#personal recommendations

[snailhouse]

Nusagi - Kissanime

The sequel record to 2022's EP MANGADEX, kissanime is first official release by hyperpop artist Nusagi. It blends a meloncholic mix of indie rock, synthesis, harsh noise, and dance music into an emotionally dense anthology of tales of transgender survival.

TW: suicidal ideation, mental health, trauma, homophobia

This is a poingnant record recounting Vanessa's history with familial transphobia, internalized homophobia, and suicidal ideation. I recommend anyone who has dealt with any of these types of traumas check this record out. I won't go into deep detail because TW says it all, but this record is a triumph of survival in an unforgiving world.

if you have the time, please buy the record since its bandcamp friday, and stream everywhere if possible.

on a subjective level, i think this is probably one of the most important pieces of transgender art to come out, period.

[p-perkeys]

I've been out of the loop with X-men comics for more than fifteen years, and actually I was in the loop for a year, maybe year and a half - I'm not from US, so they've been hard to come by. My love for mutants came mostly from cartoons.

BUT. Your fixation on Laura reminded me of my fixation on Laura from the times I discovered that she exists, so I thought you're the best person to ask this: If I wanted to read something recent and good about her, where should I start?

Actually, doesn't have to be recent, just good :D

Hiiii!!! First of all, thank you so much for this ask!! I'm so flattered that you consider me to be a good resource!! I am unhealthily obsessed with Laura haha I could talk about her for daayyyysss!!!!! It's always so fun to connect with other people with the same interests and passions!! <3 <3 <3 I love it!!

Laura's been in so much!! But here's my personal favorites, and they're all things that I feel like are important to her characterization as a whole :)

LOVED NYX (2003) - her intro into comics!! So much angst and trauma and allllll the insight into who she is!

Uncanny X-Men (I'm pretty sure 456 is the first appearance for her here!)

New X-Men (she's not there until the 20s!)was really important - a lot of big moments as she tries to navigate her first time at a semi normal life.

x-23 Target X - SOO important, we see more of her backstory and transition from the facility!

X-Force (2008) MORE TRAUMA AND ANGST. I hate what happens to her here but love the angst from a story telling perspective. You can really feel her slipping throughout this arc!

X-23 solo (2010) It is a beautiful story!! So many amazing things! and SO IMPORTANT to Laura's character development!! Love her and Remy here, love her becoming friends with Jubilee, and LOVE her reallymeeting Akihiro - the start of an amazing story of chosen family!

I like her in Avenger's Academy - to be honest I mostly skimmed. I do like the angst of the brief friendship she had with Finesse though! To me it offers another look at how Laura is growing as a person!

Avenger's Arena was okay - I personally didn't feel like there was a ton of development for her, but it's good if you like angst and it just shows another layer of her slipping through the cracks again. The same with circle of four! I think they're good to read to get into her headspace for when she's introduced in all new xmen.

All New Xmen... I didn't love until it was over. I didn't understand all the things going on, but it made sense after the fact. You do see Laura's first official romantic relationship, and she has quite a bit of development, some set backs, some leaps forward... over all good and I would recommend reading for her overall story!

Wolverines was really good!! It shows the transition of tolerating each other to deciding to be family for her and Akihiro! I personally am OBSESSED with this story and I've read it countless times!!

Her All New Wolverine solo was AMAZING!! Loved this!! There was just so much that happened for her! Gabby, Akihiro, Sarah, Kimura... you get a dose of EVERYTHING and I think it ties the loose strings nicely!!

XMen (2019) isn't a favorite of mine but I do think it's important to read just because a lot happens for her here! It continues into the reboot in 2021 with an older version of her that comes back after she's presumed dead from a mission!

XTerminators is a resounding YESSS!!! Super fun, super cute! She's a little more relaxed and we get to see her reconnect with Jubilee!!

X23 Deadly Regensis was a nice bridge between her leaving the XMen and leaving with Remy in her early days. We get to see more of Kimura and more of what Laura went through!

X-Force (2019) was alright - it was a set up for her current appearance in Sabertooth War, which is also kinda meh lol but it's where she is now!

There are a lot of other things she's been in but I feel like it can get REALLY overwhelming, so these are just, in my opinion, most of her major stories that really showcase who she is :)

As a bonus - I loved her in Trial of Magneto and Deaths of Wolverine strictly for her interactions with her siblings. And there have been a lot of little crossovers between major events too where she just has shown up everywhere haha but I hope I answered your question!!

Please feel free to ask me anything else - I LOVE interactions like this!!!

[mamuttuth]

Do you guys heard about Radiant by Tony Valente? It’s a French fantasy manga with beautiful characters and good humor.

And I thought that Izuku and Seth would be best friends if they met.

I draw them in each other costumes *he-he*

[timetravelingmilkshake]

If analogue horror is your thing, I would hella recommend the children under the house. It's a startlingly fantastic story and I am obsessed with the style and the voice actor is amazing.

[iscariotapologist]

today in church one of the priests referred to trans people as "those who are growing into the gender they were called to be" and i'm kind of enjoying the idea of like....divinely ordained top surgery

[callisteios]

hii i recently fell in love with movies again so i made a uquiz where you can find out which actor would play you in a film about your life.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Hey now, Let her cook!

[twofoursixohjuan]

please elaborate in tags :)

[donutdrawsthings]

Can we talk about this? I feel like not enough people talk about this happening in the movie

[rixareth]

As requested, I have examined my fondness for terrible characters, and I have concluded that I like them because they're terrible and I'm not sorry.

[bixels]

It's crazy how Dungeon Meshi's manga can feel more cinematic and emotional than the anime to me, even when they're practically the same. Compared to the anime, this moment is such a heartbreaking gut-drop. The way Kui uses negative space and flat compositions to create a sense of horrific stillness is so key.

The way the text (Senshi's monologue) is sequestered to an empty corner of a panel or huddled away from the edge of its text box is not only a great way of showing Senshi's headspace (fearful, isolated, dissociating), but creates a visual representation of pause, as if you hold your breathe after each line. The first panel puts us directly in Senshi's perspective too (compared to in the anime, which puts us as an outside observer over Senshi's shoulder). The detail of the door and bricks so effectively implies that he stared at it for so long, waiting and hoping, that its image is burned in his memory. The wood grain, the brick arch, the number of rivets. The lack of dialogue in the second panel shows a moment of realization too –– "he's dead" (also a great example of the Kuleshov effect). And it's that pause that creates a beat and sets a great rhythm to his headspace, like a music rest: "He never came back." (oh god.) "I'm all alone." Finally, the third panel's negative space, cropping Senshi, shows how truly alone he feels. Without his family, the world ceases to exists. Under shock, he traps himself in a 1-foot radius, too scared to even perceive a world outside its boundaries; a world that can hurt him, kill him, make him disappear with it. There is only his body, the stone beneath his feet and against his back, his thoughts, and that awful bowl of soup.

Even though they're a series of flat images, there's an implicit reading of silence in Senshi's realization and horror. Kui influences your experience to slow down and take your time.

Compare this to the anime, which fills every shot with dialogue. The pacing is fast; we never get to sit in silence like we do with the manga. The horizontal frame allowed the boarders to add Senshi, turning the composition into an over-the-shoulder shot, which takes us out of Senshi's POV. They also added a zoom-out in shot one, which adds unnecessary energy to a very somber scene. The tightening on Senshi as a close-up reaction shot also dulls the moment. In the original panel, Senshi stares ahead at the empty space to his left as a shadow surrounds his mind. It not only shows how Senshi's senses are dulling and his world is shrinking (setting up panel three), but shows how terrified Senshi is of what's in front of him, how the air itself becomes pitch black and opaque, how Senshi is surrendering himself to fear. The pacing is understandable and necessary; this episode packed a lot of story content together. It's just a shame because it really (imo) deflated one of the most nauseating moments in Dungeon Meshi.

[ale-arro]

been going a little bit insane about this sentence from Ace by Angela Chen for the past week

[you-were-meteowrong]

reblog for bigger sample size

[mamuttuth]

I’m not old, I’m experienced 👌

Gertrude and Larry now my best friends I love them

[ciderjacks]

thinking again about how much trust he had to have in Laios to recommend his own daughter in case he dies

[mythalism]

solas: uwuuu you disrupted my ritual and trapped me!!! now im stuck here and it’s all your fault wahhh poor little old me stuck in the fade in a prison that i designed myself within my realm that i created where im supremely powerful and can “casually reshape reality” with a thought and i have an anchor that lets me open rifts physically in and out of here BUT NOW IM TRAPPED!!!!! 🥺🥺���😣😰😰

meanwhile solas: