#spoilers belle 2021

[uncleasriel]

THANK YOU @fandomsandfeminism . I am left thinking that Mamoru Hasoda does not understand how the internet, social media or civil society really works.

It's such a frustrating film to watch. I was on-board for Suzu/Belle's initial arc - a mouring teen girl reinventing herself online, backed up by her gremlin BFF who runs a manager/PR woman role. Yet I was surprised that she didn't take ANY of the money, or that she wasn't contacted by some megacorp or PR firm who'd hype her up, leverage her for branding, etc? THe Social Media of "U" seems to be run by the benign but absentee "Voices", who have no moderating presence, no marketing influence, no control over what's said or done on the platform. U seems to be an amaible anarchy - a city peopled by colorful avatars, each based off of use biomedical data (a chilling thought, social media with access to medical records) and left to flit about gaily in a cartoony world of bright colors and far social reach. I see no way this could possibly go wrong! </sarcasm>

It's like Manomur Hasoda wants to believe in the internet as this tool to help connect people socially, as has been the case since Digimon: Our War Game, but he's not followed how people use social media, how social media governs itself, or how it relates to sociological forces that produce the conditions that people experience. The creators of large platofrms are just....benign, absentee architects, who never step in and let people govern themselves. They have no profit motive, not personal or political stakes - they're an absence which create these beautiful backdrops where these dramas play out.

The interfaces are especially cnfusing. Are people just piloting avatars via phones and using their ear-buds as a way to connect? Is it closer to Sword Art Online style headsets that jack people into cyberspace? When Belle got ambushed by the Vigilante Heroes who function as a vigilante moderator force (another horrifying idea), I literally screamed at the tv "LOG OUT ALREADY!" - how and why could she be captured, when interfacting with U seems as easy as putting on earbuds an activating an app? Hasoda seems to think the digital world is this sort of dreamscape, whose rules work only as much as they allow the Beauty-and-the-Beast fairytale to unfold.

Even more infuriating was the revelation as to the Beast/Dragon's true identity. It was a horrifying revelation, that made so much sense but left the back-end side of U stand out in sharp focus. THis technology registers a user's avatar based on their biomedical data, and updates it to reflect the technology in real time. You're telling me a social media platform like this can update an avatar's color palette to show real-world bruising that happens in real time, and they're NOT having llarm bells start sounding off - ESPECIALLY when that user is a minor in a preciarious situation? Equally bafflingwas the child protections services phone call - was that some biting commentary on Japanese politicing and social services? A cynical part of me thought it *could* be reflecting a reality, which made The Beast's anger all the more harrowing. What's worse, the nice older ladies from the music group decided to let SUzu go off on her own "because she made up her mind"? We literally saw a man grown man start pounding his own children on camera - do you think a Very Brave teenaged girl should be able to handle that on her own because she's so very, very brave and self-actualized after being chill over being doxxed? Fuck you, you're the adults in this situation: get the police to intervene, pull some strings like the grandma in SUmmer Wars did, ANYTHING. Suzu did more than her fair share by willingly outing herself to 5 Billion people to show how much she could be trusted by Kei - let her take the win and let some of the other people take action

This movie infuriated me from its naivete about how internet platforms and society worked. While its emotional climaxes were beautiful - Suzu now understands why her mother did to save a stranger, and she is happy in herself she doesn't need the Belle avatar to be her most genuine and empowered self, damaged people can find connection through vritual places in ways that make their real lives worth living - the plot was riddled with inconsitencies about how the technology worked, and the expectations placed on someone who tries to intervene in abusive situations. I want to love this - I'm a sucker for Beauty & the Beast stories, teens growing into themselves, and for people using the internet to foster stronger connections - but Mamoru Hasoda just doesn't understand enough about any of these things to really deliver a polished end product.

Ok.

So.

I know this movie was very pretty. Very pretty. Super nice to look at.

But.

God so much of the plot felt very underdeveloped and confusing. It felt like it was missing 80% of the story from inside the U. She only has like 2 conversations with Beast? How does anything in the virtual world....work? Why does not-Gaston have a dox-ray? What exactly did Beast do that would make the not-internet-cops hunt him? Why is there no moderation happening? Do they...feel pain in U? Why? (It feels like Digimon rules. Is this Digimon rules?)

Honestly, the moment the movie really lost me was when an adult finally calls the cops for a wellness check and is told "they need to wait 48 hours" for....for what? To report an active assault? I...

But at least it was pretty?

This movie has 95% on rotten tomatoes.

[utilitycaster]

I like that the Raven Queen, who made the decision to take on an immense and (at least to her understanding at the time) unending responsibility is the one who calls Bells Hells out on their endless indecision.

It's been...interesting, shall we say, tracking this "party of NPCs," and tracking the fandom response throughout. The initial reception to "party of NPCs" was actually a rather cold one. This took place early in the campaign, prior to the Gnarlrock fight, and at the time a lot of people who shipped Imogen and Laudna were actually extremely resistant to the idea that Imogen was the "main character" of the campaign (as seen in the fallout from the gnarlrock fight, in which the bulk of attacks from the fandom were on Imogen). I've had complicated feelings on Taliesin's reads of this campaign specifically - he tends to have a very good understanding of his own characters that doesn't necessarily expand beyond them - but that phrase was indeed pretty valid. I think about the WBN interludes, in fact, in which the cast plays using NPC statblocks, and what a true party of NPCs for Bells Hells would look like, since it would be quite simple to draw up.

Allied NPCs in TTRPGs rarely act without guidance from the PCs. I've cast a critical eye in the past towards certain meta (particularly romantic in nature, regarding Yeza or Essek or Gilmore not making moves) for this reason, because while villains and antagonists move throughout the world generating obstacles, allies exist to be directed. They have their limits, of course; they have their own priorities and motivations and cannot be persuaded against their nature, but they can be guided at oblique angles from the GMs initial intent given enough work from the PCs. They're still people with thoughts and feelings and dreams, to an extent, but rarely do they make decisions that would conflict with those of the PCs.

That's the problem with a party of NPCs. NPCs take direction. They serve as support, but they're not in the driver's seat. And the Raven Queen has noticed.

The attitude within the fandom towards "Party of NPCs" became far more positive over time, and I wonder if it should have. People began to lean perhaps too heavily on how Bells Hells were people from nothing and nowhere, discarded. This is of course objectively false when comparing across parties (can we really say Imogen had a worse childhood than Vex? Chetney to Caleb? Even Ashton to Fjord?) but were it true, that in and of itself wouldn't be a problem. D&D backstories are often tear-stained and blood-soaked, full of unjust accusations, dead or neglectful parents, failure and regret. D&D is a game about coming from very little but a disproportionately good stat block for a commoner. It is unavoidably about amassing power. Starting off as a party of NPCs is fine. You should not still be a party of NPCs at the endgame.

I mentioned the gnarlrock, and I've mentioned an emphasis (or overemphasis) on this party's lack of agency and I think that remains the problem. Ludinus's villainy is rich, complex, and multifaceted, but a consistent element of it is his eternal false insistence that he - Martinet, founder and head of the Cerberus Assembly, Archmage - is just a little guy, chaff in the wind of the will of the gods, without free will of his own (he says, as he places his thread outside the reach of the Matron). That too is a theme in fandom discourse: free will and intent. Is Imogen justified in being angry at Laudna for breaking the rock if that wasn't Laudna's intent? (yes.) Is Orym on a quest of vengeance, with a death wish? (no, but if he were it wouldn't matter.) Was it wrong to pressure Fearne to take the shard instead of letting her make her own choices? (yes.)

Did any of you, perhaps in preschool or kindergarten, since that's about the age when this happens, have someone pull your hair and for adults to say "it's because they like you?" I find this is a good way to convey the importance, or unimportance, or intent. Because when your hair is being pulled, at least if that is the extent of the problem, it doesn't matter if it comes from the misguided affections of a four-year-old admirer who doesn't know how to use their words, or a six-year-old who just grabbed the most obvious material with which to test the limits of the safety scissors, or an eleven-year-old bully. Your hair is being pulled and you want it to stop. It doesn't matter if the person secretly likes you or if they want to hurt you; it matters that no matter the intent behind it, they are doing so. And if you reject the affections of your fellow preschool classmate because you think they might pull your hair, that's a fair consequence.

Bells Hells' indecision is some sort of cosmic hair pulling. They have reasons for faltering, and some of those reasons are understandable balking at an immense weight placed upon them and some of those reasons come from a deeply self-centered place in which their individual pain is used to blot out the suffering of countless others. But in the end, even that doesn't matter. Their histories don't matter. We don't need another series of introductions of where they come from and what they've done. We need people who can make decisions and who will act.

The Raven Queen seems to have been convinced they will. I'm not sure. But I think we are in agreement that inaction is, regardless of the intent behind it, no different than active harm. It would be irresponsible to continue to be a party of NPCs; if they truly are lost and forgotten fuck-ups, they have a responsibility (as the god of death once did) to abdicate and find a replacement.

[melishade]

Was the part with the flowers reference to this?

now I’m imagining Primus singing Akuma no ko to Ymir either the original or a English cover

Actually the flowers are in reference to IDW. Specifically:

My knowledge of IDW is spotty, but I do remember when chapters were being dropped that this was fuel for the transformers fandom. Very angsty fanart kept popping up, specifically around IDW Megatron.

Because these flowers are called Remembrance Flowers, and in IDW, the flowers and the statue represent the amount of people that were killed by that one particular person. Each flower, represents a soul, so when the comic ends up cutting to this panel about Megatron's flowers, it basically showed the weight of Megatron's actions and all the lives that he's taken. Because his field of flowers is extremely massive. I think he drove through his flowers with a scooter and he was out there for a few hours.

So instead of the Eldians being connected through a tree in the Paths, Primus has altered everything so that the souls of each Eldian are present and visible, no longer bound by the rules of the Paths and allowed to just be individuals.

And in regards to the scene with Primus and Ymir, Akuma no ko doesn't fit simply because it's a love song meant for Eren and Mikasa. The song that I think fits, and I've put it on the playlist, is this:

A Million Miles Away from the Belle movie back in 2021. The Belle movie is supposed to be a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and while the story is extremely imperfect, but the songs are really great, especially in the dub.

But instead of Belle being a love story between Belle and the Beast, it's about a girl named Suzu who resents her late mother for sacrificing her life to save a random girl during a storm, essentially leaving her behind. This trauma prevents her from going back to singing, and she's only able to sing again in a virtual reality setting as Belle. And the Beast that she interacts with, causing a lot of problems in the internet, turns out to be a boy who's being abused by his father, along with his little brother. When Suzu finds this out and says she's Belle, he obviously doesn't believe her and her willingness to help. So she ends up shedding her avatar and sings this song to prove to the boy she is who she says she is and she wants to help.

Why do I bring this up? Because I think this song fits how Primus feels about Ymir. He heard Ymir's cry for help from across the universe, her cry transcending time and space, as she's locked away in the Paths. He traveled through the memories of the titan shifters in the Paths, trying to find the answers he needs and trying to find her so he could save her. He says he's been in the Paths for 2,000 years, but if he's searching through the memories of all the titan shifters, it would no doubt be longer, as he has to account for different perspectives and lives.

Ending the power of the titans was the second goal Primus had. His first goal was to save Ymir, simply because he heard her crying out for help and he didn't want to leave her alone. The chorus fits this perfectly:

Come back to me, and stay by my side I feel my heart shake Come, ease this ache I'm standing over here, reaching for you A million miles away, come back and stay No matter how far the memories may be When I close my eyes, you're all that I see Come back to me A million miles away, come back and stay

And now try to read this while listening to the song:

Primus pulled back and looked at her blank face. He cradled Ymir’s face in his hands, and felt tears brimming in his eyes. “Little One, you suffered so much. You gave up so much, but what he did to you was not right. That wasn’t love. He hurt you and used you. He took everything from you and you did nothing to deserve that.”

Primus felt Ymir flinch and continued. “You are not a slave. What the king told you...that was wrong and cruel and unjustified. You’re not a slave, you’re not a devil, and you’re not a god. You are just a little girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders. A heavy burden, that causes nothing but misery.”

Primus saw her expression change. There was light flickering in her blank eyes, and he could’ve sworn he saw the color of her eyes.

“You do not deserve this,” Primus declared, “And I wish to take you far away from here…but…I cannot.”

Eren was shocked. What did he mean by he can’t? He stated earlier that he had the ability to do so! Why was he saying that he couldn’t now?!

“Little One, you were never given a chance to choose what you wanted,” Primus explained, “All your life, you were told by others what to do, but that is not what you want. I want so badly to take you far away from here and give you the peace and love you deserve. But I do not wish to force you to come with me. I wish for that to be your choice.”

Primus took her hands into his own. “If you wish to stay here forever, then…I will not stop you. I will leave you here, and you will not see me again. If you wish to come with me, I would be more than happy to take you as far away from here as possible. If you are not certain, then I will wait here as long as possible until you come to the decision.”

Ymir’s flickering gaze went to Primus’ hands holding her own. Ymir opened her mouth, and she could feel the strain in her voice. She struggled to form the words and felt like her throat was burning from trying to form it. But Primus patiently waited for her to speak. He waited and waited until…

 “…why?...”

Primus felt it: her confusion, her intrigue, her denial. She wanted desperately to understand the reason why a stranger came all this way to find her. Why was he willing to give a slave the whole world? Why did such a powerful being travel for 2,000 years to find a pitiful girl? There had to be a good reason.

“…Because I heard your cry, and I wanted nothing more than to save you.” Primus answered.

Ymir’s eyes brightened as she sharply turned her head to look at Primus. The life missing reappearing, revealing her eyes to be a pale gray infected by the blue of the energon. That…that was it? That was the only reason? He came all this way…for her? He came all this way…for a pathetic and worthless girl. Tears poured from her eyes once again as her lips trembled. He didn’t even know her, but…he came all this way. Someone had listened to her cry, her desperate plea for help, and it was him.

Primus gave her a warm smile, happy to see the life come back into her eyes. “Do you wish to come with me?”

Ymir gripped his hands deathly tight. She was still trying to comprehend those words, but she didn’t want to let go. This warmth, this kindness, this comfort, this boundless freedom: she had never felt it before. It was so different from what she had before. She…wanted to go with him. She wanted to go. She wanted the love and freedom he offered her. Ymir, despite her own fear, nodded her head, answering his question.

 “Then come with me, Little One,” Primus offered, “Let us go home, together.”

Ymir began shaking, shocked by the god’s words and offer, the tears pouring down her cheeks. Primus lifted his hands to touch her cheeks and wipe the tears that were falling. She slowly lifted her hands to touch the ones there, actually registering the physical contact, surprised by the soft touch and warmth he continued to give. She let out a cry of sorrow and relief, the first real and raw emotion she let out in years. She cried and cried and cried. She tightened her grip, not wanting this being to let go of her. Primus wrapped his arms around her and Ymir hugged him tightly. He rubbed her back as she cried in his chest.

“Little One, I promise you,” he began as he looked down at her and wiped her tears, “As long as I still function, no one will ever hurt you again. I promise.”

Primus saw the smallest ghost of a smile on her lips before nodding his head in reassurance. Primus smiled brightly towards her, tears coming down his face. He quietly laughed and hugged her close once more. Ymir continued crying into his chest, feeling all of her tension and stress leave her body in an instant. Her grief and sorrow were mute. All she felt was the warm and kindness this gentle being was willing to give to her. This…this is what love was. It had to be.

Primus raised his head and spoke ancient words. Both titan shifters watched the blue stream of energy surround Primus as he spoke this unfamiliar language. They grew fearful when they saw that his eyes were beginning to glow once more and his tears began to fade. When he finished speaking, the tree began to fall apart. It crumbled and turned to dust, and the dust flew up towards the stars. Eren then noticed a flower sprouting and blooming at Ymir’s feet. It looked other worldly, glowing a bright blue in a rather desolate place. Then, three more flowers bloomed next to the first one, and then nine formed. Before Eren realized it, multiple flowers began to spring up and bloom. This garden continued to expand for miles; the flowers blooming under Eren and Zeke. Eren watched as it went on for miles, a never ending field of flowers. He turned his head upward, and saw the starry night change into a mix of day and night. A sun began to shine while the stars glistened in the sky. Eren gasped when he saw the shining mountain lights that Armin had once told him about when they were kids, while three moons appeared in his line of sight. It was…it was indescribable.

[iwillhaveamoonbase]

So, something I think most people who live outside Japan don't know is that movie theaters sell booklets for their current movie line-up. And these things have interviews from the cast and crew information about the soundtrack, concept art, stills. Each booklet is different.

If you have a chance to go to a Japanese movie theater, I highly recommend getting one. I wish American theaters had something like these as well because the booklets are always so stunning

Incoming low quality versions of samples from Belle, Little Mermaid 2023, and Across the Spider-verse

[theprinceandthewitch]

Okay... tbh I kind of want my money back for this movie...

Don't get it wrong - I understood what they were doing here - I understand that at its core it's a story about two people trying to navigate their lives while dealing with grief. It's not a romance story, BUT I still enjoyed this movie for it's actual themes.

HOWEVER, if you are going to intentionally borrow scenes from Disney's Beauty and the Beasts animated movie almost to a tee to market your movie and NOT deliver on any romance... you can't get mad at people for being disappointed or chewing you out for it.

I legit can't see why people aren't allowed to dislike this movie just because of that, since that's what the marketing wanted you to think. And like... why would they borrow scenes from a romantic movie if they didn't want us to read the Belle and Beast scenes as romantic? This is like the definition of mixed signals lmao.

So yeah, I completely understand why people were put off by this movie. I'm a bit put off with it myself and will not be watching it again.

[soft-chocolate-sweetie]

I was thinking about Belle (2021) last night after watching it for the first time and I made a connection that I had missed while watching. One of the times when Suzu is at choir practice, one of the ladies says something about someone in her life mothering her. (i cannot for the life of me remember if this was about Shinobu or not) I ultimately ignored this detail until long after the movie was over and I started thinking about it all again. There is a strong theme of mothering within the film. Obviously there’s the parallel between Suzu and Kei both having dead moms. But what was less obvious, to me at least, was that each of them have someone else in their lives looking over them and they each look out for someone else. Shinobu is constantly worried about Suzu and checking in on her. Suzu, as Belle, is worried about the Beast, Kei. And Kei is constantly protecting his little brother Tomo, the angel. I just found that chain of kids taking up caretaker roles interesting.

[makimacult]

belle would not have worked if the beast had been someone familiar to suzu from the start—the movie goes in a full circle from suzu in the beginning not understanding why her mother would sacrifice her life to save a child she didn't know, to choosing to do the very same thing herself at the end.

[uncleasriel]

I think it's because there's so much pivoting between the real and virtual worlds that the exact relation between the two is so crucuial. We live in a world where social media is ubiquitous and has a real impact on our lives. The theme of using the virtual world as a both a foil to and continuation of our real lives is a core part of the film, and establishing that Suzu lives in a world that is VERY grounded (the bus/train commuute, her relationship with music, her awkward social ife) all cement who she is and where she stands in relation to others. The virtual world of U, while still being a place for her to reinvent herself meaningfully, is still build on top of that world, and is behold to the real worlds politics, economics, and other realities. I have no

The detective scenes where Suzu and her gremlin friend try to track down who the Beast is really illustrate this. They track down who he could be by looking at U users who hwere on other social media sites, and interviewing them. Those sites seem to behave like social media as we understand it. There are accounts, means of communications, means that the human at the other end of the connection can emote, end, change their interaction as they see fit. It implies moderators, block/mute/end call features.... all of which seem weirdly absent in U. Is U an MMO? A Second-life stye social platform? If so, why are there no moderators? Why let the Justice vigilantes have a device that DOXES PEOPLE (a rather dangerous thing that real-life vigilantes can cause tremendous harm with)? COuld anyone have such an item? Did Justin make it himself?

I want to appreciate U as a fairy-tail realm that runs on whatever dream logic makes it work, but when that dream-world intersects with realities as ugly as domestic abuse, I'm left frustrated. It emotionally resonates so well with Suzu's journey - she literallyen dangers herself to rescues a stranger in need, connecting her to her mother before her - but so much of the drama of the digital world feels like it could be resolve by "Just log out" or "just block the guys harassing you". The governing structure of U feels alost arbitrarty, it might as well be a dreamscape where they all pilot tulpas of their own creation, rather than a socail media grounded in the real world. it's a shame, because Suzu's real world is beautifully, achingly drawn - I really get WHY she wanted to create Bell in U as an escape from both the normal teenage anxieties and trauma of losing her mother. But then failing to connect that grounded drama into an equally grounded vitual world really undermines the film's themes about virtual worlds being means to bring us closer together and ground us in the lives we share there.

It makes the fiulm feel undercooked, is what I'm getting at. It still made me tearyeyed, but not without a fair bit of frustration along the way.

Finally got around to watching the Anime Movie Belle and I gotta say that even though it had a bunch of plotting problems That I think i would normally be a bit more annoyed about - It never does anything particularly egregious, but I feel that some things move a little too quickly or are glossed over a bit in a way I don't quite like, or the this is an outgrowth of the internet and technology that felt a bit eh, but those moments also ultimately don't matter so- it's hits me as a really just...aggressively sincere movie.

Like I had to had to tell my brain to not go lmao this bit is dumb because XYZ because like...No, that's so nakedly obviously not what's important here.

"Oh but this makes no sense it's basically a social media platform that does XYZ" It doesn't matter IDIOT, it exists to support the theme of you being part of the world and how you HAVE to expose yourself to see the changes in yourself that you want to see, if you want to help people.

"Ok, but how does it all work though? Like, Yeah Beast...Beats people so badly that he's able to break their data? THat's just a thing he can do? Nobody can find his secret castle for some reason?" YOU ABSOLUTE MORON, none of that is relevant. It works because it's fantasy twitter but cool and functional and owned and controlled by 5 cool old ladies who may as well be fairy godparents. But the tech-No, it literally is unimportant. While I'd like it a bit more if they gave a less technical explanation, the tech works because it does, homie is able to fuck things up the way he is able to because pain is pain, And for him his ability to fight is basically the equivalent to belles ability to sing. An Ability WILDLY INSANELY INCREDIBLE to an unreal degree (like Her arc does follow a viral sensation arc for the initial flow, but it takes effort to capitalize on that, and on top of that she's apparently making money? yeah no.)

I mean hell, most of the people in this movie actually do seem to have some legit super powers. It's kinda glossed over and is again relatively unimportant, but like her bestie? Kind of scary capable of dealing with things, especially if we take the textual difficulty of finding Beast as true. Kayak dude? Homie hits nationals....on strength of a club that consists of himself and himself alone? What? Like yeah ok, that's normal sure.

Anyway.like...man, once and if you just buy in and accept the technical aspects as just "it fucking works" the movie really just constantly goes "Here are the feelings and why they're being felt and yes it's goofy and weird in places" but damn if they don't just mean it and it does hit.

[angelic-ambedo]

The Weirdest Fucking Movies I've Ever seen Pt. 1

Okay so I sort of champion myself as a lover of weird movies. And it's funny because regardless of how many I've seen, every time I watch a weird movie I genuinely feel as if it is the weirdest movie I've ever seen in my life.

So, I decided to make a list which compiles all of said weird movies and then a description of why I find each so uniquely weird. If you find any of these descriptions or titles intriguing, I recommend you seek these movies out, because a weird movie = a good life ya know so yeah

If you have more weird movies please please recommend them im hungry for new crazy cinema bebesssss

Eraserhead (1977) - genuinely makes no sense.

Coherence (2013) - trippy scientifically interesting thriller

Some Velvet Morning (2013) - abusive cat n mouse relationship

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - emotional violence

Greener Grass (2019) - let's shame suburbia!

Trash Humpers (2009) - people fucking the trash...?

Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) - mental illness be so sad and trippy

Gummo (1997) - literal photo album of a dysfunctional town

Slaughtered Vomit Dolls (2006) - bulimia PSA in disguise

Black Bear (2020) - art seeps into the "real" world

Begotten (1990) - god kills himself

Trouble Every Day (2001) - eating people presented as...a turn on?

Baise-Moi (2000) - punk feminist murderous women are sick and society sux

Palindromes (2004) - one character is played by a ton of different actors of different ages, races, and sexes

964 Pinocchio (1991) - so much vomit, even more cyberpunk lobotomy sex machine madness

Meet the Feebles (1989) - the muppets give each other STDs and commit mass murder

In the Realm of the Senses (1976) - a torrid, pornographic affair used to escape the horrors of a war-torn world

Enter the Void (2009) - going to the past, present, and future, POV shots that include blinking, going inside the body, taboo themes with a psychedelic style

Love (2015) - horny pseudo-porno about a misogynistic asshole who somehow pulls hot, sexually adventurous women

Climax (2018) - LSD fueled nightmare

Pink Flamingos (1972) - a competition to be the "filthiest person alive" (spoiler alert: the cool drag queen wins)

Vivarium (2019) - Suburbia is still creepy, guys

Be My Cat: A Film for Anne (2015) - can we please stop having erotomania like celebrities aren't into u babe :(

No No Nooky TV (1987) - Computers being cool and saying "boobs" and "clit"

The Piano Teacher (2001) - unsafe nonconsensual bdsm and sexual repression is...no. please no.

The Night Porter (1974) - stockholm syndrome and wild bdsm stuff with postwar themes

Belle de Jour (1967) - more bdsm themes

Titane (2021) - woman fucks a car and gets pregnant

Daisies (1966) - two girls cut up pickles and destroy the patriarchy

Creep 1 and 2 (2014, 2017) - murder has never been this funny

Garbanzo Gas (2007) - a human cow gets an all-expenses paid trip to a motel before it hits the slaughterhouse

Melancholie der Engel (2009) - ew.

In Our Garden (2002) - old men dicks + weirdest dialogue I've ever heard in my life

The Rehearsal (TV series) (2022) - this is the ultimate weirdest thing ever and I don't know how else to categorize it.

Trigger Warnings (all of these movies are weird/fucked up but some of them contain actual fucked up stuff that like. happened in real life. so below are the triggers for that kind of stuff. All of these films are genuine films, not the gore stuff the internet produces, but some of them because of the country/time period/transgressiveness include content that is inappropriate and/or ethically unacceptable, so I've included those movies below)

Baise-Moi - unsimulated sex scenes which includes SA scenes that actors consented to but characters did not. this proves a feminist point but is still incredibly upsetting and stayed with me for a while as there are close ups and its awful.

In the Realm of the Senses - Please look into this one more before you watch it, I'm not going to describe things in detail because it makes me so uncomfortable but there are some scenes that involve young actors that should not ethically have been in the situations they were put in. The movie is exceptionally well made and from what I know globally respected so I don't know why they had to ruin it for me but whatever.

Pink Flamingos - One infamous scene involves an actual chicken death. It was the early 70s (long time ago and no PETA) and they apparently ate the chicken afterward, so I felt less immoral about this one but still gross.

Melancholie der Engel - okay please genuinely never watch this movie unless you're super into traumatizing yourself and are very desensitized I guess. There's a ton of actual animal abuse in very very graphic/unnecessarily disturbing shock type situations. There's other bad unsimulated stuff but this is the worst of it from what I know.

Love and Meet the Feebles contain scenes that are transphobic and/or racist, which is gross. Slaughtered Vomit Dolls was made by a very bad person. A bunch of the movies also have unsimulated sex stuff, I don't know if that makes anyone uncomfortable but if it does I'm just putting it out there.

[derpcakes]

A Mahou Shoujo Mid-Twenties Crisis: New Takes on “Magical Girls for Adults”

This posts contains mentions of suicide ideation, domestic violence, climate crisis; and minor spoilers for Park Seolyeon’s A Magical Girl Retires.

Sometimes the stars align. Park Seolyeon’s novella A Magical Girl Retires was originally published in 2022 but translated into English by Anton Hur and released into my local bookstore this year. A month or so later, Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc—which began serialisation in 2021—got an anime adaptation and danced across my TV screen. As the titles imply, they’re both magical girl stories, with all the expected bells and whistles: transformation sequences set off by specific items, cute colour-coded battle dresses, and fantastical fights against both small and big-time monsters and villains. The twist is that these two works throw cynical, tired, downtrodden twenty-something-year-olds into the whimsical world of the genre. Thus, they’re both distinctly “adult” takes on the familiar magical girl framework… though in a very different way to other, similarly genre-aware stories that have come before. 

Keep reading...

[malleleothreesome]

TWST characters in 2023 Yumejoshi Poll results (Fellow Honest dominates)

For those unaware, Yumejoshi is the term for self shipping with canon characters. Every year, it seems note.com does a poll where Yumejoshi Japanese women vote for their favorite characters that year.

Out of the 100 available slots on the list, 7 TWST characters made it. To summarize this year's results compared to previous: Trey Clover stays winning (he and Idia are the only ones to make the list every year—apparently Japanese women love how normal Trey is), Fellow Honest has pickpocketed the hearts of every TWST fan, Malleus has overblotted his way back onto the list, and Azul & the Tweels have fallen from grace?!

(Keep scrolling if you'd like to read the official commentary accompanying each character.)

2023 TWST characters rankings:

#39 Fellow Honest #41 Ace Trappola #44 Trey Clover #50 Rollo Flamme #57 Leona Kingscholar #76 Idia Shroud #89 Malleus Draconia 2023 article link

Previous years for comparison:

2022: #49 Azul Ashengrotto #52 Trey Clover #69 Rollo Flamme #70 Jade Leech #71 Idia Shroud #74 Ruggie Bucchi #75 Floyd Leech #96 Jack Howl 2022 article link

2021: #12 Azul Ashengrotto #14 Trey Clover #15 Floyd Leech #25 Jade Leech #39 Ace Trappola #41 Leona Kingscholar #43 Jamil Viper #44 Idia Shroud #60 Ruggie Bucchi #76 Deuce Spade #92 Jack Howl 2021 article link

2020 (TWST's Launch Year): #8 Azul Ashengrotto #9 Leona Kingscholar #10 Floyd Leech #12 Jade Leech #17 Trey Clover #19 Jamil Viper #24 Malleus Draconia #35 Ace Trappola #38 Deuce Spade #42 Idia Shroud #71 Jack Howl #99 Riddle Rosehearts #100 Rook Hunt 2020 article link

Each character on the list is accompanied by some commentary from their voters. I do not speak Japanese and I'm using a translator, so please take this with a grain of salt.

Fellow Honest:

"In 2023, when I thought things were going to end peacefully, a cute and cuddly guy suddenly appeared. I want to make him happy." [Playful Land Spoilers] "He is the most popular character in TWST today. He played the role of a villain who opposed the protagonist's side in this year's Halloween event, and after successfully defeating the entire protagonist's side, he lost his temper with his shitty boss, made a truce with the protagonist's side, and happily destroyed his own workplace with the protagonists and disappeared. Thanks to this, many Tweets were posted praising him for 'doing what no one else could do.' We are waiting with baited breath for next year's implementation!" "Honest John is my favorite Disney character, and when he was materialized into TWST, he became handsome and sultry. When I found out he was voiced by Sugita, I already knew I liked him. I will feed you. (Erica's translation note: lol)"

Ace:

"He is a typical high school boy who is smart and intelligent but still immature. He can get too carried away and he can be slow, but he is a kind boy with a good eye for those around him and a good head on his shoulders. There is only room for growth. When talking about love, he may have fights with the person he loves, but he has the manliness to apologize." [His second quote is too complex for me to properly translate]

Trey:

"Is there a normal man like you?" "What a normal guy like you!!!!" "If there is a normal guy like you in the championship, I think he should be inducted into the Hall of Fame."

Rollo:

"'Can you hear the bell?' I can. The sound of wedding bells..." "Even though you're not an NRC student, you're the No. 1 king of sexual deviancy. You're a clean freak, you're a nervous person, and you decide exactly what you're having for lunch every day, but you know that if you don't make a decision, you'll be driven by desire. He's already the best when it comes to his voice actor, Hiroshi Kamiya, and last year's Glorious Masquerade showed a glimpse of how he can drive Yumijoshi girls crazy! This year, we went crazy for his SSR card and personal story! Rollo, you fell into a swamp that you can never get out of! I like the way he puts a handkerchief to his mouth and the way he taps his fingers when he crosses his arms in the Live2D portrait, his nervousness is brought to the forefront, and I like that. It's really interesting to see how nervous the NRC students are, or rather how Rolo's pace is disturbed. I never get tired of watching it. Both The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Judge Frollo, which are the original homages, are full of charm, so I want everyone who loves Rollo to see them!!"

Leona:

"You may not be the king of your country, but you are my king. I will make you happy, I will show you, just wait and see" (Erica's translation note: relatable af) [I have no idea what they're trying to say here so I can't translate it. Something about a swamp??] "The way he looks like an easy-going, self-satisfied guy and is all sulky, is honestly a swamp." (Erica's translation note: Swamp obviously means something to these Japanese women and I'm just not in on it. Comment if you know lol) "Contrary to his appearance, he is more of a gentleman than I imagined."

Idia:

"I'm seriously in love with him, I want him to be spoiled to the limit." "I've been shipping with him for four years now, and my love for him grows each year. He is endlessly loving, wise, and clumsy. He has a bad mouth and attitude, but the only time Mr. Idia gets angry is when someone he cares about does something that makes him sad. He tends to just complain and go through with his attacks on himself, so I will be angry with him instead. I love you! The big Yumejoshi news this year was that I got to meet Idia's parents. His mom is too cute..." "He showed me in front of everyone the kind of man he is when he wants to do something, and I felt both proud and wanting to have him all to myself forever. But, I also like his no-good side. ♡ Keep up the good work, handsome ♡"

Malleus:

"His age has been kept under wraps until now, but it was finally revealed that he is 178 years old. A dragon is said to be a chick at 200, a youngster at 500, and a full-fledged man at 1,000 (according to Lilia). In other words, at 178 years old, he is a baby (an exaggeration). He made a friend at school, and that friend is me, the prefect. I will love him forever, won't I? It seems he wants me to sleep sleep for the rest of my life, though. He said something like, 'If you give yourself over to sleep, a thousand years will pass in the blink of an eye,' but he is only 178 years old. He's cute." "I couldn't help but wonder if he was lonely after learning about his past." "A big wall has been built between Tsunotaro and I since chapter 7 started, but I'm okay with it. After everything is over, Malleus and I will eat ice cream together in Ramshackle dorm."

[thelovetheystole]

Big spoilers from today's show under the cut.

Knowing what we know now, that Belle is actually Vinny's aunt, whatever Mandy was trying to pull here in 2021 makes zero sense... ⬇️

So this is just another retcon that doesn't fit with what we've seen on screen...

[everywishway]

So I want to talk about the Legend of Vox Machina, Season Three Finale, but more specifically what it means for the coming spinoff(ish) season based on the second campaign, The Mighty Nein. If you haven't watched the newest episodes of season three or don't want MAJOR spoilers for TM9, don't continue on to under the cut.

Spoilers for the ending of TLVM S3 and the entirety of TM9:

Okay, I want to specifically talk about what this means for the VERY fucking controversial finale of M9. Those who were there remember it well, especially me, because the INSANE fighting that came out of nowhere ruined CR for me.

For those who don't know, instead of bringing back Mollymauk Tealeaf, Taliesin made a new character out of Molly's dead corpse and it really rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way. Some were all for it (but from my experience, that was a rare minority), a lot were against it and an even larger group didn't like it but said "this is Taliesin's character, he gets to do what he wants". The fanbase kind of tore itself apart from the inside, esp on Twitter, Youtube, and a little on here but not as bad. Honestly, the whole thing killed a large part of the fandom and that's part of the reason why a lot of people fell off with Campaign 3/Bells Hells.

While I have my own opinions on the finale, I'm not going to share them here but this choice will probably be rectified in the M9 animated series.

TLVM seems to be trying to fix story issues, esp big ones that upset fans or didn't flow narratively which was almost certainly what Molly's/Kingsley's revival was for the greater Critter fanbase back in 2021. People (including me) had been watching for literal months back then, waiting to see if Molly was revived or not, then a sudden third thing happened that upset the majority of the fanbase.

I think a large part of that choice was Taliesin kinda hating Molly? More specifically he hated the popularity Molly got. Molly was a fan favorite, even after his death and people just wanted more of him even tho he was long replaced by Caduceus after Molly's death. I think Taliesin was just, done with Molly at that point.

Plus, it looked like at that time he wasn't enjoying Critical Role as much, Taliesin seems to wish CR never got as big as it did. He wanted it to stay small, something between him and his friends.

In a recent interview, Sam said he didn't have the fight that drove Scanlan away from Vox Machina because it didn't fit narratively in the show or really even in the podcast. I can see Taliesin having that moment of clarity within the past three years. He can see as a writer, as a director, as a storyteller, that choice upset the fans (and probably his fucking castmates, ngl). This is the chance to undo the damage a lot of people had but that's the cast's choice.

Do I think this is set in stone? No, I can totally see it going the same way it does in the campaign, and dear god, I don't want to deal with that toxic hellhole the fandom became back then. But this is what I think will happen. If you have any ideas or comments, feel free to reblog.

[professoruber]

Mia "Maps" Mizoguchi Reading List

Last Updated: 24/4/2024

A list I have decided to make for the purpose of compiling the various appearances so far of Maps Mizoguchi; since she is a character I like whom has also been receiving some focus as of late. I will also provide some brief description/thoughts for each one.

Gotham Academy (2014-2016) - All Issues

Maps of course first made her original appearance in the first run of Gotham Academy.

Gotham Academy: Endgame (2015) - #1

A one-shot comic which was one of several tie-ins made for the Endgame event which was going on at the time. Basically just shows what Maps and the GA crew were up to while Gotham was being overrun by Joker zombies.

Gotham Academy: Second Semester (2016-2017) - All Issues

The continuation of the Gotham Academy storyline, with of course has Maps in a major role.

Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy (2016-2017)

A crossover between Gotham Academy and the Lumberjanes, which I'm pretty sure is non-canon but still probably worth checking out. I have not read it, nor the Lumberjanes comics yet, although I do intend to do both as some point (due in part to ND Stevenson being one of the authors of Lumberjanes, and me really liking the She-Ra reboot and Nimona)

Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death (2016) - #1

Maps, alongside other Gotham Academy students (including Olive, Kyle, Colton and Pom) have a brief cameo in this first issue of this run. Maps and Olive each get one line each.

Batgirl (2011—2016) - #51, #52, & Annual 4

Maps (along with Olive) also showed up briefly during the Batgirl of Burnside run. My assumption is this is due to them sharing an artist and being published concurrently. I do know what Burnside!Babs isn't everyone's cup of tea so keep that in mind, I suppose.

My Video Game Ate my Homework (2020) - #1

Maps and Olive show up behind the main characters in the first page as a cameo... and that's about it. The comic seems fun though, for the record. Mostly including this because I'm just going through the list of Maps' appearances on the DC wiki.

Batman: Black and White (2021) - #4

One of the stories in this issue has Maps appear as Robin. Non-canon but still a very neat and fun appearance by her.

Batman (2016-) - #119, #120, #121

Probably Maps' first major appearance since the end of the Gotham Academy: Second Semester. These give some additional exploration of her home life and relationship with her parents. Has her dressing up as Robin to investigation the disappearance of another student.

Batgirls (2022-2023) - #11

Maps shows up here and has an adventure with Cass. This also means that Maps knows Babs, Cass and Steph. Which is neat. I do know that the portrayal of the Batgirls in Batgirls isn't everyone's cup of tea (namely portraying them as younger / less mature than they have been in the past) so that that's worth keeping in mind. Interestly, Maps' big brother Kyle has a larger role; appearing in #10, #11, #17, #18, #19 and the Annual as a possible love interest for Steph.

DC's Saved by the Belle Reve (2022) - #1 

A one-shot with several stories, including one which returns to the Gotham Academy crew and gives some information on what's happened since the end of Gotham Academy: Second Semester, along with a fun adventure.

Gotham Academy: Maps of Mystery (2023) - #1

A one-shot which acts a compilation of Batman (2016-) - #119, #120, #121, as well as Maps appearances in Batman: Black and White, and DC's Saved by the Belle Reve.

Birds of Prey (2023-) - All Issues

The newest Birds of Prey run has a surprise appearance by Maps. Which I think is a neat sign of her receiving some increased focus as of late. To get into some mild-ish spoilers... the Maps who appears is a Maps from the future. I have made a few posts/reviews of this run, which you can find on this blog, and I guess personally I am not the biggest fan of her portrayal in this comic. Still is neat to see her receive more focus. Do kinda also think it could've been neat if Present!Maps had shown up instead of Future!Maps.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2023-) - #10, #11, #12

Gotham Academy returns! As does Present!Maps. A fun ongoing story of Maps getting to team up with Batman once more.

[dancedance-resolution]

Pwp jingled your bells… what the FUCK-

OKAY SO WHAT HAPPENED WAS i was born a baltimore catholic and guess who else was born a baltimore catholic? jacksfilms. (i am not doxxing him, this is public information on his wikipedia and videos lol). and because all baltimore catholics know each other to some degree, i closely knew some of his close family members and as such watched his videos regularly for a hot minute. NOW. for years he's been making dumb little royalty free christmas songs every holiday season, and one of said royalty free christmas songs consists of just one repeated lyric: "jingle my bells, baby"

so camera cuts to me, a horny little freak obsessed with supercorp who has also been mentally workshopping how well christmas string lights could work as cuffs in a pinch (for unrelated reasons), and the second i hear this lyric one fateful day in december 2021 i'm like oh. this is so fucking kara danvers.

and thus this fic was born. the working title was/is "jingle your bells" and i fear that may be the finished title if i ever finish this work lol </3. it was initially intended to be a 2021 holiday gift to coffeeshiib [if you're reading this, hi, i hope you're doing well, friend :)] but alas, here we are.

beneath the cut is an excerpt of the outline (CONTAINS SPOILERS bc i'm afraid i may never finish it oops) (also yes oops x2 i've been working on this fic for 3 years and still only have an outline):

Lena 3rd person POV

SC are visiting Sam's house for the holidays - Dansen are there + Sam is dating Sloane from Happiest Season??

Everyone is a little tipsy and somehow Lena ends up tits out (menopause hot flash + fireplace + alcohol flush -> leads to shedding of clothing??)

Blah blah blah they're horny and Alex bullies Kara for being too touchy, they are relegated to the guest room.

Kara's fucking her but Lena's not keeping her hands to herself as instructed (??). Kara spots string of Christmas lights. Cuffs ensue.

[redacted outline but the gist is they bump uglies]

As she comes down from her orgasm, Kara kisses her way up Lena's abdomen and makes a bad pun -> "okay but I'm pretty good at this Christmas spirit thing for a Jew, eh? jingling your bells while you're all tied up like a pretty little presen-- Lena groans and end fic question mark?

[monkeyart]

Belle /Suzu 🌸 from Belle / Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime (2021)

I drew her in my third favorite outfit bc the red dress and the interrupted concert dress have too many details and this outfit deserves some love too :)

It was a fun movie to watch. I liked the animation and the music but the plot itself felt a bit all over the place imo.

~some Spoilers for the movie~

Is it just me or was Belle a bit of a confusing movie? I really like fairy tales and fairy tale retellings, but in this case I feel like the Beauty and the Beast aspects hinder more then they help. Belle is about mental health and grief and going against social norms to help people and the themes of BatB don't really match with that. I just don't think that it was a good fit and it just took time away from everything else that was happening.

Like Belle having a romantic (?) dance scene with the 'beast' like in the Disney movie but it's not a romance. (Or is it. Maybe it was just the subs but I didn't really know what their relationship status was at the end.) They also barely speak to each other before that.

Or that the Beast is so 'beastly' not because of any character flaws he has to grow from but because he's being abused. The little brother didn't fit into the BatB thing at all.

And the resolution is that the abusive dad hits her in the face, then runs away and Suzu goes home again. Is that supposed to mean he's never abusing his sons again?

Maybe it would have been alright, if the movie had been twice as long or it been a series but as is it was too much going on for the time they had.

I'd love a movie about mental health and I'd love Beauty and the Beast with a twist. But both were a bit too much for one movie.