#I love her design a lot and also I am a sucker for characters who are associated with the sun. I mean at least that's the vibes i am gettin

[caluupin]

Finished TGAAC around 2 1/2 weeks ago but only finished the doodles today. but still, here ya go!

[kyeterna]

@gloomysushiroll 's Valda

Happy Birthday!

[charmwasjess]

Stupid sexy the Acolyte why I am still watching you

Ugh, because it unfortunately rules, that's why. I don't know. On one hand, I still have all of my concerns about the portrayal of the Jedi Order and my absolute exhaustion with the plotline of "oooh, but wHaT iF the Jedi bAd?!" while offhandedly massacring interesting cool Jedi who are voluntarily and honorably living out their convictions as empty plot fodder. I am so tired. But I also keep genuinely finding things to like about the show.

I really like the big chunky boxy lightsaber designs. They remind me of my first car: one of those perfectly square Volvo station wagons. I think the prequel Jedi lightsaber designs tend to be a little industrial/ utilitarian, whereas Dooku's generation (in the few example we have, I'm thinking of his, Sifo-Dyas's, and Jocasta's, because those are the ones I've looked at too many times) can be a little fussy and overdesigned. It's cool to see how generations of Jedi riff on popular designs for their era.

The size makes for a big impact when characters do things such as hold the emitter against the head of another character, or as in last night, bring it up to someone's throat, because damn, that thing is a clunker. It looks so dangerous.

Master Sol. Master Sol. Master Sol. I'm not sure I have ever seen a live action role where the actor has more uniquely and specifically captured what I love about the Jedi in one character.

The scene where he goes down to reset the transmitter and has his little micro-breakdown after the "team is dead" bit. What an powerful moment. The amount of acting he did with absolutely no dialogue, no one else in the scene to bounce off of, just a quiet moment of grief, rage, and loss. I've read both criticism and rebuttals of Jedi acting - oh, they're wooden, no, they're accurately playing a person with a lifetime worth of trained emotional control - and this was such an incredible example of portraying a person with a lifetime of emotional control training realistically experiencing an excruciating, heartbreaking loss. You see him lose control, open himself up to the Force/self soothe, and regain it. All just with a sequence of facial expressions. Honestly, if I get absolutely nothing else out of the show and hate where they go with this, it will have been worth watching for that alone. It's that important to me.

And just - Sol. :') When he gives Not-Osha a big HUG? I'm such a sucker for Jedi onscreen hugs. Man, his inevitable death is gonna blow.

Aww, and speaking of death, confirmation that the Osha and Jecki vibes were really there. Just kill me. And I kind of love how Qimir phrases it, this idea that the Jedi she loves will never love her back the way that she wants them to, but also the twisty subtext there. Maybe this is me giving the show too much credit, but I got a lot of Sith-version of love "to love is to possess a person" vibes in the way he talked about that?

BUt ohhhhh nooooo ewww stupid sexy Qimir trying to s-seduce (?) Osha by being all sexy and funny and likeable and weirdly kind and not like a classic Sith. Pffffh. Yeah, he's going after the other twin now. Completely and totally expected. Oh, good. And now he's taking off his stupid shirt and his beautiful body is there in this dumb stupid scene. He loves to show off his awful muscles and handsome dumb face, as if anybody is interested in that. Presumably his dark side dong is out. Who would care about that? Not me, a scholar.

Whatever, who even cares about this show. CLEARLY I DO NOT

[electricskelecomics]

Draw The Squad: Irratino Edition

Beach days: love 'em or hate 'em, they're definitely a unique time.

Around three weeks ago (give or take) I started working on a love letter to the Murdle fandom. I grabbed as many Irratino designs as I could (one per creator) and threw them all in a Draw-the-Squad template. Today, I am finally done.

This was my first time doing a Draw-the-Squad, so hopefully I did it right! I also wanted to challenge myself to represent the styles of everyone I put in there: that includes line color and shading. I think it adds to just how creative everyone here is: all of our designs look so different from one another, even though we have the same info to go off of.

If you didn't see your design, then I'm sorry. Eleven characters is a lot to work with, and I really tried to include everyone I could.

My sources are under the read more, along with a little blurb for each one:

@itzr4v3n. This is a mix of her Gacha design and non-Gacha design. It was too hard to choose!

@coconutvoid. I really hope I did the red outfit justice. I love this design's facial expressions.

@dreaming-mushroom. Super sweet person: when I showed the first WIP to the fan discord they helped me out with the colors.

KitKat (Discord). Pigeon Irratino! I went with Kat's Vol. 2 design: I'm a sucker for scars.

@snozzlefrog: specifically her mermaid AU. A lot of the memes I found early on in my Murdle hyperfixation can be traced back to Snozzlefrog, so I knew I had to put one of her designs in here.

Me! My three-eyed, triangle-headed guy.

@marble-running. The only art of him I could find was on paper, so I decided to emulate that. I think it looks great.

@ruburnz. This is such a unique style, and any excuse I get to pull out the opacity brushes I will eat right up.

@berrypass-de-murdler. I think a goat is a really fun spin on things, and everyone I know just adores the design.

@puffydove. I was told Dove's design has a glitter phone case, and who doesn't love that?

@greenunless. I have this one listed in my file as "Fun Glasses." I LOVE this design.

Draw the Squad Source/Base by @copperyy: https://copperyy.tumblr.com/post/142089297465/happy-april-fools-day-heres-a-draw-the-squad

I really cannot emphasize enough how much I LOVE all of your designs/work. If I did we'd be here all day!

[redflagfan]

I played the “Shattered Souls” demo, and you should too! (Mini review)

TL;DR: I am so excited for the full release of this this fun dark fantasy isekai otome game!

Shattered Souls is an upcoming game by @eternallovestudios. They just launched their Kickstarter and you can check out their short demo (one to two hours) on Steam or on itch.io.

In the words of the studio...

Celeste finds herself fighting for her life after enduring a betrayal that no one should experience.

As she nears her final breath, she is whisked away to a different world: Remoire.

Things are not as they seem, though. She’s not a mortal. Her past is as vast as the ocean. Her soul is fractured and barely holding together from the traumas she’s faced and forgotten. She must heal herself or even the tiniest tragedy could shatter her. But she’s not the only one who is broken.

Join Celeste as she fights not only to save her own life, but to change the lives of those around her. 

Will you traverse worlds, realms, and even time itself? Will you test your fate? Will you try again?

I played the demo, and I can't wait for more!

In this game, you play as Celeste - a mortal (?) girl determined to seek revenge, but also tied to seven different men (the romanceable characters). These are:

Marris: Literally God

Lance: The Actual "White Knight"

Shiro: Tsundere Demon Hunter

Ezra: Warrior Priest

Aizen: The Emperor

Karver: Childhood Best Friend

Eternal: ???

Basically, in the demo, you get introduced to Celeste's world and meet all these men. While this demo was short, it left me wanting more!

Here's what I liked:

The voice acting!! I love that this is a fully voice acted demo. It added so much to the game. Marris had me honestly laughing out loud!

The soundtrack! The music in this demo was beautiful. I can't wait to hear more of it.

The atmosphere! There was some tonal whiplash just in this demo, and I thought the devs did a great job of having me laughing but just a few minutes later, creating a dark, creepy atmosphere.

The art! Beautiful backgrounds and character design, especially on our MC, Celeste. She was so pretty I found myself just staring at her sprite the whole time!

And of course...the men! Seven is an ambitious amount of LIs, but I appreciated that each of them came off as distinct and unique. Plus, as someone who is a sucker for tsunderes and the childhood best friend trope, I can already tell who I'm going to go for first hahaha.

Basically, this game immediately sucked me in. I really enjoyed the world the demo set up and it left me wanting more - especially because there were a lot of questions raised that don't have answers yet. It feels like a lot of work went into building this fantasy world and I want more!

The writing is really good too and some of the lines were kinda silly, but the VAs said them with their chest lmao so it was good. I really liked the story. I feel like isekai is everywhere these days but this seems like it'll be something different from the usual.

I really recommend checking out this demo, and if you can, supporting the Kickstarter! I already have lmao. Please do because one of the stretch goals is a NSFW DLC.........

[wildstreak]

My thoughts on Skybound's Transformers!

Includes Issue #1 SPOILERS

So, I finally got around to reading the new Skybound Transformers comic, and I must say I quite like it so far! (The post is long but there are snapshots!)

The depictions of the relationship between characters had me devouring Issue #1 with wide eyes and gasps; I love that it is extremely evident that there is history between the characters.

That Skyfire and Starscream are the first duo featured speaks VOLUMES. Instantly, there is friction/conflict and tension. From the first moment, there is their trademark tragedy written into their stories. What a treat for SkyStar shippers!! >:)

As for Optimus and Bumblebee, I found the moment when Optimus sees Bumblebee's mangled corpse particularly impactful and absolutely love its portrayal. The parallel that it shares with the beginning was an appropriate way to evoke a readers' sympathy. In the panels around this, Spike's expressions also greatly reflect the sorrow that can be felt in the moment; even a bystander can feel Optimus' grief and understand him, making Optimus all the more human. Not to mention Optimus' portrayal—his optics, his posture, the way he hunches over Bumblebee and holds him; the care and the grief, it's written and drawn all over this. I love its masterful portrayal. On a less profound note, it's hilarious that the first one to die is a fan-favourite 💀 Spiteful!

And then there is Soundwave and Ravage. Soundwave definitely cares for Ravage, and who am I but a sucker for a close relationship between carrier and cassettes.

And the trine was so close to completion! Maybe Starscream is agonising over the loss of an asset, but I think there's something more affectionate to it than that.

That being said, Starscream is such a wicked bastard in this one and I love that for him. It serves as a good reminder to Decepticon sympathisers how much of a cunt he truly is.

On another note, the comic starts off with strong sympathetic human characters. This is something that I greatly appreciate because humans, for so much of the franchise seem so redundant with the exception of a few rare gems (ROTB, for instance) so having a good impression of the humans right off the bat is leaves quite a good impression.

Spike and Carly both have dreams yet struggle to achieve them which gives readers a good starting point to start rooting for them.

The fact that we see them passing the night by stargazing also sets a calm, relaxed and friendly atmosphere for them which helps readers warm up to them better, as coontrasted to IDW with an angsty thief for a character 💀 (I really didn't like her, but I also didn't give her much of a chance to develop as a character.)

I also like how they reacted in the crisis of getting caught in the crossfire between the Cybertronians. They reacted sensibly by first considering escape but being humans, their curiosity overcomes them in an understandable manner. When the violence begins, they stay out of sight, panicking but not overreacting. This makes them infintely more relatable and likeable. And I love that Spike got himself involved by pushing the gun towards Optimus! That was rather sweet of him. (Also, I thought the gun was Megatron for a whole second before my brain caught up to the context and went 'Wait, that can't be right, right?' but there's a lot of potential in all the ways that can go)

Alsoe, I adore the design on Carly's van! <3

In general, I love the art in this.

Especially the unglams.

I had a blast and it's only Issue #1! I can't wait to see how deep a hole I dig for myself in the following issues. Hopefully, I can organise my thoughts in a more coherent manner next time; I simply didn't expect to be this impressed by the Energon Universe.

If you've made it this far, wow, thank you for reading! Please feel free to come talk to me about anything Transformers (your blorbos, your thoughts and takes, anything!) in my asks or message me directly. No spoilers for future issues please!!

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 2 Review - Cure Friendy Takes No L's

This episode surprised me a lot. First, there’s the debut of a second Precure already. Second, the formula seems a lot different than previous iterations. Third, it makes me wonder what will happen later on. Regardless, I really liked what I saw in this episode.

I’m still new to Precure, but is it normal to have the second Precure debut in the second episode? Hirogaru Sky had it so that Prism debuted in Episode 4, as well as Delicious Party. I feel like this was to make it so that Wonderful has a motive to keep doing Precure stuff. Despite that, Cure Friendy’s transformation sequence was legit amazing. While Wonderful’s is good, Friendy’s is super well done from the hair animation to the brooch animation to the running animation. I love it a lot! My only gripe about Cure Friendy is that her skirt is poofy like Wonderful’s. Given that Nyammy and Lillian have different skirt patterns, it made me wonder why both Wonderful and Friendy have the same skirt. Also, Friendy? Really? That’s the name you’re going with? Not Friendly? I guess her design and transformation rocked so hard they took the L off of her name. She takes no L’s.

The formula is a bit different from previous series as it seems to revolve around healing corrupted animals without using finishers or combat. I guess it’s to tell kids to not hurt animals in a way? I said that it’s a bit different because the focus character isn’t Komugi but Iroha in a way. She feels more like the main character, which makes sense because she’s a human while Komugi is a dog meaning she has the intelligence of a dog and not a human’s. Because of that Komugi is rather simplistic as a character compared to Iroha who’s more prone to worrying about Komugi because she cares about her so much. I really liked the part where she starts thinking back to the day she met her dog and how her life changed because of her. Despite Animal Town being known as a harmonious place where humans and animals coincide, Komugi was abandoned. This means that Komugi is from outside of the town or there’s someone in Animal Town cruel enough to abandon their pet. I legit felt a bit emotional when I saw Iroha shielding Komugi from the rain with her umbrella. I am a HUGE sucker for any scene where someone shields the other from the rain.

Speaking of Komugi, I was worried about how they were going to handle her human form but it turns out that she can change back into a dog; as a dog, she can finally talk now, which is a whole new set of shenanigans for her as Komugi’s animal instincts have a hard time helping her keep things a secret. She accidentally tries to speak to Yoko, which Iroha covers her mouth and then speaks again when Satoru was nearby. Dogs do have short term memory, so it makes sense if she had forgotten about keeping her newfound talking abilities a secret.

Mayu makes another appearance in Iroha’s family’s pet center. It turns out that Yoko is a veterinarian and Tsuyoshi is a pet groomer as he’s the one who made the collars that Mayu seems interested in. I hope Mayu paid for that blue collar. Satoru seems to be a familiar face at Iroha’s place as he comes in with Daifuku and asks if he could use the dog park. Daifuku is so adorable. There’s a very soothing aspect about Satoru in a way, like his demeanor and aura. The official website for Wonderful Precure states that Daifuku is male, so I will be using male pronouns when talking about Daifuku going forth. I do wonder if Daifuku and Satoru will be mid season Precures.

The animals of this show are so cute. The ostrich was cute and the GaruGaru form was rather adorable looking compared to Mey Mey’s GaruGaru form last episode.  Mey Mey is super adorable! Maybe I’m just biased because I like sheep but look at him! He’s a fluffy sheep! His schtick of saying “Dameeeee” with him crossing his arms reminds me of Lacey in the Indigo Disk DLC who does the same thing with her arms. Mey Mey is from Niko Garden where animals live harmoniously, like Animal Town. I do wonder what sort of darkness befell the garden that it caused all of them to become GaruGarus. It’s also the first time I’ve seen a Precure show where the villains haven’t shown up—just the monster of the day but not sight of a villainous team anywhere. Will they appear later on? Or is the villain just darkness? Mey Mey is voiced by Shinnosuke Tachibana. He’s actually not a newcomer to Precure as he voiced Prince Kanata in Go! Princess Precure. I haven’t watched that show yet, but I’ve heard so many good things about it. Speaking of returning casts, I looked up that Atsumi Tanezaki, Cure Friendy’s voice actress, has voiced Puka in the All Stars F movie, which I haven’t seen yet. It’s cool that they’re getting many returning voice actors to play new characters.

I can’t wait to see what Niko Garden looks like and what our heroes need to do to restore peace and balance to the other world. What are your thoughts about this episode?

[sprinklenoodles]

Read the first chapter, have some thoughts! Some simple ones before I go on a specific tangent and all!

As for my tangent, while reading the first chapter of A Heir's Journey but the more I think of it, Kijo kinda reminds me of Lusamine in an odd way. Not specifically here but I shall elaborate of course!!! The game version of Lusamine is absolutely awful but in the anime, she's much more doting, a bit clingy, but she means well despite her flaws. I'd mention Ultra Sun and Moon Lusamine as well since she's also a variant of her character but also like, I didn't play those so I only know so much about how different she is to her other game counterpart. I know she's kinda an awkward middle ground though due to the changes in who the main antagonist is in those games. But, where Kijo comes along in this is, like Lusamine, there are differing variants of him in your fics which I already mentioned the slight variants of characters being cool and interesting and being a sorta mini analysis of the character by showing different facets of their personalities depending on what au they're in. And like, it doesn't help that I am reading The Pokemon AU fic now and got reminded of Lusamine oddly enough. Like, in this fic, I can already feel the lot nicer side of Kijo showing as apposed to other fics that show his calculative side, his more authority-driven side, even his love life and more controlling side of him. And damn it, I will never not find this cool!!! It shows the multifaceted nature of Kijo and how, in some instances, he could even be shown as a good father.

Like, damn it! I don't even know if this will last in this fic or not cus I dunno all the twists and turns QUITE yet, but damn it. Kijo's just lowkey wholesome here. Like, it was actually sweet reading Byakuya saying that he loved his father, even if it was just to get the damn man off his back so he can be cool and do Pokémon trainer shit! I am definitely interested in Kijo in the near future while slowly reading this fic, how the plot progresses, if I'm proven wrong on some things. Silly stuff like that! I really gotta psyche myself up into drawing him more so I can finally get a definitive design and draw him being both a menace to society, a charming gentleman, and of course goofier doodles cus I will never not shitpost! It's too fun heehehe!! Hope this little ramble made sense and I also will be continuing to read this fic of course!! Hell, even if I say I'm not as big into Pokémon anymore, I got too invested as a kid so I'll at least be somewhat of a sucker for it, even if I'm not playing the games or watching the anime anymore!

AAHHH!! I'm really honoured you're taking so much time to think about my silly fics!!

And I suppose that Kijo is kinda like Lusamine. This Kijo would really just be like animated Lusamine tho!

But glad you like this so much. Kijo and Byakuya do just really have a good relationship here... because I could. Byakuya deserves it!

Also happy I managed to convert you!!! The Byakuya &Chihiro friendship is the best, though there are not there yet here. They gotta develop some first! Same goes for Byakuya and the other person in his group!

And it's not like you need to be a huge fan of pokemon to enjoy it, as long as you know it. Like, it helps to know how moves, evelution and that stuff works because I... can't really explain it a lot without it being weird- the characters know this stuff already after all.

But really happy you enjoy reading it :D

[dreamii-krybaby]

what made u like Yeva so much?? honestly i like Yeva too but idk why lmao

I actually had a draft explaining why I love Yeva so much NENEJWBSJEBEH

Buckle the fuck up, its long

Honestly I can’t remember exactly what it was that specifically made me appreciate her more, I think it was in EP4 where I started paying more attention to her. I think it was mostly her hidden lore that drew me. Tho upon EP3 I thought she was a very interesting character

Honestly every appearance she makes made me think more of how she is connected to the lore and made me start to slowly connecting some dots, like her being behind the Site-48 “incident”

And honestly every appearance also makes me wanna give her a hug, poor woman looked traumatized

Idk they are lot of interesting details regarding her, like how she still kept the exact same CFL outfit, the site-48 incident, her eye possibly getting blown off by the AS in EP6, giving an explanation to Doll’s eyepatch. Her eye and Doll’s eyes going from red to orange bc of the AS. And hatever the hell she saw with her now-husband in EP4.

My Roman empire is religious symbolism, so when I figured out that Yeva = Eve in russian I was in love

Also am sucker for character who have “illegal traumatized subject experiment” and “I may or may have gotten possessed by evil forces” plot

We gotta love possibly questionable, unstable, cannibalistic women with god powers

And also, am just naturally drawn to mysterious characters, they are fun. Even if people can consider bland characters or characters with very little info boring, to me it can be fun. Like tbh you rlly need a few small details regarding their personality and the rest can be up to you.

Also even if we have very info regarding her personality, the fandom and me where still able to get an idea on how she was and the different directions her personality can take

Bonus points for her being heavily implied to be Russian (am half-Russian, tho ironically I know very little Russian 💀)

Maybe you’re drawn to her visual designs or mysterious character or her lore or maybe some characteristic of her

Like one of the things that I think Yeva is known is apart from being close to Nori, is her “(0-0)” expressions she makes just like Doll does

So I live that despite the lack of screen time and no voice lines, she has a lot of lore hidden and connected. You are still able to pick up some details about her, like her personality and let’s not forget her death was a massive butterfly/Domino effect on the series.

[sutibunbani]

SMILE!

ABOMINATHAN CAT!? AND BRENNAN DOG!?

So, I wanted to draw a Nathan Kitty (Like a Cat that looks like Nathan)... And then my Boyfriend suggested Brennan being a DOG, So I got this idea and had to draw it! They're just so adorable! Hahaha

I had fun with this personally! Biggest struggles was trying to stay true to the characters, but I am a SUCKER for fun redesigning!

BRENNAN STRUGGLE: Sucks Brennan doesn't have a Ref sheet, woulda made all this a WHOLE LOT easier, Instead I had to pull from various frames of him that didn't have any tinted lighting or shading! One thing I also struggled with would be his HANDS, I wanted PAWS, But I ALSO wanted good ol grippers! So I had to give him thick fingers like paws, but NOT too much like paws to avoid anything looking weird! His body shape also had me in shambles, but I think I did alright overall! I decided Brennan would be a Poodle because the way the species looked just kinda suited him, between his hair, and his personality even! I know you can argue with me that Poodles are more depicted with the upclass, rich people personality. However I PERSONALLY still always adored the idea of a shy, nervous, Poodle! The way the dog looks just works for it somehow!

SQUARE HEAD NATHAN: As for Nathan, My BIGGEST problem was dealing with his face... His original Design just was NOT built for this kinda tinkering, which made my ACCURATE ASS struggle PLENTY while altering his design to fit an animalistic head! However, I found out a way to give him the muzzle in the end, so were all good! I decided for him, based on the OTHER art style he's drawn in (Typically his very defined curly hair), I thought it would be nice to make him a CURLY haired Cat. So I looked up a Curly haired Cat and got a few good options! The one I settled on for him though, THE ONE THAT CAUGHT MY EYE, Was the LaPerm Cat! It's super Curly but to a point it almost looks mangy and tattered, Unclean if you will! And I thought this was PURRFECT for Nathan!

CHARACTERS CREDIT: "Who are these characters?" you may ask, if you've read all the way through and have NO IDEA what your looking at! Well, I've been a TAD BIT interested in this (Supposedly) Canceled comic ABOMINATHAN! It has a full Volume 1, And Volume 2 hasn't finished its production since 2019! Id personally go check it out, despite it not being touched in so long, and having discovered it long after its been left alone (2023)! I took a personal liking to the comic! And It sucks we didn't get more, I definitely would've enjoyed to see more build up with the students!

CREATORS SOCIALS: The creator of ABOMINATHAN: @possessedpasm Old Acc: @possessed-opossum Twitter: https://x.com/SwampSkull READ THE COMIC HERE @abominathan-comic I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do! Love this comic and her art! no matter what! Also wish Bri good luck with her future endeavors! ^^

[dragonologist-phd]

pallegina for the asks :-)

thank you!!

How I feel about this character

oh i love her so much. as soon as i met her in the game i knew i'd love her- she's got such a cool design and such a good VA, and she was one of my favorite characters to get to know.

and she's such an interesting flavor of paladin- fueled by loyalty to her order and her country, when it's clear that her order and country don't really appreciate her or treat her how she deserves, and she even knows that but still holds fast to her values...she's got a lot of layers, and i just love her!

All the people I ship romantically with this character

i really like her vibes with Maneha- i'm a sucker for 'opposite attract' relationships, and they hit that well! i do see it as more of a short-lived fling than a long-term relationship, especially if Pallegina stays in her order, but it's still a great dyamic!

My non-romantic OTP for this character

i feel like saying Desta is kinda cheating, but i do love their friendship- they bond over being paladins who hate the gods, especially their godly 'parents', and in my dream world where her Kind Wayfarer ending was treated like real canon, Desta is the one who introduced her to the order

she also has some cute banters with Kana, iirc? it's been too long since i've played through the whole first game, but i remember liking having them in the party together

My unpopular opinion about this character

i am...not a fan of the Deadfire character writing in general, and i think her writing in that game was weak. i actually appreciate her personal quest, but all her stuff with the Vailian republics felt...off. i mean, her personal quest in PoE1 was all about whether to go against her country's orders based on her own beliefs, and that never comes up again? i'm not even saying i want her to be less loyal (like i said, i like the layers!) it's just weird that such a big character moment never comes up when she's once again getting shady orders from her superiors

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

acknowledge that she was a Kind Wayfarer in my worldstate, deadfire! acknowledge it!!

(seriously though. i'm still so disappointed that her ending in PoE 1 had pretty much no effect on her character in Deadfire despite how vastly different her endings could be.)

GIVE ME A CHARACTER and I’ll break their ass down!

[pumpkinspicenietzsche]

The Amazing Digital Circus has been the only thing I've been able to think about for the past few days, so I NEED to talk about it real quick

First off, the animation is already some of the best from any indie project I've seen in a while, and I adore how varied each character is in both design and personality.

Speaking of characters, caine is easily the best one. He's EASILY got the best jokes in the pilot (although Kinger is a close second who I've grown to adore a lot more than I did on my first viewing) and also the best voice acting.

That's nothing against any of the other voice actors, though. Absolutely everyone SMASHED it in their roles. Michael Kovach as Jax is great, mainly because it's MICHAEL FUCKIN KOVACH, and Zooble's voice scratches a particular itch. I'm glad she's voicing the me-core character (I'm lover you Zooble) because it makes it MORE me-core.

The animation itself shines the most in Pomni. She's got the most expressive design by far as the defacto main character, so she gets most of the best shots, and her eyes, dear GOD her eyes.

Unfortunately, despite all of that, Pomni is one of the show's main weak points. She's losing her mind in just about every frame, and while that's fun, it drags her scenes down quite a bit. It doesn't feel like she has any other characterization, bringing her down as a main character and making her hard to root for. Since Digital Circus is just a pilot currently, this could very well be fixed in the finished show, but I'm staying cautious.

I assume Jax is the fan favorite (although I don't know much of anything about the fandom so I could be wrong) and it's not hard to see why. I love how much of a dick he is. It makes him really enjoyable to watch. Although his jokes don't land half of the time, the other half is FANTASTIC. I also have a soft spot for his design, I am a SUCKER for how this guy emotes. The square pupils, that weird mouth that doesn't actually open, all of it.

And while I don't have much to say about Ragatha, I do appreciate and like what they're trying to do with her as the defacto voice of reason. I also just really like her voice actor. Her design reminds me of a Moral Orel character and I can't for the life of me think of why.

overall, Digital Circus is a very strong indie project with a solid premise and a solid cast! I love the way it plays on structure, and the horror elements are very well done. I love the style it's going for, where it's not very horror-driven driven but there are still those existential elements to it, giving a very unique feel. It's laid back enough for you to shut your brain off, but the moment you fully let your guard down something happens, and I LOVE that. this show made me burst out laughing so many times it is unreal. go give it a watch! this is a threat.

this post is a call for someone to talk to me about Amazing Digital Circus because I love The Amazing Digital Circus and you should too please i beg

[euniexenoblade]

FAVORITE CALL OF THE NIGHT CHARACTER GO

I KNOW YOU KNOW YOURE OPENING A CAN OF WORMS BUT SURE LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hatsuka Suzushiro

She is my de facto favorite simply because she is a femboy that can be read as a trans girl. I discovered Call of the Night when reading a bunch of vampire yuri, which was triggered by me reading Shuzo Oshimi's Happiness, where I read the vampire's as a trans allegory (and knowing Oshimi, they probably actually were trans allegories). Since reading Happiness I've just sorta seen vampires as trans, even when the media doesn't necessarily fit that interpretation, and going into Call of the Night to learn they just straight up had a character like this I was just like. God that's so genber.

I also just really love her character design. Hatsuka's normal outfit is dumb as hell but when she gets scenes that focus on her she's just really fun imo. She has this really soft approach to things with Ko, she feels very subdued and wanting to relax, while she also treats all her minions like she's some kind of fucked up dom.

Sadly, she doesn't get a ton of time in the manga, and her past is never explored like the main characters, but that might honestly work to her advantage, less time to potentially become offensive and all that.

Nazuna Nanakusa

Obvi the main characters of a manga are going to have the most characterization. I kinda view Nazuna and Ko as opposite sides of the same autism coin. Ko struggles with socializing, where as Nazuna is a bit more of a natural at it, but both of them have a lot of the same attributes of sorrow and boredom and not really understanding love or emotions. I relate to Nazuna a lot more than Ko simply because I was a fucking party girl, and socializing is actually pretty easy for me. She's just fairly unique, she's cool yet dorky, intelligent yet an idiot. For a series that is relatively cartoony, she feels like a real person even in her cartoon-ness.

She also just has the most ridiculously appealing character design. That fucking hair, those eyes, she has an incredibly recognizable face. You can't mistake her for someone else. She wears that oversized jacket like a fucking cape, that's so genber.......

Also, as the manga goes on and it explores her history and her concerns and her issues with boredom (and ultimately depression) she just becomes a very interesting character. Learning that she essentially had a lesbian lover is shocking, but honestly so lovely. She becomes such a complicated and sad character that you just want to see her win at the end.

Midori Kohakobe

MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS MAIDS

She's got this weird otaku vibe, which is sorta a trope in anime these days, "weird otaku girl that's also cute and popular" and I, like the sucker I am, eat that shit up. Also, she works at a maid cafe and you know I love maids. Her whole spiel about "everyone's weird, you just have to learn to love your brand of weirdness" is such a lovely thing - hence why it's literally at the top of my intro post. Her character design is basically me, I WEAR SHORT SKIRTS AND TIGHTS AND I LIKE MAID OUTFITS YEAHHHHHH. Also, did I mention she likes to dress up as a maid? That's so genber......

Lira Echigo

Lira hasn't appeared in the anime yet, and of the girls listed she has the least screen time, but she's so genber fun. She's this really tall girl who wears the cutest clothes in existence and she essentially forces Ko into dating her. I don't really have a lot to say about her, she's just a really fun character who kinda gets shafted by lack of screen time.

And, of course, Ko.

He's just the other side of that autism coin. I relate to his restlessness, I too am an insomniac who had issues in school because of said insomnia. I like him because he's just such a good kid doing what he can to have fun and to make his life make sense. I like it when he gets to be really really smart, like in the 86th or 87th chapter (I forget what it is) when he figures out Kyouko's plans. I also love it when it shows that he is just a kid. When he upsets Nazuna and he's trying to find her and he just sorta cries into his little walky talky watch about "I've never really had a fight before" while trying not to lose his friendship with her. idk it hits me in the heart.

He's just a great character imo. He feels real. He's sorta a more realistic anchor to the series, a good character to accompany Nazuna's silly shit. And, the fact he becomes a sorta bad ass when he SPOILERS becomes a half vampire. He's jut such an interesting fucker.

AND FUCK KYOUKO, COP CALLING NARC ASS BITCH

[utilitycaster]

as someone who gave up on c3 I stayed in the fandom mostly for lvom and now waiting for animated nein. I remember you having a lot of doubts about c3. did they get resolved? or did you find other things to appreciate? I would be interested to see your perspective since I tended to agree with a lot of your opinions when I was more active on tumblr.

Hi anon!

Good question. I feel the best answer is that some things have gotten much better, and some things have not been resolved but I am somewhat resigned. I'm putting the rest of my response below a cut because it may get long (might not! I don't plan out responses like this usually) and because some of this gets fairly speculative.

Let's start with the unresolved:

While I'm hopeful that the visit to Whitestone quenched the need for extensive Vox Machina appearances, I still maintain this campaign would have been stronger had the connections been more distant. I actually like Orym as a character, but I think the Keyleth connection does neither him nor Keyleth any favors (not because Matt's depiction is bad, simply because Orym feels overshadowed to me and because it means the party can always consider asking a L20 Druid to help them, even if the end result is a no). I also still don't like how few characters are of Marquet or have significant reason to be there, even as I enjoy the characters.

The plot is still heavily centered around Imogen's powers and her connection to Ruidus. I'll talk more about this below, but I think this could have been handled well, and I place the blame squarely on Matt here, but it's not and as a result Imogen gets little room to breathe or develop. I like her as a character, but she's perpetually overwhelmed; her best moments have been, for me, in the episodes before the main character status was more solidified, or in episodes centering other characters (some of the Bassuras episodes; Chetney's time with the Gorgynei).

Related to the above, this is a heavily railroaded campaign. That is not bad. EXU Calamity was pretty railroaded, as are many Dimension 20 shows. I think the problem is that this didn't have the needs of railroading met. The best way to think about it is that Matt is basically running a looser-than-usual but still extant custom module. There are specific beats to be hit. When you run a module, as a DM, one generally tells people you're doing it and to build characters surrounding it. I still don't feel that was done. I think that had Matt said "hey, this is going to be a Ruidus-centric, lore-heavy campaign; build characters who have reason to be interested or who'd go along" then yes, he'd have spoiled the surprise, but not by much, and I think the characters would be much more suited to the plot (higher int, more tied to institutions in Marquet, etc) and the pacing issues wouldn't exist because it feels like Matt has been trying to obscure the railroading; things have gotten much better following recent episodes because we got the full lore dump and now have an actual task. Some slightly different expectation-setting would have been transformative with not a whole lot of effort.

The good

The characters and their relationships have gotten much better. Getting rid of Delilah has resolved most of my issues with Laudna though I'm unimpressed with her build; Chetney, Ashton, and Fearne were always great; my issues with Imogen stem only from her being Designated Main Character which wasn't an issue with Laura's concept; I discussed Orym above; and FCG in particular has been totally changed. Giving FCG a deity and having them start to question their purpose following a meeting with Dancer fixed most of my issues. They are still pushy, but in a way that feels much more friendly than the initial intrusive way; Sam is finally settling into playing a cleric more capably; and I love every part of the Changebringer arc. I also am a sucker for the Chef feat. As a recent poll on this website indicated, I can put up with a meandering plot if the characters are compelling (*cough* this is why early Mighty Nein, or Vox Machina pre-Briarwoods, are still largely good) so now that the group has meshed it's much more enjoyable. It still took longer than I wish it had, I still would like further deepening of relationships, and I completely respect that people lost patience, but we got to a much better place.

The pacing isn't perfect - we're getting shunted from place to place in a way that feels like late campaign, and giving this group so much power and connections has meant we don't get to see a ton of the continent - but it's much better. The Yios casino episode was a highlight, as were Chetney's episodes, and I'm hoping the upcoming skyship episodes will have some opportunities for conversations. I am not terribly optimistic that we'll get tons of downtime before the apogee solstice, but I am hoping that the plot is this: Bells Hells and their allies thwart the plans of the solstice, everyone has to regroup, and there is time to cover characters other than Imogen in depth for a length of time before we return back. I still suspect this will be a campaign closer to VM's in length than the Nein's, but that's still like 100 episodes so I'm hoping it's like, solstice in the 50s, 30-40 episodes of other stuff, moon plot returneth.

The NPCs and worldbuilding are consistently great; I just wish we could spend more time with them. As I say above, I hope that we put the moon plot on hold after the solstice and can deal with everyone else's stuff. I in particular am fascinated by Ashton and Chetney's stuff; I also think Laudna's hiding a lot that would make her more interesting, and I would love to know the full history of FCG even if he's not terribly curious.

The speculative

I have said this is speculative a few times and I'm saying it once more. I don't know if this is true, but like. This is essentially what I would say to Matt if somehow we crossed paths and he said "hey, as a fan, I was wondering why the response to Campaign 3 seems comparably muted from your perspective."

My guess is that this is the last long-form campaign Critical Role will do. It's understandable; if this runs 100-ish episodes that puts us at the 9-10 year mark of almost-weekly episodes, not counting the covid hiatus, and that is a LOT for a busy group of people working on concurrent animated series and sustaining outside acting careers. This isn't a podcast; it's filmed on a full set and takes a lot of time. I suspect - and hope! - that there will be plenty more content, in the form of EXU seasons, one-shots, and even shorter campaigns with the main cast (a la D20). And if I'm proven wrong and a full-length Campaign 4 is announced in the future, I will be ecstatic to eat my words. I cannot stress how happy I would be if I'm wrong here. But that is my guess.

So what I think has happened is this:

Matt has lore he really wants to reveal and has been seeding through the past two campaigns

Matt does not want to tell the cast not to play a character they've been thinking of, because this is the last time they'll get to do it for 100+ episodes.

And I think those two things together explain everything we're seeing. The Ruidus plot has to happen...but he didn't tell the cast.

Anyway hope this helps! I really appreciate you saying you like what I've had to say in the past, and see you for the Nein series and any future one-shots!

[gggoldfinch]

what are your thoughts on romulus in general? and specifically on the alien baby

HOHHHHH BOY IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED because i am THE avp universe junkie around these parts and this movie CHANGED ME AS A PERSON!!!!!!!!! i screamed my whole way home from the imax theater. I’ll put my scatterbrained thoughts under the cut so anyone who wants to avoid spoilers can!

First off: it’s immediately top 3 Alien franchise movies for me. Alien, Aliens, Romulus; That’s my new top 3 list. I like the story of Rom more than Aliens but I’m more attached to the characters in Aliens than Rom so in that way they’re kinda tied for my #2 spot.

Honestly I thought it was the best sci-fi and/or horror that’s come out in fucking eons!!! I was thoroughly on edge throughout the runtime and even got genuinely scared a few times. I spent the whole movie with my hand over my mouth in shock, no joke. The suspense KILLED ME!!!!!!!! The build up to each event was just phenomenal and just when you thought it was about to get better for the characters NOPE! I went into it completely blind, no notion of the plot whatsoever, and was SO thoroughly pleased with the outcome.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE SET DESIGN AND PRACTICAL EFFECTS???? Such a breath of fresh air after TOO MANY movies lately have been relying solely on cgi, including the most recent installments in the Alien franchise. It’s so nice to watch a character react to a thing that’s actually physically right next to them. And all the scenes of the space station reminded me of Alien Isolation, which I really enjoyed. It truly brought the game to life and with it that grand, expansive, yet claustrophobically contained sense of dread that comes with being stranded on a Weyland-Yutani space station. It looked SO convincing. And of course I’m just forever in love with the retrofuture 70’s aesthetic of the franchise and am so glad they keep up with it (almost) every time

I was also delighted we got to see the inclusion of an on-world setting. The mining colony scene in the beginning was really what sold me that the movie was about to be fantastic

HR Giger would have been proud of all the gross imagery. Truly. During the wall womb thing scene I leaned over to my best friend and went “that’s a PUSSY bro” because I mean DID YOU SEE IT. Rom really returned to its roots, it reminded me SO MUCH of the original in its overall vibe.

The one single thing I did not like was the zombie ai deepfake of Ian Holm (who has been dead since 2020 if you didn’t know). That was a little uhhhh ummm yikes. Not to mention the cgi on “him” was ROUGH at times. I get the idea of using a time period relevant synthetic (since from what I understand Rom takes place less than a year after the events of Alien, given the whole Nostromo salvage arc) but they could have easily cast someone new as a different model, or even brought in Michael Fassbender as an “older” model. Canonically Lance Henriksen (who would have to be de-aged up the wazoo) being brought in as a Bishop model wouldn’t have made sense (since Bishop’s model was manufactured shortly before Aliens, according to the Xenopedia) but I mean hey. they retcon canon all the time who cares lol. However as a diehard I do get how his model was canonically relevant to the time period and scenario, so I understand the thought process tbqf. The execution was just… questionable.

I’ve seen a lot of people with braindead takes that the references and callbacks to the original movies fell flat or were unnecessary, but I thought they were very well placed and tied the stories together wonderfully. Who could hate a “get away from her you BITCH” line?????? Clearly these people aren’t diehards LOL because everyone in my theater LOVED that

I loved Rain and Andy SO MUCH. They were so sweet, and I love the concept of treating synths like real people/ family members (i’m a sucker and am Blade Runner brainrotted). They were the only characters I really felt anything for, other than Kay as her story progressed. The others felt a little one-dimensional, but admittedly there really wasn’t a lot of opportunity to flesh any of them out that much. I am of course a sucker for sweet synths and Andy’s character reminded me of Bishop in a lot of ways, which I think may have been intentional in some aspects (i.e. his desire to be referred to as an artificial person). I won’t really go into analyzing the characters since I don’t really care enough about them to do so (I was more into this movie for the story, unlike some others in the franchise), but I did enjoy a couple of them so that’s good enough for me.

My best friend asked me whose death was my favorite and honestly it was probably Tyler’s— a truly classic way to go out in an Alien movie (I gasped when the other xenos were revealed during that scene). I also made the point to him that the chestburster that came out of Navarro came out of her upper chest region rather than lower down by the bottom of her ribcage (which is traditionally where they come out of, based off the original writer’s intention for it to represent the pain of a Crohn’s disease flare (which I can attest to)), so I’m hypothesizing that they removed the facehugger before it was finished implanting the embryo and it grew in her esophagus rather than her stomach. Yes? Yes. Brutal!

AND THE OFFSPRING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I tell you my entire crowded theater bristled and gasped in sheer unadulterated HORROR! I think I was the first one out of 50 people to audibly go “oh god no” then like 15 others followed LMFAO it was a group trauma experience for all of us; my best friend looked like he was going to fucking sob. I was anticipating something with how Kay’s story progressed, but I did not fucking expect THAT. I thought it was gonna be something with her after that shot of the rat mutating, not her baby. My first thought (after recoiling in horror) was how it fucking LOOKED LIKE AN ENGINEER!!!!! Consider: the engineers made humans in their image, therefore logically evolved humans would begin to look like the engineers. Perhaps if the method had been perfected the offspring would have looked more engineer and less… xenomorph-human-engineer-bastard-spawn from the deepest pit of hell. Horrific. I FUCKING LOVED IT AND I WAS LITERALLY PETRIFIED. It was a nice tie in with all the wacky shit we saw in Prom/Cov. I also thought it was somewhat of parallel with Alien Resurrection too, even how the thing looked a little bit.

All in all, I personally would give it a 5/5 stars. I’m going to see it again sometime this week. I fucking LOVE this franchise.

[plasmasimagination]

Hi there! I recently stumbled upon your account and I must say that this is what I was looking for for quite some time. I am interested by your matching up event and was wondering if you're still up for it?

Fandom: Honkai Star Rail (and/or) Genshin Impact

Preference: women

Characters I would NOT like to be paired up with: men

(I am pretty much gay)

I am a cisgender woman, she/her pronouns. ENTJ, Virgo sun, Libra moon, Scorpio rising.

I am androgynous-looking, can easily be mistaken for a dude. My voice is deep and had a slight rasp to it. When it comes to clothes I present soft masc. I am 6', very athletic (as it is a big part of my life to stay active). I have brown eyes and wavy hair that is styled in a short wolfcut with a middle part and curtain bangs. No tattoos, but when I have the money I will get covered in designs.

I perceive myself as a calm and collected person who is more on the quiet and observing side. Which, close ones always tell me, makes me appear intimidating and judging (Scorpio rising). I like to keep my social circle small and trustworthy because I have trust issues. But around my friends I am friendly and always there to help out with the teenage dramas. I would say my top traits are sarcasm, assertiveness, loyalty, and adaptiveness. (Being an ENTJ and Virgo sun say enough about me, but I am softened up by my Libra moon.)

I am a very artsy person, but also very sporty. I am passionate about a lot of things (playing the guitar, drawing, writing, reading, acting, playing soccer, volleyball, training calisthenics, martial arts...) but in this short lifetime I had to choose one, and it is drawing - more specifically, becoming an Architect.

I've never been even close to catching feelings for someone. I've had barely any crushes, none of them real, none of them celebrities, just successful/badass/dangerous/mean women from fiction. I guess that puts me somewhere on the Asexuality spectrum, most likely Demisexual. I want to use my teenage years to work towards building a secure career for myself so that I could eventually spoil and take care of someone who deserves it.

I don't have much preference for looks, despite the fact that I am attracted to femininity, not necessarily someone stereotypically girly, but fem. For me, I need someone who will be able to match my energy and challenge me with playful banter and deep, meaningful talks. Someone who has a strong and unapologetic personality, (I am a sucker for mean fems), but knows when to stop and take a step back.

[Thank you, even if this doesn't get attention, which I completely understand. I will love to see your future works and posts!]

HEYYY DARLING ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ IM SO FLATTERED HIHI (*ˊᗜˋ*)

Anyways as for your matchup....hmhmhm...

Your match is....

.

.

.

KAFKA

OKAY OKAY let's be honest this was to be expected!

Scary looking girlfriend X equally as scary looking girlfriend (both can beat your ass)

I like the power couple dynamic here.

Plus I think she fits your type pretty well hmhm...

Kafka would be quite interested in your hobbies, she isn't very vocal about it but sometimes she just sits in the same room when you're doing something (drawing/playing guitar/writing etc...) and she'll just discreetly pay attention to it.

She also will kind of tease you about it, telling silverwolf and blade how good you are at your hobbies, and she'll intentionally do it in front of you

Chaining it to the one above-She likes showing you off, not only your hobbies...just you in general

She will also vibe with your attitude and find it amusing and definitely match it just as strong.

Also I think that kafka would also have equally trouble to completely warm up to you, yeah shes confident and flirty with people but I dont think she trusts people as easily,but when you guys spend more time together she would actually become quite fond of you

YAE MIKO

Honestly this is a pretty good pair, love it Picasso

I don't think miko is as outgoing and challenging as kafka, but she's there

It's just that miko is a bit more how do I put this ..dominant? Controlive? I know it sounds bad to put her up against kafka but I have a feeling miko is more on the serious dominant side while kafka is more playful, especially with their darling

Though yae miko is quite the person to talk to in moments of need, she's a good listener and gives good advice, she could simply talk&listen with you for hours on end

She, similar to kafka, would definitely match your vibe, just a bit more reserved type of sarcasm for example.

She's sly with it, just how fox's are eh?

Miko would take it slow to become closer to you, as she can guess you're having trouble fully trusting her, and she would definitely be less teasing at the beginning when you guys first met than when you're in an established relationship