#rayn back at it again with the essays

[tallbluelady]

between you me and those two lalafall t posing that azure dragoon in submission in the corner there what is your favorite part about screenshoting writing or otherwise producing content for your character?

Buckle up cuz I've been rotating this concept in general for a while!

Okay, back in college (I still feel weird saying that) I lent a friend my notebook cuz he missed a lecture one time. He noted that I doodled all over them, and asked why I did so. My answer was something along the lines that I was going to burst if I didn't.

And it's still true for me to this day. I have to write or draw or do gpose/screenshots cuz otherwise I'm going to explode. An idea comes to me and stares me and compels me to execute it. Hell, when I get a good shitpost idea, it feels like my third eye snaps wide open and I cannot get any rest until I make some sort of token effort to try and make it real in some fashion.

As for a favorite part? I don't know! The Defunctland tweet about film making being the worst thing other than not making films is pretty accurate on occasion. I mean, I do enjoy the fruits of my labor. I was scrolling through my own blog smiling at the stuff I've made before I started writing this answer. But depending on the creation, creating the thing is more important to me than having the created thing.

Like this essay of an answer! Not only do I feel obligated to answer you, but I have to admit that writing this is going to be more satisfying to me than coming back to it later and reading it. And that's been true for most of my life. I remember goofing off with spriting at a young age and just enjoying editing the visual of Pokemon trainers without worrying about posting them for a while. It's just been this last year and like, high school that I would get consistent feedback on my creative endeavors. College and working at my last job didn't leave me with enough energy to do creative stuff and present it in a viewable fashion. So that leaves me wrapping my head around the idea that I am having positive human interactions because of my blorbos and blorbo related content.

As for Rowan being the central character of this content? She's more or less the character I've always made creative content for. Whether it be in a Night Elf form or original Elf form or Elezen form, she's just been the vessel for any creative endeavors that need a person-shaped avatar to fill. Now I can confidently say that Rowan is probably distinct from her predecessors by virtue of being worked on so much more lately, but she's just drawn from the same primordial muse ooze that I've always been drawing from.

I think I hit all the points I've wanted to here. Well, the peer-reviewed, undiagnosed ADHD is probably a big contributing factor as to why I feel like I'll burst as a way to combat boredom (and for how this reads lmao).

But, uh, yeah. Thanks for the ask, anon. I hope it wasn't far more than you bargained for XD

[akilice]

@luckythereviewer Yep, kind of.

Prepare yourself I have a whole essay about her:

Girl who starts her journey with amnesia and being thrown into life or death situation, her first kill ends up being a kid(in this context, the kid is possessed by the 'zombies' of this universe called Murks).

She has Shirou and Hakuno's compassion, but also she starts showing Shirou's recklessness to throw away his life for the sake of others. Because she gets Saved by Samael, she develops an obsession with protecting him at the cost of her safety, and she's called out on her behavior being unhealthy (though S2 kinda annoys me, it backs down on this idea and treats their interactions in a romantic light, i really hope the next season adresses this issue again). Even some 'joke' moments indicate that there's a deeper issue with her going on, considering she doesn't care if she gets left behind

Even though Rayne denies this, it's becoming a clear issue that her worth is tied to protecting others, and maybe she really believes she's doing everything because she cares about her friends, but even then she completely ignores her own needs and trauma to focus on others

we don't know why she's like this yet, since the only knowledge we have of her past is through her best friend Tomoha, and Tomoha's pov, Rayne seemed to be going through some heavy stuff then proceeded to cut her off

I think she's super neat

[worldssmallestghost]

Ibara should exist, actually

Hey, another little essay about a book series that hardly anybody even thinks about anymore, but I do!

If you're a fan of the Pendragon Adventures series, you're likely aware of the... Ibara paradox. If you're not, let me explain:

In the book series, it's explained that there are "travelers" from each "territory", which are different times and places in the vastness that is the greater universe, called Halla. The main antagonist, Saint Dane, has the goal of throwing each of these territories into chaos by forcing them to go against their set timeline. Most of the time, he loses and moves on, but sometimes he succeeds and gets stronger. He views his losses as inevitable wins, as each fallen territory is like a domino effect.

Book four brings upon his first win.

He relies on the local traveler's knowledge of the world in order to trick her into programming a computer virus that is supposed to make people realize that the virtual utopia of "Life light" isn't perfect so they'll willingly leave their perfect worlds to keep their real world alive and functioning. However, Saint Dane's trick is that it straight up kills people before they can get out. The world falls and, is implied to have created a separate timeline and whole new territory in the form of Ibara, a distant future version of itself.

Travelers are not of the worlds they inhabit. They are, for all intents and purposes, gods that maintain order without having any personal effect on Halla. Saint Dane, being one of them that broke order and left, wants to watch it all burn so he can become the ultimate god. Aja is a traveler, and thus, by series logic, she's not supposed to have effect. She was never supposed to exist to create the virus (the reality bug).

Hence where people start screaming "PLOT HOLE!". And I have been guilty of that until recently.

Saint Dane has never been the kind of man to create problems. He just exacerbates them. In book three, he messes with the morality of the travelers by forcing them to leave the Hindenburg to its fate. The Hindenberg was supposed to explode. In book two, is one of the few times he gets as close to creating a problem for a while. Poisoning fertilizer that the ship-inhabiting people of Cloral need.

I believe that Saint Dane just pours gasoline on turning points to accelerate things. Like putting nitrous-oxide in a car to make it careen into a wall. It's the speed that makes it hard to turn things the right direction.

Ibara was always going to happen. Veelox was doomed from the get-go. Saint Dane, time and time again, puts down humanity by calling us selfish and self destructive. In The Quillan games he breaks Bobby down by telling him that it's just human nature to refuse change. The people of Veelox wouldn't want to leave Lifelight, why would they? They get to have perfect dreams forever until they die. Reality can be whatever they want.

The Reality Bug was just to speed things up. Forcing a slightly different version of Ibara to exist.

"What about Aja Killian helping with the creation of Rayne? If she removed herself from the equation, how could she have been there to help people build a better future?" I think that, alongside Saint Dane speeding up the inevitable, Aja was never supposed to be the person leading the charge, it was supposed to be someone else much later. She was forced to fill a role that would eventually be taken by someone else under different, but similar circumstances down the road.

The series has, in my opinion, never made itself quiet about its ideas of how important fate is. Even after the travelers are given the chance to either go back to being immortal spirits, or mortals, they just live normal, unexceptional lives. Like a tiny little bug in a much bigger program, a little quirk that in the end, changes pretty much nothing.

Anyway, if you made it this far, damn, I'm sorry you had to put up with my fan theory for a very, very small fandom lmao. But thank you.

[compljcated]

i am a hopelessly cynical romantic and i base my entire worth as a person on whether or not i am someone’s girlfriend. i spent way too many of my teenage years on tumblr writing angsty poetry about how “hard” my life was so now i am 21 and dying for a real fucking life. the issue is that there are so many fucking opinions and thoughts and rumors and movements that i can’t figure out what’s real and what’s fake. 

online dating is fucking hard, but going out and meeting someone during a chance encounter and falling hopelessly in love doesn’t exist anymore because no one looks up from their phone long enough to notice that the sky is falling. so i sit in my room and i swipe left and i swipe right and i have meaningless conversations about the weather and my major in college and we make tentative plans that never have a date set so they never happen and i’m still hopelessly alone. the real issue is not that i want *someone* to love me, the issue is that i want *someone in particular* to love me.

at the risk of sounding cliche and like i have a ‘“live laugh love” poster on my wall, you don’t get to pick and choose who you love, it just happens. there’s a connection, a spark, a kiss, a look, and you’re hooked. that’s it. fucking goodbye reality. i was reading an essay by rayne fisher-quann that seriously struck the biggest nerve imaginable. in the pain gap, rayne talks about how in *legal* relationships with age/maturity gaps the younger partner is always left with an unmistakable and unforgiving pain that the older partner has long since forgotten about. this pain stays with you for ages, and i know this pain very well. isn’t it funny how every woman becomes taylor swift someday? like rayne says, “for every ten-minute taylor swift song, there is a jake gyllenhaal confused by all the fuss around a decade-old fling; the worst kinds of pain are rarely mutual.” isn’t that painful? that seriously takes the wind out of my sails. and let me tell you why. 

he sends me a single one worded text about once a week and this time around i’ve seen him once in four months. i was set on being friends, fine with it even, and then he kissed me and my entire world went dark and now i’m a teenager again and fighting for my fucking life. everyday i think about what i could do or say next time he texts me so that i have a better chance at getting a text back. then i sit and think to myself, “you are 21 years old. you’re not a child. what are you doing? GET A JOB!!!” and i argue with myself for a little while longer until i turn on some music, get high, and scroll through twitter. day in and day out, i am thinking of him. did he text me? no. so i put his contact on do not disturb. ten minutes goes by and i wonder again. no. so i put my phone down. this obsession with being given attention is eating me alive and it’s making me wonder how i ever survived this the first time around. 

he’s only three and a half years older than me, but somehow it feels like a lifetime. sure, we can finally go out and get drinks together, but i wonder if he still sees me as the naive teenage girl who did anything to get his attention. i wonder if he thinks about me and hurts the way i do when he remembers us and who we used to be. i wonder if he wants the same thing i do now. i wonder if he knows there hasn’t been a single moment in the past four years where i haven’t thought about him, or wished he would kiss me again.realistically speaking, though, i know he doesn’t think of us. i know he hardly thinks of me at all. i don’t know what hurts more: the small possibility that he could be hurting the same way i hurt and i would never know, or the very real chance that he isn’t losing any sleep over me and hasn’t for years.

somewhere in the kisses he stole and the wide-toothed smiles he caused, i lost sight of what we were meant to be from the start: nothing. and i feel this ending before it’s even had a chance to begin but i stay. i don’t move. why am i letting this happen again? he is not ready for the kind of love i have to offer and i am trying to be okay with that. i am tired of believing i will always be hurt and always making space for it. but i grew up on fairytales and taylor swift, so i think i will die believing that i will be swept off my feet by a boy with beautiful eyes and a charming smile. if i stop, what do i have left?

[loganinthecorner]

Quotes from a one shot

This was by far my favorite party dynamic ever, enjoy. (some of these aren’t word for word so bear with me)

(also there’s a lot so my apologies for the brain death you shall experience)

Ren the Artificer: Okay, what do we- I mean I, need to do to get this A. What kind of adventures are there that we can do? Rayne the Bard: Whatever is easy to write a five page essay about??? I don’t know? Benton the Rogue/Warlock: Why don’t we just look up a quest board- here gimme the computer I know how to technology Benton: Goes to facetome (fantasy facebook) 

Ren: We should follow them Rayne: Sweet! Something exciting! Lets do this! Ren: …actually glowy one, you should hang back... like far back Rayne: Follows close behind because fuck you when did I care Rayne: Is the sole reason they get caught by cultists

Random cultist: Hey give my phone back! Ren, going through his phone: No, don’t think I will The phone: So many idle games. Ren: Nice

Ren: Okay I know for sure that there was another guy here, because he was an idiot and I’m still angry about it Rayne: Oh, well if that’s how you remember people you must remember me pretty well, huh? Ren: I don’t even know your name Rayne: …oh. Benton: Isn’t it Zephyr? Rayne: Not even close

Literally all the enemies that we fought that weren’t idiots: ‘Lets do this song and dance again, shall we?’ and other similar lines The entire party of clueless college students: Wtf??? I don’t know you??? The equally clueless Balor: What do you mean? We had this epic fight and everything! The party: … I think you have us confused Mr. big demon man

Ren: You should go to the school psychiatrist- after we finish beating you up of course. They’re really good at their job. The Balor being shot by this little fairy: …

Rayne: Viscous mockery Rayne: Hey asshole! Your ugly ass should get your memory checked, because none of us have ever met you, and frankly, I don’t think we ever wanted to either!

Rayne: Wow, you’re surprisingly chill for such a hothead

(this isn’t even all of them I’m so sorry) Try to guess which idiot mine was, and have an interesting existence 

[chemicalmagecraft]

The Gamer Hero, Deku Chapter 23

So

I may or may not have forgotten to do this. And then had to do like three essays...

xoxoxo

"Sorry about that again..." I apologized to Tsu, holding a small flame in front of her.

She harrumphed jokingly and leaned a bit more into Uraraka's chest, her arms crossed. She was using Uraraka's new sport uniform jacket like a makeshift blanket. "You're such a hypocrite, Midoriya. You yell at Todoroki for freezing up the audience, then you go just as cold as him when you fight him, kero."

"Sorry, I was hoping Blaise and Pyra working together would be enough to keep everyone from getting cold..."

"Hey," a lazy voice drawled. I turned my head to see a basic fire elemental suddenly sitting on the railing in front of me. His hair and clothes were mostly black with a few orange stripes. He had black cat ears, a black cat tail, and catlike orange eyes with yellow sclera. "I helped too, ya know."

"Oh hi, Charlie!" Uraraka said.

"Who the fuck are you?" Kacchan asked him.

"That's Aizawa-sensei's fire elemental," I said.

"And I'll have you know I helped out," Charlie grumbled.

"Only because you were forced to, niichan," another voice said. A girl with sky-blue hair in a sort of bowl cut that covered her eyes appeared in midair. Upside-down. She had very pale, actually outright just white skin and two weird red horns that formed a sort of deformed heart shape when seen from the side. She had a simple white dress, almost exactly the same color as her skin.

Tsu waved at her. "Hey, Cass. Kero."

"Hey, Tsu-chan," Cassiopeia, Aizawa-sensei's gravity elemental, said. "Are you and my aunt finally dating yet?" Tsu and Uraraka both spluttered, now blushing. "Iiii'll take that as a no, then." She smirked, and with a momentary glow of her horns Tsu's head was suddenly shoved into Uraraka's chest by an unseen force that was probably gravity. "C'mon, you guys've obviously noticed the attraction between you two~"

"Th-that's because you're literally making Tsu-chan gravitate towards me!" Uraraka shouted, blushing heavily. Tsu said something that was probably agreeing with Uraraka, but it was muffled so I couldn't tell for sure.

"I have no idea what you're talking about~" Cass taunted. She cheekily stuck out her tongue.

Even though I wasn't the direct target of it, I could feel Aizawa-sensei's glare from all the way over in the announcer's box. Was that what Enji felt when I used Fear on him?

Good.

Tsu and Uraraka stopped being attracted to each other. By gravity, at least. "H-hey, look at the time!" Cass said. "G-gotta go!"

"That girl..." Tsu muttered, still blushing heavily.

"Tsu do you need me to heal you?" I asked. "Your nose is bleeding a little."

She felt her nose. "Oh. Yeah please do that, kero. Sorry, sometimes my nose bleeds a little easy." I placed my hand on her face and cast Healing Hands.

"Do I have to beat up a child?" Kacchan offered.

"D-don't worry about Cass," Uraraka said. "She doesn't do stuff anything as bad as that a lot, and she always apologizes later after Shō gives her a lecture."

"And this is the first time she drew blood, kero," Tsu commented.

"I feel kinda bad for Aizawa-sensei," I said. "Some of my elementals are, no offense, a little hard to manage..."

"Hey!" Rayne shouted.

"...but at least my other elementals help keep them grounded." Blaise put Rayne in a headlock despite the fact that they were both immaterial. "Aizawa-sensei, on the other hand, only has those two."

"Yeah, lazy elementals are annoying to deal with," Kacchan said. I looked at him. "I am assuming," he added suspiciously quickly.

"Alright, then," I said. "Hey, shouldn't you be heading for the waiting room, Kacchan?"

He shrugged. "I trust Birdface and Sparkles-"

"Tokoyami and Aoyama."

"-Birdface and Sparkles to give each other a good fight. Unfortunately I won't be able to watch their fight, directly anyway, but at least I can watch Glasses'."

"His name is Iida, problem child," Aizawa-sensei said over the speaker.

"Thaaaat's right folks!" Mic-sensei shouted. "It's Iida Tenya! Versus! Shiozaki Ibara! Who will win, technology or nature? Let's find out!"

"Start!" Midnight-sensei announced.

And then it was over. Iida was really fast.

"Damn, that was quick," Kacchan said disappointedly.

"That's what she said," Tsu muttered.

"I'll kill you, Frog," Kacchan threatened flatly.

"That's also what she said," I joked.

Kacchan twitched. "That one doesn't even make sense!"

"Maybe you should go now?" Uraraka suggested. "Iida's fight's over."

He sighed. "Fine, just tell me what happens in... Tokoyama and Aoyami's fight?" He glared at what appeared to be thin air. "Did I fucking ask, Pyra!?" Kacchan grunted and stomped off, grumbling about fires and... leaves for some reason?

A few minutes after Kacchan left, Tokoyami and Aoyama walked onto the arena. "Get ready!" Midnight-sensei said after Aizawa-sensei and Mic-sensei said their part. At her command, motes of dark magic started to emanate from Tokoyami. At the same time, Aoyama started to sparkle with light magic. It occurred to me that Tokoyami and Aoyama were both, in their own ways, among the most showy people in our class...

"I wonder which one of us shall win?," Tokoyami remarked. "Your holy light, or my curséd shadow?"

"Hey!" Dark Shadow protested. "I have feelings too!"

"Shall we see, mon ami?" Aoyama replied. "But do keep in mind that I won't go easy on you!"

"I wouldn't dream of it!"

"Start!"

Aoyama shot first, all of his sparkles turning to lasers at once. It seemed that Tokoyami anticipated that, because just before the lasers hit him a shroud of darkness spread out in front of him. Dark Shadow shot out from behind the shroud, slightly enhanced by spending a few moments in darkness, but was blown back easily by Aoyama using a sparkling light bomb. Aoyama tried to hit Dark Shadow with a few more lasers, but was thwarted by Tokoyami shooting them with bolts of darkness. Dark Shadow lashed out at Aoyama again, but he dodged out of the way, hitting Dark Shadow with yet another point-blank burst of light.

"Tres magnifique!" Aoyama said, striking a pose that reminded me of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. "Your desire to win shines bright in your fighting!"

"Of course!" Tokoyami agreed, and that was definitely a JoJo pose. "What student of Yuuei would I be if I didn't give this fight my all!?"

Aoyama's grin widened. It faltered for a moment when his stomach started to glow, but then went even wider. He clutched his stomach, but in a confident way and not just nausea. His hand glowed and he twisted it, drawing a ball of sparkling blue light out of his stomach. I couldn't be certain, but it looked like he removed the light his Navel Laser was building up before it fired out and hurt him. Dark Shadow lunged at him again, so he shaped the ball into a sort of spear shape and tossed it at him. "SPARKLING SPEAR!" he shouted as the javelin pierced into Dark Shadow and then exploded in a bright light. Dark Shadow shrank down and retreated back into Tokoyami, muttering something about it being too bright out.

"Impressive, you managed to defeat my Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami said. "But don't think this means you've won!" To back up his threat, Tokoyami made two balls of darkness.

"I wouldn't count on it!" Aoyama shouted. He created another spear from his Navel Laser to match Tokoyami's shadow balls. Tokoyami threw one of the shadow balls at Tokoyami, but Aoyama threw his Sparkling Spear at it. The spear pierced through the shadow ball, not even slowing down, then exploded right in front of Tokoyami. He was knocked back, landing near the eadge of the ring.

He groaned, then summoned Corvo. Now that I could see him properly it looked like he'd ranked up, as he looked older than the last time I'd seen him not in a shroud of oppressive darkness. "It seems I'll need more than just my own power to best you," Tokoyami said as he got up. "I shall defeat you with the power of shadows!" As Corvo charged at Aoyama, Tokoyami created and fired several feather-shaped projectiles. Aoyama created yet another Sparkling Spear, which he used to slice through all of the black feathers. He then caught Corvo's sword when he tried to swing at him.

"Splendide!" Aoyama beamed. "Two knights crossing blades! How I wish I were wearing my armor! But wait!" Aoyama jumped back and released his spear, which floated in front of him and then unraveled into ribbons of silvery light. I used Eye for Magic while watching him do an entire magical girl transformation sequence, except instead of a cute dress he made himself a suit of armor similar to his hero costume out of light. Honestly there need to be more magical girl transformation sequences into full plate armor. While he still had some of his Sparkling Spear left over, it looked more like a Radiant Rapier than anything. That didn't seem to bother him at all. In fact, he seemed delighted that he had a vaguely sword-like object to wave around. He grabbed the rapier and thrusted at Corvo.

Corvo blocked with his shield, then swung at him with a shadow-enhanced sword. Aoyama dodged nimbly, only the tip of the sword scraping off of his armor and taking a few motes of light with it. Aoyama riposted with a series of thrusts. Corvo blocked the first two, but the third touched him in the chest. Aoyama caused the rapier to shoot forward as a laser, pushing Corvo with it. Tokoyami shot some more feathers at Aoyama, but his starry cape curled in front of him in defense. The cape was destroyed in the attack, but before it could fully dissipate Aoyama's stomach started to glow. With no warning, a Navel Laser shot out at Tokoyami. In a last-ditch attempt to block it, Tokoyami summoned Dark Shadow again. Dark Shadow tried his best, but he was still weakened from earlier, so he basically evaporated when the laser hit him. Tokoyami was hit, punched out of the ring. Aoyama, meanwhile, collapsed to the ground from the backlash of using his Quirk. His armor dissolved in a flash of light.

"Tokoyami is out of bounds! The winner is Aoyama Yuga!" Midnight-sensei announced.

"Well fought, my friend," Tokoyami congratulated him.

Aoyama gave himself a few moments before saying, "Same to you. It was un match difficile." Then he retched. "Excuse-moi. Quirk backlash..."

Tokoyami nodded. "I know how it is."

xoxoxo

A few minutes later, Tokoyami and Aoyama had left, replaced by Kacchan and Kirishima. "Heck yeah!" Kirishima shouted with a big, toothy grin. "This fight is gonna be so manly!"

Kacchan grinned and punched his palm, exploding it slightly for intimidation factor. "You're pretty damn manly yourself. Try to keep up."

"Start!"

Kacchan blasted himself towards Kirishima, aiming a firey kick at him. Kirishima raised his hands in a block and activated his Quirk. Kacchan responded by using his fire and explosions to pivot in midair while keeping his momentum, then exploding in Kirishima's face right before he could ram into him. They were both knocked back by the explosion, and Kacchan naturally recovered easier because he was used to being thrown around by his explosions. Kirishima wasn't too fazed after he landed, though. He skidded along the ground for a bit before creating a rock wall to stop himself. "Not bad," Kirishima said as he got up.

"Not bad yourself," Kacchan responded. "That was a pretty powerful explosion."

Kirishima's grin widened and he showed off his hardened arms, which were still steaming. "It'll take a bigger blast than that to take me down!" Then he stomped the ground. Spears of concrete shot from the ground, aimed at Kacchan. He exploded upward, then destroyed the spears with a second blast when they followed him. The blast propelled Kacchan forwards, over Kirishima.

"DIE!" he shouted, then put his hands together for a big blast. He waited until Kirishima hardened to hit him with a blast hard enough to drive his feet into the ground.

"That's so manly!" Kirishima shouted as he used earth magic to eject himself out of the concrete.

And right into Kacchan's trap. "DIE!" he shouted, then placed his hands on Kirishima's back while he was still in midair. Kirishima was sent flying, and just barely managed to erect an earth wall to crash into before he sailed over the arena boundary entirely.

Kirishima laughed as he peeled himself out of the Kirishima-shaped indentation in the cracked wall. "That was a good one, man!" he said as he turned to face Kacchan. "Getting me into the air like that? Manly!" His grin widened as the rock wall broke apart, though the pieces didn't fall. "Guess I'll have to up the ante!" Kirishima pointed at Kacchan, and the rocks from the wall shot at him. Kirishima's rocks blocked off all angles of escape aside from dodging back, which would make Kacchan ring out.

Kacchan stood his ground. Before the rocks reached him, he burst into flames. Kirishima winced as the rocks... went through him? I focused my eye-enhancing skills on Kacchan just as the last dregs of the spell wore off. It looked like it was still unpolished, considering the fact that Kacchan's clothes were burned in areas and his skin was red and steaming, but that was definitely Fire Embodiment! Kacchan charged with an explosive dash while Kirishima was still in shock, punching him in the gut. Kacchan followed up with a small explosion that pushed Kirishima out of bounds.

"Kirishima is out of bounds! The winner is Bakugou Katsuki!"

Kirishima laughed again. "Damn, that was manly!" He hopped back onto the arena and clapped Kacchan on the back. Kacchan frowned a bit, but... was that a blush? "The way you just went through my rocks! I've seen that spell before and I still didn't see that coming!"

"You weren't a slouch yourself, Kirishima," Kacchan said. "If I didn't pull a stupidly advanced spell out of my ass you might have won there. Just remember not to gawk the next time someone does something like that and you should do fine."

Kirishima beamed. "You mean it?"

"Yeah, you're good."

I got up from my seat. "I should probably get ready for the next round. Bye!"

"Bye, Midoriya," Tsu said.

"Good luck, Deku!"

xoxoxo

"That match was awesome, Aoyama!" I told Aoyama when I saw him in the hall. "That armor trick was pretty great!"

He grinned. "Merci. I suppose it's a good idea to use it on Bakugou?"

I nodded. "You didn't hear it from me, but you should probably think of some offensive magic for your next fight as well." I winked. "Wish me luck!"

xoxoxo

Iida got into a ready stance on the opposite side of the arena. "Midoriya. I hope we will have a pleasant match."

"Me too, Iida."

"Begin!"

I Flash Stepped to the side when Iida charged at me. He turned back around to face me and continued his charge. When I Flash Stepped again, I was tripped by a raised rock that wasn't there a moment before. Apparently having a mutation that gives you metal engines in your legs gives you earth affinity. Who knew? "You won't be able to dodge this! Reciproburst!" I stood up just in time for Iida to slam into me. My physical defenses may have meant that that didn't hurt, but he was still pushing me back easily. I tried to use magic to grip to the ground and...

Ping! Ping!

My feet stuck to the ground. No, my shoes stuck to the ground, first from the spell Grip and then because of my new Quirk, Magnetize. Even though Iida was pushing me as hard as he could, and with a special move at that, my shoes were not just gripping the ground better but also strongly magnetized, as was the ground under them. The good news was that Iida was nowhere near strong enough to uproot that combination. The bad news was that Magnetize was one of those Quirks that the user can't exactly turn off once it's applied to something, and instead wears off after time, so I was stuck for about five minutes or until I set my shoes on fire, and it would probably look suspicious if I did that.

Wait, no it wouldn't.

"Well... you certainly didn't dodge..." Iida muttered as his engines stalled. I figured that was what took his Quirk out in the cavalry battle. Now that he couldn't push me off the edge, I punched him in the stomach with a sonic-enhanced fist. While he was knocked back I coated myself in Fire Aura, concentrating it on my legs. The heat burned off the magnetization on the cement completely, but only weakened my shoes because I didn't want to melt them. I Flash Stepped at Iida, leaving behind footprints of fire. He blocked my kick with some basic defensive magic and pushed me away. I landed on the ground in front of him. "Impressive, Midoriya!" Iida shouted. Then he grinned. He also set on fire, though it looked like he couldn't quite focus it on his legs as well because he wasn't nearly as skilled with Fire Aura as me.

"Oh right," I said. "Internal combustion engine."

"That's right. I won't just let you win."

"I wasn't planning on it."

Iida used fire magic to compensate for his lack of Engine when he charged me. I dropped on my hand and kicked at him. It wasn't perfect, but my DEX made up for that. Iida countered with a kick of his own, creating a small wave of heat. I grabbed Iida's leg between my legs, using it and a fire jet to pivot and launch myself upward. I had Halitus create an air platform, which I kicked off of. I flipped in midair to axe kick Iida. He dodged backwards, which was to be expected with how much wind-up that attack had, but that wasn't its point. "LIMIT BREAK!" I shouted when my heel hit the ground. "EARTH SURGE!" Iida's eyes widened as the ground rose up in a wave. He was pushed all the way out of the arena, which was mangled beyond recognition.

"Iida is out of bounds! Midoriya wins!"

I stared at the aftermath of Earth Surge. "Um... I can probably fix that," I offered Cementoss.

He waved me off with a smile. "You're fine, I'll do it."

I walked around the wall of rock I'd made. "You okay, Iida? I might have overdone it a bit."

He sighed as he got up. "I'm fine. I... suppose I still have some training to do before I'm able to catch up to you."

"If you want I could spar with you sometime," I offered. "I could really use some experience with pure physical fighting."

He nodded. "I'd love to."

[buffystylez-blog]

Bonus Episode - Buffy Hair

It’s Good Friday, so here’s an Easter treat from a non-practising Roman Catholic.

Buffy and blonde hair go together like McDonalds fries and McDonalds thickshakes: PERFECTLY.

But as I always say, a change of hair is as good as a holiday. And our girl SMG has taken a holiday to... just the one destination, actually. I would say brown town but that doesn’t sound good. She’s been brunette and blonde is what I mean.

So in this post I thought I would do a little compare and contrast of some key brunette/blonde moments, just like a high school English essay: BADLY.

Before Buffy

SMG was on a US soap opera called All My Children prior to Buffy. She is one of (sadly?) many to beat Susan Lucci to a Daytime Emmy. Her character’s name was Kendall Hart Lang - perfect for a soap opera power BITCH.

Source: NY Daily News

Here she is probably manipulating someone into doing things for her, which I support wholeheartedly.

SMG went lighter and shorter and more layer-y for Buffy:

Source: Buffy Wikia

Here she’s trying to convince Principal Flutie she’s a model student. She’s also convinced me to go back to this makeup look next week for work.

If you’re already sensing a pattern, well... You’re bloody right. Probably.

Halloween

In season 2 episode 6 Buffy thinks she needs to change herself to appeal to Angel and chooses a Halloween costume that, due to that trickster Ethan Rayne, renders her completely helpless during a crisis. And we all learn a valuable lesson about being nostalgic for a time when women’s basic human rights were almost nonexistent.

Buffy is worried Angel doesn’t like modern women, but she should be concerned he doesn’t seem to like women of legal age.

Source: Screencapped.Net

This is spunky Atomic-era Blondie and I am considering taking this to my hair stylist.

Source: Screencapped.Net

When Ethan’s spell on his costumes comes into effect she becomes snooty, entitled and terrible at her slayer duties. Buffy didn’t choose this costume because it was scary, but it scares the hell out of me.

This is brunette wig 2, the one designed to look like Buffy’s actual hair. I think I might like the OG brunette wig:

Source: Screencapped.Net

Damn, gurl.

Mid-Buffy

For 1999′s Cruel Intentions, in which SMG plays bad ass bitch Kathryn Merteuil, SMG went to the dark side. Literally. Because she’s got brown hair again.

Source: Dazed Digital

Kathryn is such a b-word. BRILLIANT. Shady Kathryn competes with chaste Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon) for the attention of attractive douchebag Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe). Can you guess what Reese’s hair colour was in the film? Blonde. It was blonde.

Cruel Intentions was released around season 3, which along with being my favourite season introduced Faith, the bad slayer to Buffy’s good one. And I think you know Faith was a dark-haired babe.

This dress was THE KICK. THE. KICK. And the award... and Angel... Look, I’m getting ahead of myself here. This look is everything and I cannot wait to get stuck into it.

Sour Girl

I have read that SMG appeared in this video for the Stone Temple Pilots at frontman Scott Weiland’s request. God rest him.

Please watch the film clip here. Because it’s weird as hell and I was slightly obsessed with it when it came out.

I don’t think I have to tell you that the video clip plays on a dark/light dichotomy and features a girl who crosses over into both through her relationship with Weiland.

Source: Oracle of Film

Goth Buffy.

Source: Bottle Blond Gal

Late 90s Buffy.

Do I have a preference? No. But I can see a pattern emerging. And that pattern is that SMG’s hair goes as dark as her characters. Or if her character is just bad or stupid, like the Halloween episode. 

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it feels like an outdated visual cue from the old Hollywood Western: the good guy wears the white hat and the bad guy wears the black hat. The bad girl is brunette; the good girl is blonde. Associating dark with bad and light with good is... problematic. It goes beyond hair colour. Way beyond.

At the same time, however, going from blonde to brunette (or vice versa) looks and feels like a dramatic change that unlocks a new personality or expression of character.

Just ask Jessica Wakefield.

Source: ‘90s Flashback

Feel free to let me know which SMG you like best here on the blog. Or you can holler at your girl via the following social media/internet things:

Instagram: @whatbuffyworeblog

Twitter: @salliemaree

Gmail: whatbuffyworeblog@gmail.com

Until next time, Slayerettes.

[mrmichaelchadler]

Home Entertainment Consumer Guide: February 21, 2019

4 NEW TO NETFLIX

"The 40-Year-Old Virgin" "Little Women" "We the Animals" "Zodiac"

8 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD

"Audition"

There's a moment in Takashi Miike's masterful "Audition" that is forever burned in my mind. I remember it so vividly for two reasons. One, what it reveals is so stunningly terrifying that it's a jump scare that honestly earns its jump. Two, it's a beautiful example of Miike's visual ability, framing Asami in the center and what will then steal our focus in the background. "Audition" is one of Miike's best films, a movie that almost seems ahead of its time now in its dissection of the way in which a widower underestimates a young woman that he meets. Arrow, who have two in this week's column, opening and closing it, have restored Miike's great film and included a new commentary by Miike biographer Tom Mes, and a brand-new interview with film's hardest-working director. 

Buy it here 

Special Features Brand new 2K restoration of original vault elements Original 5.1 Dolby Surround Audio Optional English subtitles Audio commentary with director Takashi Miike and screenwriter Daisuke Tengan Brand new commentary by Miike biographer Tom Mes examining the film and its source novel Introduction by Miike Ties that Bind – A brand new interview with Takashi Miike Interviews with stars Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Renji Ishibashi and Ren Osugi Damaged Romance: An appreciation by Japanese cinema historian Tony Rayns Trailers Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin

"Berlin Alexanderplatz" (Criterion)

Rainer Werner Fassbinder made more films than he had years on this Earth. One can only imagine what he would have produced if he hadn't died so young, especially when one considers the breadth of genres and cinematic styles in the films he did produce. Fassbinder is an interesting filmmaker in that he's still relatively unknown to a lot of young movie lovers, especially in comparison to other German New Wave masters like Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders, but he's absolutely beloved by those who do know his work. His monumental achievement, the 15-hour mini-series based on the world-famous 1929 novel of the same name, has now been given the Criterion Blu-ray treatment. It may not get the same attention as their Ingmar Bergman set, but this is an essential release, the most ambitious work by one of film's most ambitious filmmakers.

Buy it here 

Special Features High-definition digital restoration by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation and Bavaria Media, supervised and approved by director of photography Xaver Schwarzenberger, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack Two documentaries by Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation president Juliane Lorenz: one from 2007 featuring interviews with the cast and crew, the other from 2006 on the restoration Hans-Dieter Hartl’s 1980 documentary Notes on the Making of “Berlin Alexanderplatz” Phil Jutzi’s 1931 feature-length film of Alfred Döblin’s novel, from a screenplay cowritten by Döblin himself Interview from 2007 with Peter Jelavich, author of “Berlin Alexanderplatz”: Radio, Film, and the Death of Weimar Culture PLUS: A book featuring an essay by filmmaker Tom Tykwer, reflections on the novel by Fassbinder and author Thomas Steinfeld, and an interview with Schwarzenberger

"Bohemian Rhapsody"

What more is there to say about the massively successful and critically controversial film that was kind of directed by Bryan Singer and will almost certainly win Rami Malek an Oscar on Sunday? The divide between critics and audiences on this one has been fascinating to watch. Most critics agree this is superficial, paint-by-numbers filmmaking. Most fans of Queen don't seem to care. For them, their love of the music transcends any sort of filmmaking flaws. It's fascinating to consider how this movie works that way. It can revise history and superficially consider Freddie Mercury, but it gets at what people like about Queen: The Music. My concern is that the massive success of "Bohemian Rhapsody" will almost certainly lead to more music movies like it: films that know that as long as they present an artist's greatest hits, then viewers won't care if they don't learn a single thing about the actual artist. 

Buy it here 

Special Features The Complete Live Aid Movie Performance Not Seen in Theaters Rami Malek: Becoming Freddie The Look and Sound of Queen Recreating Live Aid

"Death in Venice" (Criterion)

Luchino Visconti's most personal film is the fourth of the Italian filmmaker's inducted into the Criterion collection (after "Senso," "Le notti bianche," and "The Leopard"). When classic films are released by Criterion, it can be interesting to go back and look at a young Roger Ebert's writing about the film being released. In 1971, Ebert, then in his late twenties, was disappointed in "Death in Venice," and I have to say my response to the film now on Criterion is somewhat similar. Ebert's disappointment comes from how he felt Visconti altered the source material, a Thomas Mann novel that Ebert clearly loved. He argued that Visconti lost the "philosophical content" of the film, buried in "heavy-handed flashbacks." Interestingly, he still admires Visconti's work enough to give it 2.5 stars. 

Buy it here 

Special Features New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray Luchino Visconti: Life as in a Novel, a 2008 documentary about the director, featur­ing Visconti; actors Burt Lancaster, Silvana Mangano, and Marcello Mastroianni; filmmakers Francesco Rosi and Franco Zeffirelli; and others Alla ricerca di Tadzio, a 1970 short film by Visconti about his efforts to cast the role of Tadzio New program featuring literature and cinema scholar Stefano Albertini Interview from 2006 with costume designer Piero Tosi Excerpt from a 1990 program about the music in Visconti’s films, featuring Bogarde and actor Marisa Berenson Interview with Visconti from 1971 Visconti’s Venice, a short 1970 behind-the-scenes documentary featuring Visconti and Bogarde Trailer PLUS: An essay by critic Dennis Lim

"La Verite" (Criterion)

I absolutely adore Henri-Georges Clouzot's "Diabolique" and "The Wages of Fear," and so I was eager to watch a courtroom thriller from the masterful filmmaker for the first time. And starring Brigitte Bardot? Sign me up. The truth is that "La Verite" is minor for both Clouzot and Bardot, a sometimes-fascinating but often dramatically flat story of a woman named Dominique who has basically been misunderstood by everyone around her. Dominique is gorgeous, and Clouzot certainly knew how to use Bardot's sexuality, but most people in her life refuse to look below the beauty and judge her morally for just being herself. Despite my issues with some of the pacing of the film, it's undeniably well-constructed and an interesting chapter in Bardot's career, especially with the controversy surrounding its release when Bardot attempted suicide. 

Buy it here

Special Features New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray Le scandale Clouzot, a sixty-minute documentary from 2017 on director Henri-Georges Clouzot Interview from 1960 with Clouzot Interview with actor Brigitte Bardot from the 1982 documentary Brigitte Bardot telle qu’elle New English subtitle translation PLUS: An essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau

"Overlord"

Gritty and gory, "Overlord" may be the most video game-esque movie of 2018, a title that reminded this gamer of the "Resident Evil" and "Wolfenstein" franchises. So why isn't it more fun? I moderately enjoyed "Overlord" enough to include it in this week's column, especially if you need a break from Oscar bait and Criterion titles, but I'd be lying if I didn't wish it was a little more goofy. I wanted more early Peter Jackson or Sam Raimi, filmmakers who leaned into the ridiculousness of their concepts and elevated their films with ingenuity and wit. Those elements are lacking in "Overlord," a film that takes itself too seriously for a movie about Nazi zombies. Having said that, the best thing about "Overlord" may be how much I expect and hope that Wyatt Russell and Jovan Adepo are going to be stars. I also have to say that the sound mix on this Blu-ray is INSANE. All of the effects are turned up to 11, leading to the first movie in recent memory that my wife had to ask me to turn down. Of course, movies about Nazi zombies should be loud. 

Buy it here 

Special Features The Horrors of War - Featurettes Creation Death Above Death on the Ground Death Below Death No More Brothers in Arms

"A Star is Born"

Remember when it looked like "A Star is Born" was going to race through awards season like a wildfire? It didn't quite happen although one has to wonder if that's not a good thing for the movie's legacy. Bradley Cooper's very entertaining directorial debut still has legions of loyal fans who don't care if it ever won any awards. To be as cheesy as this movie can be, it won their hearts. The most disappointing thing is actually that this is such a lackluster Blu-ray in terms of special features, including some extended musical numbers and music videos, but not much else. Maybe there will be a special edition after it wins Best Picture. Yes, it's still possible. 

Buy it here 

Special Features Jam Sessions and Rarities "Baby What You Want Me To Do" "Midnight Special" "Is That Alright" The Road to Stardom: Making A Star is Born Music Videos "Shallow" "Always Remember Us This Way" "Look What I Found" "I'll Never Love Again" Optional English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles for the main feature

"Waterworld"

God bless Arrow. God bless any company willing to devote so much time and effort to really provide something special to their customers, which is exactly what Arrow does with special editions like this insane, 3-disc package for a movie that time has generally forgotten. I'm old enough to remember when "Waterworld" was going to be the next big thing, the new franchise to end all franchises. It cost a fortune, starred an Oscar-winning household name, and featured a brave new vision. And then it came out. But this isn't about the actual movie "Waterworld" as much as this phenomenal release, which includes the theatrical cut, a 40-minute longer cut that aired on TV, and then an even-longer "Ulysses" cut which basically blends the first two so you get the longer version without the TV edits. And all of them look incredible, remastered in HD that makes the blue water pop. Not enough? There's also a feature-length documentary about the movie. God bless Arrow.

Buy it here 

Special Features Three cuts of the film newly restored from original film elements by Arrow Films Original 5.1 DTSHD Master Audio and 2.0 stereo audio options Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Six collector’s postcards Double-sided fold-out poster Limited edition 60-page perfect bound book featuring new writing on the film by David J. Moore and Daniel Griffith, and archival articles Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper Maelstrom: The Odyssey of Waterworld, an all-new, feature-length making-of documentary including extensive cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes footage Dances With Waves, an original archival featurette capturing the film’s production Global Warnings, film critic Glenn Kenny explores the subgenre of ecologically themed end-of-the-world films Production and promotional stills gallery Visual effects stills gallery Original trailers and TV spots

from All Content https://ift.tt/2E0EOnB

[tallbluelady]

What does Rowan think is Urianger's best trait? What does she think he thinks hers is?

Oh boy! This isn't like, something that I've thought about a lot! (Spoilers, I definitely have.)

So Rowan's favorite trait of Urianger's is his patience. He is calm and understanding when she feels like she's babbling and upset or doesn't have the best grip on magic. He's her safe harbor for a lot of her problems (sans Moenbryda, but that's also his problem). And it's so important for Rowan to have someone she feels safe with, because as the Warrior of Light she willingly throws herself into danger. She's honestly more comfortable with people asking her to do something dangerous because that's what she's used to. And maybe it's because Urianger has asked her to go into danger before. But he's also offering advice and trying to help her in his own way.

Like, I don't remember if I've said it on tumblr, but Rowan has an Atlas complex where she has to be the one taking the burden. When other characters lament that the Warrior of Light shouldn't have to do so much, Rowan chafes against it. But Urianger is usually there setting stakes in the ground to ease her burden and that's ultimately why she ends up with him.

So on the Urianger end, I have a plot thread from Shadowbringers to bring up. The reveal that Emet-Selch was close to Azem just throws Rowan through a loop. She can accept that she's special, sure, but to have this genocidal maniac be able to claim they were once close and be able to see her in a way that few people tend to do... it messes with her. And because Minthe was close to Hades it carries over to Rowan being able to see glimpses of the person he was before (and then she has those views confirmed in Elpis!).

So Rowan is upset that she can relate/understand to Emet-Selch in any way. She cannot condone his actions and is horrified that she can see the justification for them at all. I'm not quite sure when Urianger and Rowan discuss this (probably after/during their conversation about her being Azem). But they need to. Because Urianger will say "How can I find fault in thy compassion and empathy? For thou wouldst surely despise me without them." And it kills me.

So yeah! It's not like I have these two rotating in my brain like a rotisserie chicken 24/7 or anything!

Thanks for the ask!