the AU is revealed and then just be like: "Okay, here's some bullet points about this AU cause I don't actually think I can make this a full comic."

And then have like... highlight comic series where I just draw out major scenes. Like how Frisk interacts with the altered versions of the characters in this time.

Final thoughts?

I wish I had more time to do art. I really do. It's just difficult to set time aside to do it because of work. It's easier to pick up the Switch to decompress while listening to Let's Plays on Youtube at the moment.

Once the Holidays pass, I think I'm gonna try to carve out time on the weekends specifically for doing art. I'd love to finish Defnodel Chapter 3 before Deltarune Chapters 3 and 4 release.

Also be prepared, I might start posting Rito fanart on DA because I love the Rito. You have no idea how many headcanons I've created for these dumb birds. I love them so much.

[owen-not-carvour]

ok i want to talk about bluey for a minute. won’t be my new focus ofc but. i want to talk about it.

specifically what makes it So fascinating and legitimately Good to pretty much All age ranges. both overall and for me personally. therefore,, long post. buckle up :)

also i just want to say that liking bluey when you’re older is only weird if you/people Make it weird. if you’re just enjoying it for what it is (ie the things that i’m gonna talk abt in this post !!) then there’s no reason you can’t like it!! ((basically i’m very afraid of being judged for this so i have to keep telling myself that it’s just like liking any other piece of really well done media. bc like. bluey Is well done. on so many levels))

that being said. bluey. it’s fuckin Incredible across the board. here’s why:

first things first: the Content of bluey. it doesn’t treat kids like they don’t know anything. in fact, pretty much everything in bluey is shown through things most kids already Do. like 99% of the time bluey episodes are just about kids Existing and doing kid stuff like playing games (which bluey and bingo do a LOT of) and interacting with their friends, parents and community as a whole! and the way it Does that is so realistic to how kids actually act (trust me. summer camp counselor here).. it’s got all the randomness and creativity that kids always have when they express what’s in their heads!!

so then bluey Takes that and puts it into something that is enjoyable to watch for virtually anyone.. bc for kids, that’s what they Do so it’s relatable to them…

but for other age groups it’s nostalgic. like i watch bluey and i’m reminded of a) my kids at camp :) and b) myself when i was younger… and it’s just a cool way to get some of those memories back.. like the barky boats ep!! my school did the “buddies” thing too :) that one is one of my favorite eps in the whole show for that reason!!

and that’s also why watching bluey can legitimately be so Healing too.. (or on the other hand can make you realize you have more Issues than you thought. also speaking abt myself here lol) because the heeler family is So healthy (like holy shit their communication is incredible) while still being realistic (they Aren’t perfect!!) so it’s like. you watch it and it’s like. woah. this is something that Could’ve happened. it is possible. and even when you’re older you can watch bluey and take stuff out of it, parent or not..

(also i want to mention chili and bandits marriage, too. not just the way they parent but how they also just genuinely have a good marriage!! and seeing that is so nice bc like. they may be cartoon dogs but i still want what they have yknow)

i think bluey can also make people more… empathetic?? i guess,, towards kids. like i like kids just fine. don’t want to Have any when i’m older but.. bluey provides a better understanding as to how they Work. it shows their thought processes through the games and decisions the heeler sisters and co make so anyone older who watches (parents or otherwise) can interact with them and Understand them better. the whole show is really good abt tackling generational gaps like that too. it goes back to the communication the heeler family has. like seriously. it shows it makes a difference!

also i love how it shows that bluey has this Habit she does to process events.. she’ll basically make whatever Happened into a game to help her understand better and she’ll just do it all exactly how it happened in her actual life. she does it in daddy putdown (the ep where chili had to leave for a night to go to a baby shower) and copycat (bluey starts out just copying bandit but then they find a hurt bird, they took it to the vet, but it still died) and i just think that’s rlly cool that bluey Does that..

last Content thing i want to talk abt is just how amazing the way bluey covers heavier topics like death, even if it’s just an animal (copycat) and infertility (onesies) is. it doesn’t go Too deep, but still deep enough for kids to understand that it’s important to Know about more real life stuff too yknow.. camping kind of does this with the whole language barrier between bluey and jean luv too.. it just kinda Touches on things so kids can understand that other situations exist (i guess that’s the best way to say it??) without getting Too heavy! and i think that’s just really cool.

(not to mention that the storylines of so many bluey episodes are so fucking beautiful and heart wrenching in the best way. the story telling across the whole show is just Gorgeous!!)

anyway. there’s gonna be a part 2 to this where i talk abt the Aesthtic aspects of bluey,, but for now. here’s this :)

[ornamental-coral]

Do you have houses combos you love besides Snake Bird ?

Hi sorry it’s take me so long to get to you ‘nonnie human you. I promise if anyone sends me questions, I will get to them eventually! It just takes a while for me thinking about them, researching about them (doing Birdy Bird things with even a one-sentence question...), forgetting I have a sort-hat-chats centered tumblr account (which is... can sort of a Bird thing but also a me thing), and then coming back so we are here (there. somewhere)

I myself am a Snake-Bird. I think I’m pretty neat. Birds are usually very good at entertaining themselves. I think. And I’m lucky I like myself enough because I spend a lot of time with me haha.

I’m a little in love with a remarkable amount of Lion primaries, Snake secondaries and Bird primaries (especially with a Snake secondary to make them extra hard to hold onto *rolls eyes) and apparently I love writing Badger Primaries? I guess I find the challenge of building an “ideal” society that is willing to address the current failings of our timeline a worthwhile challenge and my ink-children rise from the ether to meet me.

I’ve expanded below bar because this is actually a really interesting concept to me - how does a particular house combination react to the others. Below is just my meandering through how specifically My Snake Primary Bird secondary might react on a surface level to the other house types. This doesn’t mean I’m right. There are as many ways of acting within the house system as there are human beings and keep in mind, this is all in good fun.

____________________

Lions

The Idealism of the Lion Primary is something that I find admirable. I posted a more extended musing on the position of Snake Birds within media here. I think the Snake in me understands that when you pick up a person the way Snakes do, you pick up a lot of their wants and regrets too. Snakes pick up People, so that means the whole package. A Lion with a worthy cause can be a very attractive thing to a Snake, who will follow and support them in a very specific kind of way. 

With Double Lions, and Lion Snakes there’s that urge to run after them with a fire-extinguisher in one hand and a big stick in the other - one to put out the fires a Double Lion inevitably lights and the Lion Snake may try purposefully to stoke, and the other to beat off anyone who dares to tell your Lion that they cannot Be A Lion. That’s something only the Snake can do, and that’s only because no matter what the Snake says, the Lion is still Their Person warts and all and the Snake Bird knows damn well what they were getting into, or at least thought they did.

Lion Birds house-match secondaries with Snake Birds but can have explosively different moral codes, largely because they method match. I personally find some Lion Bird characters a little grating because as the audience, I feel I’m getting the same information as the Lion, but as a Snake I have a little too much self-preservation to imagine myself doing anything much about it - at least not the way a majority of Lion Bird characters act - or I come to different conclusion. I also hate conspiracy theories because they require leaps of logic the my Bird model typically just can’t tolerate but the felt-house Lion will participate in. However, Lion Birds can also be the hard-boiled PIs, the Best-at-their-Job secret agents (hi Agent Coulson), the one who has Seen the World and Still Believes It Can Be Saved. So that’s admirable and fun.

Lion Badgers are sweet but my Snake Bird goes “fires, fires everywhere”. And like, not the kind your Lion Snake might think is funny when the Snake Bird tries to put them out. Think Steve Rodgers. MCU Steve has a really strong Snake Performance though when it comes to Bucky which MY Snake finds really confusing because it is So Strong I’d be willing to be money he would have at least tried to find a better way to get rid of the Tesseract if Bucky hadn’t fallen from that train and been declared KIA. I think that particular type of Snake performance also confuses Tony, which is part of why Civil War was the way it was.

But yeah, a fire that a Lion Badger wants to light? it’s not going to go out. For a Snake, having that as Your Person means you either really ride or die for them - and might actually literally have to die, or you are keeping them from burning themselves out before they accomplish whatever they’re doing. For a Snake Bird? this is alarming as hell and it’s a fight between the Secondaries to make sure the Lion takes care of themselves as part of the Lion’s “hard work” Badger, if they’re your person.

Birds

Bird primaries will “build” the people they love into the way they see the world. As a Snake, I think this is just really appealing to me? Snakes are loyal, and older Snakes have the life experience to realize that - painful as it is - this loyalty will not always be reciprocated in the way you hope for (this is the stereotypical bone of contention between Lions, Badgers and Snakes. Lions are focused on their cause and if the Snake’s protective instincts get in the way of that, that causes problems It also hurts when a Lion’s mission supersedes their affection for their Snake people. Badgers’ concerns are for their communities and the split of attention can drive the individually focused Snake crazy). If you get built into the Bird’s world, that always felt like something special and something that took hard work, which made it all the more valuable.

My Snake Birds also likes to imagine it’s equipped to learn to the things that a Bird variety believes in and address those things. It’s the kind of relationship that has the potential to go very wrong, and I do realize that. I think Snake Birds have the tendency to want to be everything for Their Person (or people) and our powers of observation mean that we take it a little personally when we’ve missed something. I’m tempted to call Kaz Brekker of Six of Crows a Snake Bird and it drives him to distraction that he can’t be everything, everywhere, all at once to the handful of a people he truly and deeply cares about.

The Bird Snake in particular house matches in a way that can be particularly challenging and attractive to a Snake Bird? A Snake Bird’s tool is, well, the Bird, and the whole persona can feel ridiculously pleased by being able to “pin down” the Bird Snake, which does not necessarily lend itself to being pinned. There’s also this strong urge to understand the Bird Snake. 

So there’s the Snake secondary who delights in finding new ways to be, and a Bird Secondary delights in learning new things. The discovery element in that relationship can, as long as the Bird Secondary is not stifled by the Snake Primary’s concern, actually be really rewarding. Birds, and Bird Snakes in particular are also often really unique. They think differently, act differently, can be off putting to certain types of house combinations because their moral code can come off is so blue-orange, and is Built on top of that. Snakes take great pride in being very “this is my Person and their brand of weirdness is just another thing I love about them. And on top of that, I Know them.” with their people in any situation, and if a Snake can eventually prove to their Bird Primary that that feeling is unwavering, that’s a relationship that becomes central to both Snake and Bird.

That isn’t to say Birds can’t go dark, but usually they learn to be that way given Birds are evidence-gatherers. Unfortunately, this means I love them too because people of my generation and all generations before and hence have a thing for characters with trauma (see Loki, greasy prince extraordinaire).  It’s -- it’s never not been a thing. Take a look at freaking Gilgamesh, which is the oldest things that we know of, look at Enkidu, and tell me he wasn’t your favorite. Gilgamesh is kind an arschloch of highest proportions. As a more palatable example of this Bird-villain thing, I sort of suspect Bucky Barnes is a Bird of some flavor. If he killed one person as the Winter Soldier, he’d feel bad but probably admit it was the brain washing - but he did it dozens of times. He wonders what does this say about him? He is possibly a Badger, but even pre-winter-soldier he doesn’t seem to care on as wide a scale as a Badger typically does. Steve is Built into the fabric of his world, and he doesn’t react to Steve’s death the way I expect a Snake to either. Maybe a really Old Seasoned Snake and I mean technically he’s old? but the cryogenics thing sort of means he’s not old enough to just let it go. He also doesn’t follow the boy from Brooklyn for reasons I would expect from a fellow Snake but I guess the new show might give more insight on that once I actually watch it.

Badgers

Okay, I like writing Badgers. [Leans back on chaise lounge] this probably has something to do with my mother.

Really though. I model Badger because my mother, although I love her and I’m really lucky to have her, is a teeny tiny bit horrified by Snake tendencies and drilled into me the morality that it is okay and it is above all Good to care about other people (for other Snakes, read Yes Even Strangers). To be fair, the prioritizing that Snakes do (which can get as focused as ”My people first, even if someone else far away is in trouble and I am acutely aware of it”) can seem pretty horrific to a Badger. They don’t necessarily get how you could believe everyone is a person and just... not care. And it’s hard to convince a Badger (for whom not acting can = they are not worth it) that you know exactly what you’re doing but are also aware that if you try to help everyone your head will explode because you can’t keep that many People up there. It’s why Snakes have their rings of caring.

But the result is that for me, Badgers are usually the ones left standing at the end of the story. If they’re done dirty, I like to try and fix it.

I don’t like how media treats Badger primaries generally though? There’s often something “goofy” or the Badger is treated as soft in a really unpalatable way. I mean, and to be fair this directly comes from the way a Snake can sort of be flummoxed with the way Badgers just do things for strangers, yes Badgers irl may be considered gentle. On an individual level, they are often the hearts and hearths of groups and homes.  But there’s this weird place where The State is supposed to be a Badger-shaped institution, so that uneasy balance comes out in weird ways.

I don’t remember who said it, but the difference with Badgers and Snakes is that, with a Snake, you start out at Zero. You’re human, but you’re not the Snake’s human, so I will treat you like a human, but there are My People above you. And with a Badger, you sort of start out at like 85-100%? At least this is my perception. Badgers need-base and that off-balances Snakes.

A Snake with a Badger in my opinion needs to be “eyes open” in a different way than even a Snake with a Bird does, because the Snake needs to understand that the Badger is going to look and act similar - until they don’t, and then the Snake needs to be able to put aside the part of them that was attracted to the mirrored morality and actually work with the Badger to figure out what the Snake needs and how the Snake can in turn support the Badger.

Anyways though, I’m writing a thing where a Badger Bird-modeling-Badger is the last woman standing, committed to fixing a broken type of organization that her Snake, Bird, and Lion companions are Tired of. Lady Badger is nothing if not resilient. I’m writing another thing where a really really Burnt Badger man gets a safe place to learn to be part of a community that is meant to be mutually protective again (he dies because this is a fan work and that’s what happened in cannon, and this is arguably because he’s still unburning at that stage and doesn’t Have a proper community, but I hope to show him having at least Some happy times because in the sh**show show he didn’t have any at all). I’ve got a slightly less developed thing where a number of Badger performing princes learn to work together to fix their kingdom and unbury the history that created it. 

Aaand It’s nearing midnight, I have clearly lost the thread of the thread or whatever

Goodniiight to all my houses. Love you all even if I didn’t write about you here.

-Ornamental

[misterbitches]

Hello! @flootweed replying to the post from before. the long format was killing me. why does tumblr look like this...

I haven’t watched episode 8 yet...or have I? If it’s the most recent one. No.

Is the hornbill a bird? It probably is but I have a terrible memory and I’m dumb so. I skipped the last few weeks because I’m scawwed. How are you liking it? I did see someone say that the hornbill makes sense (without knowing what it is...at all) bc heart transplant patients only live like 5-15 years after but someone in those comments pointed out that he was so young when he got his and that’s pretty rare so he has a higher likelihood of survival. Frankly, this is the only way I will proceed. Since when did shows ever care about the heart transplant health? Never and it needs to stay that way!

What did we think of ep 6? LMAO. I need opinions! And omg it makes me feel special when I can point things out to people because I so...rarely get to LOL. Editing is like one of my favorite things ever so I can be super particular about it but I try to do the thing you do when you’re supposed to see if it works within its context. I’d like to go in with scissors and glue but alas. 

THe mic covering....the rustling....it’s like guys...please. Ironically the audio today wasn’t great. I don’t know why. IDK if you watch c-dramas but I am not even sure what’s worse between them because they dub their dramas. But actually no it’s best to have the dubbing because even tho it is painful they have to put a lot of effort into it. LOL. 

Right? @ Aey! It’s just weird if they would show us more about what he’s done instead of saying he’s done sth bad and not even explaining that....like you could even do some shitty exposition. I think if he is to be a true villain then we really need to be privvy. All the warnings make it seem like he’s a fuckin’ serial killer so when we get the scene of him at home it’s like....actually this is really serious? Maybe his pain is like...for a reason. Althought you won’t even TELL US WHAT HE’S DONE WRONG BESIDES BE JUST FUCKING WEIRD AND ANNOYING! So from what we have it’s just a realllllllll fucked up sad person lol. god i forgot about the dinner! and i totally agree. he really needs them to succeed. i like your theory because it would make the scene where he like blocks the twitter user make more sense. he also says they dont really know each other etc so it’s realllllyyyyy probable that he just sees it as a way out. if not then we shall pretend u wrote it :)

god yea i wouldnt say it is art but i also guess we technically have to since it is technically. in the way that technically performance artists are artists but mostly i uh technically ignore them. Also one of my fav BLs is called the best twins. If you do not know what it is I will not elaborate further.t 

i want to know more abt poli sci majors lmao but they sound DRAMATIC/ hopefully most ppl in ur cohort arent losers! 

hahahha i understand. there was just a thing on twitter about DSA and then the day before about reading discourse. the same thiings. over. and over. and over. and over. we are our own worst enemies but also our own best friends? but i hate tankies and that wont change. but hasan’s a decent guy. he said sth abt black ppl during biden’s primaries in GA or whatever and i was like chill. but he’s insecure and has adhd which means ur more open to being wrong and changing otherwise u will suffocate and die. 

and totally about hiding fuck ups. i’ve tried really hard bc of organizing IRL to like...be honest, question, etc but also like...approach it naturally? because if you’re trying to be perfect and so worried you’ll fuck up you don’t realize that puts  more stress on you, makes you seem like a robot, and could potentially not make you realize the mistkaes you made. also if we’re privileged in certain spaces there is just no possible way we won’t get something wrong. im light and i know that honestly any way to speak up on colorism is going to be difficult and that’s a space where i have power so i just have to figure it out. we should be uncomfortable because we have to sit with unpleasant feelings and sort through our own whatever. that just makes the next time even better and people can trust u more.  i think some people sweat it sooo much or maybe they think their personal life and what theyve been through is more the norm? on the other hand people can be sf reactionary in the worst way and idk what their issue is. there was also a user who said sth very inch arresting about tankies which i thoroughly enjoyed (how like violent lefitsts or tankies / ppl who are like ooh a gun whatever just want to be violent in another space so they have shit tendencies from jump and nothing of substance which i think i agree with tbh fo ra lottttt of ppl. like their anger is actually like “no im about to beat that ass” instead of what we actually want to get done) 

sort of in the same vein re: taking it easy...we coudl all be more understanding too. to slow it down like you mentioned about not being privvy to fucking eveyrthing and saying anything on our mind. i saw this person talk about y2k which was a huge deal while happening bc it was the turn of the millenium (bruh were u even alive?) but this twitter user grew up in a super super SUPER religious household and was like why do ppl make jokes about Y2K it was insanely traumatizing? though my first instinct was confused ive tried hard to like look more before i judge especially thanks to a friend of mine. turns out that with the further reading the more we found out he was just really traumatized; it was very common in religious households to be afraid of 2000. so we could have come at him with no understanding and he could have thought that everyone had the same experience with that year that he did. his feelings sit precedent though but i think it was just very hard for him to fathom. 

i didnt reply bc he didnt need that and what could i have said? he’ll see what the truth is with exposure and unfortunately this was something he really did go through. 

and that’s what makes most people think others could be over the top. because it sounded ridiculous but then it was this huge traumatic thing that we could have never known about. so maybe when someone sounds like actually crazy they have an explanation? of course some ppl are just batshit or annoying but that’s anywhere not just leftists it’ just means more i guess when a ~~librul is annoyed~ but it can be easy to want to make fun of ppl too. lmao.  basically what i am saying is the internet? especially twitter? for leftists? in this economy? bitch it’s the wild west out here.

i am 29! idk if i said it or not. i am OLD u probably werent even born in the year i was talking about wah. i know not old-old or old at all but compared to you i’m due for a colonoscopy.

omg i hope u can get vaxxed soon! are you wfh rn? i hope ur also not in a bad state as in state state not state as in ur being :| bleh what a fucking time. it sucks that you have to fucking do work. well unless u like school. which i hope u do. i just assume everyone hates it cos i did lmao

was it the lindsay ellis drama? that bitch is dumb. if there was other drama oh wait the drama i was referring to it all happened on the same day. idk book twitter that well but i saw something from someone who was abt that shit and wowie! the american people are not that.....intelligent to put it lightly.

i’ll get better. ppl tell me they miss me and im like aw. i have insanellllyyy bad insomnia and a lot of stuff happened this year HOWEVER I SLEPT FOR TWO DAYS FOR 8 HOURS AT A REASONABLE TIME. im a new woman.  anyways you too! i hope ur not too burnt out with school. we just dont know when the burnout is or we just dont know we are burnt out until we are. the panaramiciccici hit and all the things i was ignoring kind of just fell on me and sooo much happened at once. and frankly it’s hard to take care of ourselves. lord. 

Like if you aren’t interested in expanding on the issue in a way that hasn’t been done before all you gotta do it like… spread resources and donate if you can. I dont see the point in having to say something about every issue especially if you (not at you specifically just in general) aren’t immediately impacted by the issue. Like is the 14 yr old white marxist named sarah on twitter really gonna have meaningful insight on anti-asian violence ?

this is part of why i cannot telecommunicate. i dont want to do shit on the internet. i am able bodied so i know that this time has been of such ease for other people. but mentally i just can’t. i don’t have a comment on hand like that and i hvae no desire to engage with ppl that way. i am a super super super solitary person but thats bc it’s MY time so when it’s like all this effort with other people i dont ever want to be alone. it’s the same with the way i approach filmmaking. it isnt a sole thing so i hate it not together. that’s part of how u can get so sucked in and repeat doom scrolling. i was in this webinar last may after [redacted] and this black woman prof said “read with a community and talk” because otherwise she said we are torturing ourselves. you can’t carry that weight all on your own. unfortunately i hate zoom, discord, slack, signal, whatsapp, facetime. you name it this panera has made it evi.. L

you make a really excellent point. i think the young young gen zers are really really just interesting because it’s like this whole new world for them with leftist politics and they just can’t grasp the horrors of the world and the kind of freedom being a leftist can bring. and so many people don’t grow out of it. those people so happen to be the “least productive” in terms of how much time they spend IRL withe these issues. naturally, younger kids are gonna have a harder time. they are not as mobile as well so the internet becomes this place. but then it’s this echo chamber. and many times just things posted without sources. and social media NEEDS that to exist.

i think of the irony of leftist kids on tik tok and while i am happy it’s reaching them it’s just....different. very different. the growth of social media is so good but also so fucking sad, it’s too much! i think the point about not writing everything is major. even i have to do this which is part of the disappearing.y ou need to detach and make sure your head is on straight again. but when you think eveyrone has to be privvy to every thought and you can’t just sit back....which twitter and social media doesn’t encourage. you have to join in. that’s often why when i have something to say it is dense because i don’t feel like repeating it. ever. lmao ust ever. i cant pay attn. social media is a fucking minefield for my brain u can get so lost in it and absorb it but once u start talking you may not be able to stop. 

i think a big part of that is it not being a leisurely thing but sort of just in our lives always. this sounds like a grandpa rant but ykwim. We dont have to see the same thing over and over again. And eventually it gets sincerely diluted or its diluted bc of capitalism or whatever. Or if theyre very young or maybe they don’t have like the greatest way of sharing the knowledge? then it can be butchered. I hope this is making sense...i’m talking beyoond the boring surface-level milquetoast shit. i see really ahistorical stuff on there from leftists (like this thing about NK + africa and it being a beneficial rship as opposed to a um not beneficial one. and it isn’t.  beneficial but this young black girl was talking abt it and noname rtd and i was like it’s just too complex. there’s no good/bad here just bc it’s not america. dont get me started on this.)

but Lol that was kinda off topic but I think what I meant in my last reply about not turning off the voice in my head is about when I consume media, not necessarily when I’m online talking about. Even if I have criticism for something, I’m usually pretty chill when consuming fandom content bc I think being serious online all the time is kinda boring. Like sometimes I’m analyzing theme and shit but really most of the time im memeing.

exactly.........gotta laugh. thats why sometimes im like i cant think lmao. unfrotunately i have been ARGUING with ppl on the internet for rly no reason when  i could have replied to ur very nice fun wholesome message. i love torture. i miss memes.

“ i think the people who get the least enjoyment out of that are those so obsessed with getting upset with anyone thinking outside of their lines as if it equates to them “ EXACTLYYYYY

kekekekeke im glad u got it. it’s like with conservatives throwing around snowflake. now im beginning to question who the real complainers are. 

LMAO exactlyyyy. i posted a screenshot of this writer from twitter saying that exact thing. Like first of all, I’m...an adult? and if you are as well uh? i’m sorry for you but are we 12? But how is it affecting u this viscerally? And if it does why dont u...do...research? pihgofuaipoajghou but honestly everything u said. we’re trained to go into it with nothing. i was only around ur age when i started to get more serious about this stuff but you’re like lightyears ahead of where i was at 21. did i say this but i’m in iww and literally i can tell u in 2016 i did not think 2019 me would be in a union bc i told my friend in a train station that we don’t need unions. i was 23...but the thing is i didnt know what i was talking about. at all. and i knew i didnt know and she knew i didnt know and now i am the clown.

also yes at critical engagement. i had to learn so much through experience and this is tuff that i coudlnt be shielded from. there’s an empathy you kinda have to develop and this understanding that you move through the world as this person who is “nowhere and everywhere; nothing and everything” so i’ve always had to think about things differently just to survive. that’s also what can drag a lot of people towards it like theres so many black kpop fans bc i think a lot of the pain in SK can be mirrored (sort of) through our history. and theres currently a history now but it had to be forged. uh what was my point oh yea however i wouldnt have been able to move further if i didnt have my background to go off of  bc i knew something was off when i started getting into all these things (ill give u a hint) but if i had no prior knowledge and didnt have to think about it then the critical approach is either stale or stupid. 

i had to research but i dont understand how ppl are so bold with little to no research and understanding? thhey just inherently know with also like ZERO experience in what they need experience in. engaging critically means “how i see the world” with dashes of trying to be open adn understanding or whatever. actually that’s another thing like being afraid of criticizing things bc theyre foreign to you so u give it a pass (like we discussed) but it doesnt hAVE TO BEEEE JUST REAAAAAD and then take all the info ur teensy brain and apply it. be a normal human being and dont be fucking rude and racist. thats it! u can complain abt literally anything without being a dick.

as we start with LW and end with LW.....what do we think (i asked this already) omg please share wbl thoughts i THINK i know what ur talking about. well it could be two things; their rship when they came back and the physicality and then pei shou yi. i almost dont even want to use my brain to fucking look at that. i think wbl can get away with more bc of visual~*~*~* reasons (like literally, the look of the show. there’s more space to get lost in the frames. many thai dramas are a lot more literal? this isn’t the right word but it’s very heavily character focused particularly bc of $ i think) though good production also underscores flaws so i am also wrong. but like do u know what i mean? u have to kinda focus on it? or maybe it’s just cos like.....ur so used to it in thai bl idek. i’ve seen tw bl ofc. 

look i swear i will justify this forever bc there are some things we miss right but if u feel like someone’s a bad actor....theyre bad. it’s about tone movement etc etc etc and since most thai bl productions have 0 interest in that....well. they take these newbies and put them in these situations. we dont understand thai but if we see them and we’re like “wow this is really bad” then they’re bad lmao. IDC i will never be like cos idk what theyre saying NO WHY HE LOOK LIKE A ROBOT???????? DOES HE EMOTE? why is he CRYING WITH NO TEARS? and it’s not even a total requisite to cry with tears(i mean for me it is) but it’s just like what is happening on ur face right now young man????????

painful.

the inflection stuff is very valid ooh good point tho but that’s only a part of the piece. plus we get used to the way they communicate. like the ppl from sotus were prtty bad. i dont like that show but thats an ex of ppl liing the actors and the person i thought was better other ppl dont think that? well apparently hes a shitty guy but. um. so when theres decent acting its so glaring.

although i must say even tho i dont care for 2gether anymore and would never like to be reminded about its existence (only bc i just cringe lol) i honestly....didnt think bright was a bad actor? but people keep saying he is and i am much more inclined to believe them than myself. though i am not often dickmatized that could have been it. until he opened his mouth and ruined it and then i stopped paying attn.

although honestly i’m so much more critical than i could be positive. i have ben stumped for the last day about how i wasnt mad at his acting in the show. is it me? is it him? who’s......the wrong one.....(me) 

oh shit they have been denied? i haven’t been paying attn to whats been going on recently. i just got into it on MDL because of snowdrop. sometimes i literally cannot engage bc ill just be like alright well im black so this power button in my head is going off when ppl talk abt that shit. back in the day when kpop jawns were saying some real outta pocket anti black shit (now everyone is slick with it) it’d always be THEY DONT HAVE GOOGLE THEYVE NEVER SEEN A BLACK PERSON but really it’s like no...maybe they are just racist? that’s ok too.

also the past 2 weeks have been um atrocious bc how fucking easily people fell into the pit of white supremacy and started to turn their ire towards black people and making a competition between our groups just like they wanted. it’s not about the women who are dead anymore, who were sex workers, their womanhood, being asian, being poor anymore. it’s about how much black people get attention and why people only pay attn to us. i am not feeling very generous this week for ppl to excuse that hsit.

on a lighter note, ppl say that abt the whole husband and wife thing. i dont know how to explain how angry that shit makes me but maybe it’s because i do not want to think of my body in relation to a fucking penis at all hours of the day. if bls could kindly not do that it would be nice lmao 

yes there are a lot of those. who are only there to gawk lmao. and just idk worship bc of the cult of personality thing bc of how weird and open they have to be as actors. some of the others are people who /think/ theyre really smart (i think im asmart but i also think i am very dumb and i have adhd to prove that MEDICALLY!!!) but are actually not? or their observations arent great? or idk if they are they arent interesting? but i think well..........we have more refined palettes :P

jk also theres just different personalities. you and  i mesh more bc we have a lot of the same beliefs and are coming from the same place. that makes it easier to understand as well. i really try to remember that but some people are really weird so. again just...the perception of certain things even down to acting skills. but i also dont like.......believe this genre can really do anything at all. on one hand i want them to do it right bc it’s a piece of work so they should. be proud of it. cos most things arent advancing us bc representation and culturalism are a lie bla bla. it’s just that when the depictions are negative or not done well it adds to the problem as opposed to the things that are well done are fairly benign and can’t really pull us back (perf example is the black panther film. i woudl definitely not say it was transgressive as a literal work but visually it’s just stunning. and it’s sad that it’s stunning and surprising but still with basically an all black cast of mostly dark people abd like what it means in the zeitgeist yes. it’s also just a good movie. but it’s still imperialist prop and unfortunately and this is fucking pathetic to say it “opened eyes” in other countries where they hate black ppl and ignore their own racialized minorities HENNYWAYSSSS a better ex is moonlight except moonlight isnt mainstream and is indie tho...still thru a funnel of capital bc a24 but who cares bleed the fuckers dry is my motto. my point is moonlight is both a great work and doesnt bring any failures to the table and its existence helps in ways outside of art but they arent the defining things giving us material advancement sooooo i mean it’s complex (this is my conclusion to everything um guys it’s complex) 

er i had one more point in conjunction to above. oh yea so i like dont need all these extra things to make it progressive. like people really want more women in the show and i am honestly like i really dont. i dont want them to actively do this. if they cant do it naturally then let someone else do it. i am not asking for more bc i dont want it from them. when something comes along i embrace it but i do not see why women should be represented when the genre RELIES on patriarchy. there is no complete satisfying existence for the women in these series. i dont want it. i dont ask people to show us~*~* or respect~* like fuck no the people who make it make it and hopefully more will make it in the future but i will not beg bc THEY DONT WANT TO DO IT SO WOULD FORCING IT MAKE IT BETTER? just fucking leave them out entirely. that’s the answer if theyre gonna make nasty female characters then those bitches can geaux. we have other plcaes to be. booked. and. BUSY!

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

APH China Musings

When I start thinking about China, and sometimes countries in general, I get this total disconnect between how the anime/manga portrays the country (especially China) and how a lot of headcanons have them as, especially reading headcanons and art about ancient days. 

Ok China-specific content below (headcanons at the very end): Very long post warning

Most of the canon shows him as a sort of weird old grandpa who doesn’t really have all his nuts and bolts in his brainpan and pretends to be cool or whatever (when he’s really not) while his kids all mock him. That APH China has a soft spot for cute things and can’t really understand the others ig, which again kinda makes him a laughingstock for his kids. But, the headcanons I’ve read show him as a really manipulative, sly Old Man who enters contracts/treaties/friendships to benefit him, not for the sake of being kind, and doesn’t really see everybody else on an even level with him which... clashes somewhat to a lot with the canon. HOWEVER, this cunning, darker (?) version of him is way more historically accurate... I like certain things from both versions (and I also like being historically accurate as much as possible) and the fact that headcanons vs canon is so contrasting makes it kinda hard to have one concrete China for my headcanons, it’s like he has split personalities or something lol.

Side note: I’ve never heard/known of anyone Chinese ever saying -aru in English, so... It might be just a voice tic of Chinese people when speaking Japanese, but I sort of get annoyed when it’s added in every other sentence he says in a fanfic. He doesn’t talk like that in the English dubbed anime either, and it seems that the English translations of the manga have also omitted the -aru (except for one strip I believe, correct me if I’m wrong). So please don’t add it in fanfics unless you want the characters to all be speaking Japanese with their own unique voice tics.

However, I do like some parts of the canon portrayal, SUCH AS: his doing tai chi every morning, the portrayal of his relationship with Japan before the “betrayal”, and apparently how he “isn't one to waste a second of time” (from the wiki). So in my head, I try to meld the canon and Sly Old Man together, because I like some aspects of China that may not be explained by either the country’s history, culture, or stereotypes, and honestly I feel like some parts of a country’s personality can just appear spontaneously; you don’t need to be able to explain every part of you from your past experience or the people and country that you make up and represent.

Without further ado, the Headcanons!

- MORNING PERSON, does the whole tai chi thing in the morning with the birds in his garden or something, finds it very relaxing, and then goes back inside for an actual breakfast (I have no idea what he’d eat because Chinese cuisine varies A LOT from region to region, ex. in the north/Beijing region there’s usually soy milk, “Chinese oil stick” which is basically like salty fried dough sticks, and “tofu brains” <-- literal translation, it’s a sort of soupy thing with very soft tofu (very good). In the south, there’s a lot of sweet meats and dim sum, almost like a mini lunch sort of thing, etc.) He’d also drink tea, and never adds sugar (I don’t think restaurants in China ever actually give you sugar packets with tea)

- I feel like he’d be a CAT PERSON nowadays dogs as pets have become more popular in China but before, cats were more common (I think) because of their usefulness as pest control and the fact that they can get their own food; dogs weren’t really kept except to be guard dogs. I feel he’d have gotten used to cats, and also he’d enjoy a quiet pet’s company more

- ANCIENT DAYS/RELATIONSHIPS: He’d probably be slightly manipulative, and ENTER relationships for a trade benefit/power/control/good stuff, but if the relationship goes well and the person is charming (Rome cough cough), he’d slowly warm up and become real friends after a while.

- I agree with the Sly Old Man treatment of COLONIES/TRIBUTE STATES, he’d probably just protect them for the benefits instead of actual Love (but isn’t that what all countries do these days). I do see him as very patronizing to his underlings, because of a) his age and him thinking that he’s seen it all with his dynasty changes and wars and stuff and b) Confucianism, which said to respect your elders and all that, so I think it’d make him slightly full of himself and patronizing (the wiki says this is also his current attitude and I can see that). But I see a situation similar to the relationship one playing out here; as he gets more and more contact with a tribute state he actually grows closer to them in the Normal Human Feeling way, so that would explain his feeling of betrayal when Japan left (literally back-stabbing him), as well as his feeling sad (not just because he lost a trade partner and revenue maker) when Korea was taken. For his tribute states, my headcanon for their relationship is pretty much summed up in this post (esp his relationship with Korea, but also Japan a bit): https://stirringwinds.tumblr.com/post/119403708770/tsk-look-at-you-all-battered-and-bruised-its (patronizing but still caring)

- VERY PRAGMATIC AND EXTREMELY BLUNT. I have no explanation, he just seems like this kind of person (and according to the wiki, he “isn't one to waste a second of time”). Doesn’t care at all if he offends you, intentionally or not (unless he’s trying to impress, of course).

- VERY TRADITIONAL. He probably knows at least a handful of traditional instruments, pipa, ma tou qin, gu zheng, erhu, xun, etc. And will roast people on the internet if they play them wrong (a while back at some really fancy gathering, there was a performer who was in front, mind you, playing a yu (wind instrument) upside down and totally wrong, and that caused a huge firestorm in Chinese social media. I’d like to think China would have been one of those people to be like “what are you doing you know you just made a fool of yourself right?” Incidentally, there’s also an idiom related to the yu that is literally about playing it wrong (literally it’s something like one bad apple can be covered up in a sea of good ones but one by one, people will see you’re bad))

- TRADITIONAL pt. 2: good at calligraphy and also very good at guessing dui lian (apparently called antithetical couplets) hung up during the Lunar New Year. Also adhering to tradition, he gathers up everybody for every single big Chinese/Asian festival to eat together. I know Japan doesn’t interact much with China and China still feels betrayed by him in the manga (the Japanese and Chinese relationship nowadays still isn’t the greatest/closest for multiple reasons) but I’m going to take liberties (and my heart needs fluff). Also, if China invites/drags everybody but Japan to his house, I feel like that’s awkward and one of his kids/siblings would get Japan to come anyway. There would be a lot of arguing at the dinner, about food, politics, memes (from HK), trends, or anything really, but it’s all in good fun, yeah?

- MODERN POLITICS: still a bit of Sly Old Man, and probably very stuck in his ways. Some countries he doesn’t really respect. For example, he doesn’t see America as a fully respectable adult, probably because a) he’s still older and b) I think China agrees with his government’s structure to a point? Like with the way he suffered during the collapse of the Qing Dynasty (Boxer Rebellion, WWI, etc.) I think he’d take any system (including communism) that worked and improved people’s lives. At heart, I think China wants to do what’s right for the people, and at the time, the Communist Party promised that people’s lives would get better under their leadership, and for some, it did. That convinced so many people to take their promise, and I think China would have supported it at the time. As well as, I believe that country’s perspectives of their government is /somewhat/ influenced or warped by their people’s perspective, and /most/ people in China are /okay/ satisfied with the central govt. (not extending this to regional govts, that’s kinda a different issue). So I see China (as a character) being mostly satisfied, and America’s criticism and complaints about him pretty much bounce off, because China doesn’t see his comments worthy of respecting, especially because his govt. is doing ok from his point of view. There are definitely things that need working on, but he won’t take US criticism.

- SLY OLD MAN pt. 2: Basically the same as the tribute state thing, he’ll help you out initially to get your benefits, but if you last long enough, he’ll gradually grow friendship feelings. I feel like this is what real China is trying to do with the “Belt and Road”, basically spreading influence to less developed countries, although it may not be working out. Sort of like manipulation, which also fits in with the Sly Old Man thing.

- I can see why Hima originally designed China as being a bit cold, because I feel if he doesn’t need you, he won’t really talk to you. Although as mentioned above, I also see him start to care for somebody once he takes the effort to get to know you, and will probably care for his close friends long after they’re actually needed.

- I agree with the canon that he can GET ANNOYED EASILY AND SNAPS A LOT, but I see this happening only with people he thinks aren’t interesting enough, are below him, or don’t get him (or are just incessantly annoying).

- Also a bit EGOTISTICAL, but doesn’t show most of the time. Unless you happen to mention a recent achievement, and then he’ll go “Haha! I did that ____ (pick a number from 1,000 to 4,000) years ago!” or something and probably roast you

- SENTIMENTAL OLD SOUL: often reminisces about the past when alone, or with someone he truly trusts (that used to be Japan, but...). Slips into “how did the world get like this?” sometimes to a lot. Feels lonely sometimes too, and can be found stargazing on his front stoop at night

- RELAXING: if he doesn’t have work, he’ll just relax at his house, probably take a long bath/shower and just do nothing, maybe play some sort of instrument for fun, go into his garden and paint/walk around and enjoy the flowers, or watch some new addictive show. If he feels like working, he’ll cook dinner for all his kids/siblings and invite them over (this will also be done if he thinks one is overworking)

Ok those are all the headcanons for now, but probably will be more to come. My love for this Old Man is infinite <3. If you want, reblog/submit/comment your own aph China headcanons! Do you think I did him justice?

[danganronpedits-archived]

same anon from before, tumblr ate my ask im so sorry!! i would like a kin match up please, im an INFP and my friends tell me im a pushover and too nice to people who dont deserve it/too trusting,, i usually never open up to people and i use humor to cope,,, i like being alone and i rly prefer animals over people. im told to stop apologizing a lot, ee here are some sources!!:mysticmessenger,danganronpa, camp camp,n anything else i luv a lot of sources!!

don’t feel too bad, anon!!! i totally get it, tumblr’s got weird restrictions on asks,,,, another anon i did a matchup for had the same problem! it’s not your fault at all!!! um, but i can definitely get the matchup done for you! i am kind of uncomfortable with camp camp as a source, so the major matchups will be based around mysmes and danganronpa!! i’m sorry!!! your matchup is under the cut, since i realise these kinds of posts can get pretty long ,,,!

-mod tsu (placeholder mikan shift icons!! i’m working on better ones!!!)

first off, from mystic messenger, i match you with...

yoosung kim!

this section will contain spoilers for yoosung’s route, and mystic mesenger as a whole! please proceed with caution! i think that yoosung, at times, can be a pushover or too trusting- a strong example that comes to my mind is when seven tells him that... well, that you can die from drinking chocolate milk. as in, that yoosung has a disease  yoosung completely believes it, and believes that he has accidentally poisoned himself, only to be taken off guard whenever the truth is revealed. i don’t mean to assume you’re gullible or anything!!! but i think that you could also relate to the embarrassment/shame that comes with being duped like this. um,, and i also don’t want to call you insecure,, but i think that something that comes with being anxious like how you seem is... like, blaming yourself for your mistakes !! i totally get that, but,, sometimes it’s not your fault, you know ?,,, um, but whenever yoosung finds out that seven was just joking around, while he is angry with the latter, he seems more disappointed in himself that he didn’t catch on. plus, the others do tease him a bit- that probably didn’t help. i could see the both of you not wanting to go on the defensive, and just more... crying. i would say that he is a bit less of a ‘real puppy', as the RFA members describe him, around V. however, i think that the two of you definitely have your limits with your kindness- rika was a person who was very important to yoosung, and V, to his knowledge, is someone who didn’t take her ‘death’ seriously. i think that if someone really hurt you personally, then you would maybe be less forgiving or kind towards them... but that’s just my own guessing!! i don’t want to be presumptuous!! um, i do think that of your mbti type, yoosung is at the very least an introvert. i think that someone more extroverted would find comfort in other people,,, while yoosung finds comfort in video games. um, this also ties into him not really opening up a lot of the time...

while yoosung does admit personal facts about himself ingame(such as him not having a girlfriend, or his distrust of V) i’d still argue that he doesn’t open up much, at least not at first. this is a strong part of yoosung that i think you can relate to- for both of you, the people you associate with have a general gist of what you’re like, but they may not be able to fully get into your mind and work out the reasoning behind your thought process. that’s not their fault or anything,,! it’s just that... i think it’s hard to know how to. but the point is, yoosung is severely depressed after rika’s death, and while it’s implied, we don’t properly learn that he copes with it through video games(and also loses his motivation to perform well in school, even though he knows it’s disappointing his parents) until later on in the story. i think that you may be able to relate to this, being aware of your responsibilities, but not being able to handle them for one reason or another. ah, but that’s just a shot in the dark!! i’m sorry if that’s completely wrong,, um, but yoosung is kind of comic relief for the first part of the game. while he may not mean for this to be intentional, i just... seeing that ketchup smiley face on the omelette... it’s the funniest picture on earth. i wish i was in the meeting where cheritz decided to make that a thing, and saw the art process... sorry that’s off topic!! he does like to be alone, though, i think!! that’s to an extent of course,, but two of his biggest hobbies are video games and cooking- both of which can be done with others, but are typically things done in solace. even volunteering, another one of his hobbies, doesn’t inherently mean working with other people... at least, not all the time. lastly, while i do think he’s fine with people, he may be able to find more comfort in animals. an example of this is how he dotes on rika’s dog, versus how he kind of struggles to get along with people like jumin and jaehee.

second off, from danganronpa, i match you with...

chihiro fujisaki!

i’ll be using she/her for chihiro on this post!! to start, for your MBTI type, chihiro is absolutely an introvert. her career is in programming, and considering that she tends to not work on a team for this, i’d say that programming is one of the most do-it-yourself activites out there. to quote the description of infp’s,,, “While they may be perceived as calm, reserved, or even shy, Mediators have an inner flame and passion that can truly shine.” this is just... a short, but encompassing description of chihiro. for starters, chihiro is definitely someone who i’d describe as a bit of a pushover,, while she is working on getting stronger and bettering herself(see the “flame and passion” in the INFP description), she is also kind to a remarkable, ‘pushover’-ish extent. even towards people like byakuya and hifumi(who isn’t inherently a bad person, but many are made... uncomfortable by his presence), chihiro tends to back off or take blame instead of fighting back against their... iffy remarks. with hifumi specifically, there are times when he’ll rave about his fanfiction career, and chihiro will respond with trying to make him happy, taking it in stride. i think that other people may find his demeanor as a reason to be uncomfortable by him- but she doesn’t see him in that way. she even tries to help him grow closer to the media he loves, saying “ I'm going to work hard to create something that can make people happy... And when I do complete it, I want you to try talking to it.” to him. chihiro also tends to not fully open up to people- like yoosung, you can get a general grip on her personality. however, with her gender-related issues, she only opens up to mondo whenever her identity will be revealed regardless, and that’s after at least ten years of keeping it all to herself. maybe you’re not that reserved, but it’s not something that most people would pick up on at first !! maybe you have tendencies that are in that similar “most people don’t really notice them” way at first,,!!

next up, while chihiro tends to take things from others rather seriously, she can be a little joking at times! particularly as someone’s straight man, chihiro tends to be good at deciphering gundham’s statements (Gundham: “Offerings such as birds grilled in hellfire and ensorcelled confections. [...] Go and eat.” Chihiro: “So you want to share the food and cake from the party with me?”), which aren’t exactly things to laugh openly at, but i smiled at it. she does seem to like to be alone- like yoosung, i don’t think she dislikes people per say, but a lot of others can make her feel standoffish or out of place ingame. i think you can relate to that, feeling like you don’t exactly belong when talking to others... so you just don’t because it’s draining, having all that nervousness. also, she’s said ingame that she really likes rabbits and hamsters, and that she’d like to have one as a pet. she’s not told to stop apologising too much, though her habit of saying sorry is pointed out several times ingame. plus, characters like kaede and makoto are quick to say that she doesn’t need to or that things are okay, so... maybe you can also understand that side of it! i’m realising that i didn’t expand on chihiro��s niceness enough,, i may not need to, but chihiro is described as “one of the kindest and softest characters in Danganronpa”. she literally wouldn’t hurt a fly(or, mosquito) because it might have a family, and if you give her something she strongly dislikes in free time, she’ll say “Um...well... I'm sure someone else will appreciate having that more than me. Maybe you should find someone to give it to who can make better use of it...”. she’s very gentle with the feelings of... well, everyone and everything around her, and i think that you could maybe feel that way too!! i definitely get being hesitant when talking with other people, and not wanting to hurt them,, i hope that you’ll be able to grow more confident, anon!!

and lastly, from danganronpa, i match you with...

mikan tsumiki!

maybe you saw this coming ;!! i think that mikan can definitely be described as a pushover, she’s been severely bullied her whole life and her default state is freaking out. in terms of INFP, i think that while she wants people to like her(and is borderline attention-seeking), she is an introvert to an extent. like with chihiro, the anxiety that comes with talking to others can be exhausting- her ‘energy’ around others is more fueled by that adrenaline. however, i’m sure that she regenerates by being alone, even if it gives her paranoia. maybe you relate to that, but not on such a high scale- like, you could be by yourself for a while, and that could make you worried that you’ve been away from other people for too long. with the F part of INFP(feeling), i think that this is a key part of mikan’s personality, actually. while some may see her reliance on medical knowledge as her leaning towards T(thinking), i think that for most of the problems in her life, she just goes with her gut. a lot of her reactions to other people are based on her own emotions, and i’d say that you can relate to that too. i get being a more emotional than logical thinker, anon, so don’t feel stupid or bad about it, haha... i wouldn’t be surprised if you’re easily made nervous just in general, and if part of you apologising is because... you feel like you messed up in a conversation, or that you might have upset someone. i’m sure that you’re not as bad as you may think you are, anon ,,, um, i think that mikan can definitely be too trusting/nice towards people that don’t deserve it. she’s very kind to hiyoko despite the dancer’s mistreatment of her(despite having an underlying resentment towards her), and even in the face of people like junko and kokichi, she doesn’t take their misleading tactics as... lies or manipulation, despite it being a little obvious, instead trusting that they have good intentions. even in kokichi’s case, when he admits that he was faking sick, she apologises for figuring out his lie. even if he is taking it easy on her, i think both you and her are good at finding out reasons that... well, you’ve done something wrong.

like chihiro, while i think many can get a general grip on mikan’s personality, neither of you really open up and let people get into the... like, inner workings of your head. for example, mikan does hold anger towards her ab-sers, deep, deep down, of course. i’m sure that she’d never admit it, and feels borderline ashamed of these feelings. in fact, she only admits it whenever she’s... literally inflicted with a disorder meant to cause her despair/unhappiness. i don’t know you personally, or anything, but i wouldn’t be surprised if there are people you hold resentment for. i also think that maybe with your timidity and apology streak, you would never voice this anger out loud. um, i don’t want to assume though!!! so if that’s wrong,, disregard it,, i don’t want you to have a worse perception of yourself ,,, um, i don’t think she exactly uses humor to cope? but a lot of her... um, offerings as apologies, can be seen as humorous. if your sense of humour is... strange. and i think that she can also enjoy being alone, even if she does like attention- whenever the spotlight is on her i think she wouldn’t know what to do, and she’s probably more comfortable whenever there aren’t expectations being placed on her. i think that she can prefer animals over people... to an extent. plenty of them would remind her of the bullying she faced, yes. but i think that there’s a lot of comfort in just... something small being there by your side. dogs have been described as a very forgiving animal(though they don’t exactly have the emotional capabilities to forgive in the way we define forgiving... still.), and i think that she’d like that. she also might be good at taking care of animals, as part of her nursing knowledge. plus, it’s a small detail, but in the anime she references jurrasic park in response to nekomaru’s enormous shouting. lastly, mikan is noted to apologise very excessively. while she’s not exactly told to stop apologising, she can be a little exasperating to even her more polite/patient classmates, like mahiru and hajime.

-

minor matchups time! from danganronpa, you also remind me strongly of makoto naegi, monomi/usami, and seiko kimura, as well as somewhat of tsumugi shirogane, chiaki nanami, and gonta gokuhara! from mystic messenger, you also remind me somewhat of jaehee kang. from other sources, you remind me strongly of fluttershy from my little pony, as well as strongly of macarona from the grey garden, and dolphi from watgbs! from 1bitheart, you also remind me strongly of rocca rion and haruya nasuki, and somewhat of kotora yatano. from bang dream, you also remind me of shirokane rinko. from alice mare, you remind me of chelsy and allen. lastly, from pokemon reborn, you also remind me strongly of shelly citra!

hope this was helpful anon!! i didn’t really get to finish yoosung’s route,, so my description of yoosung is based off of a transcript and the wiki, mostly ;; it may not be too accurate, so please remember that you know best!!! thank you very much for requesting!!

[leviticus101st]

A rant about online toxicity.

This is not going to be a fun post. Lately, my life seems like a cave with no real exit and I need a stress relief.

I’m going to be talking about my problems with the internet and how people use it specifically when it comes to the media.

Let’s start with this, you are not entitled to a creator’s time. You are not entitled to their attention or anything of the sort.

Fictional stories are important to people, but the shit that people do over them is stupid and petty.

The creator’s of a product have enough on their plates without dealing with your petty bullshit about how this small detail makes their story shit.

NITPICKS ARE NOT CRITICISMS! This is one of the DUMBEST misconceptions I have heard in my fucking life. Right up there with the idea that video games should cost more than $60.

YOUR OPINION IS NOT OBJECTIVE! THERE ARE MULTIPLE VIEWPOINTS ON A PIECE OF MEDIA!

I’m so sick and fucking tired of seeing assholes act like their opinion is the gospel.

Let’s move on to the most disgusting aspect of all this, sending death threats.

NEVER DO THAT! IT’S A STUPID, AWFUL, AND DISGUSTING!

Someone made something you didn’t like? Okay, but that’s not ground to attack them!

Criticize some things that happened in the stories, but NEVER attack people. IT’S WRONG!

Let’s now move on to the fun topic of politics in the media.

Most dipshits don’t understand that a character that is black or gay or whatever is not political. Not directly anyway.

Political means governments and laws and that kinda shit.

A lot of people will bitch and moan that something is political when the only thing that’s political is a very indirect link.

Maybe, but the other side isn’t much better.

Just because a story has a POC, female, or LGBT+ person does not make it appeal to a general audience! There needs to be more than that!

I’ve seen so much bullshit about this.

“We’re Ghostbusters 2016 and you’re sexist for not liking us!”

“We’re Birds of Prey and the Fabulous Emancipations of One Harley Quinn and you’re sexist or racist for not liking us!”

Congrats! You’re a dipshit who has made the battle for rep in the media HARDER!

Being a douche and saying that a product failed because it was led by minorities is going to make corporate hacks think that minorities are poison for them.

WAY TO BE PROGRESSIVE GUYS!

Now let’s talk about Voltron and She-Ra shall we?

Because someone made a bad joke with a very, very, very, very small racist implication or a story uses a problematic trope does not give you grounds to harass people.

Voltron introduced a gay character and killed him off without much screentime. That is a bad thing. That is something to criticize.

What it is not grounds for is sending death threats and harassing people.

Discourage that kind of stuff. Both problematic tropes and harassment.

Noelle Stevenson and the Crew-Ra made a….kinda sorta joke about Bow having a brother who runs a farm.

They gave him a fairly stereotypical design and a bad name.

You wanna know how the internet reacted? It trended on twitter.

I’m willing to bet money that most of the people who bombed Noelle were mostly white teenagers wanting to feel like they were fighting something they needed to without fighting something they actually needed to fight.

It was a bad take, but I don’t condone harassing people over it.

DO NOT HARASS PEOPLE OVER THIS KIND OF STUFF!

It was a mistake. A bad take. Criticize, but don’t harass.

It especially bothers me when these people give these people infamy and shit, when people like Butch Hartmen and J.K. Rowling get off basically scott free.

It pisses me off.

It also raises a good question.

If all people are gonna get for fighting for rep is nothing but crap, why should any writer fight at all?

The entitlement of the internet has made me think that maybe we’d be better off if nobody ever fought for rep ever.

Especially since a good chunk of these cases were outside of the creator’s control.

Why was Korrasami just a hand hold? Because Nick wouldn’t let Bryke develop the pairing and let them kiss.

Why did the character in Voltron die? Because of the studio.

Most of these people who harass over these small details don’t understand that it is a fight to get rep and that kind of stuff.

If you want an example for rep that upsets me. I do wish that Korrasami got to kiss and I absolutely despise the show Atypical because of how badly portrays Autism.

Let’s talk about harassing people over opinion.

Never do this. Some people are just not interested and that’s okay.

All you’re doing when you do this is making you, the fanbase, and the work look bad.

I guess this is relevant to ship wars.

Ship wars are probably the worst things on the internet.

It has done nothing, but led to harassment.

The one question I ask when this kinda shit happens is this. Why? Why are people making such a stink over romantic pairings.?

I don’t know and, at this point, I don’t think I want the answer.

I’m just so tired of all this bullshit.

Please explain to me what I should do about this. Yeah, I know. ‘Just get off the internet if you can’t deal with these people.’

Which might hold weight if we weren’t in the middle of a fucking pandemic or, ya know, most people’s lives revolve around the internet.

If you honestly think advice like ‘Get off the internet’, ‘Don’t feed the trolls’, or any of that shit is valid advice. You’re wrong. Plain and simple.

Remember that there is a person on the other side of the screen.

I’m done here.

[fedorasaurus]

For the questions about the character, could you do Nash, fang, and bison? Sorry if it’s too much, but thank you in advance

No problem! I enjoy discussing characters that I’m fond of.

Nash

favorite thing about them - I really, really like that they put a “face” to the “dead best friend” that Guile’s whole motivation revolves around in Street Fighter II. Making Charlie Nash a playable character in Street Fighter Alpha gives a whole other level to the lore beyond a vague relation to one man who would eventually avenge his murder. Both of them being real, lovable characters makes me appreciate them that much more, and puts that much greater of an emotional impact on Charlie’s death and resurrection.

least favorite thing about them - (THIS ANSWER CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE GENERAL STORY OF STREET FIGHTER V) It disappoints me that Charlie gets killed off in multiple games and other media. The first time is fine, but was it really necessary to bring him back in SFV, only to have him sacrifice himself at the end, to no avail? I understand that the plot is maybe going for a theme of the futility of seeking vengeance above all else, but it gets complicated when you consider that Charlie was pushed along as hard as he was by Kolin pressuring him to accomplish HER goals. I’d have preferred if they let him, you know, reunite properly with Guile and team up to fight Bison together, rather than him feeling obligated to take the challenge on alone. Let Nash live for once, eh, Capcom? There’s more to him than “dead best friend!”

favorite line - Shameful, but his “you nervous?” taunt gives me the shivers, bigtime.

brOTP - Hands down, his interactions with Rashid are so pure. A little one-sided due to Nash’s coldness during the story, but seriously, the way Rashid is so open and friendly to him despite having just met this grumpy undead man, it makes me want to see the two of them hanging out more. He’s good for his mental health!

OTP - GUILE GUILE GUILE GUILE I’ve been shipping GuileNash since I first ever got into the SF series with Street Fighter Alpha a million years ago. I love them so much, you wouldn’t believe. My heart melts over best friends in love!

nOTP - Charlie/Bison isn’t really my jam.

random headcanon - Nash and Guile have a lot of stupid inside jokes between them. When they reunited during the storyline of SFV, it was a reference to one of the jokes that made Charlie smile again for the first time in years.

unpopular opinion - I don’t know if this is unpopular or not, but I prefer his young, pretty look over his SFV zombie look with the greenish parts stitched on. I get it, he’s been resurrected, no need to drive the point home THAT hard with “Frankenstein’s monster” aesthetics! But, that said, his new look has grown on me quite a bit!

song i associate with them - Maybe Monster, by Starset, if we’re talking Street Fighter V era.

favorite picture of them - I commissioned this artwork of Captain Commando Nash from AirSlasher on Twitter a while back, and it turned out so damned good, I’ve used it as the background image on my tablet ever since:

(This post is getting long, so the others are going under a pagebreak!)

F.A.N.G

favorite thing about them - His whole… over-the-top 90′s villain shtick. His high-energy personality and screechy voice not unlike a squawking bird, it slays me!

least favorite thing about them - As much as he cracks me up, I got real uncomfortable when he started threatening the kid characters. Even if it was empty threats, come on, dude. You don’t threaten kids.

favorite line - “LORD BISON WAIT FOR MEEEEE!”

brOTP - I love his banter with the other Shadaloo bosses. Both Vega and Balrog have that fantastic family/rival dynamic going on with him.

OTP - F.A.N.G / M. Bison is really, really good, man. I have… fanfics.

nOTP - I’ve seen F.A.N.G / Rashid, and I understand that people started shipping them before there was actual story context to make it… bad… but yeah… I’m uncomfortable with that ship. I mean, I guess Rashid is a kind and forgiving dude, but it would take a lot in my eyes for that ship to be good for me. Rashid deserves someone who doesn’t gloat about hurting people he cares about.

random headcanon - The reason M. Bison is a sexy silver fox in SFV is because that’s F.A.N.G’s type. If he’s responsible for bringing the boss man back, he’s gotta have him looking his BEST.

unpopular opinion - M. Bison is technically the “big bad,” but honestly? F.A.N.G is the main antagonist of Street Fighter V.

song i associate with them - Nnnghh stupid and obvious answer, but Poison, by Alice Cooper (also the cover by Groove Coverage which is more my music style preference than the original, as great as AC is!)

favorite picture of them - No picture in particular, but I really like his Nguuhao outfit. He was cute when he was young and had long hair!

M. Bison

favorite thing about them - Sexy silver fox.

least favorite thing about them - He killed my favorite Street Fighter character at least once, so I can only enjoy him but so much!

favorite line - Not a specific line, but the time in SFA3 when he called Sodom a piece of trash and then suddenly became interested in fighting him when he said he wanted to show him his special moves was pretty great. It’s such a M. Bison thing to give a person the time of day when they offer to show him their strength, even if that person is a big goofy weeaboo who maybe isn’t entirely prepared to fight a supervillain, but who has a hell of a lot of heart.

brOTP - Depending on the continuity, I could definitely see him being bros with Zangief and/or Sagat!

OTP - F.A.N.G / Bison is still amazing, t-trust me guys.

nOTP - Bison/Nash, Bison/Guile, but also I really don’t ship Bison/Rolento at all anymore. I know I was big on that for a while, but man, I’m way more inclined nowadays to want the villains hook up with a loyal villain in their own faction, you know?

random headcanon - After possessing Rose’s body, M. Bison held onto some of her traits, such as a sense of fashion and a love of taking baths. Considering that they share a soul, I wouldn’t be surprised if they have overlapping interests despite being on opposite sides of moral alignment! (Anyway, he’d look amazing in her sort of fancy clothes, and also that stink man is in need of a bath, if you ask me)

unpopular opinion - I don’t want Tumblr’s rules to get on me about this, but let’s just say I see him as being the ah… submissive type, if you know what I mean!

song i associate with them - Uhhh maybe Telepathic by Starset? I’ve been listening to a lot of Starset lately. The songs that come to mind are usually from their albums!

favorite picture of them - Did you mean “the best M. Bison alt costume in the entire series?” We got ourselves a sexy silver fox in a low-cut leather suit with his tiddy out and everything. Does it get better than this?

Honorable mention: this part in the Street Fighter Animated Series:

[migleefulmoments]

More Crissmyglitz Wedding Guest Angst: part 2

OMG they won’t let it go. Crissmyglitz-Guest Gate. The ccers are still obsessing over the #CrissMyGlitz guest list. As I pointed out in my first post (X), every single photo posted in round one of Crissmyglitz-Guest Gate was taken while Darren was working. That’s right, every single photo the tinhatters presented as “Darren and a real friend” was taken at work. For a fandom who constantly remind the world they are astute and ALWAYS PAYING ATTENTION TO DETAILS, it was a supermassiveblackhole.  

In part 1 they presented Elvis (X), Alan Cummings (X),  Jenna Ushkowitz (X), Laura Osnes (X). In part 2 they added Jane Lynch, Matt Bomer, Matt Morrison, Kevin McHale, Lena Hall, Ricky Martin and Edgar Ramirez.  Idk what was worse, that they didn’t learn any lessons after part 1 or that the fandom egged them on in utter delight.

cc-still-going-strong

Keep on.

I love your guys’ game 🤣🤣🤣 

chrisdarebashfulsmiles

I like this game  

(This got SUPER RIDICULOUS LONG so under) 

This is the LAMEST shade ever thrown and they were eating it up. Abby spent her Sunday adding to the nonsense and trying out sarcasm. She brought up the algorithm nonsense again and I can’t stop shaking my head.  The fact that it’s easier for them to believe that someone wrote an algorithm to determine the guest list for Darren and Mia’s wedding rather than simply to acknowledge that they don’t really know Darren at all is absurd. Rational people would see Darren’s guest list and realize that they got it all wrong.  Rationale people don’t see wedding photos and spend 7+ months proclaiming it’s all fake because he clearly is much better friends with former coworkers, Edgar Ramirez and Lena Hall than he is with Jennifer Coolidge and Pamela Aldon based entirely on the fact that nobody posted social media pics with Jennifer or Pamela. 

Mysterious absence part 2- Let’s do this…

1. LENA HALL

(see part 3 (X) for further information)

ajw720

(Opening Hedwig LA 11/16 from Lena’s IG)

(From Lena’s Twitter and Instagram July 28, 2016 (X). They were Flying to perform at DNC see pic below) 

(AGAIN- same night as #1-Hedwig’s opening night LA 11/16)

(Dec 12, 2016-I don’t know the context of this one. It is obviously her photoshoot and he popped in for a pic.  See below: another pic from this photoshoot posted to her IG. This is actually a nonword photo)  

ajw720:guess the algorithm eliminated her for joking weekly that DC had all the privileges of homosexuality but none of the responsibilities…… 

(Oh ho ho ho...the shade of it all).

chrisdarebashfulsmiles: Probably.

ajw720: Or perhaps it eliminated her as when D was kissing her on stage, he was giving his PBB the finger?  Remember that time 

(No, actually I don’t because that is nonsense. Darren flipped someone off from stage? Right because that is such professional. You believe that perfect, well-mannered Darren Criss would flip off his fiancee while working? That’s very inappropriate behavior during working hours, especially in front of a big audience of people- each with a cellphone. It’s also very risky to flip off the woman he is engaged to- the cc secret might get out.  If Darren is terrified to come out and terrified to breach THE Contract, why would he risk if all just give Mia the bird? Giving someone the bird is hardly a satisfying diss for anyone over the age of 12).

flowersintheattic254: Maybe the algorithm excludes those who like way too many posts on that had Ch/ris in them? 

(OMG- Lena “liked” some pics of Chris....a pig just flew by my window. It’s almost like Hollywood is a small town and people know each other. 

(No dates so it’s impossible to know what the context of the posts but that is typical of the tinhatting- they aren’t concerned with accuracies)

leka-1998: When the difference in chemistry is undeniable even in pics that show nothing but hands, that’s probably an issue. 

(I have never in my 51 years heard someone claim a married couple had no chemistry as evidenced by their hands in a photo taken specifically to show off their nail polish or that a PR photo for a Broadway show showed more chemistry than the actual couple. I mean seriously?)

(I will give this one to them as as personal photo )

(Is “hand chemistry” a thing? I’m only speculating here but is the degree of hand chemistry a function of the depth finger-penetration-on-finger-penetration?  Cuz.....that would make total sense amiright?)

cc-still-going-strong: Keep on.

I love your guys’ game 🤣🤣🤣 

(Blergh) 

ajw720: Seriously is that his wife on the left…..oh 

(hahahah nice try Abby, you have every single photo of Mia memorized- its actually a very sweet photo) 

(I can’t with this entire post. She wasn’t invited because he kissed Lena on stage as per the script? Oh wait- no- she was not invited because he kissed Lena on stage and he flipped off Mia (how they know he is flipping off Mia is anyone’s guess. I like to imagine he is flipping off the tinhatters). But wait- is he actually flipping off anyone? No, no he actually isn’t because that would be terribly unprofessional. Darren is at work and his bosses would not appreciate him flipping off anyone the audience. No actor who wants a career is going to  flip off someone in the audience while just-fingers crossed- hoping the message is received by the intended person and not a critic or investor.). 

(Work Pic. He is NOT giving anyone the finger- his finger is actually just in the shadow from Lena’s outfit). 

(Lena is working: As for Mia banning Lena from the wedding- in a recent post by Lena,  she talks about catching up aka they don’t haven’t spent much time together lately and notice the Mia hashtag) 

(The tinhatters like that she alls Darren wifey but in fact she calls all the Hedwig’s “Wifey”. She has a lot of Hedwig photos on her social media- the vast marority are NPH).

(Lena’s Christmas photoshoot as mentioned above)  

(I probably should have led with this but I wanted to prove them wrong in all the ways possible  Lena was busy on February 16, 2019 performing at Lincoln Center. She may have very well been invited. See my update (X) 

2. EDGAR RAMIREZ

 leka-1998: Yet another person missing on February 16

(PR for ACS: A photoshoot for promotion aka PR) 

(I am not sure about this pic. Darren posted it on his Instagram and Edgar responded  “love you brother”- that’s sweet and all but what does it prove- nada. I am sure they really had a great time together filming ACS and felt close, but they haven’t maintained that relationship-at least not publicly -since they end of awards season. I’ll give the tinhatters half a point for this one- but  bear in mind- I’m being generous because it looks like a PR pic) 

(PR for ACS; ”GQ Style & Hugo Boss Celebrate Amazing Spaces”- see photo below). 

(PR for ACS Emmy: This is from the 2018 Emmy “For Your Consideration” on 3/19/18.)

(PR for ACS. This is hilarious....so Edgar is doing a red carpet interview and Darren walks by him and Edgar walks away with Darren. OKAAAYYY-what does this prove? Again, they are at a work event- so far all the pics with Edgar are from work events except maybe 1) 

(PR for ACS- photoshoot. While the sentiment is sweet, Edgar hashtagged it #ACS and #Emmys. OMG how much ccproof do you need to understand that this is PR? ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? Me think not cuz he freakin’ tagged it for you and you still don’t understand that it was promotion for the Emmy. He-lar-E-ous!)   

chrisdarebashfulsmiles: I like this game 

(of course you do- it’s catty, bitchy and pointless.  I’m glad it makes you happy because this has been eye-opening as to the extend that you are collectively super bad at separating Darren’s personal life from his work life) 

ajw720: @leka-1998​ this friendship seems very contrived to me, constantly calling each other brother, they aren’t nearly as close as say D and J/ennifer C/oolidge or B/en F/eldman or P/amela A/ldon…………… 

(Ohhh ho ho ho sooo funny. It’s so funny I forgot to laugh...har har har aha  Since Jennifer, Ben and Pamela actually got invites to the wedding, it is clear that they are indeed close to Darren or Mia, soooo the joke doesn’t actually work. As for Edgar being his closest friend because he called him “brother” during a big ACS promotion push-I’m not feeling it.  What is so baffling to this “stupid stan” is how the tinhaters CAN’T SEE the details right in front of their faces.  The Darren-Edgar love-fest was hot and heavy during the promotion of ACS and then it stopped all together...THAT is the definition of PR. I am sure they actually did like each other during the production of ACS, but when the project ended they both moved on to other projects and other friends. I’ve had coworkers -and I’m sure many of you have too-that I adored and I never wanted lose the connection we shared while working together but alas, the romance fizzled after we no longer had the workplace in common. Obsessing about the meaning of the almost-2-year-old photo of 2 strangers is pretty silly)

ajw720: The Algorithm is a very scientific way to figure out the wedding guest list-no doubt it knows who D is closest to and would not lie….. 

(The problem is simple- there are no social-media pics of Darren (or Mia) with Jennifer, Ben, or Pamela which means, according to the cc-logic that it didn’t happen-aka they aren’t friends. In order to explain why the trio were in fact, at the wedding, the THE Algorithm was created. This Algorithm is a very scientific way to figure out the wedding-guest list-no doubt it knows who D is closest to and would not lie. The cc posse hate it when they don’t know what is going on Darren’s life which is why we are talking about a fake “CrissMyGlitz Invitation” algorithm 7 months after the wedding).   

ajw720: @chrisdarebashfulsmiles It is seriously my new favorite game and there are so many people that the algorithm eliminated.

(Seriously? There are what- 2 or 3 photos that aren’t definitively traced to work This game isn’t working out the way the posse believes it is. This is however, THE definition of confirmation bias clouding their judgment).  

3. KEVIN MCHALE

ajw720:Poor KM didn’t make the cut either. Perhaps his invite was eliminated by the weird algorithm for tagging d at his 30th right below c, yet d not pictured? He clearly considers d a good friend as he invited him to the party.

(Did Kevin suggest he was devastated to miss the destination wedding of his former coworker? Kevin and Darren went out with their former-Glee castmates maybe once or twice in the last four years- they are hardly besties. I don’t remember Kevin and Darren as being particularly close while Glee was in production. They are literally former coworkers.)

(Kevin inviting Darren to his birthday party doesn’t indicate that he “clearly   considers d a good friend”. It seems like I remember the party was a surprise party?) 

ajw720: Thankfully I think they’ve made up as d had no problem straddling him recently.

(OMG seriously? They are former coworkers in which some level of friendship exists. Darren straddled his leg while sitting on a very crowded seat- he wasn’t riding Kevin while they had sex in public.)

(ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? Darren invited the Glee peeps that he has consistently been close to over the years - Max, Harry and Chord).

ajw720: So many mysteries. But hey D&M’s new straight couple besties, Al/len & his wife, made the cut!

(Nope, no mysteries at all. Darren simply cared more about inviting people that mean something to him and Mia rather than those who mean something to the tinhatters.)

flowersintheattic254:  @ajw720 I expect old habits die hard with K and D. They were always flirty and fun. Maybe Mr and Mrs Le/ech are stricter regarding lap sittering. That’s probably why (nods head).

(nods head and wonders if tinters were drinking early on Sunday because this thread is petty, dumb and not at all funny or clever.) 

ajw720: @flowersintheattic254​ they are WAY too comfortable together, way more chemistry than D has with his bride.  I’m thinking that was the algorithm’s issue.

(Comfortable? Chemistry? WTF, he looks like he is passing a kidney stone and Kevin is coaching him through it.) 

flowersintheattic254: @ajw720 especially when you consider that the only similar pose with M has D holding his own arm to his chest. No chemistry at all!!!!

(Do you guys actually believe the nonsense you write or did you give up on 2/16/19 and you're just blowing smoke up each other’s ass now because I gotta tell you, the second-hand embarrassment is really uncomfortable now)   

 flowersintheattic254:It’s the pic on the boat with the fam. Can someone add it as I cannot find it?

leka-1998

ajw720: Not even close, if i didn’t know, i would say KM&DC were the couple and i t think the algorithm knew.  It is magical how that algorithm works.

(Ooooh right...it’s so confusing, I can totally understand your befuddlement!) 

(In all seriousness, watching this fandom’s toxic nonsense is like watching Kellyanne Conway and Lindsey Graham defend Trump’s baloney.  Everyone knows they are full of shit but we are powerless to stop it. The damage they are doing will take years to repair- if not decades)   

(Oh....Will you look at that. That is a screenshot taken from a video that is actually cute and shows a smitten Darren cuddling with Mia. Color. Me.SHOOK) .  

4. MATT MORRISON

standingoutsidethefire: I thought of another ..

That the algorithm just didn’t seem to include ...

standingoutsidethefire: Clearly these two don’t have any affection for each other

standingoutsidethefire: Not friends at all

standingoutsidethefire: I get why MM wasn’t included ..I really do 

(Maybe a personal- photo though likely at an show or industry event)

ajw720: Hate each other

(Once again, almost all -if not all - work pics)

5. MATT BOMER

leka-1998: “He’s just a really, really good, grounded person, and I think someone who I’ll probably always be friends with.”

- M/att B/omer

(Holy shit, Matt said something nice about Darren when asked about him by during an interview... no doubt when they worked together either on Glee or ACS) 

(According to Bride’s Magazine, “How to Make Your Wedding Day About YOUl” June 2017. 

5. The guest list is one of the most difficult decisions. Should you invite your mom’s work associate? Great Aunt Gertrude whom neither of you have met? Everyone from the gym? Communicate communicate communicate. One piece of tried-and-true advice is ALWAYS invite the person who said nice about you to the national media. You won’t regret it and most likely that person will give you the best gift).  

(Work event) 

(Work event)

(Wait -isn’t this Blaine and Cooper?)

(Work event)

Leka-1998: But the great algorithm said no.

ajw720: My understanding is they despise each other, cannot stand to be in the same room together. 

(Nobody ever suggested that).

ajw720: #funny #so many of the univited #queer

(seriously “#queer”? No, not cool)

flowersintheattic254

True they have clearly and from the beginning disliked each other intensely.

ajw720: But see @leka-1998​ there is D calling him handsome, we don’t want to have anything that even hints at d talking about a boy in that manner at the sham mockery, i mean nuptials……………….  Because D is the STRAIGHTEST MAN ALIVE!!!!!

(OMG,,the sarcasm isn’t working).

[atlasfms]

           phew  ,  this  really  did  take  forever    &    for  that  i’m  sorry    !    but  hi  love  bugs  ,  i’m  lina    &    i’m  super  excited  to  introduce  u  to  my  very  own  version  of  the  devil    !   atlas  has  been  a  v  important  part  of  my  life  for  almost  a  year  now  ,    &    he’s  pretty  much  the  same  as  before  except  a  little  update  near  the  bottom  of  this  intro    !    there  are  also  some  wanted  connections  right  at  the  bottom  too  so  if  u  would  like to  plot  pls  like  this    &    i’ll  come  running  to  u    !    i  also  apologise  for  how  long  this  intro  is  djgkhvj  i  get  carried  away    !

❛    new  york’s  very  own    atlas  deniro    was  spotted  on  broadway  street  in    air  jordan  1s    .  your  resemblance  to    xavier  serrano    is  unreal  .  according  to  tmz  ,  you  just  had  your    twenty - second    birthday  bash  .  while  living  in  new  york  ,  you’ve  been  labeled  as  being  heedless  ,  but  also    beguiling    .  i  guess  being  a    sagittarius    explains  that  .  three  things  that  would  paint  a  better  picture  of  you  would  be    crooked  grins  ,  silver  chains  ,  regrets  .    &    (    cismale    &    he / him    )    +    (    lina  ,  twenty - one  ,  she / her  ,  gmt    )

TRIGGERS  ;  DRUG  OVERDOSE  ,  DEATH    &    CANCER  .

┈´    ›    𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒    .

NAME  :  atlas    (    to  carry    )    nathaniel    (    gift  of  god    )    arthur    (    noble    ;    courageous    )    deniro    (    notably  people  with  dark  or  black  hair    )  .

NICKNAMES  :  ace  ,  atty  ,  pain  in  the  ass  .

AGE  :  twenty - two  .

BIRTHDAY  :  december  third  .

ZODIAC  :  sagittarius  .

GENDER  :  male  .

PRONOUNS  :  he    &    him  .

NATIONALITY  :  american  .

ETHNICITY  :  english  ,  italian  .

LABEL(S)  :  the  jocular  ,  the  libertine  ,  the  lothario  .

OCCUPATION  :  model  ,  singer  ,  socialite  .

NETWORTH  :  50  mill

PROS  ;  athletic  ,  challenging  ,  charming  ,  curious  ,  daring  ,  debonair  ,  faithful  ,  forthright  ,  fun - loving  ,  humourous  ,  invulnerable  ,  passionate  ,  perserverant  ,  playful  ,  protective  ,  sociable  ,  spontaneous  ,  witty  .

CONS  :  abrasive  ,  arrogant  ,  blunt  ,  careless  ,  clumsy  ,  compulsive  ,  conceited  ,  deceitful  ,  destructive  ,  devious  ,  disobedient  ,  egocentric  ,  greedy  ,  ignorant  ,  meddlesome  ,  narcissistic  ,  obnoxious  ,  provocative  ,  reckless  ,  troublesome  ,  unstable  ,  vindictive  .

┈´    ›    𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘    .

            aldo  nathaniel  arthur  deniro  was  destined  for  greatness  .  everyone  knew  it    ;    hell  ,  even  the  biggest  ceo’s  in  new  york  were  shaking  in  their  boots  at  the  thought  of  what  this  young  man  was  capable  of  .  he  was  a  dead - ringer  for  his  father  ,  with  his  light  hair    &    bright  blue  eyes  ,  he  had  looks  ,  charms  ,    &    a  good  head  on  his  shoulders  .    &    like  his  father  ,  he  knew  what  he wanted                the  family  business  .  but  first  ,  he  had  to  go  to  college  .    &    only  ivy  league  would  do  for  the  son  of  one  of  the  world’s  richest  ceo’s  .

            columbia  university  was  highly  prestigious  ,  private  ,    &    the  fifth  chartered  institution  of  higher  learning  in  the  united  states  .  besides  ,  it’s  business  school  was  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  world  ,  so  what  more  could  the  future  owner  of  the  family  company  want    ?    in  this  instance  ,  a  girlfriend  ,  but  he  didn’t  know  it  yet  .  when  nathaniel  met  scarlett  baccouche  ,  daughter  of  two  british  politicians  ,  they  didn’t  exactly  get  off  with  the  best  start                they  hated  each  other  ,  in  fact  .  but  what  was  once  hate  turned  into  an  epic  love  story    &    after  they  graduated  ,  they  got  married  .  not  long  after  that  ,  they  had  their  first  child  .

            their  daughter  was  a  stunner  ,  like  her  parents  .  the  news  was  celebrated  all  over  the  world  ,    &    when  aldo’s  father  retired  the  company  into  his  hands  ,  things  just  seemed  to  get  better  .  scarlett  had  a  successful  acting  career  ,  starring  in  a  hit  tv  show  that  seemed  to  be  getting  more  recognised  every  day  .  their  lovely  maid  ,  diane  took  care  of  their  daughter  on  the  days  they  could  not  ,    &    everything  was  pretty  much  perfect  .  they  had  a  huge  property  near  the  coast  of  the  hamptons  ,    &    at  some  point  they  were  ready  to  expand  their  family  .  so  in  early  march  ,  tests  comfirmed  the  news                scarlett  was  pregnant  with  twins.  on  the  third  of  december  1996  ,  atlas  nathaniel  arthur  deniro    &    his  twin  sister  were  born  ,  only  5  minutes  apart  .

            everyone  celebrated    ;    the  family  ,  friends  ,  even  supporters  of  the  notorious  family  .  his  hair  was  fair    &    there  were  arguments  over  whether  his  eyes  were  his  mother’s  or  his  father’s  .  but  since  he  was  born  ,  the  main  question  was  whether  he’d  follow  in  his  father’s  footsteps  or  his  mother’s  .  would  he  give  the  family  company  a  modern  twist    ?    would  he  be  this  generation’s  brad  pitt    &    be  the  star  of  hit  blockbusters  in  upcoming  years    ?    people  were excited  ,  but  atlas  wasn’t  .  he  was  nowhere  near  it  .

            the  deniro  household  had  it’s  challenges  .  they  seemed  like  the  perfect  family  unit  ,    &    perhaps  they  were  ,  but  aldo    &    scarlett  had  other  ideas  .  they  were  quite  strict  in  raising  their  children  ,  teaching  them  to  never  slouch  ,  to  use  your  manners  ,  to  keep  up  a  perfect  reputation  .  it  wasn’t  the  family  name  that  was  at  stake  ,  but  also  their  future  ,  because  like  everyone  else  in  the  world  expected  ,  they  wanted  their  children  to  grow  up    &    take  over  one  of  their  careers  ,    &    they  groomed  them  to  do  just  that  .  atlas  hated  it  .

            he  hated  the  daily  tutors  supplied  by  his  father  ,  lessons  in  business    &    the  history  of  the  family’s  .  he  despised  the  acting  classes  his  mother  forced  him  to  take  ,  ones  which  he’d  often  skip  out  on  but  then  would  get  into  trouble  once  his  parents  found  out  .  he  felt  trapped    ;   forced  to  do  things  he  grew  to  loathe  .  to  him  ,  it  was  obvious  that  he  could  do  neither  of  the  things  his  parents  wanted  him  to  do  .  so  the  more  they  pushed  ,  the  more  he  pulled  away  .  he  started  to  feel  less  like  their  son  but  a  puppet  whose  strings  they  kept  pulling  .

            what  he  didn’t  hate  ,  though  ,  was  the  feeling  if  his  fingers  on  guitar  strings  ,  singing  in  the  shower  because  that  was  the  only  place  he  could  sing  without  his  parents  complaining  about  him  making  a  noise  .  diane  would  often  smile  at  him  after  they  chastise  him    &    quietly  compliment  him  on  his  voice  ,  telling  him  he’d  do  great  things  one  day  .  of  course  ,  he  already  knew  this  .  his  music  teacher  told  him  once  that  he  could  sing  the  birds  to  silence  .

            school  was  enjoyable  ,  as  it  goes  .  all  deniro  children  were  educated  in  a  private  school ,    &    although  he  was  close  to  his  sisters  ,  he  made  friends  easily  .  he  had  a  charming  smile    &    witt  that  only  few  would  understand  ,  he  was  the  sort  of  kid  who  got  along  with  anyone  ,  but  he  couldn’t  consider  any  of  them  to  be  close  friends  .  so  whereas  to  them  he  looked  happy  ,  he  was  quite  the  opposite    ;   atlas  eventually  got  tired  of  his  parents  controlling  his  life  so  instead  of  keeping  up  his  otherwise  impeccable  reputation  ,  he  started  to  rebel  .

            he  didn’t  really  do  a  lot  at  first  .  snuck  out  to  a  few  parties  ,  stayed  out  later  than  his  curfew  allowed  him  to  .  did  the  opposite  of  everything  his  parents  wanted  him  to  do  ,  be  that  going  to  the  classes  they  arranged  for  him  or  behave  himself  in  general  .  he  just  wanted  to  live  his  own  life  ,  do  what  he  wanted  .  he  wanted  to  focus  on  his  music    &    follow  a  path  that  he  knew  he  would  enjoy  .  so  he  decided  he’d  do  just  that  ,    &    for  a  while  he  felt  a  little  glimpse  of  what  being  truly  happy  felt  like  .

            however  in  high  school  ,  atlas  got  involved  with  the  wrong  crowd  .  they  introduced  him  to  a  world  he  had  yet  to  really  experience    ;    a  world  full  of  alcohol  ,  sex  ,  drugs  ,    &    general  trouble  .  he  knew  he  shouldn’t  have  stuck  around  it  ,  but  it  was  addicting  .  it  was  so  unlike  the  restrained  life  he  grew  up  with  ,  that  he  jumped  right  into  it    &    found  himself  unable  to  get  out  of  .  there  was  more  to  it  ,  though  .  the  more  he  rebelled  the  more  people  started  to  notice  him  .  how  structured  his  jawline  was  ,  how  illuminated  his  eyes  were  under  any  light  .

            atlas  hadn’t  really  had  an  interest  in  social  media  before  .  of  course  ,  he  had  an  instagram  account  that  he  barely  used  ,    &    didn’t  really  start  using  until  someone  mentioned  he  should  start  modelling  .  sure  ,  they  were  joking  but  avery  actually  considered  it    &    started  posting  pictures  of  himself  .  his  following  plummeted  ,    &    in  the  november  of  his  sophomore  year  he  was  scouted  a  modeling  agency    &    became  one  of  vogue’s  most  promising  talents  .

            his  career  exploded  from  then  on  ,    &    so  did  his  popularity  .  he  met  people  he  would  never  have  had  the  chance  to  meet  otherwise  ,  more  specifically  someone  called  jason  .  the  pair  quickly  became  good  friends  ,  they  went  to  the  same  school  so  it  was  convenient  .  jason  acted  as  a  good  influence  on  avery  but  atlas  acted  like  a  bad  influence  on  him  ,  dragging  him  into  the  world  he  found  himself  stuck  in  which  is  when  things  started  going  downhill  .  jason  grew  a  little  too  accustomed  to  narcotics  ,  but  at  first  atlas  didn’t  notice  .  he  wasn’t  really  one  to  talk  ,  anyway  .

            one  night  the  boys  headed  to  los  angeles  to  celebrate  their  upcoming  graduation  ,    &    before  going  for  a  night  out  they  decided  to  have  pre - drinks  in  their  hotel  room    &    started  popping  pills  .  atlas  didn’t  really  see  how  many  jason  took  ,  but  before  he  could  warn  him  it  was  already  too  late  .  everything  else  from  that  night  was  a  blur  of  blue  flashing  lights    &    a  lot  of  strangers  shouting  out  medical  terms  he  didn’t  understand  .  the  only  thing  he  really  remembered  from  that  night  were  the  words  ‘ he’s  dead ’  .    &    an  overwhelming  feeling  that  it  was  his  fault  .

            the  tragedy  of  jason’s  death  left  atlas  in  a  state  of  seclusion  .  he  spent  three  solid  months  alone  in  his  room  ,  blaming  himself  for  what  happened  ,  but  he  didn’t  stop  the  drugs  .  if  anything  ,  he  used  them  as  an  escapism  ,    &    when  his  parents  gave  him  an  ultimatum    :    rehab  or  college  ,  he  chose  the  latter  .  he  enrolled  in  columbia    &    took  up  the  same  business  course  his  father  did  .  for  the  first  month  ,  he  was  bitter  ,  cold  to  everyone  ,  would  barely  talk  if  he  could  help  it  .

            but  some  of  his  old  school  friends  went  to  the  same  college  as  him  ,    &    atlas  started  to feel  more  like  himself  again    (    or  a  version  of  himself  that  felt  similar  to  what  he  was  before    )    &    tried  to  forget  jason    &    everything  that  happened  .  his  parents  has  covered  up  the  death  so  avery  wasn’t  related  to  it  ,  a  cleverly  articulated  plan  to  keep  it  out  of  the  papers  .  but  that  didn’t  stop  the  questions  ,  which  avery  would  quickly  divert  in  order  to  forget  .  he  had  to  forget  .

            he  didn’t  .  jason  was  his  friend  ,    &    one  of  the  few  people  who  truly  understood  him  .  jason  always  believed  in  atlas’s  music  ,  so  it  only  felt  right  that  he  returned  to  him  .  if  not  for  himself  ,  then  for  the  memory  of  his  late  friend  .  so  he  dropped  out  of  college  ,  found  himself  a  management    &    started  writing  songs  ,  composing  music  .  at  first  it  was  difficult    ;    every  time  he  sang  a  song  or  played  a  tune  ,  he’d  remember  jason  .  but  after  time  he  eased  into  it  ,  dropped  out  of  college  ,    &    has  been  working  on  his  first  album  ever  since  .

            atlas  became  an  all  together  different  person  .  he  became  manipulative  ,  deceitful  ,  partying  every  night  to  erase  the  memory  of  that  night  like  it  would  somehow  go  away  ,  but  it  didn’t  .  every  time  he’d  close  his  eyes  ,  he’d  see  his  lifeless  friend  ,  so  he’d  stop  closing  them  . he’d  spend  nights  in  a  stranger’s  bed  ,  only  to  leave  in  the  middle  of  the  night  .  he’d  drink  away  the  pain    &    swallow  down  the  guilt  that  was  threatening  to  swallow  him  alive  .

            what  atlas  doesn’t  know  ,  though  ,  is  a  secret  his  parents  are  keeping  from  him  .  in  early january  this  year  ,  his  father  was  diagnosed  with  localised  prostate  .  after  the  loss  of  jason  ,  atlas  became  distant  from  his  parents    &    they  didn’t  want  to  burden  him  with  the  news  due  to  him  only  just  getting  back  to  his  normal  self  after  the  trauma  of  losing  his  best  friend  .

┈´    ›    𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘    .

            outwardly  ,  atlas  appears  to  be  quite  content  .  he  can  start  a  conversation  with  anyone  ,  act  like  he’s  interested  but  then  three  minutes  later  he’ll  get  bored    &    move  onto  the  next  thing that  interests  him  .  he  likes  staying  busy    &    preoccupied  ,  thinking  that  if  he  keeps  his  mind  busy  ,  he  won’t  think  about  the  past  .  it’s  for  that  reason  that  it’s  hard  to  tell  what  he’s  actually  thinking  ,  unless  you  know  him  really  well  or  are  good  at  reading  people  .

            he  can  be  very  cynical  ,  a  trait  that  he’s  carried  since  he  was  young  but  he  was  better  at hiding  it  then  ,  now  he  really  does  not  care  .  at  first  it  mattered  to  him  what  people  thought  ,  now  he  couldn’t  care  less  .  he  does  what  he  wants  when  he  wants  ,  often  not  thinking  about  the  consequences  of  his  actions    &    then  dealing  with  them  later  .  it’s  for  this  reason  that  he  can  be  quite  manipulative  ,  using  his  charms  to  get  what  he  wants    (    or  who  he  wants    )    to  serve  as  a  distraction  .

            he  can  be  quite  brutal  about  his  opinions  ,  learning  a  long  time  ago  that  holding  your  tongue  won’t  benefit  you  at  all  so  he  basically  just  says  what  he  wants  .  but  ,  he  doesn’t  really  answer  questions  directly  ,  especially  if  they’re  personal  .  he’ll  more  likely  change  the  subject  or  divert  the  question  to  someone  else    &    act  like  he  was  the  one  who  asked  the  question  in  the  first  place  .

        atlas  is  very  reckless    &    will  literally  do  anything  for  a  good  time  ,  be  that  getting  so  drunk his  face  hits  the  floor  ,  or  so  high  he  forgets  his  own  name  ,  or  to  even  cliff  diving  so  he  can  get  some  form  a  thrill  .  if  someone  tells  him  he  can’t  do  something  ,  he’ll  go  out  of  his  way  to  prove  them  wrong  .  he’s  incredibly  stubborn    &    has  a  tendency  to  let  people’s  words  go  through  one  ear    &    out  of  the  other  .

┈´    ›    𝐅𝐔𝐍    𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒    .

he’s  honestly  such  a  lil  shit  tbh    ??    idk  how  else  to  describe  him

he’s  a  vegetarian    &    has  been  since  he  was  eight  bc  he  watched  this  documentary  once    &    was  Distraught

his  vc  is  bazzi  bc  if  u  don’t  know  how  much  i  lov  him  r  we  even  friends

he  has  a  dog  called  bloomer    &    he’s  his  literal  son  ,  like  his  actual  child

he  still  lives  in  his  huge  ass  penthouse  so  if  anyone  wants  2  be  his  roommate  that’s  a  plot  for  u

atlas  is  literally    ??    such  a  fuckboy    ??    but  he  denies  it    &    says  he’s  just  charming  ,  when  rly  he’s  a  lil  bitch

a  dramatic  hoe  who  lives  for  drama  but  is  100%  the  sort  who  will  run  away  if  it  gets  too  much  bc  he’s  a  mess

when  he’s  dedicated  to  something  ,  be  it  a  subject  or  a  relationship  ,  he’s  completely  faithful  which  is  v  surprising

adores  his  fans    &    will  actually  do  anything  for  them  ,  has  been  known  to  punch  out  a  security  guard  or  two  so  he  can  get  to  them

fun  fact  once  he  got  arrested  for  racing  on  private  property

another  fun  fact  is  he  loves  cars  so  pls  do  not  touch  his  bbies  thank  u

he  might  seem  all  fine    &    dandy  but  he’s  on  the  verge  of  a  mental  breakdown  but  won’t  admit  it

gets  drunk  ,  high  ,    &    hooks  up  with  strangers  on  the  regular

he’s  fluent  in  italian    &    has  a  HUGE  italian  family

atlas  can  come  across  as  being  ignorant    &    self - absorbed  ,  but  he’s  actually  really  observant    &    notices  everything

is  100%  the  sort  of  ‘ fall  in  love  with  the  moment    &    think  you’re  in  love  with  the  girl ’  type  of  guy  but  it  lasts  for  like  2  seconds  bc  he’s  fickle

speaking  of  fickle  ,  he’s  had  many  relationships  that  haven’t  lasted  that  long  bc  he  can’t  decide  what  he  wants  from  one  minute  to  the  next

┈´    ›    𝐓𝐇𝐄    𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐑𝐎𝐒    .

           last  time  i  didn’t  do  a  summary  of  the  deniros  but  honestly  they’re  apart  of  me  just  like  atlas  himself  ,  so  i  wanted  to  do  a  few  quick  bullet  points  bc  who  doesn’t  love  a  huge  ass  italian  family    !

obviously  ,  the  deniros  come  from  an  italian  decent    &    let’s  put  it  this  way  ...  there’s    a  lot    of  them  .

the  deniros  originate  from  florence  ,  italy    &    although  there’s  an  ever  growing  list  of  little  additions    &    the  fact  that  they  ,  for  the  most  part  live  in  different  parts  of  the  world  ,  they’re  an  incredibly  tight - kint  family  .

the  deniros  are  also  very  ,  very  rich  ,  like  multi - billionaire  rich  which  collectively  brings  the  family’s  net  worth  to  obviously  extortionate  amounts  .

there  are  multiple  businesses  which  certain  members  of  the  family  is  responsible  for  ,  but  atlas’s  father  has  by  far  the  most  profited    &    therefore  most  stressful  one  .  the  company  that  literally  brands  the  family  is  called  ‘ allora ’  ,    &    they’re  a  parent  company  for  some  very  expensive    &    luxurious  brands    (    i.e.  victoria’s  secret  ,  gucci  ,  there’s  more  but  like  the  failure  i  am  i  have  Forgotten    )

the  deniros  are  a  very  proud    &    highly  anticipated  family  ,  success  meaning  more  to  them  than  it  does  the  average  person

despite  this  however  ,  they’re  incredibly  traditional    &    spend  nearly  every  holiday  together  ,  as  organised  by  nonno  arnaldo    &    nonna  céline  .

atlas’s  favourite  uncle  is  by  far  his  uncle  toni    (    i  see  u  vi  hitting  up  his  ims    )

there’s  a  long  line  of  twins  in  the  family  ,  including  atlas    &    arya  as  well  as  their  father  ,  who  is  twins  with  their  aunt  cordelia

they  have  kind  of  .....  a  pattern  w  names  sufjgjji  they  all  match  alphabetically  in  some  way  because  their  grandparents  are  obsessed  with  aesthetics

they  have  their  own  tv  show  coming  up    !    stay  tuned  for  more

uhhh  there’s  probs  more  so  i’ll  come  back  to  this

┈´    ›    𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄  :  𝐀𝐒  𝐎𝐅  𝟏𝟑/ 𝟎𝟒/ 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗  .

           good  god  so  much  has  happened  since  i  first  brought  atlas  to  life  agfkgjo  so  here’s  a  little  update  since  i’m  too  lazy  to  write  that  huge  ass  biography  all  over  again    !

ok  so  he’s  still  a  little  bitch  ...  but  it’s  more  now  with  the  intention  of  being  a  little  bitch  than  it  is  accidental

he’s  released  his  first  album    !    it’s  titled  ‘ damage ’  control    &    has  reached  amazing  success  .  his  world  tour  starts  in  august    &    he’s  incredibly  excited    !

he’s  also  had  the  opportunity  to  work  with  some  incredible  brands  ,    &    is  very  soon  going  to  be  the  face  of  an  incredibly  successful  brand  that  u’ll  learn  more  about  later  probably

as  for  his  modeling  work  ,  he’s  the  male  ambassador  of  paco  rabanne’s  fragrance  ‘ 1  million ’  ,  he  has  his  own  personalised  clothing  line  collaboration  with  calvin  klein  ,  has  been  working  with  prada  A  LOT  recently  as  well  as  some  other  brands  i’m  too  lazy  to  think  of

last  year  he  won  the  fashion  awards’  model  of  the  year    !    look  at  him  popping    !

it’s  not  all  sunshine    &    rainbows  though    (    is  it  ever  avdhgj    )    because  after  a  recent  questioning  at  the  police  station    (    there’s  a  self - para  somewhere    )    he’s  been  getting  flashbacks  of  memories  he’s  been  pushing  back  ever  since  jason  died  ,  but  now  they’re  all  coming  back  so  he’s  been  resorting  to  drinking  excessively    &    abusing  drugs  more  than  usual  just  to  forget

in  the  same  light  ,  he’s  also  started  racing  again    &    starting  fights  with  people  for  the  heck  of  it

so  basically ......  he’s  a  huge  ass  mess  like  a  bigger  mess  than  usual

BUT  HE’LL  GET  BETTER    !!!    it  just  might  take  some  time    &    some  help  to  get  there  but  he’ll  be  better

┈´    ›    𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄  :  𝐀𝐒  𝐎𝐅  𝟎𝟗/𝟏𝟎/ 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗  .

atlas  has  had  . . .  a  little  bit  of  a  wild  ride  the  past  few  months  fjdkgng

on  the  anniversary  of  jace’s  passing  ,  he  was  in  a  dark  place  &  ended  up  overdosing  ,  landing  him  in  a   three  day  coma

after  That  drama  ,  he  was  slammed  into  therapy  sessions  &  had  to  cancel  his  debut  tour  which  he  was  not  happy  abt  but  🤷🏼‍♀️ that’s  what  happens  when  u  do  stupid  shit  atlas

so  yeah  ,  he’s  been  going  through  it  the  past  few  months  ,  facing  his  worst  fears  etc  but  eventually  he’s  getting  BETTER

he  was  well  enough  to  take  part  in  fashion  month  so  i’d  say  he’s  doing  good  !

his  relationship  with  his  dad  is  improving  ??  not  Improved  but  after  his  overdose  his  dad  stop  being  pushy  &  atlas  realised  that  he’s  been  a  dick  to  him  too  so  they’re  on  the  mend

they  even  struck  a  deal  that  i’ll  tell  y’all  abt  later

um  ??  is  that  it  ??  i  think  SFGKJDG  WE’LL  SEE

┈´    ›    𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒    .

𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁  𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱(𝘀)  :  the  people  except  from  his  sisters  who  understand  him  perhaps  better  than  he  even  understands  himself  .  they’re  like  two  peas  in  a  pod  ,  where  one  goes  the  other  is  soon  to  follow    &    there  isn’t  a  lot  that  they  wouldn’t  do  for  each  other  .    (    mariana  cavello  ,  giovanni  narciso  .    )

𝗲𝘅𝗲𝘀  :  ok  so  atlas  has  a  lot  of  exes  ,  either  on  good  or  bad  terms  ,  for  a  short  period  of  time  or  a  long  period  of  time  .  this  can  either  be  angsty  or  where  they  broke  up    &    are  now  friends    !    (    mariana  cavello  ,  open.    )

𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱  𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀  :  basically  his  first  girlfriend    !    their  parents  are  friends    &    basically  set  this  up  like  parents  sometimes  do  ,  thinking  they  know  best    &    they  dated  for  a  good  portion  of  their  life    (    think  nate    &    blair    )    but  in  high  school  ,  when  atlas  had  a  change  of  heart  he  wasn’t  sure  what  he  felt  for  her  was  real  so  he  broke  it  off  without  any  explanation  like  the  dumbass  he  is  .    (    eden  lane.    )

𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀  :  atlas’s  penthouse  is  huge  ,  too  big  for  just  one  person  to  live  in  so  it’s  highly  possible  that  he  has  a  roommate  or  two    !    (    alanna  deniro    )

𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝘀  :  sometimes  they  like  each  other  ,  sometimes  they’re  bickering  like  there’s  no  tomorrow  .    (    open.    )

𝗲𝘅- 𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴  :  he  doesn’t  really  do  these  anymore  bc  he’s  🥰  but  he  definitely  has  had  a  few  of  these  in  the  past    !    they  never  really  put  a  label  on  anything  ,  it  was  a  bit  of  fun  but  then  they  decided  to  end  it  for  whatever  reason.    !    (    kylie  castillo.    )

𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗱  :  i  forgot  what  i  was  gonna  type  here  djgkgjg  but  yes    !    please    !    (   open.    )

𝗲𝘅  𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁  𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀  :  there  was  a  time  where  the  pair  were  inseparable  .  they’d  go  everywhere  together  ,  do  everything  together    &    were  as  close  as  family  .  until  one  day  one  of  them  did  something  to  hurt  the  other  ,    &    now  they  can’t  stand  each  other  .    (    open.    )

𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹  𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿  :  they’re  always  bumping  into  each  other  .  no  matter  the  place  ,  time  ,  or  reason  why  they’re  there  ,  these  two  are  always  finding  company  in  each  other  in  the  strangest  of  places    &    now  they  have  a  strange  friendship  .    (    open.    )

𝗼𝗻𝗲  𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁  𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱  :  they  got  drunk  one  night    &    ended  it  hooking  up  .  it  would’ve  been  fine  ,  if  atlas  hadn’t  left  their  apartment  in  the  middle  of  the  night  without  saying  a  word  ,  so  now  it’s  just  awkward  .    (    nova  reign.    )

𝗯𝗮𝗱  𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲  𝗼𝗻  :  they  work  together  on  campaigns  which  often  lead  to  long  days  ,    &    atlas  being  atlas  ,  is  constantly  trying  to  think  of  reasons  to  get  drunk    &    this  poor  person  is  always  being  dragged  into  his  bad  habits  .    (    open.    )

𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱  𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲  :  atlas  is  the  sort  of  person  who’s  always  making  bad  decisions    &    as  a  result  can  be  quite  pessimistic  .  despite  him  constantly  trying  to  antagonize  them  ,  this  person  serves  as  a  good  influence  on  him  so  their  friendship  ,  however  strangely  surprising  is  something  of  a  miracle  .    (    open.    )

𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲  𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽  :  although  atlas  taking  things  seriously  is  sometimes  a  task  in  itself  ,  when  it  comes  to  his  friends  he’ll  go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  for  them  ,  especially  for  this  person  .  he  won’t  see  anything  bad  happen  to  them    &    will  always  have  their  back  no  matter  what  .    (    vera  bantini.    )

𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹  𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆  /  𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁  𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆  :  she  knew  his  sisters  first  ,    &    when  they  met  for  the  first  time  at  atlas’s  parents  yacht  party  in  2015  they  developed  some  sort  of  flirtationship  .  over  the  years  ,  what  was  once  harmless  flirting  became  something  much  more  than  that    &    it’s  now  at  the  point  where  they’re  on  the  verge  of  dating  but  haven’t  made  it  official  yet  .    (    violet  lennox.    )

𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲  𝗼𝗿  𝗱𝗶𝗲  :  be  it  racing  or  anything  sporadically  reckless  ,  these  pair  do  it  together    &    have  earned  quite  a  name  for  themselves  .  whether  they  get  caught or  not  ,  they’re  in  it  for  a  good  time  not  a  long  time    &    at  the  times  that  they  find  themselves  behind  jail  cells  ,  at  least  they  have  millions  of  dollars  to  bail  them  out  .    (    lennon  james.    )

𝘁𝗵𝗲  𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿  :  this  person  dragged  atlas  into  a  world  that  he’s  been  stuck  in  since  high  school  .  he  joined  their  group  of  friends  in  sophomore  year    &    it  was  here  where  his  reputation  started  to  build  .  although  he  knows  he  shouldn’t  ,  he  feels  grateful  for  them  because  it  was  at  this  time  that  he  realised  he  should  do  what  he  wants    &    not  give  a  damn  about  what  anyone  thinks  .    (    open.    )

[ivanaskye]

So, for reasons that had a lot to do with being unceremoniously kicked out of where I was living on mostly-false pretenses that were mostly thinly-veiled ableism… I had a pretty notable depressive bout lately.  And to make matters worse, because I didn’t have a stable place to live, I couldn’t play KH3 yet.

So I turned to mobile games.

Thus, as follows, here is a SUPER DEFINITIVE IVANASKYE RANKING of mobile games that are good (or less good) for entertainment when you’re depressed and hiding from bigots in an airbnb.

1) ALTO’S ODYSSEY.  This absolutely takes the cake for an actually freaking good mobile game that can be replayed essentially indefinitely.  It’s like a skateboarding game, but in the desert, for some reason, where also lemurs live and like to chase you.

It’s good.

It’s very, very pretty, with a variety of desert backgrounds, day and night.  Although you might hit a rock if you look at the scenery too long.  There’s an actual skill level involved in this game (unless you’re playing zen mode, which it conveniently has), and when you die, well, that’s a decent enough time to put the game down if that’s what you’re going for.

This is an actually-paid game that I got on sale, and was super worth the one entire dollar it cost on that sale, but it would also be worth the full five dollars.  The good thing about paid games, of course, is that they don’t try to sell you things.

2) GODUS.  I’m… not sure this is a good game per se, but it basically consists of exactly what would happen if someone went up to my id, asked what it wanted in a mobile game, and then made exactly that.

Anyway, you play a god, trying to wrangle your (very stupid) followers into constructing buildings, generating worship for you, and even (gasp!) learning how to farm.  Also you can go on boat voyages that are basically mini games where you have to lead your followers to specific points and not get them killed.  (I don’t like these mini-games that much, but hey, two types of game in one game is good.)

Unfortunately, it is also a free game which is trying really, really hard to get you to spend actual money on upgrades.  For that reason, your people’s growth also kind of stops being exponential at a point—yeah, they’ll still build new things and expand, but the game really wants you to spend money.  Sigh.

CW for some racist and sexist stuff (because, of course).  For instance, your followers are at first grouped into two categories—blue color-coded “builders” and pink color-coded “breeders”.  Yes, really.  On the other hand, later you get individually named farmers and miners who often have female names, so??? I don’t even know.

3) MONUMENT VALLEY and MONUMENT VALLEY 2.  These have… such a great concept.  It’s puzzle-solving that involves decidedly non-euclidean geometry (amusingly called “sacred geometry” in the game itself), much as if you’re wandering around an Escher painting.

But… and there’s a big but here… there really aren’t that many levels, all things considered.  And given that it’s a puzzle game, it’s not really that replayable—once you’ve figured out the puzzle, you’ve figured out the puzzle.  And it’s paid, so all in all, you’re spending 4 or 5 dollars on… only a few hours of entertainment.

Also, it’s trying really hard to have a deep and/or emotionally resonant story, but I think it doesn’t do very well at that.  The most emotional moment for me in the game was when this adorable cute totem guy looks like he might be dead (he isn’t)… buuut, according to interviewers with the developers, they were shocked that so many people had such an emotional reaction to an adorable tower of blocks with a single blinking eye?  Have they even met people?

Anyway what I’m saying here is that the things that are supposed to be emotionally resonant aren’t, and the things that aren’t supposed to be are.

And the second game, as I posted about before, has a surprise sub-theme of child abandoment?

Anyway, play for the puzzles and the totem, not the story… but maybe only when it’s on sale, because it really doesn’t have quite enough content for the price.

4) BONZA.  This is a… pretty run-of-the-mill mobile word game, this time in crossword form.  It’s not, like, great, but it’s not terrible either.  (I know, what a rousing endorsement).

One of the best things about this particular game is that you can pick it up for a quick puzzle while trying to avoid using your brains and eyes for 1) actually working or 2) looking at social media and getting really angry at people.  And then you can set it down.  And if you can’t set it down, that might be because you need a hint for the puzzle… which requires watching an ad… which you don’t actually want to do, so you’ll probably be setting your phone down while the ad plays!  Win-win!  I think.

5) THE TRAIL.  Boy, I really liked this game at first, even though it’s definitely got at least 5000 weird colonialism and also racism vibes.  But you can play as a brown-skinned person, so I Guess It’s Okay.  Anyway judging phone games for wokeness probably isn’t ideal, especially if you’re not giving money to them anyway.

Anyway, about the gameplay—it starts out as this thing where you walk along a trail, collecting random items with telepathy, Like You Do, in some cases giving them to a very disappointed-looking bird, also Like You Do, while your guide cheerfully informs you that “you might even have shoes someday!”

My issue is mostly that once you hit a town, the gameplay kind of changes—you can still wander trails and collect items, but a lot of your goals suddenly become town-related, and somehow this made it feel less fun to me.  Ymmv.

6) POLYSPHERE.  This… is an interesting concept… that sure tries really hard to get you to buy things.  Basically, you look at a bunch of weird shard-looking bits of color from different angles, until they become a picture.  Which is a cool visual-spacial challenge, but also as far as I can tell, spinning the shards fast enough can also cause them to flip, which is required to complete certain puzzles, and makes it feel more random than it should be.

I also found that this game didn’t bring a lot of joy—just a slight endorphin rush every time I finished a puzzle, but sort-of annoyance otherwise, and chasing that rush.  The bad kind of addictive.  Not recommended.

Bonus) GOROGOA.  I’m not ranking this alongside the rest of them because I played it a couple months ago, before this Depression Mobile Game Binge, so therefore it’s kind of in a different category.

This, like Monument Valley, is a puzzle game that only has so much content in it before you’ve solve everything, and costs like four whole dollars or something, so might not be worth it—

—But, it’s like, really cool.  You solve puzzles by basically manipulating frames of images around, so that one thing frames another, and… actually, it is kind of hard to explain.  But it’s really gorgeous, and legitimately challenging, and I’ve never seen anything like it.  I highly recommend it, even if it is shorter than I’d have wanted it to be.

[altalksaboutstuff]

Shantae and the Seven Sirens First Impressions (Insert I whip my hair back and forth joke here)

No spoilers?   Well ok, I'll try.   I suck at knowing what is or is not a spoiler though.   I'll give it my best go.

… or should I say my best Ret-2-Go! 

First some back story to frame this:

Shantae and the Seven Sirens is probably the game that I've been looking forward to playing all year and it was about a year ago now that we first got the teaser trailer/opening for this game too.   I've watched that trailer over and over. on my birthday I saw the Studio Trigger movie Promare and the Shantae and the Seven Sirens trailer (also animated by Studio Trigger) was shown with the other movie trailers.  Its really good, both the movie and trailer, so good that after seeing the trailer my wife asked me if the games were based off the anime (They didn't know that Shantae isn't an anime at the time.)   This was also after spending pretty much the whole summer of 2019 playing Shantae Half Genie Hero again and again.   I think I mentioned that on my last video game related post about that game, where I was essentially shilling for Wayforward for free.  

I'm typing this out on a keyboard on a Shantae and the Pirate's Curse desk mat.  

On my right by the mouse is a very enthusiastic Rotty Tops.  

My current wallpaper is Shantae.   

I like this series, a lot.   I think about this series a lot.   I hold myself back from going on tangents when talking to others except for Tumblr and perhaps one day I will make a Youtube video (previously I had made one out of my last post for Half Genie Hero but it won't render correctly. I think it is corrupted so I essentially have to make a new one, maybe at a later time)

Basically I'm a huge tool or as some others would say I’m a huge fan of the Shantae videogame franchise.

I could also write about how now how Games with Gold has Shantae and the Pirate's Curse available for download, since it is available to claim until June 30th, 2020 but I'll mostly touch on that game later.   Lightly.

I pre-ordered the physical version of Shantae and the Seven Sirens for the Switch, I got the Collector's Edition with all the bells and whistles and I was going to wait for it, but I caved.   I just couldn't wait for the release so I got the digital version on Xbox One back on May 28th, 2020.   I paid for the same game twice.   I don't do that often, I can't even think of any other time that I've done that except for maybe with remakes or re-releases, but never for a new game.   I think.   I justified it as the Xbox version has achievements that I can get to show off my digital e-Peen.   I also have digital versions of Pirate's Curse and Half Genie Hero on Xbox One while I have physical copies of the games on Switch but those digital versions were from Games with Gold.   While I did pay for the Gamepass Ultimate Service, $1 for three years, its not really the same thing.

Well the other day at around 3AM I finished my first play through of the game clocking in about 10 hours and 40 minutes and these are my first thoughts.

I think the most succinct comparison for this game to another is Tomba! For the Playstation One.   There's “comparisons” between the two – like Tomba! has seven evil pigs, Shantae has Seven Sirens, both are platformers and while Shantae is a Metroidvania Tomba! is … kind of one too, I guess?

The main comparison to Tomba! that I can think of being that you get directives with spoken keywords and you go to the corresponding area on the map to complete the objective and along the way you get power ups to better help you explore and fight bosses.     

Unlike the other Shantae games I've played, there isn't a real central hub.   I think that the first town you go to is supposed to be the de facto hub, Arena Town, on Paradise Island but they did away with that for a teleporter room to make fast travel easier.   You no longer have to talk to Sky to grab a flight on her bird but you feel like an outsider visiting these towns.   And hey, that makes thematic sense since you are visiting the island on vacation but the other games had that home HUB level. That feels like a weird point to mention missing when I played the game because for one it fits the universe a lot better and two it makes actual sense to do that but what I've come to expect in a Shantae game something about it just doesn't feel right.

I think that's the best way to describe this game, its not bad it just doesn't feel right.    A lot of this game just doesn't feel right to me.   This is my first take of this game and is why I wanted to specifically make this a first take and not a real “review” review.   I just to say that something about Shantae and the Seven Sirens feels off.   I don't know how else to describe it so I don't want to imply there's some kind of quick fix rather this is an issue with the heart and soul feel.   I've talked to friends when discussing media in the past – video games, movies, etc. and when dealing specifically with sequels and prequels -   I think that it's really hard to make a good sequel.   A game, movie, book, etc can be great on its own and sometimes even better than the original but how it fits in as a sequel can be its undoing or even a miss-step.   In that way its almost easier to make a new intellectual property.   You have to put enough of your IP in the game (or whatever media) so that it feels like it fits in the universe and that's the long and short of what makes this game not feel right.   To be fair this is very much a Shantae game.   You've got Shantae, Bolo, Risky Boots and the others, you've got familiar enemies, you have dances and genie powers, you collector heart squids to make heart containers and there's in universe references to things that happened in the previous game, heck you are there on vacation as mentioned you would at the end of Half-Genie Hero but I just don't feel that magic, that Shantae magic.   Its frankly kind of unfair to describe my biggest issue as a feeling and describe it in terms of magic.   How is that fair to say or any kind of constructive feedback at all?   Well I will try to break down and it is what I kind of missed from what I expected going into the game.

First thing is my problem with the transformations.   That Studio Trigger trailer (that I mentioned earlier) shows Shantae turning into a monkey.   Shantae even mentions how she can turn into a monkey at the beginning of the game.   But all those animal forms she had previously are gone.   Poof.  

That in and itself isn't a problem since this game does have new animal transformations that are pretty cool and satisfying to use like a Newt, a Tortoise, a Squid, a Gastro Drill (think a hermit crab that can drill through the earth/sand) and a frog but my dumb brain up until the end of the game was expecting to unlock some of her classic animal transformations.   Like I was expecting to fly around as the harpie and shoot up walls as the monkey and swim around as the mermaid in addition to dashing around as the Newt or barreling into enemies as the Tortoise.   These new forms sounded like they were going to be bonus: both in the sense of what Shantae says at the beginning of the game and how they are presented to you as gifts when you save the other half-genies.   Same with the dances.   This game has four dances that you acquire from Fusion Stones. The dances don't transform you into an animal but you get dances that do things like heal the surrounding environment and enemies or charge electrical devices.   And that’s neat, but more on that later.   That’s a positive.  I’m in my nit pick section now.

My next issue is: What does Shantae do? I don't mean the character in the avatar sense because you need someone to control, but specifically why am I Shantae?   You have your hair whip and the ability to dance but none of the power or transformations are yours.   I think part of the reason my brain was like “Cool, I can't wait to get the mermaid transformation to use in tandem with the squid triple jump” is because all the powers you get are borrowed from the other half-genies but it doesn't come across like you won't be able to later use your classic abilities. Is it another being on vacation thing, like Shantae just didn't pack her harpie form?   Other than Shantae being the main character of the series and possessing the ability to use magic as a half-genie, what is the reason why it is Shantae we are playing as?   What in particular is important about Shantae having this adventure?   I worry if I have conveyed what I mean here since it does sound a bit unclear.

I don't want to be too hard on Shantae and the Seven Sirens because this isn't just a Shantae franchise problem, to be fair, take Metroid for example.   In a typical Metroid game it starts with the protagonist Samus Aran tripping and she then will lose all her powers as they roll out of her and fall down a sewer drain for example.  

The idea that you were previously powerful canonically but have to start again at square one isn't always framed smoothly in video games but with Shantae and the Seven Sirens it makes it a point during a few times to tell you that your powers are all borrowed especially at the end.   But to go back and contrast that with a Metroid game - I feel like the power-ups still fit Samus Aran and are hers to use (until presumably the next game), and sure someone else could use them - they generally fit to what we understand the character to use for attacks and abilities.   I think that's why in this instance it sticks out so much in my mind.   I feel like any of the other half-genies could have done this adventure just the same.   Zapple could have gotten Fusion Stones and borrowed the other half-genies powers for example to save the day.   

At the end Risky tells you that she got Shantae specifically to go along as a contingency plan in accordance to what happens during the ending but like, what happens is ultimately a mistake involving one of Shantae's non-magical friends.   I assume from the towns that I visited in game that the other half-genies have non-magical friends too.   It wouldn't be a stretch for them to have a similar happen stance occur.   

The other big problem, and maybe this is a   for me problem, was Risky Boots role in this game.   Risky Boots just oozes a larger than life villainess personality - I absolutely love Risky Boots as a character.   In Half-Genie Hero though, Risky wasn't really in the game.   You thwart her in the beginning and she doesn't show up again until the end game.   In Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Risky Boots is there for pretty much the whole game and you develop a really good frienemy rapport with her.   This was a hole that I thought that this game would fix but it doesn't … at least not really.

What you get is there is a lot more of Risky Boots on screen in this game than Half-Genie Hero (and you realize there was even more once you get further in the game) and yet it feels like there was a lot less Risky Boots in this game.   You see Risky Boots time and again and you have multiple fights with her (they are set up and paced like the mini-boss) and she will tell you something about why she is there.   But then run off, rinse and repeat.   There are also a few other moments where she shows up and at the end of the game but its an issue of quality over quantity.   Like you de facto see Risky Boots more in this game but its always in short doses to advance the plot.   She also has a moment at the end of the game (which is kind of lackluster in my opinion) that feels hollow.   Like she's there but not really and without spoiling too much its because she is unconscious.   I haven't played this game through a 100% and I assume that maybe she has something to do with the better endings that I haven't unlocked yet but first time through she feels like an afterthought to piece together what is going on with the Sirens more than anything.   Like, oh hey Risky Boots is in Shantae, remember?   Much like with Shantae, I wonder why is Risky Boots in this game other than that its because it is a Shantae franchise game?   It kind of breaks my man-child heart.

Also Jake Kaufman didn't do the soundtrack which kind of explains why none of the in-game tracks really got stuck in head.   I liked Arena Town and the Dungeons theme, Armor Town's music is ok too.   But while Half-Genie Hero and Shantae and the Pirate's Curse soundtrack really wowed me with noticeable tracks that stuck out, this was more “It's ok” with a few noticeably less meh tracks.

If I had to guess why this game feels the way it does, its this one review I saw on the Xbox Marketplace inadvertently nailed it on the head but I think what they found as a positive, I took as a negative.   Shantae and The Seven Sirens mixes Pirate’s Curse with Half-Genie Hero, but I think they took what was wrong and mixed it.   Its from a review by ExcitedData11 entitled Good stuff!

That is ultimately what I think lead this game to be what it is – it's trying to fix Shantae Half-Genie Hero by mixing in what it was perceived to be missing.   On the one hand, I totally get it.   When Shantae Half Genie-Hero came out it got some less than charitable reviews. Thankfully it was successful and overall praised by those fans who Kickstarted it.   Shantae Half-Genie Hero game was coming hot off Shantae and the Pirate's Curse which is to a lot of people – the best Shantae game.   And I honestly think that falls into what I was saying earlier – its hard to make a good sequel especially since the previous game in the series was the most beloved.   Its really hard to capture lightning in a bottle the same way again so they did something different.  

Now this is just my opinion (Duh! the whole thing is, but I want to re-iderate here especially since I'm extra talking out of my butt in this part)   but to me with Half-Genie Hero they didn't put as much emphasis on the story as with the Pirate's Curse, and in a way went back to the drawing board.   The in-game jokes about the game being a soft re-boot of the Shantae series specifically call this out - Shantae and the Half-Genie Hero was largely about who Shantae is and where did she come from?   Who is Shantae's mother?   What happened to the Genies and the Genie Realm? The games dances and transformations were all of Shantae's classic animal forms with some new things mixed in too.   

When I wrote earlier about Shantae and the Seven Sirens and how its a Shantae game but why does it have to be Shantae I feel like Shantae Half-Genie Hero in stark contrast HAD to be about Shantae, its all about her.   In Shantae and the Pirate's Curse I feel like it had to be about Shantae too, the real main character of that game was Risky Boots but her relation to Shantae as Shantae's rival was important to understanding Risky Boots.   Shantae is important in that way.   That's why in Shantae and the Seven Sirens, Shantae just being on vacation story continuity alone doesn't really do it for me.   Its also why Risky Boots wanting the power of the Island and falling back on Shantae as a contingency plan doesn't do it for me either.   Mixing what is wrong with Half-Genie Hero also mixed out part of what was right with the game.   

But at this point, I feel like I've been way to uncharitable to this game.   Its mean.   I'm kind of being a big meany and misleading you.   “Well why don't you just say it? This game must be terrible! -3000 out of 10!”

I feel like I'm saying this game is bad and pointing and prodding over essentially an intangible essence. This game is actually good but if I lead with just that and didn't say my other piece I feel like it would also be wrong.   Its super easy (and popular?) to just lay into a game as being bad on the internet.   This is the post video game review culture that we have for better or for worse from things like the Angry Video Game Nerd (the better) and Gamer Gate (the absolute worst.)   Despite my earlier comments - I did like this game. Really, I enjoyed playing it and I think over time as I replay it I will like it more and more or at least I assume that I will based off of my previous gaming tastes and experiences with this franchise in particular.

Like sequels, reviews are tricky.   For me I think I realized this when I was in the 5th  grade and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time got a perfect score from Gamespot.   It still kind of irks me but at the time I felt like that was big mistake, a HUUUGE mistake.   Especially now when looking back at the game, its faults are a lot more glaring but at the time I can now think –   This was a 3D Zelda, the first grand adventure of its time.   People were waiting for this forever it probably felt.   

In contrast I also think of games I really like that when I first played them I didn't really care for – namely No More Heroes.   I really enjoy revisiting that game and its probably in my favorite games of the 2000s decade but I first played it, meh.   I didn't really like it.   Now a days I could go on and on talking about it.

Tastes change, initial impressions change, where we are in the world changes things and our relation to media too.  I've seen a few reviews really laying into this game and then give it a 6 or 7 out of 10.   That is kind of bizarre but I also feel like maybe right?   Numbers seems inherently trivial to me now.   This game could be a 6/10 but it also feels like it could be an 8/10 too based off of my impression.   What I can say that is more concrete is that its good. I would recommend you play this game

Ok first impression is over -

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First off, though I want to say that the game mechanics are more streamlined for play.   I love the animal transformations but stopping to dance pulls you out of the game play and immersion especially since that is so pivotal to playing the game especially when more than one is used in tandem.   This also gives the other dances more of an ump especially since they have powerful effects on the stage/level/enemies.   In Shantae Half-Genie Hero you have the destruction dance that blows up the whole stage but it takes some time to get to.   With the dance function, you cycle through about 4 sets of possible dances to get to it.   You are essentially just waiting to use a really powerful move, which I feel like if you need to use it, you probably want to do it right away and in the meantime you are a sitting target.   You also have to wait to use the monkey transformation or harpie or mermaid transformations.   That's kind of a pain when you use them just to move around.   Its not long a long waiting time, its not like a load screen where you are doing nothing but still you have to wait.   Its a lot of waiting.   You had to wait to use anything.   The game does sort of correct that with a metronome power up to speed up the time between available dance cycles but you still wait.  

With only four dances total you still have to wait a beat to get to them but then all of them are available to use at once.   And outside of that as previously mentioned each one of the animal transformations is used in tandem with a button press and the environment.   While something like the frog requires water for use or sand for the Gastro Drill, you can also dash whenever you want as the newt or charge up and smash into things as the tortoise the same.   None of the animal transformations seem out of place or missed and they flow better this way with the game play.   I never once missed a platform, hit or moving around in any of the animal forms except on rare occasion which every time was from my own input. Shantae is a platformer too so ease of mobility is definitely something you want while you play.

Expanding on the point of mobility - travel between points on the map is also easier.   No longer do you have to walk to Sky and ask to fly to a location.   As you play you uncover warp rooms and you can warp at will to any of the open locations to fast travel around the island.   As previously mentioned I do miss the HUB town from Half Genie Hero but this is markedly an improvement that also thematically makes sense too.   While I miss Scuttle Town that decision was good.

I also like the characters in this game a lot.   Outside of the series mainstays (Risky Boots ♥_♥ ) we meet other Half-genies (Well... more on that some other time) such as 

Harmony 

Plink

Vera 

Zapple 

and ...Fillin (or Ima Goodgirl or … hmmm?)

I also have to say that I was totally de-lighted to meet Armor Baron.   Any adjective less than delighted undercuts this character and I absolutely had no idea going into this game that he was in it.  My reaction was pretty close to Skys in-game reaction.   Just trust me your going to love Armor Baron.

While the meetings with Risky Boots are less than my ideal, I really, really like how the fights play out similarly to how you fight Risky Boots at the end of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero.   It feels like a genuine Risky Boots/Shantae battle and I really like that level of polish.   Going back to my point of why is this a Shantae game and the difficulties of making a sequel this is really a tick in the good sequel feel column.   I just wish I felt this more.

Lastly when talking about characters and maybe this is a spoiler or not (Sorry. Maybe sorry?) Bolo is voiced by Ross.   More specifically the Newgrounds/Youtuber Ross O'Donovan also known as Rubber Ninja   (formerly Rubber Ross uhm... errr, I guess that's his Gameplay channel on Youtube now?   So maybe he is still Rubber Ross?) and also a former Game Grump.   I don't know Ross personally but from what I do know about his personality from reading his Tweets and watching his animations and videos from when he was on Game Grumps 

that is a perfect choice Wayforward.   10/10 and that's keeping up with all of the other characters voices too.   Christina Vee (Valenzuela) returning portrayal of Shantae and Risky Boots (and also Harmony) is also very good.   This series has always brought a lot of talent in that department.

Aesthetically this game is gorgeous, the high definition character sprites/graphics from Half-Genie Hero all return and there are new character portraits that look really nice like the next step in terms of polish.   Studio Trigger did the opening animation and the other in game cutscenes put together in house look really, really good.

This game is wonderful, truly.   I don't want you to take away anything else.   It is absolutely worth your time and you will have a good time playing it but it just misses the mark.   I would love to say that this game is Shantae perfected but its not.   Not yet anyways.   It is some combination of a step forward and a step back.   I think I still have more to experience and definitely more to say.   My first completion was way over the time limit for a notable clear time and I didn't complete the item collection 100% either.   I am reasonably sure that once I finish this game with a faster time, higher completion, on new game plus and a combination of all 3 of those criteria combined I will find out more about the story.   I'll get the “Good ending” -s and I'm also sure I will also get better and more efficient with playing the game. Maybe then some of my not great first takes will change too.   Shantae games (and Metroidvania games in general) get better with replaying and when you learn the in and outs.   I still have a pretty good memory of Half-Genie Hero even though I haven't played it in a few months.

Maybe I'm a sucker but I also want some DLC.   Give me a version where you play as Risky Boots (please, I miss her) and what could also be fun is a game from the perspectives of the other half-genies in game where you switch between them all at each point before they are captured and play a sort of soft redesign of each dungeon and boss and the end can be the lead up with a particular Siren.

There's a lot that I look forward to this game and this series future.   I plan to look up the achievements I missed and collect them.   I also need to go back and play the original and Risky's Revenge sometime too.   I would like to do a proper review of this and the other games in the future.

Now if you'll excuse me, there's a Speedrun of Shantae and the Seven Sirens that I have to go fail a few times.

(Note this post originally had pictures and GIFs for visual aid/jokes but after trying to post it about 5 times with no luck and coming back, I just deleted them all.  I’ve come back and edited some things that look weird and I think I’ve gotten them all, but apologies if I missed some.  WOMP)

[bethadastra]

Day 3: Turian Arts

Also titled: Important Themes in Turian Visual & Vocal Art (as written by an art history graduate with too much time on her hands)

*note: these are just little headcanons that I have jotted down over the months whenever something crosses my desk with my museum work. They are by no means absolute, and I intentionally leave a lot of room for interpretation, because if turian art is anything like human art, it is one big hot mess.

Themes I include are: practicality, nihilism, design, illustration/2D, and vocal traditions. (under the cut because there’s a LOT)

Practicality: Practicality goes hand in hand with general turian culture. I have noticed that there is a popular trend in headcanoning that turian art (and most especially architecture) must be practical in order to be beautiful, and I 100% agree with this. With this in mind, I don’t want to deny that impractical art would exist; in fact, I believe impractical art (such as art that is made solely to be ridiculous or useless beyond being looked at) would make an excellent example of time periods in which turian artists are experimenting with their audience’s reactions, and rebelling against institutionalized art.

Because we know that social harmony is an important component of turian culture, it would make sense that turian-designed spaces would encourage social harmony, in that they are clean, multi-functional, historically relevant, and can be used to encourage the Heirarchy’s tier system (think stairs and spaces where it is implied that certain tiers can enter & interact)

Also, practicality can cover the scale of the art. My best guess is that turian art can either be small enough to be portable (an appealing option for a commissioner who might be at war or have to move during war times), or so over-the-top grandiose that it suggests permanence or the scale of the commissioner’s wealth/power.

Also, because of the radiation that Palaven experiences, most of the art created would have to withstand the natural phenomena, or cease to exist. This means that there might be a need to work with materials that are impervious to solar radiation, or work with processes that emphasize this natural relationship (such as the development, if any, of a photography genre that utilizes radation and light in the photo-making process).

Nihilism: While this isn’t the only theme taken on by turians, I believe that nihilism becomes a strong creative theme; especially once turians reach their “space age.” Nihilsim stems from turian war culture, and can serve as a counterpoint to the Heirarchy and its establishment of rules and absolute morality. While art is often representative of unique ideas, historically, art also has strong roots in forming arguments or responding to real life. I find it hard to believe that each and every turian ever went into their years of service, served the Heirarchy, and followed the rules. (with Vetra Nyx’s backstory, we get a small glimpse into what this might have looked like). One of the best genres to look at nihilism represented in art would be abstract expressionism, in which many creatives who had become disenfranchised with traditional arts after WWII looked to reflect on their inner (often negative) emotions, rather than the external narratives that had been so popular before. Artists such as Franz Kline, who separated their work from specific stories & investigated the balance between simplicity and complexity in abstract painting, might give us an understanding of turian art, where it might be common to see a turian who spent much of their life fighting and killing turn to the arts to sort out their emotions and personal trauma.

When we consider how often turians have been at war, we could make a guess that their art world experienced dramatic changes at relatively similar time periods as when they went to war (both with themselves, as shown with the Unification Wars and the sudden popularity of colony markings, as well as going to war with other species). I strongly believe that when turians went to war, as well as made contact with new species, new subgenres of nihilistic art emerged that borrowed themes and techniques from cultures who they were either at war with, or were meeting for the fist time.

Design: From a culture that puts high value on function & collectivism, it would make sense that spaces meant to house this species would be given great thought and consideration in their design.

Furniture and appliances would be designed to have flexibility when dealing with all sizes of turians (think of objects that can “grow” with their owners, like shoes or a chair). Clothing would have to accommodate the spikes and spurs that naturally occur with the species, and outpost colonies would probably stick to more “military” style clothes as to maintain high functionality in times of war.

I won’t even go into military design, like war ships and weapons, because that’s a whole post of its own. But the need for practicality, simplicity, and effectiveness would be necessary if we’re to believe that weapons of turian design are the best in the galaxy.

Illustration & 2D Art: Illustration, most especially blueprints, is considered high art, because it is representative of something practical being made real. It wouldn’t be uncommon to see turian sketchbooks filled with blueprints and plans for houses, weapons, and the like. Narrative illustration (like an illustration for a children’s book) would also exist, but I believe it would not be considered as prestigious of an artistic undertaking, because it is more of an off-topic thought, and represents something abstract and temporary.

Painting as we know it would not have a strong history on Palaven, mainly because the preservation of paint pigments would be too difficult of a task when considering radiation and Palaven’s weather cycles. Similar issues would happen with photography, or any other media that relies on organic material that would be affected by Palaven’s environment. So while it could exist, it is likely that painting would be a younger form of art than sculpture or metalsmithing.

Voice: Because turians have unique voices, it would be safe to argue that turians find meaning not only in the words that they speak, but also the tone/inflection/use of subvocals. Our closest human equivalent is the accenting of specific words when we speak, so that the phrase “I never said she stole my money” with a different emphasis creates different meaning. Turians are capable of doing this with any phrase, but have enough finesse that they can say the phrase “I never said she stole my money,” but imply something completely different, like “I went for a walk today and ate a sandwich.” With this in mind, we could assume that anything involving turian voice would have an artistic history, most especially singing and speaking.

 Song: I make it no secret that I love listening to bird songs and imagining if turian’s ancestors had something similar. I don’t think it would be a stretch of the imagination to think that turian pop music from any given time period includes vocals that might have lyrics that classify it as a song of rebellion or what-have-you, but when listened to with the intended subvocals, change the meaning to being a song about love, or something wholly unrelated to the lyrics. With this in mind, I think that there are many subgenres of turian music, in which there can be dozens of types of love songs, and covers of famous songs can take on wholly new meanings when sung by different turians.

Dramatic Histories: If Fleet and Flotilla is any indicator, it seems that quarians and turians love their drama. This makes sense, since they seem to share not only anatomical similarities, but also cultural (if a single musical romance is any indicator). This small (but emphasized) focus on characters who are shaped by their history can go hand-in-hand with my hypothesis on song vocalization, and point towards a trend in turian cinema where what is implied on screen is just as important as the script. In order to make this happen though, I imagine there would be a lot of dramatic silences, emotional monologues, and banter. So much banter. From a historical perspective, this might also indicate that turians and quarians have oral histories that date back many centuries.

[oxourry]

OnS 57 Survey - Results

At 558 responses, the Owari no Seraph chapter 57 survey has come to a close. 

I will say that since this was my first time doing this, I knew it wouldn’t come without errors. It wasn’t until like 50 responses in that I realized I could have worded things better, not included so much leeway in some questions, left more write in options, and also included a couple more important questions. If I ever do one of these again I’ll have learned from this time.

There were two questions that took in opinions from respondents and in total all of those totaled up to about 600. Obviously, I couldn’t add every single one here, but I tried to include as many as I could to give you all an idea of the current mindset of the fandom at the moment. Things get pretty lengthy so this will be all under a read more.

Also, I know I shouldn’t have to say it, but sometimes this fandom can be demonically soul sucking, so don’t start any of that fandom wank bullshit because there are opinions here that you don’t agree with. We’re all mature enough to rant about it in private. Thank you.

Anyways, let’s start.

Though it was close, it seems the 18-24 age group are the majority in this side of the fandom. Not only that, adding up the other numbers (It should be noted that there was 1 person that responded with 35+, unfortunately, it seems like there’s barely even a tiny line to acknowledge it) minors happen to be the minority in the fandom if even by a small percent.

The graph speaks for itself, though it really does make me wish I could survey the SQ readers in Japan. Would the Male-Female results be flipped?

Among the 86 write ins, Instagram was the most popular with 30 respondents using it as a primary OnS social media platform. Amino and VK were the follow ups with 8 respondents.

I find this one very important. It shows the reaches of the survey doesn’t exactly speak for a diverse portion of the western fandom. Overall, I think it sticks in this little Tumblr niche of ours.

2 (0.4%) respondents began with the Light Novels. 3 (0.5%) respondents began with the Anime and Light Novels. 4 (0.7%) respondents began with the Manga and Light Novels. 15 (2.7%) respondents began the series with all three.

27 (4.8%) respondents have been following OnS for 4+ years (My condolences).

The two below ‘For the art’ and above ‘Other’ say ‘Someone recommended it’ and ‘Seeing posts about it on social media’

Here are a handful of responses from those that chose Other

Soundtrack by Sawano Hiroyuki

I was interested in knowing how would an anime based in Nagoya turned out (I lived in Nagoya for a year)

Found it under "new anime" section and just tried it

I found on mangapark and just checked out of curiosity

I'm a slut for anything Kagami writes. Especially MokuAri.

Played Tales of Zestiria, saw Seraph in the title of OnS, watched it

The option above ‘For the plot’ states ‘I’m not caught up’ and the two options below ‘For the art’ state ‘For a specific plot point/mystery’ and ‘For the fandom discussions/fanart/fanfics/fanvids/memes’.

While a majority of respondents originally got into the series for the plot, it seems like sticking around for a character and ship barely managed to become the new top reason.

A couple of write in responses

because I am a fandom grandma-- I fell in love with it and can't get her lazy ass out

I don´t really know anymore... I´m too deep into and it´s just a part of my life right now

Moving from the demographic questions, this next section was based off of character and ship preferences

Originally, I had omitted the ‘both’ option, but the person I had do a run through of the survey at first claimed she couldn’t pick between them. Given the disparity in the vampire and humans here, my guess is that the vampires really do have audience favorability when it comes down to it.

Shinoa’s squad takes a majority of the audience’s interest with the Sanguinem vampires falling in at nearly half as much. 

Some of the write ins

Honestly, they're all interesting, there are so much we don't know and it really is intriguing.

Hyakuya kids, I refuse to believe that a group that meet for a few months is more important than another group that you knew for years

The Hiiragi Family

Specific characters from each(Yuu, Mika, Guren, Shinya, Ferid, Krul, etc.)

Mika, Yuu, and Shinya hold the crowns for being the most popular in our end of the fandom. Shinoa and Krul trail behind in fourth and fifth place.

Akane was the most popular write in, having 2 of the 9 write ins go to her.

A few other write ins

Is Mika's happiness a character because I can't wait for them to return

Shuusaku

Yoichi's right cheek

Kureto, Mahiru No Yo, and Guren happen to be the least favorites with Ferid in fourth place and Saito and Shinoa tying for fifth after a considerable percent gap.

Tenri had 9 write ins of the 27.

Other answers given were

Seishiro

At certain times, the main character(s) will start to become annoying.

Kagami Takaya

Everyone else that's not Yoichi's right cheek or Mikaela Hyakuya

Mahiru and Mitsuba's weirdly drawn boobs

Mika, Shinya, and Yuu take the lead for most physically attractive with Guren and Crowley following in fourth and fifth.

Gekkoin was the most frequent write in with 4 of the 13 write in responses going to him.

Other write ins included

Everyone's gorgeous tbh

Kureto's eyebrows

An overwhelming majority of the fandom happen to be shippers or at least have a ship they have some positive feelings for. Only 25 (4.5%) of respondents don’t ship anything.

Yuichiro/Mikaela, Guren/Shinya, and Shinoa/Mitsuba take the top three spots.

There were a few popular write ins.

Mikaela/Yoichi (15), Kureto/Guren (8), Kureto/Aoi (8), Krul/Ferid (5), Kureto/Shinya (5), and Lacus/Rene (5)

The next section covered Chapter 57 and general feelings about plot points and the manga.

Though it’s kind of close, majority of respondents seem to have a midway satisfaction with the manga at the moment. There’s a definite lean to the optimistic side of things.

After this, I then asked if respondents could give a more detailed explanation for their answer. I received 346 responses and while I can’t put them all on here, here are a handful of opinions.

This story is still a baby bird, so I'm being patient with it. Besides, monthly manga always feel slower

After the time skip everything became rushed, characters just numbly move from plot twist to plot twist repeating the same "what should we do" conversation every time they get any new info. Characters make worrying statements that the framing shows as positive and people and character motivation driving plot points are resolved and thrown out like they were nothing.

I honestly disagree with those who are just ranting and raging about the last chapters, every (and I have to make an emphasis on this, EVERY) story needs some developement and that may take time, you can't just rush things and expect that complex aspects of the story will be explained in the most simple and stupid way just to go back to the action as soon as possible. I'm okay with knowing more about the story and the characters and get more details to think by myself of what could happen in the future chapters

The story feels like it's been spinning its wheels since the Shinoa squad teamed up with Ferid and Crowley. I actually liked the newest chapter quite a bit since it made some definite progress on the plot, but most of the other chapters don't seem to move things along enough for how many pages they have.

I'm excited we're finally get some plot development with Shikama being the first progenitor, though I feel like some things, like the three-month time skip was unnecessary and created a halt in the story.

Although not perfect, which is why I only gave a 4, I do feel like things are progressing smoothly and we continue to see interesting plot developments as the stories moves on.

I can't say I'm a fan of the direction Kagami is taking, but at least the plot is moving forward.

Generally I like how it is going, I just hope they have a good explanation for Shikama Doji being with Kureto and Shinoa at the same time. I'm excited about how everything will play out and I think they are on a good way.

Reading this manga is like drinking a margarita that you know is spiked with laxatives to be fucking honest

Majority of respondents didn’t expect Shikama Doji to be the First Progenitor while 34 (6.1%) totally saw it coming. Overall, I think the plot reveal caught most people by surprise.

This question was a bit divided. 58 (10.4%) of respondents wish the First Progenitor was someone else.

Among the write in responses we have:

I'm kind of wondering why he is so weak as a demon (e.g. Yuu is a lot stronger than Shinoa, but maybe that is their own strength?) I hope it will get explained

I wanted it to be like Dracula

I'm okay with it, but I also wish it was Yu

I'm not sure. While it was pretty obvious to me it still came out of nowhere, there weren't much hints at all, I just thought it was them via process of elimination, no one else gave off a vibe of being the First Progenitor. So I think it wasn't well developed at all, it's kind of like Scrappy-Doo being the villain of the first movie, except it makes sense in that case considering his history as a character both in the series' plot and in the fandom, and the reveal was better handled.

This question was hilariously split among everyone’s opinions on what Kagami has planned for this part of the plot. It makes me a bit eager to see what’ll happen to see which faction will be right lol

Half of the respondents would love for Yuichiro to just chill out with the next majority hoping Yuu is successful in reviving the deceased and the world doesn’t get harmed from it.

Most respondents don’t believe Shikama Doji will be the ultimate Big Bad. There will either be someone working alongside him or above him. Maybe God? We’ll see.

Majority don’t believe Shinoa will ever be at odds with her squad, though 20 (3.6%) respondents think she will be.

Although a hefty portion aren’t too confident in guessing what Kagami has planned, majority believe Shinoa will unlock the power Mahiru No Yo spoke about by having a desire to protect her squad.

Of the 27 write ins for this portion, some respondents believed this:

She will realize her feelings for Yuichiro, but I don't think it will go as far as having sex or a sexual encounter

One of the 7 sins that is not necessarily lust that awaken some strong desire inside her. Envy.

as seen before, probably killing one of her brothers

Over half of the respondents hope to see the power of family pull through with Shinoa getting the full power of her demon though over a quarter of people hope that she never unlocks that power. 18 (3.2%) of respondents do hope she has sex or a sexual encounter with Yuichiro to awaken her demon.

A few of the 31 write ins:

Something unexpected and cool

By having sex with Mitsuba

By pure wish and strong will

I hope she doesn't because I don't want to see her become her sister. I want to see her grow powerful without the aid of a demon.

Recognising her feelings for Yuu.

Through a sexual encounter with Crowley

While most people believe she is a set antagonist, a significant portion of people aren’t too sure.

Here are some of the write in responses:

Enemy of my enemy type of ally

I believe she was used by saito

Yes but not of her own accord. Seeing that she's mostly demon now.

Part of it, but not the mastermind behind everything

No, Mahiru no Yo is probably just a puppet trying to rebel

Majority don’t believe him to be an antaognist in the bigger picture of things, though a considerable fraction aren’t too sure.

He's just... weird. I don't trust him nor his intentions.

He's like the middle man-ish.

No, he's probably doing everything to contradict Saito, who is trying to contradict Shikama Douji.

I think Ferid is simply doing what Saito manipulates him into doing, by doing the opposite of what he THINKS Saito wants.

Though it’s close, most people aren’t too sure where Saito stands in the end.

I think Saito works for Shikamadouji but intends to betray them

A victim-turned-villain who's familiar with the antagonists' plan and so participated in it

Majority are hoping to see the Michaela factor get more attention in the narrative with the seraph gene falling behind in second place. 

Yoichi getting revenge for his sister

Asuramaru's and Krul's backstory and relationship

The Hiiragi family

The downfall of the JIDA

Explaining what the hell is going on with Guren. He's already with the main characters anyways, might as well give an explanation.

And lastly, I had asked for closping opinions on chapter 57 and Owari no Seraph as a whole before ending the survey. I received around 250 responses. While I can’t post all, here are a handful.

As a whole, I wished that we saw more representations of the characters' mindsets on the current situations. Their minds have to be pretty messsed up after all the things that have happened, but we only see how the characters act so impulsively in the moment and only hear their current thoughts that we don't get to know what they think of the consequences and impacts of their decisions. It may be because of my intense liking for Tokyo Ghoul, but I would really like to see the impact of the many things going on. I think it will help us understand characters like Yuuichirou, Mikaela, Guren, Shinoa, and tons of other characters better.

There is so much potential in the world Kagami has attempted to build, so much that can be explored in this series. There are some really incredible characters if they get the proper treatment. I really hope it doesn't get ruined or that Kagami doesn't take the easy way out with cheap/bad plot devices (such as Shinoa awakening her demon by having sex with someone, especially Yuuichirou, because that's cheap and boring and so unbelievably unoriginal). I adore this series so much, so I hope it gets the development it deserves.

I have faith for a solid story, even if I don't personally agree with every plot point.

WHAT IS MAHIRU ACTUALLY 

Kind of surprising, but overall I think it's okay as long as it's written well and everything ties together in the end. This new reveal could add a bunch of new plot points which might be odd because I think there's a lot of other things the writers need to explain or get into. I guess I'm just trying to think positively about what this could add or mean for future chapters.

Thanks to OnS, I've been able to find a niche I thoroughly enjoy spending many hours enjoying fanfics, shippings, discussions and fangirling over some of the characters.The Anime is Ok, but I absolutely adore the Manga

I want Crowley's thicc in my thrussy 

Needs consistent characterization as opposed to 'whatever mood the situation requires' as it's been doing, if it can pull that off then I think OnS would be able to flow better even if the plot development is slow

If we don't see Shinya's bare chest or dick by the end of this manga, what was the fucking point? @ Kagami 

I think the author worries too much on hitting various shonen tropes, and also making a commercial product. The manga would probably improve if it changed magazines to something less mainstream and less shonen focused.  

If Mika dies by the end of this manga, I will rip my asshole inside out

kagami why

Again, thank you for particpating in the survey! I will definitely do it again at some point if I can and hopefully I’ll be able to give more in depth analyses from the questions provided. Hope you have fun interpreting this stuff as you will lol