#and play around with the story to make things flow better in the anime

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

watching swamp jawn's video breakdowns of the dunmeshi episodes is making me think a lot abt cloverwork's adaptation of black butler and now i'm sad as;ldkjfkl

as an aside: i fucking love his videos. the breakdown of each episode so so cool, and i love that he points out the tricks they use and also the different animation styles of the team!

[ino-takumas-baggy-sweater]

The Blessing to Your Curse - Part 1 (Ryomen Sukuna x Reader)

Hey y’all I’m back again so soon with another fic, Sukuna’s lover reincarnation (whatever you call it) has me in a chokehold right now and I thought I’d share this with the world. Would like to warn you there is a lot of strange jumping around/pov changes which are indicated by the change in pronouns, I would mark each change but it would get a bit messy after a while so I hope it’s not too hard to follow! ^-^

Reader’s powers involve something I like to call ‘blessed energy’ which is the opposite to cursed energy and is mostly used for healing (reverse blessed energy is used to harm in the same way reverse CE is used to heal) and it’s something I created to use with my writings in the JJK universe. (sometimes I write it a little op because im a self-indulgent piece of shit so for most of what I post I’ll probably dial it back if I use it hehe) The reader has a similar situation to Maki/Mai (MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD) where one twin is restricted and the other has all the energy, and when the one with the energy dies the living twin gains all the power, so I hope that makes sense in context of the story

(PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO SEND A REQUEST!!!! I'M ALWAYS IN NEED OF NEW PROMPTS AND CHARACTERS TO GO WITH THEM ❤)(I have a post which outlines characters I mostly write for but I'm open to adding to that list!!)

Warnings: mild description of mutilation (sukuna’s transformation), main character death (not described), fluff

Word count: 2.4k

“Ryomen!” You laugh, trying to keep a few steps ahead of the young man who chases after you. Your legs tire easily, body frail and sick despite the immense power flowing through your veins. “I’m coming for you!” He growls playfully, “Better run!” He’s holding back from his top speed, this you know well, but you refuse to let that stop you from trying to keep up with his childish play. Still young, 16 and 17 with him being the older one, you insist that you would rather spend the rest of your life here with him than being shepherded around in the village like a priestess.

This is your only escape from the temple on the hill, only solitude, your time with Ryomen Sukuna is precious and you treat it as such, thinking only of him and his rare smiles. You refuse to let the village’s words taint your view of him, as powerful as he is with his cursed energy there is good in him and you seek to nurture it, for both simple selfish gain and so he doesn’t turn on everyone like they did him. You reach the treeline and race out into the meadow, the grass tall and soft around your waist having stripped down from your daily ceremonial robes into just modest loose undergarments.

He does eventually catch up near the middle of the meadow, springing out of the grass and tackling you to the ground, making sure to roll so you land on top of him and he takes the full force of the fall. The last time you returned to the village after a long day of simple play with bruises and scrapes you weren’t allowed to leave the village for a few weeks.

He’s grown quite a lot larger than you during his time in exile, to be expected when you have to fend for yourself against wild animals and build your own shelter, “You’re getting stronger every day,” You smile, pushing yourself off him and laying in the grass, staring up at the beautiful pink of the sunset. “Well I have to, to be able protect you, I’m not the only thing out there you know,” He says, his tone almost too blasé for what he’s implying. You tilt your head and trace the lines of his tattoos with your eyes, “I know you’re not, but you’re not a thing to me Ryomen,” You murmur, “Please, you’re the closest thing I have to a friend, you’ve always been human to me,”

He meets your gaze, his eyes used to be brown, but the red no longer worries you like it used to, “One day I’ll get you out of that village,” He says softly, his words for your ears and the rustling grass only, “I will take you far away from here and we can live somewhere untouched by the rest of the world,” You sit up, looking down at him as you hug your knees to your chest, “I’d like that,” You say, smiling, “Just the two of us,” Nothing could touch you while you were together, the world stood still for you, not even the scathing remarks you sometimes got from the other young girls of the village could hurt you.

The world is volatile, things can change so quickly. Curses are still so new to the world of humans, sorcerers that act as protectors are only just starting to appear among humans and spread themselves between villages when the day finally comes. The wave of hatred and anguish that came with the curses suffocated everything in its path. You were outside the village when it happened, returning from a visit with Sukuna, and you returned to find nothing but death and destruction. More than half of the village had been killed with no discrimination towards age or gender, and it only soothed you a little to see your old family home empty when you wrenched the door open. No blood nor bodies of any kind. Your parents and sister had made it out alive, but the temple atop the hill that you resided in was completely engulfed.

You weren’t naïve, you did not attempt to return to the temple, but they came for you all the same because your energy was like a beacon for them, and they were programmed to destroy. Running with Ryomen had improved your strength over the time you spent together, you supposed that was one of the ways he took care of you in his silent brooding way, but it wasn’t enough to get you all the way to him. He must have sensed your fear as you grew nearer, your breaths shallow and your chest tight, his eyes are the last thing you remember seeing before your soul was harshly liberated from your flesh.

The smell of blood permeated through layers of warmth that held you in suspension beyond life, but you felt yourself being dragged back to the ground, standing over your own body as you watch the only person outside of your immediate family who ever truly cared for you cry. You had never seen him cry before, it was cathartic to know even he still felt human somewhere inside while holding your weak broken body to his bare tattooed chest.

You felt his cursed energy filling the air like smoke, almost able to see it in the purgatory state you’re trapped in, his body shaking and his muscles twitching. It was like watching someone turn themselves inside out when it finally happened, his body began changing before your eyes, an extra pair of arms sprout from the top of his ribcage just under the normal ones. His face contorts with an agonized cry and one half becomes unrecognisable, the flesh pink and hardened into some sort of twisted mask, and to finish the monstrous transformation a second pair of eyes open under his regular ones.

Drenched in sweat and breathing heavily as he cradles you, you hear him make one last promise, one that locks around what remains of your essence like chains and puts you into a deep sleep. “I will burn this world for taking you from me, I will become the King of Curses, and when you are reborn I shall make you remember, make you my Queen, I will bind myself to you to protect you,” It’s the final part that reassures you he isn’t losing himself as the darkness consumes you, “When I find you, the world will be right once again,”

Now it had been over a thousand years since the light in Sukuna’s life had gone out, reducing him to a killing machine that punished the world for snuffing it out, and he had returned once more in the body of a naive 15 year old boy with pink hair. Having been preserved as twenty separate cursed objects since his untimely death he was eager to resume his self-assigned purge, but the boy had more control over his body than Sukuna could break through, leaving him trapped within his innate domain watching through Yuji Itadori’s eyes like they’re windows.

“I had to do it at least once,” He grumbles to himself as the boy sits up, stark naked, on the morgue table, surprising the three sorcerers in the room with the formerly dead boy. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet, Yuji, come,” Gojo instructs as the boy slips on some clothes handed to him. “Another sorcerer?” He asks. “You’ll see when we get there,” The taller man beckons him and they make their way to a house on the furthest outskirts of the Jujutsu high campus, small in size and surrounded by forest on all sides except for the path leading up to the entrance.

A fire burns in the chimney and the house is warm when the pair steps inside, “L/n!” Gojo calls out. Sukuna’s attention is elsewhere as around the corner down the hall out walks a pure angel, her energy blinding and her form strong. “Gojo!” She smiles, “Who’s this?” “This is Yuji Itadori, Ryomen Sukuna’s vessel,” She bows politely, “Welcome to my home,” She looks back up into Yuji’s eyes as he smiles, “It’s nice to meet you!”

“Enchain!” Sukuna shouts, and suddenly he’s thrown violently to the forefront of Yuji’s mind. His trump card, wasted. He hadn’t considered the potential consequences, it had been instinctual and foolish of him. The girl didn’t know who he was, but he wanted to speak to her all the same. He would make her know. He cannot stumble, he cannot falter, not when she’s right there and all he has to do is show her, “Y/n,” He murmurs. “That’s not Yuji,” She frowns, her voice soft, “That’s-” Before the two can react Sukuna is on his knees before her, holding her hands in his and hiding against her soft clothing. “I’ve…” Gojo trails off, “I’ve never seen that before,” The girl doesn’t let him go, and he feels her power reach into him, feeling around in the darkest parts of his soul, “My Queen,” He mutters, feeling the metaphysical chains around his heart tighten, “Please, remember,”

A fast surge of energy from Gojo causes the man on his knees before you to react just as quickly, pulling you tighter against him and then seemingly teleporting out the open door into the clearing, “It’s rude to attack ROYALTY!” He roars as Gojo steps out the door after the pair of you. Sukuna has planted himself firmly between the two of you, “You sorcerers never learn manners!” Something happens when your skin next touches his, his hand shooting out to catch you by your wrist as you fail to keep your balance.

A flood of memories that don’t belong to you, in fact, ones that belong to him. You see yourself, weak and frail but smiling widely, Sukuna as he is in front of you now not as he is described in sorcerer texts. A regular human man with an abnormal amount of tattoos, fiercely protective and full of love for the only person who still sees him as human. You vaguely feel yourself fall to your knees as everything from the day he was exiled to the day you died returned to your mind. You knew that despite the life you had lived for twenty years, you were in fact over a thousand years old.

This wasn’t your life, this wasn’t your body, it was hers, but you are her. You can feel the chains, too, the ones he put there the day you died to ensure that you would return. “The world took her from me, and the world paid the price, now BACK OFF!” His words shake you out of your visions, his hand still clutching your wrist as your head hangs weakly.

“Come now, Sukuna, taking hostages isn’t your style, you know that,” Gojo bargains, “Let her go, and we can fight like men,” You shake your head, “No,” You murmur, “No, Gojo,” You finally look up into his eyes, slightly uncovered as he prepares to fight, “He’s right, I know who I am, I know where my clan comes from,” He doesn’t make a move towards you and you take the opportunity to speak again, “My mother was blessed, her child would calm the beast, but she had two and one was weak in body strong in energy, the other was lacking in energy but strong of body,” Your sister had been the one the clan records mentioned, nobody remembered the girl who died alone in Ryomen Sukuna’s arms.

“I am the Queen to Ryomen Sukuna’s King,” You breathe, feeling his grip on your wrist go lax. His energy dies away and he falls to his hands and knees, but the tattoos are gone. “Yuji!” Gojo’s shoulders finally relax and he recovers his eyes, “What happened? How did he get through?” “Don’t ignore me, Satoru,” You state firmly, “Sukuna will not be a threat while I am alive,” “Can you guarantee that?” He’s always been intimidating, but this man was a part of your training as a sorcerer, and he can be rational when he wants to be.

“You’re an imbecile if you think I’m going to go back on a binding vow,” Sukuna spits from Yuji’s cheek, the boy not even having a chance to get a word in, “She is the only thing in this forsaken world I care about and you’re not about to take that away from me just so you can pretend like you’re the saviour of humanity,” You don’t remember ever being as harsh as Sukuna is right now, but his rage fills you with confidence and admiration, “I can guarantee humans will not fall as long as I am alive, his vow makes sure of it, though I’m sure he would not need it either way,”

The secondary eye on Yuji’s cheek closest to you locks its gaze onto you, “Ever so cunning, I wish I’d had the chance to nurture your hatred towards the village, maybe you’d be more open to killing,” He sounds almost wistful, “But alas, I did make a promise, and I intend to keep it, no matter how idiotic I think you sorcerers are,” You finally move to stand back on your feet, helping Yuji up with a tentative smile, “It’s nice to meet you Itadori,” You murmur, “I’m sorry you have to listen to that punk, you come to me if he gives you trouble alright?” The boy nods, his previously cheery demeanour replaced with something mellower and he seems deep in thought as he looks into your eyes.

“He really loves you,” He murmurs in disbelief, “I didn’t… I didn’t think he was truly capable of love, after what he did to me,” You shrug, “It’ll make sense one day, but I’ll let him be the one who opens up, it’s not my place to air out thousand year old dirty laundry with people who are long dead anyway,” Your words hang in the air as Gojo finally sighs. The discussion and conclusion are finalised when he leaves, Yuji will live with you and you will suppress Sukuna’s energy. You will keep the world safe by preserving your life, lest another binding vow come down upon your departing soul and the King of curses be forced to unleash his merciless fury once more.

Sukuna is a little shit and out of character because it’s my fic and I get to write the male love interest however I want (I tried besties :( I don’t like mean Sukuna but I do love “I hate everyone but you” so that’s what you get) also I wrote this instead of sleeping at 2am, the brainrot is real and this will probably end up being a series because I can’t control myself

Part 2 here!

Post dividers from @cafekitsune

[nausikaaa]

Six Sentence Books Sunday

hello y'all! i've been having a busy week, trying to get all my christmas shopping done before December even begins, because otherwise i know the entire month will escape me and i'll wind up realising i've missed someone on christmas eve. despite my efforts, i still haven't got anything for my dad- usually he's the easy one to buy for, but this year i'm just stumped.

i'm also putting my billy goat Hadrian out with the girls (Juno, Daisy, Lucy and Mina) in just under a week, but Daisy was getting pushed around and picked on, so i separated her last week so she can put on a little weight and relax beforehand, because if she's stressed, she may not come into season. then it snowed. goats are herd animals, they prefer to have company, so i made sure she could see the others through the fence, but it turns out she is absolutely loving having her warm little hut to herself while the others all share the big shed, while Hadrian has a corner of the hay shed to himself, with wickets keeping him from the hay.

flattering photos of the handsome chap and damsel in distress before the snow hit:

sorry for the ramble. anyway! writing! well... i haven't been doing much lately, to be honest. when i'm in a writing slump, i like to read instead, and i view it as putting words in my brain so that it can make it's own words. it also helps me pick out things i do and don't want to emulate in my own writing. so instead of sentences, here are six books I read this year which i took something from:

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman, from which I am taking that it's okay to just use "said" instead of using a billion synonyms, as it blends in to the background and allows the story to flow more naturally. unless the way something is said is really relevant, it's better to show a character's feelings another way.

American Hippo by Sarah Gailey, which has such easy to follow yet engaging action and fight scenes, which I aspire to.

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie, which had me sobbing inconsolably at the end. if a book prompts a physical reaction in me, that's an instant 5 stars. it's based on the ancient greek play Antigone, and though you don't need to know the play to enjoy the book, it really does deal an additional sucker punch to know how that story ends and yet hope so desperately the whole time: maybe it will turn out okay this time? a masterclass of foreshadowing and implication, somebody can literally die and it go unsaid, but you will know and it will destroy you.

Alcestis by Katherine Beutner. I hated this book. Plot? I barely know her. Consent? What's that? Resolution? Nah, pass. I learned what not to do from this garbage.

Percy Jackson: Wrath Of The Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan. I actually read both of the new pjo books that came out this year and honestly, they've shown me that sometimes a book can just be fun. There's no world ending drama, but still emotional moments and tension, and the whole story takes place over a matter of days. It doesn't have to be perfect, it can just be a good time.

The Amber Fury by Natalie Haynes. As somebody who writes a lot about grief, this book really helped with that by depicting it in such a raw and honest way, allowing the audience to connect with it even if they've never experienced the kind of loss the main character has. I do draw on my own experiences, but this helped me put it into words. It also shows how healing is always possible, no matter how severe the grief, so long as you have the right support system, something I am still muddling through.

an invitation to share some sentences or some books: @forabeatofadrum @cutestkilla @run-for-chamo-miles @roomwithanopenfire @prettygoododds @bookish-bogwitch @ic3-que3n @blackberrysummerblog @j-nipper-95 @youarenevertooold @larkral @that-disabled-princess @orange-peony @aristocratic-otter @thewholelemon @alexalexinii @confused-bi-queer @shrekgogurt @comesitintheclover @raenestee @hushed-chorus @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @noblecorgi @shemakesmeforget @ileadacharmedlife @supercutedinosaurs @artsyunderstudy @otherpeoplesheartachept-2 and @ninemagicks

[this-aint-massachusetts]

MORE FNAF HCS BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE IT

more hcs because I’m losing my mind and I can’t contain the sillyness any longer

-Mike sometimes have nightmares of William succeeding and Abby being another victim of his and will get up in a cold sweat to check on her in her room, sometimes glad to see her staying up late because it means she's still there

- Abby gets nightmares of Mike not waking up when she ran over to him and wakes up in tears, and goes and climbs into his bed, forcing his arm up to sneak in and hold her, he's usually awake by then and tells her everything will be okay and that he's okay

-Abby is really picky about the texture of her stuffed animals so Mike learns over time and buys them accordingly, even warning people ahead of time if they ever wants to buy one to bring him with her

-When Mike really got into doing pushups, if Abby was awake early enough she'd sit on his back or play with her dolls on his back pretending it's a boat in the ocean (he complained at first but took it as another moment to be with his sister)

-Ness is the type to remember everyone's orders, he has them memorized by their third visit His boss would be impressed if he wasn't constantly yapping to the customers disrupting kitchens flow 

-Mike Found the song that the animatronics played and will play it for Abby sometimes and watch her dance, glad to see her smiling again (until he's invited to dance to which he pretends to hate witch makes Abby giggle)

-Mike: "Abby if I die here you can draw on my grave, wouldn't mind.

Abby: "Please don't talk like that."

-After waking up, Vanessa chose to take a bit of a calmer job as a SRO at Abby’s school

-Mike went to Abby's school for her lunch to surprise her for her birthday and Vanessa is only is told it's a "surprise visitor" & nearly makes Mike piss his pants w how scary she was to greet him before seeing it was him

-Vanessa is very caring when it comes to Mike or Abby being sick or injured. Mike has a really hard time excepting help so he just pretends he’s fine until he can barley function 

-Abby loves to paint others nails but not hers, if she has any kinda nail polish on or paint on her nails she’ll bite at them

-Ness writes little silly puns and jokes on to-go orders and will for sure spend forever choosing the right one and will wake up the next day with an even better one and be down the whole day

-Vanessa is really, like embarrassingly bad at bedtime stories, like Mike tried being nice about it but Abby wasn't

-Mike is both the pickiest eater and the will try anything guy at the same time

-Abby Was taught to warn Mike of cops on the road but now she recognizes Vanessa's car and says "there's Vanessa!" And she purposely pulls him over to chat with Abby

-Abby called Mike dad by accident and he couldn't stop crying for hours and Abby thought she offended him and made it a thing to call him "big brother Mike™”

-Abby will pretend to be asleep for more time in bed and Mike's comfort. Mike knows damn well she's awake but doesn't have the heart to actually wake her up and finds himself playing with her hair and glad she's safe

-Abby still has Mike's old security badge and vest and likes to go around pretending that she has a taser and goes around "defeating animatronics" which is just tickling Mike while he's trying to get work done

-Abby before the events at Freddy's she was always warned by Mike about the germs in a ball pit so that one scene was quite literally a last ditch effort for her

-Vanessa has been asked multiple times to scare Abbys bullies but gives the corny "tell a trusted adult they're not worth it" speech to her and feels proud about it. Mike tells Abby to just beat them up /hj (She takes his advice and both get lectured by Vanessa)

-Mike was 100% ready to fight Vanessa if he needed to because he really needed the job and was fully prepared to live up to the "keep people out" rule (based off the scene where they first met)

-Mike entered his emo phase the second Garrett got taken and left it the second he got custody of Abby, mostly because he was too busy to dress up anymore

-Abby managed to get ahold of Mike's taser from when he was a mall cop and brought it in for show and tell

-Vanessas first reaction to seeing the fazbear band for the first time was to ask why the band didn't have a drummer and William grounded her for seven months and didn't speak to her the entire time because he was so deeply offended and embarrassed

-sometimes when the animatronics get bored they dial random numbers into the phone and see what happens and one time they managed to call the White House completely by accident

-Abby and Vanessa do sister stuff together like braiding hair, baking cookies, and playing Barbies with insane reality tv level drama (it freaks Mike out but he just assumes it's girl stuff he wouldn't understand)

-Mike was really into skateboarding when he was younger, he doesn't do it much anymore but whenever he needs to flex on someone he whips out the triple kick flip and everyone is like how tf is that pathetic wet cat of a man doing that

-Ness runs a blog on Livejournal that’s basically food theory but in the 2000’s and he takes it very seriously 

-When they were at the pizzeria Abby found the ballon boy figurine and wanted to take it home because she thought it was cute. Mike almost had a heart attack when he found it at the house

-One time Abby found Mikes bong and thought it was a vase so she put some flowers in in and put it up for decorations, Mike, Ness and Vanessa nearly pissed themselves laughing when they saw it

-Abby is obsessed with furbys, Mike on the other hand almost shit himself when he heard it talking in the middle of the night. Fear only got worse after Freddy’s 

-Mike couldn’t afford an ambulance to drive Vanessa to the hospital so he just called a taxi (Cory went through enough that night so he just gave up and drove them, he was pissed afterwards tho because blood got all over his seats)

-Abby has a fish tank in her room that’s just filled with bugs and dirt, Mike has insisted to get rid of it multiple times because it smells rancid and the bugs kill each other regularly 

-It took Mike 5 times to just get his learners permit 

-William was a frat in collage

-Ness and Abby are both bug lovers and both cry when you squish a bug, Mike hates bugs and doesn’t get it

-Mike likes fishing and is lowkey hyperfixated on it

-William kept all the important files in a small ass trapper keeper that he stole from Vanessa 

-Mikes car hasn’t been inspected in eight years, not cause he thinks he won’t pass he just forgot to do it and just never did it again (but srysly look at it it’s fucking disintegrating)

-Mike also doesn’t like when other people take care of him because he doesn’t want to be seen as needy but Vanessa and Ness are like: “YOU WILL TAKE MY LOVE AND CARE GOD DAMNIT!” (In a loving way tho)

-Ness steals the crayons from the kids menus and gives them to Abby 

Oki final part for now because I can’t think of anything else 😜

[descendant-of-truth]

Heads up, I'm gonna be discussing Sonic x Shadow Generations leaks below the cut, so if you don't want extra-early spoilers then just feel free to skip this one for now.

That being said: it's come to my attention that the Sonic Generations portion of the game is, in fact, being rewritten... but not reanimated. Meaning that it's just new dialogue on top of the pre-existing animations.

This is. quite possibly the worst route they could have taken. not to mention the weirdest??

I can see what the train of thought most likely was, to be fair. Shadow Generations is being written by Ian Flynn, while the original game was written by Ken Pontac and Warren Graff, and their versions of the characters are very different from Flynn's. Clearly, they wanted some sense of internal consistency between the writing of the re-release. That part is normal.

But then, I guess they just... didn't have the budget, or interest, or whatever it was they needed to reanimate everything from scratch. So they just added some lipsyncing when necessary and called it a day.

The problem is that doing it this way fundamentally kneecaps what you can actually do with a rewrite. The revised dialogue I saw in a video doesn't feel any less stilted or awkward, and the only thing it really changes is giving the characters slightly more reasonable priorities, or filling in gaps in their knowledge that were there before.

And those aren't bad things to do, but it's... kind of the ONLY thing they can do. It doesn't fix the game's story. It's barely putting a band-aid over it. All it does is read like an amateur fan project, especially with the addition of Modern Sonic responding to his friends after he saves them where he didn't before; I'm convinced I've seen videos of fans doing that exact thing in the past.

Yes, everyone knows that the few seconds of silence while he gestures felt unnatural, but so does trying to fit a relevant sentence over such a short animation. The official attempt isn't going much better, adding this really out-of-place and forced "alright!" when Sonic gives Knuckles a thumbs-up, and it doesn't flow naturally with the rest of what he was saying at all. It's there seemingly just to fill the space, so that there's no moment where Sonic is animating and not talking. It's bad.

Not to mention, I kind of assumed that the reason Modern Sonic was silent during those segments was because Classic Sonic was. You can play either Act of each stage in whatever order you want, so you could rescue the others as either Sonic. It would give people an unfair incentive to always play Act 2 second if it meant they would get more dialogue that way, and they would miss out on Classic's interactions as a result. Sure, neither of their interactions are anything to write home about, but... that's not really the point, here.

Trying to insert new personalities and character dynamics into animations that were meant for something different only works if you're doing a fanmade parody. Doing it in an official capacity feels... weirdly insulting to both the original writers and animators, honestly?

Like, no, that's not the script they spent hours animating for. That's not the tone they were trying to convey with those character movements. No, Sonic isn't face-palming in exasperation because Amy's too focused on "saving Sonic next time," he's doing that because she's joking about how scared she was that she'd never get to flirt with him again. Those are not comparable interactions.

I understand why they wanted to change the script, I really do, I don't even like the original version but for crying out loud, swapping out the dialogue does not make the game more interesting. There's a reason the story felt utterly bland and lifeless and an extremely large part of that was the animation and cinematography. The white space that most of the cutscenes took place in was literally just the side-scrolling hub world, they had maybe five square inches that each character could move around in and it was really, really boring.

A rewrite of Sonic Generations, especially with the goal of making it an equivalent experience to Shadow Generations, desperately needs more than this. Shadow's story is going all-out with the animations and camera angles and the severity of the situation and the deep-dive into Shadow's character and Sonic gets. this. a slap in the face to the original writers with no attempt to meaningfully improve upon their story.

It doesn't solve the problem of Sonic's story being jarringly lackluster in comparison to Shadow's. If anything, it's just going to stand out as being even weirder, because if this was all they were going to do, then... why did they even bother? What was the point? Does Tails recognizing the Chemical Plant from Sonic 2 mean anything when there's no new scenes that actually take place in it? Are we really making "Sonic References: the Game" into nothing more than a vehicle for Slightly More Accurate Sonic References and Nothing Else??

And what really gets me about this is that I would've gone nuts for an official Generations rewrite as a kid. My Sonic Generations Phase(TM) was both extremely long-lasting and filled to the brim with others' fan projects, because I couldn't get enough of this idea of Sonic and Tails meeting their past selves while trying to save the very fabric of reality. It's such an inherently cool and fun idea!

But what I was invested in as a kid was just that: an idea of a story. The reason I was obsessively reading and watching fanfic about it was because the actual game gave me nothing to work with. Now, it seems we're still getting nothing, just in a different flavor. Like, plain oats, but this time they're gluten free so that means they're totally what I wanted, right?

No. I didn't want a Sonic Generations fandub that happened to be paid for. I wanted a story. It should not be this difficult to give me one.

(To clarify, this is not a diss on Ian Flynn himself or his ability to write. I think he was given a task that was impossible to do well and I'm mad at whoever made this decision)

[canmom]

l'aventure de canmom à annecy épisode DEUX - lundi 2 - cats and pigs

So this one's going to be a little chaotic in terms of order of events but hey. Let's gooo.

First up! I saw Flow, as mentioned earlier. Director Gints Zilbalodis from Latvia was the very first person to win the Contrechamp award at Annecy in 2019 for his solo-animated movie Away. Now he has a team, and they decided to make a totally wordless movie about a cat. Honestly I could leave it at that - this is a movie which you should watch unspoiled and just let it take you on a ride - but for a more detailed summary...

Our adorable little cat is living alone in the forest, surrounded by statues left by their former owner, when the world abruptly gets flooded, sending the cat on a journey to try to find higher ground and survive. The cat falls in with a group of other animals - over the course of the film, this group grows to include a capybara, a ring-tailed lemur, a secretarybird and a dog. It's the story of the struggles of these animals as they try to navigate the rising water towards higher ground, dealing with both outside threats and conflict within the group. I won't tell you where they end up but things get a tad mystical.

The thing is this film is totally wordless. The animation has to do absolutely everything. And it does so with aplomb. This is hands down some of the best character animation I've ever seen in a CG movie. Every animal moves naturally and expressively, their relationships shown with humour and clear expression. I honestly don't know how they did it so well.

It's also gorgeous on a rendering level. I'm not entirely sold on the posterisation effect used on the animals, but their environments are so vivid and richly detailed, looking natural even as they enter stranger architectural zones. Under water, over water, in storms... it looks absolutely great. It makes me so happy that this was done in Blender, it's like, that's what we dreamed of back in the day on the blenderartists forums.

The film already got a Cannes nom, which is wild for animation, and honestly while I haven't seen the other features yet, this is gonna be a tough act to follow and I think it has a pretty good shot at winning. I have no insight into the mind of the annecy jurors though! Regardless, spectacular film, makes me really want to make shit in blender lol.

I got some photos of the team getting a standing ovation at the end but it's super late so I'll have to upload them later lol.

Later I saw the premiere of The Pig That Survived Foot and Mouth Disease, a new Korean film which makes a much better case for using mocap in an animated horror movie, also in the midnight specials slot. Impressively all the roles of around 30 characters were played by one mocap actor, which is wild. It's a classic Korean style of film - a spiral of death and trauma rooted in social violence, particularly military hazing and animal agriculture.

A pig, surviving the mass slaughter of pigs during the foot and mouth epidemic, eats the body of the farmer who raised him and transforms to become more human and becomes something of a cult leader for wild boars; a military deserter becomes a yeti-like creature but finds new hope when he rescues a girl from her suicide attempt, but is she even real?

It calls to mind films like King of Pigs and The Fake, and it's no less uncompromisingly bleak in its view of society - but by comparison to those films, it's shot very stylishly, with a cool nonphotorealistic shader and a frequently gorgeous forest setting. It's not as fancy as something like Flow, the models looking a little videogamey at times, but it's definitely solid - the rigs detailed enough to capture the acting. The style works very well for the film, and there's a couple of really standout stylised sequences, playing with religious iconography or dream sequences.

The film it reminded me most of is actually Unicorn Wars, another violent story of transformation and people going a bit nuts in the woods. But it also gets a bit Shakespearean with all the stabbings by the end.

Whatever you compare it to, it's a compelling drama, unblinkingly facing the cruelty of society. The two directions of escape - the human who wants to live like the animals, free from social cruelty, and the animal who wants to live as a human, free from the imminent threat of death, present a strong contrast and a good pincer movement on the theme of what it means to be human.

Sadly it didn't have nearly the turnout as WSDIB, but I did get to tell the director and mocap actor I liked the film - unfortunately I don't know enough Korean to really ask the questions I wanted to (though I learned they used Unreal for rendering) but the director did very kindly run over to his friend to give me a little postcard with some art.

I wish the crowd had been more enthusiastic tbh, this was a good movie!

I also watched a bunch of XR stuff today, and another WIP panel for Canadian film Death Does Not Exist which is looking real cool, more on that in a mo... and I met Malaysian director Suresh Eriyat in a comic book shop and bought his art book direct from him which he fully signed for me, bless him...

seriously how adorable is this?

[everygame]

Hi-Fi Rush

Developed/Published by: Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Released: 25/01/2023 Completed: 09/12/2023 Completion: Finished it!

I loved this.

I’m not quite sure why, but saying so feels very exposing. Maybe it’s because before playing Hi-Fi Rush I had no idea what it actually was, and the game’s bright anime-adjacent stylings somewhat had me discounting it out of hand, so I assume the extremely cool people who read this would be doing the same.

Maybe it’s also just that Hi-Fi Rush is… pretty straightforward? It’s not particularly trying to move the medium forward (although I think it does some clever stuff) it’s just trying to be very, very good at what it’s doing. And what it’s doing, actually, isn’t so much “anime” as “full on Sega blue skies” while being an incredible competent 3D action platformer/brawler with a likable (dare I say loveable) cast of heroic misfits telling a simple but effectively structured narrative with some very savvy music choices.

The thing is that… succeeding at something that hits that many beats isn’t actually… easy? Something I’m most struck by is actually those characters. By now we’ve all seen the nadir of Marvel-inspired quip-a-thons thanks to the likes of that Forsaken trailer, but even looking at something like, say, Guardians of the Galaxy, where they have something that (at least previously) had worked, it’s remarkable how flat it falls. Here, you have a goofy, act-first-think-later hero, Chai, the cleverer-than-him female leader, Peppermint, the funny robot, CNMN, etc. in a very simple “baddies are doing bad things, let’s get the different things we need to defeat them” story, but it completely pops because there’s been care to keep the story rolling naturally so you flow through it and grow into caring about them. I’m so insanely curmugeonly that I can’t believed to ride that line for me. But they did!

Now you could say, “ah, but the secret weapon here is that the game uses actual songs that you actually like! That always works!” But it doesn’t work if all the pieces don’t fit together. There’s no better example than one of the game’s latter levels that uses The Prodigy’s Invaders Must Die. It plays at a moment where narratively all hell is breaking loose. It feels like you’re in a climax of an action movie, not just because the music is playing, but because the story has taken you there. That the level design is clever enough to cool down, let the music pull back a little, and then kick it back in for a climax? Absolute chef kiss.

(It only really gets better from there, too. Ending strong is rarely something I think video games aspire to, but Hi Fi Rush is sensibly around the 10 hour mark and the last three levels or so rip. Did the appearance of The Joy Formidable on the soundtrack literally make me emotional? Yes. Yes it did.)

Now interestingly, I haven’t actually played any other Tango Gameworks titles so I don’t really know if I should have expected rock-solid play, but either way I was surprised by how well it does. What makes Hi Fi Rush genius, I think, is that it takes a type of game I am incapable of not button-mashing through and adds a rhythm action component that doesn’t expect but rather, uh… politely asks you to hit your combos on rhythm. And it works!

I can criticise it, somewhat, however They quickly add quite a lot of subtleties to the combat and don’t tutoralise them heavily enough–I didn’t understand how to use Chai’s “partner combos” until well over half-way through the game, and I don’t know if I ever got comfortable with parries because standing around waiting for enemies to attack seemed the antithesis of everything else I was doing. There end up being a lot of buttons and you have to internalise the order of your partners and switching between them rapidly in situations where there are like 3 different kinds of enemies at once meaning at times combat is just a total stramash. But even then, there’s always the beat to follow. It’s very clever.

Anyway. I loved this. It’s one of my favourite things I’ve played in years. Your mileage may vary!

Will I ever play it again? When it finished I wanted to play it more. That literally never happens. I sort of hope there’s a sequel, but the story of this is so pleasantly complete that I’m not sure if there should be one.

Final Thought: I may also be a bit of a sucker for this game because you’re always accompanied by a black cat. Inspired by the game director’s!

Support Every Game I’ve Finished on ko-fi! You can pick up a digital copy of exp. 2600, a zine featuring all-exclusive writing at my shop, or join as a supporter at just $1 a month and get articles like this a week early.

[femboycatofmystery]

So my post about how you should draw (YOU SHOULD DRAW!) blew up beyond any precedent since my return to tumblr and someone in the FRANKLY KIND OF TERRIFYING NUMBER OF REBLOGS mentioned downloading a free DAW to make music and that got me thinking,

HOBBY SOFTWARE MEGAPOST GO

All of the below software is free to use, and most of it is Open Source (which is its own thing I recommend learning about, its entire existence and success gives me hope for humanity) so GO GET SOME TOOLS! Make things like nobody's watching and then SHOW IT TO THEM ANYWAY! Or don't! Even if you hide your work from the world (lord knows I do!!!) you will have created something! And it feels amazing to create something!

VISUAL ARTS:

Inkscape: Adobe Illustrator replacement, pretty solid if a bit quirky.

Krita: Painting software, if anything slightly overpowered and sometimes more complicated than you want, but can do bloody anything including advanced color management. A wonderful tool.

Blender: You have probably heard it is super hard to use. This is CONDITIONALLY true. Because the developers are working day and night to improve everything about it it's always getting better and now like, 80% of the hardness is just because 3D is hard. Aside: Blender Grease Pencil - A subsystem in Blender is concerned with 2D animation and it is. Surprisingly good. Some annoying conventions but totally possible to literally make professional traditional 2D animation.

MUSIC:

LMMS: A free and open source DAW that can do a lot, except use most modern VST plugins. The practical upshot of this is that if you are just starting out with music it is totally serviceable but over time you might start to long for something with the ability to load hella plugins. (I'm currently trying out Reaper which has a long free trial and is technically nagware after that point...)

PlugData: You GOTTA TRY THIS, it's not mentally for everyone (not HARD exactly, just WEIRD) but if your brain works well with this kind of flow graph stuff it's a magical playground of music. (If you have heard of PureData, PlugData is based on it but has a lot of nice graphical upgrades and can work as a VST if you have a proper DAW)

Surge XT: A big ol' synthesizer plugin that also can run standalone and take midi input so you can technically use it to make music even if you don't have a DAW. If planning notes ahead of time sounds intimidating, but you can get your hands on a midi piano controller, this might actually be a great way to start out playing with music on your computer!

Bespoke Synth: Another open source DAW, but this one is... sort of exploded? Like PlugData you patch things together with cables but it has a wild electrified aesthetic and it can do piano rolls. Fun though!

GAME DEV:

Yeah that's right, game dev. You ABSOLUTELY can make video games with no experience or ability to code. I actually recommend video games as a way to learn how to code because the dopamine hits from making a character bumble around on a screen are enormously bigger than like. Calculating pi or something boring like that. ANYWAY:

Twine: Twine is what I might describe as sort of a zero-barrier game dev tool because you're literally writing a story except you can make it branch. It has programming features but you can sort of pick them up as you go. Lowest possible barrier to entry, especially if you write!

Godot: I use this engine all the time! It's got great tutorials all over the internet and is 100% FREE AND ALWAYS WILL BE. Technically there are more Unity tutorials out there, but Godot has plenty enough to learn how to do things. It's also SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT so you won't spend your precious hobby time waiting for the engine to load. There are absolutely successful games made with this but I think the best thing about it is that the shallow end of the learning curve is PRETTY OK ACTUALLY.

[rubykgrant]

(Part 2 of my RVB mer-kid story, because I finally have my brain on-track with it!)

Sarge didn't know how to respond to that.

The kid didn't really give him a chance.

With one last annoyed little huff, the boy turned and started to run out of the parking lot... he slowed to a walk before getting to the hill, making his way down the road, back to wherever he went when he wasn't here.

The words- "He isn't human" stuck in Sarge's mind. That surely had to be the kid's wild imagination, adding more to whatever this weird little conspiracy the kid conjured up. This place... yeah, sure, it was pretty secretive, maybe leaning toward being shady, but not INSIDIOUS. Probably not. Hopefully not.

If it was, the more likely answer would be something like pollution, or unethical animal testing. Regular "evil corporate" stuff. Not good, no, but... kidnapping? Kidnapping somebody who wasn't human? What the hell did that even MEAN?

Sarge shook his head and locked the gate.

The rest of the day was pretty quite; he did his rounds, took a break while two other guards came on for their shift, checked the daily security footage (seeing himself dealing with the little trespasser, noticed that a smirk had snuck into the corner of his mouth as he watched the kid flip-off one of the scientists who had spotted him earlier, and made a conscious effort to make his expression neutral; he was NOT fond of this kid), and then went back out for his final rounds of the evening.

Sometimes, Sarge worked the night shift, all the way through, but the schedule worked out so none of the guards got full day-night work, and rotated who worked late so nobody got burned-out. Occasionally, Sarge got called in even when his shift was over, because SOMEBODY was causing a ruckus, and none of the other guards were as good at dealing with that problem.

Well, in an irritating way, the kid certainly gave Sarge job security.

As he walked out to his car, muttering to himself about this-and-that, Sarge noticed that the sky had become overcast. The wind had gone from a refreshing breeze to powerful gusts of cold wind. It made the the parking lot seem even more open and empty. The sun was beginning to set, and the dark clouds turned the light into vibrant streaks of gold. Everything that wasn't in shadow burned orange.

After going through the employee access road, getting cleared at the security gate, and driving up the hill, Sarge saw something that made him slow down, then stop; the kid was standing beside a tree.

This spot was just over the "horizon" of the hill, no line of sight from the building. Had the kid actually left, or had he been waiting here all day?

The warm glow from the setting sun was at the kid's back, his wavy hair moving in the wind like flowing water.

"Hey. You better not just be waiting for me to leave so you can sneak in again," Sarge said, rolling down his window, and leaning over the edge. "I don't wanna leave, and then just come back here in half an hour. Take the night off, kid. Give us both a break,"

The kid didn't say anything at first. He had that bored, zoned-out look again. Sarge had to admit, the kid had a good poker-face.

"Why are you here?" the kid finally asked. Sarge almost chuckled at how blunt yet "philosophical" the question was.

"I used to be in the military," he waited a moment. Sometimes kids got all starry-eyed over that. Not this kid. "It about killed me, but I don't go down easy, even when I take a bullet to the head, and now I'm done with it. Had to find somethin' ELSE to do with m'self. A buddy gave me a list of possible employers I could call. Most of the other options fell through, but this didn't. So I'm here to be a security guard. I THOUGHT that meant keeping things in order, maybe dealing with a break in if anybody wanted to steal equipment... but NO, I have to play baby-sitter to ONE little smart-mouthed delinquent!"

The kid shifted around, awkwardly... but Sarge got the feeling he wasn't the one making the kid nervous.

"OK. Why is THAT here?" the kid nodded back toward the building. "Why did they build something here, all secret and secluded and sh- stuff? Why don't they tell anybody what they're DOING? Why is it such a big MYSTERY?"

"Valuing privacy doesn't mean they're up to some nefarious, super-villain scheme. I know it might be fun to imagine something like that up, but-" before Sarge could finish, the kid interrupted him.

"I didn't IMAGINE my friend, and I didn't IMAGINE them taking him away!" the blank expression was gone. As the kid's eyes started to water with fresh tears, the sunset made them sparkle in a way that was... heart-breaking and harsh.

Damn it. Sarge was getting SAPPY in his old age.

"Kid- I ain't trying to upset you. I know you hate my guts, and the feeling is just about mutual, alright? So I won't patronize you, I'll tell 'ya straight. You need to listen to me," Sarge tried to give one of his best I-mean-it looks, so the kid would pay attention. "If you keep coming back, climbing the fences, breaking in, and running around... you'll get hurt. I don't mean I'LL hurt 'ya, I mean one of these days you'll fall and scrape your knee, or break your neck, or get yourself stuck in some little corner you can't get out of- then what? I don't want to see some kid get all messed-up or injured..."

"My friend is a kid, too..."

"Right. Your friend who isn't human," Sarge replied.

"Yeah. Yeah, he's not human, but he's still a KID. And they're hurting him in there. He's getting messed-up in there. If you're really worried about kids being injured, worry about him!" the young voice cracked, turning into a whine of uncontrolled emotion.

With one last glare, the kid turned and started walking down a little path that cut through a small stretch woods; it eventually ran behind some apartments and a small neighborhood. The kid was smarter than he looked, he KNEW going that way would help him hide his route home.

Sarge watched him go, and finally drove on.

That kid was trouble. No respect for his elders, or private property. No sense of responsibility, no concern for things like school. Probably a slacker, who didn't do any chores at home, no goals in life, no concept of effort, no determination, just a sarcastic little...

He kept coming back here, though. He hadn't faltered in that regard, not in three months. He also had given Sarge a reason; a pretty bogus, surely unfounded reason, but in the mind of that kid, it was important.

"He's not human, why are you here, why is it such a big mystery, my friend is a kid too"... now Sarge had even more of this stuck in his head, whether he liked it or not.

Driving through town, Sarge could see people taking notice of the weather; the clouds were now decidedly stormy, the wind getting more than a little pushy. The normally lively streets were looking empty; all the corner stores and sidewalk restaurants were closing their windows, still open for business, but not WIDE open. Even when this town was full of people, it still had a calm attitude. The change in their had made everything tense.

Maybe it was getting to Sarge, too... he felt restless and agitated. Because some kid had popped-off about something that may as well have been the plot for an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. If the kid had said something like- "Those scientists stole a baby dolphin from it's mother, and they're keeping it in there!", well, Sarge maybe would have believed that right away, but it was easier to accept that some kind of ET scenario, with the evil government kidnapping a friendly space alien.

This was stupid. That kid was either making things up on purpose, or he let his imagination run away with him. Sarge wasn't going to keep dwelling on it.

After a shower, a dinner of hearty stew (left-overs from 2 days earlier, when he had time to actually cook), and watching 7 episodes of M*A*S*H* re-runs, Sarge was still dwelling on it.

Damn it, the kid had at least ONE point; this job and that facility were a little... iffy. Sarge didn't have a fancy high-tech phone, and he didn't have a home computer here yet, so he can't just start trying to look stuff up online... he's not much of a "hacker", anyway. He was pretty handy with a wrench when it came to working on vehicles or home repairs, but the cyber-world was outside of his realm of expertise.

He'd have to try something more old-fashioned; he got his flip-phone (which was a bulky, old model that still resembled a walkie-talkie, just the way he liked it), and made a call.

"Hey, Butch. Yeah, sorry- am I callin' too late?"

"No-no, it's fine! I was up and about anyway. You know me, busy as a bee!" came the happy, even-toned voice through the phone. "Well, I'm always happy to hear that ruggedly charming voice of yours, Sarge... but something tells me if YOU are calling this time of night, you've got something on your mind, yes?"

Somebody who didn't know the guy well would think Butch Flowers was condescending; he always talked like everything in life was amusing, and he wasn't shy about sharing his pleasant little opinions. He was almost always sincere, no trace of sarcasm, and unless you spelled it out for him, he wouldn't notice that he rubbed you the wrong way until you got right up in his face, ready to pull back for a punch... and that was the other thing about Butch Flowers; the guy could take a hit, and laugh it off. He could also hit back. Hard.

Sarge had served with him in the military, and for years, never dared question any of the odd mannerisms or quirks. Butch Flowers outranked him, and the few times Sarge saw him get genuinely made was... unnerving. Which Sarge also found extremely attractive, but he had promptly IGNORED all those feelings. They had somehow remained on good terms through the years, and with military life over for them both, they were on even-footing now.

"I actually do. This job here- I still appreciate you finding it for me and putting in a good word 'n all, but this place is starting to feel like I keep stepping over a rattler, but I just don't see it. What do you really KNOW about the people in charge?" Sarge asked.

"Hmm... off the record?" Flowers said thoughtfully.

"Off the record," Sarge agreed.

"Okey-dokey. I did my own security work for one of the lead scientists at another location, for a different project. THAT was one big, nasty deal. A fuster-cluck, if you'll pardon my almost-French. Not really because of anybody I was working with, but because of all the people trying to get up to mischief. Corporate espionage is messy," Flowers explained, as if he were chatting about a trip to the grocery store.

"Hell, it was that bad?"

"Oh, goodness gracious, YES! But I wouldn't have recommended you work for the same group if I thought it was going to happen again. Most of the people involved got arrested, the others went into hiding, tra-la-la, life goes on. The marine research facility is something entirely different than the project I was working on. I mean, it's funded by the same core company, they like to dip their toes in multiple projects, but nobody is going to target a building that charts ocean currents or collects seashells-" Flowers tried to continue, but Sarge jumped in.

"That's the thing, Butch! I don't know if they're chartin' ocean currents, or countin' seashells, or scavenging old shipwrecks to find pirate treasure, or WHAT. Maybe this isn't the same kind of project upfront, but..." Sarge trailed off, letting Flowers figure out the rest.

"You're worried they're hiding something. Hmm... I'd hate to think I set you up with something DANGEROUS. Really, all the problems I had came from outside sources, and this company pays very well. Still, if it makes you uneasy or you don't feel safe... maybe give them your two-weeks? I'll be happy to give you a place to stay for a while, until you find something else. Can you do that?" Flowers asked, giving Sarge a VERY easy way out.

Sarge didn't usually take the easy way.

"No. I can't," he answered.

"Ah, I think I understand. If you're going to play detective and then maybe play hero, be CAREFUL. And for heaven's sake, CALL ME if you need help! REAL help. I'll get you out of there..." for the first time in this conversation, Flowers had a touch of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'll try. But you know how I am," Sarge said with a huff of laughter.

"Indeed I do- stubborn and tenacious. Well, if anybody can dig up the answers, I'm sure you can! Now, get some rest~"

"Alright, G'night, Butch..." Sarge said, and clocked off his phone.

He thought about the time before, when Flowers had given him a few job options to try out; car salesman, livestock judge, self-defense advisor... hell, the guy had even offered to put Sarge up at his place if Sarge wanted to try going back to school (he technically had a GED, but it was almost a joke; his school let people "graduate early" if they were planning on joining up, and as a teenager, Sarge ate that propaganda for breakfast, and went down the school-military pipeline like it was a slip-n-slide).

At each job, Sarge got his fur up about something. One boss had been an abusive father that kept getting away with hurting his kids because he was friends with local cops. Sarge got to the bottom of THAT, and while the kids found a safe new home, Sarge found himself without a job. Things like that kept happening, and Sarge was like a dog with a bone when something got his attention.

Finally, Flowers had told Sarge about the security job. Almost reluctantly. As if he didn't want to bring it up at all... and maybe that was because of the bad business Flowers went through. What if it wasn't just competitors that caused problems? What if this research facility was just a front for whatever the company really cared about?

This was supposed to be an easy security job, and Sarge had sworn to himself that he would NOT, under ANY circumstances, get too involved or too invested. He wasn't here to make trouble, he was here to keep things in order. Trying to pull threads or make waves was a bad idea. He should just keep ignoring these red flags, like before...

"They stole my friend"

"He isn't human"

Who is he kidding? Sarge is going to charge head-first into those red flags, and tear them apart

[fibula-rasa]

Watch More Movies Notebook: July ‘24

Favorite New-to-me Films of the Month

(listed in order pictured above, L to R)

READ on BELOW the JUMP!

Highlights and Shadows (1938)

[letterboxd | GEM]

Industrial film commissioned by Eastman Kodak made by James Sibley Watson Jr. It’s not especially common for people to watch industrial films for entertainment—though if you grew up in the kitsch-crazed 1990s US, you may be more open minded to how enjoyable they can sometimes be. Highlights and Shadows has no kitsch or camp factor (Shake Hands with Danger (1975) it is not) but it is beautifully constructed. That comes as no surprise, really, since the project was headed by Watson, who previously made the avant-garde classics The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) and Lot in Sodom (1933). Aside from the exquisite cinematography and optical effects, I appreciated the film’s shared focus on finely-engineered technology and its human element—at one point even including a shot of a janitor at work.

——— ——— ———

Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie: Black Dream Hole (1995)

[letterboxd | imdb]

In the final film accompanying the 1990s Sailor Moon series, Chibiusa makes another weird friend. This time it’s Perle, a fairy working for an evil space queen who wants to steal the power of children’s dreams for her Black Dream Hole. This is my favorite of the Sailor Moon films we’ve watched because it has heavy Little Nemo vibes! 

——— ——— ———

A Day in Santa Fe (1931)

[letterboxd | imdb]

A charming entry in the discourse of the city symphony genre. I’m a big fan of city films, but hadn’t heard of this one before reading Lovers of Cinema this past month. Initially I wrote a whole page of notes about this film and how it sits in conversation with the films that inspired it, but decided that should be a bigger conversation for another time here on the blog! That said, A Day in Santa Fe is a often cheeky response to the urbanity of most of the other city films and, if you’re familiar with the genre, it’s worth checking out.

——— ——— ———

Bewitched Matches / Les Allumettes ensorcelées (1913)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Short part-animated/part-live action from Émile Cohl. Three girls invite a witch into their home hoping she will tell their fortunes. When their father comes home, he rudely kicks the witch out and she places a curse on his matches, of all things, which take on a life of their own.

——— ——— ———

Manhandled (1924)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Swanson was such a complete movie star. Contemporary critics of Swanson’s silent film work seemed to think her appeal was entirely based on her ability to wear extravagant outfits well, but she had the skill to do a little bit of everything. It was fun to see a film where Swanson gets to mix relatability, dramatic skill, comedic chops, and, of course, a chance to wear some wild getups. 

All in all, it was an enjoyable film and Swanson has good chemistry in particular with Lilyan Tashman and Frank Morgan. However, I did find the conflict between her and her boyfriend at the climax to be a little forced (it feels like he knows her better than to jump to such rude conclusions, no?)

——— ——— ———

Rich (1983)

[letterboxd | imdb | UCLA Youtube]

A student film by UCLA alum S. Torriano Berry and restored by UCLA graduate student Gabz Norte. What a cool project to have current students restore the work of former students! While Rich is very much a student film, I found it to be thoughtful and wholesome in equal measure. (I do have a soft spot for films shot in and around Watts tho!)

——— ——— ———

The Salvation Hunters (1925)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Josef von Sternberg’s first film as a director, which I also watched because of Lovers of Cinema. Very cool how Salvation Hunters plays at social commentary with the devices of typical Hollywood storytelling and story flow almost bordering on dream logic. In some ways it felt like a presage to Fellini’s work. In short, I loved it.

——— ——— ———

The Devil’s Dance / La Danse du diable (1904) 

[letterboxd | imdb]

Very short dance film about a little green devil (who might be fart powered?) and the visions he summons. Visual interest added by Velle shooting entirely from an overhead angle.

——— ——— ———

My Brother’s Wedding (1983)

[letterboxd | imdb | Kanopy (US)]

Watched this film after logging Rich on letterboxd, as another user had brought up this My Brother’s Wedding as similar to Rich. It’s always interesting when artists working the same time/place/industry will weigh in on subjects relevant to them in their own unique ways, but convergences and divergences of perspective emerge. Anywho, the neo-realist element was really well executed and I appreciated all the bits of character-based humour both as enhancement of the realism and as variation of tone. (TBH I was hooting every time the 30-year-old Pierce started wrassling with his elderly father! Like, it’s funny, but it also communicates where Pierce is at in his life and his dynamic with his parents!)

——— ——— ———

As always, if any of these films catch your eye, but you need specific trigger/content warnings, don’t hesitate to ask for them!

——— ——— ———

Monthly Round-up

I apologize for how informal/unedited these notes are for my favorite new-to-me films this month, but I’m playing catch up since I spent the beginning of the month ill! Said illness is also why my Salomé cosplay and essay isn’t up yet! 

I spent most of the past month researching and—though it remains to be seen if it will be for better or worse—my Salomé work will probably be in two parts. The first part will likely be up in the next few days! I ended up discovering so many interesting things behind the most commonly repeated ideas about Salomé that it would be way too much for one post!

As I mentioned in the notes above, I read Lovers of Cinema this past month and it gave me quite a few ideas for posts. One of which will likely be up this month: a watchalong a la the “Film Comedy’s Eves” post from a few months back. It’s a very accessible read if you’d like to learn more about the world of avant-garde/independent/experimental cinema of the US in the first half of the 20th century! 

Now, while I spent most of my blogging time this past month falling down numerous research holes, I did manage to put some themed gif and still sets together:

Sun, Moon, and Feather (1989)

[which I talked about in last month’s round-up]

Manhandled (1924)

Losing Ground (1982)

La Danse du diable (1904)

Highlights and Shadows (1938)

Blue Blood / Sangue blu (1914)

Lot in Sodom (1933)

——— ——— ———

Well, thank you all for your patience with the Salomé cosplay getting so drawn out, and stay tuned for part one soon!

Happy viewing!

☕Appreciate my work? Buy me a coffee! ☕

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff: Nimona

or How to Not Worry & Channel Your Inner Limp Bizkit

In the year before 2020, it was announced that Blue Sky Studios was adapting ND Stevenson's hit graphic novel. Everything changed though when Disney was on that bullshit post-Fox buyout, where to our surprise Blue Sky and Nimona would be shut down. The latter's cancellation hit especially hard understanding it was almost finished anyways, but that's Disney for you. Long as you don't say gay and give 'em your money, they'll stay out of the way. Leave it to Netflix to let the film rebound from Super Hell and finally make it to both the big and small screen; makes you forget they're garbage at anything else. All in all, Blue Sky had the last laugh one more time but was Nimona able to bring the flavorful fireworks or did we get a weak flare that fumbled before the 4th of July?

Well, I will declare now that the film... is fun. If it wasn't fun, that means Disney made it and would remake it live-action around 2040. This film is a ride-or-die by its titular protagonist and lads, I can't lie...

PROTECT. THIS. GODDAMN. SMILE.

Nimona is both a bundle of chaotic joy and an entity that deserved far better. She's like the manifestation of Limp Bizkit, 2000s punk, and B-tier shitposting rolled into an unapologetic but deeply frustrated rebel. I've seen naysayers before release going, "She's another attitude girl archetype" and like no. She has that raw gremlin bastard energy, but she's never an annoying bitch and that's big difference. The best thing is that you're with Ballister in getting to know her; it surprisingly hard for folk to be accepting of somebody harmless who's more comfortable with themselves than anyone lets on. She's not a character I felt forced to sympathize with nor was intrusive on Ballister's story. She's not exactly the focus, but she earned being the star of this movie.

I got major Haruhi and Kyon vibes from their dynamic and it's great

Plotwise, there's a good flow to it all that makes this rewatchable thrill. If there's one major gripe I have is that while Nimona and Ballister have a great dynamic, there's a part in the 2nd act involving them and the villain that was a bit rushed. I will admit to not have read the book, but while I do know the tone is different given they were probably going for an all age rating, I say things didn't feel too compromised. My mind is blown enough that we got an animated kids movie with two, COUNT 'EM TWO, openly queer protagonists. No winks and nudges towards Ballister being gay, no scatterbrained subtlety on Nimona's genderfluid existence, and thank balls their story exists as more than being a preachy memoir. These two get to just BE and live to go on a crime spree justice adventure. That is what I've wanted for longer than any of you think and this delivered. Any criticisms I could have I felt was diluted by the actual fun this was.

And if you've seen Iron Giant, you probably will love this movie

To conclude, I am wondering of a timeline where this wasn't originally cancelled and Blue Sky didn't get axed. This was as much their movie as it is Annapurna and DNEG who helped finish it. People said it looked "unfinished" but then again, given the situation I can cut it some slack because it still plays out gorgeously. Like you know Blue Sky got most of it done, but you think about the changes in direction and ponder if this was the best outcome for the film. It is poetic though, a phoenix forced to burn out but gets to revive as a stronger, if not more so, being that people finally get to see. For Nate, this is undoubtedly a dream come true. As for me, not since Puss in Boots The Last Wish have I been delighted to call this a...

9/10 ABSOLUTE BANGER

[nazmazh]

So the whole "cozy farming/town building/etc. games are colonialist/imperialist in nature" discourse that's going around these days:

Like, I firmly do believe that it's not the worst thing in the world to examine underlying reasons - Conscious or unconscious - For why something might appeal to you/an audience in-general.

And sure, there probably are some societal factors that lead to certain things being used as shorthand or jumping off points that do often go unexamined - Like, the idea of there being a terra nullis that you can no-muss-no-fuss-no-complicated history of colonialism/displacement/genocide is definitely one that does often just get used unquestioningly. And there certainly could be some interesting discussions about whether or not that should be such a default.

But, like, at the same time - This is explicitly escapism. Fantasy of a sorts (depending on the game/setting, it might explicitly not be the real world). These scenarios, unless otherwise stated are taking place in a true terra nullis - Nobody had to suffer anywhere in this place's history. Build your animal people village or cozy little farm without even having to think about this sort of thing.

But it's not always so simple, is it?

Any game that includes side-tasks centered around finding treasures/artifacts, exploring ruins, etc.? Well, now, that implies that this was not truly a terra nullis after all. And yeah, that can raise some implications. Much of the time, it still falls back to something like *Oh, they all died long, long before you/your current civilization got here - Don't even worry about it!"

And, like, I get it.

You don't want to think about your character's potential complicity/inheritance of a legacy of genocide when you're playing a cozy farm sim game. You just want to make a nice, efficient farm, and arrange found trinkets in a satisfying manner. You just want to curate your village to look like a 1:1 recreation of your favourite Skyrim town, but with silly animal people. Sometimes it's just the skin that's wrapped around your "make the numbers match up in a satisfying manner" exercise. Sometimes it's all about the stories and playing a role as given to you by the set-up.

And that's all fine.

You're allowed to have escapism without having to turn into Chidi from The Good Place, agonizing over whether everything is 100% ethical from all angles and possible implications.

And people are allowed to think about things from those points of view and decide for themselves if they really enjoy these sorts of games after all.

And there are some games out there that do invite you to think about these sorts of things - Sometimes explicitly, sometimes subtly.

Like, I play Satisfactory, which has a few of these elements - Terraforming an alien world - A supposedly true terra nullis as far as the scenario is concerned - And while resource extraction and manufacturing isn't a cozy pastoral farm, there still is a deep level of well, satisfaction, that comes with arranging things just-so, such that you have an aesthetically-pleasing factory colony, and one in which all of your processes' rates sync just right that it all flows smoothly to get you the components you need.

But it's also a running joke of sorts between me and friends who play about well, just how much sprawling machinery you can into a formerly pristine wilderness. The game might not outright say "Look how horrible this all is for the environment here", but you can't really look upon your creation and not see the horrible transformation the once beautiful natural landscape has undergone.

In the end, though - I've only despoiled a digital canvas, so to speak. No guilt needs hang over my head for finding joy in my colossal monstrosity of a factory. (Other than perhaps I need to work on improving my efficiency. I love my tangle of conveyor belts, but maybe I should plan my machines better so that they're not always backed up and stalled out).

And, like, these people complaining about Stardew Valley or Minecraft being imperialist and then saying people shouldn't enjoy them (Admittedly that last bit seems only to exist as a theoretical strawman to argue against and get mad at/about - I can't say I've honestly seen anyone claiming that nobody should be allowed to enjoy them) - Have they run out of complaints about other game genres? I know that nothing should get a free pass by merit of something else being worse, but I am curious as to where their logic would lead in terms of whether any games with any sort of abstraction/story should be enjoyed, ever.

Have... Have they seen other genres of games, at all?

Like, I also love the 4X genre, but that one explicitly encourages imperialism. The Xs include "exploit" and "exterminate", specifically. And yes, there have been criticisms of this genre too, but I can't say I've seen people vilified in the same way as this last round of criticism lobbed at cozy games.

There's plenty of games whose entire goal is just "kill everyone else" - PC, NPC, mob, etc.

Again, though - I'm not outright against criticism/reexamination of things from different angles or anything like that.

Honestly, the sci-fi and fantasy genres have had some absolutely fantastic developments stemming from the line of thinking of "Hey, does it feel a little off/icky to have expressly sapient races that are universally evil/bad and therefore okay to in-turn slaughter without hesitation?" This reexamination has led to plenty of games where Orcs and Goblins and such aren't just stock villains and cannon fodder - They have their own actual motivations beyond "Pillage and kill! Just because!", they're full-fledged factions that can be reasoned with, negotiated with - Dealt with in ways that don't necessitate violence.

Like, sure, if you have a certain style of game, you'll need foes. And making them "monsters" is often an easy strategy to avoid having to think about why it's okay/good/fine to kill them. But if they're all purely mindless or bestial, it gets a little repetitive - So, yeah, you add in ones that can think too. But at that point, they ought to have the capacity to question what they're doing and why, and thus, should have the freedom to not just default to doing bad guy stuff for the sake of it. And then from there - Writing them to always be evil anyway kind of does feel lazy/reductive and willfully, pointedly avoidant on a subject that should be considered.

I don't know if I have a point to all this. Yes, it's fine to enjoy things. Yes, it's often good to question underlying assumptions - Including and often especially things presented as "idealistic" and "harmless". Yes, consumption of media can lead to self-reinforcement if ideas, including potentially harmful or toxic ones. But also, yes, sometimes, things aren't necessarily as deep as they have the potential to be.

Sometimes it's just "If I had a small corner of the world to make my own, what would I do with it?"

Sometimes it is "If I could take over the world and make it align with my vision, what would I do with it?"

Sometimes it is "If I could take over the world and expressly be like, a cartoon supervillain, what would I do with it?"

People's escapism often isn't meant to be problematic. Or examine how things might be problematic.

Sometimes, it is something that would be expressly problematic outside the confines of the theoretical/simulated.

And that's fine.

It's fine.

People are allowed to enjoy problematic things.

People are allowed to indulge in fantasies that aren't completely selfless or altruistic. As long as they're not going out there and actually harming other people/the world/whatever -- What does it ultimately matter?

[plainndry]

I think I am gonna make a Media thread to share what I’ve played/watched this year. It looks like a fun thing to do! (Copied from my Twitter thread)

Here’s what I experienced in 2023

Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the first sin:

While souls games tend to be frustrating for me, they are also brilliant experiences, and I had a ton of fun with DS2! The Halbert in this game specifically is my favorite weapon in the entire series as of rn.

Neon White:

I hope everyone finds a game that fits their taste as well as Neon White fits mine. One of my new favorite games with such a satisfying sense of flow and rhythm that I couldn’t put it down till I got a gold medal on every stage.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish:

I loved the TV show they did so I wasn’t totally surprised but this exceeded my expectations. Gorgeous art style, fluid animation, compelling characters, and the most intimidating animated movie villain in a long time make this a winner in my book!

Bocchi the Rock Season 1:

IT’S SO CUTE AND FUN OMG!!!! A really heartfelt and well realized story with an absolute banger soundtrack. I loved every single character and every single episode so much, it’s truly an amazing show!

Elden Ring:

This game is scary in how good it is. It’s massive, intensely difficult, detailed, and beautifully crafted. It’s so much that I’m inclined to say it’s too much. But too much of a masterpiece is still a masterpiece. I’m carrying this victory with me for a long time.

Transistor:

Holy wow, I haven’t been surprised by a game like this in awhile! It’s an extremely well designed tactical action game with an unconventional narrative structure and absolutely killer visuals and music. I’ll definitely consider returning for another run later on!

Summer Wars:

An absolute rollercoaster of a movie. I really enjoyed the family dynamic and the different ways the story unfolded. It wasn’t what I expected at all and I think it was better for it. The visual design is incredible too! It’s very pleasant to look at. A fun movie!!

Journey:

I’ve rarely seen a game so perfectly titled. It was a true journey. It was an experience that was unique to me and my own playthrough. That’s what I think is truly special about this game. The people you meet and the way you progress while linear is truly your own

John Wick 4:

Absolutely lives up to the quality of this series. John wick continues to impress me with its action choreography and cinematography. This entry specifically has a strong set of side characters, some excellent music compositions, and amazing settings. Loved this one!

Portal 2 (Co-op):

I played the single player years ago but I finally got to finish the co-op campaign and it was a blast!!! Portal is one of if not the most satisfying puzzle games I’ve played. Reminds me how much of a classic this one is. Shoutout to my cousin for joining me!

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves:

A really enjoyable action comedy movie! It did a good job capturing the dynamic of a dnd party. A super fun time with genuine humor, great performances all around, and the appropriate amount of chaos for a movie in the dnd universe.

The Super Mario Bros Movie:

A solid film! The Music stole the show for me, Peach and Bowser were huge highlights and Luigi and Toad had great performances too! I was disappointed by the Kongs voices but it’s a film with a lot of love for the series in there! Peach is great btw💕

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom :

This game somehow impresses today in the same way botw does. The improvements rocket this game into the stratosphere. While i suffered the same fatigue I did with Elden ring at the end, I also found myself in awe almost the entire time

Spider Man: Across the Spiderverse :

I um, don’t know what to say. Visual feast, extremely compelling plot, character work that hit so so hard, an animated movie the likes of which I’ve never seen. Just incredible

Barbie Movie:

It was so incredibly fun. I had a good few laughs and it had really compelling characters. Very appropriately campy with the depth to back up the camp. A well made film

Cassette Beasts:

What a fantastic game. It recaptured the magic I haven’t felt since playing Pokémon platinum for the first time. It’s battle system is so engaging, story filled with mystery, characters absolutely lovely, and a world that is just the right size for exploring. 💕

[darkpoisonouslove]

Do you have any advices against writer's block?🙃

Hi, anon. I'm sorry you're going through this. It sucks but it's important to remember that it's not the end of the world (even if it feels like it).

I just want to say that you should make sure it's actually writer's block and not burnout. If you're generally tired and you don't feel like doing anything, you should rest. Also, I'm assuming you mean that you're blocked with the writing itself, not with the ideas so that's the kind of advice I'm going to give.

First of all, cut the last few paragraphs you've written and paste them in a different document. Try continuing the story without them and in a (slightly) different direction from before. Usually, you don't hit the wall immediately, you write a few more sentences before you block and then it's hard to figure out where the problem is.

Try the Comic Sans font. Personally, I haven't used it but a lot of people claim that using it annihilates writer's block. What have you got to lose? If it works, it works. If not, it won't do any harm.

Change something in the scene - weather, setting, moment of the day, add a character or remove one. It doesn't matter. The point is to find a new angle to look at the scene and try to make your way through it that way. Brains tend to go in circles when they can't make it past an obstacle. You have to get yours out of that rut and the best way is to switch things around.

Get yourself a voice recorder or a speech-to-text tool (if you can find a good one that actually works) and TELL your story instead of writing it. You can transcribe it later or fix it. Just try to see if you can get it flowing this way. You can even pretend that you're telling it to someone like it's a bedtime story.

Take a few dolls or stuffed animals (whatever you have) and play out the scene with them. It will help you visualize what's happening and let you direct the flow of the scene better. And you can't take it too seriously while you're voicing your plushies' internal monologue, can you? That should help your brain reset its expectations and make it less demanding towards itself.

Talk to a friend about it. If you have a particular problem with the story, tell a friend. Either they'll help you or you will help yourself. The fact is that when you're telling your story to someone who doesn't have it in their head, you need to present all the details in a logical way that they can follow. That often helps you find something that you're missing when you're just turning it around in your own head. And even if you don't have a specific problem, telling a friend can get you both hyped about your story and help break through that writer's block.

Get excited about your story. Either reread some of what you've already written or imagine the future scenes that you want to write. Maybe even skip ahead and try to work on them. If there's something you're excited about writing, do that! If you're not excited about the story, try making a playlist for it. Listening to songs that remind you of the characters or plot can really get you in the right headspace for the story. If that doesn't work, make a moodboard. Find images on the internet that remind you of the story and try to arrange them together in a way that appeals to you. While you're looking, you might get a feel for the setting or for the symbolism of the story, anything that could help you write.

Reread old writing/comments you've received on your writing (or remember those if they were given to you in a verbal conversation). Focus on the things you and/or others like about your writing. Remind yourself why you love it. Writing can become so tedious or even downright painful - like pulling out teeth. It's okay if you feel that way about it but if that's the case, then it's likely that that becomes a barrier that your brain has to overcome first before it can even attempt to focus on the actual writing. Prepare yourself snacks or a favorite drink. Make it fun.

In that vein, try to write something else just for fun. It doesn't have to be anything that goes in an actual story or whatever. Take your favorite characters (whether from your own stories or from a show you like (I'm not clear on whether you're writing original fiction or fanfiction and I don't want to presume)) and throw them in an entertaining, low-stakes situation. Have them just hang out and write them bantering. Or have them in an action sequence if that's what you want to do. The point is to not put pressure on yourself to write this. Just jot down what comes to mind. Go wild with it. Doesn't matter what the quality is or if it makes sense, just that you have a good time writing it.

If none of these work, try just... disengaging completely from the writing. Watch that movie or TV show that you've been meaning to for a while, read a book, play a video game. If you have some craft that you're into (like crocheting or knitting), do some of that. Go out with friends or to the gym or to the theater (and I mean theater with live performances). The point is to stop thinking about writing and focus your energies elsewhere so your brain can recharge and find new inspiration. Sometimes the best thing you can do is to focus on a completely different thing and let your subconscious work out the problem.

Some stories need a little (or a lot of) time to marinate before you can write them. I've had stories that are impossible to write for months on end and then one day... it's suddenly all crystal clear. Sometimes the problem isn't solvable right now. You're just not at a place where you can write it. If you're sure that you care about this story and you won't abandon it, then just have a little patience and a little trust that it will work out in the end. In my experience stories (both our own and media made by others) come when we most need them. Maybe it's just not the right time yet. Don't despair and try to find something else to work on whether it would be writing or another hobby altogether.

You can also check out @/ao3commentoftheday for more advice in case I've missed something (or you need a different kind of advice).

Good luck!

[animehouse-moe]

Heavenly Delusion Episode 10 Part 1: The Walled City

God, where to even start? I mean, really, when it's always perfect and outstanding and you want to talk about every scene, where can you start? Of course, there's loads of info in regards to theories and the story, but at the same time, as a manga reader I'm just absolutely obsessed with the level of polish and execution that this adaptation is on. Though, I guess it's better to get started somewhere than to waffle on where to begin.

⚠️Note: This is only the first half of the episode, as there's so much to talk about and so much to share, I've hit the image limit before finishing the post. If you're looking for part 2 of this episode, you can find it right here.⚠️

I absolutely love the anime original cold open they use for this episode. It's similar to what we experience in the manga, but it shares almost no similar scenes. It's an incredibly bold change for that matter, but I love the flow that they provide with the anime's rendition of the journey to Ibaraki.

And I think the first thing to stand out is the character designs.

The proportions are different from usual, the placement and overall design of features differs ever so slightly. And I love it. I love how well it works with how malleable the characters are in this episode. It sets the tone right from the opening, and lets viewers know what they're in for. How wide the episode is in terms of expression and acting and art styles and animation.

Similarly, the use of reflections and mirrors and such finds its beginnings early on as well, as Juichi is largely seen only partially through his reflection in the car's rear view mirror. It's a really nice touch, and I love how they use it in concert with the overall focus on allowing character in frame during conversation without making them easy to see constantly. It really adds to the feel of the world as we view it more passively, and even through a first person perspective in this episode.

In terms of just pretty looking stuff though, I love this set distance framing they use on the car during the drive to Ibaraki. It just looks so pretty, and is a really nice change versus the static interior of the car.

Also, during this night sequence, we get our first exposure to the first person perspective that appears sparingly throughout the episode. I love FPP, but I do also think that it's better used in moderation, and with specific purposes in mind. Heavenly Delusion seems well aware of that as a fact.

This driving sequence really just establishes a world of directive style. Within it we also get our first instances of the slideshow approach, which I think is really interesting because of one little choice. You can't tell because of the gif, but the framing/scale of the slideshow is actually smaller than the full frame. Similar to how widescreen ratios will crate black bars on the top and bottom of a screen, this sequence has a thick border of black space around it as well, making it smaller. I think it's a really great piece that helps separate these flashbacks from the other uses of this technique during the present time of the episodes.

Finally though, as it turns to day, we begin to further explore the fluidity and creativity of the character designs and acting. It's pretty incredible, really. They use comedy to establish how malleable the designs are, and then play with the serious designs little by little. It's not "off-model" like you might hear people saying all the time about something like Hells Paradise. No, this is an explicit creative decision to play into a desired style for the episode. And I think it's flat out amazing. They're simple character designs to start with! They're close to a blank canvas, they're meant to be played with.

In particular I really enjoy this first one for how interesting Juichi's design is here. His head is entirely disproportionate to his hand, which I thought was an interesting decision.

Anyways, here's girl Maru.

But yeah, this whole sequence is just really great at bending the characters to the will of their designers and animators, and you can really feel the differences in energy and approach from cut to cut. It's really impressive patchwork that comes together under a single creative vision. It doesn't feel choppy or out of place, but rather loose and very smooth.

Now, back to Juichi. I absolutely love how they approach his character through this episode. His story is explicitly flashbacks, and remain largely grayscale aside from the color red. It's a nod to his charm that denoted his brotherhood when he was in the facility. Alongside that grayscale though, we only see the front of Juichi during these flashbacks. We never looking at him from behind, but rather in front. And this scene illustrates that reasoning perfectly. He's returning to that hell of a life, and reliving those experiences as he retraces his steps. It's a very simple thing, but I love the detail and emotion it gives them.

Finally, we get to visit this 'walled city' with Kiruko and Maru, and as you'd expect they keep that feeling of voyeurism throughout thanks to spacious shots that focus on the character's movement through the scene. Speaking of that, I absolutely love this specific technique in today's episode: the panning shot through the environment that follows Kiruko. Incredible simple, but it adds to that sense of watching Kiruko wander through the abandoned building.

Right about now is when I'm bemoaning the image limit on Tumblr. There's a lovely scene of Maru being reflected in a puddle of water, which is exactly what I was talking about earlier on in this post as they use reflections and mirrors quite frequently to present characters to us in a way that doesn't feel manufactured for the express purpose of exposition.

Right here though is where things get amazing. A Hiruko sets its sights upon Kiruko and Maru, with the ability to freeze things. It gets dire real fast, but that's not really what I'm after here. It's the art style. The whole thing changes to reflect the freezing temperature brought on by the Hiruko. Colors change, the line art shifts, even the character designs are different. It's incredible, and I absolutely love it. Similarly, there's a cut of a closeup of Kiruko's eye as she looks around desperately for the Hiruko, and I think it's an outstanding piece (we also get more first person perspective here to mirror the closeup). The whole sequence tightens the focus on specific parts of Kiruko, as they're the only pieces that can move through that frigid cold. Expertly done, and provides a great sense of tension as well.

And then after the Hiruko skitters away, we get treated to another art style that focuses on the warmth and light that returns after the freezing temperatures dissipate. Just incredible stuff.

Also, these anime original scenes are really good at providing more information and context to viewers. Very simple pieces, but add a lot of information for connecting the dots through them.

As Kiruko and Maru turn the tables and hunt down the Kiruko though, we get another incredible first person shot of Kiruko walking down a hallway. You know it's CGI, but you refuse to believe it. The details, the compositing, it looks far too good when static (and even in motion) to truly be CGI.

Of course, the tension remains high through this sequence thanks to the slow draw forward, and a dolly zoom on Hiruko in the following scene. This series just has an incredible grasp on tension and horror, as it doesn't rely on jumpscares, but rather rising tension and discomfort through lack of sight. We hardly see the Hiruko through this sequence, but nonetheless we feel its presence, we understand that exists, lurking behind that corner.

And it comes to a head in such a kickass way. Remember what I said about the slideshows and how they differ based on black space in the frame? We get a full one here and it's incredible. Rather than focusing on providing some form of character acting through it, it's all about posing and incredible fidelity through the sequence. I love the aggression that's conveyed through the camera angle and the FOV. It perfectly depicts Kiruko's resolve, confidence, and aggression as she meets the Hiruko head on. And the black frames between? The icing on the cake, really. It further builds that tension, as it accentuates the pause between each frame.

And to finish off this half of the episode, we've got another incredible panning shot that actually follows Kiruko this time. Incredible effort, and the expertise to pull it off while looking so smooth is unfathomable.

So, the end of the first half of the episode. If I could, I would break down every last frame of it. Kai Ikarashi's storyboarding is just incredible, and the direction to match that is wonderful. It speaks to their time at Trigger, as we receive unparalleled fluidity in character designs and acting, alongside very stylized FOV and camera angles, but they're able to bring it perfectly under Hirotaka's incredible vision for the series.

If you're looking for the second post, just click on this link to get redirected to it.

[rebelquilled]

VASTAYAN MAGIC

magic for the vastaya is almost limitless but the way they use and work with it is limiting, essentially. when magic is abundant enough and the vastayan wielding it is in good health, they can accomplish pretty much anything they desire... but it is simply not easy. xayah could use magic to create shields or heal as rakan does, rakan could make knives out of his feathers, they could change forms like neeko, etc. but this is all complicated... unlike human mages/entities who use staffs, wands, or work with very specific types of magic sources ( ie zoe, diana, etc )... the way vastaya work with magic is essentially cooperatively. they need magic to survive, its existence literally runs through their entire being. it's a part of them. because of this, it's an extension of themselves. it works with their personalities, behaviors, dreams, desires, interests, and their animal traits. xayah and rakan will always have it easier to work with feathers rather than shifting ( though they can canonically shift and change forms ) while neeko will always do better with shifting than working with feathers... in large part due to their animal traits, heritages, and personalities. all vastaya can shift as said in multiple sources, but neeko's connected to the chameleon and her tribe is one of the more ancient ones alongside ahri's ( for the sake of ease, ahri will always be considered vastaya in my headcanons but i know not everyone agrees with that change so it's flexible and i don't necessarily make it canon in interactions btw ). ahri's tails are sort of an expression of her tribe's shifting abilities, but in the end they're still limited themselves. so, basically, tl;dr this shows how animal traits/connections can play a factor. as for personalities... rakan's love of dancing and helping allows his magic to far more easily work with him to throw his opponents around like a dance or heal his allies or shield them... xayah's passionate pursuit of her goals and values makes her like a knife thrown at a target, and her abilities reflect this. the magic feeds off their core selves and manifests as these specific attributes that work far better by individual than trying to branch into other things. again, they can go into other magic and talents but... because they don't work with their personalities and the like so well, this causes it to be far trickier. with abundant magic, we've seen xayah demonstrate the ability to levitate as one example of how the magic adapts to their beings and situations. rakan is known for changing the colors of his cloak to match outfits and surroundings when he can ( not a full shift, just a color change, so easier than shifting... and it just melds with his love of fashion and decor ). this also reflects how many vastaya don't even seem to use much magic at all, indicating that it manifests more so for those who practice with it or seek its power for their goals. not to say that they then don't have magic at all... they do... but they're more comfortable taking the day to day without it because it giving them life is enough for their desires ( especially because many vastayan seem to have been largely peaceful tribes and thus didn't take to magic for violence or fighting and rather just day to day activities like cooking and cleaning ). basically long story short... vastayan magic is widely powerful, widely unique, and all vastaya have far more abilities than they seem... but they're generally bound to the magic that works as the extensions of themselves and their beings, creating these more limited skillsets that we see in each tribe and individual. unlike mages or the humans of piltover who can use staffs and gems, etc. to control magic, vastaya work alongside it and it flows with them rather than they guide it in any shape or form.