#she actually moves in the frame a lot there’s a pan

[how-serene]

hello hello! <3

could you write for dbd ghostface with a reader who does urban exploration and stumbles upon a murder site? thank you so much!

Are We Tuned In?

Pairing - Ghostface (DBD) X Neutral!Reader

Summary - Perhaps some places are better left abandoned.

Word Count - 1.5k+

Warnings - no use of y/n, gn!reader, swearing, spooky shit occurs, proofread (somewhat), MDNI

A/N - lets both pretend that this request hasn't been sitting in my inbox since june... I had a lot of fun writing for this idea, and it oddly brought a sense of nostalgia as I was reminded of all the urban exploration videos I used to watch back in high school, so thank you for the request <3. P.S I did tweak the idea a little, hope that was okay.

Spring, 2003

Beams of sunlight split through the dark heavy clouds clustering the sky. The air was damp and heavy, a reminder that you only had so much time before the inevitable rainfall. 

“Lennon, hurry your ass up.”

“This shit is harder than it looks, give me a minute.”

You sighed, adjusting the weighted bag on your shoulder that held camera equipment. Lennon grunted, digging his bony fingers under the window that had swelled shut over the years. He gritted his teeth, and pushed his palms up against the splintered frame. It finally lifted with a harsh sounding scrape. 

“Finally,” you groaned, approaching the window. You peered into the room, squinting beyond the shroud of darkness that enveloped the space. It was as if the room was one gigantic hole in the earth, waiting to swallow up the next person who climbed through the window. 

“Did you bring the flashlights?” 

Lennon picked through his backpack, which held loose pins and patches curling at the ends. He produced a flashlight, and tossed it your way. You caught it, and shined it into the room. It was bare, save for a rickety chair shoved into the corner. 

You hoisted yourself up, carefully climbing under the window. The floorboards creaked beneath the weight of your body as you landed with a heavy thud. A thin layer of dust coated the wooden floors, which were discolored from age. Garish, floral wallpaper covered the walls, already peeling and faded. 

Lennon climbed through, muttering to himself. Suddenly, he cried out as his lanky body stumbled forward, nearly face-planting before you reached out. 

“Could you be any louder?” you hissed, stabilizing him. 

He huffed, and shoved your hands away. “Sorry, not all of us have the agility of a fucking cat.” 

You rolled your eyes, and slid the bag off of your shoulder, gently laying it on the ground. Lennon immediately dug out a silver cam-corder, while you grabbed your trusted digital camera. After a moment of adjusting – and assuring that the equipment worked –  you two were ready. 

“Alright,” Lennon said, aiming the camera at you. “Ready when you are, man.” The black lens stared at you like an unblinking eye, prepared to capture every twitch of yours. 

“You know I hate being on camera,” you whined, grimacing at the lens. 

“Just say where we are, and we can move on.” 

With the most deadpan expression you could muster, you caved in. “Today, Lennon and I ventured out to Anastasia Inn, a local bed and breakfast that was forced to shut down eight years ago due to bankruptcy.”

“And murder!” Lennon interrupted. 

You sighed, staring blankly at him. “Nothing was actually proven, just because some lady died in a bathtub doesn’t mean she was murdered, Lennon.” 

He shrugged, brushing off your argument. 

“Let’s just go,” you muttered, shaking your head. You two quietly walked out into the darkened hallway, using the poorly lit flashlights as a guide. The burgundy carpet held intricate designs of flowers, and vines, similar to the surrounding wallpaper. Warm oak doors were scattered along one side. Portraits of animal life and serene landscaping were hung between the empty spaces.

“Jesus,” Lennon whispered, panning the camera down the hall. “You think they could have hired a better designer.” 

It was certainly…overwhelming.  

You snapped a photo of the elongated hallway, illuminating the room with a white burst of light. When the light went out it felt as if the shadows grew closer, stretching around your presence. You stepped back, feeling as if it might actually materialize and touch you. A cold chill ran down your spine like water. 

“Hey, you alright?”

You blinked to find Lennon staring at you in concern, his wiry copper hair like a stain against the dark.

“I don’t know,” you mused, staring down the hall. “Does something feel off to you?” Even shining your flashlight failed to penetrate through the murky blackness beyond. You clenched your jaw, feeling your stomach turn. 

Lennon glanced around, swinging his camera over the walls. 

“It’s an old building,” he said, shrugging. “I would be worried if it wasn’t a little creepy.” 

You shook your head, trying to gather your nerves. A year of exploration and what startles you is a bed and breakfast of all places, you couldn’t help but scoff at the idea. 

Hillside Church was worse than this, you thought. You tightened your grip on the flashlight and cautiously pressed on. Lennon approached one of the doors, it led to a cramped supply closet that held an old, worn down broom and a bucket. Nothing worth capturing. 

You walked past him, your light leading the way toward another unopened door. Your hand tentatively wrapped around the brass doorknob, before pushing it open. 

“Please no racoons,” you whispered to yourself, squinting into the dark room. Your weak light by the doorway failed to penetrate through the room. So you stepped inside, your slick palms gripping onto the camera. It seemed to be a simple office space, as your flashlight shined on a grungy looking desk, with papers scattered over it. Curiosity drove you forward, as you walked up to the desk. 

Bold headlines from loose newspaper clipping stared up at you, with long paragraph stories attached to them. You plucked one of the articles from the desk, peering down at it. 

Revisiting The Roseville Murders: A Decade Later

In 1993, an unspeakable tragedy struck the town of Roseville. A town known for its quaint, close-knit community would soon fall victim to the hands of a masked murderer that very spring. Embark on this harrowing journey with me, as I – Linda Feldman – revisit the grizzly murders that forever altered the town of Roseville. 

“Holy shit,” you whispered, staring down at the desk. The flimsy paper shook in your hand, nearly slipping from your fingers. You turned, eager to share your discovery. “Lennon, you need to see this –”

The door slammed shut, vibrating the wall with its force. You cried out, dropping your light along with the article. 

“Very funny,” you grumbled, picking up the light and stomping over to the door. You pounded against the sturdy wood, feeling your heart lurch with every thud. “Ha ha, funny prank, now open the door!” 

“You alright?” Lennons muffled voice came through. 

“Yes, just open the damn door.” 

The door handle jiggled, as he struggled to turn it. 

“I- I can’t, it must be locked.” 

Your stomach turned at his words, feeling the blackness of the room press against your back. You grabbed at the doorknob, your sweaty palms coating the cold surface. 

“No, no, no,” you chanted, desperately pulling and twisting it. “You better open this fucking door right – Something scraped against the floor just a few feet behind you. Its presence somehow had gone unnoticed when you first entered the room. Now, it was monstrous, filling the corners of the room. They approached, so slowly, the drag of their footfalls echoing against your back. Tears brimmed in your eyes, as you let out a shaky breath. 

“Something is in here,” you whispered, as panic swelled in your chest. Lennon began to ram his shoulder into the door, wincing with every thud. 

“Why won’t it open!” he cried, pounding against it. A violent sob raked through your body, as you helplessly tugged on the doorknob. You could feel its misshapen existence reaching out for you, its twisted fingers just hovering over your waist. Its hot breath now fanned against the back of your head, close and near like a lover. A low rumble came from its chest, as if it were laughing at you. 

With whine the door came open, as Lennon nearly fell into you. You reached for his arm, dragging him down the hall without bothering to glance back. The sound of your thunderous feet resonated throughout the hall, as you and Lennon ran hand in hand. The sound of another pair of feet rushing after you pushed you forward, as if it were the devil himself. You both finally reach the open window, as if it were a beacon of light along a stormy shore. 

“Go, go, go,” you uttered, pushing Lennon before you. He climbed out, his long, clumsy limbs harshly landing on the ground. You soon followed after, pushing your body under the tight opening. Something grasped at the back of your shirt, forcing you to look over your shoulder. A horrid, white mask, taking on the face of a wide-mouthed scream stared back at you. A pair of dark, pitless eyes burned into your retinas, a sight that would haunt the very threads of your heart for years to come. 

You screamed, your face mirroring the one glaring down at you. With a forceful shove, you fell backwards, landing on top of Lennon who groaned beneath you. You wheezed, feeling the air leave your body from the harsh fall. Lennon crawled out from under you, and flopped onto his back. 

“Come on,” you started, pushing yourself up. “We need to get out of –

When you glanced up at the window the masked figure was gone, as if they were never there to begin with. One sentence flashed in your mind, if only for a second. Something you saw beforehand, an article that jumped out from the others among the table of newspaper clippings. It seemed so ludicrous, a silly name that meant nothing to you a few minutes ago. Now it feels like a stain on your mind.  

Who is The Ghostface?

[outer-edges]

chloe bennet at TIFF 2019

[jaune-submissive-and-breedable]

(FemDom) Ruby decided that the Vytal Festival would be the perfect time to broadcast to everyone that Jaune and his 'greatsword' belongs to her and her alone.

Amity coliseum was silent during the fight between Yang & Mercury. Not because Cinder's plan to frame the poor girl, both combatants' eyes locked on the giant screen. As were all eyes in the coliseum. Yang in particular, seeming most distressed. The reason being an outside source had hack into the broadcast and began projecting a special stream from within her dorm.

"You're all set Friend Ruby!" a chirper voice, recognized as Penny Polendina, called out to the young rose. the android holding a camera in facing the center of the room.

The girl in question, upon hearing que, popped into view, cause her friends and family to gasp in shock. She wore a red corset that left her perky tits exposed and black studded stocks with arm length glove to match. And most importantly, nothing covering her plump, and moist pussy lips. Yet, she stood oddly confident with a slight scowl on her face.

"Alright LISTEN UP YOU SCANKS OUT THERE!" She shouted, surprising many who knew the young girl "I want you to take a look at this"

the camera panned over to the nearest bunk. Laying on it was Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR, her sister team. Tied to the bed posts, gagged with a pair of her panties, and very much naked with everything exposed. Most notably, his raging 9in cock, standing proud for the audience, making a lot of women watching the stream blush, wolf whistle or lick their lips at the sight. A certain red-haired Spartan's nose shot a cartoonish amount of blood at the sight. The blonde blushed embarrassed and ashamed when the camera panned to him.

Ruby walked back into view and gestured to Jaune dramatic, "YOU SEE THIS! THIS IS MINE THIS IS WHERE MY BABIES WILL COME FROM!!"

*what the fuck....* Jaune muttered, confusion visible in his eyes.

On que, Ruby lined herself up with his cock, facing the camera with a look of determination and fear.

"Friend Ruby, I don't this he'll fit inside you" Penny remarked as she eyed the solid pillar of Arc meat. A sentiment shared by all who watched the stream.

Ruby huffed and started pushing herself down onto the mass of flesh. Her face red as the bulbous head pierced her tiny pussy, a grotesque bulge forming as she slides down further. A small whimper escaped her mouth as she did. The audience watched with bated breath as she continued to struggle to against the blonde's length. Many, mostly the woman, watching the reaper expected her to give up and move one, but to everyone's surprise, and Yang's horror, Ruby successfully impaled herself onto Jaune's cock with a loud scream and a forceful push down.

Ruby sat there for a while, processing her lost of virginity and actually taking Jaune's monster cock. A grotesque bulge running up her stomach stopping a little above her belly button.

"Friend Ruby, Are you ok" Ruby just nodded, her hands using Jaune's thighs for support, "Are you sure. By the way your stomach is bulging, I think you should.."

"I'M FINE PENNY!" she snapped, slowly raising herself along his length before letting herself fall back down. Blood and sex fluids mixing together.

After a short bit, she began speeding up, finally getting over the shock. Rocking her body against Jaunes, both teens moaning softly. As she did, the bulge in her chest fluctuating with her movements.

"S...SEE.....He was....m...made for my kitty and mine alone!" she stammered, earning a few snide comments from onlookers.

Ruby began riding him harder, her breast bouncing up and down, and bubbly booty producing lewd plaps as she collided with the blonde's hips. Her breath become more rigid and hot, and body producing more and more sweat. Her silver eyes rolling in the back of her head.

"F.....Fudge he's so big!" She whined. She ceased bounce and rolled her hips against his. "Time to kick things into overdrive!"

Rose petals began to appear as her body began moving at impossible speeds. Those that knew her recognized this as her semblance and silently offer their prayers to Jaune. Who now moaned uncontrollably through her panties as he took Ruby's assault. Not stopping for a moment, she spun herself around, giving the audience a generous view of her bouncing bubble butt as it clapped and rippled from colliding with Jaune's hips.

Ruby arched her back and used his chest for support as she grinded her hips into his once more. Her breath wild and feral. She kept grinding till she felt herself getting closer to climaxing. Resuming riding Jaune's cock recklessly, the boy in question groaning as he felt his once climax approaching. She ripped the panties out of his mouth and pressed their lips together in a lust filled kiss.

"R...RUBY......I....I'M GONNA!!!" He cried once they were through with the kiss.

"ME TOO, BABY! LET'S DO IT TOGETHER! SHOW THOSE TRAMPS WHO YOU BELONG TO!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The coliseum erupted with groans, gasps, and moans as the two love birds on the screen climaxed, many of the onlookers began masturbating half way through the broadcast. Many of the females, especially a certain spartan, bunny, and maiden began concocting plans to stealing the blonde knight from the young reaper. While the males felt pangs of jealousy toward him.

Meanwhile in the arena, Mercury knelt down and comforted a crying and horrified yang

"Sh.....SH...SHe USED TO WATHCH SESEME STREET!" she wailed, trying to ignore the screen

"PENNY GET IN HERE! LET'S MAKE THIS SHIP OFFICIAL!"

"SHE USE TO WATCH BLUES CLUES!!!!" she wailed once more.

[blacktofade]

rpf etho gives gem a virtual house tour and ends up in his bedroom ;)

Here's another Gemtho fill! This one is saucy, so don't read at work (or do - I'm not your boss).

--

“I’m just curious if the rest of your house is as cursed as your office,” Gem says, feeling a little seasick from Etho’s camera work as it wobbles with every step he takes.

“Uh huh,” Etho replies from out of frame. “My office is fine.”

“Yeah, it’s just you that’s the problem, right?”

He grunts, moving steadily down the hallway, and she can tell he’s passing by doorways and not giving her a chance to see anything.

“Where are you going?” she asks. “This is meant to be a house tour.”

“Sure,” Etho agrees, and everything blurs for a moment as the camera flicks abruptly to the left.

There’s a doorway, through which Gem thinks she can see a fridge.

“Kitchen,” Etho says before the camera flicks to the right.

There’s another doorway and the corner of a dark gray couch.

“Living room,” Etho says and Gem’s laughing before the camera can even turn again, pointing this time into a room where she can see a sink.

“Downstairs bathroom.”

The next door he shows is closed.

“Garage.”

His footsteps are fast against the wooden floor and it’s clear he’s rushing.

“Stairs,” he says, and she gets a glimpse of his knees, his socked feet, a sweatshirt lying discarded on the landing.

He turns right and she hears the muted thud of him shouldering his way through a doorway before an overhead light flicks on.

“Bedroom,” he says, the footage grainy as he pans too quickly from one side to the other.

But she can see it's sparsely furnished, just enough to be functional. She can also see that the sheets on the bed are dark blue. Though she already knew that. She’s had more than her fair share of photos from Etho with those same sheets shoved down around his thighs.

She’s always liked the way they contrast against his pale skin.

“This wasn’t meant to be a speed-run,” she complains, even as Etho steps closer to the bed, throwing himself onto it without reservation.

“This isn’t what you were hoping for?” Etho asks, adjusting, and he must be leaning back against his pillows, because she can see him stretch his legs out. “I know you, Gem.”

He does. Maybe better than most.

“How am I meant to fantasize about you fucking me over your kitchen table if I’ve never even seen it?”

Etho makes a soft noise and she finds herself smiling, knowing she’s caught him already.

“Or the couch?” she asks, and she sees his hand smooth down his thigh, maybe in an attempt not to touch himself immediately. But that’s not what Gem wants. She actually likes when Etho gets impatient like this. As though he's spent all morning thinking about it and won't be able to concentrate again until he gets what he needs.

“Well,” she says gently, “if you’re not gonna give me that, then at least take your pants off.”

There's a rustle and then the screen goes black, like he's dropped his phone beside him. For just a moment, she thinks about how hot it would be to watch him struggle to get his pants open with one hand, but then his phone gets picked up again and there's a lot of skin on offer.

She loses her train of thought immediately.

“I can go back to the kitchen if you still want that,” he tells her and Gem exhales.

“Shut up, Etho,” she says and he does.

She's sprawled out on her couch in a pair of sweats, which makes it easy to slip one hand down the front, fingers easing into her underwear.

She can hear him breathing and she wants to feel every hot pant of it against her skin.

He's already getting hard and she wishes they were at a point where she could beg to let her visit in person, if only to get her mouth on him.

He gives himself a stroke with a loose grip and Gem grazes her clit with her index finger.

“What are you doing?” he asks and she grins, feeling powerful that he can only see her face.

“The same as you,” she tells him. “But wetter.”

He blows out a breath that crackles through her earbuds, and then the camera shifts.

He must be leaning over for lotion, because when the camera rights itself and he strokes himself again, it's smoother, easier, his skin shining just a little.

She wants to climb into his lap and take him as deep as she can. She wants to feel his shoulders under her palms and ride him until he's pleading to come.

“Are your fingers inside?” he asks, and she wonders what he's imagining in his mind.

“No, but they could be.”

He's quiet, like maybe he’s thinking about that too, his hand speeding up.

“You want that?” she asks, pushing, and he caves almost immediately.

“Yeah,” he grits out and Gem lets two fingers slip inside herself, a soft noise escaping as she does it.

He's fully hard now and he strokes himself like he has only one goal in mind.

She can’t tell what’s lotion and what’s his precome, but the tip of him is wet and she thinks it would be such a nice slide inside if he got to fuck her like this.

She can hear him too, the plap plap as he jerks himself and she knows she’s the only one that gets to hear that. He only does this for her.

She’s the only one who gets to see the inside of his house and she’s the only one who gets to watch him fall apart.

She angles her hand, fucking herself steadily, nudging at her clit with the meat of her palm.

“Wish it was your fingers inside me,” she pants and Etho groans like it pains him that he can’t physically shove her legs apart and give her what she wants.

“I need to hear you come,” he says, voice rough, and he sounds more desperate than he has in a while.

He’s been thinking about this longer than just today.

Gem imagines him waiting, forcing himself not to jerk off, wanting to do it with her instead. It sends a thrill through her and it doesn’t take much to get her the rest of the way there.

She swallows thickly, keening as she slips over the edge.

“Etho.”

She’s still falling when Etho comes across his own knuckles, a grunt punched out of him, and it’s so hot, she feels a little insane.

“Fuck,” she exhales, pulling her hand from her shorts, her whole body buzzing, and she listens to Etho catch his breath, sounding like he’s right there beside her.

She gives him a moment, enjoying the quiet aftermath, but eventually the camera shifts, like he’s reaching for a Kleenex.

He’s a better person than her, because she just wipes her fingers on the hem of her shirt.

“Y’know,” she says, pushing her bangs off her sweaty forehead, “now, I don’t feel so upset that you didn’t give me the full tour.”

He grunts softly and there’s a quiet sound like he’s flopped into his pillows.

For a second, the image on her phone hangs before shifting completely. He's apparently flipped the camera, because she suddenly gets a close up of his face.

She smiles automatically, loving any excuse to see him, the real him, and the corner of his mouth twitches tiredly.

“When you see my kitchen table, it should be in person,” he tells her and Gem’s stomach swoops, but she finds her smile widening.

“Yeah?” she agrees easily. “Deal.”

[wearethewinx]

We don't talk enough about how fucking good the animation for the original Winx transformations is. It's not high budget or high frame rate, but it's incredibly smooth despite that!

There's a lot of technically difficult shots too- Tecna's punches are in excellent perspective, and her hands change pose multiple times while also tilting toward and away from the camera. That's INSANELY difficult, but it pales in comparison to Bloom's floaty twirl. Her body gradually tilts as she turns, with one arm extended toward the camera, which is like- oh my god! that's the shit you hire James Baxter for!

All of the girls have at least one bonkers impressive rotating or perspective shot, actually. Flora floats up into the air with her heels visible and in perspective (Tecna too, which means drawing those complex heels rotating smoothly!), Stella's spin with her hair ties is outstanding, THE CAMERA PANNING UP WHILE MUSA DANCES??? Most of Aisha's entire transformation is one super-smooth rotation shot, and everybody's hair and clothes have good weight and physics too

Also, the hands are meticulously posed, and always detailed. They're almost never left in a neutral position, they're always moving and rotating, frequently angled toward the camera, and they're visible and moving even when they really don't have to be

The likes of Lolirock and W.I.T.C.H. are literally incomparable. They're on par with the absolute best of magical girl anime, all on a budget of Iginio's pocket lint. Those animators are gods to me

[chaoticxbeast]

Interviews at Central Park

Content: April and the guys are messing around making tiktok clips.

"Hi to all our viewers! This is April O´neil, and I´m live here in central park together with the mutant turtles. You remember those guys who saved New York from total ruin?"

She smiled at the camera and spun it around to show the turtles. They were all barely holding in laughter, except for Mikey, who was scowling with his arms crossed over his plastron. But something was off—Leo was wearing Donnie’s purple mask, Raph was wearing Leo’s blue one, Mikey was in Raph’s red, and Donnie had Mikey’s orange.

Raph spoke first, imitating Leo´s batman voice and clenched his fist with a dramatic flair. "I´m Leo and I´m the LEADER. We´re HEROES." Leo elbows him and Donnie covered his maw in a giggle.

"Uh okaaay, Soooo Leo what is your big goal in life?" April said, keeping the focus on Raph.

"To get a girlfriend." Raph said, with a serious face, before breaking in to a little laugh, along with Mikey and Don. Leo´s face flushed red, and he smacks Raph’s arm harder this time.

"April, Lets cut that." Leo said, looking frustrated.

"No, keep going." Donnie said, smiling. "This is good!"

"Just kidding. I meant, my goal is to be an intergalactic hero. And get over my anxiety." Raph said, and smiled at Leo.

Leo rolled his eyes and crossed his arms sulking a bit.

April smiled. "New York needs heroes and well..anxiety sucks. I think our viewers agree with that. Actually they´re sending us lots of hearts right now, thanks guys! What about you Donnie, what´s your dream?" She moved the camera to Leo, who was wearing the purple mask.

Leo panicked a bit, looked over at Donnie with a confused look on his face, and Donnie nodded at him encouragingly, urging him to answer. "You´re me! Remember?"

OH, yeah.." Leo said. "Uhm uhhh....to...watch every anime?"

Don facepalmed. "What? I´ve already done that!"

"Uh to..meet the president!" Leo blurted out nervously, looking like he was hoping he got it right this time.

"Actually I don´t...want..to." Donnie said softly, and stared at him, visibly unsettled.

Raph shook his head at Leo´s cluelessness.

April can barely suppress her laughter as she moves on. "Hokay..So Raph, what is the best thing about New York?" April said, and panned the camera to Mikey, who was wearing Raph´s mask.

Mikey grinned and whipped out one of Raph’s sai, attempting to spin it. It flies out of the frame, followed by a distant scream of terror. Everyone freezes, wide-eyed, before Mikey casually continues, pretending nothing happened. " I love the crime!"

Raph grinned, and nodded, looking exited.

"Actually..I eat crime for breakfast. And i´m hungry for a good fight right now!!" Mikey growled with a bit of grit in his voice. "Also the best thing is all my friends, and my family, I think about them all the time and I loooove you aaaall!"

"Too much.." Raph whispered, looking a little embarrassed at the last part.

April moved the camera to Donatello. "So Mikey, how is life after the big fight with superfly?"

Don then wrapped his arm around Raph and Mikey, pulling them in. "Well I go to school with my brothers and we´re learning all kinds of cool things and we´re just enjoying life. Everything is great. We love all of you, and we´re so happy to be part of your world. Thanks for accepting us and being so nice."

They all agreed, and Leo leaned on Raph, waving his hand at the camera for attention. "That´s so true..but we switched masks for this, just so you know.."

Raph rolled his eyes. "they know!"

April spun the camera around to herself, filming in selfie-mode with the turtles in the background. "That´s all for this time around, remember to hit that follow button and hit like. And remember, leave the crime fighting to the professionals! Stay safe, everyone."

[heatwa-ves]

Wait what is jojos actually about?? Or is there no plot just a bunch of muscular gayboys running around for 1 million seasons?? I have a friend who loves jojos and they keep talking about tarot cards. Also I think they mentioned vampires at one point??

you have opened pandoras box here I'll TRY not to yap endlessly but no promises. jjba follows the joestar family the protagonist of each part are all related and all have a name beginning with jo (or gio. if you're italian) hence jojo. and the first few parts while having some things carry over from previous parts could probably be watched as standalone (tho you HAVE to have seen 1 and 3 in order to watch 6) so. quick summary of each of the parts I've seen (7 out of the 9) (part 9 is ongoing)

part 1 phantom blood (1880s or thereabouts): blonde british bisexual man (dio) is such a bitch ass hater he kills his adopted father becomes a vampire and tries very hard to kill his adopted brother jonathan joestar.

part 2 battle tendency (1920s): jonathan joestars grandson joseph is a beautiful brunette bisexual and he has to kill these four extremely cunty evil guys with the help of another beautiful blonde bisexual who he has a gay little thing going on with

part 3 stardust crusaders (1980s) : stands exist now and it's all dios fault. 100+ years later and he just won't die he's too much of a hater. josephs grandson jotaro goes on a roadtrip from japan all across asia to egypt kicking tarot card themed ass on the way while travelling with the most boring character ever, his xenophobic bisexual grandad, a frenchman with enormous tits and questionable hair, my wife, and a bitch ass dog in order to kill the immortal british blonde bisexual vampire who's ruining everyones life. I don't really like this part or rather I get annoyed thinking about it because it could be good and it isn't but my friend loves it so I guess it's a matter of taste.

part 4 diamond is unbreakable (1999) : prior to the roadtrip joseph (aged sixty something) cheated on his wife with the coolest woman alive and her son is called josuke he's the sweetest boy alive he's my baby brother and I would die for him. there are slice of life hijinks in a weird little japanese town for half this part and a really really good narrative about a kinky serial killer for the second half. joseph adopts an invisible baby he found on the side of the road

part 5 golden wind/vento aureo if you wanna be italian about it (2001) : (my favourite) dios son moved to italy changed his name to giorno giovanna and joined the italian mafia along with the only fictional character I have ever felt genuine desire towards and some other characters I adore. they kick a lot of ass and giorno age 15 becomes the boss of the mafia. it's good I swear

part 6 stone ocean (2011) : (prob my 3rd fav) jotaros daughter jolyne is arrested for a murder she's framed for. she has lesbian hijinks in jail and a priest with an unhealthy obsession with dio the blonde bisexual british vampire (he won't leave us alone) tries his best to kill her because her dad (who she kinda hates and has had nothing to do with in years) killed dio 20 years ago. they escape jail and said priest resets the entire universe. jolyne is one of my favourite characters EVER

part 7 steel ball run (1890) : (my other favourite) johnny joestar an ex jockey meets a random italian man and joins a pan continent horse race from san diego to new york in hopes of regaining his ability to walk. on the way he encounters dios reincarnation (still blonde bisexual and british but a dinosaur now. occasionally) and the corpse of Jesus Christ and kills the president.

[plitaka]

Okay so because I’m gay and mentally ill I have decided to take it upon myself to go through Kafka’s demo frame by frame and overanalyze the shit out of anything I find interesting

It’s insanely packed with blink or you’ll miss it details so buckle up folks- this is gonna be a ride

Right off the bat she starts off with the same coin she also ends the demo with. This isn’t something that’s been part of her character so far nor do I think it has any real significance, so she just brought it to be extra and torment the poor souls she’s planning to slaughter anyway. Annoying dramatic bitch

Also just to get this out of the way now, this is indeed the Belobog museum, or at least its assets. The floor of some of the inner rooms, the staircases, the chandelier and the big golden clock thingy are the same, and in one of the shots you can clearly see the portraits of the former supreme guardians which is. Makes you wonder if they just picked the museum for grand dramatic interior or if she actually had reasons to have business there.

This. This fucking part is probably no longer than 5 seconds and yet, even with the video on 0.25 speed I had to constantly rewind and pause to catch everything and it still probably isn’t 100% accurate. Also I had to cut out a lot things because Tumblr only allows 30 images per post but like, you get the picture

“What do you see” over and over again as images of Rorschach tests flash across the screen so fast you barely have a chance *to* see. Personally I mainly see spider like things and butterflies. Among them are images are some flashes of the robo guards, which to me give the feeling of them getting caught in her web, losing themselves and their control to her mind games and technique.

Something else worth nothing is that this sequence is kickstarted by her throwing the coin and ends with it still in her hand, just thought that was an interesting choice

Before moving on to the next point, however, I want to point out the obvious irony of her telling the guards “don’t be afraid”. Truly words to hear from the woman who is incapable of feeling fear. And what is the name of the demo? Dramatic irony. We’ll get back to that.

Anyway, after that we see the camera pan away from her and over the guards as she uses spirit whisper. The camera movement is accompanied by a single rose petal that starts from Kafka and flies over the guards, which kinda feels like the visual representation of spirit whisper, a gentle rose petal innocently brushing across them as if carried by an invisible breeze

I wanted to make a joke about how her bounty is as large as her strap but seeing as I’m restricted in the number of images I can put I’ll just state the obvious and say she has the largest known bounty of the Stellaron hunters. I’m going to guess the only one higher than hers is Elio’s.

can’t be 100% sure this is what’s going on here, but the imagery makes it look like she’s taking a nice calming stroll and playing Vivaldi in her head while letting the guards slaughter each other, either by controlling them with her strings or with spirit whisper

Dozens of hands reaching out for her, trying to grab her as she’s cocooned in a vulnerable state, pupils visible. I’m sure we’ll eventually get an ingame explanation as to what’s actually going on with her eyes, but for now I do think this is a VERY interesting time to show them. She’s in a compromising position, she’s cornered and vulnerable, but she’s confident and cocky and always, always in control. To anyone else this would be horrifying, but she can’t feel fear, why should she care. Like genuinely this is terrifying imagery that in media is more often than not used to showcase or symbolize sexual violence of sorts and personally makes my skin crawl. I don’t want to get too much into it here I think it needs its own separate post, so for now I’ll keep it short and say that up until now, her pupils have only been shown in situations where she’s at a physical disadvantage (held prisoner at the divination commission, whatever this is etc)

Something a bit lighter to focus on is what she’s saying; “the silk is too fragile to be a treat… unless you’re more fragile than the silk.” Symbolism aside she always seems to refer to silk when talking about fragile things, which we know are, in her opinion, the most beautiful. I really don’t think she’s referring to herself here seeing as the next scene demonstrates she’s far from fragile, so I think she does mean it in a much more literal way and is talking about a spider web; too fragile to capture humans, strong enough to capture its intended prey, this being weaker bugs. All in all she’s probably insulting them by comparing them to bugs weaker than a fragile silk web.

Nothing much to say about the fight scene other than that it’s incredibly choreographed and confirms that Kafka is strong enough to roundhouse kick a guy in the head (god I wish that were me) and do backflips in midair while firing her guns. Also the elevator counting down the survivors as their forces dwindle is fucking rad.

“Destiny has thousands of faces, why does it choose to wear this one?” In the context of the scene this reads to me as her mockingly lamenting the guards’ fate as she beautifully takes them down one by one, but it’s also one hell of a peculiar sentence from someone working for a guy who supposedly sees destiny and directs his followers according to that. She’s a nihilist, everything is predetermined in her eyes, she’s one of destiny’s slaves, but destiny also has thousands of faces? Is she really so nihilistic that even her own worldviews are contrasting in her eyes? As I’m writing this it makes me think of dadaism more than anything else. To quote from wikipedia: “an early 20th-century international movement in art, literature, music, and film, repudiating and mocking artistic and social conventions and emphasizing the illogical and absurd.” Kafka herself in an artist in many ways; she’s an actress first and foremost, always dramatic and theatrical, following a script to a T. But she’s also a musician, everything about her steeped in classical music and references. Anyway, dada is an absurdist nihilistic movement, and you know which real life author known for his absurdism lived and wrote parallel to the Dada? Franz Kafka.

Genuinely Idk where I was going with this I just thought it was worth sharing, MOVING ON-

Neat way of visualizing what I’m assuming is supposed to be her spirit whisper. Also I’m extremely stingy with images (thanks Tumblr), but if you slow down the video around 1:17 you could see that the shot of her katana very quickly flashes into another spider, just wanted to mention that.

These are all narrative screenplay terms that flash by in like a millisecond each after the big ult (that, btw, has a similar shot saying ‘intermission’ right before she casts it but it flashes by so fast and with such bright colors that I couldn’t take a proper screenshot of it) and shown on the Belobog Museum’s projector. The most interesting one here imo is Oneiric Structure; “a cinematic story using dream like visuals, exploring the structure of dreams, memories, and human consciousness”, very fitting considering how much of her abilitieseing how dramatic irony is yet another narrative device.

All these movie terms and framings, however, feel to me more like a wink to Kafka’s roots than anything else. This is the third time she’s been tied to movies somehow (the web event, one of her leaked messages that actually mentions how she’d hate for her life to be turned into a movie), and this is one time too many for me to stop denying that the inspiration for her character was at least in part Makima from Chainsaw Man. I won’t elaborate too much not to spoil the 3 people unfamiliar with csm, but this whole thing feels like a homage, a love letter to Fujimoto’s own love letter for cinema.

Also she *is* an actress following a script, so there’s that as well.

The demo ends with her taunting the one remaining guard with the very same coin from the beginning, flipping it in her palm and asking the guard to guess the ending with heads or tails, prefacing it by saying “sooner or later, the curtain has to fall”. To me this indicates that she sees life as kind of a one gigantic play, with no fear and no value for human life everything is a performance to her, it doesn’t matter beyond what’s happening on the stage in the presence. But also the way this is all framed makes it very easy to assume she’s actually talking about the end of the guard’s life, and asking him how he thinks this encounter between them will end, lol.

Another thing about the coin that Meadows mentioned “her flipping the coin over and over is both like, play with fate, a distraction (like, think in movies, you see someone flipping a coin your eyes are drawn to it and not the sleight of hand happening elsewhere), and ofc her clear obsession with vintage shit”

This has been it from me for now, too dead to properly edit through this rn so I’ll probably go back and add some details once I’m feeling better. Would also love for anyone to chime in with their own conclusions since this is just one person’s interpretation. Especially if you have more knowledge than me about classical music and have ideas regarding the use of Vivaldi’s winter

[bengiyo]

Jack o' Frost Ep 6 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Last time, things finally came into the open, and Ritsu made the only choice he could: he ended things with Fumiya. Still, the birthday scene that led into the couch make out was incredible. This show is the first time I've ever enjoyed an amnesia plot, and I'm excited for this finale.

The little brother is very attractive.

The leads are playing the tension of this separation so well. Fumiya being considerate just doesn't land after everything that's happened, and looks like the last hope it is.

Of course the neighbor knew about their problem, and she is here to meddle!

Wanting to forget a relationship because it was painful is relatable, but the experiences we've had with others are part of who we are.

I like that everyone around them roots for their relationship. It makes everything Fumiya did a little bit easier to accept, because you know that there was a time when they were really good.

I love when we pan the camera to see characters just missing each other. It never gets old.

I like how Ritsu hasn't been center framed in a while. Makes it feel like he's a bit off. Meanwhile, Fumiya is centered because he knows what he needs to do.

I really like the style of art Ritsu makes.

Oh look at that. Ritsu moved into the center frame as he started to remember his history with Fumiya.

I don't care that the frost is fake. It's used perfectly.

Okay, but Ritsu remembering their actual first meeting that Fumiya didn't is actually so romantic.

"Thank you for remembering," also got me. Goddamn.

I'm really loving the way they use the lighting every time they go to this diner.

What a gentle finish for this show, and maybe the MBS BL Project.

Final Verdict: 10, Highly Recommended. I've been giving out a lot of tens lately, but so many shows have completely delivered on their premises! This show actually made me appreciate the amnesia trope (one I usually loathe) by combining it with something I've been begging for: stories about queer people staying together. Ritsu and Fumiya had some pretty big problems, but they cared about each other so much that their own community wanted them to try to figure it out. That's just so lovely.

I'm beyond thankful that we completed this year of BL by focusing on a couple that worked out after starting off at a crisis moment. I sincerely hope this isn't the last we see of BL from MBS, because I've enjoyed this experiment in Mr. Unlucky, Senpai, Takara and Amagi, Eternal Yesterday, Candy Color Paradox, and Jack o' Frost. With the bonus content from Utsukushii Kare, MBS gave me so much to enjoy

While I admittedly was harsh on some of these shows, I am so glad we went on this journey. Thank you all for joining me.

[artdecosupernova-writing]

OC Kiss Week Day 7: Dare

WIP: Partners Pairing: Ben x Reagan Timeline: about 1957 I think, so between PI and PII, closer to PII. it's the direct aftermath of a Within Ten Years piece I've yet to write CW: none Rating: T Words: 1,458

***

Ben was surprised to hear Reagan up and puttering around in the kitchen as soon as he did. He glanced at the clock on the console table in the hallway as he passed and confirmed that it was, indeed, bordering on eight in the morning.

He stepped into the archway of the kitchen in the middle of an intense stretch, his arms above his head and hands knocking painfully into the top of the frame.

"Fuck," he grunted, wringing his fingers.

Reagan poked his head out from behind the refrigerator door and lifted his eyebrows at him. "You're up early."

Ben took a precursory glance at the stove and the counters, upon which laid a delightful spread of the early stages of breakfast. Two pans on the burners, ingredients for blintzes, packages of lox and cream cheese, as well as the carton of a dozen eggs Reagan had been digging in the fridge for a moment ago.

"I'm up early? Faye and Abby aren't even up yet, boy." Ben stood in the center of the kitchen, frowning at the pat of butter melting in one of the pans. "Have you opened my house for business or what?"

Reagan closed the fridge and tossed a brand new butcher's parcel on the counter along the rest of the breakfast items. "Sorry. Been craving a bacon sandwich real bad."

"Is this all for you?"

Reagan's brow pinched as he tossed the butter in the pan. "When have I ever done anything just for me?"

"Oh, I dunno, maybe all those times you went to bed with women who weren't your wife?"

Ben expected Reagan to take that less than well considering the circumstances of him staying the night at the Murray house. In all honesty, Ben felt a strong pang of regret the instant the comment left his mouth, but before he could self-flagellate, Reagan broke into a wide grin and picked out two eggs.

"You're right," he said sincerely. "Won't have to worry about that for much longer, will I?"

Sighing, Ben lowered himself into a chair at the table and rubbed his hands over his face. "You didn't really explain what happened."

"I didn't even get into the house." Reagan left the eggs to fry in the pan and crossed the kitchen to pour them both mugs of coffee. "I checked the mail and the thing was there. Then I came straight here."

"And you're sure they're divorce papers?"

Reagan scoffed. "I read them. Petition, summons, the whole shebang."

"Son of a bitch," Ben muttered. He slumped in his chair. "What's she asking for?"

Reagan set a mug in front of Ben. "Surprisingly, not a whole lot. Just enough money to buy a house with Frederick, I'm assuming, and—"

"Wait a fucking minute," Ben interrupted sharply, lifting his head from the hand propped up on the table. "Frederick? Is she..." He clutched his mug almost too tightly. "Is that what this is about?"

There was a moment when Ben thought he'd actually gone too far. Reagan leveled him with an out-of-character dark stare that reached into his chest with a needle and pierced his heart as if it were a water balloon. Then Reagan turned to put the percolator back on the counter as if nothing happened.

"She'd been reconnecting with him since we moved to L.A.," he said, portioning the bacon onto the pan with the eggs. "Small world, isn't it? Finding a childhood friend from Iowa living not too far from us all the way over here in California."

"What about Charlotte and Brady?"

Reagan bustled about, clearly distracting himself with the creation of the blintzes. "She's petitioning for full custody."

Ben gritted his teeth, digging his fingernails into the flesh of his cheek. "Meaning you'll only be able to see your kids on holidays and the odd weekend."

"She'll have the more stable household. She's got Frederick now, she'll have money for a new house...she's being very smart about this. No judge worth his salt will let me have shared custody."

Gulping down an angry mouthful of coffee, Ben shook his head. "You're a fucking celebrity, Reagan."

"A celebrity who's known around the world, quite publicly and to his own wife throughout the thirteen years they'd been married, as a man who could not for the life of him keep his dick in his fucking pants, Ben."

"You think she'll use that against you?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Reagan shot a cynical grin at Ben over his shoulder. "Why the hell wouldn't she? Wouldn't you? Wouldn't anyone in their right mind use that against me or anyone else?"

Ben felt a weight crushing his chest, around the same spot where Reagan had popped his heart. "You..." He suppressed a growl of frustration, instead squeezing his eyes shut and taking a calming breath. "Yeah. Under normal circumstances, yeah, you're well in the wrong. But the first time it happened, you told her right away, and she made it clear that—Reagan, she made the fucking deal that you wouldn't sleep around when you were at home, and as far as she knows, as far as I know, you've kept to your end of the goddamn deal!"

"I was out of my mind, Ben," Reagan said firmly. His shoulders tensed as he mixed ingredients together in a large bowl. "I was off the fucking hinges to think that was acceptable."

"So you would've just...did it in secret, then."

Reagan was silent for as long as it took to toss another pat of butter onto the second pan. "There's just no hope that I could've behaved myself, is there?"

Though the question lanced Ben's heart yet again, he could not lie. "I love you more than practically anything else on this Earth," he said softly into his coffee. "Almost but not quite more than I love my own child. She's only two, though, so give it time."

Reagan snorted.

"Despite how much I love you, I can't sit here and tell you that this was never gonna happen. People just...don't understand what you're going through, and they're always gonna assume you're just a selfish prick who wanted to have his cake and eat it too. Carolyn probably didn't get it. Or, she got it until she realized there are other options than sitting at home while her famous husband fucked fans around the world. Either way..." He cringed. "Actions have consequences."

"Yeah." Reagan plated his eggs and seemed to realize only then that he planned everything out quite poorly, breakfast-wise. "...I gotta let the blintz mix sit."

"Get your bacon cooking and I'll deal with the rest," Ben said, standing to join Reagan at the stove.

"It's not...too bad," Reagan said half to himself as he flipped the bacon. "I'll be able to see my kids when I can, and I've got you...and by extension, Faye and Abby. I'll still have Adrian, my career, my house...my car..."

Ben shrugged, beginning to spread cream cheese on a bagel. "You'll always have me. You'll always have me. You'll have me and my family, my mother and the Jersey family, you've got your family in Ireland...you're not alone. I have complex feelings about your situation with Carolyn, but that's not news to you, and you know I'm in your corner regardless."

Reagan hooked an arm around Ben's waist. "Look at me."

Ben did so, unsurprised to receive a firm kiss in response. They smiled at each other, and Ben caught sight over Reagan's shoulder of Faye entering the kitchen at that exact second.

"Here we go," she said resignedly at the display, grabbing a cup from the cupboard.

Reagan laughed. "Heard you coming."

"I'm sure you did." Faye gestured to the foodstuffs. "Need help?"

"Not at all," Reagan cut in before Ben could say anything. "We've got it from here. Take care of the baby and we'll be fine."

Faye made an impressed face at Ben and took her coffee out of the kitchen.

Ben, on the other hand, watched Reagan's face closely. He didn't miss the flex of his jaw muscle or the uncomfortable shift of his eyes over his bacon, and Ben's stomach sank quickly and heavily into his feet.

He reached over to snatch Reagan's chin in his hand and forced him to look him in the eye.

"Stop," he demanded. "Stop overthinking."

He knew he hit the nail on the head when Reagan pinched his bottom lip between his teeth, his eyes dropping to Ben's for a gut-fluttering moment. "Funny comin' from the Olympic gold medalist in overthinking."

Ben slapped him, earning another loud bark of laughter. They continued to cook breakfast, eating with Faye and Abby and forgetting, for just a little while, what lay ahead for Reagan.

[edgy-ella]

A new era begins!

(It’s hard to hear, but Sebastian said “criiiiinge,” which is why I told him to shut up)

I’ve wanted to play Sonic 06 for a long time. Not because it’s good, obviously—this is one of the most infamous video games of all time, perhaps the most to come out of the new millennia. No, I wanted to play it because I felt obligated to.

Of course, everyone “knows” 06 is bad, but how many people have actually played it? I hadn’t, and I don’t think it’s fair to shit talk a game no matter how bad its reputation is. I mean, I have my fair share of games that I like that have been critically panned as well as my fair share of games that I dislike that have been critically praised. No amount of lets plays and reviews can substitute actually experiencing a game for yourself. So, play it I shall. I also see it as a sort of hazing ritual as a Sonic fan.

A few years back, I got a used copy of the game on PS3 at GameStop for $10. Problem was, I didn’t have a PS3 to play it on. I thought one of my friends had one, but it turns out that she has basically every Sony console except the PS3 (as it truly had no games). This turned out to be a common trend with more and more people. But now, finally, I have a console to play it on—the PS3 at my college’s gaming club. So every Friday from 5-7 from this day on, I’m gonna be playing Sonic 06 until I beat it.

(A lot of people have asked me why I don’t just emulate it; you don’t understand. This isn’t just any game. This is Sonic 06. I don’t want to even for a single second blame any of the game’s…quirks on my computer’s poor specs or the emulator not being properly optimized. I want to play 06 the way God intended.)

After having played through Sonic’s campaign up to White Acropolis, I can say that it’s definitely the worst mainline 3D Sonic game that I’ve played. Wow, shocker I know. But, I think there’s a lot more to talk about here than just saying “game bad” and writing it off entirely. As someone who grew up hearing horror stories about how bad this game was, it is absolutely fascinating to analyze now that I’ve gotten a chance to actually play it.

I don’t think that Sonic 06 is inherently a bad game. A lot of its biggest issues are technical—the camera is awkward to control and often gets stuck, Sonic‘s physics paired with the awful camera make him a chore to move around with (though I don’t think he feels as sluggish as I’ve seen some people say; it’s more that everything else is fighting against him to make him feel slower than he actually is), the frame rate is HELLA inconsistent, yadda yadda yadda. With all that being said though, I don’t think the game is full of bad ideas, just bad execution.

The level design so far is okay. I’ve played through worse levels in a Sonic game, but I am also not very far into 06. Once again, the poor technical performance of the game is what holds the levels back, not their layout or geometry. Fun loop de loop sections are held back by Sonic being flung off them into the ocean because he was one degree off center, and the game doesn’t correct you on it like in similar parts of other Sonic games. I think the Mach speed sections would genuinely be a welcome addition to Adventure style games if Sonic had better handling (especially in the air). So the ideas there aren’t inherently awful, it’s just their execution (though you could argue that Wave Ocean plagiarizes Emerald Coast enough to say that the level design is lazy for taking so much from a level in a previous game).

Perhaps my most controversial example of this good idea, bad execution philosophy is with the boss fights.

Let’s talk about Silver.

The first boss fight against Silver is one of the most memorable things from Sonic 06. When people talk about the game, if they don’t think of the cutscene where Elise kisses Sonic or the more recent Real-Time Fandub, this is what they think of. It’s no use!, Silver’s voice line where he grabs Sonic in this game, ended up becoming something of an unofficial catchphrase of his (though the comics often have other characters say it to Silver instead). I remember seeing multiple Top 10 lists back in the day where this fight ranked among the worst video game bosses of the 2000s. Not just for Sonic. For all video games of that era.

Needless to say, I was not optimistic going into the fight. I expected to get stuck, to rage, to curse the day Italian hedgehogs ever gained telekinesis. But I have to say…

The fight really wasn’t all that bad.

Granted, I had hindsight on my side going into it. But for a fight that I expected to suffer through death after death after infinite loop after death for upwards of twenty minutes, I ended up getting through it in a little less than five minutes. And I know that exact number because I had someone else at club record me playing from the second Silver showed up in the cutscene to the second I saw my A Rank after I beat him.

(In case anyone’s wondering; I don’t want to post the video since other members of the gaming club appear throughout it, and I don’t want to publicly post a video of any of them online without their permission)

The fight is annoying for sure, but that’s more the fault of the game’s preexisting issues. Sonic's poor physics and camera control really work against you in boss fights. But this is nowhere near the worst boss fight in a Sonic game, let alone of any game in the 2000s.

Now that I've actually played through the fight, I can kinda see what the devs were going for here. You start out right in front of both Silver and a circle of rings, both of which you are naturally drawn to run towards. This will prompt Silver to grab and throw you when you get too close to him, but the timing of how long it takes each of you to reach the circle of rings means that you should have at least one ring on you before Silver catches you. The devs likely wanted to use this as a way to safely teach you how to fight him: keep your distance and wait for him to pick up something else so he can't pick up you.

This is a fine idea in theory, but there's a few things that hurt this approach:

1) It's extremely unlikely that you will beat Silver on your first try. The more you replay the fight, the more you are conditioned to avoid Silver—meaning that you will want to avoid the circle of rings he spawns right in front of at the start of the fight. This makes it much easier for Silver to come in and one-shot you, since you most likely won't have any rings to back you up. I fell into this trap once, and I'm sure there's video evidence of a bunch of YouTubers doing the same. Though, with that being said, there is a Ring container in the southeast corner of the arena (if Sonic starts facing north), so if you’re clever you can book it there at the start of the fight. Which is easier said than done, because of…

2) THE CAMERA. Once again, the game's awful, awful camera control really bite you in the ass for boss fights. This was also an issue I had with Egg Cerberus, but Silver's smaller character model and faster attacks really elevate the issue. Since there's no way to lock onto Silver and turning the camera is so clunky, he will often manage to sneak up behind you and grab you before you have a chance to find him. In that sense, Silver almost feels like an enemy in a horror game here; you'll move the camera around a little bit, get jumpscared when Silver comes into frame, and hope you react fast enough to not get instakilled by him.

3) The homing attack has a habit of locking back onto Silver even when you try to homing attack away from him, so keeping your distance after you hit him once isn't as easy as it should be. This isn’t that big of a deal because you can just drop down and walk away from him, you just really need to fight muscle memory to avoid it

Once again, this is a case of 06 being hurt by its execution and technical implementation rather than just being full of bad ideas. There’s other examples of that in the fight too, like Silver desperately needing a cooldown after he grabs and throws you. This would fix the infamous loop where he traps you against the wall as well as the problem I ended up running into where he throws you towards the sky then grabs you again before you can reach the ground and grab more rings.

Is Silver secretly the best boss fight in Sonic history? No! But I understand what the devs were going for with this fight. If the camera and controls were more polished, I don’t think anyone would think twice about fighting Silver, wall loop or not. I can see why the Project 06 mod has been lavishing in such high praise from the fandom; buried underneath 06's rushed, sloppy coding is a solid framework.

So overall I’m…cautiously optimistic for the rest of the game? I can’t believe I’m saying that about Sonic 06. Sure, the physics and camera is a mess, but the game isn’t unplayable like so many others have claimed in the past. Maybe it’s because I have a soft spot for the adventure games, but I’ve played worse games than this. I understand that the worst is yet to come, like Silver’s ball puzzle or the multiple one hit kills in the Final Story, but hey, if getting past “one of the worst boss fights in video game history” was a cakewalk for me, then maybe being pessimistic about the future is just no use.

The story is still hot garbage though lol

[animehouse-moe]

Skip and Loafer Episode 3: Dreamy and Sparky

P.A Works and Skip and Loafer have really been getting off on the right foot with the start of this season as they continue to build and expand upon a wonderful story and work to further hook viewers and convince them that this is a good anime, great even. Though, much like how Skip and Loafer likes to try and keep things close to grounded, this episode serves as a bit of a reminder that P.A Works isn't going to deliver perfect episodes for the whole season.

So, what do I mean by perfect? Well, the direction of this episode is a bit more "bland", on average. The majority of the episode is rather standard direction, and is peppered with really outstanding work. It's one of those things where you say "Oh man it's a really good episode" because it averages out to that. Really, the direction is the only thing that appears disparate in this episode though, so not anything to worry about, but it's one of those things you notice and you think "huh, a lot of panning and plain shots today".

In spite of that, we get a lot of really great shots from the episode, some that lean into character isolation, and others that focus on a scene in its entirety, and all of which derive their value and quality from the point in the story, so I'll save the images for later

How I about I start with comedy? The actual comedy (not the stuff the characters find funny per se) rests very much with the delivery from characters like Mitsumi. There's reactions and somewhat standard effects for it, but it really does come from how the characters can get the comedy across. That said, having some cute and fun visuals certainly doesn't hurt, right?

The series has been really mindful of how Mitsumi views things, and the comedy and substance of the show plays into it quite well. Take this aged up version of Mitsumi talking about her "time" on the student council (even though she's not a part of it yet). It's just an extrapolation of Mitsumi's imagination, much like the spacemen and alien are, and gives a great idea of how she thinks and acts.

Now, just to nerd out a little, I really liked the effort they put in to it here. The camera's moving somewhat slightly and the framing and everything really sells that "on the move interview" feel that they're going for.

Alright, random little bits out of the way, now to get to the heart of the episode, and I'd say there's a good bit.

Starting it off, we get a new character added to the group (that's in the OP), Kurume. She's shy and rather socially awkward and a "geek", so she's got a hard time with how abrasive Mitsumi is, and struggles in the presence of popular people like Shima and Murashige. She definitely adds to the comedy a decent bit at the start since she sells Mitsumi as the "school boss" almost as well as Mitsumi does herself, but I really like how she's shown when she goes to Starmax with Mitsumi and Shima.

The piece that gets me from this interaction is the cups. Mitusmi and Kurume get the same drink, but throughout the interaction we can see the differences in how much each has drank of it. And no, they don't just leave it for the big reveal, throughout the conversation we get to see little pieces and glimpses of it as well which is a very nice detail. Though of course, the actual shot of the drinks is far prettier than randomly spotting it in conversation.

The conversation is a really nice piece to express Kurume's social anxiety, and how much she wants to leave it behind, and works really well next to Mitsumi since she has a similar piece of social ineptitude. Personally speaking, I feel like it goes to show how similar yet disparate the two girls are. At heart, they both want the same things but they end up expressing themselves differently over it due to upbringing and differences in life.

Switching gears back to direction, since it'll be a repeated point throughout, I really like how wide and panning shots are not an excuse from P.A Works to limit animation or motion in a scene. Most of the time they're used to stimulate those effects, but here it's more of a stylistic choice than anything. (Please forgive the quality, this is the best I could manage)

Moving on, to the latter half/aspect of the episode, we get a friendly outing for lunch and a movie, which Kurume originally intended for to only have a +1, rather than a whole friend group. I think it's a fun little interpretation of how an introvert gets captured by a group of friends, and explores the social anxiety of larger outings where the content of it isn't as controlled as it would have been with a smaller group.

One of my favorite bits about them going out for lunch and being in a larger group was the overlap in conversation. I don't know if it was in the manga, but having layers to the chattering going on at the table was a really nice addition. It both helps the overall setting seem more normal, while also establishing some of the dominant/favorites within the group for certain people.

At the same time it shows the isolation and concerns of characters as well. Take Kurume and Murashige, for instance. Murashige is trying to make small talk with Kurume and bring her into the friend group (bless her soul she's such a nice girl), but Kurume is still afraid of it and weary of Murashige, so we get scenes like this.

It's really nice detail in terms of body language. Murashige is trying to bridge the gap between the two of them by leaning closer to make things more personal, but Kurume is taken aback by it and moves to re-establish that distance. It happens a few times and is a nice little detail to insert into something that deals with social conventions and interactions so heavily.

In the same restaurant scene we get more of Egashira which is nice. The story does very well with their character here and heightens their insecurities and negative personality traits very well. It forces Egashira into isolation because she herself does it, but paints it as if it were some exterior force. I mean, she's doing all she can to get the attention of Shima, but he's not batting an eye? It expresses that type of girl that's focused on boys really well, and highlights the tradeoff that occurs with that sort of tunnel vision. Alongside that, I just appreciate how they don't move to vilify Egashira. It's a very easy thing to do and something that ends up very common as a trope in this sort of series, so moving away from it to focus on the more substantial aspects is really nice.

That sort of understanding is what leads to shots like this. Egashira is talking with Shima like she wants to, but conversation at the table shifts away from her as a general topic takes over, isolating her from Shima as she can't seem to find a way to get into the overall discussion.

It's just really great at selling social interaction through a visual medium, it really gets it. Like this piece. Yeah, it's Egashira isolating herself, but it only occurs after she compares herself to Murashige. It's really lovely how well they grasp the difficulties of high school and relationships, and how much they continue to comment on beauty standards and requirements for women, and this case, younger teenagers.

Anyways, movie time! There's not really a lot going on here, but I love the interaction between Murashige and Kurume here. They get a little bit rough on their way over in Kurume attempting to drive a stake between them so she can isolate herself, but Mitsumi manages to repair things (although inadvertently). Thanks to that, we get a really cute scene where Kurume apologizes to Murashige over text (both because they're in a movie theater and because she's nervous about it). It also gives us this really nice shot.

This episode didn't have as stellar work on average when compared to the prior two, but there's really great pieces like what's above that give it a leg to stand on. Sure, there's not a huge amount of great direction that's consistent through the episode, but there's also just as many standout pieces that it deserves credit for.

Speaking of consistent direction, the layering of this episode is really nice. The group is shown to be separated and compartmentalized really well through stuff like dialogue, interaction, and even seating. It does a lot of work to establish the formation of cliques and subgroups within, while (like I said earlier) helping show where the strongest friendships lie. Just simple things like how the group walks from A to B sell it.

Now, what I really like here is how things are presented and flow into the next piece. We see Mitsumi hovering in the middle since Egashira took Shima, but even if Egashira is clinging to him he always flocks to Mitsumi. It's a really good piece to show how strong Mitsumi and Shima's friendship is, but also further Egashira's isolation as she continues to attempt to attach herself to Shima rather than befriend him. It's a really subtle thing, but I quite enjoy how they present it.

Plus, even though they're in a big group they go through the trouble of actually animating them, which is really nice to see. Though it's not anything "incredible", being bothered to make a cut like this is much appreciated. Also, even in smaller cuts you can see stuff like the movement of the shoulders of characters, or even the slight changes in their clothing as they move.

And just to finish things off, this really pretty cut of Shima.

Skip and Loafer just gets it. Even if the direction is a touch weaker than what it's been, it still has zero issues in selling the core aspects of the story and characters, of the essential experience of high schoolers. Struggles and interests and enjoyment all melding into something indistinguishable and being distilled into that high school experience. Right on the border of reality and "grounded", it finds the perfect ways to stretch the truth and norms to give something incredibly passionate and nostalgic (to those out of high school now) while making sure to not overstep and place too much of a rose colored tint over it all.

[crimsonblackrose]

.

On the one hand I'm happy Daniel finally got a pool with water in it, on the other hand LA is like in a constant drought.

The kids are having croissants, omelettes and fruit for breakfast, which is very cute.

Espresso clink is my favorite

How long do you think it took between episode 1 and 2? Not like in filming but in actual canon? Because:

That's a sign, and window decor. And Johnny's on a super tight budget. So did he just hand paint/stencil that all himself? Who made his sign so fast? I mean half the time signs take forever to go up. Also kebab places signage is totally different.

Miggy in his LA dodgers jersey is giving Daniel in his Halloween day outfit. It weirdly doesn't have a number. I don't know sports, don't they usually have a number?

The amount of interior work Johnny did is huge. Like he put mirrors up? The mats are down. His little silhouette karate guys are all over the walls.

Every time I see that box of trophies they're going to multiply. Now I see 5.

I think...despite everything his stencils were crooked:

Maybe it's the camera angle.

Do you think Daniel and Mr. Miyagi had to fill out all that paperwork for insurance and certification before they opened out Mr. Miyagi's little trees? I suppose we never actually saw it open officially, just the set up, and they actually got a lease from a realtor, not a handshake with a dude outside of a strip mall.

Daniel spent his summers playing in a broken fire hydrant next to his Aunt Tessie's.

Do you think Daniel picked out Encino Oaks on purpose since he'd been there once? (It is supposed to be the same country club right?)

Amanda and Daniel like Dirty Martini's ice ice cold.

Aisha drives her father (Isaiah's) Q5

The summer party they're at they go to every year, so it's annual event with magicians and clowns.

Junior year Johnny didn't lose a single point in the All-Valley.

Miguel tells his mom he's on the debate team

Johnny recommends Guns 'n Roses and while doesn't seem to own a phone or know what one is does know what a ring tone is.

Kyler still has a bruise on his left eye from fighting Johnny, which makes me think not a ton of time has passed between episodes, and Johnny spent a lot of time decorating.

So Daniel drives an Audi but I guess they also have a big silver van, that he also drives.

Moon has a 'channel', I guess youtube channel? I wonder since it was originally a youtube red if they could've done a silly little spin off channel with extras and content.

One thing I've noticed, I don't think Daniel and Amanda have a lot of kitchen storage space, i.e. cabinets and what not. Thus:

All the pots and pans and tools are hanging on the wall. The amount of noise that must make.

So Sam's in trouble for throwing a party, but it kind of looks like Daniel cleaned up the whole thing by himself. That's a weird parenting choice.

Newspaper clippings that Daniel framed include: "Mystery Dojo with Single Student Defangs Cobras" with a photo of Daniel and Mr. Miyagi and the other says "Local Valley Champ Defends Title Against Karate's Bad Boy" Which has Daniel versus I guess Mike on at the tournament.

It's interesting that the flashback lesson they show is of Daniel teaching Sam how to break boards. Since that's arguably the worst lesson he ever got from Terry Silver and not something he probably learned from Mr. Miyagi. It is thankfully something a whole lot easier than =what Daniel was doing in TKK3.

"Never give up your defense, beware the spinning hug move" is just so adorable.

Yasmine was driving a Range Rover that hit Johnny's car. And the fact her dad just bought her a new car...

I dunno, I don't think Daniel particularly over reacted to a bunch of strangers in his house and wearing his clothes and also Sam telling him she wasn't expecting him back so early and then he was the one to clean up and she's just sitting talking to her friends.

LaRusso Friday family dinners is cute.

I also like that they talk about the boys she texting.

Daniel tells Sam she's 'Jersey tough'...but she's born and raised Californian.

This school lunch is pringles, a banana, a hostess cupcakes, Organic chocolate milk and what looks like maybe a cheeseburger?

Look at these babies (affectionate) and their yoohoo. They've also been given two trays and a plastic sporks. What is this school? Clearly you get some options because both of them got fruit cups (different types) and the main course differs since Elis got something else. I guess you also get to choose between pudding cups and hostess cupcakes? I did not get this many options in school. Also like most of the other kids who brought their lunch just have brown paper bags.

Sorry lots about the food but why would Miguel be offered organic Valley chocolate milk and these everyone in the above shot has yoohoo? Why are there that many chocolate milk options?

So...the popular girls drink apple juice from juicy juice and the nerds drink different brands of chocolate milk? Because literally everyone's drink choice is by table. Lol even Kyler has the same apple juice when he sits with them. What's with that?

Karate lesson one "cobra strike" which seems to be a lunge and the "bite" a punch to the nose, mouth or neck. Kudos to Johnny for getting an actual punching dummy.

I feel like this is the first little kernel of Johnny's 'some mercy' when he looks at Miguel after this example and goes 'uh for only extreme situations' rather than go for the throat.

Johnny did not correct Migue's hands. His thumbs are sticking out.

Robby goes to North Hills High and the vp is Carla Jenkins and Robby has molly on him.

It's kind of funny that Johnny doesn't know what that is, but also makes sense seeing as he rolled the tiniest joint on the planet for the first film.

Like Johnny Robby wears band t-shirts, specifically Misfits.

So plot issue. Small one. Johnny is literally only a few feet away when he's taking this phone call where he says he's this kids dad and yet a big sticking point later is that Miguel doesn't know Johnny has a kid.

Daniel being such a sweet infodumping foodie nerd with his fancy yanagi knife. He made: sashimi he calls "Larusso ponzo toro" which uhhhh is like the fanciest sashimi ever. Omg I didn't realize this is what he tried to feed Kyler before. This is like....wagyu. It's extremely expensive bluefin tuna. Holy moly Daniel what the hell? No wonder Sam and Amanda look so excited. That makes making it for Kyler who doesn't like sushi/fish so much more of an oof, that was such an expensive purchase.

Is that the pickled ginger and wasabi?! They're huge! Daniel for the size of fish you got that's ridiculous. You gotta realize that's ridiculous right bud? Also is that just a bowl of soy sauce? Like a whole bowl?

Daniel didn't like sushi as a teen. (Then why the heck would you buy the rolls royce of fish for a teenage guy you don't know anything about other than your daughter is texting him????)

All these teenagers lying really get Johnny in even more trouble than he already is in.

Uh...so Miguel lives in what apartment 109 and Johnny lives in apartment 2. How does that make sense?

Johnny wrote down that the karate dojo is for teaching karate to anyone who wants to learn karate which is very...him since he doesn't kick anyone out and keeps Stingray.

Dojo is at 6 Herons Nest Reseda meanwhile his apartment is 7428 Saticoy street Reseda. Dude writes in big blocky all capitalized letters for everything which, thanks, easier to read.

So what is the idea here? Daniel leaves his fancy toro behind to go confront whoever owns the cobra kai studio? Is he expecting Johnny or is he expecting Kreese or heck even Silver? Did Kyler tell him any thing else? Did Daniel stay through finding Kyler some fish sticks or something?

They may have been awful Johnny but they were still teenagers.

Daniel is surprised someone is calling Johnny sensei. Like what are you expecting this place to be Daniel? A place without students? A museum? You thought Johnny just moved into a strip mall and decorated it like a dojo because that's gotta be what his house would look like? Or again, did he think someone else was the sensei and Johnny just happened to be around?

[mango-ti]

I have a Belle brainrot so have me rambling about differences between trailers and final version of the move, from scenes shot differently, to literal slight lighting changes (part 1 because image limit)

long post so i'm adding a read more

(lot of the scenes are not 1:1, I'm picking the closest screenshot i can find)

Release -> Trailer btw

1: The Rabbit girl As flying into U

Shot is filmed a bit closer and ever so slightly to the right. Her hat has a third rabbit ear on the back(??why??) and her hair is modeled a bit differently, it feels slightly shorter and less smooth. Outlines on her outfit also look a bit more thick and less refined, visible on her ruffles especially

2: Whale flying through U

a lot more blue! ribbon movement might be different because i couldn't match frames of it (or even the flowers)

3: this particular panning shot of the sky in U durning Gales of song

a lot brighter! the skyscrapers are slightly different. The blue one at the center at the bottom has 3 rows of windows in the trailer while th release has 6. One building got pushed back in the release. The windows have a lot less dimension in the trailer, but this might be related to the different lighting

4: the crowd that appears when Belle is about to fly by

you know it seems that U was originally a lot brighter and greener overall. It also looks like in the trailer, there's some kind of white void happening waaay off in the distance i right under the big U in the middle so U might have been modeled a bit differently too

an absolute storm of confetti is happening in the trailer and some AS got a little bit of a glow up! some were moved around too

maid AS gained a mask and went alt

swan(?) and fish guy from the shot before this one are actually in the crowd in the trailer which is neat, i wondered where they disappeared in the final

5: this shot of Beast's castle stairs

i'm pretty sure the trailer might be just a still drawing/render because only the cubes move in there.

Final is more circular and actually work like stairs should, unlike the trailer which, while looking cooler in the composition department, looks weird if looked at closely, unless my brain is being stupid

like what

6: Crow shot of Belle fans

Rabbit girl is looking up in awe instead of jumping in excitement. She's also more at the centre of the picture

7: some specific shots from this scene which i was able to match the exact frame of

less of a sun glare and much brighter whale. The background doesn't have motion blur applied and is a bit sharper by result.

also no sun glare, final got a few more speakers on the whale, again no motion blur

No flowers added to the foreground! which is interesting because i'm pretty sure those are rendered as actual objects in the scene, and not just an effect which would mean they had to re-render the scene just to add in the flowers. don't quote me on that though

8: this shot right before unveiling

this shot from the trailer right here does not align with any frame from the final, it's zoomed out more and is fully lit (final only gets fully in color after she raises her head while the trailer holds that pose)

also no extra work done to her bangs! I noticed that studio chizu often adds extra flair to Belle's hair when needed, like her bangs fluffing up here or adding some extra strands of hair, the trailer shot has none of that! that's how her hair would've looked like if they just left her base model as it is

slight difference in the shadow placement, final only has light around the face while in the trailer they go up to her upper lip

her dress tucks under her chest for some reason while it should instead tuck around her waist

9: some small changes in positioning

some dress straps were moved around

part of the bangs was fixed

there's a few more so we will be continuing in part 2!

[raraavisalterego]

To the Wonder (2024) Ep1

(A quick intro)

So i have to say i went into this drama with high expectations based on the cast, the cannes and peoples opinion i had seen. And i was a bit meh in the beginning. The first 2 eps are the lowest point of the drama (which is not bad by any means) but i really enjoy it as a whole. I´d say i enjoy it more than the actual quality of it, like it is good but its better for me because i like it, know what i mean?

I will be writing this as i rewatch . Also like im not going to spell/grammar check this so there may be mistakes

(lets get into it, its going to be loooong and SPOILERS)

"So in the coldest and longest days in winter, no set of footprints can lead to my home"

I really like the intro, gurl set that tone

Damn 3mins and im already glad that i am rewatching, the birch!

(just coping this here for later)

But i do find it curious that an young artist does not know what they want, how does one experience the feeling of wanting to create without a vision of ones creation? i guess insecurity plays a part on it but its something you dont see often

the way the camera panned here made me think this lady was going to be someone later on, is she the writer-housewife? ill see

Girl we will be able to tell... An yet (i am not knowledged in how altay is) one would think that the county seat is still quite "rural" for how city-like they have written Wenxiu to be, and eh i dont know if its the same in the novel but its definately something that made me go ??? at some moments later

the icon, the legend, speak your truth

and now this rat

we will get back to virginia woolf later on, nice

also another note, for someone who loves writting we never see her read, but there is a respect conveyed with straightening the frame that i liked

ok now we are on the village

Like why are we saying hello in mandarin to the neighbours. Here we have thing nº1 that bothered me: you live here, maybe before in a less rural area but still, and you dont know shit in kazak. And i get that she is han, that at home and at the school she went they spoke in mandarin, that they are closed off in their communities, that everyone has to adapt to them and not the other way around. But with all this considered i would still expect her to know some, like a greeting, like thank you. If this is what is normal irl yikes.

Because i understand its use to define a line and she is written to make the viewer feel like an outsider, but too much. Write her a greating please cmon. An ick of mine. Lets move on

We go from watching wuxia on tv to nature documentary to 200m dash, who told you to change the channel!

Exactly: baby. (but i feel this is a minstraslation)

Good point to talk about thing nº2 that bothered me. (it looks like im only talking shit but trust i love this). Ok this happened mainly before starting to watch it. I read the sinopsis and it says Yushi is playing Batay a kazakh and im like wait a minute, he is not. I liked him a lot on fengshen and i knew he can ride a horse pretty well an that is a positive here. So when i started watching and i hear him talk im surprised by the quality of the dubbing, he has the same voice! Then i found out its actually him, nice, another positive. Overall, would i wish that the main actor was kazakh? yes; where the chances high for that? no; am i satisfied with the end result? pretty much.

Also i find him really atractive so...

XD. But its a real thing.

Cute

Ok they have mentioned the county they live in: fuyun, total population of the county 99k, 54% kazakh. Point nº1 stands.

yes

"We are practically living like vagrants" watch what you say, in a couple eps you will be all in for that seminomadic life bby

[rviner]

@waterfallswords dani x bea - gas station somewhere in canada

-

The diner clings to the gas station like a forgotten memory, the weathered building bearing the scars of time's relentless march. Dani can sense how the interior would once be inviting. Bright yellow walls now tainted, torn, broken. It was family owned, she decided quickly. Pictures and pictures on the wall denoting family recipes passed down generations. Where are they all now? She backs away from the frames that caught her attention, gaze drifting to find her sister disappearing through the door that leads to a kitchen. She's not far behind. Never far behind. "I guess taking some pots would be good. We could actually cook something on a fire." Dani notes, grabbing a pan scattered across a surface and stuffing it into her backpack. "When we find something fresh enough to cook." her words add in a mutter and then a laugh. "Can any of us hunt?" the small group they've joined is a mix match, and Dani is certain that Beatriz has become their unofficial mother. "The motel. Just back there?" she gestures with a nod, referring to the fence surrounding the parking lot and the worn sign indicating a place they could rest from the cold. "Maybe it is not so bad inside. No rat shit or anything." Dani suggests, shrugging while she moves to some cupboards to look for anything else worth taking.