#beautifully executed ( aesthetic )

[xlviiagent]

newish tag dump ☠

[bookcub]

Cozy Fantasy and Why It Doesn't Work

I think I am among many who feel like they should love cozy fantasy and have found it an incredibly lacking genre.

This newly branded "cozy fantasy" genre that has taken readers by storm since 2020 and while it is new that books are now marketed as cozy, the genre itself isn't new. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a great example of the genre before it was labeled and also how to make it work.

Cozy fantasy is defined by many as fantasy with low stakes. Fantasy aesthetic but less sword fights. On paper, it sounds great. But the execution has been less than stellar for readers like me. The lack of physical stakes has also impacted the emotional stakes of these books, creating forgettable characters with boring problems. As a romance reader, I find this frustrating. Romance is known for being a predictable and formulaic genre, the now defunct Romance Writers of America defined romances as needing happy endings, a term romances have continued to follow. Yet these romance texts manage to have low physical stakes (how to date your neighbor, how to confront your toxic friends, etc) while still maintaining high personal stakes that keep readers invested and begging for more. So I was initially confused why cozy fantasy authors struggle to write texts that connect to readers like me.

I think I have found the answer which is the genre is just here for vibes. It is all about aesthetic, not even worldbuilding that fantasy is known for as most cozy fantasy I read have so many problems as soon as you ask one question. It is hard to acknowledge that a genre that is pitched to work for readers like me doesn't work for many of us. Especially because occasionally there is one that works beautifully to my taste.

I often say my favorite cozy fantasies that are more contemporary are short and visual, which I plays into the idea of the genre being an aesthetic. The Bakery Dragon by Devin Elle Kurtz is a good example because it is a simple story that is given the perfect amount of pages and gorgeous visuals without dragging on when the message is very clear and easy to understand. Books like The Phoenix Keeper and Legends and Lattes have absolutely nothing for me, their very clear message hitting the reader over and over so the readers don't miss it and focusing on the aesthetic of worldbuilding rather than the reality of the fantastic elements within the world.

I guess my point is. . . I realize this genre isn't for me since I have realized it is more of an aesthetic than anything. .. .but I want it to be. Should I let it go and put my efforts elsewhere? Or should I keep exploring this new trend and find the hidden gems?

[oorusandei]

crk is so weird.

you have a celestial being made out of discarded stardust who believed himself to be worthless and everything to be meaningless all his life when compared with his sister, who was crafted out of “perfect” moonlight, who struggled with multiple existential crises and figuring out who he really was by embarking on a journey across the galaxy and finding his purpose again like some coming of age movie.

you have the triple cone cup with a demigod who thought he had to hold himself back forever but hated the shackles on his wrists and the cutscenes with his breakdowns and internal conflict and the mask of strength he doesn’t believe in, himself; the paladin who was trained to win every battle, thought she had to continue on like that, and struggled with self-esteem and being not good enough; the one born without a talent but worked so hard to get to the top and hides his insecurities behind a smirk and a confident façade, who is a beautifully executed concept of a superiority-inferiority complex.

you have the yearning sea inspired by the moon’s gravitional pull in real life, that actually seems realistic yet so melancholic and fantasy-like and has such an impeccable aesthetic whilst being one of the most tragic, angst storylines of all time, and induces an ache in me i never knew i had.

and then you have fucking “when i wake up in the morning i go to brush my teeth :D”

this is when i get reminded of the target demographic and that the characters are but fictional talking cookies meant for a gacha game

[yandere-yearnings]

Okay, so for those of you who don't know, @suiana made a game which you can download from the link in this post. I've just finished playing the entire thing, and honestly, if I could replay it again like it was the first time, I would. It's short, but so, so sweet.

Without encroaching into spoiler territory, Anything Will Do is just the perfect mix of heartwarming and melancholy, and the story-telling was absolutely phenomenal. There were many points where I couldn't help but smile, some points where I ended up laughing, others where I started to feel my eyes water. I think it's definitely a tremendous feat to be able to invoke so many emotions when the average playtime isn't that long. I couldn't recommend it more, and I will most definitely be revisiting the game whenever I have a spare moment and want to relax.

There are so many things to love about the project, I could give them each a paragraph and more, but ultimately playing for yourself would serve you better than reading what I have to say. From a purely aesthetic viewpoint, we have the cute artstyle and pretty character designs. From a writing perspective, there's the overarching themes, foreshadowing and vibrant comedic value. Everything down to the game design, where even the timing of the sound coming in feels impactful, was executed so beautifully.

I know Sui worked hard on all of this, and my biggest thank you goes to her, for her efforts, and also the fact that she shared it with us even though she didn't have to. This was such a great start to the month and I know my October is going to be that much more happier now in light of it.

Also, this goes without saying but Ai is adorable <3

[thebisexualwreckoning]

2025 book bingo

finally have the time to post reading update for my 2025 reading bingo hosted by @batmanisagatewaydrug now that I'm back from holiday and settling back into the unending grind of academia.

January:

Literary Fiction: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, transl. Ginny Tapley Takemori

This was deeply strange book ruminating on the nature of being 'othered' simply by not forcing yourself to fit into the box that is this capitalistic society we live in, the expectation that if a woman has not married or found a high-paying corporate job by the time she's thirty she has failed some fundamental aspect of life, the way our fast-paced culture treats convenience store workers and other 'menial' labourers. Needless to say, I am enchanted by this book and Keiko's staunch refusal to follow the path set by others and instead live life on her own terms. It's a very short read and one that I have niggling feeling will be polarising to many, but I liked it. I also do not know whether this was intentional, but Keiko read as extremely autistic and aroace coded to me

Short story collection: Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu

It's rare I read a short story collection where every single work is a five star read. This collection was deeply emotional and deals beautifully with the subject of grief in its various contexts - losing family, growing up and having to leave behind your childhood, watching the world move on while you remain stuck in the past, etc etc. It reminded me quite a bit of Ted Chiang's works, this using of sci-fi elements to explore a more deeply human core. Even among all of these excellent stories, a few that particularly stood out to me were: 'Pre-Simulation Consultation XF0078167' (a meditation on love, grief and learning to let go) , 'Twenty Hours' (about a brilliantly toxic couple whose favourite pass time is killing each other), 'Scissors' (a tantalisingly sexy lesbian bdsm tale about power dynamics and trust in eroticism), and 'Do you remember Candy?' (a tender look at a mother-daughter duo plus the memories - and flavours - that draw them apart)

February:

Sequel: Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao

If i had a penny for every book I read this year with a toxic relationship and communist message to spread, I will have two pennies, which isn't a lot but does say something about my reading tastes that it happened twice. 

But, back on track: Heavenly Tyrant is a book I have been waiting to read for a long time and god did it manage to deliver. It was bloody and brutal and unapologetically full of feminine rage but also community. It took many of the problems I had with the first book and brilliantly dealt with them. Zetian finally forms a connection with the women surrounding her and unpacks a lot of her internalised misogyny. It's much more politically dense than the first book and does a lot of work educating on communist principles and how often they tend to leave behind women and other marginalised identities, an issue I am intimately familiar with. Socialist men, apply your politics to the women in your life challenge level: impossible. 

Make no mistake though, this book still has as much, if not more, violence as the first book. Lesser mech battles given the information revealed at the ending of book 1 meant a lot less killing of Hunduns and a lot more executing of billionaires. It bares mentioning however that Qin Zheng's rule would have fallen apart eventually though because power to the labouring class good, torturing innocents because of paranoia bad. People will rebel, my guy, take a chill pill. 

Speaking of Qin Zheng - I support bisexual rights AND bisexual wrongs. But also I have never loathed a character this much and wanted to figure out what the fuck is going on in their brain (and also fuck them) more. I'm afraid the sex actively made him worse, much sad for my tumblr girl aesthetic.  

I do have to mention that this book has the same habit of the first with telling and not showing. We see this world through Zetian's eyes, and she is as new to being a political figure as the rest of us, and much of what is going on is straight up explained to her instead of letting readers and her form opinions of their own based on our observations of the world. 

Still, that didn't really take away much from my reading experience and there is a distinct improvement in the writing from the first book, which I also loved. Good book, I highly recommend in the current political climate. 

Vaguely related tangential anecdotes: Now that this information cannot dox me anymore since I am no longer in Kolkata, I also picked up a copy of Ekatorer Dinguli by Jahanara Imam in it's original bengali for the 'Set in a country You have never visited' prompt. Make no mistake, this was one of the hardest things I have done. I roamed the entirety of College Street (a.k.a the largest book market in the world) before ending up at Dey's Publishing house (aka the oldest publishers in Kolkata) where I finally managed to find a copy!

After I took my mother to get something to eat at Indian Coffee House (also in College street) (because despite growing up in the city, strict parents meant that she'd never gone and now that i can do nice things for my mother I like to do nice things for her) - the place to gather if you were a freedom fighter back under british colonialism or a member of the naxalite movement led largely by the tribal community of the Siliguri area and the radical communists (who tended to be college students) of Bengal back in the 70s (mostly because it was the only place us brown folk were allowed to gather) - and learned that great-grandpa was also a naxalite/communist, who woulda thunk?

2. Reading Outdrawn by Deanna Grey for the romance prompt and it is currently reminding me of how fucking much i love the romance genre. It also made me wanna study why so many of my asexual friends who'd never want to have sex in real life love the freakiest books while i, an aromantic person loves the most romantic books on earth before i realised humans are weird man, you gotta have some fucking whimsy sometimes.

[mysticmellowlove]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRvDLHse/

Saw this today and it has me thinking(more specifically slide 7 and 8)

Business woman x yandere

She has all these ideas for business and charity projects but since she has so many ideas she can find it alittle hard to come up with the driving force for all of them and that’s where yan steps in.

He’ll do anything to impress her so I just imagine his cute little brain coming up with these genius plans of action and showing them to her. I mean he has like 25 step plans and crazy layouts that are beautifully executed to a tea.

He just hope she likes his ideas and when he hands her a blueprint to let’s say some architectural design and she sees how good he did she looks at him and is just like: “Baby you are an absolute GENIUS!” And giving him all the kisses.

He is the muscle force to our desired reality we Stan a creative king 💪

note; honestly give me two people working in harmony! loving this idea of mutual support

warnings; soft hours, subtle yan, fem reader (req), gn reader,

Work has been stressing you out lately. It had all been long hours and hard work, some people would assume that being in the creative field was a piece of cake when in reality it was mentally and socially draining. You had withstood years and years of business deals, negotiations and vigorous planning. Finally, today it had paid off.

You had presented your city plan for the newest district, a mix of walkability and practicality all with green aesthetic surroundings. It had been your dream to change the dreary sight of your home city. You wanted to live here with pride and now... now you had managed to get there. Your childhood vision had been realised and now you were going to see it come true. This was a massive step not only for you but also for the environment. For people...

It was all placated smiles and polite nods until you reached your apartment, the one you would soon be donating because you were moving to the new district. As soon as the door swung shut you couldn't help but squeal in delight. With a rush of energy you launched yourself into your boyfriend's arms and hugged the life out of him.

In your peripheral you could see him grinning as he swung you around joyously. As of a couple years ago he had been by your side, the fuel to your fire. He took care of the technical side of things, planning out deliveries and harder design choices. He scoped streets and plotted roads, chose colours and researched plants. Your eyes slid shut as the first relaxed breath left your mouth and you sunk into him.

"You did it baby." He cooed as he carried you over to the couch. With your head still buried in his neck you shook your head.

"No, we did it." You squeezed your arms around him before letting yourself flop onto the couch. His smile was as bright as the sun as he looked down at you with that cheery look on his face that you loved so much. He was like a real-life golden retriever, always so eager to please and bouncy. He was a great influence actually. On those days where you just wanted to give up and hide away he would always be there to support you.

He hummed as he happily went into the kitchen, his whole body seeming to vibrate with energy. You knew he had been working hard as well, he tried to hide it but not much escaped you. He would work into the night, his computer in front of him as his eyes drooped and his bags darkened. In those moments you knew that he was looking to you for inspiration. When he thought you were sleeping he would whisper about how he would do anything to turn your dream into a reality, how much he wanted you to smile.

He would always kiss you before opening one more city draft, just one more before he would finally give in and sink into your arms. Sometimes you wondered if he knew you were awake in those moments but you also selfishly hoped that you were getting to see a secret side of him. One that you had all for yourself.

"Come on. Wine! We're celebrating." He yipped as he came out of the kitchen, a bottle and two glasses in his hands. You grinned, celebrating with him sounded perfect.

[concentratedtrauma]

Flashbulbs & Forgotten Wounds: The War Photos That Erased Women's Pain

War photography is a scam. Yeah, I said it. It’s a beautifully curated scam that makes you believe you're staring at “the truth,” when in reality, you're only seeing what some dude behind a camera wanted you to see. It’s history with a filter on it��cropped, retouched, and wrapped in aesthetic agony. And when it comes to the Vietnam War, the world got an entire scrapbook of male suffering, while the horrors women went through? Ghosted. Unseen. Unsnapped. Unarchived.

Let’s play a game. Think of Vietnam War photography. What pops up? Probably Nick Ut’s "Napalm Girl" (1972)—that haunting image of a little girl running naked, her skin melting off from napalm burns. Maybe Eddie Adams’ "Saigon Execution" (1968)—a Viet Cong prisoner getting his brains blown out in broad daylight. Or Larry Burrows’ "Reaching Out" (1966)—a soldier clinging onto his dying comrade, war’s version of the ultimate bromance pic. Every single one of these images? About men.

So I’ll ask again: Where the hell are the women?

HERE.

Women were not side characters in the Vietnam War. They weren’t just mourning in the background like tragic props in some artsy grief porn. They weren’t just the brothel girls, the mothers cradling dead babies, the collateral damage. They were right in the thick of it. They were raped, tortured, enslaved, murdered. And yet, somehow, war photography decided they didn’t matter.

Vietnamese women endured some of the most stomach-churning war crimes ever, but where are the photographs? Where are the images of the 50,000+ women raped by US soldiers? Where are the snapshots of the military brothels where girls as young as 12 were trafficked and forced to "service" hundreds of men? Where’s the Pulitzer-winning photo of a woman post-assault, staring into nothing because war took everything from her?

Oh right. There isn’t one.

Because war photography has rules, and rule #1? Women’s suffering isn’t “iconic” enough.

THE THREE CATEGORIES OF WOMEN IN VIETNAM WAR PHOTOGRAPHY

When women do show up in Vietnam War photos, it’s almost always in three predictable, reductive roles:

The Mourner – Always crying, always holding a dead child, always making war look “poignant” instead of just straight-up demonic. The message? A woman’s suffering only matters if it’s attached to a man’s death.

The Prostitute – Either draped over an American soldier like a war-time Manic Pixie Dream Girl, or standing alone in the street, sexualized and pitiful, as if she existed purely to be used and discarded.

The Background Blur – A woman in a ruined village, staring numbly at the wreckage, just part of the scenery while a soldier bleeds out in the foreground. War photography always makes sure the man’s pain is the focus.

And before anyone says, "Well, maybe no one took those photos"—they did. They had to. There were thousands of photographers crawling through Vietnam like locusts, snapping everything that moved. If we got a hundred different angles of American soldiers looking angsty in jungles, we sure as hell could’ve had at least one of a woman bleeding out after being attacked by a platoon of men.

The fact that we don’t? That’s not an accident. That’s erasure.

📜 HISTORY AS A BOYS’ CLUB 📜

See, war photography isn’t about truth—it’s about control. It’s about shaping the official version of history, deciding whose pain gets immortalized and whose trauma gets shoved under the rug. John Berger, in Ways of Seeing, said that taking a photograph is an act of power. The person behind the lens decides what matters. And in Vietnam? The men holding the cameras decided Vietnamese women didn’t.

Susan Sontag, in Regarding the Pain of Others, argues that war photography makes suffering a spectacle—something for people to look at, gasp at, but never fully feel. And if that’s true, then it also means some pain is more “useful” than others. A soldier dying? Powerful. Marketable. Pulitzer-worthy. A woman brutalized in a warzone? Too messy. Too uncomfortable. Too easy to ignore.

So the images of raped women, enslaved girls, forced pregnancies, broken bodies? They didn’t make it into the archive because they didn’t fit the man-made script of war. Instead, war was framed as a male tragedy, a stage where men were heroes, victims, and villains all at once, and women? Just props.

THE PHOTOS THAT SHOULD HAVE EXISTED (BUT NEVER DID)

If war photography actually captured reality, these are the images we should have had:

📷 A 14-year-old girl moments after being dragged out of a brothel, her body hollowed out by violence she never asked for.

📷 A mother forced to give birth to an Amerasian child, knowing neither Vietnam nor America will ever accept him.

📷 A woman standing in the wreckage of her home, not just collateral damage—but the goddamn frontlines.

📷 A platoon of soldiers laughing, posing for a photo, minutes after leaving a village full of raped and mutilated women behind.

But we don’t have these photos. Because war is told through the lens of the victors, and victors only take pictures of their own pain.

SO, WHAT NOW?

If Vietnam War photography is the memory of that war, then we need to accept that it’s a lie. A half-truth at best, a propaganda reel at worst. If history books are built on these images, then they are built on a foundation of selective amnesia.

So, what do we do?

Question the hell out of every war photograph. Who took it? Who’s missing? What’s the frame hiding Demand a new archive. One that acknowledges the missing photos and the stories that were erased.

Stop worshiping war photography as “objective history.” It’s not. It never was. The Vietnam War didn’t just erase lives. It erased stories. And maybe the most horrifying thing isn’t just that the world watched Vietnam burn—it’s that the world chose what parts of the fire to remember.

Make it stand alone. No punctuation. No elaboration. Just—

Moment of silence.

This pause? It forces the reader to sit in the discomfort. No background score, no cinematic overture, just absence—mirroring the absence of women in war photography. It’s that gut-wrenching second where the reader expects you to provide a counterpoint, a name, a face—but there is nothing. And that nothingness is the whole damn point.

REFERENCES:

Assmann, A. (2010). Memory in Culture. Palgrave Macmillan.

Hirsch, M. (2008). The Generation of Postmemory. Poetics Today, 29(1), 103-128.

Lehrer, E. (2011). Curating Difficult Knowledge: Violent Pasts in Public Places. Palgrave Macmillan.

Nora, P. (1989). Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire. Representations, 26, 7-24.

Sontag, S. (2003). Regarding the Pain of Others. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Taylor, T. (2001). Vietnamese Women at War: Their Stories and Memories. University Press of Kansas.

Photographs References:

Napalm Girl (1972) – Nick Ut

Source: Associated Press

Execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém (1968) – Eddie Adams

Source: Associated Press

The Agony of War – Women Mourning in Quang Ngai (1967) – Philip Jones Griffiths

Source: Magnum Photos

Vietnamese Woman Holding Her Dead Child (1969) – Larry Burrows

Source: LIFE Magazine

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》 - What we know so far about this massive project

By now many of you have heard about Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》, Luo Yunxi's upcoming and third project with the studio behind Till the End of the Moon. Here's my read on the announcement earlier.

1. Good news - It's going to be largely the same creative team behind TTEOTM. 

You have Wang Yirong as Lead Producer & Artistic Director, Huang Wei as Costume Designer, Wang Haiqi as Action Director, Tsang Mingfai as Makeup Director, Huatian for World Concept (also known for Ashes of Love and the Untamed). Basically, we'll see the return of the brilliant minds behind the Dunhuang-inspired costumes and hour-long epic fight sequences.

It's a good sign they're holding most of the team together. A lot of great directors, like Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton, David Cronenberg, work with the same creative talent over and over again. There's certainly an argument that you produce better work when you collaborate with people you trust and know well.

2. Up and coming Director Chen Zhoufei will make up some of the deficiencies of TTEOTM in the cinematography and lighting departments.

Chen Zhoufei started out as a cinematographer in films with the likes of Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. More recently he directed The Forbidden Flower (2023) and Double Tap (2021), which, if nothing else, is beautifully and stylistically shot.

It's interesting they've moved away from the old school Hong Kong directors they used in Immortality and TTEOTM. Directors from the TVB system are known to be more experienced, scrappy, and reliable when it comes to working within budget (which is why they're favored for big xianxia productions), but they've also been criticized for falling behind on technical execution and artistry.

It is as the industry article I shared predicted - Otters Studio is a relatively inexperienced player, but they can quickly close their gaps by bringing new blood to the team.

3. They're bringing a new Art Director, Zheng Chen from Lost You Forever.

This isn't all that surprising given that Luan Hexin, TTEOTM's Art Director, is with Huanyu, Bai Lu's management company. (In fact there was a bit of real life drama when Yu Zheng, Bai Lu's boss, publicly called out TTEOTM's producer for not refuting false rumors that Bai Lu was only cast because the production wanted Luan Hexin, arguably Huanyu's biggest asset, as part of her "dowry".) Now it's sad to see award-winning Luan go, but he is best for authentic period sets and IMO not the most suited for xianxias.

Instead, they've tapped Zheng Chen, who most recently worked on Lost You Forever, which I have yet to watch. With that said, some of the sets look great to me, with bold use of colors, and I can already see this pairing well with Chen Zhoufei's aesthetics.

4. This time they're not working with screenwriter He Fang, instead going with Lin Conghe (unofficial)

He Fang is the lead screenwriter behind TTEOTM and Immortality (everyone who's read Immortality's screenplay will know it's all but a guaranteed hit) and in my opinion one of Otter's greatest assets. She's brilliant at staying loyal to the spiritual core of source novels, while weaving convoluted plot points through a more robust background story and logic.

It's a slight disappointment that she won't be back, but it's also not entirely surprising. TTEOTM and Immortality are both big, female-oriented fantasy romance IPs. Meanwhile Shui Long Yin's IP is quite dated, lesser known, and incomplete, so I'd expect that the drama will only be loosely based on the original. While we don't know much about Lin Conghe, he did recently work on the Blood of Youth sequel, where he was the lead screenwriter alongside author Zhou Munan, so he might actually be a better choice for this genre (xuanhuan wuxia).

5. The way HunanTV & Mango announced the drama is unusually high profile, indicating that this is one of the platform's biggest projects.

It's rare to have one of China's biggest hosts announce a new drama that hasn't even started shooting or released any details yet live on prime time TV. (Usually a drama's official announcement comes out on the day of its booting ceremony, if not during its production or at its wrap ceremony.) It's even rarer for a costume drama to announce a TV platform at this stage. These days it's quite difficult for costume fantasies to get a coveted TV airing slot given genre restrictions and additional censorship requirements. Typically you do not find out officially whether it will air on TV until literally right before it airs.

Before the official announcement, rumors have already been circulating that there's a bidding war behind the scenes for this project, with Mango and its parent HunanTV outbidding Youku in the end. Mango/HunanTV is already the market leader in variety shows, but is behind the other three platforms in scripted content. Apparently, they've recently received an injection of funding to shore up their drama department and now investing in tentpole projects that can help them gain share. Clearly they saw what TTEOTM did for Youku.

6. There's another interesting player in the mix: China Mobile and its subsidiary Migu. 

It appears that China Mobile (one of the most valuable companies in China and a state-owned enterprise) has invested in the drama, which will be made available on its online video platforms. Apparently, the last time China Mobile invested in a drama, they sent text messages to every user to publicize it when it aired. Now not sure if this will happen (it's not patriotic drama after all), but they've already been promoting the drama through their gazillion affiliate social media accounts. Either way, it should be a good thing for the drama's distribution to have such an influential backer given Mango's lower daily active user.

7. They're making it super clear that Luo Yunxi is going to be the dominant male lead in this drama

In the first Weibo post, they only announced the title, Luo Yunxi, and the airing platforms. In the second Weibo post, where they announced the rest of the creative team, they still did not announce the other actors! Of course, this is likely because Luo Yunxi's company (which is really just him) bought the source novel's IP and is credited as a co-producer. (They don’t have any production capabilities at all, so Otter will likely be quarterbacking this.)

This suggests, like many who have read the novel already know, that Luo Yunxi will have by far the biggest part. The other roles, including the female lead role, will likely be smaller and revolve around the main character.

8. Shui Long Yin is already generating a lot of hype.

To date its Weibo announcement racked up >1M likes (more than double that of TTEOTM). There's already a very active Douban group debating all the rumors, most importantly whether Luo Yunxi will use a wig or his real hair (a highly divisive topic). The new drama has even been reported by China Daily, China's state media facing the international community, which is again exceedingly rare. China Daily doesn't usually report on entertainment news, and most hit shows don't get mentioned even after airing.

There's always a big risk with productions with this much anticipation so early in the process, from fan wars and disruptive stalking on set to accusations propagated by competitors that can invite more state scrutiny. Fingers crossed that the team knows what they're doing and can weather all the storms that will undoubtedly come its way.

9. Finally, I remain cautiously excited.

Production quality will likely be great, with such a strong creative team and financial backers with deep wallets. My main worry is that it'll be beautiful, but boring. For this genre (xuanhuan wuxia or basically wuxia with high fantasy elements), it's really important that the story moves fast and the underdog hero keeps outsmarting or outfighting everyone else in a way that gives viewers a sense of exhilaration. It'd be all too easy for the story to get bogged down by a large cast of unmemorable characters and a meandering plot. Otters Studio is usually great at delivering fast-paced high drama (just based on TTEOTM and the screenplay of Immortality), but they're working with a different screenwriter this time and it's not easy to be a consistent hit maker. Let's hope they stick to their intuition and continue to present stories and characters that excite viewers.

[bestworstcase]

This is probably outside of your purview, but do you think the fights in RWBY have gotten worse, or just different from what came before?

i think there has been a shift away from tightly-choreographed showcase fights toward a more naturalistic approach prioritizing setting and character over rhythm and composition. whether or not this is aesthetically preferable is a matter of taste, but it is absolutely to the benefit of the narrative as a whole.

there’s this beat during the group fight vs tyrian in volume four where tyrian kicks ruby and her aura ripples out from the point of impact in such a way to create the illusion of deeper motion: it looks like her ribs buckling as that force moves through her body, it feels like we’re seeing this formidable new adversary break her fucking ribs after throwing JNR around like ragdolls. it isn’t shot with any particular artistry or stylistic finesse; the shot is instead lined up to emphasize the violence.

that serves a more important narrative purpose than aesthetics: it makes it believable that ruby just cowers in dread after taking this hit, it viscerally drives home how dangerous tyrian is, building tension, setting the stakes for the upcoming fight with qrow, and thus it also underscores the contrast between tyrian’s wild brutality and qrow’s discipline when they fight and qrow tips the scales not because he’s stronger but because he doesn’t let tyrian rattle him… it’s doing quite a lot of work for a mere handful of frames.

compare, say, the nevermore fight, which is beautifully shot and choreographed but doesn’t have a lot to say: ruby can plan elaborate tactics on the fly and communicate them to her team well enough to execute the whole thing flawlessly, and… that’s kind of it. RLR2 does all the narrative heavy lifting. and that’s fine, to be clear, because this is a point where the story is still setting up the board and introducing us to these characters.

but the nature of rwby as a story is that the fight scenes cannot stay that way. and this isn’t even a “monty/not monty” thing, you can see the experimentation with using fights as a medium to develop character and theme starting early in volume two: ruby calling out team attacks and narrating yang’s semblance during the mech fight, splitting up the team on the train so wby can each duel an opponent who represents their personal struggle*, doing the battle in breach as a sequence of character moments, etc.

(*weiss feels disgusted by what the SDC has become and wants to reclaim the schnee name -> she faces a white fang officer who loathes her for being a schnee; blake is torn up about not knowing how to solve all these big social problems and reeling with the emotional fallout of leaving adam’s white fang -> torchwick tries to push those buttons; yang feels rootless and hollow and worried her current outlook is unsustainable -> she has to fight somebody she literally cannot touch and her increasingly frustrated attempts to punch through get turned against her the instant she overextends.)

in early volume two it all feels a bit clunky and uncoordinated in part because the mech fight is still so stylized. the fights on the train and the battle in vale are less so; you still get those tightly-choreographed sequences, but balanced out with moments that are more raw and real—the fake-out “slow-motion killshot” that turns out to be just weiss’s time dilation catching up, followed by the lieutenant grabbing her face and yanking her out of the air, is a particularly effective example with the grapple being shot with the same intention as tyrian kicking ruby in the chest—and also just more grounded in who the characters are (weiss gets in trouble trying to be fancy, yang’s frustrated determination is both a strength and a weakness, blake takes torchwick down with brutal efficiency because she’s used to fighting people but she also lets him say his piece before knocking him out because that matters to her).

so like—waves hands—volume two sets the course that is followed in the latter volumes where the fights become increasingly less about style and more about substance. the style is very much still there, it’s just not The Main Event anymore. it’s garnish on fight scenes you can write robust character analysis about.

[starryalpacasstuff]

MAJOR kudos to the artistic team behind the Hallucination mv, it is so beautifully executed, the aesthetics, the visuals, the storytelling, everything is absolutely on point

[supremeuppityone]

This aesthetic is for Judgment Call by @eliliyah. Happy birthday!!!!

As a Federal Agent, Caroline Forbes has always lived by a strict moral code. But when new evidence comes to light that Klaus Mikaelson, the first man she helped send to death row, may not be guilty hours before his execution, she begins to question everything she’s ever known. As the investigation leads to the heartbreaking truth, she’s forced to choose between what is right and what is just.

This Klaroline crime AU perfectly captures tension and tone along with seamless incorporation of research to keep the story grounded. The Klaroline banter is so well done throughout and their characterization was captured beautifully. This work asks the hard questions and demands the audience examine their own morals and inherent prejudices and likely they will redefine their understanding of abstract themes of justice and mercy. Outstanding work!

[doe-eyed-disaster]

The War on Terror plot at the beginning of Battlestar Galactica Season 3 is fascinating. It exists in this weird tension of being genuinely well executed at a cinematic and artistic level while simultaneously being utterly devoid of any actual commentary. All the subplots are well managed The pacing builds tension really well. Its conscious of who knows what when. The aesthetic is iconic and beautifully captures the look and feel of contemporary war footage. It is genuinely well crafted military fiction through and through. Simultaneously, it's so drenched in the anxieties of white, upper middle class American liberals that it is inescapably of its time, but without any capacity to for self reflection. The weird religious stuff; the suicide bombing; the rapiness of Kara's imprisonment by the Cylons; the frequent uncertainty with the acceptability of torture; the need to portray the American stand-ins as the oppressed resistance fighters; the vaguely Middle Eastern soundtrack that places us forever in those places that western orientalists represent with the Phrygian dominant scale; the open, crass fatphobia; so on and so forth. It's a smorgasbord of LA liberal neurosis, not mashed vaguely together but strung together masterfully as of by an AI which selected exactly the right images but couldn't manage to put them together in any coherent way, leaving us to gaze awestruck into its agonized kaleidoscope of disconnected worries.

[jamesmitchia]

The Ghibli Trend of ChatGPT: When AI Meets Whimsy

In the ever-evolving world of AI, an unexpected and heartwarming trend is capturing attention — the Ghibli Trend of ChatGPT. Inspired by the gentle magic of Studio Ghibli films, users are prompting ChatGPT to speak like a wise forest spirit or a soft-spoken traveler from a whimsical land.

But behind the charm lies something deeper: a shift in how we connect with technology. Users are craving more than just accurate answers — they’re seeking experiences that feel calm, comforting, and beautifully human.

It’s a reminder that AI is no longer just about speed and precision; it’s about tone, empathy, and storytelling.

What this trend tells us:

 People value emotionally intelligent responses from AI.

 Story-driven prompts spark creativity in conversations.

 Users are shaping AI to be more mindful, not just functional.

 Soft aesthetics can reframe how we perceive machine intelligence.

As these human-centered patterns unfold, a growing curiosity is rising around how AI adapts to our emotional needs and cultural tastes. And in spaces where thoughtful AI analysis lives, these quiet, magical shifts are being noticed and explored.

Sometimes, the future of tech feels less like a machine... and more like a Miyazaki dream.

About US:

AI Technology Insights (AITin) is the fastest-growing global community of thought leaders, influencers, and researchers specializing in AI, Big Data, Analytics, Robotics, Cloud Computing, and related technologies. Through its platform, AITin offers valuable insights from industry executives and pioneers who share their journeys, expertise, success stories, and strategies for building profitable, forward-thinking businesses.

Contact Us :

Call Us

+1 (520) 350-7212

Email Address​

sales@intentamplify.com

Local Address

1846 E Innovation Park DR Site 100 ORO Valley AZ 85755

[dez78]

🎶🩸Slyus Headcanons🩸🎶

Slyus is very sly, he's charming, persuasive, deceitful, cunning and he can put on a good performance, but he is clumsy and not at all intimidating.

Example: "I'll knock you up! Fuck, no, I meant-shit. Knock you out!"

Slyus can talk his way out of a death sentence and make the executioner blush while doing it.

He's been on the chopping block a lot in his life.

Slyus is extremely unlucky, like the amount of bad luck he has should be recorded in text.

Despite being a mischievous bard. Slyus can be an excellent storyteller when he wants to be. Other times, he does it purely for fun and exaggeration.

Slyus has a heart shaped birth mark on his hip.

Slyus uses his lute as a weapon and thwacks enemies constantly with it.

Since Slyus bashes enemies with his lute often. The poor instrument has been through a lot of abuse but is still in immaculate condition. Slyus takes really good care of it afterwards, he's repaired it many times and polishes it when he can.

Slyus is an incredible player at Lance Board, but a crap gambler. He has no luck in it, but the game? Master. He even sets up battle plans based on the game, and they always work much to the surprise of his companions. Syrus has stopped questioning it entirely.

Slyus got arrested once for seducing a prince. One of the many times he was headed for the chopping block. The morning of the execution, he sweet talked the guard and got let out.

Slyus is the type of bard to sing and perform a show inside his prison cell as he waits to be rescued...again.

Slyus pulls Astarion into kisses at the worst times, like mid battle most of the time.

He is all over him and Syrus is fighting the battle himself when those two are smacking lips.

Slyus is absolutely the persona of Chaotic Energy, he's got a golden retriever attitude, he's very chaotic, and a bit of a dumbass, always getting into troublesome situations.

Slyus is an excellent listener.

Slyus carries his childhood teddy bear everywhere with him because it was the last thing his mother bought him; it's his last reminder of her.

Slyus prefers his lute, but he's not limited to it. He can play the violin, the harp, the piano, and the flute.

Slyus hates being controlled, if someone shows any signs of control, Slyus will become fiercely rebellious.

Slyus prefers silver over gold, something about its cool, moonlit aesthetic just feels right to him.

Slyus has a flashy, dramatic fashion sense, even rivaling Astarion.

Slyus can dance beautifully, he will take every chance he can get to dance.

He can dance salsa, tango, waltz, etc.

Slyus pulls his "seductive bard" routine on enemies, and it works.

Slyus uses Vicious Mockery like a second language, if he's not confident in a fight with his cross bows and short swords, he will spit insults from the back instead.

Slyus has a soft spot for luxury and lavish things, whether it be elegant clothing, or lounging on silk sheets, he appreciates the finer things in his un-life.

Slyus below the belt is rocking 6" with a slight curve.

Slyus favorite color is pink, almost everything he owns is pink.

Slyus wears a silver belt with a ruby rose buckle with a silver trim.

Slyus's favorite flowers are red roses and pink lilies.

Slyus has a silver tongue, he can weave beautiful tales, whether they are real or fictional.

Slyus maybe stupid with survival skills, but he's extremely book intelligent, having deep conversations with Gale and Ryld.

Slyus despite being a vampire, can actually cook really well, rivaling even Gale. He first learned to cook from his mother, then he continued into his adulthood. Then during his seduction to feed, he lured people in with candle lit dinners.

Despite being a creature of the night, Slyus never killed any of his victims. Ever. He's Chaotic Neutral, but he isn't vile.

Though, every one of them fell in love with him afterwards, so he definitely has a reputation as a heart breaker.

Slyus knew he was officially gay when he tried to sleep with a woman for the first time and he couldn't perform, embarrassed he left in hurry, never looking back. He was 19.

The first time Slyus was with another man intimately, he was 21 and he performed poorly, extremely embarrassed he apologized, the other man reassured him. Slyus would always remember his kindness.

Slyus and Astarion had met years prior, before their tadpole journey. They met in passing, but don't remember each other.

Slyus found his first lute in a dumpster behind the Elfsong when he was 11 years old and became a street performer.

Slyus was a natural lutist and performer. He was born for it.

Slyus is quick witted and always has a snarky response ready for every sentence.

Despite his confident and pompous exterior, Slyus is still a scared little boy that misses his parents.

His snarky exterior is a mask to hide his deeper feelings of insecurity, loneliness, and helplessness. He's actually extremely fragile, but he hides it so well. Hiding behind a smile and flirty words.

He's described usually as an arrogant, little peacock by outsiders.

His personality is all a facade for survival, he's barely holding himself together. He thinks his life is a mess.

Slyus is extremely flamboyant, flicking his wrists and using feminine hand gestures. He even stands with his hip out and a hand on it.

Slyus fully embraces his femme side, he'll wear flashy clothes and makeup when he wants to be bold.

Slyus enjoys long baths, they are relaxing, of course he will go all out, salts, scented candles, etc.

Speaking of, Slyus's favorite candles are vanilla.

Slyus himself smells like rosewood, cherry blossom with a hint of lavender.

He always keeps his perfume in his satchel during the travels.

As a bard, Slyus obliviously reads and writes poetry. He weaves words together beautifully like a lyric.

Slyus doesn't take life seriously, he treats everything as a joke, it's his defense mechanism.

Despite having fun on the battlefield, Slyus actually is an incredible fighter. He's just squishy and gets wounded a lot.

He uses hand crossbows, but he is an amazing archer with a long bow. He can hit a bullseye with his eyes closed.

Slyus can paint in incredible detail, like he gets laugh lines, flaws, and pores. He never shared this with anyone, Astarion found out and Slyus begged him to keep it secret.

Slyus had painted Astarion and he saw it, drinking in every detail of his face. He still keeps the canvas in his belongings.

Slyus is a considerate and delicate lover, he praises everyone he beds, worships them.

Despite his 222 years, he has never had true relationship, he's had one night stands all his adult and vampire life.

Slyus is unashamed in the bedroom, he is a loud lover and tries his hardest to embarrass his lover. Until he meets Astarion and the rogue tells Slyus, he isn't being loud enough.

Slyus loves to play with feelings and tease relentlessly, this ends up making Astarion question his love and their relationship to which Slyus drops the theatrics completely, he becomes very sincere and considerate, even without the tadpole, Astarion knows it's the truth.

Slyus loves breaking rules, he will push buttons to see how far he can get, he is a complete menace in that regard.

His alignment gives him freedom, like he'll save Arabella and offer to escort the Tieflings to Baldur's Gate, but then he'll send Kar'niss to his death in the shadowlands to get the moonlantern.

Slyus does the smolder to get what he wants, it usually works, but with Astarion it doesn't which is frustrating to the bard.

He also has the biggest puppy eyes, which makes it really hard for Astarion to say no or anyone for that matter.

Slyus purposely wears a bold red lipstick just put lip prints all over Astarion.

Slyus is fluent in elvish, common, celestial, drow, and thieves' cant

Slyus can sing in elvish as good as he can in common, he usually charms his audience with his skilled tongue in more ways than one.

Slyus can write perfect cursive.

Slyus can write in elvish.

Slyus likes to hold hands with his lover, ensuring they don't disappear and leave him behind.

[hisevenblog]

One Festive Ends, Another Begins: Tales of Malaysian Malls

The Art of Constant Change

Whether during Raya Seasons, Chinese New Year or any other celebrations, one thing Malaysian will surely noticed are the mall’s decorations. It can even be overnight completely change from one into another. From a winter wonderlands transformed into a sea of red & gold with Chinese celebrations. Such becoming a norm every year, creating a seamless annual cycle of celebrations. So, why it is so for Malaysia having a lot of different festivals annually?

Malaysia, Truly Asia

The Logistics of a Festive Makeover

You might believe that mall decorations Atake months to prepare, just halfway right there as the switch may just happens in just few days (or even overnight). The planning actually takes months in advance among a dedicated team of designers, event planners, contractors and marketing experts. While some may have a very specific themes throughout the whole mall.

Design & Concept : Months before a festival, malls choose their theme. Some may goes traditional while some may goes trendy.

Sourcing Materials : Decorations can be expensive. Some big malls, like Sunway Pyramid or Sunway Velocity, team up with local artisans to create unique handcrafted items, while others bring in materials from overseas.

Installation & Execution : Most major malls hire contractors who specialize in festive decorations. Teams often work late into the night, sometimes after closing hours, to take down and set up the holiday displays in just a few days.

Usually malls will avoid leaving any blank spaces at all cost. Undecorated mall could mean fewer engagement, social media posts and also less exposure (no Instagramable spots to post). Malls may getting less foot-traffics too as may give the dead mall vibe there.

The Psychology Behind Constant Festive Decor

It’s not just about aesthetics. Retail psychology significantly influences why malls frequently refresh their decorations. Research indicates that consumers tend to spend more when they feel an emotional connection to a particular season. (New year, new cloths, and new you!)

Been to Mid Valley Megamall? Every year during Deepavali, it’s full of colorful rangoli artworks and traditional kolam displays. It really evoke those festive spirits and feelings of nostalgia and cultural pride (it makes me rush to buy a sari even though i’m a guy!). Likewise, the huge giant Christmas tree at Suria KLCC creates a very inviting atmosphere that Christmas just around the corner, encouraging everyone to come buy gifts for your love ones, or just having a nice dinner around.

Is It Worth the Cost?

It’s OK to be curious on how much such malls spend on their everchanging decorations and will there be any recycle. Although the costs usually unknown for most of us (unless you’re part of it), it expected most malls invest millions on this every year. For high end malls like Pavilion or The Gardens, they go big for this with extravagant and over-the-top displays to uphold their premium image. While smaller malls may choose more straightforward or budget-friendly direction.

Despite the high initial costs, the return on investment can be seen through:

Increased Foot Traffic : Many people come just to admire the decorations, and while they’re there, they tend to shop.

Boosted Sales During Promotions : Seasonal sales linked to the decorations create a sense of urgency, encouraging shoppers to make purchases before the season wraps up. (Mooncakes during Mid-Autumn!)

Branding & Social Media Visibility : A beautifully crafted festive display can capture attention online (you’ll see alot of posts!), generating free publicity for the mall.

How Malaysian Malls Compare to the World

Fast-paced, that’s how to describe it. While malls at other places will adapt to festive changes too but not as frequent and only on major festivals.

China : With CNY as major festive, will go all out on it. While probably didn’t bother to shift to other smaller festive.

United States (US) : Mall like The Mall of America (Minnesota) will go big on Christmas and all the way through January. They rarely transitioned to other festive.

Singapore : Have a similar fast festive transition to Malaysia. However not as big scale as megamalls in Malaysia. Singapore malls focuses on efficiency, high-tech solutions, and strategic outdoor attractions (like Orchard Road).

What’s Next? The Future of Malaysian Mall Decorations

As already happening with the emerging technology which continues to evolve. We might soon begun to explore on AR experiences. In the years ahead, we may see an increase in projection mapping, holographic displays, and the recent massive hit, the drone shows that adjusts to various festivals even more seamless.

[nathaniels-diary]

If we were villains review

I think the book was so sure about their concept and relied so much on the dark academia aesthetic that the execution became sloppy.

The first two chapters were fine, all the foreshadowing, the introduction of the characters. It’s a really original concept and an intriguing start. And of course I have to say the structure is quite nice, the five act play is a clever and creative idea, but the characters feel flat. The antagonist doesn’t feel mean enough, just some guy who is full of himself, and then suddenly he is way too mean for what happened, it sounds so unnatural and forced. There is no nuance to the character. Nothing that makes you “love and hate him at the same time”, or whatever it is the author tried to achieve.

The rest is not better, while the concept with the archetypes is, again, such a cool idea, the actual characters are just so boring and bland. They are not complex morally corrupted people they are just…well some normal sorta dickish kids? They don’t have the theatrics, the Shakespearean extremism that they would need to convey a story like this one. I dont care about any of them, I don’t get their motivations or who they are, which is essential for a story so heavily relying on faceted characters. They feel like a mean dramatic middle school group that just kicked one off the discord server, they just seem so goofy. The way the group falls apart feels so insignificant cause I don’t know the group anyway.

The best written group member is arguably James, who has the most compelling story arc and character. With him being the one that injured Richard and running away and also him breaking Olivers nose he has done some immoral things. All the others aren’t even allowed to do that. Its like the author thought the ONE event, not helping Richard, painted everyone half-heartedly in an evil, indefensible, rotten light so the other 350pages have to convince me that they are good people that all love each other like a family and they are oh so perfect, maybe sad, paranoid people that made some mistakes but with an oh so good soul. That’s not what makes an intriguing character nor plot. I want to hate them more. Or love them more. Or at least be able to feel SOMETHING gripping before getting an excuse for their behaviour that wears everything down shoved in my throat.

Also for a book that is trying to tell you “You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough” the writing style is way to flat almost fanfiction for my taste.

But to say a nice thing too: the Shakespeare quotes are beautifully embedded and the author obviously put a lot of effort into the research. Also, I gotta hand it to the book I desperately needed to give my opinion after finishing it so somehow it moved me to further deal with the story, and that’s what literature is all about isn’t it. Especially the big reveal that James heavily injured Richard was so unsatisfyingly written. Just James telling us dully about the event was just anticlimactic.

In conclusion, I really tried to like this book, I really did, but that was not it.

(If you liked one of us is lying tho you will like it(okay sorry I have to stop throwing shade at this book))

Also sidenote: you shouldn’t compare it to the secret history just because they are both dark academia novels set in college involving a group were one of them dies. Their essence is SO different and they should be allowed to stand alone and not in presents of the other.