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aquagustd · 4 years ago

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take me home - MYG | M

pairing: yoongi x reader

summary: you are completely infatuated with your neighbor, resident bad boy, but only you know how sweet he can be.

genre: fluff, slight angst

word count: 1.2K

warnings/tags: strong language, implied smut, badboy!yoongi, neighbor au

a/n: I am a sucker for soft, bad boy yoongi, insert *i'm bad boy* gif

↳part of the Serotonin Series

∞

You would watch him from the window, in awe of the way he carries himself. He had an effortless charm and swag that always made you run to the window every time you heard his car enter his driveway. Your mother would giggle and call you silly for being infatuated with resident bad boy, Min Yoongi.

Blonde hair combed back, you would watch the way he would lean down and kiss his grandmother, who was sitting on his parent’s porch, on her cheek and knuckles. Something no one else would even notice, making their minds up about him always being up to no good. He and his friends were popular at school but he was the one who always had your attention and your friends would laugh at you for thinking he would ever give a girl like you a second look.

They didn’t know him like you did. They didn’t see the way he would interact with his dog, Holly, you heard him call the toy poodle once. They didn’t see the way he would always hold his mother’s hand as he led her to the car to take her grocery shopping. And they certainly didn’t see the way he wept late in the evenings, on his front porch when his grandmother passed.

But he was still a bad boy. He started arguing frequently with his parents and even took up the habit of smoking, probably his own way of destressing.

One day you were brave enough to wave at him, but he didn’t wave back and that was enough to make your seventeen-year-old heart shatter.

Then one evening, your parents were invited for dinner at your neighbour’s house.

You took the chance to wear your best pink dress and did your hair and make-up in a way that you thought was red carpet worthy. Much to your dismay, he only arrived hours later and went straight for his room forgoing dinner. His mother called him back downstairs to say hello to the guests and he bowed politely. When his mother told him that you both go to the same high school, he answered with an I know.

To say you were thrilled would be an understatement, the guy you’ve been crushing on for years, knew who you were.

After that night he would greet you in the hallways and even offer you lemonade when he saw you sitting outside.

On your eighteenth birthday, he asked what you wanted as a gift and you answered with a simple ‘a kiss.’

And he went crazy on you, he said terrible things to you and called you ridiculous, so much that it made you run back inside your house and cry in your mother’s lap. She didn’t ask why, but later you found out that she was watching you two from the window, much to your chagrin.

Later that evening your mother had told you that someone was waiting for you downstairs.

Eyes still swollen from crying into your pillow, Yoongi sat in the lounge, leather jacket on and blonde hair swept to the side. He said he had his last birthday gift for you and with your parent’s permission, he drove and drove, far away from the small town you lived in. He noticed you started to get edgy and fidget in your seat, so he held your knee and said that you’re almost there.

You remember how fast your heart was beating when he held your knee the rest of the way.

He drove up a steep mountain and parked at the railed edge. Your eyes widened at the view. You could see the city lights twinkling from this side of the mountain and he chuckled at your expression.

He took your hand in his and placed a small box in your palm, telling you to open it later where you found out that it was a silver chain with a cute cat motif on it.

You gave him a tight hug and whispered a thank you in his ear.

When you pulled back, he ran his tongue along his lips and your eyes followed the action.

“Last gift.”

And he surged forward and captured your lips in a sweet kiss. You could feel the blood rush to your head and you thought you were going to faint.

He gave you the gummy smile you love so much when he pulled away from you, still holding your hand. And you sat like that for the rest of the night, in complete bliss.

The next few months were a blur. You and Yoongi weren’t dating but some nights, when you both wanted to escape from reality and the responsibilities of the world, he would take you up to the mountain and just talk.

There would be other cars parked at the edge, other lovers you assumed.

Sometimes you would engage in deep conversations, sometimes you would share kisses and sometimes your touches would get hungry.

‘Yoongi,’ you would giggle, ‘there are other people around.’

‘They can watch.’ He would reply.

And eventually, per your request, you had your first time with him. You won’t forget how gentle he was with you that night, the lingering kisses and touches, how he kissed away your tears.

You didn’t think you’d have your first time high up in a mountain, in the back seat of his beat down car no less. But it was with Yoongi, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

But it was all the calm before the storm, because one day, outside his porch, Yoongi had asked if you wanted to try a cigarette and you had shrugged. But that had to be the exact moment your father drove in from work.

He pulled you away from Yoongi and when he tried to defend you, your father told him to stay away from his daughter and he forbade you from ever seeing him again.

You begged and pleaded with your father that night to listen to what you had to say, that it wasn’t his fault. That you love Yoongi, he said you don’t know what love is and if Yoongi loved you back, he wouldn’t leave you to go to some music school in another far away city.

You were already accepted into business school in the city not too far from your hometown and were under the impression that Yoongi was going there too.

Later that night you asked your mother if you could sneak out and say one last goodbye to Yoongi. She had relented after a while and you showered her in kisses.

Yoongi was still sitting on his front porch and his eyes lit up when he saw you. You drove silently to the mountain and asked him why he lied to you about business school. He thought you would be mad at him for lying to you but you held his face and told him you’d rather hear the truth even if it pains you to. He told you all about his dream to become a successful producer and how he has to support his dream by himself without the help of his parents.

You told him that you would wait for him no matter how long he would take and shared teary smiles and kisses.

Here you are now, years later, at the same mountain ledge. You and Yoongi much older and wiser.

He, a successful rapper and producer. You, the CFO of a thriving business.

He tells you stories of his job as a producer and you joke that your corporate job is hardly as exciting as his. And once the laughter settles, you smile at each other because without words you both know.

You know that you can finally, finally have each other with no obstructions in the road to happiness.

a/n: i love yoongi :') let me know what you guys think!

masterlist here

#yoongi x reader #yoongi drabble #yoongi fluff #ficscafe #serotonin series #bts scenarios

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lee-scribbles-and-doodles · 4 years ago

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My Top Ten Overlooked Movies With Female Leads In No Particular Order

Note: When you see this emoji (⚠️) I will be talking about things people may find triggering, which are spoilery more often then not. I mention things that I think may count as triggers so that people with them will be aware before going in to watch any of these.

Edited: 3/16/21

Hanna (2011)

So, before I get into why you should watch this movie, I just want to take a moment to say why it's near and dear to my heart. Growing up as a queer kid in the early 2000s, seeing portrayals of people like or similar to myself on anything was rare at best. It was mostly in more "adult" movies or shows that my parents would occasionally let me watch with them that I'd see any lgbtq+ rep at all. Often times they were either walking stereotypes, designed to be buried, evil, or all three.

Then here comes this PG-13 action thriller with a wonderfully written main female lead who, at the time, was close to my age, and who got to kiss another girl (her very first friend, Sophie) on screen in an extremely tender and heartwarming scene. To say the least, it was a life changing moment for me personally.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, Hanna is a suspenseful movie about a child super-soldier named, you guessed it, Hanna (played by Saoirse Ronan) and her adoptive (?) father Erik Heller (played by Eric Bana) exiting the snowy and isolated wilderness of their home and taking on the shadowy CIA operative, Marissa Wiegler (played by Cate Blanchette) who wants Erik dead and Hanna for herself for mysterious reasons.

It also has an amazing soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers, great action scenes, and it has an over arching fairytale motif, which I'm always a sucker for.

⚠️ Mild blood effects, some painful looking strikes, various character deaths, and child endangerment all feature in this film. However, given its PG-13 rating, a majority of viewers are presumably able to handle this one. Still, be aware of these going in.

Sidenote: It's recently gotten a TV adaptation on Amazon TV, although I have not watched it, and do not know if Hanna and Sophie's romantic/semi-romantic relationship has transferred over.

A Simple Favor

A Simple Favor is a "black-comedy mystery thriller" centered entirely around the relationship between two mothers, the reclusive, rich, mysterious, and regal Emily (played by Blake Lively), and the local recently widowed but plucky mommy blogger, Stephanie (played by Anna Kendrick). When Emily suddenly goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to find out what happened to her new best friend.

It's a fantastic and entertaining movie throughout, with fun, flawed and interesting characters. The relationship between the two female leads is also implied to be at least somewhat romantic in nature, and they even share a kiss.

⚠️ The only major warnings I can think of is that the movie contains an instance of incest and one of the main plotlines revolves around child abuse, although both of these potentially triggering topics are not connected to each other, so there is thankfully no csa going on.

Edit: I legitimately forgot there was drug use in this movie until now. So, yeah, if that's a trigger, be careful of that.

I Am Mother

I became mildly obsessed with this movie when it came out. I Am Mother is a sci-fi film that centers entirely around a cast of two woman, and a female-adjacent robot who is brought to life on screen with absolutely amazing practical effects.

The plot is such, after an extinction-level event, a lone robot known only as Mother tasks herself with replenishing the human race via artifical means. She begins with the film's main protagonist, Daughter. Years go by as Mother raises her human child and the two prepare for Daughter's first sibling (a brother) to be born. However, on Daughter's 16th birthday, the arrival of an outsider known only as Woman shakes Daughter's entire world view. She begins to question Mother's very nature, as well as what's really going on outside the bunker she and her caretaker call home.

⚠️ This movie features child endangerment and reference to child death.

Lilo and Stitch

When I decided to add a single Disney film to this list I initially thought it was going to be hard but almost immediately my brain went to Lilo and Stitch, and specifically about the relationship between Lilo and Nani.

On the surface, this film is about a lonely little girl accidentally adopting a fugitive alien creature as a "dog," but underneath that the story is also about two orphaned sisters and the older sister's attempts to not let social services tear them apart by stepping up as the younger sister's primary guardian. Despite its seemingly goofy premise, Lilo and Stitch has a very emotional and thoughtful center. It's little wonder how this movie managed to spawn an entire franchise.

Despite the franchise it spawned (or possibly because of it), I often find that Lilo and Stitch is overlooked and many people only remember it for the "little girl adopts an alien as a pet" portion of its plot, and I very rarely see it on people's top 10 Disney lists.

⚠️ This movie could be potentially triggering to people who were separated from their siblings or other family members due to social service intervention. There's also a bit of child endangerment, including a scene where Lilo and Stitch both almost drown.

Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind

Unlike the above entry, I did struggle a little bit with picking a single Studio Ghibli film. Most media of the Ghibli catalogue have strong, well-written, unique, and interesting female leads so selecting just one seemed like quite the task.

However, I eventually settled on this particular film. In recent months, Princess Nausicaä has become my absolute favorite Ghibli protagonist and I'm absolutely enchanted by the world she lives in.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world overun by giant insects and under threat of a toxic forest and its poisoness spores, Nausicaä must try to protect the Valley of the Wind from invaders as she also tries to understand the science behind the toxic forest and attempts to bridge the gap between the insects and the humans.

For those who have never seen the film, I think Nausicaä's personality can best be described as being similar to OT Luke Skywalker. Both are caring, compassionate, and gentle souls who are able to see the best in nearly anyone or anything. She's an absolutely enthralling protagonist and after rewatching the film again for the first time in well over a decade she has easily become one of my all time favorite protagonists.

Whenever I see people talk about Ghibli films, they rarely mention this one, and when they do mention it, it's often in passing. In my opinion it's a must watch.

⚠️ This movie contains some blood, and the folks who either don't like insects or who have entomophobia may not appreciate the giant bugs running about throughout the movie. (Although most insects do not directly relate to real life bugs, and are fantasy creatures).

A Silent Voice

A Silent Voice is an animated movie adaptation of a manga of the same name. While I've never had the pleasure to read the manga, the movie is phenomenal. It covers topics such a bullying, living in the world with a disability, the desire for atonement, social anxiety, and depression in a well thought out manner that ties itself together through the progression of the relationship between its two leads, Shoya and Shouko. It's also beautifully animated. Although very popular among anime viewers, I've noticed that it's often overlooked by people who watch little to no anime. So I suppose this is me urging non-anime viewers to give this film a chance.

⚠️ As mentioned above, the movie deals with bullying, anxiety, and depression (with this last one including suicidal thoughts and behaviour). If discussion of those topics are triggering to you, than you may want to proceed with caution or skip this movie all together.

In This Corner of The World

Another manga adaptation, this one taking place during WWII-era Japan. In This Corner of The World follows the life of a civilian Japanese woman, Suzu Urano, as she navigates simply living and her new marriage as the wartime invades nearly all aspects of everyday life. I think this movie is a good representation of what it must be like to be living as civilian in a country at war where the fight is sometimes fought on one's own soil. It was also an interesting look into pre-50s Japanese culture in my opinion. It's also beautifully animated featuring an art style I don't see often.

Despite it being well known among anime fans, I never really see it be brought up, even among said anime fans themselves.

Side note: I've seen many WWII dramas centering around civilians but they've almost always been about American or UK civilians. This was the first movie I'd seen that features the perspective of a Japanese civilain.

⚠️ Features the death of a child and limb loss. There's also a disturbing scene featuring a victim of one of the atomic bombs near the end.

Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki

This film follows Hana, a Japan-native woman who fell in love with a magical shape-shifting wolf-man, and her trials with raising their children, who can also magically shape-shift into wolves, on her own. It's a very heartfelt movie about a mother's love and the struggles of doing right by your children when you have limited resources to actively guide and care for them. All the characters feel unique and alive in my opinion. Also, the animation is so good that my sister and I initially mistook it for a Ghibli film.

Again, like the previous two anime entries, I don't see it ever brought up outside of anime circles.

⚠️ There's some child endangerment present in the film, although none of it is the fault of Hana as far as I can remember.

Roman Holiday

Roman Holiday is about the fictional Princess Ann (played by Audrey Hepburn), who while on a whirlwind tour of Europe, finally reaches her breaking point over having her entire life be one big schedule and all her words and actions being rehearsed. In the spur of the moment, she runs away in hopes of experiencing what life is like for other women. Unfortunately, she was previously given a sedative, meaning she doesn't get too far before it takes effect. Fortunately, she is found by the kind reporter Joe Bradley (played by Gregory Peck). Believing her to be drunk and unable to get an address from her (because she has none) he ends up taking her home for safety's sake and allows her to sleep off her suppose drunken stupor. The next day, he realizes who she is, and decides to take her on a fun sight seeing trip across Rome in hopes of getting the big scoop. Along the way, they begin to fall for each other.

This is my favorite black and white, old romance film. I think the relationship between the main characters is absolutely beautiful and I have a lot of fun watching it.

⚠️ I'm not entirely sure what kind of warning this film would need. However, it was released in 1953, so values dissonance will probably be at play for many viewers to at least some extent. For example, early in the film Ann is given sedation drugs by her doctor for her behavior, something that is very unlikely to happen today. Also, Mr Bradley deciding to take Ann home to keep her safe rather than call the police or an ambulance is a very pre-90s decision in my opinion.

#hanna 2011 #a simple favor #i am mother #lilo and stitch #nausicaä of the valley of the wind #a silent voice #in this corner of the world #wolf chilren ame and yuki #wolf children #roman holiday #black and white film #anime #disney #studio ghibli #movie recs #top 10

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prettywarriors · 4 years ago

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what are some of your favorite and least favorite magical girl raising project designs? and your thoughts on magical daisy just because she's my fav

Heck yes opinion time! But first what you asked for:

Magical Daisy Good. The yellows-browns-beige works really well with both the purple accents and the minty green hair. She has pleats distributed evenly through her design, and they work in tandem with both the ribbons and with the daisies through her outfit without it getting too busy. I like her detached sleeves with gloves, and I am a sucker for practical footwear on a MG (both for them and for possible cosplayers) I’m not Crazy about the. Pouch? Asymmetrical bustle? The thing off her waist on her right. But it balances with her off-center headdress and has the same small design on it so it get’s a pass. Her hair is simple, but I like it and I think it works for her A good design for an anime (if the MGRP anime had done really well, do you think we would have gotten an in-universe magical daisy episode?)

Other opinions under the cut

Haha only giving opinions on 3 girls? I’m reading Peaceful Days now so enjoy my speed thoughts on MGRP-Aces outfits.

But first Maruino deserves so much recognition because her use of cream and dark brown in place of white and black whenever possible, combined with her chibi style and general color pallet choices, is so good. I know I’ve talked about the LN look vs the anime looks here before, but some designs would just look not nearly as good if she didn’t know how to use colors as well as she does

MGRP:

Snow White- School uniform with an armband indicating she is someone who can help, but with flowers. It’s cute, it’s fairly simple compared to other mgrp outfits, I like the big flowers on the sides of her outfit over the ones hanging from the ribbons off her back. A solid look, but not a winner in my book

Ripple- This is going to come up with quite a few of these designs but I like basically everything but the body. I like the sleeves, the geta are great, love the one ponytail with big shuriken, scarf brings great contrast to the rest of the color scheme, bikini top with ribbons attaching it to a wrapped skirt? The skirt feels like this could have been a keikogi but the top is almost wholly unadorned and overall I wish this was a better look than it is

La Pucelle- Great idea, meh execution. Knight And Dragon? Love it! The navy blue for military feels with armor and goes well with the gold&cream&brown. Her horns are cute! I like the tail- it fits the character and isn’t too large or distracting. Once again I like the arms-neck-legs but the body is. a bikini with a drapery bit off the top and the tabard. The tabard is good! But why is she in her underwear? Give pants???

-And yes I know swimsuits cover just as much as underwear but this isn’t a swimsuit and it’s a lazy way to cover what needs to be cover and not even try to make that area of a design more interesting. This doesn’t apply just to LP or even MGRP I have seen comments on this before and unless the character’s outfit is an actual bathing suit, try harder.

Top Speed- A wife. A halloween wife. God I lover her personality and her outfit is definitely on the simple end of mgrp outfits but very fitting. The colors are great, love the hat and the tall boots, the cape stripes might be my least favorite bit? But I feel if it was solid it would be too bland so. And the end of her braids looks like a broom. I love her. Good design.

Ruler- I hate this. But why..... Is it the navy blue is a singular piece? I liked Ripple’s scarf for contrast but maybe this piece isn’t large enough? Her head things look like two crowns on the sides of her head and their weird and. Not awful? But not great. The cape looks chunky at the end? In a weird way? Or is it the drop waist on the top. I know I don’t like the butt fluff. I do like the shoes&leggings? pants? And her crown and hair stars. bad/10 for reasons I can not place

Swim Swim- Techno demon in the accessories, pure schoolgirl in swim class in the torso. The white suit+black devil wings is good as character contrast , and her....hip...discs? have demony tails which is good, but the big headphones and floating disc things work great with the shoes but not with the rest of the outfit? This is two outfits in one but not in a good way. Pick a lane.

Minael&Yunael- They might not be super-murders but boy that’s their only redeeming trait. I do not like them as fictional people. And outfitwise? Meh. I like the chat balloon halos, and the one wing look for the two of them works, and again the use of Navy rather than pure black is good, but the old fashioned dress with a bib is. boring. and not in a simple way just not interesting? Like I think if the stiped bib thing was removed it might look better? This also might be a secret hatred of mine as I think I have figured out from a later outfit. For now- boo

Tama- Are you spotted or brown&white? Her fluff bits and legs say spotted and her ears and tail and paws say brown and white and I wish we’d pick a lane? Also not crazy about the butt-length cape. I do like the bone clasp and the hood, and you have to have big ol paws for a dog girl. She’s. Fine. Just fine.

Nemurin- Her hair clouds say magical girl, the rest says generic cute sleepy anime girl. I like the socks, and her hair, but she’s not that interesting? Don’t get me wrong she’s cute but the bulk of her design is Big PJs. The candy clasp is nice as a sweet dreams thing? Sorry Endo

Calamity Mary- Titty fur. Boots with spurs and arms with fringe and mini cowboy hat are all good, and her skirt is. A little boring but fine. But the best part of her top is the sheriff badge. If we’re committed to evil=slutty=evil, you can still make a more appealing lewd top than a bikini over some fluff. Let sluts be sexy? Stay dead bitch.

Magicaloid 44- Elementary schoolgirl but robot. Bulky but in that smooth modern look. I’m a sucker for hair horns, even when they’re metal or plastic, and she just has a good silhouette. But her colors could be better? I will say her mn art has her skirt look like a skirt, and the anime said This Is A Solid Hunk Of Plastic/Metal and I think that works better. Swap her dark brown bits for a navy to go with her skirt and i think i’d be out of complaints

Sister Nana- There are multiple MG nuns. What’s up with that. Good use of sexy belts for theme consistency, but I with there was more red up top or her shoes were a different color. 9/10 for dirty nun

Weiss Winterprison- Girl I love you why is your outfit not good as a MG look or even really as an outfit. Your practical looking boots have heels, your colors are boring and messy, you have like. belts but not enough for them to look interesting? Gurl I love you do something with this bland mess.\

Cranberry- ‘I love this’ I say threw clenched teeth. I love green and flower motifs, and I like boleros and big sleeves. But I’m not that into this? I think it’s that her top looks like a nice shirt that’s a little long and then she. Just has leggings on and a big belt. I guess the buckle is like. A big thorn? And i’m into tunics with leggings but this doesn’t? do that in a way I like? The red-blue roses are a nice contrast to the green and creme but i just. I have no idea I want to be in love with this and it’s Middling for me. More elf ear’d MGs pls

Hardgore Alice- I love alice, I am a fan of edgy spins on stuff(sorry), so I’m a bit disappointed? And I think it’s just the colors? I love the checkered pockets and the striped stockings and bows and the headband and apron and bloomers and dress shape and even her eye bags (mood). I guess I just wish there was more of the off white-maybe for the full apron? or even the bloomers? I love you please re-color.

Restart:

Keek- This bitch might win it for worst look. I like her hair color, and giant sleeves, and the cd and rubix cube are nice touches for an outfit, but what outfit. A bikini top and slightly-larger-than-usual underwear style bottom with a big plate of metal? Are those supposed to be shorts??? Points for normal shoes but take off the coat and this is nothing. And the coat isn’t much to begin with. 0/10 might take home the gold

Clantail- I wish the apron part was gone? But the colors are good tho I do have a question about the horns- they’re cute but if she can change her lower body to other animals they won’t always fit very well? And her necklaceuhhh tattoo? is odd. But she’s fine

Pechika- Good colors, like the feathers, I wish the chef’s coat had a different fit but it’s good. Could go without the tail. Also has some almost military feeling elements like the hair cross and the? epaulets? This is a spats stan account

Rionetta- Great use of colors, patterns, ribbons, has a specific look that works great for the doll dress. Hell year ball joints and weird eyes. Wonderful. I hate it. No fucking clue why. Like with the angels maybe? I hate strips? Except I don’t. Maybe just in specific situations? Or I hate multiple patterns? Rio looks good. I just see her and go into a rage.

Nonako Miyokata- A very good look overall, just not super Magical Girl? Definitely magical miko but. The yin yang accessories feel a tad out of place- replace them with existing themes or add them in elsewhere

Magical Daisy- Still good

Nokko- This is just a maid. A cute maid with a weird choice of hair decor, but I think she got her outfit at the same shop as Milkit. *shrug*

@Meow-Meow- boy I hope I didn’t just at someone for real. I like her colors and tail, poofy detached sleeves are good, her top works with the open dress. I’m a fan of detailed edging on a piece, and it works with the pattern. I’d’ve liked to see more of the bells that are on her wrists? I guess she had a racist accent originally though which yikes.

Genopsyko Yumenoshima- A great sentai outfit, love the helmet ears and the tail. Not good as a magical girl outfit unless we fully dissolve the mg/sentai line. But the suit is great, slightly oversized gloves, and retro lasergun that doesn’t even work? Yesssss.

Detec Bell- Fwuffy. Great hat, love the dress, a good use of a cape, simple but very good. I feel a feel some of the ribbons could be changed up but a solid if simple design.

Lapis Lazuline (2)- Cute starry tiger princess? I guess I’m a fan of navy and brown because i’m into it here too. Good use of the silvery details on the sleeves and dress bottom, and the links both at the cape clasp and on the boots. Really nice.

Melville- Bootleg Cranberry in every way. I like her over-pants and sleeve-cape, but the weird bib-top under the bikini top is a bad shape? Hair roses good and leg thorns do get a thumbs up.

Cherna Mouse- If the turtle gets it’s own distinct look, why is Cherna just baby+ hamster? The hood is cute, and I dig the boots which work with the shoulder things, but said things don’t go with the toddler one piece+cape. She reminds me of Moetan and that is a bad thing.

Pfle- Ohhh this bitch. I may have been reading these books but I have no damn idea what she is up to and I hate it. Love her eyepatch tho. Super cute throne-wheelchair and it continues the bird motif. Her dress is nice but not that interesting? Seems more generic old timey fancy lady dress than Magical. Honestly I could go for some mixing up of the colors here? The dress and hair and throne all are a bit too similar. Maybe make the dress wine?

Shadow Gale- I like her look but I don’t feel it says nurse as much as it’s supposed to? Her aces profile honestly gives Rue vibes. It’s very monochromatic but I guess that works for her. Big fan of her skirt, kindof with it went all the way around. Solid design

Masked Wonder- Who? I refuse to play person5 because it’s been overhyped but isn’t this one of them? Not awful as a phantom thief outfit, but doesn’t say magical girl phantom thief at all. I do like the roses on the belt and. garters? Kindof wish we’d loose the color on the cape because it clashes more than anything with the rest of the look

Akane- I like her long hair flower. But her samurai-kimono look doesn’t feel blended well enough imo and the colors are too over the place while still being bland.

Lake of Fire Flame Flamey- Hell if I know how she looks I just love typing that name

Limited:

Weddin- Good colors, a bit too busy? The chains+roses+lace doesn’t feel well balanced. But the flame and ankle chain are balanced because Maruino is good at asymmetrical details

Captain Grace- A pirate magical girl? Is she legit the only one from any main stream series? Well she set the bar high. The captain coat is great, multiple small anchors, the hat, and her skirt(?) is very cute. I guess the sole of the boots stands out a bit? But very solid (wait is that a tail? or a butt hook? :/)

Funny Trick- If Las vegas was a magical girl. Colors and silhouette are good, I’m just not vibing with this. sorry girl

Kuru-kuru Hime- Yiss more ballet themed outfits. Good colors, love the shape of the giant back bow. I could go without the big ribbon coming off the headpiece? It’s nice

Postarie- Buttwings! I love her hair shape, just. Not a fan of the orange and green colors? She’s a delivery girl but feels more marching band. It’s a good design, just doesn’t feel fitting? Great just not for her

Rain Pow- Now this is a sci-fiy look while still saying magical girl. The tail is yet another weird thing, and I could go without the permeant ring behind her, but the shape of her outfit is very good, and love the silly heart hair. Wish the gloves were a different color? But this is up there

Tepsekemei- Genie outfits being problematic isn’t something I can speak to, but this is a solid genie look with additions to feel different, specifically the lotuses. It’s good, and I haven’t seen flying turtles since love hina so. Good for her.

Mana- You’re not a magical girl. Maybe I just hate bibs? The hat is great and snake leg is fun, I wish her collar was actually smaller to stand out more? It’s a fine mage look i guess

Hana Gekokujou- Great use of hair color as contrast to a committed color scheme. A cute traditional bunny look. Not personally my favorite but it is Good.

7753- Big Coat! Giant heart braids! Consistent heart theme! It’s bland compared to a lot of the other outfits, and I don’t think her flat heart uhh hair? pieces? like rain pow? work as well with her. But I think she works well for a member of the resources department. Wait is her hat backwards? Amazing

Archfiend Pam- I’m mostly a fan of this. The top is great, it’s carried through at one hip, she has the weird arm guy to keep her asymmetry going on. I just wish she’d commit to either fur Or pleats as trim? Both is a weird texture choice

Pythie Frederica- This bitch took a while for her proper appearance. I love the horns on the hood, and the stars throughout work well. I really don’t care for her skirtdress though? It’s too long and in ribbons and feels almost jellyfish-y? I feel it’s supposed to feel like she’s standing in fire but that doesn’t work pass a glance for me

Tot Pop- Love hot topic. Her spiky ribbon is my favorite bit, and I’m a fan of oversized sleeves. A great mall goth look, not amazing as a magical girl look tho. The head decor feels most on brand for the genre.

Punkin- What if the three musketeers were murderous and royalty. I love the hair feather and dig the ruff, the cape honestly feels like overkill? The boots are great and I dig the pants. Once again, why tails. I know mahou-furbies has reviewed a lot of these girls with the same comment and she’s right. Pick red or blue for this look though.

Sonia Bean- Kindof busy, in a garbage way. Like her outfit is made of fancy garbage to make an old timey doll. Which is fitting. Love the dress shape. Less into the weird dangly poofs.

Jokers:

Princess Inferno- The whole princess line works well together. Quake has the least Team outfit but I feel all four work well together? Inferno’s bikini is a smidge above other tops with the fire shapes, and I like her hair, but I think she’s my least favorite princess.

Princess Deluge- Swirls and scales throughout? Armor? Gold jewelry? My biggest issue is the chain to the weapon because this is a really nice outfit.

Princess Quake- Why does your tail start in the middle of the back? I like her leotard and eye theme, and her head piece adds nice shape. Good asymmetry. shame she’s into children The hair gem is a fun touch

Princess Tempest- The apples are a weird touch? Good for color but weird as a theme? I love the leaves- honestly I’m a huge fan of the vaguely toga-y look. Are the apples supposed to be an atlanta thing? Her skirt could be a bit better but Nice

Prism Cherry- Princess of our hearts. What a color scheme. Her oversized dangly accents work well here I feel, and I love the skirt and the leaf looking ribbon behind the neck. I could do without the arm fluff, but the top garter for the skirt is a nice touch

Marika Fukuroi- My wife is a bitch and I like her so much. A much more vibrant outfit than most of the mgrp girls, the black is edgy but in a fun loud way. I love her skirt and every damn crazy flower. Her top is my least favorite with the smaller flowers connecting her top to her bottom and the frills that honestly are out of place. Great eyes

Styler Mimi- A fancy outfit that fits her theme, with a nice silhouette and simple color scheme. Ruined by the giant back powder puffs. Yes she would be fairly simple without those but they’re so garish and awkward. Good hair

Stanczyka- I thought her middrif was another hunk of plaster like the mask and now that I see it’s just skin with some stars :/ The whole head thing is good, and the fur is consistent throughout even if I’m not a fan of it. The giant sleeves are. weird. I want to like them but. Her swirly tiddys are a nice touch. The brown hair on the tail doesn’t fit

Lady Proud- For someone who lived for a lot of pages I do not remember her. Her leotard works with the sleeves to feel like an old timey dress and the way the cape is being held up to look like bat wings is nice. The green layer in her hair is an odd choice. I do dig the hair clips with the horns

Umbrain- Froggy slicker. ...Sakura did it better, the yellow and purple&red is a meh color combo sorry. I do love the candy additions for the ame(rain) ame(candy) play, and her umbrella is great. But once again I am confronted by a bib. Also her slicker is actually two pieces? Bad colors, bad body, good theme

Filru- I like the colors and the corset, and in theory the chunky knitting is very cute but I feel it’s at odds with the boots and corset. Make the whole thing chunky knitting- it’d be cute. The head doily also could be more on theme imo

Uttakatta- again, what did you do? giant overalls are good in theory, but the slits and the. bubbles? clear donuts. are just ugly. Honestly her whole look is not good, and a bubble theme has so much potential for cool shit :(

Kafuria- good use of colors, I’m not personally into the shape of her kimono as a mg dress, but the wings and the veil+such are nice

Grim Heart- this bitch. God her dress is a great shape. I think i’m not fully into her spade tail ribbons, but otherwise love? The flamingo is Silly but again as an alice fan, i do not care (ask me about kagihime for 10000 words of rage!)

Shufflin- the tiny bib haunts me but the big double sides apron card piece is a nice way to do the simple and versatile Card look. The hair is cute and i like the suit as a big piece behind the head

Aces:

Armor Arlie- chunky suit of armor. but Cute. as an armor fan in MG designs, even I think this is A Bit Much, but it has enough going for it that i think it’s a fun look

Bluebell Candy- once again Maruino kills it with using navy very nicely. A military vibe with the epilates and double breasted uhh skirt decor. honestly shocked the hat is center, and mm good hair happenings. A very nice design. still not into the weird fluff tail stuff

Dark Cutie- Great hair decorations, love the lunar details, seems to be a leotard over leggings? It’s nice. It’s not crazy grabbing or stands out that much in silhouette, but i do like it

Micchan the Dictionary- tying your coat around your neck is not valid, motarboards are not good magical girl accessesories, i personally have an owl vendetta, the red in her shoes appears no where else, and the shape of her dress is just weird. plus that hair is. not good. Oh wow. I might rank her lower than keek. oh Wow

Glassianne- this is just that alcreamie pokemon. i wish the exposed strawberry went all the way down instead of there being more icing along the bottom. she has a consistent theme and nice colors, i’m not not digging it

Uluru- said dog. 7753 and tama’s child. she looks warm but not super magical. why is she dog themed?

Sorami Nakano- gamer aesth. I could do without the hair paws, but the jumper is super cute, love the eyes and the hair tones, general color scheme, bandaid is a cute touch. A solid look.

Premium Sachiko- good colors, i like the cut of the sleeves/boots/dress, but her art has her legs blend together and that’d just the art but weird. nice use of four leaf clovers and horseshoes throughout for her luck theme.

CG Angel Hammer- I like the flowers and the bones tail/wings. The halo thing is. odd, and it’s hard to get a great idea of her actual outfit. weird hair choice, tiny bottom but at least it has some frills. Needs more art

Patricia- acab. great colors tho and I like the shapes for the shoulders and wrist, and the light theme. The bright blue ribbons and earrings stand out well. This is actually a really solid design.

Puk Puck- i hate this baby angel there’s too much to look at. Your bondage leg is weird! cute chest piece. you can’t have cloud swirls and drills for hair damn it. your halo also has a veil? fuck you. 6/10.

Best Outfits: Princess Tempest and Grim Heart Worst Outfits: Keek and Micchan the Dictionary and Uttakatta

#Anonymous #magical girl raising project #outfit discussion #mgrp #text #not fashion

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chesterfieldstings · 7 years ago

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The Garden - Mirror Might Steal Your Charm - Review

The Garden Mirror Might Steal Your Charm Epitaph Records

It’s no secret fellas. Rock music is going through some growing pains right now. The landscape is changing and it’s been happening for a while. With hip hop and trap being the current zeitgeist and industry constantly catering to more electronic centric acts it’s not hard to see why. Rock fans don’t particularly help the situation either. With their puritanical nature and unwillingness to compromise it’s sort of tough to see where one of the biggest genres ever will end up in the future. The Garden, however is a punk band, not completely in the traditional sense given their influence and aesthetics but absolutely in how much they simply don’t give a fuck. Mirror Might Steal Your Charm is the 5th release from twin brothers Wyatt and Fletcher Shears aka The Garden and it’s easily their best yet. Packed with sardonic humor, an uncompromisingly idiosyncratic style and a dizzying array of influences, textures and motifs they have crafted one of the most unpredictable punk rock records of the decade.

It should be said early however that this album is absolutely not going to be for everyone. The vocals, are delivered in a consistently sarcastic inflection sometimes rapped, sometimes shouted, sometimes bellowed with bratty energy that draws out every syllable. The songs themselves have a hectic unpredictable nature to them that take multiple listens to commit to memory. There’s techno break beats, show tunes diversions, a healthy dose of hip hop, indie rock. The Garden have never shied away from throwing in everything but the kitchen sink in their music but this time around all of those elements are blended together more seamlessly than ever.

“Stallion” does a great job of establishing the tone for the record, being a completely unstable opening track that alternates between beach rock and hardcore punk impeccably. It also introduces the albums recurring motif of nearly every song having two contrasting components fighting each other for lead melody. With a few exceptions such as the touching closer track, this is a trick The Garden uses a lot and to good effect. “Shameless Shadow” has a rockabilly-esque saunter that transitions in between a show tunes theme worthy of a pair of jazz hands. A similarly jazzy groove is effectively used on the late album track “Stylish Spit”. The inexplicable mid album cut “ :( “ is one of the weirdest and wildest tracks with it’s choppy synth-led pounce and a hilarious skit where a man gets shot through a phone call with a ray gun.

As freakish as most of this is there are some very clear points of inspiration The Garden blends into what they call *Vada Vada. Devo is a pretty obvious one, modern electronic music is a pretty big one as well. Late 90’s techno and break beat appear on a few cuts like the speedy “A Message for Myself”. “Who am I Going to Share All this Wine With” is almost a dead ringer for an Iceage instrumental circa You’re Nothing era. Hardcore punk flashes in and out of these tracks and on one cut, namely “Make a Wish”, they give their take on, dare I say, trap music. The kick drum hits you right into the heart while Wyatt’s voice raps out nearly incoherent lyrics about drunken wizards whispering in your ear.

The Garden could easily be written off as a gimmick band and I get that a lot of people are going to see this album as another entry in their pantheon nonsensical albums. However, the critics saying this are somewhat right. Some of this content doesn’t make sense but maybe it doesn’t need to. “Make a Wish” seems to comment on the idea of needing songs to make sense. “Call the Dogs Out”, the albums fantastic lead single, delves into the idea of having your own little safe space to be creative and unique. Declaratively saying if someone shows up uninvited you can ‘let the dogs out’ and tell them to beat it. “A Message For Myself” ends with the succinct monologue saying that everyone is equal and nothing you do makes any more or less human than anybody else. In spite of the nonsensical nature of the music the general theme seems to be that you can do whatever you want, fuck it. You have one life to live and be as weird as you feel like you need to be. It’s a simple message but it’s something that can be sadly forgotten amongst the rat race.

Mirror Might Steal Your Charm is an album that checks all the boxes. This is a record that is wild, creative, well written and has an undeniable pulse to it that is severely lacking in modern rock music. Although, there are a few stylistic choices that go slightly awry. The insistence on using synthetic horns can be pretty overbearing and often makes the album veer into overly chintzy territory. Namely on the track “Banana Peel” where the horns that drive the melody obnoxiously honk and plod throughout the duration of the cut. The lyrics are cute however, that is if you’re as much of a sucker for food metaphors as I am. The closer “No Destination” wraps things up on an touching note. The Garden’s take on the old adage of “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey” comes across surprisingly elegantly. Perhaps there is no destination in life, perhaps there doesn’t have to be. As long as you’re enjoying your time on this earth then no one can take that away from you. Mirror Might Steal Your Charm is a love letter to the freakier side of life it’s fun, charming, grotesque, cute, obnoxious, and psychotic all at the same time. More often than not, it’s also brilliant.

9.2/10

Top Tier: “Make a Wish”, “Call the Dogs Out”, “ :( “, “Who am I Going to Share All this Wine With”, “No Destination”, “Stylish Spit”, “Good News”, “Voodoo Luck”

Meh Tier: “Banana Peel”

If you liked this, give one of these a shot!

Guerilla Toss - GT Ultra Ariel Pink - Pom Pom Zach Hill - FACE TAT JPEGMAFIA - Veteran

Aight love yall, have a nice day

*Vada Vada - taken from The Garden’s official website:

“They created the term, "Vada Vada" in 2011 to represent their music and other creations. Vada Vada is a term that represents total freedom of expression without boundaries or guidelines of any sort.”

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sunriseinorbit · 7 years ago

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bnha s2 soundtrack musings

can i just say this is the only thing i’ve been listening to since it came out last week and i have geeked out so much because it’s so. good. and it’s probably my number one favorite anime soundtrack now. oops.

also sorry for any random music theory jargon as well as gratuitous caps lock

jet set run does the yuki hayashi string thing™ and i’ve heard the yuki hayashi string thing™ so many times but i am honestly here for it

and jet set run changes the you say run melody a little and it’s so!! good!!!

there are so many soft piano tracks this season!! i am living

SOFT YOU SAY RUN??? TWICE??? I”M GONNA DIE @YUKI HAYASHI

also soft all might theme my heart

kouteshiku to chi te “tomo” to yomu (it’s labeled wrong on youtube i cri) reminds me a lot of haguruma from haikyuu it’s so cute

can u believe there’s a song called “weeeee are fu*kin super star!!” on the boku no hero academia soundtrack because i can’t i was shook the first time i heard it

DURING THE SPORTS FESTIVAL. THERE ARE CHILDREN.

endeavor’s theme is actually catchy and i hate that i like it so much

i don’t know where honki de tatakitsubusu shozon plays besides when iida and ojiro fight power loader but the orchestra hits are so so good and the little trills around 1:03 make my heart race

it really reminds me of protest from cytus but better imo

this song is really sweet and cute and i’m a sucker for string swells and key changes SO

shougaibutsu kyousou reminds me of mario boss music it’s so bouncy and tHAT TRUMPET

also multiple key changes!!

please listen to kibasen all the way through you won’t regret it

that compound meter’s got me feeling some kind of way

i didn’t know i needed all might at disneyland but now i have it

it just makes you feel all happy and warm inside

i want a hug from all might

remember this banger from season 1? yeah it got an upgrade

i’m gonna cry @these lyrics

the beginning of this song reminds me of something from bungou stray dogs and then it gets a m a z i n g

the song that plays in the shinsou fight is really eerie and i love it

there’s also this and idk if it’s associated with shinsou or not but it’s also creepy

i was talking about how yuki hayashi combines all his styles of anime music for this soundtrack, well this is a track straight out of haikyuu and it works so well

soredemo sara ni mukou e has an AUDIBLE VIOLA PART and the build? kills me every time

remember this banger from season 1? yeah it got an upgrade

i love the slower tempo tbh it W O R K S

also they added lyrics to these tracks and i am dead

sanmittai is one of my favorite tracks on the entire ost, specifically the one beat of silence at 1:57

tsune ni toppu wo nerau mono is also a favorite

if you want to kill me, just play me something with a good compound meter

seriously you can think of the melody at 0:48 in a slow three or a quick three and it’s good either way

this one was also so memorable i just remember it from when bakugou beat todoroki aaaaa

kyoui ga ikuzo (not watashi no ikuzo as it says in the video, that’s a different song) is so suspenseful i die

THOSE ARPEGGIOS THO

tomodachigokko ja irarenai reminds me of something from a video game cutscene leading up to the final boss

YUKI HAYASHI USED E FLAT MINOR, KILLING ME INSTANTLY

there’s more to talk about with katakiuchi later but god i love that chord progression

i, a known todoroki stan, l o v e the piano in hidari wa zettai tsukawanee and how it works with the guitar later on in the song and how ambient the whole song is but there’s also more to say about it later

it’s also one of the only tracks i could easily translate so the first time i listened to it i knew exactly what i was getting into

i saved the best tracks for last whoops

I LOVE MINAGIRU CHIKARA

IT HAS THE YUKI HAYASHI STRINGS AND THE YUKI HAYASHI HORNS

IT HAS A VIOLA PART THAT DOES THE THING YOU SAY RUN DOES WHERE THE VIOLAS START THE OSTINATO AND THEN THE VIOLINS DOUBLE IT AN OCTAVE HIGHER

the triplets at 0:40 are my favorite part of the song

THE TRUMPET AT 1:28 YESSS

if bakusatsuou was the track that encompassed the haikyuu style of yuki hayashi music, ingenium is the track that reminds me that yuki hayashi did my favorite anime soundtrack of all time until this came out, death parade

if you listen to both this and katakiuchi, you’ll notice that iida has his own character motif!!! i love yuki hayashi

i’m going to go on about kimi no chikara for a long time because it was my favorite track when i first heard it in the anime it was my favorite track when i first listened to the ost and it’s still my favorite track now

seriously when i first watched the episode i was fooling around with the triplet thing and the chord progression on my piano within an hour of watching it

it really helps that episode 23 and 29 are my favorite episodes hehehe

when i was listening to the soundtrack for the first time i was just going through trying to see if i recognized anything and i actually gasped when this song came on I LOVE IT SO MUCH

the tension at the beginning before the percussion comes in is I N C R E D I B L E

BUT I DIDN’T NOTICE THE BEST PART ABOUT THIS SONG UNTIL TWO DAYS AGO WHICH INSPIRED ME TO MAKE THIS POST IN THE FIRST PLACE i’m going to sound very stupid for only realizing this now

i was driving home from my piano lesson, listening to this in my car (alone of course lmao) and i’ve listened to it about a hundred times at this point and the violin melody came on at around 1:14 in the song and I REALIZED

THAT’S RIGHT

THAT’S THE SAME MELODY FROM HIDARI WA ZETTAI TSUKAWANEE

THAT’S TODOROKI’S CHARACTER MOTIF

i had a lot of feelings in my car that night

yuki hayashi is a musical genius and i love him so very much and he’s one of my biggest inspirations as a composer and i love him so very much thank you for your time

#han originals #long post /#bnha #boku no hero academia #i’ve been writing down these things in my ap lit class instead of doing actual ap lit #also i'm salty that the only person who uploaded the whole ost to youtube missed a song and got half the titles wrong #i'm listening to taz in that car now i anticipate many more feelings in my car

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wyrdsistersofthedas · 8 years ago

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HI, I just wanted to say you have a great site. I noticed you put up a number of art drawings and I am not sure if you have looked here but have you seen Matt Rhodes Concept Art for for Dragon Age? It has some great official concept art from Dragon Age 2 including Fenris and Merril. I would love to hear some of your comments on this. The first part is about Mass Effect but halfway down is about Dragon Age. Thanks again.

Hey Nony!

Sorry for the delay getting back to you. We went through quite a few Matt Rhodes posts (the man is everywhere!!) to find the one we thought you were talking about. Anyone who hasn’t seen Matt’s review of DA2’s concept art is missing out.

All four of the Sisters Wyrd sat down together for tea and to talk about these designs.

Fenris’ Evolution

On his blog, Matt Rhodes talks about how difficult it was to find Fenris’ look. They had not done much with Tevinter so they hadn’t finalized its cultural style and that is apparent in these early designs.

Perhaps the most surprising of the early Fenris concept art was this version, which looks an awful lot like D&Ds Drow Elves. That would have been quite a departure from the lore that Dragon Age had established concerning elves, who had always been shown having the same skin tones as humans races across the real world. Fenris’ skin also shows no signs of lyrium tattoos, which suggests that concept was developed later in the creative process.

Dorothea pointed out that this early design shares many facial features as Solas’ design. ��Long face, prominent cheekbones and jaw, and a similar nose.

Every inch…

The next design incorporates an intricate tattoo pattern with, what looks like, lyrium highlights. Unlike Fenris’ final design, the tattoos look more like a ritual pattern rather than the skeletal structure the developers used in the end. This pattern would have been really hard to create in game and cleanly animate In this art, Fenris looks like he is wearing mage robes rather than being dressed like a warrior, and the Tevinter look still isn’t there yet. The belt seems to have been a favorite. It will show up in several subsequent art designs. (He looks a bit like Prince Zuko! Wonder if Avatar was an inspiration?) Can you imagine cosplaying this? Those tattoos would be a nightmare!

The next image has several interesting updates. The tattoo’s have been simplified and the lyrium is clearly etched into Fenris’ skin with what looks like words, perhaps in Tevene or Elvhen. (As if these suckers weren’t hard enough to draw as they are in game!)

In this image, Fenris looks very much like a warrior. Almost Conan the Barbarian-esque. One thing Artemis found particularly interesting is that this look has been carried forward into the most recent concept art Mark Darrah has teased all of us with, which appears to include Fog Warrior designs that echo this early art design. This concept for Fenris is definitely more wild, almost feral. This Fenris conveys so much of his personal history: breaking free of Danarius and living among the Fog Warriors before having to run for his life and freedom.

The next design makes some very dramatic changes, and Fenris now has the look we see in game. Mostly. He has the “new look” for elves in DA2, which was a little too close to the Na’vi from Avatar. Larger eyes and ears, long necks, and the distinctive broad noses with high bridges. They managed to make Fenris, Merrill and a few other key elves look beautiful with this new design, but many other elves were…well, not the ethereal beauties they are often described to be in the lore.

The designers have also developed an obsession we feathers. Fenris has feathers, Anders has feathers, Flemeth has feathers, etc. Must have been a texture they were rather proud of and wanted to incorporate in lots of places. Some of the bird fluff disappears off of his legs by the time we get to the final game, but the ones on his wrist cuffs and shoulders stayed. (And the belt is back!)

Fenris’ tattoos change a great deal from his last iteration. They now look like they follow his skeleton, which might make them easier to animate (even if they are still a pain in the ass to draw. But these are far easier than any of the previous designs or the ones Matt would use now. More on that later.) Did they forget the three dots on his forehead in the game? Artemis has tried every angle in game to see them but can’t see them. Yet all the later concept art has them. There probably is a mod for that.

It is interesting that Fenris’ hair is black in this art. We assume that the pain and trauma from lyrium being fused to his skin was what turned his hair white, but as far as we know this has never been confirmed in the canon.

In almost all of these pictures, Fenris is drawn more sinuous than muscular. This implies, to our thinking, that his strength comes more from determination than muscles. Add lyrium as another source of strength and you don’t need big muscles. This idea was confirmed in World of Thedas 2, which stated that Fenris’ “determination, more than his physical abilities impressed Danarius.”

This was one of the last designs for Fenris, but not all of the elements made it into the game. Matt would very much have liked to hack off his hair. Bleh! Yeah, we know everyone thinks he has emo hair, but we think it says a lot about his personality at the beginning of the game. Fenris’ hair veils his eyes and the emotions on his face, creating a kind of barrier between him and those looking at him. This look and his posture convey that he was supposed to be a beaten dog, who has only just begun to remember that he is a wolf.

Matt’s Dream Fenris

On his tumblr page, Matt posted a design for he wishes Fenris looked like… Our response: meh. Fenris is stockier here, with a smaller sword and very clear Tevinter design elements. They were deep into Inquisition at this point and knew what Tevinter’s art style would be and we can certainly see those elements here. Persian slipper style shoes, “harem” style pants, pointed tunic, and curved daggers. (Hey! Matt put him in shoes! What in the Void?) Fenris is also notably heavier set, similar to the stocky elf design we see for ancient elves. Considering how slim male elf Inquisitors are, this is an interesting choice. Sera also has a heavier build also.

Bleh. We don’t care for the bald design, although it does allow us to see the tattoos Matt gave him more clearly. We now see a dragon motif that does seem very Tevinter, but not very practical. And a nightmare to draw again. (We’ll take the ones that made it into the game, thanks!)

Whatever Matt Rhodes would do with Fenris now, his design was set by Dragon Age 2. We did get an updated look, however, in The World of Thedas 2. Notice the changes to his hair and his posture. This Fenris is far more self assured, but armed to the teeth. He knows who he is, and is not hiding from anyone anymore. Slavers better hide from him.

Merrill’s Many Faces

Origins of Merrill

You would think when you already have a character designed, there wouldn’t be much to do for Merrill in DA2. Developing her character, however, also meant updating her look to match the new elements for the second game. Their first attempt produced…interesting results.

Scary lady!

Merrill certainly looked different than she did in Origins in her first draft for DA2. She has a variation on the same outfit she wore in the first game, but without her underpinnings or outer gear. But the most startling change was her face and countenance. Her new look screams “I’m a blood mage!!! Rawr!” It would have been an interesting concept to explore, this malevolent Merrill. She was certainly more stern and imperious in Origins than we see her in DA2. Perhaps losing Tamlen and Mahariel, her closest friends in the Sabrae Clan, could have driven her to more and more dangerous blood magic. She seems to even have augmented her vallaslin to reflect her grim purpose. An interesting AU for peeps to play with, but it wasn’t what the writers had in mind.

After the writers gave Matt more info, he redesigned and created a less scary version, but still rather stern Merrill. The innocence and seeming naivete she shows in DA2 isn’t there yet, but otherwise she looks pretty much like the Dalish elf we know. The new mail hauberk may reflect a new desire to protect herself in an increasingly uncertain world. This armor appears in DAI as a medium armor, suggesting that Daisy is tougher than one might assume (or they just decided it looked more like rogue armor in Inquisition).

There was an attempt at playing with Merrill’s armor, but makes her look more like a rogue instead of a mage. The designer’s definitely liked the art, however, as it too appears in Inquisition. This phase of Merrill’s development also show the influence of the new elf facial structure. Long neck, large eyes, etc. We wonder how the developers would handle her appearance and Fenris’ if they were to appear in a future game. Would they try to make them look as much like their DA2 appearance? Or would they get another makeover to match the newest version of the elves? Tricky either way…

In this concept art, she finally has an expression that is befitting her moniker: Daisy. Her outfit certainly changed. More mage-y, perhaps a little more formal, yet very elvhen.

Several of these clothing concepts eventually did make it into Inquisition. (It is just me, or did they mess up the codes for these three? It seems to me that the heavy and light armor should be reversed.) The middle armor is clearly Merrill’s outfit from DA2 ported into Inquisition. Its presence, along with several other character armors from the second game make me think that cameos were planned for some characters. In fact, several character armors actually made it DAI. Isabela was obviously wearing hers in the multiplayer, and I probably said something naughty when I saw this on the sellswords in the Hinterlands.

It seems likely that they either really liked the designs for these armors or they were planning cameos for several DA2 characters, including Merrill and Anders. (Thank the Maker they dropped the Anders cameo, especially if the picture below was what they had in mind!

Yes, we know that this probably would be his appearance if you let him live, but ordered him to leave Kirkwall without helping the mages, but still!!! We loves him. *Morta sobs in the corner for a few*)

Simply Merrill

Unlike Fenris, Matt said there is little he would change about Merrill. There are, however, a few interesting details in the “how I would draw her now” picture. Her eyes are wide and bright, filled with both curiosity and some trepidation. Her clothes are far more simple than the look he created for his ideal Fenris. Other than her near trade scarf, her clothes are plain and nondescript with no embellishments we can identify with city elves or the Dalish. She is not wearing her mail hauberk either, and we assume the many bindings on her arms are from bloodletting for her magic. Merrill seems very unprotected from the forces she is wielding. It is a night and day difference from the first piece of concept art of her.

In Merrill’s World of Thedas 2 design, she looks virtually unchanged save for two features. Her hair is done with cornrows on the right and her cheek vallaslin is missing. We are going to assume that her vallaslin was an oversight or oversimplification of her Dirthamen tattoo from DA2. (If her vallaslin has changed again we may have to say “Oh, dear!”, shake our heads, and write theories about why.)

Thanks again for the ask, Nony. We had fun going back over these designs and hope it was what you were looking for. There is a lot of other interesting material on Matt’s Blogspot/Tumblr/DeviantArt that we can look into in the future if folks are interested. And we will keep our eyes open for DA4 teases.

-The Wyrd Sisters of Thedas

Bonus! Bela-licious!

Did y’all see this concept art for Isabela?! We love it! I mean, yeah, we love her any way we can get her (and she is a rather inventive pirate queen), but this art is gorgeous. The style deliberately echoes Duncan’s outfit in Origins, and therefore show some insights into Rivaini fashion. To our eyes, it looks very Romani with a pirate flair. It would be awesome to have a mod of this outfit in game, either for Bela, Hawke, or the Inquisitor.

#dragon age #dragon age concept art #Fenris #Merrill #Isabela #Tevinter #Dalish #Rivain #wend the wyrds a wondering #long post

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cuban-feminist-that-gives-a-hoot · 8 years ago

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Okay! (MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 5)

So, I beat Persona 5 a few days ago and I have thoughts. Lots of them. They’re going under the cut because spoilers! Seriously, there are spoilers in here. Do not read until you’ve beaten the game. Short answer for what I’m about to say is this: I love Persona 5. It is the best Persona game ever and makes Final Fantasy XV look like a goddamn weak shit of a game (well, more than it already does)

On to the spoilers!

Now that we’re under the spoiler category, let’s talk about the twists and everything else in it.

1. Akechi’s plan to get back at Shido is probably the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard of a supposedly smart person come up with. So he hires himself out as an assassin for him in order to get close and gain his trust, and decide that, once he becomes Prime Minister, he’s going to shame him with the knowledge that he’s your dad?

*takes a deep breath* Why in all hells on this earth did he think Shido would feel shame for abandoning him and his mom? Hell, Shido’s shadow flat out admitted that he was going to kill him after becoming Prime Minister. What the fuck was he going to do about that? This plan of his is convoluted and dumb and he is dumb for coming up with it in the first place. The only reason why the plan isn’t any dumber is simply because Akechi’s a teenager and even the smartest of teenagers do not always come up with great plans.

2. The twist about Akechi being the one selling you out and the killer is, well, one that is obvious if you’re paying attention. Yes, it’s mainly the Pancakes bit in June and it’s the biggest clue the game throws at you. Remember this about Persona 5: If something in the game seems off, there’s a reason for it and it will be explained.

3. Getting on the path to the true, good ending is far easier than in vanilla Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden. In Persona 4, you had to stop them from throwing Namatame in the T.V, name Adachi as the culprit, and don’t go home when you’re prompted to on the last day that you’re in Inaba. However, the answer choices are not so simple and clear-cut in that game compared to Persona 5. In Persona 5, it’s easily just this: Don’t cut a deal with anybody and don’t sell anyone out. You do those two things and you’ll get the good ending with no trouble at all.

4. Goddamn, Shido’s a fucking prick. This asshole wants to do all this shit simply because he wants to be Prime Minister? Seriously?! When the most minor of shit that he’s done was frame you for something you didn’t do, it makes all of Shido’s other shitty actions all the worse for it. I will say, however, that it was sweet, sweet retribution when I kicked his ass for all the shit he put our beloved Trickster through. Also, I can’t be the only one that felt massive shades of Donald Trump in this entire thing with Shido, right?

5. The playable characters: Holy fucking shit, I love them. There is not one character in the Phantom Thieves group that is boring or bad. Everything about these characters are lovable and I want to protect them. There was some neat stuff too, like Ryuji having his moment in Shido’s palace by getting the lifeboat for the team or Makoto coming up with the plan to trick Akechi at the police station to Futaba using a character quirk to bug Akechi’s phone. Like, I am so happy that this team is not a bunch of idiots. Akechi’s smart, but the Phantom Thieves are way smarter than they appear to be. They almost figured out that Akechi was sketchy since the Pancakes incident and they planned for the Trickster to get caught and be interrogated by Sae. This is some meticulous planning done by the team and I love it. <3

Now, onto the characters themselves:

- Ryuji’s a sweetheart. He’s a lovely mix of Yosuke and Kanji. Not exactly an idiot, but someone loyal and determined to stop Kamoshida. He is someone that would’ve sacrificed his life if it meant saving someone. He’s a hero and someone that didn’t deserve the bullshit he went through. I didn’t realize it at first, but after @ominous-musings mentioned it, he also reminds me of another blond, secretly smart hero: Zell Dincht from Final Fantasy VIII. And no, I am not kidding about Zell being smart. Because he is. He’s very smart.

- Ann’s a sweetheart and watching her tear her mask off and getting her Persona was so, sooooo satisfying (hell, just about all of them were). I like her. She’s amazing and the only reason I didn’t date her was because Morgana was so in love with her and I honor the bro code immensely.

- Speaking of Morgana... OMG, I am so, so glad that Morgana’s origins were explained. He is such a darling and, despite the name and the voice, is male. He clearly identifies as such, so no need to assume that Morgana’s anything but male. Cutest Persona mascot ever. Teddie has lost his throne as the cutest and, so has Koromaru (and don’t get me wrong, I love them both. Who doesn’t love Combat Dog and Pun-making Shadow Bear?). I am so happy that he didn’t die in the end. Also, he gets the best moment in the true ending. Clearly, he could work as a mechanic in the future. XD

- Makoto, holy shit. She is awesome. Her codename is Queen and she exemplifies it. She is the goddamn queen and brains of the operation. She is amazing. Were it not for the next character, I would’ve made her my girlfriend. Everything about her is amazing. <3

- Holy fucking shit, Futaba is a darling, protect her from all the evils in the world! She is such a sweetheart and I love her. I made her my girlfriend in my first playthrough and I do not regret it. She is amazing and darling. I love her persona, both initial and ultimate. I just love her. *_*

- Yusuke is a goddamn weirdo. He is also a bit judgy as hell, but you know what? I like his weird, judgy ass. He’s got some of the best lines and his weirdness just fits in so well. Also, his mask is really nice, merely because I am a sucker of the fox motif he has going on with his costume.

- Then, there’s Haru. Now, Haru unfortunately got the short stick in characterization, but the little bit we do get is that she’s sweet and kind. She probably has one of the best Thief costumes out there, but her civilian outfits are... well, even with money, you can’t buy good style and fashion sense. Also, her hair is nice. I like her hair. <3

- Goro Akechi. *takes a deep breath* How dare he presumes to be the second coming of the Ace Detective?! There is only ONE Ace Detective out there and that is Naoto Shirogane! If anyone should be the second coming of the Ace Detective, it’s Makoto Niijima. *clears throat* Beyond that, Akechi can be an irritating tit even before his betrayal comes out. Too bad the twist of him being a villain doesn’t surprise the more observant. I mean, for hell’s sake, his codename is Crow. I have learned to never trust anyone named Crow in any context. Also, apparently Akechi/MC is the most popular ship on Ao3. I get why, I really do, but I don’t like it. :P

- And finally, we have the Trickster himself. And wow, he is pretty. He’s prettier than both the P3 and P4 protagonists and has a bit more of a personality to him. I’m glad he does say a bit more too. He’s cocky, a show-off, and has one of the best smirks around. Also, he has an amazing sense of justice (Hell, all of the playable characters, save Akechi, do). The reason why he got probation was just to save someone else that was being attacked and yet, because of Shido’s dickishness, he got arrested and charged for something he was innocent of. His thief outfit is so damn slick and very well-designed. Also, Arsene is one of the most slickly-designed starter personas ever. And I can’t wait for a 2nd playthrough, just so that I can have Satanael in my party. *_*

6. The Confidant links are also amazing. Just about all of them are good people. My favorites was the Sun, Hierophant, Moon, and Star arcanas. Mainly because all the people with them are just amazing, especially Yoshida and Sojiro.

Holy shit, Yoshida’s entire link is amazing. He’s a politician that has fucked up in the past, but is determined to become an honest, truthful politician that wants to do the right thing. Given the political climate, we need more politicians like Yoshida.

The other one, Sojiro, is the dude that took you in and stuffed you in the attic above his coffee shop. He, like all the other adults, does not have a good first impression, but holy shit, by the end of this game, you want him to adopt you. This is the kind of dude that would’ve adopted the entire group and have them as his own misfit family if he could. He’s such a sweetheart with a gruff exterior. He adopted Futaba after the last relative, a shitty uncle, treated her so horribly that he paid a lot of money to get her out of there and give her a loving home. And then when he finds out that they’re the Phantom Thieves, he’s worried for them, of course, but he’s also accepting of them. Sojiro Sakura is, without a doubt, the best parental figure in a Persona game. Move over, Dojima, we have a new parental figure. <3

All in all, if you haven’t played this game, then what the fuck are you doing reading this? Go get this game and play it! If you only have a PS3, I promise you that it doesn’t look bad on the PS3 at all. It looks excellent on both systems and is worth your time in playing and beating it. If you want to see what a good story and good character development looks like, play this game. Unlike FFXV, where I kept asking myself, “WTF did Squix spend their time on with this game?!”, I don’t have to ask where Atlus spent their time on this game. How they spent their time was making a masterpiece. *_____*

#persona 5 #persona 5 spoilers #seriously I am warning about the spoilers #I'm not spoiling the other big twist #but the twist I am spoiling about is still pretty big #seriously do not read this if you have not even beaten this game

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