#babylon anime meta

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 4: Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders

Part 1 (RG Veda) | Part 2 (Man of Many Faces) | Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon)| Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)| Part 10 (Rayearth)

Let's go a bit backwards in time to their fourth work, Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders. It ran from 1991 to 1993, concurrent with all series mentioned in my past review, and in the same world as Tokyo Babylon/ X. It feels like the real start of CLAMP's interest with shared universes, meta-textuality, and self-reference, because so much of this series is tied to your knowledge of their other work. Proto-Tsubasa? Maybe that's a bit too much credit.

Like Man of Many Faces, I had never known this existed. It had no anime adaptation (but 1 drama CD). It's out of print and was released in English by Tokyopop in the early 2000s, in two volumes comprised of 13 chapters. I read this entirely online and like with Man of Many Faces, am not likely to ever get a physical copy unless I feel like completing my collection. "Spoilers", in the loosest sense of the word.

Synopsis: Higashikunimaru Kentarou and Shukaido Takeshi are freshmen students who lead double lives as masked sentai superheroes Duklyon, protecting CLAMP School from evil! Aided by the General and the fiery Eri Chusonji, they've got to fight the fiendish Imonoyama Shopping District from world domination (and also keep being main characters in their own story!).

The Story: Listen, this is a gag manga in the purest sense of the word. It starts off mocking the repetitive nature of tokatsu and kaiju shows, which made the first volume a slog. Satirizing repetition by being repetitive is not actually funny. Volume 2 improved by introducing a wacky alien love triangle and more CLAMP self-referential humour, which did land. The manga overall feels random and aimless, and while the latter chapters do manage to pull things together, the earlier chapters really struggle. The satire isn't particularly striking or witty, it's meant to ~cRaZy and poking fun for long-term fans. I'd rate this below average. When it leans into breaking the fourth wall and mocking themselves, it lands. When it parodies Super Sentai by just...being Super Sentai, it's a poor copy.

The Themes: There are no themes here. This is light and playful and silly and a way for CLAMP to poke fun at all the genres they like. I have learnt nothing from this and I think Takeshi and Kentarou would be proud of me.

The Characters: One thing I'm realising in these CLAMP re-reads is 1) the strength of CLAMP's character writing elevates their weaker material, and 2) they copy earlier character templates into newer characters. Takeshi and Kentarou are prototype Watanuki and Doumeki "stop saying we're close but actually they're in love". And it is charming to experience the second (first?) time, especially the flash-forward at the end where they're married (almost). I prefer the put-upon, fourth wall breaking Takeshi between the two, but their dynamic really holds things together. Sukiyabashi is pretty good as a fail villain with even more fail hair. There's nothing deep about the characters, but they're entertaining and carry the paper-thin plot.

The Art: It's competently drawn, comprehensible visual storytelling, and the detailing on the Sentai suits are pretty well-done (though something about how the codpiece connects to the legs bothers me anatomically). I do love the tokatsu villain costuming, but otherwise the character designs are quite plain. It was actually a little difficult to distinguish Takeshi and Kentarou at first. Like Man of Many Faces, it's fine, it gets the job done, but its lacking compared to CLAMP at their best. The colour spreads aren't even that fun!

Questionable Elements: I do think it's funny this is the ONE CLAMP series where an adult person-teenager relationship is treated as gross, and it's (so far) the only one where the adult is a woman and the teenager is a boy. Something something ageism misogyny. But otherwise there's really nothing to talk about here. Eri is portrayed as a lovesick harpy but it's mild, as sexism in shojo goes.

Overall: I can see why Duklyon is an obscure CLAMP work. Where Man of Many Faces had sweet charm to carry it, Duklyon treads the more fickle ground of comedy, and it just doesn't always work. There's some genuinely funny moments here, and I do like Takeshi and Kentarou, but I don't think it's a necessary read for anyone but the most dedicated of CLAMP fans. CLAMP can write a really dumb funny bit when they want to, but that's about it.

[ursafootprints]

E, I, M, V, Y

c:

Aaaaaa you spoil me!!!

E: What character do you identify with most? Is there a certain fic of yours that captures these qualities particularly well?

HMMM I don't think there's a "most" necessarily! Neither Tony nor Peter is a character I super identify with just on the face of things, but there are individual traits that they have that I resonate with-- Tony's "gotta fix it (alone)" attitude, Peter's dorkiness and "gotta prove myself" drive, but those traits are expressed very differently in those characters than for me, haha.

The things that I identify most with for them in my fics are things that I put there through my various Situations rather than stuff they reflect in canon, lmao. I identify more with Peter in YNYD and with Tony in the Starkercest saga!

I: How many fandoms have you written in? Do you have a favorite?

Oh I counted this up one time! Assuming I'm not missing any from the actual fics/accounts being long lost to time, I've written for 14~16 fandoms:

Digimon

Inuyasha

Detective Conan

Fullmetal Alchemist

Gundam Wing

The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)

Cardcaptor Sakura

xxxHolic

X/1999 (unposted)

Yu-Gi-Oh!

di[e]ce

07-GHOST

Eyeshield 21

Chihayafuru

Ookiku Furikabutte (unposted)

MCU

Everything on that list that isn't MCU or The Outsiders is an anime/manga of widely varying levels of obscurity, haha. My favorite original work on the list is Cardcaptor Sakura, but my favorite fandom experience has been y'all here in Starker fandom! :P

M: What’s the weirdest AU scenario you’ve ever come up with? Did it turn into a story?

The weirdest AU I've ever come up with/written was the Tokyo Babylon-Starker fusion that @shivanessa and I are collaborating on! Because they drew some Peters and Tonys in the style of early CLAMP and I was immediately possessed by CLAMP Starker brainworms.

TB is a manga from the 90s written by CLAMP about a teenage medium tackling supernatural cases in Tokyo while being romanced by a kind and flirtatious much-older man… who secretly has very dark intentions for him. I might be the only person in the world that it appeals to but I am excited for it to be posting-ready!

V: Are there certain comments you’ve received on your stories that have stuck with you?

Any time a reader has told me that my portrayal of trauma felt resonant/especially realistic/cathartic based on their own experiences-- it's one of those things where obviously I'm sad for anyone to have to have that in common with me, but I also know how important and special it can feel when you read something that really resonates with your own experiences, too, so I'm always very touched by those comments.

(Also, any time I end up writing a paragraph or straight-up essay of meta in response to a comment it means that they said something that I grabbed and ogled and rotated in my mind in delight, so those ones, too!)

Y: What are your thoughts on your personal satisfaction with something you’ve written vs. the popularity of your stories? Do you tend to be most satisfied with your most popular stories?

It varies by fandom! I'm pretty much equally satisfied with everything I've written for Starker-- there's always stuff that I feel like I did really well, and stuff that I feel I could've executed better-- so it's a moot point there. But for Eyeshield 21, there for a while my most popular fic on that account by far was something I wrote when I was 13 and had only posted for archival reasons/a fun little stroll down memory lane, and until my multichap for the same ship overtook it I was a little jealous of my 13-year-old self!

Thank youuuu for all the questions! 😭💖💖💖😭

[psychewritesbs]

Also, I want to say, I'm quite surprised that your top fav animanga are X/1999, Tokyo Babylon, Jujutsu Kaisen and Sailor Moon... (At first I thought I was reading it wrong, but wow). Thanks so much, you just showed me that really there are 2 wolves inside all of us and it's really not weird to love opposite things.

Personally, I was shamed and even blocked when my group friends found out that eventhough I mainly love shounen animanga, I also love shipping 2 male characters from the same famous shounen and made fanfics about them. They said to "Just read BL manga/manhwa if you want to read mlm relationships so bad. It's not normal to see those male characters' dynamics as romantic when it's clearly all platonic.." So I kinda felt guilty about it, but now I'm learning to accept myself. Imagine my surprise when I found out you also kinda ship satosugu (you, who made such a fantastic analysis metas of anime/manga series).

Sorry for my rambling, again thank you for sharing your analysis and reviews on anime/manga (especially Jujutsu Kaisen)....

Giiiiiiiiiiirl (gender neutral)... lmao, how's this for owning the whole of my personality?

One of my favorite tv shows EVER is Downton Abbey. Downton Abbey is cheesy, the characters are insufferably self-righteous, and the entire show is basically rich Brits bemoaning their fate over tea in their grand estate.. and yet I LOVE it SO MUCH. The drama, the fashion, the romance I LOVE IT.

I just get SO much pleasure out of watching this show.

My taste in animanga is somewhat similar. I just watch stories that move me. I've been consuming animanga for a little over 25+ years ?? so why limit myself to one demographic when there's so many fantastic stories out there that transcend genres and demographics.

i.e. Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball were some of my very first anime, so they will always have a very special place in my heart. But I also love CLAMP's intense emotional depictions across any demographic they choose to write for just as much as I love Gege's super cerebral and absurd story-telling, y'kno?

But... I am so grateful you sent this because I feel like despite all of my analyses and the rambles I do for animanga, if there is one thing I want people to learn from me, it is to be true to yourself. Loving and accepting yourself is a journey, so take it one step at a time.

This is going to be very Sukuna of me, but... if something brings you pleasure and you're not hurting anyone, then it's none of anybody's business but yours. And if someone is coming at you because of what you like, that's their problem, not yours. It says more about them than it says about you.

Let that sink in!

It's good to reflect upon your self and what you love, but when someone comes at you hating on what you love, it says more about them than it says about you.

Also, I am sorry to hear about what happened to you. I can understand why shonen fandoms are so defensive of the male characters getting shipped. I don't mean to excuse anyone tho because it's annoying to hear someone say that your interpretation of what you're reading is wrong because they don't agree with it.

Like who tf is anyone to tell me how and what I should think about? And whom I should ship? And where I should go read about anything? Fudge off man.

Seriously. What's wrong with people?

And don't get me started with the whole fujoshi business because I will talk shit. I WILL TALK SHIT lmao.

Thanks for stopping by and for the kind comments! 😂

[headgehug]

veggietales review e1: where's god when i'm s-scared?

overall rating: 10/10

honestly sets the standard for veggietales episodes going forward. it's not the funniest ever but it is like pretty good all things considered so it gets a perfect score (i will not be this nice in the future)

some of my fave things:

-i love larry's original deeper, dopier voice. idc.

-frankencelery could def be scary to a kid wtf.

-i LOVE THE 90s COMPUTER ANIMATION!!! yes it's flat it's simple it's got the classic diagonal stretches (lattice animation!! squishy!!) it's amazing. the way the eyes bulge, the very particular fast zooms. so classic veggietales.

-QWERTY i love her so much <3333

some silly things:

-"my name is lucy anderson and I am 6 years old" (mr.) // "stop being so silly!!!" ok was it visher or nawrocki who liked python be real.

-(larry pops up out of the toybox wearing a baby bonnet) it's a baby pickle? i'm a cucumber -_-

-anyone else think mom and dad asparagus are kinda hot.

-(when you're scared) "what are you going to do?" "i'm gonna call the police!" "NO!--"

-i love the classic veggietale sillyhumor. like the lions are gonna ly-on you! what the hell. they have a whole bit about how dumb that is. there's a lot of meta things for sure but i don't think i missed them the first time. i think what veggietales does do well is it speaks to the kid and a lot of those jokes are not hard to miss (i think?)

-"god is bigger than the boogieman" "so he's scarier?!" lmfao

ummmmisc.:

-okay i know for a fact that certain things from veggietales et. al. severely damaged my brain for the future. ie. the slushy being slopped all over everyone in the jericho episode. so this is a no judgement zone. does the way frankencelery bounces seem like erotic to anyone else.

-also the dark eyeliner on the lead rapscallion. like they were setting me up to think bad guys were hot.

-furthermore, the way they threaten to beat Daniel up. "use him as a footstool, beat him up, throw him out of babylon". ummmmm.

losing my religion segment:

-okay so God's law just made Daniel get himself thrown into prison for no good reason. sounds so real and not like a coping mechanism for dealing with horrible things happening to you. also they just (of course) brush over the way Daniel was stolen away from his home? they say "taken" from home but like. it was a lot more violent. and they oversimplify the shit out of the whole story in general. obviously! i know they can't go into much depth at all it's just shocking watching it as an adult!

SILLY SONG REVIEW!!!

rating: WATER BUFFALO SONG- S tier

also, the "god is bigger than the boogieman" song is really incredible. first of all the choreography and then the creepy organ too. they went all in. and the KING DARIUS SUITE!! it's like unlocking facets of my brain that have been shut since i was 8 years old. really good episode for music. NOT TO MENTION OH NO WHAT WE GONNA DO!!!!! amazing. jfc (not the lord's name in vain if I abbreviate)

WELL FOLKS. that's all the time we have for today! don't forget that you're special and that the universe cares for you despite it all.

[kindaoptimisticsquirrel]

Why not: A CCS reread (with screenshots and silly thoughts) Part 1

I realy enjoyed the Trigunbookclub, and so, now that I'm rereading Cardcaptor Sakura, I wanted to post silly screenshots and notations in a similiar manner. Though, this won't be anything as deep with the meta, mostly just funny thoughts, and I don't know if I'll even do all chapters; it's just for fun anyway! Enjoy!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

Ch1:

Oh yes Tomoyo-chan and her pack of badass lesbian bodyguards. Little side thoughts to the first chapter: I really like the pacing of the story! You're directly in the action, the flashback to how Sakura got the cards and Kero is really short so it doesn't take you too much out of it...and you really like the characters from the start! Newer works of CLAMP didn't really pique my interest that much, but these old series remind me what great story tellers they are. Also, I don't know but you can feel the 90s in these old comics, what with storytelling and art style and clichés that were more common back then I think, and it gives me some kind of nice nostalgia, even though I only read ccs when I was about 14 or 15 actually. I just really like older series sometimes. (another example which gives me the same nostalgia vibes, for which I want to make a bit advertisement, is "Pet Shop of Horrors". Please go have a look at that one, one of my alltime favourite series)

Ch2: (I think it started there)

I'm here for the Touyuki stuff so this is also me saving their scenes together as reference. What dorks!

Yuki! *squeals*

Love this panel :D Yuki's face looks like he regrets making friends with the Kinomotos. Sorry guy there's no going back from that one.

Ch3:

Look at those anime legs! And these broad shoulders! These drawings make me really think of their X and Tokyo Babylon series...ccs is from 1996 and a bit later than Tokyo Babylon, but it overlaps with some X work.

Really like this image of Touya...what a smug look into the camera

Ch4:

Awww Kero-chan is playing with a little boat in the bath tub :D How cute

Saving this for reference and also, what a good drawing! Aww the Yukatas of the girls are so sweet, especially Sakura's bunny one.

(Good to know that CLAMP is not wasting any time and getting directly to the Touyuki business. And I can be annoying about this beccause they are canon) God they are sooo cute *gnaws on wood* Height difference...calling each other casually...

Remember guys, only a well fed Yukito is a healthy Yukito. Ch5:

Oh man I have GOT to draw them, look how cute these two look.

Yukito calling Touya out on it :D I really like Touya's big brother behaviour, and how he and Sakura constantly bicker at each other. But still love each other dearly behind that.

Ch6:

Yeah he can do that, Sakura.

....*slowly shoves the basket full of petals out of sight* Ch7:

Aww Tomoyo...*pat pat*

I'm making a cut at this but since I'm still reading a bit more, I'lll just start another post for more stuff!

[hydralisk98]

For '(expt 16 12), Karalis V5

PREFACE

Greetings, this is only a mere sketch for my constructed world stuff, again... It is still a manifestation and political advocacy exercise but I would think that it is also a decent reflection of my worldview and a nice educational "grasp-the-world & iterate" method.

Granted, the following only have temporary labels due to further work yet to be done for the whole project "backend" (especially the linguistics and overtly immersive parts of it all). I am still iterating with some Civilization 5 & Stellaris playthroughs as baseline inspo, alongside a couple textual referee documents to assist this "frontend" of sorts.

So yeah... enjoy your stay.

First twelve "Major" Civs

Shoshones

Mayas

Morocco

Brazil

Poland

Incas

Babylon

Assyria

Netherlands / Venice?

Portugal

Korea

Carthage

Last eight "Major" Civs

Aremorica

Samoa

Inuit

Vietnam

Sumer

Angola

Hittites

Minoans

FourtyEight(48)-to-Sixty-Four(64) "Minor" Civs aka City-States

?

Cultures

Eyn = Levantine

Ibrad = Hungarian

Zebie = Basque

Tatari = Berber

Cao = Vietnamese

Shoshoni = Numic

Turchian = Turkish

Eqalen = Inuit

Tersun = Ruthenian

Temu = Nigerian

Hugues = English

Lueur = Mongolian

March = German

Teotlan = Nahuatl

Hawatcha = Korean

Ishtar = Mesopotamian

Taliyan = Iranian

Palche = Quechua

Aberku = Celtic

Sama = Polynesian

Medran = Castillian

Olivana = French

Bantnani = Karnataka

Syriac = Mesopotamian

Matipec = Mayan

Rzhev = Ruthenian

Matwa = Swahili

Hangzhou = Chinese

Chunhau = Cantonese

Mersuit = Inuit/Swedish

Treano = Italian

Arela = Portuguese

Hatris = Hittites / Lydians

Zapata = Byzantines / Mycenean Greeks

Nippir = Elam / Far-Eastern Mesopotamia

Irena = Minoan Greeks

Religions

Pohakantenna (Shoshoni / Numic pantheon)

Angakkunngurniq (Inuit pantheon)

Confucianism tradition (and dialects like Shinto…)

Al-Asnam (Celtic druidic pantheon)

Mwari Cult (Carib animistic pantheon)

Arianism (iterated from the defunct Christianity dialect)

Chaldeanism (Mesopotamian pantheon)

Calvinism (derived from the Protestant Reformation’s Huguenot Southern French, monotheism)

Tala-e-Fonua (Polynesian Samoan pantheon)

Hussitism (central slavic dialect of monotheism)

Jainism (communal humility & individualized ki monks culture)

Buddhism (inner way reincarnation & large monasteries)

Judaism

Zoroastrianism

Ibadiyya (Islam)

Canaanism (Carthaginian belief system)

Pesedjet (Numidan Hieroglyphics belief system)

Wakan Tanka (Blackfoot religion)

Intiism (Inca pantheon)

Tzolk'in (Mayan pantheon)

States

(~ to be written)

END

Worldbuilding revision workflow preview #1...

Galactic & meta-physical considerations (helps the mythological and Stellaris stages tremendously);

Micro-paracosms experimentations;

Stellar system conception

Interstellar neighbourhood;

Star design;

Orbits design;

Habitable planet(s) & Terrestrials;

Ice & gas giants;

Moons;

Habitable world conception

Albedo, atmospheric, tides & other key specifications;

GPlates & GProjector / geology stages;

Speculative biology / lively evolution stages;

Sapient life history simulationism runs stage (social life simulacres aka Firaxis' Civ 5 + FreeCiv);

Stellaris & post-Stellaris narratively-focused stages;

GLOSS systemic multimedia animated story-telling stage;

QGIS + OSM "present-day" geofiction stage;

Dreamworld, shifting sessions and manifestation life scriptings stage;

[artifactsbeyondtime]

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[ghostcultmagazine]

Check out our preview of the New Rock and Metal album releases dropping this Friday, March 17th! The Answer – Sundowners (Golden Robot Records) Babylon A.D. – Live Lightning (Perris Records) Carbellion – Weapons Of Choice (Eclipse Records) Chelsea Grin – Suffer In Heaven (OneRPM) Contrarian – Sage Of Shekhinah (Willowtip Records) Cross Country Driver – The New Truth (Frontiers SRL) Death Vanish – Hermitic Fire EP (Eternal Death) Downfall Of Gaia – Silhouettes Of Disgust (Metal Blade Records) Ecstatic Vision – Live At Duna Jam (Heavy Psych Sounds) Embryo – A Vivid Shade Of Misery (Rockshots Records) Foretoken – Triumphs (Prosthetic Records) Ghosts Of Sunset – Breathe (Deko Records) Gideon – More Power. More Pain. (Equal Vision Records) Ikarie – Arde (Avantgarde Music) Invent Animate – Heavener (UNFD) John Diva & The Rockets Of Love – The Big Easy (Steamhammer & SPV) Kamelot – The Awakening (Napalm Records) Kruelty – Untopia (Profound Lore Records) Late Night Venture – V: Bones Of The Extinct (Trepanation Recordings) Søstre – self-titled (Loyal Blood Records) Stömb – Massive Disturbed Meta Art (Klonosphere Records) Stormwarning – self-titled (Frontiers SRL) Theory Of A Deadman – Dinosaur (Roadrunner Records) Transworld Identity – Seven Worlds (Frontiers SRL) Treedeon – New World Hoarder (Exile On Mainstream) Úlfúð – Of Existential Distortion (Dark Descent Records) Verminous Serpent – The Malign Covenant (Amor Fati Productions) AND Wardress – Metal Til The End (Black Sunset & MDD) 🎤 Micaela Superstar https://ift.tt/8WZHD4t 💻 Omar Cordy https://ift.tt/Vd2Qncw 🎵 Fahad Syed https://ift.tt/IxvtWNX ▵ PODCAST ▵ (Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Anchor) 👉 Ghost Cult Magazine Podcast https://ift.tt/XLYiIAf ▵ GEAR WE USE ▵ (These are affiliate links) Set up A: Sony A7 III - https://amzn.to/3tQm422 Tamron 17-28 - https://amzn.to/3ePrlTd Tamron 28-75 - https://amzn.to/3fqCjgY Desview Mavo-P5 Monitor- https://amzn.to/33LlTub Manfrotto Befree Travel Tripod - https://amzn.to/3hxbL0e Lighting: YONGNUO YN600L - https://amzn.to/2QkNrn5 YONGNUO YN300 Air - https://amzn.to/2QjN5gu Dfuse Softbox - https://amzn.to/3uQq4AN Aputure MC - https://amzn.to/3oirFgx NanLite PavoTube II 6C - http://bit.ly/NanLitePavoTubeII Lightstands - https://amzn.to/3uSBl3x 5 in 1 Reflector - https://amzn.to/33KHdjo And our iconic Rope Light https://amzn.to/3ycdmyz For the full list of Ghost Cult gear: http://bit.ly/OJCPicsKit ▵ LET'S BE FRIENDS ▵ https://ift.tt/1gQVnC2 https://twitter.com/GhostCultMag https://ift.tt/6eWOMZn ##newmusic #newmusicfriday #rock #metal #deathmetal #preview #ghostcultmag https://ift.tt/eVcxngD #newmusicfriday #nmf #newmusic #ghostcultmag

[goldtips]

okay so ya girl is back at it again. this was originally going to be a reply to someone but well. it got out of hand. i shat all over babylon the anime a while ago and honestly kind of feel bad. there are definitely things that the show does that makes it stand out, esp as a seasonal anime bc you dont expect dir. to spend much time on them!!!! like if we’re comparing this to shows like fanservice anime or any .. mediocre seasonal isekai then ofc this show is better lmfao. the only reason i shit on it is because i expected this anime to be Better ;;;;;;;

mind, i’m not rescinding my statement - as far as i’m concerned, babylon is still a hella frustrating anime because it tries to showcase humans as nihilistic, utilitarian robots that don’t seem to consider the topic of suicide emotionally even though thats supposedly humanity’s defining trait ??? and it deals with the topic of suicide with the care of elephants gallivanting in the fucking savanna :))) the whole show has also been pretty lacklustre in terms of characterization, trying way too hard to be intellectual and feed edgy plot points instead of giving any development - the plot feels reactionary overall and placid rather than exciting. also, the fact that the anime started as a mystery / politico-legal sort of show just makes the transition from that to abstract theory even more forced...........

HOWEVER im promised im going to stop shitting on babylon so lets talk about what the anime does right shall we. more specifically,,, the biblical imagery!!! is great !!!! : D

the show is called babylon. in the old testament (ot), babylon is humanized as a “brutal, callous and proud” woman who “believed that she would reign over the earth forever.” in the new testatment the phrase “she who is at babylon” refers to the new world culture currently at war with the covenant community. in such that rome, as a mistress or whore of the new world, is seeking to seduce and subvert people of god, enticing men to fall “drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

yes,,,, a whore who uses sex to entice innocent men into complying with new culture? who believes herself to be akin to god and also in this context, above the law and morality - im gonna say its not too far a stretch to say that magase was intended to symbolise the whore of babylon.

however, that’s not all - links can be made between the enactment of the suicide laws and the seduction of new culture. who exactly is leading the front? kaika itsuki ( 齋 開化 ), who’s name literally means culture. that aint a coincidence. also, that weirdly-placed reference to roman law / norms during the suicide debate as a way to convince the masses to revert / adopt roman ideology??? also not a coincidence. :))))

in addition, there are two other major biblical events related to babylon:

the book of revelations; and

the tower of babel.

its safe to say that both narratives are being pushed atm.

revelations:

in revelation 17, the spirit of babylon decends upon earth through the whore. she arrives on the back of a beast with 7 heads, “arrayed in purple and scarlet”, “drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” “seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” the revelations also prophesizes that she will be defeated by a beast, but it is unclear as to which. there are two beasts in book of revelations. the first beast comes "out of the sea" given authority and power by the dragon/serpent. the second beast comes "out of the earth" directing people to worship the first beast, a "false prophet".

in a similar vein, nomaru had secretly vouched for itsuki’s, providing itsuki with the necessary resources for him to rise up in ranks and become the new mayor. the kanji for ryuichiro nomaru ( 野丸 龍一郎 ) contains both the kanji 野 and 龙 which respectively mean field (i.e. earth) and dragon. they are key references to the beasts of revelation

plus according to nomaru, it was also purely because of magase that the political struggle turned out the way that it did, meaning that she is ultimately the one controlling the entire operation. this mirrors the way she is sitting on the heads of the beast (i.e. the proverbial brains of the campaign that itsuki is heading) 

we also see that when magase uses her powers her eyes and hair glow in a sort of purple/burgundy color to support the imagery as well! 

the book of revelations is the final chapter of nt. it is merely an allegory of struggle between good and evil and doesnt refer to actual people or events. kinda like the show huh. nyyy way, we see that the protag john the apostle writes down what is revealed to him through visions to send it to the 7 churches :))

kinda like how zen keeps on seeing magase through visions and has to document !! his findings and report back to admin? ik this isnt exact but there’s a bit where he has to write down her confession and it really struck me as weird until this bit popped up, maybe that was included to as a way of tying in :))

tower:

according to the myth, there were plans to build a city and tower high enough to reach heaven - god who observes this confounds their speech so that they can no longer understand each other. why? because “now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”

while not entirely similar, we see recurring themes in babylon that deal with miscommunication and new ideology. the conflict mirrors the myth in that unity of language (or ideology in this case) and its subsequent discordance once differentiated. 

the interrogation scene in ep 4 deals with reconciling differences. magase asks whether those with different values should be accepted, despite them being contrary to norm. all this time, society has been developing an ideal set of norms - the entire country shares the same values and priorities with no deviation. growth has stagnated. in similar fashion to how god commands for many languages to be created, magase sows the seeds of doubt towards long-standing assumptions and moral values in order to create discordance and push japan into a state of new development

in the new campaign, itsuki proposes to apportion shiniki city from japan and instill new values. this confounds the population and sends them into disarray - the tower that they have created is crumbling, in similar likeness to the parable of babel.

SO TL;DR this show has a really cool starting concept i cant lie?????  i for one am not shitting on its supernatural elements (even though the flow was a little inorganic) in hindsight there’s no point in expecting a show called babylon not to delve into supernatural/biblical elements lol :)))

as a right hoe for imagery and philosophy/ethics, this gave me high hopes but the execution of everything else was way below average. why bring in a discussion about suicide that’s poorly researched + try to be edgy abt it and have the citizens to have support it so easily???? ruins the immersion so much

if the anime really wanted to focus on philosophy there should be some mention of ethical theory to justify his point. like, being aimlessly philosophical only ends up being flowery and pseudo-bullshit lmao. one of hte reasons why i was so frustrated with magase and zen’s discussion in the interrogation room. like woman what was your fucking point. its only wasting screentime if you don’t get anything from the conversation. the philosophy was so fucking unnecessary - babylon could have been executed as an in-depth political/psychological anime instead. WITHOUT THE SUICIDE.

this and the lack of good characters really bummed me out. i think that the show was expecting me to connect to some of the characters before they were fucking killed off but i didn’t end up giving a single shit about any of them so. :) the whole show feels more about the shock factor and gore than about interesting plot.

concept 10/10, execution 1/10

[solitarylurker]

magase ai’s hidden quest in babylon

after finally getting up the nerve to watch the last episode of babylon, i found myself pondering the ending and sorting out the series in light of the final episode

and i found something surprising hidden within the final episode, something i haven’t seen discussed anywhere--i discovered what i feel was the (perhaps intentional) purpose of the story

for a long time now i’d been wondering if perhaps the structure of the story was meant to be less literal and more a modern “stage” to work through the idea of “what if there really was such a thing as the whore of babylon, what would that look like in a modern context?”

obviously a take such as this, and a story which explored such a topic, wouldn’t be able to use simplistic reductionist themes like “oh, magase ai was just a girl who’d been abused by the patriarchy and was getting a little revenge on the system”; instead, it takes a more visceral mythological slant, granting a child (who becomes a woman) an ability to distort and tempt the weak-willed around her without even meaning to at first, and then easily once her own malice entered the picture

what would such a character look like, and what would their effect on the world be? and what does this mean for us as viewers? 

this was what i’d begun to think was at the heart of the story, but i think even that view may be too simplistic in light of the finale

as far as i can tell, all the political set up is basically a stage for the whore of babylon to act out her role--i think any “taboo” would have worked (incest, bestiality, euthanasia, murder, etc.); suicide probably was chosen because it’s more common than the other options and also removes the immediate, easier rejections that murder would entail, but ultimately the exact topic debated doesn’t really matter for the purpose of the story

instead, the topic is the excuse to crack open the veneer of the “good” and the veneer of the righteous, to expose the filth in the system (prostitution, inhumanity, greed, etc.), and to let the whore of babylon have free rein to do her thing--magase ai choosing suicide for her victims rather than some other vice is irrelevant, as i think her gleefully murdering sekuro demonstrates she’d be perfectly happy pursuing whatever vice moved her along in her quest

and here’s where the little surprise hit me with the ending--the whole damn story is a race between magase ai and seizaki zen: which one of them can find what they’re looking for first before the other is destroyed?

seizaki is obviously looking for the meaning of evil and how to separate good from evil and eradicate evil; magase’s quest is the exact inverse of seizaki’s--she is looking for the meaning of good and trying to separate good from evil

the difference between magase and seizaki, besides their perspectives, is (i think) that magase wants to find “true good”, the good that cannot be corrupted, no matter what buttons she pushes

this is why, in my own understanding, biblical themes were chosen for this story rather than buddhist ones--buddhist themes would paint magase and seizaki as two opposing forces in the world eternally doomed to face each other and butt heads, but biblical themes don’t have to have that aspect

in essence, my understanding is that seizaki was magase’s “project”--she was testing his limits to see if he could materialize “true good” for her; he was probably one of many such projects

her helping itsuki kaika likely was only a means to an end while she searched for the next appropriate candidate for her continuous project, one that had likely started when she was a child (we can probably assume the boys she drove to suicide were some of the earliest such candidates, as well as her foster uncle)

the reason i think this is magase’s true focus is because she is so deeply delighted to find seizaki in episode two; not only is she delighted, she actively pursues him in ways she doesn’t seem to with any of the other targets she takes down; his name must seem poetic to her, and the idea that maybe she’s finally found the one person who can stand as her opposite probably fills her with glee

i think her obsession with the video game in particular, and with the hero, plays into this--she knows she is the villain, but as far as she can tell, she can’t find someone to be a proper foil for her

if she is true evil, there must be true good--but where, and how can she find it? she doesn’t seem to have any trouble accepting what side she’s on, nor is she agonizing over it--she relishes and delights in it; what she appears to be agonizing over is that she doesn’t have someone who can stand against her, who can truly face her with an opposing viewpoint without ultimately corrupting under her touch

this theme is chilling and deliciously subtle, especially when the writers connect it back to the garden of eden (the beginning, connected to the end, through the temptress); if magase is representing both the tempter snake and the whore of babylon, she’s metaphorically (and literally) the embodiment of evil

the amazing thing about this, and i’m not entirely sure this was intentional on the part of the novelist but patterns happen whether humans intend them or not, is that there is no one on earth who can face evil as the embodiment of good

earth, in the biblical sense (which the story is invoking, whether true or not) is a fallen world, a world filled with those who are the offspring not only of the two first sinners, but also the first murderer (cain)

this means that wherever magase ai goes, she will never be able to find “one” person who embodies true good--biblically, only one such “person” ever existed, because all humans are fallen creatures who can only embody “true good” with divine assistance (and even then they fail)

thus, magase’s quest is far, far more hopeless than seizaki’s, because evil is relatively easy to define if you step outside of postmodernism, and it’s easy to “stop” evil, but it is not easy to “embody good”

this is why it’s inevitable that seizaki must become evil to stop evil, and by doing so he fails to become the “true good” magase is searching for

i personally am of the opinion that seizaki shot himself in the final scene, mostly because of the weight of his own failure to live up to his own principles and his understanding, at last, of what he’d allowed himself to sink to, even if it was expedient/necessary in a utilitarian sense--this story is not about utilitarianism, it is about the platonic/biblical form of “the good” and “evil”; seizaki was searching for “the good”, not expedience/utilitarianism, and he failed to embody it

and by seizaki failing, magase’s latest experiment fails, and she vanishes from the stage to begin the quest anew

what i love, love, love, about the ending is that it establishes that magase is a force in the world who will continue, forever, always searching for someone, anyone, who can embody true good and face her at last, bringing true justice and meaning to her existence

but, if she truly is the embodiment of the whore of babylon, this reckoning cannot occur until judgment day, and so this is a story about the limbo the whore of babylon is eternally stuck in, waiting for that day to come

ultimately, i think babylon’s ending is the “bad end” for the story--seizaki fails to embody the good, and magase fails to find that embodiment in him and must move on to corrupt other souls; however, as a thought piece and as a story, i think it’s such a refreshing take and i must admit each episode (outside the first one, ironically) seemed to fly by in no time at all

[darkqueenofshadows85]

Sonic Riders (2006) Story Review

Disclaimer: I will be judging this game by the plot and writing, not the gameplay.

Introduction

Greetings, mortals! For today's review, we'll be looking at the first installment of the Riders trilogy, Sonic Riders.

Since I finished reviewing the main series Sonic game storylines a while back ago, I decided to tackle reviewing storylines from Sonic spinoff titles which are set in an alternate universe, starting with the Sonic Riders trilogy.

This is part of a series of reviews in which I’ll be going into slightly more detail about my thoughts on various Sonic game storylines, and why I think they're either well written and engaging, or an absolute trainwreck (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on the character portrayals, visuals, soundtracks, voice actors, and what themes/messages they had to offer. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions!

Anyway, let us begin! ^^

Plot

A new team known as the Babylon Rogues, comprised of Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross try to find a way to learn of their Babylon origins while racing with Sonic and friends in a grand prix set up by Dr. Eggman.

Characters

Both Sonic and Tails' portrayals have remained quite consistent in the 2000's, and this game is no exception. Sonic is still a cocky but compassionate person, and Tails is still a smart, kind, friendly and helpful younger brother figure to Sonic.

I actually kind of like Knuckles' hot-headed personality in this game. It made him pretty entertaining to watch, but unlike the Meta Era games, it wasn't at the expense of his dignity. I also liked his rivalry with Storm because to me, it was kind of like watching Knuckles fight the Boom version of himself.

I think the Babylon Rogues make pretty good foils to Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. Sonic is cocky in a healthy way, while Jet is so full of himself. Tails is as modest as he is intelligent, while Wave thinks her intellect has earned her the right to talk down to other people. Storm is the muscle, but unlike Knuckles, he's more of a cartoonish henchman and comic relief, but I'll give him some credit: at least he was competent with every task he was given. Find out what Eggman's up to? Done. Get the Ark of the Cosmos? Done. While Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are good friends, the Babylon Rogues are often butting heads with each other, though I would be wrong if I said they didn't have any chemistry. They are pretty entertaining to watch at times.

Ironically enough, what started as dark refections of Team Sonic have retrospectively become glimpses of the future. In the Meta Era, Sonic took notes from Jet and became a hell of a lot more arrogant, to the point where I don't even remotely like Sonic as a character anymore. Tails became conceited like Wave (for instance, in Sonic Lost World, he's at the point where he patronizes ANOTHER TECH GENIUS). And Knuckles has been reduced to a bumbling comic relief that took what Storm started with and cranked it up to eleven. Boom Knuckles in particular is an exaggeration of that. He has Storm's build, but he's a TOTAL DUMBASS. Yes, Storm was a little immature, but when has he ever mistaken left for right or took the phrase "you can say that again" literally?

Visuals

First of all, I LOVE the opening intro. The whole thing just screams "shonen anime". Second, the in-game character models kind of remind me of the character models from Heroes and ShTH. However, these character models have some of the most over the top facial expressions I've seen in any Sonic game, and I find many of them to be quite hilarious. And the CGI cutscenes also look great, especially by 2006 standards.

Soundtrack

Riders has some pretty catchy vocal tracks, including the main theme, Sonic Speed Riders, and Jet's theme, Catch Me If You Can.

Voice Acting

Jason Griffith does an amazing job voicing both Sonic and Jet, Amy Palant did an okay job as Tails, Dan Green nailed both Knuckles and Storm, Bella Hudson makes for a good Wave, Mike Pollock once again nails Eggman, Omochao may be annoying, but Lisa Jacqueline actually does a pretty good job voicing him, and Lisa Ortiz once again does a great job voicing Amy.

Theme/Message

Much like ShTH before it, Riders' central theme revolves around the search for identity. Throughout the story, Jet, Wave and Storm journeyed across different locations to find closure about their Babylonian ancestry and strengthen their pride, and as of Riders: Zero Gravity, they eventually found out they were humanoid bird genies from space.

Fun fact: Babylon is named after a historically important city that had an empire and it was where writing and civilization was invented.

Conclusion

Overall, I find Sonic Riders' story to be a highly enjoyable watch. I like how both this game and Riders: Zero Gravity tell the tale of an ancient society in a futuristic setting. It's very interesting to me, and it makes for a neat contribution to the Sonic franchise's lore.

My final score:

4.8/5 (Good)

[psychewritesbs]

ok mandatory how to find my rambles post

I am an insufferable idiot, you have been warned.

This is a multi-fandom blog that has been taken over by Jujutsu Kaisen and CLAMP, but I will also post about other animanga I love.

I liveblog for the Jujutsu Kaisen manga. You can find my posts in one of the following ways:

in Tumblr’s search box, search for “jjk ch + chapter #” i.e. jjk ch 173. I should have posts for most chapters starting with chapter 157

For anything before that, I sort of summarized chapters 1-157 in this manga index that I haven’t updated or finished because I am lazy

You can also go through my tag god I love jujutsu kaisen. this is probably the best way to find my liveblogs and any non-chapter specific meta. hopefully Tumblr won’t fudge it

My CLAMP tags are a little bit all over the place but I typically tag under the series’ title or dammit seishiro why can’t you just be normal? and clampism is a mood.

Asks tags: ask the mental gymnastics anime girl (most recent) and a to the q! (the original tag before I became known for the mental gymnastics).

Anime/manga recommendations: #my anime box 

More links under the cut...

I’ve also written “meta” or more like shameless shippy posts about:

Terror in Resonance

Gundam Seed

Soul Eater

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle

Tokyo Babylon

Sankaku Mado no Sotogawa wa Yoru

Attack on Titan

More randomness about me below the cut... 

I love writing + I love Psychology + I love anime/manga

Also, I’m opinionated and try not to take myself seriously. It’s a work in progress and it starts with self-acceptance.

Basically I ramble a lot and am a massive dork.

Since I have an academic background in Jungian Psychology you will see me write a lot about Archetypes in anime and manga, common tropes, and symbolism.

Therefore sometimes I wonder whether my username shouldn’t be...

theanimeliterarynerd

theanimedork

or a variation of the sort...

Oh well. 

You can find the working list of the manga I’m currently reading under Subaru.

Currently reading:

Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami

Haikyu!! by Furudate Haruichi

Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai by Yoneda Kou

Attack on Titan by Isayama Hajime

Spy X Family by Endo

Chainsaw Man by Fujimoto

Reading queue: 

x/1999 by CLAMP (re-read)

CSM2 by Fujimoto

You can find the working list of the anime I’m currently watching under Megumi.

Currently watching (not currently watching seasonal shows)

FLCL

Stein’s Gate

Watching queue: 

Fate/Zero

Code Geass

Maybe someday I will finish watching: 

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Inuyasha

Eagerly waiting for: 

Haikyuu!! season 5 

Jujutsu Kaisen season 2

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku season 2/movie

Kaguya-Sama: Love is War season 3

Made in Abyss season 2

Recently finished:

Reading Tokyo Ghoul:re

Favorites

Mangaka (no specific order):

CLAMP

Gege Akutami

Isayama Hajime

Furudate Haruichi

Anime movies (no specific order):

Your Name

Millennium Actress

Anime (no specific order): 

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

Zankyou no Terror

Sonny Boy

Jujutsu Kaisen

Haikyu!!

Made in Abyss

Manga (no specific order):

Jujutsu Kaisen

Tokyo Babylon

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

Characters (no specific order):

Fushiguro Megumi from Jujutsu Kaisen

Sumeragi Subaru from Tokyo Babylon, X1999 and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

[kazeofthemagun]

Character trivia meme

[Rules: describe 10 random headcanons about your muse of choice that will rarely ever have the chance to naturally come up in threads. Go wild, go random, go meta!]

[tagged: I just made this because I don't have much time to write rn. So I made a meme for fun]

[tagging: @cursedfortune , @shiroi---kumo , @knightshonour , @serenexgraced , @whenmirrorimagestalk , @ask-dark-monita , @mystic-mutation , @mischievmagic , @hriobzagelthewanderer​ , @thefatalmarksman​ , @dragontamer05 watch me add more folks here as my dumb brain remembers >:V also steal it and say I tagged ya]

Anyway here is mine:

Kuroki Kaze

1. If the Magun is somehow removed from him, he won't bleed since his blood no longer flows. How is he alive? Residual magic. If thawed form is removed, his right arm is freed and usable. If frozen form (sarcophagus form) removed, his arm is bare bones - spooky.

2. Cannot eat artificial coloring in foods. Local crayon mage gets rekt by macarons more at 10

3. His Windarian name is Svaardzjetrorahm Ladnajredvi, which means Black Wind of the Sea-Risen clan.

4. He's actually quite adept at playing a one-handed flute - a wind instrument for the Wind. Can play FFU OST "Departing Wind" on it, as a fun little meta nod to the anime's awesome musical score. Due to being brainwashed by Chaos, only remembers part of the tune, which is why it cuts off abruptly if he plays it.

5. Ties together inspirations from Greek and Babylonian mythology - particularly, references to Geryon’s crimson cattle and their shepherd dog Orthrus, as well as the chosen of Magun's title Marduk being a reference to the Babylonian deity whose name means "calf of the sun". Heavily themed around the sun - the red marks below his eye are called the Solar Triad, and represent the Esper Phoenix. Furthermore, Marduk is an aspect of Bahamut in popculture (D&D) and is a god of wind - and Kuroki Kaze, the Black Wind is the Magun's, and by extension, Bahamut's vessel. Interestingly, Bahamut has gone by the name Tiababylo in World of Final Fantasy, adding yet more references to ancient Babylon in the various popculture portrayals of Bahamut. Tiababylo is but one of the Dragon God’s many names collected over eons of interaction with mortals.

6. Having grown up starving on the streets, a custom tattoo design of Kaze’s choice is the sigil of the Windarian centipede painted over the abdomen - a mark of a sturdy creature whose blessing wards from hunger. This is Windarian folklore, the pattern is in no way truly magical.

7. As a thief during his early youth, one of his worst fears was to have his hands chopped off as punishment. Fast forward and he lost one to the Magun because irony.

8. Spent his warlord days scheming to overthrow the weakened High Temple’s government, only to be conveniently thwarted by being made to act as the Champion of the Magun instead. The Weapon normally killed its wielders soon after bonding, but it so happened that Black Wind was indeed its long-awaited match. Not too long after, the Temple fell anyway - as the whole of Windaria was lost to Chaos.

9. A biomechanical circulatory-turned-Soil processing system means he can overheat his blood with his own magic, ranging from mild fever shenanigans to accidental suicide via spontaneously cooking his insides. He'll be back, though - he always is.

10. He commissioned his earrings after being summoned by the Temple to take up the Magun. They are made from tree sap and his own red blood, before fusion with the Demon Gun made it run black in his veins. He kept one while the other he gifted to his sister, both as apology and his own remembrance for when the Weapon inevitably took his life. It did not, and instead made him immortal - awakening the second Unlimited as was foretold.

[puck1919]

Ten Female Characters Meme

LIST YOUR 10 FAVOURITE FEMALE CHARACTERS FROM 10 FANDOMS, AND TAG 10 PEOPLE

Tagged by @jonquilclegane

(I'm bad at picking favorites and ranking things, but I've sure got a list of ten characters!) ^_^;

---

Disney Animated Canon - Belle

One of my first favorite characters, really.

---

MCU - Agent Peggy Carter

Did I agree, artistically, with Steve's ending in Endgame? No. But does my enjoyment of the ship override my writing sensibilities? ...Also, no. Peggy deserved better.

---

Fullmetal Alchemist/Brotherhood - Izumi Curtis

I mean, what can I say about the character writing in FMA/FMAB that hasn't already been said? Izumi is a fantastically complex mentor character, and a banner example of how you can write someone who is badass and soft at the same time.

---

Star Wars - General Leia Organa-Solo, Princess of Alderaan

Leia is the Mal'ary'ush. I could read Tumblr meta about her and her journey as a Jedi and a politician all day.

---

Babylon 5 - Ambassador Delenn

(Relevant dialogue:)

Delenn: This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari. Babylon 5 is under our protection. Withdraw or be destroyed! Earth Force Officer: Negative! We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship. Delenn: Why not? Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari Fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else!

Ambassador Delenn was a huge influence on how I write Sigyn, if you couldn't tell. Graceful, intelligent, more likely to use manipulation and soft power than threat of force but 100% will wreck your shit if you press her, and eventually turns every man around her into a simp. XD

---

Pirates of the Caribbean - King Elizabeth Swann-Turner

Another one where, really, what can I say that hasn't already been said? I will say, though, that I am more likely to watch At World's End than Pirates 1 if I want to watch one of the Pirates movies.

---

Kim Possible - Kim Possible

One of my first OCs was based on her character. I still work with the OC, but there's been some significant drift between Kim and the OC.

---

American Girl - Samantha Parkington

In the Ambassador Delenn/Princess Leia category of "Ladies do not start fights, but they can finish them". Slight handicap in that she's 10, but eventually, one gets over that.

---

The Legends of Tortall - Lady Kelandry of Mindelan

(Book only character, so using popular fancast of Gwendoline Christie as a face claim)

Tamora Pierce is an excellent writer of women characters, but Kel was the protagonist that I found myself most attached to, surprisingly. Physically, I'm much more like Alanna, and I tend to gravitate towards characters with cool powers, but I love the story of the Protector of the Small quartet the most, and Lady Knight is one of my frequent rereads.

---

A Series of Unfortunate Events - Violet Baudelaire

Checks very many boxes for me - Smart? Yes. Adventurous? Yes. Takes matters into her own hands when she must? Absolutely.

---

Tagging: @goodliest, anyone else who wants it! ^_^;

[salmonthestoryteller]

20 questions, writer's edition

I was tagged by @lambourngb - This was harder to fill out then it first appeared, btw.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

118

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

516,223.  I never looked that much at my statistics page before so that’s exciting to look at.

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Oh my gosh, so many.  25 different ones on ao3, 9 more that were never cross posted from the pit of voles, and at least 5-10 fandoms from prior to either of those sites.  LJ, Yahoo Groups, BBS boards, etc.    A partial list includes: Roswell New Mexico (2019) (My most prolific with 40 fics on ao3 and more here on tumblr I never cross posted there.), Hetalia, Yuri on Ice, Supernatural, Samurai Warriors, Uta no Prince-sama, Voltron, Shadowhunters, My Hero Academia, Pirates of the Caribbean, Animal Kingdom, The Old Guard, The Walking Dead, Dynasty Warriors, The Witcher, Xyber 9, Shadow Raiders, Mummies Alive, Babylon 5, and Star Trek.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes (The Old Guard) (Yeah, I had this one on anonymous for awhile.) 

Until the TIme is Through (Roswell New Mexico) (Part of my Canon Divergent To the Moon and Back Series) 

I Want You (Roswell New Mexico) (NSFW Malex) 

Crash and Burn (Roswell New Mexico) (Part of my Canon Divergent To the Moon and Back Series) 

Snow (Hetalia) (NSWF IvanxAlfred) 

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I’m torn between three actually:

Dormant (Hetalia)  I always say I love two endings, happy endings and greek tragedies, but I rarely write the greek tragedies.  Dormant is one of my exceptions.  Hetalia has one character who is hinted at being immortal, and I took that and wrote a fic about an Extinction Level Event and him watching the other characters die around him while he can’t.  I’ve always been really proud of this fic, despite it being one of the saddest things I’ve ever written.

Unclean (Roswell New Mexico)  Which is almost the darkest fic I’ve ever written.  It’s about Michael’s time in the home of the “Fundamentalist Religious Freaks” and the exorcism he mentioned.  It ends after the drifter and is very much hurt, no comfort.

Hell is… (Roswell New Mexico)  This is a ficlet I wrote for a prompt.  And it’s a dark take about what could have happened to the pod squad if they’d been caught after the murders.

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Almost all my fics have happy endings.  So, what is the happiest?  Probably either:

Deck the Halls (Roswell New Mexico)  An Echo & Malex Christmas fic that is as fluffy as a fic that involves the Pod Squad, Christmas, and being attacked by anti-alien paramilitary groups can be.  (Also, Echo has a cat called Grisabella the Glamour Cat because Max should not be allowed to name anything and nobody can convince me that wouldn’t be absolute canon in a committed Echo relationship.)

Or

In Over Their Heads (Yuri on Ice)  A Seungchuchu with a fake engagement and unrequited feelings that aren’t actually unrequited. (And where Sara is Seung’s best friend because apparently I always write them that way and have no regrets.)

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

I don’t write crossovers.  Because I rarely find myself sold on the idea that the two stories exist in the same verse or can think of a way the characters would interact that would inspire me to write a fic.

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, and pretty much anything.  M/M, F/F, M/F, and Poly.  Plus a large variety of kinks.  (Yes, I was often on kink memes back in my LJ days.)

9. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to?  I used to never respond because I didn’t know what to say, and then I tried to respond to every one, but there would be long gaps between when I checked and then I felt bad for responding so late, and sometimes I still don’t know what to say so I just end up not replying.  XD

10. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Surprisingly very little.  Some harsh criticism - one in particular actually hit young me hard enough to stop writing for a while back in the day.  But I tend to get more hate for my meta than my fics.  Which is odd since my fics are usually very much representative of my meta.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Only one - a Dynasty Warrior fic of mine about the bond between CaoCao and Xiahou Dun was translated into Chinese.  I mean, Dynasty Warriors is a video game literally based on The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which is based on chinese history, so for someone to want to translate one of my fics about it was incredible to me. Links below.

Honor 

Translation: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4589910

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No.  I would probably drive a co-author nuts, tbh.  I’m so inconsistent.  And at the same time, I have a thousand thoughts.

14. What's your all time favourite ship? to write for?

I don’t actually have one?  RNM has become my top fandom to write for, there’s no doubt.  And while I think Malex is in the most fics among them, I’m not sure if that number surpasses other ships in other fandoms I’ve written for altogether.  In fact, according to ao3, only 15 fics of my 40 RNM even have Malex in them at all, and not all of those are Malex-centric.  In fact in at least 3, they’re a side ship.

I’d say that I probably write almost as many fics that are gen, friendship, family/found family feels, and character introspection as I do shipping fics.  Which doesn’t really leave room for any one ship to be at the forefront.

15. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

None, I hope.  LOL.  There’s definitely a few that I have left uncompleted for a long time and feel guilty about but I’m not ready to say I’ve abandoned them yet.  There’s a ton of ideas I have written down that I may never actually write.  But none I have started that I don’t want to finish.

16. What are your writing strengths?

The three consistent compliments I’ve gotten are:  I capture the characters’ voices in my dialogue.  My writing tone is unique.  My smut is super hot.  XD  (I have no explanation for the last one, because to be honest ¾ of my smut is always foreplay.)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes.  I have been told before that my action scenes are very confusing.  Also, I rarely give physical descriptions of people’s appearances because I honestly rarely stop to consider what they’re wearing or how their hair is done.

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

It’s common in a couple of fandoms of mine, and I actually don’t mind it. Depending on the fic, it can be more realistic to me than otherwise.  (I just appreciate it when the translation is also provided.)

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  But I never posted that one.  Um… I think Ranma ½ was the first one I ever posted for others to read?

20. What's your favourite fic you've written?

Oh, gosh. Um… I know at one point I listed Dormant.  But I think right now if I had to choose I’d say either

School of Hard Knocks (Roswell New Mexico)  Which is my Michael-centric fic set in the lost decade.

Or

Duty First (Shadowhunters)  My Magnus and Raphael “missing scene” from 02x20.

Tagging @manesalex @lovecolibri @islndgurl777 @ninswhimsy 

[hydralisk98]

Vorbis "virtual realm" experiment

[ focused onto modded AI-only Civ 5 CE campaigns until I can fully move to a custom content threadmill that emulates such whilst tracking way more data and doing so very transparently. ]

* Always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. -Colossians 2:8, Bible *

Done first for Firaxis' Sid Meier Civilization 5 Complete Edition with a hand-curated modpack (may also include or not my very own in-house tweaks and component upgrades), with plans to port elements of Civ 6 & Beyond Earth Rising Tide components and towards FreeCiv as well...

'Vorbis' reality specifications for 'Seraph', 'Feywild' & 'Octavia' meta-narratives

The twelve major Civilizations (excluding city-states, barbarians and observer slot):

( Shoshoni Union of syndicalist Republics, Commune of Samoa, Liquid Republic / Dominion of Sumer, Inuit Assembly of Nations, Heavenly Empire of Vietnam, Federation of Brazil, Theocratic Maya Unitary State, Tsardom of Poland, Monarchy of Assyria, Imperium of Portugal, Enlightened Despotism of Babylon, Absolutist Authority of Morocco; ) = Global Community of Angora [read as planetary]

36 (balance between complete edition vanilla & expansive overhaul modpack-tier), account for 1 slot for barbarians and 1 slot for active map observer; (~50-64 map processing "agents"/"players")

Enraged barbarians, complete kills, random personalities, new random seed, randomize map resources and goodies, abundant resources, high seas, a few map geographies from a fixed set of tectonics (yet to be entirely decided from a range of candidates) differing mostly in climate conditions (list to be expanded onto), several pseudo-historical scenario variants (scenarii list to be expanded onto)...

288x144 master hex map (to be redone entirely with external sources) enriched using 'QGIS'+'Azgaar' workflow and split into six sectors of 96x72 hexagonal tiles each (miniature workflow and workload to ease processing for Civ 5 & FreeCiv with 8 Civs & ~24-40 city-states per such sectors).

Existing mods (to bundle together with credits)

Colonialist Legacies and Senshi's Samoa

Colonialist Legacies' Inuit [tracking down last pre-merge files and assuring it works as intended within the modpack as well as backups]

Colonialist Legacies' Vietnam

Tomatekh Sumer

Ingame Editor & In-Game-Editor for Linux

InfoAddict

Tomatekh Historical Religions Complete (BNW)

Quiet Diplomacy

Artificial Unintelligence Lite

Water Tiles Enhanced

Enlightenment Era

Trading Posts Grow into (Renaissance) Towns

A Few More Terrain-Specific Buildings & Even More Terrain-Specific Buildings

Apollo Program Wonder

Better City State Capture

Faster Aircraft Animations

Early Eras Fix

More Active Religions

Late-Game Unit Pack

Tectonic Map Script

SQ Beliefs

Exploration Continued Expanded (BNW)

Separate Great People Counters (BNW)

Economics

Titans of Commerce Science and Industry (BNW)

Cities of Marble (BNW)

Industrial Combat Overhaul Mod

Resource Rebalance

Unique Cultural Influence

Revolutions

Cultural Diffusion

Macro Religious Pressure & Macro Religious Pressure Plus

Lunar Magister's Resolution - 'X' series

Eras - 'X' series

Buildable Missions

Wide National Wonders

DustJockey's Beliefs Revised

A Few More Recon Units

Slower Space Race

Fixed Trade

Grant's Heathen Religions

Jarcast's Some More City States

Low Resolution Units

Global Warming & Global Warming Congress

Small Continents Deluxe

Bison Resource

Faster AI Turn Processing

Faster Non-Aircraft Animations

Modernization

Race for Religion (BNW)

Reform and Rule (BNW)

No More Archaeologist Spam

Iconian's Rivers Yield More Food

Iconian's Improvement Changes

Iconian's Cheaper Ancient Units

Ideological Overhaul Unity Equality Prosperity

Era Settlers

Civ IV Leader Traits in Civ V

Religion - Beliefs Expansion Pack & Religion - Improved Customization & Religion - Early Piety & Religion - No AI Free Pottery

National Wonder Collection

Unique Building Collection

Unique Trait Collection

Barbarians Evolved

Valhalla Map Script

STSQ Beliefs

Units - Starting Scout

Example - Remove Giant Death Robot

Resource - Mint Includes Copper

Resource - Granary Includes Bison

Resource - Copper buff

Terrain - Poor Tiles Tweak

Promotions - Expansion Pack

Terrain - Tipi

Terrain - Terrace Farm Extension

Arecibo Observatory Wonder

Teotihuacan Wonder

Puukohola Heiau Wonder

More Buildings

Larger Cities

Covert Operations - Making Spies Great Again

Resolutions - XCOM Initiative & Resolutions - XCOM Initiative Lite

Reseed

Great Prophet Historical Names (BNW or GK)

UI - EditUnitNames

Modern Carriers

Seals for More Luxuries

Luxuries Revamped

Civilization IV Diplomatic Features

More City States

World Congress Reformation

City States Expansion (G&K + BNW)

Civ 6 City Loyalty

Research Agreements and Other tweaks

Dynamic Culture Overview

Coasts and Rivers Yield Gold Again

UN Security Council Resolution

Renewable Energy

City and Barb Camp Placement Fix

Food for Flatland cities (BNW or GK)

Better City Defenses

Scaling Great Merchant (BNW)

Cheaperer Guided Missiles

Observatory Rework

Iconian's happiness mod

RetroA's A Few More National Wonders & Even More National Wonders

PROMOTIONS PACK (no DLL required)

Utility: AI Observer Interface

Ethnic Diversity - Steam version

[v.4] Renaissance Era Revised

Caravan Range Extension

Barb Control

Less Warmonger Hate

Improved Air Recon

Iska's Additional Diplomacy - All in One + Putmalk's C4DF

Fredicten's UN Headquarters

Caravan Build Roads

City-State Diplomacy Mod (CSD) for Brave New World - no DLL

Speed Repacing

Optimized National Wonder Scaling

=Furious Turns=

Unwelcome Prophets

+Natl. Wonder Compendium+

+Policy National Wonders+

+Revamped Policies+

+Fast Animations+

+More Faith Buidlings+

+Resource Compendium+

+Pantheon Compendium+

Dynamic Towns & Dynamic Towns - Reform and Rule

Terrain Names Corrected

Early Production Fix

Nuclear Plants Can Meltdown

Advanced Air-Naval-Ground Units Megamod

Emigration

Redesigned Colors and Icons (RCI)

Dynamic Improvement Yields

Fall of Guilds

Scenario Generator Collection

Advanced Naval Units

JFD Rise to Power Collection

New and Enhanced Buildings Collection

Civic and Reform

=Combustion Fix=

+Religious Orders+

Mega Trading (Additional Trade Routes)

DynamicEras

Civ V Focused AI

Civ Balance & Balance Lite

(3UC) - 3rd Unique Component

(4UC) - 4th Unique Component

(5UC) - 5th Unique Component

Vox Populi?

Corporations?

S-Man mod author Collection?

Iska mod author Collection?

Arendelle mod author Collection?

Civilization 5 CE Engine & Runtime tweaks for the Win11 era.

LuaJIT dedicated version upgrade

DLL replacements where relevant

64-bit patch for all the major game executables

ModBuddy, WorldBuilder & LiveTuner fixups where-ever possible (and other overall SDK upgrades)

Xephyr's macOS + Linux port data revisions if possible

Enhanced User Interface "unofficial DLC"

The most popular 2K resolution 'Texture Pack' for Civ 5?

Making best use of every safe optimization out there ensure minimal disturbance and quality consistency.

External content, inspirations, materials and sources for the project

Yogscast Civilization YouTube multiplayer compilation channel

Overall YouTube content about everything Civ 5 (additional sources to be written in due time)

Must study & document my very own saved maps, recorded sessions and savegame state files (specific instances and related stories to be described relatively soon)

Existing multimedia, fandoms and shared universes I enjoy from all across the world wide web (yep, much is to be pervasively accounted for in the shared realm of "16^12")

My very own mod additions + tweaks

[ TO BE INSERTED IN DUE TIME ]

More constraints and additional parameters to account for

In-sync with my aesthetic themes on Linux, use version control software such as 'Git' or 'Subversion', may get other people / folks involved into a community branch of my project, get alot of testing & debugging done, windowed or borderless window display mode for Civ 5 (sticking to both 1440x900p, 1920x1080p [& 2560x1440p if possible ?] resolutions), integrations with several other playthroughs far beyond the baseline workload of Stellaris, FreeCiv and Firaxis' Civilization games (including Beyond Earth Rising Tide modded with Codex overhaul);

Take hints from history & fiction & suggested hypotheses, improvise & append & iterate content extras as needed, think ahead about the Azgaar to GPlates + GProjector to QGIS documentation pipeline, get as much mileage from InfoAddict as decent enough, keep some loose / leeway for a couple of topics but still go quite verbose / describe / suggest as much as it is comfortable to do so, think about how it source files render both in 'transparent & libre FOSS' & close-source software but a slight preference for open formats;

Don't forget to explain & demonstrate by "show not tell" as much as it is optimal, think about the sound design (soundscape, sound effects 'SFX', music tracker, voice tracks with closed captions... ), consider requests & contributions & commissions for slide illustrations / assets of the multimedia compositions, fail faster, don't forget to credit source material & respect licenses where applicable, be overt about the social contract, make sure to be strict with the people who don't respect the rules in place;

Simply a note before this announcement ends

As I am doing a quick pace yet long length worldly conquest on Settler on a experimental playthrough of mine, just wanted to note that as soon as such is done, I will be going onto the first contents as planned by the following post hyperlinked banner, which will indeed lead to the grand scale playthrough that this post actually announces.

Don't forget about how the content generated will be reused and expanded onto through the community and power tools, as somewhat announced here:

Thanks for sticking around for this post, I appreciate every second of it.