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joyce-stick · 5 months

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I didn't like Scott Pilgrim Takes Off all that much. I feel like elucidating on why, a little bit. so. Anyway.

First, letterboxd review I wrote within a few hours of finishing the show (read this first please):

So, I read all of the comic (finally) prior to watching Takes Off. Having seen the movie several times before, I found the comic interesting in how it develops its characters further over a longer timeframe and ties up a few loose ends that the movie sort of left open in weird ways that don't make sense. Ramona has more agency, Knives shows more maturity, Scott and Ramona are more explicitly on equal footing and make for better foils for each other in the comic than in the movie. Scott regrets his life choices and runs away for a while. Ramona regrets her life choices and also runs away. They both come back and beat up Gideon together with, y'know, mutual agreement that they both kinda equally suck and deserve each other and are going to both try to get better for themselves and one another and it's fine

It's not like, groundbreaking feminist storytelling, but it sure is a lot MORE gender equal than the movie which just goes like. Ramona is mind controlled! Scott must save her! Scott beats up Gideon sorta unilaterally (with a little bit of help) and then gets Ramona because he does! It's okay. It's fine. I mean, both the movie and the comic are fine. The movie is a hyperinventive visual feast and a stellar adaptation as far as faithfully replicating its source material in the target medium. I love it. Anyway.

Both the comic and the movie are fairly complete stories which really don't need more elaborating on. They're done. They exist. People either like them, or hate them, and have been discoursing on them for years. People discuss how bad of a person Scott is or isn't, or how transgender of a reading you can apply or not apply to Scott.

(I mean, you can! You're allowed to!)

It's all well-worn. And stuff. I don't know that Scott Pilgrim is a trans girl. I mean, it's plausible fanfiction. You can do it if you like. I wish that Takes Off had played with that idea, instead of what it did do, or, in addition to what it did do? And what it did do is just. Weh?

Weh.

Okay where do I start. Um.

spoilers for Takes Off below this point

Takes Off starts by taking Scott out of the picture. He is assumedly presumably made dead. Coined. Whoo.

Okay so obviously Scott isn't actually dead, he comes back later, but him being presumed dead for a bit does open the door to the rest of the cast to get some attention. Which you'd think would be good. Alright. So, we have Matthew Patel, still here. He's an incel, it turns out. Beats Gideon in a fight being like "man I got the bigger dick here." Wins totally! Okay! The league of evil exes is all either like "wow good going Matt" or "man screw this shit" and leaves. That's amusing for a minute.

Roxy shows up for an episode, fights Ramona, and is like "YOU LEFT ME RAMMY! I HATE YOU!" And we get some delicious flashbackiness to their relationship, and they kinda reconcile. Then Roxy kisses Kim, and is like "nah I don't care Kim" and dips. Yay.

The fight between Ramona and Roxy is well animated and fun to watch. I enjoyed it. It's alright.

What else... Um, Gideon has a backstory! Gideon isn't even his real name! And he's become the mega incel that he becomes because he got rejected by some girl in high school and this turned into his supervillain origin story. Okay

Lucas Lee does skateboarding and skateboards some paparazzosi to coindeath! Go him! That is genuinely a fun sequence and I enjoyed it, I guess

Wallace Wells seduces Todd Ingram and they have a lot of hot gay vegan sex! He and Envy Adams sorta fight about it! How wacky! Okay

The Katayanagi Twins get some speaking lines in this show! Their robot (which appeared in the comic but not the movie if I remember right) is around. Um.

Julie! Julie is an old school friend of Gideon. She lets him stay at her house. Gideon/Gordon and Lucas Lee do some bro shit. Cool man

All of this is like, fine, and fun, and stuff. I'm fine with it. I liked it. I enjoyed it. Oh and I guess there's a meta subplot about the Scott Pilgrim movie becoming the Scott Pilgrim movie but failing to become the Scott Pilgrim movie because the actors keep having too many video game fights on the movie set

Okay so this is all stuff that Ramona finds out or sorta bumbles into while looking for Scott, who she's surmised has disappeared and is not actually dead. Of course, Scott is not actually dead. He's just been kidnapped and displaced in time by an older version of himself, who is having a midlife crisis because his relationship with Ramona is going badly and he wishes that it had never happened, so he kidnaps young Scott to make it so that it never happened. This does not really work. Also future Ramona does some of her own intervening in the past to counter the plot of future Scott. She has Delorean rollerblades that time travel at 88 miles per hour *rolls eyes*

Anyway, then older older Scott has a fight with younger younger Scott, future Ramona intervenes and merges with younger Ramona to become a super form Ramona and they're just like "my beloved Scott, please, just go back to the future and sort out our marriage, like a responsible adult," he is teleported back to the future, all the exes are not coinexploded, and we get a final scene implying that Julie and Gideon/Gordon are planning something which will lead into a second season, and I don't know why

Why is any of this?

I could analyze it. I could try to tell you why any of this is. But like. I really can't. I don't know.

None of this really advances or develops the characters in any way that wasn't already adequately explored in the existing material. Like, Roxy's hangup over Ramona is fleshed out a bit more, sure, and that's the part of the show I really liked, but... is there anything to that? Does it add anything to Roxy's character that we didn't already know? Not really. We could already pretty easily infer from the comics that Ramona left Roxy, just like she left all her exes, and that Roxy is mad about it. Is it nice that they talk about it? I guess. Sure. It's nice to have a version of that conversation without Scott being the third wheel. But does it meaningfully change her character?

...No

And this is the same for all the characters. Our understanding of Matthew Patel and Gideon Graves is not particularly deepened by their incel dickmeasuring fight, or Gideon's origin story about getting rejected in high school. Our understanding of Lucas Lee is not especially enhanced by the newly revealed detail that he's a headache for his agent because of his reckless wild free devil may care skater dude attitude causing PR risks. Our understanding of Wallace Wells is not amazingly additioned by seeing him seduce Todd Ingram and piss off Envy Adams. Our understanding of Knives doesn't change when she learns how to play music and gets along with Kim and Stephen... And such and so forth.

And our understanding of Scott does not meaningfully change, either. There's really no radically new character interpretation to be drawn from "Scott divorces Ramona and then tries to undo his past". That's just kind of a thing you'd figure he'd do. And of course Ramona would try to set him straight! And look for him! And. Yeah

So yeah, Takes Off feels like, almost, the definition of that phrase that Dan Olson used in that one video

"No meaning, only lore."

I cannot fathom why this show exists other than that Netflix wanted a Scott Pilgrim show, and Bryan Lee O'Malley decided to pitch one because he's sure as hell not got any other big hit comics being cross-media franchises right now, and the plot that ended up being there feels like his end of the entire writing process was spent wracking his brain, fighting for his life to come up with a reason, any reason, to write more of fucking Scott Pilgrim

And the best he could come up with was, I guess, Scott has a midlife crisis, and also more superfluous character detail, and the fanservice angle of getting to see Ramona fight Roxy, or Gideon fight Matthew, or Lucas Lee skateboard more

I had a lot of fun seeing all that but I don't know why I watched it. I don't know who wanted this. And I definitely don't know who wants a second season of this. Who would want more of this? The season we do have was already grasping for straws to do more with this setting and these characters as it was. What would they even do?

Anyway. If I was gonna rewrite this and write this smarter. I'd probably tell y'all about the moment when Young Neil is trying to write a screenplay, and some mysterious figure (later revealed to be future Ramona) shows up in his room and types up the screenplay for the Scott Pilgrim movie for him. And then he wakes up, the screenplay is on his desk, and he's like "WHOA I don't remember writing this! I totally wrote this!"

And I'd say, if I were trying to be smart and write some smart video essay analogy in a better more polished review, that Takes Off feels like Bryan Lee O'Malley wished that the script for the show would similarly emerge fully formed from nowhere from the future for him.

Or something.

Anyway, thanks for reading this impromptu, review rant something. If you liked whatever this was, and want to see us write more, better things, then, giving us money would be cool.

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#scott pilgrim #scott pilgrim takes off #joyce stick #audrey (of the joystick system) posts #essays #reviews #I didn't like it very much

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bucketofbugz · 9 months

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Okay I have breathed a little bit and I can now actually articulate my feelings about mutant mayhem.

There will be spoilers, and I will put a warning before them.

Okay so I REALLY, REALLY liked this movie I'm !!!!!!

The animation was AMAZING, I loved the story so much

I literally was "KJHFSKJDHF" internally throughout the entire movie. I could not Think for a while after I left the theater I was so excited that I actually got to watch the movie

Alright, onto the spoiler part of this

MUTANT MAYHEM SPOILERS BELOW THIS v

THEY ARE SUCH LOSERS OH MY GOD

I LOVED THEM SO MUCH

I freaking loved Raph this entire movie he's so silly he just wants to exist let the boy exist let the boy get therapy.

He wasn't that big in the movie but he was the best. I might be very biased I might be a tiny bit biased because he has always been my favorite character in every iteration, but he WAS the best in this movie I SWEAR!!

He loves his brothers so much, he loves punching people so much, and as much as I would love for him to fulfill his dreams of punching someone so hard they throw up, I think April threw up enough in this movie.

April was definitely my second favorite though because. Like. I love her. I love her design, I love her character, I just love HER. I very much feel for her being terrified to be in front of a camera because I would never want to even look at a camera after that. Could have gone without seeing her throw up 9 times ovER-- but THAT"sS JUST ME IG GUESS

After Raph and April it's hard to figure out what the list of my favorite characters looks like. Because I think I like Leo, Mikey, and Donnie equally. I can't see myself preferring one over the other, at least not yet. Maybe when the show comes out I'll form a better opinion on them, but I loved all three of them so much!!

I think I'll have to wait until the show to form opinions on the other mutants as well. Because as much as I loved all of them, there were so many that we didn't get to see them all that much. But I KNOW that I love Mondo and Leatherhead they're silly <33

Splinter was GREAT. I loved how he was such a DAD in this as opposed to a mentor figure. His realizing how much he sounded like Superfly during that scene was AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Because liKE HE JUST WANTS THE BEST FOR HIS SONS. WAAA

"Donnie you should NOT be driving" THANK YOU Splinter, that's what I'VE BEEN SAYING

Uh. WOulda liked it a bit better if he hadn't made out with Scumbug on screen. But. That's,, that's just me... Good for you Splinter I hope you and your bug girlfriend are very happy?? I think?? Splinter needs to stop falling in love with bug women.

I've heard a lot of people say how towards the middle and moreso the end, the plot started feeling weird. Like a lot of the stuff that happened had no impact or it was weirdly paced. And yeah, I get that honestly. Maybe when I get the chance to watch it again (definitely not in theaters sobs) I'll get to pay more attention to the pacing and stuff but I was just too excited to be bothered about that this time around.

THEY GOT MILKED

I already knew this part though. So I wasn't surprised that it happened or anything. BUT STILL THEY MILKED THEM. THEY DRAINED LIKE A FULLY KIDDIE POOL SIZED AMOUNT OF BLOOD OUT OF MIKEY IS HE OKAY??? DID THEY DRAIN IT FROM THEIR CARAPACES? BECAUSE IT LOOKED LIKE IT.

That combined with the fact that their shells literally CRACKED later on in the movie??? Like HOW DID THEY WALK THAT OFF?? HOW ARE MIKEY AND RAPH WALKING AT ALL??

The fact that Raph was still the first one that offered to start singing BTS songs for Donnie despite the fact that he was currently being drained of blood by the.. the mega milker 3000.. is adorable. Brains and Brawn duo for the win guys we won in this movie they were great, The Brothers Ever.

The amount of times the turtles (especially Leo) stimmed during the movie is just!!!!!! I LOVE THAT. Autism.

Okay and now I gotta talk about the thing with Leo and April.

I love them. I love them a lot actually.

Leo's such a LOSER and yeah he has NO RIZZ. I was so scared about #1- Leo having a love interest (he doesn't have a great track record, let's be honest) #2- One of the turtles having a crush on April, but I think that they pulled it off very well! He was so stupid about it and I LOVE THAT FOR HIM. It's exactly what I was hoping for with their relationship. I really hope that it continues to be executed properly in the show and sequel and they don't butcher it. And I ESPECIALLY hope they don't have some love triangle thing with Casey again I swear I will have a breakdown (if Casey's still a teenager in MM and they let Raph and Casey have something I will forgive them for having Splinter and Scumbug make out I promise I promise I promise I just want them to be silly please please please please please please please please)

I'd already seen pictures of them without their masks before watching the movie because I stopped caring about spoilers but I still felt that surge of PANIC when Mikey's masked dropped down into the sewers like NO BACK UP PUT THAT BACK ON.

And like every iteration they DO look ugly and stupid without their masks on but honestly I think it works so much better for mutant mayhem than it does for a lot of other iterations. It's probably just the artstyle and how them looking ugly and stupid is half the point but I think they pull it off.

Leo works at best buy now. I don't care if it isn't canon. I will be believing that forever look at this idiot

I have so many more thoughts about Mutant Mayhem and I just wanna KEEP TALKING ABOUT IT but AAAAAAAAAA

#mutant mayhem #tmnt mutant mayhem #mutant mayhem spoilers #tmnt mutant mayhem spoilers #mm spoilers #tmnt mm spoilers #spoilers #spoiler warning #added as many tags as I could think of just to be safe #rambling #I LoVE THEM SO MUCH THEY'RE SO STUPID #They're absolute idiots and I love them #I can't wait for the show and sequel to explore their personalities more #ESPECIALLY NOW THAT THEY'RE IN HIGH SCHOOL #THIS IS LITERALLY PERFECT WE GET THIS WITHOUT HAVING TO HAVE A HUMAN AU #YIPPEE

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let-the-valleys-awake · 11 months

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I watched Across The Spiderverse yesterday, here are my two(hundred) cents!

This will just be a lot of me gushing about how much I love ATSV, no theories because I’m not smart enough for that 💀

ATSV SPOILERS!!

Alright, let’s get into it. (These are in no particular order and I prob forgot a lot of stuff)

Am I the only one who thought Hobie was a whole ass adult? Like he looks at least 20 am i crazy? (Keep in mind I have no prior comic knowledge sorry bout that 💀)

THE ANIMATION STYLES!!! Omfg they were so good, like the occasional live action elements, the LEGO UNIVERSE, Hobie’s whole thing, it’s all just so fucking cool!! Especially the comic book textures with like the shading and rough line art it’s all just so fun to look at

I kinda hate Miguel but I gotta be honest he is SUCH A GOOD ANTAGONIST. Like he has good intentions (I think) but goes way overboard due to past memories. He isn’t truly evil, he just projects all of his past mistakes onto Miles. He is just barely in the ‘I don’t like you’ category for me but what he did to Miles was wack so he’s staying there.

If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Spider Punk. I’m just a sucker for cool characterization and ‘mess shit up’ people. His big brother dynamic with Miles is just so fucking fun dude. I also just like listening to his voice, bravo to Daniel Kaluuya, he did a great job. Also I heard that just Hobie’s animation alone took about 2 years to do (could be lies)

Pavitr was 🤏this close to being my favorite. If he got more screen time he defo would’ve been my number one, because HOLY SHIT he is the silliest mfer I’ve ever seen. I love the detail on his suit and when he uses his bangles as like yo-yos. And his banter with the other three was just so cute. Like when he went ‘Another easy win for Spider-Man-‘ and everything fucking explodes, I was cracking up 😭😭

The marketing and like almost non-existent foreshadowing for the Spot being one of the main antagonists was so genius!! Like the trailers painted him as just a random guy Miles fought, because that’s how he saw him! As just another d-list villain!! Also The Spot’s lines are so funny dude, and his voice-acting, like the pinnacle of Average Joe™ but he also shares a VA with Ash from Fantastic Mr Fox soooo

I SAW 20 SECONDS OF SUN SPIDER AND I AM BEGGING FOR MORE she’s so fun

In the scene where Gwen n Miles are sitting together upside down, there’s a shot where they are just tiny in the corner and it’s just the whole cityscape, and it is one of my favorite shots in the whole movie, it was so fucking beautiful. The two are small and upside down to show how ostracized and different they feel from the rest of society. (because they are) But, a minute later, it flips so that the two are sitting right side up while the cityscape is upside down, which symbolizes their bond and how they find solace in each other.

I love how the background fades and melts as Gwen is having the confrontation with her Dad near the end. I can’t remember any specifics because it’s been two days since I saw it, but it was so telling how everything melded together except Gwen and her Father because that’s all Gwen could think about.

I thought the movie was PG but they cursed at least like three times so that’s fun

MILES WITH BRAIDS 😍😍 honestly I can’t tell which style I like more, they both match each version’s demeanor so well.

The way I could immediately tell in earth-42 at the end that something was up with Uncle Aaron. But like, aside from the fact that he was alive 💀. His face was constantly casted in shadow with his eyes highlighted, if I remember correctly I think they were purple tinted as well? These not-so-subtle art choices were so beautifully crafted to give me just the right sense of unease.

I really wished they did more with Jessica Drew. I just feel like she was kind of a blank slate with no truly discerning personality. I did like her internal conflict with following Miguel’s orders and doing what’s right. I really hope she has a larger role in Beyond or I’ll be sad.

The themes of teenage relationships are so fucking powerful in this movie and I think that’s beautiful. Neither Miguel nor Jessica supported Miles, or even Gwen. All of their comfort came from each other. Hobie, Pavitr, Gwen, and Miles’s bond is so strong because they are all truly there for each other.

I am so disappointed that we didn’t see any Spider Noir. He was one of my faves in the first movie 😭

Hobie + Pavitr has gotta be one of my favorite duos. Especially in Hobie’s debut scene where they’re roughhousing, their dynamic is just so cute. I’ve seen people ship them and I’m not against it, I just can’t see Hobie as anything more than a big brother tbh

That’s all that comes to mind right now, hope you enjoyed my word vomit. I have so much more stuff to say but that will need a rewatch, I’m gonna go to bed

#this movie is going to be my whole personality #i’m so sorry #not #across the spiderverse #atsv #atsv spoilers #hobie brown #spider punk #miguel o’hara #pavitr prabhakar #the spot #sun spider #gwen stacy #spider woman #miles morales #jessica drew #pallin talks

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duhragonball · 10 months

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Dragon Ball Super manga Ch.42-46

The 2023 Dragon Ball Apocrypha Liveblog continues! This month, we look at the Dragon Ball Super manga as it continues beyond the anime series. The Tournament of Power is over, and the Broly movie is behind us, so with no other material to adapt, the manga begins a totally new arc. Is it any good? Let’s find out.

All right, so the manga version of the Tournament of Power ended in Chapter 42, but there was still some room left in the chapter, so Toyotaro just started in on the Moro Saga with the space that was left. Not much gets done here. Goku meets Vegeta for a training session in the Gravity Room, when Bulma calls them to tell them that Majin Buu is being kidnapped by aliens. Turns out, they’re Galactic Patrolmen, and when Goku tries to stop them...

... their leader, Merus, defeats Goku with surprising ease. Vegeta doesn’t do much better, and Merus decides to bring them along so he can explain the situation when they wake up.

Turns out, Merus doesn’t need Majin Buu at all, but rather, he’s counting on the Grand Supreme Kai, whom Buu absorbed five million years ago to obtain his chubby, innocent form.

Let’s turn back the clock to ten million years ago, when the Grand Supreme Kai and the South Supreme Kai were defending the universe from some other existential threat. According to Merus, this was a powerful magic-user named Moro, who could absorb power from entire planets. To win, the Grand Supreme Kai used a secret technique of his own invention to seal Moro’s magic powers at the cost of a great deal of his own. The Galactic Patrol then incarcerated the defeated Moro, and though he was sentenced to death, no one could find a way to kill him, so they just imprisoned him indefinitely.

But now Moro has escaped, and Merus thinks that only the Grand Supreme Kai can stop him, which means they need to get Buu to cough him up. Now, I had heard about all this back when this story was being published, but it never made much sense to me that the Galactic Patrol should be so familiar with the Kaioshin. I mean, King Kai once said that he had never had the honor of seeing the Kaioshin before Shin came to Earth to meet Goku. But in the flashback, we find Galactic Patrollers observing the Kaioshin’s battle with Moro, so apparently they had some sort of relationship with the gods, and the GP has somehow existed for literal millions of years. That sounds a little weird, but if you’re willing to buy this, then it isn’t hard to swallow that they were also involved in the Buu crisis 5 million years ago, and they were informed about the Grand Supreme Kai getting absorbed.

But getting the Grand Kaioshin out of Buu will have to wait, because Buu’s still asleep from before the Tournament of Power started, and no one knows how to awaken him. In the meantime, Merus deputizes Goku and Vegeta. For the duration of the Moro Crisis, they’re part of the Galactic Patrol. Goku tries to shake hands with the Galactic King again, and he fondles the king’s pee-pee again. Well, why does the king keep holding up that appendage if he doesn’t want Goku to touch it? I don’t think Goku’s reaching down and grabbing that one by chance.

This is all presented as a chance to run through all the GP’s nonsense. They’re given rules about not using their Patroller status to flirt with girls or some nonsense, and Jaco offers them battle vests like his own, but the boys don’t want them, so they have to have the GP logo written on their clothes instead, because the regulations require the logo, but not the uniform. Jaco wants to show them poses, and... you know, the Jaco manga was really, really good, and I’m glad I read it, because everything they’ve done with Jaco in Dragon Ball Super has just been this really weak, watered down version of the original presentation of the character. Without Professor Omori to ground any of this, it’s just another silly alien who only cares about goofy rules and silly poses.

Anyway, Merus heads out to assist with a case, and Vegeta insists on joining him, because he wants to understand how Merus defeated him so easily on Earth. So Goku tags along with Vegeta, and Jaco tags along with all of them, because he’s assigned to Earth, which means he has to keep an eye on Goku and Vegeta.

Merus’s deal is that he’s this super-competent officer, the kind of guy Jaco only pretends to be. He foils a space-train robbery, and it looks like Goku helped, but Vegeta realizes that Merus could have done the job even faster than he made it seem.

Merus gets a report of Moro’s ship heading for an uninhabited region of space, but Goku realizes that he’s heading for New Namek, which not even the Galactic Patrol know about. But Moro does know, because he heard about the Namekians and their Dragon Balls from a fellow prisoner, a dude named Cranberry who used to work for Frieza.

Goku tries to sense Moro’s energy, and he’s disturbed by the way it feels. Also, he can tell that Moro could sense Goku sensing him, which is creepy.

Since the GP can’t reach New Namek before Moro, Goku and Vegeta decided to teleport ahead and intercept him. This turns out to be a bad move.

Vegeta does manage to save a Namekian child before Moro can consume his life force, but the battle doesn’t go well.

Vegeta seems to do okay, until Moro unleashes some of his restored power, which allows him to manipulate the energy of the planet itself against Vegeta. Vegeta feigns defeat in order to get Moro to talk, but all he really finds out is that Moro wants to use the Dragon Balls to recover his full power, which isn’t exactly a shock.

From there, Vegeta seems to have things well in hand by fighting Moro at Super Saiyan Blue, except Moro’s been playing him from the start. He’s been absorbing power from the planet and everyone on it this whole time, including Goku and Vegeta.

Oh, hey, let’s check in on Beerus. Turns out he doesn’t give a shit about any of this, because the battle is happening on New Namek, and the Namekians only drink water, so there’s no tasty food at stake.

So Moro drains Goku and Vegeta and leaves them for dead so he can track down all the Dragon Balls. Meanwhile, Bulma calls Jaco to find out what happened to the boys. Look at Mr. Satan and Tights, playin’ with Bulla. That’s cute.

But Goku and Vegeta didn’t die. The Namekians found them and healed them. Unfortunately, their kid healer isn’t as efficient as Dende, so they’ve been out for three whole days. During that time, Moro has... only found three of the Dragon Balls. Uh... Frieza had already tracked four of them down in his first appearance. I mean, which is it? Moro’s supposed to be insanely powerful, but it’s taking him a long time to collect the Dragon Balls.

I mean, it’s not like the Namekians can do anything to slow him down. They fuse a number of their best warriors into a single, powerful savior, and Moro kills him without even looking. So why has it taken three days for him to get this far? It can’t be because the Namekians are good at hiding, since Moro seems to have the same ki-sensing powers as everyone else in this franchise.

I gotta say, I’m not very impressed with what I’m seeing here. Moro just feels like a bunch of concepts from classic DBZ mashed together into some kind of DBZ-loaf. His hunt for the Namekian Dragon Balls is so derivative that I’m not even going to bother explaining it. Moro absorbs energy like Android 19 and Cell. Moro also has a backstory very much like Majin Buu’s. The Kaioshin defeating him, the being sealed away for millions of years, it’s all there.

I mean, this story acts like Moro is this next-level threat, so having him do all the same gimcracks as past villains seems like a waste. And the power-scaling doesn’t really add up either. He’s super-duper strong, fine, but apparently he was even stronger in the distant past, and the only one who could defeat him was the Grand Supreme Kai, who jobbed out to Majin Buu, who’s been jobbed out to pretty much every major character in Dragon Ball Super at this point. I think the idea here is that the Grand Supreme Kai used to be a lot more powerful way back when, and it was because of Moro that the Grand Supreme Kai was so helpless against Majin Buu. But... that feels kind of cheap to me.

Well, we’ve still got a ways to go. Maybe this will get better.

#dragon ball #dragon ball super manga #2023dbapocryphaliveblog #goku #vegeta #moro #cranberry #merus #jaco teirimentenpibosshi #the galactic king #mr satan #grand supreme kai #south supreme kai #bulma #tights #bulla #beerus #whis #moori

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piko-power · 1 year

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This sucks.

First animators and the animation industry, and now this.

The writers and the writing community are getting pushed aside all for some phoney baloney next generation of mankind.

The animators and animation were treated like a joke for so long all because some Oscar winning bitches thought it was for kids, even though it really isn't. It's for everyone. And it's been like that since literally forever.

Hell, even some movies and shows made for a younger audience like My Little Pony have huge praise, love and support from human beings of all ages.

Don't pretend shows like Futurama, Primal, Bob's Burgers, Inside Job, ect. don't exist because their animated. If done right, an animated show for adults can be outstanding. Sadly, there are some that are kind of try-hards (Swearing and sexual jokes every ten seconds or whatever) that is just becomes a mediocre, or worse, terrible show, that it might just prove someone's dumbass theory that animation is for kids and kids only.

Again, not fucking true.

My two favorite animated shows, both targeted at different audiences, are DuckTales and Futurama. I love their characters, the stories, the comedy, the drama, the music, but I especially love the animation.

DuckTales may have been made for a TV-Y7 audience, but the people who worked on it made it for anyone to enjoy, wether it's kids, adults, or fans of the original DuckTales show. It was made for ANYONE.

Just like every other "kids" show, anyone is allowed to enjoy it and scream their heads off over the coolest and craziest thing they ever seen on Gravity Falls or cry tears of joy when Luz and Amity are together in The Owl House.

Also, animators are fucking awesome and talented and even though it is hard work, it's what they love doing and it's what brings our favorite shows and movies to life.

Every day I think about any movie or show that has 3D animation, 2D animation, stop-motion, ect. and just go "Damn, that was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life." Even though it was only, like, five seconds of animation of Sonic blinking and smiling.

Animation and animators deserve lots of support and love every day because of these great shows and movies.

But do you know who else made these shows and movies happen? Another group of talented humans that made them to begin with? That no media can live without?

Writers.

If you're gonna make something come to life in the wonderful world of animation, you gotta write and story.

Figure out the characters and what should happen in the third act.

Keep track of the story as the show goes on and write down the funniest one-liners Dewey had ever said.

You can't have literally any animated media without writers. No. Not just animated media. EVERY. SINGLE. MOVIE, OR, OR VIDEO GAME, THAT HAS EVER EXISTED.

These guys? Right here? Mean the whole world to me.

Even if it's fanfic writers, they are so goddamn amazing.

They are responsible for your favorite franchises. I can tell you right now that the world would be gone to shit without writers.

I write stories as well and let me tell you, it's also hard work, but dammnit I love it.

Writers and the writing community are one of a kind and they are extremely important. And just like animators, they are talented and love what they do.

But despite all of that, H*llywood has other ideas.

Ideas that should never light up even the cheapest of light bulbs.

Mother. Fucking. AI.

AI, also known as Artificial Intelligence (Doubt they have any tho) are the scum of the earth. For some time it was used for art, writing and even used for cartoon voices.

By the way, that's fucking theft.

There are literally real human beings who can draw for you, write for you, voice act for you, (By the way voice actors are also my whole world and I would be nothing without them) but you'd rather choose AI to do all of that for you??

I AM APPALLED.

Why would we even use AI at all when human beings, with a mouth, a brain and hands are RIGHT HERE?!?!

I DON'T CARE IF IT'S QUICK AND EASY THAT IS THEFT AND YOU KNOW IT!

YOU ARE TAKING AWAY A HUMAN'S TALENT'S OPPORTUNITY TO SHINE JUST FOR A STUPID ROBOT!

AND REPLACING REAL ARISTS AND WRITERS AND ACTORS TOO!

Also, some AI voice memes (Sonic btw) almost got an voice actor in trouble for something THEY HAVE NEVER SAID. Yeah. A robot almost got someone in trouble. That is really bad.

AI art and writing and theft and straight up plagiarism. And AI voices are theft as well. Imagine using an AI voice of someone who passed?

Do you know how fucking awful that sounds??

Yet today, people are still using this trash and worst of all, Hollywood is in on it too.

That is absolutely insulting and hateful towards artists and writers of all kinds.

I thought we were done treating talented humans with a heart like shit.

I thought we were done.

I thought we were fucking done.

I am tired of amazing artists and writers, especially writers, being pushed to the ground and being replaced with AI. I wish artists and writers don't have to suffer like this. They deserve better.

They deserve so much love right now.

These awesome people have no right to be treated like this. They are people too. They have feelings, and you are hurting them. Saying your using AI to write is literally saying that the writers are useless and you don't need them anymore.

You made them believe that.

That's why their on fucking strike.

Writers want justice. Writers want goddamn justice and you're not giving them that, all because you think AI is the short cut.

You can't even do anything now that their on strike, but the worst part? I have a feeling you're gonna keep using it anyway after this is all over.

Is that right? Do you still wanna be a piece of shit to these real talented creators, after all these messages we kept shoving down your throats?

I know I sound harsh but sometimes raising my voice is the only way for you to listen. But I know damn well your gonna keep ignoring me, ignoring us, so we're gonna raise our voices higher.

I wish AI never existed so that way these wonderful artists, animators, writers and voice actors would never be forgotten. I don't want them to be forgotten.

I mean it when I say they changed my life.

When I was a kid, I watched all of the bonus material from the movies I've seen. All of the movies. Something about watching all these behind the scene footages from artists and actor just makes me so happy.

All these people made all of our favorite movies and shows, even though it took them a long time to make, but they were having a blast making them. They wanted to make something special for the audiences, and they never stopped.

Especially when I watch interviews and I just have this fuzzy feeling that working on a movie or show in any role is such an amazing feeling. It inspires me to write to begin with.

I love hearing people's thoughts on the media they worked on and how it made them feel to see audiences loving the thing they were involved in. Makes me emotional every time.

In fact, there's one person who I absolutely adored for a few years and loved his works from beginning to end.

His name is Ben Schwartz.

Not only he's an actor but he's also a writer. He is so funny and sweet and just an amazing person. He is incredible and talented and always got that smile on his face.

He's the spirit of optimism in my opinion. He inspired me the most. To keep going.

And also? He's on strike too!

He is a writer so of course he's on strike and I am forever proud of him.

I am also proud of everyone who is on strike right now.

To the animators, writers and actors everywhere: Never stop fighting.

Even when the strike is over, for the love of God don't stop fighting.

You guys are kicking ass right now and you are making your voice heard, loud and proud.

I am so, so proud of all of you!

You deserve all the support, respect and love for the rest of your life for what you are doing!

Never stop doing what you love and keep going!

You got this!

To all the writers, animators and voice actors out there fighting for their voice: You are not alone and we love you!

✊NEVER STOP FIGHTING!! ✊

#piko rambles #writers guild strike #writers guild of america

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thefinalboss387 · 1 year

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Bowser Appreciation Post!!

Right, so, I need to talk about why this big dumb turtle dragon is my #1 absolute favorite character of all time. This gets pretty personal - I feel like any discussion about why a character is your favorite ever needs to be personal - but I felt the need to get it out there. If it brings fellow Bowser superfans my way, even better! I require all the friendships!

I’ve always had a love for villain characters, even as a very small child. I’m 35 now, I was born in 1987, so I’m old and have a lot of nostalgia for older stuff. As a child, I loved Lord Zedd from Power Rangers, Jafar from Aladdin, Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, Frieza and Cell from Dragon Ball Z... my entire life, if it had a villain, you can bet that villain was probably my favorite character.

My mom was pretty young when she had me. She was a gamer, and had an NES when I was a baby. Some of my earliest memories involve playing old NES games with my mom. So, naturally, as I played the early Mario games, Bowser was my favorite. Yet, as a child, I was terrified of boss battles, which is ironic because now they are usually my favorite part of any video game.

Yet, because it was Bowser, I had to fight him myself. Somewhere in some old family photo album, there exists pictures of me at different (young) ages, smiling in front of a TV screen depicting the final Bowser boss battles in Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64. It became something of a childhood tradition; I got to the final Bowser boss fight, I had a picture taken to memorialize the occasion.

Back then, there wasn’t much characterization in video games - the characters were little sprites without much life or personality to them. Bowser would pop up, you would fight him, you would win, the end. He was this big, scary, final boss threat... and that’s all he really was. Still, he looked cool, he was a villain, and that was enough for me to love him!

He wasn’t my favorite character, by any means. No, for most of my life, that honor went to Jafar from Aladdin. I watched that movie - the animated 1992 one - so many times as a kid that I can literally recite the entire film from memory. And don’t get me wrong, Jafar is still very high on my list of favorite characters of all time. But what made me boost Bowser up to that number one spot?

Well... As I grew up, so too did Bowser. Each game he appeared in was just another chapter in his long, storied history. We got to see him as a baby in the Yoshi games, we saw him in so many different types of battles and situations, he freakin’ goes Go-Karting and plays Tennis with his enemies, the RPG games gave him a more humorous, silly side to his personality that eventually even started carrying over to the main games. He’s the scary final boss, sure, but... he’s also kind of dumb and lovable?

A few years back, I got a job working with kids. I fell into the job almost by accident, but was immediately taken aback at how much I loved the job. In all my previous customer service jobs, I only ever saw the worst of humanity. Customers complaining and cheating to get any price reduction or refund they possibly could. Managers that didn’t give a shit about their staff, milking them dry and draining every ounce of their souls. Coworkers who constantly backstabbed and shit-talked each other. Greed and money were the bottom line for everyone, no matter who got harmed or inconvenienced along the way. Working with kids showed me the best of humanity - compassion, family, togetherness, empathy, unconditional love, celebrating other peoples’ victories and strengths. Even on my bad days, there is some little moment with the kids to cherish and hold onto.

I take my role as a mentor to these kids very seriously. A lot of what I do at work is talk to them, make them comfortable, get them to open up, talk them through their problems and help them become better people, advocate for them, etc. I care about the kids, and take great pride in what I do. I had a pretty rough, traumatic childhood (fights with Bowser not included in the traumatic parts), and there’s no better way to battle your own inner demons than by helping children beat theirs.

One day, I was playing Mario Kart with the kiddos at work (best job ever). I picked Bowser, as I often do. He is the villain, after all. The kids noticed that I liked Bowser, and they all began debating among themselves which child was which Koopaling to my Bowser. They argued over which of them was my favorite, because the favorite clearly NEEDS to be Bowser Jr. The one with the craziest hair HAD to be Ludwig. The funniest one HAD to be Lemmy. etc etc

It was then that it kind of hit me.... Bowser’s a family man. I mean, I always knew that, of course. Even as early as Super Mario Bros. 3 in 1990, he had the Koopalings as his mini-bosses. He had that adorable Parental Controls video for the Switch, showing how much he cared for Bowser Jr. Even his Yoshi appearances as a baby had Kamek as his caretaker and father figure, a role that continues on even into Bowser’s adult “life”. He has people that care about him and love him, despite how big and scary and one-dimensional he initially seems.

But it was right then, playing Mario Kart with a bunch of kids that I care about and have mentor relationships with, kids that were arguing which Koopaling they were, that I began to identify with Bowser. This scary, intimidating final boss figure has been in my life for longer than I can even remember, I have the childhood pictures to prove it, and he is a dad. Not only that, but a good one.

I’m not even mad about Bowser Jr. being retconned to “his ONLY son”, because to me it means that the Koopalings flocked to him for some other reason, or he took them in and/or adopted them. Regardless of the nature of their relationship, he has several child lieutenants that, for whatever reason, follow and adore him. Like me, Bowser has children in his life that he cares about, and that are not biologically his own.

Once this flood of realization hit me... that was all it took for me to LOVE the Koopa King.

The love was always there, I think. How could it not be?? When he wants to be intimidating, he is freaking terrifying - look no further than Bowser’s Fury. When he takes a break from being the main villain of a game, he’s a lovable, goofy tsundere with too high an opinion of himself. His lava castle aesthetic is so dramatic and extra. His battle music is always amazing.

I just never quite realized the impact he had on my life, or how much he mattered to me, until a bunch of kids started arguing over which Koopaling they were.

Imagine the surprise and humor on my mom’s face when I, a 35-year-old man, told her that the only thing I want for Christmas is a giant Lego set of Bowser.

#Bowser #Bowser Jr #Koopalings #King Koopa #Super Mario

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disneyat34 · 2 years

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Frozen II at 35

A review by Adam D. Jaspering

Frozen was meant to be a stand-alone work. Released in an era that prioritized sequels and remakes, Disney Animation valued innovation and new ideas. But Frozen was a special case. Frozen was not just a popular film, it was a phenomenon.

The original Frozen was successful, acclaimed, and popular by every metric. Ironically, it was almost too celebrated to make a sequel. Anything that follows up such a landmark production was sure to be a lesser effort by comparison.

Upon completion of the 2015 theatrical short Frozen Fever, Disney decided it was worth the risk. The characters of Frozen were still beloved. Their world was still engaging. The concepts were still fun. The audience was still eager. Disney wanted to return to the world of Frozen, and a sequel was greenlit.

In a show of eagerness, Disney gave themselves a standard four-year production window. Fans and investors alike were expecting Frozen II in theaters by November 2019. Surely, such optimism would in no way backfire.

Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, writers and directors of the original Frozen, returned to helm Frozen II. The duo branched out, onboarding other official writers. This included storyboard artist and animator Marc Smith. Also joining were Frozen’s soundtrack mavens Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The award-winning songwriters were no longer consulted just for musical needs. The husband and wife team were contributing story beats as well.

Perhaps five writers were needed to ensure quality. Perhaps it contributed to the increasingly layered and complex plot. Perhaps because the two initial writer/directors were detained with other duties. In 2018, partway through production, Lee was promoted to Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation.

In the past, I’ve lauded the efforts and contributions of former CCO John Lasseter. I chose my words carefully, knowing full well how his tenure with the company ended. Lasseter, despite his achievements, left Disney on very unfortunate terms.

As CCO, Lasseter’s creative and artistic visions lifted Disney Animation out of a dark age. However, it was his personal behavior that resulted in his departure. Lasseter made frequent salacious remarks and unwanted physical advances towards Disney’s female staff. An ongoing problem, this behavior began when he was at Pixar, and continued well throughout his employment with Disney. He used his power, his authority, and his connections to silence any objection. But after many years and many victims, the secrets erupted. As the allegations went public, Disney removed Lasseter from his role.

Jennifer Lee was promoted to fill the void. This opportunity gave her the dual responsibility of overseeing all of Disney Animation while also continuing to finalize the production of Frozen II. A distracted and overworked director, even one of two co-directors, explains much of the final film.

It was decided early on, Frozen II would be centered on a hook. Elsa would hear a strange, ephemeral voice beckoning her. Four notes, sung across the wind, only she can hear. She’d go on an adventure, trying to find who is calling her and what they want.

Such a foundation should be great a jumping off point for a screenplay. Except nobody on staff knew at the time who this voice would belong to, or what their relation to Elsa would be. Nor did they decide on these factors in a timely manner. Production continued with the idea left ambiguous and undecided, under the assurance the details would be provided down the line. Without a central plot or direction, development of the story proceeded at an awkward, aimless pace.

Everybody had vague ideas about how the movie should look and how it should feel. Nobody knew what the movie should consist of. All they had were odd story bits and scenery. Songs sung about nothing in particular for no known reason. New characters who had no purpose and no reason for existence. And no central story to tie everything together.

In February 2019, the first teaser trailer was released online. It featured Elsa standing on a beach at night, staring down the crashing tides. She attempts to run across the water, daring to breech the ocean waves that crash on top of her. She’s alone, she’s determined, and she’s fighting nature’s might with all her strength.

The trailer garnered interest and buzz. Fans all speculated the same things. Why was Elsa alone? Where was she? Where was she trying to get to? Why was she so desperate to combat nature, not taking a boat, or waiting until the waters calmed?

The filmmakers had no answers because they themselves had the same exact questions. After three years of development, this scene, apart from a few isolated test scenes, was the only completed part of the film. The animators had nothing to animate because the story and storyboards were still changing. The filmmakers didn’t know what Elsa was doing, how she got there, or what it all meant. All they knew was that it looked cool. But they used it for the teaser trailer, so they were obligated to fit it in the film somewhere.

Test screenings of the movie were disasters. Child audiences were either bored or confused. The plot was too convoluted, exposition dumps were unhelpful, and scenes went on too long. The film’s tone was too dark and too dry, lacking the childish humor of its predecessor. Much of the film felt hopelessly bleak.

These test screenings forced rewrites all the way to May, 2019. The plot was simplified, humor was added, and the story moved at a more exciting pace. Frozen II was being rewritten six months before the release date.

There is a docuseries on the making of Frozen II available on Disney+. It was likely intended to be a marketing tool, giving audiences even more Frozen content. It unintentionally depicts the desperate path to completion. Disney higher-ups have edited the series to seem like Frozen II was a labor of love, but the stress bleeds through.

It’s clear everyone involved was deeply invested in the project. The problems weren’t an issue of incompetence, arrogance, or limitations. The film just couldn’t coalesce. At a certain point, the motivation was nothing more than “get it done.”

Frozen II is the end result of a marathon session of rewrites, reworks and re-edits. It’s a miracle a film of any regard came from such a Sisyphean effort. If a release date wasn’t already promised, Frozen II would have very likely languished in development hell for years.

Frozen II takes place three years after the events of the previous film. Life has gone on without significant drama or upheaval. Our heroes are happy. Their kingdom is prosperous. Everything seems fine. All until Elsa begins receiving omens. To find answers, she and her colleagues venture to a mythic land up north. There, they must confront their kingdom’s past, discover their family heritage, learn their destinies, and right a wrong generations in the making.

The first thing one notices about the film, setting it apart from its predecessor, is the color scheme. Frozen was set during an unseasonable winter curse. Its hibernal setting prompted landscapes of icy splendor, including snow-draped landscapes and motifs of white and blue.

The sequel is set in autumn. A variety of arboreal colors interact, focused on reds, violets and deep green. The only scenes featuring snow and ice feature Elsa specifically. The name ‘Frozen’ is doing its setting a disservice.

Once again, color theory is employed to great effect. The first film used its color scheme to reflect Elsa specifically. There was a delicate beauty representing Elsa’s fragile mental state, but also a chilling sense of danger, representing her despair and hostility. The autumnal colors of the sequel represents both Elsa and Anna together. Autumn is a time of transition. Before we know the stakes of the plot, we know the the film will be focusing on impermanence and change.

The first change is one of setting. The first movie took place in Arendelle and its surrounding forests and mountains. The sequel removes our heroes from these familiar areas. They move further north to a land called Northuldra.

Arendelle is a rather undefined place. Its unclear whether its a nation, a nation state, or the capital city within a nation. It’s not important. What is important is, Arendelle is set in a fictionalized version of Norway.

A Norwegian setting was chosen purely for aesthetic reasons in the first film. The sequel uses its real-world counterpart for a fuller narrative effect. Northuldra is an area in the taiga biome, sparsely populated, with only hearty flora and fauna surviving. Its sole human residents are foragers, lacking any permanent structures or colonies. The Northuldran people have a relatively small tribe (about 50 people), but a rich culture.

Northuldra is a stand-in for the Sápmi region and the resident Sámi people. Scandinavians and the Sámi live mostly detached lives to each other. Scandinavians prefer the southern portion of the peninsula for its arable farmland. The Sámi prefer the north, where great populations of reindeer live. This passive cohabitation has preserved the Sámi culture and lifestyle.

The plot of Frozen II uses this cultural relationship as fodder for its own plot. The Arendelle citizens represent Norway, while the Northuldrans represent the Sámi.

Acknowledging Disney’s poor history of depicting indigenous cultures onscreen, the Sámi insisted on a cultural ambassador opportunity. The filmmakers accepted, sending several representatives to Sápmi. They absorbed the culture, made diligent notes, and shared preliminary character models and story bits. This ensured what appeared onscreen was both respectable and accurate.

Also part of the contract, Disney would produce an officially dubbed version of Frozen II in the Sámi language. A genuine gesture of goodwill, and also a clever contract rider. An ignored international demographic now had a movie that would be uniquely theirs.

The Northuldran are depicted as an unknown culture to our heroes. They’re simple, but not primitive. They’re interesting, but not a sideshow. They’re seen as rustic and rural rather than uncivilized or savage.

There are many ways to read the differences between the two groups. Their clothing is one of the most interesting. Anna and Elsa wear dyed fabrics, embroidered with intricate designs. These outfits are clearly handmade and personalized for them. Even Kristoff, laden in fur and leather, is far departed from mere hunting and trapping. Rugged and durable, they’re manufactured all the same.

This contrasts against the Northuldran, all of whom wear a uniform, practical outfit. The prime focus of clothing is not of fashion, but functionality and unity. One type of outfit for one tribe with no extraneous details. If it rips, it can be mended. If it’s ruined, it can be replaced. If more are needed, more can be made.

But this uniformity is not depressing or stifling. In the simplicity, there is beauty. The dulled browns and grays emphasizes a tapestry-like focus to needlework. It’s admirable as a craft, not as couture. What’s more, the monotone appearance emboldens the scenery and the world around them. The people look clean, simple, and humble to emphasize instead the resplendent glory of their forest home. Again, the autumn setting working to the film’s advantage.

One of the most beautiful moments of the film isn’t visual, but musical. Upon Anna and Elsa learning their mother was Northuldran, the entire populace welcome their estranged sisters wholly into their ranks. They do so with a choral performance, strongly implied to be an honorable cultural tradition (Olaf steps on this tradition, but only for a second before the film cuts away).

Although Anna and Elsa are unfamiliar with it, we the audience recognize the song. This is the same choral chant that accompanied the title card of the first Frozen and the studio logos of the second.

But this isn’t a lazy bit of recycling. The filmmakers weren’t considering a canonical use when the number was first performed. They just needed something that sounded Norwegian and somewhat mystical to introduce the Frozen title card. They used a traditional folk song, and that was that.

In the sequel, the piece is given a new context, one inside the film world’s universe. This abstract orchestration has been given a definition and a purpose. It’s an amazing bit of retroactive connectivity that makes the world of Frozen and Frozen II seem like a cohesive, defined unit.

While the score and music are both grandiose accompaniments, nothing quite reaches the heights of its predecessor. The major problem is, Frozen II’s soundtrack is treated as a retread, not a continuation. Many of this film’s big numbers seem to mimic the first film, trying to replicate its success. “Some Things Never Change” is the follow-up to “For the First Time in Forever.” “When I am Older” is the partner of “In Summer.” “Reindeer are Better Than People” gets a reprisal before its spun into a much more bombastic original work.

Elsa gets two numbers, both hoping to copy the success of “Let It Go.” “Into the Unknown” and “Show Yourself” both demonstrate the range and power of Idina Menzel’s voice. Both demonstrate Elsa’s magical abilities front and center. Both hit emotional high notes, highlighting Elsa’s psyche and confidence. Both feature grand demonstrations of animation, letting fantasy visuals of snow and ice accompany the music.

“Show Yourself” goes one step beyond emulation. Just like “Let It Go,” Elsa once again constructs a palace out of ice. Once again she lets her hair down and manifests a glamorous gown. Once again the lyrics serve dual purpose, reflecting both Elsa’s current place in the narrative and her subconscious feelings. They may have been eager to replicate the success of “Let It Go”, but this is desperate.

Frozen II establishes its themes early, the same way a musical puts its auditory motifs into an overture. It introduces everything blatantly, even awkwardly, all sequentially in the beginning. It’s not until later, after the story develops and these themes return, do we see their significance. Until then, it just seems as though everyone is speaking in cryptic platitudes.

Anna and Elsa’s mother sings a lullaby whose origins and significance are a secret. Their father tells a bedtime story from his past which he describes in great detail except for the portion regarding himself. Repeated talk about the comfort of familiarity portends a tragic irony. Anna adopts the tenet of doing the next right thing despite the suggestion not being given to her specifically. Olaf insists water has memory completely unprovoked. The apparitions from “Into the Unknown” are literal displays of what’s about to come. There’s foreshadowing, there’s preludes, and there’s whatever’s going on here.

After this prelude to a means, the movie begins in earnest. Arendelle is besieged by strange natural phenomena. Darkness, droughts, strong winds and earthquakes befall the city, forcing an evacuation. Elsa recognizes this as an ultimatum. She’s not only being beckoned to travel north, she’s being forced.

This is our first insistence that Frozen II is departing from its predecessor. The tonal theme shifts wildly. Our fantasy adventure is turning into a tense, atmospheric drama.

Up north, our heroes are tasked with passing through a mist that has isolated Northuldra for years. Not an ordinary fog, this is a magical forcefield. Only Elsa has the ability to pass through, bringing her companions with her.

The impenetrable boundaries. The feeling of imprisonment. The unfamiliar environment. The lack of sky. The strange colors. The impossible wind patterns. The rising panic. The threat of separation. The sense that everyone’s being watched… Don’t let the bright colors and animated characters distract you from the situation at hand. For five whole minutes, Frozen II is coded like a horror movie. This is a film with a singing snowman, but it feels like something made by Alex Garland.

The first film was a personal journey, focusing heavily on Elsa’s character arc. It was an allegorical tale, broaching topics such as mental illness, identity issues, and suppressed trauma. Frozen II keeps its characters mostly static, though the threat of Elsa backsliding into her old ways is on everyone’s mind.

Instead, the focus is on the family history of Arendelle’s royal family. Before, Elsa and Anna’s parents were just parts of a tragic backstory. They were basically stock characters, and didn’t even have names.

Through carefully placed discoveries, revelations and flashbacks, we learn about the life and death of King Agnarr and Queen Iduna. They met the day Northuldra disappeared. They died searching for the same answers Anna and Elsa are now searching for themselves. They don’t know what caused Northuldra to disappear; they don’t understand the magic involved. They suspected the same magic was responsible for Elsa’s powers, and they wanted answers.

But once again, all this was decided after the fact. No one during the production of the original Frozen considered Agnarr and Iduna’s death to have a significant purpose. These new plot details were considered years later, while the old ones were manipulated in order to establish a timeline. As the movie plays out, it’s easy to forget they didn’t die trying to save Northuldra. They were trying to cure Elsa’s magic, still considered a tragic curse at the time of their deaths.

No one in 2013 thought about Elsa’s magical origins or what it meant. Elsa was magic, and that was enough. Frozen II tried to create a story out of nothingness, with nothing to go on. If they had, these facts could have been integrated better, following a better sense of logic.

Why is the Fire spirit an ordinary salamander sometimes when none of the other spirits have animal forms? Why does the Air spirit have no corporeal form at all beyond wind? Why are there several Earth spirits instead of just one? Elsa is the uniting spirit between Earth, Water, Fire and Air, so why does she have ice powers? Ice is a form of water. She should either have the ability to manipulate all four elements, or have a neutral unassociated fifth power.

It’s a Frankenstein sort of filmmaking, joining together different concepts with mismatched results. The film is full of logical inconsistencies and outrageous behavior. Actions don’t necessarily correspond to decisions made. Characters overreact or underreact to plot details.

Why? The troubled screenwriting process. The only concrete elements of the story were markers. The movie needed to hit those markers in a certain order at a certain rate. When the filmmakers couldn’t guide the film naturally to those markers, they forced it. Sometimes effects and causes were decided at two different iterations of the writing process, leaving them mismatched in the final film.

For example, Kristoff heads to a forest glen to ready a romantic proposal for Anna. He’s maybe five minutes away, but Anna considers this departure a form of abandonment and leaves camp without him. Elsa sees lumbering stone giants and turns her gaze towards them as they pass. Anna considers this evidence that Elsa is about ready to impudently storm off. Elsa has a theory that the wind spirits are guiding her to an island. Rather than explain it’s only accessible to her because of her ice magic, she blindsides Anna and Olaf, magically chucking them into the woods, nearly killing them in the process.

The lack of motivations are distracting, but worse is its heavy nature. The first movie was a fairy tale, this one is a tragedy. Many scenes are too stressful or too dramatic for their own good. Elsa and Anna learn about the untimely fate of their parents. They learn their grandfather was an abhorrent monster. They both face numerous threats of abandonment, injury, and death.

To compensate, humor is shoved into awkward places. Focus groups determined the movie was alienating children. Frozen II needed some softer moments. As such, we have many jokes and vignettes clearly added after the fact, not fully integrated with the plot.

Olaf delivers a one-man show, humorously recounting the plot of the first Frozen. Kristoff gets an absurd love ballad that’s straight from the days of hair metal. A Northuldran herder reveals he also uses ventriloquism to make his reindeer talk, just like Sven. Hans is mentioned surprisingly often, each time dismissed with flippant annoyance. Elsa bashfully regrets her affinity for showy drama, twice cringing when reminded of her “Let It Go" performance.

The original Frozen earned acclaim for making Elsa a complicated character. She was a metaphor, prompting a number of valid discussions. Frozen II tries to be bold with its morality as well, but doesn’t fully succeed in either its message or how its delivered.

Elsa and Anna discover that their grandfather, the former king of Arendelle, betrayed the Northuldran people. He built a giant dam for them under the guise of diplomacy. In reality, it weakened their natural resources. This exploitation forced their dependency on Arendelle. When confronted with these accusations, the king assassinated the Northuldran leader, sparking a war between the two civilizations.

Elsa and Anna, separated during this discovery, each come to terms with a different half of the moral. Elsa’s half focuses on the effects of bigotry. Magic has been empowering for Elsa. It’s coded as a cultural trait, something connecting Elsa to her Northuldran heritage. Her grandfather despised Northuldra for the same reason. Magic is foreign, therefore strange, therefore must be eradicated.

For his intolerance, the king lost everything: his kingdom, his family’s respect, and ultimately his life. Meanwhile, Elsa is actively and emphatically non-racist. She not only excels as a head of state, but she’s powerful, glamorous, popular. Racism is bad, not being racist is good. It’s a very obvious moral, spelled out in no uncertain terms.

Anna’s half of the moral is more subtle, and delivered more effectively. Her portion focuses on racial privilege. Her grandfather’s misdeeds were heinous, but she had no knowledge of them until this point. She has, however, reaped its benefits every day of her life. Her royal title, her wealth, Arendelle’s prosperity, her loving parents, and her magical sister; everything she has comes from Arendelle gaining from Northuldra’s losses.

Anna’s exposure to tragedy, physical exhaustion, psychological trauma, and emotional pain all culminate here. The line of suffering ends with her, and she is taking drastic measures. Anna needs to make things right, even if it seems irrational or insane. She destroys the dam, even if it means flooding Arendelle.

The prophecy called for King Agnarr and Queen Iduna having a child, but they had two. Each needed to prove themselves worthy, independent of the other. Elsa is the one blessed with magical powers, Anna is the one grounded in humanity. Elsa is the one who reunites the magic with Northuldra, while Anna is the one who saves their land. And she does so by destroying the accursed dam.

In the end, she’s justified. Deciding to flood Arendelle was a final test of character. For her actions, the magic forces who have been guiding Elsa intervene, sparing the kingdom, diverting the flood. Not even raising the harbor’s water level. Its unsatisfying knowing that this dramatic sacrifice doesn’t actually involve any sacrifice. The stakes were raised and then lowered without any significance. It’s superficial drama.

The greatest strength of Frozen II is its quality of animation. While the animation of Frozen was great in its own right, the sequel is in another class. Every single frame is filled with rich detail. The animators focused attention on every small detail. Even things the average viewer would never notice or consider. Wood grain in lumber. Stitching on clothing. Condensation on glass. Skin and hair texture.

Elsa is still a cartoon character, but she’s a stunningly detailed cartoon character. You can see freckles, musculature, nailbeds, and individual eyebrow hairs. She spends much of the movie in a bodysuit that defies logic; there’s no collar, it just dissipates into nothingness around her collarbone. The fabric turns into adhesive sequins that turn into skin. And yet, all one can do is admire how each of those sequins are rendered with such careful attention.

The film looks fantastic. To young audiences, those stellar sights can distract from the story which they’re almost guaranteed not to follow.

This is a film where two young lovers perform an act of love while their respective nations devolve into war. For their purity, they are spared from a mystical curse that secludes the warring participants and the land from the outside world. The progeny of the two innocents will be a legendary fifth element, with the ability to control and manipulate ice and snow. This gift will allow her to one day unite the elements, allowing her to learn the truth, and bring harmony to the warring people. In doing so, she must destroy a dam that’s affected the environment. It was deceptively built as an act of goodwill, but was deliberately detrimental, disenfranchising the populace, making them ripe for colonial exploitation. However, destroying the dam will doom her home empire sitting at the base of the river. All this prompts the moral quandaries of whether children are responsible for the transgressions of their forefathers, and whether an empire built on the oppression of others deserves its modern glory.

This is the only film in the Disney Canon that needs its own page on Sparknotes. And remember, this is after a series of rewrites from test screenings calling the film too complex. This is the simplified version.

The end result of Frozen II is a massive film whose failure is its ambition. It’s a complicated plot with too much fantasy lore among a huge familial backstory. Instead of characters defined by their adventure, the characters are already defined. So they’re further defined to excess, explaining every how, who, and why, forgetting the appeal of fantasy is that things don’t always need an answer. As satisfying as it is to learn the origins and purpose of Elsa’s ice powers, it also robs the character of her mystery.

And that in essence was the major failings of Disney’s sequels in 2018 and 2019. They were making follow-ups to stories that didn’t need or anticipate follow ups. There was no story left to tell, so writers forced a story, and it feels forced. We get to revisit old characters we know and love, but what’s new is superficial and clashing. The experience is unrewarding.

While Frozen II did outgross Frozen on an equivalent budget (supplanting it as Disney Animation’s highest grossing film of all time), it killed the studio’s ambition for further sequels. Production was an ordeal, and the film was an overcomplicated mess held together with duct tape and wishes. Had this been a follow-up to any film besides Frozen, things could have been a disaster of Black Cauldron proportions.

To this end, Disney changed its approach to animated sequels. It didn’t matter what the beloved characters were doing, just as long as audiences got to revisit them. If the stakes were that low, there was no point creating a full-length screenplay. Short form content for Disney+ would suffice just the same. After all, Frozen II was made in the first place because the short Frozen Fever was a success.

Frozen II has its strengths, but it’s a confusing and overwhelming experience. Especially considering most of its audience was expecting something simple, or at least comfortable. The movie is overstuffed with ideas, most of which are underdeveloped or disjointed. By making a sequel to their most popular and profitable film, Disney was hoping lightning would strike twice. But in a franchise themed around snow, they should have been more concerned about avalanches. Beauty and the Beast Fantasia The Lion King Frozen Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Cinderella Alice in Wonderland Sleeping Beauty Mulan Zootopia Tangled The Little Mermaid Aladdin Lilo & Stitch The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Pinocchio The Jungle Book Robin Hood The Sword in the Stone Bambi The Emperor’s New Groove The Hunchback of Notre Dame Moana The Princess and the Frog The Great Mouse Detective Big Hero 6 101 Dalmatians Bolt The Three Caballeros Lady and the Tramp Frozen II The Rescuers Down Under Atlantis: The Lost Empire Wreck-It Ralph The Fox and the Hound Fantasia 2000 Peter Pan Dumbo Hercules Meet the Robinsons Brother Bear The Black Cauldron Melody Time Oliver & Company Treasure Planet Tarzan The Rescuers Pocahontas Saludos Amigos The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad Winnie the Pooh The Aristocats Ralph Breaks the Internet Dinosaur Fun and Fancy Free Make Mine Music Home on the Range Chicken Little

#Frozen ii #Frozen 2 #Disney #walt disney #Walt Disney Animation Studios #disney studios #Disney Canon #film analysis #movie review #Film Criticism

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 3 months

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I don't take the Oscars too seriously, but it's always fun to guess...

So, for tomorrow's nomination rollouts... Best Animated Feature... 5 slots this year...

I think...

THE BOY AND THE HERON

NIMONA

ROBOT DREAMS

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM

Originally, I had predicted that CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET was going to easily secure a slot, simply because it's an Aardman stop-motion film and they almost never miss, and also it's a sequel to a beloved film that partially helped create the Best Animated Feature category in the first place...

But it seems to me like the tides are swaying another direction... I'm actually beginning to think that ROBOT DREAMS, a silent Spanish/French feature directed by Pablo Berger that is to be distributed in the U.S. some time this year by Neon, gets a slot.

Debuted at Cannes all the way back in May, got some critics awards already, and has a ton of other nominations to its name... ROBOT DREAMS looks to be a little sleeper, a surprise perhaps.

DAWN OF THE NUGGET, by contrast, is largely and unusually very dry in the critics' circles, only nominated for *four* awards. Not even an *Annie*... An Aardman stop-motion movie is usually a shoe-in. The one time it wasn't was EARLY MAN in 2018, which garnered way more nominations elsewhere than DAWN OF THE NUGGET... This one might just miss, unfortunately. The reception was pretty muted for it upon arrival.

I've explained my other choices before... BOY AND THE HERON is Miyazaki's newest, and is possibly his last. He came out of retirement in his *80s* to direct it. Miyazaki usually never misses, nomination-wise. SPIRITED AWAY won for 2002; HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, PONYO, and THE WIND RISES were all nomm'ed for their respective U.S. release years. It also won the Globe, in addition to getting tons of love all across the board... I wouldn't be surprised if it straight-up WINS... I feel it should...

NIMONA... The one that got away from Disney. Nearly killed, but revived, and turned out pretty great. Lots of praise all across the board, strong in its political themes (always a plus for an Oscar), innovative in its visuals, plus Netflix usually has a horse in the race... And given how well this one's been doing, especially at the Annies, I see it easily getting a nom.

ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, need I say more? I won't be surprised if it wins, honestly.

MUTANT MAYHEM has seemed like the wild card to me, given how funky the Oscars can be with nominating animated movies. Remember how THE LEGO MOVIE was snubbed? Despite being a big hit and arguably having the best critical reception for an animated movie released in 2014? MUTANT MAYHEM *could* face that, too... I feel? I dunno, maybe it's because it's kind of a superhero action-adventure like SPIDER-VERSE 2 is... Then again, that didn't stop the Academy from nominating both INCREDIBLES 2 and INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE for 2018... Maybe it's because it's a reboot in a franchise that's been well-tread before? Then again, three theatrical live-action versions of Spider-Man existed before SPIDER-VERSE... Maybe it's because Paramount - with the exception of the DreamWorks movies they distributed circa 2006-2012 - never really has had much of a presence in this category for various reasons. That being said, this could be their first real break-out since RANGO got the nom for 2011 and *won*... I don't know, this one kinda feels a little weird. The film does has a high number of nominations, a single win. Other mainstream releases this year, such as ELEMENTAL and MARIO, weren't as well-received... So, I think it sneaks in. Just makes it, you could say.

We shall see...

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 1 year

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Is It Really THAT Bad?

Pixar was on quite the winning streak for most of its existence. From the very first Toy Story in 1995 up through Toy Story 3 in 2010, they built up an image of producing incredible, emotional animated features that really redefined the medium. Ratatouille, WALL-E, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., Up… Sure, sometimes they’d release something like Cars or A Bug’s Life that wasn’t praised quite to the high heavens, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would call the movies outright bad. But then, in 2011, Pixar’s home run streak came to a screeching halt as Cars 2 pumped those brakes hard on their endless victory with critics.

Cars isn’t the most beloved property to begin with, criticized for its generic plot and clunky worldbuilding, though at least it’s cute, endearing, and fun for kids. It’s absolutely not anything the world was hankering for a sequel for, but John Lasseter is quite skilled at forcing unwanted things on others. The Cars franchise is his pet project, so he pushed this right on through, and Disney was probably not inclined to say no to him considering the merch sales from the first movie (though it’s not like a ‘no’ ever stopped Lasseter before). What came from this was the only Pixar film to ever be a complete critical dud, Lasseter deciding to step away from the directing chair, and the fans and even the sequel pretending that this film absolutely never happened.

There hasn’t really been much of a reappraisal of this film over the years, mostly because that means you have to suffer through 90 minutes of Larry the Cable Guy (a fate reserved only for the most wicked sinners in the deepest bowels of Hell), but I mean really, even if it’s not great it’s still a Pixar movie! Is it really that bad? Well, fasten your seatbelts because it’s gonna be a bumpy ride as I try and elaborate on this utterly bonkers kid film.

THE GOOD

Yes, forget what Mr. Enter or the Nostalgia Critic told you, there is some good stuff here.

If there is one thing in this movie that is completely, unironically amazing, it’s the settings. We’re kind of on a world tour here, going to all these beautiful new locations that are animated with a level of detail and beauty that’s almost insane for a movie about talking cars. This isn’t too surprising, as the first film was rather gorgeous as well when we got to explore around Radiator Springs, but this is a whole new level.

But if we’re talking in a somewhat ironic sense, the absolute biggest quality this film has is how completely and utterly batshit insane it is when you get right down to it. This seriously feels like the sort of film where absolutely no one gave a shit in the best way possible, and it leads to an absolute goldmine of ludicrousness.

This of course starts with the fact this is a spy thriller WITH FUCKING CARS. We have Jason Isaacs and Bruce Campbell cameoing as spies… and then we get to see the former’s ground-up corpse onscreen, and we get to watch the latter be tortured and brutally executed! Yes, this family film has a body count, and it doesn’t even stop there, as plenty of bad guys get crushed, shot at, blown up… And that’s not even getting into the fact the third act is about stopping the assassination of Lightning McQueen, which also features Mater having a bomb strapped to him! Literally who the fuck thought of this?

And then there’s some of the absurd worldbuilding, which includes the Queen of England being a car and the actual fucking Pope appearing as a sentient Popemobile. This, along with Mater confirming that Catholicism is real, raises so many questions you’ve likely seen brought up many times before, not the least of which is how the crucifixion of Jesus Chrysler went, were there Crusades and an Inquisition, and are there car Chick Tracts in this universe? Cars have bathrooms, cars eat wasabi, cars drink water, planes and boats and trains are all sentient as well… The more and more they establish new things, the less and less anything about this world makes sense, and the more it feels like they just came up with a regular human spy thriller and just slapped cars onto every character. But hey, you get to see a car do karate, and that is genuinely, hilariously absurd.

Oh, yeah, and they essentially give Sally a foot fetish. I’m not fucking kidding.

THE BAD

Mater. Just… Mater.

Mater is a character best enjoyed in small doses; he wasn’t incredibly overbearing in the first film, after all. But apparently Lasseter really thought the world wanted this character to be the star of his own show. Leave it to a sex offender to think Larry the Cable Guy is funny enough to headline a major motion picture. Mater is just plain unfunny in this film, and what’s worse, he’s annoying. He getsin a few good scenes here and there, maybe a chuckle or two, but those moments are few and far between, buried under an avalanche of cringe. He’s an absolute idiot and a hindrance to everyone around him, which could lead to some really good comedy a la Johnny English or Naked Gun if written better.

It’s not written better. The two main spies, Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell, just completely and utterly believe Mater is a spy right up until the third act, never questioning anything as he bumbles through every single mission. Sure, they always end up succeeding, but still! It’s absurd they actually ever thought Mater was legitimate for even a moment, because he did nothing but jeopardize them at every turn. And that’s not even getting in to how Mater is a

Yes, Mater starts the movie getting all mopey and sad because Lightning wants to go out with his girlfriend and not have Mater third wheel. Then Mater inserts himself into Lightning’s pit crew, costs him his first race, and generally just mopes around about how much an incompetent boob everyone thinks he is. It’s even worse because, despite Mater demonstrably being a hindrance to his friends, the narrative bends over backwards to exonerate him, leading to an extremely cringeworthy segment at the end where Lightning chases down Mater, spouts the most homoerotic apologies you’ll ever hear from a talking car, and essentially says that if people don’t like Mater, that’s their problem and they’re the ones who need to change. Not the best message to send to kids, mind you.

And of course there’s how Mater’s spy plot distracts from the racing. You know, the thing this franchise built its image on. I get that second films like to mix things up and try new things, see what works and what doesn’t while a franchise isn’t fully established—it’s led to great films like Freddy’s Revenge, Gremlins 2, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom—but I really don’t think “Violent spy thriller” was the right direction to take the cartoonish and goofy world of Cars. Yes, it’s absolutely hilarious seeing cars brutally murdered, a menacing evil German Bond villain car, and the attempted assassination of Owen Wilson via death ray and, when that fails, terrorist attack… But there’s really no denying that they’re kind of going way too far out there, and these aren’t really concepts the originals fans or even the target audience of this film are going to gel with.

The rancid, rotten cherry on top is how this film has what would become the Disney standard a few years down the road: The twist villain. No, the legitimately creepy and intimidating German doctor is not our big bad, it’s a villain who was hidden in plain sight the whole movie and who is both completely obviously the villain and also nonsensically the villain. Their entire motivation doesn’t make a lick of sense, as they essentially funneled all their resources into creating an alternate energy that they were planning to sabotage to force everyone to rely on oil… oil they already had in the first place. And to this end, the villain decided the best course of action is to publicly assassinate popular racers using this alternate energy to give it a bad name. Worst of all, this stupid twist villain utterly wastes Eddie Izzard. It’s so bad that Bellwether, Hans, and Evelyn Deavor all look better and more interesting in comparison.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

Ok, yes, this movie is bad. Or more accurately, it’s not good. But after hearing this movie described as some sort of crime against humanity for so long, I was kind of surprised to find it was kind of enjoyable?

Yes, Mater is annoying and the plot is filled with nonsense, but there’s just so much insanity, absurdity, and “what the fuck” moments that it’s kind of endearing. It very much feels like the spiritual successor to Freddie as F.R0.7., one of my favorite animated films of all time, and while it never quite reaches those levels of enjoyable insanity, it’s hard to deny there is a bit of that Pixar charm keeping this from being unwatchably bad.

Currently it sits at a 6.2 on IMDB, and, yeah, that’s way too high. This is a 5.2 at highest, and I’d even go as low as 4. But I definitely think this film is definitely “so bad it’s good” as opposed to the just plain bad I’ve heard reviewers parrot for the past decade or so. It could be a good, if somewhat misguided, film to ease kids into the spy thriller genre, and at any rate it’s not really ever boring. So long as you can at least kind of tolerate Mater’s stupid antics and how the universe seems to go out of its way to suck his dick, this one’s not the worst thing to put on. If nothing else, it’s worth a watch for morbid curiosity alone.

Really, it feels more like one of those “Mater’s Tall Tales” short segments stretched to feature length than anything else... which probably explains why it isn’t canon. This whole movie is just a bullshit yarn spun by Mater to impress tourists! It all makes too much sense, guess I can just crank that score up to a 10/10 now.

#is it really that bad?#IIRTB #review #movie review #Cars #Cars 2 #Mater #Larry the Cable Guy #Pixar #Disney #John Lasseter

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bronanlynch · 7 months

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trying to get back into writing weekly roundup posts inspired by @/girlfriendofthegalaxy's tuesday again no problem series so here goes (disclaimer that these are not recommendations, as a rule I don't like recommending things to people because taste is so subjective and also because I enjoy doing analysis on things that are not good)

listening (podcast): making my way through the Gundam Wing episodes of Great Gundam Project. love to hear queer leftists talk about Gundam. it's fun to listen to now that I know more about Gundam, because when I watched Wing myself I knew literally nothing, and it's cool to get extra context but also cool to hear that some of my initial analysis still holds up. has the (un?)fortunate side effect of constantly making me wish I were watching Gundam

also obligatory shout out to Media Club Plus, a Hunter x Hunter rewatch podcast just started by some of the Friends at the Table folks, which I'm also enjoying a lot (this *is* a recommendation. please listen to Media Club Plus)

listening (music): so turns out I mostly listen to music when I'm driving these days, and right now the cd in my car's cd player is Avril Lavigne's Let Go, which is causing me to think a lot about a world in which Fire Emblem 3 Houses was an anime and there could be a sylvix+dimilix amv set to Complicated. also I've been fondly remembering that one wangxian sk8er boi amv that makes me cry every time I watch it

reading: recently finished The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon. lots of divine-mechanical body horror and also a big win for fans of body sharing. very tasty, lots to chew on. I think I would have more to say about this one if I'd read it more quickly, but it was the book that I read a chapter or two every night before bed because that's a load-bearing part of my routine, and I think that meant that I sometimes lost track of some of the plot threads and shifting allegiances & motivations

currently reading The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang, which I'm not far into but it's fun so far, and. sighs. Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo. unfortunately because I couldn't remember exactly what happened in the books to properly compare it to the second season of Shadow & Bone I committed to rereading the whole series and, well, this could be compelling political intrigue except that's not where the focus is (it feels like there's a lot of words wasted on reiterating who the main characters are but not in particularly interesting ways or ways that show them changing very much, at least so far) so it's just simply not compelling to me

watching: rewatching Hunter x Hunter (2011) along with the Media Club Plus coverage. only on episode 6 so far but man what a good show

with my roommate, we've been slowly making our way through Elementary, because it's good to have on in the background while working on other things, and I do enjoy a competently written mystery. we also watched. uh. the Bionicle movies. those sure are movies that exist to sell toys to children. like, there's stuff in there that could be really interesting. as a kid I probably would've been obsessed. I'm glad I've seen them. they're not ""good movies""

now, this past weekend, instead of making any progress in any of the shows I was already watching, or fic I was writing, or anything like that, I saw a tumblr post that made a very compelling argument for spending the entire weekend watching all 16 episodes of 2021 k-drama The Devil Judge. this is a show for people who watched Tiger & Bunny and wanted Yuri (you know, everyone's favorite T&B side character, the guy who's a vigilante murderer and also a judge and also very sad) to be the main character (it's me. I wanted that.) anyway. this one's gonna be rattling around in my brain for a while. it's a dystopian legal drama with a significant helping of the gothic (gothic is here defined as when you're forced by circumstance to stay at the mysterious big house of an older wealthy man with secrets). it's about, among other things, corporate greed, the rise of fascism, systemic judicial inequality, the self-destructive catharsis of revenge, whether justice is possible in an unjust society, and having an intense homoerotic bond with your hot morally dubious coworker

oh yeah I'm also keeping up with the Ahsoka show because I was cursed at birth to care about Star Wars. I wish I liked it because I love Ahsoka and Sabine as characters but it's just simply not a well-made television show. really suffers from over-reliance on their Volume soundstage and various other issues that seem to stem from uninspired direction, but I've been especially disappointed with so many of the blocking choices

playing: finally getting back into playing Ace Attorney 5, which I paused literally three months ago and didn't pick up again until this week. there are parts of the game I've enjoyed (Athena is a cool character even if I dislike her mood matrix thing both mechanically and thematically; the mock trial conceit of 5-3 is fun; I like Blackquill & his bird) but other parts I do not enjoy (the transphobia oh my god I hoped I was free after getting past the homophobia & transmisogyny in 5-2 and then got hit with whatever the fuck they were doing with Robin in 5-3 please Ace Attorney be normal about trans people I am begging you)

making: we recently got B. Dylan Hollis's cookbook Baking Yesteryear, and made some maple-squash gems from the 1920s. not too much to say about these, they're nice muffins, tasty, not too hard to make. I think I would probably double the amount of cinnamon next time though

drinking: it's nog season which means it's time for the return of one of my favorite seasonal mixed drinks: eggnog (pumpkin, since that felt the Most seasonal) with a splash of Kraken spiced rum

writing: picking away at editing my t4t yurivain fic that was originally meant to be for Fire Emblem Trans Week, which was like a month and a half ago now. it's fine. everything is fine. anyway here's some lines:

“This feels like a test,” said Sylvain. “Is that your subtle way of telling me that I have to order our next round?” “Depends,” Yuri said, suppressing a laugh at the expression on Sylvain’s face, like he’d forgotten an answer during an exam. “What would you order for me?”

#sorry this is like a billion words long #everyone else who does these seems to be able to do concise summaries but i have a chronic inability to shut the fuck up. so. here we are #dreaming.txt #i used to have a tag for these but i cannot fucking remember what it was #weekly media roundup post

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animusiem · 11 months

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Billboard USA Exclusion Zone Episode 13 (05/27/2023)

You know, I thought that I will be overwhelmed by this week. I mean we got Eurovision this week and just how massive the first two Eurovision was in this decade. So color me surprised that we didn't get an onslaught of Eurovision songs. Though some of them might have to do with them have debuted before so I have talked about it (check it out in my bio). But this means that it made this week manageable at least.

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11. "Acrostico" by Shakira

Actually we won't be starting with an Eurovision song, instead we have a heartfelt ballad from Shakira and her kids. I'm so glad that this song exist. Not only because she's making music again on her own, but also as a healing process from her divorce.

13. "Cha Cha Cha" by Kaarija

From heartfelt to the downright batshit insane. This is basically the Zitti e Buono of 2023 but it didn't win the whole thing which is a robbery. It would've been great if Finnish language actually existed.

29. "Queen of Kings" by Alessandra

This is basically just what happened when you mixed Billie Eilish with pirate theme music soundtracking your local League of Legends tournament.

37. "The Planet" by BTS

Seems like BTS saw the success of Arcane and Imagine Dragon and thought "yes this soundtracking animated movie will turned out well". And it's as expected as what "BTS soundtracking animated film" would sound like.

46. "All My Life" by Lil Durk ft. J Cole

I'm of two minds about this song. On one hand, the subject matter here is just perfect where both Durk and Cole talking about a lot of systemic issues during the come up with interesting details. Durk referencing how stimulus check works in his environment and how he's trying to better himself which is a plus in my opinion. While Cole in the middle of talking about his legacy, talk about how the media talked and hyperfocusing on rapper's death and how people weren't paying attention to them before it's too late. On the other hand, this beat is kinda suck. One thing that I've learned over the years is that Dr. Luke shouldn't producing trap rap song. Like seriously just some keys, trap drums, and sub bass? Also we don't need to bring back child choir again. I guess we'll see if this song will grew on me, but right not it's just on the upper side of decent.

81. "Queencard" by (G)I-DLE

Ahhh yes this is the Kpop shit I love. Garrish, a lot of personalities with no substance, and ridiculous. It's the same reason why I love HIP by MAMAMOO and while this song is slightly worse, I can't deny the groove here.

142. "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + The Machine

Finally my critical card has been upgraded since I'm reviewing a Florence + The Machine stuff! Well anyways this song is definitely a perfect send off (or in this case dance off) to a movie franchise.

153. "Unicorn" by Noa Kirel

First off Free Palestine. Secondly, I think if you want to justify your inclusion in the Eurovision Israel, you should just remake Toy for the rest of your country's life because this ain't it.

168. "Cartao Black" by MC Caverinha e KayBlack

Seems like dreary trap banger will be universal even in different language. Also seems like I need to learn more Portuguese and Spanish more because I can at least marginally pronounced the words.

175. "Soweto" by Victony, Rema & Tempoe ft. Don Toliver

It's kinda mad that this is the first time I talked about afrobeat song in my review series even though I really love it. I think everything about Afrobeat I love so I might be biased here but man the guitar and that drum is just heavenly. Also Don Toliver is actually perfect in afrobeat it's insane.

192. "Danza Kuduro" by Don Omar & Lucenzo

How the hell does this song didn't debut during the world cup? This song is basically a jock jam for me.

193. "Abcdario" by Eden Munoz X Junior H

...it's fine

199. "Life Goes On" by Ed Sheeran ft. Luke Combs

I have a lot of contender of best songs of 2023, but we have another contender here. As someone who also lost a friend and during the pandemic even, I can feel the emotion here unlike say Eyes Closed. This version is just soul crushing and if this is gonna be his last hit before he went indie or even retired, then what a way to go dude. Take care Ed.

I highly recommend everyone to listen to these songs.

#billboard #billboard charts #music review #review #pop music #rap #kpop #pop #ed sheraan #shakira #eurovision 2023 #florence + the machine #lil durk #j cole #afrobeat

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mementoasts · 1 year

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Sup, I'm the same anon who talked about how Kaguya sama openings being connected to Daigo ships is possible. I saw that you would love to see my thought process on how I came up with that and ngl, I'm dying to to share it anyone so here it is lol.

I'm not proud to say it, but ngl this has been on my mind for atleast a year now 😅🤣. It started when I revisited Kiwami 2 which is also the time I became a fan of the show or fan of the opening to be more precise. I tend to watch anime that I'm not familiar with if it has very good opening songs. (Death Parade tricked me with its opening, and I love it. Ya boy Koming, that one has a banger op and a great show.) I usually watch anime that I already heard of or know because of the manga. Very good fan animations also gets me to watch the anime. Anyways, back to what I was getting at.

RyuDai with op 1. First the visuals, allthroughout the opening we see the main characters pointing weapons at one another, which emphasizes the war in "love is war". This just reminds me of how Ryuji and Daigo are at war in a way, whether it is due to personal or clan affairs. The weapon of choice also got my attention. We've seen Ryuji with a sword and Daigo with a gun so this works since in the op1 Miyuki and Kaguya are pointing their respective weapons at one another, just replace that with RyuDai The lyrics pretty much works well, like too well imo if you look at it with this ship in mind. Depending on how you translated the lyrics, it can even become more suited for this ship. In addition, the whole vibe of the song screams tension to me. The translated lyrics " this game were playing Are you aware that this is one where no one wins" And "I don't need a fairytale ending Cause happy ever after ending only exists in movies" Connects well to this ship cause frankly this is not a lovey dovey relationship that will end up good, especially with how the canon story went, but plays to the theme of yeah despite the what tragedy it may/ have turned to, there is/was love in there. "You and I are playing a dangerous game" Is it talking about something spicy or the fact that they are technically from the rival clan of one another? Both can work. Have you read the fanfic "Circling Dragons" (link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25474858?page=5&show_comments=true&view_full_work=true )? 'Cause, oh boy, that really is what pushed me to go, "Yeah, Love Dramatic can be its theme song"🤓🤣. Like seriously though, whenever I hear the song, the visuals in my head mainly comes from this fic. Bruh, I'm losing my mind. Anyway, in addition to all of this is Daigo and Ryuji themselves. I feel like if they believe in something they will do it no matter how dangerous it could be. They also both have pride/stubborn and I don't see one of submitting to the other, though at the same time both of them can show care, which connects to the premise of the show as well. I'm probably talking out my ass at this point but keyword in my last message is "probably" so ehh.... The "I can't decide" animatic on youtube by uhh... "北极光" (I can't read this but that's their channel. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/B4a3fJS1aXc ) also helped fan the flames for my imagination to go wild. I actually connected the bridge and the last chorus of Love Dramatic with the last two to three chapters of "Circling Dragons", it just fits imo. I won't explain cause I might spoil people who haven't read it.

With that, I went from, "This is a silly idea😂, I wonder if this could work?🤔" to "Okay how about the other openings?🤔😃💡 How can I connect it to other Daigo ships?" and this spiralled out of my control.

ShinaDai with op 2. You might ask, how did I came to this conclusion that it can work since they're not really at war at all or didn't interact that much. First and foremost, I just wanted to say that fics that I've read also helped in creating this connection to my mind. This also applies to other ships I love. Anyways back to ShinaDai. Let's start the visuals, I admit there's not much connection, but boy, if you changed the first fifteen seconds of the opening, where Kaguya is using the bow, with Shinada or Daigo using a bat and instead of a sudden shield it is them catching the ball, it works. It can allude to the fact that they are the target of their affection like how it is as well to Kaguya and Miyuki. The school setting also helps since that's usually where their (Daigo primarily but Shinada also if you want) love ✨blossomed✨🤣 for the other. Another connection I see is with the vibes of the song, the songs is a bit more playful, but earnest and wholesome, which I think fits Shinada. The song is also like alluding to love making or driving them crazy, which I think fits Daigo's whole thing, sort of... 'cause bro, beating the other school's students for a baseball game which ultimately led to you being expelled is crazy. I graduated as a Valedictorian in highschool so this fact is like so much more crazy to me. Like I get that Daigo doesn't feel like he has a dream (hehehe "Yume") of his own, cause I was the same, but being top of your class opens up more opportunities in the future. I was content with follwing my parents' careers but I eventually got my own goal/dream (hehehe "Yume"). In addition, the baseball plot being connected to Omi and Tojo business is fine and all but seriously though first impression I got after finishing that chapter was that Daigo went there cause he wanted help Shinada and that he knew him when they were in highschool, that's crazy and ridiculous but I love it XD🤣. Another thing I would like to connect is the fact that shinada could've just stayed but he still sent out of his way to help the other protags like bruh you're a civvie joining in to a yakuza business. I know Akiyama is there but he's there because of Haruka and Kiryu. I say he has more connection to the main plot cause he's there with Haruka. Okay, let's come back to how ShinaDai works with op 2. The translated lyrics "Throw my heart to the flames" Fits them cause boy you're getting close to the danger or harm's way just because of someone. Have you read the fanfic "Mob" (link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30643031?page=2&show_comments=true&view_adult=true&view_full_work=true ) or "Immovable" (link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15002513?page=3&show_comments=true&view_full_work=true ) ? Cause some parts of that fics, as well as other fics, sparked my imagination on how I could connect this to the opening. I also found a connection with the lyrics in the bridge of the song "Suddenly I'm falling, into a great unknown A while new world before me, But I'm not alone" It fits with the whole thing where Shinada really doesn't know anything about the Yakuza world, but he knows he'll be fine since Daigo is with him, that is if that's part of your headcanon on how this ship end up.

MineDai with op 3. I love this ship and ngl when I heard season 3 for kaguya sama is coming, one of my wish was for the op 3 to work for this ship. Insane I know. Imagine my joy when it did lol. RGGO I love you cause man, whenever I hear this song, the Mine sotries from that game comes to mind. I love games like that (RIP Naruto Blazing I love that game 'cause collecting all those characters is amazing. The art is cool and I can see some ninjistsu that was only mentioned but was never animated in the anime. I'm a free to play so no, I'm not spending my money on games like this) please tranlsate it rgg even the stories only, please. Anyway back to how MineDai fits with GIRI GIRI. The lyrics imo, is in Mine's perspective and I know I'm right. The song is all about wanting to get close, wanting to get to know them, wanting for this love that they feel to be true and I guess reciprocated. Mine is like this in his rggo stories he has some dialouge where he says something along the lines of he wanted to know more about Daigo, heck one of his mission (sort of) is to get the attention of Daigo just to see for himself what kind of Daigo is, wondering if Daigo is being true in his intention of being friendly. That sort of stuff. The lyrics "Your love, your love, Your love, just confess it to me" Fits if we want to look at Daigo egging on Mine or being "haha unless...". I feel like this fits cause in the stories from fanfic or rggo, Daigo is trying to reassure and get Mine to relax, you know just be friendly with him. Him flirting subtly to Mine works, but alas Mine seems to be too... professional, but it was nice to know they eventually became drinking buddies. You know the fan comic by Alciedoodles, basically like that, that's what I'm trying to get at. I actually have created a whole scenario with the 2nd verse The lyrics "I feel my patience growing thin, You whisper "Don't you ever leave me." with a wisful dream Trying to pinch a nerve, but I've started to learn That your cunning, crafty ways Won't ease this feeling deep in my heart" The Majima family in the bar singing while Mine and Daigo are there just chilling and drinking. Mine is being irritated with the singing, then Daigo hits him with that line and a flirty smile where Mine then proceeds to be flustered, hahahaha. I love and hate my imagination. The first verse also connects in how I'm sure that Mine/Daigo vice versa knows that they're not exactly an angel and they do stuff around them that might not be ideal/good in their perspective. The visuals, I like to replace the student council room with the chairman's office 😅. The sequence of all the students, replace that with the clan members. Now here's where my imagination and knowledge about some RGGO stories really kicked in, you know the pre chorus part in the op 3, where Kaguya and Miyuki are in the student council room then it transitions like a film until Miyuki is gone and Kaguya looks back and sees that he's no longer there then it spirals. If you've read the "Character Story - Mine (RGGO)" translated by cryingcow (for anyone wanted to read or re read this here it is: https://cryingcow.tumblr.com/post/628065021946150912/character-story-mine-rggo ), the end half of chapter 2, that's basically what I imagine that sort of parallels in my mind to this part of the opening. While the chorus where Kaguya runs, I connect that to the chapter 3 of that story event since Mine is basically running around in Kamurocho trying to find out where Daigo went. (My favorite thing about that whole thing is that Mine called cap when the Barker told him that Daigo went into a taxi with a woman then bought every taxi company just to know where Daigo is 🤣🤣.) The bridge of the song fits them, where Mine is really affected on how Daigo acts as well as how it can be hard for Mine to explain his feelings. Depending on how you translated it, you can also interpret one of the lines as " Trigger on the gun, Towards the one you love" That fits with that Yakuza 3 cutscene.

I also wanted to add that op 2's visuals fits with MineDai as well: Mine as Kaguya and Daigo as Miyuki, the majima family as the other students dodging the arrow, and Kashiwagi as Hayasaka in the first 15 seconds. Then in the chorus, Majima with his family as Chika and others being the love detective. Aouxjsishdj hahahahaha I love and hate my brain.

MasaDai with op 4. Now we finally got to the part where this is fully created and fabricated by imagination. This is brainrot or creativity at the highest level. Love is Show definitely fits when things are going well between them. Tbh, with the visuals and song being classy, especially in the chorus, I can just see that hey maybe tojo clan holds an event where every family attends and that's where we can have Daigo and Masato dressed up properly and dance together. Though I like to think that they danced out of sight of anyone, like idk in the gardens? lol. The lyrics " The romance is about to wear off, I'm not normal, and neither are you Is it love or is it not?" as well as in the second verse, imo fits their whole thing. Like yes I ship them, but is it truly love or just attraction? Add to that there's also a lyric where it's saying that they don't want to be alone, which I think both of them feels. I see them as a parallel to one another where they both hated being part of the tojo clan or yakuza in general, which resulted to them being feeling rather lonely. I can see them finding solace and comfort in finding someone who can understand them. You know the MasaDai comics by todayisfridaynight and the fic "Sons of Bosses" (link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45958153?show_comments=true&view_full_work=true ), works imo with the lyrics for both first and second verses, where they mostly talk in cabarets and have some tension going on. I know that the song is actually very sweet, but I also can't help but imagine the lyrics in the chorus as something alluding to this love is just a show, something they use to escape the reality of their world atm. I know it might sound far fetched but isn't that the beauty with art, we can twist it in our own interpretation (just be respectful, especially for differing opinions). The bridge of the somgs also compels me, I have this voice in my head that it works with MasaDai, but I can't see how atm.

Anyway, I think we can all agree that I am clinically insane and has a stage 5 brainrot for Daigo ships. Look he's my favorite I want to give him love, but it won't make it easy since when there's conflict it makes the payoff much more sweeter and deserving. Yes, I love angst with a happy ending. Look this gives a chance for a character arc, evolution, or growth and I like that.

So... this is it. My essay on how Kaguya sama openings can be connected to Daigo ships. Ngl, I enjoyed writing and sharing this since this have been eating on my brain for atleast a year now. Have a good or atleast decent day or night. Sorry if it's too long and I sincerely appreciate anyone who read all of this. 💙💙💙

P.s. I wrote all of this after I woke up, while on work (don't worry it's holy week, nothing much to do), as well as after work so that might clear up the confusion on why it can be all over the place lol. I can probably explain each one better but I'm not really that eloquent and concise to write it better as you've seen. English is also not my first language, so it can be a little tricky on how can I express something clearly, cause man there are some words that has the same meaning, but apparently usually used with a context in mind. I also honestly can't believe I have links and stuff to actually back up my claim, but as i wrote all of this I remembered all of this.

HI ANON!!! i'm late replying to this aaaa i saw it earlier today but couldn't sit down to read through it until just now dsjfkskjgs SORRY IM JUST GONNA WRITE DOWN MY THOUGHTS AS I GO SO IT MIGHT NOT BE REALLY ORGANIZED SDFJKHSKF

i don't really talk about them much on here (it's a crime i haven't drawn them yet) but gosh i love ryudai so much 😭😭 i read circling dragons last year and it ruined my week in the best way. it's absolutely one of my favorite fics ever and i've been meaning to read it again!! it's so interesting to connect that here aaaaa ryuji and daigo's whole relationship is such a whirlwind… most of the time it's less than gentle, but they DO clearly care for each other, even if they're not the best at showing it lol. still, there's so much holding them back from each other, as you pointed out; like their pride, their ambitions/goals (especially on ryuji's part), the omi and the tojo,,, they keep gravitating toward each other, but given their situations and personalities, everything is just a mess aaauugugghh *screaming as i think about them*

also totally random to note, but there's that shot toward the end of the op where shirogane and kaguya are facing each other with guns behind their backs that makes me think specifically about that part from y2 where daigo and ryuji are just walking around each other at omi hq before they fight. i just like the image of them staring at each other surrounded by hearts dshjsfkj

THIS ANIMATIC. THANK YOU FOR LINKING THIS BECAUSE I'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE AND I LOVE IT and the song too omg i haven't heard this song in years

alright this is where i admit i only sorta casually ship shinadai so i haven't read any fics 😭 i still love shinada though. but i will say i do enjoy thinking about daigo and his high school crush on this cute guy from the baseball team, so after your first ask i was reading through the lyrics and some lines kinda made me think about that hehe. and on that note, i think it'd be cute if it were daigo hitting a baseball toward him, sorta like he's trying to get shinada's attention with it ? something like that sdjsfkhshg

i'm just nodding along at what you're saying about giri giri because i had similar thoughts when i heard the song lol. i just loooove thinking of daigo not-exactly-subtly flirting with mine and it driving mine crazy. the lyrics made me think about that. mine is going nuts over it because he wants daigo so badly, but also still sorta holding himself back when it comes down to actually DOING something about it because that's how he is sfjsdfjhk

YEAH THAT RGGO STORY IS ICONIC… i love the fact mine hears daigo went off with a woman and he just immediately knows it's a lie. 💀 anon you're making me wish i had more of an ability to animate than i currently do because i wanna like. draw some of these visuals ajdsfhjkfdhskf oougughhh i love minedaaaaai i love how insane mine just. is.

"kashiwagi as hayasaka" wait wait wait hang on help now i know in this specific example we're saying mine is kaguya but. i'm kinda visualizing daigo like. ranting to kashiwagi about how he's been trying to get mine's attention and getting flustered because he isn't sure mine likes him back asdfgfsd (this is unrelated to anything, but i think it'd be cute for wagi to be like a cool uncle to him,,, daigo goes to him for this kinda stuff because he's SO not talking to majima about it) ((majima just gets involved whether daigo likes it or not))

don't worry anon, masadai itself has been created from crumbs that do not exist anyway LMAO. but YES i forget if i really mentioned it in your last ask, but op 4 mostly made me think of them like, when they first started dating (still in their honeymoon phase, so to speak). their 'love' is flashy and perfect (and they are annoying everyone around them) but despite all their similarities, there's still some massive differences in their personalities and how they view things, and i think it eventually leads to them fighting all the time,,, but they still keep getting back together because there isn't anyone else that understands them as much as they understand each other y'know,,, daigo, especially, WANTS to make it work; meanwhile masato just sorta likes how daigo keeps coming back to him,,, something like that anyway. i'm still trying to find the words exactly and that's what that fic i was working on is about adfjkgjhflkjhg

i think this is a neat intepretation of the song! with them, their love isn't exactly… good, and obviously it eventually goes to shit. though when it comes to kaguya and shirogane, i think the song is more about how their love should be like, shown off and celebrated now that they've confessed

aaawawawawa anyway anon your brain is huge i had fun reading your thoughts about this, thank you very much for sharing :3 daigo is my favorite character too so i understand how he can infect your thoughts like a bug fdjkhfsjkds every morning i wake up and think about him 😇❤️

as someone who only speaks english (and sucks at it sometimes), i'd say yours is perfectly fine! ^^ hope u had a happy easter!!

#this whole reply is just me rambling i'm sorry dkjfhdsjk it's just so fun to picture all of this....#IM JUST THINKING ABOUT ALL MY SHIPS NOWWWW AAAAAAAA I LOVE THEEEMMM even if they make me miserable sometimes I LOVE THEM!!!!#anonymous #the void has no tag for asks

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linawritesocs · 2 years

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austin's voicelines + lesson chats!

finally, i'm going back to writing my ocs' voicelines and chats hdjdkldk. i really have to finish these..

[ austin's voicelines ]

if you choose to hold his hand (tutorial):

"you really thought i'd be okay with you making me wait for so long? someone should teach you proper manners.. huh? why should it be me?"

level up:

"listen, i don't need your help. stop doubting my skills already!"

"fine, you can watch me work on this invention. just don't bother me and be quiet."

"why i don't show my magic that often? u-uh, it's because i'm so great, i don't need to use it!"

level up max:

"hey, can you help me with this question? i don't really get it.. what, why are you smiling like that? you're the only person i can ask for help!"

episode level up:

"um.. here, i made this for you. oh, you want to know what it does? hehe, you'll find out soon enough, but trust me, it will be very useful to you."

limit break:

"i-i didn't think i'd get this far.. ahem, i'm just so talented, even i don't know what to expect from myself!"

groovy:

"see, i really am the strongest student here! hey, hey, are you impressed?"

lesson lines (before lesson):

"do i.. really have to go? i-it's n-not like i'm nervous or a-anything! i'll d-definitely get the best grade!"

"hey, can you pick a subject that won't require me using magic? i'm just not really in the mood for it. even geniuses like me need rest!"

"fine, fine, let's go already! i don't want you to blame me for being late."

lesson start:

"watch me, i'm gonna do my best!"

lesson end:

"well, that wasn't hard at all, haha.."

battle start:

"i don't even need magic to win!"

battle win:

"wait, i really did win?.. no, of course, i knew that i'll win!"

◈ ━━━━━━━ ◆ ━━━━━━━ ◈

[ austin's lesson chats ]

[ one of my favorite childhood movies ]

"there was this movie i liked as a kid.. well, my big sister made me watch it with her, so i didn't really have a choice."

"it was about an ancient civilization which was almost destroyed, but the rest of the planet thinks it never existed. so this guy, the protagonist, finds the evidence of it existing and wants to prove that it never was a myth. he gathers a whole team and all of them try to find that place."

"and they do end up finding it! however, there's also this romance subplot with the protagonist and the princess, but whatever, i never really cared about that."

"i never did, trust me. my sister enjoyed it more."

"why did i like it so much then? uh.. well, we didn't have that many movies to watch back then, so i had to force myself to like it.."

"fine, fine, i did like it. i just thought it was cool, do i need a deeper reason? also i found one particular character very relatable, but i won't tell you about her."

"is something wrong?.. oh, other students usually tell the stories they heard in the past or something they read about? so you find me talking to you about this movie weird?"

"w-well, i don't have to be like all those other students! a-and i just thought that you'd find it interesting! whatever, i didn't even want to talk to you!"

".. you think you saw a movie like that before? um, maybe movies from your world and this world are not that different."

[ tell me about your world ]

"even though this world is supposed to be so magical and fantasy-like, it still feels so.. familiar? like my life didn't change at all.."

"i thought i'll have trouble understanding their technology, but i'm actually surprisingly good at it? everyone praises me for it too.."

"AH!.. i-it's you? did you just try to scare me on purpose??"

*sighs* "don't do this ever again. my heart almost stopped because of you."

".. now that sounded like something from a romance anime."

"anyway, forget everything you heard just now. i was just.. reading something out loud."

"by the way, don't you find this world scary? i bet you do, you don't know anything about twisted wonderland, it must be hard to get used to this place."

".. you actually find it interesting? how?? how can you think of it as something fun and exciting?"

"if i was you, i would be terrified. being the only student who can't use magic and who will always be weaker than literally everyone else.. i-i can't imagine how that would feel."

".. you're not scared because you met me? now THIS sounds like something from a romance anime."

"but well.. maybe we aren't so different, after all." *laughs*

[ please, be more careful! ]

"so, as i said before, you have to use this.. are you listening to me?"

"you've been looking at my face for too long. i know that i'm good-looking, but can't you focus on your homework more?"

".. there's a scratch on my cheek?"

"ah, i probably injured myself while working on that invention."

"that happens when i'm too focused on my work, i tend to forget about my surroundings and i don't even feel pain."

"hey, don't compare me to that skater boy from heartslabyul! i'm more careful than him!"

"whatever, it's not something serious. now, let's get back to-"

"it's bleeding?.. w-well, as i said, i don't feel any pain, so don't worry about it too much."

"fine, i'll go and get a bandaid. by the way, this is why you can often see me with bandaids on my face."

"what? you want to take care of it? i told you, don't worry about it, this happens to me all the time."

"you don't have to bring all this stuff! it's just a scratch! i'm afraid how you'd react if i got a papercut."

"you can't focus on studying when i look like this?.. just do it as quickly as possible."

[ i'm not like him at all! ]

austin: *thinking* "ugh, i have to deal with this guy now.."

austin: *thinking* "just ignore him. he's not gonna talk to you anyway, he's too much of a coward to do that."

idia: um.. i'm sorry..

austin: WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO ME??

idia: *screams* I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'LL LEAVE RIGHT THIS SECOND-

idia: wait, no, y-you're my underclassman, so c-could you show more respect?..

austin: DIDN'T YOU SAY YOU'LL LEAVE RIGHT THIS SECOND? THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?

idia: FINE, FINE, I JUST WANTED TO ASK WHY YOU'VE BEEN STARING AT MY PHONE SCREEN!

idia: *sobs* ignihyde students have zero respect for their dorm leader these days..

austin: phone screen?.. what are you talking about?

idia: oh, i just noticed that you've been staring at my phone screen every time i play or watch something on it.

idia: d-don't you know anything about p-privacy?? staring at someone's screen like that all the time.. that's way too rude even for someone like you.

austin: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY "SOMEONE LIKE ME"??

idia: I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!

austin: *thinking* "i looked at his phone screen, huh.."

austin: *thinking* ".. i hoped he would never notice."

austin: *thinking* "it's all because he has a character from my favorite anime as his phone wallpaper! i just couldn't resist, i got so excited all of a sudden.."

idia: hey.. i am sorry for asking, but..

idia: could you be.. one of us?

austin: i don't even know what you mean, but i don't wanna be a part of whatever that is.

idia: oh, you know what i mean. you're an ignihyde student, after all.

austin: u-um, you mean that i'm good with technology, just like other students, right?..

idia: you like anime.

austin: ...

idia: come on, it's obvious! an intimidating loner like you being into something cute is a classic trope! i bet you like romance anime, don't you? or magical girl-

austin: hey, idia, do you mind if i spill some water on your hair? i'm just curious how it will affect it, because of how "fiery" your hair is.

idia: h-huh?? no, dude, that's not how it works-

austin: oh, really? why don't we test it out then?

[ i just want to know more about you! ]

austin: ...

ortho: hm? is something the matter, austin valiente-san?

ortho: you've been standing there for quite some time.

austin: !!!

austin: uh.. h-hi, ortho. it's nothing serious, i just..

ortho: you're shaking. did something happen? it seems like you're very nervous for some reason.

austin: it's nothing! i just wanted to talk to you, haha..

ortho: oh, really? i'd love to talk to you about anything you want!

ortho: i want to get to know you better. i know quite a lot about other ignihyde students, but your interests and personality is truly a mystery.

austin: and i want to know more about YOU, ortho! t-that's why i'm here actually..

ortho: oh? what do you want to know?

austin: that's a great question, i've prepared a whole list!

austin: but basically, i just want to know more about how you work and how you were built.

austin: you're comfortable with that, right? listen, i know others find me scary, but i'm not gonna hurt you or anything-

austin: *thinking* "though i'm curious to see how your insides look, haha.."

ortho: i don't mind at all! actually, even though other students find you a bit scary, i think you're a very nice person.

austin: t-thank you!.. now, i'll read my first question-

ortho: i'm so sorry, but nii-san is calling me. he needs to tell me something.

austin: uh, well, can't he just send a message?..

ortho: no, he says i need to talk to him in person. i am truly sorry, can we talk about it later? i promise to answer any questions you might have.

austin: *sighs* okay, thank you..

austin: *thinking* "this guy is just too scared for ortho to let me talk to him.."

[ can you stop being weird at least for one second?? ]

austin: ugh, it's you.

merrill: i'm glad to see you too, austin-chan.

austin: stop calling me that! why do you always say my name like that?

merrill: oh well, your reactions are just too entertaining for me to stop.

austin: fine, i'll start calling you that too then!

austin: *clears his throat* hey, merrill-chan~ how are you doing today, did you miss me?~

merrill: ...

merrill: *starts laughing*

austin: w-what's so funny??

merrill: i'm sorry, it's just- *can't stop laughing*

merrill: you really are too cute for this world, austin-chan.

austin: shut up or i will break your phone right this second and i won't even think of fixing it.

merrill: hey, you can break anything you want, but not my phone!

merrill: because if you break my phone, you'll also break my heart..

austin: .. i think i just lost like half of my braincells just from that sentence alone.

austin: why is your phone so important to you anyway? aren't you a bit too obsessed with it?

merrill: isn't it natural for people nowadays to be obsessed with their phones?

austin: well, your behavior just seems a bit.. unhealthy. it's like you're hiding something there and you're afraid to lose it.

merrill: haha, aren't you a smart one, austin-chan?

merrill: but i bet you're hiding something very important on your phone too.

austin: .. whatever. just don't call me that weird nickname ever again, okay?

merrill: oh, would you like to call me "austin-sama", since you're so great and all?

austin: THAT'S EVEN WORSE!

austin: *thinking* "it doesn't sound that bad actually.. but i don't want merrill to be the one saying it!"

[ he sees right through me ]

austin: hey, i'm done with that request of yours. take it, it should work properly now.

avery: ... *nods*

austin: what, you're not even gonna thank me? do you even know who i am?

avery: i know who you are, that's why i asked YOU to fix it!

avery: i don't trust any other ignihyde student with my stuff anyway.

austin: so why am i still not hearing words of gratitude? come on, say it!

avery: what are you gonna get from it? i doubt that you just want to teach me proper manners or something like that.

avery: .. ah, i see. you just want to be praised, aren't you?

austin: huh??

avery: it all makes sense now. that's why you keep making everyone beg for your help and you make them say "thank you" repeatedly.

avery: it makes you feel good about yourself, right? you like the fact that everyone here is scared of you, it makes you feel more powerful than you really are.

austin: what are you saying?? ugh, i shouldn't have never helped someone like you!

austin: do you think i have such a low self-esteem that i'm okay with doing something like that??

avery: yes.

avery: .. i know that from experience.

austin: ...

austin: just.. take this thing already and leave. it's better if people don't see us, my reputation is too important, i can't let an ex-rsa student ruin it.

#making more content for this boy!! he deserves it i actually love him a lot 🥺🥺#also man merrill's personality really is different from what i've originally planned for him #but i actually like this version of merrill more!#anyway merrill x austin brainrot goes brrrr #also casually drops hints to austin's lore like it's nothing #the lonely mechanic: austin #beauty with self grown thorns: avery #idia's e boy servant: merrill

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