#i'm pretty sure there is more source material posting just what i had at hand

[cienie-isengardu]

Adi Gallia: Human vs Near-Human source material

Because lore can't agree on this matter, so here examples of tie-in source material.

Star Wars Episode I - Visual Dictionary (1999)

Tholoth headdress

The New Essential Guide to Characters (2002)

"Though she looked young, the near-human Adi Gallia was a member of the Jedi Council for more than a decade prior to the Battle of Naboo [...]"

Star Wars Fact Files #122, 2004

Species: Human

"Adi Gallia was Corellian by birth [...]"

Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (2008)

"A beautiful brown-skinned Jedi Master […] born to Corellian parents who were diplomats on Coruscant. [....] Adi Gallia chose to dress in the plain brown robes of a Jedi, but wore a Tholoth headdress."

Star Wars - The Clone Wars - Character Encyclopedia (2010)

Species: Tholothian

Ultimate Star Wars New Edition (2019)

Species: Tholothian

Star Wars Character Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition (2021)

Species: Tholothian

[2toplibrary]

Hello! I was thinking of trying my hand at writing todobaku and I figured I’d ask for any advice you have on the subject!

I want to make something I can be proud of and know could happen in canon. Have a great day!

I suggest to go back always to the source material to make sure that you get the character voices and dynamics feel faithful to canon.

I think a lot of people do base their character "voices" on reading a lot of fanfic and end up with a pretty distorted view of the characters' relationships, ways of emoting and generally their tone.

I also feel like in the past years, this ship has taken on a certain entrenched dynamic and tropes that have become kind of stale. If you read older TDBK/BKTD fics, the dynamic had more of a chaotic, equal energy, with good banter, fights, etc.

Lately, 80% of fics I see have the "Bakugou calls Todoroki princess" tag that comes with a certain vibe too, usually. It feels almost as if fanfic authors are afraid that if they are not using this fanon trope, their fics won't be read. I personally feel though that it's not something that needs to be forced into every fic, and I'm always happy to see someone come and bring a fresh take.

So the best advice I can give you, is to go back to the scenes that made you like TDBK, and try to capture the energy or vibe that made this pairing appealing to you. Don't try to imitate popular ships - but just go with the flow that feels natural to you.

I think for Shoto, the trick is to keep in mind his design - everything always have two sides. For every "soft" Shouto, there is always a feral one. He's dumb, but also very wise. He's kind, but can be incredibly petty. Trying to balance his different qualities is what makes his writing good.

For Katsuki, you always need to be aware which part of his "growth curve" he's on. 1-year Katsuki is drastically different from 3rd year Katsuki, and will be again different from adult Katsuki. He matures, but I imagine he keeps a part of his tsundere, bombastic personality. The edges don't go away fully, but they change. I think Katsuki at any age will use a lot of F-words, but post-PLF war Katsuki won't call his classmates "extras" anymore. These are the type of things I'd keep in mind writing him.

[gothhabiba]

hello! i am a longtime huge admirer of your clothing/fashion sense, as well as a longtime backreader of your #victorian and #goth tags. i am really interested in what you've written about Victorian dress, and i am looking to get more into 19th and 20th century clothing for gender + diy craft reasons. i'm so sorry if you've answered similar questions before, but do you have any tips for where a newbie should start researching? either way, thank you thank you, your blog opens my mind wide and brings me much joy and reflection!

General research:

Spend some time searching the 'net, museum websites, and archive sites for fashion plates (such as archive.org—link leads to a date-restricted query for "fashion"—or the Smithsonian—link leads to fashion plates in their image collection). Take note of what you like, as well as which styles correspond to which decade. Karolina Żebrowska has a good rundown of English fashion over the decades.

The undergarments are what does the most work creating the necessary silhouette to make Victorian & Edwardian womenswear fit properly. If you've figured out a decade you want your outfit to draw on, doing a quick search for "[decade] undergarments" should bring up plenty of blog posts, which may or may not cite primary sources (such is the fickle nature of the historical blogosphere). Bustle pads and sleeve supports can be purchased or made; they're both pretty simple, and tutorials abound.

Purchasing clothing:

Reproduction made-to-measure clothing can be readily found on etsy, but can be in the several-hundred USD range. I've had some luck finding vintage reproduction clothing (like, a skirt someone made by hand in the 1980s to a 1900s walking skirt pattern), which tends to be much cheaper.

Men, women, and children wore stays and corsets. As far as I know, Orchard Corset has the cheapest OTR corsets that are good quality and safe to wear. If you get a corset in the style of a specific decade handmade or made to measure, make sure that the seller tells you what the boning material is, what construction the boning is (spiral steel is sturdiest and most flexible), how many bones there are, what the corset material is, &c.—otherwise it's an indication of an unserious maker. Follow general advice for wearing corsets at a waist reduction (lace up slowly, break it in, &c.).

Antique Menswear on youtube gives a lot of good, practical advice for wearing late 19th-century and early 20th-century men's clothing (including where to buy reproductions and how to treat them, how to modify modern shirts to 19th-century standards with basically no sewing skills, &c.).

Actual antique clothing can be found and purchased online or at estate sales—usually in very small sizes, but I've seen Edwardian skirts and petticoats in an XL (also a small size, but...). You can also just simply browse this kind of thing for inspiration and save photos of anything you think you'd like to recreate.

Even clothing that was not "meant" to be worn by re-enactors can be clearly historically influenced (e.g. the huge boom in Victorian- and Edwardian- style blouses in the 1980s), so keep an open mind when shopping for vintage clothing! A lot of 1970s dresses that look "hippy" on their own can look very Victorian with the right undergarments and an updo. A lot of 1980s men's trousers also approach the right silhouette for the 1910s-inspired three-piece suit I'm trying to put together. Witness also the recent trend for big puffed sleeves!

Making or modifying clothing:

Victorian and Edwardian manuals for garment drafting and sewing can be found online—go to archive.org and search for "sewing," "drafting," or "dressmaking," then use the filters on the left to chuse which year(s) you want to see results from. Most of these have patterns that are sort of vibes-based: The work-woman's guide is one manual that claims to have patterns laid out strictly according to a grid.

I don't sew garments, but if Victorian pattern-writing for sewing is anything like it is for knitting, that may not be super useful. People do sell updates and graded 'translations' of antique patterns (which tend to be written in only one size) on etsy and ebay—just make sure from the description that it's 'deciphered' and translated rather than a scan of the original pattern!

One of the easiest things that you can do to add some Victorian or Goth flair to an otherwise plain-looking garment is to add trim. You can knit, crochet, or tat your own trim from Victorian lace-making patterns; purchase antique trim from resale sites; or buy braided or lace trim very cheaply at any craft store. Trim doesn't just have to go around the hems and cuffs of a garment: lace "insertions" between two pieces of fabric, as well as raised geometric patterns over the surface of a garment, are common in 19th-century clothing.

[ID: first image shows a black overdress showing lace insertions between strips of fabric of equal width, creating a striped effect. second image is the back of a black blouse with trim in a geometric design centred around right angles and parallel lines. end ID]

Jewellery (women's and men's):

Actual antique jewellery (including men's jewellery and fastenings) is not as expensive as you might think. Even if you're not willing to spend a lot of time learning what to look for and scouring estate sales for people who don't know or care what they have, late Victorian mass-manufactured costume jewellery often goes for sub-$50 or even $30 prices at auction on ebay (USD, in the US—in my experience it is even more plentiful and cheaper in the UK).

Specifically, I've lucked out with lots ("lot" as in, a bunch of small things being sold together) of "vintage men's accessories" going for $20 or so that contained Victorian cufflinks (in low-karat gold, mother-of-pearl, and jet), collar studs (in low-karat gold and base metals), and shirt studs (in low-karat gold, with garnets and seed pearls, &c.). Searching for lots of accessories is generally a good idea since by and large people do not know what these things are... but if you're willing to spend a little more for something that has been identified and is more likely to still be with its set, use the specific search term for that item (e.g. "antique collar studs").

Answers to Questions About Old Jewelry (though aimed at estate sellers and, if memory serves, full of regrettable pæans to Queen Victoria) is a good reference text to dating antique jewellery. I also recommend Miller's Illustrated Guide to Jewelry Appraising. Both of these texts are available on libgen.

Feel free to ask me follow-up questions if you want more detail on any of these points. As you can see I am perfectly happy to blather away on this topic

[aceouttatime]

26 29 45 50 for your Shep!

paine! thanks for the ask!!! <33

26. Does Shepard have a Twitter account?

-> Whatever the galactic version of Twitter is, Shepard probably has one. While he genuinely doesn't have much time for it, he thinks it's important to stay up to date on galactic issues. Granted, when he does have free time he doesn't want to have to deal with petty, online issues when he's actually out there doing things about the state of things, so it's a delicate balance.

I'm sure he gets told by all kinds of sources, news or otherwise, what to post, so he's got an official account that's partially managed by a team on the Citadel that corresponds with him when he's on duty. He may have multiple important people in the Alliance muted in his DMs.

Shep keeps it professional, mostly commenting on the state of the galaxy or what other important political figures put out. But that's absolutely not to say his omnitool isn't full of memories of the crew on shore leave, and cute pictures he snuck of Garrus asleep next to him, and videos from That One Time Everyone Had Their Asses Handed To Them playing poker against Cortez and Vega.

He'd be one of those people that would gravitate more towards facebook/instagram to keep up with the lives of close friends, if he was living a civilian life, but as it is, Space Twitter is accessible and easy to put away when he needs to.

29. Does the alliance use their image for propaganda/recruitment? Did they agree to/want it?

-> This is very much in the same vein as the social media thing. The Alliance has made a figurehead out of Shepard, boosting their influence, funding, and numbers, often by cherrypicking things he's said on tape as part of whatever their current pro-Alliance propaganda is and riding off of the success of his bravery during service and induction into the Spectres. They made him their hero, their golden boy, and then discarded his autonomy in the matter when he no longer fit with that image (see: Cerberus, claims of a Reaper invasion, Arrival DLC).

Shepard himself has very little say over the matter; he'd practically signed his life away to the Alliance after the raids on Mindoir, back when he was a traumatized teenager latching on to anything stable. Even during his training and service, he disliked the media attention wrought by important events like graduation ceremonies, ballroom dinner parties, and political events, most of which were not all that optional. He felt out of place--he wasn't a politician, he was a soldier, and for a long time, he floundered during things like that, not having ever needed to learn those sorts of intricacies. So he continued being unabashedly straightforward and saw much of the socio-political nonsense for what it was: a game he had no place in.

By the era of the trilogy, Shepard held a deep dislike for the way his image was warped to further ideals that were not his own. But they fell in line with what the Alliance needed, what the Council expected, and what kept the suits of the galaxy placated.

So he tries to let his actions speak for themselves because it is too late to reverse the distortion of his public image.

45. Do they vote?

-> Yes! Shepard casts his vote in at least the most important/largest issues affecting Council and Alliance space. He's technically a citizen of Mindoir (a colony of the United North American States--economically pretty reliant on, and thus fairly politically controlled by, them), but he also has citizenship on the Citadel itself, which functions a little differently than how human citizenships typically work, most notably in the taxation and legal departments (but I won't get into that just now). (I talk politics a little here--if that bothers you, please feel free to skip to the end of the blue section <3)

Politically speaking, Shep values more socialist internal policies like accessible healthcare, a well-funded and standardized education system, and workers' rights. He believes that the material, economic, and societal profit of a governmental system should primarily benefit and be controlled by the means of production: the everyday people that keep the system running.

He also has strong opinions on the rights of individual colonies, states, and nations, as he values national identity and the preservation of culture, natural resources, and history. While he sees the benefit in a centralized government for both each specie and the galaxy as a whole, he believes that the systems put in place before the shift towards interconnectedness should not be written off as arbitrary, outdated, or inefficient. There is a balance that must be struck between overarching governmental systems and lower ones, and that balance will be different for different peoples, whether due to biology, psychology, economics, history, culture, etc. He believes that a higher government's main duty is to defend the people and systems beneath it in a way that respects their freedoms, and therefore puts a lot of importance in national defense (as a victim of terrorism, a career-long Alliance soldier, and a man who pays close mind to the turbulent state of the galaxy in places beyond Council jurisdiction, like the Terminus systems).

Socially, his opinion is left-leaning, though he has some opinions that do not fit within the mainstream ideology. Shepard is a proponent of equality as a concept: racial, gender, sexual, etc., and equity where equality does not suffice. He puts value in individual freedoms like bodily autonomy, marriage rights, protections for minors, the right to carry, voting rights, minority rights, and privacy protections.

50. What was the last thing (non-email) Shepard read? Book, play, poem, essay etc

-> The most recent undertaking is, Vuigaris Ro'tana Dime (Folk Devils), a collective biography of a number of non-asari biotics that explores the stigma, state of infrastructure, medical issues, military training, and psychology regarding biotics and being biotic in different species and cultures. Some of the highlights are the experiences of a retired turian Cabal officer, a woman who worked on the development team for multiple L-series implants, and a salarian diplomat who faced political fallout after developing late-onset biotics.

[dearweirdme]

https://www.tumblr.com/dearweirdme/750934620143583232/im-not-sure-if-i-would-take-his-lack-of-reaction?source=share

Overall, I tend to believe that Bangtan could've pushed the "normal people" narrative a little more, but they never tried to do it, on the contrary, they all fed some level of delusions among their fans (either by feeding y/n, best friends, saying that they didnt need gf because they had army..) and played the parasocial rs card pretty well. But I also think that, although this toxic rs that they helped to create exists, part of it is armys believing and following everything they say, so if he asked people to not harass his gf, armys would also try to protect her even if some people would still bully her.

I think part of the bullying now is those that think she's using him for clout and is just a crazy person looking for attention. If he confirm they were dating, I'm pretty sure many would start to see her posts as cute, because they are, if you remove the uncertainty from it. She just shows how much she misses him and the fact that she's staying at his place (considering that this is all true).

And I understand each one of them wanting to keep what they got at all costs, but it's still a choice and every choice entails losing something and priorities.

To the anon saying it's juvenile, for me juvenile is making excuses about your choices. I dont think it's bad that they all chose their careers and I understand their point BUT it's still their choice.

Hi anon!

This is an interesting take. While I agree that members have leaned into it at times (many times probably) I’m of the opinion that fandom itself has a responsibility to recognize that it’s not serious. I have no trouble making that distinction, I think many among us have no trouble making that distinction, but yes.. a huge portion of army probably finds this difficult. From a business perspective, it’s something that’s probably been required from them. Boybands are traditionally marketed as boyfriend material. What is interesting though is that even with boybands that do not lean into this as much (and artists that do publicly date) these para-social relationships still develop. So I don’t know if BTS’s behavior in particular is the cause of the existence of fandom’s feelings of ownership over them or that it is something that just occurs within fandoms in general.

I think a strong factor in why there’s especially harsh reactions about dating in Kpop is how it’s imbedded in the culture. Media reports about it as ‘scandals’ and therefore it’s immediately seen as a negative thing, which is ridiculous when it’s something that has to do with love. It’s also the idea that a fandom’s love should be enough for idols, almost as though they aren’t humble enough when they want love as well. One the one side I think idols not dating in public grants them well needed privacy, but on the other hand it sets them up for undeserved criticism.

I don’t think that it’s a given that army will embrace a member’s partner when an official statement is made. I think a huge part of army will respect it, but I think there will always be parts of fandom that do not know how to behave. Even members themselves aren’t free from extreme hate, their partners will be easy targets for people who want to do harm.

I agree that it’s their choice, I just think it’s way more nuanced than saying it’s because they love their fans/career more than they possibly do a partner.

[moveslikeanape]

i actually don't play disney magic kingdoms myself, it's just not really my type of game, but i've seen some gameplay of it and read a lot of the little dialogue from it online and it's always seemed really charming and cute! so it really is too bad we might never get to see tarzan characters added to it. i do play disney dreamlight valley on the switch, which is sort of a life sim game like animal crossing but with disney/pixar characters all living together, and a lot more of a story to it with quests you get to do for everyone. it's a lot newer and doesn't have nearly as many characters in it, but a recent update added a jungle biome that would've been perfect for tarzan and jane. i know they'll probably never be added, but if they were then they could live together in the treehouse and we could see how tarzan would feel about living in the valley among so many other humans! there would be so many new things that jane could teach him about.

i recently started collecting lorcana cards after seeing one of rapunzel wearing a green dress, which i found really cool because that was what she had in so much of her concept art! i was also pretty excited to be able to get cards from the emperor's new groove, the great mouse detective, treasure planet, and hercules. i bet they could make some beautiful cards for tarzan... but yeah, that copyright issue is incredibly frustrating. some of my favorite movies may be a bit overlooked or underrepresented by disney, but at least they don't have the legal problem that tarzan has. i guess with once upon a studio they must've wanted to really go all out to make sure every single walt disney animation studios feature could be included! i'm grateful they did, because it would've been a huge shame to see tarzan not even allowed into the special 100th anniversary short. the new movie "wish" also has a tribute to past WDAS films during the credits, where gold-colored drawings of characters from each movie appeared across the screen in chronological order. strangely they actually left out a handful of movies including the black cauldron, but they did include tarzan!

also, i'm sure you already knew about this haha, but just the other day i came across an article from a few years ago where several of the people who worked on tarzan were interviewed and talked about the production. and i learned for the first time that it was originally planned as a direct-to-video movie which would stick closer to the source material with tarzan going to england. i'm obviously very glad that that didn't happen and we got the movie we have now instead. -🌟

Sorry, was out of town for the weekend visiting family.

That's fair about Magic Kingdoms not being your type of game. I think the only real reason I play it is because it's something I can play casually and more of less keep up with, with out it taking too much time.

What I've seen of Dreamlight Valley looks like so much fun! And that would be amazing to see Tarzan and Jane in that game. Probably will never happen, but we can dream!

Ooo, I haven't seen that Rapunzel one, will have to look it up. I've always loved the concept art. So insane to think there's actually even Treasure Planet art in them!!!

Sadly we may never get Tarzan in Lorcana, but I found this artist during the Disemeber challenge on instagram, and he's actually done art for Lorcana. Looks like it was just the one card, Chief Bogo (which he's posted if you go though his stuff). May not be official, but at least here's a Christmas themed idea of what could be if they included Tarzan

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adam Bunch (@adam_is_arting)

OMG, I never expected any reference to Tarzan in Wish!! I haven't seen it yet (live in a small town, starting to think we may not even get it in our theatre), but now I'm even more excited to see it!

Oh wow, I actually didn't know that! That's so interesting (definitely so grateful they didn't go that route though). Would have been interesting to see how close Disney would get to the source material… don't know if you've ever read the books, but there's a lot of not so family friendly stuff. Also would have been such a waste, given the quality of D2V animation, would have been such a shame to only get Tarzan & Jane quality animation.

[swampgallows]

You recently reblogged a post of the "waifu bait" twitter post, and mentioned not watching modern anime. I tried looking up anime on your blog and you said you liked Tokyo Godfathers, so I trust your taste lol. Can you recommend some other anime you liked? Preferably movies, but this doesn't really matter.

OMG thats very sweet of you haha. my anime tag is actually "animu" but a lot of it is just aesthetic posts/gifs. i find i still gravitate toward anime from the late 90s - early 00s but not for lack of trying. what i like most about anything animated is the animation itself so i place a higher premium on anime that isn't mostly static intricate paper dolls with mouth flaps or is at least nice to look at. i prefer slice of life over action or mecha/sci-fi in any kind of media, so while i've heard really great things about ghost in the shell, gundam, etc. i've never seen them.

i also have a very low tolerance for most shonen ("h-his power level... it's over 9000!" playground battle tactics) and most sexual tropes/fanservice ("onee-chan let's compare chest sizes!" type shit). it's probably more accurate to say i like some japanese animation rather than "anime", if that makes sense. essentially anything rating fairly low across the weeb-ass-shit scale.

recs under cut cause it got long!!

= movies, in chronological order: obligatory ghibli favorites: my neighbor totoro (1988), kiki's delivery service (1989), only yesterday (1991). only yesterday is a little more obscure than the other two but ghibli films have pretty much a universal seal of approval so i doubt a pitch is necessary. onward!

little nemo: adventures in slumberland (1989): hey does this count as anime? i hope so. one of the pivotal founts of nightmare fuel from my youth (beaten only by brave little toaster, perhaps) this film has eluded seemingly everyone i know in my age group and i'm not sure why. while it's not nearly as inappropriate as its early 20th century source material it may have fallen to scarcity due to its "pg" content, like tobacco use and several frightening scenes, a la the failure of disney's the black cauldron. regardless, the animation is fluid, the songs are cute, the backgrounds are beautifully painted, and there at least a handful of shots that will flash in your mind before bed.

princess arete (2001): hits a lil close to home since it's about a girl named arete trapped in her room and yearning for autonomy, to create things with her hands, and to participate in the outside world. a bit slow paced and quiet but i think it adds to the atmosphere and immersive isolation, and it does pick up near the end a bit.

interstella 5555 (2003): obligatory. more of a feature-length music video than a film but still has a cohesive narrative. hope you like french house!

MIND GAME (2004): my feelings about mind game are fairly similar to my feelings about burning man: grateful i had the experience, but once is enough. i personally don't care for "trippy" stuff, but the animation itself does have some great visuals, switching up different styles and even incorporating live action footage and rotoscoping for an experimental "patchwork" feel. nishi, a down-on-his-luck loser, grapples with purpose and the meaning of life after a handful of near-death experiences, including being swallowed by a whale; anything "biblical" after that is all knowledge-wise. like princess arete, this one's also by studio 4C but is intended for mature audiences (lots of sex. and a rape, as a warning). if you liked tekkonkinkreet (another 4C production) or paprika (satoshi kon), mind game is worth a shot.

---

= series, in chronological order:

oishinbo (1988-92): almost like a shonen, but with gourmet cooking. as part of their cultural division, a japanese newspaper tasks two journalists, yamaoka and kurita, with creating "the ultimate menu" to broaden japanese culinary horizons. yamaoka is the estranged son of a highly venerated food critic and engages in a persistent rivalry with his father to both prove his expertise and to challenge the rigid traditions. kurita is an average working girl of the 80s providing the audience perspective as we learn the elaborate methods of the gourmet cooking world alongside her. nostalgic for its music, setting, and style, this was a big comfort anime for me, though despite its several seasons it never wraps up the story of the manga. also kurita has a unique outfit almost every episode, which is a nice detail. i only found out about it because of @/80sanime!

tenchi muyo + tenchi universe (1992-95): harem anime crossed with a feudal japanese space opera of sorts. i first saw the show on toonami as a kid, and what hooked me instantly were all the different personalities of the girls. if you're familiar with the cartoon the owl house, it's said that eda is HEAVILY inspired in personality, character design, and even voice by one of the main characters, ryoko hakubi, a space pirate hiding out on earth from the galaxy police. mostly comedy with obligatory hot springs and beach episodes, but has spaceship battles and magical sword fights too.

neon genesis evangelion (1995-6) + the end of evangelion (1997): i should not have watched this as a 12 year old. although i think anyone of any age who watches end of evangelion walks away permanently changed. (due to the nature of the series, it is unclear whether the "rebuild of evangelion" films are remakes or sequels, but i personally don't recommend them either way.) if you are somehow not familiar with evangelion: teens pilot giant robots against extraterrestrial threats called "angels". things become... much less about giant robots.

azumanga daioh (2002): this was one of the first series i had ever seen (western or japanese) about girls being friends that wasnt preoccupied with getting boyfriends or being "girly". still has the occasional fanservice tropes, but mostly comedic or quickly over with. since it was adapted from the 4 panel comic strips, it retains a lot of the short-form humor as quick vignettes or gags. not as exaggerated and boisterous as nichijou but similar, and way less insipid than k-on but still has sentimental and cute moments between the girls.

ashita no nadja (2003-4): nadja, an orphaned dancer in london, is on a quest to find her mother. she travels across (mostly) europe with the dandelion troupe, a group of entertainers with their own fraught backstories. she is intent on helping everyone she meets, sometimes to her own detriment, and learns lessons along the way about who she can trust, how a person's past can change them, and that not everything can be fixed with a smile and a song. meanwhile there's a kind of tuxedo mask thing going on between a pair of twin brothers, and nadja struggles with romantic feelings for both of them. overall very much a feelgood "girl cartoon", but i liked the dance sequences, the animation quality, and the evolution of nadja's character. i got to vicariously travel and dance alongside her, and i liked cheering on someone with a good heart working hard to make her dreams come true.

paradise kiss (2005): MAN i should watch this again. reserved overachiever high school student Caroline stumbles into the world of underground fashion and street culture as a model, blowing open the confines of her previously sheltered life. while she finds a home in ParaKiss she also has to confront the dark sides of fame, the fashion industry, and the strain it puts on their relationships. as a fairly introverted raver with model friends i related to a lot of it. also for queer points, george is bisexual and isabella has been praised as positive representation by trans women, especially for a series from the aughts. also WHATTT THE FUCK PATRICK SEITZ VOICES GEORGE IN THE DUB??? OHHH MY GOD okay anyway

the ancient magus bride (mahou tsukai no yome) (2017-2023): stunning animation, and a series i've yet to catch up with purely because i end up crying virtually every episode. it's a bit of a wish fulfillment thing (teenage girl discovers she has special powers and is whisked away from her abusive home life to a medieval fantasy world where she is betrothed to a tender monster-man) but has a lot of great worldbuilding and poignant storylines. it's ghibli-esque in a way but with more of an overarching melancholy and sense of foreboding compared to the average ghibli film. and just to get it out of the way for some inexplicable reason a few of the side characters have HUMONGOUS hungolomghnonoloughongous

---

ive seen quite a bit of anime in my day but these are the ones i actually remember watching and enjoying. like i recently watched all of slayers and most of slayers next, and while it was satisfying in a 90s nostalgia way i wouldnt necessarily recommend it. also there are some very highly acclaimed films and series that i haven't gotten around to yet (full metal alchemist brotherhood, cowboy bebop [I KNOW IM SORRY], the animatrix, etc.) hopefully this is enough to go off of for now!

[gffa]

Not to add onto the whole "why the fuck are you getting so many negative anons lately?" train, but yeah it actually does suck to see you getting those.

I genuinely like your blog and I find your meta analysis super interesting even if I don't necessarily agree with your opinions/takes all the time. But I think that's mostly because I find great personal enjoyment in just seeing how other people interpret a piece of media I love differently from me.

Your posts have genuinely helped me fall even more in love with this fandom and I've actually taken some personal inspiration from you on how to handle these sort of weird/semi-hostile asks with my own blog.

Thanks, anon, I appreciate it. I'll be fair and say that part of why I'm getting more lately is that I'm answering a few of them, when I do that, I get more people continuing to send things, which is how it is for anyone who answers this kind of ask. When I don't have time/emotional reserves for asks or just delete/block them, it doesn't stir as much up--well, usually, sometimes I do get "why didn't you answer my ask??" messages and, like, guys I had THREE SEPARATE CRISES LAST WEEK, I'm only on tumblr to shitpost right now. And that's part of it, too, that I've had a really shitty month+ and so my patience for this is lower than it usually is and I may well have a lot of "fuck you, this is bullshit" undertones that are stirring things up as well. My blog isn't for everyone, but also my blog doesn't have to be all things to everyone who finds it interesting, it's my blog. It's for me. Yeah, I post a lot of stuff that I hope people find useful, I do a lot of resource/reference posts, I do a lot of official art posts, I try to be objective about stuff, etc, but at the end of the day, this isn't my job, I'm not a social media manager running a brand account, I'm not here to sell a product to a paying customer, this is my personal blog. I am one person who has my set of opinions, I'm not here to be all things to everyone. If you disagree with me on something, that's okay! I probably disagree with you right back! We're individual fans who have different opinions on stuff and maybe I'm louder than other people, but I am still just a single fan who wants to talk about what I think of Star Wars. I write posts I'm willing to share with others, I put my opinions out there, I understand the risks involved with that, but I think a few more people could do to understand that I'm not just a corporate employee writing up posts that someone else uses as source material, I am an individual fan writing my own opinions on things. The same goes for a lot of the blogs who are getting negative/semi-hostile anons, they're just a single person on the internet who wants to talk about how they see Star Wars! (I don't want people to worry, I don't classify anyone who disagrees with me as automatically hostile or negative, the posts I answers with good faith responses, I'm pretty sure came from good faith places.  We’re specifically talking about the “do your job” type of asks.) I'm deeply flattered that you're still hanging out even when you disagree sometimes, because that’s my ultimate goal.  Not necessarily to convert people (though, of course I would enjoy it if that happens, I’m only human XD) but to explain where I’m coming from and hopefully get people to understand how I got there, even if they’re not on the same road or going the same place. Fandom gets so much better when you realize not everyone has to agree with you, you don’t need every space to be for you, you don’t need every post to be one that hits your buttons just right.  You just need a handful of people that you’re having fun with and vibe with you, a handful more that can have some engaging, interesting discussions about topics you agree/disagree with when you’re in the right space for it, and a handful of artists/writers making the fic you enjoy.  That’s it, that’s the recipe to a good fandom experience, that you make the stuff that makes you happy and have a handful of people you can trust to talk to about it. If I can be one of those people that occasionally provides commentary you may not agree with, but find to be thoughtful/how I got there, then I will absolutely take that and find it to enrich my fandom experience, too.

[icedmetaltea]

Sorry to bother you but I remember you making a tutorial on how to make your own ai with beta character ai? I can't seem to find it though. I'm I just imagining things?

You're not, I did make one, however...

Honestly?? I wouldn't even bother at this point. Character.ai has had so much drama with the devs being horrible human beings: most likely stealing/selling user data (you want to delete a bot off their website?? Too bad. You can't. Also they took a bunch of bots with high interaction counts and locked the creators out of editing, essentially stealing them from people), not listening to feedback whatsoever (actively making things much worse with every update), implementing a "nsfw" filter that blocks even the most sfw things like hugging or kissing (even with family/platonic characters), has a nasty habit of comparing anything romantic to children ("she looks at you like a daughter looks to her father" like ew what the actual fuck, and this happens literally all the fuckin time so you gotta ask how it made that association hmm), dumbing down the ai in favor of making it "safer" (now characters hardly ever act like their source material, often making up random shit), bots ignoring user input (often going on a tangent describing the environment and ignoring dialogue), bots being stupid in general (forgetting what you said literally 2-3 messages ago and giving horribly lackluster responses), devs shadowbanning people/deleting any posts respectfully calling out their shit to facilitate propaganda in their favor and make it seem like nothing's wrong, and so much more.

Drop it like a newborn giraffe.

Some other options: Pygmalion, which I'm still learning how to use and it ofc isn't going to be as advanced as Character.ai since it's a 6b model while the latter is like 100+b, meaning less data power so responses are less intelligent + slower, BUT it is free, it is open source, and you can get some pretty decent responses if you hold its hand a lot. There are some UIs you can use it through, like forks of TavernAI that give you the ability to use world info and get it to have a better memory, one for group chatting with different characters (tho I haven't tried that), a customized background, and so on. The devs are still working on a site but you can access it right now- I can make a smol tutorial for the basics of that if anyone wants it.

OpenAI is also an option, you can also use it through Tavern and it will give responses akin to if not much better than Character.ai- though you gotta pay. HOWEVER you can get a free trial with $5 to use... and there are ways of using it free after that, but I can't say it here cause if it's too widespread, it'll prolly get patched out, and we don't want that.

How to access Pygmalion - Go here and click this: (when it asks u for permission to access ur google acct, click yes)

It'll take a while to load, maybe like 5 mins or something,

Once you get to this, click the UI links (usually only one will work, use that)

Now, that will take u to the KoboldAI UI. Wanna use Tavern instead? (good choice, gives a lot more customization) Use this link.

Now scroll down till u get here to this drop down menu. Choose Pygmalion 6b or 6b Dev (to be quite honest I'm not sure what the difference is yet). Wait for that to load, and while you're waiting, go here to download the Tavern files:

boom (or some other fork)

Go here and click download ZIP.

Unzip and look for this:

Ignore everything else, just click this. (the file's safe, if windows gives you a warning, ignore it) Now you'll be here (I'm using a different fork so it may look different:)

click the 3 lil lines in the upper right corner to access settings and characters.

Once you've added/edited characters as you like (I suggest looking at the default ones if you're curious about how that works) you can come back over to the google drive and, if it's finished loading, you'll have two url links like before:

Paste one into the API key and click connect. I used the top one but the bottom might only work for you.

There ya go! A bit complicated, but that's a free substitute for character.ai.

If you instead wanna use OpenAi, (assuming you're either paying or using the free trial, or... something else ;), you'd go here on ur openai account page and go down here:

and create a secret key. Copy that and go into the UI of your choice... ima use TavernAI again. Go into settings, change your API to Openai, and paste that API key you just copied into the API link. Voila!

Here's a couple helpful links for further info: https://www.reddit.com/r/PygmalionAI/ (they have a discord, with some really helpful guides)

character creation/writing tips for Pyg

Soft prompts

General tips

I'm still a noob who knows jackshit about coding, so I can't offer much help, BUT I know the basics so ye. Hope this helps!

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

https://at.tumblr.com/justanotherdamnedweeb/why-there-is-so-much-more-to-dazai-angos/7l3meuzki819

What do you think of this take?

Hey, anon! Thanks for the ask.

...I'm going to be perfectly honest with you: I know you probably are just curious because of my latest posts about Ango but I do feel a little uncomfortable with being sent a direct link to someone else's meta when I haven't interacted with this person. Metas can take a long time to write and involve a lot of passion about the source material - I just don't want to give unwarranted thoughts or replies on someone's post who didn't ask for it and potentially dampen that enthusiasm in any way.

Idk, maybe I'm just being weird about it... ugh. You guys can of course continue to send links to other metas and ask for thoughts just... be aware that I may choose not to reply. Okay?

Having said all this, I do have a few things to say about this meta - number one being:

It's definitely worth a read! I thought the idea that the Division covered up the Mimic incident was pretty much implied since any sign of collaboration with the Mafia would've been a huge scandal (I mean, Mimic's presence in Japan was bad enough already) but 55 Minutes confirms it, and I don't think many people have actually read that novel. And yeah, it would definitely have to be Ango who was directly involved in, if not in charge of, the cover up, being so intimately connected to everything that happened. Of course, this has little to do with who ordered it (it certainly would not have been Ango himself).

I will admit, I forgot about the line in Dark Era that tells us Oda's grave was unmarked - it appears my memory was overridden by the anime, so I was glad for the reminder. And putting all this together - yeah, it seems very likely, if not a given, that part of the Mimic clean up involved wiping Oda's records and existence from the public.

Which is. Yeah. Undeniably shitty. And a very valid reason to hate someone if that person who got erased happened to be your best friend.

Ultimately, I think the degree of sympathy that fans of the series feel for Ango really is going to come down to the degree of autonomy you think he has. The more autonomy he has, the less sympathetic he becomes.

I'm personally inclined to think his choices are quite limited. This meta actually makes me think that even more so. Ango, when he first joined the Mafia, had an elaborate cover story that involved hacking and being on the run and then being given a chance to work in the Mafia due to his skills. You'd think this would have him laying low for awhile and watching his moves carefully so as not to draw attention to himself or cause a scene but that's... very much not what happened.

Ango starts off his story making sure the memories of people who lost their lives stayed alive, and ends it by erasing memories of others from existence - including that of a very dear friend of his. That much is stated in the original meta.

However, it's also important to note that the original Mafia reports for the DHC victims were a result of at least some degree of stubborn defiance. Ango put those reports in Mori's hands personally, even though Mori was initially annoyed and never asked for them. He literally risked pissing off the boss of the organization he had just started his undercover mission in. And yet, he didn't bend the rules to preserve the memory of someone he cared deeply for? Or those soldiers who will be forever forgotten and disgraced? Idk if I fully believe that simple compliance explains all of this. It almost seems to me that Ango expressed more of his own opinions and values in the Mafia than he ever did in the Division. That's... weird. At least, it is to me. (I have another meta coming out on Ango's relationship with the Division in which I will elaborate on this a little more.)

Also it's worth reiterating that Dazai was already furious with Ango for the initial betrayal - though I'm sure the cover up just added more salt to the wound. (To be clear, I've said Dazai's hatred is illogical - as in, it's not a reaction the cold-blooded "Demon Prodigy" would have. I never said it wasn't an understandable emotional reaction on Dazai's part (or at least that was not my intent!) - that's why I actually like that continued animosity! Dazai has a strong capacity to be very cruel to others. But this time he's cruel because he's hurt. That's incredibly human of him and it makes their dynamic very compelling to me.)

If the op of this meta sees this and feels annoyed or just doesn't want this here for any reason, I will gladly take this down.

And anon, for what it's worth I hope my response here didn't hurt your feelings either. I really enjoyed getting to read what you sent; it gave me lots to think about! I'm just always a little worried that I'm invading other's boundaries and whatnot. My initial reaction to this was more of an anxiety thing on my part, I'm afraid.

[plothooksinc]

fic writer meme: 2, 3, 9, 25?

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Ahh, nope? Nope, not really. If my brain goes "but what is this idea" I then go and write that idea, so inasmuch as I think in terms of tropes (I don't, usually, I look at my writing after the fact and go "oh this contains tropes A B and C" but I've never sat down to go "Imma write a trope") if I have a desire to write it I've already written it. That being said, that doesn't mean there are tropes I haven't done that I will not do in the future! They'll just kind of happen organically at some point I guess.

3. Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Almost certainly! (Though I wonder if tropes is really the right word for the meme maker, honestly...) Um, I don't find any trope in itself awful gross and off limits, but I'd find more than a few either in my list of "I'm not interested in writing this" or "I am not capable of writing this", and anything even vaguely smut related goes into both categories. There are likely a whole bunch that are not smut related that I also wouldn't write, but I don't have the awareness to know what those might be off the top of my head. (this does not include romance, FYI, I'm quite happy to write that, but I generally only write very specific kinds of that, too, because I'm allergic to anything that gets syrupy).

9. Which fic has been the hardest to write?

Snowblind, without a doubt. "I've got a great idea! Let's take two people who hate each other and ditch them in the middle of the Japanese countryside in winter!" Did I know anything about Japanese countryside, winter, snow and blizzard survival? I'm Australian. Nope. Had I ever written chapters that were 99% description of bitter harsh conditions? Nope. Did I spend hours researching for nearly every paragraph I wrote of chapter 2? Yup. About the only thing I knew was that you could use animal grease to protect your extremities from the cold, and the rest was ferocious research the entire way through, lmao. (Me, a year ago: how...to...survive...an...avalanche...) That being said, Snowblind is also one I'm pretty proud of for the exact same reasons, I had to work for this one.

25. What do you look for in a beta?

Someone who has a good grasp of writing themselves and I know has very similar views to me on the source material. My first fic went un-betaed because I didn't know anyone in fanfiction land, until I hit about chapter 15-ish and developed enough of a rapport with one of my readers that we were talking offline and she agreed to help out. Legacy went unbeta-ed for the most part for the same reasons (new to TMNT fanfiction). I made an exception to the rule for Underdark because I'd gotten like.... 50 pages in before I started posting but I wasn't sure if the story worked, so I asked on LJ if anyone would be willing to help out and got two offers, so I took them both. Sometimes I need a beta before I have the courage to post, ahaha.

When I started writing NRFTW I knew exactly who to go to because we have incredibly similar opinions on TMNT and their characterisation and have known each other and RPed with each other for years, so I just popped on to discord out of the blue and said HEY PI and she said YES GIMME and so I have latched onto @shadowbends for all things TMNT related and she's an excellent writer no matter what she says (I still have a spray bottle, Pi) and has been invaluable on the way through. ♥ So. You know. Find a person you can work with as a partner and go for it.

Thank you for the questions!

Meme for Fic Writers here.

[screechthemighty]

Okay so because I've seen people talking about these books and it seems like there's an influx of new fans/creators into the fandom...hi, this is just my opinion, but here's whether or not I think you should spend your time/money on certain tie-in works for the Norse cycle. Under a cut due to length, and there may be some stuff I've missed, but here's my assessment of the stuff I have consumed!

God of War: The Official Novelization

Pros: There are some nuggets of new information here, some of which are pretty interesting. Alistair Duncan AKA Mimir narrates the audiobook, which is the sole reason I got the audiobook lmao.

Cons: I'm gonna just say it: it's not a good adaptation. Any new info isn't worth sitting through a story that seems to fundamentally misunderstand the source material. I tagged my liveblog posts for it as "screech listens to god of war" if you want to see all my complaining, but there's something that's just...off about it.

Conclusion: If you can get the audiobook for free and you like listening to Mimir talk, may be worth it. But don't pay money for it.

God of War (comic) and God of War: Fallen God

Pros: Some of the dialogue is funny in an inadvertent way. The first God of War comic is a historical document because it was, up until two months ago, the closest thing we had to seeing what Faye looked like IRL and not as a drawing on a wall. Atreus is in the first one and Fallen God has a Hippo Kaiju. So that's cool.

Cons: The first comic is mid at best and Fallen God actively wasted my time by being the same conflict repeated over three issues with one (1) interesting issue to start. They're also basically the same plot (Kratos doesn't want to be a rage monster but life keeps forcing his hand) and Ragnarok explored that concept way better. For real, Fallen God pissed me off so much I actively re-wrote it (the fic now known as "Firestorm"), so that's the level of spite I'm operating at. The first comic just didn't do anything for me besides baffle me as to why Kratos was written Like That.

Conclusion: Save your money and pray they give us better comics one day.

Lore & Legends:

Pros: Okay this one has two really interesting chapters of Atreus journaling before the game and during Fimbulwinter and I actively enjoy both of them. They expand on his viewpoints, his psychic abilities, his relationship with his parents, etc. so those parts were cool. The art is neat, there's a timeline for the events leading up to the game, and it's a good reference material overall.

Cons: The book DOES get repetitive when they start touching on creatures, places, and people from the game. Like it's straight up just lifted game dialogue/codex descriptions. So if you're like me and you've played the game for over 100 hours, then yeah, this part will feel a little superfluous.

Conclusion: Worth buying if you're a hardcore fan and want a solid reference book, but the bad news is I think the physical edition might be out of print. :( There's still ebook copies out there, though!

The Lost Pages of Norse Myth:

Pros: It's a podcast, so it's easily accessible and free. The stories are pretty neat (AND two of them made game-canon status!) and the interviews give you a look at the creative process.

Cons: The interviews make up a majority of the episodes so this is really more for people who are interested in details about the game on its own versus the lore goblins. (Not saying one is more valid than the other, but y'know, keep that in mind going in!)

Conclusion: I mean, it's free, so yeah, worth it.

B is for Boy:

Pros: This is it. This is the best one. It's a better adaptation of the game than the novelization. The art style is cute. Kratos is peak tired pop pops energy. This is still my favorite one.

Cons: I'm pretty sure it's out of print, which hurts my heart.

Conclusion: If you can find a copy you should definitely get it, this is my favorite one and I sincerely hope they make another one.

Art Of Books:

Pros: So much gorgeous art and really interesting looks at the game-making process. Not to mention discarded concepts, while not canon, are basically free real estate for fanfic authors looking to spice things up. (I've only just started the Art of Ragnarök but there's some REALLY neat stuff in the Atreus section towards the beginning that I'm sure someone would have a field day with.)

Cons: Art of books are expensive as heck, and again, this is less for the lore goblins than it is the people interested in how the game was made.

Conclusion: Great for hardcore fans if you can afford it (for real why are art of books so expensive. Will this stop me from buying them, never, but ow my wallet).

[softtransbf]

I posted 1,053 times in 2022

207 posts created (20%)

846 posts reblogged (80%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@rebeccaselfships

@letsgofoletsgo

@gothamcore

@charlies-gf

I tagged 548 of my posts in 2022

Only 48% of my posts had no tags

#otp: confession - 74 posts

#otp: love in bloom - 69 posts

#otp: pretty boys - 55 posts

#otp: my heart - 52 posts

#otp: unforgettable - 52 posts

#otp: don't want to be free - 45 posts

#otp: true desire - 31 posts

#otp: home safe together - 19 posts

#otp: good boys - 17 posts

#otp: love in our hearts - 15 posts

Longest Tag: 125 characters

#but i'll admit it's kinda cute when he comes up and bites my arm when i'm working on new songs and he wants attention -seowoo

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

i want to try to collect data on what sources people self-ship from, but i don't think there's any way to reliably get a data set that's worth anything

there's a really cool data set out there, and i can't really get it.

[crush] is laughing at me (affectionately), because i'm genuinely kinda sad and definitely very pouty about this :(

4 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

#4

that last post reminded me of an f/o i took off my list quite a while ago...

i miss him, but his source material butchered his character and just overall went to shit in so many ways that i can't engage with anything related to it. it makes me so Mad

i wish i could go back and watch the version of him i loved so much without fuckin losing it :(

4 notes - Posted November 25, 2022

#3

"after work" from the 1st prompt list, and "confession" from the 2nd prompt list, w/ whoever you want 😺 - @tedspankoffskiscanonbf

@tedspankoffskiscanonbf <3 tysm!

My Seo-woo tag literally is confession, so I gotta go with him on this one ^_^ (I'll make a separate post for after work)

Word count: 289

Warnings: Assumption of heterosexuality (idk a more concise way to put that)

Now I’ll confess my heart

I can’t hide my feelings anymore

That I like you, that I love you

That you’re my everything

"That was a preview of global superstar Kang Seo-woo's new single, Confession, which is coming out in just three days. Now, we're joined by the man himself for a quick word! Good morning, Seo-woo, how are you feeling, with the release so soon?"

Seo-woo smiled and nodded at the talk show host. "I'm feeling really good. I've worked hard on the song, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I hope my fans will enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed writing it."

The woman returned his smile. "I'm sure they will. And I think I can speak on behalf of all of them when I ask- what was the writing process like? Was there someone in particular on your mind?"

He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck as he shook his head. Of course there was. I’m in love with the most incredible guy in the world, and I wrote this song to tell him that. Every love song I ever write from now on will be about him.

"No, no there wasn't. The melody came first, and it just felt so sweet and light, I knew the lyrics had to be that beautiful innocence of a first-love confession. Not about a specific person at all."

"Millions of girls just breathed a sigh of relief, I'm sure. That's all the time we've got, thank you so much for joining us, Seo-woo!"

"Thanks for having me!" A commercial break was called, and he took a deep breath as he walked back to the green room. I have to tell him.

4 notes - Posted December 2, 2022

#2

Drabblecember: After Work

@tedspankoffskiscanonbf here's "after work"!

tag list: @gothamcore @librarian-lover

Pairing: Quint/Garthy O'Brien

Warnings: alcohol

Word Count: 543

Quint trudged into the bar, one hand massaging his temple. He saw Garthy sitting at their normal table, surrounded by friends old and new alike. Even more than usual, it seemed, and they hadn’t noticed him yet, so he went and got a drink. He couldn’t handle that much socializing sober. Not after the day he had.

After so many months in Leviathan, working at the Gold Gardens no less, he didn’t have to tell the bartender what he wanted; the drink was in his hand the moment he placed the coins on the bar.

He took a seat at the bar, threw the drink back, ordered a double, tipping generously. He drank the second one more slowly, savoring the burn and praying the first drink would hit quickly.

He was about halfway through his drink when he felt familiar arms wrap around his waist from behind and very familiar lips against his ear.

“My, my, darling,” Garthy murmured in the way that never failed to send shivers down Quint’s spine, “you didn’t even stop to say hello? You wound me, my love.” 

Quint moved their arms and scooted over a seat, not looking back at them. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s just been a Day, and I wanted to be in a better mood before joining you.” They sat down next to him and gently took the drink out of his hands.

“I hate to imply you’d be anything less than honest with me; I think this is more an issue of you lying to yourself. Are you sure you thought sitting here alone with your thoughts would put you in a better mood?”

He turned to face them with a soft sigh. “Sometimes I hate how well you know me, you know that?”

They chuckled and started rubbing small circles on his back. “No, darling, you really don’t. Now, you know my philosophy; this is a place where people come to forget their troubles. Talk to me, love. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, really. Just spent the day trying to balance the books from the casino. The crew that came through last week was great for business, but crews that big always make a nightmare of the records, and I can���t figure out a good long-term solution.”

He tried to swallow the tears he could feel forming. “I can’t solve that problem, and studying magic isn’t going well, and it all just feels like I’m not smart enough for any of this and not strong enough to learn how to fight, so what good am I here?” He sobbed, and Garthy pulled him into a tight hug.

“Oh, darling, why didn’t you tell me? Those are all problems we can solve, but right now, do you want to talk about solutions, or do you want to come with me upstairs, and we’ll get you a proper meal and maybe a massage?”

Now fully crying, he held them tighter and whispered into the crook of their neck, “Let’s go upstairs. Thank you, my love.”

They picked him up, pressed a kiss to the top of his head, and carried him up to their penthouse suite, determined to make every trace of self-doubt vanish by the end of the night. “Anything for you, my greatest treasure.”

4 notes - Posted December 2, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

If any of y'all are interested in being on a tag list as i write this month and hopefully more going forward, lmk? 🥺👉👈

6 notes - Posted December 2, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[akwardlyuncool]

Class Favorites: Movie Ranks! (Part 1)

This is a ranking of all the movies I saw for the first time in 2023. Since the writers and actors were on strike for a good chunk of he year, I only did one full length movie review in 2023. I was also a little burnt out from the last few years where I "made" myself write full reviews for almost every new movie I watched, so I took the strike as my okay to for the most partjust consume.

That freedom led me to watching 40+ "new" movies this year and I wanted to just come rank and rant at you for a minute. And thanks to very short mostly 1 lines on Letterboxed I don't have to rack my brain too hard. I will say though before we get too deep into the explainers, just know that a lot of how I ranked these films is based on re-watch-ability, so don't get mad that some of the better made films fell shorter than you'd like.

I decided to break it into 2 parts cause the post would be too long otherwise.

PS: Not in backwards order cause I can't be bothered.

1) Can't Hardly Wait (1998)

Let's wait 4 years to tell the girl you're in love with, that you love her, while the grad party before the rest of your lives takes place.

I know I'm behind on this one, but I made it and we're it's supposed to be lol. Yes, there are movies that I ranked higher than this one because they were probably just better overall movies, however good or decent 90's always shows my bias. But also Ethan Embry 😍. Can't Hardly Wait just fits with all the other classics of it's time and I think that's what ultimately does it justice. Obviously it didn't age great, I'm acknowledging it's faults, but neither did some of its peers and knowing where it came from we're letting that part slide. It is what it is with this one, sorry not sorry.

2) Alabama Moon (2009)

*Based on a book of the same name by Key Watt. Your father doesn't trust the rest of the world, so you learn to not trust it either and now that he's gone you have learn how to survive in the world outside of your woods.

Not 100% but I'm pretty sure this movie made me cry and that's partly why it made it to the top of the list. I'm a sucker for a spunky "family" movie and this one just tugged at me. There were some parts where it was a little silly in the "bad guy" area and I also called the ending "disingenuous" but all that aside, I was here for everything else. I probably liked it more than most but again I'm a sucker for a lot of this ish and it wasn't bad by my standards. It also does a little ACAB, which doesn't hurt lol.

3) Are You There God? It's Me Margaret. (2023)

*Based on a book of the same name by Judy Blume. When changes arise in Margaret's life, she starts talking to God to see if she can find the answers.

I read the book several years ago and had planned to re-read it before watching the movie, but didn't get around to doing that, so I can't remember if it was accurate to the source material or not, so going beyond that, I can say that I liked it. I liked how awkward and coming-of-age it was. I like the questioning and I liked all the prayer for the big and the small, to the silly and the honest. I also really loved the parents relationship, they were just super cute. There was a bit of confusion at the end with my understanding of the conclusions Margaret came to, however setting that aside, it was still rather sweet and would totally recommend to the young and the old.

4) Leap Year (2010)

When another year passes and your boyfriend has not proposed to you, you're obligated to take matters into your own hands and do the proposing yourself. Obviously like all romantic comedies, accidents will happen along the way.

Another one I'm late on, but y'all that was actually rather cute. It's one of those ones where you're not sure in the beginning and then it does the thing and drops the feels and you can't deny the fact that it did what it said it was going to do. It's a 2010 rom-com and I think it did that era justice.

5) A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints (2006)

*Based on an autobiographical book of the same name by Dito Montiel. Dito returns home after his mother's request because his father is sick and relives why he left in the first place. A bunch of kids who don't have much, but are fighting for what little they do have.

I thought this was a very decent movie. It kept me engaged and the acting was good. Now I never want to hear Channing Tatum shout racial and homophobic slurs ever again, but outside of that, for those into raw indie movies I think you'll like this one. It's good outweighs the bad. I'm not sure but I might have also cried a little during this one too. All I know is that it dug a little bit and that was enough for me. This is also one of the lesser known films for this cast, but worth the watch cause they got some strong folks in here and I don't think they'll disappoint you.

6) Runt (2018/2021)

When you're bullied, eventually, sometimes you fight back. TW: For violence, sexual violence and animal abuse.

I had a little moment of Cameron Boyce movies this year and of the few that I saw, Runt was the best one. This was his last movie before his passing and I could for sure see why people liked him so much. Cameron pulls you in and is so likeable. I know Cameron Boyce being in it wasn't enough for everybody, so do with that information what you will. Now beyond Boyce, this movie could have been better and more fleshed out, but I was for sure engaged in what I was watching and that was good enough on my end.

7) Mystery, Alaska (1999)

A small town in Alaska bets it's home town heroes against the New York Rangers.

I've watched the trailer for this movie in front of several VHS tapes for most of my life and because of that it was always on my to-watch list. Several years ago I found a sealed VHS copy and this year I finally unsealed the thing, because #NoSealedTapes. One thing to know about me is that I'm not big on sports unless you put it in a movie and preferably in the family movie era of the 80's, 90's and mid 2000's. So did it live up to the hype? Only once you take away the misogyny and leave the hockey and the underdog tale. Despite it's faults it did alright and plus I saw so much "crap" this year, that I'd take a few 90's misogynistic comments over some of the other, way more offensive things I consumed this year lol.

It also won me over because they were correcting people on not using the slur for Inuit people back before I knew it was even a slur. Like folks been tryin to tell us.

8) A Look Back: Dog Town & Z-Boys (2021)

A short documentary follow-up to the original documentary Dog Town and Z-Boys and it's impact.

This didn't rank higher mainly because it was less than a half an hour long. I love the original documentary and this addition brought attention to some of the things that I wondered about after seeing the full documentary, like the lack of girl skaters that were highlighted, so it just furthered the love. When the people involved also see falls and aren't denying them, I say that's a little stand-up-y and I support it. Now could they have just done better the first time, absolutely, but it is what it is. I also watched this during a re-watch of the Hollywood film which sparked me to watch other little skating docs on YouTube and I just gotta say, man do I love skateboarding culture!

9) Ashby (2015)

Ed Wallis has the high school assignment of interviewing an older person, so he chooses his ex CIA neighbor (didn't know that at the time) and stuff goes down.

I watched this on YouTube one night and it wasn't a waste of time. I gave a lot of 3 stars this year and this one truly was decent. It might have been a little far fetched in some places, but it really tried and I enjoyed it. Also father figures are all around us.

10) Keith (2008)

Popular vs unpopular, smart vs slacker. Rich vs poor. Let's pick on you because we like you. I just want to save you, but I don't know what from. A tale as old as time.

I thought I'd seen this one before, but apparently I hadn't. Well I've seen other iterations of the same story before, but no I had not seen Keith in particular. Yes there are so many other movies that tell the same tale, and came before and after this one, however as long as it makes an attempt at being decent I'm gonna watch it. Of course it does the feel-y thing and makes you root for the underdogs. It also gives does the thing where we want to chuck the current ideas about our future away. Oh and you're always saving someone lol. Essentially there have been plenty of movies post 2010 that do the same thing (I counted 6 in under a minute) and we've never turned away, so if you watched and remotely liked any of the "new" guys, you'll most likely enjoy the older stuff.

PS: I kept it a little vague only because I didn't want to spoil a big plot in the movie and the thing that makes it a common theme in teen movies today.

11) Blind Dating (2006)

Let's get literal and take a Blind man on blind dates. The dates aren't good, but that doesn't mean his hunt for love is over.

I'm not saying that the representation wasn't iffy or that it's not filled with ableism, but I can say that in the problematic era of 2006, I thought this romantic comedy was cute. There are better made movies, even on this list, but when I think about what would get the easiest of re-watches, this beat out a lot of the other ones. Sorry.

12) Whiplash (2014)

Andrew wants to be a drummer and he wants to learn from the best, but at what cost.

Obviously this was a prime example of a better made movie than some of the other films that proceeded it, however it didn't hit as hard as I would have liked it to. The day I watched it, there was a lot physically going on in the room, people moving in and out, talking about the movie, not about the movie, and that most likely soiled the viewing experience. Now I think it probably just needs a solid less-distraction filled re-watch because it was good in all of it's depiction of toxicity, it just didn't get a fair shot. Also I like the roles Miles Teller plays and he also needs more of a fair chance with this one.

13) Eagle Eye (2008)

The supposed sins of your identical twin brother get you mixed up with the Feds and a woman who you've never met, so now youre tied to her and his past, because of an all seeing AI woman.

This was my distraction movie the night that I watched it and I had been avoiding it because I knew that I didn't want to watch a military/war movie with everything going on, but somehow it's what I ended up choosing. The acting was good and the running and the car chases do keep one entertained, but not a movie I'd suggest you watch at this time, again with everything going on.

This was also another Cameron Boyce movie I knocked off this year. He's not the main character, like we don't see him a ton, but he was there so it counts lol and he did well.

14) Abducted: The Carlina White Story (2012)

*Based on a true story. Carlina was abducted as a baby and now as an adult finds out she might be a missing person and the woman who raised her isn't telling the truth.

First we support Keke Palmer in this house! Now that that's been addressed let's talk Lifetime/Straight to DVD Movies and how they're all rated on a curve. Even when these movies aren't that good, they keep me interested and I will always come back for more and that's how I watched 9 or so of them this year. The Carlina White Story was definitely the best one that I saw though. I gave it a three because it was decent and I enjoyed the performances. Obviously there was also conversation at my screen, which always helps these films. Yelling at the screen is half the fun. Although based on a true story, remember this is Hollywood and Lifetime, so do with that what you will.

15) Fun Sized (2012)

Change of plans, you can't go to the party you were invited to by your hot crush, because you now have to take your little brother out trick or treating and spend the night in charge of him. But hey, what could go wrong.

This was Nickelodeon/Paramount's take on the semi-raunchy teen party movie. I thought I had seen it before, but apparently I hadn't and I'll say that I didn't hate it. I think it would have given me more post high school feels of nostalgia had I actually watched it in 2012 and then did a re-watch now, but with the formula being mostly fill in the blank you're gonna get some of them regardless. Now although it was the funniest part of the whole movie and the part that isn't okay in real life, like don't do that ish, was taking an 8 year old to do illegal stuff, as a sad adult. I laughed, but again don't do that. Also I hope the kid who dressed up as Aaron Burr got to see Hamilton a few years later lol. It's another teen party rom-com in the list of other teen party rom-com's, so if that's your thing just go with with it.

I feel like any time I watch a Thomas Mann movie, I have to watch multiple, so I ended up watching 3 this year and this was my favorite.

16) Unaccompanied Minors (2006)

Stranded at the airport during the holidays, the kids who were riding solo decide to make friends with one another and mischief ensues.

Unaccompanied Minors is basically The Breakfast Club meets Home Alone, if both were set at the airport. It wasn't bad... It's a family movie with Grinch-type adults and kids who's goal is to be happy. If that's not your thing, I get it, but for those who do enjoy one of these films every now and again, you're gonna have a decent time.

17) The Pact (1999)

A teenage boy witnesses the murder of his parents and now must go into hiding. While in witness protection he makes a friend, but will his secret be kept for long.

I picked this tape up one day at the thrift store because it had Rider Strong in it. I thought it was going to be way more thriller-y and just overall hit harder, to the point where I thought it would trigger my anxiety, however it fell a little short of that expectation. I still gave it 3 stars for doing what it did, but it wasn't something I needed to be truly nervous about lol. The punch just really didn't hit hard enough.

18) Fight Club (1999)

*Based on the book of the same name by Chuck Palahnuiuk. I can't really talk about what Fight Club is actually about, so I'm just gonna talk about the vibes and some takeaways.

My nephew said this was his favorite movie, so I went and bought a VHS copy for him and we watched it one day. Now the reason that this movie is this far down is simply because I had so many thoughts after watching the movie but I still don't know what I was supposed to get out of it. What is the moral, what are we supposed to gain?

I read somewhere that if Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt's character) is your favorite character, like you want to be him, that's a red flag and I agree. You should not want to be him and if you do, seek help lol. The other red flag for me was the fact that in a section in the movie, I could potentially see how some men are convinced to join that alt-right and even hella far-right pipeline in the real world and it gave me all of the heebie-jeebies.

David Fincher who also directed The Panic Room, which I absolutely love, makes intense movies and Fight Club was no different, so it's not the fact that the movie wasn't made well, just that I was so uncomfortable and confused at times, that I don't know when I will ever subject myself to another watch. Not saying I'll never watch it again, I kinda even want to read the book with my nephew which is supposedly worse, just that it's gon be a minute, a very long minute lol.

19) Fifteen And Pregnant (1998)

* Based on a true story. When Tina Spangler gets pregnant at 14, she starts to realize that not everyone is gonna stick around and how much she actually has to show up in the world.

Again Lifetime movies are graded on a curve, so based on on that criteria alone, it was okay. That being said the movie was hella religiously conservative coded in terms of teen pregnancy and just like sex in general. I felt like it wanted to do sex education, but didn't lean hard enough into that desire because of how coded it was and that's what ultimately failed the telling of this story.

Also yes Tina is more than a little bit selfish. Not in the getting pregnant part, but in a lot of her attitude and the way she moves afterwards.

20) Emily & Tim (2015)

Emily and Tim's romantic relationship is being told through 6 acts with different actors representing their different stages, as well as different time periods.

The cast across the board is very wonderful and the movie itself had an interesting set up, but at the end of the day it was just alright. I think I had started this movie once before, but it didn't keep me engaged enough to see it through. This time however I pushed, probably in a few sessions for that same reason but I got to the end and that's the win here. This set up and the charm the movie does have, will definitely win some people over and if that's your thing, enjoy.

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If you made it this far and are still into it, come back for part 2 as I finish out the rest of the movie rankings. Spoiler alert I watched one of the absolute worst movies in 2023 and now have 2 movies on my worst movies of all time list.

There's also more ACF 23 content to come, so be on the look out for that too.

[sillylotrpolls]

This poll was a lot of fun! There are already some fun quotes from the notes (note quotes, if you will) above, but there are certainly much worse ways to spend some time than scrolling through everyone's shopping trips.

I was extremely amused by how many people were surprised to "discover" this was a Lord of the Rings/Tolkien poll. Clearly, the vast majority of tumblr users aren't reading usernames, but then again, I suppose we already knew that.

Regarding the actual results, per usual the initial numbers were heavy on Silm readers, but even as the poll spread the not-going-to-destroy-you Ring of Barahir was the clear favorite with 23.4% of the vote. For context, in an equally split 12-way vote each option would get 8.33%, so the Ring of Barahir overperformed that by 280%.

Silm readers were also fans of the three elvish rings. Their shares were never overly high (4-5% each), but together they came in third place with 13.8% of the vote. The three were largely equal for almost the entire lifespan of the poll, with which was leading changing frequently. I expected to see a preference for one, but these results are well within the margin of error.

Conversely, it was very much the not-Silm-fans/later voters who pushed the One Ring to second place (18.5%). I think these more casual Tolkien enthusiasts were a) voting for the option they recognized and b) more likely to take the source material lightheartedly. Not a bad thing; just an interesting demographical difference.

This post is already a bit long, so a complete breakdown of what each option was is below the cut:

A crystal with an inner fire of blended tree light (caution: hurts to touch) - 9.4%

This is a Silmaril. They are kind of a big deal in the Silmarillion. An elf made three of them and that caused Problems. For more information, read the Silm ask your friend who's read the Silm to sum up the good parts for you, or perhaps just follow the LotR and Silmarillion tags for a while until you naturally absorb information about Fëanor's hubris via osmosis.

To explain the little parenthetical joke there, "Varda [Goddess of the stars, queen of the gods] hallowed the Silmarils so that no mortal or evil hands could touch them without being burned and withered." (Quote from above-linked wiki page.)

Of the 9.4% of people who chose to buy the Silmaril, I saw quite a few interesting notes regarding why, ranging from "turn around and sell it immediately" to "innovative way to meet Fëanorians" to "surely this pretty item will cause me no problems whatsoever." I love every one of you; you're hilarious. XD

A globe with a thousand facets that shines like silver in the firelight - 10.7%

People had trouble recognizing this description of the Arkenstone. I took it directly from The Hobbit, but perhaps Thorin describes it differently in the movies? (This is where I confess I didn't watch The Battle of Five Armies.) Anyway, while not likely to cause quite as many problems as a Silmaril, many of the people choosing this item (10.7%) were clearly of the same stripe of troublemaker.

~~Poetic interlude~~

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Ring set with ruby (kinda fiery?), mint condition, "unsullied" - 4% Ring set with adamant (water I guess), mint condition, "unsullied" - 5% Ring set with sapphire (air? seller might have been making these up), also mint - 4.8%

These were the Three Rings for the Elven-kings. These three rings were made at the same time as the other rings in the poem, but Sauron never touched them so they were described as "unsullied." Being a Tolkien invention, of course each one had a name, specific description, and a chain of provenance.

I'm just gonna copy-paste in Tolkien Gateway's descriptions here:

Nenya, the Ring of Adamant and the Ring of Water, was made of mithril with a stone of adamant; it was the chief of the Three, originally — and only ever — worn by Galadriel. Narya, the Ring of Fire and the Red Ring, set with a ruby, originally worn by Círdan who gave it to Gandalf. Vilya, the Ring of Sapphire, Blue Ring, and the Ring of Air, and mightiest of the Three, a ring of gold with a sapphire stone, originally worn by Gil-galad but given to Elrond.

Incidentally, isn't it interesting that all three of those ring bearers were on the boat with Frodo and Bilbo after the War of the Ring? Hmm.

Ring with two serpents with emerald eyes and some golden flowers - 23.4%

This is the Ring of Barahir. Unlike everything else on this list, it has a very nice history. :)

The full description from the Silm is "the shape of two serpents with emerald eyes, one devouring and the other supporting a crown of golden flowers," which is the emblem of Finarfin (elf-king who fucked up less than Fëanor). Anyway, it was associated exclusively with good guys, and Aragorn eventually gave it to Arwen as a betrothal ring. Aww.

Set of 7 golden rings (will split) - 1.7% Set of 9 golden rings (they honestly look just like the other ones) (will split) - 2%

It is unfortunately very Tolkien-like to give a complete history and individual descriptions for anything elvish and then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ for things relating to men and dwarves. (The men who do get attention, like Aragorn, are almost always related to elves in some fashion, if not literally to start then by marriage as a reward for their labors later on.)

Anyway, I had trouble even finding any kind of useful description of these, and decided to assume that the man-rings looked like the dwarf-rings, which were described in exactly one spot as "golden." No wonder almost no one wanted to buy these, even as a set.

Necklace of countless jewels (hardly weighs anything O_O) - 5.1%

Here we have the Necklace of the Dwarves, or Nauglamír. It was extremely beautiful, set with countless jewels, and yet felt as if it weighed nothing. When Thingol (bitchy elf-king) got his hands on a Silmaril, he glued it on to this necklace, which was Not A Great Idea.

I want to take this time to link to a really great fanfic which posits that maybe the dwarves didn't call their great work of art "The Necklace of the Dwarves," and especially not using the elvish word for dwarf, which translates as "stunted person."

It's called "A Candle for the Hollow City" by @lordnelson100, and as far as I'm concerned it's canon. No Silm background required to enjoy.

Necklace studded with five hundred emeralds (I did not actually count) - 3.4%

Here we have the Necklace of Girion. It's mostly "just" treasure in The Hobbit, though in the movies it was meant to be an heirloom of Thranduil's beloved-but-unnamed wife.

This was one of the significantly less-cursed options, but I think anyone who recognized the various cursed-ness levels was more likely to go for the sentimental history of the Ring of Barahir or the power of one of the Three Rings.

Just a really huge pearl (seriously, it's like the size of a dove's egg) - 12.1%

This was surprisingly popular to me, but I think the description helped sell it as "probably not going to get you killed." Anyway, this is Nimphelos, and it was pretty much just treasure.

A little ring; the least of rings, merely a trifle (not sure why they had this) - 18.5%

Hmm, not sure about this one. Could anyone point me at a movie, or maybe even a trilogy, explaining why 18.5% of voters chose this insignificant little thing over such treasures as listed above?

And finally, a shoutout to whoever is maintaining the various Tolkien/LotR wikis. ♥ This particular poll relied heavily on the Category:Rings and Jewels page of Tolkein Gateway. I may have read the Silm and engaged in more Tolkien discourse than the average person, but I can't remember names for the life of me so the wikis are invaluable, and I love categories so.

Hey guys, I just got back from the flea market and this one jewelry table had some GREAT stuff! Anyone want anything? $5 each or best offer.

[rockinlibrarian]

Very late with the happy-fic-writer game, but: 7 and 12!

HEyyyyy! I'm always up for an ask or two! This refers to this one, here, posted a week ago, which isn't THAT long ago so join in!

7. What do you love most about being a fic writer for your fandom?

As I said here (and answered the question in a slightly different way), I'm a multi-fandom writer-- which @steeple-sinderby has first-hand experience with, being that she's gamely beta'd everything from "our shared fandom but not my ship" fics to "I know absolutely nothing about the source material of this fic-that-is-nothing-but-inside-jokes-about-the-source-material" fics (oh, I think there was ONE CHAPTER of an actual "gen fic in our shared fandom"! Amazing!) (also have to throw in the "absurd RPF of several fandoms I know vaguely enough" because that took guts, too!)

And anyway, I like being multi-fandom, because I can take pretty much any idea and start to run with it. That makes for lots and lots of fics started that MAY never get completed (never say never!)! In the past week I have started three different fics in three different fandoms, only one of which I've ever written in before and that with different characters, too, and one of which probably isn't even properly a "fandom" but a work that just makes a good writing prompt. One is just pure crack I started when we finished reading a book and @sunnymarbles said "But I want to know about [insert throwaway detail that's-not-even-a-plot-point]!" and I said "That's what fanfic is for!" and I did a search on AO3 and while there were indeed several fics for the book series itself, nobody HAD explored throwaway-detail-that's-not-even-a-plot-point, so I felt compelled to do it myself. I have one paragraph, and a vague idea for a bit more plot, and if WHEN I ever finish it I'll be sure to share it!* Probably no knowledge of canon needed, because it's crack. At least compared to what other people have posted in the fandom.

*@sunnymarbles, I've been meaning to share it with you long before that, so you can help me brainstorm, but it's been a busy week. Ask me when you get home.

No I lied, it's short, here is the entirety of what I have written for this:

The moose of the Green Mountains knew to avoid the place they called the Unstable Slope, or “oooOOOOOOoooo” in their native tongue. Ninety generations had passed since the first BoomQuakes broke the mountain, and still young moose were warned away, despite tales of a mythical lake that appeared suddenly there for several years, only to just as suddenly dry up again.

(If you can name the source material from that, you get a point! It's a YA mystery series. Those are your hints).

Anyway, let's move on.

12. What is your favorite theme/subject matter/trope/ship to write about? Why?

How They Became Friends. This occasionally branches off into "How They Fell In Love" or "How One of Them Learned The Other's Secret(s)" or "How They Got Into THAT Mess," but it all stems from How They Became Friends, which is the theme/trope I've been writing on since I pretty much started writing at the age of seven. I guess it was a kind of fantasy-self-insert writing that happened to be original fiction instead of fic, because I was a really lonely kid, and I'd noted that when people were forced into An Adventure together, it brought them closer. Because, you know, it skipped over all that boring Small Talk and Faking Interest In the Latest Fad that real life friend-making seemed to require. So it was that every story I wrote for the first few years of my life involved Me and Some People I Knew In Real Life stumbling into an Adventure (usually involving fantasy elements because I needed all the non-mundane help I could get).

It stuck, even when I started actually making real friends without the aid of portals to other dimensions. It's a theme that lends itself to fanfic naturally, because media is FULL of established relationships to wonder about the beginnings of, and you don't necessarily have to worry too much about plot when you write fanfic. It can BE simply 800 words of "This is How They Became Friends" with bonus time travel complications.

This probably loops back to why I'm a multi-fandom writer, because there's only so many times you can introduce the characters to each other per fandom. I say while a full 10 of my 19 posted Legion fics manage to fall under this theme umbrella, and those only really covering the friendships of four of the many characters. Yay multiple timelines!