#it's not like the anime I watched later didn't influence my writing it's just that the ones I watched as a kid literally shaped me as a per

[dreaming-hibi]

I wanna watch the anime I watched as a kid as if it were the first time

[melishade]

I'm so sorry. Everytime you answer a question another one pops up. I blame my ELA students, they always are asking me about the novels and then I have to shrug and give them the retort "I don't have this author on speed dial, we don't know for sure and can only speculate." But simultaneously one of our rules is "always ask a question, even if I have to go home and read the novel or sequel or find the answer, I will give you one" about literature.

Of course no student is going to raise their hand and ask "do you know why Reiner died in Chapter XX of Attack on Prime?"

But every time a student asks a question, if I have to research it and then have more questions myself or we tumble into a 10 minute spiel of the rabbit hole I went down at 10pm at night to find the answer to Jonny's original question. It's the nature of teaching analytical reading.

Back story is I remember AOP on Fanfiction net. I had found it after my own watching of AOT Season 1 and watching Transformers with my nephew during winter break in college. I know I didn't follow the story much, just enjoying the little bit of relevance to the fandoms I was into at the time. Fast forward and I find it on AO3 one day and went "huh" only to see it had increased to just before Megatron infiltrated Marley. I followed a bit chapter by chapter until one day it just became back burner as an adult with things to do.

Anyways the question is a bit in proportion to the previous question I asked. As you said Attack on Prime started over 11 years ago which was in between S1 and S2 when there was A LOT to speculate on because the manga wasn't even caught up at that point if I remember correctly. Which is why we have fanfictions with different endings to the story, audio stories like Attack on Space or Survey Corpse, the obsession over the 104th because there was a whole 4 (I think?) years of just fans developing them in their own directions.

Knowing the entire Attack on Titan story now and knowing what direction the characters take would you do anything different, utilize a character more, kill off someone else, elaborate on scenes basing it on some of the later season/manga we received? For the Season 1 portion of AOP we mostly see it as an -insert Optimus here- and saving people or just having him be reacting to the AOT universe but not much of a "I don't care what the manga does I am doing what I want to do" where you still keep it in line with the AOT arcs but no differ too much. Once we hit the Clash of the Titans Arc is when I start to see a "oh I am going to do a bit more now because I know more" in the writing and then the beginning on some pretty dang good characterization and world building. We don't see it fully until we hit the 4 year gap where you can just do whatever you want at that point because in the manga and anime, we only know a skeleton of what the 4 year gap was. So I'm curious as a person who has seen the development from Fanfiction net story into a very strong story if you were to be able to pull an Eren and influence your 10 year in the past self, would you want to do anything different?

Are you kidding me?! I love it when I get asks like this! Long detailed asks talking about my thought process when it comes to writing this story! Like seriously!

All jokes aside, let's answer the question.

So there were some things that I've been proud of that I would tell my younger self, like Megatron's character development, the Primus twist, elaborating on the four-year time skip, the OVAs. But there are a few things that I would choose to do differently.

For example, I realized I didn't utilize the pure titans pumped with energon in an actual fight with Paradis. It was really a steppingstone for the titan shifters with energon. Initially, I was going to incorporate them with the Rumbling and have them running on the ground trying to eat people, but because of the whole Zeke/wine debacle and the use of dark energon I just didn't get the chance to work it in there. I should have and that was a failure on my part.

Fix chapters 2 and 3. It was really just a repeat of the episodes with Optimus reacting to the situation. I should have changed the chapters more to focus on Optimus' perspective, maybe have Optimus carrying the boulder instead, forcing the government to question the usefulness of Eren. Eren was a wild card and titan with no control. They would rather dispose of him and keep Optimus. I'd probably have Optimus fight for Eren in that situation instead, stating that Eren's power shouldn't go to waste and that he needs proper training. Having Optimus come to Eren's defense like that could have made more of an impact.

Make a few more tweaks to Eren's descent into madness. I feel like if I had told my younger self about Eren activating the Rumbling and destroying the world. I was trying to expand and show how exactly that happened because if you're going to make a good guy become a villain, go for it. Don't make everyone praise him and hold him in high regard like Isayama did in the manga. However, I've been told that AOP Eren didn't seem like someone that would activate the Rumbling based on how he was developed in prior chapters. And even I was struggling with writing Eren's descent, so maybe like an extra chapter or two to add to Eren's whole thing. Maybe I should have added Eren's perspective while he was alone in Marley. That probably would have helped.

Additionally, I would have told my younger self to get more bolder when it comes to kills or maybe even show more mercy. Sure, I've decided that adding Optimus to the story would help reduce the mortality rate, but it's still AOT. I probably could have killed Jean or spared one or two people from Levi's squad. Believe or not, I was so close to having Eren kill Wheeljack to make the Autobot's hatred against him more personal. But I go back to the whole Arcee situation because I don't want to add another partner dead to her trauma.

Guess I could've added something regarding the people of Paradis trying to get along with the Marleyans during the four year time skip. I have more head canons and what not, but maybe adding a scene or two would have been nice.

There are definitely a few more things I would have wanted to change, but I think it would have just depended on how certain changes impacted the story. It's part of why I do all of these AOP AU. It allows me to experiment and take gambles with certain story aspects, like Optimus killing Reiner in the Episode 1 Timeline, having the Decepticons hijack the story in the War Timeline, Predaking being considered a deity, Starscream and Shockwave taking over the world, etc.

Other than that, I'm just happy I was able to finish the story. I still have one more chapter, but I made it to the end and I'm proud.

[deathbxnny]

(THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE CONTROL DEVIL ARC AND CSM PART 2)

OKAY SO HERE IT IS! So can i request platonic hcs of Nayuta x best friend human reader. So in the manga, it is said that Nayuta goes to public school. So what if she meets someone that looks to be around her age and later becomes best friends with her. The both of them are inseperable, they do everything together. Also i like to think that the reader would sometimes joins Nayuta on walking the dogs while they just talk about anything

How would Denji react to Nayuta’s best friend who is overall a positive influence to Nayuta?

Also would Nayuta reveal that she is a devil to her best friend?

Thought i should send a fluffy request rn. Hope this is alright and have a good day/night!

(Also quick question, since your now reluctant to do HSR, does that mean my other 2 requests i sent before are on hold or what? If it is, im okay with that. Just take your time)

- Flower anon 🌸

-----♡

A/N: Hey there! I absolutely love this idea! Nayuta is so cute and I love the way she interacts with Denji! So thank you for the fluffy request!<33

Also, like I said previously, I cleared out my entire inbox before going into a break to reduce stress!

Content: SPOILERS FOR THE CONTROL DEVIL ARC!, Fluff, Platonic relationships, kid reader, sfw

Reader has no set pronouns!

((Not fully proofread))

-----♡

Nayuta didn't know what to really think of you at first. To her, you were just another kid in her class, nothing too special. She respected you as her classmate and that was about it for a while, until she saw you drawing some cute dogs in your notebook during class. She sat next to you, wide eyes watching with curiosity and interest, as your hand moved across the paper.

She complimented your talent and you thanked her with a smile, telling her that dogs were your favourite animal. She warmed up to you pretty fast after that and eventually asked you to join her on walking her dogs. Denji was a little confused, when he saw her eagerly getting ready and seemingly in a much lighter mood than usual. "What are you so happy about?" "Wouldn't you like to know?" She sasses with a huff, but at the sight of you happily greeting her and Denji for the walk, the older boy quickly realised what was happening.

He couldn't help but smile, glad to see Nayuta finally having a good friend, as he waved you both a small goodbye. He also hoped you'd be a good influence on her. She really needed someone to show her how to be normal human kid and surely you could help her with that. You began visiting Nayuta alot, always playing together with her dogs and talking to Denji, who you considered pretty cool, despite Nayuta finding him annoying sometimes.

Nayuta eventually begins calling you her bestfriend too, just like you did with her. You two knew everything about eachother and never had any secrets... except for the one single thing that Nayuta kept from you. She wasn't the one to care much about what other people really thought of her. But things were different with you. And her being a devil could possibly ruin the friendship with you that she loved so much.

It takes her months of friendship to finally feel safe and confident enough to tell you and when she does, she's surprised at how casual you are with it. You don't judge her for it, nor seem to care all too much either. Nayuta is Nayuta to you, devil or not. She's surprised by your acceptance, but figured she shouldn't have expected anything else either.

You're her best friend after all.

-----♡

A/N: Alright, I hope this is okay! Thank you again for the request, it's great to write smth not hsr related!<33

[kissmetwicekissmedeadly]

4 years, 40 facts about me loving napo... let's go 🏃🏻‍♀️

...or as @leonscape called it, 40 "Mopoleon" facts?! (picrew link)

the date of our "anniversary", June 19th, is one day after the date of the battle of Waterloo 💀

both our given names are of Italian origin

we're both leo zodiac signs

our birthdays are 8 days apart, in the same month

he's my first otome route ever played

i've only played his route once, in July 2019

i've never seen his dramatic ending

my first impression of him on a teaser tweet of ikevamp EN was that he looks like an asshole, and I didn't like his looks either...

my falling for him was utterly illogical as despite these thoughts I put him on my phone wallpaper a few days later (still before the release of ikevamp EN)

as of right now ao3 says he appears in 59 of my posted works: the total number of fics I have published with him is higher as a few of those are stand-alones in a multichapter fic (napoleon bday prompts 2019 +9, yumeweek 2020 +5, mini requests +4, headcanons +11 ) ...he appears in about 1/3 of all my fics!

we share a hobby of reading biographies! the official ikevamp character sheets state it as his hobby

our height difference is 18 cm

the @xxsycamore blog exists solely because of him, as well as my passion for writing - I started this blog because I wanted to express my love in some kind of creative way, as previously (and for the longest time) I thought my medium would be art instead of writing

despite that, my first ever posted fic is not with him but with Arthur!

I've always loved languages but he had influence over my choice of learning especially french in uni. It's hell but I don't regret it at all

I have a playlist with sleepy-themed songs for him 🥺

birds are my favorite animals (any kind) and he has a pet eagle!!

our mbti personality types are a so-called perfect match! infp + enfj

I don't like black-haired, blue-eyed men because of him, it was my type before him too! (not many such ikemens around but I have a handful of faves like that from other media)

as the fictional napoleon bonaparte is light years away from the historical figure, I thought I wouldn't be interested in learning about him - until I ended up reading multiple books on him, the thickest of which 680 pages... while I don't mix the two in my head, the napoleonic era history (+ russian empire history) is still pretty cool to know imo!

there's hardly any writer around here who hasn't received a napoleon request from me at least once... I'm so sorry...

it is implied in the game that napo has kissed boys (they were taking turns waking him up and they all know of his habit......) which gives me enough reason to headcanon him as bi....like me 🥺

I really suck at completing the bday creation challenges I host for him, as last year I did 0 prompts and the year before that 2....but in 2019 I did 10!

I love making bday gifts. I love birthdays. I don't have the exact number but last year a lot of characters received a bday fic from me but not napo 💀 partly because I was shadowbanned back then!

the only real tradition I have when it comes to his bday is to make homemade crepes since it's his favorite food! but my favorite part is eating them...

I still haven't watched the movie "Napoleon & Me"...

I don't have much napo merch, but I do have the Naplushieon doll which is plenty

I was still in highschool (11th grade) when I fell for him 🥺🥺🥺 it feels like ages ago

I love the song written for the ikevamp stage play and sung by his voice actor Nobunaga Shimazaki, "Lucida", so much you can even find it and play it on my blog... recently some kind soul uploaded the whole version on youtube (I've been waiting for so long....) and I haven't been the same since

my dream napo merch is the clothes hanger with his neck and face so that I can hang my silly little sundresses on him (I'm going to make it on my own actually, just watch)

after having so many random fic ideas for him that will never see the light of day, I accepted the facts at last and now I feel so much better and more chill

I'm currently working on fanart series where I try to post one tablet-drawn art of him every month... I have trouble keeping them simple as desired sometimes but I'm having lots of fun while learning (I still consider myself fairly new to drawing with my tablet)

once I wrote a death anniversary fic for napo!

the best napo song i've discovered so far is Wings by Su!YoON!

I don't know. anything. about his sequel. i just know the cgs. not that is hard to avoid spoilers LMAO

my most favorite napo cg is the 5th bday one (where they're in a field of roses) (it was on my phone's background for a very long time)

my most favorite napo card...that's a trick question but I think the one that is on the left banner in my blog (desktop view)

yes, yes I do want to go to Corsica one day what about it. I have a lot of other dream trip destinations too!

yes, I do love Napoleon cake (It's a russian recipe) (it was my bday cake in 2020)... but so do I love a whole lot of other cakes...!

Fact number 40 is that I love Napoleon a normal amount 😇 nono listen!! I do talk a lot about him, and here I tried compilating facts that are not too cheesy: believe it or not there are days I don't think about him, ok! I never pressure myself to get all the event bonus stories, or to always have a fic ready for him... in a world where im a worrywart about anything and everything, he's my safe place? my chill place? And if I begin to think about the gigantic mass of things surrounding him that are exactly aligning with what I love, with what comforts me, with what traits im looking for in a person, i'm going to get dizzy. So let's end this here with me saying, ily so much Napoleon 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 im such a nunuche sometimes but im your nunuche ‼️‼️

[acescorazon]

Hiiii not really a question, just wanted to say that I discovered your fics recently on Ao3 and they're all my absolute favourite since then, I'm always looking forward to receiving an email saying that you posted something!!! I just joined Tumblr today and I have no idea how it works ahah but I'm so glad I can follow you there now, because you truly are one of my fav fic writers. Your Buggy is always absolutely perfect and he did not help with my obsession over his character eheh. Anyway, thank you for your good work, and know that the way you write Buggy influences me a lot on how I perceive him and how he acts in my AU (not actually writing anything, just creating little world in my head eheh). Oh and also: it's thanks to you that I now ship Buggy with Mihawk and Crocodile! Since I've only seen the live action, I didn't really know enough about Mihawk and, obviously, nothing about Crocodile; but because of your fics I now ship them SO much. Thanks to you, Buggy has 3 boyfriends in my AU and he's very glad ahah. Anyway, it's a long message for nothing but I guess the most important thing here is: thank you, keep your amazing work <3

I'M ABOUT TO WRITE THE SHIT OUT OF THIS RESPONSE.

Hiiiiiiii bbyyy :((( Thank you for writing me something so nice! I really appreciate it!!! Nice comments and asks like these really make my day and i mean that!! Thank you!!! Tumblr is shit (derogatory) but it could be worse, it could be tw- Jk it's not that bad here and i think you'll like it :) Also ofc thank you for the follow :) Thank you for everything really! I could write an essay on Buggy alone but i won't...not today at least kljlsdjksdjlakjsdasdas. nobody asked but i'm obsessed with the idea of Buggy being a brat and or just a little shit in general which is why i often write him the way i do LMAO. He's a funny little guy, and i love him in the live action as much as i love him in the anime/manga but i think he could be a little more pathetic. i do remember seeing the trailer tho and being like "lol" but two seconds later being like..."Idk...WHY'S HE KINDA..." LMAOOOOO. i don't know if you write or draw but if you do, then you should cook something up. ((We support and encourage others in this household.)) also bestie. B E S T IE. Best friend. i ain't telling you how to live your life but if you have access to the Shounen Jump app wherever you live and you got 2.99 (some of us don't, no hate here.) and if you got some time, then i recommend you read a little story called one piece LMAOOOO. I ain't one of those people who will tell you it gets good in ch/ep 80938423984023984023948 lol. i've liked it since the beginning but thats ME. You ain't gotta read or watch all of that shit to know if something's good and if you like it lmao, or at least that's how i feel. anyways it seems like it takes 80 years to get through but that's really only bc of the pacing in the anime lol, it comes out weekly and ofc the animation studio wouldn't want to catch up with the actual manga sooooo they act a lil sily in terms of pacing LMAO. it's still that bitch in my opinion though, but that's my opinion and you can see that it has 1000+ episodes and be like ..."i aint watching all that shit." LMAO FAIR. IT'S GOOD THO. BOTH THE ANIME AND MANGA ARE GOOD!!! and they both have their pros and cons when it comes to consuming them. ANYWAYYYYYYS. yeah if you have like, time, 2.99, And the shounen jump app is available wherever you are (also u can go to like Viz's official website and your shounen jump subscription will carry through there too :) ) THEN I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE PIECE!!! (btw you can read 100 chs A DAY of op or they have other mangas too bby YEEEEEE) or if you have time then i also recommend watching the anime its... it's that bitch, i don't know. If you do end up liking it then netflix can help you take a nice bite out of the series, there's also like funimation/crunchyroll... or... *whispers* there are other...ways...to watch the anime....*whispers* ...are you a cop? LMAOOOOOO.

It's really good though with a whole bunch of lovable characters that the live-action doesn't even begin to be able to get into. you didn't ask, you didn't ask, but me personally, my favorite arc is Alabasta, which is the place they should be going to next season in the live action!! it also introduces one of my favorite little villains: Crocodile!!! idk i love it and i love him LOLLLL which i shouldn't bc he's...he's not a good man but i'm 26 i'm allowed to like toxic anime men, i've earned that right. (also you can like things and criticize them/acknowledge their flaws.) ANYWAYS, ANYWAYS, I'M RAMBLING, but yeah, it's good eating, and i highly suggest you get into the actual series if you liked the live action because the series itself is more in depth. Plus, P L U S, there's more Mihawk, Crocodile, and Buggy content AND THATS A WIN TO ME. lajsldajskdajsdlasjd. it's fun and as an added bonus there's a sense of community and you can always come back here and scream your thoughts to me (and everyone else) if you like it. Like i'm honored by your compliments but nothing i write could ever compare to the actual series itself LOLLLLL.

ANYWAYS THANKS SO MUCH!!!! ILYYYYY!!! I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY, A GOOD WEEK, A GOOD YEAR!!!!!!!!!! MUAH!!!!!

[canmom]

Man, it is refreshing to find someone else who wasn't impressed by Frieren's demon arc. It is not like I disliked it, I do like this kind of shonen action bullshit, it is fun. But to me it seems like a step down to the earlier episodes, the show downplaying its own strong points to do common action. It is surprising to me so many people seemed to love it as much as they did, it is the lowest point of the show so far for me.

Mmm. 'Didn't dislike it, but a step down' is a good summary - it deemphasised what made the show stand out narratively, to try to be something else. If I was in the mood to watch Kimetsu no Yaiba or Jujutsu Kaisen I would! Fortunately, we seem to be getting back on track with ep 11 - I'll be writing that up once I've watched another 4-6 more episodes. I'm getting pretty near the end of the first cour, so I might watch up to there.

Bit of a weird cour length at 16 episodes, but honestly that's good - I'd love to see 'seasonal' anime be more able to break free from the pacing constraints of 'it must always be 12-13 episodes'. Sometimes that's not the best way to slice up a manga!

One thing I do appreciate about the simultaneous success of Frieren and Dungeon Meshi is that they're both fantasy anime which don't do the isekai thing and put some effort into establishing a setting which feels like people live there. They're both very overtly RPG-influenced, but neither is actual litRPG, which is very much to their benefit. Ryōko Kui's passion for lovingly constructing her fantasy setting goes without saying. I'm told the Frieren manga sketches its setting rather loosely, but the anime is doing a whole lot to flesh it out as a place people live, because they let Seiko Yoshioka go absolutely nuts.

I was chatting with kvin on the sakugablog server (senpai...!) and he mentioned one particular instance - there's a scene Eisen is tending to the graves of his family. In the manga it looks like this:

Nondescript piles of dirt with a rock on top that are just next to his house. (Also, oof, this colouring. I thought this was a fan colouring at first but no that's official.) When we cut forward 50 years, we see Eisen leaving flowers: they're in big wrapped bouquets like you'd buy at a supermarket. The little Minecraft hut hasn't changed at all.

In the anime, it looks like this:

Not only do we have the recurring use of fields of flowers as a symbol of remembrance, there's clearly been some thought put into the design of the grave markers - even if we're not told what the spherical stone might mean, it obviously means something, and you have the stone as a symbol of permanence. There's those little ritual plates for offerings. And, significantly, it's clear that Eisen has added to these graves over the intervening 50 year period: the graves in the later time are larger, with more stones. The area around the grave site has more flowers and another tree that's grown. It's clear he's been carefully tending to this site his whole life. It's that kind of attention to detail that really makes this anime shine.

It's clear this anime was a real labour of love, and I don't want to deny that there is a lot to praise in the demon arc. I didn't mention it in my post, but the scene where Frieren commands Aura to kill herself (after Aura's mind control attempt backfires) is impressively brutal - apparently episode director Nobuhide Kariya acted that scene out with an umbrella, complete with expressions. (The expressiveness of the acting does a lot to foreshadow the demons having more complex characterisation, too. I hope.) It's just quite a weak storyline off the bat, so the execution can only do so much to elevate it.

Honestly, skimming the manga a bit, I'm all the more impressed by this adaptation. Admittedly, some of it is down to a weak scanlation that doesn't read very well, but it really doesn't have the same impact at all on paper. It's not just the fight episode - throughout, the anime staff clearly gave themselves freedom to interpolate and expand in ways that end up making the manga feel like a rough draft.

...actually come to think of it, they did a similar thing with Bocchi. The manga is a 4koma (by all accounts a good one), and they fleshed it out into a more substantial story with a strong emotional arc and also all the wacky experimental animation gags you could hope for. So I guess that's kind of just how Keiichiro Saito rolls! But it's really impressive how adeptly this team is able to handle such a completely different register. Bocchi and Frieren could hardly look more different on the surface.

Anyway, I'll save any more comments for the next part of this impromptu liveblog.

[thepaleys]

History has always fascinated me. I like looking at the past and discovering the pieces that led us to where we are today. But what truly fascinates me is how a single event, sometimes even a random coincidence, a stroke of luck (or bad luck) can change the course of History forever.

What if Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon had a son? Would England still be a Catholic country? What if Franz Ferdinand and his wife had not been shot in an alley? What if Adolf Hitler had not left the room a few minutes after an explosion that could have ended his life?

Like many children born in the 1990s, I was also fascinated by the animated movie "Anastasia", which famously explores one of these "what if" scenarios. What if one Romanov had survived the brutal execution of the family in 1918?

The movie itself was enough to stir my imagination, but, after I learnt the real story in a History class many years later, I was hooked for life. The sheer tragedy of it all. A close-knit family, a kind Tsar who could not handle the pressures of his position, Alexei's illness, Rasputin's influence, his assassination, the family's ultimate demise. For the first years of this new-found interest, I read extensively about Nicholas II and his family.

At the same time, I had taken an interest in the so-called 'Golden Age' of Hollywood. I started watching movies from the 1950s, the 1940s and, finally, the 1930s. It didn't take long for me to discover George Cukor and all his fantastic collaborations with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. And, as I was going through his movies, I eventually arrived at a less known work called "Sylvia Scarlett".

As I always do when I finish watching a movie, I headed over to the IMDb page to check information about the movie and cast. And then, as I was going through this, I discovered that one of the actresses, Natalie Paley was a Romanov! Well, not a full Romanov, but she was the granddaughter of Alexander II, and her father and brother had both been killed during the Russian Revolution.

Reader, little did I know that this would mark the beginning of a life-long interest in the Paleys, the morganatic family of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia.

It's not an easy task to find information about them and that's probably the reason why it has taken me so many years to gather what I have. It's a constant chase in order to have a clearer picture of their lives, their personalities, their tragedies.

At the same time, my mind could never stay still while I uncovered their lives and I was always wondering how their lives could have turned out if there hadn't been a revolution.

After a while, I discovered the perfect outlet to let my imagination run at a little website called Pan Historia, on a collaborative fiction work called The Romanovs: One Last Dance. On and off and through many personal changes and tragedies on my own personal life, I've been writing there for 15 years.

However, over the last year, I felt the need to pick up all the loose ends, give structure to what I have and start my own story, in the hopes that I can finally finish it, close this chapter of my life and move on to different things.

This blog will document that journey. I will share all the information I gathered over the years about the Paleys, as well as other characters based on real people from the 1920s and early 30s that participate in this story.

If you like Alternate Histories, I invite you to take a look at what I have published so far at Wattpad. But even if you don't and are just interested in the Romanovs, the Paleys or even the Romanian royal family, this might be an interesting corner of Tumblr for you.

Hop along on this journey with me!

[melodraca]

Hey! I saw in one of your posts, in the tags, that you were an English major. I'm going to college soon, and I was wondering if you had any advice on picking out your major. What do you like about majoring in English, and what exactly do English majors do? Thank you!

First of all, congrats! That's really exciting! I really hope you enjoy your time in college! Second, this is gonna be a bit long, so I apologize in advance o7

I'm honestly not sure how helpful this is, but for the longest time I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I actually enrolled in university as a mature student a good 5-ish years after I graduated high school. I was so tired of school-related stress (and the way that the public school system functioned in general) that I was honestly considering not even going to post-secondary. I bounced between different potential majors, although I couldn't help but feel tired just thinking about them, like I would be going to school out of obligation or societal expectation rather than genuine passion.

When I came back around to the idea years later, I started poking around my local university's website. As I was going through, reading everything over, and clicking through different subjects, I realized that I was actually really feeling excited about school for the first time... pretty much ever. Because I realized that I had the chance to do things at my own pace, with a focus on subjects that I actually liked, rather than what my family expected would get me a traditionally "good job."

I narrowed my major down to a choice between English and creative writing, but I ultimately went with English. As much as I love creative writing, I prefer doing it as a hobby. It's the same with art for me: getting too serious with it made me feel less passionate and creative (to be fair though, I did take two first year creative writing classes as electives and I am genuinely proud of the stuff I wrote for them!)

With English, I could do my favourite thing in the world: overthinking literature and talking ad nauseam about the media I like. I love rambling, and writing essays is pretty much just organized info-dumping. I also wanted to learn more about history and culture, especially the way that they influence and are influenced by the works of literature, film, etc. of the times. In my experience so far, English classes have mostly consisted of reading or watching a bunch of texts, analyzing them & picking them apart, discussing said texts with my peers, and comparing/contextualizing them with each other. It's way more fun for me than it probably sounds to most people haha

Side note: I'm also taking biology as a minor (specifically with a focus on zoology because I love animals). The contrast between using the more creative and writerly side of my brain, and the more logical sciencey and side works well for me.

I'm still not super career focused, though I have certainly thought about it. I'm on disability support right now, so thankfully I'm fortunate enough to not need to juggle work and school. Ideally, I would love it if my degree landed me a stable job that doesn't make me feel miserable or put the same strain on me that retail and food service do. But I'm kinda just going with the flow for now.

Anyways, that's all to say: look over all of your options and narrow it down to the ones that draw your interest and passion the most. Consider what you want out of school, explore the potential career options that each subject could bring if that's your goal, and generally go with what makes you feel the best.

I know most schools have exploratory courses and academic advisors that can help you figure out what you want to do, so I would definitely look into that! Oh, and look into the required classes for each subject too! It personally helped me organize and prepare for everything I would need to do so that I was less blind-sighted by, as an example, my mandatory statistics class for my biology minor (I'm DEFINITELY not a math person)

Good luck, and I'm sorry again for how long this got! I wish you the best :D

[screentime-princess]

Some thoughts on Titans (hbo max) now that show ended.

(In my head it's not over, bc I'm big on rewatching things so... anyways)

Okay. So first thing I want to make clear is that I'm super new to DC and stuff. I've seen arrowverse, most of it, and some movies, also I really like and care about these characters even though show isn't the best, as I hear everyone say and I kinda agree. But still I like the show!!!

Another thing is that I've seen a lot of people hate on this show and I get that it's not the best show, like writing is sometimes very iffy but I think that it's a good introduction to these characters for someone who has never seen anything or read the comics or stuff like that.

Next one is that I am one season short of finishing Gotham and then I plan on watching DC Animated Universe. So I guess my opinions from this post, might change in the future.

So yeah. Here it goes.

I liked the way first season focused on characters and not so much story even though the bigger story was always it like in the back of the episode(s). But I really enjoyed the fact that it was focused mainly on characters of Dick, Hank. Dawn etc. Who they are as people and how what happened to them is influencing their actions. I really liked every character introduction fr.

Even though I watched the show in like few weeks and then waited for last few episodes to come out week by week, I feel like they should have made Dick and Kory cannon or whatever way sooner. They did, kinda, in those dreams/hallucinations, but still, as much as I like this little kind of open ending, I feel like they have so much chemistry, and it just should've happened sooner. When they were in Gotham that Barbara again storyline, I don't know. That wasn't my cup of tea. Also, the flashback episode with Aqualad in season 2, why introduce a character to be killed?! Give us something else than a cute little love story between Donna and Garth and then pain. I don't know. It was so sudden and I don't like character deaths just for the sake of story line.

One thing I did really like was Gar and Rachel, from the beginning from their first meet-cute in the arcade. It was so freaking cute. The fact that they are different, special, that mutual understanding and acceptance ugh. I don't know why we didn't get that like cannon confirmation that they are a thing. We got all those like little cute scenes of them sitting together and stuff but I don't know, I just needed something real just as for Dick and Kory.

As for other characters, I really liked everyone. Conner's little split good and evil personas. Dawn is the most gentle soul I love her so much. Hank was annoying at moments but he was fine. Donna is the beauty, she is grace. <Tim3 (that's how I feel about him). (And I rant about Jason later, wait for it). I don't know what to say like, I really really liked everyone.

Now, maybe I do a separate post about season 4 because it's the, you know, the freshest one in my head but I did rewatch some of the episodes so idk.

As I'm writing this, I see that it's not all like in chronological order as the seasons progress, but I hope you get the gist of it. I wanted to say that I cannot imagine in my head waiting entire week for the episode about Connor after Jason gets dropped off a building even though I knew that's not how he dies fr, I was scared shitless, like, I love him so much, I don't know. Also that fucking scene on the roof killed me, like it seriously messed me up and no one ever talked about it ever again (him being suicidal). Also Dick going of alone every chance he gets to do stupid shit that would 100% get him killed (babe have you heard of therapy, no?).

The thing that bothered me the most, throughout the entire show is how only Gar seemed to care about others. He was the only one to care about anyone. Only one who gave a fuck when Jason died. Like when Kory was mad @ Jason for "getting himself killed"<<<< (what?). He was the only one that was trying to find out what happened to Jason and how he came back. And he did find out (Go Gar).

I know now that that is most likely because of his connection to all the things dead and living, but they explained it very late in the show, so for someone who has no background knowledge, it was confusing.

Major thing that bothers me -> Why is everyone hating on... Literally everyone. Like these people, actors and actresses did in my opinion, amazing job. Considering the writing, okay?

Like let's be fucking for real. This is the first live action adaptation of these characters. And it could have been so much worse. Let's be honest. It could have been so.much.worse. But it's fine and I think that if people are just okay, with something being different, it would have been fine. Like it doesn't have to be the same as in comics. And from what I heard, there are many interpretations of these characters in different comics and different animated series. I don't understand why everything has to be by the book. Like I've been a MCU fan for a while. And l feel like as much as Marvel fans are like haters at the bottom of their souls (not as much as Star Wars fans) and they are (haters), I feel like they appreciate change a little more. (Haters comment is about fanboys don't get ne wrong babes)

It's fine that it's different. Different is okay. Most of hate I've seen is about Jason. And I don't know, like, people calling him a whining c word?!?!?!? Sorry, why is it bad that he's portrayed with more emotions? Or him feeling like he is not good enough (relatable) and always being second thought would bring anyone to tears (it brought me to tears). So why is that a bad thing in portrayal of this character? Like I said, I know very little about his character and I feel like this introduction is fine, it made me care about him. Isn't that what other people in the fandom want? For other people to care. Why does it have to be a specific version? It made me care. That should be enough no? It made me want to learn more about these characters. So why is everyone so offended by this version of Jason Todd? It doesn't make any sense in my head. I was literally losing my shit watching episode 11 of season 4. Last week was peek of my existence because of him showing up again. I have no words.

So yeah, I don't know. I have so many thoughts about this show and no one to talk to because my friends are lame, not watching the same shows I'm watching, watching Bridgerton and shit (no hate to Bridgerton fans).

<3 if you read it all, thank you <3

[lunalit-river]

[Update] Far Side of the Moon Ch.25

It has been some time now since I promoted my fic on Tumblr (because I am not very used to the user interface of Tumblr, and I am still learning how reblogging and comments work. They are definitely different from Meta's 'Share', right???)

Far Side of the Moon - Chapter 25 - Lunalit_river - Death Note (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own]

[Babbling]

In later chapters, I quite let go of writing long notes in AN; it didn't feel the same when I started the story. Ah! The passion for the story- don't get me wrong, I still do love my plot and story- but the urge to share my headcanon in AN gradually faded away as interactions seemed not very active. Nevermind. So don't do it on AO3 when you have some sort of expectation, turn to TUMBLR where I have no expectation of anyone really commenting my post, YAY! (As for reddit because too much people will read it, unless I really want to get it out...most of the time I feel shy.) Tumblr felt a lot like English plurk to me- ah yes Plurk does have english but you know...my Plurk is in Mandarin Chinese and people on Taiwanese Plurk are liberals, left wing, and plenty of cosplayers and fans of fandoms.

[Some more random babbling on FSOTM]

I like some sort of transformation shown in stories. How one person changed. How they started from being a normal person to madness. I never really believed in "he is who he is and has never changed." We change constantly. I like the movie Joker; you see the process of him getting pushed into the abyss, you see how he fell, how he was despairing again and again, how he struggled, and then became Joker. Very realistic. When watching I know that he will not be saved. But there was always hoping someone to walk into his miserable life and light up the darkness. Maybe I like the feeling of having hope and then seeing it vanish (in literature.) There was another movie with a similar plot, but the character was a teen. There were numerous times I was screaming inside "Someone save him! Pull him away from the darkness! Save his soul!" But no one came. Ah. So despair. Ah. Watch it again

Back to FSOTM. My beta asked me whether it was some sort of compensation to write Mello as..well, a seven-year-old boy acting as a little boy. Maybe? Isn't he adorable (smile) but I do know that Near and Mello each had L's personalities- Near the calm, reserved, rational one. Mello the angry little thunderstorm bold, quick thinker, willing to act one. I also think that Mello also has L's childishness in him. Everyone started pure and innocent. Some changed early. Some changed in a good way (education, influenced by others) while some fell.

As for L in this current chapter, I've always considered it hard for L to learn how to love someone else. It has to be slow...and it never starts out as him intentionally learning how to love. It is just reasonable things he thinks he could do under the relationship he and this person shared. And then one by one, gradually building up... It goes slow, like a toddler learning how to walk, and it must be a struggle and very strange to him, with plenty of wobbling and stumbling, but eventually, he learns how to walk.

“What’s wrong with sitting under a flower tree?” “I thought you didn’t appreciate flowers.” “I could learn to appreciate them. You and Watari both like flowers.”

If you like it, then I will learn to like the things that you like.

This is starting to give me Steven Universe vibes. Recommend this song "Love Like You"

I think this is enough babbling for today.

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

s1ep6 mr pigeon (blacklist my chirp.ml tag if you don't want these cluttering your dash. not that i'll be watching a bunch of eps back to back. and i'll probably not comment on all of them. just ones i come up with thoughts for)

the thing i was thinking about the whole episode was really that it's wild that sailor moon managed to fit these big plots into short run-times iirc

but it's so strange to me that the writers of ml can't

mr pigeon wasn't egregious like some other episodes, but it still felt like we were rushing thru everything so much and sailor moon did not feel like that ever

maybe crystal does a little bc they've obviously streamlined the storyline bc they're probably under the assumption that a lot of ppl watching crystal have already seen og sailor moon (tho i understand it's also a lot more accurate to the manga with less filler)

but even then, when i watch crystal, i don't feel like they're talking faster than they should. their cadence feels natural and normal and at a natural, normal speaking speed

everything in ml just feels sped up

the other thing i noticed was the influence of sailor moon itself on the show. and i remember from the time i was in the fandom and actively following the show, that the creator commented that he was heavily inspired by anime like sailor moon

the issue is i think he pulled a rwby and took elements from sailor moon he liked but didn't know why they worked (thanks to hbomb's rwby video for talking abt that)

like it's very obvious the transformations and the akuma are very similar to magical girl anime. but i specify sailor moon in this instance bc it feels like that was his biggest inspiration.

it's not a 1:1 comparison and no one can obvi say for sure unless the creator himself has said so and i didn't see it way back when, but the akuma feels very much inspired by the witches 5 arc, where tomoe (if i'm remembering his name, it's been a while) is making those eggs that infect ppl and turn them into negative monsters of themselves and when sailor moon cleanses them, the egg falls out, splits open, and released that negative spirit. see the similarities?

anyway, not relevant to mr pigeon, but again i think what happened was the creator took elements he liked but didn't know why and thus didn't know how to execute them. and couldn't tell his writing team/no one on his writing team knew why either. so they fumbled around and bit off more than they could chew.

that could be why the episodes feel so rushed and contrived. and hey maybe i'm looking at sailor moon thru rose-colored glasses bc i grew up with that anime. but even after having watched it a few years ago, it did not feel like the way ml feels watching it a few years later.

[freedfromthegalactichivemind]

#im one of those people who has the SPECIAL KIND of hatred for the harry potter series#that you can only get by being a huge fan of it as a kid I feel deep sorrow for everyone who has had such an experience. We all have pieces of media that are formative experiences, that dig in and form our souls in one way or another. This was your childhood. It encouraged you to write. And then to go back later and to see the awful things in it beneath the surface that you'd missed before that were in it... and to have the author become just an utter, destructive-turd has got be be an incredibly difficult thing. I didn't have passion for the series, so to try to understand it when I see people who did, I do a thought-experiment on things that I am and have been passionate about. My childhood favorite film and my (still) favorite single book: The Last Unicorn. That book is a huge influence on my writing and even thought. It has a lot to say about being a mortal vs. hypothetical immortality and the power of honest love. If you've read it, you know. The author, Peter S. Beagle is a rather low-key guy. He was desperately poor for a very long time because people he'd worked with cheated him out of rights to things. I have met him in person and gotten autographs on two versions of the book (text and graphic novel) from him and, oh, my God, he is the sweetest person. He is willing to sit at an anime-con table and *talk shop* with an aspiring writer. I think he's like, the anti-Rowling. Or, you know, the franchise that has shaped me perhaps even more - a series I got into as an adult (and have been re-watching and re-reading lately). Trigun. Trigun and the Trigun Maximum anime and manga (and it's recent reboot). To describe it would take too long, but the gist of it is that it is an exploration of the concept of pacifism vs. justified violence, a series of trolley-problems with extra people and extra trolleys, an exploration of how humans use and abuse resources and each other. Also sci-fi western landscapes, guns, soooo many big ridiculous guns and people who wear way too many belts! This series eats souls, I tell you. And I think it actually made me a better person - more willing to see all sides of any given issue and more interested in finding peaceful and equitable solutions. I know, weird for a series where there are minor villains that wear neon suits and have trains grafted into them and there's a race of beings that lives in lightbulbs, but, yeah. The manga-artist behind it all is, by all accounts and interviews, an incredibly chill guy. Goofy. A geek. It's not a gay-manga (despite what the fandom interprets), but there are actual trans characters. (One is a villain, but is, like the strongest human on the planet and she is not a villain due to being trans, she's a villain because of loyalty to the main and being a part of a group of villains where everyone's testing their maximum strength. One is neutral and their gender is bugs. I don't even think they have a gender in a human sense and it's treated as kind of fluid). So, again, an Anti-Rowling. I do the thought-experiment of "What if they were jerks? What if they turned into jerks?" And I can't imagine it. I just can't imagine if these people whose works have informed my own work and my life experience so damn much fell down some horrible anti-human-rights and oh, lookit me I'm so persecuted rabbit hole. It would be like having my liver ripped out. So, yeah... I'm sorry. It makes sense that it causes a media-trauma-response.

Someone tagged me on Facebook with this today, with the note “Has Entrapta.” I post this with apologies to Harry Potter fandom? I was never “into” Harry Potter, myself. I saw the movies back in the day, but I didn’t read the books and was never a fandom-person for it and was not passionate about it the way a lot of people were. I know that HP is a sore spot for a lot of people because they’d grown up on the books and were so passionate about the story and characters only for the author to become…what she became. I just thought it was neat. I did not make it. I do not know who made it. My friend who sent it to me didn’t link to original source. I think it was a thing she randomly found and decided to save and post because she’s seen Spop and knows what an Entrapta-nut I am, specifically.

[mentalblabbermouth]

I tell myself I am free to be silly and that includes feeling good about posting another ramble from my google docs

So anyway aside from Mario, I am also really into BATIM and when BATDR came out I lost my mind. Like 2017 me came crawling back from the depths of my mind and binge-watched Superhorrorbro Mike's gameplay when it came out. Distinctly remember having to pause at the biggest plot twist and just pace around my senior studio, rambling like a madman. (Little did I know someone was right outside the door, so whoever heard all that um no you didn't)

(From 9 Dec 2022) (Disclaimer: this is pure brainrot I guess but if you manage to read all this thanks so much! I get insecure about it, but I also really want to share my ramblings in the hopes of someone getting it so yeah)

Shut up I’m still thinking about Audrey, I have thoughts and questions like did she start out as a baby? How long did she even get to grow up with Joey before he died? If her story starts in 1973, and the first game was in 1963, and she has to be in like her early twenties, and Joey died in 1971, then what? That’s two years! Had she always known and just forgot when she entered the machine? Did he put her in an orphanage when she was little? And how did she even end up at Archgate? 

   Maybe she did get to grow up with her father and forgot when she entered the machine and she rediscovers the book with his notes, not understanding its true meaning. Nathan had promised to look after her, which is why she’s an animator at Archgate. She probably told him what happened to his son and after the damage the machine did, it hit the news and Gent got word and secretly took it away.

   Come to think of it, Allison works at Archgate, so maybe Audrey later realizes Allison Connor and Allison Pendle are the same.

   ALSO! Audrey didn’t recognize Henry, but she has the drawing he gave to Joey, so what? Does she put two and two together later on? Did she never get to meet the real him? Did Joey never talk about him? 

   THEORY TIME: There’s also the whole “uncle” thing. I feel like, bear with me here I promise, Audrey’s somehow connected to Henry. Think about it! She’s a talented animator and hard worker, literally employee of the month at Archgate. He originally created the toons and you know Joey basically took the credit. And the whole soul thing. You can’t separate the creation from the creator no matter what, and I think it’s parallel between Audrey with Joey and Bendy with Henry. Look at this weird family. Audrey’s soul was made, maybe from a piece of Joey’s soul, and a part of that was given to Bendy when they made it to the real world. 

   In “Dreams Come to Life”, Joey mentions how he shared his soul with Henry, so obviously the two were close, and whether they like it or not they influenced each other. What I’m getting at is that some of that artistic talent and creativity may have seeped into Audrey. If the Ink Machine is like a pen or canvas, and ink stains, then who's to say that in creating Audrey, parts of her are composed of the important people in Joey’s life: Allison and Henry? Writing it down kind of makes sense. Now, of course similar dialogue lines are probably just references to the first game, but what if?

As a treat for making it this far and while I have the confidence rn, here's some old-ish art technically from last year? I just like the potential between strained character relationships, the drama of it all ✨🤌.

Now, of course neither of the games are perfect and the storyline itself is kind of mixed up/confusing in some places, and this all may be a bunch of hogwash, but that's the beauty of fan work I guess, filling in the pieces and connecting dots like that one Charlie Day meme.

Once again I cast my lot into the digital sea of content like a note in a bottle, hoping to be uncorked and read by a stranger in the midst of multitudes, received not with scorn, but acceptance and understanding.

Anyway that's all for today, as always, thanks for reading!

[browniefox]

hey just out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to have a playlist for Detours would you? (side note– if there is i'd absolutely love to see you explain your reasoning behind some of the songs/what they're supposed to represent! playlists for fics/characters are just about my favorite thing EVER)

There is! I've had it for a minute, but only in the last chapter or two have I been linking it at the end. You can also now find it Right Here. Making playlists has become something of a habit lol especially for any fandom/writing that I'm devoting a decent chunk of time to.

It's sort of a mix of songs that I feel deeply connect to the fic and some that are just 'idk the vibes are there', and then sometimes they influence the flow of the fic. There's a lot of songs on it, so I wont' talk about all of them, but here's a few explanations (and if you listen and want to know why I put a song in, absolutely ask me! Happy to answer!):

Re:Re: (single version) - this is the song from the anime which to by frank I didn't watch, but my sister did and told me all about it. It's a bop, and it has timetravel in it, so that's why it's here lol.

Never Love an Anchor - The song sort of has this idea of like misunderstood/disconnected relationships with a hint of not being totally honest (at least that's how I understand it). I feel like it kind of embodies Akari's relationships back in Hisui, as well as the relationships Ingo will have with people he knew before he went to Hisui.

Don't Wanna Know - This one goes out to Ingo! He's caught in a place where he still has a lot to do, is constantly aware of the attention everybody is paying to him but also doesn't care but also know he should care more than he is.

The Villain I Appear to Be - Assuming that plot stuff continues on the same trajectory as it currently sits in my head, this is a secret tool we'll use later.

Deadlock - Trying to figure out your memory through muscle memory, having no bhoice but to continue trying in what you're working towards. It works really well for Ingo, but It also works well for Rei and Dawn.

His Glorious Return - This one goes out to all the DGS fans. Spoilers if you want to play it (which you should it's a very very very good game) but a character recovers from amnesia as this song plays.

[turnaroundroundround]

Morimyu in Classical reference

So, as for the fact that music in Morimyu Op. 3 resembles classical music in both progression and musical technicality, it's interesting how it's possible to keep coming up with different interpretations after re-watching the musical again and again.

I've made a thread on twitter about this before, but 1) word limitations and thread will never be enough to list all that I have to say lol 2) I'd prefer to have a fuller version noted down, especially one that I can edit and keep coming back over and over again when ever I come up with something new.

Either way, I am still (lol) not a pro in music theory and music history as well. All that is written here are based on my very very basic knowledge on music as well as something that I've picked up (and discussed) with my friends after watching Op. 3.

What's the point of this?

Why is it important? Lol I always need this to keep myself from writing off-topic but anyways. Why do the music sound good (except for the fact that because it does lol), and what do they represent? Surely there must be, and there always are, other things that are implied not only through the lyrics but also the music, and the flow in general.

Apart from the lyrics and the lines, it's also quite interesting to have a close look at the music - melody and harmony itself - to see how they portray the stories.

Most importantly, the continuality. How did Morimyu manage to insert so many songs and still managing to connect them as a whole? And how did they use music to go beyond what's on the pages? That's the most important thing about musicals - beyond the pages. We don't see stage or anime doing so very often, as they mainly focus on what's already there, bringing them to life as close as possible to how we imagine things might happen.

As for musical, they have the music. They have the arias and the songs. At some point, a character starts singing, and other characters followed suit. They have their very unique way of expressing the plot, and they have the orchestra, the arias where characters get their solo song, and the duets between characters with strong relationships, and the ensemble which emphasizes the plot, and so on.

A funny thing about duets in classical opera, they're often meant to show lovers' relationship because of the harmony but can also use opposition and all to show enemies' relationship. And in SherLiam's duet it's just both of them at the same time - thoughts connected while engaging in a chase, a hide and seek game of mystery. We'll go into that later.

Back to the topic. Morimyu follows the main plot strictly, but also uses their advantage with music to add all the side details that wasn't told in the manga to create a "complete" view of the plot. It is always available for musicals to do something unexpected (like how we never expected Lestrade's puppet show to be a whole 5 mins long piece lol). And where they did that they added arias and duets, they allowed moments where characters express and developed their emotions as well as going with the plan (yes Albert yessss). Of course there's both a good and bad side to this all the while.

💛 The good thing is they went all the way to show us sides of emotions that we don't see much in the manga or stage, the sides of the story that all of them have kept hidden while focusing on their grand plan. 💛 But then it does get too emotional at some point, especially those who came for the plot and the mind games behind all of it (like me - although I won't deny that I had a lot of fun picking out all the emotions behind the music here lol).

Musicals can always go beyond what we knew. As for Morimyu, their music is heavily influenced by opera and classical music, and it's shown quite clear. There is live music playing (instead of the entire orchestra we have a violin and piano duet), and they have distinctive arias and recitatives throughout.

So thanks to that, it's also possible to use a reference from classical music to interpret their songs.

A Sonata formation - The Narrative Series of SherLiam

Yes, songs arranged and analysed with reference to a Sonata formation, especially in the way they progress through the play.

Some notes before getting into the point

1 - Sonata = a piece of music consisting of several movements - very often 3, sometimes 4. First movement-Allegro: With the quick tempo, introducing the theme of the entire Sonata Second movement-Adagio/Largo: Slow tempo, can be emotional sometimes, as well as leading more towards the final movement Third movement-Rondo Vivace: The ending, quick-paced and vigorous, leading the Sonata to a close. A Sonata always has a general theme, a topic. The theme that I chose to write about is Mystery - the Hide and Seek game between the Detective and Lord of Crime

2 - Aria and Recitative = different types of songs used in an opera Recitative: Lines within a song that happens like a real conversation, as the characters sing they are also talking to each other Aria: A solo section where everything else is a freeze frame, while one actor remains and sing their own song about their thoughts, feelings, etc. In this post we're mainly discussing the arias of Sherlock and Liam, and the duet between them. But there's also some mention of recitatives here and there.

3 - Videos used To make it easier to understand which songs I'm talking about, I also arranged them in piano. And also to have a listen at how they might connect. Just in case the videos beneath don't work (they didn't work on my phone), the three songs discussed are Nazo, Liam's solo, Kokoro no Rondo, all piano arrangements.

All of the songs noted in this section are arias and duets from Op. 3 - the Ghost of the Whitechapel. The additional "series" that Morimyu has added spreading throughout the play, Sherlock and Liam's narratives, which portrays both their emotions and the chase between the detective and the Lord of Crime.

First Movement - Allegro: Nazo(謎) song

Starting from Lestrade's exit after his puppetshow and proceed to the scene, Sherlock's aria introduces the theme of the imaginary hide and seek game that the Lord of Crime has started. The song repeats the word (mystery) over and over again with a continuous rhythm.

Ends with Sherlock just mumbling the word Nazo (mystery) and exiting the stage - no conclusions, just like a mystery that leads into further mysteries with no answer.

♛♛♛ In regards to a Sonata formation, this is the beginning of the entire piece. Quick in tempo, written in 3/4 time and introduces the theme of the entire piece - Mystery.

Uso ka Shinjitsu ka - Lie or Truth song

Starting after Sherlock learns the truth behind Jack the Ripper, wondering if Lord of Crime is a good person after all.

Now I had a really hard time thinking whether this piece should be included or not. For one, it's not an aria. It can be viewed as a Da capo Aria, a development section of the Nazo song, repeating the theme that is introduced, coming and going rather quickly. So, for continuality.

It also does not fit into the series as a whole, being 1) a recitative. The lyrics focus entirely on Sherlock's deduction and whether he should expose the truth or not, etc. so on. 2) The lines in here, unlike the other arias, are taken directly from the manga, so it's not entirely an 'added' element to this chase. 3) Also because if we compare this to a Sonata form, this doesn't really fit anywhere

However, among Sherlock's arias, this song can also be seen as an interesting development as I have mentioned above, so I've decided to have it here, still.

There's another thing about almost all of Sherlock's arias throughout the 2 stages - they never have a conclusive end. The detective's mind is always running, mysteries after mysteries.

Most of the other characters' songs ends with some kind of closing lines, and piano continues to conclude the piece with a strong end, and then goes on to start another piece. All of their problems in the songs are concluded. They made up their minds in some ways.

But Sherlock, his songs always end with him repeating the melody, a capella, and exiting the stage. Piano waits for him to exit, then starts a new song. Or in Op. 2's Mindgame case going straight into the next conversation. We never get to know how Sherlock's songs end, because they didn't really end at those points. There's a hanging sense of waiting for a resolution, a conclusion. Sherlock never seems to have his problems solved within the songs, they just go on and on.

An idea initiates, then something happens and he is once again in the dark. And he spins around within his own mind.

Screenshot from Op. 2. Even if we look back to his aria Mindgames from Op. 2, this song doesn't really have a conclusive ending as well. He just starts singing, the music stops and he starts shooting and going on, resuming the play. It kind of has been a thing for Sherlock's arias?

Second Movement - Adagio/Largo: Liam's solo

♛♛♛ The "second movement" - the 'slower' piece - of the series, Liam's aria lol but actually the piano part of this song isn't slow at all but ok. The other side of this hide and seek game. The "development" section of the sonata series, where we see things in a much more emotional way.

This aria is much richer in harmony and melody. Not only Liam's melody, but also the piano's part which plays a beautiful melody in harmony.

I recall an interview where the stage director mentions how the "orchestra" - piano and violin are representations for Liam and Sherlock. It kind of applies here, where his music is created mostly by piano.

There is modulation, emotions rising and elevating quickly and strongly. But the harmony is beautiful, overflowing and rich with emotions. The song repeats certain lines, emphasizing aspects within Liam's thoughts.

Unlike Sherlock's train of thoughts that circles with no destination, Liam's solo has a definite ending in harmony -> Even with all his emotions in mind, Liam still has a goal already set before him. He has a brief moment of slowing down, pausing and sung about his feeling, before resuming the story.

Leading us to the final stage - Kokoro no Rondo.

Third Movement - Rondo Vivace: Kokoro no Rondo

Rondo formation: Rondo is a type of dance that revolves around a pattern, often ABA, ABACA, or ABACABA - where A is the ritournello ("meguri - kimi ni omou - meguru kokoro no rondo" section) that is repeated over and over with B, C parts in between. Rondo can also be combined with sonata form - this case applies to this song which begins with a key other than the tonic (Fm) before resolving to the tonic key (Fm) to put an end to the entire sonata series. For reference purposes, the last movement of Beethoven's Pathetique or the very typical Fur Elise is also written in a similar format. I also referred to Pathetique quite a lot when brainstorming this post.

♛♛♛ The "final movement" of this Sonata, the final scene of their "Hide and Seek" game. The song's tempo is vibrant and rapid, combining with the dancing sense, all the while strictly following the structure of a Rondo as mentioned above.

This is the stage where Liam and Sherlock's line interacts and reply to each other, as if in a real conversation - just like how the connection between them are now much stronger than what they had before.

In the ritournello, we have Liam and Sherlock's lines intertwining and chasing after one another, emphasizing the "Hide and Seek" element between the two of them.

The song comes to a definite ending, concluding with a strong tonic (Fm) chord. At this stage, there is no more question to be left open, for Sherlock at this point has already made up his mind to take the next step into solving the mysteries regarding the Lord of Crime.

Their imaginary game of Hide and Seek is coming to an end, as Sherlock came to a decision to take the next step - going to Durham.

That's the end of my first draft.

So far that is some of my thoughts noted down right after watching Op. 3 stream a while ago, with some edition made just now.

On the side note, at some point during my discussion with a friend, we also came up with the idea that a Suite may be a better reference. A Suite consists of 4 parts and a prelude, each of them having their specific characteristic. But we didn't go all the way analysing that idea, as 1) we couldn't find a 5th piece that can be added into the series. 2) Even if we did, the Truth or Lie song still would not really fit into the "aria" vibe of this series, as mentioned above.

But then quite interestingly, after a while, I've found another interesting fact that should have been quite obvious but I've missed for (lol) like ages.

The game of Hide and Seek between the detective and the Lord of Crime has begun ever since after Hope's case - that being said, ever since the end of Op. 1

And what is it that we have in Op. 2? "The Mind games of the Lord of Crime". The one where Sherlock went maniac rapping about all the thoughts he has and end up shooting randomly into the wall.

At first it begins like another recitative, but in the later half, the harmony starts to become more harmonious, written in 3/4 time flowing like a dance.

In that section, the melody of the piano and violin part resembles the one we have in Kokoro no Rondo, the Ritournello section, only that the melody of the violin in Op. 2 and the melody that SherLiam sung in Op. 3 are kind of reversed.

Coincidence much?

So now we have a collection of songs from both Opus, it becomes tricky. How do we connect them? And what's the story?

At this point, all these recitatives, aria and duets all in the theme of the Hide and Seek game. And they all connect to each other through harmony, progressions in harmony.

We know that the Mind games of the Lord of Crime has begun from ever since the end of Op. 1. We know that Sherlock keeps wondering about that in Op. 2, and then he wonders even further after he has been tested by the Lord of Crime. "また俺だけのメッセージなのか?" - Is this a message just for me?, as he wondered in the Truth or Lie song. We knew all of that. But Morimyu didn't let that stop them from emphasizing on this subplot even further.

They didn't let the gap between Op. 2 and Op. 3 stop them from making a smooth flow in plot either.

Correction, they didn't simply create a flow. They established a connection, all the while showing a strong progression of Sherlock's thoughts that goes on from Op. 2 straight onto Op. 3.

Very often, what makes a good plot is how their plots and sub-plots intertwine with each other. Morimyu has a main plot that follows Moriarty gang in the plan of changing society. And they have a smaller plot told from Sherlock's side of things. And they have this sub-plot told by harmony of how Sherlock is connected to Liam, or the Lord of Crime, by an invisible thread. A connection that is only expressed that clearly in Morimyu.

We have so many things going on, so many songs throughout the play. But each of those elements are all connected to something else, creating a sub-plot that enriches the main plot.

There is no loose connections. For everything that connects to the main plot, they're also linked to other elements. Each scene and every song has their own meaning not only in regards to other songs, but also to the plot as a whole.

Also, did I mention how Morimyu feels like a grand piece of music?

Opus -> What classical songs had that basically shows the order in which they are written. Morimyu - a title piece itself - has 3 Opus, 3 different parts with the same theme.

Classical music very often had all the different elements in it -> Morimyu had an overture, the song they sing just before the main theme song, just before introducing the stage. Then arias, ensembles and choruses. All of them are connected by similar harmony.

Classical music always had a big general theme, with each section having a smaller sequence connecting to each other. Subplots within a big plots. A Sonata piece has 3 movements, each having their own "sections" of development - expositions, development, recapitulation. -> Morimyu does the same to their plot and subplots, as discussed above.

Also, Opera reference

While Opus 2 used an opera reference to tell the story, I feel like Opus 3 has become an Opera itself. During Op. 2 the arias were mostly very loyal to the manga, taking their lines from the original work, like the Mind Games song. Their story progresses steadily but logically.

However starting from Op. 3, the aria became more independent. They developed and expressed even further what wasn't said in the manga. For instance, the 3 songs mentioned in the "Sonata" above. And there's also Albert's solo, and Patterson's solo and Milverton, which I haven't got the chance to discuss all.

But either way, they spring out of the original story, adding more emotions and "colours" to the characters. The aria became more original, all the while also much more expressive. We get to see new sides of the characters that we haven't seen anywhere before.

Anyways, it's probably time to go back to the main question: How Morimyu used music to go beyond what's on the pages.

-> Musicals aren't simply about music added to acting. The characters on stage don't just simply starts singing for no reason. All the songs are meant to express something, and while they do they also establish various connections to the plot's progression.

We don't get to see much of the characters' emotions in the manga. And we don't see much of the side story, the finer details behind each arc. Every time, Morimyu adds something original to enrich their plot. They express and develop what's already known to all the viewers, especially regarding the emotional and motivational side of the characters.

-> The manga shows us the entire plot, with details related, back stories that lead to the present, and all. But it doesn't give a lot of hint into how characters might feel. Surely, reading between the lines, it's up to the readers to interpret them.

But Morimyu gives us all of that, and they leave it to us to read between the music.

And even if we didn't, that's fine. Then the purpose of all of them linking together would be to create a performance where everything is connected harmoniously, allowing us to be emerged in the world of Yuumori.

-> The purpose of having a stage, primarily, is to allow the audience to engage in, experience and feel the emotions along with the characters they see on stage. The point of having a live stage, a plot, and the music, are all to let us emphasize with the characters on stage.

In Morimyu, we aren't just watching a plot between our favourite characters happening as we know it from the manga. We see a combination of mysteries unveiling slowly, the stories on the side of each characters as they slowly progress forward, as well as emphasising with their emotions in the story.

That's what I really like about Morimyu.

So, WHAT'S THE POINT OF THIS?

So I had to scroll back to the top (lol) to quote this and make sure I haven't gone too far from the main theme.

Regarding musical Yuumori, there's always so many things I'd like to talk about. And if I start going on about it then it only gets harder to focus on one single topic.

Since the topic here is Morimyu and their music, especially in classical reference, I've tried to keep everything I've discussed relevant. But whenever I start on something, there would always be something that comes to mind. Like how other songs might also have certain connections, or how they used stage directions and lightings, etc. I really want to look more into stage directions in Morimyu as well, but that would have to wait...

Anyways, I tried to keep this as simple as possible. When I sent the first version of this to my friends, I keep having the feeling that I got too technical with all the theories about harmony and structure lol

And once again, this is only some of my own interpretation of the series that I've picked up.

If something else came to mind... well. Either way, for the purpose of engaging in their wonderful music or for the purpose of watching a beautiful stage just for enjoyment, Morimyu definitely is worth watching. And to watch over and over again. I've said this for Op. 2 but I'll say this ten times as much for Op. 3. Truly magnificent.

And, that's pretty much it that I have for today, I guess.

Thanks a lot to all my friends who gave me lots of inspiration and motivation to complete this ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ Lots of love to @rikaaki as well ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ

[skydigiblogs]

Alright, I made a blog so I could post this whole write up somewhere lmao.

My Friend Wants to Get Into Digimon: What Should They Watch?

(an extremely edited and expanded version of a guide I wrote for a friend of ours)

Bias notes: We have not watched all series subbed yet. We're about halfway through watching 01 subbed. I'm pretty sure we did watch Savers subbed at some point, but I'm rewatching it subbed right now and it sure doesn't feel fresh! My sub v dub commentary thus is a little thin in most cases.

Also, we have not watched certain items on the list such as Applimon, Last Evolution Kizuna, the most recent 02 movie, and a lot of other OVA releases (because God they were hard to find and our current rewatch has not gotten to them yet!).

Additionally, if you disagree with my opinions, tell me what series I'm underselling so I can find a new way to love it! :)

With that out of the way, what series of Digimon should you get your friends to watch? Vaguely in order of my most to least recommended (barring the Honorable Mention section):

[WARNING: THIS IS SUPER LONG]

->Digimon Tamers: a well-fleshed out series set in the real world as the digital world begins to influence and intersect with it. My personal favorite, it explores a lot of surprisingly complex themes (including the trauma of grief, consequences of escapism and nostalgia, and the place of violence in change).

While complex thematic elements are extremely common in this series, even from the anime's earliest days, I find Tamers to be an approachable series to get into for someone new to Digimon. It also has an interesting angle approaching its place in the legacy of the series, which can be appreciated by new and old viewers alike. In this series, after all, Adventure and 02 are just fictional series. Digimon aren't real... right?

Also this is the best dubbed series imo, even if Adventure has a soft spot in my heart. Many people will mention that there is nuance lost in the dub in certain characters, but as I have yet to watch through the sub, I can't personally speak to it and may have to write a follow up on this later.

Tamers also has lore alluding to the never-localized Wonderswan games, however, which may confuse some newcomers to the franchise. Bear this in mind.

Also, if your New Digimon Friend is super into Evangelion, this isn't even a question, just show them Tamers (/hj).

(->Bonus section for specifically the OVA, "Digimon Adventure," which was aired preceding Digimon: Adventure in Japan, but got mashed into the iconic and chaotic Digimon: The Movie, which i've put down below separately because it is a whole other beast.)

->Digimon Adventure: the original! The dub is a wildly nostalgic topic, and while some lore and character nuance is lost, it's still a good place to start. I have the freshest comparison to the sub right now since I'm on a watch of it currently, and the choices in the original give it a much more mature, emotional weight that, well...

Uhh. Look, I love and can sing "Hey Digimon" at the drop of a hat, but there's a time and a place for it lol. Hell, I literally quoted it in the unedited version of my write up, because it has such an iconic summary of the story.

I'll quote it here to even illustrate how well that song captures the premise as a bizarre digital isekau: "Seven young kids go to camp for the summer and wind up livin' in a digital land! Where everybody gets to meet his own digimonster: a digital companion, a digital friend."

As a song that plays for almost every action sequence after episode 32 or so, though? It feels like a cruel undercutting of the series' emotional maturity (though not bad enough that it didn't leave kids everywhere, myself included, with extreme nostalgia for the series and an emotional attachment to it). Music choices in the dub are very of-the-time loud and attention grabbing, so keep that in mind when selecting your choice of dub or sub.

At the end of the day, though, sub vs. dub for a newcomer I think will boil down to individual preference, and if the new comer can handle some occasionally hokey dialogue.

(->Bonus section for specifically the OVA "Digimon: Our War Game." it takes place between 01 and 02, and is overall just dope as hell. Finally watched this subbed the other day and the contrast between it and the dub are fascinating. I'm not elaborating right now though, but most of what I said above in the Adventure section applies here.)

->Adventure 02: I'm not sure I would jump straight into it without watching Adventure, but if your friend likes Adventure, then why not try the direct sequel? It's a little bit hit or miss for me at some times, but my most recent rewatch of the dub in 2020 was still a primarily enjoyable experience. It does some interesting things with the world Adventure introduced us to!

However, some of the same dub warnings still apply, as well as the fact that one of the main characters features heavily in the never-localized Wonderswan games.

Says in my notes here that I also wrote down that this series was "also pretty gay imo" and "if you do end up watching it, you'll understand why."

I have yet to watch this series subbed, and may report back once I remedy that.

(->The third OVA, "Hurricane Touchdown" takes place halfway through Adventure 02 iirc. It exists, and I've never watched the subbed version.)

(->The movie "Digimon X-Evolution:" a standalone movie released with Digimon World 4. It's about genocide and supercomputers. It was never dubbed into English, so thank God for fansubbers, the real MVPs. I would only recommend this movie if your New Digimon Fan friend can handle retro 3D animation. If they can get past it, this standalone story is pretty good.)

(->Extra long bonus segment on Digimon: The Movie (aka the dub quilt project FOX Kids mashed together out of three different OVAs): but like mostly for the meme. Like the dub is iconically funny?? It is whiplash incarnate, it's trying to use dubbing tricks to tie three unrelated stories together, it's...

It's a goddamn mess. I play this for friends I'm close with who I can't otherwise get into Digimon because at least they get to experience one of the most bizarre things I've had the pure joy of watching as a fan of this series. Our brother and I would rewatch this movie every year or so, sometimes just to see the dubbed section from Our War Game, sometimes to just revel in the sheer chaos.

However, if your New Digimon Fan friends have any interest in Adventure and 02, this movie spoils quite a bit of both series.

If that all sounds good, strap on in for some late 90s cheese. Whether that's gourmet or gone bad is dependent on how much nostalgia you have for dial-up shrieking.)

->Digimon Savers (or Data Squad, I guess?): depending on if you're watching the sub or dub, this is series 5, Digimon Savers or Data Squad. Personally, I would seriously recommend watching this subbed. The dub is watchable... kinda (unlike another series we'll be talking about), but be prepared for a lot of bizarre artifacts thanks to some Google Translate-tier work.

Digimon names suffer pretty bad in this regard, as well as one of the main antagonists. Also, like Adventure, a little bit of that lore perfume is lost in shipping. I have more on this topic I want to say in an essay I'll probably end up writing, but at the end of the day, both are still watchable.

This series is basically "Men in Black, but what if Digimon instead of aliens?" It explores themes of xenophobia and even a little sprinkling into corruption of the state (if you squint, that might just be me reading into it though). It's actually tied with Tamers as my favorite series, but because of some, uh... reasons... I'm hesitant to recommend this above what all I've said so far.

Our main character is a street fighter that regularly punches Digimon in the face so hard he can digivolve his partner.

No I am not joking. If that sounds like something your New Digimon Fan friends like, however, please watch it. The juxtaposition of Marcus digging his fist into a Mega Level digimon and the serious tone of some of the show is just. God. I love Savers.

->Xros Wars: I did not finish Boy Who Leapt Through Time so I'm not going to be getting into it. Sorry.

That said, at times, Xros Wars can kind of feel like a lot. It took me a lot of tries to get into it, personally, but once I did, I ate through it. The series differs from prior series in the way its Digimon mechanics work, but that might not be an issue for newcomers to the franchise.

In this series, factions vie for control of the Digital World through literal representations of different zones called Code Crowns. The main character's faction is helmed by the underdog self-proclaimed King of Digimon, Shoutmon, fighting against the Bagra Empire.

I'm fairly certain there's an entire genre of anime this series is styled after. I would tell you the genre if I knew it, though, so you'll just have to take that light summary above lol.

Do not watch the dub. You will regret it. The dub of this series was aired on Nick and heavily censored as a result.

HONORARY MENTIONS:

->Ghost Game: for if you want Digimon but what if it was Scooby Doo shenanigans for 67 episodes (but extra scary! this is a horror anime!). Idk, I don't have much to say. I liked this series, but from what I gather most people have a mixed reception for it, which is totally understandable. It's a better series for people who like the relatively plot-lite variety of episodic narratives, as opposed to Digimon's usual plot-thickening variety of episodic narratives.

->Frontiers: Digimon, but what if instead of partner Digimon, the humans turned into Digimon "Power Rangers" style? It's alright. That's the most my opinion on it really goes. It's only placed here because I have nothing super interesting to say about it unfortunately, so my persuasive efforts are a little moot. It has its fans, though!

->Applimon. I've heard nothing but good things about this series. I have not watched it.

OTHER DIGIMON MEDIA:

->Tri as an anniversary sequel to the Adventure series is... a little bit complicated. It references a lot of lore that didn't make it to the dub, so if you're watching it and confused... yeah, I was there too when I watched it.

->Last Evolution Kizuna is the sequel to Tri... I think? I haven't watched it. I'd like to, just because I'm curious. Other people can speak better to it though.

->02: The Beginning is the newest OVA. It also exists! I haven't seen it. Takes place after Kizuna.

->Also, there are a whole bunch of other OVAs that I really didn't put down here outside of the Adventure canon because all the series up to Xros Wars had an OVA or two. The only reason I know about where to put the Adventure OVAs is thanks to an old review blog I read a few years back. If I can find it, I'll edit the blog's name in here.

A friend said he's interested in watching digimon!! I just gotta figure out which one to start him with.

I'm leaning towards Tamers personally... just because it's a little more darker and might hook him in more. I've actually only seen Tamers one time all the way through too, back when it was on TV