#also the soundtrack is insane I just thought I should put that out there

[its-kinda-snowy]

Young hearts beat fast Driving down the road Rubber, plastic, metal, glass Why did you have to go?

[ace-touya]

Class 1-A PowerPoint Night

A PowerPoint night is when a friend group all make PowerPoints on random topics and present them to each other in case anyone doesn’t know. This is what I think all of class 1-A would do.

Yuga Aoyama makes a PowerPoint explaining french slang terms that he thinks the entire class should start using

Mina Ashido makes a PowerPoint rating everyone’s families. Points are awarded based on presence of both parents, how well each student gets on with their parents, whether they have siblings (younger siblings get less points than older ones) and how much she personally likes their family members.

Tenya Iida makes a PowerPoint on how to revise for their upcoming exam, complete with diagrams and information about the psychology of learning. The class feel like they’re in a lecture.

Tsuyu Asui makes a PowerPoint where she turns things the class has said into Pinterest-style inspirational quotes and they have to try and guess who said what.

Ochaco Uraraka makes a PowerPoint on tips to save money, because you cant tell me some of the people in this class buy useless things they either lose, forget about, or have no idea what to do with.

Mashirao Ojiro makes a PowerPoint of things he does not understand. It features things such as the existence of languages, barcodes, and credit cards.

Denki Kaminari makes a PowerPoint called ‘Crying Wrapped’, which details the reasons he has cried over the least year, which months he cried the most and the least in, and rates his top 5 cries with little explanation

Eijiro Kirishima makes a PowerPoint called ‘things I’ve seen at the gym that just make sense’. Some of them have pictures to go along with them, and Ochaco and Katsuki nod along and say ‘I remember that’ to every other slide.

Koji Koda made a PowerPoint on why Aizawa should let them have a class pet. The PowerPoint actually had good reasoning so they emailed it to Aizawa, who only responded ‘no.’ And did not elaborate.

Rikido Sato makes a PowerPoint assigning each classmate a type of cake. He lists the reasons, the ingredients, and has a nice message for each member of the class on the slide with their cake

Mezo Shoji makes a PowerPoint about how Tokoyami is Not Real. Enough said.

Kyouka Jiro makes a PowerPoint detailing the soundtrack she would put together if their life was a movie, complete with photos and video clips of stuff they’ve done to go along with each moment she assigns a song to.

Hanta Sero makes a PowerPoint called ‘Canada is not real’, and it lists all the reasons why he believes Canada is made up. Shoto is nodding along and finds it very thought-provoking

Fumikage Tokoyami makes a PowerPoint analysing everyone’s entire zodiac charts. Kirishima is shocked to find out there’s more than just the sun sign. They also give everyone their horoscopes for the next month.

Shoto Todoroki makes a PowerPoint on conspiracy theories that he actually believes. They’re all completely insane but he does end up convincing some members of the class by the end.

Toru Hagakure makes a PowerPoint on Disney Men and whether or not she would trust them with her drink with little to no explanation. All the girls agree with her ratings.

Katsuki Bakugo makes a PowerPoint rating each of the barbie movies based on whether or not he could beat the protagonist in a fight. The class is shocked to find out that Katsuki does believe he would lose to some of the barbies.

Izuku Midoryia makes a PowerPoint analysing the class’s fighting techniques and their strengths and weaknesses as heroes, using all the notes he’s written about each of them in his notebooks. Additionally, he assigns everyone in the class a current pro hero that they’re most similar to.

Minoru Mineta makes a PowerPoint rating the girls in every class of their year group and is not allowed to present it.

Momo Yaoyorozu makes a PowerPoint assigning each classmate a different kind of tea, complete with the benefits of each flavour and why she would give it to them. She also includes the prices and the best places to buy them.

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT HAZBIN WAS SO FUCKING GOOD IM GOING INSANE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKENFKCMKWJRKFNSMSMDMSMDN-

Okay. Okay deep breaths. Time for some cool and collected comentary. Okay.

Putting it under the cut so ppl can avoid spoilers :)

HUSK USED TO BE AN OVERLORD!?!?!?!?!? HELLO!?!?!?!?!? FUCKIN PLOTTWIST OF THE CENTURY WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?!?!?

Huskerdust my beloved

SIR PENTIOUS MY BELOVED

Vox was great. I love him he's so fucking cool-

If Vox wasn't already a Tumblr sexyman he's definitely gonna be one now. He's so fucking Onceler coded it's insane.

Velvette was amazing too. It's so funny that she's British lmao I was not expecting that

Velvette is also very Anne Boelyne(like from SIX not from Real Life) coded it's wild. Her part in that song with Carmila was giving so much Don't Lose Your Head

I swear I'll stop comparing them to other characters I SWEAR

Okay but me and my brother are working on a Hazbin Hotel swap AU where we swap the main cast with the overlords and in that AU we swapped Husk and Vox. The Husk used to be an overlord reveal is gonna make that AU soooooo much easier lmao

ADAM IS REALLY GOOD I promised I would stop comparing to other characters but he was giving SO MUCH Hades from Disney's Hercules like its insane

I think we should let Alex Brightman sing rocj and roll more often that song was such a fucking BANGER

SPEAKING OF THE SONGS- oh my god I love the soundtrack so fucking much-

Stayed Gone was a lil less hype then I was expecting but thats okay cuz it was still a banger and I loved the visuals

That song battle between Carmilla and Velvette????? Oh my god??????

Carmilla and Vaggie's song was also amazing but I think I know why they didn't have Stephanie Beatriz sing her own song in Elena of Avalor y'know, girl cannot hold a character voice while singing

LOSER WAS SO FUCKING GOOD- I love Huskerdust so much. I love Keith David so much. Blake Roman is such a phenomenal Angel Dust.

SPEAKING OF all the voice actors are amazing. Blake Roman, Brightman as Pentious and Joel Perez were the ones I was the most worried abt but I loved all their preformances so much it was fucking fantastic

Valentino can go die in a fucking hole <3

The other Vees are cool and fun to watch but I hope Valentino fucking dies

Okay to be fair he's also fun to watch when he's not in the same room as Angel Dust but tHAT DOESNT SUPERSEID MY HATRED FUCK 👏 THAT 👏 GUY 👏👏👏👏

Speaking of the Vees tho I do love their dynamic

My favorite episode was probably Radio Killed the Video Star bcuz of mY BOYS PENTIOUS AND VOX!!!!!!!!

And the most painful episode to watch was- no surprise- Masquerade

That episode was a fucking rollercoaster Jesus fucking Christ...

Those scenes with Angel and Valentino where so fucking visceral... like. Who the fuck wrote that. Who are you. Are you okay. Do you need help-

Tho I'm not sure abt how they're handling the ah- more serious bits of Angel's character. It is WAYYYYYY to early to tell and I think Loser wasn't like. Trying to downplay the situation. But the writers better have been careful moving foreward bcuz I can def see a world where Angel's arc goes very wrong very fast-

Also while we're criticizing: wasn't a fan of the pacing. Especially in episode two. Like I can look past it, but the way they breeze past some plot points kinda bugged me

Otherwise it was sooooooo fucking good man oh my god

THE HUMOR WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN PPL MAKE IT OUT TO BEEEEEE PPL NEED TO STOP SHITTING ON THE COMEDY IN THESE SHOWS MAN-

The gag where Niffty just fucking stopped thinking every time the camera turned on was so fucking good

Niffty in general was really fuckin funny

Alastor was a lot less prominent of a character then I thought he would be but tbh I think that's for the best. He's like Discord from My Little Pony, fun in small doses but if you don't set perameters for how often he appears and when he's willing to help it kinda breaks the show

Chaggie is adorable and I love them <3

I think this show does a really good job balancing the focus on the whole cast! These first 4 episodes seem to be pretty Charlie, Angel and kind of Vaggie heavy but everybody still gets their fair share of attention!

THE ANIMATIOJ OH MY GOD- IT WAS FUCKING PHENOMENAL IM LOSING MY M I N D

Im going feral IM GOING FERAL THIS EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS AKFNVKKENFEKFNDN

I love comedy. I love musicals. I love drama. I love silly characters. I LOVE ANIMATION!!!!!!!

It's like the South Park movie but longer and better animated and IVE BEEN WAITING FOUR FUCKING YEARS-

Just. So excited overall. Can't wait to see where it goes. May make more posts abt my thoughts in tbe future.

[barblaz-arts]

Real real real random ask.. Buuutttt- what's your favorite song? Mine's either this or this, and not even because I'm into the dsmp, I just like cg5 lol. So yeah! Just was curious ig, also thought I should mention that you actually got me (back) into (obsessed with) the Crane Wives! I used to listen to them a little while back and got back into them again when I watched the Chaggie animatic with Curses for the song. That's all, have a good day!

Oh that is a very dangerous question. I LOVE talking about/recommending songs I like. I cant just choose one tho, especially when there are artists who have so many songs I love and there are many genres I adore, so sorry for the long ish list

With The Crane Wives my favorite changes from time to time. I remember when I was ill and basically bedridden for two months, I'd spend hours just listening to all of their songs. Rn my favorite is I Aint Done. Apparently it's supposed to be based on some urban legend? I like to think of it as some tragic sapphic story

Marianas Trench is another one of my favorite bands. If you were a teen like me who loved watching AMV's in the 2000's to 2010's, their songs are often used for ships lol. (i get the feeling you might be a bit on the young side tho, so sorry for talking about some oldies here) Hard to pick a favorite too, but maybe this one since it's the first one of theirs I heard

I havent ventured too deeply in rap heavy songs, but this is one I like a LOT. The pre-chorus and chorus are such killers too and a lot of fun to sing lol

Jordan Fisher is such an underrated gem. Their songs take me back to the classic RnB from the 2000's. And watching them perform is kinda captivating.

People who have followed me for a while now know that I also love kpop/Loona, so lemme plug in my girls real quick. This is my favorite from one of their subgroups

Kiss of Life is a newer group I've been getting into lately, and they're real dang talented. They kinda remind me of Little Mix, which I also really liked

If you're into anime, you've probably heard of yoasobi because they've had songs that feature in anime. It's really really hard to pick a favorite with them but the one they wrote for Beastars is the one I'm currently obsessed with

There are also a lot of good songs in my country I could talk days about, especially this one by Ben & Ben. The mv stars their bassist and keyboardist who are dating irl, which makes it even cuter

And then there are so many broadway songs i like.... oh my god so hard to choose........

Beetlejuice is my favorite musical, so I gotta choose one from it. The lyrics for the songs in this musical are so good, but especially with Dead Mom. The bridge where Lydia turns all soft because of how much she loved her mom gets me everytime. (fun fact for those who dont know, the voice actors for Pentious/Adam and Rosie were the OG actors for the title character and the step mom)

Lastly, I havent actually watched the Waitress yet(I'm talkin about bootlegs ofc) but the soundtrack's really good. The voice actor for Niffty was also there, so you might wanna check it out just to hear her sing, she's phenomenal. This song is undoubtedly the best of the bunch, and there's actually a version song by Lucifer's VA that is absolutely heart-breaking, but I'm putting the original version in the post for the intended message of the song because its important. Also this animatic is kinda insane. Jeremy Jordan's version of this song really is worth checking out too for sure

[brunhielda]

Because this is becoming THAT blog-

The one where I review old movies we all have already seen, but I personally, have not seen for years until recently.

I just watched “An American Tale.”

If you were a child of the 90s, you just thought- “There are No Cats in America 🎶? THAT American Tale?”

Yes.

If you had that thought, you likely already know. If you have not had the absolute joy- buckle up. I am going to rant about a classic.

First of all- This is Don Bluth.

His movies do not get worse with age.

They get BETTER.

And American Tale is example number ONE.

No, it is not fond memories or nostalgia glasses, you can breath, and then go treat yourself to a viewing.

Secondly- the man did not dumb down or sanitize his history.

He said “I’m going to tell the immigrant story” and then opened with a fucking ethnic cleansing.

I said what I said.

The movie is set in the early Russian Empire, a time full of anti-Semitic sentiment and enforced laws, also seen in “Fiddler on the Roof.” Fiddler on the roof might actually be tamer on the subject.

Every other historical note in this movie is on point and easy enough to look up in a history book, if you have the common sense to realize that names have been altered.

The Statue of Liberty was not built by a pigeon, for example. It was built by a Frenchman. (Frederic Auguste Bartholdi).

I don’t know of an “honest John,” but I did guffaw out loud when he started taking names of the dead at funerals to add to his vote count. Ghost votes were very real, one of the reasons people are still so twitchy about voter fraud today.

I do not recall a moment in 1886 when the minorities of New York managed to run off prominate members of authority… but with how on point everything else is? It would not shock me.

Thirdly- Bluth DID NOT FLINCH

I don’t remember who said it first, but both Bluth and Spielberg had a belief that you could put very sad and scary things in children’s films, as long as the ending was happy.

This movie has multiple nightmare moments. Cats, monster waves, more cats, bugs and fish, and of course, the horrifying “Mouse of Minsk” (iykyk).

The thing is, it’s not even how they are drawn. Like, yes, the image is scary, but it’s the storytelling around it. It’s the lighting change. The soundtrack. The horrific sound effects. Seriously- whoever did foley on this film deserves all the awards- you make me scared of the kitty kats, and I LOVE cats. 🐈

Some people will question whether or not it is appropriate for small children. I would say maybe wait until they are six, and watch it with them, but they should watch scary things if they can. Being scared in appropriately safe space teaches you how to react to fear and handle moments when you are scared in real life. It is my major argument for Halloween. But each parent has to do as they think is best for each individual child. In any case, watch this one first before showing it to your kids- definitely more scary than you remember.

Finally- the animation on this film is a national treasure. I honestly hope this film is in the Library of Congress collection.

There are animation techniques here that don’t exist anymore.

Sparks. Sparkles. Glimmers. Stars in the Night Sky. Smoke billows.

Actually, I almost paused the film on a smoke billow. Sony is doing some things in the recent “Spiderverse” trilogy that are insane- and part of it is their mixed animation.

All the smoke billows? Hand drawn.

They look the same as Bluth’s smoke in this film, which is making me wonder if one of their artists studied under him. Maybe not- maybe they just did their homework on good hand drawn cloud formations. Either way, realizing how close they got to the master work in this film made me appreciate them even more.

Speaking of insane animation-

I don’t know WHO Bluth felt he had to show off to, but this man could DRAW WATER and he fucking knew it.

Like water is hard to do, ok? Like hands, Da Vinci had notebooks full of sketches of the substance, proving it to be the bane of the artistic existence.

Most water in hand drawn animation comes in two forms-

Flat water color with pretty things floating in it to distract you-

Or drawn over a live video of water that they spliced into the image.

Even that was hard to do, and they used a technology no longer available to us. It looks pretty cool honestly.

But no, not DON fucking BLUTH.

Not only can this man hand draw water without the underlying video, but he draws it moving in multiple different ways. He shows it from the top, side, and sinking underneath (with moving bubbles and shifting light, no flat blue for him).

He turns it into a NIGHTMARE FUEL WAVE MONSTER.

He ADDS it to SCENES it DIDNT HAVE TO BE IN!

The more I watched this film, the more I realized that if Milt Kahl had the head swaggle, Don Bluth had water, and by God was he going to use it.

He wrote plots AROUND the idea of water, so he could showcase it in every scene. “Rock-a-doodle,” and “Pebble and the Penguin” come to mind. “Anastasia,” “Thumbelina” and “All Dogs Go to Heaven” all feature action scenes in water. Heck- the one in “All Dogs Go To Heaven” came out of no where, and makes so much more sense if it was just Bluth wanting to show off.

“An American Tale” had the travel by boat sequence and our main hero being thrown over board. He could have left it there. NOPE. There were puddles and sewers and fire hoses and action scenes at the docks.

And the few scenes without water? Let’s throw some scary sparks in there. Maybe some smoke billowing. For funzies.

Also- we’re going to have a Love Song with the most incredible Night Sky you have ever seen and a Comedic song featuring fun house mirror distorted reflections because WHY NOT???

I think he was trying to make sure Disney regretted him leaving, the way you dress up when you know your toxic ex will be there, and I love that for him. 🩷

Also- the backgrounds are all beautiful water color. I love a good water color.

Also- yeah, the sound track holds up. The songs are just as catchy as they ever were- if you have ever seen this movie you WILL find yourself singing along.

As previously mentioned, when it comes to the scary parts, the composer UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT and the music easily fits into a good horror film.

And finally- the music at the finale when everything is made right, and the happy ending is finally here, is the most heart breaking thing you will ever hear. You will cry. Watch the movie, but bring the tissues. 🤧

This movie is definitely worth a watch.

This movie is more than worth a watch, it should be mandatory for elementary history and college animation classes alike.

But also it’s just fun. 🤩

[evajellion]

Mean Bean Tsuu Demo Review

Wow, cool. This is a thing that exists as a work in progress. Gonna shoot my shot and give criticism while praising some stuff, as I do.

Biggest praise right away, love the graphic and soundtrack adjustments to to the main gameplay. The remix of Green Hill Zone is great. The main three now also use the final boss theme that Dr. Robotnik had. It's a neat touch.

Actual criticism I have (that isn't the lack of offset rules, they are gonna add that in the full game) so far is that apparently this game is going to follow "a story more in line with that of Japanese Classic Sonic canon"…

I mean not for nothing, but the whole appeal of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is that it's set in the AoStH universe and has the characters. I would lean more into that aspect than just using generic Badnik designs. I asked what some other peeps thought, and they agreed.

I love the effort put into Coconuts, but… as much flack as DiC gets, I definitely always thought this design was an upgrade from Sonic 2 to the cartoon.

There is room for compromising the designs, which would have been to use the reboot Archie comic one-

But yeah, I mean, I would have reskinned Humpty into DOS Holiday instead of altering Coconuts for the demo. And of course, I think they should just use characters from the cartoon. AoStH does have good designs despite how out there they are.

Also- not criticism, but damn, how do you expect me to pick on poor Humpty when he's so sweet? I could never. 😭

Not sure if the fan favorites are gonna be removed from the final, that doesn't bode well, given how popular Davy Sprocket always was with deviantArt users.

One last thing I would like to go over, is that although the game is based on Puyo Puyo Tsu, it probably isn't going to have the… frankly, insane roster it had for the time. A whooping 33 opponents (37 in the Sega Saturn one), with a score system that determined how quickly you can get through the game. That's a tall order that no one could easily fulfill unless you reskin Puyo Tsu in its entirety.

But I do hope the full game does at least have more than 13 opponents, and includes the "first boss of the first game becomes a penultimate enemy" that was done with Draco. Arms deserves a redemption arc. :)

Besides offsetting, I hope they add the rest of the Puyo Tsu features such as "ALL CLEAR", Rule Henka (Point Puyo and Hard Puyo), and how crazy the nuisance queue can get.

Maybe also make a silly name for the title, since the whole "tsu" thing only works in Japanese. "Robotnik's Eggspertise Machine"? "Mean Bean Part 2: Electric Boogaloo?" I dunno.

So yeah, dunno if anyone from SHC will see this post. I don't have an account there and joining the Discord makes me nervous, so this is just a drop in the ocean I'm making here lol.

Hope my silly yaps are taken into consideration. If not, then that's okay too. We AoStH fans will take anything at this rate.

Demo can be found here if anyone wants to try it out.

[murciafire]

To See You

Pairing: Jason Todd x gn! reader

Summary: Maybe in another life you were together, just not this one.

Warnings: Not saying that Jason would cheat on you per say, but there’s definitely some infidelity going on

Notes: Just a little thing. Might start an angst series with Jason so I wanted to put this in before starting that. Hope everyone’s doing good! Not proofread either. Also, Avery was just a random gender-neutral name. Feel free to think of a different one. I was thinking of using an actual DC character, but I thought not to. Unless I should?

Words: ~1.2k

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:

The late afternoon sun spilled through the windows like honey, drenching Jason’s apartment in a lazy, languid atmosphere. You could hear the movie that continued to play in the living room, the one you had picked earlier and have now completely forgotten about. The soft murmuring of characters professing their love for each other and the accompanying soundtrack a distant sound—a different universe from where you and Jason stood in the kitchen. It was just him, and you, and the sun—the sun that shone on Jason and made you wonder if the heavens drowned him in gold and starlight because he was nothing more than an angel who did not deserve to fall from heaven; but he had fallen anyway, and you had wondered if he fell to find you and perhaps it was a selfish thought, and though it was, you wanted nothing else in this world but to show him that heaven was a person, and you wanted to bring him home.  But the heavens, you presumed, were so full of grief and guilt and had made him beautiful in exchange of their failings and despite his sins which was why you were so transfixed and pulled into his direction. But that was insane, foolish, and you were so stupidly in love with him because you wanted to reach out and fix his halo. And in the afternoon sun, where he stood so graciously and so alive, it made you wonder what it was like to be the light that made his eyes glitter with life. You had also wondered then what it would be like to have those eyes look at you, and it was almost cruel how the world worked because every time you looked away, his eyes would try and find yours. And you hadn’t noticed this when you were so blatantly ignoring him—or so utterly absorbed into the rom-com (which Jason, to your obliviousness, found your concentration so amusing), but not just in this instance, but in almost every instance that ever existed—he was always looking at you.

And when your hand bumped into the forgotten bowl you were refilling with popcorn, you had also wondered then if Jason’s significant other noticed or cared enough to question why you were both taking so long in the kitchen.

“Why are you here?” you asked, the words slipping past your lips, coated in the guilt and concern you always felt when you were left alone with him. Because, good God, were you ready to spark an event that would alter your lives forever—and you could see it unravel every time you were next to him, but then again, reality made you sink back on your heels before you could sprint as you already saw Jason at the finish line with his lover.

“I wanted to see you,” he breathed, his eyes searching yours. “Y/n . . .”

He took a step forward and leaned against the counter beside you.

“No,” you said quietly, your voice firm despite what you felt inside, your heart unraveling and tightening within you, strings in which he pulled so easily. Never manipulatively, no, not in that way. It was a pull, like the atoms that made your heart hum, sigh, and sing all at the same time—a string instrument he knew how to play the most tragic of hymns.

Jason shook his head, his dark hair falling into his eyes. “Yes,” he whispered. He pushed off the counter and turned to cage you against the counter. “Yes, I wanted to see you.”

He dipped his head into the crook of your neck. “I wanted to see you, not Avery.”

You placed your hand on his chest—and you wondered then if you were trying to push him away but as you thought about it you knew what you were trying to do: you were trying to find his heart.

“Don’t do this,” you said, feeing the steady beat of his heart under your fingertips. “This is not the time. Don’t do this to Avery.”

“Why?” he asked, his voice desperate. “Why can’t I do this? Why can’t I say this right now?”

He tilted his head up, looking into your eyes—looking for you, as he always was, not the reasoning (damn the reasoning), he wanted you.

“Why can’t I tell you how much I want you,” he whispered.  “Why can’t I say the words that I’ve wanted to say since the day we met?”

He leaned down into your face, narrowing his eyes. His voice grew with every word, tinged with the frustration of longing. “Why are we so scared of talking about this? Like we’re both in some kind of denial?”

You shoved him against the wall. “Shut up,” you hissed, your eyes wild with desperation. You clamped your hand over his mouth, not wanting to hear another traitorous word that fell from his mouth. “You never said that. Now go back into the living room before Avery looks for the both of us.”

Jason leaned into the wall, watching you carefully as you stared up at him in anger. He didn’t resist you because he liked it. He liked it a lot; more than what he could say—ever say.

You felt him smirk against your hand before you felt his mouth open, his tongue sliding out and licking your palm, over your fingers. You pulled your hand back, a blush staining your face.

“What if I refuse?” he whispered, grinning. “What are you going to do about it if I refuse to follow your commands?”

You licked your lips, pausing to think—not that you could, not when all consciousness escaped you and all you thought about was his tongue on your skin. Jason smirked, knowing exactly what you were thinking about. He stepped forward, gently pushing you back into the counter. He cupped your face with one hand, and then, in the most gentlest of manners, swiped his thumb across your cheek. Before you could say anything, he dropped the hand that was on your cheek and wrapped it around your neck delicately.

“I said,” he murmured in your ear. “What are you going to do if I refuse?”

When you remained silent, he dropped his head into the crook of your neck, both of his hands sliding down to rest on your waist. You didn’t know it then, and hadn’t heard him over the beating of your heart that roared in your ears, but he had said something so gently and so indiscernible, it was like he was taking a breath.

“Please,” he had begged.

But you never knew that, and you had wondered on your way home, how the movie had ended as you had left early feigning sickness. And you were perhaps, sick of it all, sick of lying to yourself. So unbelievably sick with a heartache only reserved for a love that was meant for a another universe, and it weighed down on your bones where on some days you wondered if your bed was a casket.

And you wondered, late that night, if Jason would ever look at you. You hadn’t known it then, but Jason looked at your empty seat on the couch that entire night. But that’s how it was, wasn’t it? He only looked when you didn’t.

[iguessitsjustme]

The On1y One Ep 4 Thoughts

It has been one million years (2 days) since I have been able to watch this show. And now I have made it. I can now binge this show and I am sooo excited. But once I catch up, I WILL cry. Anyway. Under the cut:

I honestly think that one of my favorite things that I think is gonna happen in this show is Wang starting to at least trust and like Jiang Tian’s mom. Not as a replacement mom, but as an adult who cares about his well-being and understands him and his situation. I love how little pressure she puts on him. She always cooks for him and is never mad when he just leaves. She didn’t even get angry at his outburst about her not being his mom in the last episode so I genuinely think that she is doing it right and I think they’ll at least get a little closer and I love to see that.

That egg is PERFECTLY cooked. What is the problem with these boys?

That egg was raw? It was just runny. No I refuse to believe raw. It was perfect…maybe this is why eggs hurt my stomach…

*chokes on my own gay coughs* *coughing in gay*

*spluttering in gay*

Poor Jiang Tian is too gay for this man. Too gay for this world. He’s just trying to survive.

Yeah, I just started screaming. Piggybacks my beloved.

And now Wang is texting him in class. Truly testing the limits of this model student. I love this.

This school affecting the sleep of these children pisses me off in a special kind of way. THEY NEED TO SLEEP IN ORDER TO FUNCTION AND LEARN. Poor Wang has no choice if he wants to catch up. Absolutely bonkers and insane school. I kill them with my mind powers.

Awwww they’re studying together. And you can tell Jiang Tian was impressed with Wang immediately understanding why he chose the key points he did.

Oh these two go off the cliff. What the fuck is this behavior?

Awwww and now they’re fighting together. Also thank you Wang for adding to my collection of “boys throwing their bags at a bully” (there are two that I know of now. maybe I should make a gif of this one too)

Normal. I am normal. Completely normal about this.

COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY NORMAL.

Also it’s been a minute since I’ve said this but I LOVE this soundtrack so much.

SKLJGHKDHFLHKDHFH;LKDJFLHKJ

I am obsessed with the way that Wang looks at Jiang Tian. OBSESSED with it.

Okay I figured out what is pissing me off the most about this school. Wang is behind because he transferred late. They expect him to attend class and understand everything but also catch up on the semester he missed. By himself. His peers had a semester of being taught by their teachers. Wang has to teach himself. If it weren’t for Jiang Tian, he would be screwed. Even though he is incredibly smart and capable, he is being offered no help from the school. All of the help he has received has been from his fellow students. His friend tells him the weird rules of the school, not the administration. Jiang Tian helps him study to catch up, not his teachers. This is actually insane. I need to have a word with SOMEBODY about why they want my poor baby boy to fail.

This show insists on making me SCREM

No screenshot, but just know the noise I made when Jiang Tian asked if they could come out of the closet was not human.

Someone is up to some SHIT and it’s making me ANGRY. Leave my baby boy ALONE.

Just know. That these men that are beating up Wang. They are on my shit list. And they die now.

Thank GOD I don’t need to stop right now. I think I would lose it actually. On to episode 5.

[sibyl-of-space]

oh my god so a while ago i submitted the amadeus demo to a certain not-to-be-named indie event, not really expecting it would be accepted but figuring it's worth a shot and either way i get feedback. right.

now i have had... mixed... experiences with the particular group putting on this event. i think they do some genuinely awesome work and provide an invaluable service, but the overall community still feels wholly unprepared for anything even remotely artsy or weird. like even though it's an indie scene it feels very normie core. i don't even consider amadeus that artsy or weird, but i am occasionally reminded that i may have a skewed frame of reference compared to a lot of folks.

(a few months ago i attended a narrative feedback thing with them that was such a dumpster fire it pissed me off so bad i went and wrote 43790248932 paragraphs about it on here. like just genuinely some "have you, like, ever read a book?" tiers of utterly baffling "criticism." one of them pointed out to me that i may not have considered this, but Amadeus comes off as slightly rude. ....NO FUCKING SHIT.)

anyway. i submitted the demo because i figured the feedback would be useful, i can use any positive quotes in future trailers, etc. i have as of today learned that the game didn't get in and also received the promised feedback.

first of all i think it says a lot that from seeing in the email "we regret to inform you," my response was oh thank fuck. I don't really want to deal with tabling at an event cuz I have other shit going on and would rather focus on finishing the game since I've just made a lot of decisions I'm excited about; they also didn't get these responses back far enough in advance to actually prepare tabling materials if I HAD been accepted so it would have been more stress than anything else. I've also been salty at things like the above narrative feedback debacle so I was absolutely just like "this is completely fine with me."

But I made the mistake of reading the feedback provided and now I am going insane again.

TO BE FAIR! SOME OF THE FEEDBACK IS GENUINELY THOUGHTFUL, I may take or leave a lot of it, some of it raises good points I've already addressed, some of it clearly understands what I'm going for etc. I appreciate all of that.

But man some of this is pissing me offfffffffffff.

Some quotes that are making me particularly want to kill someone:

"When first meeting the witch the dialog is just incredibly long and boring and I ended up skipping through most of it. Given how linear this story seems to be, I think it would be better suited as a webcomic or a motion comic, not a visual novel."

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE WORD NOVEL MEANS. JESUS CHRIST.

I am extrapolating a hint of potentially meaningful feedback from this which I'm already addressing (the personality of the Witch in that conversation should come through more than it does) - but this person gave that "feedback" in the douchiest most insufferable way possible. Luckily for them, I've since made that conversation even longer. Fuck off.

"Some of the music is very harsh and dissonant while being very repetitive, which made me less enthusiastic about listening to it."

This was the same person which just tells me they have no taste. Like hmm I wonder if there was an intentional reason I am using dissonance in the soundtrack about someone going through something insanely fucked up. The repetition is an understandable critique even if I'll be ignoring it, but "some of the music is harsh and dissonant" is not a valid critique. Soundtracks aren't supposed to just sound like nice flowery music all the time, or at least not good ones. I'll be making the full soundtrack more dissonant just for you.

"Is there a reason for the Amadeus's bracers to be colored in but not the rest?"

[different person] THIS . THIS. F. ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS

NO. THERE'S NO REASON. I TRIPPED AND FELL AND ACCIDENTALLY ONLY SOMEHOW ENDED UP COLORING HIS ARMS IN EVERY SINGLE ASSET THAT DEPICTS HIM BY ACCIDENT SOMEHOW! THANK YOU FOR CATCHING THIS OVERSIGHT! SILLY ME!!!! IM TEARING MY HAIR OUT

"Not all of the music is equally fitting. There's at least one track that gets a bit techno."

yeah and im adding another track inspired by Bad Taste Aquarium from Sonic Adventure and another one that's basically GoldenSlaughterer 2. girl help I'm being "critiqued" by lame people with absolutely no taste

im so glad i read this after i finished moving my to-do lists to a new project management platform and getting really excited/motivated about where i'm at with the game because if i had seen this 2 days ago it would have just fucking killed my motivation. man. it's literally so hard being the only person with #vision

[terranceholdsapencil]

So Ive watched Boom and initial thoughts

S14e03 "Boom" doctor who spoilers

-immediately knew these guys were dead.

-susan twist what are you doing in my ambulance

-killing someone because they'd take four weeks to recover is insane but also works great as the endpoint of capitalism

-casual reminder that I adore 15s theme. Its very different from other Doctor's themes but its lovely.

-skye boat song?!?! Two played that on his recorder back in the web of fear

-"One wrong move, and BOOM. I go all food mixer"

Great line, 10/10

-"everywhere is a beach eventually"

I hate that this made me think of Rose

-"Why, does a landmine have lights on it?" "*groans* capitalism" "Excuse me?" "Flashy lights play well in a showroom. Modern warfare. Death by salesmen"

This is just. Oxygen but instead of a space station its warfare. Jamie Mathieson basically wrote this already. But thats okay I will still eat it up

-lesbian gymkhana. Noice.

-"IiIm not even screaming yet"

THAT'S THE RIGHT ATTITUDE 🫵

-smelted :)

-"i was trying not to show off" well thats new cause you always show off

-"you are brave." "mm." "And you are wonderful. And I forgive you for being incredibly stupid"

Do you know what that reminded me off? The dead boy detectives staircase confession. Come on, you hear it too:

"Also, I cannot BeLIEve you would risk your entire existence coming down to this operatic horror show for me. That is so FUCKING stupid its unbelievable" "Sorry. No version of this where I didnt come get you, is there"

-"I went down to the beach, and there she stood, dark and tall, at the edge of the wood. The Sky´s too big; Im scared!, I cried, she replied: Young man, dont you know theres more to life than the moon and the president´s wife?"

Was she erm , was she nice, the presidents wife?

Ah, well, that was a lie put about by the shabogans. It was the presidents daughter. I didnt steal the moon, I lost i..

Id know you anywhere.

12 AND CLARA MENTIONED?!?!?

-"Life is cheap. Patients are expensive"

Just as I said. War oxygen. Theyre fighting the algorithm. And capitalism.

-"war is business, and business is booming"

-"and my name is the doctor ""the doctor isnt a name" "yeah. haha! And I not even a doctor."

Was the degree in cheesemaking a lie? What about the lego? Doctor, have you lied to me?

Medicine, science, engineering, candy floss, philosophy, music, problems, people, hope, and practically everything :(

-"Great name, Mundy Flynn. You should marry RUby, then you´ll be mundy sunday. Go on, get married, Id laugh every day."

NOW THATS MY TYPE OF HUMOUR 🫵‼️

-"Ive met sentient Mud. lovely girls. I mean grumpy, yeah, but you try lying around with your face full of mammals all day."

I thought of the morax from the witchfinders first but yeah lovely girls

-"im a much bigger bang than you bargained for.

im a lot more explosive than I look and honey, I know how I look."

Originallt I was just a fan of the first line but something about the doctor being in a very bad situation but going "Im hot af :)" is... lmao

-SNOW??? SNOW STOPPING MID AIR???

-"do you get-get-get it?"

-the way he said "girl" in "now you need proof, faith giArl?"

-DAD TO DAD???

I reallt liked the theory of Susan coming back but this might also hint at a general doctor-family thing. Maybe his child

-when everything worked out the soundtrack was the same as during the tardis reveal in the star beast. I had to stop the episode cause that score made me FEEL things. I could not the heck focus on 15 with this soundtrack on cause. Uhm.

....

Im so sorry but this tardis reveal is so so so SO special to me so playing the same music is actually vile. Because. No I wont be able to focus on the actual episode. I couldnt focus on the actual episode because 15 sang a song 2 played on his bloody recorder. You cant use a TARDIS REVEAL SCORE.

-"What happened" "well, its uh, its kind of hard to sum up. I think if I had a diary it would be a little bit too exiting for words. I think I could write it with drums. Can you write a diary with drums? I bet I could."

IS THIS A THOSCHEI REFERENCE?! 🗣🗣🗣

-the sky is like actually super pretty on kastarion 3

-"quite frankly, your life span sucks" HAHA

-"fish fingers and custard is mt favourite" FISH FINGERS AND CUSTARD?!

-"A sad, old man once told me. WHat survives of us is love."

-irs actually insane how happy the tardis "vworp vworp vworp" makes me. Everytime the tardis disappears I giggle like little kid.

-im sorry but the next ep is SO intriguing Im very excited for next week, more excited than thid one actually

[tamarakkoarchive]

Shin Megami Tensei II livetweet thread (8/8)

the second aspect in smt2 that stands out: the crazy twist obviously

i still have mixed feelings over how weirdly written the law ending is but nevertheless the concept of an artificial messiah group was dope. they're pretty much what i'd like to see being explored in fanart the most

aleph felt linked to all these other lab creations and he must watch their fall caused by the fake roles assigned to them that in the end god would never truly approve of

i guess this must be why zayin got so convinced they should keep going even without yhvh

that being said, sadly aleph's connection to them is not really put as much weight as it could've been, he feels super detached because their interactions are very sparse, tbh i think it could've helped if all of them... were playable at some point like mt2 ryu or the smt1 friends. i was fine with the small amount of dialogue in mt2 and smt1 but smt2 is where i felt it ended up really diminishing the impact

i unironically ended up being more fond of the "what could've been" situation between aleph and our dead beth than hiroko lmao she has such an insane reveal behind her but the whole thing goes just "lol. crazy. anyway let's keep going"

~

izanami randomly appearing to comment "oh you two remind me of my marriage that is fucked up but for entirely different reasons"

oof how could i forget to show earlier

aside his sunglasses form zayin also turns into this cool shape with six boobs. iconic

the theme connection between smt2 and smt4a that i finally could confirm from that interview was that even back then they did think smt2 satan leaned towards neutral despite being from the law route, with killing yhvh and all. that's why they made him neutral in smt4a

~

and now for the third and last thing it's... finally the game where demon fusion gets fun but most importantly: where kaneko starts slaying HARD on demon designs. crazy amount of exclusive designs he was able to draw, a lot even beyond of what they could do relevantly with

alright let's go for the bad!

1. it's a replay nightmare. full of bugs. it somehow has a worse interface than smt1's. gotta mention AGAIN that you can't auto guns. by far the smt where you get lost the most and you gotta write down several passwords to enter locked doors

the dungeon design in smt1 wasn't super diverse either but smt2 it's just... excruciatingly boring. "shitload of doors with nothing" the game. you don't really have reason to fill the whole map because they don't put any reward whatsover be with items or npcs with information

2. THE SOUNDTRACK SUCKS period. it's the same composer from mt1-2 so my disappointment for how cheap the snes games sound in comparison is abysmal. they aren't improved much in the psx rearrangements either

instead of a final boss theme they use the same music from several major bosses (regardless of alignment) and it's just... this

compare it to the super special one from mt2

and now 3... this might surprise you guys since i just talked abt them being better at writing the law and chaos sides and to be fair this is on a subjective perspective but... i didn't like the alignment choices in this game

smt2 to me was essentially a game with dope worldbuilding and dope story concept all ready to be deliciously consumed on a plate but the execution ended up not feeling satisfying on the stomach

i think what made me like smt4&a way more than smt2 is that it showed more impact from the choices happening around the protagonist in a way that i could say "yeah this alignment makes sense for what he's feeling"

basically there's already very few relevant alignments choices and they went too far on making aleph an incognito for the player to insert their own thoughts into so the final result is that he ended up being awfully hard to read and sympathize with

guy is probably not even a year old, no hint of childhood, had fake memories but got them wiped (double brainwashing??) so he was literally a blank state with no humanity inserted into by the time he was found and taken by the gym uncle

he had no mercy in killing when he was a gladiator too so the likely options for aleph's personality is: 1. church tool (fake memories) 2. basically him copying the gym uncle and the normal citizens around him (after his memory got reset)

anyway i think you can guess where i'm going with this, a lot of the buildup to aleph has him either instinctly acting on the law side since it was what he was made for or he gradually replacing his default persona with feelings of compassion from living with normal people

the thiiiiing is, the biiiiiig problem i have with how the alignment system is written in some games that is ALSO a thing here is that when they want to make the player decide between law or chaos they don't discern between dark/light actions (aka being selfish or being selfless)

you'd think being a church tool would make aleph a cold-hearted guy. but no! remember the subplot with the workers in sweatshops? if you decide to release them from being incarcerated, it gives a LOT of points towards being law instead

the chaos side on the other hand wants to protect the underworld and the abyss residents from being exterminated but if you wanna join them you have to act like a selfish jackass in some instances like refusing to help hiroko, wanting to kill daleth or violently coercing demons

so tldr my frustration is that it was just really confusing why aleph would switch from law to other alignments. it got extra ?? with the whole "fake" yhvh and "true" yhvh thing. i don't think they even put down a proper explanation for why he'd prefer killing lucifer in neutral

like geez lucifer is so goddamn selfless in this era! he had his own agenda but prioritized giving help to the weak until the end instead of going on a rant of 'hurr the strongest wins'

man i can't stress enough that law was a big punch on the gut not only for zayin going 180º but also because the game gave you the impression you were gonna be "the kind law guy" and instead you got betrayed and forced to genocide the whole planet into oblivion

anyway that's what i fucking mean when i say aleph is hard to read 🙉 when aleph showed compassion to workers it was a buildup to abandon them in the limbo. when aleph was violent to mutants it was a buildup for him siding with them against the oppressors. like wtf

so yeah something something this game is biased towards being neutral since it was a sequel/alternate future to smt1 just like smt4a was to smt4. it's the best standpoint for how to make his actions make sense, whatever. aleph neutral hooray i guess

END

[kouros-herc]

Swyn Task: 'Do You Remember'

Caught In The Undertow

29/09/2024

Disclaimer - I have heavily re-used tracks from the 2022 Wrimo task 'Soundtrack To Your Life' depicting one of Herc's other lowest points. This is on purpose, because he's feeling so many of the same feelings, despite everything that is different in his life (and also because I only know so many songs ok).

Track 1: Uncomfortably Slow - Newton Faulkner

Traveling again / I know exactly how it's gonna end / the routine daydream starts as I get off / I'm holding up the queue / because my ticket won't go through / I know it should be simple but it's not /

This is such a song about depression, to be honest. It captures the idea of the world carrying on turning as you're caught in this place where something is really fundamentally wrong. You can know you're lucky to have some things, and still feel like you're drowning. Yeah.

Track 2: Numb - Abe Parker

When my family stopped askin' what was wrong with me / and the character flaws turned into personality / I don't know how I got here / I thought I still felt my feet on the ground / and just like that, I'm going numb /

This is part of how I envision Herc's burnout. He is, at his best, a person who feels so much and has so much love and energy and excitement, but lately that's been further and further away. Instead he's been quiet and shy, struggling to find the joy in so many things he loves... it's a really shitty place to be. I think the song also nicely captures the surrounding fear, like... he's pleading not to go back to that place.

Track 3: Numb - Linkin Park

All I want to do is be more like me / and be less like you /

This is more abstract, envisioning Hercules' inner perception of himself and the expectations he puts on himself and how that creates this insane burden, and the feeling of failing that is just pushing him further and further from his best self. Besides, every good breakdown needs an angry song, right?

Track 4: Morning Elvis - Florence & The Machine

The bathroom tiles were cool against my head / I pressed my forehead to the floor / and prayed for a trapdoor / I've been here many times before /

In the aftermath of what we see in the self-para, eventually, when Herc has let it all down, this is the song that takes over. It is sad, and sorrowful, and self-reflective. It is, in many ways, a song about how pressure can make a person burn out and the place that leaves them. But the orchestration does also have something hopeful in it, I like to think, in the rising patterns within the music and the way it swells towards the end.

Track 5: Dear Hope - Brittany O'Grady (From Little Voice)

Dear hope / if you can hear me, don't go? / I don't feel you know, but I know you're there / Dear hope / I could really use you now / throw me a rope / throw me a rope / Dear hope.

I can't seem to shake it yet / feeling that things may never change ...

Hope is such an integral part of who Herc is, it's the thing that gives him optimism, it's the way he constantly tells himself that things will change and get better. Sometimes it hurts him, but at the end of the day if there is one thing he would pray to without hesitation, in his lowest moments, it would be hope.

[kiss-my-freckle]

Recently (the 19th) was the 12th anniversary of the Delena motel kiss and I'm feeling super nostalgic. I remember 2 days before there were Canadian fans who claimed to have seen a clip "Why don't you let people see the good in you?" scene and within 24 hours later there was a Canadian promo that spoiled the Delena kiss and Julie tweeted "Dear Canadian promo people, what the fuck?" There was a weeks long break before 3x19 and the promo for it right after 3x18 while not spoilery was exciting and it was promoted as a Delena episode. The promo had the soundtrack "Turn it Back" which doesn't make sense for Delena since it has the lyrics "Turn it back to the days when you were mine." There were Stelena fans threatening to boycott after the kiss leaked lol. Because of the motel scenes in the promo I couldn't hold my excitement and would constantly lurk on Julie and Nancy (TVD editor for 3x19)'s Twitter for potential spoilers for weeks. The producer's promo for 3x19 before the kiss leak had Julie start smiling when she said the episode would be about Elena exploring her feelings and that it's just awesome. There was a spoiler that a Florence and the Machine song was featured but most fans speculated it was "No Light No Light." I miss the Delena fandom back then, but I was more of a passive bystander before I stopped watching for years, but wish I was active back then because the fandom now drains the enjoyment of being in it. There were people speculating Delena would have sex in 3x22 since there was a spoiler hinting at either them or Caskett but it ended up being Caskett. The Damon met Elena first spoiler was leaked a day before the finale but most fans thought it was a fake spoiler. I heard some fans on the now nonexistent official TVD forum (which I unfortunately never saw) convinced people who worked on the show to leak scripts to them so they could read it before episodes came out. I do remember during season 4 someone said someone they knew told them a Delena sex scene was being filmed and that person thought it would be 4x4 but it ended up being 4x7.

I honestly wish I watched the show as it aired because that was the moment I knew she was Damon's girl. I would've been posting on Twitter all week long in my support of their inevitable Delena ship. Damon's response to Elena's question is insane because he's straight-up telling Elena he doesn't wanna disappoint her, and he's saying this while laying next to her in bed with his shirt completely unbuttoned. Damon is leaving the disappointment to Stefan, put it that way lol. Stelena fans should be more pissed at the scene as the full episode airs than when the kiss is leaked because it's not just a kiss, it's a surrender. Stefan's girlfriend is gone. imo, she's been gone as I consider 3x5 her un-fall, consider both Stefan and Elena ghosts in Ghost World. The repeat is necessary.

"But it's not real. She's dead. Gone. Everything that you're holding on to is in the past, Jer."

"A Japanese lantern is the symbol of letting go of the past. Well, here's a news flash: we're not Japanese!"

Interesting how fans considered No Light, No Light by Florence + the Machine as it speaks to the end of a relationship and more from Stefan's pov. When the Light Dies Out by Christel Alsos is perfect for Delena's car ride home. Their track for Stelena's 20s dance is from Stefan's pov. I would've laughed my ass off seeing that promo with the "Turn it Back" soundtrack. Had I watched the show as it aired and saw the leak, I would've guessed the right soundtrack for Delena's kiss based on 3x10 and 3x11. I expected Elena to be fully transitioned in 3x22. While I could see her sleeping with Damon at the motel, you can't rush perfection. I wouldn't have considered the flashback of Delena in 3x22 as a fake spoiler for the same reason Stefan met her before he met her. They didn't just know of her existence. They both met her at some point based on their pilot comments. They had to show Damon's pilot comment, and they did. Stefan first meeting her needed to be as it was because they already spoke of how he saved her from drowning. It's through Stefan's own comments that fans had to know Damon met her before their car went off the bridge. Had Damon met her after their drowning, Stefan would've known he was home and likely stayed out of Elena's life for the sake of keeping Damon out of her life. They can't have Stefan stalking her, yet have him know nothing about her meeting Damon. OMG, I'm so glad they didn't do Delena's sex in 4x4 because I really love their college party dance scene. It's great to see Elena have fun with him before she has sex with him.

[themonsterunderthebed]

Ooookay let's go!

Love never dies

The Last Five Years (if you remember any of it)

Moulin Rouge

ALRIGHTY HERE WE GO. i'm not going in order because my thoughts on Love Never Dies will take up a ridiculous amount of this ask so we'll get the others out of the way first

the last five years: if i remember right, that's the one where the guy tells the story of their relationship backwards, and the woman tells it forwards? or the other way around, something like that. very clever premise, i don't remember being particularly wowed by any of the songs. it's a cool musical just not quite my style, though maybe i'll give it another try sometime

moulin rouge: what fun!!! love love love the movie. this ridiculous opulence is what musicals are about, baby. pull out all the fucking stops. i haven't watched a bootleg of the broadway revival but i like most of the soundtrack. i don't think they really needed to update the songs to more modern ones, i would've preferred they stick with the ones from the movie, but i get what they were trying to do and it's not inherently a bad idea. that clip from roxanne started off my strange period of obsession with aaron tveit, so shoutout to that. also has an incredible dance sequence somewhere in there, i forget which song it was (maybe also tango de roxanne?)

Love Never Dies: hooooooo boy time for some fucking Hot Takes. Okay. my feelings on LND are Bad. very very bad. this should not exist. Are we doing my whole rant on this? We might be doing my whole rant on this. Including actual capitalization and punctuation. I should disclaim here that I am doing 0 fact checking for this. We are going based entirely on my spotty memory and vibes.

There are several axioms we have to acknowledge to plumb the depths of my feelings on LND. 1. Frederick Forsyth is not a good author. 2. Phantom of Manhattan was batshit insane from start to finish. It would've killed as a crack fic on FFN that really committed to the bit. Unfortunately, it is not a crack fic on FFN. It is an actual published piece of fiction sold for actual money. Admittedly I haven't read it since I was fourteen or so, and my critical reading skills were not fully developed, but I have no reason to believe that it was written as a parody or satire. To the best of my knowledge, this horrifying dumpster fire mishmash of questionable phandom tropes (e.g., Raoul as an abusive alcoholic to make the Phantom better than him*, lovechild between Christine and the Phantom**), bizarre Phantom whump (fishmonger???? hello???????) and a plotline contrived enough to put 2009 FFN phics to shame was written seriously, and meant to be read as a serious piece of fiction. This is... somewhat distressing, honestly. 3. Tragically, ALW does know how to write really catchy music.

What I remember hearing back when LND was announced was that ALW and Frederick Forsyth are friends, and that's how this came about. I am doing no fact checking for this post so I cannot really confirm or deny this, but it is the best explanation of why on earth PoM was chosen as the base material for a completely unnecessary sequel. Of course the other major published phan work is Phantom by Susan Kay -- this would not be suitable sequel material, but could have given rise to a heartwrenching prequel. Phantom, frankly, doesn't need a sequel. It shouldn't have one. It's a tragedy, it's meant as a tragedy, and alleviating that is firmly the domain of fanworks. I have read countless fix-its and sequels and happy endings - I very much understand the urge! But trying to reverse the tragedy in the canon itself cheapens the story in its entirety. Phantom is a social commentary: what happens to an ugly genius (to what extent can we accept that which is different from us) , and what happens to someone forced to exist outside of society? What is a monster, and how does a person become one? What is the distinction between what we are and what we are made into? And where is the line between what is and isn't forgiveable? We're meant to be left to sit with those questions. Continuing the story instead weakens their impact. 

Of course, it can best be explained as a blatant money grab; we know ALW is not above that. And in that respect, I think it worked. Hooray, more money for ALW. And look - it has been a long time since I listened to any of the LND songs, but I know there are some good ones in there. Devil Take the Hindmost comes to mind as a catchy one. I'm taking a look at the tracklist now, and if I remember right, Till I Hear You Sing and Beneath a Moonless Sky might also have been good. But do any of these songs justify their rotting scaffolding? No! They do not!

The best part of LND is probably the casting. Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess have chemistry out the fucking wazoo. They are fantastic Phantom-Christine pair. And if LND is what it took to get them to play opposite one another - well, I can't say whether or not it makes the whole thing worth it. But it is definitely one of the few bright spots.

TL;DR: LND is a completely unnecessary musical that should never have been brought into existence, based on a dumpster fire of a trash novel. It also had incredible casting and has some really good songs.

*thinking more about that, it probably says a lot that in order to make the Phantom the clear better choice, his rival has to undergo absolute character assassination to make him a caricature of a terrible husband. but I digress

**I think this might be from Kay but I don't fully remember. I don't think it's reasonable to assume from Leroux seeing as getting kissed on the forehead by Christine basically nearly kills Erik dead, though it's certainly a conversation one could have. I especially don't think it's reasonable based on the ALW musical, because -- literally when would this have happened. In the Final Lair scene, we have the lyrics "...am I now to be prey/to your lust for flesh?" "This face which condemns me to wallow in blood/has also denied me the joys of the flesh." It's up to interpretation whether this means the Phantom is a virgin or whether he's physically unable to have sex, but either way we can safely assume he and Christine have not had sex at that point. We see literally every second of the rest of their interactions right there on stage. There is no sex. Now this doesn't exclude the possibility that Christine goes back shortly after, and maybe this is specified in Phantom of Manhattan -- I don't remember. It strikes me as very very silly, though.

[holytrohmanempire]

per the impending and devastating loss of How to Dance in Ohio, I have some rambly thoughts under the cut

Mel's character hit me harder in the representation than anyone else. I've never been formally diagnosed or anything, but I learned during college that "everyone assumed" I was autistic. There's a scene in the show I won't go into due to potential spoilers where Mel has a difficult time communicating with their boss and I have had that conversation almost verbatim at... every job I've ever had. I'm queer and I don't do tasks that aren't communicated to me and I don't have a lot of familial support (biologically - my chosen family and in laws are wonderful) and I often feel abandoned when I'm... outgrown, for lack of a better term.

anyway, when the soundtrack came out, I was struck with the realization that they get a turn of the same line twice. Early in the show they say:

"Do you know how your habits are formed? Doing the same thing over and over."

This is portrayed by Mel as a good thing. They're praised as having good work ethic, they've figured out how to get by because they form habits. It's a strength for them.

But then later in the show, they say:

"Do you know what insanity is? Doing the same thing over and over."

For me, this speaks to the double edged sword of autism, the counterpoint to the "disability is a superpower!" narrative you sometimes see on places like tumblr. Because doing the same thing over and over (an autistic trait if there ever was one) is their strength and weakness at the same time.

Sometimes the things that make you you are good, sometimes bad, sometimes neutral, and sometimes all three. I can "hello, how are you? Thanks I'm fine!" a thousand times and it will be right every time, and that thousand and first time it will be the wrong thing to say. The other person will go off script and I will have done something wrong that I had no idea was wrong.

This show makes it clear that the phrase "(one) struggles with autism" is a negative misconception, but also shows that, while it sucks when people say that... sometimes we do. Not because stimming or being blunt or getting the script wrong is bad, but because we have to deal with the fallout when other people don't like it. One of my first clear memories is of being 3 or 4 years old and getting put in time out by a teacher for asking "What?" when she called my name. Nobody had ever told me I was supposed to either say yes or just look up - I wanted to know why she had called for me, but I wasn't allowed to ask that. At my last job, my supervisor kept asking me why I had made a mistake and I was baffled, telling her that I didn't do it for any particular reason, I just messed up, that's why it's called a mistake, and didn't find out till after I went home, rebuked, that she asked why because she wanted an apology. I spent my whole life getting in trouble for fidgeting and either daydreaming or being a know it all, depending on the class. People would meet me once and call me aloof or mean or weird.

But autism is also some of the best of me. I can always win trivia games and I'm a font of useless fun facts at parties. I devour books and I finish my work each day in record time. I like being me - even the cringe parts. I like slimes and stim toys and curling up with the same book I've read a thousand times before. I would never trade that away.

I like Mel because you get to see the best and the worst. I like that they're bad with people, but they try so hard, and they're so sincere. I like that they're practical and pragmatic but willing to forgive.

I'm devastated to be losing How to Dance in Ohio on Broadway. I think it should have run for years and years, and I think it's low key homophobic that I don't get to go like, once a month with my lottery-won tickets and see that awesome shiny disco ball set piece (way cooler than the phantom chandelier.)

But I hope what this means is a lower budget future for the show. I guess a pro-shot is probably a pipe dream, but I hope it means off-broadway, a tour, community and high school theater access. I hope the silver lining is people who are not lucky enough to have my circumstances getting to see it and feel that same chest-crushing recognition I did. I hope everyone who needs it gets to see themselves on stage and weep (as I did) through fully most of the songs. I hope it means more autistic actors getting to stim on stage! I hope it means normalizing people like me. I hope it's the first step towards a legacy.

(and I also hope everybody in the cast gets their dream roles forever and ever y'all were so amazing omg)

[crazyworldofemmamarie]

Day 15 of Rammstein's Countdown to Halloween

Tonight, it's M3GAN (2023, dir. Gerard Johnstone)

Plot: A brilliant roboticist builds a form of artificial intelligence programmed to be a child's best friend. However, when a put in the hands of an 8 year old girl, unexpected events begin to arise.

Okay, I'm not gonna lie to you, I lost my mind when I first seen the trailer and seen the dancing robot, I really thought it was a joke that was taking itself too seriously. So I didn't have high expectations diving into it, however, it managed to surpass my expectations. I actually really liked it.

The acting is not to bad and the facts are really good and I say the first impressing thing about it.

MEGAN within herself is actually a pretty interesting character and if they ever make more movie (which I wouldn't mind) she could definitely be a slasher. To be honest, she kind of gives me Angela Baker (Sleepaway Camp) vibes which was interesting and I mean she kind of has the same personality as Baker when she's older in the other Sleepaway Camp movies.

MEGAN is also just fucking cool.

The story is new fresh, and honestly it almost reads as a goosebumps tale a lot and I should of expected such greatness especially since this also came from the mind of James Wan who co created Saw.

The themes of trauma bonding , explotation, how important human connections are, the scary reality of artificial intelligence and how both of those collide with both pros and cons. It's well thought out.

The Cinematography is beautiful and I really enjoy the colours of the film, how bright it was and everything. I honestly really love bright colored/daylight horror films cause it just feels more realistic and it's always a concept that is still not explored for some reason in horror when is insane cause I feel it's more effective in some way.

I should also mention that I really loved the soundtrack for this film. I'm a big sound track girl , for me it helps move the story a lot.

The film has a perfect balance of humour, action and heartwarming scenes and its definitely a fun watch. Highly highly recommend if you are looking for a racing fun horror film.