#idk why I'm so focused on the visuals

[celestial-apathy]

very enjoyed the new ep and along with the expected insanity of the plot I realized that something about the style of tybw is giving me into the spiderverse vibes

[soracities]

how do you know when you're getting good at poetry? everybody dunks on halsey and rupi kaur's poetry, and i never really got why and idk if that's what i sound like

Honestly, I don't think there's ever a point at which you "know" you're getting good at poetry--I think "good" and "bad" are kind of vague and amorphous (and distracting) categories that don't do much in helping us understand the feel and impact of certain writing, chiefly because they can also be deeply subjective. How a poet views a particular work and how a reader views it will be very, very different because their relationship to the work is different. I also think "good" is a sort of external category that does not (or should not) carry into the act of writing itself--when you make "is this good?" the chief consideration as you write, you're not actually present in the writing: you're focused on the finished product, not the process, but the process is the most important thing: that's where the poem actually meets you. I think growth, in writing, is less about knowing if you're "good" in this regard, and more about being able to have confidence, or simply just trust, in the writing as it happens.

There's a famous saying somewhere that a work of literature is never "finished"--it just stops. I think skill, when it comes to writing, lies in recognising where this point is, in learning and developing how you navigate what it is you want to say, and how you say it. Some poems, eventually, reach a point where you can take them no further and you know there is nothing more to be said in them or through them. Some poems reach a point where you can take them no further, but there is still something left to be said in them. Those poems get revisited, worked, and reworked again, until they (maybe) get close to the first category: this may mean you work on them for a few weeks, or for years--but either way you are prioritizing the process of making the poem, not how it will be received. "Is this a good poem?" in my view at least, is not really the relevant question--what's relevant is "is this true to what I wanted to say?" Leonard Cohen famously wrote over 100 drafts of "Hallelujah"--I don't know if the central question for him here was just a matter of his skills as a songwriter.

Regarding Halsey and Rupi Kaur, I've only been able to read Halsey's poems through previews on Google Books so I don't know what other people's critiques are--based on what I saw, though, I don't know if it makes sense to criticize their quality as "poems" when she is primarily a songwriter and a lot of those poems wound up as songs. I'm more familiar with Rupi Kaur's writing, though, and others like her (Atticus, Michael Faudet etc), and while I have a personal policy of not getting into Kaur online (there's an ask here which is about as much as I'm willing to say regarding my feelings on her writing)--I can get into this trend or poetry "style" as a whole. And to be honest I think the chief issue here with poetry like this is that poetry, by definition, involves a deep and intimate relationship with language: this holds true regardless of whether the poem is simple, or complex, whether it's 5 lines long or goes on for 50 pages. As I said in that previous ask, it's not something you can reduce to a formula, nor is it a matter of mere reportage or a collection of statements: what makes a poem has nothing to do with line breaks (prose poems exist), but everything to do with how the language moves, how the language of a poem engages with its own content, with itself, and, as a result, with the reader.

The kind of work that proliferates on Instagram does not have that kind of engagement with language--they are, to me, pieces of information more than anything else. They reduce language to a series of stock phrases that act, not as actual words, but as images (and I don't mean this in a visually evocative way). It tries to evoke something that requires a thoughtful and sustained examination in order to be expressed, by surpassing the reality of what that examination actually requires. It tries to ape the effect of a powerful poem without the work that goes into actually being able to make that kind of a poem in the first place: and that work is a sustained encounter and confrontation with the language used and its relationship to what it tries to convey, in understanding that words are not interchangeable blocks you move around willy-nilly but that they have weight and intention, that they interact with each other to build up an idea or a feeling or a landscape in the most accessible way (insofar as language can make anything accessible, at least). But this is rarely, if ever, felt in IG poetry because it refuses to recognize or respect the demands and requirements of the medium it uses.

And because it is lacking in this engagement and recognition, these poems are also, for the most part, lacking sincerity--and this, to me, is one of the most crucial things when it comes to writing. I recall one IG poet whose work was in the same class as someone like Atticus, but I also recall one of his poems which genuinely moved me--and it moved me because, unlike everything else on his account, that poem felt sincere: the structure and the language wasn't any different to anything else he wrote, but in reading it, it was not a question for me of whether it was "bad" or "good"--what made the impact was that it was honest: and the difference showed. You can't come into a poem with ulterior motives. You can't come into it without an understanding, or respect, for the language you use. I'm absolutely not policing what people should or shouldn't read, and I'm not saying people are wrong for liking these poems, either, or that Halsey, Kaur, Atticus et al., are wrong for writing them. Expression is expression, and what speaks to you speaks to you. And to be honest, it is a different kettle of fish when you are writing something purely for yourself (and I think allowing yourself to partake in any kind of artform, without worrying about needing to be good at it, is deeply important for the human spirit)--but because they are putting their work out publicly, if we are going to be evaluating what they write and how they write it, that evaluation has to be rooted in an understanding of the art form they intend their work to be a part of.

For me, these are the main issues I have with these writers and their work and why I just do not like them. But I also want to stress that, ultimately, what you sound like in your own poems, anon, does not matter as much as being sincere to yourself does. As I said, I don' like using terms like "good" and "bad" and I think that often they're fairly reductive (and sometimes outright pointless) categories to use when we talk about and assess poetry--more than anything else, the key to building a robust and informed discernment when it comes to poems is to simply just read--read a lot of it and read widely. The broader and richer your repository of poetry (and literature in general) is, the more informed you are when it comes to all the different ways language can move through a poem, and all the different impacts it can have as a result. It deepens and enriches your understanding of all the different ways of looking at something, questioning something, expressing something. Your vocabularly grows and deepens; your net of associations--visual, linguistic etc--strengthens. And when this understanding grows you are able to place the things you read into a much wider and far more informed context. And this in turn allows you to grow as a reader and a writer. I hope this helps you a little, anon 💕

[chaisshitposts]

Hi I am rabbit🐇 anon and I wanna say that Idk why but i m not understanding the pych-k method like i don't get what PPL say especially when ppl tag that post I just don't get it so can you tell step by step how to do pych-k method for void.

P.s we r same age lol

oh yeah??? cool! glad to meet a fellow adult 🐇 anon🤝 and that's ok, I'm more than happy to explain it for ya in simpler terms, it be like that sometimes so I get it. yer mind is like a computer, yer subconscious is the motherboard of info, and while ya do psych-k ya are basically downloadin' an entirely new program with new codin' and all that jazz with the affirmations ya choose, then ya save that affirmation in yer motherboard.

psych-k is about usin' yer entire brain, both hemispheres simultaneously, and how to do it is super simple. when you're just startin' out with it, I always recommend that ya start off with your left side (it doesn't really matter what side ya start with but some people do better when they have clear instructions)

left side -> ya wanna start off with crossin' yer left ankle over yer right ankle, set yerself a five minute timer and then start it, immediately afterwards you're gonna cross yer left wrist over yer right wrist and then interlock yer fingers. for a visual aid, check out this video -> it's not very long and I hope it'll be easy for ya to follow while ya are doin' this pose, you're gonna close yer eyes and repeat yer affirmation for the duration of yer timer. with this pose, ya more than likely will start to feel an influx of thoughts that may try and argue with yer affirmation. it's important to invite those negative thoughts and just let them flow, let them happen, and just keep repeatin' yer affirmation over and over. what yer doin' is teachin' yerself somethin' new until these resistant and negative thoughts disappear. i should also mention that sometimes ya may not experience any negative thoughts at all, which is fine too, just keep affirmin' for the five minutes. some folks also report that they feel physical symptoms when doin' psych-k, which is also normal, and it's perfectly okay if ya don't, that's also normal, everyone is impacted differently.

ya hold this posture for the entirety of yer five minute timer. once you're done you're gonna 'save' yer progress by uncrossin' your ankles and wrists and then press the finger tips of both yer hands together (kinda like when villains are havin' their evil scheme moment, y'know) just make sure all yer fingers touch each other and hold it for 10 seconds --- like below BUT MAKE SURE ALL YER FINGERS TOUCH TIPS 🙏, no palms need to be touched, you're not prayin'.

once you're done, you're gonna repeat the entire process for the right side where ya cross yer right ankle over left ankle, and yer right wrist over yer left wrist, hold that pose for five minutes with yer timer and then save it again with the pose mentioned above.

ideally, this'll completely change whatever limitin' belief ya had with the affirmation ya chose after a single session, BUT sometimes it can take more than one single session of psych-k which is also completely normal especially when dealin' with something that's been deeply embedded in yer mind for such a long time. think of it like a stubborn program in yer computer that you're tryna get rid of, sometimes it can take a few tries to completely wipe out the old programming.

somethin' else that can happen is that psych-k did work but does not instantly reflect in your 3D which can sometimes make people think it didn't work so they fall back into old thinkin' and start reaffirmin' the old story. h o w e v e r, ya can easily find out if psych-k worked through the use of muscle testin'. I'll provide some reference posts for muscle testin' below which can also be used in combination with any and all methods of manifestin'.

muscle testing applied kinesiology

psych-k is just a form of focused, super affirmin'. it can also be used to calm yerself down just from simply crossin' your ankles, many people do it unconsciously without realizin'. i recommend that the next time ya have a moment of panic, anxiety, or any other negative feeling, ya should try crossin' yer ankles and see what happens. 🕵️

if ya need anymore clarification, just let me know!!!

[py-dreamer]

Ok so I might've gone over time again a lil bit BUT I STILL MADE IT!!!

"Why is it Nezha? First Mk, then Mei, why Nezha? Shouldn't it be Pigsy or Tang or Red Son? Why are you robbing the less popular characters their spotli-"

SHUSH!!!!

Ok so a reason I made Nezha next, is cause I have an upcoming project due soon and I require our 3rd lotus princey over here to come help me.

Look it's an art thingy and the theme is 'Legacy of the gods' and I did chinese mythology not LMK. As such I couldn't pick an lmk exclusive character like Mk or Mei. Furthermore, since it was about the 'gods' specifically, I'm more focused on the deities and less demons the like.

Also a lot of my project has featured so much JTTW, and I'm sure it definitely will in future...So to break up from that and for a bit of variety, I've added in our lotus friend.

(I mean, I suppose I could've done Chang'e but I just decided Nezha had more myths so he was my best bet)

And I couldn't do Wukong. Cause I'm already doing another piece with him, I made two stickers of him already. They will know I have favorites. And I do, I know I do but damn it if I don't wanna show it so obviously!!!

Actually, originally I had like a list of who I wanted to do and it was mostly like main cast of lmk with some fan favorites/my favs here and there and Nezha was towards the bottom but I moved him up due to the reasons above. And I was going to do Pigsy and Tang today but that's not how things turned out, I'll still do them just everyone's gonna have to be moved up in the list now.

Don't ask me what kinda cake it is, if I had to guess some kinda cheesecake with like a thin layer of jelly on top. The pink/red contributes to his main color scheme and the blue jelly makes it look like a pond and all the decorations and lotuses on top look like they're floating in water.

And I suppose it's different from Mk and Mei's cause like the KNY arts have different cakes sometimes why not do the same for these guys? And Nezha is a prince, and the patron god of children! I think he deserves something nice. (I used Giyu's cake for reference)

The filling is strawberries again, hopefully better drawn this time and actually sakura petals instead of lotus ones. I don't know why I used sakura petals, the color is more like lotuses but the shape is inspired after sakura so maybe it's a hybrid.

I do enjoy that it is more detailed than the previous two (especially since I'm using it for a project-)

I actually had a lot of trouble thinking of the sugar cookies cause there's not much associated with Nezha other than his lotus theme and his weaponry. Like at least Mei had her sword and her dragon insignia in different styles! I didn't wanna just do lotuses for like 3 times so I did his universal ring and that golden brick from that one episode. And yes, that brick is an actual thing in the mythos, it's not just a quick visual gag.

I did copy paste the frosting swirls and shells from Mei, don't @ me pls they just looked cool, I needed something to jush up the cake and COME ON THEY LOOK COOL HOW COULD I NOT

No I did not change the color but the minty green broke up all the pink and gold nicely, I think...

I did add the lotus flower and that green thing that triggers ur tripophobia is a lotus fruit. So for those who don't know, lotuses are edible! Not water lilies though. There's a difference. And lotuses can be made into lotus jam and it's delicious! I do recommend trying a lotus jam bao at least once.

Now I know Nezha is a chinese deity and mochi/dango is japannese but Idk what other desert to use and I didn't feel tanghulu fit the vibe...

But yea, those are his flaming fire wheels he skates on, that's why they're on fire, no it's not the rings of the samadhi fire. (I'll be saving that for RS) though now, I do wish I'd just done the outline in a darker shade to make it look like it was an actual image grilled into the mochi rather than a sticker slapped on.

The sneks! Omg! I almost forgot about them! But yea, those are the golden serpent shears we saw in that one episode. They are a bit last minute but I think they turned out decently well. Lil bleps.

Then we have the fire tipped spear and yes, that is Ao Bing. I'm sorry, I know I said I shipped them, and I still do (I see lmk nezha as both mentally and physically an adult don't try me) but damn that idea popped into my head and it was funny. He's fine...I think

(also funny to think Mei's is all dragon oriented and here's Nezha and Ao bing like bleep)

The reason the ribbon is so long is cause it's the goddamn armillary sash that Nezha uses, and it's its own canon magic thing, why not let it be longer and yes I did add some white detail but I just thought it looked more finished and it's a celebration! Let him be festive!

I really like the pose like Nezha receiving a lil present. I think he's the kind of person to not expect presents but be pleasantly surprised at them.

And btw that balloon has lily pads, it's not a globe. I know they should be elevated for lotuses but I can't exactly make the leaves pop out.

So later today should be Tang and pigsy hopefully!

(Also I've noticed a trend in general lmk posts. Ships, duos, trios basically anything with a relationship of some kind always do better than just one character so if I had to guess this like my other birthday posts won't do that well)

Oh and @leesbian42, before I forget, happy almost birthday! If I remember correctly you're turning like 24 right?

[olderthannetfic]

why do some popular things have such small fandoms, in your opinion? like, John Wick is incredibly popular but has less than 2k fics on ao3 and there doesn't seem to be a big fandom presence on tumblr. there's shows with 10+ seasons that have incredibly small fandoms as well.

i know not every fandom is going to be, say, Harry Potter or Supernatural levels (especially if it's an older show and fics have been lost to time- i've heard ER lost quite a lot) but it's just... odd to me, i guess.

--

The majority of things don't get fanfic fandoms.

There are some trends though. Certain genres are more likely to generate them than others. SFF is pretty likely. Crime dramas are reasonably likely, whether that's people slashing buddy cops on AO3 or lead canon het on FFN.

Incomplete-feeling canons are a bit more likely, usually due to plot holes or a crappy ending that people want to fix—but not so crappy that everyone just gives up in disgust.

Relatedly, things where the art part isn't too intimidating are more likely than ones where the big draw is that author's exact way of writing or the fantastically subtle and moving acting in some arty movie about social issues.

Serial media are way, way more likely to generate a fic fandom than one-offs, and having a certain number of hiatuses but not ones that are too long helps. You want some gaps where people have time to make stuff before it's instantly jossed, but you do need new canon to reinvigorate a fandom periodically.

Things just being well known by lots of people does help relative to a similar canon that few people saw, but exact audience size isn't the main factor.

Some tasty character dynamics help a lot. Maybe shippy, maybe more found family. A world that people want to play more with also helps. Even the gen-focused fandoms tend to care a lot about the latter two. They don't just write about any old canon. There have to be certain hooks.

--

John Wick does seem like it fits some of the standard criteria. There's more than one movie. It's fun, dumb genre stuff, not super high art.

TBH, having more than like 5 fics already means it's a success as a fic fandom, so part of it is just your frame of reference. I know you say you don't expect HP, but you should be expecting the norm to be way under 100 fics, not nearly 2k. That's part of it.

But I suspect the big reason is that a lot of people find the films relatively complete as-is.

They're set in the real world (-ish), so the setting isn't that interesting to explore with a bunch of OCs in the way that people write their own HP or Naruto casts. People like the lead, but I don't think they fixate on his relationships to other characters. (Checking AO3, it looks like some people are writing basically John/self, which makes sense.)

For much of the audience, it's all about watching him use a lot of guns. So many guns. All of the guns.

Once the big screen spectacle is done, I don't know that people really want more unless it's more action movies with more visual awesomeness.

IDK, I don't think I've seen any of these beyond some clips, so maybe I'm missing something.

[gabessquishytum]

so, on the golf-instructor-Hob-cock-pivot idea from the porn video thing. Ahem. The ideas this triggered. I'm unhinged too, so here we go. *Squirms* CW, CW, CW for nsfw, hopeless filthy porn, CBT, mild electroplay, objectification and humiliation. Seriously, some serious horny is needed before you read this.

Firstly, oof, the POTENTIAL. The idea of a fixed point while you pivot? That's so flexible though. because anything could be the fixed point. Cock in arse? That's where we started. Fist in arse? You have that already. But we could go further. Cock tied to something. Idk, maybe to both ankles / feet (which are spread to the correct, professional distance), so that kind of a nice visual triangle is formed, and as Dream swings, first the line on one side is taut while the other is slack, then the tension slowly evens out, until finally at the end of the swing it's the other side that's slack while the other is taut. Dream's swing is basically guided by the changing, continuous tension on his cock. Now that should be a good training tool. Very excellent. And it allows Hob to watch from the front, on a wooden bench, from a distance, so he can really get a good view and really observe Dream's form. After all, there are some draw backs to being directly behind Dream all the time, right? You're too close and you can't observe the full picture. But this, this is perfect. You get to watch him from the front, you get to move around, everything. Oh, and there should be a third rope from Dream's cock to Hob's hand, just for, you know, extra ... extra. It's almost like a little cock bridle. So, you know. This is definitely level two training. Once the cock in arse lesson has established itself, it's time to get a little more refinement and sophistication in that swing with some lassoed cock practice.

But why stop at his cock? His balls are a fixed point too, right? Only they're a little or a lot more sensitive, aren't they. And if you tie them up and pull them back between his legs, it encourages a nice, professional bend at the waist. only, of course, it's so very humiliating. which makes it a very fitting punishment, for days when Dream's been very bad, and very very naughty. For when he doesn't deserve Hob's nice helpful cock and thrusts helping him to stand up. Hob will take a good awfully heavy stake or post and plant it behind Dream and take his balls and tie them, between his legs, to a point on the post. He'll walk Dream forward till the line is taut and Dream's bent at the right angle and have him practice his swing. Hob's very responsible, you know. Dream still gets his lessons even if he doesn't get Hob's cock. And it truly is very effective, you know. All that tension on the balls means that any minute movement out of position is very quickly and effectively corrected. And it serves to keep Dream very, very focused. If Hob has to use some sort of crop or cane to tap Dream's tightly clenched arse or slightly exposed balls from behind and between his legs just to give him a very slight reminder, a very slight warning, well, that's just extra reinforcement. There's always room for further improvement. And if Dream has really truly remorsefully repented from the behaviour that had gotten him here in the first place, he should maybe wear a short skirt to facilitate Hob's punishment (and teaching) of him like that. Because actions speak louder than words. He'll never think of his balls in the same way again.

But overall, the lessons are going well. Dream's getting very good. And soon Dream's skill level steps up and he no longer needs the fixed point thing, although, occasionally, he still needs a refresher. During which, Hob finds that the balls thing is the most effective, because it's so severe a training tool, which is what Dream needs now because he is already so advanced. So what he does is just carry a rope around. If ever needed he pulls Dream's shorts down, takes his balls and pulls them back, ties them off nicely, and holds the other end in his hand. Now he can increase the tension as much as Dream needs and even give him a hard tug if he's not paying attention. It occurs to Hob at some point that he should have just done this from the start instead of lugging that stake around for nothing. But it's alright. He's a bit of a himbo sometimes. And he did need to walk around Dream and watch him from all angles at the beginning. But now that he doesn't, well, a simple rope us easy to carry around and he can remind Dream not to get easily cocky or complacent st any time.

But really, Dream's doing very well. And he should be rewarded for getting good as well, right? And so Hob does. He puts a tiny little remote controlled device in Dream's hole, right where his prostate is, which produces a concentrated electrical jolt right over that spot. And Hob holds the remote. And he walks around Dream, watching him while he golfs. And every time the club connects with the ball with that sweet-spot sound, Hob jabs the button to jolt Dream's hole. Dream jumps like a rabbit at first when it happens, hair and cock flying as he's taken by surprise, but soon he gets what's happening and he's able to control himself. It's only when the club connects well that the device goes off. If he misses, or if there's a poor connection, there's nothing. And that sets his mind on the task like nothing he'd ever thought would. Soon he's squaring up for every swing like never before, perfect stance, arms straight, eyes on the prize, gunning straight for that jolt to his hole, I mean, his ball. And here's how it is - if the ball lands at a good spot on the green, Hob lingers over the remote and gives him a long, good jolt. So really, a properly good stroke could get him a lot of pleasure. Almost to coming, really, because Dream's never done this before and he's just so sensitive. Soon his cock's jutting out as he golfs, leaking excitedly as he prepares to swing, because that's how much he's anticipating every jolt on his, I mean, golf improvement.

Everything is working out well and Dream's golfing score is really starting to shine. His father, quite frankly, is astonished. It's such an improvement. Dream could really reach a professional level, if this keeps up. He increases Hob's pay and tells him to keep it going, by any means necessary. He even invites Dream to watch a couple of professional golf tournaments with him on TV in their gigantic comfortable family cinema room, just to expose him to what the real pros are like. The only problem of course, which he's not aware of, is that Dream can hardly watch a tournament calmly now. Every single stroke has the poor guy jumping on the couch and almost squirting his pants, because by now he knows what a good swing sounds like, and he connects the jolt to his hole with a good sound, and the sounds of the tournament are magnified around the room and conveyed very well by his family's expensive speakers. And of course, for the pros, every swing is a good swing. And his body and cock and hole have learned to anticipate the jolt even if the device isn't there anymore, it's only there during golf lessons so he doesn't get desensitized, so that even if it's not his own swing, even if he's just watching it on TV, the visual and the sound is enough to trigger his body on an instinctive, subconscious level. He can't even control the impulse and get himself under control. Goddamn his training.

Oh golf instructor Hob my beloved.

Because Dream is getting so good, his father decides that its a wonderful idea to send his son off to compete in tournaments. They're still amateur competitions, but there's prize money and of course, networking opportunities. Dream could really make something of himself with the right kind of people around him. So off he goes, with his father's blessing and of course... his excellent instructor Hob goes with him. He'll need guidance, and he's still so very young. His father doesn't want him getting up to any shenanigans while he's abroad.

You can just imagine Hob’s utter delight. He's got Dream all to himself, 24/7. Practising out on new courses. Not to mention new toys. Hob has brought along a whole suitcase full. He's got Dream out on the green sporting nipple clamps under his smart white polo shirt. There's a special egg shaped plug which is textured exactly like a golf ball. Hob even has a nice shiny new flogger which he uses to specially target Dream’s milky white thighs whenever he happens to fumble his swing (a rare occurence, with all that pivot training, but something he misses on purpose). If Dream bends over even a little bit, the bright red lines are clearly visible on his sweet skin. Poor darling.

Then of course there are lovely hotel suites where Hob can finally spread his darling student out on clean sheets and see every inch of him. Hmm, that gives him all kinds of ideas. Maybe he should take him out the green, in fact, and get him naked there. The idea of forcing Dream to play in the buff nearly makes Hob cum on the spot.

Dream wins all his tournaments, but he never does quite get the hang of the networking part - he's always glued to his instructor, always looking for Hob’s attention and guidance. At least Hob is really earning that salary of his! He's really in demand from all the other keen posh golfing fathers, but he stays loyal to Dream. And let's face it, Dream keeps him PLENTY busy.

[thefloatingstone]

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

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

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

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

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

Like

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

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

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

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

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

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

Because it wasn't very good.

They just weren't very good books.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But this insanity around Harry Potter while it was releasing?

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

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

[todorroki]

i can't believe it's over wtf (Love Sea final ep thoughts)

its joever yall... it's not even hitting me that it's over because we still have the special ep to go but omg.... it's the end.

hats off to fortpeat. i love them so much i'm so sad that love sea is done (at least, the main story is). i had my gripes with parts of this story but in the end i was mainly here to see these two do what they love.

i believe mut mostly knew how tongrak would react to his confession. his dialogue to mook last episode proved deep down, he already knew the answer. the first few minutes of this episode showed his hesitation and reluctance, but his courage pushed through in the end. i think fort did amazing here. his pain from experiencing a rough rejection was so clearly on display. (and peat does that eye shifting thing with tongrak to show the beginning of panic.)

it's terrible yall. it was hard to watch. i do not like couple fights.

peat's hair here is good tho. omg i was focusing so hard on visuals because i didn't want the pain

big shoutout to vie in this ep. while she didn't spell out what rak should do, she basically held rak's hand through the whole ordeal.

mahasamut's last meeting with meena and kwan omg.. when he started crying realizing tongrak's meaning by the number 8.. how much more can my heart shatter lmao

and big ouch at palm's dialogue here. he meant it in a light way, but mahasamut really DID come back without his heart.

yo tongrak was so heartbroken he started dressing like his face twin from the other mame series.

AND ok like when tongrak chased after the trash car, at first i was feeling the pain and then i remembered how twitter clowned that running shot yesterday and i started LAUGHING oh my god!!!!! like i'm so sorry BUT I DON'T CLAIM THE FAULT FOR THIS everyone was saying he was running after the ice cream truck in the episode poster and i saw it in that moment!!!!!!!

back to regular business, this hits painfully hard actually.

tongrak's main fear being their "end" if they start a real relationship despite not even knowing if it'll come true. it's a very real fear people have (not just for romantic relationships), the mindset that "if it can end badly or if i can't succeed, why try anyways"

i love rak and vie's friendship in this show. dare i say it's way more fleshed out than the GL side plot they have going on. on that note, what even happened with the girls mame... how come they're just together. what HAPPENED.

but vie is The driving factor to pushing tongrak to follow mahasamut. she's so important to tongrak and i love it!

now, idk what was the call here for filming this part at night. it was kinda dark, but mut's pain was clear as day anyways. tongrak, in his own way, wanted to return mut's feelings, but because he couldn't SAY IT, mahasamut ends up misunderstanding his motives.

i really did tear up at rak's recorded confession though. my god i was kinda worried how that would come out, but peat's recording was well done. their confession on the beach was so cathartic to watch. LIKE FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!

and everything after was sooo sweet. fortpeat has the fluff DOWN as always.

but also omg the last scene with rak buying the house. absolutely love how at first he was excited, but then seeing mut's serious expression and realizing he should've said something omg.. the way he shrunk himself. and fort's face here oouughghg HELLO PEOPLE!!! GIVE HIM HIS SERIOUS ROLES ALREADY. I THINK THIS ENTIRE EP IS PROOF ENOUGH.

please i'm so serious he looked so hot in this scene.

BUT I CANNOT BELIEVE IT'S OVER LIKE IT'S /SRS NOT /J FOR REAL FR OVER WHAT

MY MUTRAK!!!!!!!!!! i know we have the special ep still but NOOO

i need fortpeat on screen... oh my god. please......... im at a loss. they love acting and i love watching them act.

[piracytheorist]

Spy x Family Episode 27 thoughts!

We start with something very relatable

I love how the family just lets Bond lie on the couch. He takes up the entire space with how massive he is, and yet they allow him that. I love it.

I pretty much immediately read the respective manga chapter of this after I was done, and I've gotta say, before that I was very confused with what Bond was imagining. I don't think that the anime showed clearly what was going on.

Instead, I actually understood it when I read the manga, which made it pretty clear that he was confused by seeing only black in his vision, and then was trying to come up with ideas why this would happen.

Even as I rewatch the episode, I still think it wasn't made clear in the anime.

I love, however, how Bond could imagine that, for whatever reason, Yor would blindfold him in order to surprise him with something. And the way she would lead him there is adorable XD

A lot of adorableness in this episode in general, but then you hit right in the drama.

Like any research facility escapee, Bond fears he'll be found by the people who experimented on him and will be immediately executed. But...

THIS REALLY HAD NO BUSINESS BEING THIS FUNNY. Bond was right there getting traumatized and fearing for his life and I was actually laughing my ass off. The little butt-naked angels! Bond having a halo over his head! The drama of it all! I love it XD

Then I nearly damn cried when he went to look at the family pictures and THE FAMILY THEME PLAYED. MA BOI JUST WANTS A FAMILY 😭😭

I also love how he imagined Loid saying he lived happily. Bond has indeed found a place that makes him feel loved and safe and happy, and he knows that the family knows that. And the way he imagined Loid tearing up for him and understanding what a positive influence this family was on him is very important; Bond's mind may be simple than his human family's, but maybe exactly because of that he sees past the façades and the lies, and into his humans' souls.

And then he just resorts to the fact that he will die, and wants to go say goodbye 😢

I just realized that Bond understands Anya can read his mind! And only Anya. I don't know why it took me so long. Perhaps I had understood it but it never registered, lol

Gremlin Anya my beloved <3

Unless it was a new moon that day, it's amazing how focused Anya was on studying. Here was Bond with a face that practically said "Do the cool thing and read my mind!" and Anya was like "Nope. Homework." I immediately imagined it was a new moon day and she actually couldn't read his mind, but it may be a safe assumption that she's learning to control her power? Idk.

But then Bond sees that Yor will make an absolute horror of a dinner for him.

How is she so out of it that she doesn't realize the monstrosities she's creating. I love her.

I'm still trying to piece things together, though. There's a clear difference in visual between reality, vision, and Bond's imagination.

Bond thinks that he'll die by eating Yor's food; it's not a certain future.

This doesn't explain the black in Bond's vision, though. It could be a red herring, idk.

In any case, he takes Anya's words from their first days together very seriously, so he doesn't even attempt to say no to Yor's food.

And though we know Yor is way too sweet to even shout or give a stern look to someone because they disobeyed or made a mess, it also makes sense for Bond to immediately consider his mistake will be met with violence. He spent a significant amount of time of his adult dog life in the research lab, where the scientists abused him, hurt him and belittled him. Having trouble trusting a new environment is typical abuse victim behaviour. So even though he feels loved and protected there, his trauma can still rear its ugly head whenever disobedience is involved.

And so Bond finds the solution. Help Loid come home earlier from work so that he can cook food for him!

For all his intelligence, Bond's perception of "humans working" is still stuck on the times of when humans first domesticated dogs. He's like "human put spiky rock on wood and then hunt". How does one explain red tape and politics to a dog, either way XD

This screenshot has everything. Wild savanna background. Loid hunting with a prehistoric spear, all in his fancy suit and WISE pin getup. Heteronormative pigs. Comic sans font. 10/10

Bond runs out of the house and I immediately wondered why Yor didn't immediately run after him, before I remembered that she couldn't leave Anya home alone.

And thus, Bond's adventure in Berlint begins!

The hot dog vendor called Bond a stray and I'm like wow, stray dogs in Berlint must be in excellent shape if people see a dog with a massive white fur that's clean and smooth and don't immediately assume he lives in a house with two clean freaks.

Once again, the art style here is clearly showing that this is in Bond's imagination, which is more influenced by his traumatic experience in the lab than his actual experience with the Forgers. I almost felt it was unfair how Yor was portrayed in his imagination!

I felt so sad for him in the bridge! Boy just wanted some food that wouldn't kill him 🥺 and then I laughed my ass off.

What an absolute unit this dog is!

His adventures continue until he finally catches a whiff of Loid's scent and he's off to help his human!

And we have a truth serum in the world! That could be an awesome opportunity of a Chekhov's Gun! While in general the spy things happening seem to be rooted in the real world, Endo also takes the James Bond route sometimes and I would really like to see if that stuff actually has an impact in the story later on.

(As usual, I'm anime only, so don't spoil me for later developments in the manga!)

Bond finds his human, relieved he'll be given safe food tonight!

Bond starts leading Twilight down a clear path and I'm very, VERY interested by how Twilight reaches the conclusion that Bond wants revenge on the scientists who abused him.

And if you ask me, in the manga his expression looks even more sympathetic. Look at that worried brow there.

At least the anime didn't rob us of blushing Twilight this time *grumble grumble*

Bond doesn't understand one bit of what Twilight is saying, though. He just wants food.

It's classic Forger family misunderstanding and jumping to conclusions, but I feel it says a TON about Twilight's character, not only that he considered Bond would want revenge for how he (and the other dogs!) was abused, but also that he honoured that supposed wish of Bond and didn't try to change his mind. I mean, it also helped him in his mission, but this time "For the MissionTM" wasn't in his mind at all, at least regarding Bond.

I think it's the first time that this happens? That he brushes his "for the mission" aside and focuses on what his family wants - at least, consciously. He's been doing that from day one but I think this is the first time that he does it knowingly. It also helps that he knows Bond would never be able to report him as a spy so he doesn't mind being a little more open with him. Wow. It's amazing in how many ways this family gives this man opportunity to reach back into his emotions and self.

Anyway, yeah. I think it says a lot about how sympathetic Twilight is, how much he values justice and feelings of vindication, and also how he believes that Bond wanted revenge not only for himself, but for his fellow dogs too. And of course, how he then helped him get his supposed "revenge".

I mean, it's one of the few logical conclusions he can make with his limited intel at that moment, but still I find it interesting and very telling that this is the conclusion he settled on.

Again, Bond doesn't understand a word but he settles on a positive borf since that will make Twilight finally move his ass so he can finish early and come back home and cook for him.

BOI HUNGY

Twilight behind him like "But what about your revenge?!!"

Another small difference between manga and anime, as in the manga Twilight looks actually distressed about getting home late. In the anime he's just... "eh".

Like, make up your mind guys. Is he more emotional in the anime or no?

I'm using my Sundays in a very productive manner, you see, dunking on overworked and underpayed animators.

Bond has his vision of the staff coming back and Twilight saying he'll be late, and we see angry Yor in, once again, the "imagination" style.

This is not the real Yor. This is the Yor traumatized Bond makes up.

Maybe, in a way, he doesn't understand that Yor's horrible cooking is 100% unintentional. When we see his flashbacks in episode 15, the people there threw some horrible-looking mush at him to eat and told him to be thankful for it, too. So he probably correlates food of bad quality with bad intentions, so it could be a reason why he imagines Yor being so cruel to him.

This. Was. Hilarious. I don't know if it's Anya's influence on him, but it was amazing to see him do something that a hardened spy like him would consider childish and yet be so effective in what he wanted to do ���� Also, boy doesn't even try to hide? T. as in Twilight/Tasogare? How is this man a spy I swear to god

Action! Bond beating the shit out of the bad guys! Loved it!

Despite the very serious implications of a truth serum being developed and used, we don't get to see Twilight's thoughts about it. Truth serums, if effective, could be detrimental for people like him, especially when fallen into the wrong hands. Of course, simply destroying their samples wouldn't do, as they could simply make more, so he doesn't bother with more than just one vial needed for WISE's analysts. I wonder if we'll get to see more of that in the future.

Bond's vision clears, and he gets to see the real way Yor would react.

This warmed my heart no joke 🥺

Anya looks very curious in the background, and I wonder if that's her face as she reads into Bond's mind, or if she's curious exactly because it's a new moon and she can't read his mind and is trying to imagine what could have happened. I need to know!!

(I don't. Don't spoil me if it's revealed - though I doubt there's that much more to be revealed about this chapter XD)

This man really invested in Bond's revenge huh. He just made it up in his mind and then went like "He got his revenge! I'm so happy for him!" Whatever floats your boat, dude.

Speaking of floating boats...

I don't have that much to say about the second part of the episode, other than a couple parts here and there.

I'm still not even close to liking Damian but I cannot imagine the kind of emotional abuse this six-year-old must have gone through to hear "do not shame your family" and take it as fucking praise, my GOD. I don't like the kid and I'd be a lousy parent but even I would treat him better than that.

As I've said before, there's a lot of personal trauma that rises to the surface whenever Damian is involved - especially after seeing how some fans tend to completely dismiss how much of a bully he is - and I was actually dreading this part, but it managed to hit some good spots. His friendship with Ewen and Emile still needs work, but the way they purposefully threw away their free day and angered Henderson - who by the way, got their intentions from the first moment and was like are you serious - all because they didn't want Damian to be alone was really heartwarming. If they caught Henderson in a bad day they could easily risk a Tonitrus, and I think that's something Damian will have to appreciate at some point. Maybe not immediately, but he'll get there. What this boy needs is not to be tapped in the back and told "Your trauma justifies bullying the girl you have special feelings for", but to be told he's valued as a person and not for how much he fulfills his father's expectations.

Mr. Green is a SUPER interesting guy!! He's funny and down to earth and sympathetic and he gave this parched anime-only some political commentary finally MY GOD

DEFECTING TO THE WEST YOU SAY

The fact that defecting has taken a code name speaks to how much of a common yet covert practice it is. The boys immediately fear that they will be sold off to Westalis, same way George Glooman feared that when he thought his dad's company had gone bankrupt. Then they ask why someone would even leave Ostania and Mr. Green is like "Well we have a beautiful night sky!" I don't know if he was being sarcastic, but I absolutely love how we got that insight into how deep nationalistic propaganda runs in Ostania, especially from the point of view of three innocent, very privileged but also sheltered kids.

"Why would someone flee" well for starters there's this thing called surveillance--

The lake was indeed beautiful!

So beautiful it even touched Damian and not only had him break through his very disciplined upraising and he admitted he is enjoying the sight, he also laughed like the kid he is. I gotta admit this touched me.

Look, as I said, I have a lot of personal feelings and traumatic experience that influence the way I see Damian. I don't hate him and I want him to be better... I just feel really uncomfortable whenever people try to act like his bullying isn't that bad, or is justified, or even isn't bullying at all. And no matter my efforts, seeing fans talk about Damian like that has influenced me negatively to the point where I have to consciously try to not hate him. I understand that all of those fans have read the manga and those developments I see now are years-old news to them by now, but I still feel there's a very big space between what I see and what that part of the fandom sees. I don't need to see an episode where Damian relaxes and gets a little in touch with the kid he still is to understand he deserves better. But I also don't think him doing that undoes the emotional damage he inflicts upon Anya. He can be a bully, and he can be a victim, both at the same time. I'm just saying... if you're someone who will jump to his support whenever you hear takes like mine... maybe take a moment to think if you're putting your feelings over a fictional character over the feelings of a real person who is still carrying scars from having been bullied as a kid.

Yeah, that got a little personal, I'm sorry. But I'm not here to make objective analysis and I'm probably the only anime-only here talking about the story in such depth. I just wanted to make my stance clear, that's all.

[writingonesdreams]

Avatar 2 first impressions

Spoilers ahead

A visually stunning movie with three main parts. The longest middle part focused primarily on the world of the sea, the breathing (reminded me of Wimhoff breathing techniques that got so trendy during the pandemic), the environment and sea life. Enchanting water scenes, I loved it.

The tukun whale like hunt was chilling to the core. You get these majestic intelligent creatures being killed for fun, sport and an anti age serum and it was heartbreaking. Like Seaspiracy. Impressive way to remind you what's happening to our seas.

I was missing Jake and Neytiri a lot. I loved them in the first movie and I loved all their scenes, but the focus decidedly shifted from them to their kids, which was...intentional on Cameron's part I guess, but I didn't like it. I'm too old to resonate with teenage narratives and their whining of "it's so hard to be special!" and "they just seem me as an outcast cause of my fingers" was annoying as hell. Like Jake was a Sky person, a human in artificially made avatar body - that's hostility and change your ways difficulty on another level. And he still made it as a warrior, chief and a legend. I guess it's unfair that they were born with these prejudice by no fault of their own...but damn, you would think they would be more secure in their idenity and who their dad is and what he achieved. Torukmakto for hell's sake! (The scene with Neytiri roasting Ronal for speaking disrespectfully to her husband was badass. Go Neytiri. You chose a pretty cool guy.) Human legacy is a shameful thing here with all the terrible destructive stuff they do, but Jake did what he did as a human, he was chosen as a human and for me that sends the message that there is still something good in humans/humanity, with individuals like Grace and Norm and those who fight for Pandora and nature. Like, get over yourselves having 5 fingers or cool powers no one else has.

Spider being a human boy so deeply entangled with the Na'vi culture also seems to make a point about this. Yes, humans are the main antagonists in Avatar, and they do horrible things, but Spider shows it isn't being human that makes you bad - it's what you are taught and what you ultimately choose to do with it. Being a Na'vi didn't make Quaritch a better person after all, even when he was learning a bit more about them.

Idk all these teenage idenity angst was just incredibly childish. Maybe it's justifiable for them being teens and all but seriously, why are you complaining you are special? I will admit they did adapt pretty well to the new sea world. They do take after their dad ;).

Jake has a very interesting conflict going on as a father. On one hand he is the legendary warrior, prone to life threatening downright suicidal stunts to do the right thing or fight to save the day. And his sons are very eager to follow his footsteps and "live up" to him. And Jake is understandably...not okay with this. He is scared. He wants to keep them away from the main action as scouts. Reviewers have been complaining Jake is a bad parent, that he had too much of a military approach and was hard on them, but wasn't Jake making the best of the situation? Invaded and in a secret attacks war on humans, trying to keep them all alive?

His distance and conflict to L'oak especially is reflecting this. Jake is teaching Neteyam right now, having him on flights and leading scounting missions from time to time. He is not ready to let either of them fight on their own, he is making baby steps of teaching the oldest, when L'oak comes with his reckless missions to prove himself. Jake just wanted to protect them longer. They were going at a different pace.

The refugee storyline is interesting and parallels the first movie. Coming to a new place, having to learn new ways and rules, adapting.

Jake didn't bring the distaster on the Metkayina from what I can see. Their tukuns were already hunted for the anti-age serum. They were coming either way, that's why that showed that scene and explicitly said the whole current invasion was financed by it. Jake and his family brought Quaritch after them, but a confrontation would have come because of the tukuns regardless. I don't know why so many are blaming Jake for all of that, he was just trying to protect the Omaticaya tribe and his family, by hiding them away.

Quaritch had an interesting arc. It was cool seeing Spider and the Na'vi way and nature having an effect on him - like Quaritch not killing any of the villagers on the Islands, with his personality and temper? Because Spider asked him? That was wild. And them giving up Kiri as his only advantage over the Sullys in the final to save Spider's life? I wonder if there is any chance of Quaritch ending up helping Pandora or Jake in the future. He didn't mind killing any of the wildlife/tukuns though...

That scene with Quaritch finding his dead original's body was chilling. That final there was epic.

The ending battle was way smaller in scale and too focused on the kids and their inability to save each other. Big applaud for Jake and Neytiri managing to save them so many times though. When it came to facing humans and Quaritch, they both lived up to their legendary warriors reputations from the first movie. Loved to see Neytiri going feral over her kids.

The last one on one fight with Quaritch was awesome. Close quarters hateful intimacy. The way Quaritch was making promises to hunt his whole family down and Jake who was on the leave, saying, damn it let's go now then, was pure moment of awesome.

I love love love that the final final scene wasn't any epic fight or whale attack or a big explosion. It was a eerie sad scene of the family divided into pairs trapped under the ship (Titanic vibes), with the children saving their parents. Jake being calmed and taught how to hold his breath by L'oak, Kiri using her connection with Eywa/nature to find and guide Neytiri out...and Spider saving Quaritch.

Idk it felt right and wrong for him to do it. On one hand Quaritch is too great an enemy to pass up of for sequels. And I understand and sympathize with Spider becoming kinda attached to him too and saving him in naive compassionate human stupidity. On the other I was really hoping for him to die and Spider's move felt like a betrayal to the Sully family he belongs to.

Anyway the kids showing that they are not completely useless and actually saving their protective badass warrior parents was great. I love when the caretaker role gets switched around a little.

Jake kinda balancing between being true to his risk loving fun sarcastic nature and a diplomatic proper Na'vi parent was part of his distance to L'oak. L'oak didn't see Jake asking Neteyam, if the bullies were worse off than his kids and that playful proud smile of his. He just saw Jake scolding him and trying to make it good as an unproblematic refugee to the local leader their staying depended on.

I didn't really understand or emphasize with L'oak feeling like an outsider although that was obviously the parallel that connected him to Panayacan. So he has 5 fingers, cool strict dad leading rebellions and armies left and right who would like him to stay safe as long as possible in a very unsafe world. People say Jake focused on Neteyam too much to see L'oak, but I honestly believe Jake was having a hard time allowing Nateyam to tag along in the first place. He couldn't take L'oak at risk too.

Then again I was really expecting Neteyam to die by the final fight. There was no tragic death in sight to mirror the first movie's structure, the danger was prevalent enough, the kids were being reckless enough...and I don't think it was avoidable no matter how much Jake tried. In war conditions like these, there was no way for everyone of his family to survive. Maybe if he accepted that fact sooner, he wouldn't be so strict with his kids and they wouldn't want to rebel and prove themselves so much. But then again, hard to accept a fact like that. At least they can all meat again in Eywa.

I liked Kiri. Total Jesus/Anakin Eywa made miracle child. She had that special connection with nature, just a shame they didn't figure it out sooner or that she didn't use it more. I was so happy about her controlling the corals to protect her siblings. Go Kiri! Her solitary thoughtful little meditations and connection to nature were beautifully made. Also Jake talking to his daughters was so doting and cute.

Why did they take Tuk to every possible risky place they could find? Did they just want screen time for her? Seriously. "We are going on a forbidden mission to warn an outcast tunkun. Let's take the youngest, most vulnerable and most likely to get captured or killed sibling with us." Pfff.

To sum up, it's an interesting movie with surprising emotional weight for it's simple plot, with breathtaking aesthetics and water shots that made you wanna protect and respect nature so much. Too much focus on the kids/new generation for my tastes, would have likes to see more of Jake and Neytiri, but they had a good conflict going on with their children, the right time to fight and to run and with protectiveness vs cause. It's not as good as Avatar 1, but I have some favourite scenes to rewatch anyway.

[mysteryanimator]

Watch it here :D

(heads up for any odd grammar, Grammarly cannot save me from my dyslexia)

I was originally not going to do a breakdown of this because a lot of my breakdowns and thought processes were getting really repetitive (also i was getting embarrassed by them HAHSDASHBDS). BUT boy oh boy this time around I can actually go "wait i can yap without being repetitive here, maybe, idk, we never know until i write it out."

STORYBOARD/ANIMATIC:

It was really fun to adapt AquliaofArkham's fic into a visual format! This is the specific section I had set out to visualize!

(Yes I only did thumbs for that section and freeballed the rest whoops, y'all do not follow by example, i didn't think i was getting this far tbh)

When translating this from written to visual, there were some key points I wanted down:

They are really really close to each other and the barrier between each other is SO thin, but the air is still super thick

visual eye breathing room compressed???

Is having stillness a way to convey that ???

We are following Mizrak's POV, ergo focus on what Mizrak is focusing on, where is his mind going

hold shots for longer???

limited movement due to Mizrak's hyperfocus???

Make shots intentionally heavily detailed ???

Zoom into details???

As much as I am passionate about storyboards, I do tend to get ahead of myself and end up locking myself into lots of close ups HAHAH. I like having each shot matter to me a lottttt so i end up reverting to reusing a lot of super common shot archetypes due to their attached meanings (I'd love to attend/watch some workshops on this, but uni ;-; i'll be free soon dwdw).

By the way, you will notice the animation is longer then the timed storyboard/animatic. This is because I retimed to placeholder dialogue (which y'all will NOT HEAR THATS EMBARRASSING, i dont need ppl to hear me yell clatter lol). Fun fact I originally had it in the first storyboard to help me with timing and then removed it half way through? Not sure why I did that, but regardless I came back around and retimed it so that the length of each shot feels believable enough to hold dialogue and has enough time to be visually digested by you guys.

ANIMATION:

This was a doozy, not because I found the animation hard, this time I actually was satisfied-ish with most of the end result and started implementing different approaches to the animation from all kinds of media; which was my issue LOL. My understanding of animation changed midway through. I can super distinctly see two different approaches, probably because I slipped into that naturally while having animated shows/movies while doing this and I can probably pin point to you which shots was influenced by what show.

First all dialogue and walking forward: rewatched TLOVM b4 season 3 dropped, which by this point is already out, (uh also Nocturne. again HAHAH)

WHICH, you'll see here, two different set ups were taken LOL (also oof you're seeing my setup). Personally, I like keeping my animation folders to the utmost minimum (so like the right! Olrox's folder is a whole character, separate moving bits like lips or even earrings will be in that one folder) because scrolling through can get a tad overwhelming and daunting, BUT, Olrox walking forward had so many small moving pieces with different timings that multiple animation folders was the best way to handle itttttt.

I feel like I only really care abt this BUT FILE MANAGEMENT IS IMPORTANT AAA. You should've seen my file management this time last year, actually horrific, but I'm so glad I figured out how to be cleaner, in turn speeding up my process. (which honestly was just thanks to being thrown into a studio environment and going "Oh my god so that's what I should be doing" and picking up things I noticed from other animators, which genuinely my learning comes from picking me up and throwing me into the deep end)

Secondly, Olrox arm and a scrapped walking scene: I was watching Prince of Egypt (literally that whole week, planning to rewatch again lmao), Sinbad, Road to El Dorado, and then work from Modernday James, Toniko Pantoja, Edward Kurchevsky

Fun fact, the very first walking was intended to be animated, and i redid it about four times before scrapping it completely. The first three iterations i didn't save because they were sooo clunky . It made me realize I gotta revisit my principles again I'm rusty (and i do LOLOLOL). I scrapped the anim because it did not flow into the next shot nicely but, It was good practice regardless HAHA

While mentally I feel like none of the shots match each other, they still do have some cohesion to one another

COMPOSITING:

The new thing, finally manually did the edge shadows in CSP HAHAH.

I will say this too, I got really nervous atp about the overall "quality" of the anim + the backgrounds. I was getting super hung up over it because I was alr worried abt the animation due to the safer choices I made (but also, I don't have to reinvent the wheel LMAO). SO, when I got to comping it was like "oh actually its actually fine LOL".

i stayed pretty sketchy with these since i was getting way too worried about it and wanted this to stay as a fun side project, also these are without comping- they become way more purple with compositing LOL

I feel like here too I ended up doing less then what I normally do, which I think mighttt be on part to finding more efficient ways to go about compositing things together (and faster too).

Also, I definitely got pushed into trying to lower the layer amount when I saw a tweet about layer efficiency/layer stacks and them mentioning applying Mattes and CC Composite. Actually a godsend, I didn't realize I could combine my effects like that to lower the amount.

Also, I swear no amount of precomping can save me from this. There's probably a better way to go abt this um LOL, everyone is getting a peep at my file management.

Also, I'm realizing I could've done a tad more with the actual composition itself, like the placement and movement of Olrox in the scene where he's walking forward. For now I have to leave it, because also, the intent for this one was to have fun rather then making every anim an exercise or else I'd burn out so fast LOL

Side tangent but, I've been digging my heels into the animation school club workshops on youtube rn due to having a moment with the scrapped Olrox side walk. Which holy shit, things have clicked for me, so I'm going to try and do more rough exercises b4 i do another finished anim again. It turned a light bulb in my head LMAO, and it pushed me to do the recent maria anim and mizrak and olrox kiss which has a massively greater understanding of timing and confidence LMAO

Ok now this is To Love a God finished! Another animation done :DDDDDD I'm super happy to be adapting a fanwork, it's always really fun and super exciting to bring other people's stuff to life, which what made this more enjoyable then anything else.

Will I do another polished anim before next year/before s2? Time will tell but for now i rest and speed to finish another semester of uni (there is a high chance for another anim because of a joke tweet i did not expect to get traction lol)

Thank youuu if you stayed this far, this was really lengthy and i think i went into different unrelated tangents, so i hope you enjoyed me pulling you into different directions HAHAHA

p.s i uploaded this to youtube and theres an age restriction BECAUSE OF THE FEET. Not because Olrox tells Mizrak he would fuck him, no it's his FEET. I've tried to appeal it but cant do much LOLOLOL

[sweetshelluvaau]

World/Lore Building - Overlords

The first half of my of my Part 2 of the Seven Rings (p2 focusing on Pride) is basically about finish but before I clean and finish it up, I want to focus on the Overlords being my Pride post talks about them for a bit so I wanted to make a deeper dive on how they work in my rewrite/AU.

Putting under the cut being this will be a bit long.

Okay to reblog, feedback and criticism is welcomed.

Part One: How they work in Canon (or the exploration of why worldbuilding is a big deal and something you need to consider and not just throw shit at the wall and hoping it sticks)

Sorry I have to be a bit of a snarky shit.

So, I do have questions on how Overlords as a whole work in Hellaverse because it isn't really fully explained what they are outside of being 'sinners with power'. I'm assuming they are the ones that are the real leadership over Pride considering how Lucifer and Charlie don't really do anything in regard to running the ring? idk?

Why are Overlords as powerful as they are? Why do they have powers, let alone power in general? How did they gain those powers? Granted, a lot of this also has to do my feelings in regard how Sinners are so high up the caste ladder to begin with to even out ranking Hellborns but but I do think these questions like these matter regardless how big or small they are.

I think we take worldbuilding for granted sometimes being this blog really made me rethink how important it is for your story's universe is to have rules on how things work and why they work the way they do. I'm not asking for the story to stop every second and give us a long exposition lore dump before moving on, visual storytelling is a great way of exploring the world the characters are in and just small details can leave just as much of a big impact of portraying what a story is trying to say about it's surroundings. Hazbin is the kind of show that really needs to take time to breath and not speed run everything suppose to letting us the audience take it all in. Honestly, Hellaverse in general really could have benefit from having a story/lore bible before production ever began suppose to just throwing things at the wall because everything is a mess.

Sorry, I went on a tangent here, but these things do bother me not just as a writer but as a viewer as well but I digress.

Anyways, enough of me ranting, lets dive into my rewrite:

Part Two: So, Overlords huh?

I didn't know what to name this section lol

I kinda talked about this here that I decided that Overlords are both Sinners and Hellborns in my AU and are more close to gang leaders/business owners that gained influence though backstabbing/manipulation/killing their competition and raising though the ranks but they also gain power due to various activities in trust and talent as well. Basically: Anyone can become an Overlord if they have the influence and resources to do so! Even an Imp or Hellhound, even though rare.

Sinners also can't use magic (Alastor being an outlier) in a way most Hellborn could, and not all Hellborn can cast it either (They mostly use it though artifacts such as a Transversal Crystal or Stolas' grimoire just for examples). This makes it a bit more tricky for Sinners to rise up the ladder in power putting aside them already being the lowest caste in hell. They'd have to work up a lot of connections and good will from their Hellborn counterparts which can be hard due to not all Hellborn Overlords look kindly on Sinners. And that's on top of the whole gaining influence in general thing.

Overlords are in almost every ring of Hell but Sinner Overlords are often exclusive to Pride, but there are some cases where a Sinner could make it big in another ring such as Greed or Sloth. There's also the case of the Lust Ring where Overlords kinda play an ambassador role representing Sinners taking matters to Lust's leadership but that's a topic for another day.

Overlords are often more seen in the Rings that more 'lax' in rules/leadership, Pride obviously due to it's title of 'The Wild West of Hell' but they are also big in Greed, Sloth and Wrath. There's a few in Gluttony and Envy as well with Lust being a bit of an outlier in regard to handling Overlords being for the most part they're 'regulated' to the point they're completely a different thing despite still carrying the name (see above).

Part Three: Blood Pacts

This may be a me thing, but I'm not a fan of the fact that Overlords in the show can own souls and the 'contract' thing. Granted this has to do with the sinner issue I already addressed with Hellaverse along with the worldbuilding deal I also mentioned. I'm not gonna repeat myself being I said my piece in part one.

In my AU, Overlords cannot create/form Soul Contacts. Only The Sins and a few powerful demons can own someone's soul physically however Overlords do have an equivalent to them. Enter Blood Pacts!

How they work: Basically, they collect a drop of blood from the person giving up their 'soul' to them and put it into a glass vial lanced with magic that bounds the soul to the owner. Overlords often do this in both a power sense and a way for the soul to pay their 'debts'. Ordinally Blood Pacts were pitched as a way for (un)fortunate souls who in some shape or form got into whatever fucked up thing they landed themselves into that they may need help getting out of or they ended up wronging an Overlord in some way that they choose to make it up to them by working under them for as long as is required (this could be for a good few decades to basically a long time where you might as well say that they own them forever unless one of them kicks the bucket) of them before being set free. Some more 'honest' Overlords do obliged to this once their debts are fulfilled and even fewer don't engage in practice, but most of the time they never let go of there power over there victim and some make it mandatory if you choose to just work under them just because you needed a job so you can never leave (popular tactic used by the Vees).

Because these glass vials are fragile and could easily be broken if one isn't careful or if there victim gets any ideas of choosing to free themselves, these vials are kept in a safe place that only Overlords are given access too. Basically, it's a huge vault, a 'blood' bank if you will where these are sorted and carefully handled so no one can tamper with them and their 'ownership' of their souls are safe. These vaults are secretive, even to Overlords who aren't so high up in the food chain.

Part Four: Notable Overlords

I'm only going to do an overview of some of the overlords here that will or may play a role in my AU/Rewrite being I don't want to go into full descriptions right now. Whenever I get to redesign these characters or just want to talk more about them is when I'll go in more deeper details.

Zestial:

Zestial One of the oldest, if NOT the oldest Hellborn Overlords still alive in this day and age and rumored he's been around before Lucifer's Fall and what Hell is today. Zestial controls The Old Town Historic District (you'll learn about it in my Pride Ring post) and is the creator of the the 'Blood Pacts'. He's basically the same in the show personality wise but Hellborn suppose to a sinner.

The Vees:

The Vee's (all sinners) are the Overlords that run The Red Light district, along with various business and ventures regardless if you have a say in it or not. They're basically the same in the show expect Val is taken more seriously and Velvet has nothing to do with fashion in my AU. She works closely with Vox with fueling the Social Media side of Voxtec and feeding the propaganda machine though the media via mind control thing that Vox has going with him, but Velvet is a popular online influencer in her own right. She's also the youngest Overlord, dying in the 2010's.

Carmilla Carmine:

Carmilla Carmine (sinner) is basically the same character in the show personality wise. She doesn't own a district but is a big player in smuggling, producing and experimenting with angelic weapons. Her engineering and weapon production quality is second to none which alone has gartered her infamously and influence.

Crimson:

A small time Hellborn Overlord from the Greed Ring, as well as Moxxie's father figure (not biological father. I plan on going though Moxxie's backstory once I get his re-redesgin done) who 'inherited' and owns a successful sinner smuggling operation along with plenty of other completely legit businesses you guys in Greed and some influence in Pride as well. I'll talk more about my take on Crismon in my AU another day.

Alastor:

Ah yes, the tumblr sexy man edgelord Radio Demon we all know and love (???). I'm still working on the direction I want to take with his character but he's one of the few Sinner Overlords that has powers (not Voodeo. They're more Lovecraftian in nature and the symbols he uses are radio ones) that he may or may have not made a deal with a demon when still alive that came with him into the after life for some reason. Alastor hosts his radio show at his station in Uptown (where the Happy Hotel also is) every morning (along with the screams of the lives and souls he's taken ya know for shits and giggles). For most, he's an enigma and no one knows what his true goals and where his alliances lie. Even Charlie doesn't understand why he's so invested in helping the hotel if he's not the slightest bit of interested in redeeming himself despite accepting his help. But regardless who you are, what walk of life you're from, hellborn or sinner; he's feared by all.

Anyways, I'm gonna wrap up this post here. Next one will be my Pride Ring post which the first part is basically about done just need to do some last second editing! Likely will post it up Friday...

[teecupangel]

Hey, so, assassins creed x Idols (Kpop?). From the comments of the other post I remember the band "Now United" where every member is from a different country, maybe it can be used as a concept for the band?, idk I'm just giving ideas but I really want to continue the idea of them as group bc I found it hilarious lmao.

I tried looking for the post where we talk about this but I can’t find it anymore TTATT

(Also, it’s kinda funny that I’m answering this ask now the same day I watched the last Hololive concert with my friend. What a coincidence lol)

So, first things first, since my idol era happened during the early 2000s with Jpop, I’m going to borrow the setup of Debut or Die for this one to make it feel more Kpop XD

First things first, we’ll set up what we need in the idol group:

Lead Vocalist

Sub Vocalist

Main Dancer

Lead Rapper

(there are other parts like “Face of the Group” or “Main Visual”… aka the most photogenic one, maybe even something like the group’s composer/lyricist if we want that)

Anyway, we’re focusing on those 4 because this is the formation for Desmond, Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton.

Okay, let’s be honest. We’re going to put Desmond in the lead vocalist part because it’s me XD

But, putting him as sub vocalist would be a random reference to the fact that Desmond’s voice actor, Nolan North, sang the sub vocalist part of Saint Row IV’s Opposite Attract singalong scene

(this also help show how high Nolan North can sing I guess?)

Also, also, Ratonhnhaké:ton has to be the lead vocalist. His voice actor, Noah Watts, has a 13+ min video showing why Ratonhnhaké:ton should be the lead vocalist.

Altaïr would be the main dancer because I like the idea of Ezio being the main rapper and Altaïr’s body build would make him a good dancer.

So our final setup would be

Ratonhnhaké:ton – Lead Vocalist and Maknae (the youngest by one year)

Desmond – Sub Vocalist and the reluctant leader

Altaïr – Main Dancer and maybe their dance coordinator?

Ezio – Lead Rapper and Face of the Group + Main Visual

Now, I think you asked what Edward’s part will be?

Normally I would say Edward can a retired idol turned into this group’s manager but let’s fuck with the timeline and make everyone around the same ages and turn this into…

ACB48

hehehehe

(for those wondering, this is a reference to one of the longest idol group in Japan, AKB48)

So Desmond’s group would be part of ACB48 together.

Other groups include:

A group composed of Edward, Arno, Evie and Jacob (fans jokingly calls them the Hundred Years War Group)

A group composed of Shao Jun, Arbaaz Mir, Nikolai Orelov and Aguilar de Nerha.

A group composed of Kassandra, Alexios, and the twins Eivor and Havi.

A group composed of Bayek, Aya and Basim.

(Modern Assassins will be assistants or managers. Other historical Assassins can have their own group: like maybe Malik and Federico with their own group??? An all girls group of Claudia, Mary Read, Anne Bonny (even if she's not really an Assassin), María, Rebekah and Roshan)

And, of course, one of their rival idol group is made of Haytham Kenway, Shay Cormac (who was once part of ACB48), Daniel Cross and Maria Thorpe. (The CEO of their company is Warren Vidic)

Since they’re all of similar ages (around late teens early to mid twenties), Edward and Haytham are brothers and Ratonhnhaké:ton is their half-brother. Whether they’re cousins with Ezio is up to you.

[forcebookish]

Hiii so just wanna spread my topmew love and say the "lack of chemistry" allegations make zero sense to me bc they're the only couple that actually gives me butterflies and make me feel like I shouldn't even be watching them lol. I get that the other couples have way steamier scenes and moments but topmew have a softness and tenderness to them that the others lack imo. Maybe that's why I'm so drawn to them.

exactly!!!!! they make me do the thing!

if this isn't chemistry,

then idk what is

in fact, i don't think anyone who says that topmew don't have chemistry know what chemistry actually is. chemistry isn't just explosive, fast sex; it's sensual, comfortable, natural.

and they are so natural with each other and all their scenes are so intimate. i've said the exact same thing, anon, especially during their love scene in ep5: "...should i be watching this?" they feel like private moments in a real relationship.

everyone else? like you said, they don't give me butterflies. they're good tv, i'll give you that. but they're completely different kinds of storylines and relationships. because none of them are boyfriends. topmew are the only couple who are ACTUALLY a couple! nickboston's and sandray's relationships are ill-defined, and the glue that holds them together is sex. i wouldn't say their chemistry is worse, but it's definitely different - and if you don't actually know the meaning of chemistry, it's more obvious i guess.... 🙃

but topmew have a stronger foundation (and i don't just mean forcebook😏). because both of them actually want to be in a relationship with each other the glue that holds them together is quieter, more affectionate, and again sensual. sex (and the lack of it) is obviously a part of it, but that's more about tension and, you know, dating lol

forcebook understood the assignment 😌

thanks for spreading the love, anon!!!

(ps. this is only slightly related to couple chemistry but i could go on and on about the kiss/sex choreography in this show. topmew's is especially interesting because it's slower and focused on sensuality; the way that mew has gone from these fluttering, fleeting touches and top following/grabbing him to mew actively pressing back and tightly holding onto top... ugh🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌 such delicious visual storytelling. this drama is so fucking good.)

[millerflintstone]

It's been a while since I've pushed myself to do something out of my comfort zone for career related purposes. In my mid to late 20s, it was getting out recruiting and recruiting related admin work and getting into something technical. I started learning object oriented programming at a community college after work hours to see if I liked it and no one was more surprised than me that I did like it. I made a career switch into software engineering right before I turned 30. Was an intern and everything.

In my 30s, it was getting really good at that. I aimed to get to a senior level and ended up focusing on a specific niche and carving out a path to get better at that. Then I kind of got myself stuck in healthcare software development land because it offered me remote work back when that wasn't a popular option. It helped me deal with financial crap related to my mom and sister and provided flexibility. I really love working remotely but I also got a chance to travel a bit and learned I was good at being a consultant. I did enjoy a lot of the problems I helped solve across the different places where I worked. But travel gets old. I did that for a decade until about 2019 and that last consultant job became full-time and then turned into the TX job from hell.

The one good thing about the TX job from hell was that I got exposure to more Microsoft development things like Visual Studio, SSIS, SSMS. But I do often wonder if I didn't feel the responsibility towards my mom and sister if I would have gotten out of my the hell I let myself get into a lot sooner than I did with regards to the industry and type of software development. My burnout really started when I stopped attempting to challenge myself. Or maybe the fact that I stopped attempting to challenge myself was a sign of that burnout starting? IDK.

Anyway ...

With the content writer / reviewer thing, I've gotten exposure to Python and I've gotten good at testing short scripts. I haven't really had to work my brain, though. But it has been nice to feel that excitement again.

However, with my first official technical writing project, which kicked off on Tuesday, I kind of got into panic mode the past couple of days. I noticed I was avoiding really starting on it because I was terrified I'd hate it or that I'd feel completely overwhelmed, like I did at the last job that did the whole bait and switch on my role and its duties. I realized what I was doing though. It felt akin to self-sabotage and maybe it is that in part. Today was really tough and I was texting Unfriendly about it to voice it because I was so frozen. I identified that I had to start getting out of it by calling it out. Naming it. Not tricking myself into doing other shit, though I had been doing other shit to avoid it. I had to ask myself WHY I was doing this other shit when the thing I had been really wanting to try was in front of me.

Now that I've been working on the project for the past hour, another part of my brain has kicked in that I haven't really had to use since my English major. It's not something I'm bad at, but I recognize that I am rusty. And it is at least slightly more interesting to me than the torturous class section I had on the Romantic Poets in undergrad, so there's that I guess.

[tabe4]

This game is like a fucked up version of wobbledogs but I gotta say I like the "feed this creature shit and see what happens" gameplay. The "fuck around and find out" genre if you will.

OOC: i've never actually heard of that game but yes JKBSDBKFBJKSDF i'm also having fun seeing what happens, everyone's submissions surprises me as much as it surprises everyone else, and i have fun seeing how users keep skirting around some deaths somehow or finding stuff i didn't expect them to BSDBFBSD

the relentless hunger death and the one upcoming was considered rare cuz i didn't expect users to submit so many insane submissions, but yall found them incredibly fast omg

for inspo tho (and an info dump),

i was considering several types of video game formats before trying this one. after tobaiblog (which is still on backburner i just gotta do some assets i just dont wanna do rn smh) i realised something like that is fun but can be overwhelming with how many options you had and a character who is unwilling to give any hints. i wanted something more simple and intuitive, and i think giving very limited ways to interact w the game provides a more authentic video game vibe while also being more intuitive.

initially i was messing w a labyrinth game concept and ill likely try it later down the line, w an rpg aspect to it and an end goal. but i felt that it was still complicated to interact with. i started thinking about other video game formats, like a visual novel, or pet care games. those things are simple in options for interaction, but i wanted some kind of horror undertone or element that would give more interest than just interact w the characters.

i decided on the idea of the pet care game but focused entirely on the feeding, it was simplified, there wasn't a lot of things to keep track of, and it allows users to be creative with the limitations given to them.

i was partly inspired by Can Your Pet (if u dont know anything abt it and like this blog, please try it, it's like a 10 or so min game iirc. dont look at spoilers if u want to play it cuz it has a twist at the end. idk if its still free but when it was popular it was hosted online for free on many game sites) and Happy Tree Friends to an extent, but also some analog horror content. subverting expectation of something cute into something weird or creepy as things progressed was primarily what i wanted to pull from these

the diary option was mulled over a lot as i wanted a way for users to interact directly w the characters made and i had a number of ideas for this at first. then i remembered in town of salem, you have a death note (haha) you can write in that will be shown if you die, and i was like oh an in game note system would be perfect to manipulate and also fit into the whole pet care sim vibe.

the death list was conceptualised as i needed a goal for players, and the cosmetic unlocks were also a fun reward. tho i think people at this point aren't going for looking for specific deaths but rather seeing how the character reacts to things (which is fair cuz i also figured half the appeal would be the character reaction to things, which is why i draw unique reactions to food 99% of the time~)