#and not much he can do to display his whole character like the main cast can

[chewysgummies]

Please understand how attached I am to him guys please-

#killbot 86 #killbot 86 edits💖 #I also made this edit a while back #but god damn #I have been hyperfixing on him for like 10 months now #And i really love him sm #I hate being the only person here who like him since he's genuinely so underappreciated #But to be far #He didn't really have much to shine since he's only created to be in one or two episodes #and not much he can do to display his whole character like the main cast can #but omg #Hopefully he can be in season 3 as a second antagonist or some shit #maybe from there he can have more people who appreciate him much like i do #but yeah anyway #Just wanna say that the recent cameo he had genuinely help me out of being distressed for a day #I actually needed that #thank you killbot 86 #i love you

[authenticyuri]

Listen I know I know, referring to Laios’s party as found family isn’t breaking new grounds but like. Can I talk about how literally everyone in the main cast has been ostracized or othered throughout their life and how they can form connections with each other despite their differences and how they don’t belong anywhere else but they actively want to stick together?

The Touden twins have never belonged in their family or with their peers. Laios’s fascination with monsters and low people skills are obviously the main traits that lead people to find him and his interests weird and creepy and cause them to have inaccurate and exaggerated views of how he acts in their head. Whenever people don’t outright tell him how weird he is they always pretend to be his friends while secretly hating him and acting passive aggressively towards him. Even when his knowledge and skills are put on full display and are actively useful, people are still on the fence about him as a whole and don’t take any time to understand him, constantly insisting he’s a freak and an idiot.

Falin was never understood by her parents because of her magical abilities and didn’t fit in at all at her academy. Others always saw her as the weird, muddy, quiet, irresponsible girl in their class, and while she never payed much attention to how others perceived her, it still left her completely isolated from others, until she met Marcille.

Chilchuck faces discrimination from other races constantly looking down on him (in more ways than one) and seeing him as literally disposable. He developed trust issues around others and tried to overcompensate by acting dryly and being as profesional as possible, but it does nothing to deter people from seeing him as a child and underestimating him.

Marcille’s huge age gap and irregular aging from others has made her feel completely isolated from everyone around her since her childhood. She is looked down upon by high and mighty elves who don’t see her as an equal due to being a mixed race. Her interests in ancient magic actively creep out her party members and everyone else who can only see it as the illegal and dangerous “dark arts.” She’s never been able to meet anyone else like her and feels isolated due to no one else having to bear and therefore never being able to understand her situation and frustrations.

Senshi was seen as an inconvenience in the original party he was a part of. Out of the main cast, he probably suffered the most traumatic circumstances and hasn’t been able to overcome that lingering dread in the back of his mind for years. He explored the dungeon in complete solitude for many years while never going out of his way to meet new people until he met Laios’s party. He is someone who uses his interests to try and connect with the people around him but people are unable to see that due to just finding him a weird man who lives in the dungeon and is obsessed with cooking.

Izutsumi never being properly raised and given love by anybody and seen as a freak because of her curse to be a beastkin, to the point she convinced herself that getting rid of her curse is the one thing that would finally make her happy. She’s never formed a close genuine connection with anyone and understood the concept of relationships as give and take.

Many or all of the preconceived biases each individual character faced are still present when it comes to how they view each other, and yet, despite it all, they are still sticking around, regardless of how many opportunities they had to leave. It’s how Chilchuck put himself in harms way despite not being strong and how he finally opened himself up to these people. How Senshi always stuck around to provide food for the others and help them along their journey, and come to accept different ways of doing things or understanding the world because of them. How Marcille ate every single meal she was served despite constantly showing hesitation, and she kept going despite how many times it seemed like they would never make it out or accomplish their goal. How Izutsumi learned that sometimes it’s necessary to do things you don’t like for the sake of other people, and she stuck around cause she knew they needed her, despite her not needing them. How Laios did gain a positive outlook on humanity and betrayed his instincts to save and protect the people he cares about. And about how Falin, after years of eating all by herself, was finally able to share a delicious meal with other people.

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #I just love them waughhhhh #laios touden #falin touden #chilchuck tims #marcille donato #senshi of izganda #izutsumi #rem talks #analysis

[carlyraejepsans]

i feel like uty improves on things undertale did but it doesnt have the same strong foundation as the original. like all the qol tweaks and secret shit and meta flowey are all super impressive but as a whole i agree i didnt find it cohesive or consistent

eh, sorry but i don't really think UTY "improves" much of... anything from Undertale? you can make an argument for the visuals, which are more detailed and certainly better animated, but i would argue right back that undertale's rougher, retro, "kinda ugly" graphics are a deliberate design choice on Toby's part that he stuck to for a reason. not to mention, even in their ugliness, the original main cast managed to display more variety in shape language and size than the entire UTY one, which seemed unable to break past the "tall, skinny, anime proportioned humanoid" figure for anyone beyond the occasional side NPC (which, credit where it is due, DID have some really creative designs).

the secret shit is part of my critiques, actually! while conceptually cool, i don't think they appropriately distributed their story and lore at all. i feel like if we got to the end of the pacifist run and were wholly confused as to why dalv was even a character in the story, the whole "human attack" backstory was... not delivered properly. now, there's no problem with having secret lore, gaster is right there. but if you DO have it then it shouldn't be... yknow... tied to the main backstory conflict that literally set the story in motion? lol? it felt like a game with dataminers in mind, rather than players. which was unavoidably detrimental to its storytelling.

the bullet patterns and attack designs were very visually creative but what they improved from the original in their cleverness they tanked with their execution. WAYYY too unfair, counting too much on memorization and giving you no time to accustom yourself to the mechanics (shout-out to the gun tutorial that... didn't teach us how to shoot. at all. we figured it out on our own in the axis fight LMFAO)

the meta flowey stuff was a fun idea that only really delivered in the neutral run and didn't amount to enough anywhere else to justify his presence in the game imo. like, i lost my shit during his fight too, don't get me wrong, i like when fan stories let him be a little FREAK. but everything else was just so... wasted? i almost didn't see the neutral ending at all because the way pacifist handled flowey disappointed me so much.

uhhhhh running was a good addition and the music fucked hard. can't say anything against those two, nossir. not sure it'd go so far as to call them improvements tho, just nice touches

#answered asks #biscia hater moment #< not exactly hating here this is straight up critique. just for ppl to filter out negative opinions #au tag

[scruffyssketchbook]

how was old eevolves like?

It was written by an 11 year old. And it shows.

Shun had both Naruto and Avatar powers (he could bend all 4 elements and do Ninja Jutsu/control his chakra). And was a Mary Sue. I focused so much on Shun x May that it seemed like they were the main characters and everyone else was a side character. Eve’s dolls in ssec were in old Eevolves but Ruby owned them. Ofc, no June. Shun made them and they could talk because ofc they can. Sylveon wasn’t a thing when I wrote old Eevolves so Ruby liked Randy and there was no love triangle there. Max was never in the series cause him and his best friend Jax went away to learn ninjutsu from a Naruto ninja master. He wanted to get stronger so April will notice him. Which he did. Ex (or X) was an evil shiny Umbreon named UMBREON X and he was obsessed with Flora and he led a group of shiny Pokémon that terrorized everywhere, and ofc, Mary Shun had to stop him with his cool bad ass Naruto powers. Umbreon X also eventually got April Pregnant. Why April? She had nothing going for her so I thought it’ll bring her back into the story. It didn’t. :V She ended up hiding the baby from everyone. I forgot her son’s name. It’s probably Keith. Keith won’t be in New Eevolves and April is not getting pregnant either. Randy was a runt (like Vay is) and apparently it was Shun’s fault???? Idk. They had a big fight about it (with curse words and all) and Mary Shun with all his edge on display was like “ya…… come with me…….” “Leafeon……. It’s my fault….”. Randy is still oblivious as Ever with how Ruby feels about him, and only realizes when she heard her tell someone else. When he confronts her about this, she lists off the whole cast, saying the Eevolves main characters by their Eeveelution name but every other Eeveelution character by their actual name.

Mary Shun (who was Literally Black from ES but more Emo and Edgy) got super emo around May, so he leaves and May is heart broken for years until a kind Glaceon boy made her happy again and when Shun comes back against his will she still chooses SHUN AND NOT THE CUTE NICE GLACEON BOY WHO HELPED HER THROUGH ALL HER SAD TIMES. (The cute Glaceon character is in new Eevolves too, trying to find a name for him because I don’t remember his old name.) Speaking about Mary Shun, he at the ripe age of 12, had a mate and a child on the way, but both were killed by a Pokémon attack right in front of him (Ofc he killed the Pokémon who did it afterwards) and that is how he became edgy mc Edgelord. Also he borderline hated May and always told her to leave him alone and insulted things she liked. But OFC he had a soft spot for her cause she reminded him of his dead wife *eye roll* literal Tsundere. There is a picture I drew of him and said dead wife, they look like adults. Randy is playing a game with Ruby next to them and they look like literal babies. These characters are NOT THAT FAR IN AGE FROM EACHOTHER. Also ofc there are Eevolves kids too, they have their OWN drama. And one of them ofc is a Ninjutsu master at the ripe age of 4 years old. (Eevolves uses human aging, not SSEC aging btw). Everyone had dead or missing parents. Flora and Max’s parents died in a fire, April and May’s mom died and their dad was missing, Jet never knew his parents, Ruby’s parent abandoned her, Shun and Randy’s parents- are actually alive but Shun disowned them along with his older brother. So they were mostly living on their own. From a young age. No family or cousins or anything. Max evolved into a Jolteon btw.

BRO I JUST FOUND AN IMAGE OF MAY SAYING “WANNA BE THE SANTA IN MY SLEIGH” TO SHUN WUT LOLLLLLLLLLLL HELP I WROTE THIS WHEN I WAS 11

All of this ofc. Is changing.

I feel like the only thing not changing completely is Jet’s backstory, because HONESTLY. It’s the most grounded. I completely overhauled Shun’s personality, gave April more personality, changed everything with Max, gave them actual parental figures (well not Shun, his Parents stays borderline disowned, but the rest do have parental figures) and in general made the story like- not seem like it was written by a 11 year old.

[kats-kradle]

Hey! Journeying over from rereading your fics to ask you some Poirot questions! : ) Had you already liked Poirot prior to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express? And did you immediately fall in love with Bouc in the first film or did it take until Death on the Nile?

Hi!! I love talking about Poirot!! Buckle up😂😂

First off I would like to say that it made my day to see that not only did you read my fics but you reread them!! And then you actually came here to talk to me!! You’re the first person who’s actually done that so it really made my day. 

Also: I apologize in advance. When I start talking about Poirot I tend to launch into rants and I… may have done that here so I will say now in case you don’t make it to the end that I would love to hear your thoughts about the movies or anything else Poirot related! Did you know about Poirot before the movie? What are your thoughts about Bouc?

To answer your questions, I guess I could say that technically I liked Poirot before watching the movie. I actually had never heard about Poirot until the movie came out, and one of my sister’s friends took her to see it and then leant her the book. I stole it and read it in almost one night and ever since then have been absolutely enthralled by Agatha Christie! I own almost all of the Poirot books and have been trying to branch out and sample her other writings, but I keep coming back to Poirot. 

By the time Death on the Nile came out I forgot the Bouc was a character who existed because I hadn’t seen MotOE since it came out in 2017. When I saw him, I did remember that he’d been in the last movie, and was absolutely delighted that they were going to turn him into the Hastings of the movies (especially because he was so happy and full of life😭) which of course we all know what happened with that and now that I’ve recovered from my shock and denial I can take a step back and acknowledge it was a FANTASTIC choice to kill him, and to do it in such a shocking way—but also, I’m also not a a fan of how much Kenneth Branagh deviated from the source material by doing that. 

Adding Bouc to the movie was a choice that made sense, if Kenneth Branagh is going for a Poirot Cinematic Universe. People expect a sidekick, and in stories where the cast has to change every movie, it’s nice for the audience to have a familiar face other than the main detective. However, I also think Kenneth Branagh shot himself in the foot by shooting Bouc in the neck, because he went out of his way to add and establish Bouc as a reoccurring character, just to kill him off in the second movie. I think the audience will now have more difficulty connecting with the side characters in the future since they’ve had two movies with the same character, as a opposed to already being used to the characters changing every movie. But then again, I’m still in denial. Along with this, it’s setting up the next movie to have a distinctly dark tone.

Well, now I’ve gotten started on the topic of Poirot and I can’t stop😂😂😂 Enjoy my decent into madness.

Another way that dear Kenny boy shot himself in the foot is with the iconic mustache. His mustaches in MotOE were luscious and beautiful, despite the critic they received. Branagh understood that Poirot has impressive mustaches that are quite a spectacle to behold, even if the rest of the world can only picture the measly little mustache that David Suchet displays in his version of Poirot (don’t get me wrong I love those adaptations but just… the mustache is all wrong. And David Suchet Poirot is a subject for a different time or we’ll be here forever😂😂). In DotN, for some reason he felt the need to give the mustaches a tragic backstory????? Narratively, I guess it’s a nice bookend and theme to the movie as a whole. BUT HE FELT THE NEED TO GIVE THE MUSTACHES A TRAGIC BACKSTORY????????????? Despite the fact that in DotN the mustaches aren’t actually long enough anymore to cover up the scaring shown at the beginning, HAIR DOESNT GROW ON SCAR TISSUE!!!! It just doesn’t make sense😭 Along with that, now he’s destroyed the main characteristic of Poirot, his trademark. Poirot is quite vain about his mustaches and even when he wears a fake one in Curtain (for reasons that I won’t spoil but if you know you know) Hastings only finds out at the end of the book, and Poirot’s manservant treats the subject with delicacy since the mustaches were such a sensitive subject to Poirot. 

While I’m STILL talking about Poirot (forgive my rant I can’t stop) I’m going to take the opportunity to mention the stark difference in quality between MotOE and DotN. I’ve now seen both of these movies multiple times and back to back. Overall, I think MotOE is much better. DotN uses a lot of green screen, and it’s pretty obvious and creates for some flat feeling backgrounds. For MotOE, they took shots of the mountains and overlayed the train on, instead of all CGI. Now, I don’t know for sure how much of each movie and which parts use CGI; it could be that MotOE uses more CGI and I just have a bad eye for spotting it. It was just my impression that the backgrounds in DotN were severely lacking. 

And let’s talk about the music. MotOE delivers and excellent score that makes you feel a wide variety of emotions, and they use the theme of repetition well in The Armstrong Case. For me, it had just reached the point in the movie where the theme could have started to be annoying; but the. they used it magnificently when Poirot was explaining the murder, and the simple and relentless, already melancholy melody turned into something truly heartbreaking, turning a scene of twelve people stabbing a man to death into something poetic. 10/10 one of the best uses of music and one of the best scenes ever, in my opinion. DotN, besides the songs sung by the talented Sophie Okonedo as Salome Otterbourne, has no notable music to take away from the movie, besides the absolutely grating (I don’t know what it’s called but it goes like. DUN DUN. DUUUN! DUN DUN. DUUUN! I think if you search Death on the Nile on YouTube you’ll find the song titled the same by Patrick Doyle). I got tired of hearing that by the third time it played, and my annoyance with it was one of the main things that I took away from the movie. 

AND ANOTHER THING both movies took creative liberties with the stories, but one of the creative liberties I did not like about DotN was how explicit they made it. Between that dance floor scene and the scene at the tomb… when I go to see a movie that’s rated PG-13 I like to feel comfortable seeing it with my father and not feel the need to slam my hands over my little sister’s ears. Especially when I want to slam them over my ears instead😭

All this being said I’m 100% going to go see a Haunting in Venice, but not because I’m expecting it to be good. I’d just like more fuel for my rants. I didn’t even get touch upon what an amazing actor Tom Bateman is and how I’m mad that he only plays serial killer roles outside of Bouc. 

Anyways I hope that answers your questions😅 thank you for your ask, and congratulations if you made it this far. It did truly make my day to see the phrase “rereading” in association with my fics, and I feel as if you were some curious passerby on the street who I started passionately and somewhat aggressively ranting at. I apologize. Also I took a break from ranting to check out your blog and you’ve got a great curation of posts. Good luck getting rid of me now. Prepare to see me in your notifications. Sorry for the essay.

#asks #i………..can only apologize for the length of this #but anyways. thus is the way of tumblr interactions #you send me an ask I give you an essay and now you’ll never get rid of me #just like when you feed a stray cat #poirot #hercule poirot #bouc #murder on the orient express #death on the nile

[kabutoraiger]

watched 2 different recent shows starring one of my favorite cute jdrama ossans (mashima hidekazu) since they were both subbed by the same person and the links were right there and it was like well why not. so i might as well do a joint review of them too.

coincidentally they both also feature a FL who's potentially down to fuck that middle aged man which is often an added draw for me but in advance i'll just say that i would not recommend either of these shows on that front.

"halation love" is a pretty limp lowkey mystery/"psychological thriller" where it being a fairly low budget show is kinda what damns it the most bc it's like. the cast is so small that once we eliminate both of the FL's sort of love interests as suspects who else could it be other than Guy C? there's not really any other recurring characters?

the FL here is also this aggravatingly bland doe-eyed waif who blinks confusedly through the whole ordeal & does things like apologize (in a genuine manner) to the guy who just tazed her & tied her up. just a spark of personality in this girl would've gone such a long way.

and this is just petty but they consistently put her in some of the ugliest clothes i have ever seen in a drama.

overall: not really recommended. mashima-san gets all bloody at one point though and it's very nice <3

"shoumonai bokura no renaimon" is a bizarre slice of life about a ~40 y/o guy who's contacted by his one true love from college only to find that she's actually dead & the one who contacted him is her teen daughter who looks exactly like her.

slice of life doesn't always need a coherent thesis statement i guess but i was still really perplexed about the messaging of this one. the ML and his childhood friend who's carried a torch for him for 25 yrs get into a relationship then later break up bc even after agreeing to date he never seemed to think of her romantically, only saying yes to make her happy/bc it would be an "easy" logical relationship. her putting her foot down against this is painted as a good move.

and yet in the end both the main women get into relationships with other men that neither of them ever display romantic attraction towards, who have seemingly just "worn them down" through persistence (not in the creepy way, but still). and THIS is painted as sweet. like ?? ??? it's the same thing though....

it's just a very frustrating straight people show in general. the best moments in it are probably the bits of cross generational bonding, and i kept waiting for the shoe to drop and for the daughter character to finally realize that her feelings for this 40 y/o man are actually "wanting a dad". dad & daughter are what most of their interactions read as. like, extremely so. at one point she calls him to pick her up at the park bc she fell off the jungle gym. (this 17 y/o girl kinda being written like she's 10 is a whole other can of worms, but.)

you could really do something with that, like a contemplation on the way society trains us to prioritize the idea of romance so much that we sometimes can't register other types of affection.

but the revelation never comes. she continues insisting she's romantically into this guy until getting rejected years later as a college student.

overall: also not recommended. but mashima-san wears many knit sweaters in it and looks very adorable :3

#doramablogging

[aesthetic-uni]

While everyone else is watching season 4 of Lego Monkie Kid, which just released in dub version, I am watching THE VERY BEGINNING

Yeah I just started Lego Monkie Kid, and I very much regret not starting it sooner, and I wish I had heard about it sooner. Oh well, better late than never I suppose

I don’t know if I’ll review all the episodes, but I’ll at least review A Hero Is Born

First off let me rave about the animation: This is amazing. I haven’t watched anything else lego-wise, so I don’t know if it’s usual for them to have stellar animation, but this is literally some of the most amazing animation I have ever seen-and I have seen a lot of animation. It’s just, every single scene is so fluid and fun, and the scenes where they are not are stylized to be fun gags that perfectly display the emotions of the characters. And even if the animation wasn’t amazing, the way they have built (hehe) this Lego world is so beautiful. Everything looks so gorgeous and has this absolutely beautiful stylized look that I would say is on par with Spiderverse and Puss In Boots. In case I’m not clear, I’m just saying that how they design everything fits so perfectly when thinking about the media they actually come from. Like yeah this is how I would think a Lego world would look like! And oh my god the colors! They so bright and fun and work perfectly when you consider almost everyone in this world is yellow! It’s just such a beautiful show to look at! I haven’t seen the whole thing but I have to say right now, one of my favorite scenes is just MK delivering noodles and driving around this city, ugh I love it.

Okay so let’s start with the characters: I really enjoyed them all! I loved Mei so much,and I’ve only heard good things about her so I can’t wait to see more of her! Red Son was a fantastic funny villain, while I did enjoy his parents as more serious villains. I think I prefer Princess Iron Fan as a villain, she just seems a bit more grounded and serious compared to DBK who’s kinda over the top (like father like son!), but who knows maybe that will change. PIGSY AND TANG!!! I fucking adored them. Already I ship them, but every scene I see them I can’t help but think of their counterparts and laugh at how not them they are acting. And yeah, I absolutely love Dadsy, he cares so much for MK in this one episode and you can tell. And for Sandy, he’s adorable obviously but I just want to see him snap. I don’t know why but I really just want to see him fucking destroy something. I’m really disappointed I didn’t get to see much of Sun Wukong. Like I know it’s MK story but I’ve seen so much stuff of Sun Wukong I want to him to be here already dammit! Also yeah he’s definitely hiding more than he’s letting on. Now to MK! I love him. This is MY son and EVERYONE is required to be nice to him! He’s just a fun character, he reacts to things in such a normal way I absolutely love it. I can’t wait to see more of him.

Also, this episode was just hilarious. I loved all the jokes and visual gags. My favorite joke has to be during the race scene when Red Son pulls out the motorcycle and is like “You think I would build just one car!” AND HOLDS UP LEGO INSTRUCTIONS LMAO

Plot was, basic. The only thing I found really compelling was Princess Iron Fan, I’m not going to lie. I didn’t dislike it, it’s just a standard pilot plot so I didn’t care for it. I think I liked the first half more than the second half, because after Bull Demon King gets his armor, everything just goes so fast that I stopped really caring.

Now, my main problem with the episode is just, it was so incredibly rushed. Which listen I get it I do! It’s only one hour and they have to introduce the main conflict, introduce the whole cast, actually get the main conflict, actually get the resolution, and solve the main conflict. That’s hard to do with full length films, of course it’s going to be rushed. But, it did make it less enjoyable for me. I don’t know maybe it’s just a me thing, but I hope as I watch the seasons they’re able to slow down the story a lot more. Also, yes I know it’s a Lego show, but my god did they put so many obvious “we made this in order to make a toy” scenes! I get they have to sell toys but there was just way too many for one episodes. I hope they’re at least spread out in the next season.

And that’s my review! Sorry it’s not very put together, I was mostly just writing down whatever came to my mind about the episode. I might do season by season reviews, or a few episodes at a time. Either way I think this show might be a new favorite of mine and I’m excited where to go!

Also a few things: I don’t care for spoilers, and I have actively spoiled myself with this show. I also joined the fandom way before I even watched the show. You guys just make way too cool fanarts and edits Dammit! Anyway I don’t care if you spoil me in the comments lol, I probably won’t even realize what you are talking about until I get to that scene so, it’s all good

#uni talks about the universe #monkie kid #lego monkie king #lmk tang #lmk mei #lmk red son #lmk wukong #lmk Mk #lmk pigsy #lmk sandy #I’m really excited to see how this show goes! #and before I make any promises #I am very bad with keeping up with shows #so if I stop posting reviews it’s because I’m shit #that’s the reason

[theeeveetamer]

I still haven't seen absolutely every support yet but I think I've seen enough that my general opinions won't drastically change. So, I thought it would be fun to do a tier list with my general sentiments on the cast. Explanations (and spoilers) under the cut.

Tiers are arbitrarily ordered (mostly) by recruitment/encounter order. Also I couldn't find a tierlist with Lindon and Saphir but Lindon would be Neutral but ended up liking, and Saphir is I thought I would like you and I did.

I thought I would like you and I did:

Not much to say here. I immediately gravitated toward Alfred and Alcryst when they were revealed because they have the looks and personality of characters I usually like, and I ended up liking them. Diamant was a character that didn't really catch my attention pre-release but as soon as I met him I figured I'd like him. Lumera is a hot dragon mommy and I have a type. Saphir was immediately interesting to me because we don't get a lot of visually older looking female characters in FE, and her supports are actually pretty interesting.

I thought I would dislike you but I ended up liking you:

Alear, nothing personal, I just usually don't care for the self-insert/Avatar characters in games. They're at best something I just view as utilitarian and at worst they can be both bland and warp the entire plot around themselves. Alear is definitely some degree of bland, but in a generically shounen anime good guy way not in a "there's just nothing there" way.

Pandreo I just wasn't into the whole frat boy vibe, but he wound up being surprisingly fun.

Hortensia is someone I found kind of annoying in the main story. Her voice is also a little grating. But having gotten all of her supports she's got a lot of interesting stuff going on and it really endeared me to her.

Goldmary I initially pegged as annoying, but honestly she's just so desperate it wraps all the way back around to being endearing. The fact that at least some characters actually react to her obnoxiousness in an expected way (e.g. Vander being just baffled that she can be so Like This) does a lot to make her schtick endearing.

I was neutral and I ended up liking you

Again not much to say. These are all characters I didn't have much opinion on one way or another, but they won me over either through their supports or plot involvement.

I'll just call out Etie for her voice (I was fully expecting her to have a very typical high squeaky young anime girl voice based on her design, so when she opened her mouth and sounded like she does I was very pleasantly surprised) and Celine for the sheer ruthlessness she can display. Love me a girl that looks sweet and soft but will happily cut your head off without a second thought if you try to hurt the people she loves.

I was neutral and I remained neutral

I don't love them, I don't hate them either. Mauvier is here mainly because he kind of confuses me with some of the decisions they made with him. It's not enough that I'd say I dislike him, but it's also not counterbalanced by enough to make me say that I like him.

I was neutral and I ended up disliking you

Louis's entire thing is that he's a massive creep, specifically toward women. Yeah, I know the localization tried to censor it, but it's still kind of obvious that he's creepy just based on how most of the characters react to him in his supports.

Maybe a bit hypocritical because I tend to like the shameless flirt types, but something just hits different about a guy being a bit of a flirt vs. a guy showing up to a pool to vouyeristically watch half naked girls without their knowledge. Like, at least the shameless flirt characters usually get shot down all the time or characters acknowledge that they're being creepy. I haven't seen a Louis support yet where someone just goes "you're being fucking creepy, women don't exist for your viewing pleasure, knock it off."

I thought I would like you and I ended up disliking you

CW here for disordered eating

Lemme just say I love Seadall's design. The second I saw him I knew he was gonna be a character I wanted to get all of the supports for and possibly ship. I just hate a lot of his supports. I wish they hadn't leaned so hard on his food thing, because after a while it just started getting really uncomfortably reminiscent of disordered eating. And like canonically I'm sure he wasn't meant to be representative of disordered eating. I think it's more about the crazy physical standards professional athletes (dancers and figure skaters especially) maintain to be at the top of their craft... but, well, there's a reason why so many of them develop disordered eating habits. I don't think this would bother me that much if he just complained about not getting to eat food that he likes sometimes, but it's the extreme reactions to the food that bugs me. Like, he will literally hunt down Timerra whenever she's cooking just to yell at her for cooking food she knows he can't eat or he'll sit there and agonize over whether or not he should eat something to the point where he's consulting fuckin' fate to decide if he's allowed to eat a thing, or he's beating himself up over the mere thought of eating something.

He definitely has some good supports don't get me wrong, but the whole food thing really dragged down the character for me.

I thought I would dislike you and I did

TBF to this tier, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. A character that you love to hate can be just as much fun as a character you just love, and boy do I love to hate these guys.

So yeah, generally I find most of the cast very likable. There's not really a lot of characters I dislike, and honestly the ones that I do dislike are for pretty specific reasons

#fe engage #fe17 #tier lists #fe engage spoilers

[scenegraph]

scenegraph reviews: smp kit makes pose rockman.exe (part one: assemblé)

i thought i wasn’t going to type up one of these for rockman.  he’s basically the same as roll, right?  he’s going to have similar pain points on assembly, right?

lolno.  well, lolsorta.

so!  as you might recall from the roll review, ‘skin’ tone for these kits is a bright shade of simpsons yellow, which i painted over at the same time as painting the roll parts to arrive at a more attractive pale peach:

these look like they’re going to be faceplates, and on the side of the box they’re displayed like they’re option parts like roll’s hand attachments are, but they slide (with a lot of resistance) into place the same way roll’s face did.  so they’re really more like choose your adventure options.  just select the one that suits the way you tend to display your figures; because i like to make my figures do doofy shit all the time rather than just fight, i went with the maskless one.

now, the good news is, there are way less load-bearing decals on rockman!  things that should arrive painted in, like his bodysuit stripes, are painted in!  noice!

at first i thought this was Main Character Privilege.  then i realized that rockman has no open hands.  just these fists.

that’s all he gets!  he cannot do the ‘guess ill die’ shrug like roll can because lol no open hands, though he can flex his wrists to do the jealousy pose which no rockmans or megamans i’ve owned before could do so... equality at last?? 

roll’s open hands are so expressive and she can do so much between them and the fists, it’s a shame rockman doesn’t have the same.  presumably you can fix this by buying the style change set, since that comes with a kusamura seed and presumably they’d give you an extra set of open hands so that base rockman can hold it too, but that’s another one hundred and fifty dollars when i don’t want no style changes, give me more navis instead and don’t make me buy whole other kits just so i can get the option parts rockman deserves.  u actin’ like these are nine-dollar barbies i can just yoink a head or an outfit from instead of full-blown model kits with collector price points, i don’t appreciate it, bandai.

(also on the subject of rockman’s hands, there is an absolutely massive sprue to cut in the meat of rockman’s thumb that looks like booty even after sanding.  grr.)

however, i can say that this is still way cooler than 66 action rockman’s lack of a second hand at all.  either you displayed him with a sword made of bendy plastic or a buster.  here, rockman has a nice non-bendy sword, a buster, and a regular arm.  putting the sword together is quite painful, because it doesn’t slide together smoothly, but it’s a tiny model, it happens.

in addition, while that one finicky bit in roll’s upper arm that required boiling water and pliers is gone, instead they have introduced a new pain point:

this popped out and went sailing across the room the first time i tried assembling it.  on roll, this upper arm and shoulder joint is a single piece.  once the arm is assembled, it even plugs into rockman’s torso the exact same way it did on roll. why is it different at all

the same “at this small size, invisible variances in the casting will make bits of this hard to jam together or not fit on at all” disclaimer from roll applies to rockman as well, so his wrist is very tetchy and he can’t wear his backpack until i sit there and epoxy it to his back, buuut that can wait for another day.  for now, both rock and roll are assembled, and nothing has outright broken so i don’t think i need to buy another set of these.  mission accomplished!

...aaaand i’ll do more pictures, comparisons, etcetc in a part two tomorrow or sunday.

#rockman.exe #rockman exe #mmbn #megaman nt warrior #megaman battle network #mega man battle network #smp kit makes pose #smp #bandai namco #plamo #plamodel #Shokugan Modeling Project

[everyothermouse]

The grand theater presents an inside scoop on Boiling Over: we asked each of the core actors what their favorite part of making the show has been :] under the cut cus certain people had a lott to say

Vannessa

"I love the whole haunted house vibe of it all, running around and screaming is definitely my favorite part! The cast try their best to get a genuine rise out of me, including Emory, who isn't even a villain. It's very fun, if you think watching horror movies is fun you should try being in one- you'd think being friends with the main villains actor would ruin it, but you just have to put in some suspension of disbelief and it's easy to have fun being scared!"

Luke

"My favorite of my additions to the story is the concept of Vanilla's occasional lucid moments. While I understand the horror of a character who commits atrocities without any remorse, I personally find the concept of realizing you have committed something horribly wrong and against your moral code against something incredibly important to you to be much more gut wrenching and horrifying. Writing Vanilla's breakdowns of guilt that are laced with the horrifying knowledge that the moment will pass and that he will go back to being an awful person is my favorite thing.

I enjoy contrasting it to my character, who does not have strong feelings of guilt over his actions. It's an interesting comparison to see a character so wrecked with guilt but who has so little control of himself that he will undoubtedly do terrible things again compared to a character who has no guilt for his actions but who is fairly in control of himself and most often takes a course of action beneficial to the safety of himself and others, outside of moments where he is put under intense outside pressure and acts poorly due to fear. 

I purposefully make sure Luke is always the character Vanilla goes to when he has moments of regret, because I really enjoy seeing the dynamic of a deeply emotional character who is attempting to destroy himself from the inside out, and a character who is so shrouded in defense mechanisms to try to not destroy himself that his humanity and emotion is almost completely turned off.

That's what I love about Luke. His character is in direct contrast to the out of control, emotional messes that are the villains, but also in direct contrast to the caring, strong willed, and equally emotionally driven heroes. He is in his own separate category, and it makes him a very good character to accentuate other characters' traits. He himself is also benefited by this, as his strange emotionless but survivalist behavior is much more evident when you put him against pretty much any other character in the cast, especially Cayenne, Vanessa, and Vanilla. Vanessa's choice to help Luke after he betrayed her just helps to highlight her character a lot, in a way that wouldn't have been possible without him. Cayenne's fighting against Kath and Vanilla is much more poignant when displayed against Luke's blatant compliance. I just enjoy writing Luke a lot. Vanilla is still my favorite part though, his acting definitely adds to it, he genuinely looks like he's trying to rip off his own skin out of disgust and fear, he looks and sounds like he's going through his own personal hell that the rest of us can't see during those scenes."

Cayenne

"Honestly? My friends. I enjoy projecting my trauma on to Cayenne and basically barfing out my feelings through him, and then getting to turn around and go hug my boyfriend and pretend to be a baseball star. It's fun man, and Vanilla and Kath really make an effort to make things fun and pleasant, Kath is a total dick but xe always brings cupcakes and grins at me whenever they're saying something rude out of character, and you can tell we're just having a lot of fun. Meeting Marshall was the best part of everything, he's the fucking best."

Vanilla

"I like the torture scenes."

Marshall

"I enjoy the setting! We've been working on set design for a long time, it's slow and changes a lot. When we first started, Kath lived in a tent, the baseball stadium was actually high budget, me and vanillas house was tiny, and Kai didn't even have a house, he just had an office! Man, things have changed, and for the better! I've loved roughing out the aesthetic of the story- dirty baseball fields and equipment for marshall and kai's mildly rebellious and punk romance, the clean and soulless house of two perfectionist parents who put too much pressure on the kids they never see, the cozy little apartment of Kai and Marshall, the absolute mess of depression and misery and trash that is kath's house- we've still got so much to do, but oh my god am I enjoying it all so much. Vanilla came to us with his ideas about wildflowers and the messy, exciting, and free energy he saw in Kath and we took that and ran with it hard for the scenery, and it has done us so many favors. I can not wait until the whole set feels as intentional and well worked as those few small places that we've perfected- if anything, I hope we improve some more on those areas too!

(Ps, i also love working with cayenne, but thats just my favorite part of life in general so it'd be unfair to list it haha. Hes my inspiration for this whole story, most of my favorite sets were made for like, 5 minute romance scenes between me and him because I put way too much effort into our little subplots."

Kath

"I love the characters, I honestly can't even pick a favorite because they're all so fun to me. I'm biased toward Emory cus we're good friends outside of the show and he injects a lot of his own humor into how he plays and writes Emory, so every time Character Emory is on screen I have a great time. Marshall is a really interesting character to me, I think he has more under the surface than he likes to show and I'm really excited to keep working on him and seeing what he has in store, I really want us to do his concept justice so we're not rushing into anything at the moment, just taking our time workshopping pretty much everything. Kath is a really fun chaotic character, xer motives are totally bullshit and I love it, xe's just an angry fucking bitch who destroys shit and it's so fucking fun to play, I especially love trying to get into depth on the acting in scenes with Vanilla- in scenes they're doing crime it's usually just pure joy combined with anger, but Vanilla really fucks with Kath's head so there's this crazy mix of emotions going on there. He's an abuser, victim, partner, best friend, etc, Kath is constantly trying to rationalize all these different pieces of Vanilla in xer head but it's difficult because while from an outside perspective he's not that complicated, from Kath's perspective, these are like 2 completely different people with totally different personalities and relationships with Kath, and every time Kath is with him xer brain is fighting itself trying to fit the 2 together when it just can't. He's a sweet, kind, best friend, he's a total freak who's been stalking xem for years, he's doing whatever he's doing with Cayenne, he's taking everything Kath can dish out with a smile on his face, practically taking away all of Kaths power by saying to their one strength against everyone, this doesn't hurt me, I enjoy this. It drives Kath insane, which is fucking fantastic for an otherwise very self assured character, he absolutely destroys xem. 

All that isn't even half the characters, I just love them all a lot."

Jake

"I'm not super involved in the writing honestly, I'm just here for my girlfriend. I like the part where we get done with the show and we hang out on the couch"

#tldr luke and kath geek out abt their characters while everyone else just talks abt how much they love their friends /j #the grand theater #boiling over #not art

[mochakissedgold]

Well...that Kraven The Hunter trailer was not...very good at all now, was it Sony?

We are on experiment #3 of yet another boring and uninspired take of another Spider-Man *villain* -I say those words loosely since Sony's versions of these characters are far from resembling anything remotely villainous or even anti-hero esque but I digress - getting handed his own origin story no one asked for in Kraven the hunter and to the surprise of no one (maybe me since I thought Sony would learn their lesson🤡)...they STILL fucked this up!

Kraven is the most easy, simple and effective character you can adapt as villain for a future Spider-Man movie. His whole gimmick is he's a hunter who hunts for sport who's obsessed in taking down Spider-Man in order to prove he's the world's greatest hunter. Its simple. Now I don't mind if slight tweaks were made for his movie counterpart as long as the changes made weren't done on a significant scale where the character is totally unrecognizable, I'm fine with it.

Not here. Oh no, they fucking mauled (no pun intended) everything apart about what made this villain cool for me. His obsession with Spider-Man? It ain't here. So obviously since Sony hasnt yet established a proper Spiderman for this cinematic universe for whatever dumb fucking reason, we needed something else.

And what do we get instead as a replacement? A grown man harboring daddy issues who goes on a hunting spree to rid the world of evil men like his father after being left for dead as a young boy by said parent. Yup...excellent Oscar winning writing, right? What great storytelling!

Might I add this version of Kraven has superhuman abilities where he can connect with every land animal as means to spot his prey. I mean, what am I watching, Sony's answer to Aquaman and Tarzan rolled into one? What *IS* this movie trying to be?!😭 This comment I found on reddit sums it up perfectly another issue I have with on upcoming movie:

Venom is about a sympathetic man that transforms a monstrous anti-hero that eats people. Repeat with Venom 2. Morbius is about a sympathetic man that transforms a monstrous anti-hero that eats people. Kraven is about a sympathetic man that transforms into a monstrous anti-hero that eats people. There’s no variety here. It’s the same movie.

And for how he was gifted these powers you ask? From a drop of blood of a lion. The same damn lion that attacked him as a child. I'm not joking because this is explicitly shown in the trailer if you think I'm lying.

I should also point out a very huge difference between movie kraven and comic Kraven where in the comics he gets his abilities by ingesting various potions made from jungle herbs. He didn't inherit none of the shit from a lion's blood and even what he's got in the movie is greatly exaggerated, bordering on flat out wrong by comparison.

Imagine casting Ariana DeBose as his love interest - a whole voodoo priestess in the comics where you don't capitalize off of that potential where she could be the main power source of how he's given his abilities when the opportunity was right there! What a waste.

And there are people who really and honestly believe a corporate husk like Sony can handle any Spider-Man character better than what Marvel/Feige has done on their end with the brand? LOL ok suuure...

Anyways by that point of me watching what was left in the trailer, any little bit of interest I did have, flew right out the window. I don't care how much gore, blood, and carnage on display you show me, it didn't get me geeked at all. I can tell when a film has excessive violence to further the story at the betterment of its writing or is gory for the studio's sake to ensure an R rating. Guess which one this falls under🙃. Fuck, not even a shot of Aaron Taylor Johnson biting off a man's nose made me feel anything. I was as dry as a desert.

But I swear nothing could truly prepare me for the footage that followed soon after because this is where I truly lost my shit. And not in a good way.

And you wanna see what my immediate response was after seeing that shot? This:

Because I'm tired. I am tired of this studio constantly justifying the pointless existence behind these films through these teases and hints sprinkled in the hopes Tom or Andrew - or even Tobey for that matter - will show up for this dumb idea of a sinister six movie where all these villains join forces in fighting a version of Spider-Man only for them to turn around and team up with the hero they were just fighting moments ago to go up against an even bigger villain that either threatens the entire world or new york city. I bet my whole bank account that's the exact story Sony has been itching of telling and if so, its GARBAGE, and Y'all can keep letting this idea sit in the bottom pits of development hell if that's the case because it will never be a good movie (let alone a good comic book movie at that).

My expectations for this were already low when Kraven was announced and there I was, dare I say, showing some slight interest in how a villain like Kraven would be handled. That maybe Sony would finally win me over in finally getting at least one of these movies right with me, right?

HELL NO. 3 movies in - with two more on the way; one staring Sydney from Euphoria and another villain entry starring fucking Bad Bunny🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️I'm so excited for that last one especially 🙄 - and its painfully clear for each one that's already out, is on the way, or is in development are all nothing but cash grabs just so they can keep holding onto the rights of the Spider-Man brand and any related character to him. Since fucking 2002 they have been milking this cow.

2002! Two decades worth of Sony not producing a single original property since then and quite frankly, I'm sick of it. In fact, I've been tired of it. It just took this Kraven trailer for me to say "Fuck it."

I just seriously cannot wait for the day the full rights of Spider-Man revert back with Marvel where Feige can better utilize them because as it stands and will forever be the case since 2014 when Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed as the starting point up to present day, Sony just doesnt have that dog in them to tell good stories from this property no more. This studio really did peak at the height of genuine storytelling with that original Raimi trilogy.

I'll leave you all with this in mind: if it weren't for Sony still holding the rights hostage at this stage, we would've seen Venom in the mcu by now, and Kraven would've probably already made an appearance had Ryan's original plans of introducing him as a villain in the first Black Panther had went through. Oh welp🤷‍♀️

I suppose if there's one thing I know this movie won't fall short of is creating an entire new base full of fangirls who'll be thirsting after Aaron so..I guess there's one positive thing to be said on how this will be received in some cases which isn't saying a whole lot, really.

If anything, I'll probably check out the movie just for the eye candy of seeing him if I'm brutally honest but everything else is a hard no lol.

[rurahdenisesblog]

Sex Education: Raising The Standard for Representing LGBTQ+ in The Entertainment Industry

Sex Education has indeed established itself as one of the most enlightening programs on adolescence and sexuality, but with the release of its second season, it raises the standard for complex representations of LGBTQ+ youth. By the time Sex Education season two's closing titles appear, the well-liked Netflix series is one of the queerest adolescent comedies ever; about half of the key characters have displayed queerness in some form.

Ncuti Gatwa's portrayal in Sex Education's first season exposed us to the unashamed, unrepentant Eric Effiong. Although he is close friends with the main character Otis Milburn, the program never treats him as the cliché homosexual best buddy or comedic relief. Sure, he's extremely entertaining and isn't scared to show off when it comes to his costumes, but Sex Education has always presented Eric as a complex individual. He has his own moral principles, which include his religion and the church family to which he belongs to. Also important is the fact that he is of Ghanaian and Nigerian heritage in a largely white LGBTQ+ television environment. One of the most progressive LGBT characters on television is Eric, especially with all of his qualities. Although, to be honest, it does so by employing one of the oldest tactics in the book—a love triangle—season two advances Eric's plot. However, heterosexual characters have traditionally been the only ones who had access to this narrative device. Rarely do queer characters ever have the chance to date one possible partner, much less two. The classic tension of who will he choose is used in the love triangle, but ultimately, it doesn't matter which boy Eric likes more; rather, it matters which one makes Eric feel more like himself. Even his mother can see the differences between the two as they compete for her son's affection.In the end, Eric picks Adam, one of the few bisexual young men on television. Adam's path of self-discovery and acceptance serves as a reminder that there are indeed plenty adolescents who battle with their identity, even though characters like Eric and Rahim are proud of their identity from the start. It also serves as a reminder that there is hope and that loving yourself will enable you to truly embrace everyone else. Ola, who discovers she is pansexual after her separation with Otis and the emergence of love for her friend Lily, joins Adam under the bisexual umbrella. She stands in stark contrast to Adam since Ola is willing to embrace rainbows and give tailored menswear her own unique twist after taking a little online exam to accept who she is. Ola and Adam are coworkers at the convenience store, and their relationship turns out to be one of Sex Education's most delightful and unexpected outcomes. Although their shared interest adds a new dimension to their relationship, their sexual orientation is not always what forges their bond.

While Sex Education receives acclaim for exposing the diversity of queerness, fans of the show would love to see a trans character be included in its plot. In the end though, it's so thrilling that about half the cast of a popular TV show may identify as gay in some way. It's not only that these LGBTQ+ characters in Sex Education fit a certain standard, though. The way they are incorporated into the program is how. Their sexuality is an element of their identity that impacts several other aspects of who they are, but it's not the entirety of who they are, as you can see in the care with which their narratives are portrayed. It's a vital part of their identity, and it motivates some of their decisions and behaviors, but not all of them. They are present, they identify as queer, but they are also let to be whole, multifaceted people.

References:

[tucipink]

Although there are a lot of unnecessary sub plots in the redux version of Apocalypse Now, the anti-war message is much stronger (kinda because there’s more instances of needless destruction and displays of America being shitty) but I guess it is also diluted with the goofy sub-plots so it balances out anyways.

Also Chef has unspoken rizz. Man managed to pull a playboy bunny despite completely ignoring her interesting infodump about birds. Well I guess he didn’t “pull” her per se, but they seemed to get along well, like she was being genuine or at least came across that way because if she was putting on any kinda act, we wouldn’t have had the bird monologue but idk man I guess you need to talk about your interests when you can when you’re working for an enterprise that is in place to oppress and dehumanise you. I love bird lady more than anything but Hugh Hefner can eat shit.

This film’s fatal flaw is its overindulgence but the self awareness does take the edge off ,, like the narrative, characterization and general composition is amazingly produced and entertaining while still clearly communicating a serious message. I think the main critique of glorification is often misinterpreted irony. Like many aspects are so hyperbolic (nonetheless accurate to the actual Vietnam War) that they’re meant to appear ridiculous and uncomfortable in order to convey the corruption of the US military

Also funny surfer man go brrrr

Song - Let’s Go Trippin’ (Dick Dale)

I literally never make edits of characters and then the one that my brain decided to make one that ignores the importance of the central message of the film it’s from .

I suppose there’s always the argument that the main cast of characters were drafted against their will and are just trying to get through it. Of course that doesn’t justify everything they do. I’d say the character who makes the least effort to participate is Chef bc he never fires a gun at anyone (apart from the tiger because the poor fella’s terrified). But what I’m saying is that the main characters aren’t into war or particularly patriotic and it doesn’t fully align with their beliefs much at all - they’re just tryna get through it - unlike , say , Kilgore. They are characterised in unique ways in which any pRiDe fOr tHeiR cOunTrY (used to justify corruption) they may have isn’t explicitly there or at the centre of the way they’re characterised.

Me when idiot surfer man who does nothing but fuck up at the expense of other people

Sorry guys my neuros are divergent I need to have a balance of fun and silliness with analysis and critical evaluation when watching this film for the 100th time

They also made Willard way sillier and goofier. I love to see the poor jaded and traumatised lad actually have a little bit of fun. A few giggles for a treat. Just a little bit of clownery to balance out the edginess.

Respectfully, there’s also a significant increase in boobs in the redux version, immediately making it better than the Final Cut /hj

Also also they gave Clean a proper burial and sendoff,,,

Sure, the Final Cut is better in terms of what constitutes a good film but the redux version fucks if you liked the Final Cut for its narrative and characters aside from its more filmic aspects. Not to say there aren’t some elements of cinematography that were left out the Final Cut that go hard as fuck. Like the transition from Roxanne behind the curtain to Willard back on the boat in the mist ,,,, mmmmmmmmmmm

It also ties up a few small minor loose ends and clarifies on a few details

Willard’s from Ohio? *insert Ohio joke here idk man I’m British*

Maybe I’m psychoanalysing Chief too much rn but out of all the characters, the way in which they’re presented, he’s the most likely to have started off as the most patriotic. However, his whole thing is following orders and ensuring order and professionalism is retained so maybe he could just be a fan of those things and not inherently having his motives be that he’s abiding to the rules because he loves his country, but abiding to the rules because he loves rules. Whatever patriotism he may or may not have had is destroyed over the course of the film and meets its definitive end with the death and burial (as seen in the redux version) of Clean. The scene where he folds up the tattered US flag that was previously on the boat and hands it to Willard. Or at least that’s my interpretation since he still made that whole announcement when handing it to him but it just felt as if he was reciting empty lines if anything but idk but he’s an interesting character either way. But damn that scene goes hard and it was good to see Clean get the sendoff he was entitled to instead of his body just disappearing without an explanation :’]

[mythandlaur]

So after watching through the games I had some vaguely Psychonauts-adjacent AU thoughts about Epithet Erased. I don’t know if this will be interesting to anyone besides me but I wrote so dang much it’d be a waste not to share it. Rest of the main cast under the cut

Bliss Ocean still exists in this hypothetical verse. Little is known about them, their motivations, their base of operations, or their membership (beyond, occasionally, Zora--she’s not very subtle about doing jobs for them), but what is known is they do not like psychic powers, and are one of the most organized groups out there with the goal of getting rid of them altogether.

Molly’s psychic from her mom’s side, and specialty actually is--or was--pyrokinesis. No, she didn’t cause the fire that burned down her family’s store, and in fact these powers helped her to get her dad and sister out, but some part of her still believes she had something to do with it, and she hates using this power, focusing more on sensory manipulation. Her mental world is full of stuffed animals and toys discarded and hidden away due to her having to grow up too fast. It’s completely silent aside from the most piercing and annoying of noises that trigger her misophonia, which manifest in sound waves that can do actual harm to an astral traveler. If she becomes stressed, her mental world begins to burn from the outside in as she panics.

Lori is also psychic, but spends more time in her own mental world than actually doing anything useful, much to Molly’s irritation. Buried under layers of fantasy and goofy, over-the-top wish-fulfillment are the bitter embers of life before the fire and her own guilt, which she has sealed away.

Sylvie is the most powerful psychic of the main cast, mostly specializing in clairvoyance, telepathy, and other abilities that do not affect the physical world. He’s spent his whole life studying the human mind both psychic and mundane, and is desperate to be taken seriously like an adult researcher would be. He displays a knack for interpreting mental worlds and a psychically-assisted brand of mundane hypnosis. His mental world is initially confined to an organized office barely being held together, but outside is a bizarre and imaginative pastoral dreamscape. He has an aspect in Beefton, a character he drew when he was younger who symbolizes his desire for strength and has grown into something similar to an ego-state and protector.

Giovanni is not psychic, but likes to pretend he is, causing actual psychic organizations no end of headache as he plays himself like a comic-book villain with his posse of similarly mundane “minions” and essentially makes a mockery of actual psychics. He has no idea why some people are so stiff about the whole thing and don’t use their powers for more cool things. His mental world is a Gotham/Metropolis style city populated entirely by colorful robot dinosaurs who obsessively block entrance into any buildings--because inside, scenes of heartwarming domesticity can be found, as well as positive representations of his family, minions, and cousins, and he does not want this side of himself known.

Indus is very good at using the shield power. This is also the only power he uses, despite having potential in other areas and being implied to have undergone intensive training alongside his sister. He’s perfectly content with this, and can give it some surprisingly creative applications if pressed. He’s the epitome of only doing one thing, but doing that thing really, really well.

Mera suffers from chronic pain and a weak constitution, using levitation and telekinesis to get through her day. She throws her all into her training, but is frustrated at her physical weakness, secretly wondering if enough psychic power would allow her to control her own pain and immune responses, or perhaps ascend beyond her disorder altogether. Thankfully, Indus has managed to keep her on the level so far, Her mental world is a crumbling palace of ice so shiny one can see infinite reflections of her life and inner thoughts in it.

Percy is an upright and no-nonsense security officer at a psychic training facility nearby. Rumors fly about her being an insufferable drill sergeant, but she really does want the best for people, in her own bizarre way. She’s skilled at creating small psionic energy constructs (hands, small and simple objects, ropes and restraining devices) and auric effects to boost the power and energy of those around her. Her mental world is orderly, but begins to break down in the lower layers due to her own doubts and the corruption she’s seen in official institutions.

Ramsey is not psychic. He has, however, been a part of numerous con jobs regarding psychics and impersonators thereof, the one getting him caught being manufacture and sale of remarkable quality fake Psitanium and related objects such as arrowheads. He doesn’t think psychics are all that and isn’t thrilled to be working with them as an appraiser of Psitanium and psychoactive artifacts (as neither seem to affect him), but he supposes it could be worse. His mental world is run by his own versions of characters he’s been commissioned to draw (at least, the safe-for-work ones).

Zora thinks psychics are a load of cheaters, which is ironic considering she is one, and extremely powerful in many areas. Her signature technique is manipulating others’ perception of time to allow her to get the drop on them. She’s an independent bounty hunter who insists on flesh-and-blood duels when she can, but is no slouch in psychic combat and assassination, and occasionally works with Bliss Ocean. Her mental world is a stereotypical spaghetti western made entirely of cardboard cutouts like you’d find in a carnival shooting gallery.

Feenie is the first member of her family in 60 years without any psychic potential, which is a problem considering a very powerful psychic preserved as a brain in a jar has an unsettled score with her family. This psychic is assisted by her own descendants in transferring to a new body and going after the Fleecitys once in a generation or so. The feud is ridiculous and no one actually remembers why it’s happening, but it’s agreed that the Fleecitys should continue playing along with it to keep this “Songstress” distracted and hopefully kill her for good one of these days so she doesn’t cause any real problems. Feenie is terrified of letting her family down by being unprepared for the inevitable duel she’s essentially walking into unarmed, even though Molly and Trixie have offered to stand by her side when the time comes.

Of the six Roughouse siblings, three have psychic powers (Roxanne, Moxie, and Trixie) and three do not (Xerxes, Dixon, and Rex). Trixie’s got an especially weird case among her family members due to her natural affinity with ghosts wandering the astral plane, though this tends to manifest as vague chattering that drives her bonkers most of the time , and she likes to claim she has no powers at all out of sheer annoyance, preferring mundane skill and quick wit. Despite this, they’re remarkably well-adjusted most of the time, especially compared to the rest of their siblings. Trixie does not yet know that her powers would also extend to astral travelers, including trapped delvers.

Rick Shades is a somewhat washed-up psychic claiming to be an amnesiac. He’s quite amicable, however, always willing to teach the more physical psionic skills and always loudly espousing the values of teamwork and personal connections. His mental world is an endless ocean with a single once-deserted island, slowly growing and filling up with new memories, though things could potentially be discovered under the infinite water if one were to try diving...

Naven is a part-time teacher focused on psychic safety and best practices, and bridging the gap in awareness between psychics and the mundane population. He is relentlessly bullied by kids in his classes (one kid found him locked in a broom closet crying after a parent-teacher meeting and he’s never lived it down), and most adults dismiss him as having middling psychic potential and a scatterbrained but earnest disposition.

#epithet erased #i do have some more spoiler thoughts about bliss ocean #but i don't want to put them in the main tag #why am i putting this in the main tag in the first place

[i-seed-u]

HI im very passionate abt how characters are explored and displayed and i have a bias to 1992 so heres my opinion on the main cast

actually i have alot of hot takes abt how i hate the characterization of several newsies (from the broadway adaptation and the fans) and i WILL be talking very passionately, im not actually upset im just mentally ill anyways lets start

Racer

you will never hear the end of it when u get me started on the fan version of him

i hate how he was turned into nothing but an idiot

racetrack historically was the brooklyn leader, which in someways was carried nicely into the movie version

which i mean hes more of the talkative newsies, you can tell hes well trusted and liked among the newsies

but in both the broadway show and movie, past him being funny and cracking jokes, he shows that he can be really smart and step up when needed

especially in the broadway once and for all, he was carrying the whole thing

hes funny, yeah absolutely, but funny≠stupid

Crutchie

oh my GOD

i myself have called him the living embodiment of sunshine many times

HOWEVER

hes also foul mouthed (context of time period/primarily in broadway) and just as cocky as any of the other newsies

he shows that he can be sensitive, more so than the other newsies (think him consulting jack in the movie or the intro song in the broadway musical)

hes extremely capable of handling himself, and while hes still a dreamer he knows how to be realistic

hes fun and lovable but also not a child

which i could talk abt how its blatant ablism but thats another topic

Katherine

im gonna be the one to say it, i hate the fact they combined denton and sarah

historically speaking, katherine died as an infant, so theres not much to go off of

however, i wish we got more instances of her

the thing i like about sarah that katherine doesnt have is that sarah is a love interest, but she has personality

she defies their time period in a far more realistic way and doesnt sacrifice any of her character for it

katherine doesnt feel like a completed character to me in the way sarah and denton do

her character arc never closed in a satisfying way, we never found out if her reporter gig would really get anywhere

fanon wise, i like her shes often portrayed nicely

we just need. MORE of her in the fandom in general

Davey

i actually prefer broadway davey to the movie version

why? i actually dont really know

its a mix of the fact he gradually becomes more easy going, something i didnt find in the movie version

though i wish we got the fight between him and jack in the broadway show instead of whatever katherine and jack had

fanon wise, oh boy

he never comes off more than a student or "good boy" character type in comparison to the often extremely roudy newsies

which in some cases i actually like, but most of the time, it never explores the fact that davey would likely pick up more and more of their habits

and how he in act two of the musical is so much more free of a character

ok thats it bye

#hi sorry i soynd mesn #but i am ill #and ive been hyperfixated on newsies for far too long #newsies #newsies fandom #newsies fanart #seed yaps #92sies #livesies #racetrack higgins #jack kelly #katherine pulitzer #katherine plumber #crutchie newsies #davey jacobs

[thearchvillain]

of horsefairs and maidens. part 2

nikolai lantsov x reader

link to part 1

summary: The moonless, warm summer night has stretched itself across Caryeva and the duke’s estate where a grand dinner is held in the gardens, in honour of both the horse fair and the princes’ visitation. Nikolai has found himself sat across the table from his brother and both the girl with the broken horse and her father, restrained to only occasional glances and the agitation that simmers beneath his skin, amplifying every time he catches her eyes. It’s all he can do to remain in his seat, even as they leave for the evening at Razumov’s, even as the night drags on - at least until the late hours of the night, too late for sensible decisions.

Nikolai smirked at her, as if to alleviate the seriousness of her warning, "Do you take me for anything less than a gentleman? And here I was thinking I had you charmed Irina, you break my heart. We were just talking."

But Irina didn't look concerned, only amusement lined her features as she sipped her drink, and a bit of motherly sympathy, "Oh my dear prince, you have us all smitten, but it's not her I'm worried about.", she twisted in her seat, to call for a waiter, and said over her shoulder, "And hasn't your mother taught you - nothing's quite as dangerous as talking to a girl like her."

word count: 2.9k

warnings: mentions of alcohol

A/N: well, apparently, this will not be a two parter... i’d claim i was shocked if i wasn’t used to myself going overboard the moment i get hooked on writing the characters ._. i’ve got part 3 down on the paper already (or a word document, but paper sounds more romantic) and it’s 100% focused on their interaction. in this one i really wanted to focus on building up the tension so there’s a lot of Nikolai’s thoughts and frustrations in here, glances cast and warnings given, the whole shebang  i really hope you like it, even if it’s kinda lacking in direct interaction for the sake of angst, and once again i want to thank everyone who commented and was so sweet and kind i had no other choice than to rush back excitedly and write my heart out <3 you’re the best! 

The dinner was an intricate display of wealth, as grand and carefully arranged as the jewels of a vain woman. One without an ounce of style anyway. The long tables were laden with complicated food, even the ones away from the main table that was orbited by the wealthy, to show off the generosity of the host. He'd even heard his brother say, as a compliment no less, that it seemed even the dogs here ate well. Clearly, he'd wanted to say, since you're here with your plate filled to the brim, brother. 

Now the porcelain plate sat before him, the food half-eaten and the glass of finest red wine all finished, as he listened to the war stories offered up to him by an old man with a hefty silver-streaked beard and heftier rosy cheeks, coloured by what must have been a fourth glass of wine. Nikolai would pop into the conversation here and there, if only to show he was paying attention, though he knew well enough that people never really wanted to listen, only to be heard.

"Tell me about your daughter - Alyona, is it?" 

The man reeled for a moment, his moustache shifting as he tried to remain dignified while choking on a sip of wine, as dignified as a startled walrus anyway. "You know of my daughter, your highness? Irina--", he turned to his wife at this, near breathless, "Did you hear that? He asked about Alyona!" 

The old lady had the common sense not to egg him on too much, only smile and nod as if she knew matching his excitement would mean a definitive death by boredom for Nikolai. And he was thankful for that.

But to be fair, Nikolai hadn't really known of Alyona, only heard her name from the girl with the broken horse when she passed by him in between meal courses, stopping only to cast a glance towards the old general and say, "Ask him about his daughter, Alyona - Saints forbid you ever require it, but he'll raise an entire army for you just for that little bit of kindness. He's very fond of her." 

"Is she pretty?", he didn't want to seem like a liar if that was what he complimented the daughter on instead of her smarts, or talent for music. 

The girl had raised an eyebrow, then looked back at him, "Does it matter? Fathers like him always think their girls are the prettiest. They're not wrong."

He'd wanted to stop her then, to ask her about the general's wife, or his dog, or anything really - and it would've been as easy as reaching out to take her wrist in his hand, had she not slipped back into the crowd and disappeared as quickly as she'd appeared by his side. 

Now he took his glass of wine, filled once again by one of the waiters, and held that instead, his eyes wandering across the table to where his brother sat, red-cheeked and rowdy. She was sat next to him, straight-backed and so still Nikolai thought she might have been a vision or a sculpture wrought in alabaster had the light evening wind not stirred the sheer silk of her gown and made it all come alive. It fell in rich waves off her shoulders, plentiful, but not plentiful enough to hide the gentle slope of her neck where it dipped to her chest, interrupted only by a fine necklace of tiny emeralds, or the wrists that glided through the motions as she picked at the food. 

The wine had made him too unwilling to look away, and he'd nearly caught his brother's eyes over the rim of his glass, so now he had to drag his gaze back to the general, who was near breathless talking about Alyona's adventures with the pony he bought for her. 

"...and I told Irina, no man of sound mind would let his little girl on that beast."

The beast being a pony, Nikolai supposed. 

"Did you think she would just pet it? It's not a cat.", this was the wife, sounding tired in a way only a woman who'd heard this story a million times and still thought it stupid, could. 

"You should've at least let me call Orlov's girl, I swear that creature was born on the damn horse! That form! We could've used her in the cavalry!"

"That poor thing's got enough on her mind with a father like that, and for Saint's sake stop recruiting people at dinner parties."

This time Nikolai interrupted, however riveting this exchange was, "The Orlov's girl?" 

Irina cast him a surprised glance, "Yes, that pretty thing with your highness' brother? I thought you met her." 

Now Nikolai had an actual excuse to look her away, and he wasn't about to throw it away. This time, she had her hands folded in her lap and Vasily at her ear speaking something delightfully stupid, no doubt. Nikolai watched her drag her teeth across her lower lip, still so mesmerized by the way it popped back into place that he was near startled when her eyes slipped straight to him. 

She did not smile. But maybe that was for the better because even from across the table he could see the muscles in her cheek twitch, as if she was dragging the corners of her lips down with the sheer force of will, not quite as restrained as she'd hoped to be. He realised she was trying not to smile, and somehow that made his mind reel more than any unbridled grin a girl at this table could've offered him. She downcast her eyes, lashes brushing against her cheek as she busied herself with the bracelet on her wrist, and Nikolai sipped his wine to drive away the urge to keep staring, to keep trying to provoke her until she could not hold that smirk back.

But then Vasily brushed the stray lock of her hair back and her features stilled as if all that pertness had been drained from them instantly, a muscle played in her jaw before she lifted her eyes and smiled prettily. Not at Nikolai, though. He saw an older man sitting to her left tap her hand like one would when a dog's performed a trick well, and Nikolai felt his muscles tense. Vasily beamed, Nikolai gripped his glass, her father looked at her like she was his golden ticket. 

"A vile man.", Irina said over her glass. 

Nikolai hadn't noticed, but the general was now busy entertaining the waiter with questions about the wine, and only his wife was fully present, the lines of her face arranged into a look of dignified distaste. She was speaking to Nikolai.

"Count Orlov?" 

"He treats that poor girl like property.", her upper lip curled, "And unfortunately the Saints haven't given her a bad temper, so she listens." 

Nikolai leaned back in his chair, swirling the wine as he followed Irina's gaze to his brother, drunk on wine and forced smiles from a pretty girl, "I don't think she's as helpless as you paint it."

"Oh, she's not. She's playing them both like a fiddle. I'm just saying, at her age, I would've wreaked havoc by that point.", she shrugged, "I'm not a subtle woman, you see."

"Ha!", the general was joining the conversation once again, now that he'd gotten his wine, "Listen to what she tells you! She's a wild animal, that one!" 

"Darling. Not in front of a prince." 

"What?", to his credit, he did look genuinely confused, "His highness doesn't mind, do you? I'm just saying my wife's always been a force of nature, no shame in that! She's a scary woman, it's a good thing to have by your side." 

Nikolai did not, indeed, mind at all. He was just trying not to choke on the wine as laughter bubbled up from his chest, especially when Irina raised an eyebrow at her husband, and he could see her attempting not to grin at that strange assemble of compliments. Their bickering was felt like a light summer breeze, a welcome reprieve from the tension he could feel simmering in the air, across the table.

"It's the wine.", she turned her gaze to Nikolai, still smirking, "Don't mind him."

"Ha! And what explanation do you have for that sharp tongue?" 

"I married an idiot and was forced to evolve because of it." 

"Please, when I first mustered up the courage to ask her for a dance--", this was directed at Nikolai as the large man shifted in his seat, "And mind you, I've been less afraid for my life on the battlefield than in front of that woman! You know what she told me? She told me to break a leg and see if that helps with my coordination.", he leaned to the side to cast his wife a look over Nikolai, "You've always had that sharp tongue on you, my love." 

Nikolai raised an eyebrow at her, "Was he that bad?"

Beaming because he didn't immediately sympathise with her husband, Irina shrugged in feigned disdain, "No, he was quite handsome and good on the floor, still is. You just can't let them forget how lucky they are to even have you looking in their direction."

"What can I say, my girl knows her business! I fell for it, hook, line and sinker."

Nikolai was the one charmed, for once, but his eyes still strayed to the other side of the table, even as the old couple continued lovingly bickering beside him. Vasily was up and about, and the girl and her father were following close behind, the valet running around guiding them towards a carriage that was waiting on the other side of the fence. 

"Where are they going?", he schooled his voice into one of mild disinterest, fit of a prince not particularly invested in his brother's dalliances. Beneath it all though, he felt dangerous, like he was being suspended on the edge of getting up and following - his brother was a nasty, distasteful creature on good days, and this wasn't even one of those. 

"Mister Razumov's.", Irina answered, because the general was now waving wildly demanding another piece of those little lemon cakes, "New money. Wild parties. Wilder vices. Gambling and alcohol are galore. They'll come to invite you too." 

He did not doubt that - even his brother's title had nothing on Nikolai's charm or the exclusivity of having him there on the rare occasion that he was home instead of on the front. It still did little to placate him as he watched them climb into the carriage, his brother's slimy hand holding hers as he helped up the steps, her hair tossed wildly across her bare back as she turned one last time to cast a glance Nikolai's way. He held her eyes for a moment, both their faces still as stone, then watched her disappear behind carriage's curtains as he sipped his wine, wondering wildly if he should even go. 

What good would it do? Her father would be there, watching, and there was no money to be made with a prince that had an interest only in books and weapons, no matter how charming he was. He cleared his throat and finished the glass. He'd just get her in trouble - it wasn't like Nikolai himself was particularly known as a voice of reason, he preferred to stick to an assemble of charming qualities, like ill-advised impulses and regret.

"You could stay, you know?", this was Irina again, sounding less like a wild animal her husband had described, and more like a mother. At least what Nikolai imagined mothers sounded like. Sympathetic. 

"Sorry?"

"Do you think I'll get this big boulder to move and go home anytime soon?", she nodded towards her husband, then smiled, "Some of us stay here instead of going to Razumov's, there's music and food and wine, good company too. If your highness hasn't been scared away by our marital displays."

"Please, call me Nikolai.", his usual glib smirk had slipped back onto his lips, as easy as a mask, "And no, I must admit, I'm quite charmed by the displays. Tell me, Irina, where does one get one of those?" 

She didn't look quite convinced, but she smiled still, "You stumble upon it, by Saint's will, and then you can't look away. The lucky ones, anyway.", she cleared her throat, "Stay, it would be quite the honour." 

"All mine. Your husband's a great general. And the royalty never gets enough servings from sharp tongues anyway."

"My husband's a fool.”, she shrugged lightly, “But I make up for it in the charms department." 

"I heard that woman!", there was no ire in general’s voice, and it was merely a passing comment as he waved at the poor waiter again, "Would one of you penguins like to explain why the prince's glass is empty?" 

Nikolai hadn't wondered about that, but now that it was brought up he felt like another glass and a distinct lack of his brother might be of help, "Why do you assume I won't go?" 

"Because you've been staring at that girl all night."

Nikolai's head snapped from the waiter back to Irina, and he caught the traces of a grin in the corners of her lips as she sipped her wine. Had he been that obvious? He didn't think so, but the wine and conversation might have made him sloppy - it was one thing to avoid provoking Vasily into being even creepier due to jealousy, another to avoid someone like Irina.

"Don't be so shocked young prince, that big buffoon used to look at me like that, once. I'd spot it anywhere, like a good game in the forest. She could barely stop smirking. It's quite painful, you know, not to smile when you catch someone looking at you like that. I must admit, she’s quite adept."

Nikolai considered telling her that big buffoon certainly still did look at her like that, but he was assuming she already knew that. She didn't look like a woman who'd settle for anything less. "Well, to be fair, I've been told I am quite dashing. She can't really be blamed." 

This made her laugh, in the way experienced older people do when they're charmed by some youngling's naivete, "Tell her that and see what comes back at you."

"I've already tried, it wasn't pretty."

Irina leaned in, conspirational, "That's why it's fun. My husband told you already. Hook, line and sinker. The girl knows how it's done.", then she leaned back, more serious, "It's why I'd stay away if I were you. We have plenty of food, wine and girls for you here. You're all the rage." 

Nikolai smirked at her, as if to alleviate the seriousness of her warning, "Do you take me for anything less than a gentleman? And here I was thinking I had you charmed Irina, you break my heart. We were just talking."

But Irina didn't look concerned, only amusement lined her features as she sipped her drink, and a bit of motherly sympathy, "Oh my dear prince, you have us all smitten, but it's not her I'm worried about.", she twisted in her seat, to call for a waiter, and said over her shoulder, "And hasn't your mother taught you - nothing's quite as dangerous as talking to a girl like her." 

***

The night dragged on, or perhaps dragged wasn't exactly the right word. The general had a way of livening up the place even as the people cleared, some to go to Razumov's, others to go to sleep in their beds. The brave ones that stayed - and there were quite a few after he did some rounds about the tables - were unable to leave because he'd managed to somehow get more food, more alcohol and more musicians, and no one of sound mind would leave this wild story he'd spun around them. They laughed and spoke of war and danced under the clear night sky, the air tinted with the scent of burning wood and meat and laughter. 

Nikolai had nearly forgotten, how much heart there was in nights like these, how much he loved the people and the songs and this country. He himself had danced and laughed and drank, and was now sitting on a chair rocking himself precariously on two of its legs, wrapped in that safety blanket of stupor that came with late hours of the night, or early hours of the morning, watching the general and his wife swirl in front of the musicians. 

He wondered how they were still up and going, much less dancing, though he could guess that alcohol, and a lot of it, had something to do with it. And alcohol, and a lot of it, had something to do with no one noticing a figure sitting upright on a horse somewhere out behind the fence, in the deep darkness of a moonless night. The silks shifted around the figure, carried by the breeze, like something out of Tolya's stories of spectres and hallucinations haunting the fallen battlefields. Nikolai thought wildly that there must be one about a ghost-girl on a horse, haunting the minds of men in moonless nights, with silks made out of moonlight and cruel elegance draped across her shoulders. Or something like that. 

Nikolai let his chair hit the ground and was up before the girl who'd been talking to him had even managed to look confused by his sudden change in mien. He drained his glass before putting it down on the table with a bit too much force and slid through the crowd that had gathered by the band. 

Tolya’s story would have probably been meant as a warning to young men not to head towards those strange apparitions, or something equally ominous, but Nikolai never put much stock in the stories anyway, especially not ones made up by his drunken mind as he followed after her into the darkness. She looked improbable, sitting tall on that horse waiting for him, but not impossible. And that was good enough for him. 

tags: @mentally-in-northern-italy 

please feel free to comment or hit me up in the DMs (even if you just want to talk because honey i’m THERE for it) if you’d like to be tagged when the next part comes out! 

#nikolai lantsov x reader #nikolai lantsov #nikolai lantsov imagine #grishaverse #shadow and bone #not me already jumping onto editing part 3 #tbh nikolai drives me insane every time i write him