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taki118 · 1 month ago

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Yakuza Fiance ep 3 Manga Comparison

Ep 3 of Raise wa Tanin ga Ii aka Yakuza Fiance, just aired, and you know the drill there are some important and/or fun things that slipped through the cracks of adaptation. Since I am SUPER normal about the manga I got everything here under the cut. Warning these are fan translations cause I'm lazy.

So for reference yes the manga chapter does start like that but there is a little back and forth in the scene overall including this

Kirishima actually has to beg more for Ayano (thats her name) we loose some good bits, such as Aya being a bikini model and having a boyfriend she complains to him about, and how Kirishima describes their situation like its your bog standard high school romance.

This scene was really cut down to be like a cold open there's more but there's this

We get more insight into Kirishima's situation with these women and confirmation there are more and that they are aware. Another thing is Ayano does help Kirishima work through some thoughts and cutting down their back and forth looses some of that. (maybe i'll do a whole thing on this later)

I actually really like how they did the first sleep scene in the anime except

Why did they leave out the line where Yoshino guesses it was Kirishima? Its so odd but again this scene of Yoshino in the kitchen is longer in the manga

Most importantly it makes clear a full day has passed and that she was trying to sus out info from him at school. Also she ponders if he poisoned her water filter before she has her freak out that he's so crazy it's becoming normal for her.

Overall the second sleep scene is done fairly well I like how it's animated the manga just gives you a feeling its going on longer as Kirishima makes a bunch of braids in her hair so her jumping makes more sense but also we loose this bit

I dunno I just think Kirishima worrying about the futon and her hair is funny.

Honestly I'm actually surprised how closely the convo they have after this is so close to manga. I'm glad cause it's important I could talk about it but thats not what this is for (getting so many ideas though)

So again there is more back and forth about Kirishima calling Gaku (where he says he thinks he shouldve gone in person to apologize) and more on Yoshino's dad, with her asking how much he's looked into her and Kirishima admitting it was a bit. Yoshino also states it was because her dad was normal she had some hopes of being with a normal guy, and that all the men in the house feel like fathers or brothers to her which I do honestly think is important for her so I'm sad thats out. Its not alot but it is some added context.

so ok this guy at the summit, (excuse my shitty picture)

Yeah he's not introduced in the manga at this point, every other character is there but for some reason the anime added this guy to the scene. Like he shows up WAY later and doesn't do much had it pointed out to me but its still weird. Anyway surprisingly the meet is very accurate to the manga thought for sure they cut something but no instead of ending with Akime giving an ominous stare we get this guy glaring at Renji, and like I think it really undercuts the scene cause it makes him seem more important than he probably is.

Anyway the scene with Hotei is again longer in the manga and like the scenes with Renji a lot of the warmth is lost again you don't really get a sense for their dynamic like technically there's nothing really missing but it doesn't quite have the right feel.

So I am very surprised with how much the cut from the SHouma shopping scene. Such as this

Like Yoshino is literally dragging him around cause he can't be bothered and Yoshino points out he went through the trouble of booking a room but not packing luggage, grade A Shouma logic, (also why that added bit in ep 2 makes zero sense) But we also loose some more explanation as to why he's here now.

Its not needed needed but it does provide extra context. What I am upset with is they didn't do the pay off for a set up in ep 1

Like the weirdly cut out the part of their conversation about the bullying Yoshino got in ep 1 explaining who she sent the picture to and why she did it. It's so weird honestly cause again this shows us how close they are and what their dynamic looks like. Also it just makes the conversation flow more naturally, in the anime is a little odd.

Well at least they kept Kirishima's weird ass basement.

Again though a LOT is cut from the dinner scene with Yoshino and Shouma the conversation is a lot longer.

She brings up Kirishima after rolling down his sleeves (which is funnier in the manga) and again the flow is better. Yoshino gives a much more in-depth explanation about why she can't really describe him to Hotei. But there is some character stuff here in her feeling comfortable enough to tell Shouma, also he makes some funny faces.

Anyway the explanation about the gang stuff is kinda the same overall but the manga feels less expositioney about it what with how its presented and how it feels more like a conversation

It just feels less like Shouma is talking at her but rather with her.

So again I don't get why the anime keeps removing the humor from the series like this

The idea that Yoshino is dying from over eating but Shouma wants to get some ramen and how he compares her to a sea lion, like its fun anime why do you seem to hate fun. But again a LOT of context is taken out of the scene from between Yoshino complaining about Kirishima to Shouma saying he'll kill him

Like the pieces are here but they arent quite fleshed out enough, the anime makes it seem like Shouma just offered to kill unprompted but Yoshino brings it up first in the manga and the way she talks there he does sound more dangerous.

The convo again is similar but lacking in depth, both because its shortened and because a lot of the build up is missing. Honestly theres just sooooo much in this ep I'm not surprised but I am surprised where its cut from. The ending is exactly the same with Kirishima and Shouma meeting (again why that bit last ep??) with the exception of missing out on this golden undercut

Like seriously why take out these jokes anime? this better be in ep 4

#yakuza fiance #raise wa tanin ga ii #yoshino somei #kirishima miyama #shouma toriashi #manga post #long post

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orion4ever · 3 months ago

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hey dude, i know you mean well for the ol community, and i think you're really cool and have been following you for a while, but i really don't think all this shitting on rose is justified. spreading callout posts by taking shitty things people have said out of context, especially queer poc, is a real tactic used by terfs to spread discourse and isolate queer people from communities, and it's worked so well that queer people have started doing the same to their own with really good intentions, but the overall effect is nonsense discourse and the spread of hatred. kab herself has publicly said that she and rose have a good relationship and that she thinks most of rose's impact on the games and community has been really helpful for checking her own biases. the screenshots and shitty things you've read about her are not the full story, and yes, i do agree that rose handled certain things really really shittily and i am not excusing that at all, but rose isn't a bad person at all, what the callouts show is out of context and does not show rose accurately as a person, and the degree of hatred for a group of people honestly trying to create a safe space for queer people is wildly disproportional. i really hope this doesn't come off as any way accusatory, because it really isn't, and i really look up to you as a creator. i just want you to be aware that this is something that has been settled by the people involved, and continuing discourse and wanting rose fired goes directly against kab's own wishes and is based on misinformation. thanks for reading this far. please have a wonderful day

I respect you and I appreciate that you reached out respectfully with this.

I do not repost these call out post to be malicious or start a hate campaign like some people have been accusing others of.

I do not encourage witch-hunting or harassment of Rose or Kab ; As they are people and make mistakes , even if the mistakes are extremely shitty and I understand that those screenshots were a private conversation but frankly , I think some of the stuff Rose said was extremely odd and vulgar , context or without.

I am not in the official OL server so maybe your right about them not being as bad but even if that was the case they should still be let go of the role as sensitivity reader because they’re views aren’t open minded and its ironic that they are supposed to help prevent bias and keep the game inclusive when they’ve shown a weird rhetoric and the paper bag comment actually made my jaw drop.

OL has been one of the most comforting things to me , I was in a really dark place when I started a new save file and fell in love with all the characters and the game so believe me when I tell you I would never want to attack the very person who created and brought me that comfort. It physically exhausted me and upset me yesterday when it all came to light , considering it has been a huge hyperfixation and boosted my self esteem.

I don’t care if GB is okay with their friends talking an insane amount of crap behind their backs. It's not my business, I just think that they need better friends.

Even with this in mind, I can’t continue my support for Kab if they decide to keep Rose on the development team, not purely just because of what they said in private but how they treated my friend. The both of them are insinuating that they’re a “liar” or that they “overreacted” when they just wanted to express a grievance. And a surprisingly large number of people are harassing them and accusing them of starting a “racist campaign” towards Rose when they are a trans minority as well. If the fandom is so quick to villainize my friend for simply speaking out then frankly I don’t want to be a part of this fandom.

I hope you also have a good day.

#orion4ever #orion discussion #orion thought #our life beginnings & always #our life now and forever #i will barely post now due to this #if you don’t agree with my view then I hope you have a good life and goodbye #and if you do agree and choose to stay then know I recheck my notifications constantly and smile when I see a like from a familiar person!#i am moving on #this will be the last i talk about this unless something changes #i am disappointed in some of the fandom but i know some people will have more trouble letting go of the game #so i won’t hold it against them #while i joke alot #i want to stay cordial

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scaly-freaks · 5 months ago

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not the same anon, but i was actually ok with brothel scene?

aemond's clearly obsessed with never looking weak, he doesn't feel like he can be weak in front of his family - even his mom. alicent can't offer emotional support to her children (maybe a little to helaena), so they find it elsewhere.

aemond prob view this woman as "beneath him", someone he can use and vent to because what is she gonna do? it doesn't matter if she sees him being weak because she's inconsequential in his world.

aegon and aemond are sooooo affection starved. they do feel, they need to feel loved. they need comfort but lack the emotional intelligence to reach out and form those connections.

It was honestly very tame. I was expecting Homelander level of build up and pay off, but there are good shows and then there's...HOTD. Besides, the fandom is already flustered over this little scene, which for a canon stuffed with incest and non-con and dub-con and gore and violence, a large number of its fans have surprisingly surface-level intelligence/empathy. I do think darker topics require more of both these traits to be consumed well but the show itself chooses not to go full on with them so I'm not surprised the fandom is wrapped in cotton wool and spoon fed like a baby.

And I totally agree with your view on the madame. I am not a fan of terming her his "abuser" the way some people have been doing. Using words frivolously makes them lose all meaning and impact.

In what sense is she an abuser exactly? In the sense that you feel protective over Aemond, and this middle-aged woman is not young or attractive enough to be a satisfying self-insert? And I won't be told this isn't the case with some fans, because some of them definitely have on horse blinkers.

Logically, she is not an abuser. She looked to me like she didn't even want to be there and was disengaged from him mentally/emotionally. He very clearly told her not here and was in control of the situation, suggesting the experience is meticulously tailored to his wants and needs. The last time they met when he was thirteen, sure it's gross that a boy that young is going through something like that, but guess who brought him there? Aegon. The madame turning down the patronage of a royal prince would make her insane if you go by in-world logic. Royal patronage attracts more customers and more money for her girls. It's common sense. Do you know where her real priority was? Getting him to be aware of the smallfolk the next time he loses his temper and does something stupid (since he's already done one stupid thing).

If anything, Aegon might be termed the abuser and the madame was the tool he used, but even then, he was also taught that this behaviour was okay because someone took him to a brothel at 13. Just because he accepted and conformed to this way of living, doesn't mean it wasn't wrong that he went through it too.

Anyway, tip of the iceberg, but there you see - spoon feeding all this context to an audience that is largely unequipped to dive deeper into uncomfortable topics in the span of an hour is impossible.

#aemond targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #asks #anti hotd

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surrealisticduvet · 10 days ago

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Album Review: From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing (1977)

Drawing from a surprisingly profound Allmusic review, I must mention that this album, having come out in 1977, is definitely inspired by 70s disco rhythm. The basslines are heavy, instrumentation is trancelike and steady, yet not boring. An album with such twinkling gems as “Rio” and “Casablanca Moonlight” could only have been effectively concocted during this musical era. Yet in typical Nesmith fashion, the album is not exclusively disco or rhythm – take a listen to “More than We Imagine,” where the intro blindsides you with a transition from 70s bluesy synth to a tropical pedal steel guitar riff (sadly not our good friend Red Rhodes – but still a delight). Suddenly, that bluesy swing is swung from dancefloor to beachside, and you have to just accept that you’re along for the ride. (Note - this song is so good that its title was used for the premier Nesmith lyrics website!)

This album can get overlooked, falling in between The Prison and Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma – two hugely memorable productions. However I truly think it holds its own, and deserves more than a little love; let’s get into it!

Favorite parts of the album:

“Rio” is obviously a fantastic song and probably doesn’t need any more lauding. It’s charming, catchy, and somehow does not overstay its welcome with a 7:02 runtime. I love the sound effects leftover from the music video in the background - it wouldn’t be “Rio” without the sounds of airport and party chatter (and of course, the “not Reno, dummy… Rio” at the end).

“Casablanca Moonlight” is quite darling, especially in the context of Michael’s fascination with classic television. As mentioned in the introduction, “More than We Imagine” is sublimely complex and is one of the more successful of his forays into genre-blending.

“We Are Awake” is heavier than many of the other songs, dense with instrumentation and groove. There’s an extremely tasteful harmonica solo that never fails to delight me, layered on top of piano and guitar and that neverending bassline. Michael’s dry, subtle vocals don’t overpower, and neither do the backup singers’ echoes.

“Navajo Trail” is one of my favorite covers of his – the “lolloping country & western bassline with his trademark minor chord changes” (to quote that Allmusic review) does something to my mind I can’t explain. It does not have that shuffling rhythm that it does in, say, “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” - instead, the bassline is so stiff and consistent that you could march to it, and it provides a magically captivating canvas for the ethereal vocal harmonies.

“Wisdom Has Its Way” is a rather classic song in terms of what he usually writes. Stripped down, this could’ve featured on any number of his early albums. (Allmusic says that this song sounds like something off of Tropical Campfires – I scoff at that. That’s a stretch, at best.)

Here, I’ll take a moment to say that I love a lot of the lyrics on this album. They’re neither too conceptual nor too practical and concrete. It makes sense that this album was made right after The Prison – not only does it incorporate the same inter-song transitions that tie the sound together into something that flows beautifully, but it speaks of spiritual enlightenment and self-actualization in a more practical manner than its predecessor did. Whereas The Prison spoke of practical matters in a conceptual manner, Radio Engine uses that which is tangible as an allegory for larger concepts.

Critiques:

I know who we’re talking about but honestly – what is with the title? Do we know what it means? How are we supposed to remember it? (Walking into a record store in ‘77: “Do you guys have… the radio wing… photon… I don’t know, man. That new Mike Nesmith album?” “Huh? You mean that guy from the Monkees? Uh, check the bargain bin I guess...”)

“Love’s First Kiss”, co-written with someone else, which was rare, is the only middling song on the album in terms of lyrics and vocals. However, the song itself sounds so good musically that I tend to forget my complaints by the time it fades out; that, and it’s so grossly romantic that I’d frankly sit through a terrible song just to hear him say some of these things.

Finally – Michael knows how to write a hell of a disjointed album closer; I guess he just didn’t have anywhere else to throw this one. “The Other Room” is fine, and even good - but I don’t want to listen to it after sitting through what is otherwise such a groovy and relaxing album. It’s sort of like the album’s end credits… gets you ready to go back into the real world.

Conclusion:

I feel like I’ve said enough already. I don’t have a lot of context for this album’s creation to analyze it from that perspective, so I’m really just going off of the music alone, and the few things I know about the production of “Rio” and its accompanying music video. This was the beginning of a new, exciting era for Michael, and I think it sounds just great.

#one of my faves I was so happy about getting to listen to it again :3 #michael nesmith #mike nesmith #from a radio engine to the photon wing #album reviews

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twistedtummies2 · 2 months ago

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Top 6 Edgar Allan "Poe-ms"

In my previous list for Halloween-time, I discussed my favorite short stories by the great Edgar Allan Poe: my all-time favorite author. Poe’s work with short stories was vast and varied, covering all sorts of genres; he wrote plenty of horror tales, of course, but also works of humor and simple mystery. But of course, these were not the extent of his output: Poe was also a gifted “Poe-t.” And as we all know, “Poe’s Poems Pwn Posers.” (Bravo if you got that reference.) But seriously, Edgar Allan “Poe-try” (I’m sorry, these are much too easy) was rarer than his narrative output, but no less intriguing. His poems, like his stories, ranged in length, style, and tone, from dark and eerie, to multiple kinds of romance, both tragic and surprisingly heartfelt. Some of them even mingled elements of tone together, making for particularly unique pieces in the annals of literature. I figured that it was best to give his poems a separate, albeit shorter, spotlight from the short stories he wrote. So, without further ado, here are my Top 6 Edgar Allan “Poe-ms.”

Also, I promise that’s the last Poe and poetry pun I make. Intentionally. XD

6. The Haunted Palace.

This is one of two poems on the list that was initially written on its own terms, but then later - interestingly - was incorporated into one of his short stories. “The Haunted Palace” appears in the short story “Fall of the House of Usher,” where it serves an allegorical purpose, as the poem is a (none-too-subtle) analogy to the exact happenings in the story up to that point. Taking it out of context from the story, however, it’s still a very powerful and, as its title indicates, haunting piece of poetry. The poem tells the story of a beautiful palace, fairy-tale like, which was once a radiant and happy place…then goes on to describe the decline of this once gilded hall, as it falls to ruin, haunted by the ghosts of its fabled past - perhaps literally, perhaps metaphorically, perhaps even both. Many of Poe’s pieces reflected upon time, mortality, and the idea of something once beautiful being corrupted by both; a sort of constant theme of “innocence lost” permeates, honestly, almost every single poem on this very list. It seemed to be an idea that haunted Poe himself: perhaps in his own mind’s palace, he forever felt himself haunted by the idea that time marches on, and all good things must come to an end.

5. The Bells.

“The Bells” is one of Poe’s more…ambiguous poems. It’s a little harder to tell what it means, if it even means anything specific. Told over the course of four separate verses, this poem describes different kinds of bells, and the emotions they seem to instill. It starts off cheerily enough with silver bells, describing imagery and emotions that frankly sound like something of a Christmas song. It then moves on to wedding bells, which are equally happy, but somewhat more solemn in nature. Then things take a very sharp and horrific turn, as the poem describes next brazen alarm bells, which fill one’s soul with terror and dread…and finally, as you may perhaps expect, “moaning and groaning�� funeral bells, signifying the end of a life and all that comes with that idea. It’s not clear if this progression is meant, like the Haunted Palace, to represent the passage of time, or if it’s simply a poem that uses the bells as an analogy for all kinds of different statuses in life: how the same kind of sound and item can mean so many different things, both good and bad, to so many people. This is one of several poems on this list written very, VERY late in Poe’s life, and - like two others still to come - it was not actually published till after his death. Perhaps it was Poe’s way of reflecting on the different turns his life had taken over the years…and the fear he had for his soon-to-be-short-lived future.

4. The Conqueror Worm.

Just like “The Haunted Palace,” this poem was first published separately as its own individual piece, but was later incorporated into one of Poe’s stories. Namely, it was made into part of the tale “Ligeia;” in that story, the titular character writes the poem as a way of expressing her own horror at her terminal state, as she is dying slowly from tuberculosis - a disease which ravaged Poe’s life at practically every turn. The poem is probably one of the most unsettling of the writer’s entire life (and given all the others on this list, that’s saying a lot). It tells the story of an audience of angels, watching a pantomime show, in which a collection of clowns fruitlessly try to capture a wayward phantom. The phantom escapes, and without warning, a hideous beast - a blood red creature described as “the Conqueror Worm” - rises up from nowhere, and devours the performers. Once all of them have been eaten, the pantomime comes to a close, while the angels weep. The titular Conqueror Worm is meant to be an allegory for tuberculosis in Ligeia’s story, but in its own universe, the Worm is actually meant to represent death, in general. The poem is one of the most harrowing and disturbingly frenzied in Poe’s collection, as it acts as a parable for life itself: a mad race that has seemingly no purpose, and ends in something unspeakably nasty. It’s a cynical and deeply troubling piece of work, but that’s what makes it so intriguing, like so many other dark poems by the author. While the Worm in the poem itself is purely an allegorical creation, and it’s likely that Poe’s mental image was closer to a “Wyrm” of mythology or fantasy, the kinds of images illustrators since have come up with for the idea of a huge red worm that devours everything in its path has led to some really nasty and yet creative stuff. Perhaps Edgar Allan Poe invented “Tremors” alongside the modern detective story; who’duh thunk it? :P

3. Eldorado.

This relatively short and simple poem was one of the last works of Poe’s life. Like many of his poems and stories in his later years, it was a reflection of the desolate situation he found himself in, emotionally. The poem tells of a brave knight, who goes on a gallant quest to find the mystic, mythical city of gold, Eldorado. (Which should really be spelled “El Dorado,” but I’m going to call it “Eldorado” for the sake of literary accuracy here.) After years of searching, however, the knight grows old and weak seeking this magical fantasyland. Finally, he encounters a “Phantom Shadow” - implied to be Death itself - who offers him directions, indicating Eldorado to be Paradise. While only a few stanzas long, the sentiment of this dark little fairy-tale is powerful and strangely ambiguous: unlike others here, there is a sort of warmth to it, despite the sorrow imbued in its syllables. You can read into it as a sort of heartwarmingly bittersweet piece, or as a condemnation on the futility of life’s struggles. You can see Eldorado as something you can only imagine in your dreams, or only find peacefully in the afterlife, or even as something you will never actually locate. Short and not exactly sweet, but also not entirely bitter…however you read into it, “Eldorado” remains a poignant reminder that some fantasies just cannot be reality…at least, not in this lifetime.

2. Annabel Lee.

“Annabel Lee” might be the single saddest of all of Poe’s poetry pieces, largely because of its context. Much like “Eldorado” and “The Bells”, it was among the very last poems Poe wrote in his lifetime. In fact, like the latter, it was not even published till after his death, and was written only months before his (rather mysterious) passing. The poem tells the story of a distraught narrator, who describes how his beloved bride - Annabel Lee, whom he has loved since childhood - was so beautiful, and their love for each other so pure, that even the angels felt envious. So envious, in fact, that they killed her. Now, the Narrator makes frequent visits to her grave, and sleeps there in her tomb, near a kingdom by the sea. The poem seems to be a metaphor for the emotions and turmoils Poe went through after the death of his own wife, Virginia: many passages seem similar to the biographical information about the couple, and Poe’s reactions to her tragic departure. However, others have been offered as possible inspirations for the fictional lady described in the poem. Whoever the true Annabel Lee was, the poem’s tragic content is only made more heartbreaking when you realize this hymn of long-lost love was the last thing Poe had to give to the world, before he, himself, was felled under baffling circumstances. The verses were the inspiration for the novel “Lolita,” and there is even an English standard song called “Kingdom By the Sea,” which is a musical adaptation of the poem, along with many other song-styled renditions. As one of Poe’s last great creations, this poem has cemented his legacy perhaps above all other works he ever made before.

1. The Raven.

Almost without a doubt Poe’s most lauded piece of work, “The Raven” is his undisputed masterpiece in the world of poetry. The poem focuses on the plight of a once again unnamed narrator, who is mourning the recent loss of his wife, Lenore. He is visited one night by a mysterious Raven, which repeatedly croaks the word “Nevermore” like a parrot. As the poem goes on, the Narrator comes to believe the Raven is some supernatural being, as its croaking seems to answer every question and demand he makes. It is unclear exactly what happens to the Narrator at the end of the story, but he marks with fear that the Raven is still sitting in his room, watching over him. “And [his] soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor, shall be lifted…nevermore.” While not directly autobiographical, it is probably not a coincidence that Poe wrote this poem at the exact same time his aforementeioned wife, Virginia, was effectively on her deathbed. One can easily see this as Poe already anticipating his own grief, the fears and sorrows of the storyteller matching his own harrowing circumstances in an exaggerated and Gothic manner. However you interpret things in this verse-told tale, it is, without a doubt, one of the most famous and celebrated pieces of poetry in the entire world. It is also my personal favorite poem of all time. Not just mine, either! Many famous people, such as Stan Lee, have named this as their favorite poem, and even more have done readings of it, from Christopher Lee to James Earl Jones to Vincent Price and more. There’s even a professional American football team inspired by the poem. No joke! Look it up! While the poem did not make Poe much money in his lifetime, it has, beyond all his other works, become the piece he is remembered for best.

HONORABLE MENTIONS INCLUDE…

To One in Paradise.

The City in the Sea.

A Dream Within a Dream.

#list #countdown #best #favorites #top 6 #poetry #literature #edgar allan poe #horror #romance #tragedy #mystery #halloween

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yurisorcerer · 5 months ago

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Holy shit that was fucking incredible.

Warning: major hyped-up ramble session below.

The scheduling of the concert being switched around gives TogeToge a leg up to hopefully make an even bigger first impression at their first festival. Things seem to be going well for them, for once! Let's see if that lasts.

In the leadup to the festival, with Nina and Momoka actually doing pretty much fine for once, the show refocuses on its other three characters for a little while, spotlighting Subaru and how she's still hiding her involvement with the band from her overbearing grandmother, and then moving over to Tomo and Rupa, whose relationship---played to a tasteful tee, neither over- or under-explained---provides a source of strength for the both of them in the face of the loss of their respective families. Physically in Rupa's case, emotionally in Tomo's. Subaru seemingly resolves things with her grandma later in the episode, but Tomo and Rupa's issues aren't so easily packed away. I wouldn't be surprised if the show touches on them one more time before it ends.

Oh hey, Mine's back!

In general the atmosphere of the pre-show buildup reminds me a bit of the pre-concert scenes from Oshi no Ko, although in that show there's a different and more cynical context at play to the upbeat, nervy anticipation on display here.

Oh my god, it's the punk girl from episode one. (Kyouko, apparently.) There feels like a bit of symbolism in how even she's a fan of TogeToge now.

Momoka taking them all to the big main stage to see Diamond Dust play before their own show is gutsy. And at that, we get our rewind all the way back to Nina's confrontation with DD's current lead singer when they were both students. And, as has been previously implied a few times, friends! We still don't precisely know what their falling out was about, as Pink's remark to Nina where she tells her to stop "playing the tragic heroine" are awfully vague. Regardless, DD's performance itself is pretty good, although one gets the sense they're sort of being set up to fail here from a meta perspective. Their little show of rivalry here is admirable, but they aren't the band we've been following this entire time. (And while they sound fine, if we're being honest, they'd be rinsed not just by TogeToge but by most protagonist girl bands from these sorts of anime. Then again, maybe this is the intended reaction, and we're supposed to be feeling some amount of fannish partisanship.)

Rupa's just here for the drama as usual, what a queen.

During the sound check Subaru plays a pretty nice little break beat, and Rupa gets to show off her bass licks.

TogeToge also unveil their new looks here and all of them look genuinely fucking fantastic. Rupa's weird military uniform thing with the goggles, Subaru's pinstriped suit(?!), Nina's underdye and badass long shirt, Tomo's almost pixellated-looking hair bow accessory, Momoka's arm bands. Honestly just a killer visual presentation both in- and out-of-universe.

When the time comes to take the stage, they absolutely kill it. At the end of the day, this is an anime, so of course, Girls Band Cry deploys absolutely every single visual trick it can think of to really sell the performance that serves as the climax of this episode. "Void & Catharsis", the song they play, is a, if you'll pardon the pun, rock solid alternative number with a surprisingly heavy low-end that serves as a bed for Nina's incisive, comet-like vocals. (Also it has what I'm pretty sure is a breakdown??? I'm not a heavy metal expert, but what the fuck.) The show spins out into full music video mode here, taking a page from the otherwise very different Love Live series, as the stage blends into a blurry stitching-together of idealized, crystalized memories; defiance, lies, love, loss. It is perhaps the single most arresting moment in a music anime to air this year. I ended up replaying the entire thing from the start of the song onward, twice. I can't help myself; TogeToge have charisma. Every single one of them sheds tears during their part of the music video, making this episode something of a sideways title-drop.

The single most compelling visual element though has nothing to do with all the crazy camera tricks, overlays, flashbacks, anything like that, though. It's Nina herself. In what I can only describe as an absolute triumph of CGI in anime as a form, this little sixteen year old pipsqueak comes off as a complete and total superstar. She stomps angrily from one end of the stage to the other with her long shirt drooping and billowing dramatically, she grips her head in anger as she sings like the words are being physically ripped out of her throat, she headbangs, she pumps her fist and spins around to egg her own band on, she glares at the audience like she's trying to kill them---maybe Diamond Dust specifically, who are also watching---with her mind, she does weird shit with her hands and gestures around like a rapper. It's mesmerizing. Clearly the result of a ton of love not just for animation as an art form but for concerts as a form of performance. The entire thing is just end to end nuts, and this moment, regardless of what came before it or comes after it, completely validates Girls Band Cry as an artistic endeavor. If the entire rest of the show were to somehow go missing, removed from reality with a surgeon's knife, this performance alone would make the undeniable case that it deserved to exist.

Nina isn't even my favorite *character* in this show. But good god she's great here. I'm just honestly stunned.

As for GBC itself, there is only one real problem. There are still two episodes of this anime left. It's possible I'm just sitting in a sort of concertgoers' afterglow at the moment, but I kind of can't imagine what else the show could really do from here. How do you top that?

Nonetheless, Girls Band Cry wants to try, and that ambition is admirable.

#Girls Band Cry #nina iseri #yurisorcerer talks about media

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ya-boi-haru · 10 months ago

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I did a thing...

I'm no writer, but inspired by my Coffee shop au (linked) i did a little sample piece for funsies/writing practice... idk what will come of this but it was fun and interesting to get back into actually writing a fanfic piece again...

(context at the end)

Bars always seem to be a completely different atmosphere when it was day time.

All you could hear was the rustling and clinking of staff putting away the new merchandise or cleaning the equipment and the hum of the air conditioners. The faint scent of sanitizer mixed with alcohol hung in the air, strong enough to tell that the surfaces had just recently been wiped down.

As he sat patiently at one of the empty tables, Centross’ eyes glazed over the figures and trinkets that surrounded the bar. He could tell each one had been placed carefully and each section had its own theme. The tables and booths had a more ‘on deck’ feel. Pictures of great ships and sea creatures hung along the walls, surrounded by ropes tied and hung from the ceiling like shrouds or fishermen nets. The wooden tables were decorated with small ships to hold up the menus and the chairs had an aged leather look to them, which were surprisingly comfortable. The bar itself had a large, long statue of a dragon, made of a seaweed green glass displayed against the back wall, surrounded by the shelves of various amounts of alcohol.

The more you looked the more you saw, but unfortunately Centross didn’t get to look around much more as Kai, the owner of Sea Dragon, came out from the staff only doors. He stood up to meet her, extending a hand to introduce himself.

“Hey, you must Kai. I’m David, it’s nice to meet you” Centross was a little nervous. It had been a while since he was considered for an interview, he even had to buy a new button up shirt since the old one was worn out and faded.

“Yeah, I know who you are” Kai responded, her tone not doing a good job at hiding her snark and her, a bit too firm, handshake was not helping either.

“Oh, right, I guess you would after reading my resume” He tried to brush it off and lighten the mood, thinking he was just being paranoid about the way she was acting.

Kai gave a hum and the forced smile made Centross think it was meant to be a laugh. “So why do you want to work here, David?” She asked, cutting straight to the point.

Centross took a breath, trying to let the advice Wolf had given him and their practice questions come back to him.

“Well, I do have experience behind the bar, honestly, I’ve grown to love the work, it keeps me on my feet. I’m fully licenced, I have-“

“Yeah, yeah I’m sure your credentials and achievements are very nice,” Kai interrupted, “What I meant was, why here at the Sea Dragon?” she clarified.

Centross gave an apologetic look, as he stumbled to correct himself. However, while trying to come up with an answer, he noticed the daggers Kai was glaring at him.

“Have I done something to upset you?” Centross asked defensively. Gee, he had just met the woman and she acts like he spat in her face.

Kai barked a laugh at his question, looking at him with disbelief, her last bit of professionalism, now washed away. Seeing Centross’ face made her realise, he really did not know.

“You still don’t do your research do you?”

Ok, now Centross was really confused. “Are you… not the owner?” he tried.

Ocie chuckled again. “I’m Kai. Kai Feywild”

Realisation slowly set on Centross’ face. “F-Feywild?” Ocie nodded. “As in… Strawberri Feywild- oh fuck!”

“My sister” Kai confirmed, as Centross dropped his head into his hand in defeat.

So, this wasn’t an interview, it was an interrogation. God, how the hell did he not know this!?

“Hey man, ill give you this: I’m impressed by the fucking balls you have to come in here, asking me for a job, after you did?” Kai, pointed her sharp nails at him to emphasise her accusatory tone.

“Listen i-“

“No, you listen,” Kai snapped. “I’ve worked my fucking ass off to get this business up and running and I’m not going to let it all go to shit because a deadbeat, drug pusher wants to get back in to business!”

“I’m not- we didn’t-“ Centross let out a frustrated groan, running a hand through his hair trying to find the words. “Look, that was a long time ago, I’m sober and clean and it’s not like I was the one making it-“

“No, apparently you weren’t, you’re just the one who insisted on selling it with my nephew and making my sister your dealer!” Centross gave a defeated sigh. “The only reason I called you in was to make sure you weren’t going to start this shit with me or my Strawberri again. She’s been through enough”

Centross took moment to answer, all the previous interviews and questioning coming back to him like a montage of fails. He knew he wasn’t going to get on her good side, maybe ever, but especially not right now. He had been through this enough times to know when it wasn’t working out.

“I know you probably don’t want to hear it, so ill spare you the details. But believe me when I tell you I am not here to start that again. The Ominous Coffee Bean is gone, it crashed and burned before it could even get off the ground, I wouldn’t even know how to get access to that stuff again and, again, even if I did, I wouldn’t know how to make it, that was Icarus, testing out their fancy chemistry, nerd shit and it failed miserably. I spent my time getting sober and clean, just like the others and I am trying to do better, Kai, but I no matter what I do, no one will even give me the time of day – which is understandable I guess but” Centross took a breath, feeling like he was just wasting breath at this point. “I truly am just looking for a job, a fresh start. Bills can’t pay themselves and I can’t keep living out of my boyfriends’ pocket. He’ll deny it, but I can tell that I’m just weighing him down. He deserves better than that and I just want to at least help him”

Kai took in everything he had said and Centross could see her processing, it all. She’d look him up and down and down at her hand, then back to him, the gears in her head turning trying to decide her next move.

Centross knew what it would be. Fuck, he should have just left as soon as he learned she was Strawberris’ sister. Maybe he can try his luck elsewhere, surely there’s somewhere that his reputation hasn’t touched.

“Alright,” Kai simply said after a long moment of silence.

“Alight?” Centross repeated, waiting for her to add on.

“You will be working the floor and are also on washing duty. You’ll start with four days a week for a trail to see if you can handle it and to see if you’re a good fit here. After that time is up, we’ll see how you’re doing and that will determine if you can stay and maybe we’ll talk about you working the bar. How does that sound?” Kai listed her conditions firmly, leaving no room for negotiation, her eyes never leaving Centross a she spoke.

Centross stared back, not processing what was happening.

“Wait, you’re… You’re giving me the job?” he asked, almost like he didn’t trust what he had heard.

“I’m giving you a chance. Do not make me regret it” She warned.

Centross had to contain the smile that seemed to spread on his face, releasing a breath of relief as the weight on his chest lifted just little.

Holy shit, he fucking did it.

-----------

So for some context, Icarus, Centross and Easton tried to start a Barista place together called The Ominous Coffee Bean ("the name will get people curious about it") and Icarus tried to do their thing of infusing flowers into tea. Little did they know that Delosperma Cooperi can be toxic, like a bad drug or alcohol when extracted/infused. They told their business investor (they found online) about their new drink and and Centross received an email back encouraging them to keep selling it and they could use Strawberris flower business to get more of the flowers in.

They were eventually got investigated and they all got arrested for selling of narcotics and Strawberri got done for suppling.

Icarus made first bale, an anonymous pay to bale *and* hush money.

Kai had to come down from a couple towns over to bale Strawberri and Easton out and thankfully they were all given the bare minimum punishment due to bale + they didn't know the extremes of what they were actually selling and their investor couldn't be tracked.

All four did get put on a probation and Icraus, Centross and Easton had to attend clincs to get clean and to help go through withdrawal. Centross made bale late as Rae had to scrap together enough money and even ask his Uncle for help to get him out.

Icarus got hush money, Easton was seen as "the poor kid who didnt know any better" and Strawberri also left in the dark. Centross basically got the short end of the stick and his reputation wasnt good.

---

idk i was just playing around with ideas for Ominous Bane equivalent??? its still a W.I.P but let me know what you think????

#it is 3am #i believe all things are written at 3am tho #fable smp #fablesmpblr #fable smp fanfiction #coffee shop au #a little darker than coffee shop but #fable smp centross #centross fable smp #ocie fable smp #fable smp ocie #ominous bane fable smp #fable smp headcanon #no beta read we die like centross

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balioc · 11 months ago

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Holiday Engineering: Leap Dave Williams

S6E9 of 30 Rock, "Leap Day," provides us with a fascinating and valuable artifact from a holiday-engineering perspective: an invented, made-from-scratch festival that is designed to feel like a real and successful festival that already has legs.

...this is rare. The people who invent new holidays are usually in the vanguard of new social/cultural/ideological movements, and they're usually doing so with an eye towards their immediate circumstances and their immediate goals; they want to Make a Statement about their favorite principles, they want to appeal to the idiosyncrasies of their most devoted fellow-travelers, often they want to promote group cohesion and insularity, etc. You don't often get people creating stuff from whole cloth while asking, "how would this work if it were already fully embedded in society and treated like a normal holiday?"

For that you have to turn to fiction. And most fictional holidays, I've found, are not very well-thought-out. But 30 Rock's weird bizarro-world version of Leap Day is...surprisingly impressive, and would-be holiday engineers can learn something from it. It's pretty stripped-down and basic, as you'd expect from a festival made up for one 30-minute episode of television that's mostly about something else. But there's some real there there. I think you could actually observe the holiday-as-written, without adding content, and people would get something out of it. Certainly, with a little embellishment, you could get something good.

(We're going to discount the part where there's, allegedly, a cheesy holiday movie where Jim Carrey learns the true meaning of Leap Day. That kind of thing is great if you can actually swing it, but you can't, so it doesn't help.)

Theme. This is honestly the holiday's biggest weakness, but even so, it's better than you might expect. The message is: "Leap Day is for taking a leap! Do something bold, something new, something unexpected!" Which is punchy and resonant. The problem, of course, is that it's not observable in a ritual context. You can't be in the proper Leap Day spirit without thinking outside the box, and holidays are all about providing a box in which you can stay for a little while. To do the Leap Day thing, you have to make reference to the particular contours of your own individual life, which is the opposite of how festivals work. But everyone can probably think of some way in which "making a leap" would be meaningful for him, so OK.

The flip side is that, because Leap Day is such a necessarily-individualist holiday in concept, it makes sense for the observances to be so minimalist. There's no Leap Day Festive Family Meal, and thus no traditions surrounding such a thing, but...that makes sense, right? You're not supposed to spend Leap Day going home to eat with your family, you're supposed to do something crazy.

Timing. Also kind of unfortunate. Once-every-four-years is not enough observance to build up resonance and holiday feeling. You're probably going to experience only four Leap Days over the course of your childhood and adolescence, when you're building your deep-seated associations, and each time the memories of the last one are going to be very fuzzy. Ah, well, it's baked into the core concept, nothing to be done.

Mythology. Every four years, Leap Day William emerges from the Marianas Trench to exchange candy for children's tears. And you know what? That's solid. It's a very simple story, but it's memorable, and you can riff on it.

Activities. You pretend to cry so that people will give you candy. Again, simple but solid. Easy-to-perform, but very distinctive. For a holiday that mostly can't be ritualized by its very nature, it's probably good to have a two-second ritual easy-peasy ritual to remind you that 'Tis the Season.

Symbols. You're supposed to wear blue and yellow. Garish, but that's the holidays for you. It's as distinctive a color palette as Christmas's. And if you don't wear blue and yellow, people get to pull your hair (or kick you in the shins) (or something). I have a strong personal dislike for the St. Patrick's Day-esque "enforcement of sartorial holiday norms via cheeky physical violence" thing, and I'd encourage aspiring holiday engineers not to include that kind of content on moral grounds, but -- from an amoral design perspective, it's great, it uses base human instincts to turn people into propagators of Proper Holiday Spirit.

Traditional food (sweets). Everyone loves candy. If want to add some cheap zing to your holiday, find a way to incorporate giving people candy. It's better to have a distinctive and memorable holiday food, but that's difficult and may not be appropriate. Candy is super easy and there's almost always an excuse for it.

#holiday analysis

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butterflydm · 2 years ago

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wot reread: towers of midnight (chapter 8-13)

spoilers for towers of midnight

1. Hmm, we open this Mat chapter with him pondering over the (still-sealed) letter that Verin left him and admiring the beauty of the female tavernkeeper (quickly slapping a “but I’m married” bandaid over his admiration). Strike two.

2. I genuinely am very curious about what notes might have been left behind about Mat (and Mat’s marriage) because... from Sanderson’s other writing, this doesn’t feel like an idea he would have necessarily come up with on his own? He admits that he’s a bit of a prude and his main go-to ‘romance’ route in his own books is “wow this arranged marriage is working out surprisingly well!”. So I’m really curious if post-marriage horndog!Mat was noted somewhere in the stuff Jordan left behind. And I’m keeping track of the moments because I want to see how much of a pattern it ends up being over the course of the ~post-marriage~ books.

I am also going to keep track of whether or not Mat notes any specific qualities about ~absent wifey~ that he likes and, if he does, if those qualities are things that we’ve witnessed her actually showing at any point.

3. Also, just to note: while Mat is trying to remind himself that he’s married, his ~wife~ is engaging in hostile combat actions against his friends, and will be enslaving forty Aes Sedai and killing an additional unknown number of Aes Sedai, Warders, and people who live and work in Tar Valon. But, you know, it’s her empire that’s his enemy, not her.

(that line really is... the sad thing is that line is actually great out of context but, wow, it makes absolutely ZERO sense in terms of Mat’s actual relationship with ~Fortuona~. It’s such a bonkers delusional line for Mat to have said at any point during their relationship as it exists in the books. It really does feel like Jordan thought up that line first and then never got around to actually writing a relationship that could live up to its sentiment but jammed it in anyway because he couldn’t let it go even though it didn’t fit with the relationship as-written. But leaving it in really makes Mat come across as extremely reality-denying in terms of his relationship. And, hey, maybe that was what Jordan was going for, idk)

4. Verin is betting here that Mat’s curiosity is stronger than his desire to stay away from Aes Sedai plans, but she doesn’t know that the narrative has spent the last few books beating his curiosity and critical thinking out of him and turning his irrational dislike of Aes Sedai up to bizarrely high levels so that he’s willing to make out with a slaver. Verin should have just ALSO shared the info in the letter with Egwene when she was with her, but it was Verin’s turn to hold the Idiot Ball of Making The Plot Happen, so she did not (honestly, either Mat reading the letter or Verin telling Egwene the contents of the letter would also have saved us a bunch of time in the story).

5. More of weird fey creature Mat here, who acts like he is bound by his Oaths in a bizarre metaphysical way, instead of him just reluctantly keeping his word because he’s a good man. Like... you haven’t sworn on the Oath Rod, Mat. If whatever Verin is telling you to do actually goes against your morals just... break your word. You were willing to do it when it came to the Seanchan Oaths, because an oath under duress is not binding, and you seemed to be aware of that back during WH. The whole “you must follow your oaths to the letter even if they lead you into immoral acts” belief is NOT honorable. But this ties back into the way that Jordan had Mat acting with Tuon in CoT & KoD -- the logic of going “because she’s ~my wife~ (by Seanchan law), I am ~legally/morally obligated~ to support and protect her, no matter what evil deeds she may choose to commit and no matter how much she might be hurting other people”.

So now keeping his promises is about Mat operating by Fey Rules of Literally Obeying His Word, rather than keeping his promises because he’s a good person despite his protests. Because a good man wouldn’t support and protect a slaver, so Jordan had to throw away the part of Mat that was a good man in order for Mat x Tuon to ‘work’. But then (this ties back to horndog!Mat), it also leads to it feeling like Mat doesn’t cheat on Tuon right now only because it might break his Mystical Fey Creature Oaths rather than him actually feeling any personal inclination towards being a faithful husband.

6. At the start of this chapter, Mat thought to himself that he wouldn’t give Melli his ~best smile~ on account of him being a married man and... well, guess what he does only two pages later? Yep, gives her his best smile that he personally believes melts women’s hearts. Two pages! Also, he thinks that he’s Not Allowed to stare at her lips (because he’s married) even as he’s calculating the precise fullness of said lips that he’s Definitely Not staring at, lol.

7. Mat notices a pretty serving girl and tips her a coin for her smile. For, um. For Thom’s sake. lol. Strike three. Technically, Mat is already out, but I will continue to count strikes.

8. lol, the bouncer at the tavern, Berg, is as dubious about Mat’s future faithfulness to ~his slaver wife~ as I am. Berg gives Mat a suspicious look despite that fact that Mat. This is hilarious. Mat SAT HIM DOWN and talked to him about how he wouldn’t be wooing away the woman that Berg is in a relationship with because Mat is MARRIED NOW. lol, no wonder the man is so suspicious of him! That just sends so many alarm bells ringing. Portrait of a Man In Denial over how unhappy he is about being married.

9. Strike four, Mat notices the golden hair, nice eyes, and full bosom of one of the women he’s gambling with at the next tavern, and tries to convince himself that he doesn’t actually find full breasts incredibly attractive anymore (he noticed Melli’s “ample bosom” only a handful of pages ago so... um, yeah, that’s a boldfaced lie to himself. Sanderson might mention breasts less often than Jordan does but when he does mention them, it’s been in Mat PoV so far). We’re several pages into Mat’s PoV at this point and we’ve mostly focused on him doing his best to pretend he feels no regret over being married and Not Being Allowed to notice all the women that he’s noticing for, um, Talmanes and Thom. He also tries to give his fellow gambler one of his heart-fluttering smiles (that he said at the start of the chapter he wouldn’t give out anymore on account of being ~a married man~) and tries to pretend that he isn’t disappointed when she doesn’t react.

10. Anyway, the plot important thing that happens here is that Mat finds out that the gholam is in Caemlyn (people found with their throats ripped out). That finally draws him out of his depressed-over-being-married funk.

11. We learn that he’s sent a letter to Elayne and gotten no reply and he’s actually QUITE worked up over it, and over the fact that Elayne has never so much as kissed him on the cheek to thank him for saving her life. And it’s an interesting change that his internal objection here doesn’t end up being “but of course I wouldn’t want Elayne to kiss me because I’m a married man” but is instead “I don’t want royalty to kiss me” which sends him down a spiral of thinking about how he’s trapped into the Seanchan nobility now. Hmm. Interesting. Anyway, that’s strike five.

12. Mat does bring up three positive qualities of Tuon here (that aren’t related to whether or not he’s capable of being attracted to her: as we’ve just been witnessing, Mat is capable of being attracted to the majority of female characters in the books, so physical attraction is fairly irrelevant here):

a. good at stones: verified true

b. keen of wit: no textual evidence that this is true

c. ‘good for talking to’: negative textual evidence that this is true; most of Mat’s conversations with her in CoT & KoD seemed to end up in frustration or unpleasantness (he even mentions here that she’s frustrating ‘most of the time’), with him thinking on at least one occasion late in KoD about how he hates that she treats him like he’s her property

So... we’re at 33% Verified True on Mat’s accuracy scale of Tuon’s Good Qualities, 33% Just Lying To Himself, and 33% is a question mark.

(though I would argue Tuon’s lack of insight or critical thinking in her own PoV chapters argues against her being ~keen of wit~, unless Mat just means she’s good at puns or something, which is also not in evidence. I suspect this is more of an Informed Attribute, where the author(s) hope that just repeating over and over that Tuon has a keen wit will make people believe she does even if she never does anything to prove it).

13. Mat feels guilt over leaving Tylin tied up for the gholam to kill back in Ebou Dar. Tylin’s relationship to Mat really does feel like it’s married so tightly to Tuon’s relationship with Mat, a transfer of ~ownership~ in a horrible gross way. Tylin’s abuse of Mat is what kept him in the situation he was in when he met Tuon, and Tylin’s abuse of Mat really does feel like it foreshadows the way that Tuon treats Mat as well, which is definitely a Bad Omen for his future.

14. Awww, for all that Mat was negatively thinking about royalty earlier, he thinks here about how the right Queen is now on the throne of Andor (with the emphasis Mat’s!).

15. Strike six. Mat sees a stately older woman in the inn where Thom is performing and thinks about how he’ll keep her in mind for later. Hastily adding ~for his men~ onto his thoughts. He tells Thom about the gholam and they leave for Mat’s camp.

16. Mat thinks with frustration about how Bayle Doman and Leilwin née Egeanin no longer have any affection for him (it’s because you’re married to a slaver and they have rejected the empire; hope this helps). We also get a reminder about the holes in his memory (foggy patches from when he picked up the dagger in Shadar Logoth until when he was healed of it in TDR).

17. Mat comes across as pretty desperate for validation & affection here (specifically from people that he already knows and respects). That’s really standing out to me -- he thought about it a lot in the last book too, about how much he wanted Joline, Teslyn, & Edesina to be grateful to him for saving their lives. He thinks the same here about Elayne, and about Doman and Leilwin née Egeanin. And he doesn’t want to think about how his own actions (being abrasive towards Elayne & co; picking the slavers over the slaves) might have made people turn away from him or think less of him. Save someone once, and it shouldn’t matter how you behave in the future, right? (wrong) It’s also interesting how the clear loyalty of his soldiers doesn’t scratch that itch for him at all. Maybe because he attributes that to the memories in his head and his luck rather than himself as a person?

18. When Mat claims to Thom that he’s a good judge of character, he gets a very doubtful raised eyebrow back. Thom’s relationship with Mat in the last few books has been... honestly, somewhat weird. I almost wonder... we haven’t gotten any Thom PoV for quite a long time, I don’t think, so I wonder if Thom is just masking his actual feelings about Mat because he knows that he needs Mat in order to rescue Moiraine. Because, for the most part, Thom has just avoided Having Opinions about the mess that is Mat’s life and choices, despite the fact that Thom is (supposedly) fond enough of an Aes Sedai that he’s desperate to rescue her from captivity, and also deeply fond of Elayne and friends with Juilin. Is Thom playing Mat the way that Mat was playing the Tairen nobles at the start of TSR? Letting himself appear to be a non-critical buddy because there’s something that he wants out of Mat? I will have to keep an eye out to see if Thom shows any affection towards/inclination to hang out with Mat AFTER Moiraine gets rescued and he doesn’t need Mat anymore. Thom is, after all, one of the best players of Daes Dae’mar in the series, we are told.

19. Mat talks to Teslyn here, internally noting that she has lost most of the “nervous skittishness” that she’d picked up when she was enslaved as damane. He likes Teslyn, he thinks, but he does not trust her. Despite Teslyn never doing a single thing to breach his trust, unlike SOME people that I could name. Ah! There are rumors in Caemlyn about the Seanchan assult on the White Tower but (just like he dismissed Tuon’s threats back in CoT/KoD), Mat has dismissed those rumors as just “stories of raken drifting up from the south” (I wonder if I should be keeping track of all of the “Mat Forces Himself Into Willful Denial Over Tuon/the Seanchan’s Evil Choices” moments). Teslyn and the others are planning to leave now to go join the reunited White Tower (which is what most of the rumors talk about).

20. Hmm, Teslyn thanks Mat here for helping her escape the Seanchan but then she talks with him about the importance of maintaining “illusions with yourself”. I actually did wonder, when I was doing my reread of CoT & KoD, if Teslyn’s patience with Mat, even when he was being a complete asshole, was due to her seeing how much he was lying to himself to try to make himself accept his fate. I think I may have been right on that. And she gives him an escape route, if he looks for it in the future -- that if he ever decides to seek out the White Tower, he has a friend there willing to help him. Considering that she knows that he’s married to a slaver (one who actively tried to re-enslave her personally), that is a HUGE offer. A way out of his trap with the Seanchan -- protection at the White Tower. And Mat, who has been desperate for validation since the start of TGS is now “feeling as unsettled as if someone had kicked his legs out from under him”. Teslyn has also, in this one conversation, shown him more kindness than Tuon has shown in their entire relationship. So... Mat has at least one place to run to now, if he runs away from ~Fortuona~ post-canon. Teslyn has seen the worst of him and extends him this offer anyway, so he knows that she won’t turn him away if he comes to her for help. This conversation is SO good. Mat is thrown so off-balance by Teslyn’s kindness and genuine care for him.

21. *sigh* I really wish that Mat were caring more about Nalesean and the Redarms being murdered by the gholam than about Tylin’s murder. I do understand why -- because Mat feels responsible for her death in a way that he doesn’t for Nalesean’s -- but... ugh, kinda sucks that his guilt over Tylin’s death is now the biggest part of how he feels about Tylin, given how much misery and pain she caused Mat when she was alive. Not necessarily... incorrect, in terms of how people’s brains can work in this sort of situation, but it does suck. Anyway, Mat is now the prime object of the gholam’s attention, having been sent to personally murder him (likely by Moridin, I would assume?). Teslyn saves his life during this fight btw, using the Power to pull him back before the gholam can kill him (she can do this because he took his medallion off to fight it). Five people were successfully killed by the gholam in this attack before it runs away (it has been ordered to try to avoid too much attention).

23. Oddly, Tuon is one of the people that the gholam threatens to kill. Honestly, I feel like it would have been smarter for the Shadow to court the Seanchan/Tuon instead of going against them, since ~Fortuona~ is already so hostile to Aes Sedai. But the Shadow cannot always make smart moves, I guess. The gholam doesn’t threaten to kill Olver but does threaten Tuon, Thom, and Noal. Given that it apparently got its information from a Redarm that it killed a few days ago or from observing Mat’s camp, you’d think that Olver would be on the list either way (and it really makes no sense that Tuon would be on the list? She hasn’t been traveling with Mat for at least a month at this point).

I suspect that the general reader is supposed to care that Tuon is under risk of assassination? But it’s baffling to me as to WHY I should care when she literally JUST had her people assault the White Tower, kidnapping and enslaving forty women and most likely also killing more people than that in total. The narrative has never given me a good reason why I should care about whether or not Tuon gets assassinated besides “vague marriage prophecy bs”. The narrative has never shown that Tuon is actually a better candidate for empress for the Westlands Seanchan than some other random High Blood would be, as long as they aren’t a Darkfriend like Suroth; it just wants us to assume that she is. Her behavior has been just as horrible as any other High Blood’s. Why should I believe she’s a better choice as empress than the next High Blood down in rank? We have never been given a reason.

Now, if Tuon had had even a single ounce of positive character development during the circus storyline, then this would be an entirely different ballgame! But she not only didn’t, she has actively doubled-down on her fear and hatred of ‘marath’damane’.

So, yeah... why on earth should I be invested in Mat wanting to save her life? The narrative never gives me a reason to believe she’s capable of becoming a worthy leader of people. She’s petty, arrogant, and cruel. Basically, a younger version of Elaida with even more power and less self-awareness than Elaida ever had.

24. Note that I do not consider Mat acknowledging Joline as pretty to be a strike against his marriage because it’s not him noticing with any kind of intent that he then tries to pretend doesn’t exist -- he genuinely does not find her an appealing temptation at this point, due to their personal history (though said negative history is pretty much entirely Mat’s fault #JolineDeservedBetter).

25. Ah, Perrin and the others have arrived by the statue that Rand told Nynaeve about back in TGS, so I’m guessing that Tam will be leaving soon to go get nearly killed by his son. Anyway, Perrin and Galad meet here face to face and agree to have their armies fight each other. So... that’s going... well?

26. ELAYNE! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

27. Trying to figure out a way to get the Andoran nobles to actually unite before the Last Battle rather than squabbling for power, Elayne decides that it’s time to claim the Sun Throne. Hmm, I do feel like Sanderson’s more casual style of narration is more pronounced here with Elayne than it’s been with the other characters. All off a sudden, it just feels like the narration is in a hurry, almost more like an outline than prose.

28. Ah, we learn that the reason that Elayne never responded to Mat’s first letter is that she never received it. Her secretary, Master Norry, dismissed Mat as just another leader of a mercenary band, which is why he was granted a space outside the city but no audience with Elayne. He does give her Mat’s second letter, telling her that the captain of this mercenary band is being particularly persistent. Elayne is keeping all these mercenary bands around because they will likely be needed for the Last Battle because, unlike Perrin, SHE isn’t a FOOL.

29. Reading the letter (which does have a lot of misspellings, etc in it, but Mat also mentions that he was planning on rewriting it to be pretty if Thom would have stopped laughing at him) gives Elayne ALL the emotions as she realizes that Mat and Thom (and maybe Olver) are alive and have escaped from Ebou Dar. Mat mentions here that he thinks Elayne’s ass is pretty but also that he barely looked because he knows that she would have kicked his ass and also he’s married w/e, which I feel like should count as strike seven even though it’s Elayne again, because Mat has an emotional attachment to Elayne that he doesn’t have to the more random women that he’s Noticing all over the place, but I’ll only count it as an additional tenth of the point and say he’s at strike six-point-one. Birgitte, upon reading the letter, mentions that Mat also has a nice ass, so I guess she was Looking in Ebou Dar.

Confirmed nice butts:

Elayne & Mat (here in ToM)

Aviendha & Rand (in TFoH)

Probably Min too, I guess

Mat being so worked up over Elayne not responding to his first letter actually makes me wonder if he deliberately put in things into this second letter to try to make her react, if only to fuss at him or tell him off -- telling her she has a nice ass, telling her that he’s married. Because he assumes that she did read his first letter and actively chose not to meet with him.

30. Elayne tells Norry to arrange a meeting with Mat immediately and to tell him to make sure to bring Thom as well. She also begins to think about how Mat and the Band could potentially be useful for bringing Cairhien to her. We get some more insight into her reasoning here as well -- after Rand dies, Andor is one of the biggest potential targets for the Seanchan empire to the south, and they cannot afford for it to merely be part of ~the Dragon’s Empire~ that will potentially fall into chaos after his death. She needs to do strong nation-building NOW, before the Last Battle, to try to make sure it will survive after the Last Battle. “The woman in her cringed to think of planning for Rand’s death, but the Queen could not be so squeamish.” She notes that, as far away from Rand as she currently is, all she ever feels from him these days is a cold anger. Don’t worry, Elayne. Min was literally right there with him and that’s all she ever seemed to be able to sense too.

But this is actually very similar to how Rand wanted to make sure that Arad Doman chose its own king to avoid falling into chaos after his death in the Last Battle, so Elayne and Rand manage to be on the same wavelength even if they are still cruelly separated by the narrative. This is one of the things that @markantonys and I strongly agree on: that a big part of the reason Elayne and Rand are separated for so long is because Elayne is the one person who could have helped Rand with his rulership struggles as an trained leader who understands the issues and understands that you NEED to be ruthless sometimes (but also understands when not to be ruthless).

31. With Elayne, we were still pre-epiphany but when we jump to Min’s PoV, it is decidedly post, as she can feel warmth in the bond and not just Rand’s cold anger.

32. “Alanna didn’t often reveal her intimate connection to the Dragon Reborn.” lol, except for all the Wise Ones, in order to wiggle out of punishments. And all the Aes Sedai, to try to establish precedence. Except for that. Anyway, she’s disappeared from her rooms in the Stone of Tear.

33. When Cadsuane and Min point out that Cadsuane cares that Alanna is missing because she’s a ~tool~ to use on Rand, Nynaeve says that Alanna is “no more helpful” to Cadsuane than Min. So... she tells Cadsuane everything and obeys her frequently? Why is the narrative trying to pretend that Min isn’t constantly helping out Cadsuane? It literally just happened again at the end of TGS! She’s been obediently telling all her viewings to Cadsuane for her to dissect! Nynaeve was IN THE ROOM when this was happening! Or is this meant to reflect Nynaeve’s own distorted view of Min?

34. oh, lol, when Min reacts to Rand arriving in the bond, her Maiden ‘guards’ promptly abandon her and race off to find Rand. So, I guess the Min-Maiden relationship is still... not great, lol.

35. Rand shows up and I really dislike that all of this new!Rand is filtered through outside PoVs. It makes it hard for me to emotionally relate with zen!Rand because I can’t see his interior world. This is also a place where the timeline fuzziness kinda hits the worst, because we’re going right from cold!Rand in Elayne’s bond to warm!Rand in Min’s bond. Moving Rand’s epiphany further back in this set of books would help with that. Min actually panics for a moment, upon seeing Rand, because his eyes look older and he doesn’t seem familiar. “Had the Rand she loved been stolen away, replaced by some ancient force of a man she could never know or understand?” Hmm.

And then he smiles and she does recognize him -- responding to her panic in the bond, maybe?

36. I will, uh, note that Rand did not go directly to Min when he arrived in Tear. Just gonna quietly note that down. He waited for her to find him.

37. He talks to Rhuarc (and the assembled Aiel, including the Maidens) and tells them that he knows that he has toh to them and that he is prepared to meet it. And Rand finally seems to have his relationship with the Maidens back (with Min still baffled at the interactions between Rand and the Aiel).

38. It actually seems clear here (even filtered through Min) that Rand is still somewhat of a boiling pot, though the wound has been lanced. But now he really FEELS the pain over Lan heading towards Tarwin’s Gap, when before he was able to numb most of his emotions through the general ice-cold/molten-hot anger that he was constantly repressing with the flame & void. Now he’s feeling again and that can be... difficult. But he’s still rush-rush-rush and talking about potentially dying soon. So it’s clear that there’s complicated stuff going on in his head and we are TRAPPED in Min’s PoV and only get hints of it second-hand through the bond! But he does promise Nynaeve that he will send Lan help.

39. Rand gives Min the mission to find out why Callandor is key to the prophecies. lol, sure, whatever. I guess we have to give Min ~something important~ to do because she doesn’t actually have a plot purpose and hasn’t had one in quite a long while. Hey, if it means she’s actually doing something and not just surgically-attaching herself to Rand at all times, then I guess it’s worth it.

40. Anyway, Rand tells Cadsuane that she succeeded by failing, lol.

41. Min bashing on the nobles for not having a purpose when she only has a job because her boyfriend gave her one, lol.

42. Anyway, Rand lines up the nobles and susses out that Weiramon and Anaiyella are Darkfriends. If I recall correctly, I’d guessed on Weiramon back during my initial read of TPoD (way back when it was first published) so it was very vindicating for me when he was finally called out as a DF lol. I remember feeling vindicated, anyway, lol. Anaiyella was one I could have gone either way on, but it makes sense for Weiramon to have an accomplice. I... don’t mind Rand’s Darkfriend-vision because, yeah, let’s move the plot along, lol. I just, again, wish that it had been pushed towards the end of this book instead. But the talent itself kinda goes along with the other stuff Rand has been saying about how he’s a bright beacon for the Shadow now and cannot avoid TDO’s eyes.

Instead of killing Weiramon and Anaiyella, he sends them off to bring a message to the Shadow that they will no longer be able to hide among his allies.

43. There’s a great moment with Rand and his dad, though I kinda roll my eyes at Min needing a ~very special~ formal introduction to Tam (who she already knows at this point because he’s been hanging around Tear for three days).

Ah, well. If I do my best to ignore Min, lol, I really liked that scene.

I really do wish that we’d had even a tiny bit of Rand PoV, though. It’s very frustrating only seeing him through other people’s eyes.

I feel like this has gotten long enough (I spent... a lot of time talking about Mat, as I’d suspected that I might, lol) so I will end this post here.

#wot reread #towers of midnight #wot #wheel of time #wot book spoilers #wot spoilers #mat cauthon #little bit of elayne and rand and perrin

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chronotsr · 6 months ago

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No. 7.5 - 1978 Reflections, and the Halls of Mystery

Welcome back to the end-of-the-year recaps! This is technically the first TSR iteration of it!

1. Coolest ideas

It's a lot of stuff from D2. The big ticket item is "neutral-ground hostile shrine" -- any time you can muck about with otherwise hostile people without drawing swords immediately is a big win. I know that the reaction table is supposed to mitigate that some but, cmon. Sometimes you just can't think of a good reason that the 9th goblin pack tonight is not immediately hostile. This is a way more natural way to handle it. And it lets you talk and such and experience their culture from their perspective!

2. Coolest Module You Haven't Heard Of

This is honestly a hard one because all of these modules are intensely well known. Gun to my head, I would probably vote for G1. The D-series is cool but frankly there have been more better and more interesting iterations of subterranean hexcrawls -- Veins of the Earth being the currently famous one. But the thing about G1 is, G1 is a surprisingly natural and fun location. Unlike the others in the GDQ series, G1 is genuinely an adventure you could slot anywhere with no context. It is simply a fun raid on a fortress, which I never get tired of. The twists of "they're piss drunk" and "there's a slave revolt in the basement" are really good (albeit in 2024 a little stale) twists on the classic raid-on-fortress formula.

3. The Growth of Module Design

Honestly 1978 represents a rather stagnant year for module design. The most innovative design feature I see is how D1-D3 feeds into one another in a much more naturalistic way than its predecessors, and all through that deeply useful combination of hexmap and random tables with a handful of pre-programmed setpieces. I am eager to see hexmap technology get much better going forward.

…

Surprisingly, 1978 wasn't too much to talk about? I don't generally think of Gary as an "innovator" in module design space. His main contribution is taking things that already exist and making them feel more natural. Which is not to say that I now buy into Gygaxian Naturalism as this great feat, more than a lot of his competition at the time was seemingly intentionally anti-Naturalism. Their work feels like the reaction to me, Gary is just staying the course of "this should make an amount of sense". Although, his random dungeon monsters mishmash still feels as nonsensical as all hell.

The Halls of Mystery (From Dragon 21, December 1978)

And as threatened, we're going to have a very brief section on The Halls of Mystery, which holds the dubious honor of 1st Dragon Magazine dungeon. I would throw the full header at you, but everything is by Don Turnbull. You may recognize his name, at publication time he works for Games Workshop and he will be heading up TSR, Inc.'s UK branch starting in 1980, leading to the much-beloved Fiend Folio.

So. Not much to say about this, actually, It's a very large room with some branches. The main schtick of the Halls is that the main chamber contains several mirrors, some of which are magical. There's a big riddle on the desk on the south side, the riddle solution is actually quite obvious (say Excalibur three times -- and hey, Don told us the answer and rationale of the puzzle! Thanks Don!). When you move the central cylinder, it teleports you to the corresponding position in the dungeon. The rest is a lightweight stocking of the dungeon with monsters, treasure, et c. If you're keeping score, this is a Zelda puzzle. It's very cute and lightweight and honestly it's so neutrally written (no statistics are given and it would be trivially easy to restock it at any level) that you could genuinely use it in 2024 with very little effort. It's adorable! It is also wonderfully lean, clocking in at two total pages and frankly it's super refreshing to have such a light read of a module here.

Happily, next time we will be covering B1 - In Search of the Unknown, which is the second Basic D&D adventure we will be reviewing in this series (The adventure printed in the Basic rulebook, Tower of Zenopus, was first. This is our first lettered Basic adventure.) And, funnily, the first TSR module in this lineup I've never read before. See you then!

#chronotsr #dnd #dungeons and dragons #tsr #ttrpg #basic dnd #holmes basic

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blackjackkent · 10 months ago

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OK time for yet another boss battle combat report!

(Everyone seemed to like the Iron Throne play-by-play so I guess I'm getting more thorough with these. XD )

We get to fight big boy, who i'm not referencing by name till under the cut, and his three lady friends from the other thrones, plus the three guards from the front door.

Sarevok is quite beefy - 206HP. Surprisingly, the guards from the front door are the other scary ones; That Which Guards has 236HP and the other two are 162. Amelyssan and her cronies are a much more reasonable 72, which means that they're our first targets to get off the field as quickly as possible.

springagainafter: hee hee I've been waiting for you to get to the bit where Sarevok shows up springagainafter: ghost Melissan too UGH springagainafter: PUNCH SAREVOK, HECTOR springagainafter: do it for Rasaad, it's what he would want XD blackjackkent: heeeeee blackjackkent: hell yeah

Let's see how well Team Juggernaut holds up to this challenge.

Minsc was able to open the fight by taking out Amelyssan at once. (He gets five attacks with Nyrulna on the first turn of the fight due to Dread Ambusher and Enraged Throw and he used them all on her.) I like to think that this was not actually strategy but just him zeroing in on her immediately as the person he hates second most on the field (but was most likely to kill quickly) and wanting her GONE.

I backed up out of combat for a bit so I could look at Sarevok's inspect screen and he's a spooky boy. Among his Exciting Features are: Legendary Resistance (unsurprising), Exceptional Plate (decreased physical damage), multiattack, bleed infliction on enemies with full health, and 20AC. Fundamentally, though, the scariest thing about him is that he has a number of equally scary friends and a lot of health, so we'll be better off taking the friends out of the equation fast. We've dealt with Steel Watchers, so as long as Sarevok doesn't start exploding, I'm not as worried as I was with them. XD

The three echoes also turn out to be primary targets because they cast Haste on Sarevok and Slow on our party, both of which are TERRIFYING in this context, so good to get them off the field as quickly as possible.

As the fight goes on, though, things get... interesting. Every time our boy Sarevok hits something he gets a stack of "Murderous Strikes", and when it hits 4 he can cast "Deathbringer's Legacy" which basically allows him to do a four-strike multihit. And when hastened he can get that VERY often.

On her second turn, Jaheira DISCONNECTS HERSELF FROM THE PARTY because she doesn't have time for my mediocre combat skills, casts Confusion on all three of the weird scary guards, and beelines straight for Sarevok like a house on fire entirely without my input.

CORRECTION: The above point seriously confused me through quite a few reloads and I couldn't figure out what was causing it bc it only seemed to happen sometimes. Turns out that one of the Big Scary Guards cast "Compelled Duel" on her, which I think broke her out of my control briefly even though it's supposed to just prevent her from attacking anyone other than the caster. And then I think her casting Confusion caused the control to drop (when the BSG failed its save) but didn't put her back in the party.

I like my interpretation better, though, that she's so pissed off with Sarevok that she doesn't have time for my bullshit.

Honestly Hector's brute force punching is carrying the day. (The spirit of Rasaad moves within him indeed.) His second turn he got a starting topple on Sarevok and melted him for a total of [does hasty math] A HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE DAMAGE. My boy is a guided missile and we love that for him! This build is so broken oh my god, Zen. XD

Looking more closely at the Big Scary Guards, I noticed this:

This is good news actually and means we probably don't have to kill them, just keep them from killing US long enough to deal with Sarevok.

Having finally, after a number of confused reloads, figured out what was going on with Jaheira, it was time to bring out the owlbear to smack Sarevok around, and leave Karlach in the back to deal with the BSGs. Four owlbear claw hits in a row for ~22 damage each is spicy, plus each of them does knockback, which gives us the incredibly satisfying image of Sarevok Anchev bouncing across the floor like an errant ping-pong ball.

Eventually we whittled him down! The BSGs, as expected, despawned when Sarevok died, and we just had to clear out the remainder of the echoes in order to finish the fight.

Yasssss. SAREVOK ANCHEV IS NO MORE!

*loud cheering from Faenya-Dail*

I would damn well hope the Murder Tribunal are impressed after that display. XD

I didn't even know that was an option but I think I'm glad we didn't become whatever that is. XD

Excellent. That will be Thursday's project since I have raids tomorrow. XD

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle #late post lol this took forever plus i kept getting pulled away #but YESSSSSSS #eat it murder boy

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consumed-by-fandom · 1 year ago

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How the Dudes would react to you hugging them

I got a bit soft today so uh uhm uhhh

EDIT: This is under the context of the Dude already knows you and likes you enough to not blow off your head if you try and hug him! Just thought i’d mention lmao

P1: He’s touch avert unless he really trusts you enough to allow you to hug him (which is the only way he’d allow you to do it) and even then at first he’d be real nervous and even a little uncomfortable, but after a while he’d melt into it. Poor guy doesn’t get much affection from others. Once he gets used to it it’ll be hard to get him to let go, basically clinging to you for dear life as if you letting go means he’ll never get to hug you again. The type to nestle into the crook of your neck if you let him. Think of a cat putting its face in a blanket lmao he’s like that. Would offer you hugs sometimes in hopes that he can make you feel just as safe and comfortable as you make him.

P2: Would be kinda confused at first but would return it with some enthusiasm. Actually enjoys them but wouldn’t tell you, but he will initiate them from then on. Would hug you from behind to piss you off, he’s pretty casual about it. Emanating “fine, i guess you are my little pogchamp, cmere” vibes

P3/Alt: Similar to P2, would be confused on why, but is more open to showing that he likes them. Full on bear hugs, the kinda guy who picks you up while he’s hugging you to show how light you are to him lol. Wouldn’t really initiate them, but he’s alright if you ask for them. He’s not too bothered honestly.

BD: A bit of a mix between the last three? he wouldn’t let just anyone hug him, but as long as he knows you fairly well he won’t mind. Doesn’t really know how to give decent hugs, and won’t really show his appreciation, but you can tell by the way he gets real quiet and maybe, just maybe holds you a little tighter, that he definitely wants them from you. After a while he might offer them to you if you need them, but he can’t promise he’ll be any good.

OD: Would at first react negatively “why the hell are you hugging me >:(“, would take him a long time to get used to it, he’s not really into them (or touch in general). If you were really upset and he (surprisingly) decided to comfort you he could swallow his discomfort to offer one, but honestly? They aren’t his thing. The only time he’d willingly hug you is if you were in danger or scared, his dislike would immediately be thrown out of the window as he goes into protective mode, will hold you for dear life until you feel safe again. (To be honest I think every Dude would react the same way, when it comes to your life being in danger they’re holding you in their arms until the dangers over, its on instinct)

P4: God this man is so tired he’ll accept hugs from literally anyone. Just the second he’s offered one he’s in there, decently strong hugs and you might hear him sigh deeply after a little while. He could fall asleep hugging you, any affection he’s given he gladly accepts, and the most likely to offer you hugs out of all of them, literally for any reason doesn’t matter he’s just “wanna hug?”, someone please take care of this sopping wet old ass cat IM BEGGING-

Thats it these guys revolve around my mind 24/7 and I want to wrap them all up in blankets. Yes I know he is guilty of crimes against humanity but shhhh

#headcanon #headcanons #postal #postal dude #okay i’ll level with you #i was playing postal 4 and watching the cutscenes and I was like #god i need to hug him and make him feel better he looks so tired #and then this happened #sorree #or not sorry dude selfshippers come get your sustenance

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slymewitch · 1 year ago

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Christmas Carol autism rant

Honestly of all the stories and songs and such that get oversaturated during christmas, I unironically enjoy how many versions of A Christmas Carol there are. Not only because its a good story in general, but because unlike something like Rudolph, every single version has a uniqueness to them. The simplicity of the plot allows for so much messing around with the setting, the timeline, the mood, its all so malleable. And then there are the characters. Scrooge, Marley, and the ghosts specifically are all fairly simple archetypes, but because of their simplicity, each variant of the story can expand on said archetypes however they want, heck they can even completely zigzag the archetypes and put something completely different in the slot of one of the characters. Especially for the ghosts. Usually they’ll just go with the archetypes of angel, santa, death, but every single version gives the trio their own flavor. An angel can be a lot of things, like a girl, or a candle, or a dirty taxi driver, or the Eleventh Doctor. But Scrooge himself is probably the most interesting. Compared to the other characters in the story, he’s the one that changes the least between each adaptation on the surface. Grumpy old man, hates christmas, greedy, bad childhood, bad friends, bad breakup, the works. These guidelines are mostly unflinchingly rigid, but the exact brand of bitterness, and the details of the events, are left up to whoever’s writing. My favorite version by far though is unironically the Muppets version. Unlike most other adaptations, Scrooge doesn’t seem that hateful in that version. He still does the same greedy and evil crap as the other Scrooges, but he isn’t as angry as the rest are. You don’t get the impression that he hates anyone, and he seems more depressed than anything else. Even when he outright says that poor people should die, he just sounds done. Like he’s only saying it because he doesn’t care enough to filter what he says. And of all other Scrooge’s he’s the most willing to change. When he’s shown his past he immediately brightens up upon seeing simpler, more familiar times. When hes with the ghost of christmas present and sees the cratchets and his nephew, he makes the least wisecracks of any other Scrooge, and seems genuinely hurt by how lowly people think of him. And when yet to come arrives, he goes with him willingly, knowing that this is something he must face if he wants to be saved. Oh yeah, if you can’t tell, the muppets version is my favorite, the Marleys scene solidified Statler and Waldorf as my favorite muppets and is easily the highlight of the movie for me. But for some close contenders, George C Scott’s version is definitely the creepiest version Ive ever seen and it gives a lot more context about Scrooge’s life than most others. The Ghost of Christmas present is surprisingly intimidating, and dear GOD yet to come gives me chills. It’s strange how much mileage you can get out of a creaking gate sound effect. The Doctor Who version is also a personal favorite for being both weird and clever at the same time. Weird because its on an alien planet where sharks float in the air and can be used to drive chariots, but still SUPER clever for how it screws around with the story. I dont want to spoil too much, mostly because I want an excuse to not explain how bonkers the story is, but the way they mess with the “past present and future” theming is genius, because of course it was this is doctor who we’re talking about. And of course theres Spirited which is also extremely clever with how it messes with the story, but is also just really fun and charming to watch.

I’ve already written so much that I do not have the energy for a well written conclusion so uh, my point is that Christmas Carol adaptations are awesome despite the fact they probably shouldn’t be, and um…stay hydrated!

#a christmas carol #christmas movies #christmas #long rant #autism rant

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summerwritesfics · 3 months ago

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🗺️Open Up Your Eyes And Soon We’re All Drop Dead Cynical

Pairing: Hanzo Hasashi/Kuai Liang Length: 2294 Words Rating: Mature Warnings: Alien AU, Alien!Hanzo Hasashi, Alien!Quan Chi, Forensic Pathologist!Kuai Liang, Autopsies, Murder, Alien Invasion, Misunderstandings, Flirting, Hiding In Plain Sight, Hanzo & Quan Chi do not understand human culture of anatomy, Kuai Liang: I’m Not saying it was aliens but it was aliens AU-Gust 2024 Day 15: Secretly Alien

AU-Gust 2024 Masterlist

Notes: Very vaguely inspired by Resident Alien, at least in the way Hanzo and Quan Chi interact and try to integrate into human society. Title is from Drop Dead Cynical by Amaranthe.

Humans were a fascinating species.

Hanzo had what he’d consider very love hate feelings for them. On one hand, they were a surprisingly resilient species, able to adapt to the harshest of conditions, using what little technology they had surprisingly efficiently. For example, how they’d managed to manufacture telecommunications without access to power gems or Netherrealm steel. They had managed to create cures for diseases using plants from their own planet alone. They had explored corners of Earth they had absolutely no right to be able to get to, let alone survive in.

And then on the other hand, they had a habit of doing some of the stupidest actions Hanzo had ever seen. The amount of times Hanzo had conversed with a human and they’d said something that made him want to bash his brain in was in the thousands. Sometimes they happily marched onward to their own deaths. He was honestly amazed they’d managed to make it this far.

It made his task all the more difficult to be honest. Lord Shinnok, Emperor of Netherrealm, was trying to expand his planetary reach. Earth had been on his radar for a while. Hanzo, and his commander Quan Chi, had been sent to do a recon mission, trying to gather information on how best to conquer the planet. Human resourcefulness could benefit the Empire greatly. Human stupidity could bring about its ruin.

Hanzo followed Quan Chi down the corridor of the police station. The pair of them had managed to infiltrate this law enforcement facility, using the position of power to observe and plan. Human morality was also something that confused him. It seemed all over the place, where one person killing another was bad in one context but seen as good in another. Some people committed crimes that humanity as a whole considered horrendous but barely got a slap on the wrist. Then some did things Hanzo would barely bat an eyelid at, but get thrown into prison for the rest of their lives.

He generally just went by what the majority thought in terms of things like that, at least to fit in amongst them and not rouse suspicion.

The case they were currently investigating was one of the bad killings, he supposed. Considered a murder, it was his and Quan Chi’s jobs as detectives to figure out the person who committed the act. But first, they had to figure out how the person died. And to do that, they had to visit the morgue.

As they entered, the man inside looked up at them, smiling as he greeted “good morning, detectives.”

Kuai Liang was a strange being, even for a human, but Hanzo couldn’t help but be slightly fond of him. He was constantly surrounded by death, something most humans seemed to consider unsavoury, yet he constantly seemed to be content. Hanzo did worry for his mental health however, especially given he’d walked in on the man talking to the corpses before.

“Good morning, Kuai Liang,” Hanzo returned, trying to keep neutral. He didn’t need Quan Chi making fun of him again for being soft for the little human. “What do you have for us?”

“Um. Bit of a baffling one, to be honest with you.” He waved the men over, and they shared a look before approaching the body. On the table was an elderly man, and Kuai Liang had clearly already performed a full autopsy, if the fact he was stitched back together was anything to go by. “So, as I was performing the autopsy, mostly everything looked normal for a man of his age… except…” Kuai reached behind him, bringing out two jars and placing them on the table. Both contained a human heart. “He had two hearts. Fully functioning and attached to his system if I’m not mistaken too.”

Wait. Shit. How many hearts do humans normally have? Clearly this was not the average considering Kuai Liang was flagging it as unusual.

“And that is abnormal?” Quan Chi questioned aloud, and honestly Hanzo was glad he’d said it so he didn’t have to.

Kuai looked at them much in the same way they looked at stupid humans before stating “yes? Last I checked the majority of humans only have one.”

Well, that answered that question. Also it probably explained why human life expectancy was so low, if they only had a single heart to fall back on.

“So, what exactly do you think is going on here?” Hanzo questioned, taking a closer look at the man on the table. He looked like a human, but that didn’t mean anything, given that both himself and Quan Chi currently looked human too.

“Well, either this guy is a medical marvel or he’s an alien,” Kuai causally sighed, tapping his finger against the glass of the jars. Hanzo shared a long look with Quan Chi, unsure how to react to that. If Kuai genuinely believed the man on the table was not from Earth, their entire operation could be in danger. Kuai coughed slightly, before muttering “guess that joke didn’t land then.”

“Oh,” Hanzo whispered in relief, letting out a nervous chuckle. “You were joking?”

Kuai Liang’s eyes glanced between Hanzo and Quan Chi before asking “are you two okay? I mean, you’re usually a little strange, but today you’re both acting weirder than normal.”

“Sorry, just, this case is a strange one,” Hanzo tried to excuse, although given Kuai’s reputation as being unusual for a human he had room to talk. Still, he supposed he couldn’t blame him. To a human their behaviour probably had come across as bizarre. “Have you learnt what killed him?”

“No, not exactly.” Kuai pursed his lips, looking the man over. “He had no injuries, external or internal, which led me to believe he may have been poisoned in some way, however his blood work and my other tests came up with nothing.” He turned around again, grabbing what looked like a bag of something. “However when I was performing the autopsy I felt something hard in his stomach, so I opened it up and found this.”

Kuai Liang held the bag up, and sitting inside it was a medium sized red gem. Hanzo’s eyes widened. That was a power gem. Something Earth did not have access to. It seemed more and more unlikely this man was human, but that led to question who the hell he was and what he was doing here? As far as Hanzo knew, only Quan Chi and him were on Earth.

Maybe we aren’t alone after all.

“Other than that, I was advised his ID was fake, so I tried to see if I could find any match for him. Nothing came back from blood tests, fingerprints or dental records.” Kuai sighed rather dramatically, and held the bag with the gem out to them. Quan Chi almost instantly snatched it out of his hand. “Honestly, given the whole two hearts thing, this guy should have been on the medical community's radar. He should have papers written about him, the fact we can’t find any trace of his existence is incredibly suspect.”

“Hanzo will look into it more,” Quan Chi agreed, placing the power gem in his pocket. “I’m going to see what can be found out about this gem. Thank you for your assistance, Kuai Liang.”

“No problem,” Kuai muttered watching as Quan Chi turned and left the room. Once they were alone, he looked at Hanzo with a frown, “are you sure everything is alright Detective? Ever since I showed you the two hearts it’s like you know something that I don’t, and you’re desperate to keep it a secret.”

Kuai Liang was far more perceptive than some of his other peers. Hanzo almost felt bad lying to him, but he couldn’t risk him knowing the truth.

“It’s nothing.” He wondered how much he could bait Kuai Liang by dangling little bits of info in front of him. “What if he really is an alien?”

“I won’t lie, I would love that,” Kuai cheerfully announced as he went to return the hearts to their proper place.

“You would?” Hanzo questioned with an eyebrow raised.

“I mean, the first documented case of an extraterrestrial, and I was the first person to examine him?” Kuai almost did a little happy jump as he spoke, and Hanzo couldn’t help but smile. He really was quite sweet, all things considered. “Talk about an alien autopsy.”

“What if I was an alien too?” Hanzo blurted out, absolutely regretting it. Kuai giggled though, clearly not taking him seriously. Thankfully. He decided he might as well lean into it as a joke. “Here to conquer the Earth in the name of my planet?”

“Oh, honey I am not opposed to being conquered by you,” Kuai purred, leaning to one side with a smirk on his face. Hanzo almost did a double take. He’d done some research into human mating rituals, and if he wasn’t reading Kuai’s actions wrong… he’d almost think he was initiating it with him.

“Are you…” He completely forgot what human’s called this. They had a name for it. Flinging? No. Flighting? No, but it definitely began with a f, he remembered that much.

“Flirting with you?” Kuai asked, with an eyebrow raised. Yes! That was the word he’d been searching for. Flirting. “I mean, I have been for months, but thanks for finally noticing.”

“Wait. What?” Hanzo was dumbfounded, had Kuai Liang really been trying to initiate a relationship with him for that long? How had he not noticed? The documentation he’d seen on such things made it seem like it’d be extremely obvious.

“I couldn’t tell if you hadn’t noticed or just weren’t interested.” Kuai crossed his arms and lent backwards. “Guess you’re just a little dense when it comes to stuff like this, huh?”

“I- I admittedly don’t have much experience,” Hanzo claimed. He’d had what humans would consider a wife at one point in time. Harumi had been his everything. But his method of courtship with her was far different than the methods humans used. “You are really interested in that? With me?”

“I mean, you’re a really weird guy, but to be honest so am I, so I kind of like that about you.” How funny that the thing that attracted Hanzo to Kuai Liang seemed to be the same the other way around.

“Oh.” He pursed his lips. He actually really wanted to attempt this. It would give him a lot of hands-on insight into the workings of humans. But more importantly, he actually liked Kuai Liang, and wanted to know more about him, specifically. From what he’d seen, going for a dinner together seemed an accepted first attempt at courtship between humans. “Would you like to go for dinner sometime? With me?”

Kuai smiled fondly and laughed, “I’d love to go to dinner sometime. With you.”

“Good. I’ll uh, set something up.” He wasn’t entirely sure how to do so. He needed to do research into what was appropriate. Or rather what Kuai Liang would like, he guessed. “Sorry, I should probably get back to work. Do you think you could give me a copy of his blood work and dental records?”

“Of course.” Kuai reached for a pile of papers on his desk, flicking through them and picking out certain pages before turning to hand Hanzo the paper he had left. “I think you’ll find that’s everything.”

“Thank you.” Hanzo took the papers and turned to leave. He paused at the door, looking over his shoulder to say “I’ll let you know when I’ve figured out dinner.”

“You’d better,” Kuai giggled, and Hanzo finally left the room.

He jumped when he realised Quan Chi was standing outside, a scowl on his face as if he’d been waiting for Hanzo. Whoops.

“What the hell have you been doing in there?” He hissed, holding up the bag with the power gem. “We have a problem.”

“I realise,” Hanzo muttered, before he held up the stack of papers himself. “These are the results of his blood and other tests. If I can study them, I might be able to at least figure out what planet this guy is from.”

Quan Chi stared at the papers, before huffing and putting the gem away again.

“Fine,” he spat, eyes narrowing. “But if that little human in there starts to genuinely suspect something is amiss we’re going to be in trouble.”

Hanzo clicked his tongue, knowing what Quan Chi was saying. If Kuai Liang figured out they really were aliens, then they’d have to eliminate him.

“I’ll keep a close eye on him,” Hanzo offered, deciding he’d leave out that he’d do that via his attempts at courting. Hopefully if Kuai ever realised what was really going on, Hanzo could find a way to use this courtship to save him. Kuai Liang felt worth that. “For now, we need to figure out who that corpse is, what planet he’s from and what he’s doing here.”

“Agreed.” Quan Chi’s tone sounded suspicious of something. Likely how Hanzo intended to keep an eye on Kuai Liang. Whatever. Hanzo would figure that out later. “Let’s go.”

Quan Chi stormed off down the corridor. Hanzo let out a sigh before taking a deep breath. He just needed to stay calm, and hope they could come to an answer on what was going on. He followed Quan Chi, trying to keep his mind on the case, but somehow, it kept wandering to Kuai Liang and the dinner he had to arrange.

I’ve seen him eating that sushi stuff before, maybe I can take him to a restaurant that specialises in it.

He smiled. At least he’d be getting something good out of this mission.

#mortal kombat #subscorp #sub zero #kuai liang #scorpion #hanzo hasashi #🗺️au gust 2024

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jasper-book-stash · 10 months ago

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January 2024 Reading Wrap Up

As y'all know, I started this blog anew to record my thoughts on some books I read. Unfortunately, I have a bad habit of reading a lot more books than the average human should, and they knock each other out of my noggin. This is why I maintain a color-coded spreadsheet with columns to keep track of things. I also took on a winter reading challenge, and I've read most of the 17 books I was looking to read. With that said, let's see where things landed this month!

Religious Text

None applicable.

1/10 - Why Did They Publish This?

None applicable (thank the gods).

2/10 - Trash

Creating Magickal Entities: A Complete Guide to Entity Creation | David Michael Cunningham, Taylor Ellwood, T Amanda R Wagener

This one was...rough. Painful, even. This made me retroactively rate the other occult books I read higher just to cope.

3/10 - Meh

Heartbreaker | Julie Garwood [reading challenge]

I was hoping this one would be fun, considering the author is from Missouri and the summary seemed promising, but the main male character (not the antagonist) came across as a creep the whole time. I hated him very much.

4 to 6/10 - Mid-Tier

Sigil Magic for Writers, Artists, & Other Creatives | T Thorn Coyle [reading challenge]

With all due respect to Mx. T Thorn Coyle…this book sucked. It originated as a zine and tbh it should have stayed that way. There was a lot of fluff to get the page count up that could honestly have been removed (and should have been). I didn’t feel like I came away from this one learning anything new about sigils or how to incorporate them or my writing into my craft.

The Whittiers | Danielle Steel [reading challenge]

Unlike my surprisingly good experiences reading The Wedding Planner, The Whittiers was a sludge to get through. It was a bit annoying to hear Danielle Steel talk so much about how the characters weren't rich when they were clearly living a rather rich lifestyle without much financial problems in the beginning, and I eventually gave up on the book. The characters just...weren't too compelling to trudge through the repetition for.

The Stranger Upstairs | Lisa M Matlin

YOU. This book took a bit too long to get to the point (the plot), but at least part 2 was absolutely riveting and the epilogue was intriguing. I honestly think None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell did this better, even though The Stranger Upstairs is more about a house than a person. Just...read None Of This Is True instead. Trust me.

Liber Null and Psychonaut | Liber Kaos | Peter J Carroll

Part of what I'm doing is research into chaos magic, starting with its foundational texts. And boy howdy, is this a severely middling book to me. Pointlessly obtuse, refuses to get to the point, spends too long sucking Aleister Crowley's dick... But utterly fascinating from a retrospective point of view, seeing what chaos magic looks like now.

7 to 8/10 - Good With Caveats

Dracula | Bram Stoker [reading challenge]

I'm going to beat Bram Stoker with a broom. Good with the caveat that you have to read it with the context of it being a product of its time. Also, post-vampire Lucy Westenra can GET SOME.

Strawberry Shortcake Murder | Joanne Fluke [reading challenge]

I "read" this one in audiobook form, thanks to my library having a Playaway of it. This one…aged a little poorly in some aspects. I might skip into more modern entries to the series rather than trudge through the older stuff to get there.

The Leftover Woman | Jean Kwok [reading challenge]

This one was a fucking TRIP. This book was full of twists and turns and physically pained me at points. It absolutely fucked me up and I was crying by the end, so I was lucky that no one came into work while I was reading it. I can't say much about it for fear of spoiling it, other than that it delivered upon what it promised.

The Midnight Library | Matt Haig [reading challenge]

This did NOT help with the crying! This book also fucked me up! It’s absolutely wild from the get-go. Content warning for animal death early on, though, because that did not help my anxious ass.

Marrying the Ketchups | Jennifer Close [reading challenge]

With all of the things this book was juggling, it ended exactly how it needed to.

Spells for Change: A Guide for Modern Witches | Frankie Castanea/Chaotic Witch Aunt

I was expecting something entirely different from this book.

Condensed Chaos: An Introduction to Chaos Magic | Phil Hine

Exactly what it says on the tin.

Magickal Servitors: Create Your Own Spirits to Attract Pleasure, Power and Prosperity | Damon Brand

Far more effective and to-the-point than Creating Magickal Entities was, but still far from perfect.

9/10 - Very Very Good

The Puppets of Spelhorst | Kate DiCamillo [reading challenge]

This book is one I've been meaning to read since the library got it in. It's an adorable story with great illustrations and plenty of drama for the 8- to 12-year-old in your life. Or for you, if you want a touching low-stakes story with an open ending.

Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under The Sea | Dav Pilkey [reading challenge]

From the guy who brought us Captain Underpants comes an adorable graphic novel about…honestly a lot happening, there was a lot. Luckily, even though it’s late in the series, there’s enough context provided that you can get a good grasp of the characters. Doesn’t have much to do with Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, though, so I’m deducting a point for that. I read Jules Verne's work and there was nothing about a dog-headed cop in there, nor a cat man who used to be a criminal and is having the worst redemption arc of his life.

Honestly, it was still fun.

Practical Gods | Carl Dennis [reading challenge]

Read for both my reading challenge AND my book club's Pulitzer Prize prompt, this is such a lovely collection of poems and really gets into the crossing of religious belief with modern problems. How does it do this as a book of poetry? I’m not sure! But it did! Definitely worth the multiple prizes it has won. I ordered my own personal copy and I'm waiting for it to arrive.

Gods of Jade and Shadow | Silvia Moreno-Garcia [reading challenge]

I AM GOING TO EAT THIS BOOK BECAUSE I LOVE IT SO MUCH. We love a book in which the main character dies but that's not the end of their story!

Warrior Magic: Justice Spirituality and Culture from Around the World | Tomas Prower

I did a little write-up of this one.

Give-A-Damn-Jones | Bill Pronzini [reading challenge]

This one was great because the titular character respects women and protects minorities and keeps getting into situations. We love a guy who doesn't want to be here! This was the first Western I've read, and I think it was a good pick.

10/10 - Unironically Recommend To Everyone

Well, everyone who's into the genre these fall under, at least.

Sappho: A New Translation | Mary Barnard

I was so worried that this translation would...well, straightwash Sappho, but from what I see, Mary is dedicated to translating them as close to intentional meaning as possible, including Sappho's bisexuality. Hell yeah.

Welsh Witchcraft: A Guide to the Spirits, Lore, and Magic of Wales | Mhara Starling

This is an in-depth look into a Welsh witch's practice. It's delightful to read someone talk about their own craft, and you can really tell that Mhara loves the place she lives in.

Exodus 20:3: A Monster Romance | Freydis Moon

We love a gay angelfucker romance between a trans man and an angel, complete with smut. Honestly, a great time.

The Salt Grows Heavy | Cassandra Khaw

Do you want the mermaid from The Little Mermaid fairy tale to murder people? Do you want a nonbinary plague doctor? Do you want to hear about murderous child cannibals and freakish surgeons? Do you want your protagonist to McFucking Snap? Do you want a happy ending in the weirdest way possible in this setting? Read The Salt Grows Heavy! A mere 112 pages that will fuck you up while you're trying to poop in peace!

#jasper post #books #bookblr #authors #reading wrap up #2024 #january 2024

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