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riskaamira · 5 years

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“Keluarga Berencana”

By Ust Muhammad Nuzul Dzikri Written by Hannah Natasha

Apabila salah seorang mempunyai angan, maka perbanyaklah angan tersebut. Allah senang dengan hal-hal besar dan benci dengan hal-hal receh. Kita harus memiliki mimpi besar. Muslim yg mengikuti sunnah, kejarlah apa yang Allah cintai dan perbanyak angan dan visi. 4 pillar atau langkah untuk mencapai visi: 1. “Berjalanlah” bersama sang guru Dalam Q.S Al-Kahf ayat 65-66 mengenai Nabi Musa bertemu dengan Nabi Khidhr dan ingin berguru dengan beliau. “Lalu mereka bertemu dengan seorang hamba di antara hamba-hamba Kami, yang telah Kami berikan kepadanya rahmat dari sisi Kami, dan yang telah Kami ajarkan kepadanya ilmu dari sisi Kami” “Musa berkata kepada Khidhr: "Bolehkah aku mengikutimu supaya kamu mengajarkan kepadaku ilmu yang benar di antara ilmu-ilmu yang telah diajarkan kepadamu?"

Pengaruh guru sangat besar dalam membentuk karakter dan pola pikir kita. guru bisa memberi masukkan terhadap blind spot kita (hal yg kita tak pernah pikirkan arahnya). Sebagai salah satu contoh, Imam Syafiʼi sebelumnya memiliki passion untuk menjadi ahli bahasa Arab namun guru beliau menyarankannya untuk belajar fiqh karena kejeniusan yang ia miliki. Jika kita lihat sekarang, kitab riyadus shalihin adalah kitab terbaik di peringkat ke-2 di dunia setelah Kitabullah (Al-Qurʼanul Karim). Contoh lain adalah kisah Imam Al-Bukhari berawal dari hanya hafal 2 hadits kemudian ditertawakan oleh orang lain. Namun sekarang kitab Al-Bukhari ada di peringkat ke-2 terbaik di dunia dari segi keshahihan, masterpiece selama 16 tahun untuk mengumpulkan hadits Nabi yang shahih secara ringkas. Kalau ingin membuat keluarga yang visioner, melangkahlah dengan dampingan ahli ilmu untuk meminta arahan. Dari awal jika ingin sukses haruslah berguru, polanya akan seperti ini dan tidak akan berubah. Kiat-kiat mencari guru: a. Berdoʼa dan minta petunjuk dari Allah Q.S Ghafir ayat 60, Dan Tuhanmu berfirman: “Berdoalah kepada-Ku, niscaya akan Kuperkenankan bagimu. kita berdoa kepada Allah maka Allah akan ijabah.

b. Cari sosok yg memiliki kapabilitas sebagai pendidik Cari ulama yg nashih: punya kapabilitas ilmiah, karakter pribadi yg baik, mengetahui cara mengajar dan mendidik. c. Berani berkorban untuk mengejar guru tersebut dan belajar dengannya Orang spesial tidak mungkin didapat dengan cara yg biasa. Pelatih terbaik tidak mau mengambil sembarang murid, ingin yang profesional. Dalam Q.S An-Nahl ayat 43 tentang bertanya dengan orang yang memiliki pengetahuan jika kita tidak tahu sesuatu. “Dan Kami tidak mengutus sebelum kamu, kecuali orang-orang lelaki yang Kami beri wahyu kepada mereka; maka bertanyalah kepada orang yang mempunyai pengetahuan jika kamu tidak mengetahui”.

2. Finding your soulmate Cari pasangan yang sevisi dan misi dan juga satu soul dengan kita. Samakan frekuensi dari awal. Jika kita memiliki visi besar, cari pasangan yang bisa membuat kita mewujudkan visi besar tersebut. Q.S An-Nur ayat 26 mengenai yang baik untuk yang baik dan yang keji untuk yang keji. “Wanita-wanita yang keji adalah untuk laki-laki yang keji, dan laki-laki yang keji adalah buat wanita-wanita yang keji (pula), dan wanita-wanita yang baik adalah untuk laki-laki yang baik dan laki-laki yang baik adalah untuk wanita-wanita yang baik (pula). Mereka (yang dituduh) itu bersih dari apa yang dituduhkan oleh mereka (yang menuduh itu). Bagi mereka ampunan dan rezeki yang mulia (surga)”. Sebelum kita putuskan untuk taʼaruf, pastikan: 1. Apa yg saya butuhkan? (Objektivitas) 2. Seperti apa selera saya? (Subjektivitas) Dalam ilmu fiqh, menikah masuk ke bab uqud (akad). Akad terbagi menjadi 2: 1. Akad nikah 2. Akad muamalat (transaksi penukaran barang) Ketika jatuh cinta dengan seseorang sebelum akad nikah, apalagi harus dengan melalui pacaran, akan menjadikan seseorang menjadi pragmatis, yang penting kita bisa dengan orang yang dicintai, jalanin aja dulu. Objektivitas kita hancur karena sudah jatuh cinta duluan. Cinta membuat kita buta. Berkomitmen dengan pasangan hidup kita merupakan hal yang amat sangat krusial. Membangun visi itu sangatlah penting agar kita tahu arah dan tujuan hidup kita, mau dibawa kemana. Lebih sulit membenahi rumah tangga yang laki-lakinya bermasalah dibandingkan dengan perempuan, karena laki-laki adalah pemimpin. Oleh karena itu, prioritas pertama adalah: Objektivitas, apa visi kita? Lalu carilah supporting team yang bisa mengarahkan kita ke sana, setelah itu mainkan dengan selera. Tidak boleh ada tekanan saat kita menikah. Banyak orang menikah karena tertekan dengan umurnya sendiri, karena diultimatum oleh orang tuanya, karena bosan ditanyakan kapan nikah, yang berakhir dipaksakan. [Silsilah Rasulullah ﷺ: Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abdul Muthalib bin Hasyim bin Abdu Manaf] Visi pernikahan Rasulullah ﷺ: 1. Khadijah binti Khuwaylid (dinikahi saat umur 40 tahun), sebagai sosok pendamping yang matang di fase awal dakwah Islam (fase dakwah terberat di Makkah). 2. Sawdah binti Hamzah (di atas 50 tahun), penyeimbang pengaruh keluarga untuk berdakwah. 3. Aʼisyah binti Abu Bakar (umur 6 tahun), penghafal 2,210 hadits 4. Hafshah binti Umar, membangun relasi ke Umar sebagai suksesor Rasulullah ﷺ 5. Zainab binti Jahsy (mantan istri anak angkat), untuk menjelaskan hukum syarʼi yg penting dan berlaku sampai kiamat, anak angkat berbeda dengan anak kandung. Dari sejarah tersebut, Rasulullah ﷺ tidak asal menikah namun beliau memiliki visi yg besar. Rasulullah ﷺ mengetahui seperti apa sosok pendamping yang dibutuhkan dan siapa yang beliau nikahi bukan sembarang orang.

Key Message: Begin with the end in mind lalu tarik ke belakang, apa yang kita butuhkan untuk mencapai garis finish tersebut? Tips yang sudah menikah: - Perbanyak istighfar: ujian yang menimpa kita bisa jadi dikarenakan dosa kita. - Introspeksi diri (muhasabah) - Fight, berjuang. - Konsultasikan dengan ahli ilmu, jangan bergerak sendiri. 3. “Sihirlah” keluargamu, miliki kemampuan berbicara yang penuh dengan iman dan keyakinan Ada sebuah pepatah: “Sesungguhnya sebagian dari Al-Bayan (susunan kata-kata yang indah) adalah sihir” Kalian semua adalah pemimpin dan seluruh kalian akan diminta pertanggungjawaban atas yg dipimpin . Q.S An-Nisa ayat 34, “Kaum laki-laki itu adalah pemimpin bagi kaum wanita, oleh karena Allah telah melebihkan sebahagian mereka (laki-laki) atas sebahagian yang lain (wanita), dan karena mereka (laki-laki) telah menafkahkan sebagian dari harta mereka. Sebab itu maka wanita yang saleh, ialah yang taat kepada Allah lagi memelihara diri ketika suaminya tidak ada, oleh karena Allah telah memelihara (mereka). Wanita-wanita yang kamu khawatirkan nusyuznya, maka nasehatilah mereka dan pisahkanlah mereka di tempat tidur mereka, dan pukullah mereka. Kemudian jika mereka mentaatimu, maka janganlah kamu mencari-cari jalan untuk menyusahkannya. Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Tinggi lagi Maha Besar”. Laki-laki adalah pemimpin karena sifat kepemimpinan yang lebih dominan & nafkah yang diberikan oleh suami. Salah satu syarat kepemimpinan menurut Imam Syafiʼi ialah Memiliki kemampuan bicara dan jujur dalam lisan. Kemampuan komunikasi yang kuat dibutuhkan profil diri yang kuat. Kunci dari komunikasi adalah, ‘Speak with convectionʼ, yakin dengan apa yang dikatakan. Manusia itu mengikuti apa yang ia yakini, bukan apa yang dilakukan semata. Membangun profil bisa dilakukan dengan belajar dan mengamalkan ilmu yang kita miliki. Tipu daya syaitan untuk menghancurkan manusia bisa dengan cara: a. Tafrid (menggampangkan) b. Ifrad (melebih-lebihkan) Bertanyalah kepada Al-Khabir (karena Allah Maha Mengetahui) dalam doa, sujud dan istikharah kita. Selalu libatkan Allah pertama kali di segala urusan kita. “Rasulullah ﷺ Mengajarkan kami shalat istikharah dalam setiap perkara/urusan yang kami hadapi, jika salah seorang berniat dalam suatu urusan lakukanlah shalat 2 rakaʼat yang bukan shalat wajib kemudian berdoʼalah”. (HR. Al-Bukhari). Berikut Tata cara istikharah Terkadang banyak dari kita yang tidak memahami makna doʼa istikharah. Contoh kasus adalah ketika sudah istikharah perihal jodoh, namun beberapa hari sebelum hari pernikahan kita ditampakkan sesuatu yang buruk dan tidak diharapkan tentang pasangan kita. Di situasi seperti ini, seharusnya kita tidak perlu merasa sedih atau terpuruk, kerena itu merupakan jawaban dari Allah untuk kita, tandanya orang tersebut bukanlah jodoh yang terbaik untuk kita. Lebih baik gagal sebelum memulai dibandingkan gagal setelah menjalani. Oleh karena, itu kita perlu memahami betul makna dari doʼa istikharah. Jawaban dari istikharah tidak harus selalu lewat mimpi.

Cari guru dan minta pendampingan serta arahan kepadanya. Perjuangkan niat di point tsb krn itu yg paling sulit.

Others: Anak dan harta adalah fitnah (ujian). Orang tua akan dihisab tentang anaknya terlebih dahulu karena mayoritas kedurhakaan terjadi karena kegagalan orang tua dalam mendidik. Biarpun anak misalnya melakukan dosa di luar sepengetahuan orang tua, orang tua tetap akan ditanya oleh Allah apakah sudah menanamkan keimanan dan muroqobatullah (merasa diawasi oleh Allah) atau belum ke anak. Setiap kesalahan yang diperbuat oleh anaknya pasti orang tua akan dihisab karenanya. Carilah plan B amal saleh yang bisa memberikan kita argo pahala yang terus berjalan, contohnya ilmu yang bermanfaat. Doʼa agar istiqomah dalam hijrah, “Ya Allah maha pembolak balik hati, kokohkanlah hatiku di atas agamaMu.” wallahu a'lam bishawab

#Pict by Patheos.com #Half Deen Series 4 #yuk ngaji #Hijrah bareng #Thinker Muslimah

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tsuisou-no-despair · 4 years

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Higurashi When They Cry: Gou -My “Final” Thoughts

Since we’re getting a second season - and it’s so obvious that Gou was written as the first half of the story - I find it hard to rate Gou at this point in time. Do you remember how when Avengers: Infinity War came out and a lot of critics were like “well, we need to see Endgame before we can really make our judgements”? Yeah, it’s like that - hence why “final” is in quotes.

Even so, I still have some thoughts about Gou, Higurashi as a whole, and my experiences with getting in on something’s fandom. I’ll make a post for what I want out of Sotsu later - right now, here’s what I have for Gou.

What I Liked About Gou

Most of it, honestly! I enjoyed Gou greatly and I’m glad I sat down and gave it a watch. (This may be heresy, but I honestly found it better as an experience than the last airing-weekly anime thing I sat down and watched - that being Mob Psycho 100 Season 2) But as for the stuff unique to Gou thatI particularly liked:

First off, having a new Higurashi anime that’s actually good. We needed something like this after Outbreak, Kira and (to a much lesser extent) the non-Saikoroshi parts of Rei pushed the series deeper and deeper into a trash can.

I love the new art style and the new designs for the characters. There’s a lot of good in DEEN’s adaptation, but a lot of the time the art left something to be desired. Passione’s take on Hinamizawa gave us a cast that can be cute and beautiful and terrifying all while looking good.

There’s also a lot of really good cinematography - the shot used in the GIF above left me going ‘holy shit”.

The new themes are a triple threat of bangers. In particular I loved that they brought in Ayane to really give it a deeper tie to Higurashi as a greater franchise. (The best of these, of course, is Irregular Entropy)

Episode 4′s twist. Just... *chef’s kiss*. I know that people poked it apart and called it ridiculous after the fact but I don’t know if the feeling of dread when Rena’s eyes were hidden by shadow, and I realized that this wasn’t going to end well, is something I could ever really recapture.

Speaking of violence, the ending of Episode 13. The dull red light... the ringing bell... good stuff.

In retrospect, creating Tataridamashi by bringing in Minagoroshi was smart, specifically from a character-introduction standpoint. They needed to establish the existence of Kimiyoshi, Oryou and Akane for later parts of the story and dipping into Minagoroshi’s involvement of them is probably the easiest way to do it.

In general, Gou’s really smart about its character introductions. I didn’t think they’d bring in Akasaka but I’m honestly really pleased with how they did it.

SatoRika was confirmed! And was really cute... until it extremely wasn’t! (But in a good way!)

The fact that Satoko and Rika’s conflict at St. Lucia was so nuanced, with neither of them really being 100% right or 100% wrong. (Of course, this doesn’t last)

I might be slightly conflicted about Satokowashi as an arc, but none of those conflicts are with Eua. (The “FUCK YEAH FEATHERINE TIME” from Twitter was particularly tasty)

The dub! I know a lot of people are ambivalent towards the Gou dub but I for one am happy that we’ve got some great performances, as well as a Higurashi dub that’s actually good. Maybe not great, but far better than what DEEN got in the end.

This Shion face

This is the face of someone that’s going to wreck her sister’s chances with her new boyfriend for fun.

What I Didn’t Like About Gou

Watadamashi in general. This is easily the weakest arc by a long shot, which sucks because I like Watanagashi-hen quite a bit. A lot of the time, it just felt like the animators had chose it as the place to cut costs. As good as the Takano scene in the Saiguiden is, it’s one of the things that makes the least sense in retrospect given the changes to Takano that have been established in Gou. And Episode 8 was rough both from a pacing and a what-happened standpoint. While Watadamashi had some great moments (the above Shion face as well as Rika dressing down Keiichi), overall it was clearly the weakest arc, particularly after Shion left the picture.

The pacing of Gou in general left something to be desired at times - they really should’ve shifted the extra episode in the first cour from Tataridamashi to Watadamashi, and Satokowashi could’ve probably condensed some of its episodes down and gave more room to other things, like...

Satoshi. He really shouldn’t have been as absent from the series as he was - hell, until Ep. 9 I legitimately thought that he might’ve been cut from the story altogether (and honestly, if they did that maybe the story would have been better!)

On that note, Episode 22 just kinda sucked in general.

While I’m not on the “where’s Shion” train as heavily as some meme artists are, I do think that the fact that she had to be written out of the second cour entirely to make it work is one of Gou’s story’s objective faults.

There’s a lot of little details added or addressed in Satokowashi-hen that I feel are either less than good, or are just restrictive. The big two of these is Satoko watching all of the fragments (either Eua should’ve just given her a sample platter, or we should’ve seen more of Satoko’s thoughts and reactions) and the fact that the memories returning means that eventually Hinamizawa would end up “solved” without Satoko’s intervention.

Honestly, Gou’s finale needed a bit more punch - it wasn’t bad but honestly even for a halfway point it could have ended with a bit more of a bang.

The Fandom Side Of Things

First off, I want to preface this by saying thanks for following me, taking my theories into account (it always feels cool whenever I see something I threw into the aether in one of my Theory Times getting adopted and spread by someone else as an interesting idea!) and sticking with me through Gou and hopefully through Sotsu. You are all amazing and I love you all.

After Watadamashi concluded, I decided that my Higurashi bullshit needed its own sideblog, because I recognized that nobody in my other circles was even remotely into Higurashi and I didn’t want to shout into the void. So, I made myself a sideblog, named it after one of my favorite Higurashi console openings, and started posting my thoughts. Quickly I discovered a whole world of theories (”Satoko’s suspicious? I never would have thought of that!” - me, a young and naive fool), hot takes, and a surprising number of Rena kin. (Who are all delightful, I assure you!)

One of the things that stuck out to me was the different schools of opinion that formed. While I ended up as a relatively quiet analyst who overall liked Gou despite its flaws (a camp shared by two of my favorite blogs - @tarhalindur and @thewhitefluffyhat - that you need to follow if you don’t already), there were many others who had much stronger thoughts. Some of them were loudly cheering the story’s turns, while others seemed to decide that Gou could do no right and acted accordingly. Joining a Discord run by one of the larger Higurashi blogs on Tumblr gave me a live view of the process in Satokowashi’s later half, and it made me really realize what shaped people’s views on Gou. Some particular factors that caught my eye:

Whether or not they liked Umineko over Higurashi (mostly a Twitter element - the Umineko fans really enjoyed Eua making her appearance and overall reacted really positively to Gou)

Where they hailed from - honestly I think that Tumblr overall was one of the more positive fanbases for Gou (at least of the big concrete places like it and Reddit), given how the various camps thought of Gou’s eventual villain.

How they felt about Episode 16 - there were a lot of people that seriously felt that Rika learning the “lesson” of “maybe leaving the hometown where bad things happened isn’t the right call” was far, far more abhorrent and objectionable than the part where she got her entrails ripped out!

How they feel about Satoko, naturally - particularly, how much they sympatized with her and how much they didn’t want to see her go down the path she did. Tumblr in particular had a lot of people that related with her and her life situation, and it was never not interesting to see how the sympathy and occasional projection shaped someone’s particular thoughts. (There were some strong reactions to Gou showing an abuse victim becoming an even worse abuser, let me tell you.)

I think I’ll conclude these final thoughts by quoting my IRL best friend’s tags regarding the fandom of her choice:

It really is. And I’m glad I got on this ride and saw it through with all of you.

See you in July.

#higurashi #higurashi when they cry #higurashi gou #higurashi gou spoilers #higurashi gou thoughts #higurashi gou FINAL thoughts #i'll admit I'm still a little sad that satoko never killed anyone with that teddy bear #also i'm 100% going to keep posting and theorizing up to and beyond july don't you worry

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breadqueen95 · 4 years

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Tag Game - Get to Know Us!!!

0Thank you for tagging me @lestrangetime!!!!

Rules: Answer the following and tag 10 people you want to get to know better.

Name: jenna

Gender: female

Star sign: libra

Height: 5′4″

Age: 25

Wallpaper on phone: northern lights :))))

House: ravenclaw with aggressive hufflepuff energy

Ever crush on a teacher: lmaoooo YES my high school history teach and one of my college history professors. now that i think about it i might have a type...

Coolest Halloween costume: in my junior year of hs i was paula deen riding a stick of butter. i have yet to put that much effort into a costume again

Favourite 90′s TV show: full house

Last kiss: SO LONG i don’t think since 2018 (i’m v touch starved and i just wanna kith)

Have you ever been stood up: yes :’(

Favourite pair of shoes: tie between my steve madden boots and my red converse

Have you ever been to Vegas?: nope

Favourite book: I have to choose between my children??? lol NOPE so here’s a list: Nefertiti by Michelle Moran, the Harry Potter series, the ACOTAR series, Thrones of Glass series, Percy Jackson series, Heroes of Olympus series, Warriors series (no i’m not ashamed), Game of Thrones series, honestly any and all historical fiction

Stupidest thing you’ve ever done: getting wine drunk and trying to lose my virginity to a dumb ski boy my junior year of college. ladies he did not know how to preheat the oven and now i stand before you a half virgin

All time favourite shows: game of thrones (we don’t talk about s8), grey’s anatomy, criminal minds, bridgerton, avatar: the last airbender, bbc planet earth series, westworld, broadchurch

Last movie you saw in theatres: god it’s been so long i don’t even REMEMBER, but I think it might have been Bohemian Rhapsody???

tags: @iliveiloveiwrite, @loony-loopy-lupinn, @thisismynerdyself, @vogueweasley, @gcdric, @aluzia07, @slytherinsunrise, @elayneblack and whoever wants to do it sorry if i forgot any new pals!

#get to know tag #get to know me #new pals wee

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tarhalindur · 4 years

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One of my favorite pieces of Higurashi meta-tinfoil, from the OVAs: the magical girl episode of Kira is a friendly? jab aimed directly at Gen Urobutchi.

Allow me to explain under the cut:

1) There are quite a few similarities between Homura and Rika, especially involving but not limited to their respective situations. (Also the character designs; I got badly spoiled on Madoka in no small part because of that.)

2) There is a roughly 100% chance the Urobutcher was familiar with Higurashi in the mid-2000s, considering that the work that originally drew him attention was Saya no Uta (a VN, and while I’d need to check whether it’s generally held as a denpa VN it’s at least adjacent) and his other well-known work before Madoka is a straight-up official doujin prequel of another VN (Fate/Zero in its original form) - so he’s definitely familiar with VNs during the mid-2000s, enough so to be actually writing them, and When They Cry was already up there with To Heart/the Nasuverse/Key Visual Arts in being a titan of the medium by that time.

2a) Urobutchi may be the kind of creator who does best riffing on and improving other people’s work in general. (No shame in that!) Most obviously there’s the part where one of his two best works is the aforementioned official doujin prequel, but there’s also my occasional description of Madoka as having Higurashi’s twist and Lain’s finale, or the little hints that suggest that, as an r/anime rewatch of Mai-HiME[1][2] put it back in the day, Madoka knew who it was riffing off of (including one really fun one I’d either forgotten or never noticed on account of it only being revealed in the peripherals - the family name of Nagi (resident Mai-HiME Kaworu expy) is... Homura).

3) PMMM with its very Rika-esque secondary protagonist comes out and novas.

3a) If I can work through this chain of speculation, presumably Ryukishi07 or somebody else at 07th Expansion can as well.

4) Kira OVA comes out with an episode where Rika is a magical girl.

Hmm.

[1] - Or, as I like to call it, the Protodoka, up to and including an excellent Yuki Kajiura soundtrack. Unfortunately for it, Mai-HiME badly whiffed its landing; worst (second half of a) series finale I’ve ever seen in anime, up there with the last five minutes of James Cameron Avatar and the distant finale of the BSG reboot

[2] - I finished watching that show after OG Higurashi. Fun fact: Mai Nakahara also voices Mai Tokiha, the Mai-HiME lead. That was a fucking trip, I tell ya. Right up there with watching Higurashi after Full Metal Panic! (Satsuki Yukino voiced Kaname Chidori as well as Shmion, and I rather suspect it’s not a coincidence that at least one DEEN shot of the Games Club locker shows a paper fan in there.)

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burnouts3s3 · 5 years

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Maria-sama Ga Miteru, a blu-ray review

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously.) Just the facts 'Cause you're in a Hurry! Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP): 99 USD How much I paid: 69.99 USD, the Pre Order price Animation Studio: DEEN Original Localizer: Nozomi Entertainment Licensed and Localized Currently by: Sentai Filmworks Audio: Japanese Audio with Subtitles Number of Episodes: 39 Episodes and 5 OVAs equaling a run time of 1237 Minutes. Length per Episode: 25 Minutes on average. 21 Without Intro and Ending song. Length per OVA: 50 Minutes on Average Number of Discs: 8 Blu Ray Discs Episodes per Disc: Seasons 1, 2 and 4: Episodes 1 through 9 on the 1st Blu-ray Disc. Episodes 10 through 13 on the 2nd Blu-ray disc as well as “Don’t Let Mother Maria Know”, funny ‘outtakes’ of the characters in Chibi From. Season 3: OVAs 1 – 3 on 1st Blu-ray Disc. OVAs 4-5 on 2nd Blu-Ray Disc. Aspect Ratio: 4:3 for Seasons 1 and 2. 16:9 for Seasons 3 and 4. Are there plans for a DVD release?: A DVD release of the series exists from Nozomi Entertainment. Does this come a digital voucher to redeem?: No. This only has the Blu-ray discs. Also on: HiDive, Sentai Filmwork’s Streaming Service. Bonus Features: Clean Opening Animation, Clean Closing Animation and “Don’t tell Mother Maria”, ‘outtakes’ of the characters in chibi form. Notable Localization Changes: Onee-sama, a popular phrase Yumi addresses Sachiko with, has been translated into “Dear Sister” (which is more or less the same thing). Honorfics such as –san or –sama have been omitted in the subs or changed. (For example, when a character refers to Sachiko as Sachiko-sama, the subs translate it into “Lady Sachiko”). Make of that as you will. My Personal Biases: I actually reviewed Marimite a long time ago on this site. I still hold fond memories of the show to this day.

My Verdict: A long running staple of the Shoujo genre and said to have kickstarted the Yuri trend that gave us Kannazuki no Miko, Strawberry Panic, Aoi Hana and Sasameki Koto, Maria-sama Ga Miteru still holds up to this very day. And thanks to Sentai Filmwork’s ability to print it on Blu-ray, now even newcomers can enjoy the quiet campus of Lilian Academy. Buy it! Maria Sama Ga Miteru, a blu ray review

“The Maidens who assemble in Mother Maria’s Garden have such angelic smiles that today, too, they pass through the tall gate. Their pure bodies and minds are wrapped in dark colored school uniforms. The pleats on their skirts shouldn’t be noticeable. Their while sailor collars should always be tidy. Walking slowly is preferred here. St. Lilian’s Academy is a Garden for Maidens.”

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Our Protagonist, Yumi Fukuzawa, is a freshman in St. Lillian Girls’ academy, an all-girls Catholic School. One day, while praying in front of the Virgin Mary, Mother Maria, someone comes up to her. It is none other than the school’s idol, Sachiko Ogasawara. While Sachiko fixes Yumi’s collar, Yumi’s friend, Tsutako, takes a photograph and blackmails Yumi to get the scoop. While Yumi goes to the Yamayuri council, which acts as the governing body for the school, Sachiko storms out of the room and trips on top of her. Sachiko attempts to make Yumi her petite Souer. Through the Souer system, upperclass girls can make a lowerclass girl their ‘sister’ by handing them a Rosary. If the underclass girl accepts, they become partners and look after each other until graduation. While seemingly innocent at first, the system can lead to all sorts of conflicts and misunderstandings but also joy and laughter. This is the story of how Yumi first accepts Sachiko’s Rosary and ends when she eventually bestows that rosary to another. I really love Yumi as a character. While she does act as the ‘ordinary outsider’ meant to be the audience Point of view character, there’s a charm to Yumi. She’s actually very quick on her feet, eager to help and very kind and friendly. She does make mistakes but there’s a very human quality and the small moments where she shines (initially rejecting Sachiko’s rosary, practicing her routine to impress the graduating Seniors, helping out during the school festivals, standing up to some rich snobs) that really makes her shine. (Though I will give some credit to Yumi as she manages to possess proper hand eye coordination and inner ear balance that her successors Himeko Kurusugawa and Nagisa Aoi seem to lack.) In some ways, Sachiko was the inspiration that lead to the creations of such characters such as Shizuru Fujino from My-Hime, Chikane Himemiya from Kannazuki no Miko and Shizuma Hanazono from Strawberry Panic. On the surface, Sachiko is a cold, stern and almost unbendable force of nature, bent on getting her way. However, slowly but surely, Yumi melts the icy exterior to find the human underneath. (It also helps that Sachiko occasionally is the butt of the joke at times, such as, being her first time at a fast food restaurant, she remembers to order correctly and pay the server, but forgets to pick up the food). Among my favorite characters is the adorably lovable Satou Sei, a senior of the school and the canon lesbian of the show. Sei is often flirtatious but also very humorous to boot. There’s a sort of fandom clash as many people ship Sei and Yumi together and Shimako and Sachiko together. (There’s the implication that if Sei had not picked Shimako to be her petite seour, she would have picked Yumi and Sachiko is jealous of that fact since she wanted to give Shimako her rosary first, but Shimako refused her). Rounding out the cast are Rei and Yoshino, a Kendo Senior and her sickly cousin who might switch the idea of a tomboy on its head and Touko, Sachiko’s cousin who’s prickly exterior might hide someone much more vulnerable and Noriko, a girl who might share a love of Buddhist statues the Shimako does. A lot of people cite Maria Watches Over Us (or Marimite for short) as the revitalization of the Class S genre, which focuses on romantic friendships between school girls. A lot of people have pointed out that the genre has had its fair share of negative stereotypes and doesn’t exactly portray a healthy or realistic relationships for young queer women. But, I’ve always stated I would rather have a problematic show that affects me emotionally over a well-meaning show that has a good social message but leaves me cold. Of course, the show is self-aware of its genre roots and occasionally pokes fun at it. (At one point, Yoshino does the ‘rich girl laugh’ with another person and all it does is draw unwanted attention from passerbys). If there’s definitely a weak spot to the series, it’s definitely the animation. Panning shots and freeze frames are all present here, but the direction is solid enough where you’re enjoying it even when you notice the stitches and seems. (It’s an early 2000’s show centering about the school lives of ordinary girls. What were you expecting, Darling in the Franxx?) Granted, Season 3 is when the animation quality (as well as the aspect ratio) picks up but even the older seasons are passable and enjoyable to watch. What sells the show isn’t necessarily the animation, but character interactions with one another. Those looking for Women Love Women relationships probably aren’t going to find it here, but it did lead to the inspiration for other works to tackle. Each movement, each subtle touch or facial reaction or slip of the tongue feels weighty. You can tell there’s so much more being said than what’s on the screen and the characters missing or picking up on those subtleties really is the highlight. Season 3 is where the show changes format from a half hour episodic series to an hour long OVA (Original Video Animation) format and they play out more like self-contained movies than a series of over-arching episodes. And yes, the blu-rays also include “Don’t let Mother Maria Know.”. These are a series of humorous shorts included with the original DVD releases that contain cartoonized versions of the characters engaging in very silly behavior and outtakes.

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After Nozomi Entertainment sold the rights off, Sentai Filmworks bought them and did a pretty good job localizing the show. The show contains no English Dub, but translates the Japanese text to pretty close to its original source material. One thing to note is the lack of honorfics. Honorfics are titles one refers to when addressing another person, like –san meaning Mr. or Ms. in English. “Onee-sama” is translated to “Dear Sister” while “Sachiko-sama” is translated to “Lady Sachiko”. (Though for some reason, Kashiwagi’s nickname for Sachiko, Sacchan, is kept in). CAVEAT: There’s the implication that Maria Watches Over Us feels dated in its depictions of girls’ relationships and class differences and promotes not quite so healthy relationships. But, had it not been for Studio DEEN and the characters of Yumi and Sachiko, we might have never gotten Himeko and Chikane or Shizuru and Natsuki or Fumi and Akira or Kazama and Sumika or Kase and Yamada or Touko and Yuu. Hell, even Flip Flappers did a parody of Marimite for an episode. With Nozomi Entertainment selling off the rights (as well as Seasons 2 and 3 DVDs being sold for outrageous prices), Sentai Filmworks has done the anime community a service by preserving this work and making it available to Western audiences. So, it all but depresses me to know that this great work will go unnoticed while the inevitable fans order the next Umaru merchandise instead. If you have enough of an attention span to watch a show that doesn’t have constant explosions, fanservice or attack names being shouted out, it’s definitely worth a look see. Of course, speaking as someone who binge watches Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure during his off hours, I enjoyed every bit I had with Maria-sama ga Miteru.

Verdict: Buy it!

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#maria sama ga miteru #maria watches over us #sentai filmworks #hidive #yumi fukuzawa #sachiko #Ogasawara #sachiko ogasawara #touko #satou sei #sei satou #lilian #yuri #lgbt #review #anime

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medea10 · 5 years

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My Review of Fruits Basket (2019): 1st Season

#Fruits Basket #Tohru Honda #kyo sohma #Yuki Sohma #Akito Sohma #shigure sohma #arisa uotani #saki hanajima #momiji sohma #Kisa Sohma #ritsu sohma #ayame sohma #hatori sohma #hiro sohma #kazuma sohma #anime review

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arcaneranger · 5 years

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Final Thoughts - Summer 2019

Hey, look who finished the season perfectly on time, even if he did so by dropping a bunch of stuff last minute! (Technically, as of writing, I haven’t finished Re:Stage Dream Days, but you can rest assured that it’s bad.)

I thought I was going to do a first impressions rundown video for the entire season at once, since my impression posts don’t tend to get a lot of engagement anyway, but since I didn’t end up going through with it, I’ll summarize my point - summer started strong, and even here at the end, I can easily say it’s the best season thus far in what’s largely been a letdown year for seasonal anime (and a god damn renaissance for long shows, thanks to My Hero Academia, so if I seem down on a season that had Dororo, or Vinland Saga, or Fruits Basket, remember that I exclude those shows from my considerations until the end of the year).

This season saw several high-profile continuations like A Certain Scientific Accelerator, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls In a Dungeon II, and Symphogear XV, but also new works by creators like Mari Okada, and anticipated adaptations of Astra: Lost in Space and Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, and in the end, well...a lot of those were mixed bags at best, but the biggest drawback I will remember Summer 2019 for is that it was drowning in bad isekai shows. The aforementioned Arifureta, the basically-counts Danmachi, and also Isekai Cheat Magician, Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks, The Lost Ones, Demon Lord Retry!...it just never ended, and that’s not even counting If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord.

Speaking of all that stuff, let’s get right into it, yeah?

28 shows were simulcast this season, and of those, I…

Skipped 4:

Yami Shibai 7, Starmyu Season 3, A Certain Scientific Accelerator, and Lord El-Melloi II Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note were all skipped because I have not watched the previous series.

Dropped 15:

Worst of the Season: If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord!

I dropped this after one episode because I found the aesthetic and tone to be aggressively boring and I found even the cute daugheroo character to be utterly generic in execution...and then later found out oh boy was I right to drop it, based on how many people compared it to the Bunny Drop manga that we don’t talk about. *shudders*

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest

Wins the “biggest tryhard” award for being just the most straightforward an SAO award gets, right up to being grimdark for dumb reasons. The first episode alone had inconsistent animation, and that just did not bode well for the future...and the plot instantly reminded me of Slime, which soured on me over time. I let this one go sour after one shot.

Demon Lord, Retry!

The blandest of beige this season, Demon Lord had neither the story nor the production values to reel me in or convince me it was anything but the Overlord wannabe it so clearly was.

Isekai Cheat Magician

This show was a pretty transparent attempt to have an isekai story with a childhood friend romance plot, and while I’m fine with one and a half of those things, it couldn’t execute them in any decent way by the end of the first episode, and just wound up being largely boring.

Wasteful Days of High School Girls

Speaking of boring, what if Nichijou wasn’t funny? You’d get something like this.

Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?

So the tone this one ultimately ended up having was pretty much exactly what I expected after the premiere - it leaned too hard on jokes that weren’t as funny as it thought they were, and too hard on the dumb hentai mom trope, and neither of those things interested me in the slightest. Pretty okay with having left this off the watchlist.

The Ones Within

I have stated multiple times in the last few weeks that Symphogear is great because it can convince you that it’s a work of genius. The Ones Within has, unfortunately, convinced itself that it’s deep social commentary of some kind, rather than a bargain-bin Danganronpa with no real thought put into it.

Are You Lost?

I’m amazed that we got another Eromanga Sensei this season and it flew entirely under the radar. For God’s sake, the first episode featured a young teenage girl eating a bug and drinking her own urine. I just didn’t see myself being particularly entertained by the shock value longer than the premiere.

Ensemble Stars (4/10)

I can’t tell if this one is actually over, but Funimation’s site doesn’t list any new episode premieres coming up, so I’m gonna assume it is? I gave this one a shot and hung onto it because it took UtaPri’s premise and gave it the slightly more serious tone I was looking for, but dropped it after the second episode started to drown us in side characters with no hint that the floodgates were closing, rather than giving ample screentime to a select cast so they could actually become at least two-dimensional before throwing in more people we’re supposed to care about.

BEM

BEM suffered from an unfortunate lack of distinct personality, which sucks when it seems to have had a decent story to tell. Nothing else about the show wound up sticking out to me, though, which has me fully convinced that Production I.G.’s name is only on this to boost recognition, and the second-billed LandQ studios did the majority of the work. And their best-known other show is Swordgai. So...

To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts (5/10)

I have gotten absolutely no pushback so far for my decision to tear into this show because it should have been a different show, so I’m gonna take that as a general agreement of my earlier statement. What a waste of a concept.

Cop Craft (5/10)

This one I still think I was not crazy to pick up after the first episode, because it wasn’t until the third that the animation tanked hard and the pacing went absolutely nuts, and apparently stayed that way. Did they write a thirty-nine-episode story that had to be condensed into twelve or something?

Magical Sempai

This one I probably would have kept watching if the majority of its humor wasn’t just the title character embarrassing herself in lewd ways. It was funny, but I didn’t see myself enjoying anything more than one episode of it.

GRANBELM (6/10)

This one I got halfway through before realizing that, during my end-of-season catchup, I had absolutely no desire to return to. The plot didn’t really start moving until the fifth episode, and in that time I had not gotten particularly invested in the characters, especially since the show makes fun of the viewer for thinking that the big mecha dream battles actually had stakes beyond “you don’t get to be The Thing”. At least it looked nice and the mecha designs were very original.

Are you willing to fall in love with a pervert, as long as she’s a cutie?

There were four shows this season with questions for titles. Just saying! This one actually had me hooked right up until the end, revealing that not only is it a fanservice show, but a fetish pandering one. That being said, if I were attracted to women, I could have seen myself getting something out of it, what with the decently moody tone and good production values.

I put 2 On Hold:

Is It Wrong to Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? II

I’ll probably come back to this when the third series comes around, just to give it one more chance to pull me back in, but ditching my favorite character for harem antics and character shilling just did not endear me to this long-awaited sequel.

Re:Stage Dream Days!!

This one’s not actually on hold, but I don’t have any other good place to mention it. This one I’m gonna make it through just on willpower, not because it’s good, but because it starts out as the most shameless rip-off I’ve ever seen in anime, specifically of Love Live!.

And I Finished 7:

Kochoki (5/10)

I thought I was gonna give this one a 7 at least, for nearly the whole season, for being a decently-told and somewhat new telling of Nobunaga’s early life with great production values for Studio Deen...right up until the structure fell completely apart at the end, almost completely out of nowhere. I’m still in awe of the gall this show had to literally skip over the final battle.

How Heavy Are The Dumbbells You Lift? (8/10)

This one came right the fuck out of nowhere and totally blew my expectations out of the way from the very first episode. Looking at the summary, I was convinced I was gonna drop this after the premiere...and found myself totally hooked by its cheery visual presentation and excellent sense of meta-comedy, not to mention its genuine educational value.

Astra: Lost In Space (8/10)

One of two adaptations I was really looking forward to this season (along with Fire Force), Astra was pretty much what I expected - a very good translation of a very good manga that ran for the perfect amount of time to be divided into twelve-ish episodes. A fantastic and memorable cast of characters enhanced a surprisingly twisty story, and Lerche made it all look just as good as I’d hoped.

The Demon Girl Next Door (8/10)

Speaking of defying my expectations, another show I was expecting pretty much nothing from, maybe one I could compare to Gabriel Dropout or something, that was instead an incredibly charming story of a girl trying to save her family by defeating a magical girl...with a very, very loose definition of the word “defeat” in play. I couldn’t have asked for much more from this one, aside from maybe a sequel?

Given (9/10)

Speaking of “Lerche” and “gorgeous”, this profoundly gripping story of a spacecase and a loner hesitantly making music together blossomed further and further as it went on, and became my new go-to reference point for explicit gay relationships in anime. It went where even Yuri On Ice!!! couldn’t, and left me desperate for a Part Two.

O Maidens In Your Savage Season (9/10)

My write up for this show was one of my longest in recent memory, and I stand by it - even if Okada had to write a few plot contrivances in to get where she’s going, at least she presented her cast in an incredibly thoughtful way and gave them a satisfying payoff, with the knowledge that they’re teenagers and all of their problems can’t be solved in one semester. The high water mark for discussions of sexuality in this medium.

BEST OF THE SEASON: Symphogear XV (9/10)

Anime is wonderful, and so am I.

So that wraps up summer! We’ve got a lot to look forward to in fall, even if My Hero Academia and Food Wars’ fourth series will both ultimately end up on a list in the distant future next year. Will Psycho-Pass 3 redeem the series? Will Azur Lane be better than Kantai Collection? Will Beastars beat Aggretsuko as the biggest furry panderer of the year? Only time will tell. And then I’ll tell you all what I think it said.

#summer 2019 anime #anime #symphogear #symphogear xv #o maidens in your savage season #astra lost in space #kanata no astra #given #the demon girl next door #machikado mazoku #how heavy are the dumbbells you lift?#dumbbell nan kilo moteru?

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fgodestinyawakenings · 5 years

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My first 3* Servant to reach bond max, and one of the 4 doggos in Chaldea to have his max first XD

Cu was my sole reliable ST NP Lancer before Vlad & Medusa in NA, and Li Shuwen & Medusa in JP shows up in my Chaldea. He’s definitely one of the best budget Servant to bring along for boss fight... Something that I now miss when he’s not in for mob fights

Why isn’t it tagged under FGO tag, it will contain anti-character, anti-ships & anti-series from my own view. So you’ve been warned before clicking the link to read!

My first impression of him was during Studio Deen’s Fate Route version Fate/Stay Night when he first appears... It’s a good reason that this is not tagged anywhere near his character tag, because I actually dislike him on the very first episode

That was when I was a kid, but it also plays a huge part because as I was an introvert. People like him in real life are the kinds that I instantly know we won’t really get along, as I dislike rowdy, outgoing, barbaric and slightly noisy people. All this was when I was kid, and well how much I changed will be a great discussion for another day!

Anyway, my initial dislike was him being the typical bad guy, since he attacked Shirou. So when he appeared again, it... It took things by a surprise because he went out sacrificing his life in betraying Kotomine and Gilgamesh to save both Artoria and Shirou from being killed

That had changed my impression of him, and when UBW kicks in... I’ve grown to like his character after his interaction with Rin and Shirou when he formed temporary truce with them. Playing as the reliable (somewhat) older brother figure to them while half-flirting with Rin, I really like in both Fate and UBW he still stick to his conviction. Betraying Kirei twice and actually killing him in UBW for revenge of his old master and saving Rin.

Though I must admit, Cu/Rin is one of my other OTP but I don’t ship as hard since my main ship for FSN series is still Archer/Rin XD

Heaven Feels wise, I really admired and find it amazing of his epic fight against Cursed Arm. If weren’t for plot and how unlucky he is, I really did like to see him once where his Noble Phantasm was successful. It’s sad his scene was cut short considering how he’s devoured, but definitely one of the best scene for Part I

I won’t delve much for FGO or Fate Extra. The latter is because I still haven’t watch to what his interaction is like. But the former I’ll only delve his appearance in Summer Event. One of the best and eventually worst one because some writer need to shoe-horn every single men just to focus on waifu on the second part

However, the one thing I like of picking this event is his interaction with Scathach. This event actually to me sort of make up of the perfectly wasted chance that either Caster or Lancer version of his would reunite with his Shishou and/or even fight his fake counterpart Alter. It’s one of the best scene between the two... Which I really hope DW does create more scene between them for interaction. I’m fine with both platonic and romance, considering what happened in their history and how their interaction could went either way, but I really want to see them more together!

Gameplay... I picked him out of tier list reason since he’s considered the best for budget use. Thanks to Honako Green’s video, I ended up often use him after learning the setups roughly to work on him. In fact, he is still my best Lancer I have!

Cu is seriously going to be missed big time on mobs fight... One is because his low cost helps to fit him in when necessary to another Lancer. Two is because like Herc-chan, the reliability in his survival is helpful! BUT THE INHUMANE BOSS AND MOBS ARE BASTARD WHEN THEY KILL HIM!!

Well Cu Chulainn... Thank you for being a great big brother to my home team in Chaldea. Your Gae Bolg will always be one of my favorites in saving me in times of need, but you should be nicer to your Caster counterpart... Or your Gae Bolg shall be given to him permanently

#the shit i shit myself into #max bond Servants #the first doggo among the four to have his bond max out #and also my very first 3* too #Now you're not going to die frequently until a boss fight #THAT'S INHUMANE MASTER!

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narekashi · 6 years

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Hunger Games Ikemen Revolution season 2 begins

DThat’s right folks, season two is here and everyone is here.

Try to guess who wins in the end,it doubles the fun >:3

Without further ado, here is the starting line up!

If you don’t get who “evil uncle” is, he’s in Edgar’s route and as implied, a very evil uncle. Also Noir (Black) is the opposite of Blanc (White) in french so that’s why he’s named as such uwu

With that aside,

Let the Hunger Games begin!

Day 1

Kyle’s scaring the new guy already.

O O F ONE DOWN.

Y’ALL ARE DEAD FOLKS BYE.

B E T R A Y A L

OH MY GOD HARR AND AMON NO WHY.

ALICE, LUKA, WHAT WERE THE TWO OF YOU THINKING.

Day one’s already going very badly as you can see.

I thought you were a doctor, Kyle.

This would be cute if the evil uncle wasn’t here.

Aww good boys uwu

This is?? Very?? Inaccurate??

OH MY GOD MOUSSE ISN’T SHE IN THE SAME TEAM AS YOU, WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING YOU ASSHOLE.

Day one’s a mess already great.

Day 2

STOP THE OVERKILL PLEASE

ZERO NO WHY

Good choice Oliver

Good boy.

I’m half convinced it’s alcohol.

Two good people are dead already ;;

Oliver atones for the sins he committed during season one.

Aww this is so cute.

GOOD DON’T KILL HIM.

T-That’s just sad.

WHY ARE YOU DESTROYING YOU OWN SUPPLIES.

Sirius that’s a bad idea.

HARR WHAT HAPPENED.

S E R V E S Y O U R I G H T

Petition to make sure Alice stays safe during Mousse’s route please.

Day 3

Guys please stop the overkill

Sirius finally got what’s up.

THE PICTURE LOOKS LIKE HE’S FALLING OFF THE TREE FABULOUSLY HOLY.

THIS MAKES ME LAUGH SO HARD FOR SOME REASON.

H a r r w h y

Amon got his senses back and that’s not a good thing.

All the brown hairs, nice.

This is canon.

Meanwhile on the other side, Sirius fREAKING DIES.

The irony is that it’s the Splash of Love card representing him. Oh the irony.

New ship owo

That’s a really bad idea guys

Well this is getting worse and worse progressively, just as I expected.

Day 4

Good boys work together uwu

I’M CONFLICTED ON HOW I SHOULD FEEL??

*coughs* totallynotfromthemagictower *coughs* Did you hear anything? How strange.

LANCELOT W H Y

SETH NO DON’T DIE SO QUICKLY.

Both of the Sirius sandwich a Jonah in between them.

WHY THE OVERKILL GUYS STOP.

But is he

Is he thinking about his blood relatives or the Black Army?

If it’s the latter, they’re almost all dead at this point. Luka I’m so sorry.

Deen: I wonder how my stupid brother is doing.

Darim: wHoOPs *falls in lake and dies*

Deen: If that guy dies other than being killed by someone, I won’t attend his funeral.

That’s probably what happened. At least in my mind, it did happen.

Day 5

OH MY GOD THANK YOU LUKA.

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I ASKED FOR THIS TO S T O P

That’s a wise decision, Blanc.

The “Then Perish” eyes doesn’t make this list better.

HARR DIDN’t YOU SAVE HIM BEFORE???

I’m suddenly very scared thinking he’s going to win this again.

Day 6

The Feast

RAY IS PLAYING TO WIN AGAIN OH GOD.

But isn’t your family all dead?

I’m so sorry.

That’s actually pretty smart.

Everyone not shown didn’t attend the feast welp.

Day 6 (normal)

DEEN YOU IDIOT

Two Seths died on the same day great.

THESE TWO REACTIONS DON’T GIVE ME ANY GOOD THINGS TO HOPE FOR ABOUT.

S E R V E S Y O U R I G H T

This is so sad. Sirius play Winter Blossom.

BLANC I ACTUALLY THOUGHT YOU COULD WIN.

Well folks, we’re near the end. Placed your bets already?

The winner has already been found on the next day.

Are you ready to know who won?

Probably not but I just want to delay this.

Oliver didn’t kill Kyle this time nice.

Will Ray win again?

Will Lancelot be able to avenge the Red Army?

WIll the Black Army have two wins?

Will the Red Army win this time?

All of that in

Day 7

AND

AND HERE IT IS FOLKS

ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DIED

ONE AFTER ANOTHER TRYING TO SLAY THE PREVIOUS CHAMPION

HOWEVER HE REMAINS STRONG.

BEHOLD, THE KING OF HUNGER GAMES.

RAY BLACKWELL IS THE FINAL SURVIVOR FOLKS.

If I do season three and he wins again, this series is over.

Well everyone, the results are in.

I’ll be honest.

Am I happy? Meh.

Do I feel betrayed by Mousse? Yes I do.

Overall, this was a nice entertaining Hunger game. Season three anyone?

Well, perhaps next time. Next time, we shall see if the undefeated champion will bow down from his throne next time.

To be continued (?)

#ikemen revolution #ikemen revolution hunger games #season 2 #day one was a mess wow #You guys want to see more of this or nah?#I'm glad I can fit 24 players exactly now #All the guys: Mum said it's my turn to win the hunger games #Ray: No #I'm just kidding

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reporterbumble561 · 3 years

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Jdate Reddit

Back in the day, Farrah Abraham was a nice Christian high school girl from Council Bluffs, Iowa. Like any 16 year old, she had hopes and aspirations – her plan was to go into modeling after graduation. All those dreams came crashing down when she found herself pregnant. And it got even better when the baby’s father Derek Underwood died in a tragic car crash two months before she gave birth. So much drama right? Just perfect for the voyeuristic shlockmeisters at MTV Networks who found a perfect cast member for their new “Reality” show – 16 and Pregnant – which followed the stories of pregnant teenage girls in high school dealing with the hardships of teenage pregnancy. Duh. That appearance provided Farrah with her next gig, another MTV waste of life titled Teen Mom – which followed the lives of Farrah and three other girls from the first season of 16 and Pregnant as they navigated their first years of motherhood.

After spending so much time in the spotlight – Teen Mom regularly pulled upward of 3-5 million viewers an episode – Farrah’s life and career took a standard trajectory – She tried to pitch her own spin-off reality series to follow her journey after culinary school as an aspiring chef, but the show never really made it to production. Farrah also launched her own brand of pasta sauce called Mom & Me Premium Italian Hot Pepper Sauce, wrote a book My Teenage Dream Ended and released several music singles. etc. But I guess it still wasn’t enough. Still missing from her life was that special someone, a partner who could keep up with the successful single parent media machine that was Farrah. So what’s a girl to do? Go on JDate of course, where one can find successful single men of the mosaic persuasion known to take good care of their women. Her JDate profile read:

On JDate, however, the lowest monthly cost you can get is $29.99 ( if you subscribe for six full months with a single payment of $179.94). There is also an in-between, three-month subscription plan that comes at $44.99/month and is billed in a single payment of $134.97. Users can pay over mobile phones, PayPal, and of course, a credit card. Click/tap Yes to confirm. To unblock a member: Click/tap on your small Profile Photo at the top of the page, or the horizontal menu lines ( ☰) if using the app. Select Account Settings, and then Block List. Click/tap on the Display Name for the desired member. Click/tap Yes to confirm. If you’ve received inappropriate. Founded in 1997, Jdate is part of Spark Networks. According to the developers, it was the first dating site for single and unmarried Jews. Using it, people create families and seek serious relationships. This app has been the undisputed leader in the number of. JDate is available for smartphones thanks to a downloadable app that effectively scales down the interface for touchscreen, while also preserving all important features. Signing up with JDate is entirely cost-free, but in order to send messages a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual subscription to gold membership is a must.

I’m looking for a man to be my partner in crime, who is successful like me, and has style. If you can give a woman everything she deserves and you want the same in exchange, message me. You won’t regret it. I’m looking for a man that is top of the line; I guess I’m picky. I want a man who is happy, supportive, works hard, is successful, can stay in but can also go out, is active, outgoing, easygoing, likes children and dogs, can be serious, but knows when to have fun and is a romantic.

This was reported in September of 2011. By early December of that year, Farrah had snagged herself a handsome and well to do Jewish man 14 years her senior – 34 year old Marcel Kaminstein, a jewelry entrepreneur. Things were looking good, initial reports were rosy and Kaminstein was getting along well with Farrah’s daughter. So now we know the secret to success on JDate! Be an ambitious 20 year old hot single Mom willing to date an older man! Lack of Jewishness not a problem, fatties needn’t apply.

Sadly by New years, 2012 the relationship had gone south and Kaminstein and Abraham had called it quits – amicably. Now what!? There were a couple of options on the table – but none had the potential for fame that she enjoyed during Teen Mom. Until Farrah met another Jewish man, one James Deen, an adult video entertainer who had starred in over 1,300 porn flicks. Did she meet the HEEB 100 member on JDate? We don’t know. Did they really date or was he merely a hired gun for Farrah’s next publicity stunt? Well, that relationship did not last long either amid allegations that Deen mistreated Farrah and had a small wiener. Yes that relationship ended acrimoniously but not before Deen and Farrah filmed a sex tape. Farrah claimed she shot the professionally produced tape as a keepsake – like a wedding video – for her own use: “I wanted my own personal video made and photos taken for myself, when I am older I will have my best year to look back on. I’m happy to see my 21st year be done. I’ve learned a lot.”

Then Farrah claimed that the tape had been leaked and that she had no choice but to start shopping it around. She finally made a deal with adult film juggernaut Vivid Videos. The movie, “Farrah Superstar: Backdoor Teen Mom,” will be released in mid May and Farrah got nearly $1 million for the rights. Just to be clear, the “backdoor” reference does not refer to an actual door. And also the whole lost sex tape thing was a ruse. Deen’s mistreatment was merely him spilling the beans on the whole “story” because he claimed he cannot lie. The plan was always to release the sex tape as a play for further fame and fortune à la Kim Kardashian. Shocker. The sex tape can now be viewed all over the internet, just like the Kardashian tape.

And what have we learned from all of this boys and girls? If you can’t find ultimate happiness on JDate, like so many others before you, uhm, you can always release a sex tape. Also everything about this post is total and complete trash. I’m sorry. But that’s just life in the big city. Best of luck to Farrah and her daughter. As for James Deen, he is costarring with Lindsay Lohan in the upcoming film “The Canyons” directed by Paul Schrader and written by Brett Easton-Ellis.

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Jdate is the app that was created for Jewish people to meet each other for friendship, casual dating, and serious relationships.

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JLife is an online magazine where you can learn more about Jewish dating and learn the main tips. Also, you can read and get inspired by success stories from couples that have met and got married after meeting through the Jdate.

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enigmaticgale · 6 years

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houshin engi 100 questions

ariana linked me this and as we all i know i physically cannot shut up about this series ever, so here we go

endgame spoilers below!! if anyone actually cares, lol

1. What is your name? inigo montoya. you kill my father. prepare to die. NO i’m yarrow but i can’t imagine anyone who reads this won’t already know that

2. When did you get into Houshin Engi? january 2012! so.... much later than everyone else i’ve met who’s already into it. i’m babby 3. Did you read it in Weekly Jump magazine? Or the tankoubons? Or both? i read the snoopycool scanlations on mangapark dot com. that probably wasn’t the original website but fuck if i can remember what it was 4. Do you own all 23 volumes? yeah, four times over lol. 5. Do you own Houshin Taizen? hell yeah 6. Do you have the special Houshin Taizen that came with Akamaru Jump? i hate that i know this is a thing now because i won’t rest until i add it to my collection 7.Do you want a Houshin Taizen 2 to come out? yeah put birthdays in it this time fujiryu you hack 8. Did you watch the anime? i’ve seen it twice but only remember one watch lol. i’ve seen the sub and i’ve probably watched the first two episodes 5 times in the dub trying to watch the whole series through. no dice. oh this is about the old anime. i’m only part of the way through the new one because my adhd kicks my ass daily

9. Did you tape record it? man when were these questions written lol. i don’t even know how old i was when the anime aired in the states. did it even air in the states 10. Give your honest opinion on the last episode. hey studio deen? what the fuck? the fuck was that? you bastards? 11. Do you own mp3s of the opening and ending songs? sure do!

12. Do you buy the soundtrack albums? i got both. and then the 2 character song cds. and then 3 of 4 drama cds 13. If you answered ‘yes’ to #12, what is your favourIte track? MAN that’s tough?? probably... chi-kou-go-itsu because when taikoubou is like “IKITERU” in the chorus i’m like. god it won’t let me upload an image here this website is BROKEN. i’m that one gif of that black woman crying and nodding and then she wipes away her tear

14. What Houshin Engi merchandise do you own? what don’t i own. i need to update that album actually 15. Have you ever bought any of the Senkaiden games? yeah i got both. 16. If you answered ‘yes’ to #15, which ones have you bought? i’ve considered buying a wonderswan so i can play them because god knows where the rom i found is but i can’t read jp for shit 18. Could you name all the characters in Houshin Engi? not off the top of my head in a list but if you showed me a picture there’s a 98% chance i’d be able to tell you who they are 19. Favourite male character(s)? youzen and taikoubou... my first fave was roushi. i also like fugen and shinkouhyou and kouyuuken “who’s kouyuuken” haha. he’s the longhaired shisei. yes yes, my tastes

20. Favourite female character(s)? yuukyou is my DORTOR, i love ryuuktisu and kibi too! also seiba. 21. Which is your favourite Taikoubou outfit? i don’t really have a preference! though if you made me pick it would probably be his first one. baby outfit

22. Your opinion on Youzen’s outfit during the fight against Jyoka? i’m emo over him wearing his daddy’s paopei but that’s more of necessity than of sentimentality huh 23. Your opinion on Fugen’s shoulder-revealing shirt? how does it stay ON!!!! 24. Have you ever imitated Dakki’s speech pattern? i’m a guy 25. If you could transform like Youzen, who would you turn into and what would you do? GOD DJESUS.... i’d make myself a foot taller. and also have blue hair. and cure my damn dysphoria . please i want this transformation ability so bad lol

26. Which act/chapter is your favourite? i love the whole manga but the sennin war arc gunches me the hardest 27. Which anime episode is your favourite? bold of you to assume that i remember enough about the anime to differentiate what happened in which episode 28. Which volume cover is your favourite? that’s hard!!!! ummm...... volume one. i like taikoubou 29. Which title — be it volume title, chapter title, or episode title — is your favourite? bold of you to assume i remember episode or volume titles. as for chapter title... there are a lot of great ones but one that always stood out to me is “Chuuoh, Son of Heaven”. idk why. i just like that aesthetic i guess. son of heaven

OH i also really like 141 and 142 which are “ A Blinding Light, A Deafening Silence, And Then...” “An Eternal Happiness” ^___T sennin war arc 30. Have you ever cried while reading Houshin Engi? bunchuu’s death gets me every time though my definition of “cry” is probably a bit. loose. my very first reread though, i had to get up from my computer and stop reading because i physically couldn’t see. musta been a day 31. Do you still buy the calendars? STOP TELLING ME ABOUT MERCH I DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT BECAUSE NOW I’LL HAVE TO BUY IT 32. If you answered ‘yes’ to #31, do you keep the old ones up? FUCKA YOU. yeah i’d display them somehow 33. What is your favourite quote, and who said it? “I learned the greatest courage is telling people my weakness. So I don't want to run anymore: not from you, not from myself!” by youzen. i also really like the line youzen has in the tournament arc where he says there’s no way he can lose because he has the powers of everyone he’s met but the quote i actually listed is more Feelsy 34. Do you have a favourite romantic pairing? hahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa youbou. 35. Say anything you want about that favourite pairing? bold of you to expect coherency from me 36. Why are you into that pairing? nnMMBBmbmbbbb god i’m. gay. the tl;dr is i relate a lot to youzen and i love taikoubou a lot so it’s like self insert without the self insert lol. i’m really laying myself bare here in full sincerity 37. Have you thought of a perfect song for that pairing? What song, and by whom? yeah i gotta.... whole gotdamn playlist. please listen to it 38. Which houshined character do you want resurrected? here’s my postgame fic where everyone gets resurrected eventually. yes even all the rando youkai 39. Which character made you think “I’m glad s/he wasn’t houshined!”? probably..... youzen? or nataku. anyone who has a brush with death and then Wasn’t. 40. Which of the Konron 12 would you like to be scouted by? gyokutei!!!!!! 41. What are your reasons? *points at him* dad 42. Suupuushan, Kokutenko, Kokukirin. Who would you want to ride? kokutenko!!!! luv cat

43. Do you have any friends who like Houshin Engi? yeah!!! and i only had to bully a few of them into reading it. shocker 44. Who’s your favourite Jyuttenkun? kinkou seiba!!! 45. Did you like “Ennui Academy”? i want fujiryu to give me a full length ennui academy manga. this is only half a joke 46. What’s your favourite non-romantic pairing? BBBbbbb hmmm. i love yuukyou and her two dads and i also love youzen and gyokutei.... i’m suckerpunched by found family daily 47. Which do you like better; the Dakki Sisters or the Beautiful Sisters (Venus and Co.)? the dakki sisters 48. Do you want Roushi’s suit? depends on what i have to do to get it lol. but yeah i’m all about that lazy life 49. Name one paopei you want. i’m going to say all of them on account of being greedy and also bad at making decisions

50. What would you use it for? oh fuck. can’t make me go into work if i’m wrapped in rikukonhan’s void, right 51. Who is the strongest character, in your opinion? fukki if he’s got backup, jyoka if not 52. What is your reason? *points to the final volume* Observe 53. Which character makes you go, “I’ll never forgive him/her!!”? outenkun. basard 54. What colour do you like on Taikoubou’s hair? brown!!! my fave eye colour on him is green!! that wasn’t part of the question but i think that’s the cutest and best colour combo!!!!!! you can’t change my mind!!!!

i think fukki has black hair and blue/grey eyes. 55. Name a master-disciple combo you like. again, youzen and gyokutei suckerpunch me 58. Which is your favourite splash page? probably the very first one in chapter 1 cause i get all nostalgia over it. weh 59. Taikoubou + Outenkun = Fukki. Did you easily accept this fact? i wish i could tell you anything that i thought when i first read the manga but all my impressions are lost to time. i wish other people would remember that outenkun is a key part of the fukki equation and stop just treating him as taikoubou in a funny outfit lol. they’re different people, even if they’re similar.... 60. Did the entrance of Fukki affect your opinion on Houshin Engi? again, i wish i could tell you, but 61. Do you think of Taikoubou, Fukki, and Outenkun as three separate people?

YES, AND YOU SHOULD TOO

62. Where on Taikoubou’s body do you think Outenkun’s paopei’s mark appeared? .....people talked about this? 63. Who would you want to be houshined by? dakki. if i have to die i want her to kill me, sexily. sorry for making you read those words 64. Who would do you want to houshin? outenkun but he’s off limits. ...i think anyone else i’d want to houshin already done and did it so 65. Which of Dakki’s many outfits is your favourite? bold of you to assume i keep track of them 66. Is Venus scary? no, she’s very cute!! shame on you!! 67. Which paopei made you go, “That’s terrible!!”? ay. uh. keiseigenjou is pretty spooky what with the “dakki uses this to mind control hundreds of thousands of people at once” 68. What is the colour of Chibi Youzen’s horns? dark dark brown imo 69. What cup size is Dakki? WHY AREY OU ASKING ME THIS-- oh it’s question 69. haha nice 70. Who’s your favourite Colourful Trio sennin? probably taiitsu! 71. Your opinion on the brand new sennin world? luv horai.... new home 72. What is Fukki’s hair colour in act 201? ....there was talk about this?? 73. Ask yourself a question concerning Houshin Engi. can you ever stop fucking thinking about this manga 74. Your response to that question? no lol!!!!! 75. In your opinion, is Nentou in love with his half sister? in a completely innocent and platonic way, you fucking freaks! 76. Did the Sennin World War leave a deep mark on your heart? FUCK YEAH IT HURTS 77. Do you own any Houshin Engi doujinshis? oh yeah we got soup 78. Kichiku, hentai, yaoi, shounen-ai, general. Which doujinshi genre do you have the most of? shounen ai probably. i am, gay 79. Do you make Houshin Engi doujins? i would if i could, probably 80. If you answered ‘yes’ to #79, do you make doujins about couples? i would if i could!! 81. If you answered ‘yes’ to #79, the amount of Houshin Engi doujinshi circles is decreasing, but do you intend to continue yours? man what audience was this intended for 82. Who’s the easiest character to draw? youzen because he’s all i ever draw 83. Who’s the hardest character to draw? anyone who isn’t youzen 84. Have you ever done Houshin Engi cosplay? i wanted to cosplay roushi in high school but predictably never went through with the idea

85. If you answered ‘yes’ to #84, who have you cosplayed? man a lot of these could really be combined into one question huh 86. Does your website mainly have Houshin Engi in it? yeah cause it’s all i ever fucking think about 87. Is there a Houshin Engi fan you can’t forgive? Who and why? :) 88. What is Hanyoutai Youzen’s colour scheme? wh.... white hair, gold eyes, ???? hell if i know. bold of you to assume fujiryu would ever give a character a consistent colour scheme 89. If Nataku were to give you a ride, where would you want to go? nataku take me to court so i can get my legal name changed. idk?!? does this mean like in the sennin world?? anywhere Scenic

90. Which of Choukei’s outfits is the best? i’m longhairluvr69 but i think he looks cuter in his later outfit.... maybe if he’d kept his long hair and put it up in a bun?

91. Say anything about the most memorable scene in Houshin Engi. bold of you to assume i have a working memory 92. What do you think of the ending to Houshin Engi? I’M SAD. it’s a very satisfying ending though. 93. Have you imagined what happens after the series’ end? i got six years worth of headcanons for it, coming soon to a theatre near you 94. If you answered ‘yes’ to #93, give more detail. NO I’M TIRED. just read my fic

95. Have you read Parallel World Houshin Engi? what, Another Story? yeah i’ve read it. 96. Do you own “Dramatic Irony”? yeah! milk junkie sure was a story, wasn’t it. 97. The series has ended, but is your love for the series still going strong? i will be on my deathbed still talking about this manga 98. Do you really think Fukki has nothing left to do in the end? well, he’s finished everything he Needs to do, but there’s a whole wide world left for him to explore! 99. Say anything you want about Fujiryuu. fujiryu i AM coming to japan and we WILL duel in an arby’s parking lot at 3am. there will only be one survivor

full seriousness i am alive and happy today because of fujiryu so if i ever do meet him irl i’d probably just start crying lol. 100. Any last words? read houshin engi!!!!

#yarrowtext #long post under the cut #SORRY IF THE CUT DOESN'T WORK ON MOBILE.... HELL APP.........

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dornishsphinx · 6 years

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@verecunda tagged me in this a while back, and it completely slipped my mind until I saw it half-done in my notes, oops—sorry it took so long! Also, this got wordier than intended, probably because that always happens when I’m avoiding doing actual work. Oh well.

If any of you feel like ranting about your fave female characters, here’s an excuse to do so--though no pressure, of course. Tagging @zonesthesia, @bioticplaneswalker, @joyseeker6, @moonhairedgirl, @yousef-the-uber-driver, @northernpansy, @tresjoly, @xxchimericalxx, @arthoure, @mrmissmrsrandom, @gascon-en-exil, @amorremanet and anyone else reading this who feels like it!

Rules: Rules: Write your ten favourite female characters from ten different fandoms and tag ten different people.

1. Fire Emblem—Sonya

This ended up being a close tie between Sonya and Jill, but I gave this one to Sonya since I’ve actually finished her game. Sonya is amazing. A non-lord character with a connection to the villains always brings them up a notch in my estimation and it’s a damn shame she never got more than one boss conversation with her father—and none with her sisters! Her ending was initially aggravating, but I like to go with the common theory that since Duma is no longer around, talk of her becoming a witch was just hearsay. Her support with Genny is brilliant. She manages to be confident and alluring without turning into a caricature, unlike certain other unfortunate characters throughout the—mostly recent—games. And since she’s from a less popular game, she’s hardly as likely to get completely flanderised in spinoffs. Why on Earth would you ever pick Deen?

Honourable mentions: Celica (FE2/15), Lyn (FE7), Jill Fizzart (FE9/10). This isn’t counting games I’ve not actively played, though there are certain FE4 and FE10 characters who might have ended up in the mentions if I had, given what I know about them.

2. Persona—Yukino Mayuzumi

I actually wasn’t expecting to put Yukino here when I was first trying to figure out who my favourite female character from Persona was. I knew it would likely be a P2 character, since that is my favourite game in the series thus far, but then I realised how much I’ve been missing Yukino in particular while playing Eternal Punishment. The Empress arcana really does fit her: she’s a combination of tough-as-nails and motherly, and a cool older figure for the team to look up to. I especially love how she transfers the chance Saeko gave her to reform during her yankī days to Anna, years later. And that’s not even going into the revelations from her Shadow: she’s torn between two career paths, not feeling good enough to achieve either. And she gives up her Persona for Jun! That takes some serious selflessness.

Honourable mentions: Maki Sonomura (P1/2), Maya Amano (P2), Naoto Shirogane (P4), Labrys (Arena)

3. Ace Attorney—Ema Skye

This came closer than any other entry on the list, both Mia and Franziska initially taking this spot before I eventually settled on Ema. She was an interesting enough character as a kid, her peppiness and the science-obsession gimmick quickly giving way to a more complex characterisation, especially once her full involvement in SL-9 was revealed. However, the science-gimmick paid off wonderfully in AJ:AA when we see how she’s transformed into a jaded, bitter detective, her dreams of becoming a scientist crushed because she didn’t pass the exams she needed to get a career in forensics. When SOJ rolled around and she’d actually managed to get into the field, it felt earned, way more than if we’d met her SOJ self in AJ:AA.

Honourable mentions: Franziska von Karma, Mia Fey

4. Zero Escape—Lotus

Of all the characters who didn’t make it into the sequels which followed on from the original game, Lotus—along with Santa, who I’ll admit has more story-based reasons to return—is the one I miss most. She loves her daughters, fiercely enough to relentlessly investigate their kidnapping by herself for years when the police were of no use, and on top of all that, she’s a genius programmer. The moment I actively started loving Lotus was when she, clearly scared but putting on a brave face, volunteered to go in the electric chair in the torture chamber. It made you realise she genuinely is utilitarian, rather than just being out for her own survival; she’s clearly self-interested, but not completely selfish. I’m just gonna quote Uchikoshi himself: “She may seem selfish and cold, but she’s actually the most rational and sensible out of all of them. She has the intellectual ability to make very logical decisions.” She’s just the best.

Honourable mentions: Akane Kurashiki, Diana

5. Avatar—Azula

I know there are people who follow me still watching Avatar, so I’ll try and keep this as spoiler-free as I can in case they end up skimming some of this accidentally. (Though I’d definitely not recommend anyone who wants to remain completely unspoiled reads this entry on the list.)

But anyway—“Do the tides command this ship?”

The Fire Nation royal family just provides all the best characters in the series. Zuko is definitely my male fave, while his sister takes the female spot. Source of both the vast majority of best lines in the show, as well as the most Machiavellian of villainy, Azula is just awesome to watch in action, whether it be in the political, martial or personal sphere. The odd dynamic she has with Zuko is my favourite in the series, managing to be outright antagonistic, while at some moments offering the glimmer of a genuine, if warped almost beyond recognition, sibling bond. There are even more poignant moments where we’re reminded of her actual age and how her family circumstances have shaped her into what she is. She’s a complex villain, one of the best this, or any other series, has to offer.

Honourable mentions: Kuvira, Katara, Toph Beifong

6. A Song of Ice and Fire—Sarella Sand

Okay, if we’re doing a female character list, I kinda have to give the original Dornish Sphinx herself a spot on the list. Not much page space has been devoted to her as of the current date, considering our only consistent POV character in Oldtown just arrived. I’m looking forward to what she and Archmaester Marwyn get up to once GRRM finishes TWOW. The least war-hungry of the Sand Snakes, she’s not even been introduced on page as herself yet. Instead, we know her as “Alleras”, a pleasant young Dornishman of sharp intellect studying at the Citadel.

Honourable mentions: Asha Greyjoy, Sansa Stark, Arianne Martell

7. DCU—Selina Kyle

Is there any Bat-work, canon or fanon, that isn’t instantly made a dozen times better by Selina swooping in? (Okay, there are a couple of duds, but usually she’s a delightful presence.) One of DC’s best anti-hero/anti-villains.

Honourable mentions: Renée Montoya, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown

8. Danganronpa—Kyōko Kirigiri

The original Ultimate Detective herself. Cool, poised and collected, she certainly makes for a more convincing detective character than certain other later characters from the series, though Shuichi does try his best.

Honourable mentions: Kaede Akamatsu, Junko Enoshima, Chiaki Nanami

9. Doctor Who—Martha Jones

I’m scraping the barrel a little for fandoms, considering I don’t even watch the show anymore, but Martha is my favourite of all companions. I never wanted her to get with the Doctor, of course, but I appreciated how her unrequited feelings for him didn’t swallow up her entire character. She’s courageous, smart and leaves the TARDIS on her own accord, which is refreshing.

10. Arthuriana—Morgan le Fay

This is a tricky one, since Arthuriana is more a literary tradition than a fandom per se. The characters which belong to it don’t technically ever stick to one characterisation, personality or role—everyone has their own interpretation, or even several different ones. That said—yes, my favourite is Morgan, how original of me, I know. Viviane runs her competition, but since she’s all over the place—quite literally, becoming or amalgamating several different characters at once—Morgan wins. There’s a reason she’s overused in modern adaptions, though, and it’s because she’s amazing. I mean, she even got a geographical phenomenon named after her and in some traditions, she lives in a goddamn volcano. She’s at her best as Queen of Rheged, though, casually trying to murder her husband, or Guinevere, or teaching a lesson to whichever knight of the week volunteers for her obvious trap. Just never mention that modern book she’s most known for around me unless you want me to angry-cry. Also, she’s not Morgause. Let Morgause be her own character, modern media, please.

Honourable mentions: Viviane, Lynette, Ragnell

#ask meme #long post #now that i reread the rules i think i only had to put down their names oops #oh well

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burnouts3s3 · 6 years

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Simoun, a review

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously.) Just the facts 'Cause you're in a Hurry! Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price for Season (MSRP): 25.00 USD How much I paid: 23 Dollars USD. Number of Episodes: 26 Episodes Price per episode: 1 Dollar per episode Length per Episode: 25 Minutes on average. 21 Without Intro and Ending song. Number of Discs: 5 DVD Discs in total. Episodes per Disc: 5 or 6. Licensed and Localized by: Media Blasters Animation Studio: Deen Audio: Japanese Audio with Subtitles available Bonus Features: Staff and Voice Actor Commentary. My Personal Biases: I actually saw Simoun a while back but never reviewed it. I like other shows in the Shoujo Ai genre such as Mai Hime, Mai Otome, Maria Watches over Us, Strawberry Panic and yes, even Kannazuki no Miko/Destiny of the Shrine Maiden. My Verdict: Simoun is probably one of the best shows and anime series I’ve seen even if it wasn’t part of the shoujo ai genre. It stands up to one of the best in the business with its beautiful animation, amazing soundtrack, incredible world building and interesting characters. But its tone and message is joyless, sullen and grim. Even when the series has a handful of hopeful (not happy mind you) scenes, there’s still the sense of loss. If you can stomach some truly heart wrenching scenes, check this show out when you can. A/N: Okay, so Media Blasters is the official licenser of the show and translated most of the subs. A lot of the names were also translated but a lot of fans noticed a change in names. Mainly, a lot of characters whose names end with a “u” end up having the “u” dropped. So Caimu is Kaim, Anubitufu is Anubituf and Aeru is Aer. Also, Rodoreamon is apparently Rotreamon now. I’m going to use the names Media Blasters chose for the characters for the sake of simplicity. Simoun, a review

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I consider myself a fan of shoujo-ai or Yuri anime. I own a couple of boxsets of Yuri anime. I watch Yuri anime. Even the stuff that bores me (Strawberry Panic) or annoys me (Kannazuki no Miko/Destiny of the Shrine Maiden) at least makes me rewatch it again and again. Like all things, I tend to have agreements of which shows I like and which shows I detest like the fucking plague. But, then comes a series that not only makes me rethink preconceptions I had about religion, war, politics, children, innocence and romances, but also makes me rethink myself and how I rate things on a good or bad rating. Simoun is a particularly hard series for me to review. It’s a study of contrasts. While I can honestly say the efforts put forth by the director, the animators, the voice actors and the writers is nothing less than something I find in a movie studio and the passion put into this project is nothing less than soul bearing, it remains one of the most polarizing and controversial shows I’ve ever reviewed. So, let me say this upfront so you can understand where I’m coming from: Simoun is a fantastic anime that covers the concepts of children at war, religion rivaling technology, gender roles, maturity, war in the name of religion, and the loss of innocence… that also happens to have lesbian romances. It’s probably one of the few shows that’s legitimately good and can recommend to people who aren’t shoujo ai fans. The scope magnificent, the animation, even the stilled shots, are gorgeous to look at, the music is haunting and the characters and voice actors do their absolute best to make the characters come alive. Even the use of CGI ships against a 2D backdrop manage to still look compelling (if a bit dated). A war breaks out between three nations Simulacrum, Argentum, and Plumbum over Simulacrum helical motor technology that powers the airships known as Simouns. Two fleets of the Simoun, Chor Caput and Chor Tempest, stumble upon a huge Argentum airship fleet attempting steal a Simoun. Suffering massive losses in the battle, the pair Neviril and Amuria of Chor Tempest attempt an extremely powerful but extremely dangerous maneuver out of desperation named the Emerald Ri Mājon. Neviril hesitates after making eye contact with the enemy, and the pair fail resulting in an explosion that takes Amuria with it. The fight leaves the sibyllae or members of Chor Tempest extremely demoralized and Neviril in despair. This is not Strawberry Panic, an all-girls school romance; this is Ender’s Game and Top Gun for the Shoujo Ai Genre. I would even hesitate to use the word Romance to describe this show because of how dark and at times bleak it can get. But, if you can stomach through the hardships and the gut wrenching scenes, you will find a light at the end of the tunnel and will find hope for the world and its characters. The people of Daikūriku are all born female. In Simulacrum, the girls grow up until age of seventeen, when they make a pilgrimage to a holy place known as "the Spring" to select their permanent sex. Four new sibyllae join Chor Tempest, one of them an excellent pilot with an unshakeable morale named Aer. Aer immediately decides to partner with Neviril, however despite her persistent attempts, Neviril remains too mired in her grief over Amuria's death to accept her. How committed are the producers to this premise of everyone being born female? So committed that they literally hired only female voice performers to voice all the characters, even the older men with facial hair. It’s that fact that haunts the world around them. Certain countries do not have access to the well so they have to perform sex reassignment surgery operations for half of the population to keep them afloat. And the use of such technology is polluting their world to the point of seeing nothing but red and black. This show came out in 2006 before the idea of there being more than 2 genders, debates on whether gender and general roles are a social or biological constructs and gender fluidity became popularized on internet sites like Tumblr. (I will point out to my internet skeptic friends that the show’s setting depicts EVERYONE as being born biologically female and, according to this world, that certain members MUST transition to the male gender to keep society functioning.) But be warned; the show can get bleak and downright depressing at times. If you thought it was hard to sit through some of the darker parts of Kannazuki no Miko or My-Hime, you haven’t seen anything yet! For example, as early as Episode 4 (one of the ‘filler’ episodes), Aer and Rimone take an unauthorized flight and get ambushed on the ground by an enemy soldier. The Soldier dies only to have his body stiffen up with his hands on the controls of the Simoun. Rimone points out that prying his hands off will break the controls, stranding them there in enemy territory while the enemy comes closer. So Aer has to take her tiny pocket knife and SAW OFF THE SOLDIER’S HANDS FROM THE REST OF HIS BODY. It’s not even the amount of blood or gore that’s disturbing; it’s seeing a child having to endure and do such a thing that’s so messed up. See, one of the interesting things I love is seeing how characters interact or react to the world around them. In Simoun, the Sybillae are so used to the idea of war that hearing about people dying is nothing new for them but the idea of having to deal with a mouse is frightening. It’s the type of world where a kiss on the lips between women is so commonplace but Rotreamon cutting off her braids is more dramatic. If there’s a consequence to the proceedings it’s the characters. Don’t get me wrong; the characters aren’t ‘bad’ per say and a lot are very interesting and have interesting dynamics, such as the incestuous undertone of Kaim and Alti, the mechanic Waporif dealing with the idea of faith and technology, the class struggle between Roderamon and Mamina. Even Floe, the cute girl and comedic relief, doesn’t escape the world unscathed. It’s just that the world and the situations and the conflict are so interesting, that you start to notice that the characters are a bit on the stock type. (Then again, I think you need familiar stock types so you can digest some of the bigger concepts.) But our main pair, Neviril and Aer, are the center of the proceedings and it’s their relationship that nails it. You get the sense that Neviril and Aer are both locked in a sense of immaturity, albeit from different perspectives. Neviril is locked in the idea of being pure and being a priestess forever, even going so far as to not fly again once Amuria dies. Aer, meanwhile, is an impulsive hothead who wants to do nothing but fly, even at the cost of being an adolescence. But as the war rages on and the casualties of people they know and love start piling up, the two eventually find comfort in each other’s arms. It first seems like Aer is the stronger of the two only for her to completely break down when one death becomes one death too many. If Junji Nishimura’s direction and co-writing are what brings the characters alive, Toshihiko Sahashi’s music is what makes them transcendent. Every so often, he would incorporate pieces of church music, classical music and tango to make the dichotomy and juxtaposition of certain scenes blow you away. Yes, Tango.

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Towards the latter half of the series, I noticed that the animation liked to use still shots with characters still talking. At first, I thought this was intentional by the showrunners. But, as I rewatched the series, it dawned on me that the animation budget was probably blown on the CGI battles and the rest of the team had to resort to cost saving techniques for the show. CAVEAT: Shows like Simoun do not get made every day. Directors and writers willing this bold of a risk to tell this dense of a tale should be rewarded. And yet for the same time, it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s not for the casual viewer. In some ways, it’s not even for anime fans. This is the anime version of 12 years a Slave as it provides a brutal, harsh and unflinching look at the world. Do you hate this show? No, because if I hated it, I’d simply write it off and say it’s a piece of crap just to be done with it. It’s not. If anything, Simoun is an ambitious anime made by well-intentioned people that for a lot of people is not going to resonate with them. And I’m not even throwing shade on religious viewers who have trouble digesting the heavier concepts. Even more progressive minded viewers are not going to sign on to a lot of the negative and just melancholy tones throughout the work. The work isn’t so much dark as say parts of Kannazuki or Mai Hime are as it is bleak. There’s a sense of melancholy in the air that just persists and there’s no getting rid of it with glimmers of hope scattered here and there. Why is recommending the anime so hard for you if you thought it was good? Because for a lot of people, a lot of the world building, concept provoking and issue debates are not what they wanted. Aside from the heavy themes and messages, a lot of the technical flaws do stick out. Neviril and other character designs were a bit off putting to me the first time I saw it, resembling more like dolls than usual anime characters. The CGI Simouns are interesting in concept (and I like the idea of rendering them in CG to show off how alien/foreign they are) but do show a dated look. And for some people, the slow (intentionally deliberate or not) pacing will drive them nuts. I came upon Simoun as I was exploring Yuri anime and wanted to see, yes, anime girls kissing. What I got instead were thought provoking concepts that only changed my view but changed the views of people around me. Buying this show just to watch girls kissing each other is like, as Jeff Foxworthy said, buying a 747 just to eat the peanuts. Erica Friedman, writer of the blog Okazu Yuri, once said this show is not for the Lowest Common Denominator. And upon rewatching Simoun, I had the startling realization that not only was Friedman right but also that I was part of the Lowest Common Denominator. Simoun is more of a show that I admire and respect the hell of, than I actually like and the fault lies more because of me than what the show did. And for 23 USD with the amount of content AND the numerous special features including Director Commentary and cast interviews, this is truly a must buy! That ending shot gets me every time. Verdict: Buy it!

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wendiuh · 7 years

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Hey hey hey question! 😄 I've been wanting to start the fate series for awhile, and there was one I had watched some time ago, but I've realized there is multiple series? I've noticed you like it so I was hoping you could help me figure out where to start, what order to go in...? Thanks in advance dearie!

You have no idea how happy i was to see this ask omg girl I’m in Fate hell. This will get lengthy, so beware haha. If you have any other questions, feel free to come to me! If it becomes too much reading (I think it’s like 1.5k words oops) just scroll to the bottom for the summary XD. I’ll put my essay explanation under the cut:

If you’re completely new to Fate, then allow me to explain how the story is set up structure-wise. It is split into 3 separate routes that start off from the same point. Each route has a set heroine/love interest and explore different aspects of the story and characters. These routes are viewed in the order of Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven’s Feel. Fate focuses on the character Saber, UBW focuses on Tohsaka Rin, and HF focuses on Matou Sakura.

Now the first thing all faithful Fate watchers would say is to read the original visual novel. I, however, did not start with this, but it is easy to see why people recommend this first. The Nasuverse (the world of Fate and other related series, named after creater Kinoko Nasu) is a very, very detailed world that has so many aspects to it. Reading the original story will definitely provide the most helpful context. I am currently reading the VN now to get a better understanding of the universe, and it is pretty enjoyable, but can get pretty slow.

Fair warning, though. The original VN is an adult game, meaning it is somewhat gory and deals with adult themes (aka sex). There was a re-release of it without any sex scenes called Realta Nua. I wont provide any links on this post on how get the VN, but there’s definitely YouTube videos out there to help.

If sitting through 80+ hours of reading isn’t your thing, and I don’t blame you if it isn’t, then we must turn to the animes. That’s where things get complicated.

There are 3 currently accessible animes out there set in the Fate/sn universe. There’s the orginal anime from 2006 that “covers” the 1st route, Fate, and was made by Studio Deen. I’m going to refer to this as Deen/stay night. I put the word “covers” in quotes because many Fate fans view this adaptation as a disgrace. I didn’t watch it, but many say it tries too hard to cover the story of the visual novel and somewhat combines the routes. Basically, it tried to adapt all of the visual novel but under the cover of the route Fate. However, it does seem to serve as an okay introduction to the Fate universe in general since it is the first anime adaptation out there.

In terms of release date, next comes the famous adaptation of Fate/zero by ufotable. This is a prequel follows the events prior to the beginning of Fate/stay night, and is hands down a phenomenal series in general. Many view FZ as a classic and a wonderful story, but it does have a few spoilers in terms of some big revelations that happen in the Stay Night routes. If you want to watch an amazing series and you’re okay with some spoilers for the main series, start here. As for me, I didn’t start here because I wanted to save it for last because of how many people that praised it.

Finally comes the UBW anime (the series by ufotable. Not the movie!). Commonly known as Unlimited Budget Works for its beautiful animation, this series focuses on the VN’s second route. This was released after FZ, so I do think ufotable made this series thinking fans already watched the prequel. However, I did start with this series first. Though there were some confusing points, I was able to understand most of the anime and it was pretty good. It took a second watch for me to fully understand the plot, but that’s kind of how a lot of animes work. You never enjoy the full scope of the series until you rewatch it. Both this series and FZ got at least 3 times better when I rewatched it, and that is saying a lot considering how much I liked them the first time through.

So, which one do you start with and what order to watch it in? For the sake of chronology, watch Deen/stay night, then FZ, then UBW. If you want to skip Deen/stay night (which is okay to do), then it is up to you what you want to watch first.

In my opinion, watch UBW first, then FZ. This saves the more serious and dark series for last, which will make the transition to the tone of the upcoming Heaven’s Feel adaptation movies more smooth.

But I think either way you watch the series will still get you a good amount of exposure to the Nasuverse. It’s complicated to start, but once you’re in, it gets better. Heck, even if you don’t fully get immersed into the universe, the 2 ufotable animes are still stellar and carry heavy messages as well as are pretty much eye candy thanks to that animation quality.

But what about all those other things with “Fate/” stamped onto it?

There are a couple of other major Fate installments out there, but they are NOT taking place in the Stay night universe. They are AUs that overall expand the lore of the Nasuverse (and also give the creators some more money lol). These include:

Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA - A magical girl AU that is extremely different from Fate/sn. I think one should watch this after they finish the Stay Night series, but don’t feel forced to watch it, for it is completely non-canon.

Fate/apocrypha - This anime is currently airing as of my writing of this post. It follows a parallel universe “what if” situation. If this one certain event in history happened differently, then the events of Stay Night turn into this. This deals with completely different characters and set up. I only watched a few episodes of this anime and found it is probably most enjoyable to those familiar with the Nasuverse.

Fate/extra - Another parallel universe series coming out. Just like Apocrypha, this deals with new characters in general.

Fate/hollow ataraxia - A sequel Visual Novel to the original Stay Night story. Same characters and world, but 6 months later. It is another adult VN game, so it’s pretty much half-lore expansion and half-fanservice.

Fate/prototype - This is a 1-episode OVA of Kinoko Nasu’s first envision of the series. There are some minor differences lore-wise, and the characters are mainly the same, save for a few design differences and gender swaps.

Carnival Phantasm - Ever watch those “crack” videos on YouTube? Like “Fairy Tail Crack” or “Boku no Hero Academia Crack”? These videos take an anime and make jokes out of its content and have many, many memes. Well, Carnival Phantasm is exactly that. It combines many series of the Nasuverse (mainly the Fate/stay night series and Nasu’s other work, Tsukihime) and makes it into a joyful, cute, hilarious, and downright amazing anime. It is filled with inside jokes of the universe and has some spoilers, so save this anime for last. I did skip the Tsukihime skits simply because I didn’t get the jokes, but there’s a montage of all the Fate skits on YouTube here. This series is the source of many, many fandom memes. You don’t have to watch it, but it is so funny.

Fate/Grand Order - A 1-episode OVA that adapts the first storyline of the famous mobile game with the same name. It is another parallel universe of some sort. New characters with some familiar faces of the Stay Night universe. The game is currently released in Japan and North America on the iTunes and Google Play store. It may be a waifu and husbando collector, but it is so addicting…

To conclude, there really isn’t a right answer that I can give you. But here’s my suggestion (aka the way I watched the anime):

1. Watch the Unlimited Blade Works anime by ufotable.

2. Watch Fate/zero.

3. If you want to rewatch then watch the first season of the UBW anime again, then watch FZ again, then watch the second season of UBW. Totally optional, but a fun way to watch the 2 series imo.

4. If you are okay with spoilers for Heaven’s Feel, watch Carnival Phantasm for the Fate sketches. By spoilers I mean there are some jokes from that series that rooted from Heaven’s Feel, but you may only catch them if you squint. It never explicitly spoils the story.

5. Watch the Heaven’s Feel movies. Only 1 out of the 3 is currently out/coming out internationally in theaters, so I guess just try to watch the first 1 if it is available to you at this point?

Feel free to start the visual novel if you want. In regards to the other series I mentioned, they are optional as well.

If you watch UBW and FZ and feel that there are a lot of unanswered questions, then expect Heaven’s Feel to address those issues. Remember that even though the 3 routes are all different stories, they are written in a way that you don’t get the whole picture until you have completed all three routes (too bad the Fate route anime is completely butchered and unreliable plot-wise. But I think you can manage without it. It’s more of an introduction to the story than anything else.)

Hope you understood what I was saying! Again, please message me if you have any questions or just want to talk about the series with me! I am in absolute hell with this universe so don’t hesitate to talk to me!

#THIS WAS SO LONG SORRY I HOPE YOU STILL WANT TO WATCH FATE LOL #fate stay night #long post #asks

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pogueman · 7 years

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How to win the World's Greatest Scavenger Hunt

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GISHWHES stands for the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. Teams of 15 have one week to complete a list of 200 difficult, charitable, or hilarious tasks. They prove they’ve completed each item by submitting a photo or video of it; their $20 entry fees go to a charity, and the winning team gets a trip to an exotic location.

This is Part 4 of our five-part series. Here are Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Part 4: How to Win GISHWHES

In the early years of the world’s largest scavenger hunt, when you signed up to enter, you’d have to answer only one question: Have you put together your own team of 15 people? Or would you like us to add you to a team?

But sometimes, the team-building system failed—because people came in with different expectations.

Florida State University students Nat Jones and Kira Sullivan, for example, had a rough ride during their first years competing. “In our first years of the hunt, we were on teams that weren’t as competitive as the one we’re on now [Team Raised from Perdition],” Kira says.

“We were in it to win it, but no one else on our team was,” Nat adds. “They saw us as too competitive: ‘Why are you guys so obsessed with GISHWHES?’”

(Lots of people join just for the hilarity of it, without any intention of completing all 175 items. Some, for example, choose to execute only a few, but in spectacular fashion. GISHWHES offers two showcases for such masterpieces: an online Hall of Fame, and a hardbound coffee-table book that’s published after each year’s hunt.)

That’s why, nowadays, when you sign up to enter, the site asks which kind of team you’re interested in. Do you intend to play competitively, or are you joining just for fun?

Tips from the Pros

If you do intend to enter GISHWHES competitively, Team Raised from Perdition—a runner-up last year, and the team we’ve been following in this miniseries—offers some tips.

“Fill the team with a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Spend some time bonding before the hunt.” —Suzanne Simpson

“You can’t win if everyone’s not 100% committed. I’m talking, no work for the whole week, no school for the whole week, no anything but GISHWHES for the whole week.” —Nina Mostepan, Co-Captain

“Another really essential skill to have in GISHWHES is the ability to not sleep for long periods of time. This year, I went for three and a half days on less than four hours of sleep.” —Christine Gervais

“A lot of teams struggle with keeping communications going. We talk to our team all the time [using a system like Slack or Google Hangouts]. Even all year long, we talk to them. We do a lot of practices, too.” —Shiane Gaylie

“Strategize in advance. You can look at past years’ item lists, and items created by top teams, for inspiration.” —Suzanne Simpson

“A good strategy is to have more than one person in a town. You have to have someone modeling, and someone taking the pictures. And someone to bounce ideas off of, or talk in the car on the way to the place you’re going to.” —Nat Jones

“Recruit a friend or family. Gishing is very social, so it’s always more fun if you have someone to do it with.” —Kira Sullivan

“We have a spreadsheet [a Google Docs sheet] full of all our items, and we claim them on the spreadsheet, so that everyone on the team knows who’s doing what.” —Shiane Gaylie

“We make up a laminated list of the items. So when we’re talking to someone about helping us with one of the challenges, we start by handing them the list, show them which item we need help with. It has explanations of everything that’s going on. A lot of the time, they’re like, ‘Hold on, I need five minutes to read this.’ (Laminated versus not laminated makes a miraculous difference. You don’t want to hand someone a piece of paper that’s floppy and has stains on it.)”—Rob Fitz-James

“We’re fortunate that we have a good camera, but some of our team members just use their phones. If you pay attention to composition and lighting, the results can be just as good.” —Kira Sullivan

The week winds down

So far, for Team Raised from Perdition, it looks like those tips are paying off; as GISHWHES week draws to a close, only three of the 175 tasks seem unattainable. Unfortunately, one of them is worth a lot of points:

#127. Do the “airplane” with an astronaut—you know, like your parents used to? Lie on your back with your feet in the air while an astronaut lies face-down, hips on your feet, hands in yours, pretending to be flying. This must be a real, official astronaut or cosmonaut, wearing appropriate flight garb.

NASA’s official response to team requests for an astronaut for this purpose is, of course, “Um, no thanks.”

(Overall, though, NASA has a good relationship with GISHWHES. “One year, we put an item in the hunt that was to get one of the eight astronauts on the space station Mir to hold up a piece of paper that said ‘GISHWHES’ and your team name written on it,” says hunt creator Misha Collins. “Which resulted in all of the people on the space station having their social-media feeds bombarded. And so NASA posted, ‘Please leave our astronauts alone. They’re doing serious work.’ So the next year, I put an item into the hunt that read, ‘Last year, NASA asked us to leave them alone. We know that they’ve been kicking themselves all year for this. So here’s your second chance. Get ‘GISHWHES’ written in space.” NASA ended up naming a mountain on Mars ‘GISHWHES,’ maybe just to shut everybody up.”)

Things are going more smoothly for item 41:

#41. Treat a Vermont dairy cow to the most pampered milking session in human/bovine history. At least three attendants must milk the cow. One person must be feeding her clover by hand, as another milks her wearing satin gloves, as another massages her gently. The attendants must be dressed in semi-formal attire. The milking must take place in a well-appointed living room.

By a stroke of good luck, Tia’s step-grandmother Janet Watton lives in Vermont—next door to a dairy farm. By a stroke of bad luck, the farmer informs the team that you can’t bring a cow indoors. Cows don’t respond well to new environments, and even Paula Deen, the sweet-natured cow he has in mind, might balk—or, worse, rampage.

Janet devises a plan B: In her small barn, there’s a space that she can dress up to look like a living room. She sheetrocks the walls with posterboard, hangs curtains and a chandelier, brings in furniture, books, flowers, paintings. It’s not an actual living room, but it’s close enough for GISHWHES work.

On the last day of the hunt, the attendants, including a violinist, arrive in formal wear; the farmer sets up to do the milking; and Paula Deen takes her place. Distracted by the bucket of delicious fresh-picked clover, she performs like a champ as the camera rolls. “She didn’t even relieve herself,” the farmer marvels.

The cow is in the can; now all the team needs is an astronaut.

They have six hours left.

Next week: Episode 5, the finale!