#Also first real look at my version of the Protagonist I suppose?

[spyroid101]

When you stumble on a song that fits your crack/what-if side story ship like a glove and OOPS, you're DOOMED and now you're hand's slipping and- dgsahkjdgjdgshaj

While in the main story of Hortus Infernal I don't plan on shoving any Protagonist X Demon pairing into the main plot, what, with them having the more pressing matter of FINDING THEIR MISSING CHILD and all, that's probably not happening in canon, either gDHASGhj

…I am very much not immune to the fluff of imagining what-ifs that involve getting to smooch some demons~

[rosy-crow]

Yeah, after watching the teaser, I’m really starting to think Square is doing the Arcane thing.

I’ve been talking about it with @altocat for a while now, and I feel like it’s starting to get real. So, this is just gonna be my final theory for the story until proven otherwise.

Spoilers for Arcane: League of Legends, but for anyone that doesn’t know, basically Arcane adapted LOL and developed one of their most iconic villains, Jinx, into a very well-written character with a story that showed you exactly who she was and why she eventually lost her mind. Before this show, she was probably about as developed as Seph was in the OG.

Even though Jinx is more flamboyant and emotionally chaotic, she and Seph are weirdly similar villains from what I’ve seen. Seph reminds me a LOT of Jinx and vice-versa. I’ve even drawn them together and compared their designs—it’s funny how mad villains in video games tend to have key similar design points, even down to hair-styles and clothing, but I’ll save that for another post lol.

Anyway, from the FS teaser it looks like we have a big climax in that ultimately leads to this scene with Seph and Rosen, who have been set up to be mirrors of each other.

All I know is that the trailer showed Rosen telling Seph to make a choice about which life he wanted to save (Japanese version made this a bit clearer), and the other lives in danger are Team Glenn. Seph is gonna have to choose between them, and….well, since we know Team Glenn lives….uhh…and also….

Rosen’s dog is trying to alert the others of something. Seph made a choice or did SOMETHING, and I thiiiink it’s gonna result in Rosen’s death. Whether it was intentional or an accident, we don’t know, but it’s clear this is when sane Seph when was still good and caring, even if a little psychologically stunted and conditioned because of Shinra. He’s been consistently this way throughout the First Soldier and doesn’t change until Nibelheim.

But I get the feeling everything went wrong with Rosen. That’s why Glenn is at odds with Seph years later.

This is also why we’re getting Arcane vibes. If it’s a misunderstanding or rift caused by Seph’s intentions to save his friends…well, that’s very familiar to this notorious Arcane scene:

Basically, Jinx…or Powder, as she’s known here, makes a drastic decision to save her friends and sister from genuine danger. However, her own talents are her worst enemy, and she causes twice as much destruction as the enemies her friends were struggling with. Almost everyone ends up dead, except for Powder’s sister. It was a horrific mistake and creates a massive rift between Powder and Vi (that’s the sister).

Vi also cements the idea in Powder’s mind that she’s a “jinx” or a curse of sorts. A complex that Powder had already been struggling with, and one she later embraces as her persona.

Glenn and young Sephiroth have been established to have a bit of a brotherly relationship so far, with Glenn being the down-to-earth and honest older source of influence. There was also the whole arc between these two revolving around Glenn initially calling Sephiroth a “cyborg” as an insult to say the kid was modified and different, not a “normal human.” This lowkey came off like a deliberate reference to Sephiroth’s later meltdown over not being human, yeah?

So you guys see what I mean, the themes here are similar to Arcane and Jinx’s psychology. If Seph makes some fatal mistake or a bad choice to save his team, and they walk in on this? Or get the wrong idea? Yeah, it’s gonna turn what was supposed to be an act of heroism into something much worse. It’s also gonna be the perfect reference to Seph’s later big moment in canon…errr, Nibelheim itself, where he just embraces inhumanity and finally goes berserk against everyone’s expectations, traumatizing the main protagonist and his eventual rival in the process.

Again, the theme of “tragic mistake paralleling or foreshadowing a villain’s first deliberate act of cruelty and evil” would be VERY similar to what happens with Jinx in Arcane.

I’m not saying SE is doing this on purpose, really, but the shared themes of identity collapse and “monsters you created” between Arcane and FF7’s main “mad villains” are interesting. Their stories obviously will play out differently, but it wouldn’t surprise me if The First Soldier ultimately culminates in a life-altering decision that Sephiroth makes, one that does NOT end well and births that conflict between him and Glenn.

That’s my theory for now. These teasers are convincing me more and more. We’ll see.

[gffa]

Kinda vibing off the other anon’s ask…how did you reconcile with Anakin’s portrayal in the clone wars cartoon? I keep trying to, but the movie version and cartoon version seem like completely different characters at times. Like Hayden’s Anakin is so emotional and reserved and idk, vulnerable? (also prettier lol) Just generally more relatable in his struggles with his fears, anger, etc. And the cartoon version is so…not. Just kinda feels like a generic hot headed, himbo protagonist. Which is weird since that’s supposed to lead to the man we see in RotS. (I have similar issues with Padme and Obi-Wan’s portrayals at times too. But that’s not nearly as bad as with Anakin) So like any advice  or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!!!🙏

This may not be a super helpful answer, but it's the truth of how I came to reconcile the two: 1. Trying to view Anakin's character through the lens of how the war changed him, how in some ways he was rewarded for it (because he's so good at killing things, he has a new confidence, ego in the stratosphere, self esteem still in the toilet, so he seems "settled" in his own skin at times, he gains a more confident demeanor, his issues manifest as the more traditional anger issues, etc.) even as it was slowly chipping away at his emotional foundations. I try to view Anakin (and the other characters) through the lens of how being in the middle of an active war zone practically 24/7 would change his day to day demeanor, even if I acknowledge that the real answer is "because they were trying to 'correct' Anakin's portrayal", this can pull the two versions a little closer together in my mind. 2. Focusing on the bigger themes, like rewatching the first season of TCW, I was struck by just how often Anakin was willing to throw people to the wolves to go rescue the ones he cared about. Like the whole thing with refusing to wipe Artoo's mission logs, so he's willing to risk his entire squad of clones to go rescue him, because that's what attachment is--the willingness to get a thousand people killed because you have been afraid to live without the one you love. Moments like that help bridge the gap a little further for me as well. Or the entire Mortis storyline is one I will defend as being a great look at Anakin's character and the themes of the Force (basically, it's the Force trying to get Anakin to get his shit together, that everything that happens in that arc is a reflection of Anakin's struggle as the Force tries to get him to face his inner self, because that's what the Force does) and that helps me with enjoying TCW, too. 3. Just giving it some time, not just since I first watched it, but settling into the idea that I will never fully reconcile it, it's just not possible for me, and that there are some ways I can reconcile it. Just... time to settle into the idea of its imperfections being okay and I still enjoy the good parts of it. 4. Maintaining my boundary of, "My foundation of understanding of Anakin's character comes from the movies, that is who the character is at his very core, that is the structure that everything else must rest on." and anything TCW adds on is still canon but is the layer over the movies. The movies/Hayden's portrayal will always come first for me, and anything that conflicts with that, I tend to view as "something else is driving the way he acts", "this is a partial layer, rather than a whole layer, like the movies are", rather than that it's a core component of who he is. That's pretty much it for me--I view TCW as part of Lucas' canon, but I also see it as connective tissue to Lucas' canon, rather than the foundation, which means that sometimes it feels a little off, and I can go, "Well, Anakin's acting like this because the war has made him appear more confident, but once that's over, at his core he would still have been that reserved, emotional, soft-shelled person we see from Hayden's performance."

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon

Wow...somehow this one just completely fell off my radar, otherwise I would have watched it a long time ago lol. I seriously thought I was all caught up with pre-Tamers anime until I saw this on the 02 TV Tropes and was like "oop..." It was a good surprise though, I can never get enough of these Mamoru Hosoda style shorts! (Looks like he didn't actually work on this one though).

I watched this dubbed first to take screenshots and then subbed. It's hard to find a non-crunchy version of the subbed short. The OG Japanese was a lot stronger imo because, as usual, the dub ruined some stuff with it's jokey tone and music choices. Still decently faithful though. Full thoughts below.

Notes:

So this is like a midquel, I guess. I don't know if there's an exact place within 02 I was supposed to watch this, but I didn't feel like my immersion was wrecked or anything haha.

While the aesthetic of the short was great, I felt the story was pretty redundant and eye-roll worthy. "Oh Omegamon/Omnimon is back for some contrived reason and the OG chosen children's digimon can't defeat him like they did last time...for some contrived reason. This looks like a job for the 02 protagonists!" Whatever, it doesn't have to be deep to be fun.

The early 2000s CG looked pretty good actually. I thought it added a fun otherworldliness to the Kuramon.

Kuramon look a lot like Takodachi (Hololive fans know what's up). I wonder if there was some inspiration there on a subliminal level.

I wonder if Daisuke's character designer intended him to be from a southern part of Japan. His tan skin sticks out more in this art style.

I feel like Diaboromon got uglier somehow compared to Our War Game lol. Armagemon's design was deliciously creepy though. He looked like something out of an Alien movie. His entrance was epic and probably would have freaked me out a lot as a kid. Weirdly, they never actually said Armagemon's name so I just assumed it was Diaboromon until I googled it just now lol

Sora and Mimi were like two sides of the same coin in this. Mimi was useless, but in a delightful way. Sora was useless, but in a boring way lol. Seriously, she didn't need to come all the way home from her tennis club trip to just go "I'm here!" and then do nothing. I'm not saying there was much she could do anyway, but I get really pissed that they never gave her character a real point aside from "bland love interest" in any Digimon show/movie.

Loved Mimi's interactions with Koushiro. Their awkward "we're in the same friend group but have nothing in common" chemistry is so fun.

Yamato seemed extra cool with his rings and stoicism. I do kind of wish he and Taichi got a little more dialogue though.

Really didn't like the direction of the fights inside the internet. They were either animated too up close or too distant so I felt like I couldn't really follow what was going on half the time. Also, the choreography wasn't that inspired. The IRL fight at least had a cool Evangelion vibe going for it. The harbor was a really aesthetic setting for a final fight.

I've started shipping DaiKen for funsies (there's some really cute fanart) so it was nice seeing them together in the elevated art style hehe.

Daisuke has a Yamato phone strap! So cute and supportive

It's funny how the digimon sizing suddenly changes when we're in movie-mode. Angemon and Angewomon were huge in this! I was excited to see the 02 digimon, but they mostly looked the same as they looked in the show tbh.

The Shibuya vibes, complete with Hachiko statue, were fun. Was 02 set in Tokyo? I honestly don't remember...

Seeing all those children running around at night without any worries about safety...must be nice, Japan.

When Omegamon "ran out of energy," I had the thought of like "can a jogress digimon die in the real world or would they always just de-digivolve??" I guess they'd never go that far for plot reasons anyways

Imperialdramon gets a new mode! Paladin mode, according to Google. Were these names in the credits or did they just decide things later for the TCG or something...?

We got the 02 theme inserted towards the end and even the OG show's theme as a ring tone. Really cute touch. (I was a little triggered to hear Bolero again for the millionth time though).

All in all I'm glad the 02 kids got their due in this style. Was it groundbreaking? No. Was it worth 30 minutes of my time? Absolutely!

[curiouscompanions]

Entry #1 Greetings, Reader. Is it truly necessary to mention my name in these entries? After all, people have bestowed upon me numerous names, but none of them has truly stuck. Alright, to avoid unnecessary editing, I'll provide only one pseudonym — "The Observer." Nothing more. Yes, let it be so. They call me The Observer. And I am one of many Protagonists... if one can express it that way, because my role in the Parable was entirely unimpressive and didn't even merit any significant mention anywhere, except for a couple of lost office papers. My job is interesting. I observe what's happening inside the Office, record data from surveillance cameras, then sort and send them to the Upstairs. Sometimes I have to make additional entries, using the old-fashioned method of pen and paper. There are quite a few of them, my handwriting leaves much to be desired, and so digitizing them will be quite a headache. Shouldn't have skipped penmanship lessons in college. But it's not like I could have known I would need them, right? Where should I begin? Does this experiment even have a beginning? It appeared long before ideas were formed into words, and those, in turn, were transformed into lines of endless code, which then evolved into—... I suppose it's not that hard to guess what happened next. The Stanley Parable happened. Well, I'll start from the very beginning.

Once upon a time, very long ago, a place called the Office was designed and simulated. Essentially, it wasn't even a full-fledged building, just a network of long, chaotically assembled corridors. And this Office was very young, yet it looked surprisingly old and mediocre. Minimal lighting, walls wrapped with some unimpressive poorly done texture in brownish-dirty beige shades, with a dark swampy carpet as the final touch of careless cheap assets downloaded from one of those annoyingly popular videogames. I never understood this strange human attachment to pixels on the screen… but, of course, my opinion was never heard. So, the first test version of the Office appeared, operational and surprisingly stable despite its limited functionality. What happened next? Right. Staff was hired. Only a few hundred employees, most of whom simulated work activity, pretended being all busy if I may add. A gray mass, statistics to fill in mandatory reports. Only five of them received real instructions, eventually survived, and reached an entirely new level of the Game. The test version lasted only a few months. Following it came an update that changed everything; starting from improving those robotically dull Announcer's comments and ending with polishing lamps for the ceiling. They even delivered and placed potted ficuses next to several employee desks, almost like real ones. In general, the experiment was going so successfully that it received additional funding, and our work soared fast ahead, heralding a new era of technological development and ways of interaction among the citizens of our diverse and vast country… I would like to write it that way, but it would be just a vague word play on what actually happened back in 2̴͓̈̎̒̔0̸̢͓̯̐̒͊̂1̸͇̗̳̏̀̅3̸̻́̓̕. The new Office resembled the old one, but only in the chaos of its long corridors and the multitude of doors. It was, after all, entirely different. First and foremost, there was finally an opportunity not only to start over but also to choose a Save Point. Now, how can I even describe everything in simple language without picking excessive officialese and overly comlicated words...? Well, I'll start from the very beginning. The thing is, the Office is located in the so-called intersection of the real and digital worlds. Or in an area with anomalies exceeding the approved norm. You might think, what's so special about a basic high-risk zone? It turns out that it's the perfect place for all sorts of tests and experiments. Somehow, it happened that the death of subjects while being here ceases to be something permanent and becomes a temporary inconvenience lasting from eight to thirty-six seconds. Yes, like in a video game, but with the presence of several side effects like phantom pain and exacerbations of neuroses or psychoses ...or both, it all depends on the condition and luck of the "restarted" person. I don't know all the details, it's the scientists who conducted direct field research. My job is to observe and record. And never interfere. I remember the investors soon came up with the idea of closing the Office and isolating all the staff with subjects inside it… and placing bets on people; who will kill whom first, and who will keep their sanity intact and try to escape. I won't go into unnecessary details, I'll just say that only a few people managed to survive, yes, those very five participants and your humble Observer. End of Entry #1

.... Why are you still reading this? This text file finishes itself with End Of Entry #1. You were supposed to press that cross on the right side of its top. It's an X right next to an [ ], can't you see? You ... don't actually see it, do you? Is it ...not there anymore? It wasn't there from the start, was it? This is not right. Scroll it away and close your browser. This text file is corrupted, it is spreading all over your dashboard and through. This text file is going to infect your computer with a horrible virus if you keep reading it. This text file is going to destroy your hard drive any moment now. ... Okay, fine. I was wrong. This text file is harmless. In fact, the other text files are corrupred instead it. Great. Wonderful. Why can't anything go according to my plans in the perfectly accurate way? Wait, no, I didn't mean to say that! I haven't been plotting anything this time! Even if I were trying to come up with some schemes, they would still not be happening anywhere, except my own mind. I am the Observer, remember? I don't do things, I observe them. Sometimes, especially in my personal case, doing and observing are antonyms, they just never work together.

Are you still reading, aren't you? Why? There's literally nothing else here! It was just the very beginning, my Entry #1. Why didn't you close it and open Entry #2? Oh right, it's one of the corrupted ones… well, why didn't you close it and run your antivirus or whatever tool you got in your possession? There's nothing disturbing in other text files, I promise. Really, they are just my casual observations, just some foggy memories of a simple individual you have never met before but decided to poke this curious nose of yours into his personal business anyway. Good lord, what is it to you? Are you actually still hoping to read more about my unnecessarily detailed backstory? Well, I have already done it, I have digitized my papers, I have typed everything I could decipher into those last three text filed that ended up getting corrupred. Can't you just, you know, uncorrupt them? I suppose not, since you are still here instead of trying that.

...

Alright, I think you have tried to read me for long enough by now, Reader. I... I should just be honest, then.

My memories, they are fading away day by day. Writing them down was a mistake, the more of restarts I faced, the more of my papers became empty, the more I have filled them with the same words again and again and again. So I decided to save a few that remains by making it digital. However, as you have noticed, it's pointless too. Soon I'll become no person but mere pixels on your screen. Just like him, like her, like them. You are the last observation I have made in my entire career, Reader. Now it's over. It's over, right?

Why are you still reading this?

[spaceghostbuddy]

Chapter 1 Analysis of TSOA

To be completely honest here, I am bad at analyzing and so I have made to better my skills I suppose. I love The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller and I thought that this would be fun. I will most likely do an overall version of this once I get through the entire book.

Anyway onto the main stuff.

Since I have read this book before I do know what to look for and so I am looking for three (possibly more) things in this book. Depictions of love, familial, romantic, and platonic, both how it actually is and how in our modern society should have had love (basically all the bad marriages). Also looking at the patriarchy in this book and (for later) feeling apart from others.

The first two paragraphs introduces Patroclus", the so far not named protagonist, parents, neither of which is named so far. The majority of the text in the two paragraphs talks about the marriage. Marriage is typically, modernly, committed out of love however this marriage was not. "It was a good match: she was an only child, and her father's fortune would go to her husband." this obviously states that it was not out of love, which is confirmed a sentence later with "If she was ugly, there were always slave girls and serving boys". Marriage which is viewed as a romantic thing is in this case viewed as something that just had to be done. There was no care involved. Also the lines "...my mother smiled. That is how they knew she was quite stupid. Brides did not smile." showcases both the misogyny that was casual in this world. The idea of marriage was more of a prize, for the man, then an actual showcase of care.

However this is not a actual telling of the event, it's how Patroclus was either told or views it. With this being what Patroclus was surrounded with growing up there wasn't much chance of him to develop healthily and the fact that he wasn't an ideal man being not enough and the only good thing that could have been said about him was that he was not sickly which his father thought made him inhuman. The next main scene the Olympics, which were held by Patroclus father and this has two main important things.

Patroclus finding Achilles, albeit neither know each other yet, and being compared to him, which is important because there is a lot of similarities and differences between these two. Both what they have enforced or had enforced on to them and narratively.

The first named character which is Peleus, the father of Achilles. He is also very important later.

There is one other scene which I believe is a showcase of Patroclus yearning for a simpler life which is him and his mother skipping rocks on a beach. Patroclus doubts the memory is real and it is included almost randomly however one thing is really important here and it is the ocean specifically the beach. Beaches are almost a pivotal part of the story in the future and without spoiling, is one of the only reoccurring scenes. Beaches are a stage that repeatedly showcases love, this case familial love between Patroclus and his mother, and facing inferiority, which is shown here with Patroclus' thoughts, "I choose one and fling it out, glad to be good at this" [he is talking about skipping rocks] it is the only time in the book that Patroclus talks about himself positively and even then he doubts the memory. Showcasing how insecure and unsure he truly is.

TBH this doesn't feel like much and kinda feels bad but idk

[knackeredforever]

The second to my post talking about armoured sci fi game protagonist’s and my headcannons about them now is time for the one the only John halo I mean master chief:

First off while this post is about the chief specifically I will also be going on a massive rant on halos lore and story and how it has been (and how I wish it were) handled I’m a halo fan what do you expect.

Part one Johns backstory:

First of all the man who was put on the bottle of soder what’s his backstory. Guess what he’s a child soldier who was stolen from his family at birth by the future sci fi US military who have control over all of humanity .He was forcibly put into rigorous training with other children and were effectively test subjects for a military experiment called the Spartan || program many of the children did not survive the training. That’s before they were all injected with effectively super soldier serum that killed off another huge chunk of the children and crippled many others. The survivors were then given mjolnir armour and sent into the battle field but for what noble cause to fight off a revolutionaries fighting the previously established very morally bankrupt military regime that controlled all of humanity , who literally have their own version of the CIA called ONI who are basically responsible for literally every single shady thing the UNSC do in all of halo lore. I find it very funny that the UNSC saw the fact that people were rebelling against them and instead of trying to reason with the insurrectionists immediately decided to do something even more fucked up than what they were rebelling against creating child super soldiers.

Part 2 The covenant and UNSC propaganda:

Once the covenant arrived the UNSC basically started pretending that the Spartan ||’s were made in response to the alien theocratic empire that planned to genocide all of humanity and not the human rebels they were actually meant to deal with. Now I am not at all trying to argue the UNSC is worse than the Covenant cause their not the Covenant if they win are going to genocide all life in the universe. But the UNSC is objectively super evil and are only the good guys in the bungie halo games cause the Covenant are even worse in comparison but that by no means makes the UNSC the good guys. There’s a popular fan theory out there on how the halo games are all in universe UNSC propaganda and the halo books that detail how fucked up ONI and the UNSC actually are is the real halo canon which is a cool idea I don’t know if i necessarily believe it but it’s definitely a cool way to look at the halo games.

Part 3 Halo 4’s story is good(mostly) actually:

Now gameplay wise I find halo 4 somewhat mediocre and downright frustrating when fighting the prometheans but it’s story for the most part is really good yeah it has some eh parts a lot of the forerunner stuff is confusing and the didact is such an underdeveloped antagonist (when you look into his backstory and parallels to the chief and that the didact is supposed to be a representation of what John could become if he continues to be a mindless machine of war it’s just alot of this subtext isn’t presented well in game) but I can look past alot of that for how emotional and well written cortana and chiefs relationship is in the game and chiefs desperation to save cortana as she is slowly dying over the course of the game and her death at the end of the game is really sad it’s just a shame 343 decided to immediately bring her back and make her a villain and I’ve become slightly sick of cortana as for the halo games where you play as master chief she’s been the main plot driver for the last 4 games. But the main thing that I want to talk about is chiefs relationship with the UNSC in this game cause after being gone for 4 years chief who was assumed dead had been turned into a war hero by the UNSC and simple of human military might he’s become a symbol used in all their propaganda for fuck sake they even made in universe merch of him he’s seen as the saviour of humanity . Since he’s been in cryostais the last 4 years the UNSC has become the dominant force of the galaxy with the covenant splintered and broken. The biggest UNSC ships now of the size of the covenant super carriers that once dwarfed them they even had the audacity to name their capital ship the infinity. The Spartan program now is something skilled soldiers can opt into so they can be just like their hero the master chief unaware of the inhumane practices that birthed their saviour that they now celebrate. Subtly the UNSC is shown to be falling to their own hubris which is a really cool plot point it’s a shame the continuation of which is so badly done. Talking about chiefs story again by the end of halo 4 John is absolutely broken with the loss of cortana with the idea she told him about who’s really the machine her or John stuck in his mind and because of this and the UNSC turning the chief into a mythical figure he can no longer relate to anyone else although I’m sure he could still with blue team. The only one near him at the time to help him was laskey (aka the best 343 halo character) who while not fully knowing chiefs pain does the only thing no one else does anymore treat chiefs like a normal human with emotions and try’s to help him feel better ( and it’s my head canon he becomes chiefs therapist and no one can change my mind on this) and it’s such a great direction to take chiefs character I am by no means saying chief did not have emotions before halo 3 he did , even still the master chief as a character was never that well explored before halo 4 and I would be excited to see how his character would be taken after this buuuutttttt:

Part 4: What the reclaimer saga could have been:

“Slams head on desk” 343 WWWWWHHHHHYYYYYYYY

So forget everything I said because 343 sure did master chief is now action man marvel hero who gets replaced by 343’s cool original oc Locke who have to solve the mystery of cortana’s mystery return oh no she’s evil game ends. Sooooooooo yeah also halo infinite I actually really like the campaign the story is okay I like the banished I don’t really like the weapon but that’s more because of what came before her. I like the pilot and I would like his relationship with chief and how chief helps the pilot get over his fear and anxiety but considering we didn’t actually see chief get over losing cortana. Just him being sad and in denial it would have been better if we had actually seen chief getting over the loss beforehand. But yeah also I could not give two shits about the endless they should just have been the flood again. I would have been excited for what came after infinites story if 343 hadn’t confirmed that there was barely any story dlc planned yyyyyyaaaaaayyyyy:(.

So what would I have done very simple make the UNSC the bad guys. Halo 5 would have been about chief trying to re adapt into society and the new UNSC military with help from laskey. Goes on mission with blue team to alien ex covenant planet to find out that the UNSC are subjugating the planet for its resources exactly like the covenant. He and blue team goes rogue as due to no larger threat to take chiefs attention away from the UNSC’s crimes. He realises this time he’s not fighting for humanity but for an authoritarian military empire. That would be the basic plot of halo 5 for me you could have the UNSC send Locke after chief. Have chiefs meet up with the arbiter again introduce the banished in halo 5 but not as powerful as they are to become in infinite cortana does not come back but chief would still have flashbacks to her. The guardians could instead be something the UNSC try to use to tighten their grip on the galaxy which chief has to stop and upon doing cripples the UNSC setting into motion the events of infinite. Also maybe bring the didact back maybe if I have the time I’ll write a full plot synopsis of my ideal halo 5 but until that I’m about done writing this and it’s making me sad about halo again so bbbbbbbyyyyyyyyeeeeeee.

[the-lunar-library]

How I Spent Years Figuring Out My Book's Cover

I don't have any experience in advertising, and my digital art skills are limited, and every article on self-publishing urges you not to do your own cover, and probably they are right. But I did my own cover, and I thought I'd share some of the process. The figuring out how it should look part, not the technical part.

For a long time, I just practiced playing around with images. These weren't finished products by any means.

This image from early 2019 was one of my favorites. It's supposed to represent my protagonist Yew, reflecting on her ruined village and, by extension, some of her choices. The set up is straightforward – tragic woman gradating into a creepy graveyard. I felt it looked very similar to other covers I'd seen, which is both a good and a bad thing. A cover should clue you in to the tone and genre, so having set symbols and moods is helpful. On the other hand, you don't want your book to look like a million other people's.

Silent-film-era actress Mary Astor is standing in for Yew. The painting is by Caspar David Friedrich. To the best of my knowledge, both images are in the public domain.

For a while, I played with collages. (Pretty much all the stock photos/art is from Pixabay, which I found to be extremely helpful.) I liked the way these gothic windows formed frames, and I wanted to include both protagonists, Eider and Yew. This never made it fully into a test cover, but I did a few versions of this image, both with just photos and also including original art.

(Please admire my stock photo Iron Stag with his candle-antlers. I worked hard affixing each little flame to each little tine.)

The background I used here (Image Source: Freestock.com) is unromantically called “Plastic Chunks” in my files.

I also really like the ceiling paintings of Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise, so I experimented using one as a frame.

Above is a Yew cover, and below is an Eider cover.

I can't remember where I picked the asset(s?) for this background, but I suspect it was also Freestock.

I eventually decided on having both heroines front and center, each paired with an antler from one of the two mysterious stags in the story. This focal point would be a hand-drawn piece of art with less obtrusive public domain stock stuff framing it. I wanted the picture to be intricate, feel fairy-taleish, and include different elements from the story – a snake, a diary, flowers, mirror shards, a pear, seeds, antlers, and a hand mirror.

My first sketch had the basic idea down, but it was very long and skinny and with the title as part of the drawing it felt too tattoo-y to me. Though, looking closely, I see I included Pete the mule's head (upside down, just under the word “magic”), and it's sad he didn't make the final cut.

So I made the image more of a circle and worked really hard until I was proud of it.

From there, I just had to decide on which assets to use and what colors to go for. I really liked the combination of dark desaturated reds and blues in this one, along with the very gothic doily frame. However, it also felt somewhat cluttered, maybe a better design for a poster than something that was going to have text on top of it.

There's also a lot I like about this one, the cold colors, the blending of ice and aged iron. (The original title for the novel was The Iron Claws.) But again, that border felt like it would be fighting with any text thrown over it.

I was also concerned whether the central image would look too small and muddled in thumbnail, so I did this very stripped down version. I wasn't a big fan of it, but it's interesting.

(By the way, you may have noticed that none of these share the actual dimensions of my real book cover. I hadn't even done the page layout yet at this point, and this was all very much in the testing stage.)

As it turned out, I was on the right track with the earlier gothic doily cover. Aside from the hand-drawn image, I ended up going with different assets, most notably a smaller frame, deeper colors, and additional borders along the sides. (This image also isn't in the proper scale.) I did this cover over and over again, making little adjustments until I was satisfied.

What do you think? Did I make the right call?

Here’s info on the book itself: THE PRICE AND PREY OF MAGIC

[kathonydaily]

Thank you for your insights into the romance genre! I had no idea the genre was so formulaic. TVWLM was the first romance book I ever picked up (if you don’t count Austen), and I was very disappointed. What captivates me about Bridgerton S2 is how realistic it is- the leads who are flawed and layered but act from good intentions. I love how they capture the recklessness of your 20s of being made to make adult, life-altering decisions without the wisdom of experience. (I don’t get all the hate for Edwina either- she’s supposed to be like 18?? Of course she’s naive, she’s practically a child!) The book (and book Anthony’s appeal) was as much nonsense as Byron’s pathless woods. ;-) Do you think it’s healthy for the romance genre to have this kind of man (who gets off on making women cower, trips his wife in the epilogue) to be the prototype for the male protagonist? I don’t get why book Anthony likes book Kate other than he had a sex dream about her and she can stand up to him a tiny bit more than the other debs. Show Anthony and Kate are definitely souls that recognize each other through and through, with shared values and vision.

Which brings me to my other question of what exactly is a rake? I totally agree with you that show Anthony was monogamous, cared for Siena and tried to make it work, and went to brothels for physical release as was expected for men of his position. LWD called him a capital R rake bc this was still looked down upon in regency society. Book Anthony seemed to be simply a f****boy. Anyone I know who has tried to reform a book Anthony has gotten a divorce. I don’t think these guys change (short of straight up spiritual conversion) and he would cheat once Kate stops being perky and exciting (after 4 kids!) Julia Quinn’s version is pure fantasy. I wonder what is the appeal of the books for readers if it is so disconnected from reality? Simply escapism (though setting oneself up for messed up relationship standards)?

I’m sooo grateful for your account where us Kanthony stans can be unhinged and obsessed together!

I do believe the books are just a fun read and nothing to take too seriously. Or at least that's how I read them. You spend like a couple of hours not thinking about real life and being involved in a total fantasty historical romance. However I want to add that Julia wrote these books like 20 years ago and it shows. Nowadays the best selling authors in the genre write men in a less problematic way. There are also a bunch of authors who has a better writing style than Julia and write more in depth characters. She's not the best storyteller out there IMHO. That's also why I mostly enjoy the changes they made in the show, for me in the majority of cases they made the story and the characters better. A faithful adaption wouldn't have been well recieved by the general audience nowadays IMHO.

And I totally agree that the characters in the show felt more real and human to me, they all fuck up in a way or another, but with good intentions in mind. And those are the best type of characters and the ones I personally root for. I don't want perfect characters, I want messy and flawed characters who learn from their mistakes, because well, it's definitely a human thing to do and one I can relate to.

[vespertin-y]

SURPRISE BITCH THREE LIVEBLOGS IN ONE DAY!! this time it’s the first part of ch3′s daily life :3

-we missed the end of day nine! maki strangled kokichi, and then we cut to the next day where he takes everyone to her lab. i presume they talked maki down and then all went to bed.

-maki’s assassin cloak is sick i will not be taking questions

-”kokichi...you learned that from the motive video, right? monokuma said everyone’s ultimate talent at the beginning of their video. ryoma knew maki’s true identity because he had her motive video...and, because you saw that-” “hm? i knew the whole time. given my position, i’d obviously know before any of you, right?” “your “position”?” “oh...don’t worry about it. that was a lie.” alright, given he’s been claiming maki kills people since ch1 and this is like...the fourth time he’s said he’s already knew, i feel ok saying he’s lying about this being a lie. what’s most interesting to me, though, is the comment about his “position” - more material for my season 52 sacrifice kokichi pinboard 👀?

-”gonta, you should stand back. nothing good ever happens when you try to help.” K O K I C H I. look i understand that gonta’s version of help is mostly to fling himself onto the sacrificial altar, and also that being openly nice to anyone = being fucking murdered by the mastermind in kokichi’s head, but none of this changes my desire to WRING HIS FUCKING NECK-

-i wish monodam’s revolt against monokuma had been more of a Thing instead of a one-chapter joke. bald monokuma is funny tho.

-”but...i’m glad i’m an average citizen. if i ever had a reason to live as strong as kirumi’s...or if i ever lost everything important to me like ryoma did...if anything like that happened, i probably would’ve just cowered in a corner somewhere.” yes, yes you would.

-”kirumi...she, too, had her own exceptional beauty. a crime that was bold, yet calculated...a battle against the truth...brutally killing others for her beliefs...unfeelingly sacrificing the few for the many...and her attachment to life and determination to live! her attempt to escape was so very ugly! it was pathetic! pitiful! wretched! but it was beautiful! i had never before seen such beauty in a human being before!” SIR JUST SAY SHE’S PRETTY LIKE A NORMAL PERSON YOU ARE SCARING THE HOES. (and me!!)

-kiyo’s lab has six floors, which maybe doesn’t make sense with the layout of the rest of the school but is still absolutely sick. i’d be shaking with glee too!!

-[but...who brought all this stuff here? i suppose there’s no point thinking about it. nothing in this place makes sense.] you Could get mad about how this is an infuriating and out-of-character thing for a detective to think, and about how shuichi’s protagonist role prevents him from being the kind of proactive character we see him being in ch1, OR! or you could join me in my “the vr helmets they’re wearing literally force the v3′s characters brains to skim over things that don’t make sense, like buildings appearing out of nowhere and sentient robot bears that can teleport” theory and save yourself the trouble. (i will do whatever it takes to make this game make sense and you cannot stop me. it’s the only way i can stay sane).

-the gold katana is a cute easter egg, and another hint that the mastermind is a fangirl.

-”you don’t have a lot of confidence in yourself, do you, shuichi?” “...what?” “you lack self-esteem...and because of that, you doubt your strength. you seem more confident than before, but i can tell you still question yourself. ...well!? i’m right, aren’t i!? i can tell when my sparring partner is burdened by doubt!” “...you might be right.” “you know what works real good at lifting all that doubt!? neo-aikido!” for one glorious moment, my dream of tenko training shuichi was real, and it took the form of her flipping him onto his back so hard his vertebrae probably shattered <3

-kiiruma maintenance scene sure is a Thing That Exists! shuichi is traumatized and so am i.

-something very funny about all the reward items being slotted into/used on something to open new areas, except for the hammer, which shuichi uses to just go fuckin ham on a glass wall. (monodam even says later it was meant to be a puzzle!) it’s not damaging school property it’s ✨stress relief✨

-FTE time! they picked tsumugi! i love how genuinely angry she gets when shuichi tries to say she isn’t plain. you can take her dignity, her position, even her life...but you can never take her gimmick.

-i may not be the biggest maki fan, but watching her fucking CRUSH shuichi and kaito in training always makes me giggle. 10/10 scene. (also, shuichi does almost 200 pushups??? isn’t this only his second training session!?)

-and that’s the end of day ten! see you next time :]

[oliviermiraarmstrongs]

mid year book freak out tag

thanks @bloody-wonder!

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2022? it’s a toss-up between the robber bride by margaret atwood and in the dream house by carmen maria machado. I'm leaning more towards the former because I just can’t stop thinking about it.

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2022? Ruin and Rising, by virtue of being the only sequel I’ve read this year. I liked it! I think it’s the best one in the trilogy. I love a good team dynamic, love a globe-trotting (country-trotting?) adventure, love all the saint stuff. I have a lot of feelings about the ending, some good, and some…I wouldn’t say bad, I think I was just really broken up about it.

3. New Releases You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To? I don’t even know if the ophelia girls by jane healey is good or not, but “psychological female character study about girls who are obsessed with the pre-raphaelites” is 100% in my q-zone and I am obligated to check it out.

4. Most Anticipated Release for Second Half of 2022?

5. Biggest Disappointment? I was gonna say Ariadne, but tbh that would’ve required me to have had high hopes for it in the first place. Female-centric mythology retelling are like trashy romance novels to me; I know they will be formulaic and low-quality, but they scratch a certain itch. Sometimes you get a Til We Have Faces or even a Circe, but other times…well, you get Ariadne. An actual disappointment might be The Tiger’s Daughter, even though I’m not done with it yet. I read the first couple of chapters a few years ago and was pretty excited about the concept of an Asian-inspired epic fantasy centered around wlw, but after picking it up again I can’t quite get invested in it. Maybe it’s the second-person past-tense narration resulting from the framing device – I might connect to the characters and story more if I could actually experience them happening in real time instead of killing any sort of dramatic tension (the fact that I’m supposed to care about Shefali and Shizuka’s relationship before I even know who they are is bad enough; even worse is that it sets up Shizuka’s uncle as a major villain and then not even halfway in just off-handedly mentions that she already overthrew and banished him in the present day. stakes!) But maybe it’ll surprise me by the end.

6. Biggest Surprise? Honestly, the robber bride surprised me as I read it. I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions throughout; midway through (I think around tony’s portion) I became concerned about the way the book would turn out. Was this a commentary on the ways women tear each other down while at the same time absolving men of any wrongdoing, or is it just doing exactly that? I think at the time, I wasn’t really catching on to the unreliable narration from all three women, but the ending did really well to re-contextualize all the disparate ideas into coherent themes.

7. Favorite New Author? I wanna look into other stuff by carmen maria machado; she managed to write about her own life in such an imaginative manner. her being on you’re wrong about only makes me like her more. also shout out to ocean vuong, I’m not done with on earth we’re briefly gorgeous yet, but by god is it tugging at my heartstrings.

8. Newest Favorite Character? I went from thinking “god, zenia from the robber bride is such a two-dimensional caricature of misogynistic stereotypes” to by the end being like “zenia is an ever-shifting narrative mirror. zenia is everyone and no one. zenia is a secret mentor helping the three protagonists to become truer versions of themselves. zenia is a dealer of hard lessons and ugly truths. zenia is a guardian angel protecting women from shitty men by exposing how inadequate they really are. zenia is the other woman, both in the traditional relationship sense and in the sense that she represents the Other, cast out by her fellow girls for being the “wrong” type of woman. zenia is a martyr, allowed back into the bonds of female friendship only after her death. I am zenia. we are zenia.”

9. Newest Fictional Crush? If I were toni, charis, and ros, I would have simply seduced zenia myself. rip to them bu

10. Book That Made You Cry? on earth we’re briefly gorgeous is getting me very close and I’m afraid every time I pick it up again bc I’ve been on vacation the past few weeks and I don’t want my family to see me cry fichxjdjd

11. Book That Made You Happy? I don’t read happy books…..maybe the ending of the robber bride where the three women sort of accept zenia for the mystery she is after she dies and spread her ashes in the toronto harbor. that’s the closest I got ashddhshs

12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year? I haven’t seen an adaptation of anything I’ve read this year, but I did finally knock bram stoker’s dracula (the coppola film) off my list. iconic. it understood the assignment. the crimson peak of the 90s

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year?

14. Most Beautiful Cover? I found a lovely leatherbound edition of the aeneid at an antique store. I’d upload a photo but I’m not at home now, so take my word for it

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By the End of the Year? I was gonna say on earth we’re briefly gorgeous, but the tiger’s daughter was boring me so much I already started reading it to cleanse my palate between chapters. god knows what else I’m gonna read this year; future sophia is an unpredictable creature. I probably should finally read six of crows and the rest of that series. beyond that, well I’ll see.

tagging @illuminaticns, @betweenironyandsilver, @antema, @trckstergods, @borispavlikovskys, and @palamedesthesixth, if y’all wanna!

[2hero2academia]

Season 1 Episode 1- “Midoriya Izuku: Origin” (part 1)

it’s hard to imagine a time when my hero academia wasn’t popular. it’s reached a level of mainstream where you can find merchandise of it in any old target and not just hot topic. it’s the modern shonen anime, but it wasn’t always. on the first page of the first volume of mha, horikoshi leaves his readers with a note telling them that he tends to draw things that he enjoys, and that he hopes that people find it as fun as he does. i wonder how the horikoshi who wrote that note would feel about his story the way it stands right now? but this isn’t about the manga, this is about the loud, the lively, and the animated anime! every story has to start somewhere, and we’re starting with episode one of season one of MY HERO ACADEMIA!

so everyone who’s anyone knows about wing kid and how he was heavily implied to be the winged noumu in hosu. he’s called tsubasa by the fandom, and even the wiki calls him that, but to be real with you i don’t know if they ever say his name anywhere??? kinda wack, if you ask me. why doesn’t anybody talk about fingers over here? what a guy he is. i think i named him oshiro in a fic from a million years ago, but for the life of me i cannot remember why

aaand here’s our good green boy! protagonist of my hero academia, future greatest hero, midoriya izuku! yeah i know he’s going to be called izuku midoriya in this, but i’m used to calling that so i’m not changing it lol. one of the funny things about watching the english version of mha is hearing izuku being voice acted by justin briner. the first couple of times i heard him in the dub were incredibly jarring, because i knew briner from one thing before mha and that was teamfourstar’s final fantasy 7 machinabridged where he plays a kind of douchey cloud strife and swears a lot. the shift from that to this will never not be bewildering

the funny thing about this opening is i’m pretty sure i’ve haven’t heard the full thing since i watched season 1 with my brother nearly 4 years ago. it’s wild seeing it again. season 1 has been out of my brain for ages.

i really like that izuku has colored lineart in this part, it looks so fun and festive

good lord i forgot shouto’s costume looked like that. 0/10, wouldn’t recommend. the white isn’t actually that bad though, it’d be interesting to see his modern costume with his original costume’s color palette

oh also, get used to me spelling bakugo like bakugou and shoto like shouto. i’ve been on ao3 too long to use anything else

all in all, this opening’s pretty neat! i don’t think it’s super standout in any particular way, but i also don’t think it really has to be. it’s a nice quick way of showing off mha’s huge cast and while it doesn’t dive super deep into any of the characters, we won’t be diving super deep into any of them for this season anyways so it’s not a huge deal. this opening feels shorter than i remember.

because of how much the lore of mha is constantly thrown our way, it’s easy to forget that there was an episode where people didn’t already know the story of how quirks came to be. this shot feels very much like it’s supposed to be humorous, but that father also just looks kind of terrified. we know in mha that quirks were not always as well loved as they are now, so it makes you think. i wonder what happened to this baby? if they faced extreme oppression for their newly mutant powers? if they were cursed for being the start of the quirk plague? if they were revered for bringing about the dawn of a new era? i hope they had a happy life. i don’t think they did, but i hope. it’s also interesting that this baby was born with a quirk— something that i think isn’t seen as much in the modern day.

i’ve seen a lot of people headcanon that during the dawn of quirks, the age that people came into their quirks often skewed much later (with people finding their quirks in their teenage or even young adult years) but i wonder if maybe it’s the opposite. that, maybe, back during the dawn of quirks, quirk users were always born with their quirks? and maybe it was only after several generations that quirks began coming in later? maybe i’m thinking too hard about this

so around this time they drop the population of the planet that’s quirked— which, if you don’t know, is 80%. people have poked this number a lot because of the other part of it. the fact that 20% of the population is quirkless means that, on average, one in five people you meet should be quirkless. but, the thing is, besides izuku, melissa, and some manga spoilers, we never meet any other naturally quirkless people. and that makes those numbers seem a little sketchy. people have come up with their own explanations, the popular few being that most of that 20% are from older generations or that 20% is just the global population of quirkless people, in japan it’s way lower. a part of me wonders what counts as a quirkless person?

take tokoyami and ashido for example— both of them have their own primary quirks that we see them using in combat, but if you take those away, they also have their non-quirk mutations. if ashido didn’t have acid and if tokoyami didn’t have dark shadow, would they be labeled as quirkless? or would these mutations be considered their primary quirks instead of secondary quirk characteristics? or even just look at izuku! his hair’s green for goodness’ sake! if he were born a century ago, he’d probably be called quirked, even without something flashy like firebreath or telekinesis! the classification of quirks confuses me to this day.

do they ever say what death arms’ quirk is? hold on let me check the wiki. no. they do not. i heard some electricity sounds earlier, so i wonder if his strength comes from electricity or something? this nerd doesn’t even have a name, but i suppose even without a name he still has a page on the wiki, which is more than what can be said for some others (looks pointedly at the lack of a page for the second and third users of one for all)

i’ve always wondered— is that supposed to be a mask, or is that just what backdraft’s face looks like? it seems like it’d be a weird addition to what otherwise looks like a pretty basic firefighter costume. i wonder if he’s made of water under there and that’s what he’s using. new headcanon?

despite seeming to be sort of new on the scene, kamui woods already has a pretty avid fanbase. izuku knows his super move before he even uses it and he’s got some fangirls in the crowd. he also makes it to the got danged number 7 spot on the hero rankings!! despite this, he also just has this sort of smalltime feel? i feel like he’s the sort of hero where you’d bring him up to your non-hero-nerd friend, and they’d be like, “sorry, who?” and you’d have to say, “kamui woods! he’s, like, the latest up and comer!” and you’d have to explain his entire history but your friend would be like “i thought hawks was the latest up and comer. is this kamui guy younger than hawks?” and you’d have to explain to your friend that, no, kamui woods is actually a good six years older than hawks, but he’s an up and comer in a different way-! and then your friend would get kind of bored so you’d start talking about something else like the fact that all might’s been spotted more often around musutafu lately. kamui woods is once again left forgotten

this is mt lady’s debut as a pro hero, but she’s already 22. did she work as a sidekick behind the scenes for the past 4 years after graduating hero school, or (gasp) did she go to hero college!? i’ve always found it sort of weird (and kind of messed up, child soldiers and what have you) that people start training to be heroes in high school. while it makes a certain amount of sense that you’d want to start training as soon as possible to get the most out of your quirk as quick as possible, it also just feels kind of fucked up? it makes a lot more sense to me, at least, that if a person wants to maybe be a hero when they grow up, they might not want to commit to that right out of middle school. it makes sense that people might want to wait until they’re a little bit older and knowledgeable about the world to make the leap into heroics. hero college just makes so much sense to me! in retrospect, the idea that the best hero school in the country raises fledgling heroes from puny little fifteen year olds just feels kind of predatory. maybe wait until they’re legal adults to send them to the wolves. good on mt lady for waiting to go to finish high school before committing to a life of heroics. you weren’t made a child soldier :)

honestly everything we hear about how heroics function in the modern day is kind of fucked. the fact that heroics has been monetized to the extent that it has, making it so that heroes are more likely to chase fame and glory so they’ll get the biggest paycheck is dumb as all hell. it means that rural areas aren’t going to get many or potentially even any heroes, and it means that even just most urban heroes are going to stick to well trafficked areas. there aren’t going to be a lot of heroes out at night, and there aren’t going to be a lot of heroes in the communities that really need them. the heroics industry being an industry is the worst thing to ever happen to the justice system, but it makes for a fascinating thing to dissect

and finally, over a third of the way into the episode, we get our title card! i actually really like the “origin” episodes, and i like that a lot of the episodes (and, i guess, the manga chapter names, since that’s what most of the episode names are based on) have callbacks and theming. it’s nice when creators do that. i once wrote a story where all of the chapter titles were sentences in a poem i wrote, so if you read through the chapter list, you’d get a poem that vaguely summarized the story. i never finished that story, funny enough, but i’d like to do a similar thing someday. it was fun to write a story hidden inside a story. i’m getting off track, what was i talking about again? right, origins.

oh speaking of naming themes, i love horikoshi’s place names. if you don’t know, most of the fictional places in mha are named after star wars planets! aldera high school comes from alderaan, the planet the leia was a princess of before the death star blew it up. i didn’t take a screenshot of it, but the place where that first villain was at was called tatooin station, named after tatooine, the skywalker homeworld. musutafu itself comes from mustafar, the planet were jedi go to die (i think). i’ll try to keep an eye out for these and explain them whenever possible. i think it’s a neat little naming joke that horikoshi snuck in there!

i love seeing crowd shots in mha, because it’s clear that horikoshi always puts a lot of effort into making all these one-off characters that will never be seen again.

it’s a little sad seeing izuku back here. he always has his head down and he’s trying to look as small as possible. it looks like he’s always avoiding eye contact for the most part, and he puts more of his attention into writing in his notebooks than on the teachers speaking to him. we know he’s pretty dang smart, but i wonder just how smart he is. he doesn’t do better than katsuki in ua’s midterms, but it’s a near thing. i suppose he’d have to be a straight a student to get into ua

once again, i love me a good crowd shot, especially when i get to see all of those people’s quirks. some of these quirks actually look sort of interesting, and i like that we have all four elements in the class— earth, water, fire, and wind. i like that one kid in the very back second from the left who isn’t cheering or anything but he is glowing as hard as he can

on a more serious note: once again, it feels very weird that this teacher is just like “i’d hand out some career aptitude tests, but i know you’re all just going to try to be heroes!” i don’t know if this is an aldera thing (because in all honesty it might) or if this is what it’s like in other junior high schools as well, but the idea that you’re not going to even encourage these fourteen year olds to think of anything but heroics is just bad. especially when we know that most of them aren’t going to make it into hero schools. of course izuku and katsuki are the only two to get into ua, but i doubt that many of the other students even make it into minor hero schools. what’s more likely is they all apply to a handful of hero schools, fail the entrance exams, and get shuffled into whatever high school will take them because they didn’t think to apply to any non hero schools. the whole thing is just fucked and the teachers shouldn’t be encouraging this. also who’s that kid on the right? i love their head

and so we’re introduced to one bakugou katsuki, one of the more… contentious characters in my hero academia. i have a lot of thoughts and opinions about this kid, but i’m sure we’ll get to him later. i’m probably going to flip flop a lot between calling him katsuki and bakugou, so sorry if things get confusing.

two things to note here: number one is that katsuki’s classmates specifically call him “katsuki”. i’m pretty sure this is because these kids have all known each other since grade school, but it’s still interesting regardless. second thing is that katsuki’s classmates don’t actually seem to particularly like him— which, in all honesty, is not that big of a surprise. i see a lot of people call katsuki the “top dog” back at aldera, but while katsuki might be the “best” student, i don’t actually think he was all that popular with his peers. he might’ve had some lackeys who trailed after him, but i don’t think it was out of love for the guy

it’s very interesting to note that even among these hero hopefuls, the idea that katsuki (katsuki, best in their class, katsuki, with the strongest quirk, katsuki) is trying out for ua is far-fetched. none of the other students had the courage to dare to try out for the national hero school.

… well, except for one.

honestly the fact that izuku so much as wrote down that he wanted to apply for ua is a pretty ballsy move, especially when one considers that he’s, y’know, quirkless. he took a dive that nobody else in his class (besides katsuki obv) even had the courage to do. he may not have gotten in without one for all, but he would have tried, and that’s more than any of his other classmates (besides katsuki) can say.

also, izuku looks so panicked here. you can tell he hates being singled out. i’m sure he’d much prefer being ignored to being belittled. izuku’s whole situation pre-ua is just really sad in retrospect :( izuku’s so clearly not okay

izuku tries to explain to his classmates that ua got rid of the rule that bars the quirkless from trying out. which is. mmh. super fucked up actually? the fact that it was a rule that had to be “gotten rid of” is so intensely messed up, i don’t even know what to say. that’s, like, full on discrimination. until probably very recently, quirkless people weren’t even allowed to apply to ua, much less be allowed in. poor izuku really was doomed from the start

temporarily pushing aside the fact that when katsuki hears izuku’s applying for ua as well he immediately assumes that it’s going to be a him-or-izuku situation, this stylized shot is a very interesting peek into izuku’s psyche. he’s terrified of his classmates, even the ones who aren’t bearing down on him and threatening him with physical violence like katsuki is. this kind of fear is very learned, and i wonder what the other student’s of izuku’s junior high class did to him to make him so wary of him. y’know, beyond the obvious discrimination

i’m pretty sure in the dub, the nickname “deku” is supposed to be a portmanteau of “defenseless izuku” which is. kind of weird. but it means that in this scene we get katsuki calling izuku by his actual name, which is funny because he never does that in canon

after the sludge villain runs out of this store, we get a shot of this lady who’s activated a barrier in a panic. is the barrier always on or was it a fear response? does this count as illegal public quirk usage, or would it be shuffled aside as self-defense? what are the laws on public quirk usage? i need to know. it kills me.

oh wack i don’t remember the sludge villain wearing pants. i guess he probably wore normal clothes before his descent into villainy, y’know to look like a normal member of society. or as normal as he can be. as the sludge villain flees the scene of the crime, the shop owner(? employee?) calls him a monster, which i’m pretty sure is just a dub-ism, but that’s still super fucked up? he’s just a guy. he’s human, same as you and me, just with some sort of mutation quirk. i just know that all of the mutants in mha get so much shit for not looking perfectly human. people love quirks until they stop looking so pretty. then those people aren’t people anymore. just monsters. it’s no wonder the sludge villain stooped to villainy. i bet he couldn’t even get access to anything else

this is actually going to be a really common gripe from me that you’ll start hearing more often once we get a little further in, but i’m sometimes kind of a manga supremacist when it comes to anime. which is funny because i don’t think i’ve ever read a manga before i watched it’s corresponding anime. but one thing about mha is that horikoshi is actually an amazing artist and he’s so good at illustrating motion. this panel from the manga is the exact same moment as the one above from the anime, but something about the panel just hits so hard in a way that the anime’s portrayal just doesn’t. you’ll also see this gripe with certain shots when it comes to shading. horikoshi’s use of shading in the manga can be so striking, and to get to the anime and see all of that weight just stripped away with lower contrast colored shading is just kind of… meh. so, you might see me pull some panels from the manga here and there. if you haven’t read the mha manga, i’d certainly recommend it, even if you still just want to watch the anime as it comes out.

honestly, the fact that all might can just transform in this crowded ass street and not get spotted is fucking hilarious. missed opportunity: all might having to transform in phone booths. i guess it’s just canonical that japan is bad at noticing things in this universe

it was around here that i realized this post was kind of getting absurdly long, so the rest of episode 1 will be posted separately. i have... a lot of things to say.

[andromebaa]

Despair's Legacy

A Danganronpa AU

Part 3 - More Legacy Students

Here are the younger Legacy students!

Lolita

Lolita only exists because my brother forced me to make her and I am so glad he did because she's so fun and silly. Another stupid mish-mash idea cuz she's basically a younger and more obnoxious version of Tsumugi (she's a cosplaying otaku-ass nerd). My only wish is that I was a better character designer because her clothes would look more flashy and ridiculous. I just based her main outfit on something I used to wear when I was younger lmao.

Yes, she's also supposed to kind of look like Princess Piggles that was intentional.

Jin

Our protagonist, everyone! His main personality trait is that he's a little wussy baby. He's spent most of his life thinking he's been watched in the shadows and uh, he wasn't really wrong actually. I think the whole story was supposed to be kind of a coming of age/test of bravery for him. Overcoming his fears and all that. Apart from that he is a little bland. Sorry Jin.

Yes yes I did the stupid cringe Albus Severus thing to him I'm sorry I'm sorry. I didin't mention it before but Kyoko's dad actually died during the whole purging Junko thing at the start of the AU. So yeah we got the carrying on the name thing from that. Fun fact the first name I gave him I ended up using as Daiya's actual name. Funny how that kind of stuff happens.

Naomi

Everyone, our deuteragonist!

She's just a small version of Kyoko. No, but yeah, she likes being a little detective and getting into mischief. Kyoko sets up little crimes for her to solve. She's definitely a lot braver than her older brother and will ask the questions everyone else is afraid to say. I think they make a cute crime-solving duo.

I only realised fairly recently that she's very autistic-coded so I'll definitely canonize that.

Haruhi

Second youngest Legacy student! So young that she doesn't have a card yet totally did not make one for her because I didn't get far enough in the play-by-post to do it.

She's kid-sized, her birthday is on the 5th of June, she likes tending gardens and fantasizes about playing outside (where the real sun shines!!). She dislikes sitting still. Her parents are, according to her records, Leon and Sayaka. I like to imagine that Sayaka dressed her up like this against her will. The wings were a compromise.

Shion

This little asshole doesn't have a card either. Baby sized; August 8th; likes drumming; dislikes not having object permanence. You're never gonna fucking guess who his parents are. I think me and my brother made a joke that in this AU Monokuma poked holes in all the condoms.

Now I know what you're thinking - you didn't seriously put a baby into a killing game. Why? I dunno, it's funny.

His only personality trait is that he's wicked good on drums. It's played off as a joke to go with the whole family band stupid dumb fucking schtick I made. Haruhi was going to be part of it too but she kind of evolved into having her own personality and I'm so happy for her that she did.

And that's all of them! Looking back I kind of wish I made maybe one or two more kids cuz it's a pretty small roster but I managed to roll with it. As before, I have an embarrassing amount of lore about all of them so please feel free to ask if you want!

Part 2 - - - Part 4

[damoisellebelette]

its not perfect but it means a lot and also i do not care

when i was at my lowest i found comfort in fiction, i was always reading, watching movies and listening to music to create little scenarios to, i don’t really know when it became too much but it got to a point where i didn’t know what real life was supposed to be like anymore, how i was supposed to act and feel, always thinking about how life and friends and family and love in fiction is perfect, and deep and not cringe. i didn’t have any friends or just anyone to talk to, i dropped out of school and slowly started creating my own little world to escape to, reinventing myself to create the best version of Me.

mike those wattpad fics that are clearly self inserts and Y/N has perfect hair, perfect body, nice friends, cool stuff going on and knows what they wanna do and always manages to get there.

i guess i wanted to feel Alive and Real, not knowing i felt that way when i was manic but that’s a whole other story, and i just lost myself in the process.

i was always romanticising everything i did and every little interaction i had, truth is not every conversation is supposed to be Important and Deep, and not everyday is gonna feel like waking up on the first day of summer break when you were 9 but that’s okay.

« you’ll never be satisfied », i was looking for a life that does not exist. books and movies and songs and tv shows are great because every scene, every dialogue, every lyric MEANS something.

i started making little everyday things into something important, because at the end of the day if collecting grocery lists i find on the ground and taking pictures of every odd thing shaped like a heart makes me happy no one can really stop me? in a way i did make myself the quirky protagonist in a john green novel, but i stopped thinking everyone around were not also their own version of that.

putting my thoughts into words is Hard i tried my best

pls tell me im not alone in this and someone else somewhat relates to this.

[kinetic-elaboration]

August 13: Scream 4

Today’s Scream: Scream 4. I really enjoyed this one. It felt less dated than Screams 2 or 3, and not just because it is more recent. I mean, it’s over 10 years old. It was more like Scream 1996—of its time, but not old looking. I enjoyed the 2010’s who’s-who of the female cast in particular, and the way it referenced/remade the original without seeming like either a copy or a paler version of the first. It kept enough of the meta-of-itself elements to be clearly of the universe, but wasn't as focused on the Hollywoodification of Sydney's story. We can marathon Stab, but we don't need to see it being made lol.

It felt at first that, as always, Dewey and Gale were basically running the show. They’ve been the most consistently enjoyable part of all the Screams for me—after the first, the filling-out-the-ensemble characters have been pretty forgettable and in Scream 3, Sydney’s role was pretty small. And in Scream 2 she was surrounded by all those Forgettables. Gale and Dewey have always been sort of off in their own story line, and that has been a consistently reliable, solid story. So I enjoyed them here, too. But when their story basically finished and the focus moved on to the new kids, I was pleasantly surprised by how well they kept it up.

Kirby was my favorite—I loved her Tatum BFF energy with some horror nerd but make it cool vibes sprinkled in—and I was sort of hoping she’d somehow be allowed to survive, even though I know that’s not how a slasher would normally work and Scream is very, by definition, aware of slashers would normally work. The two-Randies variation (I’m assuming an apology for killing Randy in Scream 2 lol) and the bland-boyfriend (in Billy’s role but without Billy’s charisma) fake out were both very solid.

And, look, no Ghostsface are ever going to be as good as Billy and Stu. No one’s going to match their psychotic energy. But I liked these killers more than any previous sequel killers. I already explained my issues with Ghostface 3, and Ghostsface 2… my issue with the college kid whose name I can’t remember is that his was a pretty lame twist on the meta angle, and I don’t even need to explain this because the movie itself included a second killer who said in as many words ‘how lame of him.’ And she was just a continuation of the last motive, a sort of Friday-the-13th homage twist. That’s fine. Whatever. To have killers going for the meta story, and tying it up with Sydney, but not to revenge themselves upon but for the main mastermind to take her place, be the hero and get the fame—I don’t need any ‘we all want to be insta-famous’ commentary or whatever but the core idea of it is very solid especially for a franchise that’s over 10 years old. The final girl is a fantasy. That’s the role that everyone envisions themselves in, that everyone is supposed to envision themselves in. The protagonist. Jill just puts that plan into motion. To mix that in with the girl-twist, pair her with the ‘Randy’ character, both to reference the non-ship of Randy/Sydney and the recurring if slight/subtle theme of monstrous/threatening men (I’ll kill you for not noticing me! Etc.), but ultimately give the self-proclaimed final girl the ultimate-killer role… that’s smart, that’s layered, to me. Emma Roberts was good casting, too, because she has the range of utter bitch to sweetest girl and she got to use it all.

I also enjoyed the smaller roles like the two cops, and new-Dewey Deputy Hicks (wear the vest, protect your chest!). I liked the Stabathon idea and scene a lot, and the fake-ending of it, with the real finale happening in the house; again, it’s just a good way to call back and alter the original, because the location is similar but the number of people much smaller. There were some really good shots, like Gale’s cameras at the party, or Ghostface in the wind chimes.

It was fun. It was fun and I’m excited to watch Scream V.

[the-assignment]

Blog #3 - Candyman 🙄

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I found out that we were watching both the original and the 2020 version(s) of Candyman – Candymen? Oh, whatever – for this weeks class.

But I quickly discovered that my major issue is definitely with the original Candyman. And for a lotta reasons.

Full disclosure: I don’t quite remember how or why, but I do know I watched the original Candyman when I was younger – even though I was not a fan of scary movies. It could have been because that was the only thing on TV that looked sorta interesting, and I didn’t realize it was a horror film until too late, or it could’ve been because my older sister has always loved horror films and making me watch them. I.e., she loves scar(r)ing me. (I’m gonna go with that.)

But re-watching it – though I would say this is my first real time watching the 1992 version of Candyman – was WILD. I don’t know if I’m just “grown up” now and have a different view and perspective of the world, if I’m more formally and informally educated about issues, if I’m more aware of issues surrounding race and culture and problematic themes, or all the above – but my goodness was this movie incredibly problematic and frustrating.

One of my favorite parts of the class that I am taking is talking about tropes and themes. Not only those in individual movies but across movie genres as well. So, to understand and recognize that a major theme of Black trauma and Black pain is being done through a white lens, is upsetting. To see Black bodies being used as mere props in a movie where it literally makes no sense to do so, is ridiculous.

Mostly, I straight up don’t understand how Helen is supposed to be the protagonist in this?? I am honestly, genuinely, perplexed. The entire movie just makes me dislike her more and more. And yet, disliking her isn’t the point of the film. The subplot and subcontext of the film is supposed to make you feel for her and fear for her. And that isn’t what I was doing.

I was thrown off by how privileged and almost arrogant she seemed. Like she was entitled to people’s help and assistance, stories, and pain. Especially, and entirely of Black people’s help, assistance, stories, and pain. She exploited the little Black boy who she had show her around – never once to stop and think about why he was alone – where his family or his mother was. Did she just assume that it’s “normal” for Black kids to be away from their mothers in “that” type of neighborhood. Wouldn’t you want to shield a child away from some of the things and themes she was exploring??

Also, the way she spoke to people! The scene where she’s asking the janitor questions about what happened and about the legend and myth of Candyman, etc. and she automatically thinks they should / will / need to help her. No pleasantries. No, “do you have a minute” – Nothing. The privilege is unreal.

Additionally, her best friend, who is – shocker – Black, dies! Even though she doesn’t say “Candyman” five times – Helen does! Where is the logic?

Where is the justice?!

Make it make sense!

I just don’t get how or why we are supposed to feel sorry for a privileged white woman who goes on a “Slum Safari” with no concern for the people and stories and pain that she’s using / exploiting / bringing along with her.

And then to make her the literal white savior at the end – Ugh. I. Can’t. Even.

It really shows that the concern was never about telling the story of a (understandably) vengeful (Though! To! The! Wrong! People!) black man that was a victim of racism (and therefore having to address the history of racism)' but about making a story that reaffirms white people’s perceptions - I.e., fear - of Blackness.

And I for one am glad that movie and iconic character has been reclaimed.