#but what you gotta understand is that in this context magical girl is a gender unto itself

[pieces-by-py]

Magical guardian Py!! This is my magical girl sona design ✨

This is the page I drew when finalizing the concept and to serve as reference, but I plan to draw this design a lot more to represent myself! The little fox there is a little magical mascot/familiar based on an imaginary friend I made when I was little kid. I got some more notes about my process below!

A few years back I made a magical girl outfit design for myself because I love magical girl stories and designs, and you can do whatever you want forever! I HIGHLY recommend that anybody who feels comfortable depicting themselves to make a sona based around something you absolutely love. It's a lot of fun!!! I think at this point this design has gone through about 4 main iterations? I expect more tweaks in the future because I always like to have a design that reflects me and currently this is what I'm really vibing with! Tweaking this took SUCH a long time to get to something I really love right now, so this really feels like a triumph. When I set out to design this, I had created a bit of a wishlist of aesthetics and other elements I wanted, and then it was a matter of balancing everything visually and making some choices to remove and heavily tweak aspects of it so it wouldn't be too cluttered or lose visual harmony. I also played around with the lengths of different parts of the outfit for visual interest.

In this design are a few nods to some magical girl designs I still really love, but in recent time I feel like there's been a bit more inspiration from european renaissance fashion seeping in because I've been dabbling into period accurate costuming! Now, it's not at ALL accurate in this design but that's not really the point; I just wanted to give the sleeves and breeches that extra poof 👌 The rest of it just just really self indulgent, like the big butterfly wing cape was an ABSOLUTE must for me. My favourite colour is featured prominently. I wanted the inner wings and bow to look like the night sky or kind of galactic so that all those sparkles would really show up and evoke stars, but the orange pinks on other elements of the outfit compliment the blue-greens and give the look and overall sunset/sunrise at twilight vibe.

Drawn with: Procreate

[your-fave-adopted-you]

I've been thinking about this all day so here you go.

listen. Yuu, but make her Haruhi from Ouran highschool host club.

(Also don't mind the word "potion" showing up 100000 times)

Guardian! School Staff and a fem!MC that transforms into a guy daily, in order to attend school.

Characters : Crowley, Crewel, Trein, Ashton, Sam

TW : Crowley being questionable

afab! MC

Context : the NRC is an institution full of diversity! A place where people from all around the globe, with different social status and even people that aren't even human can study.

Not women tho.

For some reason, since you arrived there was no trace of female presence, not even within the school staff. This is a boys only school, ofc, the problem is that

you're not a boy.

Just the fact that you come from another world, and that the mirror didn't assign you to any dorm brought enough unwanted attention towards you.

Dire Crowley

The first one to know.

Because he was literally the first person you came across once you appeared.

Haha, sorry, but you can't stay here.

we don't even have girl uniforms!

but. you didn't choose to come here.

eventually, he gives in,

You can stay at Ramshackle and yadda yadda you know how it goes.

HOWEVER people shouldn't know about your true gender.

if it was known that a girl actually attended classes at Night Raven, then people would demand for more opportunities for female mages to study there!

but Crowley isn't planning on making it a co-ed any time soon.

He proposes that you take shapeshifting potions regularly, and live as boy, like everyone else.

At first you don't like this idea because, he's kinda conditioning you.

But you never actually cared that much about how others perceived you, gender-wise at least.

So you (reluctantly) accept this offer.

Also he will be your guardian in this world from now on, he's gotta keep an eye on you.

Even when everyone perceives you as a boy, he's very protective of you.

"Oh! y/n! my sweet little princess- PRINCE HAHA, YEAH i need another favor-"

stuff like this happens 20 times a day.

it doesn't matter if you're tall or petite, a tomboy or coquette. After week 1 he got VERY attached and now you're his sweet little princess.

mostly asks you to stay away from the leech bothers and some Savanaclaw students because he doesn't want to die of a heart attack.

Divus Crewel

ngl you got him fooled for a good few months.

he saw Crowley so eager to become your guardian for some reason... he couldn't let that happen

sometimes being exposed to other ✨Magic chemicals✨ and stuff like that during class can mess a little with the shapeshifting potion you took earlier.

Some days you'll look a little shorter, your voice will be a little higher, stuff like that.

it's not till you call in sick one day that he notices.

you were NOT expecting visits at Ramshackle so you didn't take your potion today.

It would be lunch break by now and Crewel decided to bring you something warm from the cafeteria so you didn't have to get up and cook.

when he gets to your room guided by the ghosts you're covered in blankets and he could only see half your face.

it's weird, your features look ...softer today.

then you noticed he was there, and the moment you opened your mouth-

"pup... are you alright? you sound a little weird toda-"

then he sees some empty bottles on the floor, turns out grim likes to play with them.

"Y/n, is there something you want to tell me?"

Well, you've been caught.

You tell him about what Crowley told you when you originally got here.

He's a little mad but he understands it.

However, he's PISSED at the fact that he hadn't noticed earlier.

After that day he doesn't treat you any different, but he teaches you how to make those kind of potions from scratch (even if they last less) just in case.

Mozus Trein

He didn't know what it was but there was something you were hiding from him.

he's not an old fashioned [ women should stay at the kitchen and take care of the children ] kind of man, but an old fashioned [ women and men are different, and excel at different subjects even if they can technically do anything they put their minds on ] kind.

So sometimes in history class he noticed that his words could get... reactions out of you.

even if it's something as subtle as rolling your eyes, frowning two seconds or subtly scratching your nose with your middle finger as you looked away.

But one day he said something that just got under your skin. Something about women being historically and factually worse at this specific subject...

Where you only got straight A's.

so you confronted him after the lesson ended.

"But why are you so upset, y/n? it's only common knowledge, one day you'll know what I'm talking about."

"Oh but i do know."

as he raised an eyebrow you told him to go over to Ramshackle for some tea later.

Once he showed up you served him tea, you also brought some old graded tests and projects.

"Ah, yes, as applied as always i see, is this the reason you wanted me to come?"

"Actually i just wanted to prove you wrong about earlier."

Before he could ask, the potion's effects wore off.

the old man was DUMBFOUNDED.

???????????????

since WHEN-

was this some kind of prank??? WAIT IT WASN'T???

he's speechless for a solid 3 minutes.

"I see... I understand now."

Just like Crewel he won't treat you any different.

But you will notice from now on how he puts more care into his own words.

Ashton Vargas

Just like Crewel, he didn't suspect a thing.

if fact it takes him even longer to find out the truth.

you weren't exactly the best at P.E but you were alright, and you had very decent grades in general.

However he's certain that you should be in a better shape by now...

He got you training 24/7 and yet there's little to no change on your appearance.

He's not expecting you to look like him or anything but

you should've built some muscle mass by now ????

what he didn't know was that, behind closed doors, your actual body showed a HUGE improvement

but any time you shapeshifted to your male self, it would always look the same, since it's just an illusion.

one day you were taking too long in the changing room and before he could come in to check, you texted him.

this was URGENT you needed him to get a certain bottle from Ramshackle and bring it back here, leaving it by the door.

He's PANICKING because the potion doesn't even have a label. so he jumps to the conclusion that it's some kind of medicine that you need but didn't tell him about.

he feels SO GUILTY after having you exercising everyday

he doesn't even remember that you wanted him to leave it by the door so he comes in and-

you had already changed to your regular uniform. But you looked different.

"Wh- why are you so small???"

your uniform looked so big on you.

you had no option but to explain the situation.

he stays silent for a while and then- "Okay, i understand, it's just like one of my favorite legends! it's so motivating!"

he then proceeds to tell you about the entire plot of Mulan.

He won't treat you differently after that, but makes sure you get enough iron for when it's ... necessary.

Sam

not a guardian

But is the second one ever to discover what's going on with you.

Crowley sent you to get your potions, since they're fairly cheap, he will take care of that.

You made sure to go while everyone else was in class.

When you stepped in, at first Sam didn't assume anything.

It's not uncommon for some students to have fairly feminine features, like Epel or Lilia.

However one can usually tell the moment their voice is revealed.

You asked him for a shapeshifting potion and he had lots of them.

There's the ones that merfolk use to get legs and humans to get a tail and fins...

There's others that keep your face neat and perfect for hours.

There were this ones, (fairly popular on campus) that may interest you, they're pricey but you only have to take a few of them and it changes you permanently, it doesn't only affect your appearance but also your hormones.

And finally there's this ones that only last for a few hours and they're just an illusion.

it can turn you into anything you want, but it's effects are a little weak . It can wear off fast depending on your metabolism.

You only need it for your body and voice so it's okay.

Since he knows your little secret whenever you come to buy anything with your friends he will drop some hints, not enough for them to suspect anything but he will have a laugh or two by teasing you.

[writing-with-olive]

im writing a book where you can either be a prince princess or witch. princes as male princesses as female and witch is someone who has potential to become evil/some1 who isn’t a damsel. mc is a cis girl + lesbian who wants be a "prince" to save ppl. the whole thing is to be a commentary on gender roles and deconstruction of fairytales i wanna include trans and nb ppl but how can i do that without it being offensive esp in a world like this

Hey anon!

So first thing, I'm going to write what I think you've worldbuilt here to make sure that I'm accurate in my understanding/if I'm not, then to see my suggestions with that context.

Prince: male, not a damsel (based on your character wanting to be a prince)

Princess: female, a damsel

Witch: genderless, has the potential to be evil, not a damsel like a princess

Okay so. Including characters respectfully. My personal opinion is that a trans-inclusive/trans-supportive world is ideal because the ratio of fictional transphobic worlds to trans-inclusive worlds is WAY too high. Also, we live in a largely transphobic world (just take a look at what the United States is doing - it's horrific) and a chance to actually have some escapism, instead of just being reminded that we're not included the same way everyone else is, is kinda nice. 

With this in mind, how you structure your worldbuilding is going to look a few different ways. (Note that these are not the limit, but just some ways I might think about worldbuilding to help give you a starting place)

Option 1: There's a certain period of time before people are seperated out into being princes, princesses, or witches. During their youth, gender is pretty fluid and open. It's only after a certain milestone that characters have to decide what they want to call themselves and then they are slotted into the appropriate social role. This would mean that it is completely natural to have trans princes/princesses/witches. This does open up the plot hole of "well then why didn't MC just say she was male so she could become a prince?" Though I imagine this can be circumvented with an explanation such as "she didn't realize"

Option 2: Just.... don't explain it. There are trans princesses and trans princes and that's just how it is. This has the benifit of not being too complicated and focusing the story on the gender roles themselves rather than the mechanics of how they work. This also opens up a ton of plotholes so.... have fun with that :D

Option 3: Given that there's witches in this, I'm assuming that there's magic, so maybe there's a way that people could tell what gender characters are based on that, as opposed to what they look like physically. This changes out some of the identity that comes with discovering that you don't quite fit into the established gender roles, but it also reinforces that people's gender isn't just what kinda package they were born with, which is a win. 

The one thing to keep in mind is that under no circumstances should you make all the trans characters (or if there's only one trans character) witches. If you have witch trans characters, fine. But you gotta have trans princes/princesses too. 

This leads us to nonbinary people. Basically the concept is that if someone's nonbinary, it means they don't fit into society's gender roles. In this case, the gender roles are pretty strict -- you're either a prince, princess, or a witch. Like with binary trans characters, we have a few options here as well (feel free to mix and match options that I give for nb/trans characters how you want it's your book).

Option 1: If it's set up like a monarchy system almost, you can have nonbinary characters being neither princes or princesses (the witch comment from above applies here as well), but rather other high-ranking positions like advisors or religious leaders or emissaries. Basically, you're not forcing them into lower ranks because they don't fit with the binary system that's been set up

Option 2: There are nonbinary princes/princesses. Basically, they've been slotted into being a prince or princess just like everyone else, but within their role as prince or princess, they're still nonbinary, meaning they might use more gender neutral language to talk about themselves, and they fit into the role as required but in every other respect, they don't. 

So I guess to sum up, my thoughts are to make your world trans-inclusive/trans-supportive as this is both nice to read as someone who is trans, and also adds to the overall commentary on gender roles, and within this, you have options to play with to make your worldbuilding support this.

Happy writing!

[odannygirl7]

Carnival of Aros - July 2020

I've been meaning to type about this for a while, but then this month's carnival of aros is about music, so I figured... well, two birds one stone I suppose lol.

Musicals are sort of like music right? I mean, I don’t think this is too far from the idea, even if it was meant to be about, like, individual songs.

This is about a whole musical where I just immediately felt that it was a missed aromantic opportunity.

Company.

Company is a musical by Sondheim from the 70s that seems to be brought back every decade or so. It’s about a guy, Bobby, on the night of his 35th birthday. He’s a bachelor, the only one among a bevy of married friends - all of whom wonder why he can’t keep a girl and hasn’t gotten married yet. The show moves through snippets of Bobby’s experiences with his friends… they’re all basically trapped between the horribleness of being married and the horribleness of, well, not. They love Bobby for his freedom, for the advice he gives, for the fun he brings into their life, for watching their kids, for always being there without being a detriment to their coupleness.

But the entire play is them badgering him about why he isn’t getting married.

There’s also three of Bobby’s girlfriends who wonder the same thing, what’s wrong with him, why can’t he commit.

One could also view it as Bobby internalizing everything his friends and lovers have said in the past and having a freak out about it. The whole show is kinda… disjointed in that, while it takes place all on one night, the majority of scenes are from the past or possibly not real.

The show is set up, for most people, to be a commentary about, idk, like growing up or realizing that you can’t be alone or you gotta be open and vulnerable, but like you need to share your life with someone and that someone… uhh, can’t be your friends cause they all have their significant others and that’s the way things are (*hard side eye* lmao). And that’s a real shame, because the show is this wonderfully accidental portrait of a closeted aromantic struggling not only with the pressure of the conventional relationship narrative, but with friends who buy into that. Bobby doesn’t know what he is, or can’t accept it, or can’t admit it, and he’s struggling to force himself to feel the things that come so naturally to everyone he knows.  He wants love, to be loved, but what’s in him, what he’s capable of, isn’t what everyone else has. I mean, look, he’s 35 and has never been in love, doesn’t understand love… *looks into the camera like I’m on The Office* come on.

I’m not going to go through the whole show, just hit on some highlights that scream aromantic to me, cause not all the songs are about Bobby’s relationships. Some are about the other character’s relationships. There’s 18 songs in this musical, lots of material.

Here’s a link to the whole thing … this is the 2006 version with Raul Esparza, who is fantastic.

We’ll start in Act 1 and go from there. About halfway through we get Bobby’s three girlfriends singing “You Could Drive a Person Crazy". This is an upbeat, vicious song about how they feel betrayed that he never takes things to the next level. They can understand if he was gay, or bad in bed, or actually dead… but Bobby is none of those things, instead he’s a crazy, troubled, person who has something wrong with him. He’s a zombie with a loose connection.

I don’t think I’m the only aro who’s been called similar.

Later Bobby sings about someone (“Someone is Waiting”)… an amalgamation of all his lady friends… pleading for this person to wait, because he’s ready. He wants to find them, if he’s not out of luck and too late. He already has what he’s looking for, theoretically… if only an alternative relationship structure existed. As is, he has to try and find someone new. Conform to the idea of the superiority and inevitability of the exclusive pair bonded romantic-sexual relationship.

When one of his friends is freaking out about getting married, close to calling off the wedding, he proposes to her. Because it makes sense. She doesn’t want to be married, he doesn’t want to be married, they can both be married and have their freedom, everyone will leave them alone.

“You have to want to marry somebody, not just some body,” says Bobby’s friend, deciding that she really does want to marry her fiance.

This leads to Bobby singing “Marry Me A Little”, imagining a marriage as being soft and respectful, no big fights, no big promises… and that he’s ready for that. Things like mutual respect and care. “We won’t have to give up a thing, we’ll stay who we are,” he sings. “I’m ready now.”

There comes a point as an aro (tho this applies to aces and people of any orientation who don’t really want a relationship as well), or for, I think, a lot, or a good number, of aros when you start looking at a future that doesn’t have the spouse and the kids and pets and picket fence. When you start to come to grips that you might be looking at an empty road instead. And it’s not necessarily that you don’t want that, or that you really want something else, but there’s a kinda scary point where you realize that it might just be you, alone. That no matter what friends you have or partners or whatever… that they’re eventually going to want to “get serious” and “have their own lives”, lives that don't include you as a main component. And “somebody”, anybody, that will make it so you’re not alone starts sounding pretty good. You’re almost desperate for it. If you could just find that right person, the one that would make it make sense to have the spouse and kids and pets and picket fence… you could do that. You could. It’d be so easy. And then you’d have someone and isn’t that what everyone wants?

Anyway… Act 2.

All the married couples sing about how much they love having Bobby around in "Side by Side by Side". But then also rag on him about how worried they are for him being alone and try to set him up ("Poor Baby" and "Have I Got A Girl for You"), which is par for the course I think for an aro.

There’s also “Barcelona”, where Bobby makes a vague, surface, “going through the motions” plea to one of his girlfriends that she should stay after they’ve slept together. He doesn’t try very hard and when she decides to stay, well he sings “oh god”. ‘Nuff said.

All of that is, you know, it builds, but the real highlight in Act 2 is “Being Alive”, which is where Bobby finally learns that he really does need someone.

Or, you know, when he’s been beaten down by life and his friends and partners so badly and so thoroughly that he decides that he’s not even alive if he’s alone. That he needs another person to make him alive. “Alone is alone, not alive.” Tragic.

He starts off with things like being held too close and hurt too deep, to which his friends comment about how he can’t possibly think that that’s all there is, telling him he has no reason to be alone, encouraging him to keep going cause he’s “on to something”.

Bobby’s seen the terrible bits of their marriages and, to his friends, also the good bits. But if you read Bobby as aromantic then he has no context for the “good bits”. He’s watched them dig at one another with secret info, argue, pester, have the other person say they hate it… and then it’s just fine, because of ~feelings~??? Incomprehensible magic. There’s a trick in there somewhere and Bobby can’t see it.

But Bobby’s trying. Forcing himself. If he just really thinks about everything they’ve told him...

“Hey, buddy, don't be afraid it won't be perfect. The only thing to be afraid of really is that it won't be,” says one friend. Yikes. “It's much better living it than looking at it, Robert,” says another. And I suppose if you do have feelings for someone, it’s not that bad.

Bobby finally… it’s sad, really… like I know it’s supposed to be a song of him figuring everything out, but it feels like a descent. He’s given in. He believes there’s literally nothing for him, he’s not living, unless he has another person. “make me aware of being alive” “make me alive”

Horrific.

I’m not entirely sure how, like if this show were to be reworked with Bobby as aromantic (and god knows it gets revived enough, it could happen if anyone knew what aromanticity was) how that would be communicated. Unless, like, you had Bobby admitting that he is aro from the start, but you’d have to assume that the audience would know what that was and actually, you know, not agree with all the other characters.

The latest revival in 2018 did a gender swap with Bobby, which is something. Now, I had thought it was just Bobby as the swap, but they swapped all her girlfriends into boyfriends and then made one of the married couples gay. Apparently, according to reviews, the whole thing was a revelation and really freshened up because, you know, it’s super hip and modern to do a “ticking bio clock” story line with a woman nowadays. (there's also the soundtrack to the gender swap on youtube, it's got Pattie LuPone in it!)

Personally, I would have just swapped Bobby… I’m not sure how well an aro reading there would play, not because there aren’t aro lesbians, but I feel like there are a lot of layers to a lesbian not wanting to u-haul and then getting harangued for it by her presumably hetero friends steeped in hetero society, just aside from any aromanticity.

But the whole thing takes on a very tragic tone when reading Bobby as aro, I think. I suppose what’s even more tragic is that Sondheim probably has no idea that he possibly wrote an aromantic character. He thinks he wrote a show about fixing someone who was broken. Just like the show Bones fixed Bones from being broken and how HIMYM fixed Robin and (tried to fix) Barney. I need to find a better way to end this, probably, we’ll see…

I wrote this three weeks ago on pillowfort and did not find a better ending lmao.

[kurosawa-sun]

This rant has been sitting in my drafts for a good week, and after having some conversations with people in my cherry magic discord server, I might as well publish it since I still stand by the points I made here.

This is just a personal rant but like I notice quite a lot of people like to shit on yaoi/BL for being bad queer rep, and I get why especially since I’m queer myself. At the same time however, you gotta understand that the culture is very different in Asia and straight women reading BL is one of their few ways of exploring their sexuality. Like I remember reading and watching BL stuff way back when I didn’t know I was queer and assumed I was a cishet girl, and it was such a great space for me to explore my sexuality. And it just so happened that it was through BL that I realized oh I was maybe not straight at all and like oh maybe I don’t quite vibe with my assigned gender at birth. And sure you might say something about the problematic content but like for me who is a sex-positive advocate from a very sex-negative Asian society, I don’t like making value judgements on what gets people turned on (unless it’s super illegal shit, let’s make that clear).

I’m not saying that you should like BL, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it. But like at the same time maybe don’t say that they’re all inherently bad and shame the people who happen to enjoy the problematic content. People have different reasons for enjoying the content, and so long as it isn’t directly harmful or bigoted, I really don’t see why not. And like I personally criticize the shortcomings of BL and its straight female audience (I’ve had to deal with this annoying straight girl say that Magnus Bane from Shadowhunters was gay when he was goddamn bisexual). But at the same time I don’t make blanket value judgements of BL and its straight female audience as a whole, since I understand the context surrounding why the genre came about, and like I’ve watched many a show that is considered good queer rep by Western standards and I’ll still take issue with some other stuff they would portray in the show. 

Like I used to watch Junjou Romantica and it was definitely one of those shows with super problematic content, but I remember me watching and it was one of the many things that allowed me to explore my sexuality and my gender. and was a stepping stone to me realizing that I’m very bi and trans. Like I guess what I really want to say is I just feel weird whenever Westerners criticize BL, which had a Japanese origin and gained a huge fanbase in Asia, which has a very different cultural context. Like I can clearly see that you’re viewing it through a very Westernized framework which doesn’t allow for much nuance. 

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Misfit of Demon King Academy 1 | Healin’ Good PreCure 13 - 14 | Lapis Re:Lights 1 | God of High School 1 | Muhyo and Roji’s BSI s2 1

Misfit of Demon King Academy 1

This originally had the ecchi tag on its anime entry on AniList…or, at least, that’s how it was in my memory…but now that I see it doesn’t have that, it’s just another reincarnation isekai-type series. Let’s dig into it!

I…think this guy is meant to be portrayed as “hot” because he has the piercing eyes and he’s tall (against the girls in what will presumedly be his harem), but he kind of looks like your standard Potato-kun in a white outfit…so, uh…*shrugs*

Uh…is that guy meant to be Indian? You can’t get more obvious than the “Indu” family. Update: You see his brother later and Leorg has fairer skin, so maybe not.

LOL, “Flame of Darkness” makes someone nothing but a chuunibyou.

Uh…this is called The Misfit of Demon King Academy, y’know? Anos (Anoth?) is gonna get in, you bet your butts.

The owl is cute.

…guy, that 3 second rule thing was actually funny, but the more you think about the joke, the less funny it gets. Show: 1. Me: Infinity -1

Just from appearances, I wanna guess Misha is an ice or light magic user, or whatever equivalent the show has.

Is this what Assassin’s Pride could have been…?

How did the mother (Anoth’s) think her kid maturing that fast wasn’t weird?

Mushroom gratin? Is that an actual dish?...Yep, seems so. Sounds nice. I like mushrooms.

What’s up with young mothers in anime these days? Then again, the only other point of reference I have is Masamune-kun’s Revenge…

I thought it was the other Indu guy we saw earlier. This guy’s…not that bad-looking, though (LOL, my preferences ring out loud and clear…)…welp, spoke too soon. There he is. Update: Leorg kinda looks like Hakuto Kunai from Demon Lord, Retry!, come to think of it.

If Zepes died several times over the course of this episode…would one more death actually matter? (Not really, to be honest. Zepes is a scumbag.)

Come to think of it, this anime got postponed due to COVID, yeah? Was that why there was a sakuga spot earlier…?

Was that Sasha (Misha’s sister)? I found her name while checking if the anime was postponed.

I like the colour choices in this show, at least.

I don’t think this show has the best sense of comedic timing. Let your jokes breathe, dammit! That’s what comedic beats are for!

In a season with more offerings, I might get rid of this or pause it, but the season’s fairly sparse as it stands (darn virus!) so it stays.

Update: I didn’t notice, but an Anime News Network staff member wrote that Anoth’s surname is familiar…if you read Harry Potter.

Healin’ Good PreCure 13

Gotta start in the middle for this and work our way back. Note I did watch the 1st 2 eps without subs earlier this year when they were on the official PreCure YouTube, so I’m ahead of most people.

(From wandering the wiki and the news) I’ve seen nothing but pink/blue/yellow Cures these days, so I kind miss the more adventurous colours like green and orange…but then again, I never really liked green. It’s the colour of envy and…as petty as it sounds, I think I developed that bias because green is stereotypically the colour of rot, vomit (aside from anime’s rainbow vomit) and stinky things.

I didn’t notice this, but there’s a faint highlight on the Cures’ eyes (red for Grace, purple for Fontaine and blue for Sparkle).

It’s a drone! In PreCure! Yay! (It finally hit me exactly how much of a distant dream it’s been – from watching Suite and episodes of most of the other PreCure ‘til now – watching PreCure legally as a simulcast is! It’s crazy and it only took, what…5 years between Suite and this? 16 if you count from Futari wa to Healin’ Good.)

Is it that drone?

Hah? This is almost like the electricity-themed PreCure I came up with on the fan wiki. It’s not like I could sue Toei for it, though…they own that stuff, I only own what came out of my own imagination.

The subs say “Rate”, but “rate” has a meaning in English. No wonder the initial wiki translations say “Latte”, especially because the queen is “Teatine” to match.

Okay, so Mei is the sis and Yota is the brother. Got it.

Hey! What if there was a PreCure where the villains had devastated another world before? That would really raise the stakes.

“[T]hunders” (sic)? Thunder is the sound, lightning is the flash. Which one is it?

I see. As soon as they identified it as the Element of Lightning, I sort of guessed they could add it to their repertoire later, and I was right.

Its’s nice to see they put a woman in the moving company as well. Proves that girls can do anything they set their minds to, even what are supposedly “men’s jobs”.

I guess from the face I should’ve expected the element to talk, like the Fairy Tones from Suite, but I didn’t really figure that out until I saw it talk,

I feel like Hinata should’ve gone to see how Mei made her juice. That way, the two might be able to make similar-tasting juice…but that’s just an idea.

Healin’ Good PreCure 14

I feel like Byogens were responsible for Nodoka’s sickness, much like they are for Latte.

“Energy Source” seems to refer to a place where energy appears…I know that sounds a bit dumb if you don’t realise genki hakken means something like “appearance of energy (for a person)”, but…yeah, the PreCure series is like this. Unfortunately, that’s what you have to deal with.

I feel like this “teamwork overcomes all hardships” message is important in this time of COVID-19.

Guaiwaru = “condition is bad”, or ill health (guai ga warui).

Is that the element of air? I thought the PreCure would’ve used their element of lightning to fix the steamer, but hey, teamwork works too.

I’m a weeny bit peevy they translate minna to “girls”. It’s correct in context when it’s been translated that way, but minna means “everybody”.

I imagined Hinata saying “Watashi no smartphone ga!” instead of “Atarashii sumaho ga hoshii!”

Lapis Re:Lights 1

Eh…COVID-19 means I gotta sample things I’m not so crazy about.

Why is one of the first lines in this show “My behind hurts!”?

Bristol? Is this England?...Nope, it’s a place called “Mamkestell”.

I was thinking this girl…I think the reviews said her name was Tiara…was going to sing to the flower to make it perk up again, but nup, she whistled to it. That seems a bit irrelevant, to be honest. (I would prefer an all or nothing approach to a wish-washy approach like this…as in, if this is an idol show, then either go all in with the singing and dancing, or do something else that’ll catch my attention.)

Tiara’s face looks hella generic.

For some reason, I get this ominous feeling when the word “witch” is mentioned…must be the instinct from Madoka popping up again.

Lemme guess. Lynette is the bookworm?...*sigh* Just another method of showing a character is a bookworm without actually showing their reading a book, which I think is counterintuitive.

Get some protective gear, girls!

Rosetta keeps saying “Yes” (in English).

Lemme guess…people ship the dumb one and the smart one? They’re like a gender-flipped Dice and Gentaro, only the smart one is more uppity and the stupid one is more sporty.

The word appears to be noumei, but that exact word doesn’t seem to exist. Lavie seems to say the word is the opposite to something else, but I can’t tell what that is either…

Albino rabbit, eh?

…people probably ship Rosetta and Tiara too, right? *sigh*

So there’s…no singing in this fantasy/idol show. Whistling is how you invoke magic…so how is someone who can’t whistle supposed to invoke magic?!

Whose idea was it to put the OP in the middle of the episode?

It was “Neechan, daikirai!” “Forget you” is a fairly loose translation…

Little Miss Rosetta = Rosetta-chan.

I think Tiara called Rosetta “sensei” when the former wanted the latter to take care of her (i.e. take her to their dorm).

Titi = Tiara. I didn’t actually figure that out because I thought it referred to the rabbits.

Gah! These almost-real-world names (or real world names, in regards to “Bristol”) are gonna drive me NUTS!

*sigh* Boob jiggle.

*sighhhhhhhhh…* Lemme guess, there’s a potential expulsion on the horizon? Update: Yep. Dropped.

God of High School 1

First Webtoon series I’m covering here.

Oh, I checked out the first chapter of the webtoon because CR linked it to their anime page. The only difference I’ve seen from that, aside from fleshing out the backgrounds, is…that creepy skull (?) on the wall.

You can tell it’s Korean when I don’t understand what the text says. (I don’t know Korean, but I do know some Chinese and Japanese.) Update: This is Japanese-dubbed, but they left the Korean text in.

That intro is much more powerful now that the backgrounds are fleshed out.

Ooh, the colours in the OP are very nice!

Hmm? They’re starting with the grandpa, rather than starting with “I’m Mori Jin, 17 years old”? Good choice.

The expressions in this show are funny. I like them already.

Waittttttttt…I dunno how Korean names work. Is Mori Jin’s first name “Mori” or “Jin”? Update: I checked it up, and I got even more confused!

KORG Arena seems to be…from Marvel? Like BnHA references Star Wars???

*sigh* Moonbucks? Again?...and of course the girls only talk about “hotties”. We need a Bechdel test in this thing.

The comments on ch. 1 said “A new Luffy is born”, so now I agree with it…but they’re not going to show how Mori Jin was enlisted for GOH (as they seem to abbreviate it)?

There’s Japanese, English and Korean in the afro dude’s comments.

I’m amazed that tall dude with the spiky hair wasn’t more surprised about Mori Jin and the girl passing by…

Would those glasses on Mori Jin’s head be any help? Update: Turns out those aren’t “glasses”…they’re a sleeping mask.

Kamina glasses!

They put CR and Webtoon advertising over everything in this anime…geesh.

These red parts of people’s noses are gonna bug me, aren’t they…?

It should be battle royale, right? Update: Okay, so I checked and both are correct spellings.

This seems like the sort of thing that would never get funded because you need to pull off every battle scene right.

They cut the initial fight with “Blondie” out, but that actually makes things more interesting! Good choice.

Lemme guess – Mori Jin is going to have to fight this Kang Manseouk guy at full power one day? *shrugs* (Can I stop referring to people by their full names already??? I can’t stop until I know which is the first name and which is the last.) Update: So the wiki finally helped me out and Mori is the first name and Jin the last, meaning I can call him “Mori”. Got it.

*Mori suddenly pulls the prisoner’s pants down* - That was…random.

I liked it more than I thought I would! (Just for reference, the other protag dude is called Han Dae-wi and the girl is Yoo Mira.)

Muhyo and Roji’s BSI s2 1

(Update for the Tumblr fans: I finished s1 outside the seasonal format.) 

Kokkuri-san never goes well in anime…

Where does Nana work again…?

I don’t think Muhyo and Roji are legally (magically legally?) obligated to tell Nana anything about what they do.

Yay! Goryo is animted for the first time! He has such a beautiful voice~!

Notably, Roji wouldn’t have had a smartphone in 2004 (or whatever year close to that when the manga put this bit out).

Goryo (5) vs Muhyo (6). Didn’t figure this out at the time I read the manga.

I think the subbers misgendered Goryo. Goryo is a dude, as can be gathered from the name “Daranimaru”.

“Waka”? Does that stand for “young head [of the office]” or something?

Okay, whose bright idea was it to pair Now on Air (female vocalists) with Muhyo and Roji’s (a series dominated with dudes)…?

Ah, Funimation is on the production team of this anime. That would explain the dub rights.

[aspen-aura]

Ask game

Because I’m a weirdo 

1) Put your iTunes on shuffle. Give me the first 6 songs that pop up.

East by Sleeping At Last, Letterbox by Magic Castles, Levels of Light by Sleeping At Last, Ragged Wood by Fleet Foxes, Runaway by The National, and The Fall by Imagine Dragons.

2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

Even after 4 years, probably Tom Hiddleston. I feel like we’d have some good conversations.

3) Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.

And there is a third factor, furthermore, which has everywhere exerted a pervasive influence on the shaping of mythologies, a third range and context of specifically human experience, of which the developing individual becomes inevitably aware as his powers of thought and observation mature, the spectacle, namely, of the universe, the natural world in which he finds himself, and the enigma of its relation to his own existence: its magnitude, its changing forms, and yet, through these, an appearance of regularity.

....yep, that’s one line. Gods above. From Myths To Live By by Joseph Campbell.

4) What do you think about most?

These days? How much I fucked up my first intimate relationship.

5) Ever had a poem or song written about you?

Yep.

6) Do you have any strange phobias?

Starfish. Don’t even ask.

7) What's your religion?

Hard polytheistic Druid is the most accurate label I’ve found.

8) If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

Looking at a bird or the sky! Or a tree.

9) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?

Sam Roberts.

10) What was the last lie you told?

That it wasn’t personal.

11) Do you believe in karma?

I think so, yes.

12) What does your URL mean?

aspen-aura: For aspen forests, which are considered to be the world’s largest organism. Every tree is genetically similar to its neighbour, making them technically one individual. Also, the wind through their leaves is my favourite sound. Aura, for my online moniker, and for the Northern Lights, to which I’ve always had an affinity.

13) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

Weakness: I let fear rule my social life. Strength: my ability to accept things.

14) Who is your celebrity crush?

For my asexual and possibly aromantic ass, keep in mind that this means that all I’d want from them is a hug and a good heart-to-heart conversation: Tom Hiddleston, and Adam Driver.

15) How do you vent your anger?

I listen to angry music or if I’m seriously pissed, I go for a run or punch things that won’t be hurt by the blows. The most upset I’ve ever been left a mark: I bit a piece of metal and chipped a piece of tooth off my molar. (I was pretty young)

16) Do you have a collection of anything?

....Mega Bloks Dragons. DON’T JUDGE ME

17) Are you happy with the person you've become?

All in all? Yes. But I don’t like the things I’ve done recently.

18) What's a sound you hate; sound you love?

I hate the sound of utensils scraping on plates, and love the sound of wind through trees, specifically aspens.

19) What's your biggest "what if"?

What if my dad had stayed?

20) Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

Yep and yep.

21) Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.

My little General Hux bobblehead. My case of Prismacolour pencil crayons.

22) Smell the air. What do you smell?

Dust caught in the furnace vent.

23) What's the worst place you have ever been to?

I’m pretty sheltered, so I’d say the hospital. Or a nursing home. Those places just feel like death and desperation.

24) Most attractive singer/s of your opposite gender?

Singer? Oh dear...well, Sam Roberts ain’t hard on the eyes.

25) To you, what is the meaning of life?

Was just pondering that today. To experience beauty, and to feel it, and to produce it and be a part of it. In whatever form that may be.

26) Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

Yes, and only in minor scrapes in the parking lot...x.x

27) What was the last movie you saw?

Brooklyn! Re-watched it tonight with me mother

28) What's the worst injury you've ever had?

A pretty serious cut on my thumb when I was an ignorant child and grabbed a razor. Ever since then, razors fucking terrify me. Single blades are the worst.

29) Do you have any obsessions right now?

...Star Wars <3 and Kylux, my trash ship. shhhh. It’s what’s keeping me sane atm

30) Ever had a rumor spread about you?

Yep! That me and my bff were lesbians. I didn’t bother to deny it. Wasn’t true, but it wasn’t offensive, so I wasn’t upset.

31) Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

Nope. This has never happened in my 22 years.

32) What is your astrological sign?

Leo! If you couldn’t guess by my “meaning of life” answer...

33) What's the last thing you purchased?

Dr. Pepper and Pizza Pops. 

34) Love or lust?

Love. Never had experience with the second, and from what I’ve seen, it just messes things up.

35) In a relationship?

Nope.

36) How many relationships have you had?

None. But, if I was any other human being, my recently-deceased friendship would have been one.

37) What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

I don’t have one? I don’t need people to like me, but if they do, sweet! Really I just make bad puns lol

38) Where is your best friend?

At work, probably.

39) What were you doing last night at 12 AM?

Playing Skyrim, I believe.

40) Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

Yes. I need someone who can go straight to heart-to-heart, but understand if I don’t talk to them for months on end. Doesn’t mean I like you less, I just need my space.

41) You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

Save the dog. Duh?

42) You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

Tell them I am so they’ll let me do what I had to. I’d ride all the horses I could, and go to Ireland. And yes, I’d be afraid.

43) What's a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

Closer To Fine by The Indigo Girls.

44) In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?

Trust, honesty, and openness. Also, passion is essential. You gotta have two interested parties.

45) How can I win your heart?

By letting me go.

46) Can insanity bring on more creativity?

Absolutely!

47) What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

To stop being a pretentious asshole about the music I like. Seriously, allowing my hipster ass to enjoy pop music changed my LIFE. 

48) What would you want to be written on your tombstone?

brb

49) Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "heart."

Someplace green, illuminated by a campfire, with stars and Auroras dancing overhead.

50) Basic question; what's your favorite color/colors?

Greeeeen!

51) What is your current desktop picture?

A screencap from Song of the Sea <3

52) If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?

....given that I have a certain distaste for fascism and capitalism, take a wild guess.

53) What would be a question you'd be afraid to tell the truth on?

Well if I told you, you’d know the answer.

54) You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what's even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?

SHAPE SHIFTING

55) You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

Sitting by the fire in a log cabin in the wilds of BC when it’s -40, dark outside, with my dad and brother beside me as we welcomed the new year.

56) You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

Nothing. All of it makes me who I am.

57) You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?

Like...beside them? Maybe hugging? If that’s the case, well, Neko Case. I love her and don’t know her personally, but I trust her.

58) You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

Ireland!

59) Ever been on a plane?

Yes. I hecking love air travel

60) Give me your top 5 hottest celebrities.

Tom Hiddleston, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, Blake Ritson, and Dan Feuerriegel. (Hot to me = aesthetic attraction)