#will be extremely nitpicky with what you wear

[kerosene-saint]

"You can have sensory issues and still dress however you want!" yes true, some people with sensory issues may not have difficulties with certain fabrics as much as other sensory input which leads to being able to wear most anything they want. but not all people with sensory issue can just wear anything, I have a specific kind of fabric for pants and it has to also be a certain percent since most of the time it comes in mixes and if it isn'tthat or sweat pants i want to cry. I can't wear leggings, I can't wear jeans or just denim in general, I can't wear things that are too stiff or I'll feel like I'm trapped, I can't wear shirts that are too tight cause I'll feel trapped, I can't wear long sleeve shirts because they're often too tight, I can't wear low socks they have to be mid calf or higher, silk feel slimy, and most fabrics are too itchy. but yes uh huh i can still wear anything and this totally does not heavily restrict what I can wear (or at least what I can wear for very long). I can definitely dress in the emo style for a long time and be wear tight skinny jeans and tight shirts and too many belts.

[alyjojo]

Current Karmic Connection ❤️‍🩹 March 2024 - Pisces

Character Card: The Dancer

Who are they: 3 Wands

Your relationship with them: Page of Cups

What you’re learning from them: The Fool

What they’re learning from you: Queen of Pentacles

Future potential: 6 Pentacles

Overall Energy: King of Cups rev

Well, you have a beautiful energy, even though this has probably been very painful to experience. This is probably an ex with 7th House and there’s a focus on the past with Cancer here. This person broke your heart, either because of the separation necessary, someone may have cheated, or King of Cups rev can be someone extremely emotional (you or them), or extremely manipulative. The Dancer and The Fool here shows that having had this experience caused you to shed your skin, and all of the people pleasing energy along with it, you’re not hiding yourself anymore. 4 Cups at the bottom, clarifying the King, this is someone you endlessly tried to please, who could never be pleased. Read it again 💯 There’s nothing you could have done differently. They’re unhappy, with or without you, that’s their personality. This may have been someone that was critical of all your ways of being *your fucking self*. Nitpicky, criticizing, why do you wear that, this sucks, that sucks, why do you like xyz, laaame, *condescending remark*, like shut the fuck up honestly. Right? Or The Dancer wouldn’t be here. The Fool wouldn’t be here. You had to let this go and completely start over - away from this person, in order to grow into yourself, allowing in people who actually get you. You may have stopped doing things you love in order to try and please this person, whether conscious or not, they were manipulating you into feeling not good enough, and they had to go. Some of you are in the process of doing that right now.

They seem to be waiting around on you, expecting you to apologize to them, *expecting* you to make things right with them. That hasn’t happened, obviously, you haven’t said a word to this person. Or perhaps what they expected in the past is not how things went, this could be past energy for some. They take no accountability, but would probably say the same about you, 8 Swords at the bottom is not speaking but it’s also self sabotage, victim mentality, and this person has an arrogant air about them. Like you owe them something. Your energy though 🥺 The relationship between you now, Page of Cups & Queen of Cups. Most of you love yourself, you’re filling your own cups, expressing the things you love in whatever way you want to do that, being your amazing selves and fk this person. Bottom of the deck shows you now mirroring that same 4 Cups energy. They didn’t care? Neither do you 💯 Not anymore. Opportunities were missed, apologies didn’t come, and you aren’t even bothered because you’re doing what you love and feeling more *yourself* than ever before 💙

There are some of you where an apology is coming, or has, they may try to make it right. This is the group where Gift applies, Justice shows they’re trying to make up for shitty behavior in the past. If you’re still in contact, you could share children/a child. If no apology comes, you could simply forgive them and move on with your life, because you want to or have to, you’re confident in who you are now. What you’re learning from them is also amazing, your reading is my favorite and I’ve only done two. The Fool shows you being excited for a new journey, you can see limitless potential in multiple avenues, and the world is your oyster. 6 Wands on the bottom, you know you can win at anything you apply yourself to, you have faith that things are going to work out for you now, because you’re on your spiritual path and you know nothing that truly aligns with you is going to deny you. I’m feeling like you haven’t lost yet, anything you’ve touched since this separation is like God allowing you to turn things into gold, you’re not sitting around sad. You’re taking a chance and living your best life! Or will. Probably experimenting in multiple areas as well, trying all of the things you’ve never even tried, you’re up for anything.

They’re learning you don’t actually need them, you’ve got this, which hits hard because they’re stuck, they thought you were stuck too. Queen of Pentacles manages 10 Pentacles, she’s got this 💯 Whether it’s kids, domestic concerns, a career, talking on the phone and making lunches at the same time, this Queen handles everything and makes it look easy. You may have started a business, or are very career focused right now. They may pay close attention to how you handle money, because you’re pretty thrifty and still comfortable, there’s a hint of jealousy with this person. Like how dare you be happy without them, just moving on and not talking to them anymore. If they ran out and got another person, they could know that pissed you off and you refuse to speak to them anymore, you gave up. That could be switched too. You’re also showing them about their shitty attitude & negative perceptions or judgements of things, and how that sabotages them & their relationships, probably more than just yours. Because here you are, doing your thing, all of the things they secretly grudge against and judge like some miserable betch, and you’re happy ☀️ Can’t be too bad right? It burrrnnnsss them, and idk if they’ll admit it out loud, but they’re having to look at themselves and all of their stupid little judgements because of how brightly you’re shining.

Long term potential being a gift, you have a gift in the oracles too, for someone it’s literal. Some tangible sort of “apology” or offer, they want to make the relationship stable and happy, though time will inevitably pass between you with Wheel of Fortune. Things change, you’ve changed. Is it manipulation or not - that’s why you hesitate. Could be. For some this has already happened, and for others it will later on. 6 Pentacles is equal give and take, whether money, effort, love, friendship, support, whatever. If they want it, they need to give it, and it’s possible if fixing this is what you want - assuming time has passed. If not, it will be necessary to move on and go with the flow of your own life. If it’s meant to be it will be, that’s literally the message they’re giving. Some will and some won’t, it’s not your problem and there’s nothing you can do. Some, probably most of you will learn your lessons and ultimately be better people for your next relationships. Or for each other, in the case you try to reunite. More stable, happier, and more secure in yourselves and how you relate to others. This relationship/issue had a purpose, even if it was painful to experience/lose 💙 If nothing else, anyone else that tries you with this energy will immediately be sent packing & that’s a good thing, it’s not for you.

Zodiac Messages:

Jupiter - Cancer - 7th House

- The granting of intuition to protect balance.

- Blessings from attitudes from the past about cooperation.

- Good fortune resulting from the history of your partner/s.

Oracles:

Hesitation 🤨

Decision - Confusion - Worry

Gift 🎁

Souvenir - Promotion - Delight

Charms:

Cancer ♋️ on King of Cups rev could literally be a Cancer for someone. They or you could have romantic or imaginative ideals or have opened the floodgates for these sorts of thoughts, daydreams, and possibilities to come into your world. Like if both of you lived in a box, you both unlocked each other’s deepest hopes, dreams, and imagination. Without the hurt, or grudges held on either side, both of you were inspired by each other, and what you want.

Guitar 🎸 and Pink Treble Clef 🎼 on The Fool is clearly music and taking a chance in a new direction. Somehow this is music related, could be concerts, could be part of a business you’re starting (or they are), someone here may be a musician and the other person inspired their deepest heartbreak tracks. Anything hobby related if not music, but for someone it’s definitely music. Trying new things.

Angel 👼 on Wheel of Fortune and Jupiter, Spirit had me move the Jupiter card even. You’re co-ruled by Jupiter, and as such are divinely protected by Spirit and your angels/ancestors. Jupiter brings blessings, “gifts”, good fortune and luck, this is showing you have nothing to worry about. If you feel like you’ve lost something, it’s coming back tenfold, any lessons will eventually bring blessings and that seems to be what’s coming, nothing but the good stuff after this is conquered 👍

Signs you may be dealing with:

Aries, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn & Pisces

[the-firebird69]

Plenty of beach girls and all this kind of sitting there relaxing snacking looking at stuff very casual I'll see anybody panicking I'm not looking around and the boats coming in and out as if it's perfectly normal and people are fishing and minorities

Zues Hera

Really saw them rocking and rolling last night now they're seeing around hanging out together so I guess they're tired. So you sort of get something so weird crowd okay very strange people but they're also extremely annoying it's just sit there on your son but everything down to like the millisecond and it's so damned annoying you would not believe it how awful nitpicky it is so go ahead and we're going to start countermeasures for the nitpicky crabby s*** I'm going to take care of business

Thor Freya

It's extremely upsetting but tomorrow they're going to regret it we did tons of exploratory work on the site and outside of the construction arena and see what you people are up to and we find out what you're up to so your whole world is going to come apart as is the world of Tommy f simultaneously you're ridiculous people you're looking around for a friend talking to people as if you know them and we said that for a while

So kind of classification of mistreatment that you don't understand you do take action on it and you do hear about it and you don't believe it's going to happen it's because you're fragrantly ignorant and you don't understand basic psychology talk to Karen was trying to explain it years ago and he gave up on it and he's not trump. Feeling I was just sitting there pissed off I said one day he's going to explode and we can have a tough time and those days are here and nobody can tell what it is having assumes we're still just doing crappy work half-assing and Sunday will get there so that's what his summary was and he said I'll probably check out sooner or later it's done if you want to hear the truth probably sooner than later and what he says is I'm respected enemy yes that goes somewhere. No I hate you people at first I hate you a lot more action today just wondering around saying you're going to wear them down and see all those dumb s*** and sitting there I'm bother you telling you what you're doing wrong and I'm saying what we're going to do to compensate you think it's nothing because you're stupid I know you're stupid your mouth is opening up what's going on tell you something to move your Bullock your days are numbered your people are under attack in little areas and the top of them are because of the islands after that they attack the islands then you go to the big Islands and that's it that's their last bastion and you're going to be forced out of here by 4:00 okay they're all talking about it and you say nothing's going on vintage technique and you're not inciting or exciting them but you don't have leadership that knows what they're doing and we don't want to tell you what to do because at this point we're sick of you too

Hera

When she's referencing is the everyday treatment and the idiotic running around that you more like you're doing and you're pissing her off on purpose and you're pissing me off purpose and you don't care and you're in circling me and harassing me with hundreds and hundreds of people who each insult me four or five times each every 5 minutes it's ridiculous none of you would withstand it and most of you break in a few minutes come back it's 20 different people Trump doesn't shot two or three times a day. And really I'm tired of chastising you and scolding you and trying to educate you I want you to leave me alone take your lumps you deserve and go find something else to do and if not you're going to pay and really you really I'm become useless because of this reason alone but you're making a lot of stupid mistakes all day long the comments are very fast extremely innate and Christ's name no group can never have a parallel not even with trumpsters at all I mean some of you are often your own and he's thinking of a win all the stuff massive delusion

Zues

Size attracting fans to try and get them to move and the same stuff I think it's assholes and I guess he's checking what he's doing that's fine huge number of people that bother our son and daughter today they do it every day and I think they're getting stuff make a list you know if you can get something make a list yourself this is what we got it's terrible and some of them try and help him and some of them are talking to about business and as a friend and then like it's a bunch of stupid jerks screwing around with them I guess you're going after each other that's understandable but I really don't have time money or leeway you don't have any room for it and we don't have to explain it it's on the FSU chips blow I guess maybe you don't have Intel and nobody's seen him and nobody seen these ships lunch that would explain it good news for you he's planning on launching a bunch of them this week and all the way up to probably about 8,000 miles and those ships there's a huge a****** sitting here like a retard these guys are rebounding and you know it's really kind of a weird War I guess there's a soft squishy Target so our father and mother say take some territory and get to work if you're projects are not enough there's too many of them that's a job so we're going to start doing that it's good too cuz otherwise we go off and do all sorts of stuff but really we need to shut them down and see why they're constantly humoring so horrible horrible noise we're also going to take over all these businesses tomorrow huge huge signing tomorrow it's the final signing for many businesses approximately 60 to 70% of the world's businesses tomorrow it's only going to increase so you have a good time then we're going to start around 2:00 and absorb everything else. We did take over victory motorcycle and we are starting to sell them again and we sell them to the dealers they won't have them just delivered unless they're us and they're going to pretend to us and the loser dealerships we can't stand them huge numbers of people trying it now and to see how we act and so forth. It's a gigantic attempted sham if it fails every time. And we have tons of them and we also have a lot of other types of bikes Chinese bikes I'm putting a slightly different frame out in motor but all the other parts are Chinese parts and huge numbers so those bikes are being sold and they're not so not the ones our son is looking at and the lower the price on those super cheap ones and they said they are 17 horsepower and they're not if the ones looking at and that's about 14 because that's off the tire a 17 is off the motor it's an old trick that's pretty good it goes pretty fast three times as powerful as the John Deere it's going to start going pretty soon

Thor Freya

[monsters-sinners-angels]

Can't fit in tags.

S1A. Oh kiddos, they don't seem to have settled into what the show is yet. I love the poses truly I just love them they're wonderful. I like the car in the background as like those are the three characters type deal. S1B I love Sam in this one my boy is giving kin-list vibes. Dean is looking fantastic, outfits are perfect. Route 666 in the background, delightful, incredible

S2. dorks, my goodness, the awkwardness in this photo. Dean's bowlegedness Sam standing like he's trying to impress you and angsty way. I love the background is good, this is one of my favorite backgrounds. I like the outfits.

S3A. I love the design layout idea, the angle of backseat looking at them in the front seat I'm looking back at the camera with the rear view mirror cracked and both of them holding different weapons, wonderful I wish they had done that again. but Sam looks so bad it's distracting. Why did they do that with his hair he looks way older than Dean in this photo from my perspective, Dean looks great though love the one hand on a gun one hand on the steering wheel. S3B I actually love this one. Sam looking into cam calmly sad. Dean looking off all suspicious and worried looking. Both a beautiful love Sam's hair the background is fitting I like the simplicity of this one.

S4A. The birds look cool. Sam's hair is perfect. Dean's pouty lips to the extreme is adorable. I like how they do the distance from the camera in this one. S4B. Almost. I see what they're going for, but WTF is wrong with Sam this photo truly is that even jared? It looks he just looks so weird everything about him, hishand is way too big I get the perspective they're trying to push but it just looks bad. I love the showing of his powers though that's really cool that they did that, making this one definitely high on my list. I love the gravestones above the title.

S5. I LOVE this one. The separation of them. The body poses look great in a perfect for their characters. Sam looking I don't know surprised a little freaked out but in a calm way Dean looking angry. The line! The line of blood separating them, is genius and looks really good and it goes into the N of supernatural. This one's a killer for sure I definitely get why it's in the lead, one of there bests.

S6. This is the one that shows up on Netflix for me a lot, and honestly I'm not a huge fan just as far as the simple appearance of it goes. When you get into analyzing it then it becomes amazing! you know the Halo of light around Dean the snake gripping Sam's arm and going up to his face and wearing red for Sam definitely is very intriguing and like I said when I think about the actual symbolism of that it's really really cool but without understanding the exact situation that they're in, the snake looks f****** weird and just doesn't fit into the vibe of the show. Also and this is nitpicky but they're both wearing f****** t-shirts with v-necks and pockets on the breast like that's not what they wear and it just looks very out of place. I adore the halo around Dean though that's a really cool thing that they did. So this one's complicated for me.

S7. This one's a little boring. The background is really gorgeous those clouds look incredible I think the pose that they're in is very stiff, and Dean's necklace being visible is cool again Sam wearing a v-neck t-shirt is just a little odd to me. I love the expressions that they have though those are really good and it's adorable that Dean's sleeves go a little past his hands.

Review the following promo posters from the early seasons (1-7)...

 ⬇️ Season One (A)   |  Season One (B) ⬇️

 ⬇️ Season Two    |  Season Three (A) ⬇️

⬇️ Season Three (B)   |  Season Four (A) ⬇️

 ⬇️ Season Four (B)   |   Season Five ⬇️

   ⬇️ Season Six  |   Season Seven ⬇️

Tell us what made you decide in the tags!

[therobotmonster]

Do you think that if megacorps try to replace dedicated concept artists with only AI Art, they're gonna run into the difficulties of promptcraft very quickly and extremely hard?

There's a lot of scenarios around concept artists and how this is going to impact them. But to a large degree, yes. They're going to find out that while the AI is great at options, it's terrible at specificity and consistency.

Making a handful of cool starships with Midjourney can take a few hours of promptcraft and selection. Making any one of those spaceships again, in a different scene, or from a different angle, is essentially impossible as the tech stands. A real concept artist is going to be needed to translate those AI-brainstormed ideas into something usable in a larger work, or even just to make the kinds of nitpicky tweaks producers and directors like to make.

I've faced this challenge in some projects I've been brewing in the background, (mocked up magazine articles with screenshots from surreal nonexistent shows, stuff like that), hard to make anything seem real if everything shifts moment to moment.

And, not to put too fine a point on it. Suits have a hard enough time expressing what they want to actual artists with whom they share a common species and language. Most will get frustrated and realize they're going to have to subcontract their AI-gens.

So as the tech stands right now, its that first moment of brainstorming that it really helps with. You can generate reams of rough concepts quickly, including less "safe" choices that might have been too risky to devote a full concept painting to traditionally. Once the work is settled on, it's off to the traditional artists to refine and recreate it.

This probably does mean that Disney and Warner and the rest will have some very overworked AI pre-vis teams (a problem to which unions are the answer). But it also means that the concept artists for smaller teams and companies can now produce an initial swathe of concepts to choose from.

And that's just the problems with reproducability. The problem of specificity is very much also there. The "Licorice Werewolf" problem.

I know what a licorice werewolf in peppermint pants looks like in my head. It's a cartoony werewolf made of black licorice twists and nibs wearing a pair of tattered trousers that are made of red-white stripe peppermint. It's one of my test concepts for new text-to-image AIso, because while they all come up with something unexpected, they never come up with what is, to me, the obvious execution of that concept.

The promptcraft to get even close feels more like a magic spell than a sentence, and it still can't replicate that idea. If I want the perfect Licorice Werewolf I'm gonna have to draw and/or sculpt him myself. No matter how advanced the systems get, it will take artistic vision to make art with them.

[whatever-the-mess]

Mainstream Femdom Imagery - Part 1

It's everywhere! Billboards, magazine ads, music videos... it might often be overlooked but it's surprising how much femdom imagery is used in certain industries. While it does seem to feature most prominently in products or media that's specifically targeting women (fashion shoots, perfume ads, etc) it can also appear in anything that might - *gasp* - have a female creator running things.

Today i'm going to be looking at one area that I know the most about, and that is

Music!

Depending on your age your mind might immediately go to one or two artists in particular if you're thinking about kink in mainstream music. For me, that person was

Madonna

The video to Human Nature in particular really stood out back in the 90s. There really hadn't been anything like it in the mainstream before and I think it was the first time that I really saw someone being so open about their sexuality and kinks in that way. Even in live performances Madonna has always pushed things a little bit (the Britney and Christina kiss was a bit cynical maybe) but it's still very easy to find images of her wielding a whip, looking menacing in an eyepatch, or dragging a dancer around by a leash.

Even the Spice Girls were at it in their live shows. The image of the four of them (post Geri leaving) with dancers crawling around on leashes definitely made a lot of sub-minded teenagers happy.

Live shows in particular really do seem happy to embrace all sorts of fetish imagery, not just those that are femdom themed. You'll always see the latest pop stars dressed in PVC or latex bondage inspired outfits, with straps and buckles everywhere. That might say more about how women are sexualised in the industry but it's interesting to see those who take it a little bit further when they have more control over how things are run.

And there are so, so, so many examples in hip hop! Rihanna literally having a track called S&M obviously featured a few whips and leashes with a few guys to play with, and she's always wearing something that wouldn't look amiss in a fetish mag. Not to mention Megan Thee Stallion or Nicki Minaj, although to be nitpicky they're wearing fetish inspired outfits rather than featuring outright femdom themes. But hey, they get to promote their sexuality in a way that they're happy with and I think proves we've moved on at least some way since the outrage that Madonna caused all those years ago.

Reactions

It does seem strange that there are numerous examples of men being dominated in some way in music videos and live shows despite how frowned upon it still seems amongst friends and family. Maybe it's easier for people to digest if they think it's just for entertainment purposes, and not a lifestyle choice? Seen as a cheap thrill that can be an excuse to check out a cute guy, or just to laugh at.

One recent event that still caused a LOT of outrage was Sophia Urista peeing all over a fan live on stage during a Brass Against live show.

That does go quite a bit further than having a dancer semi-naked on a leash, but it's interesting that it got as much attention and press that it did. This is an entirely different rabbit hole to go down though. Maybe it was wrong to do something so extreme for an audience that wasn't expecting it - but it's interesting to think about what is and isn't acceptable. They were both consenting adults, and yet she really seemed to be villainised even by her fellow band members.

There were so many more examples from music videos that I was going to upload, but unfortunately I couldn't fit them all into one post. However there are quite a lot of naked men dancing around in the background of certain music videos if you know where to look.

[nsfwshiggy]

tempo

_______________________________________________

paring: dabi x hawks x fem!reader

warnings: 18+, threesome, double penetration, absolutely railed into dumbification, giving/receiving head, anal, deepthroat/facefucking, unprotected vaginal sex, cumming inside

word count: 2.1k

author's note: i don't know what happened or how this happened.. hope you enjoy lol

*side note after finishing, i don't know if i like the way this one turned out?

_______________________________________________

usually you were very nitpicky with who you slept with but today you just didn't care about anything. the week barely just started and you were already counting down the days until you were freed by the weekend.

you didn't want to have sex with anyone you knew because there was no real thrill in doing that. you just didn't care about today let alone care about tomorrow's consequences. you had already put dating apps on your phone but never actually used them - they made you nervous.

you set up your account only adding two pictures, your face and one of lingerie you had just bought for the occasion. you had never planned on doing this again so why not make it special. you added a short and sweet bio:

looking for a simple one night stand. no feelings and no repercussions.

you left the app alone for a few hours because if this was actually going to happen you needed to get ready. you cleaned up your hotel room, you most definitely weren't giving out your real apartment address to some random person online so you got a hotel room, and put on fresh sheets right out of the package. you also took an extremely long shower, shaving this area and that area as well. you didn't care to put on makeup or do your hair either so you just didn't.

---

four hours had passed since you made your account and you were honestly excited to see what kind of people would be interested in doing something like this. of course there was people you considered creepy and you just simply passed from those. you scrolled and scrolled until one piqued your interest.

dabi. he was extremely attractive with a nice body full of tattoos. if you were to pass him on the street you would definitely ask for his number but since this was strictly a one night stand you decided to keep it just as is. you were already feeling quite cocky about this whole thing so you messaged him -

if you actually look like your pictures you should definitely come over

you two continued the conversation back and forth for about thirty minutes before you actually gave him the hotel address and room number. you were finally starting to get nervous because he said that he would bring a surprise but wouldn't elaborate anymore than that.

you needed something to calm yourself down so you decided to have a glass of wine but not too much because you still wanted to remember everything tomorrow. you were looking out the hotel window at the amazing view you had just for one night before you heard a knock on the door.

you slowly walked to the door and looked through the peephole, it was in fact that same guy you saw in the pictures which helped calm you down more. nothing looked suspicious so you opened the door smiling at him, "hi i'm glad you came" you say letting him in.

it was weird because he didn't have anything in this hands that could possibly be your surprise so you thought maybe he had just forgot. you had a robe on covering the lingerie that you had put as one of your pictures but before you could let the robe drop to the floor there was another knock on the door.

you looked at the man standing before you confused but all he was doing was smirking. you walk back over to the door and looked through the peephole once again but you saw nothing. you look back at dabi and told him no one was there. you opened the door to look around and when you turned your head to the left there he was.

leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette right under the no smoking sign. "i wasn't sure if i had the right room.." he tells you blowing out smoke "but now that i have seen you, i think i got it right."

"surprise!" you hear from dabi behind you. this was your surprise? you were so beyond confused. "what are you talking about?" you ask him while the unnamed man let himself into your hotel room without permission.

"you said before that this was going to be a one time thing so why not make it memorable?" he says to you laughing before walking over to you pulling you into a kiss. you didn't even try to push away, you just kissed him back. "you aren't even going to introduce us?" you hear the man behind you ask.

"oh shit sorry. this is hawks. he is a friend of mine and we are both here to fuck you" he says while dragging a finger down your body until he reached the place that was keeping your robe from opening. he gave no care to it and quickly pulled on it so that it would come open giving him a good look at your body.

the man behind you, hawks, pulled the robe off the rest of the way letting it fall to the floor. you could feel his hands touching your waist and then his lips on the back of your neck. "i mean why not?" you tell them because like you said before you didn't care what happened tonight.

you walked away from both of the men and got on the bed and used your finger to call them over to you. they both walked over to you and in the process they took off what they were wearing only leaving their boxers on. you could see the outline of both of their dicks which made your mouth water.

forgetting about how nervous you were before it was all excitement now. dabi walks over to you without getting on the bed and pulls down his boxers letting his erection slap against his stomach. you lean over to get in front of him and slowly lick up his shaft while looking up at him. hawks was now behind you on the bed rubbing your ass and sliding a finger down your clothed slit making you moan in the process.

hawks pulled down your panties letting them fall to your knees while beginning to lick your wet heat and inserting a single finger into the hole you weren't expecting him to. this caught you off guard while you already had your mouth around dabi so it made you gasp around him sending vibrations up his body.

"do that again hawks" he said while grabbing a fist full of your hair pushing your head down further around him almost reaching the base. hawks did what he was told like dabi was the one in charge and pushed his finger into your hole again but this time he pushed it in further. it was a sensation you had never felt before and you didn't know if you liked it or not because right now it hurt and the only thing you were feeling was a burning sensation.

dabi liked the feeling of being down your throat, he liked seeing the tears forming in your eyes while you looked up at him while he thrusted his hips making his cock go deeper and deeper each time. hawks spit on his fingers so this time when he inserted the second finger it would go in easier, "i have to get you ready for me" he says while kissing your ass. he knew it didn't feel good but it would eventually.

every time dabi would trust into your mouth it would push you back on to hawks' fingers making them go deeper touching the spongey place deep inside you. because he had been doing it for a little while now it was starting to feel good making you moan around dabi. "that's it baby girl" you hear one of them say, you couldn't tell who had said it but you didn't care.

you knew dabi was close to cumming when he fully pushed himself down your throat and held your head there making his cock twitch before hot seed was being pumped down your throat. dabi was moaning out cuss words while he still had his dick down your throat, you tried to swallow around him so you could breathe a little bit but it was no help. noticing you were almost out of breath completely dabi finally pulled out and tells you sorry while you tried to catch your breath again.

"you can't break her just yet" you hear hawks say chuckling at dabi. he had fully stretched you enough so that it would be easy for him to enter his dick later. you wiped your mouth from the spit that came out while dabi was face fucking you. you were already such a mess and this was only the beginning.

dabi lays down on the bed and tells you to ride him. you make your way over to him before you are pulled away by hawks. "i get to fuck her first. you already got to cum loser" he says pushing you over the side of the bed with your ass in the air. he lines himself up with your tight hole before pushing it in making you grip onto the bed sheets.

he can hear dabi speaking to him but because of the pain you couldn't make out what they were saying. hawks was slowly thrusting into you so you could get used to it first but then he heard you start to moan. he smiled and started to pick up his speed, just like dabi before he grabbed a fist full of your hair and pulled making your back arch forcing his cock deeper in you.

you had never done anal before but now you think it might be your new favorite thing. hawks slaps your ass with his other hand before letting go of your hair so he could grab onto your hips, his trust really starting to pick up now. you could feel his nails digging into your skin as you notice that dabi was watching you both while stroking himself.

hawks didn't want to finish just yet so he pulled out right before he did. because of the position you were just in your legs become a shaking mess making it hard for you to stand or even move. hawks picks you up and places you down on the mattress next to dabi, "let's fuck her at the same time" he says getting on the bed with the both of you.

dabi was already laying down and hawks got in front of him. dabi helped you get on top of him slowly entering himself into your wet cunt making you moan out loud because it had been awhile since you had sex and it felt so good to have something deep inside you. you thought you would cum just from this alone but before you could you felt yourself being pushed over so now you were chest to chest with dabi.

hawks inserted himself into you again but this time it went in way easier. the feeling of having both of them inside you was a feeling you had never felt before and you didn't want it to end. you could feel them rubbing against each other while still being inside you causing an amazing friction sensation. "fuck hawks she feels so good around my dick. she squeezing around me so hard" he says while grabbing onto your hips and trusting into you at the same time hawks was.

you had never had two guys at one time before but they were making you feel so good. you couldn't think of anything while you were being fucked by both men. your mouth had fallen open so now drool was coming out and landing on dabis stomach making a mess. "look at her dabi" hawks says while reaching around to squeeze your nipples making them hard, "she is going dumb around our cocks she can't even keep her mouth shut" he says making them both laugh

you were so close to finishing it but you didn't want it to end just yet so you continued to let them use your body and tried your best to not finish just yet. until they were cumming inside you filling up both of your holes, the warmth of their cum entering you made you finally reach your end making your eyes cross in the process. you were still a drooling and twitching mess when they finally both pulled out of you and left you laying on the bed.

"if you ever want to do this again" dabi says zipping up his jeans, "you know where to find me." you watch as both men walk out the door while you still try to catch your breath and calm down, you could feel their cum dripping out of you and onto the bed beneath you.

©️nsfwshiggy

[agust-dyke]

okay here we go

i’m genuinely kind of baffled by this movie. how do you make a 2.5 hour movie and manage to say absolutely nothing in the process

generally it wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be but it’s not. good. meryl streep is good but. yeah. the general feeling i get from it is like. they wanted to make a movie that’s like “it’s okay to be gay!” which imho would have been good in like. idk 2006. but i’m not really sure what they were trying to say other than the most basic “homophobia isn’t cool” and even at that it felt very much like those commercials they used to play u know the ones. the ones that were like “when you use ‘gay’ to mean ‘bad’ do you realize what you’re saying?” like. of fucking course they do. language like that develops from the fact that communities are marginalized. there’s a Reason derogatory language is often related to minority communities. but i digress ig

besides the fact that this movie is supposed to be A Gay Movie and there’s like. 2, arguably 3 main characters that are gay? and the characters who got the most development were. not gay. you know? also fell prey to the “they’re lesbians but they’re conventionally attractive and look, for lack of a better word, straight” trope. they did show a bunch of other teens at the end who looked more like. representative ig? of the community but none of them had speaking roles so :/ it felt very much also like they tried to make the main girl like. Butch But Not Like That. if you know what i mean. like yeah she wears button downs shirts. and they’re styled femininely. she has short hair. and it’s in princess curls. like it just felt like they were like ah yes she’s the Masculine One but not too masculine! not one of Those butches! which. hm.

also the depiction of homophobia in a high school was so very watered down and unrealistic it just seemed like it had no purpose? like one guy makes a joke about like oh well why don’t you just. date guys. and his bro is like haha sick burn dude. and the 4 main high school characters who are homophobic all act like that. they left her a teddy bear (????) in her locker with a note that said “hi my name is lez” like ah yes. truly this is how homophobic kids are. not like using slurs or beating the shit out of people. that doesn’t happen <3 also all of those characters change their opinion in the span of one (1) song which is basically like “well yeah god said being gay is bad but You have a tattoo so. aren’t we all sinners” which really pissed me the fuck off ngl because why are you arguing anything along the lines of “yeah being gay is a sin BUT” no it’s fucking not. rot and die <3

also just. older gay people would not fucking act like that. j*mes c*rden plays this gay broadway actor who’s like. actively telling this teenager whose Entire town is against her that she Has to Make A Stand even tho she specifically states Multiple Times that she does Not want to be the face of a protest or anything she just wants to Exist. as if it wouldn’t be extremely fucking dangerous for her to Make A Stand or w/e. as if an older gay person wouldn’t Know that. the main girl’s love interest is closeted and her mother is homophobic as fuck and the main girl gets??? mad at her??? for not coming out?????? even after her gf explains that her mom is overbearing and critical and demands perfection from her and doesn’t listen. and then at the end she Does come out which is Also extremely fucking dangerous for a kid under 18 whose parent is openly homophobic. also they just had to throw in that her dad left them when they’re. the only black family in this movie. which feels. hmm. racist as fuck. and then the mom does a complete 180 and is like “actually this is fine because you’re my Daughter and i Love you” as if they don’t have a strained relationship outside of her being a lesbian. maybe im just nitpicky but i really really don’t like that bc imho it’s not realistic or like. a Good Idea to potentially show kids in similar situations this frankly unrealistic outcome. idk idk it feels. dangerous. for any babygay seeing that bc it plants the idea of like oh well yeah my parents hate gay people but Maybe. coming out will go well. like it did here. idk it just rlly doesn’t sit well with me

also there’s a whole part where meryl streep’s character (straight) calls j*mes c*rden’s character’s mom??? after he left home at 16 and didn’t talk to his parents ever again???? and this is seen as like a Good Friend Thing To Do which. if my friends did that there would be violent crimes committed. they have one (1) scene addressing the Years of unresolved trauma and then everything is a-okay with him and his mom and this is portrayed as a good and loving thing his friend did. tbh i haaate the whole “maybe. they’re Sorry” argument because like. whether or not they are, the person gets to decide for themself whether they want to pursue a relationship with their family or if they’d rather never contact them again. idk like he isn’t even mad at her about it there are absolutely 0 consequences for her doing that. bad.

overall i feel like this whole movie could have been useful like 15 years ago but as things are rn it. doesn’t add Anything to the conversation. it feels homophobic even though my best guess at the point they were trying to make is “being gay =/= bad”. this movie was so long and it would be Better if they used that time to like. delve into actual issues presented but as it is it really just. doesn’t make any sort of point or stand or anything at all but it presents itself like it Did. anyways that’s my lesbian thoughts on this movie. tldr: don’t watch it

edit: fucking forgot that they introduce themselves as “new york liberals” who are ready to teach these rednecks how to “be PC” so. there’s that too.

okay. i just watched prom. yes the one with j*mes c*rden. who wants to hear my gay 2 cents on it

[shihalyfie]

Kizuna itself vs. the two versions of the novel

Written on request from a friend who wanted to remain anonymous. This is more of an editorial than a meta, and while I usually have a policy of “this is an analysis blog, not a review blog” it goes into more of my personal impressions and opinions than usual, but it’s something I write hoping to be helpful.

There are basically three “official” full versions of Kizuna: one being, of course, the movie itself, one being the Dash X Bunko version of the novel, and one being the Shueisha Mirai Bunko version of it. While it’s certainly not to say that any of the three is an “incomplete” version of the narrative, if you really want as full of a picture of the story as possible, somehow, each of all three versions of the story happens to have really important information that the other two do not. If I had to pick only one of these three versions to recommend to people, I would of course pick the movie itself; it’s obviously the base story everything else is based off of and was the one the production centered around as a priority, but the novelizations have a surprising amount of info that provide a lot of insight into the movie’s story and themes.

I get the impression that the creation of Kizuna involved making a lot more story and background details than could fit in a 95-minute movie, so these novelizations, which were based directly off the original movie script, ended up being an outlet for a lot of these details (and as much as I could be harsh on the movie itself for being a bit “reliant” on extra material, I have to admit that Adventure and 02 were both like this too -- a lot of our current understanding of the series comes from the Adventure novels and drama CDs -- so frankly I’m thankful we at least got this with a 95-minute movie instead of a yearlong series). On the flip side, while I'm not going to say that the novels are completely and utterly inaccurate representations of the movie, in a perhaps too-close approximation of Adventure and 02's writing style, this is a movie where even the nuances in a single line or split-second moment carry heavy implications, which become much blurrier or harder to identify when they’re presented differently (or not even presented at all) in the novel’s context, especially when they emphasize very different things from what the movie itself was emphasizing.

The short version of this is that I believe the Dash X version contains the greater amount of “plot and story” information but significantly misses out on the emotional themes and presentation, whereas the Shueisha Mirai version abridges and cuts chunks of content but is much better at conveying the intended message. More on this below the cut. (Note that the following post spoils Kizuna’s plot events.)

The movie itself

Since the following parts are more “in comparison to the movie”, I’m not going to go too much into this in this section, but one thing I will say is that the official English subtitle translation for the movie is really not great. Even if you take out nitpickiness about the fact it misses several significant nuances (the difference between “unchangeable fate” and “changeable destiny”, or the fact that Gennai refers to partnership dissolution as a “case” and not like it’s something that happens overall) at really plot-important moments, some lines (thankfully, usually not plot-important ones) are just straight-up incorrect. And worse, there’s evidence the official English dub was based on that translation! (I’m not faulting the people in charge of the dub for this, but whoever handed them that translation to work with.)

The dialogue in the Dash X Bunko version is transcribed effectively word-for-word from the dialogue in the movie (or perhaps vice versa, given that the novel is based on the original script), so I highly recommend checking that version as a reference for dialogue or if you want to do any intimate analysis on it. I don't want to go as far as to suggest not supporting the official version of the movie because of this, but at least please be aware that the translation used there is not entirely reliable.

Dash X Bunko

If you talk about “the Kizuna novel”, this is the one that people usually tend to be referring to, for two reasons. Firstly, it was translated shortly after the movie’s release, and due to the unfortunate circumstances of Kizuna being delayed in accessibility outside Japan for several months, this basically served as the only comprehensive source of info about the movie outside Japan for a very long time. Secondly, in Japan, this one was marketed as “the one for adults” in contrast to the Shueisha Mirai one being “for kids”, which meant that a lot of people assumed that the latter one was just an incredibly stripped down version that was otherwise disposable or replaceable. (This is very, very much not the case, and is extremely ironic when it comes to a movie that partially centers around the dangers of looking down too much on things associated with childhood.)

When it comes to “plot and story info”, this is the one that probably serves as the best reference (especially for fanfic writers or those who need a refresher on certain plot events or to look up something quickly), and probably has the most “comprehensive” listing of plot events surrounding the movie. The dialogue in it is a word-for-word recreation of the movie’s script, and actually includes more scenes than the movie itself does, including two that I suspect to be deleted scenes (a detailing of the specifics behind the initial plan to pursue Eosmon, and a conversation between Koushirou and Tentomon) and adaptations of the first and second memorial shorts within their context in the movie. It also contains some interesting background details and extra context for some things in the movie that you might think would normally be animation flair or something, but take a very interesting implication of story importance if they’re going out of their way to write this in the script. (There’s a scene where Agumon and Gabumon appear in front of their partners when they’d been behind them a minute before, and it’s easy to think this might be an animation error, but not only does the surrounding context make this unlikely, the novel itself actually directly states that their positions had changed.) Given that, I think it was very fortunate that this novel was available to us for those outside Japan waiting for the actual movie to come out, because this level of detail was very important to have on hand rather than fragmented spoilers on social media.

However, the part where I think the novel is significantly deficient in compared to the actual movie (and also to the other version of the novel) is that it describes the plot events in too blunt of a manner and doesn’t bring out its themes very well. (It’s kind of like having a long and very detailed Wikipedia article plot summary; it definitely got all the hard facts down, but the emotion is gone, which is still a pretty significant issue when media’s all about the feelings and message in the end.) While “considering the movie to be more cynical than it’s probably meant to be” happens regardless of which version someone’s working from, I’ve talked to perhaps an unnervingly high number of people who started with the novel and were absolutely convinced that the movie’s message was about adulthood sucking and needing to just accept it, until they saw how the actual movie pulled it off and the surrounding atmosphere and realized it definitely was not. (I think one really big factor here is that a lot of the visual imagery makes it extremely, extremely hard to miss that Menoa’s mentality is completely screwed up and her way of seeing things was dubious to begin with; prose descriptions really just don’t capture the way they slam this in your face with visual and musical cues during the climax of the movie.)

You can figure this out from the novel itself, but you have to really be looking closely at the way they word things, and on top of that it’s hard to figure out which parts you should be focusing on and which parts aren’t actually that important -- in other words, the “choice of priorities” gets a bit lost in there. Even the little things lose a lot of value; it’s theoretically possible to use the novel to put together that Daisuke is wearing his sunglasses indoors during his first scene, but you have to put together the context clues from completely different paragraphs to figure this out, none of which compares to the actual hilarity of visually seeing him wearing the thing in a very obviously dimly lit restaurant because he’s our beloved idiot. (For more details, please see my post with more elaboration on this and more examples of this kind of thing.)

I wouldn’t say that the movie itself isn’t guilty of (perhaps accidentally) having some degree of mixed messaging, but I would say this problem is rather exacerbated by the novel’s way of presenting it due to its dedication to dropping every single plot detail and event without much in the way of choosing what to contextualize and what to put emphasis on (as it turns out, treating practically everything in the movie as if it has equal weight might not be a great idea). So, again, for that reason I think the novel serves as a good reference in terms of remembering what happened in it and knowing the movie’s contents, but I also feel that it’s really not the greatest deliverer of the movie’s message or themes at all.

Shueisha Mirai Bunko

The second version of the novel was not translated until several months after the movie first released, and shortly before the Blu-ray and streaming versions of the movie itself came out anyway, so my impression is that on this end a lot of people don’t even know it was a thing. On top of that, even those who know about it often dismiss it as the “kid version” -- and to be fair, it did baffle quite a few people as to why this version even exists (Kizuna is technically not unacceptable for kid viewing and its plot is still understandable regardless of age, but since the movie is so heavily about the millennial existential crisis, it’s not something kids would really relate to). So a lot of people tended to just skip over it...which is really a shame, because it contains some interesting things that actually aren’t in the other two versions at all. For instance, did you know that, as of this writing, this is the only thing that plainly states the specific explanation for why Yamato decided to become an astronaut, for the first time in 20 real-life years?

While there are still some things that weren’t in the movie proper (mainly the Eosmon initial plan and the adaptation of the second memorial short), for the most part, the actual events are somewhat abridged compared to the movie and the Dash X version, and other than a few stray lines, there’s not a lot of extra information that would be as helpful for referencing the events of the plot. The version of the novel here is rather broadly interpretive of the scenes in the movie, so several things are condensed or taken out (and, amusingly, because it’s assuming that the kids reading this don’t actually know the original Adventure or 02, it has to describe what each character is like in a quick one-liner).

However, interestingly enough, it’s because it’s so heavily interpretive that it illuminates a lot of things that weren’t really easy to glean out of the Dash X version. For instance:

Some scenes are described with “other perspectives” that give you info on someone else’s point of view. (For instance, we see more of Yamato’s perspective and thoughts when he has his first phone call with Daisuke, or a bit more detail in the process of how Eosmon kidnappings work.)

We get a lot more information on what’s going through everyone’s heads during each scene, and what emotions they’re feeling at a given time. (This is something that you could at least get to some degree in the movie itself from facial expressions and framing, but would often be a lot blurrier in the Dash X version; here, it’s spelled out in words.)

When things are abridged, you get a clearer idea of what the intended point and theme of the scene was because it’s stripped down to include only that part. In one really interesting case, the scene with Agumon finding Taichi’s AVs has a “censored” equivalent where Taichi’s pushed to a corner because he can’t find anything non-alcoholic in his fridge -- so when you look at the two versions of the scene and what they have in common, you can figure out that the point isn’t that it was a lewd joke for the sake of it, but rather that Taichi’s forcing himself into boxes of “adulthood” that are actually meaningless and impractical.

Some of the descriptions of the characters, scenes, and background information make it a lot more obvious as to their purpose in the narrative (it outright confirms that Miyako being in Spain means that her personality is getting overly enabled there).

The scene where the circumstances behind Morphomon’s disappearance are revealed makes it significantly less subtle what the point is. In the actual movie, a lot of this involved visual framing with Menoa seeming to become more and more distant, but in this version of the novel they basically whack you over the head with the final confirmation that Menoa is guilty of neglecting her own partner, which contradicts her own assertions that “they were always together” (maybe not emotionally, it seems!) and helps clarify the commonality between her, Taichi, Yamato, and Sora in what exactly led to their partners disappearing.

Bonus: this version of the novel really wants you to know that the ending of the movie is about Taichi and Yamato fully having the determination to turn things around and lead up to the 02 epilogue. (The movie’s version of this involves the extended version of Taichi’s thesis and the credits photo with Yamato obviously next to a rocket, while this novel’s version involves more detailed fleshing out of how Taichi and Yamato decided to use their experiences to move onto their eventual career paths and what kind of hope they still have at the end. The Dash X version...didn’t really have a very strong equivalent here.)

In other words, while this version of the novel isn’t the greatest reference for plot or worldbuilding, it does a much more effective job being straightforward about the intended themes and message of the movie, and even if the scenes in it are much more loosely adapted, it’s much better at adapting the emotional nuances of the things that would normally be conveyed via visuals, expressions, and voice acting. (Although I would still say that the movie itself is the best reference for that kind of thing, of course.) If you just want lore or plot ideas, I don’t think it’ll help you very much, but since this series is so much about characters that had their ways of thinking fleshed out in such incredible detail, and about strong theme messaging, this is all still very valuable information in its own way.

[allamericansbitch]

i normally agree with your hot takes but i feel like in regards to this specific quote of taylor’s you’re being intentionally ignorant to the fact that she’s clearly implying a much deeper issue than her wearing a certain color. everything you’ve said about her political activism i agree with but clowning on that quote just seems extremely nitpicky when anyone with critical thinking skills knows what she’s talking about

I’m clowning on people who think it’s empowering. It’s not, it belittles the hell out of the movement of equality and people fighting for it. She’s literally saying ‘the reason people aren’t respected is because of the color pink’, it was a dumb thing to say and if you have to delve into the deeper meaning of something in order for it to actually be a smart thing to say… why not say the smart thing in the first place?

[nyxshadowhawk]

An Analysis of The Ninth Gate

I finally got around to watching The Ninth Gate after it was recommended on Occultism with a Side of Salt. Seriously, why did it take me so long to watch this film? This is pretty much everything I like! It’s a film from 1999 (incidentally, the same year as Eyes Wide Shut) starring Johnny Depp as an expert on rare books called Dean Corso. It’s based loosely on a novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte called The Club Dumas, and was directed by Roman Polanski (who’s the man behind Tanz der Vampire, but who is extremely problematic and we do not stan). Corso is employed by a rich book collector named Boris Balkan to authenticate his copy of a grimoire called The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, which may be the coolest title for a grimoire ever. The book is supposedly designed to summon the Devil himself, and was copied from another mysterious book that the Devil was said to have written. Corso compares the grimoire with the two other existing copies to find out which one is the real one, but there are mysterious deaths and other unsettling events around the book, and he has a mysterious girl helping him.

The film is very spooky and has a wonderful Dark Academia aesthetic. What’s most interesting to me about it is, although it isn’t authentically occult, it feels very authentic. The grimoire is clearly modeled after real ones. The engravings in the book also could easily be mistaken for real ones if I didn’t know better. I think that the pentagram on the cover is a little too on-the-nose, especially since pentagrams weren’t associated with Satanism until relatively recently — I think the Sigil of Lucifer would be a better fit, since it’s reasonably well-known (for example, the Mother Superior of the Satanic Nuns in Good Omens wears one instead of a cross) and it comes from a real grimoire. That’s me being very nitpicky, though. Although this film follows some tropes of Hollywood Satanism, its portrayal of that is still more realistic than normal. Real-life occult ritual groups are more like book clubs or potlucks, but the actual ritual part can in fact look something like the one in the film. (Sure, it wouldn’t be in a mansion with cool-ass gargoyles, but this is certainly more realistic than Eyes Wide Shut.)

This film feels authentically occult becuase a lot of real occultism is pouring over old books and analyzing symbolic images. I do a lot of that! Right now, I’m reading a dictionary of alchemical symbolism. I hope to eventually be able to look at all the weird images in alchemical manuscripts and make some sense of them. This film is basically about doing exactly that. I noticed the tarot symbolism in the engravings immediately, and I felt a little like I was trying to decipher them right alongside Corso. It reminded me of solving Nox Arcana puzzles, and that just makes me incredibly happy. The approach this film takes is also realistic — (slight spoilers) it could have gone the classic Hollywood route of summoning Satan to destroy the world and all that, but it doesn’t. Instead, the end goal is more abstract and spiritual, much more in-line with occultists’ actual goals in real life. Just as in alchemy, the goal is not to make gold or live forever, but to experience spiritual transcendence, and this is encoded in alchemists’ notes and artwork.

So, I want to try my hand at deciphering the engravings’ secrets, and test my own knowledge of occult symbolism in the process. Everything that follows involves major spoilers, so I will dispense with the exposition and assume that you have already seen the film.

I’ve seen it argued on YouTube that the engravings represent actual events in the film, and some of them seem to. Bernie is murdered and hung upside down, the collapsing scaffolding is the “danger from above” arrow, Corso is hit in the back of the head in one of the film’s most chilling scenes, and the Girl (who is implied to be Lucifer) ends up… well… “riding” him in front of the burning castle. But come on, that is way too easy. For one thing, the related events don’t seem to occur in any specific sequence, either the engravings’ numbered sequence or Balkan’s rearranged sequence. It would make sense if Corso would have to experience every engraving and “pass through each gate” — that happens a lot in films like this one, where an eerily coincidental series of events plays out just as in the book/prophecy/whatnot. But that doesn’t really happen, or if it does, it’s not obvious enough for the only interpretation of the engravings to be literal. What impresses me the most about The Ninth Gate is that it goes for that more figurative, spiritual dimension. That is really what makes it feel realistically occult.

The real solution to the engravings seems to be spiritual growth or enlightenment, which is the goal of most occultists. Balkan sort of understands this, which is why he disdains Telfer and her coven being edgy and playing dress up instead of really making an effort to understand Lucifer’s secrets. And yet, Balkan also fails, because he is after power, not enlightenment. It seems as though both of them misunderstand Lucifer, believing him to be the kind of Lucifer that you usually see in these movies. (That would fit in well with his name and his role in the Eden story, if you interpret it that way.) If we assume that the Girl is Lucifer, then she is more benevolent an influence than anything else. Hell, Corso doesn’t even suffer any “temptation” consequences from having sex with her. Corso wins in the end because he actually puts in the effort, and the Girl helps guide him toward enlightenment. Maybe Lucifer is a good force in this film’s world. Lucifer’s own versions of the engravings seem to emphasize that s/he is genuinely invested in helping his/her followers towards enlightenment.

When Balkan assembles the engravings in the proper order, this is his interpretation of the riddle:

To travel in silence, by a long and circuitous route, to brave the arrows of misfortune, and fear neither noose nor fire, to play the greatest of all games and win, foregoing no expense, is to mock the vicissitudes of fate and gain at last the key that will unlock the Ninth Gate.

First, I want to say that this riddle reminds me a lot of the Emerald Tablet. It’s similarly cryptic, and I only sort of have it figured out. I love that something like that is real and authentically ancient. Anyway, moving on. I’ll go through the engravings in the order that Balkan puts them in (as opposed to their numbered order), and see if I can make sense of them.

The first engraving shows a knight traveling towards a castle. In the AT version of the engraving, the castle has four towers, while in LCF’s version, it has three. Balkan’s interpretation is “To travel in silence,” while the caption is “Silence is golden.” That immediately reminds me of the common occult maxim, “To Know, to Will, to Dare, to Keep Silent.” I’ve never been much of a fan of keeping silent, which is why I post things like this on the internet, but in general occultists tend to be secretive folk. According to this article, another translation of the caption is “Only one who has battled according to the rules will prevail.” I’m not sure whose rules are being referred to here. Lucifer’s, maybe?

This is one of the only engravings in which there is no obvious tarot symbolism. There are four Knights in tarot, one for each suit — wands, swords, cups, and pentacles — but this knight doesn’t have a symbol of any of the suits or anything that could suggest that. The difference is in the castle towers — three in LCF’s, four in AT’s. In traditional numerology, three is a number symbolizing perfection and creation, as in the Holy Trinity, while four is the number of the solid and material and unlucky. (Source: Richard Cavendish, The Black Arts). Sets of three are especially common in fairy tales and mythology — three siblings, three tasks, three encounters, three magical objects, three questions, three trials or tests, repeating an action three times with the third time being different or conclusive, etc. Lucifer’s castle at the end also has three sets of towers. The most obvious interpretation of this is that your destination will be either material gain (AT) or spiritual advancement (LCF).

In the tarot, the threes represent the completion of the first stage of a venture — the Three of Wands represents a successful enterprise, the Three of Cups represents celebration and fulfillment, and the Three of Pentacles represents recognition for your achievements. All of them have something to do with attainment except for the Three of Swords, which represents loss, heartbreak, betrayal, etc. The fours aren’t bad, representing stability and structure — the Four of Wands is joyful and peaceful, the Four of Swords takes time to rest and recoup, the Four of Cups is bored and listless, and the Four of Pentacles receives material abundance. All of them are a bit more grounded and material, so I think it makes the most sense to interpret the difference in this engraving as being the spiritual three vs. the material four, and leave it at that.

The fourth engraving, which is second in Balkan’s sequence, is of a jester standing at the entrance to a labyrinth. In LCF’s version the labyrinth’s exit is open, while in AT’s it is bricked up. Balkan interprets this as meaning “by long and circuitous route,” while the caption reads “Fate is not the same for all.” that seems fairly straightforward — Balkan and Corso have different fates. Corso is able to find his way out of the Labyrinth, but Balkan’s exit is bricked up. This is because he never properly experienced the journey the way Corso did, he just wanted the payoff and tried to take shortcuts.

The Labyrinth is a very old symbol, and it carries the dual symbolism of a death trap in which there is a Minotaur, and a path to spiritual enlightenment. It can represent the Underworld or the darkness of the subconscious mind, with the Minotaur being your Shadow. Either you are trapped in the Labyrinth and eaten by the monster, or you find your way back out into the light having gained some self-awareness. The jester is probably meant to represent 0 The Fool, who, in the Tarot, is the naive adventurer who sets out on a spiritual journey over the threshold and into the realm of the subconscious and symbolic — i.e. the Labyrinth. As for the dice in the foreground, this seems to reinforce the caption’s point about fate. But dice, like tarot cards, can be used as both a game and a divination tool — it is the assumption of the diviner that random chance is always meaningful. And indeed, the visible faces on each die add up to 6 — 666.

The third engraving depicts a traveler walking towards a bridge. In the clouds above him, there’s a Cupid-like figure with an arrow pointing down at him. Balkan’s interpretation is “to brave the arrows of misfortune,” and the caption is “The lost word keeps the secret.” AT’s version is pictured here; in LCF’s version, there are two arrows, the other one pointing upwards in the quiver.

This traveller looks much more like the traditional Tarot depiction of 0 The Fool than the jester. The Fool is happy-go-lucky and doesn’t notice the danger he might be walking into. TV Tropes describes The Fool trope as referring to a person who, despite having no idea what they’re doing, doesn’t come to any harm because of their luck and innocence. So, the traveler will probably not be hit by the arrow, the same way Corso avoids the collapsing scaffolding. The two arrows in the LCF version seem to reinforce the idea of there being two possible outcomes. The arrow pointing up and the other one pointing down could also reference the famous occult maxim, “As above, so below,” adding another spiritual dimension to it. Balkan’s interpretation of the engraving reminded me a lot of a certain famous soliloquy: “To be or not to be, that is the question: / Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles / And by opposing end them.” In this scene, Hamlet is considering whether or not to take his own life. But when applied to this engraving, these lines seem to once again suggest the two possible outcomes — you can suffer and die, or move on towards your goal.

And then there’s the caption. “The lost word keeps the secret.” Well, it’s pretty obvious what that refers to — the ninth engraving, replaced with a forgery that changes the meaning of the entire thing. The missing engraving contains the secret. But that caption seems completely irrelevant to this engraving, except that the face of the archer doesn’t look remotely like a baby’s, as putti usually do — it looks like an old man’s, specifically, the Ceniza brothers’, who removed and replaced the missing engraving.

The sixth engraving, fourth in Balkan’s sequence, depicts a man hanging upside-down by his ankle, and an arm with a flaming sword reaching out of a castle tower. Balkan’s interpretation of this is “and fear neither noose nor fire,” which proves he knows fuck all about tarot. No wonder he got the riddle wrong. This one is so blindingly obvious. The man isn’t hanging by his neck, he’s hanging by his foot. He’s the Hanged Man.

XII The Hanged Man is a strange and disturbing card at first glance, but it has become one of my favorites. The Hanged Man is almost never depicted hanging by his neck; he hangs by his foot, and has a serene expression, indicating that he wants to be there. He represents going through a period of tribulation, suffering, surrender, or introspection in order to obtain wisdom, enlightenment, self-awareness, and insight. He goes through a metamorphosis, just like the caterpillar that hangs upside-down in its chrysalis to become a butterfly. He’s a Christlike figure, evidenced by the halo around his head in the Rider-Waite deck, and the fact that he willingly suffers for a higher purpose. He even wears the same colors as Jesus in Da Vinci’s The Last Supper in the Rider-Waite deck, although I’m not sure if that’s on purpose or not.

The caption to the engraving is “I am enriched by death,” which is a million times more meaningful than Balkan’s interpretation. If you’re an occultist, that line is probably self-explanatory. Pretty much everything mystical involves that theme of (symbolically) dying and being resurrected. The alchemical process has three stages — nigredo, which is death, albedo, which is the ascension of the soul, and rubedo, which is returning to life in a “purified” body as a more spiritual being. The Hero’s Journey follows this same pattern — the hero entering the Underworld or the Labyrinth and facing trials that allow them to spiritually ascend and achieve apotheosis (or something close to it). It’s everywhere in books, movies, and video games. It is the initiation ritual. Most occultists figuratively go through it in one way or another. And in tarot, XII The Hanged Man is at the rough midpoint of the Fool’s journey through the Major Arcana, and immediately followed by XIII Death. “I am enriched by death.” You cannot be reborn as a new and better version of yourself without first having died.

The difference between AT’s and LCF’s engravings is that AT’s has the Hanged Man hanging by his right foot, while LCF’s has him hanging by his left foot. I don’t think this changes the meaning of the engraving too much. In Rider-Waite, the Hanged Man hangs by his right foot, but in the Tarot de Marseille, which is older, he hangs by the left foot. The only significance to this that I can see is that the Latin word for “left” is sinistram, and the word “sinister” has its current meaning because left was considered Satanic. Left-handed people were discriminated against for this reason, until as late as the mid-20th century. In occultism, the “Left-Hand Path” is an approach to magic that involves rejecting tradition and dogma and generally being edgy. I think that the right-hand and left-hand paths are a false dichotomy (you use both your hands, don’t you?), but anything Satanic is considered part of the Left-Hand Path. Jung associated left with the unconscious, so we’re back to the Labyrinth.

I don’t have much to say about the flaming sword. It could be foreshadowing Balkan’s death (more on that later), or it could represent the flaming sword of the angel of Eden (i.e. guarding spiritual knowledge).

The seventh engraving, fifth in Balkan’s sequence, is of a king and a peasant playing a chess game. Two dogs are fighting in the background, and the moon can be seen through the window. In AT’s version, the board is black, and in LCF’s, the board is white. Balkan interprets it as “to play the greatest of all games,” and the caption is “The disciple surpasses the master.”

The tarot symbolism that I see here is that of XVIII The Moon, which has dogs baying at it in the Rider-Waite deck. The Moon represents the subconscious, imagination, and dreams, but also nightmares, madness, and illusion. The illusion here is probably still the missing engraving being replaced by the forgery. The themes of the subconscious get reinforced. Underneath the Moon, a black dog and a white dog fight each other, almost seeming to create a yin/yang shape. This brings the dark and the light into balance, the same way the Moon spends equal times dark and bright as it goes through its phases. The game is chess, which is played with black and white pieces, and the board is either black or white. The game seems to be a draw, making the peasant and the king equals, just as the dogs are unable to defeat each other. So, this engraving is all about reconciling dualities.

There’s another layer to this. God is the “King of Kings,” so this could demonstrate a human becoming God’s equal. This is basically the goal of occultism — to become like God, in some form. Left-Hand Path’ers in particular seem to like the idea of becoming gods themselves, or even “surpassing” God. Since the book was created by Lucifer, this could tie in to Lucifer’s desire to become God’s equal that got him cast out of Heaven (but I’m not the biggest fan of that story, so I won’t go any further with that). To the occultist, man is God, just as God can become a man — as above, so below. That’s also a form of reconciling the duality of human and divine.

The caption, “The disciple surpasses the master,” probably refers to this, but it could also refer to Corso surpassing Balkan and succeeding where Balkan failed. Any good teacher wants their students to have learned so well that they surpass them. God (or Lucifer) intends for his disciples to surpass him, but Balkan tries (and fails) to prevent Corso from surpassing him.

The fifth engraving, which is sixth in Balkan’s sequence, depicts a man counting coins while Death stands behind him with a pitchfork and hourglass. Balkan’s interpretation is “and win, foregoing no expense,” while the caption reads “In vain.” Balkan is an idiot. Exactly like the man in the engraving, he is focused entirely on the money and completely misses the literal shadow of Death standing behind him. How does one overlook the significance of that? There’s a big difference between “I won the game so now I get money” and “in vain”! Of course, this means that Balkan is too focused on material pursuits and misses that he is about to die. In AT’s version, the sand is at the top of the hourglass, while in LCF’s version, it is at the bottom — the man has run out of time. The expression “you can’t take it with you” comes to mind. Money and material goods don’t ultimately matter compared to spiritual growth. “In vain.”

In tarot, XIII Death almost never represents physical death. Instead, it represents change, usually a change for the better. Death is about letting go of old things so that new things can come, stepping through a threshold into another life or state of being. This can be difficult or emotionally painful, but it is necessary and ultimately beneficial. If The Hanged Man is the chrysalis, then Death is the emerging butterfly (the Greek word psyche means both “soul” and “butterfly,” because butterflies represent the souls of the dead). Once again, Death is a required step towards spiritual advancement. And if you refuse to acknowledge this, it isn’t going to go well for you.

The checkerboard floor probably continues to reinforce the theme of duality. As for the pitchfork, maybe the reason Death has a peasant’s pitchfork instead of a scythe is because pitchforks are associated with Satan, or it could be a representation of peasants taking revenge on rich people. Or it could be a reference to American Gothic. I think it’s the first one.

The eighth engraving, which is seventh in Balkan’s sequence, depicts a praying man about to be bludgeoned by a knight with a mace, with the Wheel of Fortune in the background. Balkan’s interpretation is “to mock the vicissitudes of fate” and the caption says “Virtue is defeated.”

The Wheel of Fortune is a medieval motif that shows how fortune is apparently random. Some get to be kings, others are serfs, and your fortunes can turn at any moment. Just when you think everything is great, someone hits you on the back of the head. In tarot, X The Wheel of Fortune means exactly what you would expect it to — a twist of fate, a change of fortune. Whether it’s for better or for worse depends on the context and the cards around it. Life is full of ups and downs, so enjoy what you’ve got while you have it, etc. Sometimes when it shows up, it can mean that you should trust in fate.

But that’s the background. What to make of the foreground? Honestly, this is the most disturbing engraving to me, especially with the accompanying scene where Corso gets hit in the head. By whom? It’s probably Telfer’s lackey, because the knight in the engraving kind of looks like him. And if the caption is “Virtue is defeated,” the praying man hasn’t been defeated yet. The knight is about to hit him, not already standing over his body. It could be an example of “bad things happen to good people” — being virtuous won’t stop you from suffering. Since Corso is the one who gets hit in the back of the head, maybe that indicates that he’s the most virtuous character (which is saying a lot, since he’s not exactly an upstanding person). In LCF’s version of the engraving, the knight has a halo — does that mean that defeating Virtue is a good thing? I guess that would make sense if the artist is Satan? Or does it mean the knight is protecting the praying man? I don’t know. I genuinely am not sure how to interpret this one. What I do know is that Balkan is still an idiot. Nothing about this suggests mocking fate. If anything, this is an example of succumbing to it.

The second engraving, eighth in Balkan’s sequence, shows an old man with a dog, holding two keys in his hand. In AT’s version, the keys are in his right hand, and in LCF’s, they are in his left hand. Balkan’s interpretation is “gain at last the key,” and the caption is “Open that which is closed.”

This is another obvious tarot image. This is clearly The Hermit with his lantern. IX The Hermit represents withdrawing into solitude for contemplation and meditation, to gain spiritual wisdom and awareness. Like the Hanged Man, he indicates a need to be passive in the service of introspection. He’s the archetypical guru on a mountain, and he holds the keys to enlightenment. Keys represent access to information, and the ability to pass between worlds. “Open that which is closed” is pretty obvious — unlock the gates, receive spiritual insight. LCF’s version having the keys be in the left hand just reinforces everything I said about left earlier.

Also, that Hebrew symbol next to him is the one for the number nine. That suggests that the Hermit is right in front of the Ninth Gate. In numerology, nine is a magical number, being three times three. It represents completeness, spiritual achievement, and initiation. So, that’s self-explanatory. In tarot, tens are the ultimate state of completion, so the nines are the penultimate step — the Nine of Wands gives you the strength and willpower to overcome obstacles, the Nine of Cups represents success and contentment, and the Nine of Pentacles represents celebrating an accomplishment. (Once again, the Swords are the outlier, representing fear and despair.) Nines in general are good, the perfection of three multiplied by itself. (The Hermit is also the ninth card of the Major Arcana, if you noticed.)

And finally, we come to the ninth and final engraving (that Roman numeral should read “IX”). This depicts a woman who looks suspiciously like the Girl reading a book, ostensibly The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, and riding a dragon with seven goatlike heads. There is a castle in the background, and the castle is a real place. There are three versions of the engraving — this one, which is signed by AT and has the castle as-is, a forged LCF engraving that shows the castle in flames, and the real one. Balkan’s interpretation is “that will unlock the Ninth Gate,” and the caption is “Now I know that from Darkness comes Light.”

The woman is apparently an image of the “Whore of Babylon” from Revelations, who rides a seven-headed dragon. I’m not really sure what she’s supposed to represent, beyond being generally Satanic. Of course, Crowley recasted her as a sex goddess. The seven heads of her dragon are significant — seven is the number of secrets, mysteries, magic, introspection, and searching for inner truth, which have been running themes this whole time. It also signifies creation, completeness, and rest, since God created the world in seven days. In tarot, the sevens present a new challenge after the perfection of the sixes — the Seven of Wands brings new obstacles that require determination to overcome; the Seven of Cups represents imagination, dreams, and illusions, so back to The Moon again (and the illusion of the forgery); the Seven of Swords also represents deception or a con artist (like the Ceniza twins, or maybe Balkan); and the Seven of Pentacles represents a threshold or a new opportunity, and reflecting on one’s achievements. That all aligns scarily well with the situation here.

The critical illusion is that the “LCF” engraving with the burning castle is a forgery. So, Balkan sets himself on fire for no reason other than egomania. This image is similar to XVI The Tower in Tarot. The Tower is one of the scariest cards to get. If Death is a difficult but beneficial change, The Tower is a dramatic turn for the worse, complete destruction and devastation. It is struck by lightning and destroyed, going up in flames. I drew this card shortly before the pandemic hit. That was The Tower — destruction, upheaval, devastation, but with the promise of rebuilding. I also had to deal with a lot of emotional turmoil because of an unrelated thing that happened around the same time, and it shook me to my core. So, obviously the forged engraving leads to Balkan’s destruction.

The true ninth LCF engraving shows the sun shining from behind one of the castle’s towers:

Replacing The Tower with The Sun is a drastic difference. If The Tower is one of the worst cards to get, XIX The Sun is one of the best. The Sun is a good omen in every capacity. It represents everything that these engravings have been working towards — spiritual growth, fulfillment, success, enlightenment, revelation of secrets, good fortune, etc. It fits right in with Lucifer’s status as the Light Bringer, and it is the solution. (The true engraving is also very reminiscent of The Star, which directly follows The Tower, and represents hope and the light at the end of the tunnel. I drew it recently, signifying the end of my emotional turmoil.) The jagged rocks at the bottom of the castle in the other two versions are missing here, and the castle is more accessible, with a visible path. The woman gestures directly to it.

The rest of the scene is much more shadowed in the true version, which fits right in with the caption: “Now I know that from Darkness comes Light.” I, in my obsession with Shadow work, interpret this as confronting the dark parts of oneself and bringing them out into the light to become a whole person, and to grow spiritually. This goes back to the Labyrinth, needing to enter the dark Underworld or the realm of the subconscious in order to gain spiritual wisdom and finally achieve enlightenment. Everything in the engravings seems to point back to that — needing a period of introspection, reconciling of duality, obtaining safe passage through the various trials until you see The Sun, which is followed by Judgement (resurrection) and The World (fulfillment). The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows are like the seven gates of the Underworld that Inanna must pass through (and that eight-pointed star is a symbol of Inanna). Corso passes through the Ninth Gate, out of the Kingdom of Shadows and into the light.

Balkan’s interpretation is clearly off. So, let’s rearrange the engravings back into their intended order:

Silence is golden. Open that which is closed. The lost word keeps the secret. Fate is not the same for all. In vain. I am enriched by death. The disciple surpasses the master. Virtue lies defeated. Now I know that from darkness comes Light.

If you, who seek after secrets, wish to unlock the gates to wisdom and enlightenment, be wary of potential dangers and missing pieces. You can either suffer and die, or move towards your goal. You will either find a way out of the Labyrinth or find that your path is blocked. Do not pursue material gains, and miss the shadow of Death hanging over you. Face Death, and you will be enriched by it, gaining spiritual insight that will allow you to surpass your superiors and become God’s equal. After a final challenge, test of virtue or twist of fortune, you will emerge from the darkness and into the light.

Am I reading way too deep into a spooky movie? Maybe, but come on! How could I resist? Do any of you have interpretations of your own?

Sources:

https://slapphappe.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/symbolism-in-the-ninth-gate/#%3A~%3Atext%3DThe%20fire%20at%20the%20Ninth%2Cof%20the%20Kingdom%20of%20Shadows.

https://davidjrodger.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/the-ninth-gate-occult-and-tarot-like-symbolism-in-the-engravings-by-aristide-torchia-and-lucifer-plus-wider-meanings-of-the-movie/

[daeva-agas]

So like quite a long time ago I found this story that says Nobukatsu got exiled because he pissed Hideyoshi off by refusing land awards. The reason why Hideyoshi had such an extreme reaction is because Nobukatsu performed a "bad luck dance" during the victory celebration, and it brought doom and gloom and ruined the mood.

What a total shitlord, the missionaries ain't wrong when they said he's VERY similar in personality to his dear old papa.

Anyway, I did a look up as to what "bad luck dance" is. There is only one dance that came up, which is the Saisourou 採桑老 (mulberry-gathering old man). This was apparently only started to be called bad luck dance in the Edo era, but the book that contains the story is an Edo-Meiji book (forgot the date), so it's entirely possible that it is the dance that they meant. Apparently that dance is so taboo in the Edo that people don't even want to say its name like Voldemort.

Wasn't entirely thinking what was so bad about it that it would make Hideyoshi mad at first. I assumed the person thought that it was just ominous, and brought a depressing mood to the party. It's like... if you show up at a standard fare wedding wearing a gory and bloody terrifying Halloween costume. It'd make people feel uncomfortable.

But I was thinking, as said above to my knowledge this dance is NOT "bad luck" before the Edo era. If this story is either actually true or at least had originated from an older source, then Hideyoshi can't be mad because it's all doom and gloom, because it doesn't yet have the "bad luck" reputation. What triggered him had to have been something else.

I did a look up recently. In Chinese literature there is a certain plant called Fusang 扶桑. This eventually became a poetic term to refer to Japan. The "sang" is the same 桑 character as in "mulberry" (sou) in Saisourou.

The dance of Saisourou tells of an old man, nearing death, who goes to pick mulberry leaves to create longevity medicines. So in a very roundabout way, this could be interpreted as a mockery of Hideyoshi's ambition of unification at his age (collecting mulberry = conquering Japan). It's especially bad precisely because they just conquered the "final frontier", so to speak, Odawara.

Nitpicky? Yeah, probably. Then again, later Ieyasu also supposedly kicked up the Osaka battles because of roundabout convoluted interpretation of symbolism, so maybe people at the time just overthink things like that. This is why you shouldn't overindulge in poetic symbolism, folks, you might think everything is a symbol.

Also, obligatory crackshiper shitpost commentary: There is a way to interpret this in a Nobu/Hide slant, and I will laugh at it forever. I do enjoy the headcanon that if the ship is actually a thing, Nobu's spawns constantly makes snide comments about it behind their backs. Except that one. He would snark them right to their faces, as shown above. Because Nobu's name can be associated to mulberry somehow.

[duckseamail]

[ID: A picture of a book cover. Avatar Kyoshi from Avatar: The Last Airbender is pictured in a style like she was painted in ink. She has white make up on with red around her eyes and black outlining her eyes and eyebrows. She has a green shirt, and a bronze headdress in the shape of two fans. Her hair is straight behind her with two pieces in front of her shoulders. One hand is stretched out, palm up, and the other is by her face holding a yellow fan. There is a black, circular outline around her that looks like ink, and Kyoshi is staring straight ahead with a focused and stern look on her face. At the top of the cover it says “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and at the bottom, like it’s sitting in her hand, is “The Rise of Kyoshi”. Below that is “F.C. Yee with Avatar co-creator Michael Dante Dimartino”. End ID]

WOW. So The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee is just as amazing as I’d heard. I read it in just over a day because I was so captivated by the story. I think Avatar Kyoshi is so cool, even though she wasn’t in the show much, and I just loved how this book gave background to the personality that was presented in the show. I thought the stakes were raised extremely well throughout the book, from Kyoshi’s position within the household she worked for, to how she and others react to her being the Avatar. The book is mostly from Kyoshi’s point of view, and every now and then there is a chapter from someone else’s. (Mostly Jianzhu, who I do not like, but was a really interesting character.)

Also, this review may be mildly spoiler-y from here on out lol. I think my favorite thing about this book was the Flying Opera Company and how they become Kyoshi’s family. Also, they have the best name, and their interactions with Kyoshi and Rangi changing over the course of the book were so satisfying to watch. Which of course made the ending a little bittersweet. Something that I thought was interesting about this book compared to the show, is that it’s a little more dark. In the show, I think a lot of the violence is implied, or done in ways appropriate for smaller kids, but in this book, there is a lot of violence and consequences for that including death. Which was extraordinarily sad, but I like the slightly different view into the Avatar universe, with a writing style more suited to teens/adults. Also, I loved how Kyoshi spends a lot of the book learning about her morals, particularly with her view of what justice means to her, and how the different people she’s met has influenced that was a big plot point that I thought was cool.

Now, for two of my favorite quotes that I like a LOT. The first one is the section from when Kyoshi puts on her iconic makeup and headdress for the first time:

The narrow mirror resembled a tear in the veil of the universe, and from the land that lay beyond the other side, a powerful, imperturbable, eternal being stared back at Kyoshi. A being that could pass as an Avatar someday. “I’m not thrilled you’re wearing daofei colors,” Rangi said, biting her lip as she smiled. “But you look beautiful.”

“You look terrifying,” Lek added.

A lifetime ago, Kyoshi never thought she would be either of those things. “Then it’s perfect.” (pg 343)

And for the next one, I think the context would be too spoiler-y, but I wouldn’t say the quote itself is, so I’m gonna share it anyway.

Not this time, she thought to herself. Stay awake. Be present for what you have done. Look at your actions instead of turning away. (pg 384)

Honestly, the only thing I didn’t like - and this is very nitpicky - was that the ending felt kind of rushed and confusing. I’m hoping reading the next book will clear it up, though. Overall, highly highly highly recommend this book. And honestly, I think it could be read without having watched Avatar: The Last Airbender. I think there might be a couple parts that wouldn’t have as much weight as for someone who has seen the show, and there might be a couple easter eggs missed, but I don’t think it would take long to understand how the Avatar world works.

[weebtarurights]

Sakuya Sakuma SSR (Exciting Move-in Day)

Read full translation under the cut! 

Story Title: “ The Shot of Nostalgic 5 ~ Spring Troupe~ “

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ PART 1˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

Itaru: "Out of the shadow from the field of the grave this summer...." [1] Masumi: I don't understand what that means. Tsuzuru: It's a typo as usual. I mean, the other parts are still Japanese, right? Izumi: I'm back-- Masumi: Director, welcome back. Citron: Ohh! Masumi is so fast. Like a thunder speed. Tsuzuru: It's lightning speed. Izumi:: Umm... What's everyone looking at? Chikage: It's the troupe's blog before the renewal. Izumi: Before renewal? Sakuya: Yes! I was supposed to write a blog post this time too but I can't think of anything to write. Then, I remembered the old blog. Itaru: The blog itself is renewed but the old blog is still around so everyone decided to take a look. Look, here. Izumi: Wow, how nostalgic! Itaru-san originally set up the blog to promote RomiJuli, right?   Itaru: That's right. There was a company homepage made by the manager before we launched the blog but the quality was so terrible. Tsuzuru: Ah, those flashing letters and rainbow logos... Citron: It was cracking all over! Tsuzuru:  You mean, flickering. Masumi: It was so lame. Chikage: Was it that bad? Citron: The data is still around. We can check it. This one. Chikage: I see. The anachronism is impressive. Was it made 20 years ago? Itaru: Exactly. Though if you look at it now, I didn’t notice how retro it was before? On the other hand, it might have the potential to go viral… Masumi: Not likely to happen. Tsuzuru: When you compare it to the new site, the difference between before and after is too extreme. Izumi: It’s also a part of Mankai Company's site history. Itaru: Because the company’s site was like that, I created the troupe blog to serve as a little publicity. Chikage:  You certainly can't grow page views with that site. Sakuya: Speaking of, the five of us took a photo and posted it on a blog, didn’t we? Izumi: Oh, there's that too. Tsuzuru. Indeed. Citron: I remember it too! Since we're already here, why don't we talk back the blog? Masumi: Not talk back, it’s backtrack. Sakuya: Ah, here it is! Chikage: The title is... "Spring Troupe Flagship Performance, During Practice". Citron: Here’s the photo of the five of us~ Itaru: Looking at it now, that's certainly it. Masumi: It is. Tsuzuru: It surely is. Sakuya: How should I put it? I can feel the awkwardness in the photo.. Citron: Our expressions are quite stiff. Chikage: Haha, you're right. Tsuzuru: We took this photo just for the purpose of posting it on the blog. Masumi:  It looks terrible because of a certain someone's fault. Itaru: Because of someone? Chikage: You mean Chigasaki? Izumi: Ahaha..... Itaru: There was a reason for that, you know.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ PART 2˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

Itaru: Hmm... I already launched the blog but the  PV isn't increasing at all.

Sakuya: PV is the number of page visitors, right? Tsuzuru: We released this blog for promotion but it’s meaningless no one’s batting an eye on it. Citron: Since we worked hard to make it, I want everyone to see it. Masumi: But how can we make them look at it? Izumi: Hmm… Increasing the number of visitors for the site and blog... Itaru: I know! Let's take a photo. Manager: A photo? Itaru: Yes, I have a charming face and Masumi is kinda good looking too. Masumi: I don't want to hear that from you. Sakuya: Citron-san is good looking too! Citron: Sakuya is cute! Tsuzuru: .... Manager:  No one is mentioning Minagi-kun. Tsuzuru: No, you don’t have to. Masumi: He's plain. Citron: Tsuzuru is easy to get along with~! Itaru: Exactly. Tsuzuru: Don’t force it. Manager: Spring Troupe does have high beauty rate~  You know, there's this one beautiful person in the first generation too. Itaru: You mean, Yuzo-san? Manager: Yuzo-san is still the same as before. Though he was popular for being wild. Izumi : (I wonder what Yuzo-san was like when he was still part of the former Spring Troupe. I’m a little curious.) Anyways, let's take a photo and post it on the blog. Itaru: Strategy for increasing PV: Winning women's hearts by  showing  off the appeal of hardworking boys ! --- Chikage: So you took this photo with ulterior motives? Itaru: That time, we had no choice but to grasp at straws. Tsuzuru: And that was just the start of all the troubles. --- Masumi:  We're taking photos in this place? Tsuzuru: Well, we're just taking photos so this should be fine. Manager: Let's start taking photos now. I will be your cameraman--- Itaru: Director-san, can you do it? I don't trust the manager's camera skills. Manager: Eh?! Don't say that. Citron: The images from the company site are all blurry! Manager: Eh~? Is that so? I uploaded the photos I took often and put them on the site. Izumi: Then, let me take it. Itaru: The position will be... Our leader, Sakuya , should be in the middle. Citron will be here, Masumi is here. Then Tsuzuru, move here. Sakuya: Yes! Tsuzuru: Here, right? Masumi: ... Tsuzuru: Don't just go close to the director on your own!  Move over here. Citron: My spot is here! Izumi: I'll take it  now. Say cheese~!        ---*click Izumi: What do you think of this shot? Itaru: Hmm, it's a bit too bright. Izumi: Got it! I'll take another one.    ---*click Itaru: Ah, this shot is as stiff as cardboard. Delete it. Izumi: Y-yes! One more time!    ---*click 

 Itaru: Maybe it should be a little more like this? The next one-- Masumi: Annoying. Tsuzuru: Aren’t you being too nitpicky? Itaru: Hmm. We've tried various things but for some reason, none of them is satisfying. Izumi: It's difficult. Itaru: I got it. There's a sense of distance. Sakuya: Sense of distance? Itaru: There's a sense of distance between us so let's move closer together. Masumi, come over here. Masumi: How troublesome. Itaru: Just do it. Citron, move here. Citron: Okay ! Me and Sakuya, shoulder to shoulder. Itaru: Yes, Like that. Let's take another photo.     ---*click Izumi: Well, that's the photo I took at that time. Tsuzuru: As a result, the photo looked a little awkward. Masumi: Itaru was really annoying. Itaru: The most important thing is that it was well received and we got good comments. Sakuya: The number of page views went up too, right? Citron: Yes! It was a great success! Chikage:  However, it seems like the group photos haven't been updated since then. Itaru: Well, that's all of it. Chikage: I guess so.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ PART 3˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

Tsuzuru: This kind of talk makes me feel nostalgic.

Citron: It's one of my many memories! Izumi: Yeah, I remember lots of things that happened during those days.

Choice 1: “We used to know very little about each other” Izumi: When we all first joined the company, we only knew a little bit about each other. Sakuya: That's right. Tsuzuru: I was surprised when I found out that Itaru-san is a game-addict. Chikage: I didn't know anything about everyone at first. Masumi: He was pretending to be an eloquent salaryman at first. Itaru: Ah, how nostalgic. Tsuzuru: No, I don’t want to hear that from you. Citron: But now, we know a lot of things about everyone like Sakuya's favorite food, and music that Masumi loves!

Choice 2: “There were fewer people” Izumi: There were fewer people back then. Tsuzuru: You're right. Looking  back, there were only the 5 members of Spring Troupe, the director, manager, and Kamekichi. Sakuya: When I think about it now, it feels strange. Chikage:  I was not around yet at that time so it's hard to imagine. Masumi: There were no other people around when I was walking down the corridors. I couldn’t hear other people's voices either. Citron: But now, the number of people has increased and it has become very lively! When Chikage joined Spring Troupe, the sparkles powered up!

Sakuya: That's right! We haven't taken any new photos, right? I mean, the 6 of us. Citron: Ohh! That's great! Tsuzuru: Yeah, That's a good idea. Itaru: Spring Troupe's revenge photo? Masumi: I want to take another photo with you. Izumi: No, no, not my photo. We're talking about Spring Troupe's photo. Chikage: But we already have plenty of good photos with the six of us in it. Why would we take photos again?   Sakuya:  I thought that I wanted to take a more natural photo of us. That's why, I wanted to take advantage of this situation and take a photo right now. Of course, I won't post it on the blog. Chikage: Well, if you put it that way. At least we're not wearing school uniforms this time. Itaru: Retrieving Sakuya's birthday memories. Citron: Everyone wore school uniforms! It was fun! Izumi: Leave it up to the camera man. Let's move to the theater. Tsuzuru: Roger! Izumi: I'll leave the positions to Itaru-san this time. Itaru: 'Kay. Then, senpai should be in the middle-- Chikage: Why me? Itaru: You know, gathering around grandpa. Chikage: The hell. I think our leader, Sakuya, should be in the middle. Itaru: That's fine too. Sakuya, stand between Masumi and Citron..... Is it okay now? Izumi: Well then, I'll take it quickly. Sakuya: We're counting on you! Izumi: (Looking through the viewfinder, there are the 6 members of Spring Troupe.) (It's different from that time. They're snuggling up more naturally. Their expressions are softer too.) (It’s giving off a warm atmosphere, almost like a family photo.) Izumi: Hehe... Citron: Director, why are you laughing? Masumi: You are so cute as you smile like that while holding that camera. Izumi: No, it's nothing.

Say cheese! 

NOTES:

1) The term used is  "今夏い野講袁墓の幽冥ナブたい出...”. I’m not sure where they referenced this title. The kanji is all mixed up and I couldn’t get any context from it at all >////<

[shaorankun]

Guardian Chapter 86 Translation (Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi’s part)

I am currently reading Guardian (鎮魂) and when I got to Chapter 86 in the fan translation (I prefer reading in English) they did not translate this entire part. I only did a light google and didn’t find a proper translation for this so I decided to just complete it myself. I didn’t want to read the rest of the story with a chunk missing, haha. Sharing my labour here for anyone else who might be wanting to read this missing part. I didn’t know where to post this so tumblr it is...

(credit: I’m using the same title from the fan translation I’m reading)

Chapter 86: The Paper-white Face of The Young Ghost King Reflected All of His Desires, Saying Frankly, “Good-looking. I want to hold you.”

Chu Shuzhi did not think that when he returned to Dragon City the first person he would see was Guo Changcheng.

He was just released from his shackles and got back his past items that were forcibly taken by Hell. He was in a good mood. Taking advantage of the Chinese New Year break, he found a wild mass grave1 and retreated for a few days. It wasn’t until he received Wang Zheng’s message that Zhu Hong was planning on resigning that he hurriedly bought a train ticket and rushed back to Dragon City.

The crowd at the train station was bustling. Chu Shuzhi walked forward for a while, looking in all directions for a taxi, and saw Guo Changcheng’s familiar figure—the young man was carrying a huge woven bag, his body was almost curled into a ball2 and he was slowly wiggling about with difficulty.

Just by looking at Guo Changcheng you could tell he did not do much physical work. When he went to school he probably had mediocre grades in Physical Education too. Carrying a big bag, he looked like a snail carrying a heavy shell. People passing by couldn’t help but turn and look at this young man.

Chu Shuzhi was worried he recognized the wrong person at first. Glancing again, he stared at what should have be a sturdy nylon bag open up with a small gap. A lady selling corn at the roadside kindly warned, “Hey, young man, your bag is going to spill!”

Guo Changcheng turned to the voice, but probably because his things were too heavy, when he turned his body he didn’t pay attention to his feet and he stumbled into a luggage being pulled by a young lady who just happened to pass by. Guo Changcheng was flustered and before he could apologize, the young man next to the lady aggressively pushed him. “Watch it, where are you stepping?”

Guo Changcheng was already not standing steadily and once he stumbled, the ‘city wall’ behind his back rumbled and fell. The bottom of the nylon woven bag broke apart and a bunch of outrageous items noisily fell out, including pots, pans, plates and plastic bags of food and clothing. The weirdest thing was that there was also an approximately sixty centimeters in diameter and eight centimeters thick large wooden cutting board—he was basically carrying a mini Walmart.

The young man who pushed him probably just stepped from person to person to fight out a path through the crowded train station. Seeing Guo Changcheng wearing dusty old clothes, he regarded him as a migrant worker returning to the city, and was suddenly disgusted and inexplicably felt a sense of unspeakable superiority. With one hand he was pulling the lady next to him to leave and at the same time complaining, “Knowing there’d be a lot of people and still bringing so much stuff. Are you an idiot? Can you afford to pay for damaging this luggage?”

Guo Changcheng repeatedly apologized. Seeing all the items had fallen on the ground, almost looking stupid, he hurriedly crouched down to pick them up. As he saw the nylon woven bag spill from both ends, he was at a loss and helplessly grabbed his own hair, worried.

It was at that moment that a somewhat skinny hand reached over and easily took both ends of the nylon bag and made a dead knot, making it into the shape of a cloth bag, then placed the junk in the middle of it. Weighing downwards, it looked the same as holding a SpongeBob. With one hand he was able to wrap up the pieces of heavy items.

Guo Changcheng: “Chu Ge3!”

If he had a tail, his wagging could’ve been used as an electric fan. He suddenly forgot that the one standing in front of him was The Zombie Corpse King—in Guo Changcheng’s view, Chu Shuzhi was practically a saviour who fell from the sky.

Chu Shuzhi ignored him. While holding the large nylon bag with one hand, he turned towards the young man who hadn’t gone too far, and with not a good look on his face he said, “The one in front, I advise you roll back here and apologize.”

Usually when Chu Shuzhi was normal it was fine, but when his face sunk he was particularly scary, almost naturally wearing a hint of the vicious gloom of a fugitive. The young man who was just fierce looked at him, appearing fierce but was weak inside, and said, “What else do you want?”

Just as Chu Shuzhi was about to walk towards him, Guo Changcheng held onto him. “Chu Ge, Chu Ge let’s go. It was I who didn’t see just now. I’m sorry.”

Uneasy, he raised his eyes to the other and smiled, holding onto Chu Shuzhi’s cold hand. “My fault, my fault.”

The two in front cussed as they left, completely unaware that they just escaped a crisis.

Chu Shuzhi turned around and looked at Guo Changcheng and thought that not only was he so much of a saint that he was an idiot4, he was pretty much messed up in the brain. To be at this stage of no temper and no courage, even if one didn’t say he didn’t seem like a young and vigorous man, he simply didn’t even seem like a person.

Chu Shuzhi irritably broke away from his hand and pointed at the bag of groceries in his own hand. “Does your family have nothing to eat, that they’re making you spend the New Year selling groceries?”

“No, I’m helping someone deliver this. I didn’t expect the bag to suddenly break.” Guo Changcheng eagerly followed him but also felt rather embarrassed. “I, I, let me carry it, it’s not much further.”

Chu Shuzhi impatiently avoided his hand and frowned. “Lead the way.”

Guo Changcheng immediately was too scared to utter a sound and walked ahead in small steps, leading the way.

Passing by the street in front of the station, they made multiple turns and entered a small alley. They arrived at a shadowed zone of the bustling city. Inside the alley was a row of dilapidated single-story houses. Walking deep inside, a female student with a ponytail was standing at a door, sweeping the floor with a broom. When she saw Guo Changcheng she very happily greeted him, exposing the college break volunteer sign around her neck.

Guo Changcheng felt a little embarrassed when seeing the girl and unnaturally lowered his head. Sounding like a mosquito, he buzzed, “Hello.”

The young lady was not inattentive and seeing Chu Shuzhi holding a big bag, she immediately dropped the broom and helped him open the door. As she walked she asked Guo Changcheng, “Have you registered them? Did you print it out? We have to express gratitude to each person on the internet.”

Guo Changcheng, this boy, he was very slow when he did things and he wasn’t clever. At the unit the always-rushing-them-Zhao would get angry and directly scold him. But in the end when he finished, it was always done very earnestly and meticulously. The reports written, no matter how long or how important or how much paper was wasted, never had a single typo. Slowly, even their nitpicky leader couldn’t say anything.

Guo Changcheng promptly nodded and took out a pile of printed paper from his bag. In total there were seven to eight pages. On them were detailed records of who donated, what was donated, the donor’s contact address, phone number, internet name, e-mail and other information. The value of the donated items varied from Chinese Yuan5 to a Chinese cabbage. It was simply odd and by no means an isolated case.

It turns out this was led by a few of Dragon City’s universities. They were taking advantage of the winter break and came together with some social service groups to organize and create this volunteer operation called “For the Old, For the Young6”. On Guo Changcheng’s side, they specialized in targeting the elderly at the lowest rung of society who, due to various reasons, lost their ability to make a livelihood. In small groups, each were responsible for the long-term care for a set of elderlies.

Because Guo Changcheng was unable to communicate with people, he was unable to take the responsibility of relieving the boredom of the elderly so he ended up with the job of collecting donations from society. Fortunately, the volunteer team had more girls so he was able to help greatly with some physical tasks, using this break to act as a porter.

Chu Shuzhi helped them place the objects down. As it was along the way, he started Guo Changcheng’s car and brought him along to No. 4 Bright Avenue. Guo Changcheng’s palms were damaged by the rubbing of the nylon bag; he sat at the passenger seat quietly and used a wet towel to wipe it.

Since it was rare for Chu Shuzhi to be in the mood to talk, he said a few words to him. “You’re still caring about anyone, are you trying to deliver all living creatures from difficulty?”

Guo Changcheng widened a pair of ignorant eyes and looked at him with astonishment.

Chu Shuzhi changed the question. “Doing this kind of stuff, does your family know?”

Guo Changcheng silently shook his head.

Chu Shuzhi incomprehensively laughed. Then he said, “Then on New Year’s Day did you burn some incense? The way you are, your wishes would easily come true.”

Guo Changcheng shook his head again. He was extremely satisfied with his current life. Apart from his family and friends being safe and healthy, there was nothing else he’d ask for—right now his family and friends seemed safe and healthy so he thought it was better to not trouble Buddha.

Chu Shuzhi took advantage of the traffic light and tilted his head to glance at him. Guo Changcheng was not tall, not strong and also not handsome. His facial features could not be said to be good looking. He was usually very low-key and didn’t own even a single brand name piece of whatever common youngsters thought was popular. Basically you would be unable to find his type in a crowd of people. Because there was always a lack of confidence, there was absolutely never any class.

However, when he sat down and quietly didn’t say anything, his calm expression revealed something unspeakable, natural Zen.

Although Guo Changcheng was a mortal, wine and meat passing his intestines every day, he didn’t understand what practicing spiritual development was, he didn’t even understand all the words in scriptures, and all of the Buddhist Arhats in the entire world were only known through the popular TV show Journey to the West where he only recognized two of them: one Guanyin, one Tathagata. Due to a problem with the actors, even now there was doubt towards the gender.

But Chu Shuzhi could sense that he was acting without regard for others and was peacefully and quietly building something.

It was neither the well-being of this life nor the virtue of the next life.

With Chu Shuzhi’s eyesight and cultivation, he only hazily had a feeling. As for what it was specifically, he couldn’t clearly tell.

Despite Chu Shuzhi not understanding what Guo Changcheng was thinking when doing these things, it didn’t stop the sudden uncomfortable feeling in his heart. There seemed to be a bit of resentment and dissatisfaction.

Even without mentioning anything else, with this child being covered from head to toe in three chi7 thick of virtue, shouldn’t he be living a peaceful and happy life? Why was it that he was born with an unlucky fate? Although everyone knew The Book of Life and Death regarded merits and demerits as very much nonsense, yet didn’t Hell use it rather brazenly?

He stopped speaking. His fanboy Guo Changcheng also didn’t have the courage to actively bring up any topics. The two of them remained silent all the way to No. 4 Bright Avenue. The curtain of night had already descended and all human and ghosts were present.

Once Chu Shuzhi entered the Criminal Investigations division, what came into view first was a group of demon and ghosts with a pair of blank eyes, as if they were collectively hit by a lightning strike.

Before he could even ask what was going on, he saw Wang Zheng turn her head over, trembling as she asked, “Chu Ge, did you know of the matter that Teacher Shen… Shen Wei, was really the Ghost Slayer?”

Chu Shuzhi froze for a bit. After a while, he calmly said, “Oh, that moron Zhao Yunlan, what is he doing that he didn’t come? Where is he? Ran away after messing things up?”

Da Qing was on the side and meowed, “He plunged into Wang Chuan waters.”

Chu Shuzhi: “……Love problems? Suicide?”

Da Qing and Zhu Hong had gotten over the initial shock and already calmed down.

Zhu Hong knew that Zhao Yunlan had on him the Water Dragon Pearl and any place that had water would not be able to harm him. She had just placed the Water Dragon Pearl around Zhao Yunlan’s neck and it was already being used. Zhu Hong felt that if she was a little more suspicious, it would feel like her Snake Uncle Four already knew of something beforehand.

Zhu Hong said, “My guess is that he’s looking for the Ghost Slayer.”

Chu Shuzhi took a quick look and saw that other than Lin Jing, who was still out in the field and already said he’d be taking the midnight train, the No. 4 Bright Avenue members were already all present. With both hands in his pocket, he leaned back against the office door. “I think, let’s have everyone talk about what they separately know. It’s been a mess recently. Let’s focus on the information and figure out what’s really happening. What to do—”

Speaking until here, Chu Shuzhi’s voice suddenly paused, his complexion suddenly didn’t look too good. This made everyone very nervous: “What did Chu Ge think of?”

“Wait, Shen Wei is the Ghost Slayer?” Chu Shuzhi’s face turned green. After a while he muttered, “Fuck I’ve messed up. I’ve teased him so many times before!”

……That’s why they sometimes say that being super calm was just your reflex arc taking too long.

---

野墳坡亂葬崗 [Yě fén pō luàn zàng gǎng] - Not really sure how to translate this. My best guess is it’s a random unmaintained grave. Probably some area with lots of dead bodies like after a war or something.

His body almost bent into a period. A period in Chinese looks like a hollow circle: 。

哥 [Gē] – Brother

Here Chu Ge was thinking that Guo Changcheng ‘Holy Mothered to idiocy’, he holy mothered so much he became ill. Holy mother being The Holy Mother; The Virgin Mary or a goddess.

人民币 [Rén ​mín ​bì] – Renminbi; China’s currency. Yuan is the unit. ‘Chinese Yuan’ is used in international contexts to refer to renminbi.

The name is 老吾老、幼吾幼 [lǎo wú lǎo, yòu wú yòu] – This probably comes from the phrase “老吾老，以及人之老，幼吾幼，以及人之幼” (lǎo wú lǎo , yǐ jí rén zhī lǎo , yòu wú yòu , yǐ jí rén zhī yòu) meaning to honour the elderly as we do our own aged parents and to take care of other’s children as if our own.

尺 [chǐ] – (unit) Chinese foot. It is 1/3 of a meter.

The rest of the chapter can be found here.

[lunathewafflelord]

Is there anyone else out there who really doesn’t like LOL Surprise toys?

I could go on and on about why I dislike them, but here’s a few of my biggest problems:

Plastic. So. Much. Plastic. Not much to say about this other than what NextJen has said.

They’re not very appropriate for children, especially the OMG dolls. A lot of the clothing the LOL Surprise dolls wear is a bit suggestive, sometimes akin to what you’d see in a PG-13 movie, and the characters are BABIES. As a teenager or young adult toy they’d be pretty good, but not as much for small children.

Glitter. Normally I like glitter, but they have so much glitter without any kind of sealant and from what I’ve seen it gets everywhere.

The big surprise “balls”. There’s a few complaints about these.

1- they’re not actually a ball, they’re only half of one. This is probably extremely nitpicky, but it does seem a bit like false advertisement. I get that they need it to be able to lay flat, but they could make that possible without making a “ball” not be an actual ball.

2- you don’t really get anything special with them. Sure, you get exclusive dolls you couldn’t get normally but other than that there’s not much other stuff. When Pokémon makes bigger card sets there’s stuff in them you wouldn’t be able to get in a normal card expansion pack. You get something special such as a pin, jumbo card, sometimes even lanyards and figures. Perhaps they could add some special furniture or just something that makes the big surprise balls more worthwhile. not just crappy dolls.

Another big problem I have is the quality. From what I’ve seen, the quality can be very crappy. Sometimes they almost look bootleggy.

okay I think that’s pretty much it. Thanks for reading this.

Yay