#all time fav miyazaki

[ljesak]

🌲pinned🌲

im Maki, a 21 year old hobbyist artist from serbia currently majoring in compsci ! I have a bunch of interests, main ones being art (visual and writing), philosophy, sociology, media analysis, biology and video games as a storytelling medium

✦ main fandoms: warrior cats, elder scrolls, fallout, furry

✦ i engage with various other things too but these are the biggest!

✦ when it comes to art i enjoy portraying atmosphere and emotion, subjects are varied as im interested in too many things to settle on only few! I do wanna make more oc content, though and finally branch out into humans

✦ i enjoy a plethora of movies/books/shows/games etc. but it felt bloated to include them all here

✦ art is under #art tag !

my characters: https://toyhou.se/ljesak (art with them is tagged with their name, ex. laurie)

✦ other socials and commission info: https://ljesak.carrd.co/

I open commissions sporadically, my messages are open for inquiries

more about art/stuff i like!

video games: fallout nv, what remains of edith finch, disco elyisum, the talos principle, witcher 3, skyrim, firewatch, SOMA, beginner's guide, baldur's gate 3, outlast franchise, cyberpunk 2077, citizen sleeper, fran bow, undertale, outer wilds, the unfinished swan,, there's def more but those are the favs i rmbr so far. i want to get into dragon age and mass effect

webcomics im currently reading and enjoying: What Lurks Beneath, Lackadaisy, Oren's Forge, Golden Shrike, I Hope So, Tofauti Sawa

shows: bojack horseman, atypical (except the 4th season that one was awful), midnight gospel, dungeon meshi, atla, dragon hunters, arcane... i did watch many shows but i remember these personally resonated. i need to watch more shows in general but they are quite a big time investment

films: most of miyazaki's work, favs being princess mononoke and spiried away, WALL-E, coraline, ratatouille, I'm thinking of ending things, the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind... and more. i tend to prefer animation over live action as it's more expressive (obv not always the case)

again i did watch more movies id consider good but not personally meaningful enough to mention

books: i mostly read philosophical texts and fiction!! my fav authors are probably meša selimović and chomsky but i really need to expand my horizons with books, I'm least experimental with them, so its classics mostly unless i get a good recommendation

music: mostly indie folk/rock but i do listen to most genres, fav artists rn are Lord Huron, Daughter, Wickerbird, Slowdive, Warpaint, Arcade Fire, Wilsen, Aphex Twin and more!! i rlly love ambient music too so a lot of the games i mentioned previously have gorgeous soundtracks

will probably edit this periodically as i remember more things !!

[emlan]

Finished DLC!

Here's some Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree ramblings, spoilers under cut.

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. DLC catered to me a lot since I'm a Zanzibart cutscene enjoyer who loves map exploration and Vista money shots but I'm kinda HUH-cat.clip when it comes to some new lore bits and in general the world feels divorced from main game even though main game characters and topics are around?

I don't remember how much souls DLC tied into the other story, but I'm using The Old Hunters from BB as base and it really added extra value to its world and characters and there's just nothing new of real interest in SotE from what I can see…

In a vacuum I can only appreciate even more (literal) brother on brother action but Miquella seemingly being deeply obsessed with Radahan is so out of left field??? Granted I'm not an lorester but what I remember as Miq's key things from flavor text when it comes to ties to other people is him being sad about being unable to cure Malenia of her rot and also sad about not being able to grant Godwyn his true death. The only ties to Radahan is by proxy of his sister fighting him? (Was she even fighting him just to bring bro his crush to him? This makes Caelid getting nuked by her even more of a waste.)

It's so out of nowhere that the Epic Prime Version of him comes off as a cheap soyjak pointing bit pandering to Radahan fanboys (pretty sure he's like no1 fav guy for players right), but fanboys will obviously not be happy about him just being a hollow shell again (?) that might not have wanted anything to do with Miquella (?) so I just can't see this as satisfying for ANY kind of player even on a full Gamer Dude to Deranged Fujoshi spectrum? I imagine deep lore enthusiasts also feels a bit… Ambushed.

I'm not against Miquella doing dark unpleasant or just stupid desperate acts since it was already a popular theory that he was a brainwasher type, but the issue for me is that I'm not sure if this Miq/Rad union is "intended" to be read in such a twisted way even when it's the only way I can read it.

Though I guess the fact general consensus going from "wow Mohg is so messed up claiming Miq no matter Miq's consent" to "wow Miq is so messed up claiming Radahan no matter Radahan's* consent" is poetic….?

*I'm writing Radahan here but really it's also a synonym for 'Mohg' considering he's the one getting desecrated the most.

I'm sure I'll end up watching some vid or writeup making pieces fall into place later but I can't believe Miyazaki is handing me visual age gap brother incest and all I can do is force a strained smile in response!!!

Anyway general whining time:

As much as I love filling out up the map I feel there was too much big "empty" areas. Climbing the dragon mountain was the worst presentation of anything I've seen in a FS title, extremely cheap unfinished filler feeling with the spirit jumps instead of at least adding some kinda atmosphere like the open flower/gravestone fields. The Abyss gimmick overstayed it's welcome since it's too miserable checking if you missed a shiny somewhere without your horse, but at least the stealth parts was such a non-issue it might as well not be there.

While I like that you can see several inaccessible areas from where you stand, and I do think it leads to some fun moments when you're taking a random path halfway across the map and ends up on the other side as an a-ha moment, it was a bit frustrating not being able to tell more clearly how to reach sections. Plus I would've died 10000 times from drops if it wasn't the fact Rainbow Stones protected me from making bad choices.

What mindbroke me most was trying to get into the flower field area north east, having an "oh boy, beating this guy will let me reach it for sure!" moment for both Gaius and Sunflower was such [record scratch SFX]. I did figure posing in front of the statue was most likely the entry afterwards but somehow I had missed the gesture needed (most embarrassing DLC moment considering I tend to fine comb pretty well and the gesture pickup is just sitting there out in the open………. why am I even admitting this shameful thing). Watching trees get knocked over from something moving under the water in the church district was really cool and unnerving and then you realize it's just branch dragon number 800……………..

The wicker men has a great design but fighting them was either a boring slog or a frustrating jankfest trying to toss the bombs right. Peeved that you HAVE to use a furnace pot for the sleeping one blocking the ruin puzzle, hefty should've been fine too.

Bosses are too hectic/aggressive for my taste but that's just business as usual for ER so whatever, last boss really is way too punishing compared to other Hard bosses tho, in fact I just watched ending on YT since I'm stuck still on them :V Camera also makes a glorious return as the toughest challenge of them all.

Think my biggest highlights was seeing the bizarre finger/tongue path under the church and the finger mom boss visual itself and the black humor of the miserable living jars stumbling around with the pot on their head. Ansbach is a hot new waifu and it's very precious how such an upstanding man stays all-in loyal to a Deranged Satan (said lovingly) soooo cute you actually get a "Um, so about how Mohg died…👉👈" prompt with him. There was more NPC voice lines than I expected which was fun. St Trina's design was very neat and shoujo manga. Having to sip syrup 4-5 times instead of the classic Third Time's The Charm is a crime however and I missed making the Trina fanboy jealous until it was too late :/

The open world for all of Elden Ring is such an incredible experience that I'm happy I got to play and I had such a good time and I can't imagine any other studios will be able to reach these map heights but I also hope they never make an OW game again because it's too much when you "need" to replay it.

[katyspersonal]

Oh boy, more asks..

These are some... strong words, but you are not exactly wrong about it! It is hard to grapple with. Where exactly "We should respect many things being open to interpretation in Elden Ring" stops and "You people did not play the same game tho" starts? You are not wrong about it at least being 'boring'. What use would be the story through this reading? Obviously, the tragedy of cycle of revenge and becoming the very thing you promised to destroy is a story with more importance and depth than..... than..... uuuuugghHHHH

.....ok sorry I might have overreacted. BUT, I have my limits. What if I told you that trying to uplift the weight of the genocide by either dehumanising the species or finding an 'unavoidable reason' to do it is extremely poor taste. What then.

I suppose that a deeper reasoning here is how normal it became to see fandomry as moral act. The girls go into new interests and see stuff like 'war criminal', 'murderer', 'sex offender', 'committed/complicit in a genocide', 'abuser', 'fascist' etc etc as an obligation to hate the character! From which follows both desperately trying to prove that something is inherently wrong with fans of this character AND feeling in danger if THEY like this character! So what follows? Right, character should be "protected" from "slander"! A kind of behavior that does NOT belong in Fromsoft fandoms, but literally every other fandom IS like this so I am not surprised if people carry this disease here from their previous interests! I can't even judge it because in many cases people did have a reason to be worried about harassment because fandom inquisition would treat their morally grey or black fictional favs as testimony of their beliefs!

Again, maybe I am reading too deep into it? I am just really old, therefore I saw the fandoms as we know them these day at their birth. How that behaviour happened and how it developed. Yes, personal preferences and simply not wishing your fav to be hated are big factors when such things happen!

But I think we NEED to try and think what the writer tried to tell us! What IS the purpose of telling the story where the survivor of something unspeakable returns a long time later to wage a "war with no grace or honor" that gets countless innocent people killed? Would Miyazaki write a story that excuses fascism and genocide?

Nonetheless, so many people just not really think through this lense: why would author write this? A genius writer with multiple masterpieces under his belt before Elden Ring, consistently criticising all the ways society and humanity can go corrupted or monstrous? Would he focus on how wrong the Crusade was just to make Marika and Messmer good guys here, or focus on how cruelly Marika treated the last Fire Giant, after a war with 'Fire of Ruin that could burn the Erdtree' for you all to say she had good intentions in it? 'Death of the author' should have always stayed just a narrative method, as opposed to fandoms deciding to miss the point for the whole past decade!

...And the most frustrating part is that they'll treat those who simply demand more lore accurate reading of the story and characters, without even any moral weight to it, as "omnipresent problem", when going anywhere near Youtube, Reddit and Twitter attempting to avoid Marika defence is like that scene from animated Snowwhite and Seven Dwarves where heroine ran through the dark woods and something horrid would show up no matter where she pokes her nose!

But, look, anon, you are doing That Thing. You are upset at the way some DLC reveals had changed the things in the fandom, when it is not the fault of the DLC. Even before SOTE, there was the whole infight about 'wow Marika is like Gwyn but somehow more evil' vs 'she is just a puppet of Greater Will that wants to rebel'. Such complex characters just tend to attract falling into one extreme or another! One side, likewise, was saying that she was unfairly vilified even when criticism was valid, another was snapping at them saying they woobified her-

Again: just because we as a fandom are not ready for the concept of 'tragic backstory makes a character more realistic than someone bad just because they're bad' does not mean that writers should not make stories like this! I know I am one hell of a misanthrope that can't care less about the "community", but I think somewhere deep down, even I believe we could be better and help each other to improve! People who decided that character is just bad without sympathetic traits and will side-eye anyone who says otherwise are a HUUUUUGE pain, but so can be people who take any criticism as a personal attack!

_________________________

(The post in question: ( x ))

Eh, I am glad that you liked my analysis, anon; It is strangely a second instance ever since SOTE came out where I get anon approvals over "actually analysing lore for what it is instead of using popular headcanon or theory" (first was about Nanaya)! I do not check fandom beyond what ends up on my feed, just never had that habit, but are things actually this drastic?

Regarding your confusion, I think it became widespread because a very popular artist started to draw/write a lot of this fanon? Personally, I absolutely dread when it happens in the fandoms; when it is not a singular popular person on Twitter OR Youtube, it is a group of "cool kids" on some community Discord or whatever, but the resulting hegemony of the same takes/designs/ships/preferences/etc is always there! Don't get me wrong, I am a boring unimaginative autist whose only talent is over-analysing a videogame, HOWEVER. In the places where canon goes vague and one should apply their own creativity, I'd rather see variety of interpretations! Not something that can be helped: most fans, especially the new ones, will adopt popular takes without scrutiny in order to socialise faster and be noticed. It is a self-feeding cycle that you can only escape when you block out all fandom influence and try to look by yourself!

And, well, I guess this is what I do? I try to make sure I don't have any biases besides 'what makes more sense', 'what works better', 'what has more evidence' and 'what author most likely implied'! I guess this is how I ended with "acknowledging the actual relationship" as you've put it! 'Knowing' is a very loud word for Fromsoft lore, yet these games give you limited amount of ingredients and despite there not being a recipe, you would still not try to cook a cake seeing ingredients clearly meant for a soup! Or is it for salad? Or lasagna...? Well, it is not for something sweet, right?

[presiding]

What is your favourite thing about Billie Lurk?

(Answers are obvious possibly but i love when people talk about her👍)

thanks for the ask!! YEAH ME TOO I love when people talk about Billie! I can't say I have a favourite thing specifically, but I can explain why she's my fav. apologies for not taking this qn literally, but -

short answer: she’s really cool

& you can stop reading there, or, for the maybe 2 mutuals who might have time to read this my thoughts on her as a character, her meta, and her character as raw potential...

long answer:

i considered making this entire thing a gush so you could read a gush about Billie. but, part of what draws me to her is that she’s not always well written, and in fandom she’s underrated for a literal protagonist.

since you ask...

billie is a cool character

when I played Dh2 (hadn't played Dh1), I was excited to see a black woman with disabilities who was captaining a massive ship by herself. wow.

then I discovered Billie’s backstory with Deirdre, the way she responded to that, then having to survive while living on the run, and her bisexuality. as well as her history with daud & delilah. fascinating!

she’s an outsider who has so much to lose, and knows what it's like to lose everything - having lost everything not once but three times - but nevertheless speaks truth to power. she's so brave! she went and helped Emily & Corvo and she must have known they might kill her! plus, she’s smart, she’s funny, she gets shit done, she’s gorgeous.

but... the meta

mild critique of fandom & arkane incoming.

skip this bit if you want - you've been warned twice now - jump to tired Hayao Miyazaki and read from there if you'd like my thoughts on writing her.

i thought Death of the Outsider was going to be amazing and then... well. *sad trombone* i've written about that before so i won't keep banging on. i figured others must be disappointed too, so I joined a few fandom spaces in hopes of finding camaraderie.

most people with complaints about DotO didn’t like how the Outsider and Daud were handled. which is valid & I agree. but it seemed like most paid no attention to Billie; when people talk about her it’s with respect to Daud, as opposed to in her own right. you could argue for fandom misogyny because people don’t talk about adult Emily Kaldwin that much either, but in Billie's case, it’s misogynoir (compare & contrast with the popularity of thomas, particularly the popularity of thomas portrayed as a white man for no particular reason that i've been able to discern - i keep asking around, is it in the books???).

i think this is a LOT better now than it used to be, which is fantastic. or perhaps i have found the correct echo-chamber? ha.

ultimately, The Fandom is a fraction of the entire picture, and not even the important bit since The Fandom is not who these games are made for. you can't make money relying on only your hardcore fans even if all of them spent a fortune on merch, this is true for any AAA game.

while it's true that Billie is underrated from a fandom perspective - but Billie as an underwritten protagonist is squarely Arkane’s fault.

it was reasonable when she was a side character - the lack of info in Dh2 makes perfect sense (if anything there was more lore in Dh2 which is kind of wild)-

- but as a protagonist in Death of the Outsider?

.... there’s lousy writing, and there’s whatever is going on with Billie Lurk, a black woman who mostly exists as a foil or saviour for light-skinned characters. In her own game there’s barely any of her own lore except where it's relevant to saving two dudes.

lore hints at, but barely touches on what race means in the Dh universe (xenophobia is stronger in Dh1; separate essay i guess), but Arkane has patted themselves on the back for portraying non-white characters, which feels like the same thing as the aesthetic of diversity we're seeing in advertising currently because it’s in marketing trend guides. it's self-congratulatory and it's a missed opportunity for deeper storytelling.

you can see an example of diversity at its most shallow in the way that Billie’s written: there’s little engagement with her as an entire person with history & wants & preferences, and the world she walks through in that game feels like it has nothing to do with her. you could make a case for alienation as a theme, but then, how do you handle the titular premise of 'Dishonored' without ever letting Billie make changes in an environment without a chaos system? it's disappointing from that angle too.

in my opinion, whatever it's worth, it was an accident Arkane created such an awesome character - they needed someone to betray daud. congrats billie.

all this said, it makes her an underdog as far as characters to enjoy & create art & stories for. it's nice to find so many like-minded, switched on people! <3

billie's character potential

she’s got a wealth of unexplored lore, being deeply intertwined with both Karnaca & Dunwall’s fates & criminal underbellies, as well as her connections to the witches & whalers, and three Empresses.

she’s lived a few distinct lifetimes and in the games we get to meet her at two peaks (KoD & DotO) & a low (Dh2 as Meagan).

her voice is very distinct, her dry & often dark humour is entertaining & fun to write. her perspective is really interesting - she’s had the widest variety of void-powers of anyone canonically, and she’s also lived through the highest highs and lowest lows.

she's got everything going for her :) i couldn't really pick a fav thing!

[the-marron]

Hiiii!!! Question for youuu: 15, 17, 28, 29 for the ao3 wrapped thingy???? ❤️❤️

Hi!!! Thanks for the questions! ❤

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

Huh, depends. My newest child (Ma Zhe/ Yang Xiuxian) is with my beta right now and since life is busy I cannot exactly say when it will be done, so maybe that one? If not then I don't have any wips I plan to publish any time soon, but December is not over yet and I keep on Miyazaki-ing all over the place: "this will be my last published fic... UNLESS!!!", so who know, maybe inspiration gets me again 😂

17. Your favorite character to write this year?

Ah, probably Lin Nansheng, no surprises here - I loved being able to not only deep-dive into who he was in the canon, but also into the potential of who he might become after it, given some incentive and a new perspective on the world. But, I must say, I also liked Cai Qingchuan - I know he is a bit of an unknown, because hardly anyone has seen his movie, but I found the disciplined, brave and self-sacrificing soldier interesting (and not only because he is a BY-face) enough to try to make an attempt at bringing him into a modern setting - how would his dedication and lack of self-preservation work in our times? Why would he be this way? And I like the results, I think, as I like Et Moi Dans Mon Coin in general.

As for fav character in general - Zhao Yunlan and Luo Fei, but they both feel a bit too smart for me at times, so I find myself struggling in some parts, muttering to myself, 'come on, man, have a believable idiot moment to make my job easier, goddammit' 😂

28. Favorite work you wrote this year?

Again, no surprises - Unscathed! Not only it's my longest fic on ao3, it is also a mix of everything Marrons love and adore - Shanghai, history, Luolin, growing to trust each other, growing with one another while making difficult choices. I am really happy with this one ❤

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

Oh boy, that's a hard one... 🤔 I have a lot in Unscathed, but maybe I should give other children some time to shine, so I will go with:

“We need you, soldier,” he informed the plant, but it didn’t sound encouraging at all. If anything, it made Yunlan think of Zhao Xinci and his ‘motivational’ speeches. As an azalea, Yunlan would rather wilt than do anything a person talking like that asked him to, so he tried a different approach.

“Here, it’s my best coffee, you deserve it,” he said, pouring a bit of the beverage on the ground underneath the bush. “You are already doing great,” he added, feeling rather stupid. 

Well, at least he tried. 

From Weilan The Art of War 🥰

Thank you for the ask again, it was fun to think of the answers! If anyone wants to play, the template is here

[icarusgf]

crazy cuz his take of boy and the heron was "i liked it bc it had similar themes to other miyazaki movies like howls so if u know miyazaki and u know ghibli rly well u get the plot immediately and u can see the same themes across movies" which is exactly what i told redacted after we watched it for his birthday tg .. a week before he told me he liked this girl sooo much he took her to the spot we discovered tg to watch the sunset ...... and also when i showed him my spotify he was like oh lorde i know her in italy from adventure time!!!!! and immediate flashback to when redacted told me he learned abt mitski from hearing francis forever on adventure time . like why is he lowkey redacted's narrative foil but hotter and sweeter and why does he live 6000 miles from me. in the city where the love interest my fav movie of all time goes. HELLOOOOOOOOO

[youremyheaven]

Since you're into anime too, I have to know what nakshatras you think are in the big 3 of your fav characters! This is something I think of all the time!

i love Chihiro from Spirited Away and I always thought she was some type of Pisces, more UBP than Revati tho (Miyazaki himself is a UBP Moon so it do be adding up) maybe I'll make a post analyzing the spirituality of Spirited Away but that is such a pisces core movie if there ever was one.

I also loved Perfect Blue and I think the story was very Jupiter-Rahu

Motoko from Ghost in the Shell is another character that I think is very pisces coded

[coffee-in-veins]

Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game, #4, 6, 9, 13, 19, 20?

hullo hullo, thank you for the ask!

and thank you for so many questions ^^

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

Reynauld - because he is so metallic and shiny and i suck at drawing armour; also Sans Undertale because all of those bones and how they should look to be believable

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

hmmm... not even sure, to be honest. probably some of the older things i grew up with, like Starcraft, Warcraft, Morrowind, and Legacy of Kain. a lot of older games, frankly and the books i read as a kid... which were, looking back, not kid-friendly at all if they were judged today xD

9. What are your file name conventions

usually it's some pompous name which actually spawned the picture, like vae victis, hieromania, blood tango, he who hunts till dawn

if it's a text file, i go out of my way to have hooks so i would understand at a glance what it is and where it should go because i have a lot of those and eventually you forget where they are and what i was writing at all, like ch[chapter number] - [chapter name] - [part number]. unless it's a one-shot or a research note

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

hmmm... it's been a hot minute i had to look into some other works. frankly, Hidetaka Miyazaki comes to mind. is it gorgeous? yes. is it a thing i've listened hours of lore analysis of? yes. would i play it? thanks, i have enough cacti to chew in real life, so no

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

huh. it took me a long minute to think about. probably bones. i love drawing bones, whether inanimate or very much animated. also probably eyes. just eyes. nothing attached to them

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

hands - they're very flexible and expressive. also dymanic poses - although it often feels like chewing rocks at times. but i love doing it, and trying to make poses more and more alive, i like pushing the envelope in that department, you know?

[elfchensdcartblog]

Hello! Today I'm going to the movie theater to watch the new Studio Ghibli film (the only main Ghibli film I haven't seen), and it made me wonder if you've watched any movies in the theater that you've particularly enjoyed? I know I already asked your favourite Detective Conan movie. - DCMK secret santa

Hello~!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Actually I still need to watch that movie, too 👀 I love Ghibli Movies!

I think my favs are howl‘s and chihiro, but I also really like Kiki’s delivery service. Though I like all of them which are in Hayao Miyazakis style.

For other franchises I like Tangled a lot. Rapunzel is one of my fav characters!

And „cloudy with a chance of meatballs“ (is this the English title? I just translated the German one)

„Rise of the guardians“ is another one of my fav.

For non animated ones …

„Ever after: A Cinderella story“ with Drew Barrymore. I like a lot of her old movies around that time.

And of course I can not forget about the „The lord of the Rings“ and „The Hobbit“ movies! Also „Pirates of the Carribean“ (the first three movies)

I think could continue a long time but these are the ones that at first came to my mind 👌

Have a nice day!

[femme-from-hell]

don't mind me going through your blog to consume all the lupin content 👀👀 but, on a side note, i was wondering if i could ask your preferences in the many verses of lupin! as in, in which verses do you like to see the main cast the most? which ones do you feel are the most "authentic" to the character? keep up the good work, and happy writings! ❤️

I’m kinda dumb so I’m assuming when you say ‘verses’ you mean like all the different versions of Lupin and the gang! For me, It would have to be a tie between Miyazaki’s Lupin (castle of Cagliostro), Takeshi Koike’s movie iterations of Lupin, Lupin in part 2 (red jacket), and part 5. 

When it comes to what is authentic within Lupin and the character group to me, there are so many specific attributes to consider that are key focal points that make him, well, him! In Castle of Cagliostro, I adore the romantic nature where he leans more into the “gentleman” of the gentleman thief title. Miyazaki had stated that in his film, he wanted to depict a Lupin in his twilight years, a more mature version of himself. I feel like that more kind and caring nature is to die for, and it does really well in showing how the accumulation of all that he has gone through would understandably result in that type of personal development later in his life, assuming you were to put that movie on a timeline with all the other content. Along with Lupin, I love how the relationships between him and those he cares about are obviously close without having to directly say it, such as how he and Jigen wrestle about with one another, how Fujiko and him have a “I loved you once, and I still love you, just not in that way” vibe going on, etc.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have Koike’s depictions of Lupin and the others which heavily lean more into the “thief” portion of his title. The gritty nature, the unshaken attitude in the face of violence or death, all of it is a beautiful reminder of his origins (the manga)! It never fails to nail in the fact that in reality, he is a criminal, he isn’t really a good guy. Sure, once in a while he’ll save someone or do something kind, but most of it is as a result of an alterative motive. For example, in Fujiko Mine’s lie, he helps the kid out not because of morals or anything, but because the kid offered cash. That darker aspect of Lupin and his friends are rare in the later productions in the series, but whenever it does come about (with exceptions for stuff like Island of Assassins bcs its just a bad movie), it is beautifully done. It mixes a sense of manic sporadicity into Lupin which makes things all the more thrilling and interesting because it turns from just being this silly goofy guy to one of many layers of an internationally wanted criminal. 

Part 5 manages to mix that mature nature earlier displayed by Miyazaki’s Lupin but reistablishes the fact that Lupin isn’t just some guy you see in the paper, but he is in fact, a dangerous wanted criminal. A scene I love deeply is when in part 5, then Ami (amy? Idk she was a little annoying I won’t lie), had run off into an alley and these goons started picking on he and Lupin swoops in as usual. Unlike the usual goofy beating he would give them, he puts his gun into one of the dude’s mouths and was like, “I’m not some celebrity. I’m a criminal, I’ve killed before and I’ll do it again.”! It is one of my all time fav scenes across the board for the series. In terms of the maturity, it can be seen in his relationship with Fujiko which I adore. There scenes are so palpable with unspoken tension, his love for her exceeding words and how what they have will never be as simple as ‘I love you’. It takes all these good parts and mashes them together to make something amazing

As for my thoughts on part 2? He’s a gigantic asshole! He’s selfish, childish, whiney, but he’s also brilliant, inventive, and hilarious. All of these together make part 2 a great depiction of Lupin in his youth. 

Sorry this got kind of long, i got pretty carried away but I had fun writing a little summary on my thoughts! I hope you enjoyed it and I’m sorry if I misunderstood  (￣▽￣*)ゞ

[fareehaandspaniards]

You asked me about Patches recently, but how do YOU feel about him? I've noticed that his Bloodborne portrayal stands out not just because he becomes a monster, but it is the uhhh... idk, delivery? I did not even realize it was him until much later when I could recognize the voice actor ;-; Which version of Patches is your fav? (I personally don't think DS3 version could be bested, but ALL Patches are good)

Sorry it took so long, Kat! I had 1 hour of free time a day for a few days in a row :'^)

Patches caused me and my spouse a lot of conflicting emotions, because we started with DS3, and there he was, well… Not the best character xD I was genuinely amazed at how game developers could make THAT kind of asshole. My spouse killed him right away on the first playthrough xdd It was a shame not for the player character, but rather for Siegward of Catarina - a real sunshine! And then we found out that Patches really cares about Greirat, even though he hides it, and we started changing our opinion. As it turns out, they're friends, and Patches might even save him during the questline! Also, in the DLC, he shows up quite suddenly with memory loss, and gradually comes back to himself. It's so cute that by losing himself he becomes something of a knight, but the mean version of him is cuter still!

Then in Elden Ring we realized he's a king! xd No really, his character there is something awesome, he has his own, full questline and the way you get the "Extreme Repentance" gesture from him is divine! He gives hints, is simping for Tanith, and is overall a very cozy character that is something very nice to meet! And his gesture "Patches' Crouch" - oh my!!! xdd That's adorable!

In ds1 he shoves us off a cliff, but that was even cute! I accidentally killed him then because in my favorite location, I had giant skeletons running after me and I lost all bearings and got lost. He's very charismatic, actually, and his voice actor does double duty in making you love the character.

Well in BB his line "Oh Amygdalaaaaaaaa, have mercy on a poor bastard" is so SO HOT. So well said. I fell in love with it then. xd And the spider with the bald man's head is just a sample of what I want to see every day lol It's very interesting to imagine his place in BB's lore, but I can't do that. Not enough mana for that

And he's also Miyazaki's avatar in the game (I don't know where this info comes from, but it says so in the wiki and some articles! xd It must be just a theory, but it is sooo funny) So we have developed a local meme with my husband, like "everything is clear, the author is Patches" (все ясно, автор - Лоскутик. Так звучит лучше! хд) when any publication seems like a hoax, stupidity or something to us xdd

I haven't played DS2, but so many people are shipping him with Creighton? It looks hot and cool but I don't understand the background but shipping them sounds good xdd

He has something so cool in his character. Like he is completely fictional, but he is so "human-like"! Not because he is mean and lying, but because he has a balance of good and bad! He is easy to befriend actually, soft and nice, but also soooooo bitchy I can't xD He is that charismatic ass of a character, that is pathetic, but does nothing bad actually (almost???), but actually has a strong humanity... I can't describe! ;_; love him

Patches is a king (sorry for this sketch)

(Oh look! He caught another greedy bastard (no))

[annawayne]

Fav anime (other than AOT) and why

Hi, and thank you for your question!

Well, I gave it a thought, so it's going to be a small list (non on particular order):

Vinland Saga - this story always fascinated me with its approach for difficult topics. Working both visually and with composition, with music and symbolism, VS remains of the show (+ manga) one of my all time favourites. I find it as a story about the concept of morality in a world when this concept didn't exist at that time, and exploring such themes in such an archaic world - it's another challenge, but the show does it brilliantly.

Perfect Blue - maybe, one of the best examples of a person's psychological study I ever saw, both visually, compositionally and hauntingly beautiful. This is art, honestly.

Zankyou no Terror - oh, this show... I watched it twice, the first time when it was airing, and the second one - years later. My first experience was different from the second one, and first time, some of the topics seemed to me naïve and cliché, and my attention was centered around other things, but even at that time it became one of my faves. But years later, I rewatched this anime, and all the things I didn't understand at that time, became so... Clear, so relatable, so... Full of life? If I could choose one word that could describe this anime, it's going to be "fragility". And OST for this it's one of my favourites of all time.

The Wind Rises - my absolute favourite from Miyazaki, so different from all his others work, but the most personal and intimate as it seemed to me.

Death Parade - if you ever watched this show and you somehow know about me a little through my drawings and writing, so this anime isn't a big surprise. An absolutely unique approach of exploring human essence and emotions, a breathtaking work of storytelling and the ice-skating scene still breaks my heart every time I thought about it.

Violet Evergreen - pretty much the same reasons as for Death Parade, but DP seems to me a little more mature, but VE - it's a pure magic that makes you believe that this life is worth fighting for.

I haven't watched it yet, but I'm pretty sure Mushishi and Monster will continue this list once I watch these shows :)

[mikoriin]

What's your favorite movie, if you have any?

I HAVE SO MANY FAVORITES IS THIS AN EXCUSE TO RAMBLE???

so this is a long list of movies i have curated love for over the years so its under a readmore lmao not so much reviews but lots of gushing

now i cant choose an all time favorite. its just not possible im so passionate about so many different movies. but some of my fav fav fav movies ever are

Studio Ghibli's 'Laputa: Castle in the Sky' (1986)

ghibli's first full length film and hayao miyazaki's second full length film (as far as im aware, ive seen nausicaa too) and it is honestly a masterpiece, like damn what a way to start off your animation studio. this movie is both wholesome and very bittersweet. it has amazing characters, both villain, anti-hero, and hero. plus the romance between pazu and sheetah is so innocent and passionate. theres really such a fantastical element about this entire film its so inspiring to me and i hold it near and dear to my heart, i cry every time.

Jim Hensons 'The Labyrinth' (1986)

this was a childhood favorite of mine. my family LOVES jim hensons dark fantasy, and my brother and i grew up with this movie and the dark crystal (yes i watched the netflix series. yes i am forever bitter netflix cancelled it because it was truly so stunning) and the labyrinth was always my preference over the two even tho i do love both a lot. but this movie was just...so mesmerizing. my favorite scene is actually the ballroom fever dream scene. idk what most peoples' opinions on that scene is but it was soooo stunning to me i adored every bit of it. her whole LOOK THO!!!!!

Studio Chizu's 'Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki' (2012)

STUNNING MOVIE I CRY EVERY TIME!!!! not only does this woman win mother of the goddamn decade but this is such a strong coming of age story for not one protagonist, but THREE. its a coming of age for everyone in that family and how to find your own path and acceptance with growth and change. plus the animation is sooo stunning studio chizu has been slappin since the girl who leapt through time and such before then, but i was just soooo stunned by this movie's ability to mix the fluidity of their 2D and 3D. 3D animes can be rly hit or miss but they did this so well. beautiful stunning amazing movie 12/10 very recommend

Satoshi Kon's 'Perfect Blue' (1997)

this movie fucked me up and when i tell you ive seen it like 10 times LMAO its a psychological thriller and man the content warnings on this one.....its a bit of a traumatizing experience if youre a sexual abuse victim, but its Such a good watch. its got a rly good twist that i personally cant say is very good or not, its probably a bitttt dated. but its not focused on that one thing. this movie follows the trauma of mima and how she was treated by her higher ups and crew into doing things she was not nearly ready for or even wanted to do...but to make it to the top, what else can you do?

Disney's 'Atlantis: The Lost Empire' (2001)

MY FAV FAV FAV DISNEY MOVIE EVER!!!!! say what u want about this movie but its one of disney's BEST!!!! the scene where kida is taken into the crystal light above the pool of water and becomes apart of the crystal? dude that scene Changed Me. so good i love it chefs kiss muah amazing fun movie

Disney's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1996)

probably disney's darkest movie idk there are some classics from the 60s to 80s that i havent rly seen, but this movie gives me chills every time. the soundtrack? slaps. animation? slaps (thank u james baxter) characters? slap. this movie is SO GOOD and hypnotizing!!! and its so bold.

disney 2020s doesnt have the balls

Disney's 'Tangled' (2010)

FAV DISNEY PRINCESS FAV DISNEY PRINCESS MOVIE!!! i watched this shortly after it's dvd release because my mom bought it cause we always been a disney household and i fell in love with this one. yes i did watch the series. yes i did cry a couple times. tangled has my heart <3

Warner Bros' 'Cats Don't Dance' (1997)

FURRY MOVIE FURRY MOVIE!!! this movie got me into furries realistically. i love everything about this movie its so fun and charming and it has a very nice message of following your dreams while still being authentic to yourself. also lowkey about racism and prejudice in hollywood in the 1920s/1930s cough cough

Studio Ghibli's 'Spirited Away' (2001)

HOW CAN I ALMOST FORGET THIS CLASSIC??? my first ghibli movie!!! and it was such an introduction to miyazaki movies. it is such a fantastical take on japanese folklore. i for one am fascinated by japanese folklore, mythology, and culture in general so this movie is always such a treat and i can never get enough of it. one of my all time favorite movies, such a masterpiece.

Makoto Shinaki's 'Children Who Chase Lost Voices' (2011)

now this is one of shinaki's lesser known movies, but its my absolute favorite of his. this animation is still so stunning for 2011, and i can only imagine how impressive it was then considering how his stuff looks now lol but this is a high fantasy movie with miyu irino (♥♥♥♥) voicing the hero. dont ask me the rest of the cast i just hyperfixate on miyu irino specifically because he voices syaoran in the tsubasa series

ANYWAY!!! thats enough of that i could honestly go on and on but i figure i wont make this post any longer than it has to be hahaha thank you so much for the question!!!

[katyspersonal]

Let’s talk about Adeline for once!

1. Do you project onto this character?

11. How did you “fall in love” with this character?

19. Does this character serve as a stress ball/ security blanket for you? Something you run to after a bad day to feel safe or happier?

Her!! 🌊 (Asks from this ( x ) as game)

1) Do you project onto this character?

Kiiiiinda...? a whole lot Although it would be more appropriate to say that I see myself in her than project, because the more relatable bits are "canon", actually xD She is a weird one out amongst the patients to not be scared of horrors of the Deep Sea but desire them, she is guilty of neglecting/not getting Maria's advice of going a more sparing road towards the Stars but then sorta gets it when Kos reveals the same advice to her in inhuman language, and she is so nervous about no longer being in contact with the horrors... I know all of this very intimately. (Mental health TMI warning) Heck, I am the type that gets nervous when hallucinations, voices or 'presences' are absent for a while because I have this deep belief I've failed as a human being and only by being in contact with "horrors" my life can have some meaning :^)

I'd say 'projection' bit comes through how I interpret her motivations! "Grooming" of Blood Saints IS a translation error and in the original the word is used to say "prepare"(as in medical procedure), but it doesn't exclude some sort of emotional manipulation, just makes it a choice rather than direct lore. But nope! I took Adeline as a volunteer in experiments, coming from her own depression (and even insanity), not listening to advices or warnings of people that wished better fate to her and trusting a guy who was obviously full of shit cultist because she is Just Like That and having a good time with horrors not because her sense of self-worth was reduced by Healing Church, but because she never had one.. Blood Saint era, I think, was her willing to sacrifice something about her to help people. Laurence benefitted from that, not created that! I am guilty of all this, so now she is too :> In other words, she has agency because I do.

11) How did you "fall in love" with this character?

It actually took me some time! And I actually feel ashamed of how 'selfish' my reasoning was :') I always liked her enough, but she raised so far in the top of my favs when I figured her connection to 'Sea' theme, yeah. Right after I properly analyzed it via Miyazaki's bad post-BB hangover in DS3. Hhhyhhhghj Basically, figuring we did have spiritual connection with this character 'activated' my brain to notice and focus on everything else about her. And I've found soooo many things.. I brought back the "Points of interests about Adeline" analysis just recently and so you probably believe me x)

19) Does this character serve as a stress ball/ security blanket for you? Something you run to after a bad day to feel safe or happier?

Oh, absolutely! Whenever I scrutinize how far I've spiraled and it gives me feelings of self-hatred, I do find comfort in knowing that "I am just like Saint Adeline for reeeeal!!!!!1! XD". ......representation matters....? And comfort character term especially fits, because in most cases I focus on her when I have a bad day! (Don't worry and send me DMs when I do post about her though! Like I said, she DOES make me feel better already!)

[gravehags]

also while i'm on the topic here is a non exhaustive list of films i'd sell a kidney to watch with cardi with homemade hot chocolate and my 3 beloved cats conveniently hogging half the couch:

-the entire star wars franchise

-good old haze (criminally underrated smh)

-ken loach films in general bc my emotional ass is always sobbing by the end and i need a hug (i, daniel blake i'm looking at you)

-all of miyazaki's works, esp in french dub bc nostalgia

-die werke öhne autor aka my all time fav

-unhinged family anon

as a Star Wars Nerd™️ literally i would kill for that my god

[videostak]

finished rewatching this tonight soooo fkn good i love the shift between the more manga faithful type mood and the sillay funny miyazaki takahata stuff like the first time i watched it i thought it felt sorta seamless but on this rewatch it felt more apparent but like it still works rly well and gives u a great taste of both lupins. Its amazing how much mood and feeling and atmosphere they can cram in 20 min episodes like so far part 2 feels nowhere near as good cause it feels rushed n all over the place cause its not great with like just establishing settings yet tho i just started it. the animation in this gets so fkn good and like zenigata thrives in the overtly miyazaki episodes lol hes so cute. I still dont kno if i like the earlier stuff more or the later miyazaki takahata stuff more cause they both work so well but this is def my all time fav anime and like my overall like 3rd fav tv show ever