#also there's not really any big spoilers in this but it's just imagery from both psn 1 and 2 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thisaintascenereviews · 3 months

Text

Here For Blood Review

Heavy metal, as a genre of music, has been synonymous with the film genre of horror for many years, and you can understand why if you know anything about either one of those. Heavy metal bands, especially death metal, thrash, and even some traditional heavy metal bands, have been incorporating horror imagery for decades, especially the 1980s, and if you know anything about the 1980s, that was the pinnacle for the Satanic Panic. That was when Christians decided to point fingers at anything and everything that was deemed “demonic,” whether it was music, including metal, movies, or Dungeons & Dragons, of all things. There were more things that happened, including daycare workers that were accused of being Satanists, but needless to say, the 1980s were a time when heavy metal and horror movies were under attack for being “demonic,” and because of that, a lot of bands and filmmakers leaned into that. Bands and artists like Motley Crew, Ozzy Osborne, Slayer, Cannibal Corpse (although they weren’t big until the mid-90s, but they were a band that Christians loved to hate), Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and many more, were accused of being demonic, Satanic, and all that bullshit. Even today, being a fan of metal, you get that judgement from Christians, but heavier music has gotten a lot more accepted to like, at least for the most part.

The same goes for horror movies, too, as horror is one of the most celebrated genres of film, although it’s also a genre that is known for a lot of garbage. It’s really hard to find a lot of great horror movies these days, but a lot of filmmakers are looking to the past for inspiration, specifically the 1980s. Whether it’s the practical effects, the cheesy and over the top characters and villains, or the overall aesthetic, there’s a lot of media, especially horror, that taps into the 1980s. Stranger Things is a good example of that, as that show really brought the aesthetic of the 1980s into the mainstream, although other shows and movies were doing that, but Stranger Things really made it cool. It also seems like a lot of filmmakers now grew up during that time, so they are incorporating those films and ideas into their own work.

What happens when you take 80s hard-rock and metal, and combine it with 80s horror aesthetics? Well, you’d get the movie Here For Blood, the newest movie from director Daniel Turres, and writer / producer James Roberts. Starring Resident Evil film franchise actor Shawn Roberts, along with Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame (in voice only), Maya Misaljevic (The Boys), Joelle Farrow, Tara Spencer-Nairn, and Michael Therriault (Chucky), this film is a love letter to 80s metal and over the top 80s horror with gory and bloody practical effects that are both parts funny and grotesque. A ScreamBox original, this movie premieres on the streaming service on February 9th, but I got the chance to watch the movie beforehand, and I was hooked from the synopsis I was provided that painted the movie as an 80s homage to films like Friday The 13th, Nightmare On Elm Street, and even movies like The Thing (at least with its practical effects). From the look of the trailer, the movie seemed over the top, fun, gory, bloody, and a good time.

Sure enough, that’s what I got, but the caveat to Here For Blood is that you need to look past a few things and just look at the movie for what it is. This movie is a ton of fun, but it’s also not a very thought provoking film, meaning that it doesn’t have any esoteric, meta, or ethereal themes that need time to digest after watching it. The plot for this film is basically a wrestler needs to babysit for his girlfriend, because she needs to study for a test in college, and she can’t babysit this girl that she normally babysits, so he ends up doing it for her until she gets back. Well, things go awry in the form of both masked assailants and supernatural demons, or something of that sort. I won’t go into spoilers, but the movie doesn’t explain what the main threat is, and that’s part of the fun of the movie. If you don’t question it, the movie is a ton of fun.

The characters are pretty one-dimensional, but they’re also fun. Roberts, in particular, is a big highlight; he plays a tough as nails wrestler, but he also has a heart of gold, despite being dumb as rocks. He has some of the funniest quips and dialogue in the movie, but a lot of this movie is pretty funny, although there are a few running gags that start off funny, only to get repetitive when they keep doing it. One involves a henchmen of the bad guys getting hurt, whether it’s getting limbs chopped off, or being in pain, and he just screams loudly. They do it three times, and weirdly enough, the first and last times are the funniest. There’s another gag with Dee Snider as the voice of a severed skull, and his only gag is that he screams “Feed me” over and over, and there is a funny conclusion to that, but it gets annoying when that’s all he says.

Here For Blood is a relatively “standard” horror movie that takes a lot from the 80s, but it’s fun. I’d recommend this movie if you want a good time, and don’t care to just let loose, laugh at some jokes, and cringe at the practical effects (some of them do get rather nasty in the best way). The performances are good for what they are, and everything in this movie is solid enough, so I’m glad I saw it. I will say that the only disappointment I really had was that the heavy metal element that was advertised isn’t played up at all, minus Dee Snider being in it, and there are some generic metal songs you hear throughout it, but I wish the soundtrack had more recognizable songs on it. That’s not their fault, probably licensing issues, but for what it is, it’s fine. I had fun with it, either way, especially for a relatively lower budget and indie horror movie. It wears its influences on its sleeve, but its unashamed love for that stuff is what makes this movie very enjoyable. The movie streams on ScreamBox and is in theaters on February 9th, so be sure to catch it when it comes out.

#here for blood #horror #gory #horror comedy #comedy #shawn roberts #stranger things #screambox

5 notes · View notes

jupiterlandings · 8 months

Note

hi yes amazing edits <3

would you like to talk about the people imagery, the shadow, and the bottom left flowers in van helsing's?

Oh y’all know I live to talk about details.

There will be spoilers below!

First off let’s start with the flowers! The ones in the bottom left are poppies; I’ve put those in a couple of edits now. They symbolize remembrance which is a big driving force in the story & also definitely for the Professor; between losing his son (who he remembers when he sees Arthur) to his wife (presumably) going catatonic from the grief of losing their child, to SPOILERS!! losing Lucy in the end, I think it’s one of the biggest parts of his character.

So, the people! That would be The Squad! The Harkers, Jack, and Arthur are all towards the right corner while Lucy & Quincy (the shadow) are off to the right; they all fall under the “family” umbrella since the Professor both adopted them all & also GOT adopted by them.

Now Quincy is really only a shadow bc I couldn’t find any good art of cowboys but also putting him with Lucy we can see it as the two who don’t make it out of the story & also how he just wanted to live in the light Lucy represented in his life.

Hope those were good answers for you, Nonny!

#asks #dracula #hey nonny nonny

3 notes · View notes

bugsbenefit · 1 year

Text

ST is much more inspired by Stephen King than we tend to acknowledge and i mean MUCH more

Warning: Major spoilers for Firestarter by Stephen King (also Carrie, IT and the Talisman but only teeny tiny one's)

some parallels on the show get talked about a lot, especially with how the writers are very vocal about them/them getting verbally mentioned in the show:

IT, by Stephen King, for example, gets constantly referenced in ST. it's an aesthetic inspiration: small town, townsfolk doesn't know about the HorrorsTM, kids riding around on bikes taking it into their own hands etc. they also took massive inspiration for Vecna and his visions -> classic Pennywise move. but even more specific things, like the balloons at the snowball exploding in blood, or the painting plot of receiving a love confession that gets attributed to the wrong person, are IT plot points

also easy to catch is, the Talisman, by Stephen King, since it gets read out loud by the end of s4. it will for sure somehow play into s5. even just with it's main premise being two worlds that are identical mirrors of each other and having to defeat the evil on the other side to save your own

those two parallels are obvious. but as someone who read Way too much Stephen King growing up, those two are not the only two works that were referenced heavily in the writer's room

for example: Carrie has crazy parallels to ST, especially El and Henry and the concept of powers as a whole. a really quick rundown of themes that get reflected in ST or even incorporated to some degree: (short, because i'll make an actual in depth post on this when i finally find the time to reread it properly)

the religious imagery and fanatic religious followers, the way powers seem to work to begin with (with negative vs. positive emotion as their source playing a big role), the way people respond to the powers (fear, attributing them to a demonic source, isolation as both punishment And a breaking point for Carrie) her relationship with her mother (an abusive parent), bullying tying into powers, and of course, Carrie's main rampage the book is famous

BUT. what i think is one of the biggest parallels on the show for how obvious it is -> the lab and El as a whole are 1000% inspired by Firestarter. i'm so serious it's not even a small reference. it's literally the exact same in large parts

the parallels of ST to Firestarter are absolutely Insane so to show how OH it is, here's the general plot summary of Firestarter (spoilers):

a couple takes part in an experiment while in college because they need the money. (can't remember if it was MKultra explicitly or just implied but yeah, it's MKultra) as a side effect of the substances and hallucinogenics (LSD) they were given the mother develops minor telekinetic powers and the dad has some form of mind persuasion abilities afterwards. they go home with the money, however, get continuously observed by the organization to monitor any additional effects but then they have a daughter who has Big psychic powers because of the tests done on them. the organization who did the original experiment finds out and tries to take the girl. (the mom dies as the husband and child manage to flee) long story short, after being on the run for a while, the daughter gets taken by the men and locked up in a lab facility. where she's confined to a room, has guards that keep her from leaving, and has to participate in "tests" where scientists try to figure her powers out. especially intense though is the director of the organization, who becomes obsessed with her and her powers while at the lab, the man, who was hired to kidnap her in the first place, now takes interest in her and assumes the identity of a worker in the facility, a janitor, to appear more harmless and get access to her. he manages to gain her trust with this disguise and convinces her to actually demonstrate her powers, which have become incredibly powerful and destructive after some HorrorsTM she witnessed prior later she manages to escape the facility when her dad shows up to get her back. however the "janitor" claiming to be her friend kills her father which causes her to express powers on a level never seen before with which she kills both the "janitor" in disguise and the obsessed organization leader (while also having almost everyone present in the building die as a result of her exploding it and any military vehicle approaching as she escapes) PS: she and her dad hide out from the organization in an old abandoned cabin of his in the woods for an extended period of time PSS: the book ends with her going to a newspaper and planning to reveal what has been going on at the lab to blow their cover and get them to finally stop hunting her down

it's LITERALLY THE LAB. IT IS. it's one of THE most obvious parallels in ST imo and i'm shocked i've never seen Anyone bring it up (also need to reread the book soon and make a longer post about it because there's SO much there) but this is literally the conception and later downfall of the lab in s1-2. and now with s4 it even covers some of the general conditions there with the tests and guards and Henry and. just. hhh. it's the SAME. Brenner, Henry, Hopper, Terry, and El are all in this book

also fun fact: the book is called Firestarter bc the girl is able to, duh, start fires. but it later turns out that her powers actually Aren't just pyrokinesis. she has general powers (very similar to Carrie). the fires only happen because of the insane energy levels she's able to channel, they're just the Side product. she can also just use normal telekinesis -> even robs an airport coin telephone at one point (El stealing is fun Hopper and Will let's commit fraud Byers would be proud of her)

Stephen King books like IT and Carrie seem like obvious inspirations for some elements of ST. but Firestarter especially is such an obvious inspiration and for Sure the blueprint of Hawkins lab it's not even funny. Stephen King in general seems to be a BIG influence on ST as a whole which makes sense with the way the Duffers talked about him before...

but i'm so serious, when i say Stephen King is probably the place where you'll consistently find The Most ST references and spoilers for future plot points, i MEAN it

#watching ST for the first time in 2019 coming right out of my Stephen King phase and having read a dozen of his books #''hm this seems oddly familiar...''#no but i'm serious the parallels and straight up references are sooooo they're so out there #i really need to get around to finally rereading some of them #there's tons more parallels i didn't even touch on here #stranger things #st analysis #ST and King #<- tagging this for when i finally reread and start going in depth on this #el hopper #henry creel #<- IT is a general ST inspiration #but Firest. and Carr. are specifically about El Henry powers and the Lab

17 notes · View notes

gremoria411 · 11 months

Text

Alright then, since this is the last chance I’ll have to talk about it on its own, let’s have a look at episode 20, shall we?

I’m just rewatching it before the new Ep., since I had a lot I wanted to talk about, but couldn’t really focus.

*the following contains spoilers for Gundam: Witch From Mercury episode 20 (and 19)*

*Talk about imagery of Prospera destroying multiple other Lfrith frames and how that corresponds with suletta and Eri.* -(awk. Seems I left some notes here)

First off, I’m gonna nip back to episode 19, where Prospera destroys the Lfrith Prototypes (mass production lfrith’s?). I find this interesting for two reasons; One, the consequences of Prospera starting a firefight to cover this are kinda massive (ie episode 20), especially since it throws GUND-arm inc to the wolves, screwing over her daughter’s friends for her own gain. Second, these are machines that Prospera has worked on. These are the machines she built with Dr. Cardo Nabo. Her destroying them is her violently destroying aspects of her past. Furthermore, it parallels with Eri and Suletta. Assuming that the Multiple Eri’s Suletta saw are just representative, it shows Prospera destroying her older children in favour of Aerial, because she doesn’t need them. She doesn’t need the Lfrith’s like she doesn’t need suletta, and it cements her as a Char to me. She doesn’t actively wish harm or dislike suletta, she just finds something else more important, and thus abandons her. It’s a very charlike thing to do, at least to me.

But the first point is also very notable, because basically all of Norea’s actions in Ep 20 are down to Prospera. Due to Prospera causing the fight on Earth, not only is Shaddiq forced to move, but Norea loses it and goes on a full-on rampage in the school. Norea meets a violent end in response to Prospera’s direct actions, and her attacking the school could very easily have led to Suletta being killed, heck, if she’d been standing slightly to the right, she would’ve. Prospera told Suletta to go back to the school and live out her dreams, in a *safe* environment, but because of Prospera, the school is no longer safe. It’ll be very interesting to see Prospera’s reaction when she finds out about this, though of course she won’t realise the connection. I expect she either won’t even blink, or when she finds out Suletta survived she’ll rationalise it easily.

Elan 5 being a coward was not something I expected to be this relevant. Huh. Kinda a parallel with Guel. They both lose someone in combat that they care deeply about, and then (presumably) go and become a better person after the fact. It’s also interesting that this is essentially the first time we’ve seen any development with Elan 5, where he’s actually cared about something and not just been evasive.

Guel and Shaddiq’s big showdown, while great, I don’t really have a whole lot to say about, other than notice the ms differences and wonder how that’s gonna show on the model kits.

Lauda had a really bad time in this ep, which is…. Something? On one hand, that sucks for him, but I fully expect him to either die or get character development, so………yay?

Other general points:

It’s nice to see the Beguir-Pente’s seeing more use.

Weird thing to notice, but the Asticassia school bell sounds super nice. Just a lovely noise.

Anyone else think that that fight between Guel and Shaddiq ended similarly to Gundam Thunderbolt (December Sky)? Maybe I’m reading too much into the mutual kill.

Is it me, or does the Michaelis have a subtly different head design? Maybe it’s just the shot.

I’m honestly kinda annoyed we got so many great shots of the Lfrith Thorn this episode, since it got wrecked. Though both it and the gunvolva’s were very evocative at the end, intercut with the devastation of the school.

Not to sound like one of those asshole fans who are all like “oh, the REAL Gundam starts here”, but I do expect Asticassia’s destruction to shake up things quite a bit, and with Shaddiq pushing for the Space Assembly League AND Belmiria about to blow the whole Quiet Zero thing wide open I’m curious as to if things are gonna end up in a full-scale brawl.

Shaddiq also states “we’ll use the witch for as long as we can”. I’m assuming he’s talking about Norea here. Kinda hypocritical of him, and it shows that he’s fundamentally no different than those others who would exploit Norea.

Shaddiq says “weren’t you told to secure your target before you’re suspected”? So, does he have a mole in cathdra? Or is he just good a predicting?

Lastly, Petra. I’ve seen a lot of people drawing her with GUND Prosthetics or expecting her to have survived, but honestly? I think she’s dead. Her running and saying what she wanted to do makes it seem like she’s going to actually die here.

#gundam #ramblings #gundam the witch from mercury #witch from mercury #that ending card at the end though….#mobile suit gundam the witch from mercury #g-witch #spoilers

5 notes · View notes

idealisticrealism · 2 years

Text

TCL 2x03 recap

Oh boy these just keep getting longer lol. So many thoughts about 2x03 (and especially Armony, of course) under the cut.

Also, while I know a tiny bit about the direction of this season, I'm doing my best to stay as spoiler free as I can, so any discussion about future eps or plotlines in this recap are purely just my own speculation.

Oh god Thony holding Luca and crying as she explains again that Marco isn’t coming back… sure, show, just completely crush my heart, it’s not like I needed it anyway or anything

Fi and Arman should have a mop-breaking competition lol

Ughh all these ladies supporting each other and having fun together, this is what it’s all about! We so rarely get to see Thony truly smile (the Reloj dance scene was one of the very notable occasions…) so it’s so nice then it happens. Also Fi and Thony (Or maybe Martha and Elodie?) seem to have this little shoulder shrugging dance move they do (it was the same in 1x01) and I love it??

Arman and Robert both run clubs in Vegas and have never met before? Clearly one or both of them must have been working hard to avoid it… Also man if I didn’t hate Robert already for how he treated Thony, I would have started to dislike him by now purely because of how tense he makes my boy Arman lol. The imagery of them facing each other from opposite sides with Nadia in between was a nice touch tho

Ugh so much to love about this scene. Thony getting to use her doctor skills, Fi absolutely annihilating Alonzo, Thony being all proud of her sis and having her back, the ladies all sticking together, and of course, “Chop chop, Alonzo” :P

Poor Fi panicking after realising that she really can’t go back and that she is now responsible for the others who quit with her, but Thony is all cool and ‘we got this’-- lbr she’s known that they’ve been heading towards this for a while. Also her telling Vinny off was kind of hot– and he probably agrees! Let's face it, he probably has a thing for Thony lol (but then again who doesn’t???)

Oh wow they’re really selling off everything? I’m intrigued by the ring– @enigmaticfox suggested that it might have been the first big gift he bought for her after they ‘made it’ and became able to live the life they wanted to live, and so it was a symbol of that dream being achieved? Also while I actually prefer when the show doesn’t give us subtitles, I’m definitely over here side-eyeing the very clear decision that the writers made to a) make sure we knew that Nadia told him she loved him, and b), not to have him say it back to her…. (of course he does love her, but I’m just saying, there was definitely a narrative choice made there)

Excuse me but Arman has no right to be this hot?? The image of him standing in the doorway in that black tshirt, all cool and confident as he casually threatens Garrett’s life is going to live in my head rent free for approximately forever lol. “All I need is one” oh lord help me

Poor Thony can’t catch a break when it comes to Luca lol. But oh man medical scenes in tv are the worst, like nope that’s not what meds you’d use, that’s not how you pronounce that word, that’s not how you do that… there’s definitely a reason why I can’t watch hospital shows lol. But anyway I love the repeated commentary about how broken the US medical system is; this show definitely isn’t shy about getting its message across

Ngl, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the kind of reunion scene that these two would likely have, and while the scene I’d been wishing they could have was quite different (I’ll fic it one day lol; it involves significantly more hugging haha) this actually was quite close to what I expected they would have– a lot of staring at each other and speaking in soft voices, but held back from anything more by the situation they’re in. And while the scene is simple and brief, honestly I think there’s a lot to like about it? Like the way their voices sound when they greet each other– it’s not the ‘oh hey I wasn’t expecting to see you’ kind of surprised tone that someone uses when they run into a friend unexpectedly, but more of a ‘I’ve been hoping to see you so badly and now you’re suddenly here in front of me and I don’t know what to say’. I love the tiny little pause after she says hey where they just stare at each other– it’s short, but still just long enough to be noticeable, just like the distance they’re standing at is just a little closer than what even most friends would– the magnetism is definitely real here, kids. Also something this scene made me realise is that Thony often crosses her arms when she and Arman are standing close to each other, but there’s nothing defensive or uncomfortable in it; I may be going off the fangirl rails here but I feel like the habit formed because she always wants to reach out to him but can’t let herself. But anyhow he makes it clear to her that despite already having plans, he will put them aside for her if she wants him to, and ugh when she agrees to the drink he immediately reaches for her, like he can’t keep himself from touching her any longer?? And then his hand just… lingers? Like okay, to touch her back for a moment as they turn would absolutely make sense, it’s a totally normal and common ‘come this way’ gesture. But instead he just keeps it there, keeping them connected as they walk into his club together in full view of any patrons and staff, all but claiming her as someone of significance to him. I also love her “You look-” (slight pause) “-better” lol, like she was almost about to say “You look good” and then decided that that would be a little too close to the truth of what she was thinking lol. It’s also interesting that in that moment, with her there beside him and his hand on her back, it’s the most at ease he’s looked all episode; while she looks like she’s practically holding her breath lol, like his touch and proximity is sending her nerves haywire. Or maybe that’s just me making shit up again! But either way, I loved this scene, even if it was a short and subtle moment. Couldn’t help but chuckle at him telling her he feels free though; between his debt to Robert and his obligation to Nadia, he’s practically as trapped as he was in prison. But I guess that for this one brief moment with Thony there beside him, he can forget about all of that :P

Ngl I love that they sat down and had a drink together in the bar, rather than going to his office– like being alone together would be too much of a temptation, too hard to keep the distance they need to keep, so they simply avoid it. She’s not long lost her husband, and he’s trying to save his wife from being condemned to a life of barely scraping by, and they’re both all too aware of it, and so each is holding back on behalf of the other. Also there’s just something about how the act of drinking involves hands and lips and ugh idk man, it feels like a bit of a proxy kind of thing to me rn lol. I will say that I need the show to stop chopping out chunks of their interactions though– seriously, stop leaving gaps that I feel compelled to fill, dammit-- but I assume he asked her how she was doing after the funeral etc, and maybe she even tactfully mentioned hearing about Hayak and asked how he was doing? And then of course he asks about Luca, and the moment she says she needs help you can immediately see that he’s going to give it, no matter what it involves. The man may be a big bad mobster but he’s also the world’s biggest simp when it comes to Thony haha. I honestly love that over the course of S1, she became more and more comfortable with going to him for help, as he steadily proved to her that she could rely on him and that he’d be there for her when she needed it. I also love how she pauses and puts down her drink when he mentions the military supplier, then asks him outright about the guns– she’s never been shy about calling him out on his shit, even when they barely knew each other and she was definitely stepping over a line– but this feels different, like she has a right to question his actions, like his decisions now involve her too. While early S1 Arman would have brushed her off, and late S1 Arman might have reassured her he knew what he was doing and that she should just trust him, this Arman immediately lays it all out for her, being completely honest about the situation he’s in and why he has to do what he’s doing, because it’s clearly important to him that she understands. And he makes it clear that he needs the money to be free of Robert, but honestly there might be another unspoken truth there too– that without the money, he can’t be free of Nadia, either. He has too much honour to abandon her to fend for herself, so if they lose everything he’ll stick with her no matter what, because he cares about her and it’s the right thing to do. And then ugh his face as Thony offers him up a solution for escaping his debt– a partnership, with her– but he’s afraid to take it. It’d mean venturing into the unknown, taking a gamble that could fail and leave him with nothing, and hmmmm I wonder if this is making him think of any other kind of risky venture involving Thony that he desperately wants to take?? There’s for sure some layers going on here, man. But anyhow ugh I gotta stop here because otherwise i will just rewatch this scene all night lol

Some random notes about the bar set, though: I don’t like the red lighting, reminds me too much of Robert’s place. Also I was sure those booths must be a new addition to the set but no they’ve been there all along (I checked 1x03 lol). And lastly why would they have the doors to the kitchen open when there’s clearly customers in the club?? These are the things I obsess about lol

Fi having trouble finding customers for their business makes me stressed, but ugh I loved seeing her grinning at their sign on the van. This woman deserves the world. Also ngl I kind of enjoy Mr Motel Manager? He’s such a caricature lol, and I know he’ll be taken care of soon enough. Also “You have until the end of the week” is very vague– end of the business week, or the weekend? What time?? How about you be more clear with your blackmailing, buddy??

Of course Thony tries to be logical about it– she’s spent enough time around criminals lately to have an idea of how their minds work– and I appreciate knowing that she actually did check for security cameras that night and didn’t just miss this big obvious camera that was pointed right at the four of them lol. But anyway she’s in a fresh shirt and she’s already going to pick up the meds that Arman managed to get for her– has it been a couple days, or is it literally just the next morning after their conversation?? I can imagine him working that fast for her. (Also did he text her or call her to tell her he got them? I need to know these things, show!) And lol at Fiona ordering her not to tell Arman about the blackmail; lbr we all know that talking to him about it was literally the first thing she was going to do. I’ve already said that I love that she goes to him about almost everything, but I really hope that this season we can see him needing her more, and her supporting him like he does for her. Based on some of the vague things said in interviews I think I might get that wish :P

Taking the matchbox was so unnecessary Garrett. You really can’t remember two words?? I like this other agent though, mostly because he has joined the ranks of the Garrett-draggers lol

Ugh poor Nadia trying to be all cool and tough for Arman’s benefit and then immediately dropping the act when he tells her how dire the situation really is. I am honestly really enjoying seeing more layers to her (even though liking her as a character makes my level of Armony shipping feel a little awkward haha) and I really do think they have a pretty amazing relationship. They have always had a different vibe to Armony– Armony is soulmate-level romantic, two people from vastly different lives who just fit each other and make each other better– whereas Arman and Nadia have always seemed more like bickering siblings, or comrades-in-arms. Their connection is based on a shared background, shared history, and shared drive; like Arman said, they both came from nothing and had dreams of becoming something, and for the last however many years, they have been a team in that goal. There’s absolutely love there, and attraction of course (how could there not be, they’re both smoking hot) and they would have likely remained together forever-- bickering and fighting and likely sleeping with other people, but also supporting each other and being each other’s person-- except then Arman met Thony, and it opened his eyes to the kind of connection he’d never even realised he could have. And yet, even so, he’s prepared to give up the very thing he wants so desperately– to give Thony up– because Nadia needs him, and he can’t abandon her, not like this. And honestly that choice will probably make Thony fall even more in love with him– bc seriously, imagine if he dropped Nadia right now (when their situation is so completely desperate) to try to be with Thony instead???? Thony would be like “nah man, I may be completely in love with you but I can’t be with someone who would turn his back on his family like that”. It would have been different if things were still as they were at the end of S1– if Arman had gotten safely out of jail with all the money still in their hands, then Nadia could have been given a sizeable chunk of it as well as the option to run part of the business, so she was still able to live the life she wanted to lead; if that had happened, then him leaving her to be with Thony would have actually been a genuine possibility. Still complicated and emotional and messy, but far more acceptable to all three of them than the situation they’re in now.

But anyway I’m getting distracted again. I’m honestly impressed that he said the medicine was for Thony, rather than hiding behind the idea that it’s for Luca, but I guess he feels he owes it to Nadia to be as honest as possible now, especially after her calling him out in the past for lying to her repeatedly about Thony. That’s growth, I guess? He doesn’t look like he’s enjoying it rn though haha. Gotta say I love this argument though– they both know that Thony has a hold on him, and hearing Nadia call her his cleaning lady rather than ‘a’ or ‘the’ cleaning lady was oddly satisfying. Ngl I was half expecting her to say something like ‘your little girlfriend’ or something instead though, and maybe that was where his mind went too, because he immediately countered by calling her out on her going to her ex boyfriend lol. (Oh so you equate your connection to Thony with Nadia’s connection to someone she was once in love with? Interesting, Arman, very interesting.) Anyway bit unfair of her to claim that it was just her that got him out of jail– literally, neither woman could have done it without the other, which kind of symbolises how important they both are in Arman’s life– but I’ll forgive her bc she’s having a rough couple of weeks lol. Tbh I’m glad he gave her a hug, though I’m even more glad that that wasn’t the moment that Thony arrived at the office lol. She doesn’t need to be reminded that she’s fallen for a man who [she thinks] she can never have.

Speaking of Thony’s arrival, though, I love that she doesn’t hold back around either of them now; she all but tells them to get their grubby mitts off the medicine, and shuts them down cold at the suggestion of selling street drugs. Hell, she even has Nadia moving out of her way as she packs up the meds. And lol at Arman caught in the middle, trying to balance both women’s agendas as he gets pressured by Nadia and berated by Thony hahaha. We all know who’s really calling the shots here, and it ain’t our boy. But oh wow Thony is 100% lying through her teeth about the regular medicines making as much profit as addictive street drugs– especially when her whole plan was to sell the medicines to people who couldn’t afford to get them in the US. She’d be having to sell HUGE numbers of those medicines to make a good profit, unless she wanted to charge poor immigrants through the nose for them (which, like I said, was the opposite to her plan), whereas the street value of Oxy or Xanax would be about $20 and $5 per pill respectively (it’s generally around $50 and $10 here, but I’m just making a rough guess of what it would be in USD lol). I can’t imagine that she doesn’t know this, which means she is taking the gamble that they’ll just take her word for it and follow her plan instead. And while they do seem to, I could definitely see Nadia and Arman actually going behind her back and secretly using their supply line to get and sell street drugs– because of the dire money situation they’re in– and then Thony later finds out (most likely right when she and Arman are getting closer again) and that betrayal temporarily drives a wedge between her and Arman. But who knows. What I do know is that I love the imagery of Arman standing in the middle of the two women who are almost like mirrors of each other– both with a hand on the hip, but with Nadia’s other hand on the desk and Thony’s on the box of meds. Ugh the symbolismmm. The fact that Arman is looking at Thony as he says ‘together’ is just fine by me too lol

Excuse me, how dare this scene just start with the two of them just standing together waiting for Bosco?? I’ve seen the clip on twitter of him getting out of the caddy and Thony watching him with literally the thirstiest look we’ve ever seen from her (same, girl, same) and now it turns out that they freakin cut it??? I feel robbed. I need to see that moment, just like I need to know what they were talking about while they were standing there waiting. (Again, stop making me want to fic it, goddammit). Also I would like to point out that Thony has her arms crossed again (and he’s fiddling with his sunglasses)-- it really is so hard for you two to not be allowed to touch each other, huh?

I would like to make it known right now that I love Bosco. I wasn’t sure about him in 1x06– he did put Thony in the back of the van, after all, but he also seemed serious when he promised Arman he would take care of her– but now i am definitely a fan. Firstly he got significantly hotter (phew, that haircut and that smile suit you, sir), but I also just love him teasing Arman about basically being whipped by Thony lol. I would say he’s absolutely right, but honestly, Thony doesn’t even need to do any whipping. Arman legit just throws himself at her feet without any prompting whatsoever haha. Also speaking of looking hot– holy shit, Arman in that black tshirt and jeans, grinning at his friend?? Help me jesus. And that low sound he makes as he waves off Bosco’s hand????? Poor Thony’s gonna get heatstroke at any moment, and not from the desert sun lol. I love that he makes sure to signal to her to come with him as they head for the van, not leaving her there wondering what she should do or to just trail along awkwardly behind them. And then he lets her take the lead with the meds, both him and Bosco treating her as the expert. I am so happy that my TV is good enough to see the brief little smile on his face at her reaction to seeing the meds for Luca, because oh my heartttt. And then he immediately thanks Bosco for making her happy his help lol. Ngl the fact that the riskiness of doing this under Sin Cara’s nose has already been mentioned twice makes me worry for Bosco though…. They better not kill my boy Bosco just as I got attached to him lol

Oh Vinny for sure has the hots for Thony lol. And very understandable when she’s being all badass businesswoman/doctor like this lol. I still can’t see the clinic as being particularly lucrative, but I love that she’s doing it. Also I know I say this like every week but damn this soundtrack is good??

Yikes, like I said, not lucrative enough. 58k short even after selling thousands of dollars worth of jewellery and a car or two? What the hell will they do for next week’s payment, sell a kidney each? (Or some street drugs, maybe….?). Also definitely intrigued by the way Nadia was staring at thony– what ideas is she cooking up in that gorgeous head? (again, street drugs? lol) Also having her standing directly between Thony and Arman in the shot… more symbolism, or?

From one money counter to another. I love that Thony kept aside the 10k for Fi, and let’s be fair, handing it over wouldn’t have solved Arman’s problem, so I think it’s valid for her to be like ‘he’ll figure it out’ lol. He has Nadia to work as a team with; she has Fi. They both have to be loyal to their team right now. And sigh Thony again tries to be smart about it but Fi won’t listen, and you can see that Thony has simply decided to just support Fi no matter what, even if it’s not the best way to handle it. She’s slowly learning that she has to give up a bit of control now and then and just be there for the people who need her, even if she disagrees with them. How's that for character growth.

I wonder if these women ever think about how weird their life has gotten, considering they have a mob boss on speed dial and an FBI agent who is starting to become a regular visitor at their door lol. I did suspect Garrett might bring in Thony to help him with Maya, but ugh I don’t like that he knows about Fi getting out the money. Good thing the dude has zero issue with rule breaking– for a man who claims to be on the side of the law, he sure ignores it a lot of the time. Which lbr is very fortunate for Thony, so I’m cool with it lol (ngl, getting real over his deportation threats though)

I find it like unreasonably irritating that the sign for The Clergy uses a cross to represent both an H and an L lol. I am now reading it as The Chergy haha. Also damn I was pumped to see Thony in goth wear, but ah well, I’m still into this outfit (undoubtedly borrowed from Fi). I know we’re definitely going to see Thony more dressed up at some point in this season, and the important thing is Arman being there to see it haha, so I guess we can skip it for now. Also ngl the concept of bathroom attendants makes me so uncomfortable but damn that was a genius move on her part, and I love that she canonically has the most sensibly stocked handbag ever lol

Ugh I feel for my boy Arman, this shit with Robert is clearly killing him. And then to be forced to basically be Robert’s errand boy? Must feel like he’s fallen a long way, almost right back to where he started. I liked Nadia reaching for his hand, checking in with him, but ngl it was satisfying to see him kind of brush it off haha

Wait what room is this?? An ensuite off of Fi’s room? This is truly an excessive amount of mirrors (and sinks!) lol

I so badly want Thony to get hit on by at least one woman in this bar lol. (It’s been far too long since her blatant popularity at Nadia’s party in 1x01 lol). But I guess I’ll have to content myself with the fact that she and Maya have more chemistry in this bathroom scene than either woman has had in any scene with Garrett hahaha. But oh Thony you really fell for that old fake name trick? Lol. BUT OKAY HOLD UP. “Who sent you? Was it Kamdar?” Holy shit. Not Cortez, KAMDAR. I did not see that coming, and oh man everything just got real incestuous all of a sudden– so Garrett has asked Thony (a person of interest in his current case) to check on his ex, who is caught up with a drug ring (which was his old case), a ring which apparently involves Robert, who happens to be Nadia’s ex, and who has now forced Arman (and by extension, Thony) into doing business with him. Damn, that is one tangled web and I am honestly really excited about it?? Also oooh if Arman and Nadia do what I suspect and start selling street drugs, then Robert will be sure to find out and get pissed off, and that would be one way for Thony to find out about it. Man I would actually love to see that, as upsetting as the ensuing Armony fight would be. For now though I really hope that Thony mentions her suspicions about Kamdar to Arman, but given that that would require explaining the Garrett angle (and we all know how Arman responds whenever Garrett is mentioned haha) maybe she won’t. Speaking of Garrett, Maya’s line about him not sending people like Thony into places they shouldn’t be definitely gives a little insight into Maya’s own experience as a CI…

Ugh Arman really needs to tone down the sexy gangster vibe a little, that leather jacket makes it very hard for me to focus. Also the “Are you seriously going to hit an old man?” and “I’ve done worse”-- okay I immediately want to hear about every single instance of those worse things lol. For… reasons. Gotta hand it to this incredibly vanilla-looking son though lol, not only did he manage to sneak up on Arman (that’s a bit of a stretch tbh) but he legit took him on with a tennis racquet?? I kind of respect that haha. And ngl I enjoy how swiftly and perfunctorily Arman neutralises him, like this is just another day in the office. Just saying though, that oxygen tubing would have for sure snapped under that kind of strain lol. It is not exactly designed to be hardy stuff. But ugh the look on Arman’s face as the son runs to get the money, my poor boy hates having to do this :(

They really highlighted the ‘you are on camera’ sign in this motel office lol. Which means thony was on camera when she went in there that night, and now Fi is on camera too… and a lot of other people, apparently? lol. Also other than being a creepy perv, the amount of animal heads on the walls also immediately makes me like this guy even less…

Okay Nadia being really into football is very hot haha. And oooh I love that as Arman walked in with the money, hating what he’d been forced to do, he would have seen Nadia and Robert smiling and sharing a drink at the bar. No wonder he threw the money down like that and practically dragged her out of there haha, like he didn't give up his closeness with Thony just for Nadia to cozy up with Robert!

Oh Fiona. If there was an award for making bad decisions, you’d definitely be in the running lol. And oh the naivete of thinking he’d delete the video… and of trying to threaten him with going to the cops about him filming customers, when that very footage would get Chris caught for Marco’s manslaughter? Oh honey. The physical struggle was hard to watch but omg that crack over the head and that scream?? Comedy gold haha. Poor woman just cannot catch a break lately (nor can any of our faves, tbh.) And now I guess we wait for next week to see if he’s actually dead (if so, wow, the felonies just keep piling up for this family lol) or if she just caused him to have a very impromptu nap lol. Either way, can't wait to see Arman come and rescue her and earn some points as her future brother in law lol

#The Cleaning Lady #Armony #TCL recaps #oh lord what have I done

11 notes · View notes

allisonreader · 2 years

Text

@lady-merian I have conglomerated my thoughts about Erandir's Reckoning. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve read it now, but it hasn’t been overly far from my brain because I really have wanted to give my fuller thoughts on your story. I’m putting it mostly below the cut, just because there may possibly be spoilers or hints of spoilers who those who haven’t read it yet.

First of all, my main two big thoughts are; I love Wynn. At this point he might be my favourite character. (Don’t get me wrong, I love the main characters too, but as a side character Wynn has captured my heart.) What a wonderful teddy bear of a kind, caring man, who CLEARLY knows some things. And then also Erandir's the prince isn’t he? (Please tell me I’m not imagining things and those are the clues being laid down.) He has to be and Wynn KNOWS. (Plus, you might be aware that I have a thing for hidden royalty, you know, just a little. Not like you can tell from my own writing at all. No…) [Also, Erandir almost gives off Flynn Rider vibes in a vague running from the law way.]

I really enjoyed the prologue and how it introduces both Aremor and Faldur. Both of them have a very distinct feel to them. Faldur feels a bit like he’d be willing to overthrow Aremor in the right circumstance, as long as it benefited him, but not for anyone else. Both are cutthroat in their own ways. There was also the details of the crowns, which I thought was incredibly vivid, both in imagery and description. As was the difference between the two men. It clearly paints the differences in the way the two men live.

There were some characters introduced at this time that I need to spend more time with before I can gush fully about them, but I can see that as that happens that I will grow attached to them. Mainly Raya and her brother, but it’s been such a short time with them at the moment, there just hasn’t been enough for me to latch onto them yet. Though they are likeable.

I found that everything is making sense so far in the story. The descriptions paint a vivid picture in my mind and I could really just sink into reading it. It played out like a movie in my head. I could so clearly picture the surroundings and the action within the scenes. Even the descriptions about Merian's hair give the story such texture to the story. Also her hair problems, completely relatable.

At this point, without rereading it and making notes along the way, I think that’s about as much detail I can go into. Though if you have any more direct questions that you were curious about, I’d be willing to try and answer them.

#so there’s a bit broader more detailed breakdown of my thoughts kind of #I still feel like there could be more #but it has been a couple weeks now and I just don’t quite have the energy to read it again yet #honestly though if you give me a direct question #then I could probably express more thoughts again #this was also written mostly as I was trying to settle down for the night #so anything that might be weird I blame on that #write on my friend #write on

6 notes · View notes

girl-kendallroy · 2 years

Note

hi! do you recommend reading demons/have any tips? i recently read crime and punishment and im trying to get into more ruslit

hi! this is going to be so fucking long im sorry in advance lmao

overall i really liked it, crime and punishment is still number one for me but this is a close second (until i finish tbk and notes from underground.) i know some people (cough, redditors) hate it because it's pretty long for like. three things to happen at the very end but!! i would argue that a big part of the point of the book is how the village and the different classes within interact. it's not plot driven, but it's also not meant to be plot driven; its a satire of real people who dostoevsky knew of and hated lmfao. (side note i love how so many of his works are thinly veiled criticisms of shit he hated. he is So Interesting to me) demons is also pretty swag because you could make the argument that multiple characters can be easily read as gay which adds SO MUCH. (the big one is pyotr verkhovensky, but they’re all kinda 💅 ) no spoilers though if you’ve been on my blog since i finished you’ve probably seen them but there is one chapter that is very very emotional and touching and i was crying... iykyk. anyway the rest is under a cut

some things that would be helpful when reading this is for starters, reading it on a regular schedule; there are a lot of details early on that i forgot because i was just picking it up when i felt like it/when i had time. also, the pevear/volokhonsky translation hits (there are a lot of scenes with word choices that made me go umm... gay.... so if that’s your thing...) and the appendices are very in depth and very explanantory (demons is verryyy 1860s russia and there are a ton of references to that and i, as a 21st century north american, did not understand at all.) It took me 3.5 months to finish demons, but i wasn't reading it very consistently. Finally, i think most editions/translations have the chapter 'at tikhons' as an appendix, and apparently it was one that dostoevsky wanted to include, but wasn't allowed to. definitely read it, either right after the chapter that replaced it, or the end of the book. (i read it after i finished the book)

Here are some themes/devices to keep an eye out that i looked for that are pretty significant imo

what is stavrogins deal? is he the mastermind/god people seem to think he is? is he a villain or is he just caught in a shitty situation?

DEFINITELY read into christian imagery and allusions. note allusions to the holy family (i picked up on two, there probably are more) and who is being called a christ figure, and who is calling them that? are they right?

what is the deal between stepan trofimovich and varvara petrovna? what events can they be blamed for? are they just as bad as pyotr/the revolutionary circle?

likewise, take note of things that are called demonic, insane, possessed, etc. note when they happen as well, and the frequency.

try to pinpoint when things start to go wrong for everyone/when fate is sealed.

look at the main guys in the revolutionary circle, and which ideologies they seem to represent, as well as their main conflicts. what are their main personality traits?

the ladies, both Stavorgins Sluts (sorry marya timofeevna:( ) and the rich old ladies. how are they hypocritical/ironic? are they victims or enablers of their men (specifically stavrogin and the verkhovenskys) which of them are ignorant (or are they just stupid? note: definitely not a feminist novel.)

a lot of people (not just tumblrinas) read pyotr verkhovensky as kind of gay when it comes to stavrogin. is he actually, or is he acting to further his schemes as some sort of fucked up flattery? how is this expressed through the eyes of other characters around him?

what is the deal with kirillov and shatov? what do their philosophies say about one another and their relationship (pertaining to like. literary analysis but also are they gay?)

obviously this is a critique of nihilism/atheism/socialism in russia in the 1860s but i found that a lot of the sentiments and the r/epublican party/ m*ga movement. do you agree? what do you recognize from today’s politics?

if you read this mess of a book (cue white mom sign that says bless this mess, because there is so much drama ) i hope you enjoy it and please like. talk to me about it i need to scream about this criminally underrated book.

#asks #anon #demons #demons dostoevsky #dostoevsky

11 notes · View notes

multi-lefaiye · 2 years

Note

hi multi, i hope u feel better soon! is there any symbolism in fragile things or modern ghost story?

thank you, bat, i really appreciate that ❤

alright, i wanna talk about fictional people, so i'm gonna ramble a bit!! and i'm gonna talk about fragile things first <3 my sad little gay people make me so so happy <3 then i wanna talk a bit about a modern ghost story as well. both!!!

Fragile Things:

so at the moment there's not too much in the way of direct or obvious symbolism for Fragile Things that isn't Massive Spoilers, but there's one thing i've thought about that's like... really been rotating in my head rent so fast. so i'll try to talk about it as vaguely as possible to avoid giving away too much.

so the supernatural elements in fragile things, which haven't come up yet in what i've shared, might seem kinda arbitrary at first but they're very much meant to mirror the troubles in arthur and noah's relationship, especially as they get worse. i don't know how to explain the details without just outlining exactly how arthur dies, but i'll go ahead and just say the realization i came to without explaining it too deeply (cw suicide mention):

i realized recently that the entire story of fragile things, and then bleeding over eden (which takes place four years later), reads as a metaphor for the guilt and devastation that comes with someone you love taking their own life.

like that's not what happens, but it's not a difficult interpretation and honestly i think i might... lean into that, a bit? it's definitely dark and sad but that's what this whole thing is, babey!!!

even though the supernatural elements of fragile things/bleeding over eden aren't as important as the relationships between the characters, they serve a very important symbolic purpose for those relationships.

alright i'm making myself a little sad here, but anyway here's a list of other little symbolic touches:

a few months after arthur and noah finally do get together romantically, they adopt a cat together (i'm still deciding on a name for her, but i've got some ideas), and the cat is a very not-subtle symbol of the good in their relationship. the cat's health starts declining around the same time that the cracks in the foundations of their relationship start to show.

this might be a little silly but i'm attaching some symbolic value to noah's hair as well--at first, he hates his hair so much and wants nothing more than to cut it all off, but as he becomes more comfortable with himself he grows it out more and takes better care of it. like... noah's hair length correlates roughly with his self esteem as the story progresses.

a big theme in the story is the idea of the expectations placed on you by your parents, and this is most obvious with arthur. there's a lot of little things that arthur does as the story progresses to go against his parents' expectations, and essentially that's like. his whole thing for a while. i can't think of a specific example off the top of my head but trust me on this.

okay i'm getting in my feelings about these two so i'm gonna try and write about them, but first! a little about A Modern Ghost Story as well <3

A Modern Ghost Story:

okay so most of the symbolism i have in mind for a modern ghost story centers around roach tbh- roach is just my favorite <3 but my favorite thing i've done with roach is that i'm like... trying to very much associate them with wings imagery, and i have a Couple Of Reasons for this.

the obvious choice is the association with freedom, because so much of roach's personality is their desire to be free from others' expectations and judgments of them. kind of an obvious reach but yeah <3

without going into why too much just yet. i think there could be some icarus parallels here. don't worry about it.

also the wings imagery ties back to their ex, vulture, and how much he shaped their life and outlook. they downplay it a bit whenever they talk about him, but he had a huge impact on them that hasn't gone away. i'm thinking that as they move on more from vulture, the less and less wings will be associated with them.

also this is a little sidenote but uhhh fun fact roach has tattoos of wings on their back <3 i'm not subtle <3

#talk to the bunnykitty #long post #bat time all the time #a modern ghost story #fragile things wip #roach my beloved #thank u for the ask! sorry for the delay!

4 notes · View notes

bee-can-art · 2 years

Note

okay! i always hear about the owl house and how people really like it, but i dont know what it's about! and im always afraid to google because what if there are a lot of spoilers that pop up in the search?? and i never knew who to ask about it. but BEE you posted about it so im asking you! please help. whats the owl house about?? and also are there any other shows that its sort of similar to? thank you!!

Sure!! I'll try my best!

The Owl House follows the adventures of a human girl called Luz Noceda, who is about to be sent to a summer camp to quell her overactive imagination, when she follows an owl into an abandoned house and through a portal to a place called the Boiling Isle, in an alternate dimention known as The Demon Realm.

The Boiling Isle is basically the place of her dreams, with witches, and demons, and magic! There, she becomes friends with a woman known as The Owl Lady (Eda), who agrees to take her on as her apprentice and teach her magic, in exchange for helping her to run her stand selling human goods.

I think a reason why a lot of people really enjoy the show is due to how it handles a lot of different themes.

Found family is a big one, with Luz not having anyone at home, besides her mum, before going through the portal. But by the end of the first season, she's gained a group of people who love her just as much as she does them.

The show can get a bit dark at times, in both the imagery and the storytelling/themes (a lot of which happens in season 2), but that only adds to it, and makes the world of The Demon Realm that bit better.

It's very akin to how Gravity Falls was, if you've ever seen that. And if not, from what I've seen of it (bc I still need to watch it), I recommend that too. I also haven't seen Amphibia, but, again from what I've seen of it, it seems to be in similar vein too!

I hope the helped! If you want to know anything else, just let me know :D

#the owl house #toh #answer

2 notes · View notes

screechthemighty · 10 months

Note

I'm very interested in watching the show you've been talking about; the one with the tags Tristamp and Trigun. But I'm having trouble finding where to watch it. It's not on any of the free sites I usually use to watch movies and shows. Could you recommend a good place?

OKAY, so. I do not know a truly "free" place to watch Trigun: Stampede as such places are not really in my wheelhouse. I can tell you that it's on Crunchyroll and Hulu in both sub and dub, so if you can password share either site, you're golden. Crunchyroll ALSO still does free trials, which rules, so you could do it that way. (It's only 12 episodes/roughly 6 hours so it's totally watchable in two weeks.) The '98 anime (AKA the other, first anime adaptation) is also on both platforms.

HOWEVER. Big caveat. While I do like TriStamp a whole awful lot, I don't want you to go into it blind. You should know that the anime does contain some content that might be upsetting. I can't go into super details without spoiling things (though you've definitely already seen a lot on my blog lmao), but in terms of broad sweeping content warnings, TriStamp does contain violence (including some body horror/gore) and harm to children, and heavily deals in themes of depression and trauma (including disordered eating), religious abuse/trauma, and abuse/violation of bodily autonomy/assault (with that last one being probably the most upsetting for obvious reasons). If you need specifics (spoilers obvi)...

Abuse: No nice way to say it: Knives is abusive and his relationship with Vash is beyond toxic. There's a lot of moments of psychological manipulation when they interact, and he's EXTREMELY controlling. And then there's the last detail which is probably where I have to put the biggest CW.

Violation of Bodily Autonomy/Assault: Bodily autonomy is one of the biggest through lines of the franchise. People are regularly stripped of it by the antagonists, and Vash in particular has a plot line in episodes 11 and 12 that is uh. A lot. I hesitate to call it rape only because that word brings to mind certain acts that AREN'T what's happening here...but what IS happening here is very reminiscent of one (I can provide more details if needed but it's a lot. Also his brother is doing it so there is that).

Violence: Most of the violence is gun violence, though there is also some limb removal (especially in episodes 3, 9, and 12). The worst of the gore/body horror is in episode 11 (but there is also some in 5 and 6) , and there is an onscreen gun suicide in episode 7.

Harm to Children: Kids are not safe from being hurt in this universe. Like, at all. Besides the day to day dangers of a Mad Max style dystopia, there's a recurring plot point that kids are being experimented on by a cult to create "the perfect organism" (just a sprinkling of eugenics to go along with the child abuse). Some of the experimentation is seen onscreen. There's some UNRELATED child experimentation that we see the aftermath of in episode 11...this kid is dismembered, there's no nice way to put it. There are detail shots of organs.

Depression & Trauma: Depression and trauma are the other main through line of this franchise. Vash has been through a lot. He deprives himself of food seemingly as a punishment. This happens twice explicitly (though he never visibly loses weight). Pretty much every character has either BEEN through a lot or GOES THROUGH a lot but USUALLY both. Family loss, friend loss, poverty, and abusive relationships all around.

Religious Abuse/Trauma: There's a very plot-important cult that uses Christian imagery (mostly crosses (including as weapons) and talk of angels). They're the ones doing the child experimentation...and the "conscripting kids into their murder squad" thing. They don't think very highly of humanity, either. While the angle of specific characters having what one might call religious trauma isn't explored super deeply, I can see how it'd be upsetting for anyone who does have that. (Also I swear I'm gonna write that essay about how the Eye of Michael is a really interesting in light of how actual Christianity works, I just need to re-watch some things and dig up my study Bible first)

Also just as one final thing: there is some brief "important bits shrouded in mist/fog/camera angles but the character is definitely nude" action involving a young-looking character (maybe 12?) and some "failed" baby/child human hybrids in episode 10. The context is that said characters are in test tubes, uh, marinating, I guess, so we've still got that to deal with even if it's not sexual.

I bring this all up first because I don't want you or anyone else to go into Stampede blind and accidentally experience something that will upset you. Cool as the show is, it's not worth your mental health. I also bring it up because Stampede often serves as an entry drug to the other parts of the franchise, and the manga is R O U G H. Everything I've talked about above on crack and THEN some. So like, if anything I've described seems like it's pushing your limits, DO NOT READ THE MANGA. There's a lot to like about Trigun: Maximum, but there's also a lot that can do permanent damage. I've got a pretty strong stomach and I still basically skipped a whole chapter (and almost cried at one point that was less from trauma and more because Nightow slapped me in the face with the inevitable narrative he'd been teasing for like, nine volumes, the bastard /pos).

(I should note, some more elements of TriMax might be making their way into Stampede, and those elements might involve sexual abuse (one character is a former trafficking victim). I don't now if they'll get as graphic as the manga did (again, the manga is R O U G H), but there's a high chance the subject will come up in some way. Also, I can't give content warnings for the '98 anime as the animation style means it slides right off my smooth-ass brain and I have a hard time quantifying its severity in relation to either Trigun or the manga. They did make Vash a sex pest for zero reason, that's annoying. I'll probably re-watch it later to experience the English dub and also to get CWs for anyone who needs them.)

...anyways hope this helps lol

#that is a long-ass answer but I feel like it's my civic duty to be thorough #asks

1 note · View note

blackfire5561 · 3 years

Video

youtube

So back in September Daði Freyr performed a wonderful concert for the release of Psychonauts 2 (the stream is sadly no longer up on Xbox’s channel) and I got inspired to storyboard an animatic based off part of one of the songs. Enjoy!

#psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #razputin aquato #doublefine productions #dadi freyr #storyboarding #animation #animatic #jolie's art #also there's not really any big spoilers in this but it's just imagery from both psn 1 and 2

256 notes · View notes

gentil-minou · 2 years

Note

I really REALLY love your writing (especially “Batter Up, Buttercup”, and I’m wondering… Do you have any tips for more descriptive writing? Any uncommonly used words or expressions? I’m trying to better myself as a writer and could really use some advice!

Omg thank you because sometimes I worry I am too wordy so it's nice to hear when people like that sort of thing, and honestly I'm so excited to answer this/ My secret is that I picture reading (both my fics and when I read) vividly with as many details as I can and I write down the bits that are important to me, and then I use a ton of references when I need it!

Sometimes I can get in the right mood by playing things out like the would be in a movie, so like for example if in the movie version I want to highlight the way the light coming in from the windows reflects in a character's eyes, I'll describe it that way. Other times, especially high romance or tension scenes I draw it out as long as possible and picture every action and try to explain them precisely. And since dialogue heavy scenes are my weakness i will write the script part first and picture the characters talking, then go back and write in the descriptive bits.

The issue becomes when you are over descriptive, and that's something I'm still trying to navigate. But the general rule I follow is: If the scene is slow and high tension, with emphasis on character emotions -> more descriptive. If the scene is meant to fast paced -> less descriptive and being strategic with it.

Things like body language are really good for conveying a characters mood, and if you like to focus deep in one person's point of view like me it helps to think about how they might be percieving another character's actions (then you can have some real fun, where the reader can easily interpret another character's emotions but the POV character's thoughts say they are totally wrong, like what I did with Adrien in Batter Up, Buttercup fdshdgsd)

I also like using the surroundings as a way to set a scene and also offer a moment of peace, but it depends on what you are trying to convey. (An example: in Soft Like Sunshine I used a lot of sun and weather imagery as metaphors for Mari's anxiety and when she start's to spiral, then moments of light when things become good again). I also like to keep one metaphor throughout the story I keep coming back to (In BUB it's puzzle pieces but as the story gets longer I'm finding alternatives, and in Aftershocks I used earthquakes). But I think this is more a stylistic thing

And this is the big one: REFERENCESSSSSS. I always heard that artists use references and are even encouraged to, so when I found out my writer friends didn't use references I was kinda shocked. I use a bunch especially for descriptive words, so here's a list!

Onelook Reverse Dictionary and Thesaurus - this one i use a lot, especially for metaphors. the soft like sunshine fic relies heavily on metaphors of sun and light and darkness and i needed this site sooooo badly otherwise i'd have just written shine a millions times lol

Body language cheat sheet - suuuuper important in conveying emotion without having to write it

More body language

Describing eyes

Facial expression

Tips for writing about pain - haven't published the chapters yet but I used a lot of this when writing the angsty/panic/nightmare scenes in Soft Like Sunshine (um spoiler alert oop)

Alternative words for said: 1 and 2

I use this site a lot for just some ideas and advice, especially the articles under Expressions and Vocabulary. Some of my faves were the alternatives for laugh, and walk, and angry, etc

Flirting - necessary for my socially awkward ace self

How to write a kiss - this helped me go from 0 confidence in kiss scenes to super confident

And finally I think the most important tip is if you want to say something but can't think of how to say it, google it! I think at first I started with like "writing angst" tips or something and there were a lot of useful articles!

#dfhsdkjfhdjsk i did this instead of writing oop #but this was fun yay #also i am actually relatively new to creative writing so always learning and practicing and trying to improve!#would love if folks wanted to share their own tips #asked and answered #writing #writing tips #writing references #references #bushy writing

274 notes · View notes

epic-sorcerer · 3 years

Text

Queer imagery in BBC Merlin

Content warning: kink/fetish, fisting in particular but I show I big image containing a long list of different kinks, homophobia, dom/sub dynamics, sex

Merlin is shown wearing a purple tunic in s4, despite the fact he is a servant and purple(especially with such saturation) was extremely expensive bc purple dye was so hard to make. Gwen also has a light purple dress(or maybe 2? It’s hard to tell). Even though it’s definitely lighter than Merlins tunic, it’s still expensive.

it was illegal for peasants to wear expensive fabrics because of the Sumptuary Law. Basically it makes sure that lower class people are not fashionable. However, BBC Merlin doesn’t seam to care about that law, considering Merlins other bright clothing so take this was a grain of salt.

Basically what I’m trying to say is that there’s no way they could have gotten their hands on these clothes without the help of nobles. Gwen might have, because she works with clothing and could have easily mixed blue and red dye together. Merlin probably not have because he’s never shown to be particularly materialistic or interested much in fashion, despite his bright clothes. Bright Purple would have been much, much harder to get.

It makes the most sense for Merlin and possibly Gwen too to have been gifted such expensive clothing by a noble for being a good servant. I’d imagine Arthur would be the one to give Merlin the tunic and morgana the dresses.

Why does this matter? Lavender(and also purple in general) was considered a queer color starting in the 19th century. Queer men especially were said to possess a “streak of lavender” and a serge of homophobia at the time was often referred to as the “Lavender Scare.” Purple and lavender is still used now to symbolize queerness.

Since Merlin is a modern interpretation of Arthurian myths, it would be perfectly plausible that this symbol was on purpose. Merlin/Arthur and Gwen/Morgana are both extremely popular ships and they are both shown to have a very deep form of trust(Gwen/Morgana being at the beginning of the show). Arthur and Morgana gifting Merlin and Gwen purple clothing could be show them they accept their queerness and/or signaling their own queer attraction to them.

Now, this next symbolism concerns only Merlin/Arthur.

Merlin is shown to have three neckerchiefs.

Navy blue, red, and light grey. Why does this matter? Well, let’s take a look at something called the handkerchief code, also known as the hanky code or “flagging.”

This code has its origins all the way back in time during the Wild West in the USA, but got more popular during the late 20th century in USA and UK gay bars. This code was used mainly by queer men and some nonbinary people to signal to other queers what they wanted sexually. While typically worn in people’s back pockets, a handkerchief could also be worn around one’s neck to show they are a versatile and experienced.

According to this code, Merlin is into;

Red: fisting and getting fisted. This color was hard to get an exact shade from, but the second best option was dark red for double fisting which is honestly so similar I’m not sure if it really matters much.

Light grey: stone topping and getting fucked by a stone top

Navy blue: fucking and being fucked anally

For any one wanting to make their own interpretations of Merlins neckerchief colors(the lighting makes it hard to tell the exact ones) have a look at this handy chart

Not only that, but Arthur is seen wearing a favour on his left arm in s3 ep 4.

What’s a favour? It’s a fabric strip of affection commonly given by maidens to knights before a tournament as a symbol of good luck. It’s often a very important scarf, hankcerchlif , towel, really any bit of cloth that can be tied around someone’s arm. This is also a popular trope in historical media for a female love interest to give a favour to a male one to show chemistry between them.

Regardless of your stance on Merlins gender identity, you have to admit how commonly Merlin is shown to be gender nonconforming(GNC) or otherwise be associated with “womanly” qualities. Especially in a society so heteronormative, the only “pure” option for a knight receiving a romantic gesture would have it be from a woman. If the token was from a queer man, it would also out the noble and cause lots of horrific chaos and destroy both of their reputations.

Even if it was common for women to give knights favours, queer men still existed and with that came romantic gestures—this time hopefully more secret.

Even though the favour on Arthur’s arm doesn’t look exactly like Merlin’s neckerchief, Merlin was the only person to speak with him while preparing for the tournament. Also, the original theorist who I linked in my sources also pointed out that Merlins neckerchief looks lopsided. Almost like Merlin tore off a bit of it and hastily tied it back on.

Although this theory is definitely flawed, it doesn’t matter. Arthur is still wearing a red handkerchief on his left arm. But what does that tell us exactly?

Regardless of wether or not it was Merlin’s, the red is the same shade and also implies Arthur is also into fisting. What about the placement? Sicne it’s on his left, it shows that he is a top/dom, meaning that he prefers to be the one fisting. Since it is worn around his upper arm, it shows that he is simply into the fetish, compared to what other placements mean. In another source, it shows taht upper arm means switch, but because Arthur is wearing it on his left it wouldn’t really make sense for him to signal being a “top-switch” compared to being a top and having the fetish in general.

If you look closely, you can see a different colored stripe on the favour. It’s hard to tell exactly what the color is, it could be yellow, gold, orange, etc. because the color is so dubious, I’ll just leave y’all with a list of color meanings that may apply to Arthur’s favour.

YELLOW: pisser/watersports kink

YELLOW, Pale: spitter/spit kink

MUSTARD: Has 8+ inch dick

GOLD: two looking for one

ORANGE: anything anytime

Also, it’s important to bring up what many in thsi fandom refer to as the “fisting scene.” Where Arthur threatens Merlin by showing him his gloved fist and pulling a bit at the glove.

youtube

In the blooper, you can see Merlin’s actor(Colin Morgan) breaking character and giggling as Arthur shows him his fist. Many in the fandom agree that this was a clear innuendo for fisting, and it is very well possible.

Merlin is shown hitting Arthur and saying he was just doing some horse play, but still indirectly convincing Arthur that he needs to teach Merlin a lesson. This is actually a common act in BDSM sex, where the submissive person purposely angers the dominant into punishing them in a way that somehow involves sex or fetish play.

If you look closely, you can see Merlin is wearing at kinky red fisting handkerchief, showing Merlin is perfectly capable of being a submissive fistee. Also, the hanky code also includes other symbols such as latex or rubber gloves that, surprise surprise, also mean fisting. Although it’s more likely Arthur’s gloves where made of leather, it can still further be interpreted as a fisting symbol if you want. Either way, Arthur’s favour still holds water as he is undoubtedly the dom in this situation.

Also, Merlin is very impulsive and a madlad. Tell me he wouldn’t wear his secret fetish symbols infrount of stuck up, Roman Catholics who are none the wiser. He’d probably think it’s hilarious which is probably why he wears them almost everyday. Merlin loves playfully misbehaving(and is also a brat sometimes) so it makes sense for him to have some dangerous fun.

Now, you may be asking. Why does this matter? At the end of the day, it probably wasn’t intentional. Well, there is alwyas room for doupt BUT I do have some ferther proof. One of the co writers of BBC Merlin—Johnny Capps—actually won a Stone Wall Award. You know, an award named after a core part of queer culture?

The award’s website and Wikipedia page say they give the award for art that describes the LGBT experience well. While I am unsure why or what Capps made to be nominated, it still shows he is very much in touch with queer culture. Capp himself even said at an interview about Merlin, “... in the end, deep, deep down it’s about sexuality and things you just can’t tackle head-on.”

Well, what says more about sexuality than the main characters fist fucking each other? That’s a lot of sexuality. While I am unsure of Capp’s age, he does look to be about middle age and it would make sense for him to know about a code popularized in a 70s to 90s. Especially for someone who has made multiple queer oriented stories in his life time.

Sources:

Why is purple considered the color of royalty?

Sumptuary law

How lavender became a symbol of LGBTQ resistance

How Lavender Became a Symbol of LGBTQ Resistance(part 2)

flagging opinicus rampant

Handkerchief code

DO YOU KNOW THE HANKY CODE?

Picspam: The Red Favour (Proof of Arthur Wearing Merlin's Favour in 3x04)

Five medieval love tokens

The Lady's Favour

Hanky codes

Nominees for Stonewall Awards announced

Merlin series 5 spoiler-free launch report

Pls reblog I spent hours on this /np 😭👊

#tw kink mention #tw sex talk #tw eye strain #tw homophobia #tw queerphobia #research essay #long post #Merlin #bbc Merlin #Merlin bbc #merthur #merlin/arthur #gwen/morgana #morgwen

344 notes · View notes

completeoveranalysis · 3 years

Text

Warning! This post contains spoilers up to chapter 170 of Tsubasa (and Chapter 71 of xxxHolic). Please skip this if you have not read that far.

Please also make no comments about what happens after that point in either manga.

SO here is the other splash image that really stuck out to me:

This time not because of the Seresu arc but because of how the Infinity arc itself ends.

Here's the link to the original post the image is from if you'd like the full context, but the particular quote from that post I want to use as a reference is here:

"Syaoran also sits on the throne - which as far as I can tell, isn’t his. ... The only one ever wearing the crown they’re all wearing [on their clothes] is Sakura. Now, does it make sense that Syaoran has usurped her throne? Heck yeah! He’s stolen everything from her. He’s stolen her journey (they’re following him now, always a step behind), he’s stolen her feathers, and he’s stolen the person she’s in love with."

Where I was kind of on the right track but couldn't have possibly guessed what all the chess imagery was ultimately feeding into. Looking back now the initial liveblogs for all of these Chess-related splash images are such a big mix of different iconography, so it’s very fun reading through all my old guesses back then. I think I did a really good job of trying to decipher some of it, especially the Cinderella and Snow White imagery in Chapter 140, but the Chess was a bit trickier.

Which, like, understandable, because the chess game that was happening in the chapters was stressful as heck and did not end well, but there is a nice conclusion to it with this image which is easier to read now - especially in regards to Sakura. Because it's made very clear to the viewer that the symbol of the Queen piece is in reference to her; both in these splash images (where she wears the crown at one point, and every character wears the symbol in ways that reflect their allegiance to her) and in the plotline, where she functions as the Queen of the battles taking place. Here is another good example of the symbol being used for Sakura with it right there on her throne, and the two Syaoran's wearing the symbol in smaller ways to represent their relationship to her. But with that all in mind? I had no idea what it was really getting at with Syaoran on Sakura's throne here.

BUT NOW I DO.

If you go back to that example I just gave with Sakura sitting on her throne? It's a different throne! It still makes it very clear that she's undeniably the Queen piece, with the symbol in gold actually being a key part of the throne itself.

And the throne Syaoran sits on? It has the crown symbol as part of the decoration, but it's not representing him, it's just a small symbol to show that matches Sakura's throne. This throne is his own.

He's the King piece.

(And, important distinction; the throne is not Lava Lamp's, but our original plotline Syaoran who is now in Autopilot mode.)

This wouldn't have occurred to me the first time through because I was focused so much on what this might mean for Sakura, and how she related to everyone else, but the way the Infinity Arc ends really hammers this home. After all, Sakura is the mastermind in this arc - everything that happens is according to her plan. She's not playing chess just during the literal chess matches, but during the entire plotline, moving every character and circumstance into place to enact her final plan; to activate both Chi's at once, absorb both their feather's, and trigger Fai's curse - resulting in her pseudo (if purely physical) death. But like we see in the plotline, this isn't a loss - it's a win. It's exactly how she planned things to unfold, and it will lead her to winning the game.

Just in case anyone isn't familiar, in Chess the queen is the most powerful piece capable of the widest variety of moves - but the queen is not the endgame goal. You can lose the queen piece in any game and (besides losing a powerful piece) it's not the end of the world. You can still win the game without the queen piece. It's the King piece that's the Win/Loss condition. The King is the piece you have to keep safe at all costs, even if you lose other pieces in the process. The second the King dies, the match is over. You've lost.

And this matches exactly how Sakura played the series events. She was the Queen in control of every move, and Syaoran was the Win condition she was focused on. She foresaw Fai killing Syaoran in the future - which, for her, is the Losing Scenario. She planned everything to avoid this, and she succeeded! She lost the Queen piece (ie, her physical body) but won the ultimate goal of keeping the King safe. She won the 3D future chess game that she was playing by herself, and positioned herself in the place that would have the most benefit for the victory at the end. (Which I still haven't seen, but she was VERY confident about this having a better result than Fai killing Syaoran.)

I'm also super happy that this ties in really well with the fairy tale allusions I talked about back in Chapter 140, but in ways I wasn't aware of back then either.

I talked about Snow White and how the apple (that shows up in a lot of the splash images in Infinity) may have been referring to Sakura's tendency to sleep a lot. What I didn't realise was that Sakura was essentially about to pull the Big Brain Snow White maneuver on herself to ultimately win her chess game. While in Snow White the poison apple is a trap, here Sakura sprung the trap intentionally. Fai is the apple she bit into deliberately - she arranged it so that killed her body, breaking his own curse, and sent her to the World of Dreams (and thus, she is asleep) which also placed her in a Glass Coffin (aka The Jam Jar of Dreams - Im sorry I have no memory of what it's really called). So the Snow White metaphor is now complete.

But also Cinderella! In the image for 140 Sakura is trying on a glass slipper - so she's Cinderella figure as well. But at this point in the plot the clock hadn't struck midnight just yet - like Cinderella, Sakura knew the exact time limit she had to work with, and for her the timing had to be PRECISE. She spent all of Infinity stressed out of her mind about this plan she couldn't trust anyone else with, knowing full well that if she missed the window even slightly it would ruin absolutely everything and they would all lose. Which, funnily enough, makes Yuuko the fairy godmother, since she provided Sakura with the magic she needed to make her plan happen (via wishes). This also means that Fai stabbing her with the sword is the exact moment the clock struck twelve - and like the spell finishing, Sakura could finally drop the act and explain what she had done, even as all the magic disappeared (ie, her luck being traded away). There's even a detransformation sequence of a sort, with her body and soul going in two different directions. But either way, the Cinderella metaphor is also complete!

And with all that done the last part I want to talk about is back in the image of Syaoran on the throne. He's framed on either side with the curtains that portray the chess board, and they're tied back by chains with him in the very centre. He is visually chained to the board - which, like, of course he is. With his Autopilot programming in place he's essentially just a chess piece without any will of his own - a winning piece, for sure, but he's still being moved around without his choice. He's playing the game on auto, making the moves that will lead him to the winning gambit, but without his individual soul he has no choice but to keep playing until the game is over. The goal he's working towards isn't even his - it's Evil Wolverine's. So in the same way that everyone else was a chess piece in Sakura's strategy (if, sort of, willingly), including Sakura herself, Syaoran is a piece being moved around in Evil Wolverine's favour - though if he dies, it's game over for Sakura's side as well.

I'm unclear if Syaoran dying would be a game over scenario for Evil Wolverine, but at the very least it would end the game he is currently playing.

So, in the hyper future 3D chess game that Sakura was playing by herself she couldn't properly win the game for her side by taking out Syaoran because he's her king piece too. Syaoran is the piece at the centre of everything, and will be the key to winning the game for either side. We just have to wait and see if Sakura's gambit will pay off in the way she thinks it will.

#For the record I THINK IT WILL #I believe in her #This has been: a lot of imagery #Tsubasa Catch Up Chronicle #Catch up T144 #Catch up T145 #Catch up T140 #Tsubasa #Ok so Sakura is confirmed Chess Genius y/y?#Sakura #Syaoran #and CHESS

83 notes · View notes

shihalyfie · 3 years

Text

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.

#digimon #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #kizuna spoilers #shihameta

56 notes · View notes