#thematically as well as just in style and topicality

[cantsayidont]

February 2006. The best of the interlocking miniseries making up Grant Morrison's 2005–2006 SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY event is SEVEN SOLDIERS: MISTER MIRACLE, one of the very, very few non-Kirby Mister Miracle iterations that's worth bothering with. Scott Free's former protégé Shilo Norman, introduced late in the Kirby MISTER MIRACLE series, is now a 23-year-old international superstar escape artist — and also the champion of the fallen New Gods, the possessor of the last Mother Box, and the only living creature immune to the Anti-Life Equation. Here, Metron and the Black Racer, incarnated in human bodies, play chess for Shilo's life, as Shilo is attacked by living cars, "the crazy horses of sunless Armagetto," in the "drive-by derby."

[juliametzgerart]

I have shared versions of this on other platforms before, so I might as well make a tumblr edition: here some tips for MtG portfolios I gathered and might be interesting for some people who follow me. 1. Since this is a trading card game, here comes the obvious one first: Always keep in mind that these are card illustrations, they have to be readable in super small. Which means that strong silhouettes and value structures are a must have. If you work digital, check the zoomed out version on regular basis, or even have some jpgs to check their thumbnails in your file browser. That can give you an idea about their readability. Traditionally you can of course take some steps back, or take some photographs to look at smaller previews on your devices. Also: print illustrations often come out darker than their screen versions, be careful with your darks! It's rather easy for things to go muddy, even if they look good on screen. In doubt, increase the brightness a bit. It's okay to have different versions for screen and print to meet their needs.

2. Be versatile about your topics and compositions. Zoom in, zoom out. Don't fall into the trap of your own comfort zone zoom level of showing things, or one way of doing things. It can be positive to offer purposefully unusual options.

3. Be aware of the focus. If you have a magician with a staff, ask yourself if the card is about the staff(artifact), the mage (creature) or perhaps even the spell. The composition and focus of the illustration should shift accordingly! Clear action is important for readability – since that is not just visual hierarchy here, but also storytelling. Which brings me to the next point: 4. Good narrative matters, but mechanics matter even more. So, again, be very aware of your illustration's focus. You can potentially add extra elements for the story to make it more fun, but it should not get too convoluted, and even less should it distract from what the card it actually about. If you come up with your very own ideas for a portfolio this is of course much more open than if you work from a description. But you can find a bunch of official MtG descriptions online which are super useful for training.

5. Show care. Plan the illustration, get the references in place. It's the best time to get good habits in place, and really finish the pieces. Don't make them weaker by going too fast, that is not convincing. It just lets people assume worse things for tight deadlines. This does not mean everything needs to be rendered to death - but shape design should remain thoughtful and purposeful even where soft and lost edges are used.

6. It's potentially okay to have your specific stylistic or thematic niche. It can mean less assignments at times, but can also mean more special ones. It's cool though for your voice to be visible as long as the other needs of the product are met.

7. Never stop using those references. Get them, make them, use them - take them seriously. (at least for any of the more realistic styles). It's one of the most repeated tips for any student to actually just use more references. They do a ton to get complicated things like anatomy and lighting right, but also cultural references and versatility. Many of the best Magic artists also make the best references – it's not a coincidence. Learn from the people who have already established themselves, they have great wisdom to share. 8. Your quality has to match the current roster. Yeah, sorry, no way around that one. You need at least to be as good as the currently "worst" artist in the roster to have a chance. And the ADs need to be sure that even on a bad day your art can meet their quality bar. Which is the reason why you likely need several art pieces at the required level, to prove it wasn't just some lucky fluke. Though once you're really there, that also means a bit less pressure to perform, since you're likely comfortable at your skill level and can only go up from there.

[brujawrites]

✧ ˚ · . 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 — 

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐: "𝐌𝐨𝐤𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 -- 𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮,"| masterlist | next chapter

contains: suguru x female reader, utahime iori, college au, modern setting, college!suguru, english major!suguru, pining, slow burn, eventual smut, sexual tension, secret crush, developing relationship, 18+ ONLY MDNI

synopsis: cozy cafe date where reader gets to know suguru a bit more! nervous feelings all a flutter! more story set up, including meeting reader's roommate & an unexpected invitation! ao3 - kofi - playlist - pinterest

"A small concern with how the engine sounds -- We held darkness in withheld clouds,"

— "Keep Driving", Harry Styles

Winter was very much still in season, but the cozy booth in the cafe near campus was warm enough with Suguru’s company. You were a little surprised when he suggested getting a coffee, but grateful for the chance to talk with him one-on-one. Suguru sipped on a flat white, listening to you talk about your method to tackling a shit ton of reading. 

“It sounds really extra, but it helps me pick up on themes and patterns really quickly. Plus,” you continued after taking a sip of your dirty chai latte. “It makes the reading feel like a scavenger hunt.” As fascinated as he was by your strange method of note keeping, Suguru was still struggling to understand the method entirely.  

“A hashtag system...,” he mused aloud. 

"Actually, it's a self-made index," you corrected him with a playful grin. It was rare for you to feel this enthusiastic about something mundane with someone else.  “Sorry, let me relax a bit,” you said, reeling in your enthusiasm. Suguru grinned widely. 

“No, no, it’s okay, it’s cute,” he replied, prompting you to lift your drink to your lips. You hoped the rising steam from the hot tea masked the flush spreading across your face. Suguru's gaze darted back to his cup, searching for a new topic. Grateful for the shift, you welcomed the change, "So, in your self-made index, did any themes or patterns stand out to you from the reading?"

“Well, Wuthering Heights is named after the manor. It’s a novel based on a place. The place is crucial. The atmosphere, the deterioration of the house," you listed points you had notated in your index for class. Suguru’s deep brown eyes were challenging to hold contact with as you spoke. It felt like he was absorbing every word you uttered. Maybe you just weren’t accustomed to that level of attention, especially not from the guy you’ve been eyeing for the last couple of years. 

“Okay, wait, this is actually making a lot of sense,” he mused. “I think I’m… impressed?” His unexpected admission caught you off guard, and you blinked in surprise at his words.

“Why? Because there’s a meaning to my madness?” You smirked at the boy playfully. “When you reduce the interesting parts of the story, like the failed upkeep of Wuthering Heights overtime, Heathcliff’s disposition — well, just reduce it to a simple word that describes it, and it turns out deterioration is a huge theme.” You paused to analyze Suguru’s expression; silent, stoic, listening… or possibly bored? The unreadable mask on his face made it hard to decipher his thoughts.

“So, you just take those thematic concepts to build an argument, keeping track of the quotes that touch on the themes, then later when you’re writing a paper, or trying to contribute to the class discussion, you just flip through your notes, and boom.” You meet his gaze again, trying to wrap up your little demonstration quickly. “It argues for itself.” 

Even if you weren’t boring him or talking too much, just the notion haunted you. You found yourself scanning the cafe, half-expecting familiar faces to distract you or save the conversation. A sudden vulnerability crept in, an unsettling feeling you hoped wasn’t plastered on your face. Despite eagerly awaiting Suguru’s response, you just felt yourself becoming a little too... conspicuous. Visible? Was that the right word? 

As he absorbed your words, Suguru found his mind drifting from the conversation at hand to the growing intrigue about the girl before him. It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed you before, but he'd never made an effort to catch your attention. Last year, during that poetry class, he only caught a glimpse of you, but the aftermath left him feeling a bit… off-kilter. Chagrin? Was that the right word? Suguru had never been the polished academic type, so despite putting in considerable effort, it didn't always reflect in his grades.

To him, you were almost out of reach. Almost unreadable. He hadn’t stepped up to the challenge that is you, but this semester — his last semester — why shouldn’t he? Getting to sit with you while you talked him through your complicated note taking process was nice, but he wondered if he could somehow get you off that topic. 

“So this is how you managed to ace Professor Sheppard’s Form & Theory class last spring?” He asked, genuinely interested, but the smirk on his face threw you off. He wasn’t making fun of you, was he?

“I honestly don’t know what happened in that class. Or the one I took with him last semester.” You admitted, hoping to come across humbly. Suguru’s eyes widened at your statement. 

“You’re shitting me,” he said in disbelief. “You took another class with that asshole?” The laughter spilled from your mouth before you knew it was there. Obviously the disdain for that professor was common among the English Department at your university, but expressing it aloud seemed so taboo. 

“Yeah, dude,” you nodded soberly. “And what makes it worse is he used me as an example for the class.”

“What?” Suguru looked genuinely annoyed for a second before you realized how bad ‘ being used as an example’ sounded. 

“Oh!” Your hands waved him down like he was a flame you were trying to shoo away from getting too big. “Not like that, he just made me seem like a star student. He bragged about my organization skills and…” your voice trailed off thinking back on the fall semester from hell you just escaped. “It was pretty bad. Last semester was hard on my mental health, you know?” You left it at that, not wanting to dive too deep into details unprompted. 

Meeting Suguru's gaze felt like being ensnared; there seemed to be no escape from his piercing eyes.

Meeting Suguru’s gaze felt like a giant spotlight; there seemed to be no escape from being perceived by him at that moment. He was focused on your words, waiting for the next couple of sentences to fall from your lips. The truth of the matter is last semester was the lowest you’d ever felt and you weren’t sure how appropriate it was to bring up such personal issues. Lowering your eyes in response, Suguru somehow got the hint you didn’t give. 

He glanced down at his watch before meeting your gaze again. “I get it. If you ever want to talk about it more, you know where I am every Tuesday and Thursday morning,” he grinned sheepishly before gathering his coat & bag. “I’ve gotta run to catch this sociology lecture, but let’s hang again.” His smile almost left you stunned.

“Of course, Suguru,” you said with a smile. “See you Thursday.”  As he stepped away towards the exit and to class you took it upon yourself to use the rest of your time as productively as possible. Taking out your laptop, you started to go through the motions of opening up your calendar, checking your email, and other general housekeeping, but stopped when you reached for your drink and saw Suguru’s cup.

Your lips pressed into a small smile as you started to process the moment you were so desperately trying to disconnect from. You just had coffee with Suguru Geto. A smile crept up on your lips at the thought of him giving you his attention as you spoke. A brief lapse of insecurity ran through your core as you worried how you came across. He had seemed friendly enough, but, ultimately, you worried about being overwhelming. Sharing too much. Being too much. 

Suguru didn’t think that of you, though. In fact, as he moved away from your conversation, a renewed curiosity swirled within him. Thoughts of how to recreate that moment lingered in his mind, weaving through various scenarios. And to think you were about to open up to him. A subtle, knowing smile played on his lips as he made his way across campus to his next lecture with a lightness to his step. He could sense so much just beneath the surface of your expression, he knew he could figure you out. At least, he hoped.

The rest of the day went by unassumingly. After attending another lecture, you trudged back to your apartment through the wintry slush that lined the sidewalks. The second you unlocked the front door and stepped inside, your nose was greeted by the sweetness & warmth of cinnamon. Kicking off your shoes, you yelled out your arrival to Utahime before moving towards the kitchen. 

“Oh, hey!” Utahime greeted you with a big smile. “I’m making milk and rice.” she was all bundled up in a snuggie and slippers as she stirred the pot full of your favorite dessert. 

“It smells so good, dude,” you breathed in the aroma almost desperately before turning to take a seat at the small table in the kitchen. There is a part of you that wants to gush about your first class of the day and how you’ve effectively launched a self-imposed campaign to get to know Suguru Geto before graduation. How he called you cute , how could you forget that till now?

“I figured after being so brave & tackling the first few days of class in such horrible weather, we deserved a treat.” You couldn’t agree with her more. She began to serve scoops of the concoction into bowls, sprinkling cinnamon on top as an extra garnish. Having Utahime as a roommate was nice. She really cared for you like a big sister. 

When you joined the sorority, you had been getting to know girls for maybe three weeks before your Big was assigned to you, the Little. They were meant to be mentors for the new members to look up to & get guidance from them, so a lot of the pairings were based on similar goals or habits you two may have shared. You remember having to rank on a scale of 1-5 in level of importance different categories like “leadership,” “philanthropy,” or “social life,” -- and you, as ambitious as ever at nineteen years old, prioritized leadership; this was before you realized nobody actually cared about anything other than impressing fraternity boys from high ranking fraternities. The #1 match for you was -- surprise, surprise -- Utahime Iori, the current Vice President at the time you joined. 

Other than your ambition, there were just a handful of things you two had in common, but you really admired her. She carried herself with gravity and grace which was something you felt you could stand to learn a bit more about. There were parts of you that you kept away from her, like your smoking habit, she knows about who you hook up with, but never the details. There were times where you were sure she was disappointed in a couple decisions you’ve made in that area, but she was always there for you at the end of the day. This was your second year living together in the three years you’ve known each other. Lucky for you, she chose to enroll in your university’s master program instead of going elsewhere, so you were able to keep your roommate.

She really did care about you, but, no, you decided you wouldn’t bring up Suguru and your little coffee date this morning. Not until it actually became something. You silently began to snack on the milk & rice Utahime made for the both of you when she excitedly gasped to get your attention.

“Oh, there’s an unofficial mixer with Pike on Thursday night!” she beamed at you, trying to gauge your reaction. Even in her master program, Utahime maintained such strong connections in her social circles that she was telling you about mixers before actual active members were able to. “It’s Jersey Shore themed,” she grinned like an idiot while you laughed off your sour face.

“Everybody’s so creative,” you mused sarcastically. She nodded while taking a sip from her tea. 

“Yeah, right? I know exactly what I’m wearing though. I figured we could pre-game here with a couple sisters before ubering over there fashionably late.” 

By “fashionably late,” Utahime was referring to the unspoken rule about mixers. The university representatives set rules in place to avoid things like hazing or underage drinking. Mixers are required to have a 30 minute sober period, but after that it’s anyone’s game. Most of the time what happens is everyone shows up 35 minutes late, treats the mixer like a pregame, & once the party starts itself the fraternity usually opens up their doors and sends out their address to begin hosting the weekend’s parties. 

“So, you’re coming, right?” Utahime pressed the question with her intense eye contact. This probably had something to do with how reclusive you became last semester. You would miss out on functions, leave parties unannounced and by yourself, only to end up walking home alone through the rain, and writing some sort of melodramatic poem. Utahime never understood why you got in those moods, she definitely didn’t know how to help other than to encourage you to branch out. You looked up at her and smiled. 

“Yes, I’ll go with you.” Finishing up your bowl of rice, you stood up before placing it in the sink. “I’ll start putting together my outfit,” you added, leaving the kitchen to retire to your room.

[megashadowdragon]

volume 0 of jjk is more important then you think

because the idea that a burdensome level of strength is nothing but a curse, is literalised with Yuta. Rika is literally a curse that's formed out of love. this same plight is not as apparent with Gojo Satoru and Kashimo Hajime. with these two, their mannerisms say far more.

what's noteworthy is that the resolution of Gojo's own crisis is 100% opposite of how Yuta's was resolved, and it looks to be the same for Kashimo as well. Yuta forgoes his overwhelming strength by dispelling the curse on Orimoto Rika, and prioritizes his bonds with his people.

after all, that's the central theme of volume 0. as such, the most interesting thing about the shift between the prequel and the main series is just how COMPLETELY the main series contradicts the themes of the prequel.

the main series, so far, has severely punished anyone that prioritizes their bonds over a robust sense of self + selfish pursuit of power. the special grades are the best example of this. Tsukumo Yuki worked with Tengen and Choso; she didn't fight with her own domain.

only in death could he stand on an equal footing with his comrades. the framing of these demises in the main series is so deliberately opposed to how the thematic framework of JJK 0 functions. and the reason is none other than the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna.

Sendai, the City of Trees. established in the year 1600 by the daimyō Date Masamune. Date Masamune was a descendant of the Fujiwara. any JJK reader knows the significance of the Fujiwara clan in the series

the emphasis JJK gives to the Fujiwara cannot be understated. lemme run through some key examples rq. the turning point of the series, the Shibuya incident, happens in the vicinity of the Meiji Jinguu, a shrine dedicated to Empress Shōken, a deified member of the Fujiwara clan.

the revival of the Heian era, which saw the supremacy of the Fujiwara clan in the political scene, also plays a part in this. Onmyōdō, or sorcery, was at its peak in the Heian era. Ashiya Dōman, one of the most prominent sorcerers in history, was a hiree of the Fujiwara.

and this specific fact is called back to in the New Shadow Style: Simple Domain, developed by Ashiya Sadatsuna, being utilised widely in the series. the relevance of all this to the topic at hand is that Yuta is a descendant of the Sugawara clan.

symbolically, literally and meta-textually, Yuta is removed from a position of importance, and a guy from a Fujiwara-established city replaces him.

all of this is why some wouldn't feel confident about Yuta continuing to be in good health for the rest of the series 💀🚩

all the special grades in the series have been murked, except Yuta. you can clearly see why people would think he's next. BUT NOT ME! and here's why: in the Sendai colony, i.e. in the same city established by the Fujiwara, he beats Uro Takako, a hiree of the Fujiwara.

he cyclicality that JJK is obsessed with plays out on various levels, but Yuta is the only exception. and I mean the ONLY exception. not even Gojo was exempt. Yuta, a Sugawara, beats someone that was associated with the Fujiwara. it plays out the opposite of how it's meant to.

in conclusion, i think we should put our stocks in Yuta. someone that won't be the next Gojo Satoru sounds about desirable rn. Vol-0 is a treasure trove of hints when we reread with new context. i hope i gave you new insight, or at least a fun read.

"

I can’t wait for Yuta vs Sukuna, the themes of strength, loneliness, love and modernity vs history finna clash like crazy

The Queen of Curses vs The King of Curses 😤😤😤

Furthermore Yuta as the previous MC whose succeeded despite contradictory themes with Sukuna…

"

[filmnoirsbian]

I have a question and lmk if its out of line or if you dont wanna answer it thats fine, but basically im a professional artist in the field of fine arts, and as such i have over time learned what makes art "good". I can like or not like it, but usually, im at least able to come up with a defendable opinion on why it is contextually bad art or good art, or rather, whether or not a given artist is 'good' at what they do. With poetry tho, while i (like everyone i think) journal recreationally, i really have trouble identifying whether either my own poems or other peoples are good. Like. This came to mind esp after your rupi kaur post, bc ur right, i dont like her, but i cannot for the life of me articulatw WHY i think its bad. Anyway tldr i guess how can you tell? What are some markers of good vs bad poetry ? (Especially technically speaking) i think these 2 things are similar bc with art too a lot of ppl will be like "ohhh its all relative" but like there are actual markers ofskill and well executed intent, and for fine arts i tend to know them (stuff like influence/filiation, taking into acct the viewers experience, intentionality of creative choices.....) but with poetry as a field i just like. Dont have that technical knowledge to talk about my feelings about a poem like i do with art ans i was wondering if u could help

This is a very complicated debate that has been ongoing since the birth of art and literature. I think it can be difficult for some people to allow that a piece of art (in this case, this includes poetry) can be technically well-crafted while not effecting them emotionally, and that a piece of art can effect them emotionally while being not technically well-crafted. A words app poem that you see which is filled with typos and accidental grammatical errors but which touches on a topic deeply important to you can make you cry while still needing work in its technical aspects, and that doesn't make it either good or bad as an objective work of art. Likewise, there are plenty of poems I've read which were deftly crafted by talented poets but were ultimately forgettable to me because they did not strike an emotional chord. Their lack of emotional resonance also does not make them good or bad. I think that because art has such a capacity for emotional resonance, it's easy to accept that as the most important criteria for what makes art "good," but I personally don't think that's fair. But to me, good poetry is honest--not autobiographical, but written with intent, some understanding of wordcraft as a medium, and meant to evoke a genuine understanding within the reader. Rupi Kaur is sort of a punching bag at this point, often from people who don't actually write poetry which I'll admit I find frustrating, because most criticism of her works is shallow and dependent on the idea that a poem must make you feel something to be good. That isn't a good basis for art criticism, because what makes you feel something is never guaranteed to make anyone else feel. But to me, what makes Kaur's poetry "bad" (not my preferred term, I'd describe it more as shallow or juvenile) is the lack of honesty. Her work is purposefully scrubbed of any distinction so it can be as widely applicable as possible, and in doing so, her poems become no more genuine or meaningful than the mass-printed fortunes in fortune cookies. And, worst of all, there is no technicality behind her wordcraft to make up for the lack of thematic complexity. Both style and substance are rendered as plain and inoffensive as possible. When an artist creates something, they are putting something of themselves into their work, so the art becomes a contract between the artist and audience. The artist is trusting the audience to genuinely engage with their work, and the audience is trusting that the artist has shared something genuine. Good or bad comes later; that it is something the artist created themselves with intent is the first step. But when art is made only with mass consumption in mind, it becomes stripped down to only the bare ingredients of art; it is art on paper, by definition, but it is not art by intent. It's a tree with no limbs, no leaves, no creatures making a home in it. It's not much better than a telephone pole.

When I judge a poem as good or bad, I look first for complexity, either in narrative or structure. This doesn't mean a poem must be a long-winded sonnet to be good; some of my favorite poems are haikus, and in fact haiku is my favorite poetic form. This is because often I find haikus carry multiple meanings, the poet packing in as much story as they can in such small luggage. Most of all, I just wish would-be critics would use their words; "Rupi Kaur's poetry is bad because it's boring" is not good criticism. Your definition of boring is not someone else's. "Rupi Kaur's poetry is rendered shallow and meaningless by the attention-consumption economy it was bred in and has no intelligent wordplay or articulation to constitute a poem that is at least engaging for the mind to read" is a bit more comprehensive.

[fourhornedsatyr]

I love Cassette Beasts.

As someone who is an avid fan of Monster Collector games, and who most fondly remembers Pokemon B&W and Digimon D&D from the DS era, I only have good things to say about my first four hours of playing Cassette Beasts by Bytten Studio.

So, I'm gonna talk about it.

Gameplay

The Transformation Mechanic & Record (capture) mechanic

Unlike most games of the genre, you do not summon/control the monsters you use to fight, but rathee you become them -- digimon frontier style. Your avatar & a companion fight using cassettes that have copied the essence of the monsters you encountered (captures work like an alternate of the data copy mechanic of the digimon turn based rpgs).

You effectively have two health bars, that of your monster form & that of your human self, and once your monster form takes enough damage the cassette will break. Upon breaking you will revert to your human form and take on any overflow damage. If you are attacked before it is your turn to select another cassette, then you will receive damage and hence have to worry about your own health. There is no way to replenish the health of human characters in combat, at least none that I have accessed.

Furthermore, many of your status effects, buffs, & debuffs carry over from one transformation to another. This leads to a lot of stacking possibilities, but also means that one much be cautious, think wisely, and manage their defence and type matchups.

When recording/capturing monsters as well, you have to leave your monster form and are vulnerable. Despite having a good chunk of hp it is still wise to protect your human characters via walls & taunts to improve your chances of successfully copying a beast & sustaining minimal damage. This adds an enjoyable complexity to the capture stystem.

Type Matchups & Dynamic Interactions.

Speaking of type matchups, the type interactions are marvelously impressive & complex!

There are 14 types that are inspired by both naturally occuring aspects/materials/elements of the world and anthropogenic ones. Many of these typings can be thought of with a twisted pokemon logic (ground beats lightning, fire consumes poison, water & air put out fire), but we also have the celestial type, which draws from the natural typings and is weak to anthropogenic typings such as metal, plastic, & poison (it thematically (& vaguely mechanically) reminds me of holy & dark digimon types).

Furthermore, many type interactions include buffs & debuffs. Earth slows down plastic types, poison fuels fire types, lightning electrifies the air, and celestial absorbs the energies of natural typings.

BUT THERE'S MORE! Metal types can be coated in poison after interacting with poison type moves and can then deal poison contact damage! When fire types attack air types an updraft is formed that gives the air types a shield! I HAVEN'T EVEN MENTIONED TRANSMUTATIONS! When fire types attack ice types, the latter will gain the water coating effect and will become water types! Likewise, electric attacks can turn ground types into glass!

The dynamics of type interactions is amazing, and makes gamplay so enjoyable.

(Type matchup chart, wiki.CassetteBeast.com/wiki/types)

Fusion

As far as I am aware all cassette beasts are monotype unless they are fused. This is a major mechanic in the game that serves to create a new monster during a fight that shares most of the moves of you and your companion's monster forms.

Yet, while you can do this after filling up a meter that takes, usually, multiple fights to fill, the wild monsters can also do this. These Rogue Fusions pose a unique threat as once defeated they will defuse with full hp and you will then have to fight the two that were fused -- just as what happens when you defuse.

Though there are unique fusions that do have interesting and enjoyable dynamics I have not yet acquainted myself with too many and will not delve too heavily into this topic.

One aspect of the fuse that I will discuss further is the music.

Atmosphere & World Elements

The Music

The music in this game is amazing. The music for the basecamp village of Harbour Town is amazing and nails the theme of the town and the initial emotions of the game wonderfully. Much of the music in combat is dynamic and will change depending on the state of the battle, often playing wonderful vocal pieces after drawing first blood post-fusion (the music changes depending on the fusion too). I fucking love it.

The Land Keepers

There are vampire landlords called landkeepers that you fight in the game to keep them from gentrifying the island.

(Wiki.CassetteBeasts.com/wiki/Landkeeper)

Look at that freak! They are capitalist estate agents whose only goal is to setup an exploitative economic system on the island of New Wirral. One of your companion's whole quest line is shutting them down!

●●●

I love this game.

[kamreadsandrecs]

Title: Stars of Chaos/Sha Po Lang, Vol. 1

Author: priest

Genre/s: danmei, steampunk, historical, alternate history

Content/Trigger Warning/s: murder, violence, deafness, blindness

Summary (from publisher's website): The discovery of violet gold, a vital fuel for steam-powered machines, propelled the empire of Great Liang into an age of prosperity. But for Chang Geng, a young man raised on the impoverished northern border, the concerns of the empire are as distant as the stars above.

When raiders from the north attack Chang Geng’s small village, he discovers that the life he knows is a lie. His mother, his teacher, and even his godfather whom he trusted more than any other, Shen Shiliu, are not what they seem. As enemy nations close in, Chang Geng follows his godfather to the heart of the imperial capital, where a greater fate lies in store for him.

Buy Here: https://sevenseasentertainment.com/books/stars-of-chaos-sha-po-lang-novel-vol-1/

Spoiler-Free Review: Oh, but this was so GOOD! This book reads as a LOT more complex than what I remember of MDZS. For one, the worldbuilding is MUCH more thorough than the world of MDZS, which had enough details in it to build a sense of what it’s like in the reader’s head, but certainly not to the same detail as this book. While it’s set in a fictional China, this book goes beyond China’s borders to show its connection to fictional versions of Central Asia, Europe, and Japan.

And in line with that expansion of the world, the plot and the themes expand as well. While this volume contains elements of mystery and court intrigue, the main bulk of the plot (in this volume anyway) is centered on the resource called violet gold (which reads like a stand-in for crude oil) and the ways Great Liang has attempted to secure its supply of the resource. Those methods include soft and hard controls of the market, but notably, it includes colonial subjugation of a region where the resource is most abundant. That latter bit makes for some interesting thoughts if one is a reader for whom such a theme is of interest, especially given how one character in particular states that, if it were up to them, they would go on a colonial-expansionist project in order to ensure the safety and stability of Great Liang.

While all of those are weighty and complex topics, this series is still firmly in the danmei genre, as shown by the relationship between Gu Yun and Chang Geng, whose relationship is a bit more nuanced and complex in its portrayal than that between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. There are plenty of silly moments, of course, and more than a few times I facepalmed (in a good way) at their dynamic, but while it’s clear that they are the main romantic couple of this series, their relationship is not as clear-cut as the main couple in MDSZ.

Overall, this was an excellent read: a step up in terms of style, narrative, and thematic concerns compared to MDZS, while still remaining within the ambit danmei as a genre. I am not entirely sure if this difference is a result of the authors’ specific skills and styles, or if it is a result of their respective translators, but regardless, this volume certainly shows that priest is entirely capable of doing some very good worldbuilding while weaving a complex plot, as well as working with equally complex themes. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next volume, as well as for priest’s other works, because I think that her writing might just be the kind I really enjoy.

Rating: five silk darts

[farewell-superiors]

I’m having so many thoughts about @ammstify’s persona 6 idea for it being about nature and being based on Arthurian legend but as more of a spin-off but I’m in the “pacing while brainstorming” phase which means that I have too much energy to sit down and actually write down my ideas so I may as well start a post that’s like… just a bunch of ramblings about ideas. Have so at least it’s WRITTEN DOWN and I won’t forget anything. If I think enough I might even make a fanfic in the style of steal the truth (which you should absolutely read btw it’s genuinely one of the best video game adaptations with how well it integrates persona’s calendar mechanic and social links into its story structure) but that would require a lot of foresight and planning (hence why u want to WRITE SHIT DOWN)

Anyway here goes. Spoilers for something that I just made up but might make into an actual thing in the future I guess lol

The themes are about growth (there's LOTS of plant imagery), moving on, and how it gets better (the sun will always rise, darkest before dawn, etc. (there's a lot of day/night imagery as well)), and it looks at the relationship between humans and the environment.

The setting will probably be Kyoto, or at least some city, but I'm undecided about whether the characters are high school or uni students. Both have their pros and cons and I just have to figure them out. I'm leaning towards Uni?

The actual persona elements take place in the sea of souls, although it's more accurate to say the field of souls, as it's an undending field of grass, flowers, and the odd tree/hill, with every bit of flora representing a life. Select people will travel to the sea of souls in their sleep, but sleeping in the sea of souls won't get you out, so if someone is there without a way out, it looks like they're in a coma. If they happen to die in there (haven't completely figured out shadow mechanics yet, don't know if day/night cycles in the sos would be over a few weeks (to represent the collective unconscious) or over a characters journey (because it's cool imagery)) the body will start growing vines and leaves as their pulse slowly fades.

One way to get out is through the velvet room: In the sea of souls there is a battlefield, with velvet blue warbanners rising amongst the bloodstained foliage, and in the centre is a familiar long nosed man sitting on a particularly comfy looking rock, with a warrior clad in a deep blue leather armour brandishing a spear and shield. As neither protagonist is a wild card (whoops spoiler) Igor doesn't act as the guy who fuses your personas, he's like a guide both through your journey and on your way back to the real world. Maybe belladonna and nameless are also there, who knows.

Persona users have a body part wrapped in foliage, vines, flowers, and the like (the location can be thematic, it’s as if wrapped in chains), and when summoned the foliage chains break and rapidly grow into the summoned persona.

Protag A (who I shall refer to as Sun because that’s their arcana) is a kind young man who was diagnosed with cancer. This diagnosis comes shortly after moving to a new city to start university, so he rightly is in a lot of turmoil and feeling alone. One of the way he copes is by having a fairly dark cynical sense of humour, contrasting with his kind and caring personality. I’m not set on a subject he does, I’m thinking natural sciences, it’s got a wide range of topics and, most importantly, MATHS (this isn’t a joke). His starting persona is Arthur, his second awakening is Arturus Rex, both of the sun arcana, and his ultimate persona is Excalibur, of the world arcana.

Protag B (who I shall refer to as Moon) is a standoffish young woman in the year above sun. An abuse survivor, her father (her only living relative) recently was jailed for what he did, but she still holds a deep contempt for humanity who she thinks has failed her. Initially forced to interact with sun because of a scheme where second years help first years, she stays with him because of a shared goal once they enter the sea of souls. Her story arc is about growing to care for others, learning to see the good in people, and stopping seeking revenge. Her starting persona is Lancelot, who evolves into white knight, both of the moon arcana, and her ultimate persona is Galahad of the world arcana (I’m intentionally hiding some things but oh well lol. The personas are thought out, I’ll tell you that).

I’ve not settled on social links or party members, I’ve got a few ideas, like Sun’s maths professor (who would either be magician or hierophant) and the Lovers arcana, but nothing concrete.

Getting into real endgame spoilers now, the premise is that two gods, Pendragon and Morgan le Fay, are arguing over whether humanity should suffer or not. Pendragon thinks they're a stain on the world and should be wiped out, while Morgan le Fay thinks they should live in eternal bliss. Given that the themes are about moving on and growing, neither is very good, or rather, life is a combination of the two. They're represented by the moon and the sun in the sea of souls, when Pendragon is "winning" it's night, when Morgan is "winning" it's day. towards the end of the story the party beats Pendragon without realising that now Morgan le Fay is able to act unchecked and so the regular course of life grinds to a halt. During the course of the story each protagonist holds one in themself, Moon with her contempt for humanity holds pendragon, and Sun with his wish to live with his friends forever holds Morgan, but once Moon starts to see the good in humanity her mind boots out pendragon (hence why they fight him), and once Sun accepts that a life in stagnation isn't a life living at all, his mind boots out Morgan (hence why they fight her). Basically, I really really really like the ideas of third semester and am doing something similar lol.

At the start Sun and Moon are visited by a Doctor informing him of his cancer diagnosis and a chief prosecutor "congratulating" her about her father's loss in court respectively. Both talk about their fascination with/contempt of humanity, and end with "do you agree?", a cloaked agreement to a contract that makes them their champion, for these are Morgan le Fay and Pendragon in human forms. A side effect of tricking them into agreeing to a contract, however, is letting them into the velvet room, a mistake that would lead to both of the gods' downfall.

Ah shit I haven't even tackled how dungeons and stuff work. I know at least the last one is gonna be called Avalon.

I think I'm just gonna go ahead and post this for now, I might edit it later so uhhh stay tuned I guess

[understandingbimbos]

further 4chan notes

Regarding transformation preferences:

Well the issue is how much it changes the character. People have been calling certain type of women bimbos since well before a lot of modern surgical stuff was around or in style. Maybe you ideal bimbo has a late 80's to mid 90s look? Personally I don't mind some IQ loss, but if your character isn't starting out super smart just some personality changes can work too. An extremely perky nympho qualifies as a bimbo to me.

This is a very subjective fetish overall

/aco/, 2021. Tips on writing a good bimbo:

Depends on what specific bimbo type you're going for, but the most common mistake is to write them as a literal retard or a child in an adult's body. Sure, a bimbo might be dense or childish, but it's their all-consuming interest in looking good, getting the cutest accessories, the hottest make-up and using all that to look their best to go have fun with friends or lovers — that is the basis of the character.

The "stupidity" is often simply the fact that important or "intelligent" thoughts or knowledge is being superseded in their mind by the thoughts and knowledge on the aforementioned topics and desire to have fun. It's those hedonistic interests that also make them disinterested in mental cultivation (hence denseness) and careers, and make them dependent on sugar daddies (hence childishness).

But the base core values of a bimbo are:

Looking good according to their bimboish cute and voluptuous sense of style, which might not even stop a bimbo from being a gym bunny or a goth, just depends on what they find cute or good-looking

Having fun: usually by partying, shopping, socializing (including sex), but even stuff like science can be placed here if the bimbo is naturally smart and thinks it's fun)

Being outgoing: they want their good looks to be enjoyed by others and are stereotypically outgoing, preferring to have fun with others

Being naive: is actually a side-effect of the previous three, but is so set, that I decided to add it; the fact that they are pretty, happy and outgoing, makes other people treat them nice, which makes her just assume that everyone has good intentions. That doesn't stop some bimbos from having an almost supernatural women's intuition.

Finally: alignment. Bimbos gravitate toward chaotic good, but are easily shaped by their environment: a bimbo that hangs out with mean girls, might easily assume that bullying is just good fun and doesn't hurt anyone; a bimbo that is spoiled by her sugar daddy can easily become a brat.

/aco/, 2021.

On identity death and bimbofying established characters:

The most salient traits of the personality are "bimbofied" as well as the body, and made to accommodate the new owner. When these traits are pleasant or neutral, they become slutty, and when they are unkind, they either become slutty as well or remain expressed but unable to prevent the body from acting sluttily, thus making the sluttiness even hotter by trying fruitlessly to react against it.

Identity death is for people who are too lazy to work the little details of the old life into the bimbo's new life.

Figure out what kind of sex the character would enjoy most, and make that her goal.

Figure out what the character would do to themselves to get to that goal.

Preserve/Add a few details of the character that don't get in the way of that goal.

/aco/, 2021.

"What are your favorite tropes to see in bimbo art?"

Maybe this is cheating, but I like to see hints of bimbofication. Suppressed twinges of regret or disappointment or something that this is how her life turned out. That or a gaping abyss in the soul threatening to pull other girls in. In any case - keep it visually restrained, and keep the thematic eyes on the prize. This is a fetish for bimbos, not for tits and ass large enough to eat a city. Lip enhancement is nice, but it shouldn't leave the girl looking like fucking Birdo. Don't confuse the signified and the signifier; it's all so much garish clown makeup, sure, but it still can't do that much to hide that it's the same girl underneath it deep down, even as her soul is being eroded by her facilitated interactions with the world around her. The most extreme physical transformation that makes sense here is things like breast implants, and even there, less is more - the size change doesn't need to be that extreme to convey that it happened.

/aco/, 2023.

"What element of this fetish is more important to you?"

For me it's wholly the physicality of the bimbo as an objectified, 'fake' hyperbole of the natural woman. The idea that a woman would willingly undergo such a transformation, such that no aspect of her, at no time, can ever be conceived as 'non-sexual' again is super hot to me. Her very existence is sexual at all times, she cannot hide it due to how absurd and eye-grabbing her proportions and aesthetic are - she has deliberately undergone a transformation to fully become a sexual object for mens enjoyment.

The whole "IQ loss" or "dumb girly submissive" aspect is mostly immaterial for me. For WOMEN I've met who share this fetish, though, this seems to be the main compelling component. Which is fine, so long as she gets the fake tits and slutty outfits to go along with it.

/aco/, 2023.

On the difference between bimbos and gyarus:

Visual trappings are different, and gyarus are more bitchy/aggressive than dumb and slutty.

This, gyarus can even pass as tomboys or delinquents but bimbos are like barbies, human sex dolls.

Gyarus are culturally bound to prostitution as well, as long as we're splitting categorical hairs. It's not just fashion/sex

/v/, 2023.

"Who the fuck gets a hard-on at the thought of fucking an imbecile?"

I do, kinda. I mean, not as in "Me so horny we want fuck" kind of retarded way but in the "Like, oh mah gawd, Kim Kardashians ass is, like, totally hawt? I'm gonna ask my doctor to, like, give me one just like it, fer sure" kind of way. You know, the totally vapid and superficial kind.

Hobbies and speech patterns are not indicative of a person's intelligence. I know people with a Ph.D. and Master's with similarly stupid hobbies. I also know quite smart and capable people who own their own businesses who talk in very similar way, it's more about where a person grew up, quality of their education and who their friends are than about intelligence.

Sure, but I think a bimbos interests would be kinda limited to shallow, superficial stuff. You know, stupid pop music, Reality TV, fashion, Make-Up and, of course, sex… and they might actually have fairly extensive knowledge about these things but not much beyond that. Basically, a bimbo is someone who might very well be able to give you a perfect recap of every episode of Big Brother but would have trouble solving a simple math equation.

/co/, 2016.

"What tickles your pumpkin?"

It seems to be a bit unusual but I like Bimbos being dominant and sexually aggressive. There's just something very appealing to me about the idea of being dominated or forced to serve a girl who's much dumber than me. Mind you, that doesn't mean that I want her to be a bossy bitch, she should still be nice but also kinda spoiled and selfish. Basically, she's still addicted to cock but more for her own pleasure than for that of her partner.

I'm also into the idea of bimbos humiliating normal, smart women.

/aco/, 2016.

On PegasusArt (degradation, maledom, misogyny, and self-inserts):

The moment you put your obvious cringey self-insert and try to link the fiction back to yourself (Instead of just dabbling in fictional characters), you take a step back from the fantasy aspect and make the latter power fantasies weird and gross seeming. That applies to any intended effect in fiction.

Bad bimbofication content is more about how great it is that the guys are getting laid, rather than the hot slutty extremely-fake women. I think sucking off guys is great, but I think most fans of bimbos would consider this a 'gay' interest. I'm much more interested in the blonde slut with the giant silicone filled tits.

imo the bad bimbofication is the shit where its obvious that the pic is more about the girl being degraded and made nonthreatening as opposed to being pumped full of silicon and covered in makeup

It's really just storytelling 101. His content is bad because it isn't actually about the bimbos, it's about his idiotic self-insertion, the bimbos are essentially completely irrelevant and only serve as props so his manlet can get his rocks off by being a colossal piece of shit. Good bimbo content is always going to put the bimbo first and forefront, so he fails right at the starting line.

I like when the girl is degraded and made nonthreatening. I especially like those works where the girl doesn't even know she's being mocked. That being said I still think Pegasus is trash. He's such a turbo autist with no self awareness. It's seriously cringeworthy to see Mind Control Manlet insult the defeated women. I think the key is that women NEVER look like they're enjoying it. It's just an angry faggot raping a sad woman. I like my bimbofication darkly comedic.

/aco/, 2013.

On dollification, drones, and degree of stupidity:

Bimbofication generally allows enough thought for the bimbo to be able to talk, though generally not enough for any real self-awareness. A complete loss of thought is more a facet of dollification (though I tend to prefer my dollification with the person being completely immobilized but completely aware).

Either way, where's the fun in playing with a broken toy? The best of both bimbofication and dollification allow the fantasy of the person being aware of what's happened and being helpless to turn things back. In the case of bimbofication, nothing gets me off quite like the moment the bimbo finds they can't do something they used to be able to, or those distant notions of "something isn't right… shouldn't I be able to read?" barely manage to form before being shattered by something that occupies their tiny minds more clearly, like a dick.

Things bimbos are known for: Not being smart, but certainly being capable of some degree of independent thought. Like, y'know, they're, like, dumb? But, like, they can still, like, at least think thoughts and junk.

/d/, 2013.

On degradation, maledom, and conflicting definitions:

I personally don't like the derogatory interpretation of bimbos, where they have to be braindrained and become so lobotomized that they become sex slaves essentially out of force and cohesion, because they're too stupid to not be taken advantage of. To me that signals a humiliation/degradation fetish where the kink is trying to destroy her personality/soul and make her into a sex object, and nothing kills my boner faster than that.

There are a lot of sluttification fetishes, like corruption, hypnosis and ganguro. But I don't feel any of them gave to do with 'bimbos' persay. A slut might routinely be a gold digger, or some kind of business pro cocksucker executing sex with precision, intent and purpose (To get a promotion, reward a free expensive dinner, earn a rich boyfriend, ect) but not care much about sexuality in itself.

My ideal bimbo is always sex positive, but still keeps her availability even when she's not actually commited for sex otherwise. Sometimes she might act like a cute ditzy flirt, other times she may go all in with sex and make your wildest dreams come true. And yet others, she might just feel like going shopping, seeing a movie and hanging out in the mall like a pink-loving blond girly go. She might load herself on sexual potential (big pouty pink lips, skimpy clothes), but whether or not she acts on it is her prerogative. It's not something she feels ashamed or reserved about, just something she does or she doesn't.

The most important aspect of bimbos for me is is they ENJOY sex and being sexy. Not for money, gratitude, or any form of degradation. If it's just a character forcibly becoming a sex slave that has nothing to do with bimbodom, what's the point? Also being ditzy and openly signaling sex isn't always mutually exclusive with empowerment.

Now for me some degrading lobotimized exploited sex slave scenario is fine as long as the bimbo herself is happy dappy. I figure the main point of any sex is satisfaction, no matter how you arrive at it.

Now, I find the stereotypical sluttification stories are a bit more negative in tone. I don't like those very much either. Like with corruption it's dependent upon a self-awareness of the degradation, bimbofication however is all about the shameless lack of self-awareness and living happily in the moment. No harm, no foul.

It burns me that there's so much confusion between the two given the different extremes of feelings they can inspire.

If anything it's the submissive/derogatory bimbo fantasies that are the fake bimbos.

Go back and watch some of the 80s comedies that fueled the stereotype. There are A LOT of bimbo characters that would actually be considered dominant or intimidating.

They're full of things like the uptight college lecturer trying to teach, but the scantily clad blonde in the front seat chewing bubble gum and twirling her hair around her finger keeps distracting him and giggling at his discomfort.

Yet here you get insecure idiots with no understanding of history and who can't cope with the idea of a woman enjoying sex thinking they can dictate the one true bimbo.

Characters like Orihime or Usagi. They may not be sex obsessed or fashion flirty cocksucking tramps but the archetype and personality is the same.

I'd say as much so for Marilyn Monroe. It's more a wide range of traits about a girl being either fun flirty and ditzy, or huge and busty + upbeat. There's no exact definition or ideal bimbo, I love the mental aspects as much as the physical ones.

For example you can have a shy "nerdy" girl, who when she tries to socialize actually comes off as spacy, innocent and kind of cute in that bimboish way. Her personality at heart is similar to a bimbo and makes her one, despite her look. That one chick from the anime HxH, Shizuku comes to mind.

On the other hand you could also have a huge well endowed, thick and extremely busty woman with lots of makeup and sexual appeal, but she's smart and mature with a kinda fun personality. The body is what makes her bimbodom.

If having a high libido is all that it takes to be a bimbo, then the term is meaningless. As was discussed at length, all dictionaries and wikipedia associate bimbos with low intellect - it's the one common trait amongst bimbos. Remove that trait and you no longer have a definition for bimbo since we have already ruled out that physical qualities aren't set in stone for a bimbo… so there's nothing else to define them by other than intelligence.

/aco/, 2015.

On lip expansion:

I'm of the opinion that lips, especially the bigger and plumper they are, are the secret ingredient to make any girl look more like a bimbo with minimal effort. They just ooze femininity, I agree.

The nice thing about lips is that a single change can make big lips go from just being big to totally bimbo, and that's changing it from being shaped to having none, removing the natural bow and making them fat and shapeless. Good lord it's hot.

It takes very little to push their size over what's typical into bimbofied. When they get to be that fat, the lips always seem to droop into that natural O-shape for fellatio somewhat, and it looks like she's always puckered and ready to slurp on some yummy cock.

And, a pair of overplumped kissers can make nearly any expression look a hundred times more air-headed and clueless. It manages to be both totally cute and smoking sexy. I'm glad you know your LDM's too, he does the best mouths.

/d/, 2017.

[artist-issues]

Hi! I have a question for you as I know how immersed you are in Disney lore and themes (just like me hehe): Which fairytales or myths do you think would be really fit for a Disney adaptation/retelling? This is if Disney wasn't in the state it is right now, creatively and thematically speaking, of course. I don't know if I'm the only one who has thought about this, but I've been curious about how they'd do an adaptation of The Little Prince, though, that isn't strictly a fairytale, but it's still fantasy and adventure and the protagonist is a prince, so there's that, or even an actual adaption of Romeo and Juliet, which is yet another story that isn't a fairytale, but I still think there's some interesting elements they could make content of and the story is widely renowed for the passionate romance between two young people, which is an area Disney has had plenty of experience for decades now, although I don't know how they'd handle the tragic ending given how Disney has always modified tragic and/or horrifying stories to seem more wholesome and happier, and because it's an extremely well-known story, perhaps more than most of the ones they've adapted, I don't know how people would take it if Disney were to modify the ending to suit their style. This went on longer than I intended it to, but yeah, I'm curious to read your take on this topic.

I love this question!

I’d genuinely love to see Renaissance Disney do a fairy tale like Brother & Sister (the Brothers’ Grimm version or the Andrew Lang version) or, still, Jack & the Beanstalk.

I think Brother & Sister has all the seeds of a great Disney story.

Sibling relationship instead of a solely romantic focus ✔️

But there still is some romance ✔️

‘Evil witch stepmother ✔️

Humans enchanted into animals ✔️

Some never-before-done elements that they could play with, like the Sister/Mother character getting turned into a ghost and haunting the family until her curse can be broken, that sort of stuff. ✔️

I’d also love to see an adaptation of The Princess & the Goblin, but even in their heyday, I don’t know if Disney could’ve handled that one with care. 😅 It had layers of themes and an ending that would only make sense if you took those themes seriously, and since they didn’t exactly take Lewis Carol’s themes seriously in an effort to simplify, maybe they would’ve had the same problem trying to adapt Princess and the Goblin.

But! I think something like Brother & Sister (or Hansel and Gretel, I’m not picky!) or the Jack stories would’ve been really cool.

[wizardnuke]

im talking about the essay grade again and i got off topic and started talking about the lit analysis potential inthe vast majority of fanfictionbjust. Ignore

i feel like it's such a humblebrag for me to be like "i don't understand how i continually get really good grades in english" because i understand objectively that 1) i am very good at analysis and/or. finding quotes to support whatever the fuck thesis i decided would be easy to support (see: "good at analysis") (i think i honestly just randomly hit the jackpot on "good thesis" but on god i just looked at macbeth and gawain respectively and was like Ah. Women's Wrongs. Easy Peasy) and 2) i know from looking at other people's essays that i am just kind of. marginally-to-a-lot better at grammar and phrasing/understand the very specific madlibs-style layout i have to use and what vocabulary that i need to be putting out. it's madlibs. there's a really technical and specific layout that needs to be followed and i just kind of follow it. it's not hard. it is boring. if i could write academic papers on the shit i'm actually interested in they'd be worthless because it's niche and/or wild tumblr user conjecture. anyone who seriously writes on. hold on i need to generate a thesis. "the cyclic nature of abuse and its direct correlation to homoeroticism in cn's supernatural" could u fucking imagine. that's hilarious. that's some hackjob shit no matter how well i could keep a straight face on the matter because all that people care about is Old Shit. i have no real vested interest in actual literary works beyond "they're important and better than people think". i have extremely strong feelings on a lot of modern works, generally movies and shows and niche dnd webshows, i cannot make a career in that shit, my english prof thinks fanfic is bullshit and i see where he's coming from! i don't think it's bullshit. but. the academic perspective on fanfiction is like "they're not making original work" because the setting/adjacent themes and characters r lifted from another work and there's no real originality in it except that the best fics i've read are like.. an alternate form of literary analysis that is so far from actual essay writing that it's unrecognizable. but people can see the themes and the motifs and rehash them in a way that is absolutely a kind of analysis of the original work, but with flourishes and new ideas and batshit choices that the og media either couldn't make/didn't feel like making/tentacle sex wasn't really thematically fitting but an author decided "hey what if i put themes into this consentacles fic" and like, i want to argue that that's legit. sometimes. but i am not going to do that bc i sound objectively insane and also sometimes it is just not that deep and that will be brought up as an argument and i just don't care enough to explain that it's still an art form even if it's not that deep. is "fun and funky fresh" not a common motivator. if "new interpretations" of works like shakespeare and shit where they plunk the characters into a modern setting and fuck with the phrasing is seen as a viable art form/type of analysis then fanfic is an art form/analysis adjacent to that. not all of it though. some of it is something else that is worse. not that i think that is in itself bad. fanfic is a hobby. can't make a career out of that. but people have made careers out of that by changing the names and setting and publishing books. and that's viable apparently. i just personally am insane and enjoy writing very serious and/or emotionally driven meta on dnd shows. i like themes and motifs and i think that while a quickly written meta post on the tragedy inherent in redemption arcs that hit 50k is absolutely not as academically sound as a cited paper on a similar subject, there's Something To It and there's got to be some kind of potential in it. i like stories. idk if i could make a living out of talking about stories especially from the insane angle that i tend to hit stories at. the possibility of making it a genuine career is driven down below ground after i take into consideration my insanity about modern stories vs my neutrality on older ones. what am i talking abt. bf is yelling for me bye

[libraryfag]

Heathers (1889)

my heathers obsession i think was what first got me into horror which quickly transformed into my gothic horror obsession so im honestly shocked i haven't made this earlier in the past 3 years.

Despite it being set in the 1980s, heathers literally has all of the gothic tropes and themes etc its so insane

Like!! The way the underlining theme is how young people's agency is repressed and how they aren't taken seriously and instead expected to obey their elders is literally the basis of Queen Victoria's beliefs. She and Reagan had SO MUCH IN COMMON. those facists are probaly fucking raw in the bottom layer of hell somewhere

ANYWAY the whole of the show/film really hits different if you think about it in the victorian era

I forgot to say: This version is absolutely set in England. Western society in America back then was more about themes of progress and such- although white people back their were just maintaining the same genocidal colonialist principals as the british (cuz they were), they thought they were being soooo cool and progressive which is thematically irrelevant to heathers

BACK TO THE TOPIC: in the musical most of the teen's emphasis in wanting to grow up. ie have autonomy vs Martha being accociated with childlike imagery- really emphasises the division between 'adults' and 'children' Victoria was so fond of

I don't actually know what age ppl were considered adults but i think Martha would wear more childish clothes like this- exept she would absolutely wear white representing her innocence

In contrast, the other girls would wear women's clothes

Jason Dean's black trenchcoat translates really well to Victorian era fashion

Veronica's heatherified outfit would have a prominant bustle- a newer style

In contrast Heather Chandler would wear a more traditional longer gown- like how she represents the older more bougeoise regime of Queen Victoria according to JD which needs to be destroyed

Speaking of which there are SO MANY parallels to heathers and picnic at hanging rock- (which is set 11 years later but whatever) JD is the rock

I do think Chandler's general vibe of the 'blonde popular girl who's doomed by the narrative' whose idolised after her death is 100% from Miranda btw

but also her position in the narritive reminds me of Mrs Appleyard

I think to make Heathers more gothic there has to be more of a clock motif than there already is

Also i can't belive i forgot to say this but the ideas of Madness and depression and shit. i can't spend all day writing these but they're There.

The one problem i have here is that schools in Victorian england were ABSOLUTELY not as diverse as schools in 80s america ie. ppl of different genders/class would never go to the same place

[chevvy-yates]

STEYR TWINS OUTFIT COMPARISON

[NC_RES]_00002727 mercs_steyr_twins_outfits.file ///core:_bi-runners.file\\\

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Please do not repost any of my art.

No special VP, just me wanting to see how different and at the same time similar both of them are.

They didn't know of each others existence for almost all their lives. V not until 2078. Jay knew earlier he's got a brother but only found him in 2078. So they grew up in entirely different surroundings: Vijay at a beautiful ocean side at first, in Monterey, then his teens in Portland, only coming to Night City in 2070. Jaysen grew up in Night City since he can remember. He never really left the place except for some visits in the badlands.

As adults, Vijay is the more reserved one while Jaysen is the rowdy one. And looking at least at Vijay's already written backstory, V had been a rwody teen/young adult while Jaysen hasn't gone this path bc his foster dad is a police officer who looked after him and brought him into the police (yes I somehow picture that Jay worked at the NCPD for a few years). Only when Jaysen went patrolling in the streets his more rowdy character seemed to have awakened. well he was quite stubborn as a kid already, tho.

I don't know very much about twins and their same or different interests but I like that they have some similar clothing taste yet it is still different. Jay is definitely more of a rocker boy type whilst Vijay is living in Vaporwave. But both like to listen to nu metal tunes for example.

V obviously shows openly he's bisexual through his clothing style. You do not see it on Jaysen, but he is bi as well (I thought about him being straight since I do not have a straight OC but something inside me says, nah he's also bi — maybe it is also only bc I am bi as well and tastes and likes do flow into your own OC's quite often).

Another funny thing I just realized is:

What Jaysen is now I had originally intended for Vijay to be at first. Like when I was still on PS4, I wanted him to look similar like Jaysen is pictured now. Not a cyberarm tho, but e.g. I was struggling hard when I created V if I choose the eye cyberware or the one on the neck. I decided for the neck in the end. Also 2071 V had same hair as Jay now. I intended to give Vijay some cowboy vibes since he's based of Clint's Blondie from the Dollars Trilogy, but when Vijay hopped onto the Vaporwave train thanks to me being able to start using mods, the cowoby thematic shifted further away from him. Now that I have Jay, I can give him that cowboy theme while V is continuing to immerse in his vaporwavy 80s dreamland. :P –

off topic: I don't know why but since I startd using that coole Vesnelle's hair for Vijay the original vanilla copper color from the game is gone on him. It looks way too bright and therefore unnatrual, but I wanna keep that hair on him. :/ I mostly edit the hair color in post processing, so it fits again.

[prancingintheshadows]

A RWBY RPG Idea: Formations

I'm not a game designer, nor am I someone with the skills or money to make a game. I'm just a guy who needs a hyper fixation to keep himself awake during the night shift

So, this is it.

RWBY's one of my favorite series and video games are some of my favorite forms of media, so obviously this was inevitable. Though I have to preface I have zero idea how deep I'll go with this idea. I'm labelling this title as if there's multiple parts but this is all I really have.

"But why an RPG?" The imaginary person asks.

Well, there was a couple of reasons. For one, I wanted to be somewhat realistic. I love RWBY and it's pretty popular, but it's not like it's got the ability to go for a full triple AAA game. I think a character action game would be great, but the amount of physics and work needed to put into those might be out of the ball park. With an RPG, you can still have impressive attack animations and action, just without the need for complex physics and enemy attacks and hit boxes and whatever. Fighting games are also in the ring, but Fighting games tend to be fighting games first and vehicles for narrative last. RWBY has gotten increasingly story and character driven, so I think an RPG is just a better fit for RWBY than a fighting game would be if it wanted to explore the world of Remnant.

Two, I think RPG is somewhat fitting. Monty was a huge Final Fantasy fan, and certain elements of RWBY, like Dust basically being materia.

Another very important reason is a thematic one. It seems to me, based on Grimm Eclipse and Arrowfell, they always want to include team mechanics in these games. Team up attacks in Grimm Eclipse are more common from my experience in multiplayer and Arrowfell necessitates using all 4 girls and was initially advertised with multiplayer. I think an RPG is a great setting to do team stuff with the least hassle, whether that be via dual techs or all out attacks or pair units or whatever else you can think of.

But now let's get into it

Story

I'm not doing story.

No, seriously.

This is a big limiting factor here since a story can often help give a game direction for its mechanics and character design, but I'm not going to pretend to know how to best make a story for RWBY. You can place it in Beacon, in Atlas, in Vacuo, in some sort of extra adventure in the Ever After on their way home, in some side continuity- Point is, that topic is so broad and vague that it's almost pointless for me to speculate on what it could be about, especially since RWBY's story isn't finished.

Gameplay

Final Fantasy XIII

Say what you will about the game, most have, but it's a heckin good battle system. It's also one of the first to try to be more actiony and cinematic without fully delving into action rpg, which is good for this. I'd love to have a FF7 Remake style RWBY game, but that's super complicated and, as mentioned, I'm not trying to imagine something too improbably here.

But there's one big reason I gravitated to XIII: Paradigms.

To me, this is a great system to enable team game play in a few possible ways.

I want to actually preface this by mentioning the idea I had before this one. This isn't vital to the gameplay idea, just my thoughts, so you can skip this if you want to. Long story short: I finally played the fangame Sonic RPG episode 10. It was good. It also has an ATB style gameplay, like XIII, so it's actually relevant. The Drive system got me thinking though. It's named after various Sonic characters and gives Sonic a stance system essentially. What if those were just actual team up formations? Like if the game was primarily Ruby calling in Weiss, Blake, and Yang for different formations. Then I just decided, fuck it, why do just Ruby teaming up with the others? Why not just do the whole team? (The Ruby main character with calling in different team mates to back her up is still a good idea though. I'll keep that one in the back pocket)

Back to the important bits: Let's give a rundown for the uninitiated. XIII's combat system doesn't use turns, and instead uses a meter that builds over time to let you perform actions. What actions you can perform are determined by your Paradigm. Each Paradigm focused on something different: Damage, chain building, tanking, healing, buffing, and debuffing.

So, what if I just used Team RWBY's team up formations as stand ins for paradigms? I mean, with 4 members, there would be 6 team up attacks, a perfect number to fit 6 paradigms. Now, these aren't one to one. I did want to take into account how the team up is depicted in RWBY to inform how they should function. This means I've actually modified some of the paradigms to split their roles or take on new ones to satisfy this.

Bumblebee was easy. It fills the slot of Commando, the damage dealer. It's big, strong, but unable to pin down the paladin without assistance. The same is true of XIII's Commando. A big damage dealer, but it needs help from Synergists's buffs and Ravager's chain building to deal it's huge damage.

Freezerburn: Another easy one. FB was used to blind the paladin, so it's easily the Sabateur, the debuffer.

Ladybug is where things slowly begin to shift. My current idea is to make it Ravager-esque. Ravager builds up the stagger meter on enemies, eventually breaking the enemy and letting you deal several times the damage you normally can. There's some differences here though. Ravager uses elemental attacks, this doesn't. I'm also considering whether or not stagger is the bar this kind of game should use. Building a more tradition limit break meter is in the back of my mind, maybe unleashing dual techs or a full team combo. Either way, with this dealing a huge combo of hits, it's obviously the meter builder.

Ice Flower is where I start making bigger changes. This is one of the buffers. Yes, one of them. I've decided to split the buffing between two roles, both of them featuring Weiss actually due to how she uses her glyphs. Because of this split, I'm actually splitting a lot of the other roles too and stitching them together. Due to how this Ice Flower is depicted, I'm thinking adding the offensive and elemental buffs here, while also giving it some attack options. Not sure where they'd lean to in comparison BB, LB, and even FB (since Sabo actually deals some damage), but that could be figured out later. I wanted to figure out overall roles first

Checkmate is the other buffer. You'd think with Schnee-brand haste, it'd be offensive, but nope! I'm making it a defensive role. Yes, not just buffer, role. It's half defensive buffs from Synergist and half Sentinel. Lightning's Sentinel in particular for more of a dodge focused build. Why? Honestly, it was inspired by Amity Arena's interpretation of this team up, being focused on negating attacks and such.

Which brings us to the Unnamed and Unseen Ruby and Yang Team up. That really needs a name at least. So, I'm actually glad this hasn't been shown off. It means I can do whatever I want with it. This makes it perfect to be the only healing role via Ruby's silver eyes and hopeful spirit, as well as pick up the last Sentinel moves with Yang's bulk.

... Alright, that's all I got. Ramble over. We'll see if I make up any more ideas during work. Maybe, maybe not

[destinyc1020]

I dont care about timothee tom comparisons thats whatever, but defending cherry is wild b/c take away the acting for a sec but from technical / filmmakers perspective, cherry was poorly edited with blatant mistakes, a movie that is visually bland with poor choices in terms of cinematography and choices that make no sense to the plot that ultimately is like take a step back and think of film as more than just actors on screen. Script that is littered with sterotypes. A movie that was supposed to cover a topic like the opiod crisis but never once does anything with it nor has any meaningful conversation about it. The first part talks about the linkage between us imperialism and ptsd only for the russos to completely drop the critique of the us military mid way through the film there is literallly a lack of cohesion of what it wants to say b/c the script is muddled and unfocused. No movie is perfect but if you are not even open to actual critiques of the film is wild, is film that has potential but its poorly constructed with numerous plot holes and under developed themes. Its style over substance in this case style lacked any thematic purpose rather its used to tell the audience " hey look we can make an independent film" and visual style is never justifeid. Acting is subjective but I tend to argue that cherry blurs more into the realm of overacting, a more talented director would tell tom to control and to hold some things rather than go all the way to 100

the last 30 minutes border more on parody rather than being an honest representation of someone who is a addicted to drugs struggling with ptsd and geographical/ socio economic displacement. The best scene was him in the hospital after that it blurs into over the top hyper realism and fouth wall breaking which tom struggles constantly throughout.

Like Im sorry why are unafraid to engage in critique, tom is a great actor but cherry was all over the place in terms of acting. Like whenever someone critques him you and your anons are quick to dismiss it and say can people think for themselves well here you go I thought for myself its so dismissive and condesending when you think people do have opinions.

Timmy tom comaparisons are dumb, they go after different roles, timmy has admittedly has had more critical success but as that anon said he knows what works for him.

Tom is a great actor and shines in alot of his movies but his films outside of his performance do have flaws and alot of them are technical such as poor visuals ( uncharted) and mistakes in the editing room ( infinity war, end game) under developed script ( TDATT).

This isnt reserved just for toms films but timmys films as well. You also undercut timmy, you said I want the person with range as in tom but literally timmy, austin, zendaya, florence , anya , keke palmer, kelvin harrison, daniel kuluyaa,dev patel like the list goes on of people with range, I dont understand what you mean when you say range like do you just watch tom holland films or something 😭😭😭 i dont know how you can convincingly say one actor as more range than another based on what. Lee, Elio wonka, paul, king henry, yule is a diverse subset of characters, in the same way that arvin, cherry, peter parker, billy elliott are diverse characters.

Wow...This was a LOT Anon. I see you've already written a dissertation, so I'm not going to add on to this by writing a dissertation of my own. I'll just pick from a few things here and there.

but defending cherry is wild b/c take away the acting for a sec but from technical / filmmakers perspective, cherry was poorly edited with blatant mistakes

What mistakes? Can you list examples?

a movie that is visually bland with poor choices in terms of cinematography

What do you mean by this?? And did it ever occur to you that maybe this might have been done on purpose? 🤔 The movie is about drug addiction after all. I also disagree that the entire movie was "visually bland". Some scenes, maybe?? But I think there were quite a few visually appealing and well-shot scenes in "Cherry". You might disagree, but I felt that these shots in particular were quite nice with the lighting (imo). The Cherry and Emily scenes in particular.

and choices that make no sense to the plot that ultimately is like take a step back and think of film as more than just actors on screen.

Again...if you provide some examples, maybe I can agree with you.

Look, I'm not saying "Cherry" was the best film ever made, but to say it was "horrendously awful" is a bit of a stretch to me.

Tom is a great actor and shines in alot of his movies but his films outside of his performance do have flaws and alot of them are technical such as poor visuals ( uncharted) and mistakes in the editing room ( infinity war, end game) under developed script ( TDATT).

And these might just be personal opinions? 🤷🏾‍♀️ But either way, what an actor has done in the past doesn't always equal what they will do in the future imo.

Maybe one day, a film that Tom does will live up to your expectations, but I just feel like you're being unnecessarily hard for no good reason.

You also undercut timmy, you said I want the person with range as in tom but literally timmy, austin, zendaya, florence , anya , keke palmer, kelvin harrison, daniel kuluyaa,dev patel like the list goes on of people with range,

Ummm....When have I EVER "undercut" Timmy (or any of these other actors you've mentioned above)??? 🥴 I've said plenty of times that Timmy (as well as the others you've mentioned) are great actors!

I dont understand what you mean when you say range like do you just watch tom holland films or something 😭😭😭

Okay, now I KNOW you're just trolling. 😒🙄 How many times have I talked about other movies and other actors here on my blog?? Like, literally ALL the time. I don't just watch "Tom Holland movies". 😒 If anything, I've been one who's always told fans to expand their film and actor horizons and appreciate a wide variety!

I've seen 98% of Tom's filmography though, so that's why I do feel like I have an honest view of his filmography overall.

i dont know how you can convincingly say one actor as more range than another based on what. Lee, Elio wonka, paul, king henry, yule is a diverse subset of characters, in the same way that arvin, cherry, peter parker, billy elliott are diverse characters.

Okay look, I know you're a huge Timmy fan and all, and that's okay! But I think you're misunderstanding what I meant. I didn't say "range", I said DIVERSITY of filmography. There's a difference! I never said Timmy doesn't have acting range. I just said that Tom has a more diverse filmography....and he DOES! That's just a fact.

[winterrhayle]

if you could remove five songs from 1989 and replace them with the vault tracks, what would they be and why?

i'm gonna do this but WITHOUT suburban legends because no 1989 song deserves to be replaced by that mess, sorrrry (i swear im not a hater i just think it's the worst song on the album)

also while i'm here i reordered the whole album hahahha

okayyy so here's my ideal version of 1989 (vaults are underlined)

new romantics - i think this is the ideal album opener, just because wtny isn’t really a well loved song when you take it out of the context of it being the first track of 1989 (even though i like it personally, its on the bottom half of mine and most peoples 1989 rankings) but new romantics still works bc it sounds like a song of new(romantic) beginnings, and its kinda the thesis statement of 1989,, about how the album is supposed to be super free and light hearted (also the intro of this song is so iconic and its perfect as a track 1)

blank space - im kinda trying to do this album somewhat chronologically, but also im trying to get the themes and production to flow,, blank space is a perfect track 2 bc it still sounds like a city track like new romantics, but it also sounds equally beach-y, and those are the 2 aesthetic elements of 1989 so its a good joint album intro. ALSO blank space gives u a good idea of how Taylor was seen at the time, as a dramatic serial-dater or whatever..,,, which leads me into track 4…

“slut!” - like i was saying,, blank space is about how she’s seen, and slut touches on the same topic of being slut shamed, but this time its about what SHE actually feels, and it flips it into being like,, its worth it bc i met this really cool guy aka:

(harry) style(s) - and this is the first sense of like. problems in the album, as in its pretty clear from this song that the mysterious guy she’s dating is not someone that she’s gonna last with,, also it gets us back into the city vibes smoothly bc the rerecord of this song has added sparkles which is reminiscent of the beach songs, but of course style overall is a city song so it flows well

wonderland - this is a perfect track 5 bc its a super emotional song that details the relationship + the breakdown of it, also its a BOP (y’all need to appreciate wonderland more)

out of the woods -🚨 BOP BOP BOP BOP BOP BOP🚨and like most of this albums its a lyrically sad bop and it fits with wonderland and explains the anxiety further

i know places - same purpose as ootw, it explains why the relationship was doomed from the start as its 2 very high profile people

say don’t go - fits chronologically, and talks abt how he didn’t love him back, and all he needed to do was not go,, (as in all he had to do was stay if u know what i mean)

this love - this love came back to me woahohoh (i think this is where it fits chronologically? where mr lover man comes back)

all you had to do was stay - she decided its too late to get back together tho RIP HAHA

now that we don’t talk - post break up realisations, lhh isn’t that amazing

wildest dreams - back to the beach rq, with a side of post-breakup mystique and i bet you think about me energy

clean - still keeping it beach-y, and now she’s clean from both the relationship, and the album booklet secret message is ‘she lost him, but she found herself, and somehow that was everything’ which is nice bc self love,, and she’s moved on , ALSO LINKS BACK TO THE ALBUM THEME OF FINDING URSELF

shake it off - ngl i put this here bc i think going from the emotional song clean to SHAKE IT OFF is funny, and every ts album needs a jumpscare at some point. but honestly this kinda fits thematically, because its talking about her persona like in blank space, but this time instead of leaning into it she’s shaking it offff and she’s clean (^) from the expectations to be what other people want or expect her to be. also its a fun song and brings up the energy for the home stretch of this longgggggg album

is it over now? - is it ever really over????????? NO (also i would consider this song to be a city and beach song because the AUUU HAAAAAAAAAA parts remind me of seagulls) alsooo if u loop it the ending of this song leads nicely into the intro of new romantics

deluxe edition :

16. you are in love - the deluxe is my excuse to put my QUEEEN you are in love on here bc it didnt fit anywhere

ik u probably intended for me to replace songs that have similar themes with their corresponding vault but theres so many songs that i just cant bear to take off😭 but heres the parallels anyway: blank space / slut, all you had to do was stay / say don't go, style / suburban legends, wildest dreams / is it over now?(this is a reach), now that we don't talk / idkkkk i cant really think of an equivalent