#anyway the new dub really is great + the actual i am all of me cover released with it is ALSO great

[bonewhiteglory]

I started volunteering in my friend’s kindergarten last month and like… I love these kids so much it’s unreal. They’re so sweet and weird! One of the kids drew me this killer Mario art and I’m gonna frame it and hang it on my wall.

[chrismcshell]

omg the shadow the hedgehog real-time fandub was sooooo good 😍😍😍 that cover of i am all of me????? 🔥🔥🔥

links: [clip source] / [the actual shadow fandub] / [the actual “i am all of me” cover]

[cod-dump]

*breaks down your Inbox's door* *heavy breathing* I've made my own Shadow OCs but don't think this means I'm happy about it.

*I am actively losing sanity because Graves and his Shadows have me in a death grip*

So here, here are my Shadows. There's like nothing on them cause I've just now made this shit up for ~reasons~

Andrew 'Woody' Fallwood. Gets his callsign from his name and the fact he's a cowboy. Around 5'11", not very big but is plenty strong. He's a silly guy, likes to make jokes and stuff to keep the others calm, especially big boy Moose. Almost always has a cigarette in his mouth. Can be a bit of an ass but that's just cause he's a stubborn little Southern man. More of an Appalachian southern man, and grew up on a cattle farm. Just really loves cows cause he has so many fond memories of the cows under his family's care. Scary good shot. At least it's scary until people learn he grew up in rural Appalachia and then it's just "oh you've been shooting since you were six, haven't you?"

Cole 'Flash' Halley. Tall, lanky guy that stands at around 6'2". Youngest to be recruited into Shadow Company, often gets called "Baby" or similar things since he's so young. Instantly became so many of the Shadows' new younger brother. Gets his name from one of his first days as a Shadow where he beat a record for completing an obstacle course in the fastest time. He holds all the records for "fastest" on so many things on base, including "fastest time to get a hug from Moose". Cause while Moose is a nice guy and all, he doesn't just go around hugging people, especially the newer Shadows. All Flash had to do though was walk up to him in tears and Moose's big brother instincts kicked in. This was his second day on base. He's the stereotypical little brother, though, cause he's constantly doing things to piss other Shadows off/to just be annoying for the hell of it.

Matthew 'Truck' Simmons. Shorter (around 5'8"), but broad, bulky guy. He's been dubbed "getaway driver". He drives everything, from the great big tanks to just normal ass cars. Definitely a truck freak, and is always in the shop, working on any of the numerous terrain vehicles the Shadows have. Had to repeat a couple of school years, and the second he turned 18 he enlisted. He was sick of being told he wasn't "smart" just because he can't do well on academic tests. But put a truck in front of him and a toolkit and he can tell you every single thing about that truck in extreme detail.

Jacob 'Ness' Owens. Not tall at all compared to most other Shadows, only around 5'6". He's a superb swimmer, and is almost always in the water. Loves to dive and do other water related missions. If he could, he'd swim in the outdoor pool year long (it's closed during the off seasons), but luckily the indoor pool's temperature is more easily controlled, thus allowing him to intentionally make it colder. These pools are for training, but the indoor one tends to be more recreational. Ness is required to sign into something when he wants to swim, cause he always makes it colder, and Graves got sick of the complaining from Shadows trying to swim after he's done. Gets his callsign from the fact he's often in his full wetsuit while swimming, and one time, during the night, several Shadows saw him swimming outside and joked he looked like the Loch Ness Monster. He's very quiet and rarely talks, doesn't like to be around a lot of people, but does a good job and is still friendly enough. Prefers giving in to his cryptid namesake (and the fact he's Ohioan) and doing weird things to get out of conversations. (like staring wide-eyed at them and sinking under the table like it's the water level)

*Ness is my baby boy I love him so much*

Anyways, back to complaining over my willing obsession over Graves and Shadow Company

Ah, the brainrot has a firm root if you made ocs HAHAHAHAHAHAH-

-

Moose is actually an excellent swimmer and handles the cold pretty well so him and Ness would bond over that. Moose won’t stay in the water as much but he would definitely join him for a swim.

Flash would definitely be mothered by Moose. Having joined when he was pretty young himself he’s pretty protective of younger Shadows. He tries to not be overbearing but sometimes he can’t help it and worries over them.

Moose would love to hear Truck talk about his vehicles. He knows a few things himself about them, well enough to get them running or to make repairs if needed. He likes listening to people talk about things they’re passionate about.

Woody would definitely be good friends with Moose. The jokes would win him over and they have a shared love for cows. But the accent would definitely have a part in it, something Moose won’t admit. A southern accent is very comforting to him.

[presumenothing]

hi! I really need some more zhou shen content, and am wondering if you can help me out. which are his best variety shows (that aren't singing comps, I think I've seen all those)? I loved youth periplous and keep running, and don't know what to watch next.

ok i'm gonna have to turn to crowdsourcing for this one because my attention span for watching shows esp general variety is basically Zero (0) so aside from a few exceptions the most i've seen is random clips of each. non-exhaustive list below shamelessly stolen off wikipedia, zhou shen tag friends please DO chip in with your sage advice

(also disclaimer that i have no idea about the eng sub availability and/or quality for any of these at all rip)

EDIT: comment party in the replies!! come drop in

music (regular):

声入人心/super vocal s1: the classic, probably everyone has seen this

我们的歌/our song: the new(?) classic. iconic showstopping etc

歌手·当打之年/singer 2020: need i say more

创造营/chuang 2021: dance dance revolution (polyglot edition)

天赐的声音/the treasured voice s3: still not over that 调查中 duet!! also shoutout to studio for solid rehearsal!shen vlog content

时光音乐会/time concert s2: A++ performances and vibes all around, including the game/dinner extras. also possibly still my favourite arrangement of 光亮

舞台2023/the next: lovely backstage bits of him working with contestants + nerding out over music with arai-sensei. plus that (literally) lit 人是＿ performance, we love to see it

music (guest):

蒙面唱将猜猜猜/masked singer: another classic

一起乐队吧/let's band: a rare 周浅 appears aww back when he would wince at people addressing him as laoshi

唱给世界听/sing tour: first appearance in a mentor role! though i don't think i've watched this one at all actually

这! 就是原创/chuang: remember when he actually broke a sweat over high Cs lmao. anyway tang hanxiao's skillz amirite

经典咏流传/everlasting classics s3: i need to listen to 情是何物 another 100000 times again actually?? also hiiii liao-laoshi

流淌的歌声/flowing melodies s2: the way everyone was just treating him like a walking jukebox on this one LOL 1000/10 valid

明日之子SUPER BAND: hey. hey lang lang you should bring this bean along to your appearances more often. please

乐队的夏天/the big band: that entire backstage footage of him and muma pls

上线吧! 华彩少年/bravo youngsters: ok i'll be honest i have no impression of what the actual show was about but the backstage clips were so fun

2060: mandatory mention simply because of that 浓情淡如你 performance aaaaaaaa

non-music (regular):

了不起的长城/the great wall

青春环游记/youth periplous s2: hilariously i'm pretty certain that everyone has watched more of this than i have

新手驾到/go newbies: the closest i will ever get to a driving license

令人心动的offer/an exciting offer s2-3: shenshen AND shuangbei (aka the he jiong + sa beining combo). what more could you ask for

开始推理吧/the truth: the only one of these i've watched in full (mostly). aka ZHOU KEKE my tiny beaaaaannnn 🥺🥺🥺

奔跑吧/keep running

non-music (guest):

出发吧，师傅!/shifu go go go: makes the list simply out of sheer hilarity

王牌对王牌/ace vs ace: that sa dingding duet!! aka instance no.??? of "let's elevate this non-music show to Concert Hall Levels"

天天向上/day day up: the one where he dubbed frozen live

向往的生活/back to field: hi maomao!

明星大侦探/who's the murderer NZND concert: aka Spooky Hours

奇妙之城/marvelous city: so nice to see him back home! also 10000/10 cave concert when

念念青春/searching for youth: A+ wardrobe choices no notes

种地吧: ditto (snuggly grey sweater!!)

你好生活 s4: aka the one where he nearly gave sa beining an aneurysm lmao

快乐大本营/happy camp and 你好星期六/hello saturday: hiiii he-laoshi!! also nezha!zs hahaha

[aces-and-angels]

if you could please write prompt 14 for a female MC (can be rowan) and abel that'd be awesome! congrats on your milestone!!

tysm anon! congrats on being #1 of 3 of what i'm dubbing the impromptu shower series lol.

i wanted to explore a scenario where mc rejects abel at the carnival (dw, there's a happy ending). anyways, enjoy your extra large blurb🖤

14. Showering together; Abel x Rowan (F!MC)- 3.4k words

---

Abel was not a morning person. At least, not at first. Multiple alarms were needed in order for him to wake up in time for Mercedes' soccer practices. And Cesar's baseball games. Even Lola would occasionally need a ride whenever she had a Model UN meeting.

Years of early mornings led to him having quite the caffeine tolerance. One cup of coffee turned to two, and eventually, he would just drink it out of habit rather than to actually cure his drowsiness. However, a cold shower never failed to do the trick. He'd grit his teeth as freezing water pelted down on his bare skin, shocking him back to life.

Whatever works, right?

A cold shower to wake up- to bring him back to reality- to silence those cursed screams from the unknown, the ones that fueled his nightmares. More recently, they were needed to stop himself from thinking of her.

Rowan.

The way her lips were oh so perfectly shaped. How they would look saying his name. How soft they'd feel against his... Cold water could only do so much to keep his thoughts at bay.

~~~

"I-- I just, don't really see you like that."

His heart dropped. "Oh. Not even after... everything?" All those stolen glances. Their first kiss in his apartment. Dancing like idiots under the stars. Holding her close. Falling asleep in her arms.

"Abel..."

"No, it's okay. It's fine. I get it. No need to explain."

He can't look at her. Not now. Not when he feels like he's being ripped apart. His vision blurs with unshed tears. Not here. Not now. The joyful shrieks of children riding the merry-go-round behind them fade, giving way to the pounding in his ears.

Every breath hurts. But eventually, he musters enough strength to push that ache in his chest down. "Want to get a funnel cake?" He does his best to smile. She does the same.

"That sounds like a great idea." The walk to the food stall is quiet. He could get over her. He had to.

~~~

Things were always easier said than done.

It had been four months since everything ended. Without eminent danger occupying his time, teaching at Redwood provided a welcome distraction. Even if being the new hire meant taking all the 8AM lectures. There was enough material in the library to stay busy for hours. Enough to help him forget about her. It nearly worked, until...

"Hey," Rowan waved nervously, holding a duffel bag in her other hand. Abel blinked in shock, his mouth slightly agape.

"Ro? What are you... Why are you..." His thoughts scrambled around in his head. She's not supposed to be here. Is she? Did she come for me? No, that's silly, he reminded himself. Still, his heart skipped a beat when their eyes met. Brown and cyan. The ones he could never forget no matter how hard he tried.

"Long story short- my car broke down. Then I remembered you got a job at Redwood. The mechanic said the campus wasn't too far from the shop, so I walked," she explained.

"Y-you could've called. You didn't need to walk all the way here."

"I would've, but my phone died and I stupidly forgot to pack my charger."

"The shop didn't have a phone?"

"No, they did. But I didn't exactly have your number memorized. Or any number, really," she chuckles sheepishly.

"Heh, right..." Abel bit the inside of his cheek, unsure what to do next. He watches her mouth move as she speaks, but none of the words are registering. Say something, you dork. She's staring at you! Dios, have I been staring? Am I being weird? When did my palms get so swea-

"Uh, Abel?" Rowan waved her hand over his face, breaking him out of his spiral.

"Huh? Sorry, what were you saying?"

"I asked if there were any phone charging stations here," she restated. "I need to look up a place to stay for the night while my car gets fixed."

"You can stay with me." What am I doing?

Her eyes widen. "Really? I don't wanna trouble you."

"I-it's no trouble, I swear. The hotels around here aren't cheap. Besides, friends give each other emergency places for refuge," he reassures. Friends. The word still felt bitter on his tongue.

She searches for something in his face- any sign of hesitation. Finding none, she slumps her shoulders in relief. "Well, thank you. Really. I'll be out of your hair before you know it, promise."

"Right," he mumbles, an uncomfortable feeling settling in his chest. "Follow me. I've got one more lecture to give, but you can wait in my office. I'll come get you when I'm done."

"Actually... could I sit in on your class?"

"You want to sit in on a two hour lecture about the Sioux tribe?" He could barely hide the disbelief in his voice.

"Yeah, why not? I've never taken an archaeology course before... Plus, Jocelyn said you weren't too boring to listen to," she snorts. He can't help but laugh as well.

"What a stellar review," he smirks. His eyes glance down at his wrist watch. "C'mon, we're about to be late for class."

"Aye, aye professor."

The next two hours proved to be one of the toughest lectures Abel's ever had to present. He's spoken at several conferences with distinguished audience members without breaking a sweat. But here he was, stumbling over his words anytime he glanced at Rowan- and his eyes were hellbent on landing right where she was.

Back row, seven seats from the center. It was hard to look at her, yet it seemed impossible to look away. His nerves dried out his mouth despite the many sips of water he'd taken. The bottle he brought was empty before he made it through half his presentation.

"How about a quick break?" Excited murmurs fill the lecture hall at his suggestion. "I'll take that as a yes. We'll pick things back up in ten minutes." Some students left the room, while others chatted with their friends. With the attention off him, he could finally breathe easy.

Standing at the podium proved to be too much to handle. He made his way to his desk, prepared to finish the rest of his lecture from behind his computer monitor. A small shield for his wandering eyes.

"Here," Rowan places a new water bottle on his desk. Abel looks up. Any calmness he felt was gone, replaced with that incessant flutter of his stomach. So much for the shield.

"Oh, um, thank you," he bowed his head slightly, busying his hands by fiddling with the label. "How'd you-"

"You kept stopping yourself from reaching for your bottle during your spiel on the Standing Rock reservation," she answers.

A hint of a smile crept on his face. "You were paying attention?"

"Of course I was," Rowan scoffs, as if it was obvious. "This stuff is fascinating and you do brilliant work, professor."

Abel's cheeks warm, undoubtedly turning red. "You've only seen my work once."

"And it's brilliant. Take the compliment, Abel. False modesty never looked good on you."

"Hey, everything looks good on me," he jokes.

"There he is," she grins. A swarm of students re-enter the room all at once. "Guess that's my cue. Good luck with the rest of the lesson." His eyes linger on her frame as she climbs up the stairs back to her seat. A hush falls throughout his class, all heads now turned in his direction. From her spot, Rowan gives him a thumbs up. Taking a deep breath, he stands and walks towards the podium.

"Now where were we?"

---

Back in his apartment, Abel reheats some leftovers on the stove while Rowan takes a shower upstairs.

This is fine. Totally fine. Just a friend helping out another friend. Nothing more.

Lost in thought, he doesn't notice the sound of the bathroom door opening nor Rowan's footsteps heading towards the kitchen. "Smells good," she comments.

Startled, Abel jumps, dropping the wooden spoon he was using to stir the food. A small, high-pitched shriek escapes his lips. "AH! When did you get there?!"

"Sorry- I forgot that you're easily frightened," she bites her lip, suppressing a smirk.

"I am not-" his protest dies as she gives a pointed look at him, then at the wooden spoon on the ground. "... I'm just not used to having another person here, that's all." He bends down to pick up the spoon and tosses it in the sink.

Still fighting the urge to smile, Rowan simply nods. Instead, she moves to stand next to him. "What'cha making?"

"I'm reheating some chicken stir fry. I made way too much, so I've been stuck eating this for the past few days," he answers, grabbing another spoon from the drawer. "Do you want anything else? I should have enough stuff in my fridge to make something new. Or I could order some takeout?"

"You don't have to do that."

"No, really, I-" his words fall short as he turns, realizing how close they are. Every tiny freckle on her face was crystal clear. The faint scent of her shampoo mixed wonderfully with the air, overwhelming his senses. A loose strand hung awkwardly at her brow and his hand itched to push it aside.

"Abel?" She called out softly, peering up at him.

"Yeah?"

"You okay? You look... spacey."

"Y-yeah," he reassures, snapping his head back towards the stove. "I'm fine. Long day, I guess." His voice lacks any sort of conviction.

Rowan's brows furrow ever so slightly, but she decides not to pry any further. "I hear ya. Teaching. Having your car break down. It all takes a lot out of you."

"It really does," he sighs, unsure if he feels relieved or disappointed. "Anyways, food's ready."

Her face brightens instantly. "One of my favorite set of words."

Her mood is infectious, clearing any lingering awkwardness left between them. "Sit. I'll grab the plates."

"How kind of you," she jests playfully, taking a seat at the dining table. Abel quickly sets the table and scoops a hefty portion onto her plate along with a side of rice. "I think I could cry right now."

He snorts. "Tears of joy, I hope."

"Joy. Merriment. Bliss. You name it. I'm feeling it." Rowan makes quick work of her food. Each bite is followed by a satisfied hum. A quarter of her plate is gone by the time Abel manages to sit down. The corner of his mouth quirks upwards. "Guess I did a good job."

"Fantastic," she corrects him, putting another forkful of rice in her mouth. Following her lead, Abel began eating as well. Somehow, the flavors he'd grown tired of tasting for the past week were now vibrant. As if something breathed new life into the dish. Across the table, Rowan dances happily in her seat.

---

"Absolutely not."

"But-"

"No."

"But Abel-"

"No, you are not sleeping on the couch! What kind of host would I be if I let you do that?"

"What kind of guest would I be if I kicked you out of your own room after coming here unannounced," Rowan counters, just as adamant.

Abel huffs, exasperated. "Well, I only have the one room."

"I'm aware," she drawls.

"And I'm not changing my mind."

"Me either."

He crosses his arms over his chest while she rests her hands on her hips. Both stare the other down, waiting for someone to break. The silence between them is palpable. He squints, his eyes already beginning to burn. Stupid contacts. A shit-eating grin spreads on Rowan's face. Unable to fight the urge any longer, he blinks with a frustrated groan. "Ugh, this is pointless!"

"You're just saying that cause you lost. Have fun in your room," she taunts.

"I will be having fun right here, thank you very much," he protests, taking a seat on the couch.

Rowan gapes at him. "Hey! You can't do that!"

"Yeah I can. This is my apartment."

"Exactly. Your apartment. Your room," she bickers, trying to pull him off the couch. He firmly plants his feet to the floor, not letting her move him an inch.

"You... are... so... stubborn..." she grunts as she futilely pushes against his shoulder with her back. Eventually, she lets out a tired sigh. "Fine. You win."

"Thank you. The blankets-"

"But so do I.''

"Huh?"

"I can't make you leave this couch just as much as you can't make me take your room. So I guess we're both taking the couch tonight," she states matter-of-factly.

"But- you- that's-"

"A great resolution. Thanks Ro. You're welcome, Abel," she finishes for him. "Now- do you wanna keep arguing or do you wanna tell me if you have any more pillows?"

"Side closet. Third shelf. The blankets should also be there," he answers, defeated. This is still fine. Totally fine.

"Great," she beams. It takes little time for them to transform the couch into a makeshift bed. Rowan spreads the sheets over the cushions as Abel folds down the back of the couch. For added legroom, he pushes the footrest to the edge. "See? This looks cozy!"

"You know what else is cozy?"

She smacks his arm. "Quit it. We already agreed on the couch situation."

"Fine. It was worth a shot," he grumbles. Satisfied, Rowan moves to her side, grabbing a knitted blanket from the stack on the floor. She settles into the cushions. Meanwhile, Abel stands, hesitant.

Rowan raises an eyebrow at him. "It's this or that cozy room of yours. C'mon, I don't bite." He gulps. His movements are stiff as he maneuvers his way onto the couch, being extra cautious not to accidentally touch her. He mentally cursed himself as he tried to make himself as small as possible. Why didn't I buy the bigger couch when I had the chance?

Side by side with only a few inches between them, Abel lays very still on his back. "So... did you hear anything back from the car shop?"

"A guy called and said they should be done with the repairs by noon. Thanks for letting me borrow your charger, by the way."

"No problem."

"And for letting me stay here."

He laughs breathlessly. "You don't have to keep thanking me for that."

"Well I'm probably gonna do it at least four more times, so get used to it," she chuckles alongside him. As their laughter dies down, another question pops into his head.

"Hey, Ro?"

She shifts to face him. He stays pointedly still. "Yeah?"

"I didn't ask before but... what are you doing here in California?"

There's a brief pause, as if she's contemplating how to answer. "You could say I was on a business trip."

"A business trip?"

"To Colorado. Ava's coven has a contact there. I drove to buy some stones from them," she elaborates.

"Stones?"

"Right. The stones they have are the ones we use to make charms to ward off corruption. It's the best material that absorbs the Power in its pure form."

"Ah. So you're still at it then? Hunting down horrors?"

She nods. "Some days are better than others. Right now, things have been quiet. But that only lasts for so long. There's always a part of me waiting for shit to go sideways. The only thing I can do is make sure I'm there to fix things."

"And does that make you... happy?"

"I have purpose," she says, resolute. "More than I did when I was hunting them blindly. That's something I can't let go of." She shifts again, causing the cushions to dip beneath him. "What about you? Are you happy here?"

"Course I am," he answers too quickly. "Redwood is amazing. The library is incredible. They have enough funding for any research I want to do. More opportunities, resources. Couldn't be more thrilled."

"Guess that's why it's been so hard to reach you," she mutters. He's surprised by the sadness in her tone.

"The job keeps me busy."

"So busy that you couldn't even say goodbye?" His head whips towards her. There are no tears. Just someone looking for answers. "Jocelyn was the one who told me, y'know. I didn't know you were gone for a whole week."

Guilt floods through him. "I- I just had to leave. I had to."

"Was not talking to me a must too?" Her question is only met with silence. "When I saw you on campus, I thought for sure you would run off in another direction. Instead, you offer up your apartment."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'm confused! We're friends one day, you leave the next. We don't talk for months, and now I'm here. I thought you hated me," she blurts out.

"I don't hate you," he whispers.

"Then why?"

He averts his gaze, choosing to focus on the ceiling instead. "I don't hate you. But being around you- I couldn't handle it. I needed a fresh start. Somewhere to go so... so I could..."

"So you could what?" The air was thick with tension. Brown and cyan eyes met his, unwavering.

"So I could get over you."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Neither of them know what to say after that. This was a line he never thought he'd cross. Not again. "It didn't work," he laughs dryly, his voice hollow.

"Abel..."

"I tried. I really did. Buried myself in work. I even applied for a research grant. I was doing everything I've always wanted to do, but it still wasn't enough. Then you show up. And even though I've been a mess the whole day, this is the first time I've really felt happy since moving here." He gives her a sad smile. "I know you only-"

"I lied," she cuts him off suddenly.

"What?"

"I lied before. On campus. When I said I didn't call because I didn't remember your number. I knew it. 971-542-3378."

"Um... I forgive you?"

"No, listen to me. I've dialed and deleted that number more times than I can count. I didn't know why you left, but I knew it hurt when you did. I wanted so badly to hate you, but I just missed you instead."

He hung onto her every word. The hope he dared not to breathe life into now flickered inside him. "Just like I did?"

She nods. "Just like you did." The implication was clear.

"But- at the carnival, you said-"

"I didn't think I was ready. You deserve someone who is. I'm not saying it'll be easy. I still can't leave Westchester and I don't expect you to move back, but- mmph-" His lips crash into hers before she can finish.

Her surprise melts away and she leans into him. There's so much he wants to tell her and he does as he moves his mouth in time with hers. I never thought I'd get to do this again.

She gasps, allowing him to slip his tongue inside.

I missed you too.

He tilts his head, deepening their kiss.

I love you.

He moves to cup her cheek, relishing the warmth beneath his fingertips.

I love you.

Their breath becomes one- bodies pressed close enough that she can feel just how fast his heart is racing.

I love you.

---

*one month later*

The morning light peeks through the blinds, casting a soft glow over the abandoned sheets on the bed. A pair of footsteps follow Abel towards the bathroom. He smiles as Rowan wraps her arms around his waist. Through the mirror, he notices her tired eyes, barely open. "You don't have to be up yet," he says softly, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

She shakes her head with a yawn, hugging him tighter. "I wanted to see you before you left." He hums contently in response. Her feet drag along the tile as he walks over to the shower. Gently, he pries himself away from her just long enough to strip himself bare. He takes care of her next, adding her clothes to the pile. Together, they step through the shower curtain, returning to each others arms. He laughs as she forces him to bend down so she can lather more shampoo into his hair. It's a morning not unlike the others, only this time, the water runs warm.

---

[yokakaiju]

tristamp thoughts/live watch ramblings

preface: i already have a very bad impression of tristamp. i literally have been into trigun for maybe a week now and i have seen most of 1998, but im trying to go into tristamp with a clear head and view it objectively, but i genuinely looked at the character designs and legatos redesign made me resent it immediately tbh...

ANYWAY, im live watching as i write this, so apologies if its sporatic

okay so the good stuff so far

uhh... its very pretty!!! ill give it that. it really shows the evolution of 3d anime over time, and as someone who typically doesnt enjoy it i think tristamp is absolutely beautiful. first 3d anime i ever saw was knights of sidonia and i have a deep appreciation for where 3d anime is now compared to a decade ago

i kinda like meryls new design the best? i like her hat, its cute. everyone else is so... eh, tho. merylls redesign is chill with me tho

roberto is fine ig. i like old men characters sometimes and like, idk whenever im not sad abt milly not being here im okay enough with roberto existing

now on to my ever growing laundry list of complaints that ik will get worse if i keep watching (spoilers for trimax probably)

one, WHY IS VASH LIKE THAT?? LIKE WHY IS HE SUCH A WHINY CRYBABY?? LIKE SHUT UP DAWG!!! idk, ik vash is a silly emotionally explosive highly insecure funny little fella and i love him for it, i think vash is a great character, but why did they make him kinda a pathetic bitch in stamp? like, i usually dont watch dubs but i am for trigun cause my tv is kinda far from my bed and i dont wanna sit uncomfortably to read subs rn (BLEH!!!), so maaaaaaaybe sub vash is better, and no shade to the va i like his voice a lot for vash tbh, but bro pls stop crying every two seconds im gonna lose it. why is vash lowkey proslavery (THIS IS A JOKE), BUT FR!!! why is he more like... idk chill with plants being used ig ????? im sure hes not really, but like... dude, you arent the same

two, okay this made me actually mad, but why in the actual fuck was knives immediately introduced and why is he like some weird well known plant stealing cave hermit??? like??? no??? he wouldnt do that??? also why is he so present in this world LIKE DOES LOST JULY NOT EXIST IN THIS CANON??? WHAT IS THIS??????? i literally hate this rewrite. like... trimax is right there dawg... you did not have to rewrite literally everything. addition as i watch episode 3, why is he like that? why can he make purple? why does he have razors??? he doesnt talk like that ever??? why is he so??? i hate him actually??? this is not the knives ik and love??? who is this skinwalker????? HE DID NOT ACT LIKE THIS IN TRIMAX WHO IS THIS??? I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THEY REWROTE KNIVES THIS WAY OH MY GOD

three, why did everyone get an objectively bland redesign? like... i dont mind vashs hair. idgaf, but i literally hate his fucking totk link "lost power source" green ass arm. why cant it just be an ugly brown robot arm with a gun in it. whys it gotts be all "cool" and "green" and "mysterious", like IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE CYBERCORE TECHWEAR NEOFUTURISM ASS SHIT!!! i havent seeeeeeen wolfwoof in action yet, but i fucking hate his tristamp design. WHY IS HE A TWINK??? WHERE ARE HIS BOOBS??? WHY IS HE NOT A PRIEST??? LITERALLY TURNED A PERFECT CHARACTER INTO A BASIC BITCH FOR NO REASON. also like... knives. why is he... why is he like that. put shoes on plz the sand is hot babygirl. why are you wearing a tumour coat and ugly matrix ass bodysuit? where did your shoulderpadded objectively cooler dio-esque military outfit go? especially tho, i DESPISE legato and livios redesigns. i think they are SOOOOO butt ugly in tristamp and FOR WHY??? WHY DID THEY MAKE LEGATO SO FUCKING UGLY??? LIKE HE WAS SO HOT IN 98 AND ESPECIALLY IN TRIMAX OH MY GOD HES SO HOT LITERALLY DROOLING THINKING ABT HIM RN MY BABYWABY BOOBOO BEAR. THEY BUTCHERED HIM SO BAD AND IT PISSES ME OFF SO MUCH!!! AND LIVIO OH MY GOD WHY DID THEY DO THAT TO HIM??? HIS TRIMAX DESIGN IS OS FUCKING PEAK HE IS SO AMAZING AS AN EYE OF MICHAEL AND ESPECIALLY AFTER HE REFORMS AND BECOMES A COWBOY BABEYYY!!!! BUT NOOOO THEY MADE HIM AN UGLY ASS CYBERPUNK ASS BITCH!!! THEY MADE HIM SO FUCKING LAME AND BORING!!! PATOOEY I HATE HIS FUCKING DESIGN!!!! okay so wolfwood just showed up, can officially say hes the weakest version of wolfwood and that i do not like him. hes giving non sonic fan perception of shadow vibes. ALSO WHERE IS HIS MELANIN THEY TOOK IT AWAY!!! THE MELANIN VACCUM STRIKES AGAIN!!! tbf, he didnt have MUCH but he was a little brown, not literally just a white man

four, where. the. fuck. is. milly. i LOVE milly. she is one of my faves ever, im so sad she isnt here. genuinely...

five and probably last for rn, why is the pacing so bad. like its not good in trigun or trimax really, and especially bad in 1998, but it SO ASS!!! like its so blink and you'll miss it, which kinda stands for every trigun... but expected this to be like at least a liiiiittle better i dunno

conclusions: im gonna keep watching it maybe? but like... i dont like it. its bad imo. literaly have been into trigun for one week and am in mourning that trimax will likely never have a proper adaptation. i just wanna see angel knives in his full glory, not whatever tf tristamp is trying to push here

[sweepseven]

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

Another post in a seemingly unending series of posts in which I talk about writing to make me feel like I've accomplished any actual writing. Results so far are middling.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

53! How and when?? (The answer is "Kà and a pandemic.")

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

228,456

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just Cirque du Soleil at the moment, but a long running rp is soaking up the majority of my creative thoughts just now. That's its own whole thing with a blog and fics and AUs upon AUs.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Wing Dust (Miraculous Ladybug, T, perpetually bemused that I wrote this in the first place and yet here it is at number one)

Downpour (Mad Max Fury Road, G, my first for a fandom that did so much for me as an author)

War Song (Mad Max Fury Road, T, strong contender for favorite fic I've ever written)

Idle in Neutral (Mad Max Fury Road, G, I forget I wrote this one all the time and whenever I get kudos for it I'm like whom??? I love that it has a life all its own.)

Mantle (Mad Max Fury Road, G, another one I continually forget about lol)

That's the curse of writing for tiny fandoms! The ones I have loved most, that have mangled my brain for months on end are destined to have like a dozen readers total. On the other hand it's very gratifying to know I'm writing for a small handful of people extra extra psyched to find content. And in the meantime I have these, many of which I've let myself forget, that have found their audience anyway. It's a very rewarding feeling, like I could make the effort, move on, and still leave people happy years later.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Most times yes!! And I'm so so lucky to get the most thoughtful comments of all on my most niche fics. Makes it all more than worth it.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Walkabout and I love it. Cirque du Soleil Kà, T.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Tea Series by a mile. Didn't know I had it in me until pushed by @studiokawaii , and I'm so glad they did. Cirque du Soleil Kà, T.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Honestly so few people are aware of them that it's not really a risk. What is hugely embarrassing is the confirmed knowledge that Cirque artists know about and have read some of them. But there's nothing I can do about that, lol.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes! Somehow I feel like I'm always writing it, and then I look at my total body of work and am like "...where is all of it." Historically it was mostly M/M, but Kà got me actually writing F/M for the first time. Most common themes are experience vs. inexperience and tense power dynamics. I'd love to write more dub con.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Only ever one. Decree, another for Mad Max Fury Road, in which the Vuvalini are each granted one single potentially worldshaping wish à la Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I know why people don't click on it, but I'm fond of it!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No and tbh I can't imagine anyone would bother.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but I'd be open to it if anyone cared to take on the project! I love translated fics. What a nice thing to do, granting someone else's work the opportunity for new eyes.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but again @studiokawaii and I have had some great fic/art collaboration in the past couple years with inspiration coming from both directions.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Snape/Harry. I never talk about it, I've never written it myself (I think?? maybe in high school I did), but honestly it's been so long that I think there's no unseating it now. The amount of care, dedication, creativity, and talent coming from that group, even after so long, is truly unique and remarkable. All time favorite ship to write has been Counselor's Son/Twin Sister by a landslide.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

It pains me, but I think I'm kidding myself if I try to claim The Shape of Things To Come doesn't qualify. I love the idea, I know exactly where I want it to go, but something about the enormity of the ground that needs to be covered in order to get there has spooked me.

I also have two highly embarrassing WIPs - one for Shadow & Bone and another for fucking Teen Titans - that I doubt will ever be finished. I just adore both ideas and it's fun thinking they've at least taken some kind of shape somewhere, even if they never make it out into the world.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Creating believable characterization and distinctive voices from very sparse source material. At least that's what I've been told, which I take as an immense compliment. I also think I write tension rather well, whether it be sexual, conflicting emotions, or threatening hostility.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Well right now my ability to finish anything feels pretty fuckin weak. I struggle with action scenes, like physical fights or scenes in which a lot is going on in multiple places at once. Hitting a natural rhythm with them is very difficult for me. Pacing for longer fics doesn't come easily to me either, and I always worry if my longer work reads like a bulleted list of stuff I knew needed to happen rather than an actual story with a true and natural flow. That's part of what's bogging me down with Shape of Things.

I also love commas too much.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Depends. You can't just throw it in there imo - it's a great opportunity for mindful characterization and shouldn't be treated like checking a box, or worse, a reminder to your audience that the source material doesn't match the language you're writing in. I'm not multilingual so the most you're likely to see from me are vague hints at certain dialects and accents in Kà, for instance, since they're not speaking any real language anyway.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Teen Titans. It's still out there somewhere, likely a somewhat embarrassing blip on the radar of some long forgotten LJ community. I got some early encouragement there that put me where I am today. Nurture and welcome new writers, people!!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Borderline Suspect. I put so much into it. It was a real milestone fic for me, unlike anything I'd ever written before, and it stands so apart in my memory that I just can't choose any other. At the time I thought it was everything I could possibly want to say about Ka and CS/TS, but when it was through I found myself more motivated and inspired than ever.

Some of the most valuable and rewarding feedback I've ever gotten came from this fic, and the intensity of the response, however contained by the size of the fandom, has made me feel incredibly lucky. People came out of nowhere to talk to me about it, send art for it, push me through writing lulls with comments that turned entire days around. I made new friends because of it. I don't see myself writing anything quite like it ever again. Even if I did, I couldn't dream of a more gratifying response. Cirque du Soleil Kà, E.

[duck-kmt]

I watched Kimetsu in theaters 😭💞 it was sooooo good, i'm so excited for the next season. Here's my Impressions so don't read if you don't want to be spoiled.

They give a booklet at the entrance containing a short lore recap, staff commentary, keyframes of the Upper Moons and a Setsubun postcard ("Demons out! Fortune in!" ... why is Zenitsu playing the demon when Nezuko is right here??? Well I guess I wouldn't have the heart to throw her beans either... but....)

It started with a short recap of season 1 with Gurenge playing in the back, then Mugen Train with Akeboshi, then a recap of season 2 until the last two episodes that were screened again in their entirety.

I think rewatching them on the big screen made me appreciate them more - I watched it a lot of time already, but I cried again at Gyuu and Daki's last moments. I love how the lightwork is done in this scene, Ume always in the light but ultimately joining Gyuutarou in the dark... it's beautiful 😭

Then after Zankyou Sanka played, finally Swordsmith Village arc started!!

Episode 1 is one hour long.

It starts with the Upper Moon meeting and WOW ... Infinity Castle is BEAUTIFUL and extremely stylish. I was impressed with the camera work- usually I am not a huge fan of 3D and 2D mixed together but this was so well done, I was really in awe. Especially I have in mind a shot of Akaza with the camera panning up, it looked so smooth! Maybe it's evil of me lol but I had in mind Chainsaw Man anime which tried and, most often failed at incorporating 2D characters into 3D environments... Ufotable gave us a lesson in how to do it masterfully IMO.

(They are still not forgiven for the ugly Enmu tentacles in Mugen Train. But I Almost forgive them because Infinity Castle looked that amazing. Makes me look forward to the final arc...!)

The whole scene had that pressuring, stressful feeling to it- you can Feel how dreadful Muzan is even to the Upper Moons and I really liked that. The weird camera work due to Infinity Castle's messed gravity added to that uncomfortable atmosphere.

Mamoru Miyano as Douma is ... well... what you'd expect of Mamo lol- and I feel this character enables him to perform in that over-the-topness that fits him so well, so him and Douma are a match made in heavens.

Kousuke Toriumi is Gyokko, I felt odd about it but it works, he's gross and gives me kimochi warui feelings so it's a success lol. Seeing the mouths and eyes animated adds to the grossness.

Toshio Furukawa is Hantengu!!!!! I'm so excited!!! I'm sorry but I have a huge Furukawa bias, especially lately, so I'm glad he took on a new role... in Kimetsu no less...! And again it might be my bias lol but his acting breathed a lot of life into a character I never paid much attention to. It's exciting! IDK if he'll dub all the Hantengus or just the tiny wrinkled one... I hope he gets to play them all and show off in a cool role again 😤

Marina Inoue is Nakime. And well... we don't hear her much. But actually hearing the Biwa really adds to the unsettling feeling of the scene.

And finally Okiayu Ryoutarou is Kokushibou. FINE! I believed Koku would be dubbed by Tsudaken to the very end...😭 But Okiayu's Koku had that terrifying air of greatness to him, I love how he performs the signature slow speech, so I approve of him 😤 (who cares about my approval really.)

Anyways, Upper Moon meeting was a huge flex all around- the music, the animation, the camera work, the lights, the characters - it makes the Infinity Castle, And Muzan, as huge and terrifying as they should be. And IMO it will make the last arc much clearer to understand.

(i think during the commentary Shimono and Kitou had said something about demons showing up and getting lost in there because it's so huge😂)

Then the focus switches to Tanjirou's dream of Sumiyoshi and Yoriichi. The way Yoriichi appears mirrors the way Kokushibou is introduced - focusing on his back, his hair color, his earrings, and finally his face. Kokushibou looking absolutely terrifying with loud orchestra music in the back, Yoriichi appearing calm and (apparently) serene in a quiet dream. This was very well done, and effectively tricked my anime-only friend who watched with me into thinking they are the same person 😂 Well done!

IIRC Sumiyoshi wasn't dubbed by Hanae? I'm not too sure. But otherwise looked the exact same as Tanjirou down to the color palette.

Tanjirou wakes up and events unfold just like in the manga. A bit more of focus on Gotou, and Kanao is really cute in that scene, it's good hearing her raise her voice.

We see Inosuke departing on a new mission, and Zenitsu who has already left to one. Of course he's crying and complaining, but he's wearing a cute scarf with a pattern reminiscing of Chuntarou. Cute!

We get good panoramic shots of the Swordsmith Village which...makes me want to travel frankly. I need to go to a hot springs soon haha. Some added scenes I think of Tanjirou watching the Swordsmiths at work, praising their skills and showing gratitude.

Mitsuri is still introduced through the onsen scene- but this time we get a butt shot and a front shot panning up from her crotch to her face. Nice. (important commentary)

Mitsuri is like, a role made for Kana Hanazawa lol, she just sounded really cute in every scene, but also serious when needed. Her complaining about Genya ignoring her then quickly changing her mood when dinner is mentioned was cute. The 'Kanroji Mitsuri supports the Kamado siblings!' line was really good as well. I think special care was put into the scenes where she interacts with Nezuko, I like the way their hands were animated, and the focus put on them in the scene where Mitsuri mentions her own siblings. I'm glad Nezuko has someone giving her affection that isn't Tanjirou. As Kitou said she's always surrounded by boys so this was really cute and heartwarming.

When Mitsuri runs to Tanjirou and he yells 'Watch out! Your chest is going to show!', he catches her and fixed her kimono so her boobs are tucked in again. Tanjirou is such a good boy ... what a cute scene lol. I also liked the way she whispers into his ear and he tries to keep silent through his nosebleed. A Good Boy indeed.

Then Tanjirou finds a tooth in the bath...

Finallly... At last.... Genya!!!! 😭💞 I got so excited seeing him at last!!! I was so worried because on every piece of promo art he has been so far, he's drawn so weird, I guess to match his appearance from the manga, but I'm really glad it was updated as well to match his design from this arc in the manga... He looks so good, so handsome, I'm sorry I have a Genya bias, he's one of my favourite so my heart leaped when I saw him 😭

The timing of the scene was fast paced, but well done! Tanjirou reminisces the boy he met at Final Selection, shouts his full name, and strips- this is where the eyecatch is (the eyecatch's illustration is a naked Tanjirou with his crotch covered by a crow lol.)

And of course he is told 'Die!' immediately as his head is pushed into the water... Even if it pains me because Genya is always compared to Bakugou and it's dumb and I Hate It, I Have faith in Nobuhiko Okamoto to deliver us a good Genya! He didn't say much but I liked it! A very genya like 死ねえ!!! Thank you!

I want to watch it again, it was fast so I didn't get to look at how Genya's body is drawn enough...😤 it sounds weird but, I wanted to take a good look at his scars...

Anyways, the episode ends with Tanjirou looking for the mysterious weapon Mitsuri mentioned and stumbling upon Muichirou, Kotetsu (dubbed by Ayumu Murase I think?), and the Yoriichi doll, which only the back can be seen, making Tanjirou (and the anime-only viewer. rubbing my hands together evilly at my friend who went Ooohhh!!!! next to me in the theater.) mistake it for an actual person. There's focus on the earring of course, and it's a great way to end the episode, tying the doll's cliffhanger appearance with Kokushibou's introduction and Yoriichi's appearance in Tanjirou's dream, tricking you into thinking they are all the same person... Well done ufotable well done...

Finally, the opening plays - by Man with a Mission (one of my favourite bands!!! wowie!!) and Milet. I don't have much to say because it was so fast paced lol, but it was good! They do the thing again where Tanjirou + the hashira of the arc, here Mui and Mitsuri, look together in the same direction. A slight spoiler right? Rengoku san....😭😭😭

Right, also about the opening! I wish Genya showed up more. Did we see his gun? I don't remember. He gets a short sequence and is seen again in the end in a group shot of the cast. (shut up about Genya. shut up about Genya.)

After that there was the cast commentary and appearance of the cute Kamaboko chibi mascots, them all together making a little ceremony celebrating officially the beginning of Kimetsu World Tour😌

And that was it!

I'm so excited I'm going to die. I almost want to go again LOL i want to tattoo every frame Genya appears in my brain 😤😤😤

[littlealeta]

The Boy and the Heron Review [Spoilers]

Being somewhat of a Ghibli fan, this was one of my most highly anticipated films for many years.

Unfortunately, it left a lot to be desired or my expectations were too high.

Story

Probably the most boring Ghibli story since Tales from Earthsea. I even found Earwig and the Witch more interesting than this, because even though it was repetitive, it at least had conflict. The first act is mostly a generic slice of life where nothing happens. All it's about is a child trying to adjust to his new stepmother. Most of the second act is just your basic adventure film. Things really don’t get interesting until towards the third act, the boy goes into the spirit world, meets a young version of his mom and great-great uncle. As you can see, the story is a huge mess and by the time it gets to the complex things, the movie is almost over so it doesn’t have time to explain things. I think the movie should’ve focused more on the spirit world, the heron, and the symbolisms that come with it and how it reflects on Mahito’s personal journey and development.. It seemed like that’s what the film was going for, but it doesn’t focus on this stuff much to make sense. Which is disappointing because that’s why I was so excited to see this movie. Even Mahito gets little yet rushed character development of learning to accept his stepmom. I initially thought the heron was supposed to be one of those spiritual birds who represent a personal journey for a human, but they really don’t delve much into that.

Characters

It feels like none of the characters really have much of a point or represent anything. Mahito is the most boring Ghibli protagonist I’ve ever seen. He has barely any personality, doesn’t emote much (which is weird for a Ghibli film but there’s a lot of things that don’t feel Ghibli like anyway), and is stuck in a boring story about searching for someone. The other characters don’t really do much and are mostly there to just crack jokes and to react to conflict. And I shit you not, one of the jokes in this movie is random bird poop! The funny characters do get a few points for their humor, but they’re not three-dimensional enough to be memorable. Himi turning out to be Mahito’s young mom is cute, but still, there’s not much to be said about her.

Technical things

The only things I thought still felt Ghibli like were of course the animation, the voice acting (I watched dub) and the music. Although, some of the designs just felt like generic Ghibli designs, like Mahito, his dad, and the one old lady that looks like Grandma Sophie.

Overall

For a Miyazaki film that was in the making for about 10 years, I’m surprised how rushed, lazy, and poorly put together this was. From what I remember, most Ghibli films are pretty well structured and fairly simple to follow, even the more complex ones. I remember binge watching their movies when I was 11 and rarely felt like they were boring or hard to understand, much less hard to follow. As an adult, I probably understand them on a deeper level than as a kid, but still. I’m surprised at how devoid of the Ghibli charm this has. The characters have barely any personality, development, or emotion and the story is a confusing mess and is mostly basic. Is this a result of Miyazaki getting old? Was there something going on behind the scenes? I’ve never felt more empty by a Ghibli film.

If you are curious about this movie though, I’d recommend streaming it. It’ll give you more time to take a break and process things if needed than watching the entire thing in one sitting.

I give The Boy and the Heron 5.4 bells out of 10

Can anyone tell me why they like this movie? Am I missing something? Am I just stupid? Is this just a result of my mixed opinion on Studio Ghibli? Their movies can be really good but some are just not my cup of tea.

Don’t get me wrong, I see a lot of potential in this movie, but I think it should’ve done a better job to explain things and actually move things along faster

[stillwill76]

Alright, I know April’s almost over but as it is still Autism Acceptance Month, I wanted to talk a little about it. Just wanted to share what being autistic is like for me and some of my special interests.

I was diagnosed with ASD and ADHD when I was 8 years old. Back then, I was technically diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome but that was merged into ASD in 2011 so I’ll just refer to it as ASD. Anyway, I didn’t really know what that meant until I was seventeen and actually did some research. Learning that a bunch of my behaviors and certain feelings I had were actually because I was autistic was…. I don’t know, relieving? Things started to make more sense. Before this point, all I knew was that I didn’t understand social cues and I was very specific about what I liked and disliked. It did not help that I was also on ADHD medication that exacerbated the negative parts of autism. Since that day, I’ve learned so much more about myself and I learn new things about autism everyday. I’m not angry or upset that I’m autistic. I was (and still kinda am) mad at the people who didn’t explain it to me properly when I was younger but that’s beside the point. I’ve learned to accept it and I’m a lot happier because of it. I don’t need people to be aware of me. I just need people to accept me.

Okay, that was a lot. Hmm. Anyway, SPECIAL INTERESTS, LET’S GO!!!! 😃

My primary special interests are manga, anime, and video games. And within those special interests are even MORE special interests. For example, some of the manga I have a huge interest in include Bleach, One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist and Jujutsu Kaisen. There’s a lot more but there are too many list. On the flip side, the anime I like differs slightly. I don’t always like anime adaptations of manga I like. For example, I really don’t care for either the Bleach or One Piece adaptations (Bleach TYBW is the exception). There are certain scenes from each that I really enjoy watching and they both have great soundtracks and great voice acting in both the original Japanese and the english dubs, but weird choices that differ from the source material and huge pacing issues make them hard for me to watch. On the other hand, there are certain adaptations that I prefer to the source material, such as Demon Slayer or Mob Psycho 100. These two in particular take the original material and enhance it greatly. What’s more, there are certain series where I really like both the original manga and the anime (Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen to name a couple). Also, I love original anime, like Space Dandy, Oddtaxi, Gurren Lagaan, Appare Ranman, and Vivy: Flourite Eyes Song. It’s really cool to see original content in a medium that is primarily adaptations.

Starting a new paragraph for video games. This might be my big special interest. RPGs, Metroidvanias, platformers, action games, puzzle games, party games, etc. I really love video games. Favorite series include but are not limited too: Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, Pokémon, and Xenoblade Chronicles. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a big Nintendo person. If I had to pick a genre, I’d say RPGs are my favorite, whether they are turned based or action oriented. My top three favorite games of all time are Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Kingdom Hearts II. Favorite Pokémon generation is three though Scarlet is my current favorite game. I could go on about how I love different combat and level up systems in different games, how I love that the sidequests in the Xenoblade games add to the worldbuilding and give them so much depth, how I love watching videos analyzing background lore in games like Hollow Knight or Breath of the Wild or videos going into detail about how dark series like Kirby or Splatoon are, or how even though the story is insanely stupid I adore Kingdom Hearts for how sincere it is. But I feel like this has gone a bit longer than I originally intended.

Anyway, a couple of notes really quick about Autism Acceptance Month and autism in general:

Don’t support Autism Speaks. They are a hate group focused on trying to “cure” autism.

Don’t use the puzzle piece when talking about autism. It is ableist. Use either the gold infinity symbol for autism or the rainbow infinity symbol for neurodiversity.

Vaccinations don’t cause autism. Whoever came up with that can burn in hell.

I think that’s everything. If whoever is reading this is autistic, I hope you had a great Autism Acceptance Month.

[sysba]

OMG I LOVE MANGA AS WELL DJDJDJ. I'M DORRY TO SPAM UR INBOX FOR THE THIRD TIME OMG. BUT I WOULD ALSO LOVE SOME MANGA RECS AS WELL. 👀

I'M GLAD YOU ASKED :)))

JUJUTSU KAISEN. best manga ever, rating 13/10. *update a year later: 🧍i take it back,,,, i hate it. it's still my fav though

Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba. 9/10. finished.

Haikyuu!! 11/10 my best babies are here. finished.

Chainsaw Man. violence can be fun, 10/10. if u love pain tho

Vanitas no Carte. vampires should be allowed to be gay and dumb, 11/10. give them back I'm begging

Bungou Stray Dogs. it's all about the crime found family and the divorce guys nghhh 10/10

Blue Lock. insane football babygirls??? sign me up ?/10 because i haven't gotten far. is it good, no, but it's entertaining

Hell's Paradise. it's good. it's really good, idk why it gets so much hate but i love it. fucked-up, though, proceed with care! 11/10

Kaiju no.8. still fairly new but goddamn as a Pacific Rim enthusiast i am obsessed!!!!! so far it's like 12/10 hope it stays that way

Black Clover. Ok the art is not my fav but like. found family and fights. so fun, 10/10

"i've only watched the anime but i heard the manga is good" recs

Fullmetal Alchemist

Bleach

Hunter x Hunter

Fruits Basket

Inuyasha

Blue Period

Yona of the Dawn

"look i know the fandom is terrible and we don't talk about this one but i enjoy it anyways leave me alone" recs

Noragami

Solo Leveling *i actually read the manhwa and it's Great but also the anime is peak. and the english dub with aleks le???? insane omg

My Hero Academia

"i honestly dk about the manga but the anime is a must-watch" recs

Dororo

[pashminalamb]

Oh ew the OF accounts and sex bots are completely getting out of hand. I haven’t been notified of any new followers but I don’t trust tumblr to do so. I’m have to gonna check on that soon 🙄🙄.

And seriously for what reason are people flagging down your works for like 😭😭?? It literally makes no sense??? Some people are so rude and mean and spiteful for no reason like. Do better or screw off unintentionally quoting Ego here I’m sorry that this happened to you, it really sucks.

Ever since break started I’ve been in a kind of limbo. It feels so surreal not having any work to do. I mean I do have basic chores to do today like the laundry and vacuuming and stuff but besides that it’s a free day. I am. Very very very. Temped to start reading the blue lock manga. I know I said I’d wait for the anime to finish but like I need something to do 😭😭. I was starting my first TR reread since the last chapter but I only got in 3 chapters before I started sobbing and I haven’t even gotten to Akkuns first death or met Mikey and Draken for the first time again yet. I’m gonna have to chunk my way through it while sobbing and taking so many breaks because I will seriously never recover from this manga. OH AND I LOVE CHIFUYUS BIRTHDAY ART. Wakui continuing to attest that yes takefuyu are still canon in the reset timeline. It’s such a relief for me because those two are my comfort duo 😭😭😭. I also want to finish Chainsaw Man soon. I stopped at around volume 9 because I’m broke and was reading it at the bookstore and all I can say is that this series is definitely getting a reread cause I love analyzing strange works and concepts. THE MAITAKE COVER ASJKGFJKHFFGGG. The way I screeched when I first saw it like. I love how you worded it, they literally look like royalty together UGH. Suffice to say that yes maitake fans has a field day with the cover of volume 31 😌😌. I cant wait for the inside cover to be revealed. My prediction/demand is that it’s gonna be then as children childhood-friends-to-lovers. But I guess we’ll see.

Anyways. How are you Belle? Doing better I hope? How’s uni? Oh and when does your winter break start? How’s life? Im so happy tumblr is being cooperative now and letting you see my tagged posts 😭😭. Sorry for the constant tagging tho, there’s just so much I wanna share and I see something and I’m like “oh I wanna show this to Belle” you know? Oh and im so glad you liked that Oliver drabble 🥹🥹. I’ve got another one in mind for him but this time it might be a little more ✨spicy✨ so stay tuned 👀👀😌. I hope you have a great day and that the caramel frappuccino tasted great!!! *sending many virtual hugs*

- ✨ anon

Istg- i got followed by accounts from Czechia and Carolina this morning. Alright, I made my pinned post of Gojo's OF account but this is a writing blog; not even an OF promotion blog (╥﹏╥) unless... i draw some stuff

Tumblr decided to not let me post my rant- so here’s what I had to say

I revisited my childhood with watching DBZ... (i knew i said i would start one piece but the gym bro-ness got the better of me and i started watching it) someone please explain why does Goku's voice sound... i don't know how to describe it. i was so shocked about his voice, i was planning on watching the dub instead cause of it *crying* Honestly, Wakui did a really good job with the cover. Even when I was reading mangas online - I was so awed by the covers of the manga and when TR was on its peak here, i saw a lot of spoilers for bonten mikey. I never liked mikey... but this made me change my mind. And they (like every cover character i saw up until the Brahman arc looked like royalty. Even hanma-) I'm doing well! Contemplating to change the blog theme for some reason. It's not gonna be aiku ofc- he gets 0 screen time cause he hasn't come back from italy and i am mad at him with part 1 to ocean hues I'm on my winter break actually and omw back home. Fifa knocked the wind out of me. I feel sad cause Mbappé played really well (and he was sad too when they lost), i literally went to go keep my plate and he scored in 97 seconds of the first goal T.T . But i'm also really happy for Argentina cause its the first time in 36 years since Maradona that they have won the Wc and i cried cause they were crying on the field not to mention the fact that Messi played in their team as well - so it was bittersweet ending but also very well deserved! And yes i am a football head I can't see you in my activity still (maybe your visibility switch is off? i'm not sure) but i do get the number on my activity and that's how ik that you're there (⑅ •͈ᴗ•͈ ) I actually don't mind being tagged! and I enjoy the things you have to show me as well ૮⸝⸝> ̫ <⸝⸝ ა (i saw some stuff where you tagged me- i'll be answering those soon, promise i'm not ignoring you ૮(˶˃ᆺ˂˶)ა ) I. absolutely. loved. the Oliver drabble ˃̵ᴗ˂̵. I still read it btw, cause it is absolutely precious. the deer headrest and the fact he wants to be a good boy made me go (๑✪ᆺ✪๑) did you say spicy 💀 *here lies Isabelle Aiku; beloved wife of Oliver Aiku who is unaware that he is married to her- * Starry you're gonna make me combust from the heat *sending back bear hugs*

*my man is so handsome (>﹏<) and yours is too*

[seer918]

Comparing MegaMan Robot Masters to their NetNavi counterparts; a thread in...probably a lot of parts

Because I’m hyped for the Battle Network collection’s anouncement I figured I’d shamelessly rip off a video by BumblesMcFumbles. Also it’s like way too fucking hot and I need something to hyperfixate over before I combust

Now just to note, I AM more of a fan of the Battle Network series compared to original MegaMan, hell my introduction to Megaman was the Battle Network anime so expect some bias.

(and once I’ve got the collection in hand and actually play more than just a version of 4 and 5, I’ll probably do a thread just talking about every named net navi)

Going in Robot Master Order (even if it will mean the quality of the net navi designs will go up and down as they got more used to the new design theme)

Cut Man and CutMan.EXE

Out of all the old designs that BN’s ocasional ‘chibi’ look touched, CutMan is probably the best. Never been too sure on the ‘ears’/handles on his head but the more sentai/super hero vibe I get from the BN design is rather cute. It’s a simple base design and they did all they could to it while still keeping the overal original vibe.

Though honestly I think it’s a tie because they’re just too similar and I’d have to start nitpicking to find differences. 1-all

Guts Man vs GutsMan.EXE

A complete overhaul of the original design, putting more of an emphasis on the construction equipment envoking yellows and greys than the original’s red and black.

The over pronounced chin and squaring of the head also invokes a loader. Not too sure on the backpack on EXE but I like how they turned the power crystal on the base design into the ‘emblem’ of EXE’s. The addition of green is also nice, just enough to pop but not enough to distract.

GM-EXE takes it, 1-2 in favour of Battle Network

Next is a pair I’d love to have right now to deal with the heat, Ice Man and IceMan.EXE

This one...did not take the chibification too well. And granted this picture isn’t...great for EXE’s head shape, I’m doing my best to ignore it....it’s like a ham chunk stuck in a glove...

Er, sorry. The shades of dark green and mint green aren’t really doing it for me, and are just making me wish for mint choc chip ice cream...The face swirls are...there, I guess...I like the contrast between the boots and gloves vs the rest of the design...

Yeah, classic takes it with a less is more approch. 2-2, tied up again

Bomb Man vs BombMan.EXE

...man, this was the coolest villain grunt from the show growing up, him and StoneMan.EXE introducing the concept of userless navi and how their looks are sometimes vastly different from ‘tame’ navi.

I like the overal, vaguely grenade like design for his armour decals, even if it cribs a bit from Grenade Man.

And I much prefer a ‘visable’ hammer space for pulling bombs out of-his shoulders-compared to them just appearing even though it’d make more sense for the virtual being to pull them out of thin air.

Obvious winner, 2-3 back into BN’s court

Fire Man vs FireMan.EXE

Doing my best to just let the designs do the talking instead of my love for .EXE’s user Mr Match, who was Scottish in the dubbed anime.

I really enjoy the colour inversion between the armour vs main body, with the splashes of blue and gold-y yellow adding more to the simple base design.

I can see why some wouldn’t like the head of EXE but since the clasic doesn’t have a mouth anyways, might as well go whole hog and create an imposing, slightly off-humanoid design

MMC 2-4 MMBN

And last of the first game’s robot masters, Elec Man vs ElecMan.EXE

Deffinitely my favourite change, and not just because I prefer the purple to the 4th robot master with red and/or black as their design

This took the concept of the digitized beings going more form over function (since so long as the code was good they COULD function) and ran with it. The tesla coil back spikes, the helmet mimicking the shape of the original’s...why does EM have a domino-mask, anyways?

Point being, a very imposing design and a superior one to the original

And so for this round, we end with a somewhat noticible gap of 2-5, and it would have been worse for MMC if I didn’t count draws as points for both sides. As we get further into the classic series it might even out a bit more

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

gonna talk about physical releases of Sonic media because having bought the 4K blu-rays for the 2 movies a few days ago I felt like researching what was available and planning what to buy because I want to own it ALL

AoStH is nice and easy because it has a like modern release with literally everything on it so like the pilot episode and Christmas special are included, and it’s all on blu-ray too and has actually nice cover art which from my research is not a guarantee at all lmao. So yeah this is on my like Amazon wishlist. It’s region locked to the USA and I’m in Scotland but whatever I don’t really care lol.

Sonic Boom meanwhile has this cool steelbook blu-ray, which isn’t region locked too which is a neat bonus even if I want it mostly to have instead of specifically to watch, but nice to know all the same. Really big fan of the boxart here too it looks dope. And yeah it has everything which is like, the main prerequisite I care about lol.

Sonic X wise I’m waiting for this. There’s actually a basically identical modern blu-ray release by the same company but it’s dub only and in the case of Sonic X I’d want to go original language because yeah. Plus from the description this one should also have better video so. And also the boxart is cooler. So this is another wait for it to release and then like, yeah. Neat.

And from here! It goes to shit.

It appears that the only complete home release SatAM has is this DVD release from 2007, featuring cover art from Ken Penders in what is tbf one of his better pieces. It’s an okay release I’m sure! But apparently it lists the episodes in a different order than they broadcasted in and has a couple bugs somehow. That and in being from 2007 I don’t think I’d be getting a new copy possibly either. And while DVD is fine for a show that’s like from the 90s anyway it’s still ehhhhhh. I’d definitely put off buying this until I’ve got the above 3 at least, and hope that within that time SatAM should miraculously get a new release. Considering the 3 we just spoke about I want to be optimistic at least.

Underground seems almost more tragic than SatAM with fortunately 2 complete series releases in the UK! But they both have shit box art and appear to have cardboard sleeves that are like badly deteroriated from just how old and preowened these are. And DVD too. Really not optimistic about the currently available Underground releases. This is another case where I’d really want to hope that it can get a new blu-ray release or something for the same justifications as before but like. Hard to be confident there lol.

in terms of the OVA it seems like this DVD release from 1999 is the best we’re gonna get lol. The cover’s okay and even in DVD quality the OVA looks pretty damn good - and in just being 50 minutes instead of trying to cram entire TV shows on DVD I’m pretty confident the quality would be fine too. But like you know I want blu-rays! I do not expect this to get newly licensed (especially with the confusion of Paramount’s Sonic movies) but imagine if it did! I want that. tbh even in this state it’s higher in my priority list than SatAM and Underground, mostly because I really do think this is literally the best we’ll ever get, and also I enjoy the OVA more anyway.

As for the stragglers. Sonic movie 3 will inevitably get a 4K blu-ray release like the first 2 movies did, and I’ll be happy to buy that in uhhh 2025 lmao. Sonic Prime is only a few days away from dropping on Netflix, and I am. Not sure how confident I should be in that getting a home release ever. I know those types of rights things are very annoying and Netflix aren’t great for home video releases and I imagine that might be even more the case for an animated series aimed at kids too. But in an ideal world it gets a physical release on like blu-ray and shit. And there’s the live action Knuckles series for Paramount Plus that we’ve really not learned anything about yet lol. Part of me wants to assume that that’d be more likely to get a physical release but I don’t actually know enough about how Paramount operates to really comment. But like, praying.

Anyway that’s the post lol.

[seeminglyseph]

Watched a Yuri On Ice reaction series for the Dub, which did confirm for me that JJ did not have a Québécois accent in the dub which honestly is a great disappointment to me, I think JJ should have been Québécois. That’s hard to convey in Japanese but the dub has a variety of accents and JJ should have had Québécois.

But otherwise, I also am realizing that part of my immediate obsession with YOI was the fact that I did figure skating in my youth, not to like… any hardcore degree but like. I live in northern Canada and I owned figure skates and I clearly remember at one point when I got to an age when I outgrew the used skates and actually got my first pair of my own like. Actually new not just new to me pair of figure skates and how much time I spent wearing them and the fact that one year we built a small skating rink in the back yard and there was a community rink down the street anyway so when I was a kid I could still go down the road and skate.

And I used to watch the figure skating in the Olympics all the time and while I was never good at it, I still like… cared about it.

(And yes, for the record, when it comes to like half the sports anime I watch I have half a story about being in that sport because I was put in a lot of stuff. I was in gymnastics at 3 years old, swimming not much older. Then dance, and diving and skating and soccer and tennis and fencing and track and so many things honestly. My family kinda had an opinion that I needed to excel in something. But I never really did, and as my disability got worse it got more complicated. But it means a lot of sports anime kinda hits me like “oh fuck my nostalgia” so if I happen to have too many sports I have nostalgia for it’s because I probably did too many sports as a child. It’s very jarring to compare it to my current self struggling to do physical therapy exercises…)

[ceo-of-daichi]

ahh that’s great! I hope you have fun at the concert! I’m seeing 5sos in two weeks.

what do you do for work that involves you going away? well the days will go by fast before you know it and youre back at your place!

aw thank you! yea, I’m doing well! just came back on here after having a theme idea (which is the theme I have now) it’s one piece inspired! I started it two weeks ago and I’m very far lol. so that’s the anime I’m currently obsessed with rn. if I’m being honest I never ,and I mean NEVER thought I would give it the time of day. I saw how many episodes it had and I got discouraged that I was like, no way in HELL will you see me start that. I cant even deal with the 90s animation.

yea.. well look who’s words came to bite her in the ass? yea me. I ate my words hahah. it’s honestly so funny. (well I watch it in dub and I think that’s what is keeping me going. because I think if I watched it subbed I’d get discouraged and drop it) there was an arc tho that I almost dropped it for because of this girl character who was very whiny and annoying. anyways I honestly started it because of this character that’s in it and he’s very cute, but he doesn’t pop up til episode 85 so I HAD to watch and I don’t regret it. my brother started on it first and then I followed so he’s way ahead of me and I’m trying to catch up. we started an unspoken competition, he keeps asking me what episode Im on. anyways haha! yea. that’s what is up with me. sorry for the rambling.

Omg you never have to apologise about rambling to me! I love it haha

Damn see I have always been put off with the amount of episodes, purely because I have to be in a certain mood to watch anime, especially start a new one. And I could only be in that mood for like… a month or even a few weeks! (i actually still haven’t fully caught up with AoT because of this and I am defo gonna have to watch it from the beginning to remember whats going on😂😂)

But i’m so glad you are enjoying it and its nice that you and your bro have a friendly competition going on! I imagine thats pretty motivating to watch it! I’m curious though👀👀 which guy? Could you show me a picture?👀 For science😂

And i’m a Geologist for a land consultants company, I basically am just 4 hours away from Glasgow currently sampling a big stockpile of soil! Because the land owners don’t really know whats in it! So I go in and take all the samples, give them to a lab and then they tell us whats in it! Honestly it can be a bit repetitive but the weather is really nice recently and i’m managing to tan my face! Which is crazy! Cause usually i just burn like a lil lobster! 😂🦞