#one of their songs was in the live action movie too iirc

[xiakeponz]

for modern AU fics - what chinese media did diaspora consume?

making this post because some of us in the diaspora server were having a chat about what Chinese media "Diaspora Chinese" watched in the 90's - 2000's (and even sooner than that) while not having access to satellite chinese media or streaming services - this is in the context of writing modern AU fics based off Chinese media/novels (so your main character's grandpa or uncle is not, in fact, watching an episode of Friends or Shortland Street or something as flavour text because sorry what the hell-)

We generally watched a lot of stuff on VCDs, including bootlegged and non-bootlegged movies, shows, anime/donghua. My household had a whole VCD album of this, and a lot of VCDs (even if they were pirated editions) would have a fancy hardcover box with a magnetic clasp and some artwork representing the show on it.

All of this is Mandarin - so not TVB stuff, because I'm from Northern China and I don't know any cantonese - but Canto friends, please feel free to add to the list! This is mostly stuff my parents liked to watch, or I liked to watch with them, with the exception of a few which I mainly watched with friends/cousins when I was maybe (in most cases) eleven/twelve years old onwards. This is a pretty personal list, meant to give people general idea of a possible "ballpark" of sorts, and by no means exhaustive.

Now, for the list of shows which I can confirm I had or someone I know had on VCD or some kind of offline media format lol (I'll try add release year stamps and links to the EN wikipedia where possible):

Period dramas (mostly Qing Dynasty stuff):

Huan Zhu Gege 还珠格格 (1998, April-) This is a classic, so many memes come from this show; hugely popular series, basically cemented Zhang Tie Lin's face as the face of the Qing Emperor for about a decade. Tie Chi Tong Ya Ji Xiao Lan 铁齿铜牙纪晓岚 (2002-2010) - I loved this show as a kid and watched all four seasons on repeat with family... The "trio" in this show are well known and loved.

Amazing Detective Di Ren Jie / 神探狄仁杰 (2004) A very popular and addictive show. Ok now the Big Four:

Romance of 3 kingdoms 1994 / 三国演义 (1994) - a classic that has had many remakes, my older cousin would play this on repeat...

Hong Lou Meng/红楼梦 （1987） - another classic with many remakes, but I think the most recognised by the public one is the 1987 one.

Journey to the West / 西游记 live action (1986) - I think the 1986 version of the live action is the most recognised one. *Shui Hu Zhuan / 水浒传 (1998) - I am not too familliar with the live action of this one in my household tbh bc my mum doesn't like it lol (she keeps saying it's too depressing) but I'm sure it's up there with the rest of the big four, if anyone has an opinion on this one please let me know!

Modern setting shows:

My dad loved all the Sun Honglei (孙红雷 - actor name) stuff, iirc it was a lot of MinGuo period espionage stuff, your shanghai 1920's sxc aesthetic. This actor has been around since 1999? Qian Fu （潜伏）was very famous, and Ren Jian Zheng Dao Shi Cang Sang （人间正道是沧桑）。 These were around '08 and '09.

Chuang Guan Dong - 闯关东 (2008) (Baidu link, sorry - couldn't get an EN wikipedia one). This show was huge when it was airing, everyone was watching it. I was pretty young but even I watched it and got invested ... and I thought it was such an "old person" show at the time lmao. Xiao Bing Zhang Ga / 小兵张嘎 （2004） (sorry, again Baidu link) - yo, anti-japanese war movies set between 1937-1945 were crazy popular - this is one of them and was very popular):

Donghua/Anime (all the stuff kid me watched and some which I didn't but were popular):

喜羊羊与灰太狼 (2005-) Calabash Brothers / 葫芦兄弟 （1986-1987） Black Cat Detective / Hei Mao Jing Zhang 黑猫警长 （1984-2010） Lan Mao Tao Qi 3000 Wen 蓝蓝猫淘气3000问 AKA 蓝猫 (blue cat) (October 1999 - Present) Legend of Ne Zha 哪吒传奇 (2003) Journey to the West/Xi You Ji 西游记 This was truly the Donghua I grew up on from when I was a bb, the OP song and ED song are classic bangers all kids know. Slam Dunk/ 灌篮高手 - People truly watched a lot of anime that may or may not have been terribly dubbed into mando (possibly canto too). Late 80s and 90s kids were all over this, and Dragon Ball, Crayon Shinchan (labixiaoxin).

Taiwanese Dramas:

This is mid-late 2000's, I would be remiss to not talk about the Taiwanese dramas of this era. Mike He, Rainie Yang, Wu Zun (amongst many, many others) were huge. Stuff like Dou Niu Yao Bu Yao, it started with a kiss, Hua Yang Shao Nv (Taiwanese version of Hana Kimi) were all pretty popular. Not sure if these shows all hold up in 2023, but boy were they popular at the time.

Note about CNY:

For CNY, people would try to tune into 春节联欢晚会 (the CCTV official CNY show) at that One Friend Who Had China Satellite TV's house. Zhao Ben Shan / 赵本山 was a comedy staple, and the show would often feature people from the music industry to perform. Eventually these people became more and more relevant to my gen and Jay Chou etc started appearing.

Last but not least Xian Jiaaaan 仙剑:

In 2005 I was all over 仙剑奇侠传 (Chinese Paladin), based off the video game. This show was crazy popular and probably sent me and a whole lot of other kids into Xianxia / Wuxia hell (and Hu Ge hell, and later I came back to love Liu Yifei). Thank you. The OST is a true banger.

[prezs]

@nukenai HELLO HI i am so normal about the stage show and i can be trusted to talk about it in a normal manner.

it is quite literally a direct adaptation of the original movie, but it doesn't remove or change anything like the live action remake does. it merely adds. for example, it adds several songs (primarily for beast, as well as some for belle and gaston) that i just. love. because they really make the characters feel more fleshed out.

also there are a few details added, like the beast attempting to apologize to belle after scaring her in the west wing (that i kinda talk about above!), because he is genuinely trying to be better, and is frustrated at how bad he is at it. 'if i can't love her', one of the songs recommended below, follows this scene and it is my FAVORITE.

and there are a few details that the live action remake takes from the show, like the servants slowly becoming more and more inanimate. but imo the stage show handles it better, since it's less of a "WE NEED TO ANSWER EVERY PLOT HOLE AND COMPLAINT NOW!!!!!!" deal, it's more of a "we want to better show these characters' motives and thoughts" deal.

also the costumes are so so gorgeous, belle's hair and gown are typically inspired by 1700s french fashion. and the attention given to the servants at the castles' costumes are incredible!

belle and beast's dynamic is also so lovely in this show. the beast was always a bit of an awkward nerd, but the show really lets that part shine, especially since he's been locked up in a castle for a decade and his social skills kinda suck. so it's really endearing. especially since he's trying SO hard and you can see that peek through even in his first scene with belle.

and there's a scene where belle relates to him being outcast in society; she's shunned by her village too. idk it's all just really nice. also i can't forget; belle teaches the beast to read! and he's genuinely so invested in reading, and in belle's interests! if you've ever seen the extended version of the movie, this is all included in the song 'human again' which iirc was written for this show first!

also this isn't even touching upon the special effects. professional productions of the show have light effects and trap doors and show off that incredible beast to man transformation right on stage! even smaller productions find really clever ways to pull it off, from using a cloak and effects, to other ideas.

here is a link to a playlist of the show's songs. i specifically recommend home (and reprise), if i can't love her (and reprise), ent'racte (instrumental, but SO pretty), a change in me, and the finale!

saw a performance of beauty and the beast's stage show at a local theater and yes it is still my favorite musical ever and yes i want it back on broadway and yes it still makes me lose my mind how they have the beast accidentally frighten belle when she sneaks into the west wing and he tries to apologize in desperation

[polaris-thehunter]

Arrival is one of my favorite movie. Between the cast, the amazing story , and its ost, it's just perfect. Some themes of the stories actually reminds me of SNK. Someone on yt even mixed Nature of Daylight (one of arrival track) with with one SNK track and it's Amazing 😭😭

*spoilers for the 2016 film Arrival*

OMG so that’s the title of that song! It’s amazing, gives me chills and really reminds me of the film! I love the cast too, Amy Adams is just amazing 😭 and the story!! I mean, communication/linguistics is such an unexplored topic in scifi films and they handled it beautifully. And that twist, where the more you learn their language, the more you see time as non-linear. Man, really blew me away.

I haven’t watched Arrival again while thinking of SNK but on the top of my mind, i think ur right, they do share similarities. In terms of the time shenanigan, i can think that Louise choosing to let her child be born despite knowing what will happen is so different from Eren’s perspective of the future. I’m not sure what Eren saw in his memories but I think he’s trying to change the course of events in order for his friends to live, but at the massive expense of probably millions of people, and him not experiencing the beauty the world can offer.

On the other hand, Louise is choosing to live beautifully despite the cruel circumstances she knows will happen. I remember her husband leaving her because he was so devastated when he found out what will happen to their child, and iirc, him saying that Louise should have avoided it. Probably afraid of the pain he will suffer. But Louise chooses to experience it all, not changing anything at all.

Who knows what’s the right course of action when u have the knowledge of the future: Trying to change it, or just live with it.

I might have rambled on but thank you for this ☺️

[fizzingwizard]

I finally saw the Cats movie the other day.

After the alarming trailers and the bad reviews after the premiere, I was pretty much desperate to like it. Just to like it, enough, as a Cats fan. I thought, “ok, if the normal people dislike it, that doesn’t mean there aren’t enough nuggets and even pearls to sustain us true fans.” Trust me, I am a fan of X-men comics, I am very very used to doing that. (It’s the entire reason I can stomach the Dark Phoenix movie at all.) So my bar was, I thought, appropriately low.

Oh how wrong I was.

iT’S THE WORST MOVIE I EVER SAW GUYS. And it gives me no small amount of pain to admit that. It marks the first time in my life I considered walking out of the theater, not out of outrage, just boredom. And Cats has never bored me before. So I must rant.

Before I start, though, I have to say I just can’t blame the cast for any of this. It’s the movie direction. As far as I can tell, the actors acted and danced their hearts out truly believing when it was finished this movie would be something resembling a movie. The resemblance is there, but... faint.

1) The CGI. A while back I suggested that once the CGI was finished and polished up, and moreover, when we could watch it continuously and not in stitched-together bits for a haphazard trailer, then the CGI cats wouldn’t look as jarring. For the most part, that was the case for me. But I’m certain it wasn’t the case for everyone. It was freakishly reminiscent of that live action Cat in the Hat movie (and that’s not exactly a compliment).

It didn’t bother me too much, because I thought from the beginning that costumes or CGI, it would be impossible to design human cats who don’t rub a lot of people the wrong way. It was a sacrifice I was okay making because I saw it as an inevitability. But the hairier cats like Old Deut and Gus (ie, the cats whose costumes were more reminiscent of the theater) definitely looked better, though. (Speaking of which, who on EARTH shaved poor Rum Tum Tugger!?)

But aside from the cats. Those rats FREAKED me out. If those had been in the trailer? My hopes would have been dashed much, much earlier. Eek. No. And... the rats came back a second time... and then a third!!! Meanwhile the beetles were just... people in beetle suits. Mr. Hooper, what are you smoking? I need some right now.

Also. Why, WHY don’t the cats have cat noses? That bothered me the whole time!!

2) The choreography. When I saw the cast, way back before even trailers were out, the first thing I thought was “um, do these people secretly have classical dance training and it just isn’t widely known?” Because Cats is basically a variety show. You can’t do Cats without amazing dancing in multiple styles, from ballet to tap to freaking gymnastics.

There were some dancers, including Victoria. I wish I could say more of them. It’s not that they aren’t talented. I’m sure they are. It’s just that, between the choreography being incredibly changed, and then on top of that edited with CGI to “improve” the feline poses and stunts, who knows where the actual dancing is. Not me. We don’t even get one fouette from Mistoffelees. I mean. Come on. Not even in CGI! Why would you do this to Cats. Why. Why.

It’d be one thing if the movie choreography clearly improved Cats the movie, which, after all, wasn’t going to be an exact replica of Cats the musical. Unfortunately, it, uh, doesn’t.

3) The music. I haven’t seen this touched on a lot, but did anyone else notice the music sounded like someone was just playing the soundtrack for the 90s film on a boombox somewhere in the background? It wasn’t crisp. It wasn’t even loud. The electric guitar that makes you shiver when you hear it live? Barely discernible. At the very least, I thought they’d do something interesting with the music, although I guess I should thank my lucky stars that they randomly decided to leave well enough alone in this instance... But it’s a MUSICAL. How do you half-ass the (amazing, by the way!) score in a MUSICAL?!

4) The singing. Yes, this needs its own separate section, because WHY COULDN’T ANYONE SING. Even people who can, in fact, sing!! Jennifer Hudson is GREAT singer. Her “Memory” isn’t terrible, but it is drastically overacted and far from joining my list of favorite “Memory” performances. Taylor Swift’s “Macavity” was fine, I guess. I’d probably be more positive about it if the rest of the movie didn’t suck. James Corden was fine too, “Bustopher Jones” is not exactly a challenging song, but Rebel Wilson’s “Old Gumbie Cat” was breathy, weirdly sexualized, and couldn’t end fast enough for me. I’m not too familiar with Jason Derulo but I am sure he doesn’t sing like an idiot all the time, and neither should Rum Tum Tugger. What was that about?

And no one expected Judi Dench to sing but she sure tried. I admire her for it, but sorry, Mr. Hooper, I don’t agree that Old Deut can get away with a poetry reading version of “The Moments of Happiness.”

“Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer” was pretty good but difficult to understand because all the scene-changing made the lyrics hard to follow (and I know them by heart). “Skimbleshanks” more or less the same. I wouldn’t have complained about these if the movie had been a little better overall.

“Magical Mr. Mistoffelees” is more about the dancing than the singing, but it’s such a climactic number that the way it���s so slow and, er, anticlimactic in this movie is just a huge letdown.

5) The unending fat jokes. I know James Corden and Rebel Wilson are both perfectly comfortable with poking fun at themselves, and do it pretty much all the time. I also know they’re both okay being gross. I suppose people thought the two of them together would be movie magic. Instead, their powers combined to create The Ultimate Apocalyptic Unending Gross Fat People Joke Machine. Some of the jokes were a little funny. They got less funny the more they occurred. And just when you thought they would stop. THEY INCREASED. It’s like I was secretly in a Spongebob Squarepants movie where they obsessively make fun of fat people and their bodies while eating everything in sight. It had a mood of “fat people power!” but a stench of “we couldn’t think of any good jokes so we just did some gross shit!”

6) I hate Munkustrap! This one has no appearance of objectivity, I just can’t stand him. He looks weirder in the CGI than most of them (not his fault, but). I hated his singing voice. And he got to sing way too much for how enjoyable he was. He looked a little stoned, to be frank. Maybe that’s what they were going for. BTW, I absolutely adore Munkustrap in the show. I wasn’t exactly expecting Michael Gruber again, and yet, I sort of was.

7.) Victoria’s original song. Actually. Actually. I liked this song. It was a nice song! I enjoyed listening to it in the credits. (lol?) They clearly spent much more time making it sound nice than they did the actual Cats music. But why... why was there an original song... in a musical that already has more than enough songs? What did it add? I get that it was supposed to explain Victoria’s motivations and show her connection with Grizabella. I just don’t think it was necessary. Because. Because. There’s already an explanatory song in the musical! the little known number... “Memory!” And its variations. As a well as the not insignificant “Glamour Cat” song. Victoria doesn’t have a song. That’s true. Jemima/Sillabub does though. If you’re going you erase the juxtaposition of Jemima and Grizabella and force Victoria into a similar role, why couldn’t she have just sung “Moonlight”? IIRC she did in the end sing the interlude during “Memory” anyway. Then they forced more reprises of the original Victoria song on us, even made Judi Dench sing it. It’s a nice song. WHAT IS IT DOING HERE.

(More in another post because it is late and my complaints are many.)

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Kasumi’s PT Outfit Analysis

Tell me what do these two have in common?

If you said “Cat theme” you are correct! If not, well then buckle up my dudes cause this is gonna be fun~! :D (I also want to take the time to point out, while this isn’t want I’m talking about, I do like this fan artist’s perspective on her gloves :D)

I know what you’re thinking, and no I’m not smoking anything I don’t do that, but Kasumi really does have cat thief themed origins (and no not because of the fan art, didja click on it? it’s cute!). I realized it after realizing she was a gymnast and was like “Why? Why does she get a gymnast theme? How does this fit with the outlaw theme? Has there been a thief who had gymnast outfit?....wait....could it be.....omg it IS!” AND THE ANSWER IS YES! 4 thieves actually, 3 are sisters in one series, and 1 is an expy of those sisters by the same author in his other work. If you know who I’m talking about I’m talking about.....CAT’S EYE! (and Phantom Thief 305 from City Hunter, I dunno the meaning of the name tho)

Let’s start with Cat’s Eye (not a 100% expert in it, but I know more than City Hunter tbh). Cat’s Eye is about a trio of sisters (Hitomi the middle who is the main character, Rui the oldest sister, and Ai the youngest) stealing things using their multiple skill sets (such as gymnastics), partially because they want to contact their missing dad who is also a thief (and their attempts to contact him are through the calling cards and stealing the items in hopes he comes as well). And....that’s basically it I think (been awhile since I read the manga and I’m in the process of re-reading it now). Movie wise, it seems they are in the process of trying to rescue him (hard to find info, no eng subtitles for me to watch so efsljdfl;aj).

Anne and Kasumi are the biggest shout outs to Cat’s Eye than anyone else (tho you could argue Cat’s eye is probs the reason Makoto drives a Motorcycle and Futaba is an semi-orange themed tech genius, and Haru who is “Noir” tho I don’t feel like looking up who came first, her or the Cat’s Eye Pachinko machine cause it’s not important). Anne’s outfit is more a shout-out to the Cat’s Eye Movie version while Kasumi’s is more a shout-out to the original manga/anime. Let’s focus on the Cat’s Eye movie for a second tho.

This isn’t the first time Cat’s Eye movie was used as inspiration for Persona. Back in P2 Tamaki Uchida dressed as Ai (the youngest sister of Cat’s Eye, but is the lead role in the movie), as the actress she is based off of (Yuki Uchida) played Ai in the movie.

Anne, however, seems to be based on Hitomi outfit with some Rui flare to it (they differ slightly)

(btw the movie opens up with an anime sequence before going full live action, Hitomi Left, Rui Right I think for both pics, Ai is in the middle for the bottom pic, and recolored Anne for better comparison and also because I can 8U)

I know what you are thinking, “But what about Catwoman????” I think she’s still related to Cat’s Eye tho. Catwoman came first in creation, and Catwoman was the first to use the leather outfits (tbh, mask wise, Tamaki’s mask/ears seem to draw from the Catwoman 60s tv show outfit), and it seems she/Batman were the inspiration for the movie costumes. Also considering how Persona likes to use Batman, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the cat theme stuff was also Batman/Catwoman related as well as Cat’s Eye. So there’s still a connection to Catwoman esp with the movie! 

Another possible connection to the movie is Anne’s name, specifically “Anne,” as the person who went by the stage name “Anri/杏里” (I mean Anne is just the  杏 kanji but still) who sings the theme song “Cat’s Eye 2000″ for the movie. Fun fact.

Now let’s look at the manga/anime, where it’s Kasumi’s time to shine (tho Anne will come back up).

As you can see they’ve been redesigned a few times (btw Hitomi’s colors in the first vol of Cat’s eye is actually blue with an orange ribbon, it was changed to yellow later it seems, also the top right is a spinoff manga of Cat’s Eye called Cat’s Eye: Ai where Ai is the MC)

As you can see, the girl who is mostly in the blue is Hitomi, and she has a tendency to wear a chocker with her leotard. Kinda like.......Kasumi! 

Recolored with blue to highlight the comparison (also because I NEED COLOR IN HER DESIGN ATLUS LORD GIVE ME STRENGTH DX) 

Fun fact, Hitomi I believe is a gymnast and she utilizes her skills as a thief (and thus where we get the gymnast as a thief outlaw theme and why it only works for Kasumi/gymnasts and not runners like Ryuji). 

But Kasumi also has similarities between her and Ai, both have red in their theme, both I think are first years. Also, while Ai isn’t as strong or skilled as her older sisters in fighting, she is the most agile (which we don’t know if Kasumi is in the same boat but it’s worth noting just in case). Another thing about Ai, is her connection to Tamaki up above, Tamaki who is based off the actress who played Ai was in the fencing club (which Yuki Uchida was also a fencer), and what weapon does Kasumi wield? A one handed sword similar to other fencers in Persona (like Mitsuru), so woot we’ve come full circle on that! (also if Kasumi is Hamuko reincarnated, or Hamuko’s younger sister, it should be noted that one of Hamuko’s theme colors is orange along with pink and red so fklsdjfsajf; bonus points if that comes true!)

Kasumi���s mask is also probably based on the Cat’s Eye calling card (or at least it follows a similar pattern):

Same point pattern, same eye shape and design (it’d also explain why it’s so thick, cause the emblem is thick looking too 8U)

So I mentioned we’d come back to Anne, and here we are! There is one last thing that is similar to Anne and the Kisugi sisters, and it’s that they are all hafus! The sisters are all half german, and Hitomi looks just like her western grandmother if Hitomi had blonde hair, and later dyes her hair blonde for her thieving:

Also *cough* a pink/red outfit I wonder who that reminds us of? 8U

Now onto City Hunter, which....I think is the biggest evidence that Kasumi was based off these people. And it’s this girl:

The girl with the glasses is the same one as the girl in the same girl in the green leotard (the one in the red isn’t a thief, but was wearing one to match the other girl while they stole a flower). 

This is the first episode this girl shows up (only one I’ve seen too tbh), she’s actually 17/a 2nd year iirc.... And guess what her name is? Kasumi Aso. Kasumi is spelled the same way too (aka only in hirigana)! From my research she only steals what is commissioned of her (I think she steals back what is stolen from other people). She has connection to flowers like Kasumi Yoshizawa (Aso is connected to the [black] tulip, Yoshizawa has flowers on her belt). Both are pretty unassuming in their civilian outfits too tbh. (tho slightly off topic, fun fact, there was a Japanese hafu rhythmic gymnast named Kasumi, I’ve been wanting to post about that for awhile but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s who IRL Yoshizawa was based off of)

Sadly I don’t know much else about Aso, I need to read more of City Hunter to find out (even tho she’s not a super main character), and tbh this is where I kinda end with the Kasumi/Anne and Cat’s Eye/PT 305/Catwoman analysis. But I’ll use this time to talk about a few misc stuff and maybe a few theories related to cat themed thief ladies:

P5 probably got the “Thief who works at a cafe during the day (and the Cafe name also is a reference to their thieving as well as possibly housing a cat)” from Cat’s Eye and City hunter (which take place in Tokyo/Shinjuku, tho in different locations), as the Kisugi Sisters work at their cafe called “Cat’s Eye,” and Aso being their expy, also works at a cafe by the same name (tho it’s run by different people cause it’s in a different/parallel universe). 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Tamaki’s tendency to house a Nekomata in her workplace to be similar to the kitty (Tiger I think it’s name is) that Ai has at the cafe (esp considering, again, Yuki Uchida played Ai). 

According to the Japanese fan wiki of Cat’s Eye, in the sequel “Cat’s Eye: Ai,” the Cafe is moved to a new location, which is Kichijoji, which is the new area that has been unlocked in P5R (maybe a certain cafe will be available for us to wander into? :0 Or maybe Kasumi works at a cafe XP or maybe is connected to the billiards place, tho that DARTSLIVE3 screenshot seems to have a “cafe” poster in the background so maaaaaaaybe that’s a cafe XP)

Part of me wonders if Mitsuru’s Arena outfit is related more to Black Cat, due to the signature “white fur” both characters wear. 

Kasumi Y’s hairstyle (aka if her hair was down, so basically we are going off her bangs) is similar to Hitomi (at least the Pachinko machine ver)

Anne’s circle zipper designs might be more of a shout-out to Marvel’s Black Cat, not that Catwoman hasn’t had that as well, but I don’t feel like figuring out who did the circle zipper first 8U 

Satomi Tadashi dressed up as Zorro and was romantically involved with Takami. Anne who is a Cat’s Eye expy is crushed on by Mona (who wields Zorro). And Kasumi, another Cat’s Eye expy, looks like a Hamuko Expy, while Mona’s human form looks like a Minato Expy. 

Kasumi has a similar black mask with silver line design (not the mask shape itself, the line design) as a woman named “Noir”(?) who appears in the Cat’s Eye Pachinko Machine (yes I did come across interesting things, no I don’t know what her deal is or really who she is tbh cause I think she’s a pachinko original 8U ;w;)

So yeah just gonna kinda end it here awkwardly. FYI this doesn’t mean you HAVE to like her outfit (you have every right to dislike or like it tbh), it’s just a history lesson, and explaining how it fits the outlaw/PT theme, where’s Ryuji’s track or Haru’s ballet doesn’t.

Oh! Edit cause I forgot, if you push her mask up over head, it might look like cat’s ears, just a theory tho (of course it might look like devil horns but so does Anne’s so fklsjdfk;aj;faj;f take this for what you will):

[dyketectivecomics]

WHEN will dc/wb do something interesting with their animated content !! like marvel/song is out here, giving us itsv, whilst the most fun ive had with dc animation in a while was bvtmnt so like. cmon yall. do something cool.

I haven’t seen the TMNT crossover yet but it’s looked p good from what I have seen! ESP the creature redesigns for the rogues? I’m hype. I need something just Fun like that in my life.

Just watched ITSV yesterday and I’m!!!!!! STILL R E E L I N G. It’s been SO LONG since every single second of an animated feature was just??? So fresh & delightful to see??? EVERY frame could be lifted straight from a comic. And the fact that they still MIXED Opposing Styles and MADE it work like!!! That film is just Art. It’s not a movie. It’s Art.

(But boy oh boy, tee u just triggered another Rant from me dude. I’m so sorry everyone. More below the cut)

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Even taking into account the fact that it took so much time for them to animate it, from beginning to end it was, what? 3-4 years in production iirc? It’s WELL WORTH that effort and that wait! But considering that the last Artfully Done animation that WB did that gave me that Similar Feeling, that I can Distinctly remember, was a box office failure at the time of its release. (I’m referring to Iron Giant, of course. It’s one of my all time favs, it’s one of my Formative Movies tbh. But it FAILED in the box office when it was first released! It’s a GOOD movie, but is it any wonder that WB is afraid to Try things afterwards?)

The only Cinematic Animated Superhero movies by WB that I can remember getting a wide release in theaters were Lego Batman (which obvsly did Good and did Bruce better than any other Batman movie in recent memory and we Stan) TTG! to the Movies (no comment) and The Powerpuff Girls (which I’ll count even tho it’s not a DC property but it IS WB’s and since it bombed, ironically enough, because most people found it too Violent compared to the series itself, it might explain why WB might be hesitant to pick up Superhero Animation. But I’ll wax poetic abt it some more some other time)

Edit: actually, PPG was CN studios & Distributed by WB. If we want to get Technical. But I’m still counting it since CN is under the WB umbrella anyways.

they all have their faults and their charms, but considering that WB hasn’t been a big player in theaters much at all, and continues to Play Things Safe with loads of direct-to-video & TV specials. It’s just... disheartening. We SHOULD be getting these wonderful, incredible, Cinamatically Worthy stories and yet??? Every year the WB/DC team decides to treat us to one DTV Batman movie and Oh Hey Here’s Something Not Batman.

Other productions like Incredibles, Megamind, Big Hero 6, & ITSV. They’ve had varying success! And they’re still only a handful of all of the animated Superhero movies out there!

Whether it’s because public perception towards Animated movies is still so skewed that it’s a genre “Only For Children”, or the idea that Superhero movies should be sweeping “Realistic” epics. It’s anyone’s guess. In this way, we might actually be grateful towards WB for at least Providing us with consistent content. I mean, when was the last type anyone tried hyping up a Marvel Cartoon? I’m not gonna knock on marvel too much here, but compared to the DC fan base & esp the Timmverse fan base, does Marvel have anything that even comes close? I’m genuinely curious.

Marvel may have the public’s attention 100% with the MCU and with the box office. But DC’s very much cornered the market with animation and TV series. As much as the CW/Arrowverse shows might be a mixed bag for me personally, they’ve done Very Well for themselves. And there’s something to be said about that. But circling back to Animation here one last time:

Animation is a medium that’s supposed to allow you to do things that simply CANT be done in live action. And the WB/DC team HAS done some pretty cool stuff even with the DTV movies! But when they COULD be doing something More Original and pushing more styles and stories. When they could stop adapting Popular Comics bc thats what ‘fans’ keep Demanding, and instead provide something 100% new and unique? When they provide something just Different from the expected and Take a Chance on something new? That’s when I think we’ll ALL be better off for it.

[bthump]

what are the things you like and dislike about the '97 anime and the films?

ty for asking, i’m just gonna write a few long lists lol

97 anime likes:

the animation, including the like, yk the more detailed stills they pan over in place of action or to punctuate important moments, i love it

the gorgeous backgrounds

most of the colour choices. red eclipse, femto’s blue eyes, casca’s skintone, griffith’s mauve clothes, etc.

how close it is to the manga. like, it’s a solid adaption just by virtue of making very few changes.

so like, most of it really, because i like the manga

special mention to the entire lead up to the eclipse from griffith’s reality break to the sacrifice tho, because i think that was all pretty damn perfect. it’s the most important scene and they did it right.

actually also shout out to casca’s flashback to griffith and the dead kid, gennon, the river scene, all that. another difficult v emotional sequence that they nailed imo.

griffith thinking about how he “loves” guts during the monologue

skipped most of the griffith/charlotte sex scene iirc which i approve of

the glimpse of black swordsman guts in ep 1. it’s not perfect but it’s way better than the ovas starting w/ 15 yr old guts

the opening and closing themes. fucking love both songs ngl

also the opening monologue. never get tired of hearing it

the score

the portrayal of griffith was honestly pretty solid imo. i have very few issues there. and lbr that’s important lol

97 anime dislikes:

not a big fan of griffith or guts’ character designs.

just about everything that isn’t identical to the manga is a change for the worse

turned griffith’s scratch marks into that giant unexplained scar

adding extra scenes where casca is secretly impressed with guts’ skills in battle in an attempt to build up their relationship better, which instead just made casca look unfair for still being a dick to him for 3 years and made guts stupidly gary stu-ish

obviously the straightforwardly romantic portrayal of guts and casca’s relationship

through several seemingly minor changes (eg, skipping guts’ night of self-doubt after he leaves, giving guts’ stay with godo its own half-episode, making guts inviting casca along super romantic rather than the incredibly casual and assholish way he does it in the manga, etc) it makes Guts’ dream seem legitimately noble and worthwhile, with none of the like… implicit critique the manga has. like honestly it completely fucks up what i consider one of the central themes of the story lol

the pre eclipse stuff also fails to sell guts’ sense of regret - through things like playing guts’ theme while judeau is telling guts to leave, not repeating guts’ statement of regret after casca tells him to leave again, the tone remains consistently in favour of guts’ dream. wrong and bad.

like it really reads like the suggested tragedy is that guts doesn’t get the chance to ditch griffith with judeau and take off with casca and the raiders lol

also fucks it up by never directly mentioning guts’ csa trauma

also fucks it up by losing guts’ self-destructive single-minded urge to fight monsters that we saw thru the wyald stuff. i’m not gonna say that losing wyald was a bad decision, but they should’ve at least moved erika suggesting that guts just wants to fight zodd again to the fucking waterfall scene in question, which they portrayed completely sans zodd discussion, completely sans implication of the self-destructiveness of guts’ dream

like in the manga he nearly gets killed by the falling logs and just laughs it off like a dumbass while erika is concerned and suggests that guts is driven by something irrational and not actually a ~noble~ dream, ie, wanting to fight zodd again (ie, going deeper, his csa trauma), while in the anime we get a 2nd scene where he successfully slices through the logs as a super basic symbol of growth and a narrative pat on guts’ back that shouldn’t be there!

honestly just fucking everything about the portrayal of guts’ dream lol it just takes it at face value in a way the manga consistently never did and always undermined and critiqued, and it bugs the hell out of me.

guts is just drawn in a way that makes him look angry way too often and he often feels ooc to me bc of it. like he lacks a lot of the warmth he has in the manga imo

showing that griffith is awake when guts says “i’ll stay too” even tho in the manga those words are placed over a panel of him asleep for a reason like, ffs

lots of other random nitpicky details that only i give a fuck about because my opinions and feelings about the story are too strong lol. like not showing griffith’s face when he asks if guts thinks he’s cruel

oh huge one: moving the scene where the torturer rips off griffith’s behelit from about a day after he was imprisoned to right before his rescue. completely trivializes griffith’s torture because it still looks like he’s been in there for a day at most

why on earth did it end where it ended????????????? who’s bright idea was that? the perfect ending is skull knight riding tf out with guts and casca and femto not killing them, but then they also cut out skull knight’s first appearance so idfk man.

oh some downplaying of griffguts, like i can’t complain too much about this because it was still p homoerotic, but things like omitting guts assuming griffith wants to fuck him right before their first duel. boo.

ultimately at the end of the day as much as i do genuinely like the anime, it’s not telling quite the same story the manga was - the story it’s telling is more boring and basic. but because it sticks so close to the manga the good story still shines through? it just means there’s inconsistent tone choices and stuff, like the aforementioned grievances.

it’s like, they kept casca’s diatribe at guts line for line while she’s screaming that griffith needed him and a man can’t live on dreams alone, but they don’t extend that train of thought to guts going off to pursue his dream, while the manga does.

anyway despite that giant list of dislikes i still think the anime is pretty fantastic overall. i just also like, blame it for a lot of wrong fandom takes lol.

movie likes:

character designs! honestly imo everyone looked pretty great.

they played up the homoeroticism and i appreciate that

illustrating griffith being torn between guts and his dream through that lovely moment when he catches guts when he nearly falls off the stairs right before he catches charlotte, and in a more romantically suggestive way

the whole scene where griffith shows up at charlotte’s window thoroughly improved on the manga, so hats off there. loved how completely out of it he was to the point where he barely realized where he was and immediately turned to leave when charlotte was like ‘woah dude wtf,’ love that charlotte was the one to ask him to stay and then physically move his hand back to her tit, love how emphatically griffith was thinking about guts during that sex scene, etc. like it’s still not perfect, but it is a vast improvement.

griffith showing up in person after the hundred man fight was a nice touch

it was cool that they got a lot of the same english vas from the anime dub back, and they all did a gr8 job. like it’s a pretty good dub imo.

i liked that they moved ‘the crystalization of your last tear shed’ to after guts’ post-eclipse breakdown

compared to the anime at least gtsca was more low-key and chill rather than dramatically romantic. still don’t want it there, and still not as… unromantic as the manga, but i’ll take what i can get

the animation during griffith’s transformation into femto, yk that whole sequence, was cool

slan’s english voice was super sexy

ummmmm i feel like they conveyed the whole dreams are stupid theme, and guts’ decision to leave being a mistake, better than the anime? like i got the sense that the ova ppl recognized that was a theme, at least. i’d have to watch them again to really be sure of that tho

movie dislikes:

GRIFFITH’S. NARRATIVE.

like holy fuck they completely destroyed his character lmao

i cannot believe

no backstory! no tombstone of flame! no ‘do you think i’m cruel?’ THAT WAS THE REASON HE MADE THE SACRIFICE FFS HOW DO YOU SKIP IT????

no dead kid angst, gennon only in vague implication, no self harm - oh no wait we saw self inflicted scratches, they were just completely contextless and meaningless to the point where we could assume charlotte’s nails made them

no torture chamber monologue

no guts monologue in the tavern either for that matter

no rooftop scene

again barely the implication of guts’ childhood trauma, both the sexual abuse and the general parental abuse. one vague flashbacky nightmare doesn’t cut it, it’s the cornerstone of the story

like i get it, it’s a movie trilogy, you have to cut some things, but goddamn, cut out gtsca. trim the hundred man fight. add 20 minutes to the first ova and take the insanely long rape scene out of the third. trim down the whole eclipse sequence. don’t cut out like… the story. like they cut out SO MANY emotionally relevant scenes and kept so many much less relevant scenes, idek.

and like let’s be real here, they turned griffith from an immensely interesting and complex character into a 1 dimensional dude who is torn between a vaguely evil ambition and being in vaguely evil love with guts, just for the sake of streamlining the least interesting aspects of the story

they don’t even try to pretend otherwise lol, look at his fucking hilarious evil smile here

also while i’m looking at it, in general i think they failed at the whole eclipse sequence. looks, lighting, colour, build up of tension… there are a few minor improvements here and there (eg casca’s point of view shot of femto, femto telekinesising guts back a la the black swordsman arc which emphasizes his failure to act when he escapes), but overall it doesn’t work for me at all. like imo the anime has the exact same highs and lows as the manga, but while the ova avoids some lows it never reaches those highs.

they also had griffith overhear guts saying he wants to stay. i really don’t get why this happened twice lol, like… ok his face is kind of shadowed here but he’s still very clearly asleep? this is an important detail, guts’ interrupted words are even on that very panel, so why would you go out of your way to show that he’s awake and listening at that point.

the pacing sucked. 3rd movie was too long, 1st was too short, and they skipped waaaaaay too many significant scenes that should’ve been there as emotional beats

honestly the movies are pretty, they’re nicely fanservicey in ways, they capture some good subtleties and nuances at times, but they’re a husk of the story

oh did i mention the music during the eclipse rape? incredible.

also i am actually generally positive about the movies too despite what it seems like here lmao. i’ve watched them all like, 3 or more times and i find them v enjoyable.

i just have a way easier time listing nitpicky flaws than positives honestly. the flaws stand out to me, the virtues pass me by because i’m just enjoying them and not dwelling on them

and lbr here at the end of the day no adaption will ever really satisfy me unless i somehow find several million dollars lying around and make my own lol. and that would probably be a flop anyway.

[miss-musings]

Why I want to stop watching the Blacklist (a.k.a., A Rant by Me)

This used to be my favorite show. Hands down. I would legitimately schedule things around it; I would leave events early to make sure I could watch it live; I would post about it on Tumblr and read other people’s posts the rest of the evening; I would search through multiple review site’s posts the next day.

I loved the dynamic between Red and Liz. I loved the mysteries and the little morsels of answers that we would get. I loved how, in the S1 finale, it felt like no one was safe: Meera got killed; Harold got attacked and nearly killed; Tom was shot and left for dead.

But, over the past few seasons, this show has become the bane of my TV-watching experience.

(EDIT: this post, which quietly keeps gaining notes, was written post-S4, pre-S5. So, there’s still plenty of relevant things in the post, but just keep the timing in mind.)

I would watch it, sure. But that was because I didn’t want the folks on Tumblr spoiling it for me. It was because I thought we were finally getting answers – which is what they teased us with every other week – only to feel so disappointed.

This last year, I made reaction videos for a friend of mine for every single episode. You know what one of the most commonly said things in those videos is? “Well, at least next week’s preview looks good.” Only to be disappointed in that episode, and to say the same thing about next week’s preview, and the cycle repeated itself until we actually got a half-way decent episode (which was usually some kind of finale or premiere, because that’s the only time actual shit can happen – during Sweeps Week).

Over and over again, both online and in person, I compared this to those scenes in cartoons where someone puts a carrot on a fishing pole in front of a donkey, and the donkey runs so hard to reach the carrot, only to never get there.

That’s how this show has felt the past season or two.

It’s only a shadow of what it once was, and I’m tired of it. I wish I could stop watching it.

So many other people I follow on Tumblr have said they’ve either stopped or thought about stopping. By comparison, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and the Walking Dead seemingly increase their viewership every season; the Blacklist has been NBC’s lowest-rated show in the demo for the last year, IIRC. The ratings for the Redemption spin-off were so low, the showrunners tried to pass it off as a one-off miniseries, when it was ALWAYS intended to be its own full-length show.

I understand that the show does well in DVR viewership numbers, and it was the most expensive TV show that Netflix had purchased when Season 1 was released.

But, this show continues to disappoint me. There’s hardly anything I like about it anymore. Hell, even James Spader, who’s a master at his craft, seems to be bored with it. His monologues are becoming more and more cliche, and even his amazing performances can’t save this dumpster-fire.

Its protagonist, Liz, is all over the fucking place in terms of characterization. First, she was naive and learned her “husband” had used and abused her. Then, she went to the dark side, chained him up on a boat and said she’d never forgive him for what he’d done. Then, she apparently forgave him, slept with him, had his kid, tried to remarry the guy, and then faked her death to get away with him and is now living her happy dream life with her little girl and her ‘perfect’ husband.

What happened to the dark, morally questionable, grungy Liz? What happened to the Liz who was jaded and afraid after being on the run for several weeks, or months?

She just settled down with a guy who she used to hate and she’s living the dream.

What in the literal fuck?

And, for all the time that has been invested in Liz, she has made little to no progress in her characterization these past few seasons. In fact, she’s done more of a 360. She’s right back where she started, more or less.

Why should the audience give a shit about her journey if she’s not making any progress? Why should we care that, halfway through this show, she has everything she’s ever wanted?

The side characters, like Aram, Samar, Ressler, Cooper and others are there just to serve the plot. Any time there’s a semblance of some character development or plot progression, the showrunners regress everyone back to Stage One so we can do it all over again. Aram and Samar look like they’re making progress in their possible romantic relationship? Fuck that, we’ve got to make sure Aram runs back to his abusive girlfriend and string this thing along another season! Remember when Ressler got shot, had prescription drug problems, and was in Narcotics Anonymous? Yeah, me neither.

Mr. Kaplan, who was best when she was on-screen to sass and help Reddington once every few episodes, gets pushed into the spotlight for some made-up bullshit reason that had never been discussed or hinted at previous to the “Mr. Kaplan used to work for Katarina Rostova” storyline. And while Susan Bloomaert is a fantastic and underrated actress and did her absolute best to make those scenes between her and Liz feel emotional, I didn’t really care about their dynamic at all because it felt so forced, underdeveloped, and out-of-nowhere.

Whereas the relationship that I care the MOST about – that between Red and Liz – that has been the most built-up and developed over the course of the show keeps getting thrown under the bus as Liz does the whole “love Red, hate Red, forgive Red” song-and-dance routine. She claims she agrees with Red when he tells her not to go back to Tom in Season 2… only to go back to Tom later in Season 2. She’s totally down with asking Red to help her whenever she’s a criminal on the run… but the minute her wedding gets shot up, she yells at him and says it’s his fault.

And now, as far as the Lizzington fans go, which I count myself as one of them, the show has written itself into a corner. Because all the amazing chemistry and romantic tropes throughout the show feel incredibly creepy now that Liz believes Red is her dad, regardless of whether he actually is or not. I don’t care how they try to pull themselves out of the ginormous hole they’ve dug for themselves on that one – why the hell would a woman ever end up with a guy that she once thought was her dad, even if it turned out he actually wasn’t?

And the only real way out of it is the Impostor Theory – a well-written and well-researched theory, but one that makes people have to do fucking mental gymnastics for it to work. You have to assume a lot of people like Naomi and Reddington’s former roommate from the Naval Academy who’s now an admiral, are in on it. Whereas dudes like Finch or the Director aren’t…

Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s a wonderful theory and it explains a lot. But, if it ends up being true, it means one of two things:

1) The writers didn’t plan this from the beginning and lucked their way into it

OR

2) The writers DID plan this from the beginning, which means they have the ability to be really good writers, but then they fell into all this other bullshit – like Liz’s weird arc and other things – which really means that they’re not that good of writers; they just had the one good idea.

And if the Impostor Theory DOESN’T end up being true, in some form or fashion, that means that Red really IS Liz’s dad, and this whole fucking show – Red’s entire characterization, his relationship and dynamic with her – has been a lie. Canon can be throw out the window to rot in the sewer and fuck itself in the interim, because the writers don’t even care any more.

Which, I realize is unfair, because I know there are hundreds of people who work really hard to make this show happen, and while it’s not, like, the worst show of all time, the fact that it had such potential and has fallen so far, almost makes it seem worse than a show that was so bad from the beginning I never invested time in it.

And what makes it even WORSE is that the showrunners continue to act like this is the most groundbreaking show on television, and put it on a pedestal On High, along with the likes of Game of Thrones, The Americans, and The Sopranos… you know, actually good shows.

That would be the equivalent of the Taken director demanding that his movie should’ve gotten an Oscar. It’s like, you know it was a fine movie, and I had a good time watching it, but like, bring yourself back down to earth. Taken is okay, but it is NOT Oscar-worthy material, so get off your high horse, dude.

I guess, if nothing else, it shows that the showrunners, writers and actors are so talented that they got me to invest in the show to the point where I can’t not watch it, even though it’s fallen so far and I feel like it’s nowhere near as good as it used to be. They hooked me and got me to care about these characters and their dynamics so much that, even though it frustrates me week in and week out, I will still keep watching it.

It’s just that, now, I might be doing it with a bottle of vodka, taking shots every time:

Red has a monologue that proves James Spader is too damn good for this show;

Liz is bitchy to Red for little to no reason, while continuing to be lovey-dovey with Tom;

Ressler survives a fight or car accident or some other action sequence with no injuries whatsoever;

Harry Lennix is completely underused as Harold Cooper in an episode, because he only tells his employees to do the obvious… and literally nothing else;

Samar and/or Aram take a step back from getting together, despite hints that they’ve liked each other since Season 2.

So, bottoms up, Blacklist fans!

[divinitions]

Bajillion Questions Meme!

Rules: Answer all questions, add one question of your own and tag as many people as there are questions!

Tagged by @finasol​! Thank you for tagging me! 

1. Coke or Pepsi: I don’t drink sodas, but I guess Coke

2. Disney or DreamWorks: Both!

3. Coffee or Tea: Tea! I can’t really stand coffee ;^;

4. Books or Movies: Definitely books

5. Windows or Mac: Oh, God, Windows hands down. It runs better and is a lot more versatile, and I don’t want my Mac to come crashing down to smoke if it runs any games (which happened to my friend’s acquaintance)

6. DC or Marvel: None, because I’m not a huge fan, but if I must pick, Marvel

7. Xbox or Playstation: Xbox is the one I play more, but I’ve got a good game for PS that I really like

8. Dragon Age or Mass Effect: Uh, both, I suppose. DA2, DAO and the original ME trilogy, but I did not finish DAI (because I found the quests especially redundant, sorry) and ME:A (because I don’t have an Xbox One)

9. Night Owl or Early Rise: More night owl, but I’ve slept for an hour and felt fine, so there’s that

10. Cards or Chess: Cards, because I’ve never learnt how to play chess properly

11. Chocolate or Vanilla: Both, because food

12. Vans or Converse: Converse. I’ve never worn Vans in my life

13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash or Adaar: Lavellan, because let’s face it, you get an egg boyfriend

14. Fluff or Angst: ANGST! Angst all the way! I eat, drink, write, read and breathe angst! ANGST IS LIFE!

16. Dogs or Cats: Both, because why not?

17. Clear Skies or Rain: Rain, because it’s soothing and I have a reason to procrastinate, albeit a weak one.

18. Cooking or Eating Out: Homemade food is good, so cooking is preferable. Eating out is great too, I just have to be more careful.

19. Spicy Food or Mild Food: Spicy food. I grew up on spicy food so if I eat stuff that isn’t spicy, it’s not flavourful enough sometimes ._.

20. Halloween/Samhain or Solstice/Yule/Christmas: Christmas, I guess. I don’t really pay attention to both

21. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: Hot, because I’m used to it

22. If you could have a superpower, what would it be: Control and read minds, because it’d be nice to know what they’re pondering about. Otherwise, time manipulation, because I just wanna slow down and chill

23. Animation or Live Action: Animation

24. Paragon or Renegade: Paragon. I always go for diplomatic/persuasive options more than intimidation.

25. Baths or Showers: Showers, much more convenient and efficient, but a good bath once in a while to destress in is good

26. Team Cap or Team Iron Man: Neither, but if I had to choose, Iron Man. 

27. Fantasy or Sci-fi: Fantasy

28. Do you have three or four favorite quotes? If so, what are they?

“Nothing is true, everything is permitted.”

“Stop right there, criminal scum!”

“The Dragon awaits.”

“In the end, you return to the Gods as nothing (Omne reme a di re na).” -iirc, a translation of a line from the DA2 song Mage Pride

I need to remember all this stuff better

29. YouTube or Netflix: Youtube, because I don’t have Netflix where I am

30. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: None. HP is too black-white for me and while I did like PJ series, it wore down and I got too tired :/ 

31. When Do You Feel Accomplished: Uh, when I BS my way through a paper and get good grades :D

32. Star Wars or Star Trek: Not a big fan of both because I don’t follow them

33. Paperback Books or Hardback Books: Paperback because it’s generally cheaper. But hardback books are prettier.

34. Handwriting or Typing: Both, really. Handwriting when it comes down to writing quotes and typography, but typing for writing my fics.

35. Velvet or Satin: Satin

36. Video Games or Movies: LMAO I think this one is obvious enough

37. Would you rather be the dragon or own the dragon: If I am a dragon, the Dovahkiin can still kill me. But I’m THE Dovahkiin, so I’d own the dragon

38. Sunrise or Sunset: Sunrise, but I’d pick sunset for Skyrim because c’mon, the auroras are stunning :0

39. What’s your favorite song: Currently Troye Sivan’s “There For You”, but I listen to a multitude and they’ll change soon enough. KARD and Dean have great songs too tho, hnnng.

40. Horror Movies, yes or no: Um, I’ll pass.

41. Long or Short Hair: Long. I like it better that way even tho it’s a pain to deal with

42. Opera or Theatre: I’ve never exactly seen any of these so :/

43. Assuming the multiverse theory is true and that every story ever told has really happened somewhere, which one of the movie/book/tv show/game/etc worlds would you pick to travel to first: The Elder Scrolls universe would be great, mainly because I would like to travel across Tamriel, despite the draugrs and wolves, snow bears and mudcrabs. If not, Assassin’s Creed.

44. If you had to eat only one thing for the rest of your life what would it be: Eh, granola. Or salmon.

45. Older guys or young guys: Older guys. I know this is a generalisation, but most are more mature and responsible. Plus, I just can’t see myself with a younger man.

46. If you could erase any show from TV history, what would it be: No opinion on this

47. Singing or Dancing: Both.

48. Instagram or Twitter: I’ve got insta, but tumblr, really.

49. Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit: Lord of the Rings. I liked it better, though I am very partial to it.

50. If you could create either a sequel or bring back any tv show/movie, what would you choose: Eh, none.

51. Who is your movie/tv show character that you are looking up to and why?: None, if it’s TV/movie, but if it’s a game, then the guards in TES IV: Oblivion. They pop up everywhere, anytime, even when nobody’s there. C’mon, that deserves a reward.

52. If you were ever convicted of a crime, what would it be?: Shoplifting a gaming console, the games or taking money from the cash register. Pickpocketing, maybe?

53. Anime- subbed or dubbed?: Subbed, but I like listening to hilarious dubbed ones. Free! for example.

54. City or countryside?: Countryside, especially to those that are very lavish in nature and are situated in terrains that resemble those of Iceland, Alaska or Norway.

55. What book have you read over and over?: Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 

56. What is your personality type?: You see, here’s the thing: I don’t know. The tests chuck back different results. Most likely ISFP but the tests keep saying ISTP - T

57. Would you rather change a moment in time or have a glimpse into the future?: Change a moment in time.

58.) Would you rather have an ex that you hate start dating your best friend, or have an ex that you’re still attached to hook up with someone you revile?: I’d rather just have the latter. I gotta let the ex go someday and it might just be much easier. Not exactly my problem anymore anyway :/

My Question:

59. Oblivion or Skyrim?: Oblivion has better immersion, better thought out quest lines generally (Companion quest in Skyrim was ??????) but Skyrim’s gameplay is great ( + Thieves Guild is a great questline)

Tagging @dxsturbxa, @damnlettuce and @198cm-of-vetra-nyx

[voldiebuns]

Oscars 2018

The Oscars are tonight, who's excited?? I don't tend to watch them except vicariously through tumblr, but I'm actually planning to watch live tonight. Part of it is that I feel like there's a lot of really good films nominated this year, part of it is that I've been getting more interested in the film industry as a whole. Plus my favorite podcast had a great episode about the nominations, plus several about individual nominees (Call Me by Your Name, Phantom Thread, The Post, The Shape of Water, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and various others). I sort of challenged myself to watch as many of the nominations as possible before the Oscars, though as there are iirc 69 things nominated, I knew I wouldn't get through them all. I do think I watched more than most years though, with a total of 7. Which doesn't seem like a lot, but I'm pretty sure I saw like 3 last year lol Most of them I even saw in theaters since I've been watching a lot more in theaters lately. (I will squee about MoviePass in another post sometime lol) I'll likely be liveblogging on my “Oscars 2018″ tag, so feel free to watch me be completely wrong in real time! Which is in not much time at all, wow this post took a long time to do...

Under the cut is my list of watched nominees plus short reviews, and my predictions.

Nominee Reviews

Beauty and the Beast I really only went to see this movie bc my friend had an extra ticket and I was her third string option lol I don't particularly care for Disney films in general and hadn't seen anything to interest me from the previews. I was unexcited about seeing it, and I remained underwhelmed lol I had a myriad of problems with it, from bad costume design (Belle's dress was just so so bad) to uncanny valley CGI (Cogsworth and Lumiere esp) to general boringness (not that that's entirely the fault of the adaption, since it's well, an adaption, but they didn't do anything to help). The only redeeming feature was Gaston and LeFou, both of whom I did really enjoy overall, and I even have complaints about that! Mostly that there was all the hullabaloo about "gay content, le gasp" and there was... none. One split second same sex dance does not gay content make imo. That is paltry rep and I'm not satisfied with that anymore tbh. The Breadwinner I just watched this last week when I happened upon it on Netflix, and I'm so glad I did. It was a beautiful movie, and so so heartwarming/heartbreaking. I was legit crying by the end. The story was wonderful, as was the animation. I tend to do other things on the computer when I watch movies, but I really got sucked into watching. I'm disappointed it didn't get more attention, but I really do highly recommend it. Get Out Just saw this one recently as well after hearing so many good things about it. All of which were certainly deserved. My horror movie experience is not terribly deep, but this was one of the best I've seen. It was so clever and so well acted, it's kind of amazing that Jordan Peele put out such a fantastic movie for his directorial debut. I actually watched Scream, which Get Out has been compared to a lot, on the same day, and tbh this was a much better and more intellectual film. Highly recommended. The Greatest Showman This is actually the only one I've seen twice (so far). I expected to like it since Hugh Jackman and musicals are two of my favorite things, but I liked it so much more than I even expected. Even on my second watch, I was on the edge of my seat for the suspenseful bits and crying for the angsty ones. The acting and singing was fantastic, as was the storyline. I know it deviates a lot from what actually happened, but honestly this movie was so heartwarming and beautiful that I don't even care. My only complaint is that there's been so little attention on the secondary characters, bc I found them so so fascinating! Logan Saw this one the other day after meaning to watch it since it came out. I was... disappointed tbh. I found the plot kind of stiff and confusing, and the acting for the most part was not particularly memorable. I'd heard a lot of good things about this, but I really didn't care for it. Definitely not one of the better XMCU films imo. The Shape of Water If you follow me on tumblr, you may have seen that I was like desperate to see this since I'm a huge del Toro fangirl, and I was really pissed that it took so long to come out where I am. But I finally got to see it and it was just as wonderful as I'd expected!! My only disappointment is that we didn't get to actually see any fish dick lol But seriously, this was a supremely beautiful movie with fantastic acting and fantastic characters. I think that's one of the things I liked best about it, that each of the characters was so distinct and so compelling. Like I had a really visceral reaction to the fingers scene (you should know what I mean if you've seen it...). I was so impressed by that, that the writing and the acting gave such life and depth to the characters and their stories. I was really just enthralled the whole way through <3 Star Wars: The Last Jedi And if you follow me on tumblr, you also know that I hated this movie lol Which was actually really disappointing, bc The Force Awakens was really good and I think that movie set up a really good start for this trilogy. Unfortunately, I don't think TLJ followed through with any of the interesting plotlines that had been set up. Mostly, this felt like an entirely pointless movie to me. It didn't move the plot forward at all really, and I felt it even went backwards (or sideways) on a lot of things. The characters were dull and many of their storylines (esp Finn, which was esp disappointing) didn't really go anywhere or ended up being totally superflous imo. I felt like Rian Johnson was more interesting in making a movie that would get him attention than in making a good Star Wars movie. It feels like just another mediocre white male director being handed the helm of a big franchise and fucking it up bc they have no respect for the franchise or its fans. Honestly, this movie was just so bad that I've lost almost all interest in Star Wars :/

Predictions

Best Picture: The Shape of Water It's gotten so much critical aclaim and already won so many awards, I feel pretty confident in this one. I would not be salty about Get Out winning instead, but although it got pretty great critical acalaim as well, I still think the Academy is still too racist, plus the fact that it's a horror movie, which is not a genre that is generally seen as legitimate in awards circles. Lead Actor: Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour” I had no interest in Darkest Hour since I hate war films, but everyone seems to love Gary Oldman in it. I don't necessarily think it's a deserved win compared to some of the other nominations, but I do think it's the likeliest. Lead Actress: Meryl Streep, “The Post” It's fucking Merly Streep, is there more that needs to be said? Supporting Actor: Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” I don't even know what this movie is about, but ppl seem to be loving it so... Supporting Actress: Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread” By all accounts a fantastic movie and a fantastic actress, though I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Director: “The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro No contest, really, since he's won all (or at least most?) of the other best director awards for the year. And I mean, he's my favorite director, so I'm certainly not mad lol Animated Feature: “Coco,” Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson I abolutely think The Breadwinner or Loving Vincent deserves it more, but I think this is one of the categories where most of the voters will not have watched the movies and it's a Disney movie, so of course it will win. Animated Short: “Revolting Rhymes,” Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer Since it's the only one I've even seen anything about lol Adapted Screenplay: “Call Me by Your Name,” James Ivory The only other one I think that has a chance in this category is The Disaster Artist, honestly. And I think that Call Me by Your Name is such an arty film gives it the boost. Original Screenplay: "The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri have good chances here, too, but again, The Shape of Water has gotten so much acclaim. Cinematography: “Blade Runner 2049,” Roger Deakins Bc apparently Blade Runner is the epitomy of cyberpunk. Which is bullshit and The Shape of Water deserves it more but whatever. Best Documentary Feature: “Icarus,” Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan Really I think it could go to any of them fairly equally, so it's more of a tossup imo. Best Documentary Short Subject: “Heroin(e),” Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Kerrin Sheldon Again, only one I've heard anything about in the category. Best Live Action Short Film: ? I literally have heard nothing so who knows! Best Foreign Language Film: “Loveless” (Russia) Yet again, only one I've heard anything about. Film Editing: “The Shape of Water,” Sidney Wolinsky I think this one's a bit of a free for all, so I just think The Shape of Water should get it lol Sound Editing: “Baby Driver,” Julian Slater Since this is basically the entire draw of Baby Drive afaik. Sound Mixing: “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick I don't think it's deserved tbh, but I think it's most likely. Production Design: “Beauty and the Beast,” Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer Again, definitely not deserved, but everyone went googoo over it's overall shitty production design so. Original Score: “Phantom Thread,” Jonny Greenwood I certainly wouldn't be mad if The Shape of Water won instead, but from what I've seen and heard, I think Phantom Thread has a really good chance. Original Song: “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Benj Pasek, Justin Paul Really not sure whose going to actually win, but I really really think The Greatest Showman deserves it most. This Is Me is a spectacular song. Really, the whole soundtrack was amazing. Makeup and Hair: “Victoria and Abdul,” Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard Really the only choice out of the nominees. Costume Design: “Phantom Thread,” Mark Bridges I mean, it's basically what the movie is about, so it should win. Beaty and the Beast is the most likely other choice since it got a lot of attention when it came out, though I found the costume design there appaling. Visual Effects: “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Chris Corbould, Neal ScanlanIt's a tossup between Star Wars and Blade Runner 2049, but I think the greater nostalgia will win out. Who actually deserves it? Fuck if I know.

[undefeatednils]

92 Statements

So I was tagged by @ravenflawuniverse) and I’m gonna try my best to answer them all :D Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag (up to) 20 people

THE LAST:

1. Drink: carbonated water with lemon juice 2. Phone call: my mom 3. Text message: Tim, one of my best friends (s. below) 4. Song you listened to: I don’t remember, was yesterday xD 5. Time you cried: IIRC two days ago? (Mr Rogers on my dash does that to me)

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: I only ever dated a single person once, so no 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: Yes; when I was like tiny (like idk if I even was in elementary school already) I kissed the hand of a girl who lived opposite us on the street. I can’t remember her name I just remember that it was awkward. Also I still have her Pokémon Blue cartridge. 8. Been cheated on: no 9. Lost someone special: do dogs count? 10. Been depressed: definitely 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: thankfully not

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12-14: darker blues, purple, olive green

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: yup 16. Fallen out of love: no 17. Laughed until you cried: very likely 18. Found out someone was talking about you: no 19. Met someone who changed you: probably? 20. Found out who your friends are: no

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: about 3/4ths  23. Do you have any pets: does my sister’s dog count? 24. Do you want to change your name: I kinda considered changing my middle name but never seriously 25. What did you do for your last Birthday: IIRC nothing 26. What time did you wake up: 11:00 AM (yes, really...)  27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Watching The Young Turks 28. Name something you can’t wait for: next month I’m gonna belatedly celebrate my birthday & go on my first vacation in six years (BERLIN!), so probably that. 29. When was the last time you saw your mom: last time I looked away from my laptop 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: honestly too many things to list... :/ 31. What are you listening right now: the TV is running in the background; otherwise I’m listening to the audio book of A Dance with Dragons, but not right this very moment xD 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: not that I remember 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: right now? not really 34. Most visited Website: YouTube most likely 35. Mole/s: a few 36. Mark/s: stretch marks

37. Childhood dream: becoming a paleontologist 38. Haircolor: dark blond  39. Long or short hair: short-ish 40. Do you have a crush on someone: not really rn 41. What do you like about yourself: I hate this question because I have massive difficulties finding an answer... :/ 42. Piercings: nope 43. Bloodtype: idk 44. Nickname: don’t really have an “established” nickname xD 45. Relationship status: very single (hi xD) 46. Zodiac: Cancer 47. Pronouns: he/him 48. Favorite TV Show: live-action? Game of Thrones or Stargate Atlantis 49. Tattoos: nope 50. Right or left hand: right 51. Surgery: nope 52. Hair dyed in different color: nope 53. Sport: no :p 54. (question wasn’t here) 92 is a lie 55. Vacation: thus far Prague 56. Pair of trainers: the last pair of trainers I owned I bought 7-ish years ago for like 20 Euros at Deichmann, so... I don’t have favorite trainers :p

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: pasta! 58. Drinking: bitter lemon 59. I’m about to: complete a map and eat breakfast 62. Want: money, certainty in life, a relationship maybe..? 63. Get married: possibly 64. Career: *screams in frustration*

WHICH IS BETTER

65. Hugs or kisses: definitely hugs 66. Lips or eyes: eyes 67. Shorter or taller: I’d say shorter (for partners), but I enjoy being tall 68. Older or younger: idc 70. Nice arms or nice stomach: all arms are good arms; all stomachs are good stomachs 71. Sensitive or loud: definitely sensitive 72. Hook up or relationship: relationship 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: hesitant all the way

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a Stranger: nope 75. Drank hard liquor: yup 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: yup; lost my glasses while kayaking in the Rhine (PE was quite something xD) 77. Turned someone down: yeah 78. Sex on the first date: nope (but it’d be ok) 79. Broken someone’s heart: don’t think so..? 80. Had your heart broken: yes, no, kinda...? 81. Been arrested: nope ^^ 82. Cried when someone died: yes 83. Fallen for a friend: all the time

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. Yourself: I’ve been trying and I still don’t... 85. Miracles: no 86. Love at first sight: kinda? 87. Santa Claus: not since kindergarten 88. Kiss on the first date: yeab

OTHER:

90. Current best friend name: I can’t limit myself to just one best friend, so... Tim, Lexie (hi), Lilly (also hi), Maxfield, and Mickie 91. Eye color: blue-ish 92. Favorite movie: Princess Mononoke

And since there’s no way I’m tagging 20 people, I’ll just tag five.

@hella-flawless-amythyst, @fierce-katzchen, @commanderdipshit, @anachronistrocketeer, @drinkingmtndewironically