#decided to try listening to touhou music

[asanasterisk]

Sweet Dorems

[dokidokitsuna]

I noticed the big Touhou fanart post was pretty popular; I'm glad so many people liked it~. Touhou is more of a casual thing for me (i.e. don't expect to see a lot of these), but I can't deny that there's something about listening to the music and drawing my favorite characters that kinda brings my artistic soul back to life. ^^ So when I was feeling a little burnt out yesterday, I decided to try it again~

[indomitableblackdragon]

I can't figure out this spacing thing and I'm not about to find out. So hey! I'm Allul (They/Them, trying to figure that thing out)! I'm that fucking creature that's flooding your dash with posts about a boat girl and whatever other shenanigans my mind decides to get up to. I'd say I should apologize but really the longer you know me the more you realize this is just how I live my life

I'm 26 (Not for long) and a terrible chronic gacha addict that probably should've stopped a long time ago. But since i haven't I now have adopted boats (as this blog shows) along with....

androids

horse girls

very bisexual prisoners

food personifications

goblins

cinnamon rolls

and plenty of other random things that go in and out of my mind on the daily. This may come at a surprise to plenty of people but I literally haven't even been here a year yet (shocking I know). Most of my writing career has been either super bad fanfics, skype rp (yes this sadly was part of my life), and forums of recently. Only after being dragged here by a few friends did I realize what I was missing out on and I'm glad I joined! I promise you I'm not intimidating as I may seem (If I even come off as intimidating) and really I'm a DM away from blowing your eardrums off about whatever you want. Like lets be real my first blog here was a goddamn pokemon. I think that says everything you need to know.

Anyway next is checks notes about myself and that's problematic. Because I have no idea how to do that :3. According to my friends this meme explains it best

But as expected writing is my hobby (go figure) and beyond that is probably video games. A lot and a ALOT of RPGS, Fighting Games, and whatever is out there to get my serotonin running. Currently I'm down in the mines playing Granblue Fantasy Relink, Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising (are you noticing the trend), and dabbling in some other ventures (Gundam Versus if you want to know how niche my tastes get. I also collect plushes!

in line with my crippling Granblue addiction music CD's!

But yeah if it wasn't obvious I love talking about literally anything. My interests are kinda all over the place but most people can vouch that I'm a damn good listener. And that includes plotting even if my mentality usually is just a "fuck it we ball one" rather than really planning it out (I do love planning too! But sometimes you really just gotta go off and never stop). If you don't find me here on NJ's Blog well don't worry I have like 11 more as well. Featuring...

Morgan le Fay (Fate) (@talesofrainandstars_

Melusine (Also from Fate) (@robustdragonheart)

Nian (Arknights) (@unfetteredfreedom)

Mika ("Archive that may be Blue") (@witchoftrinity)

Architect (Girls' Frontline) (@explosivedesire)

Fenie (Granblue Fantasy) (@sourceoftheflame)

Miyoi Okunoda (Touhou) (@geidonteispostergirl)

"Sparkle" (Honkai Stars Rails) @sparklingsplendor

Hiroi Kikuri (Bocchi the Rock) (@sickhackbassist)

My OC Protag from Armored Core 6 "Raven" (@echoesofcoral)

Beyond that I'm always in Discord if you just want to chat or anything else. You can also find me on twitter where I rant about the most craziest things and cry when my favorites in gachas actually get content (it doesn't happen often). Other then that I have no idea how to end this so here's a picture of my dog

anyway I think I've ranted long enough. Looking forward to talking with everyone more and anyone else who is willing to put up with my muses!"

[greatwyrmgold]

Every Cirno day (⑨/⑨, for those not in the know), I like to listen to remixes of Cirno's theme (「おてんば恋娘,」 which has several translations, but I like "Beloved Tomboyish Girl".) This Cirno Day, I decided to share nine of those with my Tumblr followers, in case any of them wanted to listen to Cirno's theme in a weird way.

【東方Violin／Piano】 Beloved Tomboyish Daughter -Quartet-

I'm a sucker for modern music played on traditional instruments.

2. Chirumiru Cirno

The musical accompaniment to what is undeniably the most significant Cirno-based music video in the Touhou fandom.

3. Cirno Awakens To Summer Days!

A sunny and upbeat number for a season I would not associate with Cirno.

5. Cirno ⑨'s Blue Regrets, Blue Tears

The music video is fun, and I'm told the lyrics reflect something significant to Cirno's character. Something about Letty?

6. Cirno's Bizarre Adventure - Frozen Wind

I like a good mashup, and this one qualifies. Shame it isn't longer. And that I have still failed to enjoy JoJo. (Freaking Phantom Blood.)

4. Einfach Einfach

It changes the character of the song, while maintaining the iconic theme. And also being nice to listen to.

3. From⑨Girl

The most significant IOSYS remix of "Beloved Tomboyish Girl".

12. tomboyish girl in pain

Same as "Einfach Einfach," except where it's different. But none of those differences make it painful for anyone except Cirno.

9. Touhou flute cover / Cirno's Perfect Math Class

I don't know what this math class song is, but it sounds like "Beloved Tomboyish Girl," so I'll count it.

I generally try to keep 99 songs in my 9/9 playlist, but due to a combination of videos taken off YouTube and versions I don't like, it's fallen to 92. If anyone has a cover/mix/mashup/whatever of Cirno's theme they'd like to share, I'd appreciate it! It might be one of the other 83 I already have on the list, but it might be #93. (Also, encouraging other people to talk about things they like is fun!)

[neokad]

Touhou VI: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil - or my first journey into a bullet hell game

Touhou is that one pew pew game series with cute anime gals, right?

Source: https://pixiv.kurocore.com/illust/54033795

Just like what I think are many people, that’s pretty much all I knew about the franchise as a whole! And to be honest, for a long long time, I was AFRAID of going any closer to anything Touhou-related! Because of them being bullet hecks, they seemed like the most frustrating and unfun games I could possibly be playing! But then... time passed... Fast forward to somewhere in 2020: I was watching the biyearly Games Done Quick event, and one of the first runs showcased during it was none other than Touhou Luna Nights! But while the speedrun itself was very impressive, the thing that really captivated me was well... everything else! Even though this was only a Metroidvania fangame, IT LOOKED LIKE SO MUCH FUN! The graphics, the special effects, the mechanics... everything just seemed like a dream!  In spite of that, I only picked the game up and played it about a year later, thanks to a Steam sale! And to keep things short, I ADORED it. It was a bit too short, but everything else was spot on, and even better than I thought it would be from what I saw at GDQ! But that’s sadly a review for another time :(  Because I literally fell in love in this game, well... I thought “screw it, I’ve been morbidly curious for years now, let’s actually try a freakin’ Touhou game!” 

And so, after some research I’ve learned that the sixth game - the first one released on Windows PCs! - was the one that served as inspiration for Luna Nights as a whole - its characters, music, stage aesthetics and more! It just seemed natural to settle with this one~

How did it go? What did I think about it? Well, that’s why we’re here: those are my thoughts about Touhou VI: the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.

Now for a pointless history lesson: as I said earlier, Touhou 6 was the very first game published for Windows PCs, all the way back in 2002! The five previous games were actually exclusive to a Japan-only machine, the NEC PC-98, a line that prevailed strongly in Japan before Microsoft conquered the world. As such, it’s really the first game that’s still relatively accessible today, as PC-98 emulation is... not really a stable thing yet -_- So even though this wasn’t quite true, it’s as if I started my journey into Touhou with the original! And once I started playing, I was honestly surprised at one thing once I hit the title screen: this game actually has lots of options to make the experience easier or harder!

I know that being able to change your starting lives, starting bombs, choose your overall difficulty and such isn’t groundbreaking at all, but honestly? I didn’t expect things to be so customisable in a bullet heck game series - a genre that’s known for being merciless to players! I did decide to go on Normal to have the “intended” experience, but things aren’t as daunting as you may think!

This game also allows you to play as not only Reimu, the poster character of the franchise, but also Marisa! Both of these girls also boasts two different weapons each, with their own strengths, weaknesses and bomb attacks! Again, I genuinely did not expect so much breathing room even though looking back... I feel like I should have : P

Once I actually started playing the game itself, there’s yet another thing that surprised me: the difficulty curve... it’s... manageable??

Now granted, I’m a person that plays a *lot* of games, and on top of that, I play lots of action games as well, games that require quick reaction times, good pattern reading and so on so forth. So there’s a chance my judgement on the game’s difficulty might be wrong or biased... but to me? Embodiment of Scarlet Devil actually has a good difficulty curve! The first stage of the game has many enemies that can shoot many bullets, but they’re slow, predictable and relatively easy to avoid because you have lots of space to maneuver around! On that same train of thought, Rumia, the first stage’s boss, certainly doubles down on the number of bullets she can throw at you. But, their patterns are once again pretty slow and predictable, making things much more comfortable at the start of your adventure!

But hold on a minute here, how does this game actually plays? Well, this is where I need to let out a horrifying truth:

Touhou is actually really, REALLY fun.

At first it does seem like a pretty standard shooter: you shoot at things, dodge bullets, collect power ups to boost your weapon’s strength, and make sure you don’t die too much in order to reach the final boss in good shape. However, what I ended up loving about Touhou are its many, many mechanics that spice things up beautifully! The first one I wanna focus on is “Grazing” and it’s actually pretty simple: if you do your best to get close to a bullet or a laser without touching it with your (very small!) hitbox, you graze that bullet! Not only will a satisfying sound effect play out each time you graze something, you will also gain points each time you do this maneuver, making it essential for a high score, and especially, to gain extra lives faster!  Secondly, there’s bombing! I am totally repeating myself here, but while each character has a different kind of bomb to their disposal, they each function in relatively the same way: you get to launch a strong attack against your opponents, get invincibility frames, and on top of that, get rid of any bullets that are currently on the screen! I love bombs in this game because they create a great balance: you can totally use them for offensive purposes, buuuut they also serve as a great defensive clutch if you just find things too difficult at the moment.  Bombs even have two extra layers to them! When you will get hit and lose a life (and believe me, you will) your bombs will get refilled back to three, urging you to not hoard them too much even if you’d prefer to save them for a tougher part. Because if you die, you might just “waste” bombs in a way! However, here’s an advanced kicker: if you manage to hit the bomb button just as you are hit by a projectile (8 frames within death I think!) you not only are able to save yourself from losing a life, you also won’t lose a bomb at all, either! This is a very difficult trick, but a very cool and potentially important one if you plan things out in the heat of battle ^^

Then there’s a mechanic that, to my knowledge, got introduced in EOSD: the POC, as in Point Of Collection! Now, as you destroy the many enemies after Reimu or Marisa, they naturally drop many power ups and point icons, and because there’s many of these you’re bound to miss them. However, this is where the POC comes in: if you are at full weapon power, you will earn the ability to collect every icon on the screen! This makes sense and is actually very smart, because most players - myself included - tend to hug the bottom of the screen as bullets are more scarce and slower here. BUT reaching that POC close to the top of the screen is a great way to incentivise players to risk things in order to get a massive amount of points and gain extra lives way faster! And finally, as soon as you do reach that max power, the game will automatically wipe every single projectile off the screen, so it’s even possible to time when you’ll get your final power boost to make things easier on yourself!

All of those mechanics together make Touhou EOSD a pure joy to play! It’s simple on the surface but has such interesting mechanics and risk-reward elements that can push you out of your comfort zone, but never forces you to! And sure enough, I got addicted~

Even though I did say that the game had a good curve and started off not too difficult, it does not mean that your journey will be easy: even early game bosses such as Cirno and Meiling took me lots of practice to get consistent at, by studying their patterns and testing out which strategies worked the best for survival. And eventually, even Patchouli and Sayaka’s stages will test you out with lots of predictable-yet-deadly bullets to test out your screen reading skills and even reflexes.

Touhou may be more accessible than I thought, but do not be mistaken: on Normal, this game will still challenge you, and I absolutely love it for that <3 

Another thing that helps this game out is - please pretend to be surprised - the music. Touhou has always been known for bringing some very good tunes all around, but besides Luna Nights’s incredible soundtrack, I actually never got to listen to any of them besides Bad Apple and one fanime opening my bestie sent me one year ago. And well... it’s true!

The game uses some very artificial, even out-of-tune instruments for its music, but strangely enough, it REALLY works! It gives the music a very nostalgic, warm feeling that’s hard to describe, but it works so well at making those songs catchy as all heck! It also helps that the compositions themselves are pretty strong and surprisingly complex for its genre, too! I would pick a favourite theme to show off, but the soundtrack’s just really consistent and good all around!

Sadly, I mostly cannot say the same for the game’s presentation. This game is a PC app from 2002 and it sadly somewhat shows. I’ll even bring a special mention to the in-game portraits, which are hilariously HORRIBLE! Thankfully dedicated fans have made a patch to improve the game’s visuals so that they’re more in line with later titles, but at base it’s really not the prettiest gem visually...

...except for the spell cards, the bosses’s strongest attacks, which are genuinely gorgeous multicolored motives that will struck you in awe before you are inevitably destroyed by them, it’s great! My favourite is the one you get from Meiling’s mid stage encounter, pictured above!

Before wrapping up this long, long post, I do wanna add this: the game will unfortunately only give you the good ending only by playing on Normal and above, and only if you beat the game without using any continues. This is called a 1CC, or 1 Credit Clear. Even if I don’t think the bad ending’s actually that unsatisfactory, I did want to get better at the game! So I practiced for many hours a day for a couple of weeks, memorized each boss’s patterns, learned where to graze, when to optimally reach the POC to get as many points as possible... this game pushed me to get better with an incentive, a reward waiting at the end, on top of the satisfaction of simply cheesing what used to be so difficult at some point and... well, I think this is the proof of a well-crafted game right there. After many failed attempts, I finally managed to 1CC this game (pictures below!!) and it was, genuinely, one of the most satisfying moments in my gaming life <3 

So... yeah. I might be a Touhou fan now. Welp.

Touhou VI: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil was such a pleasant surprise for me: I expected a game I’d find somewhat boring at best and frustrating at worst, but I ended up having a very, very good time, and honestly? It’s not as hard as you’d think it is! You can beat a Touhou game, so long as you are interested in practicing and getting better, and I promise it’ll feel rewarding in the best of ways <3

I just wanna say thank you to Luna Nights and Team Ladybug, because without them, I would have never been curious and then surprised by how cool this game is. Thank you <3 

And many thanks to you, the reading, for staying until the end! Thank you for reading!

[thewebcomicsreview]

It’s Homestuck’s birthday, which means another Homestuck 2 update.

Man, trying to have something exciting for Homestuck fans happen on 4/13 has been really slick marketing, because it gets everyone excited and you see an increase in fanart. I couldn’t tell you what, say, Penny Arcade or Gunnerkrigg Court’s anniversaries were, but every Homestuck fan knows the importance of 413 because it’s built into the story itself.

Anyway, here’s Janey, and here’s Jake wearing a shirt that you can either buy now or will be able to buy soon. Marketing.

JANE: Assassinations, open warfare, so-called "revolution," and where has everyone gone? JANE: They've ABANDONED me. They've taken our precious son. And now...

That’s not really true, Jane. Your friends haven’t abandoned you while people try to kill you! Your friends are also actively trying to kill you! 

It’s a decent joke, but how the hell are Steven King novels even a thing on this planet? Maybe Rose had some.

DIRK: I'm slurping this shit up like it's a piping hot bowl of udon. DIRK: Itadakimasu.

Homestuck 2′s Dirk is dramatically more of a filthy fucking weeb than Dirk was in the original Homestuck, and that’s a high fucking bar.

JANE: Two can play at the hostage game. That loathsome daughter of theirs should fit the bill nicely. JANE: Then those naughty rebels will cease this unruly tantrum, and do what they are told.

This is another instance of Homestuck 2 sanding down the whole “civil war” thing that I didn’t even think about until they called attention to it. Vrissy is not only a member of the rebellion, her adoptive parents are commanders who the God-Empress of Mankind personally hates, and she just kind of casually went to human high school with her only concern being the dead clown and apparently she is only now in any danger.

Oh, this is cool! A wide panel with two separate dialogs underneath! I had to admit I was kind of hoping for an anniversary [S], but I’m happy with a twist on the standard format. It looks nicer than the x2 updates from Homestuck 1, too.

VRISKA: 8ecause there's no way I'm saying Harry Anderson every time. That's like... 8 whole letters too long. VRISKA: From now on your name is just Harry. HARRY: o... k?

Hm. First Vriska Classic renames the new Vriska to Vrissy, and now Harry Anderson has been demoted to Harry. I sense a pattern, and suspect “Tavros Crocker” will not be called such much longer. 

Also, stealing people’s names like that seems very Thief of Light-y, but let’s not get into that just now, even if the last update hinted at a connection between Harry and Heart, which is all about identity. I’m doing this liveblog during my lunch break no time for classpect shit.

VRISKA: If I had to 8et, I'd say you're the thing that pup8ed after a 8ar8aric act of human sexual intercourse 8etween John and some Lalonde or other. HARRY: ok. HARRY: ew.

Hm. Vriska knows Harry’s last name is Egbert, but it’s interesting that she assumes his mom is a Lalonde and not one of the literal planet full of human women, but no one in Homestuck seems to care about the NPC humans so it’s a safe bet. Also I don’t like how hard we’re pushing the line that Harry came out of a person’s vagina and not some slime. I’m suspish.

VRISKA: There WERE no humans on Alternia, okay? There were no humans, and no human "musicals", in my entire UNIVERSE. HARRY: it sounds like a horrible place. ): VRISKA: Yeah, it 8lew so un8elieva8ly hard.

Heh.

But now he's not so sure. Ever since hearing that one of his dad's old friends had turned up, that border between past and present has felt fainter by the minute. And as they talk, he begins to think that Vriska seems so much... fresher. More real. An actual, authentic, bona fide god from another universe. Harry can’t imagine his dad even talking to someone like her, let alone punching her in the face.

One of those file-it-away-for-later moments, but Harry is able to sense that the canon Vriska is “more real” than his dad. 

HARRY: right now i'm in my mom's house with my girlfriend, her boyfriend, and another god damn version of my girlfriend, and all of us are probably now on the run from the fucking GOVERNMENT!!!!

Though he also seems to think Vriska Serket and Vrissy Maryam-Lalonde are alternate versions of each other, which is actually not true, both literally and personalityways.

Harry is not even able to mention the thing he was about to mention, because at this exact moment his phone starts ringing.

BECAUSE JELLICLES CAN AND JEEEEEEELLICLES DO JELLICLES DO AND JELLICLES CAN JELLICLES CAN AND JEEEEEELLICLES

HARRY: oh fuck.

I think Harry Egbert has the worst taste of anyone in his family and that’s a high fucking bar

VRISSY: It's Something about the W8y she Looks at him. VRISSY: The Rest of us too. VRISSY: Like we're not even Real. TAVROS: Yes,, this is good, VRISSY: Ever since she showed up, it's 8een o8vious that Nothing Here M8tters to her.

Another, much more obvious reference to the realness attribute of Candyland. 

VRISSY: I'm not worried a8out Harry Fucking 8nderson right now! VRISSY: Hell, I'm so Unconcerned that I think I'm going to start just calling him Harry from now on! It'll Save Everyone a lot of Valua8le Time! VRISSY: Listen Tavros, Vriska will get 8ored of Harry in a Heart8eat! VRISSY: That's the whole point!!!!!!!! VRISSY: She shouldn't 8e w8sting her Time on someone like Him! VRISSY: SHE SHOULD BE T8LKING T8 ME!!!!!!!!

That both Vriskas decide separately to demote Harry Anderson to Harry is a funny gag. Also, between this and the start of the conversation where Vrissy was obsessed with how she appeared on social media, someone needs to be the most important person in the room at all times, which is a trait both Vriska’s have in common with each other, and also in a way with Aranea, so there’s perhaps a classpect aspect to this but we don’t have time for that! 

JOHN: HELLO SON! JOHN: I AM JOHN: SO JOHN: VERY JOHN: PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!!

There it is

JOHN: heh. two vriskas is NOTHING. JOHN: when i was your age i lost count of all the vriskas i had to keep track of. JOHN: it was probably some preposterous number.

I’m pretty sure John never encountered any alternative-timeline Vriskas in Homestuck.

Hey, it’s Rose and Kanaya!

Individually, they each represent immeasurable gains for the rebel faction. The rebellion's stratagems have never had a fiercer bite; their uniforms have never looked so fucking sharp.  But it is together, united, that their true strength is made apparent. Their bond, a union of love between troll and human, is not only a foundation for the rebel cause, but an integral symbol of its purpose.    

D’aw

ROSE: I don't understand what's going on any more than you do, and I'm sorry. ROSE: I'm sorry!

Rose panicking like this feels....weird?

I like the detail of Jade’s pawprint gloves. Also, she seems to have gained a headband as Rose lost hers. Only one hair accessory allowed in this comic, this ain’t no fucking Touhou.

JADE: THEYVE TAKEN YIFFY!!!!!!! D:

Oh thank Christ, no one knows what the fuck Jade is talking about. For a minute there I thought we were about to learn Jade and Dave had a daughter named Yiffy and I was about to walk into the sea. 

[vgperson]

What Did I Do In 2019?

[arsonwizard]

2 and 29 for arospec?

oh whoops! sorry i didnt see this earlier ;0; my notes broke or something

but!!! ty for the ask c: 💜💜💜💜

2) how did you realize you were arospec?

when i was 14 i was skimming fanfic, when one of them (it wasnt even a GOOD one but it wasnt romance oriented so), mentioned asexuality and then i had the true aspec experience of WOAH THATS A THING?? and then i did a whole bunch of research which led to aromantic as well, although it took me a few years (four) to decide that thats what i wanted to ID as :)

29) what are three songs you relate to?

hmmm this ones a toughie because i tend to listen to music through the lens of my OCs, but...

a) travellers song by Aviators, because it has serious dnd vibes and its fun to listen to on walks :) plus the lyrics are abt friendship and bonds in the face of the trials you have yet to overcome

b) Bad Apple from Touhou, english cover by jubyphonic. its a relic but... it vibes. it has themes of having to chose one way or another, and false dichotomies and stuff, when you dont really want to go either way.. i know its from a video game BUT STILL

c) Renegades by X Ambassador, i relate less to the lyrics and more to the melancholy tone of the song. it feels like ur out camping away from light pollution, sleeping under the stars and looking up at them while everyone else is asleep, and u try to find constellations but u only know the little dipper and orions belt so its just you, alone making up constellations and stories. Nostalgia for an era you’ve never lived

im just now realizing i dont rlly relate to songs on a personal level. huh. maybe thats why i listen to mostly instrumentals ejdjdkdk

[takerfoxx]

An entirely too long ramble about how much Imperfect Metamorphosis means to me

(Tumblr please actually show that submissions are not just text posts please)

So. It’s almost the last day of the decade. I usually get weirdly sad and nostalgic in the last 30 minutes of New Year’s Eve, but this time it’s been like, a whole week, and I’ve been reflecting on this decade as a whole as well as like, my path in life.

The 1990’s were the decade of my birth and early life.

The 2000’s were the decade of being REALLY into Harry Potter.

And my 2010’s were, wholly and singularly, defined and shaped by Touhou. 

I got into Touhou sometime around Easter 2010 when McRoll’d came into my YouTube feed, and something about the music was just so god damned catchy I just had to know where it came from. So I discovered Flandre’s fight and from there, I learned just how great the music of this weird bullet hell game made by some rando in Japan. It quickly became my Thing. When I wasn’t playing sucking at the games, I was listening to the music, and if I wasn’t listening to the music, I was at school (where I’d probably not be paying attention let’s be real here).

So there I was, happily consuming fanart and fansongs and fangames and doing that little smile in appreciation when you see a reference to a thing you like (shoutout to raocow for also playing a few Touhou fangames way back when). It expanded my gaming interests into the sphere of “modding games to make them harder can be fun and cool”, which then lead to a general interest in playing modded and moddable games. It even made me interested in visiting Japan (on my bucket list), not in that stereotypical “weeb” way of visiting all the anime and manga stores, but more in the “something I like put a country on my radar and holy shit some of those restaurants, l want to eat at ALL of these places because they’re gorgeous” way.

You’ll notice that I specifically withheld from mentioning Fanfiction. See, as a teenager who did have the “try something once and if I don’t like it I’ll probably hate it forever because it’s always like that” mentality, I had the unfortunate experience of coming across My Immortal. 

That, and the fact that one of my close friends in High School had taken to reading Twilight Fanfic (and complaining at almost every story she read and their bad use of tropes) kinda solidified fanfiction as “something dumb and stupid written by people who solely want to roleplay fucking the protagonist”. And on that pedestal sat the entire concept of fanfiction for a long-ass time (actually it was about a year and a bit).

Fast forward a while. Patchouli had cemented herself as All Time Favourite Character, I’d begun to grow out of my Harry Potter phase in search of new stories, and I’d made some new friends, one of whom said they read fanfiction all the time and some of it was actually better than original, published books because they had the freedom to explore ideas that weren’t entirely publishable. But also to roleplay fuck their waifus.

At some point in Summer 2011, not too long after it came out, I decided to replay Portal 2, and something about the story left me feeling… incomplete. Empty. I sought people discussing what they thought of the story and hidden nuggets of info peppered throughout the game, and at some long buried comment section on YouTube, someone mentioned how some fanfiction went into a headcanon and took it further. I read it, considered it for a moment, deemed it worthy of being called “not trash”, and immediately set to looking at the Touhou section on FF.net.

The first fanfics I read of Touhou were… Well, they were. There were some good ones and not so good ones. But they were all, in some way, at least interesting. I quickly discovered the frustration that New Friend had brought up once, of when you discover something great but it’s over all too soon. Setting FF.net’s search to include only 100k and up fanfics, I was delighted to discover that there was a fanfiction called “Imperfect Metamorphosis” that was over 350,000 words long. And then my carefully crafted plan of going to bed at a sensible time to maximise Summer Gaming Time was devoured by staying up until 4:30am, reading fanfiction on a shitty laptop that could barely run UFO. Thank fuck it was the summer holidays.

There was something special about Imperfect Metamorphosis. The characters all had their own personality, their own history, their own implied history beyond what was written, they had goals, thoughts, feelings, and different takes towards other people working to further their own goals. And it was all wrapped up in a package that started with a simple premise, grew to encompass a world more broad than mere canon or fanon, and then billowed into an eldritch monster of ungodly size (hi, Yuuka!)((kind of like this post huh)). 

I was so fucking hooked on IM. I went back to school with theories buzzing about my brain as to what was going to end up happening, my mind wandering to the latest chapter and the bits I thought were cool, actually having the drive to focus and actually learn something about story structure in English Literature. I suddenly had the tiniest flame of interest in creating. Maybe one day I could write fanfic, and do my tiny part in expanding the universe of fan-content.

Regardless of the fact that my own attempts at conjuring stories weren’t successful (for a while), IM was there to be read throughout my last years of Normal Schooling, and it served as both a rock and an escape from the stress of school. I laughed with the jokes, I took Marisa’s death harder than the sum total of Harry Potter’s entire bodycount, and I could never hear Soulja Boi without thinking of Mima trolling Satori.

Just like how Touhou expanded my gaming and cultural horizons, Imperfect Metamorphosis expanded my horizon with Literature. I got into reading Neil Gaiman’s work, I read some Lovecraft, I consumed all kinds of works of fiction, across a multitude of genres, which all felt, in some way, like I was reading them because of IM. I mean I only started watching Madoka, and any anime beyond that, because of Resonance Days. Interesting way of coming across a show filled to the brim with spoilers.

It’s been three years since you put Imperfect Metamorphosis onto hiatus, and I have never read anything that has filled me with such emotion to the same extent. Other things have come close, some of them were even written by other people! (the most recent mega-update of Walpurgis Nights hit me particularly hard). And Swiftly Descending Darkness has been such a great read thus far, the slowly ramping tension is so. god. damned. good.

And as I think I mentioned a while back, I finally managed to start grinding out a touhou fic at my own, absolutely glacial, pace. I always find myself asking “is this canon to Touhou, or is it just canon to IM?”. The line has forever blurred in my mind.

I’m not asking anyone to read my work. This isn’t a plea for you to return to the original IM at any speed, I just wanted to say thank you.

Thank you for writing Imperfect Metamorphosis. For the work that’s been a steady constant throughout the vast, vast majority of this decade. For inspiring a wealth of emotions and ideas in the mind of a British guy who you’ll never meet. For just, plain writing a good story.

And for making Marisa the biggest badass to grace the land.

Here’s to the 2020’s not sucking, and to the ever expanding list of stories written by Internet user Takerfoxx. Here’s hoping you find great success.

Thank you.

P.S. Oh, and The Friend Who Said Fanfic Was Good Actually? They’re now my Fiancée, as of last month. Funny how the world works like that.

@diggertron, dude, you honestly have me feeling pretty humbled right now. I have to admit, it’s getting harder and harder not to see anything but the flaws when I look back on IM or RD, to the point when anyone compliments me about my writing my reflexive response is to be self-deprecating about my weaknesses, but this has helped me gain some more perspective about my older work, and for that I thank you, and am glad you have stuck around for so many years. 

And congratulations on your engagement as well!

[kira-moonrabbit]

I wonder how my brother's gonna react to this. I was just browsing music for fun and remembered touch-tone telephone existed thanks to it apparently being Dib's theme song and I decided hey. Good use of violin in this one. I like violins in places they arent supposed to be. Is there more of this?

There was. And their names were Eighth Wonder, Cabinet Man and Ancient Aliens.

Anyway, I'm notorious among my family (especially my brother, the biggest musichead among them) for only listening to video game music on a daily basis. As well as just constantly talking about video games. So me, [realname] [lastname]? Liking music? That isnt from a Bideo Gaem? Wild, dude...

But my brother's weird. So's my grandma. My mom's ok. She likes Green Day like I do, and we generally have the same taste in music, actually. But my grandma only listens to modern country (aka the exact same songs just with the words twiddled around a bit. Just cowboy boots and Objectifying Women. The tune doesnt even change.) and songs about America And Patriotism (esp. covers of the national anthem. She fucking cries and claps along and even STANDS, even tho 9 times out of 10 shes just at home watching tv). Drives me nuts. Shes constantly watching those damn cowboys singing on stage. Why does that shit move you? It's all the goddamn same...

Ahem. Um. Meanwhile my brother's... better, but he's got annoying taste in a different way. He's into The Beatles and old ELO and Elton John and Queen. Not bad on it's own. But he's stuck in that general time period in music. He has never tried newer bands. Just bands in other languages. Which, yeah, it's fine, mostly, especially since unlike my grandma he doesnt crank it up for all to hear, but it's still rather annoying when I go say hi. Modern music has so much more to offer in terms of themes and style.

And another thing about my brother's taste. He's weirdly hateful towards video game music that isnt from like, the 3 franchises he loves. I showed him touhou and len'en music and all he had to say was "it's all the same. It's just boring." I mean, yeah, len'en I can partially forgive since the current latest game is full of remixes from older ones, but touhou??? A game which, even when characters return, never uses remixes like 90% of the time? The only thing most touhou songs have in common is the ZUNpets. That's it. The whiny honk-honks. The actual TUNES and like... technical music stuff? Totally different between each song! They stir up emotions in me! Theres a reason I've assigned each of my favorite cookies a touhou or len'en theme! And with len'en jynX made the remixes different in mood! I just... raaagh!

And another thing about my brother. He's fucken... he thinks nonbinary people are making it up for attention. What would I even call that really? An nb-levier? As in inbeliever? Ah? Ahhhhhh? Anyway, beside the point. He says he'll never respect any "different-gender people's" (sorry if that's not the proper term or a rude term for the various binary labels) pronouns unless they're "unisex or transvestites." His words, not mine. Which might imply hes transphobic too. Or maybe I'm looking into it too much. The main point is he hates nonbinary people. Which means that whenever I talk about cookie run with him (which i often have no choice to do since he's the only one that i can contact easily who enjoys and understands it) I have to endure cookies like Snow Sugar, Devil, Peppermint, and Roguefort get called "he" and cookies like Fig, Squid Ink, Angel and DJ get called "she" and it just... drives me insane. I'm not nb and nobody really knows my brother as a friend because he doesnt socialize much and because he comes off as pretty cold so it shouldnt bug me as much as it does, but it bugs me so so much!!! And hes the only guy I have to talk with about cookie run! Everyone else is either too shy, has better things to do, is in a different timezone, or is too cool for me to just say hi to! And even THEN all he wants to do is talk about the cookies HE cares about! I cant say anything about Snow Sugar or Walnut or Yogurt Creme because they just arent COOL enough, are they?! No, only fire spirit, dino-sour, mint choco or gumball, that's it. Vampire and werewolf on a good day. And, while I love those cookies too, it's really disheartening when I wanna talk about Matcha and he's just like "meh."

...WOW this post is a trainwreck. I go through like 90 different topics. But hey, I have officially become comfortable enough on tumblr to complain about my brother. What do I do about him? Do I just ignore his existence? I cant make him change his ways because trying to convince him on ANYTHING is like talking to a brick wall with bricks made of iron.

[tsuki-sennin]

Okay, I might as well tell you folks about a dream I had last night. (If this disgusts you, feel free to tell me how much of a weirdo I am in the notes.)

>In the cafeteria at my school and getting my usual spicy chicken tenders, fries, and ranch dressing. Decide to shake it up with some extra veggies.

>Decide to eat outside for a change.

>Suddenly my ex-girl calls me over to sit with her and her friends.

>8/10, same age, really nice, but we just sort of drifted apart.

>For fucks sake, not this again.

>Reluctantly, I go over. She’s always nice to talk to, but her girlfriends are the literal devil.

>Only two were there, thank God, but they also happened to be two of the most unbearable people I’ve ever met.

>We talk for a few minutes, nothing really that important.

>Ex gets up and goes to the bathroom.

>First girl was doing homework and complaining about her boyfriend. “He never arrives on time for anything, and he never ever calls me back after he goes to bed at 10!”

>Second girl was badmouthing the guy to oblivion, talking about how much of a scrub he was for.

>Pipe up and say “If he’s such a shithead, why don’t you just dump him?” I actually knew the guy. He was a bit of a douche, but he once let me borrow his pencil, so I’m fine with him.

>Both of them stare at me, with white hot anger in their eyes. They slap me in the face, twice each.

>Fourth slap hits so hard, I fall out of my chair and onto the floor.

>Silently scream in agony and frustration. Thankfully no one else really payed attention, though I had a few people ask “is he okay?” and “we should call the nurse”.

>Get up after a minute and stare the girls down, still dizzy from pain.

>Hear the gentle sounds of a “Yahoo!” in the distance, growing ever louder.

>The world around us grows silent.

>One final “Yahoo!” as a man appears with his hands on the stairs, crashing into the handrail.

>The man is SimpleFlips.

>wut

>Simple falls off the rail, with his dick in immense pain, and runs over to me.

>”Tsuki, my son!” he says (not using my real-name for obvious reasons). “We need to BLJ the Thwomp’s Cock!”

>Starting to wonder if this was a dream or not.

>Didn’t have time to think about that as a sweeping bit of music appeared.

>It was a remix of “Necrofantasia” from Touhou with 1, 2, Oatmeal, “Roxanne” by The Police, and 50 Cent’s Candy Shop (the shitty monkey remix), Bonnie Tyler’s “I Need A Hero” (this was the one I heard the most), and a shit ton of Bups.

>Yukari Yakumo enters from a great gap above the sky into my school’s courtyard. She’s fucking giant.

>Everyone was running away. SimpleFlips stared her down.

>SimpleFlips begins a triple jump, which he flawlessly transitions into a dive.

>With anticipation of death in my heart, I chase after him.

>”Do it!” he shouts at me.

>I understood what he meant. I triple jump onto the roof of the school.

>Yukari turns around and looks at me with a seductive gaze.

>Oh shit.

>She takes off her mob cap and pulls Ran out of it.

>She throws her at me.

>I dodge her, but then Ran throws Chen at me.

>I didn’t dodge that time.

>It hurt like a motherfucker, but I was still in good enough condition to search for the Thwomp.

>Look to the other side of the school.

>There it was!

>A Bob-Omb Buddy walked up to me and said “There’s no time to lose! Fly!”

>Suddenly my vision is replaced with a bird’s eye view of a nearby cannon opening up.

>”GO GO GO!” he shouts, and I’m obliged to listen to him.

>Jump into the cannon, and aim myself to the Thwomp.

>Ran and Chen have followed me, and are grabbing onto me.

>Our combined weight causes us to crash into the Thwomp, nearly shattering it.

>SimpleFlips, while he was dodging Mega-Yukari’s onslaught, jumped near the Thwomp. Chen had jumped off of me and onto him, while Ran got a tighter grip on my body.

>”You only have one chance! We must do this on the first try!”

>I understand.

>I steel myself.

>Idiot Sign “Father-Son Backwards Long Jump”

>We BLJ’d into the Thwomp’s Cock. The events of my life played out before me in a series of anime flashbacks.

>The build-up has finished.

>Fly or die.

>We rocketed through the sky, with the Shikigami on our backs..

>Mega-Yukari summoned gaps, and we fell through them. We zipped past every last bit of human history, mythology, religion and pop-culture you could think of. We even soared through a parallel universe called Gensokyo!

>At the end of the nightmare, we popped out of separate gaps, where we slammed into Yukari.

>SimpleFlips lets out a triumphant cry of “FIRST TRY, IDIOT!”

>Yukari spits out a bizarre creature that was hanging out in her mouth and shrinks down, holding me in her arms.

>I didn’t see that when I was in her gaps...

>We looked closer...

>It was him.

>Yes, him...

>Nathaniel Paragoomba Koopa the Quick Scuttlebug Incident-Causing Bandy

>Every goddamn fucking time.

>He looked lost... he was tiny at first, but then he got bigger... and bigger... he was freaking out... the world around me had started growing bigger too.

>Yukari had shrunken me down. She bent down and the Shikigami had followed suit. They looked at me in hunger.

>She picked me up, and called out to the rest of Minus World to come save me if they could.

>She put her mouth to my ear and whispered. “Welcome to Gay Baby Jail, human.” and stuck me in her bra.

>I passed out.

>I woke up in bed the next day.

>I say “What the fuck did I just dream about?”

>Looked outside. It was still dark as fuck.

>Look to my left. My phone has been playing Flower, Sun, and Rain’s soundtrack on repeat.

>Go back to bed.

>Wake up when it’s daylight.

>Eat breakfast.

>Contemplate my experiences as I type this up for all the world to see how much of a creep I am.

How the fuck did this dream even happen?

[lancelot-sharpkeen-a]

Repost, not reblog! Tag 6 muns you would like to get to know better when done!

Name: Gio Nickname: Giodi, Mae, Paps Age: 22 Faceclaim: Mae from Night in the Woods Pronouns: she/her Height: 1,55m. Birthday: 1st of August Aesthetic: tea and teasets, dnd dices, pencils, clocks, the dawn, knives Last song you listened to: hi im still deep ni touhou hell so “Sky Ruins”

Favourite muse(s) you’ve written: hell huuuuuh. for OCs ngl, Lance is probably my favorite to write as. For canons i’m very into ales, mugman and cuphead esp, but my all-time favorite is still papyrus. also alice liddell. she’s cute af

What inspired you to take on your current muse (that you are posting this on): the fact that, no matter how much i try to hide it - i really like lance. he’s a cool and good guy, always willing to help and yet being overall a lil shit anytime he can, easily jumping from being overall a piece of garbate to being actually nice and helpful.  i dunno. i really like him and i’m so glad i decided to show him to the world. i want peopel to know him for who he is, and write about his emotions.

What are your favourite aspects of your current muse: how selfless he can be, ironically enough. he wants to protect - and knows he can and will do whatever he needs to make sure everybody is safe.  he can do it. he can make someone’s life a little better - and for their own good, he’s ready to reach any limit. i love when he acts like a big brother.

What’s your biggest inspiration when it comes to writing: hell uuh. music mostly i guess

Favourite types of threads: let him fight and occasionally get really really sentimental and help someone in need pleas

Biggest struggle in regards to your current muse: in which he’s a big egomaniac who easily gets along with strangers and i’m a shy butt who doesn’t even think about getting in someone elses’ askbox

Tagged by: @mcmentics

Tagging: hell do it

[teruterusky]

I could be productive, or try to finish Moon again before USUM comes out tomorrow. But instead I’ve randomly decided to listen to Touhou music.

[amemenojaku]

Hello! I know this is way late but I participated the Touhou Secret Santa last year with my friend, and we were impressed with the level of dedication and participation by the other Touhou fans. We are looking to working on a similar concept but for our local celebration (in Malaysia/Indonesia) next year, so I am curious to hear how guys set out the event in the first place? Do you perhaps have any advice if we were to conduct a similar event? Much thanks!

Hi! I’m really glad you guys enjoyed the Secret Santa!! Thank you! As for advice, I’m no expert but after 3 years of secret santa + other touhou events on tumblr, here’s what I learnt:

- Plan your time well! This is super important. It can take a few months of planning if it’s a big event. For the Secret Santa, we try to open applications in early November. We close them after ~2 weeks, and it takes a week to do the santa pairs. We give the whole month of December for people to make their gifts. Try to aim for a month too, if possible!

- Keep track of all the important info. Google sheets is what we use for the wishlists. Our different columns are

name + website/url

what they do (art/writing/music etc)

what they want!

things they don’t want to do at all

+ anything else we think is important to remember

This will save you a lot of time!! Better to have everything in one place easy to reach.

- Communicate with participants! One-on-one by email (creating an email account for the event is good!) and by posts on the blog/twitter/website where the event is happening. It’s not always easy if you're alone (coughs I learnt it the hard way with the event I hosted alone) but if there are several mods it’s easier! Keep people updated on deadlines, on how the organisation is going, etc. Communicate with the friend who’s hosting the event with you too! Talking is key and prevents many problems from happening.

- Decide on clear rules that cover most possiblities. For example: what kind of media do you allow (art? writing? music? more?), is your event all ages or is nsfw allowed, etc.

- Spread the news of your event! Talk about it on different social media if you can, twitter, tumblr, facebook... This depends on where you can reach and if it’s relevant to your event though, but it’s generally a good thing if more people learn about it.

- Be ready to face (almost) anything! lol. There might be moments when organising isn’t so fun. Sometimes you have to send the same email again and again, or answer the same question several times.

Some participants need more time or ““attention”” than others, and that’s ok! Be patient and understanding. But know your limits too: if someone is being rude or disrespectful, goes against the rules or just doesn’t want to listen to your point, let them know and move on. Reply calmly and don’t get involved in drama (we’ve got a Zero Drama policy with the Secret Santa). Block trolls.

Think about the possibility of people dropping out: how will this affect your event? Do you need to replace them? etc. It happens sometimes.

Be reachable when possible! Check your emails/messages once a day, try to reply in a timely manner. Set aside the amount of time needed to organise the event, but don’t push yourself to exhaustion either! You’re doing this on your free time after all.

And finally: have fun! If you’re enjoying it people will enjoy your event too, I promise. ^_^)b I hope this helps! Good luck with your project!!

[daizyuyu]

Hi! This post will basically be about my summer of anime and my “reviews” for them. I finished eight animes but wish I could finish more. Currently I am watching Kakegurui and Sakurasou no Pet no Kanojo (is it wrong to be watching multiple animes at the same time???). Although I wasn’t “efficient” with my time, I have to say I watched some pretty good animes. So in the following I will list the anime I watched and my thoughts about some of the animes. Please Enjoy and Comment your opinions too!

*italics: Opinions Below (Warning! Spoiler Alert! However, no revelation of the endings)*

Finished Anime (Not in any particular order)

Fate Stay Night UBW

Shokugeki no Souma

Shingeki no Kyojin S2

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Opinions in Evangelion Rant)

Kimi no Na wa

Koe no Katachi

Erased

Ao no Exorcist 2

Watching-ish (not in any particular order)

Kakegurui

Sakurasou no Pet no Kanojo

Touhou

On-hold (not in any particular order)

Re:Zero

Noir

Himouto! Umaru-chan

Ok the first anime I started, actually more like continued, in the summer is…

Fate Stay Night UBW (9/10)

A quick refresher: Fate Stay Night UBW has a similar plot line to Fate Stay Night but with a different route where Emiya Shirou and Rin Tohsaka are shipped together rather than Emiya Shirou and Saber. In both stories, magicians of a younger generation (after Fate/Zero) are chosen to compete in a fierce competition for the Holy Grail, a magical wish-granting device. These magicians, known as masters in the War, summon up “servants” whom assist the magicians in obtaining the Grail. The main character of the story is Emiya Shirou, who joins the War by accidentally summoning his own servant, whom is of the Saber Class (a pretty strong servant!). Forming a truce with his classmate, Rin Toosaka (Tohsaka??? whichever you prefer) who is also a strong mage and summoned the Archer Class servant, they basically fight together to defeat all the other masters and servants.

With the basic summary in mind, lets start the review:

I like the whole concept of the Fate series in which magicians are fighting against each other to fulfill their own wishes and ambitions. People from many different backgrounds are united by this competition in a twisted way in which they must fight to the death (not necessarily all the time). The servants the masters summon are also based on their personalities. Shirou’s idealism that he is a “champion of justice” are similar to Saber’s idealism of wanting no one to get hurt. Illyasviel’s Hercules represents the repressed darkness and loneliness Illya suffered when her parents never came back for her and she was locked in Einzbern castle.

If you watched the Fate/Stay Night UBW movie, you would know that a lot of information was cut out and everything was mashed up to fit the time limit. Fortunately, the studios realized that the movie is very flawed and decided to make an actual 25 episode anime that actually explained what is going on. The story was more in-depth and covered confusing parts in the movie. The story is not so confusing and for almost anyone. It is better that the audience has watched the previous series but it doesn’t make so much of a difference. The anime was not boring, I had my eyes stuck on the screen watching the plot go down. The story is not very predictable unless you’ve watched Fate Stay Night but even so the story has a completely different ending and also different scenes. Overall, Fate Stay Night UBW has some charm that keeps the audience wanting for more since it’s so interesting and the story holds an interesting concept that was flawlessly carried out.

The art, done by Ufotable (pretty good group), was done pretty well. For some reason I didn’t like how Ufotable drew the noses of the characters. The faces of the characters were more “rounded” compared to Fate Stay/Night’s faces which had sharper tones. The fight scenes are executed wonderfully. The spark effects when their weapons clash are fantastic, honestly anything that involved magic has such a pretty visual. When summoning their servants, the designs of the magic circle used are clearly well thought-out and intricately designed. The lines that glow during the summoning are like a bunch of fireflies trying to push through.

My favorite opening of the series is Brave Shine by Aimer. I was looking forward to this opening to appear since the beginning of the anime. I searched up the OSTs and listened to them again and they are definitely worth it if you want some time to just chill and listen to anime music for whatever reason.

Ok so i noticed the first review was a little long so ill shorten them. You can request a specific anime that you want me to do some analysis on but hopefully i watched the anime

Shokugeki no Souma/Soma (9.5/10)

If anyone hasn’t noticed it yet, Shokugeki no Souma is one of my highlights of what I watched during the summer. Shokugeki no Souma, in a sentence, is “Another anime that makes something that seems boring not. I thoroughly enjoyed the anime since I couldn’t stop laughing at some scenes, I became extremely attached to the characters, and THE ELITE TEN ARE SO GUCCI (well you don’t really get to them know them yet unless you read the manga or seen the recent OVA).

The characters are likable and they all are unique. I really like Soma/Souma’s creativity in his dishes since the dishes reflect each character’s personality: Megumi’s dish creates a sense of home and wellness, Takumi and Isami’s dish represent their homeland of Italy. All of the characters’ dishes show their strong passion for cooking and their competitiveness (mostly Takumi against Soma). The people who attend Totsuki are all strong chefs who believe their dishes are the best. These type of people are trained at Totsuki to further their skills and actually reach their dreams of becoming a world-class chef. The fact that Shokugekis exist show how the school emphasizes strongly on the importance of cooking.

The choice of music put into Shokugeki is selected pretty well. I am still obsessed with the cute ending “Spice” since i brings such a smile to my face when I listen to it. Rising Rainbow is such an energetic opening that gets me pumped. Sometimes I just really can’t skip out on that op and ed like I usually do.

The only thing that really bothers me in Shokugeki would be the “ecchi” part of it. I have never tasted food so good that I would strip (seems like I’m missing out on all the “fun”). Every time the judges taste the food:

Judges: (facial expression changes immediately to shock)

Suddenly, the scenery around them changes to of food heaven and their bodies embraced by the fluffiness of the ____________.

Judge 1: I see! This __________ is made from all the essential ingredients cooked precisely at the right temperature. bla bla bla explaining stuff about food that I don’t really understand but is important to the flavor and texture.

Cook: Exactly! However I put one secret ingredient…

and it goes on.

Although I don’t understand what is going on with the dishes and how the cooks make it, it’s just so cool to see these chefs in high school cooking up dishes that even some pros can’t make. It’s one of the reasons why I enjoyed Shigatsu too because the main characters are prodigies of music. I recommend reading the mange of Shokugeki no Souma since it’s basically the same as the anime but obviously has more content.

Kimi no Na wa (10/10)

It is very understandable why Kimi no Na wa topped MAL’s top anime list for a long time (and still holds its position!). Just by looking at the cover of Kimi no Na wa, you can pretty much see how beautiful the art is. The story is also very unique as the male protagonist Tachibana Taki and female protagonist Miyamizu Mitsuha switch bodies and live out each other’s life (not to mention gender-bent). The irony is that Mitsuha wants to be a boy from the city while Taki is juggling his life in the city. It’s quite interesting to see how the switch helped save Mitsuha’s huge village from disappearing. They even “fall in love” in the end (kind of… but lets just say so). The soundtracks are very memorable (thanks RADWIMPS for great music!). Sparkle is one of my favorite OSTs, I listen to it quite often. The piano version by Theister is pretty cool so check it out when you have the time. Although there wasn’t much character development (correct me if I’m wrong), right from the beginning, the characters are pretty decent. The movie mainly tells of their lives and give the audience a little bit of info about them and their personality. I personally enjoyed the movie and got a little bit emotional at the end. The ending is up to interpretation (comment what you think happened if you watched/ don’t read the comments if you want to watch the anime lol).

Koe no Katachi (10/10)

A silent voice.

Koe no Katachi is such a touching film since it represents true struggles of bullying. Nishimiya Shouko, a deaf girl, transfers into a new elementary school. We hope that she would be treated with care by her peers however the opposite happens. Shouya Ishida, the delinquent of the class, is one of the first bullies of Shouko, leading his classmates on to bully Shouko to defeat his boredom. His bullying gets worse to the point that Shouko is transferred to another school. Soon, his friends turn on him and blame him for all the shenanigans and bullying. In high school, Shouya Ishida is an outcast and tries not to get involved with others. When Shouko reappears in his life, she helps him with his path of redemption. The art quality of the movie is superb. The characters are drawn out well. The expressions on the characters are strong enough to invoke emotions in the audience. The whole concept of the X’s on Ishida’s classmates are great imagery of his choice to avoid others. I like the scenery of Koe no Kitachi since it’s very beautifully crafted like the sakura trees, the school festival, etc. The characters are very important to the movie as it represents Ishida’s growth from elementary school to high school. There are some characters that are more or less likable for example Ueno never really changes and continues to make fun of Shouko even after all the years. What’s really important is the focus of bullying in this movie. The fact that Shouko wants to commit suicide and we see throughout the movies that she attempts multiple times makes the audience feel sad and frustrated with her condition. Personally it affects me since I also share similar feelings of not being able to be like normal people because of my defect. Shouko is such a strong character since she was able to stand all the bullying done to her through elementary school until she transferred. She’s worked hard and gained some friends also. She tried to communicate to Ishida and express that she likes him through her voice even though it’s easier to communicate through sign language. Ishida also is one my favorite characters since he had major character developments. It was frustrating for me to watch all his classmates blame him for ALL the bullying (yes he did destroy expensive hearing aids which is terrible but he shouldn’t get blamed for everything) and they all ended up bullying Ishida (TERRIBLE “FRIENDS”) and that just gets my blood boiling. After Ishida started to get bullied, he started to realize how Shouko must of felt. That is when he closes everyone out and even wanted to commit suicide. Everything that happened to him mirrors Shouko. I gained so much respect for him once he realized he needed to redeem himself. Although the path to redemption was hard, he gained back his friends and decided to stop avoiding people (the X’s fell of people’s faces). I praise this movie a lot in trying to spread the word about bullying and how it affects not only the victim but ALSO the bully.

P.S. The OST Lit is pretty lit (hahaha)

Erased (9/10)

“When your killer waits for you, but your girl doesn’t… ”        – Youtube

I have to say Erased was really interesting to watch. Satoru Fujinuma has the ability to go back in time to prevent an accident from happening. Once his mother gets murdered, Satoru travels back to his elementary days and learns that his mother’s killer is also responsible for the death of his classmate Hinazuki Kayo. Basically he must find out who the killer is and prevent the deaths in the past. Referring to the quote from Youtube, I AGREE 100%. Instead of waiting for Satoru to wake up from his coma after the killer tried to kill him, she either doesn’t like Satoru in that way or idkkkkkk. Like I know Satoru lowkey has a crush on Kayo (christmas tree scene and all the bunch of stuff he did to save her from dying but then again it’s his job to save her). Anyways the plot is interesting on how Satoru has superpowers to reverse time (I wish I had that power) and change the event. I think though the plot was somewhat predictable since obviously if you can go back in time and change all the events, it should be a happy ending (my assumptions). The art is pretty good 🙂 (sorry don’t have much to say about it). I really like the opening and ending song (still listen on repeat today). I heard that the opening revealed a lot about what’s going to happen and even reveals who the killer is?? although i never would’ve guessed from the picture… Erased was pretty good though so I definitely recommend. If you like action and drama and bits of comedy I suggest this anime. Elementary Satoru and Kayo and the others are so cute!

Kakegurui (ONGOING)

OK so an anime that is ongoing during this summer is Kakegurui. So apparently if you are from a rich family it’s important for you to know how to gamble. Your reputation in the school is based on how good you are at gambling. Jabami Yumeko is the female protagonist of the series and seems to be some innocent girl in the beginning. HOWEVER, once she showcases her brilliant gambling skills (mainly her ability to recognize cheats) she turns into some gambling monster. Luckily Yumeko is on the side of our male protagonist Suzui Ryouta since he kinda sucks at gambling. I want to see how this anime goes down because apparently the student council is important to the plot.

Thanks for reading this review!

[elliotthezubat]

Muse Talk! Atsushi Nakajima

I decided to do a segment where I share some facts, funfacts, and headcanons about the muses on the blog.

today, we’re going to talk about Atsushi Nakajima!

Who is Atsushi?

Atsushi Nakajima is the main protagonist from the manga/anime series ‘Bungou Stray Dogs’. he is a member of the armed detective agency and has an ability known as ‘Beast Beneath the Moonlight’, which allows him to transform into a tiger.

Appearance

He is fairly slim, 18 years old, and is 5′7″ tall. His hair is a silvery color and has a black streak on the right side. He has an unusual type of Heterochromia in his eyes, where the tops of his pupils are purple, and the bottoms are gold. His main clothes consist of a white shirt, black pants, belt, suspenders, boots, tie, and fingerless gloves. While it’s hard to see, there is also a red and blue pin on his tie. His clothes were given to him by the members of the agency when he joined. He also has burn scars on his torso, and a scar on his foot where he had a nail driven through it.

Personality

Atsushi has a very meek and a bit nervous personality, most likely a result of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) that was caused by years of horrible abuse at the orphanage he used to live in. After joining the agency, he seems to be slowly healing, and is trying his best to help other people.

Relationships

Dazai - Atsushi first met Dazai floating down a river in a suicide attempt and had ended up saving his live. He as since become something of a pupil of dazai’s and, on some level, considers him a fatherly figure, despite only being a few years apart in age.

Kyouka - he first met kyouka on a train in a mafia bombing incident, where he ended up saving her and bringing her to the agency. he considers her like a younger sister and often looks out for her.

Akutagawa - while they aren't exactly on the best of terms, atsushi feels a semblance of pity for him. perhaps with a lot of effort, they could become friends?

Lucy - the relationship between these two wasn't the best at the beginning, but has grown into mutual respect, due to having similar pasts. he also has a bit of a crush on her.

Sexuality

Atsushi isn't exactly sure of what his sexual orientation is, and that’s ok. He is a virgin, and probably wants to keep it that way until he is absolutely ready for it.

Past

Atsushi hasn't had a very happy childhood, he was thrown into the trash by his birth parents, and found by the orphanage headmaster. His time at the orphanage was hellish, often being physically and verbally abused, by both the other children and the orphanage staff.

Other facts/Headcanons

Favorite Music: he usually listens to whatever is playing on the radio

Favorite Time of Year: spring.

Favorite Food: Chazuke (tea on rice)

Hobby: Collecting Bottlecaps

Birthday: May 5

Voice Actor: Yuuto Uemura (Japanese), Josh Grelle (English), Sayaka Kanda (Japanese, female version), LYNN (Japanese, child)

Touhou Theme: The Tiger Patterned Vaisnavara

People he gets along with the best: Dazai, Kyouka, Lucy, Kirako, Tanizaki

People he gets along with the worst: Akutagawa, Fitzgerald

His Apartment Style: he has very simplistic furniture, and it’s fairly clean, but not to the point where you don't want to touch anything.

Personal Motto: ‘what’s better than being alive?‘

I might do another of these later down the line. if you have your own headcanons you want to share, feel free to let me know!