#while the comedy and visuals were very nice

[an-android-in-a-tutu]

Been seeing a lot of takes like this and I appreciate where they're coming from, it's a good idea to be especially wary of excessive criticism aimed at things made by and for women but like. Yes you do see hot takes about Marvel, and the lego movie, and Batman films. To say this with your whole chest you have to spend zero time in leftist circles and pay zero attention to criticism of big blockbuster movies or just. Yknow. Lie to make your point.

More relevantly you see this specific thing happen whenever a big corporation makes flaccid listless gestures towards progressivism for the sake of their bottom line. Because the end result is always too toothless to have meaning for leftists while still being offensive enough to right wingers simply by virtue of having a lot of women or gay people or people of colour in it to have them frothing at the mouth. Sexist dudebros hating Barbie doesn't shield it from feminist critique, they were going to hate it whether it succeeded or failed but it can still fail.

And as nice as the big feminist speach in barbie is I have to wonder if its primary purpose is to actually uplift women so much as it is to shut down criticism of the movie and the brand. If even Barbie can't escape this criticism what hope is there for the rest of us, right? Except Barbie isn't a real woman, she's a plastic toy made in sweatshops by a brand attempting to rehabilitate a progressive image out of a long history of being criticized for its portrayal of women because that's what will boost sales. This movie is part of that, and pointing that out is important.

You don't need my or ayone's permission to enjoy the Barbie movie, if it was meaninful to you I'm genuinely happy for you, if you just thought it was fun and funny, great! But to act like the only reason to criticize the movie is sexism is glossing over some very real problems and like, straight up falling for the corporate propaganda. Yes every big blockbuster movie actually does get criticized bc they are political tools that serve the people in power. Not every big blockbuster is also being sold as a feminist masterpiece though, so you probably are gonna hear it more about Barbie. You'll also hear it more about Barbie bc people are hypercritical of women and that will motivate some critique, but to assume bad faith is to shut out conversations that need to happen.

[selkiecoded]

What isekai are you reading if you don’t mind me asking?

okay... but youre not allowed to make fun of me... its called "50 tea recipes from the duchess." korean woman gets fired, gets isekai'd into the body of a duchess who is timid to the point of patheticness and everybody fuckin hates her. is like uggghh well i dont care if im hated as long as i have my special interest: TEA. and with her autistic girl swag (label pending) she makes both the society and her cold intimidating husband love her. 70% of it is her infodumping about tea to the delight of everyone around her.

[skrifores]

I have seen the point being made that you don’t have to be in a romantic relationship for some behaviour to constitute domestic violence. I’m seeing this said with regards to Our Flag Means Death and what some people perceive as domestic abuse on Ed’s part - that him not being romantically involved with Izzy shouldn’t mean behaviour between can’t be considered domestic abuse.

It is an excellent point that in many places, the definition of domestic abuse isn’t restricted to intimate partners! It is often widened to consider any violence, coercion and emotional harm taking place within a home environment. Under this definition, children can be victims of domestic abuse by their parents, it can occur between siblings, even roommates - especially with a live-in landlord situation. And of course, the Revenge as well as being a workplace is ultimately where the characters live.

I think it’s very clear that the show is a workplace comedy about pirates, but if you want to apply the definition of violence, coercion and emotional harm within a home environment to your reading to the show, that can be done.

Of course, I would be surprised if you genuinely view it that way and still made it as far as even watching Season 2, given the way what you consider to be domestic abuse in this fictional setting happens so very often with little to no moral consequence, and is often intended to be taken as a joke.

I mean. In the very first episode, the crew talk about killing Stede, and begin to plan for this, including lighting him on fire.

Jim threatens Lucius and actually physically locks him in a small wooden box in the second episode for what seems to be quite a long time.

I think in 4, Izzy pulls on Fang’s beard and it really upsets him. He also talks pretty openly about the intention to kill the Revenge crew, though I’ll let that go at this stage since he doesn’t really live there so much as being there for the purpose of murdering them and stealing their stuff. Still, poor Fang, that looked like it hurt.

While we’re on Izzy, he does also actively try to kill Stede by stabbing him, and he then he goes and does the olde worlde equivalent of calling the cops on him on the intention of having him executed, which seems pretty fucked up on the ‘violence’ part of our DA definition but also hits pretty hard on coercive control since he’s doing this to get Ed to behave differently.

He does prevent the Navy from executing Ed, which is nice, but he does point out that he regrets this, which, ouch, emotional harm. If we’re doing real world definitions, “I should’ve let the cops I called on you murder you” is the sort of thing that would make me feel pretty fucked up. And we all know what it means when someone tells you to watch your step.

But it’s not all about Izzy! (It’s really not, guys, there’s a whole TV show here!) Buttons bites Lucius - who ends up needing the whole finger gone! And he’s a visual artist!

Even my darling man Roach tries to eat the Swede, and I’ve gotta say, I don’t think they were on that island long enough to justify murder.

And who could forget Mary?? Wonderfully written character, love her, but, she does with malice aforethought attempt to kill her spouse in his sleep with a skewer. She was right to do it, in my opinion, but y’know, even without broadening the definition beyond partner relationships, murder of your spouse is pretty classic domestic abuse.

So, y’know, the point I’m getting at really is that if your definition of domestic abuse is violence and control wherein the perpetrator and victim share a significant aspect of their lives like living space - that’s a fine definition in real life. It is the one I use, in real life. But if you apply it to Our Flag Means Death, I really don’t understand how you stomached watching the first season or why you came back for more.

And if you only apply this definition with regards to Ed’s behaviour, but not the rest of the characters, I do wonder why that might be.

[theselightsareblinding]

My top 15 BLs

Finally I consider I've watched enough bls to make a top of my all time favourites. This is my personal opinion and based on my enjoyment of the shows, not only their quality. Minor spoilers.

1. Not Me (Thailand 2021) 10⭐

My favourite bl and one of my favourite series in general. Everything is almost perfect, the acting, the plot, the characters, the pace, the visuals... Not only the main couple has great chemistry but the whole friend group does. They tried to raise a bit of awareness on important social issues and in my opinion they succeed, felt like dipping bit by bit into the water, the start of the journey for something more. It has so many iconic scenes I can't forget. And so thrilling it had me at the edge of my seat every sunday.

2. Bad Buddy (Thailand 2021) 10⭐

Another almost perfect series. The pacing is the best I've seen, everything fits together smoothly, and every big or little thing that happens makes complete sense. Flawless equilibrium between comedy, romance and drama. And the acting... both mains are brilliant but Nanon, and specially Nanon's eyes, got to me. The moment I saw Pran getting teary eyed and trying to hide it in ep4 I was gone. The rewatch value is 100/10.

3. Semantic Error (South Korea 2022) 9.5⭐

Like with Bad Buddy, is smooth and very well done. Everything looks so pretty and I love how they play with colours. The leads are amazing too.

4. He's Coming to Me (Thailand 2019) 9.5⭐

The first series that made me ugly cry in a very long time. The only way to describe it's beautiful. I would never have imagined Ohm and Singto worked as a pair but they do. It would be a 10 if not for the ending, which it's neither happy nor sad, because it's not an ending. I wish they would have been braver and given it the closure it deserved, happy or not.

5. The Eclipse (Thailand 2022) 9.0⭐

The ending was only one week ago so I'm writing this with some leftover bitterness. Up until episode 11 the series worked perfectly, the characters and their relationships were developing flawlessly, but the plot surrounding the eclipse and the curse was not advancing at all. And then they tried to do everything in only one episode and it didn't work. Still, the rest of the show is worth it. I felt very connected to the characters, specially Akk.

6. To My Star (South Korea 2021) 9.0⭐

Like Semantic Error and many Korean productions everything technical was impeccable. Very cute and cosy for something that came from Korea. I could empathize with both Seo Joon and Ji Woo throughout the whole story. I can't include To my star 2 because even if I still like it, it was too sad for me and the ending too unsatisfactory.

7. Love Mechanics (Thailand 2022) 9.0⭐

I absolutely adore YinWar as a couple and that's it. They work together so well I could watch them in anything they do. The nine stars are basically for them but the series is good too, very messy but very entertaining.

8. Manner of Death (Thailand 2020) 9.0⭐

It's been a while since I watched it but I remember the chemistry being on point and the plot being messy but enjoyable. I appreciate the characters being full adults and the themes being darker than other bls, I love the uni dramas but it's good to have variety.

9. Dark Blue Kiss (Thailand 2019) 9.0⭐

As with Manner of death it's nice to have variety so the couple being already established is good. Most dramas don't know how to create plot with an established couple but this is the exception. Technically speaking is not the best on this list but I have a special fondness for it, them just being together, the domesticity, you really feel like this is a three year relationship. As a non straight person myself the 'not ready to come out' plot felt very real to me.

10. KinnPorsche (Thailand 2022) 9.0⭐

A few plot holes but interesting to watch as it's the first mafia bl I've watched. For me, the selling point is the main couple, amazing actors who you really believe are in love, desire each other and are comfortable with each other. Something I especially don't like in bls is the couple being afraid of contact between them, and this is the total opposite, they feel like a very real couple who grow together and adore each other. I know it's a weird point to make about a mafia series but it's what I loved about it and the reason it has nine stars. The side couples, I don't hate them but I don't care about them much.

11. Love by Chance (Thailand 2018) 8.5⭐

Not usually a fan of dominant/complacent couples but they are just so cute. And at least Pete is an active and enthusiastic participant in the affection and love making scenes. And I love Ae as a character, I think Perth did a fantastic job, especially knowing he was only 17 years old in this. Even if it's not together, I hope to see them both working again soon.

12. Star and Sky: Star in My Mind (Thailand 2022) 8.5⭐

Very mild series but I fell in love with JoongDunk, they have amazing chemistry and seeing them interacting in real life I feel like they have even more potential than what they've shown on this. Cute little show for a rainy day. I'm counting their scenes on Sky in your heart as part of their series.

13. Lovely Writer (Thailand 2021) 8.5⭐

Amazing physical chemistry between the main couple, and phenomenal kisses. They dive a bit into the problematic aspects of bl and I appreciate it.

14. 2gether / Still 2gether (Thailand 2020) 8.5⭐

Like everybody, this was one of the first bls I've seen and I'm fond of it. Absolutely nothing bad happens and sometimes I want just that, a comfort show. And I love a head over heels character like Wat here. It has many flaws but to this day I can still watch it and get hooked.

15. Why R U? (Thailand 2020) 8.0⭐

This is technically cheating because I'm only counting one couple. I haven't even watched it whole because at one point I just started to skip everything that wasn't FigtherTutor and never came back. Love the actors, love the couple, adore the chemistry between them. I'm still heartbroken about the fact that the only time they worked together they were given this mediocre script and it's never going to happen again.

Honourable mentions:

Secret Crush on You (Thailand 2022), My Only 12% (Thailand 2022) and Until We Meet Again (Thailand 2019) which I haven't finished watching but could possibly enter this list when I do.

Making this list made me realize almost everything Aof directs becomes part of my favourites, I would love to analyze more profoundly his style to figure out what I like about it. And I'm super excited for whatever he's going to direct next year.

[animehouse-moe]

Skip and Loafer Episode 6: Drizzling and Flickering

Well, six episodes in and we've finally got our first proper conflict in the story. I'm not at all disappointed or anything that we're this far in and getting it, rather I feel like it's a really great spot to place it. Talks of love and relationships, becoming aware of the social aspect of high school, the stress of exams looming on the horizon. It's a really great point to break things down and take a look at how things need to change.

And change they do. We start with Fumi gushing about having a crush at school, which completely catches Mitsumi off guard. It's a really simple thing, but having these characters at different stages in their social and romantic lives at high school is really great, and goes to show that different people progress at different paces. Both sides of the conversation are really cute though, and are a nice and fluffy way to get into the episode.

Moving forward, the comedy of the episode wastes no time rearing its head, and continues to land rather well. Whether it's visual effects to add to a character's demeanor, or an entirely delusional dream skit, it gets done what it sets out to do: get a laugh out of viewers.

Coming back to reality though, I really love how much the rest of the school is forcing Mitsumi to become aware of Shima Kun. She prefers him as the guy that reminds her of her family's dog, not the popular child movie actor that one in three girls has confessed to. It's really great seeing how they use pieces like this play into Mitsumi's comparative lack of social awareness. They're slowly but surely whittling away at that innocence and lack of understanding, and shaping her into a Tokyo high school student. Of course, more to come on that later.

And now we arrive at the main event: Shima and Mitsumi's spat. By all means, it's a very trivial little argument between the pair, but it really feels as dramatic and tense as a high schooler would think it is. There's a really great balance to that end, in that the argument is just the right amount of dramatic without stretching itself too thin. There's not a huge amount of yelling or animosity towards one another or anything either. It's just, both Shima and Mitsumi have been tense lately, and struggling in their own ways. Mitsumi had the catalyst of people spreading rumors about Shima that put her on edge, and Shima was still harboring feelings about that first time he met Mitsumi. Together it creates a pot that finally boils over, and it's a really well done piece.

Also, my goodness, the layouts for this scene were absolutely stellar. The lighting was gloom and gray, the angles always made sure to make use of height, and the layouts are constantly aware of space and use that to depict how close Mitsumi and Shima are, and how distant/separate they become during the conversation. The closeups/single character focuses are only used to separate the pairs when they end up on opposite ends of the conversation. When Mitsumi's talking about how important school and exams and stuff are, she's standing up while Shima sits down, or we're seeing a close up of her face. Similarly, when Shima bites back at Mitsumi, or when he's soaking up/disagreeing with what she says, we'll get only him in frame.

Even things like the blocking of the characters, it fits perfectly. Mitsumi is the one that's always turning to face Shima, while he stays neutral and faces forward. Such a simple piece that speaks to their approach to people, as Mitsumi always engages and is directly interested in them, while Shima can be cold and indifferent in most cases.

And just look at this gif, I was shocked when I realized it. They went through the trouble of animating shadows of Shima and Mitsumi on the desks. Such a small detail, but it adds a comparative world of information and feel to the cut.

In addition to that, P.A Works has been working some real magic with their 3D art. If you look hard enough you'll see it for sure, but as a supplemental piece it's amazingly well blended with the rest of the 2D work.

Anyways, back to the story. I really like how both characters work through the little dispute. Mitsumi still doesn't really have any strong friendships or anything at school, so she's left to her own devices in dealing with it and in turn overthinks (though in a good direction) because of it.

Shima on the other hand has a far more expressive stance, as he wanders through his mind in the presence of an old friend. It's also the first time we really see Shima express, let alone confront his feelings on things, and they do a really good job of continuing that air of indifference while approaching that subject. If I had to explain it, they nailed it in it being like there's a fly buzzing around Shima almost. It's not something driving him crazy, but he's forced to be aware of it and wants to, well, deal with it. Also, it's a little detail, but I like the little playful back and forth between him and his friend to start things off. His friend jokingly finds it funny that Shima is expressing emotions, which Shima doesn't take all that kindly to because opening up just to get laughed at isn't really a great feeling.

Both mull it over, both make it slightly awkward at school, and both want to come to terms/apologize over it. Pretty textbook high school drama, if you ask me (which I think is a good thing). Before that though, I really loved this piece between Mitsumi and Egashira. They've already grown close as Egashira's dropped that facade of hostility, but I love that she's kept her character. Still snarky and sorta "above" Mitsumi, but open to helping her out and being a good friend.

And now we arrive at the big moment in the episode: the apology. It's well worded and the perfect amount of awkward and earnest, from how Mitsumi approaches Shima right up until they laugh it off together.

Though first, this cut of Mitsumi dashing down the hallway to catch up to Shima. Really great work and I love how they're willing to shake things up for bigger moments. There's also really meaningful work put into how it looks in motion. They're incredibly aware of the 3D space they're working in, and all all sorts of subtle effects to heighten the viewer's awareness and feel of that space.

Anyways, back on topic. Like I said, awkward and earnest, Mitsumi really puts her charm on display once more to coax Shima out of his shell. It's a really great and warm moment that brings the two undeniably closer, and allows Shima to well and truly make a new friend.

Also, it took me until the end of the episode to realize that the rain was all about Shim and Mitsumi. It symbolized the struggles and lows of their friendship, and it was only once they worked through those that the sun began to poke out and shine down on them.

Though the episode effectively ends here, I still have so much I wish I could talk about, but I'll leave it as footnotes.

The overall use of space and static camera angles that puts a focus on character acting

The use of closeups and focus on body parts to convey emotion rather than facial expressions (Shima adheres to this rule the whole season basically, which I think is great)

How, even though Mitsumi is sort of deluding herself to her crush on Shima, she brings forward the point that boys and girls can be really great friends without any sort of romantic context

How each of Mitsumi's friends provides support in a different way (the go-getter Egashira, the comforting and warm Mursahige, and the awkward yet thoughtful Kurume)

So yeah, once more Skip and Loafer provides a world of expertise and understanding, edited down and shaped into an episode that's super easy to digest but leaves you full of messages and sentiments, with a hearty helping of heartwarming moments.

[shinakazami1]

TBG Shortfic

I wanted to write the meeting after the years I've mentioned on my TBG Davey ask blog (@cake-bread) in this post. It's nearly 2k words long and I do wodner if I should start posting my drafts on my Ao3 Jeueuehw but i hope someone will enjoy this! If you do pls let me know huehue

===

For Davey, the small game con felt like a nice change of pace.

He was happy that the game reception was good but he didn't miss the sense of being overwhelmed and constantly perceived. The days when he still had the energy to respond to emails and comments about his work were over. That didn't mean he wasn't grateful - quite the opposite. After all the delays, seeing the game published and still appreciated helped with his worry of him losing touch with his work.

But he didn't like how much his face was tied to the game. He wished he never uploaded the trailer on his comedy page. Or that he never mentioned it to anyone. Ever since the release of the original mod, TSP became him. He felt a bit sad that his love project made Kevan to be known only as The Narrator. It used to be funny a decade ago. And while Kevan agreed to work again with them and seemed happy, he did seem a bit tired.

At least he didn't judge Davey for destroying passion for his work.

He was worried he lost his own passion, too. Until he went to the con.

The first day went very well. In there, he felt like just a gamer once again. Except for his buds that invited him there, nobody else seemed to recognise him.

It was nice to just be seen as another fan of the media and nothing more.

There were no questions about why the release took so long. Or about what the Bucket meant. Or what got him inspired to create Gambhorra'ta.

Or if The Beginner's Guide would ever get an ultra deluxe release, too.

He sighed. That question was on his mind for a while. But he didn't trust anyone with getting to those games. Especially if it meant changing the engine as it did with TSP - it would completely miss the point of Coda choosing Source. And just trying to add or change any visuals wouldn't work at all.

He didn't even want to consider recording new lines.

Davey sipped on the soda in the red plastic cup and tried to see where he could leave it. With no table feeling safe or stable enough, he decided to go away from the retro game stand and went to his bud, asking them to hold the cup for a moment. Once they pointed him in the bathroom direction, he went there and stared at the long line.

He didn't understand how gamers could share the same bladder but that sight made him wonder if it was why most irl gamer meetings were speedrun related.

Seeing that the line didn't move in 3 minutes, he decided to get some fresh air.

He didn't know how much different it would feel than the dense air inside. It felt like a metaphor for his life but he didn't really have the mind space for figuring that one out. Instead, he focused on how dry his mouth felt, reminding him why he wasn't drinking sweet drinks as often anymore.

He noticed that a few people left the building and went to some sort of a shop in the distance. Based on their age and the alcohol restriction, he could figure out what they were buying, even if he couldn't see the writing.

'I really should go to the eye doctor finally', Davey thought.

The darkening cloudy sky felt like a timer. With no umbrella or even a jacket to cover himself with, the trip to the store seemed a bit risky. But for a small price of a beer or two, his friend would gladly come for him with the umbrella they had. And since he acknowledged the desert in his throat, he knew it would drive him crazy for the rest of the day. And that soda would only get rid of any droplet left on the sandy land.

As he walked towards the oasis, he looked back at the school building the con was taking place at. It reminded him of April 2009 and...

He decided to speed up. He really didn't like how his mind kept shifting to Coda. He thought he was doing so well of late. Everybody told him to move on.

Even he couldn't replay the games anymore.

Feeling a raindrop hit the tip of his nose just as he reached the shop felt like a sign. Whatever it was trying to point him to, he refused to acknowledge.

He looked at the prices of the water bottles and took the smaller one, feeling his wallet screaming. But so was his throat - if he didn't save it soon enough.

He didn't expect the line to seem longer than the bathroom one. He thought it was fortunate that it was due to guys coming in packs. He soon felt disappointed, seeing each one pay for their own drink. What happened to splitting the bill? Nobody liked to wait. So it felt counter productive, especially since this line felt more impatient than the last one.

Maybe it was due to the sound of the rain drops falling on the shop windows, reminding everybody of the weather. In just a few minutes, the school was not visible behind the wall of water. And more people seemed to come in, just to find some nice shelter.

Davey stared at the cigarette packages and tried to read anything off the labels. He knew his eyesight was getting worse but he didn't know it had gotten that bad. For the past 3 years, he spent most of the time behind a screen. Even if he finished most of his work on the game early in the development, he tried his best to support the rest of the crew. So he didn't really notice the change.

He snapped out of his thoughts when the cashier repeated it was his turn. The crowd felt only growing so the line moving felt like a minor thing.

The instant he got the receipt, he opened the water bottle and started drinking. He knew his throat wouldn't be grateful and would still feel dry after it but he wanted to forget about it for a moment. Just like he wanted to forget-

"David?"

Davey tried to dry the water stain off his lap with the receipt to no avail.

An overpriced water bottle, wasted. It brought the storm into the shop.

But something else brought it into his heart.

Even if his name was a version of David, he wasn't one. It was the same like Sam not always standing for Samuel or Samantha. It was a normal assumption to have and he just corrected people on that.

There were a few exceptions, though. And life just couldn't help but torment him about one of them that day.

He was about to turn over when he felt a hand brush his leg. Frozen, he watched it pick up the water bottle and stand by his side.

The last time they did that was at the bus stop over a decade ago. It was the last time they saw each other.

Coda felt just a tiny bit taller now. But the same cold aura was still there.

And the distance felt too small but too big at the same time. Memories felt within reach while longed words got stuck in an already dry throat.

He could only make himself stare at the face he thought he had already forgotten.

His mind felt both empty and full at the same time. Images of every rendition his mind made of this scene played before his eyes but none of them could match the dream-like feel of reality.

There was no anger, no disappointment. There was no shouting, laughing or running away.

Somehow, just standing just like that, side by side, never crossed his mind.

It felt as if he still had a chance to ask if he could stay over for that night. Maybe everything wouldn't turn out to be as tragic then.

He stared at the face but felt like he couldn't see it. As if his gaze pierced through it, not noticing the details or seeing the disappointed face he drilled in his mind after reading the message in the Tower for the first time.

He felt something on his right hand. He quickly looked over and saw a woman offer him a handkerchief. Without thinking, he took it ,thanked her and started to rub on the wet stain. His moves were automatic and he wondered if he wouldn't wake up in a moment with a saliva stain on his pajama pants for the third night in a row. Sleeping in one bed with 3 men was not the most comfortable but it would be way better than whatever nightmare he was having.

But if it was a dream, he had to get the courage. His actions didn't matter in these, after all.

Unfortunately, he knew it was a lie. Reality liked to show its sense of comedy timing and he knew he was the punchline.

"Do you have any socials?", he said, looking back at the other man.

He instantly cursed himself for not going on any other line from the 200+ ones he kept coming up with for the occasion. It still wasn't the worst one he could have said but that didn't make his chest any lighter.

It felt like a test he didn't know the answers to.

Fortunately, life did hold all the pieces.

"Yeah."

"What are they?"

He didn't know how he had the confidence to keep speaking. Maybe this was the way his throat was thanking him for earlier, even if it felt as if it was burrowed in dirt at that moment. He himself felt like he was drowning in some quick sand, getting consumed by the growing anxiety that somehow didn't show up on his face.

"Give me your phone."

The witnesses probably would think that Coda was some sort of a bully. He caused the other man to spill a drink, freeze in place and then put in his pin code and give away his phone without any discussion.

He couldn't see the screen. With how long Coda was typing and looking over at him every now and then, he wondered if the man opened the notes app and wrote anything.

Maybe that was the only way Coda could talk to him anymore.

But he felt there was no backing off. He was ready to face whatever he would be shown. He told himself so.

And yet, somehow, a locked Twitter account with the word 'pending' on the right was not something he expected to see.

Nor did he expect to feel a hand pat his shoulder.

Something about the casualty felt like a stab in the heart.

He would prefer to be yelled at. Instead, the sound of a bell ringing and the door closing filled his ears. He watched Coda put his hood on and join the school behind the waterfall.

Davey did expect that he would in the end get recognized on the con.

He didn't know if he would have preferred being asked about the significance of the Fern or the whole fever dream he had just experienced.

He went to buy another water bottle and a beer for his friend. He couldn't focus on the rest of the con, searching for a familiar figure.

Two days later, the pending button changed into the following one.

He didn't expect to get a 'Hey.' the same day.

Nor that he would ever again be able to say 'Hi, Coda.'

The rainy weather was no more.

But the sun was shining a bit too brightly.

===

[ubercharge]

im not sure if anyone asked you yet, but thoughts on the dunmeshi anime?

thanks for asking! sometimes i forget i exist here as a person cuz i just log on to queue random stuff without making posts 💀

it's pretty rare for me to watch an anime without ever reading the manga, and there've been stellar adaptations recently. ONK, kisekoi, BTR, frieren, CSM just to name a few. in a landscape where we're used to being disappointed as readers who have a frame of reference before watching a show, i had very, very high hopes for the dunmeshi adaptations that weren't quite fulfilled.

i'll dump everything under a cut since i actually have a lot to say, sorry if you were expecting it to be brief 😎

the lines in the artistic style are good, nicely translating the characters into animated format. really no notes there. definitely a nicer comparison for char designs between manga and anime vs. tonsuki and tensura who both have incredible manga styles that the anime stumble over (though in the latter's case, i don't think they were aiming for it sadly)

the shading has been fine, but weakened by the colour choices. some of the dungeon scenes (e.g., living armour stuff) are lit with a medium blue which helps to sell the idea of the scene being in a place not lit by fire (and contrasts it with the making camp & cooking scenes), but the lack of dark shading flattens some of these very well-drawn images.

the earlier chapters don't have the same level of detail as newer ones, but the art style is still fantastic - it's expressive with high contrast and shows action and impact perfectly well. manga will often times have a naturally easier way with contrast due to it being in black & white, but i don't think that means anime should just give up on contrast in favour of playing ineffectively with colour.

here's a night shot of fern from frieren. the choices made here allow for the shading to stand out from the flats and give her more definition overall while still being relatively simple (just flats + shading)

when dunmeshi has more "normal" lighting conditions, it does a lot better. similar to fern up there, there's about the same amount of difference between the flats and shadows, so i really wish they did a better job on the dungeon scenes since they're going to have to deal with non-torchlit scenes plenty. i won't argue that the living armor scene certainly has some kind of a sickly, alien mood to it, but tl;dr i think it should've had darker shading if not also being less green. this largely applies to every other blue-green lit scene they've done.

looking at kui's coloured drawings in the ed gives me an idea of what could've been and it makes me sad to lose out on colour choices more similar to that (even if they obviously can't have her level of detail on top of it)

some of the backgrounds haven't been too interesting but some have been good, overall it's probably fine. plus you can only draw and detail repeating bricks so many times before the viewer gets bored of looking at them anyway, i guess.

the animation is really fun and expressive. it's trigger, so they don't keep scenes stiffly on-model when they want characters moving around. this is good because it helps to sell both action and comedy moments!

the music overall i haven't really cared for? the BGM has not been particularly moving, interesting, or memorable - mostly generic. and i've seen too many fantasy shows for my own good, so i might be harder to impress (but i even remember tenken had a good BGM song or two to make a fight dramatic and that show was barely above average at best)

i'm biased not being particularly into bump, so i would've selected a different artist for the OP (i actually did like the bump OP from SxF though, come to think of it). before anyone makes a wisecrack based on what i've watched lately, no it doesn't have to be yoasobi.

i maybe feel the ED song would've been better for the OP, i don't like the largely peaceful bit of the OP with very still visuals. the OP is where you reel people in! it should be an eye-catching hook, representative of what to expect with some extra sauce on top.

the ED is great, total bop. it's a fine time for slower visuals as an enjoyable wind-down from the episode, so less or no animation is no big deal. plus kui's art is absolutely gorgeous! it all perfectly fits that "end of work" fun and lighthearted mood they were going for.

i largely enjoy the voice acting. i would've personally gone for a less "old man" voice on senshi because he's really not that old for a dwarf, but they obviously wanted to make it clear he was the older, wiser, knowledgeable character.

this might be my own personally most blasphemous opinion, but i would've picked a different VA for falin. i want to make it clear i absolutely adore saori hayami - she's incredible and one of my faves. with that said, her voice fits the character, so maybe it's just because i've heard her too often which is not her fault by any means! i love the voices for laios, marcille, and chil.

it seems netflix's subs go off of the official EN TL of the manga, which makes sense, but i've talked about how i don't like it more than ehscans' TL (which is one of the single best TLs i've read for a series, official or otherwise) and that holds true for the anime ("mad sorcerer" is cooler AND less clunky than "lunatic magician"). i prefer less localisation stuff and/or quirkiness in my subs and more direct translation for both manga and anime.

as for the changes/additions they've made to the show, some of them have been alright and some i didn't care for. they really want to sell marcille as the funny joke character which is why they had her being chased by the basilisk instead of having doni & fionil like it was in the manga which was better for the pacing and had good impact vs a funny clip of marcille running back and forth.

i don't dislike when adaptations add or change stuff, but placing them cleanly is important. dunmeshi is already really funny! i don't think it needs help being funnier by reaching for the cheap laugh. when laios sees two people running for their lives from a basilisk and he just goes "wow that's a bad way to run from that monster", it's already lowkey hilarious - all the more so followed by marcille telling mr. monster-know-it-all to go rescue them if he knows what's up and him rescuing them by making himself big and chicken squawking real loud (which embarrasses marcille and chil, but c'mon guys, at least his idea worked!). i feel like the comedy in laios' funny hero moment is undercut by forcing the marcille butt of the joke moment in the anime.

dunmeshi is already incredibly good at just about everything it does. i feel if an adaptation wants to add or change something, it's often better amplifying a strength or shoring up a weakness in the source material. BTR adds a lot to the source (not hard considering the source is a 4koma) and makes already funny things even funnier. the "we should all get social media" scene is elevated to iconic status with the visual of bocchi glitching out + the VA's inhuman screech. i can't say where i'd really want to change or add stuff to dunmeshi, since it really feels so good and whole, but i'm sure there's room in the process of translating manga panels to animated scenes, and i think the direction overall could've been better (comparing most shows to BTR isn't fair i know because BTR is directed & adapted so well it's hydrogen bomb vs. coughing baby territory)

i've mostly said negative stuff, but i don't want it to sound like i hate or even really dislike the adaptation. i think when it comes to a series you really love, you want to see the best adaptation possible within reason, and the disappointment of stuff not being quite what you were hoping for is amplified by so many other recent adaptations being so good.

dunmeshi does not have a bad anime by any means, but a lot of that is thanks to the source material's quality. if they do another season, i hope they have more time/budget/whatever because i think a lot of the parts it does have are good parts! but in this case, i wasn't hoping for good; i was hoping for great.

trigger makes great shows with wacky storylines (in some ways, the same one wacky storyline, but that's a different discussion) and dunmeshi, being directed by someone who's worked on a bunch of trigger stuff (largely sci-fi leaning), maybe needed some more direction from people who've worked on fantasy stuff? i can't say for sure what would've been enough to take the show over the top, but though i generally don't hope for much from adaptations, i really did have higher hopes for this one than it ended up achieving.

overall it seems i'll end up scoring the show a 7 or 7.5 when i finish the season, though there's certainly still room to wow us all. whatever you feel about the adaptation, whether you liked it or not, whether or not you've read the manga, feel free to comment your thoughts below or in my inbox. let's keep it free of manga spoils for anime-only watchers, though!

[giogio1998]

Ok nerds, hear me the fuck out !!

This is my fancast for the JLI, but before we all lose it I need a quick disclaimer: this fancast is what I think the JLI could look like in a live action movie, this isn’t serious and I think if this movies were to exist it would be a comedy movie bc it’s the JLI, they’re not supposed to be taken seriously by anyone!!!!

With that in mind this is my fancast and I’ll walk you through it, let’s go:

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord):

Logan Lerman, off to a great start, i know (lol). Based on Logan’s roles throughout his career I think he would be a great Ted Kord bc he can play a nice, wholesome guy and I think he looks like the character as well. Like Ted, you would wanna put him in a jar and protect him from the world. Also he hasn’t been in many movies recently and I miss him, he deserves better.

Booster Gold (Michael J. Carter):

Lucas Till, just look at him !!! You cannot tell me he doesn’t look exactly like booster, you can’t !!! Besides Lucas has been in many action productions from movies to tv shows BUT he was also the love interest in the Hannah Montana movie THATS RANGE, he can play a the super hero and the goof we all know and love. And again, look at him !!!!

Green lantern (Guy Gardner):

Dacre Montgomery. Ok, Guy is a hard one to cast bc he is the biggest asshole in the world but we also love him bc he’s part of the JLI, we need someone that can play a jerk but can also have a redeeming plot bc again, we love him. And in my opinion dacre is the guy (get it ? Guy ?) I mean, u saw him as Billy in stranger things, he’s a great actor, he is perfect for this role.

Now comes the exciting part, the gurls.

Ice (tora olafsdotter):

Sophie Turner. Do I even have to say anything at this point? Look at her she IS Tora. You’ve seen Sophie in GOT you know she can play the baddest bitch on the planet while playing a sweet girly girl and that’s Tora right there. She can carry this role easily and I think she looks just like Tora she’s also very tall wich is great considering she’s playing a Norwegian woman.

Ok, now we need to have a talk about this next one, HEAR ME OUT.

Fire (Beatriz Bonilla da Costa):

Selena Gomez. I know what you’re gonna say: “she’s not Brazilian”. Yeah I know (I’m Brazilian myself) but let’s be realistic, it’s Hollywood, they don’t care, they don’t even know the difference between Latinos and frankly, so doesn’t the rest of the world. So if we’re gonna have a Latina play Fire it would be great to have one the most loved latinas in the world playing her. I love Selena Gomez, she’s a great actress and she can play a bad bitch and a lovely girl just like Bea. And I even got this photo to help you visualize (you’re welcome btw) and I think she looks amazing, I would add green eye contacts to the mix but I think she would nail it. And also, as a Brazilian myself she has my blessing to play fire U.U

Martian Manhunter (J’onn J’onzz):

Terry Crews, remember when I said that this movie has to be a comedy?? I always thought that Martian Manhunter would be a great comic relief bc of the breach of expectation considering he’s supposed to be a very serious character and to me Terry Crews would be PERFECT for this role, not only he can play a very intimidating character he is also one of the funniest actors out there, also with Martian’s ability to shape shift I would love to see terry play a range of things martian can turn into. I love him.

Max Lord:

Zac Efron, here’s what I’m thinking for this one: Max has to be played by someone that we really love so when it’s reveled that he’s the villain we feel even more betrayed and I think Zac is our guy. Bc everybody loves Zac efron, if you don’t you’re dead on the inside, and Zac had shown us that he can play a villain role, the man played Ted B*ndy for fuck sake’s !! He can carry this role easily.

And last but not least

Batman (Bruce Wayne):

I have no idea, this is the only one I can’t think of, bc although I love BatPat I don’t think Robert is a great fit for this particular fictional project lol, this would be a comedy movie and Robert’s version of the Batman is super serious, besides I wanted the main JLI and Batman and Martian to have a bit of an age gap to show how immature the JLI is compared to household name super heroes like the Batman you know ? So if you have a suggestion let me know bc I can’t think of anyone.

That’s it nerds, this is my fancast for the fictional JLI movie. James Gunn if you’re seeing this give me a call, I have some ideas LOL. Let me know what you think in the comments, bye ✌🏻

[just-a-carrot]

HELLO CARROT!

Given how apparently I’m immune to playing OW games without recording them now, you’ll audibly hear my thoughts within the next few weeks (I’m posting tomorrow because I’m an absolute maniac), BUT I WANNA SAY THINGS HERE BECAUSE APPRECIATION CAN’T WAIT THAT LONG!

Also Merry Christmas! It’s midnight when I’m writing this, so ‘tis the day of caroling and festivities and woah. Or happy holidays if you don’t celebrate!

Back to the Our Cinderella topic, I have only played Genzou’s route as of now (I’m sure that’s hardly surprising, he is my fav), but the others are next. Their time is coming. They cannot escape. SO SPOILERS FOR GENZOU’S ROUTE!

First off, I saw you included the little dancing in front of TV Iggy pose and the joy I felt seeing it was off the charts. I kept bringing it up, I was very happy. And seeing Iggy moving about was really cool in general, even without the novelty of seeing a suggestion I made exist in the game.

NEXT UP! Genzou drunk singing is an image I didn’t know I needed, thank you for the visual and the brain food. BUT ALSO I HAVE BEEN CONNECTING JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR SONGS TO OW FOR SO LONG AND HEARING THE MUSICAL BE MENTIONED BY GENZOU THREW ME FOR A LOOP. Great musical, very nice. Last Supper reminds me of Genzou and Orlam. Judas’s voice in general reminds me of Orlam. Musicals and OW can further connect in my brain hobby drawer.

The text interactions in general were really funny, actually. I liked the absolute chaos that was Iggy and Genzou’s text conversations, I was laughing while trying to read a lot of the time. I remember the aforementioned drunk singing conversation and the puddle one both got me pretty good while I was reading, and it was overall fun to see more lighthearted conversations from the characters, even if it’s in a different universe from the main canon.

To end things off, ‘cause again 1) I haven’t finished all the game’s routes yet, and 2) you’ll be able to hear my thoughts in the moment if you choose in future anyways, I wanna mention the version of Cinderella Bucks tells at the end? I can’t get it out of my head. When I was thinking about the game after having just played it, my mind kept flashing back to CinderJesus. It absolutely decimated my brain function, but in a very fun way. More slice-of-life Bucks, please, she’s peak comedy.

Very fun game, 10/10, very sad I couldn’t buy the Kirby in the first playthrough but it’s on my to-do list, aaaand yeah! Thank you for making this! I loved every minute of it, and I’m really excited to play the remaining routes once my irl festivities are over.

sob this is so sweet! 😭💕 i'm excited to watch your playthrough too -- things are a bit overwhelming in general for me right now as i'm still with my family and doing a bunch of things, but even if i'm unable to find time this week i will for sure watch once i'm back home next week. i'm really happy that you're enjoying it so much already tho ahhhh and that you're finding it so entertaining 🥺

i'm glad you liked the poses i had so much fun with them and also using some of the suggestions to add more! and LMAO JCS is a musical i grew up watching (my parents used to play the original album in the house lol) so i get the songs stuck in my head a lot, hence why it randomly worked its way into this (among many other random silly little references or inspirations from my own life hahaha). that is extremely funny to me 🤣

i'm glad you liked the convos they were the epitome of silly. and also bucks's part hahaha. i was half-worried it would end up being too ridiculous and random for people because it just got so weird in places hahaha

thank you so much for this lovely message and all of your thoughts and for playing the game! 🥺💕 i look forward to watching the playthrough so i can see all of your reactions in real-time lakjdfs

[alloveydovey]

Dramas from this past month :) I was on a trip the whole time, so I watched random stuff and rewatched a lot.

Love Between Fairy and Devil, 2022 (cdrama) 9

The Lord supreme of the Moon Tribe gets out of fairy prison after 30.000 years thanks to a seemingly innocent orchid fairy who accidentally frees him and links them together.

This was epic. I'd say I was lost 40% of the time, but I enjoyed it a lot. It was my first cdrama of this type, and I wasn't expecting to be into it, but I totally binged it.

I Hear Your Voice, 2013 (kdrama) 8

19-year-old ML partners up with FL lawyer to help her win cases with his ability to read minds. Ten years prior, she had been a key witness and helped get the man who killed his father in jail.

I need to remind myself that I usually get a bit bored with lawyer dramas. It's hard to explain if I enjoyed this one or not. On one side, I loved LJS, and Lee Bo Young was great as the FL. The storyline had great aspects, and I binged most of it, but I wouldn't say it left an impression or something. I spent the last episodes skipping because I was already tired of it.

Full House, 2004 (kdrama) 7/7.5

Already known lol. A scriptwriter is duped by her friends and loses her house to an actor. To regain possession of it, she enters into a contract marriage with him.

I kinda like watching old kdramas because I find them more bingable… until this one lol. Full House was a bit a lot of a mess. Granted, the 00s seemed to be THE time for MLs who spend half of the drama chasing another woman while the FL tags along, but this became difficult to follow quickly. The only reason I kept going was because Song Hye Kyo and Rain were really charismatic and fun to watch together (also, they're both really good looking it's insane)

I really wanted to like this oldie, but their chaotic coming and going broke me.

The Legend of the Blue Sea, 2016 (kdrama) (rewatch!) 10 ⭐️

A mermaid meets a con man in Spain and falls in love. When the bad guys come for him, they both separate with the intention of meeting again in Seoul, except his memory is erased and he doesn't remember her.

I'm not sure if this is a 10 for everyone, but it's certainly a 10 for me. It has everything, and Jun Ji Hyun is absolutely perfect in it, truly a comedy queen. It's also probably my favorite Lee Min Ho role. Rewatching it made me laugh, aww, and giggle all over again. (I kinda think the reason I liked it is because it reminds me of My Girlfriend is a Gumiho but better lol)

An Incurable Case of Love, 2020 (jdrama) 8

A girl falls in love with a doctor while visiting Tokyo and decides to become a nurse to meet him again.

This was very much like Mischievous Kiss/Playful Kiss, but maybe lighter and sweeter? Definitely more watchable. Emotionally constipated MLs get a bit annoying at some point but I remain a big fan of sweetheart FLs.

The Date of Marriage, 2023 (jdrama) 7.5/8

A girl with a life plan is two years away from thirty but still hasn't achieved what she wanted (marriage). A co-worker proposes that if she still hasn't found someone by the time she turns thirty, he'll marry her.

The premise in this one is rather weak. Boy likes girl, and girl likes boy, and so there really is no reason for why they shouldn't date when both established such a promise (getting married by her 30th bday), but because of insecurities, they come and go about whether they like each other or not, and it's annoying. On the other hand, this little drama is super original in its way of storytelling. Breaking the 4th wall with authentic ways for the characters to express themselves. It's also visually dynamic. The colors make for an extremely nice watch. Aaaaand, both ML and FL are cute as hell with great chemistry.

Shopping King Louie, 2016 (kdrama) 7.5

The overprotected successor of a business empire gets into an accident and loses his memory. A girl from a rural area who is in Seoul looking for her brother (whose disappearance is linked to the ML's accident) decides to take him under her wing as they both try to make it on their own.

Seo In Guk heavily saves this drama, lol. I kept watching mainly because of him, Nam Ji Hyun, and the decent cast. I kinda started annoyed at the secondary characters and ended up really enjoying them. It's a silly fun drama where the premise is obviously not the forte, but still, I had fun watching.

Rewatched Dramas! (That I'm not adding above cause I flash-watched them = meaning I skipped a lot of scenes lol) ⬇️

Destined With You, 2023

I wanted to rewatch this one to see if the rating I gave it held up, especially since I feel like it was the beginning of a long list of kdramas with a similar premise (and, like, they all came out around the same time—what was that?).

To me, at least, it deserves a decent 8.5. It was probably my favorite of all the ones with similar storylines (My Demon, A Good Day to be a Dog, The Story of Park's Marriage Contract, My Man in Cupid). The first episodes grab you completely, and then the story kind of lowers the quality a bit, but Rowoon and Bo Ah keep it entertaining.

The Secret Life of My Secretary, 2019 ⭐️

ML hires secretaries only for a year. Despite her impeccable behavior, FL is no exception. Just when he fires her, ML loses the ability to recognize faces except for his secretary's, the one he just fired.

This is def a 7/7.5 type of drama, but I think it’s the one I’ve rewatched the most. 100% a comfort one for me. The plot is insane, and I don’t always like it, but the chemistry between the leads is so worth it. Their whole boss-secretary dynamic is so original and cute and just perfeeeect. Both actors truly nail the cute persona.

[mlobsters]

supernatural s11e8 just my imagination (w. jenny klein)

this uh, sounds interesting. oh, i've scrolled past gifs of this guy, try to skip by anything with an actor i don't recognize nowadays

DEAN Dude. Who you talking to? SAM Him? DEAN Are you having a stroke? Do you smell toast?

the sleepy face and morning voice but asking the questions while also making that face, very cute. 10/10 (wanna hear about how smelling burning isn't actually a classic symptom of stroke)

i, too, was taken aback by the marshmallows nachos, dean.

DEAN Come on?? Are you kiddi… Look… This… mother… You and me, library, right now. Come on!

dad's pissed

SAM Dean, when I was nine years old, you know what I wanted more than anything? Marshmallow nachos. DEAN Yeah, you were a weird-ass kid.

marshmallow nachos plot device

SAM In Romanian lore, Zanna are creatures who guide and protect lost children. Zanna intentionally appear as figments of a child’s imagination, allowing the child to move on with confidence once guidance is no longer necessary. Maybe Sully’s telling the truth. DEAN Okay. Say Bozo is legit. Right? Which, you know – hello crazytown, but okay. How is this our problem?

don't be an asshole, dean

DEAN Good. The Bert and Ernie pretext. Awesome.

if the shoe fits...

DEAN You know, this whole imaginary friend thing was dumb then and it’s dumb now. SAM Yeah, you’ve made that pretty clear. DEAN You didn’t think to tell me he was real? SAM Well, Dean, I didn’t think he WAS. You saw the lore book too, I mean, maybe when I was nine years old I thought he was real, but I grew up. Or grew out of it. Whatever. I left it.

don't particularly enjoy when they do this. dean's an ass, sam gets hurt and we feel sad for him.

DEAN And what did you need Drop Dead Fred for in the first place? SAM I was kind of a lonely kid, Dean. DEAN You weren’t lonely. You had me!

preemptively getting upset. you had me, except when you were old enough (according to john winchester) to stay for who knows how long alone. you know, at that big age of 9 years old. episode makes it seem like we're supposed to be upset with dean but this is all dad. and how exactly did john take dean hunting when he was younger than 9, where was sam. bobby? pastor jim? let me tell you the logistics get more preposterous the more you think about it, and with every new little backstory they decide to toss in

comedy music and all, at least the visual gag was compelling what with the sparkly blood all over her hands and face

DEAN The whole family. Yeah, just get the whole gang in there… You know, the family that showers together… Kay.

dean.

combining this cracky murder mystery story with more groundwork of how sad and alone sam was as a kid, and how he spent so much of his life wanting to run away, blergh. meanwhile we see dean at that group home as a kid and considering staying, but seeing sam makes him decide to go home with them. thinking about it too much and making myself upset! great!

you can't make me cry and then have an extended air guitar demo by bleeding imaginary friend man.

slight reassurance that it's not that sam wants to run away from them, but that he just doesn't want to be left alone. which is a totally logical and understandable - especially for a fucking 9 year old - way to feel.

SULLY Yeah, it was really bad. You know, I’m not gonna lie to ya – when you went off to hunt, I considered that one of my biggest failures. It just seemed so clear to me that you wanted something else. But – I was wrong. And it all worked out, didn’t it? SAM I don’t know about that.

SULLY Come on. You’re a hero. Sam, you saved the world. I keep track of my kids. And you did really good, Sam.

real nice for someone to actually call out what sam did right

SAM Well… Not all good. There was some bad. And some really bad. Sully – I screwed up. I let something out into the world that was… SULLY You mean the Darkness? That’s what the others are calling it, I’ve just heard rumors. SAM I’m gonna fix it. I am. Dean and I, we’re – we’re gonna fix it. It’s just…

sam is being so vulnerable and earnest, hurts. good job, padalecki

SAM There’s this Cage in hell, and it’s where they keep Lucifer. And I’ve been in it, and it’s… And I think God wants me to go back. SULLY Ever think… about running away anymore? SAM I did. Um, I mean, I have. But not in a while. Not anymore.

so i'm not sure what direction that's to be taken. is running away going to the cage (surely not) then running away from the perceived responsibility of needing to do it? but we can't counsel sam on that without knowing for sure who's telling him this. because i mean sam has mentioned lucifer like, 4 times this episode. did you consider sam, my love, that lucifer is involved in the messages

DEAN Trust me. Revenge? Ain’t gonna make you feel better. Listen, I’ve seen more than my share of monsters. And I mean REAL monsters, bad. These guys? These are Sesame Street Mother Teresas. But when I wasn’t there for my little brother, Sully was.

will always take when dean admits he was wrong and didn't see how him not being around affected sam, but the setup went a little too hard (imo) on dean being a clueless jerk. first appearance of the mushy music i think in s11.

SAM Sully. One thing I’ve learned – heroes aren’t perfect. SULLY Mm. Sometimes they’re scared. But that just means the thing that they’re facing, it’s super important. And nobody else is gonna go for it, because nobody else has got the balls.

damnit sully.

SAM Dean, we need to seriously discuss me going to the Cage. DEAN Okay. Not happening. Good talk. – Sam, even if these visions are real… SAM Yeah. It’s Lucifer? And me? In the Cage? I know. But this – this lump in my throat… It’s not an excuse. Not anymore. DEAN We’ll find another way. Okay? There’s always another way. SAM Okay. Then tell me – what is the other way?

did they not have this conversation back in whatever, first trip to the cage? s5? when they had 99% more information than they do right now. i cannot believe. I CANNOT BELIEVE we're making decisions without knowing FOR SURE who the visions are coming from. and why isn't sam more suspicious they're from lucifer? ok, so he's all traumatized by lucifer and thinking with his emotions and fear and feeling like he deserves the punishment. but hell, DEAN. since he's all dubious. how about a position that's reasonable what with sam's and their history, that the visions are from someone - but if not god, then WHO

[ciitrinitas]

ai: the somnium files.

my long awaited date arc.

the funniest part of me playing was how much i kept remarking to xofi that i liked how generally professional and competent date was. he was a bit of a nutjob in his head, and there was the porno mag running gag, but he was otherwise a fully formed character that also had horny bolted on. date was very charming as a protagonist. he's aiba's soaking wet poor little meow meow, and she loves him... if date/aiba isn't real, then why game???

aiba's actual best girl (i was ready to disown the true end if she stayed dead), and boss is my wife, and the receptionist is hysterical (let's go to atami!). overall, i quite dug the cast! except ota. i do not like ota. the simp act got tiresome, and yes! i'm still salty about how he lied to his mother (who has dementia) that an eighteen-year-old girl he has a parasocial fixation on is his girlfriend. that did not warm my heart. why did ota even have a route and ending.

i think i found mizuki's route and ending the most satisfying. it would have been nice to have seen more of how date did care for her before that final somnium and to have mizuki be more involved outside of her route, but it still worked for me.

but, oh, mizuki... love her, and while the visual of her lifting weights is hysterical, i do not care for her having the strength and acrobatic ability of a shounen protagonist. watching a sixth grader run up to armed adults actively firing at her at close range so she can club them with a metal pipe stretched my suspension of disbelief too far. the game otherwise didn't have a setting that allowed it; mizuki was an anomaly...for some reason.

my biggest gripes have to be the inconsistent tone and structure. the former would hit with jarring instances of comedy or absurd action sequences that were too predicated on the world's strongest twelve year old. the latter is probably a more personal quibble (i mean, this is all just me rambling out my thoughts), but my first run at the game ended with me on the annihilation route where i was locked out of more once i hit a cliffhanger. not even a bad end! just booted from the route until later. then it happened again when i branched into the true route before iris'. the game clearly didn't want me to access key exposition yet; i would have preferred it if branching onto both routes was barred until ota, mizuki, and iris' routes were complete.

anyway, let's all look forward to the aiba and date marriage! i can't wait to see who boss blackmails so date can legally wed his eyeball. and then we all go to atami.

(but, seriously! i liked hitomi, but her relationship with date...did nothing for me romantically. iris, sweetie, you need to accept that aiba is your uncle's waifu for laifu.)

[lotus-mirage]

Trigun Stampede Episode 11 Liveblog!

I'll probably try to do the last one right after this

They're going right into the opening! Always a good sign.

Ok so Wolfwood isn't just gonna ditch for a while. Nice.

oh lmao I somehow wound up with in eng dub and was very caught off guard

oh this is way more comedy than I thought there was gonna be at this point. visually, at least, the background music is kind of... sad harmonica. not doing that.

wait wait, how does the doctor/priest guy have a percentage monitor happening. I thought this was more of a bio communion thing than a technological one?

Oh nice!! Lore exposition!!! :D

lol it even comes with visuals

"The manifestation of the beginning and the end. The source of all matter and energy." uhhhhh okay! I'm not gonna touch that actually.

...wait, the visuals have multiple icons under "core." Are there like aspects?

(yeaaaah the uh. the plants look uncomfortably like they've got humanoid lower bodies now. joy.)

okay but the way they're spinning it, the plants didn't have souls before now? I guess it's possible that they're running with having souls and consciousnesses being separate, but if that isn't the case then this would kind of put them into a worse spot? Like they're debatably putting the plants into a situation where they now have to deal with... everything up with this planet and beyond, potentially?

I guess what I'm getting at is I think this feels like not necessarily the opposite of 'saving [their] brethren,' but it's not really the same thing either.

"Then be crucified on behalf of the Sinners, as you wish!" yeah yeah okay. you do realize you don't have to be that blatant about it right <- (amused)

So potentially other plants had access to gates, then? Huh.

Oh oof. Roberto :(

Ohhhhh my god I was like 'ah trauma central time, huh?' and then Rollo got head-shotted. I was absolutely unprepared for that oh my god.

I realize Knives is wearing like a bodysuit or something but everytime he reappears I have like a split second of thinking he's butt-naked. Arguably this is better than the acne snuggie, but like. just marginally. sir. sir please put on a pair of pants.

Oh I think they're playing with filters that's so cool

I paused to write something down but the windmills in the background distracted me. They look like crosses again.

Oh! Oh yeah right I was gonna say it was impressive how uncanny Roberto and Meryl looked in that shot, especially considering it's the same models. Roberto especially though, like Meryl looks off but he seriously looks dead.

wait is this how the amnesia thing comes into play. I'd assumed whatever this is wouldn't stick, but that might actually be what happens???

I was gonna ask if the root-looking-things were just phasing through Vash's clothing or what, but now they seem to have gone through the bulletproof glass, so, uh. quite possibly.

I will say the flowers make for some really neat visuals!

Wait wait wait I just. Her name is Rem Saverem? Is that supposed to read as Rem Save-rem?? I just. Okay yeah I need to move past this but seriously

Huh, this guy? Wonder how long we're gonna follow him.

Oh that's. That's a visual, okay. I thought they were like underground. :0

Huh. Does kid-Knives' voice have an effect on it? I'm not 100% on that but I kinda think so.

Oh that's right we never learned what Knives' thing was. Interesting okay. (maybe he has a one-way gate? so he can receive matter and energy and therefore self-sustain?)

Also. I may be wrong about this but I am kind of reading this scene as Knives having had actual affection for Rem as well. Whether or not that lasted, idk, but that's the way it seems to me.

Oh! Oh hey Vash thinks so too. lmao okay, that was in fact the point of the scene, got it.

Huh. In front of the screen, they look exactly the same. Hair, eyes, and all.

actually no their eyebrows are still different

WAIT THERE'S A THIRD ONE?

...is that the kid from the doctor's photo???

...frozen??

Oh. Oh yeah that's.

What the fuck.

... okay Knives' freakout is understandable! Okay!!!

"ALIVE" are you sure about that. maybe technically.

Oh this guy literally has read the bible. I keep forgetting that a portion of this symbolism is in-universe, too. Man.

"Let's have faith in humanity" as very ominous music plays. That's fun. I am having so much fun right now.

Ah. Decapitated. Oof.

...Why is his coat also changing colors?

"Happy Birthday, Vash." It's his (your guys'?) birthday????? You picked your shared birthday????

also "I've finally got him back!" idk buddy that doesn't look very 'back' to me!! That looks like the opposite of 'back.' I'm being facetious here, I know it's a possession thing, but the point still stands.

Oh the flowers opening is a really cool visual.

Okay yeah Knives isn't just referencing bible stuff, he's actively invoking it. ...That's actually my favorite way of doing things I love when characters apply framework/themes/symbolism to themselves.

...yeah that was pregnancy imagery before and it sure is now!!!! I am. Very squicked out right now. Wahoo.

Wait the gate can be physically entered??? Wasn't expecting that, alright.

"permitted death" huh. Actually. Why are you still around? Like I would have expected Knives to want to accomplish his plan without humans involved?

It's making a humanoid figure???? Again was not expecting that.

And titlecard at the end of the episode! Neat.

End notes:

Wow aside from like two physical gags at the beginning of the episode this is incredibly distant from the tone of the first couple episodes.

I'm kind of scrambling for what else I have to say here. Hmm.

I was. incredibly uncomfortable with parts of this episode but uhhh it was all mostly-me things or presumably on purpose! So still overall jiving with it.

Aside from the first bit, actually, I was really surprised at how little Meryl and Wolfwood had to do this episode? With Meryl especially there was a lot of buildup, so I was expecting a bit more action from her. But I guess this episode didn't really have action, it's more trying for a grand culmination sort of thing.

Hmmm. Yeah I'm gonna leave it at that and go watch the last one haha :D

[beastofmoss]

*flops into your askbox like a wet cat* hello

:) for reasons I need you to tell me so so much about your oc enstars unit (outfits, themes, individual motifs yk..)

I am begging I am pleading I am curious I wish to Know and Behold

I'M KISSING YOU ON DA MOUTH

I'm picking you up and placing you in a nice aquarium~♡

Here's a post explaining about Socks and Buskins:

Here's a slightly outdated Post explaining about them personally:

I have two oc nutshell post, I still need to make three more but so far I have:

The Blind Jester:

The Final Girl:

A little ramble about the unit:

I'm still working on the uniforms for the unit, but I do know the general concept of it. Each member will have a mask that plays into their role, as well as a bit of their personality. The colors I'm still bouncing around on, switching between more earthy tones(to make nod towards Oberon, Puck, and Titania from Midsummer's night) to more royal colored tones (playing into an actually court). So far for the mask, I'm thinking more Masquerade style.

José's mask would have some King motifs as well as stars. The king motifs plays into his role as the leader/"King" of his unit while the stars are more personal. José doesn't see himself as a star, not like others—something that Frecil, his mentor, disagrees with. Also, the Star in tarot is a huge factor as well.

Sierra's mask would be asymmetrical—something that would play into her double-edged nature. Very elegant and eye catching. I mean, she's the Queen—so she has to stand out, right? Her mask concept is still a wip rn.

Frecil's would be very jester-like with small scattering of feathers. Their mask would cover their eyes, both visualizing the Blind aspect of their character and, in a sense, themself. The feathers would be a small reference of their past work as a single idol.

I do have some inspiration for their vocals:

Frecil's voice would be very similar to Sodikken and how they sing. Sodikken was also a huge inspiration on Frecil to be honest.

José's inspiration for both vocal and past-vibe was actually Corpse Husband. Although José wouldn't have such a deep and raspy voice as Corpse. This was before José was upgraded (All Socks and Buskin ft. Cherry were slightly different when I first made them)

Sierra doesn't have any vocals inspiration, not right now.

Here are some songs that I think describe my babies:

Frecil:

Josè:

Sierra:

Cherry:

Some character playlists (I'm still working on/need updating):

Thank you~☆

[diamondsandlemons]

Hi sorry for being the least normal person on the planet about this but I saw you rbing some The Locked Tomb stuff and it's only been like a week or two since I got extremely into the series and it's nice to see someone I follow also show interest in it around the same-ish time as me! Can I ask abt your take on the books so far n fav character/s?

well I've only read the first book (I'm definitely interested in continuing with the series but I probably won't get to it for a while, esp. since I wanna get back into playing Ace Attorney games, as playing a visual novel kinda takes up the same time slot in my day as reading a novel, yk?) so there's def stuff I don't know abt yet.

but anyway yeah! I did really enjoy it. I appreciate the comedy in it, which I wasn't really expecting since like the cover art is so grim and it opens with some really dense politics stuff and a bunch of long names (that I just know should be pronounced with a british accent but I can't really make my head voice do that) and like the actual plot is very serious with deaths and stuff but nonetheless This Book Has Jokes

and its best when they're the dumbest, simplest jokes you could think of and Gideon says them out loud because thats the kind character she is. love her

Palamedes is great too because he entertains Gideon's antics while also being the one most focused on solving the mystery castle puzzles. (this girl who's been here for like a month and has never spoken a word to anyone is talking to me now? and she's rude? thats fine I'll just roll with it). he's also like the most normal dude in the whole cast. you feel comfortable when he's around

(btw what the hell was up with the thing he discovered about the rooms in Canaan House being from different time periods? like the different rooms are literally different ages? I don't think that was ever explained or brought up again???)

Also, for "lesbian fiction" being basically the one thing everyone says about this series, I was kinda surprised at the lack of a romantic plot in this one? I mean maybe there will be more of that in the other books idk, but like. ok so from the beginning it's very clear that Gideon and Harrow are gonna be the main pair here. and I was a little skeptical they were gonna be able to sell me on that because of where their relationship started, but nahhh I had nothing to worry about. they were meant for each other and enemies to lovers works great it turns out. but like. their relationship definitely improves a lot over the course of the story, but most of the time they don't talk to each other about anything but their jobs. its all bones and skeletons and locked doors with them.

don't get me wrong it has strong gay vibes all the way through (and Gideon is constantly commenting on how hot other women are, which is great) but at no point are Harrow and Gideon actually like. dating. closest they got was when I think it was implied they fucked once, after the pool scene. which like, good for them, I'm glad they got the opportunity to do that before, ah, y'know.

speaking of which I have NO clue what'll happen next based on how it ended. and the brief glimpse of the emperor at the very end was not at all what I expected, so that's curious as well...

OH yeah and speaking of the empire. uh at least the copy of the book that I have has a bunch of bonus material at the end, like in-universe essays and reports (and a pronunciation guide where I frustratingly learned I'd been reading half the characters' names wrong). and ONLY in that bonus material was it ever acknowledged that other inhabited planets exist outside of the empire. like for the whole book it kinda seems like there are nine planets that comprise the empire, and that's it. no humans anywhere else in the universe. no life outside the empire.

sure, the Cohort supposedly fights "enemies of the empire" but that's all that's ever said about that. could be like evil skeletons or some other kind of space monster for all we know. but no there ARE other civilizations, which I guess might be at war with the necromancers? it's cool to know that, that this story's universe is bigger than we've seen, and if I had to guess I'd say bigger than we probably ever will see, since there's still so many ghost/death mysteries and House history stuff our beloved necros have yet to solve.

ok thats probably everything I have to say about Gideon the Ninth for now. thanks for giving me an opportunity to put it all into words, lol

[greyzoneeeeee]

Attractions?

As a teen I assumed I had crushes. There were definitely guys that I thought looked good and were nice, this was in the early friendship stage. I found once they had become a friend and I knew them well, those initial "crush" feelings disappeared. Once I learned more terminology in later years I just assumed they were "squishes".

Romantic attraction took me a while to figure out, especially because these initial feelings disappeared when people became solid friends. I read something along the lines of "If you're wondering what romantic attraction feel like, that's your answer", so at the end of the day I chalked myself up to being "Aromantic".

Haven't found that to have changed so I think it's still applicable. If anything I resonate with it more now. I'm more drained than I used to be so any sort of "squish" is few and far between lol.

I think it's easy to be confused for a long time when you love the romantic comedy genre. I will RELISH in romcom fiction. Spent a decade immersed in shojo anime and manga, kdramas, jdramas, tv/movies/books. I still consume all this. It's exciting, makes me happy, I get so absorbed in their worlds, I will fantasise being in it. But with people in reality, those romantic feelings are just not there.

My eyes really opened a couple of years ago when I discovered the Lesbian MasterDoc and learnt about Compulsory Heterosexuality. Quite a significant portion of that read really resonated with me. I don't think I have any Lesbian-leaning feelings, but I realised very quickly how legitimate compulsory heterosexuality was.

This lead to a new set of hurdles though. Had I had all these squishes on guys(at the time, but their genders aren't all cis men now) because that's what I was "attracted" to? Or was that compulsory heterosexuality?

The first good half of my kpop journey was definitely focused on boy groups. I did listen to girl groups too, but the ratio definitely favoured the guys. I also had a guaranteed bias in the male groups I listened to, whilst I didn't give that same energy to girls. This also applied to outside of Kpop. I definitely had favourite band members or actors and they were guys. At some point close to, but before discovering CompHet, I started liking girl groups more. I didn't necessarily have more biases, but my eyes were far more drawn to the girl groups visuals than the guy groups. At the time I thought that was purely aesthetic and was being influenced by being so immersed in Kpop where fashion is a big component of it.

Through more learning I realised I could feel aesthetic attraction VERY strongly. Sometimes I thought this meant I liked the person more than a friend, or that it meant I might be bi-romantic or homo-romantic. Sometimes I'm still not sure, especially now that in the last year or two I really gravitate towards women more. But any feelings still don't really exist beyond becoming friends. Then I'm also aware that I feel more comfortable doing any sort of physical exploring with a woman than a man, but then there's still something about a man(but maybe that's the CompHet speaking and anyone masc-presenting could be appealing lol).

At the same time as the aesthetic attraction to women grew, the general disdain for men also grew. It's definitely not all men. The men I know are good, but any sour encounter I've ever had and any time I've felt an uncertain/vigilant/unsafe energy from a stranger, it has been cause of a man. So has that unsafe feeling redirected me towards women?

Once I really looked into aesthetic attraction it made me look back on people while growing up. Were those characters in the tv show I liked my favourite JUST because I thought they were cool? Or was this the early version of feeling attraction as an ace kid. Was I just mesmerised because I liked the characters or were they the ace kid aesthetic attraction version of "An awakening" haha.

Currently I'm sitting with "Aromantic with strong aesthetic attraction". It's just that sometimes it's really strong, to the point where I wonder if it's an actual relationship-type attraction. Is this person just amazing to look at or would I be open to physically exploring if they asked me?

Another thing is that all the grief I've gone through over the years has left me...feeling like the outer husk of a human. I do feel lonely but it's not an intimacy lonely. It's a loneliness for losing the past where things were easier and where I was happy and hopeful and less stressed and unbothered by most things.

Sometimes I want "a person", sometimes I'm curious and wonder what physical interactions I'd be okay with if I trusted and felt safe with the person.

Keeping in mind I hate being touched. But sometimes I don't mind reciprocating a hello/goodbye hug, but then sometimes I don't want a person touching me at all(whether there's a reason for that particular person or not), but then there are people where I don't mind touch. Like if our hands brush when walking, or our shoulders touch when we both look at a phone etc. Casual touches like that are sometimes okay. Sometimes once I'm touched, even accidentally, I need that person to move away and stay in my line of sight until my flinching at movement settles down.

Went on a bit of a tangent there :P