#|| the quality is shitty but I'M LIVING FOR THIS SCENE ||

[nohoperadio]

It's stupid to idealize past eras that didn't have the technologies we take for granted, but if you know you're being stupid it can be harmless to do recreationally. One thing I sometimes recreationally idealize is how shadowy each person's view of the vast majority of the world must have been before the widespread availability of photography and video of basically everything that exists that we enjoy now. For most of history the average person was aware of the existence of distant parts of the globe where the landscape and climate was completely different, the plants and animals, the buildings and food, people's clothes and languages and religions and general daily lives were all completely different, while seeing almost zero "primary sources" for what any of this was specifically like. Even not-so-distant places could feel relatively exotic if you hadn't personally traveled there. Illustrations of various kinds existed but would have been very limited in both quality and availability for the most part, you're largely dependent on written and spoken accounts not just for (as nowadays) understanding and insight but also for just the very simplest sensory information, colour size shape sound vibe, what is all this stuff like on the most basic possible level? Those shitty medieval illustrations of animals that look nothing like the animal because the artist had only ever read about them are a kind of small window onto this.

And clearly this would suck! But there's also something that really appeals to me about the way it heightens the felt significance of description and imagination. In order to think about the world beyond your back yard at all you had to be constantly exercising your imagination because you didn't have anything else, you had to supply whatever images you lacked from your own mental resources.

This is putting it a bit too strongly, but there's really a sense in which for me in the present, reading a written description of anything is essentially just reading a commentary upon visual images I've already received and retained; even if it's a description of something I can't have seen a real image of like a scene from ancient Rome or something, I've seen a Hollywood version of that scene, the description can't do much more than modify and correct what I already have. This seems to me to be a completely different experience from if the written description is the raw material to which I'm contributing the bulk of the imaginative heavy lifting myself, having to come up with my own shitty medieval lion drawings in my own mind whenever I come across something new. I think there's genuinely a profound experience there that we've more or less totally lost now.

(this post is arguably guilty of exaggeration in service of the general gist, I know, but I'm getting tired of writing it and I can't be bothered to try to make it more subtle right now)

[luckyartdrawer]

I can't hold onto an art style even if you paid me-

I cannot believe how flustered this drawing makes me and it's not even suggestive...

The fixation is BAD y'all 😭😭😭

More yapping and silliness under the cut vvvv

Thought I'd work on a rendered Moon drawing since Sun got one! This is like the 3rd attempt for me to get a good pose, but it's safe to say I'm happy with this one enough to share. Though this one isn't in reference to any scene, it's just good ol' Moon :)

Sorry for the bad image quality btw! I work on a drawing tablet but I don't have Internet where I'm currently living, so shitty phone pics and phone data is the only way i'm able to share atm...

(I'll post the finished render when done - if I ever find a way to get the quality image on my phone or once I get back to the college dorms 😭)

Also-

I hope some of y'all love that this little guy is on the same document as much as I do LMAOOO

(Someoneeee's petty spaghettiiiii-)

[theweirdhybrid]

Edit: This post is directed at people who also use Twitter/X or any other social media platform that Lego has a presence on, if you are not one of those people feel free to ignore this post (and leave me alone, please)

I haven't been in the LMK fandom for a hot minute, but holy SHIT you guys NEED to calm down about the animation team changing. It's literally fine. The animation quality is fine. It Is Fine. It changed SLIGHTLY. When I first heard about the animation being shitty, I thought "Oh man, it must've been really bad for people to be so upset over this." And then I actually watched the trailer. What the fuck, guys.

As far as I could tell, the animation quality was largely the same, just with a few minor differences in style that in the grand scheme of things, aren't that noticeable. It's just Different.

There is no reason to be throwing a hissy fit over Flying Bark having to hand LMK over to a different team because they couldn't keep up with the deadlines. None. Literally not a single one. Do y'all have any idea how lucky it is that all that happened was the animation style changed a little bit? If things behind the scenes had gone even a little differently, the show would've been cancelled in its entirety. (Not to mention we could be seeing the UNFINISHED PRODUCT. CALM. DOWN. And even if we aren't y'all STILL need to CALM. THE HELL. DOWN.)

And as far as I can tell, the story and writing itself seems perfectly fine as well, the ANIMATION TEAM changing has NO EFFECT on the WRITER'S TEAM.

Would you prefer the animation to have changed a little bit with the same quality of writing, or would you prefer the animation stay the same and the writing to go down the drain? Because I've seen that happen before. I lived through VLD. It's a lot fucking worse.

Seriously, I'm not joking. At All. If you make a big enough stink about LMK's style changing just a TINY BIT, sure, they COULD change it, but for a show that is relatively unpopular, barely has a foothold on any LEGAL streaming services and is hanging on to life by the SKIN of its TEETH, has only ELEVEN MINUTES PER EPISODE INCLUDING CREDITS, something a LOT worse is more likely to happen.

With the rate shows get cancelled these days, if people jump ship or complain too much over A TINY DIFFERENCE IN ANIMATION, the show could be cancelled.

Also, I get you're upset and sad to see Flying Bark go, and maybe that's where your anger is coming from, but please keep those thoughts to yourself or in private spaces. If you get too loud about disliking the show in ANY capacity, the entire thing gets nuked.

And if you're still planning on complaining publicly about it...

GET OVER YOURSELF.

IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, IT'S A CARTOON. CHECK YOUR GODDAMN PRIVILEGE, IT IS THE TINIEST OF ANIMATION CHANGES, KINDLY SHUT UP AND DIRECT THAT ANGER AT SOMETHING USEFUL.

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

Remember that scene from episode 7, when Aemond tries to approach Jace on Driftmark, looking like he is about to offer his condolences but at the same time knows he shouldn't because even Jace can't acknowledge his real father? And Jace looks somewhat annoyed and Aemond leaves, then Jace glances at Aegon who is already in his cups and doesn't even notice him? There were no scenes like that in season 2. Short but meaningful, the scenes that reveal so much about the characters involved. We have Aemond who even after being mocked by his nephews still can sympathise with them in a way and the two (Aemond/Jace) can give us a 'what if' moment that creates the ultimate fallout more tragic. Then we have Jace who obviously is interested more in Aegon as a ringleader, an older boy he looks up to, and yet, it's Aemond, the boy he mocks for not having a dragon, the one who approaches him. These kind of scenes are important for the character building and also for making a stronger emotional impact on the audience when it comes to the fate of the mentioned characters. S2 had none of this and destroyed and undid whatever s1 built character and story-wise. Aemond's and Alicent's characters suffered the most, no doubt, but it was bad in general.

Also, in the balcony scene it's obvious how helaena and aemond have a great chemistry and it just made me even more mad because they had so little screentime together in both seasons. Same goes for Aegond. It's criminal they had zero good scenes , save for that one in e6 that is just used to not so subtly remind us that Aemond is a sadist. Also, why wouldn't Aemond just finish Aegon off because as long as he lives, Aemond is not safe? The answer: in the book he obviously didn't try to kill him at RR and therefore wouldn't want to kill him in the aftermath either, but these idiots just needed their shitty change to all of the sudden make Aemond a one dimensional villain, make Aegon as pitiful as possible and to show how terrible and dysfunctional the greens are as a family. However, they couldn't just kill Aegon off so early and that's why they attempted to fix their stupid plothole with that scene when Aemond threatens him. Like, what?? I'm supposed to believe that was enough for Aegon to shut up for weeks and then just leave? Nah. There were bunch of similar idiocies through the whole season and I'm sure that something seriously went wrong between s1 and 2 because the drop in quality is jarring. I'm not saying s1 was that great, but this one was abysmal. Probably Miguel leaving was one of the main reasons, but whatever it was, this season will remain a great example of what not to do when you make a TV show. I just feel sorry for the lost potential and also for the people who are planning to watch s3 because, unless you're a die hard tb stan with zero critical thinking skills, I can't see the appeal.

Ugh, I hope this rant makes sense 😅

Hello, and thank you for the ask!

You're making a very good point. Season 1 was by no means perfect; but there was at least some if not love then genuine investment in the story and the characters from the showrunners - one could feel that at least occasionally. I guess it really came from Sapochnik's end because Condal clearly couldn't care less. The show used to have a soul - and now it feels empty. And, as it has been proven time and time again through the entirety of cinematic history, it is virtually impossible to create a truly good film or TV show if you don't give a damn about its essence.

I saw some people calling season 2 "a trailer for season 3" - because of how underwhelming and lacking in substance it turned out to be, I assume. To me it feels like something in between a trailer for the things to come and a recap of an actual season that was filmed but not shown to us for some reason. Pretty much everything feels superficial - even the dragged out scenes supposedly added for symbolism purposes or whatnot. The relationships between the characters are underdeveloped at best, destroyed at most (for example, chemistry between Green siblings' actors is utterly wasted indeed); some plot points make no sense; quite a few characters seem to have got a personality transplant in between the seasons.

Actually, I can understand why people, even TG fans would still be willing to watch season 3 (some for Aegon and Larys storyline, some for Alysmond - whatever form it takes, some for other reasons which could be many). As for me though - at the risk of sounding too dramatic - I had too much heart poured into this show and got hurt too badly by what it has become to even think of continuing to watch it without feeling sick. At least, for now.

[doubleddenden]

Thoughts on Uzumaki the anime, now that it has completely finished airing:

Animation be dammed, I think they needed to give more episodes so that proper tension could be built and it not just be a series of "wow that's fucked up- wow that's fucked up- wow that's fucked up-" over and over.

That being said, from a very casual fan and from the perspective of someone that doesn't like horror- especially cosmic horror- this was decent for me. It's not quite the animated classic I'm sure a lot of people wanted- especially for episode 2- but it is a decent popcorn with friends type scary, imo.

Episode 1 was probably the best for obvious reasons, but truth be told, I was probably more unnerved for the hospital scenes. Genuinely, I felt a moment of fear and uneasiness - the scenes of people eating the snails in ep 4 is close, but 3 really fucked me up for that one scene in particular.

I do feel bad for the people that probably got screwed over and the people that were really hoping for a master piece- and DeMarco and Adult Swim better learn whatever God damn lessons they need to from this, because AS and Toonami already have a bad rep for animated originals. In the case of Lazarus, a 13 episode series scheduled for next year that they claim ALL episodes will be directed by Watanabe, they better make damn sure that goes off without a hitch, or risk losing opportunities in the anime industry going forward.

As for Uzumaki's story as a whole- I think I really appreciate Junji Ito's simple "hey wouldn't that be fucked up" approach to creating with a very simple concept. Some things definitely feel not scary at all, in particular the twister gangs- except for when they reveal pseudo cannibalism. That's not even the spirals' doing- in fact, the strongest horror in this series comes not from the spirals, but from the people themselves losing their god damn minds and giving into depravity and chaos. More than any jump scare or super natural being, I truly believe the most horrifying things to write with are with people and the horrible things they do to themselves or each other, and Uzumaki captures that.

The ending mystery is intriguing- but while I do understand that horror stories and especially cosmic horror rarely have happy endings, I can't help but wish for it. I think the ending is certainly just as terrifying, and the lack of solution- the exhausted acceptance of horrors beyond your imagination and knowledge that it is doomed to repeat forever- that leaves a very uneasy feeling inside of me. I personally don't enjoy this feeling, but that's certainly just a matter of taste and not a reflection of story quality- it's a fine enough ending for the genre and delivers on its job.

I don't think I'll watch it again, truth be told. It's not a story for me, and that's fine- again, just my taste, as I'm not really a horror fan anyway.

I think the most compelling things going for this anime is A. The gorgeous animation in episode 1 and the overall inky black and white colors, which really help build an atmosphere that would be list with color imo, B. The amount of people going for the manga will definitely increase, and C. The genuine curiosity about the production- what went wrong, why so many studios and an inconsistent quality. Perhaps someday an answer will be given.

I'll be honest, I kind of prefer the shitty live action movie if for nothing else that it was actually hilarious.

Anyway I'll give it a 6 or 7/10. Again, not for me, could do better with pacing, and an inconsistent animation quality can take me out.

[phantasmiafxndom]

Out of all the animes you’ve watch what ones are your favorites

...you know what, you get the serious answer. I used to track my anime watching, so out of the 450+ completed ones on my list, here are some of my top recommendations! (In terms of quality, more so than what I've spent the most time dwelling on.)

. . .

One Piece — I haven't technically watched all of this one, but after falling back into the fandom after an 8-ish year break, I really can't understate the quality. One Piece's story is amazing, and I'm consistently impressed by the author's characters/worldbuilding.

Dominion Tank Police (1988) — I have FEELINGS about the villain in this one... Overall, 80s sci-fi vibes mix with themes of ethical responsibility and societal peacekeeping, and the "don't you just want to go apeshit? :)" protagonist (who's also extremely aromantic-coded) is a hilarious, yet wonderfully earnest little menace!

Kyousougiga — I've been rewatching this one recently, and the sheer detail in every scene is STUNNING. I keep having to pause to mentally scream about the symbolism, and tbh, knowing the plot from my original watch is only improving the experience.

Tekkon Kinkreet — This one's a movie, not a series, but SKLJKHS IT HAUNTS ME. Absolutely chilling, by the time the big plot twists roll around... Beyond that, the overall aesthetic/vibe is impeccable, and the exaggerated, messy art style only adds to that.

Kemonozume — Monster/human forbidden romance with stunning art and a great soundtrack. The plot started out a bit confusing, but all of the scattered story elements came together nicely in the end!

The Tatami Galaxy — The "get your shit together and start enjoying your life" anime. It's plenty good as just a story, but I got some excellent life lessons out of it too. Solid mix of comedy, drama, and charismatic-yet-extremely-bizarre characters interacting.

Monster — Excellent slow-paced, psychological horror packed with ethical dilemmas, traumatic backstories, and so many Extremely Depressed Men. In other words, there's a very good reason why Johan Liebert used to end up on so many "best anime villains" lists.

Paranoia Agent — I have nothing but praise for Satoshi Kon's work, in general, and Paranoia Agent has been my favorite of the ones I've seen so far. Compared to his movies, it really benefits from the extra space for plot development, and the big emotional twist hits hard.

Revolutionary Girl Utena — A true classic. <3 There are enough tumblr essays about this tragic yuri masterpiece that I won't go into detail myself, but yes, it's every bit as good as you've heard.

Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail — The entire Black Lagoon series is excellent, but Roberta is my special girl. Unfortunately, the OAV adaption compresses the manga's version of her arc pretty heavily (and the altered ending is kind of dumb), but I still have to recommend it. Babygirl's breakdown is a REAL mess kjshghs

Claymore — Excellent pseudo-medieval fantasy with badass female characters, lots of body horror, and top-tier monster design. The manga is MUCH better than the anime after a certain point, however.

Kuuchuu Buranko — An episodic series about an eccentric psychiatrist interacting with his troubled patients. The mixed-media animation style and bizarre characters are what sold it for me, along with the exploration of mental health through storytelling tropes.

Cannon Fodder — An artistic short movie that's twenty minutes of aesthetic experience and fascinating worldbuilding implications. I love the vibe, and the "one, long horizontal frame" style is neat.

Flowers of Evil — The art style. The VIBES. The whole thing is incredibly eerie and off-putting, with a plot that's pretty much: "congrats! two shitty teenagers are tearing each other's lives apart!".

[weneverlearn]

Candy Darling - Dreamer, Icon, Superstar by Cynthia Carr

Review by Eric Davidson

It's a boon time for biographies of underground characters from across the end-of-20th Century New York City. Hell, there's even a Ned Hayden autobiography out there.

For me personally, I ingest these books as proof or dissolution of myths of which I've always been suspicious. I've never been one to say "Don't meet your heroes," because I dispensed with the notion of heroes by the time I turned teen.

I have a vivid memory of watching the "Disco Demolition Night" at Comiskey Park on the TV news when I was 12 and knew right away that even supposed lovers of rock'n'roll could do stupid-ass shit that completely missed the point of rock'n'roll. Or there were the rumors of the beloved Jimmy Carter and Jesse Jackson wanting to shut down punk rock. Most of the Bolshevik's were extremely sexist. Ditto Jackson Pollack and many of my fave modernist painters.

I knew from an early age that unassailable humans are extremely rare. So the term "hero" went out of my vocabulary quickly. I usually keep it to "People I admire for their work." Like any good leftie, I am tied to detailed and busy terminology that probably invites distraction instead of quickie comradery, but c'est la fuckin' vie.

To wit, this excellent new biography of Warhol superstar and drag icon, Candy Darling. Well, not so new -- I've been meaning to post a review of this since it came out last summer, and hey, today, November 24, is Candy Darling's birthday!

This is a wonderfully written book that gives an honest, well-researched biographical picture of Candy, a solid surrounding milieu description, and more reasons to chip away at whatever positive opinions you had left about Andy Warhol.

Don't get me wrong, I am one of those who do believe that the art someone makes survives long past us feeble humans; no artist creates alone in a vacuum; and hence it is possible to appreciate the art while noting the foibles or downright shitty things about an artist. They lived when they did; 7 outta 10 times had crap parents; usually could not foresee future societal changes; and they never worked completely alone, so why toss out the hard work of co-creators with the bathwater of the possibly shitty main name artiste?

Who could realistically argue that Warhol is not one of the four or five most important visual artists of the 20th century -- for debatably good and bad reasons and outcomes (debate being something else good art inspires). In this book, Warhol comes across variously as cheap as hell and/or a monied aesthetic savior to the coterie of kooks he kept around him (until he grew tired of them). Discussing the malleable moralities of Pop Art and its creation is another topic for another day, and not the main one of this book.

That topic is Candy Darling as one of the most famous drag queens, and all that entails and supposes. Like, she didn't really consider herself a drag queen, or did she? This book takes a late '60s Long Island misfit and zooms her right into our evolving 21st Century conceptions of gender, while allowing for the fact that Candy is no longer around to enter the debate, and most likely wouldn't want to.

With this bio you get to learn that, like a lot of the Warhol crew, Candy was a relatively conservative person -- though you can't blame that on a rich family that raised her conservatively, like most of the Warhol crew. She grew up middle class, which seemed yet another thing that set her askance from the Factory scene.

For the most part, Candy relished the 1940s Hollywood concepts of female empowerment, not the burgeoning Women's Lib concepts. In fact overall, author Cynthia Carr's extrapolation of Candy's life shows people like her didn't just struggle to fit into the straight world, they didn't have much luck with the burgeoning women or gay liberation movements either.

Incredible amount and quality of images throughout the book too!

I'm a straight white guy who thinks he's listened to a lot of Jobriath and saw The Queen on a big screen (with a Q&A after, no less!), but it was a revelation to me to find out from this book how gay bars of NYC in the 1960s would kick out drag queens because their presence invited vice cops and their truncheons. And in fact, some in gay liberation groups considered drag queens a, uh, drag on the movement by supporting gender stereotypes; and some in the women's movement thought they were making fun of women.

To help navigate such travails -- and her fraught attempts to become a movie star via her connections in the new underground film world -- Candy continually searched for a belief system that primarily focused around Christianity, though she delved into Scientology and other vague, hippie interpretations of spirituality too. I have always been of the mind of why would anyone of fluid gender want to join any well-known established religion in America, since they all seem to start with a complete disrespect for that idea? Candy Darling is another example of how it took brave souls like her to investigate this stuff so us later questioning types could argue from a more solid, smug foundation.

Candy cooking; swiped from a Tumblr

In the face of that morality search, Candy was a constant, inventive filcher of money and goods from pals, re-user of used clothing, and generally comes across as much a glamorous version of a crusty punk as a wannabe Marilyn Monroe. Her fractious friendship with Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis -- the triumvirate of Lou Reed's legendary song -- was a kind of metaphor for that whole NYC underground arts era: one (Woodlawn), an updated vaudevillian; one (Candy), a near cartoon of classic Hollywood; and one (Jackie Curtis), the future of the shakeout of gender identity. And if my reading here is correct, Curtis might've invented punk rock's fashion and contrarian attitude.

And like Curtis, this book created for me possible reasons to revive the word hero in my vocabulary. To imagine the amount of energy Candy Darling must've had actually makes you more energetic as you read this. Her story is oddly inspiring, considering the poverty, self-defeat, and slow death that followed Candy like a Greek chorus.

No matter the fucked up family she had, the broke existence, the often thin "friendships," and the defiantly fringe arts community her high hopes were tied to, Candy Darling continued to walk in high heels through the most garbage-strewn era of NYC, all the while looking up at the stars with a hope and strength most of us couldn't muster. I admire her work.

[rook2ii]

wtf i just spent the last five hours making an entire fucking. essentially complete song. which i've never done before. i have not ever COMPLETED an original song. (i mean. it borrows a couple lyrics from some other songs in like. one part. but other than that it's all original.)

apparently my meds are way fucking stronger or something when i'm not at school because DAMN have i done a helluva lot over the last week.

(i uh. haven't worked on any school stuff yet... but still.)

here's the song if uh. anyone cares lmao.

warning tho ig that parts of the audio quality (especially vocals) might sound kinda shitty. but that was mostly on purpose lmao. there's not any sudden loud noises, but it might be a bit noisy in general?

idk, I really like how it turned out :3

lyrics (+ a bit of rambling) below the cut :> [[EYESTRAIN WARNING for the art I talk a little about there. Just different versions of the drawing I used as the cover]]

Cryptid mania hours~ Cryptid mania hours~ Cryptid mania hours~ Cryptid mania hours~!! Cryptid mania hours Got me feelin' like I got superpowers I wanna be fucking devoured Getting dressed up, my final hour Writing and writing and writing for days I got motivation flowin' through my veins I feel like a monster, I'm going insane!! Nah, it's not really that bad lol, I just... Got a little carried away I guess A million thoughts lapsed over each other There's so much that I wanna say, but You'll never hear all the thoughts in my brain I hide them, I hide them away! (Cryptid mania hours~) Lose, lose, lose my fucking mind Win, win, win until I die They're not like the other guys You can't tell from your disguise (Cryptid mania hours~) All my colors fill the scene My eyes are bleeding on the screen Fuck a path in the woods! I'm gonna write my own fucking destiny (Cryptid mania hours~) Ohhh~ Jump, jump, jump up high!! (Cryptid mania hours~!!) Ohhhhhhhhhh~~

Quotes lyrics from "LOSE, LOSE, LOSE" by kittydog and "Sun Spots" by ivycomb (+ a lil Slay the Princess reference lol)

Okay, so. I was thinking about how weird it was that it felt like my ADHD meds were being. a LOT more effective over the course of spring break than they were during school.

I've had a lot of spontaneous motivation, generally have had a more elevated mood, not being able to fall asleep, and having a lot more trouble remembering to eat to the point I would feel light-headed and almost not feel able to get up with how suddenly starving I felt.

I both felt more like myself than I had in at least a month and also like I was slowly turning into some sort of cryptid at the same time.

Which led to me drawing this piece:

Which then gave me the spontaneous idea to try to record a shitty song that encapsulated the feeling as well, remembering the time I saw kittydog improvise making an entire purposefully shitty song on stream one time (METAL PIPE CORE)

And so I made a little melody on BeepBox, then put it into BandLab, and then. Just started recording whatever lyrics I thought up basically on the spot with my laptop's shitty built-in mic. And then I finished it?????? And I actually really, really like it???

And while it encapsulates the feeling itself pretty well, the lyrics are just a little bit everywhere in terms of what they're actually talking about...

Some of it is just various thoughts and feelings were at the forefront of my mind, some random shit I came up with here and there, and, of course, quoting lyrics from some songs I sing to myself fucking over and over again.

Also, when I came up with the "All my colors fill the scene" lyric, I realized "Oh!! I should make a version of the drawing with 'my colors' (orange and purple) to use for the cover! :D"

so I did

Anyways. I'm so shocked that i just. made this. but i rlly like it. so.

Did I mention I made this entire thing basically running on fucking fumes?? Also that it's 3am where I live rn.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading updates: october 2023

hi everybody!!! things (by which I mean everything) have been a little bit hectic lately (by which I mean it feels like everything is one fire 100% of the time), which I guess explains why I'm late posting this AND why I only finished four books in all of October.

I would be very sad about this if the number of books I read had any correlation to my value as a person, but luckily it doesn't! so I don't give a shit, I am literally just vibing and trying to have a good time reading my silly little stories. here's a book report about it.

what I've been reading:

The Goblin Emperor (Katherine Addison, 2014) - okay, so picture this: you're the fucking elf king's least favorite son. you're not a bastard, but he didn't love your mom and after she died he basically banished you to a miserable little estate in bumfuck nowhere with no one but your abusive older cousin for company. probably he was going to leave you out there forever and hope that you would die quietly so no one would ever have to remember you existed. (un)fortunately, your shitty dad and all of his male heirs just died in a blimp accident and now you're the emperor. GOOD LUCK. this book is political fantasy of the highest order, with loads of machinations and intrigue and chewy worldbuilding interspersed with genuinely sweet moments between characters as one very good boy befriends his way to power. blah blah empires are inherently evil, obviously yes but this is a made up empire with 0 real consequences and Maia is my little dude. the only way I could love him more would be if he'd just nutted up and kissed his boy secretary on the mouth.

Happy Hour (Marlowe Granados, 2020) - I kept seeing this book enthusiastically as kind of a light fizzy funtime celebrating being young and free and running around New York City with no plans, and man... that was not my experience! Isa and Gala are maybe the most stressful girls I've ever encountered in fiction: perpetually broke and hungry, absolutely lacking in direction or ambition, always ricocheting listlessly from one situation to another in search of a good time and mostly only discovering disappointment, I need these girlies to get their lives together for my sake as a reader. there's one scene in particular where Isa is crashing with some disgustingly wealthy friends at the beach and keeps getting callously dismissed while sweating profusely and trying to figure out how she's going to convince them to keep paying for her food and it was so visceral that I developed a second, worse anxiety disorder because of it. Granados' writing is stylish, to be sure, but drama was not worth it for me.

The Magpie Lord (KJ Charles, 2013) - this historical fantasy romance is quick, dynamic, and horny. I can't actually say that I'm particularly charmed by the quality of the writing, which is there to hurtle you at warp speed between scenes of homoeroticism and bald exposition about magic, but I do admire Charles' panache. the book opens on a rather gruesome scene of our protagonist, Lord Crane, attempting to slit his own wrist; it quickly becomes clear that this isn't because he's genuinely suicidal, but because he's been cursed by persons unknown in an attempt to drive him to ruin. enter Stephen Day, a magic practitioner who hated Crane's deceased father and brother but is determined to help him all the same. some plot happens, but also a lot of flirting and (spoilers) sex that comes with an actual power-up for Stephen due to the wonders of blood magic. a pulpy good-time all around, and short enough that it doesn't overstay its welcome.

The Fervor (Alma Katsu, 2022) - The Fervor is a historical horror with a tantalizing premise: in the 1940s, Japanese demons begin to manifest inside of an Idaho internment camp for Japanese-Americans, adding a swirl of the supernatural to a situation that's already rife with mundane horrors. the actual execution is... lacking. Katsu's prose is blunt at best; when I call it "unsubtle" I don't mean the way some racist might mean when they inevitably go on a ramble about how Katsu beats her readers over the head with how racism is bad. racism is bad, duh, and it's hardly unrealistic to emphasize the fear and hatred that dogged the lives of Japanese-Americans during WW2. when I say this book is unsubtle I mean Katsu approaches each chapter like her readers have maybe forgotten everything they read leading up to that moment; you will be reminded frequently of characters' names, relationships, and straightforward motivations. and yet, somehow, the actual plot is still pretty murky. much is hinted at in the protagonist's past in Japan, then never actually elucidated, a main POV character falls clean out of the plot without resolution just before the climax, I still don't know what was up with those goddamn demon spiders. disappointing!

there was also one very specific, GLARING thing in the ending of The Fervor that I did not care for in the slightest, but that's tucked away on my Patreon in the monthly hater post. pay me if you want to hear about some CRAZY copaganda!

[white-boy-of-the-year]

WBOTY's Haphazard Grammy's Wishes

So I don't think it's any secret that I hate the Grammy's. It's a fact I'm pretty open about; I think, next to a few other things (cough Pitchfork) it is a shitty tool at measuring merit and quality in music. And it goes without saying that fandom reactions are also filled with ridiculous misogyny (fun fact you can disagree with a winner without spewing hateful rhetoric!).

Regardless, this year has a lot of good nominees! I still think there's a way for them to fuck this up, but in general, my bare expectation is that "at least one of the artists/songs I liked this year will win the major awards". But who knows. This is the Grammy's, after all.

Here are my selections for "who I'd like to see win" per award:

ROTY -> My first pick: Espresso; other songs I'd be happy if they won: Not Like Us, Fortnight, Good Luck, Babe!

AOTY -> My first pick: Cowboy Carter; other albums I'd be happy if they won: TTPD, Short n' Sweet, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

SOTY -> My first pick: Good Luck, Babe!; other songs I'd be happy if they won: Please x3, Not Like Us, Fortnight, Die With A Smile

Best New Artist -> I am equally rooting for Chappell and Sabrina, but logic has me pointing to Chappell winning this award. Not to discredit the other nominees, but the year these two have had are astronomically higher.

Alright, that's basically it! I won't be doing live coverage as the awards air at 1 AM for me, but I will be back in the morning to give my thorough bullying of the awards shows. But never the winners, and with that, this is a reminder that the artists do not decide who wins the awards! It is decided by a massive board of voters, and it involves a lot of behind-the-scenes payment and manipulation tactics to garner votes. Hoping for the best this year round!

Oh, and if there are any white boy wins, we'll be sure to post about them :)))

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews Episodes 4-25 and 4-26: The Risk and Strikeback Two-Parter

Alright, we are finally back. Also is this really a two-parter? Why haven't I heard anyone talk about Risk, anyways?

Oh, and one more thing: I've been calling these reviews but really they're just my live reactions as I watch the series. But 'Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews' rolls off the tongue far better than 'Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Live Reactions.'

Wait, was Luka always in the title sequence?

I mean, it'd be good for Chat Noir to know as a failsafe.

Wait, does Rena Furtive know?

So fun fact, that "Adrien No" scene from a future episode blew up on Twitter and I saw it get reposted to two of the Discords I'm in. In one of them they called Gabriel Agreste G-Man and that fucked me up. Just call him Poopmoth or Hawkmoth or something.

Weird ahh looking teeth

Wait, is Froggy's dad Tom Kenny or am I just hearing things?

No wait, that's the same VA as Poopmoth.

Holy crap! AOE attack! There's potential for that Wild West akuma idea I had!

Bro sees his father so little that even breakfast with him is a rare commodity

Shirt

Has this kid been up all night? I guess he has been taking risks...

Damn Adrien's sick of everyone's shit now

Wait, is Gabriel affected by Risk as well?

And it's the three girls I think genuinely adore and believe Lila.

Lila you bitch. Just let Marinette announce her love to Adrien. You're going to get aeons of time to spend with her anyways.

Oh right. Chloe's teaming up with Lila.

Both sides have a point, but really? Alya, you helped Marinette steal Adrien's phone just to delete an embarrassing message.

Is it just me or does this episode feel weirdly hard to watch?

"Oh Nathalie, I threw up at school because of dad's shitty-ass pancakes." "Get out my damn room!" "You've always been a whiny little bitch."

But it seems like Felix is actually starting to help Adrien now. Good!

The safe crackerr

Good. Now that you have Poopmoth's Miraculi, take them to the cops as evidence that Gabriel Agreste is Poopmoth.

Oh right. Nathalie has her walker things.

Knights don't typically convince dragons in these kinds of stories. At most they stand around idly and evade all the dragon's attacks until the dragon gets tired and gives in.

I'm tired of the word "Risk" at this point. This is too on-the-nose for themes. At least Simpleman was fun.

Oh god Kagami's character is getting poisoned already

Oh god Risk is just Simpleman but worse the IQ poisoning is real

Wait, Lila isn't disguising herself around her other mother? Or did she fake her death around the first mother?

Oh. They were fakes. Back to the "Yoink Gabriel Agreste" plan.

Kaiju

This has been hell so far to watch. Stop saying the word of the day without everyone screaming after it. On to part 2.

Well, Alya knows now. And Luka.

That fucking LEITMOTIF!!!

Wait, this is just reused from last episode!

THEY'RE STILL SAYING THE FUCKING WORD! I AM SO SICK.

Shouldn't Ladybug realize that kid has green skin?

And didn't anyone realize the frog marks on the backs of their necks?

Reused footage

Oh. Is Strikeback a Pokemon?

Nino's got a loose tongue. Noted.

FINALLY!

Oh. The sky's red now.

Well, the shitshow's over, now for Felix to ruin everything.

The traitor. Is he really sorry?

Oh god she's genuinely freaking out

And right in her time of need. Thank you, Chat Noir. Everyone say "Thank you, Chat Noir" in the reblogs/replies as well.

Alright, the ending was actually fine since I knew what was happening. Cathartic too. But otherwise these episodes were like Peewee's Playhouse without any good qualities. Up next is season 5. Play us off, Peewee's Playhouse ending with Peewee Pictures closing logo.

[astrxlfinale]

I'm gonna select the big 'ole flashy 30, and say... whatever is boiling the most intensely in your veins in terms of salt, Jace, please share it with me— I mean, /cough, share with the class. (As a fellow salt truck, I know there's always specific things, so I want you to have the ability to.)

Sae you know full well what's about to swing in here.

That said! I'd be delighted too honestly, so LET'S-

To take a fine moment for the topic on this number. In my eyes, the idea of Character respect is becoming an avidly dying practice. At least, when it comes to the motivated study of truly making that shot to learn about them in the larger stream.

The biggest means I see this appear as is the 'Cookie Cutter.' Drawing attention to this angle right here is what truly just boils the inside of my head, since in truth, it's related to some topics alluded to in the other ask. I believe that the order is going into reverse. Where the perceived mirrors are the envisioned character instead of vice versa. It's not an active study as to how this character works, rather, exactly what does this character 'fulfill' on a checklist quota to please them.

Taking from the easiest example here, let's take a look at Kafka and how it's easily taken, perceive her as 'Dommy Mommy' then virtually just leaving her to rust in said mold. It's played as a joke or 'power play' as some buzzwords do it, people will get uptight if said joke was called shitty, and here you go with the metaphorical merry-go-round on the matter.

It doesn't even stop at jokes, anyone experienced in the fandom atmosphere likely came across the lorded image, what the fun and games, personal add ins, just about a myriad things had molded about the character. How it's often, very rarely discussed about how the story expanded on the character themselves. Whether it's through the external media, the content of the narrative itself, and other examples that can be taken with genuine grain. This being from people who like to note themselves as fans of a franchise.

Then again, it doesn't even have to be that. Say there was a certain scene that just gets them literally or spiritually drooling. A scene of xyz character seemingly going unhinged, how a few 'appealing' views suddenly shoot them off to the stratosphere. There's a lot of ways where the cookie cutter can just make the easy mark. And y'know? Fair, if you're just at your angle or hole and not lording it as the gospel? More power to you! It's the people who always crave some brand of conflict and/or validation for this metaphorical ball.

I feel like the best example of what got egregiously popular is how xyz character enjoys one thing/food and suddenly it's their whole personality. The simplicity that I normally enjoy for content does the biggest disservice here. It's that jarring sense that like two people are looking at an outfit, and one is seeing armor and another a suit.

While the story quality itself is always up for question, I do like to say there's an active effort for writers to make a nebulous character, similar to someone just living in the current day, just with their unique structure and circumstances, history, life. It's just a damn shame to me how this is hardly valued when in truth, learning all of these about a long time or new series favorite of a person is fun as fuck. Mirrors in terms of concepts such as character trait can be really useful to learn. It's never that sort of thing that should be taken as the truth.

@araneitela

[blizzardsuplex]

hiii mel! i saw you said you were seeing zack on sunday at dexcon, so how was it?!! tell me everythingggg <3

Sure, Jackie :)

We were maybe 100 people in a gym with zero air conditioning/electric fans and one ring light while a literal typhoon was coming down in full force right outside. It was a fucking wonderful experience, even if my the end I literally couldn't breathe through my mask LOL

The Zack/Jake de Leon match went to a 30 minute draw. He's tall, I expected that, but he's also so much bigger in person.

I know I don't see enough matches live, but ZSJ/JdL is probably my favorite match I've ever seen live.

Zack mooned the audience LMAO

He also got extremely angry at the ref for counting a pin when he was going for a submission

We initially cheered for ZSJ when he came out because who wouldn't? But from the first minute we were for Jake de Leon. The PH wrestling scene took a big blow just the day before (Joseph Montecillo explains it in his blog post better than I ever could), so...

I actually recorded the entire match on my phone. It's shitty quality and vertical video to boot but I have it. I'm keeping it as long as I can.

There wasn't supposed to be a meet and greet after the show; like, literally, they told us to leave as soon as it was over. But people ofc lingered, and (since this is probably what people will care about on here) as soon as Zack got out of the ring he was swarmed.

I watched people come up to him and take pictures (there was no line), trying to think about what to say to a guy whose work has meant a lot to me since I was 14. Like, what do you even say? Begin to say?

I got cut in front of twice before I managed to get his attention. Even slouching, he was looking down at me.

His eyes in the light were amber brown.

I tried to lead with a message. I failed and just stuttered for like three seconds before I closed my eyes, curled up my fists like an anime protag, and asked if I could please take a picture with him.

He smiled and said sure. My bf took the photo. It felt both way too long and way too short.

I said thank you, and then, right before he turned his attention to someone else, I told him: "you've been my favorite wrestler in the world for 10 years."

Maybe he was surprised by that, because he took a moment to reply (at least he was smiling). "Wow, that's a long time. Thank you."

I literally ran away after that. I hadn't maintained eye contact for more than a moment at any point.

I nearly cried in the car.

[13eyond13]

25 for Griffith?

[character ask meme]

GRIFFITH + 25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

Hahaha, an excellent choice of a question for him

cut for spoilers, because I know I have a mutual who is freshly reading this series right now... (don't look, Dilly!!)

OK so my reactions to him chronologically can basically be divided into three parts:

(1) Pre-Eclipse: I like him, but I'm also side-eyeing him a bit... What's he up to, exactly?

(2) During the Eclipse: yoooo Griffith what the actual fuck you actual piece of shit!!!!

(3) Post-Eclipse: I HATE HIM AND EVERYTHING HE DOES ENRAGES ME BUT ALSO I REMEMBER HE'S A BIT COMPLICATED AND ALSO IT'S MORE BORING WHEN HE'S NOT AROUND SO WHERE DID HE GO AND CAN HE STOP DISAPPEARING FOR DOZENS OF CHAPTERS AT A TIME PLEASE

So initially I liked Griffith as a character and found him interesting to follow on the page (especially because I was like woah I can't believe how outright gay for Guts he's written, like I knew that people shipped them but I didn't think it would be that unambiguous? Good for him, good for him, I like how bold he is about it) BUT I was also side-eyeing Griffith and distrusting him a bit from the beginning, just because I knew that SOMETHING crazy must have happened to make him and Guts the kind of mortal enemies they were now before we got into the flashbacks, and because I don't trust endlessly ambitious characters trying to make themselves increasingly powerful, and because he did some shitty stuff at times (like making Casca warm Guts up with her body heat because it was a "woman's job")... but I think I remember believing that whatever it was he was still going to be a somewhat redeemable character, or that maybe the antagonism between him and Guts was based on a misunderstanding or something. So whenever the Eclipse stuff happened, I was genuinely shocked and completely horrified (here is the post with my live reaction to that part (x)

I REALLY got mad and really disliked him after that, and it nearly made me quit reading the story, because I wasn't a huge fan of how porny that whole scene was drawn in comparison to how the previous assaults were depicted on the page / wasn't incredibly sure if it felt super in-character of him / necessary for the plot / wasn't sure if Casca would ever be allowed to come back as a character in the story again ... but I also found I couldn't stop reading it for long, I was already way too emotionally invested in the characters and enjoying the Berserk universe as a whole. And stuff like how mutilated and broken and pitiful Griffith was after the torture he endured, and the scene of child him feeling obligated to keep going with his dream because of all the people he'd lead to their deaths already, made him stay more interesting to follow and more complex to contemplate as a character to me.

ANYWAY, the longer the story went on without him showing up again (if I recall correctly it goes on for at least another like 80 chapters more or something before we even see him again after that?) the more I realized that he brings a lot of the intrigue and make the most of the plot stuff that I'm actually most interested in happen, for better or for worse. So even though I was always enraged by him basically just existing and everything he did on the page after that I was also like "!!!! there he is, FINALLY" and glad every time he showed up again, haha. I wish sometimes now that he was still a bit more of a volatile/human character as he was before he made the sacrifices, because that's definitely more interesting to watch... but I can't say I'm not still very intrigued to see what happens in the end / how everything was meant to resolve between him and Casca and Guts, and if we'll ever see a big break in his aloof facade again, even after he tried to ascend to godhood and erase all of those more vulnerable human qualities from himself.

IN SUMMARY he's not my absolute fave in this series, and that's remained the same for me the entire time (it goes Guts>Casca>Griffith for me, and that order of faves hasn't changed all throughout) ... but he's definitely an iconic character, the one that brings a lot of the drama and the intrigue, and for some reason is the one I find most fun to discuss and post and speculate about in the fandom rn

[angrycloudloud]

Percy Jackson show art appreciation post!!!

There are spoilers from the books and the TV show also bad quality images from the show. So... Read and look at this at your own discretion.

Now. Let's start with Olympus and the thrones in the last episode. (And sorry again about the bad quality of the pictures, i couldn't take screenshots of it)

I said it last night in another post, but i SAW the arches... And Ancient Greek temples, usually, didn't used circular temples or arches very often, and the uses of those temples are either unknown or for "death related" things (this is an over simplification, the greeks were all over the mediterranean sea and some places adapted the structures of the greek temples to match the practices of the locals) ANYWAY... The tholos were more like circular temples than actually temples with arches so...yeah...arches in greeks IS something historians know they can build, but they weren't frecuently used by the greeks.

So... This... The arches in the show were bothering me,

...until someone pointed out some fan theories that i really liked and that having some context from the books (specially the hoo ones) it make sense that there's some arches there... Just because in those theories Percy is considered (spoiler) both Poseidon and Neptune child so It could be a subtle way to point that out.

And in the temples of Olympus, i needed a moment to analyze the scene.

First, we have the column corridor, which is interesting because those were actually more used in Ancient Egypt temples than Ancient Greek ones, but then i started thinking and saw what was behind those columns and the building with the arches behind...

I'm sorry again about the quality of the pictures, but as you can see (mostly imagine in the last one) there are some temples there that aren't really Greek. But they are temples used in other cultures in the eastern Asia. Also there's a building with a Big ass dome that reminded me of the domes of three Christian temples: Saint Sophia (now isn't a Christian temple anymore but a cool af mosque with so much interesting art and history), Saint Peter of the Vatican (the Big ass church where the Pope does his Pope things) and Saint Maria del fiore in Florence (relevant dome in fact, Brunelleschi did his best there). (I put the images of those domes down here so you don't have to suffer with the shitty images i took from the show... They are in order of mention.)

Now... WHY?! Why putting all those temples? It could mean two things (maybe more, but these two are the ones that made more sense for me)

There's other pantheons and gods living up there in what the show called Olympus, implying that all the gods that are canon in the Riordanverse live up there above New York.

The temples are from gods that had connections with the cultures that are represented with those temples (this is cool because some greek gods are actually being studied for their similarities in their cults and rites to other gods and deities from Asia) or have influenced posterior cultures and they've took the most "modern" temples and structures of buildings for their own temples (which is cool because all renaissance and baroque can't be understand without the influence of ancient greek and ancient rome discoveries at that time).

Now, i'll talk about the thrones and i'll cry because i don't have good pictures from them so you all have to trust me or read this watching the show 😅 because i can't have better pictures now and i need to write this as soon as possible before i forget everything.

That place. That place is ANCIENT, that IS The Mount Olympus throne room, it's there since the gods were gods. It is there since they defeated Cronos, and i think the show captured that perfectly.

...i can't put more pictures... So i'll post another post just for the thrones.

And another one later, just analyzing Percy's cabin. Because i think there's much more than just what we see in the architecture language of that cabin. (Maybe it's just me reading too much because college had made me mad and crazy with reading architecture like i used to read books.)

[neechees]

Your review of that racist whitewashed Native American book is exactly why I have mixed feelings about the concept of the literary genre of historical fiction

That's fair. Personally I really like historical fiction & it's probably my favorite genre to read, but where I think I start disliking certain books in the genre is when people invented specific things & go WAY outside of actual historical events specifically for drama (which is what Rose Christo did with her shitty book) or maybe even to push an agenda.

Like, something like inventing minor characters to fill a specific role in the story (but don't actually majorly affect the historical events in the plot) but didn't exist in real life to me personally is fine. Creating scenes for the book that we don't 100% know happened (but maybe there's some small evidence or rumors it did) in real life & then maybe imagining how it MIGHT have went down if it did, I can roll with that. Adding some filler scenes like character interactions that show character development or just add interest where historically nothing major happened but the scenes themselves don't depict any major historical event (so the scene doesn't have any major bearing on the plot & doesnt change anything that happened historically), I'm fine with that too, because who's to say it definitely DIDN'T happen either? Or even things like if you have to suspend your belief a bit, where it probably wasn't historically plausible, but it's happening in this book.

But in books like Christo's, where almost every major historical event is changed completely down to the details, & the historical context for why those things happened are completely disregarded, & the necessary research to create an engaging historical fiction book is the quality equivalent to the effort of a middle schooler who hates history, & then the real historical figures' lives and personalities are barely included for the book at all or are even completely changed solely for the sake of drama, then like.... why are you even writing a historical fiction book?? Do you even like history?? At this point why not just write alternative historical fiction or historical fantasy or just straight up fantasy if you're going to completely change everything that actually happened in history?

& then obviously there's the "pushing an agenda" books, but that can be another can of worms as well. I don't really like the alternative historical fiction genre, but at least they have the guts to call it what it is, ALTERNATIVE history. Rose Christo's book diverted SO far away from the actual historical events that actually happened, she should have just called it alternative history but she didnt. & that's also where I think it can get harmful, because even if it IS called historical "fiction", there'll be people who become misinformed about some of the information there, like most people aren't going to know a majority of the Cree cultural & spiritual stuff mentioned in Christo's book was either completely made up or wrong the way I did. And I think part of the reason why so many people gave it such a high rating is because they don't know Canadian history that well, nevermind CREE history in Canada, nor do they know about Cree culture, so for all they know this was a pretty faithful retelling.

Obviously people are going to misinterpret books no matter what, and everyone should question what facts might be made up or misinformation in historical fiction or even just history books (I feel like that's a given, everyone should do that regardless), and it's not always the author's fault what people might misinterpret from what theyve written. But I can also see why you'd dislike Historical Fiction, & that's some of what I dislike about it too