#I think with the reviews I also have this feeling of like

[uyuforu]

Romance Indicators in Lunar Return Chart

All pictures were found on Pinterest

Other posts you could like:

જ⁀➴ Romance Indicators in Solar Return

જ⁀➴ Pregnancies & Having Children in Solar Return & Lunar Return

જ⁀➴ Traveling Indicators in Solar & Lunar Returns

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ఇ. Jupiter 7H can often mean being in a relationship. It can often appear the month you'll start something new with a partner. Of course this isn't the main indicator and don't forget there are others placements that counts.

ఇ. North Node 7H can often mean you'll meet a very important person in your love life, perhaps a soulmate, but usually it can mean you'll meet a destined person. If not, you can also have a fated event happening in your love life.

ఇ. Uranus conjunct North Node 7H can mean you'll meet a destined partner this month and totally not expect it! A very big surprise, you'll def not see that coming.

ఇ. Jupiter 7H can also mean something in your love life will make you happy this month.

ఇ. Jupiter conjunct Neptune 7H could mean something good in your love life can happen but you may not see it this way, or you could have difficulties to see the good things happening.

ఇ. Venus 3H could mean you could have a love declaration this month, or you could talk to a crush, a lover, etc. It can be texting and calling too.

ఇ. The month my FS wrote me a poem I had Venus conjunct Mercury 3H.

ఇ. Jupiter conjunct Briede/ Groom could be a sign of meeting your FS, you could also felt like you found the one for you.

ఇ. Chiron conjunct Moon 7H could mean you could get your feelings hurts this month by a loved one, or someone you have romantic feelings for.

ఇ. Venus 12H could mean you feel sad about your love life.

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ఇ. Venus conjunct Mercury 12H could mean you could not talk to a person you love or stop talking to them. You can also be sad about it.

ఇ. Sun 7H could mean you'll be very focused on your love life this month, you'll also think often of romance, or someone you love.

ఇ. If Jupiter and Chiron are both in 7H, this could mean you could have to live a situation this month where you'll have to take a decision in your love life that is not easy but you'll think it's for the best.

ఇ. 7H Ruler in 9H (+ more if the ruler is Saturn) could mean there could be distance (physically) between you and the person you love.

ఇ. If the ruler is Mars for 7H ruler in 9H, this could mean you could want to reduce the distance between you and your romantic partner/ crush etc.

ఇ. Venus 7H could mean you'll feel very in love with your romantic interest/ FS/ crush.

ఇ. Venus 7H with 7H Ruler in 3H could mean you could express your feelings towards a romantic partner, but it can also mean you'll received a romantic declaration.

ఇ. If you have the previous indicator + 7H Ruler is Moon and conjunct Chiron you could feel a lot of romantic feelings yet you could not express your feelings the right way, and perhaps hurt romantic partners with your words.

ఇ. Saturn 7H + 7H Ruler is Uranus could mean you could have difficulties or obstacles in your love life, and the reason could be a sudden impediment.

ఇ. With the previous case, if 7H Ruler is in 10H, it means the sudden impediment could be related to work.

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[ash-and-starlight]

BOOKS OF 2024

the list nobody asked for. again <3 i think this time around i read less books than the previous year?? but still 😤 we did it boys we read some fine books. reviews under the cut since i love yapping and i cant be fucked to make a goodreads account

Cromorama - Riccardo Falcinelli this book was sooo cool so engaging so interesting, its a look into the history and science of colors but its also so much more rlly one of my favorite nonfictions of all time

The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells disclaimer I only read this series up to Rogue Protocol, but I enjoyed it, I rlly liked the characters and the worldbuilding and the short novel format and most of all murderbooottt my best friend murderbot. when im in the mood for scifi again ill read the rest asw I prommyy

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong this is one of those books that as u read it you can already tell it will stay with you forever, dont be fooled by the shortness every single line will Kill You. it will kill you dead.

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - Shehan Karunatilaka probably my fav book of the year, it's beautiful it's gripping it's deep it's scathing it's irreverent it has a careful and deeply cultural magical surrealism it has sociopolitical satire it won the booker prize of 2022 and deserved it so much

Fuori le Palle! Privilegi e Trappole della Mascolinità - Victoire Tuaillon ill be hoooneestt I didn't find this uhh as groundbreaking as I was kinda expecting it to be?? but still it was a nice read and the "flipped" perspective to center the myth of """masculinity""" in a feminist text was interesting. also rlly pretty cover

Lavinia - Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula girl u did it again! constantly rising the bar for all of us!! another stunning book that sadly fell victim to the #girlboss tiktokification but DONT LET THAT STOP YOUUU its sooo good. bitches Love pre-hellenistic latin society <333 bitches love even more when the boundaries between story and characters and reality and fiction blur in such a masterful way that Lavinia can have a conversation with Vergil and it doesn't feel not even the littlest bit forced or out of place <333

Exordia - Seth Dickinson Went in for the giant snake alien/human toxic yuri stayed for the weird mystery body horror stuff almost left for the overabundance of USA military stuff that I just can't be bothered to care about. I liked it way less than the masquerade but it Does have all the classical elements that make it a Seth Dickinson book aka fucked up women. Imperialism Critique. the horrors. the trolley problem. being Very Long. etc

Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao wow guys. this book fucking sucked. like I'm speechless. you'd think that with the crazy popular rep it has it would have smth worth salvaging but uhhh- anyway go stream cocoon by corrupter which is iron widow if it was actually good

Fire from Heaven - Mary Renault nothing more special than a cultured fujo and her special golden shiny perfumed blorbo that everyone wants to fuck so bad <333 finally a book that healed my tsoa related trauma, the only thing that could've made it better is if hephaestion discovered brat taming

The Spear Cuts Through Water - Simon Jimenez beautiful and with such a dreamy magical atmosphere once again I LOVEEE interwoven stories, and I feel like some of the writing's style Choices are so original. it starts a bit slow tbh but I found it impossible to put down from the second half of the book til the end

Voyage of the Damned - Frances White well. it was a cherished super pretty shiny gift from a beloved friend so that's why I finished it but uh. uhhMMMMM uhghhh whhhhfhhmmm uhhhhh hmmmmm uhhhhh. yeah. I'm iconic 💅

Bad Gays: a Homosexual History - Ben Miller, Huw Lemmey ill be honest I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did but its really nice!! its a critique and analysis of white male gayness told through the lives of some Notable Controversial Homos, and I liked how it rlly paints a full picture not only of their lives but also of the socio-political landscape that shaped them and the concept of queernes of the time. only lil gripe tho is why there was only One woman and One Japanese guy then-

[devildomwriter]

O Christmas Tree | Mephistopheles x Reader

1.2K Word Count | GN! Reader | Pre-established engagement | CW: none, just rich people

Mephistopheles was slowly beginning to learn that things that seemed like a chore could actually be fun and that he should try more things. One of these things was picking out a living pine tree for your Christmas decorations.

You too were beginning to learn things, or rather, compromise on things. The compromise this time was that if Mephistopheles was going to socialize near loud screaming children in the human world, then it had to be the best Christmas tree farm there was.

“I scoured locations from across the globe and this was the perfect farm for us. I checked the frequency of reviews, commonality of high ratings, and consistency through the years. I sent my butler to check the place himself as well and he agreed that was the best among the three I identified as contenders,” Mephistopheles proudly informed you as you parked the pickup truck.

The truck was a compromise from Mephistopheles. Something about getting dropped off in a limo and strapping a tree to its fancy scratch-free roof didn’t feel Christmassy to you.

Mephistopheles began to walk away from the truck not realizing the door was still open. You called him back and he looked surpassed and then flushed. He was so used to having the doors shut for him that it never occurred to him to close it behind him.

He cleared his throat and held out his hand for you to take. You held it and he straightened out his appearance immediately although nothing had seemed off to you to begin with.

You crossed the street making sure he made way for cars as they didn’t know to stop for him and led him into the rows of precut pine trees.

Mephistopheles pulled out a checklist from his phone. He’d measured the room it would be in to determine the best height and width for the tree. He also had been given advice to check for how sturdy the needles on the pine were by looking at how many had already fallen on the ground.

You watched Mephistopheles eyes wander up and down the trees and he pointed in the distance at the taller trees.

Now that you lived with Mephistopheles you could get a tree stories high if you wanted and Mephistopheles seemed to have that idea in mind but you reminded him of the pickup truck.

“We could teleport it.”

“How do we explain that?”

“Do you suppose they count the number of trees they have? I don’t believe a regular human can steal one of these?”

“Do not underestimate what a human will steal and how they manage to pull it off. I worked retail you would not believe some of my stories.” You pointed out and he seemed concerned. Mephistopheles was also the reason you no longer needed to work retail and for that, you were forever grateful.

“I see. Well…how do you suppose these trees normally go to people’s homes?”

“A logging truck maybe? I never thought about it…” you wondered aloud and you both stood there puzzled.

You shook the idea out of your head and pointed in another direction, opting for a normal-sized tree like you were used to.

“We have more space you know? It will look rather obscure in your room,” he stated his concerns but you shook your head.

“Nah. I think it’ll light up the whole room, just you wait and see.”

He smiled at your confident grin and nodded following you along to the trees you were interested in.

He scanned the ground for pine needles and pointed out a few he thought you might approve of.

As you held his hand a tree from the next row practically called to you and Mephisto noticed it at the same time, both of you pointing at it.

You looked at each other and laughed, happy and relieved you were so in sync on the perfect tree.

You cut through the row of trees to get to it more quickly on the off chance someone else would come across it. Mephistopheles nodded proudly as if he’d grown the tree himself and looked around for an attendant. He spotted one and quickly stepped away to fetch them.

As Mephistopheles left another man came up to the tree followed by an employee.

“Fine tree, isn’t it?” The man exclaimed happily and you nodded.

“Yes, my fiancée is finding someone now so we can get it.” You informed and he and the worker frowned for an instant.

“So sorry bout that…but uh, I actually came to get this tree for this gentleman here,” the worker apologized and you frowned. Before you could speak up Mephistopheles and a different worker came up behind you.

“Is there an issue here?” Mephistopheles asked and placed a hand on your shoulder, showing off his engagement ring.

The customer laughed awkwardly and explained he had come for the tree first. The workers both agreed and Mephistopheles saw a frown cross your face and decided that was unacceptable.

He reached into his wallet and handed the man a wad of cash. How much you weren’t certain but the man was bug-eyed.

“I—wha—huh?” He stammered.

“For your troubles,” Mephistopheles explained. “We’ll be taking this tree. I imagine that should be enough to get you a different one?”

You swear you heard the man mumbled something about being able to buy a nicer house with the money but couldn’t be sure as he backed away and patted the worker’s shoulder.

“It’s all theirs, I’m callin’ my wife!” He explained loudly as he giddily ran back to his car.

The workers looked shocked and hurriedly attended to Mephistopheles’ request for the tree after seeing how wealthy he was.

With more employees than necessary, the tree was carried and strapped to your pick up truck. The workers looked surprised at the vehicle after the display earlier but ignored that after they were each tipped a considerable sum, one even falling to their knees crying for joy and thanking your fiancee.

Mephistopheles wasn’t proud, instead, he was very weirded out by how a minuscule amount of money to him could move humans to tears. Despite dating you for so long, he still did not understand how much money he had in comparison to others. When you mentioned incomes less than three figures the first time he thought you were joking. This was one thing that didn’t seem to change about Mephistopheles despite how many new experiences he was sharing with you.

You got behind the wheel and Mephistopheles loosened his cashmere scarf and sighed in triumph.

“Did I do it right?” He asked you and you laughed and shrugged.

“Yeah. Not sure I’ve ever paid someone off for a tree before but otherwise yes.”

He blushed and turned the warm air on in the truck like you’d taught him.

As soon as you got back to the Devildom your normal human excursion turned back into the life of a noble with butlers rushing to the car to take the tree, another parking it out of sight, and maids rushing to grab your coats.

Mephistopheles sighed in contentment and reached for your hand. You smiled and let him take it as he walked you to the kitchen for some warm glasses of milk to perfectly wrap up your pleasant afternoon.

[luckyyyduckyyy]

HO HO HO, MERRY CHRISTMASSSSS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! @froppu I am your secret santa! I hope you have a very whimsical and joyous day! <333

OH! I ALMOST FORGOT! Quick! Draw me a mustache! The nutcracker has a mustache in the movie! This needs to be PERFECT!

I quite like having a scepter, but it's a bit small for me... Do you think one of the children would like it after we're done? Or maybe we can make a bigger one, just for keeps..?

After a night of binging many Christmas movies together to get into the holiday spirit, Sun and Moon surprisingly shared the same sentiment; they loved the Nutcracker! Specifically the Barbie version, as they found the characters so fun and endearing!

That andddd while the elegance of the original was endearing, their attention spans seemed to be too shot to sit through the whole thing. Sun blamed it on their code being constantly changed, while Moon insisted it was just part of working in childcare. Needless to say they were very happy to hear you brought multiple versions.

Finding out through the usual post-movie "review" that it was not only your favorite Christmas movie, but also a movie many of the kids may know, they immediately wanted to get all dressed up and put on a short play based off it for Christmas Day! They can't wait to see everyone's faces, and yours too of course; now all they need is their favorite assistant to help them get all set up. <3

vvv Close Ups and Yapping for Frop! vvv

Close Ups

Helloooo!!! I hope you enjoyed the art! <3

I hope the sona turned out well, I am not the best at drawing people and so I tend to draw pretty cartoony when it comes to them, so I leaned into my cartoonier style for this one! They're very cute and I love the DCA themed sleeves. And the bows!!! Ah the bows are wonderful, I had to keep them on the costumes, they're just so iconic! (Also I love your moon design, idk what it is but you drew him so cute in the ref, his colors are refreshing, and I feel like he's secretly a sweetheart uaghhhh)

I couldn't help myself but make the image based off of the Barbie Nutcracker the moment I saw it was your favorite Christmas film, as I love that movie too! (Making this also reminded me how I had a crush on the Nutcracker when I was younger too, so thanks lol /pos)

While the DCA being separate animatronics aren't cannon, I wanted to do this idea anyway, so!!! Two boyos!!! Looking amazing in some nutcracker outfits ✨✨✨

Moon as the Rat King and Sun as the Nutcracker respectively :3

Have an amazing day Frop! And enjoy your holidays!!! I hope you receive a many a gifts. <333

[lesbiansforboromir]

Here's a more compact review of the War of the Rohirrim film for anyone interested! SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Positives;

The backgrounds were all very beautifully painted and the lighting really elevated the character design and smoothed over the janky animation. Where other aspects of the film fall off, often the background artistry and lighting over all of it still manages to convey a very dramatic and immersive moment to the viewer. It's probably the best part of the film.

The part where Helm's ice-ghost phase is teased was really cool and atmospheric and I got a little thrill of what I'd kind of always been wanting from this film.

Frealaf was pretty lovely (what little we got of him) and I appreciated that his darker skin tone was implicitely associated with his Gondorian heritage. I THINK I appreciate the idea that Frealaf's father was Gondorian, though I wish it had been better utilised.

I also really liked the moment where Helm is about to fight Freca and he gives his crown, signet ring and mantle over to Frealaf in this like... symbolic giving up of his Kingship in this moment where his actions are about to make him unworthy of it.

I appreciated Olwyn existing as an older female character in a purely action based roll.

Helm's voice actor and design were pretty cool, I came around to enjoying how much effort they put into making him extremely imposing.

Hama being a twink who was born to be a bard but forced to be a heroic second prince was a nice touch.

General Targg of Dunland might have been my favourite character, inspite of the fact that I am really curious to know where this organised military of Dunland is for him to reach the rank of 'General' in.

Negatives;

Gurl the racism. See here for more details.

The overall narrative seems to me direly lacking in like... basis. I am lead to believe Hera's journey is about her reclaiming her right to choose her own life for herself. But she is never actually pressured into any choice, nor does it appear that her father ever restricted her freedom in any way. So I don't really see where her choices were actually removed to such a degree. If her desire is to see her choices respected by the men in her life, well that never happens for either Helm nor Wulf, who force her to let them die or to kill them, respectively. It feels like in their rush to censor any negative aspects of Helm they kind of removed the reason Hera is frustrated in the first place, he cant be TOO much of a misogynist etc etc.

This is twisted up within 'gurl the racism' but Wulf's manner and presentation make me FEEL like he is a villain we are supposed to mildly feel for? We see him as a child, we see him struggle with what he's doing, we see his clear desperation and despair and hear him talk about loneliness and suffering... but at the end of the day in the way that it is presented Wulf is fundamentally foul and deluding himself and all his problems appear to be of his own making. In general it is extremely uncomfortable for the 'obsessive stalker' villain to also every now and then say 'I am devastated because of how my dunlending blood has been prejudiced against all my life by your family and the wider rohir society' like... by only him mentioning it but it never being actually acknowledged by anyone else it just comes across so shallow and unsettling.

This is a review from my book-biased perspective so understand it within that lense but still gurl... the lore. What the hell do you mean the eagles speak a language only a wizard can understand? No they can just speak! What do you mean there is A watcher in the water in some undisclosed lake in Rohan somewhere? There is one Watcher and it's name is very specific to the doomed Moria expedition! At least give this new squid fellow a rohir name. Speaking of!!

IS IT SO HARD TO NAME ROHIR CHARACTERS IN..... ROHIRRIC?? OLD ENGLISH IS RIGHT THERE... HERA HAS NO MEANING... THERE ARE SO MANY COOL HISTORICAL ANGLO SAXON PRINCESSES YOU COULD CHOOSE FROM...

Included in the 'gurl, the lore' segment but in need of it's own post so I will try to be brief; (Theoden voice) where was Gondor... when a herd of Mumakil were marched by Haradrim mercenaries across the Anduin, up through the Pelennor, across Calenadhon and over Rohan's southern border... did they sneak by... were they stealth Mumakil, did they have elven cloaks too.

But also Where Was Gondor just in general. Like to the detriment of the actual narrative, opening up plot holes that didn't even need to be there, the fact that Gondor is ALSO supposed to be at war right now is completely ignored and discarded.

THE BATTLE OF EDORAS... TF ARE YOU ALL DOING! Like I know it is kind of hypocritical of me to request sensible war tactics when we're adapting Tolkien, he did not give a good example, but like... where were the horse archers, why are you charging down an infantry-only army, why even be on a horse if you aren't going to use greater mobility to your advantage, this isn't a siege, this is YOUR territory this is an open field!! Come on! AND ANOTHER THING, did we really have to make the victory of the Dunlendings over Edoras so disconnected from their own effort? Like betrayal is fine, but this was also a well supplied and competant force, and that was a major part of their victory. These were matched combatants! Just kind of another way in which the dunlendings were robbed of any cohesive motive, narrative or skill.

To my admittedly untrained eye... the animation sucks? Like it's clunky and janky and you can see the frames transitioning between each other, the movements often feel awkward and a lot of the drawings are just bad! The Eagles are SO stiff, as are the horses which seems like a cardinal sin in the Horse Lord Film. And then I couple that with the multiple completely unnecessary spinning camera shots Hera gets which are annoying, superfluous and a bizarre thing to spend time on when the rest of the film needs so much more care and attention. In general the GULF of difference between how beautiful the backgrounds are vs how bland the character art is is kind of jarring.

Hera's design.... I hate it. Look I know it's anime but DID Hera have to have thigh high boots... did she really... Why is she so pale if she's supposedly riding sleeveless across the vast countryside everyday? Can a single supposedly feminist film about a 'wild' female protagonist let that woman be like... dirty, or not so agonisingly thin, or give her messy or god forbid short hair. At one point when she is grabbed by a troll and hung in the air they linger uncomfortably long on her ass which her costume design is specifically designed to allow for maximum viewing detail.

The designs of the Dunlendings, Haradrim and especially the Mumakil are all so grim. Like I liked Freca's design to a degree, it was more potent with symbolism and patterning and such, but the rest of it is just SO FUCKIN- well they're ugly! and therefore evil! Do you get it? The ugly grey animalistic people are evil! The Mumakil have literal red snake eyes just so you know they're 'evil animals'. I can't take it anymore, at one point the guy who Eomer throws a spear at in the trilogy just... turns up, like it's literally just him down to the facepaint. And speaking of...

SHUT UP ABOUT THE PJ TRILOGY, SHUT UP AB- besties this film's intro plays alongside the ring theme... THE RING MUSICAL THEME!!!!?? Lines from the films are reused so often and so WILDLY outside of their actual context and meaning that it makes me flinch.

There is a plump little fellow called Leif who is the royal Page I think and everytime someone called Freca fat in such a vitriolic way I was like wow... I mean Leif is right there guys!

Overall a 4/10 from me, it is a watcheable but shallow film that I suspect was more of a cynical attempt by Warner Bros to keep their death grip on the rights to the books, since I think they would have expired if they didn't do something with them soon.

[kaija-rayne-author]

DAV is maximized (made for?) Tank/Warrior players

Curiosity is absolutely one of my fatal flaws. I was sorta feeling shitty about the whole 'you probably just suck at the fighting system in DAV' thing.

Let me preface this with saying that I'm good with rogues. It's my usual playstyle and I almost always do a first run of any RPG as a rogue.

What I'm really not all that good at? Tanks. Pretty much any other class I'm at least suitably competent with. I mean, I can tank, but it's just not something I'm more than acceptably good at. I also have very little experience with them. I think I've tanked in 3 games? Out of the, it must be hundreds, of games I've played? I just don't prefer to tank. I'm a rogue/mage/healer style player. The one who backs up the tank or keeps them on their feet, y'know?

So, because curiosity will likely be the death of me at some point, and despite never wanting to touch it again, I made a warrior character in DAV. I just... had to know if it was me or the game. I suppose I enjoy actually being a good gamer more than I suspected. DAV offended my pride, perhaps. Self-awareness isn't comfortable.

That fighting system, that I had so much trouble with as a rogue (with other rogues and a mage as backup since we don't get our tank companions til later in act one) has, so far, been so fucking easy as a warrior I'm actually thinking of increasing the difficulty level.

DAV is just maximized for warrior players and people who like to bash barrels in, not any other class. Which is just shitty game design.

I suppose I should have seen it before. The rest of the companions you start with are all support characters. Two rogues and a mage. Your first companion you aquire is Bellara, also a rogue. Oops. Mage. Bellara is a mage. I forgor.

I dunno, I'm going to run this character until I get to the spot (when Harding receives her special ability) where I first wanted to rage quit as a rogue. But so far? I haven't died once. I'd gotten creamed numerous times as a rogue character by this spot in the game. I can go toe to fucking toe with a fucking ogre! And only have to heal once!

It's truly ridiculous. I'll test out mage after, if I can find the patience. It's reasonably unlikely that I'll actually decide to finish this run. Unless I do it for writing my fix it fic reasons . But I can kinda see more clearly why some people actually liked it. It's actually almost fun as a tank.

I did also say I'd never touch DAV again too, though, soooooo.

If you turn your brain completely off, don't give a shit about the Lore, and if the story is a back seat sort of thing for you as a gamer, this might actually be somewhat fun. It's not Dragon Age regardless, they screwed the pooch to sell the pups on that one. (I'm a Lore fiend, story and character first player. I legitimately don't give a shit about the fighting in RPGs. It's a back seat thing for me. As long as I can make it work, I'm good.)

SMDH

I said DAV was wickedly unbalanced in my review series, but I didn’t think it was so bad that they... just didn't bother to make it a fun game for rogue players. Despite them getting rid of half of what makes playing a rogue fun (sneaking, hiding in shadows, picking fucking locks, y'know, rogue stuff.) Not sure about mages yet. I do want to try one just out of pissed off, irritated curiosity, though.

Snorts. They made this game for warrior players. And I can't honestly find words to describe how shitty that is. It lacks most of the stuff that makes any RPG an actual RPG. It's maximized for warriors and people who like to destroy barrels. (Why. Why the fucking barrels?) Rogues are nothing but light skirmishers. I'll have to actually play a mage and see, but I've talked to people who said it's easy as a mage, too.

WTAF does BioWare have against rogue players to nerf the class so badly?

I'm honestly floored by how easy this game is as a warrior. I'll even test it out on max difficulty, (which is usually what I play at, max or one down).

But the shittiness of designing a game mostly for tank players can't be ignored. I changed nothing but the class. And I'm not far enough into the game yet for build to matter that much. I think I've gotten roughly 5 skill points to put into my character.

No wonder they denied game keys to honest reviewers.

[superkooku]

Have you listened/watched epic? And if you have what’s your thoughts?

Personally I think it’s a good thing to show to a friend new to Greek mythology. I just finished watching the last saga and I have to say I loved it, beautiful. Sad it ended tho :(

It might not be very accurate but I love the hardwork the cast put into it and so I love it very much

My thoughts on Epic the musical

So yes, I know about Epic. I even participated in the secret santa thing and am what we may call 'a winion'.

I just finished watching the livestream too ! I especially loved seeing the cast members were reacting to the sagas (Luke Holt was so funny in this 🤣. Also, Jorge carrying Mico like a baby in 'Just a man' and Mason being extra the whole time... so many gems in that livestream)

Since Epic is finished AND I have animatics of the Ithaca saga, I'll use this opportunity to make a more in-depth review of the musical. Instead of separating it in "good" or "bad", I'm reviewing it criteria per criteria.

The cast

Like I previously said, I LOVE the cast chemistry. They're all so fun and lively. I follow some of them separately, like Janani or Troy Doherty, and they're just delightful. Especially Troy as Hermes, he always manages to make me laugh. Every single time 😂.

Also, he gives me a bit of Mettaton vibes since he's extravagant, always over the top and a bit self-absorbed (the Hermes persona, I mean, not Troy Doherty himself). Maybe that's why I like him so much :3

And of course, there's Jorge, mr. Jalapeño, the man with the plan. I love how both passionate and humble he is, how he takes the time to thank everyone and just how much of a bundle of positive energy he is. I know it's an internet persona, but what I can see from him is some hopefully really nice guy in real life too.

Anyways, awesome cast chemistry, everyone made me laugh and they're all having a good time.

The music

This music is so beautiful 🥰. All the motifs, the emotions, the instruments, the voices ! If I had to rate Epic from the music alone, it would be 5 stars. I'm not saying this in a professional angle or anything, it's my personal feeling.

Seriously, I don't really have that much to say about the music because, to me, it's just that good. I love the variety, how different instruments synch themselves and, yeah.

The characters

Annnnd that's where the blind positive praise stops, unfortunately 😂.

Don't get me wrong, it's not awful either and there are good points. My favorite Epic characters are Hermes and Athena.

The rest ? It's mixed. In order not to make this too long, I'll focus on only some of them.

The story is very character-driven so I won't really delve into it in detail.

Odysseus : he's a good protagonist, especially in the first act. His dilemma is interesting, he has a strong personality and I like that he is just a broken man and not some mighty overlord... except in the Thunder and Vengeance sagas. I feel Jorge exaggerated the monster message a bit too much, imo. Odysseus is supposed to be a witty liar, a warrior of the mind. Not someone like Achilles who solves problems by fighting or fights gods like Heracles, much less freaking Poseidon.

Poseidon : okay ! I liked him in the first act, because FINALLY Poseidon isn't a surfer dude. He's a terrifying force of nature that was angered by mortal hubris (though the hubris thing isn't explained by Epic). In Get in the water, he kept his intimidating side. Because he's, yk, the king of the oceans, one of the most powerful Olympian gods. But his defeat partially ruined him for me 😂. It just doesn't make sense. Why is Odysseus afraid of Scylla and even tip-toes around Hermes, who is friendly, when he can stabby-stab Poseidon ? Why didn't Poseidon counterattack? So many questions.

Zeus : my problem with Zeus is easier to explain. Again, he was awesome in the first act, less so in the second. What I loved initially is how regal he was. Powerful, intimidating, kingly, but not evil either. He warns Odysseus of the gods' will and of fate, which always realizes itself in mythology. In Thunder Bringer, he's fine. His lustful and flighty side is shown, but we could interpret his intervention as avenging Helios and punishing the ones who ate the cows, instead of "Zeus is evil". But in God Games ? He's so pettyyyyy and childish. Where is the kingly attitude ? This "Beast Zeus" should come against Kronos or Typhon, or maybe when Athena and the others threatened his position. Not after a freaking game ! He just strikes Athena with thunder because she won fair and square. At LEAST Luke Holt absolutely killed it, so it's cool to listen to.

Penelope : she's underdeveloped :( . Okay, her bond with Odysseus was respected, they're adorable together. On her own ? Eh, she's fine. Which is a shame because she simply didn't have enough room to exist outside of Odysseus. Also, the fact that she doesn't interact once with her son is criminal imo.

I do have some other issues with characters like Circe and Calypso (basically they're declawed compared to the Odyssey), whereas I'm completely fine with others like Eurylochus, Telemachus or every god except Zeus and Poseidon. Though they're not perfectly accurate either but I don't have problems with them.

The crew in general is also underdeveloped, so I didn't feel much for them (until discovering the scrapped Elpenor and Perimedes songs/lh). They played their roles correctly.

I hated the suitors (that's a positive in Epic) and laughed when Antinous died. Though I wished they were more pathetic and less threatening. Musically it'd be worse but story-wise more fitting.

The story

Overall, it's fine. Most of the best points come from the Odyssey itself, the one change I liked the most was having Odysseus and Poseidon meet (not the way it ended though).

Also, story-wise, I prefer act 1 over act 2, because it's less over the place and more grounded.

But emotion-wise and music-wise, forgetting about the Odyssey, act 2 wins the cake.

Those were my thoughts on Epic :3

I tried not to judge it too much according to the Odyssey and some of my friends are more demanding on that plan (for perfectly legitimate reasons btw). But it's hard to separate Epic from the wonderful work of Homer and it's lacking in some areas.

Still, this journey was very fun, I love all the passion Jorge, the singers and the animatic artists put in, there are a lot of good things about it (I can't mention everything). I don't want to rate it because it's too rigid of a system. I listen to the songs on loop and, ultimately, I'm thankful Epic exists :)

I may come back to this post and reblog stuff if I have new relevant thoughts to add. I'll probably rank the sagas in another post.

[aalinaaaaaa]

2024 In a Gift Box

Hey, everyone, greetings after another year that has flown by all too quickly! Featuring new friends, a few awards and 400% more holidays (rip my wallet lol), this has been a wild year for me. And that's only half of it.

For some strange reason, my desire to write increases with the hecticness of my life. Much of Obsidian Sapphires' revival/troubleshooting phase occured during the latter part of the year, from October onwards (though I had been tinkering with its plot for some time now). All because I woke up one morning with the solution to a plot hole appearing in my head.

Anyway, preambles aside, here's a few major highlights from my year (in writing terms):

First up, thanks to @druidx for the Year in Review Tag! The premise of the tag is to post one's favourite five or so pieces that they've written throughout the year.

To be truthful, some of Obsidian Sapphires' scenes would make this list only the respective chapters for them aren't completed yet 😅

A Pawn for a Greater Cause — I had a ball writing the starting dialogue, and the prompt gave me a few revelations regarding Petrius' character.

Regrets — This made me cry at 1am, the catharsis was unreal.

To Perpetuate Life — Amazing how almost falling asleep gives me ideas. This piece helped me answer a few questions about Orlaith's backstory, and also gave me extra questions surrounding the lore.

Blue Moon — This feels like a nice deviation from my usual style, it's more dreamy and whimsical. Also, this reminds me to go and work on its second part, lol (because the scope was too big for one piece)

That angsty pining scene — This is not posted as one scene, but rather in splinters because parts of it are dripping in spoilers for Obsidian Sapphires. However, I enjoyed writing this scene too much not to post some snippets.

WIP Roundup

First things first, an ode to the WIPs that I've put on ice to focus on Obsidian Sapphires.

The Lady's Lament, a brief idea born out of a plot bunny inspired by a plot on Wattpad. The idea sprouted in April 2023, but it lives on in the form of worldbuilding ideas for South Arobyre.

And then also, Flamebearer, one of my oldest wips but also arguably my most complex one. It's a story of grief, religious dilemmas and romantic/familial drama, all under the backdrop of sociopolitical turmoil. It's going to take a lot of research and planning, that much I know. Hence why I want it to be as perfect as I can make it, when I have the knowledge and writing practice to do it justice.

In April this year, one of my Flash Friday pieces (Duel to the Debt) sowed the seeds for another piece (An Endless Round) in May, and later on Soulswapped derived from it. I intended it to be a short enough story, a novella of sorts that would be woven into a larger compilation, but it's become its own thing. Already, I think it may get a sequel. But I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Obsidian Sapphires

So its progress this year has been skewed. Like, 'a lot of its progress spawned in October or thereafter' sort of skewed. I woke up one morning and the cogs for the rigmarole surrounding what is currently Chapter 2 all clicked, to the point I yanked out my laptop and starting writing notes until I had to run for class.

Since then, I've had a bunch of ideas, but currently I'm deliberating on the story I wish to tell. It seems more cohesive and easier to plan for when I cut Eshani's perspective out, but at the same time, cutting her perspective would cut or at least hide much of her character development. That and I love her to bits, and she may/may not be a readers' favourite also.

In terms of actual tangible content, bits of the angsty pining scene got posted, as did sections of the first and second chapters. It even came with a few memes, lolololol. (And there's more memes sitting in my gallery/Scrivener notes, this story's quite memeable honestly).

The antagonists got their time of day, however brief so far. And not just the lead meshai, but also the septet of folks angry at the meshai and his fellows.

And this gets onto something that has existed as tags and headings and brief little mentions. A collection of pieces, leading up to answers surrounding some major events in the history of the country Obsidian Sapphires is set in.

That would be This Blood-Stained Charcuterie. It is going to be the anthology of short stories and one-off pieces surrounding Morilast's High Councillors (and indeed, the Court's other denizens and its namesake himself!). A lot of juicy details surrounding certain characters' backstories are going to feature here, I can't wait to get into it. (It's also my excuse to figure out all the bits of lore and convoluted ancestries [who murdered who], lol).

When I finish with Obsidian Sapphires, that is about when I'll start releasing this one. The title could change upon me getting to the end, but we'll see.

Flash Fiction Friday

I started doing these pieces in late 2023, so it's been about a year since my first one (Contemplations). In all, I've completed a total of 28 pieces so far :D

The masterlist came about in early January, because I was inspired by other people who had masterlists for their pieces. It's very satisfying to see it develop from a few pieces to what it is today, a decent few pieces.

Whatsmore, it reflects the trends in my writing, such as the wips that the prompts inspired me for, and what periods I was consistently doing it week-by-week and when the major gaps were.

For whatever reason, I have a tendency of getting inspiration for these at about midnight or so. Even if I get a handful of basic notes written down, it may not still be until late in the night that I can get a piece together, lol.

To commemorate the end of the year, I've started a series known as Flash Friday Flashbacks to celebrate what I've made and show off behind-the-scenes when it comes to notes, context, deleted scenes, etc.

There are a few pieces left in this year's version, which will be reblogged close to the end of the month (to celebrate the New Year).

Next year's edition is going to feature the December 2024 pieces in addition to all the 2025 stuff (which hopefully is a lot). There will also be a 2025-specific masterlist too.

Writeblr Community Events

What is writeblr without its community? It's beyond a pleasure to be part of a group so lovely and talented, everyone has something amazing going for them.

As part of this, there are some people here who create events, discords and/or other initiatives that bring people together. Shoutout to everyone who has done/is doing something along these lines ❤️

Special mentions in my case go to:

@flashfictionfridayofficial for taking the prompt submissions, making the posts, and reblogging everyone's stories (with fantastic comments) every week

@writeblrsummerfest for making a lovely event spanning the entirety of August, encompassed by a well-organised theme and all

@bardic-tales for establishing the @creators-club and doing all the various types of ask/tag games to foster interaction and support

@agirlandherquill for her first ever Writemas! These prompts are impeccable and it was really fun looking forward to the next day's prompts! I wish I could've participated more, but alas, that's how the cookie crumbles. (Also, high five, we're in the same timezone, woo!)

Plans for 2025

Continue with Obsidian Sapphires — I'd love to get the draft finished

Doing as many of the Flash Friday prompts as well

Reblogging people's posts more and hopefully improving at reaching out to people

Learning to draw is something that I've always wanted to do, but I want to get focused with it this year. It would be cool to put my characters in visual form

Getting a handle on the lore and background information needed to compile This Blood-Stained Charcuterie

The Tags

That brings this post to its natural course, the end. Merry Christmas everyone ❤️🎄

Giving a Year in Review Tag to everyone who is on at least one of my taglists (ask, comment, etc to be added/subtracted): @mr-orion @the-ellia-west @guessillcallitart @thereadingfoz @glassstardust22124 @original-writing @honeybewrites @ashirisu @drowsy-quill @oliolioxenfreewrites @theglitchywriterboi @seastarblue @gioiaalbanoart @rae-butter @corinneglass @midnight-and-his-melodiverse @outpost51 @mundanemoongirl @scarletteflamerald @ceph-the-ghost-writer @flock-from-the-void @mattresses-and-macaroni @limitlesswritingvoid

...As well as all these people I'm tagging here: @winterandwords @finickyfelix @wintherlywords @anyablackwood @cherrybombfangirlwrites @kaylinalexanderbooks @angelfevr @thatndginger @thepeculiarbird @ominous-feychild @oh-no-another-idea @space-writes @veneritia @the-golden-comet @jev-urisk @cljordan-imperium @an-indecisive-nerd @mauannacreates @laureleavess @theeccentricraven @paintedbutton (@/bardic-tales, @/agirlandherquill, both of you are tagged for this too)

...And most importantly, here's a tag for everyone in the audience!

Here's to a hopeful 2025! 🎉

[adobe-outdesign]

Did you review Chien-Pao, Chi-Yu, Ting-Lu and Wo-Chien? (I looked in the Pokémon reviews tag, but couldn’t find them). If you have already covered them, could you instead review their shiny forms?

They were already reviewed here, but as for the shinies:

Chien-Pao: Chien-Pao's shiny is... okay. On the plus side, it's super high-contrast and really stands out from the original, but on the minus side, brown is kind of an odd choice; rather than reading as snow and ice, it reads like mud (or at least very dirty snow). It kind of fits with the dark typing, but doesn't feel very natural or work super well with the concept. I also feel like the markings/ice crystals are a bit too high-contrast here, while the fangs get lost.

I think an easy alternative to this would've just been to switch around Chien-Pao's normal palette; make the crystals white and the snow a deep blue, which would've still stood out but might've felt better with the ice idea. Still, you can tell it's a shiny and it's not garish or anything, so I'm not going to complain too much.

Wo-Chien: Wo-Chien's shiny goes for the classic green-to-red grass-type swap, and it works pretty well. Outside of obviously being shiny, I like how the colored vs brown leaves on the body swap places compared to the original, which is a nice touch. I do think they should've adjusted the rest of the colors a bit more though; the brown they're using for the leaves has a green undertint, which works when the leaves are green but not so much when they're red, and the "shell" feels like it could've been a deeper, warmer brown. Regardless, pretty good overall.

Ting-Lu: I like the concept behind this one—Ting-Lu is normally brown earth with a green bowl, so they simply swapped the orange/brown areas with green to match, which works conceptually and obviously fits the theme as it's just using a reduced palette. The brown and teal work nicely together as well, and it can still easily be ID'd as a shiny.

Chi-Yu: Another classic swap, this time going for the fire-type red-to-blue option. Unsurprisingly, it works really well; it fits the heat concept (blue fire being hotter than normal), it's easy to tell apart from the original, and it works well with the pre-existing teal. The additional touch of making the fin tips black is also nice, and shows a lot of thought behind this shiny.

Overall: Some pretty good shinies, all of which are distinct from the originals and have some decent color picks that work with their concepts. Chien-Pao's is the weakest, but still not terrible or anything. Good stuff as a whole.

[yaoireview]

Glinda and elphaba

...excuse me?

Glinda and- elpha... what are you SAYING RIGHT NOW?

...Those are WOMEN.... NOT MEN.... i'm god damn YAOI REVIEW..... NOT YURI REVIEW... oh my GOD..

This isn't funny! You've got a SICK sense of humor!

I think some people need a lesson on Yaoi right now.

(boys kissing. dont like, dont read)

WHAT IS YAOI?

its boys kissing.

just boys kissing.

And I don't mean it metaphorically or rhetorically or poetically or theoretically or any other fancy way. Its boys kissing. Straight. Up.

please let it be known that yaoi in some forms is innapropiate artwork of boys.. i dont see it that way.. its just boys kissing. keep your sick selves out of this.

you may not know this, but glinda and elphaba are NOT boys. check again, they're girls. (unless im wrong, in which COMMENT DOWN BELOW and tell ME what your favorite boys kissing is.)

You wicked fans... i cant even CALL you wicked.. you're STRAIGHT UP DEMENTED.. You people make me sick.

Look.. I'll do it but if you're not satisfied with what you find, just go over to Yuri Review's house since you LOVE them so much

GELPHIE, THE EVIDENCE AND REVIEW

I think this is gonna be pretty easy to prove the existence of, so im just gonna do this QUICK and simple.

What is This Feeling? Beginning Lyrics

This is definitely one of the smaller pieces of evidence but the lyrics at the beginning REALLY make it seem like they were gonna say they are in love.

You might just say "oh its just a joke its a joke of the song!! musicals LOVE jokes!!" but your pal in high school "jokingly" hit on a man, and now they're married? Still think its a bit?? ....yeah... me neither..

They literally kiss in the first novel

look man.. you're gonna have to take my word for this one.. because im not opening that book.. I've heard of the things that happens in the books and I'm not taking any chances. An article about it said this.. it may be false.. it may not be its kinda a guessing game with that sorta stuff

i may have also just grabbed the wrong quote though because they said it was heterosexual but I'm SURE it'll be fine

Ariana Grande's Comments

Ariana Grande HAS claimed that she thinks that her character is 'a little in the closet'.

You can trust Ariana Grande. She would never do anything bad

Ariana Grande is CLEARLY the most important person to speak out about the canonical ideas of yuri in this story

CONCLUSION

look... you must understand that i REALLY didn't enjoy this. I like wicked just fine i watched it opening weekend its just... not what i review... I review BOYS kissing.. not girls kissing..

Yaoi: 0/10

Yuri: 8.5/10 (or something like that as i said this isnt my profession, im kinda like a substitute teacher that just turned on a video)

[fancyfade]

Sword of Azrael: The rhetoric of violence

Very long image set but there were lots of images I wanted to include.

Anyway got inspired to make this after re-reading sword of azrael. Review from LOCG below a cut

From what I recall* this is the first time we see what the system looks like in jean paul valleys head. We also delve back into his guilt and status of being perpetually at war with the programming that was installed in him since he was a baby.

What I really think helps this not be just another comic is the analysis of the rhetoric around righteous violence. Jpv says that the system uses righteous fury because it's easy to manipulate, it feels good, and he's proven right. Brielle and the character of azrael (program of the system) justify the violent acts they have committed as being part of a higher power - poor fellow appeals to brielle by asking her if knowing that the people she killed were part of her finding her true path, and the fact that angels are not beholden to human morality, makes it better and Brielle says yes. Azrael (program) shuts down in horror after finding out his orders founder did not believe he was ushering in God's mercy or w/e but rather creating a tool he can use** - because of azraels actions exist without the justification of it being gods will, they are simply sin.

Jpv works against a world where murder is acceptable with the right rhetoric, and he also has to confront that he can't blame azrael/ the system on everything. The fact that azrael shuts down When he's fighting Satan, the first angel the order created, and jpv is the one who has to fight and then kill Satan, because if Satan gets back to the machinery that has kept him alive for the last 800 years, he will keep killing people in the nearby town to maintain his life. And jpv gets mad at azrael because isn't this violence supposed to be his job? If azrael doesn't do it, jpv has to accept that he has that capacity in himself, without the system, and cannot blame it on another being (which I think foils azrael really well , whereas in either case the violence committed is removed and the committer imagines he has less responsibility - in azraels case the violence is an act of God and a good thing, and becomes abhorrent when he can no longer justify it that way, and in jpvs case the violence is bad, but can be necessary however he can remove himself of the responsibility by letting the system commit it). Then jean paul valley uses this experience, of having killed Satan, to engage with azrael and admit that they are not necessarily so different.

There is a LOT of good character work and interesting rhetoric anyway is what I'm saying

[aotopmha]

I saw Sonic movie 3.

And it was a really solid movie, in fact, surprisingly strong in terms of theme and character writing in particular even if I already expected an improvement.

But I think the blunt nature of the movie was my favourite aspect of it.

It had the brisk pacing and concise writing of the best Dragon Ball movies.

I saw some reviews say the second act was slower than they would've liked, but I never felt any kind of slowdown myself.

There was some stilted exposition here and there, but because the movie was so propulsive, none of it ever overtook the story to the point where it started affecting its overall quality, same for the pop culture references or human characters (helps that the roles the humans got were relevant to the story at hand).

Some of the references were actually funny because of the more snappy execution – among other elements the comedic timing for jokes improved considerably here (though I personally still could do without most of the referencing).

They did exactly what I think they needed to do, which is to tighten the pacing and focus on the strongest aspect of their writing: the forementioned themes and characterisation.

Team Sonic was great, the Robotniks were great and Shadow was great.

Though by the end, there was a mild nagging wish for just a little bit more of everything on my part.

All of the above elements were great, but because there were so many characters to focus on in a relatively short span of time, the exact opposite issue for pacing in comparison to the previous movies popped up in that I think the movie needed just a little bit more runtime to let some scenes sit a little more.

Because it was so larger-than-life, I also had no issues with the back and forth between comedic and serious scenes like I saw some reviewers say they had, as well, not just because it is a movie about an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog, but also because the movie did a great job of setting the tone to make the more ridiculous elements work.

The best I had to say about Sonic 2 is that it was a live action cartoon and Sonic 3 fully embraces this element of itself.

So, the movie is as fantastic of a Sonic Adventure 2 adaption you could get given the time limitation of a movie, but just short of truly amazing because of it, as well.

What truly surprises me is that I think I can recommend this as a generally good movie, not just a good movie for Sonic fans.

I brought this up with the other two, but these movies feel like classic 90s kids' movies and this movie is that ten fold.

Definitely, absolutely go see it if you're a Sonic fan, though.

SPOILERS FROM HERE.

They totally killed both of the Robotniks because they don't know if they can get Jim Carrey back, and if they are able to get him back, they'll absolutely bring him back.

He was at his peak performance here in my eyes, but more than that I love how he ended up also having a character arc that tied to the themes of the story along with Sonic and Shadow.

Putting everything else aside, I think the part of the movie which earned that 88% Rotten Tomatoes rating with the critics is the strong thematic throughline augmented by the extremely economically told character stories.

Gerald Robotnik's existence allowed to explore Ivo Robotnik and his lack of any familial connection similarly to Shadow's and Sonic's familial losses.

Robotnik's farewell and acknowledgement of Stone at the end of movie not only paid off his arc in the movie (the realisation that he did not share his grandfather's hatred for humanity), but also all of the screentime Stone and Eggman had in the other two movies.

While Sonic's similarity to Shadow was highlighted when Shadow attacked and seriously injured Tom (even without willingly wanting to do so) and Sonic temporarily went down a similarly vengeful, solitary path.

Unlike Shadow, however, he ultimately chose the different, better path, by sparing him.

And both of them understood each other by the end because of their shared experience of loss.

I think how Shadow and Knuckles were handled actually was the best example of this movie's extremely tight script.

Shadow actually didn't talk that much, with a very large chunk of his story actually being "shown" via flashbacks characterising Maria, but when he did, it always felt like it had gravitas.

And to me the absolute best of this was the scene at the tail end of the movie where you actually see Maria die; the cinematography transitioning to present Shadow powering the Eclipse Cannon said everything it needed to say just via the visuals and nothing else. It was a fantastic example of "show, don't tell".

Because it is all so firmly consistent, when it all comes together in the final 20 to 30 minutes, everything feels natural and earned.

Everything connects and makes sense on a character level, even if the plot itself uses a bunch of coincidence/contrivance to streamline the order of events and, in turn, all of the side characters tie into this three-way web.

I mentioned Stone, Tom (earlier in the movie, Tom also has a thematically good, if more stilted heart to heart with Sonic) and Maria (who I also like because she's just a fairly normal kid in this interpretation of the story), but I actually really want to highlight Tails and Knuckles, as well.

Moreso Knuckles because I like how the argument throughout the movie about the team name evolves from Team Sonic or Team Knuckles to just "team" by the end and I really like how Knuckles responds to (and opposes) Sonic recklessly asking to use the Master Emerald, which ties into the themes of the second movie. It's a surprising bit of refreshing nuance.

I think Tails is the most standard out of all three, serving as a mediator and the brains of the operation, mostly staying the same from the previous movie, with perhaps simply less prominent admiration for Sonic.

Everything, from sometimes to the smallest of lines or visuals to the most impactful ones is tied to the theme of family and familial loss.

Eventhough they have such comparatively small roles in the movie, even Tom and Maddie wanting to join the insanity is a great payoff when thinking about where their characters started.

This story has a theme that is extremely old, but you can't argue with rock solid thematic/character substance (and so can't the critics it seems).

Do I myself think as highly of the movie as the current Rotten Tomatoes score?

Not really, I think I see it more in the ballpark of a firm 7-8/10, but it certainly is fantastic for what it is trying to be.

Thinking a little bit about the future, though, I'm really curious about what they'll do with Metal Sonic and Amy because I think CD and Heroes are to this day my personal "flawed favourites" of the series.

CD was my favourite Sonic game when I was younger because I loved the aesthetics of it, from the intro to the zones to music and Metal Sonic might be my favourite rival character for Sonic because of how the game presents its set pieces.

Unfortunately, I think it just doesn't hold up in terms of level design, in the same way how I think Heroes has awesome level design, but does not hold up because of the control issues and glitches.

So if there's one Sonic movie made "for me", it'll be this 4th one.

I certainly have much higher expectations for it with the context of this one, at least.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

updated and improved "all the fears want arthur lester carnally" list

just a general tally of influence/Marks arthur would have received if you were playing by TMA rules. enhanced with further contemplation and with some peer review from @luci-z-wont-shut-up thankyouuu

the eye

VERY dedicated private investigator. consistently more invested in Solving The Mystery than, like, Remaining Alive

was magic-stalked by the KIY and his cult throughout season 1

also kayne was watching his whole life and taking notes to roast him about his trauma later. apparently

something something metanarrative implications of an audience gathering around just to watch you suffer

the spiral

possessed by a god of madness (twice) (three times?) (possibly more depending on how you count?)

was held hostage in a fake dream-realm mental institution with fucked up architecture so one of the aforementioned madness gods could pry information out of him (which also gets cryptically described as "Here, there, everywhere, nowhere. Anywhere." which is sooo the spiral-coded)

relies on someone else to be his eyes so there's always the lingering background awareness that he may be missing or outright misrepresenting information & consequently he can't trust what he sees

the end

he's died.

multiple times.

there's also the omnipresent threats on his life but mostly just that. like. he's been The Ended. doesn't get much more direct than that

the stranger

i still think "losing parts of your body to another consciousness while they are still attached to you" is VERY the stranger type activities

the king in S1 turning any weak-willed bystanders against him so any stranger could turn into a threat without warning

also, the king and scratch posing as normal people, even people he knows sometimes!

orbited by a cast of nonhuman Entities remaking their identities into something closer to humanity for one reason or another (john, yellow, scratch, kayne) and frequently not quite hitting the mark (ty luci)

the lonely

general sense of alienation from his peers that started young and—just vibe checking here, just taking a general temperature—doesn't seem to have gotten much better over time

"I want him safe." / "You want him back." / "...Yes." <- guy who can totally handle being alone

john left and he went fully off the deep end in the span of like, a day

it's just one of those things that i think he hates and is terrified of but also is constantly haunted by

the desolation

the whole vibe of the death/destruction specifically of things that could have brought meaning to the world, or people who had a lot to live for and could have touched other lives and had an effect on others, is... um. (gestures vaguely at the. all of them)

will do LITERALLY ANYTHING to avoid losing anyone else.

also pain. i feel like pain takes a thematic backseat but it is still a part of the desolation and good lord is this man in so much pain basically all the time

one time he did an arson at an in-progress building site and left a guy bleeding out in the ruins!! desolation come get your juice

also independently invented molotovs so he could use them to kill a different thing which was perhaps divine inspiration straight from the lightless flame itself??

the slaughter

start with parker's death and just work your way down from there tbh

the butcher confrontation "Whose life did you take without provocation, without threat? Who did you kill that was innocent?" vs the slaughter's "random, senseless, unmotivated violence"

also knowing that pain and death are coming but not where or when or how. Yup 👍

just. in general. he has been wading through his own and other people's blood in equal measure since the start of the damn show

had to hide in a pit full of rotting corpses that one time

the vast

timelines! go confront how meaningless your entire life is in the face of the uncaring multiverse! have a quick crisis about it! fuck meaning!

i still don't have a whole lot for this one tbh

he can't stop falling off things obviously but i don't think he's particularly scared of that. i think he's resigned to it. balance is a fickle beast and he has accepted that it does not return his affections.

one time a kraken almost drowned him?

the buried

known claustrophobe!

almost got pinned in a cave, unable to move, on multiple different occasions!

this man and caves in general have a very very bad relationship. they keep making him be underground and then terrible things happen to him down there.

drowning goes here also :)

the dark

"Funny. Before all of this, I used to fear the dark. Not in any crippling way, but – but now it’s… well, now it’s no different."

used to be unnerved by the dark and now he is blind. checks out

also, the dark world. it's in the name, baby. that's more john's fear but i think it has to rub off on him at least a little bit

the corruption

eeeeverything that happened with the witch. she tried to use him to breed maggots. now that's what i call Corrupt™

horig, also

obsessive, almost self-destructive levels of devotion to an entity that killed his friend and wrecked his life. listen i'm supportive i think they're perfect for each other in an ESH way i'm just saying this probably also falls into the corruption's purview (ty luci)

ESPECIALLY considering john lives in his body like a parasite. not trying to be derogatory here but like, on an objective level. he is stealing his body parts. and arthur loves him. again, incredibly on-brand for the corruption

the web

he Doesn't Like Being Told What To Do >:[

ongoing vendetta against cult shit for this exact reason

the idea of not having fully free will seems to be very actively and deeply concerning for him

"I am the captain of my soul" and so on and so forth

got literally brainwormed by The Creature back in addison (twice!)

the flesh

Michael Fucking Faust

also, had to bite his own finger off before that. in case you needed or wanted some bonus points

the hunt

HOO BOY has he ever been Hunted. so many times by so many different things. take your fucking pick

also: "You are hunting." / "Predators need to be hunted." <- basically an active prayer to the hunt

this man is prey animal rage incarnate honestly. go!! lose yourself in the bloodlust!! kill them before they can kill you!!!!

john would really appreciate it if he was a little Less cozy with the hunt tbh :(

the extinction

i'm actually not counting this one bc it doesn't take avatars and also doesn't rrrreally exist yet

he's lived through a world war and a pandemic. how's that. i think that's as good as it gets.

CONCLUSION: i still think arthur should go shake hands with the vast and get carried off by a bird and hope that gets the rest of these assholes to fuck off. i think it's his best bet atp.

[panelshowsource]

a year of my gifs in review

i struggled a lot with making gifs this year (｡╥_╥｡) i always say that panel show content is never going to be 2160p, you know? we're dealing with youtube rips, 576p tvrips from 2008, compressed files, stupid set designs and abrasive lighting... but knowing all that — and having known it for the 7+ years i've been running this blog — i've been hyper critical of my gifs, how they're cropped and coloured and captioned (translating punchlines to gifs can be tricky), and it's been hurting my motivation to post... which makes me so mad!!! enjoying these shows, talking with you guys about comedy and tv, and making content for tumblr.com has always been sooooo therapeutic to me. i can't let my brain get in the way of that!!! it's actually literally truly honestly so not that serious –.–

so i took a little while to go through all of my gifs from 2024 and i'd like to shoutout the ones i think are particularly cute or fun (◕‿◕✿) it's funny — i have been feeling all of my hangups, but when i look back at what i've posted i really like so much of it! so my resolution in 2025 is to post even more!! to post without abandon!!

presenting my personal 2024 wrapped of my gifs ♡

a pair of tits

the soul of my cat could get reincarnated into my baby

sandi ♥‿♥

fries vs chips

david 🎩

victoria loves david too much to play taskmaster

humpty dumpty

ingrid and her gold cap

dimples

russell tovey ♥‿♥

That wasn't a porno. That was The English Patient.

if you're gonna take a picture take a nice one!

i'm a rabbit

babycakes

🟩🧍🟩

a saucer of milk for this bitch

how large is large?

poor ed

steve ♡ nick

worzel damn gummidge

susie ♥‿♥

hbd joe

diane morgan ♥‿♥

alex's special shirt

little things keep me going

team tokscett

jon without a h

out of context taskmaster 3

we kill this lot

out of context wilty 1

did you just inhale bubbles

hbd david

you're 40 points ahead

i could have had you as a slave

jimmy ♡ pedro

roisin's short term memory loss

alan 😈

i also want to marry mike wozniak

did you tell anthony that being "canonised" meant being fired out of a canon?

mwah

it's a mith, jimmy

halloween

you've changed!

out of context taskmaster 4

[squid-socks]

Ok so

I am realising I may not be explaining my point super well bcs it feels like you’re putting words into my mouth - but I realise that could be very much my fault.

I never said intersex people shouldn’t be represented? In fact that would be amazing! There also have been essentially no trans men in period ads. And I never said someone deserves more for being the majority? I just think people deserve what they need. If the population of that need is larger then the need is larger and more important to acknowledge sooner. And it’s mysogony bcs the world is trans phobic and will treat non passing individuals as their birth sex. So if they hate women then they tend to hate trans men and therefore respect and acknowledge their choices less. (Just to clarify) (this is not to say trans women don’t also suffer bcs people don’t respect or treat them well if they are not passing. It’s more to say hatred many individuals have for women and trans men tends to look very similar - which mostly focuses on a refusal to essentially see this person)

I think my main point is just that we don’t live in a perfect world. The outcomes we want from something don’t tend to happen. Especially as most people aren’t informed about the details (even more now with how much false info there is out there being peer reviewed and so on). So either ads need to get a whole ton more informative or people will just see a woman they do not think can get a period and assume it’s just a ‘girl thing’.

Also when it comes to representation trans men are secondary to trans women (which is what I meant by opportunities I’m sorry I should have been more clear😅)

But generally I think you’re right. This was stupid. Trans women have a hard enough time without people debating bullshit hypotheticals! So im sorry for starting this whole thing - it wasn’t helpful. I just saw it as voicing a random opinion and nothing more but i didn’t take the time to word myself as best I could which probably caused more issues than it solved😅

I also see where I was kinda problematic in my initial post. I focused on not having trans-woman represent periods in my post rather than the corporation doing better with diversity to prevent the way it would be taken as feminisation. I put the responsibility on trans women in my language without realising bcs I made them the subject matter over the corporation. That was stupid of me 😅 so I’m sorry if that hurt anyone! Genuinely!💜

Controversial opinion: Tw political?? Period representation

I don’t think trans women should be the representation for period ads. I think trans men should be. Bcs by choosing a trans woman you are hyper-feminising periods. You make them into a gender specific thing - which they aren’t and shouldn’t be. It’s not a woman thing so you aren’t actually representing the people that have it. It can therefore; only lead to sexism and conflict down the line. Periods should not be girl coded or pink coded they should be represented by the huge variety of people that get them. Not just women. I feel like we take every opportunity to ignore trans men and it bothers me.

Sorry, rant over.

[baejax-the-great]

21, 36 & 48!

21. The book(s) on your school reading list you actually enjoyed.

One Hundred Years of Solitude. The Picture of Dorian Gray. To Kill a Mockingbird. There were probably more, but you must know that I am very old now and the memory has started to go.

36. Your absolute most favorite character(s) from any book you've ever read.

Oooh this is so hard. I feel like these questions make me question my own memory! As a kid, I think Daine from the Wild Magic series was someone I obsessed over a lot, then Angua from Discworld (and Vimes. And Carrot. And Cheery. And Detritus), recently it's been Murderbot and Fitz and Justice of Toren, well and obviously Patroclus and Achilles.

I think because of my username I have to go with Ajax from the Iliad, though favorite isn't quite the right word for him. A lot of my obsession stemmed from how he has been perceived (wrongly (look I know you are allowed to analyze characters however you want blah blah they are still WRONG)) throughout history, and how tragic I find that. It also makes it difficult to have him as a favorite, because in most retellings and reimaginings, he stone cold sucks.

48. Do you leave reviews for the books you've read? How often?

I leave very fair and level-headed reviews only.

JK, going through my goodreads I think I might actually be a bully. I channel all of my negativity for the week into reviews of books I truly did not like. I find it difficult to organize my thoughts about why I enjoyed a good book. A good book has all its threads woven together and picking out each one and describing how it contributed to the end product is tricky. A bad book is a tangled mess and by god I love do I love pulling the threads out one by one and criticizing them. It's a character flaw.