#I'll never be praising any anime character more then them

[deliciousangelfestival]

Tears In His Ferrari || Chp 9 - B.Barnes

Character: Bucky Barnes x Farmer!Reader

Summary: Bucky Barnes, used to a life of luxury, takes on farm challenges in a bet with his father. Mud-stained Ferraris and a rustic farmhouse lead to unexpected personal growth, guided by the stern mentorship of Y/N, a farmer making his city-boy life difficult.

Theme: Fluff, Slice of Life, Heart-Warming.

Main Masterlist || support: Ko-fi

Thank you to anyone who gave a like, reblog, and left a comment. It motivated me to write more. 

Chapters: Chp 1, Chp 2, Chp 3 , Chp 4 , Chp 5 , Chp 6 , Chp 7 , Chp 8 , Chp 9 , -

Bucky, noticing the strained atmosphere between Kate and Y/N, decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Hey, Y/N," Bucky interjected, his voice laced with a hint of urgency, "could you teach me how to clean Alpine's hooves?"

Y/N paused, her expression softening as she recognized Bucky's attempt to diffuse the tension. "Of course," she replied, offering him a reassuring smile.

With a sense of relief washing over him, Bucky led the way to the stables, eager to learn from Y/N and escape the brewing conflict with Kate.

Meanwhile, Kate seethed with frustration, her hostility towards Y/N palpable. Clenching her fists, she struggled to contain her anger as she watched Bucky and Y/N walk away, leaving her behind.

"Shit!" she muttered under her breath, her perfectly manicured nails leaving indentations on her palms as she pressed them tightly together.

Turning to her assistant, Kate issued a terse command. "I want you to gather information on someone."

Kate couldn't fathom how Bucky could abandon her for a mere farm girl when there were plenty of wealthy suitors vying for her attention. The thought fueled her irritation, exacerbating her already sour mood.

With a frustrated huff, Kate stomped her expensive shoes on the ground, unwittingly stepping into a patch of mud. The dirt splattered across her face, staining her clothes and ruining her pristine footwear.

"Fuck!" she exclaimed, her outburst startling the nearby animals, who responded with their own cacophony of sounds.

As the chickens clucked "Buk-buk-ba-gawk!!!" and the cows mooed, "Moooo…!" Kate felt a surge of indignation. She despised the rural setting and everything it represented, longing for the comfort and luxury of her city life.

Determined to uncover any secrets Y/N might be hiding, Kate hoped that the information her assistant obtained would give her the leverage she needed to regain control of the situation.

***********

At the stable, Bucky observed closely as Y/N expertly cleaned Alpine's hooves. Her movements were precise and confident, a testament to her familiarity with the task.

She explained, her voice calm and knowledgeable, “Regular cleaning is also the only way to remove impacted dirt, mud, and manure from the hoof. When you give your horse a bath, take the time to carefully clean out their hooves to prevent horse scratches and infections.”

Bucky nodded attentively, absorbing her instructions. “I see. I'll try my best to take care of Alpine.”

Y/N smiled approvingly. “Good. You're getting better at living on this farm.”

Bucky felt a flush of shyness at her compliment. He hadn't expected Y/N to praise him. “Hehe, but I'm nothing compared to you.”

As she brushed Alpine's coat, Y/N chuckled softly. “Well, I'm already used to this. If you asked me to drive a sports car or make a vlog, I wouldn't have a clue.”

Bucky's curiosity piqued. “You've never driven a sports car?”

Y/N rolled her eyes playfully. “Not everyone is as rich as you.”

Realizing his unintentional insensitivity, Bucky hurriedly apologized. “Uhh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way.”

Then, an idea struck him. “Do you want me to teach you?”

Bucky said, "You have taught me how to drive a truck. It's more difficult than driving my Ferrari. I think you can do it."

Y/N paused, considering his offer. Bucky couldn't see her expression from his angle. “Hmm, I'll pass, but thanks for the offer.”

Disappointed but understanding, Bucky nodded. He had hoped to share the thrill of driving a sports car with Y/N, to give her a glimpse of his world, and understand his passion for racing.

Suddenly, Toby burst into the stable, his usually cheerful face now drawn with worry. “Y/N, Bucky, I need to go home!”

Concern etched across his features, Bucky approached. "What's wrong?"

“My grandmother,” Toby gasped, his voice trembling. “She's having a hard time breathing.”

Y/N wasted no time. “Get in my car, and I'll call the doctor on the way.”

Bucky, feeling a surge of determination, stepped forward. “I want to help.”

Y/N hesitated, considering Bucky's offer. “It won't fit since we're going to pick up both his grandparents.”

But Bucky wasn't deterred. “I'll use my car. It's faster. I'll meet you at Toby's house and then drive his grandma to the hospital.”

Y/N nodded, seeing the logic in Bucky's plan. “Alright.”

With determination in his eyes, Bucky hurried to his red Ferrari and fired up the engine.

"VROOM!"

The roar of the Ferrari's powerful motor sent a thrill through him. “Let's help someone,” he declared, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

As they drove towards Toby's house, Bucky followed Y/N's truck, his mind racing with thoughts. He couldn't help but marvel at Toby's resilience, realizing that the young boy had been walking to and from the farm every day.

Bucky remembered Toby, who never seemed tired each time he came by.

He felt like all his life he had the privilege to own a car and have a private driver to drive him around.

Arriving at Toby's house, Bucky took in the scene before him—the abundance of bee boxes and honey jars, a testament to the family's livelihood. Yet, despite their hard work, they lacked the resources and transportation in times of emergency.

Feeling a pang of guilt, Bucky reflected on his life of luxury, provided by his father's wealth.

Entering the house, Bucky saw Toby's grandparents. The love between them was palpable, even in their moment of distress. Toby's grandmother struggled to breathe, her frail form supported by her husband.

Bucky sprang into action with urgency, lifting Toby's grandmother gently into his arms.

Toby's grandfather regarded Bucky with curiosity who carried his wife into the small car. “Who is this young man?”

Toby assured him, “He's my great friend. Trust him, grandpa.”

As they hurried Toby's grandmother into Bucky's car, Toby's grandfather's eyes reflected both worry and gratitude, hoping for the best for his beloved wife.

With minimal traffic on the road, Bucky navigated the streets swiftly, arriving at the hospital in just 10 minutes. Carrying Toby's grandmother into the emergency room, he conveyed the urgency of her condition to the attending doctor. "She's having a hard time breathing. It's been 20 minutes."

The medical team, already briefed by Y/N, sprang into action, swiftly preparing a bed for the elderly woman. "Quick, put her here," they instructed, their sense of urgency matching Bucky's own.

As he received updates upon his arrival, Bucky prayed for Toby's grandmother's swift recovery. The weight of the situation settled heavily on his shoulders, a newfound sense of responsibility driving him to do everything in his power to help.

Ten minutes later, Y/N, Toby, and his grandfather arrived at the hospital, their anxious expressions mirroring Bucky's own concern. "Where is she?" Toby's grandfather inquired, his voice trembling with worry.

Bucky relayed the nurse's assurance. "The doctor is still looking after her, but the nurse told him her breathing problem has already improved."

Relief washed over the group, evident in their collective sighs. Toby's grandfather extended his hand to Bucky in gratitude. "Thank you, young man. Thank you so much."

Though unused to such displays of appreciation, Bucky accepted the gesture with a sense of humility, his heart warmed by the genuine gratitude.

Not just him, but Y/N felt it too. Watching Bucky's efforts to help Toby and his grandparents, Y/N's perception of him changed. He wasn't the spoiled person she had initially thought him to be.

*************

As they waited at the hospital, Bucky's thoughts drifted to his father. Reflecting on their strained relationship, he wondered when they had last spent quality time together. The sight of his father's graying hair flashed in his mind, prompting concerns about his health. Had his father undergone regular check-ups?

His musings were interrupted by Toby's grandfather's somber conversation with a doctor. "We couldn't afford the surgery," he overheard, the weight of the words settling heavily on Bucky's heart.

Caught in a moment of helplessness, Toby echoed his grandfather's sentiments. If only his father hadn't succumbed to gambling, they would have had the means to afford the necessary medical treatment for his grandmother.

Feeling helpless, Bucky watched as Toby and his family grappled with the harsh reality of their financial limitations. Meanwhile, Y/N, ever resourceful, discussed options to assist Toby's grandmother with the hospital administration.

In the midst of the chaotic scene at the hospital, Bucky felt overwhelmed by the raw emotions surrounding him. The sight of an 80-year-old man in tears and the anguished voice of another man grappling with his inability to provide for his loved one brought a lump to Bucky's throat, threatening to unleash his own flood of tears.

In stark contrast to his usual composed demeanor, Bucky clenched his fists in frustration, his heart aching with the weight of helplessness. In a world where a simple swipe of his card could solve most problems, he now found himself powerless in the face of someone else's suffering.

Determined to make a difference, Bucky stepped outside the hospital, his resolve firm as he dialed his father's number.

“Hello,” came his father's curt greeting.

“Dad. I need your help,” Bucky began, his voice tinged with urgency.

His father's response was laced with skepticism. “What did you do this time?”

Bucky's frustration mounted as he struggled to convey the gravity of the situation. “Huh? No, Dad, this isn't about me. I want to help someone.”

But his father's skepticism persisted. “Really? It's not the same as when you ask for a private jet to pick up your friends for a party?”

Bucky winced at the reminder of his past selfishness, feeling ashamed. “No, Dad, this is different. This is about someone's life. A farmer I know is facing a medical issue and can't afford surgery. I want to help them, but I don't have the money. Dad, can you help me?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, stretching agonizingly as Bucky waited for his father's response.

“...”

“Hello? Dad?” Bucky prompted anxiously, his heart pounding in his chest.

“How much for the surgery?” his father's voice finally broke through the silence.

Relief flooded through Bucky, gratitude welling up within him. “Thank you, Dad. You're the best. Oh, can I ask one more thing?” he added, seizing the opportunity to make another request, his mind already racing with possibilities.

As he awaited his father's response, Bucky couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope amidst the darkness, knowing that with his father's support, he could truly make a difference in someone's life.

Inside the office, with expansive windows offering sweeping views of the city skyline, sat a man of distinguished presence. David Barnes, at 50 years old, possessed an aura of approachability coupled with an unmistakable air of authority.

David was renowned in the business world for his astute decisions and remarkable success. With a seemingly effortless knack for turning ventures into triumphs, he had earned the moniker of having a Midas touch.

Yet, despite his prowess in the realm of business, David found himself somewhat adrift when it came to matters concerning his son, Bucky. His only child, Bucky's recent actions had stirred something within David, a sense of curiosity and perhaps even pride.

As he listened to Bucky's earnest plea for assistance, David felt a stirring within him. It was a rare glimpse of the young man his son had become, a departure from the carefree persona that had once defined him.

With a decisive nod, David motioned to his secretary. “Send $20,000 to this hospital,” he instructed, his voice tinged with a quiet resolve.

The secretary, ever efficient, sought clarification. “Did Bucky get hurt?” she inquired, her concern evident in her tone.

David shook his head, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he gazed at the sunset, casting its golden hues across the city cape. “No,” he replied simply, “he's helping someone.”

At that moment, as he watched the sun dip below the horizon, David felt a swell of pride for his son, realizing that there was more to success than just business acumen—that true wealth lay in the ability to lend a helping hand to those in need.

My dear readers and followers,

Could you please share your opinions about this series with me?

If you enjoyed it, I'd love to hear why it appealed to you.

If not, I would greatly appreciate your feedback and advice on improving the series.

Thank you!

Join the taglist? 🩷💙🩷

@bagoffeelings

@darkofimagination

@starsofcloud

@cherrybubblebullet

@winterslove1917

@thezombieprostitute

@namoreno

@sagebarness

@tenaciousathleteoperatorgarden

@unaxv

@missvelvetsstuff

@kjah97

@hopeful-daydreaming

@freshlemontea

@eat-limes-bitches

@kandis-mom

@scott-loki-barnes

@winters1917

@differenttyphoonwerewolf

@arunabraganza

@ordelixx

@jackiehollanderr

@regics

@pigeonmama

@charmedbysarge

@mostlymarvelgirl

@calwitch

Author Note: Hey friends,

If you've been enjoying the content, I've set up a Ko-fi account.

Your support through tips would mean the world and help me keep creating.

Only if you feel like it!

Here's the link: Ko-fi

Thanks a bunch for being fabulous followers!

[ahoppingmagician]

Yo another Helluva Boss Rant, Part Five thousand.

People are really out here saying we can't watch Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel as if they are some holy artefact. This may sound harsh but fuck off with that bullshit. Any show, movie, comic, and artist can be criticised for anything, yes some criticism is unhelpful I'll give you that, but at the end of the day, people can give their opinion on anything. Also, hate watching is a thing, a great example would be watching a bad movie because you love how horrible it is for example The Room, The Twilight movies, The 50 Shades of Grey Movies, or Any Disney Live Action Remake. All of these are absolute trash heaps but most people watch them over and over again because it's something to laugh at for a good while.

Vivzipop is a horrible person.

I might be harassed for a while but it needs to be said Viv is a horrible employer and person. She pays her animation staff dirt for all the hours they slave away on her intricate character designs, the fast paced action scenes, the more "heartfelt" scenes only to get low pay. Also her stopping her employees from finding better work like Lackadaisy, as we seen with the discord chat where an animator was explained to that Viv called them words like manic, insane, crazy just so they could find no other opportunities forcing them to stay with her. That isn't how you treat anyone, and if you think differently then I'm sorry to break it to you you're a bad person.

Of course the ableism, look as someone who has been called the R word multiple times in my life, I'm not offended by it being used in an adult show but only if you make it clear that it is a harmful word, unlike Viv who constantly teases the word as if it's funny to say, but like the coward she is never says it. JUST SAY IT AND BE DONE WITH IT. Yes I'll bust your balls about it but atleast it proves to me that you have some gumption.

I'm not a POC I'm far from it but I feel like this show can give people the wrong idea about women of colour. For Example, Millie is a bloodthirsty and adoring wife, but that's it she doesn't appear unless her husband is around or even does anything without Moxxie's approval. Also, it paints her as aggressive which is a common stereotype of black women. Verosika is a bitter ex of Blitzo and nothing more, wait I forgot a woman who enjoys sex. Now there is nothing wrong with sex or sex workers but again at this time that is all she is in the show and of course a discussion can be held about the objectification of POC in a sexual manner. Also Barbie....who is a fucking groomer and addict. These are three Canon Women of Colour and that's what we got, in my opinion not a good enough representation, because all these female characters are one note and objectively horrible people, also all are painted as angry and all of them have had at least two comments about their sex lives.

If these don't prove that Vivien M is not atleast a a ignorant person or at worst a awful human being then I can't explain to you anything, because your just choosing to be blind to reality.

As always you look great today/ tonight. l, have a wonderful day/night, and praise the frog lord.

[genericpuff]

I think praising someone (Mongie) considering her incredibly racist comments and disrespectful behavior towards nonwhite fans, simply because she isn’t Rachel, is a bit gross

? I mean, yeah I agree with you, she's acted very immaturely and cruel towards her nonwhite fans. I'm assuming this has to do with my post talking about mongie's announcements at NYCC with her getting an anime? (if not please link me to the specific post for context). I don't really see any of that as 'praising her', more so just acknowledging the fact that she at least had the balls to step away from WT when she knew it wasn't working for her anymore, and the fact that she's managed to succeed separate from WT thus proving that it is, in fact, possible to succeed in this industry without relying on one single platform. The comparison to Rachel was more so just to prove a point that LO is in development hell lmao

I was more so just trying to praise the action in and of itself, not praising mongie for being a good person. I'm very aware of and have talked about her issues involving her racist opinions (the Vicky incident especially), I don't think her not being Rachel makes her a good person or good creator by default and that's not the point I was trying to get across. I'm not interested in continuing to read her work (like with LO I used to be a huge fan of Let's Play until it fell tf off in S3, then I found out about all the racism) but I can acknowledge the fact that she found a way to break out of the mould of Webtoons because I think that's something that should be talked about so that others can see it is possible to survive outside of Webtoons (not just for the aspiring creators, but also for the Originals creators who have spoken up about feeling 'stuck' with Webtoons because they don't feel like they can succeed without WT). It's just a shame it was, y'know, the person who has treated her fanbase like shit and acted out over very valid criticisms of her depictions of nonwhite characters. That's pretty much all I was trying to get across, it's not much more complicated than that lmao Weird analogy but it's like when you smell something cooking that smells really good and then you find out that it involves ingredients you can't stand LOL

But hey, you do raise a good point that highlighting the success of someone who's shitty towards their readers and how they write nonwhite characters is just giving them more press and recognition, so let's use this opportunity to highlight a not problematic creator who also found success in this industry while never once being an Originals creator - Alice Oseman! Heartstopper is wonderful and beautifully written especially in its characterizations and depictions of queer relationships and identities, the Netflix adaption is very warm and comforting to watch, and Alice herself seems like someone who I'd love to have coffee with if I ever had the chance. Go read/watch Heartstopper y'all , and remember to include non-Originals creators in your search for good comics to read <3 I'll probably make an actual post about Heartstopper sometime because I still need to watch the second season of the show and I'm sure I'll have plenty to gush about after I watch it just like I did with the first :' )

[woodenfawn]

The Rem Infodump.

The one where i rant about rem and subaru's dynamic and why it's special but i dont think a lot of people really understand it!

This was written a while ago and i may have some things wrong, and it's also good to note I don't think subaru and rem are unnhealthy for each other in the sense that they shouldn't be together (whether romantic or platonic), i just mean the situations they were in forced them to act in certain ways!

I think a lot of people who are bigger re zero fans (who also understand what the story is about) shy away from rem as a character because she's the one "only fake fans who watch the anime for the waifus" like, but while she's not my favorite character i want to bring her a little more appreciation from this side of the fandom!!

new-to-tumblr post spam 3/4 complete, i'll slow down after this XD

I tried tagging with spoilers but just in case it didn't work: spoilers ahead!

So. The rem thing. Ive talked about it vaguely before but never went into detail cause there were people that could be spoiled. The whole point of rems attraction to subaru is not because of harem wish fulfillment. The author clearly stated he hates harems. Subaru does love both rem and emilia, but he has solidly chosen emilia and that's the end of that. It doesn't matter what romantic feelings he could have towards rem because it's already doomed. They both know it. The relationship they form episode 12 and beyond is not meant to be healthy for either of them!! Rem has been saved from her mindset of needing to atone for what she thought of her sister, but her self esteem is still AWFUL which is why she attaches herself to a "hero" instead of learning to recognize her own self worth. Subaru saved her from some things but he's not a hero and he's not exactly the person rem says he is. Partially, but not all of it. It's kind of a mutual decision of theirs to lie to each other and themselves because they need it to cope with themselves. Subaru needs to be a hero for rem or he could never step out of his depressive state. Rem needs a hero in subaru or she cannot feel loved and understood. It's not good for either of them but they don't have an alternative. NOTICE: When subaru rants about how awful he is and rem responds with her famous speech, she doesn't actually contradict much of what he says. They love each other and need each other but it's bad for the both of them. Rem lost her memories because the witches (later correction: it's the bishops) targeted her for her sin, and subaru killing himself over rem is not the action of a person in a healthy mindset. Rem's development was cut short and kind of fridging, its frustrating, but it's not basic waifu stuff and it is meant to be tragic!!!! This is also all a mirror to how subaru and emilia are!

Because while subaru constantly talks about needing to save emilia, he also calls her the main heroine. I used to think about rem as a yesman, but she does many a thing behind subaru's back for his sake the exact way he did to emilia. He learns more about the consequences of his actions that way. oh, it hurts. and oh boy the speech is so misunderstood. That is rem's promise to love him "unconditionally", without acknowledging his flaws, and it helped. It's absolutely what he needed to hear. But it wasn't good. but also, for other reasons, it mirrors another little speech.... subaru's season 2 confession to emilia. Where she can't believe he'd love her, and where he starts to list off things he's done for her and the ways she's made it hard for him. And then tells her, he still loves her, because that's who she is and he wouldn't want it any other way. Which could be taken as another niceguy rant (like a repeat of the season 1 fight) but it's NOT!! Because this is what Emilia needed to hear, because she is not the kind of person who can accept praise without a drawback or asterisk. If she heard all that, all she'd see is another pedestal to fill. this is the healthier version of the rem speech, where she can accept she's flawed and realize she's still loved. Both despite, but also for it. And... it's still not perfect. Because the characters are still growing and learning!!! They are young adults with so many problems and a whole life ahead of them and they still need to learn!!! The upsides and downsides of unconditional love,,,, and is it more unconditional if you love them "despite flaws" or "with flaws" or without seeing any? And is any of that healthy? How can it be good? How can it be bad? Maybe it can be both at once, maybe love isnt perfect!!! a lot of this is hidden in subtext, and the framing of rem's speech may even trick you cause it's triumphant but no there's so much complexity to why they say every single thing they say!!!

Subaru is a character who struggles with love for himself and with love for others, he doesn't know how to make others happy and gets caught in a loop of thinking the only way he can possibly be loved is if he's constantly putting his life on the line for others, without asking anything of them in return. which ends up with him breaking and needing support, and not knowing how to ask, which is why he yells at emilia in season 1 (doesn't help that his deepest trauma is something he is magically obligated not to share for fear of death). His relationship with emilia in season 1 is both very sweet and very unhealthy. he's just a guy with a crush on a girl who's far too good for him and he's trying to work for it but the basis for it is not good- he's attached himself to the first kind person in this new world that he knows and due to "return by death" he's far more invested in her than she is in him- she will never know everything they went through together. and then.... he finds rem. someone who didn't trust him. someone who killed him multiple times throughout the mansion arc, but someone who could understand his loneliness because she was also lonely, and wow- he managed to save her, too! and she doesn't know everything about what he's gone through, but she knows how to read his emotions like no one else can. so they... fall into a codependency. like said before, they can't live without each other, but not everything they do is good for each other. subaru, while gladly taking the role that emilia has in this new relationship, learns more about how she feels. with rem, he learns more about what it means to love, and they both know that it won't last. they didn't expect it to end so soon, though. but oh well, subaru does not have the option to stop. the nature of his powers means dying is pointless, and he has to press on anyways. and he does!!! He meets more people he thinks he can trust. some betray him, but some stick with him. Otto (my sweet boy!!!) is notable!

and now he knows more about love, about trust, about how to treat people, and how he should expect to be treated. so many things. keeping in mind it's been a while since i've watched re zero so i probably don't even have everything there is to say. but like.... then in the end, he can approach emilia with his true emotions. and he can tell her about it in a way she'll understand. and he knows he can do it without being a burden this time. he's become a better person. he's not sure if he'll be rejected, but that's not the point anymore! The point is he loves her and wants the best for her and wants her to know and hopes, no matter the outcome, that she'll be happy to know she's not alone! and the honesty, that's what his speech has over rem's. he's not putting her on a pedestal, he's not using her for the sake of his own self esteem anymore, he just wants to love!

------

Extra note on the end (talk about suicidal thinking, be warned!!!)

something I've talked about but don't have saved writing for, a bit more about rem!

I do also think Rem is suicidal. i think she and Subaru recognized each other in that mindset without ever really talking about it. To me, this relationship is two suicidal people trying to prop each other up so the other will keep living, and knowing that if they really give up the other will too. That's why the season 2 development was so punishing for Subaru. I think that Rem's terrible self esteem and feeling of needing to atone for """"ruining her sister's life"""" contributed to it, though i don't know if that's all of it. She also makes multiple comments that are extremely concerning, like how Subaru is her "reason to die", how when she was ready to die fighting the white whale she said she felt like this was the moment she was made for, and biggest of all!! When she was telling her hypothetical story of how she and Subaru would run away together, she planned it all up to the death "I'd like to die first and I'd like my family to be with me", and to me it felt like she was *trying to think of a death that would make her life worth living*. Her motivation to live is following people she can die for, and that's, that's concerning. i hope her character arc properly follows through on what's happening in her head (i don't know how arc 7 goes yet)

...and i also think that Beatrice is the first time Subaru's had to confront his mindset head-on, because Beatrice would refuse to dance around the subject. The lesson he takes from Rem carries over to both Emilia and Beatrice in healthier ways, and I think that's incredibly important!!!!

------

thank you for reading!

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

do you know any anime that is as well-written as revolutionary girl utena or princess tutu? They’re both so good and so well-written that everything seems to pale in comparison and I was wondering if you knew any other anime that were similar in terms of being well-written. It’s ok if there aren’t as many similar themes

love your and vinelle’s works by the way!! Especially loving seventh seal, how I learned to stop worrying and love the bacchanals, and for the love of Alice. I feel like for the love of Alice is going to escalate quickly lol with edward being as edward as he is

Thanks for the praise! Look, @therealvinelle, praise.

Well, my friend, you've come to the right place. Caveat that the shows I'll list vary wildly in genre and expected audience. All are extremely well written but ah... some have more violence than others.

But if you could handle the rape, incest, assault, and so much more of Utena I think you can handle it.

Though I will note, a good number of these are bleak/have rape, violence, etc.

For the uninitiated, shojou are shows traditionally aimed at female audiences and shonen are shows traditionally aimed at male audiences. They tend to have distinct styles.

If I list a year in parentheses, it's because there's more than one version and that's the version you should watch.

The Rose of Versailles: shojou historical drama, following a fictional female royal guard raised as a man to Marie Antoinette, follows Marie Antoinette's reign and the leading up to the revolution.

Berserk (1997): shonen tragedy, in a medieval quasi Europe, Guts joins a band of mercenaries.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1981): space opera, a war between two equally powered states has been raging for 150 years. Now, with the rising of two prominent generals, the balance is starting to shift. About politics, the futility of war, and pacifism.

The Glass Mask (1984): shojou drama, a thirteen-year-old girl runs away from home to pursue acting, showing great talent, but at great risk to her own physical and mental wellbeing as she obsessively pursues her career.

Shiki: horror/thriller, a mysterious family moves into a rural village in Japan and the townspeople begin dying of a mysterious illness.

Cardcaptor Sakura (1998): mahou shojou (magical girl), ten-year-old Sakura happens upon mysterious items called the Clow Cards and must find a way to recapture them all and harness their powers.

Land of the Lustrous: sci-fi/post-apocalyptic, in the distant future, humanity has morphed into something else, and a jewel person named Phosphyllite makes a journey of personal discovery.

The Slayers (1995): adventure/action/comedy, Lina Inverse is a powerful mage with an eye out for gold, due to a fight she was never supposed to win, she finds herself pursued by gods and demons with the fate of the world at stake.

Kino's Journey (2003): absurdism, Kino visits a series of surreal towns for only three nights each.

Casshern Sins: sci-fi/post-apoctolyptic, after the end of the world, robots are all that remain and are slowly falling apart. An android named Casshern is said to be the cause.

Mononoke: thriller/character study, the mysterious medicine seller in the Edo era of Japan seeks out Mononoke in order to destroy them. To do so, he must learn both their form and their truth.

Steins;Gate: thriller/sci-fi, a group of social rejects build a time machine in their apartment, this triggers a series of catestrophic futures that must be undone.

Wolf's Rain: sci-fi/post-apocalyptic, in a dying world a group of wolves race to find the gates to paradise

Gunslinger Girl (2003): thriller/crime, an organization in Italy treats dying young girls with no connections to become cyborg soldiers. The show looks at the impacts of this on the girls and their handlers.

Now and Then, Here and There: sci-fi/post-apocalyptic, a boy named Shu finds himself transported to a futuristic world in which a madman reigns as king. There, he finds his pacifism tested as well as his faith in humanity.

The Irresponsible Captain Tylor: sci-fi/comedy, in the future Captain Justy Ueki Tylor finds himself captain of a broken down ship, it's unclear whether he's a genius, an idiot savant, or simply the world's luckiest madman.

Chaika the Coffin Princess: fantasy, in a fantasy world where a great war has just ended, two former mercenaries find themselves employed by the late emperor's daughter, who is seeking to find the pieces of her father's body in order to give him a burial.

Psycho-Pass: thriller/sci-fi, this is minority report but an anime. A young woman joins an organization in which criminals are sent to hunt down criminals, as it is a world in which crime is automatically detected before it can occur.

Fate/Zero: fantasy/action/tragedy, in the city of Fuyuki a great battle royale happens where mages summon figures of legend and history to battle on their behalf for the ultimate prize of the holy grail.

From the New World: sci-fi/post-apocalyptic, in the distant future psychic abilities developed. A group of children grow up in a rigidly controlled society and slowly learn the truth behind the world they live in.

Spice and Wolf: fantasy, a traveling merchant in quasi medieval Europe meets a pagan god looking to travel North given the spread of Christianity.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: mahou shojou satire, a satire of classical magical girl shows, follows a young girl Madoka who has the chance to become a magical girl in return for a miraculous wish.

Black Lagoon: crime, a young Japanese businessman finds himself kidnapped by pirates, his life turned upside down, and becomes a pirate himself.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: sci-fi/post-apocalyptic, a young boy named Shinji is summoned by his father, head of a government organization, to fight apocalyptic monsters.

Fractale: sci-fi/post-apocalyptic, in a future where all humans interface with technology, a young boy meets a runaway priestess and the strange hologram traveling with her.

The Heroic Legend of Arslan (either version): the versions have differences but both are good, follows a quasi-Persian story about a prince who finds himself in a power struggle.

Magic Knight: Rayearth: mahou shojou (magical girl), a group of three girls find themselves transported to a magical girl where they must save the Pillar. However, not all is as it seems.

Samurai 7: sci-fi/historical, The Seven Samurai retold in a futuristic setting. The priestess of a village sets out in order to hire samurai to protect her village from bandits.

Goblin Slayer: fantasy, a priestess joins an adventure guild but finds her expectations and sense of safety dashed on her first misson: what was supposed to be a simple task of slaying goblins. She ends up joining forces with a man known only as the Goblin Slayer.

Megalobox (season 1): sci-fi/sports, a young man living in the poor part of the city enters into a boxing tournament in which he is almost certainly guaranteed to lose. There is a second season, and while it had good parts, I consider it much weaker than the first.

Vinland Saga: historical/action, it's the 11th century and Denmark is at war with England, a young man from Iceland finds himself in a Danish mercenary group all so that he might kill the man who killed his father. (I have admittedly not seen season 2 yet, so I can't speak to that.)

Captain Harlock (1978): sci-fi/adventure, the pacing's very different from modern animes but is a great anime about love, sacrifice, the brutality of war, the degradation of society, and more. Captain Harlock, a dissident and outlaw turned pirate, finds himself the only one standing in the way of an alien invasion.

Akagi: tension, a young man starts in on gambling through mahjong and slowly seeks higher and higher stakes

Kaiji: tension, a young man sinks down into the pit known as gambling and begins bartering his life away for higher and higher stakes just for that one chance to claw his way out of poverty

Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues: Focuses on the character Tonegawa and Ootsuki from Kaiji, but it's worth watching Akagi first as well. Deals with the hilarious ridiculousness of being a mobster who must please a psychopath

Lupin the Third: Part 1 (1971): A very 1960's feeling spy/action show revolving around the exploits of a phantom thief and his colleagues and enemies. Great art, music, characters and interactions, and the episodes are all extremely engaging.

Lupin the Third: Part 2 (1975): A great follow-up to Lupin the Third: Part 1 on an international scene.

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

My DC Cinematic Universe: Superman (Epilogue)

Epilogue: My Adventures with Superman

...Well, holy shit. Just when I was getting worried that nobody would get Superman, along comes one of the best comic-book related products we've seen in years, which delivers me so much of the stuff I wanted in a cinematic version of Superman...and is almost perfect. Yeah, it's definitely not perfect, but goddamn if this isn't one of my ideal versions of Superman.

Y'know, I've considered doing sort of a sum-up of the different major adaptations of the Superman mythos by bringing together all the points made in my essays, but I felt it was too much. For this, however, I think that makes sense. And yes, I'm doing this after only 4 episodes have aired, and yes, I realize that what just happened in the most recent episode is fucking insane and something I desperately want in a Superman story...but I'll at least cover my personal approach, since this show's kinda hot right now. And rarely do I have the chance to jump on a burgeoning fandom, so FUCK IT!

If you'd like to see my previous and insane essays on my preferred version of the Man of Steel, here's the link! Always. Be. Plugging. But if you'd rather hear my opinion of My Adventures with Superman, then check out the section after the jump. But just know that I like it, with a couple of caveats that you've probably already heard about this show.

Clark Kent: Abnormal Superman

Um...did somebody read my essays before I even thought about them, because this is pretty goddamn close to my ideal Clark Kent. He's a big ol' dork with a heart of god who wants to do the right thing, but is also nowhere near perfect in his everyday life and methods. He's a teensy bit clumsy, but still very well-put together. He wants to help when and how he can, and is willing to go along with shenanigans to do so. He has an actual personality, and most importantly, he feels human.

Yeah, this is a dude from Kansas who also happens to be an alien. And good goddamn, is scaling down his powers and knowledge of his past a great idea. Smallville, of course, did this, but that version of Clark was often too serious and rough around the edges. And maybe most importantly, Tom Welling's Clark never seemed like an outcast. I mean, the dude was handsome as all fuck, and built like a linebacker. And yet, I'm supposed to buy that the guy is a loser and outcast? Yeah, no, not buying it. But this Clark? Yeah, the guy's a massive dork. Handsome and built like a fucking freight train, yeah, but still a dork. And maybe most importantly...I don't buy this dude as Superman.

Yeah. Really. I mean, dude is OBVIOUSLY Superman, because he's built like a tank and super nice, but I get not fully seeing this guy as Superman. Somehow, FUCKING SOMEHOW, they pull this off better than literally any other version I've seen since the Christopher Reeves version. And yeah, that's insanely high praise, because Reeves has some of the best dichotomous acting I've ever seen. But this Superman and this Clark both seem like the same person and separate people at the same time somehow. It's an impressive feat that I can barely explain.

And yet...they're still definitely the same person. Any sane person would be able to figure it out eventually, with enough personal interaction. It's one of the reasons why the glasses joke exists, because it really shouldn't make much sense. But in this series, the glasses actually change the shape of his pace, and slight changes in his posture and voice (by the pretty great Jack Quaid) actually do work as a subtle mask for the character. But will that last forever? Well...more on that later.

I also said this before, but I love the fact that we're learning about Clark and his powers as he's learning about himself. This series is obviously anime-inspired, and it really leans into the shonen angle thematically and visually. When the first art for this show came out, I was intrigued but cautious. Now, though, I'm into it. We'll see how the more anime-esque electrical powers work out, but it actually seems like a reference to the sporadically used bioelectric field manipulation ability that Superman has in the comics. Yeah, he has a field of bioelectricity around his body that provides him (and his costume) with invulnerability, and also occasionally gives him plot-convenience powers. Don't ask questions, OK? It's a comic book thing.

Speaking of that, though, the creators are definitely playing fast and loose with the Superman mythos, and I'm interested to see exactly how that plays out as the series continues. I'm a little cautious for reasons to be addressed later, but I'm still quite interested. So, now that we've covered Superman, whom I think is fantastic in his characterization...let's get to the character who I think is excellently represented in this series.

Lois Lane: Intrepid (Intern) Reporter

Jesus Christ, this is a great Lois. There are a lot of ways you can do a good Lois, and there are a number of great Loises, but MAWS' Lois ranks extremely high on that list. Dogged to the point of recklessness, determined to get the truth at all costs, and desperate to be a great reporter, she has the stuff that makes any great Lois. But what really puts her over the edge for me is her characterization. Alice Lee does a fantastic job as Lois' voice, and gives her a mix of naivete, determination, and...oddly, hope. I dunno, there's something about Lee's portrayal that really works for me.

And a lot of people have pointed out two things. One, she's basically Lux from The Owl House. Yeah. And? Fucking and? Luz is a fantastic character in her own right, and very Lois Lane-esque. Personally, I think that's a great and worthy comparison for any version of Luz. Secondly, she's a tomboy. And I think most people on Tumblr are fine with that, but I also see some criticism for that choice. And for those who don't like that...fuck off a little bit. Not a lot, but a little bit. There's nothing wrong with a slightly more tomboyish Lois, and I actually adore a Lois who isn't a damsel in distress all the time. She literally fights some of the bad guys in this series, and we're only four episodes in! Seriously, I love that. And she is occasionally in distress, but she gets into that shit herself, which is exactly what Lois Lane is supposed to do. Look, I love this Lois. Oh, and another thing!

Is Lois Korean? Holy shit, that's fantastic! I said in my second essay that Lois is one of those characters who isn't racially bound in any way. There, I suggested that she could be played by a Latina, which has been hinted at before in some comics. But honestly, this is a great choice! And I only say Korean because, in the most recent episode, she appears to be wearing the top half of a hanbok, which is a traditionally Korean dress. And yeah, I'm fully here for it. Don't know if she's mixed or not (we'll probably see Sam Lane at a later date), but this is great all on its own.

And then, there's the other thing: Lois' position as Superman's Inevitable Love Interest. The ILE is, of course, a tradition in all things superhero comic, and Lois is arguably the first and most famous of all ILEs. Like Thanos before her, she is truly inevitable, and that seems to be at the center of this series. Oh, and at this point...sort of SPOILERS AHEAD??? I mean, come on, this was obviously gonna happen.

By the end of episode 4, these two are clearly romantically interested in each other. Hell, by the end of episode 1, these two are interested in each other. And can I just say that's they're hands fucking down the most adorable Clark and Lois I've ever fucking seen? I mean it, they're the best version of this couple in live-action media, and I can actually see them becoming the comic book versions of that couple.

As a quick compare and contrast of the most notable versions:

Reeves and Kidder were great, but the movies never actually committed in having them be a couple. They actively made sure it wouldn't happen a couple of times, to much irritation, and their relationship never truly blossomed, which was based on the comics at the time.

Fuck Dean Cain...but Cain and Hatcher were pretty good as a couple, pre-and-post-marriage. Which, again, was a part of comics at the time, so it makes sense. Even then, I wouldn't call them particularly cute, just more of a relatively normal couple.

Don't get me wrong, I love Daly and Durance's animated versions of the two...but they never actually became a couple until the very end of Superman: The Animated Series. And we only saw them as Lois and Superman, not Lois and Clark. So, sadly, they don't rank.

Welling and Durance were...off-and-on. Funnily enough, their appearance as this version of the couple in the Arrowverse crossovers was probably better than any other appearance they had, and their appearances in the 10th season were genuinely quite nice. High up there as the best version, and one of my favorites.

Hoechlin and Tulloch are, in my opinion, the best married version of the characters. They honestly nail it, and their chemistry is pretty much perfect. Their versions of the characters still rank pretty high as some of the best, and they're even better as a couple.

Routh and Bosworth...moving on...

Cavill and Adams...well...I mean...they have some chemistry, and...they've definitely had sex. Um. Yeah. That's it. Whoooooo.

O'Connell and Romjin are a little-remembered animated version of the two, and not the only animated version of the two, either. But honestly, they're really good in The Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen, and were my favorite animated version of them as a couple...prior to MAWS.

And OK, sure, we've barely seen these two as a couple at this point, but I really like them. They're adorable, they're adorkable, they're supportive of each other, and their chemistry is basically immediate. They're just really cute and fun to watch, and I can't wait to see them progress. Especially because...

OK, I can't stress this enough, but skip the next GIF if you don't want spoilers, and scroll down until you get to Jimmy Olsen. Please. This is a biggie. OK? Got it? Read at your own peril.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT ARE YOU SERIOUS THEY ACTUALLY DID IT

If you've read my Superman essays, you know that I want movie Lois Lane to have found out Clark is Superman on her own, and before the movie starts. And holy shit, they actually did it in MAWS! FUCK YES! Lois is smart and sharp, so she should pick up on the fact that Clark is Superman! I love that they did this, even if her way of finding out was somewhat by accident. She still put the clues together on her own, so I'm satisfied with this ending! And I'm pretty sure they're not going to reverse this! If they do, I'd be pissed off, but I don't think they will. Just...HELL YEAH, BABEEEEEEEEEE

OK...I think the spoiler-free have scrolled past this by know, so...let's move on with the essay, shall we?

Supporting Cast: Jimmy and the Rest

OK, let's talk Jimmy Olsen (played by Ishmael Sahid). Honestly, I love the fact that he's a conspiracy nut with his own YouTube channel, and that he's literal bunkmates with Clark in this series. This is also pretty close to my perfect version of Jimmy Olsen, not gonna lie. His streaming name is even Flamebird, a deepcut comics reference that shows the creators not only know their stuff, but also actively care about Superman comics and history. That's one of the things that one me over in the first episode, for the record. But more on that later.

Jimmy is the third wheel, but one who's usually welcome. We'll see the fallout of the Lois-Clark romance soon, I'm sure, but Jimmy's role has been pretty much perfect. However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that a black Jimmy Olsen, while welcomed by me...is a little weird when you look at the legion of ginger characters in media that have been replaced by black characters in adaptations. While, again, I don't think Jimmy is racially bound to being ginger, it is a fairly iconic part of his identity. And...yeah, a lot of ginger characters have been translated into black people in recent years, and that's...really weird, not gonna lie. Makes me think even more about my Legion of Super-Heroes essay, honestly. Still, solid-ass Jimmy, and I can't wait for more.

I actually adore Perry White (voiced by Darrell Brown) in this series, and his grumpy boss persona is...well, quintessential Perry White. I'd actually say this is a perfect version of the character, although that's not as difficult to nail as some other versions. Looking forward to seeing more of Perry's life as he supports our bumbling interns.

I was tickled pink to see Cat Grant (Melanie Minichino), Steve Lombard (Vincent Tong), and a genderbent Ronnie Troupe (Kenna Ramsey) in this show, because it once again signals to me that the show creators really care about Superman mythos. And honestly, these guys were transplanted essentially unchanged from the comics, as far as we can see so far. This may change in the future, but I'm very excited to see the rivalry between our three and these reports build and develop during the series. Great job with these guys.

The Kents only make an appearance in one episode thus far, but I think they're pretty good! We see them in the past and in the present, and they're a couple of farmers who love their son. They're also some of the youngest versions of the characters we've seen in adaptations, save for Smallville, and it works well! They also make it apparent that these are Clark's parents, even in the short time we see them. Again, good job so far, and I want to see more!

So, with all of that, I adore this series, and it's perfect! Right? Right?

The Villains: Literal and Figurative Cons

If you've heard anything about this series from Superman fans, then you've probably heard that the villains are...not amazing so far. And that's mostly because the villains are where this series takes the most liberties, while also downsizing most of them pretty severely. I'll go through them briefly here, but just know that the changes made so far are...not my favorite. And if you've read my essays, you know my opinion on villains in superhero media: you gotta nail them.

So, let's start with Livewire, AKA Leslie Willis (voiced by Zehra Fazal). I really love this character (and actually positioned her as a major villain in the second Superman movie of my cinematic universe), so I'm quite invested in Livewire. And this version is a tech-powered villain who kicks off the conflict for the first part of the series. She's a completely different version of the character...and she works? Kinda? Look, as the first villain to face Superman, she's fine, but she's barely Livewire. The end of the second episode hints that she may become more like the original down the line, but she's missing that sass of the original. And yeah, she works without that, but it doesn't feel like Livewire to me. That's nitpicking, though, because we have a much worse set of adaptations to cover.

Intergang is so much of a non-entity in this show, they have no GIFS on Tumblr. Understand, this community has made GIFs of every other character except these guys. In total, they are Silver Banshee AKA Siobhan MacDougal (played by Catherine Taber), Mist AKA Kyle Nimbus (played by Lucas Grabeel), and Rough House AKA Albert (played by Vincent Tong). And they've been changed from:

A cursed Scottish-Irish woman, empowered by magic and a major threat to the Man of Steel, having nearly killed him multiple times...and is currently dating Jimmy Olsen, which I kinda love?

A scientist who invented a process to turn himself into gaseous form, and used his powers to fight the hero Starman; this rivalry was passed on to the next generation, on the side of both hero and villain.

And the clone of a gangster endowed with super-strength, serving beneath Boss Moxie of Intergang, and the forces of the dark world of Apokolips above him.

...into a group of loser who got technology they couldn't handle. Yeah, it's a major downgrade, and two of those guys weren't even that notable in the first place. Siobhan gets completely fucking shafted here, and I think it's a genuine failure of this series. Harsh, I know, but seeing Silver Banshee get fucked over that hard really sucked for me.

Oh, and yeah, Intergang was a major villainous group for the Superman film in my cinematic universe, so removing their Apokoliptian ties...bums me the fuck out, too. Also, it looks like Flash villain Heat Wave is an upcoming member, which is...weird as fuck, honestly. We'll see how this pans out, but I'm not terribly enthusiastic about it.

And then there's Anthony Ivo (played by Jake Green), who's been repurposed into a tech bro entrepeneur in the vein of Elon Musk, in charge of AmazoTech, which is obviously a reference to the comic book version. And this was an...interesting set of choices, honestly. Some spoilers here, but Ivo's version of AMAZO is an armor that drains the power of Superman and redirects it against him. And yes, that makes Ivo also this universe's version of...Parasite. ANOTHER villain that I put in the second movie of my cinematic universe, and one of my absolute favorite Superman villains.

I don't hate the reinvention, but that's only because of what happens to Ivo at the end of the episode. I won't spoil it here, but he definitely turns into a more proper version of the character, so we'll see what happens there. As for his assistant, Alex (played by...somebody), well, he's interesting, isn't he? At first, I thought he was Alex Allston, one of the Parasite twins from the 2000s. But a number of people seem to think he might be another familiar red-headed Superman villain named Alexander, if you know what I mean. Let's just say, there's a possibility that he'll steal forty cakes at some point. And that's terrible.

And finally, there's...wait, is that Deathstroke AKA Slade WIlson (played by Chris Parnell)? Why is he young...and hot? Why is Slade young and hot? And two-eyed? I mean, yeah, sure, that's not the worst thing in the world, but...goddamn, that's some whiplash. Interestingly, he appears to be affiliated with Task Force X, which is name dropped in episode 2. Plus, Amanda Waller is clearly in the background, so a much wider plan is in play. And yeah, while it's weird to see young hot Deathstroke, I'll give it a chance.

Other villains have been hinted at, and allegedly radically reinvented, such as Mr. Mxyzptlk and Brainiac, but we've yet to see what will become of them. Still, this is a divisive start. As long as we get some actual supernatural threats, and not just people in armor, I'll be happy. Time will tell.

Story: Just Getting Started

At this point, it's pretty much impossible to judge the story of this series, since we've only just started. But, with the technology obtained by Livewire from a mysterious source, and then leaked into the criminal underworld, we at least have enough threats to supply tension throughout this first portion of the series. The relationship of our trio is progressing nicely, with Jimmy realizing his third-wheel status, and with the Lois and Clark relationship moving along interestingly and unexpectedly.

There's also a number of hanging plots that look promising, including Clark discovering his powers and origins; Task Force X and Deathstroke, as well as their interest in Superman; the missing Parasite technology after Ivo's fall; the rivalry between the interns and their reporter rivals; and even Lois' relationship with her father (who...might be the guy standing next to Waller in Task Force X? No clue, that's just a guess). So, we have some stuff to look forward to! And maybe, just maybe, the villains will also steadily improve. I think Silver Banshee's a lost cause at this point, but I have hope for Livewire and Parasite, at least. But again, time will tell.

I also can't wait to see what the creators have up their sleeves. They're obviously ans of Superman and his mythos. I didn't even mention what won me over on this show in the first place! Other than Clark and Lois themselves, of course. In the first episode, Lois introduces Jimmy and Clark to her information gatherers: the Newskid Legion. And for those of you who don't know, that's a reference to the Golden Age of Comics, and a group of street-wise kids that would become supporting characters of Superman's during the '90s (through the trendy magic of cloning)! The kids have an adaptation in this series, and that attention to lore alone made me an instant fan of this show. Sounds like nothing, I know, but it meant a hell of a lot to a Superfan like me. Now GIVE ME MY EVERYMAN BIBBO BIBBOWSKI!

Conclusion: A Hopeful Tomorrow

I'm...scared about Gunn's Superman film. I won't write a whole essay about it, but it sounds ambitious to the point of being bloated. A lot of recent casting news makes me feel like this is more of a set-up to the wider DCU, as less of a Superman film in and of itself. Plus, with rumors that Luthor is being cast, and no sign of a villain announcement yet...I dunno. It has me worried. So thank God for My Adventures with Superman.

This series is a blessing so far. Sure, it could blow for the rest of the season, but call me hopeful. I think this show is fantastic so far, and I'm really thinking it'll stick the landing with the first season. Alongside that, honestly, is the fact that it's trying something new for any Superman adaptation, and there's a bravery in that. I don't know if it'll go down as my preferred Superman adaptation (Superman: The Animated Series is a hard one to beat for me), but it's got a good start. And a brave series that inspires hope in the face of fear and impossible odds? Man, that's what Superman is all about.

And now that that's said and done (for now, anyway)...

I believe I have another essay series to finally finish.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Part I: Why I Love Superman

Part II: On Lois Lane

Part III: The Kents

Part IV: The 'Rents

Part V: The...Frendts?

Part VI: Lex Luthor

Part VII: The Real Villains

Part VIII: Superman's Rogues Gallery

Part IX: The Story - Act One

Part X: The Story (Acts Two and Three)

Part XI: The Story - Climax

Part XII: Epilogue (Part One)

Part XIII: Epilogue (Part Two)

[missdeepend]

The Fairy Tail Fandom is so Powerful

I should first start by saying, Fairy Tail was my first anime other tahn the one episode of AoT that turned me away from anime and the few scenes I watched as a little girl of Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and Beyblade. It was the first show I sat down and watched and felt completely moved by with everything going on and it came at a very crucial point in my life. So there I was, roughly 13-14 years old (Almost 10 years for me now) sitting in computer class when I decided to take a "which anime are you quiz". This quiz was going to be my shot at getting into anime again. If I enjoyed it, anime was meant for me and if now, well that was that. So I took the quiz and my answer...was Fairy Tail. I can't tell you how I watched it for the first time, most likely through Netflix or even some other website but I did and I fell in love. It was everything I could ask for and more. The characters- I loved. The story- I loved. The artwork- I loved. It felt like a show made for me.

Now back then Little Deep End here had a small group of friends and shortly after the 3 other girls loved it too. We would always joke about the characters and, well, Gray being naked. It was something we bonded over and expanded out into other manga until eventually... I had to move. The last thing I had gotten from them was a picture of Gray with the words 'naked popsicle' written next to him. Something I kept until around my senior year of high school when I decided to let it go from its prison of my jewelry box.

But there I was, the new girl in school and well it wasn't the worst. I made friends and we bonded over things but I never met anyone with the same passion for this show in person as I once had with my previous friends. Well, that was until I explored Wattpad. Oh boy.

It was on here that I dove into the Fairy Tail community head on. I had already created ocs to join roleplays, with my proudest being Setsuko Rin- who at the time was just another ice mage. I read all the stories about Nalu, Gruvia, Gajevy (I wasn't too much of a Jerza fan but you get the point). It was like a safe haven. I couldn't discuss my passion for Fairy Tail with anyone else but these people but I didn't mind.

This all has a point I promise. Fairy Tail brings out something in its fans that not a lot of fandoms have and I think it has to do with the themes of Fairy Tail. Yes we may feel lonely in person but the guild was somewhere where the least welcomed were welcomed. Those that are outcasts with no friends and those that were the most popular could all come together and talk about how much Fairy Tail changed their lives.

I'm not going to lie and say that Fairy Tail hasn't had its moments in the show and that the community is perfect. However, I will say that you could mention Fairy Tail to any fan and they would welcome you with open arms. I feel like this show teaches a good level of respect and kindness that people aren't used to seeing within fandoms anymore. I can't even tell you how much it warmed my heart to see all the videos standing up for Fairy Tail within the last few years coming out to shut down the negativity it was getting and the people standing up and celebrating its return with 100 Year Quest.

It really goes to show you that a fandom like the Fairy Tail fandom is truly something else. Not to mention Todd Haberkorn being the best voice cast for Natsu there ever could be and same for Cherami Leigh as Lucy. Honestly all those actors both in the US and Japan (as well as the others worldwide) deserve so much praise for growing with us. Even if we shouldn't have been watching some of those scenes that we were at our age.

Anywayssss I just wanted to ramble a bit because this community does warm my heart. But I'll see you all later in the Deep End!!

[neoyi]

So

Elemental.

I think this movie handled the allegory of Asian immigration, first born generation, and the cultural ties and differences in a satisfying way that I didn't feel with either Turning Red and Everything Everywhere All At Once and yes, I think I will die on this hill.

Alright, alright, some bit of context is necessary and anything else to back this up is admittedly a personally biased one. Because I get that Turning Red's ending ultimately had to have a conclusion where Mei and her mother found a workaround. I get it. It didn't satisfy ME as an individual, because I just cannot get beyond the fact that at thirteen, I would have never changed my hardcore Asian parents the way the movie so neatly did, but I get it and if not a movie for young Asian kids to relate to so hard, then what?

And EEAAO is just, conceptually, a damn good, entertaining, thoughtful movie with a tried-and-true premise that feels especially novel for starring a middle-aged Asian woman.

In any case, Elemental doesn't push the boundaries or fill you with (intentional) emotional stress that either of the two films did: it's significantly more lowkey. And taken as a whole, neither the plot or its characters did anything for me - Pixar's second coming this ain't (and one particular scene where Wade supposedly died, but oh wait, he's aliiiiiiiive, feels emotionally cheap and something Pixar can no longer really get away with) - and in spite of its background and character design, the CGI is as bland and unassuming as the average big-budgeted western animated film.

No, what stuck with me was the little things that emphasized Ember's life as a first born gen:

It's the heavy pressure Ember feels, thinking her entire life was built to take over her father's shop because that place has been his dream for thirty years, and if she doesn't follow the path her parents expect of her, than she is a failure. The horrible guilt she faces knowing her parents sacrificed so much of their lives to give her a future means she has to drop everything and do the same for them, no matter how she feels. It's a horrible cycle, but so true of Asians, and something I've spent decades fighting off.

It's Wade's family praising Ember for speaking their language very well, spoken through well-meaning filters, but delivered in an unintentionally condescending tone. And Ember silently just takes it in, awkward as it may be, because it's damn clear this is probably the 14,000th time she has heard this and she is probably just so damn tired to do anything about it right now.

It's Ember's parents denouncing her romantic entanglement with Wade because they especially have it out for Water People through xenophobic, racist assumption of their kind; the movie doesn't sugarcoat that because they're considered minorities, they do not have prejudice and unjustified disgust of other people, too (sadly a reflection I have seen my parents carry, too.)

It's Ember and Wade's respective good-byes to their parents in the film's ending. Where Wade and his mother cry and hug and hug and cry (I have no idea if the crying thing is just a Water Person thing or just Wade's family, but I thought Wade was a total drip until the last act of the film because the running gag was so dang annoying) while Ember keeps a respectable distance because by comparison, yeah, we're just not as physically affectionate.

It's Ember repeatedly declaring she is a "bad daughter" because she thinks she's constantly failed her parents and the thought of disappointing them is a greater stab in the heart than anything in the world. That one hit WAY too damn hard (I'll kindly overlook that her parents never attempted to pressure her in any particularly forceful way, more that they just assumed she would inherit the shop because it's traditionally expected of their culture to do, when I know damn well if it had been my parents, they'd have been a LOT more emotionally anguished about it.)

It's the extra attention paid to Ember's culture that in turn reflects her lifestyle and how she and her family behaves. I also love how well they played with Ember's fiery abilities, showing a multitude of basic everyday necessities like sealing metal pipes in their basement home after a leak, or Ember using her flames to heat a hot air balloon, or molting glass to create artwork from (sadly, this level of attention is only marginally demonstrated by Wade, a little less so for the Cloud folks, and you might as well say "fuck off" to the Earth People.)

Elemental is a C-grade plot: I'm never gonna see this again nor am I aching to get it on home media. I was just awestruck by how well-tuned it captured the first gen Asian experience, and particularly in a way that compromises a respect for their culture and encourage change.

I admit that it hits me more because it does what EEAAO did not: it learned to let their child go. And I guess it offered a bit of catharsis.

[goddess-of-green]

NSFW Ravio Headcanons

(Request:) Since you were recently talking about Ravio how about Ravio nsfw headcanons? 🤭

(A/N:) YES. Idk who you are anon but i love you. bring it in

Contains: No explicit reader, a gender neutral "partner" is occasionally referenced, ALBW spoilers, Ravio being mostly subby, brief mention of pegging, not explicitly lu ravio but could be interpreted as such

Word Count: 708

♥ Ravio is not…experienced 

♥ He spent a majority of his life simply as a royal servant, before the events of Yuga and Ganon, so not much time for romantic endeavors 

♥ Ravio is also a bit…shy. While he can be witty and sly, he lacks the courage needed for a romantic “leap of faith,” so to speak. He’s the type to let a love interest get away and wonder what could’ve been…

♥ Though when he does have a partner, he’s a fast enough learner. He just needs to get over his initial anxiousness (and insecurity) 

♥ He’ll learn what he dislikes fairly quickly, and what he loves (like having his ears nibbled on)

♥ He really could go both ways as far as being submissive or dominant, but it takes a lot more prompting to get him into a dominant position than a submissive one

♥ If his partner is exceedingly submissive he'll fall into the role more naturally, showing off his teasing and playful side (Or if he's excessively taunted, he may snap back)

♥ He leans more into submissiveness though, and will slip into subspace very easily

♥ He's very vocal about it too, whimpering and twitching when it feels especially good

♥ If he's feeling teasing he may put up a bit of a fight, but usually with the intent to give in in the end, he just wants to taunt his partner and push them to dominate him more

♥ But once they do, oh, he's gone

♥ Pupils blown, mouth open, and ears folded back as he just lays there and takes it, happily along for the ride

♥ He'll hum mindlessly in compliance to any commands, but once he's in subspace that's where he will stay for the duration of the session

♥ In which case he needs aftercare. Even if the sex was relatively gentle or vanilla, once he reaches a certain point mentally he will be exhausted and vulnerable

♥ He needs to be kissed, loved on, and praised while he comes back down to Earth

♥ He wouldn't hold it against his partner if they didn't do any of that (poor bunny probably doesn't even know what aftercare is) but it will boost his mental state a lot to receive that kind of attention afterwards

♥ As the cowardly counterpart to the Hylian hero, who couldn't take up the sword like Link could, he does have some major underlying insecurities

♥ And whether he would admit it or not, Ravio loves to be in the spotlight and receiving attention

♥ Even just small things like hugging him and giving him a little kiss after sex will start to build up overtime if neglected, and they will fuel his insecurities

♥ When he lets himself enter subspace, he is essentially making himself completely vulnerable and pliant to his partner, so it's important that they're receptive of that trust he's showing them

♥ (Especially given that he grew up in a dog-eat-dog world, where trusting no one was essential to one's survival)

♥ Sorry I'll never stop flanderizing characters with an animal/creature association but. I do like to think he has some unintentional bunny-like traits (aside from being skittish) 

♥ Ever heard the phrase “fucking like rabbits?” Yeah…

♥ Ravio has a surprisingly high sex drive, and he'd be unapologetically all over his partner 

♥ He’s used to repressing such urges, not having much romantic or sexual experience at all, so once he finally does have a partner, the floodgates have been opened 

♥ He is not above making a show of himself and trying to tempt his partner into jumping his bones (the attention whore) 

♥ He’ll drape himself across them innocently, and repeatedly slip out double-entendres 

♥ If that doesn’t work, he’s not above flat-out whining for some attention from his partner 

♥ He just needs to be folded up every once in a while, you know? 

♥ In the event that it was properly introduced to him, he’d be absolutely crazy for pegging- 

♥ All in all, Ravio is not hard to please, but he needs lots of attention from his partner 

♥ And as long as he gets it, he’ll be more than happy

[hiss-kitten]

Voice : Them with a shy gn!reader who's an amazing singer.

♡ : I grew up with this talent so it came across my mind. Not sure if I'll make another part of this because I only have a very little percentage of motivation and it'll take too long, but let's see.

Genre: Fluff [ SFW ]

Characters: Lucifer, Leviathan, Asmo, Belphegor, Simeon

Content Warnings ! : None (Let me know if I added something incorrect/need to add something else.)

(All characters except for Belphie can be read as platonic or romantic.)

: Lucifer —

When he first heard you sing, it was you singing in your room. He was just passing by, but he couldn't help but stop to listen to your singing.

He finds your voice amazing. He was once brought it up to you and asked if you've joined any singing auditions or competitions back in the human world. You feel a little embarrassed knowing that he's already heard you sing before. If you try to ask him how he found out about your singing talent, he'll change the topic.

: Leviathan —

He invited you to go to the karaoke with him. When you guys were there, he mentioned not hearing you sing before. You wanted to try singing, but you know, once Levi has the mic and starts singing, you'll have to wait for him to finish 10 or more songs.

When you did finally have the courage to sing, Levi was amazed. He's a little bit jealous because he kind of wants the talent you have, but he shakes it off and listened to you sing. He even asked you to sing his favourite anime songs for him after.

: Asmodeus —

He has never heard you sing before, so he decided: Why not convince you to? He had a hard time having you agree as your shyness always had the best of you. But when you finally said: "Okay, just this once. What do you want me to sing?" He is super, super happy and excited and proud of himself and would start saying things like "I knew you couldn't refuse me! I mean, who can?"

When you start singing, he was surprised. Not that he expected you to be bad or anything. He knew you'd be good, but not this good.

When you're done singing, he'll shower you with praises and he starts considering to tell everyone about your talent, but he won't do it if you're not comfortable. Asmo is the best singer among his brothers, and it's hard to believe that a human could get past him.

: Belphegor —

He loves sleeping, but there are VERY rare times when he's having a hard time to sleep. But when that rare time did come, he decided to go to your room and ask you to sing (lullabies) for him.

You said you can't do it, but since he's such a spoiled younger brother, he didn't stop until you finally sang for him. He was cuddling you, and when you start singing, instead of closing his eyes, his eyes widened a bit. He's surprised by how amazing you sound, that's a compliment.

He was finally drifting off to sleep, but he tried to fight his sleepiness just to listen to you. Plan failed. But when he woke up, he told you he wanted you to sing for him more often.

: Simeon —

When he first heard you sing, you sounded like an angel. Perhaps you really are an angel disguised as a human. But how did he get you to sing? He just asked you, and when you refused telling him you're too scared and shy to do it, he told you it was okay and that he wouldn't judge. He told you a bunch of words of affirmation to help boost your confidence a bit, but he also told you it's also fine if you're not comfortable.

But when you've finally decided you're gonna sing and you start singing, he really thought of you as an angel. He praised you a lot and told you how amazing you were. (If one of his novels get to have a song, he might ask you to be the singer.)

© @hiss-kitten — All rights reserved.

[rays-of-fire-and-ice]

For the fanfic asks: 6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time? and 18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

Fanfic asks

Must admit, I was excited to see you sent in an ask! XD But in answer to your questions:

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

There's quite a few so buckle up:

it was all a dream, i just called to say, and in law out(ing) by @canariie: her writing is beautiful, her plots are offer many sweet and homely moments, and they all feature my OTP. The first was a request form me and I love the direction to she took it, giving Toshiro and Momo a soft moment where they're both scared but then turning it into a moment Toshiro can express how he truly feels. The second is beautiful from start to finish, giving us an interaction between two like-minded individuals who have been through a lot and would probably benefit from meeting each other in canon; also the last third is just so good for a Hitsuhina fan! The last is just great fun, and I love seeing Shinji and Toshiro interact like this (it also gave us #letshinjifish2k23, what's not to love?!) If for some reason you haven't read these fics (or any of her fics for that matter) and you're a hitsuhina fan, read them after this post!

Bleach Returns day 3: A Time to Celebrate by @recurring-polynya: yeah that's right, I go back and read this fic of yours! It's one of the most humorous fics I've read, and it never fails to make me smile. I love all the characters' banter with each other, it feels organic and it's awesome to see some character interact with each other (seriously, I never thought I'd want to see Chad interact with Rangiku and Toshiro, but here we are). I've been meaning to read your submission for this year's BLEACH Anime Celebration too, but I'm sure I'll love it!

a cacophny in stillness by @visionen-im-spiegel: I mentioned it in my last ask response, but there's just something about this fic. I love to come back and reread it as a whole, but there's just certain sections I read it for. I love in the last chapter where Momo finds Toshiro, and there's that shock of seeing him at first, but more than that, there's relief that the war is all finally over, and they have each other in that moment of realisation.

the warmest place in the world by @pinkhairedlily: this is such a fluffy read! I love snippet of the hitsuhina married life here, it feels authentic and organic. I always laugh at the drunk Toshiro scene, the poor guy forgets he finally married Momo! XD

D O N K I and Away, Away by @bleachbleachbleach: I've said many thinks about their writing, and I cannot praise them enough. These two fics in particular hit me though. Again, a little biased here, but the first was written as a request from me, but like with canariie, it got taken in a direction I didn't see coming but absolutely loved. Toshiro and Orihime interactions are always a 10/10 for me, they're a soft friendship that needs to explored more. And this fic even got me to care about the weird unspoken side characters in Orihime's neighbourhood! Away, Away holds a special place for me, as it was the first fic I read from bleachbleachbleach, I come back to it because I still marvel at the world building, the atmosphere throughout, and the character interactions being so on point.

18. What's one of your favorite lines you've written in a fic?

There's more than one line here, but I feels it needs context for me to explain why it's one of my faves. This one is from On the Shoreline:

“I-I didn’t understand why you were becoming so distant, I thought getting away from the Soul Society would help, but now I think I know. Are you…?” She’s conflicted, her lips opening to continuing her question, only to close seconds later and becoming a taut, pressed line. He’d wanted to tell her what was on his mind, but not like this. To his own ear, he’s ended up both paranoid and like a child complaining about something not going his way. He's upset her. Toshiro sighs, suddenly more tired than before. “What is it?” She still hesitates, her focus on the waves circling his ankles. Eventually, she raises her head and steps closer. “Are you scared?” It hits him in the chest like a stone thrown into glass. For a second, his blood runs tight and cold in his limbs. His heart skips a beat, then clenches. He can feel hairline fractures running through him, threatening to break apart.

I still can't forget how long I sat there trying to come up with a line to emphasis the impact this question has on Toshiro. This was the moment in the story where he finally breaks down more or less, and finally tells Momo what's been going on for him. He's been keeping his walls up, but they aren't strong ones; he's at a point where they're being worn down and he's barely making it through this trip, and Momo's concern, her insight into who he is and how he's feeling, finally breaks them down completely.

It might be a corny or cliched line, but love how it turned out in the grant scheme of the story. Her question hit him hard, and finally got him to open up to her when he's been the exact opposite for most of the fic.

Thanks so much for sending these in! :D

[kurokmask]

now that we are on Link topic. do you have any other hcs that you've not included in the fanfic? like extra info and stuff?

sorry for the late answer, college blah blah blah

there's lots that haven't made it in explicitly, but they're all still swimming in my head when im writing him. this is gonna be disorganized, sorry!

Link likes being told what to do. secretly he likes having other ppl’s expectations on him bc it gives him security, so he doesn't have to think about who he is

not Link, but every version of OoT Zelda I write is transmasc, whether thats something Zelda is truly aware of or not.

again not Link but Cremia was supposed to have a hot Gerudo pirate gf 💔 sorry girl

I kind of regret not doing more with the Ocarina of Time, and time travel in general. Like, towards the end, Link would definitely try to use it, right? I think I'm going to do a major overhaul of the Termina arc soon.

Link can cannot write more than his name.

Link was originally going to be very open about his past adventures. But i decided bottling everything up and feeling ashamed about it and letting it fester like a rotting wound would be sadder :)

sexuality was going to be a concept i explored in the fic. ultimately i wanted to keep it a T rating so i didn't do this, but. it was definitely a thing! cut things include lotsssss of Sheik baggage, boyish feelings about Kafei, weird fierce deity sex dreams and um. remember Javert?

Javert and Link wereeee... supposed to fuck! I even wrote a before and after scene LOLLL. Javert was going to play a more important role in general, being a semi-reoccurring character. He was planned to be Link's kind of """only friend""" in Castletown. Link was drawn to him because of how much older and experienced he was, and Javert took pity on Link, both in a sort of genuine but also kind of overbearing way. ultimately Link got annoyed by him pretty quickly and once he started to get to know Malon he basically ghosted him. another example of how Link struggles to balance relationships, especially those who really care for him. obviously i. didn't go further with this. but it was planned for about a year before I scrapped it. But i hope you reread their scene together to pick up on some vibes.....

since im already being disgusting um. bottom. praise kink. but he never really finds this out. how sad.

when i was first conceptualizing his character, i was actually going to write link as bipolar. I ended up writing him more adhd/autism as thats closer to my own personal experience. but its still in the back of my mind, and it definitely manifests more as he gets older. but this man has so much going on please project anything you want on him and its real he has it

OoT Link is the only Link i hc as cis bc only a cis man would fumble the bag THIS bad. put those tights on boy

i have a weird hyper-specific modern au where he's living in 1998 germany with his little brother (whos just young link). they play ddr together, he goes to acid techno raves, and dresses like this

again, in a modern au, Link would be a total audiophile. his favorite musicians would be Kate Bush, Fiona Apple, Talking Heads, the Prodigy, Devo, the Mountain Goats, Modest Mouse, Nirvana, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Bjork, the Magnetic Fields-- ok ill stop

if he was an Animal Crossing villager he'd be a gold wolf with the Jock personality

that's all i can think of right now, I'm sure more will come to me and I'll write them here. thanks for the ask, thanks so much for the interest!!!!!

[h0n3yk1tt3n]

Hello fellow bmc blog. I would like to request for you to rant about your fav song!! >:)

Oh gods there are a FEW that rotate in my brain at any given time,, like the ones that always have an animatic that I'll never make playing in my head when I listen to them. See the thing is I think less of the song itself and more of like, the cinematography song brings up in my head

ACK I might have to do a few!!! (In no preference order) ((fuck it i might have to do most of them))

More Than Survive

So when we've got a big song focusing on a lot of different characters and ideas I am chasing EVERYTHING around in my enclosure trying to chew on something. Jeremy's monologuing on his way to and on the bus, learning everyone's personality in the hallway, Michael bopping along to music, all of it!! I had food for WEEKS when Claudia's MTS animation dropped like MMMM THATS THE SHIT

Two-Player Game

Shipping fuel aside I love how we get to see Michael and Jeremy's (and Jeremy and Mr. Heere's) dynamic!! Specifically how we get to watch them bounce off each other when Jeremy sings his own verse and their lil back n forth in the second chorus. Plus imagining these two trying to have a conversation while getting swarmed by zombies in-game is just SO FUCKING fun for me!!!

Be More Chill Pt. 1 and 2

SQUIP being a manipulative bastard my beloved,,, the (presumably squip-produced) image of everyone in the mall first berating Jeremy and then later praising him, or rather what he could be if he continues listening to the squip OUGH mans just wants to be liked </3

Upgrade

SQUIP being a manipulative bastard my beloved!!! Like I imagine it also put Jeremy in the right time and place to see Jake and Christine being all cute together to try n fuel Jer's jealousy into listening to it. Like!!! And ok, I get that Loser Geek Whatever was added to give more context into Jer's life to kinda,, Justify why he would want to listen to the squip and that's all well and good! It's not a bad song by any stretch! But to me personally when we get to "should I take the upgrade" and we hear the ensemble just repeating "upgrade upgrade upgrade now now now now now" like,, that in my head is the squip FURTHER pressuring Jeremy and OVERWHELMING him into taking the upgrade to get the voices in his head to stop. (See also Claudia's Upgrade animation ough,,) Is there a part of him that kinda wants to take it anyway? Sure! But the idea of squip doing EVERYTHING it can to ENSURE Jeremy says yes is just!!! Raaagh!!! Evil scheming!!!

Halloween

Similar to MTS I love the chaos!! Of switching between several characters and seeing how everyone else is partying it up!! And this is just me and my Brain Animatic talking but I just love the idea of Jeremy and Jake's dance battle in the og script?? Like ok we all know that the squip would be manipulating Jeremy's body to get him to win but like?? I really would've wanted to see that friendly competition between Jeremy and Jake?? I wanna see them be friends!!! Even if the shit hits the fan literally a few minutes later. SPEAKING OF WHICH

Do You Wanna Hang?

Look I've already done deep analysis on this song in two other posts. And this is more on the scene As A Whole and not just the song itself (it's DYWR in another font, musically there's not a ton else happening) but it's the character interactions, it's squip being a rotten little shit and being MUCH more overt in forcing Jeremy into something he doesn't want. Like the manipulation was always there but this is like, our first look into EVIL evil, like no the squip is NOT a good thing for you. And then the frenzy of Jake showing up and OH SHIT BROOKE'S HERE TOO and jer can only get the briefest apology out before he just DIPS completely and everything is FALLING APART and!!!! Like!!! Yes it's an uncomfy song and an uncomfy scene but that's the POINT and it's SO VITAL to emphasizing that the squip only cares about RESULTS and not the healthiest way for Jeremy to GET them.

Michael in the Bathroom

I feel like a lot of animatics (and the bway version) just water this song down to "Michael sad" instead of really showing his like, Progression of Emotions. Like he's gotta be in sort of despondent shock at first!! He really went through all his research just for Jeremy to walk out on him?? The fuck?? Like yeah he's alone at this party and he doesn't know what to do without a friend there, (i could stay right here or disappear,) but he's petty and resentful about it (and nobody'd even notice at all [...] cuz my buddy kind of left me alone, but I'd rather fake pee than stand awkwardly) and THEN he starts getting sad (everything felt fine when I was half of a pair, but through no fault of mine there's no other half there)

I should probably make this song its own entire post with all the switching between emotions Michael does between lines (he does it A Lot if you ask me) but he's so much more than just sad and mopey!! He's pissed off!! He's frantic!! He's ten thousand different things!! HES MORE THAN JUST SAD!!!! And I feel like that entire SHITSTORM of emotions isn't shown enough!!!

Smartphone Hour

CHAOS CHAOS CHAOS!!! YOU KNOW THE DRILL BY NOW!!! I don't have much else other than like, the latter half of the song where the rumor mill REALLY blows up and everyone's just saying Whatever the fuck about Rich and it's like!!!! OUGH there really aren't enough Smartphone Hour animatics out there!! And even then idk how many of them really capture the true CHAOS of "Hey, one of our classmates burned Jake's fucking house down," and then social media just has a goddamn RIOT!! I was going to put lyric examples here but, it REALLY is just everything after "always be aware of autocorrect" all the way to the end of the song

The Pitiful Children

SQUIP BEING A MANIPULATIVE BASTARD MY BELOVED!!!!!! VILLAIN SONG VILLAIN SONG VILLAIN SONG AAAAAA!!!!!! BARKBARK BARK BARK GRRR GRR RAAGHRR FOAMS AT THE MOUTH RIPS THIS SONG APART WITH MY TEETH RAAAAARRREGG /pos

I don't have the brain to give it more than that it just makes me Insane

The Pants Song

Listen maybe I'm just a filthy Jeremy kinnie (I am) but to see his dad kickstart his life back up because he's worried about his son who just Called Him The Fuck Out is just!! 🤌🤌🤌 and the way he gets Michael in on it because he KNOWS that if anyone's gonna get through to Jeremy, it's gonna be the one that knows him better than anyone else!!! And like, we actually see a pretty good chunk of Michael's character here too??? Arguably more than mitb??? They both care about Jeremy so much!!!

The Play

It's a big ensemble piece again you know I'm totally feral for it!!! This one might just also need its own post too bc goddamn it's like a 12 minute scene with all the dialogue!!! Like with the squip finally showing its cards and revealing its true intentions!!! Seeing the squipped versions of all the other kids while Jeremy and Michael finally team up again!!! Oh god and the fight,, the squip blocking Jeremy from saying sorry,, making him fight Michael, GODS there's so much to unpack in that twenty second conversation alone!!!! And like can we talk about the terror of the "I just feel so connected to you guys right now" when they swarm Michael!!! And him having to WATCH Jeremy be tempted by squipped Christine?? Facing that he might have to go through the grief of losing his best friend AGAIN???? FUCK I LOVE THIS SHOW

Voices in my Head

Ensemble joins again babeyyyyy!! Like seriously I just love seeing everyone's distinct ways of hyping Jeremy up!!! Mr. Heere's cheesy old school approach! Michael pointing out something that's not superficial! Rich's innuendo! Jenna and Brooke being total sweethearts!! Chloe's backhanded advice (she's so fucking funny holy shit)!! AN ACTUAL LOOK INTO JAKE BEING A TOTAL BRO!!!

Not only all that, but the way that Jeremy kinda,, foregoes everyone's advice and does his own thing!! He ignores the voices telling him what to do and says "what's on his mind," AND THE ELUDING TO THE SQUIP STILL BEING THERE BUT!! The conscious decision to shut that voice down!! And this spawns like, my favorite line from the entire show

"So many voices in my head, and they can yell and hurt like hell but I know I'll be fine [...] of the voices in my head the loudest one is mine"

MY EXCLUSION OF ILPR, SQUIP SONG, DYWR, MTS REPRISE (both of them), AND AGTIKBI DOESN'T MEAN I DONT LIKE ANY OF THESE SONGS!!! I'm sure I could find a lot to chew on if I went after dywr, even though it's more or less The Joke Song of the entire show but YEAH THOSE ONES DEFINITELY HAVE MERIT and I might even rb this later with additions but THIS POST IS ALREADY SUPER LONG AND I KINDA BLEW THIS ASK OUT OF THE WATER BUT XNDJSKSNDH

[luesmainblog]

i'm not gonna reply directly to the post because i don't wanna get into a bunch of shit, but i was surprised to see a mutual i respect reblog it, so i'll say this much. the reason people in bdsm didn't like 50 shades of grey was not as simple as "this is harmful". they didn't like it because it was an innaccurate portrayal of bdsm - or, more accurately, a portrayal of how bsdm can be used as an excuse to abuse - that was CLAIMING to be ACCURATE, GOOD BSDM. the problem wasn't the content itself, the problem was that anytime a criticism was brought up, you were accused of not being able to handle the spice, and the author was CONSTANTLY insisting that what her character did was totally fine and he definitely wasn't Like That. yes, we SHOULD have bare minimum standards of kink, but that doesn't mean "fictional depictions of abuse as kink are automatically harmful". it's about the context and attitude you're entering with, just like any other media. what matters is the conversation around it, not the content itself. Let's all remember that Lolita's biggest problem was readers viewing it as a romance, when the author was certain any sane reader would know how awful the situation was. and i've said it before but it bears repeating until this becomes common sense again: equating fictional abuse, even romanticized, to real abuse causes more harm than its existance does. equating lolicon to actual fucking child molestation is a massive disservice to CSA victims. equating anime twincest to the actual real life abuse of incest lessens the impact the word has for real situations. and i REALLY shouldn't have to say this, but telling a black person that they can't partake in raceplay is SIGNIFICANTLY more racist than anything they're gonna be agreeing to.

and whenever someone tries to give praise to weird and problematic kinks, or talks about how fictional darkness can't hurt you any further than you can hurt yourself with it, or anything remotely related, somebody always comes in with "um okay i agree unless its pedo shit", and we KNOW you mean the fictional stuff. you ALWAYS mean the fictional stuff. and i'm sorry, but no. if nobody was harmed unconsentually in the making of this god damn fanfic then you can just walk away. any argument you try to make for why it's actually Too Harmful To Be Allowed is going to use the same logic that christian moms use to say that pokemon is DEFINITELY going to make your child a satanist. yes, some people can use fiction to cause or perpetuate harm. authors can convince their fans that some fucked up shit is okay, abusers can use ANYTHING to build trust and convince their victims that what they're doing is fine, and people with little self-control can use things that trigger them to emotionally self-harm. all of this is true, and deserves to be talked about and considered. but if you can handle the idea that the majority of people playing violent video games every day are not actually violent people and will react negatively to real world violence, and can enjoy the mayhem they cause in-game while also being aware of how bad it is in real life, and SOME people being inspired to violence does not mean we should ban those games entirely, you can apply the same to kink. even the shit you find abhorrent. to be very frank, we shouldn't HAVE to bring up the therapeutic benefits to victims of real crimes for you to be consistent in your beliefs on censorship. edit: also pointed out to me and extremely important: "pedo shit" is EXACTLY how queer stuff is painted by conservative censors. it is one of the oldest arguments they have. so YES, the best way to immunize ourselves from allowing gays to be censored because too many people find them gross and immoral, is to get used to there being fictional csa depictions even if you find them gross and immoral. your disgust and fear that somebody MIGHT be hurt by it or MIGHT be taking it the wrong way is not, and has never been, a good reason to remove it. again: if no actual people have been harmed in its creation, then it should be allowed. we're obviously not defending actual CSEM here, that is irrefutable harm. we're defending the stupid fetishized anime shit that helps the people who went through that process and move forward.

[raine-kai]

OPLA Japanese Dub Ep 1 Thoughts

Due to life interruptions I never did the full watch through in the Japanese dub that I'd intended to do, so I am starting it now.

I'm actually pretty happy that I had about a month between watching it in English and watching the Japanese dub, because it's given me time to get used to the way I see the characters in English before throwing in the wrench that is their anime personas evoked by the voice actors.

Hoo boy do I have thoughts.

Gold Roger's introductory lines are a little weaker, a little more awkward in the dub. They strike as good a balance as one could expect between the original lines, and having to match the mouth movements and beats of the English, but it creates awkward pauses that just give it less oomf factor.

Gosh Luffy's introduction was strange. Luffy is using words that I would never imagine him to know in the manga/anime, and it was a little jarring at first.

That said, lines that are more geared towards English-language jokes like "Mutiny!" and "It's only my first day!" were edited to be comments like, "Well that didn't work" and "Oh well, it'll work out" respectively, which also grounded me a little more back to anime-Luffy.

The Luffy-Koby dialogue felt a lil more expositiony in Japanese than it felt in English to me, but not in a way that was too distracting. It is exposition, and it's hard to make that flow naturally in a dub.

One of the insults Luffy throws at Alvida was ドS, and my instinctive response was "omg Luffy, who taught you that word????"

Zoro's anime voice coming out of Mackenyu's mouth was a lil weird at first. Because Zoro also speaks slowly in English, in shots where his mouth is visible when he's talking, there's the Gold Roger issue again where his lines feel oddly paced due to having to speak slowly and match the mouth movements.

Nami's voice actress bringing her manga personality into her live action counterpart was a little weird to hear at first, because that whole joyfully conniving side of her seemed largely toned down or absent in the live action, to me. By the end of the episode I was used to it, though.

I have a feeling it's going to be so much harder to like Helmeppo with his anime actor's voice 😂

The Luffy-Zoro meeting when Zoro is tied up scene worked so well, I love this version of Luffy, though Zoro's lines still at some points felt a little oddly paced.

When Luffy tells Zoro, "I'll go high, you go low" in the Japanese dub, it comes out more like, "I'll be on top, you'll be below" with less innuendo than that denotes in English, but definitely with an implication of the power structure that Luffy will have with Zoro. It surprised me a little that Zoro wouldn't object on principle, but then again, different version of Zoro.

I'd also just like to say that as someone with a history with both the LuNa ship and the ZoroLu ship, as well as some guilt-reading of ZoroNami I've done through the years, I can't help but look at some things through shipping goggles.

The way that Nami doesn't try to betray or abandon Luffy at any point through this episode strikes me as very <3

The line "so that's where it goes!" when Zoro puts Wado Ichimonji in his mouth was changed in the dub to "OOOOO, kakkoiiiii" in a way that felt way more enthusiastic than anime Luffy ever was praising Zoro.

Nami cutting in to remind them that they have to get away was just said in a way that made me feel like she, too, sees that Luffy and Zoro are having a meet cute. (Which, frankly, is easy to headcanon—it would explain why she is so fast to call Zoro Luffy's first mate, and perhaps why she is less inclined to be suspicious of them, seeing that they are building a fast, strong connection.)

The music continues to be excellent.

The way the map gets filled in through the ending credits is lovely and I'm glad I have time to watch them through this round <3

[vivithefolle]

Here's my personal theory about why Ron's insecurity issues become more prominent after GOF. In the first three books he actually went through a subtle, but quite nice character growth. In PS he showed insecurity on the express and the mirror of Erised, but at the end of the book he received praise in front of the whole school. In CoS his insecurity surfaced again when he introduced Harry to his room, but Harry's positive response definitely helped him. Also he received Special Award For School at the end. In PoA I think he behaved more confidently than the previous books and he got a new wand and even a new pet. I think this partly solved the hand-me-down issues. Also in the first three books although he was not that famous, I don't think he was ignored by anyone, he always got the credits he deserved. In theory he should become more and more confident from then on. But Rowling WANTED him to be insecure again so she can blame his argument with Harry on "jealousy" even though he never showed that before. Maybe also to make him the butt of joke. We know he was not jealous, but Rowling definitely interpreted him as that way. To justify her nonsense "jealousy" she deliberately made other people ignore him so he could be insecure again, which is quite unfair.

Yep, yep, yep! The first three books have a discrete progression of Ron's self-esteem, before it all goes downhill in GOF.

While in the first three books Ron does get a bit ignored or pushed to the side ("next to the tall kid with the red hair", Fred and George giving Harry the Map...), he doesn't have any hissy fits over it. He's briefly outraged that Fred and George overlooked him but by the next line of dialogue he's over it.

I don't think Rowling exactly wanted Ron to be insecure solely to blame the argument on jealousy, I just think she wanted Ron to be insecure because "he needs to make himself worthy of Hermione :)". So, uh, I guess he's supposed to outgrow the insecurity, while receiving ZERO support or encouragement or even acknowledgement. Because you know, all Ron needs to do is go outside and smell the flowers, THAT'll cure his depression and trust issues! /s

My own headcanon for why Ron, in-universe, suddenly doesn't trust Harry, is because of the traumas he's suffered through the past years. I mean, first you have Gilderoy Lockhart, a teacher, someone supposed to protect their students, telling him point-blank "oh I'll just wipe your memory and let your sister die instead of trying to help lol toodles". Ron had correctly guessed that Lockhart was a fraud, he wasn't expecting the moon from him, but he certainly wouldn't have expected Lockhart to be a stone-cold narcissist manipulator, either.

Harry wasn't traumatized too much by this because Harry already doesn't trust adults, and already had the run-in with Quirrel. To Harry this was just another Tuesday. But Ron? This would have been his first encounter with the idea that there actually are adults who just... don't care, and would be happy to let a child die if it benefits them.

And then there's Scabbers. God, the trauma with Scabbers. You imagine how it would feel, to have lived with this pet all your life, to have fed it, protected it, knowing it depends on you for survival, and in return it gives you its unconditional love and emotional support... and then it turns out it was all a LIE. You thought you'd be confiding secrets to an animal that would never repeat them, you thought you'd been caring for a poor sickly animal that's defenseless and needs your help, and it was all fake, and now your "pet" turns out to have been a monster in disguise all along, capable of scheming and treason of the highest order. And HE is directly to blame for your best friend being an orphan, to boot.

People who never cared for a pet cannot... possibly... fathom... just how violating the Scabbers situation is. Domestic animals are incapable of treason. They're dependant on humans to survive, they don't judge, they don't attack - treat them well, and they'll treat you well in turn. And to imagine that such a pure, innocent bond could be exploited by an unscrupulous traitor... gah, the shudders. After Scabbers' betrayal honestly Ron is free to have trust issues for life, I know I would. (Add to it the possibility of Ron having ADHD, and Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria would make it EVEN WORSE!)

And so that brings us to Harry. Ron's been betrayed by a teacher (=safe, responsible figure), by HIS OWN PET (=supposed to be INCAPABLE of treason), and now... now the Goblet spouted Harry's name, DUMBLEFUCKINGDORE HIMSELF is confused as to how, well... what's left for Ron to think? What's left for Ron to assume?

And then Harry has to worsen it by lying to Ron, and Ron notices Harry is lying and gets even MORE hurt because it registers as another betrayal, and on top of that Harry calls him stupid? Yeah no bye Felicia, I understand fully why Ron pulled away after that.

But of course, none of my extensive reasoning and attempt to paint a cohesive picture of the state of Ron's psyche matters, because to JKR and most others, omgg he juts jelly harrry iz gud lolz!!!