#rating-c

[hardworkandguts]

Rose of Versailles

ベルサイユのばら

(Film)

Historical Shoujo by Ryoko Ikeda

Era: 2020s

Rating: C

Plot: Oscar de Jarjayes, born as the youngest daughter of a noble family in 18th century France is raised as a boy to fulfill her family's role, to serve in the palace guard, where she receives the assignment to protect the future Queen of France, Marie Antoinette.

Length: 113 minutes

Thoughts: Rose of Versailles is one of the very first posts I made here, and remains both a personal favourite and at that time one of my top picks for a show to be given a modern coating, comparing it to The Apothecary Diaries - insert back the tiny gremlins in the background and some of the silliness from the manga, while being a mostly serious historical affair of palacial intrigue. Months later, it was announced it would return, but as a movie, which I don't think is suited for such a well crafted story, and both the visuals from the trailer looked a bit weak and if you are going to use music, ignoring one of the most iconic OPs is a choice, for sure. As it was released in Japan the news was that it was a musical and while I'm not opposed to the idea, the original was so strong in the incidental music department I knew it was going to be an uphill battle for it. So, months later, here we are.

First thing, it's not a musical as much using a few musical montages to advance most of the early part of the story. In a way, that reminds me of the 2006 movie Marie Antoinette, which attracted notoriety by using post-punk and new wave songs to some of the montages of Marie Antoinette's daily life. That movie also shows you can do that story in around the same time, but as this is also Oscar's story, well... On the positive side, the character designs, from Mariko Oka, are closer to the original manga than those of Shingo Araki, and when it isn't trying to do 3D stuff that always reminds me of something like the Sega Saturn RPG Dragon Force, it looks quite good. Unfortunately, that's about as much I can say I liked from it. The music? Hours after watching it, nothing stayed in my ear. However, most of my complaints are from the story being cut down beyond the essentials. The overall arch of the story is of her becoming one of the few persons Marie Antoinette can trust in Versailles, and then witnessing the self-serving interests of the noble class and the constant palacial intrigue, and their treatment of the common people, and during all this her struggles in her identity as a woman, a noble with the duty of protecting the queen and her growing interest in the humanist ideals of the revolution bubbling under the surface. Unfortunately all the palace intrigue beyond her affair with von Fersen is glossed over, and the pains the people of France go though are alluded but since Rosalie is just a girl protecting a boy (in the original, the noble letting him go just to shoot him in the back becomes a key point where Oscar realises that is what she is sworn to protect) and her time with the French Guards is severely cut, having read the manga and watched the original anime, I really can't tell if this adaptation conveys the same weight to the events, or for a newcomer it all feels rushed. Can you suggest this as an introduction to a newcomer to the series? Arguably not, as I think most of it has to be filled with some knowledge of the original story.

Ultimately, there are many problems I already expected, first from the idea of the story as a movie and then from the initial trailer. Expected it would have something to make up for it, but found it very lacking in that aspect. Still hope this brings enough interest so that someone would do a fresh 24 episode adaptation of the manga.

Recommended to: It's probably for the fans more than for newcomers.

Plus:

Good character design

Minus:

Story glosses over much of the human factor that led to the radicalisation of Oscar by the end of the story, without establishing her closeness to Marie Antoinette.

[yes-no-maybe-soo]

I can't watch this without getting teary-eyed... Sylus reading poetry to her in bed... tucking her in... giving her a goodnight kiss... auuughh 💘 My loverboy...my shaylaaaa 😭🫶

[boyheros]

Cave Johnson quote found in my 4th grade yearbook in the section boasting about my elementary schools stem efforts. ???????

[sleevebuscemii]

the thing about silver and stories and silver’s story is that before s3 before he loses his leg before he becomes quartermaster before he becomes long john silver. well. i think the reason silver’s story works against him in the end and by his own hand and his own self is that it’s not really his. the choices he makes in the end are born out of a belief in a reality that doesn’t exist, that what he wants is a quiet life with madi, that madi wants that, that flint is a threat, that flint doesn’t care for madi, that flint doesn’t care for him, and it comes almost from a belief of his own lie. of the fabricated version of himself after the events of the s2 finale, the version of himself that is long john silver and that is a pirate and is a walrus crewman and a revolutionary, which was all a narrative that was bred for him by circumstances, not out of his own choosing. i think a lot about the look he gives flint when flint tells him the crew named him quartermaster. the hate and the disdain and the doom because he knows he wasnt chosen as quartermaster because of his own scheming but because of the circumstances of what happened. not because the crew didn’t actually care and want him to be quartermaster but he didn’t win them over with the charm and wit of his manipulation it’s largely because of the sacrifice they believe he’s made for them. and that wasn’t a sacrifice he chose to make. his new role isn’t a victory he’s carved for himself it’s a position he’s caged into, just like billy’s creation of long john silver. silver assumes the role but gets lost in it because it’s not of his own making and that undoes him in the end. for someone who’s identity is created spontaneously based on the situation at hand, i think the one grasp on identity that silver ever had was that at least whatever identity he would create it was His creation. which isn’t the same thing as Having an identity but he loses his identity definitively when he loses that small power. and so much of it is the disability. in the same way that flint’s conflict with identity is between who he is and who people think he is based on his queerness, based on his ‘monstrosity’, silver’s identity narrows when he loses his leg, and narrows his power of being able to become anyone from anywhere doing anything, so he adopts the identities he’s assigned because he has to, because the options for identities he’d chose for himself are limited anyway, would probably be along these lines anyway. and in the end. in the end there’s nothing anyone could do about it because there’s no real silver. flint and madi couldn’t realize or recognize or argue that this version of silver isn’t real because neither one of them knows who the real silver is! madi certainly doesn’t because she doesn’t even know who silver was before s3 and flint doesn’t because silver never tells him. it’s so much of the painful resignation that comes up in their final confrontation and why silver’s backstory, specifically lack of, comes into priority at the 11th hour. flint can’t convince silver that this isn’t what he wants because there’s nothing to reference, he has nothing to bargain with, not the cause not madi not even their friendship. in the same way that miranda worried she’d be unable to recognize who she is now and flint tells her he recognizes her. in the same way that miranda tells him she recognizes him. there’s no one to recognize silver and there is no silver to recognize.

[aphrothiti]

Mars nakshatras are very sensitive to having energy projected onto them. They do NOT like a beg and are very quick to view someone as desperate/weird.

Not necessarily avoidants because they can chase others or act desperate themselves but as soon as it comes towards them from a source outside their personal bubble, they can be repulsed very quickly. Even if it’s not from a place of judgement, they definitely get overwhelmed.

I’ve known many instances where they’ve ended relationships over the other person being too clingy or affectionate, but that as a specific example is kind of dependent on what kind of person they attract and other planet influences.

I’ve mainly observed this personally but the main celeb instance of this is Chappell Roan (Chitra asc). Just to be clear- I think the way people feel entitled to violate celebrities’ privacy is fucking weird and she has every right to be upset (ppl literally stalked her family!!). But from an observational perspective, the negative reaction she had after people suddenly started perceiving and projecting energy onto her en masse, especially in comparison to other celebrities, was definitely more prominent.

You could tell she was very overwhelmed and even wanted to do less in order to avoid the spotlight. Meanwhile someone with stronger (just a random example) rahu influence would chase the high of attention and maybe suffer to a lesser extent in this kind of situation

Going back to speaking generally, they usually thrive in relationships with people who are laidback and independent on some level. Maybe a little aloof but still being emotionally present

I saw someone bring up recently in a post (if that was you, I’m sorry I can’t remember 😭I’ll link if I see it again) the whole mars men x older women dynamic and how they like someone with a stronger sense of self that won’t rely on them as much. They don’t like the idea of being a provider for someone needy who relies on them to emotionally regulate.

Mars nak natives when you need them a little too much:

[carbon-fiber-internal-organs]

[idle-compy]

campadampadoodles

[sweetest-honeybee]

Justtt one more thing c: @clownsuu

[vaguely-concerned]

I love rook's habitual sitting pose where their hands are clenched SO painfully tightly into fists against the arms of their chair that you can practically hear their knuckles creaking. yeah they're a pretty cool chill laidback kind of person and not all that stressed out at all even. haha. why. why are you asking

(you know, like

would a person who is, generously, about .2 seconds away from just completely fucking losing it at any given moment carry themselves with such fluid tranquil ease? check and mate rook is just fine actually don't worry about it)

[wackywatchdotcom]

sometimes i think about the idea that the digital circus is JUST caine. its all what hes made. i mean he named himself, whose to say the circus isnt his own creation, an extension of himself

[hardworkandguts]

I May Be a Guild Receptionist But I'll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time

ギルドの受付嬢ですが, 残業は嫌なのでボスをソロ討伐しようと思います

(Anime)

Fantasy by Mato Kousaka

Era: 2020s

Rating: C

Plot: Alina Clover is the receptionist for the local adventurer's guild, mostly because it's a steady job with good benefits. However, because heroes aren't often the smartest or nicest in the bunch and take a long time to beat bosses, that leads to a lot of unpaid overtime to process all the paperwork. That's when she becomes The Executioner, a powerful character that solos bosses and allow some peace and quiet in her dayjob, but doing it secretly because she is not allowed to have other jobs.

Length: 12 episodes

Thoughts: Well, don't know about bosses, but the title really beat my formatting. A fun concept, very videogame coded and a very late pick for this season, it ended up being a somewhat disappointing watch. It's pretty bad how often I hit around half of the battle-focused parts of episodes and I'm wishing it ends because the ED is catchy and more amusing that whatever is on screen. I'm hardly a big fantasy fan, regardless of medium, and it needs something to hook me in - something like Frieren has the "well, what happens now" post endgame vibe, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle has a gremlin of a main character, this would have the idea the main character is actually hiding as an NPC that only exists to give quests to heroes, and she can pretty much wipe the floor with all of them, but prefers the stability of her job, and that would be perfect if only those heroes didn't leave so much paperwork behind and suck so much at their job.

While the action isn't bad and it avoids dragging fights for too long, I've found the show loses a lot of charm when it becomes less of "office clerk pissed at having to do unpaid overtime so she goes beast mode on the enemies because the heroes suck" (that's more or less the name of the show already) and more "boss fight". I don't think it can be both, and ditching the whole "secret job" with "well she's too useful so let's keep it under wraps because there's some bad stuff brewing" so soon was kinda boring and closed down avenues to what could make it really good, as the show is at it's best and more unique with the characters hunched over stacks of unfinished documents. Or, even forgetting the ruse, it proves it can do that; episode 9, where Alina sneaks in the new receptionist orientation because it's being given by a legend of her field, and she hopes she can hear from her the secret to not do overtime (which is becoming a fully dedicated workaholic, to her dismay), and her activities as the Executioner as just a small part of the story, and the episode feels fuller this way. It does that every so often, but other times (like when Alina finally gets to experience the festival), still needs to pack another top level boss at the end and heeeeeeh boring. Overall, it's a more unique show when there's less Dark Gods and more troublesome heroes who can't clear the new quest dungeon and poor Alina has to stay past closing time processing documents until she snaps and very reluctantly decides to do it herself.

It's not a bad time, but I feel it's one of those shows I take nothing from, and I'll forget everything about it by next month because of how generic it turned out. If you aren't that confident in the concept, just what's the point of it, then? Another "save the world" fantasy adventure with gaming references? Disappointing.

Recommended to: fantasy fans.

Plus:

It looks fairly decent, either in action or slice of life modes.

Fun concept...

Minus:

...almost immediately discarded in favour of being BIG FANTASY SHONEN ADVENTURE.

[yes-no-maybe-soo]

And you love her for it ☺️💖

Actually this is one thing I forgot to include in the appreciation post I made about Sylus yesterday – the fact that he encourages MC to embrace all sides of herself fully, including the ones society deems less appropriate, especially in women (such as being a menace 😌). She is free to be who she truly is with him, not having to hold any part of her authentic self back. That must be so freeing. Sylus is such a safe space 💞

[guseveretts]

books read in 2024

|| beach read — emily henry || ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑

[bleue-flora]

Michaelmcchill really asking the real questions about Dream and the Prison…

[clip] Sapnap: “He’s fucked up alright? He was my friend but he’s Fucked Up, okay? He wanted to control everyone.” Eryn:”Really?” Micheal: “So you do think he should be in there?” Sapnap: “Yes.” Michael: “For how long?”

[clip] (about Sapnap’s visit to prison) Michael: “But was he like shaking bars fucked up? Or like what?—Was he acting like a fucking monkey in the zoo, like trying to get the fuck out, or what?” Sapnap: “Like no this—look he went from being fucked up in terms of like—like him just being like a bad person to him being fucked up by being like he wouldn’t talk—like oh he—he was like—he got fucked up from being in prison so long. You know what I mean? There’s a difference between the two fucks up.” Michael: “Well if he got fucked up from being in prison then maybe he should be out?” Sapnap: “No, no, no, Micheal, you’ve got it all wrong. He needs to be in prison til he’s not fucked up either way. Once he’s just not fucked up and—” Michael: “Wait a minute, so the prison made him fucked up?” Sapnap: “No, no, no, he was fucked up, alright? And then he got a different kind of fucked up but he’s probably still the other fucked up as well. You get what I’m saying.” Michael: “I mean I get it he was fucked up before he went in but it seems like the prison has fucked him up even more.” Sapnap: “No—no, look he’s gonna get better.” Michael: “If he—if he’s your friend, wouldn’t you want to help him get better?”

[clip] Michael: “But maybe the prison can’t help him!” Sapnap: “Michael, you’re wrong.” Michael: “I’m—I’m just asking.” Sapnap: “Michael, he has to stay in there. If he comes out— Michael: “These aren’t necessarily my opinions I just don’t—I mean if he’s you friend—What if he needs therapy instead of the prison?”

[obnoxiousbloodstain]

Dude.

It's literally them

[t3chborb]

It be Ramattra's birthday today (the first one since the cast's bdays were revealed), so obviously I had to make something special for such a monumental occasion~

The art may appear a little strange, given the pic's purpose. Shouldn't it be a bit more obvious that it's a birthday celebration? What's going on here?

Well...

Let's just say this art is indeed special. If you want the context, you'll have to read @korpuskat's "Date of Manufacture" (Tumblr / AO3) ;)