#jeanne plays LiS

[emblemxeno]

I made a bigger version of what I'd like in a Smash 6 roster this time because in retrospect I think Ultimate made enough money to have more people on a hypothetical dev team, so in theory they'd keep more.

Newcomers (15) : Dixie Kong, Tetra, Midna, Ghirahim, Raven Beak, Sylux, Octoling, Alear, Bandana Dee, new Pokemon, Rex, Mio, Elma, Alucard, Chun-Li, Shadow

For echoes, I'd just put them back as regular character alts, though that may cause issues with Lucina and Ken players, so idk about those two specifically. Regardless, Dark Pit fits fine, and Alph I guess works too, though idk how Pikmin fans feel about his inclusion. I'm also iffy on Dark Samus just because, though I haven't played Metroid Prime myself, I know how different she is from Samus so ehhh.

In terms of new alt characters I'd like to see: Blood Falcon for Captain Falcon (not just a color scheme, with his evil mannerisms and personality too), Medusa for Palutena (this is bias for me personally, I want more evil women), Liquid Snake for Snake (if only so I can hear Cam Clarke ham it up in Smash), and maybe Jeanne for Bayonetta (I'm not studied up on Bayonetta lore so idk if they have similar enough abilities or not).

This is also totally recent Castlevania bias speaking here, but alongside Richter, I'd like to see other Belmonts/whip users also be alts for Simon. Maybe a Hero situation, where there's four characters with two colors each? In that case, maybe Simon, Richter, Trevor and either Julius Belmont or Jonathan Morris?

I was also debating having Soma be an alt for Alucard, mainly because they can both assume bat form and can function in a magic meter for gameplay, but they both have very unique abilities from each other too so I don't know if that would bode well with fans.

Finally, I don't advocate FR Shulk and Rex to be the default, but to be alts themselves. I used their FR forms to serve as basis for model/height differences and moveset stuff. Ideally, I'd want FC Shulk and Young Growth Spurt Rex from the infamous picture to be the default appearances.

Anyway, the following are what I think should be changed in terms of movesets. Characters with a question mark are ones I'm less sure of in terms of how they should change, if at all, so I'm willing to defer on them being in a different bracket.

Just Fine: Link?, Captain Falcon, Corrin, Meta Knight?, Fox, Wolf, Incineroar

EDIT: Corrin is really meant to represent 3DS FE as a whole, really he could be swapped with Robin and I'd have no issue

Adjustments Please: Samus, Pit, Villager?, Olimar (top priority), Inkling?, Marth, Ike, King Dedede, Shulk, Simon, Snake?, Mega Man, Bayonetta?

New Moves with Familiar Core: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Rosalina?, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong?, Ness, Yoshi, Wario?, Ridley?, Palutena, Kirby, Pikachu?, Mewtwo?, Lucario, Greninja?, Ryu?, Sonic (top priority)

Overhaul: Daisy, Zelda (not chibi Zelda though, something like the Links Awakening Switch cutscene artstyle), Ganondorf

As always, please point and laugh

[sonic-nancy-fan]

Oh Rama Havenna, Oh Beloved Havenna~Jack Jeanne English Trans-lyrics

These are my English trans-lyrics for the full version of Oh Rama Havenna, Oh Beloved Havenna from Jack Jeanne. This is by far my favorite song since I really like jazz/swing music. The song also has a lot of word play, symbolism, references, etc.

My lyrics this time are based on the official short English translation, and the translation for the full song done by HanaMitsu- (https://www.reddit.com/r/otomegames/comments/15ty90j/jack_jeanne_for_the_linguists_and_jj_fans_an/).

-------------------------------------------------------------

Download Lyrics

Shining, the street lamps stay Glowing like paintings that Pollock made In our strange party tonight Frustrations? Throw them away

Da-ba-da ba-da-da-ta Like moths to a flame comes these outlaws This party paradigm Is our lowly, lonely, sad, gesellschaft

“Oh, Rama Havenna!”

Now the, zoetrope Clatters as, it falls down Spin round, and around Visions sway, with another round

The pain you feel is a mirage Just pay it no mind The world was rough with you this time Stay, unwind, you’ll be fine Dance up and down, as you know Da-da-bee-doo-dooo Give yourself to night tonight Singing out, “Havenna”

Soon you will fall, for all the traps Artemisia vulgaris, one more glass If you want to act a fool Stańczyk’s a lonely fool too

Ha-ya-pa-ya cha-cha-cha In these sprawling neon alleys, I saw (Showering in absinthe) That here, there, everywhere, God is absent

“Oh, Rama Havenna!”

Like a, ring of smoke We’re spinning, and swirling Until you’re jonesing Listen to, this song on repeat

The pain of this world is hidden Behind smoke and lies Take some psychedelics this time Come, it’s fine, let’s get high No up, just down, as you know Du-du bi ba-ba Sway ‘til the lights go out tonight Dancing for Havenna

Da-ba-da-ba da-da-ta-ra Da-da-ra da-ba-da-ba da-da-ta-ra Cha-cha cha-cha-pa cha-pa-ya Cha-ba-ya cha-cha-cha cha-pa cha-pa-ya

“Oh, Rama Havenna!”

Human, puppets dance All twirling, as they buy A room for the night So their dreams, of heaven don’t die

Tomorrow’s pain is a mirage Act like it’s nothing From the start, the world’s been smelling That mugwort you’re smoking Dance up and down, as you know Da-da-bee-doo-dooo Give yourself to night tonight Singing out, “Havenna”

No up, just down, as you know Du-du bi ba-ba Stay ‘til you overdose tonight Singing out, “Havenna”

---------------------------------------

Notes: I took a few liberties this time since the song's scatting lines are sometimes pointless, other times references, etc. and there's so much symbolism I had to play with things a bit to get most of it in. I am very proud of how I handled the second chorus' "No up, just down" line though! I think it gets the meaning across while sounding very close to "Dance up and down" which is what one of the goals of the original dan-dan-da-la seemed to be.

[kinghijinx22]

Top 5 queer ships from video games

HELLO my fellow queers! Just in time for the end of Pride Month I have decided to write about my top 5 queer canon ships from video games because I thought it would be a cool thing to do for the occasion, because I play the video games and am obviously very queer myself. This is also sort of a post to go along with the top 5 pansexual characters that I did last year as well. So to begin our list at number 5-

5. Alex Chen and Steph Gingrich, Chengrich from Life is Strange True Colors- Starting off with a ship not from a game I've played myself but I've seen plenty of lets plays of which is something I can say about the whole Life is Strange series, Alex Chen and Steph Gingrich from True Colors are a couple of dorky sapphics with a really cute relationship. The best in Life is Strange in my opinion, while the series has always been known for having good queer representation, I personally was not as impressed as others with the vagueness and burying of gays that LiS 1 and Before the Storm did, and while LiS 2 is better with Sean and Finn in it's explicitness, they make Finn such an asshole. Canon bisexual protagonist Alex Chen of True Colors is the most likeable protagonist in the series in my opinion, and Steph Gingrich who is lesbian, is easily the best love interest. Better then Ryan from the same game in my opinion, Alex and Steph's relationship is well developed throughout the game and the 2 of them have some really heart warming moments, especially that kiss when Alex goes upstairs to see Steph during that town event. Alex seeing the blue emotions around Steph before they kiss because she's worried about Alex not kissing her, and then she does and they explode with the yellow light of happiness. And then in the endings, Steph either settles down with Alex or Alex who is also a musician joins Steph's band and they go on tour together which is very romantic as well. Best LiS couple easy for me.

4. Bayonetta and Jeanne, BayoJeanne from Bayonetta- So now we jump into games that I have played myself with BayoJeanne from Bayonetta, specifically their relationship from Bayonetta 1 and 2 because Bayonetta 3 fucked it to ship Bayo with that loser Luka instead. Bayonetta and Jeanne though were badass power couple of witches in the first 2 game. Childhood friends, to lovers, to rivals, to lovers again, what a wild ride for a relationship to go through as well but they end up being so sweet together. To explain, in Bayonetta 1 Bayo has lost her memories and Jeanne is brainwashed by Bayo's evil sage father Balder so Jeanne as another powerful witch is Bayo's rival throughout the game and it is heartbreaking, fighting your lover who you don't even remember. They both get their memories back by the end of the game though, and Jeanne rescues her girlfriend Bayo from the goddess Jubileus so she can punch her into the sun. Bayonetta 1 has some strong BayoJeanne moments but Bayonetta 2 goes all in with their relationship, with Bayo going on a romantic rescue mission to save her girlfriend from the demon Alarune, journeying through literal heaven and hell to do so. That file that you can pick up in Bayonetta 2 that talks about someone going through hell to find their lover, and then that scene where Bayo wakes up Jeanne after rescuing her from Alarune is great. "What do you need a wake up kiss or something?" referencing some developer art that shows their homelife, where Bayo has to wake up Jeanne for work. Love this badass witchy power couple, the sapphic aunts who always spoil the nephews with Christmas gifts.

3. Jala and Tyler, Jyler? from Thirsty Suitors- who I don't believe have an actual ship name until I just made one up because Thirsty Suitors is so underrated that it's fandom is almost nonexistent? Seriously this game is really good and I wish Tumblr had more fan art for it, especially Jala and Tyler fan art because they very quickly have become one of my all time favorite couples in anything. The most recent addition to this list for me, I only just played Thirsty Suitors for Pride Month and while protagonist and biggest bisexual disaster I've even seen Jala has 7 exes in total, 6 of which you need to confront throughout the game, Tyler has been the most important person in Jala's life. Her childhood friend who she has been on and off with romantically, but the girl who was always by her side and who she would always come back to. I also want to say that, it's mentioned that Jala was also by Tyler's side and helped her while she was transitioning which is really beautiful and I think it's cool that a trans girl is the main love interest of this story. Jala and Tyler have a very messy but special relationship, and after Jala is able to reconcile with Tyler after how much she had let her down in the past, it's implied that they do end up back together and in a fully committed relationship by the end of the story through some art depicting their future together which is good. I just need to mention that Thirsty Suitors is a super charming and delightfully queer game that handles it's characters and themes very well and I highly recommend it. It's a game that celebrates queerness while also allowing it's characters to be heavily flawed and their relationships very messy, as seen with even Jala and Tyler.

2. Susie and Noelle, Suselle from Deltarune- Toby Fox has been a very supportive queer ally and with Undertale and Deltrune, his games have plenty of great queer representation. But while Undyne and Alphys from Undertale are ok, I honestly don't really like Alphys specifically and personally think Susie and Noelle from Deltarune are the much superior sapphic ship. Because both Susie and Noelle are both great characters and absolute cuties who deserve to be happy together! A super adorable story of blossoming young love and self discovery, dorky lesbian deer girl Noelle is head over hooves in love with the cool dinosaur girl from her school Susie. And while Susie does start off as a bully in chapter 1, it becomes clear that she has a lot of her own personal stuff that she's working through that is heavily implied to be from her home life but by the end of chapter 1 she makes some good friends in Kris, Ralsei and Lancer who actually understand her and she grows as a person. While she doesn't really interact Noelle with chapter 1, you do find out as Kris that Noelle has feelings for Susie when she asks them for more information on her. And it's chapter 2 that REALLY develops Susie and Noelle's relationship and gives them a lot of cute moments together, because Noelle actually joins Susie and Kris in going to the Dark World on their adventures this time. And through chapter 2, Susie and Noelle's relationship is developed incredibly well with all of Noelle's adorable blushing and freaking out around the girl that she loves, until the beautiful scene where Susie gets to rescue Noelle from being captured by Queen and they escape on a heart covered Ferris wheel of all things which gives them an incredibly sweet moment together that always makes me cry. Just seeing them these adorable young queer girls being awkward and falling in love for the first time is just so adorable and funny in the best way. And then afterwards, the thing that actually gives Noelle her courage to stand up to Queen is saving the love of her life Susie! AAAAAH I LOVE THEM AND THEY ARE PERFECT FOR EACHOTHER!!!! The only caveat is that Deltarune isn't finished yet and Susie and Noelle technically aren't together yet? But it's very obvious that their relationship is something that is being built towards and I am very excited to see how it develops in future chapters, what we've gotten already has been great though and has given us so many cute moments for Suselle.

Gregg and Angus, Grangus from Night in the Woods- The only MLM ship on this list because there is a distressing lack of MLM relationships in video games compared to there actually being a decent amount of WLW, especially with main characters. But Gregg and Angus are my overall favorite romantic relationship in all of video games. Night in the Woods is another game with some great queer representation, including it's main character Mae who is canonically pansexual which delighted me to find out as someone who is pan and she made it to the top of my Pan characters list from last year. But she doesn't get much of a romance besides meeting a girl that she has feelings for at a party that doesn't lead to much. Her best friend Gregg and his boyfriend Angus though, are also both main characters and their relationship actually gets a lot attention and development and it's handled beautifully. Their experiences accurately represent what it's like living as an openly gay couple in a small and not so understanding small town. Especially as they were the only queer people living there while Mae was away at college. A small town that also doesn't really have much going on, and they both want to move away where they can live a happy life together in a town where they will be supported and accepted more, where they can maybe meet other queer friends. It's an incredibly sweet and relatable story, and the 2 boys work their butts off at their jobs to make their dream of living that life together a reality. Which is why Mae's coming back home and bringing out the chaotic side of her best friend Gregg does bring some tension to their relationship, but she eventually realizes her mistakes and learns that she has to let them go. Gregg and Angus's relationship becomes even more sweet when you learn more about how they met, how Angus had a horrible upbringing with violently homophobic parents who didn't accept him, but then Gregg came into his life and saved him. And then also that scene where Mae talks to Gregg and he's worried that he isn't good enough for his boyfriend and Mae has to give him and uplifting talk. They just mean so much to eachother and they really bring the best out of eachother as well, with Gregg helping his shy boyfriend to come out of his shell a bit more, and Angus helping reel in his hyperactive boyfriend from getting a bit too wild. Gregg and Angus are so sweet and supportive of eachother, a beautifully written queer couple and my favorite ship from any video game.

But anyway, I hope all my fellow queers had a safe and happy Pride Month! And also that you enjoyed reading my list, I would recommend all the games that these ships are from to people. Thank you for reading and remember to stay proud of who you are all year round because no matter your sexuality, gender, what pronouns you go by, whether your closeted or not, you deserve all the love and respect and fuck any bigot who thinks they can tell you otherwise.

[ravetillyoucry]

PUPARIA

Chapter 11 - No Moon At All

prev - chapter 1

"... So, you haven't missed all that much really." Hosah slouched back into the booth seat, greatly undermining the gravity of all he'd just explained to the recently absent detective.

The ashy, almost silver, haired man opposite him seemed to be at a loss for words. Looking at him and Jeanne sat beside each other was definitely an interesting sight. In terms of just about everything, the two were polar opposites, maybe that was why their relationship seemed so distant, so cold, so strained. Hosah had told Teddy all about his concerns about the pair, but the lunch time they'd spend together, the first time as a whole group, would surely show his assistant exactly what he meant.

One thing the shifter always liked about Thierri is how they seemed to be on the same wavelength. There was no feeling of making things weird or awkward in a conversation with the guy, he seemed to always understand just exactly where Hosah was coming from, which was nice when he didn't really want any logical solutions to his problems, just someone to validate him and indulge in whatever delusional perspective he had.

"Oh yeah, same old same old, right?" Thierri tilted his head in a shrug of mutual understanding, taking a sip of his disgustingly sweetened coffee all the while.

These kinds of conversations were the ones Hosah’s father had taught him were just in man’s nature, playing down their struggles in phrases like ‘Living the dream’ or ‘Nothing new’ , not making a spectacle out of their struggle. It was a lesson the shifter carried with him through every day life, one that men such as himself wouldn’t be too talkative of their struggles as to not worry anyone, his respective job as a man to be the one to help others, and not to be helped.

It was at this point when the shifter realised he'd been the only one speaking this entire time, his coworkers all having an air of uncomfortable tension about them, an unresolved issue that Hosah had no idea about. Eugh. So awkward. The only thing filling the void of conversation was the painful sound of cutlery against the ceramic plates. God, that noise, it drove the shifter absolutely insane.

Rather than focusing on the people in-front of him, Hosah would rather just eat whatever food he'd spent an unreasonable amount of money on, and that was really saying something. It was too pretty to eat. A cute little slice of the same cake Teddy had bought for him a week or two prior, hand iced with little slices of strawberries between the layers, cemented by whipped cream. He fidgeted with his fork in his hand, trying to calculate what bites would be the best in order to get the most satisfaction out of the cake.

This was something Hosah had done ever since he could remember, it'd start with the second best bite, then he'd work his way around the meal picking out the more unsatisfying parts until he'd gotten to the very best bite at the end. Very much impractical, but the thought of not doing this just made him want to not eat at all. Not necessarily a good habit, but it could be worse.

A hand giving a reassuring rub on his knee caught him off guard. It was Teddy, with a slightly concerned smile plastered across his face, eyebrows angled down, as if to say 'All good?'. It was already hellish before Hosah had said anything about his doctors concerns, how everyone treat him as some fragile, incapable victim, constantly on the brink of breaking, but everything was about to get at least a hundred times worse from here on out.

Another thing getting progressively worse was the tension around the lunch table. The shifter desperately wanted to break the silence, feeling like a child in the middle of a messy divorce, but there was nothing that came to mind in terms of conversation topics. Lately, Hosah found himself praying for divine intervention a lot more than he usually would.

"Oh, also, autopsies came back whilst you three were sent over to the bakery." Jeanne, like the angel he was, swooped in to save the group from certain death due to awkward silence.

If the shifter had put the fork to his mouth in all the time his food had been sitting there, he would've surely spat it out in surprise. "Really? What happened? What did they all say?"

Hosah could assume the last victim had bled out from his assistant's observation, but the rest seemed to be in perfect health on the outside, aside from the fact they were dead, of course.

"Well, they all seemed to have overdosed, aside from fifteen. Looks like whoever done it has access to the medication they give the shifters who grow in order to keep them regular sized." The dark haired, one-eyed detective took a sip of his drink, leaving Hosah at the edge of his seat, wide eyed, waiting for more detail. "Obviously, 'ts gonna work differently when you're on the opposite side of the shifter spectrum. Did it to keep them small I guess."

Ugh. The more detail the shifter received, the more he wished he'd just stayed in Colorado on shit money working in retail by day, babysitting by night.

Hosah had almost forgotten there were other people around the table aside from himself and Jeanne as his assistant interjected,

"How can people do that. I don't understand. I.. What would motivate anyone to treat others so badly." Teddy didn't look at the shifter beside him, or at anyone around them in-fact, instead, staring off into the distance with glossy eyes and a pursed lip.

The shifter was always aware that his assistant was quite perceptive and insightful, but he’d not expected such a high level of empathy toward his own situation. Only made sense, given his reaction to having the parents identify their child’s shrunken, rotting corpse in front of him. Now seemed like the time for Hosah to take his turn giving the man a pat on the leg, to let him know all would be okay, even if he didn’t fully believe that himself.

"Man, you should get on the internet and just see these kinds of message forums. Just unbridled, unprecedented hatred. I don't know what the fuck we did to them, it's these fucking.. Conspiracy theorists. They have their own shitty lives, and instead of realising maybe they're the reason for it, they want to look to anywhere else but themselves to put the blame. We're just easy targets, easy to say that we use everyone around us, that we're just the same as any other city rat running around the streets spreading all kinds of diseases."

Oops, Hosah didn't mean to rant on like that. In embarrassment, he quickly shovelled his first bite of the strawberry shortcake into his mouth, hoping someone else would pick up the conversation, or the topic would be changed.

"Mmm. After all, with great power comes great responsibility. Most don't know how to handle having such an imbalance over people in this world. People take advantage of others even when they don't have to power to kill them with one harsh movement, you guys have never stood a chance really." That last part may have been a little offensive, but Jeanne was right.

Mouth filled, all the shifter could do was give a passionate 'Mmm' with a point over to his superior in support of his statement. How great, he knew inviting Jeanne wasn't such a bad idea, look at these high intellect, insightful conversations being had. Anyone who overheard must be thinking , 'Woah, what a set of intelligent and handsome young men' .

"That reminds me, actually, sorry for the other day, Jeanne, I was careless and couldn't handle my emotions. Sorry." Teddy perked up, this was something the shifter had no idea about, what the fuck did Teddy of all people have to apologise to Jeanne about?

Was this why his friend had been avoiding the two all this time? What happened whilst Hosah wasn't there? When was Hosah not there?

"Damn, bitch, what'd you do?" , was the most casual way Hosah could put all of his questions.

Instead of giving a straightforward answer, the ghostly looking detective sitting opposite him waved Hosah off, "Long story, no big deal, it's all resolved now, just a.. misunderstanding. Don't worry about it."

Hm. No, no yeah, the shifter was definitely going to worry about it.

Everyone, now seemingly at ease, continued to chat about nothing as Hosah continued to question in his mind just what could've happened between the two. Chowing down on the cake, he wondered how exactly they got into a situation where they'd be fighting. In fact, Hosah became so deep in thought that he'd actually cleared the plate in front of him. Perfect! One less problem to worry about, surely now that he'd eaten one slice of cake, that means all future food related issues have been defeated, and he'll never have to worry about that specialist appointment or his doctor's theories ever again!

Feeling all proud of himself, Hosah and his assistant trailed behind the two detectives in front of them, walking in pairs back to the office.

Teddy took the shifter by the shoulder, pulling him in closer, his hand cupping the blonde head and pressing it into around his collar bone area due to the height difference. "We should go back to that cafe more often, since the food is good there,"

"Psh, come on," Hosah scoffed, his neck now craned up to rest his stubbled chin on his assistant's shoulder, "I told you, there's nothing wrong with me, just been too stressed to have any kind of appetite lately." If that were the case, the shifter would've been stressed every moment of his life.

It was better if he gave everyone one less thing to worry about anyway, there was enough on Teddy's plate, despite his claims of wanting to help, the shifter knew it was just too much to ask from him. This would be something Hosah would handle himself, given that everything else in his life was a shared task. It was his right as a man after all, to take care of his own shit and to not expect the people around him to help him with it.

"Right." Teddy didn't let go of the detectives head, instead playing with his hair, his fingertips moving in satisfying circles.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, the sensation was very nice. They probably looked like a couple to everyone else around them, but for once in his life, Hosah didn't really care. He couldn’t even really be bothered if his stalker took notice, maybe it’d teach them to back off, now that he had a guard dog that’d stick by his side during every second of the day.

That reminded him, his hair was one of the things on his mental list of 'jobs to cover once you're normal sized', "On the way back home, can we stop at the convenience store? Need to fix my hair, it's all grown out and shit."

"Yeah, yeah sure. I can help you with the back if you need it." Teddy reassured the shifter, despite wanting to say ‘Yeah, I can see that’.

Hosah was gonna need all the help he could get after the last time he tried to do this job alone, exhibit A of the disaster being his current state. Yellowed, with a texture similar to that of straw or hay, as his hair desperately wanted to curl, but would he brushed out and left a frizzy mess.

-~-

"I don't know, what do hairdressers do, bleach first or haircut first?" The shifter had never actually had his hair cut or bleached by a professional, which is probably why it looked so choppy and bad.

Teddy didn't look up from the instructions ok the box, "Never been to a barbers before?" he smiled, not in a demeaning way, but it still annoyed Hosah just a little.

"Nope. My grandpa owned his own barber shop so he taught my dad how to cut hair. He usually did it for me."

Instead of using his words, the assistant gave a little 'Mmm' of understanding, too indulged in using the box guide rather than trusting the process as Hosah usually did.

"Okay," he said, grabbing a towel from the back of the bathroom door in which they sat in, "Colour first, then cut."

Despite insisting to do it himself as he had done so countless times in the past, Teddy had already decided he was going to play hairdresser today, with the shifter sitting shirtless on a stool in the already cramped bathroom as his hair was being covered in the shitty store bought shit he'd become accustomed to.

"You do this yourself usually, right?"

"Yup."

".. Can tell." Teddy winced as he got around to the back of the shifter's head.

Turning back to look at the man behind him, Hosah asked, "What, is it bad? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Keep your head forward." the assistant used his un-gloved hand to give Hosah's cheek a gentle touch back into the previous position it was in before, "No, it's not bad, it's just.. Roots are pretty long. And the length. 'Ts like mullet."

"Shut up, no it's not, it was just buzzed before, that's all"

Hosah didn't take kindly to being laughed at, resting his elbows on his knees and cupping his face in his hands like a bored schoolboy.

It was particularly hard not to squirm with the sensation of the brush against the back of his neck, Teddy's fingers gently pressing against the almond skin, keeping the shifter in place as he brushed from the ends to the roots of his choppy hair.

Shivering under the touch, Hosah felt the need to clarify, "Sorry, the bristles tickle."

"Not much left to do now," his assistant said under his breath, "Your hair is just.. very thick. It's nice."

The shifter got stuck between saying thank you or saying something self deprecating, ultimately deciding silence was the best way to take the compliment. Letting people say nice things about him put Hosah at unease, as if acknowledging it would make him come off as big-headed or vain, so instead he usually just denied it instead.

It was proving to be very difficult not to shift whilst in his seat, with the skin to skin contact around his shoulder and the gentle brushing of the bleach against his scalp. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Hosah's default size was three inches tall, he's the most comfortable when shrunken, being a 'regular' height to him felt like one massive perpetual growing pain that filled his entire body.

Despite the pain of getting around, the least physically painful time of his life was probably when he'd gotten height stuck for three months. Over time, the shifter learnt to just tune out his chronic pains, but getting into a comfortable position in life where he had someone to look after him, the thought of just staying tiny forever became overwhelmingly tempting.

" 'Kay, looks completely covered to me." Teddy said in a sigh, removing his singular glove, "Now we wait."

The urge to run his hands through his bleach covered hair was difficult to overcome, "I'm gonna go put a record on,"

It was honestly a miracle that Teddy also owned a record player, as the world had made its shift from tapes and vinyls to CDs and ipods, but that was one thing Hosah took immense pride in. His vinyl collection spanned all the way back to the fifties, as a good portion of the records he'd amassed were 'borrowed' from his father. Scanning through the box he'd had his assistant bring over, ultimately the shifter decided on a little Townes Van Zandt, playing Hosah's all time favourite song 'I'll Be Here In The Morning'.

This song always reminded Hosah of his ultimate dream, living in that cabin on the islet in the lake, although there were some sour memories and feelings attached to it, he felt as though he'd spent too many years fantasising about it to give up now.

"I never really pegged you as a country type of guy." The voice came from the figure leant up against the bathroom door frame, almost being as tall as the door itself.

"Well," Hosah sighed, "I'm not really that picky. Jazz is my favourite though. Just sucks that all the best artists are dead now."

Teddy laughed as he approached, their height difference being more prominent that ever as he stood directly in front of the shifter now, "There are still some talented musicians. Can go to one of those Jazz Clubs and bars over the weekend, it'll be fun."

The taller figure leant down, close to Hosah's face, which was hidden by the fact he'd chosen to stare at the rug underneath him rather than the person he was talking to. If that was Teddy's idea of weekend fun, then the shifter had been doing it wrong his whole life.

"Sounds nice, yeah," Hosah turned his head even further to the side as he spoke, desperately trying to hide how red he'd gotten from the close proximity.

It wasn't supposed to be happening this way around, it had been years since the shifter had been teased by a man, he'd grown used to being the one having to initiate all these sorts of feelings. It was a pleasant change of pace, one he welcomed like an old friend at his doorstep.

"Cool." Teddy echoed the shifters own words back to him.

Hosah would’ve taken this as his sign for a smoke break if he didn’t have a thick layer of convenience store hair bleach on his head. The pain of his own flustered-ness was almost unbearable, but his morbid curiosity kept him around the sofa on which his assistant had now sat on, waiting for what move he would make next, if any at all.

Still, with his eyes focused on the wooden floor under his feet, the shifter could feel eyes lingering on him.

“Hey, do we not need to put like, I don’t know, foil in your hair, or a plastic bag?” Teddy asked, his head tilted to rest on one of the many pillows accumulated on the couch.

“No clue. What are you, some kind of professional?” Hosah joked, hoping his downturned eyebrows and his squinted eyes would distract from the shade of red his face had turned.

His roommate just shrugged, “Might as well be, my mom spent more time in hair salons then she ever did at any of my games and shit.”

“Ahh, so you played a lot of sports as a kid then?” Now they were getting somewhere. A nice common ground for the two to stand on.

“I mean,” Teddy stood to his full height, “Look at me. I was six foot by my fourteenth birthday. They begged me to join the basketball team.”

Sounded about right.

“Kind of always expected you to be more, you know,” Hosah took a moment to consider whether the other person would take offence, ultimately deciding he didn’t really care as he did his best ‘classic highschool movie nerd’ voice, “In the book club.”

“God, I should’ve been,” Luckily, Teddy took it like a champ, laughing it off, showing his radiant smile, “What about you? Not really the football type, right?”

“Baseball. I was fuckin’ great at it too. Short and skinny, aerodynamic you know? Then I started shifting more, and I got busy with all the doctors visits and health consultations, had to quit in the end.”

A bittersweet memory, but still one Hosah looked back on fondly. It was one of the only times he really felt like part of a friend group as a kid.

“Yeah, I can picture that, you in the cap and the cleats?” Teddy went back to his previous teasing ways, an unexpected turn for the person the shifter assumed to be quite the prude about these kinds of things.

All discombobulated, Hosah struggled to get his words out in one piece, “I think it’s time to rinse.”

Without turning back, the shifter speedily shuffled back to the bathroom, with Teddy following close behind him.

“Just sit down on the floor and hang your head over the side of the tub,” Teddy instructed, grabbing a towel from the bathroom door, shutting it behind him all the while.

Hosah obediently followed the instructions given to him, his neck uncomfortably craned up so it rested on the bathtub’s walls, his hair still stuck in its same position due to the solution in it.

The warm water hitting his scalp certainly was a pleasant feeling, the hard pressure of the shower head being weirdly soft against the tender skin the water pounded down upon. If it wasn’t hard to shrink before, it was definitely a challenge to stay his current size now. Hosah hadn’t even realised how he’d had his eyes closed for a while now, enjoying the pampering of which the likes he’d never experienced.

“It’s nice, right?” Teddy laughed, although the shifter had no plans on saying anything in return, being too indulged in the process to even notice the fact his assistant had said anything at all.

And that wasn’t even the best part, Hosah knew true bliss as the shower head was turned off, Teddy moving over to the shampooing process. Gentle fingertips massaging the purple solution into his scalp, the sensation being so satisfying that it brought a wide, involuntary smile to the shifter’s face.

It was moments like these which made Hosah wish for just a few seconds, he could leave his body and look in from an outsiders perspective. Seeing this moment from the angle of a painted idea would probably be pretty beautiful, although his position, leaning up with his head hanging over the tub, probably wasn’t all that nice looking from a third person view point.

Teddy lifted the jug of perfectly warm water, carefully rinsing the shifter’s hair of the soapy mixture he’d just rubbed in, brushing his fingers through the freshly bleached locks to make sure he got all of it out.

As the shifter opened his eyes, long after the sensation had ended, he was met with that same smug look Teddy sometimes carried, when he’d gotten his way with things.

“Enjoy yourself?” He asked, taking it upon himself to start drying Hosah’s hair, delicately scrunching the ends rather than the usual scrub the shifter would give to his own scalp after washing it.

Hosah scoffed, too flustered to think of anything witty to get his assistant back with.

The pair sat on the cold, tiled floor together, Teddy tenderly rubbing the towel in a circular motion against Hosah’s head, the setting sun gleaming in through the small, stained glass window above the toilet which they were hanging out beside. Even with the mess from the bleaching job that just took place, Hosah could picture how beautifully picturesque this scene probably looked. Trying to imagine himself from a different perspective than his own was difficult, but it was one he was willing to try out in hopes of painting this moment, as payment for his assistant’s care.

This reminded him, he had to ask what specifically Teddy wanted him to paint for him.

“You know that painting I promised you?” Hosah began his inquiry, his big brown doe eyes looking up innocently at the figure which sat above him.

“How could I forget?”

His hands balling up into tense fists, the shifter continued, “What specifically did you have in mind for that? Just so I can get started,”

Teddy’s eyes adverted from the task at hand to look at the shifter below him, “Anything you think would be best. I wouldn’t even mind if you threw something you did years ago at me, to be honest,”

Great, perfect, that means Hosah had free rein on what he was creating, just how he liked it. But now was the hard part, making something as equally as beautiful as the person he was making it for. The task seemed daunting, almost impossible, but the shifter wouldn’t want to let Teddy down, especially not after all he’d done for him so far, with more aid surely to come in the future.

“There,” Teddy moved a few inches back, now sitting on his butt the same as the shifter did rather than on his knees, “All better now.”

Hurriedly, Hosah got up to look at his new and improved hair in the mirror, and sure enough, it looked even better than it did the last time he’d done it himself. He felt finally whole again, finally himself as his hair had been returned to the sleek, almost white colour it once was. There was still a little dark root peaking through, but this time it looked very intentional, and it made his head hair match his facial hair and eyebrows, which was always nice.

“You like?” Teddy asked, moving in behind the shifter, resting his chin on the damp hair.

“Yeah, yeah of course. Best it’s ever been.” Despite wanting to be angry over how his assistant positioned himself, Hosah couldn’t bring himself to feel any negative emotions at all.

Looking Teddy in the eye through their reflection, the shifter added, “Thank you, it looks great.”

“Aww,” the pale arms wrapped around Hosah’s dainty shoulders swaying him left and right playfully, “Anytime.”

If this is what life would be like with Teddy, the shifter wasn’t sure he’d even want to return to his own apartment once all the crazed stalker shit had worn down.

[mozukumi]

What are your thoughts on each route of jack jeanne? Especially for mitsuki since you said you felt whelmed about it

This ask was an absolute treat to get! Thank you so much for asking, anon. I am always down to talk about Jack Jeanne. It went long, so details under the cut.

I'll go in the order that I played them in:

Kokuto Neji: When describing/liveblogging this guy to a friend who knew nothing about JJ, I kept calling him "my pet freak". Which is still a pretty accurate way to describe my thoughts on him. He is such a weirdo who will just say the most random shit, and it makes him such a unique LI . I really need to study this guy like a bug.

As for his route... I don't think it was amazingly done? I do want to give it props for how it handled the I Hate All Women plot - I think it was really cool that Neji was forced to confront that this woman who he built up in his mind all this time as the most evil person in the world was just... a person.

But it bugged me SO much that Neji constantly talked about how this was the ONLY play he could write, given his writers block. It was fine at first, but then I played other routes and realized he wrote the exact same fucking play even when he wasn't having this terrible writers block. I wish I could more eloquently explain just why this bothers me so much, but it REALLY does. It was supposed to be such a last resort for him, him basically exposing Kisa in order to make the show go on... and then he just does it in every timeline? Fuck offff.

Soshiro Yonaga: I had a lot of fun with this one. I'm always soft for childhood friends, and I think the dynamic was especially interesting here, since Sou was acting as our secret keeper. I appreciated all of his help in keeping our secret.

I liked the Christmas confession - as much as I love JJ, it can be kind of a nothingburger with romance at times. But I thought this one was handled well.

His route is one of the only times I could tolerate Amber Suddenly Appearing Constantly. I really did not like Amber in most routes, but I thought it was fun to see what Sou could have become. I think it's really funny that he goes yandere for like, one week, and then he's normal again.

Suzu Orimaki: my absolute favorite no doubt he is dvd normal he is my best boy THAT IS OOOOOMF!!!!!

His arc with Kisa just felt so natural. Ugh they are so sweet together and always working to make each other better. Also, he was totally having a bisexuality crisis right?

Their romance is far and away the most convincing and PRESENT to me, partially because there is no immediate confession. His route is all about PINING.

I also loved the focus on the 1st years in this route - it was such a treat getting to focus in on Onyx and Rhodonite. I only wish we got CGs for their performance instead of the 7th fucking I Am Death CG.

Also, I'm kind of obsessed with the Sou/Kyoji dynamic in this route. I kind of need them to have an insane rebound yaoi. Sou realizes Kisa is in love with Suzu, and wants to support them, but his own feelings... so he's spending more time with Kyoji, and slowly starts to realize... could love bloom again? (I'm getting off topic but ask me about my weird Sou/Kyoji The Principal Is Making Us Fake Date?!?! AU sometime if you'd like)

I think him twisting his ankle again was a bit of a lame plot contrivance, but I had so much fun I can barely even be upset.

Mitsuki Shirota: As you mentioned, this route Thoroughly Whelmed me.

I just... didn't feel much of anything from Mitsuki. It frustrated me so badly that we teased him having a troubled family dynamic in his first event, and then we just NEVER CIRCLE BACK to that. It's insane. They're like "hey do you want a story arc? nvm fuck you".

I also just didn't buy the emotional beat about "ohh you aren't changing in front of me... I guess you just don't trust me..." Like, even if Kisa was just a Cisgender Male, I'd think that was kind of presumptuous! Kisa acts like she did something so wrong here, but I don't think she did.

I loved that Kisa got to be a Jack in the Sissia performance, but it pissed me off that the play itself barely changed. And I guess making the character model not change could be some GNC slay, but I'd want them to actually discuss it if that was the case.

Also, his Christmas present to us was to just SING? SING THE SAME DUET WE HAD ALREADY SUNG LITERALLY YESTERDAY? You have to remember this is coming directly off of Suzu's route, which had his Christmas hand mirror come up so often.

Sarafumi Takashina: I liked him! When liveblogging his route to my friend, I keep on describing him as very "pleasant", which I think is an accurate summary. I think his route was competently done and very fun to play, but it also didn't make me scream and cry and go insane.

The Amber stuff was particularly annoying in this route, because they keep talking about how they need to win these awards or else Amber will be able to poach them. But... it's just such a bad example of gameplay and story segregation. Because YOU KNOW I HAVE BEEN GETTING PERFECT RANKS ON ALL THESE MINIGAMES! Quartz and Kisa have literally always been getting Gold prizes in every prior performance. The stakes just don't feel right.

Kai Mutsumi: obsessed the fact that instead of a cute Christmas date, in his route we just Get Hit By A Car.

I didn't liveblog much about his route, and it doesn't stick out much in my memory. Amber annoyed me again. I thought his stuff with the orphans was cute. I think his relationship to being a flower/vessel was interesting. I liked Kai as a character, but I didn't recall much about the romance.

Kisa Tachibana: The fact we get to have a nonbinary slay role is, naturally, pretty iconic, and I love that for Kisa.

The main plot of "ohhh Quartz is going to get shut down" bugged me, though. I think you can tell, but I really didn't care for any of the Amber plotline. I don't like having a class which is just Designated Evil. I don't like having a guy with grey skin insist that I should be with him. I don't like how the game just ignores the fact that I got Quartz nonstop Gold awards in the past 4 plays. And I hate the fact that I am supposed to believe that I Am Death is going to be a competent play WITHOUT A TAKIHIME?

I think the routes where they double-cast Takihime are also really stupid. I've done theater. I can tell you, anytime they do the two people as one role thing, it ALWAYS turns out tacky. But to just eliminate the role? Ugh. Shut upp. PERFORM SOMETHING NEW ALREADY!!! I just hate that so much of the drama of this route is surrounding the same damn play they've been seeing for the past year.

I also just... I loved having Kisa as a Jack Jeanne. But I kind of think it's a lame way to counter Amber's Tanakamigi-centric way of thinking, to make her a solo lead. I think it was stupid that Amber did a solo lead, and I think it's thematically a bit confused to make Quartz do it as well.

Also, I was expecting some closure on if our brother had got turned into a weasel. So I was a bit disappointed that nothing happened there.

Again, TYSM for the question!

[anthroxlove]

AMBER RESTARTS X FROM ITALY After a long silence, Amber Heard returns with a film, presented at the Taormina Film Festival. At the center of the plot is a woman who is not believed. Just as it happened to her, who narrated domestic violence and was the subject of a hate campaign during the trial pitting her against ex Johnny Depp, triumphantly welcomed at Cannes only a short time ago By Enrica Brocardo

A little more than a year after the end of the defamation trial that had seen Amber Heard and ex-husband Johnny Depp confront each other in the courtroom in Fair- fax, Virginia, and ended with the star's victory, the actress chose the Taormina film festival for her first public appearance. Her new film, In the Fire, or In the Fire, premiered June 24, accompanied by Heard, who walked the red carpet that evening. Last May, on the other hand, it had been Johnny Depp's turn to indulge in a crowd at the Cannes Film Festival, where Jeanne du Barry - The King's Favorite, in which he plays France's King Louis XV, had been chosen as the opening film. Awaiting him was a winner-take-all reception, where it was the seven-minute standing ovation at the screening rather than sympathy for Amber that weighed in. Yet this collective takedown somewhat contrasts with the entire court story, which actually ended in a draw of sorts. It is true that, in America, she was found guilty of defamation for an editorial she wrote in 2018 in The Washington Post newspaper in which she spoke about the harassment and violence she had suffered (but never mentioned her ex-husband's name). But it is also true that Depp had lost his previous lawsuit against the British newspaper The Sun, which, again in 2018, called him a "wife beater." Many wondered why two such similar prosecutions could end with two opposing verdicts. One of the reasons, according to an analysis by British lawyer specializing in Media Law Mark Stephens, is that while in Britain the decision was made by a judge, in the United States it was a people's jury that convicted Heard. "It reflected the judgment already made by the public opinion, which, from the very beginning of the trial, had stood up for Depp," the expert explained. Another reason would be that the judge in the trial against the Sun had defused the strategy of the plaintiff's lawyers, namely to prove that Heard had lied on a few occasions in order to undermine his credibility, and had focused rather on the evidence of the incidents of violence against his wife. In Fairfax, conversely, Depp's lawyers had a free hand in discrediting Heard. Moreover, not only in the eyes of the jury, but of the world inter- not because the trial aired live on the web, resulting in a hate campaign against the actress that, a few months later, prompted her to leave Hollywood and move with her 2-year-old daughter Oonagh to live in Spain. Meanwhile, late last year, the two exes reached an agreement whereby she would no longer have to pay over $10 million in compensation, but "only" $1 million, which the actor, in turn, said he would donate to charity. At the same time, alongside the actress, associations against gender violence and feminists lined up with an open letter (see opposite page) also signed a few days ago by French writer Annie Ernaux, who will be awarded the Nobel Prize in 2022. In the Fire, which will hit theaters in the fall, is a supernatural thriller of sorts: the story of a psichiatrist who in the late 1800s is called in to take care of a child that people believe possessed by the devil. She tries to pit science against superstition but, even as a woman, is not believed. A more muted return to the scenes than that of Depp, who also recently signed a contract with a luxury brand. In short, refinding her place in Hollywood, despite the release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom next December, promises to be more complicated for Heard. [ The open letter supporting Amber can be read here. ]

[sapphire-lake]

Dawn Melody Libya

⟡ The identical twin sister of Nightshade Libya. A young lady with a few words and observatory yet reserved demeanor. Yet she is most psychotic one when it comes to a certain moon…

╭──・ Basic Information

Name: Dawn Melody Libya

Romaji: Libya Melody Dawn

Quote: "Seeing blood from my victims..excites me."

V/A:Eleven from Path to Nowhere(English) and Zoya from Path to Nowhere(Japanese)

Gender: female

Sexuality: bisexual

Age: 20

Birthday: February 14th

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Eye color: Blue(mixture of dark blue and light blue)

Hair Color: dark blue with pale-ish blue ends

Height: 5'5

Weight: 100 lbs

Race: undead vessel(Blood Mage/Blood Siren

Homeland: Shenzhen, China(Move in Tsukii's mansion in Yokohama, Japan with Night and Jeanne

Family:

Draven Libya-Father

Bellatrix Libya-Mother

Valerian Israfel Libya- 1st Older Brother

Ambrose Astaroth Libya- 2nd Older Brother

Nightshade Belladonna Libya- Twin Sister

Morte Garridan- Cousin

╭──・ School Information

School Status and Fun Fact

Dorm: Sapphire Lake Dorm

School Year: 2nd year

Class: 2-B

Student Number: No.9

Occupation: Florist with Dominque

Best Subject: Flying and History

╭──・ Interests

Favorite Color: Dark colors but she also like neutral colors too

Favorite Food: Depends on her mood. But she always loved home cook food, sweets and sour food.

Least Favorite Food: She never like Lilia’s food, certain type of food, and I hate to say this but for some reason: Dawn hates overly spicy food.

Likes: Tea, coffee(She preferred Tsukii’s way of making tea or coffee), she likes to party but not too much, drama, chaos, she like the night sky, the moon cycles, Malleus, Silver, ADeuce’s shenanigans, her dorm, being herself, Kalim

Dislikes: Heat, She hates Crowley’s guts, she hate sexist people, Some of the Savanclaw members, She hates Rook and Floyd. She hates liars, she never likes when her dorm is being insulted. She never likes scaring people of her abilities so she never says anything about it. She hates being mistaken as Night.

Hobbies:She reads A LOT in the NRC’s library. She cooks and bakes which always makes her dorm happy. She can sing, dance and play the piano.

Talents: She is a room reader, she is also an empathetic girl. Don’t lie to her because she can catch lies, turn her blood into anything

╭──・ Other information

Nicknames: Dawny(Tsukii, Night, Jeanne), Rebel (Leona, Riddle and Ace), Little Moon(The staff but Crowley, The ghost,Malleus and Lilia)

Other Nicknames: Blood Siren(Vil), NRC's Bloody Mary(Sebek called her that) La princesse du sang(The Princess of Blood) or La Princesse de la Lune de Sang(The Princess of the Blood Moon[Both came from Rook])

Mutual ocs's nickmame:

@kousaka-ayumu

Dawn-sama by Sonomi

Sunshine by Taiyou

Dawn(Everyone else)

@queen-of-twisted

Blood Buddy by Minako

Dawn-Dawn by Mike and Meraki

Scary Lady by Hersperia

@yumeko2sevilla

The Bloodied Goddess by Hitsuji

Dawnie by Erin

Salome by Koyuki

Appearance: Dawn has dark blue hair with pale-ish blue ends with her eyes a mixture of dark blue and light blue. She has an eyebrow piercing but rarely shows it. Dawn(in her sadism mode) will have blood red rings in her eyes. Dawn looks like an easy victim but she is one harsh fighter. A black cross with a choker/ dog tags is how you know its Dawn and not Night.

Personality: Oof! Dawn is...protective. She is fiercely loyal to her dorm and her loved ones that she will refused any shady offers(Azul I’m looking at you). Due to her coming back from a..terrible event: She grew observant and quiet. She will let her voice be heard and she is make sure that her dorm has some privacy and freedom. Dawn is not the type to anger but when she is angry..It is not a pleasant sight to see or experience it. But she will warm up to you,letting you show a carefree and yet kind twin sister and childhood friend. You can even see her smile often. However when she sees blood from anyone who wronged her or her loved ones, watch how her expression changes from a calm yet quiet expression to the expression of PURE sadism in an eerily slow manner.

Trivia:

Due to her having abilities to control blood, she had to keep herself on check every time

She is mostly afraid of her sadism when she sees blood

She earns the blood control ability from Bellatrix's dead twin sister.

She once killed someone who was confusing her as Night on purpose

She is a part of the 2nd year gang and she is the silent type

She has favorite plushie(Spoiler alert: Its a bunny plushy)

She once ate a large box of Takoyaki in front of Azul whil staring him deep in the eyes out of pure pettiness(She still hasn't forgiven him for trying to steal her um/magic)

✶ Unique Magic

⟡Name: Symphony of the Crimson Moon or Eternity Moonlight and Blood

⟡Chant: "The Crimson Moon's sung a hypnotic melody that you will not escape from. Listen to the crimson moon's song. Symphony of the Crimson Moon.."

⟡Description: Dawn will summon a blood moon in the sky and makes a the moon sings a hypnotic melody, making the people or her victims distracted enough for the moon and Dawn to drained them bone dry of their blood.

Or

The Blood moon will be summoned as the surrounding turn into a dark crimson red with everything turn pitch black. The person's vision will be like this as they were drained of their blood. Due to the dangers, it was never used at all.

The bloodied twin of the puppeteer will be always watching, waiting and dreading the moment to strike. Be wary of her eyes...there is madness behind them

“Similar but not the same. I can see the bloodlust and chaos. Sapphire Lake Dorm.” Dark Mirror to Dawn

[androgynealienfemme]

"Raging Butch Publisher: The Lesbian Tide Meanwhile, life on my own newspaper, the Lesbian Tide, was a study in lesbian contradiction and feminist paradox. How did a raging butch get to be publisher of the nation's premiere lesbian-feminist paper of the seventies? Like much of the turbulent seventies, it was a dialectic accident. I snuck in the back door.

In 1971, when DOB abbreviated my "communist" (Women against the War) presidency, they offered me the booby prize of remaining on the Board of Officers by holding the lowest position- newsletter editor. I accepted. I'd been editor of my high school paper; I knew the power of the press. From here, as Marx would say, it was just a hop, skip, and a job as this editor collided with herstory. I changed the name of my four-page mimeograph from the DOB Newsletter to the Lesbian Tide, because I could feel the tide of herstory changing. The whole world was.

Realizing its mistake, the DOB membership soon voted me and my communist tide out of the organization. Politically, I'd been gone for months already. But I was now free to invite my lesbian-feminist soul mates onto the staff.

The makes of the not-so-collective Tide Collective reflected the infra-chaos of our movement. In addition to my paradoxical self, there was an archetypical lesbian-come-lately (from heterosexuality) feminist femme, co-editor Sharon McDonald; our very own politically correct Vassar white girl, Shirl Buss (who later processed her own organization, White Women against White Women against White Women against Racism, to death); an old-gay femme, Barbara Gehrke, a former navy woman who thought women's liberation meant changing laws to make women free (poor dear!); and a bisexual, Cheri Lesh, who also must have crept in some window simply because she was a great writer. Lesh taught me that there were indeed a small percentage of human beings who did not find gender a factor in sexual attraction.

My ten-year indenture, 1970 to 1980, to the Tide and this outrageous family of women helped me survive lesbian-feminism. With our Vassar analysis editor, Buss, I completed my studies in lesbian-feminist language: androgynous was synonym for butch; cheating on your lover was called "having a nonmonogomous relationship"; and "role-playing" was "consciousness raising." Learning all these new things was called "networking" or "skill building" depending on the environment you were studying. And, of course, fighting for your identity, even unsuccessfully, was called "processing."

As the undercover butch publisher of the Lesbian Tide, I edited major features such as "Are Roles Really Dead?" and quoted myself as the anonymous "Marianne" (pretty femme, pretty clever) - defender of the now ancient heritage of butchdom. I survived through coups and controversy, not the least of which was whether the Lesbian Tide was a "lesbian-feminist" publication or a "feminist lesbian" publication.

Lesbians of the nineties might rightly wonder why their foremothers spent three years in this ridiculous semantic debate when they could have been proclaiming "Queer Power" on the "Donahue Show." What can I say? It seemed important at the time. I was a dyke long before I learned to spell feminism, so I was adamant that no Jennie-Come-Lately politic was going to give my lesbianism second billing as a descriptive adjective. i was not just a feminist who happened to be a lesbian. That would be as silly as calling myself a butch feminist. Somewhere in my gut I knew feminism had both saved me and shoved me back into the closet. Feminism rescued women, but it subverted lesbianism."

Butches, Lies, and Feminism" by Jeanne Cordova, The Persistent Desire, (edited by Joan Nestle) (1992)

[ilikedyourablogithere]

If nothing else I'm gonna keep doing Warm UP matches in the hope that after all the whales get their Li Guang skin they'll go away so the normal people playing the game and can get theirs in peace

in the meantime remember

You don't have Toland but you have a max out Li Ao

you know? the guy that was Toland before Toland was even in the game does and the reason the dev made Toland so busted... cause they had to force him to be better than him

Don't have Tiye but you do have a Melanie

Not as flashy as her but AP manipulation all the same and when petrified debuff is applied they don't gain AP

Not Feng Nuxi but you got a Jeanne by now ya?

Can't be a CD queen? Deploy some stun team scum tactics

David ultimate move attacks 4 times

Build him right and he can counter Anna

Not saying any of this is a guaranteed winning strategy but if you build your stuff correct they can take on some whales

[he-is-so-stupid]

howdy fellow otome gamers. I play way too many of these games and I need to get things off my chest. feel free to ask me anything, gush about games you know I've played, gush about games you want me to try, ask my opinion about games you haven't tried yet, et cetera.

Games I've Completed

storm lover, sweet fuse, amnesia, hakuoki (kw + eb), code: realize, collar x malice, psychedelica of the black butterfly, psychedelica of the ashen hawk, 7'scarlet, norn9, london detective mysteria, bad apple wars, cupid parasite, variable barricade, olympia soiree, piofiore, cafe enchante, even if tempest, princess nightmare, taisho x alice, nightshade, bustafellows, nameless, yojinbo, dandelion, tmgs 1-3, mystic messenger, cinderella phenomenon, lover pretend, starry sky in spring, arcana famiglia ancora, arcana famiglia fandisk*, charade maniacs, code : realize~ future blessings*, birushana, nekopara catboys paradise, jack jeanne, code:realize~ wintertide miracles*$

*=fandisks, $=unfinished

Games in My Backlog

ephemeral, anniversary no kuni no alice, starry sky after spring*, ayakashi gohan, dot kareshi 1-3, fashioning little miss lonesome, re: birthday song, ozmafia, palais de reine, the second reproduction, bakumatsu renka shinsengumi, my vow to my liege, backstage pass, taisho x alice heads & tails*, brother's conflict, period cube, hakuoki sweet school life, collar x malice -unlimited-*$, piofiore: episodio 1926*, dairoku: agents of sakuratani, steam prison, amnesia: later x crowd*, butterfly's poison: blood chains, the crimson flower that divides, winter's wish spirits of edo, paradigm paradox, arcana famiglia 2*, radiant tale, norn9 last era*, shuuen no virche

Platforms I Play

Switch, PS Vita, 3DS, PC. (I have a phone but I don't play many mobage.)

My Top Favorite Games

Bustafellows, Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly, Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk, 7'scarlet, Taisho x Alice, Sweet Fuse, and Charade Maniacs. I have a big love for games with deep mysteries that get unraveled through the course of the story.

My Favorite LIs

Impey (Code:Realize), Mineo (Collar x Malice), Alice (Taisho x Alice), Chigasaki and Dazai (Charade Maniacs), Levi (PotAH), Yamato (PotBB), Yamazaki and Shinpachi (Hakuoki), Suzu (Jack Jeanne), Heishi (Norn9), Watson (London Detective Mysteria), Higa (Bad Apple Wars), Peter Flage (Cupid Parasite), Gilbert (Piofiore), Limbo (Bustafellows), and Liberta (Arcana Famiglia). I have a bias towards dumb boys, basically.

[mslevbiascorner]

KOKUTO NEJI (JACK JEANNE)

Who is Kokuto Neji?

Kokuto or Kuro is one of the love interests (LIs) in the otome game titled Jack Jeanne. He is the Boss/Leader/Director/Playwright/Lyricist of Quartz Class, he is also one of the third year students alongside Kai and Sarafumi.

Profile:

Warning:

This is going to be a long ass post because this dude got me on CHOKEHOLD and second, WHY THE FUCK DID THEY MADE HIM SO FREAKIN' HOT?!

I have standards in otome games y'know? I like smart, kuuderes, serious/villain characters, well Kokuto is kinda opposite, he's so freakin' loud, whimsical and eccentric for my taste.

When I started playing the game I was aiming for Mutsumi Kai, I was attracted to him because he is a classically handsome otome LI, and definitely exudes kuudere vibes lol. Despite the urge of playing Kai's route first, I decided to stick with the reviews, I've played Suzu, Fumi and Kai's route.

Wait whut? So where is Soshi and Mitsuki?

Okay, okay, believe me I really wanted to finish all the routes first before Kokuto but GODDAMN I just can't take it anymore I had to skipped Soshi and Mitsuki for him (I'm so sorry). I was so drawn by him, I felt like he's watching me from behind and telling me to PLEASE DO MY ROUTE ALREADY, you have no idea how daunting it is and how hard it is to resist the urge of playing his route because WHAT THE FUCK?

Why he got me on CHOKEHOLD [May Contain Minor/Major/Out of Context Spoiler]

Character Design: 10/10

Yeah I know, some of you will probably attack me for this rating because some players hated his hair, but let's not talk about that, I love his hair it suits him perfectly, period. I like his uniform a lot! He looks so neat and likes wearing long polo sleeves which I sooooo fuckin' love! I like his aesthetics because I can definitely do his style. I actually realized that he really does look like a film director. Also, those jaded eyes dude, those freakin' eyes, he looks like a CAT and I love cats! I think he deviates to the "usual" otome handsome LI due to his design that is very Tokyo Ghoul(ish), but nevertheless he is very very handsome and attractive, 100/10 would smash, lol.

Talent: 10/10

LISTEN y'all, Kokuto Neji is INSANELY TALENTED I'm telling you that! This is not even an exaggeration. His forte are writing and directing, but I was at complete shock that he can also ACT, SING, DANCE, and even WRITE A SONG! And oh, the fact that he can play both Jack and Jeanne roles is a major WOW to me. At first, I was not taking his acting seriously because he picks a role that is so so so random lol, often times he has been outshined by other characters but not until he played as Domina in Oh! Rama Havenna! like urgh! His acting is superb, there's already a foreshadowing about his personal story there. His singing voice is so gooooood as well, I love Ghost Party and Intense Confessions at the Confessional, he ate those songs up!

Kisa's inner monologue (same girl, same)

Yep he did that!

Personality: 9/10

Fuck my life and why I haven't met a person like him in real life? Haha! Kokuto is too complex since you'll never know what's going on inside his head, in fact, Kai mentioned that Kokuto doesn't know how to communicate very well despite his eccentricity, Neji can be very serious if it's related to acting projects, he can be cold asf, iykyk. It's a no brainer, Kokuto is a gifted one, a genius as called by many but because of that he tends to be selfish, inconsiderate, unreasonable and brutally honest at times, I think this is a conundrum with intelligent people in general. I also believed that the writers (Sui Ishida and Shin Towada) perfectly convey the word "genius" through Neji. While I admit that he is quite self-centered I think Neji just wants the best for the members and for the Quartz, he is the class leader and has the responsibility over them. He wanted to push everyone because he believed that they are more than capable of what they can offer.

Neji realizing that he went overboard, lol, he is so precious huhu

This hit me like a train

Of all LIs Kokuto's dialogues are my favorite, they are deep but at the same time very sensible, I like introspective people in real life. Also, Kokuto is so freakin' FUNNY! Oh good lord, you have no idea, there were no dull moments with him! I had to admit, his role as Crowley in their final performance almost got me so emotional but his comedic lines ruined it for me I ended up laughing instead, LOL! Despite being a troublemaker to Quartz and to his previous class I love how his teachers acknowledges his talent and even waited for him to finish the final script when they can just use the Univeil archive but they opted not to (Neji best boy >.<).

LMAO! This is probably one of his unforgettable dialogues!

STORY: 10/10

Despite all the spoilers I've read, his story still surprised me to a great extent. Okay, perhaps the main reason why I liked Kokuto is because his story and my personal story is similar even his contemplations/sentiments are the same as mine. Of course, unlike him I am no genius, just an average but I also like doing things that piques my interest, we have the same blood type and love over food especially rice lol. I've read reviews about his route being lackluster or Kokuto being irrational, some even said that his route has a great potential but went down hill for some reason. I'd say Neji's route is not for everyone, of course he has flaws. With his experience with his father Kokuto formed a certain defense mechanism channeling his emotional burden to somebody else. Despite the trauma, Kokuto still respects his father, admired him as an excellent director, and even inspired him to become an excellent playwright. My mind and heart were so conflicted when Neji got his writer's block because huh? Why he can't accept the fact that he's inlove, of course he cannot think of anything duh? I emphatize with Kisa like it's not her fault to begin with, however I can't also invalidate Neji's feeling because after all he's protecting himself from potential heartache and because of his trauma *sob*. Moreover, it so refreshing too see Neji in stage acting as a lead actor, and bringing his own script to life. He's always been working so hard behind Quartz and let other members shine. Also, I am convinced that Neji purposely wrote the Sissia of the Central Nation for Kisa even without his route, I said this because I've played 3 routes before him and to think that the final play was actually based on Kisa's story is quite a mystery, perhaps he knew her secret after all?

Yes Chui, I agree.

ROMANCE: 100/10

Hoo boy we’ve come this far, aren’t we? Yeah, I mentioned that he deviates to the classically handsome otome, at first I was like “this character is so random, What's with the hair? Can he romance me tho? What is it going to be like?” Those questions became the driving force for me to finally give in! BRUH?! Kokuto’s affection events left me in awe, my heart really went “doki doki” did I also mentioned that I liked Kai?! Yes, Kai’s affection events were good but Neji went TRIPLE! He got me kicking my feet, giggling and twirling my hair, I had to put down my switch in order to process my emotions because goddamn what was even that for?! He was such a tease like I didn’t even expect those.

KYAHHHHH!!! This one left me in SHOOKT! Yep this is not an acting anymore lol

Despite JJ's limited romantic offerings, Kokuto's affection events can compete with Piofiore or other similar games I've played even without kissing CG or 18+ CGs, that's how impactful his route is. I'd say his route had a right amount of romance. His antics and exaggeration makes him even more adorable his lines were the best! I guess it all boils down to him being a writer and an actor, gosh he knows exactly how to play with words! My favorite line of his is probably during the Univeil Performance, the scene where Sissia (Kisa) and Crowley (Kokuto) where about to perform the final song: Sissia: I can’t understand 80% of what you say. Crowley: Though it may be trouble for you, I absolutely love the time I spend with you, speaking feverishly on the 80 percent you don’t understand DUDDDEEEEEEE this line particular is so touching! :( please help me to hold all these feels. After playing his route I can say that Kokuto and Kisa really fit and compliment each other and could make a power couple! (Me to myself: you wish that was you huh?) which actually make sense since Kokuto has always been looking for a "gear" as he claimed himself as the "mechanic"

That's it for my Kokuto Neji appreciation post, I am officialy brainrotting but I have to keep going I have like 9 otome titles to play with lol. I will be thinking about him until I'm 40. Ciao!

[achy-boo]

Dawn Melody Libya

Name: Dawn Melody Libya

Romaji: Libya Melody Dawn

Quote: "Seeing blood from my victims..excites me."

V/A:Eleven from Path to Nowhere(English) and Zoya from Path to Nowhere(Japanese)

Gender: female

Sexuality: bisexual

Age: 20

Birthday: February 14th

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Eye color: Blue(mixture of dark blue and light blue)

Hair Color: dark blue with pale-ish blue ends

Height: 5'5

Weight: 100 lbs

Race: undead vessel(Blood Mage/Blood Siren

Homeland: Shenzhen, China(Move in Tsukii's mansion in Yokohama, Japan with Night and Jeanne

Family: a mother, father, and older brother and Night(Identical twin sister)

School Status and Fun Facts

Dorm: Sapphire Lake Dorm

School Year: 2nd year

Class: 2-B

Student Number: No.9

Occupation:DJ, Hostess at the host night club and babysitter.

Club: basketball club

Best Subject: Flying and History

Favorite Color: Dark colors but she also like neutral colors too

Favorite Food: Depends on her mood. But she always loved home cook food, sweets and sour food.

Least Favorite Food: She never like Lilia’s food, certain type of food, and I hate to say this but for some reason: Dawn hates overly spicy food.

Likes: Tea, coffee(She preferred Tsukii’s way of making tea or coffee), she likes to party but not too much, drama, chaos, she like the night sky, the moon cycles, Malleus, Silver, ADEUCE’s shenanigans, her dorm, being herself, Kalim

Dislikes: Heat, She hates Crowley’s guts, she hate sexist people, Some of the Savanclaw members, She hates Rook and Floyd. She hates liars, she never likes when her dorm is being insulted. She never likes scaring people of her abilities so she never says anything about it. She hates being mistaken as Night.

Hobbies:She reads A LOT in the NRC’s library. She cooks and bakes which always makes her dorm happy. She can sing, dance and play the piano.

Talents: She is a room reader, she is also an empathetic girl. Don’t lie to her because she can catch lies. She had a keen eyes.

Nicknames: Dawny(Tsukii, Night, Jeanne), Rebel (Leona, Riddle and Ace), Little Moon(The staff but Crowley, The ghost,Malleus and Lilia)

Other Nicknames: Blood Siren(Vil), NRC's Bloody Mary(Sebek called her that) La princesse du sang(The Princess of Blood) or La Princesse de la Lune de Sang(The Princess of the Blood Moon[Both came from Rook])

Appearance and Personality

Appearance: Dawn has dark blue hair with pale-ish blue ends with her eyes a mixture of dark blue and light blue. She has an eyebrow piercing but rarely shows it. Dawn(in her sadism mode) will have blood red rings in her eyes. Dawn looks like an easy victim but she is one harsh fighter. A black cross with a choker/ dog tags is how you know its Dawn and not Night.

Personality: Oof! Dawn is..protective. She is fiercely loyal to her dorm and her loved ones that she will refused any shady offers(Azul I’m looking at you). Due to her coming back from a..terrible event: She grew observant and quiet. She will let her voice be heard and she is make sure that her dorm has some privacy and freedom. Dawn is not the type to anger but when she is angry..It is not a pleasant sight to see or experience it. But she will warm up to you,letting you show a carefree and yet kind twin sister and childhood friend. You can even see her smile often. However when she sees blood from anyone who wronged her or her loved ones, watch how her expression changes from a calm yet quiet expression to the expression of PURE sadism in an eerily slow manner.

𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒂

Blood Moon Hypnotize is Dawn's UM(never used it)

Due to her having abilities to control blood, she had to keep herself on check every time

She is mostly afraid of her sadism when she sees blood

She earns the blood control ability from Bellatrix's dead twin sister.

She once killed someone who was confusing her as Night on purpose

She is a part of the 2nd year gang and she is the silent type

She has favorite plushie(Spoiler alert: Its a bunny plushy)

She trusts her sister and childhood friends more than anyone in NRC

She once ate a large box of Takoyaki in front of Azul whil staring him deep in the eyes out of pure pettiness(She still hasn't forgiven him for trying to steal her um/magic)

[teutaranaway]

hi teuta do you wanna convince me to play bustafellows. i'm pretty into otomes and i keep up with commercial releases but bustafellows never really grabbed me despite all the buzz around it. why do u enjoy it

HONESTLY if i had to rank bustafe with commercial otomes in regards to like story and romance its pretty mid like. 5 or 6 but i personally love love love the story and the characters and the found family trope so it was really easy for me to get super into it, plus the art is great and i love the ost and the story is pretty good imo, its just like hard to get ur head into it if ur actually from america bc the america new sieg is based on is a very "i only know about america from what i see on tv" type of america, like its just a concept of america. im not from the us however so i didnt care abt that one bit teehee

if u like found family its great .......like, except for some commercial otomes like maybe jack jeanne, the found family trope is STRONG with this one (in other otomes they usually have LIs be rivals for the mc but in bustafe everyone is eachothers wingman lmfao) its so hard to view the main cast without all of them together bc the group dynamic is rly strong, i like how they handle some issues like mental health, gender etc even tho they dont handle some other issues that well. the supporting characters are also great and they are such a big part of the story that they cant be removed so theyre not sidelined at all

ummmmmm. i love crow. do it for him

[couldbebetterforsure]

I already gave out my big thoughts about the Final Performance arc of Suzu’s route in over a dozen different individual posts (sorry for spamming the Jack Jeanne tag 😞) so I won’t repeat myself too much on that.

Basically I am super duper wholeheartedly in love with Suzu’s route. It was incredibly well written, had great characterization of both Kisa and Suzu. I also think Suzu’s route flowed well from the common route, like a natural progression. I loved how the rest of Quartz was like on the route too, how supportive and loving they were. Once again, special shout-out to my boy Sou for being the funniest fucker during this arc. Boy really put the fear of God in poor Otori…Fumi and Kai were able to happily pass along their titles as Quartz’s Al Jeanne and Jack Ace to Kisa and Suzu with no regrets. Neji got to have fun with this last play and with how many references to the plays from over the year this one had, seems like he was feeling pretty sentimental. And Mitsuki really showed off how ready he is to be Quartz’s next leader, he knows his class so well! And yeah like I said before, Otori did end up growing on me, he’s such an entertaining gremlin!

Also all the people who tried saying Jack Jeanne isn’t romantic were definitely exaggerating. If you’re looking for spicy romantic contact or lots of physical affection, you probably won’t get it (at least that’s what I’m understanding after doing Suzu’s route). But to say it isn’t romantic at all??? LIES!!!! At the very least Suzu’s route is so incredibly deeply wonderfully romantic!!!!

I already mentioned this but Sissia of the Central Nation is my favorite of Quartz’s plays. Everything about it was beautiful, I felt like I was watching an anime, and like I said before if the developers wanna make a separate visual novel based on the play 👀👀👀👀👀 Though preferably with an ending that leans more towards the sweet side over the bittersweet (seriously you asshats you couldn’t wait for Sissia and Chance to get down first????)

The music was sheer perfection. Departure was a beautiful solo from Kisa, like no wonder Sissia was immediately picked to join Kielce. Kielce the Nation at the Center was without a doubt my favorite, it was such a catchy hype song for the circus troupe! Quartz Anima was a VERY close second, like it so narrowly missed out on being my favorite, it’s beautiful and has so many callbacks to Quartz’s past plays and I found out it also apparently references all the Quartz members’ names in the lyrics too!!! And Over the Wall was another gorgeous solo from Kisa!

The ending song, I think it’s called Where the Wind Blows, was absolutely beautiful and I loved that for me it was a duet between Kisa and Suzu 🥰🥰🥰

So yeah, Jack Jeanne is such a good game and deserves way more attention. I have only played the one route so far but I can confidently call it my favorite otome game and one of my favorite video games in general!

Before I get to the other routes I wanna take a break to play Radiant Tale! There’s another red haired genki sweetheart voiced by Yuma Uchida in that game but I can’t access his route until I woo all the other boys first 😡 So I need to get to work on that!!! When I come back to Jack Jeanne I likely won’t liveblog as extensively as I did Suzu’s route. I probably will give general thoughts at the end or make note of anything major.

But yeah, thanks everyone for reading my thoughts! And sorry again for spamming the Jack Jeanne tag so much! 😅😅😅

[dear-indies]

Hi Cat !! Hope you're having a lovely new year so far! May I please ask for some actors/actresses (faceclaims) who can play the parents and the younger sisters of Monica Barbaro, please? Thank you so much!! Hope 2024 treats you tell!! 💕

(I did send this ask a while ago, but I'm unsure if tumblr ate it)

She's 1/4 Mexican so here are some suggestions! Please note that I couldn't find anything about her Mexican background (if she's a white Mexican etc.) so these might not be perfect casts.

Half Mexican parent:

Diana Gabaldon (1952) Mexican / English, Irish, Scottish.

Anne Ramsay (1960) Mexican / Northern Irish, Scottish, English, distant German.

Alex Meneses (1965) Mexican / Ukrainian, possibly some Polish.

Tommy Pallotta (1968) Mexican / Italian, English, possibly other.

Ricardo Antonio Chavira (1971) Mexican / German, Irish.

Al Madrigal (1971) Mexican / Italian Sicilian.

Other parent:

Peter Gallagher (1955)

Daniel Day-Lewis (1957)

Stanley Tucci (1960)

Jeanne Tripplehorn (1963)

Dermot Mulroney (1963)

Marisa Tomei (1964)

Famke Janssen (1964)

Alan Cumming (1965) - is bisexual.

Marton Csokas (1966)

John Cusack (1966) - is pro Palestine!

Olivia Williams (1968)

Michael Sheen (1969)

Paget Brewster (1969)

Catherine Zeta-Jones (1969)

David Tennant (1971)

Carla Gugino (1971)

Siblings:

Seychelle Gabriel (1991) French, Mexican / Italian, including Sicilian.

And then half because I couldn't find other 1/4 Mexican suggestions:

Rose Matafeo (1992) Samoan / Croatian and Scottish.

Luciane Buchanan (1993) Tongan / Scottish.

Maia Mitchell (1993) - is pro Palestine!

Midori Francis (1994) Japanese / Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Italian - is queer.

Ivana Baquero (1994)

Jaz Sinclair (1994) African-American / Italian, Irish, Swedish.

Geraldine Viswanathan (1995) Tamil Indian / Swiss-German.

Jessie Mei Li (1995) Hongkonger / English - is a gender non-conforming woman who uses she/they.

Emma Mackey (1996)

Ella Balinska (1996) Afro Jamaican / Polish, English.

Myha'la (1996) Afro Jamaican / White.

Iman Meskini (1997) Tunisian / Norweigan - is pro Palestine!

Nicole Maines (1997) - is trans.

Piper Curda (1997) Korean / English, Scottish - is apsec.

Lauren Tsai (1998) Taiwanese / Polish, Italian, English, German, Irish.

Bailee Madison (1999)

I hope you have a great 2024 too, anon!

[byneddiedingo]

Samuel Kircher and Léa Drucker in Last Summer (Catherine Breillat, 2023)

Cast: Léa Drucker, Samuel Kircher, Oliver Rabourdin, Clotilde Courau, Serena Hu, Angela Chen, Romain Maricau, Romane Violeau, Marie Lucas, Neilia Da Costa, Lila-Rose Gilberti, Jean-Christophe Pilloix. Screenplay: Catherine Breillat, Pascal Bonitzer, based on a screenplay by Marie-Louis Käehne and May el-Toukhy. Cinematography: Jeanne Lapoirie. Production design: Sébastien Danos. Film editing: François Quiqueré. 

When we first meet Anne (Léa Drucker), she's using her considerable skills as a lawyer to help a young woman prosecute her rapist, and we learn that she has devoted much of her career to helping women in abusive situations. So why does Anne, all of a sudden, start having sex with her 17-year-old stepson (Samuel Kircher)? Catherine Breillat's Last Summer never quite comes to terms with Anne's hypocrisy, which is compounded by the lies she tells to her husband after his son tells him of the affair. Still, the film works, thanks to skillful performances by Drucker and Oliver Rabourdin as Anne's husband, Pierre, a rather dull businessman who doesn't have the emotional wherewithal to cope with the revelation. Breillat plays down the sensational aspects of the plot in various ways: in the sex scenes, the focus is on faces rather than bodies, and in the confrontation of husband and wife, the violence is emotional rather than physical. Even the revelation that Pierre has been told of the affair is postponed until he and Anne have had dinner with their two young adopted daughters and sent them to bed, although you can sense the tension building. Last Summer is a fine example of directorial restraint, up to the ending. The only question is whether restraint is appropriate to the subject matter.