#the tv-themed worlds. the art style.

[vimbry]

the redesigns on the japanese box art for the spyro and gex games are so charming

[bestial4ngel]

Cookie run has me in such a steven universe-esque chokehold ughhhh

[natalyarose]

𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓪𝓷𝓼 - 𝓐𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓕𝓮𝓮𝓵 𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮

Hi, and happy Bharani season to all :) I've been working on this analysis for days not necessarily because it took long to write, but moreso because I could write endlessly on Venus Nakshatras & it took me a lot of time to organize the stream of info I'd written in a more adequate manner. I hope this piece is enjoyed & informative to someone 🩷

In this piece I'm going to be diving into Venus's themes of dancing along the line between pain & pleasure, and the artistry and beauty that is born from the merging of these two extremes.

𝓖𝓵𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝓑𝓸𝔁 𝓫𝔂 𝓟𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓪𝓵𝔂𝓼𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓻𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓾𝓼 𝓝𝓪𝓴𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓼

The song 'Glory Box' by Portishead is the song that inspired me to write my first song and take it truly seriously.

It's just such a sensual, classy, sexy, beautiful masterpiece. Though beyond that, the meaning portrayed in the song & music video speaks to my soul so vividly. I always was enchanted by this track, but seeing the music video brought it all together for me and the meaning just 'clicked'.

'I'm so tired, of playing playing with this bow and arrow I'm gonna give my heart away leave it to the other girls to play for I've been a temptress too long just give me a reason to love you give me a reason to be a woman... I just wanna be a woman'

Everything about this song, this video just screams Purvashadha & Venus. Even the line 'playing with this bow & arrow' lol- sidereal Sagittarius much? I wouldn't be surprised if Purvashadha is directly connected to Cupid.

I'm going to go a bit freeform in my interpretation of the song & video, but I think I've got the 'right' grasp of the idea portrayed:

The music video depicts people in a vintage style office setting & old fashioned, very professional 'uptight' attire. It is boring and in a sense drab, but we see life in the subtle expressions & communication. There is flirtation, but it is secretive. There is an an expectation to be professional, to be 'proper'.

There are clips of Old Hollywood-esque people having drinks, enjoying themselves. We get sporadic visuals of the singer (Beth Gibbons, Purvashadha Sun, likely Uttarashadha Moon; Uttarashadha being prominent in music), dressed beautifully & glamorously performing on the tv, looking almost pained in her beauty & artistic display of emotion.

This song speaks to the desperation to be free and sensual as a woman, or just as a soulful human being in a world where there are responsibilities and expectations to keep up an image, 'play the game' in society. The desire to 'be a woman' and express your feminine energy authentically, dress up, be emotional & sensuous, indulge in pleasure and break free from social/circumstantial limitations. However, the pain and friction between two worlds almost makes the longing and lust for the person/life you desire even more intoxicating.

Venusian desire & artistry is so intense, in the corporate world Venus ruled individuals often find themselves needing to reign in their passion, and even punishing themselves for it.

I think I first started listening to this song when I heard it in a reel that was again, extremely Venusian! I would credit it, but I think this just was a circulating video & I have no clue who the originator was. The dude (Gene Kelly) has Purvashadha Moon & Purvaphalguni ascendant. Just look at the suave-ness of Venus men lol :

There's so much more I could write about this specific song and the nature of Venus, but ima try to stick with the 'k.i.s.s' (keep it simple, stupid!) principle.

I always thought that this song & message is such a perfect piece of art to demonstrate Venusian nature, but I will note that Beth's Uttarashadha Moon definitely intertwines in terms of the message this song communicates. Uttarashadha being the height of the Sun (a 'masculine' energy) is very on par with the experience of wanting to be feminine in masculine dominated fields/with traditionally masculine expectations upon you. We could see this as almost like a conflict of interest between Beth Gibbon's Purvashadha (Venusian, feminine, romantic, beautiful) Sun and her Uttarashadha (ambitious, masculine, stoic) Moon.

𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓪𝓷 '𝓑𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓭𝓸𝓶' & 𝓛𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓰

You can often tell when a Venusian is behind a song or art piece because the vocal tone, writing style and or colour choice emanates this distinct attitude: sexy, raunchy, articulate... & often kinda bored or reflecting an unhappiness with the way the modern/current state of the world is. Especially in Purvashadha Nakshatra, there is often an intense idealisation of the past and 'old times', reflecting Venus Nakshatra patterns of longing for things they can't yet have and shaping their world view around that desire. This definitely speaks to the way Tropical Earth signs (especially Capricorn) are seen being drawn to old, vintage & prestigious relics of the past. This is in part due to Ketuvian Nakshatras residing within Tropical Earth signs, but it is also Venus Nakshatras' placement. Venusian elitism is possibly best observed in idealisation of the past- something so exclusive that nobody can actually go back to it & mainstream society often disregards it.

Venusians can exist in this state of boredom and embody this energy, this aura that almost reads 'impress me, peasant' lol. Feed me grapes & fine wine while I lay adorned in jewellery on a velvet chair- then we'll talk.

This is where Venusian Nakshatras classic pickiness, elitism & in some cases classism (and all the other isms lmao) comes in.

I once read that men can be attracted to women who look bored, disinterested or detached, because they take it as a challenge to be the one to impress her and light her up- very Venusian. It kinda explains (some) men's misguided efforts to impress women who are very clearly not interested. We see this in nature too- peacocks (and other birds), for example lol; the male peacock flamboyantly attempting to impress the female, and more often than not she is disinterested- female peacocks are a tough crowd man.

You can always spot Venusians by their expression & overall demeanour- they leave you feeling like 'I admire you, but I'm kinda scared of you and feel like you're judging me at the same time' lol. The irony lies in the fact that while yes, Venusians can be extremely critical of others, their 'judgy' expression often has more to do with the fact that they're always judging themselves. Harshly critiquing themselves like a piece of art. Venusians can find it veryy hard to feel they are 'good enough', the same way an artist never feels the painting is truly done.

Sophia Loren, Purvashadha Asc | Blake Lively, Purvaphalguni Moon | Donna Summer, Purvashadha Sun & Purvaphalguni Asc

daddy Ted Danson, Purvashadha Sun | Audrey Hepburn, Bharani Sun | Johnny Depp, Purvashadha Moon

admittedly, Audrey & Johnny boi come across a little softer to me due to their other placements, but they still definitely have the look/energy. My Bharani mama was a master of this look, & I always thought she looked a little like Donna Summer.

While Venus women embody this choosiness & unapproachability, Venus men can take on that role of wanting to be the ones to impress the woman they've set their sights on, 'wow' her.

However, that being said, Venusian men are also often very picky themselves. Venusian men and women alike are seldom impressed by aesthetic beauty alone and place a lot of importance on internal value. They often crave exoticism & uniqueness in women. Venus in our charts represents what we value & find beautiful. In a way there is more value in something or someone who is rare.

When Venusian men do find a girl they really like, they can be extremely persistent and there are a lot of cases where Venusian men will successfully initiate a relationship with a woman who wasn't initially interested by genuinely winning her over with his dedication, adoration & direct pursuit of her.

In terms of aesthetic appearance, Venusians (again, men & women) tend to have a preference for natural beauty in some way too. Femininity often refers to an energy of being flowing & receptive rather than performative or immensely exuberant. It's not uncommon to see Venus women forgoing 'performative' femininity and embracing raw female beauty. No makeup, allowing body hair to grow, messy hair, not being afraid to look 'beautifully dishevelled'- yet never necessarily unkempt. Imperfectly perfect, like a piece of art.

This is why Mars Nakshatras tend to be the women most prominent in the world of makeup and glamour. The curation and forceful manipulation of the body to look a certain way is 'masculine' in a sense. Like the way mankind manipulates & curates nature. Although there are two sides to this coin, as Venus Nakshatras can also grapple with the 'beauty is pain' idea and go to great, sometimes sadistic, masochistic lengths to achieve their ideal.

Venusians, but Bharani natives especially have a reputation for rarely smiling fully, always holding a mildly restrained expression (one of Bharani's translations literally being 'the Star of Restraint'. The Mona Lisa famously depicts this Bharani-esque expression; painted of course by Bharani Sun, Leonardo Da Vinci. It is often remarked that the painting itself isn't particularly outstanding in terms of beauty, but what makes it so charming is the mysterious aura emanated through means of the 'drab' yet earthy, sensual colour pallet & demure, vaguely amused expression. Others have remarked that the drab colour scheme brought special attention to the Mona Lisa's face, inviting us to engage with her.

Off the topic of Venusians; but Leonardo Da Vinci is also Shatabisha Moon conjunct Jupiter - Shatabisha natives, in true sidereal Aquarian fashion often receive praise for being 'ahead of their time' as Leo was indeed.

𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓾𝓼, 𝓟𝓪𝓲𝓷 & 𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮, 𝓕𝓸𝓻𝓫𝓲𝓭𝓭𝓮𝓷 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮

Purvashadha is said to embody a state of wishing to return to the 'Garden of Eden', where we are one, we are divinely connected in pure bliss, beauty and pleasure. This further explains the Venusian life of oscillating between/existing with the realms of pain & pleasure.

Bharani experiences these themes through its association with 'delayed gratification' & later rewards. Bharani will work hard and go through a lot of pain to reap pleasures later on. Bharani being ruled by Lord Yama, the Vedic God of Death draws a connection between Bharani & facing your karma in your next incarnation.

Purvaphalguni experiences the conflict between pain & pleasure through the realisation that nothing can be 'perfect' and the frustration of knowing that some things are just out of their control. Purvaphalguni experiences the 'royal' quality of the Sun combined with the the sensuality of Venus- these people often take their happiness into their own hands, but run into struggles when they realise they can control themselves but they can't control other people's mistakes & external circumstances that may put a wrench in their ideals.

Purvashadha experiences the pain/pleasure theme through pining for something, shooting for the stars with some usually highly ambitious goal, and then realising all of the obstacles in the way of attaining that goal. However, Purvashadha translating to 'the invincible one' and also having the elephant tusk as a symbol (strong, unbreakable) shows how when Venusians persist in pursuit of their desires, they ultimately are successful and attain that Venusian dream life.

In my mind desire, is a result of the friction created between pain and pleasure. This is why forbidden love is so beautiful yet hurts so badly. Almost every Venusian I've ever met has some intense story of forbidden love- falling madly in love with a cartoon character that doesn't technically exist, falling in love with teachers, falling in love with someone who's dead, falling in love with someone who's an inappropriate choice due to their age, status, culture, professional role, etc.

Perhaps the most infamous story of forbidden love, is Romeo & Juliet. I had to check, & William Shakespeare is most likely (almost definitely considering the range of birth times proposed) a Bharani Sun native. (Side note that he looks kinda like Leonardo, lol)

Amidst these intense themes of romance, tragedy and longing, Venusians are very good at playing a role in their life and showing up to that role, often very ambitiously. However within them is always this gnawing desire to just- be wild and free with their passions without the pretence, without the pressure. This can sometimes express through random outbursts of frustration.

The elitism of Venus can even be somewhat of a defense mechanism. in Venus Nakshatras there is such a deep desire to experience true intimacy and bliss with another human being; that to protect this very human vulnerability they will often design some sort of system to decide who is worthy & who isn't- eg. 'I will only befriend/associate with people who enjoy this type of music'. That way there is always guaranteed common ground & allyship between them and those whom they let in, somewhat protecting their heartspace. In this way, Venusians are 'warriors of the heart' in a sense.

This longing and desperation to be united and feel that oneness, but knowing it may not be possible is often the drive for the art of Venusians in some way or another. The pure angst, the passion.

A lot of Venusians I've observed can develop an almost nihilistic worldview, or can even seem very 'boring' or overly structured on the surface- but ironically, the reason they have this view & demeanour is because they are at their core so idealistic and full of passion that it hurts. It feels easier to just close off the heart-space all together and in some cases express their passion in a strange, or abstract (or in darker cases, violent) manner because society isn't built around beauty & pleasure as much as Venusians tend wish.

This aching to feel alive & dance between pain vs pleasure can be seen in Venusian Nakshatras' tendency to self harm or self sabotage. Venusians can do wild and even dangerous things just to feel ALIVE. To Venusians, pain is worth it if it means there could be a pleasurable outcome.

More on Venusian boredom: one of Purvashadha's symbols is a hand held fan, often a symbol of gracefulness and high society, sometimes used to convey boredom (think of the classic imagery of the beautiful women with unenthused expressions on their faces watching a riveting piano recital).

𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓾𝓼 𝓶𝓮𝓷 𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 ~𝓹𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓭~

(Refer to image below)

Venusians often look PAINED lol, the women too but especially the men. Venus men have this distinct look. A lot of the time they can be womanizers or at least pleasure seeking, but also kinda sad and troubled (more of Venus' pain/pleasure themes. In a lot of stories of Venus men, they may be womanisers in lifestyle yet always have 'that one woman' who they really can't get past and regard as their 'soulmate'.

Johnny Galecki , Bharani Sun & Purvashadha Moon - particularly in his famous role as Leonard Hofstadter in the Big Bang Theory. He pines after his love interest, Penny for yearsss, getting shot down but always persisting- eventually he 'won her over' and even got married. (Bharani's delayed gratification & Purvashadha's romantic ambition).

Johnny Depp (what's with these J names?? There's this meme that boys with 'J names' are trouble, I wonder if there's any cosmic connection with Venus Nakshatras lol) Purvashadha Moon - famous for his intense relationships with women (and substances), somewhat of a womaniser as well

Jim Morrison, Bharani Moon - stunning artist & musician of course, also a womanizer who often slept with women on the road, indulging in substances.

Charlie Sheen, Purvaphalguni Sun - in real life & in the show 'Two and a Half Men' where he quite literally plays himself, he is an infamous womaniser with a penchant for substances, partying and destructive forms of pleasure.

My partner was originally in this collage lmao because I kid you not his Purvashadha lookin self fits this collage perfectly (he's got the Jim Morrison beard and the whole shabang), but he wouldn't enjoy being on tumblr so eh.

It's worth noting that a lot of Sun men who are considered attractive to women often have Venus ruled Nakshatras through their chart also. Sun influence without Venus can make men seem very dry and not very understanding of female emotions or psychology, therefore somewhat unpleasant for women to be around.

Bottom line is Venusians, love women! Venus men love women, Venus women love women.

Anyway, as always this was toooo long and like I earlier mentioned, this is the tip of the iceberg on what I could yap about in regards to Venus Nakshatras and their influence on their natives and our world in a general sense.

Thankyou for reading :) 🩷

ps. I'm very wary of talking about planets and the whole feminine/masculine thing because I really don't want to give the impression that there is a certain polarity that is more or less ideal for a gender. It's not as though if you're a woman with Mars or Sun Nakshatras you simply are not feminine, neither does it mean a woman necessarily should be traditionally feminine. be yourself lovely people ✌️

[prettyboykatsuki]

— EVERYTHINGS BETTER WHEN YOU'RE HONEST

★ tags ;; fem!reader (reader wears a skirt and generally performs femininity), friends to lovers, aged-up characters, professional athlete isagi, loss of virginity, sexually inexperienced isagi x sexually experienced reader, handjobs, oral (f!recieving) (isagi gets a dick kiss tho), themes of guilt kinda, unprotected sex / creampies, reader is sexually confident. little to no prep for penetration. an i love you and a single petname in there.

★ wc ;; 11.5k (im so...)

★ summary ;; you notice early on that isagi is always holding back something. the deeper into your relationship you go, the more you wish he'd let loose.

★ a/n ;; PLEASE READ BLUELOCK PLEASE. i love you isagi yoichi. pls let me have ur viriginity babies. title from the song pears by weston estate!

also, the little art exhibit is inspired by a real thing, the white gallery installation by studio 400

It was impossible to not know Isagi Yoichi. 

After the existence of BlueLock was released to the public and demonstrated on national T.V. - the enigma of Isagi Yoichi bloomed like a flower to sports fans everywhere. With the looks of an average Japanese teenager but the eyes of a demon - he quietly proclaimed only one thing. 

“We will—no, that’s not quite right. I will lead Japan to victory in the U20 World Cup.” 

Post the incredible defeat of the Japanese U20 by Bluelock, Bluelock itself launched into reality TV and challenged U20 teams across the globe in order to hone their members' talents. In addition to the rigorous training and plenty of conflicts were a group of players informed only by their ego. A withstanding hunger to win, unlike anything the country had seen before. 

Isagi Yoichi became the face of that ego. In less than a year, he fulfilled his promise at the U20 World Cup and landed a final crushing blow - putting Japan at the face of soccer for the first time in decades. 

Of course, he wasn’t the only one. Despite Bluelocks philosophy, soccer is a team sport meaning there’s more than one face worthy of note. All of the players were talented with an almost equal spotlight in media and often took to interviewing together for the sake of publicity. It’d take an idiot not to notice that the Bluelock players were a cut above the rest though. 

Whatever happened before the reality show set air created players unlike anything you’ve ever seen. As someone who only considers yourself a casual soccer fan at best, your own interest in Bluelock came as something of a surprise. 

For better or for worse, you saw Yoichi Isagi everywhere. On the labels of sports drinks, on cardboard cutouts in front of equipment shops, on posters in bars, or on your kid brother's bedroom walls. 

Through his media presence, you often felt he was unreadable. Likable, awkwardly charismatic, sometimes even playful. 

But there was always something else there. In the way he spoke about soccer or about becoming the greatest striker in the world. You thought everyone got the same vibe. 

But whenever you asked, “Hey, don’t you think that guys…kinda weird?” 

You were met with the same dismissive laugh. Aren’t all celebrities weird? or Isagi’s the most normal on his team, though. 

It always left you doubtful. Maybe you were misreading it after all. He did seem nice. Him being weird didn’t mean he was bad, but there was just something about him that you couldn’t get your mind off of.

It wasn’t about his play style or even related to soccer. There’s already plenty of analysis on that. In terms of game intelligence, he’s ranked exceptionally high. Fantastic spatial awareness. Average build and height but incredible stamina in order to be up to standard. But whatever you felt when you watched him couldn’t really be summed up by any of that, because there was often no reason to look at him above the rest. 

It felt like a clever trick of the universe that you’d end up encountering him in the wild. That you’d go so far as to have him as your boyfriend and that you actually like him. 

It was only because of that you could assert it so firmly, he’s a freak of nature among all else. A perfect fit for the demons on the Japanese National Team, a perfect descendant of Bluelock. 

__

The first time you met Isagi wasn’t worthy of note. Your first truly important memory together was his confession to you, months later. 

It happens in a tunnel in Shinjuku. A place you wouldn’t normally find yourself in. It’s not often you travel to Tokyo. You’re only here because you came to watch Isagi’s game, and Isagi told you Shinjuku is a fun place to explore. 

He goes where the wind takes him, and you follow him in earnest. He said he found this place a little earlier with Bachira. The deeper you go, the darker it gets - and as a consolation, he tugs you along by your sleeve so you don’t get lost. 

Somehow, after threading through different streets, you stop at what looks like an abandoned tunnel. There’s a little more light down here, but you can tell it’s not really a place where you should be trespassing. He seems non-plussed, a familiar smile on his face that has you following him anyway. You listen when he tells you to watch your step. 

The sun hasn’t set completely, the world painted in a vibrant shade of blue. It’s cold, the early Autumn season has you tucking your chin into your hoodie to keep warm. 

But you get down to where Isagi wants to show you. A place full of concrete and overgrown leaves that could only exist somewhere like Shinjuku. It’s dark, but all the lights of the streets pour down through different cracks. Just enough that you can still see Isagi’s face illuminated in it, something that makes your stomach twist. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you smile when he turns back to look at you. 

“It’s in here,” He says, excitement bursting in his voice “Come on,”

You follow him into a tunnel, the walls around you both in a circular arch. You can’t see anything like that. But Isagi comes to your rescue, phone in hand. He turns the flashlight on as high as it can go. 

All over the walls is artwork. Graffiti art, but art all the same. Particularly, flowers. They’re beautiful and vibrant, strangely detailed for street art - colored in bright shades of fuchsia, purple, yellow, and green. Everything is outlined in black, and there are tags hidden between leaves and in the empty space.

It’s beautiful. Beautiful in the way you find things beautiful, the messy coloring and hard lines. Done in a style Isagi knows you like, his flashlight shining up to give you a better view. With your jaw agape, you nearly forget who’s next to you until you hear his footsteps echo behind you. 

His presence is comforting. A familiar but unfamiliar person, when you look back you can see him looking at you. 

“It’s nice, right? Seemed like something you’d like,” 

“We’re trespassing,” You say first, drowned by an emotion you can’t name “You’re a big-time athlete and we’re trespassing in a tunnel so you can show me art you thought I’d like. Ridiculous,” 

Isagi shrugs sheepishly.

“We’ll be fine. You like it?” 

He’s unbelievable. 

“Of course I like it,” 

“Nice. I knew you would.” 

There’s a brief, silent moment where you’re too overwhelmed to say anything nice. You kind of want to shake the guy by the shoulders, to say something about how you’ve spent the last few months spending frivolous amounts of time with him. You want to say a lot of things. That he’s sincerely a weird guy, and you think he should cut his hair soon, and that you still have the piece of paper he wrote his number down on from those months ago. 

But nothing really comes out as you stare at him and he stares back at you. His eyes are deep and blue but shiny. Visible even in the darkness, you let your gaze linger on his face. 

“I’m glad Bachira forced me to give you my number,” He says, all at once.

“So that’s what happened,” You say with a laugh, hands in your pockets “That’s why the numbers are so shaky. Were you nervous?” 

“Yeah,” He says honestly “I couldn’t remember the last time I even interacted with a girl. I didn’t even have friends who were girls in high school.” 

“Did girls scare you?” 

“Ah, a little.” 

“Do I scare you?” You ask, cheeky. Interested because even until now, you can’t tell how Isagi really sees you. 

“You don’t scare me,” He concludes, head in the clouds. He glances down at you “But uh, I guess it’s weird.” 

You give him a look, curious for his explanation. 

“Hm. It’s like soccer.” 

“Don’t compare me to soccer, jackass.” 

“I don’t have anything else to compare it to,” He says defensively, pushing his bangs back but not refuting you “It’s not that I’m scared of you. It’s a me thing.” 

“I’ll let you use soccer to explain just this once,” 

“Uh… it’s still pretty hard. I guess it’s just intense,” 

“What is?” 

“Liking you,” He says easily, before catching himself and having his eyes widen. You freeze, then grin. 

“Oh?” 

He covers a face with his hand. He’s so embarrassed he’s pink, but it suits him. You feel your heart do a nasty flutter. No matter how smug you pretend to be, seeing him like that leaves you nervous too. 

“It was supposed to be a lot cooler than that,” He admits halfway through a sigh. You giggle. 

“Is that why you brought me here?” 

He looks away and you laugh. 

“Mm, fine. No prying. Finish your thought first.” 

“It probably wouldn’t make any sense unless you were in my head. But sometimes it’s like—I didn’t know I was capable of something like that until it happens.” 

“You thought you’d never have a girlfriend?” 

“I thought it would feel different than how it does,” He tells you, looking at your face “I thought liking someone would be less complicated I guess,” 

“Why would it be complicated, though?” 

“I always thought it’d make me nicer,” 

It’s a sentence you feel in your whole body He’s like this sometimes. Not normally around you. On the field, you see it all the time. Moments where he becomes unreachable, that look in his eyes that you can spot from miles away - intensely focused and oddly serious. You know Isagi is the best, believe his word about being the best striker in the world. 

The emotion behind that makes him strange.

“It didn’t make you nicer?” 

He tilts his head to one side. For the first time, he’s really looking at you. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him this way. He’s sweet already. Nice, already. He’s gentler than every other athlete guy you’ve ever met, uncharacteristically kind. His other qualities are limited to when he’s playing. 

Right now, he’s looking at you and only you. And he’s right, it doesn’t seem very nice. 

“I really thought it would.”

He doesn’t offer you any more explanation than that before he goes back to his normal self. His expression softens and his eyes open up and he’s back to looking all friendly again. You’re not mad at that, of course not. But your curiosity remains, and you leave the door open for whenever you see that again. 

“...You like me back right?” 

You smile to yourself. He’s really, really something else. You reach your hand out and only grab his pinky finger to hold. His hands are bigger than you thought they’d be but warm all the same. His eyes widen as he looks between you, your heart thudding in your chest. 

“What if I said no?” 

“I’d never come back to Japan,” He says seriously. 

“Shut up. You better come see your girlfriend.” 

“Nice,” He says, pushing a breath out of his lungs he’d been holding “I can’t believe I got a girlfriend before Kunigami.” 

“You’re so stupid.” 

“It’s cause I didn’t finish high school,” 

__ 

Long distance with Isagi isn’t as bad as you thought it’d be. Of course, it’d be better to see him in person. It’s just that he texts you so often it doesn’t feel like you’re that far apart. 

You like opening your phone to his flood of text messages. It’s always the same with him. Pictures of whatever he’s eating that day, sleeping teammates, and sweaty post-workout pictures that are definitely thirst traps but probably not on purpose. 

Your relationship feels like a friendship but not in a bad way. Just that Isagi has a strangely innocent way of approaching you, that always reads like a guy who’s never been in a relationship before. 

You know for a fact Isagi is not innocent, mostly because you knew him before you were dating. Before you were even crushing each other in which a raunchy joke left his mouth, dirty to the point you had to smack him for indecency. You know he’s not innocent because he doesn’t even bat an eye when Shidou is going on and on about having sex with a goalpost or whatever he’s talking about. 

But Isagi treats you like he’s an angel. Exceptionally polite, and exceptionally clean. Even when you tease him he’s censoring himself, diverting the conversation but not in a way that offends you. 

Sometimes you catch him looking. That’s the reason it doesn’t bother you mostly. Sometimes, and just sometimes - you see him stare at you. Shirts that make your chest stick out, or shorts that ride too high on your legs. It’s hardly on purpose, but it happens. Isagi will call you before you get ready to run errands and in the process of getting dressed, he sees a sliver of skin he’s not really supposed to see. 

Even through a screen and phone speakers, you can hear the soft hitch of his breath. When you’re both supposed to be doing your own thing, you’ll turn to see his eyes fixed on you when he thinks you’re looking away. 

You always look away quick enough that he can keep staring. He’s a bit of a voyeur, you learn.  

Today, your facetime call is more innocent than that. It’s about 2 weeks out before Isagi returns to Japan with the intent to stay there. Only 2 more weeks of long-distance until he’s home for good and you get to experience normal relationship stuff. 

He’s set up on your counter while you make dinner. He looks tired but he insisted on calling. In a hotel room, he’s laying back in a sea of white sheets. His dark hair mussed on his pillowcase, blue eyes lidded. 

“What’re you making?” He asks, voice thick with exhaustion. You glance at him, using your knife to smash the clove of garlic down on the cutting board. 

“Chili garlic noodles,” You say simply. He groans. 

“Ah…it sounds good. Our nutrition coach is so strict,” He whines, laying on his stomach “I want to eat meat,” 

“I’ll grill you some when you get home,” You say smoothly. 

“Promise?” He mumbles. You chuckle, looking at him for a minute. 

“Yes, I promise. Come home soon.” 

He rubs his cheek into his pillow, frowning. 

“Soon, soon,” He repeats softly, then a little quieter “...I miss you.” 

This comes as a surprise. You give him a look, a shade of pink running up his back to the tips of his ears. You giggle. 

“That’s the sappiest thing you’ve said for the last 6 months,” 

“...Ah, seriously?” 

“It definitely is,” You say without looking up, chopping the garlic fine carefully “No one would guess we’re dating if they heard us talk.” 

“It’s not on purpose, it’s just—well. I don’t know, ‘s kinda embarrassing.” 

“You’re a perfect gentleman though, Isagi. Don’t fret,” 

“That makes me feel way worse,” He complains lightly. This makes you laugh for so long you have to put down your knife just to hold your stomach. When you’re done, he’s smiling at you. He’s so handsome it catches you off-guard. 

“You’re surprisingly timid. When I watch you play, you seem like a completely different person..” 

“...You watch me play?” 

“I liked you as a player before we started dating, stupid.” 

This catches his interest, ears perking up. 

“...So what do you think of me as a player?” 

You pour the chopped garlic into the bowl with the chili and other ingredients, turning the stove on to heat oil to pour on top of it. He stares at you wide-eyed. 

“You’re basically a genius as a player. You’re a really good striker, and your physicality has improved a lot since you’ve been on the national team but your predictions set you apart from the rest.” You say without thinking much of it. It’s not intended to be a compliment, but an evaluation. Isagi really is just that good “I think you’ll become the best and I like seeing you play.” 

After that, he’s silent for a while. When you notice, you finally look up from your task to see him grinning from ear to ear. 

“Ah… I’m so happy. What do I do? I could die happy right now.” 

“Jeez.” 

“Thank you, you’re the best. Ahhh… I have to become the best for real. I mean I had to before, but now I really have to.” 

Before you get a chance to interject, a chorus of noise comes from the other side of the line. Your eyes snap up to where you find Isagi whose expression has immediately faltered. You don’t speak as you watch him sit up, face twisted into a look of apology. You give him a sweet smile that makes him relax a little.

There’s too much conversation for you to hear what they’re saying, seems like they’re just talking about their schedule. You tune out for the time being. Or you try too.

“Woah, woah—Isagi you’re talking to your girlfriend aren’t you?” A voice pipes up. A voice you know as Bachira. You’ve only ever spoken to him twice.

Isagi is always weird about letting you meet his teammates. You can’t pinpoint a reason for why, but you respect it either way. Of them though, he does sometimes let Bachira talk to you after a bit of pestering before shoving him away. 

Before you know what’s happening, you see a bunch of chaos on screen like you’re being snatched out of Isagi’s hand. You can hear his voice in the back, suddenly fainter. It sounds like he’s cussing but the other noise drowns him out. 

You end up in Bachira’s hands. Next to him is Chigiri, Nagi, Gagamaru and Rin. You know them as team members, but you’ve never officially met them as  Isagi’s girlfriend. Put on the spot, you give them a polite bow as they stare at you. 

“Uh,” You say awkwardly, raising your hand up to wave “Nice to meet you. I’m Y/N. And  hi again, Bachira.” 

“Hehe, hi!” 

“Nice to meet you,” Chigiri says first. Nagi follows with a polite wave, as does Gagamaru. Rin gives you a nod but doesn’t say a word aside from that. 

“So you’re Isagi’s girlfriend huh,” Nagi starts, looking at you curiously “I thought he was making it up.” 

“Right,”  Chigiri confirms, giving you a once over. You feel awkward “Isagi is pretty private about it.” 

This catches your interest. 

“Isagi is?” 

“We’ve never even seen a picture of you until just now,” Gagamaru confirms. You can’t contain your surprise. 

“Oh. Huh.” 

“Do you know us, though?” 

“Oh, uh, yeah. As players though, not as Isagi’s friends.” 

“...You’re a fan?” The ever silent Rin says. It startles a little before you smile, sheepishly rubbing the back of your neck. 

“I am. Have been since your game with the U20 league couple of years ago. Was really excited to see everyone together as major players on the national team. And congrats on your recent win against the Belgium National Team!” You say cheerily. 

Surprisingly all of them get a little embarrassed, aside from Nagi who seems a little smug about the whole thing. They all give their thanks, once again other than Rin. 

“I see why Isagi was trying to hide you,” Chigiri says first. You tilt your head in confusion. 

“Isagi is so stingy,” Bachira says, nodding his head. You have no idea what they’re on about so you simply say nothing and keep constructing your dinner. 

Before you can say anymore, you’re once again snatched from somebodies hands. This time though, you can hear your boyfriend speaking. His hand is cupped over the speaker so it’s muffled, but you can hear him faintly. He sounds like he’s cursing them over something. You can’t tell what. 

When you turn to see his face, he looks agitated. Just barely there, but there still. You stand still as he walks off somewhere else, the noise of his teammate dying out as he goes into some room. You have no idea where but there’s, at the very least, a bit more privacy in it. 

“Ah,” You say, as he comes into camera view again “Hi,” 

He has that look on his face. The one you can’t really name, that’s oddly intense for a reason you don’t understand. It relaxes a little when he focuses on you, just barely. You give him a warm smile, leaning on your counter. 

“Sorry about them.” He says seriously. 

“Don’t be. They seem nice and I have to meet your friends eventually.” 

“Ignore them, seriously. They’re dumbasses.” 

It’s rare to hear him speak so crassly. You can feel the odd energy around him, surrounding him like a cloud of smoke. You should probably tell him it’s fine, but your curiosity is peaked by his reaction. Like poking a sleeping bear, you’re fascinated by an angry Isagi. It’d be good if he could be more honest with his feelings. 

“They thought you were lying about me. Apparently, they didn’t even know what I looked like.” 

“It’s not really their business.” 

Interesting. You think Isagi is interesting at times like this. 

“I didn’t know you were territorial, Isagi.” 

You intend to say it as a joke, but a single look at him confirms it. Isagi is just so nice it's hard to believe. Instead of replying, he sighs.

“I miss you,”

“Mhm. I miss my boyfriend too, very much.” 

He relaxes, his threatening aura disappearing just slightly. 

“Your who?” 

“My boyfriend, Yoichi Isagi. Best striker in the world and smartest player ever, do you know him?” 

Isagi grins before giggling, face going flush again. Back to his usual self. 

“Think I might.” 

__

Isagi came back to Japan over two months ago. So far, not much has changed in your relationship. 

The only thing is, you’re determined to make your boyfriend snap. Or at the very least, express his feeling a little more. 

You’ve found yourself doing a lot of initiating in romantic milestones. This doesn’t bother you because after you do, he normally gets more comfortable doing the same. It’s a small price to pay for consistent kisses and bolder handholding. The issue isn’t really that, but the obvious way Isagi is dodging things he clearly wants to do. 

So far you’ve only gone as far as a little making out in your single-bedroom apartment before Isagi’s excusing himself back home or to your bathroom. You’re not trying to pressure the guy but you have this sneaking suspicion the reason he’s stopping isn’t because he doesn’t want to - because on the occasion you’ll get into it, he’ll get into it too. Only after you moan does he freeze and stop altogether - pulling away like he just got soaked with cold water.

And you’ll watch him real-time turn the idea over in his head, the very obvious half mast in his pants that he keeps shifting to cover.

He’s a good, sweet guy so it’s not like you fault him for it. On paper, he’s perfect. Boyish and friendly, with nice hands and a bright smile, unafraid to express himself. He’s intuitive with your emotions - like he has a sensor built in for your different moods. He’s attentive, and his awkward bumbling when trying to be boyfriend-like adds to how much you like him rather than take away from it. 

But now that he’s back and you spend so much time together, the fact he’s holding back a little becomes more and more apparent. You’ve tried to bring it up, and he obviously catches on to what you’re trying to say but feigns ignorance every time. 

Isagi is a strange character. You’ve known that forever, and after nearly 8 months of dating - you think you know what to call it. 

Isagi, even now, doesn’t like how he wants things. 

But it’s different with soccer. You know Isagi to be a terribly unselfish person in his day-to-day life. Even if he bickers or argues with his teammates, he never gets into fights and always gives the last piece to someone else. Soccer is probably the only place he lets himself be anything else, lets himself be a little bit egotistical, or act in self-interest. It’s the exception to his rule of thumb, the lesson beat into him early. 

And you think the way Isagi is, is what’s making him hesitate. You probably can’t say it outright, that it’s fine if he wants to be a little selfish over you or claim you like a possession if he feels like it. It’s even fine if he’s desperate because you like him and anything he does is bound to excite you. So far, confrontation has proved counterproductive so there’s no use in trying again. 

Isagi responds well to pressure, so you’ve resolved yourself into giving him a little push so he gives in. 

It’s a Saturday afternoon and you’re meeting Isagi for a date in an outfit you would consider risky. You stick to your athleisure when you’re out with him because your dates with Isagi are casual - but today you’re going to an art exhibit. The perfect time to show off a little. 

You’ve got on a skirt that rides up when you walk and a top that’s revealing enough to show off parts of your body you’re not normally trying to. For you, it’s risky and you know that means it’s gonna stun your boyfriend quiet. 

No matter what happens, you’ll give Isagi a push in the right direction. 

He’s waiting for you outside of your apartment. Leaning on the decently expensive car he bought when coming back home. You always forget that he really has money, because he normally dresses and acts like he doesn’t.

He’s dressed casually as you’d expected. With a pair of loose-fitting pants and a mildly oversized Nike sweatshirt - he always looks a little soft. He got a haircut from what you can tell, hair no longer blocking his line of sight. You give him a wave as you descend down the front steps of your apartments. 

He looks up from his phone, eyes locked before they widen. Your smile brightens as you approach him. 

“Hi,” You greet, watching with a warm smile as Isagi slides his phone into his pocket. He reaches for your hand, grabbing it but not saying anything with his mouth open. 

“Isagi?” 

“Oh,” He shakes his head like he’s trying to stop thinking something before he focuses back on you “Hi,” 

You giggle as he grabs both of your hands in his. You reach up to cup his face and he nuzzles against your palm before kissing it. Bemused, you stroke your thumb along his skin. 

“You all there?” 

“Yeah, you just—wow. You’re so… wow,” 

“How poetic, Isagi.”

He pouts a little. 

“You look…really nice. Uhm, like pretty and stuff,” 

You lean up to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. 

“And you look handsome as always,” 

“Ah, jeez, really?” 

“Really, really. Your haircut looks good.”

He brightens up at the mention of it, awkwardly rubbing his neck.

“I wanted to look a little nicer. I thought about styling it but it looked kinda dumb,”

“It’d look pretty sexy pushed back, I think. I’ll help you with it next time.” 

“S-Sexy?”

“I think you’re pretty sexy, Isagi. I thought you knew that already?” 

When you hint at past activities, Isagi is looking away from you. Hand covering his face - he looks up at the sky with silent resolve. 

“Oh,” 

You put a deliberate hand on his chest when you kiss him properly this time. Feeling him fluster is a tiny victory, his lips are soft like he’s just put chapstick on. 

You deepen it just a little before pulling away entirely, leaving him dazed. It’s going to be a good day if it keeps going in this direction. Still, you decide you’d be better off not pushing your luck and push him away. 

“Ready to go?”

He looks annoyed, not enough that it’s obvious. And not at you. He gives you a half-hearted smile and nods. 

“Ready.” 

__

The art exhibit is unexpectedly fun.

 It’s one of those interactive art exhibits. You only found out after buying the tickets but it was a pleasant surprise. Isagi was probably more excited about it than you were. Surprisingly, he has a soft spot for creative stuff. 

A certifiable film buff, manga enthusiast, and genuine procurer of art - he was ecstatic as soon as you two walked into what felt more like an amusement park than an art gallery. There were several rooms and each of them had different things to mess around with. 

Interactive lights in one, a heatroom that responded to touch and body temperature depending on where you walked, and a room that could read your heartbeat and project the beat onto a heart on one of the walls. 

It felt more like playing in an adult playground than it did an exhibit. It was so fun - you were having a hard time remembering what you were supposed to be doing in the first place. 

The last room in the exhibit is full of climbable structures. You had to take your shoes off before going in. Starting from the center of the room out were large white structures, like a net you could climb into on a massive scale. The material it was made of was sturdy enough to hold up the weight of whoever was in it, but pliable enough that it would stretch and bounce with whatever movement happened within it. 

You’re grateful you came with Isagi to this exhibit on a day when many people weren’t around. There are only a few other people in with the two of you, so you and Isagi have been moving around to your hearts' content. 

Unsurprisingly, Isagi moves through everything with ease. Damn him and his athletic stature, he’s not even tired when you get closer to the top of the exhibit.

He offers to be behind you so you can catch up as a middle ground. You aren’t thinking anything of it when you agree to go before him. 

You dig your heel into the link above you to give yourself some solid foundation to keep moving up. Climbing up like this reminds you of the playground you used to play on when you were young. Taking a deep breath, you let out a little hup as you adjust yourself and get a good distance above. When you reach the height you want, you turn yourself around to lean into the malleable material. 

It adjusts to the shape of your body with ease. Leaning back, your eyes naturally search for Isagi. You stopped actively listening for him behind you, assuming it wouldn’t be hard for him to catch up to you. 

When you turn around, you see Isagi. But, instead of coming up to sit next to you - his head is turned to one side. You can’t see his face clearly but there’s a clear blush tone painted on the apples of his cheeks. He’s standing stiff and still, a single hand reaching for you. 

“Isagi?” 

Your eyes follow the motion of his arm. His fingers pinch the very edge of your skirt, tugging down the material just slightly. You squint, leaning forward to get a closer look at him - balancing yourself so you don’t fall forward. 

“Baby?” 

“Oh, uh,” He won’t look you in the eyes. You can’t figure out why “Sorry.” 

“You feelin’ okay?”

“I’m fine.” He says too quickly. You drop down from where you are to look at him closer and he flinches back. Retracting, you frown. 

“You’re pale and sweaty. You sure you’re okay? It’s okay if you’re not feeling well. I had fun today no matter what.”

“No, no! I’m fine, I swear.” 

“Isagi,” You say, firm but sweet. You grab his hand “Let’s go home.” 

“But it’s—” 

“No buts. C’mon. I’ll invite you in, so let's go.” 

He sighs but doesn’t refute you, hand slipping gently into yours. 

“Okay.” 

__ 

Isagi has been acting weird. 

He hasn’t been able to meet your eyes since you left the art exhibit. The drive home was eerily silent aside from the radio. He did accept your invitation to watch a movie inside, but he’s been sitting on the carpet in your living room with a healthy amount of distance between you two. 

You’d understand if you spent the day messing with him, but the fun of the art exhibit practically ruined your original plans. So really, you’re completely clueless as to why your boyfriend is so stiff. 

You sigh deeply, pouring a glass of water. Placing the pitcher on your kitchen counter, you pad back into the living room to give him the cup.

“Here,” 

“Oh,” He says, not looking up at you “Thank you.” 

This time you’re annoyed. You sit diagonal from him, one leg up with the other one laying flat, the soft furry carpet comfortable. Sighing, you press your chin to your knee. 

“What's wrong with you?” You say bluntly. Isagi snaps his head up to you. 

“Huh?” 

You give him another displeased frown. It’s a little petulant but it’s hard to reach Isagi without using tactics like this. 

“You haven’t looked at me since we left the art exhibit,” You point out. His expression drops, eyes immediately focusing on something else “And you’re being so weird right now. So what’s wrong?” 

“I’m fine.” He insists, a wobbly smile on his face. You give him a flat look. 

“Isagi Yoichi.” 

“Yes, dear?” 

That makes you laugh a little but you don’t give in. 

“Can you please just tell me why you’re acting so weird, hm? Please?” 

His expression becomes even grimmer for a minute before he readjusts. He sits criss-cross, elbows resting on knees while he clasps his hands together. He’s looking forward very seriously, and you don’t know what to expect as you watch him turn something over in his head. 

He leans back this time, pulling up the collar of his sweatshirt to cover his face a bit. 

“I saw…” He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes “I saw under your skirt earlier..” 

You squint before the realization hits you. Oh. Huh. He did pull your skirt down at the exhibit so it was probably riding up and he caught a peek. A little embarrassing, sure, but nothing of note. 

“...So?”

Isagi turns to look at you with wide eyes like you’ve said something unbelievable. You give him a look of confusion before giggling a little. 

“....So??” He parrots, lost.

“Yeah. So. Do you feel guilty or something?” 

He nods meekly. You grin. 

“I mean, were you peeping on purpose?” 

“No, no, of course not. I wouldn’t—” 

His panic has you full-blown giggling. When he realizes you’re not angry, he quiets down. Simply watching you, he takes a deep breath. 

“It’d be fine even if you were, so it’s whatever. Don’t be like that over something so small, I was really worried about it.” 

“It’s not small,” He says firmly. 

“Mm, really? It’s not a big deal to me though. You’re my boyfriend so you’d be the only one seeing my panties, anyway.” 

This makes Isagi choke. You watch him with an amused grin. 

“In fact, you can probably see it while I’m sitting like this too. I’m comfortable with you so I wasn’t thinking about it,” You say, teasing him slightly by spreading your legs “Even if I flashed you, you wouldn’t do anything about it, would you?” 

It’s not something he can refute so he doesn’t. You think it affected him, the slightest bit of frustration on his face. 

“It’s not like I’m not—yknow?” 

“Not what?” 

He rubs the back of his neck. 

“It’s not like I don’t… want to.”

“Oh, I know. I figured but,” You cross your legs this time, delighted by him “I know you won’t.” 

He’s silent for a while after that. You don’t want to pressure him, so you give him a warm smile. 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to. I’m sure you have your reasons and for whatever you can’t tell me, so I’m not gonna be mad.” 

He looks like he’s going to cry for a minute there but recollects himself. 

“I’m sorry.” He says lamely. 

“Don’t be. I was planning to seduce you today so in a way, my plans worked out.” 

The shock on his face has you biting back a cackle, choking on his spit. He wipes his mouth, looking at you embarrassed.

“Seduce me?” 

“Mm, I thought a little push might be good for you. But it looks like it had the opposite effect, you’re shaking like a leaf.” 

“It…that’s not true.” He folds his hands in his lap “I’ve never…done this before.” 

“I figured,” You repeat, nonplussed. You were Isagi’s first girlfriend after all “You don’t want to lose it to me, then?” 

“Not that,” He says, pulling his knees up and hugging his knees “I just… feel bad. For looking at you like that.” 

“Ah, I knew it.” You mumble “You feel bad for wanting to fuck me, don’t you?” 

He swallows something in the back of his throat, looking up. 

“It’s different.” 

“You know you’re really easy to read. It’s fine, Isagi. Whatever you want to do is fine. I like you, so it’s fine. Even if it’s gross or really perverted. If I hate something, I would just tell you.”

He looks up at you, riddled with guilt so you sigh. For his sake, you might as well put yourself out a little more. 

Instead of saying anything else, you crawl towards him on your hands and knees. His breath hitches, eyes locked on you. Adjusting so you’re in front of him, you stand on your knees and face him. He looks up at you, starry-eyed and a little afraid. 

You really just want to shake him by the shoulders, but you refrain. 

“Isagi,” You say, voice low and dripping with as much sexual desire as you can muster “Do you wanna see my panties?” 

It should be just the right push. 

His eyes snap down to your legs and thighs, where your manicured hands have the bottom of the skirt gripped in your hands. Two fingers in the tight material, you flutter your lashes at him. He looks shocked, stumbling over the right response before his hands fist at his knees. He looks down then nods hard. 

“Uh...Y-yeah. Yes, I— If that’s okay.,” 

Before he can retract too much, you pull up your skirt over the lower half of your tummy. You’re wearing a matching set, though it wasn’t with this intent. A cool wave of air hits your skin as you hold it up, giving Isagi a clear view. A pair of pretty, lacy panties are clinging to you. They’re thin and sheer, all black and snug. 

His ears are a vibrant red, hands planted at either side of him. 

“You’re looking so hard,” You tease, watching his desperate expression “You’ve never seen a girl's panties before? Or are you like this because they’re mine?” 

He flinches at the latter half of your statement. It’s nice to know he wants you, at least. 

“You like lace?” 

He nods, mesmerized. 

“You can touch,” You say encouragingly, glancing at his stiff posture “Be gentle, ‘kay?” 

His hands shake when he reaches forward. Instead of letting him go in blind, you take a free hand on his hand. The palm of his hand cups the back of your thigh. You let him do as he pleases with the other one. His breathing is so uneven it’s the only thing you can hear. His nimble fingers are hesitant as they reach forward for you. 

But he manages to touch you, a gentle finger against the edge of the fabric. He starts at your hips before traveling downward, lower and lower. He’s so tender, just like you thought he’d be. You feel your heart starting to beat fast at the feeling of his hand, the one on your thigh slowly getting tighter. 

His finger curls in before he’s so slowly touching the seam of your lace panties. Just where you can feel contact, where your pussy is. You’re aching just watching him sate his curiosity, the way he’s observing you making incredibly horny. 

He drags his knuckle down before he’s pressed right against your slit, underneath the cloth. He gasps as he feels it, a low noise slipping past your lips at the contact. 

“You’re.. I-it’s wet.” He says, a tremble in his voice. You smile. Cupping his face in your palms, you lean forward until you’re close to him. He looks so hazy for you. You press your lips to his, deep and soft as the skirt flops over his hand. He hasn’t moved at all, so you rub against his knuckle wantonly. 

“Mhm. I’m wet for you.” 

“For…for me.” He says through a wheeze. 

“Want to see your cock, Isagi.” You practically purr, turned on at his fluster. At him, in general. You hold his gaze while you say it, hand sneaking down to the front of his pants “To feel it. It’s lonely without you.” 

“Holy shit…holy shit.” 

“You wanna see it, right? Wanna see it stretch me out real nice. Don’t you wanna know how it feels?” 

“I want,” His voice is thick with lust to the point it’s unrecognizable. He buries his face against your neck. Your heartbeat thrums “I want to… do what you want.” 

Oh? 

“You’re thoughtful even in bed, is it? You wanna make me cum, Isagi?” 

He groans.

“Oh, please,”

“You’re so sweet. Makes me wanna take your virginity.” 

“Take whatever you want.” He says, rushed. You chuckle. 

“Even your credit cards? Your wallet?” 

“Yeah,” He says easily. 

“Stupid,” You adjust so either of your legs are on either side of Isagis's stretched legs “Kiss me,” 

“Yeah.” He repeats, a little slower. 

This much is familiar to you both. Isagi has gotten good at kissing. Though he normally holds himself back, keeping his hands steady. You wrap your arms around his neck, pressing your body up to his purposefully. Isagi makes a noise of approval as he feels your chest press to his. He hesitates only briefly as he sneaks a hand on your thigh, just above your knee. 

His kisses are warm and familiar.  Your hands tangle in his hair as you urge for him a little deeper, soft locks between your fingers. He likes when you tug at his scalp. His slow nipping kisses deepen until you’re breathing him in.

“Isagi,” You break away, out of breath “Stick your tongue out.” 

He obliges easily. Before he has a chance to question it, you grab his face in your hands again and mirror him. The sudden contact makes his grip on you tighten before he melts into it. Tongue kissing him slow, he finds rhythm with you. You kiss like that for a while, spit and tongue and teeth. Kissing like that is turning you on, so you press your weight down on his body for more contact. 

He’s surprised when he feels you. His eyes open to look at you, but you don’t want to stop kissing him so you leave it. Instead, you hold his gaze as you rub your clothed cunt over the hard-on in his pants. Normally even getting this far is some sort of miracle. 

But right now, Isagi isn’t stopping you at all. It’s a success in your eyes. You can feel him respond to each of your slow grinds. Dragging your hips back and forth, Isagi’s eyes are lidded when he watches you. 

“Mm,” You go harder, your clothed clit catching on the tip of his cock. You can feel how the fabric is soaking underneath you “Isagi. I wanna know how you feel.” 

He pulls back in a pant, eyes closed. His forehead drops onto your shoulder with a soft thud. 

“Feels so good,” He slurs, speechless. He’s so cute. 

“You like when I grind on you?” 

“It’s making me so hard.” He says, voice going high. 

“What do you want, Isagi?” 

“See,” He mumbles, twitching under you “Wanna see.” 

Without another word, you pull back from him. Giving him a pleasant smile, you slip your top off of your body and let it fall to the floor. Isagi’s eyes grow the size of saucers, swallowing. 

“Oh my god.” 

You stand to your feet, hand on his shoulder to keep him sitting. Infront of him, you strip your skirt as slowly as you can manage. You’re only left in your lingerie and your socks. Isagi is looking up at you like you’re the sun. The exposure of your body has never made you shy, but the look on Isagi’s face is really giving you a run for your money. 

“Take your shirt off,” 

Isagi widens his eyes before breaking out into another blush. Ultimately he does what you ask. You watch the sweatshirt peel off of his body while he’s still seated underneath you. You forget how strong he is until he’s naked like that. He’s toned.  

He keeps looking up at you from where he’s sat. You give him a glance.

“Do what you want Isagi.” You encourage. His brow furrows momentarily before he finds himself kneeling underneath you. You aren’t sure what to make of the position. Isagi’s hands hover over your body. Holding your waist, he rubs his cheek against your stomach before kissing it. You play with his hair. When he looks up, his eyes are full of desire. 

“You don’t feel real.” He says in a mumble. 

“I’m very real.” 

He looks up at you. Eyes rimmed with hunger, hands holding you’ll fall away. Even still, he’s looking for permission. That conflict that he feels every single time he wants something. 

“Tell me if you want to stop.” He says, masking the tremble in his voice. You smile. 

“Course.”

“Then,” He looks at you seriously “Can we go to your room?” 

You nod, reaching your hand out for him to take, he follows you to your bedroom. On the opposite side of the room, you shut the door behind you. Instead of asking him where he wants you- you flop onto the bed and open your arms. 

“C’mere.” You say. He widens his eyes but does as you say, hovering above you. His arms rest on either side of your head. Warmth radiates off his body, hands hesitantly touching your face. He rests his face against your chest. 

“We’re really gonna have sex,” He mumbles, with a flush. You can’t contain your laugh. 

“You’re still like this, huh.” 

“Of course I am,” He kisses you this time, in between his nerves with just a little more confidence than before “I get to… with you. Wow.” 

“Touch me.” You all but demand. Isagi does an obedient little nod before he steels himself. His palms travel slowly downwards, drifting touches until he’s at your chest. He takes in a deep breath as he cups them over the lacy material. You can feel your nipples harden under the touch, and he must too because he lets out a little sound of surprise. He looks up at you for assurance,

You merely smile at him. 

He keeps going, little by little familiarizing himself with your body. Distracted and clumsily, with no real expertise. Every now and again, he’ll catch himself drifting. He presses kisses to your neck and chest while he gropes you thoroughly and curiously. Isagi endears you at every turn. You’re no stranger to it but seeing him like this reminds you of how much. 

You put your hand on top of his so he can squeeze tighter. He gasps a little but repeats after you, squeezing. You don’t have to ask him to touch you directly, a pleasant surprise. He doesn’t take off your bra nor does he fumble with it. He pulls the cups down until your tits spill. Every time you think he’ll stop being shocked, he gets red in the face and proves you wrong. 

The cold air to your exposed chest makes your back arch slightly. You adjust so you can take your bra off completely, letting the strap slip over your shoulder. When it comes loose, Isagi pauses so you can toss it somewhere. 

His eyes are so glued on your tits you can’t help but feel a little shy.

“Isagi,” It comes out a little whiny “Touch me,” You assert again. 

“I can do what I want, right?” 

You nod. 

To your surprise, he trails kisses down your sternum. In between your tits, licking softly and biting even softer. You have no idea what he’s thinking, but you think he probably read up about it somewhere. The thought makes your stomach twist. Your sweet boyfriend away for months, reading up on how to please you. It’s something he’d do. Knowing that makes your teeth ache, like over-indulging on sugar. 

His mouth closes around your nipple and a shockwave rolls through your whole body. A dull throb starts between your legs as Isagi focuses on just one. You bring his hand to your other one. 

“Like this,” You say, showing him “Gently,” 

He listens to your instruction well. A soft wave of pleasure settles over you as Isagi uses his mouth and hands to his heart's content. Mouth latched on your nipples, sucking slightly.

Isagi learns quickly, you realize. He tries something new and waits for your reactions and doesn’t push. He’s gentle but puts more pressure on if he thinks he’s losing you, focused on you and only you. 

You moan for him. It feels good. 

“Aah, Isagi.”

He pulls himself off slightly, eyes peaking up at you with a sense of satisfaction. Your skin is start to prick with that familiar desire, pooling in your gut. It’s vicious. He makes your head feel heavy with sin. You want to claim him unabashedly, a little eager to take something as precious as his first time. A flower you want to crush in your palm or snow packed under your feet - you take pleasure in breaking him down little by little. Delicate but yours to handle, you and Isagi have odd synergy. 

 Isagi becomes your center of gravity, your body pulled into him and his natural enigma. You want him and he wants you. That balance leaves your toes curling.

Desire drapes over your shoulders and weighs you. He’s pretty. Strong and toned muscles for his upper arms, a body built for athleticism. His hair is mussed in his face, sweat sticking slightly to his skin. 

Before you can regain your sense, your hand is creeping towards his waistband. He stares at you as your eyelids droop, undoing the zipper of his pants and pulling them down. You lock eyes as you slide them down as far as you can reach.

His legs are so much stronger than you were expecting, thick and sturdy as you pull them down past his legs. Your eyes settle on the tent on his pants, wrapping your palm around his cock through the fabric. He hisses hard at that, shuddering. 

“Fuck,” He grits, face twisted “Y-your hand.” 

“Isagi. Stand on your knees for me,” 

He looks confused for a minute, but eventually gets a hint. You prop yourself up on some pillows, urging Isagi forward until his bulge is closer to your face. Once he realizes the position he’s in, almost over your chest - his knees almost buckle. You can see him biting the inside of his cheek as you dip into his waistband. 

You pull his briefs of slow, cock hanging heavy. Isagi is thick with a hard curve left. The tip is shiny and wet, pre-cum leaking from it slow. Your heart pounds against your ribs, instinctively staring hard. Isagi is holding his breath.

You blow on it teasingly, watching him squirm. He’s so sensitive. You crane your neck up, pressing a wet kiss on the frenulum with purpose. His throat closes, air coming out in a choked moan. 

“Oh my god,” 

“Can I use my mouth?” You ask. He shakes his head no instantly.  

“I’ll cum f-for sure. Please don’t, don’t.” 

You chuckle at his insistence. 

“Okay, okay. My hand okay?” 

“Yeah, please.” 

You make a show of covering your hand with spit. Sticking your tongue out until they’re soaked and letting it drip down, sticky into your palm. Isagi looks like he’s going to fall out at any minute. You wrap your hands at the base of his shaft, slowly dragging your first until you’re cupped around the tip. He’s slick in your hands. You jerk him off slowly, not trying to overwhelm him. 

Isagi is a mess over you. He looks good. Sweat is beading down his chest, falling down his body. His head is tipped back, mouth open as he tries to figure out what to do with his hands. He’s throbbing so hard in your palms. It’d make you feel guilty to make him cum like this, but god he looks good on the edge.

He fucks into the little hole you’ve made with your fist, unintentionally. 

“Fuck, why d-does that feel so good,” He says, voice muffled by his own hand “Y-your hands are so fucking soft.” 

“You’re so good to me, Isagi. Nobody better,” 

“Ngh, y-you’re…” His thought is cut off by a smooth pull of your hands “Stop, please.”

You do instantly, watching as he catches his breath. 

“How am I supposed to hold that in…?” He says, genuinely at a loss. You can’t help but laugh. 

“Takes practice I think.” 

“You should cum first.” He concludes seriously.

“Any ideas on how you wanna do that?” You tease. 

“Thought I could give you head if you’re okay with it. I k-know I won’t be good right away but I—” 

You pat his thigh to catch his attention. 

“Stop freaking out and lay down between my legs.” 

His blush intensifies. You get yourself comfortable as Isagi readjusts so that he can be laying between your legs. Propping yourself up with the pillows behind you, you spread out so that Isagi can be comfortable. When he’s ready, you smooth his hair back. He’s staring at your thighs hard. 

“Do you know what you’re doing?” 

“Ah, a little?” 

You nod at him, laying back and watching. He takes a deep breath first, his hands splaying over the tops of your thighs before moving along the curve. The skin on skin makes your heart pitter patter. Isagi is always staring at your legs, but it’s taken you till now to realize he has a thing for your thighs. He rubs his cheek along your inner thigh, squeezing the fat between his fingers hard enough that it aches. 

His lips start at your inner knee, trailing up. Slow, wet kisses along the skin and tentative bit. Your breathing goes uneven, tension pouring into the room slowly like a billow of smoke. Isagi is so gentle but so wanting. His every touch is desperate and drunken. Everything you do is completely intoxicating to him, everything new and interesting. 

You didn’t think it would turn you on to see him put in so much effort. Unrefined and needy, always whimpering but determined. Stimulated by the littlest things, but most of all by turning you on. It’s like he’s someone else, when he switches to your other thigh to repeat the action. The dull drag of sharp teeth on skin like softening something before eating. It’s hard to stay still when you watch Isagi partake in consumption, when he looks at you like a gift bestowed to him. A little greedy to be used by you. Even if it mean chewing him up and spitting him up. 

You always knew he was dedicated. Always had that single-minded focus on his movements, never taking his eyes off you in any situation. Even when it was warranted, even when he was supposed to be looking at the scenery.

You think for the first time that you’re facing just how much Isagi wants you. And seeing him like that makes you understand why he was hesitating so much at first. The intensity of it is unbearable but exciting. You make him greedy and unforgiving. 

His breath is warm when it fans your cunt, a soft moan leaving his lips as he takes a deep inhale of you. You’re embarrassed but he isn’t. He presses another soft kiss on your clothed cunt, lips wetted by the soaked material. He does it again and again, like he’d kiss you. The realization breathes new life into your lust. 

“Pretty,” He mumbles, star-struck and tipsy on his own thirst “You’re so pretty.” 

You help him by taking off your panties and he moves aside so that they’re tossed on the ground somewhere before settling back between your legs. There’s no barriers this time, nothing to keep him away from you. 

His nose bumps your clit, tongue delving between your folds and collecting all the arousal in his mouth - swallowing slowly. The sensation makes your spine tingle, your body heat at a rapid increase. You tangle your fingers through his hair again, guiding his head to where you like. 

“Little to the side.” 

He nods against you, following your orders. You feel him right where you like it, the burning drag of his tongue as he suctions his mouth around it. It takes him a minute to adjust. His hands keep you company as he finds the right pressure and the right movements. The whole room feels like it’s melting around you. All the sensation in your limbs goes mellow, a softness to the feeling. Your senses are buzzing like the electricity lingering before a storm. 

Isagi is salacious when he sucks on your clit. Throbbing against his mouth with each pass, flat and rhythmic - not to slow or too fast. Isagi learns your body like he’s memorizing, drawing a path to the finish line. Worked up to the point of delirium, you find yourself rolling your hips. Your hand is clamped in his hair, dragging him to you harshly. You find Isagi likes when you’re a little mean to him, a little rough. An adrenaline junkie at heart, he moans when you rut yourself against his face. He doesn’t stop even once, merely following along with you. Moving in tandem. 

What he wants is written all over his face. It etched into his brow bone, drawn in the lines on his face. Please cum, over and over like a plea.

The coil in your stomach starts to grow tight as you stay like that. You can’t think about anything else, hands fisting hard in his hair. He moans against you, the reverb in your skin. 

“Isagi,” You pant, mouth open. You force yourself to keep your eyes open, to look at him while it happens “Cumming.”

Your whole body feels like it’s unraveling as you finish on his face. Isagi doesn’t pause from you. His eyes are closed and his tongue is nudging at your entrance - face buried in your cunt and soaking himself in it. The sound of him slurping fills the room, echoes on the walls and in the back of your head. You can hear his audible swallow as he tastes you, halfway between curiosity and full-blown perversion. He’s somewhere far off as the after waves hit, tremoring inside. 

You have to pull him off you to wake him up from his trance. The sight of his messy chin makes your heart pump. You wipe his chin with your thumb, pressing it to his lower hip. He’s confused at first but opens up anyways. 

“Suck on it.” 

His eyes go wide but he listens. Of course, he does, cleaning the arousal off of your digit. When he’s near done, you pull him up towards you and kiss him hard. For it being his first time, he did so well. You feel selfish all of a sudden. You want to keep him all to yourself. 

“Isagi,” You say his name softly when you pull apart, a string of saliva between you “You did so good.” 

“Ah, really? Then I’m happy.” 

“You’re so good to me, baby. What am I gonna do with you?” 

“...B-baby?”

“Yeah. That okay?” 

“More than okay, I just…woah. I really…” 

You look at him curiously.

“I really love you,” He confesses, words tumbling out of his lips so fast you think you’ll miss it “I was supposed to tell you when I got back but I kept putting it off and I know now seems like a bad time, but I really—” 

When the realization settles, you’re grinning ear to ear. Not that it’s unexpected, the timing is funny and so very Isagi. You shut him up with a kiss, making him melt into you. His hand comes up on your waist. 

“I love you too. Let’s make love, hm?” You offer, teasing. He flushes but doesn’t deny the idea. He’s sappy enough to like something like that you think.  

“Will you call me by my first name?” 

You look at him surprised before breaking out in a wider smile. 

“Yoichi,” You breath out, dragging the last syllable out as he swallows “Come fuck me.” 

“We don’t have condoms.” His voice sounds sad. 

“It’s fine.” 

“B-but—” 

“You don’t want to?” 

He looks at you grimly making you laugh. 

“I’m telling you it’s fine. Just trust me. It’s better raw, anyway.” 

Isagi hugs you this time, his face rubbing against your cheek with a frown. You can’t help but want to spoil him a little when you see him like this. No matter how famous he is, he’s really just a boy. The thought of that makes you happy. 

“You say stuff like that so easily.” 

“I’ve always been straightforward. Who asked who out, huh?” 

“Point taken,” 

“If you get it then, c’mon.” 

You watch as Isagi stands off to completely take his pants off. You take a minute to admire him naked, all the muscles and tanning on his body. The callouses in different places and a few scars from injuries littering his skin. He’s not very hairy, but where it is - it’s fine and wispy. He comes back to you naked, the bed dipping under his weight. 

He drags you down a little, letting you adjust to the new position. You find yourself comfortable on your back. The tip of Isagi’s cock is visible, weeping and hard over your cunt. 

“Normally, I’d make you prep me but I think it’s okay. Just go slow, ‘kay?” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Mhm.” 

He gives you a firm nod. Unsure of what to do, you watch as he spits in his hand to lube himself up. His eyes are mesmerizing a deep blue. Position himself at your entrance, you can’t tear your eyes away from his face. You’re so curious about his reaction. In a slow, slow thrust - you feel the tip start to nudge itself inside of you. The slick sound makes you shiver. 

His expression is pinched as he fucks into you so slowly. Almost like he’s in pain trying to keep himself steady. Your walls accommodate him nicely, slowly stretching around until they take on his shape. Everything feels like it’s spinning around you - the world tilted on it’s axis for minutes at a time. Maybe just because it’s Isagi but his cock makes you feel unsually good. It feels different than the other times you’ve had sex. Holding in a breath, he pushes himself in. One inch at a time, it’s agonizing for you.

You sneak a hand between your bodies. Isagis holds the top of your thighs, just at the curve of your hip as he penetrates. Fucks you languidly and softly and gently, with a grip in his fingers like he’s going to lose his fucking mind. He looks about ready to break, gasping each time he pushes further. 

“You’re so warm. Holy shit.” 

“You almost inside?” 

“Yeah, fuck.” 

Your whole body feels like it’s molded around his cock - stuck inside of you. When his pelvis hits yours, you let out a sigh of relief. He feels so fucking good. Snug and thick, his cock is so hard for you. He twitches rapidly as steels himself, holding you for support. You rub your clit lazily as you watch him, blinking slowly. 

“Yoichi.” 

His cock twitches hard inside of you. You wanna milk him dry, seeing him like that. He looks at you. 

“You can move.” 

You let out a gasp when you feel Isagi pull out only to fuck into you hard. The force of it is unexpected, but not bad. He breathes raggedly. You put your legs up until your ankles are just over his shoulder, reaching for a pillow to put under your back so he can stay stood on his knees and you can rest your legs. His hair is framing his face as he looks down at you, breathing raggedly. He places a kiss on your ankle before saying another. 

“Sorry, I can’t hold it, I want you so much.” 

“S’okay. Keep going.” 

You can’t keep control of yourself as Isagi pistons you. His thrusts are unexpectedly powerful, hips slamming in the back of your thighs every time he moves. It must be the core and leg strength. He thrusts like he’s practiced with something, makes you wonder if he’s ever fucked something on his own. It leaves you shivering, the intrusive way his cock stretched you out until there’s no longer any tension. Until you’re stretched around him completely so that he can fuck you as he pleases. 

The shift from discomfort to pleasure happens before you can screw your head on straight. Isagi fucks you impatiently. He’s looking at you but you can tell that he’s trying so hard not to cum. Teeth digging into his lower lip. He’s whimpering for you. Whining a little at how it feels but fucking you all that same. It’s imperfect and inexperienced - but he’s trying so hard to do it right that it doesn’t matter. You’re so turned on by him that it wouldn’t register.

“Yoichi,” You call out if only to get his attention. You smile when he looks at you “Does it feel good?” 

“Feels so good, fuck, I c-can’t.” 

“You’re fucking me so good.”

The praise has a shiver running down his back. 

“Oh my god.” 

You can feel another orgasm coming in. Isagi fills you deep, scratches an itch you could never get to on your own. He drags along your sensitive walls at an angle, rubbing your insides raw. Every nerve in your body is burning up from the inside out, like a sparkler in July heat. Your nerves are more tender than ever and Isagi toys with each one. All you can think about is how good his cock feels, even through his inexperience. 

It spreads through your body like blood in your veins, the bliss is so overwhelming it makes you motion sick. Your free hand playing with your clit twitches, the other one holding your chest to keep you occupied. Isagi moves you with each pound of hips, reaching the back of you. 

“Gonna cum soon,” You pant. 

“M-me too. I’m so fucking close, fuck.” 

You reach your orgasm in a haze, Isagi’s never slowing in his gestures. He fucks you through it, your whole body going taut with tension like the snap of a rubber band. Your hands fist in the sheets as the tension in your muscles melt, spasming around. 

 You don’t get a chance to say anything much before Isagi is following in your stead. His orgasm must hit hard because he’s cumming inside of as deep as he can go. His hands are secured around your thighs, digging into them as you feel the hot twitch of his cock before unloading into you. It’s warm as it spurts out in thick coats of white, a pleasant feeling making your head spin.

 Isagi is shaking above you, so you bend your knees so he can drop down over you. He nearly collapses on top of you, immediately snuggling up to you even while his cock is buried inside of you. You can’t believe he managed to last as long as he did. You press your lips to his forehead as he sighs in contentment over you. 

“Naughty boy.” You tease. He whines. 

“That felt so good I thought I was gonna die. Thank you” 

“Are you thanking me for making you cum right now? You’re so stupid.”

“Stupid in love.” He corrects, picking his head up to give you a smile. Breaking out into a fit of giggles, you give him another long kiss. Ridiculous. “And it’s not just for that. Just for pushing me. You always consider my feelings”

“You can be whatever you want with me, Yoichi.” 

“I’m so lucky.” He says sincerely, nuzzling up to you “My life is really great. It’s nice. Please don’t leave me by the way.” 

You can’t help but laugh at how honest he’s being. 

“Never. There’s still a lot left for you to learn, y’know?” 

“You’re gonna get me hard again.” He warns, faux serious. You shrug. 

“Not sorry.” 

[milgram-tournament]

MILGRAM Best Song Tournament, Round 2, Match 3 MAGIC vs. MEME

Propaganda for both options under the cut!

Propaganda for MAGIC:

MAGIC MY BELOVED MAGIC!!! Its one of the best MVs in the entire series, even including T2. Magic is visually stunning and has some fantastic art direction but also is very clever in how it conveys its themes and ideas. Magic doesn't really hide anything from you, not really. It's all symbolic but it Tells You Things. It shows you the abuse, it shows you the cat. There's a fun little relationship going on here where, In Magic. Amane's pain and suffering isn't taken seriously by the people around her and the Audience we are discouraged to take it at face value due to the fictionalized nature of Magic. It's so cool. I'm so fond of the song as well, it's one of the best in the series purely cause of the Layers in it. The implications of this Inability to be good is seeped into Magic. Amane knows this isn't reality, Magic knows it's a show, she watches it at the end. And it's so Sad to me that even in her fictionalized happy world she Cannot be a good girl. It's a standard completely out of reach for her and that idea is just conveyed so well visually.

Im not even talking about the goddamn cat yet- the cat symbolism goes Deep. That cat is HER it has the same wounds Amane has in Purge March. I- I cant talk about the intertextuality of Purge March and Magic here this is Magic propaganda only- I- there's so much good stuff to Magic. I Re watched it over and over again. It has some the Best Writing and Visual Communication in Milgram and I will Die on this Hill.

---

shoutout to magic for having pretty props AND being vague as fuck about the crime! diversity win!

seriously though amane looks SO cute in it! the mv has such a pretty and colorful style and even with that it's able to show the horrors of what amane went through.

adding onto my last point. that scene where the cat is hyperventilating and you see the camera shaking???? that scene where the mascots find amane helping the cat and they're all standing over her? CHILLS. im repeating myself but the fact that they were able to portray the awful things amane went through in a genuinely emotional way while still keeping the cute cartoon look is soo impressive

there are SO many layers to itill the entire cartoony style making it look like a tv show… utilizing the cartoony effects and bright colors to show amane downplaying her own pain… the transformation after she gets punished barely changing anything to show just how manipulated she was from the start… ueueueue

ALSO ALSO ALSO THE SCENE AT THE END WITH AMANE STARING AT THE SCENE? OHHH ITS SO GOOD it adds such a feeling of dread and reminds you on top of this whole thing that all of this is truly horrifying! something is going on here!

this song is so catchy it gets stuck in my head CONSTANTLY

"Dear wise one, Am I worthy? Is it ok to spoil myself?" AMANE... UEUEUUEUE

the little ding sound effects in the instrumental?????

amanes voice is ADORABLE

THE INSTRUMENTAL IN THAT PART WHERE SHES HELPING THE CAT HAS THAT GODLY TYPE SOUND YOUD TYPICALLY ASSOCIATE WITH CHURCHES AND STUFF AND I DONT KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN IT PROPERLY BUT JUST RELISTEN TO IT AND YOU WILL KNOW WHAT I MEAN. ITS SUCH A NEAT DETAIL

i could go on about this mv for days but i am not a theorist unfortunately. just. magic sweep

Propaganda for MEME:

"MeMe is fantastic because it plays off the audience’s assumptions about Mikoto as a character and tells a “double story”. There’s layers to it and it’s deliberately deceptive in the way it presents the events out of order. Even the instrumentals themselves tell a story. The shift from piano in the second chorus climax is so good - and the way they combine in the last chorus, plus the addition of a violin culminates the song perfectly."

---

"For propaganda: I love meme so much because even the music alone tells as whole story. It goes from heavy metal to calm to heavy metal to calm and that happens a few times and then there’s an epic and creepy intermission with an amazing guitar and a scary of sound of Mikoto’s heavy breathing. And then the psychedelic music and BAM the final chorus. The final chorus of meme just gives me the absolute chills. Like it’s the calmer chorus we see earlier but with epic symphonic metal and an amazing build up and climax like it’s perfectly encapsulates a story through music alone I just love it so much. Also it’s literally called meme lmao."

---

"I could go on about the motifs in MeMe - like identity loss, living and dying, dreaming etc. It's a song, more than with any other character, about the inner self and what hides from the surface. Of the fear that comes with one's identity and place in the world being challenged and crumbling. The intricate designs on the tarot cards have so much depth to them"

[drconstellation]

Brazil and The Dream of Escape

I was delighted to find in the Xtras that the machine created to be used by Furfur to use to find out how many demons Shax could requisition for storming the bookshop was inspired by the movie Brazil. This is another nod to Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, who directed this film, and who almost directed the failed GO film in the 1990's.

I love this film. Always have. Yes, I was around when it came out in 1985. I'm that old. It's always been in my top 5 favourite films. And its totally relevant to Good Omens.

Brazil can be described as a dark dystopian story based on the novel 1984. It doesn't have a happy ending, but its funny, horrific, ludicrous, romantic and timelessly beautiful all at the same time. Its so iconic that when ever I see its influence in other productions its been unmistakable.

It stars Jonathan Pryce long before he was a James Bond villain or the head Sparrow in Game of Thrones, a comedic turn from Robert de Niro and a handful of other famous faces that you are bound to recognise, such Bob Hoskins, Ian Holm and Jim Broadbent.

Pryce, as Sam Lowry, lives in a world that is strictly controlled with paperwork that comes in multiple copies, where people are routinely arrested and tortured and a long running unexplained terrorist campaign sees bombs explode in the most random of places. Sam has dreams of a beautiful woman floating in the sky, and he is a sliver-armoured winged hero trying to rescue her. He eventually finds that she is real, and finds out her name through various means via his work and contacts. He tracks her down, but that is where it all starts to unravel as she is mixed up with an unfortunate case of mistaken identity.

Its easy to see the common themes and elements that run through the film with GO: the desire to run away and escape (that doesn't work,) a totalitarian authority controlling the masses, propaganda, piles of paperwork, an undercurrent of rebellion, torture and abuse, forbidden love between classes, a villain hidden in plain sight.

There is an art deco aesthetic to the film that also carries over to other films and shows it has influenced, and the busy work floor scene that stops on a dime to watch the tv show de jour while the boss isn't looking is one of the highlights of the film.

It was a reference of this that caught my eye in the Cohen Brothers modern fairy tale The Hudsucker Proxy, where they copied the busyness of the work floor for their mail room scenes, but also the art deco aesthetic. That's another film that is always in my top five films, and could go a round of comparisons with GO - its got time stoppage, an angel appearance and a near-godlike manipulator.

It also appears, surprisingly, in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The casino at Canto Bight is Brazil inspired, in the way its introduced to us, its decor and the music. I know some people hate this film because of what they did to Luke, but I love it, the whole thing is just utterly gorgeous to look at.

And if you've watched any of Loki recently, since S2 of that show finished not long ago, you would also seen some influence from Brazil in the retro look.

I love the classic art deco style. my grandparents had an art deco house that I spent many of my childhood hours in. The style itself is a clean, unadorned look, and often is meant to give a look of movement, speed or strength. A classic example of this is the Bentley, of course, which comes from the height of the art deco era in the 1930's.

Hell is the other place we see the Brazil influence in GO, where is looks like it's constantly several decades behind the times, with overhead projectors and manual typewriters and odd looking not-quite steampunk contraptions.

Brazil is available to stream on Disney at the moment, if you'd like to take a look. I highly recommend it, its one of those influential films that once you know it, you see its long reach in the most unexpected places.

[person4924]

new about me

my name is sam !! thats basically all u need to know but theres (a lot) more under the cut!!

im a lesbian (???) and ace

they/she (this is my pronouns page)

im probably genderfluid so u can really use any idc

i’m neurodivergent of some sort (i don’t even know anymore)

a minor (don’t be weird)

my personality type is INFP-T

my theme will change like weekly prob bc i wanna change it with every new huperfxation i have!!

things i like (the things bolder r what i talk about the most)

harry potter (fuck jkr)

marvel

the marauders

boy meets world

it

osemanverse

paper girls

teen wolf

owl house

shameless

glee

stranger things

friends

andi mack

the last of us (i’ve only watched the show tho, but i know most of what happens in the games)

riordanverse

musicals

poetry

reading

cats

animals

fictional characters

music

movies

tv shows

art

writing

women

sitcoms

brooklyn nine nine

new girl

hamilton

grishaverse

stand up comedians

ocean animals (specifically sharks)

community

moths (and just kinda winged bugs in general)

greek mythology

dawsons creek

bojack horseman

halloween

the sky (like stars, the moon, the sunset, etc)

jelly fish

criminal minds

animals

ted lasso

scooby doo (the older movies from the 2000’s ish specifically but all of it too)

everything sucks!

the sun bearer trials

atypical

octonauts

spencer reid

bo burnham

dead boy detectives

my fav movies are tick tick boom, my girl, dead poets society, breakfast club, the outsiders, hamilton, stand by me, cmbyn, lady bird, beautiful boy, luca, nimona, (500) days of summer etc.

musicals i like are hamilton, tick tick boom and the greatest showman

my fav taylor albums are folklore, evermore, reputation, 1989 and speak now but i love all of them really (please please ask me abt them omg)

my current hyper fixation is the marauders (more of a life-long obsession atp) and criminal minds and dead boy detectives. my soul is being torn apart.

i’m currently reading the extraordinaries

my fav music people (i’m really just giving a short list of many): conan gray, cavetown, current joys, queen, rainbow kitten surprise, the front bottoms, harry styles, noah kahan, taylor swift, phoebe bridgers, the fray, coldplay, olivia rodrigo, billie eilish, boygenius, gracie abrams, sufjan stevens, maya hawke, the smiths, lucy dacus, julien baker, the smiths, sleeping at last, mitski

i mostly post about whatever hyperfixation and/or character/person has overtaken my brain, music and analysis things

i appreciate tone tags and i try to use them as much as possible

i’m always looking to talk to more people and i’m always bored (don’t be weird istg)

my fav books are any alice oseman book, the outsiders, the perks of being a wallflower, i fell in love with hope

child of athena (i think) and a ravenclaw

biggest pandalily shipper you’ll find

i love love love making character analysis’ or song or movie or tv show or books or ships or whatever

i also write sometimes!! (i suck ass)

and i’m person4924 on ao3 but i can’t figure out how to link it

this is my spotify (i have the best music taste in the history of human kind btw)

this is my discord (in case of KOSA or if it’s just easier to talk on there)

this is my airbuds idk if anyone actually uses it but i thought it’d be fun to share music with mooties

please please please send me asks i have no hobbies or friends and im always bored please please please (im on my hands and knees begging please please please)

i have a tagging system!! idk how much ill remember to use it but yeah!! (its also new so only my new posts will have them) #sam shut the fuck up -> rants/yapping #asks!!! -> asks #polls!!! -> polls #crazy? i was crazy once... -> headcanons for characters/analyis things

[ryanthel0ser]

My Reactions to Trigun Stampede After Watching the 1998 show

So I watched all of the 98 show in less than 24 hours and adored it so I went into Stampede cautious and yknow I liked it just a tiny bit (as I am writing this I am on my 4th rewatch, I watched it for the first time 3 days ago, I adore it). I decided to document my reactions cause I feel like a few mutuals will enjoy this.

Episode 1

SPACE??? ALREADY??? JUST RIGHT OUT THE GATE???

awww hi Vash, lil guy <333

what are they cooking here, showing us the Rem situation immediately

Rem 😢

This is very much like Eva in DMC5

Oh they're reporters now?

WHERE'S MILLY, WHERE IS MY GIRL MILLY, WHO IS THIS GUY AND WHERE IS MILLY

i miss milly...

yep that's Meryl

VASHHHHHHH <333333 MY GUY <3333333

JOHNNY YOUNG BOSCH <333333333333333333333 (yes i watched the dub, it's good and I love Johnny Young Bosch)

only 6 million??

He's so sillay <333

MAJOR aesthetic difference

"Careful the kitchen's serving lead" queen

so weird to see a town not running Vash out

love that they're still mixing the music so that it's louder than the dialogue (not)

THEYRE JUST HANDING THE VASH AND KNIVES LORE AT THE VERY START?????

Knives you are so close to playing the Interstellar theme

I should really read the manga to see what they're adapting that 98 didn't

Ooo i love this song

98 STYLE ART ASDJFKAJDSFLJADFKJA THEY DID THAT FOR ME THAT WAS FOR ME THAT CATERS TO ME

Episode 2

I just noticed he calls him "Nai" euueueueueu

*insert catjam here* intro goes so hard

It'd be funny if Roberto went "man this sounds like Dante and Vergil"

Not him trying to cry his way out asjkdfjlkadf that's Vash for sure

I'm so glad they got Johnny Young Bosch for this I don't think anyone else could do it

July is still around??

"MAMA LOVES YOU BABY NOW SHOO" iconic

noooo :[

NEBRASKA FAMILY

"why'd they have to use this photo" it's a cute photo!

HE'S SO REAL

ONE BULLET VS 2 DOZEN DONUTS, LIKE YEAH CHOOSE THE DONUTS THAT'S BASED

Did they model Rosa after Milly to atone for the fact she isn't here

Me seeing things that are identical to the 1998 one: excited pointing at tv while pogging

"Mm, Yeah no <3" I love him so much

"what's wrong with being a little timid" I want to hold you and never let go, you do not deserve what's coming

look at my boy dodging lets go

"I don't have any reason not to...eh, I don't really care...I told you I don't" Vash you deserve the world

hell yeah gunslinger moment

VASH HOW STRONG ARE YOU??

that smile AUEUEUEUEUUEUEUEUEU it really reminds me of 98

HUH?

Episode 3

uh oh

well how we getting outta this

OH THIS GUY I REMEMBER YOU

HE GOT CLOWNED ON BY SAMURAI GUY

ANGRY VASH HELLO HI KING MISSED YOU

love seeing Vash angry some of my favorite moments are when he's pissed

oh this is a smart plan actually

"who's side are you on anyway" is this going to be recurring

KNIVES

man Knives you really arent holding back

the creators of this show went "hey we saw your twin angst in DMC Capcom and how much yall emphasize the twins so we'd like to do the same since you probably were inspired by Knives and Vash for the Vergil and Dante situation"

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THAT GORE IS SICK <- blood and gore enjoyer

is Johnny Young Bosch the only returning voice???

this is the third ask for who's side Vash's on this is definitely recurring

uhhhh whatcha doing there

◉_◉

"you would shoot me?" lowkey wish it was still as funny as it was in the 98 version

WOAH RELOAD ANIMATION

He's living up to the Million Knives name

that is certainly a Million knives

Metal Gear ass name

WOAH THAT'S SO COOL AND PRETTY

holy crap they quickly established the difference in serious tone oh my god, there is so much emotional weight here

also the music is gorgeous

yeah the stakes are much higher in this version, they are not afraid to kill characters

this is just heartbreaking

Vash 🥺

"because I dont deserve to cry" VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH AEUEUEUEUEUUEUEUUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEU

so will we get to see what happens to July or will it just not happen

Episode 4

hi Wolfwood

not gonna lie I don't like this fit, the pants specifically

where's your nose king, they took it away

THEY HIT WOLFWOOD WITH THE CAR AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH

oh well this aint good

Not a priest????

yep that's Wolfwood (lollipop scene)

he's much more emo here tho not as charming as 98

ASJDFJFSDL LMAOOO

loved that animation of Vash looking at the bill

well Roberto isn't wrong, you did work for Knives

hey isnt that Meryl's gun

"don't worry I can see through his emo persona ^-^" "HEY"

I KNEW IT WAS THIS KID

woah cool design

we are getting so much more of these guys than we did in 98

YUHHHHH THE DESIGN IS BASICALLY IDENTICAL

WOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

that actually looks good, id eat it

REVEALING THIS ALREADY?????

WHAT ARE YOU COOKING STUDIO ORANGE????

"i can see it in your eyes" dont think i didnt notice that little parallel

gate????

im snorting those end credit arts like crack cocaine

Episode 5

Todoroki that you?

WAIT I FORGOT WOLFWOOD IS VOICED BY TODOROKI'S ENGLISH VA AHAHAHAHHAHAHAH

the radio spouting religious stuff and doomsday talk is giving DMC5 intro

It's so interesting that at some angles the style is identical to the 1998 show

Vash in particular, they translated his facial expressions perfectly

OH THIS GUY

OH I LOVE THIS REDESIGN

I LOVE THIS REDESIGN A LOT

what's the deal with this kid

man they really are just tugging on my heartstrings in this show

"If God won't, I will!" STOP

Alice Angel that you?

OH NO

IS THIS WHERE I THINK IT'S GOING

OH NO

OH NO THIS MAKES THIS WHOLE SITUATION SO MUCH WORSE

HE KNEW HIM SINCE HE WAS A BABY???? SHOOT ME IT'D HURT LESS

HE WAS JUST SOME GOON GUY IN THE 98 VERSION I CANT AEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEU

same face as the 98 guy tho just with the scar

Oh Wolfwood doing that has so much more impact now

although in the 1998 version by having it not be someone Vash knew it added to how far Vash's ideals went and it caused Wolfwood to have introspection but this is a different arc

And in the 1998 version the situation is much more ambigous cause Vash is talking to the "kid" but he hasn't turned back at all yet and Wolfwood shoots

so it's more unclear who is right in that situation while in this you can see Rolo is sorta just frozen there and thinking so you're inclined to Vash's side more

what are they cooking, im so intrigued

Episode 6

WOAH WOAH WOAH WOLFWOOD WHAT IS YOUR DEAL

WOLFWOOD WAS A NORMAL GUY IN 1998

HE IS CLEARLY NOT HERE

"im like the cool big brother" tumblr does not agree

I have seen some art

THE SUITCASE THINGYS

CHARACTER THAT WASNT EVEN IN THE 1998 ONE???

MANGA CHARACTER AYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

this guy must be a bleach fan

OH THAT'S SO MUCH FUNNIER KNOWING JOHNNY YOUNG BOSCH VOICES ICHIGO AJAHHDAHHAHAHAHA

i love this 2D style can I get an entire anime in this style

Little Wolfwood and Little Megumi need to be in a idgaf competition

tiny menace to society

stfu this is so cute, how will this go horribly wrong

smoking at like 7 years old asjkdfalfd

Woah Trigun, your mom lets you have TWO tragic sibling plots???

wow they made Wolfwood trip balls

WOAH

THEY ARE NOT HOLDING BACK ON THE BODY HORROR <- thrilled about this

man they did screw you up

LEGATO

they took his emo swag

S+ what is this Devil May Cry

they flipped Legato's design and put the spikes on the right side and the part the other way

Livio has become Sans Undertale

Wolfwood better have a tiddies out fit next season

they were POPPING in 98

that jacket was STRUGGLING

"Ryan you're objectifying him" yes I am

I want to see his tiddies hand em over

Not gonna lie Wolfwood, you calling Vash "blondie" isnt helping the allegations

Episode 7

LMAOOOO THE BADLANDS GANG GETTING THEIR PHOTOS TAKEN AJSDFLJFSDK

i can't with this im AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEUEUEUEUUE

if Buddy Daddies hadn't sucked me dry from crying so hard (i had just finished it the previous day) I would be weeping

WELP HE JUST DID THAT

he aint dead though i saw stuff about him

Legato not gonna lie I prefer your 98 version so far, like he made me shake in my boots a bit

Vash why is your arm made of the blown glass stuff they use to make little glass figures you see in the glass cabinets at the back of the PX or at a big gas station

that gun definitely hit something, just not the town bet

the title card of "Wolfwood" after he calls himself the punisher asjkdfjlaf

hello why am I crying at the scene of Vash with his hands against the glass in the plant

this just in, scene so pretty with pretty music that it made Ryan cry

not the first time

OH HE'S A PLANT

THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE

IM SO STUPID HOW DID I NOT REALIZE THAT DURING 98

ONCE AGAIN GOING FERAL FOR END CREDIT ART AALALALAAODFOAOAOAOAO

Episode 8

oh nooooooooooooooooooo

dont show me this

dont show me them being happy

my little baby boy auaueueueueueueueueueueueueueueu

"im mom to the sweetest boys in the universe" ONE sweet boy

The little blush on Nai dwaw

Plant lore????

Saverem? Really that's her last name??? Is this Metal Gear

BRAD???? THAT'S BRAD???

actually not surprised that's Brad

"there has to be something special that only you can do" be the most babygirl anyone could ever be, though you gotta grow up for that

I CANT LITTLE VASH AUEUEUEUEUEUEUUEEUUEUEUEEU

I NEED TO TAKE YOU FAR AWAY AND SPOIL YOU WITH ICE CREAM

when is this going to go horribly wrong

IM GONNA CRYYYYY HE'S SO ADORABLE AUEUEUEUEUEUUEUEEUUEUEUE

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

HE'S NOOOOT

HE ISNT WORKING WITH KNIVES HE DIDN'T LIE HE SAID HE'S PROBABLY DEAD WHICH UNDER MOST CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD BE TRUE

Man they made Knives look EXTRA Vergil

Episode 9

epic piano, also how are you playing both parts by yourself

WOAH 1998 TYPE SHOT

i fully believe they're emulating the 1998 style just in 3D now, the side profiles give it away

well that's messed up, i can see why Knives hates humans

that doesnt explain why he crashed the ships though

"Millions Knives" i really do think you played Metal Gear

Knives I do wonder what your plan was cause how do you expect the plants to survive here

oh so the gun isn't custom made

98 THING HE SAID THAT KINDA IN 98 TOO ("all this time and you're still just as useless without me)

i appreciate them trying to keep the deranged faces Knives makes in 98

WOAH WOAH WAOH WOAH WAOHWOAH

IS THAT THE BLACK HOLE THING, I SAW SOMETHING ABOUT IT FROM THE MANGA

Now Vash is even MORE like Nero

WAIT HAS IT NOT BEEN 100 YEARS???

oh nevermind, its been 150 years

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

a whole ship of passengers...I'm sure this won't be relevant later they're going to die arent they

oh my gosh that's right she's never seen flowers and such like this

more of this side picking stuff

I'm not ready for when he does kill again, that will actually break my heart

oh they are just bugs

OUR PRONOUNS ARE THEY/THEM, BECAUSE WE'RE NON-BINARY AND A BUNCH OF MFS

Episode 10

I'M ON EPISODE 10 ALREADY???

I literally became a Trigun fan in less than 24 hours

Hundred Spoons lmaooooo

so weird to hear them talk about Earth, but it's not as much of a HUH like 98's

than you remember??? when did you come here last

I need him to say Love and Peace

please please say it

"I DID NOT GIVE THAT ORDER" "OH SHUT IT" "OKAY" asjlkdfjlskfd

okay is Conrad aware Knives probably aint gonna let him make a new race of humans, like have fun with your experiment he does not want human to live at all

"they're disgusted by you" that is the most babygirl man ive ever seen

i have the exact opposite reaction

also his scars aren't as gnarly as 98...will he get more later

ULTIMATE LIFE FORM MENTION 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ WTF IS A POWER INHIBITOR 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️

well that's what you get for mixing Knives genetics in that

El-what's her face got homophobia in her eyes

I KNEW IT

I KNEW HE WASNT MAKING IT

HE'S GOT MERYL'S GUNS FROM THE 1998 ONE SO IF SHE'S GONNA HAVE THE GUNS THEN SOMETHING HAD TO HAPPEN

God Knives you drama queen with this piano

oh NOW he's a pastor

BRUH i cant

HE DIDNT CAUSE IT THAT WAS YOU

wtf did you do to him Conrad

also Knives's VA sounds so much like Vergil at times

it's not Dan Southworth but this guy can sound close

Episode 11

oh intro immediately you know it's gonna be intense

okay Wolfwood Im begging you next season at the very least change pants the skinny jean look isnt good

ALSO KNIVES HELLO

PUT ON SOME CLOTHES

jesus kids these days

always wearing revealing outfits

DOUBLE CHEEKED UP

man they aren't letting up the bible allegories

"dawn your crown of thorns"

1998 had more subtle ones and then the super obvious one with the garden of eden stuff

"we're going to reverse humanity's suicide by killing them all" do yall...do yall not see the problem with that logic

god this makes me want to read the manga now just to see how much this version pulls from it and how much the 98 version pulls from it

Knives what is your workout routine do you workout with Toji or something

HE LITERALLY DIDN'T THOUGH KNIVES, STOP BLAMING HIM FOR A CHOICE YOU MADE

"comparison is the thief of joy" SO REAL AND BASED

Knives yknow I have this gut feeling that Rem did mean something to you and you are just in SUPER denial

OH OKAY

ALRIGHT I GET WHY YOU'RE THE WAY YOU ARE ABOUT THIS KNIVES

OH HE LITERALLY READ THE BIBLE

STFU NO IT WASNT KNIVES STOP TRYING TO MAKE HIM THINK IT'S HIS FAULT

was it Knives was it? Cause you seem willing to sacrifice your brother for all this

Knives this is gonna backfire on you

Knives read the bible and took all the wrong lessons

dont think i didnt notice that the giant plant resembles Rem

Episode 12

"like a western, life on the frontier" STFUUUUUUUUUUU

YOU DO NOT WANT KNIVES IN THOSE GENETICS THEY'LL JUST START KILLING EACH OTHER

ONCE AGAIN THE MERYL REM CONNECTION (referring to 98 when Vash sees Rem in Meryl)

YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH

STUFUFUSDFLKJSFDF

Sjaesjk

fpaesjf

THE HAIR THAE THE HAIR

SHUT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

YES

EYSYEYSYEYSEYSEYEAYEYSYEYSYE

THE ANGEL GUN

SHUT UP

SHUT UP

#0

THEY PLACED US KINDA AT THE INTRO OF THE ORIGINAL

ALSO HE'S DOING LOVE AND PEACE IN THE PHOTO

INSURANCE SOCIETY

AJKLSDFLJKSDFJKLFDSLJKDFSLJKFDSJLAKFDJLFKDSFDLK

JDFASLJKDSFAJLKFSDJKL;SDZFLJK

MILLIE MILLIE MIILEYLAWER

FHJAERSKJDFLK' SDAJKLFAHKLASFDJLKDFHL;AJSFHJASDFLJDFSALKSDALKJDSFHJLDSFAHDSHJLSDAFHKLFSLAJ

THE EARRINGS SHE HAS HER EARRINGS

JKLDSJLKSADJLKDSZJLKSDFJLKSDFJLKZSLDFJ;ZKSFJLKSDFZJLKASDFJLKSFASDF;LJZVDXLNKXZVLS

VASH

ERIKS ASLDKJJLKSDAJLKSDFALJKSDFAJLKSDFAJLKSDFAJLKSFALJKASFDLJKSDAFLJKDSFJLKSDFAJLKSDFLJKSDAFLJSADFJLSDFJLDSFJLKSDFJLKLSDFJKA

OH MY GOD

OH NY GOD

OG TY G SD H ASDFLJ

OH MY GOD

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

YEAH

YEAH I WAS RIGHT TO WATCH 1998 FIRSR

I WAS SO RIGHT FOR THAT

OH THAT MAKES THIS SO MUCH BETTER I

M LSOING MYS ASDFJMIND

WHEN

WHEN NEXT SEASON

WEHN WHEN IN ENED

IN ENEE NEED

IN EEE

IC NAT

[rdbrainz]

nnoitra is my absolute fave and i adore your art!!! id love to see some kind of dynamic fighting pose of him in your style, but im also curious about any art or headcanons you might have about him if he had experienced the living world somewhat- like what foods would he like, or hobbies, or how would he spend time w others? sorry for the long ask love you bye!!!!

Thanks🤧❤ !!! And ohh that's a good ask! I have like a couple of answers for different turns of events on this one... Might as well also share some of the other ideas I have so it's a lot and even more.

But well if we're talking about regular hollow Nnoitra I think he'd be interested in all kinds of entertainment. Mainly music. He always struck me as a music person tbh especially since I firmly believe he'd be involved with goth subculture in some way or the other. I can see him collecting CDs as a hobby. Considering that my version of Nnoitra absolutely HATES thinking into things too much if they have something to do with his relationships, himself or the hollow existence as a whole I guess doing nothing when he's not asleep is hell for him because there's not much to think about in Hueco Mundo anyway. Maybe background music would give him some peace of mind while he's musing to himself. I mean even if his mind would wander back to these topics AT LEAST it won't be as painful to think about it as doing the same while you're surrounded by silence and lying on a hard surface locked up somewhere in Las Noches so no one would gnaw into your damn throat on your free time.

Him being a melomane/an avid music lover would work in any AU or story. I think he'd love A Perfect Circle. You know... considering the crescent moon and circle patterns and the music theme Kubo chose for him.

If we're talking about a bit worse turn of events where - let's say - he ends up in someone's home in the world of the living after he got his ass handed to him by zaraki, had to flee and now he feels worse than ever... watching TV is his other go-to. He'd be in front of it 24/7. It's stupid, sometimes even curious, sometimes confusing and he can either catch up on things or just complain about something to himself. His mind is occupied with something all the time either way.

I also think hollow Nnoitra would be very sceptical about trying human/shinigami food. It doesn't seem appealing to him, unnatural even. Especially if he has someone to feed off of. I believe that arrancars can work like vampires. Shinigamis are just compressed spiritual power so transfusing reiatsu would have the same effect as actually eating a shinigami. What's the point of choosing between flesh, blood and reiatsu if it's all the same in their case 😭. If he ends up living with a human then. Well. Blood sucking it is I guess lmao. Anyway yeah when it comes to food he's more prone to sticking to his hollow side. Though maybe he'd be tempted to try a soda or two.

If he's human/a shinigami then this guy would eat and/or drink literally anything. Especially if it's sea food, meat or something spicy. I had an AU where he was a captain in Gotei 13 and one of his hobbies was visiting karakura and other cities just to absolutely rob food establishments of their supplies. If a restaraunt has an "all you can eat" offer then it might as well be fucking bankrupt. If a cute cafe has a special Valentine's Day offer where couples only pay half the price then "Well I guess I could give someone a call". Cooking though..? Nope. Can't be bothered enough to cook something for himself.

Someone I know also had suggested once that in this AU he'd have a shit ton of hair products. And well it does make sense.

In a Shinigami Academy AU I had he's much younger and edgier LMAO. Goth enough to care about his appearance and wear makeup but too insecure to not stick out too much. He'd love collecting good cool-looking clothing but would literally bite off his own limbs if he had to wear something skin-tight or god forbid skinny jeans. Him and his toothpick legs could never!! Anyway there he wasn't so wary and disdainful towards other people. Desperate for some affection but sadly too air-headed to care enough. So he was sleeping around a lot just for funsies with Shinji as his partner in crime (sorry). I think that's about all I have on this topic!! Tnx again!

[niqosblog]

Why Do People Distrust Reboots of Cartoons?

An Analysis

Root of The Trust Issues

I feel like ever since Teen Titans Go, people have lost faith in reboots of classic shows. Especially since their only basis is "this is a show for little kids", and they expect it to be immature and plotless.

You can't just announce that you're making a TV show reboot of a classic with a more simplistic art style without expecting backlash.

Just saying "I like the [insert media] reboot!" Everyone is gonna be on your back and say that it's a bad lifeless reboot. But I believe that some are actually good. They have kept up similar themes and still progress with the modern world.

The Exception

If we're really getting into this topic, may I say that Voltron: Legendary Defender is a reboot that people loved to pieces. Even with its awful ending, people still loved it. Yet no one asked for it.

No one looked at the old Voltron and said "I wish there was a reboot".

Was the show good? YES!

It performed amazing during its run. It had a strong fan following to it as well.

Was it bar for bar, character for character accurate? NO!

Keith was supposed to end up with Allura, going so far as to marry her. Pidge was actually a clumsy dwarf boy that had a crush on Allura. Hunk was some buff white guy rather than a chubby Samoan dude.

Yet, did people complain? ALSO NO. And the only reason why, was the art style.

Simplistic Art Style

Then we get to things like the My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake Reboot. These are objectively good reboots as a stand alone, without a nostalgia bias.

They have representation, life lessons, friendship themes, basically everything that the original was. But the fact it's a 'reboot' is what throws people into hysteria.

Strawberry Shortcake was always a spunky girl who would always problem solve in a kind and caring way. Always true to her friends, loved making friends.

She is such a stereotypical good girl that the show even pokes fun at it. Making jokes that she's too trustworthy and friendly. And they keep this trend in the reboot. Yet people didn't watch it.

And you want to know why?

"it looks lifeless" "it lost its spark" "the designs are ugly"

Why This Argument Sucks

This isn't a real argument. Exhibit A would be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT).

We can agree that TMNT has kept a consistent art style. Mostly consisting of the big eyes, similar body shapes, wide mouths... The only two thing differentiating them being the eye covers and weapons.

Now in the reboot, there are several differences.

Raphael - Stocky, beefy, wider, taller, snaggle tooth

Leonardo - skinner waist, broad shoulders, long head, slightly muscular arms, eye markings

Donatello - basically the same as Leo but he has skinner arms, and goggles

Michaelangelo - rounder, shorter, bigger eyes, more colors

Unlike the other adaptations, where they look like the same copy and paste character with a slight hue shift, they actually look different. But before it came out, there was a lot of backlash of the characters looking ugly.

That soon changed when clips started circling around that people gave it a shot. And guess what. They liked it! They called the characters charming and unique, and even got a huge fandom from shares on Tiktok and advertisements from the program airing the show.

Sure, people did complain about the simplicity. But they eventually came to enjoy it. So why can't people keep the same energy for other reboots?

Nostalgia

The biggest factor of all is nostalgia. I loved Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Bitty Adventures. And I dabbled in watching the 2003 version because I loved it when I was a kid. Yet, I still love the reboot.

Berry in the Big City isn't a bad reboot, people just don't want to give it a chance because of the nostalgia factor. They grew up with the 2003-2009 version and expect no changes, and when things did change they threw a fit.

I don't know how to tell you this, but this show was made for KIDS. Not teenagers looking for a fun watch, not adults looking for a taste of classic TV, but children.

Sure, there are some teens and adults who love this show because they might be a babysitter or an older sibling. Or maybe just someone who heard it was good and wanted to give it a watch.

But if your only reason for disliking a show is that "it's not my [insert character]" is showing that you're just scared of change. If I'm really being honest, BITBC shows more personality in their characters.

Back in Berry Bitty Adventures, they all felt like the same girl just with a different goal. Here, Strawberry is more hyperactive and passionate, Blueberry is going with the flow and airhead-ish, Orange is a competitive athlete, Lemon is an emotionally closed off inventor, Lime is a nerdy fashionista.

And they all look different.

I have confused Raspberry Torte and Strawberry in 2009 more times than I can count. Even characters like Cherry Jam and Blueberry who have a different color scheme, look similar when desaturated.

And if you feel hurt by the fact that I'm saying cons about a series you loved as a kid, then you're part of the problem.

I don't expect you to say that "oh, yeah, I can see that." but instead, admit that not everything you grew up with was perfect.

And if Strawberry Shortcake isn't enough proof that people glorify the original too much, may I remind you people continuously hate the Monster High reboot.

The original had racial stereotypes, outdated jokes, sexist characters, toxic relationships (that for some reason stayed together), misrepresentation of disorders, and way more.

The reboot actually tries to be sensitive to who might be watching their show. They made Asian coded characters not yellow, they properly represent disabilities, they don't make Abbey's foreign accent a joke, they have body diversity. And g1 is apparently still superior.

Another reminder is that when g1 tried to make progress with their first gay character, they back tracked it and made it subtext. There will always be a problem with g1 Monster High, the only people who ignore it are people who are scared of change.

Conclusion

Are you supposed to watch all reboots from now and forever into eternity. No. This is just a thing I noticed when goons glaze on a cartoon that they (probably) didn't even watch getting a reboot.

There are bad reboots out there, (I'm looking at you Velma..), but I feel like if you just watched a couple episodes you'd find them more enjoyable. The original doesn't disappear when you watch a reboot. In fact, most of the examples I've mentioned are free on YouTube.

[melliotwrites]

Hi! I’m writing my own music, and Adamandi is an inspiration. I’m just wondering, has there been any inspiration when it came to you two writing musicals? (Adamandi, The Art of Pleasing Princes, Ghost Story, and any other future musicals.) Such as, any movies, TV shows or any other musicals? I find the aesthetics and music in these musicals all so different and I love that! And the themes in these musicals are so interesting! (/vpos!)

Great question! It's hard to separate genuine inspiration from research, since once we get an idea we usually try to consume everything that's related to what we want to write to figure out what we wanna add to the cultural conversation. Sometimes we also get inspiration from a work because we don't like it and want to position our piece in opposition to that one. But for this post we'll try to keep it to Genuine Inspiration that we consumed before we wrote each piece (hey, this thing is cool, this helped me figure out how I wanna write my thing for the better.)

Maybe we'll break this up by show:

TAOPP

Fun light fantasy with heart that plays with the tropes of fantasy settings, a la classic DND settings, Six of Crows, Terry Pratchett

Mel took a class on the High Middle Ages and read On The Origins of Courtliness (from which the title is derived!) and The Ballad of Tristan and Isolde, which got sort of melangéd into the Princes court world- living and dying by the king's pleasure, etc.

Aesthetically, the TV show The Great? Mel watched it a little bit before writing Princes and the anachronistic dialogue + rules of court drama have something to do with it.

Not much musical inspo for this tbh, I think it was just our first go at Writing A Show Together so a lot of our influences were just other musical soundtracks we thought might be the vibe we were aiming for. (Probably Pippin, 35mm, Great Comet, etc..)

Similarly with lyrics, I wasn't really thinking of a lyrical style, but I think I based a lot of my song forms on Something Rotten as the other show I knew set in the same era (using the very loose definition of "the same era"). ~Mel

ADAMANDI GENERAL INSPO:

the usual dark academia medias (Maurice and Another Country were our favorites) and also attending undergrad at a dark academia ass college

Lots of folk horror! (The Wicker Man (1973) - was particularly fun for me in thinking about the Catholicism storyline -Mel)

Jordan Peele movies like Get Out and Us

For musicals, Passion was really inspirational in both tone and subject matter.

Lyrically, I tried to think about Falsettos and Sunday- very lyrically dense shows that portray the intricate vocabularies of a specific, often highly intellectual subculture. What shibboleths do academics use to identify who does and doesn't belong? And why is the word "shibboleth" so not singable :( I think really liking Matilda as a kid also had something to do with it. ~Mel

I looked at a lot of horror musicals for a research paper but didn't like them much. (Except Little Shop. I love Little Shop and kinned the dentist in high school.) So I guess that's inspiration but in a what-Not-to-do way? Which is how I stumble on a lot of "inspiration" - Elliot

ADAMANDI MUSICAL INSPO:

chamber pop, baroque pop (incorporating the orchestral/acoustic elements of "dark academia" movie soundtracks with alternative pop and rock that's associated with the dark academia aesthetic more thematically)

The Dresden Dolls/Amanda Palmer's music

swing, jazz, dark cabaret (for the 1930s vibe)

Murder ballads (e.g. American Murder Song)

also weirdly the soundtrack to the Yellowjackets TV show. I love the eerie vocals in them and the creepy use of body percussion/breath - Elliot

here's an early inspo playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2wjhDj3ZzR01ghNfB03sYC?si=6f38f4c5f2ee43c7)

GHOST STORY

(more of a reading list since we're thinking top-down for this one!)

M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang. I will never write anything as bangin' as "Being an Oriental, I could never be completely a man." - Elliot

Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection by Julia Kristeva

Stranger Intimacy by Nayan Shah

A View From the Bottom by Tan Hoang Nguyen

Ishtyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife by Kareem Khubchandani

For musicals, Assassins and Parade

Arcadia and Follies are my touchstones for how the past and present can intersect onstage, and what got me excited about doing it ourselves! ~Mel

GHOST STORY MUSICAL INSPO

ragtime, jazz, Americana, blues, folk, country ! For inspo, trying to look for American folk music as close to 1880 as possible, but it's hard to find. Allowing myself to listen to stuff up til 1920.

Also alternative pop/rock/indie/whatever per usual. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0QwtUiwwZfc3TYMy0DarOq?si=cc9d5129d43b4aeb is my working inspiration playlist right now - Elliot

[whimsithea]

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♡ Comfy & Cozy Ask Prompts ♡

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SFW

(CW ♡ food related questions #29-39)

Do you prefer Saturdays or Sundays, why?

Do you prefer to spend days off in your own company, or with a friend/lover?

Do you own squishmallows or stuffed animals?

Do you have a special item? What is it? [Post a pic if you are comfy!]

Do you collect anything? Why? [Post a pic if you are comfy!]

What’s your coziest spot? Your bed, a loveseat, a nook, etc. [Post a pic if you are comfy!]

When’s the last time you made a blanket fort?

What does your perfect day of rest look like?

Do you do any care tasks on your days off? What do you do?

What’s a chore you refuse to do on days off?

What’s your favorite way to end the day?

Do you have a bedtime routine? What does it look like?

What’s your comfiest outfit? [Post a pic, if you are comfy! Describe the clothes if not!]

Do you feel comfiest while barefoot or in socks?

Do you own any fluffy or thigh high socks?

Makeup wearers: do you stay bare faced on your cozy days, or do you still like to doll up?

What is your at home hairstyle? Loose, braided, etc. [Post a pic, if you are comfy! Describe the style if not!]

Do you own a onesie? Is it themed?

Do you own slippers? (Bonus points if theyre animal themed!)

What’s your skincare routine?

Do you have a favorite skin care product?

What’s your shower routine?

Do you take bubble baths or use bath bombs? Whats your favorite product for this?

Do you get your nails done, get pedicures, or do you maintain your natural nails?

Do you do any hair masks? Could you recommend your favorite?

What’s your favorite perfume, cologne or body spray?

What’s your favorite candle scent or room spray?

Do you burn incense? If yes, whats your favorite?

Do you have a comfort meal, if so what is it?

What’s a meal you still eat from your childhood?

Whats a food you never get tired of eating?

Whats your favorite kind of tea?

Whats a drink you never get tired of drinking?

How do you like your coffee?

Do you like to bake sweets or savories?

Do you prefer cake or bread?

Are you lactose intolerant, but eat dairy anyways? Whats the dairy food you cant give up?

Do you prefer soup or sandwiches? And whats your favorite kind?

Do you prefer to eat and watch something at the same time, or do you like to eat in the quiet?

Do you prefer movies, anime, or tv shows/series?

What’s your favorite film genre(s)?

What’s a film/series you could watch over and over again?

Do you have a favorite movie to watch while lounging? What is it?

Do you like to be creative? Whats your favorite way to create?

If you’re an artist, do you prefer traditional or digital art?

Do you like to journal or use a planner?

Have you ever tried trash journaling?

Do you like to read? Do you have a favorite book or series?

Do you enjoy audiobooks or podcasts? Do you have a favorite?

Do you have any reading goals?

Do you play video games? Whats your favorite game or series?

Do you play on PC, Xbox, Playstation, or Nintendo?

Do you play on any elder consoles?

What’s your favorite game genre? Ex: shooters, survival, cozy, puzzles, open world, etc.

What’s a game you liked so much that you’ve played through it more than once?

[popculturebuffet]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Review and Analysis: This Films What Makes Me Feel Alright

Hello all you happy turtles! It's time to grab some pizza and party sized cool ranch doritos and pull your old high school sketchbooks out of some ancient backback in your closet, it's time to talk TMNT: Mutant Mayhem. As a massive TMNT nerd who was beyond hyped for this film coming from the powerhouses of both Point Grey Pictures and one jeff rowe, how did the film stack up? How did it spin kick on it's own? And why did they think Bebop nipple piercings were a good idea? All this and more under the cut, with FULL SPOILERS so if you haven't seen the film, you've been warned.

A New Coat of Ooze: Mutant Mayhem's story of how it came to be is oddly familiar: a massive movie company who has an iconic IP has no idea how to use said IP on it's own, and taps creators who have had some recent noticable and well loved succeses to make them a hit.

If that sounds familiar.. it really should as it was sony's creative desperation to get something spider-man centric only they would get profit from out that lead to Into the Spider verse and i'ts sequel. So it's funny and endearing to me that a film that wouldn't of gotten away with it's utterly unique and grungy art style without spider-verse.. happened for pretty much the exact same reasons.

Like with spidey, Paramount.. really didn't know what to do with TMNT for a while. And it's weird because when they first aquired the heroes in a halfshell from mirage, they had a pretty solid plan: the 2012 show, while messy as it went on, started out really promising and was a huge hit. The IDW comics prior to it were a massive hit for the company and are STILL around today, having outlasted other long term idw liscenses like transformers and having kept a consistent continuity for a decade while also leaving room for crossovers with ghostbusters, the mighty morphin power rangers, the goddamn batman and now street fighter.

So what went wrong? Simple.. they tried WAY too hard to mimic the transformers formula with their theatrical film, Ninja Turtles, not only not getting that audiences were tired of "Micheal Bay makes a weirdly sexual comedy about your childhood and it may have robots", but what really made the franchise work. The sequel from what i hear is slightly better but it just wasn't enoguh. Not helping is they quickly lost their shit on the tv front, as after the 2012 series concluded, they launched the creative, hilarious, and gorgeous Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.. which proceded to last only two seasons because it wasn't an instant hit, aka the same issue most nick shows fell into, not helped by the fact that Nick also seemed to pick up Cartoon Network's bad habit of hating action shows. We DID at least get a really good Rise film that gave the series a nice epilogue, but it's still sad it sputtered out so fast.

So Paramount turned to something they really weren't using.. their film animatoin department.

Paramount Pictures Animation is neat to look into as it had a steep rise.. then fell right off a cliff. It was a bit spottier at first, producing two of the charlie brown films, Bon Voyage Charlie Brown (And don't come back) and my beloved Race for Your Life Charlie Brown... mostly for this theme song.. okay ENTIRELY for the theme song.

And scattered experiments like Cool World, which was so good Ralph Bakshi punched a man over what they'd done to his idea, Bebe's Kids, and Beavis and Butthead Do America.

It wasn't till the late 90's and the nick boom they really started seeing success with the rugrats movies, jimmy neutron, spongebob and even the failures like Hey Arnold and Wild Thronberries were still neat. And yes i'd like to talk about any and all of these films at some point, they made up my childhood etc etc.

Eventually they got a cushy partneriship with dreamworks, still releasing the ocasional original effort like Rango, Barnyard and TinTin (The last of which I WILL be covering next august, I simply didnt' have room in pirate month this year. Once dreamworks left.. it seemed like Paramount genuinely had no clue what to do with the animation divsion. We had things like Sherlock Gnomes or Wonder Park, and the ocasoinal spongebob movies but it's clear that with Nick constantly cutting itself off at the knees they had no idea what to do. The closest they got was the turdtastic loud house movie and the totally awesome Rise of the TMNT films on netflix, but they just had no idea what they were doing. I mean it's telling that their trying to get extra paw patrol tickets by promiting a double feature with saw X. I.. I wish that was just some stupid joke I made as it's comedy gold. Eventually they came across an idea: Stay the course in focusiong on ips they own.. but bring in someone who knows what their doing to create something truly jawdropping.

So for Mayhem Parmount brought in two proven successes. The first were producers Point Grey Pictures, helmed by friends, writing partners and permenant teenagers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Rogen has made quite the name for himself as a producer. While Point Grey started as mainly a way for Rogen to produce comedies starring himself and a pre-outing as a sex monster james franco, over time Rogen has proven to be REALLY good at making adaptations, with point grey having had a hand in both the Boys, which I haven't seen but seems to be a MASSIVE improvment over the original comics , which isn't hard but it's still nice they tried, and Invincible, one of the best superhero shows PERIOD and a fantastic adaptation that changes what needed it, moves around pieces and ultimatley creates something really special. So tapping him to adapt a big property like this was a no brainer. He even had animation experince thanks to Sony Pictures Sauage party and while this was Point Grey's first family production, it's clear it wasn't too hard for Rogen to adapt. As for their director they picked a hell of one: Jeff Rowe. For those not familar with him Rowe helmed the Mitchells vs the Machines, sony's first post spider-verse success and the film that helped codify the 2d on 3d style that spider-verse made popular and peanuts pioneered. And it was clearly just ont hes trength of word of mouth alone as Rowe went right from machines to mayhem and only got better. From interviews, the two worked really well together: Rogen was hands on but didn't make the mistakes lord did of being way TOO hands on, simply pitching neat ideas, adding to the film and clearly being heavily involved, while still letting Rowe steer the ship. Rowe in turn learned to have a good work life ballance and give his employees one, preventing the kind of nightmarish working conditions present on other flims such as, sadly, Across the Spider-Verse.

For the direction of the film Rowe was a fan of the franchise as a kid, specifically the toys. He recalled a really sweet story about he and his dad spent a saturday trying to find Tokka and Rahzar and really loved the toys designs and uniquely grungy astetic. As such Rowe really didn't lean into or heavily research the rest of the franchise. Which set off my alarm bells when I read it in a review close to release: after all a LOT of bad adaptations come out of the person adapting it not giving one iota of a shit about the source material. Eventually though I realized I was .. over panicking. What jeff meant was more "I don't want to be overly reverent to the material and see what we can do on our own with the basic concept' rather than "THE TURTLES ARE GOD YOU FOOLS GODS. GODS I SAY!". There are still little nods in there and bits taken from other series; There's a mention of the turtles taking in a knicks game (something that happened in out of the shadows), April's design borrows heavily from her design from Rise while still being unique, Donnie has glasses like the bay movies, there apparently was a miyamoto usagi sticker on a notebook (thanks tv tropes for noticing), and there's a TON of refrences to the 87 continuity as it's clearly the one rowe knew best. And while I do get a LITTLE tired of that being the one continuity most creators seem to lean on the most, I don't hate it and plan to binge the whole giant thing soon I just feel there's a LOT more turtles to pull from, paticuarlly the idw comics, the nods are neat stuff like them having their belts form that series, the various obscure mutants. The Ninja Rap even shows up. Rowe and Rogen clearly love them some turtles.. they just wanted to do something new with it and I completely love and respect that. The biggest swing and the one that's paid off the most was leaning on the teenage aspect. Rowe and Rogan were baffled that no other version of the franchise had done the obvious: Have actual teens voice the turtles. There are reasons for that: For the various tv shows it's simply easier to know the va's wont' age out of the roll, and to the 2012 and rise series credits, they both still tried to make the turtles feel younger and had va's that still made them sound sorta like teens, paticuarlly rise... but it's not at all a bad concept and i'm shocked it took this long for someone to try it.

Another aspect was having the boys all record in one booth. Rogen had the idea.. but Rowe had to explain that it'd be a sound mixing nightmare.. but eventually agreed to it when they tested it out and he saw how much having the four actors playing the turtles riffed off each other and just how much material they got out of the boys adlibs. It adds a natural feeling to the boys conversations: it feels like four teens riffing who just happen to be turtles. It was indeed an audio nightmare.. but the nightmare was worth it and Rowe was greatful and apologetic to his sound crew.

The final bit was simply taking from teen movies, the film even outright has the boys watch Feris Buller's Day Off, which gives me one of my faviorite lines in the film, courtesy of Raph: "Being in high school means you can hyjack a parade whenever you want. "

There's more to get into as we go but with the film opening decently and paramount being so confident in the film pre-release they announced a two season tv show and a sequel, the future looks bright for the green machines. So now we've seen how the pizza gets made let's see how it came out

Perfectly Sketchy: Rogen and Rowe's "Teenage Energy" philosphy went into the design. Rowe wanted to find a unique look for the film, but it was a bit of a puzzler at first: There's SO many incarnations of the tmnt, which one do you pick for this? Do you go with the mirage comics, the 87 cartoon? 2003? the next mutation if you huffed some paint? In the end Rowe decided

Instead he made a brilliant decision: if the film was going to feel teenagery, then why not have it look like the sketches teenagers make in their notebooks? It's an idea that just oozes brilliance and still fits the franchises history like a razor decked claw glove. Part of what made the early comics stand out was it's sketchy, frank miller-esque style, and the toys stood out for largely echoing that as much as you could in three dimensions at the time. So it still fit.. but did something entirley new with it. As as a result the film has a look that simply nothing else has: porportions on most things are off, the backgrounds arne't hugely detailed , did you when you were a teen?, but still pop gloriously, and the characters all have SOMETHING that would be off model anywhere else. One of the thugs in the turtles first act of vigilnate justice, for instanc,e has a weirdly crooked head with indents. It's a look that's perfectly stylitic, fits the series history, and it's a kind of weird that perfectly complintes a series that was already having our heroes fight space dinosaurs by the third issue. I especially love how the shurikens are not even yet still throw perfectly and Mikey's hey arnold head. It's a look that pops with creativity and the crew really took to playing with. It's a style that will, much like spider-verse lead to this, undoubtly lead to more unique swings and I cannot wait to see what people come up with as a result

Protecting a World that Hates and Fears Them

The film's core comes from a rather genius decision to simply pick apart a key part of the franchise... the fact Splinter keeps the boys isolated from humanity for most of their lives and encourages them to stay hidden. Now credit where it's due some continuties justify it well enough: sometimes splinters hiding from shredder, or already had a sweet rent free sewer apartment he set up for no reason, trying to find his lost son and complete his family while avoiding a mutated alley cat or simply was waiting till the boys could defend themselves. They often have a lot of enemies... but even that shouldn't mean they can't get an education or have friends. April and Casey stick by them no matter what. They should be able to at least try for a normal life or the idea of them WANTING more than hidnig all the time should really come up more. The only ones that have really tapped into this are the IDW continuity which is just now having the boys integrate post armageddong game, out of the shadows which from what i've read has a throughly intresting subplot about the boys wanting to become human and leos' resistance to the idea (which also makes him come off as a bit of a jackass honestly as it's not his choice and "We're turtles end of story" is not an excuse). We've had the turtles say move into an apartment but this is the first to just flat out ask: why CANT the boys at least try to live with humanity instead of under them? And if so why did splinter keep them apart?

It's part of what really grounds the boys in this incarnation and makes them feel so damn real. The other of course was the decision to have actual teens play them and riff off each other. We get them making unteiotnally douchey digs at each other, such as the other three mocking Leo attempting a batman voice, casually talk about how they'd like to meet drake or have brunch with tom brady, which leo no you can do better man, or do some goofy shit while april marvels at their stupidity.. and then double down when told it might make people like them less. By making the biggest attempt so far to make the turtles FEEL like teens instead of young adults, an evolution the franchise has been undergoing since the 2012 cartoon and honestly reaches it's apex here, it makes us feel for them that much more; These are just kids who simply want to be loved and accepted, like any teenager. That awkwardness, wanting to fit in, wanting to simply belong.. it's one of the most painful parts of a teen and transplanting that to the tutles wa sa brilliant move. One of the earliest scenes is what sells this the most: the boys going to see Ferris Buller's Day off.. and just wondering what it'd be like to be normal. That lost shot of them sadly returning to the sewer... looking on screen at something they only wish they could have... it's so heartbreakingly beautiful.

The reasons WHY Splitner restricts their time in the outside world and refers to humans as "the demon scum of the earth. They lust to destroy that which is diffrent than them"

Giving Splinter a deep fear of humans is a brilliant move. It's something that really coudln't be done in most incarnations as he's been the pet of a martial arts master who treated him well, said martial arts master living in a sweet sewer apartment after being clumsily blamed for murder, got reincarnated as a rat after dying in ancient japan, a martial arts master who turned his back on his heritage because his clan let his family die, became a movie star, fucked a spider lady, had said spider lady put him in gladatorial games, then got depressed after becoming a rat but gladly adopted his sons. Here they strip that away and we're left with a splinter who was just a rat who was yelled at by other animals, shooed by humans just for trying to survivie and whose only friend was a cockroach.. who he ended up eating after humanity killed the poor guy. Finding the boys also abandoned in the sewers and covered in ooze, as oozual, not only made him into a rat man.. but also gave him the one thing he never had: a family. We also get a REALLY adorable montage set to de la soul's eye know that makes me REALLY glad the copy right hurdles around them are gone so we don't have another spider-man no way home situation because the song both slaps and has a nice soothing tone that really fits. We'll get more into the music on i'ts own later, I just really love this montage.

It also makes what follows..

We see that Splinter GENUINELY tried to go out into the world.. and the result was humanity throwing things at him despite carrying 4 small children and said children nearly being hit by a car. It's a really unsettling sequence. While yeah everyone going "rat man" and throwing things is a bit on the nose... given how a LOT of humanity acts to LBGTIQ+ persons, People of color, diffrent religions I could go on but i'm depressed enough as is, it's not really that much of a stretch that they'd throw things at a rat just trying to show his sons the world. It reminds me a LOT of the x-men and it's honestly weird to me that the othe rbiggest mutant franchise int he world HADN'T taken a page from them sooner.

It gives the film nuance: Splinter IS objectively prejudiced, leo even says so directly, but you can see how those prejudices formed and why he's so terrified for his own kids. He's worried a world that hates and fears them will also hate and milk them.. a runner that while awkwardly phrased, I don't think Seth or Jeff have heard of the term milking before, is hilarious, especially the usual refrain of "we don't even have nipples. " He just wants them safe and happy and you can tell he really does love them. He taught them the martial arts to protect them.. and the how is also really clever and a really fun idae: instead of "I learned it from a book" Or "I happened to be owned by a ninja master" or "I was reincarnated" we instead get him teaching them.. via martial arts films, instuctional videos, and the ocasional youtube thing. I love it because it honestly makes way more sense than it should as shown in the animation: splinter watched the films, learned the movements himself and then taught the boys. It's also a nice bit of meta text as Jackie Chan himself is a practicing martial artist who makes martial arts films and did his own stunts. One of his films is apparently even in the montage. It's one of my faaviorite takes of the film.

One of my faviorite scenes is Splinter's biggest pet the dog moment: the pizzza party. Splinter brings in a bunch of pizza hut pizzas

It's neat because it both clearly misses the point, Splinter really dosen't seem to get that simply bringing down a bunch of pizzas to have a human style prom and having kelvin captain kirk cutout won't fill the void inside. I mean I could think of a lot of uses for a chris pine cutout, i'm not saying it's a bad gift and it's sweet he's trying SO HARD to get his boys to open up and Jackie Chan just nails the dad energy on this one. It's just clear that they don't want to stay there there whole lives as safe as that is.

What brings it to it's head is one of the films more brilliant decisions. Originally, while I haven't found many specifics the film had other antagonists: Baxter Stockman was originally the boys teacher (they went to school during the course of this film in this draft) and became the fly again, while Shredder was TCRI"s heavy in earlier drafts. Both were nixed, the former likely due to abandoing the school plot and the latter for the entirely on the mark decision that it was just too much. Shredder.. is THE arch enemy to the turtles. The one constant in every universe. So it makes way more sense to save him for a sequel and let someone else take the reigns. As Rowe has teased Shredder's going to be a bit of a wakeup call: just as the boys think they have it figured out .. in comes shredder to kick their asses. Which really has happened A LOT across the franchise, with it being a regular tradition that the shredder beats the shit out of the turtles the first time they fight. Even in IDW where they do rally and turn the fight on it's head.. he still easily handles them all one on one before they rally as a team. It makes sense to save their ultimate test for a sequel while still giving them one hell of a trial by fire

Instead we got Superfly, who better fit into the fantastic racisim narritive. If the boys want to get love and acceptance by fighting for a world that hates and fears them x-men style.. it only makes sense they have a magneto on that other end.

Like Magneto Superfly has a tragic backstory behind his hatred of mankind.. Superfly was the creation of Baxter Stockman and what they did with Baxter both completely floored me.. and drove me to tears. Instead of what he is normally, either a put upon target coerced into villany who strikes back at both the turtles and those who wronged him, or a narcsitic monster who will gladly do whatever he wants and kill anyone in his way, here... Baxter is just a deeply lonely old man who just wants a family. At worst he steals from TCRI.. but given we see their a horrifying company who wants the mutants as weapons and will gladly torture teenagers for a buck, it's not hard to side with him. It's really nice ot see a heroic baxter.. and sad to see him go so quickly.

It puts Superfly's hatred in perspective: like splinter he saw just what huamanity does and how his kind is treated and grew up having to raise his younger siblings. Like Splinter he seems to really love them. And like splinter his attempt to take his siblings topside.. went horribly wrong with them being chased by an angry mob for just..c oming to a snack bar. But it's right after that we get the clear diffrence: Splinter just ran in fear and while he trained the boys ot protect themselves, he just wants a line between himself and humanity. Superfly.. wants them all to pay. He wants to mutate the world that killed his dad and drove him and his siblings into hiding. The only way they can be accepted.. is if humanity is mostly gone and what's left are enslaved.

IT's that sadistic streak that ultimately defines him as a villian: the turtles just want to be accepted, splinter just wants to be loved, the rest of the mutant "cousins" just want a home and have been indocrinated and browbeaten into thinking there isn't another way. Superfly.. wants things his way: he wants blood, he wants revenge and if anyone stands in his way no matter their age or being his family he will kill them. It's that anger inside that makes him a true monster.

And that extends to his own family. Superfly's an abusive parent to Splinters flawed but loving one: The rest of the mutants turn stone quiet when he subtly/notsubtly threatens the turtles if they happen to disagree, and during the chase not only are they all desperate to get the thing back but Wingnut in paticular gets the most telling line

Wingnut: Superfly's almost here and he's not going to be as nice about this! Leo: You're not being nice! Wingnut: He'll be less nice!!

While the other mutants SEEM jazzed during the bowling alley scene, it's very clear later none of them were that enthused about the idea. Both sets are afraid to speak to their parental figure.. but the diffrence is clear in motion: the boys hide from splinter because they know he'll say no, it's a standard teenage thing and as seen with the pizza party when Splinter finds the various knick knacks they've picked up on their heroic journey, his response is to try to bring the surface to the sewer. It's awkward as hell and dosen't remotely work.. but it's still a sweet gesture and you still feel bad for him when the boys quickly leave to finish their half assed plan. Splinter ultimately wants what's best for his kids and even if he's not always right in carrying that out, I never doubted he actually loved his children.

This all brillantly comes to a head towards the end: While Splinter plans to just.. isolate the turtles after their nearly milked, the one time he seems GENUINELY angry the whole film, he still wants to save April, the one good human, who warned him the boys were in danger in the first place.

This leads to a touching bit in itself: the boys COULD fight the other mutants, their trying to do a genocide after all.. but instead the boys.. just talk them down. I mean i'm used to this kinda thing by now, most animation these days is about forgivness, but it still works: earlier when meeting each other the turtles gladly bonded with their cousins, who i'll talk about in more detail later: Mondo and Mikey were both chill, raph finally found some people who liked to hit stuff, presumibly while blasting Limp Bisikit, it was really sweet. THeir relutance to stop them added a nice dimension to things: they UNDOUBTLY want to stop superfly's plan.. but they genuinely like their cousins and see them as good people in a bad situation. Likewise the cousins are utterly destraught at the fight afterwords and miss the turtles. These are simply at the end of the day teens 20 somethings and whatever scumbug is who just wanted to not be chased iwth torches.

So it's utterly heartwarming when the turtles and splinter simply offer their home. They may not have humanity.. but they'd have each other. It's also YET ANOTHER idea that seems obvious in retrospect but most turtle series never really thought of: why.. can't other mutants stay with them? They usually order suplies and stuff descretley anyway or in this case take them out of nescsity, if they can afford pizza for 5 people reguarly, why NOT let other smove in. I mean I get it meta wise, you dont' want to overcrowd things. But it's a nice thought i'm glad gets realized: that the boys aren't alone and now have a whole new family to lean on.

And of course Superfly can't take that. To him there's only one way to go: never stop making them pay. I'll also say I like just how poweful superfly is: he's got strength inunerablity, and super smarts, which I thought was a nice touch. I assumed he woudln't have baxter's intellegence and I'm glad to be wrong. He's only stopped and only then breifly by sheer numbers.

What follows is a LITTLE on the nose, with superfly just.... saying outight he and splinter aren't so diffrent, down to both having said "You'll be safe if you just LISTEN TO ME".

That part.. dosen't quite work for me. What does work is the animation on splinter during the struggle between everyone else and superfly.. the dawning realization of what he is as Superfly states the obvious and his determination as soon as Superfly says "the diffrence is i'm not a punk". Superfly just wants to get revenge on a world that hates and fears him.. Splinter just wants his sons to be happy. And he finally realizes that even if there's a lot of risk involved, they DESERVE to live out there with everyone else. There is something better than hiding or murder.

I also like how Superfly.. drops the pretense: once his plans done he just goes on a massive kaiju attack: I also like how fucking horrific his form is: the whale part's a bit goofy at first.. but then you see how much STRENGTH that gives him as he destroys it. Even if we get the ocasional joke (I didn't need that horse is gold), for the finale Superfly is just a nightmarish, imposing threat that threatnes to run our heroes lives and also maybe end them. The glee he takes in crushing the boys alive... it's fucking terrifying.

I also love the bit of the boys panning... seeing all the destruction.. and seeing the media blame them too. Their trying to HELP people.. and get blamed. I'd suggest moving to krakoa but a lo tof shit has went down and living with one old man full of fear and regret is what started this whole caper. And the boys.. fight on anyway because it's the right thing to do. Despite all the hate... someone has to stop superfly. And in doing so.. April makes sure they get the glory and praise they deserve anyway.

Finally I love splinter's turnaround right before the final fight... where he admits he was wrong.. but hasn't FULLY turned around on humans. He's simply realized he can't let his baggage with humanity weigh down his sons. And it pays off brilliantly during the time square fight, as when Splinter is downed.. someone helps him up. And what I love is that while it COULD just be someone who saw April's newscast clearing the turtles and other mutants.. it's left ambgious. As far as we know it was just a nice guy and gal helping an old man up regardless of if he was a giant rat or not. It dosen't paper over all the films flaws with the rat man mob scene but it does help quite a bit.

The film brillantly tackles prejudice and I like how unlike most films.. there's no easy answers. Our boys have to do something big and loud to get accepted and it's not guaranteed to shield them, as seen with the stingers. THey find friends , activites and get what they want.. but it's likely not the end.. but that's okay. The important thing is for the first time the turtles are out of the shadows and into the sun. And it suits them. Seriously this last twist was brilliant and i'm shocked it took a tmnt this long to just.. let them be public since 87, and since media has evolved, it means when we get to the series we can actually explore what that means: how will they adapt? will everyone accept them? will april realize Leo is into her and it wasn't just a friend thing? there's a lot of questions I can't wait to be answered.

Change is Constant

I didn't have a good segway so.. CHARACTERS! MY WHEELHOUSE. LET'S GO.

Starting with the boys, their more of a package deal here. They still have unique deisgns, takes on the cores of their personalities, all you'd expect from a good tmnt adaptation.

What changes it up a bit is the recording together: while most sets of turtles have great chemistry, this one.. really feels like their brothers thanks to the shared recording: they talk over one another, dunk on each other and goof around. This has always been a thing, and part of the franchises charm, but how they do it here feels more real, helped by the fact they clearly took some adlibs in. Both the BTS bit where they try to comfort Donnie only to both mangle the lyrics and writhe in pain and the bit with the new york accents both sound like the boys just started riffing on the prompt given, didn't stop and they rolled with it because it was comedy gold. It also means a LOT more pop culture refrences.. but it works. It dosen't feel like too much

Admitely I don't know how current the refrences are to ACTUAL teens, but they work well enough and don't feel like their horribly date the film. Plus it'd be.. weird to have a turtles work that didn't reflect it's era in some way, as all 4 cartoons and most films and comics reflect their time either in writing or in the general vibe.

The downside to this is the turtles indvidual personalities, while present.. get kinda underplayed. Leo and Raph make it out fine enough: After the radience that was Rise Leo and ben schwartz being at his peak slacker doofus (while also still being badass), we're back to Leo being Teachers Pet. But thankfully like the 2012 film they play with it: like that Leo his brother's don't really respect him as a leader, but rather than the usual raph snarling at him like wolverine, here it's more just their his brothers, they woudln't respect him anyway and benig their dad's mouthpiece just makes them ignore him harder. He's the dutiful son but he's simply outnumbered. Raph dosen't get a ton of spotlight, but gets enough to be a fun little murder baby and probably my faviorite of the 4. Instead of the usual brooding loner, sometimes ultra violent sometimes just sassy, often both, here he's more an obnoxious older brother who picks on leo the most, is happy to do dangerous stunts and badly needs therapy. He's essentially Reese from malcom in the middle as a ninja turtle. He still loves his brothers and loves a good scrap, but he's got some issues to adress.

Mikey and Donnie likewise aren't bad but kinda one note: Mikey gets it the worst: he's a bit goofy.. but since they ALL are this incarnation it dosen't stand out as much. He gets some nice bits and one hell of a impariment shot, but not much else.

Donnie fairs better, but suffers from the unintended consequences of a good choice. As part of grounding things a bit, Donnie isn't a super genius. He's just a snarky little otaku who does really like tech, but on the resonable level of a teenage boy. As a result he dosen't get as much to do as most donnies as he's not hotwiring shit as often or making super lasers. It works for me, it's intresting to have a donnie whose just a normal kid who happens to be really nerdy, but it means plotwise he dosen't have as much to do as Raph as the ringleader to the boys mischief or Leo as the leader of the band during hero stuff. I get why: they only had a hundred minutes and it's remarkable they crammed as much in as they did, but it's something I really hope the series can course correct. I don't mind the boys riffing and hope it continues, but I also hope we get them more as their own people too.

As a final note I love Leo's crush on April. IT feels like a better realized version of the Donnie one from 2012. Instead of waffling over wether april notices or just dosen't want to turn him down which..

And then having it go from cute to "spiraling obessive dickhole", here April notices something's weird, but is clearly more intrested in the "giant talking turtles who can help my rep" thing and thus dosen't really pry. It only REALLY crosses into that at the end when he transparently asks her out.. and she waits till prom to ask "wait this is a friend thing right". But that could be nerves or her being just as scared of her feelings as he is with his. It also helps that while he's intrested in april romantically the two do bond: out of the four he' sthe most empathetic at her barf reputation, priortizes her not out of his crush but because she asked for their help and later works with her at her club. It's still somethign the series could work on, but for "a way to both mine jokes and get leo to go against his dad's wise council" it works fine. It's better than "how dare you ruin my ship you bastards" and "Mikey stop being a sex creep. "

So moving on to April herself, I mostly like this version. She's the third time this franchise has gone with a teen april and the third to have her POC. I've liked the turn to teen april as instead of being a big sister to the turtles, and essentially another authority figure when they already have their dad, she's on their level and it opens up fresh possiblities. Mayhem is the first with this take on april to have her be a reporter again, and it's honestly nice to see that work at a school level, having her TRIED to be on their equivleant of channel one.. and end up puking. And i'm not a barf joke man but walking back into the theater after a bathroom break to see her ralphing to "UnwritteN" may be one of my faviorite cinema moments of 2023, up there with walking back into Barbie to find she and ken now had cowboy outfits they'd apparently stolen.

I also love how it gives her a personal stake: she just wants to be loved same as the turtles and like them realizes this isn't WHY to do this. She also provides a nicely needed straight man to the goofier brothers without being reduced to the old sterotype of "Joy killing female foil. ", something her fellow teen aprils and most aprils in general have thankfully achieved. April is just a person and reacts with annoyance to the boys because their going on a 4 minute tangent saying new york sterotypes while mike does a rumpshaker.

We do have to unpack that mostly though and that comes from April being kind of a dick at time's. She's pressuery when the boys are undercover with SUperfly's gang.. even though she can HEAR what their saying.. and thus hear that he's clearly indocrinated the others and that the boys may not want to harm THEM. I get her not wanting Superfly to succeed, his plan is fucking horrible, but even for a teen it's weird she dosen't see the nuance. She can also be a bhit short with them, though the latter I acknolwedge in hindsight as being like the boys: she's a teenager and teens aren't perfect. This is still a great april and continues Ayo's streak this year of great voice acting roles.

The other mutants are great. I was worried: While the cast for them is fucking stacked and Seth called in a lot of his rolodex to fill it out, and himself as credit where it's due he tends to show up in shit he produces and bring his absolute best rather than showing up because he can, i've seen plenty of films fall flat because they tried to add too many characters from the source. Just this year I felt one of the biggest issues with Transformers; Rise of the Beasts is that they tried to jam so many autobots and maximals in, a total of 10 but didn't bother to give any of them but optimus, bee and mirage an actual character.

Here while the characters are one note, they have charming designs and work more as a unit like the boys, but are still friendly and likeable enough that your fond of them like the turtles and happy when they join the family. The breakout is easily natasha dimoscu's wingnut. I already loved wingnut, but this is easily the best verison: she's cheery kind and gets some great subtle jokes, the wifi one is fucking great as is her swiping Donni'es akira voices. All of them are pretty charming though. The only one to not really feel like a character is Hannibal frog, a sad waste of hannibal burgess, but everyone else gets something fun to do: Bebop and Rocksteady are rageholic morons who then get a sweet character arc as they realize their rage is because Superfly ENCOURAGED them to be constantly angry, and it's fun to see a version of them that's genuinely heroic. Not so fun is Bebop's pierced nipples.

I am genuinely baffled by this design choice. I don't doubt Bebop would get pierced nips, it' sin character. But why Seth thought anyone would want to see that, why he made HIS CHARACTER HAVE THEM, OR WHY HE MAKES IT SO PROMINENT will be a question that will haunt me for years to come. Or until we get creators commentary to explain why he hates viewers eyes. For the record I have nothing against nipple piercings, I just question why anyone thought giving them to Bebop was a good idea. OR their so large or

I also like Scumbug and i'm happy to see Splinter in his first relationship where his partner hasn't died horribly or put him in gladiator games. I did not need to see them make out with clone high level tounge. I"ll let this discord conversation with my good friend @kammieceleek handle the heavy lifting.

I mean their a cute couple but please, NEVER AGAIN. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER AGAIN NEVER

Anyways capping us off we have TCRI, who are decent enough. I like remaking them as this sort of paramilitary goon squad that shows the worst of humanity. Cynthia herself.. is fucking great. I like that to anyone familiar with Krang, it's DAMN obvious who she either is, or is a stand in for, with the name, apperance and Maya Rudolph somehow doing the Pat Fraley krang voice and tics while also doing a thick german accent. She's a brillaint combo of over the top hammy.. and an utterly sadstic monster, shocking the boys just for speaking, not carring that they don't really belong to her, and willing to kill them just to get her super weapons. She's what a remade krang should be: still over the top.. but also dead seriously terrifying. My only complaint is she's a bit OBVIOUS as a sequel hook. Like Rowe was really banking on that sequel and i'm never a fan of when films do this when they don't KNOW this story will continue. It is clearly, with the film slowly picking up more and more money and more than enough in merch, but he coudln't of known that.

So with that we just have one bit of buisness to wrap up

Yo Jeff Drop the Verse

The soundtrack for this flim is liquid gold. It's so good to my ears and full of such nice cuts. Guardians cemented my love of needle drops in film in tv: If you can pull it off well do it. And this film does it so damn good. The film skews to hip hop, likely due to wanting a "Tony Hawk Pro Skater" vibe, which really does fit teendom well. I will admit it's also pretty explicit here and there, so kids may be disapointed to find they can't stream these songs, but it's still a stacked selectoin

So before I break it down track by track, something I regret failing to do with spider-verse as like this reveiw it was massively behind, I whipped up a playlist as Parmount's own leaves out several tracks. While I get the what's going on bit being left out as that bit is a good suprise why it has'nt been added weeks out from the film I don't know. You can find it here

Ante Up is a song i've heard maybe once or two here, but is a perfect gag for the opening grocery run, while still showing off just what our boys can do.. even if their doing it for some party sized cool ranch doritos. Which is still a great reward.

Danke Scheon shows up in the clip of feris buller. This dosen't really count but I do think the film is a perfect fit, since John Hughes was an inspiration for this film, and it's an idealized version of the freedom the boys desperately want. Not a John Hughes film I was ever a huge fan of, but it works and that "You can hyjack parades whenever you want" joke is so damn good.

Now we come to a track I wasn't familiar with but is easily my faviorite now: Eye Know. I"m glad more films are using De La Soul's music, mostly because it makes ME want to know them better as I haven't heard much and even after really enjoying three is the number, thanks to the weird rights limbo it wasn't avaliable to stream ad nauseum when No Way Home came out. Thankfully just a few short months ago, the whole De La Soul catalogue is up. This song is a really gentle, really fun love song with one heck of a chorus, and it nicely meshes with Splitner raising his adorable little children. It's one of my faviorite scenes of the movie.

The next track is another perfect selection but for something more hilarious and badass: While Push It To the Limit verges on a parody of training montage music it works for one where we find out the turtles and splinter learned ninjitsu from movies,, instructional tapes and whatever they could scrounge up. HOw their learning is awesomely rediculous, so it needs backing that's cheestastic.

Love is an Illusion by Ronnie Walker was nice for Leo falling for APril. It's a really crisp, dreamy love song so it fits.

Okay look i'ts only there for a second, but I can't tell you how much I love Ninja Rap making a cameo on this soundtrack. The soundtrack is cheesy good and one of the more iconic ninja turtle songs for a reason. It's not as good as say Pizza Power or the various awesome theme songs, but it's goofy fun that fit the film it was in. It's also one of Vanilla Ice's better songs, though that isn't huge compettion especially since he made a weird as fuck sequel I still can't comprehend that was also compeltely ninja turtle free for some reason.

Cavern By LIquid Liquid is fun, a nice chill beat to meet turtles to.

Dance by ESG is already a fun song and fits the boys going full blast on their plan well. THat's.. about it. THankfully I have more for unwritten. I'm not a fan of Vomit humor most of the time unless you have a paticuarlly inspired twist like say. a mad scientest making everyone in the room vomit at a bar as a thought experiment leading to an image like this

That's just beautiful. But i'm just not a gross out guy, so this gag working for me was a lot... setting the most embarassing moment of April's life to FUCKING UNWRITTEN, a song I heard 998 times over the course of the 2000's as every fucking movie and tv show overused the hell out of this throughly mid song, it was transedeant. First and only good use of unwritten. Well done.

Now we come to what's easily the best musical bit of the movie. And it has some steep competition from Eye Know and another song we all know is coming, but the No Diggity Scene is just one of those sequences that once you see it you know "This shit is iconic". This is a scene that's now etched in tmnt lore and for damn good reason. It's also a brilliant way to get up to the chain to superfly and have a few weeks of sluthing and our heroes getting better pass as our heroes easily blaze through some goons and those shots of EACH turtle getting to burst in and lead the assault?

And look I admit this montage hits a sweet spot that was also started by guardians: setting an action montage to music that somehow fits despite having no right to. In this case a mellow smooth as hell jam perfectly complmenting some frantic action. So fucking smooth.

Wake Up in the Sky grew on me as let's face it, a song that has bruno mars saying fly a dozen times nad saying he's super fly works. I just don't like it a lot because trap is'nt something that fits me musically. I prefer more intricate beats or at least a really solid one thorugh the whole thing. The more relaxed beatwork here isn't for me, but I can't deny it fits Superfly's big debut well.

Fitting me much better is the use of Shimmy Shimmy Yay for the bowling scene. It's fucking great, a song that's never not awesome and that's also a bit low key while being way more my speed.

The use of BOTH major versions of What's Up? .. is an easy close second for best use of music int he film and one of the most brilliant masterstrokes. And this all comes to Seth Rogen. When the chase scene wasn't quite working, he suggested the slackcircus version of he man. It's also awsome in that the song's themes of isolation PERFECTLY fit what the mutants are going through. So not only did they manage to stick one of the best meme songs in human history in a feature film.. but they did so with it being ENTIRELY relevant. The switch from the 4 non blondes version to slackcircus is fucking genius and the song adds nice manic energy. It'll also hopefully give this song a rightful ressurgence as the heman cover is , while hilarious, also GENUINELY good. The original ain't too shabby either.

The boys version of butter is hilarious and got me to listen to the original which is alright. Mr. Lonely isn't a bad song, and perfectly fits Splinter's mope session.

Finally we have can I kcik it, an objectively awesome song. It fit the trailer perfectly and it fits our ending as our heroes are finally allowed to mingle with the surface adn get their happy ending beauitfully. A beautiful ending to a beautiful film.

So overall mutant mayhem is fucking awesome. If you haven't seen it after all this go see it, support the hard workers who made this film possible by supporting the ongoing strike and thanks for reading.

[bunniesbearsandadventures]

Heyyoooooooooo since imma massive NERD

I have decided to combine my favorite thing, with a childhood thing that I like

So here we go Pokemon and MLP combined to make a Equestria themed Pokemon region

Would this be an actual region?

Maybe an in universe TV show called

"My little Trainer"? Who knows!!!

I just wanted to have fun :3

All of these are made by this lovely Picrew the ART IS NOT MINE!

I REPEAT THE ART IS NOT MINE!!!!

Only the character headcannons, story ideas, and general concept of this region and yeah.

Anyways have fun hope you enjoy

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Pokemon MLP AU:

Gym 1:

Ashley Jackson (A.J)

Ground type specialist: Lives In Ponytaville and runs sweet apple acres

Farm and Gym: with her Mudsdale

Main team: Mudsdale, Excadrill, Diggersby, Donphan, would have some new ground themed dog Pokemon

Gym 2:

Rachel

Flying type specialist: Lives in Cloudsdale, a city atop a mountain close to the clouds, very famous athlete

Training hall and Gym: with her Braviary

Main team: Braviary, Pidgeot, Staraptor, Talonflame, and a bug/flying esc turtle pokemon (Felicity/Flattershy would have gifted her one, its supposed to be Tank from the show)

Gym 3:

Felicity

Bug/Grass Specialist: Lives on the outskirts of Ponytaville and more towards the forest. She owns a Equestrian regional version of a Buneary a grass/bug type. Feeling unsure on whether to specialize in bug or grass she decided to go with both so that no feelings are hurt. She is the regions top Pokemon healer and has a few Nurses in training working with her and her Pokemon sanctuary.

Animal sanctuary and gym: with her regional buneary

Main team: regional buneary, beautifly, vespiquen, cherrim, whimsicott

Gym 4:

Paisley

An electric specialist: Lives near Las Rapidash, A party city full of fun, laughter, and amazing memories to make! Despite owning a bakery she is more of the party planner type, so her Pokemon tend to reflect her more "electric" personality.

Bakery and Gym: with regional Krookodile being an electric/Fairy type

Main team: Regional Krookodile, oricorio, rotom heat, ampharos, bellibolt

Gym 5:

Regina

A rock specialist: Lives in Manehattan. A lively city were Rachel is the top stylist and fashion designer in the whole region. She owns many boutiques around Equestria were she specializes in both Human and Pokemon styling.

Fashion Boutique and Gym: With her Carbink

Main team: Carbink, Aurorus, Minior, Gigalith, and a rock cat type Pokemon (maybe a regional version of Purugly?)

Gym 6:

Spencer:

Dragon specialist: Was best friends with former Gym leader Taylor (Twilight). He took over for her when she joined the elite for and currently keeps the Ponytaville library clean. Though there is tad more comic books found within the shelves then when Taylor was in charge.

Library and Gym: with his main druddigon

Main team: Druddigon, Garchomp, Dracapult, Baxcalibur, Turtonator

Gym 7

Stella

Dark specialist: Lives in a far away town near the edges of Equestria. She is Taylor's student and friend who goes around equestria spreading Taylors teachings and helping those in need. She runs a school for Pokemon trainers.

Pokemon school and gym: with her main Absol

Main team: Absol, Weavile, Drapion, Grimsnarl, Zoroark

Gym 8:

Summer

A fire specialist: Lives near Canterlot as a scientist and researcher. She trained under Champion Celeste (Celestia), and became friends with Taylor soon after, she studies and researches interdimensional travel. Trying to harness both science and Pokemon power to do so. She has succeeded in doing so and makes contact with this other world regularly.

Research lab and gym: with her main Delphox

Main team: Delphox, Volcarona, Armarouge, Flareon, Rapidash

[vampirepunks]

Secret Invasion and AI Art: The Big Picture

The thing that really makes my head spin about the Secret Invasion intro being AI art... the director wanted it to look fucked up and is clearly ill-informed about the technology in question. I have to admit, it's refreshing not to see the studio saying "It looks normal and fine to us!" There's also some bitter irony in using AI to replace the work of human artists in the development of a show about shapeshifting aliens literally replacing humans in society.

Like many people, Selim says he doesn’t “really understand” how the artificial intelligence works, but was fascinated with the ways in which the AI could translate the sense of foreboding he wanted for the series. “We would talk to them about ideas and themes and words, and then the computer would go off and do something. And then we could change it a little bit by using words, and it would change.”

[source]

Now, I'm not making ANY excuses. Quite the opposite, in fact. My aim is pointing out that putting focus on "it doesn't even look good" detracts from the larger controversy. It was intended to look uncanny, so that's not an effective argument. Don't lose sight of the forest through the trees. There's a much bigger fight on our hands. (Yep, you guessed it, it's capitalism.)

Thanks to end-stage capitalism, we have a labor market in which outsourced work is being outsourced even further because of the insane production time crunches forced by media corporations. Marvel hires Method Studios for VFX, who then contract an undisclosed AI generator that's most likely trained on copyrighted art without the artists' permission. Once again, the problem stems from corporate titans of industry commodifying creativity to the point that almost all modern media (video games, films, streaming TV shows, etc) is attempting to generate maximum profit with minimal time + expense. Disney has been the face of this dilemma for years, with a reputation for overworking and underpaying creative teams in order to release multiple shows and films to maintain a constant flow of content. It's worth noting that Method Studios made a statement claiming no artist jobs were affected as a result of this practice, which is great if true, but means they know it's ethically questionable and chose to do it anyway.

Could they have directed human artists to create an eerie, surrealist, "Skrull cubism"-style intro? Absolutely. The reason they didn't is because it would have cost them more time and money. The problem is systemic. Capitalism has reduced the worth of the arts to their base trade value. The powers that be have created a society that prioritizes convenience over quality and values financial gain more than ethical acceptability.

We should criticize the show for this, but solely attacking the base aesthetic value undermines the extremely concerning precedent this sets for the entertainment industry at large. If you really oppose this practice, cancel your Disney+ membership. They don't care if you watch the show or not, so long as you stay subscribed. Boycotting Secret Invasion alone will achieve nothing and will not hurt their bottom line. USA citizens, consider going one step further by contacting your representatives to demand stronger governance of AI technology. Congress is aware of the issue and we need to push them to act soon. We have got to get organized about this, folks.

The arts are so much more than just content, so don't get swept up in "us vs. the world" attitudes--going online to talk about how bad it looks accomplishes nothing more than venting your frustration. There's a time and place for that but don't use it as a replacement for real, meaningful action. Nitpicky criticisms and refusal to watch the show only scratches the surface.

[dcrewatch]

Detective Conan Rewatch: Episode 1091

Episode 1091: "Girls Day Mystery”

Before watching this episode, on a scale of 1-10, how much are you looking forward to seeing it again?

5!

Favorite screencap:

Ran: "I learned this from Lupin!"

Favorite Moment:

Honestly it was kinda nice just seeing the girls just chat and hang out. While Conan and Agasa are off doing their own thing.

Least Favorite Moment:

Only in DCMK would a thief think to even try hang gliding to their mark. I originally was thinking, "Why would anyone even think to try this?" only to remind myself that Kaitou Kid is a thing in this universe and Kid is not bound to the laws of "this would make sense to try". :D;; That said, find it weird just three random pro wrestling guys were able to successfully hang glide over to this building.

What’s one thing you noticed/realized about this episode that you hadn’t before?

"Squir".

The TV show’s art style's use of shadows reminded me of the artwork in The World Ends With You so I guess Nomura-esque.

Could be a Domino's reference, but interesting theming a pizza chain around music.

Sooo, the background walking characters are CG, but what actually caught my eye was the advertising for Fusae Campbell's goods on the left hand side.

Oh hey, a Cat's Eye reference.

Using a vacuum cleaner to get jewels is probably meant to be a Lupin III reference.

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate this episode?

Not bad, but not amazing either. 5!

Celebrate it!

Here’s a (not exactly) summary haiku:

Girls have a day out

And see suspicious people

What are they up to?

Next Episode: Episode 1092

Previous Episode: Episode 1090