#it was def more gory than the manga?

[sk2lton]

i js finished watching the first ep of csm, bllk, and bleach tybw and i will never experience that kind of happiness ever again

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

A few weeks ago you made a post about bastardisations of Christian faith in popular media (eg supernatural good omens etc etc) and I was wondering if there are any tv show/films that you know of/would recommend that include biblical figures and/or Christian theology in a manner that is respectful?

Heh, that's a hard one. Non-christian stuff with biblical themes/characters tend to be... yknow, blasphemous, and Christian/biblical movies and tv shows tend to absolutely, completely, deeply suck xD The few exceptions are Prince of Egypt and Joseph King of Dreams, which are absolute must see masterpieces, and I'd recommend Season 1 of The Chosen (but nothing after if you want good theology/historicity :/) The Passion of the Christ is a bit ~heh on the theological side, and pretty gory, but it's kind of too big not to mention. I hear Ben Hur is really good but I've never actually watched it. Another GREAT movie I can recommend is Paul, Apostle of Christ (which about Paul's last days in Rome before his execution + the persecution of the early church by Nero).

For more secular pop media, def watch:

Samurai Champloo anime exploring Japanese history and culture through three unlikely allies' long journey accross a somewhat anachronistic Edo era Japan; it takes a while for the Christian aspects to show up but they explicitly do and it's really good)

Narnia the books - the movies not so much. anyway, Aslan is Jesus and all that.

Les Miserables and especially its manga adaptation by Takahiro Arai. the theology is not so overt, but the manga very deliberately touches upon new birth and it's incredibly moving. dunno how far along the english fanlations are but Valjean and Miriel's encounter is all translated. As for the book itself, Hugo's faith is a complicated matter, but it still underlines a lot of the plot and themes

Scrubs not a whole lot of Christian/biblical stuff, it's just a good fun medical show, but there are a few explicitly Christian characters and two or three episodes that really get into it; off the top of my head, 1x11, 5x5 and 6x14/6x15

SoeurThérèse.com a french detective tv show where the main character, Sister Therese, formerly Juliette, is an ex-cop nun who still helps out with cases. it's sweet

Hacksaw Ridge EXTREMELY violent and bloody movie, true story of a conscientious objector who enlisted during WWII as a medic, to save rather than to kill, on the basis of his Christian faith

Pilgrim's Progress has some good adaptations iirc (it's a 1678 allegorical novel about the life journey of a Christian, but today it reads a lot like epic fantasy). It's been adapted A LOT though so take your pick

I'm coming up kind of short because I don't watch a lot of shows/movies, I'm more of a 'deeply invested in one franchise' type of person ah ah.

[spiritmaiden23]

OK Y’ALL HERE WE ARE character ref sheet that started out as a way of showing Sky’s scar and honestly anatomy practice of sorts (got a long way to go) but then turned into... this mess. I’m not sure if this is readable because transferring art from my phone to laptop is like... a Nightmare so I’ll break it down for you guys here!!! Placing this under the read more because I can’t shut up. Excuse the cut off legs ;v; I... didn’t measure it as well as I thought. 

First! Let’s start with the scar! Something I mentioned long ago is that Zel gets the good ol’ reincarnation scar because honestly, it’s a cool trope! It starts near the ending of her collar bone to her ribcage! There’s a little curve to it, as you can see. Well, the heart is located on the left side of the ribcage, that’s where the ending blow for H/ylia occurred among other injuries that was inflicted on her during the final battle against Demise. They both did a lot of damage to each other, let’s put it that way without going all gory ;v; While you can see the hint of the scar depending on which outfit she wears (her goddess dress you can’t see it too well along with the outfit she wears in the beginning of the game), the entire scar itself is like impossible to see because Clothing. Still, it’s a weird place to have a scar and often times she does get asked questions about it if one were to spot it to which she makes up ridiculous stories. Even she herself doesn’t know the origins of it until she regains her memories and remembers that memory of her death in particular. So now, when she looks at it there’s this unpleasant feeling as she remembers the final battle. Often times, she just doesn’t look at it. In any other verse... hmm.. well I guess in witch verse a magic spell gone wrong as for her priestess verse same reasoning as her main verse. 

Arched back the character is she, no reason why aside from that being her posture and also easier to draw for me! As for the moles, again no real significance to it. Much like ALTTP Zel, I wanted to make more human details to make her feel more... well human haha! While you can look up the meaning of moles and their location... it’s a bit interesting actually but I’m not sure if that stuff is real. She has a slender form and she’s pretty petite, standing at 5′3 and has narrow shoulders and a small back. Her hips being the width of her shoulders so I guess hourglass is the closet shape but like... hint of it? If that makes sense hweoh. Legs are shoujo long so something to keep in mind when drawing her to evoke that shoujo feel!! Ya girl mildly ripped! She’s not super swell but her body is lightly toned from all that knight training and sword play! 

SO HERE’S A FUN FACT!!! ZEL/DA’S EARS!!! Ok well, they’re longer than the usual H/ylian ears ;v; when she was younger she was a bit worried about them but now she doesn’t mind so much. Considering her connection to the gods, she’s probably the closet we’ll get to seeing a god in person in the game since she’s a mortal goddess! That being said, she can hear the gods and spirits of the realm, her ears are sensitive to hearing even the smallest things along with gods and spirits. Small whispering really, sometimes I do include that fun fact within my prose but she has a strong connection with the gods and spirits since she has a stronger, potent divine energy. While not as impressive as her god form it’s still far more than humans. I have a small headcanon as the family line continues it gets somewhat diluted, the powers I mean. Considering the trifor/ce of wisdom and in some incarnation blood of the sages, the royal family doesn’t have much to fear with being super weak or anything like that! 

AS FOR HER HAIR, OK I WON’T LIE SAILOR MOON INSPIRED ME FOR THAT ONE NAMELY THE MANGA!! So, each time she prays and regains a memory as well as seals her self away, the hair grows all the way down to her feet trailing behind her. Im/pa tends to cut it to it’s waist length whenever this happens as per request of Zellie. I... I just think it’s super cool that’s literally the only reason why I did that. Her hime bangs def grow down to her face as well haha, it’s a very annoying thing to Zel because that’s way too much hair for her to handle. 

For drawing tips on the eyes, she has a more almond shape I guess. I was surprised they didn’t give Zel more wider looking eyes typical for shoujo protags and though still big... yeah. Anyhow, she has curled lashes and unlike ALTTP Zel she does not wear any makeup. NOT THAT SHE NEEDS ANY SHE’S ABSOLUTE GODDESS SO... YANNO?! Zel usually has a smile on her face, she’s very genki like that. Something to keep in mind is that she loves smiling but she’s usually very expressive, it’s very, very stupid easy to read her thoughts! 

Hmm... I think that’s about it! The color palette needs no explaining. Her eyes are darker blue in canon but... I decided to make them the color of the skies since I gave ALTTP Zel dark eyes to contrast with the paleness of hair and skin because hunty I love contrast!! But hey thanks for reading this far, nintendo who? canon what? Sorry don’t know her. I know this is canon divergent but in case you didn’t notice I like to add minor details to muses I rp as. It’s fun to do that instead of following canon all the time! And also to stand out just a tiny bit more from other sky Zels! Not gonna lie haha!!

[kpoppwriter]

I haven't really watched a lot of anime lately as well but I'm def going to watch the new adaption of Horimiya (I remember that I loved the Webcomic and the first adaption was cute. It was just that the drawing style wasn't my cup of tea). Kaichou wa maid-sama and Attack on Titan are classics! Everybody who recommends that one is completely right (for AoT I just grew tired of waiting and switched to reading the manga though). Durarara was also great, however, I remember that there are a lot of story lines so I recommend watching it in a relatively short time. Otherwise it might get confusing. Joker Game broke my heart and if you don't mind crying like a little girl over anime try Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (I saw the ending coming and still cried). If you want something a little more gory (not too bad though) and want to give a 3D anime a shot (kinda had to get used to the style) I'd recommend Ajin. So those were some that I could remember from the top of my head. Gangsta was one of my favs, however, the manga is sooooo much better than the anime (probs because the study was broke and got shut down afterwards).

Ah cool cool. Thanks for the recs but I don’t really watch anime anymore 😅

[inktae]

Ok so I think I’m honestly just going to submit this because this is probably going to be long and the ask box can be a bit annoying.

So here we go ^^

If both story and writing style are important to you YOU NEED to check out the handmaids tale by margaret atwood! I don’t think there are many authors who combine the two as well as she does tbh. Tht is a bit slow paced (but NOWHERE near as much as atlwcs) but her writing is honestly everything and the atmosphere! Oh my gosh she’s so good at creating the right atmosphere. You know how dystopias often feel kind of unrealistic? This one feels scarily plausible (atwood actually didn’t include anything that didn’t exist somewhere at some point in history) and honestly with the way politics are atm, it’s actually pretty relevant. Her main character isn’t some badass bitch that conspires to take down the system either but a breathing flawed human being who feels incredibly real.

Also literary fiction but with a completely different approach are life after life by kate atkinson and station eleven by emily st. john mandel. I’ve read lal some time ago but I just remember being absolutely hooked. Super shortly put it’s about the main character (a woman born in 1910) who gets to live her life again and again with full knowledge of her previous lives. The story is super engaging and addictive and the plot is so so intricately constructed. Her style is really elegant but the structure’s even more so, there are so many timelines (taking place in alternative realities nonetheless) and so many recurrent themes but she makes it work so well! It also asks some really interesting questions about the definition of living a “right” life, individual responsibility and how much agency an individual really has and how much in life is up to circumstances/out of a persons hand.

Station eleven is about so many things at once but it mainly takes place in north america in the time during and after an apocalypse (not the dramatic zombie kind, but it’s literally just some flue if I remember correctly). It has a lot of different povs and timelines but as in lal it’s awe inspiringly elegantly organized. A central theme is definitely the importance of stories and storytelling for humanity as well as individuals, for example the book focuses partly on a shakespearian theatre company touring the post apocalyptical usa, but there are also multiple narratives relating to a comic book (it’s creator, it’s consumers, the people who derive meaning from it), an aspiring actor in the days before the apocalypse and the cost of fame etc and all the narratives are related to another and slowly come together as the novel progresses.

For space related stuff: consider checking out the book of strange new things by michel faber. The synopsis sounds incredibly weird, it’s literally about a priest assigned to convert aliens who has to leave his wife back on earth for his mission. But it’s actually equal parts literary and science fiction and a metaphor for the relationship between the author and his wife who was dying of cancer as he wrote the book (I honestly cried as I read the interview in which he said that). It’s super hard to describe so you should probably just read some reviews to get a feel for it. Ah and it’s also very readable if you aren’t religious even though the main character is a priest (I’m not religious and really enjoyed it and I’m pretty sure the author himself is an atheist (it deals very respectfully with religion though)). I think I like it slightly less than tht, lal and station eleven but it’s still a really great book and the concept is really something else and it’s space related too, so I figured why not include it. Also the covers of the canongate versions are gorgeous af (and maybe the reason I bought it in the first place)

I’ve only ever read the german translation (the original is czech I think), but if you are into books with more of a philosophical approach read the unbearable lightness of being by milan kundera! I read this like three years ago and I have no idea how to summarise this but it’s really interesting

Another author I’ve only ever read in german is italo calvino (originally italian) of whom I really enjoyed if on a winters night a traveller and invisible cities. Invisible cities is a novella/poetry collection so it’s probably not everyone’s sort of thing but I really enjoy the images he creates. and ioawnat is really something else (it’s also written in 2nd person and I read it before I started reading fanfiction, so I found it very hard to get into at first). I really enjoyed the way he plays with different writing styles and the narrative structure (which is super complex, it’s sort of a book in a book in a book in a book…?) and it’s kind of a postmodern classic, so reading it does make you feel smart lol, but I probably wouldn’t recommend it if you’re in a reading slump, since calvino isn’t very plot or character driven.

Idk if you are into comics/graphic novels, but if yes: the sandman by neil gaiman! The first few issues are a bit weaker than the rest but it’s probably the best fantasy related series I’ve ever read. also if you should read it start with the main series and none of the prequels/spinoffs, it gets super confusing otherwise, and the artist changes all few issues/each arc to reflect the mood of the story which I think is super cool.

Space related and also comics/graphic novels: saga by brian k. vaughan and fiona staples, ok this one is super hard to summarise but imagine romeo and juliet in space paired with star wars and game of thrones? The art is probably my favorite ever but it’s also very explicit and gory (think game of thrones) which honestly took me a while to get used to (but I’m also a bit of a chicken when it comes to this stuff). It’s really really good though and the plot keeps you on edge, unlike sandman the series is still ongoing though.

Also wuthering heights by emily bronte is one of the best things ever written, just saying.

Aaaand if you are into chick flick/cutesy stuff fangirl by rainbow rowell is great!

I can’t believe this got so long, ugh I’m powerless against procrastination sdhfjkl :’). Anyways I hope some of these sound at least kind of interesting to you!

- coffee

DAMN I GOT SO EXCITED WHEN I SAW ALL THESE RECS OMG -

okay, I am definitely intrigued by the handmaids tale. I tried not to read the reviews too much but they seemed to find the plot quite compelling and that definitely caught my attention. also, someone commented about the blind assassin by the same author. have you read this one? it seems quite interesting as well :)

oh boy, life after life sounds very interesting. I saw a few reviews and they seem mixed, but I am still going to keep it in mind. and station eleven... I read the summary and !!! I love it already!! I adore apocalyptic universes and this seems to be a very original take on it. I might read this one first. ^^

ALSO ADULT SCI-FI, THANK YOU FOR THAT REC. yes it’s strange, and that’s what draws me to this book. :)) oh and I did read milan kundera’s book a few years back! it was actually a school assignment, and I ended up enjoying it a lot. I should give it another try though, because I think I would understand it differently now. 

also!!! neil gaiman!! I’ve had his books on pending for ages, so thank you for reminding me about him. even though I have never read a graphic novel, I do enjoy mangas so I’ll probably enjoy this one quite a lot. ^^

AJLSD I THINK A FRIEND ACTUALLY READ SAGA AND WAS REALLY ENJOYING IT. the reviews are also astonishing! will def keep it in mind as well. 

emily bronte is another author I’ve had in my pendings for a while (sorry sorry) and even though I haven’t read fangirl, I do know the author and I remember enjoying eleanor & park when I was younger. I might give it a try, even though I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy her style in the same way now :’D

anyway, thank you for all these recs. I think the handmaid’s tale and station eleven are on top of the list (for now). it depends on what I can find though - since I want to buy books in english and sadly it’s not that easy to find them here ;; but I’ll let you know if I get one of these in my hands!! :)