#like how i love history of animation and history of video games for example

[fettiowi]

I really, really love getting to learn about the history and evolution of things. i feel like a way to get me interested in any particular topic is to get me invested in learning its history. it fascinates me more than anything

[r--kt]

Do you like Kakashi's dogs? Let's talk about why there are eight of them.

another example of naruto's ✨cultural code✨

contents | the eight dog warriors chronicles · legacy · eight confucian virtues. also look at the cuties love them sm

Naruto Vol. 10 CH 90

[ one dog is wonderful, I'm saying as the owner of a sweet little york terrier. two dogs are good, they won't be bored together. three dogs? yeah, cool! how are you going to walk them though? four? yes... look, maybe we have to draw the line h- wha- EIGHT? Excuse Me!? ]

surely, it's worth starting with the fact that eight is a lucky number in Japanese culture — everybody watched Hachi. of course, this is not the only cultural detail where the eight is mentioned. I want to pay special attention to a thing that I didn't know about until I googled it, and this is clearly what Kishimoto was doing homage to with Kakashi's eight ninken.

The Eight Dog Warriors Chronicles

Better known as Nansō Satomi Hakkenden. and it's not just some kind of book, it's a novel, consisting of 106 booklets written by Kyokutei Bakin in XIX century. Hakkenden is considered the largest novel in the history of Japanese Literature. this is one of the main representatives of the gesaku genre, which includes works of a frivolous, joking, silly nature. further I will emphasize a few more times how damn popular this work is and how often it is reflected in culture.

here are some illustrations for these books

now let's talk about the plot. It's weird, but it's weird at samurai-dogs-story level so stay here.

In brief, the story tells about the commander Satomi Yoshizane, whose native lands were attacked by the army of a man, whose forces surpassed those of Satomi, and the samurai in despair swore to a dog named Yatsufusa that the dog would get his beloved daughter Fuse as a wife if he chewed that man's throat. surprisingly, the dog not only understood the owner, but also fulfilled his wish! after that the commander refused to keep the promise. however, Fuse, true to her word of honor, went with Yatsufusa to the mountains and became his wife. upon learning that his daughter was pregnant, Satomi, in a rage, sent a samurai to kill Yatsufusa and bring Fuse home. she stood up for the dog anyways and died with him. at that moment, eight pearls with hieroglyphs that denoted the foundations of Confucian virtue burst out of her womb. (...cheers for mythology, I guess)

Soon, eight dog warriors who were Fuse's spiritual children were born in different parts of Awa province. after going through hardships, they got together and became vassals of the Satomi clan, then won the battle, and soon reached peace.

some more illustrations made by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. from left to right: Inukawa Sōsuke (the dog warrior), Inumura Daikaku (the dog warrior), Princess Fuse (their mother).

the novel mainly tells about each individual warrior dog and his shenanigans in a funny adventurous way. huge fame has led to excerpts from Hakkenden being staged at the Kabuki Theater and mentioned in the anime and manga, such as Inuyasha, Dragon Ball, as it turned out, Naruto and so on. there's also a lot of films and video games.

The eight virtues

these are loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, love, honesty, justice, harmony, and peace.

they relate more to Chinese culture, but basically Hakkenden was inspired by it too. since I did not read the whole novel, I would still like to mention at least the values on which it is based, and which were embedded in the symbolism of this story. It's quite interesting to apply this to Kakashi's dogs. gives them more weight and depth.

It is also interesting to note that the reason why Fuse gave birth to dogs was also that her father was cursed earlier in the story in a way that his descendants would become depraved like dogs. in Japanese culture, dogs embody the duality of character: the same mentioned filth and depravity, and devotion and bravery. so as samurai. but this is a different conversation, more related to Kakashi and his dog poetry.

Did you get here? Here's an additional discovery for you✨

Pakkun's name (パックン) is derived from the Japanese onomatopoeia “pakupaku” (パクパク) which reflects the sound of munching.

Kakashi, that's very sweet of you.

thank you for reading this to the end ♡

[grecoromanyaoi]

helloo since we're on the topic: top historical fiction (or adjacent) ? can be any time period I just really love your taste in shows/games/etc and am always on the lookout for history inspired media !

thank you!!! im rly glad im like. inspiring other ppl to engage w things im insane abt hudofajsdfdassfsad. anyways. i will probably expand that list bc i literally forgot every single thing i ever read. also i havent watched that many movies so far

ancient times: i havent really watched a lot of movies/series set in ancient times so far :(

rome HBO (2005-2007) (tv series) - OF COURSE. i personally think its one of the best series ever made. they combine political, miliatry history with the lives of every day people in an incredible way. they never let you once engage with the series through modern lenses. according to my teacher (a historian, archeologist & self described 'romaphile') its incredibly historically accurate, mostly the clothing, set designs, characterization, military practices, etc. except for the things they straight up made up, of course.

i really enjoyed gladiator (2000), i think its a masterpiece.

prince of egypt (1998) i guess?

all the asterix movies of course, all the animated ones and most of the live actions. but i wouldnt really call it historical fiction

ok i havent actually finished watching it for now but sebastiane (1976) - an erotic, x rated, gay interpretation of the martyrdom of st sebastian. its in latin also.

wait i cant believe i forgor about assassin's creed odyssey - so far the only one ive played. its so fun and incredibly immersive visually. especially pour moi who cries into the pillow about how ill never experience the ancient world. also you can b a faggot which is always fun. i have things to say about their portrayal of same-sex sexuality and slavery in classical greece but i get why they did that considering its supposed to like. appeal to a lot of people, and a more "historically accurate" portrayal (for example of pederasty or how common slavery was etc.) would b v difficult for a lot of their target audience. alas.

medieval and early modern era:

the name of the rose (1986) - my medieval history teacher literally showed us bits of this movie to teach us about monasteries and monks fhdosiasdjasd.

the borgias (2011-2013) - incredibly messy, lots of political intrigue, and so so fun to watch. about the history of the borgia family. filled to the brim with drama.

the three musketeers (1993) - my favorite adaptation, also coincidentally the one i grew up on. casting tim curry as richelieu was genius. he slays so hard.

i also like bbc's the musketeers (2014-2016) - a neat little series. very fun and entertaining to watch.

outlaw king (2018) - like i dont think most ppl heard of this movie. its about robert the bruce's fight to reclaim the throne of scotland. starring chris pine

vikings (2013-2020) - its fun. i havent watched the entire series tho. dont expect anything resembling historical accuracy

the northman (2022) - you will see something resembling historical accuracy

mihai viteazul (michael the brave) (1971) - a fun movie. very much romanian propaganda tho.

1670 (2023-) - such a fun series!!! incredible cast, shows respect to the actual history and the lives of historical people. really cute and funny.

caravaggio (1986) - a biopic about caravaggio.

wait i also forgor about pentiment - an intriguing, immersive, and incredibly beautiful video game! it has a lot of 'the name of the rose' vibes, with it being a medieval murder mystery taking place in a monastery. its incredibly touching and made me cry, and in the last few years i very rarely cry. also im 99% sure its an indie game? go support the creators!

vaguely-medieval/early modern fantasy:

mirror mirror (2012) - a retelling of snow white. a very fun movie imo, with incredible costume design. julia roberts plays the evil queen and she SLAYS. armie hammer is unfortunately in that movie.

stardust (2007) - one of my fave movies growing up. more modern-inspired but still.

the green knight (2021) - controversial i know but i actually loved this movie! i liked it both as a standalone movie but moreso as a 21st century adaptation to sir gawain and the green knight.

galavant (2015-2016) - !!!!!!! one of the most series ever! they manage to tackle such difficult concepts and conversations with a hilarious wit. so fun to watch. i listen to a lot of the songs still, and rewatch every once in a while.

disenchantment (2018-2023) - very fun to watch, especially the first season.

i also really liked the novel uprooted by naomi novik. its a polish-inspired fantasy.

modern era:

killers of the flower moon (2023) - of course. a masterpiece

aferim! (2015) - a romanian movie set in 19th century wallachia, about two officers, a father and son, who were sent by a nobleman to retrieve an escaped enslaved romani man. a lot of the people in the comments were calling the movie humorous and funny, maybe im missing smth (as im watching with subtitles n dont understand the original language) but it was a very difficult watch for me??

the handmaiden (2016) - need i say more

black sails (2014-2017) - a prequel to the famous novel 'treasure island'. not an easy series to watch. incredibly good.

the favourite (2018) - need i say more pt 2

the rabbi's cat (le chat du rabbin) (2011) - animated movie set in early 20th century algeria. a rabbi's cat learns to talk overnight.

the nice guys (2016) - a fun murder mystery set in the 1970s

o brother, where art thou (2000) - a retelling of the odyssey set in the southern us in the 1930s

victor/victoria (1982) - set in early 20th century paris. julie andrews pretends to be a man and takes on a job as a drag queen. extremely fun, extremely gay movie.

lady chatterley's lover (2022) - very much porn for moms but it was a nice watch imo

amulet (2020) - set in like. idk. sometime in the 20th century. this is a horror movie, deals a lot with misogyny, sa, and so on. i really like it, personally. a lot of people, mostly weird men, dont tho.

the great (2020-2023) - i have mixed feelings about this show. on the one hand, its really fun to watch. on the other hand, its basically ofmd for girls who have public mental breakdowns whenever someone claims corsets were oppressive. and theyre so weird about russians, jesus christ.

disses:

domina (2021-) - i just couldnt get into it, esp since i tried right after finishing rome hbo. it was kind of silly, and not in a good way. takes itself wayyyy to seriously.

i didnt like spartacus (2010-2013) - the dialogue was almost grotesque and the editing, especially the transitions, straight up killed me

damsel (2024) - holy fuck what a trainwreck of a movie. absolute waste of angela basset and robin wright. the only good thing were the costumes.

lancelot du lac (1974) - i just didnt like it at all. couldnt get into it. i guess it was way too french and artsy fartsy for me. a movie that was trying to say both too little and too much at the same time.

i didnt rly like bram stoker's dracula (1992) - i mean. it was a fine movie. it was definitely not the godfather. the movie itself was meh. the visuals tho? absolutely stunning

[eve-to-adam]

Hello

I love your art. It’s so beautiful.

I have a question

What is a manga or something that really influenced your art

Hello! :)

Thank you very much for the message and for the kind words! <33

Hmm, there are quite a few things that have influenced my art over the years - illustrations for anime to manga and sequential illustrations by popular artists in Art History. One of the most important aspects for me in the process of developing my own art would be the need to do better. More elaborate. More complex. Until I defined my own style (it all starts with the horribly disproportionate and childish fanarts that any young potential artist creates at the beginning of his exploration), I longed for the idea of ​​reaching the most complex level possible. Of course this could not happen on the first try and it is certainly not necessarily a pattern for me at the moment - it took some time for me to understand that there are more ways to achieve complexity when we talk about visual art.

But let's move on to some examples.

✦ I think my first impulse towards visual complexity was given to me by the works of Shibamoto Thores, the artist who created the artistbook for Trinity Blood. Her illustrations fascinated me because every time I looked, I always found a new detail that had escaped my previous inspection. Her characters are intriguing by their posture, color shades and design and the very detailed backgrounds give a certain solemnity to the artworks. Her art also made me interested in the Gothic style.

✦ Another example in this approach is Ayami Kojima, who created illustrations and character designs for the video game Castlevania (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, 1997). Her characters were drawn with an extraordinary elegance, which at the time I could only dream of; that's why I particularly liked her designs, which at the same time increased my fascination with the world of fashion design.

✦ The first mangaka I will mention is none other than Shin-ichi Sakamoto, who exploited his talent to the maximum in this project - and many others - "Innocent" (2013-2015), closely followed by "Innocent: Rogue" (2015 - 2020). The manga is a historical one, based on Masakatsu Adachi's book "The Executioner Sanson". The action takes place in France, before the French Revolution. I want to mention that the story is mature, being loaded with metaphors and various graphic scenes of torture, executions and sex. Sakamoto's art made me want to push my limits even more in terms of visual complexity. I mean, seriously, the man is a true master of details:

✦ Boichi is another top mangaka whose comic book projects have influenced my decisions throughout my artistic exploration. He started his career illustrating mature subjects (porn), which sometimes explains the fanservices in his projects, lol. Like Sakamoto, Boichi has a unique artistic style and an affinity for detail and semi-realism. Sun-Ken Rock is among my favorite stories he created. Besides this, I also liked "Origin" (2016-2019), "Wallman" (2013-2015) "Dr. Stone" (2017-2022, art only), "Raqyia" (2008-2010, art only).

✦ Yana Toboso is one of my favorite comic artists. I still remember the moments when I discovered Black Butler, haha. How nostalgic! The fact that the story is fantasy, which still incorporates a lot of Victorian elements - clothes, customs, food, clothing - fascinated me so much that at one point I tried to create my own version that would include Victorian elements. Of course, it all ended in disaster, lol.

Among other manga works that have inspired me, especially in terms of details and fashion design, are:

✦ "Arte" (2013 -) by Ookubo Kei.

✦ "Death Note" (2003-2006, art by Obata Takeshi).

✦ "Zetman" (2002-2014) by Masakazu Katsura.

✦ "Berserk" (1989 - ) by the late Kentarou Miura.

Among the artists of sequential art who represented and continue to represent a source of inspiration during my artistic exploration are:

✦ Gustave Doré.

✦ Walter Crane.

[aquatark]

My previous post made me realize that not a lot of people here are aware of Endless Ocean's bowmouth guitarfish glitch fiasco, which I think is a shame because 1) it's an interesting look into this game's history, and 2) I find it really funny... long-winded explanation incoming!

So! you see this guy?

You can place him in the game's aquarium, right? I bet if you've played the game, you've done it without even thinking twice!

...Well, in the initial Japanese release of Endless Ocean (known over there as Forever Blue), you couldn't. In fact, attempting to place this little scrimbly in the aquarium crashes your game.

Now this isn't too bad, since you can just press the reset button and continue your game normally, right? well... if you happen to leave the aquarium and save the game after having opened the creature placing menu, selecting a bowmouth guitarfish, and then closing the menu without placing anything... then congrats! you can never use the aquarium again, because it autoplaces whatever you left in that menu on your next visit! :D

In case you're wondering what this looks like in action, this video taken around the game's launch showcases it well, while also using the game's MP3 playback feature to put some anime music in the background, which I think adds to the experience:

So... how does this happen? How could something like this make it into the final game?

Turns out, this is due to how Endless Ocean categorizes creatures internally. Each creature in the game falls into a category, depending on the movements and behaviors the developers wanted to give them. For example, "migrate" type creatures follow a set of coordinate points creating a route around a stage, whereas "swim" type creatures simply swim around the area in which they are placed within a certain radius. Think of a whale shark's movements versus that of a butterflyfish - they have very different AI telling them how to behave.

Now, trying to load a creature of one type as a creature of another... does not make the game happy, to put it lightly. It doesn't know how to handle the request, and so crashes to prevent further weirdness from ensuing. There is only one byte (literally the second smallest unit of digital information storage you could use) per creature responsible for telling the game what type to load the creature as, and this includes when placing creatures in the aquarium. A slip of the keyboard caused a dev to type the wrong number in this byte, making it attempt to spawn bowmouth guitarfish placed in the aquarium as "swim" type rather than their correct "migrate" type. Literally one wrong number caused the game to crash, and for ears to bleed across Japan.

Since the aquarium is unlocked so early in the game, people discovered this on day one, in their first play session... and since Endless Ocean was a launch game for the Wii in Japan, that's even worse. It's not exactly a great look for your brand new console to have a game break so bad you can't use a mechanic anymore. And Wii game crashes are not pretty. So, Nintendo put out a statement on the day of release, notifying people of the problem, how to avoid it, and saying that a recall would be put in place. A week later, they released another statement, which stated people could apply to have their games replaced with an updated version, which would be mailed to them free of charge, by either phoning in or filling out an application online. This service continued up until 2020, over ten years after release! They really didn't want any copies of the broken version around... good thing we have archives of it!

The updated version even has different box art, with an added blue bar at the bottom, showcased in this incredibly crunchy image:

I love picturing Nintendo executives freaking out after a humble diving game causes such a mess they have to print the game again, losing them a lot of money and causing the game to get a lot of negative press...

I've seen old forum threads talking about the game as if it's garbage before it even came out internationally, because this situation was pretty much the only major news coming out about it. Can't have helped sales, at least...

Anyway, the game was patched to fix this glitch, along with a few other minor tweaks, and it was this version of the game that got translated worldwide. Japanese fans love joking about the whole ordeal, and I can see why! For example, on the bowmouth guitarfish's Niconico Pedia page (for which the closest equivalent in English would be something like Know Your Meme), this is recounted comedically as "...probably the most notable moment for the bowmouth guitarfish in the history of the internet", which is probably true! There's even image macros about it!

So yeah. The bowmouth guitarfish's reputation was forever tainted, and some Nintendo execs to this day probably wince when they see one.

tl;dr - A developer for Endless Ocean typed one number wrong in the code, making the game explode if you place a bowmouth guitarfish in the aquarium. Nintendo had to recall the game, and that specific fish has lived on in infamy among Japanese fans ever since.

Next time you use the aquarium, try putting a bowmouth guitarfish in there, and be grateful you can at all!

[yansimstorythatiwillnotworkon]

Revamped Conversational Topics?

By no means is this a well thought-out concept, but this has been on my mind for a long time. We all know that "Gosh, (name), I just love (subject)! What about you?" is NOT a very human or enjoyable conversation to have. Of course, I expected this to be edited in the future, so I can't say the dialogue is really my problem.

More underneath the cut. As well as a picture to show an example.

I think my problem arises more in the topics of conversation themselves. I personally think they're too vague. For instance, if I were to ask someone if they liked "Drama", it's probably not likely that they'd think the drama club, even in the Akademi atmosphere. They could think of films or news.

The same goes for cooking. If a student dislikes "Cooking" does that mean that they dislike cooking themselves? Do they dislike being cooked for? Do they not like the food they have at home? The club or club members?

Of course, I don't think that we should be scrolling through an irritatingly long list of options to talk about, but if that were some form of an option, I think that doing so in a "Sims" manner would help with that. If YanDev were to add tons of options, it should be organized with genres and sub-genres.

To continue on that subject, I'll put down idea I had for a full list of "conversation topics".

The subjects of:

The Cooking Club, Cooking, The Drama Club, Acting, The Occult Club, The Supernatural, The Art Club, Arts and Crafts, The Light Music Club, Music, The Martial Arts Club, Combat, The Gaming Club, Video Games, The Photography Club, Photography, The Science Club, Science, The Gardening Club, Gardening, The Sports Club and Sports

Could all be in a "Club" Category. Even in that there could be options like "thoughts on a new club" or "specific members" or something of the sort. Personas and reputation could also play into what sort of response you get from your peers.

Furthermore, the subjects of:

Biology, Chemistry, Literature, Physical Education, Psychology, Computer Science and History

Could be in a "School" or "Studying" category. I think that this could help with extra favors or easy ways to get reputation points. Imagine learning that a student dislikes Biology because of how difficult it is for them to understand. If you have a high grade in Biology, you could 100% tutor them for a time and earn their favor. (This could also be an easier kidnapping method, I think. Although some students might reveal to the police that the missing student was last seen with YOU.)

Additionally, the subjects of:

Anime, Animals, Gossiping, Memes, Reading, Cleanliness and Social Media

Could all be in a "Hobbies" category of some sort. I specifically like the Cleanliness subject because it could contrast cleaning being seen as suspicious. Imagine walking past a student who likes Cleanliness and getting praised for being so tidy! Anyway, this is also another way that you could get close to certain students. You could send memes to some students, suggest books, maybe even by a student a small pet (although that seems like more of a stretch).

Finally, the subjects of:

Family, Justice, Money, Nature, School, Socializing, Solitude, Gifts and Dating

Could be in a "Personal" category, maybe. I imagine learning a bit about each student's family situation could help activate special tasks, and learning a student's thoughts on dating could help to unlock matchmaking options. (I personally think that matchmaking other random students could be very important for a "matchmaking ending", so that it seems less suspicious that you ONLY matchmade your rivals.)

[ruruas]

Female Sexuality in Gaming: A Challenge

Let's examine which Japanese video game can conquer it: Bayonetta or Persona 5?

Across all forms of fictional media, female characters have a history of their worth being reduced. They can be less fleshed out and important than their male counterparts. Nowadays, I feel as though we’ve come a long way in creating strong female characters. That doesn’t mean that the issues around women’s role in the media are solved, though. We are still raising concerns on how women and girls are portrayed on screen. One such concern is the sexualization of women in video games.

It's a common observation to see female characters in video games with a heightened sexuality in comparison to their male counterparts. They have skin-tight or revealing clothes, and the camera loves to zoom in on certain… assets of the human body. This is what we call sexualization: “the emphasis of the sexual nature of a behaviour or person.” In today’s article, I’d like to focus on how sexualization manifests in two notable video games: Bayonetta (2009) and Persona 5 (2016). One of these games does sexualization well, becoming infamous and praised for it, and the other fails, receiving criticism for its depiction of girls. If you are familiar with them, you can already tell which is which.

Female Sexuality as Objectification 

Persona 5, developed by Atlus, is a Japanese RPG (role-playing game) in which you play the role of a high school phantom thief attempting to rid Tokyo of injustice alongside your fellow classmates. One such classmate is Ann Takamaki, a foreign girl who’s also a part-time model. Her character arc is at the very beginning of the game.

Spoilers for the beginning of Persona 5 follow. 

In the story, Ann is the victim of sexual harassment at the hands of the volleyball coach, Suguru Kamoshida, at her highschool. She attempts to put up with the predatory behaviour (for example by going out with him) for the sake of her best friend’s position on the team. In the game’s lore, villainous individuals (like Kamoshida) manifest something called a Palace–where their vices take form as a dungeon the player must explore. An alternate version of Ann exists in this palace, called Princess Ann, who wears a skimpy bikini and sucks up to Kamoshida. I’m explaining this to show that the first villain of this game thinks that Ann is nothing more than a sex object, and how Ann herself is uncomfortable and distraught at seeing this “shadow” version of herself.

Ann soon awakens to a Persona–a physical demonic-like manifestation of the resolve in her heart. Very anime. She vows that she is not a “cheap girl that [Kamoshida] can toy with”, and joins the player’s party, and defeats Kamoshida alongside them. This arc of the game, as well her personal growth, are often cited as the best part of Persona 5. Right from the beginning, Atlus attempts to characterise Ann as a strong girl, standing up for what's right.

However, this aspect of her character, as a survivor of sexual harassment is (in my opinion) disrespected after these events. There are many instances where Ann (and other teenage girl characters) are used as sexual objects… even though the entire first part of the game was Ann standing up against being used as a sexual object. Here are some examples. These examples are simplified for clarity’s sake, but if you’d like to view the full context, clips of the scenes are linked. 

In the late-game, there is a minor villain that has a letter that the main party needs. In order to convince him to give it up, Ann and other female teen-aged characters don bikinis to seduce him. Did I mention that he’s an old man, and that Ann is very uncomfortable during the whole ordeal?

There are multiple times where male characters stare and oogle at Ann’s body, such as her chest or thighs. These scenes are contextualised as “funny” or “humorous”, even though it makes Ann angry.

Ann’s Phantom Thief outfit (which she did not choose, for those unfamiliar) is tight, and made from red latex featuring a boob window. Ann does not like this at all. I’ve seen people attempt to argue that this is her reclaiming her sexuality, but there is no in-game evidence to support this.

It is obvious through the general synopsis of Ann’s main arc and examples scattered throughout the game that Persona 5, and by extent Atlus, does not treat Ann with respect. It is as though after escaping the pain that Kamoshida caused her, she falls again as Atlus’s victim. The problem with the examples that I’ve given is that they treat Ann like a joke, as if her entire arc never happened. Even disregarding the politics of it all, it is plainly just poor writing. 

Furthermore, an even worse example of bad writing is the ironic connection between Ann’s treatment in the story and who her Persona is. For those unfamiliar, each playable character fights by summoning their Personas. These Personas are usually based on myth and folklore. Ann’s Persona is the female seductress Carmen, debuting in an eponymous novella in 1845. There have been many adaptations of Carmen, across multiple genres and mediums. The fact that she is a classical femme fatale remains true across all adaptations. In the original novella, she is slain by her short-lived husband over her man-eating nature. Carmen always knew she would die at the hands of her lover, a fate she preferred rather than being bound to a singular man–in her words, “Carmen will always be free”. 

Just like Carmen, Ann also expressed her desire to be free from men’s desire (see: above). Unlike Carmen, we can already see that Ann does not get the opportunity to express sexual empowerment or being free from the sexuality being imposed on her. It isn't very ‘femme fatale’ of  her to be forced against her will to seduce, no? It is in poor practice to associate Ann with a powerful female seductress and not have any of those traits show up alongside Ann herself in the main story. 

Ann is never truly empowered by her sexuality. She is confident and strong, but not because of her sexuality, but because of her personality–that’s her inherent character. When it comes to being sexualized, Ann dislikes it, hates it even. Yet this hate is never seen as something serious, never addressed as a societal issue (in the game about societal issues). It’s simply a joke. Ann’s character and trauma are disrespected in the name of outdated anime tropes that place female characters as objects of lewd fanservice.

To truly have a character that is sexualized in a ‘good’ way, the character must be respected by the creator themselves. What that means is that there must be a purpose to sexuality, executed tastefully and within reason. There is no purpose to Ann having to seduce an old man that the party will fight anyways. There is no taste or class in having this, may I remind you, teenage girl be the “object” that her fellow male classmates stare at. Classmates that are supposed to be her allies and respect her, some of whom were involved in the defeat of Kamoshida. Ann Takamaki is a great character, however, the quality of her writing suffers greatly at the hands of Atlus.

Female Sexuality as Empowerment 

Let’s take a look at an example of sexualization that does have taste and class. Bayonetta is a 2009 action hack-n-slash game developed by Platinum Games. It follows the powerful modern-day witch Bayonetta who wakes up from a slumber riddled with amnesia, and searches for a magical treasure in hopes of remembering who she is. 

As you can see, Bayonetta’s design is quite interesting, and oozes sex appeal. There are times in the game where her clothes will come off (still covering the naughty bits) so that she may use demonic magic to defeat her enemies. What's interesting is that this character was designed by a woman, Mari Shimazaki. Bayonetta’s design was vital in the game’s development, which is why it took almost a year for Platinum Games to finalise her look. 

It may seem as though this character was designed for the purpose of the male gaze and sexual fanservice; just a ploy to drive up sales. However, I don’t believe that to be the case, especially if a woman took a year to design her. Furthermore, the nudity in the game is never the main focus and seems to be a stylistic choice. I can’t deny that of course, some lewd fanservice with no purpose is in the game, but it is quite sparse and faint. There's care and dedication to Bayonetta;s design, and how she’s handled. She isn't just a throwaway ‘hot woman’ to sell their game. Here are some clips of how Bayonetta fights:

Spoilers for Bayonetta follow. 

The first video showcases how Bayonetta poses and holds herself as a person. She’s clearly very confident, and knows that she can win any fight, even against a duplicate of herself. The way she moves is sleek and sexy, without being ‘weird’. When the game shows off how ‘sexy’ Bayonetta is, it’s usually in the context of her being a powerful witch, and not a helpless object. When Persona 5 shows off how ‘sexy’ Ann Takamaki is, it's in the context of her being forced to expose herself to men. See the difference?

The second shows Bayonetta’s ‘Punishment’ and ‘Torture’ attacks, which are special combos in the game that play a unique attack animation when the player executes them. Here, Bayonetta is classy, and in control. She uses her long hair (a feminine trait of human beings might I add) as a conduit to summon demons, their ridiculousness adding a touch of humour. When Persona 5 attempts to use Ann’s sex appeal as humour, it's at the expense of Ann’s autonomy over herself. Again, see the difference?

Bayonetta is powerful, and one of her weapons of choice is sexuality. It is clear that she is not burdened or embarrassed by it. It's her sexuality that makes her such a compelling character story-wise, and a cool character to play as gameplay-wise. Without Bayonetta’s design and personality, the game would lose all its charm. 

The game itself respects Bayonetta, as well. Take a look at this excerpt from her main theme song, Mysterious Destiny:

Bayonetta, this is your time (Hold tight)

You gonna sparkle,

You gonna shine (Moon light)

Girl, when you fight,

it looks like a dance

You are magic, you're magic (You're dancing beautiful, Bayonetta)

These lyrics clearly show how Bayonetta is admired, motivating her to fight with her unique style and beauty. I believe that this shows that there is a certain tastefulness to Bayonetta’s sexuality. It's clear that she is not seen as an object by the developers of the game. They are fully aware of her own agency as a person and flaunt how Bayonetta (who, if you haven’t realised, is an adult) is the dominant presence in the game. They do not flaunt a teenage girl who hates how her body is being accentuated. 

As I mentioned before, Bayonetta is a witch. She uses dark magic against her enemies, and there's even a feature in the game that allows the player to concote potions such as healing items. I’d like to show a comment made on a Reddit post that made a good point about this. For context, the original post is about if Bayonetta is a feminist game or not.

“There was this old discussion about the power of women in stories, and one of the arguments was that, traditionally there was only ONE archetype that a woman could fill in a story that doesn't involve male power in some level: that of being a witch. In traditional literature, this is really the only acceptable role for a woman to have an non-male driven power relationship.

So in a way, Bayonetta ISN'T feminist because she doesn't break that role: She is still playing the only role she could traditionally play, not really breaking any traditional rules or anything. She just plays it really well, and with such passion, that even a traditional archetype becomes something subversive: She is a witch, she SHOULDN'T have so much fun. but there she is, having the time of her life.”

original comment by u/Tony_3rd on reddit

This contrasts quite starkly with Ann’s connection to the femme fatale trope. Ann does not ‘inherit’ any of the traits of a typical femme fatale, making the sexuality imbued into her (or, perhaps forced) awkward. However, Bayonetta instead takes the role of the witch and goes beyond it. This typical character archetype is made unique by Bayonetta’s stylish design and sexual moveset. A far better representation of an ‘empowered’ female character than Persona 5. 

Final Words

As a woman myself, I’d like to mention that I didn’t feel any type of uncomfortableness or offence while playing Bayonetta. I found her cool and striking, and was one of the main reasons I wanted to play the game. While playing Persona 5 and seeing Ann Takamaki… Well, the scenes I mentioned above definitely made me raise an eyebrow.

Female sexuality is not a bad thing. When a woman is sexy, it doesn’t necessarily mean that that woman is getting objectified. But there’s a time and place for it. Depicting female sexuality in a way that does not undermine women is a challenge. In simplified words, Bayonetta succeeded; Persona 5 failed. 

[skippygiraffee]

dragon and history nerd raihan x art and pokemon battling nerd leon. thoughts?

Thank you for the ask!! I have a lot of thoughts on these two, SPECIFICALLY in the realm of their interests outside of battling (even though with Leon I think that can get a bit muddled). But I'll put them under a read more since it might get long >:3c

With Raihan, once I started looking into him as a character more, I found his fascination and love of history in the canon parts of the story (which to me always fall in the game and manga, as the anime does deviate and seem to have its own canon), and clearly he has a reverence and interest in Galarian history, despite battling in the tapestry vault. I've always pictured him as the sleeper intellect of the group, where it's obvious with someone like Sonia, but Raihan rolls up to the function listing off Galarian history facts like it's a Top 10 video. Honing in on that, I personally think Raihan's an architectural nerd kind of guy, where he's interested in Galar's historical castles, buildings, their style changes through the eras, ect. And of course this guy is the Dragon Type guy to end all Dragon Type guys. I don't think anyone who isn't locked in on every single aspect of how they work would also be able to manipulate the weather like that, while also giving other gym leaders, notably Kabu, help and recommendations on other Pokemon that aren't Dragon Types (they're Tor-colleagues!!). How that looks has been warped by my many hours of fic reading and talking with @beammeupbroadway about the subject, but I genuinely think he's interested mainly in two aspects: 1. the preservation of Dragon Type habitats in Galar and 2. ethical breeding and raising of Dragon Types for rehabilitation, training, or release into the wild. Raihan prides himself on the care and upkeep of his dragons, spending a lot of his free time dedicated to further research of that topic, all so he can keep up to date with it. I'm also a pretty big proponent of Raihan being the kind of guy who lets his Pokemon free roam around his living space, as it's also their space, and therefore it's a very dragon type friendly place.

Also, I know the ask says that Leon is the art nerd, but I genuinely think that's more Raihain, though I think Leon has an appreciation for it (I'll get into that). Raihan's thing is partly to do with his love of history and architecture, which turned into a deep appreciation and understanding of art, and Galarian artistic movements, while also being the selfie/Pokegram guy. As an example:

The back of his League Card made me laugh the first time I read it, because I do think he takes very stereotypical artsy pictures, uploads them, and confuses people because I don't think people quite get the vision or reference he's making.

For Leon, battling nerd goes way beyond just being on the pitch. I think canon has my back for that, with the Battle Tower, the two tournaments he's organized, and just his general love of the sport of it all. And, for once, I will credit the anime with showcasing that, where his battle with Ash was one of the few times I think it got Leon's characterization pretty well. More than that, Leon to me found his love of battling early, adapts easily, and at least always seems eager to watch a match, if not participate himself. I know Twilight Wings shows Hop watching reruns of matches, but I think Leon would as well. Sometimes his own, but often older matches, when they were first being recorded. Depending on how far back Mustard was Champion, some of those old matches (though Pokemon tech has always been something I'm iffy about in the timeline, and have been since I was a young kid). It's something he's genuinely hype about, and something he loves, to the point his experiences with Rose and being Champion couldn't kill that for him, and it's part of why I love him as a character. Cycling back to the art thing, I don't personally see Leon as an art nerd exactly, but I think he appreciates art. Kind of guy to like weird pieces of art in a museum and get weirdly attached to them. Museum dates between the two is just Raihan telling Leon why a painting is historically significant, and Leon staring at it like he's rewiring his brain. But, if you ask my opinion on his other big hobby, I think he's an avid reader. As Champion I don't think he had time for it, and I have a whole other tangent I'll save about my thoughts on his education, but I think he loves reading. If it's in book form, the topic could almost not matter, he would probably read it if it's well written.

How this all comes together? Both of them as a couple? First off, I don't think they stop talking, ever. They say goodnight, snuggle in bed, but one of them is still rattling on about whatever thing is stuck in their brain until sleep takes them. Second, when I think of them in my mind palace, they're always partaking in their hobbies together. Raihan is cleaning his dragons, caring for them, Leon is right there helping him, learning all that he can about it. Leon is working out his latest battle line up for whatever he wants to test out, Raihan is the guinea pig, happily, each and every single time. They're sitting in the sun, Leon reading his book and Raihan is posting his latest batch of pictures. Together, I think they have a lot of angst potential, but at the end of the day I think they settle into life where once they figure out how to channel all of the years of being made to be rivals and opposite the other, they come together in a harmony that works. I always picture them on very secluded dates, Raihan dragging Leon out to check on the dragon nests, or Leon begging Raihan to go get lost with him, or in those museums looking at old shit because why not? They have the time, each other, and they've spent years getting to know the other in battle, why not give the same energy and determination in life?

Honestly, going further in on this, my headcanon for Raihan, when he stops being a gym leader, is that he becomes a History Professor of some flavor. That isn't original, but I agree with it full stop. And I think Leon keeps up his battling facilities until it stops being fun for him, whenever that is. And they support the other, and it's nice to think about <3

[masquayla-the-splendid]

Some things from Twitter I grabbed from the limited amount of time SatAM was trending.

Thank you, team SatAM Reanimated. This is why I took 4 parts in that collab.

I think some need to realize localization does not equal bad. I can get behind "he's almost like a fairytale creature in that regard," but AM's "rad dude" contrasts more heavily with Mario at the time, I feel.

[More below cut]

Ex of localization: In Splatoon's Salmon Run, Mr Grizz is supposed to be the shady boss of the job you're working. The characteristics of a shady boss differ between cultures. In JP, he is characterized as overly nice and forgiving. In AM, he is characterized as ruthless, unforgiving, and rough, with the occasional compliment to keep you motivated. Either way, both cultures get the idea that something is fishy with this guy.

Bringing it back to Sonic, in both continuities, he is characterized as a carefree do-gooder with an attitude, more or less. He is cool. However, like the Splatoon example, he is given multiple ways to portray this to the right audience.

People have their aesthetic preferences, and it is incredibly convenient that we are able to communicate information across the globe, so we now know of these different interpretations, and can pick which one we like. It'd be one thing if that weren't the case, then I'd understand why people would be upset, because these interps would be gatekept from everyone else.

This one I thought was funnier than the original. It's generalized. (That's the Archie comic font iirc. 🤓)

It reminds me of how many Sonic copycats there were around the mid-late 90s because of how successful of a character he was.

The drawing on the left reminds me of some arcade collection games I played on my Xbox as a kid.

That also reminds me how many people who defend SatAM are 90s kids. This was their first impression, and they love it. I'm the oddball youngin who so happened to prefer this version after typing "Sonic Cartoon" into YouTube in the year 2013, but it makes me wonder how old are these lil petty babies who have nothing better to do than complain about a cartoon animal? (Trust me, you are going to look pathetic regardless of your answer.)

This one took me by surprise! Talk about sabotaging a Sonic story! I don't like this guy too much, but he is occasionally a credible source. I feel like that's the case in more recent times than say at least 10 years ago. This one you can take his word for, as there are mutple pieces of evidence to support this. (Im not your mom, do your own research. The feds wont be after you if you type "SatAM production history" into your search bar.) The first sentence is a full on mood. It felt like Lily Orchard's "Steven Universe is Garbage, Here's Why" video, and 90% of it is them struggling with story comprehension and changing their opinion every 5 minutes.

Anyway, I'm gonna go draw various localized characters, and there's nothing you can do to stop me! >:D

[ronearoundblindly]

A, D, E for jimothy please? 🥺💕

Prompts from this dirty ask game, and since I am not able to make a story canonically accurate to time period or the location of The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (plus I grew up in the South *gag* and don't want to relive it), this is for the Common Education, a modern AU, where Jimmy is finally taking advantage of his scholarship to NYU (not Ole Miss b/c *more gagging* sorry).

These asks do contain explicit description, so MINORS DNI.

A - Alone Time

I don't even care if this is a spoiler, but you catch him masturbating once, before you two ever even admit feelings for each other.

Jimmy's roommate, Steve, is an art history major taking several of your classes. Since Steve is sickly, you were kind enough to set up a video feed of your lectures, and Steve often plays them whenever he's feeling up to studying/reviewing. Jimmy is very used to hearing your voice come from the adjoining room of his dorm suite.

What he doesn't realize, as he's daydreaming about you laid out on one of those flimsy tables on the lecture hall platform, is you are actually visiting your student to see how Steve is doing. Jimmy isn't listening to the exact conversation; he's just thinking about you muttering quietly as he runs his hands over you.

And then Jimmy 'imagines' you saying his name, chanting it really, loudly because his touch feels so good, and he reaches his end with an "'m coming' out loud.

Which made you--who was actually knocking to say a quick hello to your former student--think it's okay to open the door, and he scrambles to cover himself in bed, mid-orgasm.

🥴 so get excited for that tale...

At the general store he took over from his drunk father back home, he only needed a computer that could calculate finances and contact suppliers, do some inventory tracking, etc. He didn't need a fancy laptop and he didn't need it at home, so Jimmy has never bothered much with porn. He had some casual girlfriends over the years, and Jimmy is...pretty good-looking. He never hurt for company.

Working 16 hour days regularly also left very little time to care about anything other than sleep.

D - Dominance

Jimmy might not be forward, but, yes, he is dominant. The largest population in his hometown was farm animals, and his own parents were a terrible example of a relationship. We are lucky he knows not to just mount someone he likes and stuff his dick in.

Jimmy was one of those men who didn't understand female pleasure until a knock-down, drag-out, drunk screaming fight with his ex at a bar. To be fair, how would he know he hadn't made her come if she faked it every time?

Anyway, he's dominant in the way that he's pretty raunchy in bed. He praises and coaches you as much as he orchestrates your position. He also does all this with respectful vocabulary but in an extremely dirty voice.

It's, uh... It's good. It's real good.

E - Extra Info

He has smoked for so long he has an oral fixation. Enjoys using his mouth on you very much. If he weren't quite vanilla in his sexual tastes, he'd probably realize there's a reason he loves you in a choker necklace. Just saying. Oh! And Jimmy go nuts over dainty, feminine things you wear. Lace panties are kinda his pinnacle of 'needs to fuck now' if he sees you wearing them.

He's never admitted to another living soul that he's had a fantasy about being cockwarmed while he stands behind the store cash register. Also, last but not least, Jimmy gets way more aggressively naughty during sex the fancier/nicer yours/his clothes are. I don't have an explanation for that, but I know it's a fact. So there. 😁

Thank you for asking!

[Main Masterlist; Dirty Asks Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

[crusherthedoctor]

Hot take: humanizing a villain =/= giving him sympathetic traits. One of my favorite ways the games have humanized Eggman is by giving him a love for amusement parks. We can headcanon all the reasons why he enjoys them so much (and I like that one page in IDW where he says "If I want my enemies' last moments to be carousel music and the smell of petroleum-based cotton candy, that's what I'll make happen", that's a nice explanation), but at the end of the day, it's just a silly cute trait that tells us Eggman is a joyous manchild who is having a blast in his quest for world domination. Doesn't erase his various war crimes :P but he feels more rounded (hehe) as a character.

Strongly agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly disagree

Said it time and time again: some of the most widely beloved villains throughout all forms of fiction - video games, movies, comics, anime, you name it - have little-to-no sympathetic qualities or moral standards, and a big reason for why they become favourites anyway (aside from how enjoyable they are in their blatant villainy) is because they manage to be fascinating or nuanced in other ways. You can have a villain who is openly evil, proud of being openly evil, and kicks dogs every minute for the lulz, but what's stopping you from giving them a history? What's stopping you from going full character study and delving into how they work their evil magic, and in what specific ways they affect other characters? Sorry to bring up the Paper Mario fic again, but part of the fun I've been having with crafting it is the specific layers of just how Eggman decides to make things needlessly personal with the heroes.

The persistent schoolboy error that writers and fans frequently commit - especially in Eggman's case, much to my eternal grief - is the assumption and YouTube essays claiming that making a villain overtly tragic, or giving them some moral line that they won't cross, is the only possible way you can flesh them out. As you pointed out with your example, villains who are loud and proud about their evil ways can still have other sides of them explored, even if none of it actually softens or redeems them per say. You can give a villain admirable qualities that have nothing to do with their (lack of) morals, such as making them a good planner. Indeed, Eggman already has that and a bunch of other "good" qualities, such as being creative, showing fearlessness, and never giving up, among others. None of it detracts from his certified dipshit and furry executioner status.

And not to be one of those "does fiction affect reality???" goobers, but let's face it: putting the fantastical elements aside, people who don't need a reason to do bad shit do exist in real life. I'm not saying that as a nihilistic doomposter (on the contrary, I hate that shit), but what I mean is, painting every single villain as not-so-bad or just slightly grey is not a very helpful perspective. It's better to acknowledge that people with criminal activity on their hands come in all shapes and sizes, including motive: for every example who has a tragic past, there's another example who did it for the thrill.

[autisticempathydaemon]

Hi! This is for your redacted match-up game because I love reading them (you put so much work and thought into them!!) and it seemed super fun ^v^ (if you have the time for it ofc. If you can't do this then it’s totally cool and you can just brush it away from your to do pile <3 also thank you if you do this one)

What song are you fixated on at the moment? What lyric or verse, and why? It was hard to choose, buuuuttt I chose, “Greenlight” by Pitbull ft. Flo Rida, LunchMoney Lewis, because of the vibe and it’s a song that reminds me of summer 2016, which was such a fun summer for me (and it’s been in my head for the past day). No specific lyrics or verses I like since I don’t usually listen to songs because of the lyrics. Altho if they have beautiful lyrics (like Hozier songs) then more props to the song :)

What is your Enneagram type? Type 3w4. 

Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays, and if so, which is your favorite and why? I like to watch really long videos, but I’m not sure if they count as essays. I watch “BHultra” a lot. I watch a lot more commentary/essay videos that are 30-40 minutes long (mostly talking about childhood tv shows or fashion/fashion history).

Tell me about your childhood imaginary friend. Didn’t have one, but I lied and said I “had an imaginary friend named Bob”, because I thought I was supposed to have one and thought the name Bob was funny.

What is your go-to way to fall asleep? Gotta have a heavier blanket somewhere on me, as well as sleeping on my stomach or on my side as well as with my stuffed animal. More often than not I have to fall asleep and listen to older youtube videos that I watched when I was a kid because I already know what happens and they are comfort vids.

If you had to change your name, what would it be, and why? (In tandem, if you have changed your name, why did you pick that one?) I like my name, but if I'd have to change it, I’d like the name Adelaide. It’s classic and sweet sounding. 

What is your favorite of Redacted’s audios, and why? One of my favorite audios is Milo’s “Healing Your Feisty Werewolf Boyfriend” because I love the parallel to the first time Sweetheart healed him, and the cuddling at the end is so cute!

What Redacted boy holds no appeal to you, and why? Like, not the one you hate but the one who you don’t get the hype for. (I won’t judge, I promise.) I’m not sure how much hype he has, but Ivan is kinda just meh. I’m not super into the yandere thing (even though I know Vega kinda led that whole ordeal) and the rest of his videos are alright, but, don’t really excite me a whole bunch to relisten to them. (Still haven’t listen to quite a few of the other characters, like Vega, Regulus, Anton, Brachium, but I’ll get there eventually).

Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to. Gravity Falls. I’ve watched it wayyy too many times and can literally quote the majority of the episodes.

Which Redacted boy are you platonically attracted to? Like- forget dating, which dude do you want to be your best friend? I really would like to be friends with Huxley. He’s so chill and sweet. Absolutely can vibe with the dude. Also, maybe, Guy. He’s much more energetic and I don’t think I could match his pace all of the time without tiring quickly (i usually try to match people’s personalities when I’m with them), but I think he’d be super fun to go places with, as well as I would enjoy gossiping and talking about writing stuff with him.

Do you have a go-to thing you ramble about when you’re tired, and if so, what is it? (For example, my boyfriend knows I’m ready to sleep when I start talking about space.) If I’m tired I don’t normally talk a whole bunch, but I do start thinking about life and how short and long it is, and all the wonderful things and how much I’ve grown as a person. And if I start feeling anxious, then that’s when I realize that I am way past “kinda tired” and I should be going to sleep.

Tell me your go-to gas station and drink combo. Don’t have a “go-to” gas station but I always get a blue raspberry slushie/icee

Tell me about your favorite playlist at the moment. “𝙥𝙤𝙫: 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟗-𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐 :3 (Part 1)” on Youtube. Majority of those songs are dance songs and all those songs bring back good memories. I really like more hyper sounding music than slower songs.

What’s your guilty pleasure media, and why? Hmm roleplay asmr is probably the biggest guilty pleasure I have, since I don’t talk about it with anyone. Also listening to Nickelback would probably be another big guilty pleasure, even though lots of people like it, listening to it is still “lol you listen to Nickelback?? really???”.

And whatever else you think tells me about who you are! INFP; 99% sure I have anxiety and OCD (haven’t actually gotten professionally diagnosed bcuz of reasons, cuz oof); Oldest kid; I really like to draw, read and write; I really like taking pictures of the sky and candid shots; I’m a very nostalgic person (altho my answers probably make that obvious); Can’t watch horror movies; Love cats; People think I’m always upset or angry cuz of my resting bitch face but I literally am not usually thinking of any mean response to whatever is happening, I’m just absorbing everything happening; Not a super big math/coding person (kudos to anyone that is great at that stuff, you’re absolutely awesome for that!); i guess sort of a pushover unless I really really care about something; anddddd i'm kinda the therapist friend.

Easy peasy- a therapist friend needs a partner who is least likely to need a therapist and/or is skilled enough at handling boundaries to know the proper place to seek therapy which is not with you. Hence, Camelopardalis!

Of course, those aren’t the only reasons. Type Threes are characterized by a desire to be loved and to be sure of that love, and Cam gives me the impression of an openly affectionate and communicative partner. He’s an introvert; you’re an introvert. You’re a nostalgic-kind of person; who better to share in that than an eons-old, immortal daemon? (Until told otherwise by God and/or Erik, the d(a)emons are heckin ancient to me.) Cam is also a great partner to pair if suffering from anxiety and compulsions, almost the most out of all the boys.

Life with Camelopardalis would be so sweet, so domestic, so full of the joy of sharing with him everyday human delights he might not take part in usually. For starters, you obviously get a cat. He objectively knew a cat would be cool, but with you, he learns to love cats. You also show him Gravity Falls which he doesn’t expect to like; he’s surprised by what a heartfelt show it is for being animated and based on such a silly concept. (He feels a lot for Mabel, as he should /lh) He loves your art but especially your photos of the sky. He puts them all over your shared house, and they stay up even after you’re gone.

Song:

Like the shadow that's by your side/ I'll be there/ For better or worse/ 'Til death do us part/ I'll love you with every beat of my heart/ I swear/ I'll give you everything I can/ I'll build your dreams with these two hands/ We'll hang some memories on the wall/ And when there's silver in your hair/ You won't have to ask if I still care/ 'Cause as time turns the page/ My love won't age at all

Though you like nostalgic songs that are more suited to dancing, I think Cam likes nostalgic songs that are more contemplative and slow. For you two, I settled on a song that’s more of a nostalgic, slow dance vibe, you know what I mean? I couldn’t resist for two reasons. One, the lyrics of devoted, lasting love suited him too well. Two, it delighted me and tickled me pink to imagine Cam listening to a nineties boy band.

Runner-ups:

Geordi is my favorite runner-up for you, because he’s another great partner for a Type Three, another boy who’s very openly loving and sweet. He’s also, if I remember correctly, canonically been to therapy already, so he’s less likely to need your services as a therapy friend. Morgan is a runner-up because I like this vibe in tandem with your anxiety; like, I think he’d be a calming, comforting presence to you. Also, you two should get a cat.

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[youremyheaven]

I’m a Pushya sun and my ex was Uttara Phalguni sun and rising. When things were good they were GREAT, however when things were bad it was an absolute nightmare.

He was extremely judgemental towards my body count and sexual history. I told him if it’s a problem let’s just break up bc I literally cannot change it. He told me that I “wasn’t just some girl”, so he’ll have to overcome it. Proceeded to spend the majority of the relationship berating me for it, calling me a slut and a prostitute. He said the cruelest things a person has ever said to me. He said 99% of men would never love me and he was the 1% of idiots that did. When I finally cracked and went crazy and shouted at him, he held that over my head and i felt terrible for it. At that point we were smoking a lot of weed, and I could barely even process my emotions, it was terrible. I explained all the terrible symptoms I was experiencing and told him I would stop. All the symptoms I said, he told me is what he feels like all the time for years (because he had been smoking like this long before he met me). He told me he would stop as well. That was a lie.

He got super violent, would beat me up so badly during sex, would also pressure me into having sex with him - he would ask over and over and over again until I said yes. He also knew he was doing this cos one time he asked me if I felt pressured by him to have sex and I said yes and he got so angry AT ME for him pressuring me. There was an instance where he hit me across the head and it hurt so bad I had trouble hearing for days and I told him that he hit me too hard, my ears are ringing and he just giggled and said “I know”.

A month before our relationship ended I found out he had a tik tok account where he would post alpha male podcast clips (keep in mind we’re grown adults) - had no idea about this the entire relationship. Also, he pretty much lied to me about everything (granted he has a Rahu moon) even the most stupid things like liking anime for example. I just thought it was cringe and I didn’t watch it at all, and he lied and said he felt the same - come to find he had like anime pfp for a bunch of his online accounts. Lied to me about his family, where he came from, friends, romantic and sexual history, his interests, likes and dislikes, so many things. I had also found a message from a dating app on his phone.

The relationship ended after I found out he relapsed again and completely lied to me about it and was cancelling plans with me just to smoke and play video games with his friends. When I broke up with him, he begged me stay, said no one had ever loved and cared for him this much except for his mother, all of these things. Made me even more confused as to why he treated me like I was the devil then?? I was past the point of conversation so it was just a bad ending. He punched my mattress and told me I would regret leaving him. That was the last I ever saw him.

Goes without saying I learnt a bunch from that relationship! I’m pretty sure he hated my guts but I took care of him and met a lot of his basic needs (Maslow’s hierarchy) so he kept me around to fulfil them. I think he was also just possessive; he didn’t want me but more than that he didn’t want to see me with anyone else. Some of the worst days of my life were in this relationship but in a weird way I feel like this was Saturn teaching me a lesson - I was an idiot who literally forgot who I was for this relationship, made it my number one priority, and had zero self-esteem or self-advocacy. So many points where I should’ve walked away but I learnt the hard way. Never again!!

I am so glad you got out of that relationship!!! Please stay safe!!! Thank you so much for sharing your experience because in my own experiences my yoni consort has been toxic and abusive as well (it does not compare to yours at all tho). I wish you so much peace and healing. You're so strong 🫶

Side note: have you guys ever noticed how a Nodal person seems to be proud of/brag about their interests if at all they have any?? 8/10 they'll be lying about the depth of their involvement in it too lol?? Is it bc Nodal people find it hard to connect to things so when they do, they're just like 😤imma make this my whole personality 😤my ex spoke about how obsessed he was with Greek mythology and how much money he spent on Greek mythology books but he could never talk about it at length?? (he also had substance issues so i attributed it to that tbh)

[twistedtummies2]

Top 10 Looney Tunes Characters

This year is truly an auspicious one indeed. It marks the centenary of not one, but TWO of the greatest film and animation studios that have ever been. One of them, as many are doubtless aware by now, is Disney, and I do have some things planned for later this year to celebrate that. However, another studio that’s been getting less attention than I think it deserves for its own 100th Anniversary is Warner Bros.! WB started the same year as the Disney studio, and they’re still going strong. When one thinks of WB Animation, chances are good the first characters and cartoons that come to mind are the Looney Tunes. These cartoon classics were a staple of theatrical animation from the 1930s all the way into the early 1960s…and since those days, the characters have continued to pop up in all sorts of places. Movies, TV shows, video games, comics…you name it, the Looney Tunes have been there. These toons are some of the most recognizable characters in the history of animation, more than on par with Mickey Mouse and his allies, and I’ve always loved them. So, I decided it was time to pay them proper tribute! With that said, what better way than to talk about some of my personal favorites? That’s what we’re here to do today. So let’s waste no more time! Mind you don’t slip on any banana peels or similar slapstick cliches: here are My Top 10 Looney Tunes Characters!

10. Speedy Gonzales.

Speedy is one of a few Looney Tunes characters who has sort of faced some controversy over his career (I refer you to Pepe Le Pew, for example). Some people have complained he’s a negative stereotype, but thankfully, the majority of people seem to really love the character. I think the reason why so many love him is because Speedy is one of the most positive and genuinely good characters in the Looney Tunes canon: he’s a character whose able to be heroic while also genuinely being really funny and interesting to watch. The self-proclaimed Fastest Mouse in All Mexico loves to race, loves to play, and isn’t afraid to shoot down the absurdity of some of his more bonkers co-stars, just as he isn’t afraid to outrun and outsmart any cat that tries to harm him or his friends. He’s a lot of fun himself, and he loves to have fun, and that’s probably the best type of cartoon hero there can be.

9. Sylvester the Cat.

Sylvester is one of several characters on this list notable for his sheer versatility. Most of his cartoons do focus on the same basic setup, mind you: Sylvester is hungry, and trying to catch something to eat…but inevitably gets foiled at every turn. Sometimes his prey is the aforementioned Speedy, who - in Coyote-and-Road-Runner-esque fashion - Sylvester is just never quick enough to slow down. He’s also occasionally gone after a kangaroo named Hippety Hopper, whom Sylvester somehow keeps mistaking for an oversized rat. (My comments on him “not being quick” stand here, too.) Most famously, of course, he’s the “Bad Ol’ Puddy Tat” constantly trying to gobble up Tweety Bird…who you will NOT be seeing on this countdown. (I’ve never actually liked Tweety, save for a few appearances. I WANT that super-cutesy little PSYCHOPATH to be cat food someday, and I don’t care how heartless that makes me sound.) While all of these did follow some similar patterns and formulas, each of these opponents offered a different kind of conflict for Sylvester to overcome, and therefore a different set of gags that could be utilized, and a lot of different scenarios to allow for comedy to happen. He also popped up in a few cartoons with Porky Pig, which brought a new dimension to the character: in these appearances, a mute Sylvester is depicted as Porky’s pet cat, who constantly has to save his oblivious master from all sorts of dangerous situations. Whether he’s a well-meaning scaredy cat or a greedy predator, he’s always fun to watch.

8. Yosemite Sam.

One of the most renowned villains in the Looney Tunes catalogue. I like to think of this loudmouthed little cowpuncher as the WB equivalent to Disney’s Pete. Both are characters who are versatile in how they have been fitted into just about every sort of time period and setting imaginable, with just about every antagonistic role you can think of. He’s most famous as being a Wild West outlaw, naturally, but Sam has also played a Black Knight, a Hessian Soldier, a Space Invader, a Crooked Politician, a Pirate, a Prison Guard, and many, MANY other things. Each time, his personality is the same: wild, hysterical, ornery, scheming yet somehow gullible, and eternally frustrated, usually due to the efforts of “that lowdown, long-eared, carrot-eatin’ varmint,” Bugs Bunny. Sam’s personality is just such an easy one to handle, and so fun to play with, you can put him into just about any type of situation, and without needing to change him much, he can work just as easily. I actually feel really bad placing him so low on the list, but hopefully those above him won’t disappoint.

7. Elmer Fudd.

Elmer is another character, sort of like Sylvester, who can play either protagonist or antagonist just as easily as the other. In fact, he’s been both more often than Sylvester has! We know him best, of course, for his many attempts to hunt down Bugs Bunny (and Daffy Duck), and these stories already have plenty of fun reinventions, twists, and overall moments. Everything from putting Elmer in different time periods (like the Stone Age), throwing him into different settings (like chasing Bugs into an opera house), or just changing up his role in some crazy way (like making him a viking with a magic helmet). No matter what you do, these always end the same for Elmer: either he never gets Bugs, or he THINKS he does, and then immediately regrets it because he’s just too softhearted and slow-witted for his own good. However, Elmer’s played other parts as well: sometimes he’s not even hunting Bugs, he’s just the victim of that “Wascawwy Wabbit’s” cruel pranks. Sometimes he’s just trying to get by, and Daffy Duck starts causing chaos for him. Poor Elmer just can’t catch a break, and that’s kind of why we like him: even when he IS the bad guy, he’s far from the WORST guy. Add to that his iconic voice and mannerisms, and it’s no wonder he remains one of the most recognizable characters in this group.

6. Porky Pig.

Believe it or not, Porky was the first real superstar character in the Looney Tunes library. That’s one of the reasons the classic ending line we all know and love was given to him (it’s also why Bugs would later take it over a couple of times, when HE became a star). Much like Yosemite Sam, Porky is one of the most versatile characters on the team, but in a different way: while Sam is a versatile antagonist, Porky is a versatile protagonist. Porky is essentially the straight man to all the other totally bonkers toons around him. He’s sort of the Kermit the Frog of this universe: a guy constantly trying to keep his cool and be civil, but forever aggravated and tormented by the world around him. With that said, the way he bounces off different characters already has a lot of different ways of working: his most famous co-star is probably Daffy Duck, and even just with that one character, they’ve had a relationship that has gone in just about every direction it can go. Sometimes Porky is Daffy’s sidekick, who always proves to be more competent and level-headed than the vain and over-the-top Daffy could ever hope to be. Other times, Daffy is actually HIS sidekick, forever frustrating Porky with his goofy antics. And still other times, there’s no “sidekicking” involved, Daffy just…kind of shows up to totally ANNOY the pig until Porky inevitably snaps and goes berserk. Even Porky cartoons that don’t involve Daffy (and there are plenty of those) usually follow one of these three patterns: Porky is eternally an Alice in the Wonderland of the Looney Tunes…you know, if Alice had a stutter. And was a pig. And was no longer female-okay, that analogy didn’t work, but you get the idea.

5. Taz.

Taz, a.k.a. The Tasmanian Devil, is a rare example of a character whose star has risen over time since his initial appearances in the Golden Age of the Looney Tunes. Back then, Taz only showed up in five cartoons, between 1954 and 1964; the twilight decade, many would say, of these great cartoon stars. No one would have likely guessed that Taz would take off to become one of the most iconic and popular characters in the Looney library, with tons of merchandise, a TV show with him as the main protagonist, several major video game and film appearances, and so on. For some reason, however, this wild, ravenous, spinning-and-slobbering devil just kept being used, and the public kept eating him up just as fast as he ate…well…EVERYTHING up. He went from a pure villain who would devour anyone in sight, to suddenly becoming a slightly more heroic, albeit not always terribly bright, character. He can, could, would, and WILL just as easily play the role of an ally to characters like Bugs and Daffy, as much as their adversary. It’s hard to say exactly why Taz caught on, but I’m certainly not complaining about it, since he’s a ton of fun to watch every time. And again, that’s really all a great cartoon star needs to be. (Also, for anybody who may be curious...I do have a mild crush on this guy. I’m weird, shush.)

4. Wile E. Coyote.

It was actually really hard for me to choose between Taz and the Coyote, and I’m not honestly entirely sure if I made the right choice. It was essentially a tie between the two characters; on any given day, my mind could change. But, in the moment of making this list, I felt Wile E. deserved slightly higher placement, and thus here we are. (Also, yes, much like Taz, I do have a mild crush on the Coyote. Again, I’m weird, shush.) Having said all that, I imagine this self-proclaimed Super-Genius hardly needs an introduction. Much like Sylvester, Wile E. mostly spends his time trying to get something to eat. Usually, he’s found chasing the Road Runner and trying to trap him, but on a couple of occasions he’s bedeviled Bugs Bunny, and once in a blue moon he’ll have encounters with other characters. In most of Wile E.’s appearances, he’s a silent character, communicating solely through body language, facial expressions, and the occasional random sign he pulls out of nowhere. Whenever he DOES speak, he speaks in a smooth, slick, uppercrust English or Mid-Atlantic dialect. Whether silent or speaking, this Coyote’s basic trouble is always the same: despite his own confidence in his supposed superior intellect, a combination of clumsiness, shortsightedness, and his bizarre obsession with relying almost entirely on the ACME Corporation’s clearly faulty products always leads to him getting bamboozled. Over time, animators, writers, and directors have found new ways to spin off of Coyote’s usual formula, with stories like him taking the Road Runner to court, or turning into a fat slob due to an over-reliance on his own inventions. It’s the bizarre blend of brilliance and determination against poor planning and overconfidence that makes him such a fun character to see in action. He may never win…but I think a lot of us wish he could.

3. Daffy Duck.

While Porky was the first superstar character among the Looney Tunes (and Merrie Melodies), Daffy was really the first breakthrough character that was TRULY befitting of the title “looney.” In the early days, Daffy was a wisecracking, wild character, zipping about and causing trouble; a constant trickster who was a bundle of energy, causing mayhem for various hapless boobs. Most of the characters who followed suit on this idea - including his future rival, Bugs Bunny - essentially took their cues from Daffy’s book. Over time, the character crystalized into the mad mallard we know today. Daffy is still zany, but what he’s most known for today is his ego. Daffy is practically a narcissist, selfish in just about every way, as well as frequently quite greedy. Everything he does is for either the spotlight, cash, or both. He’s yet another character who has been the villain just as often as he’s been the hero…but even when in a more protagonistic role, he’s ALWAYS a flawed character, whose self-serving attitude leads to disaster for himself, and usually for many others. Just like Yosemite Sam, he’s also a character who has played many roles: any time the Looney Tunes want to parody a particular genre, it seems like Daffy is always the character who gets chosen. Whether he’s imitating Robin Hood or Sherlock Holmes, or going on high-flying escapades as the incompetent space hero called Duck Dodgers, you can go on a lot of different adventures with him. He’s been partnered up and pitted against nearly every character on the crew, and each and every alliance, rivalry, and so on is fun to see in action.

2. Bugs Bunny.

Just as it was hard to choose between Taz and Wile E. Coyote, it was also hard to choose between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. In the end though…maybe it’s too predictable, but I ultimately did feel I preferred Bugs SLIGHTLY over Daffy. What’s interesting is that, in the early days, Bugs was pretty similar to Daffy: in a lot of his earliest appearances, they’re almost the same character. Both were madcap tricksters who seemed to exist just to drive other characters completely insane for the sheer sake of it, and both had big egos that needed to be satisfied. (In Bugs’ case, this was most evident in encounters he had with the character Cecil Tortoise, who might be the only character in all of Looney Tunes to truly outmatch Bugs on the cartoon battlefield, over and over again.) Over time, however - mostly thanks to Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones - Bugs began to evolve. While still a trickster with a wild sense of humor, the character became more laid back, casual, collected. He was someone who went into situations with the confidence that he could come out okay, if he just thought fast and didn’t let it all faze him. And while he could be downright cruel in the ways he would trick and toy with people, the attacks became unprovoked less often: it was usually a case of others doing something wrong to Bugs, and he would finally lose patience and declare, “Of course you realize THIS means war.” That’s essentially the Bugs Bunny we know today: he still faces conflict and such, but it’s his approach and the way he reacts to situations that makes him such fun to watch. Once again, it also makes him quite versatile, as he can be anywhere and play just about any role, from the star of the show to more of a narrator or similarly peripheral character. He can be the everyman, the superman, and as long as it always sticks to the traits he started out with, it will always work. In fact, the only real question about his placement on this list is…why isn’t he number one?

1. Marvin the Martian.

I don’t know WHY Marvin is my favorite Looney Tunes character, but he is, and really always has been. He’s not by any means the funniest of the Looney Tunes, but there’s something about this little world-destroying gremlin I find endlessly endearing. Much like Taz, Marvin started out as a small fish in a big cartoon pond; in fact, just like the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian (originally called “Commander X2,” and later “Antwerp”) only showed up in five cartoons during the Golden Age of the Looney Tunes. He fought Bugs Bunny in four of them, and Daffy Duck and Porky Pig in another. And while he hasn’t become the merchandising mammoth that Taz has, he’s still got a very loyal fanbase and following, and has remained a mainstay among the Looney Tunes ever since. Just like Taz, creators just kept using him, and fans kept asking for more; somehow, this little martian never faded away. What I love about Marvin is that he’s essentially another straight man, much in the way Porky is…but now, he’s a straight man on the opposite side of the fence. He’s usually the bad guy, while Porky is almost always the protagonist: whether Marvin’s trying to abduct people, conquer worlds, or blow up the Earth (because it obstructs his view of Venus), he’s always an obstacle the other characters have to overcome. Yet he’s depicted as so loveable and so mild-mannered, it’s hard to be scared of him or dislike him. It also means the moments where his inner rage gets the better of him, and his temper flares, become all the more hilarious: seeing that pomposity and stiff-upper-lip nature get blown apart at the seams is always a ton of fun. It’s difficult to describe my reasoning, but regardless, Marvin the Martian will always be My Favorite Looney Tunes Character.

HONORABLE MENTIONS INCLUDE…

Foghorn Leghorn.

Michigan J. Frog.

Rocky & Mugsy.

Road Runner.

Lola Bunny.

Gossamer. “Th-The-The E-THAT’S ALL FOLKS!”

[vermutandherring]

No spoilers

It's funny that despite all my love for the game, I didn't have any inspiration to write a review. Because how can you put into words the feelings it causes? Yes, the gameplay is like an endless dance that flows and twists the player into its vortex. Yes, every second in this game is melodious like a song, cutscenes are apt like rhymes in poetry, and the outcome suffered in the battle with the last boss gives a feeling of exaltation. And although each work is a matter of taste and everyone sees something different in the game, it seems that the audience has finally matured to understand the genius of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

It's a bit unfortunate that the game is mostly recognized by memes, which makes its perception superficial and not serious. On the other hand, a meme can only be understood with full context, which requires playing through the game. The context, in turn, gives a deeper understanding of the work. And therefore, even such popularity can attract new fans of the series. I also think that the example of this game shows how much the game industry has in common with high culture, not mass culture. Most games acquire their meaning over time, rather than gaining popularity as a phenomenon of consumer culture, quickly fading into obscurity. So in this review I will try to explain why MGRR will remain a classic for generations of gamers to come.

I'm happy that Metal Gear Rising was my first MG game. It does not require extensive knowledge of the history of the franchise. Therefore, discovering the character of Raiden and the meaningful content of the game, you want to get to know this universe more closely to understand its essence.

There is a perception that MGRR is not Hideo Kojima's canonical Metal Gear, so you won't be able to touch his genius in this game. In fact, it is not quite so. Although at some point the project was given to PlatinumGames, its initial idea and main character remained in the spirit of the good old Metal Gears, which is felt if not in the combat system, then certainly in the ideas, narratives and used means of artistic expression inherent to Kojima. In the game we have some elements of stealth, expressive cutscenes with unexpected angles, the philosophical basis of the plot and, of course, the codec - Kojima's greatest invention in video games, in his own opinion. It is interesting to observe how his principles continue their life in subsequent projects, changing and adapting to the needs of the time and the content of the games. Yoji Shinkawa, an integral part of the tandem, also contributed to the creation of the game. So if you look at it from a certain angle, MGRR is pretty much canonical Metal Gear.

Yep. I spent 20 mins of my life to find Kojima and Shinkawa in credits. They both are present.

One of the key features of MGRR, inherent in the MG series in general, is its ability to combine very different and, at first glance, absurd things. The game constantly balances between philosophy and satire, cringe and seriousness, kitsch and incredible aesthetics. This feeling is very similar to the first experience of getting to know anime. To a person out of context, individual episodes of anime can seem strange and wild, and a single series can make the entire industry seem like low-level geek culture. In short, this cultural phenomenon is shrouded in a lot of prejudices and stereotypes, which is caused by a different cultural context than yours (unless you are Japanese).

MGRR feels very Japanese, even though the setting of the game (like all the games in the series) has nothing to do with Japan. The very first mission resembles a traditional Japanese engraving, on an endless sheet of which heroes from ancient myths confront each other. I love finding parallels between games and art forms. Vampyr similar to a theater play, L.A. Noire is to the detective film, and Mafia is to the noir novel. And although I have repeatedly emphasized that Kojima brought video games closer to cinema through MG, I want to go deeper in the search for aesthetic parallels in Rising. This game resembles a mythological epic with its inherent trope about the hero's journey, the endless fight against evil and, of course, the worldview of a particular people, its philosophy.

In many mythologies, events take place in 'eternal' space and stretch endlessly in time. A dark force always appears to destroy the world, a light force always accepts its challenge. After all, the world is maintained thanks to their balance, the delicate balance of yin and yang, which should not be disturbed in any way. That is why evil exists. And that's why good always wins it. In general, most games with a plot, having a certain literary basis, use this pattern. But in MGRR, this principle seems to be embodied literally, only the actors are changed: robots and cyborgs take the place of deities and spirits. Powerful forces converge in a predestined battle, but we know its outcome in advance. Therefore, the most interesting part of this whole action remains the confrontation process itself. What is heard on earth when the titans are fighting in the sky? What does the Dragon say when he meets the Tiger?

Doan (Yamada Yorikiyo), Japanese. Tiger and Dragon, ink on paper, around 1560. The Minneapolis Institute of Art. Source: https://www.roningallery.com/artists/Kuniyoshi

'RULES OF NATURE'

The rules of nature are one of the key elements of the game. The problem of the main character's struggle with the natural state of things and their phenomena is embodied in many details and in the mythological background in particular. In primitive beliefs, people of all cultures addressed the forces of nature that they could not directly change, but that they could influence and interact with. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Raiden fights not with abstract thieves, but with destructive, unpredictable and dangerous natural phenomena. In the game, we have a group of Winds of Destruction - cold-blooded mercenaries who do dirty work. In the system of Japanese beliefs, in particular Shinto, spirits-deities called kami have a clearly defined good/bad characteristic. At the same time, they also have an opposite side to it. Therefore, people can interact with kami in different ways depending on their needs. Before his battles with the Winds, Raiden has moments of revelation with each of them, through which he discovers new truths. These conversations also show that if you judge the state of affairs from the point of view of the criminals themselves, their views also have a grain of rationality. They have come to choose their craft in a certain way, have their own beliefs and principles, and therefore it is difficult to call them unequivocally bad. Raiden himself is more like the Winds than he would like.

One of the most magical and, at the same time, one of the most dangerous and destructive forces of nature is embodied in the image of Raiden. In Japanese mythology, Raijin is the god of lightning. A variant of Raiden-sama's name can literally be translated as Mr. Lightening Bolt. But the most interesting thing is not that. According to the tradition of Japanese Buddhism, Raijin and his brother, the wind god Fujin, were originally evil demons who fought bitterly with the Buddha. As a result of the battle between the Buddha's heavenly army and the demons, Fujin and Raijin were captured, repented and now serve good as Buddha's guardian deities. To say how brilliantly accurate this tribute is - is to say nothing. Like Raijin, in the MG series, Jack went from a punishing dark force to a protective light force. At the same time, he does not depart from his original nature of destroyer and killer, but only directs energy in the right direction.

Folding screen depicting Raijin (left) and Fūjin (right). Tawaraya Sōtatsu, 17 century. Raiden-sama usually depicted as white demon, which also resonates with one of Jack's names - White Devil.

One could say that such a similarity between the fates of Raijin and Jack was only a coincidence. After all, this is where Joseph Campbell's theory of the monomyth, laid out in his 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, takes place. Campbell, researching the myths, fairy tales and legends of the peoples of the world, came to the conclusion that most of these stories rely on a common plot structure, which he called the monomyth. Since the modern literary tradition is drawn from the oldest literary forms, it still retains the most common and established models, albeit in modified forms. And therefore, the similarity of the paths of heroes in myths or literary works is only a consequence of an established tradition.

But Metal Gear wouldn't be Metal Gear if it weren't for its attention to details. As we know, in myths, things are rarely clear-cut. Raijin often fights with his brother Fujin. He is also depicted in the company of Raiju, a thunder beast or thunder demon that also acts as his animal totem, usually appearing in the form of a dog or wolf. Does this remind you of anyone? Another minor but interesting detail is that Raijin has a son, Raitaro, who is another deity of thunder.

Although Raiju is a companion of Raijin, it can act independently. During thunderstorms, Raiju descend from the sky, accompanying lightning to strike at trees and houses, causing disasters. Thus, Raiju attacks were also believed to be a form of divine punishment: those whose homes were struck by lightning were “suffering the wrath of the Raiju”.

The dystopian environment of MGRR tries to imitate the natural state of things and imitate nature itself not only at the expense of the mythological core. There are more direct allusions embedded directly in the design of robots and cyborgs. The most obvious is the already mentioned Blade Wolf, in which the prototype of the dog is easily guessed. Amphibians and insects, dinosaurs and birds, ungulates and predators inhabit the unexplored hostile spaces of MGRR. It is noteworthy that some of the mechs in the game are present in the MG series not for the first time. Even in previous games, you could find numerous modifications of Metal Gear RAY, Gekko or canine-like robots. The entire MG series in one way or another introduces allusions to the animal world into the design of the characters. On the one hand, this is a fairly obvious design approach. On the other hand, it adds more depth to the game's lore. The concept of human imitation of nature is a red thread through all Metal Gear, opening a kind of philosophical questions, and also conveys the idea of "naturalness" of those changes taking place in the alternate reality of the game.

Animal traits are evident in robots' behavior and appearance, such as design elements, mannerisms, sounds, etc. It would seem that this is enough to give the player information about what they are dealing with. But the designers give a deeper explanation of how these mechanisms work. They are endowed not only with the features of living beings. They have a similar 'body structure' and even blood likeness. From a practical point of view, most of these details do not make any sense.

From the perspective of game design, this is one of those elements that works on a subconscious level with the player's imagination. Blazing his way through enemy valleys, Raiden destroys more than just robots. They bleed, suffer and make shrill sounds like living animals. They seem to embody the next, albeit artificially created by man, stage of evolution. They are only a part of the usual state of things, where "wind blows, rain falls, and the strong prey upon the weak". Obviously Raiden is a predator in this story. Kill or be killed. At the same time, he is a victim. A victim of his own beliefs and memes, obeying them, he tries to change the natural order, to destroy long-established truths for the sake of the highest good. But, as we found out, good and evil will always exist side by side. Because as one little-known philosopher once said,

About memes, honor and war in the next part of the review~

Credits:

Japanese Tiger and Dragon. Minneapolis Institute of Art

2. RAIJU: The Thunder Beast Yokai

3. Gekko. Metal Gear Wiki

4. Raijin. Wikipedia

[dumpsterfirepropaganda]

Okay actually y’know what? I’ve been waiting for an excuse to do this and I have some time to kill, permit me to vomit some unedited blathering all over the screen about my ROCK/METAL/ADJACENT GENRES music journey because I love to gab about it. There’s gonna be some chat about religious music but I promise this ain’t a religious post - I just think it’s fun to look at the bands that shaped my interests and led me to what I listen to today (and it’s very funny to me to see my amateur sloppy journey through bands I think most people already knew about wayyy before my oblivious little self stumbled across them). Walk with me boss let’s talk

So some crucial context right off the bat: up until my late teens I was not aware that music was something I could Discover and Buy on my own. But my parents had a pretty big (~50-100) CD collection, so that was my main source of new music for almost all of my childhood.

What is unique about this CD collection is that I think almost 100% of it was late 90’s / early 2000’s Christian music. So my introduction to most genres was through that specific “genre” (there is an argument to be made that “Christian” is a theme not a genre. Which I will make. But not in this post.). Pop? Rock? Rap? Heck, ska? I heard it Jesus-style first. Classic Newsboys and Jars of Clay and David Crowder were on pretty much 24/7. But in terms of rock, we didn’t have any of the big bands I think most people, religious or no, are familiar with—like Flyleaf, Skillet, Red, Disciple, etc. Instead, my teeth were cut on one specific band called D.C. Talk.

If you grew up in a Christian household during the early 2000’s you’re probably hearing the song I’m about to reference in your head right now. If you didn’t, you most likely have never heard of D.C. Talk. But these guys were responsible for what my little child brain thought was the HARDEST song I had ever heard: a lil’ jam called Jesus Freak.

I’m going to be providing links to example songs throughout this post so that you can sample my journey with me, so this brings us to the first:

If you’re not religious (and even if you are), this song is probably pretty cringe. Compared to what I know now, the fact that baby me thought this song was hard at all is pretty laughable. But it was the anthem of my childhood. I’m honestly so curious how other people who didn’t grow up with the song perceive it because it’s SO entrenched in my mind as The Song growing up, to the point that I don’t think I could be fully objective about it no matter how hard I tried.

Anyway, I thought that was cool, took in the rest of the album, and then ditched rock as a genre completely to listen to EDM and Vocaloid and anime thumbnail nightcore covers for the rest of my teenage years like any good DeviantART kid. And I didn’t come back to the genre in any meaningful way until January the Year Of Our Lord 2023. (Yes I know that was just last year. Up until 2022 I did not have time to explore new interests because I was busy getting a Bachelor’s of Science, I was listening almost exclusively to video game OSTs and doing chemistry homework and Stressing™️).

The reason I remember the month and year of the turning point so specifically is because, over the New Year holiday, my family and I sat down to watch a documentary called Jesus Music that traced the history of Contemporary Christian Music. It was pretty interesting—D.C. Talk was a pretty big part of the story, as well as a bunch of other bands and artists I’d grown up with—but one band in particular jumped to my attention: Stryper.

Now I didn’t bother to do any research for this post but as best as I remember it, Stryper is a Christian metal band that was a bit controversial in its heyday for hanging on to the classic 80’s metal aesthetic and sound during a period where the prevailing Christian attitude was “Rock Is The Devil’s Music,” satanic panic etc etc. I remembered my mom saying she really enjoyed them during her 20’s, so I decided to check them out—and, while they weren’t really my thing, I fucked with their yellow-and-black outfits pretty heavy and thought they were at the very least a lot of fun:

I’d just caved and signed up for a Spotify Premium subscription around this time, so I started a Stryper radio, juuuust to see if I would maybe warm up to them. And that was where the turning point was. Because it was on the Stryper radio that I discovered the first metal band I REALLY liked: Theocracy. (Yes, we’re still in Christian music lmao, bear with me, we’re about to take a HARD left turn.)

Theocracy was specifically my introduction to power metal, and damn I fell for them hook, line, and sinker. It’s hard to explain what their music did to me because I’m so aware now how basic the experiences I had with them are, but I had never had my brains totally blown by a guitar run before, or felt myself totally swept up by the music before, even to the point of tears—like DAMN, they know how to write a chorus that will CARRY you. Or maybe that’s bias talking again lol, but Theocracy was a discovery that felt very uniquely mine, and it will always hold a very special place in my heart. It was so hard to pick just one song to use as an example but I had to go with one of the first ones I ever heard:

Getting into Theocracy put me in the way of a few other religious metal bands I really liked: Narnia, Saviour Machine, Within Silence, Harmony, etc.

So where did this lead me next?

Now, Mindless Self Indulgence has its issues, and I don’t generally like to tout them because of it, but I can genuinely say that nobody does it like they did it. And somehow, the guitar shredding Theocracy did and the manic electropunk wildness of MSI somehow struck the same chord in my brain, despite the two bands probably being the absolute furthest thing from one another in terms of subject matter (from I Am to Fuck Machine, anyone?). And again, this was something I had discovered all on my own—I think I heard a snippet of Never Wanted To Dance on a flipnote compilation back in 2013, but aside from that they were wayyy off my radar until I stumbled across them again in my quest for more jams. But this was CERTAINLY a step up from my previous interests in terms of energy, which led almost directly into the next “discovery” on my list:

Yeah, I found out about this because of the TikTok trend (indirectly, because that’s how a close friend of mind discovered it, and she shared it with me). But BOY OH BOY did it take me by the throat and shove me bodily through the next month and a half. Slipknot songs are very hit or miss for me, but as I poked into their discography I found quite a few songs that would become a permanent part of my rotation (Duality, Wait and Bleed, Before I Forget, Psychosocial, to name the favs).

By now you’re probably getting the impression that I was very sheltered, and I want to make it clear that I wasn’t really (although relatively speaking maybe I was)—but seriously, I was also just REALLY unadventurous growing up. And to an extent I still am: I’m quick to settle in an interest and not look around for more. I like listening to the same songs over again and playing the same video games over and over and watching the same movies and reading the same books a billion times. So every step of this journey has been very slow, but also very exciting, because everything feels like such a big discovery.

Anyway, Slipknot radio inevitably led me to Disturbed and Drowning Pool and System of a Down and then adjacently to Three Day’s Grace (HERE’S where I actually started listening to Skillet as well, full circle lmao), and that led me to the subject of my last post, that being Linkin Park.

Now we’ve fully pivoted from angry raucous screamo rock to angsty sad alt, but this was just as captivating to me in a different way. I’d heard plenty of clips of Linkin Park songs before because our generation has meme’d their hits half to death, but I’d never really listened to them seriously, and I was surprised by how much I really, really liked them. It’s not often I’ll listen to an album start to finish multiple times, but I’ve done so for both Meteora and Hybrid Theory multiple times this past month alone, and I can see the same being true for much of the near future.

I’ve left out a lot of stray bands and artists I’ve picked up along the way (Blue Stahli [thanks friend 😈], Upchuck, Rabbit Junk, and like one or two Falling In Reverse and Green Day songs), and I haven’t talked at ALL about my adjacent hip-hop/rap journey but these have been the main touchstones of my journey thus far. Maybe it’s nothing to write home about but I’ve always wanted to document it because I never could’ve predicted where I would’ve ended up, or what will come next. There’s just something fun about putting down my personal history in terms of an interest like this (even if it will inevitably expose me as a massive music noob. I don’t care. I’m having fun lmao.)

If you’ve made it to the end of this, I don’t really have much of a conclusion except thank you for journeying with me through these ramblings. I’d really love to hear other people’s music journeys. I think it would be really fun to share reflections like this. I’m thinking I might vomit out another stream of consciousness like this in the future, probably about how I got into Mega Man ZX - because DAMN is that quite the circuitous journey and another story I’ve been dying to tell.

anyway tl;dr Jesus music got me into Custer!!! I love you D.C. Talk!

goodnight tristate area