#then I can figure out thematically what's fitting and what isn't

[mkstrigidae]

Oof definitely going to have to completely re-write most of the oberyn&daemon investigation pieces for this next APWH chapter because i've been working on it tonight and it feels extremely disjointed rip my sanity

[astaroth1357]

We Need To Talk About Nightbringer (the Person, Not the Game)

I'm still scratching my head over what Nightbringer's goal is here... How is MC involved? Why send them back in time? And, of course, who are they??

SPOILERS Up to Lesson 12 Below Cut

The Fuck is the Goal Here??

Sending the MC back just to form pacts makes no goddamn sense. If the MC acquiring pacts was the real aim, then that mission was already accomplished in the present-day. There's something more here.

Why send MC back to RIGHT NOW? What about making pacts AT THIS TIME is desirable to Nightbringer? Is the end game even having the pacts at all...?

I posit that Nightbringer wants war, specifically, another war between angels and demons. The imagery of scales brings to mind the fragile balance of peace that Diavolo was mentioning between the realms before. RAD isn't built yet, his goal to improve relations is still in its infancy, and the times are so tumultuous that MC risks an all out fight starting just being there. So if Nightbringer wants to make things come to blows, then this is the PERFECT time to send them to.

However...

What is this "path to happiness" all about? What does Nightbringer think will make the MC most happy...? And what about THEIR happiness is linked to his? Is he assuming that in a war of the three realms, MC would side with the demons and thus if demons win then MC will be glad? That doesn't really track with the MC as presented in game... They're generally shown as a peacemaker or bridge builder. I don't think a war would make them happy at all!

Ultimately, I don't think we can answer this question in any way that makes sense until we have a better idea of WHO Nightbringer is so....

Who is Nightbringer??

It's Barbs

This goes for any version of Barbs: past, present, future, or even an alternate self I guess. This only makes sense because we're dealing with a demon who does time travel and there's only one demon we know who fits this bill but... why?

I can't imagine any reason why Barbatos would betray Diavolo, at least the one we know. This guy is so loyal to his lord that he's the ONLY character who won't completely kowtow to MC's whims even in the OG game. His true loyalty was always to Diavolo. Not the realm, not demons, DIAVOLO. And if Diavolo seeks peace, then why on earth would Barbs want to cause a war?? Is he more bitter about things than we thought...?

If it's a different version of Barbs, then I guess this goes out the window, but even then what's an alternate Barbs care about this world specifically? What would he hope to gain? MC? Why?? The means are all here, but I just can't figure out the motive, so...

It's Not Barbs, but Connected to Barbs

You know. I've been thinking a lot about this and I've been considering how, thematically, it could be appropriate for Diavolo not to be the only one with a progenitor/parental figure out of commission. We can assume that Daddy Devil must of had an attendant like Barbatos to aid him like Dia has Barbs so...

What if Nightbringer is the old King's previous attendant? And what's more, what if they aren't Barbs but related to Barbs? Like a sibling or parent? It's important to note that Barbs' time capabilities are not INTERNAL to him. It's his room of doorways to other timelines. Presumably, anybody with sufficient knowledge could inherit that room and just take over the role of the Devildom's time lord.

I know it goes against all of our previous notions to think that Barbatos was, at some point, just an everyday demon and not some primordial, OG force of nature but none of that was canon anyway. Something to think about.

It's Michael

I know people keep offering up this one, but I'm really not buying it... Yeah, Michael has always been this looming, shady figure over the OM universe and he's canonically and non-canonically done some eyebrow raising shit, but what's the motive here? Plus, Nightbringer's thematic ties to, well, night really feel more demon than angel... The Celestial Realm is always sunny, the Devildom is always dark. I think it's just a stretch...

Michael wanting another war could be interesting, especially since we've seen far more of angels being actively antagonistic to demons than the other way around, but I don't think that makes him Nightbringer. At most, he could end up being a shadow ally in his plot to bring everything to a head once again.

It's Solomon

In truth, even I don't think Nightbringer is the Solomon we're talking to. But I still think it's suspicious that all of this plays out so perfectly for our present-day Solo-pal... Personally, I take anything this guy tells us directly with a grain of salt since we know he'll lie openly, so here are the facts we're working with:

We are interacting with our present day Solomon (or at least one with knowledge of who we are and our timeline's events).

Solomon is the only one in this current space who knows of our full history in the OG timeline.

This Solomon put himself not only in the position of being the ONLY ONE who knows us that we can interact with, but happily isolated us from the brothers and made himself our main point of contact.

And last (and perhaps most importantly) HE'S STILL TRYING TO MAKE PACTS. He approaches Lucifer about it and successfully makes a pact with Asmo centuries before he's supposed to! If my guy is really from the present, that's like, Changing the Course of History 101! What the hell???

Let me present to you a theory. He is not present-day Solomon, sent back to help MC. He is past-Solomon, caught up to MC's identity through Barbs' time powers and just playing the part of our modern-day buddy. If he's from the past, he doesn't have to worry about changing the present timeline like we do because that ain't even him we've been speaking to. It feels like he has this bet going with Nightbringer... they have some kind of wager and MC is key to it. They're the one who'll tip the scales and Solomon is trying to get us to stay on his side.

It's Not Solomon, but Connected to Solomon

There's something off about Solomon that everybody, LITERALLY everybody, makes comments on: how he doesn't seem human anymore.

The OM timeline introduced the idea that a person can become something else, no matter what they started out as. The brothers were angels, but they fell, so they became demons. Simeon violated angel rules, so he was made into a human. The idea of corruption related to Solomon has always stuck in the back of my mind... The guy has over 70 pacts, he's lived for several centuries at least, and there's just something NOT RIGHT about him...

When Solomon and Nightbringer are speaking to each other, this line stuck out to me.

I find this comment so damn weird. If Nightbringer is a demon and has always been a demon, why would Solomon feel the need to lampshade this? He's pointing it out as if it's meant to get under Nightbringer's skin... Why state the obvious?

What if Nightbringer wasn’t always a demon?

Nightbringer refers to and brings up his demonness as much as Solomon brings up his humanness. That, to me, reeks of insecurity. They may not just be fighting on the lines between demons and humanity, but fighting each other/themselves to prove who's side they're actually on.

What if Nightbringer is a fully-corrupted Solomon? Either a Solomon in the future who's fucking around with the past or a Solomon in this timeline/dimension that's trying to use MC to cause destruction for his world??

..... Okay, I do know this is a bit of a reach. As much as I would love to blame the sorcerer, Nightbringer still seems like a being who's just... been around a while. Far too long to start fucking up shit now. It's possible that if he is from the future and just hopping through time, there's nothing stopping him from going back however far he wants to, but then you could get into the "You are your own grandfather" paradox and the next thing you know we're in another installment of Kingdom Hearts where time is our worst enemy.

HOWEVER, the idea of corruption DOES bring me to my wildest theory yet.

What if Nightbringer wants MC to become a demon...?

Think about it.

It could explain why Solomon is trying so hard to make MC remember and side with their humanity.

It could explain why Nightbringer sent them there under the guise of demon to start with.

It could be why he wants them to make their pacts again. He's trying to seduce them into fully embracing the demonic world through their connection with the brothers.

Humans die, right? Why not be a demon and not have to worry about it?

Throw away the Ring of Light.

Stay by your demons' sides.

Embrace the darkness.

Join the damned.

And when that big'ol battle that he wants happens, he'll have the most powerful sorcerer/sorceress, fully demonized, fighting for his side against God himself.

..... Or that's my spec script anyway. Probably too out there, but man would it be fun...

[guardianspirits13]

Ok now for a list of things that I'm kind of iffy about or wish they had kept from the books. It's worth noting that I can't think of a single show exclusive scene they added that I did not like, and most of the changes were integrated flawlessly.

Starting out, the pacing. I'm hoping this gets better with time, especially given that the second episode has much more time to breathe. The whole first episode felt a little cramped, and some of the exposition felt a bit... exposition-y. I don' t think there is much they could have done to get around this though so I'm not gonna dwell on it.

As a fan of the series, I love how they introduced the structure and function of the PJO world with the intro, but I think the jump from "Percy sees things" to "everything is all real" felt a bit abrupt. I am curious what first time fans think about this, and again the first episode covers a lot more ground page-wise than ep 2.

Manchild Gabe... I am not sure how I feel about this. In the books he seemed downright threatening and even with Percy's 12yo bravado, he was still an intimidating figure. His bickering with Sally seemed more like your typical dysfunctional relationship than a power imbalance... both can be harmful in their own way, but I'm still undecided on how much giving Sally a bit more agency in her relationship with him effects the larger story. The whole "not all monsters look like monsters" thing works well in the books with Gabe, but I guess they were redirecting it to foreshadow Luke's betrayal? I'm not sure.

...which brings me to Sally. I was unsure about the casting, but she has earned her stay to me. I always imagined her as a bit more subdued, especially with the more intense iterations of Gabe. She's kind and gentle and has a rebellious streak, but as worried as she might be for Percy she hides it inside of herself. I think her being a bit more expressive as a character works in this setting though, especially since we aren't seeing her through Percy's kid colored lenses. She feels a bit less like the perfect, kind, and understanding mother Percy sees, and a bit more like a real-life single mother trying to keep some of that childhood wonder alive despite everything. She does seem younger than I would have expected, but that's a nitpick on my end. I think she is one character that I will always have a separate book/show counterpart for in my mind.

Ok. Now for Clarisse. Out of all the characters I was skeptic about, I think she's the only one who didn't win me over. This is a writing issue, nothing at all to do with the actress. She was characterized more as a 'queen bee' type mean girl than a bully who picks fights just to feel worthy of her father's approval. She would be better fit for a vindictive daughter of Aphrodite than a daughter of Ares. My mind might be changed in the future but we got most of her scenes in these first two episodes so I'm doubtful. The one moment that had potential was when Percy broke her spear, but the Clarisse I know would not back off just because there is an audience.

There was no hellhound... I was kinda looking forward to it, and it does emphasize that even camp isn't really safe for Percy and is a catalyst for both his quest and the idea that there is a traitor. I can kind of see why the cut it for thematic purposes so Percy feels safe for once in his life, but that's only if I squint.

The scene cuts. I know, I know they're supposed to mimic book chapters. I get it. But it just doesn't work for me, it feels like there's a lack of establishing shots and the black screen is long enough you think the tv is buffering. It's an interesting idea in concept, but the execution falls flat.

OH also as far as things that were missing- the 3 fates. I know this is in the show since it was in the trailers, but I'm curious as to where they're gonna put it now.

Anyways minor nitpicks aside these two episodes were an emotional roller coaster and absolute masterpieces of television cinema.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unlcuk ch.186 thoughts

[Just Like Mama Used to Make]

(Contents: thematic analysis - artistic expression)

Before I say anything else, I just want to note how hard that one bystander saying "what the fuck?" made me laugh. That killed me. With how much wild shit the Union gets up to, it's refreshing to see someone not only witness it, but actually acknowledge it. I still wonder how the audience for Feng's martial arts tournament reacted to all of the weird fights

I also want to point out that in this loop, Enjin's iconic ripped hat look is created from him being thrown through the wall of his mother's hospital room. I'm sure there was some cool story to it originally, but nope, this time he just...biffed a landing, s'all. As usual, no dignity in this series

Onto the chapter, I figured that this chapter was going to continue to expand on the idea of togetherness using food as a symbol like last week, but nope! We're movin' on! Instead of examining how the act of eating can deepen bonds, this week we're examining the difference between mass appeal and individual experience

Enjin's ramen, made with refined technique, is "objectively" good food that pretty much anyone will say is tasty, but aside from the opportunity for custom orders like "extra toppings" or "light on the X," the overall dish is always the same. Without any direct input, Enjin will always produce the same meal, with the expectation that it's so high quality that no one could possibly dislike it. This approach is not necessarily wrong, as consistency is an important factor in food service, but it does mean that if there's any one factor that any one customer doesn't like, they won't end up enjoying it because it doesn't match with their personal taste

It's kind of like if a manga starts out with one of the main leads sexually harassing the other. Sure, the manga as a whole may be great, possibly even the best among its contemporaries, but some people just aren't going to be able to get past that initial bad taste in their mouth. No matter how good the end product is, someone is going to slip through the cracks

Someone isn't going to be able to stand how hot the broth is, someone isn't going to like the mushrooms or the bamboo shoots, and someone isn't going to appreciate seeing a girl get groped by a man whose dick is flopping in the wind. This is an unavoidable truth in the creative process: there is no such thing as perfect. There will always be flaws, and there will always be detractors, but there will also always be fans willing to stand by the art and declare that it's their absolute favorite

This is where Fuuko's ramen comes in: even if only two people out of...what, fifty people(?) liked it, what matters is that the person it was meant for liked it. The point was to show Enjin that no amount of refinement would be able to capture everyone's hearts, but any amount of consideration would capture the heart of the one person it's meant to. Luckily there was another person present who fit in that same niche to drive the point home, but even without that child, I think Enjin would have gotten the point

When it comes to art, you sometimes need to ignore the instinct to try to appeal to anyone and instead focus on creating the thing that you want, the thing that will make you happy. You will run the risk of alienating basically everyone, but by being honest and forthright in how you express yourself, you'll eventually find someone who your work truly resonates with

Fuuko's touch-starved isolation, Andy's hedonistic depression, Billy's stoic responsibility, Rip's dual loves...these aren't things that everyone can relate to, even if they can sympathize. But to someone who feels isolated, who tries to fight against crushing despair with a plastered smile, who bears the weight of the world on their shoulders, or knows what it's like to love more than others say they should, these things will all ring true, and make that reader feel like someone, somewhere finally understands, like someone said all the things they wish they could if they only had the talent or the time

To me, this chapter isn't about cooking, it's about the act of creation. It's about the act of sharing your soul with the world around you and knowing that you resonated with even just one person, and knowing that that one person's world has changed for the better. It's about the act of receiving a piece of someone and being able to smile back at them, telling them that the message has been received

Maybe this won't be what anyone else sees. Maybe this chapter will come across as lukewarm to somebody, maybe even to most people. Maybe it was mediocre at best to someone and they'd prefer something with a bit more of a kick. But someone, maybe just one person, was able to really sink their teeth into this one and savor all of the ingredients, the love and the care that went into creating this piece. Someone was moved to tears, and someone looks at the world just a little differently now thanks to this chapter

Until next time, let's enjoy life

[theminecraftbee]

as someone who is also interested in making a persona au but is struggling, how do you decide on the more persona specific stuff? like, how do you decide on stuff like who’s which social link, what personas they have, costumes (if they have any in your au) and stuff like that? it’d be nice to hear about someone else’s thought process;;

SO! starting with general advice that will apply even outside of persona aus: the thing is that none of the assignments will ever be perfect. the inherent nature of ANY au like this is that different people will have different character opinions; for example, i'm sure there are people vehemently think my social link assignments should be different! and that's fine; your goal isn't "perfect, immutable fit", your goal is "it fits to the story i'm trying to tell". like, in general,

with that ALSO said: you shouldn't try to shove characters perfectly into roles from other things, either. two different characters will have two different reactions to Situations, and you should take advantage of that, too! it's like... the role you give a character WILL shape them, but the character will shape that role, too.

with that out of the way: specific persona au thoughts!

first, you are going to want to decide who your team will eventually be; persona squads normally start out with around three guys and end up at seven or eight (with the eighth man often being an odd-one-out). I went “the cherry blossom hill gang” in my au, which was easy, but you may have less simple ideas there! also keep in mind that you will, at least, have protagonist/healer/physical damage/magical damage as the four “basic” in-game archetypes, with persona also typically having a “balanced” guy who does both, a status setter, an instakill guy, and a party buffs guy, spread across its guys. so if that helps you here, excellent! you will also need at least one of the main party to be a navigator.

you will also want some idea of the “themes” of your au because it’ll help you out deciding personas and social links, plus a little plot.

so, first: each persona game has a “theme” for the main party personas. 3 is all greek legendary figures that evolve to greek gods (with lucia prior to ultimate personas breaking theme, and kala-nemi and messiah breaking theme with the ultimate personas). 4 is all japanese gods that evolve to another name of those same gods (with chie breaking theme in that her ultimate persona has nothing to do with her original one). 5 is all legendary rogues/thieves that evolve to trickster gods (with necronomicon breaking theme and frankly milady is a STRETCH for the starter personas, and astarte and anat being questionable for the ultimates). as the like… MANY caveats show, you don’t have to be perfectly on-theme, but having a theme at least in mind helps a lot with picking what persona everyone gets by narrowing the pool! for my au, is went “famous lovers”, since a major “theme” of my au is “isolation versus bonds”. however, you don’t have to stick to something with thematic relevance, you just want something that helps tie everyone together a little bit.

as for weapons, what elements they attack with, what their party role is like: that’s a personality call, you know? and don’t be afraid to get a little weird with it, we aren’t atlus, we CAN break character archetype.

as for social links: that’s indeed tricky! it can help to remember you don’t ACTUALLY need to come up with 22. the world/the universe is ALWAYS only the protagonists final persona. the fool is ALWAYS a plot-driven social link that effectively represents “the protagonist’s relationship with the plot”, with p3/4 making that the team, and p5 making that igor. judgement is ALWAYS a plot-driven social link that represents the protagonist at the end of their journey; in p3/4 it’s the team at the end of the plot once they know their true purpose, and in p5 it’s sae nijima as she interrogates the protagonist. so that cuts out three arcana already to be set aside as “this is for the plot”.

next, while I know this isn’t true of p3, it makes sense from our own writing perspective where our story is NOT constrained by “gameplay dictates a social link can happen at any time” to make each member of the team a social link. fill out the rest with additional canon characters.

but how to decide which character goes in which link? helpfully, this is persona: it tends to have a little less to do with personality and more to do with storyline. you can go by “what character fits the tarot symbolism best”—doc as the tower, jimmy as the hanged man—or “what character fits the normal persona character archetype for this arcana”—skizz as chariot, mumbo as moon. you can also go for a mix! if you don’t KNOW what kind of character normally fills an archetype, the megami tensei wiki has pages for each arcana that describes the typical character archetype that goes there. you can also break type as needed—joe is hermit in my au despite “hermit” not really being his persona character archetype for very specific plot/tarot reasons, for example, and impulse is emperor, but is breaking persona type by being a healer rather than a heavy physical attacker. it’s your au, have fun with it!

also, ultimately, know that because it’s your au to have fun with, if you DON’T have fun giving everyone an arcana, just pick out the ones that are relevant to the part you’re writing and ignore the rest until they come up. this is my tactic for worldbuilding in like half the aus I write it hasn’t steered me wrong yet.

good luck! I hope this helped!

[lord-squiggletits]

I may shit on Barber for his many, many shortcomings when writing for IDW1, but holy shit at least he had the balls and the imagination to give Optimus a story in which the entire hero mythos around him was deconstructed and Optimus got to do mean, messed up things without ever being out of character or losing his core traits of being a good person at heart. It's a shame that the message the fandom got out of that was "oh so IDW OP is a horrible person and the shittiest Optimus to ever live who should be forgotten in a dump" instead of appreciating the genius and thematic consistency of that concept with the rest of IDW1.

But it really is just bc of childishness honestly. When MTMTE/LL said "the Primacy isn't perfect and the Matrix isn't special, people destroy themselves and others trying to be good enough for a perfect legacy that doesn't exist, anyone can wield it with enough self confidence" people loved it because it was wholesome and uplifting and all the protagonists got to work together and be friends for the rest of time.

But I guess you take the same moral of the story and go "here, let's put it in a plot more fitting Optimus who's a political figure actively trying to fight a war and stop various attempts at colonization/genocide" and suddenly OP is a bastard and the worst? Yeah of course Optimus does a "worse job" than Rodimus, he was having to deal with entire fucking planets' worth of governments and trying to stop thousands if not millions of people from dying. Of course the stakes are higher, of course Optimus fucks up more, of course the consequences of him fucking up are much worse. But just because the narrative of Optimus' half of the story is darker and more focused on Optimus' flaws as a person doesn't therefore mean that Optimus is a horrible person or that the context that made him do what he did shouldn't be taken into account.

[trainsinanime]

The Movie - The Bad Parts

Based on discussions with @emsylcatac earlier today, let's talk about Miraculous Ladybug & Chat Noir - The Movie (also known as Miraculous Awakening), and specifically what sucks about it. I want to clarify that this post is meant to be unfair on purpose. It's all about complaining because complaining is fun! Overall I think the movie was perfectly fine, I had fun and I recommend watching it on a big screen because it is really pretty. This post is full of spoilers, and I'll put it in the queue for the 29th so people who watch on Netflix can see it then.

Let's get to it. There are a number of different directions from which you can criticise the movie. Too many fart jokes. Too many Volkswagen cars. Not enough metro trains. Uninspired songs. I'd like to pull it back a step, though, and ask fundamentally: What was the movie trying to do, you know, as a story? Because I don't think it knows.

About something

The movie has set itself a fairly difficult task, trying to fit a monster-of-the-week show into a single cohesive narrative. This isn't impossible, other superhero movies from Marvel and sometimes Sony and even the odd DC one do that all the time. They do that by finding a core story to tell about the people involved. Tony Stark goes from war profiteer to taking responsibility. Shang-Chi fled his father and must now face him. Jessica Jones faces her trauma. Kamala Khan must figure out who she wants to become and what it means to be a hero. Hawkeye must shoot an arrow out of a bow. Stuff like that.

As a show, Miraculous Ladybug doesn't really have that. Marinette isn't standing on the wrong side of a central dramatic argument and must learn to find and believe the correct answer. Her only real problem is that she isn't kissing Adrien right now. Similar things go for Adrien, who has plot attached to him, but not really any arc beyond going from not kissing Marinette to kissing Marinette. And that's perfectly fine for a show like that, there are plenty of arcs for each individual episode. And sometimes you don't even need that and can just save yourself with twenty minutes of being fun.

The movie is exactly like the show in this regard, and in my opinion, that's a mistake. Marinette is clumsy and afraid of being awesome, but that is just basic hero's journey stuff, that isn't a real character arc. Adrien doesn't have an arc at all. So really, there is nothing here, no theme, no arc. Stuff just happens. The stuff that happens is very adorable in my opinion, but most of it doesn't mean anything.

And really, that seems to be the main point of the movie: Have adorable stuff happen. There are a lot of great trailer moments, but then if you see how they fit together in the movie, well, they mostly don't. There are some cute Adrinette scenes, but they are just here to be cute, they don't actually matter. There's some excellent Ladynoir banter, but it doesn't actually change anything or tell us anything about the characters, it's just here.

The movie certainly pretends that there's an arc here. Marinette gets an "I want" song that tells us she's unhappy about being clumsy, and she'd like to design clothes. We have a bit of a hero's journey. We have a tiny bit of a conflict when Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug, but she can't be in love with him because she's in love with Adrien, and he reacts poorly to that (oh god, are we going to get Adrien discourse again? Please, anything but that!). We defeat the villain, and Marinette learns the "Miraculous Ladybug" healing power. It feels like an arc, but the things don't connect to each other in any thematic way.

And sure, the movie pretends there is a theme here, which is "we're stronger together". Except being together is not really that relevant for the conclusion, and besides, nobody ever said they weren't stronger together.

Weirdly enough, there is one character who gets an arc, which is Gabriel, who realises his mistakes when he sees that Chat Noir is his son. That's nice but comes a bit out of nowhere. And the way Adrien forgives him that easily also feels unearned to me. If you go strictly by which character learned the most and changed the most, you could technically argue that this is Gabriel's story more than anyone, which is just silly.

So it all feels a bit lifeless. Many subplots start and stop at random, and many scenes in between the trailer moments feel too short and lifeless.

The Changes

The other thing that feels weird is all the ways that the lore was changed. I'm totally okay with changing the lore to fit into the movie, but so many of the choices just feel less interesting.

Most crucially, when Marinette falls in love with Adrien in the show, it's the culmination of a mini-arc in which she was wrong about him, and he was bad at social interaction, which they resolve with a ritual umbrella exchange. That is really meaningful. In the movie, Marinette falls in love with Adrien because he's handsome and he asks her if she's alright after she drops some books. That's less interesting.

A smaller detail, but in my opinion even more important, are the Akuma villains. There's no doubt that the gargoyle looks great… but it's a random person who we don't know. We certainly didn't know Ivan that well at the end of season 1 either, but we had at least some connection to him. Most importantly, Marinette had a connection to him, and so her fear for this guy she knows felt real and important. That's gone here. Same for the other villains. They're all just some guys Hawkmoth found somewhere. They don't matter to us or to the heroes, they're just around. In their fight for great visuals, they made the story less interesting.

There are plenty of other examples where the show weirdly forgoes personal moments. The Adrinette montage, for example, is sweet, but it passes by way too quickly. And it's not like the movie didn't have the time, I mean, have you seen these fart jokes?

When it comes to the superhero fights, I am mostly stumped. The movie invented completely new rules, but these rules are for the most part not better or worse, just different. It feels like they feared they'd infringe someone's copyright, but doesn't Zag own the copyright? I think the lack of insane plans prompted by a lucky charm was a bit sad, but I wouldn't call it a dealbreaker.

The Music

I think the songs were alright, I'm just mentioning them here because I know others hated them. My main issue with them is that they felt so unmotivated. It felt like someone had said, "this is where a Disney movie would have a song, so we'll put one here as well".

The Ending

Cutting there? Come on. Not gonna lie, that part got a big groan at my cinema.

The Nachos

Mine didn't taste that great.

In Conclusion

I really should have written this Sunday or Saturday when my memory was still fresh. But I think you get the gist of it. It was a fun experience, but I think it squandered most of its opportunities. There were fun moments, but the connection between them wasn't really there. Most importantly, the movie just didn't really have any story to tell other than "that Ladybug one". But while that is a fine story to have as the premise of a show, it doesn't really work well for a single movie.

[magnetarbeam]

I think a lot about Star Wars technology as it relates to the stylistic schemes of the story, and what they can do with the technology compared to what it would be thematically fitting for us to see them do.

This isn't exactly something I've gone out of my way to research, but the impression I generally have is that in the time that the OT was coming out, the visuals were meant to be believable to the viewers at that time, with the technological frame of reference of the 1970s and 1980s, when people couldn't even fathom that we might one day have real-world datapads.

More recently, as technological accelerationism has increasingly taken hold in our society, I think the idea has become more "Star Wars is an interstellar society, so it doesn't make sense for them not to always use all the devices we invent to make our lives easier, and more."

And I don't think that's exactly right. As far as I can figure it, that civilization's frame of reference for these things is probably very different from ours. The Galactic Republic was founded 25053 years before the Battle of Yavin. They've had this same technological base far longer than even their longest-lived member species can remember. The galaxy has had far more than enough time to collectively realize what Earth hasn't, which is that a more complex system has more points of failure, and this shit is such old news to them that they're not excited by the idea of using it to make their lives easier, like we are.

Like, digital graphics displays for us get higher-resolution all the time just because we can. Those same displays in Star Wars look like garbage to us because they don't need that level of detail to serve their purpose.

I have absolutely no doubt that the people in that galaxy could make an Alexa or what have you. But if those people were presented with the idea, I think instead of "Ooo, it makes things easier because I can talk to it from anywhere," their first thought, as a collective cultural outlook, would be "I can do those same things perfectly fine by walking over to a computer and doing it myself."

[fainthedcherry]

ALSO; Here's ANOTHER piece I forgot to post, but was really excited to post. Yeeeah it doesn't get better with my inconsistency and forgetfulness, I know, it's only getting worse haha.

THIS IS A COMMISSION THIS TIME, for my friend Hollowed-Hartlocke on DA and TH!!

Owloette and this outdated, redesigned version of Hoodude belongs to Hollowed-Hartlocke design wise,

Chiri belongs to me (she's in the BG by request of Hart)

Vanilly Hoodude Voodoo belongs to Mattel, and so does Heath Burns (to the right of the drawing.) ((The outfit is not official, I made a random outfit design to fit thematically))

Thank you SO SO much for believing in me, being so patient for me for so many years now!! I am so happy, that you were the first person, to actually pay me in IRL money, what an honour, that my friend is so nice to me man. 🥺💖

Yes, a commission! In this modern day, can you believe it? I've yet to finish 2 more comms, I hope to finish them this year, honest to god. It's so hard to get a grip on some responsibilities, as I gotta figure stuff out appointment-wise with my driver's exams, psychologist-stuff abt my diagnosis still, and ofc, deal with the fact, that I gotta babysit my coworkers (not exaggerating, I keep being bugged on my weekends about my coworkers over some random annoying stuff they didn't wanna do under the normal work-week), and continue to study for tests and finish a presentation until next week.

^As you can tell, it's a bit stressful lately, which is why I had difficulty drawing at home, getting out of bed, to add with cramps post-work, hip- and knee pain in my bones, migraines. it all stacks up, and it doesn't help, that I lately had a spike in my ADHD seemingly acting up again. Been unable to concentrate, been getting overwhelmed, been having some EXTREME time-blindness. It's a bit hard with life lately. :")

It probably makes sense, why I was absent for a good bit. I ache a lot physically, and mentally lately and just. A. LIFE. I DO NOT LIKE IT. BUT MUST SURVIVE IT.

I again, tried something different with the lighting here, being a more direct-light source! I tried to make the lights look harsher, and I think this isn't too bad! Again, in hindsight of 2024, months later, shoulda proooobs made the shading sharper in appearance, still looks too soft, for direct-light hitting this floppy fellow. And also, added a drop-shadow for Heath near the lighting. Dear god, I wish I wouldn't make so many mistakes aaaa.

But oh well, that's what passage of time is, growing up, sucking up mistakes, trying to rid of your perfectionism.

[cursedvibes]

Firstly, thanks for sharing the time period on JJK, it's really helpful. Also, do you mind if I ask a few things?

1.) In Hidden Inventory arc, is it a lie when it said Tengen need Amanai Riko? If it's yes, do they only want Riko to be dead?

2.) When Yuuji ate the finger for the first time, Sukuna is surprised cause he can supress him, did he already supect the connection to Kenjaku?

3.) "It's actually beyond thematically fitting that the antagonist (Kenjaku) who's been sneaking around in the shadows concocting his master plan for centuries got hit with the ultimate sneak move after letting his guard down and having fun for the first time in a thousand years." Do you agree with this statement? Is it true, that Kenjaku really don't suspect Takaba at all?

Sorry again, if my questions are kinda stupid, thanks if you want to answer....

Glad my timeline was helpful :) And your questions are very interesting, don't worry.

1.) Tengen does need Riko if she wants to keep her human appearance and consciousness. She can slow down her evolving process by using barrier techniques, but she can't fully stop it or reset it like what absorbing the Star Plasma Vessel would do. By that point Tengen seemed less invested in her survival/keeping her humanity than the last times the merger happened though, since when talking to Yuki she has a very "what happens happens" attitude towards it. If Riko had been successfully delivered to her, she would've likely merged, but since that didn't happen she only seemed interested in seeing how long she could hold on because especially when Gojo wasn't around anymore, it was pretty obvious that Kenjaku would eventually succeed in getting to her and absorbing her.

2.) I don't think so, at least not immediately after Yuuji ate the first finger. We don't know what kind of binding vow Kenjaku and Sukuna made, but Kenjaku likely promised Sukuna to see to his revival in a thousand years. When Yuuji started eating more fingers and was still able to suppress him is probably when Sukuna figured out what was up and he started coming up with the plan of swapping over to Megumi to be free. So by the time Yuuji died for the first time and he and Sukuna made their binding vow, Sukuna probably had a pretty big suspicion that Kenjaku was somehow involved in making Yuuji such a sturdy vessel.

3.) Eh, I wouldn't exactly call it the "ultimate sneak move", but the whole letting their guard down and that being their downfall/possible death is very appropriate. The scope isn't quite the same, I don't think you can compare this one plan to Kenjaku's entire life philosophy, but it is similar to what they did to Gojo for example. Except Gojo wasn't distracted for that long and in his case it relied more on shock than long-term personal investment. There is also much more of a connection there between Kenjaku, Geto and Gojo (everything from Geto's death onwards and even Kenjaku's history with the six eyes leading up to this) than between Kenjaku and Yuuta. Angel was the one who actually came up with the plan, but we still know very little about her and Kenjaku, just that she doesn't have a problem with them in general, but the merger with Tengen seems to go too far for her (at least I assume that's why she's helping the team take down Kenjaku). She isn't really much of a puppetmaster, she's far too direct and bloodthirsty for that usually. Still, she's at least a better counterpart to Kenjaku than Yuuta. I'd say compared to Gojo's sealing for example everything outside of Kenjaku and Takaba's connection feels very half-assed. Sure, it's "sneaky", but for a big thematic payoff I expect more. Again, Takaba's part about Kenjaku giving in to emotional vulnerability they tried to suppress seemingly their entire life is very well done, everything else not so much.

As for if Kenjaku suspected Takaba, they absolutely did. The moment he shows up Kenjaku knows that the protagonist team send him, they just can't understand why they chose him of all people and what his purpose is. They are also very aware what effect he has on them, both through his cursed technique and just general attitude. That didn't help though because in the end Kenjaku still got lost in the comedy show they were doing together. They were pushing back against it before, but while they were on stage is when they really gave into Takaba's spiel and got distracted. When asking Yuuta about the plan, Kenjaku also accepts what happened very quickly, since that was the suspicion they were having during the entire fight and they were proven right. Only that it happened after they already allowed themselves a moment of weakness.

While being beheaded Kenjaku figures out what went wrong. The wording in Japanese is ambiguous, there is no pronoun here, so it's hard to tell if Kenjaku says they didn't want the interruption or if Takaba did. Personally, I think it was a mix of both. Takaba's cursed technique cut Kenjaku's connection to their sensor curses (I assume he did that unconsciously to not be interrupted and because he wanted Kenjaku's full attention) and Kenjaku was too caught up in their show to notice. So Kenjaku did suspect Takaba had ulterior motives or was working for the protag team during the entire fight, but they had too much fun with him and that resulted in that moment of carelessness that was used against them.

[yuriswitch]

can't stop thinking about the upcoming Madoka movie and how the trailer goes out of its way to imply a very specific tragic ending. On one hand I'm scared shitless, but on another there's something that just makes me doubt it'll simply go where the symbolism says it will. Not just because Madoka as a whole - and not just the Incubators - is deceptive at its core, but also because every other ending was a sudden flip of the situation at the center of the plot. In the original it's the miraculous rewrite of the universe saving Homura from despair, which was then recontextualized as a temporary and minor victory at best, given that Madoka has to sacrifice her mental health for the sake of everyone else's, forever, and the Incubators can always figure out what's going on and how to revert to the most profitable universe.

This meant that Homura had to do something, and once she realized that they'll keep trying to undo the changes even if she kills every single one of them in the barrier, she came up with a new plan and executed the first step of it by suddenly rewriting the universe again, so if this is anything to go by, as well as the marketing claiming that the movie is a "new beginning" rather than the final battle or something, the Incubators will manipulate everyone into fighting against each other and almost create a tragedy using Homura or Madoka's hands. Which will then be upturned again by another miraculous rewrite, yet again not really solving the issue, but not screwing things in the worst way forever either.

The reason why this makes more sense to me is likely because of the role the Incubators play as the general allegory of systemic issues that is supposed to be applied everywhere it fits, including our economic overlord - capitalism. So since the system they created is at the center of everything that happens in the story, it only makes sense that actually ending it would mean addressing that key issue in one way or another, which Kaiten isn't trying to do, as far as I can tell anyway.

Whether I'm right and how long it might take for the girls to unite and find the solution is still a mystery, but either way it certainly seems much more sensible than simply drowning the audience in a more extreme repeat of how Rebellion felt (rather than what it thematically was).

Ultimately, the crux of the issue lies in the difference between a sequence of events and a story, with the latter being everything that the structure, content and presentation of the former says about the topic at hand. It's about the conversation, not just the plot threads. This means, that since the original presented a problem of exploitation and oppression, the story won't truly be over until the origin, moral implications and solution to the aforementioned is found by the characters.

In Madoka, all of this centers around Kyuubey's powers, so regardless of the events themselves, the thematic conversation won't be complete without presenting some means of taking away the Incubators' ability to do their evil deeds, irreversibly and forever. This is, of course, my understanding, but it's not a given that I'm wrong.

So to wrap up, things don't look particularly well, but I guess there's no reason to give up all hope yet

/Kafuka

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi there!

Any tips on developing theme? Can there be more than one theme in a novel-length story? How many themes are too many?

Thank you <3

Identifying and Developing Your Story's Themes

Theme can be found in story in two different ways: the central topics your story revolves around (thematic concepts) and the messaging your story delivers about those topics (thematic statements.)

The very nature of writing about characters with pasts, relationships, internal and external conflicts, and goals means that some themes will be organic to the story. For example, if your character happens to be an orphan raised by a magical couple, but who is now looking for their true identity/home, themes like belonging, family, and coming of age will be present naturally.

To identify your story's themes, it helps to look up a list (or several) of literary themes to get an idea of what kinds of things you're looking for. Then, take a close look at your protagonist and other main characters--along with the situations they're dealing with both internally and externally--and see which themes jump out at you. You might notice that some themes apply to multiple characters and/or situations, and these would be your story's main/most important themes.

To develop your story's themes, you'll want to look at those main themes and the characters/situations they apply to, then see if you can follow that thread through the story. If any of the threads disappear, see if you can pick them back up again and carry them through the story. See where they can intersect or merge. Sometimes this might mean finding clever ways to explore that theme. For example, maybe once the orphan character has ended up in a place where they've found belonging, maybe they meet someone else who's struggling to belong in a different way... such as at work or at school, or maybe in their relationship. You don't have to dive too deeply into this unless it makes sense for the character and story, but just exploring it a little bit can help highlight the them and give you another opportunity to say something about it or hold it up in comparison to the protagonist or other main character.

You might also find some themes that are sort of there... they want to be there... and you might decide to tease them out. You might even want to explore a specific theme that isn't natural to your story, which will require you to figure out how to fit it into the narrative in a way that feels natural. Ultimately, you want to be careful about forcing things or shoehorning it in. If you can find natural jumping off points within the existing story where the theme compliments existing themes or whatever is going on in the story, that's ideal. Otherwise, if you find yourself having to bend the existing story to fit the theme--or even creating new but otherwise unimportant characters, situations, or scenes--just to explore the theme, that would be a situation where you probably want to take a step back and ask whether this theme works for this story, or maybe you wait to explore it in another one.

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I've been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I've learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[moongothic]

Lowkey wondering what kind of a dragon Link would turn into if he was draconified... Like not just the appearance*, but also like... a dragon of what?

*(Probably similar to Zelda but like, an etherial green and gold? Different horns probably too? But shape and size similar to Zelda, since Ganondorf's dragon was An Absolute Unit much like he was in his human form, while the elemental dragons seem like they might've been zonai based on some facial structure and size??)

Like my immidiate reaction was to be like, oh, Link'd be the dragon of courage but that's actually not like, "an element". The OG BOTW dragons are of course elemental dragons, two of whom even match some sages in their powers, three if you want ice to count as water. Meanwhile Ganondorf turned into "The Demon Dragon" ("Black Dragon" in the original japanese), a dragon of darkness that matches his dark ambitions in contrast to Zelda's Light Dragon. Light, of course, being one of Zelda's two powers, the other being her sage power of time. So like, to be fair, it's not like sage power = dragonification theme, but there's an argument to be made that whatever power a Secret Stone could amplify, that would probably also end up being someone's Dragon Theme. (It's just that the Time Dragon would not have been able to imbue the Master Sword with the power to vanquish darkness the way the power of light could, and Zelda did just happen to have two power options)

The point being, just like Ganondorf didn't turn into the Power Dragon and Zelda didn't turn into the Wisdom Dragon, while Courage is what Link is traditionally associated with, it doesn't quite match the theming the dragons have going with them right now. So if you wanted to figure out what kind of a dragon Link would turn into, you might want to start by trying to figuring out what kind of a sage he would be.

And oh jeez, isn't it funny how we just happen to have one more sage power in the game, one that didn't get passed down to the new generation of sages, one that could thematically fit perfectly amongst the other dragons and one that just happens to match a description of Hyrule's most beloved knight? The Hero with an Unbreakable Spirit?

Genuinely, when I did Mineru's quest in the game, for a moment I truly believed Link would become the Sage of Spirit. And you know. If Link would turn into the Spirit Dragon, it'd just make sense to me.

Like Link is very explicitly stated to be sensitive to spirits in BOTW and TOTK to begin with, him being one of the very few who can see and speak to:

The Deku Tree and Koroks

See the Dragons

Speak with the Goddess and Bargainer Statues

And the Horned Statue too!

We don't know if most people can see poes in TOTK but Link not only can but he can also collect the lost spirits of the dead

Link is also very much described as being like, in-touch with nature (or nature spirits if you'd like), getting along with animals really well. Also, minor note but the Big Satori in BOTW was described as having been a sage in the past who may have reincarnated and turned into the Satori to protect nature etc. Not to mention the Ancient Satori Armor you can get from Koltin in TOTK that just happens to be the perfect size for Link, as if it was made for him to wear (as Koltin notes in surprise). Like I'm not saying the Big Satori is a past Spirit Sage Link who transformed/reincarnated as a Satori, the evidence to suggest that is thin at best, but the idea is facinating if nothing else, and would further connect Link with the Spirit element further. So honestly, at this point the only question that remains is that, if Link somehow had inherited Mineru's Spirit Stone from her, what kind of power would Link have obtained from it? Like how would it have amplified his pre-existing powers, if he didn't seem to have anything special going on before (beyond having the Master Sword)?

Like you could just assume it'd grant him the same power as Mineru, being able to separate his soul from his body, but aside from that not really being a useful gameplay mechanic in TOTK in particular, it's not like he'd HAVE to inherit Mineru's ability. Like in many ways, BOTW's four champions were the sages of their era, just without Secret Stones for extra power. In fact, some of them have the exact same powers as the next generation would, Riju's Thunder is pretty much the exct same as Urbosa's, she just lacks the control Urbosa had. Tulin's wind is the same as Revali's, just in a different direction, Yunobo did have Daruk's Shield in BOTW, it just seems like he learned a unique way to use the power. The only major difference is Mipha and Sidon, Mipha having her rare and unique healing power while Sidon has control over water in general (that he just specifically turns into a shield+attack when borrowing it to Link). So between the other peoples of Hyrule having certain elemental powers, but those not always being the exact same even amongst them, and Link not being a zonai (Ancient Hero garb possibly suggesting otherwise aside (like he'd be a fraction of a zonai at best at this point in history))... Yeah, he wouldn't have to inherit Mineru's power at all

But the question still remains, what would his power then be?

And I guess... Like Hylia chose Link as her Hero because he has an unbreakable spirit, he is an unstoppable force, he will do anything to save Zelda and will not quit until he succeeds.

And like, the only way I can imagine that concept being turned into a gameplay mechanic is... a fairy. A Mipha's Prayer. An Undertale "But It Refused" moment.

Him refusing to die because he can't until Zelda is saved. I think that'd be his Sage of Spirit-power.

Anyway, this got extremely side-tracked, Link would be the Spirit Dragon and you can't change my mind byyeeeeee

[animebw]

Short Reflection: Gridman Universe

In some respects, Gridman Universe was nothing like the movie I expected it to be. I came in prepared for a multiversal mashup or Trigger's series of high-concept sentai reimaginings, and that's definitely what I got. But I also got something a lot weirder and wilder, a movie that in many ways is trying to be a definitive statement on the nature of Gridman itself. It's a film deeply obsessed with its own concept and place in the world, not simply as a means of reference-pandering for longtime sentai fans but as an examination of what it even means to exist as a story like this to exist and have meaning and let meaning be taken from it that may not even be there. And yet at the same time, it's also a big goofy crossover that feels like playing with all the toys in your toybox at once without caring much about making it all make sense because isn't the point of having fun to just, you know, have fun?

Which seems only fitting. Gridman and Dynazenon have been one of the most conceptually bizarre undertakings in Trigger's history, marrying the Saturday morning cartoon spirit of Ultraman with more existential, metaphysical themes and an eclectic directing style that feels more like a proper successor to Evangelion than anything else besides the Rebuilds. It's simultaneously pretentiously highbrow and shamelessly lowbrow, while also being just kind of unapologetically normiecore somewhere in the middle with how it depicts the awkward mundanity of normal life juxtaposed with mecha-on-kaiju action and universe-reshaping cosmic high concepts. It's a bizarre concoction that by all rights shouldn't work, and yet it does? Somehow, director Akira Amemiya has figured out how to make all these disparate tones sing together in harmony, and the result has been one of anime's most singular voices in the modern era. And this movie is just that on the biggest scale imaginable, throwing all restrictions to the wind and seeing just how far it can push this absurd, experimental niche it's carved for itself.

At least on paper, the plot is simple. Gridman protagonist Yuta Hibiki is working up the courage to ask out his crush Rikka Takarada, but that's all thrown into chaos when kaiju once again start appearing in his world. It soon becomes clear that some unknown threat is starting to merge universes together, leading to the cast of Dynazenon crashing into Gridman's world and kaiju going on the rampage. So the two groups must put their giant robots together- both metaphorically and literally- to face down the new threat and put the universe back in order. It's an extremely by-the-numbers setup for a crossover movie... at least until we get into the back half and reveal the nature of what's actually happening. And then things get so high-concept and reality bending that it's honestly kind of funny. I won't spoil the reveal of what's actually going on cause it's worth discovering yourself, but suffice to say, not only does it answer a lot of long-standing questions about the nature of this world in the trippiest way possible, it also sets up Gridman Universe as an answer to the question of its own existence.

See, in many ways, the mismatch at the heart of Gridman's aesthetics is the entire thematic point it's trying to make. Why redo a simple, straightforward sentai show as something so weighty and almost intellectual in its presentation? Why attach so much existentialism and cinematic complexity to something that's still, at heart, about punching big monsters in the face? Or, more broadly, why do we, as people, seek to draw meaning from art, even art as simple as giant robots fighting Godzilla? These questions may have been floating in the background of both TV shows, but they are the driving force of Gridman Universe. There are multiple times when characters will comment on the nature of Gridman, as a character, as a concept, as an idea, as an active force with a tangible effect on the world. The ultimate reveal of what's going on entirely rests on pushing this question to its logical extreme. It's simultaneously a celebration, interrogation, and deconstruction of the lizard-brain desire for popcorn entertainment and our ability to read deeper meanings where they may not actually exist, and whether or not it matters what a piece of art "intended" as long as you found something powerful in it.

There are so many ways a metatextual metaphor this tangled and self-fellating should have fallen apart. And yet, once again, by some magic, it all makes sense. Yes, the movie seems to say, Gridman is all these things. It's absurd rock-em sock-em action that speaks to your inner child, and it's weird-ass mind-bending sci-fi, and it's genuinely grounded naturalism that perfectly captures that particular teenage mindset of half-sleeping your way through life as you figure your shit out trying to put the world's bigger, more existential questions out of mind because hay, kaiju or not, you've still got college exams to worry about, right? It's all of these things at once, and it has a right to be all of these things at once, and you have the right to find power in them no matter how silly it may seem on the outside. And it justifies it all by once again just doing it all really, really fucking well. It's a bizarre, purposefully overthought stream of consciousness that's all about the importance of letting ourselves overthink the stories we love, putting our own meaning into them and forging our own relationship with them to better understand ourselves as individuals and a collective. It's an argument for art as an active conversation, even with something as simple and silly as this.

And yet, there's a problem.

See, while this movie is billed as a Gridman x Dynazenon crossover, it's really more of a Gridman movie. The title Gridman Universe is not an accident: this movie is centered on Gridman and its cast of characters first and foremost, with the Dynazenon crew mostly playing backup and hanging around for some character banter. Yomogi, Yume, Gauma, and all the rest are bit players meant to spice of a narrative that's all about Hibiki and his desire to go steady with Rikka. And unfortunately, this ends up confirming something I've believed ever since this series started:

The main cast of Gridamn is the single most boring aspect of this entire Gridman experiment.

Look, I'm sorry, but Hibiki sucks. He's an utter void of character and personality, as blank a blank slate as you can possibly get. Even your average isekai potato-kun tends to come off as smug and self-satisfied thanks to the power fantasy that guides the author's writing process, and while that's definitely obnoxious, it's at least something. But Hibiki's entire existence in both the show and movie is little more than taking in information, making bland observations, and spouting generic hero motivations whenever it's time for an action scene to happen. And you could maybe justify that in the show because he's technically a dormant passenger in his own body for most of that, but now that he's back to normal in the movie, it's painfully clear that the central figure around which this entire franchise revolves is little more than featureless white noise.

And that only becomes clearer when contrasted against the Dynazenon crew. I had my issues with Dynazenon- much weaker villains, no real standout moments- but the reason I ultimately prefer it to Gridman is because everyone in its cast is full of life and personality. They're all still awkward, mumblecore teenagers for the most part, but they're believably awkward, mumblecore teenagers who come by their personalities with purpose and meaning. So you've got Hibiki and his pals bumming around not being much of anything while the script insists on putting all the focus on them, while you've got this much more interesting crew running circles around them in basically every interaction they have. Seriously, every second Yomogi is on screen is basically walking proof of how to write a "generic" protagonist well in contrast to Hibiki's extreme nothingburger of an existence. Yes, Akane Shinjou was a spectacular character, but it's clear that Gridman put all its writing chops into her and no one else, but Dynazenon spread it out evenly. And now that she's gone, there's nothing left to distract from how much the people at the core of this narrative just don't measure up to their much more interesting backup singers.

And that's not even going into the "romance" that's supposed to be the emotional center of this whole affair. Hibiki and Rikka's love story is one of the most generic "boy pines after girl until she falls for him" plots I've seen in a long time. The fact it's merely boring instead of actively painful is wholly thanks to how damn good both their voice actors are at selling the scenes between them; whatever chemistry these two have is wholly thanks to how good Yuuya Hirose and Yume Miyamoto are at playing believably low-key teenagers navigating the liminal space of a changing relationship. But the writing just gives them nothing to play off of, and it never feels like anything more than a one-sided crush on Hibiki's end, which makes Rikka's eventual reciprocation feel wholly unjustified. Which only stands out more in contrast with Yomogi and Yume's utterly natural couple dynamic and- hilariously- Rikka's own unresolved feelings for Akane. Yes, the most blatant queerbait this side of Kumirei makes another brief appearance in this movie, and the brief twenty seconds it takes up have more believable chemistry, intimacy, and yearning to be together than the entire rest of the movie trying to sell you on the watered-down heterosexual alternative. Talk about an unforced error.

Ultimately, Gridman Universe is at its best when it embraces the philosophy at its core. As a showcase of everything worthwhile about this franchise- the believable teenage moodiness, the overturned-toybox action sensibilities, the willingness to go trippy and weird and artistically ambitious- it's as good as this franchise has even been. As an argument for being such a bizarre mishmash in the first place, it's the stuff of high concept metafictional wet dreams. But if it wanted to be a true masterpiece, it needed to tie all those wonderful elements to a central narrative and a main protagonist that were actually worth a damn. Yes, we can find meaning in even the silliest of stories, but we can just as easily find even the most ambitious experiments lacking. And until Gridman figures out how to make its main cast even half as interesting as their spinoff bretheren, then this story's ability to reach me will always remain a half-measure. For that, I give Gridman Universe a score of:

6.5/10

Man, it feels good to be home again. Hopefully I'll find the energy to start watching more anime now that I'm on vacation. Fingers crossed!

[taffingspy]

AU summaries woo

Betrayal AU - there are no voices, only sliske. tldr it's a "what if" of if sliske had been there all along as a curse on the WG's soul. Main themes are of agency and what it means to be treated as a pawn.

Sparked from a conversation I had with a friend back when city of senntisten released: that being, the only individual the player could thoroughly trust during the EGWD saga were the voices, due to the fact that they were the only logical thing with the WG's interests in mind. So, in betrayal AU, Florin is put in a position where the only being he could logically trust is Sliske.

Sliske, of course, manipulates the heck out him. The title comes from his repeated point that the people around Florin only see him as an asset and a tool, and will betray him at the drop of a hat. Sliske isn't even wrong.

The enchantment still exists. It requires both Florin and Sliske for it to funcionally work, hence why sliske is there. It also requires both of their souls to work properly -- they must sacrifice themselves to create the edicts.

Florin (and basically everyone, including the other guardians of guthix) is left in the dark about the sacrifice until the final moments, where in sliske (who had figured it out) reveals that point. "soul" is used as a loose term here since sliske doesn't have one, but anima is anima and it might as well be him.

Sliske intended to sacrifice Florin's soul, and Florin is heartbroken, having not fully come to realise Sliske's manipulation of him. He begged for one last kiss, which Sliske, amused, obliged, but Florin split their souls while he's distracted and sacrifices him - regardless of feelings, Florin refused to be Guthix's pawn in these final moments

I had a few other alternative ideas that don't fit Florin but might as well leave here anyway

Romantic end - Sliske intended to sacrifice the WG's soul and steal their body, but had a change of heart last moment, and splits their souls to sacrifice only his own.

Fight end - There's no positive feelings. Sliske wants to steal the WG's place, and the WG fights back, splitting their souls and sacrificing him.

Either way, thematically it's just really nice if sliske ends the WG era as he started it so. The edicts are rebuilt, but in a highly unstable state. Gods can remain on gielinor, but only in a depowered state, very similar to the maze in sliske's endgame. most of the gods leave for various personal reasons (mostly associated with power), except azzanadra because i realised part way through thinking about this that he is a pain in my ass and won't accept godhood if it slapped him in the face.

Generally speaking, I don't include moia or adrasteia much in this either. The themes of family greatly overshadowed the themes of agency, to the point of it being kinda hamfisted, but that's a personal point

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Soulsplit AU - Aka, the logical progression of a faulty edict ritual. soul literally torn apart at the end of betrayal, it leaves an open soul-wound that perpetually leaks. The main premise is "if you've fought everything, all that's left to fight is yourself", and tackling irrelevancy and what it means to protect the world (people) vs the world (planet).

After the EGW, the planet's anima remains unstable, with successive natural disasters such as famines, droughts, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, etc.

As Florin's soul is draining, all that's left in his body is remnants of the enchantment, creating a being called Guardian. Guardian's sole perogative is to care for the planet.

Icthlarin could track Florin's soul, but since gielinor is a god poison, he would just revert to being a regular dog again, and that's something he would best avoid, since as a dog he might not be conscious enough to remember to go back to the underworld after a while. (you could probably have a storyline that's exactly that premise too in this universe)

Instead, Death is forced to track, while icthlarin is forced to handle the dead alone. this gap in skill between them means souls are left on gielinor a little longer than they usually would, and the Guardian is free to mess with them.

Guardian intends to use souls to calm the anima of the planet, even if it means destroying them in the process.

tldr death, icthlarin, and Florin's adventurelings (Meg, Phillipe, and Violet) gather up Floein's soul pieces and reunite him with his body to calm the leftover guardian in his soul.

plenty of soul magic themes. Florin takes up necromancy at the end to learn more and hopefully make up for what guardian did.

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To make a god AU (aka tag team) - aka azzanadra won't leave and it's a fucking nuisance. No really that's the premise of the au. Other gods will leave, sure, whether for power or because they believe they can protect their people as gods, but azzanadra just. wouldn't. i really can't rationalise why he would, given godhood isnt something he cares for and he'd rather focus his worship on zaros.

so florin tries bringing back someone who might help azzandra see sense, except said someone is still very bitter about the whole death thing.

plenty of themes of grieving, whether past friendships, over who one has become, or navigating grief of someone who was ultimately bad for you.

tag team is more just a bit of fun for myself. it has a loose story for now, and maybe i'll work it out more, but hey ho

[inthe-neighbourhood]

Batfamily Fic Recs: Rare Dynamics Edition Pt2

go check out pt1 too if you like these <3

Misplaced By antrax

Words: 3,320 Chapters: 1/1 Rating: General Audience

Relationship: Duke Thomas & Damian Wayne

Summary:

After almost a year and a half, Duke still doesn't quite fit in with his new family and he can't figure out why. Or he can, but the answer is a tad complicated, and Damian is very, very blunt.

Review:

I like this fic a lot, in fandom you tend to see a romantized version of family, which isn't bad I love that, but this fanfic shows a realistic family while still feeling cozy and comfortable, like you really are in the kitchen, dressed down in pajamas, talking with your brother. Duke's feelings of liking Damian, but finding him annoying and still reassuring him is so sweet, and at the end I almost started crying by how sweet Damian is. I feel like these two would get along really well and this fic shows what I think their relationship would be like.

2. Hot Pocket Disaster by dandelioness666

Words: 4,063 Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Mature

Relationship: Duke Thomas & Jason Todd

Summary:

Jason slumps onto the couch. He pulls a knife out of his thigh-sheath and starts cutting off his undershirt, hissing when the tacky blood soaking through it tugs at his torn skin.

Steph collapses sideways across the cushions next to him and groans, “Literally, I am so bored right now. Does this safehouse have any games?”

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No need to read any other JTSG works to read this one! It just kind of thematically fits the vibe so I'm tossing it in with the rest. :)

Review:

I love fanfics between these two, there is so much potential for them to be close and so many possibilities for them. The way Jason trusts Duke feels so genuine and realistic considering their relationship, I also enjoyed the domestic nature of the beginning of the fic with the four of them in Dick's safehouse and the Doctor Who joke was pretty funny ngl.

3. Kryptonite By glitter_in_my_eyes

Words: 2,252 Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Relationship: Cassandra Cain & Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain & Timothy Drake, Cassandra Cain & Dick Grayson

Summary:

The one where Cass finds out she has a food allergy - the hard way...

Review:

It's a good example of what Cassandra's early dynamic would be with Dick and Tim, and it shows just how much Barbara cares for her which is always nice to see considering how close they are in the comics. Also the little reminiscence of her mindset from being with her dad in the way she thinks was a good addition.