#i have never watched a lot of the very popular fantasy movies

[axepng]

Silly Game Time: Are you fan of the fantasy genre? If so, what's a fantasy story (movie, show, book, game, etc.) you really like, and why?

I LOVE fantasy!!!!! Well, not the entire genre but a lot of the stuff i like is fantasy!

I do love fantasy cartoons, I adore the stories of Over the Garden Wall, Gravity Falls, One Piece, ect. ect.

Game wise, its 100% Hollow Knight. I cannot stress this enough the story of Hollow Knight is so good.. ARGH now I want to replay the game again..!!!!!

[shevr]

hey yesterday i got distracted until 5am into browsing lists of old animated movies on wikipedia and there's a bunch of stuff that i wanna get around to dig up & watch but i crave even more older, more obscure, more forgotten stuff

plz feel free to drop any obscure animated flick you know of so i can go check it ( extra bonus points if you're not american and it's a movie from your country )

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/746553097204203521/the-fandom-hates-women-response-to-lack-of-ff

The "fandom hates women" part of it comes from the fact that fandom as an entity just doesn't watch the kind of media that draws femslash, even if it ticks all of the boxes of things those very same people say they like. There are so many times I've watched a show that I've seen mega-popular Tumblr posts wishing existed, and then the fandom is so, so small comparatively and often in general. There have been superheroes, vampire/supernatural shows, fantasy shows, movies, books, the list goes on, that feel like they were generated out of Tumblr's desires for ideal fandom media, and everyone knows they're never going to attract anywhere near the same attention for fandom and fanworks because the common denominator just tends to be that if there isn't a full ensemble of attractive men to ship either with each other or with the women, fandom's not interested.

So it's not about prioritizing women in that sense, it's about people witnessing hypocrisy over and over again the second a show doesn't have a mostly-male ensemble. The people who are in these fandoms are frustrated that good faith attempts to get people interested are met with every excuse in the book that all eventually boils down to "I don't like watching stuff with women in it as much as I like watching stuff with men in it." And if that's how people feel about it... sometimes the conclusions are going to turn into the more uncharitable take of "fandom hates women."

--

Maybe, but whenever I see a "fandom hates women" reblog of my stuff, one or two reblogs further down the chain I get an overt TERF. I just had to go block several people today, in fact.

The first person to reblog with a comment like that is usually subtle, but their friends and friends of friends are not. The rhetoric that very quickly starts is the fandom equivalent of that "All the butches are becoming trans men! We're losing lesbians!" stuff.

Here's the thing: I've been in ten billion fandoms that were so awesome and fit fandom's supposed tastes to a T and yet no amount of promoting them could get anyone to try the canon. This goes for canons that are all men or all white men or all majority ethnicity men or whatever else.

The default state of media is to not engender a big fic fandom.

I agree that the rare outliers mostly follow certain patterns, but we extrapolate too far when we say that a lack of those patterns is why a fandom is small.

A fandom is small because that's the near-universal default.

--

Yes, a small slice of fandom consists of guilt-ridden queer fujoshi who say they want more f/f but don't make much of a move to make that happen. I tend to run into that a lot because of my own tastes and having friends who share those tastes.

Far more of fandom is people talking generally about how representation matters without saying they would personally join these fandoms if they existed.

Neither group is large enough to be the real reason some woman-heavy canon fails to take off to HP levels.

The real reason is not hypocrisy but the fact that most things don't take off like that. Most things without massive, massive audiences especially don't take off like that. And the very few things that do are flukes and don't actually predict that another similar thing will take off in the future.

--

Go to AO3's tag search. Search for all canonical fandom tags. Sort by uses and descending order.

Right now, I get 64,390 tags.

The first page, 50 tags, goes from HP with 497,845 works to the Thor movies with 59,266 works. By page 6, we're below 10 thousand works.

By the end of page 10, we're down to Labyrinth with 3,906.

Somewhere in the top 500 AO3 fandom tags (many of which are just franchise metatags for each other), we go all the way from megafandoms to medium size and down to relatively modest ones.

That's not a lot of room for a big f/f-heavy fandom given the trends in mainstream media and that mainstream media is where most really big fandoms come from.

--

I also notice that you're conflating a lack of desire to watch something that's primarily about women with a lack of desire to watch something that includes women.

There are tons of fans who want something more like The Mummy with a leading man and leading woman they love.

Granted, that's not me and that's not a lot of my fujoshi/slasher audience, but it's extraordinarily common. I know plenty of people who don't like canons that are only dudes, but since they also don't like canons that are only ladies and they don't ship f/f, this gets spun into "fandom hates women".

--

Let me be clear:

Conflating "lesbians" and "women" is a radfem position.

[southasianpercy]

miles-42 is a vigilante.

this is something my friend and i have discussed in private immediately after watching the movie when it was released. but, whenever we see anyone else say it online, they get heavy pushback from A LOT of people. and i believe those people def only watched across the spiderverse for reasons such as (1) the most popular movie at the time (2) it’s spider-man (but they only have a passive interest in spidey). i say this because their denial of miles-42 being a vigilante instead of a villain or anti-hero feels like they only care to look at the movie with a very shallow perspective.

i’m going to first talk about why my friend & i believed miles-42 was a vigilante after watching the movie (take note that we hadn’t really seen other ppl’s opinions on this yet & we also hadn’t searched up anything pertaining to the topic prior to our convos).

our main reason is that miles-42 was meant to be spider-man in his universe. and we all know that when a person is meant to be spider-man, they are a person with a heart of gold (i.e. a very kind and good nature).*

*yes, i know spider-man can be evil, but that doesn’t line up with the theme represented throughout the spiderverse films, so it’s not relevant here. also, with that logic, then you have to consider that prowler can be good.

miles-42 being the prowler in his universe doesn’t mean that he’s automatically evil/a villain/thug/gang member, especially since there are parallels between miles-42 and our miles (miles-1610).

• they have the same mural dedicated to a beloved family member who died.

• miles-42 caught the glove from uncle aaron-42 the same way that our miles caught the spray can from his uncle.

• they wear the same clothes. i believe the clothes are a heavy indicator for how similar miles-42 and our miles are—they both wear the jersey with the big puffy coat over, but the colors (red & black, purple & green) match their respective titles (spider-man, prowler). this definitely indicates that they stand for the same thing and represent the same thing for their respective universes, just with a different appearance.

now, when i’ve seen people try to defend their belief that miles-42 is a villain or anti-hero, they say “well, he tied up our miles!” or “he’s the prowler! and the prowler is supposed to be evil/kill people!” or “he’s only had a couple seconds of screen time, so just let people assume what they want.” i have a rebuttal for each of these.

“well, he tied up our miles!” yeah, this is another parallel, similar to how our miles tied up peter b. parker in itsv. did that mean our miles was a villain then? or evil? no, he was scared and wanted answers. but, in comparison, miles-42 is more experienced and has spent a year being his city’s hero, so he’s definitely going to be tougher and more capable compared to itsv miles.

“he’s the prowler! and the prowler is supposed to be evil/kill people!” people need to take into account that this is a different universe without a spider-man. there is no spider-man mantle to take up because there never was one in the first place/no one got bit, which means things function differently. miles-42 being the prowler is the closest thing to being spider-man in his universe (which, once again, is indicated through subtext: miles-42 & our miles’s clothing being similar).

“he’s only had a couple of seconds of screen time, so just let people assume what they want.” no. i don’t care that miles-42 had little to no screen time because there are heavy indicators that point to him being a hero in his universe. and letting ppl assume what they want has went into weird racist territory where people push this idea of miles-42 running his own cartel, being a threatening hoodrat, or anything else that falls under bullshit harmful stereotypes based off of his appearance alone. letting ppl assume miles-42 to be anything but a vigilante who helps people and doesn’t kill anyone just lets them play out their fantasies that are deeply rooted in racism. they even make it to where miles-42 acts & dresses insanely different from our miles even tho the movie has shown us these two have similar taste?? and rio-42 didn’t think miles was acting any different when he was talking to her?? the only difference between our miles and miles-42 is their environment, which forced one of them to grow up way quicker and adopt a tougher exterior.

and a couple months ago, when i was reading through the atsv art book, on the section about miles-42 the director literally confirmed what my friend & i thought all along: miles-42 is a vigilante and the hero of his universe. it’s nice to have it confirmed, but it also is important for the vigilante deniers to hear it because that’s the only time they’ll truly understand (even tho it’s been heavily hinted at in the movie).

p. 190 of the atsv official art book

p. 200 of the atsv official art book

[elusive---ivory]

Yandere!Emo-Boyfriend x GN!Reader

These ideas keep coming to me like a plague of moths. I saw a fic today that had this same theme, and I wanted it to be longer. Whoever had this original idea gets all the credit, I just wanted to make my own thing, lmaooooooo. TW: manipulation, gore, gaslighting, emo things, mentions of bullying, and depression.

The Emo Boy in your class was a shy kid. He didn't want much to do with anyone. He felt quite reserved and isolated from the crowd. He'd do anything to fit in with the popular crowd. But, as he soon realized, he would never be like the other kids. He wore his hair down, with swoopy bangs.

Ezra was an emotional time bomb, with a fascination for gore and fantasy horror. Ever since he was a small boy, he deeply loved horror. He often wondered what killing someone and taking their blood would be like. His mind was often filled with dark things.

He could understand that people were put off by his morbid interests. One day, Ezra brought in a dead rabbit, hoping to get a reaction out of the popular people. He had bumped into you, accidentally throwing the dead rabbit on the ground.

"Woah, watch it!" Ezra snapped. He glared at you for a second, then his expression soften. He wasn't too interested in a lot of people, but as you smiled and picked up the dead rabbit.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your science project." You said, kindly.

"Uh, it's not for a science project. It's for a prank, dweeb." He quickly ran off. Ezra felt his heart palpitate. The feeling he had in his chest lingered throughout the day. He never had crushes, but maybe you were different. All the other people in the school hated him.

You were like his saving grace. Ezra was drawn near you. Unwillingly, he began to sit by you at lunch. Ezra would usually chug his monster, then wolf down most of his lunch before the bell rang, but today was different. He sat next to you and handed you a note.

Written in very fine handwriting that read,

'Will you go out with me?'

You were very flattered by the offer. After all, he was quite handsome. You walked up to him, pulling him into an embrace. Ezra was surprised. He expected the worst, but he pulled you close, resting his chin on top of your head.

You were wonderful to him. You watched all his favorite horror movies with him. You'd talk to him for hours about your day, and he was captivated by your little habits. You were like breathing to him. Ezra couldn't remember his life without you. Ezra would give you dead roses, and trinkets he'd find on the side of the road. You would give him your love in return. Ezra enjoyed your kisses. Whether it be on the mouth or cheek, he would be drunk off the taste of your lips.

His taste for dead things never subsided. Ezra would show you all the latest roadkill he'd find. Unlike most of your classmates, you encouraged this behavior. Collecting bones slowly became your hobby.

He became protective over you. People couldn't just walk up and talk to you. They needed to talk to Ezra first. He would shake anyone he didn't approve of away. Most of the time, Ezra's insecurities would manifest in unhealthy ways. Ezra wouldn't have a direct conversation about it. He prefers to suffer alone, even though you love him with all your heart.

When people get too close to you, his insecurity comes out. He's terrified of losing you, so anyone that shows little interest must be eliminated. You notice slowly your social circle starts to get smaller and smaller. Maybe you didn't need those people, but you were concerned when people you knew started showing up missing.

There was a boy in your math class that you were working with. Ezra must've caught you working with him. This sent him into a frenzy. Ezra was a very jealous man. No one else should be alone with you. Doesn't everyone know that you're in his bleeding heart?

Ezra stalked the boy. He followed him home and waited for the right time to strike. He killed him, disposing of his body in the pond. When you inquired about the red on his shoes the next day, he simply said, "Oh, darling, that's just from painting my car. You don't need to worry about it. I love you."

[aroaceleovaldez]

Your blog is the only blog where I feel safe enough asking this question. What do you think of Percy Jackson fans who feel as though they and the series have a moral superiority to Harty Potter ? Obviously, Harry Potter and its author are laden with questionable and sometimes straight-up hateful takes and views. But the way PJO fans constantly compare the two, its authors (even though RR is far from flawless), and the two MCs (ignoring how the two both share similarities in the fact that they are both traumatised, abused, angry teenage boys). I'm sorry that this ask got so long, but this has been annoying me for a while now.

This is an interesting question - for one, fandom fights over superiority is a concept that has been around for ages and has never been constructive. PJO and HP fandoms have been fighting in that exact way (and it has gone both ways!) for literal decades (remember, PJO turns 20 this year) so this isn't new, it's just taken on a moral flavor. Let's go over some things though (but please keep in mind i never got into HP and never read the books or fully watched the movies so my knowledge of HP is primarily pop culture absorption/secondhand from my family and friends):

Are either series perfect? No. HP absolutely is full of hateful sentiments and JKR is a hateful person and I do not respect her for that. Disney's marketing recently has absolutely fully leaned into trying to put Rick above her as a moral paragon and emphasizing how progressive he is and his support of diversity in middle grade series, despite some failings to reflect that in the actual text. Are Rick and JKR equally bad? Definitely not. Rick has had tangible good influence on adhd/dyslexia awareness that very directly impacted people like me as a neurodivergent kid going through school in the 2000s. JKR meanwhile has directly negatively impacted trans laws internationally very recently.

Rick absolutely isn't perfect, but he's vocally supportive, has made a lot of effort in the past to be inclusive, and still attempts to do so. Most of his issues simply stem from his own unaddressed internalized bigotry/biases and his research on varying topics not being great (plus poor management decisions such as not hiring a sensitivity reader actually fit for the story he's trying to tell). But he's not hateful. JKR is. JKR is very vocally hateful and bigoted and this is absolutely reflected in her work as well even in earlier HP. They are comparable in that they are both middle grade authors of easily two of the most popular middle grade fantasy (or specifically hidden world fantasy) series out right now. They are not equivalent in the slightest in their bigotry or tangible damage.

In terms of Percy versus Harry, I personally don't think they're very comparable. They share some similarities, but mostly just in that they're both the protagonists of their stories and thus serve protagonist purposes. Beyond that their use within the narrative is pretty different functionally. Their worlds' magic systems are not comparable. The hidden world aspect in both their universes isn't even comparable, since in PJO the "hidden world" aspect is very different from most hidden world fantasy formats because the entire point is that it's functionally not a hidden world. The characters themselves are very different as well - Percy's personality and the way he behaves and reacts to his environment is absolutely nothing like Harry's.

Most of the anti-HP-in-general sentiments stem from wanting to cut off JKR's notoriety, which I think is valid to want to do. And I do think there are a lot of issues with continuing to support JKR's work especially in ways that functionally promote her work or support her financially. Obviously, we will never be able to scrub HP from the cultural zeitgeist. It's just not feasible and I'm very anti-book burning so I do think it's important to acknowledge the role HP has had in pop-culture alongside acknowledging its harmful materials. HP is a text you absolutely can't death-of-the-author your way out of because a lot of the vitriol is baked into the text and worldbuilding in very overt ways - and there are plenty of other pop-culture staple novels like this. But fandom in general, at least true fandom and not mainstream fandom, is so obscure most of the time that I don't think, so long as people are not ignoring negative themes of the source material and are being thoughtful as they navigate engaging with it, that it is an inherently bad thing for HP fandom to just exist at all. It's never going to just stop existing no matter what people do. And HP fandom are not the only ones who should be thoughtful about how they engage with their source material - PJO fandom is not exempt from examining some of the problematic aspects in our own text and figuring out how to be respectful with those topics. It's just a lot easier for PJO fandom to tune it out without it being noticed because there's less of it and it's (at least sometimes) less overt. Honestly if HP fandom decided to go more down the path of a fandom like Warriors or Miraculous Ladybug, where the average sentiment is more along the lines of "Oh god no don't read/watch the source material it sucks/we stopped paying attention to it year ago and it's not relevant at all to what we're up to. We're over here functionally rewriting everything from the ground up/doing our own thing" I would very much support them in that endeavor. I do think there is merit in limiting promotion of the HP source material as much as possible, though.

Hopefully that all makes at least some amount of sense.

[sombredancer]

Recent visually beautiful and generally watchable Russian fantasy movies

(because I start forgetting they exist at all) Ironically, all of them are adaptations of books/comics.

I Am Dragon / Он — дракон (2015) This movie is a very free adaptation of the novel "The Rite" / "Ритуал" by Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko (Марина и Сергей Дяченко). It's a reinterpreting of an ancient tale about a maiden, a hero and a dragon. I don`t like the novel because it's very postmodern, wracks the typical fairytale plot and hurts my escapist feelings by ugly reality, but the movie is pretty fairytale-ish and nice. Firstly, it is visually beautiful and represent Slavic pseudo-medieval lore the way it should have always been in Slavic fantasy.

Secondly, as a love story between a monster and a maiden, it has got A PLENTY of tropes I'm usually looking for in Chinese dramas, so I understand very well why it was pretty popular in Asia.

Thirdly, when I said it's visually beautiful I wasn't joking. The main hero is played not by an actor, but by a male model, who is shirtless all the time (and sometimes pantless) and has a very fit and good-looking body. It's something unbelievable that someone in Russia made a movie to please women's eyes! Really, it's insane!

The folk-rock band Мельница wrote an insanely beautiful song "Обряд" (The Rite) for this movie (more matched to the book plot, though), but it was never used as OST, which is a shame. The song is about a black sheep girl, who is denied by society and asks a dragon to come for her and to take her away, because the dragon is denied by this world just like her. You can listen to it here. The band also has a song "Змей" (The Wyrm) (based on Lev Gumilev's poem), which is more accurate to the plot of the movie: the wyrm kidnaps maidens to make them its wives, but they are all dying during the flight; at the end of the song a hero-knight is ready to shoot it in order to stop it. Listen to it here.

It ends with HE, which is better than the book's obscure ending, so it is pleasure for me to rewatch it till these days.

Major Grom: Plague Doctor / Майор Гром: Чумной Доктор (2021)

It is an adaptation of Russian comic series "Major Grom" by Bubble comics. I am traditionally not very happy with the source material, but it is very good reworked to be the screen play of this movie.

It's very beautifully made in terms of director's, cameraman's and screenwriter's work, which is a rare thing for Russian movies. Also, the actors are young and handsome, especially the villain, which is a rare thing not only for Russian movies, but for the current Western movies, too. It has got a lot of allusions to Russian reality and a lot of beautiful views of Saint Petersburg, the second capital of Russia and one of the most beautiful Russian cities. And it has got some unusual visual solutions that turn it into a comic it should be.

The plot revolves around a mysterious serial killer (kinda bad Batman), a black sheep police officer and Russian Mark Zuckerberg (kind of). Mark Zuckerberg is the best guy of this movie and I like him a lot! Серёёёёжа! 🧡🧡🧡

This movie wasn't popular in Russia because of political situation in the country by the moment of its release (the both sides found out in there something insulting for them and banned it), but even if it has something like that, I honestly didn't pay attention to it. It's just a nice blockbuster with a tragic and handsome villain. The villain also has got his own BL-drama (in the comics they are really lovers, it`s as obvious as it could be shown in a Russian comic).

By the way, the villain is hot, insane, ruthless, sensitive and suffering. How does he contain all of this character treats in one personality? you may ask. He doesn`t. He has dissociative identity disorder, I would answer.

I don`t know if it works by now, but some time ago you could watch this lovely movie on Netflix.

The Master and Margarita / Мастер и Маргарита (2024) This is a loose adaptation of Russian classical novel "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov. I genuinely hate this book, but the adaptation reinterprets it, divides it into very interesting layers and makes it understandable and beautiful.

It`s layered, so it will probably be hard to understand what layer are we currently on if you are not familiar with the original story. The first layer is an ugly Soviet reality, the second layer is a plot of the novel that the main hero is writing, a story within a story. The third layer is the insane intertwining of the first two layers. On the reality layer the Master loses his job and freedom because of friend's denunciation and becomes star-crossed lovers with a married woman. On the novel level he meets devil, who visits Moscow by chance, and the devil gives him and his woman opportunity to live their lives being free from everything that usually tortures people IRL. Somewhere among those layers is a little plot about Jesus and Pontius Pilate.

The movie is visually beautiful. Although it feels pretty anti-Soviet, Soviet visuals of the movie are gorgeous. There were used the Stalin-times concepts of Moscow of the Future, the CGI buildings in frame came from the real architecture projects of those times. The Stalin Empire architecture style and views are typical for Moscow (but as I know, ironically, this all was shot in Saint Petersburg). It seems to me that this movie is heavily stuffed with visual allusions to the Western works: devil's escort looks like bunch of Pennywises, Margarita is Enchantress from Suicide Squad I, the scene of blood dripping is from Blade I etc. Usually, when I see it in Russian movies, it feels like plagiarism because I can recognize the reference but there is nothing except for these references . But here we have got the plot, so the allusions work as allusions and don`t irritate me.

The movie is dark, disturbing, uncomfortable. It really makes you feel as if you watch devil and his escort marching around you; they ravage, kill and destroy everything and you can only breathlessly, helplessly and in fear watch them. The German actor playing devil is insanely good. He stole the movie and I understand why it should have been named Woland (the devil's name) instead of the current movie's name. You may want to watch it, because it's very unusual in terms of plot and visuals experience, especially when you are not familiar with the book.

[daydreams-after-dark]

Omg I’m so happy you’re doing this hehe but the thought of orgasm denial with Hyunjin. Like it’s his day off and you’re spending it together. May start off innocent like watching a movie ir just cuddling but then things get a little more heated, he’s roaming his hands all over your body and of course you do the same to him. He all but cries as you take his cock out and stroke him, teasing the tip again and again listening to his sweet moans. Just when he’s about to cum you stop, leaving him high and dry. He whimpers and pouts, his cock still hard it’s almost painful. This goes on throughout the day, whether you’re sucking or jerking him off or even if you push him back and ride him, using him to get yourself off but making sure to stop when he’s mumbling he’s gonna cum.

Maybe you let him orgasm at the end of the night maybe not or maybe he falls asleep all frustrated that he didn’t cum not once that day just to have you reward him for being such a good boy in the middle of the night (he blows his load in record time)

Sorry I got a little carried away hehe but jinnie just gets me hot and bothered 🫠 (p.s. happy birthday!)

part of #sorshas birthday month submissions

MDNI / 18+

I love carried away 🥰 don't ever stop.

It seems orgasm denial for Hyunjin is a popular thing! I’ve had a couple of ppl talk about this. Actually… Hyunjin is featuring a lot in everyone’s fantasies. Well he is gorgeous. I just didn’t realize how many of my cutie pie readers have him as their bias. And here I am putting you all through Han Jisung filth constantly 🤭🤭🤭

I said this before, but I will say it again, because I believe it to be true... Hyunjin loves to be edged / denied / teased. It's part of the game. It's part of the pleasure. He knows the sweet sweet agony of needing to cum so fucking bad is half the experience.

That's why you love to deny him like you do.

He makes the most sensual groans and whimpers that make you cunt clench, which is why you end up riding him throughout the day.

And the reward is so very sweet, when you finally let him cum in the middle of the night.

But my question. Where do you let him cum? In your mouth? Pussy? Ass? Your chest? His own stomach? 🤪🤪🤪🤪😜😜😜

read more submissions here: #sorshas birthday month

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IT'S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH - DECEMBER

Hey my beautiful friends! I have an announcement / request.It's my birthday month, and I am opening up the ask box (even though it was never closed), for something a little bit different.

Instead of you sending in fic / scenario requests (which you still can regardless of this), I am requesting YOU to send ME your naughtiest thoughts or fantasies about your bias.

Like, what are your most filthy thoughts? What would you let them do to you? What do you want to do to them? Is there a particular theme that really gets you wet or hard? (like me and alien Han)? Or, what's a kink you didn't know you had until you started reading smut (like me and Han with 2 dicks - it doesn't have to be realistic)?

You don't even have to be involved! It could be you really love imagining two of the guys (or more) together. I know you have filthy minds and are horny little things.

Hit me with what you've got. Also... of course you can submit anonymously... that way you hopefully won't hold back.

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[thefloatingstone]

Not to be like "haha I'm better than you guys!!!" or elitist or anything because that very sincerely is NOT the point of this post.... but I never really understood people extremely love for Harry Potter.

I read them as they were coming out. Most of the time they came out soon enough that I was the same age as Harry. I liked them. They were cool. Goblet of Fire was my favourite and I was always happy to see what story the next book would bring but that's all it was. Interest to see the next story whenever it came out. Like a sitcom you enjoy but you didn't set your tv to record for you in case you missed it.

And then the word "Chosen one" was uttered and, just like that, I fucking lost all interest. Honestly there was "Chosen one" talk in the 4th book and already I was like

Honestly I think I liked Goblet of Fire the most because there was no friggen Quidditch. And there was less focus on the SCHOOL part of Harry Potter and more this weird Video game Quest setup which just appealed to me more.

In retrospect, I think that might be a big part of why I enjoyed it but never LOVED it like other people.

Like

"Oh boy my absolute biggest most favourite fantasy! THE BRITISH EDUCATION SYSTEM!!!!"

The fact that the books take place in a school seemed like a default to me because, well, most teenage focused cartoons and shows I watched had the main characters at school. Because they're teenagers. But the school wasn't why I enjoyed the books. The school was just a location. No I didn't want to go to Hogwarts. No I didn't want to get attached to a specific school house (although I feel it worth mentioning that when I was 13 I did the online house quiz thing on the official site and it said I was Hufflepuff so make of that what you will).

I really disliked whatever the one was that came after Goblet of Fire. So much so that it completely killed any and all enjoyment I had in the series. Which, considering I was only mildly entertained by them wasn't a massive loss or anything.

I know I read whichever book it was where Dumbledore died but I very genuinely cannot remember one single thing that happens in that book whatsoever. I read half of the Deathly Hallows after coming back from College and gave up because I wasn't enjoying any of it and I never picked the book up again.

I saw the first movie in theaters when I was 13 and I did not like it. It was visually very very dark and gloomy and just... extremely uninteresting to me. Idk how to explain it. The first book just felt so much more vibrant than what I was watching on screen.

I know I saw the 2nd movie although I have no memory of where or why. And I... THINK I saw the third one??? I think??? I'm actually not sure. But that's about where I just stopped and completely lost interest.

Because it wasn't very good.

They just weren't very good books.

They weren't TERRIBLE or anything like that but they were just so.... blah. The earlier ones 13 year old me enjoyed the one time I read each of them but I don't think 13 year old me had the best taste considering I also disliked the Princess Bride at this age.

But I was reading other books because I was a kid with ADHD in high school who desperately needed something stimulating to stop myself from going insane. And frankly, there were just far better books out there. Books I actually re-read. Books I borrowed from friends which ere just... so much better and more interesting.

So I just don't understand this insane appeal so many people have for it, even if they have severed that connection due to Jowling Kowling Rowling's bufoonery and showing herself to be a withered old crone with a shrivled heart and mind every time she opens her mouth.

I grew up with these books the same way as a lot of people. I was the exact age to go through the series' highest popularity and I just did not click with them despite reading them.

So seeing so many people my age or a little younger try and do their best to re-analyse and de-tangle what the books actually are and that... maybe.... just maybe.... they might not have been very good?? Maybe?? is very weird to me because I'm just like.

"Yeah they're overrated as hell and not that interesting."

It's a very weird thing to live through because it's like looking into a bizarro version of the world you remember living through... but not like THAT. I remember the Pokemon craze and yes, it was like that. I remember when anime started to become big and yes, it was like that. I remember DBZ airing and yes, it was like that.

But this insanity around Harry Potter while it was releasing?

Yeah I don't remember it being like that at all.

They were just mediocre books I read because I needed something to occupy my attention and eventually they got worse and worse and I just stopped reading them. That's all.

[kaifish-pond-afterdark]

Rodrick Headcanons :3

America’s Favorite Emo…. RODRICK!

A few Rodrick Headcanons

Rodrick Heffley (28yrs old in my head bc i grew up with the movies x3)

He is SUPER insecure, especially in his romantic relationships. He always worries that he’ll mess up his relationships with his behaviors to the point he goes WAYYYY out of his way to be “the perfect bf”  he will quite literally neglect his own needs to make sure his partner is well taken care of

He has a hygiene issue, and often smells kinda musky, but not always in a terrible way. Kinda like sweat and very light BO. He starts bathing more when in a relationship, but outside of one, he kinda a stinky boy

He struggles hard with ADHD + Low Self-Esteem. And has SEVERE RSD to the point that sometimes he’ll either go completely silent fighting back tears, or leave the room to “Go to the bathroom” but really he’s trying to run away from the perceived rejection

This man can sleep through a damn EARTHQUAKE without budging, like you would practically have to scream and throw water on him to wake him up

He doesn’t actually like to drink, and would rather mingle and socialize with people he finds attractive, besides he can embarrass himself plenty without drinking

Even tho he doesn’t ENJOY drinking he WILL do so in an attempt to look cool and mature

He actually tries VERY hard to be cool, and cares VERY MUCH what people think about him, to the point of letting it get him down when someone makes fun of him

He’s not incredibly popular and that bugs him a lot

Rodrick isn’t short, but isnt particularly tall either, he’s very average height and that also bugs him bc he feels like people would notice him more if he was taller

Rodrick is bisexual but didnt feel the need to announce it, partially bc he’s actually kind of shy ab his love life and partially bc he knows his family loves and accepts him. He just kinda brings home whoever and no one bats an eye

He lives in his own apartment and no longer really makes music much except for his YouTube channel and posts a lot of covers, he doesn’t get a TON of traction, but he doesn’t mind

He works two jobs and never seems to have enough money to indulge in things he enjoys

He’s secretly kinda of a geek and watches Dr Who and other Science Fantasy

Rodrick isn’t religious

[gamebird]

The Soonercon Convention Report

I went to Soonercon this last weekend and I wanted to share what it was like in an attempt to encourage others to attend similar local events, for those who don't know what they're missing.

It’s a science fiction/fantasy convention held in Norman, Oklahoma every year. It has what I take as the standard scifi/fantasy convention events including: Dealer’s room where people sell stuff, gaming room where scheduled and pickup games are held at all hours of the convention, art show where you can buy fandom-related paintings, prints, or sculpture (or commission an artist if you have something special in mind), a costume contest, panels by authors, artists, media guests, and other folks, and various socializing events (a dance, a burlesque show, a drag show, a Star Wars parade, a philosophy discussion den, a cartoon watching event, crafting events, etc.)

The only thing Soonercon didn’t/doesn’t have that I’ve seen at other conventions is a con suite where snacks are available either at all hours or specified hours, and a designated media room playing classic shows 24/7. Plenty of other conventions also have party rooms or even a party floor of the hotel. Some will have live action role play events. Some will have a few big-name guests. Soonercon’s guests were smaller names like voice actors or the guy who played the hero of NeverEnding Story. If they had hardcore partying, it was kept well clear of the convention areas. I heard nothing of it.

There's a lot for everybody! I go to attend the panels. My son goes for the gaming room. My nephew goes for the cosplay. My spouse/partner goes to be supportive and present (also he meets up with a friend of his from that city who volunteers at the con or at least likes fandom). My daughter likes the merchandise, the gaming, and cosplay.

It’s a very relaxed vacation for us. We get a hotel room at the convention and all go our separate ways from that safe home base.

I thought I’d go over the various things I went to and some of my thoughts about them, to give a window on what a person might do:

Friday we arrived. I went through the dealer’s room in detail by myself, which was nice to do instead of speeding up or slowing down at someone else’s pace, or having them there calling my attention to whatever they wanted me to see. I bought some delicious pomegranate gummy fruit. I made preliminary arrangements with a leatherworker for some items.

I went through the art show, which I have never been to at the beginning of the show. The previous two years I showed up at the end and rushed through. I took my time again.

I also wandered the halls at liberty, with no agenda. I didn’t think much of the panels available that day, so I did other things. I did attend an author’s reading of horror fic. One of the stories was titled ‘Grindr’ by a gay man, featuring a gay character. As soon as he went over that, two of the six in his audience left. It was a good story. The other author read a bit of theirs (also good). And then we discussed. One of the things discussed was how this was Oklahoma and the very mention of gay sent two people out of the room. It was good and thoughtful conversation.

Later that evening, I attended a comedy panel that was ‘Am I The Asshole?’ with various heroes or villains of popular fan movies discussing if they were the asshole for their role in the plot of their respective media product. It was funny and a light end to the first day.

Saturday, we got up in time for ‘Cartoons with Cereal’ panel where we ate a couple weird over-sugared cereals while watching an 80s cartoon that featured transforming vehicles and masked/helmeted action figure type characters. After that, we went to a better breakfast, complimentary at the hotel plaza.

My first regular panel of the day was ‘Essential Sci-Fi Television’ where I was hoping to see if there were important shows I haven’t seen. Maybe? Maybe not? They talked a lot about the different flavors of Star Trek and the different ways people get into fandom. I didn't add anything new to my list, but I did get more emphasis that I really ought to watch The Expanse.

At 11, I went to a panel titled ‘How do I put THAT on my resume?’ about how to translate fan interests and skills into marketable descriptive terms that can get you hired. I attended not so much for myself, as I hope to never work again after my current job, but for my son and daughter and my attempts to give them advice on how to present themselves in the business world. I’d encouraged my son to go to this panel, but he went to the gaming room. It wasn’t a great panel – I think he made the right choice. But you don’t know these things until you attend them.

I had lunch and then attended a panel titled ‘I ship it!’ thinking it would talk about the range of shipping in fandom circles. And maybe it did, but mostly it was the panelists talking about rare pairs in anime fandoms – both fandom and characters unfamiliar to me. They were excited to talk about it. I managed to steer them into sharing their thoughts about why antagonists are often more interesting to pair with a hero than the designated side kick or another hero, and then a little about what fueled ship wars/fandom drama. It was good to hear, as always, that totally different fandoms have the same problems.

After that was ‘Libraries, Intellectual Freedom, and Book Challenges’ about what books were banned, why, how, and what efforts were going on or the attendees could undertake to oppose book bans. Afterward, I approached one of the panelists for her advice on finding a good Ursula LeGuin book since I hadn’t liked Always Coming Home, but did like Left Hand of Darkness. Turns out she was a core convention organizer. I sent her an email so she could send me a rec later and separately, I filled out a form to volunteer at the next con.

At 3 I went to early dinner with my spouse/partner and his local friend, who was the one who told me the panelist I’d talked to was high up in the convention hierarchy. At 4, I roamed the dealer's room again, finalized things with the leatherworker, and bought a bunch more delicious candy.

At 5 I had a panel titled ‘LGBT+YOU, Discuss the Plus’. Given the conversation the day before with the gay horror author, I was particularly interested. Also, the panel was focusing mainly on the queer identities other than LGBT – asexuals, aromantics, pansexuals, polyamorous, etc. I found it something of a relief to see them stumble and fail to define an aromantic relationship in a way that differentiated it from non-aromantic ones. The panelists varied from early-30s to mid-60s, some partnered, some not. It was lovely to hear people’s experiences with living queer in Oklahoma.

At 6 I attended ‘Fandom Life vs Long-Term Illnesses’ but found it not super helpful. It was mostly about arthritis and diabetes, neither of which are issues I have. But I listened and learned a bit. I enjoy these authentic little windows into other people’s lives.

I attended the costume contest for the rest of the night, which was a big event with a stage show and a music act. My fave costume won! Even cooler, someone I knew was announced as winner of the Fashion Show which was an informal or less formal contest they’d had earlier in the day. I was thrilled for them.

That night at 1:11 am, someone set off the fire alarm, but it was quickly squelched. Still, everyone woke up. Later sleuthing turned up that it was a person attempting to smoke inside their hotel room.

Sunday! We had a nice breakfast again. My first panel of the day was ‘Hollow Humanism?’ talking about utopia, dystopia, and the philosophy of humanism – what were the things that prevented us from making a better world? I had hoped for stuff I could incorporate into my headcanons for Preservation or the Corporation Rim. Not so much.

Then I went to ‘Fandom – The Next Generation’ which was not about Star Trek but instead about the intergenerational fandom experiences of the panelists. I found this not very helpful. Those weren’t my families. It wasn’t about how to interest my kids in fandom (not that I needed that – they’re into it) or how I could better relate to their interests (something I was very interested in). I asked a few questions trying to guide it toward what I wanted, but the panelists really wanted to tell the audience about their lives. So. I listened.

At noon my group packed and checked out of our rooms.

But we hung around as there was a panel at 1 pm I wanted to attend, ‘Neurodivergent Characters in Fantasy and Anime’. Alas, they did not discuss Murderbot. In fact, they didn’t discuss specific characters or genres at all. Instead, they discussed neurodivergent representation in general, mindfulness, coping strategies, dealing with negative social pressures to conform, masking, exhaustion, career intersectionality, disabled rep, and a lot of things I was equally interested to hear about. So that was neat!

At 2, there was a panel about ‘Oklahoma in Fandom Media’ that I attended half of. It was fun to hear the various filming projects and other media mentions Oklahoma featured in. I left halfway through to help our group depart.

And so we drove home. It was a delightful, low-stress vacation. Lots of viewpoints. Lots of experiences. It was lovely seeing people face-to-face and getting such different impressions. It’s a very different experience than Tumblr or discord or streaming. I would very much recommend it to all of you! Get out and meet people in person in your area. Talk to them. Listen to their stories. Find out what they have to share. Share a bit of yourself in turn.

[artist-issues]

I just read your post about Christian Disney animators, and... I never knew. I never knew that anyone in Disney was Christian, or that they were trying to portray Christian values.

I came from a, um... not a good home, very legalistic in some ways, but both my parents call themselves Christians (not my place to judge them, I just pray for them). My mom would point at Disney movies and say, "I'm letting you watch this, but all this magic is Satanic" (she did the same thing with Star Wars). I was convinced that Ariel was nothing but a spoiled brat who abandoned her family to run off with some guy, and my mom would remind me over and over that "Beauty and the Beast was just a story- people don't change."

So I basically grew up believing that Disney is just a bunch of cute fairy tales at best, and Satanic at worst. And this is one of the things that has contributed to my confusion as an adult. I love fantasy and sci-fi, I love video games, but I also feel guilty about loving things with so much magic in them. But at the same time, it occurred to me a few years ago that the world stopped believing in God when they stopped believing in magic. "God is dead" coincided with "love at first sight isn't real."

And then, just... certain things I've been thinking, ideas I get sometimes, things I want to write and draw- I've been afraid to share anything because I thought I was crazy and heretical and leaning towards Satanism. But....

Anyway, thx for your post. I need to rewatch some of the old Disney movies.

My mom taught me some similar things—especially that all “magic” is evil. And that is true: all magic out here in the real world IS evil.

But then she’d turn right around and tell me to read the Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings, where magic is very prominent. So I was confused and asked her, and eventually she told me—“magic,” as the Bible describes it, is real. It’s just humans playing with demonic, spiritual stuff that they were created not to play with, and it is always bad, in the real world.

But. “Magic” in stories can be whatever the storyteller wants it to be. Magic is obviously, usually, something super-powerful that can change reality. So storytellers in stories like Narnia and LOTR (and in Star Wars!) started using “magic” as a symbol for a higher power, or something good. Because Who is powerful enough to alter reality, and is good? God. Like I said in my post. Basically:

“Magic” when the Bible says it = real sorcery, where humans try to contact or use the “power” of spirits and planets and whatever else they find that seems “supernatural” in the real world. Always evil. God made us to have a perfect relationship with one spirit—and it’s Him. When we step outside of that, it’s like a fish trying to breathe oxygen. It destroys us.

But

“Magic” when a storyteller says it = anything they want it to be. They could be referring to the evil, heretical thing your mom was talking about. They could have spiritualists and heretics in their story, BUT…more often, in popular stories, magic isn’t magic at all. It’s just a superpower, and it’s made-up, and it symbolizes something. The Bible doesn’t say anything against making up superpowers in a story!

Anyway. There’s that. If your mom was anything life my mom, she was trying to teach you something that would protect you. (To brag on my mother, not all moms can be literature teaching geniuses with a gift for growing a critical-thinking muscle in their kids.)

But I will say exactly what I think your mom is wrong about if that’s okay with you. (I totally respect your decision to pray for your family; I’ll join you.)

Anywho. The thing I think your mom and a lot of (not all of) the previous generation of Christian parents get wrong is that there’s not supposed to be any such thing as “that’s just a story.” Stories are meant to point to something true. The Beast changes because he repented from who he used to be, and Belle’s sacrificial love gave him the option to do that. Just like Christ’s sacrificial love is the only thing that can turn us from monsters to princes and princesses.

After all. Reality is a story. It’s made up. God made it up. There was nothing, and then He spoke it into existence. There was a blank slate, and then He made a world, populated it with characters, and ordered the events in it. He wrote in a hero, and that hero saves the day. The bad guys lose, the good guys win. There’s a beginning, a conflict, a darkest hour, a “eucatastrophe,” and now we’re racing toward the conclusion. It’s a happy ending. That’s reality. Reality is a story.

But the previous generation of Christians (some, not all) forgot that God invented storytelling. They let the secular culture tell them that stories are somehow just for entertainment, and therefore, they are almost all wastes of a good Christian’s time. When in actuality, God invented stories. And he made us as creatures that love a good story, love to create good stories. Stories are supposed to use fantastical things to point to truth.

After all, God does that in His own story (reality.) He made rules for His world, like, “humans sink in water,” and “sickness can’t be cured from a touch” and “when a person is dead they can’t come back to life.” And then He intentionally broke those rules. He let something amazing happen—all of Jesus’ miracles—because He knew we would need to believe that Jesus came from, and is, the hero. The storyteller, coming into the story, to save the day.

Just like how, when George Lucas sets up Star Wars, he made certain rules. Yeah, it’s an alien world, but a lot of it has rules like our own reality—if a human jumps, they can only go a few feet in the air. People can’t read minds. But then he breaks those rules with the Jedi—space magic—and the Force.

Christians called what Jesus did “miracles,” and we should have, because that’s what the Bible calls it. But we could just as easily call it “fantasy magic.” It’s something supernatural, and wonderful, and powerful, and it inspires belief in anyone who sees it.

Anyway. Christians should remember that God invented reality as a story to point to this truth: “This is Who God is.” And God used what we would call “magic” in His own story. We’re allowed to do that to. As long as it points to truth.

I’ll just tell you what my mom told me. When you watch a movie or enjoy a story of any kind, ask yourself questions. Ask, “why did I like that? What was the magic in the story? Were humans communicating with demons or spirits to get power or knowledge? Did the story act like that was a good thing to do, or not? If the magic didn’t have anything to do with what the Bible calls magic, then it isn’t the kind of thing the Bible says to stay away from.”

Or feel guilty about. Feel guilty if it’s something God says not to do—don’t feel guilty if it’s not something God says not to do. 🤷‍♀️ In all honesty, the only reason my mom could teach me some of these things is because God taught it to her, in the Bible. And the only reason I believe these things that she taught me is because I read the Bible and He taught it to me, too. Best piece of advice anybody can give is “read the Bible and get to know who God is.” In any scenario.

Thank you for this ask. It was very kind of you to share that personal stuff, and encourage me!

[laurasimonsdaughter]

I'm watching Good Manners(brazilian fantasy movie, so like spoilers ahead) and now I'm thinking of mothers of mystical beings that are affected during the pregnancy, specifically in the way of a human woman, pregnant with a werewolf baby, who is affected by full moon during the pregnancy. The only other example I can think of the classic "human mother of vampire baby having to drink blood during pregnancy and breastfeeding". At least I think it's classic. Toodles.

The concept of a human mother carrying a vampire baby and needing to drink blood because of it, is certainly popular in modern fantasy! In the folklore surrounding dhampir, I've never seen anything about the mothers having to consume blood, which makes sense because dhampir, though half-vampires generally also don't drink blood. (And from a more historical perspective, just because a grieving woman gets pregnant and gives the explanation that her undead husband visited her, does not mean this woman also felt like suddenly drinking blood).

The werewolf take on this has much more potential for body horror though. Which is why I think it's more common to have the werelwolf "curse" take hold when the child is seven or eleven years old. Even if the mother was a werewolf herself, the practicality of transforming your whole body while pregnant and the baby transforming too is pretty horrifying to think about.

There are a lot of folktales about women having babies with selkies, elves, water spirits, etc. But these stories rarely focus on the pregnancy itself. And maybe that's for the best, honestly. Speaking as someone who went through one, normal human pregnancy is plently weird enough.

There is a lot of folkloric superstition about pregnancy ailments. In some places they say you have to indulge your pregnancy cravings, or your child will "bear a sign" of the lack of it. Having a lot of morning sickness is sometimes said to be a sign you will have a particularly beautiful child (maybe as consolation). And of course there are a lot of protective elements around it. Pregnant people were thought to be particularly vulnerable to being stolen by the fae in some places and in tales from the Philippines several vampiric creatures pray on them. I've also come across mentions of a pregnant woman looking a vampire in the eyes marking her baby for vampirism after death, but I've yet to find an actual source for that one...

Regardless, I think adding a little urban fantasy flavour to supernatural pregnancies could be a lot of fun! Mostly in the cravings department. Whether that's blood, meat, fish, magical fruits or forbidden greenery from a witch's garden. That'd be extra fun if you have a polyamorous setup and no one knows whose kid it is yet, until the pregnant person starts to have very specific cravings and they're all like: "Oh, salmon instead of venison this time? Definitely yours then <3"

[anzyll]

For my next post, I thought I'd ramble about something random and uninteresting; so there's not particularly anything new going on. The second area of my game is an underground city inside of a Labyrinth, heavily inspired by Greek mythology. While it's inspired by Greece, it's also heavily inspired by typical nightlife shenanigans, shady dealings -- an entire city of back alleys. I've drawn inspiration from a lot of things for this area, and it's definitely the most dense thing I've ever made, not just with content, but also with characters I love and really want to be able to show other people. So for this little spotlight blog, I decided to choose the two I was working on right now: Lazlo and Brock.

Now, Brock and Lazlo aren't anything particularly standout, as far as characters go, but that makes me feel like they exemplify the standard. They're not mindblowers, they just dudes. I made them in around 2019-ish. It was notably before the Techbro boom in popularity, which I will try to avoid naming for fear of bots and blocked words. I thought it would be really funny to have two guys in a basement somewhere, mining some coins, just totally lame dudes. Brock, the orange-haired one, was originally called Bob Musk, which in the current day and age would be just the corniest overused joke ever. The name Bob came from YouTuber Muyskerm, who I felt he somewhat resembled. His surname, Fuller, is a parody of Ferris Bueller, and his titular Day Off. Brock Fuller is sort of a corruption + jumble of Ferris Bueller, who kind of exemplifies the devil-may-care attitude of the residents of the city of Labyrinth that Brock lives in. I wanted to make a character who would attack you with a calculator; doubling and subtracting stats and HP, adding buffs, dividing damage, etc. When I was a kid I imagined having "calculator powers" once or twice in math class -- my fault for reading so much Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson's weird pen sword probably rubbed off a lot on me, gave me a great appreciation of both Greek culture AND urban fantasy, both of which play in heavily to this area. For Brock's clothes, I wanted to do a sort of "business casual" look, like someone who doesn't know how to dress but is trying to look professional. For colours, the orange hair came naturally, but I just knew I had to give him Joker colours for his shirt and tie.

Good old purple and green. The Joker (2019) movie was still rather new at the time, and all of the memes had me thinking about it. 'Course, I've never actually WATCHED Joker (2019), but I don't think he wears purple in the film, so my brain kinda autocorrected to Heath Ledger's. Better design either way, if you ask me. Techbros and Joker go together like arson and kerosene. Lazlo is comparatively more simple. I really wanted to give him one of those "not really a tuxedo" t-shirts. They're so incredibly lame, but also so incredibly charming at the same time, it really screams "nerdy 20-something" to me.

His face was on a whim, I can't recall exactly what inspired me for that sort of "teeth hanging off the bottom of a top lip" overbite sort of look, but if I had to guess it was probably at least partially Futurama.

My art was subconsciously influenced by the stupid mouth shape that Matt Groening makes an unfortunate amount around the time, it always pissed me off because I don't ACTUALLY like how it looks. It took a lot of restraint to sort of pull back my art style from this big-lip sorta overbite exaggeration that was really common in my circles at the time, and Laz is a product of that, but one of the few that I think I actually nailed in regards to it. That said, it's very possible that I just accidentally and unintentionally ripped it from something I can't name at the moment. His name however, was directly inspired by Camp Lazlo; wow, we're 3 for 3 on references to things I've never watched. I think all I know about Camp Lazlo is that at the end they reveal that one of the main characters was a fraud from an insane asylum the whole time, which is definitely the kind of energy I vibe with for gags. With his face, I felt like he'd fit in on that show... and also maybe if he was an animal of some kind. His surname, Doherty, was just the surname of someone I used to know IRL as a kid. He looks kinda similar to my old friend in some ways, though thankfully not due to his ungodly overbite. For Lazlo's power, I believe I was heavily inspired by Shin from Dorohedoro, due to this panel where Shin cuts off his arms to find the "magical smoke veins" inside of them.

(Smoke in Dorohedoro, for those uninitiated, allows the user to perform magic.) I thought it was interesting that Shin could just do this and get away with it. It occurs in a flashback, in a world with magic, so it's clear when he cuts his arms off that they'll come back, but it's still quite an impressive stunt to perform surgery on yourself like this. How the fuck did he even cut off the second arm? Isn't one arm enough? I couldn't tell you, but it leaves quite the impression. Back on topic though, I thought it was quite interesting to have a character based on this and "phantom pain", where you can still feel the limb as if it's still there, despite it not being. So, Lazlo can emit smoke from where his arm was severed, and use it to create a new giant arm made entirely of smoke. I assume if he were to lose a second arm or leg or such, it would also be replaced with smoke. Maybe if he was decapitated, he'd survive with a smoke head, sort of like an Elsen from OFF.

It is the most important element, after all. I do enjoy portraying people with disabilities rather normally, and Lazlo is a nice usage of that. I really enjoy having him wave with his missing arm, for example. Makes the world feel a bit more real to me.

That's right fuckos, I lured you in with 5 consecutive smaller posts about women, and then sucker punched you with a literal essay about my WEIRD LITTLE MEN. ...Sorry.

[docholligay]

Foreign Films to Expand Into

I saw a post regarding the writer’s strike that suggested Americans maybe make the effort of watching a foreign film, and while I agree, I didn’t think its tone was super helpful. Don’t get me wrong, I’m the queen of “Pull yourself out of a rut!!” but I don’t think “Americans are so fucking stupid they don’t realize other countries make movies” is actually trying to help anyone, so much as add to the idea that I guess the rest of the world is being forced to watch Captain America at gunpoint. 

But I DO want Americans to watch foreign films, in the same way that I want them to watch indie films, and I want people of all nations and stripes to expand their understanding of what they’re used to, to push themselves into something else they might like. I think my family would say that it’s fair to call me a person who is open to experience. I love to try things! That’s why I have the book draw, that’s why I go see movies I’m not sure about, that’s why I actively seek out foods I’ve never tried. You deserve to make your life interesting, to be challenged, to provide enrichment in your enclosure. You are worth the effort of a richly textured life! And movies are often a pretty cheap way to go about stepping outside of your comfort zone. I can’t wait to hear what you thought of any of these! 

Obviously, if you are not American, one  of these may not be foreign to you. Yes, I know that. 

I don’t hold out that all of these are hidden gems--some of them are, or were, extremely popular movies. Many of them won awards. But I do hold out that these are some of my favorites, and I would love to share them with you. I did, however, try to avoid anything that I thought already got a lot of play on tumblr: I don’t need to tell anyone here to watch Parasite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, or any given Ghibili movie (Though you should watch Grave of the Fireflies--it’s my favorite). 

Pan’s Labyrinth (Mexico and Spain): This is my favorite foreign film of all time and I am breaking my, “I’m not putting any movie on here I don’t need to tell you to watch” rule right away because it is in fact one of my favorite movies of all time, American or foreign. It is a lush story about fantasy, facism, courage, and the horror of childhood. Warning: This movie is very very intense. Do not be fooled by the fact that Del Toro also does like fucking…Hellboy. He also can make very serious, very good movies, and he does not shy away from the brutality of the Spanish Civil War. If you liked Labyrinth but you’re fully grown now and I want a story about fantasy bargains for the adult crowd, this is for you. 

The Orphanage (Spain): I love Spanish horror, and so it was really, really difficult to only pick one. But this has been one of my favorites for years, a classic Spanish slow burn that deals with the long shadow of childhood and the line between the supernatural and the natural. If you like pensive horror movies like The VVitch, I really think you should give this one a try. 

Hero (China): I know a lot of y’all are into wuxia now, but back when this came out it wasn’t a thing I had ever heard of*. Hero is, as the title might imply, a sweeping historical epic with fantastic fight scenes and gorgeous cinematography. If you enjoy stories told in multiple interpretations, high-flying wire work, and with some ideas about war, peace, and truth that tempt without asking too much of you, you’ll love this. 

Cold War (Poland): Listen, I love Cuarón, Mexican and Spanish movies absolutely dominate my list of foreign films I’ve watched, but I genuinely thought Cold War deserved the edge over Roma for the Oscar that year. It’s a fairly short movie for the times, coming in at less than 90 minutes, and it wastes not even one second of that film time. Cold War is a bittersweet love story not only with two people toward each other, but feels deeply critical of Poland while recognizing the impossibility of unbraiding yourself from it. If you love impossible, bittersweet, happily never after love stories with stark and striking cinematography, you’ll adore Cold War. 

Tigers Are Not Afraid (Mexico): I adore an unflinching take on childhood, and this movie is absolutely that. It essentially asks, “How do children survive in a world full of trauma?” and the answer is that sometimes, they don’t. This movie is a little frenetic, admittedly, but the ways fantasy and imagination is woven into a group of street children orphaned by the cartels is something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I first saw it, and I think the final shot is pitch perfect. If you liked Pan’s Labyrinth this is required viewing, as I think it shares a lot of themes. 

The African Doctor (France): “Holligay, if you put another fucking downer movie in this list I am going to BEAT YOUR ASS” Okay, okay, we’re going to ignore my general predilections and everything from here on down is fairly life-affirming or comedic or easy. This is about a little village in France in the 1970s that gets an African doctor. It’s sweet, and funny, and you come away from it feeling good. Also I still laugh every time Seyolo responds to the fact that most of the villagers had never seen a black person with: “So what? Now they will.” If you like sweet fish out of water stories with nice endings, this is for you. 

Om Shanti Om (India): I maintain that this is the best movie to watch if you’re brand new to Bollywood. It mostly avoid the worst of its excesses while delighting in all of its strengths. It is a genuinely fun film with fantastic songs, and a shockingly together storyline for a Bollywood movie (affectionate). I’ve actually done a full review of this one, but in the short version: If you loved Moulin Rouge and wanted more of that mix of tragedy and silliness on a operatic level, I think you’ll be in for a treat. 

The Warrior’s Way (South Korea and New Zealand): Okay, this movie is not good, and also it manages to be bad. But it’s in English, so if you’ve been sitting there like my dad going, ‘I am not gonna read a movie” well, here you go. If you’ve ever said to yourself, “I want to watch a Western, but I wish it were actually a HK style cheesy action movie” BOY HOWDY AM I HERE FOR YOU. I watched this one insanely drunk and still managed to be like, “wow! This is so bad! Maximum valid!” If you thought RRR** was good, but too deep, you will have the BEST time with The Warrior’s Way. 

Anyway, this is, of course, an incomplete list, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten something I love, since this was just made off the cuff. I would love to hear if you watch or like any of these, and also, if, looking at this list, you have a recommendation for me, let me know! There are so so many fucking movies out there, and so many fall through the cracks. 

I’m thinking about doing another one of these on “Indie movies you might have missed” and also “Movies that were made before you enfants were born” (30+ years) so let me know if anything like that is interesting! Or, if there’s a category you think I might know about you’re into, let me know also.

*I actually have a lot of emotional attachment to Hero, as I have a very distinct memory of standing in the Hastings, in front of the small foreign-film section, and it being the first foreign film I picked up. I was, I think, sixteen, and I had decided that I was going to be worldly, and interesting, and cultured, and so I took a deep dive into cooking from other cultures, and watching foreign films, and buying old art history textbooks, reading classics, and listening to opera, and formal manners. Basically becoming the person I wished I were, that poised Grace Kelly type, even if I was born to the drone of the grasshoppers on the wind. To quote Reba Macintire, “You know I mighta been born just plain white trash, but Fancy was my name” and all that. And this movie was a distinct part of that, in that it was the first, in a long line of me trying to be a more well-rounded and interesting person. 

**RRR (India): Actually on that note, watch RRR. It’s a fantastically fun Indian action film that I keep meaning to watch again because I got a little too drunk for drinking on an emopty stomach the first time I saw it, so it might actually also be good, but I do remember enjoying the shit out of it and there is a scene that has such Fareeha vibes to me.

[shinoposting]

You are one of the few quality Shino blogs on here and I just wanted to get this off my chest (since he’s my fav character)! Everyone seems to think Shino’s favorite animated movie would be Disney’s A Bug’s Life but I honestly see him liking Roald Dahl’s/Henry Selick’s James and the Giant Peach or Ghibli’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind much MUCH more. Do you have any HC’s for the types of media content Shino would like to watch/read in a more modern setting?

The Bug's Life jokes are classic flanderization. Happens to side characters all the time, I just try to ignore it now.

Honestly bug boy has VERY gothic sensibilities. I see him liking a lot of tech-noir media. Naruto is a bit anachronistic but for the most part the setting is based on Kishi's 80s childhood, meaning that Shino could have easily seen early tech-noir movies. I think Shibi is into classic noir films, so it sort of fits in with this theme of...wanting to be like his dad, but also his own person. If that makes sense.

As for KIDS' media? Before finding his niche I think he would be drawn to underrated and strange, dark fantasy, things that other kids might find too scary like The Black Cauldron. Ironically though, not a fan of Nightmare Before Christmas. Come on, why's the guy who's full of bugs gotta be the villain? For that reason a lot of media involving insects or arachnids are off the table; he's quite easily offended when it comes to bugs.

I have not seen Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind myself but on a cursory google search these bugs definitely look like something he would be interested in. I can imagine him filling a whole notebook with ideas and diagrams....

Printed media...we know he likes shonen manga, and western comics are also implied. It seems like Shino preferred Marvel and Torune preferred DC?

I can't talk much on books really, I haven't been able to enjoy a book for many many years (personal reasons) so outside of YouTube reviews of known trash fires I really have no idea what's going on in the world of words on paper.

And for shows, Nat Geo and the like are a given, but I also have a longstanding headcanon that Shino really likes Gundam. We've never gotten to see his room, but I think he would have a whole glass case of custom-painted models. My only basis for this is that it was popular at the time and Shino is a big fucking nerd, detail-oriented, content to work with forceps...and robots are a lot like bugs, if you think about it (but not too hard). Maybe he watched the show with Torune when they were little.

Oops. That was longer than I intended it to be. Well, I hope that answered your question!