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piglet26 · 9 months

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Reylo: Love is in the Costumes

There's hint of Reylo, particularly in their ying yang nature, in their costumes. There's hints about the psychology of both characters in their costumes as well. Let's start with their background.

Kylo Ren

There's no denying how iconic Darth Vader's black helmet has become after having appeared in four of the six existing Star Wars movies, but will any characters in The Force Awakens become as recognizable as the most notorious Sith Lord? So the sequel trilogy played into the nostalgia while making the desire to emulate the past part of the psychology of Kylo Ren. According to costume designer Michael Kaplan,

"We came up with so many different looks for Kylo. I mean it was crazy," Kaplan told the publication. "JJ kept saying he'll know when he sees it and one day we were having a discussion and he was talking about wanting it to be something that a child would remember, you know, that would be indelible in a child's mind, and one of my concept artists came up with that image."

JJ Adams also made a point about wanting Kylo Ren underneath mask to look like a prince, the prince he is.

Kylo Ren is a Darth Vader fanboy. While he wants to emulate his grandfather, ultimately he wants to be someone else. Hiding behind the essence of someone else is a way to hide your insecurities. While he isn't sure who he is, he knows who he wants to be. His long tunic and mask is very clearly influenced by Darth Vader's look.

"This was by far the most difficult character to nail down, and we had many different concept artists working on it. We didn’t want to make it Darth Vader 2. It wasn’t so much the clothes, it was the helmet. The helmet is the face, that’s where your eyes go, that’s the personality."

His outfit also is reminiscence of Padme, his grandmother.

Concept art for Kylo Ren

Not gonna lie ....... looks pretty badass.

Rey

Michael Kaplan: “When I began designing Rey’s costume (the first costume I decided to tackle) no actress had yet been cast. I like when this happens, in that I am not influenced by body type, familiarity with the actor’s previous work, etc. and this enables me to deal with the character totally objectively. Of course I had already read the script, which is always my initial road map in discovering a character. I knew that Rey lived and worked in an oppressively hot and dusty desert climate. I knew her life as a scavenger required a certain agility. I knew she was poor. I knew she drove a speeder. By taking all of these ‘clues’ I was able to build a believable character from the inside out.

Every garment she wears has a reason or purpose; nothing is superfluous. For example, the gauze fabric she wears crossed on her body can be wrapped around her face in sand storms. Her head wrap keeps her hair out of her face while working, and keeps the dust out of her hair- it’s actually a tunic, with the sleeves tied around her head. This tunic can be worn on chilly desert nights.

Rey wears a pair of goggles to protect her eyes from the intense sun and dust kicked up while riding the speeder. At close inspection it becomes evident that the goggles are home crafted and the lenses are old Stormtrooper eyes she must have scavenged from spaceship wreckage. If noticed, this touch gives information about the character’s ingenuity; if not, they still look good. Rey’s color palette just seemed appropriate for her environment.”

This sounds so incredibly logical and is very uncommon in movies. Most female characters are primarily dressed to look good and feminine, not comfortable and certainly not practical.

Earth tones, mostly in the white and light gray families. Implies purity under a layer of grit. Though she’s tough she’s slightly naive, but her heart and her honor are valiant. In short terms, a diamond in the rough. Obviously her costume also makes us think of another desert dweller.

There is so much symbolism in Rey and Kylo's uniforms. Not only is one white and one black, but the pattern of the gloves on Kylo match the bandage look on Rey's arms. Now Adam Driver did make a request regarding his costume going forward after The Force Awakens and that was that his costume be less cumbersome.

Rey made a noticeable change in The Last Jedi and that was incorporating darker clothes, but there were special Reylo details. The black underneath Rey's uniform is the same kind of fabric as Kylo/Ben Solo. Her belt is also reminiscent of Kylo's. Dark grays with very little white still in the earth tones family. Symbolizing not only disillusionment, the stripping away of naiveté, but her growing connection to Kylo Ren. Her outfit is the epitome of "I'll meet you in the middle". Her hair is down pulling away from her three bun little girl hair style. They also both dressed up for one another.

Likewise, Kylo Ren in the Last Jedi at least when in Rey's presence starts appearing more and more human. From being comfortable being shirtless in front of her, taking his mask off for her and removing his glove so they can touch skin to skin. In the novelization it's clear he does these things not only so he appears less threatening in front of her, but also as a sign of trust. Kylo Ren's hair is also a hint at his mental space. When Kylo Ren is with Rey his hair is always neat and orderly.

While the all white look in The Rise of Skywalker has a symbolic meaning for the character the real purpose was more than purely character driven. Per Michael Kaplan, "The white was just my desire to have her close the entire story in the same way that Carrie Fisher began it — all dressed in white......But, basically, the costume is similar [to her first outfit]. It's not exactly the same, but the pleated fabric and cross in the front is very similar to what she had done in Episode VII and I liked the movement of the flag that comes down on her side. It just looks great when she's in action and there is so much action in this movie. It was just continuing the iconic costume that J.J. and also the fans found quite beloved."

While I love the tribute to Carrie Fisher ummmm JJ Adams and Michael Kaplan just wanting to continue on doing the same exact thing but this time in a more pristine white. Seemed a bit of a waste. Likewise with Kylo Ren wearing that damn mask again.

There's not much information about Ben Solo's costume development and we never see his costume in the light. Ben Solo deserved better. Something that is very clear though is his relaxation. He's wearing loose clothing and he isn't trying to create barriers between him and the world.

Hopefully I was able to capture of some the romance within their clothing. Stay calm and Reylo.

#ben solo deserved better #star wars #reylo #ben solo #kylo x rey #finnrey #rey skywalker #rey star wars #kylo ren #ben solo x rey #sequel trilogy

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grailfinders · 3 years

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Fate and Phantasms #184

Oh shit we’re a day late. Sorry. Now that Summer’s over, Fate and Phantasms is heading out to Shimousa, starting with the Archer of Inferno! You know the deal by this point; true name spoilers and build breakdown below the cut, character sheet over here, but still expect a little bit of spoilage because you can’t spread out a character over 20 levels and not spoil a bit about them.

Next up: I thought the ghost of an occultist driving a car made by a talking lion would be the most convoluted character design for a while. I was wrong.

Tomoe Gozen is a Battle Master Fighter to talk with her fists and throw people around as well as a Hunter Ranger to get her fiery arrows and to specialize in fighting massive crowds.

Race and Background

Tomoe is kind of halfway between an oni and a human, never quite at home in either world. Thankfully that’s exactly what Tieflings are as well, so getting her race is pretty easy. As a Mephistopheles Tiefling she gets +1 Dexterity and +2 Wisdom, Darkvision for night raids, Hellish Resistance to fire damage (it would be awkward if you died to your own inferno), and the Legacy of Cania. This gives you the Mage Hand cantrip immediately, with one casting of Burning Hands and Flame Blade with your Charisma per long rest at third and fifth level respectively.

As the wife of a Lord, you’re the definition of a Noble, giving you proficiency with History and Persuasion. People just like you, y’know?

Ability Scores

Step one; Dexterity. You’re an archer, this shouldn’t come as a surprise that this is pretty high. (I mean I say that, but there’s ton of archers that don’t use bows, so...) Anyways, second is Strength. You throw people around like sacks of potatoes, so you gotta be pretty good at lifting them. Go with Wisdom as your third highest ability. Large scale battles are hectic, you’ve got to have a sharp eye to do your best work in them. Your Constitution isn’t half bad, oni tend to be able to take a beating. Your Intelligence isn’t that high purely because we need other stuff more, so we’re dumping Charisma. You’re a bit awkward no matter which side of the family you’re talking to.

Class Levels

Ranger 1: Starting off as a ranger gives you plenty of goodies, including plenty of proficiencies, like Strength and Dexterity saves, plus three skills; Insight and Perception to read your enemies and Athletics to make it easier to haul them around. First level rangers also become Deft Explorers, which makes you Canny with athletics. That doubles your proficiency bonus for extra oni strength when you push and pull objects. You can also set a Favored Foe as a bonus action, dealing an extra d4 of damage once per turn after hitting them with an attack. You can do this proficiency times per long rest, and the damage grows as you level up.

Ranger 2: At second level, you gain the Archery fighting style for an extra +2 to your ranged attack rolls. The archer class is really made up of archers, huh? You also learn how to cast Spells using your Wisdom to cast them. Theoretically. You don’t actually have any spells that bother with that. At first level you can use Longstrider to move around the battlefield easier and Absorb Elements to add a little bit of fire to your arrows immediately. That helps less than the other elements since you’re already resistant to fire damage, but we suffer for our art here. Well, you do.

Ranger 3: Making it all the way to third level without burning out grants you entrance to a shiny new conclave, and the Hunter conclave turns you into a Horde Breaker when you take the subclass, specializing you towards dealing with large groups. Once per turn you can make an extra attack, as long as your second target is within 5′ of the first. You also gain Primal Awareness, letting you Speak with Animals. I don’t think anything in canon says you can do this, but your event is one of the only times we hear the servant animals talk, so I’m counting it. You also learn how to cast Zephyr Strike, speeding yourself up and possibly dealing extra damage at the same time. Controlling your spacing is vital when it comes to dealing with tons of enemies.

Ranger 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Strength for stronger punches. They’ll get even stronger in a second, don’t worry.

Fighter 1: Bounce over to fighter for the Unarmed Fighting fighting style. Now your punches deal 1d6 damage (or 1d8 if you have both free) and you can deal damage to grappled creatures at the start of your turn. You also get a Second Wind, which will heal you as a bonus action.

Ranger 5: We’re done multiclassing for a while, since heading back over to ranger will net you an Extra Attack each action. Now you’ve got two attacks against one target, or three if you can use horde breaker. You also learn second level spells, like Beast Sense and Enhance Ability. I don’t think you’re strong enough yet, so that latter spell will give you advantage on strength checks for the duration. (Or a target creature advantage on any one kind of checks, that’s just the most in-character option.)

Ranger 6: At sixth level Favored Foe grows to a d6, and you also become Roving, which increases your speed and lets you climb and swim without slowing down.

Ranger 7: Seventh level rangers will find it a lot easier to Escape the Horde, forcing disadvantage on all opportunity attacks against you. Right now you’ve still got to keep your distance from your enemies to use your bow and arrow, so this will help. You can also cast Aid to increase your maximum HP along with that of a couple of friends for something that will really excitate your whole lineage.

Fighter 2: Bouncing back to fighter gets you an Action Surge for two actions per turn once per short rest. Now you get up to five attacks in a turn thanks to Horde Breaker and your extra attack.

Fighter 3: If we keep on trucking we’ll hit third level, which is where things get really spicy. As a Battle Master, you get four Combat Superiority d8s per short rest, and you can add one per attack to attack you make, dealing extra damage and adding effects to the blow. Technically. Only one of your maneuvers actually deals with attacks, but that’s Pushing Attack, which will do a lot of work for you. When you hit a creature you deal extra damage, and if they’re smaller than Huge and fail a strength save, they get pushed 15 feet away. Your other maneuvers are Evasive Footwork, adding the d8 to your AC while you move to make fighting you even harder, and Tactical Assessment, adding the die to an Investigation, History, or Insight check. We might not have been able to make you smart, but this should cover whatever tactics you need. You’re also a Student of War, giving you proficiency in any one artisan’s tools. Pick your fave, you’re not exactly Hokusai.

Fighter 4: Our last level in fighter grabs the Crusher feat for +1 Strength and once per turn you can push someone an extra 5 feet as long as they’re large or smaller. Also, critical bludgeoning hits give all attacks against their target advantage until you start your next turn. Now you can fling someone 20′ away, and while that technically doesn’t let you throw them in the air I’d allow it. Honestly, if someone’s moving that far away their feet have got to be leaving the ground at some point.

Ranger 8: Going back to Ranger for good now gets another ASI right away, and Gunner is a weird feat to pick, but hear me out. It’s basically the crossbow expert feat, but it trades that bonus action attack for a +1 to Dexterity, which is way more useful since you don’t use a hand crossbow. You also get proficiency with and can ignore loading on firearms, but most D&D games don’t have those anyway, so it’s fine to be a bit out of character. The real good reason we’re here is to ignore disadvantage on your ranged attacks if people are near you. Archery and brawling don’t normally go together, now they do. You also get Land’s Stride so you can move through difficult terrain easier and have advantage on saves against magical terrain. You leave a lot of corpses around in Shimousa, but this’ll help you keep your footing in that demiplane of skulls you do your boss fight in.

Ranger 9: Ninth level rangers get third level spells, like your Primal Awareness spell Speak with Plants. That might sound totally out of character, but it turns out there’s a legit reason for it: Hey look over there, it’s Flame Arrows! Finally, you can dip 12 arrows into fiery goodness, and each one deals an extra 1d6 fire damage on a hit. You’ve got up to an hour to use all of them, but it also takes concentration so don’t get too attached.

Ranger 10: Tenth level rangers are Tireless, letting you heal yourself with temporary HP as an action Proficiency times per day, and you heal exhaustion on short rests. Some people call that inhuman, I call it efficient. Gilgamesh wishes he had what you do. You can also use Nature’s Veil to turn invisible for a round as a bonus action Proficiency times per long rest. Think of it like a smoke bomb. Or a wildfire bomb. Just set things on fire, hide in the fire, done.

Ranger 11: At eleventh level, hunters can let out a Volley of ranged attacks, letting you attack every creature within a 10′ radius of a point you can see. Technically, this means you can pump out up to 50 attacks per round thanks to Action Surge, assuming a lot of creatures are dumb enough to clump up next to each other. 51, sorry, Horde breaker’s still there. To make getting into position easier you also learn the UA spell Flame Stride, negating opportunity attacks, bumping your speed up by 20 feet, and dealing fire damage to nearby creatures when you run by them. It also explicitly sets items on fire, so now we know how you caused so much damage in Shimousa.

Ranger 12: Use this ASI to round up your Strength and Dexterity for stronger punches, tougher punch saves, better arrows, and a higher AC. A banner level for you.

Ranger 13: Your new fourth level spell from Primal Awareness, Locate Creature is way easier to justify than the last one. You just know where the enemy general is located, even in the thick of battle. We’re basically building a Dynasty Warriors character at this point, aren’t we? You also get Freedom of Movement, just in case you need to speed around the battlefield without setting stuff on fire. I know, it’s boring without the fire. You just have to make due for two more levels.

Ranger 14: Your Favored Foe grows again, and you can Vanish as a bonus action, hiding yourself without any way to track you, bar magic.

Ranger 15: Your final spell of the build will turn you into a mighty inferno that can burn down all of Shimousa! Well, not really, but if you Summon Elemental then Vanish away, it’s almost like you turned into a fire elemental, right? You can also Stand Against the Tide, using your reaction to redirect a missed melee attack at another creature. It’s really hard to hit you when you run away, so I suggest fishing for attacks of opportunity for extra damage.

Ranger 16: Use your final ASI to grab the Tough feat for an extra 40 HP. Onis, man. They’re hard to kill.

Pros:

You specialize in dealing with large groups of enemies, with plenty of ways to move through them and attack over large areas at once.

Working with your bow and fists means you’re never in a bad position in a fight. Hah hah, you ambushed the archer, I guess you’re just getting your skulls bashed in instead.

Your range and speed, combined with your punches’ pushing power, means you are great at choosing your fights. For the most part you can determine where and when you fight an enemy, giving you a pretty solid advantage. As long as your DM doesn’t make all the fights take place in a vacant plain somewhere.

Cons:

Your charisma is pretty dismal, so even if you have a plan in mind good luck getting people to follow it.

You’re also pretty unfocused, and I mean that in every sense of the word. You’d be a lot more consistent with damage if you only focused on punching or arrows, and since you’re specialized for bunches of weak enemies single bosses can be tricky.

Most of your magic damage is Fire, which is easy to resist. If you’re up against a demon or devil, you might just have a bad time.

#fate grand order #fgo #D&D 5e #dnd #Archer of Inferno #Fighter #Ranger

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theggning · 4 years

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Codsworth Is So Underrated, You Guys

ALTERNATE TITLE: Codsworth and the Totally Understated Mindbending Evolution of Artificial Consciousness

I find Codsworth is often the most underrated of the 16 companions in Fallout 4. Your faithful robot butler is among the very first you can recruit and an excellent early-game ally, but he has a few disadvantages in gameplay that mean he’s often sent back to Sanctuary before long. Codsworth is a mid-to-close range fighter only, cannot wear armor or be equipped with weapons. He cannot be healed by stimpak, which makes him a liability if you’re playing on Survival mode. He has no companion quest of his own, so unless you particularly enjoy him there’s not a compelling reason to keep him for a long time. He also becomes recruitable exactly 2 minutes after adorable puppy Best Boy Dogmeat, so he is often (understandably) replaced just as soon as he’s made available.

But there is this great, completely understated facet to Codsworth, so understated that the game does not draw attention to it in any way. And yet, it is a wonderful reflection of many of the themes of Fallout 4 and, I believe, a pretty strong indication of its thesis statement.

Now what in the hell am I talking about?

Like many sci-fi/fantasy universes, the Fallout series is home to many highly-advanced robots. Robots were commonplace before the Great War, and many have survived the bombs intact and in working order. Others have been built or modified by wastelanders to serve various tasks (Percy, Ada.) The most important thing to understand about robots, though, is though they may have vivid personalities programmed in, they are widely accepted to be objects. They are thought of the same way as an appliance, a machine built for a specific purpose and programmed to follow a strict set of protocols.

Many jokes revolve around the relatively rigid intelligence of robots. Pre-War, many were deployed in inappropriate jobs or designed haphazardly (Mister Handies acting as nurses in a hospital, “paramedic” Protectrons with massive deadly tasers for hands, military robots constantly going haywire and erupting in friendly fire.) Others continue to man businesses and play out daily tasks as they were programmed to do over 200 years ago. Most robots are incapable of understanding anything beyond their initial programming, and most pre-War robots are completely unaware that the Great War ever happened.

When the Sole Survivor reunites with Codsworth at the ruins of their home, it seems like he, too, doesn’t understand what’s going on. He talks about tending the (dead) garden, references the (ghoulified) neighbors, and generally acts like the chipper robot butler Sole left behind on their way to Vault 111.

But there is something slightly… off in Codsworth’s dialogue here. Though he acts like the war never happened, he also specifically mentions details that suggest it did:

Player Default: Codsworth! You're still... fully operational?

Codsworth: {Defiant} Well of course, mum. You can thank the fine engineers at General Atomics for that! At least, you could have. Had they not been... vaporized.

A bit over 210 actually, mum. Give or take a little for the Earth's rotation and some minor dings to the ole' chronometer. That means you're two centuries late for dinner! Ha ha ha. Perhaps I can whip you up a snack? You must be famished.

You've no idea the desperation for human contact one develops over 200 years. {Upset, recalling bad memories of encountering raiders and scavengers. / Disgust} And when you do encounter them? Oh the cruelty! You're either... target practice or... spare parts!

Even stranger, Codsworth mentions details that are plainly made-up (or some kind of delusion):

Codsworth: It's been ages since we've had a proper family activity. Checkers. Or perhaps charades. Shaun does so love that game. Is the lad... with you...?

Player Default: Codsworth... listen to me carefully... have you seen him? Have you seen Shaun?

Codsworth: Why, sir had him last, remember? Perhaps he's gone to the Parker residence to arrange a play-date?

(Shaun is an infant. He is too young to play charades or to go to the neighbors for a play-date.)

So at once, Codsworth does and does not acknowledge the war. He does and does not seem to understand what’s happened, and he does and does not seem to follow Sole’s urgency regarding their spouse’s death and Shaun’s kidnapping.

And then, after a speech check, Codsworth finally snaps and breaks down sobbing in despair. Not only does he understand that the war happened, he has developed the ability to get depressed about it. Longing for human contact and with nothing else to do, he’s even developed coping mechanisms to help him try to deal with his loneliness and despair—futilely trying to do his chores and deluding himself into pretending everything is completely normal.

Wait a minute. Sobbing? Despair? Depression? Coping mechanisms and delusions? This Is all pretty sophisticated stuff to be programmed into a robot, and if you spend more time with Codsworth, the reality of what’s happened to him becomes apparent:

Codsworth has evolved beyond his programming. In his 210 lonely years of existence, he has developed emotional reactions and self-awareness far beyond that of most other robots, and, indeed, has basically evolved an artificial consciousness.

“Emergent intelligence” is the theoretical ability of an AI to eventually develop something resembling human thought processes, and it seems that our dear Codsworth has undergone this. Traveling with him, he displays many sophisticated thoughts and behaviors far beyond what most robots are shown to be capable of. He has memories of pre-War time and places, and understands how various locations have changed. He is capable of learning new information and forming opinions on it, gaining his own understanding of the people and factions in the Commonwealth. He can feel happiness, sorrow, fear, disgust. He can anticipate things, predict danger and imagine how people might respond to your actions. The mere he fact he has opinions and a moral code that he applies to you shows he has free will, something even other robot companions don’t (Ada has a personality, but absolutely does not care about your actions.)

He’s also smart enough to make many wry observational jokes, and to lay one hell of a sick burn on you:

{Joking - Found an old bowling alley. / Amused} Fancy a game, mum? Something tells me the bumpers are no longer available.

Codsworth’s intelligence is even more sophisticated than that. He displays stunning self-awareness, frequently referencing the fact he is a robot and what that means. He is very proud of his background as General Atomics’ finest, and seems pleased with his robot nature and his lot in life. (Unlike Curie, I don’t think Codsworth would ever really want to gain a synth body. He seems quite happy as he is.)

Here he is making reference to still feeling the tug of his programming:

{Seeing an office with chairs arranged in a circle. / Neutral} I've the most incredible urge to rearrange those chairs in a more perfect circle.

Understanding when other robots are restricted by theirs:

A pity. It appears Deezer's programming is too severe to allow for normal conversation. Ah well.

And when they’re actually not:

Codsworth: Greetings, sir. Good to see another robot in town. That chef hat becomes you.

Takahashi: Nan-ni shimasho-ka?

Codsworth: Takahashi you say? I'm Codsworth, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

Takahashi: Nan-ni shimasho-ka?

Codsworth: Is that so? Well, we both know RobCo is no General Atomics. It's not surprising it failed, shoddy work and all. {Friendly - trying to cheer up another robot. / Friendly} Chin up, though. Never know when parts may turn up.

And here’s Galaxy Brain Codsworth ruminating on his own state of being and contemplating his nature:

{Disappointed that he can't be 100% human sometimes. / Sad} It's unfortunate that I lack the proper design to consume liquids. Something about camaraderie over a few drinks is very inviting.

I suppose if I had the hardware, I'd have the software as well. I'd hate to see how that'd affect my honesty and manner settings.

{Reconsidering what he thought was a good idea. / Thinking} Indeed. Perhaps I should rethink my initial desire.

Hilariously, Codsworth does not seem fully aware of how remarkable his intelligence is. He occasionally says things like “if I had feelings” and “if I could feel things,” indicating that in some ways he still believes he is only a robot and defines himself by what a robot is and does.

But as we can see, our humble robot butler has essentially evolved to become the smartest, most emotionally intelligent and person-like robot in the Commonwealth*, and potentially in the series.

([SIDE NOTE: Other FO4 robots nearing Codsworth’s level of consciousness and developed personality include Captain Ironsides, KLE-O, Whitechapel Charlie, and perhaps Takahashi. Curie is close, but also receives the unfair advantage of being uploaded into a synth body with a human brain. Jezebel also functions off of a human brain. Nick is not a robot, he’s a synth (though he does jokingly refer to himself as one) and also has the advantage of a human brain encoded on his processor.])

Also hilariously, the game basically does not acknowledge Codsworth’s impressive evolution. At all. There is absolutely no direct mention of it in the script. It is all left to ambient dialogue and the player’s own observations. And because so many people overlook Codsworth as a companion, they may not even realize exactly how unique his expanded consciousness is.

Now, you might call this total lack of mention a mistake, an oversight on Bethesda’s part, or that old chestnut “bad writing.” I don’t think it is. I think it’s a deliciously subtle little detail to include in a story about humanity, machines, artificial intelligence, and what makes a person.

Many of the themes of FO4 revolve around synths—distinctly not robots, but androids, artificially created beings with fully organic human bodies. Most of the storyline factions have strong beliefs about synths and the relative humanity thereof. The Institute believes that synths are objects, tools, machines no different from a robot who are only simulating their personalities through programming. The Brotherhood believes synths are monstrous abominations, a danger to humanity itself, technology run amok which needs to be destroyed. The Railroad believes they are people. Not humans, but people, built instead of born, free-thinking beings that deserve to be treated with respect and given rights.

Through quests, dialogue, notes, worldbuilding and other venues, players explore these questions. What makes someone a person? If your personality and memories can be rewritten or programmed, then who are you, really? Where do we draw the line between humans and machines, and how do we decide who belongs where?

Meanwhile, as the player contemplates the nature of personhood and the definition of intelligence, their robot butler quietly evolves into a fully-conscious person on his own, right beside them.

Codsworth is unquestionably a machine, but also unquestionably beyond the appliance he was built to be. Which to some philosophies and players should really beg a few other questions. If a robot can be considered a person, then what makes synths so different? And how many excuses do we have to make to pretend otherwise?

Ya boy Codsworth may not be flashy, or powerful, or kissable. He may not be the most glamorous companion around. But he is a good friend, a beloved member of the family, and above all else, a loyal butler—content to serve, quietly and humbly doing his job where some may never even notice him-- or the fact that he’s casually become his own person and sent generations of roboticists and philosophers spinning in their graves.

#fallout 4 #fallout meta #codsworth #hey tumblr fuck you i win #i was forced to do an involuntary second draft #but i like it better now so hey

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cherry-valentine · 3 years

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Spring 2021 Anime Season

Mars Red is one of two series this season set in one of my favorite periods, the Meiji era. It’s a vampire series that deals a lot with the politics of war as the Japanese military is attempting to establish a vampire unit, supposedly to compete with the British vampire unit (because of course that’s a thing). It focuses on a human military officer named Maeda who is charged with recruiting and managing vampires. Maeda is the type of character I really enjoy. Handsome, a little older than most anime protagonists, chain-smoking, overly serious, and voiced by Junichi Suwabe (who has to have the sexiest voice in all of anime). The series has a classic, romantic feel to it. Its take on vampires is somewhat traditional (they evaporate in the sun, drink blood, sleep in coffins, have super strength and speed, etc.). If it brings anything new to the table, it’s the concept of vampires having different ranks, from S-class down, and how lower ranks naturally fear higher ranks. Still yet, the classic vibe works in the show’s favor. Combined with the historical setting, it gives the show a certain charm. The art is lovely, from the backgrounds to the character designs, and the music is a high point. It easily has the best ending theme of the season.

Fumetsu no Anata e (To Your Eternity) is a unique series. I’ve seen a lot of people comparing it to Mushishi, but with an overarching plot, and that assessment is pretty accurate. The show follows an entity that comes to be known as Fushi. It begins as an orb, and as it makes contact with other objects and creatures, it learns from them and can possibly take their forms. Among the forms it most often takes are a white wolf and a young man. Originally, it’s a somewhat empty shell, incapable of communicating, but as it meets different creatures and learns, it develops a personality and begins to speak. The series is, overall, about Fushi’s journey through this world and all the experiences it gains, both wonderful and tragic. There’s a subtle beauty to the series, with an early focus on nature, but it also has scenes of trauma and violence. The animation is fluid and the facial expressions are amazing. There’s an overall natural feel to it that, like others have pointed out, reminds me of Mushishi (though it’s definitely faster paced than Mushishi). The show also likes to make you cry, so keep that in mind.

Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood is the other series set in the Meiji era this season, albeit an alternate version of it that has a strange form of technology. To be honest, I’m a little fuzzy on some of the details, but it seems to be about a group called the Nue who work for the government to fight against a growing rebellion. The main character is Sawa, a member of Nue who has some sort of special powers involving her blood, which allow her to transform and battle monsters, or whatever else stands in her way. Her goal is to get revenge for the death of her entire clan (implied to be wiped out because of their power). Sawa is a decent heroine, a woman who craves vengeance and is determined to get it through any means, but is, at her core, a compassionate person who would rather live in peace. It’s this internal conflict that makes Sawa compelling (even if it’s not entirely original). The other characters are interesting, particularly Tsuki, whom I won’t talk much about because it would involve spoilers. The plot and details can get a little convoluted, but the action and animation are solid. When Sawa transforms, the art style changes, and it’s a really cool visual effect. The music is also nice.

Shaman King received a remake this season. I was a huge fan of the original, and so far I’m enjoying the remake, but to be honest, I’m having trouble seeing the point. The art is almost the same (just a lot shinier), the voice actors are the same, the plot is the same. Maybe it’s just that it’s been so long since I saw the original, I’m unable to remember the details and so I can’t tell what’s different. But to me it feels like I’m just rewatching the show. Which is fine, because I loved it to begin with. Maybe it gets different later on. Maybe it more closely follows the manga. I’ll keep watching to find out. For anyone new to the series, it looks like the remake is a solid place to start if you want to get into it. I won’t go into plot details for a story this old, so I’ll just say it’s a top tier shounen fighting series with a unique art style and some very memorable characters. If you like that sort of thing, and missed the original (or you just want a refresher), definitely check it out!

Godzilla Singular Point is a true delight. I’m a huge Godzilla (and kaiju in general) fan. I’ve watched every single Godzilla movie, as well as all the related movies (the Mothra films, Rodan, etc.), but I never watched the previous Godzilla anime that was on Netflix a few years ago. It just didn’t sound like something I’d like. Singular Point, however, is right up my alley. Set mainly in a small seaside town that’s suddenly attacked by bird-like monsters known as Rodans, we have two geeky protagonists using their intelligence to figure out what’s going on while more and more monsters appear. Mei and Yun are excellent heroes. They rely on their wits rather than physical strength, which is a refreshing approach. It’s also interesting that they have little to no face-to-face interaction. Instead, they chat with each other via text as they work separately. They often challenge each other with science questions. It’s adorable. The show’s overall feel is fairly upbeat and energetic. The colorful art and peppy character designs by Kazue Kato (who did Blue Exorcist) help with this feel. It should be noted that Godzilla himself doesn’t fully appear until halfway through the series. It says a lot about the quality of the show that I don’t actually mind that at all. Some of the science stuff does go over my head, but the general plot is easy enough to follow and the action is very well done. It also has fantastic music, with my favorite opening theme of the season. Even if Godzilla isn’t your thing, consider giving this series a shot if you like nerdy science types as heroes.

Burning Kabaddi is a sports anime about an unsual sport. I’d never heard of it before now, and if people in the comments were not talking about the very real sport, I would have assumed it was made up for the anime. The show is aware that the sport is obscure, so it takes great pains to explain the rules and details so that we can all follow the action. The story centers on Yoigoshi, a soccer prodigy who decides to drop all sports once he gets to high school due to all the drama and angst that surrounded him (mostly due to his teammates being jealous of his talent), and pursue a career as a streamer. All the various sports clubs at the school want to recruit him (especially the soccer club, of course) because they’ve heard of his skill and he has an athletic build. He rejects them all, but the Kabaddi club is strangely relentless. He ends up being manipulated into joining (the vice captain of the team straight up blackmails him by threatening to show his online streaming account to the whole school). Despite this rocky beginning, Yoigoshi actually starts to enjoy playing Kabaddi, and more importantly, begins to bond with his new teammates. It’s pretty fun stuff that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The art is serviceable for a sports anime and the music is fine. The series isn’t going to blow your mind, but it’s a fun way to spend twenty minutes every week. Worth a watch if you have a weakness for hot blooded sports anime.

The World Ends With You finally got its anime adaptation and I was so excited. The game is one of my all-time favorites. So far the anime is pretty good. The art is a near perfect replication of the bold, thick-lined art of the game. The battles are exciting and cool. Best of all, the anime often uses music from the game. This is important because the game has one of the best soundtracks, ever. Every time I recognize a song from the game, I almost squeal. If I had a complaint, it’s that the pacing feels a little off at times. It feels like the anime is rushing through the story, but that’s understandable. In the game, it took longer for everything to happen because you were walking from place to place, fighting battles along the way, stopping to scan NPC’s, shopping at stores, spending time in menus, etc. The anime has to cut most of that out, so naturally things are going to move faster. The result is that you don’t get to spend as much time with these characters, and so you feel less attached to them. Anyone watching the anime who didn’t play the game might feel like the emotional beats are lacking. I feel like this anime is definitely meant to be enjoyed by fans of the game, rather than newcomers to the story. But if you are a fan of the game? You should be watching this every week. It’s an excellent refresher on the story, just in time for the second game to come out this summer. Super high on my watch list.

Boku no Hero Academia has a new season. To be honest I don’t remember what number we’re on. This season, so far, focuses on a tournament-style competition between the two main hero classes. I would much prefer the plot to move on to something more exciting involving the villains, but I suppose they have to throw arcs like this in every so often just to remind everyone of which characters have which quirks. The plus point is that instead of being an individual competition, it’s team-based. What this ultimately means is that characters that are viewed as weaker or having more obscure quirks actually get a chance to shine. These are characters who definitely aren’t going to win one-on-one battles. In an individual tournament, it’s pretty much a given that characters like Deku, Bakugou, and Todoroki are going to win most of the matches. But in a team, everyone has to work together. The end result is that the lady characters, all of whom have fairly weak or situational quirks, finally FINALLY get to actually do stuff! Even better, in several of the match-ups, the girls have taken the lead in planning and strategizing. It’s been pretty nice to watch. The girls from the other class have been very proactive as well. I really wish the girls could do more in “real” battles with villains, since it’s clear that they can step up when they need to. Who knows? Maybe this is a sign of good things to come.

86 is a new mecha/sci-fi anime based on a series of light novels. The setup is fairly cool: In a country where everyone has silver hair and eyes, the people live in what looks like a utopia. There is a war going on outside their protected land but all combat is performed by automated robots, so there are no human casualties... or so the government would have the people believe. In reality, there is a district that exists on the outskirts of the country called 86, where people who don’t have silver hair and eyes are sent to pilot the robots and fight to protect the country that shunned them. Most of the pilots are children or teenagers. The mortality rate is high. Only a few people in the government know of their existence, mostly military types that include “handlers”. These handlers each take on an 86 unit and communicate with them through a system called “para-raid”. Using this, they monitor the battlefield from their safe positions and issue commands. Naturally, most handlers view their units as nothing more than tools in the war, and most 86-ers view their handlers as privileged snobs who know nothing of actual battle. The real plot kicks in when Lena, a young Major, becomes the new handler for a particular 86 unit. Lena is sympathetic to the people of 86, but it’s going to be hard getting her notoriously rough unit to accept her. The plot is a bit complicated and the show deals with some weighty themes (racism, privilege, war, child soldiers, death). Lena is a likable enough heroine and the members of 86 are all interesting and fairly well written. The music is fine. The art... well, it’s pretty to look at, but it feels a bit generic to me. A bit too shiny. The mecha designs are great, but I’m not crazy about the character designs, which feel like they could be from any other modern anime. I also find it sad but hilarious at the same time that the women’s military uniforms are clearly designed for fanservice (they include mini skirts, thigh-highs with garters, and a short jacket that opens up just above the chest to show the tight shirt underneath) while the men’s uniforms are just totally normal military wear. To be honest it’s just too stupid to actually be offensive, so it comes across as comical. Thankfully, the interesting setup and plot carry the show, making it good enough to overlook the generic visuals.

Moriarty the Patriot has a new season... maybe? I think it’s technically still season one, but with a split cour. Regardless, it feels like a new season so I’m treating it as such. The series focuses on famous Sherlock antagonist Moriarty, here represented as a trio of handsome brothers (though one of them is clearly the protagonist and the leader of the group) who work as “crime consultants” and basically help the lower classes wage class warfare against the nobility. This season shifts the focus away from the individual crimes Moriarty concocts and instead focuses on larger-scale conflicts that involve government conspiracies, corrupt cops, etc. We’re also treated to a lady James Bond (finally!), fixing one of the very few complaints I had about the first cour (that it lacked strong lady characters). The show remains very compelling, with beautiful art and excellent new opening and ending themes.

Best of Season:

Best New Show: Godzilla Singular Point

Best Opening Theme: Godzilla Singular Point

Best Ending Theme: Mars Red

Best New Male Character: Maeda (Mars Red)

Best New Female Character: Sawa (Joran)

#Anime Reviews #Spring 2021 Anime #Seasonal Anime Reviews #Seasonal Anime #Anime #Text #Godzilla Singular Point #Mars Red #moriarty the patriot #Fumetsu no anata e #Burning Kabaddi #86

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gwen-pleakley · 2 years

Photo

Task 8: Alternate Universe ⇒ Dungeons and Dragons

Backstory

Gwen is a Githyanki, Swarmkeeper Ranger/Circle of the Shepherd Druid. She is of an alien people, once enslaved by the evil hive mind of the Mind Flayers, that now lives in the Astral Plane, the “Limbo” between worlds. Gwen is of the first generation to be born after liberation and thus a lot of pressure was put on her to succeed. While many of her peers were indoctrinated into their militarized society, Gwen was recruited for her mind. Through her studies and observation, she was able to work her way up the governmental ranks as an expert on the Material Plane, helping plan invasions and raids.

Eventually her expertise was called on for a very precise mission. She was to travel to the Material Plane for reconnaissance alongside Javi--a captured Mind Flayer who escaped into the Astral Plane after his less-than-savory arcane experiments were discovered by his people. Once they completed their objective, they were meant to return back.

However, things did not go as planned. Through their journeys, Gwen came to fall in love with the Material Plane and all of its creatures. Suddenly, the things she had read in books and tomes were real and tangible to her. While her expertise did come in handy for navigating this strange land, there was still so much for her to learn, and she wanted to know all of it.

It helped that Javi had no desire to return either. Although the Gith promised him freedom in exchange for his services, he felt he had much more freedom in the Material Plane, where no one was looking over his shoulder. Not to mention, the arcane possibilities were limitless. Together, the two decided to abandon their mission and make their home on this strange and wonderful plane.

Easier said than done. Having forsaken the Gith and the Illithid, they found themselves targets of both peoples, who wanted them alive or dead. The two were constantly on the move, joining in and out of varying adventure groups to make money while keeping a low profile. While Gwen’s expertise gave her a background similar to a humanoid ranger, it was only through true experience that she was able to connect with material creatures and call their aid in battle. She was especially attached to the mosquito, with whom she formed a bond to become her swarm. The more she communed with nature, the more she tapped into druidic practices as well to become a true protector of the Material Plane.

Javi’s interests lay much more with the arcane and conducting various magical experiments. Many of the adventures that they go on are of his design, looking for materials or research that can help further his projects. While Gwen doesn’t necessarily approve of everything he does, she has become extremely attached to him and can’t imagine adventuring--or life itself--without him.

Stats

Proficiencies: Arcana, Nature, Investigation, Survival, Herbalism Kit

Feats:

Spell Sniper - (more accurate ranged spell attacks)

Eldritch Adept - (cast Disguise Self without a spell slot, which she uses to disguise herself as a beautiful half-elven woman)

Druidic Warrior (extra druid cantrips)

Fighting Style: Gwen is a lover, not a fighter. She views all life as precious and has a deep disdain for killing. However, as an adventurer, sometimes these things are unavoidable. When she does find herself dragged into combat, she specializes as a ranged fighter. She leans heavily into nature based magic, which she can charge off with precision and grace. She’s skilled with a shortbow and uses it to take out incapacitating--but not killing--blows. In addition, her swarm of mosquitos is always at her aid, dealing more damage, pushing enemies away, and even helping her fly. The more she attunes herself with nature, however, the more she wants to use her magic as a positive force. Throwing herself into druidic training, she can now summon a spirit of nature to help empower or heal her companions. Because of her inability to commit to one thing, as well as her demure demeanor, she is not a particularly strong combatant. But with her knowledge and can-do attitude, she makes an amazing guide and puzzle-solver, with skills that help outside of encounters more than in them.

#happiestplacetask8 #happiestplacetask #headcanon #moodboard

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passionate-reply · 3 years

Video

youtube

This week on Great Albums: a stupendously underrated classic of queer punk meets synth sophistication, and an album without which we wouldn’t have Dare by the Human League: Homosapien, the 1981 solo opus of Buzzcocks frontman Pete Shelley. Find out more by watching the video, or reading the transcript below!

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today, I’ll be talking about one of those albums that isn’t necessarily the most acclaimed or best remembered work of its period, but nonetheless played an important role in history, and remains unrivaled for its uniqueness: Pete Shelley’s Homosapien, first released in 1981.

Shelley has historically been chiefly remembered as the frontman of the punk act, Buzzcocks. But, despite punk’s reputation for simplicity to the point of obnoxiousness, Shelley was one of many musicians to come from the punk scene with a penchant for experimental or otherwise ground-breaking music. His very first solo release, 1980’s Sky Yen, features little more than a brash wall of oscillating electronic noise, not unlike the earliest provocations of industrial artists like Cabaret Voltaire.

Music: “Sky Yen (Part One)”

Subsequent generations of critics have gone great lengths to coin and define terminology, in the hopes of breaking this period down into constituent parts, but the more I study it, the more I’m inclined to view it as just a huge soup. There was, quite simply, a lot going on in Britain’s underground in the late 70s and early 80s, and in practice, the lines between punk, post-punk, industrial, synth, noise, and other avant-garde miscellany are frequently illegible. As an artifact of this era, Homosapien resonates with all of the contradictions this melting pot would imply, fusing emotional rawness and pristine production in a way that never quite settles down and feels comfortable.

Music: “I Don’t Know What It Is”

“I Don’t Know What It Is” served as the opening track of the album’s second side, as well as its lead single. With a bona fide guitar solo as well as a propulsive, and truly soaring, chorus, it somewhat resembles that most 1980s of art forms, the power ballad. It is, ostensibly, a love song, and is revealed to be one quickly enough, but its portrayal of love is far from kind. While a real power ballad might take the concept of love for granted, “I Don’t Know What It Is” seems to portray it as something mysterious, inscrutable, and dangerous. And I can’t forget to mention just how much Pete Shelley stands out as a vocalist--his high-pitched, perhaps even fried or shrill vocals add a great deal to the song’s sense of unease, and really sell the idea of someone who’s being overtaken by an uncontrollable and dominating force.

Of course, perhaps the most noteworthy thing about Homosapien’s sound is its fusion of the hard, driving acoustic guitar of punk with the electronic sensibilities of its producer, Martin Rushent. I wouldn’t say this combination is ever terribly cohesive in its sound, but I think that’s why I find this album so interesting: there’s a tension that permeates each track, a feeling that things don’t fit together. While Homosapien is a pioneering work of electronic-centered production, enough of the pieces are still in place that you can certainly hear the shape of music to come as you listen to it. It’s not just the synthesisers, but also the use of electronic percussion here--it’s difficult to overstate the impact that so-called “drum machines” had around this time. While reviled by many, both then and now, rhythm machines were undeniably “instrumental” in changing what popular music sounded like. Even synthesiser-based electronic acts like Gary Numan, OMD, and Kraftwerk often relied on traditional percussion, so this genuinely was pretty shocking at the time.

Perhaps the most important element of the legacy of Homosapien is the fact that Martin Rushent would go on to use the skills he honed here to produce one of the most influential albums of the 1980s, and perhaps of all time: The Human League’s Dare, which would go on to cast an enormous shadow on nearly all popular music to come, after playing an enormous role in instigating an era of popular dominance of synth-pop. In that sense at least, Homosapien is certainly a very historically important album, and for that reason alone, I think it deserves a fair bit more attention than it gets. Still, for as much as the electronics might be the most forward-looking element of this album, one also can’t deny that it remains full of aggressive and perfectly punk overtones, as on the crass or perhaps dismissive screed of “Guess I Must Have Been In Love With Myself.”

Music: “Guess I Must Have Been In Love With Myself”

While Homosapien has many moments of seemingly being too thorny to get a good grip on, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t also times in which it can feel like a bit more than the sum of its apparent parts, as on its most narrative-driven track, “Pusher Man.”

Music: “Pusher Man”

“Pusher Man” is one of, if not the, most synth-centered compositions to be had on Homosapien, but its insistent pacing and neurotic portrayal of the “low life” theme of buying illicit drugs mean you’ll never confuse it for run of the mill synth-pop. Moreso than anything else the album offers, this track reminds me of the sort of “synth-punk” that American acts like the Units and Crash Course In Science would put forward at around the same time. “Pusher Man” was, at the very least, a sufficiently experimental track to earn the honour of being cut from the US release of the album in order to make room for some non-album A-sides, as happened to many albums at the time. But hey, that’s enough beating around the bush. Let’s talk about the real crown jewel of this album.

Music: “Homosapien”

If you’ve heard anything from this album before, chances are, it was probably the title track, which proved to be quite the commercial success--despite being banned by the BBC on account of its homoerotic content. Given that this very same year, they also came after OMD’s “Enola Gay” for its obviously nonexistent reference to homosexuality, one might be forgiven for thinking that a tune called “Homosapien” was simply misinterpreted. The title track isn’t terribly explicit material, but its clever wordplay nonetheless deals quite deftly with issues of sexuality and personal identity. In the earlier verses, Shelley introduces us to typified roles of gay male sexuality--the “cruiser,” the “shy boy”--only to seemingly doff them with the tune’s defiant refrain, asserting that the only truly important identity a human being has is that of “Homosapien.” Far from being an unfortunate coincidence, the similarity of “Homosapien” to “homosexual” is being employed here completely deliberately, particularly with it being mashed into a single word and thus gaining a greater resemblance to the word “homosexual” in print. It not only allows Shelley to belt out a borderline dirty word, but also creates a sort of unconscious syllogism, suggesting, in a sense, that homosexuals are people too.

With elements of both unapologetic pride in one’s own queerness, as well as the uncompromising assertion that humanity is something much deeper than that, the title track of Homosapien is one of the most fascinating and inspiring queer anthems of its time. Its artsy slipperiness has prevented it from feeling more shallow with time, and its straightforward or raw quality, intensified by that constant acoustic guitar, has kept it sounding equally sharp. It genuinely does surprise me that this album isn’t at least a little bit better remembered than it is. Outside of the title track, most of this album is currently not available on services like Spotify and YouTube Music at the time of this writing, and I actually struggled to present musical examples here. That’s really a pretty high level of neglect in this day and age, and I hope it can be rectified in the relatively near future.

It would be no exaggeration for me to say that Homosapien features some of my very favourite cover art of any album. Homosapien’s sleeve design sees Shelley occupy some sort of sleek, but hollow hyper-modernist office. Geometric forms suggest the world of the artificial or ideal. An Egyptian statue beside Shelley is a reminder of history, and the idea that even the greatest empires must eventually fall. Likewise, the telescope and early computer positioned nearer to Shelley are evocative symbols of science and technology--but in context they seem more sinister, being juxtaposed against a phrenology bust, which evokes the ways in which our attempts at science have caused misunderstanding and great human misery in the past. The central scene is framed in with large areas of black, which make the space feel even more claustrophobic and uninviting, and Shelley appears to be pushed into the background, almost belittled by the inanimate objects. Overall, I think it’s sort of funny that this album’s cover is perhaps more iconally “New Wave” than the music itself ended up being, particularly with Shelley clad in this somewhat foppish white suit and bow tie--certainly a big change of attire for a former punk!

Given the experimental nature of the collaboration between Shelley and Rushent, you might be surprised to learn that Homosapien actually wasn’t a one-off. Just two years later, Shelley would release a follow-up LP, XL-1, which was also produced by Rushent and largely continues the same ideas. While Shelley would never see the success of “Homosapien” again, the XL-1 single “Telephone Operator” would also chart to a lesser degree.

Music: “Telephone Operator”

My favourite track on Homosapien is “Qu’est-ce que c’est que ça,” which closes out the first side of the album. If you’re familiar with my other work, you probably already know that I’m coming at this as someone chiefly interested in the electronic side of things, and I think that of everything on this album, “Qu’est-ce que c’est que ça” is the closest to being convincing as a synth-pop tune. With a bubbly, synth-dominant sound and lyrics that are more contemplative than aggressive, it’s much closer to the mould of what I usually listen to for fun than a lot of the other tracks are. That’s everything for today--thanks for listening!

Music: “Qu’est-ce que c’est que ça”

#music #great albums #album review #album reviews #pete shelley #buzzcocks

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whyqueerbaitingisbad · 4 years

Text

movies & shows

cracks knuckles* alright this is going to be more of a rant than an analysis because i’m basing this on both my research, but also how it felt to personally be baited by these shows. there are obviously more pieces of bad (almost every horror movie) and good ones but these are the ones i’ve watched.

please keep in mind that i am but one queer and everyone has different opinions.

Supernatural (CW) 2005

This show is 15 years old and just ended. From season 5 till 15, there has been tension between two of the lead characters. They were constantly shipped together and not only did the entire fandom know about this ship but so did almost all of Tumblr. On top of that, the actors and show runners knew about it as well. Which is why it makes it ridiculous that it was constantly pushed aside while the romantic coding kept happening, even after show runners dismissed it as being intentional. The Destiel (Dean x Cas) case has been going on for years, and as the show came to its end, many fans had hope. But N O P E. Instead, we got a love confession from Cas where Dean looked like he was near constipated and the Cas was killed and sent into a fiery place that was not hell but s u p e r h e l l.

… w hy.

Sherlock (BBC) 2010

Just like Supernatural, this show was renown on Tumblr for not only how good it was, but its hinting at a potential relationship between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. But again, like Supernatural, the intentional tension between the two characters was denied by producers. This caused an uproar within the fandom, and even left some people believing that, after the last season aired, it had been a joke and the producers were hiding a “secret, unaired season” because they had felt so robbed by this show that had implied something and denied it.

The 100 (CW) 2014

We got lesbians. We got background gays. We were happy. Then, all of a sudden, one of them is killed for no reason. Did it advance the plot? No. Was she fighting and died in battle? lol no. She was doing literally nothing and got shot and died. And then the producers kept bringing her back once a season in the form of a ghost or illusion because why? Because she was a fan favourite queer character. ✨bury your gays and sparingly bring them back for profit anyone?✨

Voltron: Legendary Defender (Netflix) 2016

*deep breathe* This one is a special disaster. Not only was there romantic tension and romantically coded scenes for 7 seasons, but producers, voice actors and artists working on the show repeatedly said “don’t worry klance (Keith x Lance) shippers, you’ll be happy”

. … w h e r e??? You code one of their scenes with a sunset in the background while they talk about love and then one of them goes on a date with someone who has declined his advances for 7 seasons but now in season 8 decides to do a full 180. Not only that, but you announce at a Comic Con (a convention) that a character is gay and has a fiancé, only to kill off the fiancé and never make it explicit in the show except at the last second of the last episode where he marries a no name character.

Personally, i’d like to say a big fuck you to the show that strung me along for 2 years and never stopped saying we’d be happy to then pull the rug out from under us and call us crazy for thinking anything from the past 8 seasons was intentional.

Scooby-Doo (2002)

While not being outwardly queerbaiting, this movie’s filmmaker has just revealed some shocking news, which wasn’t at all shocking to the gays who had watched this movie over the years. In July of 2020, James Gunn, the filmmaker of Scooby-Doo, revealed in a podcast that, initially, Velma was explicitly gay in his script, but then the studio watered it down until it became nothing. This isn’t an example of baiting as much as it is changing a character’s initial design to “better fit an audience”. The worst part of all this is that with Velma’s character having been written with a l i t t l e queer subtext, people had been theorizing about if since the movie came out, but were always yelled at by the internet for “imagining something that isn’t there”. But now, even with it being said that the initial point was for her to be gay, people have no objections to still refusing to accept it. Why?? So we can’t get the subtext gays OR the confirmed gays?? Make it make sense.

Brooklyn 99 (NBC) 2013

To have the queer characters firstly introduced without mentioning their sexualities and have it brought up naturally was so goddamn nice to see, because no one does a big deal about it unless they ask for that. This show is amazing in general but the way they show their queer characters is *chefs kiss*.

She-ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix) 2018

This. Show. My heart SOARS. It's just a remake of an old show so absolutely nothing was ever expected, but then it was sprinkled in and ENDED WITH A BANG. And it was so beautiful and real to see the struggle of two friends who care for each other and want to be together but have different visions of the world fall in love. And they also had characters with disabilities, a non-binary character and jUST SUCH A GOOD SHOW.

Kipo and The Age of Wonderbeasts (Netflix) 2020

This is a case where you go into it not expecting anything and are BLOWN AWAY by the bare minimum. And not because it’s bad!! It's mind blowing because this is the simple representation we need!! Not something over the top, but an every day relationship. It’s just two boys falling in love and going on dates and being nervous around each other, yet i was so stunned. Because it’s not shown enough. I should not be this excited over something that should be this normal. 10/10 though this show is so good for all kinds of representation.

Steven Universe (Cartoon Network) 2013

This show did so much for queer representation with its general message of loving everyone and loving who you want. Especially since it was aired on Cartoon Network, a channel for kids, it was able to help normalize something so looked down upon in some circles. It made it easy to watch for s o m e people because it's a cartoon but it's so beautiful to see these ladies so in love with each other, both platonically and romantically and we see them have a family dynamic that isn’t a “nuclear family”. Rebecca Sugar (creator) really said “lemme just break all stereotypes real quick”.

Adventure Time (Cartoon Network) 2010

It's the “knowing a fanbase shipped something so hard that the creators made it canon” for me. This relationship had been theorized by fans for years, but it had never been explicit in the show. When the finale episode came out and the two shared a kiss, it was a moment of celebration. The producer of the show said that it had not really been planned but when the episode was being made, the choice of what happened was given to one of the artists (bless your soul Hanna K. Nyströmthe). And as the show releases little bonus episodes, its latest was centered around Marceline and Bubblegum and their relationship. AND WE LOVE TO SEE OUR DOMESTIC LESBIANS BEING HAPPY AND IN LOVE.

Yuri on Ice!!! (anime) 2016

The fact that an A N I M E gave us a love story between two men is mind boggling and it makes me so happy!! Especially because it's a Japanese show and they’re very conservative about these things just makes it more emotional. The creators said they wanted to make the anime take place in a world where gay/straight isn’t a thing, it’s just love (ladies, you’re going to make me cry). So as the weekly episodes came out and fans start speculating, THEY GAVE US THE LAST FEW EPISODES FULL OF ROMANCE AND EMOTIONAL SCENES BETWEEN THE TWO AND THEN THEY GET R I N GS?!???!! You watch for the figure skating, you stay for the figure skaters that are in love.

Shadowhunters (Freeform) 2016

*insert me being frustrated that the actors are straight so we can move on from that disappointment*

This show really said “let’s name a whole episode after this couple because they deserve it”. But seriously, they gave us two characters whose entire plot does not center around their sexualities while still showing us the differences in a relationship between someone experienced and someone new at this. They were both powerful and amazing characters apart from each other, with their own story lines and goals but they loved each other so much omgs. SO MUCH.

It was so great to watch.

Love, Simon (2018)

There’s a lot of disagreement on whether this movie is good representation or not. However, we need to take into consideration that this was Hollywood’s first movie with a main character that was gay, where the story’s focus was on Simon’s love story. The biggest problem, for me at least, was that the actor playing Simon is a straight man and not queer. My problem is not with him, but the fact that there are other actors that are gay and that could have played Simon just as well. (the love interested was however played by a queer actor so ✨progress✨)

All in all, this movie does represent what a lot of queer kids have to go through: being outed at school, how they then come out, the bullying and doubt they go through.

The book is also really good.

Call Me By Your Name (2018)

This movie is so aesthetically pleasing and was able to capture the confusion and heartbreak felt by a boy who’s struggling with his own feelings towards a man. His inner conflict and joy and l o v e he feels but doesn’t know how to deal with is so well communicated through the screen and just breaks your heart because it feels so real.

But again, they could’ve gotten gay actors to play gay characters…

through having this list here, i want to show you that it’s not hard for creators to give good queer representation. the LGBTQ+ community isn’t asking for much, we just want to be well represented on screen as just a regular character, not some token queer kid there for the diversity points. having been exposed to so much queerbaiting and just not seeing any representation on screen, i always get over-excited when i see a queer character, and that’s not how it should be. it should be a normal thing, something you can find in most pieces of media, just like there’s a straight white cisgender person in everything.

and they seriously need to start casting queer actors for queer characters...

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stormkrigeren · 3 years

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Whumptober Day 1!

Link to the Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34210837/chapters/85120435

Title: Bound - Lois

Prompt: No. 1 ‘All Trussed Up And Still Nowhere To Go’ - “You have to let go”, barbed wire, bound

Word Count: 2475

Lois preferred rope over handcuffs, and duct tape over rope. Duct tape was best because it was surprisingly easy to break, but she was rarely lucky enough to be tied up with it. Lois could tell that today wasn’t her lucky day the moment the goon wrapped a length of plastic boating rope around her wrists and yanked it tight.

She loved her job. The title of ‘investigative reporter’ practically gave her a free pass to be as nosy as she liked (and Lois was admittedly quite nosy) while also revealing the truth on a variety of issues, affairs, and dealings. No one would blink twice if she walked into a warzone or gang territory or some crooked mogul’s office with a pen handy and far too many questions in her head, and no one was surprised when her life was threatened only for her to diffuse the situation a few minutes later. That was just how Lois worked, and she loved it.

The one and only issue with her job was the fact that if her life wasn’t being threatened, her freedom probably was. Sometimes it would just be a threat to get her so discredited that no one would ever publish her works again, removing her freedom of speech, but Lois was good at her job and no one ever found anything to discredit her on. So more often than not whatever fraudulent idiot she had revealed that day would instead tie her up and leave her in a warehouse somewhere until either the police or her boss showed up with a ransom because investigative reporters, especially ones named Lois Lane, were surprisingly valuable (the highest number she’d ever heard was close to a million, which of course didn’t pan out, but it was interesting to think about).

Today had started out pretty normally - Lois had woken up, gotten ready for the day, and taken the subway to work like she usually did. Upon arriving at the Daily Planet’s Head Offices in the Upper East Side of the city, she had clocked in and gotten to her desk with the intention of kicking off the work day with a little bit of research and note-taking in preparation for her interview with some S.T.A.R Labs higher-ups that afternoon. The company had received a contract from the Department of Defense to investigate and research the Kryptonian scout ship that had crashed in downtown Metropolis and was now in government custody. Any Kryptonian 'artifacts’ found in or around the ship were catalogued by S.T.A.R Labs before being transferred to various labs and other research companies around the nation for studying, the biggest transfers usually being made to the S.T.A.R facilities in Central City and Metropolis, and third-party contractors such as Kord Industries, LexCorp, and WayneTech. The distribution of findings for individual research was all well and good, but a whistleblower had recently come to Lois with some disturbing finds: some of the artifacts, especially alien weapons, were disappearing from large shipments without a trace.

When the time of the interview drew near, Lois checked in with Perry before catching a taxi to the S.T.A.R Labs headquarters downtown. Her appointment was with a few scientists from the company’s board of directors that worked with the Kryptonian scout ship the most, and luckily for them, all three of them had enough tact to not back out of the meeting when they realized that the reporter the Daily Planet had sent over was in fact a lady on the high road to a Pulitzer Prize. A board room was procured for their usage, and Lois, being well-familiar with the drill, started her recording app, pulled out her notes, and started doing what comprised the bulk of her job as an investigative journalist: asking questions.

How was work on the Kryptonian scout ship progressing? Had any significant discoveries or breakthroughs been made so far? What sort of artifacts were they dealing with, and how did they decide which ones to distribute for outside research? Were the scout ship’s contents primarily weapons, or other items? What was the company’s response to rumors about misplaced shipments?

The scientists happily answered her questions, occasionally going off on a tangent about some discovery or the supposed usage of some unknown object but otherwise provided Lois with some pretty good fuel for her next article up until she came to the final question. All three of the researchers shifted uncomfortably in their seats and exchanged the briefest of nervous glances before Dr. Rhems, the head consultant for their Kryptonian armaments division, launched into a spiel about how their cataloguing system was infallible and they had not seen any evidence that items were missing, the rumors had to be false or else they would have known. To solidify his claim, he even offered to show her their records and prove that whatever data people were basing their opinions off of had to be wrong. Lois immediately took him up on the offer.

Taking his fellow scientists’ leave, Dr. Rhems led her through the building before finally stopping outside a door that supposedly led to where the Labs kept their records pertaining to the Kryptonian artifact research program.

“You have to understand, Miss Lane, that S.T.A.R Labs is not the only facility performing research on Kryptonian weaponry,” he explained as he fished a key card out of his pocket, nearly dropped it, and finally managed to tap it against the scanner beside the door, “It’s quite possible that one of the other contractors involved in the program may simply not be cataloguing their artifacts correctly-”

“They are,” Lois snapped back as she followed him through the doorway, “The issue is within your own company. The records available to the public show that half of the missing items disappear while still in your system. I know this seems a little far-fetched, Dr. Rhems, but it's looking like there are some shady dealings going on within your facility to steal Kryptonian weapons, and possibly other items, without your knowledge.”

“That’s impossible! This is one of the most secure facilities in the state, and every one of our employees has undergone rigorous background examinations. Surely this must be some sort of journalistic ploy to discredit S.T.A.R Labs, Miss Lane-”

“With all due respect, Dr. Rhems, please stop trying to dissuade me before I’ve seen your evidence against the so-called ‘rumors’. I’ll make my decision on what to tell the public once you can prove to me that the accusations aren’t true.”

Dr. Rhems paused at that, stopped in front of a laboratory workstation and glanced quickly between Lois and the racks of Kryptonian armaments on the far side of the room - apparently this lab was where they were stored for cataloging and documentation.

“Well,” the doctor said finally, “if you’re so sure you cannot be persuaded...”

The scientist tapped a button on the workstation’s keyboard and Lois distinctly heard the door behind her lock shut with a hydraulic hiss and low shunking sound. Before she even had time to turn around, Dr. Rhems was pulling what looked too much like a genuine Kryptonian sidearm for comfort out of his labcoat and levelling it at her head. There was no doubt in her mind that it was real, and Lois should know - she had used one.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Miss Lane,” Dr. Rhems confessed, “But I am going to have to ask you to comply while Caleb ties you up - don’t want you getting away before we’ve come to an agreement, you see.”

At his behest, mostly because she was unable to do otherwise with a Kryptonian sidearm pointed at her, Lois took a seat in the chair the scientist pointed to and waited in silence to see what he would do next. Dr. Rhems typed another command into the workstation console and the door unlocked to slide open just enough for a nervous-looking intern to slip inside before the door locked shut again. The young man had apparently been given orders to follow them and wait outside the lab until his boss let him in, and after a brief, curious glance in the reporter’s direction, he immediately got to the task assigned by fetching a length of plastic rope - the kind typically used for camping due to its lightweight nature - from a desk drawer and using it to tie Lois’ hands behind her back. Under Dr. Rhems supervision, he tied the knots as tight as he could before proceeding to tie her ankles to the chair legs, and though Lois hated to admit it, she was thoroughly stuck where she was.

“You can’t keep me here for long,” Lois reminded Dr. Rhems, holding back a wince when the uncomfortable cordage bit into her ankles and resisting the urge to give Caleb a solid kick to the nose went he bent down to adjust the rope, “My editor will wonder where I am if I don’t check in soon, not to mention the fact that I’m legally under the protection of both the US government and the Kryptonian remnant. I just have to scream ‘Superman’ and someone will be here within ten seconds.”

If she stated that last sentence a little louder than necessary, Dr. Rhems didn’t notice and simply cocked the blaster (improperly, Lois noted) as Caleb finished tying her up, “You won’t scream. You wouldn’t dare.”

“Maybe I will,” Lois answered, resisting the urge to smirk. Dr. Rhems apparently had enough confidence to do so himself, and shook his head self-assuredly.

“As you said earlier, Miss Lane, you should wait to hear my side of the story before forming an opinion,” he stated calmly, “Let’s start with a simple fact: alien artifacts created in and designed to be used in an environment different from Earth are a little difficult, and expensive, to maintain. Sure, the technology works here, but until we can fully understand it, we have to ensure that it does not deteriorate or lose function when not used properly. I would read you a few excerpts from my paper on the apparent bio-technological advancements in Kryptonian technology that make their mechanism borderline-organic, so simultaneously holding some level of innate intelligence or purpose but also being susceptible to deterioration if not maintained, but we don’t have time for that now.

“Without going into too much detail, S.T.A.R Labs is not getting the funding it needs from the Department of Defense. No significant advances or research is able to be done without money, Miss Lane, and we don’t have a lot of it,” Dr. Rhems continued, “The solution? Getting rid of artifacts we do not have the facilities to maintain while also making a little bit of cash - in short we’ve been selling Kryptonian technology to foreign buyers.”

“You mean stealing and profiting off of property of the US government, not to mention that the UN is currently trying to rule both artifacts and the scout ship itself as property of the Kryptonian remnant,” Lois corrected him. Damn, she was pretty sure she was losing feeling in her hands considering how tightly the intern had bound her, but if she could just slip one hand out of the rope…

“Everyone knows the UN won’t succeed in the ruling - that technology is far too valuable to belong to a couple of do-gooder extraterrestrials,” Dr. Rhems answered, “And before you ask what I’m going to do with you or why I’ve decided to tell you all this, the answers are simple: I’m going to ransom you and get a bit of extra ‘funding’ out of it, and once your ransom has been paid and you are released, you are going to write me an article about the corruption going on in our own Department of Defense that has led to the gross underfunding of essential research facilities such as S.T.A.R Labs.”

“And just who do you think is going to pay my ransom?” Lois asked. Her plan was to keep him talking, keep his focus off her and the fact that after rubbing the skin raw and nearly spraining her wrist, she had just about managed to get her right hand out of Caleb’s tightly-but-poorly-tied attempt at binding her up. Poor kid - he hadn’t done too bad of a job considering that typing would be a pain-in-the-ass tomorrow, but it wasn’t enough to keep Lois off her game. Dr. Rhems was still going off about who he was going to call for the money for her release when she got both hands free, and right on time the thick laboratory door crumpled beneath a hand strong enough to bend steel as Superman himself stepped into the room. Lois wasted no time when the two S.T.A.R Lab scientists were distracted by his arrival, and she lunged at Dr. Rhems to knock the blaster out of his distracted grip, cock it for firing (properly, she noted), and point it at the bastard’s head.

“Well, Dr. Rhems,” she couldn’t help but announce with a smirk, “It looks like I was right about those missing shipments.”

V*V*V*V*V*V*V

It was Perry who picked her up from the S.T.A.R Labs facility after Lois was done giving her account to the police - part of her wished it had been Superman who flew her back to the Daily Planet offices, but he was still busy talking with an officer about the two scientists who had been holding Miss Lane hostage - and after a short drive back to the familiar newspaper building, it was Clark who first noticed the blisters covering her wrists and insisted on getting the first aid kit to treat them. Still, Lois ended up looking after the injuries herself, mostly because Clark, despite his kindness, strength, and adorable handsomeness, was a bit on the squeamish side and still had work to do. It wasn’t the worst she had ever dealt with - her wrists only required some antibacterial cream and bandages, whereas her left ankle had nearly been sprained when she lunged at Dr. Rhems with her feet still tied to the chair and required a bit more care in the form of an ice pack. Despite her injuries, Lois was having a pretty damn fine day - her typing skills weren’t as affected as she had imagined, her phone had still been recording throughout the whole hostage situation, and she had enough evidence pieced together to make the leading story of the evening edition. A sprained ankle and wrists that were raw as fuck after trying to wriggle her way out of plastic boating rope of all things were a small price to pay for the front page.

#whumptober2021 #no.1 #bound #DCEU #Lois Lane #fic #Red Capes #whumptober

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sepublic · 4 years

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Infinity Train Tarot Deck!

The idea came to me while discussing the Infinity Train and the idea of crossroads, which reminded me of the Wheel of Fortune tarot card in the Major Arcana! And naturally… This made me imagine Major Arcana tarot cards, themed after Infinity Train!

The first thing we have is the Emperor and Hanged Man. Now in some stories, the Hanged Man IS the Emperor, after he’s essentially fallen or been overthrown; So it’s the Emperor’s ‘fall from grace’ (ba-dum tsss). So naturally… Simon Laurent is a PERFECT fit for this! That shot of him lying around on Grace’s throne with his new hair-down get-up is perfect for the Emperor Card, it’s him flaunting authority and royalty! As for the Hanged Man; It’s Simon hanging upside, clinging to the bottom of that bridge during the Season Finale… He’s doing the 4-shaped pose, with only one foot clinging to the bridge; The foot with the malfunctioning shoe, as the other one was used by Grace to fend off the Ghom. Simon, the Hanged Man, about to ‘fall from grace’, both in the literal and metaphorical sense…

Next, we have Wheel of Fortune. Naturally this fits the Infinity Train’s wheels… They’re kind of a big deal, as a means of killing denizens, usually; But they DID come close to killing off Simon and Grace, respectively! The wheels of the Infinity Train keep it going, as the Infinity Train itself represents a crossroads, as befitting the tarot card! This was the first tarot design I came up with, and if I ever had to draw/design it, I imagine a morbid reference to denizens getting wheeled is in order.

Next, we have the World! It’s about the finishing of a loop/cycle, before it begins anew, the end of a journey to start with a new one! Kind of like how Tulip ends Book 1 having finished her adventure on the Infinity Train, and is now heading to Osh Kosh with a new life and look in a sense! For this, I considered the ‘zero’ that a passenger ideally reaches, as it’s the end of their journey on the train, but the beginning of a new life after their ‘recovery’. Perhaps the zero can be fashioned like a globe? Alternatively, given the motif of loops/cycles, perhaps it can be an infinity symbol, comprised of the Infinity Train itself, with the wasteland as the background? Or it’s a passenger’s exit!

The Lovers is obvious, it’s Amelia and Alrick! Their relationship was what set off basically every major conflict in this show, aside from the Infinity Train’s own existence of course! Its reverse meaning can also be imbalance and a misalignment of values, which fits with how Amelia’s love for Alrick and her ensuing grief led to her hijacking the Infinity Train, and indirectly causing Grace to start a cult whose whole purpose is to get their numbers up; Not just a misalignment, but an outright reversal of values!

Next up is the Chariot! I’ve chosen the Infinity Train’s front car/engine for this… The Chariot is about willpower, action, and determination, and its reverse is notably a lack of direction… The Infinity Train’s engine pulls the entire structure, giving it direction! Notably, the Infinity Train itself is rather binary and controlled in its directions; Passengers can either get their numbers up, or down, representing a somewhat black-and-white view of ‘progress’.

Grace is the Empress! This makes sense, she’s a counterpart to Emperor Simon, and the Apex’s true leader in both of its incarnations. Not only does this fit with Grace’s desire to be at the top, in-part because of her upper-class upbringing… But it also invokes ideas of femininity, beauty, and nurturing! And, Grace is definitely feminine, and certainly beautiful- Especially given the way she checks her compact mirrors often, as she’s someone concerned with her appearance to others on both a literal and metaphorical sense! But there’s also her essentially taking care of the Apex, trying to be a parental figure to make up for her own lacking parents!

Strength is Hazel and Tuba! Not much else to say here, honestly- The image of a woman and her lion translates well here! One of its uprights meaning is compassion, which fits in with Hazel’s compassionate nature… Not to mention, Tuba is easily the strongest of our protagonists by a long shot!

For Judgement, I would choose an image of Ghoms rising from the wasteland’s dirt! The art for the Judgement card frequently depicts beings rising from the earth… And in a sense, Ghoms could be interpreted as the Infinity Train, or at least the narrative’s judgment! Simon goes too far and tries to murder Grace in cold blood after she saved his life a second time, and right on cue, a Ghom appears to kill him! Ghoms are associated with Death, and Judgment and Death are intertwined…

The Tower represents a mishap in journeys, so naturally I chose One-One atop that structure he was on in the climax of the Unfinished Car! That same structure of floating buildings that he’s standing on when Tulip talks to him, and finally gets the guy to snap out of his programming! The Unfinished Car in general represents ‘disruption’ in how the Infinity Train’s journey and plans are supposed to go, a break in its programming, especially as a result of Amelia’s unplanned hijacking of the engine! The Tower is chaos and revelation, which One-One causes and later undergoes in the Unfinished Car.

Death is an interesting one for me. While its name implies some negative stuff, in the end it’s a card about change, about new beginnings, and its reverse represents those who are averse to that and want things to stay the same! I think a dual-image of Tulip and Amelia, one above and the other facing down, would work… Tulip boarded the Infinity Train because she couldn’t handle the changes in her life from her parents divorcing, and Amelia had the same reasons, amidst a more literal one with Alrick’s demise! There’s also the idea of including Simon as a skeleton, given how he straight-up dies as a result of his inability to accept change, one that goes further than Amelia’s ever did! If Amelia were to appear on this card, she’d be wearing her cloak to invoke the Grim Reaper’s image.

Next up is the Sun, and it’s… Jesse! This one is fairly straight-forward, he’s a got a very bright personality and he’s brimming with positivity! Both times he boards/exits the Infinity Train, it’s daytime and outside; In contrast to Tulip and Amelia being at night, or Grace being indoors! And Jesse spawns in the Hill Car, which itself is a bright and sunny place! Not to mention…

To complete the duality, we have Lake as the Moon! Jesse and Lake go hand-in-hand together, they’re inseparable if the Book 2 finale is any indication, their bond overrides the Infinity Train and even causes it to glitch! The Moon reflects the Sun, fitting of Lake’s reflective nature, and admittedly, what Mace suggested about Lake being a narrative parallel to Jesse as well! There’s the idea of confusion and introspection, which relates to Lake’s themes of finding her identity. She relies on trickery, both to initially dupe Tulip during her debut, and later to earn her exit on the Infinity Train!

For the Devil, which represents the idea of entrapment, especially of those who could easily leave but choose to stay thanks to their own bad decisions… I’ve chosen either Amelia’s mech, or Mace and Sieve! Amelia’s mech represents her own willing entrapment within the Alrick-sounding persona she created, it’s representative of her refusal to let go of her grief and to move on- And it was made by her, representing how ultimately it was Amelia who had the power to let it go, but didn’t!

Not to mention, the Devil as an archetype is used to represent corruption and the swaying of bad influences… Which fits in Amelia being a dark reflection to Tulip, luring her in with the promise of her own car with the ideal reality, and Amelia’s mech being the ‘false god’ that Grace later worships, setting her down the wrong path! The Devil could also be Mace and Sieve, as there’s the idea of being trapped in their roles and choosing it as Flecs, binding others with the law, etc. Not to mention Mace’s obsession with killing Lake, and Sieve’s determination to avenge his fallen comrade afterwards. Hmm. Perhaps the Devil card should depict both Amelia’s mech AND the Mirror Police!

Temperance is a fascinating one to me. It usually invokes the image of pouring liquids, and involves ideas of good health, balance, cooperation, and teamwork… While its reverse meaning is the opposite as chaos and not working with others! This could be Alan Dracula, contrasted with Perry the Parasite… Alan Dracula is a fickle creature, and hard to get on your side, fitting in with the idea of teamwork and cooperation! But under Perry’s influence, he’s seemingly more cooperative…

Only, Perry’s presence is causing poor health as Dracula’s body shifts rapidly, and him and Perry conflict over control! Perry himself isn’t such a cooperative guy after all, it seems. But then there’s also Randall… He’s water, invoking the image of pouring liquids! Water is a big theme with Temperance and going with the flow, which describes his personality, and his hivemind nature encourages teamwork from his very first appearance! Like with the Devil, perhaps Temperance can be both… A Perry-infested Alan Dracula at the Food Pyramid Car, with a river of water that’s actually Randall!

Justice goes to the Steward! There’s the idea of being an objective force of decision, which goes with how the Steward is both helpful to the Infinity Train, as well as Amelia for a while, and a deterrant to our protagonists Tulip and Lake! It is a physical force for One-One, the conductor, and he is the one who ideally passes judgment in a sense as a construct of the Infinity Train. Justice is about being objective and not letting emotions cloud your decisions, which goes in hand with the Steward being a literal machine with no feelings. I imagine the image for Justice would have the Steward and its arm-tendrils holding the ‘scales’, and on either end is One-One and Amelia!

Next up is the High Priestess, the one and only Samantha the Cat! There’s the idea of being intuitive, creative, thinking outside of the box, being both passive and receptive, as well as curious- Traits that go well with Samantha! Among the things it can represent is a woman influencing your life (AKA Samantha with Simon and Tulip), but also someone who just knows what’s the right thing to do- And as Samantha herself said, she ALWAYS does the right thing! Its reverse involves being disconnected and withdrawn, as while Samantha is social at first glance… We see how her close relationship with Simon ended. The High Priestess is also privy to sacred knowledge, which works with Samantha knowing a lot about certain characters and the Infinity Train, and how to get about!

Atticus is the Hierophant… There’s the idea of being one for wisdom, tradition, institutions, that sort of thing! Hierophants are classy and educated people and are always willing to listen. Atticus is certainly a classy, cultured individual as the King of Corginia, and he’s arguably the wisest and most experienced of our protagonists! He is a leader, but also a follower, willingly supporting Tulip in her journey… And supposedly, the Bishop/Hierophant is one who stands up against Death when even kings falter. Atticus ‘dies’ and is reborn, he helps Tulip come to terms with change… He’s the first to attack Amelia in her mech, and a brief yet effective obstacle for Mace and Sieve!

The Fool is… Tulip, this time with emphasis on her in particular! If the Major Arcana tells a story, The Fool is the very beginning, Card number zero… The Fool is the protagonist who goes through the adventure before ending with the World! Given my previous assignment for the World, the idea of ‘zero’, the beginning of a journey… Amidst the Fool also being an outsider with limitless potential, Tulip made the most sense! The Fool isn’t necessarily about being smart or dumb.

Tulip is our first protagonist, the first character we see, and it’s her that starts off the entire series! It’s Tulip’s journey that sets in motion the events of Books 2 and 3, with her reflection becoming a person, and Amelia’s change of heart inspiring Grace’s redemption! She has the most conventional journey of our protagonists with a defined beginning and end that we’re present throughout… And some artistic depictions of the Fool give them a dog as a companion! So obviously this is Tulip, accompanied by Atticus, and probably One-One as well! Some depictions of the Fool also show them as a vagabond, which fits with Tulip running away with just a backpack of belongings, and how this lands her a ticket aboard the Infinity Train!

For the Star, I think I’ll choose… A Passenger’s number, specifically one turning zero! In the Major Arcana’s story, the Star comes after the Tower, just as Tulip’s number goes down after the events of the Unfinished Car! It’s about light and hope amidst the darkness… Just as Tulip’s newfound resolve following Atticus’ transformation earns her the exit home, just as the glow of her palm acts as ‘guidance’ amidst the confusion and darkness of the Infinity Train. It’s a way home, and symbolic of recovery… So Tulip’s exact moment in the darkness of the Ball Pit Car, when her number reaches zero, makes sense! Since I’m going with a passenger’s number for the Star, this probably means the World will be either an exit and/or the Infinity Train in a loop around the wasteland.

The Hermit is soul-searching, inner guidance, introspection, and helping others achieve that as well… So why not have the inner workings of the Tape Car, the process by which tapes are made with the help of those Mini-Ones, Porters shuffling about! Is in the Tape Car that the Infinity Train itself sees into one’s heart and the issues that’s plaguing them, and forms a measurement for a passenger’s number… It’s in one’s own tape that someone can confront their traumas, entering their own mind, and even talk to themselves! Perhaps the specific image would involve the old passenger whose pod Lake hijacked, but in the middle of his tape’s recording! As an old and experience dude, he -unwittingly- provided guidance for the younger Lake!

And finally, the final tarot card for me to figure out, the Magician! This one will be… One-One! I know we already had him with the Tower, but it doesn’t hurt to have a repeat focusing on the little guy himself! The Magician IS Number One in the deck, after all! Some depictions have the Magician with an infinity symbol above his head… surrounded by foliage, the growth of new ideas, which relates to One-One’s association with Tulip and her ability to spring back from anything! It’s about new beginnings and opportunities, the Magician; And One-One provides this for passengers as the conductor!

Some would even say the Magician, within the story of the Major Arcana, gets the ball rolling for the adventure and protagonist! Among the Magician’s traits are inspired action and power… One-One is in charge here (ideally), and his job is to help inspire passengers to make a change in their lives and recover! However, the reverse is manipulation, representative of the darker undertones to One-One’s job. Some depictions of the Magician have him with one arm pointed to the universe above, the other to earth below… So artistically, we’d see both halves of One-One, Glad-One facing up with Sad-One pointing down!

Ultimately, these ideas aren’t exactly set-in-stone, and I’d consider reworking them to include even more imagery, characters, and scenery from the show itself! So any ideas are much welcome, appreciated, and encouraged!

#infinity train #major arcana #tarot deck #infinity train tulip #infinity train amelia #infinity train atticus #infinity train one one #infinity train jesse #infinity train lake #infinity train alan dracula #infinity train grace #infinity train simon #infinity train hazel #infinity train tuba

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adultswim2021 · 4 years

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Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law #1: "Bannon Custody Battle" December 30, 2000 - 4:30AM | S01E01 Welcome to the first episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, the first show on Adult Swim’s roster that I rejected as a substandard product. It should’ve been the Brak Show. In the opening episode, Birdman takes a case from Dr. Benton Quest, better known as Jonny Quest’s father. Race Bannon is fighting for custody of the boy, arguing that he’s a much better, much more present father figure to Jonny. Harvey Birdman was first conceptualized with an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. In the episode “Pilot” we’re shown a supposed disastrous pilot episode of “Coast to Coast” where Birdman was originally attached as the star. Birdman, a depressive, out-of-work super hero, utterly botches the job as his inability to host a late-night show due to his deriving all his powers from the sun becomes more apparent. The character recurs a few more times, most notably in the episode “Sequel”, where Birdman guest-hosts the show. Still, to call this a proper Space Ghost spin-off requires carrying a big asterisk along with it. The character name “Harvey Birdman” was invented for Space Ghost, but besides both being based on the old 60s Birdman Hanna-Barbera show, they have little to do with one another. One would get almost nothing out of watching the original Space Ghost episodes before watching this (except for, you know, getting to see episodes of a much funnier show).

So in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law you have one 60s Hanna-Barbera character as a lawyer taking court cases from various other Hanna-Barbera characters, usually of a similar vintage. In this particular episode we’re treated to a lot of jokes about the homoerotic subtext of Jonny Quest, specifically the relationship between Race Bannon and Benton Quest. The writers decide to tastefully side-step the seemingly pederast relationship between Race and Jonny. Watching the original Jonny Quest with the same attempt to subvert and recontextualize the relationships between the characters through a modern lens, a certain type of observer would probably note the amount of shirtless roughhousing Race does with Jonny. Speaking of watching Jonny Quest: I have to admit something: I never really watched Jonny Quest at all before writing this blog. I’ve had an interest in older shows and cartoons my entire life, but the entire genre of action cartoon didn’t appeal to me whatsoever when I was a kid. So last night I watched my first episode of Jonny Quest, in glorious 1080p on my new 4K television; a format it was never EVER intended to be viewed in. Jonny Quest is objectively junk. It’s fun, boyish, escapist entertainment, and there’s a lot of good irony in it, especially with it’s antiquated portrayal of other cultures from a bygone era when we were far less connected to the rest of the world. It has limited animation and simplistic design. The backgrounds look like they were painted on a post-it-note and most of the men are drawn to look like reskinned versions of Race Bannon. But there’s at least something a LITTLE charming about it. In fact, there was one moment of beautifully scripted action that absolutely won me over: Race and Jonny’s speed boat goes airborne briefly and crushes the bad guy’s boat from above as they speed towards one another. I nearly cheered when it happened. I knew The Venture Bros took liberally from Jonny Quest, but the coolest action sequences on that show seemed to be striving for the same exact visceral reaction I got from seeing Race crunch up some lizard men on a boat. Birdman is a similar deal: He was a cookie-cutter imitation of comic book heroes from the silver-age of comics (the obvious comparison here is DC’s Hawkman). I actually did watch a Birdman adventure late last night as I was falling asleep to follow up on Jonny Quest, but it felt less important. I can remember checking out the original Birdman on DVD not too long ago. Also, your typical Harvey Birdman usually focuses on jokes about shows other than Birdman. Still, it’s neat to see those characters in their original context, as well as that Hanna-Barbera stock-explosion animation we all know and love from Space Ghost blowing up Zorak on Coast-to-Coast. Also the episode I watched will be heavily referenced later, but not for this. I only watched the first episode of Jonny Quest taking a cue from my friend Kon who noted that most of the references in “Bannon Custody Battle” are directly from the first episode. The most specific (and funniest) scene in the whole show involves the Lizard Men, the main villains of that first installment. Other characters show up very briefly, and are all ones that appear in the opening sequence. Unless I find out differently (I’ll probably try to make my way through the rest of Quest in preparation for Venture Bros.), it really does seem like the writers just watched the first episode of Jonny Quest to write this show. Watching this episode of Harvey Birdman was like batting away an existential crisis. I remember vaguely at the time not being SUPER hot on this show, but I cut it a lot of slack and trusted that it would simply get funnier. I wanted to love all the shows on Adult Swim. Anyway, I went from being lukewarm on Birdman, to hating it. Reading my own earlier review of Birdman I blasted this episode for being homophobic. I used to have a very low tolerance for gay jokes, back when they were highly in fashion. But now that we live an era where there’s an arms race to find new ways to scold one another for perceived slights gay jokes can sometimes, NOT ALWAYS, be a little refreshing to hear. The fact that my stance on gay jokes can change as long as it’s in direct-opposition with the rest of the world is at least a little troubling. Does this mean I’m an inauthentic reactionary? Yes. Yes it does. There, I admitted it. Now, let me off the hook, please. I say that sorta jokingly. The gay jokes in this are mostly pretty lame, and come off like Mike Scully-era Simpsons gay jokes. The early scene at the beginning where Birdman eyes widen when he’s misunderstanding the nature of Dr. Quest’s and Race Bannon’s relationship really does come off as early 90′s homophobia. I remember it seemed out of place at the time. I’m sure it played just fine in the midwest, but the show didn’t really put it’s best foot forward with that. Speaking of lame jokes, this episode has a few that have nothing to do with insulting gay people. One of my least favorite bits involve the specific gag of undercutting a dramatic moment with characters fumbling around awkwardly in true-to-life fashion. Why, if a person tried to recreate a dramatic sting you’d see before a commercial break in real life, you’re right, it’d probably go awkwardly! But this 11 minute show has at least 3 explicit examples of this, and it’s only mildly amusing once:

Bannon dramatically walks out on Dr. Quest, after announcing his intention to take Jonny with him. He awkwardly comes back because he forgot his keys

Birdman dramatically argues with a rival prosecutor and summons his personal digital assistant, and then awkwardly fumbles with it

Birdman proves that the Race Bannon on the witness stand is actually a robot by unplugging him, but he accidentally pulls the wrong cord and has to spend a few seconds untangling and retracing the correct cord.

Another thing about Birdman is that there is usually a lack of strong jokes. The show usually includes a layer of comedy where there are simply characters who simply have odd, scattered speech patterns or odd ticks. The rival lawyer in this slurs his speech in a particular way: cut to the jury looking confused. That’s the joke. The Judge grumbles in an ornery fashion and generally acts like he doesn’t wanna be there. He says stuff that sounds like bad improv. That’s the joke. The show will only ocassionally come up with jokes to justify these character traits. It’s just silliness that doesn’t usually go anywhere. But, I do kinda like some things about this episode. It was animated by J.J. Sedelmaier, known for early digital animation seen in the crude era of Beavis and Butt-head and SNL’s TV Funhouse. They really do have their own style of comic timing, and there are some gags in this where the animation works in their favor. There are some jokes where the drawings really sell the comedy. I’m not sure if I liked this animation better or worse, but it does match the oddly-stilted Jonny Quest animation better than the episodes that came after this would have. Oh, one of the funniest bits not on the show was when I popped in the DVD I forgot that the menu music is Wesley Willis’ “Birdman Kicked My Ass”. If I were in high school when the DVD came out I would have loved it just for that reason. Same could be said “Jonny Quest Thinks We’re Sell-Outs” by Less Than Jake. I was an easily impressed kid.

#adult swim #harvey birdman attorney at law #adultswim2021

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scripttorture · 4 years

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Sorry for the multiple asks. In Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom's parents were tortured to what I assume is catatonia by the cruciatus curse. Is this a realistic portrayal of the effects of torture, or does it involve some degree of magical handwaving? If realistic, then would you mind suggesting some avenues, both grounded in reality and more fantastical, by which their condition may be helped?

So I had a long answer written out for this and then it got eaten and I’d deleted my backup (both of them) and don’t you just despise technology sometimes? Join me as I scream into the void.

Once more, from the top-

No need to apologise for multiple asks. They are in fact encouraged. I’d rather you looked for answers to your questions then assumed you already know the answer. Thank you for coming to me. Thank you for taking an interest. It really does mean a lot to me to see people engaging with the subject. :)

It’s been a long time since I read Harry Potter. From what I can remember I don’t think the books handled torture survivors well.

I think this particular portrayal landed smack bang in ‘torture makes victims passive’. It was also pretty explicitly using that misconception about torture survivors being unable to live full, happy lives or make any kind of recovery.

You could make the argument that these are magical, rather then the effects of torture. But I don’t think Rowling did any work to show that was the case. From what I can remember the stuff that’s actually in the books just suggests the curse causes pain and… that’s it.

Which doesn’t stop you from trying to make a bad portrayal better.

@scriptshrink is the mental health professional in the family and may disagree. From what I can remember I don’t think the description of the Longbottoms in the books was exactly catatonia. It seemed more like a combination of catatonia and late stage dementia to me.

Which creates a bit of a problem for a narrative arc if you want to treat these characters in a more realistic way. Because catatonia is easily treated now with drugs and late stage dementia is… there’s basically no effective treatment. There are things patients can be given to slow the progression of dementia but what they’ve lost is gone. (I’ve spent quite a long time around people with various forms of dementia and I’m going to cite experience as my source there).

The reason that’s an issue for a narrative is that there really isn’t a middle ground between ‘take this pill to recover’ and ‘there is no treatment at all’. And that’s not on you, it’s on the source material.

So, suggestion time: I do have a few different ideas depending on what you want from a recovery arc and how you want to characterise Wizard culture in your story.

Let’s assume that (like catatonia) this fugue state survivors of the curse are in is easily treatable. What happens when you take it away? When survivors are present, not dissociating and remember what happened to them?

Well suddenly you get confronted with an actual torture survivor with all the loud, messy, complex mental health problems that implies.

And if you don’t know a lot about mental health? Then it looks like you went from someone who is calm and ‘at peace’ to someone who is incredibly distressed and obviously in pain. It also means you went from someone biddable and ‘easy to handle/care for’ to someone who is exponentially less likely to put up with shit. Someone who demands explanations, cries hysterically, has panic attacks or flashbacks.

With that sort of big visceral difference- A culture that doesn’t know how to deal with mental illness might well decide survivors are ‘better off’ in that fugue state.

Because it would probably be easier to take care of a quiet, unemotional drone then to deal with trying to help someone with severe, complex mental health problems.

With that kind of cultural background the dementia-like state might actually be the result of the treatment survivors are given. Because they’re ‘better off this way’.

This would give you a much more traditional recovery arc in your story but by its nature demands a narrative discussion of how mentally ill people are treated by society. Which may not be something you want in the story.

The other main suggestion I had was to treat this fugue state and this unrealistic depiction of memory loss as if it’s part of the curse itself.

The cruciatus curse is supposed to be designed to cause the maximum amount of pain, so why not factor lasting generational pain into that? Stripping away important, foundational memories with longer use of the curse seems like it could be an additional terror tactic.

‘It doesn’t matter if they survive. It doesn’t matter if you rescue them. You’ll never get them back.’

In that kind of scenario you’d probably end up with a different recovery arc, one that’s as much about magic as mental health. And I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing when you’re explicitly dealing with something magical.

If you wanted a plot line involving some kind of magical quest this would be a really good fit. I think it would also work well with a more… straight forwardly heroic story? There’d be less of the cultural and moral arguments that are naturally brought up if you’re talking about cultural attitudes to different medical treatments. It would also be a good pick if you want to lean into the intelligence/research skills of some of the canon characters: a combination of cleverness and compassion resulting in a breakthrough that saves the day.

I’ll finish off with a short general discussion about writing torture survivors realistically and writing them in fantasy.

I’ve got a post on the common long term symptoms of torture here. And I’ve got a post on what memory problems look like in survivors here.

We don’t have a way to predict symptoms. Different individual survivors get different sets of symptoms and we’re not sure why. Because of that variation I think that it’s best to treat symptoms as a writing choice.

Pick symptoms based on what you think adds to the story and creates interesting narrative opportunities. If a symptom emphasises the themes in your story, creates good opportunities to show the readers something about the characters or makes for interesting conflict then it’s a good choice. Conversely if a particular symptom doesn’t appeal to you or you don’t want to write it for any reason, feel free to choose something different.

I stress realism and writing survivors realistically. I don’t do that because I think fiction ‘must’ be realistic. I do it because the ways we choose to break with reality matter.

And right now most of the ways we choose to be unrealistic tacitly support/condone torture.

The majority of the time that’s not the author’s intention. I certainly don’t think it was Rowling’s intention here. (I’ll admit I haven’t been keeping up with her string of controversies but I don’t think active support for torture was ever among them.)

But these tropes keep getting repeated. Partly because finding accurate information on torture is hard. It’s difficult to search for. It often costs money. A lot of it just isn’t translated (I’m actually saving up to get a bunch of core texts translated into English when the plague is over.) And oh boy do not get me started on the lack of inter-disciplinary communication because I will go off like an unplanned quench of an NMR’s super magnets.

These are issues that hamper academic researchers to a huge degree. It’s no wonder they impact non-specialists trying to make sense of this mess.

Having said all of that: I think that we should make space for metaphor and fantastical elements in our fiction.

The issue is passing off tropes that are unrealistic and harmful as if they’re fact.

I have significant issues with portraying torture survivors as passive objects. I think it really hampers general understanding of torture and ethical treatment of survivors today. It encourages people to think that real survivors are ‘faking it’ because they don’t look like the passive objects we see portrayed in fiction.

That said, if a story explicitly states that what it’s doing is magical and unrealistic, it should be less of an issue.

I do not think that’s what Rowling did in this particular portrayal. I think she presented a curse that the audience was supposed to read as only causing extreme pain and she linked that to the idea of pain turning people into passive objects. You can remove the magic from this scenario and it’s unmistakably torture apologia.

But I can imagine alternatives where a fantasy story could separate these things out. It would be hard work and require a lot more focus on the curse itself.

Say you have a fantasy story that takes one of the non-Western approaches to ideas about human souls. Particularly the idea that our memories and experience constitute a separate spiritual part of ourselves.

Magic that stole and imprisoned that portion of someone would, by the logic of the magic system, create something a little like this catatonia/late-stage-dementia symptom set Rowling presents. And I think if that was presented, divorced from ideas about pain and what suffering ‘should’ do to people- Well it’s no longer really talking about torture. It’s talking about a fantastical scenario.

We’re not really used to thinking through the implications of where we break with reality. But it does get easier with practice.

I hope that helps. :)

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#nobodystormcrow #writing advice #tw torture #tw ableism #writing recovery #writing survivors #fantasy ask #Harry Potter #effects of torture #torture survivors are not broken #attitudes towards torture survivors #pain #catatonia #dementia #mental illness #memory problems #cultural attitudes to survivors

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monikablaszczyk · 4 years

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Lost and found - analyse of 5 creative manipulation images

Anil Saxena is a photographer, illustrator and graphic designer from India. Anil creates wonderful surreal images in the Photoshop. At first he was working in the darkroom to achieve the result he wanted, but after being introduced to Photoshop he stated using it and there was no other way for him. He's using his imagination and creating superb photo manipulation.

“If the image is a success but my work goes unnoticed, I’m doing my job well.” says Anil.

I personally think that this image is fantastic, looks really realistic and is humorous. I like the idea of converting the building into giant bowl with spaghetti. I like how my eye concentrate on the manipulated part of the image and then when I look down I see tiny people and cars. I also like the contrast between colorful/ bright part of the image and darker/shaded part.

By looking at the image I can say that light comes from the top right side. The background image was done in a sunny day, when sun was quite high, there are visible hard shadows on the building. The image with boy and the one with spaghetti was most likely done in the studio, looking at the highlights i think there was strong source of light on the right side and probably diffuser situated below.

More photo manipulations created by Anil:

Joel Robinson, fine art photographer from Canada. At the beginning the photography was just a regular hobby that took Joel around the world and changed his life completely thanks to one photo he took and posted on Flick group - the theme was Coca-Cola brand.

His talent was discovered by Coca - Cola company few years after, since they noticed his work he had a chance to work for them and became a lead photographer for Coke’s 2014 FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour

His work is now used by worldwide brands like Coca - Cola, FIFA, Yahoo, Adobe, Oprah Magazine, Mariott and many more.

Joel created many great, unique photo manipulation but I have chose this one because it could be a good inspiration for my image. The image looks quite simple to create - only when I look at it, I'm sure in reality I would need a lot of Photoshop knowledge and skills. Anyway it could be a good start point for planning my image.

The artist probably used 3-4 images to create final image ( background, book, model and door and bird).

I like the idea of gigantic book withe the door inside in the middle of nowhere. Nice and simple :)

Images were taken from the low angle in a cloudy day. That reminds me to when taking photos for the background to take them from different perspectives. This can really change how the final image will look like.

Jeffrey Vanhoutte, photographer from Belgium. Passionate in photography since he was eleven years old. Right after graduating from photography, he started working as an independent photographer, at that time he photographed still life and food, then switched to the advertising. Jeffrey is currently working for big and small advertising companies, creating beautiful images.

I think this image is hilarious, as a mum of two kids I have seen this situation quite few times, but it always happen so quickly.

I like the surprising face expression of a girl and idea of giant ice cream ball on the ground. Looking at the backstage of the images that were done to create this photo manipulation I like how simple it looks. The photos were taken in from low angle in a very sunny sunny day, when the sun was high - clearly seen by looking at the highlights on the ice cream ball. The photo of the girl was originally taken with a ball next to her, that created a desirable shadow and later was swapped into ice cream ball from other image in the Photoshop.

When I showed this image to my four years old daughter she said that we need to put that big ice cream ball back on the cone :)

Backstage of creating this image:

Dariusz Klimczak is a photographer from Poland with thirty years of experience, also a painter, journalist and drummer in a rock band.

Dariusz is widely known for his unusual surreal photo-montage of everyday objects and natural landscapes. Dariusz prefers black and white photography, but he doesn't shy from colors. From the research I found Dariusz seem to be inspired by Salvador Dali. His work is widely known in Poland and abroad.

I like this image because it's original and kind of bizarre - ginormous toothbrushes in the middle of nowhere :) I like this simple idea it makes me smile.

I don't really find any more words to describe this picture.

Looking at this photo from the production side I think that the author used at least 3 photos or of course more - few photos of toothbrushes taken from different perspective and image of the background. Looking at the highlights and shadows it was quite sunny day, the sun comes from the left side - in the morning i guess.

Photos of toothbrushes were most likely taken in the studio with use of soft light.

More photo manipulations made by Dariusz:

Albin Thelander is an artistic photographer from Sweden. He created a business "Thelander Creative" that deals with photography and graphic design. I didn't find any more information about Albin.

I have chose this image because it's quite moody and different then the others. I like the idea of giant old clock again in the middle of nowhere and a person trying to move the hands of it.

This image gives me an idea that the background could be done anywhere, in the nearest park or even in the garden.

The image was done in a gloomy, cloudy day, possibly in the evening or looking at the clouds it could be after storm. The light is dim, shadows are soft, there is no much color.

Looking at the clock I think that artist used blending modes in Photoshop to softly reveal clouds.

#lostandfound

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danetobelieve · 4 years

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Eye Eye Cap’n || Miriam and Winston

When: early August Who: @meflemming & @danetobelieve Where: Miriam’s store. Summary: Miriam discover’s Winston’s third eye. Warnings: N/A

Winston wasn’t sure that going to see Miriam was really the best idea. But recently there had been a few too many close calls with people potentially noticing their hand or spotting the eye beneath the RSI brace that they wore. If Miriam could make them something bespoke, then Winston was sure that they would be able to keep everything hidden. Hopefully. They had found the address to her shop online and had made their way over at the time she’d requested. Pressing the doorbell outside the front, Winston looked over their shoulder and tried not to grimace too much at what they were about to do. It was hard not to be afraid of Miriam with everything they knew about her, but despite that, they couldn’t help but find themselves slowly warming to her.

Between the fucking Alexa constantly playing music (80s pop was fine… in moderation… and in the 80s) and the sometimes intrusive thoughts of vegan meat, Miriam was having a time of it, to say the least. She was glad that Winston was coming over, not just because they could hopefully help her with the Alexa problem. It had been some time since she’d seen them, and that hadn’t gone particularly well. Between the mime and outing herself as a vampire, she wanted to make sure that the two of them were still alright. She thought that Winston was an outstanding person, and she cared for them a great deal. They were kind and helpful and very brave. More people could stand to be like Winston. At the sound of the doorbell, Miriam left her office and headed to the front of the shop, grateful that the sun had set. Seeing Winston, she smiled, though her eyes narrowed in on the brace around their arm. “Hi, darling. Lovely to see you.”

Frowning gently, Winston tried to ignore the long hmmm that they heard in their head. There were many different tones to these hmms that they were hearing. Some of them somber, some of them more placid and some of them even confused. It just made focussing really difficult. Ever since their bizarre dream about the beach and their parents, Winston felt like there was someone else in their head. The bright smile that the witch hunter flashed their way was enough to send a shiver down Winston’s spine. But they returned it as best they could. “Hi Miriam,” they replied with a nod, “nice to see you too, especially sans your evil mime twin.” Winston gave another nervous smile. “I hear you’re having some alexa problems?”

“It’s nice to see you without my miming counterpart, as well,” Miriam said. “Stripes aren’t my thing, I don’t believe, and I’d never do my makeup so garish in real life.” She brushed a bit of hair out of her face, determined to set strangely intrusive thoughts aside and to focus on the tasks at hand. “Indeed I do, but let’s see about your brace first, shall we? My technological problems are rather minor in comparison. What’s going on?” Miriam led them towards the back, just so she could get her materials in the comfort of her office. She wondered if she should have invited them to her workshop at home, but she hadn’t cleaned up in a bit. This was better. She opened the office door and cleared off her desk, paperwork and pens moved to the side as she grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil. She eyed the thing on WInston’s wrist, figuring out just how she was going to make something that was both functional and attractive. She could do it. She could.

“What would you prefer? Polka dots?” Winston wasn’t sure why they were choosing to tease someone who could rip their windpipe out with less effort then it would take her to snap her fingers, but here they were, anyway. “I will say that you dress much better, not that that is hard, not that you dress badly, I’ll stop digging my hole before I can’t get out of it. I’m glad there are no mimes present. “Nothing is going on … at least not yet, but if I keep working 14 hours a day on screens and keyboards then there is a real possibility of repetitive strain injury and I just want to make sure that my wrists are supported as best they can be to you know avoid that.” Not to mention the eyeball that was clearly visible underneath the brace, which … they would probably have to take off. Fuck. They’d really not thought this through. Try not to sweat Winston. Try not to sweat. Just fix the Alexa and get out. “But you know, it’s not like a big deal or anything.”

“I look quite good in houndstooth,” Miriam joked, adding a bit of a wink. Truthfully, she cared less about patterns and more about the material of her clothing. She laughed at the way Winston stumbled over their words. “I do dress quite a bit better than she did, yes, thank you, darling.” She twirled her pencil a bit in her hand, thinking over their words. “That sounds quite serious. We’ll worry about Alexa later.” The distant sound of Hall and Oates played in the background, and Miriam’s eye twitched. “She’s annoyed me for the better part of several weeks, I can hold out a bit longer.” And, well, she could. It was clearly cursed. Somehow, surely, a witch had contacted her poor, innocent assistant and gave her a cursed object designed to annoy the shit out of Miriam for the rest of her many, many days. If she wasn’t fearful that it’d end up in her crypt, serenading her as she dessicated, she’d probably attempt to go to ground once more. “Let me see the brace and I’ll see what I can do.”

Grinning in return, Winston chuckled, “I’m sure you do.” It was difficult not to find her charming, even knowing what Winston did they were pretty sure that she was winning them over. It was weird being sympathetic towards someone who killed for fun. Or whatever the reason. Just killed because they could? Winston wasn’t sure. Either way. Weird. “Uh, I don’t know if it is that serious, I’m not in pain or anything. I guess more just worrying about something that may or may not happen but better safe then sorry.” Winston flipped their hand over so that their palm was facing the floor. Pulling the brace off and keeping the eye facing away from Miriam. They had to hope she wouldn’t notice. “If you’re sure that you can last,” Winston tried to act natural, using their spare hand to pass the brace over. As they passed it over, they slipped their hand away. The familiar buzz of their phone vibrating in their pocket instinctually drew their hand to their pocket, fishing it out they weren’t sure what happened or why they dropped the phone, but a second later it was tumbling to the floor. Winston’s other hand clumsily tried to catch it in it’s fall, but missed, and Winston was left with their eye looking directly in Miriam’s.

“Safe rather than sorry is smart, Winston,” Miriam said seriously. “It’s important to catch things before they become serious, even if they might not.” She had taken the braze and begun to analyze it closely, figuring out the best ways to create something similar but more stylish and functional. When Winston’s phone fell on the floor, she saw them reach down to catch it, and Miriam reached down as well, her vampiric reflexes making her far quicker and more agile. As she looked up, she was looking into an eye. Just one, singular, and on the wrong part of the body. Vaguely, Miriam recalled when an errant eye also appeared on her own body, though she’d cut and clawed it out multiple times. Her stomach sank as she saw it, but she didn’t look away. “Winston,” she said to it, calmly, “There’s an eye. Where there decidedly shouldn’t be an eye.” She ran through the possibilities of what could have caused it. If her own disappeared, then they shouldn’t have one, that was a fact. “Who-- What-- Who--” She pinched the bridge of her nose, leaning up and back in her chair. “What caused this. Are you cursed? Did someone curse you?” The thought of a spellcaster hurting her young friend made Miriam’s mouth taste like iron. Absentmindedly, she realized she’d bit the inside of her mouth.

“Oh … no that’s not an eye, it’s just a hyper … realistic … … … tattoo?” Winston knew before they even finished speaking that it wasn’t a lie which would convince Miriam. Anyone could see that the eye on their hand was definitely not a hyper realistic tattoo. That would be some wild tattoo work but Winston wasn’t sure that even Luce could do that for them. Swallowing, they felt sweat bead on their forehead and hurriedly wiped it away. “Okay, yeah, it’s an eye, I …” they tried to think of the best way to explain this, Miriam thought that they had been cursed and technically they had been, “... I don’t know if it is technically a curse or if it is something else entirely, that sort of thing - I’ve only just found out about you know magic, vampires … werewolves, all the things that some people in this town have no idea about, so I don’t really know if it is a curse or something else entirely.” Their pulse was racing, blood roaring in their ears as they struggled to think of a way out of this. Miriam didn’t seem to realise that they could use magic, maybe they’d be dead if she could’ve worked that out, Winston wasn’t honestly sure. “Do you - how do you tell if you’re cursed?” Winston knew, they just had to pretend they didn’t right?

Miriam raised an eyebrow at Winston’s words, grateful that they backtracked almost immediately. She didn’t want to have to scold them about this, nor did she appreciate the offense to her intelligence. Anyone with human eyes could see that the eye clearly wasn’t a tattoo, and Miriam’s eyes were far better than a human’s. She could tell how stressed Winston was by all of this, though, and she couldn’t blame them for wanting to keep this a secret. She couldn’t imagine how terrifying this all must be. For all her hatred of magic, she’d been introduced to it in beautiful ways: rocks being turned into rubies, flowers blooming out of season, snow suspending itself in air. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have something as terrible as an eyeball cursed into one’s hand being one of the first experiences to ever have with magic. “Truthfully, darling, if you wanted to tell if you were cursed or not, you’d need someone with some sort of magical persuasion,” she gritted her teeth, “to help you. Or perhaps you could retrace your steps? Have you been in contact with anyone or anything that could have done this? I do believe I heard there was some sort of monster in the lake.” She kept her expression sincere and sympathetic. “I assure you though, WInston, if someone did this to you, you only have to let me know who, and they’ll no longer be a problem.”

Winston wondered if there was some level of moral culpability that they were giving to themselves by playing along with this. They could’ve just left Miriam well enough alone. But there was just something about her, about her charm, about the way that she seemed to flow from one thing to another as effortlessly and gracefully as the currents of the ocean. “No, I don’t ... “ Winston shook their head, “I work for the WCPD I can’t just have people be no longer a problem Miriam….” Their heart was pounding. She’d just offered to kill someone for them. Winston was 100% sure of at least that. “I know, I know how I got the eye, I was kind of part of the solution to deal with the monster in the lake but dealing with the monster in the lake had it’s own draw backs,” Winston raised their palm and gave it a wiggle, “but it was my choice and I’d make the same choice to keep people safe again if I had to.”

“Oh, darling, it’d never get back to you,” Miriam said gently. And it wouldn’t. She was good at what she did. The only reason people knew anything about a witch hunter is because she had a bit of a flare for the dramatic, and she wanted them to know. She liked the fear, the panic, from a spellcaster who figured out just who caught them. She wasn’t getting any pleasure from the panic on Winston’s face, though. “Alright, though.” She looked at them closely, taking in their words. “You were a part of the solution to get rid of the monster in the lake, and that’s how you got the hand in your eye.” She repeated the words slowly. Miriam had no idea what had been necessary to get the monster out of the lake, if it had even gotten out of the lake. She didn’t particularly care, either, since it no longer affected her. But it was affecting her friend. “What were you needed for? Technological help?”

“Whether or not it gets back to me isn’t really why I’m not a fan of the idea,” Winston replied, “I just, I’m not sure I’m down for killing people willy nilly just because they’ve done something to me.” This was surreal. They were pretty sure that Miriam wouldn’t be as sympathetic if she knew the truth. Which Winston wasn’t about to tell her. Because she could snap their spine like a twig and use it as a tooth pick for her sharp vampire fangs without a moment’s hesitation. Swallowing, Winston felt their heart race. Her fangs had been so sharp and the way she’d staked her vampire mime counterpart had been ruthless and without remorse. Winston had dealt with their own mime and cried about it every night for a week. Not that there was anything wrong with that. It was just that there were different strokes for different blokes and Winston wasn’t sure that they had the ruthless killer stroke that Miriam did. Winston’s mind raced. “Sort of. I’m kind of digitising a big archive of supernatural information with my boyfriend and we were approached by someone trying to solve it so that’s how I got involved. So I guess tech help? Somehow I always end up being IT support.”

“Of course,” Miriam said easily, though the smile she gave Winston was a bit pained. She sometimes forgot what it was like for death and killing to not be… normal. Which, her life, unlife, whatever the hell she could call it, was hardly normal. She was simply forgetting, occasionally, what it was like to not know the taste of blood, to not know the feeling of a knife in her hands, to not feel enjoyment at another’s pain. She missed the not knowing, sometimes. This was one of those times. “You shouldn’t be getting involved with such things, Winston,” she reprimanded them gently. It took her a second to realize what she sounded like. She backtracked a bit, making her voice lighter, less concerned. “Eyeballs in hands don’t seem particularly fun, and if you’re to be helping anyone with technical difficulties, darling, I’d like it to be me over any other supernatural. Unless you’ve replaced me with some other vampire.” She put her hand over her unbeating heart dramatically before she got back to business. Picking up the brace, she said, “We can work on the Alexa some other time, though. Why don’t I get started working on something for you to hide that eye with. And, perhaps,” begrudgingly, she thought of Morgan and whether or not it would be possible to see about if the zombie knew of anyone who could help Winston, “we can eventually see about finding a way to do something about that.” She paused. “Unless you like it, of course.”

Once upon a time, the idea of taking someone’s life made Winston’s stomach crawl. They remembered when the topic of Miriam, a vampire witch hunter, had come up. Everyone had been dead set on killing her, but Winston hadn’t been sure. Then they had slowly come around to the idea as they had realised that the supernatural world didn’t play by the rules that they expected it to. Winston had been forced to kill others now. Had taken lives themselves out of necessity but never pleasure. They’d even brought someone back to life. The screams of August would never cease to ring inside of the empty caverns of their psyche but despite that Winston constantly came back to the fact that taking Miriam’s life … unlife, was not something they wanted to do. “It’s not that,” Winston replied, “I just wanted to help…” It hadn’t been a lie. Winston’s whole life had been working towards helping White Crest and they weren’t about to stop now. “Don’t worry though, I don’t think I’d be looking to replace you with another vampire … well ever. I don’t know if all vampires are as … gregarious as you are.” They swallowed and raised their eyebrows at Miriam’s reply. “Thank you, I really appreciate the help … is there, do you know a lot about magic?”

“Helping is good,” Miriam said, seeing the war play out in Winston’s mind. “Your desire to help people is what makes you such a good person, a kind person, and I think kindness and helpfulness go a long way.” She also thought that kindness and helpfulness could get exploited by the wrong people. If whoever Winston was trying to help was merely using them, Miriam would hurt them, spellcaster or not. It, perhaps, would not be as satisfying of a meal, but it would do the job. She’d simply wait and allow them to tell her more if they wanted to. If not, she’d find out on her own. Sitting back, Miriam smiled. “Well, I’d certainly hope you wouldn’t replace me with another vampire.” She gave them a wink. “I like to think I’m one of a kind.” The only one of her kind that she knew of, whatever that may be. “Of course, darling. Whatever you need me for, you only have to ask.” She paused, thinking. “I never practiced magic myself. My husband did. His family were apart of an old coven. Respected in name, but… lacking in resources to hone their craft. I came for a wealthy family.” She looked around her office, which was once her father’s office, at all the fine things that showed off that wealth. Sometimes she hated it. “Plenty of resources. He loved my money far more than me.” Miriam gave them a tense smile. “It’s fine. I’ve moved on. But being with him and without him has taught me quite a lot about magic.”

“The more I learn about this … world, as in, everything that it includes, everything that goes on, all the stuff with hunters and slayers and wardens, the more convinced I am that if everyone just helped each other and tried to be a bit kinder then maybe we’d all be in a better position.” Winston swallowed thoughtfully, trying to think if there would ever, if there could ever be a way that they could tell Miriam about all of this, about what they really were. “I was about to say, I don’t think that there are any vampires that have your … flair.” This was an odd game to be playing with someone who could and would very happily end Winston’s life if they made one misstep. “Thats… to be honest that’s just really shit. You deserve better then someone using you for what you have instead of just being with you for who you are, I mean obviously no one deserves to be just used for the sake of it but you of all people don’t strike me as someone who deserves it for any other reason then material gain. I just … god I’m not doing a good job at saying that’s really terrible and I’m sorry it happened to you. I guess it doesn’t matter if you can do magic or if you grow fur on the full moon or if you drink blood, sometimes people can just be dicks.”

“I can’t disagree with you,” Miriam said carefully. She was one of those people who sometimes wasn’t kind. “But I can also say that things aren’t so simple. I wish they were. I wish we lived in a world where hurting and killing wasn’t necessary, but somethings are simply impossible.” She sighed. Maybe if the world was a better place, she could find peace. “I like to think I have a certain ‘flair’ as you put it that other vampires just can’t compete with.” Whatever Winston thought of her, she was glad they hadn’t taken off or ratted her out when they found out what she was. “It’s… It happened. It was quite some time ago.” She flexed her fingers a bit. “But thank you, Winston. Truly. Sometimes, people are monsters. Humans are monster. As you say, it’s not just limited to werewolves or vampires or zombies.” Talking to Winston, who was little more than a child, Miriam felt more vulnerable than she had in quite some time. Even with Morgan, despite the fact that she’d grown to enjoy talking to the zombie, she tried to be cautious. Morgan seemed to still be under the impression that Miriam could change, and Miriam couldn’t let those thoughts affect her. But, with Winston, it was so easy to want to be a bit better. “I can be… quite a dick, sometimes, Winston. A bit of a monster, really. I often wonder if it was the way my husband treated me that made me like this, or if I was simply like this all along.” She took a breath that she did not need and attempted a smile. “But, enough about me. Let’s get you fixed up, hm?”

“Oh don’t worry, I’ve begun to realise that the morally idealistic world that I thought we all lived in is not the same world as this one. Which was a shock to the system, but, probably the good kind of shock.” Winston replied with a shrug. The shrug was replaced by a smirk at Miriam. Nodding they sighed. “You definitely have good taste in fashion.” That probably came from the whole working in the fashion industry. “Yeah, I’m starting to realise that although someone might not be a human, that doesn’t mean anything. What matters is people’s actions, the way people behave rather then applying a standard to everyone just because of who they were. “Nobody is perfect, even if you were like this all along that justify the way that he behaved, but his mistakes don’t have to colour your life forever.” Winston knew what she was talking about even if she didn’t know that they knew that, it didn’t matter. Winston wasn’t sure that Miriam could change, but they were hoping that they could at least help her realise that there was the potential for it.

“I can certainly imagine that it wasn’t the best in the beginning,” Miriam said, sighing. Magic, the supernatural, it is all so lovely until it isn’t. It’s all good and perfect until it ruins your life. “You get used to it, being surprised but the greyscale with which we base our morals off of.” She fingered the sleeve of the jacket hanging behind her. “I’d certainly hope so.” Though her clothes had been a bit outdated when she first woke up, she was slowly getting used to things again. It helped that so many styles were coming back. She shifted a bit. “I used to think that striving for perfection was the only option. I like being… good at everything that I do. I get that no one is perfect. He wasn’t, I’m far from it… I wanted perfection desperately. As for his mistakes, well, I’m afraid they define my whole existence. Most of it.” She gently stroked the jacket again. “My own actions tie in a little.” Perhaps, with this, she could balance out some of her worst actions with good ones. She turned her attention back to the brace, taking in the separate components of it and figuring out how to best transfer that to something while keeping it stylish. She scrutinized it closely before she started working on a sketch.

“Yeah, well I’ve managed to get over the initial shock of learning that the world isn’t entirely black and white, getting used to the greyscale is it’s own challenge in it’s own way,” Winston had been ready to sign the proverbial death warrant on Miriam just a few months ago and yet they couldn’t think of anything worse then ending her unlife now. “Maybe you can’t be perfect, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be good….” Winston hoped and prayed that she would realise, “it doesn’t even have to be good in anyone elses eyes, ultimately I guess that your own perception of yourself is the most important because it is the perception of yourself that you have to live with, or not in your case, I don’t really, do you call it like .. unlife? I guess it doesn’t matter. Just don’t let someone else’s short comings force you to live a life that you wouldn’t choose for yourself. If his mistakes define you then hasn’t he won?” Winston wanted to scream that not all spellcasters were bad but somehow they doubted that would convince her of the error of her ways.

“It certainly isn’t always fun.” Though, it was the gray areas that Miriam seemed to thrive in. If she could keep her actions just gray enough, perhaps she wasn’t the great evil that she’s been called. She will never forget Gillian Wildes staring at her from across the town line and cursing her name. But Miriam knew, she knew that she was in the right for ridding the world of witches. She knew it. Sometimes, evil things had to be done for the right reasons. It’s what she told herself. She looked up and gave Winston a soft smile, one that didn’t meet her eyes. “I appreciate that, darling. Truly. I suppose as long as I’m good in my own eyes, that’s all that matters.” She wasn’t though, and perhaps that’s what was most damning. “It’d be a bit foolish of me to let him win.” Finally, after a bit of time, she handed them a sketch for a leather bracer that would ensure the eye didn’t get damaged while also keeping it covered. “How’s this?”

Somehow, Winston got the impression that Miriam wasn’t convinced by their little speech. Which meant that Winston wasn’t about to tell her the truth. Swallowing, Winston tried to forget about the fact that she’d probably rip their throat out with her teeth if she ever found out why they had they eye, like why they REALLY had it. “That looks really really good.” Miriam was clearly good at what she did because she had in her own way done several things that Winston would’ve never considered otherwise. “Thank you, how much do you think this is gonna cost?” Obviously they were going to pay her for her work.

“Thank you,” Miriam said, though she knew it looked good. It looked good, and it would be efficient. It was something that she knew she could design quickly, too. Days were long and monotonous since she couldn’t go outside, so this would give her something to do. “Don’t worry about the price. This is a gift for a friend.” She looked off to her bookshelf, where the Alexa was sitting, seeming to mind its own business, but Miriam knew better. She took it down from the shelf and put it in front of Winston. “Though, if you’d like, you can take this infernal device off my hands. I don’t want to deal with it anymore.” It was cursed. Someone had cursed it, given it to her assistant, and had it sent to her. There was no other explanation. “But, otherwise, this is free of charge.”

#p: miriam #para #chatzy para #wickedswriting #eye eye cap'n #chatzy #winston's so fucked when miriam learns the truth lolololololollooolololol

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besebee · 5 years

Text

Alright so I decided I was gonna talk a little about Heroes Rising since I just saw it in theaters. I actually debated going because I don’t like certain directions the manga is taking, but that’s besides the point. Spoilers under the cut.

I want to start off by saying I absolutely adored certain parts of this movie. The fight scenes? Awe inspiring. The camaraderie between all the members of class 1-A? Fantastic.

The premise? Eh... Here’s where my disbelief started to poke through. The idea that UA would send an entire class out onto an island- yes, even one with little to no crime- alone and without any sort of hero supervision is ridiculous. Perhaps with another class in a previous year I could get behind it but this is the class that has had multiple attempts made on their lives. UA is already in hot water with how they’ve handled certain things in the past and whether or not you think they should be, I doubt that the school would want to risk another PR nightmare.

I mean, on top of that the people who work in and run the school obviously want what’s best for the kids and they never want to see them get hurt so why the hell wouldn’t they send at least Aizawa, their homeroom teacher, along with them? Provisional License or not, you have a bunch of students, literal children, on a remote island alone to deal with whatever happens while they’re there.

Alright, so that was a bit jarring but I could ignore it because well, it’s a movie! This is how plot progresses! And to be fair the premise was perfectly fine, I just didn’t find it very believable. It didn’t hurt my immersion in the theater and I was totally enthralled when they got to the island and started doing small heroic tasks like helping people get to the doctor, fixing things, etc. All of these little tasks that showed how well they worked together and how far along they’ve come.

I loved that part. I was grinning the whole time.

Before I get to the villains arriving at the island I want to go over what I thought of them real quick, and I’ll make it fast because we haven’t even gotten to the part I want to rant about yet.

Nine - A watered down AFO. I didn’t mind him, and I actually kind of pitied him? I feel like his character was done well but I wish we knew more about his backstory. There has to be a reason he wants to remake society the way he does. On top of that it is painfully obvious (more so for those up to date on the manga) that he is being taken advantage of. I have no doubt that he was never meant to succeed in his goals and that the Doctor was basically experimenting on him to see what would happen.

Mummy - I loved the music that played in the background whenever he fought. His quirk was super cool and I just found him refreshing since most quirks in this series are physical things? I wish he could’ve stuck around longer like the others but...

Chimera - HIS DESIGN. I LOVED HIS DESIGN. A lot of people from what I’m seeing claim that he is over-powered but honestly given his name I think they did him really well. A being made up of various animals that can breathe fire is what a chimera is, and naturally that means he will be very strong. I will say that they dragged it on a bit long, to the point where him growing in size bordered on ridiculous, but again I loved it. It’s a world full of quirks, some are going to be OP. I can also fully see where he’s coming from with his motivations and I like how he believes in his little group.

Slice - The quirk was something we’ve basically seen before but I love how it was implemented. Her design was top notch and her personality was fun to watch as she handled certain situations. I also love how protective she specifically was over Nine, and I wonder if they have more of a relationship than the movie explored given that they seemed closer to one another than the others.

So moving on to when the villains actually make it to the island. I appreciated that the class split up into teams to deal with each of the villains and I thought the fights were great. I like that we were shown that they were clearly on the defensive as they moved the civilians out of harms way and stood their ground to keep them safe during the evacuation.

The fight with Mummy, however... I didn’t like it. Bakugou seemed to have some kind of plot armor that prevented Kaminari and Kirishima from being able to save him from basically being held hostage and used against them. How? Yeah I’m not sure. Mummy’s quirk works on inanimate objects, and if he wraps his bandages around them he can control them as if they were living beings. Controlling Bakugou’s armor and clothing in order to encase him in this type of ‘minion being’ was a clever idea even if it’s something we kind of saw with the Sludge Monster at the start of the series. One could argue it is with his growth that he was able to escape this similar situation, but I argue that’s completely different. I’m not even sure how he managed to escape Mummy’s hold. I think he might have activated one of his gauntlets but it wasn’t really clear. At least to me.

Lightning Round:

- Mahoro using her quirk to draw attention to their location and the fact that Midoriya needed help was wonderful and honestly the giant Deku was adorable.

- These kids should be dead. I get why they’re not but the amount of damage that they all take throughout the entirety of this movie is ridiculous! If that’s the amount of damage that a teenager can take and still survive, how do heroes end up dying in the field? (I’m just being picky ignore me, I get why they did it and I loved all of the fighting. They all have come so far and it really showcases that.)

- The amount of times someone tells Mahoro and Katsuma to run only for them to stand frozen is... Something else. They are scared kids, yes, but these teenagers are literally almost dying to give you a chance to run so please move!

- Katsuma’s quirk is unique and very interesting so I’m glad it got the spotlight! We haven’t seen many healing quirks!

- Midoriya’s plan was brilliant and I’m glad he got the chance to show off his ability to think things through. His intelligence is certainly something I love about his character and it makes him very formidable as an opponent.

- Todoroki. Killed. Chimera. I know, I know, we have him showing up at the end being led off the island in chains with the others, and Todoroki says “hibernate for awhile” to apply he is asleep, but no. He killed him. There is no way that Chimera could be speared internally with ice while also being frozen over and not die.

- All Might parachuting into what could still potentially be a dangerous situation to make sure his son was okay gave me so many FEELINGS. I actually cried when he cradled Midoriya and they talked.

RANT TIME. I preface this bit by saying: ship whatever you want, like whoever you want in the manga or anime, these are my personal opinions regarding things.

What the absolute fuck was the whole transferring of OFA thing? The minute I saw what Midoriya was about to do my enjoyment of the movie took a sharp nose-dive. Anyone else. Anyone else being given OFA in that situation would’ve been better then Bakugou. I know that Horikoshi has been trying to shoehorn in a bond between the two of them in the manga but in my opinion the whole thing has been poorly handled and feels completely fake and forced.

Bakugou has bullied Midoriya physically and mentally from the get-go. We know it’s been happening since Midoriya was at least five years old and though it can now be very loosely classified as ‘teasing’ for people who really squint, he still does it. He told him to jump off a roof. During their first training exercise in UA, Bakugou severely injures Midoriya despite being explicitly told not to carry through with his attack because it might kill him but he carries through with it anyway because it wouldn’t kill him if he didn’t hit him dead on. That’s quite the gamble to take with someone’s life, especially considering you’re supposedly trying to become a hero.

This is the type of person that Bakugou has been, and the type of person that Midoriya has been dealing with. Midoriya finally, finally, begins to get real friends and realize that he doesn’t have to keep chasing after this one person from his past in an attempt to make things work that will only end up hurting him.

Likewise Bakugou finally began to grow and see his past mistakes and learn from them. He also got friends who he cares about and treats relatively well, and they are so happy to be his friend too.

Both parties became involved in relationships that weren’t toxic and subsequently began to grow and change in ways that made them better people.

...And then Kamino Ward happened. ...And then Midoriya told Bakugou about OFA.

And now they are involved again.

I get that it’s fiction, really, I do, but I don’t think it’s right to have someone who was abused for so long simply... Forgive and forget regarding their abuser. It’s just something that rubs me the wrong way because so many people who have suffered at someone else’s hands are often told they have to forgive to move on which is utter bullshit. These characters were doing just fine as people who recognized their shared past and were learning to deal with each other in situations where they had to be together but would otherwise seek out healthier relationships, and I was all for that! Growth! Growth is good! But for some reason they’re friends again? What?

I wanted to explain my personal beliefs regarding their relationship in order to explain why I think that anyone else getting OFA in Bakugou’s place would’ve been better. For the narrative, for the characters, for everything. Because what you had in the movie was a kid who had been horribly bullied by Bakugou for being quirkless willingly handing his quirk over to him without any regard for himself once again, and then you had that former bully be able to use it instantly.

Showing the audience, showing Midoriya, that everything he has been through in his efforts to cultivate this power, all the things he’s learned and done, have been pointless. If Bakugou can take OFA and wield it at 100% immediately with only his arms breaking with no training whatsoever, what does that mean for Midoriya? That he’s weak? What about his story? And now we have Midoriya seeing his childhood bully take his quirk and use it so much better then he was able to at first and he finds himself back at the question that has haunted him from the very beginning, but even more so after what happened with Sir and Mirio.

Is he a worthy successor?

I didn’t like it. I couldn’t enjoy it. The fight was a beautiful piece of animation, but what had happened just took me out of it. And... I don’t think Bakugou was going to give OFA back. It wasn’t mentioned at all and both of them acted like it was a final thing. Even though the Vestiges said“fuck this” and forced OFA back into Midoriya after the fight (how? magic? who knows) it doesn’t change what happened.

The others are shown to be receiving medical attention and care as reinforcements have finally arrived and we get to see Endeavor hugging a very over it Shoto Todoroki.

...Why? Just why? Like we didn’t need that. It’s just a reminder of another relationship that is being forced into this forgive and forget mold and it just honestly makes me feel sick because of all the things Endeavor has done to his family. I fully believe that he hasn’t changed at all. Instead he looked around once he hit the height of his career, said “oh, I’m alone and everyone hates me and I’m lonely now that I have nothing to work toward” and decided to try and fix things (and I use that term loosely) for his own selfish benefit.

Overall the movie was great. I would totally watch it again, but certain things in the movie just rubbed me the wrong way. Again, this is all my personal opinion, I don’t care if you love Bakugou or BakuDeku or Endeavor, or whatever, you do you, but I just don’t. Oh and to make it clear, if you like any of those characters or things and you support Endeavor trying to get back in his family’s good graces, that’s perfectly fine! I’m not trying to call anyone out or call someone an abuse apologist or some shit, it’s all fiction, I’m just stating my own views.

#heroes rising spoilers #heroes rising #bnha movie #bnha spoilers #bnha manga and anime spoilers #anti endeavor #anti bakugou #kinda #just covering my bases #personal opinion #moony's rambles #and kind of moony's rants I guess

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