#a mystery well never solve !

[thechekhov]

Everyone, trying to warn me: Harrow the Ninth is so complicated and so hard to get through and you won't have any idea what the hell is happening!

Me: Harrow the Ninth is peak comedy if your sense of humor is fucked beyond all sense.

[chimerafeathers]

there's an essay jumbled up in my brain about dunmeshi's beginning and how clever and deceptive it is as a sleight-of-hand trick that distracts the audience from the depth and scope of the worldbuilding and foreshadowing that's being set up the entire time by dangling zany characters and wacky dishes and biology fun facts in front of us, and how that serves to catch invested viewers off guard when those elements come to the forefront, but also how it works against it with other viewers wanting "more" and not seeing it because the plot bait isn't laid out up front

how people getting frustrated with the characters "not taking things seriously" is mirrored and refuted in the confrontation between Laios and Shuro. how the characters' attitudes aren't just a result of shallow low-stakes "comedy rules" where nothing matters, but are an extension of their personalities (Laios's nonstandard expression of emotions being offputting even to people he knows) and the world and social environment (adventurers being desensitized to death and injury because resurrection magic is commonplace). the way the party refers to "saving Falin" instead of "retrieving Falin's corpse," indicating that they still see her with full personhood, and how that phrasing leads to some readers/viewers believing that Falin is alive in the dragon's stomach, conscious of being slowly digested while the party carelessly fucks around "wasting time." how the weird tonal dissonance makes sense in-universe and yet is deliberately challenged more and more the deeper the party goes

all the character building and pieces of lore slowly weaving together the shape of the larger world, laying the groundwork for the major themes that will surface later. so much is right there in the "low-stakes" early episodes if you know what you're looking for (or pass the perception checks).

it can be so satisfying to see new viewers/readers pick up on the clues even in the earliest "simple" episodes, or notice new things and make connections yourself....and it can also be frustrating to see people dismiss oddities and dissonance as shallow or bad writing because they don't expect a "cooking anime" to have depth like that. why try to question and understand and peel back the layers when you don't expect there to be any layers?

why can't laios take things seriously for once?

[blujayonthewing]

me, constantly: one of the most frustrating things about playing for this DM is that he clearly just wants to have things happen to the characters without anyone ever questioning why

me to this DM, explaining felix: his entire thing as a character is that whenever anything happens he wants to find out as much information as possible about what's going on and why

me about his backstory: so my concept is that Something happened to him and he doesn't have any information about it so he's desperate to find out what exactly happened and why

DM: okay here's what I was thinking we'd do for your backstory: you went to this place seeking this group and talked to this person there and then, immediately after that, Something Happened. like, very obviously directly connected to that person and their group, which you already know about, and whom you'd obviously already know exactly how to find again if you wanted to get more information on what (else) exactly happened and why

[todayisafridaynight]

whatever og text i had in mind for this post about ko shibasaki looking like sayama in this movie is completely cancelled on account of utsumi (this character)'s first name being kaoru and i only found this out cause i was looking up her name just to be sure when making this post

like jesus christ i legally have to make this post now

[just-in-cays]

.

[mzminola]

I know probably sometimes ‘normal’ got used in interviews because people unfortunately think normal = relatable but no, no those only sometimes overlap, and Tim is not the normal Robin, he is the designed to be maximally RELATABLE Robin. Like yes, all Robins are audience stand-ins, but with Tim it was extra on-purpose and they just kept throwing spaghetti at the wall.

Having two working parents. Worrying they’re going to get divorced! Grieving one dead parent. Having a parent dealing with an injury/illness. Feeling like your parents don’t really know you! Having your dad get a girlfriend out of the blue (from your perspective). Getting a stepparent.

“Parents run a large company that puts you in an upper tax bracket” is not widely relatable, but “parents are both working and very busy” is. So is “parents are their own bosses” for readers whose parents are self-employed. The money levels let the writers and illustrators throw in whatever they thought was cool with the kids at the time without it raising questions.

Then Drake Industries goes under, so we have the relatable issues of family finances suddenly changing, having to move, a parent being unemployed & depressed about it, losing things you took for granted (we’ll miss you Redbird), becoming aware of money in ways you weren’t before (hello counting costs of Bat gear), the sheer fucking relief when your parent takes those first steps out of a depressive spiral.

Tim goes to private boarding schools and public day schools and is the New Kid over and over and over. They move from the city to the suburbs to another state and back. His classmates & girlfriends keep getting After School Specials plots. His longest running civilian friend gets a part time job and then cancer. He can’t stay awake in class and constantly struggles to balance all of this commitments.

Tim plays the in-universe equivalent of Dungeons & Dragons, and gets ideas for dealing with Rogues from it. He introduces Alfred to videogames and watches TV Alfred is judgey about down in the Cave in his Robin gear. Bicycles and skateboards, gets his license early for the plot convenience but still has to take mass transit for his first date.

Complains about being mistaken for being younger than he is, about not getting taken seriously, gets saddled with burdens no one his age should and frequently feels like he’s in over his head.

Became Robin because he saw his hero stuggling and wanted to help. Sticks with it for the personal connections he makes, for the sense of accomplishment and adventure, and because he wants to help everyone. Gets super excited about meeting other heroes and teaming up. It’s not normal to be a caped vigilante, but all of those reasons he has for it sure are relatable.

Tim struggles to figure out that he’s queer, is nervous about trying for happiness, deals with coming out to family and friends (and none of that is a neat & tidy one-and-done, it’s ongoing like it is in life).

Tim isn’t "the normal Robin” because that’s not really an actual functionally definable thing to be, and no single character can be universally relatable, but by g*d they have thrown so much relatability spaghetti at the wall here and so much of it sticks.

[swordmaid]

my hag romance murder mystery au turning to magistrate astarion working with executor shri’iia we kind of like that development

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 4 :)

[pushing500]

This crazy dinosaur doesn't know not to attack the guy with the brawler trait, kickass melee ability, and the magic hammer.

And Irwin is not clever enough to realise that when his toes get bitten off, he should maybe prioritise going to the hospital over eating his lunch. Silly boy.

I wonder where he keeps Xanxalbur when he's working? I just imagine he does the Animal Crossing thing and pulls it out of nowhere with that cheery little jingle.

I can't draw dinosaurs I'm sorry

Not sure how the genetics of two baseliners makes one yttakin, but I don't feel like questioning it right now. Anyway, turns out Wendy and Kawoo are related. That's kind of fun. Also, Wendy's dad is named "Liquid Science", which is the coolest name ever.

The flu has taken my sweet babies :(

This was just an excuse to draw Zonovo with his hair out, and Kaz looking after baby Andy (because despite being sick himself, Kaz is still one of my more competent doctors and decided to look after the kid before himself and I thought it was adorable).

Also, today I had a flat tyre and nothing to do but draw while I waited for it to get patched up, so here's what I accomplished with the sketchbook from my car (I have hidden sketchbooks everywhere just in case) and a felt pen I had in my bag. I liked it, so it gets to go on the blog. Enjoy!

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[pollenallergie]

that specific scene where oliver’s walking away from the pub and This Modern Love by Bloc Party plays… mhm mhm i think about this often, yes i do.

[master-missysversion]

Probably unpopular confession but as much as I love the relationships in the chibnall era and the rtd era, i dont think they had anything on the Moffat era relationships. And I don't just mean romantic relationships, I mean all of them.

I see people say a lot that the relationships between the 13th doctor and companions isn't strong enough but tbh I dont find them any less interesting and engaging than the rtd era relationships, but the moffat era relationships oh my god. They all drive me insane

[wurmwizzard]

Powdery pink pidgeon toes tapping across the linoleum floors.

tweaking and refining the designs for these two lovely beople (bird people) !! barnaby wells and lucille clementine 🦎👽

[grinchwrapsupreme]

Apropos of nothing i still remember when the final H*rry P*tter movies came out and it felt like such a chore to go see them i didnt even want to but it was like "these are the final movies from this series ever!! Everyone has to see them!!" And i hadnt enjoyed one since the third but they were in theatres looming over me like a fucking exam i hadnt studied for: inevitable, unenjoyable, and thoroughly unwanted

[ded-ihn-uh-hul]

Time for this comeback's Mystery Code/schedule

[unproduciblesmackdown]

also more briefly: i had enough overlap with relevant circles that i saw a post Here with various examples of the in-game works of art, then some more posts that established it as "whoah game in the style of illuminated manuscripts / medieval art / woodblock printing???" and dialogue-centric rpg / visual novel kind of situation, Then someone i followed on twitter just said they'd played it and loved it so i was like hmm for once this is one of those rare alignments of [this seems sooo relevant i will check it out] and On That Basis Alone i started watching a seventeen hr. playthrough lol

so i didn't even know that there was a murder mystery component / where the story was going, so like i don't think "gotta be unspoiled" actually makes or breaks An Experience of a Work, but it's not irrelevant, and like i easily would've looked up plenty of spoilers to ascertain interest and then checked it out if i hadn't already felt enough interest ascertained to commit to starting a watchthrough, wherein like imo knowing spoilers (a) can sure be further information that something's interesting & so provide the motivation to actually check it out (the relevance of this factor surely varies, e.g. it's actually pretty demanding for me to Actually Watch Something often even when i have already seen it & so know i like it / want to rewatch it; it's both really demanding for me to "just" check out some new to me [anything], and my interest-thus-motivation threshold is pretty high, where usually i also don't actually really want to lol. things gotta Align, be So strongly relevant to me interests, &/or probably i've Been marinating on checking it out / gradually building more interest)....and (b) there's a lot more Suspense to anything when you actually know some things that will be happening imo lol

but if you don't know, you can sure enjoy more Wondering, if you're particularly doing that, and be more Surprised by things, of course

all this to set up how i was like oh mein Gott this is such an Effect when i have no idea there's a murder mystery, let alone a murder, and andreas is trying to get home At Night and sees A Ghost in the Ruins and then proceeds to a scene where suddenly there's a Haunting Soundtrack playing while an unseen mystery figure through this tiny window is crying out about Pale Horse, Matins, Pale Horse On The Floor, Death

it was So enjoyably surprising and atmospheric and i'm like oh i love a clairvoyant promise that someone will die, But Who....wherein of course i love it Knowing that indeed that will manifest, and for whom, but i truly do cherish that first time around delight of Surprise and Wondering, and it's fun that pentiment was so like "oh i gotta check this out then" that i could just jump right in and be like yes i Will be watching all seventeen hours of this that requires reading this dialogue at high enough resolution / without burning off focus while looking at some other drawing/writing process too much. it's Such a cool and effective scene, holding back [soundtrack] so much to then use it to heighten effect so immediately. and like fuck yes there's an anchorite in this game

[lindwurmkai]

Sometimes I'm like "cis people have trans headcanons? that's weird idk if I like it" and then I'm like "wait but I have ADHD headcanons" and then I'm like "wait......."