#great book btw i think Phoenix would love it

[waltzing-rats]

I genuinely really wanna write some oneshots but i might be in a rut or smth cause, even with all the ideas i already have, i dont have a compelling plot thread. Anyways does anyone know where i can buy exactly 3 owls

[isalisewrites]

A Deep Dive into JKR's Terrible, Amateur Writing - Part Two

Welcome to my ballsy series where I will prove to you, dear reader, that J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series and resident Twitter TERF, is actually a very, very poor writer.

And when I say ‘poor writer,’ I’m talking about her prose, her sentence structure, and her scenes. I am not going to discuss anything about the HP world nor the overall plot of the books. 

This is all about the nitty gritty in the craft of writing itself.

Part One Link.

Disclaimer for all readers of this series: 

I’m going to sound very confident in my posts where I work under the assumption I’m a better writer than JKR; because I am. My apologies if this rubs you the wrong way. You’re simply witnessing the culmination of over two and half decades of experience with the intensity from a neurodivergent who is hyperfocused on her special interest. I didn’t just learn how to create stories; I learned the craft of writing to a minutia of details.

I’m not a perfect writer. No one is. I’m not a talented writer either. I’m experienced and skilled through years of study and practice.

I don’t care about J.K. Rowling. At all.

If you’re triggered by the concept and fact that JKR is a terrible crafter of writing, then you might want to take a step back and self reflect on that personal issue.

I still very much love and adore Harry Potter; you’re still allowed to love Harry Potter.

This is not a series to bitch or bash. This isn’t a shitpost. This isn’t an attack on JKR, no matter the disgusting bullshit she spews forth on Twitter. However, my hope is people awaken to the fact that JKR isn’t the goddess of writing we’ve all been led to believe.

This is a place of study and learning, where the purpose is to help students gain critical thinking skills and writing analysis tools to become better in their craft.

And, sorry, one more disclaimer for this specific post: 

Fanfiction is written for fun and is posted for free. I put most of my effort into my main fanfic, Terrible, But Great. (Yes, I intend to update Moon Rite soon, too) However, I also have two fanfics that are cowritten with another author; thus, the style of Shall I Stay and Badger Prey are understandably different. I spend three to four times the hours to edit a chapter versus drafting it. My process for fanfiction: I draft. I do one expansion edit. I do one proofread edit. I post.

However, if I were to publish a novel where people are expected to drop money on said book, my work flow would be vastly more extensive. To be clear, I’d do all of the following myself. I would not outsource. My process for published novels: I would draft. I would do three to four expansion edits. I would do two to three cutting edits. I would do three proofread edits. 

See the difference?

Because I don’t go through a cutting edit for my fanfiction, I’ll often come back later and see things I think are weak. I’m constantly seeing where I can tighten my work. There’s always room for improvement.

Remember: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a paperback book that costs $10. My fanfics are free. If I, someone who writes for free and puts what she considers the bare minimum of effort into them, have a higher standard in the quality of my writing than a paid traditionally published novelist, there’s a problem here. 

All right, with that nonsense out of the way, buckle up, my writing friends. Grab a snack. Hydrate. Remember to take what resonates and leave what doesn’t. Let’s begin.

Class is in session.

In this post, we’re going to discuss these five pages from HP5 and dissect one paragraph and a line from page 731. All dialogue is highlighted in blue.

(My favorite book in the series, btw. I fucking love fifth year the most. JKR did a damn good job with Umbridge.)

Since a certain anon lacked the skill to comprehend the difference between too much dialogue and stories driven by a high saturation of dialogue, let's go into further depth about dialogue.

What did I mean last week when I said: "Too much fucking dialogue!"

Today’s lesson will focus on the overall issue in JKR’s dialogue and in the prose surrounding those dialogue lines.

And since, apparently, I “lack the self awareness” to know most of my fics are “oversaturated with dialogue,” I’m going to use weaker examples of my own writing. Chapter 24 of TBG is heavily driven by dialogue with twenty-one named characters to juggle, something that's very difficult for me to manage. Though the chapter is lovely, I do feel it's some of my weaker work. In the end, I just didn’t have the energy to edit it a second time nor go through cutting edit.

Here are three different pages (some connected, some not) from Chapter 24 of Terrible, But Great. All dialogue is highlighted in blue.

You can already see the difference, I'm sure.

So, what’s the difference between a scene that has 'too much fucking dialogue' versus a scene that is highly saturated with dialogue?

Because there is one.

Let's set the scene for HP5. In the middle of an OWL exam, Harry received a vision from Voldemort, showing him that Sirius has been captured. He's being tortured to get something from a shelf, but Sirius refuses. Harry believes the vision is real. He tells Ron and Hermione, then asks for their advice on how to rescue Sirius. Ron and Hermione are both like, pardon, wtf, sir? (As they should be.)

We have five pages of this fight between them. These five pages are mostly dialogue with very little else surrounding it.

Also, note the final page where it has the worst sins of adverb usage. That page is what triggered me to begin writing this series in the first place, btw.

There's too much dialogue here. There's no description. I'm being told stuff, but I'm not being shown anything. There are no emotional anchors to Harry either. The more I reread this scene, the more I realized what was wrong.

There’s an emotional disconnect from Harry in the prose.

Do not misunderstand me: it is NOT to say that Harry isn’t emotional here. It's that the prose doesn’t grip me, the reader, by the chest and twist my heart with his overwhelming emotions. The prose doesn't prove anything, doesn't show me anything. This is an intense, terrifying moment for Harry. It should feel visceral. It should feel tangible. I should be able to taste his fear.

We also don’t get too much information about the emotional states of Ron and Hermione. We have hints, of course. But we can’t feel them. The emotions of the scene are dampened, muffled, dull even.

With an untrained eye, you might disagree. It's okay. You'll see what I mean soon.

Page 731 exact quote:

"I dunno how," said Harry. "But I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls, and they're at the end of row ninety-seven...He's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there....He's torturing him....Says he'll end by killing him..." Harry found his voice shaking, as were his knees. He moved over to a desk and sat down on it, trying to master himself.

(Btw, punctuation issue: you do not use an ellipsis and a period together and there should be a space after the ellipsis.)

This is the only instance in the five pages where we get any information about Harry's physical state.

And it's written in such a weak 'telling' instead of 'showing' way, too.

How and where was his voice shaking? How are his knees shaking? Are they knocking together in a weird way that's kind of physically improbable? Or was it actually his legs were shaking? Isn't he leaning against the door? If his weight was resting against the door, then there'd be less shaking in his knees or legs because his knees would be locked to brace his body against the door. His arms and hands would be shaking, though.

How does Harry master himself? What does that look like? Slow breaths? Running a hand through his hair? Rubbing his face and eyes? How is Harry mastering himself? Is it mentally? Then, where are those mastering thoughts? What are they and why do those thoughts in particular help Harry 'master' himself?

What's Harry's tone as he talking about Voldemort threatening to kill Sirius? How is Harry feeling about this? Give me MORE!

The dialogue is presented to the reader in a bland, empty fashion. Harry is relating something to Ron and Hermione. I could switch the dialogue out with anything and it'd still make sense.

There is little surrounding the dialogue to anchor it.

So, let's rewrite this, shall we?

"I dunno how," said Harry, letting out a shaky breath. His hands clenched into fists against the door of the classroom. "But I know where—they're in a room in the Department of Mysteries that's filled with rows of shelves holding these... weird little glass balls. They're in row ninety-seven. Voldemort, he's—" Harry's voice broke. His breath caught in his throat. The memory of the vision returned full force into his mind, the image of Sirius on the floor at Voldemort's feet stark in his mind. He ducked his chin; his chest inhaled in a desperate breath and the edges of his eyes burned. He's torturing Sirius—I can't just wait around. I can't lose him. Harry looked up at Ron, whose face had grown pale, while Hermione stared at him with wide, terrified eyes. The strength in Harry's legs weakened. "He needs Sirius to get whatever it is he wants and he's—" Harry sucked in a gasp, his voice trembling like an autumn leaf in a thunderstorm. "—he's torturing Sirius... says he'll kill him in the end." His knees buckled. Harry stumbled to the nearest desk; Ron reached out with a steadying hand on Harry's upper arm and silent gratitude filled Harry's heart. With shaky arms, Harry lifted himself onto the desk to sit and twisted around to face Ron and Hermione. He licked his dry lips, rubbed his eyes with a hand, and took slow, deep breaths to master his fraying emotions.

The original canon text has 57 words of dialogue with a total of 83 words.

My rewritten version uses 56 words of dialogue with a total of 247 words.

I'm going to drill this concept into your heads, my lovely students: this is what I mean when I keep saying JKR's writing is both bloated and underwritten.

I only rewrote a single paragraph and its following line. The five pages I've provided are filled with this kind of empty dialogue.

So, what have I done here? Can you see the difference? Can you feel the difference?

Let's analyze what I focused on in this scene to show Harry's body language and his thoughts. I upped the physical effects on Harry's body. His fear causes his voice to break in the middle of explaining what's going on. He's terrified of losing Sirius, the only father figure he's ever known. Voldemort might take another parental figure from him. 

And now the prose reflects these feelings, not just in his thoughts, but also in how he speaks and reacts to what is around him. He is not just speaking at the reader.

Harry exists in his world. 

And you can feel it.

When he stumbles to the desk, Ron is there for him. Hermione reacting could also be added here. There is a lot that can be added to this scene, if one wanted to expand this further. 

Yes, what I've done has increased the word count, yet it strengthens this short moment—and I'd do this for the entire scene.

What I did to the scene is merely one version of its potential. It could be rewritten in a multitude of ways and go in various directions. I spent 10mins to 20mins on it. I haven't edited it or refined it.

Can you finally see what I mean now?

If you compare the highlighted pages of HP5 to the highlighted pages of Chp 24 of TBG, you can visually see the difference in the density of the dialogue. JKR is the one whose writing is oversaturated with dialogue. My writing will always be highly saturated with dialogue because my stories are character driven. I prefer stories like that. But I also need the dialogue to be interesting and engaging, where the character feels alive in their world.

When I say there's too much dialogue, this scene is such a good example of this because Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all over the place in their interactions with each other. Yes, you want your characters to sound realistic, but you're also the author curating an experience for the reader.

There's a balancing tightrope act between having realistic dialogue and unnecessary dialogue.

There's a thin line between showing too much and telling too little.

Lastly, if I were to improve the overall scene, I would center the focus on Harry's desperation to rescue Sirius. As Ron and Hermione try to talk him out of it, where Hermione delivers that iconic line of 'you have a people saving thing,' I'd have Harry explode with something like this:

"You don't know what's it like! You both have your parents—I-I don't... You'd feel the same as me if it were either of your parents being tortured by Voldemort, yeah? I can't lose him—I can't lose Sirius."

I'm not bothering with description around it right now. I just wanted to give the baseline dialogue to show you the theme I'd carry through this scene. It's all about Sirius. It's all about the fear of losing him. It's about showing the emotion of the character and making the reader feel that deeply.

And that's what matters the most.

All right then.

We have come to an end of Part Two in this series. We have discussed fives pages in JKR's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The pages in question are 731 - 735 should you wish to look it up and study the scene yourself.

And so, please do the world the greatest of favors and write better than J.K. Rowling. I promise, it's not that hard once you see the differences.

Until next time.

Isa

[redflemmefoxy]

Allow me to share my humble opinion of actfl

🦊Spoilers ahead🍎

Honestly I sobbed so much during the whole book:

💜 Evajacks reunion got me like:

💜Jacks pov were pure emotional damage and I absolutely digged it

💜Nothing could beat the phoenix three scene

🍎I just loved the romance, the angst, the pining, the ending for Evajacks. I was surprised to see people who weren't fan of Jacks pov - the way they were one of the best imo.

🍎We did get crumbs of his past, I actually was satisfied with that especially when you know he did it so castor/chaos wouldn't be alone🥺

🍎Honestly for me it was enough when it comes to backstory, we also learnt how strong Jacks feelings for Eva were. When I tell you the man did everything so that she would be safe even if it means he would never feel anything by burning his heart (literary) 😭

🍎Jacks was absolute menace in this book😂, I absolutely loved every time he made Apollo nervous even when he wasn't there. Him breaking Apollo nose was💯

🦊I absolutely loved Evangeline in this book, she annoyed me a little at the start of tbona as she was stubborn. But here she proved she has changed and learnt for her mistakes, heck she even had an amazing character development. I loved how confident she was even without her memories, she was strong🔥

🦊I loved when she slapped Apollo 10/10 moment (it reminded of Rosaline slapping Romeo in go away Romeo, great webtoon btw)

🦊🍎I am so glad they got their happily ever after, they way I was worried they wouldn't. Each time I was scared for them, they really deserved it🥺❤️

🤡Apollo, oh god he was such a clown from the start to finish. I actually found his povs interesting tbh, he really lost himself somewhere in the way. I actually had a good laugh when his plans failed, at the same time at times he was kinda psycho and scary. Overall not bad villain essence

🐉Okay but Lala was so cool, she had brief appearance but I loved all the scenes with her. Her and Eva going on a trip to retrieve Jacks heart was fire🔥

🐉Lala and Castor ??? Unexpected but not unwelcome, actually a spin-off of their story would be lit like the tension😳. Also I think Lala's story as the Unwed Bride would be interesting to explore

🐉Which leads me to a question of besties going on trips are need and don't get me wrong partners to lovers or enemies to lovers on a quest are my jam. But we need more bffs going on quests😍

💜Aurora was absolutely evil, now it was shocking to learn she was the reason for Jacks curse, but honestly I didn't mean it. Like she was the ultimate mean girl. I hope we will see more of the Valors.

🍎🤔Now we didn't get the apple lore, although I read somewhere that apples were used to calm Jacks urges, so I guess it makes sense. Perhaps we will learn more in the owlcrate alternative ending

💘The alternative endings were such a gems, a pity there are not part of the main story (btw they can be found in tumblr, the only missing one is from the owlcrate edition)

Overall, it was such a painful beautiful and fun ride. I enjoyed it a lot, I am looking forward to Stephan Garber's next books🥰

[ribbonverse]

Chapter 1

Notes on chapter 1, as well as some ranting about Bleach.

I thought it would be pretty natural to start with Ichigo, though I'm not sure I actually wrote any of the stuff in this chapter first.

In hindsight, I feel like it might be a bit long-winded or info-dumpy, but I really can't be asked to change it now. I've always disliked the "recap" chapters at the beginning of books that are part of a series, but here I am writing one myself.

It's basically a bunch of thoughts of Ichigo's I wrote down and later expanded upon. I thought it was pretty interesting to see the events in Soul Society from Ichigo's perspective. It's not really something a reader/viewer gets a chance to do during the actual process of reading/watching Bleach, and there's especially no time for any of that in canon, which just launches into throwing more bad guys at him instantly without giving him or the viewer time to think.

In a very real way, Ichigo failed to save Rukia in the end. He did help with stopping the official execution, but when Aizen had extracted the One Ring from Rukia after Urahara used her as a magical Tupperware container and Gin was going to finish her off, it was Byakuya who saved Rukia in the end. A very impactful moment for the audience, but where was Ichigo while all this was going down? That's right, helplessly lying on the ground after Aizen almost cut him in half. feelsbadman.jpg

After all that, he wouldn't be feeling all that powerful, I think.

Looking at the whole Soul Society arc in hindsight, it was basically a suicide mission as far as Ichigo is concerned. He never really had much of a chance to save Rukia by himself or with the help of the small group of people who accompanied him. It took a combination of people from Soul Society independently working towards saving Rukia to actually make it a realistic possibility, and none of that was collectively planned or known about by Ichigo beforehand. He just had to go with it.

So in the end, Ichigo almost got killed multiple times, went through training hell, and corrupted his soul in order to save Rukia, and he didn't make as much of a difference as he'd probably hoped. Even in his fight with Byakuya, had Ichigo only relied on his own (and Zangetsu's) power, he would've died.

Not a great place to leave off for Ichigo. Even though Rukia still lives, he still lost her in a way. And for Plot Reasons, he's basically not a Shinigami anymore, giving him time to think. Probably too much time.

I basically began by writing down things Ichigo would be thinking after not seeing Rukia for a long time. They spent two months together, but neither of them were in a particularly good place for most of that time, and it's hard taking an interest when you're stressed and overworked. Not to mention the awkward living arrangements.

I thought the part about the Hollow was genius, but as per usual, right after writing it I realized I just stole the idea from Order of the Phoenix.

I did want Ichigo's Hollow problem to be solved though, or at least out of the way, and I thought this was a nice method of doing it that also encapsulated a lot of Ichigo's character as I would have wanted him to develop post-Soul Society.

The Hollow could've been an interesting part of canon in Bleach, but instead it was completely wasted. Remember how Ichigo defeats it in canonically? Instead of the power of love, it's literally about finding his instinct to fight people and to murder the fuck out of them using his power. A power he originally acquired in order to save someone very dear to him.

Ichigo's family runs a clinic btw. How very in-character of him to do a complete 180 from a deeply humane person who only fights to protect the people he cares about into someone who actively seeks out battle.

Thanks, inner hallucination of Kenpachi. Now we have a budget version of you running around as the main character.

This actually encapsulates the dramatic shift in tone post-Soul Society. You can almost see the author wagging his finger at the characters. "No thinky-thinky, no lovey-lovey. Only fighty-fighty."

I think that was ultimately the downfall of Bleach. It became a series purely about fighting. In such a universe, love can't be allowed to exist, it must be stamped out so that fighting can happen.

It's a sad inversion of what the series was prior to the end of the Soul Society arc, in which Ichigo sacrificing so much to save Rukia communicated his feelings much more effectively than words ever could.

I never liked the canon continuity where fear basically became Ichigo's permanent emotional state and everyone's running around with Halloween masks on and pulling powers out of their asses, thinking they're hot shit. It had this air of "the author thinks this is cool, so instead of convincing you by developing the world and the characters and actually building towards impactful moments, you must accept without question that this is cool."

You know what I see in my mind whenever I look at one of those supposedly cool Hollow masks on a Bleach character? A fat otaku/Redditor guy with a fedora and a katana. That's what post-Soul Society Bleach feels like for me.

teleports behind you "Nothing personnel, kid"

It became kinda like bad fanfiction, except that it's the actual canon. A very sad state of affairs, and a waste of so many interesting and beloved characters.

I mean for God's sake, Ichigo went to the literal afterlife and basically fought deities one-on-one in order to save someone very dear to him. Even the ancient Greeks knew you only something like that when it's about love. Ichigo is basically Orpheus saving Eurydice, even the part about the girl staying in the afterlife after the mission was over is the same. The parallells are significant.

Even though the mission wasn't strictly speaking a success (since Ichigo and the others were just inconveniences in someone's suspiciously well-laid plans), you'd think that would give a guy some self-confidence or allow him to grow as a person. But we can't have that happen in canon, because fighting must continue immediately no matter the cost. Get in the arena, you have people to entertain!

A lot of things were left by the wayside in canon, such as the fact that in the very first chapter/episode, Ichigo is trying to help spirits move on, even though he doesn't have the power or know-how to do it successfully. There's something very sad about bringing flowers to a dead girl being the only thing he can really do, when what's actually needed is a Shinigami.

That and his family running a clinic speaks of a deep humanism within Ichigo that was never really in focus after the first story arc. From this perspective, how Rukia changed his life would've been even more fundamental and meaningful to him than what was explicitly communicated in canon.

In terms of the timeline, of course the canon characters don't get to develop in any meaningful way. They never get a moment to think or live a somewhat normal life. This "war" with Aizen begins just two weeks after he got his hands on the One Ring the MacGuffin that's supposed to make him a literal god. That was convenient, wasn't it? Just in time to stop our characters from growing as people.

If the series had kept with the Ye Olde Japan theme of Soul Society, a proper mobilization of forces and fighting an entire war would've taken a long time, with a lot of planning required. This part was very consciously inspired by The Belgariad.

I don't really have an interest in trying to make that a central point or something that even needs to be resolved, but I think a slow preparation for a conflict makes for a much more interesting environment to set things in than trying to shoehorn stuff within the actual canon. And while Aizen's reveal as the villain was a bit much too mustache-twirling-villain-esque to me, his Shikai is extremely intimidating, both on a personal and societal level.

I originally intended to use Soul Society having to deal with the consequences of Aizen's power as a backdrop, but it never came to be. Soul Society systematically going through its history looking for anything suspicious, like drastically conflicting reports of the same event, and digging into it to see if Aizen had hypnotized someone would've been interesting.

Come to think of it, Aizen not even dying after all the shit he pulled was the ultimate cockblock. Just goes to show how things can never be resolved in Bleach, because The Fighting Must Continue and Aizen will get out prison eventually. Imagine if Harry Potter had ended with Voldermort being escorted to Wizard Jail after being sentenced to five million years of imprisonment. Just thinking about that makes me laugh out loud. But in Bleach it actually happened.

A word on the Spirit suppressors, or "Reiatsuppressors" as I dubbed them in my own notes. For a plot point that I decided not to go with in the end, I needed an excuse for the sensing of Spiritual power not be a thing in Karakura Town. The Suppressors ended up serving a somewhat similar purpose, and their in-universe justification ended up remaining the same.

For anyone curious, the plot point that never came to be was Rukia coming to visit Karakura Town but being too afraid to visit Ichigo. Having mastered the technique of visualizing Spiritual energy as Spirit Ribbons, she decides to make sure that at least his Spiritual power is there. The idea was that an advanced technique like Spirit Ribbons was able to bypass the interference from Reiatsuppressors.

The thing that was going to urge Rukia to go to Ichigo was her noticing that his Spirit Ribbon was a different color than a Shinigami's should be and not knowing why. The color of Spirit Ribbons was going to be significant in that the color of the Ribbon of someone who is Very Special to you was going to be the color you think is most beautiful. Your favorite color, basically. Probably subconsciously inspired by the scent of a love potion in Harry Potter, as I once again only realized after writing down the idea.

That ended up not being a thing, but maybe I can use that somewhere else. Or someone else can take the idea.

Something was also planted at the very beginning of the chapter. I've always wanted to "plant" something that comes up later, so here was my chance.

[turnupswritessometimes]

13 questions about books

Tagged by the wonderful @holographiccs - thank you! <3

1. The last book I read:

I finished reading Fright Bite by Jennifer Killick this morning - very good, very fun middlegrade horror. Each book has different mutated animals, and this time round it was rats! We love to see it!

2. A book I recommend

So many, but The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning. What if the puppets from Labyrinth/The Dark Crystal came to life in our world? Fun shenanigans! It's a real love letter to the Jim Henson company.

3. A book I couldn't put down

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Yes, it's only a hundred pages or so, but I read it in one sitting. Those boys!! Those boys and their relationships and coming of age! The ending!

4. A book I’ve read twice (or more)

The Black Magician Trilogy (I know I'm cheating) by Trudi Canavan. I love the world and the characters and the magic system. The Novice is the best one because of Dannyl's arc. (We love finding out you've been using magic to suppress the fact you're gay for literal years! I'm sinking my teeth into that plot line.)

5. a book on my to-be-read

I have nearly 100 on my Goodreads to read list, lol. But I'm very interested in These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong. Romeo and Juliet but in 1920s Shanghai? Incredible!

6. a book i’ve put down

I don't often not finish a book, but 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' by Paul Alexander. You cannot make those kind of sweeping, certain claims about James Dean's life without proper referencing or a proper bibliography!

7. a book on my wishlist

'Poison in their Hearts' by Laura Sebastian, the final in the trilogy. Very Game of Thrones fantasy political intrigue, but with strong female characters who are actually well-rounded and well-written! And use their smarts in most situations! Very intrigued to see how it will all finish up.

(But I have the first two in paperback, so I really need to wait for this one to be in paperback too.)

8. a favorite book from childhood

Anything by Jacqueline Wilson, but I do have a soft spot for 'Candyfloss.' Wilson just has a way of capturing what it's like to be a child really authentically. I did also love that each chapter had a page of illustrations that fit together to hint about what was going to happen.

9. a book i would give to a friend

Lost Boy, by Christina Henry. A dark Peter Pan from Lost Boy Jamie(who wears a red pirate coat! Hint hint!)'s perspective that fits perfectly within the original book. It will make you cry!

10. a fiction book i own

Way too many...Descendent of the Crane by Joan He was one I hugely enjoyed. Very twisty Asian Fantasy with a really good romance and a great female lead.

11. a nonfiction book i own

Last Night at the Viper Room by Gavin Edwards. A really good biography of River Phoenix's life that's well researched and really highlights who he was. (And how weird everyone was about him!)

12. what i am currently reading

I'm slowly trudging my way through 'It' by Stephen King and 'Tinker Belles and Evil Queens' by Sean Griffin. Both are very good but Tinker Belles and Evil Queens requires a lot of thinking to get through. (And It has a lot of Kingisms to brace yourself for.)

13. what i plan on reading next

I've just collected 'Rumblefish' and 'That was Then, This is now,' by S.E. Hinton from the library, so I'll be devouring both of those over the next couple of days at work. I love the sense of time and place in them. There's a sparseness to the prose, and yet real depth in the characters.

I'm tagging @lizziebennetss (thank you for the follow btw! <3) and @howtotrainyourmerlin (if you feel like it)

[minilpark]

Top gun!Batfam au. That is all. Would like to know your spare thoughts.

i have thought about this just a tad because i hc that bob and fanboy love comics, but i never thought specifically about a topgun!batfam, so here's the little bit i've got for you!

iceman

okay you can't convince me that ice doesn't remind you of either clark (yes he isn't in the batfam but im putting him there as an honorary member) or alfred and lemme explain why-

ice as clark: boyfriends with mav aka batsy, tries to keep his bf in check, fails most of the time, very by the book and follows the rules

ice as alfred: keeps mav/bats in check, looks out for his well-being, the actual one in charge of the family but lets mav/bats believe he is

see? either is valid to me

2. mav

mav is bruce through and through to me. i think this because he basically adopts all the pilots as his own children and wants to keep them safe by teaching them how to protect themselves (like in the air w/ dogfighting) like how bruce does with his vigilante kiddos. also i imagine the tough love and strained relationships bruce has with some of his kids is just like mav and rooster- also not to mention the lasting trauma both bruce and mav have from their early years still haunts them both every day.

3. rooster

i was on the fence about who bradley would be, but i think he would be a great dick grayson and lemme explain why- dick is bruce's first kid that he's ever taken care of. of course with being the first, it's a different experience compared to those who come after you. there's pressure on both the parent (bruce/mav) and him to be the best and live up to expectations. besides this, he was the experimental kid and also holds a personal responsibility over the others (also fitting since bradley's callsign is rooster). dick is also consistently good natured and reliable in most iterations of him and i think this is fitting with bradley. he is kind natured and naive and sometimes doesn't think things through before he does something. there are times he can be scary when he's angry (def rooster vibes) and he's def the type to hold grudges, kinda like how rooster held one against mav for the papers incident.

4. hangman

i was also unsure about who jake would be, but i think i'm going to say he reminds me of jason. theres a lot of iterations of jay and how he behaves and how his relationship with the family is, so imma just keep this pretty general concerning his personality and also say hes on shaky ground with the others. as we all know, he is considered one of the black sheep in the family. after dying and coming back as red hood, things have been difficult to say the least. however, he still is just as strong, brave, selfless, impulsive, and smart-mouthed as he was before he died. i think these traits are fitting for jake. considering his callsign is hangman and the story we all know behind it, he also relates to how jay is a lone wolf more than half the time, but they both are becoming better at playing on a team.

5. phoenix

i think phoenix would be cass. needless to say, cass had a rough upbringing (we will not go into detail). i definitely think phoenix would have a hard upbringing as well as being the oldest sister of two younger brothers trying to help her mother after her father's tragic passing (this is my own hc btw). besides this, cass upholds bruce's moral code and is determined to prove herself to her newfound family and especially to bruce as she wants to take up the mantle later on. concerning phoenix, i think she also holds herself to a high standard especially with being a female pilot in the navy. she is also fiercely loyal and protective of her crewmates. i also think these two are just badass women.

6. bob

it took some deliberating for bob here, but i think he would be tim. tim is not only incredibly smart, he is a great detective and is also pretty gutsy as well. he is a passionate person and works extremely hard to prove his worth (he is a huge workaholic). with all these traits of his, i think bob would fit him really well. bob is definitely perceptive of others and in tune to how everyone is feeling (my hc and also just comes with the fact he is a "stealth pilot" lmao).

7. fanboy

i think mickey would be duke. duke is like the light of the family in my opinion. though i havent read much of his content, i do know that hes like an empath. when he works as a vigilante, he goes out there and uses his emotions to guide him unlike some of the other members. he is also lowkey self-sacrificial and willing to do anything to protect others and his family. i think fanboy behaves the same. he cares about his family and would do anything to protect them. he definitely brings smiles to the crew and keeps morale up in my opinion. in conclusion, fanboy is a blessing and so is duke.

8. payback

payback would be lucas. lucas is no doubt extremely intelligent like his father, strong, and he is also a great fighter considering he is a boxer, as well as being trained in mma and cage fighting. besides this, he is great at tactical analysis and engineering. i totally think payback fits the vibes luke exudes and he is also just as capable as him. both of them are like the rock in the team. they're there for anyone who needs them. (i also think they're both pretty mentally stable or as much as you can be as a crime fighter in gotham)

9. coyote

coyote reminds me of steph. steph is incredibly athletic and talented, but she also has trouble regulating her emotions. she sometimes lets her emotions get the better of her and she is also one for feeling an adrenaline rush. i feel like javy could definitely relate with her. however, despite her weaknesses, she is a great vigilante and very street-smart and pragmatic. when she does something, it has meaning behind it and i think javy does the same. when he flies, he's a team player and is strategic as to how he can lead his team to victory and get them home. both him and steph are also sarcastic and witty, often throwing out some quips at others who provoke them as well lmao.

[limitlessimagines]

Hello!!! I’m a bisexual cishet female (but currently I’ve been thinking that I might be non-binary) that uses any pronouns, I’m 5’6 (or something like that haha) and I’m a Ravenclaw (but I did get Hufflepuff on a different account)

I’d like a Type 1 match up (both platonic and romantic if it’s okay) for Valorant

I don’t really have any preferences, so it’s really up to you :))

So uh I like listening to different types of music (I have way too many playlists) and I play Valorant and Genshin Impact on the weekends and I also watch anime sometimes when I’m not busy. So far, I’ve watched Assassination Classroom, AOT, Dr. Stone, and there are still 2 anime series that I’m yet to finish watching.

Aside from anime, I also like reading and cooking/baking (I may or may not have an entire library in my room oops-). My favorite book series is the Percy Jackson series.

When it comes to cooking and baking, I’m open to anything, like warm spiced pumpkin bread, mango float or sweet cinnamon rolls. As long as I’m motivated, I’ll make it work, somehow.

The only thing I absolutely hate is seafood. I used to like it as a kid but after my mom got an allergy I became paranoid to the point I stopped eating it. I’m pretty sure I can learn to like it again, though.

I like making gifts for my friends, like, I WILL bake them a cake when it’s their birthday.

I really like to put a lot of thought into my gifts, because the friends I have are really important to me and I want them to feel that they are loved.

If I ever dated someone, I would definitely make them a playlist. I’d bake and cook for them too.

Oh, and I can play the guitar but I’m pretty shy so it might take me a while before I start serenading them HAHAH

That’s about it, thank you! I hope you have a great day :))

[I searched up what a mango float it and oh my GOSH does it look good! I wanna try making it!!!!!! - cheesy (hungry)]

Your platonic match up is with Phoenix!

secret anime nerd. He heard about it before, but he hadn’t done any deep dives. Never fear. With you around, he’s got a great person to get into anime with! On the weekends, expect him to show up at your place with snacks, ready to binge the latest episodes of whatever you’re watching. He’s not too picky. And he also gets pretty invested!

Phoenix is neutral when it comes to reading. He likes books with action and super powers, much like his own life. So he’s definitely heard of Percy Jackson! Sometimes, he likes to think he’s a son of Hephaestus (Percy Jackson au hcs coming soon btw!)

When you give Phoenix a thoughtful gift, he is incredibly thankful. He isn’t sure how to get a thoughtful gift in return, so he just thanks you over and over.

Your romantic match up is with Jett!

open anime nerd. She has no problem buying and displaying merch, wearing shirts, and discussing anime anywhere. You’ve got a lovely lady who shares a lovely passion with you!

Jett isn’t a very patient person, so she won’t be into reading books. Manga and comics on the other hand, she can devour like nothing to it!! If you’ve got any volumes in that library of yours, they’ll be read-through by the end of the day.

Who better to taste test your culinary skills than Jett herself? She’s got a high metabolism, and adoration to last a lifetime. Though she can be a bit honest (just because you’re dating, doesn’t mean she’ll go easy on you), she isn’t as picky as she looks. She’ll try almost anything once. That includes seafood, if you ever want to try again. Plus, Korea has a lot of seafood dishes, so she could definitely ease you in with her fishy faves!

When you first presented a cake to Jett on her birthday, she was brimming with tears. The sweet gesture did not go unnoticed by the wind girl, and she hugged you and thanked you. And she ate a lot of it.

Jett was interested in learning instruments when she was young, but she gave up, after finding the positions too hard. Also she threw herself at multiple different instruments at once, and you understand how that can be incredibly confusing. When Jett notices the guitar in your room, she won’t stop bugging you about it until you play. She will watch with fascination when you strum the strings, and gush alongside you.

Jett listens to the playlist you made for her before she goes on missions. It’s motivating, and also reminds her that she’s got someone sweet waiting for her.

[vivithefolle]

“Oh great, it’s the Harry stans again” I’m a wolfstar stan my dude

“So Harry’s desire is a family” yes, and what comes with having a family? Love, also Harry didn’t have his found family yet, just a few friends, and he can have his found family and still want his parents

Fred and George don’t bully him, they tease him like all big brothers do. And Ron went to them when “Scabbers” “died” so he doesn’t hate being vulnerable in front of them

“Let’s think deeper than just “hurr durr rawn wants powur” That is why though. Even at the end of DH he says “the unbeatable wand, Harry?!” Meaning he wants it for its power and is shocked Harry doesn’t

Also, Harry didn’t tell Ron to go with him to save Malfoy, and he only wanted Ron to come to the Ministry because he didn’t want to put his friends in danger. The only reason he was ok with Ron going is that Ron said he would. Why do you think Harry and hermione are selfish and don’t deserve him? That ain’t true

Harry got glimpses in to Voldy cause thats influence. Harry can’t be controlled because he is so full of the “force (Voldy) detests”. It is said multiple times that’s why. And he is so “purely and strongly” associated with love. It’s what makes Harry, Harry. Despite what he’s been through, he remains “pure of heart” as Dumbledore put it, he sacrifices himself and it sets off a protection charm for everyone, he tries to save Voldy, etc. and we do see it shown from him more than Ron. I could bring up countless examples but I’ll just leave it at: Harry felt bad for Hagrid when Aragon died and wanted to be there for Hagrid, despite Aragon nearly eating him. Ron did not. I love your blog btw, I just don’t agree with you on this lol

[Previous]

I’m a wolfstar stan my dude 

Ah yes, Wolfstar, the pairing where one guy weaponized his friend’s most important, life-changing secret in order to play a “prank” that could have ended in manslaughter, because the one guy gave his friend’s feelings as much consideration as a plastic bag’s. Also said guy later believed that said friend could be a traitor. A love story for the ages surely.

“So Harry’s desire is a family” yes, and what comes with having a family? Love, also Harry didn’t have his found family yet, just a few friends, and he can have his found family and still want his parents 

Yes. And Ron’s desire is also tied around love. Because Ron believes that he needs to accomplish things to stand out and be “worthy” of loving. That’s his whole thing during the entire books, that’s what drives him to sometimes put his foot in his mouth up to his thigh and make stupid mistakes, because he’s trying to earn love, he’s going out of his way to earn the love of his friends when they already love him but are just pants at showing it.

Fred and George don’t bully him, they tease him like all big brothers do. And Ron went to them when “Scabbers” “died” so he doesn’t hate being vulnerable in front of them 

Fred and George absolutely bullied Ron. That’s just fact. Look at Order of the Phoenix, look at how they treat him through the books. Fred and George may be popular characters but as big brothers they are AWFUL.

And who’s to say Ron went directly to them? We see them “““comfort”““ Ron but maybe Ron was just sitting with Harry and Ginny and lamenting Scabbers’ death then Fred and George came in and decided to add their five cents. Also in spite of how horrible Fred and George can be to him Ron still loves and admires them greatly - case in point, how he still trusted them about the bogus spell to turn Scabbers yellow.

“Let’s think deeper than just “hurr durr rawn wants powur” That is why though. Even at the end of DH he says “the unbeatable wand, Harry?!” Meaning he wants it for its power and is shocked Harry doesn’t 

Yeah, because Ron’s pragmatic still. Imagine what you could do with such a powerful wand. What’s the point of the Invisibility Cloak when you have a super-powerful wand that may cast the best Invisibility Charm ever? How about enchanting stuff with that wand? What of that wand’s ability to heal people? Imagine all you could do if you had that thing up your sleeve.

Also, Harry didn’t tell Ron to go with him to save Malfoy

No he didn’t. Ron turned back of his own will. Because Ron loved Harry and was willing to endanger not only his life, but also the one of the woman he loved, to save Harry from a fiery death trap. Ron chose to go back because he knew Harry was gonna try to save everyone like the idiot martyr he is.

he only wanted Ron to come to the Ministry because he didn’t want to put his friends in danger. 

You greatly overestimate Harry’s niceness.

Harry’s  eyes  met  Ron’s.  He  knew  that  Ron  was  thinking  exactly  what he was: If he could have chosen any members of the D.A. in ad-dition  to  himself,  Ron,  and  Hermione  to  join  him  in  the  attempt  to  rescue Sirius, he would not have picked Ginny, Neville, or Luna. - Order of the Phoenix

He’s not thinking that because he’s nice and ~doesn’t want to put them in danger uwu~: he’s thinking that because he thinks Ginny, Neville and Luna aren’t good enough to rescue Sirius. To be fair, that’s also quite pragmatic: Neville has indeed great trouble with magic due to his father’s wand, and Luna has never participated in an adventure to fight Voldemort, while Ginny’s participation was that of his victim.

Why do you think Harry and hermione are selfish and don’t deserve him? That ain’t true 

Because yes, that’s true. They’re fundamentally self-absorbed. Part of it is teenage immaturity, of course, and Ron can be similarly self-centred, but Harry is often going around thinking “me me me”. Like, when Arthur Weasley got bitten by Nagini he was thinking about how he was going to look crazy if he said he dreamed he was the snake, what the fuck Harry.

Similarly, Hermione often prioritizes herself and her feelings above Ron’s. She treats Harry very delicately because poor wee Harry is a poor orphan and that’s so sad but she has no such qualms with Ron since she doesn’t realize that his baggage amounts to a little more than just “I feel overshadowed by everyone that came before me”: it’s legit “I feel that nobody will ever love me because who’d care for a loser like me when there are all those great people around me?”. To be fair Hermione is not a psychologist, and she’s not under obligation to help Ron cope with his feelings, but when you’re friends with someone you usually try to support them a bit.

Look at how Harry and Hermione reacted to the bullying campaign against Ron in OOTP. Not. One. Fucking. Thing. Ron left to trudge alone in the snow for maybe hours after his first match, and they didn’t fucking try to find him, they stayed holed up in the common room, just staring at each other and feeling sorry for themselves. I don’t know if it’s a Brit thing to leave a friend alone with their own dark thoughts for company after a terrible public humiliation but it’s certainly not a good friend thing.

Harry got glimpses in to Voldy cause thats influence. Harry can’t be controlled because he is so full of the “force (Voldy) detests”. It is said multiple times that’s why. And he is so “purely and strongly” associated with love. It’s what makes Harry, Harry. Despite what he’s been through, he remains “pure of heart” as Dumbledore put it, he sacrifices himself and it sets off a protection charm for everyone

Yeah because bullshit plot device magic blah blah blah, really it ain’t shit. It’s mostly an excuse. Because how offensive it is to imagine that had Harry just gone to Voldemort a bit earlier, then the “““Love Charm”““ would save everyone? Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Colin, had Harry moved his fucking ass and just surrendered he’d have saved them all. Hell, when you already consider that the Battle of Hogwarts happened at Hogwarts because fucking Harry absolutely HAD to be the one to get one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes you see, couldn’t have summoned Kreacher and asked him to search the place, couldn’t have remained hidden and entrusted the other students with the search, nooo, absolutely HAD to go to Hogwarts aka the place where every child is held hostage by a fascist government that could decide to kill them all for “hiding Undesirable Number One in their midst so they deserved their fate”... Genius move Harry, truly. +50 people dead thanks to you, fucking dumbass.

he tries to save Voldy, 

Um, not really, he just told Vold to try and feel some remorse. Then bullshit space magic about the Elder Wand so Harry is technically not a murderer because he just Disarmed his opponent, you see, he’s still pure yall, cause killing someone quickly and painlessly (= Avada Kedavra) is worse than torture (= Crucio), ysee?

Harry felt bad for Hagrid when Aragon died and wanted to be there for Hagrid, despite Aragon nearly eating him. Ron did not.

............................... um, no.

“Hagrid!”  cried  Hermione,  leaping  up,  hurrying  around  the  table  the  long  way  to  avoid  the  barrel of maggots, and putting an arm around his shaking shoulders. “What is it?”  “It’s...him...”  gulped  Hagrid,  his  beetle-black  eyes  streaming  as  he  mopped  his  face  with  his  apron. “It’s...Aragog...I think he’s dyin’...He got ill over the summer an’ he’s not gettin’ better... I don’ know what I’ll do if he...if he...We’ve bin tergether so long...”  Hermione patted Hagrid’s shoulder, looking at a complete loss for anything to say. Harry knew how  she  felt.  He  had  known  Hagrid  to  present  a  vicious  baby  dragon  with  a  teddy  bear,  seen  him  croon  over  giant  scorpions  with  suckers  and  stingers,  attempt  to  reason  with  his  brutal  giant  of  a  half-brother, but this was perhaps the most incomprehensible of all his monster fancies: the gigantic talking spider, Aragog, who dwelled deep in the Forbidden Forest and which he and Ron had only narrowly escaped four years previously.  “Is there — is there anything we can do?” Hermione asked, ignoring Ron’s frantic grimaces and head-shakings.  “I  don’  think  there  is,  Hermione,”  choked  Hagrid,  attempting  to  stem  the  flood  of  his  tears.  “See, the rest o’ the tribe...Aragog’s family...they’re gettin’ a bit funny now he’s ill...bit restive...”  “Yeah, I think we saw a bit of that side of them,” said Ron in an undertone.  “...I  don’  reckon  it’d  be  safe  fer  anyone  but  me  ter  go  near  the  colony  at  the  mo’,”  Hagrid  finished, blowing his nose hard on his apron and looking up. “But thanks fer offerin’, Hermione...It means a lot.”  After  that,  the  atmosphere  lightened  considerably,  for  although  neither  Harry  nor  Ron  had  shown any inclination to go and feed giant grubs to a murderous, gargantuan spider, Hagrid seemed to take it for granted that they would have liked to have done and became his usual self once more. - Half-Blood Prince

Then

“Excellent,” he said. “Really excellent. Right...I’m going down to Hagrid’s.”  “What?” said Ron and Hermione together, looking aghast.  “No, Harry — you’ve got to go and see Slughorn, remember?” said Hermione.  “No,”  said  Harry  confidently.  “I’m  going  to  Hagrid’s,  I’ve  got  a  good  feeling  about  going  to  Hagrid’s.”  “You’ve got a good feeling about burying a giant spider?” asked Ron, looking stunned.  “Yeah,”  said  Harry,  pulling  his  Invisibility  Cloak  out  of  his  bag.  “I  feel  like  it’s  the  place  to  be  tonight, you know what I mean?”  “No,” said Ron and Hermione together, both looking positively alarmed now.  “This  is  Felix  Felicis,  I  suppose?”  said  Hermione  anxiously,  holding  up  the  bottle  to  the  light.  “You haven’t got another little bottle full of — I don’t know —”  “Essence of Insanity?” suggested Ron, as Harry swung his cloak over his shoulders.  Harry laughed, and Ron and Hermione looked even more alarmed.  “Trust me,” he said. “I know what I’m doing...or at least” he strolled confidently to the door — “Felix does.” - Half-Blood Prince

Harry doesn’t want to go to Hagrid’s out of the goodness and lurve of his heart. He’s going because it’s convenient. Because Felix Felicis.

Harry really isn’t anything special. Anyone with basic math skills can realize that dying to save possibly hundreds of people is better than you living and possibly hundreds dying. That’s nothing to do with purity of the heart or shit, that’s just math.

[tsuki-sennin]

Mina-san, bonne lecture~! (Tsuki recaps his feelings about Kamen Rider Saber, a personal essay.)

So, Saber... what a wild ride it's been, huh? Just a quick heads up, this is very long and rambling, and also contains spoilers for everything in Saber. It's fine if you don't wanna read all this, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out there.

TL:DR, Kamen Rider Saber's an undercooked hot mess I absolutely adore, warts and all.

Speaking as objectively as possible, it's a 6/10. Probably closer to a 5 than a 7... it's not great: All the different plot elements are cluttered and weirdly paced; character focus is disjointed and clearly biased toward certain characters, leaving great ones like Kento and Ogami, interesting ones like Kamijo and Hayato, and underdeveloped ones like Sophia and especially the Shindais in the dust; not to mention its balance of comedy and drama is off, and while both are very effective, there's a lot of mood whiplash that can take you out of the story. I also feel like a lot of the easily avoidable character conflict could've been easily resolved, even in universe, by simple conversations. Be careful Fukuda, I think Inoue might sue you if he finds out you've been biting his style and doing it worse.

Rider shows have a very frustrating tendency to drop cool form ideas and not do anything with them, and I don't think it's ever been more the case than with Saber. There's a similar argument to be made with the majority of Heisei Phase 2 after Gaim, but wow. The suits are expensive to make without just straight up recycling everything, I get that, but man, I really wanted to see more Wonder Rider forms. How come Touma got all the fun, eh? Of note are the Blades King of Arthur forms (which look amazing by the way), Espada's Jaaku Dragon forms (one of which I even drew last night), even the non-elemental random Wonder Ride Books all have awesome design elements that go tragically unused. Even if the other Swordsmen just kinda have the ones they do get to use slapped onto them, that's at least something. Touma also just straight up only uses Diago Speedy twice and never again. You have cool props guys, don't waste them like that!

Speaking of waste, Espada, goddamn. Since most of the Wonder Ride Books are Story Type and he needs one very specific Story Book to transform, he doesn't get much of... anything, really! No Wonder Rider forms like Blades, Lamp Do Cerberus being exclusive to Ganbarizing, only getting to use the Ride Gatriker like once, he even spends the second and third arcs as a completely different Rider, then once he comes back he doesn't get a King of Arthur-granted upgrade or even a Necrom Espada form. ...at least, not yet anyway. I'm holding out hope for Espada x Necrom and the eventual Saber V-Cinemas. Extra Rider stans, we will be well respected someday.

The Unreal Engine CGI used for fights in early Chapters was pretty good but wow it feels disconnected and they really drop it quick. I feel like if the animators had more freedom to use as many forms as they want, we'd have gotten a lot more mileage out of the books beyond... decoration basically. I actually really liked the CGI sequences, they felt creative and were fun to follow along with.

The soundtrack is pretty great on its own and conveys what it needs to, but they seriously overplay the orchestral themes. It honestly feels kind of... stock at times. I think my favorite parts of the score are when it winds down, since it feels a lot more natural and lets the cinematographers and actors speak for themselves.

As awesome as I think Falchion's design and the Mumeiken Kyomu are, The Phoenix Swordsman and the Book of Ruin comes up short as its own standalone thing. You'd think 30 or so minutes of non-stop action would be awesome, and it almost is? It's as good as a typical episode of the series with a higher action budget, but it kinda drags on a bit too long; and although I think Emotional Dragon looks cool, it feels a bit tacked on. Coming off of the incredible Zero-One REAL×TIME, it doesn't give you much room to breathe, which Rider films are typically great at handling. I also thought the resolution for the kid's subplot was kinda forced. He does an okay job at acting considering his age and doesn't overstay his welcome, but I really don't see how 20 minutes of violence and action is enough to convince him to be brave enough to go play with the other kids. 5/10, it's closer to a 4 than a 6 and I think that maybe Zero-One should've stood on its own if they really had to push back Kiramager Bee-Bop Dream because of the pandemic.

Alright, with all that said... As imperfect and undercooked Saber was, like Ghost I can consider it a personal favorite, 10/10. Call it a guilty pleasure if you want, but holy hell it's just the show I needed. Takuro Fukuda has a talent for creating fun, wonderful characters and utterly fascinating worldbuilding and concepts. It's a shame he doesn't utilize them fully, but hey!

The action and fight choreography are pretty top notch as usual. Lots of beautiful shot composition and set pieces, and plenty of great angles to help keep up with the extra busy action. I love watching the suit actors perform and they deserve all the respect in the world for their hard work in those hot, sweaty, and heavy costumes. Their visual design is also top notch, with lots of unique and fascinating forms and cool weapons I desperately want to play with despite being broke, all with spectacular finishers and hype jingles with the voice of Akio motherfucking Ohtsuka calling them out. A real feast for the eyes. Not a single bad suit among them, yeah I said it, fight me.

The crossover specials are soooo good too.

-I went over my feelings on the Zenkaiger crossover episodes in a separate post (good luck finding that btw), but to sum it up, they were great character moments for Zox and the Shindai siblings with lots of great screwball comedy and some good old fashioned meta humor.

-The Ghost crossovers are great little side stories all about how Daitenku Temple somehow had the Ghost Ijunroku Wonder Ride Book? I genuinely have no idea why it was there, or how Makoto had the Specter Gekikou Senki, and as far as I remember neither of their origins are explained. Did Luna or Tassel hand them off to them and told them to wait for a sword guy? And why do these generic French Revolution Gamma villains working for Danton get their asses handed to them so easily by Kanon, who literally just became a Rider? I thought that Makoto deciding to adopt all the Kanon clones into his family was both hilarious and adorable though; considering all the crap they went through, I think it was a good ending to this plot. Gimme Espada x Necrom already Toei/Bandai/Fukuda/whoever I need to yell at, give Kento things to do, I beg you.

-I haven't actually seen Super Hero Senki since it's not available for subbing yet, but apparently there's a Journey to the West plot starring the Taros and Ohma Zi-O and I want to see that so badly.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra? Yoohei Kawakami? A match made in heaven, that's what they are. All of their themes are absolute bangers. All of them. Almighty, Kamen Rider Saber, Sparks, Taju Rokou, all excellent and empowering pieces. Rewrite the Story, Will Save Us, and The Story Never Ends are all amazing inserts done by the cast, and it makes me wish we had even more of them to help break up the monotony of the score.

The characters are what easily make this show such a great watch though. For the most part, they have great personalities and chemistry, consistently fun and interesting scenes, well acted and... sometimes well-written development, and deeply investing personal stakes.

Narrating it all is the delightfully eccentric Tassel/Viktor, portrayed by Romanesque Ishitobi "TOBI" of the Paris-based Les Romanesques. I was utterly confused by his presence at first, wondering why there needed to be a narrator when the story would've been perfectly fine without it. He even got a special spot in the opening despite having no stake in the plot despite seeming to live in Wonderworld, who the hell is this guy? But then I thought "OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD". I thought it'd be some subversion of expectations, true form, "That Was His Mistake!" shit. Trust me, it made a lot more sense in my head. I'm very happy that they didn't do that, as I grew to love having male Yuuka Kazami as my narrator, and when he was shown to be actually important by being friends with Yuri my mind was blown. And doubly so when I realized just how deeply necessary to the plot he really is.

Rintaro/Blades is up there as one of my all time favorite secondary Riders, since his curiosity is always consistently funny and adorable, his forms are all gorgeous and impressively designed, his relationships with Mei and Touma are absolutely sweet and compelling to see unfold, and his arcs about becoming willing to call out those he views as family and coming to terms with his feelings of inadequacy and both moving past and using them to strengthen himself are always great lessons to pass on to kids. ...even if they took like 10 goddamn episodes to be conveyed in what could've been 5, but hey, Takaya Yamaguchi does a stand-up job all throughout. Rider veteran Eitoku's refined, almost logical movements with the Suiseiken Nagare absolutely beautiful to see in action, and his final form having the same white and blue color scheme as Zooous's base form is an amazing touch I don't see appreciated enough.

Mei Sudo's also absolutely wonderful, serving as the perfect emotional core of the story, responsible for most of the funniest lines, sweetest character moments, and some of the most deceptively compelling drama. Asuka Kawazu brings the perfect energy for such a dynamic and well rounded character, and absolutely nails her scenes of quiet turmoil. As much as I would've loved her to become a Rider, I don't think she really needed to. She's already done so much to help, and as cool as it would've been to see her pick up a sword and fight alongside them as Espada, Calibur, or Falchion she's already endeared herself to me as one of my favorite supporting characters in the whole franchise.

I can't get enough of my homeboy Kento Fukamiya/Espada. Like Rintaro and everyone else for that matter, he also suffers from Saber's pacing issues; and like his predecessor Valkyrie from Zero-One, he doesn't get a proper upgrade aside from his Wonder Combo, instead becoming an anti-villain using a completely different powerset and shifting the Raimeiken Ikazuchi out of focus for the Ankokuken Kurayami, and I feel there's a serious missed opportunity to see him use Jaaku Dragon with Alangina. However, Ryo Aoki's performance is probably among the most easily praiseworthy in the whole cast, managing to convey both Kento's kind and knightly stoicism as Espada and his emotionally unstable despair as Calibur perfectly, in conjunction with Yuji Nakata's experienced and expressive stuntwork.

Ren Akamichi/Kenzan's a dark horse favorite for sure. I remember back when Saber was first picking up, people hated this breezy mad lad for being such a simple character at first. Overly concerned with strength? Black and white world view? Annoyingly energetic? Agh, real-feeling character flaws, I hate them, get him away from me! But then y'all came crawling back. Eiji Togashi's apparently a bit of a rookie actor, and it really shows with some stilted delivery and the way he sometimes bobs his head when giving his lines, but man he improves dramatically as the series goes on. His inexperience ironically ends up really selling his character development, and his unexpectedly beautiful relationship with Desast is special evidence of that. The Fuusouken Hayate's three modes and Satoshi Fujita putting them to excellent use through his stellar acrobatic movements are also really cool.

Why did Luna have to be a child for so long? Does Wonderworld not age whoever inherits its power? Well since Luna randomly becomes an adult in Super Hero Senki and some of the final episodes, I guess so? Miku Okamoto does a fine job for a kid actor, but she's basically done all the heavy lifting for the whole series and doesn't give Mayuu Yokota enough time to get a feel for her character as an adult. How did she choose Touma to inherit the power anyway? Does she just subconsciously decide to trust him with it upon seeing how kind and passionate about storytelling he is? Well if that's the case, why didn't Kento get at least some of that power too? He's just as important to the merchan- I mean Luna-chan, isn't he? Why did Tassel pick her over someone who isn't a literal child who'd be understandably terrified about basically becoming an embodiment of storytelling?

Sophia also kinda suffers from the same problems. Rina Chinen's voice is very pleasant to listen to, but she doesn't really do much beyond serving as a source of exposition and support. I think her dynamic with Mei's adorable, and given her kindness I can certainly understand the respect Northern Base has for her, but she doesn't really contribute a whole lot. If she could use the Kurayami and become Calibur all this time, then why didn't she take it from Kento and Yuri and do so earlier when Kento decided to go back to being Espada? I know she's not much of a fighter and as the closet thing the Sword of Logos has to a leader after Isaac's death I'd understand not wanting to put her at risk, but considering Storious is destroying the world, and she's very evidently kicking a lot of ass in the first part of the final battle even in the basic Jaaku Dragon form, I think it would've helped a lot, just sayin'. Tassel at least has the excuse of being unable to interact with the real world, but Sophia obviously didn't just be put in charge of Northern Base just because she's a pawn in Isaac's plans right?

Ryou Ogami/Buster is also a victim of the disjointed character focus. I have no problem believing he's an excellent father and fighter thanks to Yuki Ikushima and Jiro Okamoto, respectively, but he feels a bit flat and simple in comparison. His rivalry with Desast is randomly dropped, his wife doesn't even show up until the final episodes, he's kinda sidelined in terms of action a whole lot. I imagine that must've sucked for the Rider Dads out there. He does get to star in his own manga, and that was pretty good, so I guess I can't be too mad.

Tetsuo Daishinji/Slash fares better though. Hiroaki Oka, being a Kamen Rider fanboy himself, manages to make him among the most relatable characters in the series. Not only are his hyperfixation on swordsmithing and anxiety played surprisingly believably, Hirotsugu Mori letting him cut loose is extremely cathartic and hilarious, and you really feel for him when the Onjuuken Suzune becomes the first victim of Calibur!Kento's sword sealing.

Yuri/Saikou's another dark horse favorite, for me at least. "Oh great, Avalon guy's got even more merchandise to sell, I wonder what his Sword of Light is- it's himself. Well... that's different." I admit, I didn't like him at first. He felt like he was there to fill out character dynamics in the absence of both Rintaro and Kento, I thought his gimmick was too silly even if his design and jingles were bangers, I didn't particularly care for his power set. But then XSwordman came around I totally got it. He's an endearing, hard-working man trying his best to catch up on all the cool shit he missed, unafraid of experimentation, ready to throw down at a moment's notice, serving as a wonderful bit of consistent support for our heroes, a truly knightly individual, an absolute Chad. and goddamn does he make me worry. Tomohiro Ichikawa, I salute you good sir.

Even if they fall short compared to the rest of the cast, the Shindai siblings are at least cool enough to not wanna write out entirely. They kinda devolve into comic relief after they become allies, something that villainous Riders from Chase onwards are very prone to doing, and it's especially awkward in their case because I think that they kinda get off scot-free for obeying the obviously sinister and crazy Isaac for so long, as well as driving a wedge between a lot of people and threatening children in Reika's case. I think their sibling dynamic is nice though, even if Fukuda recycled it from Makoto and Kanon and has some... questionable possessive undertones as a result. It's cool how they're basically foils to Touma and Rintaro though. The dispassionate and methodical Reika/Sabela is beautifully played by Angela Mei and her moments of emotional depth are fascinating to watch. Her Rider form is a thing of beauty, and its use of literal the Eneiken Noroshi's smokescreens and Yuki Miyazawa's precise and deadly stinging strikes are a joy to watch. And while Ken Shonozaki's not given the best direction as the undercooked plate of 7-Eleven fried fish that is Ryoga/Durendal, he manages to sell him as an experienced and hardened warrior with an awkward side that's especially evident in the Zenkaiger specials. His goddamn RWBY weapon that is the Jikokuken Kaiji is absolutely sick, I'm a sucker for transforming weapons and its combination of time and water powers is really cool, especially with Yasuhiko Amai's deliberate and forceful acting in the suit.

Daichi Kamijo/the Second Calibur, for as brief as his story was, was a pretty cool starter villain. Hiroyuki Hirayama brings this poor bastard to life in a genuinely touching way. I love how as Calibur he goes full force on his creative use of Wonder Ride Books for attacks, and his debut as Jaou Dragon got my blood pumping. His end is also deeply tragic, and I really felt for him when he realized just how badly he fucked up. Hayato Fukamiya also does wonders for the backstory, and while he also doesn't get much to work with, Mitsuru Karahashi makes his regrets and love for Kento feel genuine.

Legeiel and Zooous are both very intimidating and entertaining villains. On top of being just the right balance of goofy and threatening, Kairu Takano and Koji Saikawa's stage presences are both very strong, and their mixture of camaraderie and in-fighting is extremely believable. Zooous's rivalry with Rintaro feels incredible to see through to the end, and although Legeiel doesn't get quite the same treatment, Elemental Dragon had such a cool debut that it more than makes up for it. Their final fights are also absolute spectacles. I don't think their sympathetic angle works even close to as well as it does with MetsubouJinrai or even the Gamma, but I get it, power corrupts, and you probably feel a lot of sadness and regret for things you've done when you die unless you're a right bastard.

Isaac/Master Logos/Solomon is kinda generic. As wonderful as Keisuke Soma is, he doesn't get much dimension to work with. The result of that is while he nails being as smug and punchable as possible, he feels almost... comically generic. Genta Umemori from Shinkenger was full of personality! He was also basically some guy, but he was fun, he felt connected to the rest of the cast! Meanwhile the only real time we get to see Isaac's depth is when we see him crying over his failures. I almost appreciate him being unapologetically evil though, since I've seen way too many shows where redeemed villains get off scot free for way worse things, and some where they outright demand you to sympathize with them despite them doing nothing to warrant it.

Bahato/Falchion surprises me by not just being a movie villain whose actions affect the main plot, but also being a movie villain who actually gets to appear in series as a recurring threat! ...and it's not a particularly great showing on his part, sadly. Masashi Taniguchi does a wonderful job with what he's given, but his character feels like a retread of Eternal without any of what made Katsumi Daido a compelling and frightening villain. I'd like to believe Yuri when he says that he used to be a good person and a hero to the people, but I can only hear so many anime villain monologues about the pointlessness of life and the beauty of destruction before I can never take them seriously again. ...I think that's his biggest problem, actually. I thought he was an overall uninteresting and generic villain in the movie, and the cartoon nihilist he's shown to be in series is only a small step up. He still feels like filler. If only there were a far better written and much cooler villain who takes on the Mumeiken Kyomu after his de--

Desast is probably one of the finest anti-villains I've ever seen in recent years. On top of an absolutely badass character design and the excellent combination of Kazuya Okada/Danki Sakae's suit work and Koki Uchiyama's stellar voice acting, his story being so thoroughly intertwined with Ren's makes their shared journey and bromance a borderline Shakespearean tragedy. His struggle for identity despite Storious treating him as nothing more than a failed experiment and the Sword of Logos treating him as a mere monster really gripped me, and the way he uses what little time he has left to encourage Ren into blossoming on his own is absolutely beautiful. I think his enmity with Ogami is criminally underexplored in series, considering he killed several of the previous Riders and how Ogami's in desperate need of screentime.

Then there's our main villain, Kamen Rider Storious. Robin Furuya brings an incredible amount of charisma to this character, expertly portrayed as both a sinister, manipulative bastard , and as a lonely, tragic figure that arguably makes him feel even more villainous. Speaking as a struggling writer myself, it's easy to feel stuck in the idea of "fuck it, who cares, maybe everything is predestined", but I can't imagine what it's like to know that as the truth and carry it with you for all that time. All of your grand ideas have roots from your experiences, and you're not the only one who even could have those experiences. It's easy to just fall into despair and give up trying, but would that make you happy? Sure, Storious is sadistic, he may be fulfilling his goals, he may be ungodly powerful... but it's not enough for him, is it? All of his friends are gone, one of them even at his own hand, he probably doesn't have any idea what to do after he destroys all the world's stories, Touma even reached his full power before he did, and his downfall is so predictable that even a blind person could see it. He even seems to welcome it, what's up with that? But then I realized... OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD. He's so far gone, he's so desperate to stick it to the Almighty Book, he's willing to twist the archetype of the Hero's Journey so hard, it snaps in two. What I think is interesting is that he's ironically trying to chase the trend of "edgy superhero story" that became super popular in the 21st century. The Boys, Brightburn, Kamen Rider Amazons, The Sentry, No More Heroes, Magical Girl Site, even mainstream comics from DC and Marvel... Surely Storious must've seen the cruelty and tragedy these stories are filled with, but he chooses to go through with trying to force the world into this direction anyway. Did they, along with seeing the ever-popular tragedies of legendary playwrights and bleak satire of the twentieth century fuel his despair?

And yet... there's one who stands in determination against his ideals.

Our hero, Touma Kamiyama, the titular Kamen Rider portrayed by Syuichiro Naito and Kousuke Asai, he speaks to me on a personal level. There're plenty of jokes to be made about his procrastination in early chapters, his godless fashion sense, and him doing the funny run up the slope, that's all fine and dandy, but I rarely feel so connected to a character the way I did Touma. The struggle to create, find companionship, live your life, reach out to others... these're things a lot of people struggle with, and of course you see them depicted a lot in media about creators, but Saber gets to the root of what the greatest thing about storytelling really is. Giving people hope, while using the pain of the past as fuel for the future. Sure, Storious may be right about how every story has been done as far back as human civilization gets, he may even be right about how any spin or creativity humanity has is outright predestined. It should be pointless to even try, right? That's where Touma Kamiyama disagrees. He didn't spend all that time fighting and creating just to give up at the idea of predestination. His novel writing-fueled creativity in his early training, his devotion to his friends that let him surpass Kamijo as Dragonic Knight, his compassion for the Primitive Dragon that let him combine their powers to destroy Legeiel as Elemental Dragon, his resolve that let Xross Saber dethrone Solomon, and his passion for the craft of storytelling that let our heroes channel their wishes into Wonder Almighty... all stemming from the belief imparted onto him by his predecessor that "Hope lies beyond your resolution." And that you decide how your story ends. He may not be the greatest Rider to some, he may be as lame as others think he is, he may not even be my favorite, but I have no issue calling Touma Kamiyama... Kamen Rider Saber, one of the all time greatest carriers of the Kamen Rider name.

The final chapter's definitely not as great as some other Rider finales, but goddamn. Primitive Dragon consciously choosing to save Touma is so sweet and such a great emotional payoff, I loved jamming out to the opening theme while our boys lay the smackdown on Storious. Wonder Almighty's a fitting final bit to close the main series out with, if not exactly a great one. I think the cover is great, and the book's body is a lovely shade of candy apple red, but I really don't like how its pages are just the covers of the other books copy-pasted onto onto the pages, that feels lazy. Maybe if it were a panorama of all the books' characters, I'd like it a lot more as a symbol of how unified the Swordsmen are, but eh, what can you do? On a related note, does this mean all the "last episode extra final forms" of the Reiwa Era are gonna be named after their series's opening? That's a neat idea.

I felt a lot of feelings seeing all those video messages of Rider fans all across Japan talking about their favorite stories, and how their passion and fond memories help reshape the world. Mei's monologue at the ceremony about is also really touching and- IS THAT A HUMAGEAR!? :O

Y-yeah dude, it is! Wow, where have you guys been for the past 48 episodes?! Are you guys doing okay? How come you're like... the only one here? Is the technology of Hiden Intelligence only really that prevalent in that very specific metropolitan part of Japan and they're just not coming around much over here? Is it like Dragon Ball where anthropomorphic animals are just vibin' with humans while the heroes are off kicking ass? Apparently he's played by Hasegawa Keiichi, who wrote this episode and had the award ceremony named after him. ...is Hasegawa Keiichi a HumaGear in this universe then? Did he set up this award ceremony in Touma's honor? If so, why is it named after him? Did reading one of Touma's books lead to his Singularity? I know this is just a cameo, but... god, I have so many questions that probably will never be satisfactorily answered.

Overall, if I had to compare Saber to anything, it'd probably be Sam Reimi's Spider-Man trilogy. It's awkward, stupid, overwrought, undercooked, illogically written, scattershot, cheesy as fuck, and has a tendency to squander its otherwise fine execution; but the sheer passion for storytelling, sense of spectacle, deeply fascinating characters, and belief in the ideals set forth by the cast, crew, and fans are absolutely admirable. Improvements would certainly make it an overall better experience, to be sure, but there's something deeply captivating about how wonky this series is. Seeing everybody get their happy ending after all they've been through felt extremely gratifying though, and I may have to wait another for the epilogue to and then wait for Revice, but... man. I'm hella proud of our awkwardly-emoting, fashion disaster novelist and all of his heavily flawed friends for carrying the Kamen Rider name on to the future. Here's hoping Revice will keep it going.

Alright, that's everything I wanted to talk about. Sorry this was so long and ramble-y, I had a lot to say. I'll probably be liveblogging Revice as episodes of that come out, so... look forward to that, I guess. See ya.

[outlanderfandomfollies]

Diana Gabaldon’s Commentary on Casting Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser | November 4, 2013

Goodness, can’t leave you lot to your own devices for long, can I? [g] Given the amount of traffic I see in the stats for this blog and my Facebook page, I conclude that the Casting Wars are still boiling along.

Well. Look.

1) People are entitled to their own opinions. Naturally, I’d prefer these opinions to be expressed—and received—civilly, but up to you, of course. I believe in the virtues of free discourse.

2) I—of course—am likewise entitled to an opinion. [cough]

Now, my opinion is based on rather more information than most others expressed here, because

a) I created Jamie Fraser and thus—presumably–have a pretty good idea of what he really looks and acts like.

b) While I haven’t yet met Sam Heughan, I’ve seen Rather a Lot of him (about 95%, at a rough guess), both in terms of

a. Photographs, and

b. Film, and

c. Bits and pieces, like audition tapes

Naturally, everyone forms mental images while reading. Everybody. I do it when I read other people’s books, too. Now, I can’t imagine why anyone—having read OUTLANDER—would form an image of Jamie as a 7-foot tall Bozo the clown on steroids, but you know….whatever floats your boat.

Why anyone should expect a film company to a) telepathically extract your personal vision of a character and b) try to replicate that onscreen is one of the Great Mysteries of the Universe, and I’m not about to try to solve it here—I got a book to write, among other things, and there are only so many hours in the day.

So I’m just going to say This about That:

Y’all have not seen Sam Heughan “be” Jamie Fraser.

I _have_.

[See more under the cut.]

Now, when they told me who they’d chosen and that they were sending me the audition tapes, I was in the car, driving from Phoenix to Santa Fe with my husband. Unable to get to my computer until we got to Santa Fe, I was madly googling “Sam Heughan” on my iPhone (my husband was driving, I hasten to add).

Frankly, I thought he looked bizarre. He’s 6’3”, that’s fine…very chiseled face, but oddly chiseled, and what’s with the large forehead and cleft chin?!? Jamie doesn’t have a cleft chin and his nose is not all that long, though it _is_ straight…and good grief, I know we wanted somebody who could play a 22-year-old virgin, but this guy hardly looks like he has hair on his behind, let alone the dangly bits…but…

But.

But you know, I _do_ understand what it is that actors do.

(Do you know that, btw? What they do is magic. They can become somebody they aren’t—and their physical outline is just Really Not That Important. (Within limits. Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher is a long way outside those limits…).)

So I sat down at my computer, sort of looking warily through my fingers. Willing to suspend disbelief if I could, but kind of dubious, you know?

So here he is, dark-haired, in a long-sleeved gray T-shirt, and I’m thinking, “Boy, he doesn’t look _anything_ like his IMDB photos, he actually looks pretty human, that’s a relief…”

And five seconds later, Sam Heughan was GONE, and it was Jamie Fraser right there in front of me. True. No costume, no makeup, no props, nothing but cues from an offstage casting director, and…it was him.

He did two scenes. First, a confrontation with Dougal, right after Dougal’s ripped his shirt off in the tavern.

“Devil take ye, Dougal MacKenzie! I dinna owe ye that!” Blazing blue eyes, swelling shoulders, and…bam. Showed this small bit to a (male) friend recently, who blinked at the screen and said, “Man, he’s powerful!” He was.

Second scene was even better; it’s the scene where Jamie explains to Claire exactly why he’s about to punish her. [g] And he had it all: patience, seriousness, annoyance, patience, humor, menace, humor, and…enough sex to drop anyone with functioning ovaries in their tracks.

Now. In the months since then, the production people have been kind enough to show me the occasional glimpse of this or that. I _have_ seen the red hair in its full glory (it took seven tries—and 27 hours in a salon chair, I was told by the victim), and speaking as someone married to a red-head (himself Jamie’s original body model) and with two more in residence…it’s definitely the right kind of red.

Red hair—as I notice a few red-heads have been mentioning—looks Way Different, depending on the light. Unless it’s truly carroty (and Jamie’s is Definitely Not), sometimes it looks almost brown, sometimes it’s red-gold and sometimes it’s all different colors and sometimes it has almost-blond highlights and sometimes…well, let’s put it this way: it doesn’t look like Bozo the clown or Shamus the Wrestler, it looks like Real Hair, just red. (And if you really worry about this, do go and google “red deer images” and _see_ what the heck a red deer’s pelt looks like.)

But beyond the physical details (which are, um…Really Good, and decency prevents me going further, save to say that while Jamie certainly doesn’t look like Thor (gag me with a spoon), he—and Mr. Heughan—look Very Nicely Muscled indeed)….Sam Heughan can _act_. And he totally nailed it.

So. Feel perfectly free to express your own opinions. (I don’t know quite what people expect as a result. Surely they don’t figure that Starz will say, “Oh, no! Robyn MacGillicuddy Stimson thinks Chris Hemsworth should be Jamie! Get Hemsworth’s agent on the phone!” Or at least I hope they don’t think that…) You’ll change your mind in due course.

Or I’ll pay you a dollar. [g]

I love to read Diana’s early impressions of Sam Heughan! The “bizarre” remark about his appearance was so strange! (Elsewhere, Diana even said she initially thought he looked “grotesque”!) 😂 

I was reading a post recently where someone completing mischaracterized part of Diana’s initial impression of Sam Heughan. They apparently did so to promote a certain “agenda” about Sam. Consequently, I thought I’d post one of her earliest (and most thorough) commentaries about her early impressions of Sam. (For some of her even earlier comments about Sam--from July 5 to 9, 2013--see POST1, POST2, POST3, POST4, POST5, POST6. BTW, these comments are consistent with Diana’s November 4th commentary. After seeing Sam transform himself into Jamie, Diana was clearly a fan.)

[edited]

[rockets-capris]

So, it’s New Year’s Eve so I thought I would talk about some of my favorite movies to come out of 2019 and some of my most disappointing movies to come out of 2019 even though nobody cares.

5 favorite movies this year:

5: “The Irishman” directed by Martin Scorsese. I don’t have anything particularly notable to say about the Irishman other than its de-aging CG looked amazing. But I really liked this movie the only reason it’s not higher up on the list is because the plot was a bit too hard to follow for my baby brain.

4. “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” directed by Andre Øvredal (I’m so sorry André I really hope I spelled that right). I love this movie. It’s great. Everyone should watch it. It’s a movie I will watch every Halloween season for sure. The biggest compliment I can give it are the visuals. I can’t even describe how good the monsters look. But like we been knew.

3. “Us” directed by Jordan Peele. Jordan Peele is the Taika Watiti of horror and he’s gonna completely revolutionize the genre. I love this movie because (spoilers) everybody lives, it’s high concept done well and it shows that we as a society can still make good horror movies with good twists.

2. “El Camino” directed by Vince Gilligan. Since this movie came out so long after Breaking Bad came out it gave me the closure that I forgot I needed. After season 5 of BB we were all wondering what happened to Jesse but then we figured “welp guess we’ll never know” but now we DO and I’m super satisfied with where he ends up in the end, it’s what he deserves, but most of this movie is very sad and I like it very much. (It deserves an award for how it handled trauma btw)

1. “Joker” directed by Todd Philips yeah, yeah, I’m a basic bitch but I don’t care I like Joker and Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic in this movie and it’s very well-written. I know a lot of people don’t like it but . . . it was very satisfying to watch and it was an excellent theater experience due to its impeccable sound design and I know *some* of y’all hated it before you saw it because of the way some fans react to Joker as a character. (Weliveinasociety)

5 most disappointing movies of 2019 . . .

5. “Pet Sematary” directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer. The reason this movie is on this list is because it’s ending was really stupid and bad and the reason it’s not higher is because the rest of it was good.

4. “Child’s Play” directed by Lars Klevberg. No offense to anyone who liked this reboot but I can’t think of any Child’s Play fan who would enjoy Child’s Play 2019. Anyone who likes Chucky won’t like this version of Chucky which is such a shame because Mark Hamill is one of my favorite actors of all time and he did a great job as always I don’t blame him at all but the fact that he had to be in such a sucky movie is just sad.

3. “It 2” directed by Andrés Muschietti. Yeah It 2 was disappointing cause the whole point of them splitting it into two movies was so they wouldn’t have to jump from kids to adults so much and this movie focuses so much giving us backstory they forgot to give us in the previous movie that nothing I loved about the book is in this, or portrayed enough (the town being destroyed, Eddie Kaspbrak’s wife, AUDRA, Ben having character, the turtle, AUDRA) so yeah that’s why it’s on this list.

2. “Maleficent 2” directed by Joachim Rønning. This movie man . . . I am at some point going to type up more about why I don’t like it but just know that I adore the first Maleficent, it’s such a beautiful story and this movie lacks all the nuance and subtlety of its predecessor. Extremely disappointing.

1. “Rise of the Skywalker” directed by JJ Abrams. See I was wondering if I should wait till ROTS is no longer so fresh in our minds but fuck it. This movie is bad. As someone who loves TFA and TLJ ROTS is the weakest of the trilogy. I don’t wanna rip into it too much cause I have friends on here who like it but it’s chaotic and makes a lot of decisions I really don’t like. But it’s totally cool if people like it I know some people do I just personally did not feel like this resolved the sequel trilogy at all.

[light-and-darkness-equally-well]

I Saw The Crimes of Grindelwald

And like any movie, there were things I loved.

Baby. Nifflers.

The freaking artistic departments and the COSTUMING were all very beautiful.

I liked Theseus Scamander more than I thought I would - maybe I was getting more realistic older sibling vibes, maybe his human moments just hit me. Idk.

OMG the cast performed so well??? I’d literally just list all their names if I wanted to point out anything specific. If you’ve seen the movie yell about the spoilery things in the comments with me?

SPOILERS BELOW

Okay, Leta was awesome and I had honestly expected her to follow Grindelwald? But they definitely broke expectations with this one. Really pulled a Last Jedi on us in that regard - the person we expect to be tempted to the dark gave her life for the right reasons, and one of our brightest, most hopeful and wholesome characters in the first movie goes dark.

BTW she made me want to cry when she screamed “Walk with me,” ugh. I really hope she doesn’t die still on Grindelwald’s side. The man must be a powerful occlumens to not reveal his actual endgame to a legilimens that just hears people without even trying. I’m glad it wasn’t just “for love”, though that is a driving factor for her - it’s for freedom to express that love, and being caught in a moment of vulnerability in the crowd, and Jacob finally calling her crazy out loud for that decision.

Also, like, can we talk about how her descent into darkness was definitely not unexpected? She enchanted Jacob to keep him compliant! I mean, I get it - but Jacob was the one who loved more in that scenario, because he cared more about her than about them being together. She could have campaigned for the right to marry him at the Ministry - but she went with mind control. There’s a clear difference in what she believed was right and wrong versus others.

IDK I just hope that if she does come to a breaking point it won’t take someone killing Jacob to bring her to the Light again.

Nagini was pretty cool even though she was just kind of along for the ride? I liked her companionship with Credence. Unfortunately we already know how her story ends.

Okay, gonna touch on Johnny Depp - I’m not extremely well read on the irl controversy and really based off of what I know I can’t personally condemn or acquit him just because I don’t have all the info.

But I’m able to separate a person’s actions from their work either way and - he was a goddamn good Grindelwald. Very charismatic and softspoken when he needed to be, cruel in turn to see where loyalties lie, and he knew how to push all the right buttons. The only part that just made me giggle at the absolute wrong moment for a movie to make me want to giggle (with death and destruction on the line, ugh) was the “I hate Paris”. It was too cheeky for me at that moment, idk.

ON TO HOGWARTS

Freaking Jude Law, ugh. He definitely was an amazing Dumbledore. I was all for his performance, and there were definitely images with the Mirror of Erised scene where I just was like wow, you two had such a profound bond. And Grindelwald used “The Greater Good” line, which was a thing between the two of them regarding their positions on this whole new world order thing. He’s enigmatic and friendly, especially in his interactions with Newt and Leta.

(OMG McGonagall was there for a hot second and it was perfection)

Theseus Scamander, my friends. He is SUCH an older brother around Newt. I am an older sister, and can confirm. My heart broke for him when Leta died, omg.

and Flamel was unexpectedly hilarious and simultaneously badass?

Tina was kind of following a trope that I expected of the spurned girlfriend, so meh on the storyline but A+++ with the “salamander” dialogue between her and Newt and the moment when she pulls out the little bell toy.

I don’t have much to say about Newt because he was very typical Newt. It worked well and I was glad he wasn’t the only main player in the movie, but I adored every bit of him.

AND OKAY THE NIFFLER BEING THE ONE TO STEAL THE THING FROM GRINDELWALD OMG

Okay, you’ve guessed that I’ve been holding back on the Credence bit because -

What the actual fuck?

Okay, the very first option is that Grindelwald is a lying liar that set it all up, and that would not be a surprise honestly.

(Gonna still call him Credence for a bit on account of that notion)

But these things tend to be important, these “phoenixes come to Dumbledores” type of things. So I’ll take it as truth for now.

And we have heard nothing about an Aurelius Dumbledore even existing until this point - and we know very little about Ariana and Aberforth. So I suppose it’s plausible that we never heard his name before. Still!

He has been pulled from every side for every reason to use him or destroy him, and that breaks my heart. Look at how freaking powerful he is at the end at Nurmengard (which we know later, of course, will be Grindelwald’s prison) - all he could do. And that of course worries me, because under Grindelwald he could do a ton of damage.

The one good thing Grindelwald does, imo: give Credence a freaking wand. Ezra Miller has been waiting too goddamn long for this moment, probably vibrating in his seat with excitement, let him be a proper wizard.

And how in Merlin’s name did he get where he is? I have a pretty interesting timeline.

Ariana Dumbledore, the youngest Dumbledore until now, was an Obscurial child because of muggle bullies. She died during a fight between Albus, Aberforth, and Grindelwald (who may have already witnessed her power and had ideas of how to use her? Albus hadn’t enjoyed the burden of caring for, essentially, a disabled sister. Maybe he had been wondering how to take her off his hands, and Aberforth had seen it coming and that’s how that mess occurred.)

Anyway, she died in the fight - no one knows who killed her out of the three. This was 1899.

Credence was born two years later.

Now, he doesn’t necessarily have to be a brother - he could be a cousin - but I’m super inclined to think that if he is indeed Aurelius Dumbledore, that he’s the youngest brother, or at least is symbolized as such if he is a cousin. (Wizards live a lot longer than average humans, so it’s totally plausible to have siblings that far apart I think) It would be a different mother, because Kendra Dumbledore (Albus’s mother) died some time the same year before Ariana did.

And Albus, upon finding out about Credence and perhaps guilty about his own treatment of Ariana, thinks I am not fit to care for a child keep away and offers to send Aurelius and his mother to America. Thus we have Credence.

NOW this is assuming we don’t get an entire retcon of the Dumbledore history. If we do that, then my mini-headcanon is a bit more disturbing.

We know very, very little about Ariana Dumbledore. We didn’t know she existed until the seventh book. Same for Aberforth. We learn a lot about Dumbledore all at once from some unreliable sources (Skeeter etc) through Harry, who finds certain information more important than other info.

I looked up the timelines earlier, so the first theory fits better with canon. If we throw timelines and whether Kendra Dumbledore died at a certain point out - if we assume that the little tidbits might be wrong -

What if Ariana wasn’t hidden away in the house? What if she was born later? What if she and her mother moved to America when it became clear that Albus wouldn’t support them?

And this is sort of fanfictiony, and very weird, but what if -

Aurelius was Ariana? I mean, Obscurials. Dumbledores. What if Dumbledore didn’t love his sister enough to keep her close, and supposedly lost her to a storm at sea?

What if, in a bout of childhood accidental magic, Credence changed their own body, uncomfortable as a little girl?

(This leads Mary Lou Barebone to scream about witchcraft for the rest of her days, but she still takes care of the cursed little boy. She feeds him, houses him, hopes his sins will be forgiven, punishes him because he’s a little curse on her too, and Lord if it happened to her-)

So Albus believes Ariana to be dead, but if he can save this Obscurial boy, just maybe -

Yeah. Okay. So. Tangent over, fanfiction to be written, this movie was great and weird and confusing and cool. Ta-da.

[white-queen-lacus]

La porta rossa 2 - finale -

So, the end has come. I truly could expect everything but that kind of end. Well... at least, about the culprit... 

I loved the fact that almost all of this season’s episodes began with Anna’s dreams. The first episode began with Anna dreaming of her and Leo in the bed, cuddling and talking about the little Vanessa who was still in her womb, when suddenly he reminded Anna that he was dead. There was also the dream of Leo and a young Vanessa singing together in the karaoke (like Jamonte and his daughter) and there, Leo asked Anna to not leave their daughter, and in the final episode, Anna dreamt of Leo asking her why she did cheat on him even when he had come back and Anna answering that he was dead. The two final episodes told about family, bonds, and jealousy. We are given a partial truth said by Jonas, who was questioned by Jamonte and Paoletto (btw Paoletto is the new best inspector even though he still isn’t at Leo’s level XD). Jonas proves himself as smart as his son (oh, how much I have dreamt of saying this about him!!), who is watching the whole scene. And finally, Jonas is able to feel Leo’s presence and to warn him: Leo mustn’t interfere with life again or it will be dangerous. Leo is visibly p*ssed off and upset because he wants answers. He needs to prevent his daughter’s kidnapping and he believes that Jonas is the key. In the meanwhile, Vanessa (the elder), is always more and more involved with him, something that scares Leo. He knows that she is in love with him, but he tries to push her away because he doesn’t want to put her in danger, and moreover, he prioritizes his daughter.  Anna, still in a Questura’s cell after her spontaneous submission, is still trying to figure out how to incriminate a Public Prosecutor (Alessi). Together with Jamonte, she finds her way, but she decides to be arrested (for real) in order to give her colleagues the chance to act undisturbed (she, along with the forgotten XD Piras, is a DA too).  At the same time, while Vanessa, acting on her own, ends up being caught by Alessi, and is struggling for her life, Paoletto and Stella (they make an amazing team/couple), always followed by Leo, find a link between the deaths of Rambelli and the dialer (and Leo realizes that the same gun was used to hurt Jonas, thirty years before).  Then, Leo, invoked by Vanessa, tries to help her by using his telekinesis and secures the door in order to prevent Alessi and his fellow to come in and kill her. Vanessa, visibly distressed and upset, this time feels totally abandoned by Leo, who, as desperate as her, is trying to find his daughter... who’s been kidnapped during the fireworks. Later, we find out that the culprit is... Leo’s mother, Silvia. The woman is definitely out like a balcony, and she is like that since ages. Fearing that the love of her life, Jonas, wanted to run away after a robbery (in which the book of the Count of Cagliostro = logbook of the Phoenix = the key to arresting the members of the sect, was taken), she shot him (unbeknown to her, Jonas, as a ghost, had seen everything). Then, when Jonas had wakened up after the coma, she killed the dialer (who worked for Rambelli) and Rambelli (who was the only one to know that she had tried to kill Jonas). Silvia wanted to take the little Vanessa, who was her son’s living part and running away with Jonas, to have a second chance.

Then, when the elder Vanessa’s story is resolved when Stella and Paoletto find her and arrest her kidnappers (as well as the head of the Phoenix), while Anna and Jamonte, who are on little Vanessa’s kidnappers’ traces, arrive at the old building site. Here, we assist at a truly deep and tragical moment. Silvia is found by Jonas and the two of them have an honest and critical conversation. All the truth is exposed and Jonas, who took his granddaughter with him, makes Silvia understand that they have never had the chance to be together, nor they have and will have a second one, because their son, who’s watching them and who’s with them, won’t allow it, not to the detriment of his daughter. Leo, in fact, tries with all his powers, to stop them, until they come on the rooftop, the place where Leo was killed. Here, Leo understands that his father had always known about him, since the beginning and he was with him even at the time of Leo’s death. Silvia, feeling completely alone and powerless, ends up suiciding, and right before crossing the red door, she sees Leo. The scene was definitely agonizing. She recognizes her son immediately and tries to caress his cheek. Leo, full of sorrow, grief, and pain, moves his cheek away. Silvia only tells him that he’s like she’s always imagined he could be, then she passes away. Few moments after, Anna (who has understood that Leo was still there) and Jamonte, reached for Jonas and Vanessa. The little girl is safe and Anna can finally know that Leo saved both.

Then, while life goes on (the Phoenix is definitively erased, Stella and Paoletto come back together, Jamonte and Jonas come both back to each life), we see the best scene after Anna and Leo’s temporary reunion. Anna is cuddling her little Vanessa, sitting in her bedroom, asking if Leo is there. Then, she asks Leo to hug both and he does it. Anna, for the first time in a long time, feels Leo’s presence strongly and they abandon themselves to a moment of deep emotion (and for us viewers, a moment of desperation because he can’t be with them anymore. ;___;). Anna tells Leo if he can see how beautiful their daughter is and that she looks like him, then she hopes that she hasn’t inherited her dad’s bad temper. Leo silently smiles and replies that Vanessa is beautiful and he hopes she’s taken everything from her mother. Then, Anna thanks him for his protection but also asks him to leave them. Anna can’t live with him like this, because their lives must go on and he’s no longer with them. Leo, upset, agrees, by claiming that he would do everything for them and says farewell with his favorite gesture (the fist in the air). Just in time, Anna sees him in the mirror, but she can’t do anything and she hugs Vanessa, crying. At the end, Leo, coming back to the place of his death, says farewell to Vanessa, asking forgiveness for what happened and claiming that the more he stays in the world, the more his beloveds are in danger (like Jonas had said). While reaching the red door, anyway, he can’t open it. Vanessa, still tied to him, full of resent, jealousy and doubts (Leo is her shadow, but they don’t know the reason yet), prevents him from passing away, so Leo is trapped, this time, in the living world, against his will.  So... La Porta Rossa 3 is waiting for us now!!  I can’t wait to watch it! This season was an amazing rollercoaster, totally unpredictable, touching, full of mysteries that even Urobuchi couldn’t do better, with supernatural events wonderfully merged with reality. Each character was wonderfully written. Leo’s desperation was tangible in every episode. We could see that he would have been a great dad for Vanessa, totally fond of his little one and he and Anna would have overcome their divergences if only he could have been together again. Both proved to be the best inspectors and Anna’s resolution, along with her drama as a mother with post-partum depression were powerful. Then we finally found out the truth about Leo, Jonas and Rambelli’s link. I could never think that Rambelli was the one who gave Leo the surname Cagliostro, but he did for irony. The scene of the meeting between Leo and his former mentor/killer was OMG to watch. “You were like a father to me.”, “But you were not my son”.... RAMBELLI YOU BASTARD!!! I hope he’s rotting in hell.  I’m not this satisfied with Vanessa, instead. She fell in love with Leo (ok dear, I can understand you, but... seriously... he’s a ghost!), she put herself in danger in order to have him saving her multiple times, she forced him to stay when she knew perfectly how staying was suffering for him... she revealed herself as an immature girl. And now, she’s been kidnapped from someone who’s studying the mediums. What will happen next? I can’t wait!!! In the meanwhile, let’s remember that... END DOESN’T EXIST. <3

[attract-mode-collective]

Just Another Late Night At The Game Center

And just another massive dose of game culture, as originally shared on the Attract Mode Twitter account, (most of) everything that was shared in the latter half of February. The first half was covered here.

Before I forget: the above is courtesy of erickimphotography.com.

Again, given how short Feb is supposed to be, I figured this post would be too... and it's not. So am wonder if going weekly might best going forward?

Anyhow, where did I leave off last time? Oh yeah; Valentine's Day. And here’s Amy Rose, from the day after, reminding us all that, as great as love can be, it also hurts (via sonicthehedgeblog)...

Check out this devastating big boot from Mario, one that would make the WWE's Undertaker or Kane proud (via suppermariobroth)...

You're no doubt familiar with Julie Bell's work, but are you aware of the close resemblance between her art & the artist herself? (via slbtumblng)...

Some nice, pixelated sukajans we have here (via kauzara)...

Look at these hipsters...

Look at these hipsters standing around, on a Brooklyn rooftop...

Look at these hipsters standing around, on a Brooklyn rooftop in leggings based upon the interactive menu for the Super Famicom's satellite modem peripheral. (via minusworld.co.uk)...

Am legit thinking of getting this shirt covered with quotes from people trying to figure out which Metal Gear character is gay (via kotaku.com)...

Am rather fond of Data Weave, which has more than a passing resemblance to the Eliss scarf that helped put the Attract Mode shop on the map (via prostheticknowledge)...

When you go to bed, don't forget to never use your Dreamcast as a pillow (nor should you ever place it on a bucket filled with leafy greens either, but you probably already knew that one; via posthumanwanderings)...

Not sure which SNK 40th Anniversary shirt I like more (via miki800.com)...

It's just Hidetaka Suehiro, playing... I think The Last Blade? Criminally underrated Neo Geo game btw (via nintendu)...

And the late, great Robin Williams playing Ground Zero Texas for the Sega CD (via celebgames)...

Plus the President of Turkey, circa 1990, playing Galaxy Force II for whatever reason (via historium)..

Pro-tip to any & all custom arcade cabinet sellers: if you're going to photograph someone playing a game on your thing, have said person actually play the thing (in this case, Robotron utilizes dual sticks and no buttons; via arcadephile)...

Today's recommended reading is a follow-up to another older post, one that's all about Willie Williams, who not only inspired Virtua Fighter's Jeffry McWild but also Tekken's Paul Phoenix (via lordmo)...

After seeing this gif of a young woman punching a dinosaur (or possibly a dragon) in the crotch, I may have to give Capcom Fighting Jam a second look (via kazucrash)...

Sticking with the subject of crotches for just one bit, everyone out there's familiar with PuLiRuLa, right? (via kazucrash)

Just a friendly reminder of how wacky commercials for the PlayStation 2 were back in the day (via kurhl)...

Back to the subject of dinosaurs... yet still sticking with fun under the sun (via sidestorygaiden)...

If I'm gonna share fan art of unofficial PlayStation 1 era mascots, then I have to pass along this rendering of Abe (via it8bit)...

Seen countless folk play music with a Game Boy or a NES... but a Dreamcast? @slowmagic is the very first, and with a Hello Kitty edition Dreamcast no less...

Does anyone know if these figures of Dorimukyasuko & friends were commercially produced or if they were just made for the Sega no Game wa Sekai Ichi~i~i~I ad that the image comes from? (via vgprintads)...

We've gotten snowfall here in NYC over the past few weeks, once during during sunset, but alas it wasn't nearly as pretty as this (via kirokazepixel)...

It's been ages since I've posted any Game Culture Snapshots, despite countless promises that I'd fix that. Well, until that finally happens, here just one, from IndieCade East 2018. Which was an epic bust, but hey, at least I finally got to play that Bill Viola game I first encountered at GDC 2008...

PLEASE tell me that GBA Video carts are the new hot means of distributing bootleg Hollywood flicks (via @katribou)...

This part from The Thing always reminded me of Asteroids on the Atari 7800 (via pixpunk)...

I posted this on Twitter, not realizing that I had shared it on the blog once before. But since I can’t find that original post, and since it's so damn nice, plus totally worth looking at again (via humanoidhistory)...

I also need to re-share that Tron movie poster cuz it's the first lead up to this Blade Runner-related spread from Joystik Magazine (via mendelpalace)...

As someone who fetishizes old video game magazines, I'm legit ashamed that I didn't know about Joystik sooner (via here & here)...

Please enjoy a healthy helping of scans from Lovely Sweet Dream, the dream journal that would become the basis of LSD for the PlayStation 1 (via here & here)...

Sorry, but I still think the idea of a multi-billionaire sending his sports car into space just cuz he can to be kinda cringey, yet that doesn't mean I'd don't think this pixelated recreation is any less pleasant (via it8bit)...

I've never been to Beverly Hills, so I have no idea if this portrayal according to Super Chase: Criminal Termination is accurate or not; maybe it was when the game was produced? (via obscurevideogames)...

Meanwhile, closer to where I am (somewhat; am not all that far from Long Island) is Mario & Yoshi & the Book of Revelation (via greathaircut)...

Are you playing Mario? Or is Mario playing you? (via suppermariobroth)...

Game Boys. And Game Girls. Mostly Girls. (via contac)

Before anyone asks, no, I do not have a bigger/wallpaper appropriate-sized version of this super sexy image of a couple of Wiis (via klaus-laserdisc)...

I think I kinda need to do this to my PlayStation (via dreamcast.tokyo)...

... Which reminds of those fancy, souped up by audiophiles PSXs I mentioned a whiles ago...

I celebrated Cat Day in Japan by posting this fave official King of Fighters illustration (via videogamesdensetsu)....

... along with this Monster Hunter fan art (via kerriaitken)...

... plus this highlight of a fave WarioWare: Twisted micro game (via suppermariobroth)...

So yeah, Flash sucks, I get that, but as the platform fades away, so does the opportunity to play games like Fear Less! (via zombie-chaser)...

Thankfully, WORLD OF HORROR, "a love letter to the cosmic horror work of Junji Ito", is something that's much more accessible (for now at least)...

I don't know much about Dujanah, which has you assuming the role of a Muslim woman with grievances against a military force that's occupying her Islamic homeland, other than it looks extremely compelling...

Yet another game I need to check out is CONTINUUM, which is a shmup that combines time manipulation and Tetris? (via alpha-beta-gamer)...

It's a legit shame that Jetpack Squad has seemingly fallen off the map (via shmups)...

Another shmup that I really, really want to play (though it's starting to feel increasingly unlikely) is AEROBAT, which looks just as gorgeous (and insane) today as it did the first time I laid eye (via shmups)...

Yet another game that was never meant to be, and the only thing we have here is some incredible looking concept art; if it ended up happening & was any good, I wonder if I'd be a PC-FX owner? (via videogamesdensetsu)...

If a Tokyo Dark Souls was ever to happen, which artist's take do you prefer; this one (via visor-visual)...

... or this one? (via mendelpalace)

You know about celebrity roasts, right? Well, a comedy club in Long Island City had one for Mario, though I have no idea how it went; I had kung fu practice that night...

Me, when the coffee kicks in (via anthony10000000)...

I had no idea that Typing of the Space Harrier was even a thing (via posthumanwanderings)...

It's a bit unsettling how some of Dreamcast Magazine's advice on how to survive Y2K are still useful today, in particular their words of wisdom regarding Seaman (via posthumanwanderings)...

Megadora Man, a Tokusatsu-esque take on the Mega Drive, for Beep! Mega Drive; am assuming his foes are inspired by the Famicom and PC Engine (though am not totally sure which is which; via obscurevideogames)...

Question: how hard would it be for someone in the US to get the first three issues of Famitsu from the Japanese Kindle Store? (via miki800.com)

Been well over a decade since first laying eyes and I FINALLY know the identity of the artist behind a series of Mario illustrations that has long left me stupefied: his name is Ishihara Gōjin (via videogamesdensetsu)...

I woke up the other day with a sense of purpose, with the knowledge that I finally have a mission in life: to do whatever I can to make this dancing kid from Sega Splash Golf a viral sensation (via sonicthehedgeblog)...

Though speaking of morning, been feeling run down as of late, though it's my own damn fault for not having breakfast. Which is why I can't wait for my Persona 3 toaster has yet to arrive (via gasp-theenemy)...

Had no idea that MAME can also emulate those crappy, Tiger handheld games; naturally there's not much to look at, since none of the background is part of the game's code (via lanceboyles)...

Eggman has a sense of humor (via voidirium)...

Eggman also has aesthetics (via posthumanwanderings)...

When you mess with the textures in Wind Waker for the sole purpose of making Vaporwave Link (via pmpkn)...

Man, I really wish each and every mech in Tech Romancer actually had its own anime (via ultrace)...

Before Mappy was a video game, it was a physical game involving real deal robots (via namcomuseum)...

And I swear, one of these days, we'll make available online Zac Gorman's print from Comics Vs Games 2...

In my time I've encountered lots & lots of BMO fan art, so much that it has become increasingly difficult to take notice and be impressed, yet this one managed to do so regardless (via it8bit)...

Let's all take a moment to appreciate the instruction manual for Cubivore, shall we (via skincoats)...

Cubivore's Japanese box art is also very nice (via gaygamer)...

An important message for all parents out there, concerning Minecraft (via reddit.com)...

When you can't afford the licensing fees for Miami Vice, Ghostbusters, Barbarella, I think... and maybe Logan's Run? (via mendelpalace)...

Given how Platoon ended up as a NES game, the idea of the Terminator on a Tiger handheld isn't totally far-fetched (via rewind01)...

And finally, PUT THAT CONTROLLER DOWN, NOW! (via fuzzyghost)

[cindyfelicia]

Hi, I hope you’re doing well!! I was just wondering if you read comics? If so could you recommend some/ how to start getting into them? I want to start reading them, but it’s so stressful trying to figure out where to start. Also I love you blog!

Hi there! you’re all manners of sweet and kind thank u my advice abt approaching comics is going for solo runs first, this is how I, personally, did it and it’s way easier than jumping in on team books, or worse events bc they tend to be messier and need more bg info and pre-existing knowledge than a comic that focus on just the one character; I also feel it’s good to start with current or at least recent comics, you can always read the old stuff when you’re better acquainted with how comics work and which characters, artists and writers you like (or can tolerate).

actual recs under the cut because this got so long

i was gonna do a whole list of mcu characters’ solos because most people entry point to comics rn is superhero movies, and hmu if you want that, but instead I think I’m gonna rec you some good comics that are either separated enough from main marvel continuity as to be intelligible without extensive info gathering, or I just think they’re great and worth a bit of confusion (part of starting out reading comics is not knowing fully wth is going on sometimes, but stiking with it for some good art or for characters you love -I’m not gonna go so far as to say for good writing bc that’s just not realistic):

if you like yourself some spider-people:- silk (2015) and vol 2 (2016) are my absolute favorites- I’m not very much into spiderman but I read renew your vows  and it’s lovely,  it’s just not a main universe comic it’s an au where things are as, imo, they should be with ye old web slinger, and it’s good for getting your feet wet in the huge pool of spider-man comics;- I love miss jessica drew (spider-woman) but her solo is……. questionable if someone has a good jess drew intro rec pls tell me so I can pass it on, - miles morales has been written badly in more ways than one but I love him so I suffer, I can direct you without scruples only to his novel tho, absolutely lovely and not written by brian michaelbendis lmao- anya corazon is a really good character that marvel loves to forget it has, let’s not make the same mistake;- black widow 2014 and 2016 and bw: the name of the rose are all good comics (I know technically nat isn’t a spider person but like nothing about spider-woman’s powers screams ‘spider’ either so..

for wakanda I’d say good recent start-ups would be: - black panther (2016), - black panther: world of wakanda (w/ a lesbian couple as protag), - and rise of the black panther (ongoing)

some non x-men team books that are easier to approach as a beginner imho:-young avengers vol 2 (vol 1 has its moments if you want to start from the beginning with them but a lot of it involves the civil war arc and stuff.. also some characters die, the art is less good and I want to protect people from 17’s yo cassie lang’s nipples poking through her shirt.. I wish someone had protected me tbh) -I want to rec some Runaways but besides the current run (which is alright) there’s a lot to be said against the writing in most of the rest of them maybe vol 1? to have the origins pinned down-I feel like after a small read through of what exactly the hell was going on with secret wars you could approach A-Force vol 1 and the first half of vol 2 (the second half ties in with civil war II and I’m not touching that mess) and that and avenger world and sometimes secret avengers to me are good avengers books-she hulk 2014 and totally awesome hulk are my greens of choice but if you want an intro to bruce banner idont actually know, sorry-for the asgardians: thor 2014 and it’s follow up mighty thor, thor: god of thunder, angela: asgard’s assassin and its sequel angela: queen of hel, and loki: agent of asgard are my pick of this crop-we also have Fun here at marvel comics on occasion and both patsy walker aka hellcat and squirrel girl are nice in their own way although the latter isn’t really my thing

some follow up on the young avengers:- hawkeye (2013) an absolute fan favorite, good to discover that actually clint barton was a good character it’s that the avengers movies are just bad and hate people with disabilities- a couple of follow-ups to that (x) (x) and the kate bishop solo all pretty nice- america chavez’s solo (I’m just here to suggest gay comics, that’s almost all I read really)

I want to rec Champions to people but frankly it’s just a long series of event interruptions and bullshit interspersed with a couple of nice moments so far, so I’m gonna rec you some kids that are in the champions and have solos I haven’t already mentioned:- kamala khan’s book is probably my favorite ongoing series at marvel right now about any non-mutant char, I cannot say enough good about it,- nova is nice,- miles morales (spider-man) and amadeuscho (totally awesome hulk) are also there but I’ve already mentioned themalso in this house we love and respect elektranatchiosand any other attitude just isn’t tolerated.

on to the x-men, gotta love those guys, you just gotta:- like I said I prefer to tell people to start from recent comics but with the xmen that’s so difficult? it’s been 10+ bad years for them because of the movie rights situation and just marvel being shit in general, so my one recent team book to approach the x-men is prob x-men ‘92? because its based off of the xm animated series so you don’t have to straightaway deal with some mutant plague, eugenics plots, and other catastrophic events, but you can still get to know more of the char we all love - I want to say generation x vol 2, it’s not a good starting point for anything really but I love it so so much I had to mention it even tho it was cancelled and I’m still angry as hell about it.

the solo situation is better. I’m gonna be able to breathe without tasting my own bile while I type this, hurray!-all new wolverine follows laura kinney as she takes up the mantle from logan-iceman, good solid comic abt coming out and ice puns, who doesn’t like bobby really-jean grey, yes she’s a teen girl in this, yes it’s weird and I hate de-aging characters but it’s nice to see her train with different mutants, struggling with the incoming phoenix force and her adult self’s shadow, not really great entry point to jean grey but id read it anyway-if you were into the 00’s xmen movies like me, or at least a normal person’s amount the phoenix recently returned and with her adult!jean grey, it was a good book for me and good if you want to later start reading the actual phoenix saga (which is a lot of material so starting small with this might help) -I love wandamaximoff and despite what they’ve done to the maximoffs in order to bring them into the mcu (was it worth it for that result btw? really?) her recent book was good and I genuinely loved it -storm’s solo is so good, you’re gonna fall in love with an het ship and you’re not gonna regret it either-rogue and gambit, is ongoing and it’s good to get a little acquainted with these characters but mostly it’s about explorign their relationship

I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot of good x-men content atm but I can’t stop thinking I need to mention that there are ongoing series you could pick up its just.. I hate them.. some started out promising (xmen gold, astonishing xmen), but they’ve not developed in good directions imo, but I still feel they should be mentioned, there’s also a weapon x comic if you want to go for a more bloody kind of book and xmen blue if you like time displaced teens or something? god its bad

jeez this is so so long and guess what? I haven’t even finished yet.. there’s some excellent indie comics out there and with those you really don’t need to worry abt knowing any 30 years old lore or anything you pick them up and they explain themselves like any other normal media out there, I know, be still my heart:

- lumberjanes is my absolute favorite, a little corny, but so much fun and cuteness and if I could go back in time I’d give it to my little bi self so she’d know she’s not alone and anything I feel that ways about has a special place i my heart js

- Motor crush, there really isn’t any other comic book with a black lesbian as protagonist out there that I can think of, good if you’re into motorcycles but if like in my case that threatens to put you to sleep, it also has a sci-fi streak and solid character work, you won’t regret giving it a try

- moonstruck, cute non-white gay werewolves and other mythological creatures are there, I feel this cathers to me specifically every time I open it?? bless

- Hi-Fi fight club or heavy vinyl (they changed the title) if you want a period piece that’s fun and cute and gay (I meant it about me reading only gay comics as you can tell)

- saga, for a space, well ya know.. saga I feel that I can describe it as romeo and juliet in space with added racial commentary except they don’t kill themselves, I have to say not my favorite but you might stick with it for the characters, I sure do

- the wicked + the divine, I feel very much the same about this as I do about saga, only this is mythology based so like.. I sold my soul to it, but please do tread with care there’s a lot of deaths in it and so many of these dead people are gays and/or poc.. I’m none too pleased about it and I’d understand anyone not wanting to pick it up, I mean the deaths are basically in the premises of the books but that doesn’t change the end result..

lastly like I said dc is not my area of expertise but I’ve been following with pleasure both batwoman and green lanterns, and mr miracle was an amazing comic so I thought I’d mention them

[zenosanalytic]

HoXPoX Liveblog: Powers of X#5

Keeping it going with PoX5! As Always; The Link vuv

Continuing the HoXPoX readthrough with Powers of X#5! Cover's another Savage Land variant the character drawing isn't AS extreme as the last one, tho the women are still preternaturally thin and Jean's boobs have that unnaturally robust&high tacked-on look so common to comics :T 

Opening X Quote: "they will think we are doing one thing, but the truth is we are doing something altogether different". DECEPTION!!! I'm wondering when Moira's gonna come back into this story given her disappearance from the middle books. 

X0: The XMen, Dallas TX, Year 1. Xavier's talking to Forge aboout making the mind-copying upgrades to Cerebro. SUMMARY TECHNICAL DIALOGUE my favorite owo owo owo There's talking in a room filled with this cool Ocean hologram and I love it. 

(also they're not using the awful color scheme of 80s&90s Forge, which I thank them for -____-) 

Here's a question: is there any discourse out there abt how MUCH LIKE Forge Solid Snake looks? Cuz they look father and son :| :|

AAAUUUGH This Maniacal Xavier face has slain me! I will Share It uwu:

GAAAAAAH LOOK AT THIS MANIPULATIVE NERD!!! i love him uvu uvu uvu

Infopage on Cerebro 7.0 Most of it's just worldbuilding technical summary, but there's an interesting tidbit that Xavier has replaced his own "self" with a previous "copy" twice. Wonder if we'll learn about those instances :?

AHHH Also: Moira's in a No Place(basically Krakoa pocket-planes that are undetectable&impenetrable). Wonder what she's up to?

Cut to X1 Year 10, the Louvre. Mags and Xavier are confronting Frost over something infront of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, no time to go into the symbolism of that just now. The questionable motivation and involvement with the Cult of the Great Gods seems telling.

there are more basic lvls to it tho: Nike's in the background, Xavier looking at it, when he asks her to help them form a government for Krakoa; the implication, he's looking/considering their victory, is obvsl.  It's above him as he explains his drug masterstroke to her.

There's an interesting thing here where Mags is positioned as the mid-point/referee/border btw Emma and Charles. When X mentions the nation of Krakoa, she turns to Mags as someone she trusts to be the "voice of reason" against concentrating mutants in one place(risking Genoa)

idk how common it's been leading up to this series, but I like how HoXPoX recognizes the recklessness danger Xavier's maximalist dedication to Mainstreaming sometimes puts mutants in.

to be clear XMen villains positions were often explicitly and cartoonishly villainous and self-serving(for instance Hellfire was long just cartoonish mutant supremacist aristos, much like Mags), but this reimagining along more preservationist lines allows it to be a real argument

Like: theyre positing a Frost for whom the Hellfire Club/Corp was a way to live unseen among humans, wielding power in a way that could carve some safety out for some mutants. I think that's a bit charitable given the clear class elements of Hellfire's role in the canon but still

"This is that day youve been waiting for/to make right what went wrong" they say, Nike behind Mags(he'd just told Frost abt their repop plans; signaling he'd convinced her to listen?)

!!This is interesting: She asks how it's going to be different than all the other times, Mags says "let us show you" and presents one of the Krakoa flowers... but it's in something which looks A LOT like the "Seer Self" of the elder from PoX4!!

Cut to Later, Krakoa XD She agrees to help.  The negotiate terms. Xavier takes a VERY WEIRD adn formal supplicant posture that I dont know how to describe but it, again, reminiscent of dance, I'll show you:

They offer her control of the Krakoa drug trade&the legitimate face of their diplomacy in exchange for two governing seats and bring Shaw back into Hellfire to run covert ops, Frost's face is Priceless: 

an infopage on the initial gov-structure of Krakoa, "the Quiet Council" it DOES NOT seem like a great system AT ALL; twelve person unelected council, half of the membership secret, Krakoa itself only gets one seat/vote though technically two in its "faction" with cypher.

Honestly this seems most like a cabinet without a head of state? Of the members we know, each is head of a particular department or major faction(X the Xmen, Mags the brotherhood, ect) Seems guaranteed to encourage factionalism, backroom conspiracism, and opacity

Cut to later that year, Xavier offering citizenship and safety on Krakoa, various cuts of "villains" hearing his offer telepathically(including a p cool redesign for OmegaRed and his allies), ending somewhere which looks like its underwater(Atlantis?). 

Yup it's Namor(who I guess is a mutant now?? Wasnt aware of that). Namor rejects the offer, and questions Xavier's sincerity in belief in mutant(and X's own) superiority(as Namor pegs the reasoning behind Krakoa).

I know I keep saying this but the supremacist vibe of all this is disquieting. You can be right abt mutant persecution without ALSO being right that mutant life is "more valuable" than others, esp when "value" is just an utterly noxious moral standard to begin with.

Cut back to X3 Phalanx presents its terms. The elder is destroyed. The Librarian has Questions, asking Nimrod to extrapolate what's going on(Nimrod believes Phalanx has agreed) Nice joke here: "primordial Kirbons" for Jack Kirby. Paying him would have been better :T

The gist: Blackholes are a gigantic networked Machine-Brains, Phalanxes are created by this to hunt for societies worth adding to its intelligence, the Phalanx as agreed to incorporate them but needs energy to do this, it will eat the entire planet to power the transfer. Oops. 

Another infopage of Society types, this time universe-spanning. Adding Titans(singularity intellects), Strongholds(allied titans fighting to consume others), and Dominions(allied strongholds which are effectively gods) All transcend time(interesting implications re Moira)

Another interesting bit: Dominions are noted as fearing Galactus and The Phoenix as possible threats. The Phoenix of course can use human-mutants as hosts.

Hmm, it ends with a Namor quote. Interesting...

That was a Good and Dense one ^v^ I'll have to think about it for a bit, but I'm getting the feeling that, basically, the Mutants are working on a way to achieve the same sort of "transcendence" as the machine-society path, but their own way, and mechsocs fear this(Phoenix).

Also I'm curious how the Celestials fit into all this. Mutants are the result of thier experimentation, so could it be that they are a sort of forerunner of a biological second option to the more common machine-ascendancy, which mechsocs wrok hard to prevent arising again?

The idea being that there are at least two paths to "transcendence"; one biological,communal, andindividual-preserving through pseudomagical "mutation"/self-directed evolution/cybernetics, and the more common machine-intelligence-consumption route.