#i feel like line 4 is a bit off but overall its pretty good ^-^

[artsy-book]

hi :3

I don't think that it's gonna rain again today

I like you but I need some space

I don't want a fan, want a fam

Hook, line and sinker, drop it down to the bottom

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

music poem ask game ^-^

[mywifealhaitham]

pre release boothill relationship headcanons!!!

a/n: I'm fiending off crumbs... I've wanted to read some x reader of him but theres none so I gotta write it myself. I hope the other 4 boothill fans enjoy

warnings: gn!reader, like 2 gendered pet names (pretty girl/boy), most of this is written with bias because we don't have alot to go off, obviously written prerelease, when we actually get content of him I'll definitely be rewriting

LEAKS AHEAD!!!

bc: Valentine_DD_ on twt

- Boothill is described as a righteous person if his bottom line doesn't get crossed, so he definitely treats you good. probably more on the protective side when it comes to you, he's probably not afraid to use his gun if someone is threatening you.

- and believe me he's intimidating. from his overall tough and "unruly" cowboy look to his mechanical body it leaves enemies just a little challenged. he lowers his voice too and probably has a more fierce look in his eyes too. after any threats have been delt with he probably turns to you and turns into the sweetest thing ever, a wide grin across his face and his hands on your cheeks peppering you with small kisses.

- Its said he's a bit sophisticated due to his experiences so I'd like to imagine sometimes he charms you with facts and details about other planets or just genuinely sharing some tips and tricks he's picked up from other cultures. he's also a person who can get along with others pretty well but he can easily give strangers an impression he's selfish and is a bad person.

- again this kinda feeds into he's basically you'd guard dog... but I mean who wouldn't want to be saved by a handsome and sweet cowboy. despite his unpredictable personality and looks he's a huge gentleman for sure. always opens doors and pulls out chairs for you, makes sure your behind him and okay if any danger approaches and practically listens to your every command (lowkey giving off my girl and I don't argue she tells me to shut up and I do)

- one part I'm so excited to see is what they mean by he's illiterate and using metaphors. it's probably just him using slang but it's still kinda cute. I feel like his cheesy and strange metaphors turn into pick up lines when talking to you. perhaps he'll pull a "did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" or something cheesier. Definitely a huge nickname guy, almost never uses your real name. I'm guessing he'd use stuff like doll, sugar, baby, pretty girl/boy and more teasing names. heavy on doll and sugar and just imagine him saying it in a deep southern accent... 😍 kicking my feet. also I imagine he loves making you giggle by not cursing (because he literally cant) and normally he'd get pissed if someone laughed at him like that if it's you he doesn't mind at all.

- that's pretty much it for like analyzing the leaks I saw but now the stuff up ahead is just bias yapping because I always project

- HE DEFINITELY IS A HAND KISSER. greets you by getting on one knee, holding his hat to his chest and kissing your hand. makes eye contact with you too and does that toothy smirk of his IM SWOONINGGG

- maybe he's a dancer! pulls you into his arms and places his hat on your head when a good song plays in taverns. even if your clueless on any type of dances then he'll pull you along to the beat whispering Instructions in your ear.

- gets so lovesick when drunk it drives everyone mad. any folks he's sitting with at a bar gets a whole speech on his wonderful beautiful darling who he owes his live and would happily die by their hand. and may God save you when you come pick him up because he'll be all over you. Immediately he wraps a arm around your waist as he slurrs his hello as he proceeds to tell you he loves you like 40 times. besides the mass amounts of kisses you'll receive once you both reach a private spot he let's some feelings that he might be too shy to share normally, holding your face as he calls you his pretty girl/boy and how he's so lucky to have you.

- honestly not the best for cuddling however unfortunately he needs to cuddle you to sleep so goodluck! his metal body isn't completely uncomfortable it's just cold alot. he tries to get around this by literally preheating himself with blankets before you go to bed.

very bad boothill brainrot atm... only a few more weeks until we get official content 😭 everyone hold hands we got this

here's the actual leaks if anyone is curious ^_^

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

The Chapter 4 Essay Part 1: Kokichi Ouma

A metapost on my thoughts on Kokichi’s overall motivations and Gonta’s actions during ch4. Split into two parts. You can find the Gonta half here: (LINK)

I think the way Kokichi acts when he’s telling the truth says something crucial about his personality. When he’s telling the genuine truth, his expression becomes carefully neutral.

(post trial, chapter 1)

To me, it feels like he’s trying very hard to keep this face of neutrality. Normally, he’s able to expertly express any emotion that he wants to. In these moments, its almost like the emotion he’s feeling is so overpowering that he’s trying to repress it in order to maintain control over the face he presents to everyone else, but isn’t quite able to do so.

Kokichi is very careful about keeping people from seeing the parts of himself that he doesn’t choose to show. His villain persona and constant lying is part of this- He wants to keep people away from him. During the events of the killing game, he uses the distance that he creates in many ways. Part of it was that not having many close alliances allowed him to go off and do whatever he wanted during daily life. This let him explore the school and investigate the truth of the killing game without interruption or much attention. Lying also gave him distance between the game and himself. Pretending that the killing game was fun might’ve been his way to cope with everything that was happening. I think Kokichi is really damn good at separating himself from his emotions, lying to himself to do what he thinks needs to be done. This line from Chapter 1 is pretty telling…

(post trial, chapter 1)

This was also something he says himself to Kaito in the exisal hanger during chapter 5.

(post trial, chapter 5)

I’m inclined to believe everything that Kokichi says to Kaito in the exisal hanger. As Kiibo says when Kaito questions it, “I think his dying words may have been the honest truth.” Knowing he was about the die, and that he absolutely needed Kaito’s help to get his plan to break the killing game to work- to achieve his genuine, true goal- I don’t see any reason for him to lie.

This emotional distance extends past just the killing game. I think it's a key part of how he interacts with others around him.

Kokichi is an ultimate leader. I think he uses his talent throughout the game in an attempt to “lead” everyone from the shadows. He wanted to stop the killing game and escape with as many people as possible. However, his methods are very ends-justify-the-means. I believe that he did genuinely care about everyone at the ultimate academy, but in the detached way a distant king might care about his subjects. On the other hand, if he had to use or sacrifice a few as pawns for the greater good, that is what had to be done. It’s not like it didn’t emotionally affect him, but I think he was deliberately trying to keep his distance so that it would not impact him as much, and so that he could continue trying to tear the killing game apart with as many tools in his arsenal as possible.

(post trial, chapter 5)

With this core motivation in mind, this brings us to Chapter 4.

In my opinion, the Killing Game Busters was never a plan that was meant to succeed. From an in-game perspective, the idea that he was originally going to follow this mercy kill plan doesn’t make sense to me. Firstly, Kokichi already had suspicions that they were being watched as early as chapter 3.

(post trial, chapter 3)

…and he later confirms that he was fully convinced of this fact when Monokuma agreed to reuse the chapter 4 motive in the virtual world.

(post trial, chapter 5)

He knew that this killing game was for somebody else’s entertainment. I’ll go a bit into the secret of the outside world in a moment, but considering this, I don’t think he ever fully believed in it. Choosing to mercy kill everyone, in the name of a “truth” that was incompatible with what he had discovered… just doesn’t make sense to me.

Not to mention, from a narrative standpoint, I think the idea that he was completely for this mercy kill plan, decided to throw out the plan mid-trial, and then start an entirely different plan to end the killing game in chapter 5, isn’t very compelling. It weakens Kokichi’s overall character by making his motivation less cohesive and making him seem less organized over all, which I think is one of his strengths as a character. A Kokichi that is this fickle with what he’s trying to do would not have been able to write the script for chapter 5.

I think he always had different goals in mind with the Killing Game Busters. The first was something that is made very clear in chapter 5, but started here in chapter 4: He wanted to stop the killing to give himself room to break the game while minimizing deaths. The second was to further villainize himself, for all the reasons I talked about above, and some more I will get into in a little bit.

Seeing the secret of the outside world was undoubtably disturbing, regardless of whether he believed it or not; there is a noticeable shift in how Kokichi acts before and after he swipes that card key. Combined with discovering that Miu, someone he’d been working with closely, was planning on murdering him, I believe that seeing the destruction of the outside world pushed him towards more drastic measures than what he had been doing in previous chapters. He decided that in order for his plan in chapter 5 to work (which he had almost certainly already been planning at this point, considering how elaborate it was), he needed to make everyone question if pursuing the truth was the right thing to do at all.

After Miu’s body discovery, nobody was really worried about losing this class trial. Everyone had seen how Shuichi had guided them all to the truth and caught the blackened three times in a row, despite the unique difficulties in each case. They had full confidence in his abilities.

(investigation, chapter 4)

Shuichi is also not really doubting his abilities as a detective anymore. One of Shuichi’s core internal conflicts is his fear of the consequences of revealing the truth. Up to this point, it seems like he’s been moving past it. Especially after catching Korekiyo “Actual Serial Killer” Shinguji, who had no regrets or grey motivation for his killings. Shuichi’s morale, and subsequently everyone else’s, was at an all time high. (Of course, he was starting to feel a lot of pressure to solve these cases and save everyone on his own… but that’s another issue. ily Shuichi)

If Kokichi could take the wind out of Shuichi’s sails, really destroy the confidence he had built up so far, he could set up his impossible trial in chapter 5 to be more likely to work as intended. Everyone will be less motivated to try and figure out what happened if they are uncertain that finding the truth would actually result in anything good.

And I do believe he was trying to knock Shuichi off balance specifically. Damaging his confidence is one thing, but he was also deliberately trying to drive a wedge between him and Kaito. He antagonizes Kaito all chapter 4 investigation, including making up a nickname for Shuichi (“Shumai”) that directly riffs off Kaito’s closeness with Maki. He insists into the trial that he and Shuichi are partners now.

(class trial, chapter 4)

(Sidenote: Kokichi’s behaviour during trial 4 is genuinely really interesting to me. On top of the direct digs like this, he says a lot more subtle things to get under Kaito’s skin during trial 4 that I think are super neat to pay attention to.)

Theoretically, pushing Kaito away from Shuichi, combined with the powerlessness he’ll feel in the wake of the truth of both trial 4 and the outside world, could make him easier to convince to join Kokichi’s “side”. He even directly asks Shuichi to team up with him before leaving the virtual world:

(daily life, Chapter 4)

This leads me to believe that Shuichi was originally the one that Kokichi intended to use to build his impossible trial. I mean, if Shuichi was the one in the exisal hanger and presumed dead instead of Kaito, the chances of everyone else solving that mystery drops Significantly. Everyone else, aside from maybe Kiibo, was 100% convinced that Kokichi was the mastermind at that point. No one except Shuichi would’ve tried to dig as deep as he did, for better or for worse. I think this idea is supported by the note that Kokichi wrote next to Shuichi’s face on the whiteboard in his room (“trustworthy?”). He was clearly considering Shuichi as a person for one reason or another, and I believe this is it.

By condemning Gonta, who everyone else perceived as a kind soul who would never hurt anybody, someone who was struggling to understand what the virtual world even was with his amnesia, would be perceived by the others as kicking someone when they were down. Gonta has an absolutely miserable time through the accusations and wholly blames himself for how things turned out in the end. That, and Gonta’s actions were even well-intentioned. The secret of the outside world was apparently so horrible, Gonta thought it would be kinder to mercy kill everyone rather than force them to face it. This result would make everyone question if the truth was really as undoubtably good as they had come to think so far; Not only did Gonta suffer because they had to find the truth, but seeking the secret of the outside world would apparently also only lead to suffering. This would make them hesitate during Kokichi’s impossible trial.

(class trial, chapter 4)

As I said before, Kokichi’s second goal for trial 4 was villainizing himself even further. He says that this was a goal himself to Kaito in chapter 5.

(post trial, chapter 5)

Part of this villainization was just adding to the persona he had already created for himself and that I already talked about his motivations for before. The other part was what he says here. He specifically wanted everyone to think that he was the mastermind. This gave him leverage in two main ways. First, making himself appear to be the mastermind with an actual mastermind as hands off as Tsumugi genuinely gave him power over everyone else. He used this in chapter 5 to put a pause to the killings and give himself more room to enact his plan to break the killing game from the inside.

(daily life, chapter 5)

Although he then says “You guys can commit suicide together or kill each other… / Or, you can change your mind and stay here! You’re welcome to do that too!”, having experienced the secret of the outside world already, I think he’s pretty confident in what they will be feeling in this moment. No one is going to kill each other, and he knows that. He wants them to take that second option for the time being while he sets up his plot.

Making himself appear like the mastermind also benefited his impossible trial plan directly. Everyone would be much more likely to vote for someone they were convinced was the mastermind rather than one of their friends. No one would suspect that it was really him that was the victim.

“Using Gonta and making him into a murderer” was a significant part of how he villainized himself, but the way he treated Gonta during this whole experience was also a major factor. Starting as early as just after Miu was killed, he begins to be really aggressively mean to Gonta. He just straight up bullies him throughout the second half of the trial.

(daily life, chapter 4)

(class trial, chapter 4)

And then, after all this, he acts remorseful and sides himself with Gonta at the very end. It isn't genuine emotion like he felt before Kaede's execution, shown by his neutral expression. To me, this uncharacteristically open expression of grief feels like it was just set up to exacerbate the impact of his cruelty after Gonta’s execution. At this point, everybody’s little faith in Kokichi has been shaken significantly. With the shock of the trial, maybe you Could start to believe they were on the same side, as a team. Then, at the reveal of the extent of Kokichi’s manipulation, that is all ripped painfully away again.

(post trial, chapter 4)

(post trial, chapter 4)

Even if these parts of trial 4 make my stomach turn, I don’t want to imply that Kokichi is completely cold-hearted and unfeeling. Actually, I think there were multiple moments in chapter 4 that show him struggling to regulate his emotions and keep face around everyone else while he enacted this plan.

1: I don’t think Kokichi initially planned to make the reveal that Gonta was the killer as dramatic (or frankly, a bit traumatic) as it ended up being. He had been carrying himself a certain way during the first half of the trial, and I think Shuichi lying to his face in front of everyone about Kokichi’s own alibi dramatically changed his attitude. I mean, Shuichi lied (as he had done almost every trial and gotten 0 flack for) and Tsumugi even called him out on it, but everyone believed him over Kokichi anyways. So when Kokichi lies, it’s completely inexcusable, even though he’s been working tirelessly on his own trying to save everyone?* But when SHUICHI lies, and gets caught in it, people go along with him? They don’t doubt their trust in him for even a second? This double standard infuriated him. It’s at this point that he completely shifts in energy. If Shuichi, no, everyone, is going to disrespect him like this, he was going to make them suffer for it.

(class trial, chapter 4)

2: Kokichi only goes full villain after Kaito says “Kokichi, If you really cared for Gonta, explain yourself to everyone” in the post trial. I think that even though he was always going to paint himself as the villain, he was legitimately affected by the things that had just happened (Gonta’s death, Miu’s attempted murder, the secret of the outside world, even if he knew it wasn’t real) and what he’d just done. Even if he was trying hard not to be. The sudden shift he has from not saying anything to cackling about how little he cared about Gonta feels to me like he was kicking himself back into gear after trying to process some genuinely difficult emotions. 3: After Kokichi punches Kaito down, and everyone completely ignores him in favour of helping Kaito up, Shuichi says these iconic words to Kokichi: “Kaito always has us by his side, see? But no one wants to be around you. / You’re alone, Kokichi. And you always will be.” Kokichi responds like this:

(Post-trial, chapter 4)

There’s something about the way he cuts himself off, pauses, and then his mask falls. I think Shuichi’s words got to him more than he wanted them to. Honestly, Kokichi’s attitude towards cooperation, keeping everyone at arm’s length, and insisting (to himself) that he (as a leader) must fix the killing game completely on his own just seems so lonely to me. Even if he is intentionally trying to alienate himself and get everyone to hate him, being so viscerally cut into like this must have hurt. Especially from someone he was trying to work to get onto his side. It’s no wonder he quickly left after this moment.

This is what I think drove Kokichi in chapter 4. He’s a leader who wants to “lead” his classmates into safety, but he isn’t afraid to use underhanded, cruel tactics if he thinks it will get him ahead in the game for the greater good. He viscerally represses his emotions in order to keep himself going and keep everyone else away from him. He tried to destroy Shuichi’s confidence and drive a wedge between him and Kaito to get him on his side for his plan. He used and made Gonta into a murderer to villainize himself and discourage everyone else from seeking the truth.

Whenever I imagine Kokichi on his own, out of the spotlight of the Audience or the eyes of his castmates, he’s never as expressive as he is in the open. I think in reality, Kokichi is a pretty depressed and lonely person. His clownish personality isn’t entirely a facade, and outside of a killing game scenario, I think he would act pretty similarly to how he does in game. But I do think that he uses it as a mask for his true emotions. While I feel like the “evil villain” persona is a genuine part of Kokichi’s personality, outside of the killing game he probably doesn’t act on it as deeply as he does in-game. I also think Kokichi struggles with letting people become close to him, even without anything on the line. The killing game just caused him to lean into these aspects of his personality hard, and in potentially the worst ways.

*I feel like here it’s important to mention that personally, I still think the collateral damage he caused in his attempts to stop the killing game matters. A lot. I don’t think he should be excused for the things he did, even if he had good intentions. This makes him a really interesting, morally grey character, and I like that about him. EDIT: I can't believe I have to add this, but please do not use this essay as ammunition for harassing people who ship ougoku… I don't agree with doing that at all. I hope I made it clear that I find Kokichi to be a complex character whose mistreatment of Gonta was never targeted, and more just an aspect how how he isolated himself and how he manipulated others to end the killing game, even if it caused suffering to them in the moment. Kokichi cares about everyone in the ultimate academy, in his own weird, detached way. He's not completely heartless nor is he an abusive monster. And even if none of that was the case, it's never an excuse to harass people for disagreeing with you. Please be cool!! Thanks <3

[lemon-dokuro]

Yesterday, I watched Sound Holic's 2007 Touhou fan film, Touhou Project Side Story ~ Memory of Stars.

The plot is about Kaguya's father, the Moon's ruler, coming to take her and Eirin back. Makes heavy use of sci-fi aesthetics and is mostly set in space. Naturally, because it was released before Bogetsusho/Silent Sinner in Blue, all it had to go off of for the state of the Moon civilization and Kaguya's relationship to it were the 8th Touhou game and maybe Reisen's route/interactions in the 9th. It's a little interesting to see the creators' interpretation because of that, but... It was recieved very poorly by the japanese Touhou fandom in 2007 when it came out, you can even find comparisons to the infamous Cookie series. The reception is understandable — it really isn't good. I actually wouldn't call the story or the premise bad, they're just kitschy in a way characteristic of the otaku culture of its time, but they are ruined completely by the wonky presentation and especially the incomprehensible pacing. I don't want to recap it here because the anime isn't even that long or hard to find, but if I did, I'd have a fair bit of trouble. It feels like one of those 90s OVAs that tries to cram 4-6 volumes of a manga in about 40 minutes, so most things happen too fast to have an impact. There's a whole character that makes absolutely no sense because she has too little screen time and too little actually explained about her (Sphere Sieben, the redheaded space commander lady). Sakuya is there for a barely explained reason. Mokou comes out of nowhere in the middle (well, at least that had a point, ridiculous as it was). And considering this, bizzarely, the movie also has a lot of pointlessly drawn-out scenes where not much happens, like they were trying to pad out the runtime, even though there's a lot of substance they could have added. I have no idea what kind of constrains they were working with, but it's not like they couldn't have just written it more tightly. If not better, then, you know, at least. Even though I don't think the general premise and the story are bad per se, they are very unfitting for Touhou. The creators are obviously going for space opera aesthetics, which is a really weird fit for Touhou. They don't even really try to make it fit. Egregiously, Kaguya's presumably biological father, Luna Marius, has a sci-fi-ish western-style name for absolutely unexplained reasons. Of course, that kind of naming difference is not implausible at all, but it's a really weird creative choice, especially considering it's never adressed, not even in a throwaway line or anything. One could say it's emblematic of the work not compromising the conflicting aesthetics in any way. The visuals are often criticized for obvious reasons. They are great to me because I'm an oldschool doujin fetishist, but it's clearly all very stiff, mildly inconsistent, generally amareurish and feverishly oversaturated with bright flashing effects half the time. The backgrounds mostly consist of said effects. A lot of the animations are obviously reused. That being said, the original character designs are pretty well done. The bunny girl looks especially good, the artist absolutely nailed the early windows Touhou design style. Also, naturally, because Sound Holic is mainly a music circle, the soundtrack is decent. It's not remarkable, but there's nothing wrong with it, it's standard for 2007 Touhou arrange tracks. There's not much to say about the voice acting either — standard for doujin anime. The voice actors are inexplicably pretty well-known, but it's not that uncommon to see big names on the most random 2000s doujin projects. That's probably how these people become popular in the first place.

Well, what can I say overall. It's a weird little movie. I can't recommend it, but maybe you'll get a laugh out of it, or maybe you'll like the visuals as much as I did.

Also, that rabbit's names are both mochi types...

[galvanizedfriend]

do you recommend watching The Originals?

Nonnie, you're out with the tough questions 😂

I've been here thinking about this for a few minutes. The answer is... depends? lol I know some people who really like The Originals, so it's hard to say that you should or shouldn't watch it. It really depends on what kind of thing you're looking for and where do you draw a line.

Personally, I have a lot of issues with TO lol And back when it was still airing and I was watching it as the episodes came out, I abandoned it halfway through S3 because I got to a point where the very far and few good parts were no longer making it worth my while. A lot of people think S3 is the best season, I think it's by far the worst one lol So you see how it really depends.

But I do like it that I watched it in end, even though it took me a few years. It gives me authority that I know exactly what I'm talking about when I shit talk it lol also whenever people who can't stand the show have a canon-related question, they come to me because I watched it some 200 times so other people don't have to suffer through it, and I think that's beautiful 😂😂

Here's a simple pros vs cons list *in my opinion*: Pros: it's more Mikaelson screen time, so there's that. That are some plot lines that had potential, although almost none of them are well executed. Seasons 1 and 2 are actually kind of ok. S3 and 4 Klaus hair is 🤌🤌🤌 The WILD CURLS ERA! I'm a simple girl, you give me Klaus in tight Henley shirts with curly curls, I'm in. There are some great family moments scattered throughout the seasons, some really cool scenes that make you think 'wow, this could've been a great show' (right before you get pissed off that it wasn't). Daniel Sharman's Kol is, IMHO, the superior Kol (I don't like Nate Buzz's acting). Jomo really delivers as Klaus regardless the whole bullshittery around him and gets some great chances to just be a little shit, which I love. There are some great Klaroline moments (and not just in S5). And in spite of my overall feelings for TO, one of my favorite all-time TVDverse characters is from there: Vincent Griffith. I love him to bits. I also really like Marcel, even though he becomes a glorified extra after S1, and Jackson. Also, if you're really into werewolves, this is really the show where they get any screen time. I'm not saying it's good, but at least it's there (and no, Klaus never turns into a wolf, it makes no sense).

Cons: Really bad, inconsistent writing. Some seasons have storylines that just die out of nowhere for no reason (*cough*season 3*cough*). The whole premise of the show is insane (there was absolutely no need for Hope when Marcel is right there). The crossovers with TVD are very poorly done and very glaring opportunities go unexplored (like at the end of S1). Rebekah drops out pretty soon into the show. Elijah changes personality at least once every season to the point where, by the end of the show, they just retcon him completely. The finale is RIDICULOUS. Season 4 was written by someone on a wild acid trip, season 5 is really not worth your time AT ALL (except for the Klaroline moments). Female characters are very badly treated (pretty standard in the TVDverse, but anyway). Klamille is a thing, although, as with everything else, it's so badly done it's only marginally there. There are a lot of retcons and rewritings of the show's own mythology, which is annoying. And it's just... Bad. I don't know what to say, it just never lived up to the hype of what a show about the Original family could've been or what TVD had been at its peak. It's never, ever even remotely as good as TVD was around S2-3, not even at its best moments.

Those are my personal opinions, anyway. I'm sure others might feel different, but each to their own. It's really about you considering whether or not that's something you might enjoy or if it will at least be worth your time. Maybe start it and see how you feel? Worst case scenario, at least you get to see more of Klaus prancing around New Orleans.

Also, the first episode of TO is different from the backdoor pilot in TVD. That's more of a Klaus POV one, while the one in TO is more an Elijah POV.

hope my TED Talk helps you! 😂

[adobe-outdesign]

Do you have any thoughts on the Bronzor line?

I always really liked this line. I'm a big fan of object-mons that are more on the stylized and abstract side, and these guys have some really cool markings and body types.

In Bronzor's case, it sports a blue circular body with two eyes in the middle and a series of repeating circles, which give it radial symmetry. It's somewhat "alien" looking due to not really having a normal face, which I dig.

If I had one thing to critique about it, it would be that it's hard to tell what it is. Bronzor here is actually a mirror, which one had a reflection in the past. This is our only mirror-based Pokemon so far, so it feels like a bit of a shame that it's not clear that is what its supposed to be; I could easily see a mirror on its backside. Maybe they didn't want to do it due to Gen 4's sprite limitations?

Oddly enough, it actually has a beta backsprite that's a repeat of the front; in other words, it was meant to reflect at one point, just in a more abstract way than literally having a reflective surface back there. Like I said, what we got is by no means bad, but I do like this angle just a bit more for conveying the theme better and just being all-around weird.

Speaking of all-around weird, Bronzong exists. The line suddenly going from a mirror to a bell feels a bit random in theory, but it's supposedly based off of an old Japanese myth involving mirrors being melted down to make a bell. Also, the similar visual styles help connect the two in a way that makes them feel like they belong together, what with the colors, markings, and faces.

Speaking of faces, I LOVE Bronzong's face. First, those red eyes of its are actually three-dimensional, giving it a slightly dead-eyed look that's pretty unique:

And secondly, that mouth. Instead of just doing a generic smiley line, it instead has a freaky set of rectangular, teeth-like markings wedged firmly between the eyes. This works with the other various patterns, such as the stripes on the "arms" and the darker patches above the eyes, and serves to make it look all the more strange and alien.

I also love how the "arms" are really just the two structures on either side of a dōtaku (a type of Japanese bell that Bronzong's is based off of). The shape and the way they're on top of the body anthropomorphizes it just enough without loosing the bell-like aspects.

My only little nitpick is that it's strange that the colors change slightly between stages, with Bronzong being more of a teal instead of a blue and having red eyes instead of yellow. Both palettes are fine, but I don't see why they couldn't have just picked one and stuck with it. Obviously that's a minor thing however, and I still really like the 'mon regardless.

Overall, this is a very good line. The designs are interesting and unique, helped by the interesting body shapes and patterns, and I love the unconventional faces. Definitely a win in my book.

[xoxitgirl]

ALL MINE ♡ STATES CHALLENGE RESULTS!

🎀 february 6th

i started my challenge the day i posted it so 2/4 and hopefully ending 2/18. my main goal was not being at war in my own mind and instead asking myself when i was in a state I didn’t resonate with;

“who am I?”

“is this the energy I want to embody?”

“would the me who has xyz act this way?”

and this was only the first day—it was like a switch went off and I’ve been feeling so fluid ever since. like personally, the resistance at first can be a bitchhh depending on how you look at it. but my mind has finally accepted that imagination is the only reality like there is nothing i need to worry about or do or change but my state of awareness. and I start to find myself smiling and shit in class because in my 4D I’m doing shit for my business and idk that shit just feels so transformative. *updating every few days!

🎀 februrary 8th

I have a quiz today so a good day to updatee, im manifesting good grades as well without really trying and being the person who bullshits but still passes with all A’s. my goal for this challenge is not to check the 3D consciously—as long as my dominant state is a state of having/being then I have nothing to worry about! doing an edward art meditation before class laterr—ttyl!!! update—improved my grades and got a B on my calc quiz! + im understanding calc + harder econ which is insanee to me

🎀 february 15th

so I got hit up by my graphics design client/manager that made me HELLA money in 2020 for a commission + an upcoming event… y’all long story short I have multiple jobs lined up. I also been spending time alone and spoiling myself and I got this cute ass belly ring likee period. im meditating again tonight (Edward Art) but I feel so confident. I am also adding 5 more days because I checked the 3D/wavered about something business-related so my new end date is 2/23!

🍨 results!!

so im finally done with my challenge which felt like it flew by. everything I manifested—

• freelance opportunities + getting commissions for my graphic design business. my second business is also starting to grow, i even have models lined up (,:

• I literally always have money + my parents got better jobs opportunities—n when I say this shit manifested I mean I’m doing A LOT better financially

• my skin is so clear and my hairs easy to do??? I used to struggle a bit but now I can do it within 30mins-1hr + my hair’s now likee 4a/3c and touches my mid back its growing pretty quick

• playing the sims 4 again + hella expansion packs games would literally break my computers b4

• my dimples are prominent asfff! I have a lil more freckles too ((:

• buying whatever I want/getting it bought for me like new piercings + haircare + stiiizy pods + having my nails done when I want

• wasn’t even focused on my body at first but I asked myself how I would feel/react if I had my desired body and y’all.. over the last 2ish weeks I noticed I have the most toned stomach I’ve ever had and my butt grew an inch?? likee I haven’t worked out n my body only looks better

• my relationship is so perfect! my bf plans dates and stuff and suggests cute shit all the time for ex. he wants to take me to see the snow for the first time and were going on a trip next month for our anniversary <3

• i literally doodle in class, bullshit my hw, n still get good grades

these were the things I was really focused on during February but overall I’m super super happy with my results!! ౨ৎ

[variousqueerthings]

This is what happens when you travel alone for too long

It's A Town Called Mercy, also known as "the one people say is super duper good in season 7" or "oh it's V for Vendetta but a Western"

and... yeah it's pretty good. I feel like it's one I cannot help comparing to other stories like it, and I'm not sure if it manages as much as they do, but I'm going to sit with it for a bit, and in the meantime! Ranking!

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 10/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored): 3/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 8/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 5/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 4/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 7/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 5/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 4/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 3/10

FULL RATING: 59/100 (if I can count….)

it's the politics that got this one. that and... the Ponds are still just kinda there this season. and other stuff. ah well, it's not terrible, on the whole

OBJECTIFICATION: Listen, there is none. not an off-colour joke, not an ogle, not a strange costume choice

there's not a lot of women in this story generally, Amy is kind of the only one who matters, and this one little girl who's in two scenes and doesn't have any lines, but I think that's something we'll get to later on when discussing this

PLOT-POINT: Eh, Amy doesn't really matter so much in this, apart from the scenes where she calls out the Doctor, which isn't really her, so much as him. it's not even a complaint as such, but I do still wonder... if this is a sign that maybe her story should have ended in The God Complex, since we're three episodes into s7 and she's not got much to do for her own story

COMPLEXITY: it's a good setup, town in the Wild West, beset by a gunslinger from space, because they're harbouring an alien war criminal who has since been repenting by healing their sick and bettering their lives generally

it's there to open the doors to discussions on morality

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: ah soooo, there's stuff here about the Doctor, subtextually, and I appreciate that it didn't do what God Complex did and spell it out so much (even though God Complex is still The episode of all time for this era)

the alien the Doctor has to choose to protect or throw to the gunslinger killed a lot of people in order to stop a war -- okay wait, before I go more into that as "see, like the Doctor," I have a question. has the show added the lore that it's the Doctor that killed the Timelords yet? because I don't think that comes up until later

we have last of the Timelords, we have the stuff at End Of Time where he sends Rassilon/Gallifrey back, but I think... that the Doctor pressed a big button and they all died is the 50th anniversary, no?

point being, one can begin to have a little wonder if this works for oneself or not, in terms of lore. 2005 nu!who established all the Timelords are dead, so far so good, End Of Time the Doctor sends the Timelords back to die, because allowing the Time War out would kill everyone, okay, the Doctor killed everyone... is an interesting thing I haven't thought much about until this moment. and then later on ofc (Chibnall era) we're getting the Doctor is in fact the most special Time Lord, the OG who through experiments gave the others time travel and was then force regenerated and had their memory wiped

it's an interesting thing, all this lore... it adds a lot of baggage to a story about a loser alien who's just out to experience the Universe (and who in the nu!who era is a war survivor with PTSD). in the classic!who series the Doctor is already an outsider, because the other Timelords think they're a fucking weirdo (simplification), and while I think -- biased because my era -- that nu!who made a good choice to have the Time War, so that it could strip away some lore and gradually re-introduce it to a new audience, perhaps we're getting... a teensy bit unwieldy here, in terms of who the Doctor is

that is more of a question to myself than an assertion. in any case, in this episode, war criminal, doing penance, nothing is too heavy-handed in playing into the Doctor that one cannot take it as one wants to, arguably the more obvious thing is the Doctor saying "today I honour the victims first, his, the Master's, the Daleks," which is fun, considering the last time we met the Master, the Doctor was desperately trying to get him to stay, because well... last of their species + the Master and the Doctor are Some Kinda Way about each other, so it's considering the fact that when the Doctor tries to hold an "everyone's lives have equal importance" morality constantly, this has had adverse effects on... victims of violence (especially with regards to the Master), and being the judge on this is no good, but also who is the Doctor to judge who deserves to die, etc.

there's also a question about the Doctor travelling alone (Amy says this) becoming more ruthless in exacting things like punishment

COMPANIONS MATTER: well sort oooof, Amy is mostly there to give another point of view to the Doctor's, especially with relation to "can i say that some people need to die," but I'm not convinced that couldn't have been done with someone else in the story, perhaps by refocusing the importance of the child, since there's that whole VO that's talking about her great-grandmother who was there... idk, they're not... really doing much in the story beyond that, especially Rory (who seems kind of fine with them sending this guy out for execution, and that is never explored)

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: nah, I think this episode did relatively well on having this be quite a Doctor-focused episode, without making the Doctor solve everything (or indeed... anything)

there's this bit that Jex the war criminal say: Looking at you Doctor is like looking into a mirror. There’s rage there like me, guilt like me, solitude, everything but the nerve to do what needs to be done. Thank the gods my people weren’t relying on you to save them

and I can see that's meant to be a bit of an Anti-Doctor moment -- the Doctor is not the great saviour that so many previous episodes have set them up to be in this era, the Doctor is a hypocrite, a coward, etcetc.

IIIII am not sure if.... oof, this is subjective. the idea of this as a continuity of exploring the Doctor's inability to save everyone, and need to be in control of situations, and "honouring the victims" there's just something about this episode that doesn't quite emotionally land for me, and I will continue to try and figure out what. the point being, it's meant to be a strong character piece, but I'm not sure it manages it

I'm also highly dubious in an episode that's exploring the Doctor's morality and what he's all about, about why the Doctor never asks the victim's name or background or... just anything really. but we'll get to that in politics

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: here's some of the "crux" of why I'm not sure it manages it, and it's more to do with "previous Doctor Who episodes of this era," than classic!who

in the sense of continuity of emotional journey. I think it's that seasons 1-specials had one long clear arc, one can pinpoint on the whole why the Doctor goes from s1ep1 to The End Of Time. and I'm not convinced that this episode works in this era, because I don't see that same arc in this era

maybe Twelve's era, from what I've heard of it, which deals with a lot of repercussions of having gone too far with things and not knowing if they're actually doing good on the whole, etc.

the main "big" arcs of this era have been 1. the relationship between the Doctor and Amy, a woman whose life he changed forever due to meeting her as a child and breaking a promise to her, which affected her entire upbringing and bent her towards the Doctor in an unhealthy way 2. the relationship between the Doctor and River Song, who is Amy's child and was kidnapped after being born and "brainwashed" into wanting to kill him, only to fall in love, but also if one takes this idea to its actual natural conclusion in conjunction with point the first, the Doctor's continued influence on Amy Pond continuing to be disruptive to the point that her child's entire life is even more (in fact solely one might say) in orbit around the Doctor, and never has the chance to break free from that destructive influence 3. some shit about a prophecy and a question and blabla, that has about zero emotional weight

there haven't really been stories about the Doctor's morality, so much as the Doctor's far more personal relationships, again The God Complex did this soooo well by introducing Rita as a possible companion and her rejecting the Doctor's whole schtick

so while technically this episode is fine as concept, I don't think it's grounded in an emotional continuity, which is a shame. give it to Twelve! watch Capaldi have these emotions!

“SEXINESS”: can you believe, a whole episode without a single sexy joke? wow, a rarity.

INTERNAL WORLD: so it's a Western town, it doesn't neeeed to be that fleshed out I guess, but I do feel like I wish the townsfolk were a bit more than just quaint set-dressing

we hear about Jex the war criminal's influence on this town, but we don't really see it

the Doctor even says to the gunslinger "this is their home, not the backdrop for your revenge," but it doesn't feel like anything but a stereotypical Western township, which is a shame

POLITICS: HA okay the other point where I am not 100% sure about this episode. it has good intentions, is my first point, it's not like it sets out to make conservative points or needlessly sexually harass Queen Nefertiti (sighs at prev episode)

buuuuuuut I just rewatched V for Vendetta a couple of weeks ago, as is the ritual on Guy Fawkes Night, and it's a very similar story, although ofc in V for Vendetta they're experimented on for far more nefarious purposes than "winning a war"... or are they. because that is my point, and maybe it's a pedantic one that a single 45min episode couldn't possibly have the time for, which is that a society/government that allows this sort of violence is "ends justify the means" and these types of governments are always at war in their heads

the idea of a neat divide between peace-time politics which are free to be nice, and war-time politics which necessitate the hard choices is simply not reality, and so the conceit that there was simply nothing else he could do but experiment on people and turn them into killing machines, it's... on shaky grounds

and it's kind of dependent on those grounds to work, because not only is this guy now repenting by doing good, the ends justified the means. they ended the war! millions were saved! (now where have I heard that before about an atom bomb?)

on top of that, the gunslinger isn't really as well-developed. who was he before he was experimented on? what did being forced to kill do to him? did he have friends on the experimenting tables die in front of him? who is he?

it's all well and good to say "but we don't do this Doctor, every life matters, including the war criminals" but why is the war criminal so well-developed, and the gunslinger -- the victim -- not at all?

those grounds are getting shakier by the Minute

why is this story not about the victim? why does the Doctor not go to hear the victim, not in terms of figuring out whether he should give over the war criminal, but just to be kind?

there is one scene in it where the gunslinger enters a church, sees a child and leaves again, because there's a neat thing in this that the gunslinger Will Not Kill Civilians, but that's such an interesting thing that's under-explored too. what if the gunslinger had to change his programming, because the original maybe didn't make a distinction between "enemy" and "civilian" (after all in these kinds of "wars" every person is an enemy, including the children)

what if the programming fights back when he's really upset and Jex the war criminal realises that this is his fault? what if a child died in this episode... that's getting a bit messed up, but let's entertain it for a second? or a parent died protecting their child and the gunslinger has to run from the town to stop the programming -- the programming that's been forced on him through mutilation and experimentation and that violence can never be undone? what if this story was about the victim, and not about a repenting war criminal?

gunslinger, after Jex self-destructs: "He behaved with honour at the end. Maybe more than me"

DID HE???? He just felt bad really, you're the most trauma-inflicted character we've had on this show in some fucking time

so yeah, it's grounds are. shaaaaky. shaky shaky shaky the more you think about it

another minor thing is that none of the main driving characters had to be men, but there's five extra characters in this episode with lines and big-to-small arcs (marshall, jex, gunslinger, young boy, mayor-type) and everyone else is backdrop, which is just kind of... in your cool scifi Western all the women were silent? why did the little girl not get to speak?

FULL RATING: 59/100 (if I can count….)

It's a good concept, executed at the wrong time in the story, and executed very clumsily

the good parts relate to the concept itself, and not spending valuable time being massively sexist

the problem is that it's just not smart enough to explore what it's trying to explore, and it's such a heavy topic, it better know what it's doing or it'll fall flat on its face. I wish it had come at another time with better writing, because I really wish it was better

I also wish that people were more adventurous about writing women. two historical Moments this season and neither have been kind to women for different reasons

is it time for the Ponds to leave? we'll find out next episode (I say, like I don't know their arcs)

[thotsforvillainrights]

Hi! Been a long time fan. 💕

Hope you & the baby are doing well!

May I possibly bother you of getting something with my favorite birb Setsuno finding out he’s having a baby? 🥺

(Baby should be doing just fine! Made exactly 11 weeks today! For about 4 days uninterrupted I've been fighting the most gnarly morning sickness ever. Everything I eat and drink makes me sick. I'm sick from not eating and sick from eating. The only that works is chewing peppermint gum. Anyway, let me get off my ramble and churn out some good old Setsuno content. It's been a while since I've been able to do so!)

(Also again this one is pretty specific so I apologize if some readers can't insert into it! I'm open to writing a Setsuno and his partner adopting alternative later upon request!)

~Setsuno Becoming a Dad~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

-The overflow of emotions he feels in that very moment of you showing him the two pink lines on that stick just overwhelm him all at once. He at a loss for words. He doesn't even care that you just peed on it either. He grabs it gently and doesn't say a word as tears begin streaming down his face. When he finally gathers himself enough to speak to you, he just barely utters out an 'I'm going to be a father?' before looking at your watery eyes for confirmation. As you shake your head he immediately smiles widely and repeats himself much louder this time. That question no longer a question but now an exclamation so loud the neighbors hear it. "I'm going to be a father!!!"

-He literally calls out of work the next day much to Overhaul's dismay. He just wants to spend the whole day with you planning things. I mean sure you've talked about kids in the past and planned some stuff here and there but never on this scale. It's totally different now that its real! He spends the day asking whether or not you want to reveal it now and if not then how will you two do it later on? Of courser a few small people like his parents and your parent need to know early. Maybe your boss possibly so you can plan out parent leave as well? It just depends on how you want to go about things. Don't even get him started on the registry and the baby shower! He's big on planning everything out so don't be afraid to tell him if he's being a little bit hectic on you with everything at the moment. Everyone needs a break here and there.

-Oh you two finally get to take a day out to go baby clothes shopping early. You insist on getting a few gender neutral items since it's still too early to know the baby just yet but Toya swears in his heart it's gonna be a little girl. He gravitates toward small dresses and overalls with matching sun hats. "Look! She'll be so cute when the summer rolls around in this! We can take her to the beach and collect seashells!!!" Way too excited for the surrounding parents who need to back away from the crazy shouting man lol

-His favorite part so far has been staying up late with you in bed and going off your list of baby names together. Although he feels in his heart this will be a girl, he has a much fuller list of baby boy names than traditional girl names. His argument is that some of them can be interchanged.

-Has already put a 'baby on board' sticker on the car and the kid isn't even born yet. "You have to do it so the EMT can know there's a baby in case of an accident to tend to first. What if we forget about the sticker and really need it one day?"

-Has never lapsed in taking care of you, not one day. He even changed his shifts at the hassaikai and worked overtime just so he can be home at the right times to help take care of you. That means for you he's bringing all your craving foods and rubbing your belly all night if he needs to. Morning sickness if no match for him. He's at your feet with medication, ginger ale, and chewing gum. Whatever helps you, he's getting his hands on it. The only downside to his intense care is that you have to go to the doctor a lot more than most people. Any slight cramp or off putting feeling has him going into a frenzy over you to make sure the baby and you are okay. You'll certainly need to put your foot down here or the two of you will be spending more time at the doctor's office than at home.

-Don't even get me started on when your water breaks. The delivery is a whole other story!

[sylvarantii]

The title is a bit deceptive, and while clever, it still doesn't improve things all that much.

I'm not sure if there's going to be much I can say about Detective Conan Movie 18: Dimensional Sniper (or as some title it "Sniper from Another Dimension")

It's fine. The story's fine and I am really pleased to finally have a movie with Sera in it (as well as Subaru, but his parts were smaller, so I don't feel like I can say much about it).

Anyway, was definitely expecting something more. I'll give credit where credits due and say though that the sniping scenes definitely had this weight of danger to them. I think in media, it's very common to see shoot outs with just hand guns and over all people being killed at closer range.

Or that's my case anyway.

To see scenes of people being shot down by a rifle gun is so brutal in another way. It feels so powerful and like the power of the bullets just does so much more damage. And then of course, the horror of being completely oblivious to it all. Just going about your own business and then it suddenly happen? I don't know, I just very much feel like the movie and animators conveyed how terrifying this sort of thing is.

I overall try to avoid heavy spoilers in case anyone wants to watch the movie for themself, but I do want to make one spoilery comment, so if you'd rather watch the movie first, I'm just going to comment enter in my thoughts in the space below and indicate when I'm done with the same cut off lines.

___

I was a bit touched by the relationship between Hunter and Yoshino. Yoshino clearly cared a lot for Hunter and even when Hunter had second doubts about their plan, Yoshino insisted because he wanted to help him get revenge. It's sort of a bittersweet moment, but it was exchange I liked, personally. It was a little touching, in a way.

___

Kudos to the guy who voiced Waltz by the way. I'm not trying to rag too hard on the voice casting for this series or the movies, but a lot of times they do hire vas that really do not speak English all of that well and it's very easy to tell. Even in this movie, a lot of English speakers were a little stilted and their performance sort of suffers because they're just not accustom to the language.

But damn, the va for Waltz? He at least has the pronunciation down. I could very easily understand what he was saying and I have to at least give him a bit of praise. Being a native Japanese person and having to do a performance where you need to be a foreigner and speak English through a good majority in your role can't be easy. He did a really good job.

Anyway, onto the ratings list, I suppose.

1.) The Raven Chaser (13th Movie)

2.) The Fourteenth Target (2nd Movie)

3.) The Lost Ship in the Sky (14th Movie)

4.) The Time Bombed Skyscraper (1st Movie)

5.) Magician of the Silver Sky (8th Movie)

6.) Captured in Her Eyes (4th Movie)

7.) Crossroad in the Ancient Capital (7th Movie)/Lupin the III vs. Detective Conan: The Movie

8.) Quarter of Silence (15th Movie)

9.) The Phantom of Baker Street (6th Movie)

10.) Countdown to Heaven (5th Movie)

11.) Strategy Above the Depths (9th Movie)

12.) The Private Eyes' Requiem (10th Movie)

13.) Full Score of Fear (12th Movie)

14.) The Eleventh Striker (16th Movie)

15.) The Wizard of the Last Century (3rd Movie)

16.) Dimensional Sniper (18th Movie)

17.) Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure (11th Movie)

18.) Private Eye in the Distant Sea (17th Movie)

Yeah, I have to say, a pretty unimpressive movie overall. I really did try to like it and of course, it has its good moments. But man, just like some of the other movies, the build up and pay off is a little too slow and small for my liking.

Still a pretty good watch though. Especially if you enjoy anything with not only Sera and Subaru, but the FBI Agents.

[athenaholmesartistsguild]

So if you're an AA fan, you've probably seen the news that 4, 5, and 6 are getting ported to E V E R Y T H I N G just like the OG trilogy and seeing people's reactions to the direction the series took (specifically regarding AA5 and 6) has me thinking about my personal conspiracies about why this direction was taken.

Justifiably, AA4's reception has gotten a lot warmer over the years and --I think-- has circled around to being considered a pretty good installment in the series. Which is good. I agree with this opinion.

But back in my day! (the mid 2010s) I felt so stupid for liking AA4! It was considered obvious that this was a Bad Game (TM) and if you liked it you were an uncultured fool. Personally, I think a lot of people were just mad that the game was different? Obviously, there are valid reasons to not like AA4, but I'm more referring to the overall attitude I observed at this point in the fandom which was that the game was different and therefor lesser.

And I think this attitude caused Capcom to backpedal a bit.

Mentions of AA4 were completely stripped from 5 (save for Apollo, Trucy, and Klavier still being there, the Wright Anything Agency keeping its name and appearace, and Phoenix's AA4 self being mentioned). Even Phoenix seemed to be scrubbed of any flaws. He's just a Nice Guy now. He's a Good Boss. He isn't someone capable of having his daughter forge evidence. He isn't someone who cheats at poker anymore.

And regardless of whether or not you think these decisions were good or bad, it completely changed the way the series was developing. We can't explore the Jury system anymore (at least not until the DGS games). Apollo and Trucy's mother isn't mentioned until the very end of 6. Characters that appeared in 4 can only tentatively be mentioned.

I think 6, because it came out almost 10 years after the initial backlash, is able to reference AA4 more and we're starting to see hints that unfinished story lines WILL (maybe) be wrapped up, but the damage has kinda already been done.

I don't think we're gonna hear from Kristoph again. I don't think Phoenix is gonna go back to his flawed, messy, bisexual self. I still have a tiny, flickering hope that Klavier will show up again, but I'm not optimistic.

And I'm not saying that everyone who disliked AA4 is to blame, or even that the people all those years ago who disliked the game for being different caused our current timeline, either.

Companies are looking for ways to maximize their profits and that oftentimes turns into making art that's safe and palatable rather than taking a bunch of risks. AA4 was a risk and in Capcom's eyes, it didn't pay off critically (although if I remember correctly, it sold pretty well). And that harmed the 'Ace Attorney ~brand~'

Art is frequently at the mercy of the companies who publish it and the consumers who buy it (or don't). I think we ended up with an over-correction that, in hindsight, was a poor decision.

But I digress. I partly just wanted to talk about my experiences in the fandom trenches back in the 2010s. That feels like an eternity ago and it's so much fun to see how it's grown and to interact with new fans.

[backslashdelta]

top 10 gifsets you've made the year - go go go!!!

HI HEY HELLO thank you for this very unexpected question I will be happy to answer it for you and also for me!!

We're gonna start at 10 and work our way down :) I will say that these aren't technically in order of my favourite, it's more about how objectively good I think they are, but obviously my personal preference is coming into play a bit too.

10: Klaine + stages of their relationship. This is a pretty simple one but I think that works in its favour, it's a fun concept and I think I did a really good job with the colouring (which is an area I feel like I've improved on a lot this year).

9: Kurtofsky as king and queen of hearts. I think this concept is SUPER cool, it's something very different from a lot of other things I've done and I think it came out really well. I really like the reds and the reflections and just yeah I think it's neat. There are some things I would probably change if I were to do it now, but overall I'm still pretty happy with it.

8: Klaine duets on Spotify. I love a good Spotify gifset and I also think I did a good job with the colouring on this one.

7: New Directions + Seasons of Love lyrics (not the scene from the show, just using the lyrics). I love how warm this is, I like the text effects I ended up with, and it just has a really warm cozy vibe. It feels special to me. And it was a gift, so that makes it extra special.

6: Kurtcedes in 4 Minutes. This isn't very complicated but I think the colours REALLY pop and I think I did a good job with picking what clips to use and the fonts and all that.

5: Kurt + Gin Joints lyrics. This bitch LOVES a good glitch effect and she loves a good b&w vs colour contrast and she loves a lyric gifset and she loves some mixed fonts featuring a cursive. This might not be the best gifset in the list technically but it IS the one that I think about the most often it replays in my head frequently I love it a lot.

4: Klaine in Come What May. I killed it with the colouring and that smoke effect is super cool. I refuse to be modest because I know this set is a banger.

3: Puck's Kiss Costume. I think the colouring in this slaps and the text effects/font choices are pretty cool and work super well with the set and the layout works really well too, just all around some great choice and execution on my part imo.

2: Kurtofsky in Prom Queen. When I started making this I never expected to love it as much as I do. But I just think it's really gorgeous. I love the colours mixed with the black and white. I think the blending turned out really well, I sometimes struggle there so I'm really happy I pulled it off so well here. I love the effect of the simple font and the line down the center pulling it all together, and then the jagged line and the glitching text at the bottom I just want to SCREAM it makes me feel things. I don't know if you're supposed to say stuff like that about your own creations but I'm saying it anyway. But yeah. I just think I did a great job. And this one was a gift, too, which is fun.

1: Santana + Epiphany lyrics. I think this is probably my best gifset of the year technically speaking. On top of having some top notch colouring, it's also got some great blending, overlays, text animation, and a fun funky layout gif too. It's just a really cohesive set and I spent a lot of time on it (and so did you lol) and it turned out really really soft and pretty. I'm not usually a gold/yellow/orange girlie when I make gifs and when this was conceived that's not what it was going to be, but I am really glad it turned out that way because I think it really works!

[hylaversicolor]

good omens 2

i enjoyed some of it! the first half had me hooked the whole time, i didn't find myself yearning to fast forward through badly paced stuff until episode 4 or so. i thoroughly enjoyed the job and grave robbing subplots and overall didn't mind the season's slow pace - good omens at its heart is about an angel and demon hanging out and doing stupid bullshit so the slice of life stuff was fun and much more consistent than the all-over-the-place pacing of s1 (which the more i look back on the more i heartily dislike lol). no god narration is also a plus! everyone's caked on orange makeup was pretty distracting tho, moreso than s1.

i was pleasantly surprised by nina and maggie at first, i found them likeable and engaging. the second half of the season was where everything started to fall apart though. i wouldn't even mind (i cannot fucking believe i'm saying this) neilman using the lesbian subplot to further the relationship of crowley and aziraphale on principle IF the lesbian subplot had been developed adequately. sadly it wasn't. nina and maggie mostly just react to stuff. we learn a little bit about them but it was a little sad to see them both play straight man to aziraphale and crowley's antics by the climax. most of their dialogue towards the end of the season came down to "what's going on?" or "this is weird" not to mention by that point the b plot with miranda richardson had converged on them and i was SO ready for it to be over (i CANNOT believe they made miranda richardson unfunny. other than her line about toast i don't think i laughed once)

and then you look back on it and realize nina didn't really have anything to do except make coffee and get bombarded w texts from her abusive partner (sidenote i love that they made her cgi erase a chalkboard so they could put little texts on it, what was that about), and maggie didn't really have anything to do except crush on nina and be depressed about rent. i wanted more from their characters. and then they have this whole talk with crowley in e6 about "you need to sit down and talk to aziraphale about how you're feeling" but it just feels disingenuous because we never really got to see nina and maggie's own relationship develop organically NOR do we get to see the payoff to all that buildup OR azcrow's buildup because the season just ends. also that line about "we're real people, you don't get to just put us together" came off a little odd, like neil that's exactly what you were doing. you don't get to do something and then turn around and tell us not to do it. lol

i didn't mind the gabriel/beelzebub relationship, i didn't like it or hate it, i just REALLY wanted all that slow paced buildup to actually. you know. build up to something. rather than the metatron coming out of nowhere and stopping all that development in its tracks. all in all good solid start but i think the reason people are complaining about it feeling slow is because none of it ever amounted to anything. i kept waiting for someone to turn into a gecko or for some laudanum or those nazi zombies to show up again at the climax but they didn't. what was it all for neil???

much better than s1 though. unfortunately aziraphale and crowley have their claws in me for life

[eternivex-a]

📌 how did you find your hyperfixation? ✨ what draws you towards your hyperfixation? what is interesting about it? 🎥 do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation? 💕 tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them! 💔 tell us about one of your LEAST favorite characters and why you dislike them. 💎 are there any fun facts or trivia that you would like to share?

Time to get so autistic [huh_squidward]

📌 how did you find your hyperfixation?

Fairly simple actually, my dad had a copy of Saints Row 2 since I was a little kid and when I was like 5? 6? I started playing it, then as the years went on I played more and more of it, beat the story several times, started playing the other games and I beat most of them. Besides Saints Row 1, right up until last year in the summer. I beat SR1 and 2, then in December I beat 3, 4 and Gat Out Of Hell in a week long streak.

✨ what draws you towards your hyperfixation? what is interesting about it?

Honestly, I'm not 100% sure. Anything with violence and crime seems to attract me, but the world and characters definitely play a big part in it all. Maybe it's why I don't enjoy the later games as much, since they were pretty lacking in both departments. The combat is what kept me going back to the later games, since its objectively better than the mechanics in the first two. Overall I'm not really sure, I've just grown really attached to everything with these games over the years.

🎥 do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation?

A few! Julius' death in the second game is definitely one, seeing the final climax to what had been built up from the ending of the first game and the events of the second. The entire House Party scene in Saints Row 2 is another one, seeing Gat and the boss fight off the Ronin right after an impactful death is just fuckin awesome.

💕 tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

Troy is actually one of my favorites, he's a bit more complex in the sense that he grew genuinely close to the Saints despite being an undercover cop. He saved the playas life twice, once in the beginning of the series and the second time was just by keeping them alive in their coma. Refusing to pull the plug no matter how much he was told to, because he cared about the playa. He still shows loyalty to them even after he becomes chief of police, and is willing to get on the bosses payroll by the third. He should've gotten more screentime honestly, he's one of the most interesting and important characters in the series.

💔 tell us about one of your LEAST favorite characters and why you dislike them.

It's a tie between Angel and Julius, Angel because he's just a very weak character in terms of, y'know, character. And Julius because of what he did to the boss. But the thing is, Julius actually had a good character and some development, where Angel was just a bad character altogether. I found him to be really annoying and the fact that he refuses to talk to you if you don't kill Killbane at the end of the game is also irritating! Angels just terrible, plain and simple.

💎 are there any fun facts or trivia you'd like to share?

Dex was going to be killed in an Xbox arcade game called moneyshot! You would've sniped him at a dinner party. Julius was never meant to be the villain, the ending to Saints Row 1 was completely altered because some animators didn't do what they were told to. Originally he was supposed to be running out of an alleyway bruised and bloody, but the animators kinda just... Didn't feel like doing that, so they made him stand there looking at his watch which set him up as the bad guy. The playas name was originally Mickey, and they did speak in the trailer. I do prefer the fully customizable direction they went with the game, instead of just having the playa be a set character. Also, there's a direct reference to Dead Rising in the form of a "I've covered wars y'know" line from a male news reporter if you taunt him.

[simpz-art-stash]

The Lego Movie - Fic Shoutouts

Having been left without LMK season 4 content for the longest while I ended up rewatching both ‘the lego movie’s’ a few nights back and got sucked into the world enough to go looking for content. Specifically fic's!

I managed to find a few, and snag some rec's from some pals, and I just wanted to share them since I know how hard it can be to find good recommendations!

Who are you if you're not yourself? by ThinkNameWhat

Status: In Progress [8/?] (Last update - Feb 08 2023)

Summary: For his whole life, Emmet's been belittled, pitied, mocked, and over all treated terribly. He'd always brushed it off, but after the Systarians showed up, and Apocalypseburg was formed things got worse. After 5 years in Apocalypseburg Emmet decides that he's tired of being treated like garbage. However, nobody is ever going to respect Emmet for how he actually is, but…

Maybe they'll respect Rex.

(This fic is pretty good, the pacing is on par with the movie in some parts, and some of the character’s are a lil one sided, but overall I like the concept and I’m looking forward to seeing the writer improve the more they write!)

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This might as well happen by ThinkNameWhat

Status: In Progress [18/?] (Last update - Jan 30 2023)

Summary: It had never been Emmet's intention for Rex to die, and he sorta wished he could come back. Well two weeks later Rex does, but in one of the worst ways possible. God I'm so bad at summaries, but it's another fic where Emmet and Rex are sharing a body like Good cop/ Bad cop.

(Another interesting concept! I really like the way they wrote Emmet in this one, he and Rex kind of are at odds with one another but I feel Rex is sort of starting to bring out the Rex in Emmet the longer they’re together. There are some pretty intense scenes, and the pacing is a bit better than the fic above they also wrote. Definitely a good read.)

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What You Have Is Special by BlueWeirdness

Status: Completed [12/12]

Summary: The Sistar aliens weren't asking for much, just one little thing and then they would leave the citizens alone. Surely they wouldn't miss him. After all, wasn't he everything they'd come to hate?

(This one was one I’d been looking for after I saw the movies. I'm so glad someone had the same idea and enough momentum to put it into a story! The pacing is good, and the character’s are on point too! The plot is also very well done and the motives for all the characters and how they carry them out mimic the second movie in its own way. 10/10!)

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Parting Line by Jessepinwheel

Status: Completed [9/9]

Summary: Back in Business's Artifact Chamber, Bad Cop chooses loyalty to his parents over loyalty to Business and pays the price.

After Taco Tuesday, Good Cop is alone and deals with the consequences.

Or: Bad Cop dies instead of Good Cop, and Good Cop copes, as best as he can. Everyone else slowly learns that Good Cop isn't exactly who they thought he was.

(This fic was…WOOF, a doozy to go through. Not saying it’s bad, not by any means! If anything it’s TOO good for the concepts it explores. Because the concepts themselves are PRETTY HEAVY. And if you are going through a tough time, miiiight wanna hold off reading this one. But the plot / pacing / character’s are all on point and well thought out. The way they explore Good Cop’s character is really something, and the ending left me in tears </3)

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

That’s all the fic’s I’ve found so far, if you’ve got any suggestions to your own favorites then be sure to reblog this with your additions! I’d love to read more! <3

[clearlakeve]

a insomnia-driven set of thoughts (i.e. a book review) on Julia Armfield's Our Wives Under The Sea

I feel like I should like this book more than I actually did. On paper, it's got all the stuff I like -- a tragedy in the making, "you love her but you can't keep her", the ocean, cosmic horror, etc. But...something about the execution is just off for me I guess? 

Let me be clear: these are 100% my own opinions, and I understand that a lot of people like this book. That's absolutely fine! Nobody has to agree with me! Everyone is entitled to their own opinions! No hate here :)

Things I liked:

   1) I think the book does a very good job of acknowledging/representing the queer love? romance? at its core. Miri and Leah are married, and that is important to them, and it's not a major plot point or anything, but there are still subtle societal pressures surrounding them. It's always nice to see relationships like this normalized in a realistic way.

   2) The ocean descriptions. oh my god. I love the ocean and I think the book did an excellent job of conveying its beauty and also how terrifying and vast and unknown it is. "To know the ocean, I have always felt, is to recognize the teeth it keeps half hidden." Amazing. 10/10 line. Beautiful.

   3) Leah's chapters are pretty cool. She's obviously the more dynamic character to Miri's more passive one, and while this...has certain drawbacks I'll talk about later, conceptually the idea that the more passive person, the one left behind picking up the pieces is the one stuck in the present while the dynamic character is (in a sorta meta sense) stuck in the past is a pretty cool subversion of traditional adventuring/fiction tropes. It's clear that the Leah whose chapters we read no longer exists in Miri's present.

   4) It was always going to end like this. You were never going to be able to keep her. "Every horror movie ends the way you know it will." That one Tumblr post that goes something like "I loved you so much I broke the laws of nature to bring you back but I do not think either of us are happy." (aka the leftover pizza post). Despite the fact that I had issues with the way Miri and Leah were written, the sense of mounting doom constant in the background of the story was there, and contributed heavily to the tone of the overall story.

My problems:

   1a) I think my biggest problem is that the story and writing just did not make me care enough about either of the main characters. We are supposed to care about Miri, and through her, care about Leah. (I concede that Miri herself acknowledged this, but being self aware about this does not invalidate the detachment I felt from both the characters.) Leah and Miri are the center of the story -- if we cannot bring ourselves to care about them, the story sort of falls apart at the seams.

   1b) I think this lack of care is because neither Miri nor Leah get any real character development in the story. I was on a 14-hour flight, trying to understand why I loved The Song of Achilles but not this book, when they're conceptually and theoretically a bit similar. I mean, one reason is that Madeleine Miller's writing just works much better for me personally, but also, we are drawn to care about Patroclus and Achilles because we get to actually see Achilles develop as a character (from a young boy to an...adult?), and fight against his own demons and societal pressures. Even though it's a similar character pairing, where one character is much more dynamic than the other, the timespan of TSOA really works for it. In comparison, Our Wives Under the Sea sort of glosses over Miri and Leah's character development (we assume that it exists. It honestly might not.) in favor of a really short timespan and a lot of introspection. (Leah's portions are set in the past, but they focus pretty much solely on the events of the ill-fated submarine expedition, while Miri's are only about the aftermath. Kind of makes the whole story disjointed.)

   2) Connected to problem 1 (probably the reason for it tbh), but Miri is barely an entity in the story. This is bad because by and large, her sections are longer than Leah's. We know she loves Leah, she has a weird and complicated relationship with her mother, and probably suffers from some mental illness. But she spends such a large portion of the book waffling around and just being confused about everything! This does not an interesting character make. 

   3) Connected/extension to problem 2. Miri is so...passive? I wanted more emotion from her. It feels like she doesn't even do all that much to try to help Leah, it's really just her coming to terms that Leah is not actually back, and/or that she's changed. I wanted her to fight before coming to terms with it, or fight it to the end. Instead her entire tone was more just resigned. I cannot understand the care and love she had for Leah if she's so resigned and just depressed about it all the time. (Maybe her repeated calling of the Centre is supposed to be her fighting? Idk I just didn't get enough of that from her.)

   4) Too much is left unknown. I personally think the not knowing what Leah saw in the ocean is fine, but all the stuff happening with the Centre felt very mundanely confusing for no apparent reason? And I guess the author was maybe going for realism, where sometimes you just don't get answers to questions but...it's just more confusion on top of the already confusing wtf is happening to Leah thing.

   5) Kind of nitpicking at this point, but I felt like the introduction of Juna felt really unnecessary. I think it should've been someone else who drove Miri to the beach. Perhaps Carmen or Sam? Or maybe she drives herself idk. Most of the side characters in Miri's parts honestly felt useless to me. At least Jelka and Matteo seemed to serve actual narrative purpose in Leah's parts?

My final verdict: 2/5 ⭐.

Long story short, I really wish I had liked this book more than I actually did. It has such a cool premise! Maybe it was the stream-of-consciousness writing style or something, but it just wasn't my thing.