#like is this the first anime in history where the current anime is still airing and yet there's already a remake in the works?? lmao

[beif0ngs]

ok but the news of a One Piece animation remake is so funny because the current anime is STILL running, and will likely continue to air for several years to come... like man, sorry if you ain't a fan, but it looks like One Piece will live forever 🏴‍☠️

[tornioduva]

Dungeon meshi and body proportions

Ok, i'm feeling the rush i got from binging the manga this last week is starting to fade away, i'll be back to being a normal person soon i think. at least, that is before i find a new something for me to dive into uhuh.

Before that happens, i want to praise Ryoko Kui for one last think. The design of the characters!

For years i've expressed (maybe not so much online) my hate towards the "anime style", this homogenization of traits and beauty standards to an artificial degree, and the mass spread and consumption of it. yes, trends exist for a reason, this is not the first nor the last art current to be popular and i'm not the first detractor of one in history. I do think there is something uniquely harmful in this one though, and that is why i'm able to find the energy to be such a pretentious dipshit about it. That is a discussion for another day though.

All this to say that going through Dungeon Meshi and seiing these characters, plus (and in a way because of it) all the additional sketches of the daydream hour bonus sections, was such a breath of fresh air! (at least for what concerns japanese exported stories)

All i could say and praise in regard to character designs in general is perfectly expressed in this video, which i recommend you to watch if you want to hear my opinions (and the video author's too, uhuh):

I want to leave you though with at least one specific praise for me: Falin.

i've seen countless time people (online) just not understanding how people's body work, how much differences there can be and how proportions do distribute and affect the body. in anime I see a lot of short and tall people (mostly women girls) that share the same proportions despite their actual height, and that often leads to think "yeah, she is short" and than she's tall when around someone, or (most often) the contrary. same lenght of limbs, same head to body proportions, and little details like this.

Falin you can tell at a glance she is a tall woman before she's around anyone, even when she is standing near her brother who is taller than her.

Kui did her homework in studying bodies and variations, and, whether consciously or not, she differentiated her in body in subtle but fundamental ways: her head being slightly smaller than her body, the neck being fairly long, and her having somewhat broader shoulders.

I accept that there might be an element of suggestion at play here, considering also how she is dressed most of the time, but I really do think there is a direct effort at differentiation here.

This is the first time in a long time (in a series like this at least) where i've seen a woman carrying herself around others and the space around here kind of like a person like me, tall, would; at first i didn't think much of it, but then i saw her near other characters and....i don't know, i felt a warm, joyful feeling, seeing that i was right in recognizing that trait and being right.

I was especially happy in seeing her next to marcille. not so much for the height difference, but for how different they were in proportions and mannerism. A lesser manga i fear would have used marcille's body type and way of moving and interacting as the default for most other girls, but here she was uniquely herself!

Now, i could've used more extreme exemples to show how this author rocks in body types representations (while aknowledging there could've been even more diversification still), given there are far larger, taller and stranger women, but to me, nailing the little, most subtle details in such a chirurgical manner shows a greater level of mastery and comprehension. As such, Falin left me with a deeper fascination than most other characters.

Sorry for this wall of text, but i needed to let my happy thoughts go, so that i could be free again uhuh.

Feel free to tell me that i'm wrong, or that i should just accept anime media as is. i'm just really happy Dungeon meshi exists as is and i want Ryoko Kui to keep refining her craft, and drawing beautiful women and dwarves.

Plus, this was very much a stream of consciousness, i didn't go into technical details about what i think conveyed what i described, but if someone is interested, or does not get what i'm saying (while expressing it in a curious and gentle way, i won't respond to spiteful assholes), i'll be happy to make a follow up post in which i try to dissect this! For example, i didn't reread the whole manga to find examples of her, i just went to the wiki uhuh. in a follow up post maybe i'll try to go through chapters and pick more specific examples of her.

Anyway, have a good day!

[midnightechoes]

So this week is going to go down as maybe the most sapphic week in animation history. It’s going to have a great case, there are so many sapphic shows or shows with prominent sapphic couples airing this week.

Don’t know what I’m talking about? Here’s a quick rundown:

Yuri Is My Job!

Premiering on Crunchyroll on April 6th.

Yuri is My Job! is based on a yuri manga of the same name. It follows high schooler Hime, who cares deeply about her image as sweet and helpful, even though she’s actually selfish. She accidentally injures the manager of a cafe, and agrees to work there to make up for it. But this is no ordinary cafe, it’s like a cafe dinner theater where all the waitresses play characters from a fictional high school and act out skits for the patrons. Hime’s character is supposed to be in love with one of the other waitresses’ character, but she starts actually falling for the girl. Only problem is, behind the scenes the other waitress seems to hate her.

Yeah, that sounds kind of bonkers! I can already see the story now, Hime starting out playing a role, and eventually having to legitimately earn the love of Mitsuki.

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story

Season 2 premiering on Crunchyroll on Friday, April 7th

Ah Birdie Wing. If you saw season one, you know just how delightful wacky this show is. It follows the stories of Eve, a golfer that plays in illegal underground golf matches for the mob, and Aoi, a golf prodigy and the new sensation of the golf world. Their lives crash into each other and the chemistry is overwhelming and immediate.

Technically Eve and Aoi aren’t canon as of the end of s1, but it’s hard to imagine that the show isn’t heading in that direction. It makes no effort to hide the fact that these two are into each other.

I’m so excited to see what season 2 has in store for these two. Birdie Wing is just a delightfully weird little show.

Princess Principal: Crown Handler Chapter 3

Premieres in theaters in Japan on Friday, April 7th

Alright, so this won’t be useful to a lot of people reading this, as this is only premiering in Japan this weekend. But I wanted to mention it because (a) it’ll come over to the US sometime this year, and (b) Princess Principal is awesome and I want to promote it when I can.

Princess Principal was a 12 episode series that aired in 2017, and Crown Handler is a six-part sequel OVA series.

In a nutshell, Princess Principal is a steampunk spy thriller set in an alternate universe European kingdom that has been divided by a wall, Berlin-style. It follows a team of spies, masquerading as high school girls, as they try to prevent the two sides from going to war.

I know, “why is this on a list of gay shit?” Well, because it is. Two of the main characters, Ange and Princess Charlotte, are big-time into each other and while the original series does the anime thing of “we’re only allowed to go so far with this”, the OG series has a lot of intimate scenes between the two and does end *SPOILERS* with the two of them sitting on the beach together while holding hands.

And perhaps Crown Handler, being made years later, can finally take their relationship farther.

RWBY Volume 9

Volume 9 episode 8 airing on Crunchyroll on Saturday, April 8th

RWBY has been ongoing, and the current volume has been airing since February, but there’ll be another episode this Saturday. Right now RWBY is in the middle of dealing with a lot of trauma, BUT, the bees are canon and dating so every episode of RWBY is now officially gay. So says me.

The Owl House: Watching and Dreaming

 Series finale airing on the Disney Channel on Saturday, April 8th

I’M NOT READY TO LOSE THIS SHOW! 😭

*ahem* The third and final season 3 special airs on Saturday, and promises to be mega emotional and super gay.

I’m grateful that this show had a chance to finish its story, something a lot of sapphic media doesn’t get to do. But I am still pissed about it getting cancelled in the first place simply because it didn’t fit their “brand” (read: this show is too gay for Disney).

But I just know that Dana and her team put together a sensational finale.

Mobile Suit Gundam: the Witch From Mercury

Season 2 premiering on Crunchyroll on Sunday, April 9th.

Affectionately called G-Witch, season 1 of this show was a revelation in the fall. It follows the story of Suletta Mercury, precious cinnamon roll and the most talented mobile suit pilot around, and Miorine Rembran, daughter of the president of the Benerit Group, a mega-corporation that has massive political power.

The show revolves around a school that’s mostly full of the children of powerful people. And then there’s Suletta, a nobody that just wants to be a normal girl and have a normal school life but through a series of events ends up in a mobile suit duel that she easily wins, earning her the title of Holder, which makes her Miroine’s groom.

At first, the two treat the arrangement as a business arrangement, both seeing practical value in this arranged engagement. But it’s obvious that Miorine is actually pretty into Suletta from the start, and we see Suletta slowly falling for Miorine too.

G-Witch is incredible. Part awesome mecha fights, part political intrigue, part romance between two useless girls who’d rather die that admit their actual feelings.

I am SO EXCITED for season 2!

LGBTQ media hasn’t had it great as of late, with a ton of frustrating cancellations and it almost feeling like Hollywood is going backwards in terms of its commitment to giving us space to tell our stories.

But animation, both in the US and in Japan, seems to be making great strides, being our light in the dark.

All five of these shows are airing episodes this week, and Crown Handler will be in theaters this week and on streaming/blu-ray later this year. RWBY has been airing for weeks and its been the gayest volume yet. the Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady just finished airing and was wonderfully sapphic. I’m In Love With the Villainess is scheduled to air sometimes this year. And just maybe we might get Arcane season 2 before the end of the year.

I’m excited for how sapphic and yuri animation is progressing, I hope it keeps going forward.

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Cherry Magic has graced anime fans with the first gay marriage in anime history. That coming from a country where same-sex marriage is still quite some lightyears away from becoming legal, is huge. The first spirtually recognised same-sex marriage in Japan dates back to 2016. Although society has becoming more accepting over the past few years and queer activists keep fighting for equal rights, queer people in Japan are still being discriminated (this Wikipedia article on LGBT rights in Japan is quite comprehensive about the legal situation). If you want to know what that's like, read Ryousuke Nanasaki's honest and down-to-earth biography Until I Meed My Husband--he's an LGBTQ+ activist and the lucky guy who, together with his partner, made history as the first gay couple getting married at a shrine.

At present, Japan is the only G7 nation that neither recognises same-sex marriage nor has a law to protect queer minorities. As of 2023, the current ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), regards homosexuality as a disorder and claims it can be healed with spiritual practices and therapy, and that same-sex unions should be discouraged because they destroy the traditional image of family and society.

Please let that sink in for a moment.

But then I see people (mostly on the bird site, I think) screaming "But my favourite gay anime should have been the first to have a gay marriage!!! LOOK WHAT THEY TOOK FROM US!!1!!111!!!1"™

Embarrassingly, most of these people are from my own fandom. And I'm seriously wondering whether these people are okay if this is all they care about.

YOI was very progressive for the time it was made in (it aired in the same year Ryousuke Nanasaki married his partner in a shrine). But when you start digging and read the interviews with the creators and put them into context with the reactions from Japanese anime fans, the reality of queers living there, and the obstacles the director had to overcome to make her vision reality, you can't unsee that YOI was too progressive for it's time.

Sometimes I wonder if growing up in a country that has estabilshed marriage equality years ago, makes people blind to overlook the systematic queerphobia queer people face in countries with a still mostly conservative collective mindset, even more so as seeing a country through the lens of fiction doesn't give a realistic picture of its society and the struggles its marginalised groups face (especially when these struggles aren't portrayed realistically in those works). And this is such a weird ironic since the queer stories we love with all our heart because they paint a the picture of a queer utopia are born from this society.

Progress isn't a linear process and it doesn't happen overnight. Two steps forward can mean one step back. If you push too far before society is ready for it, brace yourself for the backlash. No groundbreaking achievement has the power to tear down the walls of conservative stubbornness, it rather antagonises the people who have the means to thwart you.

If you struggle with accepting this, if you think that your selfish desire to get more of your favourite anime is more important than queer rights, if you are convinced that some animation studio owes you and make it the fulcrum of your very existence, I ask you politely and in all seriousness to please go touch some grass, educate yourself, and come back when you've found the plot again.

Disclaimer: I'm not a Japanese citizen and I don't live in Japan. I gathered these information from people living there (expats and natives), the Japan Times, Wikipedia, translations of interviews with the YOI staff, and my own research.

[vampire-the-askerade]

Could you spare a crumb of general Beckett headcanons?

[Here you go! This is just some of my understandings of the character, and the ideas might change later on down the road]

While most everyone, including himself, would think that he is one of the smartest and most calculating kindred to live (so to speak), there are many, many times where he’s just flying by on guesses, knee-jerk reactions, and an inordinate amount of luck.

Don’t get it wrong, he is extremely intelligent and a master of planning when he needs to be, he’s always been more of a creature of action, and convinces everyone that it was all planned. Himself as well, sort of a, “I’m so good a planning, i even surprise myself sometimes!” attitude.

Going off of that, he is very conceited. He would argue confident is the correct term, perhaps self assured. However, it well passed the line of, “being sure of one’s self,” to, “being full of one’s self.”

Thing about it though is that it’s not a malicious sort of conceit. It’s more of a, “I’m better than everyone else, therefore I am the best teacher for everyone else.” Look at those other people, it’s so sad how they have to struggle over the simplest thing that he is moved, nay, obligated to show them the error of their ways.

As long as it doesn’t do anything that could put himself or his current objective at risk.

A good example of this is his interactions with the fledgling during the events of VTMB. He might not go out of his way to follow them, at least not purposely, and when he realizes the imminent danger in LA he gets the hell out of dodge, but when he does meet up with them, he gives truly helpful advise and even talks to them in a gentler, almost brotherly tone as opposed to the majority of their other interactions.

That being said, once he does run into someone he deems to be truly on his level, or god forbid, above it, he can get a bit pissy. He’ll keep it tone down as long as all parties are cordial, but the first glimmer of rivalry or contempt, then he is not going to be tolerating that person in any way, shape, or form

Similarly, he has very little problem letting pompous people know that he sees them as such. There’s that whole thing where a prince made him reveal what he actually thought of him, but I do get the feeling that the prince didn’t have to delve too deep to get to those feelings either.

He’s an interesting case of trying to be suave while simultaneously neither not carrying or not completely knowing how. Ends up being so in his own oddball sort of way. That is, he’s so unapologetically himself that it ends up being more appealing than people that put on airs.

This however can make it rather difficult to read the room. Almost can’t grasp why people wouldn’t have the same thought process as him.

He will make an effort to listen and understand where he might be mistaken, but only if it’s done in a courteous manner. Finds the whole process as a puzzle to solve rather than an actual faux pas.

Might seem like an oxymoronic statement, but he is one of the kinder hearted kindred. He still partakes in the more violent aspects of the other vampires, but only when he has to. It’s sort of his way to combat his nature as a gangrel and the perception that all kindred from that clan are little more than the beast that inhabits them.

Even with that, a kind wolf is still a wolf. If you’re not careful of what you’re doing or where you are, our dear anthropologist with bite and bite hard. When things get messy with him, they get violently messy.

Sort of like, other than changing into animals when he needs to, he keeps his more bestial nature under such a tight lock and key, that when there’s a reason to actually let it out, he’s got months worth of beast rage pent up there.

While he doesn’t mind it where people call him an history or archeologist, he does much prefer for people to more specific term of anthropologist. Sees it as it being as misleading or incorrect as referring to someone as an artist or a painter when they were actually a sculptor.

[mygalaxypoetry]

Sagau with Creator but... Pt.2

Tw: none, I suppose

Note: Another one 😎. I haven't been catching up to the anime at all, I only gathered what I know from brief descriptions on the internet 😅 take my fanfic with a grain of salt. I don't know much

-----

'... is this One for All?'

-----

'.... oKAY- This is fine, This is COMPLETELY fine... getting an OP power that can break a person's bones in one punch is COMPLETELY FINE! especially in a world that HAS ABSOLUTELY NO HISTORY OF QUIRKS EXISTING IN THE FIRST PLACE!!'

You looked around your environment, looking like a stray puppy trying to find their mama. Then something came into mind.

"One for All has been passed onto other generations... that means that other users used this power... and Midoriya possessed that same power from the past users... does that mean.." you mumbled, looking at your hands.

"I have all of those previous quirks??... only one way to find out..." you lowered yourself on the ground and imagined the scenery at Windrise.

"Teleport!" You exclaimed and felt the ground dissapear for a bit before reappearing in a few seconds.

You opened your eyes and, to your surprise, end up in Windrise.

You did not think that actually worked, AT ALL!

"Holy sh#t.... wait, didn't All Might say that you had to be buff in order to possess this power-"

-----

You decided to get used to your new power and tried to learn the basics of each of them. Starting with the easy ones:

-

Smokescreen- you dissapeared in front of a few slimes and hid behind one of the small pillars, chuckling at their shocked reactions.

-

Float- you tried to copy what Venti did and it seemed to work, letting you fly up in the air without a wind current.

"This will come in handy!"

-

Danger sense- you sat down with your legs criss-cross. You meditated, silent waiting for something to happen. Just a simple slime passing by you would be enough to test Danger sense.

You felt a sharp pain on the upper left side of your brain and swiftly dodged a passing arrow.

You opened your eyes and turned to the source, thinking it was a hilichurl or something.

Nothing... most of the hilichurls were still in their place and the slimes were just bouncing around.

'... that's concerning... sh#t, what if it's one of those fics?' You thought, anxiety rising a bit.

-

Now, for the somewhat not easy ones:

Blackwhip- it didn't summon when you tried to do the spiderman hand gesture, which was a bust, but it summoned a short while after. Sticking onto a branch in the tree and successfully pulling you up. You tried doing it with two hands but... let's not get into details...

-

Transmission- it was hard on how much gear you wanted to put on a object, especially where you want to aim it. You tried with a simple tree branch that was not too weak but not too strong. It ended up hitting a hilichurls head, sending it flying to the side of the mountain....

"... Sorry!"

And now, the quirk you think you got controlled of...

the PUNCH!

----

"Alright, you've seen Midoriya and All Might do it, you can try it yourself..." you said as you looked at a arrow dummy you borrowed from one of the hilichurls.

Don't ask how you got it so easily, one of them just came up to you and offered it. You hesitated to take it but they insisted, even after what happened to their friend.

"Maybe, just do what Midoriya does! I guess that'll work..." you said and readied your stance, doing the iconic power stand Midoriya does.

"One for all... 5% percent..." you said as your body began to glow [favorite color]. Your hair standing up a bit.

"SMASH!!" You yelled out and punched the dummy, the power coursing through the punch and smashing the dummy into bits. Its remains flying everywhere then onto the ground.

You sighed of relief, the thoughts of you not making that happen dissapeared into thin air. You looked at your hand if it's in good condition or smash to bits.

It came out unscathed and completely fine! No bruises or broken bones in sight. Just some pain in the fingers from the impact but ultimately fine.

"... Holy sh#t.... you think someone might hear that?" You asked, turning to one of the hilichurls.

"???" They shrugged.

----

After a day of training your power and claiming the second Anemo statue, you bid farewell to the hilichurls and slimes and decided to start your journey.

You had a lingering sense of danger in Mondstat so you decided to walk around the wilderness for a while. After the attempted murder(?) with that arrow, you aren't taking any chances.

You passed Springvale without anyone knowing and arrived at Wolvendom since you wanted to see what Andrius looked like, from a safe distance.

You walked through the forest without any trouble since most of the creatures were asleep, even the hilichurls.

"Heh, they looked kinda cute without flailing their weapons around" you said and kept on going.

You arrived where Andrius rests and looked at the domain in astonishment. The whole place looked WAY bigger in person than in-game. The sparkly sword that sits in the center of the domain and the walls having wolf like carvings, a few scratch marks on said wall.

"Woah... Holy sh#t, you can fit a whole town in here.." you said as you walked up to the edge.You felt a headache slowly rising at the back of your head.

You were being watched.

"... I know your here, don't worry. I mean no harm to you or your guardian here. I just came here to take a look" You said and turned around to the forest side of Wolvendom.

The bushes rustled and out came one of the goodest bois in Teyvat, Razor!

"You... look nothing like Knights of Favonious... but... you smell familiar... how did you know I hiding?" He asked, his guards still up.

"Let's just say, it's a sixth sense of mine" you said with a smile.

-----

First character introduced! I'll make another one in a few days

[sicparvismorrigan]

Friendly Fire - Chapter One: Wild Animals

Ellie Thibodeaux holds arguably the worst job in Bridgehead City. She’s not a cook. She’s not even a cleaner. She’s the resident RDA psychiatrist, and her next assignment is helping the formerly deceased Project Phoenix come to terms with being brought back to life as an entirely different species.

Enter Colonel Miles Quaritch, the most reluctant, and most challenging patient she’s ever had the displeasure of treating.

James Cameron’s Avatar - The Way Of Water (2022)

Recombinant Quaritch x ofc (currently professional/platonic, enemies/annoyances to friends, could be more) & Quaritch x Paz Socorro

Warnings: mild swears

Tagging: @kmc1989 (lmk if you want added to the taglist!)

Read on Ao3

Prologue | Chapter 2

Wild Animals

“Take a seat-“ Sir?

No, screw that, Colonel Quaritch wasn’t her commanding officer.

”-…over there.” Ellie gestured at the comically large armchair placed opposite her own human-sized one.

She stifled a nervous giggle. Strange to be the one giving the orders for a change.

Just make sure these recom soldiers are of relatively sound mind. Flag any issues. That’s your only job.

Ellie understood why her role existed. The big bosses of the RDA were more than a little twitchy at any mention of recombinants after the actions of Jake Sully, Na’vi sympathiser. It could not happen again.

The destruction of the Omatikaya Hometree sixteen years prior had been a colossal waste of money and lives. Ardmore called the shots now, and was determined to do things differently this time around. She figured cheaper and easier to employ a psychiatrist, than be doomed to repeat history. Video diaries alone weren’t going to cut it anymore.

It might be Ellie’s only job, but it was one Hell of a job. She was the one holding the metaphorical scales judging the outcome of Project Phoenix.

She ran through her usual welcome-to-the-session spiel as she sat down to face Quaritch, adjusting her visor under her chin.

That was another thing. Neither of them could breathe the other’s air.

A power move for sure, since she was the one currently speaking through an exopack, the rubber seal itching her face terribly.

Compromise. It had to happen.

Part of her didn’t think Quaritch would even deign to show up. But Ardmore had reassured Ellie that he took his schedule very seriously. And if the Colonel was one thing, it was punctual.

But why would any of the recombinant soldiers bother with a shrink in the first place?

The General had promised certain motivations for those who regularly attended their appointments with Tibbs, M.D. Things that were hard to come by. Items that made living on an alien planet, and in a new alien form, a little more bearable.

Zdinarsik had a penchant for pink bubblegum. Sure thing. Mansk had a quite frankly embarrassing collection of expensive sunglasses. Forget about it, done. Fike and Wainfleet, Ellie wasn’t privy to their wants, but she had a feeling they were of the adult reading material variety.

Still only human, even in a non-human body.

Quaritch, well, Ellie wasn’t sure what he liked yet.

Did he like anything?

Judging by the look on his face, he certainly didn’t like her.

Goddamn it, initiating conversation with these blue giants never got any easier. They were all just so intimidating.

Ellie cleared her throat and tried to look ill-at-ease as she took the first step.

“So, what would you like to talk about today?”

No response.

Well, that was rude.

She tried for more casual, conversational. “How’s Project Phoenix treating you so far?”

Still nothing. Maybe an expletive muttered under his breath as he stared her down.

Oh great, he was going to be one of those.

”Whatever, it’s your hour.” Ellie shrugged. “I get paid the same whether you talk or not.”

They sat in claustrophobic silence for over forty-five minutes, the Colonel clearly going to the place deep in his mind where he could feel no pain, and Ellie wishing she could do the same.

Towards the end, when it was apparent he wasn’t going to give her anything at all, she started writing on her notepad, scrambling for something she could type up later that was incrementally more interesting than the colour of the walls or what the weather was doing.

The incessant scratching of pen on paper was what finally got the Colonel to speak up.

”What you scribbling there?” His cat-like ears flicked back in irritation. “You sketching my portrait or something?”

“Hm?” She glanced up, startled by the sound of his voice. “Oh, it’s just notes.”

”I ain’t done anything.”

”You haven’t said anything.” Ellie tapped her pen against her notepad. “I wouldn't write down specifics we discussed, doctor-patient confidentiality rules. But I can still write about your overall demeanour, how stressed you appear…unwillingness to co-operate. That’s the sort of thing I report back to the General.”

“Got it all figured out, doncha?” His sardonic reply made her stomach drop. “I don’t have to tell you anything, shrink-wrap.”

”No, but you may as well get something out of our session.” She replied, exasperation threatening her tone. “We can talk about literally anything.”

“Anything?” He suddenly leaned forward, fixing her with eye contact so intense she found it hard to hold his gaze. “Stays in this room?”

Ellie tried not to let her excitement show as she nodded agreement. Less than an hour and she was already wearing him down, a notoriously difficult customer. Who said the Colonel was hard to break?

“Alright.” He settled back in his oversized chair with a smirk. “Why don’t you tell me, about how that arm of yours ain’t real?”

Ellie couldn’t catch the shocked widening of her eyelids fast enough. ”Excuse me?”

She fought the instinctual twitch of reaching down to tug at her sleeve with her remaining hand. A nervous gesture, to cover herself.

But he was right on the money. Ellie Thibodeaux only had one arm.

Still a very sore subject. Power moves, indeed.

She could only gawp at him stupidly, speechless.

”I’ve seen my fair share of busted limbs.” Quaritch drawled. “I know a prosthetic, and a bad one at that, when I see one, even with your clothes on.”

Ellie meanwhile, was just staring back in horror.

“What got you? Landmine, congenital defect?” He quirked an eyebrow at her discomfort. “Wild animal?”

“That’s none of your concern.” To her annoyance, she sounded upset when she finally spoke. Ellie’s voice shook as she croaked out her words.

Crap, audible weakness.

With her exopack on, she couldn’t take a sip of water to break the tension. She couldn’t do anything except fog up the inside of her visor with how her breathing had quickened.

“I’m gonna go with the latter. The hand that still moves just strangled your pen to death.” Quaritch nodded knowingly, visibly pleased with his own intellect. “Guess you just didn’t run fast enough, back on Earth, huh?”

“Maybe I’m still running.” Ellie muttered. She blinked after the words hung in the atmosphere between them.

Why’d I say that?

“Are you, now?” He finally looked somewhat interested in her. “What are you running from, shrink?”

The datapad on the table to her right started beeping insistently. Ellie‘s end-of-session alarm was sounding, an entire hour had finally passed.

Thank Christ for that.

She forced an angelic smile, beyond relieved.

”Sorry, Colonel. That’s all the time we have for today.”

“Hm.” He nodded, already standing to leave. ”Was just getting good.”

”Will you be attending our next session?” Ellie asked, unable to keep the hostility out of her voice. She was hoping for a firm no. Fine, let Ardmore deal with him.

Her professional facade had well and truly slipped. Quaritch had successfully rattled her.

”I might.” He didn’t even look back. “See you around, shrink-wrap.”

Oh God. She would see him around, no doubt. Bridgehead City was big, but not big enough. The entire planet of Pandora was no longer big enough for her liking.

Ellie exhaled and slumped down in her chair, exhausted. “Shit.”

That could have gone better.

He’d told her nothing, and gotten uncomfortably close to her heart in record time, homing in on her missing arm as easily as an enemy target.

Who’s breaking who, then?

Obviously, he wasn’t Colonel for no reason. She knew that now.

Ellie was already dreading his second session more than she ever thought possible.

***

Thanks for reading!

[acquired-stardust]

Gaming Spotlight #11: Digimon Rumble Arena (2001)

Hello this is Larsa here with another spotlight feature on a game you may have missed from the Playstation era. Stand up to the fight!

Before we get to our featured title let's review some history shall we? Super Smash Bros 64 came out in the year 1999 developed by HAL Laboratory, INC. This revolutionary game was inspired by the dream match concept of SNK Corporation's own popular "King of Fighters" series where a bunch of a existing characters are thrown together to duke it out. Many in the industry took notice as the success of the new Nintendo crossover fighting game which created many fans of a whole new genre, platform fighting games.

"Digimon Rumble Arena" or "Digimon Tamers: Battle Evolution" as it is known as in Japan would become one of the first early platform fighting games following in the giant shadow of "Super Smash Bros 64" to stand out as a game worth playing. Right away a fighting game based on one of the most popular anime series of the late 90s and early 00s just seems like a perfect pairing. By the time this game was released Digimon had firmly became a massively popular series already having a theatrical movie release worldwide and currently airing its very popular third season titled "Digimon Tamers". Right away the opening would blow the minds of any young Digimon fans at the time because it was essentially a Digimon dream match title starring the Digimon and tamers of the first three seasons slugging it out for digital supremacy.

Is Guilmon really stronger than Agumon? How about Gatomon versus Renamon? Or how about a mega level battle of Beelzemon versus Omnimon? These were and still are important questions worth asking for any Digimon fan. And these sorts of playground questions are why this game was created.

The gameplay features two opposing Digimon battling it out on one of the several different stages in a 2D plane. These stages are typically filled with unique stage hazards and ring out zones with randomly spawning items in the form cards which have a myriad of effects on the battle. These cards mirror the "Digi-Modify" or "Card Slash!" mechanics from the Digimon Tamers series . The roster is filled with Digimon supported by their appropriate tamers from the show with the same familiar voices for each character featuring over 20 playable Digimon. Unlike "Super Smash Bros" this game features a more traditional health bar system and draining your opponent's life bar to zero means victory. Each Digimon has two special moves and a myriad of normal attack strings you would expect in a fighting game. Right away in a way one would expect from this beloved franchise, Rookie level Digimon are capable of transforming into a stronger even more capable form in the middle of battle through Digivolution. Digivolving improves your stats and gives you a completely new different move-set than before meaning you as a player are often switching dynamically between different gameplay experiences. There are few things that feel better than securing a comeback victory with your favorite mascot Digimon because of a well timed Digivolution. Oh and wiping the floor with your opponent using Wargreymon's mighty signature technique, Terra Force.

The main modes of the game are arcade mode and versus modes. In the Arcade Mode you take your selected Digimon through an arcade style ladder of bouts plus a few mini-games along the way with the goal of unlocking more characters. That is until you reach the new big bad of the game at the top of the ladder. Reapermon (Also known originally as Gokumon or ゴクモン) is a very difficult opponent to overcome and even now he still manages to give me trouble. I and along with anybody else who has ever played this game know of the horrors of his most powerful technique "Burning Cyclone". He is a cheap old school style boss who will test your skill at the game as one would expect from an older fighting game eating your quarters though in this case you thankfully probably own the game and you have as long as necessary to defeat him. Thankfully if you are struggling you can use some in-game cheat codes to fast unlock some Mega level Digimon along with other goodies to help even the odds. As far as versus modes go you can battle a friend locally or even play the mini-games against them. I spent many sessions having tons of fun fighting friends in this game. For an early platform fighting game the controls and mechanics are quite responsive which makes for amusing competitive bouts.

The graphics and soundtrack of the game of the game are very impressive for the platform. The Japanese version of the game features many arrangements of songs from the anime series. However the game does have one big problem: the framerate slowdown is a persistent problem throughout the experience with this game. Unfortunately they are the game's immediate faults but the game has so much excellent fanservice content and a surprisingly responsive solid fighting game underneath that it is easy to forgive the shortcoming. This game is still pretty awesome and loaded with nostalgia for me having grown up with Digimon. This title gets my recommendation for any fans of Digimon to experience especially the Japanese version of the soundtrack if you are ever in need of a quick nostalgia-fueled adrenaline rush.

A gem hidden among the stones, Digimon Rumble Arena is unquestionably stardust.

– Larsa

[isleofair]

8 TV Shows to Get Know Me

Thank you so much for the tag, @starwalkersdream!!! 💙💙💙

Let's see...

1. Tiger & Bunny - current obsession (as in, nearly 2 years on now and still going strong), an amazing mixture of genres that hits the spot incredibly well for me, contains my utmost Blorbos Nathan and Keith and OTP FireSky, but pretty much every single character is absolutely fantastic and will at some point surprise you.

2. Yuri!!! On Ice - my favorite, my comfort watch, a watershed in my anime history, possibly the best soundtrack of any show I know, amazing characters, figure skating, and an actual plot twist?!? Amazing.

3. Star Trek: The Next Generation - I grew up with it and I think it shaped a lot of my views on morality, ethics and what it means to be human (Data, my beloved, my first Blorbo, decades before the word Blorbo was a thing 🥹).

5. The X-Files - You can't see this show at 13 and not receive some kind of brainrot, lol. Mostly it was related to madly shipping Mulder and Sully before I could even fully realize how freaking WILD they were being about each other; but there's also something to be said about spending your teenage years waiting for the reveal of THE TRUTH THAT WAS OUT THERE, only to then realize absolutely no one EVER had any idea where they were going with the mythology of the show in the first place.

5. Sailor Moon - You can't see Haruka Tenou at 13 and end up straight.

6. Supernatural - but for all that is holy, don't actually watch it. Just know that I did, all the way through, from when it first started airing in 2005 to when it ended (?) in absolute MADNESS in November 2020, and I received about 372639446827483 d10s of psychic damage from it.

7. Stargate Atlantis - Look at John Sheppard. Examine his amazing technicolor allergy to even the most minute and remote trace of emotional communication. Know that I had a MASSIVE crush on him. Realize why my long term relationship did not end well.

8. Anime Sanjushi - Okay, maybe three other people have ever even heard of this one (like, on Tumblr as a whole), but the way it made Dumas's novel so cool and easily palatable to little kid me, with a great mix of action and humor and nice feelings, and most of all giving me the absolute gift of that version of Aramis is just... Chef's kiss. Another deep childhood influence on me.

I've already tagged people in stuff today, and I don't want to spam anyone's notifications, so: if you see this and want to play, consider yourself tagged! 💙💙💙

[ask-anarky]

The Rise of Technovore Pt 3

It had taken months for it to travel this far, acquiring and then using up so much of its matter to traverse the flooded wastes of america, the barren deserts between the coasts where the only materials for it to process were the rust devils who prowled the area and their makeshift vehicles. It had hopped onto one of the vast transport trains at one point, but ended up derailing it in a desperate attempt to keep itself alive.

Technovore was a powerful entity, but its memory was spread across every nanobot that made up its writhing swarm of mass. As it used up parts of itself, it got less intelligent, more animalistic. Put simply, it forgot.

It forgot how to be an entity with goals, and then it forgot how to even be a computer, with cold rationale to fall back upon, it became an animal, desperate and hungry. The first time this happened was in New York, it was almost over until it processed one of the citizens, base carbon and metal for replication. That was when it started looking for its goal, it worked through the entirety of human history from the internet until it found what it needed, and deleted the rest from its memory. That was when it hardcoded the location it was headed to, so long as one nanobot remained, it knew where it was headed.

It didn’t even remember why it was breaking into this colossal building, with security that even challenged its mind. It tore through ciphers and encryption, popping open doors and eating into cooling vents, tunneling deeper into the bowels below the giant glowing S.

The coordinates at its core, and the ones showing its own location were growing more and more similar, as it turned to a dust cloud that swarmed a security guard, filling his lungs in an instant and processing him down to the bones in just a few seconds. It moved further, the mass had reached high enough for it to think, to try and guess why it was here. If it knew it needed a more complex brain, then it must have before. And behind the hexagonal panel was one, it must have found one, and left itself messages.

The now gel-like mass strained against the panel, which was built of some space age polymer, which resisted deconstruction for a while, but the struts, the screws and bolts were metal, and they gave away without much struggle.

The room was large enough to easily fit a half dozen cars end to end, and was a perfect sphere, with the walls entirely made of those same panels, most of which had lights shining inwards at the center, a few with long support cables holding what lay at the rooms heart. It was a head, red skinned and ripped brutally apart from the body, some of its electronic viscera still hanging limply from the jagged stump. Most alarmingly, it appeared to still be alive, fresh cables connected to where the old ones broke off, eyes open but staring unfocused into the ether, while it spoke constantly, in a level monotone. It was a constant stream of data, the information running through this Vision’s mind constantly being spoken aloud. Dates, names, online activities, places they’ve been, people they met. The mind behind this must be incredibly complex, this was why it was here. As the fog of nanobots swarmed through the air towards this mind, the room's lights turned blood red, alarms going off and hard light fields surrounding the head on all sides. NO, it would not be spurned, not denied the prize it had risked so much to get. It scanned the field, built its schematics, ran the calculations on its power, how much mass it could annihilate, how much energy would cause it to burn out. How much energy Technovore could generate in its current form, how much mass it could burn and still memorize the brain's structure. It reached out, forming a hand, then pushed against the field, the first layer of nanobots glowing with the heat before dripping away. Technovore couldn’t feel pain as such, but the feedback, the loss of brain and self, it might as well be pain. It could however section that pain, put it in a box and process it later. Allowing it to keep pushing, forcing the field to compensate, bring its voltage up, increase the frequency until-

TTZZAP

The field dissipated as technovore overcharged it, leaving the emitters in the floor and ceiling smoking. Its ‘arm’ dropped down in ashy particulate, the entire limbs worth of mass had burnt up generating the voltage. The damage was immense, but the machine had already calculated it. It was within acceptable losses, especially for the prize.

Finally.. It slowly, almost gently, took a hold of Vision’s head, ripping the cables away that connected to him and cradling it as it scanned. The software, the hardware, both were so densely packed that it was almost impossible to decipher in such a short timeframe. Technovore needed more mass to process this, it would need time and a safe place, to ensure it didn’t lose any part of what it needed, to make sure it didn’t cannibalize the schematics during one of its hungrier moments. But it was not long now, soon it would have its upgrade. It abandoned subtlety on its exit, the doors beyond the room were slowly filling with armored suits, all of them a small supercomputer in their own right, each with a powercore that rivaled everything it had eaten before. It devoured them, poured their mass into itself, ripped them apart, tore open walls and blew its way out of the building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later, the repair team was surveying the space, setting up joists on the damaged walls, and eying up the spherical room, now looking more like a cracked open egg. The holographic form of Anthony Edward Stark was crouched over one of the tangled remains of his Iron centurions. “Whatever did this, it was angry.. But the scanners read completely synthetic, it must have been some kind of AI. Some rogue program, or an attack.. But Drake isn’t stupid enough to attack us directly, and Osborn isn’t smart enough to succeed.” “Be that as it may sir, we still have a problem.” “Yeah, I know. Can’t a guy be a little curious about what did this?” “You can do whatever you want sir, but the tech team says-” “Two days, right? Honestly they’re probably over-estimating, without the core, without a brain in there.. Maybe a day, before our data processing grinds to a halt, the city stops predicting, anarchy in the streets… Anarchy.. Huh. Whoever did this, they knew exactly what they were coming for. Tore a hole in a straight line to the core, we need to track them.” “Yes sir but-” Stark sighed, and gestured in the air, presumably moving around holographic displays on his own end. “The system needs a brain, yeah. Good news is, I already found one, one designed especially for computing.”

[soul-dwelling]

Do you think something went wrong behind the scenes after the Baba Yaga arc in SE, hence why the book of Eibon arc was so bad and the rest just bloated with a ending that still somehow felt rushed?

I have been following this manga for about ten years--so how come, even this late, do I not know the names of the editors of Soul Eater, and what else those editors worked on?

It's not like I haven't complained that the editors were not reining Ohkubo in on his worst tropes--so, that's my fault for complaining without actually doing the work to name names.

Until I figure out who was editing the manga, I can't determine why certain stuff felt bloated and the ending felt rushed.

The Book of Eibon Arc took its time to say...maybe not much at all. It was fine when I first read it, although upon re-reading the gender stuff isn't holding up as well, and the chapters could have done with more exploration for each sin. It is somehow an arc that feels bloated by how many ideas and locations it can access, but never sticking with any one very long. The only one where the briefness worked was how little time they spent in the chapter on greed--so that it nails everything Liz wanted in the past and what she wants right now for Kid.

But I thought that arc did really well on the emotional beats for Kid, Black Star, and Maka...

...Even if the story had to shoe-horn in last-minute back story for Maka (Liz and Soul bonding over music, Soul getting the invitations for a new meister) to justify why she now has self-doubt bouts.

But even then, Maka and self-doubt have gone together since the very first chapter: what has Maka been if not constantly worried she's not good enough--not good enough compared to Blair's adherence to idealized womanly appearance, not good enough against Ox in the exams, not good enough to protect Soul from Crona, not good enough to resonate with Black Star, not good enough to protect Crona. The Book of Eibon felt like the culmination of so many of Maka's doubts--but when it's depending on the Checkov's gun of "Soul got a lot of invitation letters," it feels cheap compared to tapping into that long history up to now to acknowledge, yeah, Maka has a lot of self-doubts--and rather than erase them, the Book of Eibon could have existed as a reaffirmation that despite those doubts, she keeps going.

The last arcs of the manga were where I actually started with the manga, as it was wrapping up around the time when the anime aired on Toonami. So, at the time, it just seemed like one long battle. When re-reading it, it does seem like a poor outline, or one that could have been improved. Trying to write war well is next to impossible, as it is this bloated mess of chaos where victory depends on who can't get more time to keep going, and trying to write it in a neat narrative structure is a challenge. But it is such an odd arc: Kid goes ahead of the others to the Moon, then leaves before the others to run in on Kim bathing to go to the Witch World, all while the fighting on the Moon keeps going. I don't know whether other war arcs do this better: I cannot stand the current arc in My Hero Academia, it is such a mess, and I think less because war itself is a mess but because there are so many competing storylines and ass-pulls. But I think the Moon arcs in the finale did overstay their welcome.

At least rushing the ending had a good reunion of Maka and Crona, and Maka's new dress, and just the tiniest moment of mourning by Kid. Too bad a lot of that is overshadowed by the mess of the rest of Chapter 113 (and how Fire Force screws up any sense of finality or closure to this universe).

[vintagelacerosette]

Artist/ Fic Writer Interview

I was tagged by the magnificent darling Chrissy @you-are-so-much-better-than-that who came up with the artist questions, the sensational sweetheart Harvey @mikhailoisbaby & honeypie Willow @ian-galagher thank youuu 🥰

1. Do you post on Ao3? If so, how many works do you have on AO3? If not, where do you post?

I don't post my art on ao3 but on tumblr 😊

2. What is your total art count?

17 🎨

3. What are your top 5 pieces by likes/kudos?

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

I do respond by liking them bc most comments are in the tags & idk should i respond in the comments? lol

5. What is your current fandom, and what was the first fandom you drew for?

Current fandom: Gallavich & First fandom i drew for & shared my art is Gallavich but probably first fandom was maybe soul eater

6. Have you ever received hate on any art?

Not hate but a complaint on my gallacrafts for theme 11 I'm fucking gay. I got an anon asking why I made the lesbian flag & put the phrase I'm fucking gay & i that should have just done lesbian although I had actually made both but it was on the part 2 bc i had a limit of 10 pictures.

7. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t drawn for yet but want to?

Maybe Spirk or Soul x Maka from Soul Eater

8. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Gallavich most definitely, they hit all my likes in a ship plus they're canon & married to boot! #spoiled 😆

9. Do you draw outside of fandom?

Yeah I started getting back into drawing with makinng flowers for mutual's birthday 🥰 I've also made little mascots of baby animals for my niece's baby shower

10. What’s the an art piece you’ve drawn that came out completely differently than you expected?

Probably the GGE2022 for Macy. I had some other ideas. Also their poses were gonna be different like it was either the back of them looking at snow or tumbled into the snow on top of an ny roof top but still not the best at figure drawing so i just did the best of my abilities 😄

11. Do you draw smut?

Not yet but one day 😏

12. Have you ever had any of your art stolen or copied?

Not that I know of

13. Have you ever collaborated on a piece?

No but I think it could be fun to do 🖼

14. What’s an idea you have that you have yet to draw?

Snow king Mickey & Snowflake fae Ian that was gonna be my 2nd choice for the GGE2022 but i loved making fanart for Macy 🥰

Crop top Ian & Mickey in Ian's ROTC hat

Smoo fae Mickey in Ian's arms from a reference pic i saw here

15. What are your drawing strengths?

Faces, hair, blushing & colouring maybe?

16. What are your drawing weaknesses?

Poses, hands & backgrounds

17. What’s your favourite art piece you’ve drawn?

I would say my good omens au I simply adorethe little details I put into the drawing. I referenced Mickey's outfit in Ian's delete scene dream. Ian's outfit is 7x10 just in darker colours. I loved being able to create Ian's ombre eyes by colour picking Cameron's hazel ones. Ian's hair shading. The heart wings & being able to creat the wing texture on the angel wing. AND their signature shows with the timberland & bright read air forces!!! I had such a fun time drawing this 🥰 Also it was my 100,000 post lol

18. What is one thing you’d like to tell people about your art that they might not know?

My gallavich art is the first time I've been colouring my drawings. When I drew a lot in high school I would just do the line art & was too hesitant to colour them.

19. What inspires or motivates you to create for fandom?

Definitely you guys! Being able to make you guys smile. As well as your creations & the creating events 💕🖌

20. And finally, can you describe your process a little? Do you have a favourite place to draw? Do you play something in the background? Do you do research or just go for it? Give us a little insight.

I do like to crawl up into a hunched ball on the lounge couch or my bed (which should stop bad for posture lol) Then I do enjoy playing YouTube video essays about internet history/horror games I'd never play or movie reactions.

Also, I am more of an artist who researches & and works with many references. I got a whole lotta unclosed tabs of Ian & Mickey, body poses & clothes that i forgot to close lol.

So I’m not a fic writer yet! 😉 But here are the interviews questions if you guys wanna ❤️

Fic Writer Interview

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

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

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

7. Do you write crossovers?

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

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

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

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

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

15. What are your writing strengths?

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I’m tagging these twinkling hearts if they wanna play 🥰 @mrsinistertype @crossmydna @friend-bear @darthvaders-wife @psychicskulldamage @divine-gallavich @very-sleepy-head @deathclassic @celestialmickey @depressedstressedlemonzest @suchagallabitch @bekkachaos @ianandmickeygallavich @milkoviched @grumpymickmilk @gallavichgeek @annatrow @sisitrip @lalazeewrites @imikhailotakeyouian @look-i-love-u @suzy-queued @y0itsbri @mishervellous @filorux @jomilky @auds-and-evens @xninetiestrendx @beebabycastiel @bravemikhailo @arrowflier @shameless-notashamed @adakechi @skies-below @takeyourpillsbitchh @mikcrymilkovich @tsuga-of-mars @ardent-fox @you-show-me-love @wehangout

[nabipenda-blog]

BOOKS I READ IN JANUARY.

1. Perks of being a wallflower - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟.

We follow Charlie in highschool as he writes letters to a friend about his life and experiences.

This book is very short thus a quick read and is written in epistolary format and is very slice of life. We just see Charlie through his days in Highschool.

What I loved about this book is our main protagonist who is socially awkward but still very relatable. I also loved the other characters like his friends and family. I loved the music references and currently working on adding them to my playlist.

Highly recommend

2. Apothecary diaries light novel vol 1 and manga vol 1,2 and 3- 🌟🌟🌟🌟.25 ( average rating).

Set in ancient Asia, we follow Maomao as she is kidnapped and sold to the royal palace as a servant girl. She quickly gains attention of the higher-ups as an apothecary after solving a mystery involving the king's infant children.

I am actually a sucker for period pieces and this scratched an itch I had and was very satisfied. Loved Maomao and Jinshi's relationship as they helped each other solving this mysteries in the rear palace.

The light novel vol 1 is a combination of the manga volumes 1,2,3 and 4.

The anime is currently airing and I have just started watching it and so excited to experience this story more.

3. Komi can't communicate vol 1 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟.

Komi is a beautiful girl who is admired by everyone for her looks but is socially awkward and has social anxiety to the point where she cannot talk to anyone. We follow her as she joins highschool and meets Tadano who is a very regular student and helps her make 100 friends.

This manga was such a breath of fresh air for me. I loved Komi and her budding friendship with Tadano and the journey she is undertaking to make 100 friends. We meet a few of the friends she makes along the way and all are interesting characters.

This is a slice of life comedy with lessons about friendship and life in general.

4. Billy bat vol 1 - 🌟🌟🌟.75.

Kevin Yamagata is a mangaka who writes a manga called Billy bat but soon he realizes that he might be copying an image from Japan that he saw while working in the military. This forces him to go back to Japan to look for the original creator and while there he realizes that this is a conspiracy bigger than what he could imagine.

I started reading this manga because I wanted to get into Urasawa's work and this one intrigued me because it was about art and I enjoy media that explore art. This manga does expand into conspiracies of it's own as we see Billy bat as an entity on its own. It also takes real life major world events in history and incoporates them into the story.

5. The murder of Roger Ackroyd- 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟.

This is a Hercule Poirot murder mystery. We follow Hercule Poirot as he is tasked with investigating the murder of a good friend.

It is so hard to give a proper synopsis of this book because of spoilers but I loved this book. It is a very typical murder mystery but the twist and how it was revealed was so shocking that I saw this book in a whole new light.

This is not my first Agatha Christie book and it will not be my last.

6. Heartstopper vol 2 - 🌟🌟🌟🌟.

We follow schoolmates Nick and Charlie who become friends after they meet in a class. This is a love story between two boys from different backgrounds.

Vol 2 begins immediately after vol 1 and in this one we see Nick coming to terms with his sexual identity and the blossoming love between him and Charlie.

[yunoteru4ever]

A look at the anime adaption of "Reign of the Seven Spellblades"

The anime adaption of Sakae Esuno's ongoing manga, Reign of the Seven Spellblades, is currently airing. These 13 episodes will hopefully serve as the first season of many to come... but time will have to tell on that front.

Although this is an adaption Sakae Esuno's manga, the sad truth is that the RotSS manga is not an original story by my fav mangaka. Instead, his manga is itself an adaption of an already-successful series of light novels written by a totally different author — Bokuto Uno, who previously wrote the series Alderamin on the Sky. The point is that although this anime is an adaption of Sakae Esuno's adaption, Esuno ultimately has a limited influence on the storytelling. He basically provides a system of organization for the episodic storytelling and an overall storyboard for the visual presentation. He also was the first to portray some of the side characters in any artwork, so he likely is behind their visual design.

But that's about where his influence ends! It's not like we can expect a series of insane cliffhangers, shocking betrayals, and characters who're playing psychological games like we find in his self-written works.

......................OR CAN WE??

Yeah okay maybe CAN expect some of that, but we'll get into it.

A quick overview: Reign of the Seven Spellblades takes place at Kimberly Academy, an English* magical school for would-be mages. Students begin at age 15 and generally attend for seven years. Most students get in by virtue of their family's magical lineage, but there are also those who get scouted for their aptitude as well as those who come from families with no magical background, meaning that they have to pass a difficult test to attend. Classes include alchemic potions, magical combat, magical creatures, herbology... if you were to assume this all sounds rather like "Anime Harry Potter," you'd be PRECISELY right. At first, that is.

We follow a group of friends who are quickly pulled together by an incident that occurs during the year's opening ceremony. Our two primary leads are:

Oliver Horn, a dark-haired nice guy who's studied magic before coming here and has some mild skill as a result. He's eager to help his fellow first-years, but he's followed around by a mysterious bodyguard for reasons that are initially unknown.

Nanao Hibiya, an Asian* student who is very much a "fish out of water" in this environment. Nanao was scouted by a member of the school's faculty while she was fighting as a samurai on the battlefields of Muromachi-era Japan*; she doesn't know much beyond war, or even much outside of her home nation.

Our semi-likely heroes.

*RotSS takes place in a world that mirrors our Earth's map and borders despite not sharing our country and continent names. So in actuality, the series doesn't call England "England" or refer to Japan as "Japan." Still, these fake-named countries share the history, culture, and geography of the real ones they're based on, so I'm using the real-world names for simplicity's sake. They're the same in every way EXCEPT their names.

This is all merely the tip of the iceberg, because I'm not going to get into issues like the struggle for demi-human rights or the fact/concern that 20% of the academy's students historically die before they can graduate. There's even a labyrinth beneath the school that contains some cool beasts as well as a very disturbing, are-we-really-doing-this one that I'd rather not talk about, THANK-YOU-VERY-MUCH.

But I digress; the first six episodes of the anime primarily focus on getting to know more about the world, the complicated politics within it, how some of the magic works, and — of course — the personalities of our characters. This includes explaining what exactly a "Spellblade" is. (For the record, it's not a magic sword.)

It's not until the end of the sixth episode— much later than the standard "three-episode rule" will carry any skeptical viewers — that we get the reveal that changes what we thought this show was about. And that reveal provides the story with the cynical edge I've come to expect from Sakae Esuno. (Naturally, in the light novels this is a reveal that drops at the end of the very first book.)

SPOILERS FOR Reign of the Seven Spellblades BELOW THE CUT

In an amazingly left-field twist, we learn that Oliver Horn is actually the son of a woman who championed equality among mages and wanted to stop the encroachment of magical beings from other realities who were entering our world and taking over communities. She was trying to change the landscape of the culture — especially in regards to how it was causing suffering in Europe's most oppressed and impoverished communities. But when Oliver was just a child, his mother was betrayed by seven former comrades. They tortured her and murdered her, with the final strike being executed by her best friend... who is now the headmistress of Kimberly Academy.

In fact, all seven of those former allies of Oliver's mother are now on the faculty of the academy. And Oliver is attending this academy solely to kill them all. To that end, he's manipulating said faculty through his actions, carefully maneuvering their attention to serve his interests. I won't get into exactly how he can successfully kill these mages who're at a far higher level than him, but suffice to say that the answer is QUITE satisfying.

Oliver's not even his mother's last relative, as he also has cousins and other allies embedded within the student body who are here to support his quest. Once he kills his first quarry, he's declared the leader of their group. But even as OIliver continues on his mission, the lessons of Nanao's samurai code has gotten him wondering whether the path of vengeance will truly satisfy him.

Frankly, I hope it continues to satisfy him, because it sure as hell satisfies ME. The way Oliver takes out his first victim is such a left-field twist and utterly goddamn awesome. This show went from "anime Harry Potter" to "HOLY FUCK this is unbelievably badass" in less than 10 minutes. And the flashbacks to his mother's horrific betrayal aligned very well with Sakae Esuno's established cynicism regarding human nature.

Now that we have a mission of revenge and murderous justice to follow, the whole setup is instantly much more than what it first appeared to be. And it's impressive how they managed to keep the biggest reveals completely hidden until it was time to spring them on the audience while simultaneously still laying groundwork, obscurely hinting at the twist to come without ever tipping their hand.

So yeah, I'm a fan of this. I imagine I'd like it even more if it was totally Esuno's baby, because that's just how much of a mark I am for his work, but this is still great stuff with a really nice cast of characters at its center.

[popculturegenealogy]

Carmen Sandiego's search for her roots comes to an end

The Chief looks at the file Jules has compiled on Carmen's mother

Reprinted from my Genealogy in Popular Culture WordPress blog. Originally published on Jan. 24, 2021.

In the past, on this blog, I've written about the family history themes in the animated series, Carmen Sandiego, especially in the show's first, second and third seasons. [1] The final episode of the series brought this full circle, after Julia "Jules" Argent, who had been tasked with finding Carmen's mother, talks with the Chief of ACME about what they know, which I talk about on my Wading Through The Cultural Stacks blog. Spoilers to anyone who has read this far. So, if you do not wish to be spoiled, then please don't read any further.

Anyway, the records that Jules and the Chief look at are very illuminating. They say the following:

Carmen's mother is Carlotta Valdez, born and raised in Vera Cruz, Mexico before moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina

She founded an orphanage six months after Dexter Wolfe's death

Wolfe was raising a family

What is amazing is they find this out by looking at travel records, photographs, and other evidence. They don't even need a DNA test from Carmen herself! Amazing work, Jules! Seriously. That's what makes this so great! I'm a big fan of using hard evidence rather than information from DNA tests, but I understand people having to use DNA. Still, no one should think that DNA is a be-all-end-all that will give them the true answers about their origins. That will, generally, only come from documents or perhaps oral stories. We see images of Carmen's mother in the episode, which I'm not sharing here, but she looks just like Carmen. In an attempt to bring in Carmen, ACME agents come near the orphanage where Carlotta works, but they don't enter it. Shadowsan does, and confirms that indeed this woman is Carmen's mother, seeing photographs of her and Wolff on a bookshelf, promising to tell her when she comes back "from the darkness" (she is currently in a state of being brainwashed by VILE to do their evil deeds).

Later in the episode, after VILE has been hobbled, she is handed a file about her past by Shadowsan and allowed to choose her own path. She is then shown on the streets of Buenos Aires and coming to the door of the orphanage to meet her mother.

Carmen walking down the streets of Buenos Aires, nervous about meeting her mother.

Best of luck to Carmen! This is such a great story of family discovery and ancestry that it should be shouted from the rooftops.

© 2021-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] There's also an episode ("The V.I.L.E. History Caper") where Professor Maelstrom discusses his Norse ancestry, but it's so brief that writing a whole post about that really wouldn't be possible, to be honest.

© 2020-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[theoriginofoghond]

The Lore of Gisnep, Part 1

In this post, the history of the Gisnep company; in the next post, the personality of Gisnep and the stuff they did differently. First things first, let's get everything before his death out of the way, because save for the founding date being 1924 rather than 1923, everything is much the same as it is in real life: Gisnep leaves Kansas Ci-- sorry, Accumula for Hollywoo-- sorry, Medala (not Medali in Paldea; Medala in Feluv); he and his brother set up a studio; they create Alice Comedies (still titled the same) and create Mickey Mo-- sorry, Petey Pikachu with whoever the Ub Iwerks equivalent is; they air Petey Pikachu cartoons; they air Steamboat Willie (still titled the same); they air Snow White and the Seven Dwar-- sorry, Eeveelutions; they create Patty, Quirinius, Quetzalli, Derpy, and Charon (guess who those are the equivalents to?); they create a ton of other feature films; Gisnep plans Gisnep World in Medala City in Feluv; Gisnep plans Gisnepville in Virbank City in Unova; Gisnep gets the Sherman Brothers (who die MUCH earlier here than in real life) to write a song for the Magic Kingdom entrance that in this universe becomes the Bootstrapped Theme of the company (more on that later); Gisnep smokes like crazy; Gisnep dies. RIP Gisnep. And THEN. William Elliot Gisnep wakes up in the Spirit World surrounded by Froslass on all sides (because of course he would be) and the two Legendary horses (because of course he would be). They tell him that he has proven himself to be an incredible force for good, and because of it, so long as he can pass the Spirit Games tests, he will be rewarded with revival as any Pokemon of his choice. He is humbled, but ecstatic, and asks the Spirits why the company still needs him. They reply that it's because in 20 years the company's movies will become terrible (hello, Dark Age of Disney). Gisnep then asks why the world needs him, and Spectrier responds basically with "AI bad Chatter toxic". Gisnep doesn't know what Chatter is, but wants to have children grow up in a world where animation is celebrated and discourse is nonexistent, so he is like "holy crap please revive me". It takes him 18 years of training. Ray E. Gisnep dies during that time. He is also slated for revival. In the real world it is now 1985. The Black Cauldron has been released by Gisnep. All Disney fans should know what happened. Massive flop for the Gisnep Company. Gisnep loses tons of money. Gisnep almost goes bankrupt. No I'm not kidding. Gisnep needs a film to save them. After all the profits for the Black Cauldron come in, up in the Spirit World Gisnep has been revived. He has won the Spirit Games. Congratulations, Gisnep; choose your new Pokeform. He picks a Mimikyu. Ray picks a Raichu. He wakes up in his old studio, behind a refrigerator. He goes out and sees a copy of this new book called Basil of Baker Street. He loves it. He goes right back into the current Gisnep studio. He clears his throat. He enters the room with a copy of Basil of Baker Street and Ray by his side. The Gisnep company executives are stunned. The other Ray Gisnep is in tears. A happy reunion ensues. The next year they air The Great Ratatta Detective. It paves the way for the Gisnep Rennaissance and a little film called The Hunchback of Notre Dame, set in Medala. This film is HUGE. It becomes the biggest film of the Gisnep Renaissance. Gisnep makes billions. (So does The Pyroar King, but HOND makes more in this universe.) Everyone keeps Gisnep on as CEO. The rest of the Gisnep catalogue ensues, leading to present day. Cue the canon Gisnepverse. Gisnep is beloved by children. Gisnep is beloved by adults. The Gisnep company is a major force for good in the worl-- Oh. Oh all of a sudden Gisnep's animators have no heart anymore. All of a sudden Gisnep's animators hate each other. All of a sudden Gisnep is a toxic company. And all of a sudden, Will Gisnep has to get everything back to normal, along with three other Trainers, before humanity as he knows it commits mass suicide.

Next up: Gisnep's general personality, and the differences between the company we know and the company in the fic.