#also just generally the musical feels a bit more polished) the movie's are really good and i loveee patricks mom i just wish they did more

[just-a-carrot]

hi this is the aspiring game dev who sent that other ask. Yes I am hoping to create a visual novel in the future :3 any advice on where to start with that?

i see i see

well what i wrote in the other ask still is extremely relevant, so i would so that's still my top advice in general

but as for specifically VN stuff i would say:

Don't try to do a ton of complicated coding work right off the bat; start off very simply just trying for instance to do a scene that you've written with perhaps some placeholder assets just to get started, then expand from there; you can slowly add more complicated code and polish as you get more familiar with the engine you're using (i use ren'py for instance, which is very easy to jump into, and you can use the tutorial game to start out learning some basics and go from there!); this is why for instance my later arcs of OW and my later games in general are all a bit more polished coding and scripting-wise, because when i was just getting started, everything was brand-new, so i was just trying to keep things simple to keep moving, which is a good thing actually, because as a beginner it's so easy to get stuck in the mud and overwhelmed and it's so easy to lose motivation if you hit a lot of snags this early on; also for instance i don't even touch things like GUI until i've got at least part of the game itself coded, etc

Write a good chunk of your script first before diving in so you have a lot to work with once you start working in the engine.

Think about music like you're scoring a movie rather than like you're picking songs for a game. What I like to do is go out and just start listening to lots of music from the music sites I've used while thinking about the story and potential scenes. I download a bunch and just live with it for a while. Sometimes I'll listen to a song and know right away a scene it's perfect for, or it'll inspire something for a scene. Other times I really like a song but am not sure what to use it for yet so I'll just live with it for a while and see if eventually my head pairs it up with a scene. Other times I already have a scene and am looking for a song specifically for it. I feel like listening to and paying more attention to scores in movies and TV will also help you get a bit more of an ear for how to work with music in VNs.

Playtest a lot!! Again and again! You can insta-reload in Ren'Py with your new saved changes. I do this constantly when working to test out how my scenes look and feel. Even more so when working with more complicated animations as I need to ensure my numbers are correct and everything looks right lol.

[goose-writing-and-art]

Ref for an OC: Aeron (they/them) They are a werewolf and I'll be designing the wolf form... sometime soon lmao. Below is a character playlist and a character bio :)

Aeron Kowalczyk 

AFAB Trans-Masc Nonbinary (they/them) 

24, October 13th (Libra) 

Polish (maternal) and Irish (paternal) descent, raised Polish in America.

Fluent in English and knows a passable amount of Polish though not as fluent as family would like. 

Personality

Internal

Lost, insecure, uncertain. Aeron often feels as though they’ve been floundering for the last several years now, largely connecting with the distancing and then complete disappearance of their mother. A lot of this helplessness manifests itself as either complete aloof indifference and borderline nihilism, or as sharp snaps of anger. 

External

Indifferent, guarded, contrarian. Aeron’s always been a bit of a loner, bit of a rebel, even before their family fell apart. An interest in alternative fashion aesthetics, movies, music, and a general interest in the occult in their formative years isolated them from a lot of their peers. Not exactly something Aeron wanted, either, but better they stayed away than try to change them. That cycle of loneliness and forced independence has resulted in a questioning and biting outer Aeron, all too willing to nip at the metaphorical heels of those making bold claims and assumptions (even when they’re fully correct, if only to watch them scramble in doubt). 

Favorite

Color: Black would be the immediate answer, but upon more thought, probably deep midnight blues and teals, and red as a favorite accent color. 

Beverage: Non-Alcoholic; Monster energy. Any of them. Aeron’s a major caffeine addict, and energy drinks are really the only thing that do anything to them anymore. Alcoholic; Creamy dessert cocktails are really the only alcohol Aeron enjoys drinking, but partakes in beer at social events they find themselves in. 

Food: Meal; Pierogi, and really any dumpling type formation. Will fuck up some dumplings. Snack; Fuego Takis, and any spicy snack. 

Least Favorite

Color: Bright colors, specifically highlighter or neon tones. Dislikes pastels for not being saturated enough but will concede on them sometimes looking ok. 

Beverage: Non-Alcoholic; Garlic milk. One of their grandparents’ home remedies for just about anything growing up, and it did help, but fuck is it nasty shit. Alcoholic; Tequila. The worst hangovers. Get that shit away from them. 

Food: Meal; Barszcz z Uszkami. Generally does not like beets at all, but especially beet soups. The dumplings and veggies are still good though. Snack; Chip pretzels. They’re too dry, and just make them crave soft pretzels instead. 

Physical

Height: 5’10, though likes to tell 6'0 guys that they’re 5’8 so that they panic. 

Piercings: Their ears are done up. Gauges, industrial bars, cartilage hoops, and studs lining up to the top of the ear. They have a septum piercing as well. 

Tattoos: A tattoo on their left inner forearm of a woman being burned at the stake and revealing a wolf within, head tilted back at the moon, on a black background. 

Accessories: Lots of leather and rope bracelets, rubber wrist bands, collars, chokers and corded necklaces with various pendants. The only constant is a chain necklace with a sterling bat pendant with red gem inlets for eyes. They also wear a lot of thick metal rings and like wearing flannels or suspenders hanging off of their hips. 

Relationships

Layla Johannes: Best friend of going on 10 years, an otherwise “normal” seeming tomboy sort of girl, but ended up being extremely supportive of and even interested in the more “odd” things that Aeron was. The last 5-6 years have been a little odd with some romantic and physical tension that’s been left untouched after the two had a Moment on their senior prom night, but neither wants to move in and misread the situation or change the dynamic, but it’s still There despite the time. 

Finn O’Donahue: Father, hasn’t been around since they were 6. Only regrets having any memory left of him. 

Julia Kowalczyk: Mother, she’s been missing for the last 4 years. She disappeared on a random day in the January after Aeron’s 20th birthday. They’d been really close, but after their 20th, she’d started to drift away. Aeron doesn’t know what happened, but to some extent they blame themselves. They’ve been determined to find her, even though the authorities have long given up. 

Dawid Kowalczyk: Grandfather. They’ve lived with him their whole life, and only moved out after their first shift as a means to keep him at a safe distance. They still visit regularly and call when they can’t. Dawid has gotten more somber and quiet since his daughter disappeared, now being the only one left in the house after Aeron moved out. He can take care of himself well enough, he’s just. Lonely. (Calls him Dziadek when being serious/casual, or Dziadzia when being playful/emotional) 

[flieslikeamoron]

@skystamp tagged me and it took me a minute, but here are five songs I've listened to recently. 

Let Me Down Easy - Daisy Jones and the Six

I watched the show, and it's fine. The ending was lame, but I liked it okay otherwise. Riley Keough and Nabiyah Be were very good. And yes, I listened to the album by this fake band. It's also fine. You might as well just listen to Fleetwood Mac, honestly. But it has some catchy tunes. I generally like the live versions from the show a bit better than the polished "album" versions though. 

Waffle House - The Jonas Brothers

I'm still vestigially in Jonas fandom. It was never really about the music for me, I was in it for the fic. And for the codependent brothers. (Except I did love love love the DNCE album. Suck on that, Nick! Joe was secretly the most talented one all along!) But yeah, my favorite albums from my Disney era were Demi's Here We Go Again and Aly and AJ's Insomniatic. So although I still have feelings about the Jonas Brothers, they're not really much about the music. I still listen to their stuff though in the way that you might listen to music put out by someone you went to high school with or used to date or something. This one is fun, but I hate that one line about "headstrong father and a determined mother." It just hits my ear wrong rhythmically.

Fistfight - Ballroom Thieves

I added this one to my steddie playlist a while ago, and I listen to it pretty often. I really like the dirty groove of it, and the soar of the chorus. Love the line: They said love is grabbing blindly at a pit full of snakes/And wait to feel the only heel among the rows of all the venomous teeth and of course the chorus: You were a bright light/You were a fistfight. IDK I think that fits the way I'm writing them.

I'm a Man - Adam Lambert

This is from the covers album Adam put out recently. I don't like the Sex on Fire cover at all, but the rest is good. I think my faves are the Beatles-esque take on Getting Older, a sexy cool I Can't Stand the Rain, and a moody and modern Do You Really Want to Hurt Me that I like way better than the original. And this one, which is from Jobriath. He was an out gay rock musician in the early 70s. He had a big contract and a lot of marketing hype, and then his first album bombed, and he got basically abandoned by the industry and died of AIDS. Anyway, the Jobriath album is pretty much aping Ziggy Stardust/Bowie. Especially vocally. And it has several "space man" songs. But I kind of get more Elton John vibes overall. Jobriath was a pianist, so it's a lot more piano heavy than Bowie and it has these musical theater/showy/operatic tones. Like there's one song Movie Queen that just sounds like vaudeville/cabaret, not really "rock." Aaaanyway, Adam's voice is always A+ and you can tell he relates to this song. It's a great cover.

The One that Got Away - The Civil Wars

I guess Daisy Jones put me in the mood for fraught band relationships and tangled up feelings. This is so pretty and haunting. And I love that complicated dynamic of it was easier when it was just pining, and it was all potential, and it wasn't this hard, real thing.

[batri-jopa]

Is it just me or could there be more gay-movies with boys than with girls? 🤔 I realised that I already watched few movies with boys/men love but never actually watched a good movie with girls love (at least nothing I would remember * ).

My choice was: Friend / Rafiki (2018, dir. Wanuri Kahiu)

[photo source pinknews.com.uk]

First of all I have to warn you that I am going to compare that movie to And Then We Danced / და ჩვენ ვიცეკვეთ (2019, dir. Levan Akin) - mainly because I love it so much that for me it's like a model-of-a-meter-from-Sevres in gay cinema😉 But also because that one movie was in fact a key reason why I chose another...

...because ATWD and Rafiki are alike in many aspects: main characters are very young adults (about 20 - and those girls just finished school so I guess they are even younger than boys in ATWD), still living with their parents (divorced parents even), in a rather poor country with huge homophobia (not as severe as in islamic countries but still). Okey, I'm not sure if people in Kenya are as poor society as the one in Georgia but those old blocks of flats seemed oddly familiar

...and Kena wears a hoodie!😆 with short sleeves but still😋 (ATWD fans will understand😉)

Now about the aesthetics (least important, I know, but I am visual artist and I can't just ignore it): all those vibrant colours and patterns in every scene are mesmerising!!!🤩

Yet I feel like the movie kind of lacks a music... I mean there sure is some music in the background but it did not left any memory in my mind after end credits. Maybe it's just my fault, maybe it was not "my kind" of music so my brain not paying enough attention? I mean I remember they were dancing with those colourful lights so there must have been some music, why do I not remember that music at all? Well, okey, I get it's not And Then We Danced with it's soundtrack (and dances) leaving me enchanted and wanting more **, bringing back all the movie emotions every time I hear it and provoking me to dig for hidden message in the lyrics and dance moves many months after first watching... (yes people, And Then We Danced is a masterpeace that does it all!). But at least I'd love to have that one song that would stuck in my head, that I could add to my playlist as a movie reminder... There was no such thing in Rafiki or I did not notice

[photo source sbs.com.au]

I loved that relationship!!!😍 I can confess now, that I was a bit afraid of what I may see and how my brain would react to that (don't get me wrong here - no matter if it's LGBT or cis-het movie I just simply don't like to see any shocking scenes! And my fear of seeing such thing has been rooted in a fact that polish and generally european "ambitious" movies seem to assume that without drug taking, doing something disgusting, raping or braking the law the movie is "not ambitious enough"🤦). But the way it was shown was very subtle, gradual and felt so natural, simply organic thus very convincing to me. It also reminded me of And Then We Danced. It's when I see them together (Kena with Ziki or Merab with Irakli) I have that feeling of warmth and comfort... I don't have any awkward revelation of "seeing gays/lesbians"... It feels as if none of them were any longer woman or man to me - I can only see two people in love... And any words to name what is between them are needless or utterly wrong and vulgar.

It's worth to mention that both characters are really "good girls": with good grades, going to study and their greatest rebellion act is staying out at night - those girls are definitely someone easy to relate to.

Girls in Rafiki talks about their relationship quite a lot while boys in ATWD do not at all (they mostly communicate with dance - but OMG what dance it is...). I guess girls are generally more likely to talk about feelings. Georgian guys might not even have words to describe what they were experiencing

And there's even religion issue. Nuff said...

[photo source es.unifrance.org]

Now for the sad part: --------------[SPOILERS AHEAD!]------------ I was naive enough to think two girls are more safe from violence than two boys would be... Yes, there is violence.

...and thinking of which parent would be more supporting, compassionate or at least the less judging you? Like I would expect that when you're living with your mom and women are meant to be more compassionate from definition, and you do not even want to talk to your dad who left you both for another woman... and when the hour of trial comes - you are just heartlessly rejected by that "closer" parent with no respect to the fact you were almost killed, I mean... People are like this FOR REAL?! I can't believe it, I don't want to believe it, yet I guess people are just fucked up more than I thought they were and that's just how they work... Maybe it's even a cliche LGBT movie trope, I have no idea...

And then there's the part that I'm crying my eyes out and if it was not enough it is followed by that another scene (as if the movie makers saying: "hold on a second don't put your box of tissues yet!") - when that guy sits... Just sits near. It may not seem like any start for the community, I mean it's not that they ever even talk - they don't even look at each other. Yet they are... together. Just silently together in this. (And I suddently wish I knew that background boy character better and I want to hear his story so so much...)

I wonder about the woman in the end telling Kena not to touch her... yet as the very next thing she throws that certain information for her. Why? While watching I thought it was just another provocation from that gossiping bitch but after the film I thought maybe that was some kind of poor trial of making amend? She was definitelly a bitch and she still kind of despised Kena even now - yet I suppose all she ever wished for Kena was humuliation and not the actual severe death-threatening violence that occured - and for that she might wanted to make amend by giving the information (most probably not realising that Kena already knew)

The end is not straightforward happy but it is promising so I am satisfied ❤

__________

* Ok, there is one girl couple in Wet Sand / სველი ქვიშა (2021, dir. Elene Naveriani) but that relationship is not it's main topic and also it is more complicated than just "lesbian couple" as one person is suggested to be trans or maybe nonbinary ("born in wrong body") and the other seemed demisexual to me (if not asexual even).

** It is actually the very moment I hear the accordion of Ra Lamazia Tusheti in the beggining of End Credits of And Then We Danced and then the title appears, and... I just know I have to watch it again right this instant, and hell I know it's 2 a.m. already, and it will be another 2 hours, but who the heck would need to sleep at all when you can just rewatch your favorite movie over and over again?! So I found myself sleepless drug addict to the movie because of its soundtrack - why, thank you Levan Akin, that's exactly what I needed in my life...

[creepy-spooghetti]

Hello! I would like a matchup if you have the time!

First of, I am 5'7, ISFP, a pisces, my favorite color is red, I am curvy and I have shoulder length, red dyed hair. I have grey-blue eyes, wear glasses because I'm pretty much blind without them. My makeup and clothes take a lot of inspiration from alternative subcultures like goth and grunge.

As far as my personality is concerned, I try to be as generous, helpful and friendly as I can. I do my best to involve everyone in a conversation or activity and I yearn for close connections and bonds. I am very reactive, though. I cry and scream and get angry but always apologize if and when I hurt someone. Something less known about me is my lack of empathy. It's not that I don't care about people in my life, I just have a hard time feeling for them in even the worst of situations. I also don't really have any sensibility about death; I'm just not that affected. My love languages are physichal touch, acts of service and gift giving/receiving. I am a bit of a masochist and I don’t mind getting hurt, either through my own reckless actions or love bites from my partner. I need my partner to be able to express their affection, feelings and thoughts; I need someone assertive but still caring in their own way.

I have a bit of a bad memory and I tend to forget most events. Usually I just nod along to whatever story my friends are telling because if it sounds like something I would do, I probably did it and just don't remember.

I enjoy swimming and summer, painting, writing, theatre and music. I paint a lot of abstract things and I try to express exactly what feelings inspired that specific piece. I usually write poetry if I'm in the mood but I lean more towards painting. Aside from that, I've been told I would make a good actor. I like listening to a lot of metal music, pop punk, darkwave (some of my favorite bands are System Of a Down, Nice ice kills, Skillet, Vandal Moon, Children on Stun and don't tell anyone but I have a soft spot for Alec Benjamin)

Some of my favorite things are my spiked bracelet, my dark red nail polish and parties. I would say I'm an ambivert. I love spending time with others, although I also like to enjoy my personal space often. I like amusement parks, water parks, the forest, the beach, I find fun in most places.

Finally, I absolutely love horror. Horror manga like Junji Ito, horror movies or stories; they are all my favorites. My favorite book and movies are Frankenstein and Scream 1996 and Hush 2016. Manga and books don't scare me a lot but movies are what I enjoy most, even though I'm scared to watch them alone. My ideal date would be a horror movie marathon with lots of scares so I can hold on to my partner and cuddle. On the topic of horror, I have a pretty embarassing but totally reasonable fear of zombies. I have nightmares often and I swear my fear came from plants vs zombies.

I didn't mean for this to get so long ^^ Have a good one!

I match you with...

Brian!

The first thing Brian observed about you was your appearance - he thought you looked very cute, besides he is shamelessly attracted to those that wear glasses so that gave you some bonus points for sure.

The moment he really started to notice you, however, was when you went with him on a mission, and he realized how capable you were if given the right assignment. The two of you worked well together, and he didn't have a problem at all with teaming up again sometime in the future.

He'd see you wandering around the manor, doing your own thing, headphones over your ears, completely content with the situation, and discreetly admire you from a distance - he wouldn't have admitted that to anyone, though.

You seemed to be very in touch with your emotions, judging by how expressive you were with them when communicating with any of the other residents, and he could tell that you wouldn't hold back if something ever angered or upset you. Therefore, he made a mental note never to cross you if it was unnecessary.

Over time, his feelings blossomed and became something more than a fleeting crush. Everything about you reeled him in, even though he didn't know that much about you. So, he decided to change that.

It started with a passing conversation here and there; he'd inquire about your day or comment on something random, and that would spark further interaction. The more you talked, the more that little flame in his chest grew. He looked forward to seeing you each day, even if just for a couple of minutes. He hadn't felt this lively since he was in college, and it showed through in his voice and actions. His apathetic demeanor was slowly melting away, and you were to thank for that.

When the two of you first got together, he was a little hesitant and unsure; after all, he hadn’t dated anyone since he was in college. But with your lovable and affectionate demeanor, his doubts were quick to fade.

Brian personally is not a huge fan of horror, but whenever he’s free and you want to watch something, he’s down to do it with you. It’s quality time together, and he wouldn’t miss that for the world.

Plus, he finds it quite amusing when you get frightened and end up essentially using him as your own personal body pillow.

If it’s an open partner that you want, it’s an open partner that you’ll get; contrary to popular belief, Brian is very connected with his feelings, emotions, thoughts, etc, even though he doesn’t like expressing that in his day-to-day life with everybody else.

If he has a problem, with your relationship or otherwise, he will be very honest with you about it, as well as admitting when he was wrong. He’s a mature guy and definitely would not date anyone that isn’t willing to face trouble head-on or own up to their mistakes. He doesn’t like to dwell on past problems either, so as long as you make it clear you’re sorry for whatever it was you did, and will do better in the future, he’ll forgive you.

If you ever have a nightmare, feel free to call him up in the middle of the night. He’s used to being woken up from slumber anyway, being one of Slenderman’s most trusted puppets, so if he has to talk to someone this late, he wants it to be you.

He too enjoys writing poetry, and even though he doesn’t consider himself an expert by any means, it’s one way he’s able to release his stress and negativity. Believe it or not; being forced to hurt people doesn’t do much to help his mental state.

He would rather not go full-on PDA if it can be helped; it isn’t that he doesn’t relish your touch, or finds you embarrassing to be around, it’s simply because if he lets the others in the house know he can be soft, they won’t take him seriously. And he can’t have that.

So if you start clinging to his arm when he’s in the middle of something, he’ll nudge you off and mutter that he loves you, but the cuddles will have to wait.

Obviously he’ll make it up to you when you have some alone time together.

If you ever get emotional, for whatever reason, don’t worry about receiving judgement - he understands that everyone deals with things in their own ways. Especially if you’re in the middle of a disagreement, and he sees you’re beginning to get upset, he will shelf his own agenda and make sure you calm down before either of you continue.

He isn’t a huge fan of most of the music you listen to (he’s more of a classic rock guy) but he can vibe with some of the songs.

He occasionally likes to tease you about how scared you are of zombies, but if you seem like you aren’t receptive, he won’t take it any farther. He doesn’t want to be mean and make you feel bad.  

He loves the color of your eyes and he compliments how pretty they are all the time. One of his favorite things to do is stare into them; he says it’s like getting lost in a stormy ocean. 

[project1939]

200 Films of 1952

Film number 182: Nachts auf den Strassen (aka, The Mistress)

Release date: Jan 14th, 1952 

Studio: Bavaria Film, Intercontinental Film 

Genre: drama/noir

Director: Rudolph Jugert 

Producer: Harold Braun, Kurt Hartmann, Erich Pommer, Georg Richter 

Actors: Hans Albers, Hildegard Knef, Lucie Mannheim, Marius Goring 

Plot Summary: Heinrich is a middle-aged long-distance truck driver leading an absolutely ordinary life. Everything changes one evening when he picks up a pretty young woman named Inge who needs a ride. Suddenly he is involved in an unlikely affair, but Inge is not all she seems. Crime, drugs, and other illicit affairs are all part of her messy life. 

My Rating (out of five stars): ****½  

I’m glad I was able to find this film because it’s not an especially famous one outside of Germany. It was a taut, psychological, emotionally affecting crime noir film with an outstanding cast. I was already a little in love with Hildegard Knef from Diplomatic Courier and The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and she was even better here. Like Diplomatic Courier, I spent most of the film not entirely sure I could trust her.  (minor spoilers)

The Good: 

Han Albers. He was one of Germany’s biggest stars for most of the 20th century, and you can understand why if you watch this film. He played a relatively weak working-class man who was entirely unremarkable. When he began to be placed in dramatic and troubling situations, every emotion was masterfully conveyed on his face. Even though he was making stupid decisions over and over, it was almost impossible not to empathize with him. 

Hildegard Knef. Here’s another example of “the camera loves her.” She’s gorgeous, of course, but there is something unique about her look, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She played Inge with such an intriguing mix of mystery and pathos, I never felt I could fully understand her. I wanted desperately to, but she always kept some part of her concealed. 

The rest of the cast was excellent as well, especially Marius Goring as the vile Kurt. 

The plot was well structured and absorbing. It’s a movie that made me excited to keep watching because I was immersed in every moment. 

It was also a visually interesting film. It had more of a Hollywood look than other foreign films on my list so far; it was relatively polished but not generic. I’m sure it pulled some of its aesthetic from earlier German Expressionism, because Hollywood did the same thing with the look of their noir films. It had beautiful contrast and shadows and interesting shot compositions. 

Character depth took a front seat. Especially with Heinrich, because we got to know so many of his habits, quirks, likes and dislikes. Even something as mundane as when he turned the music off and when he left it on was telling. 

There was a frankness that would never have been allowed in Hollywood because of the Production Code. Things like drugs, sex, and extra-marital affairs, were all directly spoken of. 

The film took a cliche about a middle-aged man becoming dangerously involved with a young woman and handled the material so well, it made it its own thing. Compare this to Strange Fascination to see the opposite. 

I enjoyed having lots of questions hanging in the air- Was the money Heinrich found just a MacGuffin? Was Inge ever really in love with Heinrich? What different things were they smuggling? What was going on in Kurt and Inge’s relationship? How much did Heinrich’s wife know? Etc etc etc. 

The Bad: 

I’m not entirely sure if I liked the ending- was it a little too happy and “tied up”? 

Did Heinrich’s wife really know and forgive him? I don’t know how I feel about that. 

The portrayal of marijuana use was a little over the top! Not as bad as in the American media of the time, but still a bit exaggerated! 

[messers-moony]

So Perfect 2 | J.P

Paring: Young!James Potter X Fem!Lupin!Reader

Summary: James falls in love with a bookstore called, Lupin’s Library, and can’t believe what they’re going through. 

Preparing for a date seemed easy enough, except when it’s with a twenty-five-year-old man that already has a child. Granted, the twenty-five-year-old man was handsome, very handsome; maybe that’s what made this so hard. Every dress that she tried on didn’t seem to fit or didn’t seem to look right. 

Y/n was looking at her appearance in the mirror when a light knock was heard on her door, “Come in!”

Remus almost dropped the tea he was holding for her, “You look spiffing.”

“Spiffing?” Y/n crossed her arms with a stupid smile, “That’s all you could come up with?”

“Dashing, beautiful, gorgeous?” Remus shrugged, “I'm not good at this whole thing. ‘S why I’m into blokes, remember?”

Y/n hummed, reaching for the tea he was holding for her, “Thanks, Remmy.”

“No problem.” He replied, taking a seat on her twin bed, “So, are you excited?”

“Nervous.”

“Nervous?”

“Yeah, I mean, he’s already got a child, Rem!” Y/n said exasperated, “If this goes well, then he’ll expect me to be Harry’s stepmother, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”

Remus placed two hands on his shorter sister's shoulders, “You’re going to be fine. No one is more prepared for that than you are.”

“I’m regretting this.”

“If you don’t go on this date, then I’ll never call Sirius.” 

“That’s not fair!”

“It is.” Remus replied, “How about this-”

“Oh no, you only do this when you know you’ll win.” She murmured. 

Remus smirked, “If you go on this date and have fun, I’ll ask Sirius out. If you don’t go on this date at all, I’ll block his number.”

“But you and Sirius are perfect for each other.” Y/n whined, “And so are you and James.” Remus countered. 

Y/n pouted, and Remus smiled, “Now go have fun on this date. James is waiting outside.”

“Are you shitting me?!” 

Remus laughed, “Nope!”

Y/n scrambled to grab her things, and Remus watched amusedly, “You’re the worst, Rem!” She yelled as she began to leave the bookstore. 

“Love you too, sis!”

The door closed behind her, and she was releasing breaths of air. James turned to see her out of breath and a flush on her cheeks. It made him smile. She looked absolutely breathtaking too. Y/n’s hair was styled, and her dress looked dashing on her. James offered her his hand, and Y/n took it with a gentle smile. 

“Sorry for making you wait.” Y/n apologized, “Rem was no help.”

James chuckled, “It’s fine.”

James opened the car door for her, and she got in. Instantly she felt out of place. Y/n hadn’t been in a car since high school and ever since then had taken public transportation or walked. She and Remus didn’t have money for a vehicle, so they made do with what they had. The seats were black leather, and the car didn’t have a spec of dirt on it. 

He got into the driver's side of the car smoothly and took notice of Y/n’s awestruck expression, “I take it you like my car?”

“I’m sorry.” Her expression turned sheepish, “It’s been a minute since I’ve been in a car.”

James quirked an eyebrow, “Remus and I walk or ride buses to get by.”

“Well, I’m glad I could be with you for your first experience back.” They both laughed. 

It was so easy with James. Conversation flowed like water, and the air was light like clouds. His hand went from the shift to intertwine his fingers with hers. Y/n’s face flushed, and James smiled genuinely. James couldn’t remember a time when a girl made his heart race and butterflies fill his stomach like this before. 

When they arrived, Y/n was starstruck. It was fancier than she thought. Her heart pounded, and insecurity filled her body. James made his way to her side of the car and opening the door for her again. He helped her out of the car and felt her hand tremble just the slightest bit. 

“You look beautiful.” James assured, “No need to be worried.”

Y/n swallowed thickly, “Hey,” James turned her face to his, “If I thought you were underdressed, I would’ve told you. You’re gorgeous, and I think you’ll be the prettiest girl in the room.”

“Thank you.”

He gave her another one of those beautiful smiles before walking up to the hostess, “Name?”

“Should be under Potter.”

The hostess smiled, “Right this way.”

James motioned for Y/n to go first, so she followed the hostess to the table. Y/n sat down, and James sat across from her as the woman set down two menus. Maybe it was a force of habit, but she couldn’t help but let her eyes travel to everything around her. 

He smiled, slightly amused by her way of checking everything around her. It wasn’t the fanciest place that he could’ve taken her - there was much better - but he didn’t want to overwhelm her. It wasn’t pitying that drew him toward her, though. There was something about her that made him feel like a teenager again. 

The place was made of what appeared to be a dark wooden material. The lights were a dim yellow, and the tables were polished beautifully. The booths were comfy and with red cushioning. The atmosphere was cooling and dry. 

Y/n had opened her menu and began to survey it, “Pick whatever you want.” 

“Are you sure?” Y/n asked, “I really don’t mind-“

“This is a date.” James reminded as he held her hands from across the table, “Let me treat you so well that you a second date.”

Y/n blushed, “You’ve already done that.” 

“I have?”

“Shut up.”

James chuckled, kissing her knuckles, “Whatever you want, love.”

Half of the food on the menu Y/n hadn’t even heard of. Granted, she and Remus never really ate out much as kids. Usually, their mother - Hope - would cook them dinner as their father - Lyall - got home from work. Dinner was generally around seven-thirty or eight o’clock. 

The dinner went by gracefully, with lots of banter and getting to know each other. It wasn’t until the end of the date where James had paid despite Y/n’s efforts, and they got into the car where he had asked the dreadful question. They both sat in the parking spot when James had turned to her. 

“How do you feel about children?” James asked and quickly added, “I know that you’re good with them because of the reading on Saturdays but, I mean, about having children?”

Y/n wrung her hands, “I never really thought about it.”

“Why?”

“I have two jobs and a sick brother to take care of.”

Y/n replied, “Kids don’t really fit in. I’d also have to have a significant other to have children. Which I don’t have.”

James nodded, “Okay, but if you were to have a significant other.”

“I mean, I’d like to.” Y/n shrugged, “My life is just hectic right now. Bringing a child into this life wouldn’t be fair.”

Okay, so this isn’t going anywhere, James thought; I need to be blunt, “How would you feel about being Harry’s stepmother?”

She swallowed, “James….”

“I know that’s a hard thing to answer right now. Especially with us just getting started.” James added, “But if you aren’t interested, then this isn’t worth starting.”

“No, I know and understand.” Y/n said, fidgeting with her hands in her lap, “I’m sure it’s hard to find someone, you know, already having a kid and all.”

James nodded. 

“I’d love to be Harry’s stepmother.” Y/n replied as James’ face lit up, “But I still have the bookstore, the bar, and Remus to take care of as well. It’ll be stressful.” 

“I’m not asking you to be a stay-at-home mother.” James chuckled, “I’m just asking that at the end of the day, you come home to us.”

“And hopefully,” James smiled sheepishly, “Sirius can knock Remus off your list.”

Y/n chuckled, “Hopefully. Remus is a handful.”

“He seems nice.” 

She snorted, “Until you officially meet him.”

“Well then,” James smiled, taking her hand in his as he began moving the car, “Looks like we’ll be having double dates.”

Y/n squeezed his hand as he began to drive. The car drove effortlessly over the unpaved roads. Light music played in the background. The sky was a beautiful blue littered with sparkling white specks. The moon was crescent and barely a sliver. James had gotten to a stoplight when he spoke up again. 

“My house or yours?”

“Whichever.” 

James smiled and turned the wheel to the left, “Okay.”

It didn’t take long to realize that they were going to his house. His neighborhood was much different than hers. Granted, she lived on top of a bookshop, but it was still different. James lived in the suburbs. The houses were breathtaking, and the streets looked clean. Asphalt roads were freshly paved, and sidewalks looked new. The homes were family-sized, but they looked ginormous compared to her and Remus’ studio apartment only suited for one. 

James pulled into the driveway, and Y/n was flabbergasted. It was a two-story house, mostly white concrete, and the accents were a dark brown color. The grass was freshly cut, and the vegetation was trimmed. The backyard appeared to have a pool and a patio area, but Y/n could barely tell over the solid fence. 

His keys jingled as he placed the key into the slot and the door opened with ease. Gently, he motioned her to go first. The floors were dark oak wood, seemingly similar to the dark paint on the accents of the house. Everything was so clean, exactly like the car, not a spec of dust laid on the surfaces. 

A movie was playing on the television in the room on the right. The kitchen was on the left, and the sitting table was in the room beside it. James shut the door behind him, locking it. He took off his coat and shoes, placing them at the front door. He smiled. 

“I take it you like the house?”

“It’s beautiful.”

James smiled, walking to the kitchen, and Y/n took off her shoes before following him. He sighed when he opened the fridge, and Y/n had taken a seat at the barstool in front of the island. James picked up an empty bottle of wine that was still residing in the fridge. 

“You keep empty bottles of wine in the fridge?” Y/n questioned as James rubbed his face with his hands. 

“No. Bad habit of Sirius’.”

Y/n quirked an eyebrow, “He lives here?”

“He acts as he does.” James muttered as he recycled the empty bottle, “But no, Sirius lives a couple of doors down. But I feel like he should be paying rent here.”

Y/n laughed, “Regardless, I’ve known him since elementary school, so he’s like my brother. Harry calls him uncle and everything.”

“That’s adorable.” Y/n said, “Do you have any actual siblings?”

“Nope. Jus’ me.” He answered, motioning to himself, “Sirius has a younger brother named Regulus.”

“His parents obsessed with constellations or something?”

“Supposedly.”

“Where is Harry now?” 

“With Sirius.” James replied, taking out a full bottle of wine, “Told him I might get him tonight or might not.”

Y/n took the glass of wine he offered her with a smile, “Mind if I ask why the tv was left on?”

“My cat.”

“Cat?”

“Technically, not mine.” James explained, “It’s my ex-fiancées, but she left him here, so he’s mine now.”

“And your cat likes the tv?”

James nodded, “What's his name?”

“Moony.”

“Moony?”

“Yeah. Harry named him actually.”

Y/n smiled. They continued to talk, and the night kept going on by. It was well past midnight when James drove her back home to her shared apartment. The car ride was silent, primarily with music playing lightly in the background once again. He walked her to the door of the bookstore before bidding her goodnight. 

Gently James pressed his lips to her forehead, “Goodnight, get some sleep.”

“You too…” Y/n muttered, blushing as she walked into the bookstore. 

She hadn’t even made it up the steps when Remus began talking, “Had a good night, I presume?”

“You’re a dick, ya know?”

He smirked and closed his book with a thud, “Runs in the family.”

Y/n gasped playfully, “You ass!”

Remus chuckled as they both walked up the steps, “Seriously though, good night?”

“Yeah, really good night.”

[pillow-anime-talk]

wap challenge.

synopsis: ‘WAP challenge’ versus our lovely boys.

# tags: headcanons; current relationships; aged up; romance; mild comedy and fluff; suggestive?

includes: female reader ft. hitoshi shinsou & you shindou {bnha} + eita semi & tobio kageyama {hq!!} + seijuurou mikoshiba & rin matsuoka {free!}

— HITOSHI

↘ It was absolutely NOT YOUR idea to do this challenge. Mina was the initiator of it all, because she’s addicted to the TikTok app, plus she knows every trend that is currently taking place. Plus, she’s your bestie, so it’s super obvious that you’ll do a lot of (stupid) things with her to keep an eye on her silly ass. 

↘ UMMM, anyway. Also not gonna lie, but you liked to dance, so it was much easier to induce you this time, hehe.

↘ Therefore, a few trainings later, you could easily record the ‘WAP challenge’ and put it on the pink-haired teenager’s popular account. 

↘ Meanwhile, your lovely boyfriend was in the coffee bar with Denki. Unexpectedly, the latter got a notification on his phone. 

↘ (Of course, we all know that Kaminari is the second TikTok biggest fan and his content is something like ‘Top10 things I don’t like about Bakugo’.)

↘ Coming back to the topic, the blonde’s eyes automatically widened when he saw the video inserted into Mina’s account; he wasn’t surprised by the young girl’s idea and its general performance, but you... He totally didn’t expect it! After all, you were the complete opposite of a crazy pinky one and you were literally the voice of reason in your friendship.

↘ “Oh, God... Wow. You have to see this, Shinsou.” He laughed under his breath, then restarted the short video and turned the black phone to the boy who currently drinking colored bubble tea.

↘ Well. Needless to say, some cold tea flew out of his mouth and his both cheeks turned redder than Kirishima’s hair.

↘ Aaaand he got an boner.

— YOU

↘ That mf... Okay. 

↘ Listen to me.

↘ Honestly, you were never interested in having an account on this whole TikTok app, but you saw a tons YouTube videos of people dancing to an English-speaking female rapper’s song and you just found it as a fun and interesting activity (+ you really liked this lit song, so...).

↘That’s why, you pushed back the furniture in your own room, which was in the Ketsubutsu Academy dorm, and put on a music. The first three attempts were just learning the steps, but by the fourth time you were ready for the real dance, so you tied your hair in a high ponytail to make it more comfortable and corrected the top of your clothes.

↘ Absorbed in setting up the camera and playing the song at the right moment, you didn’t even notice when your boyfriend entered your room. Of course he wanted to say hi or just kiss your pretty face, but at the same moment you jumped up and lifted your leg, quickly dropping to your knees.

↘ Shindou’s eyes widened while he resting his arm against your bedroom white wall. He even bit his lip, feeling a pleasant tingling in the stomach and throat.

↘ To say that he was delighted is definitely not enough.

↘ And when you finished the dance with the split, your boyfriend was still silent... However there was a sound of clapping and mouth pecking throughout the room. Slightly frightened, you turned towards him, and your cheeks flushed deeply.

↘ “Well, well, well. I didn’t expect that, but... I’d love to see it again, babe.” He winked at you, and you quickly covered your red face with your hands, still sitting on the floor.

— EITA

↘ All of us know perfectly that Semi is... a very serious man. I mean, have you seen how much he gives while he playing volleyball and helping his lovely teammates? Eita takes many things seriously (both at school and in private life) hence his strong character and his frequent lack of playfulness when you both have a small talk.

↘ However, you still love him very much and you would do anything for this big baby boy to make him happy and make him feel loved and appreciated as your boyfriend, friend and also volleyball player.

↘ Anyway, you didn’t expect that one day he would come over to your house and your mother would let him in, saying that ‘as always, you are at your own bedroom, listening to music’.

↘ Eita also didn’t expect anything special that day; he just came to you to spend Saturday watching interesting anime, some movies, talking and possibly ordering a pizza at his treat, but then he opened the door to your room and literally at the same moment he saw that you swing your leg up, and after a while you get down on your both knees.

↘ Of course he was so shocked because, firstly, he didn’t expect you to dance, and secondly, he didn’t expect you to dance this kind of moves...

↘ The poor boy who always took everything around him seriously couldn’t absorb for the next few seconds the fact that some people do a lot of things for fun... not for awards and medals like him and his beloved team.

↘ Fortunately, he quickly shook his head and laughed a bit under his breath when you barely managed to do a splits.

— TOBIO

↘ HAHAHGAHHAHDDAHAHAADDXXHJXJXDD. SORRY. I MEAN...

↘ The poor baby boy has his head high in the clouds and is only interested in the volleyball or matches, the milk in the carton from the school vending machine and you.

↘ Therefore, he’s not into the social media like Twitter, TikTok, Tumblr or YouTube. Sometimes he just steals your Spotify or Netflix account, but that’s all.

↘ Therefore, when one random day Hinata and Yamaguchi ran up to him with orange-head’s phone in his hand and a few seconds later asked if he had already seen the video with you in the lead role, the black-haired young man raised an eyebrow up, not understanding about what his two teammates talked at that moment.

↘ However, when after a short while he saw a dance video with loud music on the app on Shouyou’s phone, a small wrinkle appeared on his forehead and his mouth tightened into a narrow line.

↘ When the video was over, he thanked his besties, then took his own smartphone out of his pants pocket to search for your name in contacts. He quickly wrote you a short message, and as you read it, a huge blush appeared on your both cheeks.

↘ Tobi! | 14:23 ; Why didn’t you tell me that you dance? You’re pretty good at it. I’d like to see it privately. See you after classes :).

— SEIJUUROU

↘ :D

↘ Let’s start with the fact that Seijuurou is definitely a social animal and knows a lot of phone apps (unlike Haikyuu boys, lmao).

↘ I mean, he knows perfectly well all Twitter or Tumblr jokes and general slang, his favorite app is probably Instagram, and the Urban Dictionary is his second home, his bestie. Not need to mention that you share Netflix together, you two also are on the same Discord channel, and on top of that, he makes a shitpost on his own Facebook profile.

↘ No wonder that one day when he caught you dancing to the Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion song, he immediately joined to you. As if dancing had been in his veins from the day he was born, almost like swimming.

↘ The young man literally took all your viewers off the account and all the beauty of the fame you worked hard while you putting your own content on the channel.

↘ ‘Well... I expected that.’

↘ After a few days, of course, you changed the main theme of your account and instead of creating it by yourself, you shared it with your beloved boyfriend (after all, you couldn’t refuse the fans and the red-head...).

↘ Now you put all kinds of videos and posts together, and the people on TikTok like both of you very much and consider you two to be the sweetest couple in the whole world.

↘ Camila and Shawn are nothing compared to you!

— RIN

↘ I think Rin would know what TikTok is, and also know that you have an account there, but he has never been more interested in it than necessary. 

↘ I mean, it might have existed, but he wouldn’t be interested in getting into the ‘world’ of any influencers and celebrities.

↘ Well. 

↘ The big boy was very busy with swimming and with planning your dates...

↘ So when he listened to music on YouTube one randomly evening and totally accidentally click a complication video with ‘WAP Challenge’ tiktoks, he was surprised that you showed up as one of the dancers.

↘ Your all movements were polished and super strong. You danced really great, better than Rin could ever have imagined. Dressed in black shorts and a gray top, you fit well with the sounds and voice of a female rapper, and as the cherry head knew English, his tongue automatically lick his lower lip.

↘ Hmm, I don’t think I need to add to this headcanon the fact that shortly after watching the short video with you about another 20 times, Rin put on his feet shoes and decided to go to your house.

[bybdolan]

i can't find your ramblings on swifties, but I'd love to read it if you want to elaborate here, or screen shot it? i feel like it's been building since the yntcd mv to miss americana doc period of time. the disappointment of her aligning herself as lgbt in the mv, the song comparing her haters to suffering homophobia, the lack of blm effort after her apparent political awakening... that development was when i started to notice it on tumblr, at least

The word "ramble" was maybe a bit overstated, given that it was more or less just me pointing out that it's a thing that happens, but I am very glad you are asking me this because I have a lot of thoughts! If nobody else will write an essay on this, it might as well be me.

I think the groundwork for the fandom crumbling was already laid in rep era – not because of anything Taylor did, but because of the fandom: Every small criticism of Taylor was called "hate" and I think the idea of "good" vs "bad" fan really developed during that time. And the protectiveness makes sense after everything that happened during 2016 and it only increased after Taylor went more in-depth on her mental health struggles during Lover promo, but it also created a big divide in the fandom and made it a fairly hostile place.

Speaking of Lover: I agree with you that that was the era where a lot of people fell out of love with her a bit. From the lead single to whatever YNTCD was, to her "political awakening" shtick: There were a lot of things going on in that era that people found questionable, and this lack of general hype for the album led to even more fandom fights (I will keep bringing up the fandom because I think it's an extension of the artist and very connected to how we view them). I think what you said about the political aspects of that era is 100% accurate – it's ironic that fans critizised her more for little political action after Miss Americana than most of them did when she wasn't political at all, but it also makes sense: if you make being politically outspoken a huge part of your marketing and therefore profit off of it and then don't do much in that regard, people are going to call bullshit. To be fair to her: She didn't do nothing and a celebrity of her caliber has to rethink every move in that regard, but I think the frustration is justified, ESPECIALLY when Taylor is quick to tweet about problems concerning herself (see: that Ginny and Georgia tweet, which I don't want to talk about much because it makes me sigh – but as a side note: The fandom can be vicious and racist and homophobic and I think Taylor not commenting on that has upset people). And what I said about celebrities rethinking every move gets a bit sour to me when remembering that she is in a movie with that O'Russell guy. Very defensive fans have a point when they say that people expect a lot from Taylor, and obviously she can't be perfect, but Taylor did feed into those expectations when making a documentary about not feeling muzzled anymore etc. (There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen.) A rich white lady shouldn't necessarily be looked at for political guidance, however, she has power and her using her voice has proven to be very effective, and I think fans are disappointed she doesn't use it more often (+ for causes not benefiting herself).

Which brings us to her "capitalist girlboss agenda" that some people take issue with and that I already touched on: Taylor is very proud of her marketing strategies and knowing how to make money. She loves being a businesswoman, and it is admirable that she has been so active in her own management since she was very young, but it's something that clashes with her authenticity and accessibility a lot of fans cherish. I think we all know why she cut out her fan interactions and I personally think it is for the better, however, the tactics that took the place of those interactions are a bit "uuuh" to many. I think this is also where the generation gap of the fandom comes in: Taylor has fans her age that grew up with her, but she also has very young fans and the marketing strategies aimed at the latter don't necessarily go over well with the former. But this just as a side note. I think the introduction of Easter Eggs is a noteworthy moment in fandom history given how big of a part they now play in interacting with Taylor. And it's a fun idea, but there is the issue of the fandom taking it very far and Easter Eggs not leading to anything (1989 TV says hi). It's frustrating to many to not know when a single or an album will be released, and it is tiring to not be able to view anything she posts normally because most likely, it's a hint to something, or at least fans will act like it is. Fans are always used to drive up sales and engagement, as are personal instagram posts, but it is jarring to see it become so overt. I do genuinely believe the Easter Eggs were supposed to be fun for the fans at first, as are the vault thingies, but with the level of marketing and self-mythologization attached to it, it feels cold and sterile. Add that to the insanely high prices for boring merch and debacles like the "digitally signed" CD and you have yourself a recipe for fan disappointment. Taylor has branded herself as her fans' best friend for long, and because she is quirky and weird and often not too polished it worked – but it's not what she wants anymore, and she deserves nothing more than her privacy, but a fan used to genuine engagement with her is going to be taken aback by the new marketing strategies. There ARE ways to be private while still feeling personal in your branding (see Lorde's emails) but Taylor's team didn't want to go down that route apparently.

With all that being said: Taylor's happiness and her being content with her life is more important than whatever I get out of her and her music, and she remains one of the greatest songwriters of our generation – nobody can take that away. And I am sure that many fans will roll their eyes at this post because they still love her like they did when they first discovered her, and I am very happy for them and happy that Taylor has fans that loyal, but this post serves as an attempt to analyse shifts in the fandom that I have noticed over the past few years. I also think it's worth noting that once you start focusing on the negative aspects of something those negative things start jumping out to you, and it's important to maybe step back and focus on the good aspects once in a while – a lot of which I didn't mention because this is not what this post is about. But they are there, and I think the love for Taylor's music can easily sustain even when interest in her as a person fades.

[queendeeshorrorimagines]

Hello! I would like a slasher match up, please <3

First of, I am 5'7, ISFP, a pisces, my favorite color is red, I am curvy and I have shoulder length, red dyed hair. I have grey-blue eyes, wear glasses because I'm pretty much blind without them and I have a very small beautymark under my left eye. I also have many stretch marks which I'm not embarassed of. My makeup and clothes take a lot of inspiration from alternative subcultures like goth and grunge.

As far as my personality is concerned, I try to be as generous, helpful and friendly as I can. I do my best to involve everyone in a conversation or activity and I yearn for close connections and bonds. I am very reactive, though. I cry and scream and get angry but always apologize if and when I hurt someone. Something less known about me is my lack of empathy. It's not that I don't care about people in my life, I just have a hard time feeling for them in even the worst of situations. I also don't really have any sensibility about death; I'm just not that affected. My love languages are physichal touch, acts of service and gift giving/receiving. I am a bit of a masochist and I don’t mind getting hurt, either through my own reckless actions or love bites from my partner. I need my partner to be able to express their affection, feelings and thoughts; I need someone assertive but still caring.

I enjoy drinking from time to time ( I once had a 30 minute drunk sobbing session cause I saw two cats, one dead and one alive, and on top of that I also remebered Laika, you know the dog that got sent to space), swimming and summer, painting and music. I paint a lot of abstract things and focus more on the feelings and colors I use, instead of the beauty of the piece. Another fun fact. I enjoy a lot of metal music, pop punk, darkwave (some of my favorite bands are System Of a Down, Nice ice kills, Skillet, Vandal Moon, Children on Stun and don't tell anyone but I have a soft spot for Alec Benjamin)

Some of my favorite things are my spiked bracelet, my dark red nail polish and parties. I would say I'm an extrovert. If I could, I would always be out with someone doing something, although I would also like to enjoy my personal space often. I like amusement parks, water parks, the forest, the beach...basically anywhere where I can have fun.

I absolutely love horror. Horror manga like Junji Ito, horror movies or stories; they are all my favorites. My favorite book and movies are Frankenstein and Scream 1996 and Hush 2016. Manga and books don't scare me a lot but movies creep me out, I love them even though I'm scared to watch them alone. My ideal date would be a horror movie marathon with lots of scares so I can hold on to my partner. On the topic of horror, I have a pretty embarassing but totally reasonable fear of zombies. I have nightmares often and I swear my fear came from plants vs zombies.

I didn't mean for this to get so long ^^ Have a good one!

(Darlin, we all been there with the drunk crying sessions. One time, I was plastered and watched a Bob Ross painting video and cried tears of joy when he painted a tree friend for a tree.😅)

I ship you with.. Tiffany valentine!

Tiffany loves your alternative/ goth/punk style and how kind you are to people. She has a similar style, more on the gothic side. I can totally see her stealing your clothes to wear because of how comfortable they are. Just like you, she's also on the curvier side as also has stretch marks on her hips and thighs.

Tiffany tends to be on the sadistic side so once she finds out about your masochism, she's willing to give you all the love bites you want. The thing about Tiffany is that she expresses her feelings and love by touch/ words, and acts of service. If you want to go out and party, Tiffany will be down to going out with you. She loves your spiked jewelry and how your red nail polish makes your hands look nice.

Tiffany understands how you're not really empathetic in the sense of relating to people and their feelings. She feels the same way towards a lot of people except the people she's close to/ love.

Dates with Tiffany would be watching different types of horror movies that doesn't have any zombies in it and cuddling or doing each other's nails on her couch. Whenever you get scared, Tiffany is all for cuddling you up. Other date ideas would be going out to bars/ clubs and punk/ alternative band concerts. She isn't really familiar with newer bands but she's willing to listen to your favorite bands because Tiffany loves seeing you happy.

Other possibilities: Baby Firefly, Sex-head (rob zombies 31), Vincent Sinclair

[watching-pictures-move]

Put On Your Raincoats #21 | Double Chinn Double (Double) Feature (with Hyapatia Lee)

By the time the '80s rolled around, Bob Chinn, best known for his collaborations with John Holmes (the inspiration for Boogie Nights), had been directing movies for over a decade. For much of that time, he'd been making them for peanuts (in an interview with the Rialto Report, he recounts being once asked to make a movie for five thousand dollars, which was handed to him in fifties on the spot), but in the early '80s, he was directing for Harry Mohney's Caribbean Films, working with respectable budgets (by porn standards). Some of these films starred Hyapatia Lee, one of the most popular porn stars of the era and one of the first contract girls. Now, I suspect these aren't necessarily the defining works of Chinn's career, and I do intend to get to some of his movies with Holmes. But Vinegar Syndrome had a sale and there were two double features of their collaborations going for dirt cheap, and because I am weak and foolish with money, they ended up in my cart and a few weeks later in my grubby little paws. How did this happen? Through the magic of Canada Post, of course! Anyway, what I found was that these didn't represents any extremes of artistic ambition. They were neither seeking to elevate the genre, nor were they hackwork. Rather, they represent a happy medium, movies that seek to deliver the genre's goods in a polished, diverting package. Slick cinematography, courtesy of Jack Remy. Catchy theme songs that wouldn't sound out of place if you caught them on the radio. Flashy titles. Lee recounted the atmosphere on set as one of professionalism and engagement, where everyone present wanted to do as good a job as possible. Chinn claims to have been losing interest in his work at this point, but the results onscreen are the result of confident execution by somebody who had been doing this kind of thing for years and knew how to put the production's resources to good use.

The first one I watched was The Young Like it Hot, where the operators at a phone company worry about being replaced by computers. To keep their jobs, they scheme to go the extra mile in helping their callers. As this is a porno, most of this help is sexual in nature, as when Rosa Lee Kimball stays on the line while an obscene phone caller played by Bill Margold finishes. (In an interview on the DVD, Margold says after shooting his scene, he was invited to record additional dialogue. Being the method actor that he was, he insisted on whipping it out during the recording session despite the lack of cameras.) Sometimes they are informative, as when Bud Lee (real life husband of Hyapatia at the time) explains why the perineum is referred to as taint ("cuz it taint cunt and it taint ass"). But the highlight of their efforts are Shauna Grant's increasingly life threatening home improvement advice to one poor sap played by Joey Silvera. Hyapatia Lee is ostensibly the star, and has a certain charisma, playing the supervisor, but this is really an ensemble piece, and she's joined by more experienced actors like Kay Parker and Eric Edwards. The latter I've occasionally found bland elsewhere, but he has a nice obnoxious quality that serves him well as the villainous manager whose idea it is the automate the operators' jobs. The movie reflects a very real concern (that's very much still an issue in the modern workplace), but overall this is a breezy, affable comedy.

A bit more serious in tone is Sweet Young Foxes, a coming of age story whose dramatic parts are more sensitively realized than I expected. The screenplay was written by Deborah Sullivan, Bob Chinn's wife at the time, and this is a case where a movie definitely benefited from having been written by a woman, and it seems like an earnest effort to capture the anxieties and yearnings of its young women protagonists. Lee moves closer to a real starring role, and is joined by Cara Lott and Cindy Carver as her friends, who aren't quite as strong actors as her but do have decent chemistry. I can believe they're friends even if their line delivery can be stilted. (That the movie has a good ear for genuine sounding dialogue also helps.) Kay Parker is especially good as Lee's mother, hitting some of the same notes as Taboo, and has a credibly emotional masturbation scene in front of a mirror that did not leave me unmoved. (In what way? That's none of your damn business.) This was shot by Jack Remy, the same cinematographer who worked on The Young Like it Hot. That movie looked nice and slick, but this one is a little more stylish, with the solo sex scenes in particular resembling magazine centerfolds. There's also some nice new-wave-ish music that shows up on the soundtrack, which I certainly didn't mind. I do wish some of the sex scenes didn't run quite as long (the previous movie kept them refreshingly concise) as I'd prefer more of the runtime was dedicated to the dramatic elements, but what's there is still good.

Body Girls goes back firmly to comedy territory, where Hyapatia Lee and the members of her gym are trying to win a bodybuilding contest despite a rival gym's attempts to undermine them. This comes in the form of a pair of schlubs in yellow tank tops who break into the gym after hours to sabotage their equipment, only to be foiled by Hyapatia and her girls who just happened to be having sex in the locker room as people do. Of course, despite Lee's attempts to teach them a lesson (which depending on your proclivities, may have the opposite effect), they don't give up, and during the contest threaten the judge at gunpoint. Not one to take things lying down (okay, poor choice of words here), Lee finds a way to influence the judge back in her favour. (The judge is played by Francois Papillon, bringing a dopey charm to the character as he fumbles through his lines in his French accent.) Her method is pretty ridiculous and certainly in service of genre requirements, but I did laugh.

Now, there's probably a dilemma in audience sympathy here as both Lee and her rivals are cheating, but Lee's methods are more agreeable and directed at the judge instead of her rivals so I guess we ought to root for her. She's also buoyant, charismatic and has a real star quality, and is joined by such fan favourites as Shanna McCullough and Erica Boyer, all of whom sport wildly different hairstyles. As can be expected given the exercise theme, most of the ladies have toned, athletic bodies (and given the decade, voluminous coiffures), with the exception of Tigr, who brings a wiry punkish energy that stood out to me despite her limited screentime, and she also performs the miraculous feat of making a mullet look cute. (I'd previously been moved by her work in Kamikaze Hearts, the great mockumentary about a porn production and her relationship with Sharon Mitchell. She didn't stay in the industry for too long, but I'd be interested in seeing more of her work.) The screenplay was written by Lee with her husband Bud (who plays the judge's assistant with an agreeable presence that's neither too alpha nor too schlubby) and is full of exercise-related dialogue. Most of this is pretty clunky and calling it wordplay might be a bit generous ("sexercise" features at one point), but I did appreciate the effort. Also as is requisite for the premise, the longest set piece in the movie is an orgy in Lee's gym with the various participants snaked around different pieces of equipment. I must note that one of the male actors resembles Barry Gibb and that Francois Papillon is shown to wear a tiger-striped speedo. Did I enjoy the movie? Yes, but not for reasons cited in that sentence.

At the end of Body Girls, Bud Lee suggests to Hyapatia, "Let's get physical", which is the title of the next movie. (Body Girls also features a character looking at dirty magazine with stills from Sweet Young Foxes and ends with a plug for some of these other movies, anticipating the MCU's narrative and marketing strategies by a few decades.) Now, all of these movies have had decent theme songs, but the one in Let's Get Physical has lyrics that are plagiaristically close to those of Olivia Newton-John's 1983 hit. (The delivery however is more shrill but not unpleasing.) This movie is a drama where Lee plays a dance instructor trying to put together a ballet performance despite her strained relationship with her impotent husband played by Paul Thomas. (In the interview I listened to, Lee speaks well of almost everyone she worked with on these films, with the pointed exception of Paul Thomas. If there was bitterness behind the scenes, it arguably helps their performances.)

Lee wrote the screenplay for this one, and unlike Body Girls with its surface level references to bodybuilding and exercise, the dialogue here feels packed with knowledge of the real thing, which is understandable given Lee's real life interest in dance going back to her childhood. (I looked up "Luigi jazz dancing" after finishing the movie and was pleasantly surprised to learn it was a real thing.) This movie goes all in on her star power, and features a number of dance numbers that seem genuinely interested in the form rather than just leering at the performers. (There is one scene where the song Lee dances to sounds suspiciously like "Beat It".) I did appreciate that the sex scenes were kept relatively concise and tied into the dramatic aspects, although in some cases, the choices made could be goofy, like the scene where Lee makes love to her student Shanna McCullough while Thomas, in a dramatically justified but still awkward gesture, watches from another room and jacks off. (I assume he's playing the audience in this scene. Also, McCullough's character remarks "I've never done this before" when going down on Lee, and yeah, okay Shanna.) Other highlights include a car stunt that may or may not have been lifted from elsewhere but still looks decently executed, as well as a dream sequence where Thomas (or his character at least) plays the piano and sings a song. This is held back a bit by the genre's demands, like when it places a completely superfluous sex scene at the end after Lee's reconciliation with Thomas, but on the whole this is probably the best one of the lot.

[melyaliz]

Remember Me 9

Master List

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Pairing: Bakugo Katsuki x OC

Notes: I'm due in a little over a month... and it's the weirdest feeling.

All Masterlists @melyalizarchive​

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--------Olive---------

“Oh my god, I can’t breath” Olive giggled, crumbling into Eliott’s lap. Her husband smiled down at her gently playing with her hair.

“This is serious Olive!” Eliott said, his smile melting away to a very strained serious one. His dark brown eyes studying her face, “it’s the greatest story ever told. Guy dates a woman, woman’s ex is a mob boss who is involved in an illegal fashion, mob boss’s daughter almost gets killed. Now the guy must use his skills from the years of being in the other four movies to get revenge on his girlfriend’s daughter’s father. Tale as old as time “

“I’m just saying they should have killed the guy and the daughter could have gone full ninja killer and taken out her father and his gang.” Olive giggled, wiping her eyes from the tears of laughter that had been rolling down her cheeks.

“That would probably have been a better movie… but would it also have bad dummy shots?” her husband asked.

“Of course” sitting up inspiration struck, “I have an idea!” Eliott watched her as she sat straight up. “You write the action and I will write the romance.”

“How much romance will there be if the daughter is 12 years old.”

“Well romance and character stuff.” she shrugged, “And you can add in all the poorly done dummy blow-ups you want.”

“I will,” Eliott said nodded, “But only if I can use sex dolls.”

“Like, Hard Ticket to Hawaii? Oh, wait! Now hear me out” Olive giggled scooting up so she was now straddling her husband taking his hands in her own. A goofy smile spread across Eliott’s face as he weaved his fingers into her own.

“Oh are we at the wait stage of drunk Olive?”

“Shhhh” she giggled leaning forward slightly brushing her nose on his, “But really, this is serious.” Cleaning her throat for dramatic effect she continued, “a Hard Ticket to Hawaii Death Wish 4 crossover.”

“Oh girl,” Eliott said, his voice hitting a higher pitch on his girl . Olive giggled pushing herself forward so she was resting on his chest.

“I love you.”

“No way really?” Eliott gave a fake gasp  “That’s sooo weird because you know what? I love you too”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

“ So just be ready,” Kirishima said, prepping the gang, “She’s… the same but different. ”

The group nodded in unison, game faces ready for whatever was coming. And that something was slowly walking toward when in the form of Bakugou and Olive.

Right off the bat it was obvious something was off. While they were holding hands it looked unnatural. Bakugou’s shoulders were hunched and he seemed to be looking anywhere but at Olive who was talking in the city as if she had never walked down this street before. Her large hazel eyes taking in everything, mouth slightly open.

“Olive! Bakugou!” Kirishima said, waving. At the sound of his voice, Olive looked up and waved, a smile on her face as she looked over at the group of others standing with them. Her eyes intently taking everyone in as if searching for something that wasn’t there

“ Hello! ” she said as they both stood there awkwardly. Hands had been let go and now hanging at their sides. Limp as if unsure what to do.

There were a few more awkward nodes before Kirishima led them all inside toward the balcony seating, their usual stop. “T his place is amazing! ” Olive said looking around her eyes wide as she took in the atmosphere. Everyone froze as the blissfully unaware woman turned to her husband, “ How did you find this place Katsuki? ”

“ I didn’t, you did,” he said as everyone around him winched slightly. The awkwardness was so thick you could almost taste it, and it didn't taste good.

“Oh.” her voice soft as she bit her top lip looking down at her purple painted nails. She had found her polish that morning and had decided to try out the fun colors.

There was a long pause when Mina spoke up, “How’s Clare and Lilly and the others? ”

Olive blinked looking up, “ You know the girls? ”

“ Yeah, we have wine and Rupaul's Drag race nights. I think the last one we did was about a month ago wasn’t it? ” the last statement, more of a question than a comment.

“Uhhh” Olive shrugged unsure how to respond

“ She doesn’t remember it ” Kaminari mumbled to the little pinked haired girl. And again there was a lapse of awkwardness. Turning to Momo from across the table Olive pointed to her shirt.

“ I love your shirt so cute! ” she said, stumbling slightly over her words. Momo lit up pointing to the shirt that Olive had gotten Momo for the hero’s birthday. The words “Females are strong as hell” in English was written in script across the chest. She had gotten it because she always told Momo, who was the 4th hero and number 1 female, that she was the most badass out of everyone (and that ranking didn’t mean shit). Also, they were both addicted to “Unbreakable Kimmy Shimitt”

“Thank you, I’m Momo '' the dark-haired hero said, noticing how much Olive was struggling trying to piece together who was who. Before they had come Momo and her fiancee Shoto Todoroki had decided to treat her like they had met for the first time. “ and this is Shodo, my fiancee .”

“I’m Mina! ” Mina said quickly and everyone else followed suit with a quick round of introductions.

“Yeah, I have pictures ” Olive lit up at the introduction. “The fair.”

“What picture did you have ?” Momo asked, leaning forward.

“This one of the fair? ” Olive said, holding up the phone leaning over the table to hand her the phone. Watching them Kirishima chuckled leaning toward Bakugou.

“Why are they across the table from each other?”

Bakugou shrugged, rolling his eyes, not shocked by the poor seating choices. After coordinating this whole night was he really now in charge of seating as well?

“Oh, that was so fun. ” Momo smiled looking at the photo. Memories of her trip to the US where Olive had given her the grand tour.

“ Oh is that the American Fair? What other pictures do you have? Do you have the one from when we all went to that spa? Do you have the one of us in those masks making the peace sign? What about... ” Mina was bursting with questions going way too fast for Olive to keep up. The poor girl’s smile looked slightly strained as she tried to look like she was understanding more than every other word from the excited pink haired girl.

“You’re going to fast for her! ” Bakugou barked out noticing the very overwhelmed look in his wife’s eyes, “ She's still learning .”

“Oh sorry Olive” Mina whispered looking down at her hands feeling her face flush.

“Don’t yell at her.” Olive said good naturally in English nudging Bakugou playfully with her shoulder. The blonde looked like the wind had been knocked out of him her words cutting him harder than he wanted to admit. “Which picture did you want to see Mina?”

Before the pink girl could respond the waiter came up to introduce herself and take drink orders.  A look of desperation came over Olive’s face as she looked down at the menu. Anxiety quickly flooded her system. The social pressure of trying to be normal while navigating a language she was still learning was extremely stressful. And this was besides the fact she had no idea what was good here or what she would like to order. Did she had a regular drink here? If so, what was it?

Desperately she looked down at the Japanese characters as if they would suddenly jump out and give her all the answers.

A large hand slammed over the menu making Olive lookup. Bakugou’s intense red gaze met her hazel one.

“I’ll order for you,” he said softly in English, more of a statement than an offer. His red eyes studding her as if reading all her thoughts. She smiled softly at him making him flush slightly looking away from her to the waiter ordering quickly.

“Thank you” she whispered, her hand gently brushing against his arm. Her fingertips leave a trail of goosebumps in their wake. It felt like her touch was fire.

Quickly he rubbed his arm as if he could put out the flames that were licking at his skin.

Fuck. He had it bad.

“Yeah well you looked so lost.” he grumbled looking away turning to Kirishima who was intently watching the conversation with the most annoying smile on his face. “ What are you looking at? ” Struggling Kirishima’s annoying smirk didn’t fade but he offered no explanation for his expression.

Typical.

Lucky for Bakugou the conversation shifted to other things. Work, life, weird food Kaminari had tried last week on his trip to Bermuda.

Olive quickly picked up her conversation with Momo about the place she was looking into for her wedding and life in general. Since they were - as Kirishima had pointed out- sitting across the table from each other, Olive had to basically lean up over the top of the table to shout of the music that was playing in the background.

Bakugou couldn’t help but frown watching as his wife literally looked like she was crawling over. Her eyes bright as the two talked. It was the most enthusiastic she had been in a long time.

“If you want to be with her so bad go sit over there, ” he said, it came out much harder than he had meant it to be. But he was annoyed and sometimes -ok most times- had a hard time masking his emotions. Olive blinked looking up at him confused for a moment before getting up from her seat moving over - much to Momo’s delight- to sit down next to her. He could see her pulling out her phone probably to show off pictures of Dolemite. Or maybe to ask more about the people who littered it. He could tell she felt awkward about asking him those questions. Knowing it hurt.

But also he wanted her next to him. To feel her next to him. To know she was still there with him.

“ OMG I love this song !” Mina squealed as a song came on.

“ Let’s dance, ” Momo said, getting up knowing Olive loved to dance. Normally she was the one dragging the girls onto the floor. At the promise of dancing Olive lit up as she stood to follow them. However before she left she glanced over at Bakugou, as if checking in with him.

“Why are you looking at me? Go!”

Olive flashed him a wide smile before following the girls into the crowd. The other two girls grabbed her laughing as they swayed with the music. Not having to talk just laughing and enjoying each other’s company. The universal girl code of good music and alcohol.

Three songs later and she was slowing down, taking a moment to breathe looking around the dance floor.

And that was when she thought she saw him.

Long blonde hair pulled up in a man bun. A basic flannel shirt, on the shorter side with broad shoulders leaning on the bar, his back to her.

Eliott

Her brain zoned in on it, for a second she forgot he was dead. Forgot he was gone.

That first month after his death she saw him everywhere. Heard his laugh. Sensed his presence. Slowly it had gotten better. His presence slowly fading from the bright sun of the day to the dark of night or in those first moments when she was waking up. And even more recently his presence had slowly faded. Her brain too busy trying to understand this whole new life she was living to focus on the loss.

But as the man turned and she saw it was clearly not him something washed over her. Hit her right in the face crushing her inside.

She didn’t even realize she was crying until Momo came up and hugged her.

“What happened?” she whispered in English as Olive raised her hands to her face trying to stop the tears. But they wouldn’t stop. Her chest so heavy it felt like her whole body was filled with sadness and the only way out was through her tears.

“I just… I thought… I saw Eliott.” she hiccuped, “I’m sorry… I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Momo asked, frowning as she studied Olive. Mina, whose English was not as good, hovered around them both rubbing Olive’s shoulder trying to understand what had happened.

“I just… can't stop crying.” Olive sobbed trying to take deep breaths to gain control of herself.

“It’s been a lot for you.” Momo said, “come here” she hugged the girl for a moment before pulling away.

“ It’s ok to miss someone. ” Mina said, holding out a napkin she had grabbed from the bar.

“Yeah and for you it’s been very recent.”  Monmo added nodding

“I just feel guilty… Katsuki.” Olive fumbled through the words trying to explain all the emotions that were swerling like some muddy concoction in her chest.

“ Oh Bakugou can get over it. ” Momo said, waving her hand trying to keep her words simple so both girls could understand what she was saying, “ he gets all moody but he really cares about you. ”

“ Yeah, the first time I met you he was so… relaxed. ” Mina said, trying to find the right words, “ None of us had ever seen him that way before. ”

“ He was happy. ” Momo nodded, “ He will be fine, you need to focus on yourself.”

From across the bar Bakugou had lost sight of where the girls had gone. The crowd was getting thicker and thicker as the night had dragged on. He knew Olive would be safe with Momo and Mina there but still, he wanted to make sure she was ok.

And then he caught a glimpse of them. Standing at one of the far corners of the dance floor. Momo and Mina standing over Olive, hovering around her with concern on their faces. For a moment Mina moved and he could see Olive clearly, holding a small white napkin wiping her eyes.

Shit.

“ Hey bro where are you ?”

“ Just drink your beer. ” Bakugou interrupted Kirishima as he quickly made his way to the dance floor. Momo’s eyes met his and she shook her head but he didn’t care. Olive wasn’t Momo’s wife, she was his. They were supposed to be distracting her, not reminding her about her memory loss.

“Hey,” he said, reaching out for her. Olive turned eyes wide, still slightly glassy from her tears. Her makeup smudged. “Dance with me.” pulling her away from the girls who looked like they were about to protest. But one death glare from Bakugou told them not too.

He led her across the floor, his red eyes studying her as she took a few shaky breaths. Trying to compose herself. After a few moments her body slowly relaxed letting him lead as he felt her slowly lose herself in the music again.

“You dance?” she asked looking up at him.

“Depends.” he said shrugging

“Humm” she hummed, nodding like Eliott was what she was thinking. Eliott Eliott Eliott. Even Momo got more out of her than him. He felt like she was more comfortable around everyone but him. “You know” she said leaning forward resting her head on his chest catching him off guard. “I like to be with you too.”

He froze, his stomach clutching tightly, his breath coming out in a short gasp. She looked up at him with those hazel eyes studying him. “What you said about Momo, I like being with you too.”

“I heard you the first time” he said sharply only to soften quickly.

“I… I obviously liked being with you before or I wouldn’t have married you.” she added a genuine grin spreading across her face.

“That would make sense.” He said nodding as they swayed in the music both caught up in their own thoughts. Eyes meeting, dancing in the lights overhead. For a second it felt as if time stood still and Olive was sworn she wasn’t in real life but in some weird musical romcom. As if her whole life was some televised novel filled with hi-jinks and drama.

Caught up in the moment Bakugou gently leaned forward, his nose brushing hers before pausing. Her heart leapt into her throat at the soft intimate touch. Crimson eyes searching hazel for a moment before moving closer, his warm breath caressing her ear.

“Let me kiss you?”

- GET TAGGED -

Master List

Story Tag: @0hmydeku @inumorph @it-jinxed-us @myraticm

[rainbuckets8]

Why you should watch RWBY

TL;DR:

Summary: RWBY is an epic fantasy with themes like found family, the struggle to remain hopeful, the younger generation growing up, villain redemption, and systemic evils.

Strengths: RWBY has unique and memorable characters. The show is smart. It has excellent cinematography and animation. It has representation. It tackles hard topics. It’s got incredible music and it’s free on RT’s website.

Weaknesses: RWBY has some early growing pains, specifically volume 2’s finale, as well as budget and polish. Later on, volume 4 is weaker than the rest. Volume 8's finale is extremely distressing for a lot of viewers (and we haven't seen the follow up to those events yet). The fandom can be bad at times.

Misinformation: The early volumes being bad, the racism plot line, and the animation (not the same as “budget and polish”) are not as bad as you may have heard from YouTube.

Suggested viewing order

Red Trailer, White Trailer, Black Trailer, Yellow Trailer

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4 Character Short

Volume 4

Volume 5 Weiss Character Short, Volume 5 Blake Character Short, Volume 5 Yang Character Short

Volume 5

Volume 6 Adam Character Short

Volume 6

Volume 7

Volume 8

(I did my best to make this spoiler-free. When there are spoilers, they’re worded ambiguously enough that someone new to the show would never guess what’s going to happen just by reading this.)

What to expect

The world of Remnant is filled with monsters called the creatures of Grimm. Warriors called Huntsmen and Huntresses defend humanity. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang go to school to become the next generation of heroes. Together they make Team RWBY (pronounced, “Ruby”)! Joining them is team JNPR (“Juniper”), made up of Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. But evils even more dangerous than the Grimm are ready to make their move, and school quickly becomes an afterthought…

(I mention these next two topics specifically bc they can immediately turn someone away based on bad expectations.) There is a fantasy school setting, but RWBY is not a show about school. School topics are not a dominant idea: it seems to resemble a setting like Harry Potter, but the actual focus of the show rarely touches on things like classes or homework or tests, and we quickly move on. There is romance and it has a role in the plot, but RWBY is not a romance show. On the scale of romance in FMAB to She-Ra, RWBY falls somewhere in the middle.

What is RWBY about, then? RWBY is like an epic fantasy or high fantasy, despite first appearances. Perhaps not every genre convention is followed, but at its core, RWBY is about an epic struggle of good and evil.

RWBY contains themes such as found family, the struggle to remain hopeful, the younger generation growing up, villain redemption, and systemic evils.

Strengths of the show

The characters are unique and memorable. One of the cool things is that they all draw inspiration from a real life fairy tale, myth, or something else. They designs are all top notch. One character who died with extremely little screen time even got so much fandom love, they included the character in a mid-hiatus short later. The characters have unique weapons, too; in the world of Remnant, a weapon is an extension of ones’ soul, and they reflect the variety of their owners. They’re also just plain cool; Monty was famous for following the “Rule of Cool.” And their individual stories are all compelling and interesting.

The show is smart. As a fandom, we generally pick up on the narrative hints the creators are dropping. And our predictions usually come true, but not in a way that makes the show predictable and boring. We very rarely guess exactly what will happen, but we have some similar idea of it. It’s just excellent foreshadowing.

RWBY also likes to play with tropes, as an extension of this. Often it will challenge them, or subvert expectations. In other cases, RWBY uses tropes to avoid showing us what we already know will happen. This occurs in both characters and plot. For example…

SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE FOR THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH: Jaune’s entire character arc is about trying to be the anime protagonist, and learning that he doesn’t have to do things alone, and it’s ok to be a support main. The show sets up the narrative in a way that looks like, oh of course the direction it will go is him becoming the main character, but then it destroys toxic masculinity instead.

Our characters are smart, too. Plot-induced stupidity generally doesn’t happen. (A few big mistakes or errors in this regard aren’t actually the fault of the narrative, either, but animation and miscommunication and failure to execute. And those aren’t common.) It goes beyond just “not being dumb,” however. The villains’ plans are incredibly clever, and our heroes sometimes even guess at the usual “plot twists.”

The cinematography is just incredible. There are numerous freeze frames with extreme attention to detail that reveal character motivations or arcs or foreshadowing, there are many effective cuts and moving parts, there are soooo many parallels and callbacks, and visual cues such as lighting and color all are used appropriately to convey emotion and assist the narrative. It is one of the biggest overlooked strengths of the show, imo, simply because a lot of people in the fandom don’t notice these things as much for whatever reason, or else don’t give as much praise about them.

The animation is extremely good as well. Budget issues and technology issues aside (which means a lack of polish), the actual animation? The fight choreography, and all the other parts of animation that aren’t just “expensive CGI” are all wonderful. You can have very shiny, polished turds after all, and RWBY is like the opposite: not very polished, especially early on, but very well animated. All the trailers, volume 1 episode 8, the volume 1 finale, the volume 2 penultimate episode, and basically everything else hold up extremely well even today. If anything, the worst fight animation was in volumes 4 and 5 because of Maya growing pains, and those are an example of being more polished, but not necessarily better animated. Animation of faces has always been good, animation of characters has always felt lively. Aside from a few small actual hiccups (that one person running across rooftops for instance), it’s well done.

There are LGBTQ+ characters. The treatment of one of the recent trans characters, in volume 8, was nothing short of amazing. They worked with a VA who was trans. The moment of canon confirmation was important to the character for backstory, because of course that affects the character’s life, but not the only important thing about the character. The representation is not in-your-face or pandering. And there is a split of representation among the main cast and the minor characters, with promises of more to come (notably they’ve said they’re working on more mlm for future volumes, too).

RWBY is not afraid to tackle hard topics. It deals with things like mental illness, systematic racism, and cycles of abuse. It’s not because the show is trying to earn “gritty and dark” points, it’s because those are some of the topics that real people have to struggle with as well. And the show handles most or all of them very well, in a way that shows respect and an honest attempt to depict these things as best they can. (NOTE ABOUT VOLUME 8: THERE IS A VERY DIFFUCLT CONVERSATION CURRENTLY HAPPENING. I am on the side of, let’s wait and see what happens next because the story isn’t over, so we haven’t really seen the fall out. But I understand why this paragraph feels really difficult to agree with if you've seen the volume 8 finale. I trust the track record of the rest of the show, personally.)

As an example, the show has a theme that villains are rarely evil just because. A lot of villains choose to do bad things because they were hurt in some way. Some lived in poverty; some were hurt by racism; many of them are victims of abuse. But the show doesn’t make excuses for them. It’s possible to be both sympathetic and still choose evil over and over again (that’s called tragic). The ones who eventually do try to do good again are not always forgiven, either.

The music is amazing. I can probably count on my hands the number of times I’ve heard someone say otherwise, which is astonishing when you consider this fandom.

It’s also free on RT’s website. (A paid, “FIRST” subscription removes ads and lets you see new episodes one week early, but they all eventually release for free.)

Weaknesses of the show

Early volumes’ growing pains exist, much like most or all other shows. (Even some of the greatest were not immune to this, like ATLA.) In this case, however, it’s a little bit rougher. A large reason why is that this was kind of the first big thing from RT to ever come out. If you remember back almost a decade ago, their only other big thing at the time was RvB, which was machinima. They pretty much started from scratch with everything, from assets to VAs to animation to writing. Imagine if a random twitch streamer, like Ninja (idk who’s popular these days) said one day, “OK let me just direct something that’s intended to be the next great movie series of all time, like Star Wars, with a $4 bill and an iPhone camera.” Then went out and actually made something. Of course it would be rough…but then it turns out the movie is actually really good. And then you get to watch over the next several years as everything gets better and better until it’s honest-to-god comparable to the MCU. That’s kind of what happened with RWBY.

One specific growing pain was the volume 2 finale. Pretty much everything else up until that point, I love about the show. But the finale just fails to deliver on the build up of tension from other episodes. Some of it is because of later plot developments that we didn’t know at the time; some of it is because of just not great writing; some of it is because of just not great animation; and yes, some of it is budget. Regardless, it’s a low point for the show.

Speaking of, the budget for the early volumes is super small. The infamous volume one shadow people, the infamous person jumping across the rooftops in volume two, and just production quality isn’t high compared to a major release from some established studio. These are real weaknesses of the show that for some people, make it unwatchable, and if that’s you, that’s ok.

One last weakness of the show, the screen time per episode, especially early on, is NOT a full 20 minutes like you may expect of an anime (or anime-inspired-western-media, for those of you who will die on the “RWBY is not an anime” hill). This is a trend that has stuck with the show, a shorter run time per episode, for generally the entire lifetime. On one hand, it means it’s a little less daunting to catch up or rewatch than the number of episodes might imply. On the other, early on, some episodes have a little weird pacing. It also means the writing had to adjust for this, so while RWBY got really good at telling a story within a shorter amount of time, there’s also challenges with that too. Perhaps one of the notable ones is the pacing, with slower moments sometimes feeling like it takes up too much screen time, or not enough. Volume 4 was a particular struggle for the crew, both because they switched animation engines and also for the story.

Common complaints that I don’t agree with

I don’t agree that the early volumes were actually bad overall. Growing pains, yes, but not bad. I attribute that complaint to overly focusing on one character’s storyline, back when it wasn’t clear there was so much more to come and before people realized the show would challenge the tropes instead of falling into them. It’s pretty much just volume 1 when people say this anyway, most of them I’ve heard admit that volume 2 was a lot better (except the finale) and almost everyone loves volume 3. And looking back on it, I do think volume 1 holds up.

Tying into this, the racism plot line is another common complaint. I don’t think it’s actually executed quite that badly. I think it makes sense for there to be regional differences in the amount of racism we see, it just so happened that we only saw a very small and isolated environment, Beacon, for much of the early volumes. (Incidentally, that’s actually similar the environment I myself grew up in.) It’s not perfect, though. But there’s no doubt that the later volumes do a better job portraying this. Again, I attribute it mostly to people not knowing how long the show would run for at the time, so of course if that’s all we saw, it would’ve been bad. But it’s not. I have a lot of respect for Miles and Kerry for even attempting to handle the racism topic in the first place. And for the faults that DO exist in this plot line, I credit them for learning and growing past that too, and doing better in later volumes.

The animation is not bad. I’ve already touched on that earlier, but people confuse “budget and polish” with “animation.” Give me RWBY any day over Michael Bay’s Transformers: no matter how much polish those robots have, they’re still a confusing mess to try and follow. And the polish isn’t even an issue once we get past the growing pains of Maya and get a bigger budget, because wow does this show look good now.

Between these three complaints I hear about often, I think those are the biggest ones. And they’re all generally done in bad faith, based not on just those but on other more provocative statements people also make with them. That’s part of my issue with the fandom, specifically the vocal but small parts of the fandom, because they’re just repeating these things from early days that aren’t true. But YouTubers gotta get those rage and hate clicks somehow, right? Unfortunately it discredits the show a lot and influences other people’s opinions into not giving it a fair chance, because it’s become a narrative of “RWBY IS BAD” when they all won’t shut up about it. So yeah, fandom can be bad, join at your own discretion. (Of course, all fandoms have annoying parts, and my interactions with the fandom have been good overall, otherwise.)

Onto other complaints, some say the cast is bloated. I don’t agree, but I don’t think this one is in bad faith. I think we get the important characters as much screen time as we can, and the minor characters don’t actually detract from that; one of the differences between good minor characters and bad ones, is that bad ones take up too much time. RWBY has a ton of characters but many of the minor ones don’t actually take up too much time. So it appears bloated, but actually I don’t think it is.

Finally, a small word on the no-no topics. Adam, and Monty. Adam is like the champion of the Monty topic. Which essentially boils down to “Miles and Kerry are ruining Monty’s vision for the show.” Toxic fandom is truly awful and I have no respect for anyone who says anything like that. Shame on all of you. This isn’t really anything negative about the show, but the fandom, and tbf all fandoms have toxic parts. But toxic fandom can be a real and valid reason to not watch a show. Thankfully they seem fewer in number these days, but I think they’ve evolved into hiding behind other characters or topics, so you know. Beware. Again, it's not too hard to avoid them or block them, and my interactions otherwise with most fans have been good.

[jaunes-hoodie-my-beloved]

hi!! how are you doing? could you maybe do some music taste headcanons for the bakusquad? 🥺

Hi! How are you? Thanks for asking, I'm doing fine! Sorry about the late answer, I just have a random music taste and don't know many songs so this got me thinking, y'know? But it was really fun!

Alright so I'm doing classic bakusquad (bakugou, kirishima, mina, sero, denki) + shinsou and Jirou.

BAKUGOU

-Okay so. I think that he has the most complicated taste, right? Because there's many styles that would fit him.

-In one hand, we've got songs with a lot of power and focus on drums, most of which he listened to while learning to play. Nice rhythm, kinda a vibe, right?

-Then there's also part of me that says like, he's got a couple songs that remind him of their friends. Buy they're all kinda very energetic in a "this song SLAPS"

-Has a secret playlist which while it's algo a bit heavy, just had some lyrics he can scream. Whether that means sad lyrics or just rage, that's for you to never know because he won't let anyone find out (it's both tbh)

-Hums and taps a lot so of course Jirou ends up knowing what he listens to.

-All in all has a pretty good taste in music but it's not really for you unless you like that kind of beat.

-Definitely picked up a couple songs from his time with Best Jeanist and whenever someone hears that it's a little shocking because uh, very different styles I suppose.

KIRISHIMA

-Some normal stuff I'd say. Just gives me the vibe of "unironically includes the Shrek song in his playlist". I KNOW IT HAS A NAME I don't know what it is tho.

-Will vibe to anything but really just likes something he can sing to. Unlike Bakugou's "just drum along", Kiri is more of a "I am going to sing and you can't stop me"

-Which is why he has a pretty good range but like. Uh, like instead of being really good at like either high pitched or low or whatever, he's fairly good at all of them.

-Okay so I think he'd be the one who finds a good portion of his playlist through memories, y'know? Instead of going through like recommended stuff, he vibes more to things he can remember fondly. Say, a movie he really liked, or the one song that played during the best day of hanging out, stuff like that.

-Likes meme songs, as long as they're good to him AKA they fit his taste. He'll like never gonna give you up, but he won't really listen to the distraction dance a lot.

-YOU KNOW THOSE MELANCHOLIC SONGS? the ones that are like almost rock but not quite?? Those ones.

MINA

-Ok so a long time ago I saw an edit of the squad singing bubble pop electric and that scenario lives rent free in my head now.

-What I mean is that she listens to like, things to vibe and dance to, and generally goes more ln the trendy side than Bakugou or Kiri do.

-This doesn't exclude genres. Like, if she can dance to it and likes it's vibe, it's going in the playlist. Also sings along a lot, so she and Kiri usually alternate between singing.

-I feel like she'd enjoy the random background music from videos she sees and is like "oh? That slaps" and just finds it so she can vibe to it.

-Has a couple of rather emotional songs that when she sings them, everyone is just like 👁️👄👁️ because she sings so beautifully and with such feeling it gives the song an extra layer of wow, nice.

SERO

-Has quite a number of songs that are the vibe of "remind me of home" and it's a very diverse playlist but it's actually really good.

-In fact, he likes listening to those compilations of "songs that remind you of X year at X place" or whatever.

-Definitely some lo-fi or something nice to vibe to whenever he or his friends are stressed or just wanna hang out and chill.

-I feel like he also listens to some like, acoustic guitar covers of songs or something... I mean just a song he likes in a nice vibe? Go for it.

-Has a couple meme or videogame songs there too, some of them were definitely Denki's recommended, but they were pretty good songs and they're very nice.

-I don't know how to describe this, but sometimes his and Shinsou's playlists have a similar energy even if they don't share a single song (though there's usually a couple songs they both enjoy and sing)

DENKI

-Electronic music is, as you'd expect, a good portion of his playlist. However since I don't really know about that kind of music I can't say much further.

-Meme! Songs! And in this case, it included things like the Coconut Mall song, the don't be suspicious audio, etc. (Can you tell I'm projecting?)

-Of course, trendy songs. Some of them stay on the playlist temporarily, some stay forever.

-Once again I'm projecting. He has a TON of playlists but they're like, actually tried to make one and gave up halfway through because he started saving memes.

-So the playlist that he's got that actually work and he can just put it on and vibe to music without scrolling three hours of memes, are playlists made for him.

-Has some songs that no one ever heard of before but they're absolute bangers too.

-And of course sweet Caroline. That reblog lives rent free in my head now.

SHINSOU

-I have NO idea what his general music taste could be, but I can name a few things I can see.

-Some sad songs to vibe to (Nobody by Mitski, Goodbye to the World (yes the among us song), uh... My music knowledge is lacking tbh. Polish cow! Which he found via Denki I guess)

-Wont admit it but he actually has a couple songs that he found from his dads' playlists. Which I don't know what they are like but you get the idea.

-Will vibe with everyone's music, honestly. They have good taste, yeah, but it's also the "oh I'm too nervous about sharing my music" feeling.

-Also likes specific playlists like Sero does, mostly as background vibes while he does something else.

-ASMR. But like the ones with like keyboard typing, writing on paper, etcetera. The sound of company. But this is mostly whenever he can't just vibe around his cats or get like a group hang out session.

-A couple songs for kids (Eri) that are actually a bop.

JIROU

-Guitar and voice. Like people just grabbing a guitar and singing, whatever that's called. Mostly low-pitched or very melodic.

-A couple of songs that snuck into her playlist after making one for everyone else. And some she added on her own because her friends have good taste.

-Romantic songs!! Personally, I'd like to think she has soft love songs that remind her of Yaomomo, or that Momo herself sent her.

-Movies and series soundtracks. The whole thing of creating a vibe throughout the entire soundtrack is something she likes to see.

-Maybe includes a couple songs of her own when she really likes how they turned out or if she poured a lot of emotions into it. Embarrassed if someone finds out though.

Thanks for the ask!! Hope you liked it.

[inhibited-irregularity]

EUROVISION 2021, personal favorites:

- Russia 🇷🇺

Manizha, Russian Woman: Absolute favorite. The sheer originality of the song! Her energy and the level of absolute badassery! She can sing, she can rap,and she's a bomb of energy. The way reggae and brass and hiphop and Slavic melodies overlap and it somehow works, the transitions between fun and "I'm bitter about the sexism and I'm mocking it unapologetically and making a stand" and the anthemic, emphatic and powerful message to Russian women; I was swelling with emotion while watching her. While to an American or a Westerner it may seem like performative feminism, I'm gonna remind you that in Russia and other Slavic countries that's very much not a thing and actually a very unpopular stand to make, and in Russia, The Balkans, and Eastern Europe in general, hundreds of women face domestic and sexual abuse on the daily, and those who do come forward rarely get support and are mostly dismissed. Let's not forget that Manizha got a huge backlash from the Russian government officials, and a big part of it was for her Tajik roots. The honesty of her message is real, and she's speaking from personal experience and the experience of women around her - nothing performative about her song, and you can tell from her delivery that the fire within her is true and she leaves her heart on the stage and pours it into the song. The staging and costumes are great as well, and symbolically well thougt-through. I would really like her to win, or at least get to the top 5. Most of all, I hope her message is heard and felt. 10000/10

- Italy 🇮🇹

Måneskin, Zitti e Buoni: definitely the closest thing to my actual music taste this year, so liking them off the bat wasn't a surprise. However, they're not just your regular Franz-Ferdinand-ish young alt rock band that wants to do rock "properly" - they have IT. The X factor, the Je ne sais quoi. I've been exposed to that particular genre, and I can confidently say that the song still manages to be refreshing and original (that bridge, those riffs!) The band has a great energy and no matter how much Damiano steals the show, they are still a unit and nobody is left in the shadows. They have the spirit of great rock bands of the previous century, and yet they don't try to copy anyone (khm,Greta Van Fleet, khm). Damiano's vocals are both powerful, seductive and provoking, and I'm still admiring the sheer amount of emotion he can pack into a single line and the nuance and yet rawness behind it. I'm not gonna state the obvious lol (the obvious being yes, I'm thirsty as well, he becomes yet another unattainable rockstar for me too,and yes they all look great) Anyway, great song, and maybe the clearest and most serious candidate for the number one spot, taking both the jury and the public into consideration. 10/10

- Iceland 🇮🇸

Daði Freyr and Gagnamagnið, 10 years:

What can I say about this masterpiece that hasn't already been said? A clear fan-favorite (hi, Valentina), but with the guns to back it up. The song is contagious, fun and campy, and unlike some other songs with said qualities, actually good from a musical perspective. Daði is incredibly charismatic and his sense of humor shines through, and even though he's the star of the show, the same can be said about the other band members. The synergy Måneskin has can be applied to Gagnamagnið as well, even though the energy is entirely different. They're serving us fun, sunshine, kitties rainbows sugar spice and everything nice, and manage to do it with zero cringe factor (plus those funky keytars). I'm one of those Eurovision fans that lament the golden age's (2004-2009) campiness (We'll never forget you, Verka), and Daði managed to bring it back, but modernised, polished and still sincere. I personally preferred the epic dad joke that slightly more commercial Think About Thing was (but that's one tough act to follow), but I'm always down for a husband adoring his wife and singing praises to their relationship. Since we're on tumblr, I feel obliged to use the term "cinnamon rolls" in describing Daði and the band. 9.5/10

- France 🇫🇷

Barbara Pravi, Voilà: She brought the theatrics, she brought the drama, and she brought the 101 in "that's how you perform". Her personality leaps through, and her voice is both beautiful and full of emotion and power. I'd hire her to star in a serious and artistic movie. Despite the fact that Voilà is from its melody to the singing style to the video to the vibe and the aesthetic hands down the most French thing I've seen since Amélie (do not come for that movie), it miraculously doesn't come across as a cliché, but rather an homage, and an individualistic one at that. It's not entirely my cup of tea, since I'm usually biased to songs that may come off as snobbish (I mean, the jury is going to lap it up), and are all about being proper and technical and oh how ~artistic~, but Barbara puts the soul into the immaculate. I'm not giving her the highest mark because I'm yet to see the performance, but I'm rooting for her. If she delivers the performance, we might have a clear winner. 9/10

- Ukraine 🇺🇦

Go_A, Shum: I'm a sucker for all things ethnic and mytological, so this was a no-brainer. I want that song played at every party. I want to go to the forest in the video and chant and summon the spring with flute and hard-bass. Kateryna Pavlenko has some unexplainable power over me, and her eyes are simply hypnotizing. The vocals are great, proper Slavic ethno right there (seriously, check out Slavic folklore and traditional music), and she has a subtle punk quality too(?). Ukraine came to save the spring and make us forget about the pandemic, and minus the Maruv fiasco (justice for her!), they always deliver and I expected nothing less. On the other hand, I loved the original version much more and couldn't help but be a bit disappointed with the revamp (yes, I know they had to), and while I personally love Shum, I think some other acts are more deserving of the higher placement. Go_A are not my winner, but definitely soon to be in my playlist. 8/10

- San Marino 🇸🇲

Adrenalina, Senhit ft. Flo Rida: You know that golden age of Eurovision I mentioned? THIS. I'm Serbian, so I can't resist a banger reminiscent of our horrible turbo-folk elements (and I say that endearingly,takes me back to 18th birthday parties (boy I'm glad that's over)). Let's just crown Senhit this year's Queen of Camp. The wild factor of Flo Rida...just?? Amazing. Can't wait to see how the performance goes (EDIT- it went great, I had a grin on my face the entire time and couldn't help but dance along). A certain refreshment after Serhat and Valentina Monetta endless loop. They didn't dial down the weird, but made it catchy af, and the vocal can rival any Balkan folk diva. While I think it's definitely the most entertaining entry this year, it's far from being the most original, and it's not really my genre of preference. Will vote for Senhit and root for her to qualify. 7.5/ 10

- Sweden 🇸🇪

Tusse, A million voices: As I mentioned before, I'm the first person that starts complaining about Sweden Superiority as soon as Eurovision season begins, and I'm with you all with being tired of Sweden qualifying just because they're Sweden and usually just bringing the same brand of MTV/Calvin Harris/American pop, or a successful and not-so-subtle imitation of the performances that did well the previous year,but listen: A million voices is a solid pop song and I'm going to die on that hill. It actually embodies the essence of pop - a catchy, pleasant melody sung by a good vocalist, with a short,sweet and uplifting message. It's not the same as previous years, it's not commercial, just good pop - good pop being something you immediately like and vibe to no matter how many common elements of the genre it checks. It relies on RnB rather than electronic sounds, auto tune or various DJ effects. Tusse is charming and charismatic af, and he's a 19yo kid doing an amazing job on a global stage. You don't have to like it, but there's no need to hate on it (ask Jendrik). Imo, Tusse deserved to qualify. Not winner material yet, but I wish him a fun time and a successful career. 7 5/10

- Switzerland 🇨🇭

G'jons Tears, Tout L'Univers: I saw the video first, and I HATED IT. It came across as a Duncan Lawrence-high-art wannabe, something technically perfect, but empty of soul or meaning, another soft boy with a sad falsetto, another jury-points bait. BUT. I changed my mind entirely after seeing him perform. Hands down, it was touching and epic. Reminding me of Hamlet aside, he DELIVERED, and made me love him, and actually enjoy the song. I still think the song is less original than Tusse's voices, but I enjoy the troubadour vibes of the pre-chours. G'jon is absolutely adorable, and I'm not gonna be mad if he wins. 8/10

shout-outs&honorable mentions:

- Serbia 🇷🇸 Yes, some national bias, but I'm proud of our girls. Ever Since we placed 2nd with Željko's Lane, we had that goddamn flute e v e r y year, and the same outdated scenography with a side of extra pathos (I'm sure that ruined Sanja's chances and her otherwise great performance back in 2016.) Finally something fun and actually representative of the music popular here. They looked flawless and the energy was off the charts. Go, Hurricane!

-Finland 🇫🇮 Yes, cheesy and corny and I cut my finger accidentally from watching the video on all the edge, but I'm biased because they're bringing emo and nu-metal back, and that's the music of my early adolescence (hello, Kaulitz brothers and Andy Biersack,hello Gerard Way and Linkin Park) Call me grandma lol

- Malta 🇲🇹 DESTINY CAN SIIIIIIIIING! I wasn't impressed with the song initially, but the performance blew my mind.

- Ireland 🇮🇪 A for effort, and so nice of her to try and give us something unique! While it wasn't good enough to qualify, it was super fun and she seems so nice. Also, we all know that she was out of breath an can sing much better than that. Still wasn't bad.

- Romania 🇷🇴, for being so young and brave enough to put on a show. The nerves got the better of her, but the song itself is good and no doubt she'll do well in the future

- Lithuania 🇱🇹, thanks for the memeries

- Croatia 🇭🇷, Not my cup of tea, but Albina gave a great performance

-Norway 🇳🇴, for embodying the spirit of Eurovision

- North Macedonia 🇲🇰, for the disco chest

- The UK 🇬🇧, for putting some effort

(Might edit later)

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream: Crash Bandicoot

Reviewing video games is not my forte. Like, sure, I can review the Metal Gear franchise because it’s near and dear to my heart and it’s incredibly story driven to a cinematic degree, but I’m not super good at touching on game design or any of that. I stick with movies. But then there are a lot of games I love and want to talk about, such as this game, Crash Bandicoot, and it’s like, how do I talk about this? This is a platformer that is very light on plot and is more about precision platforming than anything, and I’m just not really good at talking about gameplay.

But I’ve come up with a solution! One that I plan to use going forward for a few other games, too! I’ll start with a few paragraphs with my basic overview of the game, and then I will do a ranking of my favorite levels, and then how I’d rank the bosses. I’m much better at talking why I enjoy the challenge of specific elements of games like these then I am talking about the game as a whole, so let’s see how this turns out.

Crash Bandicoot was the first video game I ever played, and so is extremely near and dear to my heart. It’s a rather simple game, a “save the girl” platforming adventure in the vein of something like Mario, where an intrepid hero travels through platforming challenges to save the love of his life from an evil mastermind, though as the main character is a furry animal with a bit of 90s ‘tude, and his archenemy is a mad scientist who utilizes cyborgs to stop you, there’s a dash of Sonic in here too. Being a simple platforming game like this, you’d think there wouldn’t be all that much to the story… but surprisingly, that’s not totally the case (although the story is still relatively simple to later entries).

Crash was meant to be the ultimate soldier in Dr. Neo Cortex’s army of evil marsupials and other assorted critters, an army he presumably was going to use for world domination. After rigorous training, Crash was set to be brainwashed and turned into a mindless slave, but something got screwed up and Crash remained a good, heroic guy. He ended up chased out a window and washed up on the beach of a nearby island, and set out to save his buxom, big booty bandicoot babe Tawna from the creepy clutches of the cantankerous Cortex, causing chaos and crushing crates as he went along. The manual included with the original version of the game actually outlined sort of a little story for the first island, showing how the levels involved Crash infiltrating a native village, defeating its leader, and then riding a hog to escape on his way to the next island. It’s kind of fun and imaginative, and the next island keeps it up, with Crash having to brave ancient ruins to make it to the volcano on the other side of the island, before finally going through Cortex’s toxic power plant, causing a reactor meltdown, and climbing Cortex’s castle to confront him as his island burns to the ground. It’s a fun, simple story that’s not too challenging on the mind while still being engaging.

Perhaps the best thing about the game is the music, which was done by Josh Mancell with the assistance of Mark Mothersbaugh’s Mutato Muzika production company. Let’s not beat around the bush here: Every single track in this game slaps. Basically every track in the original trilogy slaps, but I feel pound for pound this game just hits all the right notes with its music. It perfectly sets the tone for each level, with eerie levels like Slippery Climb getting foreboding music and unsettling yet somewhat whimsical levels like Road to Nowhere getting music that perfectly suits it. This is the biggest downgrade of the remake; they redid the score, with no option to go back to the old tracks, and while some of the updated tunes are great, they don’t really hold a candle to the original (especially the creepier levels, which got dumbed down a fair bit to the point of narm).

The one thing this game is being known for these days is its pretty brutal difficulty, at least with the original release. A lot of the staple elements of the series like checkpoints saving the boxes you had previously broken and an actual save room were not present, so every level (including the brutal ones where the margin of error was incredibly slim) needed to be completed perfectly in one go. The challenging road to 100% completion was absolutely brutal, but thankfully the remake polished things and brought it more in line with its sequels to the point you only need a flawless run on colored gem levels. It can still be pretty tough since the colored gems are located in the hardest levels of the game, but it’s a lot easier than it once was.

The original game is a great, fun game, but only play the original release if you really want to test your skills; the remake is the way to go. The game holds up amazingly well even today, so no matter which version you end up playing you’re in for a fun platforming challenge.

Anyway, let’s get on to the levels!

TOP 10 LEVELS

10. Generator Room

There’s something to be said about the various one-shot themed levels of the third island. Toxic Waste is an interesting one we’ll talk about later, The Lab is a fun penultimate level, and Cortex Power is a frustrating slog of confusing backtracking. The Generator Room, though? This is unnerving atmosphere and dark ambience at its peak, with the eerie, minimalist music and the looming Cortex faces lending a chilling sense that you’re being watched as you make your way through this dark platforming challenge. It’s not the most exciting level, but among the one-shot themes it stands out for being a heaping helping of nightmare fuel… Though moreso in the original game. The remake sadly toned things down a bit too much, though it’s hard to blame them, really.

9. Native Fortress

The level that caps off the first island is a more challenging remake of The Great Gate, and closes out the story of the first island by showing how Crash escapes the territory of Papu Papu’s tribe. It’s a pretty fun and reasonable challenge for the point in the game, but my favorite aspect of the level has always been that, when you get the red gem, you get to fly up in the clouds and experience the painted background of the other two islands with less clutter. It’s just a simple background image, sure, but I have always found it very pretty and breathtaking.

8. Road to Nowhere

Everyone’s favorite! This is one of the more challenging levels if you don’t know what you’re doing because of the tricky and precise jumps you need, but it just has so much atmosphere and pleasant music it’s hard to get mad even if I screw up and plummet to my doom a few dozen times. Bouncing off of hibernating turtles to make long jumps and inexplicable evil hogs help make this memorable. Frankly, if you want to direct your ire to a stage, direct it to The High Road, the third island’s more challenging take on this level’s theme and which is a joyless, frustrating experience.

7. Castle Machinery

This level is honestly a bit of a breather for being so late in the game; sure, it has a lot of tricky jumps and an annoying crate bridge you need to really think about to conquer, but overall it’s just an improved take on Heavy Machinery without an obtuse branching path to figure out. Still, this level really makes the list because, if you have the right colored gem, you can just immediately skip the entire level and gain thirty free lives in the process in one of the single funniest moments in the game.

6. Toxic Waste

This level is simple, straightforward, and to the point. It’s one long-ass hallway where Crash is on a narrow walkway and has to avoid incoming barrels being tossed at him by the Mafia. It has no branching paths, no crazy elements, just Crash, some barrels, some boxes, and some bad guys. It’s almost too basic, but what saves it is the atmosphere of it all and the sheer awesomeness of the music, no matter which version you’re playing. It’s a level that has stuck in my mind since I was a kid. In a way, it also set the basis for colored gem unlocks in the games to follow, as avoiding the barrels is more of a puzzle than anything, much like the tricky puzzles you had to solve to unlock the colored gems in Cortex Strikes Back and It’s About Time. It’s a neat little first step even if it’s not quite there yet.

5. Boulder Dash

I almost didn’t include one of these levels, but God, these levels were trendsetters! The whole “Crash gets chased by dangerous thing” trend began in this game, and this second take on the boulder chase from the second island is a lot more fun and challenging than the earlier version of the level. And if you get the colored gem, you’re taken to a pretty underground alternate exit with tons of crates, which is pretty dope.

4. Fumbling in the Dark

The only one of the secret levels that requires a Cortex key to make the list, Fumbling in the Dark is a remix of Lights Out, the level it branches off of. That level is a bit of a cakewalk if you have the right gem, with an alternate exit being available to you before the level’s challenge ramps up. Not so with this level! You’ve gotta do some tricky timed jumps as quick as possible so you can get to the next Aku Aku mask before the light runs out. It’s a pretty fun and fair challenge, and it pushes my platforming skills to the limit. I also just really enjoy the creepy, Gothic aesthetic of the levels inside Cortex’s castle.

3. Hog Wild

This is, hands down, the funniest level in the game. From Crash’s really suggestive eyebrow waggle which leads to him tackling a pig to the extremely goofy music, this level is just an absolute blast. It does have an equally fun yet more challenging remix as an optional secret level, Whole Hog, but I have to give props to the original level for being the most hilarious thing I ever saw when I was little.

2. Slippery Climb

Where Stormy Ascent is a brutal, unrelenting challenge, Slippery Climb is more of a tough, but fair challenge. It’s definitely up there with Sunset Vista and The High Road in terms of difficulty, and the fact you’ve gotta do a flawless run of it if you want the red gem is daunting, but this is the most thoroughly rewarding mandatory level to conquer. You’re gonna feel really cool when you take this one down, guaranteed. Maybe not as much as when you take down Stormy Ascent, but still, this may be the toughest level in the game.

1. THE GREAT HALL

WOO YEAH BABY! LOOK AT THIS CHALLENGE!

Ok, ok, here’s the real number one:

1. N. Sanity Beach

This is the first level in the game and, thus, one of the easiest. And yet I placed it above all the levels I find to be more fun and challenging. Why? Well, for one, the pure nostalgia of it all. This was my first level in a video game, and I have fond memories of traversing the beach and jungle. For the other, this is one of the most perfect tutorial levels I have ever seen. Basically everything the game has to offer is laid out to you and slowly dished out to you: you start with a couple crates and a free life, move on to experience some enemies and pits, you can get total invincibility if you’re smart, you’re introduced to branching paths and backtracking… Everything is dished out to you at a solid pace so that any new player will be able to figure out what they’re doing with relative ease. Plus, the music slaps, and interestingly enough halfway through the level changes to a different song (the only level to do this). It really does encapsulate the game as a whole in one tiny package, and for that, I think it’s my favorite level of all.

Boss Ranking

The best way to describe the bosses in the original Crash is that they are incredibly basic. Most of them have simple patterns, easy tells, and don’t take much effort to take down. There’s not really anything here that will put your skills to the test, but none of them are really bad per se; in fact, considering how hard the levels can get, it’s sort of a breath of fresh air when you get to a boss that can be taken down without thinking hard.

6. Papu Papu

Coming in last place is our first boss, the big chief of the first island himself. He’s a pretty simple and straightforward boss battle: just jump on his head a few times and he’ll be out cold. It’s pretty nice to ease in new players, but it’s seriously not much of a challenge (though none of these bosses are particularly hard, mind you).

5. Koala Kong

So far, this has been Koala Kong’s sole major outing, as he was pretty quickly replaced with the more engaging Tiny Tiger in terms of dumb muscle.Tiny at least has some semblance of combat prowess and strategy, while this guy is just tossing boulders at you to spin back while he’s flexing and posing like he wants a part in the next volume of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. He’s certainly not the sharpest tool in the shed. Still, he’s not bad or anything, just a bit of a generic battle compared to the last three or the one before him.

4. Ripper Roo

Ripper Roo is a bit of a frustrating puzzle boss, requiring just the right timing to get in any damage on the guy. Still, the fun and bouncy music coupled with the amazing stock laugh does help make him a bit more memorable than the previous two bosses. I will say he’s probably worse in terms of an actual boss battle, because he ends up being more an exercise in precision than the typical dodging and waiting for the right moment to strike, but he’s also a funny kangaroo in a straitjacket, and I think that counts for something.

3. N. Brio

The longest boss in the game, Brio comes with a massive health bar that you’ll shave off pretty quickly for his first phase if you’re careful, and whose second phase features him hulking out into an incredible monstrosity. He’s simple and straightforward, much like all the bosses to be honest, but I think the bosses on the final island all have solid presentation to make up for that. Brio just comes out at the lower end, which is honestly a running theme for him in Crash games, as his battles are rarely the best out there and few can match his debut.

2. Pinstripe

Pinstripe may not be the most challenging boss in the world, but damn is he cool. A tommy gun-toting potoroo gangster who goes full-on Scarface and starts blasting up his office when you walk in while cackling like a madman? Awesome. Defeating him is also heavily implied to be the reason Cortex’s castle eventually starts burning down, as he accidentally shoots the generator upon defeat, which is a neat little touch. If nothing else, Pinstripe is just fun, and he has killer theme music to boot.

1. Cortex

Cortex begins his reign as the big bad of the franchise with a final boss battle that, while lacking in serious challenge, has such good music and presentation that it’s hard to really care. The fight is simple and straightforward: you dodge his blasts, and hit back the ones of a certain color so they blast his health off. All of this is done from atop his dirigible, as his island burns down in the background. The bosses just don’t get any cooler than this.