#miyazaki is weird!!! it's fine.

[majorbaby]

the same people who will sing the praises of studio ghibli animation lost their minds over steven universe which is high-larious.

[senkamikakushi]

yeah. this. people can take the relationship any way they want, but stubbornly insisting to others that they're siblings is just spreading misinformation

I also think haku's relationship with chihiro transcends romantic and platonic titles as quite a few ghibli pairings tend to do, but it's undeniable that the love is there (they literally beat us over the head with it in the dialogue lmao). im just sick of the theory that it's purely familial/sibling love because what. where did they even get that. I can understand all the reasons as to why people would steer away from chihiro and haku in a more romantic context (mainly the awkwardness of the whole age thing or preferring to see them platonically) but I find just the notion of the sibling theory absurd. because siblings where?? they don't even look remotely alike. he is literally stated to be a river spirit. there's also the spirited away Q&A where miyazaki himself described chihiro's relationship with haku as "falling in love with a manager" (noteworthy to mention that this is in response to the haku age question specifically). I can respect people wanting to see their relationship in a non-romantic way out of personal preference, but my issues are with the people that push the sibling misinfo as if it's canon and use it as a "gotcha" against others. it's just not true, like, at all.

I'd be less annoyed by the theory if it hadn't kept spreading everywhere... now it's so popular that a bunch of people have genuinely fallen for it.

I’ve ranted about this before but that stupid sibling “theory” (if u could even call it a theory. all the “evidence” is made up conjecture) about chihiro and haku is legitimately insane when this line is literally in the movie. You think they’d put in this line and not any sort of hint or line of dialogue saying they’re siblings if that “theory” was true??

Not only did she say this but she said it in english so there would be zero confusion and yet people still get it wrong. Granted it’s not in the english dub but both kamaji and zeniba use the word love when referring to chihiro and haku and say it in sort of a cheeky elbow nudge teasing way that you wouldn’t say about a pair of siblings.

[zot3-flopped]

"it’s harder to think he cares about us, when he’s only engaging with us when we’ve paid for it" no but this (sensible) ask >> https : // alarrytale.tumblr.com/post/754470807589289984/maybe-im-weird-or-just-older-35-but-i-dont - and Marte derenged answer is the root of the problem with larries and swifties and many toxic fandoms. That's NOT how you're supposed to CARE. These artists are human beings (thus always worth of basic respect) capable of making art we can appreciate/be emotional about. They are still strangers, and own us nothing more that their art.

I've been a fan of Muse half my life and the lack of "fanservice" never stopped me from singing back at concerts, making memories to the tunes of their songs and having a 15+ years crush on Matt Bellamy and his voice. I always cry to Hayao Miyazaki movies, I'll be impossibly sad when he passes away, and I've never even been on the same country he is. I will mourn him and respect his passing as you would a stranger you've never met but who's WORK you've "met". His art means something deep to me, I'm grateful of for it and for his existence, I don't need to be "aknowledged" as fan. I felt like that when Heath Ledger passed away, when Chester Bennington did.

That's actually the miracle of Art, how it crosses all kinds of barriers, and it's clear to me that's the kind of carreer and legacy Harry is striving for. And I applaud him for it, cos' that's the HEALTIEST way of being an artist. He clearly had a prime example of toxic artist-fans relationship during 1D and he's been course correcting since then. Good for him.

Agree 1000%. Many of the older bands I like have zero social media presence, except to announce new music and tours, and that's absolutely fine.

Why is Marte so needy at the ripe age of 36? She says she doesn't like Harry's music or his shows so what does she like? Memories of when he came online as a teenager twelve years ago to chat with fans?

"I really think what set 1D apart and made them so successful was their social media presence and fan service."

No, Marte - Harry Styles and his talent, charisma, voice, and stage presence set them apart. She makes 1d sound like a bunch of Tiktokkers.

[lookingforcactus]

Live action Yu Yu Hakusho liveblog: ep 1

This is so much fun. Nostalgia time. 13 year old me is LIVING

Warning for like whole ep 1 spoilers and all

Yusuke and Botan look great which I already knew going in from the gifset that informed me this show exists lol, but it's delightful, bc the characters in this show aren't necessarily the easiest to translate to live action

Botan is adorable. Her hair is adorable. And I'm delighted to see that Yusuke's hair is the Correct amount of Poufy

Plot twist: Kuwabara hot. He looks great actually. Translated nonliterally compared to Yusuke but v well. The actor is selling me on it too, fun casting

Kuwabara was always hard for me to watch in the original bc he set off my vicarious embarrassment soo hard. Glad they're less committed to making him the constant source of painful comedic relief here lol

KOENMA PACIFIER REVEAL I LOVE IT

Laughed out loud for real tbh

Idk if I'm a little disappointed he's not a baby but like live action would make that ridic hard to do in a lot of ways so I don't blame them at all. He's in his adult form which makes sense. Still damn glad they kept the pacifier it is RUINING his dignity and I love it

I also don't blame them for cutting the flying oar effects. A lil sad but the initial transition to Reikai looked great so they're forgiven

Yusuke. "No thanks." I knew it was coming and the delivery still made me laugh out loud. Just dropped it in there. Yusuke I love you please see a therapist

Fight scenes are v creative and p epic

Seriously they do a really good job of making Yusuke's fighting style as a human believable, fun to watch, and effective. He rly does come off as just kind of a natural fighting genius (with practice ofc)

Sakyo in ep 1? Weird but I'm not opposed. The wavy hair is kinda freaking me out though ngl. Smoothness was just such his THING in the show it's distracting

Really liked Yusuke's mom's introduction (not that it was flattering to her as a character) but I wish they'd done more with her in the rest of the ep. Her power hug at the end is great tho

Show's slowing down a bit but it's fine I'm still having fun, the nostalgia power will get me through basically whatever

NO PUU!!!! This is tragic but I Do understand this as an adaptation choice. Reluctantly. Tragic tho.

Bug under guy's face effect EPICALLY creepy

That said I keep watching the motion of him and the other demons in this ep and thinking about Hayao Miyazaki said about the disgusting cruelty of using effects technology to make the scary scary inhuman monsters just fucking. look and move like disabled ppl

Seriously I keep seeing flashes of the appearance and movements of people I know with developmental disabilities (particularly this one guy I know with cerebral palsy but also I've worked in care work for disabled adults and just kind of a lot of people in general) and. I hate this. Especially as a person who DOES have a (nonvisible) developmental disability myself. This is such a rising trend in horror/sff/fantasy tv/movies/video games and I hate everything about it. Hayao Miyazaki was right this kind of attitude and shit really is "an insult to life itself"

Anyway fight scene cool

I love Keiko btw. Her crying and blaming herself! Her face when Yusuke comes back! Also Yusuke "I'm not gonna die just bc you talked shit" pffft jackass (affectionate)

DEMON CREW CAMEO AT THE END

Kurama looks pretty good. Goki actually looks wayyyy better than he did in the anime imho, which I did not see coming.

Effects on Kurama and Hiei's fighting looks surprisingly great. They pulled off the rose whip way better than I thought they would, and did some great wirework with Hiei's speed and fighting style

That said....Hiei...oof. That hair was always gonna be a Challenge but I think their ambition here did uh. not play off rip. Hopefully it'll look better later on

[tau1tvec]

hey, maybe you have some advice..but how do you make your gameplay pictures so beautiful? The colours, your sims faces don't look awkward even if they aren't posed, the interior/setting always matches the vibe. Your game looks so so beautiful! Every time I'm playing for fun and take screenshots I feel good. But then I see all those posts on my dash and begin to feel bad about my own.. I want to make my game look magical too. You inspire me to play the game again, every one of your posts is so magical to me and also captures the beauty of gameplay itself. Sorry if this is too much/confusing

Okay, I’m gonna use this ask as an opportunity to be real with you, and anyone else who’s reading who also needs to hear this.

I know it’s common for everyone who’s asked this to be like, “oh no nonny, don’t do that, don’t compare your stuff to other ppl’s stuff, you’re fine the way you are,” and that’s all well meaning and sweet, but sadly this is the real world and society sucks. ✨

Despite how good it is to hear that what and how you do things shouldn’t matter, it doesn’t change the fact that social media doesn’t really care about that, and isn’t built around that mindset. In general, not comparing yourself or your work to others is incredibly difficult to do. Even I do it occasionally, impenetrable self-esteem isn’t a thing, it’s something that’s fragile and easily broken, sometimes without our ever even knowing until it’s too late. So I realized the best way to look at it, is to remove some of the negativity from it.

Controversial take, as a creative, comparing your work to others doesn’t always have to be a downer experience… it can be good, and enlightening even. The great thing about consuming media is that it can do so much for us, the appreciator, like bring us joy, bring us sadness, start a conversation, or stir inspiration, that last bit especially.

Lean into those inspirations, and no I don’t just mean other sims content. Rewatch your favorite old movies, replay your favorite old games, start a Pinterest board, go through some old family photos, create a Spotify playlist that transports you somewhere you’d rather be. Examine them, study them, focus on the colors, the lighting, the textures, there’s formulas in all kinds of media, even your mom’s old Polaroids, aim to create your own.

Learning is a never-ending journey. You can never learn enough about anything. There are so many tutorials on YouTube, and hell, even on here, if you feel like you’ve got somewhere you can improve, don’t be ashamed to do so, and change is good, bc the great thing about change is that you can do it again, and again, and that’s totally okay. Don’t be set in your ways when it comes to content creativity, it’s too beautiful a hobby for there to be any one way to be.

I think the one reason why I love Simblr so much over all other sims communities, is bc everyone here does things their own way, and everyone ( at least I hope ) appreciates each other for that. This adds variety to my dash, and makes it all the more enjoyable to look at. My game looks the way it does bc that’s how I see it in my head. I’m heavily influenced by Hayao Miyazaki, Guillermo del Torro, and old 90’s movies. I lean into the bright colors, I lean into the ideal big kitchen, I lean into the excessive neon lights, and I lean into the cringe dialogue, bc that’s what brings me joy, and that’s what brings me nostalgia.

The Sims itself brings me joy and nostalgia too, and that’s why first and foremost I enjoy playing it, lol, everything else… having a space online to share it with others who also enjoy playing it is just an added bonus.

Now as for the funky faces, there are mods out there that minimize the awkward grin, whether they still work idk tho.

You can also try putting a little more space between the bottom of your sim’s nose and their top lip, it might look weird in CAS, but this will help avoid a lot of the wonkiness from the over-exaggerated smiles in-game.

Learning to love sims for all their quirks, bad animations, and goofiness is also a good tip. 😆

[wyldloganroth-blog]

Ranni: Loki or Queen Medb?

Weird question, I know, but just lemme explain myself first. Before the release of the game, both Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin stated that this game would borrow many elements from both Norse and Celtic mythologies to create the setting and lore for Elden Ring, and it's pretty obvious to see.

Most of the demigods that make up the family of Radagon, Rennala, and Marika more closely mirror to the Aesir of Norse myth than anything else, though certain relations and inspirations aren't exactly 1 to 1 with the myth, but it's fine. So let's start comparing our Empyreans and see what we can gather through process of elimination.

-Radagon is obviously our Thor counterpart, what with the red hair, signature hammer, and tendency to kill Giants.

-Marika is a little less obvious, but I'm inclined to say she's our Odin, seeing as how she's the head of the Golden Order and is most known for hanging high above the ground, much like how Odin hung himself to gain the knowledge of the universe.

-Radahn could be our Tyr, the god of war, but that's about it when it comes to comparisons.

-Malenia is not just our signature Valkyrie Lady, but I would bet money that she's our Frigga/Freyja equivalent, as she's the Queen of the Valkyries, and Malenia leads a group of other like-minded women who share some aspects of her moveset.

-Rhykard is our Jormungandr/Midgardsormr, being the serpent of blasphemy and leading the charge to destroy the Golden Order much like the World Serpent himself. You could make the argument that he's also Nidhoggr, which is also valid, but I see that more with Messmer than anything, as he's the only other snake related character.

-Maliketh being Fenrir is another one, as the canine son of Loki was the one to ultimately kill Odin in the myth during Ragnarok, so Marika controlling the Rune of Destined Death makes sense.

-Morgott could be our Heimdall, as he's the last bastion of the Golden Order before the player character makes their way to the final portion of the game.

-This one is probably a stretch, but Godrick could be Sleipnir? Odin's horse is the only one that comes to mind when making comparisons for the bosses of Elden Ring as they both have an unnatural amount of limbs, so eh? Also, Sleipnir is a horse and Godrick is just a freak with an inferiority complex, so that's both reasons why Odin/Marika doesn't want him that much lmao

-The Fire Giant is more likely than not Surtr, as he's the only literal fire giant in Norse Mythology that would aid in the destruction of Asgard with his giant sword, or I guess in the case of Elden Ring, a giant trash can lid.

And that's all I can really think of off the top of my head for the Norse side of the equation, but the question remains: where does Ranni fit into all of this? Well, one of my theories is that I'm at least 95% confident she's our Loki. How so? Well, I coincidentally left out one other demigod out of the list, and for good reason. Godwyn the Golden was the first ever demigod to be slain by mysterious assailants, ordered by daughter of Radagon and Rennala, Ranni the Witch. It sounds awfully familiar to the Death of Beldr, the invincible god of light, who was struck down by a dart or arrow made of mistletoe crafted by Loki, the god of mischief. Beldr's death would usher in total chaos and was the first step into the inevitable apocalypse of the Norse pantheon. The Black Knife Assassins were the mistletoe, Godwyn was Beldr, and Ranni the Witch is our Loki.

That should be the end of the discussion, no? We figured out the comparison pretty neatly, didn't we? Well, yes and no. Ranni being Loki makes perfect sense in my book, but we forgot to mention anything related to the Celtic myths that were also a big inspiration for Elden Ring. And they are indeed a pretty big part when talking about the Hornsent, the Carian scholars of Raya Lucaria, and so many others.

Rennala of the Full Moon, mastery of the glintstone school of magic, is probably the game's version of Danu, mother goddess of the Tuatha De Danaan, pantheon of the Irish gods. Her leadership over the school and mother to half the demigods on our list gives weight to the theory of her being out Queen goddess of the Tuatha De.

Mohg and the rest of the Hornsent could be categorized as Fomorians, enemies to the Tuatha De. They represent many things, such as death, destruction, and other stereotypical "evil" things, which make sense. They were lepers of the Golden Capital, ridiculed and shunned away from the light of the Erdtree, our Yggdrasil of the game, for they were deemed cursed and unholy creatures. Mohg himself was seen by the community as one of the only truly evil characters until the DLC came out.

Godfrey could very well be our Dagda, king of the Tuatha De and first Elden Lord. The Dagda is the pinnacle of strength and manliness, which couldn't be any more truer of a statement than that. Godfrey shatters the very ground beneath his feet with just his body alone, and isn't above just thrashing the player character with the might of a hundred wrestlers and with the discipline of a tavern brawler.

Blaidd, everyone's favorite wolf man, is our Setanta or Cu Chullain, the Hound of Chullain, and son of Lugh of the Tuatha De. The fact that he's a werewolf kinda makes the connection between the two characters have a little bit more staying power. A strong warrior who also can be described as a crazed beast in battle makes sense for the beastman with a giant sword. Too bad Cu Chullain died after his revolt against Queen Medb after killing leagues of her own soldiers.

But who is Queen Medb? Well, in the myth, she was a lover of many men, warrior queen to many soldiers, and master strategist in times of war and conquest. Later years would call her a descendant of the fae, as other Celtic stories tend to go, but that isn't always the case. She was however the last opponent Cu Chullain would face before she ordered all the sons of all the soldiers he killed and sworn enemies to the Hound to chain him and kill him with his own weapon. Some iterations of the tale would say one of the reasons for her antagonism towards Cu was his refusal to sleep with her or take her hand in marriage, though that would be an incorrect summary of what happened there. But I think Elden Ring takes that one step further.

If Ranni is to be our Queen Medb, then her one true follower, Blaidd, our stand in for Cu Chullain, would be a kind of ironic take on the myth. Blaidd wants so badly to be the witch's consort, but she refuses his advancement, and seeks the player character out for their hand in marriage instead after furthering her questline far enough. She wants to erase this world and remake it in her image, with us by her side, even barring her trusted Hound. A fun, yet twisted take on the killing of the warrior formerly known as Setanta.

So I ask the audience once again: is Ranni Loki or is she Queen Medb? Or is she both? Or maybe she's neither and is instead a secret third thing? (I also would have said Scathach, Cu's mentor, as she is also a demigod who's proficient in magic, but I like the Medb theory more cuz it's funnier) I'll let y'all decide on that one in the comments. Personally for me, it could go either way, but I'm more leaning towards Loki, since there's a stronger connection there than the Medb argument, as the only real reason I brought that side up is because Blaidd just resembles Cu Chullain way too much for me to ignore.

Also, please don't ask me about who I think the Fingers, Astel, or the Elden Beast are supposed to be. My knowledge of both Norse and Celtic myths only goes so far, so until further notice or I'm proven otherwise, I'm just gonna say they're either fairies and/or representations of Christianization. That's all from me BYE

[i-donthaveanygoodidea]

2, 12, 25 for the soft asks :)

Hi ! Thanks for the ask :)))

2. what’s your feel-good movie?

I rarely watch movies tbh so my current feel-good thing to watch is good omens (mostly season two), but if I have to answer a movie it's gonna be a Miyazaki movie (Howl's moving castle mostly, or spirited away or ponyo and if I continue like that I'm gonna list all his movies so you get it)

12. how are you?

Mostly fine, very tired, but fine

25. what’s the best personal gift someone could give you (playlist, homemade card, etc.)

Honestly I'm not picky, you just have to put your heart into it, my two favorite gifts I've ever got are a tiny teddy bear figurine holding an "I miss you" banner and a handmade t-shirt (each gift was from my two closest friends whom I love dearly) (I do have to say though that the example in the question of "a playlist" I find a bit weird mainly because I don't trust things over the internet, like I've recieved drawings, but like I can print them and keep them, and I feel like I can't keep something like a playlist, idk might just be me but something non physical that I can't keep forever is not necessarily what I want, unless it's time spent with a friend eating at a restaurant or something, you know ?)

[oddygaul]

The Boy and the Heron

God damn this movie is a hot mess. The pacing is all over the place; the tone is all over the place. It feels like it’s trying to be a metaphor for a dozen different things, but none of them come through particularly well, and it ends up being a big, unpolished jumble of ideas. Plus, in its eagerness to foreground those deeper themes, fundamental things like character motivations, goals, and narrative cause-and-effect are left by the wayside, leading to much of the movie feeling like a disconnected series of events with little tying them together.

I understand the desire for an artist to make something that’s solely for themselves, or to write a story with the primary goal of deeper thematic resonance; in my opinion, though, if what you're writing has gotten to the point where the basic A to B plot of your story doesn’t really make sense, I think you may have gone too far.

Now, a work that’s all subtext, no plot can work if the vibe is there - that’s pretty much the definition of a tone piece, and I fuck with a lot of tone pieces. In this case, though, I did not think the vibe was there. The tone bounces from a measured, somber meditation on grief, to a wondrous journey through a strange land, to a fast-paced goofy caper when the parakeets get involved… I didn’t feel much of a coherent tonal throughline.

Okay, so fine, the themes?

A lot of people are saying the whole movie is about Miyazaki’s struggle with leaving behind his legacy without a direct heir. While that’s a compelling idea, that subplot is introduced roughly… *checks notes* 5/6ths of the way through Boy and the Heron, so you wouldn’t exactly call the movie a very effective vessel for that message, would you?

Was it about Mahito seeing his mother again, to move on from her death? She miraculously appears but they barely talk. Is it about accepting his stepmom into his life? Well, she’s gone for half the movie. Is it about rejecting fantasy / escapism to live in the real world? Well, okay, but the stepmom is the one that went in there in the first place and Mahito hated it from the jump, so no one really changed their minds here.

Speaking of the stepmom, it’s weird as hell that Mahito’s process of accepting his dad immediately marrying his dead wife’s sister is treated like a personal journey. No, that’s a weird fucking thing to have happen to you, and you better believe a kid is gonna be fucked up about that for a while. I understand this isn’t out of the norm for the setting / time period, but it clearly bothers Mahito. I don’t see how a lonesome, magical journey to another world is the right salve for those feelings as opposed to like, a frank and open conversation with his dad.

��

Miyazaki once famously said that the problem with the modern anime industry is that no one draws from real life anymore - that character designers learn how to draw anime girls only by copying other anime girls, turning the entire industry into a grisly moe ouroboros devoid of any authenticity.

What the fuck is this, Hayao? Did you design this by looking at a real human being? Or is this a baachan based on a previous Ghibli baachan which was itself based on another Ghibli baachan? The moe ouroboros tolls for us all, Hayao. It tolls for us all.

—

Having vented those frustrations, there’s a lot of gorgeous stuff in this movie, of course.

The stepmom’s house is so neat - the modern, western-style house built straight onto the classical Japanese architecture, Winchester-mansion style.

As opaque as Mahito was to me, it’s funny as hell how aggro the kid is. It was fuckin on SIGHT with the heron, bro.

Everyone is so stoked about these birds shitting on them all the time

The world of the tower had a very different vibe to Ghibli’s classics that was pretty cool - a very Greek / Elysium feel to much of it, a place stuck between life and death.

This is the bougiest way I’ve ever seen someone drink water

these weird fucks

—

When taking the lore at face value, it’s wild how this movie is basically an Annihilation + Bloodborne lovechild. So basically an extraterrestrial meteor crashes from the sky, and begins terraforming the area around it; as it does so, it distorts not only space, but time itself. Much like the wildlife in Area X, the parakeets enter the tower and are drastically altered to serve their environment’s needs. The way the tower seems to hold onto alternate versions of people that have entered and keeps them there, stuck outside of time, is reminiscent of what happens to the Southern Reach trilogy’s research team.

And then on top of that, we have the great uncle calling Mahito’s stepmother inside the Nightmare of Mensis, excuse me, the tower, so that she can give birth inside, allowing the child to ascend and become the ruler of the realm?

Oh Amygdala, oh amygdala! Have mercy on the poor heron.

Just saying, ‘the Heron isn’t actually magic, it’s merely a lookalike biological simulacra of a heron created by the reality-warping crash-landed U.F.O.’ wasn’t on my bingo card going into this movie. lol

[aevyk-ing]

Rambling about the Ghibli movies I’ve seen Part 2

Read part 1 here.

11. Tales of Earthsea

This one was... weird? Just boring? I really liked the designs for the mosaics and the city, but the rest needed a lot of work. I was intrigued about the main character and found myself thinking how the books are probably better. I had some problems with the character designs and the story was all over the place. 

12. Only Yesterday

A little too long, dragging in the middle, but really cute. I loved the way it depicted the country life, the softness of the scenes in the past and the fantasy bits. I also have the feeling I should live somewhere else since I was little (I love nature and forests) and I’ve been remembering a lot of stuff (well, that’s a side effect of going to therapy, I guess). Anyway, I enjoyed the little story and the way some moments were animated and I wasn’t expecting to hear castanets in a Ghibli movie. 

13. Porco Rosso

Em... this one was pretty, but the story was weird. The scenery, music and flight scenes are really good. I was interested in the transformation part, but then it started saying things like: “Sorry only women are going to build the plane.” and then making a 17 years-old fell in love with a 36 years-old. Yikes. Just yikes. Then the ending is rushed. Started out good, ended up... meh.

14. When Marnie Was There

I really liked this one. The story got me hooked, I related a lot to the main character and everything was so beautiful (just look at that house!). It can be a little confusing sometimes, especially during the middle part, but once it starts explaining things... oh, boy. My only complain is that I only knew it was the story about two girls and, once Anna started blushing I started shipping them... SPOILER it didn’t end up well. 

15. The Wind Rises

So beautiful... and also sad. Miyazaki sure loves aeroplanes and that sort of stuff, huh? But I can’t complain: his flying sequences are always amazing. I also really liked the cinematography in this one, there’s a lot of interesting angles and uses of animation. It can also be funny sometimes (I still think that German guy ate a decorative plant) and I’m glad it didn’t dwell too much in the sad parts, even though I would have liked to see a little more after Nahoko leaves and before the dream sequence. Talking about dream sequences, that’s yet another thing Miyazaki excels at. BTW, I was ready for the sad ending, but still got me. 

16. The Cat Returns

Utterly bizarre at the beginning, took an interesting turn midway where it reminded me of morning cartoons. It’s a cute story, although I’d have preferred something a little deeper or more nuanced. But it’s nice. Not the best one but fine enough for spending some free time. And yes, I’m well aware this one was made for small kids (maybe it’s the only one so far). Also, didn’t like how they teased out that Haru and the Baron are in a relationship. I still ship him with the other cat statue from A Whisper of the Heart, thank you.

17. Grave of the Fireflies

There are some movies you can just watch once... but even though, you’re glad you watched them. This movie was a ride and I was getting ready mentally to watch it, thinking that I could never find the perfect moment. However, something happened that hurt my soul so I was at the right place. It was painful, with exquisite music, but it hurt a lot. Just like Life is Beautiful... I won’t be rewatching soon... but I’ll thank it for what it is.

18. The Boy and the Heron

Proof that we still need fairytales! Have to say it was strange to go from the last movie to the beginning of this one because SPOILERS, I immediately knew what was going on. I loved the take on trauma and mixing past and present in a fantasy world that also looked an awful lot like a limbo (thanks, Over the Garden Wall). Overall, while it reminded me of other stories, it had enough heart and stuff going on to keep you hooked. You can tell it’s the result of a lifetime telling stories and my only complain is the creepiness. It was the least thing I liked from Chihiro and while I get why it has to be done, it doesn’t make it less disturbing. 

19. Tale of Princess Kaguya

(disgruntled noises) I loved the first part. Cute animation, interesting style and adorable characters. I was having such a great time. Cut to the palace bit and the escape after the party and the story starts dragging on and totally changes genres. It went from fluffy and uplifting to depressing and sad. Why? Just why? If I had seen this movie when I was a kid, I would have never wanted to watch it again. Sigh. 

[olibheare]

hello!! do you have any series, animes/mangas, movies you reccommend? i really adore your tastes in things and im curious to know where you take those impeccable tastes from!!

Doing this quickly to avoid putting every single thing I like in here for you like a crazy person, most of them will be things I ran into when I was younger and still really like- I find that those have shaped my taste a lot as I got older. There aren't that many mangas because I just wasn't in an area that was good for finding new releases + I can't remember the dumb little shoujos I read online by now. But I will say that I'm fairly picky when it comes to media in terms of having competent writing and engaging characters. Also fair warning about some of the older shows- while I would rather be shot than watch 10 more seconds of a show with a panty shot there is nothing I can do about 2000s anime brand homophobia Ghibli (meaningful look at the camera) just in general. Though my favorite things about Miyazaki's films come more from his social commentary and cosmologies rather than just how pretty the films are (but they are VERY pretty). Working class rights Literally any 2000s pokemon movie I'm not kidding about this. The Lugia one IN PARTICULAR but seriously any of them I went crazy for pokemon Inuyasha (2000 anime) Dungeon Meshi (2014 manga. When this anime comes out I'm going to explode or something) Blue Giant (2013 manga. This is also becoming an anime so I hope there's enough viscera left for me to explode a second time) The Vision of Escaflowne (1996 anime + the movie too. It's silly and weird but still feels fine to watch) Last Exile (2003 anime) Stardust (2007 live-action film) The Last Unicorn (1982 animated film) DragonHeart (1996 live-action film) Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (2007 anime) X'amd: Lost Memories (2009 anime) Fruits Basket (2001 anime, the new one is really good though) Princess Jellyfish (2014 anime) Princess Tutu (2002 anime) Origin: Spirits of the past (2006 animated film) Secret of Kells (2010 animted film) Souleater, Naruto, Ouran Highschool Host club.... + my friend got a Shonen Jump magazine in 2011 when he traveled out of state and it had like. One chapter of something called Tegami Bachi. I was obsessed with the character designs and didn't know literally anything about the story. I still don't. sorry Tegami Bachi fandom your little boy in a hat transfixed me. This is worth mentioning because I used to trace pictures of him on the windows in my room This is an intensely truncated list but lmk if you end up watching even one. These dumb things made me so happy to be a kid

[shinader]

Cedric Miyazaki

Hello!!! I need to talk about My OCs. Before I start off, let me get into Why these characters are named this why.

First, the in-universe reason. Cedric Miyazaki I and his sister were named after characters from a foreign show their parents loved. His little sister got off easier being named Alice (or Arisu). Then, the son, Cedric Miyazaki II was simply named after his father.

Next, we have a meta reason. Due to how the story plays out, these two needed a name where it would be highly improbable to almost Impossible for two people to share a name. Not everyone is named Cedric Miyazaki.

And then, the meta-meta reason. Uh. Basically they started out as self-insert OCs. Then I essentially split them apart, made them father and son, and fleshed them out so they're fully characters beyond me. Everything just kinda worked out from there as I began to explain away not changing their name from my name. And tbf I do only go by Cedric online so it's not like I'm gonna get them confused with me anytime soon lol. But I also just call them Ceddy & Miyazaki respectively because it can be confusing and that's how I'm going to refer to each of them from now on.

Oh, and when I introduce my other OCs, they're all gonna have their unique posts. I just put these two together bc they have the same name hehe.

And for the sanity of those who don't wanna hear me yapping, everything else will be put below a read more!

Okay so first off I will have to redraw Miyazaki at some point. I don't think I got his whole bear vibe down yet. He needs to be bigger, hairier, and dilfier. Ceddy looks fine, though, he's a real cutie patootie. He's got a bit of a giraffe neck and I made his hair too long but hey you know. He's fine it's fine. As someone who doesn't draw much or well he's overall ballin actually!

Anyway, if anyone hasn't caught on from my whole blog and the design of these characters, they're OCs for the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series! Because of course I love all those characters so much I had to make up more characters to love!

Some basic info, Miyazaki is the Patriarch of the Miyazaki Family, a Tojo Clan Subsidiary. He's known as the Bear of Tojo due to his tattoo and his bear-like way of attack.

Ceddy is a host at a club called Club Sirius. He's not particularly well known but he's got his own little thing going on and he loves his job!

I've got a little story in the works for this, and in that story, Ceddy is the deuteragonist and Miyazaki is an antagonist turned ally. If anyone wants to read what I have going on just lmk perhaps I can post some of it. Or most of it. Or all of it lolol.

What I really wanted to get across with these two (and honestly, with all my OCs) is What makes a loving Family. The Yakuza/Like A Dragon series has big themes of Found Family and I wanted to expand upon that with my own characters. Ceddy & Miyazaki show off a healthy biological connection, one of the many ways a family can be formed. This will be in opposition with the protagonist's views in many ways.

It's also personal to me in a way, as I find their close relationship comforting and healing to write. Ceddy is autistic and not diagnosed. This is because he and no one around him are particularly educated in what autism Is exactly so they see his autistic behaviors and is just seen as "Weird." I love being able to write about a single allistic father who's able to care so much for his son, even if he isn't seen as "Normal" that's still his son and he'll do anything for him. It's the unconditional love every parent should have for their child(ren).

Beyond the family dynamics, they both have their own stories with Being Queer. I'll start with Miyazaki as he's older and has more knowledge of himself. Also I find his journey to be funnier.

Being raised in a very toxically masculine environment, compulsory heterosexuality hit this man HARD. It doesn't help that he has a high libido so to blow off steam he'd pick up women whenever he felt like and deal with it. He frequented bars and cabaret clubs and the like for that purpose. That is, until, he became the Patriarch of his own Family. He's got more power! So what does he do with it? Well, he'd get with men, of course! It's a power move!

But he only had a few months of fun with that before one of his previous one night stands left a baby at his doorstep and an angry letter. He took in that baby but didn't bother finding the mother because who in their right mind would leave their baby out in the cold like that??? No woman that Miyazaki would want raising his son! Caring for this child really puts everything into perspective for him, and he realizes he's kinda been a dirtbag to women. And men. But mostly women because he really only saw them as sex objects rather than their own people. He thought it was okay because all that sex he was having was 100% consensual but that mindset is not a good one to have! To an extent, he saw random men the same way. So eventually, Miyazaki gets a more healthy view on love and sex and also realizes that he is, in fact, a homosexual.

Ceddy's story isn't quite that complicated. He's overall fairly oblivious to romance and sex. But, he's had an amazing gay role model growing up so he's understood queer stuff since he was a small child. When he was in middle school or high school, he came out to his father (and his loving Aunt and Uncle, who I'll expand on in other posts) as Bi. And that's how he continues to identify.

Now, since this is 2011 Kamurocho (zero zombie style), none of these characters have quite the extensive knowledge of queer people that the average person here on Tumblr has. Maybe the younger ones have taken an "am I gay" quiz but they don't quite understand the full spectrum of gender and sexuality. So, I personally have assigned labels to characters that they don't identify as.

If that seems confusing, let me state it like this. Ceddy, if asked his orientation, would say he's Bisexual. However, he doesn't quite understand the difference between romantic and sexual attraction. If he understood such things, then he'd know he's Biromantic Asexual. He's never felt sexual attraction to anyone, and he generally doesn't think about it. If he does, he generally writes off that lack of attraction to not liking strangers/people who are mean to him. He really struggles with making and keeping friends due to his autism, which furthers his obliviousness to his own sexuality because he believes if there was someone nice to him that he gets a crush on, he'd for sure want to have sex!

And yes, I am aware that having a character that's so oblivious to sex he isn't aware of his own lack of sexuality may seem like a weird choice to (technically, it really depends on your personal definition of these things) be a sex worker. But that only leads into my next point about him.

Ceddy became a host for two big reasons. 1) He wanted a job so he could get money and live independently so his father wouldn't have to worry about him and 2) Hosts pretty much get paid by how well they can talk to people and he's aware his lack of social skills. Being a host would work to Ceddy's two goals, get money & learn how to socialize. He hasn't been a host for that long but he's learned that a lot of people like a lot of different things and it's so hard to keep track and also outside of work people aren't fond of him acting host-y as he comes of as disingenuous. At least he's getting paid...? He'd probably get paid more if he was able to pick up the hints his customers drop out on dates when they say they want to go to a hotel. (Oh, are you tired? I suppose this is a good time to part ways, see you later!)

Miyazaki is very proud of his son for getting a civilian job, no matter what it is. He'd be devastated if he ended up a criminal like himself. And Ceddy's quest for independence isn't necessary, Miyazaki would be more than happy to live with his son forever. In fact, he'd be worried for him every day if he moved out.

Uhhhh. Anyway. I've been yapping for hours now and this is a good place to stop here I think. Got important Themes across and whatnot. Will be doing this again at some point. Next will be. Hmm. The Protagonist will be a good one. His name is Takeshi Nakagawa and I love that fuckin guy to no end, as I do all my OCs<333

[kohakuriver]

I think that theory exists because ppl dont want to see romantic subtext between Chihiro and Haku because they see Haku as muchhh older than her.

However I think he's really ageless along with other spirits, especially as a river spirit. That even as the Kohaku River and his stoic nature, he is still around the same age as her spiritually like a preteen or so because he's a literal river spirit. Especially since of when he rescued her in that river, it was such an important experience to him. So I think in that bc rivers reflect, he is in a way a reflection of Chihiro. Water flows and takes shape and stuff. A river doesn't age, and the only way to "kill" it would be to fill it in like and I think that killed him emotionally and figuratively. Why he ultimately forgot his name. I also think her dropping her shoe in the river is another reason Haku is around the same age as her, and not a much older thing. I think his age is purposefully ambigious. And conceptually him being immature, even if he is stoic and composed, makes sense for the other aspects of his personally. That he's not old or young, he's a river. And, his ambigious age doesn't seem to be malicious or weird or anything, especially cause of Miyazaki's views. His age is ambigious in many aspects including emotional maturity, and he's intentionally a character that's hard to read and understand at first glance. So I assume it's like a very literal thing, that Haku is seen as old so ppl do not want to believe there was something between them or that there could be. Personally I think where the movie is, that their relationship is nor platonic nor romantic (transends that) but there is a potential for connection there, Haku just forgot who he was and Chihiro was worried about saving her parents. But when they see each other again I can see Chihiro falling for him and developing a deeper crush on Haku.

I think that's why they decided to cut the line in the English dub too, that they thought it would be wrong for Zeniba to tease her about that bc of how viewers would or might personify Haku as being an older person and be grossed out instead of thinking it's cute and funny.

(also more things 1. Howl is Haku theory is so weird 2. HMC is overrated imo and for some reason affects how people view Ghibli stories as like these cottagecore pieces despite most not being like that 3. I love your art)

First of all thank you so much for sending such a nice long ask about spirited away i think this is the first nice ask i got on here in like. 3 years? (originally anon was off because someone nasty was harassing me) And thank you for loving my art!! Alrighty moving on-

I agree on a lot of this actually! I don't think Chihiro and Haku's relationship is platonic or romantic (Though I have shipped them since I was a kid) and they have a much deeper connection just like most Ghibli duos. (Pazu and Sheeta, Ashitaka and San just to name a few) I also always personally saw Haku as a year or two older than Chihiro but ultimately being very ambiguous since these spirits obviously have a very different concept of age and time.

I would like to point out, despite Zeniba's dragon boyfriend line being cut in the english dub she instead says something along the lines of "Only love can break the spell" in a kinda teasing way which I think was supposed to replace the boyfriend part. She actually doesn't say that in Japanese at all! To me that line was meant to convey the same thing and was just placed at a different moment. (I wish I knew why though lol maybe because the boyfriend joke and her serious tone right afterwards didn't feel right? Your reasoning could also be the case though!)

In my opinion I think majority of english speaking fans ship them (and still do) But when that stupid theory came out sooo many people fell for it. I've seen some fans like the theory because of the reason you mentioned which is fine of course, I don't care what people headcanon. But majority of the people I've talked to were just victims to clickbait and misinformation because they always rejoiced afterwards and were like "I can ship them again!!" lmaoo.

TBH I think most ghibli theories just exist as some form of clickbait or because the fans run out of things to talk about in the movies so they just make stuff up based on conjecture. The sibling theory isn't even the first time this has happened with Spirited Away. (It has like 6 more wild theories that don't really make sense.) I'm usually ok with that even though it's obnoxious when it clogs up the searches... I just hate when people insist its canon!! It's like... did we even see the same movie?? and where are you getting your info from??? lolol

Also that part of you mentioning Chihiro's rescue as an important experience for him and it reflecting back on him... i love the whole Haku analysis so much!

AND THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT ABOUT HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE!! Anon come out and be my bff I can't believe someone else thought the same thing. Howl's moving castle is a bit overrated in the way that i hate that it's used as like a "spoke person" for Ghibli. But at the same time it's so much more than its romance and pretty backgrounds but some fans only look at hot anime boy :') I wish more people talked about Sophie and her character (movie and book version) and how she should have kept her magic!

[6ad6ro]

"dark souls derangement syndrome" is when you think dark souls difficulty is the baseline for what difficulty actually is. if you don't think dark souls is hard, congrats. you have dsds. applies to soulslikes in general. when you think blasphemous is the same difficulty as castlevania sotn. when you claim tunic isn't any harder than a zelda game. then you have become out of touch with gaming history and the baseline difficulty that most games have.

think of "hard games" as "level of spiciness". many people like spice. some like INTENSE spice. some pride themselves on handling the spiciest food in the world. but do most claim that the spicy food isn't actually spicy? no. the few that do, you know they're just boasting. "for me, it isn't spicy" still isn't claiming that it objectively isn't spicy. but with souls? that's what the fanbase claims. "it doesn't need a mild version!" (no difficulty settings). "i don't want just anybody to be able to eat this!". (anti -accessibility). "maybe this restaurant just isn't FOR you" (elitism).

how can you not see that you have become deranged by this game? nobody watches "hot ones" and isn't 100% aware that they're watching people go through some difficult shit. you are in complete denial. lost in the poison swamp. and speaking of poison swamps, if you think miyazaki's obsession with em is "just a silly quirk" instead of the deep sadism that it is? then you absolutely have dark souls derangement syndrome. ftr it's completely fine that you like the bullshit hard game. i'm jealous that your life is so easy that artificial stress in your life is fun to you. but don't pretend this shit is normal. don't say "git gud" like the people who are askin for help are the weird ones. because it's you that's actin weird. because you have dsds.

[fizzingwizard]

What I both love and find majorly confusing about Lupin III is like

It's not dark and gritty (usually), but it's still an action-packed, adventurous, cheeky story about thrill-seeking criminals who are just fine with no return as long as there's high risk. You've got a daredevil who is also a genius, a gambling sharpshooter, a high roller femme fatale, and a samurai always looking for the next most extreme way to test his mettle. And there are car chases and explosions and vintage airplanes and machine guns and people with bombs literally in their hearts

and the backdrop will be like... a quaint village nestled in the French countryside? a valley in the Swiss Alps where Heidi might have lived? now and then they're rough and tumble in NYC or something but more often than not it's like "this place needs more flowers. let's all sit down and have dinner together family-style. i'm mad at you, not because you double-crossed me on a job, but because i'm feeling insecure and need reassurance that this is still my found family"

like. I know this show has gone through a bunch of revivals, each with a slightly different take and different audience in mind. So you end up with the story about crime?? that is for actions fans but also for children?? where women are often completely naked and there's lots of physical damage but no one generally gets too badly hurt?? and miyazaki had an influence so the pastoral vistas have kind of sort of become a Thing?? and characters are sometimes such stubborn loners yet other times so co-dependent that it's easier to believe that they're bickering siblings than a hardened gang of criminals??

my brain is so confused. is lupin iii "the fast and the furious" or is it "little rascals"? is it adventurecore or cottagecore? I don't know and I never know what to expect or what's right all I know is since I started getting to know this fandom outside of just Cagliostro I've discovered this weird vibe that is just sort of chill with how weird it is and I dig it. and i dont want it to change lol

[karkkidoeswriting]

15 Questions Tag

Thank you for tagging me @mariahwritesstuff!

I'll tag: @kiraofthewind @dotr-rose-love @aohendo @wildswrites

Feel free to ignore as always, but especially now because it's personal questions! Also if you want to answer but not every question, you can just skip those!

1. Are you named after anyone?

The first name is not after anyone but my two middle names are after my grandmothers.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Couple of weeks ago. I was in fever for more than a week and I had a deadline for the research plan of my thesis. It was very hard to focus on reading and writing academic texts while on fever, and in the evening of the deadline I was extremely tired. I had a little breakdown about it after writing one (1) sentence in two hours. (It was fine, I was allowed to return it late.)

3. Do you have kids?

Only if my cat child counts.

4. Do you use sarcasm?

I do, but at the same time I'm sometimes unable to detect it when someone else uses it, if they are not obvious enough about it lol.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Clothing and style I think. They are often the thing you can see even pretty far away, even before you're close enough to see their face. Clothing often tells at lest something about the person as it is a form of self-expression.

6. What's your eye color?

Blue.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings. They can be really nice though my favorites are bittersweet endings, but while I like horror and it intrigues me, I'm also very easily scared and especially on movie format it's too effective on me :'D For me to be able to watch horror, it requires very specific movies in a very specific setting and a right state of mind. So if I have to choose broadly, it's happy endings.

8. Any special talents?

I'm not sure what is counted as special talent? I guess some of the adhd things could be counted as special talents? Like yes I know weird amount of facts and details about my current and past hyperfixations and I can focus intensely on something for multiple hours continuously.

9. Where were you born?

Helsinki.

10. What are your hobbies?

Writing, drawing, sewing, researching dress history, hicking and tennis.

11. Have you any pets?

As mentioned, I have a cat, Nausicaä (named after that Ghibli movie/manga (also by Miyazaki)), or more friendly Nasse. She's mixed and from a farm, but looks like a Russian Blue and we call her poor man's Russian Blue. She loves to sit on high places and very neatly on the edge of the thing and look down at people, which is why we also call her a gargoyle and talk about how she loves gargoyling. (If you've listened to TMA - we've also come to the conclusions that she's definitely an acolyte of The Eye.)

12. What sports do you play/have played?

Tennis, as mentioned, but in past I've played (European) football, gymnastics, basket ball and badminton. All the rest I only played for like couple of years, when I was preteen/teen, tennis is the only one I've played for a long time, though never competitively (so it's not like I'm super good at it).

13. How tall are you?

175 cm

14. Favorite subject in school?

I loved a lot of subjects, almost everything interested me except learning new languages (because I was very bad at them lol, it's the cocktail of dyslexia and adhd). If I'd had to choose though my favorites probably would be history and geography.

15. Dream job?

At the moment: architect, whose specialised on restoration of historical buildings and repairing/remodeling existing buildings.

[separatist-apologist]

About how moving castle. I remember it adapted from a novel.And Howl Moving Castle is huge in the Animation or the anime fan. Basically everyone born from 1990 ish to 2000 (in my place , where i grow up) It was a very popular ghibli movie and in asia. Huge i think. And then Disney brought the license to have it dubbed in english.

To tell you how much Hayao Miyazaki valued his work, he send a Katana to Disney when they want to dubb Princess Mononoke. Disnye wanted to cut some part in Princess Mononoke but Hayao send the Katana and said 'no cut'. That is how much he value each animation, story and detail in his movie. Article said Disney producer wanted to softened down Princes Mononoke but Hayao wanted to keep this angsty and rage princess indentity.

Same goes Howl Moving Castle. He took his time to went to the original author of Howl Moving Caslte (she is english i think) and show her the movie before it was release to the public. You can tell this man is detailed when it come to handing his work.

Fun fact, Tolkien and Miyazaki both had experience live influence and affected heavily by war. Im sorry i dont remember exactly Tolkien if he was from WWI or WWII but i know Miyazaki experience tough live in WWII.

This movie play huge role in my life growing up in asia. And i feel when you say your experience reading disturbed when this famous work brought into Maas world.

I was sharing my thought on the Howl Moving Castle. I love LOTR too but was introduce to this masterpieces later in my life. And I love Aragorn the most. Tharanduil the second, hence my love for helion ig.

Yes, Tolkien fought in WW1, you're right about that and SO MUCH of what he experienced is interwoven in his stories.

When my (now 11) kid was a toddler and we met my now husband, he thought it was weird we didn't watch a lot television, and wanted to bond with her. So he introduced her to one of his favorite movies, Spirited Away. When I was growing up, we were like, POOR poor and I feel like everyone grew up watching movies and having experiences I didn't have until I was older and could go to my friend's house.

ANYWAY D still has this stuffed No Face plush she keeps on her bed. She tried to show it to baby P two months ago but P thought it was too scary (mr mb used to call D a haunted baby, she was such a spooky thing. An aside, since I guess today I'm being overly personal, but he worked nights for a while when we were dating and he'd set an alarm an hour early at 7pm each night to call and say hi and then read D a few pages from the Necronomicon (did I spell that right??) until she fell asleep. And now she checks out YA horror from the library).

I agree that it's jarring to see things you viscerally recognize put in another story, out of context but with enough imagery it's noticable. Like, clearly she loved it. I love it too. And I'm guessing it's fine since like, it happened and it's there, but it also pulls you out, and every time I see it I have to stop and like, reorient myself.