#the parallels in the game r really interesting

[rnn11203]

Ichi and waka

[miss-oranje-disco-dancer]

i say this all in the nicest way possible, but act your age, not your shoe size.

first off, don't like, don't read. It should be that simple, but for all y'all who can't get that, i'll explain: there is a feature on tumblr where you can block tags AND CONTENT, so if there is a topic that you don't like seeing/a trigger for you, you can not only block the tag, but also block the content. i'm severely emetophobic, so i have content related to that blocked (don't wanna say the word, it's legit a trigger for me). it works wonderfully. if you do not want to see fics about dark content, there are terms you can filter. the internet is a place where people can post what they want, and you need to understand that it will not cater to you all the time. You can curate your own feed so that you can cater to your own needs, but everyone else is not required to change their content to suit your fancy.

in regards to leon and RE specifically, i hate being the "you have to know the lore to read/write" person but (and btw watching playthroughs counts if you cannot afford the games bc things are expensive, and i get that) if you have not made an effort to play or watch anything from the series, i don't know why you feel like you have any knowledge of 1. resident evil and 2. leon kennedy. he is not your "pookie bear", "lil innocent sweet cutie" (you can write him like that and I am not going to stop you! it's okay to write OOC). he goes through traumatic events in this horror series and is a suicidal alcoholic. he would probably not be a perfect father who brings home flowers everyday after work. ALSO HE IS NOT REAL. HE IS FICTIONAL AND HE DOES NOT HAVE REAL BEHAVIORS AND FEELINGS. "he would never do that". yeah, he wouldn't because HE DOESN'T FUCKING EXIST. it applies to all "versions of leon" that you wanna make up in your head. it's fictional. we're all talking about fake people. get a grip.

most of us on this site are adults. if you are an adult, you can consume and produce dark fics. if you don't want to, then you don't have to. here's a parallel: i really like the book american psycho and they sell it at barnes and noble where you or i could buy a copy, but neither i, nor the barnes and noble employee will force you to read it. it's the same thing here.

if you are a minor and you are old enough to get onto the computer/your phone and type "leon kennedy x reader" then I hope you are old enough to comprehend the words "minors do not interact". in fact, you can block the "leon kennedy smut" tag because those works involve sex and are therefore 18+! I do understand, however, that not everyone will heed the warnings, regardless, i am not responsible for putting up the metaphorical baby gate, as I am not anyone's parent.

more about dark content in general: some people write it because it's therapeutic - to those of you who say "it's not a healthy coping mechanism", show me your degree in psychotherapy and then, we'll talk. others enjoy writing or consuming dark content because it's interesting. personally, i don't write dark content, but i do consume it because i find it interesting. i have never found pure fluff interesting. when i was a child, i did not enjoy disney movies. i loved ghost stories, i remember begging my parents to let me watch the corpse bride when i was 5, i used to go on r/nosleep when i was a kid, my friend and i would get her older sister to take us to the movie theater to watch horror movies when we were too young to go by ourselves. all that is to say: i find certain shit boring.

producing and consuming dark content does not mean that you are endorsing that content. capcom makes horror content. do they endorse murder, rape, incest, etc.? i highly fucking doubt it. (yes, all of those things happen or are directly implied in the resident evil franchise). capcom makes the good guys the protagonists and i think that's why it's hopefully pretty easy to understand their intentions. sometimes, people write things where the bad guys are the protagonists :0 - that doesn't mean that they are endorsing the bad actions of the characters. bret easton ellis was not supporting murder, rape, cannibalism, necrophilia, etc. when he wrote american psycho (it's a social commentary about the vapid nature of consumerism and wall street in the '80s and it's a really good book.) vladimir nabakov was not endorsing pedophilia when he wrote lolita - humbert humbert is the villain. if you can't comprehend this, then i don't know what to tell you.

here's another great example to help you: i might reblog content that includes father/daughter incest, but that does not mean that i would do that stuff with my own father. FIRST OF ALL EW, and SECOND OF ALL I AM A FUCKING LESBIAN. I WOULD NEVER HAVE SEX WITH A MAN. EVER AGAIN.

learn critical media consumption and critical thinking in general.

also, if you are telling people 'you're not a real sa victim because you write/like dark content' or 'you're doing harm to victims', YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. most people that i know who have gone through sa (including myself) have struggled to accept that what someone else did was not their fault. it's a huge step in the path to overcoming/coping with trauma to recognize your experience and know that your experience was valid. if you try to invalidate people's trauma, you are actively pushing back their recovery process (for lack of a better phrase), so don't act like you give a fuck about victims! there are conversations that we can and should have surrounding SA, but that's not the conversation you're looking to engage in. i can almost guarantee that none of you are saying that in good faith. you are using SA victims as a reason to police content and i am telling you - as an SA victim - stop it. i understand that some of you may also be victims and i'm sorry that those things happened to you, you did not deserve it (no matter what side of this issue you are on, it's an awful thing and i don't wish it on anyone). if you have not experienced it (I hope you never do), please stop saying things like "this is harmful to SA victims" because it's not your place to speak on that at all.

also, i know some people have been getting rape threats, death threats, etc. YOU CANNOT ACT LIKE YOU HOLD THE MORAL HIGH GROUND AND THEN DO SHIT LIKE THIS. aside from the "moral high ground", you should never be sending that shit to anyone. knock it off. that's harassment.

in line with that, write things that you'd want to read. if you want to read fluff or "wholesome" smut, then write it, and encourage/interact with writers who write that content. for those who are looking for attention, maybe try making content. write what you want. bringing up drama is 1. going to bring hate your way too 2. not a sustainable way to garner attention 3. hopefully not fulfilling for anyone? do something creative. have fun. stop being negative and shitty just to have some weird puritanical circle jerk.

i didn't want to talk about this because I know that half of the people who are bringing this shit up just want attention but jesus christ i'm done hearing people invalidate, name call, harass. just shut up and grow up. i'm tired of reading your dumbass posts. thank you.

tl;dr:

you cannot control what people post on the internet, but you can control what you produce/consume

people creating dark content do not endorse illegal activities

stop weaponizing SA victims (especially when victims tell you to stop) to justify your puritanical content policing

if you are seeking attention, this is a pathetic way to do so

if you want to see fluff, write it and encourage fluff writers to write more

stop harassing others. period.

the world does not revolve around you

<3 i mean this all in the kindest way. i'm just annoyed and hopefully you can understand my reasoning. i don't endorse hate to anyone on any side of this. this shit just makes me want to leave the internet tbh. or like, write for a different fandom idk.

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Autistic Anime Boys Prelims - Propaganda Division - Group 10

Propaganda:

Mycroft -

"We don't know as much about Mycroft canonically, except that he makes a club whose whole premise is parallel play with talking forbidden, and that he is more than willing to let someone he barely knows start MI6 with the promise to deal with the socializing. Also that he is THE organization behind the British Government. As in, he serves as a planner and God knows what else. He tracks more in his head than a spreadsheet. He's adorkable too, he shoots his brother in the head with a paint gun to get his attention and tell him to beware of women, and then starts infodumping about the origins of the gun and all the cool stuff it can do. And he is truly kind, sending letters to Albert in jail and generally being really good at supporting his team, even if he hates to talk."

Londrekia -

"When it comes to things that don't interest him at all, Londrekia acts aloof and uncaring, but if something or someone catches his attention, he will immediately gain an interest, often not taking personal space into consideration. He's very stubborn and will often disobey orders from his organization if they don't match his sense of justice. Also his special ability is cryomancy and he makes a lot of ice puns that counts for something right."

Hikaru -

"Hikaru is one of the main characters in a manga explicitly about autism, and because we get to see him from birth to a young age, we get a good sense of how autism manifests in young children, which is pretty rare in Japanese media. To be honest I kinda felt like I ought to submit him because I read this manga when I was young and quite liked it, even though he's not the type of character who will make it far in this kind of tournament."

Raidou -

"a lot of the comedy from the show comes from him completely misunderstanding the other lead (who is also very autistic coded) and doing absolutely insane wacky things because he thinks that's what she wants to do. there's also an entire episode where him and the other lead get obsessed with fidget spinners."

Takt -

"Has a special interest in music and does reckless things because of it."

Asuka -

"to actually play him (he's a character in a fighting game), you have to play a card game (the most autistic game genre) while avoiding confrontation (he will die). he talks about observing people and collecting data in a way that really just seems autistic too? idk i think he's wonderful."

Yuu -

"He’s like if an emo programmer boy was also completely unhinged and also had a tragic backstory."

Soujuurou -

"My man grew up in the woods, has never seen a telephone in his life. Does not understand a single thing that's going on around him at all times and just thinks "well this must be what the city is like". Doesn't understand how to talk to other people, doesn't understand when other people are trying to make fun of him. He's doing his best to make ends meet but he specifically has a hard time with the unspoken rules of society no one ever taught him."

Emerald -

"Look at him."

[santacarlatourism]

May I please request Kevin Khatchadourian, spending time together headcannons? I love your work so much, it’s genuinely under appreciated! Take your time ! <3

Aw, I'm glad you like my writing, tysm!!! here are some headcanons <3

⮞ one of the quotes in the book is "kevin was a shell game in which all three cups were empty" and i think about that a lot and i think it applies here. the version of kevin you're getting can vary wildly, depending on how he wants you to perceive him, and there's not necessarily a rhyme or reason for the choice he makes.

it's likely if he's voluntarily choosing to spend time with you, though, that you get something closer to his authentic self. and i think that makes him question why you're choosing his company. you're not like lenny-- some loser who idolizes kevin and is easy to manipulate.

so it creates a cycle. he keeps spending time with you to figure out why you like to spend time with him, and the more time he spends with you the more curious he is about why you keep spending time with him.

⮞ you're still initiating most of the hang outs because kevin is not interested enough in most things to suggest anything.

⮞ tell him you need to grab something at the mall and ask if he wants to run over with you. he'll agree and he'll hate it.

however, you spot a sporting goods store and suggest you two dip in there, aware of kevin's love for archery. this... somewhat alleviates kevin's mood. archery is one of very few things kevin has an interest in, and as he peruses the equipment you can probably even get him to explain some of the sport to you and answer questions like what makes a good bow, are there different kinds of string, etc.

the more specific your question is, and the more they build off of previous answers he's given you, the more you seem to really be listening... well, the less likely he is to ask if you're stupid in response to one of them. and, admittedly, the more likely he is to decide that perhaps this trip was worth it.

don't get any ideas about buying him anything though, as a friendly or romantic gesture. something about that, especially so early on, is too easy to kevin. it's too transparent what your motivations are, and he'll stare you dead in the eye, "what, you want to buy me a little surprise just so i'll like you more? my parents can buy me this shit. doesn't make them special either."

gift giving, with kevin, should come much later, where he's less likely to see it as you initiating some sort of bribe or transaction.

⮞ i think i maybe mentioned this in another post, but i think a lot of hanging out with kevin comes down to parallel play more or less. he's on his computer doing his own thing, reading his copy of robin hood, outside shooting arrows, etc. and you're nearby, doing something. and while he looks like he's paying no attention to you, he's analyzing the situation. why isn't he as bothered by your company as he is by frank's, eva's, celia's, or even his ostensible friend lenny?

eventually, kevin realizes that the reason for this is that when he's with you, he feels like he does when he's alone. by this i mean... to some extent, kevin's actions with everyone are performance. this is the case with both franklin and eva, with his sister and with his peers.

but when he's with you he feels as himself as he does when he's utterly alone. except, perhaps, less bored.

this is where, if it hasn't already, kevin's interactions with you take a turn. his fascination grows beyond why you enjoy his company-- all though it's still a question-- and more on to you as a whole.

⮞ he starts playing hot and cold more. he wants to know how you react when plans with him fall through due to him cancelling last minute. do it back so he can be surprised by how displeased he is. it's going to be apparent he's testing with you, playing with you, but not necessarily why.

he may start suggesting hang outs here, but be warned, they're things he thinks you'll hate. he's curious to see if he's right, if he knows your tastes that well. but he's also just as curious to see if you're willing to put up with something you hate for his company.

while out you notice he's not enjoying himself either, and call him out on it. you ask if he even likes this activity. "nope," he'll respond, with a little smirk. you roll your eyes.

but honestly? he grows to find that he enjoys reveling in his contempt for people in your company more than he enjoys doing it alone. your sarcastic agreement with his snide remarks, the little light swats you give his arm when he's just far too harsh.

⮞ before you and kevin are really dating, people around you would have just grown to assume that's what was going on because your hang outs and time together had grown towards increasingly romantic activities in part because those were things you two simply hadn't done together yet.

in person or on the phone, kevin mentions to franklin that he's taking you to the movies. franklin teasingly tells his son not to do anything he wouldn't do and kevin freezes for a moment, realizing the implications, but it's not going to be clear how he feels about them for awhile. but it makes sense, kevin supposes: if you two are going on dates then you are, by default, dating. he's not too perturbed by it: dating isn't the same sort of romantic commitment as a relationship.

but even when it develops into a formal relationship much of the way he interacts with you is the same. for kevin putting a name to it is more so just to officialize what's already been going on for awhile. To keep you from getting any ideas that you can just easily dip out without warning at any time. Similar to dating, by the time it becomes a formal relationship you two will arguably have been in a relationship for awhile.

⮞ once kevin realizes he actually enjoys your presence and perhaps even likes you as an individual, he becomes more indulgent at times. he may show you how to fire a bow, or walk you through some of his computer knowledge so you can get your own to work better. share some knowledge with him in return-- if you know him well enough to know what he'd actually value learning.

[vertebreakher]

Thinking about the parallels between Doomguy and Vader, and what's interesting is the minor similarity between the classic doom helmet and Vader's helmet (particularly the way both broaden on the way to the bottom and the ventilator fully covering the mouth and nose.) But its interesting that are many depictions where Doomguy's face is still visible through the visor, which I think serves as a visual reminder of his humanity and empathy remaining regardless of his rage and fixation. in contrast Vader's face is never shown and when it is he doesn't at all resemble the person he was before being disfigured, his single-minded hatred is the only thing driving him. Doomguy is that one in a million dark side user that doesn't just feed into their own greed and ambition as if those are meaningful in and of themselves. the dark side is passion and desire primarily, but is so often characterized as evil because of how easy it is for people to gravitate towards the most unga bunga "me want big power number forever large" ideology. People like Palpatine are basically just chasing after that endorphin rush from getting that level up after XP grinding. Playing the force like some gatcha game, because they just feel so good when their rare jpeg has higher crit chance. And with the Jedi constantly telling force users to never explore their emotions, its no wonder people who are disillusioned keep falling into an ideology that matches the most pervasive and addictive method of real world manipulation in any form of entertainment Palps was probably shitting his pants a bit after realizing how much potential Anakin Skywalker had as a dark side user, because instead of buying into the "more P O W E R" bullshit Anakin just wanted love and acknowledgement. He needed to straight up manipulate him into sabotaging his own life by committing atrocities and maiming him so his life support puts him in constant agony to control him, because otherwise he'd be empowered purely by the love of his wife and kids. Conversely, Doomguy is just someone who loved his pet rabbit and couldn't stand the idea of hurting people. Demons are equally reliant on the satisfaction of getting the big number as the Sith, and they can't corrupt Doomguy because probably the only thing in life he wanted was to give an animal unconditional love and geek out about nerd shit. I'd say the big difference between Vader and Doomguy is really that Palpatine was smart enough to manipulate Vader into ruining his own life. Because the demons killed daisy directly as a simpleminded act of revenge, Doomguy isn't vulnerable to self-hatred the way Vader is. If Palps had gone "haha I killed your wife don't you feel bad?" Anakin would have absolutely merced the fuck out of him and probably every self-proclaimed sith to ever surface for as long as he lived. Vader wants to keep feeling self loathing and pain, and fall more and more into becoming a monster. Because that's what he thinks he deserves. It took realizing his son was alive to even begin working back from that. Doomguy has a clear understanding of who is to blame for his tragedies, his hate is fixated outwards on something that truly deserves it. He can mess around with guitar and vinyl figure collections and allow himself to still be an empathetic human being without having a moral crisis about whether he deserves those kinds of things.

[seasonofscreams]

Until Dawn Fan Cast

Wanted to throw my hat into the ring of fan casting the new Until Dawn movie.

SPOILERS FOR UNTIL DAWN BELOW

(also just assume there might be bl**d & g*re depicted below)

I wouldn't be surprised if Kathryn Newton becomes the new scream queen so it makes sense for her to follow in Hayden Panettiere's steps. She was brilliantly versatile as her two characters in Freaky & has a natural charisma that would be great for Sam whose all-rounder character could fall flat in another actor's hands. Pretty much everyone agrees on Sam being one of the few left alive if not the Final Girl & I think Newton would excel in the role.

Mike is pretty conventional as a Final Guy - objectively attractive, resourceful alongside headstrong with a funny side. Tom Blyth displays these traits himself in his portrayal of the younger Coriolanus Snow in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes as well as a charisma that had many a watcher rooting for him despite portraying one of the most evil characters in The Hunger Games franchise. It would be interesting to see him tackle the complexities of Mike and even more fun to see him engage in the action scenes sure to be in the movie.

I never got into Stranger Things but from the limited amount I've seen Caleb McLaughlin is one of the best actors in the show. Matt is a contradiction to his own trope. He's a jock who is insecure in his relationship with Emily compared to how she feels about her ex, Mike, but also potentially wants to be seen as the hero. There's very much parallels that can be drawn between Lucas and Matt as well as enough differences and it would be really interesting to see how he would tackle the role.

Olivia Rodrigo is most famous for her music but her acting turns (admittedly in Disney & mv's, yes) have always been received pretty well. Emily is a hard character to cast especially when comparing to original actor Nichole Sakura since Emily is smart and resourceful whilst being blunt and - for a lack of a better word - wonderfully bitchy. There's a certain aura within the SNL performance for all-american bitch and music video of bad idea right? that gave me this feeling i can't shake that i want to see Rodrigo as the likely other Final Girl (I hope Emily survives to the end alongside Sam).

When Sweeney (as Cassie) was hiding in the bathroom in Euphoria, many people were desperate to see how she would fare in a traditional horror film - she plays terror great! maybe it's cheating to fancast her as Jess since she's played a promiscuously perceived blonde 'home-coming queen' type before but... if it ain't broke. I can't see a more perfect Jess to be honest.

according to luckyleftie on tiktok, Ashley's original horror trope was that of the stoner, rather than the academic - which clarifies the origins of the anxiety her character exhibits throughout. Personally, I'd love if they explored this in the film more (it's gonna be rated R after all). Sophia Lillis proved herself in the horror genre as Young Beverly in IT (2017) and would be really fun in the inquisitive/conclusion jumping Ashley. (Also I think she does resemble Ashley/Galadriel Stineman but that may just be me).

(Chris is deffo dying when Ashley doesn't let him into the house it's too potentially big of a scene to not do so) Tony Revolori is a funny actor and as self-proclaimed comedian of the group, I'd love to see his interpretation of Chris who pines after Ashley as well as how he could potentially approach the investigative chapter during Josh's 'prank.' Plus I loved him in Scream and wish we'd seen more screen time of him playing in the horror film.

Have you seen Hereditary? Point made.

in all seriousness, Alex Wolff is talented and plays awkward, yet charming alongside disturbed characters amazingly. Josh is quite an awkward guy ('party like p*rnstars' anyone?) and dealing with rapidly declining mental health as well as grief from his sisters' disappearance. Josh is a very complicated character whose actions cannot be justified but mental health cannot be ignored. Wolff could be a fantastic choice - especially if the mental health representation through Josh was updated with more advice and guidance from professionals.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading!! I'd love to hear if you agree (but pls don't be rude about it i put a lot of time into these edits/fancasting choices/individually crediting where i got the photos so if you hate it pls just move on) :)

[pregnancykink]

tag game!

thank you for the tag @according2thelore!

Do you make your bed? i really try to at least pull up my comforter before i leave my place even if i don't lay the blankets flat – i hate to say it but it genuinely does help me mentally to come home to a made bed lol

What's your favorite number? i like 2, 9, and 27!

What is your job? i don't talk about my job on social media

If you could go back to school, would you? fuck no lmao

Can you parallel park? yes! i live in a city, it's necessary

A job you had that would surprise people? i worked at a big outdoor concert venue for 4 summers during high school and the first summer i was home from college and i've seen like five bajillion random bands live because of it lol

Do you think aliens are real? i do think there's life on other planets, possibly in other galaxies, yes!

Can you drive a manual car? sadly no. my whole family can but the manual car we had got totaled before i learned to drive so i never learned; i'd love to though!

What's your guilty pleasure? i don't feel guilty about pleasure

Tattoos? yea i have 32 or 33 i think

Favorite color? yellow!

Favorite type of music? my music taste really spans a lot lol. one of my special interests is pop culture of different decades, so i like a lot of music that was popular from like the 40s onward, but i would hesitate to call all of it pop. i guess i really love classic rock, pop punk (scene kid 4ever), 90s pop, 00s r&b

Do you like puzzles? i do! for a broader definition i love brain teasers too. i don't do puzzles in the traditional sense too often but i like them

Any phobias? yea for sure but i'm not going to list them here though where somebody can use them against me lol

Favorite childhood sport? i played soccer, but i am not good at sports. love to watch them, don't like to play them outside of social sports (cornhole, shuffleboard, and the like). i did enjoy the track and field unit in gym solely for the field events lol – i'm tall so i was naturally good at long jump, triple jump, etc.

Do you talk to yourself? for sure

What movies do you adore? my favorite movie is bring it on (2000), and my other faves are stick it (2006), superbad, stop making sense, and scott pilgrim vs. the world probably

Coffee or tea? both but i drink coffee more often

First thing you wanted to be when you grew up? a paleontologist which is an lol...science is not my forte lol

tagging @wodkapudding @serpentmessmer @seanwinchester @fre3zerbride and whoever wants to!

[rebuke-me]

Deere for the ask game?

when I started shipping it if I did:

okay i don't remember why i started shipping them. bc it was in the years where my memories are a void. but i think it started as me being like haha wouldn't it be funny if they kissed and then it just kept happening. and here we are.

my thoughts:

[ LOUD BARKING NOISES TEARING UP CARDBOARD BREAKING GLASS ETC ] idk i think im pretty normal about them

What makes me happy about them:

they are. really good parallels. they have enough in common in their base personalities (care about others, passionate about interests, similar parental issues) but enough thats different that makes them compelling. also. i am a slut for a height difference ship. and apparently fire/ice coded ships? idk

What makes me sad about them:

the fact that no one else ships them /j. kidding. uh. god a lot actually. they have such potential to be messy (jake's indecisive nature vs jeremys need to be wanted clash SO messy sometimes) and bad for each other but they also have such a potential to build each other up and counteract their bad traits. like. god. they make me need to lay down on the floor for a while

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

the fact that there's just me /hj. actually no that ones serious. i havent read enough deere fic from not me to be annoyed by it.

things I look for in fanfic:

it to exist

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

i really think that they r both cute with christine. and i don't. really like them for anyone else anymore? i used to be like oh yeah im a multishipper but at this point i'm kind of not. i like deere and then sometimes christine as the third leg of their throuple.

My happily ever after for them:

living together in a house/apartment with a dog and two cats. they don't get married bc they probably both don't like the idea of it (parent issues) but they're longterm partners. i also like both of them ending up as high school teachers (gym and english, respectively) and none of their students rlly knowing that they're a couple but everyone suspecting.

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

do you even have to ask. (jake is the big spoon jeremy is the little spoon, they tried the other way around once and jeremy joked about being like a backpack and now every time they do it that way, jake bursts out laughing and they cannot do it)

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

i firmly believe that they watch garbage sci-fi movies and jake critiques every single scientific inaccuracy and jeremy shushes him about it being metaphor or suspension of disbelief.

[isfjmel-phleg]

February 2024 Books

Westmark by Lloyd Alexander (reread)

According to GoodReads, I read this years ago. Had zero memory of it. I had a hard time getting into it this time around, so I suspect that was the case last time too.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett

Such a pretty cover, such an interesting premise. I wanted to love this one. I really did. But sorry, everyone, I struggled with this book.

I had a hard time with its being set ostensibly in 1909 but doing absolutely nothing to ground the narrative and world in that time period. A magical world with vaguely historical flair, like in HMC, would work fine, but the moment you evoke a particular year, you're committing to a definite setting and need to incorporate features of that time into your worldbuilding. No one in this book was living in the Edwardian Era or its equivalent; their thinking and society were very contemporary, so I don't understand what the point was of the 1909 setting.

Besides that, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and I'm not sure why?

The Last Dragon by Silvana De Mari

Featuring the most endearing little elf I have ever encountered. Yorsh is adorable.

Between Homes by W. R. Gingell

I continue to get further and further invested in the characters while having nothing intelligent to say about the series.

Pog by Pádraig Kenny

Not bad, but not as strong thematically as Kenny's other books that I've read.

Illuminations by T. Kingfisher

Loved the premise of the characters and a lot of the interactions, less captivated by the plot.

The Bellwoods Game by Celia Krampien

Very effective at the intended creepy tone, but I failed to connect with it.

The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth edited by Leonard S. Marcus (reread)

Picked this up at a bookstore a while back and enjoyed getting to revisit the creative process behind a book I loved as a child. (It is deeply appropriate that Juster wrote the book while procrastinating on another project!)

Ann of Sunflower Lane by Julie A. Sellers

An innocuous book that leans way too hard into its connections with Anne of Green Gables. The eponymous Ann reads AoGG for the first time and is obsessed (relatable), but unfortunately this means that the narrative and many of the characters are constantly drawing parallels between events and people in her life and those in the book. This doesn't allow the story to develop very strongly in its own right. Ann has a different past and some different struggles from Anne, with potential for a distinct story, and the Kansas setting is lovingly depicted and definitely different from Avonlea, but everything keeps coming back to Anne. The supporting cast tend to be pale imitations of Montgomery's characters (for instance, when Ann meets a group of other girls, she mentally designates them as "the practical one...the sweet one...the Ruby Gillis one...the nasty one" and their characterization goes no further than these stock roles). What makes Montgomery's novel work is its very human characters, its sense of humor, and its earnestness. This book was less successful at capturing these elements, so it was harder to get actually emotionally invested.

(I've already mentioned this elsewhere, but the index in the back of every quotation, from AoGG and other books was a little much, especially since the quotations in the narrative were self-conscious enough already.)

Lands End by Mary Stolz

I think this book was making some statements about childhood emotional neglect, which was intriguing, but honestly I'm not sure what the conclusion was. The narrative was contemplative and took quite a while to get to an actual plot. I mind that much less as an adult, but I can't really imagine most children really getting much out of this book, despite its intended middle-grade audience (presumably).

Secret of the Emerald Star by Phyllis A. Whitney

More character-focused and among Whitney's more engaging middle-grade mysteries.

Mystery of the Strange Traveler by Phyllis A. Whitney

But I was less interested in this one. Connected less with the cast and the mystery.

Comics

The Flash by Mark Waid Book Six

Gradually making my way through this series. The stories of course vary in interest, but Waid's characterization of Wally is always well done, and Wally and Linda's relationship is genuinely sweet.

Reading/skimming Tim Drake's every significant appearance, which is still a work in progress.

I am having emotions and tucking things away in drafts, so brace yourselves. Also discovering things that quite frankly are more interesting than fanon (and sometimes funnier).

[thesweetsvillainshowdown]

MAGOLOR PROPAGANDA: Magolor is a REALLY cool character. I think he's got a pretty great design, and there's a lot of great music associated with him. Go listen to "Settling a Score - Atone for One's Misdeeds" and "C-R-O-W-N-E-D", those are some of the best. Maybe listen to "Interdimensional Traveler" and "I'll Never Forget You (Memorial Arrangement)" too if you like those at all. Looking past design and music, he's a GREAT character. He has more dialogue than any other character, probably more than every character combined across the whole series, and just about every word of it is a joy. The lore drops, the silly puns, the explanations, learning to have friends, everything. It's all so GOOD. As a villain, I really like him. He shows up at the start of Kirby's Return to Dream Land by crashing his Interdimensional Boat Spaceship, the Lor Starcutter, and you spend most of the game gathering parts to help him repair it. He has you fight the dragon, Landia, who shot him down in the first place, but it turns out Landia was stopping him because he was trying to steal the Master Crown, a source of unlimited power that would let him rule the universe. He takes the crown and reveals his grand plan with a pretty great speech (which Kirby does not understand very much...) and leaves to set this into motion. Kirby, with the help of his friends and Landia, fight him. The Crown takes his body, turning him into little more than a shell, but Kirby shatters the Crown off of him. After this, his (playable and very fun!) redemption arc begins. He is trapped between dimensions, and all of his power is lost. He travels and gathers it all by collecting shards of a Gem Apple and with Magic points, along the way making lots of puns, pathetically holding onto villainy by saying things like "thank badness!" and eventually realising he LIKED having friends and remembers that he wants to make people happy (his life goal is to run a theme park). The shards of the Crown take over the (now fully-built) Gem Apple, and it takes form as a giant tree. Gathering all of his magic into a sword, he cuts it in half in a flashy showdown and redeems himself. He spends a while in a parallel world, and eventually returns to Kirby. He builds theme parks to apologise, accomplishing his dream in the process. He's happy now, but he's still quite mischievous! He loves to play pranks and add a bit of extra danger to his attractions. Also, he ties into a few Christian themes which I find quite interesting. The yellow in his design is there because it's the colour of betrayal in Christianity, Magolor Day canonically falls on a Sunday and the first one ever was an Easter, the room he keeps the Apple shards in is literally called the Room of Eden in the Japanese version of the game, and both the temptation of the Master Crown and his connection to apples could be taken as tying into this as well. He is also a JOY to play as in all three games where he is playable. Especially Magolor Epilogue, which is the one where he redeems himself. You upgrade his powers throughout it with lots of fun dialogue about it, and the levels and challenges are all a blast. I've tried my best to explain him, but if anyone reading this is interested: Go read his page on Wikirby! Or, even better, go and play Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe if you have a Nintendo Switch! He is genuinely such a great character and I want as many people as possible to have a good time with him too!

I see! Well, you've heard the propaganda, now take your new knowledge and let it help you vote!

[ebvermin]

ok really dumb rant about CV:Nocturne

Honestly, I shouldn’t really be surprised that they skipped like 300 years worth of games and went straight from CoD to Rondo, presumably following with SotN in like season 3 of it. I mean, how could they *not* bring back Alucard, y’know? And what would they even do for Christopher and Simon Belmont, just have Dracula magically resurrect like he does in the games, kinda completely invalidating the buildup to the massive fight from season 2?

And look, the legendary Simon Belmont really isn’t the most fleshed-out character, as opposed to Richter, who could actually be a really interesting character to explore in this adaptation. I mean, sure, he starts off as your typical noble hero, slaying monsters and saving maidens, the typical classic CV fare, but there’s just this lil something something in his dialogue with Dracula in Rondo that tells a much more important side to his character.

D: It is not by my own power that I am resurrected. It is a greed of humanity which calls me back. And thus, by might, I rule. Might becomes the one and only justice in this world!

R:  Of all the self-serving claptrap! The same basic faith drives all people to seek, to come together, to move forward. That surely can't be an evil thing!

D:  And yet, here I am. Do you not have any desires?

R: (hesitantly) Well...

Right there, The only moment we see Richter stagger thus far, when his true intentions are called into question. Yes, Richter is a hero through and through, but what happens after he fulfills his destiny? Of course, we see this in Symphony, where Richter’s desires cause him to be mesmerized by the Shaft, and end up resurrecting the very thing his family swore to destroy 700 years ago, just to show his own self-serving might. And, I can imagine that this very same folly is gonna happen in Nocturne as well, because you know the writers are just *begging* to do SotN! So, it makes sense why they skip to Rondo, but, they didn’t have to skip everything...

in 1748, fifty years before the events of Rondo, a man named Maxim returned from a two-year training journey, gravely wounded from an apparent attack upon him, but with no memory of his entire expedition. However, he comes bearing news that a childhood friend of his, Lydie, had been kidnapped by an evil force. And the first person he goes to, his most trusted friend...

Juste Belmont

The Grandson of Simon Belmont, and eventual grandfather of Richter, Juste is surprised to learn of the unexpected return of Dracula’s Castle, and he and Maxim leave at once to investigate. And from here, the two embark on a story of confusion, betrayal, and the folly of pride and jealousy.

You see, Maxim, despite training as hard as he can, knows that he’ll never get the same notoriety as Juste, for no other reason than that Juste is of the legendary Belmont clan. But, it’s this very jealousy that allows the spirit of Dracula to enter Maxim’s heart, slowly corrupting him and causing Castle Dracula to return in the first place, fifty years early. 

Sounds familiar?

And look, I’m not saying that Harmony of Dissonance needs an entire adaptation, i’m lying yes it does But at least a season or a few episodes dedicated to it would seriously help the story a lot! Just because Dracula isn’t alive, doesn’t mean that his spirit can’t influence the evil in people’s hearts, which would be a perfect parallel to how Richter eventually falls to his own desires. Honestly, Harmony as a whole is a really good prelude to Rondo and Symphony, and i do hope it at least gets a mention in the new series!

but if we can be real they probably wont even revive dracula anyway because he kinda just wanted to die in season 2 anyway and what are they just gonna have dracula fight alucard again after the whole “im killing my boy” speech so i guess my whole point is kinda moot unless what is he gonna revive carmilla or something sure she was actually in rondo but come on thats ridiculous

look man i just like harmony of dissonance 

[noisemastter]

hi.... i am thinking about how much sweet capn nd k_k both parallel and r an antithesis of the fun gang ..... ok ? i think ......... i will mindlessly ramble . listen to me if you want . this may or may not be coherent at all . pay me no mind ok ?

they each have like,,, 1 basic trait thats described to them

okok so i think its really funny how much theyre complete fuckin opposites ( with the person they dance with ) .

kris - quiet person by susie and king

susie - mean girl by a save point

and yk . scc are energetic smooth and silly . its in their check dialogue . stated outright

ralsei - fluffy boy by a save point

energetic - quiet

smooth - fluffy

silly - mean

real interesting thing about capn and ralseis that isnt really important . . theyre both an adjective referring to a personality trait and a surface

ummm ill just go through them in sccs order . soooo,,, sweet / kris, cap / ralsei , and k_k / susie

sorry if this doesnt make sense im bad with words .

sweet / kris . . . . so much to say . mainly about sweet .

kris isnt shown to have much of a personality atleast in game ... which makes like a lot of sense considering they dont have free will for most of them . all we reaaally know is that theyre an introvert . theyre described as not being very energetic by tori, rarely ever waking up on time for school, usually sleeping through the start of class, and preferring tori drive them to school rather then walk . noelle also makes a comment about how kris isnt usually so talkative when you select the "anything" option in the hospital and as previously mentioned, theyre described as a quiet person

sweet on the other hand, is literally "the energetic one" . their movements are a lot more exaggerated and bouncier then the others, their way of speaking is a lot more upbeat then the others, and theyre the one who follows you around for ( most of ) cyber field ,,, they also have the most dialogue out of the 3 and are real passionate about their interests, being the most into the whole rebellion thing and likely being the one who started it all . they also use multiple exclamation marks in most sentences as a way of showing how enthusiastic they are about most things !!!!! this is a little small detail i noticed but.... they r also slightly off sync with the others whenever you ask them to play a song 4 you .

cap / ralsei,,,,,,, capsei shippers dee en eye you guys are weird

ough . i have so little to say about ralsei im sorry ralsei fans . ok anyways

ralsei is "the nice one" of the group i think . he tries to convince you to spare everyone, hes generally the most polite, and is maybe the tiniest bit naive in chapter 1, having to learn by the end that he cant trust everyone . even though hes nice, hes never exactly shown to be cowardly unlike most "nice" characters !!! he doesnt stand down to most enemies and is generally a lot less scared of . actual life threatening situations then a teenager should be .

cap'n on the other hand,,, is . the reason the game got a higher rating in japan because he says a statue looks like shit . capn is,,, from what ive seen, the least liked of the trio for coming off as rude in a lot of his dialogue ( hes just some guy i think ) . hes the most upfront about thinking you helped kidnap noelle, mocking you and making comments about it all throughout the first part of the game ( even trying to scam you because of it !!! ) . he also talks in a less formal way then ralsei does and makes several comments that are accidentally taken as flirty towards noelle ( hes just a little bit of a dumbass hes not a p/do . . targetted i see you freaks ) . hes basically shown to be willing to do anything if it benefits him and the others, trying to scam, trick, and appeal towards girls in an attempt to earn more money . hes also not a fan of fighting, and is reffered to as a coward by sweet for not really wanting to fight physically, even suggesting towards the start of the fight to just wait for other bad guys to come around . hes silly i love capn he reminds me of my best friend

cakes / susie .... i have so much to say about k_k you have no idea so many people get his character entirely wrong and it pisses me off . infact im breaking the pattern and starting with him because i have very little to say about susie and also fuck you

k_k is, in every way, kind of a doormat . they let people shortchange them, purposefully try and make themselves shorter to be less intimidating, and dont really wanna cause any trouble like at all . they try and make themselves sillier so they arent perceived as some sort of threat or something to be scared of ( considering theyre like 10ft tall . i did the math hes like 7 in his sprite and based on nelnals art, like 10'2 ) . hes the exact opposite of susie in every way !! k_k is tall and tries to make himself more approachable, giving you bagels for free if you dont have the money, trying to appeal to everyone by never really giving sweet or capn an answer that supports eithers argument, and just,, generally being a lot more polite then the other 2, despite the others best efforts . theyre also the first to try and cheer sweet up after they lose their battle, saying that they won because their dancing was better !!! a lot of trying to be smaller and appear as less mature likely comes from a place of anxiety,, as they only ever really speak whenever spoken to directly, try to stay on everyones good side, and have the least amount of dialogue out of the 3 by, like, 10%, most times them speaking being short, straightforward answers rather then them talking unprovoked

susie is,, kind of a smaller person trying to make herself seem bigger and scarier . she puts on a tough persona and is an asshole to most people who arent her friends, getting aggressive whenever people she perceives as threats bother her or the others and being a lot snarkier then the other 2 . towards ralsei and kris shes,, still pretty aggressive but its more in a playful way . she teases them often and is the only reason ralsei and her ever get an act option, because she points out how theyre not dumb and they can act by themselves . shes,, pretty much just any teenager with her friends

scc also think of themselves as the main characters . they make a constant attempt to act as so, trying to fight the fun gang because they think they helped the queen kidnap noelle, but in the end they just arent ,,, enough .

the fun gang r kinda just. kids who probably just wanna be kids but Cant because they kinda have this whole prophecy thing on their backs (susie and kris especially) and didnt really . choose to be the main guys .

i think,,, them being opposites is also a huge reason why scc being adults is so important to me . of course you can hc them as any age !!! but thinking of them as kids because theyre immature is,,,, boring as fuck . making them adults ties in a lot more with all of these opposites . thinking of them as adults who never really grew up would act as a sort of antithesis to the fun gang being teenagers who r growing up a little too fast and its soo... fun to play with . its fun to explore why they never matured like a lot of other people or if theyre just a little immature naturally !! theyre silly and theyre fun and theyre so entertaining to me i wanna put them under a microscope and study them ...

scc being adults who never grew up and the fun gang being teenagers who r growing up too fast is so fun to me i think . scc try so desperately to be the "main characters" . to be important . to be those guys . while the fun gang didnt even really try !!!! kris and susie just wanted to get chalk and got sucked into a huge prophecy thing in a world they didnt even know existed and i just . idk this is probably incomprehensible at this point sorry . i jusy think the fact theyre opposites is really fun and i dont think enough people notice it

tldr kris is quiet and introverted , sweet is energetic and ( likely ) loud judging from how they talk

ralsei is nice but not timid or cowardly at all, while a lot of capns dialogue is accidentally rude and hes literally called a coward ingame,

and susie tries to make herself bigger and scarier while k_k wants to be viewed as non-threatening and friendly as possible

thanks for listening to my autism rant . if you care .

[kaibacorpintern]

key differences between Atem/kaiba and Yugi/kaiba dynamic?

omg catnip to my ears. nose. whatever. Rivalshipping is the simple but reliable coffee I drink every morning and Prideshipping is the cocktail i carefully mix for myself every evening with fresh-squeezed lemons and homemade simple syrup

i'm going to talk about this more based on the manga and the sub because i forgot everything about the dub but ANYWAY

to me, Atem/Kaiba is a dynamic built around challenging the other - both of these guys live their lives firmly entrenched in their positions and they spend a lot of time assessing each other and themselves compared to the other: "i challenge you to beat me. I challenge you to come back from this. What does it mean that he won? What does he have that I don't? You want to win? I dare you to kill me. Don't you dare give up! IF GOD GETS IN YOUR WAY THEN MOW HIM DOWN. I challenge you to trust me and work with me. what do you think will happen when best friends are forced to fight? Prove me wrong. Don't give up! I believe in our road of battle! I challenge you to keep fighting for your sense of identity. I challenge you to believe in me and believe in the power of our bonds!!"

And SO ON. While it starts dark and violent, by Battle City they've settled into a dynamic of pushing and encouraging and egging each other on to do better, think about things from a new angle, and not give up - a relationship of mutual respect, as competitors and as people striving for better understanding of themselves (Anzu comments on this parallel in Battle City: Atem wants to understand himself through his past and Kaiba by striving for his future).

This aspect of pushing each other, for better or worse, doesn't really exist in the Kaiba/Yuugi dynamic, if only because Kaiba, for most of the series, doesn't really pay attention to Yuugi the way he pays attention to Atem. In both Battle City and Yugioh R he refers to Yuugi as "the weaker one," and his most iconic over-the-top lines are referring to Atem (I tremble with desire, dueling you makes my heart beat faster, etc.) However, Yuugi IS paying attention to Kaiba - he visits him in the hospital post Death-T, he wants to duel him fair and square, he wants Kaiba to beat Pegasus in Duelist Kingdom. It's only in Dark Side of Dimensions that Kaiba really starts to see Yuugi as something more than "the vessel"/the weaker one - as someone who has grown, a competitor in his own right, who can push back on his own where he used to rely on Atem to do it (a little fucked that winning card games is what makes Kaiba respect someone, but Kaiba is a little fucked.)

As much as I love the Yuugi + Kaiba relationship (and I do), there is simply less of it in the text than Atem + Kaiba. HOWEVER: this is not really a problem for me because what DOES exist is quite interesting to me. They're Schopenhauer's hedgehogs: Yuugi would rather get closer to people and risk the pains of intimacy while Kaiba would rather keep his distance and stay out in the emotional/psychological cold. They're both fundamentally lonely people who try to connect with others through games. KT's art of them playing games in Kaiba's space station post-DSOD really cuts to the core of why this relationship appeals to me so much - they're having s good time playing games together! They're MAKING those games together!! They're cut from the same cloth!! it just takes a long time for them to be able to see that in each other (Kaiba because he's just not thinking about Yuugi, and Yuugi because he has a lot of sympathy for Kaiba but doesn't always understand him.)

Atem and Kaiba is a high energy and dramatic relationship, a dynamic where they want to see the other person succeed and never give up on what they're fighting for, where Yuugi and Kaiba is a much slower burn, a dynamic where it takes a long time for true mutual recognition of the other, but once it happens it's strong.

ANYWAY in sum this is one of my favorite ways to describe the differences:

In a post-canon rivalshipping scenario, Yuugi is out with his friends at Burger World but gets a text from Kaiba to come over and hang out/make out, so he leaves. Everyone boos.

In a post-canon prideshipping scenario, Atem successfully convinces Kaiba to come to Burger World with everyone, but leaves with him (to make out) when he's reached the end of his social battery and dips. Everyone boos.

[daylighteclipsed]

I'm not sure how much of an unpopular opinion this is (if at all) but it's so tiresome when I see a good majority of people wishing the Destiny *trio* to be the very best of friends. I don't think they've ever been on the same level as the rest of the trios. Sora really was/is the glue holding the three of them together and I've always found R+K interactions surface-level at best. Drifting apart doesn't mean they don't still care for each other and you shouldn’t have to force that relationship.

Before I respond to your comment, may I interest you in a few posts I’ve already written on the subject? x ⭐️ x ⭐️ x ⭐️

I think it IS an unpopular opinion. However, most of the blogs I follow share this opinion with me, so you’re in the right place lmao

I feel like a lot of older fans know or sense the Destiny “trio” is different from the other trios — like, they pick up on something — but they don’t want to accept it.

Because it hurts, right? It hurts if you grew up with these characters, if you spent years between game releases growing attached to what this friendship could be… only to have each new game move further away from that dream.

I started this series as an adult, with everything through MoM released, so I didn’t experience that… I picked up on a sense of division right away and felt as every game and trio introduced thereafter reinforced it… I realized I’m not supposed to expect Sora, Riku, and Kairi to be like the other trios. That’s not the story being told here.

And that’s not to say I’m not interested in their dynamic. I really am, especially from Kairi’s point of view. But it’s not as tight-knit bffs. I’m interested in the conflict canon suggests, the growing distance between people who hung out every day as kids. And in the case of Kairi and Riku, friends who seem to have always had mixed feelings about each other, who don’t really know how to talk to each other without their mutual bestie (Sora) around. That’s interesting, especially in a series about the power of friendship.

Sora being so big on friendship but failing to nurture his friendship with Kairi to the point where he has to build a new path to her heart is interesting — and also arguably parallels how Sora’s relationship with Riku deteriorates earlier in the series; Riku and Kairi kinda swap places as the “neglected” friend, but they also both fail to reach out to Sora and let him know how they’re feeling. (And because I associate Kairi with childhood/the past and Riku with adulthood/the future, it’s really interesting how Sora moves away from Kairi/childhood and closer to Riku/adulthood as the series progresses.) Kairi being so afraid of change and the one consistently left out of the action so she doesn’t quite grasp or refuses to accept how much Sora and Riku have changed without her. Kairi being quietly jealous of how Riku is the center of Sora’s attention. Riku being quietly jealous of Kairi as he believes she is the object of Sora’s affections. Riku and Kairi not wanting to be close friends again, if they ever really were, but still caring about each other… There are a lot of old friends I would drop anything to help, but that doesn’t mean I want to be their best friend again.

And that’s the thing. When people talk about wanting the Destiny kids to be close outside of fanon, they ignore that the characters — at least Riku and Kairi — do not act like they want to be close. There’s really nothing in recent canon that indicates they want to be best friends beyond Kairi’s general fear of change — and even that is kind of generous. There’s no concrete proof that Riku is really part of that, that she really misses him (as opposed to a period of time he was there for), not like Kairi writing letters she doesn’t send to the Sora of her memories in KH3, for example.

The Destiny kids not all being close doesn’t spark those warm, fuzzy feelings that the other trios do, but at this point it’s much more believable than if they were to act like bffs. Fanon is fanon. People are gonna do what they want. But when it comes to canon, I’m with you, that friendship shouldn’t be forced. Without some really solid development, it would feel painfully artificial and bastardize the last two decades of writing.

[ericmicael]

It seems that the "Frozen Podcast" is not as interesting as I thought it would be based on some analysis especially from @greatqueenanna who had access to it in full. But since I wasn't one of those, I'm going to talk about the free episodes.

I don't understand 100% English, so anyone who wants to look for the episodes goes to this website (https://wondery.com/shows/disney-frozen-forces-of-nature/?epPage=1) which already has the first two for free.

EPISODE 1 - THE VISITORS

The story of the podcast is actually General Mattias telling the soldiers why they are in a devastated foreign kingdom, Sankershus, helping with reconstruction/digging.

There has been a great flood in Sankershus, and Queen Anna invites Queen Disa and the kingdom's residents to Arendelle while they solve the kingdom's problem.

Queen Disa has a lot of knowledge (she is a big fan of books) and helps Arendelle to fix certain things. She has great talent with her hands.

At one point the conversation turns to the subject of Elsa, it is revealed that Disa met Anna and Elsa when she was 5 years old, and Anna, as a child, told her that Elsa had magic, but obviously she didn't take it seriously. And she is very excited to meet the Snow Queen.

In parallel to this we are introduced to the Duke of Weselton's nephew, Wofgang, who is a very clumsy person and has a high-pitched voice. He travels the world trying to fix the problems his uncle caused, but as he is clumsy he causes more problems than he helps. He is also an inventor.

Queen Disa ends up revealing to Anna that she lost her parents, and is looking for a way to permanently deal with the frequent floods in her kingdom or at least always be prepared for them. And Disa thinks that maybe magic is the solution, and so Anna decides to take her to the books about magic in Arendelle.

I was confused if she took her to Agnarr and Iduna's secret room revealed in "Forest of Shadows" or some other room.

Anyway, while they are investigating the place they end up knocking over a chandelier and starting a fire. Luckily Elsa was around to save them.

EPISODE 2 - GAMES AND QUESTIONS

Disa meets Elsa for the first time as an adult, and her reactions are interesting. Disa's reactions are very reminiscent of when Elsa met the Summer Queen Marisol: the amazement, and her being almost speechless, seeming to have fallen in love at first sight.

Wolfgang, wanting to help, apparently brings a fire extinguisher that he invented, but obviously he arrives since the fire has already been contained and all this serves to reinforce that he is a joke even though he has good intentions.

Elsa is furious with Anna. The Snow Queen doesn't like that Anna is so open to anyone bringing everyone to the castle without thinking about the consequences which ended up causing a fire that destroyed important documents. Anna counters by saying that she wants to do the opposite of what Arendelle did when Agnarr decreed "close the gates", she wants to embrace the world. Elsa is still afraid of this world, afraid of how people will react to magic. But Anna reinforces Elsa's trust in her, the queen even calls her the Ambassador of Magic. And in the end the sisters make peace.

Wolfgang is interested in copper mines, but it is Disa who is really skilled with technological devices, and he appears to be a fan of this about her.

Elsa and Disa will only really talk at dinner. Disa starts by asking about the Giants of the Earth, she is interested in the mysteries of their lives while Wolfgang seems to just want to know what kind of resources he could generate. But Anna, realizing that it could cause confusion and Elsa reveal something that was not established in the Canon (I really imagined in this scene Anna saying: "Elsa, the writers of Frozen haven't established these rules about spirits yet, let's not waste a theme now that we can use in film 3",), she proposes a game.

I think the game has to answer one question with another and the question be related.

Reinforcing here that I don't understand 100% English, so I may have made some rules of the game wrong.

The game begins Sven x Kristoff. And Sven wins.

Then Elsa calls Disa to dispute. The dispute is much more heated than between the boy and his reindeer. Elsa still shows a lot of distrust in Disa's interest in magic and Arendelle. But in the end the discussion/game is interrupted when a windstorm arrives in Arendelle. Could it be the Wind Spirit Gale?

And these are the first two episodes of a plot that apparently has much less focus on Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven than the fandom would like. There's a lot of focus on Disa and Wolfgang's personal problems. And practically no importance to the Northuldra Tribe that lives in the Enchanted Forest, which will be one of the focuses of this plot between technology vs nature that seems to have become much more basic than expected.

I still believe that this theme can go into "Frozen 3": Elsa being afraid of people not accepting magic, Disa believing that magic can solve her problems, Wolfgang being an inventor, and Anna herself wanting to make Arendelle a more open to the world. This has potential, and I hope they take advantage of this potential at least in the film even if Disa and Wolfgang are only mentioned in the film's novel. And this podcast served to generate a new love rival for Honeymaren in fanfics, so at the very least it was interesting 🤣

[smoliboops]

Anomaly Found GTLive Notes (not really comprehensive, just the bits I found interesting and wanted to note down for future reference :p):

ALTR 5914 possibly being the cause of videos not being in chronological order

The Kuleshov effect (which was mentioned in reference to the camera shots making arin less/more approachable) is the idea that two shots in a sequence are more impactful than a single shot by itself. This effect is a cognitive event that allows viewers to derive meaning from the interaction of two shots in sequence.

the significance of the life after death question with the egos in the past possibly getting killed by anti and later returning (are they still them? what is the timeline of these event?)

anti being a symbol of death himself, “chaos is in control”, asserting dominance thru being unpredictable, being this force of chaos, puts everyone on edge and too scared to do anything or making the wrong move cos things could turn on a dime

CHAD MEDIOCRE

TODD AWFUL

“are they (iris) trying to trigger anti?”

oooh they did notice the eye in the one glitch but don’t know that it’s anti’s eye from turquoisemagpie’s anti art (at least at the time of the recording)

“it’s daffy duck” xD

echo possibly another altr, “one to keep an eye on”

camera is now personable when arin’s trying to be nice to chase

tom: “ ‘in that instance, there was an item and we took the item into containment. and we saved the people.’ but they’re trying to save him and yet they brought him into containment.” hmmmm

parallel between chase finding anti in dark silence and anti finding chase in anomaly found

noting the bloody footprints showing that they’re all seperate entities and again mentioning the idea that maybe iris was using chase to draw out anti

connection maybe between antimatter and anti was mentioned as an interesting thought

and finally, Sean you really had to add that comment didn’t you s i r:

Also seems like they will be working on a proper Game/Film Theory video on the egos and iris, really can’t wait to see!! ^^