#we're also adding two new characters cause why not | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

this-is-a-name-dont-worry · 2 months

Text

things that seemed reoccurring this update:

- Meat

- peas

- jelly

- Hibernation

- Eddie's absence

- Acting out a script (Sally mumbling asking if it's her cue and Howdy changing the script of the narrator in Homewarming storybook, characters general interactions with the narrator, different moments in the video, like the Sally and Frank ad break or the song a barely silent night, where the two literally fight over who get to sing, Sally mentions she wrote the lyrics, and Frank says she already has a song. yeah all of these are easy to see as meta goofs in the original material, but it's the fact there's so much of it this update) (of course all this wrap up with the end of the video where Eddie and Frank are obviously acting off script)

- Being alone (Eddie not having any news of anyone and not even seeing anyone outside (which is interesting as the story says that Sally was up in a tree near his home and saw him fret over having nothing to do), Wally saying it's so quiet during Homewarming and it's just he and Home for a while (potentially the show putting out a christmas special and then being on break? can a show do that?), and in the normal website material, the end of "An ode to hibernation", Frank saying "Where all that's left is me", the "me" being a "...me?")

- Welcome Home being used to sell stuff (cigarettes, medicine, eggnog, cereals, and the cookbook lists ingredients that are a specific brand)

(I'm putting under read more my rambling thoughts so you can just reblog the list without having to see them)

so I can't really make sense yet of all the food stuff. Maybe there are cultural elements/expressions I don't know that explains it? But I still find it very interesting how fucking unhinged that cookbook is yet the commercial and the website treat it normally. The cookbook is overall extremely interesting, because some of the recipes seem to actually be written by the characters; Barnaby who only presents you weird hot dog dressings with pictures but no recipe (and all jokes), Frank who lists not just the ingredients but also the material, and overexplain each steps (at least overexplain compared to the other recipes. it's actually interesting to know why you do x or y), and Julie who turns her recipe into a game at the end, and felt a bit harder to follow? anyway.

The cookbook, the Homewarming tradition of hanging a ham in the tree, Santy Claus being said sometimes instead of Santa, the ham for Santa? Once again, the christmas commercials being so casual about some of the weird stuff it says and presents? This almost feels like an alien who only has a blurry grasp of Christmas and what humans enjoy made the cookbook and the live commercial.

Sometimes, Welcome Home feels like it never actually aired and produced things, but we're making it retroactively exist. Something is making it exist. Like a retcon of the universe, "What do you mean you never heard of Welcome Home? No, of course it always existed and was very popular, look at all this old material we find!"

So maybe whatever is making it exist doesn't fully get humans and accidentally creates things that are weird to prove its existence. Like a cookbook that tells you a single pea in a buttered plate is a classic meal, or that of course you give Santa ham on Homewarming! (tbh almost getting an AI weirdness feel)

But in total contrary, in its story, Welcome Home also feels like it always existed, but got somehow completely wiped from people's mind, as something caused its sudden stop, and its characters gained consciousness of what they are and their world. As an existential dread fell on them one after the other, slowly realizing something isn't right. As Eddie felt anxiety and nervousness over no one being there or contacting him, to then having the story acts lightheartedly about it, the narrator saying things have been solved but he doesn't feel it, and suddenly Home is staring at him.

Both "It never existed but the universe is being retcon into it existing" and "it existed but something terrible happened that erased it from peoples mind" seem plausible. If two theories contradict each other, that means there's a third one that needs to be found.

Maybe it existed. Maybe it truly was popular, but something corrupted it, leading to its disappearance. A disappearance so big it stopped to exist. And now the thing that corrupted it is trying to crawl back, make it exist again, but it's making it come back completely off.

Anyway.

Also, I think the show may have been on hold during the Holiday season, "hibernating", and the character who got some self awareness realized that something was off. They're alone because there's nothing new, so no one is there bringing life to the neighborhood.

#welcome home #anyway there is an existential nightmare going on that's for sure #also at one point writing my rambling I thought about metaphor for capitalism #the show gains succes and so there's a push to make money out of it. capitalism is corrupting it until it goes in shambles.#now a few decades later banking on nostalgia to make profit is what big things do #bringing back the thing from your childhood to show it again but it's off because what brought it back is not love for the thing #it's being brought back because of capitalism. the thing that corrupted it in the first place is trying to bring it back.#sorry i still ramble in the tags :x

222 notes · View notes

zero-ek · 4 days

Text

As soon as Yuu was released the first thing i did was to listen to her voice lines, not only because of who is voicing her (the Sailor Moon!!) but because i was very curious as to what sort of dimension her voice would add to her character.

And it's particularly interesting the way that her voice sells how... empty she is, like not only in that losing her memories destroyed her sense of self and her morality (like i had initially expected), but in that she doesn't seem to have a firm grasp of anything beyond the ideas of "Yuu", Shii, the list, Magical Girls and Witches. Like, it's like she doesn't even know what being a human even is.

That much is obvious just in the way she speaks, like she keeps switching back and forth between multiple voices and running over her own words, like she speaks out of muscle memory and can't control the sounds that her mouth makes. But also, some of the stuff she says is... concerning, here's a few lines:

(I got these from her F*ndom quotes page i didn't know where else to find them)

"We're together today too... is that the same as yesterday? Does that mean tomorrow's gonna be the same!? And two days ago too? I guess after tomorrow too... wait so even today too!?"

From her first login, notice how by the end of the sentence she forgot about whay she said at the start completely. Also it's hard to convey through written text but, not only her sense of object and spacial permanence is nonexistent, she seems to genuinely have a hard time undertanding the concept of time:

"Did you just say good morning? Oh that must mean it's morning nowiseewaitdid i... did i sleep? I'm bummed... no i'm not, aha! Morning!"

Her morning login.

"Did you just tell me good night...? 'Good night' is what you say when you're done for the day!? So if we keep repeating 'good night' forever, can we stop tomorrow from coming...?"

Her night login

A couple of her lines showing her extremely short memory, and how it affects her fundamental understanding of things:

"Man, i'm so hungry... WAIT! I think i was just full...! Which was it! Doesn't it really suck how you can never tell what's inside of your tummy?"

Noon login.

"Sorry! I...! What was i thinking about? Do you know? Can you tell me? What a bummer, what a bummer... Wait, what was i bummed about?"

Her standard login (honestly same).

"I gotta get goinghmm...? Where was i going again?"

Story end 3

"If your arms or your legs get really old, then why not just rip 'em off? It's gonna grow new ones so it's okay, here, lemme help you!"

Tap 4.

"Nagisa-chan loves cheese, meanwhile i have 'someone'... 'someone' is me! So don't forget about cheese and 'someone' even when tomorrow comes, alright?"

Magical release 1

"Y'see, ghosts only come from the past, they don't be coming from the future! So why... can i only go to tomorrow?"

Magical release 2

Also this one is just, man...

"No matter how many times time turns back, i'll keep doing the same thing! 'Cause i don't wanna pretend that all the times i messed up and all the times i was sad weren't real!"

Tap 8

It's also extremely unnerving how genuinely childlike and innocent her "main", higher pitched voice is, like i can't explain why but it really sells that she does what she does all because she genuinely doesn't know any other way to live, not least because it seems she wholeheartedly doesn't seem to be able to think beyond the current moment, like she just goes with the flow of time without having anything to ground herself on.

I think that, while having a fully fledged design added to her "inhuman" factor in a creepy manner, like, compounding to the idea of this beastly Magical Girl that rips people's organs off, her voice made her "inhuman" in a much crueler and sad way, in that it served to illustrate that she is the way she is because it's quite literally the only way of living that she knows.

#magia record #yuusa yumeno #i only skimmed her MGS but these got me thinking about her a lot #particularly as a memory bad individual myself #Also i haven't seen anyone mention this but her casual l2d reeeeally drives home the Kuchisake onna parallels #I genuinely didn't think she'd blink when i first saw it

92 notes · View notes

williamaltman · 27 days

Text

Ok so, I've been wanting to talk about the whole episode 5 recollection thing ever since we saw it on the previous trailers, and since there were more shots of it in the new one too I'm gonna take the opportunity...

So, in all the little shots we've seen, we have Louis going at Lestat. So I'm guessing the idea is that they're gonna make the """fight""" actually more of a fight and not just Louis getting beaten.

Personally, I am pleased with this, because I think it's basically the best way to deal with this whole mess. I never had an issue with Lestat and Louis "fighting". What I have issue with is how extremely violent it was, how Lestat actually seriously hurt Louis. If it had been just a punch or two (though that would already be domestic abuse) I wouldn't have been fazed, but his whole body was bruised and bleeding. There was a trail of blood when he got dragged across the street. He took months to heal. In their little "fights" (actually not sure if it's more than one) in the book, Louis was completely fine. Lestat never truly hurt him physically.

So, to sort of get into a writers mindset I guess, how could you "fix it"? Well, I don't think they could say it's a fake memory. I'm sorry but the idea that it was implanted by Armand for example is just ridiculous to me. I don't think it even makes much sense in the first place, but besides that, I hate the idea of just blaming Armand to make Lestat seem better. This black and white idea of one of them being the "bad boyfriend" and the other the "good one" that comes from both sides is NOT true to the characters imo, and I also think it's a shitty narrative to go with, storytelling wise.

Besides that, I'm not sure how else you could fully retcon it and say it was fake. I saw people theorizing that only the drop was fake, but again that seems to rely on the Armand fake memory theory, and I honestly don't think they'll retcon it since it was kinda the whole point thematically from what the writers said (that it's a parallel to Paul and that they were "very pleased with themselves" for it). And clearly the initial "fight" is not fake from the new shots we got. Obviously "Louis made it up" is not an option. I remember people talking about how it was from Claudia's POV, which I honestly don't remember whether that part was supposed to be from her diary or not, but even if that's the case the most that could do is establish that the details of the fall are messy because she wasn't there to see it, and that maybe Lestat wasn't so "triumphant" after it.

Lestat attacked Louis, just because he THOUGHT Louis wanted to leave with Claudia. He started it, which does matter imo (I don't think they can change that to it being Louis) and it was completely unequal. I know this fandom is lowkey plagued with gender role discourse, but Lestat, as a stronger vampire, has a huge advantage against Louis, akin to a man hitting his wife, but probably even bigger due to supernatural strength.

And that is to say, technically the main problems will probably still be there. Which is how it should be imo, cause after doing that they have to commit to it, at least to some extent. The idea should not be to fully exonerate Lestat, but to basically soften the blow (literally and figuratively) by adding some more nuance to it. The writers said themselves that they want Louis to be belieavable as a victim.

So, I'm guessing that what we're gonna see is Louis defending himself, getting some hits against Lestat, and that Lestat was hurt too, and maybe something new about the fall. Which honestly is gonna give me some peace of mind. I get why people don't like the idea of discrediting Louis' account of the event, and of how the fandom can turn on him if he's not some perfect victim... But there was (is) just something in me that can't fully ship Loustat as much as I did before with that having happened.

Like, for a while I have basically just chosen to ignore it as much as possible. I don't rewatch the episode, I skip it during reactions, I skip the beginning of episode 6 where we see how Louis is after. I have acknowledged it many times but more as like a meta thing that happened. I probably wouldn't say it's triggering, but it just crossed a line to me and I'm gonna welcome (almost) anything they do to make it less bad than it seemed, not because I want for Louis to come off as a liar or anything but just like... For my own relief, to kinda have a bit of weight off my shoulders when watching the show and shipping them? Obviously I don't know anything for sure and I might be wrong about some things I'm guessing, but not having it be so one-sided at least already helps a bit. (Please don't come here to say I'm a weak bitch who can't handle dark gothic romance or some bullshit like that. I've already talked about that back when the scene aired and if you think it's a simple as that you're probably just dumb and insensitive)

#interview with the vampire #iwtv #amc iwtv #loustat #louis x lestat #lestat x louis #louis de pointe du lac #lestat de lioncourt #discourse #iwtv discourse

26 notes · View notes

felixcloud6288 · 2 months

Text

I played Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition without playing the original version. I knew going in that Patty was a new character and Flynn wasn't playable in the original. And I could feel it.

Be aware my criticisms here come from a place of love. I absolutely loved playing this game and my complaints are because I wish it had done even better.

Patty's character arc is entirely disconnected from the story. There are several incidental moments where we get some development for Patty's arc while doing something else, but those moments never tie back into the main plot. And there are several instances, including the conclusion of her arc, where the story gets put on hold and tells you to do Patty's quest.

Furthermore, Patty never actually contributes to any conversation the party has. She might give a comment or two but nothing she says actually moves the conversation forward. The only times she's actually talkative are the scenes focused on her.

Meanwhile, I always felt like Flynn was just a temporary party member, even after he permanently joined the party. Admittedly, the original story caused Flynn to be doing things separate from the party so it wouldn't be easy to get him in the party often.

When I tried to figure out why I always felt like he wasn't really a party member, I originally chalked it down to his lack of presence in the party. If you had him participate in every fight he could, he'd be in less than 10% of every fight in the game.

Flynn also is not in several important story events. Two of the most egregious moments are the big climactic moment in the second act (and right before then, there was a more personal concern Yuri was dealing with that you'd think Flynn would also have) and the hope spot moment in the third act.

At first, I thought my issue could be solved if Flynn was in the party during those and a few other moments in the game, but it still didn't shake the feeling I had. Theoretically adding him into more of the plot didn't make him stop feeling like a temporary party member.

I eventually figured out what was bothering me so much. Flynn is never in the party during any downtime moments. There is never an instance where the party doesn't know what to do where Flynn can help them decide what they want to do. Each time he joins the party, it's when the party has already decided on what they'll do so it feels more like "We're going to do the thing...and Flynn's gonna help."

#original post #media analysis #tales of vesperia

17 notes · View notes

valiant-portabella-pirkko · 6 months

Text

ok so I actually completed SotO's new story chapters on day 1, but I've taken a little while to put my thoughts together on it. some of it's good, some not, but I did my best to be fair and direct on it.

so anyway here we go, major spoilers under the cut!

The Good

I like the map, I like the writing direction, I like the lore. I liked most of what we got, honestly. dungeon fixes, customizable character screen backgrounds, bugfixing the new 'green circles' mechanic, and adding a mount ley-line toggle are also all huge things that people have been wanting, and I'm very very glad they listened.

Peitha is shaping into an absolutely fascinating character too, and it's getting a lot more obvious why she connected to the Wayfinder so quickly... they feel very much cut from the same cloth, two strong leaders fighting to make their worlds better. and yet they're also burdened by the weight of that choice, and the sacrifices that must be made for their vision to be made into reality.

moments like this hit me like a bag of bricks; there's so much going on in the Kryptis homeworld. it's fascinating starting from the perspective of the Ward, seeing them all as just these vicious invaders... to now finding out they have names, ambitions, homes, maybe even families. we're told time and time again that their motivation is fear. the Wanderer, Irja, the little grunts we kill en masse to power the beacons, even Heitor herself.

'There's a version of this world where she joined us.'

like... just thinking about that. man. a version where Heitor hadn't lost hope so completely that by the time we come along, Peitha informs us that she wanted to die-- if only because she knew that at least we'd make it quick. it's horrifying to think about on its own, but the reality that it didn't have to be that way makes it so much worse.

it's... such a clear illustration of why their world has to change. they're fighting and dying to preserve the status quo not because it brings them comfort or privilege, but because they've been living in hell for so long that they don't believe an alternative exists. for as alien as the Kryptis seem to us, we're every bit as alien to them.

it feels like there's a really solid direction here, and I hope that it continues being solid through to the end. I could talk WAY more about my feelings on the story, but I'd better keep going.

I also like the Convergences; they're fun and I hope they survive. having public vs private instanced content seems to cause issues with publics staying populated long-term though, which... concerns me. I STRONGLY prefer publics just because you can bring Jade Bot protocols in, which makes it easier to travel freely and keep boons.

and now that I've dug into all that, uh... let's get to the less fun stuff.

The Bad

there's a lot of things to like about this release, but there's also a lot to... Not. the main 'drop' for Convergences outside of raw essences are Concealed Unstable Kryptis Essence Coffers... lootboxes which can only be opened with an Unstable Kryptis Motivation, which at the moment costs... upwards of 10 Gold per pop if you buy them off the TP. the only other way to get them is grinding tier 2 and 3 rifts, and good luck getting one because they're RARE.

I do not like this direction, for a LOT of reasons. the biggest one should be pretty obvious: it's making a portion of the victory rewards inaccessible to players who can't shell out the gold or the rift farm time to get the keys OUTSIDE the Convergence. the other is that the rewards aren't even worth 11 Gold anyway, so the coffers are dropping rapidly in price while the keys stay high. at this point it's arguably better to just sell the keys on the TP than to ever actually use them. the market on these is gonna get wacky I'm sure.

I don't want to see that become a trend. just.......... no.

the other main gripe I have is that... there's no portal of entry in and out of Inner Nayos. no, really. you can't get in and out at all without porting one way or another. it's right next to the Wizard's Tower but there is no entry point connecting these two maps. I thought I was going insane at first so I turned on the story again while in the Wizard's Tower to see if it'd point me towards a door. nope! it just sticks the story star icon on the Inner Nayos map and calls it a day.

aside from making travel in and out unnecessarily irritating and costly, this also means that you can't easily get alts into the dang map without a TP to friend. otherwise you have to do the story on them, whether you're ready and willing to or not.

I don't like that shift either, and really hope they remedy it when the 'under construction' gate opens in the future. that said, that should have been made available as soon as you finish the story.

and now the final segment, you know where this is going.

The Ugly

it's... short. really, really short. like, no, really. I finished all the story chapters in an hour and a half tops. now at maybe three, four days in I already have enough mastery points to top off the last mastery in the new line. I've map completed the new zone twice. both of the new Vault tasks are done. everything went so so so so fast.

and for reference: this cycle is going to last even longer than the last, based on the Vault reset time period.

additionally, the weaponmaster training underwent a stealth change: the new weapons can no longer be equipped on characters under level 80. this was not listed in the update notes. while that didn't affect me, it does seem kind of cheap to pull the rug on that when a lot of players were using that to level their characters since, well... a lot of core weapons just aren't that great. I can't really blame anyone who would rather use weapons that don't hit like a wet paper towel.

there have also been some... interesting bugs on release, of which the biggest one was unlimited hero's chests per day from the Inner Nayos meta. some people got a month's worth of chests in one day before they turned the chest drops off entirely to fix it.

they're back now, but that was still... something to behold.

I've also heard rumors that the new Legendary Kit from the Vault may be bugged; some players are reporting opening the kit and getting nothing out of it. I can't confirm how frequent that issue is, but... yeah that's a little concerning. I'll hold onto mine for now, just to be safe.

Overall Impression

despite the many sore points mentioned, overall I'm... okay with it. I like what we got, but I wish there was more there to like. from the much smaller Vault selection, to the shorter story, to the single-waypoint but otherwise very cool map that feels like it could have more going on in certain areas... I dunno.

but on the other hand... if my biggest complaint is that I like it enough to want more of it, that's an alright problem to have when we know we're going to get more. I'd be more worried if what we got was a miserable slog and I didn't even want to return to the maps-- and in fact, the opposite is true! I want to return to the map frequently and I want more to do in it-- and mostly I want easier access to it.

my hope is that the slowdown is an indication of resources being put into other backend work, such as the dungeon fixes, the character select screen, and so on. because, realistically, if they can fix up the core more, that would streamline their workflow a LOT and make it easier and quicker to work on things in the future.

I guess in short, my impression is... tentatively optimistic.

that's all I've got on it for now, maybe I'll talk about story more in-depth in the future though because boy I do have a lot of thoughts on that-- which... is part of why I had to redo this post like 6 times. it kept getting way too long and rambly over story. (oops)

#my posts #soto spoilers #gw2 soto #secrets of the obscure spoilers #secrets of the obscure #i did my best to be fair to it in terms of my thoughts and feelings and give an honest but earned opinion on it #hopefully it's at least mostly coherent lol

21 notes · View notes

greatqueenanna · 7 months

Note

Hi 🍁 so you've listened the complete Forces of Nature series? I'm surprised that you said it's the worst installment into the franchise. It's because Snow Sisters and Kristanna were in the background or the solution of the story was unsatisfying? The theme of trust and Otherness of Arendelle sounded interesting. And how do you think, what of these elements/motifs can be transported in F3? I don't mind conspiracies :}

Yes - I have access to it for a short time on Wonderly+, where it was released early before October 11th.

Ok, I have to admit, saying it's the worst installment was probably overexaggerated on my part. It is fun for what it is, and I'm sure many fans of all ages will find things to love about it. And as I said, everyone should give the podcast a chance regardless of my own opinions.

However, I think I was just taken aback by how much Disa and Wolfgang were forced into the narrative when we have plenty of established characters (Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf, Mattias, Ryder, Honeymaren, and Yelena) that could've had an opportunity to have some fun side content here that was instead given to these two new characters. I get it - they don't want to add new things or lore to the characters because it's a bit restrictive. However, you can easily take what is already established and build a nice, satisfying side story. Forest of Shadows was able to get away with adding depth to Anna and Elsa that didn't interfere with their developments in Frozen or F2. Why can't we do this here?

Example - why couldn't Ryder have Wolfgang's role instead? Imagine Ryder trying to explore and understand Arendelle, building a relationship with Kristoff and Mattias, while having solo episodes writing to Yelena about his experiences. Or, imagine Honeymaren grows an interest in Automatons, but then she and Elsa clash a bit about experimenting too much with them (adding depth to their relationship). Or how about Anna encountering other royals who feel strongly about Arendelle's magical allegiances, leading to Anna having to build the confidence to stand by her sister and the Northuldra. More about Kristoff learning to be a leader. Or maybe Olaf actually being the character to write an opera over Wolfgang. There is so much content you could explore with the characters we already have that introducing new ones just seems like a huge waste.

And how do you think, what of these elements/motifs can be transported in F3? I don't mind conspiracies :}

Well, either the elements introduced were just unique to Forces of Nature and the writers just didn't flesh them out well, or it's possible that they are not explored in depth because they are hints to what we could expect in F3.

Anna faces people who question Arendelle's allegiance to magic, testing her confidence as Queen and the strength of her relationship with Elsa and the Northuldra. Elsa grows a fear of trusting new people, as the fear of magic can cause a lot of damage (both Elsa and the Nprthuldra know this too well). Kristoff learns the skills necessary to become a leader himself since he is one day going to rule beside Anna. Trust seems to be a big deal in this podcast, and these elements (whether it is the trust of oneself or others) and if it continues into F3, then we're basically looking at -

F1 - Fear vs. Love

F2 - Fear vs. Change

F3 - Fear vs. Trust

But again, it's just a crazy theory. Cough cough cough also, trust being a thing can lead to Hans showing up again as an anti-hero or villain that the heroes either need to learn to trust or he takes advantage of the trust of others cough cough cough. Wow. What a crazy cough. I need to get that checked out.

#Frozen 3 #forces of nature #frozen podcast #frozen: forces of nature #greatqueenanna/responses

17 notes · View notes

tobiasdrake · 29 days

Text

The Gaslighting of Kyon No-Real-Name-Who-Gives-A-Shit!

FUCK YOU THE ONE AND ONLY CHARACTER WHO'S ACTUALLY DIED IS HERE

I got chills when I realized who just walked into the room. Not only is she alive but she has Haruhi's desk, for that added twisting of the screws.

Kyon's slow. He's so, so bad at following along with the plot. In his defense, he hasn't read the title of the film so it's forgivable that he takes time to make sense of what's happening. But the inexplicable resurrection of Ryoko Asakura puts it into terms that are impossible for even him to ignore.

Probably not, no.

The big Christmas Party prologue seems really important for the simple reason that it conveys how satisfied Haruhi is with her life. This sort of feels like being on the other end of what it would be like if the world-cramping had gone through. Minus Kyon being here and assuming the world didn't end up deleted, of course.

Haruhi not only no longer being physically present, but actively retconning reality such that she never existed at all. The only person who could do this is Haruhi herself, if she was no longer satisfied with this world and decided to make a new one.

But we just saw how satisfied with this world she is. So that can't be it. She wouldn't bail on her Christmas plans like this.

So I like that they took that time to erase Haruhi herself from the suspect list, which ramps up the WTF factor since... who else could it be?

GEE I WONDER WHY

I love how Ryoko is doubly menacing here despite literally just going about her business. First, because she's in Haruhi's seat so it just feels wrong. But also this girl tried to stab Kyon to death with knives. So positioning her directly behind him is very intimidating.

I don't think she's the culprit. She feels more like a symptom than a cause. An obvious red herring, like Bebe in PMMM: Rebellion Story.

It's weird that she's here, though. Like. I'm fully expecting Mikuru, Itsuki, and Yuki to not even be here. They were all sent by their respective factions to monitor Haruhi. If Haruhi doesn't exist, they wouldn't be here.

So why is Ryoko, Yuki's backup space-android, here?

Okay so apparently I'm mistaken. Both Ryoko and Mikuru are still here, even without Haruhi.

So. Follow-up question. Are they still an alien and a time traveler respectively? Or are we about to get confirmation that Haruhi did rewrite normal people into supernatural beings?

...that's not necessarily a no. She can't exactly talk about it in front of Tsuruya. Who I loathe. So it's entirely possible that she is still a time traveler but is freaked out by this random guy running up to her and trying to talk to her about it in public.

But it's equally possible that this is Ordinary Human Mikuru from before Haruhi reshaped the cosmos. Hmm.

I feel like that can't actually be true. Like. The supernatural stuff still has to be here. Because if it isn't, then where can the story even go from here? If Haruhi's gone, and Haruhi's vanishing means that none of the supernatural stuff exists anymore, then... that's game, right? No Haruhi and no Haruhi Stuff means we're done here. There is nothing more we can do.

There's no way the next two hours and ten minutes are just Kyon eating bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches until Haruhi suddenly Haruhis herself into existence again. Though that would be funny. Just spawns into existence, grabs Kyon by the arm like, "WHOOPS forgot my luggage. We're going on vacation in the lobster dimension until Christmas Day!"

OH NEVER MIND The next two hours and ten minutes will be spent burying Kyon in a shallow grave.

What the actual fuck did you think was going to happen, dude?

Honestly, that one shot of Mikuru punching Kyon in his fucking face is cathartic as hell. I want to frame it and put it on my wall.

RED ALERT RED ALERT YUKI HAS EMOTIONAL RANGE

THIS IS NOT A ROBOT

REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A ROBOT

Oh boy, we are fucked. Okay. So. "Haruhi superimposed a sci-fi framework upon existing people when she remade the universe" confirmed then.

...y'know, that really sucks for Ryoko.

#the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya #the disappearance of haruhi suzumiya #drake watches haruhi suzumiya

6 notes · View notes

faerywhimsy · 1 year

Text

TL;DR

Nobody: ....

Me: So Benji Mahmoud could have been an incredibly important and dynamic character, with relevant ties to multiple themes Prince Lestat did a good job pulling on. I would have been real happy to have seen more of his character and, since I didn't, I guess I'll settle for writing about it here.

Hyperlinks go to the posts I thought of as I wrote this.

I've been feeling pulled to post a lot of head canons that involve Benji lately and I think I'm starting to kinda stumble across why it all of a sudden feels important to me.

Like a lot of things in this fandom, it actually starts with Daniel.

Daniel is the only character we see in the original TVC trilogy, in real time, being human and then being brought into the blood. He's just Some Guy who happens to start all this shit that blows out 13 books. And that's relatable. Most series have that character through which the reader comes into the world of the story. It's an established narrative technique.

And then we get the final TVC trilogy, the three books we never thought we'd get because Anne kinda finished the series a decade before and went on to bigger and better things.

*cough* not *cough*

So we get the final trilogy. In which we are introduced to a blond, male character, human when we meet him but, oh no, he gets involved with vampires and ultimately ends up begging to be turned, then spends the rest of the series as a vampire.

Stop me if you've heard this story before.

Now I've got nothing against Viktor. His romance with Rose seems sweet, and he's always going to have a bit of the centre stage just because he's the literal genetic clone of our main protagonist, Lestat. It's a bit hokey but, you know, so is a lot of what we ended up with in the later books. We're just grateful it didn't all end with Blood Canticle and now weed out the things we like.

It's just... I can't help thinking an existing youthful vampire from TVC would have given deeper resonance to the story than introducing a new character with a similar trajectory did.

What might the last trilogy might have been like if Benji—the third human-turned-vampire we meet between these two characters—had been just a little bit more utilised. Not as a love interest, or a plot point, but for himself. Cause just his placement in time and circumstance offers a lot of narrative potential.

We first meet Benji Mahmoud as an important character in Armand's recovery after he attempts suicide. He asks to be made into a vampire, but isn't obsessed by it, pretty much accepts it and moves on when Armand tells him it can't be done. ("Oh, never. I don't have such a power. It's never done." "Then who made you?" "I was born out of a black egg." - TVA)

There's a lot of a sense that he and his companion Sybelle are replacements to a writer who no longer wished to write about Daniel in Armand's emotional trajectory, and I know that put me off both these characters for years. But the side effect is, we get a continuity to show Armand doesn't just stop after Daniel walks out on him, and can choose to read that Armand was hurting and traumatised when recounting these events to David.

Back to Benji. When Benji is turned, he is 12 years old and it's the end of 1998. There's a reason I like both of these things: 12 years old is just about the youngest I've heard any us fans picking up the TVC series of books (omg that's way too young for this content, my friends, I mourn all our brain chemistry), and the birth year of 1986 makes Benji not just a millennial, but lot closer in age and experience to a lot of us than the far off birth year of 1952 for Daniel-the-Baby-Boomer. I also think it would have been a lot easier to remember to read Daniel as not a millennial had there been another character front and centre who was.

The way I see it, Benji could have added so much nuance as a character of TVC if he'd been fleshed out. Most of the time if I remember to think of Benji in canon, he seems like the faded middle child, a plot point with a name in Prince Lestat, nothing resembling a fully fleshed out character.

And that makes me sad. Sad for his character, and sad for us. I'm not saying get rid of Viktor, don't get me wrong, I'm just saying that in a cast of 183282 vampires, there was surely enough room to do more with Benji than give him a radio show recorded within the walls of Trinity Gate.

Like, just off the top of my head: Did he ever leave those walls? Was he still as much of a smart ass with a commentary on everything after 20 years in the blood? What did he figure out that he liked to do with his time when he wasn't recording? Did he remain close to Sybelle? How did he feel about forever holding the visage of a 12 year old? What kind of evil doers did he hunt? What was his relationship with Armand? What did he think of Daniel? Was it a bit awkward coming face to face with his maker, Marius, after so long? Was he included with the guys whenever Armand, Lestat and Louis caught up? Is he more like Daniel at court, really fitting in more amongst the more ancient characters, or does he prefer coming across as one of the wiser young ones when he visits Auvergne?

Hell, if Viktor is basically Lestat's son and Benji is kinda Armand's son, what do the interactions of that Next Generation look like??

Conversely, what were Armand's thoughts beyond the immediate aftermath of Benji and Sybelle having been brought into the blood? Did he lose interest in Benji after Marius turned him? Was he protective of him? Were there times when he looked at Benji and felt woefully guilty about Claudia who died for the offence of being a child vampire? Was Benji a way for Armand to heal the mistakes he had made with both Claudia and Daniel in different ways before him? Louis and Benji live in the same house for at least 10 years together; what were their interactions like and did Armand have any thoughts on those?

#can i have a round of applause for #benji mahmoud #because apparently today I am stuck on minor character love #and a treatise of the humans we see turned into vampires during the course of the chronicles #the vampire armand #trinity gate #prince lestat #the devil's minion #daniel molloy #viktor de lioncourt #vc shitpost #nik re-reads TVC

34 notes · View notes

maiji · 6 months

Note

I'll request a reading if you're still doing them! why not. for my little guy Hana. what is he afraid of with regards to... his own history? 🤔 numbers.. 11 and 23. and if you're not still doing readings.. i hope you have a great day regardless!

I am absolutely delighted to do a reading for Hana from the webcomic Kings of Sorts! Hana seems like such a sweetie but from his very first appearance it's clear there's so much more to him than meets the eye. I'm nowhere near caught up on webcomic so this will be interesting, to see whether any patterns/interpretations we pull out manage to touch on anything that readers can already experience, or whether it just veers off into another direction of far-off general speculation. So if there somehow manage to be spoilers in this reading, I'm sorry, I had no idea either. lol

#11 was The Whip (which, by the way, is actually the eleventh card in Lenormand as well, interestingly enough), and #23 was The House. This combination actually made me gasp in light of the question. Kind of an "oh! / ohhh??" gasp. I think there's a lot of potential in terms of delving deeply into creative writing inspiration or character analysis!

The Whip is a card associated with many things that can cause pain: conflict, violence, shame, anger. And The House has already come up before, so we know it's used to represent a lot of things that seem like the exact opposite of The Whip - warmth, stability, things that make you feel cozy and happy and comfortable. But it's also associated with private matters. In other words, the exterior facade presented to the world may be brightness and cheer but there may be something much darker happening behind closed doors. I am reminded of when we first meet Hana in his home, and the scene where he talks about wanting to be able to help the people in his community in some way, any way...

In short, looking for a connection between the two cards that could be a cause for fear in Hana's history seems like we have a plethora of options. If we're being super dark - was there past punishment and suffering that separated him from things he considered home or family? Did they hurt, or were they caused by, people he would consider family? And whips are also things used to control - there's a lot of symbolism for a whip as not only a weapon and instrument of torture, but also a stereotype of a tool used to manage things seen as dangerous, wild and/or "other", like some kind of beast tamer. It has a lot of cruelty associated with it.

We don't have to go down the path of only super dark places, by the way. The Whip doesn't have to be interpreted in an extreme fashion - though I suppose with creative writing/inspiration we can often feel like that's an obvious or exciting and dramatic route to go down. It can also represent an argument, a physical activity (an injury?), something much less overtly traumatic but still play a major role in a core memory/event. Also, this Whip has flags added to it for greater control and sound effects - there's a sense that it can be for show, engineered as part of a performance.

I hope this was helpful! Thank you for the opportunity to read for Hana. Please don't be too mean to him!

---

Thanks for requesting a limited time free reading to celebrate the new edition of the Fortune Lenormand oracle/art deck!

Want to dive deeper?

Fortune Lenormand oracle/art deck - there's a free downloadable overview of card meanings!

humangray.com/lenormand - more info and resources/links!

(Note: these readings are being done with my old card deck from the original printing. There's not much difference with the new edition available in the link above - the biggest one is that the new edition has a custom box ooh ahh!)

#lenormand #readings #fortune lenormand #crabbng #kings of sorts #replies #reply

7 notes · View notes

thephantomcasebook · 9 months

Note

Streets are saying Netty isn’t a thing in the show… not enough time or space (or budget) for another dragonrider. That’s why there’s no casting news or calls at all. Probably gonna see her hinted at for two secs or erased entirely.

You know, it's funny ...

All the way back in December there were rumors that they weren't going to do Nettles and that Rhaena was going to take her place. That was also the plans in the Sapochnik Treatments.

It would be kinda amazing if it turns out that they came full circle and decided to just jettison the character all together.

If it's true, it does make for interesting speculation of how much influence GRRM has on HOTD going forward. Cause Nettles is one of his favorite characters to a point of making her skirt Mary-Sue territory. He even had Daemon - another one of GRRM's favorites - fawning and drooling all over her. In fact, in the Third Edition of "Fire & Blood" (The Show Tie-In Edition) GRRM added an entire justification for why Daemon and Nettle's relationship was okay and not weird ... which made it even more weird.

But if "The Crown" show-runner is now in charge of the scripts and HBO/WB has really taken the show away from Condal and GRRM, than I think we're about to hit a next level in terms of interpretation of canon.

Man these budget cuts and penalties are really causing havoc with the production. They've got to be writing that shit on the fly. From what I heard they cut an entire Daeron storyline as the Westeros Robin Hood in the RIverlands cause of budget penalties and they had to hire a whole new goddamn actor to play a much younger and more sidelined Daeron.

This is why you plan ahead and have all this on lockdown before you go into production!

#House of the Dragon #Nettles #Rhaena Targaryen #George RR Martin #Ryan Condal

12 notes · View notes

ragnvdnir · 2 years

Text

GENSHIN MEN WITH LYRICS FROM ALL TOO WELL (10 MINUTE VERSION) (TAYLOR'S VERSION) [PART 1]

SYNOPSIS — various scenarios with genshin characters and lyrics from all too well (part 2 soon!)

CHARACTERS — albedo, ayato, childe, diluc, kaeya, kazuha, xiao, thoma (w/ gn!reader)

INCLUDES — angst, fluff, breakups, domestic life, deaths, a mix of modern au and original setting, failed proposal, albedo losing control, reader aging old, secret affairs, reader settling in for less, noble!reader at one scene

NOTES — i added a little bit of champagne problems with dilucs second part, i hope you don't mind :")) and i also decided to split this in half since its getting long. oh and every character has two scenarios each, the others are on the part two.

“I walked through the door with you, the air was cold. But something 'bout it felt like home somehow.”

Snezhnaya was cold, you thought. It was a whole new environment for you after living in liyue for your whole life. But seeing CHILDE's smile and excitement somehow made the coldness dissapear in an instant.

He have always wanted to take you here, in his homeland, and now, it is finally happening. He can't help but grin widely at the thought of his family finally meeting you after knowing you from his letters.

“You seem happy, 'jax.” He turned to look at you before letting out a small laugh. His cheeks were rosy pink from excitement and coldness.

“I am definitely happy! I can't wait for you to meet my parents and siblings. Im sure they'll love you too!” He answered as he held your hand and warm them up then fix your coat.

Just the thought of meeting his family got you all nervous. But when you finally met them, all of the worries seems to fade away as they happily welcomed you. Asking you questions and telling stories about the younger Ajax.

You feel loved and warm by his family. They're full of bright people.

Ajax smiled to himself as he watched you chattering with his family. He leaned on the door and let out a sigh of relief.

This is what he want, for you to be one with his family.

“Oh, your disposition and my wide-eyed gaze. We're singing in the car getting lost upstate.”

KAZUHA is an awestruck prose. He seemed to be always held your heart captive whenever he open his oh so sweet lips, and he seem surreal to you.

He can always make you feel fine in a second, and he always go with the flow with you like right now, he hums along the song that is playing in your shared earphones while you sing quitely under your breath. He finds it adorable as he continued humming along the tune with you. He wished the moment to last more.

“And I know its long gone and that magic's not here no more and i might be okay, but I'm not fire at all.”

Your relationship with the calvary captain, KAEYA, has ended weeks ago, the reason for the said separation is falling out of love... He said.

You don't want him to feel forced in this relationship that's why you chose to let him go and be free on his own.

Your sudden break up with the young man has caused a gossip in the city. After all, he is very well known and your relationship with him was not that really private. Everyone just seem to find out and neither of you denied it.

For days and weeks, people keep asking you ‘why did you break up’ and ‘are you okay?’ You can only nod at them for them stop asking you already because you were getting tired telling people that you're okay.

truth to be told, you might be okay but you're not fine at all.

You also don't know why he suddenly proposed a break up with you. You don't believe that he just fall out of love like that. There must be a deeper reason behind it that he won't tell you.

“Cause there we are again on that the town street. You almost ran the red 'cause you were lookin' over me.”

DILUC was always clumsy when it comes to you. He seem to cant take his eyes off you. Even now, he didn't noticed that the traffic light went red already. He only stepped on the break when you shouted at him to.

Oh archons, he was whipped.

He apologized many times to you and promised to be more careful. You can only laugh at the blushing red-haired man and pinched his cheeks which made him burning red.

“I'll accept your apology once you stop looking at me while driving, okay?”

That one... he can't promise.

“Photo album on the counter, your cheeks were turning red. You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-sized bed. And your mother's telling stories 'bout you on the tee-ball team.”

THOMA's cheeks turned red when he saw you focusing on the photo album that his mom showed you. He sighed before sitting beside you while he placed the tray that contains snacks on the table.

“Are you done looking at it?” He asked as he closed the photo album and placed it on the table.

“Oh come on! I wasn't even done!” You exclaimed at him.

“It's embarrassing, okay?” He murmured while he took a bite of cookies that his mother made and subconsciously pouted at you which made you coo at him.

“What's there to be embarrassed about? You're adorable as a child!” You protested as you opened the photo album again and pointed at the picture of him grinning widely with his rosy chubby cheeks at five years old. “Look!”

He shook his head and continued eating while trying to calm down his pacing heart and flushed cheeks.

“Oh dear, do you want me to tell you the story of when he cried because his plant died and how he tried to revive it at the age six years old?” His mom entered the view and smirked at you and your lover.

“Ma!”

“Really!? Please do!”

“You told me 'bout your past thinking your future was me.”

When DILUC told you about his past, he was sure that he loves you beyond anything and all he really wants is to have a future with you in it.

He let you see the vulnerable and broken parts of him that he never let anyone see, except you. He wants to be bare open to you about everything about him; his life and him. He believes that being true to your lover is one of the fundamentals of a happy future.

He is happy with you. He loves you. He wants a future with you in it. Everything was already planned and all he needs to do is to ask your hand for a marriage.

But what he didn't expect is for you to ask him to separate ways. You told him there were alot of things that needs to be fixed and that includes you.

You believed that you're unworthy for him after hearing about his past. You believed that there is someone that can heal him and that someone isn't you. You saw as his world slowly revolves around you to the point that he can—and will—sacrifice his life for your eternal happiness.

And you don't want that. You don't want him to lose his life for someone like you... But now, it is slowly happening.

Unbeknownst to you, you didn't see that you are his last hope. That you are more than important to him. That you are his eternal happiness. That you are the one who keeps him sane. That... you are his life.

With you, everything is possible.

However, none of it matters right now as you dropped his hand and left him out there standing as crestfallen slowly lands on him...

“And then you wondered where it went to as I reached for you but a felt was shame, and you held my lifeless frame.”

ALBEDO can only have himself to blame for everything that happened to you. He blamed himself for allowing a relationship to sprout between you two. He blamed himself for not giving you enough time and love. He blamed himself for not paying attention on you. He blamed himself for neglecting you a lot of times.

He blamed himself for losing control...

The times that you tried to reach out to him after realizing that your relationship is slowly crumbling. The times that you were left sobbing at his outrage and ignorance. But you endured it all because that's always how Albedo is. You kept everything to yourself.

He regretted it. He regretted it all as he now held your lifeless body that he caused. He shouted and screamed for you to wake up. But you never did...

Everyone watched as he continued to lose control of himself more that is about to destroy mondstadt; to destroy everything as no one can stop him now that he lost you by his own hands.

He killed you, and he can't forgive himself even if he repented and atoned for the things he did to you.

“And I forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to.”

Loving XIAO was something that you told yourself you won't forget, ever. He was an enigma that you wanted to know. You are a curious being that pestered him every day.

He would have treasured you dearly if everything was at the right timing. He would have given you enough time if he only knew you'll forget him soon too as you grew older and older each day; your hair turning gray as wrinkles started appearing on your face in a blur.

He always keeps his eye on you even though he is slowly slipping out of your memories. Old age is making it hard for you to remember the sacred times you shared.

And when the time came that you asked for his name and who he is, he just knows this feeling is worst than his karmic debt.

To hate is something he can accept, but to forget... That is even worse than losing you. He wished that you hated and resented him instead.

Forgetting him is forgetting the love you had.

“'Cause there we are again in the middle of the night. We're dancing 'round the kitchen in the refrigerator light. Down the stairs, I was there, I remember it all too well.”

THOMA is everything you could have asked for. He is the type that everyone will want as their loyal and doting husband. That's why you feel so lucky to have him by your side.

It was 3 am when you and thoma decided to bake together. You opened the fridge open to gather some ingredients when you heard both of your favorite song started playing in the background. You glanced behind your back and saw him smiling at you. He reached out his hand to you.

“May you give me the pleasure of dancing with you?” He giggled. You can't help but do the same and gently placed your hand on his.

“I would love to,” You uttered.

It was then when the both of you got lost in the moment, forgetting the placed ingredients and bowls on the counter. Dancin’ and smiling like fools as you two laughed and twirl around the kitchen.

You won't ever forget how Thoma beamed as the refrigerator light shone behind him. You don't want this to end. You want to be with him like this for ever and ever.

“And there we are again when nobody had to know. You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath.”

Being with AYATO was hell upon heaven. Happiness exist, of course, but only behind closed doors. He was a venom, but he's also an elixir. He's a sin but a blessing at the same time. His attention was short-lived but worth it everytime. Just one touch from him and you're gone... Softly melting into his fingers.

However, having an affair with him behind everyone's back was not that easy either. Your times with him are always limited and scheduled. And you can't see how much it's damaging you. You can't see how much you've become desperate for him.

The only thing you know is that he consumes your heart, body, mind, and soul. You were ready to fall from grace for him. Everything else won't matter anymore to you if you have this thing between you and him to last for eternity, to be seen by everyone, and for you to freely shout that he is yours and you are his.

But since when did you start thinking that he is yours?

You were always his, but he will never be yours. Your heart is his to keep. His heart isn't yours to feel.

Thinking too much is slowly making you out of your rationality. You watched as he happily conversed with a fair noble lady. You watched how he smiled and complimented her. You watched as he tried to make her smile and laugh with a few jokes here and there.

The flower he gave you earlier crumpled at your raging fist. Your heart was beating faster and you couldn't think straight. The jealousy was eating you up.

Just as you were about to storm towards them and make a scene. Another noble approached you and started a conversation. You didn't have a choice but to engage in and set all the feelings aside.

Later that night as everyone was seated around the big dining table. You were seated on Ayato's left side as an idea came into you that will prove if he's really committed to this thing between you two and if he can take risks and sacrifices for you.

You gathered courage as your right hand slowly approached his left hand that is resting on the table. Just as you are about to fully take his fingers, he smoothly brushed them off by using that same hand to grab his cup.

You felt your heart slowly shattered at this actions. You immediately drew back your hand to grab your chopsticks to eat. As you were chewing the food, you felt your eyes watered and you excused yourself. Ayato didn't even bother to send you a glance as you went out with a broken heart.

It was then that you realized that you are the only one who's willing to go far for this thing between you and him to progress. You cherished him, and he does too, he said, but not much as you do.

To him, maybe you're just a thing; an affair to be kept as a secret. But to you, this is love. He is the love that you oathed for.

146 notes · View notes

scaracoochies · 1 year

Text

‘Tis the season!

Summary: A short series of genshin characters & reader doing holiday activities

Category: Fluff

Reader: Gender Neutral

AN: Hello Readers! >:) I’m gonna be honest, I had intentions to upload this on Christmas but the holidays have been pretty hectic (as they normally are) so lets just pretend that it’s still Christmas and all of you are in your comfy pajamas drinking hot coco and eating cookies by the fire and shit. Enjoy >:D

Also I will be adding to this series as I have more unfinished ideas so expect other characters very soon!

❅ Venti ~ Christmas Caroling

"Come on out Reader, I'm sure you look magnificent as ever! ...Heh, not to mention we're already late."

You stomped out of your room in a ridiculous elf costume, staring down at your overly optimistic companion. Venti put his hand on his chin while looking your frame up and down.

"I'll never forgive you for this." Venti silently dismissed your comment and continued to inspect your new look.

"See, it's not that bad! Actually, it turned out a lot better on you than I originally thought!" Venti grinned while scratching the back of his head, a clear attempt to uplift your spirits.

"Venti, I look STUPID. These oversized ears are corny as hell and I can't feel my toes in these shoes- Also why are the reds two different shades?!" you groaned in agony. You almost started to laugh at how humorous this disaster of a costume looked. "And you look so much better than me- Venti, I never agreed to this! I said I would help you FIND a replacement. Not BE it!"

Venti spoke up after letting you blow off some frustration, making sure to choose his next words carefully.

"But why waste time finding a replacement when the best option is sitting right here! I swear to Barbatos that I will make this an enjoyable experience for you." Venti held his hand over his heart dramatically.

You didn't feel any better in the slightest. The costume fit your body awkwardly and the sheer idea of standing out in the cold singing as Santa's gremlin was less than ideal.

You walked away from Venti to go sit in a corner and sulk, causing him to sigh at another failed attempt. He had to think fast if you both were going to make it there and going without you when he had already promised everyone you'd be there was not within his plan.

Then suddenly, Venti perked up with a great idea in mind. He quickly changed his tone to one of defeat.

"Alright then. I suppose if you truly don't wish to go, it is understandable. And the poor Ragnvindr brothers just seemed so excited to see you there. Guess I've got to break the bad news to them." Venti said with a mischievous smile.

Though his voice appeared remorseful, his face on the other hand did not. Your back was facing him and even you could see through his farce.

"Ugh, Fine. You win."

"Perfect! We should be on our-" you stopped Venti before he could celebrate too much. "Not so fast." you stood up and faced him, completely serious.

Venti turned and looked at you in confusion, his bright eyes laced with concern.

"Huh, what's wrong now?"

"I'll go but only under one condition." A devious smirk grew on your face as the suspense slowly brought Venti’s breathing to a halt. Though you knew it would need some adjusting, you rather go as Santa than his dumb elf.

"We switch costumes of course."

❅ Diluc ~ Making Hot Coco

You hopped down off of the stool and looked back up at your work. A smile of satisfaction slowly spreading across your face.

"There! That’s the last of it." You had just finished your shift at the Angel Share cafe and had offered to stay behind to help finish decorating the place. You loved working here, often coming here even in your free time to enjoy the cozy atmosphere. Not to mention it appeared even more magical during this time of year.

Diluc gently sat the glass he was drying down on the counter and walked over to your side. You watched as Diluc skimmed over the final result.

"Hmm, Nice!" He said flashing you a warm smile. "Thank you again for the help. I should have you assist with decorating more often."

"Oh stop- you flatter me," you confessed. "...Please, keep going." Diluc rolled his eyes in amusement, dismissing your blatant honesty to be nothing more than a mere joke.

"Here, let me treat you to a cup of hot chocolate before you leave for the night. I've been testing out a new recipe and I figured you’d be just the right person to try it out. If you have the spare time, that is."

Diluc was always so gentle and inviting with his words- you couldn't help but notice that his features were far more relaxed now then throughout the usual shift hours. The thought of spending time alone with Diluc enticed you to stay, and without a second thought you said-

"Well who would I be to turn down a free drink?"

...

You followed Diluc to the main counter and pulled out a chair. He then began to gather all of the needed ingredients and placed them off to the side one by one.

"Hey Diluc?”

"Yes?" The barista whipped his head around at the sound of his name. Diluc currently had his hair in a signature high ponytail and with every move, it swayed along his broad shoulders.

"Is there anything else you think you'll need help with tomorrow? I could certainly use the free hot chocolate more often." you teased, earning a low chuckle from the barista. You brought your arm to rest on the counter, watching patiently as Diluc prepared your drink.

"No need. You're welcome to sit down for a drink anytime. I actually quite enjoy the company." His kindness made your smile grow even bigger.

The two of you chatted in the meantime until Diluc was finished. It didn't take long of course as it was just hot chocolate. Holding up a bottle of whip cream for you to see, Diluc asked if you would like any.

You nodded your head eagerly. "Oh, of course."

After spraying on a decent amount of whip cream, Diluc placed your drink before you.

"I made sure to use milk so it shouldn't be too hot to drink. But I suppose you'll be able to determine that for yourself." he said lowly. Taking a step back, Diluc watched in anticipation as you cautiously picked up the mug. You brought it to your lips, the steam and warmth from the cup bringing heat to your hands and face instantly. The very moment the warm liquid slipped past your lips you were immediately filled with the sweet taste of whip cream and a distinct blend of cinnamon & spice. You hummed in satisfaction at the taste.

"How is it?" Diluc asked. It was safe to say that your reaction was telling enough. You hesitated as you pondered your answer.

"Eh, I had better."

Diluc froze with his lips parted slightly. The shop quickly became even more silent then before.

You took another sip before placing the mug back down. "I'm just messing with you- It’s the best I ever had!" You exclaimed, shooting him a toothy grin. "You’ve got to add this to the menu, immediately!"

Diluc let out the breathe he was holding and placed a hand on his hip. "Please, don’t scare me like that."

14 notes · View notes

animehouse-moe · 7 months

Text

Goblin Slayer Season 2 Episode 1: An Ordinary Spring Day

Much like the title of the episode, its contents are rather plain. However, this is the first episode under LidenFilms rather than WhiteFox, so I have a lot to talk about. The short of it, it'll probably be alright, but it stands zero chance of matching up to White Fox. Allow me to explain why.

First, let's start with some staff credits. Yes yes, very boring which is why I'm getting it out of the way first.

It's.... very interseting. The director of the Goblin Slayer movie is listed as "Chief Director", while the "Director" role goes to a second timer that's a long time LidenFilms staffer. Similarly we have a total of 3 character designers (1 main and two sub). The main designer did Tsuki To Laika, while the two subs have done.... largely nothing. Together, these pairs of roles cause a good bit of confusion and concern. Does the "Chief director" role have any influence on the director? How much input do the sub designers have on the characters? It already presents a head scratcher to viewers that are aware of staff.

Regardless though, one of the biggest changes that's evident in the first episode is the color designer. Totally new person, and you can feel it right away with how much more saturated the colors are in comparison.

Following that up, and equally as important is the director of photography, and art direction. You might not think it a big deal, but it can be a really big game changer (it's also weird). For reference, Keisuke Nozawa is the director of photography for S2. Not bad, right? They did Vivy. But oh, there's something different about the credit. All their prior work lists Graphnica in parentheses. Still yet to see what the difference is, but I think it's fair to argue that it will be different than what they provided on Vivy. Thankfully for art direction, we've got the same one as the previous movie and first season.

However, there's a reason I talked about color design and photography changes as well. They're important in how the art is viewed, and with that I can finally start into the episode itself!

The opening is.... entirely unneeded. We know what Goblin Slayer's about. Showing those choice scenes is nothing more than torture porn.

Anyways, following the flashback we get to see Goblin Slayer out and in the open. Up close, his character design looks good. It's more detailed and the proportions are slightly different, but overall there's not much to write home about with him.

Priestess and High Elf Archer make their appearances though, and you can pretty quickly tell the differences. Both in terms of character and color design.

Archer's hair is more "pointy" at the top, and both her and Priestess sport smaller eyes with slightly different shapes. In terms of color design, you can tell much more easily than with Goblin Slayer that the colors are more saturated with them. Deeper and more vibrant blues and greens adorn their clothing in comparison to S1.

I don't think making it brighter is necessarily bad, but I do think it changes the tone as well as messes with the art direction. I mean, just take a look at the wooden tables here, with the brighter coloring and lighting they don't really look good. However, the darker wood textures still look alright (something about how color works).

And you know, that screenshot provides a good example of something else. Not quite character design, but maybe crowd design? Yes, the background characters do move more than season 1, but their designs are totally out of tune with the rest of the world. The lack of detail, as well as the vibrance that their clothes can add makes for a jarring scene in comparison to what we were used to with season 1.

It's a very big tradeoff, and in background characters like this I don't think its worth it. We're already losing atmosphere thanks to the color design and changeup in terms of photography, so adding onto the pile of less than stellar differences isn't great.

In terms of boons though, despite the added complexity of the designs, they seem rather well animated.

Of course, it's not all sunshine and rainbows as they struggle to keep characters on model, and the designs don't work too well at a distance. There's just too much detail that they try to compress into the designs that either you end up with a sort of crunchy or weird feel, or they don't really resemble the original design at all.

So all in all, I think there's chances that this season is good. So long as they're in a darker setting or at night, the art looks good. And considering how infrequent crowds are going to appear, I think they can scrape by. It's mostly in terms of direction and storyboarding how well they can handle the designs. Though as a bit of a teaser, they're struggling. They had 7 animation directors on this episode, and a total of 7 key animators. Not great, but I think it can hold up well enough given what we've seen with this episode. Though I suppose the real test will be once we get to see a fight.

#goblin slayer #gobusure #ゴブリンスレイヤー #anime and manga #anime #anime reccs #anime recommendation #anime review

1 note · View note

milo-martinez · 1 year

Text

Brain is suddenly giving me the idea to write my gayass ocs in some dynamic shit so here we go I guess.

Nothing really suggestive I guess of this

Side note: the following characters aren't dating so please don't ship them as for harper is aroace( not interested in love)

While ethan is bi-Romanic( into more than one gender without the sex)

They share of a more sibling bond than romantic bond. Enjoy I guess my shitty writing

" so, what now?" Asked harper

" well. I was probably thinking maybe to talk"

Spoke ethan " speak about what?" Asked Harper back to ethan. The room remained silent for who knows how long but it felt as a eternity to both " about your family? And what the counselor told you" replied ethan nervously. Harper sighs a bit but they gain the courage to speak" the counselor said I suffer from anxiety and a desire to please people" they said " but I told her that's crazy" harper then slowly beings to tear up and have a break down bit by bit but they kept on talking " like my family wouldn't lie to me for five years that I had nothing right? I mean why should they be lying to me about my own well being they cared for my brother so for Sure I was also worried for" "harper" kept saying ethan over and over during haprer's little speech" harper..its okay now. They can't hurt you anymore" ethan added trying to get closer to his ghost pal but harper moved further away from ethan they were afraid of him despite him not touching them at all." N-no....get away from me.please" spoke harper in a more broken tone while turning into their ghost form and phasing through ethans room" harper wait!!!" Shouted ethan in worry, he quickly left his room and entered to his twins room without hesitation on what he was doing" ETHAN THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR!!" Shouted taylor madly hearing their door being kicked open ethan remained quiet and checked Taylor's section of magical kinetic sand and found the two bottles he was looking for and took his leave shutting the door harshly" RUDE!!" yelled taylor continuing to read their book.

Harper was curled up in a little ball holding their knees with their hands tearing up until they felt someone phase through them, it was ethan" ethan? Your a ghost but how." Questioned harper" that doesn't matter how but here now" he replied sitting down with Harper" when I first took this form to bring you back from the ghost realm I felt uncomfortable, like this sad mood in this form of ghost. Sure it's cool flying and phasing through stuff and shit but it's also a bit sad" spoke ethan. Harper nodded a bit at some of the words ethan said also feeling related" I thought at first that hey I'm a ghost now so a new start for me but you only live once and my once live was gone and wasted on people not worth my time, people who wished so much from me and made me work myself out until I died, got mentally ill....and wanting to kill myself" spoke harper " they wished it so much on me these expectations that I wondered was this me or was this them" they kept going slowly tearing up until ethan touched harper by the shoulder" it's okay now tough harps....their not here with you anymore and can't force you against your will, you are Harper. Harper almuetzu" spoke ethan. Harper looked at ethan in the eyes" will I be worked here to death?" They asked, ethan slitghly frowned and teared up a bit when he heard that but pulled harper in for a nice warm hug. A hug harper has never felt in a long time and not being beaten up in the hug like with their family but a comforting hug accepting harper as who they are" never...never ever......never never will me, mike, amelia, willow, jocylen, and davina not even our parents not even cruel society will ever need to make you work yourself to death like those shitty ass hypocrites and I'll make sure of that never occurring cause you there for me no matter how thick or thin my situations got" spoke ethan crying while speaking to Harper. Harper hugged ethan back tightly" afterall.... we're family Harper, sure not by blood but we will be always" added ethan, Harper smiled after hearing those words from ethan" thanks ethany, I really needed those words and replies" they spoke" anytime harps, now how about we do something to go a bit lighter on us fellow ghosts?" Spoke ethan as harper giggles" your human dumbass" they replied.

The end of it I guess also help me on Saturday I went to fucking subway and I think I saw one of my history classmates and she attended my order and oml she was so hot I became a fucking tomato while my mom was on the line with Mexico family shit. I swear I am so gay

2 notes · View notes