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KPOP DEMON HUNTERS (2025) dir. maggie kang & chris appelhans

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☆ inuyasha ☆

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Baguette Expedition 🥖

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The authenticity to be found in its soundtrack is reflected throughout the film. The members’ demon-fighting weaponry reflects the real tools and practices of shamanism, and Rumi, Mira, and Zoey all wear the traditional norigae accessory attached to their waists. Even the [weapons] for HUNTR/X resemble a norigae knot! Rumi’s weapon is based on the Four Tiger Sword, a ritual blade used during the Joseon Dynasty. In Korean cosmology, the four cardinal directions are guarded by four mythic tigers, and this sword symbolizes their protective strength. Zoey’s sinkal as one of the most unique weapons with close ties with Shamanic history. Used in shamanic gut ceremonies, the sinkal is a small ritual dagger—not for combat, but for symbolic cleansing. The sole purpose is to “cut” spiritual negativity and protect the ritual space. Meanwhile, Mira’s woldo, also called gokdo...is a pole weapon with a massive crescent-shaped blade. Used by elite military units during the Joseon Dynasty, it demanded strength and agility. It was also featured in court dances and processions, choreographed to evoke harmony between heaven and earth.

{✩, ✩, ✩}

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ive been reading garbage romantasy lately and it's truly truly awful but i've figured out a huge symptom of fantasy worlds that i know i won't like: i cannot imagine old women or children existing in them.

everyone is late teens-early thirties. these are worlds flattened in their demographics to the coveting of sexually available youth. there are no mothers with young children, no sons caring for older mothers, no elderly people who aren't evil and no children that aren't cardboard cutouts instead of developing people.

i knowww this is a symptom of me not being the target audience for this, and i understand that people don't come to these books for complex worlds but for erotica and romance, i know! so this is my caveat before i rant more that i'm not being super serious i'm just discussing something i've noticed i appreciate in more complex worlds

it especially stings in medieval fantasy (and by that i mean largely Western medieval fantasy) settings. it reeks of an inability or refusal to conceptualize a society and communities (or lack thereof) isolated from modern capitalist ideals, particularly the nuclear family. you don't know the kind of labor elderly women did to keep the world running in the premodern era.

who taught your nondescript background serfs to embroider the belts they're wearing? who made their 'roughspun tunics?' who weaved their blankets? who cares for the children while the parents are working in the fields? who brews their ale? who passes on their stories, medical knowledge, songs? why aren't there any older women in your clergy, helping manage your estates, present in your royal court? who are your midwives? who does your teenaged protagonist learn from and look up to?

beyond that, how do you treat your old women? are they all evil witches, all tradition-obsessed backward fossils, all smothering female relatives, all background extras? are they and their bodies cheap punchlines and jumpscares? where do your women go when they're too old for you to imagine them with sexual appetites and complex personalities beyond grandmothers and jealous evil hags?

children exist as infants or late teens only, ironing out the uncomfortable ugly years of a person becoming a person, teens without acne and without social awkwardness and fully developed in their competencies and personalities without the difficult part of growing up and learning included. babies are allowed because they're cute, they're basically props, a goalpost for the main romance of the book to satisfy heteropatriarchal expectations of couples instead of the main characters subverting any expectations. not to mention that most of these protagonists i can't imagine being 12, 13 years old. they sprung up fully formed at 19 before being whisked away by a love interest so overtly sexual he circles around to being sexless and utterly unappealing.

don't get me STARTED on how i hate seeing characters propping up relationships of main characters instead of being complex on their own.

this post is about ACOTAR.

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KPOP DEMON HUNTERS (2025) dir. by Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans

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Guillermo Del Toro on AI "art"

SDCC 2025: Lucas Museum Of Narrative Art

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Does Alderode have any spies in Cresce? I could imagine that it's nigh impossible to send an aldish person, with the Crescian Breathalizer System and all. Or are there turncoats that pass information? Does Cresce have spies in Alderode?

The countries are always trying to spy on each other. It's harder to get into Alderode than Cresce though. Cresce allows tourism, pilgrimages, trade, and even limited student exchange in its major academies, so you can get in there if you're really dedicated to the ruse. Alderode is much more closed off. Most spies attempt to sneak into the big trading ports and join the foreign sailor communities there, either as itinerant stevedores or agents for the major importers. It's a dangerous ploy. Alds will KNOW if you're not Aldish, so you need to have your story ready to go at all times, and be prepared for constant harassment.

Turncoats happen too. That's exactly what Quigley and Roger were, of course.

It's been a while since we saw it, but Jab Beadman has sent Nary Frummagem into Alderode to spy for him. Should be fun to see how he manages~

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learning to draw my new chew toy

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CLAIR OBSCUR: EXPEDITION 33 (2025) ↳ frozen hearts

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How did Jivi and Sette find each other after the events of last chapter?

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V FOR VENDETTA (2005)

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not a hear me out but a hold me back

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Chris Appelhans:

In Maggie’s original mission for the movie that I definitely connected to, there’s this idea of presenting women that were badass, super beautiful, and glamorous. But also weird and funny, food-loving, and silly and wearing their pajama pants. That’s the thing where I’m like, “God, this is so long overdue!” We just kept trying to make them kind of fabulous and amazing, but also human and silly and flawed.

{☆}

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KPOP DEMON HUNTERS (2025) dir. by Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans ↳ “...and these boys'll be…. Done, done, done.”

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The filter relies on manually curated open-source blocklists, including the ‘nuclear’ list, provided by uBlockOrigin and uBlacklist Huge AI Blocklist,” DuckDuckGo said in a post on X. “While it won’t catch 100% of AI-generated results, it will greatly reduce the number of AI-generated images you see.

Left: AI filter is off Right: AI filter is on

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for the last time