#Finding out which anime characters are voiced by the same people is so hilarious to me

[billiuspendragon]

I fucking knew it

I was rewatching the Yuri on Ice dub and thought "waittt a sec, Phichit's voice sounds really familiar.."

So I looked it up and --

it's him. It's fucking him.

[crispy-armpit]

✧ 𝒊 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒕 ✧

yandere secret agent x reader

‧₊˚ ⋅ ‧ 🍸₊˚ ⋆｡ 𖦹 °

⭒ 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺: after taking on your friend's offer to head downtown to a hidden bar, you find yourself in the middle of a covert operation. thankfully Messiah is there to hide you from danger. or did he just push you right into it?

⭒ 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵: gn reader, yandere, suggestive position & situation, slight violence, reader held at gunpoint, mentions of a firearm and getting shot, reader pressed against male crotch, sadism(?), auditory hallucination (you hear voices), hair pulling, swearing

⭒ 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: 1,153 words

⭒ a/n: it was my birthday last month and i had planned to post this by then but ofc i never learn my lesson and kept my drafts in tumblr (leading to it getting deleted) 😭!! so sorry for the wait everyone and happy late new years! :D hope u like the batman wannabe.. it goes from 0 to 100 rq because it's hilarious to me and i'm sleep deprived.. i can smell the hate comments already

will you venture down this path?

it was supposed to be another weekend night spent alone in your home; you, comfortably snuggling against your pillows while playing your favourite brain-rot game from night to morning.

but here you were— unfortunately not in your bed, and devastatingly not romancing your fictional game characters. your friend, Vern, had dragged convinced you to join him and try out some random jazz bar which recently opened.

he mentioned his band would be playing there... he's probably just trying to get more people to hype up his band.

the warm ambience of the bistro & bar, alongside the joyous laughter ringing all over the room, people bantering and simply enjoying each other's presence was enough to erase the thoughts of your usual weekend plans. it was the type of place where you couldn't bring up any negative emotions just because of how chill everyone and everything was. so that's one forgiveness point to your friend.

at some point, Vern had split off from you to meet up with the other Ares band members to go perform— leaving you to drink away your life at the bar.

you channeled your best resting bitch face to avoid any strangers trying to hit on you, which worked. you sat alone listening to the blue voice of the current performer, making small talk here and there with the bartender.

oh, the bartender—

you'd been eyeing him up all night.

he was the only other person at the bar. like all other bartenders, he was charismatic and attractive despite the two deep scars running down his left cheek.

maybe he noticed you looking at it, because he suddenly rasped out, "...animal attack" with a nonchalant smile. which is quite impressive, since your gaze never once lingered on the scars for too long. he must be observing me.

Logan (you read his name tag) was an exceptional conversationist. and he played the bartender role extremely well. he brought up topics like your ambitions, your dreams, and even your darkest passions effortlessly.

but his eyes never seemed to really focus on your figure when you talked.

it was always off to a specific direction in the distance. and when you turned to look at what he was looking at, there would only be the same wrinkly old man sitting on the sofa chair.

"can you see it?"

confused, you reply, "see what?"

do you see it? the eyes? his lack of mouth? with hair as white as his, and skin as dark as void, how can you not see me?

"what the hell are you sayi—" you grow pale when you turn back and see Logan had his back turned away from you the whole time, far from the counter.

who was talking to me?

and for the first time in 3 hours since you've arrived, the old man from the chair moves. he wanders aimlessly for a moment until setting his sights on the bar. multiple random people who were loitering in the room take notice of his sudden movement, and all briskly walk towards him.

you're petrified.

the world is spinning, people are blocking the old man's path from you. and you're so thankful for that because it gives you the time to be pulled on top of the bar counter and then underneath it by a pair of strong hands.

your consciousness recovers and you're met with Logan, body crouched down to your level. his shadowed face shows no semblance of the bright man you were talking to a while ago. now his own icy blue eyes pierced through yours, and the once attractive rasp of his voice is now chilling to the bone.

"Logan—"

"you better fucking shut up unless you want to die."

he pulls out a revolver and points it to your forehead.

profusely nodding your head in understanding, tears begin to prick your eyes; this is so fucking messed up, what is happening??

your brain tells you that this was just the alcohol getting to you, and maybe Logan has some kind of split personality and a murderer... that it's some kind of sick prank Vern is probably pulling on you. maybe my drink got spiked...

but your gut tells you that you are in great danger. alcohol has never made you experience that level of auditory hallucination... hell, you were probably being delusional right now— of course Logan's trying to kill you!!

you could hear the faint sounds of bodies thudding against other people as if they were thrown or pushed. but no screams, just grunts. the loudness of the approaching footsteps came to a halt in front of the counter.

you cover your cries as best as you can with your palms and with Logan's hidden weapon still pointed at you. you could so easily whack it away or dodge it. but you stop once you hear the most grotesque voice ever, the result of what sounded like flesh tearing apart and bones reconstructing.

"where... are... they.....?"

you are faced with two decisions:

scream for help and get shot in the head by Logan

scream for help and face whatever the fuck is out there

either way, you don't get to choose. because the stress of the situation is beginning to overwhelm you and soon your whimpers slip out a little. small enough to not be heard from in front of the counter, but big enough for whoever is on top of you— and that someone happened to be the psychopathic bartender.

you freeze.

but your strength alone is not enough to hold back against the veiny hands that grab the back of your hair and push you against the bulge of the man standing in front of you.

you push and thrash over his grasp, but your actions only lead to him digging the lower parts of your face further into his crotch. WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING??? IS HE TRYING TO SILENCE ME WITH HIS DICK?!

and it works...

you stay silent and limp, not because of fear. but because of the absurdity of this situation and the slow growth of whatever beast is hiding under those black waiter pants.

the heat of your muffled breath against his privates collects in your face, it's getting too much but you hold yourself together. your hands that were once pushing him off now lay on the top of his hardened thighs.

Logan shares a couple words with the old man before pointing him elsewhere. you catch a strange name falling off the old man's lips, Messiah. fuck, is this a cult? shortly afterwards, you hear the light sounds of evacuating feet. he's finally gone.

and with the speed of a middle-aged lady during black friday sales, you manage to push him off to the side and stand up across him, ready to give him a piece of your mind.

you were humiliated, violated, mentally tired and— and—

why the fuck is he blushing.

[lacrimosathedark]

I need to know what the fuck is wrong with Radioapple Haters.

I don't mean the people who just don't like the ship, I presume most of them are fine. I mean Haters.

I mean the people who hate it vehemently enough that they attack the creator for advertising duo art.

Apparently (correction: a member of the social media team on Viv's account) posted the new signed Alastor and Lucifer poster on Youtube, and people threw a goddamn fit, enough that that post is now down. I've seen screenshots, but the page itself is gone. It has since been replaced clearly without the ship name.

Like, seriously? All that because you hate a ship? Because they called out the Radioapple fans for art of the pair just in a poster together? The image isn't even ship art, Lucifer is glaring daggers at Alastor, as per usual.

Viv grew in fandom spaces. Alastor is literally an edgy Deviantart OC. She just released a Helluva Boss minisode with the cringiest weeb fan swooning over Blitz when he kills her FOR SHIPPING SOMETHING.

Radioapple is popular, EVERYONE knows this, it's only expected they would capitalize on it, even if just as a joke. (they do so regularly on tiktok)

The whole duo image (correct me if I'm wrong) was AMIR TALAI'S IDEA. Alastor's voice actor is REGULARLY joking around with Radioapple shippers. It's practically his hobby at this point.

Like, this was literally him the other day.

Like??? Calm yourselves.

And as for Viv herself, she has Liked a lot of ship art, including Radioapple.

The creator doesn't mind it, one of the actors finds it hilarious, and the other actor to my knowledge hasn't spoken on the ship but DID sign those posters, WHICH IS ALL THAT POST WAS ABOUT ANYWAY. A poster of two well-loved characters signed by their well-loved voice actors.

Look, 98% chance that Radioapple isn't going to happen, if only to make Alastor's sexuality and the ace rep ABUNDANTLY clear. But if Viv did decide to go that route? Okay? It's her show, not yours? Fuck off???

If you want to consider this duo art Radioapple, then there were ALSO Radiodust and Charlastor posters in the same vein and I didn't see people flipping shit about that despite, yknow, Chaggie and Huskerdust.

The canon of a series you otherwise enjoy can and will disappoint you. As a former of the Supernatural fandom, I am deeply aware of this. When Castiel went season after season with queerbaiting, when they killed off the beloved badass lesbian character Charlie, when Sam had a cool deaf hunter gf who disappeared and never came back, you know what the fandom did?

They made fanfiction about it. And let me tell you, some of it is much better than the series.

You could do that. Or, fuck, maybe someone else already has and you can go read that instead.

You don't like the way the series is going? That's fine. It's no longer for you. Stop watching. Make your own versions of them. But don't go off attacking people for enjoying the idea of Lucifer and Alastor being in close proximity.

The creative team, creator, actors, and artists/animators, is Radioapple friendly. If you can't handle that without throwing a tantrum, find the goddamn door.

I'm not telling you you have to like any ship. I sure as shit don't. But don't be an asshole about it.

[ecargmura]

Cherry Magic Episode 4 Review - You're A Wizard, Tsuge

As the first half of the episode has shown, Tsuge has become a wizard now. Like Adachi, he has gained the power to listen to people’s hearts. How will Tsuge use this to find a love interest? Well, he found one already. That was darn freaking fast. Who does he fall in love with? The cute deliveryman Minato.

I think their ship name is called Tsugemina. Anyways, Tsugemina’s portrayal in the live action is a bit exaggerated compared to the manga and anime (which are pretty much identical). In the live action, Tsuge is very dramatic when he falls for Minato and when he realized he’s in love, he actually bashes his head against a bookshelf. When I watched the live action, I thought that Tsuge was a bit of a weirdo, but reading the manga and watching the anime made me realize that the way Tsuge is portrayed here is more faithful as he is a stoic man by nature. While the Tsugemina section seems short, that’s because the Tsuge chapters are pretty short in comparison to the main couple; there aren’t a lot too, so who knows when we’ll get another segment of them in future episodes.

I do like the Tsuge and Adachi scene. As Tsuge is a novice wizard, he’s unsure how to make use of the power, but for Adachi, the power has brought good things into his life; Tsuge even notices this too as Adachi has become a bit more talkative, especially when the topic revolves around Kurosawa. In the manga, this scene actually takes some time after the second Tsugemina scene as Adachi had mentioned that he read Tsuge’s new book and noticed the change in his usual heroine types as he added in a heroine with the exact same description as Minato, showcasing how down bad he is for this guy he barely knows (heck, he doesn’t even know his name until later on). Despite the changes, I do like the scene but I dislike the fact that Tsuge gets blocked from the chances he gets to talk to Adachi about the magic.

After Tsuge and Adachi meet up, the episode then shifts to Adachi being the focus character, which I think is a rather good way to transition. Adachi gets jealous for the first time when he sees a pretty lady talking with Kurosawa and starts getting insecure about himself. Despite his jealousy, he does realize that if he did get jealous of that woman, that means he does like Kurosawa in that way. I do like how he was fast to process that and accepted it right away. It sort of shows that even if he doesn’t have romantic experiences, he’s still mature enough to understand what love is.

It’s kind of sad to see why Adachi’s so hesitant towards romance. I sort of get it. If I heard someone say that it’s impossible to date me because of the lack of experience, I’d get insecure too. I’m glad that Kurosawa exists to show that Adachi can be loved no matter how much he adverses romance. The part where Kurosawa comes over to his house was sweet; however, how the heck did he know his address? The way Kurosawa thought about how he’d cherish all of Adachi’s first was heartwarming. I legit stomped my feet in a giddy mood. Why is this anime so cute? Why are they so cute?

No worries, though. The pretty lady happens to be Kurosawa’s sister, Mari. She’s hilarious as she feels like a typical older sibling trying to pester her brother to get what she wants: to stay at Kurosawa’s place until her boyfriend apologizes to her. She even followed him to Adachi’s house via GPS. I do like how Kurosawa feels like a bullied little brother here. She is also good with words as she managed to convince Kurosawa to stay at Adachi’s house, to which his simp self accepts after fantasizing a domestic AU he conjured up in his mind. Haha, he’s such a simp.

Oh and uh, the voice actor trivia of the week is that Gen Sato, Minato’s VA, only has done BL recently. Like out of the four main cast, he has the least amount of experience in BL media but I’m sure that’ll change. In the drama CD, he was voiced by Kouhei Amasaki.

What are your thoughts on the birth of the side couple? How about Mari as a character? What about the whole Kurodachi segment? What did you think about the episode as a whole?

[chibivesicle]

You just can’t win; how K.K. is a great example of a professional woman in the 21st century

This is the second in my character analysis for Kekkai Sensen, focusing on the senior female member of the team, K.K.  I absolutely love her character; she is incredibly well written and I find her to be an excellent example of the situation that many working women find themselves in as their careers advance.

K. K.’s character design is obviously inspired/derived/variation of that of Vash the Stampede with a gender swap and the willingness to kill.  I find her unique as she is a taller than normal female character, much like Milly Thompson from Trigun but with the tall and skinny versus tall and stocky (Klaus).  She has a blonde bob haircut and striking blue eye while she wears an eye patch over her right eye at all times, even at home with her family.  We don’t know when she lost/injured her eye but very much like Steven, she has a visible sign of her job as a fang hunter since they are both over thirty.  I really appreciate that Nightow visibly shows us the toll that their job takes on their physical body as well as their minds.

K.K. was first introduced when Klaus went to go play prosfair against the Beyondian mob boss who absorbs the brains of his defeated opponents.  We find her in a parking garage surrounded by a literal pile of foes defeated by her single handedly, and we also learn that her vehicle of choice is a motorcycle.  Which makes her even more cool.  Zapp has his moped, Leo has an e-bike/motorized bike, Zed a skateboard and Steven drives a standard sedan car for the most part.

Nightow makes is quite clear that according to Klaus, she is one of the strongest people he knows but of course he’ll defend her because she’s a lady.  But at the same time, she’s the person he brought with him and Gilbert.  Which in a way puts her on the same level as Steven one of the two senior Libra members whom he really does trust.

We learn that she smokes clove cigarettes when stressed out and is one of the more emotional though mature members of the team.  What I mean is that she’ll make a statement or observation that is emotional, but she isn’t overreacting, she’s instead expressing her feelings on the usually sub-optimal setting.

Our next introduction to her is with the Libra social event, where we get her first observation on the workplace.  She runs into Zapp on their way into the after work/after hours social gathering.  It seems there is some sort of power dynamic between the two of them were K. K. has the advantage over Zapp.  However, it is clear that she is in part reacting to the male dominated cabal.

By holding Zapp physically back, she is preventing him from joining the inner circle of Klaus and Steven.  Her observation is 100% for many workplace environments where men will form groups, frequently not even aware of it and create smaller groups where key decisions are made and women are absent from them.  A sort of backroom deal situation but without a backroom but maybe X activity at Y location.

Steven laughs it off (in the Darkhorse translation) calling her pugnacious which only annoys her more, but it is a losing battle.  Of course, Steven laughing at her doesn’t make it work and she drops his common nickname of scarface and notes that he’s not just a scheming bastard - but the most scheming.

Interestingly, the entire time Steven seems nervous with little sweat drops and she states that she’s the bad guy today after noticing Chain’s crush on Steven.  These entire two pages are so honest and realistic - even though this is a fictitious vampire hunter organization.

However, the party comes to an abrupt end when Leo confirms that he saw a Blood Breed and Lucky Abrams comes calling.  Hilariously, since both of them avoid him, the end up together at the 23rd Street Station.  Of course, K.K. voices her annoyance about being teamed up with ���this’ schemer.  The anime uses ‘black-hearted’ instead and I am too lazy to determine which is the more accurate translation.  It is clear that K.K. has reservations about Steven and he is always replies with a level headed and logical reason to work together.

It is clear that K.K. has some sort of revenge/rationale waiting for the return of the Blood Breeds while Steven would rather not even have to do these sorts of things.  However, each time you go back and read or listen to their dialogue the more and more it sounds like old friends bickering and not two people who hate or dislike each other.  This is further emphasized, and will continue to be depicted this way where the two of them move completely naturally with each other as a team.

This is our first two page spread in all of Kekkai Sensen with them. Just - ah.  So good.

Two professionals at work, completely serious.  Notice how they went from their standard bickering to non-verbal actions.  Time and time again, we will see this with the two of them.  When the Blood Breed from the India Gate comes to HL, it is K. K. who first spots the possible vampire and Steven is the first one to the scene by car.  K. K. saves the girl and her mother and Steven is able to freeze everything in the last second.  He remarks he was cutting it too close while she snarks back he was looking to make a dramatic entrance.  His reply that it wasn’t like her praise dripping with abuse.  These two have a long history of working together.

She’s annoyed that they ended up together again (this has to be super common outside of the story on the pages) and we get the standard Steven line of “Now, now/ まあ,  まあ” trying to deescalate/console someone.   Yet, after their short bickering, they are down to business.  Can we just state that this entire dynamic is just awesome?  K.K. goes by the information Steven relayed to them via phone as they nervously decide how to proceed.  And even though K.K. is incorrect in her assumption, Steven isn’t a jerk about it.  They both pull out their mirrors without actually discussing it.

Teamwork.  I like good teamwork.

What is interesting is the first time that K.K. doesn’t end up with Steven.  When Leo and Chain are looking for the arms dealer who stole Zed’s special breathing apparatus, the rest of the team had to fight villains.  In that instance, K.K. is teamed up with Zapp.

At first she is thrilled to be working with Zapp.  He does an excellent job (but we all know that Zapp is 100% on the job when he’s on the job) and she praises him for a job well done and that she feels lucky to work with him.

Since this is a great way to transition to speak to him as a parent, she has concerned about his recklessness.  She’s being very honest and contemplative about this positive interaction with Zapp, when Zapp totally bales on her!  Zapp literally sprints off and thanks for taking charge and working with others to continue the clean up and she’s pissed!

What does this tell us?  That despite all of her verbal complaints and bickering, there is no way Mr. Anal-retentive would leave.  Instead, Steven would be there giving exact directions to them for the clean up while she could leisurely hang out of even take off to see her family.  This short two page spread shows us that she likely appreciates working with Steven more than she’d verbally admit.

Since after this chapter, I can’t think of another time where K.K. was paired up with anyone besides Steven in fights.  Though I can’t be 100% sure since I haven’t done a full re-read of the series yet.  But all of the big scenes in the Calamity Auction arc, they are teamed up together.  We don’t know what would have happened win the Noctova Smile arc b/c K.K. wasn’t present for the entire incident.

Another interesting short page that gives us more insight into her character is from the “Lunch” chapter where Leo, Zapp, and Zed struggle to decide where to eat.  While they are bouncing around the city failing to agree on a place to eat, Steven and Klaus are in a back alley meeting up with Inspector Daniel Law.

Law makes a dumbass mistake (again going back to her workplace gender dynamics observations) of commenting on K.K.’s physical appearance and her age.  He makes it clear that the HLPD is actively trying to snipe K.K. and he gives her a terrible misogynistic backhanded compliment that she’s got no boobs but a great shot.  Which immediately causes K.K. to fire a warning shot next to Daniel’s head.

You can’t cover that up by stating it was a compliment as Steven simply smiles and that K.K. still was able to keep it to a warning shot.  Funny how Steven is using her skills as a way to press their own advantage implying that K.K. could have simply shot him and there wouldn’t have been any recourse - since the HLPD can’t track her.

What this also shows us, is that K.K. is playing a critical support role for Klaus and Steven.  Yes, they are very powerful together, but they didn’t go into that location alone and without backup.  Since K.K. is providing it for them.  The level of trust between these three characters is amazing.  Klaus wouldn’t go to play prosfair without her nor would he meet up with the HLPD without her in a sniping position.

An important part of K.K.’s character is that she is slowly revealed to be a mother, but that it is not the key aspect of her as a character.  When writing decides that a woman needs to be primarily framed as a mother it makes me cringe since that woman should not be defined by if she has children or not.  She should be defined by her whole self and different aspects combine into this.

The first major instance of this is towards the end of volume four of the manga.  The last one shot chapter is about K.K. trying to find a birthday card for one of her sons.

Leo has been roped into trying to help her find this super obscure and random card with a character who is very popular in the K.K. household but apparently no place else.

She adorably sings the theme song for the obscure series and Leo, the most ‘normal’ of the Libra crew has absolutely no idea what she is talking about.  Even though this is a joke on her that her kid has weird taste, it also demonstrates that K.K. knows what her kids are into, showing that despite her taxing job, she gets them.

The convenience store instead becomes a set up for an awesome shoot out between K.K. and a bunch of nefarious gunmen while she smooshes Leo out of the way.

The two page spread of her flying through the air above the aisles is just great as she deadpan makes her marks.  Looking to use the mirror to see where all her opponents are etc etc. 

I just love K.K.  We also have her getting emotional and even though Leo is trying to console her, again, he isn’t judging her as she expresses her frustration.  She still needs to maintain that straight calm face but and is already concerned at how he’s growing up and wants to give her moments of childhood joy.

I really like how she regains her composure as she puts everything in context.  She knows she’s missing part of his childhood and society already puts enough pressure on her to somehow be a mom and a fang hunter and DO ALL THE THINGS.  Which, obviously, she can’t.  This single chapter is laying the groundwork for the last chapter in volume 9, Bratatat Mom, where we get a slice of her life outside of Libra.

The chapter starts with a meeting of the in house SWAT/tactical team with Libra led by Steven.  K.K. looks awkwardly nervous as she slowly admits that she can’t support the tactical team that day.  Stating personal business to not get into the specifics.

The team is annoyed since it is clear that they rely upon her and highly value her skills. She comes clean admitting that it is for parents’ day at her younger son’s school and due to work, she’s never made it to any of their open houses!  She’s upset about this and also afraid that it will impact her role in their family as being a mother.  Think about this if it were a male character.  There is no way he’d be under the this type of pressure - furthermore, there is the judgement of parents upon their peers at those who are involved in the PTA and who is too busy etc etc etc.  The parent-school dynamics haven’t changed as much they should have; with the transition of women to the North American workplace in the 1970s.  And it isn’t even that, it is also the fact that she’d like to do something for her children since they are her kids.

Steven then steps in to diffuse the situation as we’ve grown to expect from him by this point in the manga.  He looks disappointed and admits that it isn’t ideal but she can go.  She cheerfully turns to excuse herself from the meeting when Steven then turns his personal manipulation to the max and guilts her that the other men may not make it and not see their children as well.  It is amazing that the most well known bachelor of Libra is able to achieve this so well.

It works and K.K. snaps threatening to kill Steven herself.  This is his ‘black-hearted’ nature at its finest.  Thus, K.K. comes up with a compromise - she pulls out all of the stops to coordinate with Patrick to get her all the weapons possible that she could remotely operate.  We get a scene of K. K. with her loving and adorable husband who is comforting her when she told her son that she’d be at parents’ day.  I love how this entire scene shows us that despite all that she does, he chose her, and also wanted to build a family with her.  K.K. knows how to choose them!  Win for healthy relationship!

He’s the best support spouse, and one of the best examples of a female led family/household.  That man is the house husband doing support and it is little elements like this that I love how Nightow writes female characters and their close relationships.  Despite the chaos of remotely supporting Steven and his tactical team, she gets to have hard hitting emotional moments watching her son with his classmates.  He may not understand it at that time, but it means the world to her.

This also sets up another mission that is a K.K.and Steven partnership.  Yes, she’s only doing remote support until she isn’t.  She realizes that one of the other parents is a Blood Breed standing right next to her.  Just like Steven does in Day In Day Out as he looks out into the night, K.K. berates herself for trying to enjoy herself in the moment.  Living her life like a normal person.  This shows that the two of them have much more in common than they don’t - both wanting normal lives, and not allowing themselves a break or the ability to forgive themselves for turning their fang hunter brains off for a second.

Yet, she returns to her senses and gets down to business.  Her original motivation is to protect the children.  She was able to inform Steven and his team of the Blood Breed at their location but then had to deal with the one she was chatting with . . . however, this is the only time that we’ve seen Steven fighting a Blood Breed solo and he’s getting his ass slowly handed to him.  The man knows he’s at a disadvantage and so does his opponent.  Steven is always either with Klaus or K.K.

And that is where the writing for this chapter is amazing as K.K. makes her move on the Blood Breed.  She is confused when he refers to her as ‘also’ being a fang hunter giving us the clue that he’s currently fighting Steven at the moment.  Right before he’s about to engage with her, his daughter finds him wanting to bring him down for lunch with her in the cafeteria.  This lapse in his concentration gives Steven the advantage he needed to break the head off of his remote robot.  There is a nice touch of the ice on his neck where it broke it as he collapses unable to fight back in front of the children.

Thus, even though they were not aware of it, the K.K.-Steven team succeeds in the most unlikely way possible!  I really wished that the two of them would have later been shooting the shit, bickering about something, like Steven being to relaxed and K.K. ready to go and this pops up.  And then the two of them realize it was their teamwork that allowed the mission to succeed.

I think it also goes to show how much Steven relies on/appreciates/needs K.K.’s talents for him to help complete Libra’s mission in HL.  K.K. may complain about his requests but ultimately knows that he’s a solid organizer and makes good, well thought out plans for the entire team to execute.  They also know how to both annoy and motivate each other which is another asset to them as partners in missions.

I already mentioned it in my previous post about Steven and the woes of running a secret organization, it is K.K. who gets him to stop his course of action with the escaped human-nonhuman fused being from the evil pot.  No one else is able to make him pause as he lets the team argue it out until K.K. calls him out.  That look on his face - he knows she’s right and K.K. is, I think, the only other member of Libra who can get Steven to change his mind.  That speaks volumes for how much he actually respects her.  This than comes back full circle to her shooting that warning shot at Daniel Law and Steven can only laugh at Law, rubbing salt in the wound since he’s one of the few people who understands her besides her amazing husband and Klaus.

So where does all of this leave us in regards to K.K.?

K.K. is a character who fills several different roles in the series but they do not define her or make her one dimensional.

K.K. as a fang hunter - she was first introduced as clearly powerful when she was chosen to be Klaus’ escort.  One of the few members of the team who has long range strikes and therefore, support she fills a niche that no one else can do with her 954 Blood Bullet Arts.  She frequently snipes able to disable enemies and does a great job as a distraction in Get the Lock Out! Though she did almost cause Steven to lose it when she was ready and willing to break into the main office. 

With the birthday card in the convenience store shoot out, we see first hand that she’s incredibly talented. 

I’ve also pointed out that other than acting as a support sniper, the rest of the time, she’s almost always working with Steven as her teammate and it again leverages the best of their abilities.

K.K. as a professional mother - much of the anxiety and drama around her has to do with her role as a professional and a mother.  How she’s worried that she isn’t there enough for her family; that she can’t do the same things that other parents can do.  The stress of likely being judged when she does meet other parents.  Yet, we know that one of her major motivations to do her job is to protect her immediate family and the future and all other families.  And that she has a husband who feels blessed that she chose him is top tier mature adult relationships and communication as a couple.

This even comes out when Leo thinks back to all the advice the team gave him if he were in danger and alone.  She joked that she’d snipe a barista if he threatened Leo at the local coffee shop, meaning that she isn’t just a mother to her own children but that the younger team members could use a little maternal love in the absence of their own parents.

K.K. as a female professional - this is slightly different than her as a mother, though the two are intertwined.  There are different aspects of the workplace that women have to navigate and they are never easy.  If a woman is single than she pays the tax of “Oh, since you don’t have a family you can do overtime.”  if she has a family than she gets the loss of skin in the game “Oh, since you have a family, you won’t be as committed to the organization’s success.”  As you can tell there is no way to win, it is more dammed if you are or dammed if you aren’t. When she shows up for the work party, she immediately realizes that she’ll be cast as the bad guy, noting the boys club which Zapp immediately tries to join where Steven and Klaus already are.  And as intelligent and gentlemanly as Klaus and Steven are, both are completely oblivious to this dynamic that leaves her on the outside.  Thankfully, this isn’t a frequent issue within Libra itself and I will continue to state that the ability of K.K. and Steven to work as a pair only improves as the manga progresses.  That speaks volumes as to their mutual respect of each other. 

Interestingly, we don’t see a lot of her interactions with Chain - I think this is a reflections of both their age differences with Chain being in her early twenties and K.K. being in her thirties but also the fact that Chain has a female friend group in the Werewolf Bureau.  In contrast, K.K. has her family outside of Libra.  Additionally, both women have different ways of expressing their emotions as Chain likes to keep hers a bit more distant (or so she thinks) while K.K. is more likely to let them out.  It may also feed into that bit of strong women workplace dynamics where it is sometimes best to leave each other a wide birth to avoid conflict.

Lastly, K.K. as an older female character who isn’t uwu-cute - Yep, there are no uwu-cutesie-waifu women in Kekkai Sensen.  And I as a reader like it that way.  She’s an honest character, living an interesting life, contributing to protecting the balance and has all these different unique aspects to her life.  All of this comes together to make a very human character in a series where totally zany shit happens all the time.

[doodles-with-noodles]

*There is a weird voice in your home that suspiciously seems to come from the fireplace*

I AM BACK! AS A... a... a... A GHOST!!! FEAR ME! (don't check your roof please)

Oh yeah and also I have more questions!

Any characters that are scared of each other?

What are the limits of magic?

Those that have magic, where did they get them from?

Stupidest and/or funniest thing that someone sincerely believes?

Most likely to accidentally join a cult?

How did you get the idea(s) to make these specific characters and stories?

What would any character(s) say if there was a doppelgänger of them and they had to prove they were the real deal?

Alternatively, how would they react to suddenly finding out that they were a doppelgänger and there was someone out there who was them? That they were the one who's not real (so to say)?

If they were animals, what would they be?

Does anyone have any pets?

To finish this totally real job interview, where do they see themselves in ten years?

*I lean forward so far that I fall down the chimney into the fireplace and get up, wiping the ashes off my very professional suit I bought at the dollar store.*

Thank you in advance and you will be hearing from us.

I DIDN‘T INVITE YOU IN *sprays you with holy water* 1. Hilariously enough, Norna and Cecil- at least before the team splits up and they are stuck with each other and become funniest best friends ever. They both think the other is quite intimidating, but working together brings them around.

2. Basically you can go on until your body is destroyed or you konk out. For example, if Mathildis wanted to die he could achieve the same effect as the bombs in the mistletoe project and destroy whole cities, and in theory he could make his light collapse into itself- probably ending a whole lot more than just a city. If we’re talking about stuff he can do without dying it’s making some pretty and very, very hot light. They often put restrictions on users that don’t pass psych exams (although they’re very amateurish).

3. Magic can often be inherited, but there are sometimes also people that just. get them. Religious people say the gods gave it to them. Scientist look at the people’s blood, which have a substance that is called signasteini in them. It also exists as larger magic stones. Research was largely stopped and even lost when the war came- during both, magic users were mostly used for science and warfare.

4. Morris, that he gets spared from marriage just because both of his brothers also aren’t married yet (he isn’t)

Rose, that she just can waltz into Mathildis‘ lecture and ask him about his whole fucking life after and just get a short answer

5. Treeve. He’s just one of these people that’s so fucking used to do whatever they are ordered to.

6. I take a whole looot inspiration and throw it in a blender. Mostly it starts out pretty recognizable, but the longer it mixes and the more ideas I have, the more it becomes my own. Sometimes I just see a cool looking person- sometimes I go „Hey, wouldn’t that be fucked up and cool?“ I also like to make men that don’t have tragically dead wives lol. And flip some stuff on its head in dynamics. AND STRONG WOMEN THAT ACTUALLY HAVE FLAWS. And I go: „Hey, what do I think is horrible and want to talk about (but not directly)?“ and make it into a concept.

7. Mathildis (his one‘s sounds so eerie): the Preusheim disaster.

Maura: Do you remember our first time working together? *launches into a story w information only she could know*

Jules: I know where you carry your amulet.

Lachlan: *describes a baby blanket one of his little brothers had in extreme detail and still almost gets shot (it’s one of his brothers)*

8. Mathildis: COLLAPSE INWARD

Maura: Mental breakdown

Jules: Would probably be terminated by a team

Lachlan: already shot and thrown into the river

9. huhhh hmm……

Mathildis: Raven maybe? Treeve: snake. U get it.

Lachlan: a ram, Morris: bunne, Cian: a dog.

Roscoe: BIGASS BEAR, Maura: BIGASS YAK, Ed: Honey badger, Anthony: BIGASS MOOSE, Cecil: Bleeding heart dove, Norna: Little eagle

Jules: Long eared owl? I think?, Malik: cat (gatito), Charlie: Tiger or smth

10. I was thinking about the museum owning a cat. He’s big and orange and his name is Mr. Whiskers.

11. Mathildis: trying to discover more and more and more and teaching, Treeve: exactly where he is now, Rose: Author

Lachlan: married and kids (and safe from the family crimes), Morris: just doing more on his own, Cian: floating face down in the river after being shot in the head

Roscoe: having a basis for other mind burglars, Maura: taking down corporate shitheads, Ed: doing the same shit with the bonus of being married to Anthony (he’s hearing the wedding bells), Anthony: chemistry teacher, Norna: ENGINEERING, Cecil: working as an astronomer in an observatory

Jules: working as a guide, Charlie: Historian and researcher, Malik: getting his team the credit they deserve

[anjumbai]

The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi - Thoughts

" 'a clever hawk hides its talons,' I had modestly kept my good sense and talents hidden so no one would find them, but I did such a good job that I hadn't been able to locate them myself for the past few years." "Rather than speaking grammatically bankrupt English, I would choose the glory of silence. I am a man who looks before he leaps." "When you fall in love, you realize how pathetic you are."

A spectacular comedy and a well presented view on life. I love Tatami Galaxy. Back when I first watched the anime without even knowing its source material was a novel, I was absolutely astounded by how bizarre yet beautiful it was. Masaaki Yuasa had brought this book to life, put his own style and story in it and presented the opportunity for this beautiful book cover. The seemingly obvious differences in the anime and novel can't really throw you off if there's a huge gap in terms of when you consumed each form of the story. The differences are massive, and in a good way. I didn't know I could enjoy the same story in so many different ways. The novel only had four chapters in total, while the anime had 10 episodes, extending the storyline with the characters and events hinted in the novel and chose to go with a different ending which I can't even remember anymore.

I watched the anime in around 2021 and it's still one of my most favorite anime. I'm really glad that the book is less repetitive. You can just stroll through the repeated dialogues without much attention. The similarity in both pieces of media is that they both flesh out the main character, whose name we never find out in an accomplished and fulfilling way. While novels like these heavily rely on witty monologues, most adaptations can't use monologues like this since you are adapting the same story to portray it in a different way. A same-to-same adaptation never really holds well except for maybe the relationships anime and manga have. But even anime find ways to spectacularize bland manga panels with stunning animation. An example of monologues making adaptations difficult is Classroom of the Elite. It's an old light novel I used to keep up with after watching the anime. And reading the light novel made me realize how bland the anime actually is since the light novel depended solely on the protagonists internal monologue while the anime chose to adapt none of that, while also not giving us any other medium that fleshes out his character (interactions, conversations etc). It just left out the monologue part and adapted the rest of it, making the anime void of any creativity whatsoever. Tatami Galaxy, however, adapted most of the monologue. Not only that, the voice actor practically rapped out the monologue making you change the speed setting to .5 just to keep up with what he's saying. This is creativity in varying mediums.

The novel chose to use repeated dialogues in four different chapters to flesh out our main character in the final one. I love how the novel ended, and its worth talking about again once I re-watch the anime ( I might one day, you never know ).

Tatami Galaxy is hilarious. So many fun interactions and interesting characters, absolutely amazing monologue and bizarre events you just can't make up take place in the novel. I haven't highlighted this many dialogues for their comedic value instead of emotional depth since American Psycho. And it doesn't even have any blood involved. How amazing is that. One thing the translator added to her notes was the love of Tomihiko Morimi for Kyoto, Japan. It really shows in the novel, this love of his. Both the anime and novel have amalgamated a hearty image of Kyoto in my mind, making me put Kyoto in the bucket list of the places I want to visit. I also wanna sit down and talk for hours with my wife next to the Kamo River while some bastards blow firecrackers around us cause they are single and mad and will obstruct other people's love affairs cause they can't make one of their own. Sounds fun.

I have also decided to say "idiocy doesn't discriminate between sexes" to sound like some sort of 90 year old man trapped inside a 19 year-old's body. The book really takes narrating to a whole different level. It has changed my views on reading books. Books don't have to always be serious, deep or emotional. It can just be a comedy, bizarre and chaotic. Books like Clockwork Orange and Master and Margarita may have provided me with these before but the overall difficult language barrier just made it difficult to fully enjoy those books in the first try. Salute to Morimi and sending my heart out to the gifter of this book, you are amazing. I will pick up more and more titles from Morimi since I love his narrative structure and witty remarks and references.

The book plays out in a chaotic fashion while also hinting out important life lessons. Our nameless protagonist has wasted two years of his university life and has been loveless and achievement-less. He has regretted his decisions and kept on saying stuff like "If only I had made that decision instead of this" without really taking initiative to change things now. The first three chapters mock his ideas, showing three different decisions in his life that play out the same way. The final chapter felt more like a self-searching kind of chapter. The narrator getting trapped in an endless four and half mat tatami universe, finally deciding to appreciate people and moments. His devious friend Ozu, who he wished he never met, he starts missing. The four and a half mat tatami room he isolated himself in, he starts hating. The seemingly annoying and chaotic moments of his life seem fun and when he finally frees himself from the tatami universe, the world seems full of life. He gets out a newer man. Making changes now and overlooking his past decisions instead of wallowing over them.

It also has a really cute, I don't know the word, romantic aspect to it? Okay maybe not romance. Akashi and the nameless narrators interactions were my favourite and the chapters always ended after hinting a possible relationship between the two. Because, you know what they say- "There's nothing so worthless to speak of as a love mature."

9/10. Enjoyed, laughed and closed the book with a huge smile on my face. Here's a cute picture of the Mochigumen Rangers.

"Your life hasn't even started yet and you're already lost?"

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

🖋️"what inspired you to write your WIPs?"

📖"what has surprised you about your WIPs?"

💻"what perspectives do you write in?"

🖥️"what types of writing do you do?"

❤️"what are your favorite scenes from your WIPs?"

😭"what are the biggest challenges writing your WIPs?"

Hello! Thanks for the ask! (From this game)

This is a lot of questions! Haha super excited though. Sorry I took a bit to get to this. Long of course so it's under the cut.

🖋️"what inspired you to write your WIPs?"

The Secret Portal

TSP's inspiration can be traced back to the Rainbow Magic series. I was obsessed with these fairies as a kid, and at one point role played a story with my stuffed animals on two girls discovering they were fairies. In fourth grade during a creative writing unit, I thought back to this story and decided to change fairies (since I thought I was too old lol) to "people with powers" and I added a portal or something. It has since evolved so much and I don't know where the inspiration has come from. Most media I consume is somehow ingrained into my writing style.

School of the Legends

SOTL was inspired by my love for fairy tale retellings. Whatever After and The Land of Stories stick out the most if I'm being honest.

📖"what has surprised you about your WIPs?"

The Secret Portal

TSP has surprised me by how far it's come. How interesting I find it. How it keeps evolving into something I'm more and more proud of. Smaller stuff, like Lexi deviating completely from her original purpose of a self insert, Gwen becoming more important than I thought, how natural the chemistry between the characters has been, my many ah ha! Moments. How much I've grown as a writer and how amazing it is that I can track my growth across over a decade of my life. The positive reactions I've received. How much it keeps getting better. I love it more every day. Hard work is paying off.

School of the Legends

SOTL is not that far in development but I'm surprised by how fun it is to think about. How hilarious the first couple chapters have been overall. Also, I really like a lot of my ideas for adapting fairy tales and stuff.

💻"what perspectives do you write in?"

The Secret Portal

TSP is told in a multi POV format. One major theme is perspective and the inner workings of each character, and I honestly can't imagine it in third. It's taken a lot of work, and the character voices are becoming increasingly more distinct. There are chapters without one focal character told in third person.

School of the Legends

SOTL is told completely in third person, with one focal character per chapter. I think most of my projects from now on will be third so the exhausting and diligent work from TSP doesn't have to be repeated. Only two other works I have planned feel fitting for it anyway.

🖥️"what types of writing do you do?

I obviously do a lot of original fiction, primarily sci-fi and fantasy. Only one idea that I haven't completely scrapped is realistic fiction, and that will likely stay the same. I love realistic fiction, but find compelling narratives hard for some reason. This idea doesn't even have a plot so that's also telling.

On the side, I do a lot of media analysis. I love reviewing movies and shows and analyzing the crap out of them. Not only does this help me process and document all of my opinions but it also gives me a better understanding of the property, writing process, and story progression that leads to my development as a writer.

❤️"what are your favorite scenes from your WIPs?"

The Secret Portal

Favorite scenes aw man. For TSP, the grilled cheese sandwich debate has a special place in my heart. It's unfortunately very long so obviously I'm going to have to cut it down, which I'm working on, but I'm keeping it as is. Also, the intense moments that I'm proud of stand out. Ash getting manipulated, Noelle and Carmen arguing, Jedi's entire backstory, etc. I become super proud of myself for being able to get invested. Any scene with Robbie and Akash honestly.

School of the Legends

For SOTL, it's not that long, but I love the opening scene for Tierney's chapter electric shocking his brothers. But I am also proud of Úrsula's chapter for being pretty nuanced.

I guess both the wholesome shenanigans and also heavy scenes.

😭"what are the biggest challenges writing your WIPS?"

The Secret Portal

Biggest challenge for TSP is honestly world building. I can figure out character and plot enough with hard work but my brain hurts from world building. Which kinda sucks because I want Alium to be distinct. The good news is, it's coming along, and I like the tiny little processes that I make over time. Little things add up, and Alium is becoming more and more of its own thing. I like that, even if it's hard.

School of the Legends

For SOTL, it's stringing together a narrative and structure. I have a lot of characters and plot ideas but can't connect most of them. There are just so many fairy tales. I have no idea how I'm going to work with this. Maybe just making it a string of one-shots with an overarching plot could work. I dunno. We shall see where it goes.

Thank you so much for all the asks!!! This was so fun! Hope this was a good read!

[cdmagic1408]

CD's Movie Poll #1 Winner

The Road to El Dorado

* fair warning: spoilers ahead *

Kicking off the start of my movie poll/movie watching series is Dreamworks’ The Road to El Dorado!

ngl this film has been on my watchlist for quite a while, and yet I never got around to actually watching it until now! (or rather, not until the other night lol) I’d heard so many great things about it before like the memorable characters, the kind of 2D animation that you really don’t see in Dreamworks films these days, and of course, the music!

I will say that I really enjoyed all three of those things in some ways and others 🤩

Right off the bat, Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh have really great chemistry! In fact, I loved their chemistry so much that I wanted to see footage of them recording their lines. so I legit looked up something like “road to el dorado behind the scenes” on youtube as soon as I finished watching the film and found that not only did they do ALL their voice recording sessions together in the same room but they also used plastic swords and playfully had it at each other!! AHHHHHH! so good!! 😂 ⚔️

but yeah they're hilarious! both on screen and behind it. I also just love the fact that both Kevin and Kenneth come from theater backgrounds cause I think that definitely added to how well they portrayed being con men 🎭

Ofc actors aside, some of you probably know this about me already, but I’m a BIG fan of dynamic duos when it comes to media...

I loved the straight man-ness that was Tulio, and he was probably my favorite of the two. I tend to like characters that find comfort in strategy, cause I tend to be that kinda person too. I know sometimes the logical and level-headed ones aren't always funny, entertaining, or the people to root for in the slightest. But Tulio definitely isn't one of them. I found myself chuckling at a good number of things he said and did like not believing in fate simply cause he relies on loaded dice for example, plus his sarcasm, and how much he tried to compose his patience as well

Miguel was great too! It was fun how much he loved the city of El Dorado and just wanted to take it all in, and his endless optimism of course! But he definitely needed more guitar playing scenes! idk there’s something about those characters who just have an instrument to play at the ready for dramatics that’s really humorous for me, it’s almost, if not totally, breaking the fourth wall in a way 😆

I also really enjoyed the Chief, I love how it’s implied that he knew all along Miguel and Tulio were humans and not gods and yet he still liked them and let them stay anyway. that said, it's kind of a shame that the pair didn't stay in el dorado cause there genuinely were people there who adored them when clearly the people of Spain didn’t…heck they didn't seem to have a problem that they weren't actually gods!

and you have to admit, Miguel and Tulio did match the stone art of the gods quite nicely, like the resemblance there was freaky 😳

Chel was great as well, her cleverness and way of sweet talking definitely stood out to me the most about her character, and I also really loved her voice! 😌

and Altivo the horse? I wanna say he was truly Miguel’s companion when compared to Tulio earning the heart of Chel. after all, Miguel was the one who wanted to rescue him and bring him along, and I was genuinely happy when they decided to bring him on their journey cause the horse wasn’t a bad guy, like he not only gave Tulio and Miguel the keys to escape the ship, but he wasn’t spiteful to them or anything. basically what I’m trying to say is he isn’t how Maximus treated Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert initially, horse to con man

As for the villain? well…this is the first of three times I’m gonna be saying, “I got some Aladdin vibes from this movie" 😅 👉👈 which isn’t completely a bad thing by any means! 

But yeah…I immediately got Jafar vibes the minute Tzekel-Kan came on screen (also I had to look up this name cause I didn’t catch it very well while I was watching this film, I just kept calling him “Priest Guy”)

I mean…the fact that he can do sorcery, on top of serving a sweet kind-hearted ruler, tangling with not just one but two thieves, anybody picking up what I’m putting down? Yeah that’s really all I gotta say about that guy 🤷🏻‍♀️

also I swear to god that Jim Cummings is in literally everything that was 2D-animated in the 1990s-2000s! and he's always gotta play that big tough guy. Again, that also reminded me of Aladdin. but then again the conquistador didn’t really have that big of a role in this, at the very least I just hope he gave T-K what he got coming to him

I guess just to get it out of the way, I was admittedly humming "One Jump Ahead" in the beginning when Tulio and Miguel are getting chased through the city, but that’s all there is in terms of Aladdin similarities the way i see it

lastly in terms of the characters and cast, I gotta give credit to Elton John for being part of it too! I mean who doesn't love a singing narrator? and he and Tim Rice did an awesome job crafting the soundtrack for this film. every song was absolutely BEAUTIFUL 🎶 ✨

Needless to say, the animation was 👌 and the opening sequence was definitely one of my favorites throughout the whole film as well as the expressions and the solid movements of the characters, very well done no question there. oh! and how there were just gold objects of anything from butterflies to apples in el dorado! they didn’t call it the city of gold for nothing! ✨✨✨

but in the end, did it really have go the route of the overall goal is get all the gold by the end only to actually lose most, if not all, of it by the end? I just feel like that plot line is done a lot in movies. tho to be fair, this was made in the 2000s so heck, it probably began that trend. But I’ve found in recent years that when it comes to treasure hunting movies, this exact scenario happens just repeatedly and it’s nothing new. I’d say movies like The Goonies and Uncharted are two that come to mind for me that have this happen...

Now there’s no way I can conclude my thoughts here without saying how AMAZING the “It’s Tough to Be a God” sequence was! I LOVED the “It's Tough to Be a God" sequence from the singing of the two leads to the colors to the everything about it, it was all magnificent! I'd arguably say it was my favorite scene in the whole film! And I'd be lying if I said that Miguel and Tulio’s version hasn't been stuck in my head ever since I watched it, because so help me it HAS and STILL IS and why that version is not on Spotify, I have no clue, but it SHOULD be. Again, props to Elton and Tim for writing this song and the others!!

So overall, I thought El Dorado was a great movie! It was definitely worth the watch! It's not perfect by any means, I'm not even sure it's my favorite Dreamworks film, but it was still very fun and entertaining all the same and I'm really glad that I finally got to see it after all these years! 🤗

[spaceorphan18]

X-Men 97 Episodes 1 and 2 Review

Okay! My thoughts on the new X-Men Animated series on Disney+

I'm going full on spoiler-y, so I'll put it under a cut

Okay - so over all tone/atmosphere/nostalgia stuff...

I think they did a really good job recapturing the feel of the original animated show. I'm not sure I love the throw back to the messier animation style, but it works. It's also more adult, too -- there's more explicit violence, and the adult themes are a little more present. I'm sure it was intentional because I think this is made, less for actual kids, and more for people who grew up with the original show who are now adults.

I think the second episode was stronger than the first. The first felt a lot like, not even a where are they now, but a - let's throw back to sentinels and the issues at hand. And. Meh. I've never been a fan of the sentinels. I did like the second episode kind of expanding and exploring the world more. I think it set the stage, more, for the show that they want to do....

The Introduction of Sunspot: I've never been a huge fan of the New Mutants (I'm sorry!) but his incorporation of being a young mutant new to this world worked really well. I kind of loved his attitude and his energy did exactly what it needed to!

Jubilee: Oh, she was so annoying in the original -- so it was nice to see she wasn't in this. She works for me, and I'm curious as to what they do with her - as she's the only one who didn't really get a trajectory spelled out for them.

(Also as an aside - there are new voice actors and I think they all do a really great job.)

Beast: I don't think he got much to do, either, but he was his delightful self. I really hope he continues to add a great flavor to the show.

Bishop: It's nice that he's now included -- but I wish they would have done more with him!

Morph: Was really there for all the cameos and sometimes comic relief.

It makes me super curious as to who else will show up in this show. I hope they don't try to cram everyone into this first season...

Which reminds me.... Professor X is still in the opening credits. But he died in the previous series. So.... ??

Wolverine: I'm so grateful that he wasn't front and center. I get so tired of Wolverine-centric things, and they included him very much as a team member. I still kind of eye roll the lusting after Jean thing, but one of my favorite moments is him figuring out that Jean is in labor.

Cyclops: Oh ole Cyke with all of his demons. But they made him so much more interesting than in the original series where he was so dull and dry. And they did some interesting things with this powers, so I'm curious as to where they go with this...

Jean: Look, if you guys know the original show, you know how annoying Jean Grey was. It took me really reading the comics to have an appreciation for her, because she was by far my least favorite part of the show. She just... was so useless most of the time. And I was grateful that they've made her less so here but....

The twist: OMG THAT'S ANOTHER JEAN GREY AT THE DOOR WHAT??? Look, guys, I was surprised when they had her give birth so early, but they're doing the whole Cyclops/Jean/Madilyn Pryor/baby Nathan mess and I am so here for it. I have my popcorn ready because it's such a disaster and yes, please give me all the clone drama. Because I find it hilarious. And I have no personal care about how it works out....

Storm: My girl! MY GIRL! I love Storm so much, and she really shines in this. She is so. good. And then she loses her powers, and they're doing what the original show did -- referencing the comics in a big way. There's a whole arc about Storm losing her powers (though that was during the 80s) but it was so good for her character development. I'm super curious if they're going to let Storm go through that same journey as in the comics.

And as an aside - I kind of wonder if they're going to let each of the characters (or group of characters) have their own focus? That is how the old show worked. Hmmmm....

Gambit: Is going through his 90s slutty fashion phase and I love that for him.

(More on him in a minute.)

Magneto: *side-eyes* Okay. ... Okay. They did the whole Trail of Magneto thing, and I think where they're going is interesting. it works. But there's going to be a flip at some point. I mean, y'all know that is coming.

I just... whatever. You know what I'm going to say, I will get there...

Rogue: My dear love Rogue.

I didn't love her delivering the baby -- that's not how... oh whatever. Her powers are often nebulous.

That's not what you want to hear me talk about anyway.

Okay, guys, okay.... here's my thing. I get it. I get it i get it i get it. But of all the things they've decided to resurrect from the comics -- the love triangle from hell -- the very reason I stopped comics for half a decade, i just... okay.

So. Yes. Rogue and Magneto had a fling in the comics. Once very briefly before Gambit was even created. And one very tedious time later when I decided I didn't have to read such crap and stopped reading comics all together until Rogue dumped his ass and came back to the X-Men (it's... a very long story).

I get the why here -- Rogue's story has always been her powers and controlling them and longing to touch, etc, etc. It's one of the reasons I liked her so much originally. There was a tragedy there.

I do think it's kind of weird that they retconned a previous relationship when there wasn't one in XMen TAS. But it is comics accurate. And there's a full story about Rogue figuring her shit out. I get what they're setting up here. (I mean -- unless they throw us a complete curveball and go the Age of Apocalypse time line where Magneto and Rogue are married -- but I don't think they will? If they did, I probably would let this go because I couldn't with this.)

I don't love it. I've made my peace with the fact that it is a thing that happened in the comics. And it helps that Rogue and Gambit have been happily married for the past six years (and that's a long time in comic years) and have put all of this past stuff behind them.

If the story plays out the way I'm sure it will, then I'll ultimately be fine with it. I did like the smaller moments we did get between Rogue and Gambit. There's definitely a connection there. And they're definitely pulling the whole love triangle thing with Gambit seeing stuff at the end of episode 2.

I just... don't want him to be a sad sack through the rest of the series. And I don't want Rogue's entire story to be about her relationship with two men. All of these characters deserve better than this.

But -- overall, I did like the show. I'm curious to see what they do with it. And just hope they don't try to cram too much into it - because they do have a ton of characters and a lot to service.

What did you guys think??

I may have to rethink our friendship if any of y'all are rooting for Rogue and Magneto. But <3 <3 anyway.

[kinghijinx22]

13 Sentinels Aegis Rim uses obnoxiously tropey anime and predictable sci fi to peddle queerphobic hate propaganda

Last night I started playing 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim. A game that I would describe as being the closest thing to an Evangelion game, moreso then actual Eva games that exist because outside of combat there is a lot of talking and it has a vibe that feels very Eva. And as you might imagine, it's about kids needing to get in the robots to fight the whatever that is coming to Earth to find something we've hidden in a facility deep underground, in this case we fighting aliens instead of angels. Also like Eva it's filled with obnoxious and problematic anime tropes except unfortunately unlike Eva, Sentinels doesn't have the self aware pessimism that Eva has, where it feels like it hates itself which honestly made Eva more bareable.

No, Sentinels does this shit without a hint of self awareness and most of the writing is tropey anime garbage and terrible anime voice acting to go with it. It even makes the underage pilots naked whenever they get in the robot, which just made me unalive the moment I saw it, and the justification for it which I looked up because I don't care about this games dogshit plot, is the most roundabout weeb trying explain the thematic importance of needless sexualisation Ive ever seen next to Quiet from MGS5 breathing through her skin. Also "and it was all a simulation" trope is dumb nowadays and the Wachowsky sisters did it with Matrix 1. And every character is just an obnoxious walking trope and I hate them all.

I think the worst thing for me though is the absolute horrible handling of the few queer characters, like I should have heeded the warnings but yikes. So there is one guy, one of the protagonists we are supposed to route for, who has feelings for a "girl" who we are told is actually a "guy" but the game actually reveals that they are nonbinary, and yet every character continues to misgender and rudely question why they wear the clothes that they do. They literally respond to the "why are you wearing girl's clothes" question with "because some binaries work for me and others dont." The guy who likes them is bi also, which the constant misgendering he does makes him awful bi rep as well i feel. This never stops, and what I learnt from looking up these characters to see if things improve is that it only gets worse. Its revealed that the enby character in the future is in a relationship with the guy who never stopped misgendering, and then literally right after revealing this information they reveal that they are both killed shortly after. The only queer couple in the game. They also like to portray the enby character as manipulating the guy's feelings for them the whole time as well because of course we have to shoehorn in the "trans people are manipulating you" hate propaganda as well.

Something else I wanted to mention is that on top of the horrible treatment of the actual queer characters, very early on they also queerbait with these guys showing what seems to be romantic feelings for eachother when it turns out that, oh it was just this girl character misinterpreting a conversation she was spying on. Queerbaiting an mlm relationship, constantly misgendering an enby character, throwing in a bury your gays trope and potraying the only enby character as a manipulator. I hated everything else about this games writing but the exploitative and horrible treatment of queer folks makes 13 Sentinels unplayable garbage that I wish I could refund.

And it's funny that, I remember it came out the same year as Disco Elysium and seeing people genuinely debating over which had the best game story of the year between these 2 which is absolutely hilarious, like it's not even close. Disco Elysium is actually a super well written game which handles a lot of very sensitive and intense subject matter with so much care, talks very directly about a lot of very relevant sociatal issues and also, actually has well written and tactfully handled queer characters as well. I mean the best and one of the most well written characters of that game, Kim Kitsuragi is a gay man.

[sayakxmi]

[Magi rewatch] Episode 4: The People of the Plains [Part 1]

Alrite, let's get it over with. And, yeah, you can proobably tell that I'm not that excited about this arc, and, honestly, both the Kouga Arc and the Morgiana Arc are just... well, I don't really care about them. Don't get me wrong, they're both good arcs, Morgiana Arc especially, but they just. Well, they don't do it for me. Again, nothing to do with quality, just preference.

Another downside is that I slightly shot myself in the foot with that rewatch, because it kinda drags, ngl. But at the same time, I'm looking forward to rewatching the Magnostadt Arc, so imma be strong and not skip anything. "Do it for her" meme, except it's me and Kukulcan. Imma do it for my lovely snek and I remember that he had silly faces in the anime. At least I hope I remember well. But, eh, I like rewatching the Magnostadt Arc in general, so I'm losing nothing, and I can still make fun of the art quality which kinda scores a downgrade idk.

Alright, alright, I'm shutting up, let's get to the actual episode.

Sadge.

Love the low bg quality, but anyway, my girl Elizabeth is here :>

Ok, so, something that makes it pretty darn different - here it's said Alibaba's stayed in Qishan for three days, while in the manga Alibaba stays for three days... and then 3 weeks, I believe. That's a pretty big difference.

They look kinda funny here.

Ok, I kinda ended up checking Morgiana's VA, bc it reminded me of somebody, but also, the same VA apparently voiced a character from Zettai Karen Children, which is one of these kinda niche series that I have a sentiment for. Btw Zettai Karen Children: UNLIMITED opening (Last Resolution) is fukcing fire. Also, damn, the ZKC anime aired in 2008, how tf did I find it years later.

BACK TO MAGI

Ok, that's also an interesting difference. In the manga, Alibaba says that he freed everybody etc, because this is what Aladdin would have wanted. At some point after freeing Garda he also tells Toto that he did if because he [Cassim] would've done that, and I'm kinda reading it all as him not yet coming to terms with his own desires, and, yeah, Alibaba does struggle with that a bit, something that Hakuryuu kinda points out. I'm reading it that way because 1) I simply prefer to, 2) I kinda don't think Cassim would've cared that much about Garda. Like, maybe? But idk, it doesn't seem right... Anyway. Back to the topic. Here Alibaba tells Morgiana that it's because he felt that it was something he had to do. So, no deflection, he did what he thought was right. Welp, anime!Alibaba got to show more of insecurity in the Dungeon Arc, while manga!Alibaba here.

Aaaand Morgiana's reaction to finding out that Alibaba'd left was skipped completely. Darn. Kinda a shame. I feel like that moment sets up the fact that Morgiana joins Aladdin to find Alibaba, at least a little bit. That, and later there's a moment in the Balbadd Arc where Morgiana recalls that moment after Alibaba's said something similar, and connects the dots. But oh well.

Aladdin looked much angrier in the manga.

It's supposed to be imposing, but damn, it looks kinda off, and as a result really funny. Like, maybe it's the perspective, but isn't his head, like, kinda small? Idk, man.

I'm just. Listen, I'm trying to be serious, but it reminds me about these Friendship is Manly MLP animations, and I just can't.

Ok, now he's angry.

Baba! And Aladdin's future staff! That will break! Whoops!

Oh, look, the magi lore funky wallrug

Ok, in the manga, Toya was here earlier, and it was Aladdin who'd told Baba that he can see Rukh, too, but here she's the one to just know that he does. Here, though, we jump straight into the lore.

This looks hilarious here, but also, it probably was on purpose, as a form of subtle foreshadowingTM. But anyway. Magi: expectation vs reality.

This entire animation of Rukh flying here is fucking gorgeous. I've told you I'm a corvid.

Ok, but I feel like overall in the anime adaptation Aladdin's lost a bit of his agency, y'know? First in the Dungeon, to Alibaba, and here, too, he seems even more passive than he actually is.

Toya! Definitely gives off a more depressed vibe than in the manga. On the flipside, very nice voice.

Damn, there sure was a lot of effort put in here.

Aww, we didn't get the best fucking wingmen in the series : (

Aww, the "whatever your name is spelled as this time" looks kinda ni-

(honking laughter noises)

Ok, in the manga it was obvious D-guy had a huge crush on Toya, while her feelings were more ambiguous, but here it's Toya who seems to be crushing more.

First of all, lmao, and second of all, I am about to reach the pic limit bc of this image alone.

(more honks)

clueless, and the goddamn horse not getting paid enough for this bs

And last but not least

The boy.

That being said, in the anime he brings out Ugo just like that, completely unprompted, while in the manga he wanted Ugo to thank them for saving him, too, F.

Fambily.

Honestly, I feel like I gotta tone it down with pointing out the differences. I'd just never shut up. So unless I consider something important or interesting, imma drop it.

Aladdin's in much more hurry to return to Qishan in the manga.

Say what you will, but Aladdin and Alibaba's friendship comes off as far stronger than there, even if it already was pretty darn strong.

Oh, so now it's- Actually, I'm having second thoughts. Is is it a crescent or full moon. Whatever. It's pretty.

Ok, I seem to be pretty close to the photo limit.

[big-city-times]

due to popular demand (two people in the replies of this post) i will now complain about how agitating the penny the pony and the pirate is to me (coming out as a hater) [under the cut][not going to put a whole essay in the main tag without a cut]

prepare yourself [i am so sorry]

before diving deep into my "he would not fucking say that" syndrome, there are ?? a lot of things i like about this episode ??

positives

the biggest, and the one that makes me the most sad, is how much i love the b plot. partially because it feels ironic watching becky and violet try to rewatch the mid-summer special of pretty princess and trying to convince themselves that its not as bad as they had thought originally, as i desperately try to convince myself that this episode isn't as bad as i had thought, but also because its just so ??? funny ??

like. fucking watch this

that's ?? hilarious ??? and it's used in this episode ???

not to mention that violet is just so adorable and funny in this episode and i love myself some good violet characterization AND theres really goofy botsford moments !! like them bullying tangent for not being able to tell a good story. father daughter bonding /j

also, about tim specifically, i find myself saying "can you believe this guy!! hey buddy !! the doubloons exhibit was last week !!!" a lot strangely enough

there's also some really silly bits about tangent himself !! like i've really stuck with the idea of him LOVING hearing other people's stories, stealing only when he's low on cash, or having a mom who's an artist

like !!! those are super cute and fun !!!!!!!! hearing about villains daily live's is one of my favorite parts of this show !! they're just presented in a way that doesn't sit right in my head !!

nice and goofy animations as well :]

negatives

yk. this is a rant. it's not really intended to be about the positive stuff so

cutting straight to the chase, i know exactly what the main reason is. it's the voice actor change im not gonna lie

for a minute, imagine, a character with a higher-pitched voice that you like, say, spongebob

then imagine them with a voice that is an octave deeper than their usual voice

isn't that weird and disorienting ??? like it just doesn't feel like them anymore ??

as violet says in this episode itself, that's. not their real voice, not to you at least

in this case, not only is his voice deeper, but its brash and gruff rather than his usual young, kind sounding voice, with a obvious (and often broken) fake accent. he sounds more like an adult and it BOTHERS me

its giving the minor change in chuck's voice in a world without wordgirl. while still the same person, a minor shift in his speech patterns makes him far less likeable

obviously this is no hate to brian stack (his va for this episode), he did a very good job on the actual acting, the voice just doesn't feel right for the character :]

there's also something that feels off about the way a lot of his lines are presented, not in voice, but more in the style of writing

in the previous two episodes, despite being absent minded and annoying to those around him, he's very selfless and kind, (caring about the safety of scoops and the dogs, leaving people alone if they reject him, noticing that scoops is upset [though he does interpret it wrong], ext.) but, here, it feels more like he's less distracted by his thoughts, and more self-focused. for example, regardless that he did enjoy tim's history lesson on the bumblebee penny, he immediately turns and begins to tell his own story, which just feels ??? way out of character ??

less negative, but he feels wayyy less focused here, and begins and ends stories very often, feeling less like they're tangents, and more like really brief, mildly annoying tidbits about himself ?? lmfao

it feels almost like they tried too hard on the tangents and ended up staying way too close to the topic. we are no longer going from pirates favorite wood to ballet slippers and that makes me very sad :[

i guess theres just something very offputting about how pirate-y he feels. he doesn't feel like some dork in a costume, and that's what i feel his character is supposed to be like !! he's not really a pirate !! he doesn't have a ship !! he rides around in a wagon !!! a flying wagon !!

conclusion :

as i said earlier, i keep coming back to this episode hoping that i'll like it better, but i never do.

who are you !!!!!! idk what villain that is !!! this episode has so much potential !! the crime is so goofy !! he's just written in a very strange way !!!

bonus bit - why is it so funny to me that his arm literally makes a clanking noise when he touches it. look at this stupid little twig arm. there is no way youve ever been to the gym youre lying

[finishinglinepress]

FLP BOOK OF THE DAY: Remember That One Time? a Novel by Larry Joe Campbell

On SALE: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/remember-that-one-time-by-larry-joe-campbell/

Larry Joe Campbell is an actor and writer living in Los Angeles. Some of his credits include According to Jim, Hall Pass, Wedding Crashers, Pacific Rim, The Orville, Mom, Weeds, Euphoria, and can currently be seen on Animal Control on FOX. He also tours around the country with “Jim Belushi and the Board of Comedy.”Remember That One Time is his debut novel. When he is not writing and acting, Larry enjoys coaching high school football, walking, reading and music. Larry Joe has five adult children, Gabriella, Nathan, Madelyn, Maxwell, and Lydia. He has been married to his wife, Peggy, for 27 years.

Remember That One Time, a first-person narrative, takes place over Christmas. Max Sheffield, an aging out-of-work actor, loves Christmas. But this Christmas will be very different. His wife, Sophie, has left him to be with her parents on a trial separation. His adult, collegiate children, Graeme and Briana would rather be anywhere else but at home in Los Angeles. And so, Max Sheffield heads to his older brother’s home back in Greenville, Michigan for the winter holidays…not far from where he grew up. To make matters worse, Max immediately suffers a freak accident in which he cannot speak, and resting his voice is the only remedy. #novel #life #fiction #funny #relationships

PRAISE FOR Remember That One Time? a Novel by Larry Joe Campbell

“I just finished reading ‘Remember That One Time’ and I already miss it. Larry’s impeccable ear for dialogue and ability to bring even minor characters into sharp focus, pulled me right into his beautifully crafted world. My day feels a little bit dimmer without the humor, drama, and everyday nonsense of the many interesting, relatable people who inhabit Larry’s vivid imagination.”

–Courtney Thorne-Smith

“In his debut novel “Remember That One Time” Larry Joe Campbellsucceeds at bringing the reader directly into the path of real life. The mess, the chaos, the humor, the pathos and the love. His main character Max is a fallible man, but as a reader you end up rooting for him to find his way in the world. All the characters in the book jump off the page. And as a Midwesterner who moved to Los Angeles to follow my dream career, so much of this book spoke to me. But I think anyone who reads “Remember That One Time” will relate to it, regardless of their best laid career or life plans. There is a humanity that we all seek within its pages, and though I was reading it for the first time, it helped me remember some times of my own along the way.”

–Jaime Moyer, actor Bob’s Burgers, Modern Family, KC Undercover

“Remember That One Time? is one of those special books that can simultaneously make you re-examine your life choices while wrapping you in a cozy, hometown hug. Just as the lead character of Max does, I found myself drawn into the lives of these colorful (and very recognizable) small town folks. I wanted to know more about their lives and dramas and most of all I cheered Max on as he labored to sort out his own life story.

Larry Joe Campbell is known to so many of us as a big-hearted, hilarious comedian whose expressions and emotions bring his characters roaring to life. And it turns out, he has that exact same talent as a writer. Each person in this story is drawn with more detail than the next, and Larry perfectly captures the feeling of “going home again” and finding yourself an outside observer of all that used to be so familiar. I tore through this book and was sad when it was over – the mark of truly being invested in a story. I hope this is the first of many books from Larry Joe Campbell!”

–Nancy Hayden, writer Detroiters, Ex-Housewife

“I literally JUST finished reading your novel and I really enjoyed it! It was honest and real and vulnerable… And I love that you did such a great job of bringing alive the kinds of people that guys like us grew up with…”

–John D. Beck, Executive Producer, writer “According to Jim,” “Liv & Maddie” “Fuller House”

Please share/please repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #novel #read #fiction #funny #life #comedy

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Digging thru ur blog to reach this response because I forgot I sent oops (I passed by a lot of pokemon though??? Omg pokemon revival on tumblr time??? The impact of pursuit…..)

Anyways I’m FINALLY FULLY BACK TO CHRONICALLY ONLINE but FR get used to the fame it only goes up from here you’re about to become a household name for karasu nation being perceived truly is so weird though but as a proud miraverse citizen (??) I love seeing you in the tags of stuff or mentioned because I’m like “YOOO I KNOW HER YEAH SHES FAMOUS GO READ” anyways

OOOH ok duly noted I’ll listen to it every time you change it LMAO

NIKO AS THE TICKET SELLER SOOOOO REAL im crying Niko is too hilarious it’s amazing how I’ve actually grown fond of him (in an oaeu way) via our chats the emo haircut is perfect for scaring the shit out of Karasu OAEU FOR LIFEEE it’s everywhere and adds that dash of humor and goofiness for a perfect world building balance

Oh yeah!! They named them in the first volume too iirc they left them out in this volume of the egoist bible which is why I was shocked to find they didn’t bother naming ANYONE NEW HSHDJDOSKA atp with kaneshiro stalking you Karasu’s sister WILL be yayoi also I love the name akane for chigiris sister….(also yes the red thing is correct!!) something about it feels so strong like vibe wise it’s giving girlboss

NO FR they popped off with the Reo animation (where was karasus moment…) also PLEASE the old people cafes im crying maybe you’ll find one of their grandsons soon….

FRRR kaneshiro reveal yourself right now….i urge you to take notes from our convos too can i make a wishlist and slap it here to get kaneshiro to see it

I swear i press on one once daily and I don’t even realize it until im thrown out of the app and into my browser like ok you did not need to do that let me scroll in peace….

OH YEAH I SAW CLIPS def a lot better than the end clip of s1!!! Actually pretty happy with it i agree im not the biggest fan of otoyas though but on that note im begging you to listen to hioris because I got flooded with it and I can’t with the accent this isn’t even because I generally like him as a character the accent has me ROLLING (also to note his va is deku/midoriya from mha im sure you’ve seen his face before so I’ll let you process that….and Karasu being bakugo too has me crying like this cast)

But ALL GOOD tbh even if you sent doubles I’ll enjoy it just the same because I’ll see it again and be like “omg I forgot about this glorious edit thank you Mira”

OMGGG THE DUB VOICE EDIT?? Side note I actually love the diva audio they used all the edits that use it SLAP also at least otoyas sound effect sounds really funny LMFAOOO

I SAW THIS ONE BUT FRRR ugh his voice there >>>>> I love Karasu thank you blue lock

IM CRYING I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT MEME AUDIO ITS SO FUNNY I was lowk trying to think about who in bllk but YUKI AND TABIEITA SO REAL

LMAOAAO the timing is perfect yes Isagi get your fish lens face out of the way I’ve had enough of you

Why would you send me itoshism content…but that account put too much effort into that edit omg…

Omg nagi truly majestic….im really glad we got some good nagi content in his interactions with yuki last ep it’s been awhile!!!

UGHH FR nagi scoring the first goal of u20 was insane work someone get this man a new motivator he was unstoppable then

Wait unrelated but the subtitle for this one saying Liam when it’s supposed to be Rin had me laughing so hard also the way the dub actors say their names also always has me laughing a bit I feel like it’d sound more natural if they just kept it localized to the eng pronunciation but I admire their attempt at keeping it #authentic LMAOOO also wait why did I think nagi was bald when he turned into a puzzle piece LMFAOOO

THE ACCOUNT BEING AIKUS SOCKS LFMSOSODOSHAIAPAOAO IM CRYING ALL THE PEOPLE WITH INSANE NAMES ARE ALWAYS AIKU FANS I SWEAR but I have in fact not seen this one!!!! KARASUUUUUUUU I need more Karasu scenes asap lowk a little worried cause he doesn’t get that much spotlight in the u20 despite being top 3 (still gets more than yuki and otoya though) im still never getting over how the whole top6 thing kinda just went out the window but WHATEVER (kaneshiro if you’re reading…) if only fwtkac Karasu bfb Karasu pursuit Karasu oaeu Karasu existed irl man

KARASUUUUU x2 I love this man also PLEASEEE NOT THE FANON SHIDOU EX FRIEND REFERENCE it’s so funny how that’s become her little nickname now wait YOU WERE AN EDITOR??? Time to get back on that grind…/j LMAOA the fear of being outed to irls is so valid too ok but also so real for the ldr though I used to listen to her more but at some point just kinda stopped for idk why maybe I should go on a binge listen session

MEEE also the way I alr knew the audio from that line before I even pressed play LMAOO Karasu what a magnificent man someone get me a Karasu right now

Ok pause I can’t even lie you truly put me on the Barou agenda I appreciated him as a character before but now (esp after that one edit you showed me) plus that one convo we had about the snow shoveling idea and also oaeu Barou…..Barou <3333 anyways

TW KAISER LMFAOOOO this better not get my fyp on the Kaiser algorithm /j ok that edit was a little too good to be a Kaiser edit can this account swerve to Karasu next wtf

OTOYA AND THE PITBULL AUDIO otoya just serving s2 era is truly otoyas era he’s thriving now

IVE SEEN THESE the way they’re drawing it fully traditionally too with a pencil is insane I can’t imagine how long that takes!!! “Hey god it’s me again” PLEASEEE THIS COMMENT HAS ME HOWLING so real

The caption on this last one might be me also this audio too…karasu the loml…ok that was a great scrolling tiktok session I NEEDED THAT TY

- Karasu anon

LMAOOO lowkey i figured you did but i needed you to watch the tik toks so i had to remind you rq LSKFJHSD anyways yeah i think all of the pokémon is my mutual suo he’s been going through some of the games and updating me as he does!! truly we began a pokémon renaissance on here though

OMG YAYYY I’M GLAD YOU’RE BACK I MISSED HAVING OUR DAILY CONVOS even though now i’m the one taking a sec to respond but that’s temporary trust i will be back to the typical crazy response time by like sunday at the latest LMAOOO omg yeah it’s so weird when i see people actually reading my work on here…in a sense i’m used to it?? before i deleted everything off of wattpad one of my aot fics was at like 200k reads and pomegranate ink was at like 80-90k or something so this isn’t like the FIRST time i’ve had large amounts of people reading my stuff but for some reason maybe because the bllk fandom is smaller it feels more intimate when people recommend my work 😭 whereas with like pomegranate ink for example i was literally just one of the first people to write a yuta x reader EVER and definitely the first/only one to write something that long for him (if you go on ao3 and go in the jjk manga fandom, filter by works tagged as “reader-insert”, and sort by word count, pomegranate ink is like ninth or tenth and it’s def the first that isn’t for gojo or nanami LMAOAOA) so it makes sense that it gets recommended a lot (i think it’s at almost 30k reads on ao3?? and same with my one aot fic which isn’t a lot by wattpad standards but is by ao3 standards i think)

AHAHAH you’ll have to lmk what you think every time i change it…sometimes i put songs that are just relatable to me personally and sometimes they’re songs that fit the dynamic of a fic i’m thinking of (feels like we only go backwards isn’t a particular fic but it’s somehow very karasu coded to me idk why)

I LOVE OAEU NIKO HE’S THE GOAT FR he’s sooo funny omg him selling tickets with his emo haircut and scaring the shit out of karasu cracks me up especially because he wouldn’t even be trying to do so…omg oaeu fr makes every au sm more elevated they even pulled up in the one kaiser fic (well only niko but aiku was probably there too in the background somewhere) and added more angst and drama like they are my go to side characters atp

LMAOAOAO if we ever find out that her name is fr yayoi or otoya’s younger sister is seiko i’m taking that as my final proof that he’s onto me SKDFJHSD and yeah i really like akane for her!! i wanted a name that didn’t end with “i” because it would feel too staccato with her last name being chigiri but many feminine names in japanese tend to end with “i” i think?? and i wanted something with either a prominent “a” or “o” sound because of hyoma…akane has the “a” while following a diff structure than hyoma’s name so it flows well with his name without sounding too similar!! plus i feel like it’s such a manga thing to name your characters and then base their design on it kinda like how karasu has the crow vibe going on (i’m sure there’s more examples but i can’t think of any off the top of my head it’s def a popular thing) so her name being based on the word for red and her having red hair (maybe her hair is more red than pink like chigiri’s too??) makes sense in my mind LKSDHFSDK okay another akane chigiri is another established certified miraverse canon fact now we just have to have her cameo in something…maybe her and yayoi can be besties they’re probably around the same age (at least in the miraverse they are because in bfb yayoi and reader are two years older than karasu?? and if chigiri’s sister is 21 rn and karasu is 18, then yayoi would be 20 so depending on the cutoff of their birthdays and whatnot they could even be in the same grade)

LKDSJFHLSDK that’s so real i need to become besties with all of the elderly people so they can enter their aiku eras and set me up with their grandchildren…HAHA i know kaneshiro is out there somewhere he’s been too inspired by me especially lately it’s uncanny

HIORI’S ACCENT CRACKS ME UP especially because aren’t he and karasu supposed to have the same accent lowkey?? i don’t know enough about the region to say for sure but if so why is it only hiori who’s been texas-ified (not that i’m complaining LKDHFSLK I WOULD’VE CRIED IF THEY GAVE THAT ACCENT TO KARASU TOO)

I LOVE THE DIVA AUDIO but yeahhhh omg karasu’s dub is so good this season like i went on an entire rant in the ask before this describing why i like it sm but ugh it’s truly amazing def one of my favs besides shidou’s (his fits him really well imo), barou’s (also fits SUPER well and sounds rlly good), and anri’s (i love how much stronger and more confident the dub makes her sound compared to the sub)

LMAOOO just smth about the way he’s like “go look in a mirror 😒” is sooo attractive and also the way he’s not afraid to sass shidou despite seeing him try to beat the shit out of rin mere minutes earlier SLDKFHSHJD shidou do everyone a favor and get in a fight with karasu so we can see him sweaty and with messy hair…bonus points if you somehow manage to rip his shirt off or smth…haha…shidou please…

wait speaking of which i forgot we get the scene of them in the locker room during the u20 match where they’re all shirtless and there’s that panel of karasu smirking deviously and high fiving otoya or smth LET’S GOOO SHIRTLESS KARASU THEY BETTER NOT FUMBLE (they probably won’t for some reason 8bit always goes insane with the shirtless scenes)

HAHAHA IT’S LITERALLY YUKIMIYA AFTER SECOND SELECTION bro got a new partner and IMMEDIATELY dipped omg i have a meme idea for this i’m going to post it after i finish responding to asks

FACTS ISAGI GET OUT OF HERE bro isagi fans are so funny they always get so pressed defending him like i’m sorry not everyone likes your fav??? TRY LIKING NAGI IN THE CURRENT CLIMATE 😭 i think the most unproblematic fans by far are the barou fans because barou himself is such an elite pick…like yeah they may be a bit cocky at times but it’s DESERVED like barou truly IS that guy almost every other character has kinda annoying fanbases 😩

THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING like the rin editors always put their hearts and SOULS into those edits there are sooo many good ones i need the nagi editors to get on that type of timing because in terms of season 1 clips nagi and rin are about equal and i think team z vs team v is probably peak blue lock animation so there’s definitely enough material to edit nagi like that (PLUS the epinagi movie…come on now y’all) okay wait also something that cracks me up is that in the first popularity nagi won second and rin got sixth or smth (presumably because he was still a newer character atp) how times have changed…😓💔

HELP NOT BALD NAGI the thought is cursed…ngl sometimes i try to imagine my favs when they’re older grandpa vibes and idt any of them could pull off the bald look KSLJDHF KARASU AND BAROU WOULD LOOK RIDICULOUS i think reo could pull it off maybe?? and yukimiya but idk about anyone else 😭

LMAOOO PLEASE IT TRULY IS ALWAYS THE AIKU FANS they’re the next generation of toji fans who are the next generation of levi/chrollo stans SKDJFHS but yesss KARASU i was talking to jeirin (also maybe you in the other ask i don’t even remember) and i really do think karasu otoya and yuki are giving baddie of the week vibes rn (both in terms of being opponents and also baddies because they’re hot) like as soon as the u20 game starts everyone is going to jump to aiku and sae then once we get to nel it’s going to be kaiser and the master strikers (probably also barou and nagi in their respective matches) so this really is the peak of it i think…sigh…i’ll still be here though

i was in fact an editor i have lived many lives LSKDJFH but yeah i am so scared of being outed to irls so i had to delete especially since tik tok is such an OPP like it’s always sending your business to everyone else and suggesting accounts and stuff HAHA anyways yess i think my favorite ldr songs (in no specific order) are california, white mustang, ultraviolence, chemtrails over the country club, sad girl, pretty when you cry, black beauty, swan song, did you know there’s a tunnel under ocean blvd, venice bitch (also taco truck x vb which is basically a remix of venice bitch), tomorrow never came, summer bummer, and honestly way more but those are a few i can think of off the top of my head!!

barou <333 i never talk about him but he’s so beloved and dear to me he just has the misfortune of being third to nagi and karasu

WASN’T IT LOWKEY FIRE come onnn if we can make these kind of edits for KAISER (who’s manga only) WHY CAN’T WE GET THIS KIND OF HEAT FOR KARASU AND YUKIMIYA????

YAYYY HAPPY TO PROVIDE trust i will always be ready with edits to send SDKJHFS like at the SLIGHTEST provocation i’ll send you 50 /hj

[nocturnalserenade]

I feel like I have to somewhat disagree with this. As someone who always loved Jadeite, as a character and especially as a villain, I too was always baffled at how underappreciated (and even actively disliked) he is in the fandom. Because yes, as you said he IS a fun and entertaining villain! I can understand not liking him but why in the world would you treat him SO poorly compared to the others? His schemes were so fun and over the top, his thing with illusions and disguises was cool (and it came BEFORE Team Rocket ;P), his interactions with the senshi’s team were pretty amusing and towards his last episodes you can even see a glimpse of respect for them (naturally I’m disregarding his infamous last line since it was so stupidly out of character and random), it would have been nice to have him around longer and maybe even getting close to some kind of pseudo-redemption before his death, although I don’t think he even needs it to be interesting. BUT, the potential to do something more with him was there.

That said, I personally think his Japanese voice was a pretty good choice for him actually, although I have to admit the quality of the Japanese audio in your video is so bad it DOES make it sound very cheap haha. I know it might be a matter of preference, but in my opinion him and Zoisite actually had the best VAs in the Japanese version among the Shitennou, not necessarily in terms of professionality, but in the sense that they perfectly matched their personality, which I think is more important than sounding as villanous as possible. Zoisite has a voice that perfectly captures his vain and sneaky personality for example, with its softness somewhat masking and emphasizing at the same time his vileness, and Jadeite has that smooth, confident voice with a touch of seductiveness in his tone, that fits very well with his schemes being mostly about charming crowds of people. He’s a deceiver who excels at luring people with beautiful traps that exploit people’s desires. So it’s more fitting that his voice would be that of a calm and calculated charmer rather than a cartoonish villain who is metaphorically screaming at the audience “I’m evil!! Don’t you want to punch me??” with every sentence imo, as much as it would obviously add to the fun factor. Either way, I am pretty certain fans aren’t disliking/ignoring him because he’s not enough "fun" or because his voice isn’t on par with the others.

I'll put the rest under a cut because it turned out embarassingly long and I don't want to subject my mutuals to my rants about Jadeite lol.

You know what Jadeite objectively lacks in the anime that most fans really care about, and that the other three have? A romance and a sad death, that’s it. Kunzite only has one of those so, unsurprisingly, even he is left way behind the other two who are the undisputed stars of the group, and he lives in Zoisite's shadow and often has to fight for last place with Jadeite. ;P

I think this lack of a "sentimental" aspect for his character is what makes people treat him so differently from the rest. Because if you take as counter-example other smaller shitennou-focused fan communities which give ALL the shitennou an important personal bond/connection, like those who pair them up with the senshi or those who focus on the shitennou's relationship with Mamoru, suddenly you will not find the same huge gap between Jadeite and the others in terms of appreciation. Outside of that, he's not only mostly ignored, but when he's not ignored he's either just turned into the joke of the group (best case scenario, maybe even in a kinda sympathetic way) or just criticized to no end. And all the bashing he gets is pretty hilarious in how little it makes sense and how out of proportion it is, when you really think about it.

Literally everything he does is wrong for the fandom.

He’s either too evil, or not evil enough, too incompetent, too boring because he uses “the same plans”, too arrogant, too bland, a jerk/misogynist for not reciprocating a youma's crush, a jerk/misogynist for his contempt for humans, a failure etc. You can't win, people just LOVE to hate him. Nevermind that he does more or less the same things the other three do at the end of the day. He has a preferred strategy of course, just like the others, and he doesn’t just mindlessly replicate it like fans make it out to be, he uses smart variations of it for every new plan, which mostly work out well for a good while, sometimes even for days, before he gets caught. The other three aren't much different. They often stick to a preferred strategy and they repeat it multiple times, sometimes regardless of whether it has actually proved successful or not. Their plans also inevitably fail when the senshi show up. They can all be ruthless and spiteful and full of themselves. They can be insensitive to the people who love them. They can be overconfident and stubbornly insist with ineffective plans over and over. Didn’t Nephrite keep using his “pick one single person whose energy is about to peak” plan a lot despite always ending up getting stopped as soon as the peak happens? And Kunzite kept repeating those princess-related events to attract the Princess/Sailor Moon even though they technically made little sense and never really helped him figure out the senshi's identities. They all had their screw-up moments and it's okay! They're the villains, they're supposed to fail eventually!

Yet you're always gonna hear “lol jadeite always recycles the same stupid/failing plans, what a loser!!” as if he was especially bad at everything he did. Even though those plans more often than not absolutely fulfilled their purpose. When the others do something silly/useless (even repeatedly), it's just bad writing instead, or there's some hidden good reason behind it (which is 100% fan speculation). After all this time of seeing this happen I've come to the conclusion that it's clearly just a bias. Because all of them have their successes, their failures and their silly moments, the only thing that changes wildly is the fans' interpretations of those things, based on which shitennou they're talking about. I think the other three get a pass for mostly anything specifically because they have that romantic/tragic arc that makes people empathize more with them, and take them more seriously and with a certain protectiveness no matter what, so their shortcomings/negative aspects are quickly justified/diminished and the good things greatly emphasized. With Jadeite it's the opposite and it always was basically fandom tradition to pick apart whatever he did or did not do for fun, because fans couldn't find anything entertaining to do with him except this.

Lastly, Jadeite has also been somewhat "held back" by the fact he was the first villain. Of course his plans seem to lack variety, it was the beginning and literally the only thing the Dark Kingdom needed at that point, up until his last 3 episodes or so, was collecting energy, so even if his schemes were all wildly different and fun, the goal was always the same and people perceive this as "he always does the same stuff" even though he doesn't really. It's literally his only assigned job and he's inventing 12million ways to do it really what do you want MORE lol. The first 13 episodes he's in were also the most light-hearted of the season, the stakes weren't high, the focus was on introducing the characters, blahblahblah of course it's less exciting than later on when a lot of drama and more serious shit suddenly starts going down. It was simply not possible to make a compelling and dramatic villain arc that early, without distracting too much from the main plot. So he got the least emotional and impactful character arc of the four.

Omg I'm writing too much. Bottom line is, Jadeite always got an unfair treatment from the fandom and my point (that I shamelessly and unnecessarily dragged out a lot lol) was simply that his voice is really the last of his problems, if it even is one. There's nothing uniquely wrong in how he was portrayed or voiced imo. It's just a fandom bias. He had his limitations of course, due mostly to how the story was structured, and the anime did do him dirty a couple of times, but come on, it's really not hard to enjoy him as a villain even with the little he got. Most of the fandom simply lacks a reason to be emotionally attached to him, and is biased against him by default, no matter what he does or how much of a cool villain he actually is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So I've always had a fondness and appreciation for Jadeite, the Starter Villain of Sailor Moon, but for a long time he was the least popular of the Shittenou (Four Heavenly Kings) by far. Only in recent years has he become more appreciated, matching and sometimes even passing Kunzite in many polls. For a while, I didn't quite get it: yeah, he's pretty nondescript in the manga and has a stock villainous personality in the anime lacking the nuances and dynamics with others that his colleagues have, but he's so entertaining as a villain! It's fun to see what variation on the same scheme and which thing to lure in humans he pulls, it's fun to see him dress up in disguises Team Rocket style, and it's fun to see him being such a smug asshole who ends up falling from grace and getting more and more frustrated as a result.

But now, I have finally identified the problem. His voice.

For years, the Sailor Moon fan community dealt primarily in the subbed original Japanese version of the 90s anime. And as you can hear above, Masaya Onosaka's performance is....not great. He was a fresh new voice actor at the time of casting (something not true of literally every other Dark Kingdom villains' casting) and it shows in the way he delivers Jadeite's lines. It's smug and villainous, yes, but there's no (ironically enough) ENERGY to it. There's no oomph, nothing that takes advantage of the material and elevates it into being something particularly enjoyable to hear. Fans saw Jadeite as just a bland villain because, well, he sounds like just a bland villain. Even his evil laugh sounds astonishingly half-assed!

Now, obviously Onosaka improved as a voice actor overtime. But his Jadeite sucked. Daisuke Kishio voices Jadeite in Sailor Moon Crystal, and he sounds better. He'd have to deepen his voice a little to be Jadeite from the 90s anime, but he's got the talent to do that.

The DiC dub of the 90s may be a butchery of the source material, but Tony Daniels as Jadeite...er, "Jedite", understood the assignment. He was also a fresh new voice actor but he knew that his character should sound like a campy, sneering supervillain and relish his wicked lines. He also did much better conveying a sense of desperation when faced with setbacks, defeat and ultimately execution. Those screams at the end actually sound real.

And then we have Todd Haberkorn, voicing Jadeite in the Viz dub of the 90s anime and its dub of Sailor Moon Crystal. He is, IMO, the absolute best Jadeite voice: not only does he make his performances for each version sound distinct (with the former sounding deeper, harsher and more villainous while the latter is higher pitched and more immature sounding which makes it easy to switch over to good once he's cleansed), but he is especially fantastic for 90s anime Jadeite. He sounds like Daniels if he toned down the ham while amping up the douche, making Jadeite sound like the kind of overconfident, pretentious, misogynistic jerk you want to deck in the face. And he's just as perfect at selling his anger and, in the end, his fear. He reads the same lines as Onosaka, but he gives them so much more character.

(4:12 is the best part, btw. I literally expected "Foiled again!" to follow. :P)