#a few days ago it was rewatching certain parts of the game

[daz4i]

thank god for fiction that allows me to be sad over a fictional guy and what a wreck he and his life is rather than being sad over what a wreck i am and my life will be 👍

[queerfables]

Why all the crowd scenes look the same, aka: Something is WRONG in Soho

I'm not even gonna tease and draw this out because it's so cool it doesn't need the fanfare. Ready?

Season 2 takes place over the course of 5 days. During that time, most of the passersby in Soho - maybe even all of them - stay exactly the same. It's the same people every day, wearing the exact same clothes, and they wander through the neighbourhood in paths that don't make any sense. You won't be able to unsee it. I can't believe it's taken us this long to realise.

Don't believe me? Rewatch the scene from 2x03, I Know Where I'm Going where Shax confronts Crowley outside the bookshop, appearing in a series of different guises. Pay attention to the people going past.

I've marked out five people you see on screen when Crowley first exits the bookshop at 39:37:

Numbers 1, 2 and 3 are following the path right. Number 4 follows the path left. Number 5 crosses the road.

Here the five people are again, at 40:19, when Crowley goes to return to the bookshop:

Number 5 is still visible in the distance, in the direction she walked in. This makes sense! But numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 are rounding the same corner they just passed. It's as though 1, 2 and 3 all decided to turn and head back the way they came just 40 seconds ago, and number 4 has circled the block to join them.

This on its own would be super weird, but they're not the only people to do that in this scene. The man in the purple sweater from the first picture crosses the road, then appears back next to the bookshop, then starts walking back the way he came again.

Here's the part that made me absolutely certain, though. At 40:05, a man wearing an orange hoodie with blue sleeves walks past Crowley, who is heading towards the bookshop entrance.

The camera cuts to a view from behind Crowley, and a moment later, at 40:08...

He reappears in front of Crowley and walks past him again.

It's such a distinctive outfit, there's no mistaking it. They are absolutely fucking with the background characters and they are absolutely doing it on purpose.

Your turn. There are at least three other characters in this scene who pass by multiple times. Watch it again and try to spot them.

This scene is really chaotic and obvious, but the phenomena I'm talking about is much bigger than just one scene. Let's go back to the first thing I said: the background characters don't change. All our leads do. Maggie and Nina wear distinctive outfits, clearly demarcating each new day. Even Crowley and Aziraphale, who in season 1 were like cartoon characters with wardrobes full of identical clothing, vary their looks. Crowley changes his (very subtly) each day; Aziraphale is less rigid on timing, but he has a few different coats that he switches between. The background characters, on the other hand, wear the same outfits every single day. They walk by on the street but they never actually seem to have a destination. They sit in the coffee shop or pub and don't eat or drink anything, and nearly everyone leaves together exactly on closing time. It's eerie.

For reference's sake, here's a rough timeline of season 2, with pictures of Maggie and Nina's outfits to show the passing of time. I had to outsource this section because my post was too image heavy, lol. The main point I wanted to make is that five days go by.

Five days, and all the same faces keep showing up in the background, and almost none of them change their clothes. I'm not entirely sure what it means, but there's no way it's an accident. It might, in fact, be a game changer. To me this is proof positive that something is not as it seems. I've been a massive Clue skeptic, adamant that I'd only be convinced by the most unambiguous evidence, and honestly? This is enough to move the dials. It's too big for me to ignore. Whatever grand explanation of Good Omens we come up with has to account for this. I don't have it yet, but my current working theories are that Crowley and Aziraphale are under some seriously heavy surveillance, that time warping is involved, or that reality itself is not what it seems.

It would take a really long time for me to go through all of the background characters who turn up over and over but I do want to show you what I'm talking about. To wrap up, then, I'm going to pick out some memorable characters and walk you through a few of their appearances through the week. I highly recommend looking out for this yourself on your next rewatch and seeing how many other characters you can recognise.

Yellow Skirt

The first person I kept coming back to as being not quite right. You probably remember her from the first episode - she's the one who waves and walks past Maggie and Nina the night they're locked in together. Incidentally, she's also Person Number 3 in the scene with Shax.

Day 1 (2x01 - 36:20):

Day 2 (2x02 - 42:03)

Day 3 (2x03 - 06:36)

Day 5 (2x06 - 30:00)

Coolest Leather Jacket In The World

It's not so easy to recognise people wearing lots of nondescript dark colours, but I love his hair and his jacket, so he stood out to me. I think there might be a lot more people who are wearing fairly nondescript clothes who I just can't recognise from episode to episode.

Day 2 (2x02 - 16:44)

Day 4 (2x04 - 41:20)

Day 5 (2x06 - 29:20)

Dressed In Mustard

Ms Mustard shows up everywhere. If you want to see what I mean about their paths not making sense, pay attention when she comes on screen, because she'll often show up a few times in succession and walk very purposefully to nowhere in particular. The thing that she is doing, essentially, is behaving like an extra in a tv show. Which of course she is, but you're supposed to make that invisible by not having the same person go back and forth in the same scene, or changing up their outfit each in-universe day to give the sense time is passing. Not doing that is a really deliberate choice.

Day 1 (2x01 - 22:37)

Day 2 (2x02 - 42:03)

Day 3 (2x03 - 01:49)

Day 3 (2x03 - 37:07)

Day 5 (2x06 - 29:59)

Swishy Dress

This character shows up a lot in the first episode. I've struggled to find her in later episodes, though. None of the characters seem to follow the same patterns or show up to equal extents each day, which makes me think this isn't a straightforward time loop. I haven't actually cross referenced character appearances to in world times, though. Possibly this is a project for someone who's more across the time-related shenanigans than me.

Day 1 (2x01 - 22:43)

Day 3 (2x03 - 07:01)

Yellow Vest

I've only seen this guy a handful of times, always around the French restaurant. I wonder if there's significance to that.

Day 2 (2x02 - 41:06)

Day 4 (2x05 - 12:49)

Fuzzy Blue Coat

Another background character who shows up frequently. The blue doesn't stand out quite as much as the yellows and reds some characters wear, but it's very distinctive.

While we're getting a lot of shots of the street, it's worth noting that I'm pretty sure the vehicles we see are also just the same few cars repeating each day. A lot of them are in neutral silvers and monochrome, but there's a couple of blue cars, one red, and one black and white that I'm fairly sure I've seen over and over through the season.

Day 1 (2x01 - 22:45)

Day 2 (2x02 - 42:04)

Day 3 (2x03 - 02:00)

Day 5 (2x06 - 40:10)

Day 5 (2x06 - 48:56)

Day 5 (2x06 - 50:06)

One final note: Whatever this is, Nina's employee who you see in the background at the coffeeshop sometimes isn't affected by it. He's wearing different outfits each day. On the other hand, some of the other shopkeepers do seem affected. I'm fairly sure Mr Brown and Mrs Sandwich wear the same outfits a few different days, only changing because of Aziraphale at the ball.

And that's it! Thanks for reading and I hope your mind is blown as much as mine is.

EDIT:

Hey I don't mind anyone pointing out production reasons that this might be the case or disagreeing with my analysis (over-analysis, some might say 😉). Please be kind about it, though. I'm not ignorant of the practical limitations involved in film making, but some of these costumes were really distinctive in a way I thought might be intended to draw attention.

For those of you who do find this theory convincing, I feel I should mention that I was working under the assumption that this stuff would have taken a few days to film, even filming it all together. That would strongly suggest that the actors were deliberately costumed the exact same way over multiple days of shooting, which made me think it had to be purposeful. @coranax was kind enough to point out, though, that behind the scenes videos said the extras were filmed separately to the main actors because of Covid protocols. In that case, they could have done it in just one day and that weakens my confidence in its intentionality.

Finally, all of my points about the scene with Shax in 2x03 stand. That was not a case of accidental continuity errors, it was really elegantly choreographed to enhance the tension in the scene. I say that with confidence because the extras are doing exactly what Shax is doing: circling Crowley, appearing where he doesn't expect them, creating a whirlwind sense of being off balance and out of control. I think it's really cool and effective, whether there's a deeper meaning to it or not.

[astralis-ortus]

weighted blankets and projector

✱ a bang chan headcanon

— as long as you're happy, then chan is happy too.

w.count → 0.6k genre → fluff. very soft fluff. warning → none! a.n → originally wanted this to be a single post with streetlights and warm nights, but the fluff would be out of control (and i got too delirious to actually continue writing lol) sooo here's the second part! ⋆ see masterlist

although chan loves adventures, he also doesn’t mind spending your date nights inside.

foods and games would be the most important factor chan takes into consideration. your pool of dinner choices might be a little more limited when you’re bound to a certain location, but that’s what his little games are for.

you’re feeling like having some fried chicken? of course he’ll get them for you, but make sure you win the rounds of truth or dare or you might not be able to get even a single bite of those golden goodness (who are you kidding—he’ll definitely cave once you put on your puppy eyes, just like how seungmin taught you). hot pot night? no worries, his uno cards will help you two determine whether your dinner of the night follows his mild tastebuds or your daring ones. chan will get your every dinner requests, and put a fun twist on them just to see your smile.

when all the food is gone, chan would then pull out the weighted blanket he bought and kept especially for your date nights, all under the pretense of ‘i heard it’s good for you’ (when in actuality, he just needed wanted a tiny extra help in keeping you glued to his side).

what you’ll be doing from then on is a free arena—there are days where you’d just talk for hours on end, laughing at whatever silly things each other would say. on other days, you’d spin a wheel and let fate choose which of your all time favorite movies will you be rewatching that night (which, oddly enough, mostly fell to either the deadpool series or a few ghibli movies). there are also days where both of you decided to just melt next to each other while doing your own thing—chan with his laptop, while you, on the other hand, finishes the book you’ve been dying to read all throughout the week.

just as you’re about to feel drowsy after all fully digesting your dinner, chan would then draw a warm bath for you to relax in, bath bombs and all. he’d always tell you to take your time when you’re having your bath; he needed the extra time to pick out your set of matching pajamas set (yes, he wears one too), as well as setting up the candles and the new galaxy light projector he just bought a couple days ago. you once told him it looked pretty, and being the good boyfriend and devoted astrophile he is, of course he remembered it.

if your bath was chan’s way of taking care of you, then you doing his skin and hair care routine is your way of taking care of chan. you always treasure every opportunities you have to be so up close with him, taking note of his features while he’s surrendered under your gentle touch. you’d note every single speck of his freckles, every stray curls on his forehead, every faint smile lines he had etched over the years on the surface of his skin, which only grew in definition after he met you.

and you fall in love again.

maybe a little bit harder,

maybe a lot deeper.

now all warm and cuddled up under the layer of comfy duvet, you finally snuggled close to chan, allowing his body heat to entirely encapsulate you. the echo of his heartbeat is loud and clear, turning you all blush and giggly while sleep gently knocks on your eyelids. chan would say a couple things—noting how nice your new shampoo smelled, or how soft the layer of pajama is over your skin, but when he noticed your absence of reply, his smile would soften as he watches your sleeping face. chan would place a kiss on your forehead and held you tighter, wishing that even in his dream, the only person he would see is you.

©️ astralisortus, 2024. | likes and reblogs are highly appreciated♡

[norahastuff]

Nine (9) people you'd like to know better

Thanks to @crackers4jenn for tagging me :) 

Last Song: I Am Easy To Find by The National. There’s just something about the lyrics that hits something in me, and I always put it on when I’m in a certain kind of mood. 

“There's a million little battles that I'm never gonna win anyway/ I'm still waiting for you every night with ticker tape, ticker tape.”

I mean, come on!

Currently Watching: Well, I was rewatching Succession, but I just moved back home after I graduated (gonna be here at my parents’ place for at least a couple months till I start working) and my little sister, who is very into Supernatural (I suppose I should accept part of the blame for that) wanted to pick up where we left off, so we’ve been watching that. Just finished s14 which is one of my all-time favourite seasons, and I actually found I liked it even better on a rewatch.  Honestly, it’s just such a well structured and enjoyable season, and everyone’s arc is handled pretty well. Well, apart from one really annoying storyline, but I tend to ignore it as much as is possible. Also Cas is fucking great in this season. As is Rowena. 

Currently Reading: The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I know, I know, I’m very late to the game on this one, but somehow I never got around to reading it before. Also re-read ‘How Many Miles to Babylon?’ by Jennifer Johnston a few days ago and that book always fucking kills me no matter how many times I read it. 

Current Obsession: Uh, well, boring answer, but my hair, I guess? More specifically, dying it blonde. I have very thick, curly dark hair, and a couple of months ago I got it into my head that I wanted to go blonde. I went to the hairdresser who told me they wouldn’t be able to do it, and no one could get my hair blonde. Well, my dumbass took that as a challenge and decided to do it myself. It’s definitely been a process, but I think I’ve done a pretty decent job all things considered. Well, I managed not to burn all the hair off my head at least, so I’m considering that a win. 

Anyone else who wants to do this, please do and tag me! Would love to learn more about you guys.

[cleansingreflections]

The Polygon's Cyberpunk Red* Discord server has reached it's first anniversary only a few days ago, and we believe it's a wonderful excuse to celebrate our favorite web series by rewatching it all together.

You can find all the info in the graphic, but if you want additional info please contact either me or @peach-pot. Also please reblog this post to spread the word as much as possible.

We made sure to make it as accessible as possible, so that nobody is bound by strict schedules and dates. Please participate even if you aren't in the server and just want to be part of the event, or if you've never watched the series before and this is your first time!

Thank you for reading, and thank you for a wonderful year. ^-^

*PCPR is a web series by the gaming journalism company Polygon, in which Simone de Rochefort, Brian David Gilbert and Pat Gill, lead by Jenna Stoeber, play through the tabletop role-playing game Cyberpunk Red.

[ID: Three graphics. The first one states: "PCPR server 1 year anniversary event: Six days dedicated to rewatching the PCPR series all together. 12-17 august 2021. For additional info contact @bisexualkaeya or @peach-pot". The second one states: "How it works: From August 12 to 17, each day we're going to watch one episode from Polygon's Cyberpunk Red series and talk about it; Comment and discuss about the episodes on tumblr using the tag #pcprewatch; If you're unable to participate during a certain day, don't worry! You can catch up at your own pace and still talk about the episodes in the tag. The event doesn't have to end on the 17th if people still want to talk about it afterwards!" The third one states: "Calendar. Each day the event starts from 4pm est and continues all day. 12th - "Let's Play CYBERPUNK RED | Overboard"; 13th - "Let's Play CYBERPUNK RED | The Ring Box, Part 1"; 14th - "Let's Play CYBERPUNK RED | The Ring Box, Part 2"; 15th - "Let's Play CYBERPUNK RED | The Ring Box, Part 3"; 16th-17th - General discussion and catching up for the folks who couldnt join the first days. End ID]

[alexcabotgf]

tag 9 people to learn more about their interests

TAGGED BY: @punishebe (thank u sm angel 🤍 🤍 🤍)

MUSIC

fave genre? rock of all kinds (classic/pop/indie/alt/punk etc)

fave artist? bands: fleetwood mac, the gits, counting crows, the 1975; solo artists: stevie nicks, joan jett, phoebe bridgers, halsey, lana del rey

fave song? you missed my heart by phoebe bridgers

song currently stuck in your head? male fantasy by billie eilish but also that our god is an awesome god gospel for whatever reason

5 fave lyrics? i have so many faves so these are gonna be the first ones i can think of off the top of my head

it hurts me to be angry / kills me to be kind — bob (cousin o) by the gits

you couldn’t have / stuck your tongue down the throat of somebody / who loves you more — moon song by phoebe bridgers

and she wonders is this real / or does she just want to be queen — the highwayman by stevie nicks

rulers make bad lovers / you better put your kingdom up for sale — gold dust woman by fleetwood mac

so you pull down the shades and you shut off the lights / because somehow we mixed up 'goodbye’ and ‘goodnight’ — possibility days by counting crows

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on (i don’t drive but if i did definitely with radio on)

BOOKS

fav book genre? mystery/thrillers but boy have they been disappointing me lately

fav writer? not to sound uneducated but i don’t think i have one. i haven’t read enough books from one singular author to consider them my favorite, the closest one would be gillian flynn since i’ve read and liked all of her books but idk

fav book? once again i don’t think i have an all time favorite standalone book, but the two favorites of 2020 for me were sleepers by lorenzo carcaterra and white oleander by janet fitch

fav book series? the millennium trilogy by stieg larsson

comfort book? probably something i used to read as a kid like the sisterhood of the traveling pants series

perfect book to read on a rainy day? either a hard hitting contemporary or a thriller

fave characters? i don’t have many favorite book characters but an all time fave would be miss lisbeth from millennium trilogy

5 quotes from your fave books that you know by heart? here are some that have stuck with me (even tho i haven’t read some of the books they’re from,,,,anyway)

for you, a thousand times over — the kite runner by khaled hosseini (leech rally haven’t even read this book but i think about this quote at least once a week)

for the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. they may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change //  what woman here is so enamoured of her own oppression that she cannot see her heel print upon another woman’s face? — the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house by audre lorde

always learn poems by heart. they have to become the marrow in your bones. like fluoride in the water, they’ll make your soul impervious to the world’s soft decay — white oleander by janet fitch

i’ll take care of you / it’s rotten work / not to me. not if it’s you — anne carson’s an oresteia ofc! a classic!! that i haven’t yet read lmao

a painful truth, and yet we must endure // he’ll have my hatred anywhere he goes — oedipus at colonus and oedipus rex respectively, transl. by david mulroy

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending | reliable or unreliable narrator  | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS (depends on the genre) | judging by the covers or by the summary | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

fave tv/movie genre? drama, horror, thriller

fave movie? a few years ago i would’ve said girl interrupted but i’m not sure if it'd hold up at this point so i’ll have to go with my all time favorite franchise which is scream <3

comfort movie? anything that i have fond memories of watching (e.g american honey, empire records) or anything i used to watch as a kid (e.g lotr)

fave tv show? prison break. those bald men running around just make me feel a certain type of way

most rewatched tv show? probably house md but desperate housewives is a close second

5 fave characters? 

gale weathers — scream

michael scofield — prison break

lisbeth salander — millennium trilogy i know i’ve already used her for fave book character but noomi rapace’s portrayal is chef’s kiss

tauriel  — the hobbit 

and of course i have to include my wife, the loml alex cabot  — svu

tv shows or movies | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging (i usually binge older shows but prefer when only 1 episode is released per week) | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once

TAGGING: @joanna-lannister @xavierdalon @retrodame @henry-cavill @hannahhunti @moonlight  @sonosions @anyataylorjoy @simmonsjemma @anistonjen + everyone else who’s interested in doing this!

[porlovistoeinmasochist]

In episode two I was truly still ambivalent on what to think of the Empire side of Foundation, of course Lee Pace acting here is incredible and you can enjoy it in the pure: violent and oppressive power hungry dictator “typical hollywood EvilTm scene”…still on rewatching and in combination of the scenes before, where Dusk pleads for mercy, Dawn confesses to feeling fear and Day chooses to show strength through force and having watched episode three, this speech still is haunting in the amount of anger he displays, but also so sad, because the three of them are part of this “citizens” he mentions in his speech. And they are surviving but the scars of this decision will have repercussions. Even though they are so removed in a way (almost as much as Demerzel is) from other “normal” humans, they are a part of this group who will live on scared. And they with their power and their decisions having so much more repercussions, will maybe live on, but not in a world where they still can mantain the illusion of control, not even to themselves.

For this Dusk Darkness is near, but this Dawn will carry with the consequences of this decision and the scars will remain and influence his actions as Day.

And that Days (now Dusk) prognosis is true they are living on, their world, as much as it resembles to what it was, is living on, for now. But the cracks and scars are showing more and more.

And here is where I think I have a view of them, different from the perception of some articles I have read, I don’t see them as The Villains TM. Is it a fucked up system, are they collectively terrible people, specially this Dusk who until now is showing no remorse for his destruction of two entire planets? Yes. But I think (and maybe its more of a wishful thinking) that they are not being set up as Evil That Needs To Be Defeated TM as many articles compare it to being a lets cram Asimovs work into being a Game of Thrones thingy. I am more hopeful they are one side of a new original way to interpret Asimovs work. On one side a certain fatalism, with no room for moralistic judgements and the fate of civilizations hinging ultimately on the actions of some individuals.

And yes they represent and are themselves a system that from the conception on leads to stagnation. We have so many examples in history of how the system of emperors fail many times through their inflexibility, protocols, accumulating power into the hands of few or worse one very flawed individual. I see so many interesting themes in these three that until now I am refusing to see them as a villain, an evil to be defeated so the “good guys” can triumph, because I don’t think that was the spirit of the novels. I just see them as yet another example of how humans, any kind has to deal with the consequences of their decisions and actions, like in this case current Day dealing with having his certainties taken away with the decisions of Dusk so many years ago. Like they all are dealing with the absurd decision of one man with absolute power made centuries ago. The question of what can you control, when supposedly you have absolute power, but in truth you don’t have freedom and control of yourself?

[cybernaght]

Guardian rewatch: Episode 5

I thought this would be a shorter recap. Ha!

Every now and then throughout this show we are getting CGI wide shots of the Dragon City, mostly establishing the time of day. They have three settings: nighttime, daytime, and sunset/sunrise. While quality-wise those wide shots would not feel out of place in a video game from ten years ago, with buildings looking all rubbery, I actually really like this sunset sky. I also appreciate that they firmly establish that this is city is not, in fact, a real place. I almost wish the architecture was a little bit less familiar, but making the city look truly otherworldly here would make location scouting much harder. As it happens, the buildings on the forefront have a very 60’s art deco revival inspired feeling, and there are some distinctively neoclassical buildings peppered around as well. We can also see that the roads are very wide, and generally there is a hint of Stalinist grandioseness about the downtown. Unfortunately, it looks nothing like the locations and sets the characters are running in; we also get a feeling that the Dragon City is very large, which is not entirely consistent with the very few locations that were available when shooting the series. This shot does, however, remind me the city I grew up in (Moscow).

The actual plot of the episode centres around Huang Linqi and his fiancé, Li Jiaqi, going missing - it will be important, because their disastrous wedding will produce the most Clark Kent moment that Shen Wei will ever have. We also meet the parents of the couple, who are stinking rich and extremely unpleasant. It also introduces us to Butler Wu (Wu Tian’en) and his son, who will become important in later episodes. Butler Wu is not actually the villain of the piece, despite this shot clearly telling us otherwise. 

Back at the university, Shen Wei is having a morning tea with his dean. He holding his teacup with almost god-like elegance, very close to actually covering his mouth when he drinks, which is extremely old-fashioned. This is in stark contrast with him brazenly and un-gentlemanly showing his ankles. 

Shen Wei is asked to move off campus, because, apparently, having a chief of the special task force showing up at your office is bad for the reputation. Since the professor does not look surprised, and states that he has already found a flat, I’m guessing that he was clever enough to have predicted this turn of events, and used it to secure the place a breath away from Zhao Yunlan. It is up to speculation as to when he started scouting for an apartment: it could not have been more than a few weeks since he met Zhao Yunlan, and finding a flat can take a while. 

At the SID office, we are treated to a lovely moment between the team members, crowding around Lin Jin’s new invention: a popcorn-specific microwave.

It’s very sweet to see the team indulge in some nonsense outside of their case work, made even better by Wang Zheng being there. The fact that Zhao Yunlan is on board with his department’s time and resources being spent on a popcorn maker only makes this scene better. He is crouching on the table, because chairs are for the weak.

After inspecting the crime scene, Zhao Yunlan is spending some time outside chatting to Buttler Wu, and comments on Li Jiaqi’s good looks, since Zhao Yunlan is a man who can appreciate beauty.

As Xiao Guo is awe-struck at his boss’ ability to note someone’s prettiness from a distance, Chu Shuzhi literally rolls his eyes calling those “instincts of a beast”, and Zhao Yunlan fails to reprimand him for the remark, because… fair enough. Very fair enough. It’s hard not to relate to Zhao Yunlan, a self-admitted bi disaster. 

Shen Wei is being shown his new apartment. He does not even look around it, staring instead at Zhao Yunlan’s front door across the hall from him.

Moving here is a completely senseless thing to do. How on earth is he planning to hide his Hei Pao Shi persona while being a next door neighbour to the chief of SID? My conclusion is that from a character stand-point, it’s nothing but an act of desperate devotion; from a narrative stand-point, this codifies that their relationship is about to get very intimate indeed. 

The SID members are interrogating Buttler Wu: as is often the case, instead of bringing him in, like they did with Shen Wei, they hijack a cafe nearby to have a more relaxed conversation. As they talk, Shen Wei is making his way past the cafe, which both Wu Tian'en and Shen Wei notice. 

Shen Wei proceed to follow Butler Wu, who calls him out on it. This leads to a removal of his glasses so epic it warrants a jump-cut to close-up, on top of the dutch angle used mere seconds prior to it.

Instantly recognizing Shen Wei as Hei Pao Shi, Wu Tian’en sinks to his knees in reverence. Again, fair enough. After having a brief conversation about their shared history, Shen Wei states that Butler Wu is not allowed to lay a hand on Zhao Yunlan. 

“Chief Zhao? You’re stalking him?” 

“You don’t need to know more.”

That is not a no. Mostly because that is a yes. 

Shen Wei promises to not take Wu Tian’en away before the man resolves his current problems, adding that he hopes his old acquaintance won’t have any regrets when that happens. As Shen Wei walks away, he muses “Then how much time is there left for me?” 

(And I have to fight an uncomfortable sinking feeling in my stomach, which is occurring a lot as I rewatch those series.) 

The same evening at the SID offices the team is struggling with the case so much Da Qing suggests asking Hei Pao Shi’s help. Zhao Yunlan bristles at the idea, and… calls Shen Wei instead. Of course he does.

To be fair, he does so to check whether the other man is stalking him, but he also calls him by his given name rather Professor Shen, reinforcing that he makes this enquiry as a friend, not at as the chief of the Special Investigations Department. 

During the phone call Shen Wei is absentmindedly playing with the corner of the publication he is reading. 

While Yunlan does not deny that he still thinks Shen Wei is potentially up to something dodgy, he still proceeds to ask his advice on the case. This continues the dynamic from the previous episode: it’s not that Yunlan is completely blind, it’s just that he trusts Shen Wei regardless of the secrets he might be hiding. 

Moving on, here’s what I have to say on he topic of bad CGI. There are several reasons in the world for a piece of visual media to have a poor quality computer animation. It could be laziness, or it could be absence of imagination, both of which are inexcusable. It also could be absence of funds, as is the case with the Guardian. And, honestly, I am alright with that. It’s not their fault, and I would much rather see this drama as it is - bad CGI and all - than none at all. 

And, the quality of CGI here has energy similar to Live Action Sailor Moon (PGSM), which I honestly find both nostalgic and endearing. 

That show also has a talking cat, but it’s performed by a literal plush toy on strings, so Guardian certainly wins here.

While Huang Linqi and Li Jiaqi are being kept together (possibly in an alternate dimension, seeing as how they have emerged from the lake completely dry), they talk through their relationship issues, and the audience finds itself with a sugar-sweet take on the arranged marriage/strangers to lovers trope. I feel a little bit bad about their disaster wedding now. 

At the same time, Xiao Jun and Wu Tian’en’s story is a tiny echo of Shen Wei end Je Zun: the son thinks his dad left him to fend for himself when he was young and vulnerable, and distrusts the very concept of love because of that perceived abandonment. Unlike Je Zun however, he stops to have an actual conversation, which ultimately forces him to quit his senseless act of revenge, and make the first step on the path of reconciliation and redemption. This is Guardian telling us that communication skills do, in fact, matter. 

He also drops this bombshell of a line, which hurts my heart a lot.

“In the face of death every love in the world is mere foam”

On an entirely separate note, I am very glad that the actor who plays Butler Wu is wearing nice thick knee pads. 

They are very visible, and they make a little “boing” when he hits the ground, but the actor has to fall to his knees twice in this episode, both times on hard surfaces, one of which is literal gravel, and I’m happy that the production is being considerate of their actors’ physical well-being. 

While this episode does not mark the first time Zhao Yunlan is being understanding to the Undergrounders in pain, this is the first time anti-Unvergrounder bigotry is explicitly framed in a negative light. The two evil businessmen, who cast a child aside just because he has special powers, are shown as unquestionably in the wrong. Xiao Jun is lightly scolded for his rash actions, but he is not brought back to SID in cuffs, and he is not immediately given away to Hei Pao Shi. Far from that: he is brought in softly, to spend some time at his dying father’s side. 

As Butler Wu slipping away, we once more see Guo Changcheng being recklessly heroic, as he is prepared to use the Longevity Dial to share his life force. Instead of letting him do it, Zhao Yunlan snatches the Hallow away and decides to perform this particular miracle himself. This is the same man who will later sacrifice his eyesight to bring people’s lives back. Bai Yu’s acting in that moment is utterly phenomenal, showing a whole range of emotion from horror to determination to dismay in mere seconds. 

Hei Pao Shi teleports in, and, without a preamble, scolds Zhao Yunlan (the first episode in the series-long “don’t touch the Hallows” saga), and then asks him whether it’s worth shortening his life for an Undergrounder. This is in equal parts a provocation and a test, because I’m fairly certain that Shen Wei was going to save Wu Tian’en anyway. 

As SID members beg Hei Pao Shi to save Butler Wu in perfect unison, Zhao Yunlan states that a person is a person, regardless of their origin. Shen Wei notes inwardly that SID had changed, and, as expected, heals Butler Wu, while Yunlan stares at his power with relief and awe.

Since I have talked about the wide shot of the Dragon City, let’s talk about its counterpart in the Underworld. 

I have failed to notice before that there appears to be a vast city next to the volcano river, some way away from the royal Palace, looming over it. Geographically, this makes little sense: we will see characters leave the Palace and instantly end up in a city square throughout the series, but I still really enjoy this wide shot. It is also interesting to see the architecture of the place. It is somewhere between (western) medieval abodes and futuristic shipment container blocks, with living spaces built on top of each other, crammed-in, and unpleasant. I also love the lighting here, contrasting blue and red.

Hallows random power #n: projecting their brethren. Imagine how useful it would be if they also did that for the Brush and the Lantern.

The next day, Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing are on a leisurely morning jog, while Yunlan is wearing bottoms that my partner refers to as “sheggings” (as in, shorts + leggings)

They are talking about Shen Wei, naturally. In my head-canon, Zhao Yunlan is driving his colleagues nuts because can’t help himself but bring the good professor up every goddamn minute of every goddamn day.

As they turn the corner to go home, they bump into the subject of discussion, who informs them that he moved into the building, and leaves abruptly looking more than slightly pleased with himself. 

Finally, we are treated to Guo Changcheng’s surveillance exam. I don’t know why he thought this outfit would make him look less conspicuous. 

Eventually, the SID will learn that some of their staff members don’t have to be fighters or detectives. In Xiao Guo, they have found the heart of their team, and that is enough. 

Next up, Episode 6: The Coat Zhao Yunlan Will Buy

—

PS: I have mentioned earlier, that I have a sinking feeling as I watch Guardian, and I would like to elaborate on that. You see, I am very scared of flying. It’s an irrational fear, but it is the one I nonetheless have. There is a very specific feeling I get just as the plane starts gaining speed on the runway: there is joy, because at the end of this journey they is something to look forward to (my parents’ hugs, a drink with a friend, a favourite place, a new city to explore), but there is also a painful anticipation, as I brace for the moment the aircraft will tilt upwards, knowing that I will be pushed back into my chair by gravity, battling against an onslaught of a panic attack, shaking, learning to breathe, fighting with everything I have to keep my heart rate down. Watching Guardian from the beginning, knowing where the story is going, mirrors that feeling perfectly.

PPS: The following conversation happened with my partner as I way typing this recap.

My partner: Do you think Shen Wei ever wears sheggings?

Me: Sweetie, I think he would rather die. 

[randomnameless]

what annoys you the most with 3H? The fandom or the missed opportunities from the game?

Oh.

The fandom takes the first place, because while it was funny to craugh seeing those bad takes, 2 years after the release of the game those takes are still endorsed and built upon and it’s just impossible to discuss about FE16 without being sure that the person you’re talking to is talking about the game, or the redshit takes.

Still, I firmly believe fandom wouldn’t be that cesspool of incessant drama if the localised version (especially NoA?) didn’t take wild directions with the game. It’s incomprehensible how a game in its OG version can be saying green but the localised version everyone talks about “corrected” it to “blue”. 

Scripts are more or less the same, but the directions given to the VAs?

rant under the cut about directions, voice acting and people arbitrarly pushing an agenda despite the media they’re supposed to translate/bring to non-jp crowds.

I pointed it in an earlier post (or earlier posts?) but as a french person I grew up with the 4Kids dub, which was infamous for, uh, “translating” things for western audiences, even at the cost of coherency and let’s not even talk about the source material this thing doesn’t exist. Remember the Shadow Realm from YGO? .

I watched a short anime a few years ago about the anime industry (Shirobako?) and I remember a character trying to become hired as a voice actor/seiyuu - she had to learn and to feel the character - she has to know the character as much as the author who created them. 

A few years ago, I didn’t feel as if the dubbing cast worked on their characters as much as the OG!voice actors. For a recet exemples I was rewatching a certain anime with the fr dub - basically a former underling fights against his superior who became a traitor, and even if his superior doesn’t regret turning into a traitor and ultimately became a giant fly, the underling always respected his superior and treated him with proper forms of adress. In the “early 2010 dub” I watched yesterday? Yeah no, guy’s talking to him as if he is talking to his friend in a pub.

Even now, while the quality of the voice acting has improved (and I feel like people take their jobs way more seriously for the dubbing industry) - i was the first surprised with SoV’s VA - we have now directions. Because the manga/anime/game isn’t, uh, good enough or whatever, the dubbing team decides to go off and do its own thing, regardless of coherence or, worse, what was the intent/core of the og game.

I am playing MH:Rise, the game is set up in a more or less traditional “ninja” village, with a lot of old japanese (? feudal? idk) aesthetics. The devs said they wanted to return to the roots of the saga and based new monsters on Yokais, mythological monsters from the japanese folklore. When you meet a new giant monster to hunt, you have small cutscenes to introduce said monster sung with a Noh theater aesthetic (i just looked up on wikipedia i thought it was kabuki but kabuki isn’t the only form of theater whatever the more you know). 

NPCs in the MH series speak their own language, often called the MHese (a bit like the sim language). IDK if it is because this opus has a japanese aesthetic, but you can pick a jp voice acting instead of the MHese (same voice actors but talking in a different language). Or you can pick the US/ENG dub, with, I suppose, US VAs. I’m not complaing about the lack of FR dub, I’m rather happy with it tbf. But, for some reason, despite the aesthetic, the yokais, the pagodas in the background, the samurai flagship cat, the katanas and whatever, I thought the Noh style cutscenes weren’t going to change, or maybe someone would try to sing in English. But it isn’t the case, the US/ENG version of those cutscenes aren’t Noh style sung, they were completely revamped, so no traditionnal songs and instruments in the background, instead have a dude describing the monster you’re about to face in a cheap National Geographic imitation.

Why remove this? Was it because US!Capcom thought the western world wouldn’t understand the Noh references (but could still understand the general “aesthetic”, just, ban on the songs?) or some shit? They couldn’t remove the flagship cat’s samurai armor to swap it for a GI uniform, so they banned the Noh cutscenes? Why?

It is the same shit NoA pulled out with the Fates localisation, Suzukaze became Kaze because... reasons?

Maybe I’m biased because I’m french, and apparently Wonder France is one of the biggest consumer of anime/manga outside japan, but the mere idea that something can be changed because it’s not “western enough so the audience wouldn’t get it” pisses me to no end, and this is why, in the beginnings of Internet (YT videos with 4 parts, megaupload etc etc) everyone I knew who watched anime ditched everything dubbed to watch the very same episode but subbed (one of my friends even worked on her english with subs!).

Back to FE16 because this is your question and I ranted enough, I cannot stress it enough regarding Rhea, but while I do not doubt Cherami Leigh made a great effort and worked her best with the tools given to her (to this day I still cannot fathom how she managed to dub Mae and Rhea, they’re so different or not seiros is genki!rhea if only leigh was given that script) Leigh!Rhea isn’t Inoue!Rhea. NoA (I harp on NoA but I suppose NoA oversaw the dubbint process/effort, NoE is inexistent) had an agenda and a reading of Rhea that isn’t the same as NoJ.

“You worthless piece of garbage” doesn’t exist in the og!script - but more importantly, delivering this, Inoue!Rhea isn’t furious, she is upset and desperate. Leigh!Rhea is furious, Cherami Leigh does an admirable job at conveying NoA!Rhea’s fury - but this is not the same character NoJ wrote. If NoA gave the same directions NoJ gave Kikuko Inoue to Cherami Leigh, I’m pretty sure the “Rhea BaD” crowd, the eating babies takes and whatever shit redshit comes up everyday would be way reduced.

Maybe @nilsh13 has redshit take saved talking about this, but if we’re not talking about the same character, what kind of discussion can even happen? (I’m sure someone someday pulled the “well i played the localised game so i’m not talking about the og script with you but with the localised script” to defend some smelly take)

Missed opportunities can be fuel for fanfics.

Discourse based on fandom drama (at this point NoA itself is part of the fandom with their “religious extremis/zealot” take)? Nothing can salvage it. I genuinely like to talk about FE16 (especially lizards), but since every topic became a landmind because of the fandom drama, even making posts in good faith can be used as a fuel for drama, or completely diverted from their original goal to suit, again, some faction war between lizards and a certain someone.

Tl; dr : Fandom.

[writing-radionoises]

karma

ship: none, just fyodor & karma

genre: canon compliant

prompt: fyodor can't help but see himself in such a helpless boy.

notes: tw for implied religious abuse and canon typical violence

I rewatched the Karma episode a few days ago and could not stop thinking about Fyodor's perspective of this whole event Honestly I Do Not expect anyone to read this because all my non-ship stuff never does well but... I think we need more complicated Fyodor relationships in our lives

A warm towel dries Fyodor’s once silky hair from the red wine.

His head hurts, though it’s nothing he cannot tolerate. This wouldn’t be the first time a glass bottle has been shattered on his head.

Truthfully, he thinks being hit on the head with a Bible hurts much worse.

The bruises from that would stay for days, his head would throb for hours and hours without end. Just thinking about it made Fyodor’s brows furrow in pain.

“You should just give up, you know,” said the boy from behind him, removing the towel from Fyodor’s hair.

Fyodor estimates he’s not older than 15, young and mistreated. He seems numb to violence and pain at a mass.

Fyodor can’t say he isn’t the same, though.

“Maybe,” he replies, softly as he runs his own fingers through his damp hair.

He will likely smell of wine for the next couple of days… Dry cleaning will be a pain.

“There’s no way to escape, Ace has you cornered,” he explained, looking down at the deep red and purple stains on the fluffy white towel, “It’s better to give in rather than to die.”

“I believe you underestimate me,” replied the Russian man, “I am not new to this situation.”

A slight chuckle comes from the boy, “I admire your bravery, I wish I could be like that… But really, I’m pathetic… I’ve been looking for an escape since I was young, and I still haven’t found one yet. It’s been seven years, I’ve given up on looking for one. I once believed and wanted to become the boss of the Port Mafia, but it’s nothing but a foolish dream now...”

“Ah, I believe I understand,” Fyodor answered, looking up towards the boy.

He did understand, though it wasn’t something he could say aloud. He spent years and years underneath a priest, suffering in pain and certain he’d never escape. Fyodor had spent so long tolerating the pain that he had forgotten he could fight back, he had forgotten he wasn’t helpless.

God left with him a gift, a way to escape.

Without such a gift, Fyodor would be in the exact situation this boy was in. He’d still be under that priest, maybe he’d work in the Church in St Petersburg, and run the youth group.

But he was lucky, and was no longer in such a situation.

“What is your name?” Fyodor asked the ginger boy, who snapped out of his daydream as he looked back at Fyodor.

“Oh, they call me Topaz.”

“Your real name, Зайчик .”

Topaz gave him a strange look, beginning to half mindedly fidget with his collar as he glanced off to the side.

“Karma,” he said, hesitantly as he placed the towel back on Fyodor’s head, “My birth name is Karma. Might I ask what… Whatever you just said means?”

Fyodor chuckles, “Is a term of endearment in Russian, it means bunny. We use it when referring to children.”

A blush came to the face of the boy as he began to dry Fyodor’s hair once more, desperate to distract himself.

“You’re a strange one, Mr. Dostoevsky.”

Fyodor closed in eyes in contentment, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear once more.

“I take pride in that, Зайчик.”

Fyodor clutches his coat a little closer, a ring of keys in hand as his heels click against the tile of the ship.

He had outsmarted Ace, and led him to his own suicide.

It was a simple trick, nothing too complicated and a trick he had already used only a few months prior.

Though, the expense of the trick this time would be the red stains all down his white shirt and Ushanka.

Fyodor found as time went on, the wine smell just made him more and more uncomfortable and angry.

His former home used to smell of nothing but such red wine, it was a disgusting smell that overwhelmed every part of the home.

Even some days today, Fyodor could smell the alcohol on himself.

He would scrub his skin raw and red with every soap imaginable, but the moment he stepped out of the shower, he could only smell the disgusting liquid all over him, infecting every part of his being.

Fyodor much preferred vodka, in comparison to his guardian.

Fyodor bit down on his thumb, continuing to walk to the vault when he saw the familiar boy once more.

Karma.

The boy stared at him with wide eyes, astonished in every way as he looked Fyodor up and down.

“Is he-?” Asked Karma, to which Fyodor nodded.

“He is dead.”

Karma looked down at his shoes, shoving his shaking hands in his pocket as he tried to comprehend such a thing.

Fyodor suspects he thought that he’d never be free of the Port Mafia executive.

It seems that with every moment Fyodor spends with Topaz, he finds himself seeing only more and more of his younger self in Karma.

Fyodor tries not to think about it.

He despises his younger self, letting himself be thrown around the way he was when he was obviously destined for so much more.

Fyodor shook his head, placing the key into the vault lock.’

Never again , he thought to himself, I’m no longer like that.

“How did you-?”

Fyodor only gave the boy a weak smile, “Methods you do not need to know. It was but a simple trick, a mind game between myself and him. Unlucky for him, I am much more experienced in such tricks, and so he lost to me.”

Karma looked Fyodor in the eyes, such an action that shook the Russian man to his very core.

There’s fear in his eyes, yet also confusion, a need for guidance and nowhere to gain such guidance.

“You… Really are the devil.”

Fyodor’s breath catches in his throat as he grasps the files he was searching for, gripping them tightly within his hands.

“You are a devil of a child! An absolute monster! I will reform you into something worthy of God’s love!”

A forced smile comes to his face as he looks back at Topaz.

He was always a good actor.

“I am, it is how I survived such a world as this,” he responds warmly, “The only way to defeat evil is to become evil itself.”

Karma’s brows furrowed in worry.

“Are you certain?” Fyodor nodded, “Of course. I have been on this planet for twenty-three years, fifteen of which were a living hell. To crawl out of hell is to best the devil, and he is hard to impress. And so, I will grant you the most merciful gift.”

A gift from God, he thought, though quickly corrected.

No, a gift from the devil.

Something I had craved most of my youth, and something all those similar to me had also craved.

It is the least I can do for him.

Fyodor pressed his cold hand against Karma’s forehead with a warm, yet saddened grin.

“The gift of death is the most merciful, the kindest gift of them all,” he explained, Karma staring up at him in complete horror and confusion.

Fyodor watches the young boy fall to the floor, the life fading from his eyes in an instant.

His smile falls away, a sigh escapes him as he holds the files close to his chest.

There is very little to do with someone of such weak will, though he couldn’t just leave the boy as is…

It would be too painful. The boy would end up exactly like him.

No one deserves to suffer as he did.

“May you have better luck in the next life,” Fyodor hummed, and continued on.

[keanureevesisbae]

So Henry, you want to start a YouTube channel? - Chapter 4

Summary: Twenty five year old YouTuber Sandy Choi has no idea that one of her five million subscribers is the one and only Henry Cavill. When he asks her to help him out with starting his own YouTube channel, she falls more and more in love with her. But she should’ve known that dating one of the most desirable bachelors, does come with a prize.

Henry Cavill x Sandy Choi (ofc)

Warnings: None

Wordcount: 3.1k

A/N: If you want to be on the taglist, please let me know. Also, I really like reading that you like the story. Such a great way to make my day xx

Masterlist // Channel introduction // Previous chapter // Next chapter

The next day Sandy uploaded a new video. It’s a summer night time routine and Henry watches every second of it, making mental notes as the video progresses. He is even thinking about picking up a skin care routine himself, simply because she is doing it. The Sandy on his iPad screen takes off her make-up and he admires her. She already looks adorable with make-up on, probably because of her cheeks, but seeing her bare face like this, he can’t help but wonder what life would look like if she was his girlfriend.

These last two days, he realized he not only admired her, her work ethic and the way she shows her life on the vlogs and makes it look like she has her shit together, but that he was falling in love with her. And he is falling head first.

He can’t stop himself anymore. He dreams about a life where Sandy Choi is his girlfriend. She would walk into the kitchen in his shirt, that is way too big for her. She’d be hugging him from behind as he makes her breakfast, pressing kisses on his back. He’d lift her on the counter, so he could press tons of kisses on her cheeks, causing her to giggle. Her slender arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders, whispering sweet nothings in his ear. He thinks about how she would beat his ass with Mario Kart, leaving him a sulking mess. She would kiss him, her soft lips on his, hoping she could brighten him up.

He even envisions her sitting on his lap as she would help him edit a video or sit between his thighs on the couch as he would teach her his favorite games. He’d help her control the console, his thumbs helping hers and kiss her temple every time she does it right.

He has been single for awhile and it was better this way, not dating anyone. Being a bachelor had its perks and he enjoyed it. However meeting Sandy in real life, has him stop him right in his tracks.

He keeps thinking about her smile, about her lovely laugh and the way she blinks her eyes a little quicker when she’s nervous. Everything she does he admires, he likes and he cherishes.

He printed out his favorite picture he made of her yesterday. She’s absolutely stunning and it was not an easy process picking out just one picture he loved. He can’t wait to give her the framed picture. He rewatched some of her videos, hoping he’d get a better idea of what her room looks like. He found a frame in an old box, thinking it would match her aesthetic.

He leans back again the chair, while he holds the picture frame in his hand, staring at Sandy. She’s next to the sunflower and she’s giggling. He can almost hear it again.

She is really photogenic and the fact that she’d let herself being photographed like this, means she’s comfortable with him right?

When she confessed about how she was feeling being around him, he admired her courage to share this with him. It’s personal and he never pecked her for sharing too much personal details of herself this early on in their friendship. She is always pretty neutral in her vlogs, never really personal. He watched some of her Q&A’s and she managed to answer everything, but still leave a lot to the imagination.

The Sandy on his iPad is walking in the most adorable pajamas he has ever seen (a cute pink two piece) to her bed. Her soft voice over says: ‘That is my night time summer routine. I hope you enjoyed this video.’ She gets into the bed and flicks off her light. ‘Remember,’ he hears her say, while the screen stays black, ‘stay hydrated, love yourself and be kind to the people who deserve it and most importantly: yourself.’

Her outro that matches the soft vibe this video has, is a picture of her sitting near her window with a cup of tea in her hand and some links to her social media.

He hears an incoming message and his heart starts to beat a whole lot faster when he sees her name on the screen. Her profile picture is her in a cafe, with a cute beret on her head. She looks cute as a button and the fact that he knows her in real life, is almost like winning the jackpot.

Sandy Choi: I figured out what your first video should be about.

Henry: Enlighten me, please.

Sandy Choi: A channel trailer.

Henry has seen her channel trailer, since she updated hers a few months ago. It was one of the first videos he watched of her. It was beautifully done, but can he do that? Can he pull it off?

Sandy Choi: I can help you out today. If you want of course?

That’s an opportunity that Henry will take with both of his hands. Every moment he can spend with her, is one he’ll take.

Henry: That would be awesome.

He quickly cleans up a bit around the house, rushes upstairs for a quick shower and gets ready in record time. He opts for a dark blue shirt and one of his new jeans shorts. He hasn’t had the chance to wear it yet and he thinks she’d approve of this.

He wonders what she’ll look like today. Yesterday she wore a beautiful white dress, with black sandals underneath them. He can’t believe she thought that she wasn’t fashionable enough for a fashion channel.

Henry hears the doorbell ring, followed by a bark from Kal. He rushes downstairs and he can already see Kal wagging his tail, as if he knows who is coming over. He ushers Kal into the living room and takes a deep breath before he opens up the door.

God, Sandy is adorably beautiful. She wears a jeans short, a white crop top above it and paired it with white platform sneakers. She has put her hairs in two braids, her bangs and some strands of hair framing her face. She has a big bag with her. ‘You walked here?’ he asks her, after he got over his initial shock of how pretty she is.

She nods. ‘Mhm.’

‘You should’ve told me,’ he says, grabbing the heavy looking bag from her. ‘I could’ve picked you up.’

He wonders what her answer will be to that. She keeps on surprising him from time to time. She’s shy, but at the same time she can be real witty. ‘I’m a strong and independent woman, Henry,’ she says, as she walks inside.

He closes the door behind her and he is impressed that she carried this around town for half an hour, without a single drop of sweat. For him, it’s like lifting up a piece of paper, but for someone as petite as her? He shouldn’t have underestimated her like that.

‘Just be careful with that bag,’ she tells him. ‘I brought own camera, laptop, iPad and some other stuff with me. Stuff we’ll need for your channel trailer.’

When Sandy walks into the living room, Kal rushes to her and in excitement, he jumps up. ‘Kal, watch it, that’s not how you greet a lady,’ Henry says, but Kal is having non of it, because he keeps on jumping up, wanting to lick her face. She yelps when he stands on his hind legs, ready to place his front paws on her shoulders. Henry quickly stands between his furry companion and Sandy. ‘Calm down,’ he sternly tells him.

Kal whines, but stays on all of his legs, looking around Henry’s legs to stare at Sandy. ‘Is it safe?’ she softly asks.

‘Yeah, I’m sorry. He’s usually pretty calm, but something about you makes him go mad.’

Sandy smiles and Henry watches as she pets his head. Kal is completely smitten with her, his eyes nearly changing into heart eyes when he looks at her and he leans into her touch. If Henry is being completely honest, he can’t blame him, since he is in the exact same boat as his Akita.

Henry places the bag on the table. ‘You want something to drink?’

She nods. ‘Water.’

‘I have other things,’ he tries, but she shrugs. ‘Sure you don’t want something sweet? Chocolate or—’

‘You have chocolate?’ she asks, standing up straight, looking at him with her eyes enlarged.

Henry knew that that would work. He chuckles. ‘I do.’

She walks up to the table and says: ‘I’d love some chocolate.’

Henry needs to tear his gaze away from her, but if it was up to him, he’d stare at her forever. It’s not just her beauty, it’s her pleasant aura as well. In her videos, she always looks really calm, like she knows what she’s doing. Though Sandy can be pretty quiet around him, he likes having her around. Sometimes he does have a feeling that she’s holding back though. Not only in her videos, but also in real life. He doesn’t think she is fully aware of how funny she is, talented and that not only she’s a great listener, but also a fantastic story teller, in writing and when she’s with him. There’s something deep down there that she has yet to uncover and unleash, to show the world.

‘So, I have been thinking about your channel,’ she says.

Henry walks to the table, places her glass of water and the chocolates on a plate next to her. In complete contrast to yesterday, she seems to be comfortable right away and he thinks that’s a good sign. ‘Tell me.’

‘You know, my channel is based around Life with Sandy Choi. Taking them with me., showing them parts of my life and how certain things work. Maybe yours can be Life with Henry Cavill.’

‘Isn’t that copying you?’

‘It’s not trademarked, Henry,’ she says. ‘But something along the lines of that. Because if you do something like that, means you’re free to upload whatever you want. If you name it, I don’t know… Fitness with Henry or Build a stuff with Henry, you sort of force yourself into one part of yourself.’

She has a point. He leans against the table with his hands. ‘Yeah?’

‘Mhm.’ She grabs her iPad out of her bag and the Apple pen and sits on the chair. It’s adorable to see that her feet are dangling, not even close to touching the floor. She starts to write something, completely lost in her own world, giving Henry time to just simply look at her. He quietly grabs his phone and takes a picture of her, wanting to remember this moment forever.

Sandy finally looks up. ‘What do you think?’ She turns her iPad around and his eyes nearly roll out of their sockets.

‘Did you just make a logo?’ he asks, sitting next to her on a chair.

‘Mhm, just need to finish up the drawing of you and Kal, but other than that, it looks pretty okay, right?’

‘Pretty okay? Sandy, this is fantastic. Honestly, is there something you can’t do?’ He leans in a bit, so he can check out the logo. She made a rough sketch of him and Kal, but even in the sketch, he can tell that it’s them. Above the drawing of them she wrote “life with” and underneath it “Henry (and Kal)”, in such a lovely handwriting.

‘It’s not that great.’

He simply dismisses what she just said there. ‘You are by far the most talented person I have ever met,’ he says, looking up, to see that she’s already watching him. Her face is really close and he watches her tongue wetting her lips. ‘Honestly.’

Her cheeks turn in a soft pink color. ‘Thanks, Henry.’

Henry feels her breath against his lips. He uses all of his willpower not to lean in and kiss her. It would be weird and actually rude to just kiss her, but God, with the way she looks now, he just wished that she was his girlfriend, that he could kiss her whenever he wanted.

‘And I was thinking about your channel trailer,’ she says. ‘We could film some shots today, but you can also start just filming your life. Just like the intros I use before every vlog, you can use some footage you’ll make this week. You don’t have to post that, but it might be useful.’

He heard her, perfectly clear, but he is distracted by his own thoughts. He keeps wondering about how it would feel when she’d place her tiny hand in his. He keeps wondering what it would be like to hug her body close, to have her face buried in his neck, her warm breath against the sensitive skin. ‘That sounds good,’ he eventually manages to say. ‘I really need to find a way to thank you, once the channel is in the air.’

She shrugs. ‘No need to, I like helping you out.’

⟢⟡⟣

Henry doesn’t want this day to end. Though it was really silent every now and then, he noticed that she was getting more and more comfortable with him. She even slapped him across his arm, only to keep on apologizing over and over again, to a point where he simply told her that he barely even felt it.

They had made tons of shots and she really knows what she is doing. Seeing her behind the camera, telling him what he should do, he saw that glimpse of what he knew what was there all along.

Afterwards, she showed him how Final Cut Pro worked, by opening her own laptop and showing him step by step how he could use this program. She even wrote some short cuts down on a piece of paper.

Though he is slightly intimidated by how easily she does it, but she told him that she was worse than he was when she first opened her laptop to edit a video and that he has nothing to worry about.

The two of them only ate some ice cream for dinner, since this hot weather makes it hard for both of them to eat something remotely healthy and the ice cream cools them down. It’s about nine in the evening, but Sandy has yet to leave his place.

If it were up to Henry, she didn’t leave. It’s nice not being alone with a dog, but to have some company, someone to look at during the day, that would be nice. Henry scrolls through the pictures of his phone, while he waits for the freezer to open again, after it vacuumed itself shut. He knows by now that forcing it to open isn’t helping the situation at all, but it gives him plenty of time to look at the pictures he made today of her. He already sent a few to her, but the one he made of her earlier today, with her iPad in hand, is by far his favorite.

That reminds him, he was going to give her the photo he printed out for her. Maybe when she has to leave, he can give it to her.

Finally the freezer opens up again and he gets the ice cubes, to put in her glass of water. Henry walks back to the living room, only to see how Sandy fell asleep against Kal, her head resting on his side.

He smiles as he stares at the sight of the young woman and his dog. Her fingers are wrapped around his paw. Kal lazily opens up his eyes, as Henry pulls out his phone again, to make a picture of the woman he is heavily crushing on and his lovely dog.

He quietly walks upstairs, to make the bed in the guest room. He places an air cooler in the room and fills the tank with some water. He goes downstairs again, only to see her still fast asleep. He really doesn’t want to wake her up, but he also doesn’t want her to sleep on the couch, especially not in that position. It would kill him if she actually strained her back. He carefully slides his hand underneath her knees and her upper body and lifts her up with ease. She places her forehead against his shoulder, her entire body completely relaxed.

Henry can’t stop smiling as he walks up the stairs. He feels her fingers fisting the material of his shirt as she tries to turn on her side in his arms. ‘Easy, easy,’ he softly whispers.

Gently he places her in the bed, taking off her shoes and covering her with a thin blanket. He walks back downstairs, to grab some cooling elements to put in the air cooler. When he is back in the room, he sees she hasn’t moved at all. He tries not to drop the cooling elements in the tank too hard, since he really doesn’t want to wake her up. For a moment he looks at her and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear, his fingers grazing over her soft cheek. ‘Good night, Sandy.’

Henry walks out of the room, closes the door behind him, when he feels his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He looks at the screen and sees Jackson send him a text.

Jackson: I had to hear from my sweet lady Lacey that you have been meeting up with Sandy Choi for three days in a row now?

Jackson: Were you planning on telling me this?

Jackson: Like ever?

Jackson: Because now I heard the details from Lacey, because Sandy is a nice friend and actually tells her stuff about your rendezvous.

Henry: You only told me about Lacey, two minutes before your party started and since you have been hanging out non stop with her, I have to do my morning run by myself.

Henry: I wanted to tell you then, but if you just leave me hanging.

Jackson: Very funny. How was it today?

Henry: It was amazing, she is really talented. She helped me film something and showed me the editing software. I can't believe that she’s actually part of my life now.

Jackson: That is sickening sweet. You’re still hanging out?

Henry: No, she’s upstairs now.

Jackson: Mister Cavill 😏

Henry: It’s nothing like that. She was tired from filming, being in the sun a lot. She fell asleep.

Jackson: Well, I heard from Lacey that in those seven months that miss Choi is living here, she has yet to spend time with someone else, beside Lacey. Think you’re doing something good, bud.

Taglist: @flhorah​ // @henrythickcavill​ // @toomanystoriessolittletime​ // @tumblnewby // @newts-fan-case // @thelastsock

[chere-indolente]

𝑮𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒈

Thank you to @twentiethcenturysims for tagging me, it’s my first tag game :)) ! Rules: answer the questions and tag 9 people you want to get to know better

𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 : I think it’s called periwinkle blue in english (the color doesn’t have a name in french), it’s been so since I was little but now I’m more into certain color pairings than any specific color  𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 : On simblr I’m part way through @pixelnrd’s legacy and I got a lot more decade legacies bookmarked to read. In terms of books I’ve started Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf a few days ago, I always love her writting style, it’s like the narration is fluttering about and twirling you around, but that also means it takes me ages to read her books, I need full concentration (+ I’m a slow reader anyway). I wish I knew more authors with this kind of style (maybe Proust ? I have only read Swann’s Way so I’m not sure..)

𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 : I listened to some Akiko Yano albums on loop yesterday especially Tadaima so it’s probably Rose Garden, I’m taking a music break before I feel like listening to it again (and to think that I put on Akiko Yano to stop myself from listening to The Slits and The Raincoats on loop lol) 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝒎𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞 : It’s The Mummy Returns but I didn’t watch it completely I got bored and let it play in the background ... I was on a mummy movies roll (I watched the 1932, 1959 and 1999 ones a week ago) mostly motivated by Rachel Maksy’s obsession with the 1999 movie, but this makes me want to give up on the 2000s ones, anyway I’m now obsessed with Zita Johann’s face.  I think the last movie I actually watched start to finish was Life Is A Quiet Long River (an 80s satirical french comedy, it’s kind of cult or in my family at least) which I rewatched with my parent, it was on tv 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 : It was either PEN15 (the 7 first episodes of the season 2) or Picnic At Hanging Rock (I had just finish reading the book and rewatching the movie) 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐲 ? mh I like savoury and sweet but it seems sugary things tends to give me headaches, so savoury is for the best 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 : I want to pet the cat but don’t want to disturbe her :’( she’s sleeping, she’s so cute ❤️ 𝐭𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 ? I’m more of an herbal tea/rooibos kind of gal : I have far too many for someone who drink so little of them ! I should make infusions more often but I mostly make some when I have people over or to treat myself, otherwise I forget about it 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 : In my life nothing but in term of cc : I’m working on a couple of things at the same time, I have chore jackets soon to be finished but before I will probably release an accessory shirt to give a little more poof to some 1890s, 40s and 80s styles (it’s very simple actually I just haven’t seen anybody doing it). Also I have 3 simlish fonts hanging around to post at some point and I need to refill my queue with some of my thousands of hoarded cc.  

As always I’ve written to much, sorry 🙃 Ahhh I don’t know who to tag it is so intimidating, I don’t know anyone... Just anyone that feel like it, I guess 😳

[alfvaen]

Okay, so I have literally never posted on tumblr before (well, one post on a different blog but it’s all abandoned now so whatever); I’ve been using it to read but I still never really got the hang of it so whatever.  But I am a sucker for certain types of memes, and what somebody called an Ask Box Game, seen chez @lianabrooks and unspecifically tagged.  So let me actually my personality a bit.

Favourite colour: Purple, I guess. It doesn’t define my identity that much, and it’s not like I can ever find clothes in this colour, but yeah, purple.

Last song / album: Ha. So I am nearly constantly listening to music and almost as constantly buying music, so it depends what you mean.  Last song I listened to was part of my chronological relisten (currently I am up to 1987), “Cool Love (Cooler Remix)” by Alta Moda.  Last full album I listened to was “Haven’t Got The Blues (Yet)” by Loudon Wainwright III (2014), which I just bought a few days ago.  But the most recent album I bought looks like it was “Cosmic Wheels” by Donovan off of eMusic, I haven’t processed it yet so it’s not in my library.

Last movie: “The Prestige”, which I watched on Disney+ on Sunday night (while my wife is out of town).  I’d never seen it before, but I knew a few things about it, including one of the major spoilers.  It was pretty good.

Currently Reading: Yesterday I finished a reread of “With A Tangled Skein” by Piers Anthony (I haven’t reread that series in, like, decades, and I’m not sure how it’s holding up now), also finished Alison Bechdel’s “The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For” (from the library; I’d only heard of the Bechdel Test, I had no idea she had a long-running comic.  As an allocishet guy I found it really interesting, though in the W Bush years it seemed to get a little strident--perfectly understandable but not as fun to read).  I’m also reading some comics on Marvel Unlimited, going past where I stopped in my teen years; I’m up to December 1991, just finished the original Infinity Gauntlet series.  And today I’ll be starting a read of “Wool” by Hugh Howey, which I downloaded as a free ebook at some point.  (ETA: Oh, yeah, and I had started Ed Yong’s “I Contain Multitudes”, a nonfiction book about bacteria, before I got library books a while ago, so now I’ll be getting back to it.)

Currently Watching: A few weeks ago my eldest son was craving a rewatch of the “Planet Earth” documentary series, so he got it from the library.  I was only really interested in a couple of the episodes, and last night I joined all three kids for the Deep Ocean episode.  (I am fascinated by ocean creatures though in general I find the ocean extremely disturbing and if I ever fell into it I would probably die.)  Meanwhile I have been cycling through a number of shows, a few episodes/one disc at a time, and am currently rewatching the first disc of Season Two of “Friends”.

Currently Craving: I’ve been playing a Europa Universalis IV game with the Extended Timeline mod (so you start back in like 48 AD instead of the 1400s), where, as my wont, I cheat to give myself free money and rapid technological advancement and see how it takes to colonize/conquer the world.  This time I started as the Visayan Empire in the Philippines and just entered the 9th century; I have conquered Asia up to about the middle of India, have discovered cannons, have pretty much explored the entirety of the world’s oceans and coastlines, and am just starting to colonize Africa; haven’t actually started on the Americas yet.  So what I am craving is: playing more of that.  Instead I have to work today.

Coffee or Tea: Tea.  I rarely bother to make it for myself, but I will drink it; I never drink coffee.

TAGGING: I don’t know that anyone who’s not a sexbot is following me, so if you see this consider yourself tagged.

[rigelmejo]

the word brain - summary and notes

the word brain: http://www.amedeo.net/wb/TheWordBrain2015.pdf

It’s a book about how to learn a language. I like the straightforward estimates of time lengths in it. What I’m about to write is gonna have a lot of notes to myself (as usual lol). 

anyway, below is the word brain summary. and my ideas on how to maybe add its ideas to my study plan.

Notes:

Increasing Vocab:

I tend to not do the explicit vocab study the book starts with for very long. I did it for french for around 1000 words (which was apparently enough base), and 2000 words using memrise for chinese. Now for japanese I use memrise to do this step. 

What I learned from this step, is there may still be use in dedicating some time per day to reading my hanzi books and common-word dictionaries - and reading sections over a few times in spaced repetition (like day 1,3,7,13, 30) could work similarly like memrise/anki. So I could still have use for them.

This book mentioned word lookup in novels counts, if you do it often, and so I can see how I usually quickly abandon “this writer’s way” of increasing vocab, and move onto relying nearly entirely on reading and word lookups to learn as soon as I feel reading is doable. So again... I could speed up word acquisition with either: more memrise/anki, or more glancing at my reference texts every so often. Not that much time is needed either - 5 minutes to learn a word (so studied in like 30 sec - 1 minute intervals over multiple sessions). My usual strategy of reading to acquire words definitely works - but I could probably speed it up a bit by a bit more purposeful reviewing. And I could still have a use for my reference books if I use them for hanzi/word learning.

Also - aiming for 5000 words in related languages, 15,000 in very unrelated languages, is usually enough for overall comprehension.

-

Listening skills:

Need generally 1,500-2,000 listening hours to parse speech in a language. This time can mostly be done surrounded by language audio. So basically: yes playing your target language in the background does help. And will help for up to about 2,000 hours, at which point it should’ve benefited your ability to parse speech. If you have difficulty parsing speech, listen more.

You can also do shows/audio you intensively listen to/focus on purposefully (like Listening Reading Method, shows, documentaries). The takeaway point is just - there’s actually merit to the suggestion to “listen to target language as often as you can.” (Which I did not know there was any real benefit). And that even if you’re not trying to comprehend it’s content, simply practicing parsing the sounds by listening is beneficial. So I’m gonna start playing more audio in the background more often. 

-

Reading:

I basically do the advice. What this book recommends: using audio at first whenever you read, to create the correct ‘inner voice.’ I didn’t do it, do it now sometimes, it is what it is. But probably good advice for new learners to USE their textbook audios, course audios, and graded reader audios when they have them available - since they’ll help. (The sure would’ve helped me in french ToT).

-

*Grammar: 

Like my plan to read a grammar guide, this is kind of similar. But this book recommends learning the most common grammar structures just like words - “nailing” them in your memory by reviewing them (in spaced repetition). I think this is probably something I could add to my studies - picking up my grammar books, and reading and re-reading parts of them to help remember them better. So studying them much like words. Or watching grammar videos and rewatching/reviewing in that same kind of sequence to help remember.

I could possibly do a few review grammar guide fast-overviews - where I just reread old grammar guides I read now and then, to reinforce the memory (like spaced repetition). This is something the book recommends.

I don’t think the book mentioned it, but this could be a good place I could add 50-100 hours of producing/practicing grammar structure - at least the main ones.

Basically though - I could do a little grammar-focused study.

-

Speaking:

Grammar overview/learning words. Listen, read, first. Then shadow. 

---

Summary: could use my reference books by studying similar to how anki/memrise work and just reading/re-reading in spaced review sessions (If I want to increase how fast I learn vocab), reading and looking up words repeatedly to acquire vocab does work though. Listen to more audio in background in general. I could probably use 50 hours of some review of the grammar more (review same as words), and some particular practice on main grammar. I should shadow more.

---

Looking at their table, chinese is probably going to take 3-5 years, and if I eventually slow down my study then up to 6 years.

I also think if this book’s definition of fluency is higher than mine like ‘C1′ competency, then I might get away with accomplishing my goals 1-2 years faster than this book’s timeline - since B1-2 is usually enough for me to be happy with what I’m able to do (I would imagine B2 is definitely enough to read/listen for enjoyment and talk to people about general topics with some fumbles?). Anyway... based on their table I would guess it will take me 1-2 more years to do what I want comfortably? At least, if I can keep my reading progress improving at the current rate or throw in some extra hours this year, I think within another year I might get to a point where I can read/listen for enjoyment mainly. At which point, slowing down my progress by studying less wouldn’t bother me as much - then if it took another 1-3 years for improved fluency because I’m studying slower, I wouldn’t mind as much. If this book’s fluency aim is around B2, then I’m probably looking at at least 2 more years. Still not bad ToT I have a bit of a warped perspective, I expected like A2-B1 level reading skill to take 4 years, whereas its taken me more like 2 years, so I’m already way ahead of schedule in how much time I thought chinese improvements would take.

I can at worst *painfully* read most modern things I try to now - so weibo, random literary stories/novels, gu long, webnovels, shows, tests, news. Sometimes I can read much easier than that, but in the worst cases I can take a while and grasp the main ideas and some details (did that with some random novels/news). Which is where my french was at about 1 years in. Chinese, having less cognates, means I’m not going to learn the unknown words fast enough to ease the ‘pain’ unless I keep studying to speed up word-learning. So that’s what I’m doing, still studying much more than I did for french at this level. But as far as milestones, I’m around what I consider A2 pushing into B1 (starting to not find modern material completely impossible) - in chinese I’m even a little better, I can start pretty much whatever new show I want and follow the main story and some details at minimum. I was never able to do that in french. Also I can follow some audiobooks/audiodramas if I have prior context - I have never tried that in french.

My personal “milestones” I go by:

a. can recognize enough common words to start trying to read comics/books with a dictionary (could be very painful lol) - this is when immersion becomes feasible.

b. know enough basic words to start trying to basically express self imperfectly (ideally eventually basically in many ideas) - this is when language exchange becomes realistic/journaling.

c. can recognize enough words and grammar in reading that main idea is generally understood without an aid (main idea understanding without aid might be painful but its possible) - this is when immersion in french I could stop using a dictionary, and in graded reading material i want at least this level of comprehension to start using it, this is when immersion can become pleasant with a dictionary, when info can start being learned from context somewhat more regularly.

d. can start to recognize main idea without aid without it feeling draining, and some amount of detail without aids - immersion now pleasant without a dictionary/aids, can learn more from context alone without feeling drained, with aids i can now pick up new words quicker but without it being draining, comprehension is now enough that depending on material i don’t feel any need/desire for an aid to grasp the missed details.

e. can recognize main idea and nearly all details, the rest mostly clear from context, nothing feels draining (mainly i only have this in graded reading materials - but in chinese daily life manhua i often feel like this now, with french website navigation or informational texts since i use them a lot, etc).

a+b is usually my goal within 5 months to a year - french took me 3-5 months, chinese took me 5-8 months. japanese took me 1.5 years lol. c is my absolute minimum goal - its enough to at least consume media with a dictionary. the beginning of the c stage can still feel ‘painful’ since all reading is ‘painful reading’ or ‘intensive reading.’ But it is comprehensible with a dictionary, so I can start learning that way. d is when I start feeling happier lol, and different areas of comprehension reach d at different points. e is my usual goal but i’ve only really hit it in certain ‘genres’ of content. All these milestones i can also ‘partially hit’ - for example in japanese years ago i hit ‘basic main idea’ milestone c for manga, but not for any other content type. For japanese... it took 2 - 2.5 years to hit c stage, which is where I’m picking back up (I can understand basic main idea with intense draining feeling, but with a dictionary i can follow most things). Now that I’m picking it up, I seem to be c in a few more ‘genres’ - video games I can also follow main idea better, and now novels are more doable with a dictionary (though i would NOT say i could follow even the main idea of a novel chapter without a dictionary). My chinese is sitting at d mostly for reading, at the earlier side of ‘usually I decide to look things up’ for missing details because i don’t want to always rely on context alone (unless its a show or manhua or extensive reading practice).

[fandomlurker]

A Ponderous Rewatch: Prologue

You know, I didn’t think this would happen. I didn’t go into bingeing the 2020 renewal of Animaniacs with the thought “I’m going to watch this and then go and watch the original Pinky and the Brain shorts and spin-off show and do a rewatch and loose analysis on the whole franchise with special attention on queer subtext and themes”. What I initially set out to do was simply watch the renewal and see if it lived up to the show I watched pretty regularly as a kid in the 90s…or at least what I remembered of it through the haze of decades worth of time.

Pinky and the Brain was my favorite set-up on Animaniacs back in the day. Back then I probably wouldn’t even have been able to tell you why beyond “I think it’s funny and the characters are fun to watch as they screw up trying to take over the world”. Other segments were funny to me back in the day, too. Slappy the squirrel was great in that she was basically just like the classic, near-timeless Looney Toons a la Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, but as an old lady toon who’s seen it all and tries to relate to the changing world while proving that the ol’ slapstick ways still work. The Goodfeathers were entertaining despite the fact that I was a literal child and didn’t even know that it was a big ol’ spoof of Goodfellas. Hell, I’ve still never seen Goodfellas, but three pigeons trying to carry themselves like macho tough guy mafia folks while being goddamn pigeons is still funny with or without that context. And as for the Warner siblings themselves? Their skits were pretty consistently great as well. Lots of that Bugs Bunny-like energy of putting terrible folks in their place when they annoy you while coupling it with the dynamic of three child siblings who are very, very active and much too clever for the average person. It was fun!

But as I watched the 2020 reboot with its stripped-down cast now largely consisting of just the Warner siblings and Pinky and the Brain segments for the season (And I’ll be honest, some of the segments from the 90s like Katie Kaboom, Buttons and Mindy, and the Hip-Hippos are ones I’ll be happy to never have return because they were godawful even back then), it brought into focus the strength of those segments compared to most of the others from the old 90s line-up: The strong dynamic and chemistry of the relationships between the main characters of those skits. The Warner siblings are a trio of kids who, despite being truly cut from the same wacky cloth as the most beloved of Looney Toon characters, also very much tap into a very realistic depiction of sibling relationships. Sure, they get on each other’s nerves sometimes. Sure, sometimes they have disagreements on how they view a certain situation. At the end of the day, however, they care about each other more than anything else and work in such perfect sync despite differences in who they are individually.  Sure, Yakko is a talkative theater kid jackass who sasses back at the drop of a dime. Sure, Wakko is kinda quiet and spaced-out and he has the appetite of a garbage disposal. Sure, Dot is adorable and witty and loudly and proudly feminist with an oddly feral streak. But if any one of them is inconvenienced or picked on or threatened in any way by someone, even if that someone is a powerful celebrity of some sort? You bet your ass the other two will immediately back their sibling up and make their tormentor’s life a living hell for the next however long the skit lasts. They’re little gremlin children who love one another, and have a surprisingly tragic backstory that actually speaks to a lot of fans on several levels.

But, okay, the bond between the Warner siblings is great and fun. What about Pinky and the Brain? What makes their dynamic stand out?

Folks, that’s where things get a little more…interesting. To me, at least.

So, watching the beginning of the 2020 reboot got me to slowly remember the parts I loved about the Pinky and the Brain skits from Animaniacs…were actually from their spin-off show. And the things I remembered most clearly from the spin-off were the more heartwarming moments that showed how much they cared about and loved one another, despite Brain being exhausted by Pinky’s dimwitted antics at times. And for a supposedly continuity-light cartoon show, there was a surprising amount of consistency to the main duo and their motivations. There was even a handful of reoccurring side characters the audience was expected to recognize from past episodes, as well, which is a bit strange to have for a show that initially seemed to aim to be strictly episodic. I remembered the odd amount of depth there was to the series. Nothing groundbreaking, mind you, but definitely something more than the average comedy cartoon.

So after watching the first few episodes of the reboot, I took to Tumblr to see if anyone remembered the old 90s show and to see how they were reacting to the new one. In doing so, I came across this post:

“i love that ppl make jokes abt a pinky and the brain version of the destiel confession because that. already happened....... the only difference is that brain pulls pinky out of superhell instead of dying on a barn nail”

Now, look, I’ve never watched Supernatural and only know it through Tumblr cultural osmosis, and at the time we were all riding off the high of the madness that was the finale of that show and the fallout from it. But ANYWAY…

This piqued my interest because 1. I didn’t remember watching an episode of Pinky and the Brain where anything like that happened, and 2. I was already picking up strong gay vibes from the reboot only a few episodes in. So, basically, I just had to hunt down this episode to sate my curiosity and see for myself if there was subtext in this 90s cartoon that I hadn’t quite picked up on as a kid.

I found the episode and started watching it. “Wow,” I said to myself, “this is a lot gayer than I remember…” And after finishing the episode, memories came flooding back to me:

That time the Brain fell for a girl mouse that was looked and acted lot like Pinky.

All those moments where Pinky would wear drag to disguise himself as Brain’s significant other in one way or another to further their plans for that episode, and how I could never remember it being ridiculed.

That one time they accidentally had a child together via a science mishap.

The ending of the Christmas special!...

And as I sat there, dumbstruck and searching Tumblr’s tags to see how far this particular rabbit hole (mouse hole?) went, everything finally clicked in my little bisexual mind.

This was one of the big reasons as to why I loved the Pinky and the Brain skits so much above all the others on Animaniacs all those years ago when I was a kid. It was the same sort of thing that subconsciously drew me to many of the cartoons and anime and media in general I loved as a child, back before I had the proper knowledge and self-awareness to know or express it.

Looking back on my life, I’d always gravitated to and resonated the most with stories and media with queer content in text or subtext. And sure, this cartoon was/is no Sailor Moon or Revolutionary Girl Utena with explorations of gender roles and queerness. It’s no Steven Universe or She-Ra with out and proud queer characters. It’s no The Little Mermaid or The Happy Prince where the stories were made by queer authors and subtextually about queer experience.

However…

However…!

I was surprised to find how deep the gay subtext went with Pinky and the Brain. Hell, I still am. This little Warner Brothers, Looney Toons-pedigree, continuity-light show about two lab mice trying to take over the world in bizarre, hilarious ways has such a weirdly continuous, heartfelt, touching, engaging, and sometimes outrageously raunchy queer undercurrent to it. All done in the 90s! It’s kind of baffling.

This is not to say that the creators and writers of the shows deliberately set out to do this. I don’t believe that anyone involved sat down and said to themselves “I’m going to make this so fucking gay!”. Sure, the voice actors of both Pinky and the Brain have said that they played the dynamic with “the energy of an old gay couple” and they’ve said plenty of suggestive or outright not safe for work things in the character’s voices in interviews and at convention panels. I firmly believe that they’re just having fun as the characters, just as much as I believe the writers were probably just having fun and putting in the gay subtext and suggestive lines as a kind of long running joke and seeing how far they could take it.

(By the time of the Pinky and the Brain comics, however, I’m not so sure. Some of the stuff they got away with in those issues is…amazing, to say the least.)

Regardless of actual intent, I think the writers of Pinky and the Brain (both old and new), have accidentally created a sort of subtextual, yet pretty powerful love story. And you know what? I want to rewatch this story for myself and write down my thoughts as I go along. I tried something similar quite a while back with Droids, and while I kind of ran out of steam as my life got busier and never finished, I have time now for something like this.

I should also say that I’m not out here to, like, convert anyone into shipping cartoon mice together. I imagine most people see Pinky and the Brain as nothing other than very close friends, and that’s a completely valid viewpoint to have. I doubt there will ever be some sort of canonization of a gay relationship between the two, as I imagine most of the writers on the new show (and hell, on the old one) are heterosexual themselves and would view such an idea as “ruining the comedy and the dynamic of the characters” or something similar. I’ve been in the fandom game long enough to know better than to hope and expect any media to sincerely tackle queer relationships in stories that only have the subtext there, especially in comedies.

I guess I’m doing this more to explore something I loved as a child and to see if I can find just as much if not more enjoyment from it as an adult, albeit maybe for different reasons. Hell, it’s also an opportunity to peek into a kind of time capsule from the 90s regarding how far queer subtext could be pushed back then, even when heavily couched in comedy. This is just a little project I wanna do for fun in my spare time. And hey, maybe a few of you out there will have some fun reading it too, who knows?

Either way, see you sometime soon in the new year.

[duratrans]

Satoshi Mizukami Q&A, 3/3

Satoshi Mizukami recently took questions from the editor's desk, and publicly from write-ins, for an interview to celebrate the first volume of Solte going on sale (Jan 9th!). So I translated them all! It’s in three parts, so I’ll post them one by one.

Here is the third and final section, general questions of all kinds.

Q: I heard you were pretty impressed by Masakazu Ishiguro's Hero (note: Debut work in Gekkan Afternoon, 2000), and when you met him you said "You're my rival!" right to his face! Is there anyone that comes to mind you would still consider your professional rival today? A: Oof. I don't think I have that spirit in me any more. But, even while myself and so many of my friends are starting to slow down, when I see them putting out work, I do feel encouraged to stick it out.

Q: I've heard you started working to become a manga artist because you "wanted to live in a fantasy world" yourself. If you really could jump into a fictional world, what kind of work would it be? Who would you be in the story? The main character, or maybe the last boss? A: I want to live in a porno game. Somewhere with no danger or fighting.

Q: From any medium, can you think of one piece that you liked the most or inspired you? And can you explain why? A: There's probably too many to try and pick just one, but in terms of what really influenced me; For manga, late 90's Shonen Sunday and early 2000's Afternoon. Then, 90's new-wave light novels. For anime, Diebuster. In film, La Puta. A handful of Sega Saturn games. Some scifi stories on forums, and a bunch of other works on Shosetsu-ka ni Narou.

Q: What have you seen/read/played more recently that you liked the best? And can you tell us what you liked? A: Manga: Touge Oni. It was the first thing I read in a while that made me jealous. In books, The Three-Body Problem. I liked the second of the trilogy best, but they were just good page-turners. For anime, Karakuri Circus. The manga ended long enough ago that it felt like going in fresh again, so it hit just right. Really liked the OP too. Film: Interstellar. Tenet wasn't great, so I rewatched this again and still good. It's exactly the kind of movie I was wanting. Games: Ring Fit. I had the idea if I got a little bit in shape, I might get some motivation back. I feel like it might be working? Just the teensiest, slightest bit. Light novels: I Am the Only One Who Knows This World Is a Game. It's just the right amount of bonkers.

Q: If you had ultimate freedom to do any kind of manga you wanted, what would it be like? Would you want a long series, or something shorter? -Ruha A: I was going to say I haven’t exactly had any restrictions, but actually a few things did come up with Solte. But even still, I can fit in any ideas I really want to draw, so I think things are pretty good as they are.

Q: If you had to put yourself in a genre, what kind of manga artist do you think you are? Sci-fi? Or maybe romance? -Takeshi A: I'm a little surprised to see "romance", even as an example. If you ask me, you can categorize me however you want.

Q: Which character are you most attached to, out of all of your works? -Habu A: Anima from Biscuit Hammer.

Q: When you're designing your characters, how do you come up with a good balance when it comes to the composition and relationships in the cast? -Yoneko A: Oh, man. I just kinda... Feel it out.

Q: I've been a big fan of your work forever! I really like your drawing style. How do you make your art the way you do? -gum A: I dunno, that's just how it turns out when I draw. I've been telling myself "Wow, I need to work on my art" for 19 years, since the day I was first published.

Q: Has raising a child had any effect on your stories? -Tai A: It means I work less.

Q: I want to draw manga too, but I'm not very confident in my skills. Do you have any advice? -Tai Arima A: First, do you mean you're not satisfied yourself with the quality of your work, or you're just not confident enough to put it out there? Don't worry, this is always a fundamental issue for creators, things rarely come out just how you imagine them. It's like how you can only print out photos at a resolution as sharp as your camera can capture them. I recommend you start by just making something. Sit down, do it, and finish it, and you'll learn a lot from it. It'll be up to you whether you show that around, but when you start, I wouldn't necessarily make a big deal out of it, you can just work on it quietly without making a big announcement. That way, there's no pressure, and if it's not working out, you can still stop or take a break without feeling bad about it. You decide how to use your time the best.

Q: When I went to a promo event for Planet With at Loft, you and Rensuke Oshikiri (Hi Score Girl) both talked about how as you get older, you find it harder and harder to stay motivated. Have you found anything that helps you in that regard? -Tayu A: I listed to some cheerful music for a while last week and actually found it helped my mood a little.

Q: I love how expressive all of your characters are! Is there anything particular in your process for when you are working on faces and expressions? -Arbel A: I have to be careful I don't go overboard making the same expression I'm drawing.

Q: I write for a hobby, but I always have trouble planning out how the story comes together. Do you have any advice or a favorite method for composing a story? -Nigou A: I read and re-read what I've got, and anywhere I think it's getting dull, I change the scene or add some exciting development. Make the last thing you think would happen, happen. And don't worry about how to tidy everything up, that's a problem for tomorrow you. Today you just has to lay it out.

Q: Hello, Sensei. I've read all your works, and I'm a big fan, but what really impresses me is your dialog. I love how it always just flows off the page, it reads so naturally. So, my question is, when you are writing the dialog, do you just hear it unfold naturally in the character's voices, or do you write more deliberately like "oh, here they would probably say this?" That probably sounds weird to people who've never written manga, but I'd like to know about your process. P.S. Good luck with the Ring Fit grind. -Kiki A: First I decide how the dialog needs to play out in order to advance the story in the direction I want. Then, I just let the characters talk among themselves, and if it doesn't turn out right, I go back, shake things up, and try again. And sometimes I get good material, but it just needs to be trimmed or re-arranged just right.

Q: A lot of your stories have some sort of turning point where the back half really kicks it up a notch and things just keep getting more intense. Do you already have these developments planned when you start a manga? -TKO A: I usually have a few ideas but it's always pretty vague. I never know if I'm gonna wind up putting in or cutting certain scenes, so I don't worry about it too much.

Q: Do you have one favorite scene or a particular line from your own work? -yamatozo A: At the beginning of Spirit Circle volume 6, where the bad guy falls down the stairs and goes "I've made a lot of missteps".

Q: Do you have any idea of what genre you'd like to draw next? -Umehoshi A: I won't say no, but I don't want to give anything away (for my next work, or this one).

Q: If you weren't successful as a manga artist, where do you think you would be? -Ayuta A: Jail. But I'd be a model prisoner.

Q: How much longer do you think you'd like to continue as a manga artist? -Ayuta A: If I could pay the bills for the rest of my life with 24 pages a month, that's just what I'd do. At some point maybe I'll get to be unsatisfied with that and start to push myself to work more and more until I get sick of it, but no telling when that might come.

Q: How do you think of your character's names? -Takeshi A: They just come to me. I look at how I designed the characters and just imagine.

Q: I feel like some kind of forgiveness or absolution is something a lot of your characters go through. Does "forgiveness" have a special significance to you? -Bow-wow A: I'm not sure. Maybe it's me who is seeking forgiveness.

Q: Do you have a favorite phrase or motto? A: I like Shigeru Mizuki's (Gegege no Kitaro) 7 Rules of Being Happy. I don't really go around saying them or anything, but it's something I like to remind myself of, and helps me be mindful of other people. Also, I like "fortune favors the bold."

Q: You like frogs enough that you always draw yourself as one. What do you like about frogs? And do you have a favorite species? A: Frogs are cute. I like green tree frogs the best.

Q: You've drawn a lot of different youkai in Sengoku Youko, but out of all the youkai that most people know from stories, which is your favorite? Could it be the Chan Chu (chinese money toad), or possibly the oogama (monstrous giant toad)? A: My favorite youkai is Mizuki Shigeru.

Q: You've been doing Ring Fit, and eating oatmeal, are you doing anything else to help stay in shape? A: I put the Karakuri Circus season one and season two OP on a playlist and listen to it while I walk to work.

Q: If you were stranded all alone on a deserted island, what are the three things you would want to have with you? A: Really? Okay. I would bring two essential tools I can't find on an island, and a map.

Q: Do you have a favorite actor or celebrity? -Umehoshi A: Nope.

Q: What's the best kind of alcohol and snacks you've had? Where did you drink it? -Ikaninjin A: In the middle of a hellish summer and probably suffering from heatstroke at an amusement park with my kid, I had the best beer of my life in an air-conditioned food court. And the delicious spice to top it off was the bright sun knifing through the window that I just knew was tormenting everyone still outside.

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up? -Ayuta A: A youkai.

Q: What does your internal mindscape look like? -Rou A: An empty lot.

Q: Has anything happened recently that you're happy about? -Sanachan A: My son is starting to read and write.

Q: What kind of hotpot are you looking forward to this winter? -Tommy A: I'm not crazy about hotpot.

Q: I'd like to go to another event where we can toast again, would you consider it?

-Uta

A: If current events allow.

Q: How many times have you thought about quitting Ring Fit? -Honyarara A: 2 or 3 times. A week.

Q: I know you call it your "100-day Ring Fit Diary" on twitter, but since you've been taking breaks too, will you be going past 100? Will the illustrations be collected and published anywhere? -The Dieting Gentleman A: I'm going until I clear adventure mode, but it'll probably be finished by the time this article is up. I'll probably do some sets here and there. No plans for the illustrations.

Q: Do you have a favorite panel out of all your works? -Umehoshi A: You guys are really focused on my favorite everything. I have a lot of panels I like, not one in particular.

Q: Hi, I really enjoy all of your works, and there's one thing I think I notice (sorry if I'm wrong), and that's a love of glasses girls. Out of your manga so far, which is your favorite of all your glasses girls? Do you have a particular girl you've become a fan of recently? As for myself, I really like Yoru from Sanjin Sadou, so I'd love to see a story with her and her sister! -Bashi A: Glasses girls aren't particularly a thing for me.

Q: When you're doing authographs or sketches, does it bother you at all if people request characters from your past works? If I get a chance, I would probably ask for Hyou Shimaki from Biscuit Hammer, for instance. -Akasha A: If it's a promo event for a Mag Garden title, and you were to ask for a character from a Gahosha title, for instance, it might technically bump up against merchandising contracts, which makes it a little weird (I'm typically not allowed to to create any merchandise without going through the publisher), but my managing editors are usually cool enough about it. But if it's specifically a Sengoku Youko event, for instance, and I'm constantly getting asked for Biscuit Hammer drawings (let's say more than half), that would probably be an issue and they might make a rule against it for next time. Also, I tend to forget how the older characters actually looked. For personal reasons, I probably won't be doing any in-person events like this for a while, though. There's also the whole "current state of the world" thing, and my profitability and if bookstores actually want to do it, a lot of issues to solve.

Q: You usually draw Anima working out on Twitter, but did you have plans for any other characters to show up doing Ring Fit? (Like from Angel or Sanjin) -RYO A: I did, but forgot.

Q: Will you put together another oneshot collection, like Geko Geko? -Friday A: I don't know.

Q: Question! What is love? -Shirae A: To live is to love.

Q: How about this, do you have any questions you want to ask your readers? -Buriki A: Would you rather have: A. One series a month, from roughs to completion, all done by me B: Two series a month, with roughs by me and final touches by someone else

Q: I know thinking positive is half the battle, but what can I do about people who're determined to get me down? Can I give them a Samidare Punch? -Nondakure A: Your fist, and the choice of how to use it, belongs to you alone.