#idk when ill finish the other protags

[makkiatoo1]

#p3 #p4 #persona 3 #persona 4 #makoto yuki #kotone shiomi #yu narukami #idk when ill finish the other protags

[nicomrade]

A genuine question here, but why do you dislike The First so much?

well its a weird thing to talk about cause really its the same reason why i dislike stolen lupin or any other low tier TV special. the real question is why other people liked it so much and i think its only because its such a pretty movie, its jaw dropingly gorgeous and the lupgang banter is great but just those 2 together isnt enough to make a good MOVIE. but it is enough that u can have a good TIME if u dont think about whats happening. thats the short version, its just a bad movie. sorry🐅

i purposefully havent been too frank when talking publicly about it (why i kept a mean tweet about it in drafts for literal years) but compared to the unlimited love it gets from the fandom it looks like thats enough for people to pick up that i dislike it so much lol. so lets talk about the first!

ill be brief on each point. that ancient technology thing it does w the eclipse? thats a bad trope. its a very very bad trope. its the atlantis conspiracy theory, its 1 throwaway line away from slipping into ancient aliens, they pull the same shit in a couple other TV specials and none of them are fondly remembered so hopefully we all know this plot point sucks and is racist. if not you can google it. lets move on

the nazis. after watchin harimao i said it was more anti-nazi than the first, idk if id stand by that cause i havent seen it again since but i mention it to put it in lupin context. generally if it isnt OK to have lupin scam an ex-nazi in part 2 ep 3 by disguising himself as hitler, whys it OK for lupin to steal from nazis by disguising himself as hitler? at no point is the movie actually anti-nazi (though i wouldnt call it pro-nazi either) and its fucking weird to see lupin disguised as hitler in modern lupin cause each time nazis show up in classic lupin everyone agrees its tasteless & overdone.

laetitia! TMS did a genius thing w her cause shes incredibly well written as a self-insert fic protag. it is very easy to watch the first & pretend u urself are best friends w the gang by projecting urself onto her. this doesnt balance out her lack of character it only helps the audience not care about it. compare her to mariya from tokyo crisis- one could be written out of her own movie and we only get info bout her to move the plot (the bad, boring plot) forward, one is essential to the core of her movie and shes realistically affected by the things that happened to her and makes believable connections with some of the gang. yay! a character!!

the movie is also very segmented between "plot scenes" and "lupgang banter scenes" you will notice everything fun about lupin STOPS when we are being explained Plot Elements. lupin talks to laetitia and its a boring nazi ancient treasure movie. then we get a scene thats not about the eclipse or laetitias grandpa or the nazis and all of a sudden its super fun !!!!!!! this is bad writing. lol. watch fuma & see how lupin at its best can blend comedy and plot and exploration and fun banter.

my personal experience w the movie! the first time i watched it i had to pause it cause i was bored out of my mind. iirc it was more or less when lupin gets on the eclipse ship thing n all banter stops cause its just him n the nazi dude n i realized hey this movie kinda sucks actually! i texted a friend about it n he was like. yeah having to force urself to finish it sounds like ure not enjoyin this movie. i did watch the first 3 or 4 times? i did gif it a lot. theres scenes i like (the banter) but it doesnt make it a good movie. like i said when i first wrote my personal review of it: "I think looking at gifsets of this would be more enjoyable than actually watching it". laetitia really embodies her movie in that sense, shes a really good character if you only look at her. she shares her name with all of her ancestors! just who is she? why is she wearing short shorts? why was she a cop? how old is she? then you realize theres nothing there

and ultimately this IS a reaction to it being an unpopular opinion. there are so many lupin entries a lot more worthwhile than the first (2019) that dont even get half of the hype. in my personal ranking its in the bottom 10 (tho ive skipped 2 specials so u can consider that the bottom 12). i genuinely dont like it but im not as vocal about lets say, angels tactics, because we usually agree thats a bad one- or at least we dont recommend it to newcomers. the first has a good reputation so i feel more strongly about it despite liking it more. i would be just as vocal about dragon of doom & voyage to danger if people talked to me about them more often. (and i have a much more coherent critique of dragon of doom lol)

so i dont really know how to explain why i dislike the first cause i just do; the same way u just dislike a bad part 2 episode, the same way most of the fandom just finds napoleons dictionary kind of boring. how do u explain why u dislike the nazi ancient tech self-insert npc girl movie- except by calling it just that? i guess i wasnt blinded by how pretty it is which makes me sound full of myself LOL. but its true a lot of animation can get away w god awful writing if its well animated enough- and if its too ugly no one will watch the best written animated movie. i love animation too and it has so much to offer and i want to see more done in the style of the first with the story of [insert your personal favorite TV special]. im glad it opened the door for vs cats eye to look that way (though lets not forget the 2012 3DCG lupin short!). but the WRITING the STORY the MEAT of the first just isnt any better than any other mid to low tier lupin TV special. is it really worth recommending the first as someones entry into lupin just because it looks pretty? is it really better than the anime that made the author reboot his own manga? why are we even still talking about the first?

#ask #anon #uhm a bit shy to put this in my lupin tags #really no hate if u personally really enjoy the movie. i love elusiveness of the fog we all have different taste. who cares what i think 👍 #lupin the third

[churchandstateofbeing]

i plan on making all of these eventually- just so filled with ideas that i’m not sure what im going to make after i finish up my lil riva doll. idk if ill post it when im done (depends on how it turns out ig) but i love the gunner channel/the wurst so much, and they all have such lovely designs!

#dimension 20 #a starstruck odyssey #d20 #needle felting #c

[rhythmicjester]

U LIEK CEMETERY MARY?????????????? HOLY SHIT THATS LIKE MY OTHER MAIN INTEREST BESIDES OUR WONDERLAND (ToT) (ToT) (ToT)

idek why im so surprised cus ive seen quite a few ow fans that are also cm/arcadekitten fans but idk it just makes me giddy seeing two things i like come together i guess :3 i may or may not have drawn a crossover drawing of iggy and mary. the vn protags ever!!!

YES I LUV CEMETERY MARY!!! smiles so wide hehe. i played it p recently, like june/july?? i havent finished all the routes yet tho.... im rlly slow at playing games as u could probably tell already o.0 i wanna savour EVERYTHING.....n if i dont hold myself back i know ill just play game nonstop and forget i have like.. a job... and friends.... and bodily functions........XD

AND YEAH I SAW THAT !!! i think that drawings what made me decide to be active on tumblr again XDD ..n then i accidentally deleted my account. whoops! XDDD

BUT YA I LUV THAT DRAWING SM!!!!! i think i have it on my fave images folder on my phone hehe. ur art in general is rlly awesome hehe i luv ur style ^.^!!

ill see if i can find my cemetery mary fanart but i think its all traditional (im so bad at taking photos of it WHEN IT LOOKS SO GOOD IRL >~< ToT)

but in the meantime heres a mary just 4 u (also i just wanted to draw her X3)

#asks #cemetery mary #my art #ibispaint #smiles and kicks my feet

[lelianasbitch]

Hiya, I've never commented on your fic but I just wanted to let you know I'm really enjoying TDoC! Been on a Donna fic spree the past couple weeks and yours was one of the ones I came across that stuck with me. I've only just come back to Tumblr after a long break, but I finished reading it the other night and I couldn't resist dropping a message to gush about it!

I know reader stories can be tricky to write because the protag is technically a self insert, but I think you've done a great job with balancing! The Courier feels like a distinct personality, but she also feels familiar to me.

Also love how you're handling Donna's development. As a reader, I really appreciate that you've put so much consideration and time into research, especially with regards to mental illness. You've clearly put a lot of thought and care into Donna's portrayal, and I think it's so lovely!

Each chapter is just the right amount of fluff, angst, and tension to keep me hooked. The dynamic between the Dimitrescu sisters and The Courier is also hilarious. I've been glued to my phone and sneaking chapters on my lunch break all week like little digital snacks. (Its gotten to the point where I'm pretty sure the people I work with think I have a secret lover, but the only reason I'm not denying it is because I don't know how to tell them that her name is The Deliverance of Change.)

Also, those wee posters you made? Mega cute. I'm no artist or graphic designer so idk if my opinion counts for much but I think they're very *chef's kiss*

Anyway I've waffled quite a bit, but basically my point was your fic has been a thrill to read thus far. Thanks for publishing it. It's been a real uplifter for me, especially on stressful days. No rush for the next chapter, but I'm eager to see what you do next! Hope you're doing well in general and life is treating you fairly :)

Hello! Big oops because this was asked back in August. Thanks for being patient for my reply even though I'm sure you forgot by now 😅

I'm glad that you're enjoying TDoC!! I appreciate you (and everyone else) even if you don't comment.

TDoC is my first x Reader story so it was definitely unusual to be writing in that style. The hard part was trying not to be too self-inserty, but I'm glad that you think I did a good job balancing it.

Writing Donna's development has been fun! There's so many things I can't wait to share and so many things that I was suuper excited to finally be able to read people's reactions when certain events came about.

I love that you've been reading TDoC like "digital snacks" AND that your coworkers might suspect a secret lover. I wonder what would happen if I posted a spicy oneshot . . .

I'd love to create more art like the posters but I'm currently lazy and uninspired . . .

Thank you again for sharing how much you've been enjoying TDoC! Sharing TDoC with so many people has brought great people into my life. It also really encouraged me to tap back into my personal projects which unfortunately have been scarce in recent years, so people's comments like yours brings me joy and gets me excited to continue.

Hope you've been doing well, highskellig! 🖤

#my asks #tdoc #the deliverance of change #highskellig #tdoc fic #the deliverance of change fic #donna x reader #donna beneviento x reader #donna beneviento/reader #donna beneviento

[luniise-kel]

Opinion on each of the Phantom Thieves ?

oki im going to go in the order of whoever i remember first, this turned out kinda long lol (also i ramble a lot in this, sorry not sorry) 

Akechi - hes a silly, little silly man. goofy goober, committed lots of crimes i think he should be jailed for these crimes. He and joker kiss. I think Akechi is a really complex and well written character and that his entire life is really tragic, I really love his character in general. Akechi’s character is someone who sticks to his ideals, no matter the situation or if his ideals are proven wrong and this loyalty to his ideals translates to his loyalty to the protagonist and the deep sense of envy he is implied to feel for him. baby man, my babygirl Protag/Joker - opinion for him r all my hcs. he is like cat. Futaba - forced to kin her, i love her omg. shes so me. character great 12/10 love her to death. She was the most useful character in the metaverse no i do not take criticism. wasnt able to finish her confidant in vanilla but im def going to max her out on my royal playthru. I do like futaba’s videogame logic being applied to irl logic bc,,,, i do that too and erm Ryuji - i like him. I hc he wears a leg brace. I wish all his prevy scenes were cut, idk they all felt out of character for him. also i wish we talked more about childhood friends ann and ryuji like. hello? they should have been besties, sharing embarrassing stories about each other. Ryuji’s confidant was def one of my favorites, always hung out with this man. I really like Ryuji’s strong desire to be helpful and to just be a guy, he wants to make ppl happy and like yeah me too bestie Ann - atlus ruined you im so sorry. act 1 ann was fire, she was so badass amazing 10/10 great character. everything past the first palace was like ????? where her character go??? i wish we had more scenes were ann explicitly takes back her sexuality, like she is not uncomfy with it and rather confident or something idk. but i love her anyways, i hope she girlbosses gaslights and gatekeeps her way through life Yusuke - sigh, another force kin. i think he is also silly, my honorary babygirl. Yusuke struggle with his identity and place in the world is really cool bc Yusuke is a great foil to Akechi, i guess its a more black mirror situation with Yusuke and Akechi but whatever. Yusuke being an orphan but had a (albeit bad) father figure with akechi has no father figure and the closes thing he got was shido (shitty father). and like i wish we would have gotten more yusuke relates/sympathizes or something with akechi, i mean they both have strong ideas r without a mother, cmon atlus do something. also Yusuke is like, my favorite, besides Akechi. hes so girlypop. Makoto - sorry makoto lovers shes not a favorite. i do like her character but also i hate it. Like some aspects r cool amazing great even, but other parts. I like her persona thats cool. um not much to say other than decent character. solid 6/10. not a fav but i still love her.  Haru - i have literally not met her yet, she spoke to her once in vanilla and im working my way slowly to her in royal. current opinion is: she exists. i like her hair. Morgana - cat (i almost forgot about him) Sumire - shes cool, i like her so far. accidentally spoiled her entire character arc for myself……whoopsies. dont have much to say about her other than good character, shes solid.   

Okay and i think thats everyone, i really love all of the phantom thieves and yeah maybe ill come back to this question when i finished the game but this is my currect opinion on everyone. 

#luniise ask #long post #persona 5 spoilers #persona 5 royal spoilers

[tessetc]

"Dirty Letters" by Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward.

https://a.co/8NeqDx1

When was the last time I read/reviewed a romance novel? Like... years ago?

I don't know what posessed me to read this today, but I recently read a really good Destiel fic with a similar premise (childhood pen pals who meet as adults, link below.) and since I remember liking this author team a lot, I figured it was a safe bet.

So I just finished chapter 8, and I decided to review this on the fly going forward, to track my reactions going forward.

There will probably be spoilers after this point.

(Can't remember how to place a cut on mobile)

To start with, I had to update my Kindle app and figure out how it works now. I am not a fan of how things are organized on here, but that's a problem for future Tess.

As far as my first impressions of the book go:

Perspective is alternating first person past tense. Which is fine.

Luca is the f!protag, and Griffin is the m!protag. They wrote letters back and forth under, at least partly, fake names as kids. Luca stopped writing after a traumatic event as a teenager, and she finds a letter from Griffen after her dad passes away, and she decides to re-establish contact.

Right off the bat, the exposition regarding Luca's trauma was terribly written. It's explained partly in just an info-dump and partly when she just tells a bunch of it to her therapist. Why do it this way when you have the vehicle of letters right there? Instead, she writes to Griffin after all the exposition and apparently fills him in, but the letter does not appear in the text.

The exposition was awkward, and the talking to her therapist was awkward as well because her therapist, a kind of elderly, eccentric Doctor Doolittle type, has been her therapist long enough that he should know all this.

Also her therapist is her best/only friend, and doesn't charge her.

Also also Luca has a pet pig, and I call shenanigans because pigs are huge.

As for Griffin, he writes like a 13 year old and it's incredibly offputting. He's apparently a massive rock star. Since Luca's trauma involves a rock concert, this bodes ill for the future.

He is hiding this from Luca, and doesn't want to exchange pics.

Their letters, according to the author, are "increasingly flirty" although it isn't flirty so much as horny, in an online hookup way, and not a way that feels normal after a short time swapping letters via snail mail.

It's coming across as squicky, not hot.

And besides the no-photo thing, Griffin hired a PI to track her, and as of the end of chapter 8, Luca's therapist (Doc... does he have a name? Idk) showed up with an RV to drive her to California to stalk Griffin.

And also there's a whole thing with Furbies that is just... ugh... y i k e s.

Anyway I guess I will keep going. The rest of this will be more live reactions:

Up to Chapter 11. She did decide to go to spy on him, and I don't like it.

Ch 12. They've met irl. They're both lying to each other. I don't like it.

They didn't drag it out, thank fuck.

Also somehow an entire roast pig was served which is horrible but kinda funny.

Absolutely terrible first kiss. Just "sorry about the pig" "omg its youuu" *smash kiss*

These people have no chemistry at all.

Ahhhaha... I hauled my ass through the rest of the book and it was really boring. I don't even wanna say anything else.

All the bad stuff I covered earlier. The smut was boring and perfunctory, the chemistry was nonexistant, the characters were bland, and aside from Doc there were no supporting characters.

Most of the book revolved around Luca overcoming her anxiety. Which, fine, I guess. Idk. I wasn't engaged.

So end result is 5/10 Tess does not recommend. But it's not like, obnoxiously terrible.

Anyway, I promised a link to a better pen-pals-to-lovers story, so I am linking that below. If you are here due to the Romance Novel tag and not the Destiel tag, I still recommend it, because it's an AU, and it could be read fandom blind.

Have fun!

#romance novels #tess reviews #tess recommends #fanfic #destiel #pen pals to lovers

[bug-ocs]

1, 19, 43, 49, and 50 for oc asks!!

1. Your first OC ever?

audrey!! i had plans to make a rambling video talking about her origins, but it got interrupted and i never finished...her name's changed constantly since i created her but one thing's stayed the same: she's always a short, fiery redhead ghlsdfkjsk emory came from her, but i went back a bit and broke her off to be her own character w/ closer ties to her "roots" or how i first envisioned her.

audrey was basically the self insert for the silly little story i wrote back in middle school and she was, for all intents and purposes, The Blueprint. i have such an affinity for obnoxious, stupid, well-intentioned women and audrey is essentially the manifestation of that lmao. she's kinda your typical shonen protagonist...her personality was influenced by protags like luffy and naruto, very bright and optimistic, if not a little dense.

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

HOO BOY well...without getting too deep i have to say it's danny! i didn't intend for danny's character to end up as a way to project my Mental Illness, but unfortunately he's the one that ended up with that burden, idk why. it might've made more sense in theory if it were emory/audrey but who knows...really what ended up happening was that i THOUGHT i was projecting on emory (and i was!) but i had actually accidentally subconsciously projected a lot of stuff i was working on in therapy onto danny...idk if any of this will necessarily make sense because i haven't written everything yet, but...danny has a lot of traits that i'm self conscious about, and once i realized that, i decided to write him to have a "happy" or "good" ending as just a little way to express some self love, because it wasn't going to originally be that way

i hope this made sense ghldskfjsk it's kinda hard to talk about coherently w/o getting too personal...

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It's time to confess

LMAO see the first answer...a LOT of my characters sort of branched off from the OG audrey, so i have a TON of short, obnoxious redhead characters that are typically paried with--thanks to the OG dirk--a tall, lanky, depressed bastard. obsessed with duos that look like the number 10, bert and ernie lookin' bitches, a round ball of energy and a scrawny can of depress i LOVE IT I EAT IT UP

i also love big eyebrows....everyone has big dark eyebrows, sorry i don't make the rules (jk i do and everyone's got big eyebrows here)

49. Which of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

you know, i feel inclined to say emory bc they're really good at making gen-z-style deep fried incomprehensible memes, but it's more out of compulsion now rather than enjoyment. i think rami likes to make very outdated memes a la lolcats and image macros. like he REALLY gets a kick out of it and loves to see what other people make, even if he doesn't get it

50. Give me the good ol' OC talk here. Talk about anything you want.

hmmmm...idk if i ever said this anywhere but i'm starting my emory/danny/etc. story from scratch (feel inclined to call it vice versa w/ some cute subtitle idk yet)! i'm sorta trying to be more intentional with the words i use to describe everything, and i'm even trying to work on a sort of reference booklet on Vices that'll be referred to in the story occasionally. i don't have a ton of stuff down on paper yet but i've got ideas swirlin...might redesign some characters and shift others...i wanna give danny long hair? and i wanna give emory a BIG fuckin coat...no more of this tiny jacket business...they're getting a MASSIVE olive jacket >:^)

#THANK YOUUUUUU TToTT this was super fun!!! #bug.txt

[with-the-same-tattoos]

I think the fundamental difference between the hobbit and lotr is the target audience. The hobbit was written for kids with this slight cyclical undertone, bilbo comes off as quite naive to me at least, kinda for kids to project themselves onto, and becomes a story about reevaluating the trust between yourself and the people around you, even if you care for them, which is a pretty good thing for kids to learn.

Lotr however was written for cynical adults, and the purpose for me at least was to allow downtrodden adults to add a bit of whimsy and joy back into their lives. You get beat down a lot when you’re older, and when you’re younger, everything seems great, both books aim to restore a bit of balance in their target audience, which reflects through their adaptations.

As someone who watched the hobbit first, it’s a lot better viewing experience when you’re a young kid huddled into the local cinema with your entire family (seriously there was like fifteen of us for all three movie releases, my grandma was fuckin hype), I fucking loved the barrel scene, and I still do. It’s probably one of my favourite fight scenes ever.

However, I wish the movie had worked a bit harder on goofy aspects, tonal dissonance is definitely a bit of a problem on reviewing for me, and also just not dragged poor Orlando Bloom back. Legolas does not need to be there. He’s not there in the book. It’s just weird.

I love the Hobbit movies, they’re flawed but I feel like people compare them wayyyy too much to lotr. They may be in the same universe and contain linked characters, but the books are fundamentally written for different people in different stages of their lives, and that shines through the movies.

Kinda like how the Silmarillion is written for people who want to suffer.

^^^^^ i think you have a lot of good points here!!!! Again, I DID ENJOY the hobbit movies. They were fun!!! I think Thorin was a lot of fun- I wasn't expecting to enjoy him as much.

I haven't read the books yet so I can't be too specific what I think abt the difference- ill get back to that when I have but itll take a while to finish, I think 😭💞

I havent, this far, however felt like lotr is cynical????? I think it might be like a difference between how we two see the word!!! Not sure. To me cynisism feels like that "well, nothing matters, things are shit for the sake of being shit" type of nihilism, and Hobbit comes to a lot closer to that w SOME of the characters, specifically in the water-town-whatever. I think i just mainly didn't like the town leader & Alfrids inclusion. It might be unfair of me to compare, but it is. Seriously such a stark contrast to having Théoden (cursed to silence and afterwards hindered by doubts of his own power and of loyalty, feeling alone) and Grima (clearly desperate for something; approval by others; coniving and cruel but made so by desperation) vs. dude likes gold & dude likes gold.

I might be hanging onto this one point bcs of my. MASSIVe crush on Grima, but 👁 — 👁 im not a professional movie critic I'm a dude w a crush on fuxkinh Grima Wormtongue from Lotr.... 💞💞

Anyways, yeah, idk, that just felt OFF to me. Idk id the books will have the same thing, but if they do, I gta say, not super into it? Maybe im being pretentious askinh for more complex characters in childrens media but AgAIN. The reason I was so enamored w Grima as a kid was. He was complex. That was interesting.

And you defi get that w the dwarves in hobbit!!! I'm just never a big fan of drawing clear lines between the enemy & the protags. I don't like othering evil characters, m a big believer in that seeing them as someone like us makes us understand that anyone can make bad choises, and makes us concider our own choises more?

I think the comedy to both of us is the issue. The baddies were mostly used for comedy, and the comedic parts were the least fave for me in general :( dunno.

I also have a mild weird thing for uncanniness and weirdness in movies. vISUALLY im more into Lotr; the weird constant fake moon light, older cameras, and i love the orc makeups..... augjdjj.. just more for me. But hobbits were fun!!!!

Sorry im rambling this is incoherent but u had fun thouthts so i thought id share some of my own ; v ;

#ask

[godsofhumanity]

GODHUNTER by AMY SUMIDA | REVIEW

okiee this was recommended to me by @inkleaves ^-^ uhmm so i have a LOT to say about this book. spoilers under cut.

OVERVIEW: “Godhunter” is the epithet given to a young woman named Vervain who uses witchcraft and magic to go around committing deicide in order to save humanity from gods who drain their energy to gain immortality and other godly attributes. However, when Vervain is recruited by the Norse god Thor, she finds herself in an alliance with the people she originally considered her enemies, as they work together to save the world from the maliciousness of the Aztec god, Huitzilopochtli.

RATING: 2/10. i’m giving it a low rating because it doesn’t really have too much to do with mythology, but i did like its general portrayal of most deities even though this book was insanely cringey and dumb.. now, even though under the cut, i’ve kinda bashed the book quite a bit, i still have to admit that i’d be lying if i said i didn’t have fun reading it. i stayed up to 1 AM trying to finish it because i had to find out what the protag’s next stupid decision would be,, all in all, if you like trash/cringe fiction- this is for you.

WARNING: even though this book is a YA novel, I’d say there’s a definite emphasis on the adult part of “young adult”... Certain scenes and themes are inappropriate for minors.

AVAILABLE ON: pdf link here ^-^ ((i think it downloads immediately if you click))

THINGS I LIKED:

the book is cringe.

great diversity in terms of the god cast. i learned about some new deities that i was previously unfamiliar with, so that was cool

Brahma (Hindu deity) wears a Gucci belt as part of his attire ^-^

whatever Estsanatlehi and Tsohanoai (Native American deities) had going on.... they were really cute and wholesome

THOR-HORUS BROTP AGENDA!!!!!!!! everyone who follows me already knows how keen i am about this idea of all the war deities hanging out together (fite club), and this novel served up exactly that. disappointing that Huitzilopochtli wasn’t a part of it, but i am settling for Thor and Horus’ several centuries old friendship.

Horus’ falcon tattoo detail.. i LOVE the idea of the gods having their sacred animals tattooed,, it’s so awesome!!!

Pan... i liked the way he still had his little horns, and he was kinda chaotic and fun.

in general, the descriptions of the gods were so pleasant and so cool.. i really liked the way that pretty much all the gods were beautiful,, this is very much in line with my own idea of how the gods look, and i think it makes sense, because they’re meant to be charismatic, compelling beings- beings that you worship, beings that you praise- why would they be anything but beautiful? and even if they were considered ugly by other gods, that’s only in comparison to other deities.. from a human perspective,, i just can’t see how any mortal could consider a god to be anything less than perfection,, idk

in particular- i really enjoyed the descriptions of Huitzilopochtli in his debut. i know he’s a piece of shit in the novel, but i LOVED the way he was described with his war-frenzy being triggered by blood, and the way, as god of the sun, his body almost glows, and heats up as though you’re looking into the sun itself, and the only way he can cool it down is by bathing in blood... WOWOWOWOW it’s just such a neat and fantastic visual description. his physical appearance really paid tribute to Huitzilopochtli’s original domain and attributes.

i also liked the linking between Huitzilopochtli being the Father of Vampires.. links between Aztec culture and vampirism is a trope that i didn’t originally suspect, but have become exposed to quite a bit as of late,, and i think that it’s quite a clever little plot. i liked that Huitzilopochtli also debunks superstitions about the sun, garlic, crosses, holy water etc.

Huitzilopochtli as the villain. the man makes a BRILLIANT villain- his motives are very clear and also, i thought, justified, albeit unoriginal. his presence is quite terrifying, and the reader does worry for Vervain’s safety whenever she’s with him- which is good! this means that he fills out his role as a villain well. tbh,, i did love Huitzilopochtli from the moment of his debut, but he got knocked out of my books during a certain temple scene and i have some thoughts about that in the next section.

when Vervain wakes up after the temple dream with Huitzilo, and she relaxes because it was just a dream, but then she looks into the mirror and sees bite marks on her neck!!! CHILLS! now THAT was good writing- it was unexpected, and served well to navigate into the next part of the plot.

Odin and Huitzilopochtli holding a ted talk on “how to create panic and discord among the humans”, and the gods having to bring certain meals depending on what the first letter of their names were.

Vervain’s pop-culture references, and her weaponry- especially the gloves that have blades in them that get released when she swings her hand downwards. very cool, i want them.

casual appearances from Vladimir Putin (yes, i said Vladimir Putin)... i couldn’t stop laughing when i read that Huitzilo was trying to kill Putin’s daughter to instigate a war...... asdhshajdhasdjfhjdhf insane

also i know Vervain was trying to mock Huitzilo when she nicknamed him “Blue”,, but like.. that’s a really cute name and it wasn’t even insulting.. yeah, that one backfired on you Vervain... if anything, that just made it seem like she actually had affections for him and i feel like probably in part is the reason why he felt encouraged to pursue her.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE/THINGS THAT DIDN’T MAKE SENSE AND/OR CONFUSED ME:

the book is cringe.

it reads like a 15 year old’s fantasy AU where she’s a humble young woman, unextraordinary- yet somehow, she is the muse of every man’s desire. handsome, ripped gods who never wear clothes are laying themselves down at her feet,, and she is just overwhelmed by the choices before her; and all the while, she has to balance a complicated love life with her duty to save the world (since she’s the only one who can).

Vervain as a protagonist. idk how old she’s meant to be, but since the book is in first-person, and the reader is exposed to her innermost thoughts,, i’ve gotta say- she’s incredibly immature. as a protagonist, i just feel like she’s rude, pretentious, snobby.. she has no idea what “respect” even means. in every scene, she’s either fighting someone, or lusting after them (when Teharon told her off for having lascivious thoughts about him, and she simply responded with “well stop being so sexy then” i wanted to die.... WHAT is wrong with her)

i hate the way she looks down on the gods- even if you didn’t worship them, or even believed in their existence, surely you wouldn’t have the gall to lecture Hades and Persephone on how to be a good couple (especially when your advice is shit). surely you wouldn’t have the gall to say to Thor what Vervain says to him on pg 227, 4th line from the bottom, that i will not repeat here. Vervain is just too self-absorbed. i don’t hate her, but i definitely think her character is a bit,,, iffy.

relating to Vervain as the protagonist- everything just seems to happen to her.. and i know that she’s the protag, and things are meant to happen to her, but it all happens to her one after the other in succession, no breaks. it’s so easy for her... oh? Huitzilopochtli is going to kill Putin’s daughter? no worries, Vervain can read Huitzilopochtli’s thoughts! oh? the gods have never been able to transform more than half their body into their animal form? no worries, Vervain is so powerful she can force a god to change against their will! oh? Vervain is being attacked by blood-thirsty wolves? no worries, she saved the life of one werewolf and now he’s indebted to her and will literally kill himself in order to protect her! everything is easy, and nothing is a problem.

the way every male deity ever sees Vervain once and immediately wants to take her to bed. why was that a necessary aspect of her character? and also, why are the gods portrayed as such lustful beings?? it really wasn’t necessary.

Horus throwing a fit about how December 25 is his birthday and that it was stolen from him by Jesus... to quote:

“No big deal?” Horus puffed up. “I was called the Lamb of God. I had twelve apostles, and my myths spoke of my crucifixion and consequent resurrection in three days. His stories were my stories first!”

it’s fine that Horus is angry about his birthday which was i think, historically celebrated around this date- but the rest of it isn’t even true???? Horus didn’t have 12 apostles, i’m pretty sure he was also not called “Lamb of God”, and he wasn’t crucified!!! aghhhh even Thor says “It’s been so long that even you don’t remember things accurately.”

anyways.. my beef with this is the way it’s phrased so as to imply that “oh christianity just stole everything from the pagans” when this is so incredibly false and sounds like something an ill-informed person would say. you can read more about christianity, paganism and christmas here

kinda related to the previous point- the jokes about Jesus’ skin colour. i quote:

“... when Christ first became a god, he looked Jewish because those were the people he chose to align himself with. However, the Jews didn’t want him, and when Christianity spread, the white people wanted Jesus to look more like them. With the change in belief, Christ’s appearance changed. ... We used to tease him about how he looked whiter every time we saw him... Kind of like Michael Jackson...”

what the FUCK??????? seems like Sumida doesn’t understand that various ethnic groups illustrate Jesus as appearing as the local people do. Yes, obviously in a Western country, Jesus is going to look European, he’s going to look white. If you go to Japan, you will see Jesus and the rest of the gang looking pretty fucking Japanese. the point of this is NOT to erase Jesus’ Jewish ethnicity, and it is certainly not because of something like “the Jews didn’t want him”- it is because it is a way for followers to better relate to the Divine. including Christ in this story isn’t the problem- i’ve seen others do it very well. the problem is how uneducated her writing comes across.

all the gods have human jobs so that they can earn money and stuff,, which is fine- Thor, for example, owns a line of boats, which makes sense. but Pan? his job is making p*rn. now even though it’s true that everyone associates Pan with sexuality and stuff,,, this isn’t his primary role, and making Pan out to be just a playboy who has his mind in the gutter 24/7 i think is a bit of a mockery. Pan is, first and foremost, a god of the Wild. why Sumida elected to make him a p*rn manufacturer and not a wildlife conservationist is beyond me... i’m not even pagan, and i thought this creative decision was distasteful and stupid, especially because his character is actually quite light-hearted and cool.

the temple scene with Huitzilopochtli and Vervain. as i said previously, i really really liked Huitzilo’s character. he made an excellent villain. but this part?? i understand why it was done, but i HATED that it had to happen... not just because it was horrible for Vervain, but Huitzilo seemed so powerful and godly right up to that point- after which he seemed pretty pathetic- going back after Vervain after she’s rejected him countless times. she is JUST a mortal!!! c’mon Huitzilo, give it up!!! you are degrading yourself at the expense of achieving one mortal’s “love”.. the fact that he had to hypnotise her to get what he wanted AND had to achieve it through her dreams (when’s she can’t protect herself) was sooooo pathetic and disgraceful.. IMO, he committed the worst sin any person could ever commit and i just... AGHHHHHHHHH SMH WHY?!

speaking of morons- Thor. Thor just comes across to me as extremely possessive, and over-protective,, and idk how Vervain was NOT creeped out by the fact that Thor had literally been stalking her for two years before she even met him. wtf? god or not- that’s creepy. actually, i think it’s creepier because he is a god. 

Sif. i am still waiting for good media representation of thunder god Thor and his beautiful golden-haired wife Sif- i want them to be HAPPY, and i want them to be in love the way they should be! 

Persephone. i like the idea of Persephone being sweet-tempered, and kind- but in this book, she’s such a wimp??????? she totally just lets Vervain be rude to her, a goddess who’s name means “Bringer of Destruction”. also- her relationship with Hades seems toxic.. i mean,, he like tracks her? she starts stuttering when she talks to him, and gets nervous when people so much as mention his name. not to mention the fact that Persephone says that when she does go back to him, all he demands from her is a certain horizontal dance so much so that she is “sore” (<- quoting from the book here) every time she returns??????? WHAT IS HAPPENING?????????? and no one even questions it. Vervain doesn’t even question it! instead she suggests that Persephone MOVES IN with Hades permanently???? and that Hades should just start verbally saying how much he loves Persephone instead of “showing” her how much he “loves” her.....??? there are SO many issues with this.. i can’t even- *screams*

the Aphrodite-is-madly-in-love-with-Huitzilopochtli side plot. it could have been really good, but then it ends so abruptly,,, i mean.. why’d Aphrodite get done so dirty like that? Also summary of Hephaestus’ first and final scenes:

Hephaestus, entering the room: Right, what’s all this then? Vervain: Your wife is cheating on you (again) Hephaestus: Aight, i’m out *leaves and never comes back for the rest of the book*

what the HECK was the ending with Trevor?? i hate Vervain so much i can’t... okay first of all- WHY did Trevor decide to have a wolf-marriage with Vervain?? he kept on going on about how she’s so beautiful, and kind, and caring... NO SHE ISN’T TREVOR!!! i’m so mad that he would pledge himself for all eternity to this girl who doesn’t even like him in that way!!! you played yourself son

also- Thor accepts the fact that Trevor is going to have to be close by to Vervain because the terms of the marriage state that Trevor will literally die without her touch, which is VERY GENEROUS of Thor... but Vervain?? ooooh i HATE her.. she has the audacity to look at Trevor with her lecherous eyes thinking about lustful things IN THOR’S OWN BED!!!!! and then she thinks to herself “oh whoops i shouldn’t be thinking that”- yeah you’re darn right you shouldn’t be thinking that!!!! whatttt is wrong with her............. 

also- where tf did Huitzilo go??? he just gave up on trying to instigate a war and vanished?? the plot was so unresolved?????? AGH!

#also- i forgot but- the Brad Pitt looking guy on the front cover.. i thought maybe that was meant to be Ull because he's blonde but i guess #it really was Thor in the end?? but Thor in the novel has red hair so what's up with that? how disappointing #person who reviewed this and said ''Vervain's one of the best female heroines today!''- can i have some of whatever you're smoking? #she's so horrible!!! aghhhhh #review #godhunter by amy sumida #long post

[bipedalseal]

re: playing orlok's route; hahaha where do i even start? unexpectedly, it was a very long run. it didn't end at chapter 5 as i expected, probably bc i didnt pick the obey yang option. expectedly, it was a bad end. exoectedly, it was like a dante bad end. unexpectedly, i didn't get bored. can you believe i got like 5 bad ends in this run? my route progress is 40% now! in one run

it was also a while before i got to play this again. my sisters busy with some drawing project os i havent been allowed near her laptop lately and she discovered a new pc game (the ace attornsy prequel). she's been in a good mood bc of that game tho

1. i didnt predict that rosberg would be orlok's actual dad..? yknow considering that he seemed to neglect orlok emotionally. tho im not surprised that he had a son. most ppl have a hard time staying celibate anyway, like u tout sex as the ultimate form of love between a man and a woman and expect ppl not to want that lol (obviously the solution would be to take away the stigma regarding sex but idk, not a theologist). honestly i thought that "rosberg being a shite parental figure" would trump the "hes actually my dad card", but still. the writers are okay with anti-church sentiments but not anti-filial piety... interesting.

2. yang dying and the laoshu disbanding seems like an inevitability in nearly every ending. which i suppose doesn't go against his character? i wondee what happened to make him not value his own life like that. its very interesting.

3. the voice acting. iT SLAPPED HARD. admittedly i am talking abt yang during his final moments, bc why not. something weird occured during that, actually--i was playing on earphones that only worked on one side. But during yang's Evil Monologue, like the first fucking word he said, it suddenly started working in both ears. i got chills man. it was also chilly at the time. nobuhiko okamoto's stuff never ceases to disappoint me. kaito ishikawa was ngl his delivery... stop making me wanna learn voice acting my girls. i lowkey wish the mc had a voice too. esp during the pg13 scenes. thatd sound sexy.

4. speaking of pg13 scenes, um.

5. this run was a bad end for orlok as much as it was for dante, yeah? only difference is that orlok is the protag and dante is the antagonist. interestingly, orlok showed signs of turning his back on his old ways (and god in turn) when the thing with luca and yang and rosberg happened and he said nope. i think on the other hand started throwing his morals away the moment nicola got buried. that moment when he could finally make his move, that was when he was like, "fuck it, im gonna avenge everyone and do what i want in the process". then dante got a leg over orlok and victor (figuratively and literally, respectively) by using the visconti. i wonder what got gilbert to do that though. surely he must have known that orlok was gonna kill him? whyd he sacrifice himself for dante??

6. i feel like luca dying had something to do with the laoshu. poisoning, maybe?

7. ill be honest the romance here didn't really capture my attention. i was looking for something more, uh, fucked up maybe? but the writer's attitude towards religion and the church did. it felt really self-aware. im also not surprised that orlok killed victor in one of his bad ends. i didnt really have faith in his ability to question his faith. im surprised that the writer managed ti capture the feeling of questioning the church."if i dont obey him now, then my whole life would be a lie" and "give me a reason to kill him, say its an order by god, anything" had me thinking back to my pre-apostasy days. idk, i expected less from a visual novel with a largely catholic backdrop. my expectations have been nicely surpassed.

8. back to the pg13 scenes. its AMAZINGLY amazing. maybe im just horny? idk. i rlly think inserting a scene like that then wouldhave been perfect. like there was a scene of someone's ear getting cut off for fucks sake (which ngl could have gone on for longer than it canonically did, to my squeamish self's disgust). or at least some soft description of the scene could have been used like "he held me down and forced his way in, smiling as i struggled. i finally stopped resisting after the moon began descending from her crest. that smile turned into full laughter. still orlok's cries were the loudest in my ears." pr something. like UGH. sex isnt inherently bad my friends!! unless u use it as a way to violate other ppl like in this situation.... ..... ..... i still think sex scenes can provide amazing symbolism tho. honestly its amazing i can stand reading and writing um adult relationship scenes when i cant stand to read a description of a man's thigh getting stabbed. or seeing a dead body. jfc.

not sure what ill do after this. still havent finished dante and nicola's route 100% and orlok's route, i missed a bad end i think. think ill go for the bad end that i missed, then ill take a short break by digesting something fluffy (aka the ace attorney game where payne is japanese! jfc!). lets see when i can liveblog again.

#mine #piofiore spoilers #piofiore liveblogging #dante #orlok #yang #me gaming #long post #long post cw

[magioftheseas]

What do you like about Danganronpa Zero? I like it too, just curious about your answer.

Matsuda. And Ryouko.

In all seriousness I do really like the structure of it and how it’s something that makes a lot more sense and it’s super enriching on a second read a la Madoka. The dual protagonists are fascinating in how they’re written as characters.

Like Ryouko is super ditzy and fixated on Matsuda. And unlike other examples in dgrp where this is super urgh-inducing to have a girl’s character revolve around Dude (y’know ur Nanamiiz, ur Chisas, ur Makiiz), Ryouko’s interesting in how much of a Tragedy her situation actually is. Like yeah, that’s comparable to Peko, but y’know Ryouko really has no power in her situation and her dependence on Matsuda is super fucked up. The scene where she begs Matsuda to let her just forget about him after he gaslights her, which she completely forgets about and brushes off when Matsuda himself is clearly disturbed enough by it to try and apologize is such a striking moment honestly. Like Ryouko’s a really tragic character whose mental condition ISN’T used as something to find scary as it is an aspect she has to work with that people, including those she loves, are keen to take advantage of. She’s the only mentally ill character in dgrp that like...isn’t actually villainous in any way, and the reveal adds a hilarious but also incredibly cruel twist of irony to this.

Matsuda, on the other hand...well for starters, he’s the only intelligent one. But his personality is completely different. He’s not remotely normal or average, but even with Kaede as a comparison, he’s openly cruel and dubious in his actions. Even when you understand his motivations, he’s very complicated. He’s not a heroic character, even from Ryouko’s perspective because we see he’s willing to do some really fucked up shit (both to her and for her). He’s a codependent wreck, which is more in line with dr protags after Naegi, but he doesn’t rely on the other person emotionally because he’s insecure...but more because he needs that person as an excuse to keep going. It’s not just different for the mold, it’s incredibly messy. It’s even more sad because we see that Matsuda *is* capable of getting along with others. When he interacts with Murasame, he clearly wants to help and reassure him, but then... But then...

What a fascinating and fucked up guy! I love him a lot!

As for the other characters, I do like the purposes they serve even if I don’t like them as people. Kamishiro is perverted comic relief but he’s like, actually fucking unhinged due to a severe complex courtesy of his “talent” which makes him a super interesting presence. Madarai...is hilarious. Dr0 does have Kodaka’s shitty sense of humor, but honestly I do like some of the jokes and the ridiculousness of it here since they’re not concentrated to one character nor are there any mascots. Pretty much everyone’s meant to be taken seriously to an extent, but they’re still allowed to go batshit and have fun going batshit.

And again, the characterization that only becomes clear when you know the twist is really good. I especially like Ryouko’s reaction to Naegi which is amazing when you know the truth about her. Unfortunately Mukuro’s characterization is garbage, but y’know, no work is perfect. At least we still have IF. Which Kodaka didn’t write pffffft.

For what it is, dr0 really does do things differently and excitingly. Kodaka may be fucking garbage at writing anime, but he’s got a lot of potential as a light novel writer...light novelist? Idk. The guy definitely has talent despite his stupid shit, and dr0 has some of the most interesting characters in the franchise. Hell, Matsuda might just be his best written character ever. It’s very good! The mystery is fun even when you’re just piecing it together on a second reading, and the characters are so fantastic! Junko flings a bunch of desks off a building at Kirigiri! What’s not to love?

...besides Mukuro’s writing, puh puh.

I would DIE for Matsuda Yasuke. But make no mistake, Ryouko is my precious bby girl too. She deserves so much more focus in fanwork than she gets. Gah. I have a first person wip focused on her that I really need to finish. I’m part of the problem.

#Magi answers #shigaraki-worship #dr0 #yasuke matsuda #ryouko otonashi

[tfw-no-tennis]

hxh movie....2!

ruth and i watched the second hxh movie and that certainly was a movie

the title is already cracking me up lmao ‘the last mission’ THATS SO DRAMATIC. 

the first like 3 scenes feel totally disconnected like theyre from different movies vnjskdfnsdkflk

‘many decades ago’ vbhjdsfbajsdf that phrasing is hilarious somehow 

damn young netero just killed jeb bush 

ah look its our movie villains, starting their villain stuff

so i guess this is set around where we are in the series now - like, somewhere in this beginning part of the chimera ant arc where gon and killua are hanging w/kite. which is kinda funny bc they dont explain AT ALL how and why gon and killua are in this city suddenly hvbajdsfjskdjan

killua skateboarding makes me smile :’) love it 

IS THAT ZUSHI??????? AHHHHHHH MY BOY!!!!!!!!!! BABY BOY!!!!!!!!!!! LOOK AT HIMMMM HES A LIL BUFF 7 YR OLD NOW OUGHHHH HES GROWN SO MUCH...POWERFUL BABY....IM SO PROUD 

omg wing and bisky are here too!!! nen fam 

im so proud of zushi being a floor master omg....i love how the side characters progress and grow offscreen, separate of the protags, kinda like seeing pokkle again (rip tho, i think) 

LEORIOOOOO MY MAN!!!!!!! he really showed up for like 3 seconds then gets KOd and dumped in a sewer....STOP DOING MY MAN SO DIRTY GIVE HIM SCREENTIME..

ohhh so we’re doing anime die hard. kinda like the first macadamia movie 

that lady rlly just stabbed herself huh.

these antags look like theyre from naruto. main antag dude looks like about 7 different anime guys fused 

oh man netero got dunked on immediately Ls. gotta take him out so the protags can do the fighting 

gon and killua are so good. and also in love. epic 12 yr old romance 

KURAPIKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lookin sharp in a suit. also just looking depressed as hell in general. KURAPIKA ARE YOU...GOOD....ARE YOU STAYING HYDRATED??? TAKING UR VITAMINS?? I DONT THINK YOU ARE. 

also i still cant believe kp is working for neon still...it rlly feels like they just gave up on life and just figured that staying there was fine or w/e

now the 3 protags are goin full die hard thru the tower...WHERE is leorio i cant believe they rlly threw my mans in a sewer like that smh 

these guys r rlly called ‘the shadow’ thats so edgy 

also i watched this like a few hours ago but im a dumb bitch so im reading thru the wiki article for the movie to remind me what happened, and apparently The Shadow(tm) was the black ops division of the hunter association, and they were later rekkt once they started w/the On...i so didnt get that while actually watching the movie vhdakjfhbskdfn thanks hunterpedia for explaining that one to me 

wooowww so the HA rlly just committed massive, morally reprehensible war crimes and then just sealed it all in a book or st and moved on. yikes id be mad too, generic anime dude villain 

so these three rlly just resurrected a dude by going into the desert and saying ‘hey we r emo can you give us some power and maybe anime jeb bush’ and that Worked 

now kurapika is fighting the dude in the control room and gon&killua are fighting Big Dude WHO BEAT UP ZUSHI!!!!!!!!! get his ass boys 

LEORIOOOOOO MMY MAN IS BACK FROM HIS SEWER ADVENTURE!!!!!!!!! ILY SIRRRRR 

and then he immediately gets yoinked by hisoka, who is for some reason in this movie. i feel like they were like oh yeah hisoka is like, the 5th main character/antagonistic force of the story so i guess he should be here. its hilarious tho bc he spends 90% of his already limited screentime in this movie just playing w/his playing cards and smirking. bastard man you just gooo awayyyyy

seeing beans again omggggg green dude u r great

also who the FUCK is that smarmy looking blonde at the HA HQ...i hate him already based on 1) his atrocious pattern-clashing fashion sense, and 2) his smarmy aura. he looks like hes never thought a thought in his life. ruth says he might be buddies w/ging which makes me hate him even more 

gon and killua....r dating. ty 

when gon and the bad guy start fighting in the elevator shaft and killua just kinda watches hvbajddfhbsjf hes like ‘oh the narrative demands that gon fights solo for a bit so i guess ill stay here’ lmao 

but then he saves gon with his physics-heavy electromagnet elevator clamp plan....smart baby 

then after they defeat the guy they just start chatting lol i love them 

ohhh shit the guy exploded, thats fucked up 

poor gon :( more trauma for the poor kid 

meanwhile kurapika fights an evil clone of themself. wow 

tbh kurapika could totally one-up these guys by being like ‘well ok at least you have each other, im the VERY LAST kurta’ 

its strange to see kurapika fighting w/the sticks instead of the chains tbh

WHO THREW THAT KNIFE AT THE GUY IT HAS TO BE LEORIO HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

LEORIO AND KURAPIKA REUNION HHHHH THEYYYYY

they are married tyvm 

kurapika is soooo not doin well like...please get some rest

kurapika referring to their ‘new friends’ hmmmm thats probably an actual canon reference since this doesnt get brought up again in the movie. probs referring to w/e kp is doing in canon at this point 

LEORIO USING NEN LMAOOO hes like pshhhh that was easy but internally hes like owww....sir ily sm 

damn kurapika rlly stabbed that guy w/a stick huh. rip dude 

ohhh shit its those drug capsule things 

KURAPIKA RLLY TOOK A BULLET FOR LEORIO HUH. I HATE IT HEREEEEEE

leorio best dude

wow so kp has to make an On covenant OR DIE...yeah i think theyll choose the die option 

squad reunion :’) even tho kp is like, dying 

gon is such a good boy :( ily baby 

leorio and kurapika are str8 up married ty 

final battle timeee

love how at this point in the story gon only has one attack so he has no choice but to keep doing that same attack (well, the 3 variations) over and over til st happens lmao 

lmao gon and kurapika are rlly on the opposite ends of the ‘On’ scale here w/kp willing to die rather than accept using On, and gon seeking out On for POWER and also VENGEANCE 

the themes of gon’s righteous anger on behalf of others continues...

the boys are rlly getting tossed around a lot this movie geez 

hh boy gon is now...PURPLE-BLUE 

oooh killua convincing the lady to chill out was cool - tho ngl i didnt realize she was still alive 

now netero can go ham. i wonder if he’ll finish the fight or if gon will 

uh oh gon is Extra Feral now 

gon: IM EVIL NOW

killua: NOT ON MY FUCKING WATCH 

oughhh they love each other so much bro. fuck this 

gon banging his head on the ground and then killua jumping in between him and the ground....true love bro 

gon snapped out of it WITH THE POWER OF LOVE!!!!!!!!!! im emo and gay. thanks 

love how even when netero was younger he was still like, an old guy lmao 

and then the next day theyre all just back in heavans arena hbvhdahdfbjsakf who cares that the building just got hijacked? whatevs 

kurapika smiling a little and melody then smiling knowingly....melody is like Bitch I Know Youre In Love 

still kurapika seems like. not Right. pls get some therepy 

im glad zushi got to fight that guy like he was supposed to....and w/the nen fam cheering him on :’) 

THOUGHTS

its wild how they didnt really delve into the whole ‘war crimes’ thing w/the hunter association lmao. idk if this movie is canon so that might be why....they just brushed over the fact that the HA was like, running concentration camps and murdering entire groups of people. wild 

this movie was fun!! it felt more like hxh than the last movie, which v much felt like a generic anime movie. this one felt more in character. it did fall into typical anime movie tropes sometimes but the characters felt more like themselves here, espec w/the point of the story this seems to be set at 

like gons anger and all that - while it obvs comes from a place of love and kindness, he can get carried away sometimes...i feel like we’re gonna rlly delve into the negative impact of this in the CA arc and i am both so ready and not ready at all 

this movie was hella gay which i appreciate. love the gays 

all in all this was fun!! i wish there were more hxh movies lmao i love anime movies. well at least theres the musical LMAOOO im gonna watch that soon 

#the watching continues #i havent posted a lot of my other recaps bc theyre p incomplete lmao #im workin on it tho #not that anybody cares lmao. thats ok tho im posting these for my own reference #hxh #lj watches hxh

[jinlian]

i’ve always sorta wondered, but what did sayokubo hope to achieve with yurio’s narrative arc? like, i wanna believe that they were going somewhere with it but ran out of time but at the same time im just sorta?? i want to like all the characters in yoi but like idk the storytelling and characterization just fell flat.

this is a question i can’t really answer, though i’m inclined to agree with you that they had an idea, just totally missed on the follow-through due to time constraints or some other reason. i’ll give them the benefit of a doubt, because the storytelling — up until the last two episodes, and even pieces within those episodes — is otherwise quite solid. but they definitely dropped the ball on this one.

the problem, in my opinion, is that they got too stuck on the story they had decided to tell rather than the one they were telling. they have said that they planned to have yuuri come in second from the start, and i believe that, because it genuinely is the only thing that makes sense to me when the rest of the narrative develops to point to a very different outcome. the romance was unplanned and developed during the production process, so i have no trouble seeing how the story could have evolved along the way in a way that didn’t quite match up with their initial plans.

the results of the grand prix final did no one any favors, yurio absolutely included, and it left me, as a viewer, extremely unsatisfied with the storytelling. sayokubo said they thought yuuri winning would be too predictable so they decided from the beginning to have him place second, but there are a few problems with the way they executed this

first of all, they’re actually pretty incorrect when they say sports anime protags just win predictably all the time. i’d say the opposite: more often than not i’d definitely say i’ve seen the protagonist lose at the big final game for a ~character development~ moment. this is fine when that’s what the story needs, but that isn’t want yuuri’s story needed even if it were not a common, predictable outcome.

here’s the thing: predictable writing is not necessarily bad writing. in fact, sometimes it’s extremely good writing when it’s “predictable” because the narrative threads have pointed in a certain direction. and it’s very satisfying as a viewer to see when a very relatable gay mentally ill protagonist overcomes his own self doubts and fears and recognizes his own capabilities and finally, finally achieves the dream he’s always had through being supported and encouraged in a mutually beneficial relationship.

it’s really, really important to note that “learning that people will love him if he wins or loses” is absolutely not a lesson that yuuri needed to learn. in fact, yuuri makes that clear as early as episode four, when he explicitly says on the beach that his friends and family have always supported him no matter what. that’s not the point, that isn’t what he needed. yuuri needed someone to push him, to give him something other than lukewarm “we’ll love you no matter what” sentiments that he already knows are true, and victor gives that. it then takes yuuri nine episodes to say aloud that he has always competed with the thought that he wants and plans to win. nine episodes. nine episodes. nine episodes while he’s in the middle of competing through an anxiety attack and pushing himself to do exactly what he needs to do to qualify for the grand prix final.

yuuri never needed to learn how to lose. he’s spent his entire senior career on the international circuit learning how to lose. yuuri needed to learn how to win.

people have this idea that if yuuri had won, he would have retired. that’s of course what yuuri was saying he was going to do, but that’s definitely not what the narrative was telling us. yuuri is talking throughout the entire season about how much he loves skating, how he wants to compete at victor’s side, you have junior skaters telling yuuri how much they look forward to competing against him on the senior circuit, and yuuri decides to keep competing while he’s watching yurio, before they know the results of the competition. the whole point is supposed to be about yuuri’s love for skating, how much yuuri has left to give to the sport, and it would have been ridiculously easy to have him win and go wow, i’ve only just started achieving my full potential, i love skating and i want to keep going especially if victor is coming back. this just kinda makes it look even more like yuuri only wants to keep skating to get a win and then he can quit. it isn’t satisfying. at all.

the problem is partly that yuuri’s unreliable narration led a lot of people to believe that he just isn’t a very talented skater, which is so far from the truth and completely ridiculous given the very obvious canon evidence, but somehow despite breaking a world record people still believe this because he placed second at the grand prix final. that’s definitely on the audience, but it’s also on the writing.

victor wasn’t the prize. he was never meant to be, the story was always supposed to be about yuuri.

and before another anon tries to get smarmy with me, i’ve been aware since the final episode that the results of the gpf are arguably a fix-it fic for tatsuki machida, who came in second at worlds by the slimmest of margins to relative newcomer yuzuru hanyu, bombed his grand prix final the following season, and announced his shocking and unexpected retirement at japanese nationals where he came fourth. it gave me some comfort for a little while, but after thinking more and more about it, i just kind of don’t care. an homage to tatsuki, as appreciated as it is, doesn’t override the unsatisfying narrative conclusion in the fictional story told in yuri on ice.

AND NOW ACTUALLY ONTO YOUR POINT ABOUT YURIO –

if anyone needed to “learn how to lose” it was yurio, and he absolutely did not experience that storyline in his grand prix losses to jj. he sort of starts it when he loses onsen on ice, and there’s a glimmer of development in episode 9, but it’s all just tossed out the window.

yurio starts off the season saying things like “i won, so what does it matter?” when victor tries to give him advice to improve. he’s willing to practice harder in the interest of winning, which is cool (but it’s not like any other skater in the show isn’t practicing hard??? yuuri literally goes to practice to work off his own anxiety, he practices so much), but instead of like actively acknowledging that other people are good skaters who maybe deserve to win, too, he just keeps... focusing on himself. he calls yuuri a farm animal to his fiancé’s face, says he’s good for nothing, shoves his feet in the face of a fellow athlete who’s clearly just had an anxiety attack in public, mocks another one who’s also just had a public breakdown, and the whole thing with his hidden admiration for yuuri doesn’t even work when you consider that he doesn’t want yuuri to keep competing for yuuri’s sake — he wants it so that he can beat yuuri.

???

yurio’s agape arc just doesn’t work, either, he skates like maybe once thinking “oh people are nice to me” but he doesn’t reciprocate that off the ice. it doesn’t work. it’s unconvincing. the story also drops the narrative threads of yuuri’s stamina vs. yurio’s, where they keep talking about how yurio doesn’t have as much stamina etc etc and yurio already pushes himself to his breaking point in ep9 — imo it would have been way more interesting to examine yurio trying to push himself even further and having to learn his limits and learn he still has a long way to grow. there’s no indication that he has learned any of this. he just gets justified for his shitty behavior and his “winning is everything” attitude and it’s. obnoxious. we don’t see any development of the agape storyline off the ice, and i’m fairly unconvinced we saw it on the ice too, but that’s a different story.

this is then only solidified in the welcome to the madness manga where yurio cannot handle victor and yuuri having attention for literally five minutes, even though yurio has just won the grand prix final, and pulls “no i have to surprise the audience more”

so like, i get that he’s fifteen and fifteen year olds can be shitty but he’s also a fictional character and from a storytelling perspective there’s just nothing satisfying about this and nothing that in any way actually lends itself to yurio’s growth. they threw in otabek to get yurio to cheer for another skater, but yurio still beats otabek and is still shitty towards yuuri. a really interesting way to get yurio to confront his agape and get some actual growth would be to have otabek beat him, and i hope we see that in upcoming content.

i think it was supposed to be something about yurio seeing that other people are good, too, but it’s not done well. it focuses too much on yuuri with not enough respect given to either character and doesn’t develop yurio’s attitude wrt skating or other skaters in general, which he needed. again, i don’t believe that otabek counts here. “oh good, another score higher than the pig’s.” it also arguably had to do with yurio seeing he has room to grow; again, in my opinion, not done well. yurio needed something more than just being annoyed that he didn’t win by enough.

like the narrative arc literally accomplishes nothing. he finishes the series just as stuck on “winning is everything” as he was when he started. there’s no understanding of why yurio even enjoys skating beyond that he’s good at it and wins a lot. i’m not invested.

anyway VERY LONG STORY SHORT i totally agree that it just didn’t work and did no one any favors. yurio got justified for his shitty attitude with “as long as i win it’s fine and also i just want to beat everyone else so people know how great i am” (like i truly don’t care if yurio is just mad that he lost the free skate so he feels “unsatisfied” with winning at the gpf, i truly don’t) and yuuri got screwed over in the narrative process for a lesson he never needed to learn in the first place so that sayokubo could avoid “predictable” writing. they’re better writers than this. it’s disappointing.

all of this is without the bullshit scoring at the grand prix final but kdhjfgsdj it’s fine IT’S FINE. as long as the movie and/or possible season 2 is done well, i’ll get over it.

#im yuriophobic #annanons #anna gets asks

[thegeminisage]

i finished life is strange! spoiler thoughts under the cut

so like, the good:

fantastic game overall. i love the art style, the graphics, the voice acting, i even fell in love with their stupid “amazeballs” “wowzers” “hella” slang. the atmosphere is wonderful, the music, the way max has something to say about every little detail, it's such an incredible experience

i love, LOVE, the depth each and every character is given, the sympathy shown towards people i would not have believed capable of redemption or deserving of any forgiveness. that goes beyond victoria being a bully because she was insecure or frank the drug dealer having a secret and genuine love for animals. david like, hit his fucking stepdaughter, and the game still nudged me into feeling sympathy for him at times (and at other times he did truly good and selfless things). nathan KILLED someone and the game still points out multiple times that he was mentally ill and being manipulated and abused and what he did wasn't (solely) his fault. in david's case it almost felt like i was dealing with 2 different people when he was being "good" vs when he was being "bad" so that might have been poor writing, or maybe very very fucking good writing, because living with someone who is controlling and abusive can be a lot like that. still, it's MAX who often tries to forgive these people, and tries to make friends with everyone she can, not because she wants to be popular or well liked but because she believes they NEED a friend and DESERVE to be happy and that they can be better than they are. 

which brings me to my next point: i fucking love max?? i was lukewarm on her at first—i thought her introspection was a bit silly, her klutziness was cliche, and Really, Max, Who Talks Like This—but unlike a lot of generic protags she develops her own personality over time, in part thanks to her abilities: she's incredibly loyal, caring, and genuinely wants to see the best in others when they give her even the slightest reason to. she doesn't use her abilities to get the lotto numbers or anything: the entire game, she tries to use them to help her loved ones. even when she fucks up and doesn't think her choices through, all she ever does is try to help, she's honestly a wonderfully refreshing protag

i also love chloe, because you can't play this game and not love chloe, the beautiful blue-haired lesbian

it was really nice that neither max nor chloe were overly sexualized; there was a shower scene, but the camera stayed above max's neck at all times, no long sexy shots of her legs or shoulders or back. there was even a scene where they swam in the pool in their underwear, but it was cute and sweet and pure, no long lustful panovers of their bodies; they even cut away when they peeled off their clothes (and i know that's partly because it's troublesome to animate, but still)

the cutscenes in this game are fucking powerful—like, despite the dark subject matter, the dramatic beats are done really well, and i was brought to tears more than once, the feeling of playing the game is incredibly visceral, you feel their pain along with them—at one point, when they found rachel's body, and max covered her mouth with both hands in horror, i noticed i had done the same thing just before. even the nightmare sequence at the end had me scared shitless, it was done SO fucking well, the interface screw was an especially nice touch

even tho i saw it coming the plot twist with jefferson was honestly INCREDIBLE

the bad:

the game kinda guilted me every time i """friendzoned""" warren, which like...not cool, game?? it could have been presented a little better, with like, "i don't like him like that but he should be happy!" vs "i'm not paying enough attention to warren" idk i'm probably being a little oversensitive about that

sometimes the puzzles like "find the bottles" or "connect the clues" were a little drawn out and hard to figure out. it's a game that's light on gameplay and heavy on story, so it felt like those came kind of out of nowhere to appease people who complain shit like this isn't game-y enough. i don't wanna spend 45 minutes finding bottles, i wanna talk to chloe! yeah, it was great to explore around the junkyard, but like, give me a better reason or a bottle tracker or something, jesus

also, where did max's powers come from and why does using them cause, of all things, a STORM—if anything, it should cause damage to HER, right? i hate that we never ever get any explanation of why she suddenly develops these gifts aside from "my love for chloe caused them to appear" which while nice and gay is really just their best guess, there's nothing concrete

that section with chloe in the wheelchair was honestly just misery porn and probably pretty ableist

coulda had more gay shit. chloe is definitely a lesbian so her and rachel could have been like. idk. more textual??

speaking of gay shit, we could have had more max/chloe romance hints before the fucking end—as many as we got with warren, at least. i feel like we didn't get as many.

the very bad:

Yes, Still Talking About Gay Shit

i'm honestly...so. fucking. sick and tired. of the "lesbians must die" bullshit. i am so tired. i have been tired since tara ate it in btvs

i looked it up and you know how you smooch chloe? by killing her. it's the ONLY WAY

and you know what? the ending for that choice is MUCH longer and well developed so it's obviously the one the devs want you to pick

what's the point? what's the fucking point?

why does max get these powers out of NOWHERE and then get punished for using them? what's the moral and message of this game? death is inevitable? destiny is inevitable? is the moral was "time travel is bad" then maybe you should frame max tearing up the photo as the good ending, because it's living with her choices

but no, chloe dying gets this long shot of max having to listen to it again, and be hurt, again, and the reason she's hurting is her love for chloe

chloe says herself maybe max saving her again and again was bad, like, come on, really? that's so classic "punish queer women for being in love" like...it's such a tired trope and tbh i was not at all surprised when i found out this game was written by three middle aged men. that would have surprised me to know until the last choice and then i knew lmao

why is chloe destined to die? because she wanted to find her girlfriend? because she wanted to get away from evil people who were hurting her? because she was in pain? like what the fuck? 

like it was such a good and pure game, even with the sexual assault plotline—no overly-sexualized women except by people who were obviously evil, max seeing the good in everyone, the narrative treating every character with kindness...and then it tanked SO FAST at the end

and the worst thing is how STUPID it is—like ok a lot of people complain about how in choice games your choices don't actually matter, and i think that's dumb because the sheer programming it would take to make EVERY choice matter as much as they do IRL would be astronomical, and you'd wind up with some watered down shit like shadow the hedgehog. but the ending could be solved in so many ways—max can use her phone and warn the people in the two whales about the explosion. she could have warned people about the tornado while was dimension-hopping and started an evacuation. she could have gone back to the butterfly photo and stopped chloe from going in the bathroom at all and then told david everything or even told chloe not to let her use her powers anymore no matter what. there were SO MANY OPTIONS that were not this hell, if somebody had to die, it should have been max, like, she took a third option and saved the town and chloe both but she died to do it, because her nosebleeds just kept happening with absolutely no consequence and meanwhile this freak storm is divine punishment for being in lesbians with chloe?? ok game, sure. 

and honestly? fuck arcadia bay. sure, i loved all the characters...most of the characters...and most of them don't deserve to die, but it was a small dying town full of people who were cruel and abusive and literally kept MURDERING young women for their boners. like, let it rot. but that ending is designed to make you feel like an asshole and it's short and unsatisfying and YOU DON'T EVEN GET A CHANCE TO KISS HER IN THAT ONE. there's literally NO dialogue, just one long shot of them driving thru town sadly and then leaving 5ever

that sophie's choice character death ending was fake-ass cheap fucking bullshit designed to make you think this game was deep, when really the game was just telling you "hey it sucks to be queer" which i already knew

honestly, they could have done so much more with "i have this power and i refuse to accept one bad thing or the other" or "everyone has a good side deep down" or "if you want to save everyone you yourself must die because SOMEONE has to (but maybe not specifically That Person)" like this project had so much potential and it tanked into misery porn SO QUICKLY 

and i'm so fucking mad about it

IN SUMMARY:

great game

until the last 15 minutes

then it sucked and now i'm bitter and i lowkey wish my brother had never gotten it for me

am still gonna get hype about the prequel because jesus fucking christ maybe i can FIX something

honest trailers knows exactly how i feel

#personal #lis #lis blogging #i should have been in bed ages ago but i was so furious i had to spend all that time writing this up

[folatefangirl]

Reading Wrap-up: March 2018

Well, here’s to another month of books, I guess. Six, to be exact (and the only way I managed to finish so many was because half were pretty short, I had Spring Break, and I had lots of travel + procrastination time).

Rogue One by Alexander Freed: This book was everything I ever wanted to permanently cement my Rogue One fangirling. I haven’t read a Star Wars novelization this good since Patricia C. Wrede’s junior novelizations when I was just a wee one. Also this book hit me multiple times, right in the feels. Read if you want to fall in love and have your heart broken.

The Bones of the Earth by Scott Hale (Indie book): This book was very strange but also very good? It’s hard to describe because it’s post-apocalyptic crossed with fantasy and metaphysical stuff. Idk. Plenty of gore and body horror if you don’t shy away from that stuff. Also, if you have a goodreads, Scott likes to know your thoughts on his books and is happy to answer questions. I own a couple more books in the series, but I’m not sure I’m ready to read about gore and death for a bit. Maybe softer books for now.

The Resignation Letter by Dax Murray (Indie book): This was an interesting enough short story, admittedly read because the protag is a wlw scientist. My main issues were with how much the book just told things to the reader instead of letting them feel the natural progression of the story i.e. the relationship.

The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan: I really liked this novella, especially because I was reading it when I was in a particularly bad mood and it just hit the spot. At first I had misgivings about the romance that was set up (how could I like something that was happening so fast?), but by the end I liked it quite a lot. Definitely worth a read.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: This has been on my tbr since I first watched the movie several years ago and I’m glad I finally had the chance to read it this month. And wow, if you’re a writer/editor person, definitely give this one a shot because it’ll teach you a thing or two about storytelling. I liked finding all the little connections and how the writing styles changed for each of the characters. Also the in-text meta about reincarnation that almost made you feel like Mitchell was winking at you over his typewriter. Many thanks to the Cloud Atlas score for getting me through undergrad study sessions. (P.S. Robert Frobisher will always be my favorite. I’m BI-ased that way. Heh.)

The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland by Rebekah Crane (Indie book): I had many mixed feelings about this book, perhaps because I set myself up with high expectations before reading it. It just turned out to be your basic contemporary teenaged romance with a ton of homages to The Breakfast Club (very much in the YA category, age-wise). It was interesting, but the best way I can describe it is the shoulder shrug emoji. Also I was not too pleased with the casual transphobia and lesbophobia, even if it’s spoken by weirdly philosophical messed up teenagers. No thank you. The mental illnesses featured in the book were not ones I personally experience, so I’m not sure if the commentary/presentation of them were ableist or not so YMMV. Bilingual bonus if you know French.

Goals for April:

Slow waaaaaay down on my reading speed so that I survive Finals

Absolutely NO library books until Finals are over

Read and reread my textbooks and notes more thoroughly

Actually do some of the things from my Spanish workbook, dammit

For that matter, also my self-care book, given the crap that happened earlier this month

Read more from the cookbooks I own and cook more creatively

Rewrite and edit Split The Night Into Two because I need to finish it and get back to my other writing projects

Complete more of the Elements of Eloquence writing challenge

Read more of the Resilience anthology

Maybe another novel (or even The Importance of Being Earnest), but ideally one that will allow me to take my sweet time

Finish one of the nonfiction books that has been on my “currently reading” list for years

#booklr #book reviews #my reviews #cinnia says stuff #i have a bad habit of using reading as a coping mechanism #but i'm hoping this month i improve on that #almost done with py1