#i normally don't post abstract that are too much of a spoiler

[morporkian-cryptid]

🖋🎴Daily Hanafuda pt.3 progress!

Day 17

“You should ask them,” he said, and tasted bile. “I’m sure you stand more of a chance than you imagine.” Goemon looked up at him, hope radiating from his face like a small sun, and Jigen added, before he could stop himself, “Who wouldn’t want to be with you?”

Fellas it's happening!!!!!! I can't believe I'm finally writing this scene, which I planned out nearly four years ago, back when this fic was nothing more than a late-night infodump in a friend's Discord chat. Holy shit.

[stellardeer]

Dunmeshi spoilers

I'm drunk and I feel like writing so here are my thoughts on the Laios succubus scene.

So if you have read that far you know that the succubus initially appears to him in the form of Marcille, and Laios is confused by this and thinks "oh is this really what I desire? I hope no one finds out about this, especially Marcille"

And then the succubus-Marcille transforms into a monster, and tells Laios that he, too, can become a monster, which is his true desire.

I know the explanation of why it played out this way might be obvious, but I want to expand upon it!

So why did the succubus initially present itself as Marcille? Why specifically her? Why not just present as a monster from the get go?

I think that the succubus had trouble reading his desires. I think most people agree that Laios is very ace-coded (or at least not interested in human partners...) but I think that he is unaware of this truth about himself and is aware of the heternormative expectations on the interactions between men and women.

Recall the scene where Laios is learning magic from Marcille. He seems hesitant to touch her because he worries it might be inappropriate. (I'll pause here to be perfectly honest that I can't remember if that happens before or after the succubus scene but I think it's before so I'm gonna press forward) This interaction was mildly embarrassing for Laios, and there is a very clear indication that he feels a little strange interacting with Marcille in such an intimate way.

I think that the reason the succubus presented as Marcille is because she was the most recent intimate (in his eyes) interaction that Laios had had, and he probably had some residual subconscious feelings about it, not in a "I'm secretly attracted to her" way but more of a "that was more intimacy than I am used to and it happened with someone I don't normally view in that light and I hope it doesn't mean anything" overthinking kind of way. I think that the succubus read his feelings incorrectly and, probably, is not used to having to present themselves as something more abstract. They found this small feeling of awkwardness in Laios's recent memory and assumed it to be desire, and thus transformed accordingly. I think Laios's surprise at the shape of the succubus is probably what triggered it to change its form. I think it needed a moment to assess his true feelings because he is not someone who actually has such straightforward sexual/romantic desires. It had to change its approach and become a concept rather than a being - the concept of BECOMING a monster is what Laios truly desires, not the monster itself.

I think this is also why it took the succubi longer to target Izutsumi because she, too, did not have an obvious sexual/romantic desire. It took them a while to dig deep and assess her desires until it found something that would truly stop her in her tracks.

I think that the fact that the succubus presented itself as Laios's desire to become a monster was also very obvious foreshadowing for the end of the story. I don't think this assertion needs to much expansion cause like.. duh, and also I'm drunk and don't feel like it, but I just felt like pointing it out because this story is so awesome and I love it.

This post was brought to you by someone saying "how could anyone possibly ship Laios and Marcille" and I think, honestly, it comes from moments like this where there is what appears to be an obvious suggestion that Laios has unresolved feelings for her, like it would be easy for someone to see the Marcille-succubus and their takeaway be "omg Laios feels that way about Marcille??", but I don't really think that he does. I think that the succubus just couldn't really read him properly and initially tapped into a fleeting feeling he'd had that was not true desire, just an awkward interaction that he dwelled too hard on.

I'll be honest though I did expect the connection between Marcille and Falin to be a lot more explicit just based on the way that I saw people talking about them prior to reading it for myself. I definitely agree there is a much stronger case to be made for a romance between the two of them than for ANYTHING between Laios and Marcille, but I was a bit disappointed that they weren't like.. actually canon girlfriends 😔

[hiddleyheh]

I finished the movie for Totsukuni no Shoujo and

i am so normal mmm good movie

Rambles under cut, fair warning for spoilers and mentions dark topics

This is just gonna be me screaming and yelling so yea

While I wasn't expecting the movie to be a direct play-by-play of the manga, I didn't think it would go too dark

But it somehow did??? Like yes, the manga did have Shiva nearly killed by the king, but the movie straight up had a minor character end themself off screen which I was definitely not expecting

Overall, the movie was still lighter in terms of angst, thriller, and horror elements but was still able to to stay pretty faithful the characterizations and arcs that Shiva and Sensei went through in the manga.

The only major difference I noticed was how Sensei's yearning to hold and comfort Shiva was even further emphasized in the anime while the role of the Outsiders and Knights were lessened.

Shiva still witnesses a death first hand, Sensei still faces the dilemma of his past and accepting who he is now. Hell, there was even mentions of the Gods of Dark and Light in the movie, with Mother being an integral part of the ending.

That underlying fear of not belonging, to be transformed and warped into something far beyond your own recognition was present throughout the entire film. And the use of an uncertain and open-ended resolution (although different from the manga) is still present.

Being that the movie is a little longer than an hour, I'm not upset that the full dynamic and history is fleshed out between Sensei and Shiva, or major antagonists and side characters being given little to no screentime. Yes, I'm a little disappointed that Auntie didn't show up, but I see this more of a story that can be watched separately from the main series and still be enjoyed heavily.

OK STORY RAMBLE OVER IM GOING TO YELL ABOUT THE ANIMATION NOW

The animation style is absolutely stunning. Like. Just look at this:

Now imagine watching this move for an hour.

The watercolor-based coloring and textured line art fully encapsulates that child-like, dreamy feel. The entire time, I was getting nonstop waves of nostalgia because of how much it reminded me of picture books I used to read as a kid or kids shows I used to borrow on VHS tapes from the library.

And this is only the main art-style used. Multiple were utilized, and MAN were they used so well to emphasize the mood.

One of the other art styles used was a rough sketch on paper? I don't know how to explain it fully, but imagine rough gesture drawings on yellow post-it notes. It's only used twice in the film but MAN does it emphasize the panic and rush that Sensei was feeling to rush and save Shiva.

A slightly more abstract style that was more slightly based on either dry gouache or pastel was also used for its dream sequences.

Besides the art style itself, the transition from when a character is grounded to thinking/dreaming is made easy to read to the audience when it wants be easily read. The dreams carry really heavy symbolism and foreshadowing for what's to come. Shiva's "true" form even makes a brief appearance in one of them.

The only time that abstract style abruptly stops is near the end of the movie. And it is the one time you can't tell whether the sequence that had just happened was a dream or real, neither or both. It really helps build up to that open-ended interpretation of the end of the movie.

Framing was another absolute delight from the movie.

From the beginning, Shiva and Sensei and posed to be near and facing each other, side to side.

There is always a distance between the two and you know that both want to comfort and hold the other. This type of set up is also meant to have the audience associate the flatness of the framing with comfort and familiarity.

This is flipped when the dutch angle is used to introduce this scene:

You know something is up, besides the dangling clothes in trees.

There were also other great instances of composition. such as the time skip, the use of the door frame when Shiva was gifting Sensei the flower crown, and also this:

(The headless outsider my beloved)

To be honest, I was suprised that the Outsiders were less aggressive and antagonistic in the movie, but I'm not complaining. The Canines were especially cute with that little tidbit of Shiva leaving the bed sheet for them to play with.

I won't ramble about the minor symbolism in the story but MAN when I saw the white chrysanthemums I felt DREAD KSJFLSDF

This was a very enjoyable movie and I highly recommend to watch :]