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houseofhyde · 3 months ago

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thinking abt aemond falling in love w blind!reader.

pairing. aemond x fem!reader warnings. no use of y/n, enemies to friends to lovers, ableism, so much fluff, a little bit of smut, angst (who said that). no mention of the reader's physical description. wrote in one sitting, no edit, we die like real men. wordcount. 3.1k (this was meant to be a short silly drabble) hyde's input. couldn't get this out my mind so, naturally, i'm making it your problem too now. enjoy, muah x disclaimer ! i'm not visually impaired but i do have several family members who are, to different degrees, and i've tried to stay true to what i remember them describing it like to me. the reader in this is completely blind, however, and that is something i do not have any experience in. please, if you feel anything about my portrayal is wrong or offensive, kindly let me know and i will happily fix it <3

the first time you meet is a few days after the events on driftmark.

with his new disability, the septa encourages alicent to change his usual lessons alongside his siblings for ones held with a couple of other impaired children of highborn status living in the keep.

aemond, of course, protests.

nearly kicking and screaming.

yells at his mother that he doesn't want to be thrown in a box with all the other "broken toys".

he ends up going anyway, dragged there by a handful of guards.

sulks throughout the whole first week, sitting alone in a corner.

and he would've continued to do that forever, if you didn't invade his space.

aka sit down next to him and offer him a book.

"go away," he says, the pout on his lips pointing lower to the ground.

"i don't want to," you refute.

"i won't tell you again, go. away."

"who are you to tell me anything?"

it leaves him speechless, because,

who is he? seriously?!

he thinks you have to be some sort of idiot to not recognise your prince

the following days go the same as the first

you sit near him and hold out a book

he tells you to go away

sometimes you listen

(not without first making it clear that you're moving because you want to, not because he told you to)

other days you don't

you just sit there next to him

staring blankly ahead

not even attempting to open the book that sits in your lap

one day, when he's feeling particularly short on patience

(he had his first sparring lesson with ser criston since losing his eye and it went awfully, each hit and stumble he took to the ground made worse by the echo of aegon's laughter ringing out throughout the whole courtyard)

he asks why you never read that book

"are you an idiot, or something? can't you read? is that why you're here?"

despite how smart he is for his age, he seems to not see the irony in him judging you for being part of an impaired group, as if he isn't also right there with you

such introspection would require acceptance of his loss first, and aemond just isn't ready for that.

"i can't read," you confirm

"because you're slow"

"no."

"then why?"

"i can't see the pages," it's the first time he notices that you're not looking at him. you're trying, face turned and eyes pointed in his direction, but you're staring past his shoulder, "i can't see anything."

he feels guilty,

wretched,

and the sickest twist of comfort.

because he understands

or at least he tells himself he does

because he can't see anything either - out of his missing socket, that is.

the other eye can see perfectly clearly how you don't even flinch as you speak about your disability

and that's when the jealousy takes over.

"then what good is it carrying around that stupid book?"

he says it because he wants to be mean.

so mean that you run away and leave him alone to sulk forever more.

but you just sit there, shrug your shoulders and shift the book around in your palm,

"i like to feel the weight of it in my hand. plus, you never know when you're going to need throw it at someone"

he bites his tongue before he can ask how you can hope to hit a target you can't even see.

the hostility remains

for months, years.

but you sit near him,

he stops telling you to go away,

you still offer the book out to him.

he learns your name.

not because he wants to

but because the septa calls it out one day in the classroom

and you're the one that answers to it.

the first time he sees you outside the study room, you're all alone, none of your father's guards around you,

and that's what really makes him stop in his tracks.

"what kind of lord leaves his daughter to wander blindly around the keep?" he almost says with his usual disgust,

until he notices that you don't have your book

and you're crying.

despite his own discomfort, aemond tells himself he has to comfort you.

because he's thirteen, almost a man.

and what kind of respectable man leaves a girl to cry all by herself?

he wipes your tears with the sleeves of his doublet, waits patiently until your breathing slows, then he speaks,

"what happened?"

"it's you," you say it softly, almost like you can't believe he's the one comforting you.

"it's me. now tell me what happened?"

"nothing," you tell him at first,

until he demands the full truth in the name of his father, king viserys targaryen.

"i overheard my mother speaking to my father about me. i didn't mean to! i just wanted to show them how i memorised the path from my chambers to theirs, without an escort. i wanted to prove that i can be useful, and good, and not a burden. i heard them through the crack in their door. she wants him to send me away to join the silent sisters. she says i can't see, so i may as well not speak either. but my father won't listen. he says i'm his daughter, and that he will not send me away. he loves me too much, i worry he'll hate me for it one day."

that familiar guilty feeling creeps in,

the one he's felt lingering on his skin since the day you told him of your visual impairment.

he's suddenly so aware of the fact he can see you,

and your tear-stained face,

and the shades of blue in your dress.

"where is your book?" he asks.

"i dropped it, whilst running through the halls. i just wanted to stop hearing them, i didn't want... i didn't mean to cause any mess, i'm sorry."

in an act that surprises even him, aemond takes your hand in his

and pulls you both to your feet.

he slowly leads you along familiar hallways, turning corners he's turned a million times.

"where are we going?"

"trust me."

you know he's taken you to the library the minute he opens the doors, a whiff of old books hitting your senses.

he guides you to a book shelf, puts your hand up to touch the exposed spines

and tells you to move forward.

"stop when you feel it's right."

you stop after four steps.

your fingers grazing over a book titled Matters Of The Heart: a Compilation of Fictitious Stories on Love and Beauty.

he pulls it out the shelf,

guides you both over to a bench,

open the dust covered book,

and reads to you.

the following day, when your father's guards guides you down next to aemond in the study room

and you hold your book out to him

he takes it,

shuffles a little closer to you,

and softly recites the words off their pages.

from that day forward, you become an infamous pair in the keep.

the one-eyed prince and the sightless girl,

never one without the other.

aemond becomes your shadow, always two steps ahead or behind you.

you pick out books in the library

and he reads them to you both.

he brings you down to the courtyard

and watches how you flinch each time the clack of wooden swords rings out.

it drives him to be better,

learn to see more in his opponents than even two eyes would allow,

just so he can watch how the smile stretches across your face each time he tells you he won.

you grow so close that one day, the king invites your family to join the royals for supper.

aemond tries not to care that you end up sitting so far away from him at the table.

at least he can look down it and spot you seated at your father's side, he tells himself.

when dinner ends and music starts to play,

aemond ceases the chance to sneak away from his seat and steal the empty one by your side, both your parents having stood to speak with the king.

he brushes two fingers along the back of your hand,

a private, tactile language only you two can speak,

one that tells you it's him, without him even having to say a word.

"prince aemond," you say, and he instantly hates hearing you address him so formally. "you look handsome this evening"

"and how would you know that?" there's no hint of the malice, the mockery he once used to speak to you with, back when he was angry little boy and you were a stubborn girl.

now he's a man of fifteen years and anger is far from something he feels next to you.

he watches you shrug and the smile that he likes best - cheeky, playful - slips onto your lips

"my mother won't stop bringing it up. dashing, she said."

"is that so?"

"mhmm. but she also says my father should offer me to your father and have us both wed, what with our cripple-like qualities making us unsuited for any other lord or lady, so, really, what does she know? for all i know, you're the most hideous thing to walk the keep and i should feel blessed that i can't see you."

"imagine how i feel. i still have to see you."

"oh, the horrors! well then, my all-mighty seeing knight-in-eye-patch, would you lend me your sight one moment and tell me."

"tell you what?"

"do i have anything in my teeth?" you bite back your laughter as you open your mouth and put your pearly-whites out on display for him.

he doesn't even care if the sight is unlady-like

or if anyone else at the table has noticed.

he's too busy laughing along with you and telling lies of how a massive piece of veg is stuck between your upper front teeth.

aegon is as aegon has alaways been,

a thorn in aemond's side,

and he makes no exceptions when it comes to you.

he can't help but laugh at you both

mouth stained with wine as he saunters up and leans his face down between you both.

"isn't it amazing how, between you both, there's only one eye that actually works?"

aemond bites his tongue, like he always does when it comes to his brother.

you, however, aren't quieted so easily.

"oh, so amazing! do you know what's even more amazing? how the stench of you always announces your arrival."

it's the first time aemond feels it.

that flutter in his chest.

and once it starts, it doesn't seem to want to stop,

he seeks you out most hours of the day

and thinks of you when he's not with you.

when he notices the bruises that litter your arms

from bumping into corners and walking into walls

he has a cane made for you, to help you more safely make your way through the keep.

it's the greatest gift he can give you: the freedom to walk your own path.

one day, as he's telling you about the recent flight he took upon vhagar, you ask him what the sky looks like.

"well, it's blue"

you blink at him, wait for the ball to drop.

"but you wouldn't know what that means"

he tries to think of something else, a different way to describe the vastness of the sky

"have you ever ridden upon a horse?"

you nod your head

"have you ever ridden fast upon a horse?"

you nod again.

"that feeling, when you're gripping at the reigns, and the horse's hooves beat against the ground like a drum, and the wind takes no mercy on your hair, and, for a moment, there's this... warmth of possibility, anticipation, right here" he guides your hand to rest atop your chest, on the side that your heart rests. "that you can leap and beat any obstacle in your way, and for a moment the world is open, and vast, and limitless. that is what the sky looks like, the perfect place to race upon horseback."

"except you're on a dragon."

"well, yes, but find me a horse that has wings and i promise to take you riding up in the sky one day."

you ask him to describe more things, more often.

the forest.

the iron throne.

the sea.

vhagar.

each book he reads you.

till one day you ask, "what do you look like?"

he tries his best.

he tells you about his signature targaryen hair,

and helps guide your hand up to touch it.

he tells you about his pointed nose,

and guides your pointer finer up to drag itself down the length of it.

he tells you about his jawline,

and lets you feel that part of him too.

"and your eye?" you ask.

he doesn't say anything

but he does peal off his eyepatch

and guide your hand up to run down the length of his scar.

"what does it look like?"

"gross."

"that's funny, because it just feels like skin. is all skin gross?"

"no but this skin... it's damaged."

"i feel something. it's hard," you murmur, as your nail traces over the curve of the gemstone that fills his socket.

"it's a sapphire."

"a sapphire?"

"yes. it's like a precious, shiny, smooth, blue rock."

"what about the other eye, the one that's still there?"

"what about it?"

"what does it look like? what colour is it? eyes have colours, don't they?"

"they do," he says, gazing into the hypnotising shade of your own, "it's blue."

"the sky, the sea, your eyes. i think blue might be my favourite colour."

he falls asleep that night with a smile on his face

his heart relieved that you never asked him to put into words what you look like,

because there simply aren't enough words known to man,

be it in the common tongue

or high valyrian,

to describe how beautiful you are.

he tells you as much, when you do eventually ask.

in the fallout of storm's end, soaked to the bone and regretful,

it's you who his legs carry him to

your chambers, to be exact

it doesn't even cross his mind to care that his knocking at your door awakens you

he doesn't care, loses all ability to do so when he collapses into your arms

"i made a mistake," he tells you, when you ask what's wrong

"that's okay, mistakes help us learn better."

not this one, he thinks

you're so gentle with him

and your skin is so warm against his cold

that he can't help himself

his lips find yours.

his hands find your hips.

his breath gets lost somewhere between you both.

but that's okay,

you're all the air he's ever needed.

he feels selfish, when he guides you over to your bed.

and he knows he should tell you what's happened,

what's changed.

he knows he shouldn't be touching you with hands that are stained by blood.

but he's desperate,

and he's breathless,

and he's so frighteningly in love with you.

"please, aemond," it's you who begs for more.

it's you who tugs on the leather of his jerkin.

it's you who pulls at the cotton of his shirt.

it's you who he gets undressed for.

you both wind up naked upon your sheets,

limb tangled with limb.

"i wish i could see you," you tell him. "but i don't need to see you to know you're beautiful, aemond. i feel it, in everything you do for me."

so he lets his own eye shut.

decides he doesn't need to see you either,

not like this, his skin tainted with the smell of the rain, and his dragon, and the velaryon boy's scream.

and the truth is, he wants to take you like this.

he wants to be cruel, and damn you to a life by his side.

but he looks at you,

naked beneath him,

lips swollen with his kisses,

the shine of your own arousal peaking out from that space between your thighs,

and all he sees is the girl he read stories to.

the girl who swooned and awed over every cheesy line about a knight,

and all his knightly honour,

loving his lady in the way that's deemed right by the gods and the lords.

and aemond just can't bring himself to defile your honour,

not like this.

so even as you whine,

and moan,

and offer up your maidenhead on a platter of your unapologetic beauty,

the prince just continues to edge at both your own pleasures,

hips grinding back and forth,

lips tangling with your own,

voice whispering nos, and we can't do thats, and not yets.

"tomorrow," he promises, the spill of his pre-seed smearing along your pelvis with each stuttered thrust of his hardened cock against your soft skin, "i'm going to ask your father for your hand."

"but, how?" you sound so pretty, he can't help himself and lets his eye reopen, searing the haunting image of you naked and pliant beneath him into his mind's eye.. "your mother... she said you flew to offer your hand to one of the baratheon girls."

"what i promised lord baratheon was a targaryen prince, and i intend to keep that promise," he speaks with so much conviction, skipping over the events of his nephew, and his dagger, and his joyride in the sky. "daeron is a boy of sixteen, he can have her. but i, i will belong to you."

the will to leave you, maidenhead still intact, somehow finds its way into his heart

he doesn't fail to leave you sated, however,

his finger dancing along the pretty pearl that has you whining his name and losing your mind upon the mattress.

he keeps his word,

wakes not with the urgent need to discuss last night's war-inciting events with his mother

but with the burning desire to find your father and win his approval

he doesn't find him in his quarter of the keep.

or in the training yard.

or in his seat at the small council.

what he does find is his fear stricken mother,

his stoic grandfather,

his giggling brother.

"aemond, what have you done?"

he doesn't answer

they already know what he done,

the whole realm likely knows, his half-sister too.

so he asks what he really cares about,

asks where your father is.

"he's gone," his mother answers.

"after he heard about your business with lucerys," aegon continues. "the traitor's taken his family to dragonstone and bent the knee to our bastard-bearing cunt of a sister."

so yeah that's what i'm thinking about.

anyway, goodnight <33

#aemond targaryen smut #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen fic #aemond targaryen imagine #aemond targaryen oneshot

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roxtron · 9 months ago

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Anyone ever think about the idea that the mimic is mimicking what it did to gregory before being trapped?

probably, I'm sure I'm not the only person to think about this. but am I going to talk about it anyway? absolutely. Okay so basically.. a couple of the mimic's voicelines are copy-pasted from Security Breach, right? While this is the first time we've seen the mimic copy anyone before, I believe most of his voicelines do come from somewhere. Sorry, that sounds vague. What I mean by that is I don't believe everything the mimic says is 100% a lie it created. For example a lot of people joke about the mimic being more whiny when pretending to be Gregory. Joking about how it's the biggest red flag because Gregory was never really that scared in Security Breach. But did it really just come up with that on its own? What if it's mimicking Gregory in the state he was in when he left? What if Gregory was that scared when dealing with the mimic? And it's not just that, I think some voicelines actually give a bit of hint to this too.

"Help! Something grabbed me! It won't let me go!" I feel like this line and others like it may actually describe what the mimic did. The way Gregory refers to the mimic as "that thing," and the only other 'thing' it could be pretending to be afraid of is the blob, which already tunneled out by the time Cassie gets here. And while the mimic isn't the best at keeping its story straight.. (Claiming to be running/hiding from Roxy while it's trapped under the sinkhole, though I believe that could be him trying to cover up the real Gregory attempting to speak to her, regaining control of the situation. After all if that voice line was the mimic why would Roxy run in the opposite direction of the walkie talkie to go chase him?) I feel like if the mimic was pretending it was the blob that grabbed him, he wouldn't also admit that it tunneled out later on. (I'll get to that don't worry.) Sure, this is a fabricated lie to lure Cassie, but my point is, what story is the mimic trying to create here? What is the mimic trying to claim happened to it/Gregory? I was going to bring these screenshots up later, but..

(Original screenshot + edited version to see the handprint better.) The handprint on the vent outside where the mimic is trapped, with Gregory's backpack underneath it, if you haven't seen theories about it already it seems to clearly imply Gregory lured the mimic in through the vent, that's his handprint. Why I'm bringing this up here though, that handprint looks bloody, doesn't it? Maybe it's just me, maybe it's just the lighting, but I feel like that looks more like a bloody/liquid stain smear than a smear of dust or something. So what if what happened was what the mimic described? It grabbed Gregory, and didn't let him go, causing his arms to get stabbed through and bleed after he escaped through the vent. (If you can't picture what I'm saying or just want a cool visual of this happening, go see this post it's cool and basically shows what I'm talking about, I only thought of this detail because of their post, also the art is cool.)

Anyway, moving on..

"That thing is here again. I gotta hide. Save me."

What if getting the mimic to that specific room wasn't all of the luring Gregory had to do? What if he periodically had to deal with being chased/hunted by the mimic while trying to get it to follow him to that area of the pizzaplex? (This is probably the most speculation, there's not a lot you can get from this line, but it's still a cool idea I think.) OR, an alternate take.. The mimic is being interrupted by the real Gregory's attempts to reach Cassie, and the mimic is using this opportunity as an excuse while it attempts to block his signal. (I've theorized about the differences between each speaking a bit before, but basically, I find it notable that the only times the real Gregory seems to get through to Cassie is when the mimic is busy/distracted/unavailable. So the mimic likely has to make an active effort to block his attempts, hence why he ends up using other signals to try to reach her, like the hacked staff bot. Again this is heavy speculation, but I find it interesting if he's basically telling the story in real-time and sort of swapping him and Gregory.)

Overall there's not a lot you can gather out of this line that I haven't already mentioned in the previous one, so let's move on.

"Something tunneled out.. broke everything. Now I'm stuck here!"

Before I go over this, take it with a grain of salt. Yes I think this is him referring to the blob tunneling out, causing the 'earthquake' that broke the pizzaplex to the state it's in when Cassie arrives. Considering the tunnel in the sinkhole and seeing the blob in a tunnel early in the game, this adds up. However.. I think there might be a double meaning here. It's a bit of a reach, but what if it's also referring to Gregory a bit here? "Something tunneled out," it's implied Gregory used the vent (sort of a tunnel) to escape the room the mimic is trapped in. "Broke everything," ruined the mimic's plans. "Now I'm stuck here," well, that's self explanitory. Gregory used the vent to escape, ruined the mimic's plans, and trapped it there. I also find it interesting this seems to be the final time the mimic mentions something else down there with it. (Even during its final pleas in Roxy Raceway, it only says "Save me, it's so dark down here." Nothing about that "thing" putting him in danger.) Do I think this line is specifically the mimic talking about Gregory? No, I think its main purpose is to explain where the blob went. But I do think it's possible there's a double meaning to it, intentional or not..

Like I said that's the last line of dialogue where the mimic mentions something else down there with it, so there's not a lot more to talk about. My biggest points and evidence were in the beginning tbh, it probably would've been best to cover it at the end of this post but I wanted to go over the voice lines in chronological order to when they appear in-game. I know some of the stuff I said is reaching a bit, I'm not 100% confident that'd be the correct interpretation.. but it's something to think about, that's my point. Whether I'm right or wrong I think the theory is worth considering. If you read this far, that's cool, I hope this was entertaining or had some kind of value to you. I like writing analysis stuff like this so it's always nice when other people enjoy it too. :)

#ok tag time uhhh #fnaf #fnaf theory #fnaf analysis #fnaf ruin #fnaf ruin dlc #security breach ruin #ruin dlc #fnaf mimic #fnaf gregory #does this count as sb tag since it's the dlc..#fnaf security breach #security breach #fnaf sb #well that's all the tags i can think of #hope you enjoyed :)

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animebw · 7 months ago

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Seasonal Reflection: Winter 2024 Anime

My feelings on the first anime season of 2024 can be summed up thusly: Most of my favorite shows from winter 2024 were continuations of shows that were already great from last season, not new entries. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and there were plenty of new anime I at least enjoyed watching. But it became clear about halfway through the season that aside from a couple fall 2023 holdovers, there was barely anything truly exciting going on here. Most of the adaptations I watched didn't do much to truly elevate their source material, and most of the few original series we got ended up the worst of the bunch. I can't say nothing good came out of winter 2024, but if this is any sign of how the rest of the year is gonna go, we may be in for a slog. For now, though, let's take stock of the anime I watched this season, and which ones are worth your time.

Metallic Rouge: 3/10

If you asked me what the worst show I finished this season would be at the start, I never would've guessed Metallic Rouge. I mean, it's a cool-ass original sci-fi anime from Bones with slick 2D mecha animation, surely that's gotta be at least a little cool, right? Sadly, no. Because this is, without question, one of the most baffling scripts I've ever seen in anime. Almost every single detail of its world and plot are barely explained, if at all, and the mechanics of what's even supposed to be going on are so nebulous that every attempt at a plot twist feels like a twist on something that never actually existed. Characters are plopped into the story without even an introduction. At times it feels like whole scenes have been cut out entirely. The only thing I can compare it to is the original Suicide Squad movie from 2016: a story so cut to the bone in the editing room that you can barely tell what's supposed to be happening half the time, and yet enough of the original story remains to suggest it was never any good in the first place. The one thing it gets right is the prickly chemistry between its two leads, and then it fucking keeps them separated for like half the damn runtime! How do you even unforced error that badly?

Bucchigiri: 3.5/10

Man, this was not a good season for original anime. Bucchigiri might not have been as staggering a writing trainwreck as Metallic Rouge, but its sin is arguably even worse; it's boring. It's a wacky, colorful high school delinquent romp with rainbow-haired Jojo's punks beating the snot out of each other with genie powers, it's sort of a re-imagining of Aladdin, it's got freaking Hiroko Utsumi at the helm, and it's boring. Why? Because this show gets absolutely stuck in the quicksand of its own status quo and refuses to budge an inch. Character growth is nonexistent, the protagonist is an aggravating loser wimp who never learns his lesson, and nothing of actual meaning happens from the first episode to the end. Literally everything you think is setting up a character arc where someone learns a lesson or grows as a person, all of it amounts to nothing. It's a limp, inert world that perpetuates the same overdone jokes and contrived, misunderstanding-based drama over and over again until all the outsized Utsumi visual personality feels like a tacky coat thrown on top of a lifeless corpse. What an utter waste.

Urusei Yatsura Season 2 (1st Cours): 5/10

I'm still not quite sure what to make of the Urusei Yatsura remake. is it charmingly dated? Annoyingly dated? A welcome throwback or a sign that some things should stay in the past? If nothing else, it never fails to get at least a couple chuckles out of me every episode. But the more it tries to lean into being actually sincere, the more its inherent cheesiness and lack of depth starts becoming a problem. I'm sorry, this cast of characters is just too abrasive and purposefully insane to take seriously, and none of their relationships are healthy enough to unironically root for. Lum and Ataru are not a couple I want to see actually get together, at least not unless Ataru stops being such a fucking shithead. And if him being a jackass could be charming in season 1, then this season is really starting to test my patience with him. It's one thing to be a serial skirt chaser, but his actions this season regularly cross a line from womanizing to unambiguous sex pest, and there's only so many wooden mallets he can get knocked over the head with before it stops feeling like like he's getting punished as much as he deserves to be.

Undead Unluck (2nd Cours): 5/10

Good news, everyone: Undead Unluck finally gave up on those awful groping gags that were ruining its central romance! Bad news: at the same time, it spontaneously developed one of the worst cases of recap padding I've ever seen! I'm not just talking overlong recap segments at the start of the episode, I'm talking constant flashbacks to events we just saw just moments before, straight up playing the same footage again just minutes apart, all climaxing in a truly unforgivable episode that spends seven goddamn minutes on recycled footage. Not even Tokyo Revengers was this bad with its time-wasting. And to add insult to injury, once it finally gets its feet unstuck and returns to a reasonable amount of recap for the final arc, it's probably the best arc of the entire show! It's some of the most bonkers high-concept emotional storytelling I've ever seen attempted, let alone pulled off so spectacularly. It's proof that there is so much brilliance to Undead Unluck, if it could just get out of its own way. But as long as it continues suffering from such massive systemic flaws, it's only ever going to be an also-ran.

Solo Leveling: 5.5/10

Okay, look; is this show dumb as a bag of rocks? Absolutely. Is it as nakedly an adolescent power fantasy as any anime has ever been? Ditto. Does it solely exist for dweeby incels to feel like swaggering douchebag chads getting revenge on all the normies who looked down on them by becoming The Bestest Strongest Chadliest Awesomest Of All Time? You know it. But god dammit, it's actually fun. I cannot pretend I'm too mature and sophisticated to enjoy a big, helping heaping of dumb edgy schlock when it's actually done well. I'm the one person on the face of the earth who still caries water for Akame ga Kill, for crying out loud. And Solo Leveling makes two really smart storytelling choices that keep it (mostly) on the entertaining side of dumb fun: building a genuinely interesting and intricate world that exists well beyond the scope of the protagonist's actions (for now, at least), and making sure that no matter how stupidly overpowered Jinwoo gets, his opponents are always just a little bit even more stupidly overpowered, so he's still pushed to his absolute breaking point and barely scraping together a win by the skin of his teeth every time. There is an art to edge that's too often taken for granted, and this show is proof that being the living embodiment of a twelve-year-old boy's wet dreams is no excuse not to be at least a decent version of that. That said, let's be real, Jinwoo was so much more attractive before his supposed glow-up. Give my boy back his scraggly rat locks, you cowards.

Bang Brave Bang Bravern: 6/10

What happens when a campy, cartoony 70s-style super robot anime crashes headfirst into a much grittier real robot anime? Well, what happens is Bang Brave Bang Bravern, the latest ten-car pileup of mismatched genres from the Cygames masterminds behind "What if horse racing but idols?" Take a desperate war story of survival against impossible odds, airdrop a skyscraper-sized superhero into the mix, and watch him completely shatter the original tone one cheekily ironic powerup and power-of-friendship speech at a time. It's a beautifully bonkers sendup of mecha tropes that has some of the funniest individual moments in this entire anime season, and the absolutely wild twist it pulls with the titular robot's identity in the back half is more than worth the price of admission on its own. Unfortunately, if it wanted to be as perfect a parody-until-it-isn't mecha series as Akiba Maid War was a parody-until-it-isn't mob flick, it probably should've tried being as long as most mecha series tend to be, i.e. more than just twelve measly episodes. There's just not enough time to develop any of the characters or world beyond the most essential parts, resulting in huge chunks of the supporting cast hanging around with nothing to do but take up space. And it leads to this show, which is trying to be so big and over the top, instead feeling so small and half-formed. Also, the secondary romance is gross. Like, really gross.

A Sign of Affection: 6/10

I think this show has helped clarify something for me: I'm really getting tired of how quickly modern romance anime get their main couple together. As much as we rag on the endless will-they-won't-they of ages past, taking so much time to build up the characters and their relationship before they finally make it official can result in some truly one-of-a-kind storytelling when done right. I might agonize over how long Sawako and Kuronoma take to get together in Kimi ni Todoke, but the payoff is so transcendent that none of those complaints matter. Whereas Yuki and Itsuomi getting together so quickly in A Sign of Affection... I mean, they're cute, I guess? His cool demeanor plays off her sincerity very well? But it feels like the show's in such a rush to get to the good stuff- and so determined to make Istuomi the dreamiest, most perfect boyfriend ever- that it skips over so much of the careful character-building that makes all the best anime romances so special. It's a sugary sweet confection, but wipe the frosting away and there's just not that much cake underneath. Honestly, I find the side characters a lot more interesting because they're allowed to have messy internal conflicts with a bit more meat on their bones. But hey, props for putting a deaf heroine at the center of your shoujo romance and taking so much time to explore how that affects the way she interacts with the world. That's a cause well worth celebrating.

Sengoku Youko: 6.5/10

Rejoice, everyone, we finally have an adaptation of a Satoshi Mizukami work that doesn't look like absolute garbage! After the flaming disaster that was Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer's barely animated hackjob production, Sengoku Youko has arrived to give the cult fave manga artist a chance for his work to actually shine on the silver screen. As someone who only knows him through Planet With, I've always wondered if Mizukami deserved the reputation his manga gets, and with White Fox delivering as tight and intense a production as they gave Re:Zero, I guess it's time to finally find out. And the answer is... mostly? Like, the biggest problems in this sci-fi/feudal fantasy mashup are the characters being a little too eager to state the themes out loud and one pretty crummy death that's about as hamfisted and over-telegraphed as I've seen in a while. But there's a shockingly gripping narrative underlying it all, a story about the scars trauma leaves on people, of characters making bad decisions and facing real consequences for them, of hatred and poisonous ideology forced to reckon with the more complex reality of the world as a whole. And it all climaxes in an absolute barn-burner final episode that knocked my score up a half point all on its own. If future seasons can make good on all the potential this first season has set up, then I may just end up a Mizukami fan myself when all is said and done.

Blue Exorcist Season 3: 6.5/10

I'm of two minds about Blue Exorcist's second return after a six-year gap between seasons. On one hand, it's clear the new staff is just nowhere near as talented as the folks who first brought this series to life at A-1 Pictures. The action is abysmal, the storyboarding is clunky, and the animation feels like it's constantly fighting for its life to maintain a passable standard. And it sucks that a series that once brought such great life to its story is now held back by such a mediocre production. But on the other hand... holy fuck, am I glad Blue Exorcist is back. I once described The Devil is a Part-Timer as the mathematical average of anime as a concept, but if you were to ask me what the best possible version of that mathematical average looks like? It would be Blue Exorcist. This is, hands down, one of the best straightforward shonen action stories in the whole medium, a reminder of why all the most generic and overused tropes were once powerful enough to become generic and overused in the first place. It's proof that even the simplest of "superpowered teens kick demon butt with the power of friendship" concepts can result in a wonderful goddamn series when handled with good old-fashioned storytelling fundamentals. And not even the rough-as-hell production is enough to keep season 3 from delivering on the thrills, tears, laughs, and cheers that make this series so magical. Just, please, give the next season more time in the oven so it doesn't feel like it's wading through molasses to hit those heights. Okay?

Delicious in Dungeon (1st Cours): 7/10

Delicious in Dungeon's biggest problem is that it takes a while to really settle into itself. The opening scene of the protagonist's sister being devoured by a dragon sets the tone for an intense and desperate rescue mission, but the actual series that follows this harrowing opening is as lackadaisical as can be. And it's jarring to be thrust into a gag-filled, character-driven fantasy cooking comedy where the harsh tone of that opening scene and the ticking clock of Falin's digestion completely disappear from the characters' heads in favor of how beast to cook and eat the various fantasy monsters they encounter in the dungeon. Yes, it makes a little more sense once the mechanics of death and resurrection are explained later on, but it's a weird note to start on. Which is a shame, because once Delicious in Dungeon gets a handle on what kind of story it's trying to be, it's really fun! Its sense of deadpan comedy coupled with Trigger's expressive animation makes for some really unexpected gags, and the way it explores its fantasy cuisine is genuinely some of the most creative stuff I've ever seen in the cooking anime genre. Plus, with the dark tone coming back in at the end of the first cours- and landing much more naturally this time- I have high hopes for how this series will marry those two sides of itself moving forward. If the manga fans' reactions are any indication, I think we're in for a damn good time.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (2nd Cours): 8/10

So remember in my last post how I said that it was kind of disappointing whenever Frieren turned into an action show because of how disconnected the fights were from the beating heart that makes this show so special? Well, apparently the writers heard me and decided what I meant was I wanted this peaceful, meditative tale about grief, change and the passage of time to turn into the goddamn Hunter Exams for ten episodes straight. It's one of the most shockingly ill-advised storytelling swerves I've seen in an otherwise good show, discarding all this series' strengths in favor of a half-baked tournament arc with tonally jarring grimdark elements and a bland, overstuffed cast of characters who only start becoming interesting in the rare moments they're allowed to stop slinging spells at each other and just, like, talk about life? You know, the stuff that Frieren's actually good at? Not this brainless slice of shonen envy that only avoids being a complete slog thanks to how spectacular the action is across the board? Ugh. Look, Frieren is officially the most beloved anime on the goddamn planet right now, and its best moments are so incredible that I wish I could join that chorus as well. But it's so disappointing to me that a show this singular and special has so often chosen to be the least interesting version of itself.

The Dangers in My Heart Season 2: 8.5/10

It's official: director Hiroaki Akagi is the master of middle school rom-coms. No other creator so perfectly grasps the specific blend of immaturity, awkwardness, cringe, and heart-on-sleeve sincerity that defines the love stories of early adolescence. That was already clear with his work on Teasing Master Takagi-san, but now that he's pulled it off twice, there's no room left for argument. And just like with Takagi-san, the second season of The Dangers in My Heart takes a show that was already shockingly good and catapults it into all-time greatness. This is a coming-of-age triumph, a soaring tribute to embracing your own cringeworthy self, flaws and all, and sharing that self openly with the people who matter most to you. Ichikawa's journey toward maturity, Yamada's journey toward self-love, and the way their romance sparks the best in both of them is the stuff that dreams are made of. I laughed, I cried, I squealed like a little girl, and I felt my heart grow three sizes by the time it was done. This is a new gold standard for anime rom-coms, and if you can stomach a bit of groanworthy fanservice, it more than deserves your attention.

The Apothecary Diaries (2nd Cours): 8.5/10

Most of the time when I cover a two-cours show on these seasonal reflections, I end up in a pretty different place by the end of the second cours than I did at the first. Either it sort of fell apart in the second half, or found its footing and took it to the next level, or it changed in some interesting way that affects how I view the show as a whole. But The Apothecary Diaries has stayed the course from the first episode all the way to the end. Start to finish, it's remained pretty much the same show, with the same ideas and attitude, exploring the same themes in the same ways. And you know what? When you're as good as The Apothecary Diaries ended up being, there's nothing wrong with that. This is a spectacular historical drama that builds such a rich, compelling world for its equally rich, compelling characters to inhabit. It's a powerful exploration of how old society treated the disadvantaged- women, poor people, people with all severities of disability- and how one deeply abnormal girl carves her way through this viper's den with her body and soul intact. It's the kind of mature, thoughtful series we so rarely seen done this well, and with the announcement of a season 2 already confirmed, we may well end up with close to 50 episodes when all is said and done. That, folks, is what a true shoujo/josei renaissance looks like. And I'm so happy such a deserving series is leading the way in reminding us how damn good women's stories can be when they're given a chance to shine this brightly.

DROPPED

Cherry Magic: Dropped at 2 episodes for looking like butt and the central romance feeling pretty lifeless.

High Card Season 2: Dropped at 1 episode because I realized I didn't care anymore.

Ninja Kamui: Dropped at 2 episodes for being dull tryhard edgy bullshit with overdone fight scenes that are impossible to follow.

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analligatorr · 9 months ago

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opinion on the porcelain Graves skin???? I don’t hate it but I’m mad it’ll take another year or more until we get another one and porcelain is such a boring theme. Stick him in an interesting skin line for once riot.

Sincerely? I tried to like this skin, I really tried, but.. :/

Well, on twitter I compared Porcelain Graves with the WR exclusive skin Dragon Lantern Graves (not the special edition) I'll transcribe it here.

Let's start with splasharts. Wild Rift's Splash arts are generally criticized, many times I don't agree, some of them are of even higher quality than those of League, which is the case of Dragon Lantern Graves. Even though it's not Graves' best splash, or the best skinline splash, it's pretty and pleasant, my only criticism is that it's a little too static, there's not much movement

the Graves porcelain splash has some problems, at first glance it is.. pretty, but whenever you look at it, there seems to be something wrong, it really is a strange splash, and it's not the fault of the artist who made it.

Porcelain Graves Splash Concepts by Santiago Parra

in the end, they(riot) decided to increase the proportions and add a lot of texture, to achieve this result, so... yeah, it's not the best splash. but it's pretty

Dragon Lantern: 1

Porcelain: 0

About the VFX, let's be honest, they tend to do something very mediocre with Graves when it comes to visual effects, apart from his legendary skin (which it would be stupid of them to do something too simple) Graves' recent epic skins haven't received as much love.

Even though the Dragon Lantern skin has basically the same sounds as the base skin (i guess) the quality of the VFX is absurdly good (better than his legendary if you allow me to say). The Porcelain one.. is... mediocre.. ofc they couldn't put something cool like Lux and Lissandra's skins, right?

I can't post more than one video in a post, so here are the links so you can see the difference between the VFX of Dragon Lantern Graves and Porcelain Graves.

Dragon Lantern: 2

Porcelain: 0

Ok, let's get to the part that irritated me the most. The narrative..

Yes, we agree that Graves is not a big "important" character in Runeterra, he is not there to be a protagonist. That doesn't mean he can't cause real chaos, and set Bilgewater on fire just in an attempt to get revenge on his current partner. Why did I bring this up? because it is absurd to portray Graves as a pathetic and irrelevant character.

With that in mind, read Porcelain Graves' bio:

Not long after gunpowder was invented, the Zodiac searched for a new protector of the Dragon Relic. Though ancient and wise, the gods struggled to find someone worthy, so they settled for Malcolm Graves. Eventually his expertise in firepower was pointed in the right direction (away from all the breakable vases)

It's ridiculous, don't you think?

They are so fond of abusing the fact that Graves is, in some ways, a comic relief, that they make him the real joke, to the exclusion of everything else about him, and making him "unworthy". It's like they're saying "ugh, should this guy really be here? Who called him?". Whoever wrote the narrative of porcelain skinline seems to hate him, for real..

Now let's go to Dragon Lantern Graves' bio:

Graves, a free-spirited mercenary from a foreign land, can hardly wait to join in the fun at the gala. For this burly maverick, harmless ol' lanterns are no more than impractical ornaments—he much prefers filling up massive dragonflame cannons and setting the night sky ablaze with 'em booming explosions and dazzling lights!

1000% better, right? It's almost a delight. It's fun, brings out a little of who he is, and doesn't degrade his image :D

Dragon Lantern: 3

Porcelain: 0

AND WE HAVE A WINNER

#gator talks #malcolm graves #porcelain graves #dragon lantern graves #i don't even like DL skin that much. his hair is horrible #analysis #league of legends #wild rift #riot being a bitch #graves

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acaplaya-musings · 5 months ago

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VoicePlay Visuals - Classical Chaos (part 1/2)

(The video itself obviously isn't a two-parter, but this post is! You can go to part 2 here, and there'll also be a link at the bottom of this post.)

VoicePlay's "Classical Chaos" video publically released on the 29th of June, 2024 (well, the 28th of June for Americans I suppose, but I've been going off of my own timezone for all my other posts - no point changing now), and it features the one and only Rachel Potter, back with VoicePlay for the first time in two and a half years!

The arrangement, creative direction, and editing of this video was all Layne (with a bit of additional creative direction from Tony), and some have said this is an accurate look into what the inside of Layne's brain is like😂 Layne took snippets of a dozen different classical music pieces (ranging from "somewhat known" to "definitely well-known"), and turned them into a super original, super amazing acapella medley, and created a very entertaining and amusing video to go with it! And the video is what I'm here to talk about!

Also, if you somehow haven't figured it out yet, the Classical Chaos video is somewhat of a sequel to VoicePlay's In The Hall Of The Mountain King video they did back in September of 2022. You can find my VoicePlay Visuals post for that video here!

Anyway, enough introduction, let's get into this!

First of all, had to get a shot of that bat flying past - it's a cute touch - and second of all my goodness let's talk about set design because WOW. This is inside Pattycake Studios, believe it or not! Seriously, Mountain King I think maybe just had a handful of real trees that were dragged into the studio and then they used a hanging backdrop with a forest on it in addition? But this is heaps! (Someone in the VP Discord said apparently there were 39 trees used, damn)

This forest also did double duty, as Pattycake Productions also used it for their new Villains Lair episode, Ancient Relics (hey, might as well make the absolute most of it!), and unlike VP's video, that actually does have credits for set design! The trees themselves are credited to Orlando Art Squad, Djon Pearson, Layne, Tony, and also Big Oaks Ranch!

(Also I'm fairly certain that moon in the background is the same moon lamp/spotlight that Geoff used for his Jack's Lament video)

Eli's here! He uses the spellbook to re-summon all the others (I think), but how/why did he reappear I wonder? (Grundel magic perhaps 😝 (yeah they're playing creatures called "Grundels", I think maybe Layne came up with the name?))

"Advanced Conjuring And Other Spells (Beginners Do Not Attempt)"

Dang, I guess music really is magic after all! 😉😁

I can't read sheet music to save my life, but this appears to be the sheet music for Toccata & Fugue In D Minor (it's the first piece in this medley, and I googled what the sheet music looked like and it seems to line up).

Geoff giving a little smile and wave at Eli is very cute, and reminds me of the way Kathy waved to Geoff at the end of Golden Hour, which in turn reminded some people of Rachel's little wave in the Kiss The Girl segment of the Little Mermaid Medley, another video where Geoff got painted blue, so I guess it's a full-circle moment really!

Also yes, their appearances have been tweaked slightly since Mountain King (both Geoff and Layne have different horns, Eli and Geoff have different 'shirt' things, and Geoff's skin is more blue than it was last time), but I have many other things to talk about, so I shan't spend too much time on this.

The queen has arrived! Or rather, should I say, the White Witch!

Pfft I love Cesar's face here 😆

Man I really love Rachel's makeup and costuming here, she always looks amazing in VoicePlay videos! Also definitely Elvira: Mistress Of The Dark vibes

(And of course shoutout to Rick Underwood and Renette Feren for makeup and prosthetics for everyone in the video!)

Geoff is Planning Something(tm) 😝

The fire in this video works similarly to how the cauldron did in Mountain King in regards to colour coding, but while the cauldron only appeared to change colour whenever someone added something to it, this fire changes colour whenever a different person starts singing lead vocals! E.g., white for Rachel, as shown here. (I'm not sure how tough this was to pull off in editing/post-production, but it turned out amazing!)

The queen White Witch is busy casting spells and doing witch stuff! Do not disturb and definitely do not touch the spellbook!

(Also Cesar manages to be as adorable as ever in this video 😄)

🎶I could put a spell on you and you're done for!🎶

No wait wrong fandom 😝

Eli: "Ooh maybe while she's distracted I could-"

Rachel: "NOPE don't even think about it!"

Layne: "Lol rip tough luck"

(But seriously *pfft* @ this screenshot 😂)

Wait for it...

"WHERE IS THE BOOK?"

Even Layne is like "oh dang" 😂

Geoff got a hold of it! (good for him) Using what I can only assume is the power of Looney Tunes Logic! 😝

Geoff: Hey look I got this cool book! Isn't it neat? The other three guys: GIMME! Rachel: *Big Mad*

Okay I do kinda love the huge grin on Geoff's face here - it's very him, and he's having fun!

(Also notice how the fire has turned blue now that he's singing!)

Geoff holds up the book...

...And suddenly he no longer has the book!

Unfortunately for Geoff (and Rachel), he's not the only one with the power of Looney Tunes Cartoon Nonsense Logic! 😝😂

(Also the fire has changed again!)

Okay I have to talk a teeny bit about the music here because 1, I love how Geoff's "wait where did it go" head turns are perfectly timed to the "doo-doo," backing parts here, and 2, as I said in my Thoughts And Commentary post, I find it very amusing that Layne's section here is The Blue Danube, considering he just yoinked the spellbook from Geoff, who is Very Blue 😂

*pfft*

"Don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious-"

Aww look at that mischievious-but-lovable grin!

And look at what's happened to the fire! It's still mostly orange, but with a bit of green on top! Kinda like... a carrot! Layne The Carrot Lord strikes again! 😆

Rachel: "Yeah I'll have that back thanks"

And I've officially hit image limit, so that's part 1! Now you understand why I made this into two posts, not one? You can go find part 2 here! See you there!

#voiceplay #voiceplay classical chaos #geoff castellucci #layne stein #eli jacobson #cesar de la rosa #rachel potter #voiceplay visuals #acaplaya analysis

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theender36 · 8 months ago

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Recently watched Superman: The Movie (1978) for the first time in well over a decade and it really is a great movie so I got some thoughts that I want to put somewhere before I forget.

The cold open of theater curtains showing a mockup of an old Superman serial featuring Action Comics is a great nod to the character's past. Then the title flying out of the old theater screen is a fantastic visual as well as a good transition to kickstart the credits sequence accompanied by the iconic music

The set design of Krypton is phenomenal; the glowing clothes, the crystalline look, and the streamlined technology feel alien and futuristic in a unique way, although it is a little odd that everything is so white except for Kal-El's baby blanket.

The trial of Zod, Ursa, and Non has the striking combination of visuals that are the trio being held in a spotlight by spinning rings and the stern Kryptonian judges' faces being projected onto the otherwise dark dome surrounding them

Marlon Brando keeps pronouncing it "Kryptin" for some reason. Like when I'm joking about watching "The Batmins"

Genuinely very sad goodbye scene from Kal's parents

Pretty much every wide shot in Kansas is super beautiful

As is the custom, Ma and Pa Kent bring Clark up right. I appreciate the moment where Clark tells Pa about how he gets so mad at bullies that he wants to tear them apart because first off, you can tell from how he says it that he knows it'd be wrong to do that. And second, Pa doesn't yell at him for having those feelings, he tries to help him deal with them.

Clark doesn't just bail on Martha to go find himself, and he makes sure she'll have help on the farm while he's gone

The sequence of the Fortress forming itself has amazing practical effects and editing

Maybe it was because I was watching the Blu Ray version with extra scenes but the abstract montage of crystal Jor-El teaching Clark about the universe and his abilities and giving life lessons ran a little long but it was cool

Clark is very much playing up his meek, clumsy identity but him being Reporter Clark Kent as a person is not totally an act. He makes sure half his paycheck goes to Ma back home because he wants to make sure she's taken care of and he tries to be polite and helpful around the office, which tracks with who he is at his core

I think Lex being a business tycoon/scientist is pretty integral to the character but I don't mind this version's "Napoleon of crime" shtick. I like that Gene Hackman's hair being a wig in-story is hinted at when Otis is poking around the spa and he finds a spare hairpiece

I know everyone knows this already but Christopher Reeves is a perfect casting choice and he does an amazing job at making Clark and Superman superficially different but obviously the same person at heart. Even when he says something a little corny as either one, there's so much sincerity to it

Clark feeling a little guilty about enjoying being a hero is on-brand. I like that Jor-El reflects Johnathan Kent by encouraging him but also giving guidance so he doesn't lose who he is.

The moment of Jor-El saying "I've sent them you. My only son." is veering very close to the common Superman-as-a-Jesus-allegory mistake but it's the only time in the entire movie I remember it doing that, so I can't harp on it too much

Lois is just a force of nature and the only reason Clark can keep up with her as Superman is because she's starstruck

This version of Superman and Lois are down just HORRENDOUS for each other

The flying date scene is great and I think the poorly-aged flying effect is countered by the nighttime background and the chemistry between the characters. That being said, the "can you read my mind" poem is just. What. Why is this

The scene of Lex, Ms. Teschmacher, and Otis attempting to tamper with the nukes and then having to do it again because Otis screwed up is so goofy I forgot they were villains

Great moment when Superman shows he can be intimidating by just staring down Otis.

I like that Superman is saved by Ms Teschmacher because she believes in him which is a surprise to Lex because he only believes in himself

Really great effects in the scenes of the destruction from the San Andreas fault

This shot is underrated

The moments of Superman realizing Lois is dead have so much weight to them and are amazingly shot

I kind of wish they explored the consequences of him "interfering in history" because otherwise it is sort of just a convenient deus ex machina

Everything ends tied up very nicely (except the Zod squad but after two hours, nobody's thinking about that) and sometimes that's all a movie needs

It's astonishing really how much they manage to fit in this movie considering they give a lot of scenes more time than you'd expect

Overall, movie good.

#superman the movie #superman #superman 1978 #movie opinions

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mdhwrites · 8 months ago

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Have you seen the new HSR short, Rondo Across Countless Kapas? Got any thoughts? 👀

From an animation and sapphic perspective? HOLY FUCK! Absolutely gorgeous and I think what it's doing with Acheron is really interesting, even if it's essentially purely through visual storytelling. You could have the sound off and get everything interesting about the short.

Turn the sound on and you get the part I have a problem with: I'm kind of done with the Memokeeper. Not Black Swan, just the memokeeper element of her. I'll get into it soon but for those who haven't seen it, enjoy one of the best dances I've ever seen.

youtube

So what is my issue with the dialogue? Well, it's that Penacony has this problem of people getting into kind of grand speeches on a subject, even potentially mundane ones. Aventurine is always going on about power dynamics and hinting at his plan (this leads to the fucking god awful self quoting of like two paragraphs from himself at the end of 2.0), Sparkle is constantly using these big speeches to belittle people or mock them and Black Swan...

Black Swan is talking about memories. I'm not even against these monologues or the like but Black Swan has been in a LOT of marketing materials at this point and they ALL use her memokeeper element and very little of her fortunetelling element, usually only using the latter to emphasize the former in some way. It's just gotten very repetitive to me. Worse yet is that owning Black Swan AMPLIFIED this problem because it's more kind of mysterious, kind of not talk of dreams and the universe and memories and past that a lot of the rest of the big dialogue from her is. I want her to stop being so dramatic and be more personable, at least for a little while.

This isn't even me calling Black Swan a bad character. There is genuinely more to her with how playful she can be or how she is the best manipulator on Penacony so far because she can figuratively be two faced, something Sparkle needs literal shapeshifting powers for and Aventurine can't do to save his life, which the same goes for Himeko. She also sells the best though that she's genuinely a good person who just is willing to get her hands dirty but it is up to interpretation (honestly kind of frustratingly so. I don't like that I can't actually say a ton about each Penacony character so far due to their attempts at duplicity meaning fuck you on concrete characterization besides your flavor of manipulator. No, backstory does not count as characterization either.)

Edit: This could definitely also just be a me thing at this point. I rewatched it and not a lot of it is spent on talking about the past or memories. Black Swan is still playing up the mysteries of Penacony, something that I'm also getting a bit tired of, but she doesn't actually have many lines on memories themselves. It's just somehow kind of stuck in my brain for some reason this element of her being over represented and so it's what my brain ended up focusing on.

Let's end this on a positive though. Star Rail is normally not good at mysteries but the fact that Acheron genuinely seems disconnected from her Emanator state, when she draws the blade, is deeply interesting to me. It even fits within my theory, that we'll find out the truth on soon, that Acheron is an Emanator of Nihility. Speaking of, hi VERY explicitly to Ix within the violence montage. There is no way of getting around the fact that one of those sketches was of them front and center.

And from a dramatic standpoint, I love the presentation. The fact that bringing them up while clearly trying to get extra information out of Acheron, to have her mind have to go there so Black Swan could more easily grab the memories she might lie about, only for her to get fucked up like she does is INCREDIBLE. The fact that Acheron is so sincere in her confusion afterwards only adds to the horror of it all.

I... Am mixed on her knowing who they were. I frankly would love it if because the statement is the Annihilation Gang, not the Everflame Manor, that when she goes "Oh, right, those guys..." She's actually talking about the dumbasses from this destruction cult, since Duke Inferno isn't the only part of it, that got Aha's help to try to kill Ix. It'd be a way for them to have their cake and eat it too that I think fits better than the girl with eternal memory issues to suddenly actually remember killing them all.

Overall, I do like the animated short. If I were to just think of it in a vacuum, I even like Black Swan's dramatic narration. It's a good flourish to the action, explains what's going on well enough and her calm narration provides great contrast from when EVERYTHING gets fucked. My hangups are entirely a weird thing that's just kind of getting to me about Penacony and I'm not entirely sure if I expect it to get better or worse come 2.1.

I just know that thanks to my tax return (I did not spend all of it on Star Rail, don't worry) and knowing the top up refresh was happening, I did spend a good amount and am guaranteed to get Acheron, even if it takes 160 pulls like it took for Black Swan..., and I am looking forward to playing with her.

Just with tempered expectations.

======+++++======

And final note for those maybe hoping for it: I haven't been inspired by this short to write AcheSwan. I frankly wish I knew why I didn't get inspired by Star Rail more for my writing.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#Acheswan #hsr #Acheron #Black Swan #Analysis

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dokidokitsuna · 17 days ago

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Hey, have you watched the anime "senki zesshou symphogear"?

It's a very great magical girl anime and if you haven't watched it yet you definitely should! I think you would like it.

...This has got to be a trick. ^^; You already know, don't you?? I can't remember talking about anything remotely similar to Symphogear lately...I mean, unless you just really like the anime and want to recommend it to everyone, in which case 🆗

Anyway, short answer: Yes, I have. ^^

Long answer: I used to be a Symphogear SUPERFAN. I watched all 5 seasons of the anime and the OVAs, I read the S1 companion manga (and did some panel recolors~); I archived the whole S1 soundtrack, I memorized all the girls' activation songs, and I was an active contributor and later a translator on the FANDOM wiki. If the new people haven't completely rewritten everything, you can probably still find a few of my articles there. I focused mainly on episode summaries and the introductory blurbs for the XD Unlimited mobile game events. I'm pretty sure my song translations have all been edited out, unfortunately...=_=

Anyway, I also used to review the series as it aired on my DeviantArt account. ^^ It was a big part of my life for a while there, and I still keep tabs on it occasionally...nothing's really been happening lately, though. Even the mobile game is shut down at this point...I really hope all their recent attempts to keep the hype alive are actually leading up to something, because if not...I mean, either do something new with the series or just let it die gracefully, y'know?

Like, instead of getting normal promotional things-- merch drops, pop-up cafes, sponsorship collabs-- we're getting DJ shows and chiptune remixes (that weren't even that good...) with pretend videogame visuals...it's making me suspicious. If we're gonna do this, the 'cinematic production' they're talking about better be good. I don't want 90 minutes of 'grown-up Hibiki with long hair reminisces about her earlier missions (so we can fill the runtime with flashbacks)'...because if they do that and it flops, they're not gonna recoup the money they're spending on these...things, and then the series really WILL die. Sadly and un-gracefully...

...It probably shows that I have a complex relationship with the franchise. ^^; I have seen Symphogear at its best and its worst; I have loved it at times and I have hated it at times. I agree that it's a high-quality anime...unfortunately, I think a large part of the reason that I kinda fell off it is because its final few episodes were some of the most disappointing. I loved Season 5, but they really didn't have any creative ideas for the actual end of the series and by golly it showed. ^^;;; Left a bad taste in my mouth that remains to this day.

Because of that, if I ever do talk about it again-- maybe after that 'cinematic production' finally releases-- it's gonna be with a critical lens. Symphogear deserves its flowers for its consistently beautiful animation, A+ character design and action-packed story...but it also has a lot of problems that I've never seen anyone mention. Like its bad habit of "redeeming" villains with deathbed gestures...or its occasionally sloppy handling of trauma (*cough* tomato metaphor *cough*) that honestly got progressively sloppier over the course of the series. How do you start with Tsubasa's and Chris's incredible character arcs and end with Maria thanking her mother for abusing her...? o_O

Also, and this is a big one: there's a lot of fanservice, some of it honestly NSFW, and a some of it actively detrimental to the story. I don't mind bath scenes and pool scenes during the casual moments of the story, but I do mind gratuitous boob jiggles during the hyper-serious final boss fight. T_T Pick a tone, please. To Symphogear's credit, it handles its fanservice with a rare level of maturity-- now that I think about it, there's a lot of nudity in the series too, but they tend to do it so tastefully I never thought to point it out. But that means when it DOES start doing more immature stuff I can't really forgive it...like, come on; you're better than this.

^I say all of that because if any of you read this ask and want to check out the anime that changed my brain chemistry, you deserve to know beforehand. I really hate how when people talk about anime they only ever say "its good, it's really good!" without addressing anything that happens in it that might be uncomfortable or triggering (Symphogear is included there, just FYI: most of the abuse the characters have suffered is offscreen (like Chris being sex trafficked as a child) but it does get brought up, and you will see a bit of it occasionally). It's gotten to the point where I simply don't trust people when they recommend anime anymore; even if it's something as simple as having really excessive fanservice (for example: Mai-Hime. Great premise, fun characters, interesting story. Not watching it again, tho) I know they're not going to mention it. They never do.

As anime slowly becomes more mainstream, though, I'm hoping that culture is going to change. Action anime in particular routinely handles heavy, sensitive topics with graphic visuals, and not wanting to be surprised by that doesn't make you a 'tourist' or whatever they're calling people these days. Content warnings harm no one; they only help.

#anyway I welcome any future Symphogear asks #or any anime asks in general ^^#I don't watch much these days but I sure as hell used to #anything even remotely magical-girl related from the 2010s #I probably at least have an opinion on

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therealmsdelulu · 1 year ago

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hii can you do a jonah x blk!reader where they’re blaring rnb music and just dancing together in the living room? just a bunch of fluff and jonah just admiring the reader

hopefully that makes sense!

i love your writing!

Can’t Get Enough of You

Pairing: Jonah x Black!reader

Summary: Jonah and Reader dancing to RnB in the living room.

A/N: I recommend that you listen to Can't Get Enough by Tamia and looking up the line dance just so you can have some visuals if you aren’t familiar with it and also play They Don’t Know by Jon B. Ignore my use of ya’ll throughout this, I’m from the South I couldn’t help myself. If this doesn’t meet your request pls lmk and i'll be happy to write another one.

You were currently listening to your 90's and 00's RnB playlist dancing in the living room. Jonah was in the other room probably going over a script.

Suddenly "Can't Get Enough" by Tamia came on and you excitedly ran to the room Jonah was in and dragged him from his chair.

"Where are we going?" Jonah asked as you pulled his arm.

"Come dance with me," you said as you two entered the living room. You restarted the song, "Watch me carefully," you said as you began to line dance.

Jonah watched you carefully in admiration at how smooth your movements were. It was as if you were in your own little world and he couldn't help but admire how beautiful you looked in the dim light.

He looked at you as you spun around and started from the top. He suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be learning the choreography and attempted to mimic your movements.

"You got that?" you asked looking at him

“Definetely not” he admitted and you paused the music.

“Let me break it down for you,” you said. “Alright, right foot you’re gonna bounce on it a liltle bit and you’re gonna do that twice” you instructed and showed him exactly what you said and he mirrored your actions.

“Like that,” he asked looking at you hopefully.

“Yeah, you got it,” you assured him, “now the same movement but your left foot.” You watched as Jonah did just that. “Alright lets take it from the top,” you suggested.

You both repeated the steps in sync before moving on. “Okay now this is where it gets a little tricky,” you warned. “We’re going to travel to the left, four steps and you’re going to end with your right foot crossed over your left,” you explained before demonstrating.

Jonah attempted to replicate your movements but wasn’t quite getting it. “I dont understand,” he said looking at you puzzled. “How does your body move like that,” he asked genuinely amazed at how easy this came to you.

You giggled at his comment before showing him again. He eventually got it down and his movements were looking sharp. “I knew your middle name was Andre for a reason,” you joked and Jonah shook his head with laughter.

You taught him the remaining steps and once it looked like he had it all down you put the music on.

“Alright from the top,” you said.“5,6,7,8” you added in counts to help make it easier. “1,2” you said as the two of you began the dance. “3,4” you counted as the two of you bounced on your left feet.

“5,6,7,8” you recited as the two of you traveled to the left ending with your right feet crossed over your left. You finished the first round but now it was time to turn around and do it all again.

The song eventually went off and Jonah was amazed at how you were able to stay on beat the whole song. “I give you the stamp of approval,” you told him before kissing his cheek.

“Did I do good?” he asked you uncertain because he wasn’t able to see himself.

“You did amazing baby,” you assured him. “You’re definetly cookout ready."

MINI TIME SKIP

You and Jonah have been in the living room dancing for the past 30 minutes to New Edition, Brandy, and Aaliyah.

You heard the tune of a familiar song and grabbed Jonah’s hands in excitement. “This is our song,” you told him.

“We have a song?” he asked somewhat puzzled because this isn’t something that was established beforehand.

“We do now,” you said before wrapping your arms around his neck and he placed his on your waist. “Follow my lead,” you told him as you began to slow dance.

Heard about my past things I used to do The games I used to play The girls that didn't last I know what's on your mind

Jonah raised his eyebrows slightly at the lyrics wondering why you established this as yall's song.

You think I'm doing wrong Can I say what is real You are the only one When I'm not around

Jonah continued to dance with you still questioning the lyrics. “Why did you choose this to be our song in particular,” he asked curiously looking at you.

“Just keep listening,” you insisted before nuzzling your head into his neck and continued to slow dance.

Do you think of me or what the jealous ones Are claiming me to be You should know by now That it's gonna take A lot of trust from you For us to make it through

You and Jonah swayed side to side just living in the moment and enjoying being close to each other.

You should know baby you're my angel Nothing's gonna make you fall from heaven Girl I just want to love you love you

Jonah smiled at these lyrics. He tightened his grip around your waist and pulled you closer to him.

Don't listen to what people say They don't know about you and me Put it out your mind cause it's jealousy They don't know about this here Don't listen to what people say They don't know about you and me Put it out your mind 'cause it's jealousy They don't know about this here

Jonah could feel your smile against his neck causing him to smile as well. He rested his chin on top of your head as he continued to sway with you.

Girl lets talk about what your friends told you That I'm a selfish man Want my cake and eat it to Maybe in my past but you changed me now Now that I've learned to love It's you that showed me how Your love so real I'd be a fool to play Play around on you I want to stay with you You should know by now That it's gonna take A lot of trust from you For us to make it through

Jonah resonated in these lyrics as well. The two of you both benefited tremendously from your relationship. You learned new things from him and he learned new things from you.

You should know baby you're my angel Nothing's gonna make you fall from heaven Girl I just want to love you love you Don't listen to what people say They don't know about you and me Put it out your mind 'cause it's jealousy They don't know about this here Don't listen to what people say They don't know about you and me Put it out your mind 'cause it's jealousy They don't know about this here

You and Jonah announced your relationship to the public not too long ago and faced quite a bit of backlash from Jonah’s “fans.” You never let it get to you though because randoms on the internet were’nt worth a crumb of your time.

Don't listen to what people say They don't know about you and me Put it out your mind 'cause it's jealousy They don't know about this here

You and Jonah pulled away from each other slightly and he grabbed your hand and spun you around. Your back was now to his chest and he was resting his chin on your shoulder.

Don't listen to what people say They don't know about you and me Put it out your mind 'cause it's jealousy They don't know about this here

Jonahs hands were wrapped around your torso and your hands were resting over his.

You're my angel Don't listen to what people say They don't know about you and me (I don't wanna hurt you baby) Put it out your mind 'cause it's jealousy They don't know about this here Don't listen to what people say They don't know about you and me Put it out your mind 'cause it's jealousy They don't know about this here Don't listen to what people say They don't know about you and me Put it out your mind 'cause it's jealousy They don't know about this here Don't listen to what people say

The song came to an end and Jonah loosened his grip around your waist and you turned around to face him. “I love you, Jonah” you told him.

“I love you too Y/N,” he said before cupping your face and planting multiple kisses on your face.

#jonah hauer king x reader #jonah hauer king #jonah hauer king x y/n #jonah hauer king fanfiction

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marvelousmop · 1 year ago

Text

Ranking the Songs of Jack the Giant Killer (1962)

Jack the Giant Killer isn't a musical... or at least it shouldn't be. If you haven't heard of it (and I'd assume you haven't), it's one of those fantasy adventure movies with lots of stop-motion puppets like "Jason and the Argonauts" and "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad"... unfortunately, Columbia Pictures saw this similarity and weren't too pleased, threatening to sue the filmmakers.

Their solution to avoid getting sued? Make it a Musical!

No new footage was filmed and boy can you tell. If you saw the musical version without knowing the history, you could probably guess that some of these songs were added in post.

Fortunately, nowadays you can see the non-musical version quite easily (in fact it's up on some of those movie youtube channels and freebie streaming services - it's an alright adventure flick with really good set design and some interesting visuals), but I'm not interested in that. I wanted to see the musical. So I did, and now I just want to talk about the songs, from best to worst.

[Disclaimer: there is no official soundtrack, most of these song titles are just conjecture on my end.]

1) A Spectacle!

youtube

This song has been stuck in my head for days. It is a very ill-fitting ice capade-esque song underscoring an action scene where Jack fights a bunch of monsters... it's also a duet with the main villain (Pendragon) and his henchman, which only serves to make it more bizarre. If you had to listen to any song from this soundtrack, listen to this one, there's a reason it's the only song I could find on youtube without uploading the unlisted clip myself.

2) You Can Do It!

youtube

Picture this: you're near the end of the movie. You think Jack has won, but Pendragon has a trick up his sleeve... in a flash, he raises his red cape, and his form shifts into that of a mighty dragon! Swiftly, he descends upon Jack's ship, ready to take the fight into his own hands in a climactic final battle... and then this song plays. This goofy motivational song better suited for the middle of a musical than the final song.

It has also been stuck in my head for days.

One other confusing thing is that I'm not sure who's meant to be singing this song. Like, it's the same nasally male singing voice used by both Pendragon's henchman (though it can't be him since he has no reason to cheer Jack on) and the Leprechaun (though this song doesn't use the same rhyme scheme the Leprechaun uses, and all his words are accompanied by a jingle which is absent here, so it can't be him either). Maybe it's God?

3) Title Card Song & Coronation Song

These two songs play near the beginning of the movie, with the former also getting a reprise for the end credits. I'm lumping them both together because I couldn't remember what they sound like if you held a gun to my head, though, for the Coronation song, it's quite amusing that they have to hide most of the crowd because it would be very visible that they aren't singing.

4) Just Ask Me

youtube

Quite a boring love song with generic and slightly repetitive lyrics, but what makes this song stand out to me is the editing going on in this scene. You see, the lyrics are barely close to anything the characters are saying, so the editors have to pull out all the stops to make it fit the scene - footage is slowed down, sped up, looped (and it's all very visible thanks to the various background elements) and in the end the woman is still clearly saying something very different to the lyrics. It's honestly like a proto-youtube poop.

5) We Have Failed, Master

youtube

This is where we get into the real good stuff. A keen listener may pick up on the fact that, despite their attempt to make "We have failed, master, we have failed!" into a chorus and the slight rhytmic patter of the henchman's lines, this is very clearly just a normal dialogue scene that has been recklessly converted into a song. Granted, you see this stuff in operas all the time, but it's very bizarre to see in something that's trying to sound like a Rankin Bass musical.

6) To Us

youtube

If you thought the last one was bad, this one is barely trying to sound like a song. There's no clever editing, no rhythm, no chorus, not even a cheeky attempt to add more lyrics while a character is facing away from the camera, it's just a dialogue scene!

Thank you for sticking with me through my inane opinions, and I hope you enjoyed this tour through probably the most bizarrely constructed musical. Credit to this Twitter post for inadvertently informing me of this... masterpiece.

#jack the giant killer #musicals #review #musical theater #Mop's inane ramblings

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msmargaretmurry · 1 year ago

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I hated HIM soo much!! something about the way the authors wrote gay and bi people rubbed me the wrong way and I could never get over it. But I will say I loved heated rivalry (the game changers book) with my whole heart, even though the other books in the series were not for me. The main couple never reminded me of sid/ovi mainly because it’s impossible for me to visualize sidney crosby in any kind of sexual scenario :/

✨🌟💕💖HIM haters unite!!!💖💕🌟✨

scream, sorry to sidney crosby but this is so funny to me. i support you. you're so valid.

i told someone else that when i answered this ask that i'd elaborate a little on why HIM didn't work for me, but i'm going to put that stuff under a cut in case there are secret HIM fans on here who are getting really tired of me dragging a book they like, lmao.

ok so it has been a while since i read it so i might not remember all the details, but here were my biggest turn-offs for that book. some of these are things i would let slide if other parts of the book were better. like, i WILL let clunky writing slide if the story/characters are really good (but if the story/characters are also bad i just get more pissy about it the more i read). some of these though... eesh.

the writing. sorry, the writing was not very good!! if i am reading a book and i can't stop line-editing in my head as i go, the story is gonna have to do some really heavy lifting to win me over. the worst part for me was how there were a whole bunch of instances where i would read a sentence and go "hm, that's a weird word choice" because the word choices were just like... slightly off of what they were probably supposed to mean? like someone had pulled then from a thesaurus without actually understanding the nuance in meaning between the synonyms. it was really distracting.

the pacing/worldbuilding. this book constantly did the thing where it introduced a person, place, or concept the moment it became important instead of building those things into the story along the way so that when they became important it didn't feel like it was being made up on the spot. once again, really distracting!

the protagonists. the first few chapters made an attempt at developing distinct voices for the two protagonists but that was all out the window by like a quarter of the way through. they had minor personality differences but other than that were near-identical cringeworthy sports bro stereotypes.

the way every woman was treated in the story???? gross

the way bisexuality was treated in the story?????? GROSS

the HOCKEY. this book actually lulled me into a sense of false security because the first few chapters did a decent job with the frozen four, but after that? absolute nonsense. the main characters are college prospects the summer before they go pro and the book had NO grasp of how that process looks or works. like for example one of them is a goalie and his big existential crisis is "i don't know if going pro will be worth it if i'm not immediately the starting goalie for the nhl team i sign with." WELL BUDDY YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE. BECAUSE OF HOW DEVELOPMENT WORKS. WHICH YOU AS A HOCKEY PLAYER AT THIS LEVEL WOULD DEFINITELY KNOW ABOUT. HOPE THIS HELPS. just, no idea how the player-agent relationship works, no idea how the agent-team relationship works, no idea how the prospect-team relationship works.

the sex scenes read like the author(s) learned everything they knew about gay sex from reading mediocre fanfiction published in 2012

(!!!!!!!!!!SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!) the part at the end when whats his face comes out to his nhl team's pr guy and the pr guy is like "no problem buddy we actually already knew because we cyber-stalk all of our prospects! we actually drafted you because we'd been getting some heat for letting all our players of color go and thought a gay player would show we value diversity! so when you wanna come out publicly we already have the press release done!" and whats his face is like huh kinda weird but cool ok! ABSOLUTELY B O N K E R S. not that i wouldn't put it past an nhl team to be like that but oh my god don't act like it's cool and normal instead of total nightmare fuel??

okay. sorry. i'm done now. i buddy-read this book with a friend and she couldn't even finish it because she also hated it. i know a lot of people liked this book according to goodreads, and obviously people are allowed to like things that are not to my taste but lordy. what a bad time for me personally!!!

#ask #hockey for ts #i try not to be this much of a hater on main usually but we can blame the painkillers #also i don't think the title is actually supposed to be stylized in all caps as HIM but it's such a silly title i can't help myself

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mitziholder · 7 months ago

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I was catching the perfectionism vibes, it's shame if it hinders your progress. Your characters and style seem so cool so I wanted to probe. Comics really are a marathon to create. Losing steam is natural and maybe switching up your conception of your project can help. Not trying to pressure you in any way, just hoping to provide some food for thought.

How do you feel about comics as a medium? You mentioned you mostly "skim" comics for inspiration and love Wimmen's Comix but is it a medium you feel very connected to in general and for your story idea?

I've seen multiple webcomic artists unfortunately struggle with the labor needed for drawing panels and incorporating prose along with art and regular comic panels to maintain progress. If you are more into writing than drawing, maybe incorporating prose along with comics/art is an option you'd be interested in. Don't have the best examples but thinking of Homestuck's long script-format convos that follow panels. And for a comic that later incorporated prose, the webcomic Paranatural went from all comic panels to mixing prose and art. I'll be honest that I stopped reading Paranatural as a teen before the shift so I can't speak to its writing/art quality.

“skimming” was a little disingenuous. I have read a lot of comics, but very rarely have I felt that they fully utilized the affordances of the medium. the reasons for this vary; comics are plagued by many issues deriving from the fact that they were, at one point, both extremely popular and cheap (low-brow) - kneecapped by the CCA and warped into something stupid and trivial for children. even today, that perception remains. I would say the majority of people aren’t capable of recognizing comics as a mature medium. lots of comic writers have a chip on their shoulder about this… particularly Alan Moore.

I bring him up because Watchmen was one of the first pieces of media that really opened my eyes as to what comics were capable of as a graphic medium; people regularly recognize the visual artistry of film, the (often) invisible work done in blocking, cinematography, effects, and editing that makes movies feel like art. comics should be art. every frame should be a painting. panels should fit together into a larger picture composed with thought and care. Dan Gibbons did so - with regard not only for how panels fit next to each other but also for how they fit within the page and the page within the chapter and so on… rich with detail, of equal weight to the dialogue in conveying narrative and thematic meaning. it amazed me because of how little the art actually matters in so many comics, only there by obligation (because without art it would no longer be a comic). why is this? I don’t know. profit? but you see it in indie comics, too. that part confuses me. why would you make something if you don’t want it to be good? what’s the point?

anyway, I found that the story I wanted to tell would not fit within the bounds of a stage play. it has continually resisted (with some notoriety on this blog) my attempts to fit it into prose. the dialogue is what moves it, and with my sort of shaky aptitude for art and love of the medium’s potential, I felt that making it a comic was the natural choice. I don’t particularly enjoy the process of drawing, but without art I felt something was missing - a void that couldn’t be filled by anything else. I never wanted it to give the impression that the art was done by rote, incidental/inconsequential, a pure and thoughtless representation of the dialogue… but that is sort of what it has to be at this point. I wish that integrating the visual half came more naturally to me, but I’ve accepted that it’s a skill I’m going to have to hone with much practice. it’s something I’ve struggled with quite a bit as someone who is borderline aphantasic. very little of the art that I make comes directly from my brain. it is not intuitive to me at all. I am so reliant on references, have no imagination, am very rarely struck with the idea for a bit of visual humor or detail that adds meaning rather than merely visualizing the existing script - the words. I am obsessed with words, clearly. meaning and rhythm and punctuation. I’m a word person. I want to be an art person. I want so baaaadly for my work to be good. I try so hard.

I’m often tempted to throw in the towel and admit that my brain doesn’t work that way - that I’m aiming too high, stubbornly set on something I can never really have - not to an extent that I’m satisfied with. but if I gave in to that feeling, I would never finish anything. I feel like once I am done with my classes and my living situation is more stable, I’ll be sort of okay - or at least more consistent - when it comes to the art stuff... worst-case scenario, I cave and go the homestuck route (which is not something I thought I’d ever say). I don’t know. we’ll have to see. once this semester is over...😮‍💨

#ask #by the way thank you for the extremely thoughtful ask :)

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annabtg · 2 years ago

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Hello xx

I know you've had to take a step back from writing while you're recovering. I'm curious as to what you're doing when the ideas -inevitably- come to you?

Are you jotting down fic ideas and dialogue that you'll try and come back to?

Are you ignoring the ideas because it's frustrating not being able to write them?

Any ideas you've had that you'd like to share?

Girl!! ❤️❤️ I missed this ask, sorry! I haven't been following Tumblr so closely these days.

The truth is, not many ideas have been coming to me. I wasn't at my most inspired to begin with around the time I got the surgery, and being unable to read and write extensively is putting a huge strain on my creativity.

I've never been a huge ideas person. My inspiration is usually either prompted (by art, challenge prompts, stuff I read) or it starts with me sitting down and deciding to play with words. Prompts are scarce now that I don't interact with fandom so much, and if I can't see, I can't play with words. Which is why I haven't used dictating, as some people have suggested to me. I can't go back and add or edit something, I can't see what my paragraph looks like. I understand and interact with texts visually; I'm not particularly a podcast person either.

I occasionally think about my WIPs, but more in an attempt to keep them fresh in my head and not forget what I have. It's not enough to generate progress, and it would be so frustrating if I had ideas anyway that I prefer not to think about them too hard. The only genuinely new idea that I'd have given a shot at if I felt comfortable writing is the smutty Do It Right companion piece. Of course, now that a few days have passed, I feel genuine cringe thinking about it 😅 I think smut is the kind of stuff that you have to write when you're in the mood, otherwise the cringe prevails!

Since yesterday I've also been working the next chapter of taller than the trees in my head, but that doesn't frustrate me because I'm going to write this one, if at my own time! It's taken precedence over everything else.

Thank you for the ask and for thinking of me! ❤️

#thank you athena!#lovely athena #lovely asks #answered ask

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queer-cosette · 1 year ago

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15 Question Tag Game | OC Edition

Thanks for the open tag @just-french-me-up to answer these questions about my OC! I love talking about my beloved Carlotta Suero - she features in various Miraculous Ladybug fics, with focus on her in The world is still sleeping, while I keep on dreaming and these are times that can't be weathered (and we have never been back there since then), and it's been too long since I talked about her <333

Rules: answer the questions below as yourself and/or your OC. (I'd also add that you make your own post).

1. Are they named after anyone?

Yes! Her first name is after Carlotta Brown from Enid Blyton's Twins at St Clare's series. Carlotta Brown is, like my Carlotta, Spanish by birth and a bit on the wild side with a desire for adventure and refusal to bow down to a perceived authority determined to make her conform. Very fitting for my girl.

Suero is a Spanish surname that I chose because it was likely my dad's family's surname a few hundred years or so ago. We don't know at what point we left Spain for Ireland, but Suero is a common surname in the area we were most likely from. Lil shoutout <3

Her middle name, Estrella, is slightly after my friend Stella, who is possibly the coolest person I've ever interacted with in my entire life.

2. When was the last time they cried?

these are times that can't be weathered (and we have never been back there since then) actually addresses this! Carlotta made a (implied to be unhealthy) choice at four years old that crying is pointless after witnessing a beached whale die in New Zealand. Her mother, in an attempt to lessen her heartbreak, tells her that "We shouldn't cry at something so beyond our control!" and she internalises it very heavily until her mid/late teens when she discovers the horrific truth about Gabriel Agreste's favourite pastime, and slowly breaks down in tears thinking about how it's going to fucking wreck her friend Adrien (Gabriel's son) when he finds out.

3. Do they have kids?

No, largely because Carlotta has a lot of me in her, and I don't want kids. I also unintentionally designed her superhero alterego as having the colour scheme of the asexual pride flag, so make of that what you will.

4. Do they use sarcasm?

Yes, but mostly with her younger siblings. She tries not to with Adrien because he's (in my canon) autistic and also very sheltered, so he doesn't always get it and she hates being bitchy to him even by accident because it feels like kicking a small animal. She's more a deadpan snarker than anything else, sarcasm-wise. Marinette is very much the same way, so they'll watch bad movies together and snark their way through it as a bonding exercise.

5. What’s the first thing they notice about people

Voice undertones. Carlotta is visually impaired - she has occipital lobe damage from a skateboarding accident at age 13 and has hemianopsia as a result - so sound has become even more important to her than it already was. And it was important to begin with - as a diver, she spends a lot of time underwater, and sound travels faster and further underwater than light does. Since her accident, she's learned how to pick up on tonal significance very very accurately. She can hazard a scarily accurate guess within five minutes as to where someone is from and what they think of the person introducing her to them.

6. What’s their eye colour?

Dark brown with slight violet undertones, turning fully bright violet with her Whale Miraculous transformation.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

Both, in a way; Carlotta adores high-stakes adventure movies with happy endings. A few jumpscares go down a treat, so long as everyone's found peace by the end.

8. Any special talents?

Besides learned skills (scuba diving, playing violin, skateboarding etc.) Carlotta is weirdly good at convincing people she's way more of a goofball than she actually is. All her childish antics do a good job of concealing how genuinely intelligent and sharp-minded she really is.

9. Where were they born?

Maternity ward in Asturias, Spain, in the Spring of 2000.

10. What are their hobbies?

Scuba diving, playing violin, and skateboarding!

11. Do they have any pets?

Her mother has a service dog, a golden labrador named Honey, after she had a workplace accident that left her with multiple severe burns from the waist down; Carlotta herself doesn't really consider Honey to be *hers* though. She did have a magical underwater encounter with a juvenile sperm whale off the Azores who she named Herman, but Herman is, of course, a wild animal, and more a friend than a pet.

12. What sports do they play/have they played?

Carlotta is very into swimming and diving! She's a very powerful long-distance swimmer, and has competed in diving competitions. She prefers outdoorsey activities to actual sports, though - things like skateboarding and tree-climbing.

13. How tall are they?

Five foot eleven inches (same height as me!). I wanted more tall girl characters, so I made one.

14. Favourite subject in school?

Biology. She wants to be a cetologist, and has thus far managed to find a way to turn the topic of every essay back towards oceanic megafauna.

15. Dream job?

Part time cetologist (she wants to be the first scientist to film the birth of a blue whale) and part time superhero. Maybe both at the same time!

Tagging @hanaasbananas @theladyfae @private-bryan @multimousenette and anyone else who would like to talk about their OC!

#love is stored in the tag game #carlotta estrella suero #carlotta estrella suero-dupain #carlotta suero #carlotta suero-dupain #coco writes

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