#so posing them as an adaptation does irk me a little bit

[halfshellman]

rattling the bars of my cage as a httyd book fan

[severalowls]

Fallout TV show stuff, no real spoilers until under the cut.

Alright I think that irked me hardest was extremely front loaded and, going into episode 8 its grown on me a bit despite having elements that still kind of suck, yeah Fallout tv show is a solid like. 3 star experience.

They start doing slightly more novel ideas instead of lifting locations and plot beats directly from the games but it does overwhelmingly feel like Bethesda provided them with like. A list of "Things That Are [in] Fallout [as a brand franchise] [even if they're literally just Locations That Were In Fallout 3]" and they contractually had to hit literally every single one.

Brotherhood of Steel. Vault dweller protagonist. German Shepherd type dog. Referring to that dog as dogmeat. Bitter pre-war ghoul. Enclave. Town made of aircraft parts. Eccentric general store owner. Eccentric doctor. Eccentric radio host. Mr Handy. Cannibals. Vertibird. Bloody Mess. Radroach. Red Rocket. Super Duper Mart. Wasteland cult. The Fallout 2/3 vault dweller outfit. Assaultron. Reclaimation Day. Posed skeletons. [Urgh I guess the franchise has to canonically acknowledge fallout new vegas existed so...] cowboys. Courier. NCR. NCR rangers. Pre war computer chip mcguffin. Etc. Etc. Etc. Genuinely theres something several times a minute to a degree where its a great relief when they come up with Anything new to exist in the world.

Its frankly like they generated a word cloud from the wiki in a way that feels even beyond Star Wars "hey remember this??" tv show writing because it isn't remotely earned. These are things that are only 'iconic' on paper when you're trying to hit Name Recognition and Specific Preexisting Lore instead of Worldbuilding Themes.

Incidentally this is also the vibe of how Bethesda approached the franchise when adapting it from Black Isle's slightly goofy speculative society towns of hats sandbox (I don't buy into FO1/2 being cuttingly political or great satire, I like them but they're not that deep), and like, Bethesda is rife with it to the point of notoriety but its a bit of a trend with "franchise media" in general where its all rehash and little elaboration.

So far the only thing they've been at all coy about has been FEV which is Bethesda's fucking #1 fave thing for no reason so I suspect that's going to be a big gasp end of season twist for one if not several plot threads. Possibly to tease an entire Super Mutant Themed Sequel. Gr8.

Oh and, spoilers:

This is the second time of note that there's been a fan-beloved installment from a decade prior and they poochied it. Vvardenfell died on the way back to its home planet in Skyrim. NCR died on the way back to its home planet in this.

THAT feels like Bethesda being afraid to touch complex political implications and factions, and evolving worlds because they're too fiddly to satisfy everyone, sooo they just explode them off screen for wholly nostalgia based emotional impact and use the fact that they exploded as the central defining point for that group from then on.

[dianight]

Let's but a spoiler barrier for anime only girls.

Quick judgment (no E in that word huh) of the anime is: OP>ED but they are both bangers, first half (6 eps) is pretty good but you can notice some pacing issues, second half is atrocious.

While I was watching I soon realized that the action scenes are a bit lacking, which by itself is not so much of a problem because despite the anime focusing on the colourless arc(?) there isn't that big of a focus on the action. Now, one of the advantages of anime as a medium as opposed to manga is that action can be communicated better and in a flashier way (Kimetsu no Yaiba p.ej.).

I've also mentioned before that Negi Haruba is pretty good (with a "this is an understatement" tone) at making cool looking spreads and panels. So what I was expecting of the anime was to be at least as cool as the manga.

A few examples from the manga to show what I mean: ex1 / ex2 & ex3 (together) / ex4 / ex5 / ex6 / ex7 / ex8

Ex1 is just there as a "benchmark" of what I'd expect. Look at the panel composition: threatining full panel -> close up of Suzukiri with a "beamy" background -> D refusing as punchline. It's just a common yet well executed gag. The anime butchers this part: threatining full scene -> reflection of Suzukiri on the knife -> close up of Suzukiri with no effects. There isn't a punchline because Sakurama appears earlier than usual and ruins the whole scene, these are pacing issues that the anime constantly has.

Ex2 & ex3: all the cadets (without D) are meant to be fighting that Peltrola (and losing) right before D arrives. On the anime this is skipped and D arrives before they even start fighting. Again, pacing issues that could be "solved" if the action was good; you could understand compressing that part if they did something with it, instead it plays just like the manga (overall) and it's a missed opportunity to make use of anime's strong points over it (moving scenes and music direction), which is what a good adaptation should do (IMPORTANT).

Ex4: this is what a good anime scene from a good manga should look like. The manga gives us the rangers posing on one of these spread that Negi Haruba is great at and I love to eat up, fantastic composition and shows good characterization: Hisui is the strongest, at the front and taunting; Tokita is from red and also hotheaded and willing to redeem/prove himself, not quite at the front but almost there; Nadeshiko is a man of few words somewhat embarrased about his interests, despite being quite strong he stays back; Suzukiri above all of them, she has her own plans and she's just playing the part of ranger. The anime shows all of this AND adds a nice visual effect with the camera moving downwards until it ends up on a similar scene to the manga panel; in this case the anime adaptation does a really good job, taking something good and making it better.

Ex5: unless I have some lacuna in my brain this was skipped on the anime. Not a super big deal, but one can see a cool spread and think "if this was an anime you could add a side by side panning scene (short one) and it'd look super good". It is the little things like that that get removed from the anime that end up hurting it. Lots of chances to do something and then... whiffing every time.

Ex6: one of my favourite faces in the manga and it did not get included. This one is important to me because it was this specific sequence not being in the anime that irked me enough to check what exactly was changed. Again, just a "little thing" and another show of the pacing issues. Like the manga does go fast, but the anime tries to go fast and it drops a lot of characterization and good looking scenes, and since those are what make the manga good while the anime has very little going for it, we end up with a bad adaptation.

Ex7: this one is so beautiful and so important for the whole series. I don't think the anime does it justice, it's too fast and not impactful enough. Nothing new to say, missed chance for a fractured flashback, or a quick one, or something that only the anime could do and instead we get ah, an attempt(?) at a copy of that panel. Insufficient, the anime could do better.

Ex8: I've mentioned this one before. This is probably the one example where the anime did go for something different and it still was not remarkable enough.

I know all of this probably sounds very harsh. I did enjoy the anime, I just don't think it's very good and it feels bad to see such good art "wasted" and not improved on instead.

My recommendation is to watch the OP and ED on youtube or such and read the manga.

Went back to check the manga and the frame with the dragon mikos was an anime addition. I have a few thoughts now on ep 11 but I think I'll wait until (checking) sunday so it's completed.

[prettywordsyouleft]

Boyfriend! Kim Jaehwan

Thank you for requesting this @hyukwonz! It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Boyfriend scenario, so let’s hope I can do this one justice! Jaehwan is such an interesting character, so let’s find out how he’d be as a boyfriend.

Please note: his Different Kisses was also requested and will be posted tomorrow. They will directly tie into this scenario.

Confessing:

Like most things in life for Jaehwan, if he wants something, he’s going to do his very best to get it. He noticed you on campus at the start of the first semester, charmed by how you stood out from the rest. He had learned you were an art student, and whilst you seemed much more reserved than he was, you definitely knew who you were as an individual and that attracted him. But you were aloof in behaviour when he tried to approach you, giving him short answers and polite smiles before departing quickly.

It took him some effort to actually get you alone enough to ask you out on a date, and even when he did, well, you seemed to have a lot of excuses. He wondered if you just weren’t all that interested in him.

That wasn’t the case at all. Jaehwan steadily became the muse for all your art, secretly drawing him in your sketchbook over and over at night when you couldn’t get him off your mind. Sometimes he’d end up within your projects too; his hands or his eyes captured by your pencil only becoming obvious when you finished. He was a distraction. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to date him, you really did. But you had made a promise to yourself that for the first year at university there would be no boys. You wanted to establish good grades and friendships but nothing more. You didn’t even know where you would have the time to date either with how busy your schedule each day was. Frankly, you over-thought the situation and that’s why you became flustered whenever Jaehwan would approach you, wanting to run and hide in case you blurted out how much you thought of him in an embarrassing way.

By the second semester, he backed off though. You heard from friends that Jaehwan had really liked someone and they had turned him down after all attempts. It made you feel guilty but you managed to continue through, chanting that you were here to get good grades in art, not kissing. When you also heard Jaehwan was planning one last attempt and would give up after this, it made you strangely hopeful. For the next two days, you floated around campus in a daze, waiting to see what Jaehwan was going to do next. When nothing happened though, you filled with dread. What if they hadn’t meant you? You tried to keep your head down and focus on your semester project and not on foolish daydreams of you painting whilst Jaehwan played his guitar.

It was actually the sound of a guitar that attracted you to the court the next day. He was strumming his guitar outside the art building too eagerly and had garnered a small crowd, enjoying the free show. When you stepped into the circle and he spotted you, there was more than just the guitar sounds. The crowd gasped when he started to sing, his love confession strongly delivered through the song.

It was obvious it was for you with the way he stared at you as he said each word, smiling a little when the crowd encouraged him on. And on the final line of the song, he mentioned your name, asking if you would finally accept his heart.

Of course, you did. I mean, you couldn’t let such an amazing performance go to waste in front of everyone, right? But on a serious note, you had been so touched by the song that all resolve you had to ban yourself from dating was all forgotten then.

Starting out:

Once you got over the initial worry about dating Jaehwan, it was surprisingly very easy to grow comfortable around him and his playful nature.

Physical affection started almost from the beginning too and soon you were that college couple that everyone wanted to hate but couldn’t because they were too envious at how in love you both were.

Lots of cuddles and sweet moments occurred when you were together, but it was evident he had a really quirky and fun side to him right away too.

Although his loudness took a little to get used to when you’re a quiet person by nature, you enjoyed the vibrancy and colour he added to your world and the encouragement to break out of the structured lifestyle you maintained was exciting.

You were both different from each other, and sure, sometimes it meant you had to work to understand each other more, overall it made your relationship interesting and worth all the added learning on how to work together.

Dating pros:

Everything is always exciting and interesting with Jaehwan. He adds an element of anticipation to everything you do together just with how hyped up he often is. It keeps you on your toes and you like this about him.

He’s comfortable, you know that even when he’s joking around he’s only doing it to have fun with you. This has taught you to relax and allow yourself to be whatever you want to be around him without judgement.

His goal in life is to see you smile and be happy and he fulfils this every day he is with you. There is no way you’re not happy when he’s around. Even if you’ve had a really bad day, Jaehwan knows how to turn it around and have you smiling in no time.

He’ll do anything for you. He might whine as he does it or tease you incessantly, but he’s never going to let you down when you need him.

And on that note, he’s very much so a tease to you all the time. He loves hearing you whine and begging him to stop, it’s something that makes him feel fulfilled when he’s got your full attention like that. He finds you the cutest when he’s teasing you and often diffuses it with lots of kisses.

He’s the ideal romantic underneath all that joking he does, he is the proper wine, dine and cherish you kind of guy. I mean, he confessed with a freaking love song! He is well in touch with his emotions.

His laughter is so loud and piercing yet it’s addictive and makes your energy levels rise with it.

Jaehwan is dedicated. He works hard at any goal he wants to achieve, in a methodical and admirable way. He constantly challenges himself to be a better person and partner, and you’ve noticed yourself influenced by his mannerisms, striving for your own goals with better precision than before.

This means you’re a very productive couple who speak often about any problems that arise and have solutions for them promptly. Communication is a huge part of your relationship, both through playful and serious moods, and you can understand each other very well now.

He knows when to be extra, but more importantly, Jaehwan is able to tell when he needs to tone it down, which is such an attractive feature to him. Get yourself a man who can do it all.

He has an odd sense of humour and in the beginning you didn’t understand it completely, but now you live for all his dumb jokes and get excited when you can give him one back.

He’s very affectionate and showers you in physical and emotional attention which you give back in equal amounts too.

Will happily pose for you whenever you need him to for your artwork and openly offers to be your nude model teasingly (which he’s done from the start and was the cause of many of your earlier blushing sessions until things got intimate).

Likewise, you understand his music is very important to him, and you support him by listening to his compositions, and helping him fine tune anything that’s not quite right to you.

Ending this here, he has the voice of an angel. How are you not blessed whenever he sings to you? Lullabies, ballads, upbeat bops, he is always singing and serenading you.

Dating cons:

Even though you love his happy bursts of energy, some days you are too tired/stressed for his antics, and it irks you when he can’t take anything serious (even though he’s very capable at doing so). He’ll tone it down immediately when he notices your mood, but sometimes it’s a bit too late for you.

His laughter is amazing, but it’s also very loud. In fact, he’s just loud by nature. On days when you need to think, he’s not the first choice of person you choose to be around.

He sometimes pushes himself too hard when striving for his goals. He can easily get wound up and self-critical and whilst he has a great determination to get to the other side, he can often get so invested that his focus on you or your relationship can be pushed aside to cater for this greater need he has to improve/meet his deadline. Whilst you understand this as a fellow artist always striving for further realism and creativity from yourself, you wished he would sit back a little and enjoy the process, instead of rushing through.

Since becoming an idol, he’s naturally been a lot more invested with his work, and it was hard to deal with in the beginning since you started dating before his big break. You knew his determination would always make him succeed with his dreams but it was definitely hard on you both to adjust to his idol life.

He’s domestically challenged and very lazy. It’s ironic how lazy he is when it comes to how driven he is, but he prioritises things very differently from some people and being clean or doing chores is not something he puts high on his list. If you ask him to do something, he’ll try so A+ for effort, but his actual efforts aren’t worth praising and you’ve just naturally adapted to doing all the cooking and cleaning for proficiency.

When arguing, he’s petty and easily wound up which makes you defensive. Fighting can be loud and dramatic.

He’s clumsy, but so are the best kind of people in life (aka me). So you know to have the first aid kit well stocked and heaps of healing kisses on standby!    

Intimacy:

Jaehwan is a passionate lover and knows what he wants from his partner.

He’s always been very strong with his PDA from the beginning and to this day he showers you in his attention no matter where you both are. He’ll also expect it back, and whine if you don’t offer it up right away.

Forehead kisses and back hugs!!

Always touching you, no matter where you are, he has to have a hand on you at all times, a constant connection is important to him.

Loves days where all you do is snuggle up together and eat good food (cooked by you or take outs because you’ll never let him in the kitchen again after he almost burned it down that one time).

Because he’s naturally affectionate, kisses happen often and so does making out. You can read more about his kisses in the link in the reblog (coming soon).

Making out with Jaehwan is where things get easily worked up so you have a pretty active sex life.

He likes to be in control and hear you beg.

A needy lover, Jaehwan wants to make sure all his wants are met whilst meeting all yours as well.

Not so much of a slow and sensual guy but he can make that happen if you want it.

Prefers making love with you in a way that is loud and active. Definitely vocal in bed and knows how to have you singing out all night long, if you get what I mean.

Morning sex is his favourite and because he’s naturally a tease, he’ll often wake you up with his hands and lips as opposed to anything endearing and soft.

Long and arduous sex sessions are a must after being away from you for too long.

Aftercare is somewhat lazy but he has a way of looking at you as if you are a piece of artwork.

And to him, you are the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen so he’d definitely admire you in that satisfied glow you feel after sex and tell you just how much he loves you until you fall asleep together.

Dating Jaehwan is lively and full of the unexpected. Even from the start, you anticipated what he would do with you, and nothing has changed there. Although you know each other well, you know he’ll continue to keep you guessing for the rest of your lives and that’s part of the reason you love him so much. Even though you are complete opposites, you definitely attract endless love and excitement from each other.

____________________

I accept requests on other idols for the Boyfriend! series whenever my requests are open! To check to see if I’ve written your bias already, check the reblog or my bio for the Boyfriend! Masterlist and my Main Masterlist.