#i related it somehow to the real anime itself

[cipheramnesia]

The "movie about a movie that kills you" is a surprisingly robust genre of horror. There's a wide range of approaches, but one key factor is the question of how good the deadly film in a film is, on its own. Some approaches are keeping the faux film entirely unseen, use brief clips, or make it real short.

Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made goes in for a high risk approach and delivers a complete finished film, ostensibly made in the 70s and never released, framed by brief opening and closing info bites to set the stage of it.

Somehow this thing was completely off my radar, which means I was taken fully off guard as an ominous warning about the content in white text on black appeared on screen, giving a thirty second count down to leave if I wanted.

Wonderful showmanship and canny filmmaking that got me right in the mood to enjoy what followed. While I wouldn't call it a scary movie, I found it almost delightful in the atmospheric dread and devotion to its aesthetic of low budget 70s films. Nothing in it feels like a curse on its own, but it does feel like the sort of movie that could easily prompt psychological distress for anyone under psychotropic influences, pre-existing emotional vulnerability, or prone to delusional states. Not through anything supernatural, more because it works hard to keep the viewer in constant doubt over what is and is not real for the characters in the film. Combined with the framing device of it being a movie somehow able to influence the real world of the viewer, and the use of fractionally visible flashes of occult symbols on the screen, it generates an intense feeling of unreality which for me was an almost drug-like high and an immersive pleasure.

The premise of Antrum is simply a brother and sister decide to dig a hole to hell, and the movie plays out around this event by surrounding it with disturbing sounds and imagery, as well as real world dangers that weave the protagonists between the supernatural and mundane while keeping them in a state of terror and madness that grows until it becomes unrelenting.

In a certain sense it also feels cursed, like the kind of film where there are elements that feel very transgressive - in particular the opening scene which to my mind evoked Un Chien Andalou - not the infamous eyeball slicing scene, but the use of rotting animals. The few and very basic visual effects remind me as well of the early Survival Research Laboratory devices engineered by Mark Pauline.

However, the core question for me is also always what is the movie about besides the plot. If I had to identify some rough themes, I would say it's trying to explore the idea of understanding death and violence through the eyes of children who do not yet have the psychological tools for processing such matters, but who have been left on their own to do so regardless.

Many of the unusual elements in the movie can relate to death rituals poorly understood, starting from the very premise of digging a hole into the earth. And the same act is surrounded by strange rituals unclear in their origin, ideas which might be logical drawn from watching words recited over a grave without having a connection of purpose. Their encounters with other people are fully without possibility of communication as none of them speak the same language, and these mundane threats feel at times akin to a satanic Alice in Wonderland, rituals and violence whose meaning cannot be understood by the protagonists.

Likewise the supernatural is full of unprocessed images of death. Demons with black skin who look like mummified corpses. River crossings and empty chains dragging through leaves. It's as if death itself has manifested through the ambient world, surrounding the two children and refusing to let them leave its circle.

In combination with the intriguing use of sigils inscribed throughout, it creates a movie that is for me a joy to watch. An absolutely perfect Halloween spook for next year, but your mileage may vary between finding it full of pretentious nonsense or maybe the scariest film you'll ever watch. It can really come off either way, and I'm honestly not quite sure why my reaction was actual joy in the watching. Not to undercut the severity of the subject matter, but I just can't stop thinking about how happy I was to watch the movie at work mechanically, to enjoy the well oiled pieces fitting together, and then all topped off with the delicious extra treat of the framing device. Surely worth 90 minutes of your life.

[ryin-silverfish]

LMK S5 Fix-it: the Four Divine Beasts

My feeling on LMK S5 has stayed pretty consistent after first watching the Chinese dub: "nice character moments, but what even is this worldbuilding?"

And personally, the Four Divine Beasts/Guardians/Symbols are the biggest symptom of S5's worldbuilding problem.

Namely, they feel more like plot devices that are just there to die and cough up the Color Stones, and as a result, 4/5 of the "Find the Color Stone" plotline felt like a worse version of S3 and the Samadhi Rings, but with even less flavor.

Now, I'm aware of the 11-minute episode constraint, as well as the pressure the studio change might have created that contributed to the overall feeling of rushed-ness.

However, my criticism here is about the writing and worldbuilding, not the animation quality——things that, in my humble and uneducated opinion, could have been done a lot better even if we were sticking to the "Find the McGuffins" plotline.

Thus, this post. As always: very lengthy, very Chinese-mythos inspired.

Four Guardians & Five Phases

A brief Google Search on the Four Symbols, aka Sixiang, will tell you this: the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird and Black Tortoise are divine beasts in Chinese mythology that watch over the four directions, each associated with a color and one of the Five Phases.

(An old post of mine briefly talked about their origins as personifications of four big constellations that occupy a quadrant of the sky each, and their relations to the 28 Lunar Mansions)

And S5 certainly paid homage to their elemental associations, however brief and surface-level it is.

The Vermillion Bird's ability to use fire and its flaming temple is the most notable example, but this screenshot of the seal that appeared at the temple entrances also shows five symbols:

From middle left, going in the clockwise direction, these appear to be the characters for Wood, Water, Fire, Earth and Metal in Oracle Bone/Bronze Script.

Which begs the question...why would you spend so much effort on the tiny visual details, yet not show most of their elemental association through the narrative itself?

Like, suppose you are a foreign audience that knows nothing about Chinese culture and legends, who have just finished watching S5, and I ask you "What elemental powers do each of the Four Symbols have?"

Apart from Vermillion Bird = Fire (the obvious one) and the Black Tortoise = maybe Earth (which is not mythos-accurate, btw), can you honestly answer it, based only on what the show has given you?

Which leads me to my biggest gripe: their random-as-hell placement.

Even the Samadhi Rings have a map, however vague it is, but with the Color Stones, the gang basically just wandered all over the place in the hope of eventually running into one of the divine beasts——and they did, somehow!

Like, I'm not asking the writers for an entire mini-arc that's just them piecing the clues together. But will it be too much to let SWK or Tang make an off-hand comment like this?

"Well, legends said that the Four Symbols watch over the four directions and their respective elements. So if we wanna find them, we just gotta go real far in these directions, toward places with the most of that... elemental stuff! Right?"

And that brings me to the actual fix-it part. The Vermillion Bird can stay where she is, but the placement of the other three should also logically follow their elemental associations.

Oh, and though there's limited space for their characterization, they should at least get some individual characterization apart from "wise ancient guardians".

Xuanwu, Black Tortoise of the North

The fact that Xuanwu, or rather, it's snake half, can transform into stone at will might lead you to believe that its element is Earth.

Well...no, not traditionally; the Black Tortoise and the North correspond to Water in the Five Phases system, and I'm gonna both stick to that and build my fix-it off this foundation.

Instead of cosplaying a stone statue in the middle of nowhere, Xuanwu is gonna be residing on one of the islands in the North Sea, where dark tides and huge snow storms rage endlessly under the sunless sky.

So Sandy, being the water travel specialist, is gonna head out there on his boat. Mei would go to her great x N granduncle, Ao Guang's place, to see if he has any clues on, well, this big blue dragon that's also of the East.

Pigsy and Tang would head west, classic JTTW style, towards the mythical Mt. Kunlun where Queen Mother of the West resides (based on one of Tang's books that said the White Tiger was her emissary), while SWK performs an all-round search everywhere on his somersault cloud.

Which leaves MK: his dilemma is not about some random divergence in the road, but which of his friends to follow. Like, what if he goes with one person, and something bad happen to the others in the meantime?

In the end, even though he reluctantly goes with Sandy, he is still constantly distracted by his worries about everyone else, which segments nicely into the meditation training of S5E3.

But since they are doing it on a boat, there can be an external storm to go with the internal storm, causing further distractions for MK and also forcing them to seek shelter on the nearest island.

An island that, strangely, seems to be coated in a thin layer of ice. It isn't just the earth that's frosted over: all the plants, a few unfortunate multi-headed (???) seabirds, and a snake have also turned into ice statues...

Wait, snake? How does a reptile survive this far out in the north?

They have a bigger concern, however. The ice is slowly but steadily spreading, over the beaches and the surrounding seawater, and if they don't finish the search soon, the ice might get too thick for the boat to break.

So MK dashed off to do a grid-by grid search, then circled back to the place with all the frozen statues...and found the snake missing.

Cue, peak paranoia moment, and going on a wild-goose chase for the missing snake that might or might not be an ice-wielding demon waiting to ambush them.

In fact, the snake almost seems to be taunting them, seeing how they run into several "frozen snake statues" that turned out to be made of actual, solid ice. Sandy keeps reminding him to stop and think, while MK finds it harder and harder to put the lessons to practice.

By following the trail of ice statues, however, they eventually arrived on a little island in the middle of a frozen lake, where the real snake——the one half of Xuanwu lay coiling around the Blue Color Stone.

Just when MK is about to dash out and grab it, the snake comes to life with a hiss, and they barely dodged the ice spikes rising up from underneath their feet.

"Begone, foul spawn of Hundun! Return to thy conniving master, ilk of the Floodbringer, before I freeze every single drop of thy tainted blood!" "Um, I-I think you've mistaken me for someone else? I'm the Monkie Kid, and I'm here to collect your Color Stone so I can save the world——" "Doth thee mistake me for a fool, too?" The snake bore its fangs, rising its head high up into the air. "I can feel the flames of dear Lingguang on you, murderer, ripped straight out of its rightful owner's chest! She would not have perished without a fight, nor shalt I!" "Enough, Zhiming."

The tiny island itself begins to shake, revealing the other half of Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise itself. The snake still manages to half-encast Sandy in ice, before the Black Tortoise traps it inside a ball of flowing water.

She briefly apologized for her twin's hostility——whereas the strain of keeping the world together affects her body in the form of visible cracks, her other half has not been in his right mind ever since the Vermillion Bird's fall, living in the distant past and rarely able to perceive the present.

(The whole conversation is punctuated by the snake's psychic screeches in the background, which alternates between accusing her of betrayal and stating she must have fallen victim to the "poisonous blood of the enemy".)

Which makes the upcoming trial even more necessary. No, it's not "mercy-kill her twin". Yet. MK needs to prove his ability to control his body and mind, that his psyche will not break like her other half here under the tremendous pressure.

Thus, the trial of meditation. And he needs to act fast, for she cannot hold the snake back for long, as made evident by the slowly creeping ice inside and outside his watery prison.

"If you are truly worthy, then vanquish your fears, and stand before us in your true form. Brandish Lingguang's stone, so that we may be released from our watch in the long night."

MK succeeded, like he did in canon, with a small difference: his mastery of the monkey form is required for, and enables the limited usage of the stone's power.

So, holding the Red Color Stone, he unleashes a wave of fiery light that melts away the ice on Sandy and finally brings the snake back to his senses...somewhat.

He only managed to say the Vermillion Bird's name in a wistful voice, exclaiming "How I missed thy warm flames!" before melting into a puddle of water.

The other half of Xuanwu soon followed after giving him the stone, disintegrating into a mass of snowflakes that is swept away by the wind, but not before dropping one last bit of foreshadowing:

"Trust not the Floodbringer's Emissary."

(Sidenote: I think it'll be neat if the Four Symbols refer to each other using their IRL Daoist titles. Vermillion Bird - Lingguang, Black Tortoise & Snake - Zhiming, Azure Dragon - Mengzhang, White Tiger - Jianbing)

Azure Dragon & White Tiger

...And I thought Xuanwu's placement was random.

No, seriously, why is there a random music festival that just happens to be Azure Dragon and White Tiger themed that just happens to be near the actual place the two divine beasts are at?

To stay within the show's time constraint, I will not be giving White Tiger his individually themed placement, and instead try to come up with something that is appropriate for the pair as a whole.

Since Azure Dragon's associated element is Wood, it makes sense for him to have plant powers. Namely, whereever the divine beast resides, floras and faunas will flourish, no matter how out of place with the local geography and climate.

Once Mei learned that from Ao Guang, theoretically, it becomes quite the easy find: the mythical oasis city in western China, one that shows up multiple times in historical travel records yet has never been found by archeologists.

And the reason will soon become clear, as Tang and Pigsy make the drive from one desert city to another on their way to Mt. Kunlun (joined by Mei after she returned from the Samadhi Fire side-arc).

Namely, it's like a magical version of the famous Peach Blossom Spring of Chinese literature: an entire city that has been glamored over by the power of the divine beasts, occupied by people whose way of life hasn't changed since the Tang dynasty.

But as the guardians' powers fade, so does the illusion that veils it from the outside world, and the elemental magic that sustains this paradise.

Instead of a music festival, the gang finally discover the city that, according to the locals, has appeared out of thin air a few days ago, while it is in the middle of an archaic ritual procession.

The atmosphere is a lot more solemn, and it isn't hard to see why. Not only has the illusion vanished, exposing them to a profoundly alien world, the foliage of the oasis are growing and dying in rapid succession, clogging the streets with fallen leaves and yellowed petals.

An opera play is going on atop a nearby stage. It sings of a teal-robed immortal who rescued the refugees of a long-forgotten war, who turned desert into fertile soil with the help of a mighty divine general, concealing their existence from the greed and malice of the outside world.

The people in the procession knelt down and pleaded to the immortal for aid, to not abandon them in their hour of need. And their prayers are, indeed, answered, just not by the divine beasts in person.

The 14 Lunar Mansions that belong to the Azure Dragon and White Tiger descended from the sky, summoned by their masters, though they seemed to have been given different orders.

Namely, the Azure Dragon 7 spread out to guard all the major city gates, letting no one enter or leave, while the White Tiger 7 are ordered to round up all the residents and start setting up a teleportation formation.

Soon afterwards, Nezha arrived in the midst of the chaos. He is just as clueless as to what was going on as the Monkie Kid gang, but the moment he caught sight of SWK and friends, he's after them in hot pursuit.

Meanwhile, Li Jing is not happy about the Lunar Mansions suddenly acting without his orders, and commanded them to stand down or be arrested for insubordination.

"With all due respect, Devaraja Li——" Before the Moon Fox Star could finish her sentence, another stellar beast stepped forth, his tiger tail swishing behind him. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Results: most of the Azure Dragon 7 get sucked into his pagoda, but while they were fighting, the White Tiger 7's formation activated, teleporting the majority of the city residents to god knows where.

While shit was hitting the fan, Tang hurriedly teleported the gang away, right into the sanctuary of the divine beasts——an underground temple.

"It's over, Mengzhang. Now that the Harbinger is on our doorsteps, and your pet mortals are safe at the cost of our loyal warriors, will you finally rest easy?" "Not...yet. There are still...stragglers, left behind." "Stragglers you have doomed yourself! Their fate is sealed the moment you cast your mirage over their ancestors and create this little utopia, frozen in time." The cracks on the tiger's body widened. A thick layer of condensation began forming on the metal reliefs, as if the very walls of the temple were weeping. "I should have never agreed to stay and help." "Yet you...still did. And I'm so glad you are here."

Yep, in this fix-it, I decide to use the Azure Dragon & White Tiger for some thematic parallels, with them basically repeating Nvwa and the Pillar of Heaven on a smaller scale.

The former created a garden city in the middle of the desert, while the latter uses his power to provide the water source that sustains the city (because Metal births Water).

As the end approaches, however, they are faced with the problem of ensuring the city residents' safety, since, upon their death, the entire oasis will revert to a desert overnight.

The White Tiger feels like there's no point in trying anything, since their death means the Harbinger will fulfill his destiny soon and give the world a reboot.

But the Azure Dragon insists on channeling his power into the land until the very last possible moment, so that the people's last memories will be a mundane, peaceful one.

Besides, they know very well that Fate and Destiny are no longer ironclad, when the very laws of reality are breaking down. How, then, can he be sure that the cycle will end and the world will be reforged as Nvwa intended, seeing that its premature beginning is already an outlier?

After a long argument, they had reached an uneasy compromise. Thus, the chaotic arrival of the Lunar Mansions and the hurried evacuation of the residents.

"You will understand, won't you, Harbinger?" The dragon looked into his eyes. "Even if you know it's selfish and futile, that you can't keep them safe forever, you are still going to give your all, just so their happy days will last a little longer..." "It is easy for Brother Jianbing to say, let go, face your end with honor. For Metal is the clashes of blades, the unforgiving axe of executioners." "I? This old fool just saw lives. Of men and women, children and elderly folks. And I cannot stand by and watch them wither."

MK nodded quietly, feeling Mei's worried, "are you not telling me something" glance on the back of his head. He reached out a hand, and the two divine beasts press their foreheads together.

The dragon faded away in a rain of falling leaves and petals, and when the Purple Color Stone hit the ground, nothing remains of the tiger but a thin layer of silvery, metallic sand on the floor.

Appendix: Inside the Pagoda

The fix-it is mostly over at this point, so the following is just me adding some additional worldbuilding and foreshadowing to MK's solution in E10, to make the whole "giving powers to everyone" thing a little less out of left field.

In the previous section, it was mentioned that a bunch of Lunar Mansions end up inside Li Jing's pagoda too. And when MK and friends run across them, they are in a pretty bad state.

Namely, the same cracks they see on the divine beasts are now appearing on the Lunar Mansions' bodies too.

"Isn't it obvious? Our masters are no more, so we now bear the brunt of the weight that was once on their shoulders..." "And are on our way of being crushed to a pancake." "Very tactful, aren't you?" The one-horned man sighed. "But yes. Lord Mengzhang is a stellar beast too——the greatest of all. He is a constellation, while we are merely the stars that make up the dragon's body, embued with a tiny fraction of his power." "And when the very sky of the East has fallen..." "How can the stars remain unscathed?"

After that, they basically exit the scene to fade away offscreen. But the information they revealed plants the seed of an idea in MK: specifically, that the Color Stones' power (and burden) can be shared between multiple individuals, like what happened at the end of E10.

Also, tiny fix: instead of MK learning the circlet spell outta nowhere, he's gonna tap into the power of the Color Stones during his fight with SWK, just like he did during Xuanwu's trial, to buy enough time to make his sacrifice.

[neonluardon]

An Uncanny Dream

Now, I have dreams, some of which tend to involve a character or two. I am a Genshin Impact fan, and I especially like Kaeya. But the dream I had about Kaeya was so uncanny and equally majestic that I never wanted to forget about it. So, I prepared some visuals. I will be using the notes I took the moment I woke up. These notes help me a lot, as I have already forgotten almost all of the details.

Plot: I was the player but instead of controlling the Traveler, I was controlling Kaeya, the story itself was from his perspective. Because of a reason, I cannot remember, Kaeya ended up stuck between the line of truth and delusion.

Kaeya was aware of his existence, his world was pitch black and white. Everything he used to find beautiful now looked horrible, all voices were gone but a music that kept repeating over and over. As Kaeya, I was supposed to run around and ask for help. But no matter where we went, we couldn't interact with a person.

I remembered I had some resin (even in a dream I'm worried about not using resin lol) and decided to fight in a domain. Somehow, although we couldn't interact with humans and animals, Kaeya could harm Hilichurls and other Abyss-related creatures.

Upon defeating the enemies, Kaeya got an artifact. But this artifact didn't have relic bonuses.

The artifact's name was changed to "Memories From Afar". When I tried looking at the description of the artifact, instead of writing a story or giving an explanation, it simply said:

"You cannot go back now. Memories are out of your reach."

It said "Fatal error." too in very rare cases, because I was panicking so much that I kept reloading the screen and expected something else to come. After obtaining this artifact, I never managed to earn another one no matter how much resin I used.

I decided to use this artifact on Kaeya, but when I opened the character screen, all of my characters were gone and only Kaeya existed. And, well, he didn't look very well.

All of his talents were set back to one. His name didn't exist, instead, there was something akin to "X" but not exactly the same. He was a shadow, an "absence" on the game's screen. And his profile icon didn't exist as well. During this moment, I noticed that Kaeya couldn't interact with the others because he literally didn't exist anymore. He was conscious, he tried everything, but all that was left of him was his absence. And for some reason, no one in Mondstadt seemed to notice his sudden disappearance either.

Did the Irminsul Tree get corrupted and erase his information or was he not cared for at all? This was the question Kaeya asked. I was shocked since I didn't expect him to know about the tree and information could get erased from there.

I kept controlling Kaeya but the vision was so vague that the map barely helped, and no, the main menu wasn't opening either. No Paimon, no settings, just Kaeya and his absence.

Then, I remember seeing Dragonspine. Kaeya was here for some reason, lost and confused. But since he didn't exist anymore and all he could talk with was me (the player, not the traveler, he broke the 4th wall) he suggested taking some pictures.

This especially crept into me a lot because, in one of the fics I wrote, Kaeya went so insane that he needed pictures to make sure he did things right. I can somehow feel that by telling me to take pictures, he meant it in a way to "make sure everything is real."

He got mad when he saw the photos and how even they were colorless. He thought that by using an object that "exists" he could get rid of the terrible darkness. The photos also proved that what we were seeing was correct since not even the player could outrun the colorless screen. Yes, he said that. If even I can't change things, there is nothing Kaeya could do, according to him.

This was one of the scariest scenes, to be honest. The map was there but I couldn't understand a thing, everything looked too dark, once the elegant and magical Dragonspine was now sheer nightmare material. We fought multiple monsters. Kaeya was trying to find his way into reality, thinking for some reason that someone could bend his curse, and bring back the colors. It felt cold, too cold. I could physically feel the sheer chillness hitting my face. I remember moving in my bed as the dream continued.

But it came to an end. Kaeya was attacked by a Mitachurl with a cryo shield. We tried outrunning it but the cold killed Kaeya before the monster. I woke up after he died, the "sheer cold" screen was the simplest but most uncanny thing I have ever seen. It doesn't look that terrifying in the gif but imagine seeing this in a dream.

And a silence followed, Kaeya said nothing. I clicked the revive button but it simply said "Fatal error: Character files missing"

But as I stared at the screen, I could also think of a way that could have saved Kaeya. It was Diluc. For some reason, Diluc's flames could cut through Kaeya's corruption and the tides of reality itself. That little cut between truth and delusion could be his escape. But we never found Diluc, and it was already too late when I realized what we could have done. I felt guilty, knowing that he died because of me. And it wasn't a simple death either, he was deleted or his information in the Irminsul Tree got corrupted beyond fixing, erasing him from existence altogether as the only remains of his presence were his consciousness. He died in darkness, in the sheer cold he despised so much.

I woke up. I was mesmerized by this dream and wanted to write it down. But now that I looked at my badly written notes and the scenes I tried recreating, I feel terrible. This dream was one of the greatest things I have ever experienced, it showed just how creative my brain could get but also... how horrifying it can be. I will never forget the sheer cold screen and the artifact of "Memories From Afar".

[wonderfull-star]

“School for little vampires” fans! Is there any chance at all of reviving this fandom? And I mean not only in terms of popularity but also in terms of the continuation of this show itself. For example, the creation of a film, game, comic book or even anime based on it. And it doesn’t matter if some studio or the fans themselves do it. Since the idea of ​​this animated series itself has enormous potential for popularity. Why do I think so? Okay, here are some facts why:

The main characters are children/teenagers. And this is already the main sign for success. Remember the Disney who decided to cancel the “ Wander over Yonder” not only because of low views but also because the main characters are adults. Well, as we know, in our time, the main success is precisely those cartoons where the main characters are children/teenagers (there are, of course, exceptions, but there are actually quite a few of them). I don’t think it’s worth explaining why these shows are popular because the reason is obvious.

Often, most of the cartoon episodes take place at school. And here is another main bonus to success for the animated series. I think many of us agree that most of the cartoons, films and anime that we all watched were somehow related to school. This has long become a classic. After all, it is in a show about school that most love relationships between characters take place(and this is what we will discuss now)

Love relationships between characters. SHIPS. And there are plenty of them in this cartoon. After all, there is a main couple in this cartoon-Oskar and Sunshine. Well, like in other fandoms, there are various disputes and disagreements over couples, the main ones being OskarXSunshine and OskarXGothetta. That’s it. The presence of a couples in animated series also greatly influences its popularity. Since they are an integral part of discussions in fandom.

Interesting characters with their own personalities. The more the creators of the cartoon show other characters and their character traits, the more interesting the show will be and will attract not only children but also more adult audiences. For example, what I remember most about this cartoon is Stoker and his constant dirty tricks. The show was completely different without him. I can definitely say that Stoker is a REAL troublemaker. I especially like his relationship with Oscar. They often argue and even fight, but I wouldn’t call them enemies either. In a word, they are frenemies✨. And I just love it. There's definitely never a dull moment with Oskar and Stoker! I can say the same about Paulus. Just a real walking comedy. Well, what would a cartoon be without this clumsy old man Van Helsing?? Usually such versatile characters are found in cartoons and anime. After all, it is there that such categories of characters are found: the main character, the quiet one (in this case the main character is the quiet one), the best friend who is secretly in love with the main character, the nerd, the bully, the youngest of all, the oldest of all.

This is a show about vampires. Many people like to read or watch something about vampires. And usually they involve love between a vampire and a human, which is a favorite cliche of many.

In the end, I want to say that this show has great potential for popularity. Well, if you consider that many people like to create anime based on vampires, it’s quite strange that no one decided to just take on the idea of ​​​​creating an anime about vampire children who study at school. What an awesome anime that would be 🤧

[sapphic-woes]

For spooky season maybe cause like you wrote abby last time, werewolf abby and you are her mate (Really like the scenario with soulmate shit oops) and idk maybe your daily life with her or some other things like how she met you and knew you were hers? idk my brains fried rn soooo yeah here ya go, have fun and I hope you have an awesome day ❤️

🐺

Ok these days I'm so busy I rlly can only do hcs so:

🐺Werewolf Abby🐺

Honestly I imagine this happening because you just moved into a rural-ish town as a doctor.

You wanted to make a real difference and help others. You're like, working in a rundown hospital and one of the only people who can do simple surgeries there.

Anyways, the town itself has a big werewolf population, which Abby is a part of ofc

You run into her because let's say Manny gets hurt fighting another werewolf from a diff clan, and they just say he was attacked by an animal and take him to your hospital .

She immediately is tongue tied, can't speak. Everyone is a little confused until her wolf starts howling–and then everyone except you know she just found her mate.

I'm thinking there isn't really like. Alphas and that shit here. Just Abby is one of the top people in her clan like og Abby, so people respect her. So, it's a big deal that she's found her mate.

You notice random people are just...nicer to you. Helpful. The whole town that was pretty standoffish before is just brighter now.....

...and Abby is literally everywhere.

She pops up in the most random places. She flirts. She makes your heart jump and cheeks go red, and somehow she always notices.

Anyways, you're falling hard and fast, yet she's still so mysterious to you. She has a large family, but none of them look related, people just seem to listen to her, even if she's younger than them. She carries herself like a leader, she's so charismatic you just want to do everything she says.

Eventually, when you're working with the EMT out in the woods to get someone help, you find out why.

You're attacked by wolves...only to be saved by one much, much bigger one.

Abby is ruthless, and she rips the other wolves to shreds before shifting back into her human form. She's bloody, covered in dirt and naked–but perhaps the scariest thing of all is that she still doesn't look fully human.

She's got glowing silver eyes and fangs, nails that look like claws...and she's staring right at you.

You panic, you run–in fact, you make it pretty damn far because Abby is too worried to follow you and scare you more. But you trip, fall, and scrap your knee, and when Abby smells your blood she's immediately worried.

"It's okay, I promise, I'm not gonna hurt you babe–I could never dream of it." Abby approaches you slowly. Carefully. She knows what she must seem like to you now: a terrifying monster rather than a person...and she hates herself for it.

"D-don't, don't touch me!" You barely yell it, flinching when she takes another step towards you. Abby winces like your words are daggers in her skin, offering a sorry smile.

"I just need to bring you somewhere safe. You can't walk right? Please, y/n you know me by now. Do you really think I'd hurt the girl I've been flirting with this whole time?" She had a point, and you stayed frozen as you watched her approach, though you didn't protest anymore. You shut your eyes when she reached for you, remembering how she'd ripped those other wolves into pieces before–

And yet, when she lifted you up in her arms, she carried you as if you were made of diamonds.

She kinda disappears after that.

Abby is way too scared of scaring you off. But her being gone after being so active in your life leaves a gaping hole. You start to miss her a lot, and you realize how much you loved her stupid teasing and cocky attitude.

So when you guys do run into each other again and Abby tries to highkey run away, you don't let her.

"Wait!" You gripped the sleeve of her arm, sucking in a breath as wide blue eyes focused on you. You can't speak for a moment before you finally burst out.

"I never thanked you. I, um, I wanted to do that...for saving me, I mean..." Abby's speechless, she blinks before she hoarsely speaks.

"A-are you sure? You don't have to. I know I–what you saw was–"

"It was scary, Abby. I won't lie about that. But..." You took a step closer to her, and you swore her lips trembled, "it wasn't enough to make me scared of you. Promise. So... don't run away anymore, okay?"

For once, the Abby Anderson's face tinges pink, and she clears her throat–scratching the back of her head as she quickly nods.

"Y-yeah. Yeah. I can do that. I can definitely do that..."

[shannonsketches]

I think something that I like about Goku and why I defend Goku's increasing societal detachment so much is that I think it's something I witness a lot in both myself and other creatives, especially in professional fields.

I'm a professional story artist, I've wanted to work in comics and animation for as long as I've been alive, and that has made me very Strange in terms of what people in non-creative fields think I should want/like/be interested in my age (at any age). I remember in my 20s I was talking to my niece about a show she was into, that I really liked as well, and she told me she liked talking to me because I was like a big kid (HIGH compliment from a 10 year old). Her hype is not shared by the elders aklsdaj

My older family members think that it's really weird that I care about cartoons and comics and animated film as much as I do, and have joked that they hope it pans out so I never have to get a "real" job. The fact that I am aroace and have no interest in dating, marrying, or having children also lends itself to the idea that I'm somehow naive and childish. But the fact is, I'm a perfectly capable, independent adult happily living on my own, and my applied skillset in my field is pretty damn good.

Everyone around me in non-creative spaces keeps expecting I'll grow up eventually. But this is me grown up. I'm still learning and growing, obviously, I'll be doing that for the rest of my life, but it's my choice to remain silly despite the horrors. It's my calculated decision, based on my lived experience, to work hard and pursue my passions at a level that has and will again bring me joy and success.

But it's not just me! This is a very standard experience for a creative professional, especially queer and/or neurodivergent creative professionals. Especially those of us who work in teen, youth, or children's media, and who consume media in those ratings as a result (or as an extension of things we loved as kids, and things that inspired us to pursue this path to begin with).

So, as I get more years in the field, and the more I observe that gap in worldviews, Goku's writing feels more genuine to the experience of someone in a dedicated pursuit of their passion (written by people who've built careers out of that exact experience). That's a hard thing to explain to someone who's never experienced a fanatic drive to do something they consider insane and impossible (like making art your career, for example), because someone with different priorities is never going to think that's a valuable use of your time. But you do, and so you do it (and it is -- and they don't get why you invest so much time in it but they always think the results are impressive??)!

And it does take luck. And it does take community. And you can't do it alone. But that doesn't make it any less important to put in the work and push yourself to keep being better, so that when those opportunities do line up, you're ready for them and then some.

The older I get, the more Goku feels very anecdotal and reflective to me, on both Toriyama and Toyotarou's part. Just because you've achieved great success doesn't mean your foundations aren't important. Just because you've been lucky doesn't discredit your hard work and determination. Just because you're highly skilled doesn't mean you're above making mistakes or being a team player. Just because you're not what people want or expect you to be doesn't mean you're stupid. Just because you choose kindness and joy where someone else would choose cynicism and spite doesn't mean you're childish or naïve. And being flawed doesn't make you a bad person, it just makes you a person.

It just feels very Real and Relatable, in that sense, and I like it a lot.

[buttercuparry]

I know sometimes most of us are just playing around in the fandom without any insidious reason. Hell sometimes things are just a vision and we all want those visions to see the light of the day, and there truly isn't anything wrong with that! But if a fan of colour is commenting on your post about something that might be a concern of theirs and you know this concern is related to matter of fandom racism, I don't think they are doing so to personally attack you about something. And if it indeed does feel like a criticism and you know you didn't mean your art/post/whatever else to express any sort of discrimination, I think just talking about it simply can help clear things. You don't even need to go into an explanation. It's really that simple.

I know fandom can get heated and hell despite our best attempts, back and forth tangent of discourse happens. But the way the fandom treats fans of colour not just in the asoiaf side of tumblr but everywhere-it's a bit disheartening. You have people mocking a fan of colour in tags of a post and going "all this discourse for lily white starks". Well you all don't really listen or even acknowledge unless fans of colour are loud, do you? And when they do get loud, you all start having problems.

"Lily white starks" was the point of discourse. That's what many of us who are PoCs in the asoiaf fandom have been saying. They are all the most ashiest whites to have ever whited and race bending is cool as fuck but they aren't 90s animal cartoons where you have two cats having kittens and half of the litter has orange fur while the other half has brown fur. But somehow the character whom fanon deems to be "plain" ( never mind the text says the opposite), whose gender identity gets questioned every now and then ( even though in text they specifically state what they identify as), is drawn racially ambiguous while her siblings look like they don't even have a drop of melanin-you bet fans of colour are going to feel a type of way about this. And till now I haven't seen any major discussion regarding this, not even a peep of acknowledgement that it's a bit weird that the fanon trajectory where people shout "let (redacted) character be ugly" and then this (redacted) character and all who look like her is drawn with brown skin. But wait there's more! The "Helen" of asoiaf universe, even though is said to look like this (redacted) character is often argued to have looked nothing alike at all. So you see how all this shit evolved into the discourse under that art post right? Like it's not like this discontent was bred in a vacuum.

Even now when a new fan comes into asoiaf fandom, after a few months around they know what the dead ladies club is. Because it is that discussed and it should be because Grrm is shit like that. But dead ladies club evolved from being a genuine criticism to a championing a kind of womanhood that posits itself as the best of them all. And this mentality continues to this day and the race bending of certain houses comes from that. You have a fandom that dislikes one of the most important characters so much, that every thing they do is considered a devastation. This dislike is based on the fact that she doesn't really fit in with the kind of womanhood that's considered traditional. It has been literally witnessed how this character has changed the fantasy genre's notion of the "chosen one" but you have dudebros crying foul. And thus anything related to her is bashed more than it deserves to be and you have one of her deceased family members being presented as the devil incarnate. The woman this dead man has supposedly wronged is suddenly a woc, and the whole of the kingdom she belonged to is also a representation of poc culture in fanon?? Like do you see how exploitative this is? And then to further drive in the notion of evil, there came the dominant headcanon where one of the most priviledged and bloody houses in the fictional asoiaf universe is made analogous to real world indigenous pocs who are still fighting for their rights in their own country. It cannot get more batshit insane than that.

I genuinely believe that certain characters were initially drawn in darker shades out of a personal artistic vision. But then this got twisted by the fandom at large to suit their supposed intellectual narrative and bnf artists just simply followed the trend never questioning anything and years and years of this practice got cemented as natural and canon. Never was it questioned why a character ( and all who look like her) who is falsely fanonized as violent and ugly is drawn shades darker and why another character of whom we know nothing of but how violently she met her end is also a woc.

The most recent discourse that happened under the post carries a weight of this particular fandom history. I know there's artistic vision to consider which is why I personally try not to criticize an artist on their own post. This is also a fanart, something given to the fandom freely and I am of the opinion that if it cannot be celebrated then it should just be left alone. But what got to me was that how it felt like through the response there was this tone of trying to turn the tables on the fan of colour who commented. Like the sarcastic commentary on how there is an insistence on Valyrians being whitest white...like dude...hello?? Pretty sure this is on grrm and do you really think this person who is actively frustrated at the racist caricature would mind genuine attempt at being inclusive?! Like I have seen you around, I have enjoyed your posts, I think I even saw you under posts which criticized these particular trends while drawing certain Stark siblings, are you really going to pretend you don't know where the comments came from???

There is also the pointing towards how fandom casts all of dorne as poc and I think we have already established that this fandom is shit. Like I won't lie I enjoy my guilty pleasure of looking at Bollywood gifs representing Dorne, and I think there is this headcanony idea that Dorne is based on North Indian hindu hindi speaking culture. But in same post representing a particular house through this Hindu Hindi speaking culture you have the gifmaker using gifs of the Islamic hajj!!! Like ajaldleryjdlsldldlfg the headcanon then is the idea of amalgating brown bodies and meshing them in homogeneity because that's what we are all over the world right? 😂😂😂

Like I understand the frustration and you really got nothing to explain but it's trying to turn the tables for me (including calling a poc racist when they themselves were trying to address a racist issue)

EDIT IMPORTANT:

I am making this post non reblogable because the assumption on the basis of which I made this post was wrong. The person I have been referencing is a artist of colour themselves- so the core idea of the post isn't applicable. However I still don't know or can't wrap my head around how someone got dog piled on for a comment, and got called a racist ( a poc themself), when they have been one of the primary voices who pointed out many of the racist issues in the fandom.

[gremlintooth]

AHHHGH DUDE, IVE FINALLY FOUND YOU ON HERE, YESSSS BRO, YOUR WRITING IS PHENOMENAL, (I'd say I'm the biggest lagwafis enthusiast on the internet, as soon as i read lagwafis, I bought the CD, the collectors edition pill pack white shirt, I have so so so many quotes on my Craig Tucker Shrine from the fic, and if you wanted to know, I've currently managed to read lagwafis 388 times, people believe I know it by heart, get it? "I know you by heart, Tweek" and the agonizing fact I quote lagwafis every day whenever I see a brink of reference infront of me, like let's say yesterday, I was in a store- and I saw a tub of chai latte and I was so close to screaming lagwafis reference inside of the store, I'm also cooking up some fan art (specifically from coming home) so I'll totally tag you when it's out) AHHH I'M GONNA WRITE SO MUCH ON HERE IT MIGHT GO TO THE LIMIT, okay so first, let's talk about the fanfic itself, there are SO many tiny details in this fic that have either made me laugh or cry in agony, which is a good thing, also, the characterization is TOP TIER, a lot of fanfictions tend to fall slightly short on the background characters outside of the pairing that tends to be the main focus. This was a great change, especially in Craig's group and Stan especially, everyone felt so real and totally had obvious quirks from the fandom itself that I LOVED SO MUCH, your writing evokes so much emotion that I somehow managed to feel exactly how everyone felt in a chapter relevant to them.

Let's talk about the character description choices, the way you described Tweek in almost every chapter made my heart ache in the best way possible, you made him sound like a fallen angel, the definition of ethereal, also the fact you decided on giving him that mouth scar with backstory to it is TOP TIER, I have a similar scar on my lip and whenever I see it in the mirror I think of Tweek from this fanfic, let's move on to Craig, the way you wrote his internal monologue and the way his emotions played out made me absolutely soul crushed, this entire fic left a deep pit in my heart, especially how Craig was described, Craig was written so realistically that it actually felt like he was real. He purposely blocked off his emotions to prevent himself from being seen as vulnerable, he struggled with keeping his “I don’t give a shit” personality until it all just exploded and the part that he was so vulnerable with was exposed to the entire school.

Also I see that the lagwafis anniversary is coming up soon!! I usually celebrate it every year when I get the chance to, by doing lagwafis related things and shit, this fanfic deserves way more than just kudos and comments and hits, this fic deserves the damn world and beyond, I even had literal dreams of this fic being one day announced to be an animated movie, and if it ever did I would cry and vomit in the best way ever possible, my life would be so complete if we became moots on here, also, I'm not sure if you have TikTok, but that's where I'm most known to being the lagwafis enthusiast on there, i make a lot of lagwafis related videos, my username is spacecadetcraigz, if you ever see this at some point, just know im so grateful you took your time to read through this.

I literally wish you the best life for now on

Yours truly,

Spacecadetcraig

388 times????? That’s true dedication my friend, you must read it like twice a week? Incredible, I’m so glad you enjoy something I wrote this much. I’m also so glad you love the album by Spiritualised too, it’s such a special album and there’s something so perfect about the title track that I’ve never been able to shake.

I didn’t even realise the anniversary was coming up, thanks for reminding me! It’s so weird to think I started writing that story six years ago. At that time I’d been catching up with South Park and when I first saw the Tweek X Craig episode it was my new favourite thing from the first minute in.

An animated movie would be amazing, Matt and Trey give us the rights pls, free of charge if possible (they’d so try for another billion dollar deal ahahahah)

I’m going to check you out on tiktok and if you do make fanart please tag me! I’d love to see!

[childemug]

Fun Fact About Sekizan !

The lil keychain that Sekizan has on his phone exists in real life! I honestly thought it was some fictional mascot character that Amase-sensei made up but nope. its real! They don't have a specific name but they're usually called ermine keychains

You can just search up オコジョ キーホルダー (okojo keyholder) or オコジョ お土産 (okojo omamori/souvenir) if you wanna google it. Okojo just means ermine.

For the history on them, they're a sort of a pop culture/nostalgia item for schoolgirls in the 90s-00s. You usually see them at souvenir shops (especially ones around temples). The different colors symbolize different wishes or luck that you want.

In the anime only, the ermine keychain doesn't have a specific color. The orb itself is pink but there is no corresponding pink fur which it is supposed to have. Just by the fur color, white would mean the keychain is for happiness. If we are considering the pink orb, it would relate to some kind of love/falling in love charm...

Anyways.

In the manga (the beginning of chapter 74), you can see the charm has dark-colored fur. While the monochrome of the manga doesn't explicitly imply that it is a certain color, it IS a very dark tone. Some of the colors it could be are purple, dark blue, grey, black, or green.

Purple is for Victory

Dark Blue is for Self Confidence and Courage

Grey is for Strong Luck (as in alotta luck)

Black is for Sucess

Green is for Health

I just noticed that the orb on his' is a lighter color than the fur...meaning its most likely the grey one. BUT!

Honestly, any of these could work for him because they all somehow relate to rugby. I'd like to think his mom bought one for him...hehe.

Here's the blog that I got a lot of my information from! But take all of this information with a grain of salt because I am not Japanese and am using solely this one blog as the source of my information!!

Here's also the yahoo shopping site I got the image from.

Just a to ramble a bit but its sooooooooo cute that he has that...bc its something mainly (and maybe only) school GIRLS have...ooogguhghhhhhhhhhhh he's adorable. the gap moe factor is INSANE. He's this big guy but he has a flip phone with a lil ermine keychain that usually girls have UUHRGGGGHHHHHHHH MY PRINCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zapsoda]

zapsoda talks about one song from a musical he hasnt seen for a reaaaaally long time

wishs villain is a tragedy in every way. his song is. bad. (standard for the movie imo) but they way in which it wad bad enraptures me because beyond the writing itself, the performance itself is hollow.

youve heard the cliche, in musicals, characters sing when their emotions are too strong to be conveyed through words. but this guy doesnt seem to be conveying fucking anything.

uhhhhh hes selfish? i think?????? he is so empty and dull and devoid of personality. he just sounds vaguely condescending.

one criticism ive heard a lot is that the (pop) songwriter and producer duo were writing generic marketable pop songs so they would get radio hits like that one track from encanto. and i can fucking see it!!!! the appeal of musicals is how personal the songs are. the appeal of pop music is the opposite! musical songs can be relatable but when they are, its more personal, because they are *always* about very specific situations in stories which can then be applied to the real world.

in the lyrics he talks a lot about what he is? i guessss? (which. cmon guys. show dont tell) but its so fucking vague. does he even mention wishes once???? i thought that was like the whole point of his role in the movie? some shit about wishes? like at that point what is the point of including this song in the movie.

yes, villain songs are typically "i am" songs, but they do far fucking more than just tell you the villains main personality traits, thats something youre supposed to convey through their actions. typically, they are supposed to give you a deeper look into the character!

"poor unfortunate souls" is about how ursula portrays herself as a benevolent do gooder but actually just uses vulnerable people for her own benefit. "be prepared" is about scars evil plot to usurp the throne. "friends on the other side" is about faciliers curse shit.

this song could most accurately be compared to gastons song (is it just called 'gaston'?) but the mob song filled in for what it didnt provide, and "gaston" at least had the decency to be an entertaining and audibly enjoyable experience!

this is none of those. i guess it tells me about the character???? vaguely???? its not entertaining because its boring and repetitive, and it sounds like shit!

whats worse is the villain himself sounds bad. and i checked! chris pine can sing! he was in into the woods! whoever directed him just failed him miserably. i get this very strong impression that the song was not written with him or his character in mind.

back when the movie had just been like. announced. i heard rumors about him being kind of an ableist stereotype of a narcissist and i cannot confirm or deny that (havent seen the movie) based on testimony and what i have observed myself, he doesnt seem to have much of any character, let alone one that is exaggerative or stereotypical. he doesnt even seem to have much of a motive. he just wants whatever is convenient for the plot and does whatever will effectively move the plot along. (from what i fan tell)

for me the tragedy is that he is a disney villain. i love disney villains okay there hasnt been one and a while and he was created to bring that archetype back. hes an evil king! except hes not. hes just some fucking bland empty nobody. and yet the animation in the music video is so lively. its gorgeous. he moves so dramatically, his body language screams personality but his words, his design, and his actions do not.

clearly the people who worked on the movie are extremely skilled in what they do in a vacuum, and yet somehow they came together to make a really lame and boring end product. which i suspect is largely a result of the big faceless execs at the top of it all, wanting to make the safest and most marketable product imaginable. as opposed to, yknow, a work of art.

[melodytaylorauthor]

Everyone wants to be Batman

I had a thought a while ago about Batman and Gotham.

“Everyone wants to be Batman, no one wants to be Gotham.”

The thought felt interesting, but I wasn’t completely sure where to go with it. The thought by itself isn’t complete, there’s no conclusion or point.

Within the Batman universe, it’s been stated that Batman and The Joker need each other, that a criminal like The Joker can’t be an ultimate super villain without an amazing hero to thwart him, and a super hero can’t be a hero without a super-smart, super-evil villain to defeat. I feel like that’s a cute, superficial analysis, though. It’s trying to be smart, it’s a bit clever, and as far as telling a fictional story, it’s very true. But that statement is missing some sort of larger point as far as relating to real life goes. Real-life villains are just assholes, they don’t need heroes to “offset their story,” and real-life heroes are either regular folks doing something that needs doing or people who go into heroing as a job, like the fire fighting or EMT. They don’t need some ultra-villain to give them purpose.

So I put my own observation away until some sort of point could come of it.

I recently read an article that discussed how people — lots of people, average people — are totally willing to jump into a raging flooded river to save a small child, but lots of those same people are unwilling to contribute to government programs to feed that small child when she doesn’t have enough to eat. There’s something about the immediate danger and saving someone from it that’s just — exciting, dare-doing, heroic. People love heroics. They don’t like civic duty and caring for a faceless populace that needs financial support or offering community programs for public playgrounds or health care. In too many people’s minds, saving a drowning child is a no-brainer, but saving a starving child through a government-funded benefit program is bad somehow, or at least something to be thought about and debated and limited. As though a drowning child is obviously there through sheer bad luck, but a starving child must have brought her situation on herself, or is, at the very least, ignorable in a way that a kid in a river is not.

The article made a good point, but I feel like it was only a little deeper into the hero/villain dynamic.

When I read that article, something popped into place for me at a cross-section of all of that. All of the previous ideas leave out one more aspect of the villain/hero dynamic — a victim. A villain isn’t a villain unless they’re hurting someone, or threatening to.

This is where it all gets uncomfortable and weird for me.

Everyone wants to be Batman, no one wants to be Gotham — everyone wants to play hero, but no one wants to be victimized. But in order to have a hero, you have to have a victim. So Batman fetishes naturally include a victim somewhere in the story. You have to want someone to be victimized in order to save them. But no one wants to play the victim role if they can avoid it. Can you blame them? So why would someone who wants to be a real hero WANT someone to be hurt, just so they can be saved? Why not want to prevent the hurt to start?

This is where I start getting into the idea that the police don’t prevent crime, they respond to it. Something I agree with, to a large extent, especially considering my work with animals and my understanding of punishment/reward responses. People generally don’t commit crimes unless they don’t have access to the food/medical care/mental care/education/shelter that they need to get by. Other countries outside the U.S. have shown that access to medical care, mental health care, food, shelter, and other necessities prevents crime a lot more effectively than punishing people for hurting others after the fact.

I get that The Joker is supposed to be crazy — but again, wouldn’t proper access to mental health care help more than epic battles with Batman? Arkham Asylum isn’t exactly portrayed as “mental health care.”

Now, I live nearby a state hospital for the mentally ill and dangerous — the “criminally insane,” if you will — and have several friends who’ve worked there. A lot of the patients there are not fit to be released, proper mental health care or no. I imagine The Joker is supposed to fit in a place like that.

The people that have been hurt by some of the people in that hospital — it breaks my heart. There’s supposed to be patient confidentiality, but looking some of the stories up in newspapers isn’t exactly hard. They’re awful.

In order to be Batman, you have to have those victims. You have to. Who the hell else are you going to save?

That line of thinking has me really turned off by the whole concept of superheroes and villains. It becomes a false dichotomy that leaves out the pain and suffering of the people stuck in the middle.

This is part of the reason I’ve enjoyed the show The Boys so much. Although that premise paints the superheroes as no better than the villains, which presents another story line that I’ve been enjoying. Batman is generally supposed to be a moral, decent guy. But I digress.

I think this sort of thing matters, and matters to me, because as a storyteller, I’m acutely aware of the purpose that stories serve in human society. We tell each other how life is, how it could be, what to look for and care about, how the world works, in stories. We communicate how people should behave, what’s right, what’s good, what’s true; and what’s wrong, what’s deplorable, what hurts. And when a story — especially a popular type of story — misses an important character or point, I find it a little concerning. We create our society with stories. We support and decry the types of society we want or want to be free of by telling stories to each other about how things could be, or how they might be if things go wrong.

There’s a not a lot I can do about it. I can try to tell better stories and do my best to make them stick and not miss important aspects of communities and people. But I assume Batman and The Joker are probably going to stay really popular for a long time.

Hell, even I enjoyed Heath Ledger’s Joker. Just because I know better doesn’t make it not a fun story. And Batman is supposed to be a moral guy. He’s kind of sort of supposed to be an example of how we want to be. How we want to teach others to be. Still, though, there’s that entire other group of characters that represents all of us collectively a whole lot more accurately. The ones Batman stories don’t talk much about. The people whose names we don’t even know.

The victims.

[robbierants]

my thoughts on Alois Trancy

TW: mentions of child/sexual abuse

Alois Trancy, a.k.a Jim Macken, is a very notable character in Black Butler. A lot of people hate him and also a lot love him. I used to hate him due to him being bratty and abusive but then I started seeing the good in him. His personality was so unpredictable that I didn’t bother to understand him. Just a few minutes in Episode 1 and I was like, “Where is my precious Ciel? I demand for the better master and butler pair to come back!” But when I watched Episode 8, I was mind-blown. I felt empathy towards the poor boy. I finally understood him. And then, Claude tap-dancing Faustus ruined it all. (I don’t hate Claude but I mildly dislike him) When Claude crushed my poptart’s head, I had to repeat the scene over and over again. I couldn’t accept he died. After that, I cried a bucket of tears.

Now, most people hate Alois because they think he whines a lot. In contrary to popular belief that men have to be strong, cunning, and independent even in the most difficult circumstances, Alois debunks that belief. He is considered as a whore, needy, and abusive. I personally think that Alois was already mentally ill back then. Stating that everyone should drop dead for throwing a rock at your little brother is not normal for a young child. But Luca managed to keep his older brother sane. When he died, Alois was forced to survive on his own until meeting that old pedo man. These unfortunate events worsen his mental condition.

I also think that “Alois” is just his persona to cope up with his current life. The real “Jim Macken” was compassionate when it comes to his brother and would stop at nothing to ensure their safety. Somehow, the old man transformed him into someone new. Wanting to be stronger and able to cope, Alois left “Jim” behind. But of course, his Jim personality wasn’t truly gone. It would always manifest itself through his fear of the dark and the need for constant assurance he won’t be abandoned.

He is considered as vulgar and scandalous for a fourteen year old kid, often hinting a sexual innuendos. Being SA'd by the Earl, Alois got influenced by him. He only submitted to the Earl because it depended on his survival. He had no other choice.

He is messed up, yes, but he only wanted some love. You would probably say, “He has no right to act abusive and bratty despite his awful past. Ciel had an awful past too but he didn’t turn out to be like this.” Ciel’s parents taught him good things before they died. Perhaps Alois never got the chance to be taught because they died early. In the end, Alois never had the love he deserved. He had to die just for Claude to acknowledge him. I mean, Ciel still has his relatives but Alois absolutely had no one. The only person who understood him (Luca) died before his eyes. He was deceived throughout Season 2 just for the sake of spicing his soul up. He only wanted to make a contract with Claude because he’s had enough of the torture being laid upon him.

Alois is the only anime character that I could ever relate to (I also suffered from Being SA'd by people I depended on) He is one of the most realistic characters I’ve seen and I’ll always love him.

[mestos]

CoAi moments in DetCo games (part two)

cont from my last post

This time the game I'm going to be covering is The Great Deduction of Three People. In this game you can actually play as Ai! Conan takes a more supporting role while the main case is deducted by Haibara. Unfortunately she doesn't have a sprite in this one (takes a narrator vn approach) but like the other game, there is full voice acting, animated sprites provided by TMS.

worth noting that this game takes place before haibara's development with the detective boys. so she's still cold, standoffish a little and ayumi still refers to her as "haibara-san".

since this is basically Haibara Chapter i'll do extremely brief context summaries per moment since the japanese for the case itself is too complicated for me to understand lol

For Context, the detective boys + hakase go to a glass case model exhibit recreating what edo period architecture and life. theyre at edo town museum, where there is a robbery that had taken place.

the opening cutscene is a cute cutscene—the DB all ride conan's skateboard with him but crash except haibara who was just walking lol. she is the POV you play as. the banter between coai immediately starts with their iconic snark to snark behaviour.

as they go in and observe the exhibits, conan asks her for her opinion

after the case figures are introduced, the kids get to see a glimpse of a super secret exhibit briefly—a scroll. haibara feels strange about it.

conan's voice here is really soft (and concerned).

the burglary happens, and haibara is the only one to notice the changes. seemingly there is nothing wrong with the case, but she has a feeling the real and the fake have been swapped. she freaks out a little, thinking it's related to the b.o

the reason that haibara investigates on her own is because she thinks the B.O have a possibility of being involved (since the case involves some wine references LOL). she seperates from the group to ask the case figures a few questions.

she later notices conan is gone heh. but she decides to press forward, and overhears a conversation between two men. but stuff go south when she's noticed, and guess who saves the his wife?

he saves her from being shot and the criminals run away. they go after them, but a series of events happen and the lose the perp. the dude above gets run over and they have to send him to hospital, but in the event he drops the scroll that was stolen earlier. haibara deciphers the scroll, and it leads her to some place, but its just 1 lead. she wants to go investigate it on her own, but the gang find out and insist on tagging along.

conan and ai very sweetly have this exchange

despite his sprite, his voice is actually so sweet. slightly hushed, gentle and reassuring. it's enough to make haibara cave.

conan helps haibara decipher the map by attaching a modern day map, revealing some clues related to the four asian mythological creatures. genta makes a comparison to food and somehow that sticks because the gang literally just start going on a food tour (its because the locations on the map point to, literally, food stores). conan even lets haibara decide where they go.

"oi haibara, you decide where we go."

the player is actually who decides where they go.

they go to ningyo yaki (a type of wagashi, and it has sponge cake texture with red bean filling).

genta: "ooooo, delicious. i can eat so many bro"

monjayaki:

haibara: "so this is monjayaki... this is the first time i've ever had it"

doujo yaki

genta: "oooh, it's here! let's eat!"

ayumi gets nervous about being served live food, and u can choose to make haibara freak her out here or console her. the LP chose freak her out, and she insists conan eats her share LOL

after all 3 visits you have the option to go back to one of the places. in the background of the monjayaki stop, you can actually see shiratori and sato in the background, which the kids choose to talk to them on while they eat their fourth meal of the day LOL they absolutely get No information other than the fact that they disrupted their lunch but it advances the plot

they do some investigating for three more places. theres a festival, with some suspicious ass looking dudes, and you can choose to just run (and investigate elsewhere) or ignore them. ignoring them advances the plot

anyway a few more shenanigans happens until haibara figures out the map and what the symbols mean (GO QUEEN!!!!!). at some point she gets a gun to her head by the perp (AND IS CRAZY CHILL ABOUT IT) but then conan, genta and mitsuhiko save her lol

they do some more investigating which eventually leads them to a warehouse

"WHOA, IT REALLY WAS THERE!!!!"

after conan gives haibara some context (there has been some robberies in the area), a bunch of steel planks start falling

no one gets hurt, and this is actually the moment haibara says her theory.

if you get it wrong, the culprit gets away. haibara's voice is quiet, almost disappointed in herself, and conan gently says it seems like your deduction was wrong, in a very forgiving and sweet way as if to console her lol. and then you can try again

they use the crane to catch the perp. sato and shiratori and take him away, and alls well ends well. conan and ai have this exchange

despite his sprite, his voice is pretty serious here. worried. concerned <3

since i cant add anymore images, haibara responds with

"well, i can't tell you that if i dont have obvious concrete proof" "especially in front of mr-rushing-headfirst-into-danger...." "eh?"

conan tells haibara that he didn't find anything related to the B.O about the perp that just got arrested, and haibara says she expected that. to add, he sweetly says this

haibara: "wow, coming from mr great detective, that's high praise" haibara: "well, if you ever come across a case you can't solve, you can always consult me" conan: "heh, i wasn't complimenting you that far."

the closing cutscene is sato taking the kids out for dinner, and then calling takagi to help her pay for the amount of food these kids ordered LMFAO

but conan and ai have one final exchange during it

(while takagi is mourning his wallet)

haibara: "well, the cold reality of adult circumstances" conan: (chuckle) "as always, cool and collected. by the way, what was up with you today? you didn't seem yourself." haibara: "hmm? what do you mean, i was the same as usual." conan: "where? you were oddly overbearing and nosy today." haibara: "really? then i must have caught it from a certain someone." conan: "huh? and who is this certain someone?" haibara: "who knows? why don't you think about it and figure it out, mr great detective?" conan: "huh?"

ANYWAY FOR MY CLOSING THOUGHTS

seeing someone haibara solve the mystery and lead conan along is the roleswap au that i need. and this is, in its own way, canon!

[wondrousmay]

I’ll be honest: when BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! was announced, I was skeptical. I wondered what story they could tell with MyGO that they haven’t done with the other 7 bands. I had low expectations with the story and the characters. I’m glad to be proven wrong.

It’s MyGO!!!!! surpassed my expectations with its storytelling. The story itself is grounded and well-paced but the highlight for me is the character-writing. It is not afraid to show the messiness of people’s emotions and how breakups of friendships/bands don’t resolve easily. There’s always someone hurting and someone moving on. The characters of MyGO all have flaws and personal issues. This is not new to Bandori but I really liked how the anime took its time to show how these characters are lost and struggling to deal with their emotions.

Tomori is my favourite character. I was drawn to her from the beginning and I love her even more as the story progresses. Her struggles with expressing her feelings are relatable. Seeing her move forward despite everything is really admirable.

The episodes that are focused on Tomori are my favorites. Ep3 and ep10 are contenders for the best eps of the year. Seeing the world through Tomori’s eyes and how her lyrics/song managed to pull everyone together again was really emotional.

Anon unintentionally being involved with ex-CRYCHiC drama is kinda funny in hindsight. She just wanted to start a band to be popular but somehow got involved in a messy situation lol. I like her relationship with Tomori and how they both helped each other.

Soyo is the character that surprised me the most. I didn’t know what to think of her prim and proper attitude and how she always seems to be the peacemaker. It wasn’t until MyGO’s performance of Haruhikage that Soyo’s real feelings were revealed.

I applaud the writers for taking this path with Soyo. She’s such a fascinating character bc of her flaws and how she clings to the memories of CRYCHiC to the point of hurting other people. That’s why her relationship with Anon intrigues me so much. They both have facades that they put on when interacting with other people. However, with MyGO, their masks are off and they’re slowly accepting themselves. It’s such an interesting dynamic and I’d love to see how it’ll develop!

Taki is also a wonderful character. Her attachment to Tomori fascinates me. The story hasn’t delved into Taki’s backstory yet so I’m curious to know why Tomori is special to her. Taki isn’t given enough credit for being the composer for the band. She deserves all the love!

Raana gets the least character focus out of all the MyGO members but that’s okay. It’s nice to have someone without much baggage to balance things out in the band lol. I love her cat-like behavior and her love of matcha though!

I could honestly go on and on about the different relationship dynamics in MyGO: Anon/Taki, Soyo/Tomori, Soyo/Taki, etc. They’re all so interesting and well-written! And I haven’t even gotten to Ave Mujica yet! I think that’ll be another post haha.

Anyway, I loved the cameos and references with other Bandori characters/events. It’s done in a subtle way that doesn’t take away attention from MyGO and they’re a nice treat for older fans. New fans can definitely enjoy the story to the fullest!

While tone of the story is darker than the previous Bandori anime, it doesn’t mean that things are doom and gloom. The story really emphasizes the complexity of being human.

I’ll end the post here for now. MyGO is off to a great start!

9/10

[universalcovers]

“I’m more interested in looking for something transitory than in producing a conclusion.”

Pierre Huyghe

“I’m interested in contingency,” the French artist Pierre Huyghe has said. “Of what is not predictable. Of what is unknown. I think that has somehow been a core of my work.”1 Pursuing interests in contingency and unpredictability, Huyghe creates art forms that incorporate living organisms, such as dogs, turtles, spiders, peacocks, ants, and bees. Over the course of an exhibition, his living works of art grow, decay, and die. Huyghe said, “They are not made for us. They are not made to be looked at. They exist in themselves.”2

Throughout his career, Huyghe has experimented with many mediums and technologies, including film, sculpture, photography, music, and living ecosystems. At the outset of his career, Huyghe collaborated with artists whose work explored human relations and their social context; to describe their interests, the curator and art critic Nicolas Bourriaud coined the term Relational Aesthetics. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Huyghe’s works often reenacted notable artworks or popular footage from mass media. In Silence Score (English Version), a musical notation of John Cage’s pivotal composition 4'33", he created a readable score for the silent piece using a computer algorithm.

In 1997, with artists Charles de Meaux, Philippe Parreno, and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster and curators Xavier Douroux and Franck Gautherot, Huyghe cofounded a film production company called Anna Sanders Films. They named the company after a fictional character first developed in a magazine released in 1997. Blanche-Neige Lucie, the company’s first film, stars Lucie Doléne, the voice actor who dubbed the Disney character Snow White in French, and who won a lawsuit against the Walt Disney Corporation for the rights to the reproduction of her voice. The film features Doléne humming the melody of “Someday My Prince Will Come” in an empty film studio, facing the camera, while her story is told through the subtitles. The work explores how a voice can be used to create a character, and who then owns that product.

The Host and The Cloud fuses scripted action and improvised narratives generated by the actors. The yearlong project records theatrical events that took place in an abandoned museum in Paris on three holidays: the Day of the Dead, Valentine’s Day, and May Day. In a variety of fictional settings, 15 actors clad in LED masks perform alongside puppets and animation. These spontaneous elements reflect Huyghe’s interest in contingency and adding dynamic layers to his storylines.

Originally created for Documenta 13 in 2012, Huyghe’s Untilled (Liegender Frauenakt) is a reclining female nude whose head is covered by a live beehive. The work was part of an entire ecological system the artist created in a composting area in Karlsaue Park in Kassel, Germany. In a video Huyghe filmed during the exhibition, his camera captured a wide range of beings at different scales, including minute species that are barely visible to the naked eye. Huyghe aims to “intensify the presence of things, to find its own particular presentation, its own appearance and its own life, rather than subjecting it to pre-established models.”3 With interest in “the transitory state, in the in-between,” his complex worlds blur the boundaries between the natural and the artificial, the physical and the virtual, and the real and the fictional.4 In 2015 and again in 2023, the statue found itself in MoMA’s Sculpture Garden, placed in a new context and in conversation with other works of art. During the summer, the bees travel in and out of the garden to pollinate and build their hive.

Huyghe’s artistic practice reflects his belief that life is in constant flux, and that all beings exist beyond the perceivable realm of human senses and knowledge. By engaging with unconventional materials and technologies, he provides us with a way to see, feel, and experience the wild, untilled world we are living in.

Source: MoMA / Pic: YBCA

[mozillavulpix]

explaining more fate lore because I find it really fun to summarise for some reason

on, what is the Pruning Theoretical Phenomenon and how this relates to why Miyamoto Musashi is an anime girl

(from my best guesses, i am not an expert)

So in the world of Fate, the multiverse is a thing. There are a basically infinite number of alternate universes existing simultaneously, with differences ranging from "something happened thousands of years ago that completely changed how the rules of magic and physics operate in the world" to "what if Shirou decided to walk Sakura home one day instead of letting Taiga do it", which you'd think wouldn't change much but you'd be very surprised. These alternate universes can be observed and even manipulated as a source of magical energy using something called the Second Magic by this old German dude (I think he's German) named Zeltretch, who is immortal and I think a vampire but let's not get into the vampire lore that gets even more complicated and it's not important-

Well, there's just one caveat. There are an infinite number of alternate universes, as long as those universes have humanity and a human society that's evolving.

See, another thing about the world of Fate is the Earth itself is alive and has a will of its own. And one of the things it wills is "even though I created humans, I also just really want them to leave". To be specific, it wants humanity to evolve to a stage where it doesn't need Earth anymore and takes off to the stars.

The way it does that is by isolating the universes where humanity has stopped evolving from the rest of the multiverse. I'm actually not 100% sure if that means they flat-out stop existing, but either way they're no longer able to be observed and are essentially 'pruned' away from the rest of the world. And that's the Pruning Theoretical Phenomenon.

Now the interesting thing about the requirement that "humanity needs to be evolving" is that a world can end up needing to be pruned for multiple reasons. Obviously if humanity is wiped out, it's one example, but this requirement can also apply to both dystopias and utopias. Because if humans live in a utopia, they have no incentive to change society in any meaningful way. Whereas obviously dystopias people are too busy with trying to survive to make any real progress with society as a whole.

So, how does girl Musashi tie into this? Well, she's from a world that was pruned. We don't know why her world needed to be pruned, but it was, and she somehow gained the ability to survive its destruction by being able to travel between universes. But because she's from a world that the...world itself doesn't want mixing with its chosen timelines, it will periodically and without any warning eject her from that timeline and throw her someplace else. That's basically how she ended up in Samurai Remnant.

From here we get onto Fate/Grand Order spoilers:

I'm not 100% certain, but I think FGO implies in fact that the reason Musashi even survived the destruction of her universe and gained this multiverse-hopping ability is because the world just really needed somebody who had the ability to cut the concept of 'Nothingness'. The real Miyamoto Musashi wrote teachings about it and how he strived towards it, but he I guess probably didn't get to it in our history. So it's like the world plucked out another Miyamoto Musashi who was destined to be destroyed anyway and threw them into a nonstop training session over multiple universes until they gained the experience to be able to do it.

And then when they were ready, they threw Musashi into the Olympus Lostbelt so she could be there to stop Chaos from emerging and destroying everything because she's physically the only person in the universe with the ability to cut Chaos. Because Chaos is the Void, which is Nothingness, and it probably makes more sense in Japanese because it's like kanji or something.

And that's all it needed Musashi for so she gets erased from existence once her role is complete.

At least, that's what I think it was trying to say.