#but like. theyre trying to make the scope of the story too big when it works better as an in close examination

[amatres]

hm. maybe a lot of my problems with dragon age can be summed up in that they are trying to tie everything into a grand plot instead of having each game be a different story exploring a different part of the societies born in this world and seeing how the character you're playing's actions can shape the world, whether those consequences seem obvious or not

[melodyofthevoid]

the way y'all are handling ocean idiots is actually kind of inspiring me, because i have Ideas but i feel pressured to turn it into a whole blown Thing when all i want to do is just have fun with it, because every artist/writer/etc ive seen does it that way.

yall are the first people ive seen who are just trying to Vibe with your blorbos and it makes doing the same thing feel more achievable to me. god bless

PS larus is my favorite. love the little skrunkly bird man. also can i steal yalls powerpoint idea 🥺?

PSS i assume everyone else working on ocean idiots will see this bc yall are mutuals, but in the event that they dont, could you please forward this to them? because i want them to know that theyre indirectly inspiring a random person with their Just-For-Fun-Creation as well >< many thanks

Aw, anon this is incredibly sweet. I sent your message along to the others before I got around to this answer both because I wanted to make sure they saw it, and because I wanted to respond to this in a way that really reflects my gratitude.

It's honestly so tempting to start making ideas "a thing". I didn't really understand that until the last couple of years and let me tell you, there is a lot of pressure to do that. People like projects! They like updates! They love seeing the progression of a story and getting invested in that. I absolutely understand why people leave comments like "this should be a webtoon" or "you guys should make an animated series". In a perfect world, that'd be a dream! The temptation to do that and establish a base is also attractive because it can really form a base that gives numbers and comments, which artists of all stripes thrive on (myself very much included).

But what most people never really see is the downsides of that. From their perspective, a one episode animatic, a chapter or two of fic or few panels of a comic, isn't a lot. It's kinda disappointing, and I get that. For the creator though, there's any number of reasons that things fall apart. Personal differences with friends amplified by the stress of expectations. Creative burnout. Shutting down due to the sheer scope of the undertaking. These are all real, and it sucks to deal with.

For me personally, I know I do want to tackle trying to write more of ocean idiots, maybe even try to nanowrimo this shit (not in an actual month but you get the gist). But that's just me. If it bums me out or I put it to the side, then that's just my personal project to pick up later. If we tried to make it a series, then we'd deal with the stress of trying to keep up a schedule on top of lives (college, jobs, personal lives, etc). It'd take the joy out of these characters we love.

Some of the most fun I've had in the past few years I've been writing and creating has just been fucking around with my friends. Throwing silly au ideas back and forth and exchanging art and fics for no one but ourselves. There's a genuine satisfaction that comes from it.

Not everything has to be a big production. Artists don't make their magnum opus every time. They draw shitposts and write crackfic and make funny edits. It's healing to have something silly, something fun just for you, and to share it if you want. That can connect with people, great! But it can also just be for you. I could go on a whole tangent about social media and the commodification of attention/art but that's not really what we're here for.

I hope that whatever you create, anon, that it makes you happy. That it brings a little joy to your day. That you can have that thing you share with maybe just your closest friends to play with. Lord knows I need to remind myself of that too.

[seaquestions]

im sorry to the fetts, to anakin and obi-wan, but ive been thinking about quickswitch and sixshot’s story since before i got into star wars and ever since i saw the prequels i cant help it [copies homework but changes it as much as i can so its not similar] (long post ahoy)

anyway!! i started working on a lil comic script some time ago (which im not gonna finish anytime i bet but it still gave me Ideas). sixshot is taken prisoner by the autobots, and theyre gonna experiment on him to try and make their own six-changer. unfortunately sixshot wakes up, trashes the place and escapes before they could finish the full scope of the project but they did manage to create... a baby clone of sixshot (our boy, quickswitch). they get magnus/minimus to take care of the kid because a) not a lot of ppl have the clearance to know abt the project and he’s one of the few b) of the people who do know, he’s the only beastformer c) since he’s so dedicated to the cause, it would ensure that quickswitch grows up to be a loyal autobot, yes? so here. take care of this child.

things go wrong eventually. but for the time being minimus is an adequate dad to quickswitch, for someone who had zero prep or warning that he was going to care for sixshot’s baby clone. and they do love each other. minimus cares about the pup more than most things in life. maybe even more than properly filled paperwork. he has to be actually minimus way way more often too, and thats probably good for him and his identity issues. quickswitch‘s dad is minimus ambus, not ultra magnus. its a secret thats hard to keep, very hard now that he doesnt hide in the armour as often, but minimus follows the rules; not even his own pup can know.

and, naturally, quickswitch finds out. but not before he finds out the truth about his origins first. he’s a curious kid, yknow. and he’s different. people treat him different. nobody else is like him, he’s special. he’s going to grow up to become the hero of cybertron. (he’s going to grow up to become a weapon.) and it takes a little push from an anonymous message, telling him that he needs to know the truth. to know why he exists, and where he came from. and he sneaks around and finds out about the whole project, confronts his dad, and asks what other secrets have been kept from him and, well, the kid doesnt take well to being lied to his whole life. doesnt take well to the realisation that his whole purpose is to be used. he runs away, scratching the autobot insignia off his chest.

and as all this is happening, sixshot does his job, does his duty: committing acts of violence for the decepticon cause with indifference and existential loneliness. to someone like him, its a simple life. he’s been bored since he was born, really. he’s not had a challenge for a long time now. and unlike others he’s disinterested in fighting his fellow decepticons. whats the point, if they all end up in the same medbay? besides, he’d win anyway. he lets shockwave examine him, mess around and experiment, because what’s the point of saying no?

(shockwave found out about quickswitch very quickly, and decides to shelve the “cloning sixshot” project idea. if someone beat them to the punch, might as well not waste any resources. no, lets just take the already finished product, and make him think it was his idea too.)

quickswitch grows up, roams around the galaxy, unaffiliated. takes in a few bounties for cash, ends up making himself known against his will. well, its kinda hard to be inconspicuous when youre this big and you’ve got six altmodes, just like that very infamous decepticon, sixshot. quickswitch doesnt know if he wants to meet him. he’s afraid, a little bit. but he’s also so curious. think about it. thats his dad, right? well, his template at least. in his dreams, sixshot takes him under his wing and becomes his new mentor, maybe even recognises him as his son. in his nightmares, he is an autobot still, and he is pitted against the very person who he is made from, and he dies a brutal death. quickswitch still holds a grudge. he misses minimus but if he wants to stay, he’d have to rejoin the autobots, and he Does Not Want That. no telling how he’d be treated too.

minimus retreats into the armour. he’s ultra magnus nearly 24/7 now. he thinks about reaching out, of finding quickswitch and reconciling, but he’s afraid of being rejected. the magnus armour doesnt do anything against his son. its minimus who fucked up. he knows it, and he hates it. hates himself.

maybe they cross paths once in a while. but quickswitch just glares at ultra magnus’ face and walks away.

quickswitch gets swayed towards the decepticons. the idea of meeting sixshot is compelling, and as he grows into his own strength, he’s less and less scared, and more just curious, excited maybe. and he will meet him.

..... this is the part where im not quite sure how i want the story to go. the things that are definitely going to be a thing: quickswitch meets sixshot. sixshot is initially like “what the fuck” but slowly comes to like quickswitch. ultra magnus shows up at some point and all three have a confrontation. minimus and quickswitch reconcile, at some point. but idk what actually does happen??

either QS and 6S meet in a string of coincidences, or QS joins the decepticons? maybe?? i feel like either way QS is factionless by the end at least. thats just the vibe im getting. kinda wanna say “and then quickswitch gets two dads and they all live happily ever after” but ahh.... it just doesnt feel right for the tone of the story so far. but anyway thats what i got!!! the ending is!! not really there yet!! but ive been typing for like an hour so sksbjsjak im wrapping this up.

[bioswear]

Shitty game dev experiences

So like, for the past 6 months I’ve been stuck in this horrible student game dev hell that I’ll call “Tex Blechs”. It is a game that was pitched with ZERO substance, and the team who pitched it only liked it because one of the people on that team’s fiancé pitched the title pun (Which is Just Tex Mechs, which also seems mildly racist?) and the stakeholders (aka our professors, aka 3 white men) LOVED the pun, even tho they had no idea what the game was about. They literally said “idk what Tex Mechs is about, but I want to play it.” Like?? No??? Which is red flag #1. So they pick that as one of the three games that was chosen for us to develop.

The game designer for Tex Blechs is the person who pitched the pun, and was also the game designer for our last, cohort-wide student game, which was equally lackluster in quality, overscoped, and lacking in true substance. All of which would be fine I suppose if she didn’t overscope all of her projects, since it’s a student game. So, she has this massive game idea for a project that’s really only meant to be 10-15 minutes of quality, solid gameplay and to this day, it still is not.

Let me say that the original content she wanted was: 2 different levels (a farm and a canyon) with 5 arenas, Left4Dead style, 1 tutorial level, five different weapons, four different kinds of enemies, and an opening cutscene for the game AND an end cutscene. In retrospect, this wouldn’t be a lot for a bigger dev team, but this team has 16 people. We only have three artists total, not including myself and the VFX artist, who is a level designer in the program. That’s a big fuckin order. We have 16 weeks for this game. That is not a lot of time. At all. To model/sculpt, retopologize, UV unwrap and texture, rig and skin, and then optimize a handful of assets to a quality that can be considered “Steam-worthy”. Oh, right, our end goal is to get greenlig for steam publication, which counts as a shipped game for our resume.

The level designers on this team are stressed as fuck. They have had to constantly crunch and remake arenas the entire game, and never have actually had the time to polish the environments as well as they could have because theyre constantly working on refining combat, set-dressing, and other such things. They have been a sprint behind because they had to remake the arenas, which is a canyon environment. (And then the professors/stakeholders complain that it “doesn’t feel like Texas”; what the fuck is Texas supposed to feel like? Texas doesn’t have canyons, Texas is flat as fuck)

I am art lead for this Tex Blechs, and good lord is it a beating everyday. If I were an object, I’d be a piñata. Despite my efforts to try and convince the GD to scope down, each time I’d be met with “well we can just reuse stuff” or “as the game designer, I want this to be in the game” and I’m listened to, but I’m not HEARD. It’s only just RECENTLY, out of 6 months development time, that she’s decided to cut stuff. But all the stuff she’s cut so far, has been things that are already completed, and have been for a few milestones, because they “weren’t working out.” She didn’t even tell the producer she had cut this stuff, and I had to be the one to tell the producer instead, which was a surprise to her.

I have been a really good lead for my artists, and one of the most organized leads during the entire project. This fucker is like “but you’re not doing your job because you’re checked out and frustrated at this game.” Which is a horribly large and inaccurate assumption about me, as I do my job and I do it well to the point that in my peer evals, people have called me “a good lead,” “willing to help her team with extra assets,” “a good advocate for the art team,” etc. So I try to tell him that I can have an opinion but when I’m in the room I’m doing my job with minimal complaint. And this fucker SITS IN OUR ROOM during the workday because so many people have complained about the sloppiness of the game designer and the producer.

Anyway, my artists and I had this big meeting about the scope of the game and the concerns we all shared, which was that there was no feasible way to do everything that was planned. So we have a meeting with the game designer involved, too. And we express our concerns, and frustrations, and need for less content if we want to make a good, polished looking game. And this bitch? She turns it into a sob story about how hard it is to be a game designer and how it’s hard to look at the big picture and that it was never her idea she just had the title, and that she didn’t even know what the game was supposed to be, etc. Meanwhile, none of the artists are feeling sympathy because she never once answered any of our questions, and only turned it into a sob story about how hard her job was. Frustration point #500. This is back in September.

Things still don’t improve until like, a week ago. We have team retros where we go over what went well, wrong, and to do better next time for each milestone.

Every. Fucking. Time. Someone says that the game is still overscoped and that someone or multiple people have crunched because they had to. And still NO CHANGES. No intervention from faculty, who wants to slough off the responsibility that they set us up for failure onto us. NOTHING.

So naturally my artists and I form a solidarity about the shit working conditions and often bitch about stuff, mostly outside of class, where we’re allowed to.

So today one of the bitch ass white men who picked the game pulls me aside and says that I’m being too negative because I often talk about the flaws of the production and development environment, and that it’s affecting the rest of the team, but this is absolutely not true in any way. I try to tell him that it’s not just me, and I’m not the cause of the team wide low morale, and that I’m not their ringleader or telling them how to feel. But he still insists that it must be my negativity, and not the months of constant crunch, overtime, overscoping, disorganization and incompetency of the other two leads that’s obviously the problem. That would be too easy.

He says that, because I’m the lead, that my negative comments are affecting the other artists as if they aren’t grown-ass adults who can formulate thoughts and opinions on their own. He’s treating me like I’m some big bad ringleader and the artists are my lackeys, but really they just hate BULLSHIT, which has been 90% of this games development.

He also has been stalking and monitoring my twitter because the producer on my team is spineless and frail and snitched me out during her production class, and tried to use some of my personal opinion posts against me today, too? Saying that they’ve been making their rounds to the entire team and that it’s hurting my credibility with them, which is also, again, not true, as nobody on my team follows me on Twitter and that a good majority of my team also has the same kind of feelings that I do about the games development shitshow (they are much less verbal during class, much like I am much less verbal about it during class).

Anyway, that’s been my fucking life for the past 6 months.

[71tenseventeen]

Take My Hand (Take My Whole Life Too)-8

Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 4, Pt 5, Pt 6, Pt 7

Warnings for sexual content, male pregnancy, non-hockey Sid. Sid and Taylor’s ages have been altered to fit the story.

Perpetual credit to my betas, @queen-alia and @icosahedonist as well as the GC and @ljummen.

They meet at a quiet pizza place at Sid’s suggestion.

As soon as Sid sees Geno on the sidewalk he realizes it was a mistake. He already has people stopping him and Sid can see the stress lines around his eyes as he glances up and back to the people around him.

Sid has no idea what the protocol is but he suspects it’s better if he stays out of all of that so he tips his head toward the door of the restaurant and ducks in, grabbing them a table in the corner of the dark, quiet dining room.

It takes another ten minutes before Geno finally ducks into the restaurant looking very harried but at least he’s alone. He immediately spots and heads for Sid, carefully avoiding eye contact with the handful of other patrons. He gets stopped anyhow and politely signs autographs and poses for pictures with a family of four before he finally makes it to the table looking more than a little stressed.

“Sorry, Sid. I was hoping since it Tuesday afternoon would maybe not be such a big problem.”

“No, I’m sorry. I should have known. Next time we’ll figure something else out, okay?”

Geno nods, looking very grateful.

“So…” they both start after an awkward moment and it breaks the tension. Sid gives a quiet laugh and Geno’s face softens.

Sid thinks maybe, finally, they can relax.

Of course that’s when a waiter arrives at their table and starts his welcome spiel before stopping completely and exclaiming, “Whoa! Geno! Hey man!”

“Hello,” Geno says cordially, but Sid can see the lines forming around his eyes again.

The waiter, “Braden,” he informs them as he shakes Geno’s hand and ignores Sid completely, is grinning ear to ear and turns long enough to call in the general direction of the kitchens. “Yo, Frank! You gotta get out here! We got Geno Malkin in the house!”

Sid sees Geno slump in defeat and sits quietly as he politely signs autographs and poses for pictures with what must be every staff member there… and a couple of construction workers who hadn’t bugged him when he came in. As far as get-togethers go, this is a disaster.

Geno finally asks Braden to please give them a minute with the menu and turns to Sid with a pinched expression, talking low and fast. “Sid, okay if we get food to go? I take us somewhere private to eat and talk. Don’t think this going to work.” He says it like he’s asking permission and Sid feels terrible.

“Yeah, of course.”

That’s all it takes for Geno to motion Braden back over.

It takes another twenty five minutes before they’re actually leaving the restaurant with bags of food and a pizza, Geno having left a generous tip.

He pulls his hat down over his eyes and seems to be trying to hunch in on himself even though there was no way someone that big is going to be able to hide. Sid follows quietly and they make it to Geno’s car with only a couple of people stopping him. As soon as Geno slides into the driver’s seat, he drops his head back and lets out a deep breath.

“Really sorry, Sid.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m sorry for suggesting this place.”

“Not be sorry. Let’s just go eat. Hungry.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Geno turns to him with furrowed brows. “You ok? Need to eat and drink now?”

“No, I can wait. I feel okay.”

Geno’s face relaxes a little then and he nods. “Okay.”

He takes them to the arena. It’s the last place Sid expected to find himself but it makes sense. When they go in, no one does anything more than give him a wave. Certainly no one seems concerned that he’s toting a bunch of takeout bags and has a stranger trailing along beside him.

And that’s how Sid finds himself eating pasta and pizza in the Penguins’ team kitchen.

It’s Sid’s turn to be jumpy, glancing nervously at the door every few seconds until Geno explains, “No practice here today. Not expect anyone around or I take us to private conference room.”

Sid breathes out in relief. “Okay.”

“So—” they both start again and Geno laughs.

Maybe this won’t be as bad as Sid feared.

Geno is enthusiastic about any mention of the baby and wants to know all about Sid’s appointments with the ‘baby doctor.’  He listens to every tiny detail—from the baby’s heart rate to Sid’s blood pressure—with rapt attention and asks what seems like a hundred questions.

Sid doesn’t mind. It’s nice to have a conversation about the pregnancy that isn’t revolving around what a crisis it is.

He likes how easy it is to talk once they’re relaxed, that Geno actually takes interest in his life. He isn’t just asking questions to have something to talk about—he genuinely listens to Sid’s answers and asks more questions, seeming to want to know everything he can.

He asks about Sid’s studies at the university and Sid spends several minutes talking about the courses he plans to take and his plan to teach someday. In turn, Sid asks him about hockey and they spend a good half an hour talking about the upcoming season. Geno seems pleasantly surprised at Sid’s interest and knowledge.

From there the conversation turns back to the pregnancy and Geno asks if Sid has talked to his family in the last couple of days. “For a few minutes last night. I told them I told you about the baby.”

Geno fiddles with the edge of his cup. “They know is me?”

“No. I didn’t tell them that much.”

“What they say when you tell them I know?”

Sid shrugs. “Not much. My parents are still hoping I’ll change my mind, I guess. But my sister is happy.”

“Glad you have her, at least. Hope your parents come around.”

“What, um, what about your parents? Did you, um, tell them about…?” Sid glances down at his midsection.

“I not tell them yet, no.”

“Oh. Right.” Sid’s not sure what he expected and he works hard to push back the pang that’s threatening to bubble up inside him

“Going to tell them, Sid.”

“You don’t have to.”

Geno frowns. “Not keep something like this secret from them. Is just hard, try to figure out how to say. Worry how they respond.”

“You think they’ll, ah, be upset?”

Geno sighs and runs a hand through his hair as he leans forward to rest his elbows on the table. “Maybe. Probably.” He takes a deep breath. “Mama, Papa very close to me but they not really know about my private life. Just not sure how they react when they find out, you know.”

“Find out about the baby or…?” Sid feels like it probably doesn’t need to be said.

Geno nods. “In Russia, be with guy very bad. Not safe.”

“Yeah,” Sid swallows hard. For the first time he’s thinking about consequences beyond the scope of Pittsburgh and the NHL and he’s suddenly grateful he’s from Canada.  

“Not something I need to tell them before but now…”

“Right. Now I’m pregnant and fucked that up for you.”

Geno looks up and grabs Sid’s wrist. “You not fuck anything up, Sid. Take two people make this happen. Was my choice, too and I’m not regret.”

“Well, I’ll understand if you decide not to tell anyone. I mean, I’d get it.”

“Not going to be that way. Just have to figure out best way. Maybe not be easy but I do because it’s important. Besides, better to tell now than someone here find out and they hear in press.”

Sid looks up, struck again by all the things weighing on Geno with this pregnancy.

“I guess we should probably be more careful around town, too. I mean, if it got out it would be bad.”

Geno sighs and runs a hand through his hair again. “Would be very bad. Here, maybe not as much but Russia… I probably can’t go back.”

“Oh god.  You can’t—” Sid shakes his head. Somewhere in his mind he knew it but hearing it like this brings it into stark contrast. “I can’t be the person responsible for that. I won’t tell anyone, Geno. I promise.”

“Not the kind of thing to keep secret forever. Eventually, baby born and grow. Seem impossible to keep thing like this secret.”

“We’ll do it, we’ll find a way.”

Geno shakes his head. “You really want that? Not so sure I do.”

Sid’s heart sinks. “What do you mean?”

“Even if we could keep total secret, what kind of life that be for our baby? What kind of life that be for us? Maybe not ideal and maybe some hard consequences but still a baby, still going to be child for us to raise. Our baby, Sid.”  To Sid’s surprise, Geno smiles and it fills him warmth.

“Only know for two days and already think about baby growing up. Want to teach him to skate and play hockey, want to take him to family skate and bring him to games.”

Sid realizes he’s smiling too. “Him?”

Geno’s grin brightens. “Have a feeling.”

“What if it’s a girl?”

“Not matter. Do all same thing. All that matter is she our baby, our family.” Geno’s smile stretches across his face. “We gonna get to love our little baby and watch him grow up. Maybe hard, little bit scary now but gonna be worth it, you know?”

And Sid suddenly has to blink back tears because in all the time he’s known about the pregnancy, he’d never felt like he could talk about his future with his baby, that he could look forward to it. It had hurt that everyone saw this as a burden, nothing but a crisis to manage. But now Geno is saying things out loud that Sid has barely felt allowed to even think privately.

“Yeah.” Sid has to swallow. “I do,” he breathes and he means it.  

“Wouldn’t trade for anything now that I know, Sid. Don’t care what happen.”

“But what about the team? The NHL, Russia?”

Geno meets his gaze. “We figure it out. Not want you worry about it, okay? Just focus on take care of you and take care of baby. Most important.”

Sid sighs. “I’ll try. I, um, I have a doctor’s appointment in a couple of days.”

Geno’s face lights up and Sid’s glad he told him. “When? Maybe I find way to go?”

“Friday at three.”

Geno frowns. “Have meeting.”

“Oh. Well, I…”

“I’m sorry.”

Sid takes a deep breath and forces himself to look at Geno. “You don’t have to apologize. I know you have responsibilities. Honestly, the fact that you care at all means a lot. So, don’t worry, okay?”

Geno nods, looking a little miserable. “You call me, tell how it goes?”

“For sure.”

“Maybe we get together after?”

Sid smiles because this is just all so much more and so much better than he ever expected. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

Geno drives Sid back to where he’d parked earlier. It’s still crowded and Sid knows they can’t linger with Geno idling in a no parking zone so he pulls the envelope out of his pocket and pushes it into Geno’s hands before he gets out of the car.

“What this?”

“It’s not all of it, not even close but it’s part of what I owe you.”

Geno frowns. “Sid…”

“Not negotiable. See you Friday.” He closes the door before Geno can reply

Part 9

[thefloatingstone]

In 2012 I did not think I’d be able to make this list as I was convinced anime was on a permanent decline towards nothing but trash, but I am so happy that has changed! And so I give you a quick list of;

Favourite Anime made in the last 4 years!

Mob Psycho 100 (2016)

A no brainer, really. With a 2nd Season having JUST premiered earlier this week, MP100 is easily one of not only best LOOKING animes in a very very long time, but also one with an extremely strong empathetic message that’s completely opposite to most shounen anime. The theme of “having outrageous powers doesn’t make you any more or less special and important than any other human being” and how all the villains in the show are people, either super powered or not, who believe themselves “more important” than others is at the heart of its story. And our protagonist who is a person with horrifically strong powers, but who is trying to develop as a human being, and finds himself to be a rather emotionally brittle person who relies very heavily on others for emotional support. As well as focusing on the people willing to grant him that. It’s got some strong influential roots in the Earthbound and Mother 3 games and despite never saying anything along those lines, I can bet you anything the original Mangaka, ONE, drew heavy inspiration from their tone and presentation, as well as emotional core despite the oftentimes wacky setting.

The anime should also not be overlooked for its incredible Sakuga sequences, as well as using mixed media in its animation from pencil drawings, to paint of glass, to charcoal to sand, cementing it as easily one of the most visually interesting and ambitious shows in the last decade or so

Made in Abyss (2017)

An anime that understands concepts of Scope and Scale and manages to bring what is normally reserved for feature films to an episodic storyline. Made in Abyss’ entire theme and story is that of exploration of the unknown and everything in this anime’s power is honed to bring across that feeling. Its art direction headed by Osamu Masuyama whose previous work include working on the background art for both Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, is painstakingly rendered to bring as much gravitas to the setting as possible, aided by the soundtrack written by Kevin Penkin which is just as much atmospheric as it is musical in nature. Every ounce of talent is focused on making Made in Abyss’ world, culture and characters feel solid and real. And unlike other anime with cutesy art styles but dark subject matter, Made in Abyss’ darker tone is established right in the first episode and gradually builds to its first season’s climax, rather than blindside its audience out of nowhere.

I sincerely cannot sing this show’s praises enough.

It also doesn’t hurt that the animation itself is fluid and lively.

Re:Creators (2017)

When I gave this to an animator friend of mine, one who is NOT as big a weeb as I am, he referred to it as “if Ready Player One actually knew what it was doing.” Re:Creators is one of a trend of some anime where the narrative is extremely meta in nature, but rather than use this as a form of parody, Re:Creators instead focuses itself on using its meta storytelling to shine a light on Japanese popular media as a whole, both from the side of the creators who MAKE such things, as well as the side of the fans and not only their response to media, but their interpretation and addition to popular media. And unlike the more critical approach several horror anime have taken in the past, Re:Creators also shows the positive effect stories in the form of anime, video games, manga etc both on those who read it as well as those who create it. And show how fan creations and their responses and reaction to media are just as important and enriching to works like this as the very people who create them.

It’s also one of the first shows from any country that correctly portrays what online fan culture is like. Both good AND bad.

Erased (2016)

HOO BOY. The Big Guns. Most mainstream anime set in a modern setting inevitably seem to involve high school or at least characters who are high school aged. Erased, however, deals with a protagonist who is 28 years old. Due to time travel shenanigans, he is transported back to 1989 when he was 11 years old growing up in Hokaido. So already, this anime is complete skewing the generic setting for stories of its type, further hammered in by the fact that the show has no romantic subplot in it. There might be a smidge of something like “preteen romantic feelings” among the children but as far as “female hero the protag is going to fall in love with at the end” goes? Yeah there’s none of that.

Erased is an extremely dark anime, but not in the way Made in Abyss is dark. Whereas Abyss’ dark tone comes from things like getting eaten by monsters and body horror caused by the Abyss’ curse, the dark theme of Erased on the other hand is much more horrifying as it comes from “reality”. And it’s because of this I WILL have to warn people about its plot points because it WILL and DOES get uncomfortable.

The plot of Erased is our 28 year old protagonist gets hurled back in time to when he was 11 years old in Hokaido, as I said. In the winter of 1989 there were a string of child abductions and murders, and it’s up to our main character, again in his 11 year old body, to solve these crimes to prevent a tragedy in modern day. Not only does the show deal with the very uncomfortable topic of child abduction and murder, but a MASSIVE part of the plot revolves around the would be murder victim, Hinazaki Kayo, who is living with her physically abusive mother. And unlike shows like “Magical Girl SITE”, the abuse is not shown as “suffer porn” and blown up to be so over the top in how bad it is, ut is instead extremely grounded and feels waaaay to real to the point of being very upsetting. However, the abuse is not there to make the audience sad. The abuse is in the plot to further press upon the audience the borderline helpless state our main character is in. As a child, he has to rely on his experience and ability to think like an adult to try and prevent the serial murders, as WELL as try and get Hanazaki out of her abusive situation. It also serves as a learning experience for our main character, and him figuring out how he hasn’t changed at all since he really was a child, and how his own stagnation in life itself needs to change and be redirected. The show is bursting with tension and every episode exists to turn the stakes up just a little bit higher.

I’ve heard some people are extreme disappointed by the show’s ending which I will not spoil, but personally going into it completely blind, I didn’t find any of it to be a let down and its very quickly become one of my favourite anime of all time.

The Ancient Magus Bride (2017)

(I actually don’t like the intro to Ancient Magus Bride so it only gets a link since I can only embed 5 videos)

https://youtu.be/KuZbmLLv1vM

Based on a manga by Kore Yamazaki, who has stated that her reason for writing the story was out of frustration that in “Beauty and the Beast” type stories, the beast always turns back into a human at the end. However this anime is far more than just a monsterfucker’s romance novel (although it... DOES follow a LOT of those tropes but hear me out.)

Set in the English countryside (although our female MC, Rise, is herself Japanese) the show makes heavy use of english folklore. Faeries are a constant presence throughout the show, and these are not the “nice” kind of faeries you’d see in Disney. Despite theyr good nature and honest want to help, these are the kinds of faeries that will kidnap you to their realm if you so much as let your guard down. We also have excellent portrayals of Titania, the queen of the faeries, and her heated relationship with her husband Oberon. Several other creatures from folklore make an appearance too, as well as old traditions such as faerie rings, seeing stones and the magical properties of herbs and flowers.

But beyond all of that, and even beyond the romance tropes or monster protector who is also a threat and powerful lead female who also needs protecting, the core theme of the show is on life. Or more specifically, death. Rise is a girl who is suicidal. And despite her not making any kind of suicide attempt in the show, this is a fact. The majority of the show is focused on Rise learning to “be alive” again, as well as process what life is, as well as what death is in its many forms. The show is a slow build of Rise reclaiming her will to live, not because of a romantic partner, but for herself. Reclaiming her own importance as a person removed from who she could be useful towards, and a slow coming to terms with a truly terrible event in her past and letting go of a traumatic past.

The show has some pacing issues here and there, but I still qualify it as one of the better modern anime shows to have come out in years, and can only praise its life-affirming message it’s trying to tell.

Osomatsu-San (2015)

I am.... not entirely sure how to explain Osomatsu-San.

Based on a manga published in the 1960s by Doraemon Creator Fujio Fujiko about 6 identical sextuplet brothers and their friends... the current and newest anime adaptation has borderline nothing to do with its original incarnation which was more your typical Showa era “hi-jinx” type gag manga. I think the very first episode of Osomatsu-San (which is not available for official purchase last I checked due to copyright issues) sets up the entire show perfectly, as the 6 boys and their friends learn they have a new anime adaptation coming up and realise that nobody in the modern age will want or even understand Showa era manga. So, instead, in an effort to be like “a real anime” they go about parodying literally every popular trope and show that’s out at the time. From yaoi-incest baiting to Jpop boy band to Attack on Titan to Sailor Moon, they keep cranking up the “modern anime” aesthetic until it literally explodes and collapses in on itself. And after realising they don’t have what it takes to compete in a modern anime word, the characters resign themselves to being losers who will never achieve anything in life.... and that’s where the show starts.

I can only refer to the show as “Millennial humour: the anime.”. 90% of it is just comedy with our 6 main characters who are, at their core, pretty terrible people. However, their issues and struggles of trying to be adults make them some of the most relateable anime characters out there. The show bounces from parodying popular culture both in anime as well as in movies to outlining the problems of trying to be a late 20-something year old in modern society to actual hard hitting drama that actually makes you angry because how DARE this stupid show actually make you FEEL things???

It’s borderline impossible to try and explain this show because, just like its 6 protagonists, it doesn’t seem to have any direction in its life. Which is exactly the point.

[itsbetterthananal]

ok so. heres the story of when i shit myself in public in front of the boy i liked

here i am 19 years old bright eyed and bushy tailed, first year of college ive got a decent job that pays a decent wage for a part timer. for the first time in my life i have my own spending money, and this boy who ive totally been in love with since i was 15 has just gotten out of boot camp where we had no contact for 3 months. and we had been writing love letters and shit back ans forth like corny bitches because we loved each other but like. hadnt made it official yet. so i decide after the semester ends im going to spend my money on a plane ticket and fly down the jacksonville fl to see him (we split the ticket, he also wanted to see me just as much). so i get there and the first night is just literally so perfect i slept in the same bed with him for the first time and got cuddles and we bang a lot and eat pizza in our pajamas. the next day i want to go to the beach cause i like the beach and he took me there even though hes not a big fan of the beach. i sunbathed and swam in the water while he just watched me enjoy myself. then we walked around this little area that has little local gift shops and food areas. and i made the first move to hold his hand and we walked around like a couple and i was in heaven. we eat at this gourmet burger place, then we wander over to the gift shops bc he wanted to get something. now some of you may know this about me but i have irritable bowel sundrome which can set me off having diarrhea for a multitude of reasons. so my stomach is a little off but it passed and im like it must just be the heat and saltwater. so we go in this little store and he finds something he wants and goes to talk to the cashier who is this older lady who owns the place. she starts asking a bunch of questions why hes here yada yada and she asks if im his wife. and hes like no haha shes my girlfriend. and my ass is hiding behind the sea shell christmas ornaments pretending to look like “girlfriend!!!!!!!! did he say girlfriend!!!!!! oh my god?????” very serious acting going on to pretend i dont hear what theyre saying.

right at this precise moment, i feel my stomach hurt a little again. and i feel like an air bubble so im like oh, i must just need to fart (pain comes with that sometimes) yeah so i went to fart and well. it wasnt just a fart was it. something felt wrong and i stuck my finger down my bathing suit in a panic and out came a shit finger (only the tip had shit on it, calm down). keep in mind im wearing nothing but a bikini and a throwover dress, i have no extra set of clothes. so im like ohhhhhhhh my goddddd and i look for a bathroom. no bathroom, too small. and at this point im panicking bc im like this is typical this would happen to me right at this moment, so i go up to him with the fakest smile on my face. and then the lady starts talking to ME and im just nodding my head and smiling and i look up at him and im like we need to go. like right now. and he was like oh uhhhhh okay and he payed for his items and as soon as we were out of the store hes like are you okay and im like ive bloody shit myself havent i. i have pooped my pants and i need to find a restroom pronto. and hes just like okay uhhhh okay we’ll find one. to make this even more like a god damn lifetime movie, the only place i can think of nearby that would have a bathroom available was a 5 star hotel across the road. so there i go, literally waddling my way in, and i have to act like i belong there in this rich ass place where theres a door hop whose only job is to open the door for you. fake it till ya make it. im so scared theyll kick us out if we ask for directions to anything so i waddle around looking for the bathroom, i find it eventually. i run in and hes like i’ll be out here if you need anything.

so finally i can scope the damage and its not too bad, and the trauma of everything that had just happened to me in the past 10 minutes had made me completely forget about any stomachache, but now here comes another dilemna: i dont want to put my shitty bikini bottoms back on (espec. since i was wearing a dress and didnt want to get it on the uber drivers seats lmao), but i dont have a change of underwear, i cant go commando (again, not sure i want a bare pussy in an uber), and if i try to wash them in the sink of this public 5 star hotel bathroom what if someone walks in and sees me almost in tears scrubbing shit off my underwear. but thats what i did bc it was the best option. thank GOD no one walked in and i had clean(er) bikini bottoms to wear till we got back to the hotel. so its been like 30 minutes and i come back out and hes like are you okay ive been texting you i was worried how are you feeling :( and i was like its fine i just wanna go back to the hotel pls. so we call for an uber and im literally so embarrassed of what i have just gone through i couldnt even look him in the eye. thats really rare for me bc i do not get embarrassed ever and he knows that and he just put his arm around me and held my hand the entire ride home and squeezed it reassuringly. anywho we made it back and everything was fine i took a shower and changed and washed them properly and it in no way made him not want to have sex with me an hour later so. the weekend wasnt ruined and the next day we confirmed our relationship. true love lmfaooooo

[tumblunni]

Cathedral Tower Defense Game character ideas and stuff so far! I’ve talked about some of these before but I wanna just compile it in summary form, and try and get thinking about more to add. It���d be so cool if I could make it like an early suikoden game where you have the world’s biggest party selection! Or at least have that equivelant but with recruiting shopkeepers and townbuilders and stuff.

So... long post ahoy!

* Protagonist (Sir/Lady/Master Amity) Your selectable renameable main charrie! A badass disabled veteran who lost their family in the war and ended up defending this cathedral town of strangers in order to prevent another tragedy. They’re generally distrusted at the beginning, have a lot of doubts about what philosophy they should take in life, and its up to you to decide how the story plays out. But no matter what, this protagonist is a cool grumpy comically-serious nerd gramp! (or gran or etc) i really REALLY like the idea of changing them to be an older veteran character, it just works so much better and seriously WHY are there like zero grandma protagonists in anything ever? I will vow to make this one as amazing as possible!!

* Florin Generally supportive yet sassy and lazy deutorogonist helper guy. He’s your first ally in this world and maybe kind of a tutorial, lol. Even though he’s a total cinnamon roll, he’s as distrusted as you because he’s a demon. Even the protagonist kinda wonders why on earth he wants to help them, and whether he’s some sort of enemy spy... His elemental realm is over plants, and he has no greater joy than taking a nice nap amoungst the flowers~

* Malachi At the moment the only fully developed idea I have for another party member, aside from Florin. Though I’m not sure if I want him to be optional or mandatory? In either case when you recruit him he’s the catylyst for a lot of character development for Florin, and they end up becoming like a lil adopted family ^_^ Anyway, Mal is a very young and adorable demon child that the party finds sealed away beneath some ruins. Precociously innocent, he seems unaware that he’s become a monster. I mean, everyone eats rocks, right?

* Admiral Chiffon (wip name) A major recurring enemy turned ally! Chiffon starts off as just the eccentric comic relief member of the opposing army, kinda harmless and kinda entertaining. And you might pity her quite a bit, because her coworkers treat her like absolute shit. I basically invented this character because I got sick of seeing the ‘ha ha flambouyant gross comic relief villain’ thing in recent fire emblems, and wondered what it would be like to have a villain whose LGBTQ status is treated as a sympathising aspect instead, leading to a redemption when she finds people who dont treat her like those damn writers treated everyone :P So yeah, she’s a transgender woman who faces a lot of predjudice in her career, and I hope I can make it very heartwarming when she finds true friendship with our heroes! And also I hope it can make the non-comic-relief villains seem extra disgustingly unforgiveable after you see how badly they treat their own teammates. Her personality is gonna be kind of a greedy merchant sort of person, but what if that archetype was a good character instead. She remains sassy and greedy even when she’s been redeemed, i like a good ‘ol vice-filled hero yknow! Character development is my jam! Also all i know about her design so far is that I think I want her to have stylishly skunk striped hair, to represent greying streaks and all. I was imagining her as the token grandma of the cast before I decided to age up the protagonist lol

* Currently unnamed church matron duo, aka Timon And Pumbaa One of my early-ish undeveloped concepts for non-battling town members. These two are florin’s equivelant, they’re the town workers you start off with before the game really starts. I’m thinking they’d be like nuns/priestesses that worked at this place before you came along, and you have a bit of a rivalry here because they pragmatically know they need you to defend the stronghold but they’re also very wary of you. The ‘timon’ one would be the main one who actually holds all these opinions, a sort of crusty matronly mega paranoid lady who thinks you’re gonna backstab us all at any moment! And she’s some sort of super scary chronic sufferer of resting bitch face, even though she sees herself as the ultimate arbiter of justice everyone else thinks she’s terrifying. Just imagine her trying to hug a baby that just cries as if it saw the face of death! Life sucks when you’re a lawful good character stuck in a chaotic evil character design! And then her partner is a funloving pumbaa-esque team chef, who’s actually kinda too loving and innocent to ever distrust anyone. But she always just falls in with whatever her boss says, its like a pinky and the brain situation. Oh and I’m already kinda preemptively shipping these two before I’ve even finished designing them XD

* Depression jail janitor Starts as a prisoner you take from one of the enemy raids, but he ends up winning your trust and joining your team. Entirely against his will! he’s a chronically depressed man who was forcibly drafted into the evil army even though he doesnt believe in their cause, but now he feels like he’s unforgiveable anyway. So he spends all his time trying to convince you that he is indeed pure evil! But the more humble he is, the more everyone believes in his genuine kindness. Alas! It doesnt help that he also kinda has chronic hero syndrome and cant resist helping out in every possible way. So that is how a prisoner ended up becoming the one in charge of the jail keys! And he’s like Everyone’s Dad. (Even the people decades older than him...)

* Former bully powerful friend The one other main child character, cos I wanted Malachi to have some friends. They start off at odds and she initially joins in with everyone bullying him, cos she wants to fit in. But he ends up helping her deal with her insecurities and realise she was only resenting him for being ‘weak’ because she saw herself reflected in him. or rather, the traits in herself she’d tried to hide to make everyone like her, even if it meant joining in with bullying and only having horrible asshole friends. So she sacrifices her popularity with the main clique in order to defend malachi, and ends up finding her first true friend with him. They’re better off being outcasts together! So yeah cutie malachi will have some sort of stronge deliquent friend with a heart of gold, and I’m not sure yet whether she’d be playable or not? i kinda feel like its not right to have someone that young join the party unless they have magic powers to protect them. So maybe she can fight by teaming up with malachi, actually? like, she rides atop his stone dragon golem form and supports with ranged weaponry or something. or just acts as an advisor? I liked the idea I had that there would be a buffs-only type of magic stone, and people could cast it on themselves to have enhanced senses at something or other and improve their supporting skills. Like the protagonist would maybe have an eyesight-enhancing buff crystal to act as a sniper scope!

* Rival warrior buff teen person Very undeveloped cos I just came up with them ysterday, lol! I’m thinking possibly make this character female just cos this archetype doesnt get to be female all that often. Kind of a draco malfoy type snooty rival, but with a more sympathetic side and ultimately you do become friends. Theyre just a simple ordinary citizen who was doing the best they could to protect their family before you came along, and now kinda resents the fact you’re all BETTER THAN EVERYONE and taking their job as guardian! They have a lot of anxieties over the fact they struggled so hard to become self-trained and now you’re here making it look easy. So the plot has a general theme of believing too much in ‘destiny’, and that some people are just born with talent and you’ll never succeed if you werent lucky enough. This character started off trying to act like theyre inherantly blessed with that talent, because they’re terrified that they aren’t... Oh and I think once you befriend them I think they might be like a ryuuji/junpei type of friend? But without the weird sexism and homophobia randomness that persona 4 threw onto yosuke. Just like a bit of a cheerful cliche ‘bro’ who isnt all that interested in books and likes to be all ‘cmon do it for the vine’. A good polar opposite to the protagonist who could have some cute interactions!

* Rival warrior’s chilled out older sibling figure of reasonableness Every rin needs a yukio! I think they’d be maybe a bartender or owner of a restaurant or something? Just some sort of super chilled out job where they act as an agony aunt to their customers, the place is very popular because of the great service. (Though also everyone is kinda like ‘yo you dont have to run it all by yourself, yo you dont need to give us bonus extra special treatment, seriously get some sleep dude!!’) But anyway they’re this perpetually relaxed super kind soul who’s always the reasonable response to their lil sib’s ohohoho angry rivalness. But the bad side to it is that they’re also a lil depressed and apathetic about their own life, they’re kinda like someone who really lives for their family, in a bad way. They’ve been like a single parent to their sibling because they had kind of a tragic backstory, and big sib has just grown too used to sacrificing everything in order to help other people and never taking care of themself. And they have a lot of trouble even.. feeling emotions. The outwardly chilled and happy-go-lucky facade covers up just a void of nothing but self hate and emptiness. They feel like they’d already been tainted by the way their abusive parents used to treat them, its too late for them and all they can do is try and save other people from falling down the same path. Oh, and I think maybe the two siblings are actually immigrants from the villain country? Like, when older sib ran away from the abusive family they ended up here, and now they try and keep it secret, to the point that even the younger sibling doesnt know where they were born. Basically I just wanna have a LOT of different subplots showing how the ordinary citizens of this country aren’t all evil just because their government are the bad guys in this story. And especially covering topics like characters who’re part of that ethnicity and get treated like they’re inherantly terrorists even if they were born and raised in a completely different country!

[grubhivemind]

--lagomorphUnion began pestering primadonnaTartuffe-- 

LU: Hey 

LU: Im making rounds doing head counts and trying to see if everyone is okay 

LU: Where are you and are you alive or safe

PT: yeah!!! hey!!! 

PT: im alive im safe im good. :ok_hand:

PT: were on mombasa right now. with jinjin. 

PT: we as in me and jack and june.

LU: Ok thank god

LU: How are they

LU: How are you

PT: theyre um... 

PT: i mean theyre gonna be okay!! but they got hurt pretty bad. 

PT: jacks got a dislocated disk. 

PT: junes got a concussion. 

PT: but theyve got like the BEST doctors on mombasa so theyll be better in no time. promise. 

PT: plus theyve got me so!!! yeah.

LU: Jesus

LU: Im really glad you are all ok

PT: yeah... 

PT: umm. 

PT: whats going on with skaia?

LU: A lot 

LU: From what I can tell 

LU: Im not there right now Im staying with my mom 

LU: Not long after you guys vanished I had three different parents trying to drag me off world

LU: Which I guess Im lucky they did

LU: The main city was attacked

LU: A lot of people are hurt buildings are destroyed

PT: :cold_sweat:

PT: did the fam get out alright??? like nobody we know was hurt right??

LU: I dont know yet 

LU: Im pretty sure all striders lalondes and crockerberts are accounted for

LU: Now that we know where you three are

LU: And Dad did a good job with Dirk and Dave in grabbing all of our family off skaia

LU: Im really worried

LU: I havent heard back from Venras yet 

LU: I mean he is probably just really busy with everything because Skaianet was directly attacked

PT: yeah im sure hes okay! 

PT: maybe ask simula? or maybe even jake if youre REALLY worried.

LU: Thats a good idea 

LU: I mean Im not really really worried 

LU: Hes just a friend Im sure hes fine 

LU: Im not going to jump on anyone yet

PT: right... its probably best for your sanity haha. 

PT: shits just chaotic right now. itll clear up soon. 

PT: well... 

PT: do you know WHAT happened? on skaia?

LU: Specifics no 

LU: Other then people just started going crazy and destroying stuff

LU: Like one big riot

LU: Since when does that happen on skaia

PT: urgh. 

PT: well... that chick who attacked us is responsible i think. 

PT: this... alt version of nevaeh? you know her? 

PT: well regardless its some crazy shit. 

PT: i think she was attacking jack because he had a vision about the riots happening or something... 

PT: and the rest of us got caught up in that noise. 

PT: whatever happened on skaia i guess alt nev is responsible. :/

LU: What

LU: Nevaeh =8?????

LU: I used to work with her a little she could never do something like that

LU: Are you sure you mean Nevaeh =8????

PT: mmmm yep.

PT: theres a lot more to her than meets the eye FIRST OFF.

PT: but second of all i said its an ALT VERSION of her. so like.

PT: TECHNICALLY no she didnt do it lmao.

LU: What the hell does Alt version mean

PT: like!! from another universe. 

PT: you ever seen the movie the one with jet li...

LU: I mean Ive seen one or two with him

LU: Another universe

LU: Why does shit need to get needlessly complicated I feel like we are living one of our brothers stories jeez

PT: its CALLED the one!! im not being vague. geez. 

PT: but yeah i mean... basically. 

PT: guess we couldnt run from that bullshit forever. :upside_down:

LU: Oh

LU: And I guess not

LU: Still would have been nice

PT: well i mean some of us have been dealing with this crazy magic scifi bullshit!!!! 

PT: like jack for example. thats like his LIFE. ugh. 

PT: but also um... 

PT: i dunno ive been having some weird experiences lately myself.

LU: 

 LU: Yeah

LU: What kind

LU: You arent going to go blind next are you

PT: fuck i hope not. 

PT: ive kinda been having premonitions too though. like dreams? but theyre always about me... 

PT: choices i make and stuff. 

PT: and then the other day when all this shit went down... 

PT: i felt like... 

PT: okay this is gonna sound dumb. 

PT: like i stopped time. or time stopped around me. or slowed down. or something. i dunno. 

PT: it mightve just been some crazy adrenaline shit but it felt weird.

LU: Yeah I was going to say are you sure it wasnt like 

LU: The heat of the moment =8?

LU: The dream stuff could all always just be dreams only

LU: Sometimes those happen like you have a dream and then you are pretty sure it comes true later =8?

LU: I one time had a dream that I was going to see a dog in the park when I do my morning run and like two months later Im pretty sure I saw that same dog

PT: i mean sure!!! 

PT: its just... 

PT: hard to explain how it feels when it happens.

LU: Huh

LU: Well

LU: I dont know maybe its something

LU: But I wouldnt worry about it

PT: yeah... i probably shouldnt. 

PT: anyways theres weirder and more important shit going down. 

PT: i wanna come back to skaia and help out or... something!! i dont know. 

PT: but i should stay here till they can let jack and june go.

LU: Thats a good idea 

LU: I will see if I can get out there to see you guys 

LU: I just feel like I should probably check out skaia first

PT: yeah scope that shit out for me.

PT: but be safe!!!

LU: I will be =80

LU: You guys take it easy too

PT: were good no worries. 

PT: give dad a hug for me next time you see him!!!!

LU: I will

LU: Love you

--lagomorphUnion ceased pestering primadonnaTartuffe--