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cursed-and-haunted · 2 years

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Okay so I finished watching Hellraiser (2022) and here's my review:

I wouldn't say this is a bad movie and certainly is not the worst Hellraiser movie (remember when Pinhead went to space), there are just some things that were lackluster and left to be desired. I think if you've never seen a Hellraiser movie or are someone who doesn't like persistent gore (which is fair) this would be a good horror movie. However, I love Hellraiser movies and gore so this movie at times left me feeling… meh. 5/10 points off for bad lighting/sound, not wet enough, and lack of bone dragons. And because I had a lot to say about this movie I put a breakdown of my review under the cut

Lighting

Bad. I can't see shit. But this isn't a movie specific problem but a larger Hollywood issue that I don't care to get into right now. 2/10

Sound/Music

Sound quality is bad, but that's the same issue as lighting. The reverb in the cenobites voice is supposed to make them seem scary and other worldly but how am I supposed to fear them if I can't even hear the threats they are making. But if I'm not mistaken they did use some of the score from the original so that was a nice throwback. 3/10

Sets/props

Puzzle Box my beloved (when Riley slipped her finger in the box's hole and the box opened up 👀 I see what you did there 😏). And I love the addition of the little knife that pops out and how the box drinks up blood, very sexy. Also loved the geometric design on the box showing up in other places (on the playground, hospital floor and of course the mansion). I loved the creepy playground. And I loved the mansion. I love when houses are more than just a house. In this particular case it's a giant cage to trap cenobites. Which reminds me of the first ever horror movie I watched, Thirteen Ghosts, where the house was also a giant puzzle box that had trapped ghosts in it. The sex dungeon was lack luster though, like they could have done better than that. 7/10

Special Effects

First off, most of the gory bits are implied and happen off screen which is a cowardly move especially in a horror movie. And what is shown is watered down or only briefly on screen. I liked the effects of the chains coming out of Riley's chest and Nora's death was kind of neat. And Roland being turned into a wind up toy with the machine in his chest and then watching it come all undone was also cool. Also skinless Matt was a nice reference to the original movie. Leviathan my beloved. But my biggest complaint: Not wet enough. Where is the blood, the goop, the slime? If Pinhead's outfit is really her skin that was flayed and mutilated into a dress then she should be glistening wet and yet she's dry as bone and that's just boring. Same complaint for Roland's transformation at the end. You're telling me Roland had his face ripped off and he didn't even bleed a little bit? C'mon! And like even if I gave them the benefit of the doubt and that the censors made them cut back on the gore there are still other ways to add creepiness. Maggots and cockroaches crawling over rotten food. Spiders and flies. Rats. Like it felt like there was more they could have done and they just didn't. 4/10

Costumes

I liked Riley's looks and her overall design. The side characters are a little bland but they're side characters so that makes sense. Roland wearing a suit like any classic villain would. Did anyone else notice Roland cut a hole in his shirt to fit around the machine sticking out of his chest but like it's a button up shirt, like he could've just unbutton his shirt. He didn't have to do all that lol. The cenobites all looked so alien and otherworldly which I guess is nice but like I already said they should have been wetter looking. I liked The Gasps design, it's clear they got inspiration from The Female's design and the way the skin folded on her head looked like a nun's headdress which The Female was a nun before she was a cenobite so that's neat. Ultimately I think it comes down to personal taste so if you like the design of these cenobites I can see why but personally I prefer the old leather daddy designs. I do love that Pinhead has nails painted, like girl who does your nails 💅 6/10

Characters

I really liked Riley and loved that her motivation and what drove the plot forward was her wanting to save her brother. I just wished that the sibling relationship was explored a bit more. Also wish they explored her addiction a little bit more. It just felt like a wasted opportunity there. I liked Matt, Colin, and Nora. I really wished they had been fleshed out more, especially Nora. It kind of bothers me that out of the three human female characters, the two that are literally roommates barely speak directly to each other throughout the entire movie. And like you learn nothing about Nora so when she dies I didn't feel anything and that's like the whole point. It would be different if she was the first to die but she's literally the second to last person to die. There really should have been more to her character but there wasn't. I did not like Trevor. He wasn't very well written and doesn't really bring anything to the story except for maybe the sex scenes but even those were medicore. Honestly, if they had taken him out of the story and given his lines to another character, like Nora, it would barely affect the plot and that's not a good quality in a main character. Roland was a great villain and I'm happy that he got what he wanted. Pinhead was amazing as always and had some killer lines. Also she said the thing! Chatterer, my beloved! I'm so happy they let him bite people. It's what he deserves. I don't like seeing him eviscerated like that but he dies all the time and gets brought back because he's Leviathan's favorite so I'm used to it. The Gasp was great, I love how eager she is to hurt people. The Weeper's hands. Need I say more. The Asphyx sounds like a broken vacuum cleaner and it upsets me how fast he can run. The others don't really do much except creep around so I can't say much about them. 7/10

Plot

Again I liked that the motivation was a sister trying to save her brother and I liked that her prize, or punishment really, is living with the guilt and regret that she ultimately couldn't. It's interesting how the cenobites make the emotional pain of that to be the worst way to suffer, even worse then the physical pain they would've put her through. And that Pinhead seems to in a way acknowledge the bravery it takes to deal with that. The strength and bravery it takes to not die or seek power but simply survive and live with the choices you've made. It's a very interesting thing to explore in a horror story. I also liked the plot structure of going through the different levels of the puzzle box and at the end you meet Leviathan. It gives me Dante traveling through the circle of hell vibes. The betrayal plot line didn't really do it for me. It wasn't really set up properly and there wasn't any foreshadowing for it. So when the big reveal happened it kind of fell flat. An even better plot twist would have been if Trevor was revealed to be an eremite and turned into a bone dragon. If you are unfamiliar with Hellraiser lore, eremites are guardians of the puzzle box and lure unsuspecting victims into hell (and they can turn into dragons) which literally is what Trevor's role in the plot is so it would have been perfect. Just saying it would have been sick as hell. 7/10

#mine #Hellraiser #hellraiser 2022

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stars-self-ships · 2 years

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It should come as no surprise to longtime followers of both this blog and my main that I take great joy in designing self-inserts for my favorite franchises, whether it's to see how well I can capture a certain vibe or just so I can have a good visual of what I'd look like in that universe to kiss my beloved F/Os— though, if I'm being honest, most of the time it's the latter!

Doing so has been easy for the most part, as a lot of the franchises some of my most treasured S/Is hail from don't necessarily have a complex visual style. Take for example Psycha, who was easy to design outfit-wise after basing it off of an outfit I would wear, or perhaps my Centaurworld S/I, who was even easier to design as all I had to do was draw a toony version of myself with a deertaur half!

Given my recent adoration toward my latest hyperfixation Winds of Change, it was a given that I would design a self-insert for its universe, and I was already brimming with ideas for what a fantasy version of my fursona would look like in the world of Alestia! However, as a contrast to most of my other favorite medias, Winds of Change boasts a very detailed visual style and outfit design for its cast, which meant my S/I would have to follow suit as to not look too out of place.

And about two weeks of on-and-off work later...

I can finally unveil my Winds of Change self-insert, Micah Winddane!

(Check out underneath the cut for a lengthy deep dive on the creation of the above drawing as well as a full view of this sheep seer's weapon of destiny!)

Gosh, where do I even begin? There is just so much that I want to talk about when it came to designing Micah Winddane that it's tough to find a good place to start!

Because Winds of Change has an all-anthro cast, it ended up being a given that I— yet again— would be choosing to model my S/I after a sheep, much like my fursona, Psycha, etc. However, rather than using Psycha as a base as I had for my fursona, I actually modeled Micah Winddane after an actual breed of sheep... the Leicester Longwool!

True to their name, Leicester Longwool sheep are notable for their overly lengthy fur, and given that my hair is currently at the longest length that it's ever been, it felt only fitting to design my Winds of Change S/I around them! This also meant that I would be using a more golden color for the hair as opposed to the usual 'tan-white' color most of my other sheep S/Is have, and if you look closely, you can even see that there's a distinct fur pattern on his face!

With sheep specifics out of the way, let's focus on Micah Winddane's outfit. If you read the tags of my first Winds of Change related post on this blog, you might have seen that I first wanted him to be an 'anxious but good-hearted visionary with a cool fantasy robe'— which, to be honest with you, was how I had been envisioning him throughout my time playing through the game's prelude!

The only reason the whole 'cool fantasy robe' aspect didn't stick around for long, however, was due to a certain set of characters in Winds of Change possessing such a look... The Triumvirate, antagonists who are shrouded in mystery underneath an iconic white robe with a yellow trim.

Not wanting my S/I to be dressed too similarly to the big bads, I had to opt for something a little more modest, and in line with the outfits the rest of Winds of Change's cast wear. I took to Google to cherry-pick several medieval outfit designs, and took my favorite aspects of each one to combine together into a base outfit.

For a while, the above lineart was just about all I could come up with. Of course, it looked a little bland by this point, but that was merely because I hadn't given him a good coloring, yet... but that was another hurdle of its own. I knew how I would color his fur and hair, but what about his clothes...?

Thankfully, Winds of Change's canon provided a solution. Around the point of the game where you receive the all-powerful Blade of Exodus— which we'll also focus on in due time— you also are given a change of clothes... clothes that are described as a 'combination of Valessa and Fortaime's outfits'.

It's a good thing that the base design I had already drawn didn't stray too far from a hypothetical mix between Valessa and Fortaime's clothes, and it even served as a good basis of how to color Micah Winddane's own. I color picked certain colors from both their designs to use in my S/Is and was soon able to settle on a color palette that I liked!

... but the design still felt particularly lacking. The colors looked great, as did what I had for an outfit, but the more I looked at my current progress, I felt as though something was missing... and then, I had a brilliant idea— if I couldn't give him a robe, what if I gave him a cape?

Fortaime's baggy scarf was my main inspiration in settling on a shoulder cape, and the instant I had the idea of giving my S/I one, I wasted no time in adding it to his design... and I'm so glad that I did, because it made him look SO much better!! I knew that I wanted his cape to be a shade of blue (My trademark favorite color), and settled on a faded shade since a more vibrant blue looked a little too shrill amidst the other colors.

Lastly, since my Winds of Change S/I is the foretold Seer, he would need to be equipped with the aforementioned Blade of Exodus throughout his adventure. However, upon coming up with the idea of giving Micah Winddane a large sword sling to carry the blade on his back, I realized something...

... the blade only has two canonical appearances from what I've seen, and only one of which— being found in the game's logo— shows it in full color. I was thankful to even have a visual of the Blade of Exodus, but only having the linked image to go off of in terms of color made redrawing it a bit tough, as I would have to improvise a bit to make it look less desaturated.

And what started out as improvising turned into a slight stylization of the Blade of Exodus' colors! Throughout the game, there's a large emphasis on how obvious it is that you're the possessor of the blade, and I decided to give the blade colors that stand out from the otherwise dull colors of Micah Winddane's outfit!

... uh, wow. I think that might just be my most in-depth design deep dive I've written yet. But everything that I wanted to touch base on has been accounted for, and with all of it written out at last, it feels so wonderful to finally get around to sharing this design with everyone as it's one of my ultimate favorite self-insert designs I've ever created!

#S/I #Self-Insert #Self-Insert Art #Fursona #S/I Ref #Fantasy Character Design #Self-Ship Community #Klace's Winds of Change #「Micah Winddane: The Valorous Visionary」#BREAKING NEWS: SHEEP TOO PURE FOR THIS WORLD #Because I've addressed everything in pertains to Micah Winddane's design just above...#... I saved talk in pertains to his personality for the tags #What makes Micah Winddane special is that I think he's the most like me out of all of my self-inserts #All of my other S/Is have some twist on their personalities- Psycha is 2000% wholesome and Quinn is a total klutz #But Micah Winddane? All of my choices in WoC so far pretty much reflect how I would think and act in such a scenario #He's a great deal more emotional out of all of my S/Is and does what he can to fight what he believes in- a better future #This of course provides a neat flaw in his character... becoming attached to those around him #Which in a time of war is the worst possible thing you can do seeing as you can lose anybody at a moment's notice.#Yet he perseveres. Seeing his destiny through to the end in the hopes that everyone he travels with joins him on the endeavor #I find that he has the most depth out of my self-inserts and is definitely something I want to make a post on in the future #But for now? If I ever want to request or commission art of my Winds of Change S/I with Valessa?#I have him all drawn out!

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emathevampire · 9 months

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And hair and alternate (modern) for Askalaphos! 👀 I'm having a buffet here

my boy... my beloved chaotic evil bastard boy... who has never done anything wrong in his life... good gentlethem this is a buffet for *me* i could talk about this man all day. or night. both? both is good.

hair: How does your OC wear their hair? Does it have some kind of meaning? Askalaphos grows his hair long. Sometimes he ties it back, but for the most part he prefers to leave it loose, and hasn't cut it once since killing the last demon prince who forced him to wear it short... this was a little past shoulder length when he finally escaped the Abyss, but by this point in the canon it's a little past his waist, having been about 10 years since then. It's a rather odd texture, fairly thick straight strands that feel more like extraordinarily fine silver chains than human hair... and that would be because it has more in common with silver dragon scales than human hair. He keeps it long partly because he likes it that way but also because, if he focuses, he can shape and style his hair into armoured scales. On his head, this looks like anything from a pair of simple horns that serve to keep his hair out of his face to a heavy helmet-like set designed to protect him in battle.

alternate: What would your OC's alternate universe look be? If they're a fantasy character, what's their modern look? If they're sci-fi, what's their fantasy look? What AU would you want to see your OC in, and how would they dress themself? Bonus: Prompt an AU! Funny you should mention that... He hates clothes. HATES them. This man's ordinary attire (rain or shine, hot or cold) is nothing but a linen cloth and a thin belt to hold it up, because linen's about the only thing that can hold up to the hell he puts his body through. His catchphrase is "pants are for losers." If you try to put him in a shirt, he will maul you. This is because of a texture issue! His scales are rough, and not only will they shred most clothing in a matter of days, it's miserably uncomfortable for him to wear them the entire time. That said, if he sheds his scales (leaving him utterly defenseless), he COULD wear clothes without issue... if he wanted to. Which he doesn't. He's most comfortable when impervious to most forms of physical attack, thank you very much. This is a core character trait of his, and would not change no matter the setting. He would see a sign saying "no shirt, no shoes, no service" and walk in as-is, make strong eye contact with the gas station cashier, then grab all the hot dogs, beef jerky, and three wine bottles and walk away. However, when he found himself Freaky Friday'd with the party's NPC gnome artificer, he begged to borrow her body long enough to craft a magic item, saying she could do whatever she wanted with his in the meantime. He had regrets, of course, once he found out she used him to play dress up. He still refuses to wear the reading glasses she got him, despite the fact that he desperately needs them. She was trying to do something nice for him, but unfortunately for her, Askalaphos is an ungrateful bastard who wouldn't recognise a kindness if it bit him in the face. Behold, his modern outfit: reinforced leather pants, boots, and a spiked leather jacket with his sword and title, "Blade of War," embroidered on the back.

#constellationscharts #askalaphos areios #rixa writes

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cartooncrazyart · 2 years

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Fancy kiddos

[image description: digital drawings of Kris, Ralsei, Susie, Lancer and Noelle from Deltarune in formalwear.

The first is of Kris and Ralsei. Kris is wearing an oversized blue suit jacket, with a pink bow tie, and their hair is half up in a ponytail. They are standing with their arms by their sides, looking with a blank expression at the viewer.

Ralsei is wearing a fancy long green suit jacket with rose patterns, over a light red waistcoat, with a green bow tie and green ribbons tied around his horns. He has his arms by his sides, slightly spread, as he smiles sweetly at the viewer.

The next is of Susie, Lancer and Noelle. Susie is wearing a dark purple waistcoat with darker purple patterns, trimmed with gold with gold buttons. She has dark purple boots with gold trim, a black bracer on one wrist, her sleeves are folded up and her hair is in a low ponytail. She is turned slightly away with her head turned side on, as she looks out of the corner of her eye at the viewer, her hands in her pockets.

Lancer is wearing a blue tutu over a black suit-looking leotard, with a gold bow tie and a dark purple waistcoat to match Susie’s. He is jumping in the air, his arms and legs spread out as he sticks his tongue out.

Noelle is wearing a white backless dress, with glittery snowflakes and red gems along the hem of the skirt. It has a glittery transparent overskirt and cap sleeves, and matching gloves. The belt is a red ribbon, tied in the back with a large bow, with her hair tied over her shoulder in a matching bow and strings of red gems tied between her antlers. She is turned away, holding her overskirt up in front of herself as she looks out of the corner of her eye over her shoulder. End ID]

#I drew these basically reverse order lol I wanted to give Noelle a pretty dress and then was like but what if: everyone nice outfits #kris dreemurr #kris deltarune #ralsei #ralsei deltarune #susie deltarune #lancer deltarune #noelle holiday #wow weird how so many of these kids share the same surname lol #suselle #deltarune #deltarune chapter two #deltarune ch 2 #outfit design my beloved… if only I could see more of these characters wearing dresses lol #fashion design

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rococospade · 3 years

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Regarding my characterisation of Laurence, the First Vicar

Okay so anyone who’s had to talk with me for more than five minutes knows I have *a lot of feelings* on the First Vicar and while I’m going to try and keep this to stuff I can support via lore, that will almost certainly bleed over in here and I apologise in advance. I’ll try to stick to things I can support from canon.

Other notes: I will be referencing deleted content for this, and it is a long post because I have a lot of thoughts. So post under the cut, beware of spoilers, so on.

(As an aside, if you read my fics, dear god does this post have spoilers for those too, since a lot of my fic world building is me trying to piece lore together!)

@fishbowlcarnage thanks for getting me to write this. It’s incomplete and unfinished, and I’ll definitely want to add to it as I play through DS3 and the Fishing Hamlet in BB, but I hope it’s enjoyable as it is. Also thanks to Marie for gently pushing back on my assertions so I have to find a basis for them, and to every lovely person who’s chatted with me about lore and this strange and beloved game.

General notes:

Most of this is predicated on a handful of things:

Laurence was probably a Choir member. He stole the Choir from Byrgenwerth, and it’s noted that the church uniforms are based on Byrgenwerth’s. And if you look at it, what does it most closely resemble? Willem’s clothes. So either Willem had disciples’ outfits designed to look like less fancy versions of his, or else Laurence chose an outfit that visually conveyed “I’m taking your job” for himself and his own minions.

Laurence was not from Yharnum: it comes up in deleted lines that the person who founded the Healing Church was a foreigner. While that line was cut, we do still hear the huntsmen blaming foreigners for their plight, and while I will admit that nationalism and xenophobia are a big part of Bloodborne it would make an… interesting sort of sense if the Healing Church was actually headed by one. Also, Laurence and Willem have different accents to the rest of Yharnum, at least to my ear. I’m also a filthy American, so feedback on this point is very welcome.

Laurence was probably a combatant: this is probably my hardest argument to make because it relies on the most abstract points. Laurence is found with the Gentle Beast’s Embrace rune. That’s a combat rune. Even if he’s trying to heal the scourge, if we operate on the presumption that he did want to help people, and he found a rune that seemed to safely turn him into a stronger bestial form, don’t you think he’d take up arms if he hadn’t already? Aside from that, the clerics use a lot of blood. Now, @msoftserved has pointed out to me that that was probably a religious thing as much as a functional one, but I’m still fascinated at the idea that the clerics could somehow take enough blood to over a long enough period to become giant beasts without also being hunters (since hunters are noted for their extreme willpower, and being able to do things like force themselves to stay awake under the effects of blue elixir). I also suspect the clerics fought, since it’s noted that the Hunters of the Healing Church made the Hunter’s Workshop redundant, and the hunters we see from the Church are dressed like… clergy. I may add to this section later, as my brain is currently refusing to articulate my thoughts in any sort of useful manner.

Actually! Coming back to this, with something a little less tenuous: the Vicar’s Pendant has a blood gem inside for hunting beasts. Why would they have that if they weren’t actively hunting beasts themselves? It’s not on display, you have to break the amulet to get at it. So… if it were purely decorative, you’d expect it to be visible. And if it weren’t, one would expect them to have something support based. But no, it’s an attack up specific to beasts. Which to me implies two things: the amulet could be used for offensive casting/spells, and the owner of the amulet was expected (at least some of the time) to fight.

In addition to this, Gehrman also refers to the Clerics of the Healing Church as “the guardians” of Hunters, and cries out for Laurence to help him in his sleep. Even if Laurence was not a combatant, I found that to be a really interesting detail; it speaks to Gehrman’s belief in Laurence’s competence. Especially once you finish the game. He’s not crying out for a god to save him. He’s crying out for Laurence, and Willem.

About Laurence’s personality:

I think it’s fair to argue he was probably charismatic. He managed to repeatedly amass a following; first at Byrgenwerth, where he stole Willem’s best students from under his nose (including Micolash, someone who seems to fundamentally disagree with Laurence on how to ascend humanity? Which is pretty wild in and of itself) but also convinced several major characters to help him, including Gehrman (who seems to have had heroic intentions, though he’s of course Not Okay because this is a Soulsborne game) and freakin’ Ludwig (first Church Hunter! First man to organise the hunts instead of having everyone do whatever with 0 coordination! And canonically stated to be from a long line of knights, which implies Ludwig was probably a noble or at least a member of the gentry, but signed on to work with this foreigner.

Laurence was likely either ostentatious, or found the appearance of being so valuable: dude has a weird skull elevator and I’ve never been able to forget it. I thought it was weird when I found it but wrote it off as typical Bloodborne… until I read “fool me”, which pointed out that the elevator was probably, in fact, something Laurence either designed or commissioned. It was definitely way more expensive than just installing a ladder or stairs… But organisations thrive on symbols. And the Healing Church is rife with symbolic imagery, from the architecture to the decorations to the uniforms. There’s really no functional reason to have the members dress like they do, which means it was likely a case of needing to present a certain image or be immediately recognisable to the public. (On a loosely related note, the Church Giants wearing items from the Black Church Set is… kind of cute in a weird way. Who made the clothes? Who dressed them up? These questions haunt me.)

Laurence may have been capable of miracles or pyromancy: this one is a big stretch, but I’m going to bring it up anyway. Laurence’s attacks in his Cleric Beast form (specifically the ones that leave lava in their wake) resemble a pyromancy from the Dark Souls series. We also see patients from the Research Hall that cast miracles in the Hunter’s Nightmare. Seems like a jump to attribute miracles to Laurence from there, right? Well… the Vicar’s Pendant that Amelia uses to heal herself is noted to have been passed down amongst the Vicars of the Healing Church. Presuming she’s using the ‘heal’ miracle, then the pendant is apparently her talisman. She had to have learned the technique somewhere, and talismans in the Souls series aren’t unique to one caster — anyone with sufficient faith can utilise a talisman to cast miracles. So it stands to reason that if Laurence had the necessary faith, he could have wielded the amulet in the same way.

Misc notes:

Willem was doing some horrifying stuff at Byrgenwerth. I’m kind of surprised more people don’t seem to address that? Byrgenwerth is the only area with the garden of eyes enemy in the main game. Those things are wearing patient gowns. “What we need… is more eyes” seems rather chilling in the light of that particular enemy, and its official name.

In addition to that, at least two of his prized students turned out to be… you know… insanely charismatic cult leaders. I’m talking about Micolash and Laurence, of course. What are the chances he collected two dangerous twinks that would betray him entirely on accident? Oh, but two’s a coincidence, right? Except… Gehrman. You know, the First Hunter. He was apparently rather attached to Willem too, since he calls him ‘Master’… so that’s… three students of Willem’s that decided, actually, let’s do this extremely morally dubious thing in pursuit of knowledge/power/good of mankind? Oh! And Gehrman amassed a following too, actually. The original Hunter’s Workshop. That’s… That’s definitely a pattern by now.

The Gentle Beast’s Embrace rune grants reduced fall damage. I ran with the idea from there that cleric beasts (probably beasts in general) have an instinct common to both canines and felines — get the high ground. Now. This is also supported (as much as anything is supported) by where you find Cleric Beasts — the first one is sitting atop a roof over the great bridge, essentially the highest suitable platform in central Yharnum, while Laurence the first Vicar is sprawled dramatically in the arms of a statue over his altar in the Hunter’s Nightmare. So I tend to depict him perching in high places when left on his own, especially once he’s begun falling to beasthood.

#bloodborne lore #bloodborne lore discussion #laurence the first vicar #long post #note to self #character discussion #character headcanons

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bansheeoftheforest · 3 years

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Well, my wifi is not back, and wont be anytime soon. The very earliest luckiest would be getting it back by Tuesday (unlikely). The very worst my house burns down so theres that /lh /hj

This sucks so much because I really cannot read asks I dont see in real time, I have the same amount of reading comprehension for them as I do Frankenstein XD

Dm me links to any important syndicate asks I miss while I'm gone 👍

Bannnnnn I tried to draw the Jekyll brothers but Kent? Is inconsistent? The database (what I use) showd him as a clean shaven guy with a bit messy hair but google is showing Kent as a completely different model? Neat hair, Brokenshire beard. Like it's the ingame "identify" zoom in and I cant check whats right before I already killed himmmm

Anyway here art <3. I know I said I'd draw the DTIYS first but art inspiration is stored in the Syndicate au <3

Also I've been thimking about Henry wearing a mask +plus ponytail to hide his identity like for the past two days. Yknow those theater masks? The weeping and laughing? He wears the sad one while in the Blighters and Templars and the happy one while in the Rooks because hes a dramatic theater nerd. Also! I like to think that if Jekyll has to be a templar he'd still wear the Blighter uniform when he could and pretend hes not high ranking. He gets away with it because Crawford doesn't care about him and Roth lives for chaos

I also drew Henry in a mask and ponytail but it's not done yet 😔

Also I did the math the the twins are 3 years older than Jekyll. Like thank goodness first of all because I fully went into ship entirely unaware on if there were canon ages or a scary difference. But also Jacob being 3 years older than Henry is kinda funny to me

All of Evie's outfits (besides her default) are bad and I'm gonna fist fight the designers because the secrets of london (where I only searched the locations of 3) is so bad, especially with the effort needed. How did they do Jacob so good, but utterly fail with Evie /lh

NOOOOOOO D: Man, I really hope you will get it back asap, and also that your house don't burn down!!

Man, if I don't know your struggle rn. However I shall do my best to link you to every syndicate ask that I will get from here on out bc I don't tend to get small asks for that au so <3

Huh-- oh wow you're right. I wonder if it is a set design or just a bit on random depending on the save file... I killed him a long ass time ago so I have absolutely no idea how he looked like <3

EITHER WAY OH MY GOD IT LOOKS AAMZING. I love??? How you gave all three individual personalities in just a single picture??? Kent looks like he is seconds away from murder and I LOVE Henry in the templar outfit, it fits him so well??? Man I really want to start thinking more of this branch. Would the entire Jekyll family be Templars so the trio got that role inherited? Are Raphael and Kent unidentical twins and Henry is the odd-one-out because he is the youngest? Were the three of them really close in Scotland, but left as soon as possible bc their family was abusive, only for Kent and Raphael to find refuge in the Templar Order while Henry goes to university? Would they still have that brotherly love if they were close as kids even when they are in the Order, or would they have a falling out and start despising each other (or Jekyll @ the older brothers at least)? Would Raphael and Kent secretly be protective of Henry and manage to keep him out of Starrick's line-of-sight so that Henry won't get in trouble for defying orders/ignoring them? Would they force Henry to join the Templars with threats or would Henry mostly feel obligated to join them? Since the Templar Order isn't illegal in London, would other people know that Jekyll is a Templar, or would he keep it hidden from the public? Would his brothers help hide his identity?? SO many questions and I'm so sad I won't be able to discuss them with you :'c

(also can I just say I love the poetic differences between their clothing. Raphael is just wearing a waistcoat/basic clothes and he is a brute and more open, Kent is wearing more clothes/layering up and he is the "brains" out of the two of them, Jekyll is wearing the most layers and is almost trying to hide himself and I just... *chief's kiss*)

Henry being a dramatic theater nerd and stealing Roth's costume supplies to hide his identity bc he is so ashamed of it and doesn't want people he knows to know about it my beloved <3 Plus the blighter uniforms doesn't look too far off of what he normally wears so he could probably use that as an excuse whenever some other Templar gets up his ass about not wearing the right clothes, yet it still doesn't make Henry feel any better knowing he has to bear the knowledge that he is actively wearing discreet blighter clothes to keep the Order happy and the public oblivious, knowing what cause he is reluctantly supporting. (him joining the rooks and suddenly coming into the Society all dressed in green lol)

Anyways I have now also decided that Maxwell and Henry are friends bc they both hate the Templars and Crawford and Henry gets to star in many of the plays he sets up. Plus they are both slightly insane so they match each other good.

YKNOW WHAT I WAS DAYDREAMING ABOUT WHILE BRUSHING MY TEETH RIGHT AFTER THIS ASK? Jekyll being forced to be the one to murder his brothers and the twins trying to track the murderer down just to know who tf are killing their targets, conveniently at the same time Maxwell starts meeting Jacob. Henry watching Jacob from afar getting smitten by him but keeping a distance bc he knows Maxwell is possessive, Jacob being the first to befriend Henry after Maxwell explains that both of them are against the Templars and Crawford, Jacob saving Henry during the fire of the theater? Yes pls <3

Thank god bc here I was imagining an age gap of like idk 15 years bc of the differences in the timeline but! I'm just going to keep the canonical age difference while also shoot the timeline up a lil so that the events of Syndicate and TGS takes place at the same time but they are the right age and stuff, just bc I do not like Evie's and Jacob's older designs and I do not want to imagine them meeting during the Ripper dlc <3 Also the thought of Jacob being older than Henry is funny. I think Henry has a type /j

They are so fucking bad and I'm going to scourage the Nexus to see if I can find any good redesign mods because they are so fucking bad. But to be fair, all female main characters' outfits are bad. Pearl? Lucy Thorne? Mfs looks like vampires. Even more reasons for why I only play Jacob, bc all other outfits on Evie are bad <3

#ask #darling-dolly-darlene #syndicate crossover au #banshees au #banshees faves

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terra-fatalis · 3 years

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Talk about a coincidence!

A possible connection between Aerith and Stamp (as a reference of Zack)

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BEFORE READING: This post is based on theories more than actual facts, since the true nature of Stamp hasn’t been revealed yet. I’ll provide some elements that could hint its connection with Zack but all this has to be considered as a personal opinion. If this will turn out to be all wrong, I apologize in advance.

(Link for the previous post here)

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Stamp is a new character introduced in FFVIIR. It is:

“A sweet little canine character beloved by the citizens of Midgar. A regular fixture in cartoons and movies, his face is on every corner of the city either in toy or poster form. Originally used as propaganda material during wartime.”

Most of the fans assume that this dog is a metaphor to represent Zack. The main proof for this theory is the fact that, in Crisis Core, Angeal used to compare Zack to a puppy:

“Are you Zack, the puppy? My son wrote to me once about you, zero attention span, restless as a little puppy.” - [Angeal’s mother to Zack].

This description links up very well with Stamp’s song lyrics (here).

The biggest mistery around this character is its double design: it is shown to be a beagle during the whole game, but in the end we can see it as a terrier.

My personal opinion is that this is a metaphor about Cloud’s fake persona. We, players, mostly play as Cloud, so we see the elements of the game through his eyes (and we never see Stamp when we are not Cloud).Cloud thinks to be a former SOLDIER because he’s overlapped his image on Zack’s.

“Real-Stamp” (Zack) is the terrier, but we see it as a beagle (Cloud) because we see the world through his alter ego.

At the end of the game, when Zack defeats his destiny, we can see terrier-Stamp because Cloud has no altered personality (or, at least, not yet).

So, my take is that Stamp represents Zack in both forms.

Of course, I could be totally wrong.

---

I’ll provide some comparisons to support this theory. Around Midgar we can find some posters with Stamp, and most of them can be related to actions that Zack did:

Zack encourages Cloud to work hard to become a SOLDIER.

Zack saves Mako poisoned Cloud, carrying him from Nibelheim -represented by the flames- to Midgar.

Zack took part to a mission in Icicle Inn with the Turks against Avalanche. During the mission they had to go through a cave with falling icicles. There he lost two SOLDIER friends (mabe this will have something to do with the Intergrade?).

There’s a Stamp magazine on Tseng’s desk. The only other times we’ve ever seen his desk was to show Aerith’s letters (Crisis Core) and the dossier about Nibelheim incident, (Last Order) when the Turks were trying to save Zack from the army.

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That said, assuming I got this subject at least partly right, let’s talk about the elements that link Aerith to Stamp-Zack.

In Aerith’s childhood room, in Shinra HQ, there’s a book with Stamp and a letter in the background. I tried to translate what’s written on the cover but the picture is very blurred, so there could be mistakes, especially because I don’t speak Japanese (in bold the parts I’m rather sure to be right):

スタンプからの招待状

さえスタンプファンクラブ「スタンププリーダー」

Invitation from Stamp

Only Stamp fan club “Stamp breeder”

Definitely a strange translation.

Anyway, the odd fact is that this book appears in Aerith’s room, of all the places of the game, and nowhere else, so I’m wondering if it is maybe meant to metaphorically hint the 89 letters Aerith wrote to Zack.

(Picture taken from Reddit)

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There’s another detail that could link Stamp-Zack with Aerith: the stars.

In both designs Stamp wears a hat/helmet decorated with stars. Stars have been often used as a military symbol around the world, and so seems to do Shinra.

All characters’ outfits have been redesigned for the Remake. On the shoulders of Aerith’s jacket we can see some decorative stars. And not common stars but military stars, normally used in army uniforms or medals. Quite an uncommon choice for the clothes of a girl strictly related with life, peace and nature (a link to an older design of her jacket without stars, meaning they were introduced purposely for the Remake).

As a side note, her gray bracelet has the same design of the guard of the Buster sword.

Talking about stars, also in her canon outfit to see Don Corneo she wears some accessories with star pendants (earrings, necklace, bracelets and sandals). At first it seemed to me a strange choice, as stars in FFVII are commonly related to the promise (and there were no stars in her OG red dress), but in the light of a possible connection with Stamp-Zack it really makes more sense.

---

In short, I’m convinced the devs are hinting once more Aerith’s bond with Zack, even in these subtile details. I was unsure if I had to created this post, given the uncertainaties around the subject. Anyway..

..even if I’m wrong, I have to admit it is a good number of coincidences!

EDIT:

All this recalls me something...

"Aerith’s star and Cloud’s star! They show a great future!” [Cait Sith, Temple of Ancients]

...and now it turns out the stars could be related to Zack? And consequently related to Cloud because of his alter ego? What a coincidence...

#aerith gainsborough #zack fair #zerith #stamp the dog #stamp ffvii #ffvii remake

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outbythehighwind · 3 years

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Aerith & Tifa: Visual Design

An Analysis of the Final Fantasy VII Heroines [Part 1]

This is the first part of my in-depth analysis on FF7′s heroines, where they are depicted as perfect foils to one another. For those who don’t know, a foil is a character who contrasts with another and simultaneously highlights the qualities of that other character. Foils can range from protagonists & antagonists to, in the case of the FF7 girls, very close friends. In exploring this particular writing technique, I will examine their differences and similarities, friendship, relationships to Cloud and Sephiroth, and their differing but equally important roles as heroines in the overall story. Before starting though, I want to mention one thing: I adore both characters, and Tifa and Aerith are to me the exemplary role models of fictional heroines.

Now let us begin with the first thing we are introduced to: their visual designs. (Note that visual design, like narrative, is a tool that can be purposefully accurate and/or purposefully misleading. This should be kept in mind throughout the entire analysis, for FF7 - to no exaggeration - gets more than the average game's pleasure out of tricking, subverting and astonishing it's audience.) Now, onto our beloved flower girl...

AERITH

Aerith’s visual design, at first glance, is one of a meek and kindly girl. Her long, sleeveless dress, pearl pink in color, elicits an air of grace, of softness and serenity. She appears gentle and pure. These qualities are enhanced by the matching pink ribbon in her hair, which adds an additional purity to the character – one of youthful girliness, evoking a naive separation from the gigantic world around her.

Accompanying the dress and ribbon is a short sleeve crop jacket. And instead of enhancing this grace and naivety, its crimson shade shows quite the opposite. Red is a bold and brazen color. Coupled with the 90’s crop-style of the jacket, it enforces strength and vigilance. The loud (and somewhat rebellious) qualities of her jacket countervail the quiet elements of her dress and ribbon. They are a contrasting balance, as we will soon find out, of Aerith’s personality. She is gentle and pure, but she is no softie. She has complete confidence in herself.

These contrasting qualities are connected in the fact that red and pink are proximate colors. While the dress and jacket themselves are from two different worlds, the colors go together. Moreover, red and pink are the colors that represent love. Mixed together, they create ‘hot pink’ – a color used to communicate playfulness. A beautiful metaphor for both Aerith’s love for all life and her playful, sassy personality.

Moving on to her footwear, we find an even sharper contrast. One would expect that a person who so fashionably marries grace and strength would have stylish footwear to match. Yet here is Aerith with a pair of grimy, commonplace boots. While the dress, jacket and ribbon communicate her nature and personality, these grimy, commonplace boots inform the player of the life she is leading – the life of a girl who has grown up in the slums. These grimy, commonplace boots are the wise and fitting footwear to get by.

Aerith’s boots and hair are the same shade of brown, framing the vibrant personality her outfit presents. In addition to the bright, lively clothing, her hair is a standout feature of her character. And there is another character that shares this feature. Aerith’s trademark bangs share an almost-identical design to Sephiroth’s, an allusion to her in-every-sense enemy foil. Not only do the pair share similarities in their hair, but also in clothing: Sephiroth’s collar parallels Aerith’s jacket; his wrist-cuffs parallel Aerith’s bracelets; his cloak parallels the length of her dress; and his eyes – although mako-induced – are an even deeper green than Cloud’s, in direct match to Aerith’s.

Their bright green eyes further represent their foil-roles in relation to the external plot of FF7 – the plot concerned with the Planet. Aerith’s eyes are green with life, representing her connection with the Planet. Sephiroth, of course, holds a connection too, though his Mako-induced green is not his authentic color, portraying him as the false ‘savior’ he acclaims himself to be, in contrast to the true savior that is Aerith.

To see Aerith and Sephiroth’s designs as directly antithetical to one another, consider their concepts below, with Aerith’s weapon and hair trailing right while Sephiroth’s weapon and hair trails left – like a mirror image. Also, notice Aerith’s bright, vibrant design against Sephiroth’s dark, monochromatic design - a visual display of life and light against darkness. But more on Sephiroth later.

There is no FF7 character with a brighter visual design than Aerith – fittingly, for she is the party’s light. In the remake, her outfit is much the same, if not expanded upon. The jacket reaches her hips rather than waist, and the boots are black, yet about as commonplace as the original brown boots. The notable difference is her dress. The remake fits Aerith in a looser, frilly dress, which actually enhances her grace and creates a more deceptive air of naive youthfulness, much like the longer crop jacket further enhances her boldness.

TIFA

There are two roles incorporated into Tifa’s visual design: Tifa the barkeep; and Tifa the monk (that is, a martial artist of FF-verse). We will begin with the former, the first role introduced when the player meets her in Seventh Heaven.

Tifa’s barkeep design consists of black forearm sleeves matching a black skirt that is held up by suspenders. With her hair tucked behind her left ear, a teardrop earring is visible. Immediately, one gets the sense of warmness and invitation they would associate with a hostess. The skirt and suspenders appeal to the sensuous aspect of the design while the sleeve and earring give off an aura of classiness. Overall, an attraction is formed between Tifa and player – that sense of warmness and invitation drawing the player toward her. This attraction is enhanced by her long, dark hair and warm, wine-hued eyes. Not only is the color of Tifa’s eyes a clever nod to her literal bar-hosting, but it alludes to what her bar-hosting metaphorically symbolizes – a nurturing motherliness accentuated by their warmth. Not only is the player drawn in by the clothing she dons, but Tifa’s natural features are what inaugurates the invitation.

Next is the role of monk. Padded gloves and boots match the dark red shade of Tifa’s eyes, coupling her warmth and hospitality with strength. Strength and its associated qualities – firmness, power, intensity – are usually found in opposition to tenderness. But manifested in these items of clothing that are the same color as the defining embodiment of the latter (Tifa’s eyes), strength and tenderness are bridged together. Tifa is a fighter fueled by compassion. Tifa is a fighter who fights to protect. A matching dark red band ties the ends of her locks together to keep them collected, and on her left elbow and boot are armored guards, enhancing her aura of strength. Finally, she wears an ordinary white tank top for practicality in movement.

Put together with the elements of her bartender design, Tifa’s fighting gear gives her an unconventionally unique appearance: a smash-’em-if-required barkeep; a drink-serving monk. This overall appearance has an appropriate balance between allure and profession. It is attractive without being voluptuous. It is welcoming without hiding the fact that she could easily kick one’s ass if need be. And across her entire visual design, the two roles are in equilibrium. The player is drawn in to her design in the one sense, and then they are let in on what she is physically capable of. In other words, Tifa’s visual design uses its every component to give the player insight on her character. At the same time, however, it purposefully masks a great deal.

Accompanying this ‘smash-’em barkeep, drink-serving monk’ design so centered on conveying its dual-role aspects, are two items that educate the more observant player on Tifa’s circumstances. One of these has already been mentioned and is the classiest element of her design, while the other – which will likely go unnoticed – is the most ordinary. The former, Tifa’s aforementioned earring, is in the shape of a tear, subtly reflecting her past of sorrows and heartache. Yet it is her outfit’s grandest, most expensive item; this past of sorrows and heartache is what enabled her to become strong while remaining compassionate for others. Being a single teardrop on only one ear signifies how Tifa deals with emotions – the emotions she, as her name suggests, locks away in her heart. One drop for herself, the basic remembrance, the fuel, is all she outwardly allows.

Then we have the most ordinary item – a pair of woolly black socks. These socks are so subtle that even the exceptionally observant player might miss them, yet they are the single item that appeals to neither monk nor barkeep. They are distinctly… Tifa – Tifa the ordinary. Every other element is inch-perfect on what it communicates, yet here is a pair of ordinary socks that look as though they were thrown on in a morning’s rush. They give her this every-girl, neighborly quality which the player will be distracted from until the truth comes to light, with Tifa’s centrality and intimacy in the internal plot being revealed – the plot concerned with saving Cloud.

Speaking of literal neighborly vibes and intimacy, it is worth mentioning in brief that certain elements of Tifa’s outfit share similarity with Cloud’s. Both wear two metal guards only on their left side (Tifa on her elbow and boot and Cloud on his shoulder and wrist), a subtle allusion to their being ‘half’-selves on the surface (Cloud with his Zack-delusion and Tifa with her hidden feelings). Cloud too wears an earring in his left ear – a studded one, signifying, like Tifa’s teardrop, a certain brokenness of self. In Advent Children, both wear a black sleeveless vest with a high zip collar, a black cape, black boots (notice that Tifa has now replaced her trademark red) and a wolf symbol (on Cloud’s badge and Tifa’s ring) – a symbol associated specifically with Cloud. I mention these details because of Cloud’s centrality to Tifa’s story and vice versa, which will later be discussed in her role as heroine.

Tifa’s design for the remake is a nice though slight variation that fits in with the more realistic aesthetic. Her skirt has pleated segments, making for more realistic movements during combat, and her abs are toned, further enforcing her strength and perseverance in protecting her loved ones. Her black thigh-highs are an additional element, complimenting her forearm sleeves.

Despite the subtle, throw-‘em-on-in-a-hurry socks being foregone, Tifa’s remake outfit perfectly balances her barkeep and monk roles. The omission of such a neutralizing feature works even better with regard to Tifa’s character, in my opinion, for her true thoughts and feelings will be hidden for much of the game. Thus we are led astray, and the narrative will constantly push us further and further away from her inner emotions hidden beneath these two outward roles.

By visual design alone, and in the narrative that will follow, the player is led to believe Tifa has complete confidence in herself. But appearance of course, like narrative, can be deceiving.

SUMMARY

Straight away, by visual design, we have two heroines who are each a blend of multiple characteristics, yet not fitting a particular trope. They are completely unique in their own right, exemplifying both relatable and admirable traits.

Aerith, who we expect to be the meek and youthfully naive girl at first glance, embodies an undeniable self-confidence that compliments her kindness. Tifa, who looks extremely confident on appearance, has an emotional shyness masked by two bold outward roles. Aerith is the vibrant light who guides outer world adventure; Tifa is the inviting warmth who makes one feel at home. Aerith bridges the attributes of grace and toughness; Tifa balances the qualities of compassion and strength. While both exemplify these heroic traits by their very design, they are - however subtly shown - struggling slum girls.

#my analyses #ff7 1997 #ff7 remake #tifa lockhart #aerith gainsborough #parallels

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mrs-nate-humphrey · 3 years

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no-sleep 1x09rewatch ramble-essay (all content warnings for the episode apply here)

i was just like. oh i’ll watch a feel-good episode of gossip girl! s1 thanksgiving ep is great isn’t it! blairenate family feels!!! ruflyson love triangle drama!!! vdw siblings AND humphrey siblings hanging out!!! dan’s “see you later waldorf” *salutes & closes the cab door* !!!

& like. yes i DID remember serena’s whole not being sober on thanksgiving thing, and yes i DID remember blair’s ED relapse - which is heavy, but eating disorder content isn’t particularly triggering for me personally (i find it kind of cathartic, if we’re being honest) BUT . i somehow forgot. that THIS was the episode which has howard’s suicide attempt?? and now i have some of the most painful nate feels in the world.

blah blah blah, leight’s acting brought me to tears, which probably doesn’t sound like a very big deal but sort of is, for a variety of reasons (watching things doesn’t usually make me cry, it’s happened maybe a single-digit number of times before + also just my blair feels in general --> she’s a really interesting character but i don’t find her AS relatable as i do dan, or nate, or vanessa, or maybe even serena at times --> so i usually do have a bit of a disconnect re: watching her, which i really do not have for like. dan, for instance.)

i just cannot divorce that very cute outfit blair wears with her ED relapse - which brings me to the next point, which is that blair is maybe THE only character ever for whom her clothing choices and her plotlines are so interwoven in my head (lemon yellow shirt and funky little hat is her mean bridesmaids competitive game day, yellow-&-orange dress is her choose chuck over dan moment, genderqueer plaid skirt and grey shirt is her “dan loves me for me” moment, white shirt with the pink flowers is her get owned by nelly yuki moment, etc etc)... the only other time i noticed outfits is derena cotillion, but that’s just because i LOVE derena cotillion, and date matching shirts, but that’s because i am tuned into all things date and couldn’t possibly tell you what those outfits actually symbolise, with the exception of dan’s pink flannel shirt from when he’s holding milo. or any of the outfits from 2x06 because that is my episode hands down. oh hey would you look at that, i do actually form associations. but you gotta believe me on this, blair’s the one it happens most naturally for, which is very strange. i think it’s because her outfits are always Statements in a way that the other characters never do, except for jenny, who is a fashion designer, so it’s Different for her. what am i trying to say.

oh yeah another iconic outfit is serena’s golden jacket and bright blue pants to the morgue to identify what might be chuck’s corpse. she literally dressed like she was going clubbing and i respect her so much for that.

anyway. gosh. nate just - getting gaslit by his mom, getting reprimanded by his dad for telling his mom to stop being rude/petty... howard was like “don’t fight my fights for me” but nate wasn’t even doing that?? he was just asking his mom Not to be rude, and the fact that nate got told off at the end of that interaction... uh. it shows a lot about the archibald family unit in general and just. how nate is sort of treated as ... i don’t have the right word, but my brain is like “second class citizen”... which is absolutely NOT the right concept for nate but like. he is treated like he is Less a part of the family than his parents are....... RIGHT until one of them (or both of them!) fuck up in a big way and it’s down to nate to fix their mess. i haven’t read “adult children of emotionally immature parents” but from whatever i’ve heard about it, i think nate could do with reading it. or not. maybe it’d just make him sadder.

and fuck - nate’s whole talk with his dad and his dad telling nate that he doesn’t know how he can go on, etc etc... idk what to say or where to draw the line but i have really complicated howard & nate feelings. i really truly think anne was the worse parent (not like it’s a competition of course) and i sometimes seriously wonder if maybe howard archibald had a more supportive life partner, maybe he wouldn’t have ended up being ~like that~ to nate (doesn’t justify anything of course). anyway nate’s sitting by the hospital bed and his dad is denying his suicide attempt at first and nate’s just like, no, stop. this is also making me think now of nate sitting by serena’s hospital bed after tripp, and nate possibly sitting by blair’s hospital bed some point pre-series (eating disorders are serious and i really do think, esp with eleanor being eleanor, that it must’ve gotten pretty bad for blair before she got help - which. sorry. i know, it’s sad but i’m just putting together pre-existing implications.) all i’m saying is some point in the future i wouldn’t be surprised if nate’s just. uncomfortable in hospitals and unable to piece together why. oh yikes i just remembered blair’s miscarriage. at which point do hospitals become overly suffocating for natie, remind him of his own helplessness, etc... because i really think they would. anyway.

anne archibald chills me because she is such an accurate representation of a very specific kind of mother and. i hate it for nate obviously but i struggle to remember a time i’ve seen a tv mom who i can 100% relate to so hard. as in. fuck. worded that wrong. whose SON i can relate to so hard. ouch. this may be a moot point because i don’t watch much tv, but honestly anne & nate is just. a Lot. in a way that is significant to Me, specifically. this is part of my pet peeve (not enough to fight with anybody don’t worry) when people make edits about mothers & daughters, as if what was happening between nate & anne, somehow didn’t have the same complications - i honestly think there’s some solid eleanor & blair/ anne & nate parallels to be drawn. and we’ve been over this somewhere else, but lily & serena / rufus & dan / rufus & jenny definitely have a lot of the same specific issues (parent projecting on child, etc.) again - everyone engages w the show differently, im ready to admit that like... maybe 65% of my problems with the ‘mothers & daughters’ reading probably stem from gender dysphoria, lol. but whatever.

i have feelings about dan & alison, too... i really do think dan was closer to his mom than to his dad for majority of his childhood, and this ep really cements it. anyway. i don’t have any more words and i’m tired. and i might just watch derena cotillion episode because . derena cotillion episode my beloved...

wait wait before i forget. venn diagram of humphrey family & van der bilt family & playing american football. i know this has come up before but like. here we go i;m thinking about it again. both dan and nate have been competitively thrown in the grass by a family member in the name of sports. no wonder nate chose dan over chuck in 2x06 (i would put a tone indicator but even i can’t tell if this is /gen or /j)

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telesthisia · 3 years

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“Dear my beloved hero, my dear friend, Link, Champion of Hylia... hello, are you well? I am uncertain whether or not this letter will reach you... perhaps courage will find me this time and I will not hide it away with the others but.

I miss you. I hope that you are well... I hope that you are enjoying your adventures outside of Hyrule...”

ALRIGHT Y’ALL NOW IT’S MY TURN WITH DEPRESSED CRYPTID PRINCESSSSSSSSSSS!!! If you haven’t already might I suggest checking out Blue’s post about how her Zellie is a swole 172 cm aka 5′8″ GODDESS!!! It’s quite the read but as with all her headcanons, it’s a fun read so def check it out if you haven’t already. BUT LET’S DO THIS!! For this pose I went with a simple cute one with Zelda holding a letter that’s addressed to Link. She has two years worth of unsent letters all to him, while the penmanship is neat in all of them there’s a lot of crossed out sentences in each one before she folds it up and places it in a small box that she hides under the bed. The one she’s holding in her hands is the last one before giving up on ever contacting him and wishing him all the best on his journey. It hurts how the only time they could ever have that same connection is when darkness strikes her kingdom, believing that the happiest she ever was is that dream sequence she has with Link in the manga... for their connection was the strongest she’d ever felt. Lining up with the 90s comic bittersweet ending, she feels lonely now that Link is no longer by her side since their duties keep them apart, but she believes in the future and believes it’s best to move on. ;v; alright more things under cut because I tend to ramble!

Midway through drawing this, I realized that my notes on the draws wouldn’t be easy to read, so I’ll put all my messy thoughts on Zelda’s appearance after the events of Oracles and ALTTP! My post won’t be nice looking, I tend to get a bit distracted when excited, blame the ADD and super sorry for that!! Keep in mind that Zelda’s main verse canon is three years after the events of ALTTP and a year after Oracles!

This is more of an art thing if anything and part of the messy notes I can’t add, but Zelda has a petite-pear shaped body. The shoulders and back are smaller than the hips which are wider than her shoulders. It’s something I gotta keep in mind when doing full body draws aaaaa! But her rare blood disorder has affected her growth, which is why she’s tiny (5′0″ my dudes but she’s 5′0″ full of love for you) and so freaking pale too. The paleness of her skin is meant to show that she looks a bit on the sickly side. I try to give her kind looking eyes that are big and wide!! And dark blue in color!! She has a bit of a sleepy look to it to make them look more calm and gentle!! Sadly, she’s physically weak and doesn’t have the stamina or even the heart power (Without triggering a fainting spell) to go body building for that sweet eight pack. The complexion she has is blemish and scar free because when you rich you get only the best skin care..... aside from the freckles covering her face. Makeup does make it appear lighter but when Zelda’s not wearing her royal get up the only makeup she tends to wear is eyeshadow and the blue lipstick! So those freckles? They’re there for the world to see! They cover her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, her shoulders, and back!! Noble kids used to make fun of her for her freckles but Zelda found a way to refute their teasings by insisting that her freckles were from when children of the fae would give her small kisses for luck! Her ears a little longer than most Hylians, it comes with being from the royal family and yet another hint to her divine origins.

She is almost never seen without the little tiara she wears when in commoner clothing, the one with the three stones hanging from it! In truth, it’s a gift given to her by the oracles and their colors correspond with the oracles rather than the goddesses, which is why she’s wearing it all the time as a means to remember them. She loves those girls :’) while the bracelet is the same one we see in ALTTP! That one is a bit of an important piece of jewelry. It was a present from her father on her sixth birthday, when exploring the stalls of a nearby town yet affected by the sudden onslaught of plagues and droughts, she’d been fascinated with it and her father bought it for her because how can you say no to baby Zel??? It’s a simple fool’s gold bracelet with no design to it and you can find it anywhere, really, but she loves and wears whenever she can when wearing commoner clothes. Sadly, the maids in charge of dressing her up in her stuffy royal dresses would never let her go around the castle wearing that due to how cheap it is. And finally, the earrings and pendant of courage... I’ve mentioned it before but she’s always wearing the pendant. It was given to her by Link before Link went away on his journey and since then it’s become an important symbolic thing where it gives her courage she lacks. Hence why she wishes to give it to the person she marries so that they too can feel the same courage. With the dress I’ve designed for her, it’s more noticeable, but sometimes she’ll wear it under her clothes if she feels it wouldn’t match her outfit! And the Triforce earrings? Her mother’s!! She’s never seen without them, that’s like seeing Bayonetta without her glasses with the earrings pft.

So something that’s fun to point out is her shade of blonde! Originally, she had a more golden tone to her hair color, hence why the close up with her eyebrows the color is super darker than the blonde (I tend to color them black but that’s the actual color of them, only reason why I color them black is because I love the contrast with light hair and dark eyebrows ;w;) we see in this draw! So, why’s her hair lighter? Well, Zelda suffers from a little something called Marie Antoinette syndrome. What the hell is that??? You may ask yourself and it’s more or less where the hair turns white from extreme fear and shock, it’s used in the realm of fiction since irl something like that can’t really happen. Due to the various stresses, traumas, and extreme fear she’s endured by witnessing the death of her father, the priest and countless others as well as being kidnapped twice and being used for sacrifice one time and nearly a blood sacrifice to revive Ganon another... well, it affected her mentally giving her trauma and physically all that stress poorly affecting her already bad health. So, the lighter her hair, the more stress she’s been through and that’s probably why whenever you see me draw Zel you’ll see her with pale hair... (I kinda want to make it white because that’s peak Ambercore BUT PLATINUM BLONDE IS CLOSE ENOUGH WE GOTTA KEEP THE BLONDE!!!!!) As always, the hair floofs are very important to her design! It’s what makes her friend shaped!!! That said, I just think it’s a very cute design choice hence why I kept it here! Her hair is longer than in oracles and ALTTP, growing it out to her hips and just above the tailbone! It’s super long, there’s no meaning behind why she grew it out this much aside from failing to keep up with it due to how fast it grows. The public, naturally, believes differently and as common with the mindset of those times believe that she has long hair to show her status as a member of someone who comes from wealthy background. She’s a little hurt by this assumption, really, as it implies she does nothing but brushes it all day as well as showing off her status when it’s actually neither of those things. The floofs, shows that it’s a bit on the messy side as proof that she doesn’t do that at all... but instead spends her days exploring ruined places of decay and death!

The dress she wears is one of her favorite ones, she has dark boots underneath that goes up to her shins because I think that’s peak character design. The dress is two layers!! The first being the blue overlay and the second a plain old white dress with the collar showing off her shoulders, the cut of the collar is almost reminiscent to nightgowns, the sleeves are short and poofy and in the back is a ribbon, no real reason for that aside from me thinking that’s cute. In truth, I based her outfit off of historical dresses worn in those times for commoners. Their clothes tend to be more simple and Zelda much prefers to wear the dresses of commoners than her silken royal gowns with the heavy gold regalia. Though the pink dress she wears in alttp (and SSBU) is for more important events such as when she was crowned as the next ruler for the throne, she also has a wide wardrobe of various dresses which I will be basing off of Tudor era and a little later in 17th century....

In short.... I tried to make her as friend shaped as possible.

#headcanon.#about.#headcanon 019.#eyyyyy i'll add more to this once i can think of more BUT THAT'S MORE OR LESS THE HEART OF HER DESIGN!!#blue's post ninspired me ;v; nintendo hire us we make amazing zelda designs OK?!?!?!#this post is a mess but more or less notes to keep track of with my zelda's apperance it differs a bit!!#amber's crap crap art.

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mechanical-magician · 4 years

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Another Redesign Analysis

Going through my old sketch books and seeing my old beloved characters has been a journey for me. It’s like peeking into the past, into the mindset of myself as a child.

Today’s character though is one that once he was created, I never had the intention of keeping him. Despite this, he ended up becoming one of my favorite concepts to this day! Those who follow me might have picked up that I have a close relationship with the user @lil-coffee-cat, and she was someone who helped me develop this character as well.

I owe him and his concept’s creation to her cooperation, so thank you CoffeeCat :) I hope to continue working with you for the far foreseeable future!

Gushing aside about my friendships, today’s character is Tomothy Foolery. He was originally created to be the stereotypical “evil twin brother” to another character named Timothy (whom will more than likely get his own redesign soon). He was created on a whim just for fun, and heck, Tim and Tom weren’t even meant to be their final names! Over time, CoffeeCat and I tinkered around with our characters, and Tom oddly enough stuck around. He began to change, from being a one note evil twin, to being a more deep character.

Years later, the relationship between him and Tim was changed to that of a creation and the creator. Tom is now the inventor of a technology that has allowed him to clone himself. I will go into these clones in later posts, as today I will be focusing on Tom.

Let’s break down the design changes!

The first thing a viewer will probably notice is the almost complete outfit change. Tom is meant to be an extremely wealthy young man, he’s entitled and posh. When I was little, that just translated into “Suit and he speaks like (what I thought was) a British person!”. Of course I grew up and gained a better understanding of different cultures. I thought about how I could translate his posh and expensive life style, while also still showing that he’s an inventor.

It was tricky! I first, added a lab coat to his outfit, but just a regular coat didn’t fit with who Tom was. He would NEVER wear something so normal. I came to the idea of giving the subtle hints of his rich lifestyle by adding little hills on his collar and cuffs, the bottom of the coat is wavy, and there’s not a spot of grease or dirt on it.

Of course underneath is classic formal clothing, worn in a bizarre way. His inner shirt collar is puffy (also a common rich aesthetic), he’s wearing a striped silk vest with a neck tie on the outside, with his relatively un-notable lower half the compliments the top half.

Finally to his outfit, I added some leather gloves that are both fashionable and functional. Where as before, a viewer could only pull together that Tom is a formally dressing young man, now it’s more clear that he’s in the science field.

His color scheme remained relatively the same (though you can’t see in the original picture, I apologize), though notably, I changed any regular black and grey on his original outfit, to varying shades of blue. A personal preference of mine is to keep to two colors, three at the most. But regardless, I feel the consistent blue ties the colors together better.

The second major change is that his hair went from a ponytail, to a rose bun. His hair is clearly controlled, but also reflects a more frantic nature to him in the new design. It’s more clear that he’s an unstable individual with his hair not entirely and perfectly slicked back like in the original design. The rose bun is also a more fancy hairstyle, and just by the nature of having this, it shows that he puts time into his appearence, even if it’s just showing this through something like an elaborate haircut.

Finally, his pose and expression is FAR more indicative of how he really acts. In the original art he looks composed and calm, where as in the new design he’s displaying what makes him an interesting character. He’s posh! He’s clean! And he’ll snap at any given moment! His hand brushing through his hair, his straight stance, his aggressive expression! He’s clearly holding back an angry fit, and that’s simply more interesting to look at. It brings up questions to the viewer and keeps them thinking, rather than looking blank and stale.

OOF that was, a rather awful analysis... I apologize. Part of this project is finding a way to parse my words better ^^’ If you made it through this, thank you! One last thank you to @lil-coffee-cat and all the amazing work you do!

#long rant #design #redesign #art #oc #character design #analysis #I'm sorry lol #lil-coffee-cat

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timeagainreviews · 5 years

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The Fabric of Time and Space

Hello friends! It's been quite a busy time for me. Not only did we have a houseguest for about a week, we got a dog! She's an adopted Irish greyhound named Aoife, and she's a good old girl. Needless to say, lots of things happening. I wanted to write sooner so that I could talk about the death of Terrance Dicks, but finding the time was difficult. While Dicks was a bit of an old school writer when it came to women, I absolutely love "The Horror of Fang Rock." However, one of the things for which Dicks was most beloved was his Doctor Who prose. Whether it be the Target novels, or even the BBC range, chances are that if you've read much Doctor Who prose, you've read some Terrance Dicks. Which is why I plan to do something I've never done on here, and that's to review a Doctor Who novel, specifically- The Eight Doctors. Mind you, I'm going to re-read it, just after I finish these Dark Crystal books.

Speaking of Dark Crystal, how many of you have been watching the new prequel? I've been a bit obsessed, myself. It's captured my imagination in a way I haven't felt in years. For those of you not in the know, I was born in the far off year of 1983, just one year after "The Dark Crystal," entered theatres. However, it wasn't until around 1994 that I even became aware it existed. I remember this because the night I bought two Flintstones movie books, there was a display for "The Dark Crystal," in enticingly green Disney style VHS cases. All of these things released around 1994. I was perplexed by this Jim Henson movie that somehow went completely under my radar. I took my books home that night. The Dark Crystal would have to wait a bit longer.

One of the things I loved most about my copy of "The Flintstones: The Official Movie Book," was the pictures of the Jim Henson Creature Workshop fabricating the dinosaur puppets. Something about their ability to create something realistic while still looking like a cartoon resonated with me. I wanted so much to do that job. Since then I've always had a passion for filmmaking and movie magic. Watching "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance," has rekindled that childhood love I have for the Creature Workshop and character design. As per usual, this got me thinking about Doctor Who. Specifically, its costume design. So I thought I might keep it simple and talk about the costumes of each Doctor. Where better to start than at William Hartnell?

First Doctor

Style: "Edwardian Grandad"

To me, the First Doctor will always look the most like the Doctor the first time we see him in "An Unearthly Child." Topped with an Astrakhan hat and shrouded in a black cape, he cuts a mysterious figure framed by the door of the TARDIS. His costume was a team effort between Maureen Heneghan and William Hartnell who was adamant as to what he would and would not wear. The decision was to make him slightly Edwardian, as the time period would look somewhat out of place, yet not too far removed from the 1960's.

There's something delightfully camp and yet simple to the way he dresses. Nothing about his wardrobe seems out of place. Even his slightly manky fingerless gloves make sense for an old traveller twisting knobs and flicking switches on his fantastical machine. Sometimes leaning on a cane, and other times standing tall holding onto his lapels with his dark ring glinting against the light. He's an enigma and just a touch out of time.

Second Doctor

Style: "Cosmic Hobo"

When the 60's counterculture movement had started to shake up the status quo, we saw learned men like Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert abandon their stuffy collegiate positions for newfound roles as acid gurus. Much like these wild professors, we see the same thing in the Second Doctor's attire. It's as if the First Doctor partied so hard that he regenerated, and his disheveled clothes were whatever he was wearing when he woke up the next morning.

At the time, we had men like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi popularising words like "cosmic," and I believe it caught on in the Doctor Who production offices. Costumers Daphne Dare and Alexandra Tynman really brought a sort of anarchic spirit to the Doctor's attire that I believe has really carried on throughout the series. While I'm glad the stove pipe hat was annexed early on, I loved the additions of things like his giant fur coat held closed with twine. There's something so very Doctory about a man who looks like he sleeps in boxcars that can also attune his mind to build a perfect white cube. He really is far out, man.

Third Doctor

Style: "Space Dandy"

I've heard it said that there are two men that can pull off ruffles- Jimi Hendrix, and Jon Pertwee. And my god, does he ever? Primarily designed by Christine Rawlins, he was influenced by Adam Adamant's wardrobe. However, the biggest inspiration behind his crushed velvet and scarlet lined capes was colour television! Colour! Colour! Colour!

There's a lot of timeliness tied up in his garb. The increasing abundance of colour TV mixed with a post-60's desire to cut loose. This new night-time apparel was a way for gents to relax after a long day in their office suits. Leave it to the alien time traveller to completely ignore this fact and wear said nightwear in the middle of the day. Not only does the Third Doctor introduce a trend of the Doctor stealing his clothes from hospitals, he also marks the first major shift in apparel. The First and Second Doctors may have worn different ties, or trousers, but their overall look remained consistent. The Third Doctor's look adhered more to a wardrobe, or a style of dress. And boy does he have style!

Fourth Doctor

Style: "The Bohemian"

Once again, we see a continuation here of the style of the previous two Doctors. There's a bookishness, mixed with counterculture. Costume designer James Acheson, based a lot of the Fourth Doctor's look on Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting of his friend Aristide Bruant. Bruant was a man known for his wide brimmed hat and long scarf. As legend has it, Acheson commissioned a woman named Begonia Pope to knit the famous scarf. Only instead of stopping at a sensible length, this witty little knitter used every last spool of yarn she was provided.

As much as I love Tom Baker's costume in it's versatility and appropriate alienness, I am less a fan of the series 18 redesign by June Hudson, which was notoriously meddled with by John Nathan-Turner. While I rather like the new scarf, the all burgundy ensemble with question mark lapels seems to me like the first time the costume felt like a costume. That being said, there is something timeless about Tom Baker's look that even carries on into its various redesigns such as in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang," or "The Horror of Fang Rock." So much so, that even today if I go out in my Thirteenth Doctor cosplay, you always get some joker saying "Hey, where's your scarf?"

Fifth Doctor

Style: "Beige Cricketer Dad"

Before I had ever watched the Fifth Doctor's episodes, I used to look at his costume and contemplate what kind of guy would dress like that. The cricketer uniform with that red piped coat, and those garish pinstripe pyjamas over white trainers is a definite statement, but what is up with that celery? You can imagine my further confusion when I discovered Davison's portrayal was slightly more subdued and less eccentric. It made him almost the weirdest Doctor in that such a normal seeming guy would dress like his five year old picked out his clothes.

Hell, even the celery is there for a pretty mundane reason. It changes purple in the presence of certain poisonous gases. Very practical. They didn't even illustrate this purpose, we were told about it in his last episode! And you know how I feel about "show, don't tell." Regardless, I can't help but kind of love this outfit, question marks and all. I don't know if it's because I'm a fan and we grow to love this show, warts and all, but there's a reason it's on my list of costumes to cosplay. It's unmistakably the Fifth Doctor, even if it doesn't really make much sense.

Sixth Doctor

Style: "Hot Alien Mess"

Out of all of the Doctor Who costumes, I don't think a single one has been more notorious than this one. Unlike the Fifth Doctor's costume which piqued my curiosity, my initial thoughts upon seeing the Sixth Doctor's costume was "Well that was a mistake." And I wasn't wrong, it definitely was too much. Though in many ways, it also marries so well with the rest of his tenure. John Nathan-Turner's goal was to have a completely tasteless costume to match his tasteless vision for the show. He gave poor Pat Godfrey the thankless task of bringing this monstrosity to the screen.

Though, like I said, you do get used to it, as it does fit Colin Baker's irascible narcissist. I totally believe that an alien might find something like that fashionable. Even his little cat badges on his lapels inspire something I think is essential to his character. He's a big loud tomcat yowling until people stop what they're doing and recognise his brilliance. This is another one of those "I can't help but want to cosplay it," outfits. I especially like his tropical look in "The Two Doctors." It would have been nice to see more this variation in his run, such as the original black design or even the blue one we got in other media. Sigh.

Seventh Doctor

Style: "Tweedy Eccentric"

Remember how I mentioned in previous articles that the Seventh Doctor era was a series of course corrections? This is a definite one of those. We're back to something a lot more subtle, like the First or Fourth Doctor's eccentric professor vibes. But my god, those question marks just won't die! You ever have one of those friends who just can't help themselves? You can give them good advice, but at the end of the day, they're still going to do things their way? That's JNT with these goddamn question marks.

I really love the Seventh Doctor's era as I feel like the show was on the up and up. The writing was getting back on track, and Ace and Seven's chemistry was brilliant. So when you look at the Doctor's jumper, it's a kind of visible evidence of JNT being dragged kicking and screaming into this new era. Yet, funnily, when we see the Eighth Doctor movie, the Seventh Doctor's new waistcoat seems somehow less exciting. There's a certain playfulness sacrificed for realism. Perhaps JNT was onto something with his campy vision.

Eighth Doctor

Style: "Anne Rice Vampire Boyfriend"

It's going to be hard for me to view this costume without rose-tinted glasses. The Eighth Doctor is my first Doctor, so his costume will always have a place in my heart as one of the greats. But which costume? Well, of course I mean the first one from the TV movie, but my god has the man had some costume changes! Be it book, comic, or audio, the man has changed his clothes. My favourite being the unjustly maligned "Dark Eyes," variant, as I had always wondered why the Doctor never wore jeans.

Marking the second time the Doctor stole his wardrobe from a hospital, his original costume, designed by Jori Woodman, seems geared toward evoking a more classic look. A little Hartnell, a little Pertwee. For the most part it works, but I could see the argument some have made that it is a bit "costumey." In its defence, it is a costume. By the time we see McGann again in "The Night of the Doctor," we get a more subdued version of the movie look, befitting the modern series. Gotta love a man who can pull off a neckerchief.

War Doctor

Style: "Metrosexual Post-Apocalyptic"

Sadly, there's not a lot of information on the War Doctor's ensemble. But I believe you can learn a lot simply by looking at it. It's design by Howard Burden (who also did the Eighth Doctor redesign), is meant to be a sort of dark in-between of the Eighth and Ninth Doctors. Which makes a lot of sense, really. His costume looks like the clothing of a man at war. Utilitarian in it's form an function, it looks designed for durability and versatility.

I've often felt the War Doctor would not look out of place in the Fallout universe. He still wears the bandolier of a woman he couldn't save in a previous life. So much of his costume is meant to tell a visual story of a Mad Max-style road warrior. Funny then that the man still has the time to form the perfect faux-hawk coiffure and manscaped goatee with just the right amount of neckbeard. It's more of that visual storytelling I love so much- the Doctor may be a man lost at war, but he's still a bit of a narcissist. Brilliant.

Ninth Doctor

Style: "Navvy Bloke"

Christopher Eccleston has been in the news a lot these last few days due to the release of his new book "I Love the Bones of You." We've learned so much about his time as the Doctor that talking about the look of his character has become a bit of a tough subject. A lot of the man's look is now intrinsically tied in his body dysmorphia, which was at its worst when in the role as the Doctor.

I say it's "tough," in that I do want to talk about how he looked like no other Doctor Who came before him. His northern bloke look and sound almost dared the audience to reevaluate the Doctor they thought they knew. His costume is almost a non-costume. Black leather on black trousers with an assortment of dark coloured v-neck jumpers were a far cry from the question marks and long scarves of the Doctors before. Yet despite all of these differences, he quickly dispelled any doubts many longtime viewers had. He was the perfect Doctor to breathe new life into the show. These last few days have shown us just how lucky we are to still have such a man with us.

Tenth Doctor

Style: "Hipster Geek"

People often times call Matt Smith's Doctor a hipster. But who's the one wearing horn rimmed glasses and Chuck Taylors with a form fitting suit? You want to talk about first impressions from a photograph, my first thought was "hipster geek." And I love him for it. David Tennant's Doctor is such a charismatic goofball, that it's hard not to love him. And I honestly can't think of a better costume for him. I will say however that I think this one falls under that "costumey," look I've mentioned before. There's something very Scooby-Doo about a guy who owns two of the same suit in reverse colour.

I also love the simple fact that he's wearing actual Chuck Taylors. I'm surprised more Doctors haven't. Even with the logos on the sides whited out, you can spot the real McCoy (or Tennant) a mile away. Top all of this off with that marvellous coat of his, and you've got a real super hero look. Just picture it- his coat blowing in the breeze as it clings to his matchstick frame, his hair and eyes trembling with Time Lord fury. He's iconic as hell and it's no wonder he's caught the hearts and minds of so many fans.

Eleventh Doctor

Style: "Young Old Man"

I absolutely love Matt Smith's Doctor, especially his early look with the tweed and floppy hair. Ray Holm really came out swinging with this costume as it bred countless one-liners about his bow-ties and love for a good fez. If you've ever seen pictures of other Eleventh Doctor costume concepts, you'd realise what a stroke of genius that bowtie really was. He just doesn't look like the Doctor without it. I believe it was Smith himself who suggested the bowtie.

I would not say I am as onboard with the later purple suit the Doctor wore with Clara. It just lacked the subtlety of the tweed. And that top hat looked especially out of place, which is funny when you consider how good the black top hat looked on him in "Let's Kill Hitler." While I would not say the purple ensemble was a total failure, it's got nothing on his original look. Which, if you'll recall, was also stolen from a hospital.

Twelfth Doctor

Style: "Punk Magician"

Peter Capaldi is the first Doctor I ever had to wait to see the costume reveal. I had gotten into Doctor Who around the tail end of Matt Smith's first series. I remember my first reaction to Howard Burden's costume being something like "Huh." I didn't really love it. Perhaps it was the mixture of it being new, and not having already been established as the Doctor's clothes, but I was slow to come around to it. Capaldi's inspiration behind the costume was David Bowie's "Thin White Duke," persona, which is a telling bit of inspiration considering what a dark point it was in Bowie's life.

For me, the Twelfth Doctor's look truly comes together over time. I think it's somehow tied to his hair. The wilder it got, the more I liked his look. I absolutely love the hoodies and the First Doctor inspired trousers. There's something so perfect about a black jumper bespeckled with holes allowing the white shirt beneath to shine through like stars. The cosmic hobo is back in a punk rock fashion. There's something very lived in about the Twelfth Doctor's style that really resonates with me. He may be the eldest Doctor of the modern series (unless you count John Hurt), but there is something undeniably youthful about him

Thirteenth Doctor

Style: "Godspell Casual"

Jodie's costume was another one of those "Huh," moments for me. It was such a departure from anything before it, bar maybe the Ninth Doctor's jumpers. However, it only took me a few days to get used to, as compared to multiple episodes with Capaldi. A female Doctor was something I had pondered over for such a long time, that I had some expectations as to what she should and shouldn't be wearing. I definitely wanted her in sensible footwear and no floofy skirts. I wanted her like an adventurer. Think Rachel Weisz in "The Mummy." So when she showed up with a pair of high water trousers and comfortable boots, I was pretty happy. It was her t-shirt I was most taken aback by. It seemed a little more casual than I expected, but when you consider she's been a bloke her entire life, having no nonsense clothes is very much the Doctor.

It's not hard to imagine why this was the second Doctor I've cosplayed (the other being Four). There's lots of symbolism tied into the coat that Ray Holm and Whittaker devised together, and I love that they put that much thought into it. At this point it's still early days in her character. Aside from a blink and you miss it scarf or a red shirt, we've not seen a whole lot of wardrobe variation. Rumour has it she'll be donning a pair of black trousers is series 12, which I'm all for. I'd also love to see her wear some grey checked trousers like Hartnell and Troughton. Or even a black and white version of her current look. There's so much versatility possible in her costume. I hope they explore a bit of it.

And that's it for now, friends. I hope you enjoyed this article. I tried to put a little bit of research into it. While I was writing it, this blog turned one year old! I can't believe I've been doing this for a whole year! It's such a wonderful sight to see when you all like the posts and share them. Knowing I've resonated with someone like yourselves feels a little less lonely. Expect to see a Sixth Doctor review corresponding with his blu-ray (I missed the Third Doctor Blu-ray/Pertwee 100th birthday). I'm also planning on covering "The Edge of Time," VR game if they ever decide to release it! Oh and I might start covering the Dark Crystal as well, because I really love that show. I hope you are having a great weekend!

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millennialdemon · 5 years

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Summer 2019 First Impressions, Round 2!

Premieres the past few days have mercifully been better -- but that’s not saying much considering how awful the earlier releases were...

-- Dr. STONE

To be honest, I had already developed a bad taste in my mouth for this just based on the trailers I had watched weeks before the premiere. I thought the protagonist was wildly unappealing and unrelatable, not just because the art/design style is not my favourite, but because of his personality... I was crossing my fingers he wouldn’t be as insufferable as he was in the trailer clips, but alas...

The “novelty” of a shounen where “Science Trumps Magic And Fantasy!” is completely lost on me, because the first episode honestly didn’t feature much science, at least not in a meaningful or interesting way? Sure, the protagonist rattles off some chemistry terms and has fucking E=MC2 on his shirt collar in the post apocalypse (I wish I was kidding...), but him having survival skills enough to build a primitive hut isn’t a display of Genius Intellect, and even at the end when he finally “figures out” how to crack open the shell of stone covering the birds he collected, we didn’t really see him... figure it out. He just did the same thing a bunch of times over a long span of time. Because science is doing the same thing over and over again until it works and not experimenting...?

I assume though that that will be explained in episode 2. I assume. I hope. Or maybe I could rewatch it and see if I missed some pivotal detail of genius realization, but I’d probably still be distracted by Taiju yelling constantly and Senkuu looking at the camera and smirking about #Logic. And some story things that seem glaringly wrong to me even with the hyped up shounen tone, like teenage boys being trapped in stone with their minds aware of it for thousands of years and still having the same personalities as they did before when they finally escape it...

...I guess what I’m saying here is that the comedy/adventure mashup tone is not terribly appealing to me, and that I think it comes off as a bit pretentious when it tries to lay off the Shounen Shenanigans. The characters range from nothing to sneeze at to actively irritating, and for a story trying to make a statement within a genre, it felt super run of the mill. But I will stick around and see how it goes, I suppose...

Tepid 5/10.

-- Fire Force

Probably the best premiere so far, but it still didn’t blow me away, and had quite a few problems just in episode 1... fanservice is the number one turn off of course (and on this note, not just the exploitative visuals of it, but also how it changes the perception of the characters reacting to it... protag boy was alright in my books until the script begged him to look at a co-workers chest, sigh), but I also found the writing very clunky, which is a shame because if it took its foot off the gas re: Flashbacks And Repeated Declarations Of Intent, it could have been more compelling than not at all. You almost had me, protagonist boy, but alas... Anime Bullshit Got In The Way, As It Tends To...

The animation was beautiful (the fire animation! Wow! Cool "firefighting” scenes too) and I actually ended up really warming up to the character designs and weird firefighter-but-a-bit-fantasy aesthetic. I tend to like the shape of over-sized clothing and the modifications to some of the fire fighting uniforms were charming (even though they were pretty silly and unnecessary) like the mage’s witch hat and the nun’s outfit. Other than the outfits, I thought the actual character designs were pretty good too. (Shout out to the protagonist’s mother, who looks like a completely generic, normal anime mom, but she just has pointy teeth! Obsessed with that for some reason)

That’s pretty much all I have to say about it so far. It has potential, I think, but it could easily be squandered with perverse slap stick at the wrong defining moment.

... Like most anime...

7/10 for now.

-- GRANBELM

Hmm... I’m not sure what to say about this one. It actually wasn’t as bad as I was expecting based on the super moe art. But it was certainly messy and wore its inspirations on its sleeve with a bit too much pride...

Let me put it this way: Have you ever wanted to watch a slightly dark and serious magical girl anime, except they also have mechas, and once a month they all fight each other in epic mecha battles on an alternate plane of existence for some reason, while wearing frilly dresses or absurdly ugly bikini/frog hoodie combos, because they are mages who can access magic that was sealed away by seven legendary sages hundreds of years ago because humanity was using magic for evil?

I hope the answer is “No, that sounds ridiculous.” Because it was.

But beyond a few very questionable magical girl outfits, there actually wasn’t any pantyshots or leering cameras, and this is the first show this season to feature an all girl cast that wasn’t completely reprehensible and severely misogynistic.

And I think that counts for something. So 5/10 for being bizarre and average but not making me gag. Yet.

-- Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? Season 2

Alright, I know the “premiere” that dropped a few days ago wasn’t actually episode 1 of the new season, it was a recap episode for the previous season (it has been a few years, I suppose, but I’ve never seen an anime hype itself up so much by releasing a recap before a season premiere)... but I’m glad I watched it anyway. So that I could remember all of the memories of terrible ecchi I repressed when I was 19 (SERIOUSLY forgot about Lili and Hermes existing!!! I wish I could forget again!!!), and could better brace myself for another Godforsaken season. I already watched one season for Bete Loga, I can do it again...

Preemptive, like, I don’t know, 3/10? for being inherently bad, but nevertheless being something I am going to watch and complain about and wish was better the entire time.

and! Thankfully my beloved partner warned me about If It’s For My Daughter I Would Even Defeat a Demon Lord -- which I might have checked out because of positive reviews -- because they had heard that the manga apparently has an Usagi Drop trajectory which is tragic and vile. So anyone sighing in relief and happily reviewing that it’s Unexpectedly Not Horrible!, I recommend holding your breath...

It’s literally the worst, to see an anime about a little girl being adopted, or just existing in general (Dragon Maid...) and having to think “Oh no, this is going to be horrid”, and then being relieved that it isn’t p*dophilia. Only to find out: Actually, it might be!

The bar is under the ground. It’s in hell.

See y'all in a few days with the next batch of probably not great anime premieres, maybe!

#dr. stone #fire force #granbelm #danmachi #is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon?#if it's for my daughter I would even defeat a demon lord #preston.txt

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nicolewrites · 6 years

Text

dearly beloved

hi, i’m alive

Rating: G/G+ Genre: Romance and Friendship Characters: [Ash K. and Misty] Words: 5,473

in which Ash and Misty decide to get married and the world collectively loses its mind / poke, ikari, contest, wishful, leafgreen / ua

AO3 | FFN

Paul hardly looked up from his book as he slid aside the latch on the mailbox and reached in to retrieve their mail. As usual, there was the letter from Reggie and Maylene with a hastily added signature from little Preston, a couple of magazines relating to Dawn’s work, some bills, a postcard from Zoey and Candice’s world tour, and a high-quality formal envelope. His brow creased as he pulled out the last item. It reminded him of letters he got for official League events, but there were none of those coming up, so he was left perplexed. The printing that their address was written in was in handwriting that Paul also usually associated with the League, but this time, it was clearly of a personal level.

He slid it back in between a magazine and Zoey’s postcard and tucked all the mail under his arm. He closed the mailbox and headed back towards the house. He shut the door behind him and followed the noise in the house to the kitchen.

Dawn stood in the doorway of the kitchen with her back to him, but she heard him coming and turned to face him. She stepped towards him as he neared, leaning up to peck him on the lips. He returned the simple gesture and passed her the mail. She beamed and spun, her hair flying back and nearly striking him in the face, before walking into the kitchen.

Paul followed her in and placed his book on the counter before moving towards the kitchen table. Dawn was hovering between the fridge and the table, skimming through the mail while also glancing at the third person in the room every so often. Little Noah, the product of a happy accident when Paul was 21 and Dawn just 20, was happily eating the porridge that his mother had prepared. Noah paused to grin widely as Paul sat down at the table. Paul’s lip twitched up as he admired his son for a moment. Noah looked strikingly like Dawn besides the flint grey eyes that were definitely his.

Dawn had apparently found the letter as she placed the rest of the mail down on the counter next to Paul’s book. She held it up and looked at him in confusion. “Do you know what this is for?” “No,” he replied.

Dawn walked towards his chair and Paul leaned forwards slightly. She perched herself sideways across his lap, leaning into him slightly as she tore along the top of the envelope. “It’s addressed to both of us,” she mused.

Paul’s hand rested on the outside of her hip to hold her in place as he watched over her shoulder as she pulled out an invitation of a sort that was thankfully not adorned with the terrible handwriting of the Indigo Champion. Dawn let out an excited gasp as she realized what the card was. Paul raised an eyebrow.

“Were they even dating?” he asked.

Dawn laughed. “Not exactly no, but I mean, it is Ash. I imagine Misty could only put up with him for so long.”

Paul gave Dawn a weird look. “She’s signing herself up for dealing with Ash for life this way,” he reminded.

“Yes, but he’ll have to deal with her too, and I think commitment is something in itself.”

Dawn placed the invite on the table and glanced at Noah. The toddler was contently eating his breakfast. He seemed quite happy to ignore both of his parents despite his mother’s curious stare.

“Besides,” she teased coyly, brushing her fingertips along the hand he’d placed on her, “I don’t think we’re allowed to judge how other people get married.” Paul glanced at Noah before pressing a soft kiss to Dawn’s hair in a rare display of affection. “At least we were together before he came along,” he pointed out.

Dawn hummed her agreement. She picked up the card again and flipped to the inside where the date was written. “September 7? That’s so soon!”

“They both have League obligations the further into the season it gets,” Paul reminded and Dawn made a small sound of acknowledgement.

“Still,” she argued, “even we were engaged for more than a month and we deal with the same kind of issues as Ash does with you and arguably more so with Noah.”

Paul shrugged. He definitely didn’t have an answer for Ash and Misty’s decision. Ash was already hard enough to manage when they were dealing with Interregional politics that required communication between the two champions, Paul didn’t have time to analyze Ash’s personal life too.

Dawn perked up suddenly. “Oh! I guess we’ll have to get Noah a little suit then!”

Paul tensed. “Why does our two-year-old need a suit?”

“Because it’s a wedding! Everyone has to dress up!”

Paul sighed. Even though she worked as a Poké Stylist, he wondered sometimes why Dawn didn’t just switch into a career in fashion. She’d made her own wedding dress when they were married and had been the designer for May’s. He supposed it was because PokéStyling was more similar to coordinating.

“Just don’t wear yourself out,” he said. “I know you’re going to insist on making Noah’s outfit and you’ve probably already started mentally designing your own, but don’t burn out.” Dawn twisted to look at him and she beamed. “I love you too,” she teased and leaned in so she could kiss him again.

Noah whined across the table and the two adults pulled apart and turned to face the child who had upset his bowl and was hovering on the verge of tears. Dawn shook her head and stood from Paul’s lap, heading to give their son the comfort he wanted.

Iris was tired. She was dead tired and she just wanted to go back to sleep. Cilan kept shooting her concerned looks, but Iris ignored him. They had been planning for this lunch for a while–they couldn’t just cancel. Besides, across from her, Trip looked nearly as exhausted. “How was your trip to Hoenn?” Cilan asked politely as he brought over the last dish he had prepared. Though it was a little past lunchtime, Iris and Cilan had agreed to host Trip for lunch while he was in Opelucid after arriving back in Unova from a vacation.

“It was good,” Trip replied almost noncommittally. He yawned and Cilan let out a sympathetic chuckle.

“You’ve not yet adjusted back from the time change, have you?”

Trip laughed shortly. “No, I haven’t, but that’s my excuse, what’s yours?” He directed the last bit of the question towards Iris who just shook her head.

“I’ve been up late these last few nights,” Iris defended. Trip raised an eyebrow and she knew he needed more justification. “The Unova League is apparently seeing a competitor who gave Paul trouble last year. I want to be ready.” “Mm,” Trip consented finally, “the guy that got the Sinnoh Champ down to just his starter right?”

“Yes,” Cilan said as he finally took his seat at the table. He brushed his hand over Iris’s comfortingly. “The way you’ve been training lately, he will be very hard pressed to beat you.”

Iris smiled into her drink as she took a sip from her glass of water. “That’s the plan.”

There was silence that fell over the three of them for several minutes as they all ate: enjoying Cilan’s excellent cooking. Even though it was just for lunch, Cilan had prepared two vegetable dishes, an egg dish that remained one of Iris’s favourites, and had baked a loaf of bread fresh. She smiled at Cilan and thanked Arceus for giving her husband the gift of good cooking.

While she herself was normally content with some fresh fruit and the traditional foods from her village, Iris could not deny that Cilan’s cooking was delicious. He had lived in a restaurant his whole life as the Striaton City Gym Leader and it had clearly turned him, and all of his siblings, into wonderful cooks. By the way Trip was digging into the meal as well, Iris knew he had no complaints.

“How was the event?” she finally asked, curiosity winning out.

Trip glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “About what was expected. Wallace is a brilliant orator and Max certainly appeared to be a strong pick for the Elite Four.”

Trip had been in Hoenn covering the ascension of Max Maple, a close friend of Ash’s, to a member of Hoenn Elite Four. Iris had been hesitant to send Trip, a League photographer for the Unova region to cover the event, but Wallace had requested the best in all of Napaj so that he might give Max the best publicity possible. Still, it was almost a vacation for Trip, something she wished he would take more often, so she had conceded and sent him over.

Their conversation was interrupted as the trio heard the front door bang open. Cilan and Trip both rose from the table and Iris gripped a Pokéball out of reflex. It wasn’t an unwelcome intruder after all, as Georgia strode into the kitchen, looking relaxed and bored. She took in the scene and rolled her eyes.

“If you don’t want me to walk in, don’t schedule a meeting with me and leave the front door unlocked,” she drawled sarcastically.

Cilan sank back into his seat and Iris slid Haxorus’s Pokéball away. Trip remained slightly more on edge, and Iris recalled the last time Trip and Georgia had interacted and had to force herself not to laugh at the memory.

“Anyways,” Georgia said, striding across the kitchen and sitting in the fourth chair at the table. “This was on your doorstep.” She handed the offending item to Iris and Iris’s eyebrows rose.

It was an envelope that resembled the official Pokémon League ones used to send out notifications of official business. Iris blinked in surprise and turned it over so that she could see the address. It was clearly for her and Cilan and by the handwriting alone, Iris knew it was from Ash. Indigo Champion he may have been, good handwriting he did not have.

“It’s from Ash,” she elaborated for Cilan and Trip who could not see the envelope.

She broke the seal and slid the letter out. The front of the card had curving, elegant handwriting that was clearly not Ash’s, and Iris stared at it. Cilan, who had leaned over to watch her open it, recoiled similarly. She opened it and saw more writing and information inside the card which was thankfully printed by who Iris assumed to be Misty, not Ash.

Trip coughed politely and the Unovan couple exchanged a look and Iris folded the card again. “It’s from Ash and Misty,” she amended.

“That’s one of his Elite Four members right?” Trip asked, confirming.

“Yes,” Georgia filled in. As a member of the Unova Elite Four, she was familiar with the elites across the other regions of Napaj.

“They’re getting married,” Cilan said finally. Trip and Georgia both appear stunned. Cilan laughed, brushing his hand against Iris’s. “Honestly I don’t even know if they were really dating. They were together in a lot of ways I suppose, and now I guess they’re just solidifying that fact.”

Iris touched the envelope, frowning slightly. “I know Misty, and I know Ash. They’re both spontaneous people, but it is Ash, and I would think he would want a bigger wedding with all the connections that he has.” Trip leaned back in his chair. “Well, if he’s the Indigo Champion marrying a member of the Indigo Elite Four. He’s invited the Unova Champion and her husband,” he looked at them both pointedly before continuing, “and I imagine he’s invited the Sinnoh Champion and his wife as well. Plus, we all know Ash has tons of other famous friends. Just because it’s sudden, doesn’t mean it will be low profile.” Georgia gave a low whistle. “Something this big, a Champion getting engaged, should have already burst into the media. I wonder why it hasn’t.” Cilan took Iris’s hand and squeezed it. “I imagine they’ve already informed the major news sources and are putting a hold on the information until they’ve received personal congratulations from their friends. That’s what Iris and I did.”

“And you think Ash is smart enough to think of that?” Trip asked, sounding amused.

“No,” Iris agreed. “Ash isn’t, but Misty is. And she hates the paparazzi, so I would expect something exactly like this from her.”

May’s phone rang suddenly, rattling the table and drawing the gaze of her, Drew, and Solidad. Drew raised an eyebrow at May.

“Are you going to answer it?”

His words seemed to restart her system and he watched, amused, as she jolted and scooped up her phone, answering the call. He made eye contact with Solidad who took a sip of her coffee to hide her amusement.

“Hello?” May greeted into the phone. “Max?” she said after a brief second.

Drew was surprised. Max was currently drowning in paperwork and the press after being officially elevated to the Hoenn Elite Four. May and her brother had been in brief contact lately, but not much since he was so busy. The last time they’d seen Max in person, he had been hiding out in their house after his own apartment in Ever Grande had been mobbed with the press following his announcement as the new Elite Four member.

Drew studied May’s face. Her brows knit together as she listened to her brother talk, but she suddenly burst into a wide happy grin that lit up her whole face. “That’s fantastic news!” she cheered happily.

Drew exchanged another look at Solidad, but the older coordinator was just as clueless as he was. He resolved to simply wait for May to finish the phone call. Thankfully, it appeared that whatever news Max had to share was limited to whatever made May so excited because she ended her call shortly after, still grinning.

“So?” Drew prompted as May slipped her phone back into her purse.

“Apparently Max received a very interesting piece of mail from a good friend of ours today. I’m sure we’ll have a similar card waiting for us at home,” May explained.

Drew pondered her words. “May, literally all of our friends are already married. Who else is getting married?” He had automatically assumed marriage because the last time she had been this excited was when Leaf and Gary, friends through Ash, had finally gotten married almost two months ago.

May’s smile widened. “Not all of our friends,” she teased.

Drew raised an eyebrow. “There’s no way that Ash actually figured out his life enough to propose. He might be the Indigo Champion, but there is no way that he has got his head screwed on straight enough for this to be happening.”

“Maybe she proposed to him,” Solidad joked, but she appeared just as interested as Drew was.

May shrugged. “All Max said was that they sent out the invites and that the date is set for September 7.” She took a sip of the hot chocolate on the table in front of her, still smiling.

“And you’ll still be okay to travel then?” Solidad asked, raising an eyebrow briefly at May.

May waved off her concern. “I’m not due until November, so it’s fine. I can’t miss Ash’s wedding. This has been a long time coming.” Solidad shrugged. “If you’re sure.”

Drew gave May a careful glance. “This might even work in our favour. The Indigo Champion getting engaged to his own Elite Four member might steal the media attention away from us for a while.” May perked up at the mention. “Arceus, that would be amazing!” Solidad laughed at the couple. “You hid it for four months, so as far as they’re concerned, they have four months of Hoenn Coordinating Royalty content to make up.” Drew sighed. The media had hounded him and May relentlessly since they were teenagers. At first, it was all speculation and it had been really quite annoying. After they started dating for real, it had become intrusive and irritating on a larger scale. That only multiplied once they were engaged and had climaxed at their wedding when a photographer for Coordinator’s Weekly was discovered lurking around by security and removed from the premises.

When he and May had announced that they were expecting, four months into the pregnancy, the media had gone insane and even two months after that fact still did not leave them alone wherever they went. In fact, there was a woman a couple tables away that kept trying to be discrete in her photographing of the trio of coordinators. She was not subtle, but neither Solidad or Drew could be bothered to tell her off and May simply hadn’t noticed.

“I’m just happy for them,” May reiterated.

Solidad smiled. “How long have they been together?” May laughed. “Honestly none of us can say if they were ever really dating. They’ve always cared for each other, and that turned to love at some point, but Ash was always Ash. He was completely oblivious to her feelings for quite some time. It’s a wonder he ever figured it out.”

“Hey, May,” Drew called, teasing his wife. “You haven’t got much room to laugh at Ash there considering I gave you roses for almost 4 years before you finally figured it out.” May pouted. “You said they were for Beautifly.”

Solidad burst out laughing and Drew smirked. He leaned over and kissed May on the cheek which lessened her pout, but she still clung to it stubbornly.

“I love you,” he reminded her. His admission cracked her and she smiled again. “I love you too,” she relented.

Solidad shook her head. “And you two wonder why the press doesn’t leave you alone anymore.”

May shrugged. “We’re kind of used to it at this point. As long as it never hits the point it did at our wedding again I think we’ll be okay.” “Besides,” Drew said, “with Max as an Elite Four member now, there’s no telling if May will still be the most popular member of the Maple Family anymore.” May looked mildly offended and Drew chuckled. “He’s single, May,” he reminded. “And a trainer of elevated status. He’ll have a fanbase soon enough.” May’s smile turned a little mischevious. “You would know about fanbases wouldn’t you, Mr. Fangirl.” Drew groaned. “Please, let’s not go there.” “Oh how they used to follow you everywhere! So condescending to competition when you won, and depressed and mopey when you lost,” Solidad teased.

Drew glared at her. “You are both the worst.” This time May leaned over and pecked him on the lips. “You married me and we like Solidad.”

Delia Ketchum was humming to herself as she spun the sponge against the dishes before handing them off to Mr. Mime so that he could rinse them and place them in the drying rack. With just the two of them, there weren’t many dishes, but they still tackled them together like they always had. Whenever she had guests over, they always tried to help clean up since Delia insisted on cooking, but she let Mr. Mime deal out the rejections in that field. The cooking and the cleaning was always done by the two of them and no matter how many pleading looks Leaf or Misty gave, no one else was taking over.

Just as she was handing off the last of the plates, the doorbell rang. Mr. Mime glanced at Delia and visibly shrugged. Delia just smiled and shook her head. It was probably just one of the neighbourhood kids again, but she ought to check. She removed her yellow gloves and placed them next to the sink. She crossed the kitchen and living room and headed to the main entrance of her house.

A series of knocks sounded from the door and Delia was surprised: maybe it was something urgent. She opened the door and was mildly surprised to see a very concerned looking Leaf Oak on her doorstep with her husband hovering just behind her. Thankfully, Gary looked more amused than concerned and Delia knew it was not super serious.

“Delia,” Leaf began suddenly, raising a very familiar envelope up to eye level, “what is this?”

Everything clicked in her mind and Delia laughed. “I believe it is exactly what it says it is.”

Leaf glanced at the envelope, observing the thick, high-quality paper and the less than neat writing that topped it. “But, how?” Gary laughed, stepping forwards and tucking an arm around Leaf’s waist. “I believe, darling wife, that it happened the very same way that it happened with us: me, on one knee, and you, wearing the ring.”

Leaf smacked Gary with the envelope. “Not what I meant, stupid.”

Delia smiled at the couple. “Would you like some tea? I’ll have Mimey put on the kettle and perhaps I can answer a few more of your questions.” Leaf sighed and removed Gary’s arm from her waist. “I would love to sit down, and I have so many questions.”

Delia opened the door wider and led the young couple into her home. Neither Leaf nor Gary was biologically related to her, but she felt as if they were part of her family. When Gary’s parents and Leaf’s mother had passed in a tragic accident when they were young, Professor Oak, Leaf’s father, and Delia had tag-teamed in raising Leaf, Gary, and Ash. Subsequently, Leaf and Gary had spent a lot of their childhoods eating at Delia’s kitchen table or playing in her backyard.

Like a proud mother, she had cried when Leaf and Gary had announced their engagement and again at their wedding. They’d only been married close to a month and a half, but they had been engaged for two years before that, having started dating at 17. Due to work restraints for both of them, they’d only recently gone on and arrived back from their honeymoon and Delia hadn’t seen them since they got home. The remnants of a healthy tan clung to Gary while Leaf had an extra spattering of freckles across her nose.

The pair followed her into the kitchen and sat down as Delia politely asked Mr. Mime to turn on the kettle. Leaf was still turning over the envelope in her hands, staring at it in confusion. Delia sat next to her and placed a hand over the young woman’s.

“You have read it, haven’t you?” “Of course,” Leaf replied. “They were clear enough about the date and the location and I’ve been in contact with Misty about bridesmaids already, but I’m still so confused.”

Delia laughed. “Well, let me help with that. What about it is confusing?” Gary stretched in the chair and asked a question before Leaf could: “Were they dating at all or did Misty just snap and tell him they were going to get married?” Delia, recalling Ash’s embarrassed story, pressed a knuckle to her lip to halt a short laugh. “Well, they were kind of dating in their own way, as much as Ash could manage anyways, but I’m not sure it was ever established in the way most relationships are, because, well,” she paused, not quite sure how to put her son’s eccentricity into words.

“Because he’s Ash,” Gary suggested, filling in the blanks.

Delia shrugged. While a basic definition, it certainly wasn't wrong. There just wasn’t anyone quite like Ash.

“Can they do this? I mean, Misty’s in the Elite Four and Ash is the Champion. Are they allowed to do this?” Leaf asked.

Delia shrugged. “I’m not concerned about it because I know they’ve been through enough together that they wouldn’t be concerned about League rules. Besides, everyone knew they were best friends when Ash was attempting his League challenge three years ago and they knew that it wasn’t a conflict of interest then, so I don’t suppose it should be now.”

“But why just decide to get married like that?” Leaf pressed, obviously still confused.

“I suppose for them it was a combination of seeing all their other friends married and engaged and realizing they loved each other enough that they didn’t need four years of dating and two years of engagement first when they had thirteen years of friendship,” Delia explained.

Leaf blinked as Delia addressed her and Gary’s long engagement. It had been the result of both of them pursuing PhDs during that period, but they had been together for a long time. “I guess that makes sense,” she murmured. Leaf slid the card out of the envelope and looked at the date. “Why September?”

Delia smiled. “The date Misty fished him out of the river when they met.” Gary and Leaf both laughed.

“Well,” Gary drawled, “maybe he’s not completely hopeless after all. She did say yes.”

“I win!” Misty cheered as she slapped down her last card victoriously. She smirked at Ash.

Ash groaned and placed his last three cards on the table so that they could count up his penalties. Misty’s smirk widened as she tallied the points and Pikachu let out a tittering laugh from his perch atop one of the counters where he was enjoying a treat. Ash stared at his partner, feeling betrayed.

“Don’t you side with her too,” he complained. Pikachu just rolled over, content to ignore his trainer.

Misty leaned over the table and pinched Ash’s cheek. “I won, Mr. Pokémon Master. Pikachu’s just agreeing that I’m the better one of the two of us.” Ash gently swatted Misty’s hand away. She leaned back, still smirking. Ash leaned forwards instead and just straight up kissed her. Misty stiffened in surprise briefly before she let her hand cup his jaw and she reciprocated the action. Ash drew back after a moment, slightly breathless, but smiling.

“Right, but who’s the Champion again?” he asked teasingly.

Misty rolled her eyes and scoffed. “You beat me once. It won’t happen again, I promise. Still,” she mused, “I think I can find enough sympathy in myself to play another round if you’re desperate for pity points.”

Warmth curled in Ash’s stomach. He loved moments like these when no one was watching and they were able to let loose. It was rare for them since Misty was a member of the Indigo Elite Four and Ash was the Champion. There were hardly ever moments of peace for them like this and they deserved to be treasured when they could.

Misty’s palm cupped her chin as she leaned her elbow on the table and smirked at Ash again. The ring on her finger, the one Delia had painstakingly picked out after hours of searching, glinted on her finger and Ash was happy to see it. It looked like it belonged and it certainly felt like it did.

Ash’s decision, a stupidly impulsive one, had been, in retrospect, completely out of the blue for most people. Ash and Misty had never officially labelled their relationship before that moment, but it wasn’t like there was nothing there. When he turned 19, Ash had finally started reading into Misty’s actions a little differently. They had basically dated without the labels for years, but Ash had been unable to recognize it until other people, like May and Dawn and Misty’s sisters, spelt it out for him.

Ash himself was 23 and Misty was almost 24. He had figured he didn’t have much to lose, so he had gone to his mother for advice. Delia had been overjoyed and amused and a bunch of other emotions, but she had promised her few tears were happy ones. Ash knew he loved Misty and he loved her differently from the way he loved May and Dawn and Brock. Delia had been the one to pick out the ring in the end, and Ash had done the rest by proposing over a casual dinner at Misty’s apartment.

He had stumbled over the words and made a complete fool out of himself. Misty was always better with her emotions, however, and she bailed him out by kissing him to get him to shut up and answering the question he had been unable to articulate with a resounding ‘yes’.

“Hello? Earth to Ash?” She waved a hand in front of his face. “Still with me?”

Ash grinned. “Always.”

Following their very sudden engagement, they had had a very candid discussion about a wedding and had decided together that they wanted it to be as small as possible. It wasn’t super realistic considering both of their positions, but it was a hope. They also wanted as little media there as possible. The nightmarish results of the photographer that had snuck into May and Drew’s wedding reminded them that no press was indeed good press.

Following an example set by Iris and Cilan when they were engaged, Misty had written a short statement to the Pokémon News Network and asked them to hold it until they were ready. Ash and Misty had written the invitations by hand quickly and Misty didn’t wear her ring in public until they were sent out. She actually even held off wearing it until they had received most of the personal congratulatory messages and RSVPs for the wedding. At that point, they had allowed PNN to release the statement and Misty had worn the ring out in public.

Neither Misty nor Ash wanted a big wedding anyway. It was more for their friends and family.

Still, nights like these, where they’d put away all the wedding stuff so they didn’t stress, were nice.

Ash reached across the table and flicked Misty’s hair. He also snagged the deck of cards and retreated back to his seat. He shuffled it as she’d taught him. Misty laughed and tried to grab the cards back, but Ash grabbed her outstretched hand instead and pressed a kiss to the top of it.

She smiled softly at him and then Ash got a wicked idea. He held her hand loosely and turned it over so he was looking at her palm. He lifted it up again, but instead of kissing it, he dragged his tongue across it, licking it childishly.

“Ew!” Misty squealed. She recoiled, snatching her hand away and rubbing her palm against her jeans. “That was so immature, Ash Ketchum!”

Ash grinned. “What are you going to do about it?”

Misty pushed her chair back and stood up. “You’re going to eat those words,” she promised.

Ash laughed and sprung up from the table. He took off running for the living room and made it almost across the room before Misty’s arms wrapped around his waist and they tumbled to the couch together. Misty landed on top of him and Ash squirmed so that he was holding her in his arms.

They were both laughing and Ash felt happy. This was how he wanted to spend the rest of his life and he suddenly just wanted it to be official.

“Let’s get married!” he blurted. His outburst clearly surprised Misty because she stiffened. She blinked at him. “You already asked me to marry you once. We still have three weeks, Ash.”

“No, like, right now!” he insisted. “I know it’s a thing that people do when they just go to a courthouse and get married. I don’t need some fancy ceremony or expensive cake. I just want to be with you.”

Misty looked slightly taken aback, but she smiled at him broadly after a moment. “Ash not needing a cake? That’s a first.” They both laughed, but Misty leaned forwards and pecked him on the lips. “Honestly, I’ve never wanted a big wedding and if you wanted, I’d marry you in a PokéCentre.”

“So,” Ash said, “screw the wedding?”

Misty laughed and rested her head against his chest. “Only we would get engaged without technically dating and then plan a wedding only to give up and get married three weeks earlier in a courthouse, but you know what? I’d love to marry you, Ash Ketchum, so let’s get married!”

Ash grinned. “I love you.”

Misty kissed him again and it was a little deeper and for a little longer. “I love you too,” she confessed when she pulled back. “But, unfortunately, we are probably going to have to wait until tomorrow since it’s kind of late tonight.” Ash shrugged. “Fine by me. I can beat you in Kart Racers in the meantime!”

Misty raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you are so on!” She rolled off of him so they were lying next to each other before they both lunged for the gaming controllers to turn the console on.

The press–and all of their friends–were going to have a field day, but honestly? Ash and Misty couldn’t have cared less.

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 6 years

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Michael After Midnight: Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?

So here’s a neat little bit of trivia: back in the 80s, my grandmother actually had her own video store. Obviously a little indie video store wasn’t gonna survive competition from something like Blockbuster or all the other options that began popping up around the time, so she ended up closing it, and my parents ended up with a lot of the VHS tapes, which of course I ended up watching. A lot of my favorite films and movies I’m really nostalgic for came from those VHS tapes, such as Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, InHumanoids: The Movie, and Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend - all great candidates for reviews. Frankly, not sure why I haven’t reviewed InHumanoids already… but I digress. I bring this all up because there is one specific VHS I want to talk about.

But first, let’s talk about Dr. Seuss.

Dr. Seuss, as you may know, is one of the greatest children’s authors of all time. The guy churned out classic after classic, creating timeless works featuring wondrous landscapes, fantastical locales, and colorful characters like the Lorax, the Grinch, and the Cat in the Hat. He’s also known for having extremely crappy films based off of his books, but that wasn’t always the case; back in the day, Seuss worked on animated specials based on his stuff, working with everyone from Chuck Jones to Ralph Bakshi. Dr. Seuss was truly a creative genius whose works have stood the test of time.

[Except this one]

Tonight’s work is one that is actually not based on any sort of preexisting book, and was one of those bizarre VHS tapes I watched over and over as a child. And tonight’s work is one that I’m not going to review in the traditional sense; oh no, this one is getting something special. Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? is akin to Freddie as F.R.0.7. in my mind as something it is far more fun to just explain than to truly dissect, so instead of a true review, I am going to do a sort of recap of the plot before giving you a verdict on whether this insane special is worth your time.

So, let’s get right into this:

Pontoffel Pock, our titular hero, has a job at a pickle factory, and he has the simplest job you could possibly imagine: he pushes the lever “Pushum” and pulls on the chain “Pullum” and the pickles go into the jar (as the song helpfully informs us. Oh yeah, this is a musical. That’s somewhat important). So with such a simple job, it would be pretty inconceivable to fuck it up, right? Well, that’s because you are most likely not a colossal failure on the level of Pontoffel Pock, who SOMEHOW confuses the Pushum and Pullum and ends up destroying the entire factory, which leads to him getting fired. Did I mention this was his first day and immediately before fucking up he was explained what his job was?

[You had ONE fucking job, Pontoffel Pock]

Dejected and alone, Pock goes home and plays basketball on his roof as an homage to Clerks. Please ignore that this animation came out nearly two decades before Clerks. I would like to take a moment to point out that Pock’s house is exactly as weird and impractical a homestead as any you might see in a Seuss work - and the fact it’s a dilapidated mess because Pock can’t hold down a job only makes it even more odd. In his misery and sorrow, Pock wishes he could get away from it all… and he gets his chance, because the Amalgamated Do-Gooding Fairies come down from the heavens and grant him a magical flying piano that will take him anywhere in the world if he plays the proper notes (C, C, C, D, D#, E, for those wondering).

Gifted with this incredible magical gift, and with the entire world at his disposal, Pontoffel Pock does what any normal human being would do: he shows off and acts like a douchebag. Teleporting to Groogen, a sort of German-Switzerland mashup country, Pock freaks the locals out with his flying piano, and gets shot down by their paint cannon known as the Goomy Gun, because nothing in a Dr. Seuss work can have a normal name. Pock returns home, and naturally McGillicuddy, the head fairy, is pissed as fuck at Pock for being a douchey show-off and nearly wrecking the piano right off the bat.

[Dunno what he expected from the moron who wrecked a pickle factory]

Thankfully, McGillicuddy is a kind and merciful fairy, a bit more Seelie than Unseelie. He gives Pock one more chance, so the question now becomes: How can Pock fuck this up? Well let’s find out as he travels to Casbahmopolis, the Seuss version of the Middle East. Considering what a colossal moron Pock is, it should surprise absolutely no one that he falls in love with the first scantily clad belly dancer woman he sees; that girl is Neefa Feefa, who contrary to the previous sentence is NOT a belly dancer, but rather an… eyeball dancer. No, she doesn’t dance on eyeballs, she’s just dressed in an outfit that covers everything but her eyes. It’s kind of an amusing parody of belly dancers.

[Behold, the greatest waifu of all time]

Lucky for Pock, Neefa Feefa is the only woman in the world as stupid as him, and she immediately falls for him as well. Unfortunately, she’s stuck fucking dancing for the king, a job she hates, and she wishes she could get away from it all. To her credit, she actually has a real, genuine reason to want to get out of her current position, unlike Pontoffel “First World Problems” Pock. Pock seems to realize this, and in one of his exceedingly rare moments of badassery, singlehandedly infiltrates the palace of the king to save this girl he barely knows. Sure, it’s stupid and cliche, but so far Pock has been nothing but be a showboating weenie; here he goes Solid Snaking his way through a palace full of armed guards to save a woman, that takes some pretty big balls.

Of course, this is Pontoffel Pock we’re talking about; he manages to fuck things up somehow. The guards manage to bust the Homing Pigeon Switch of his piano, which would allow him to zap right back to the dump he calls a house, and when he tries to go somewhere else Neefa Feefa slips into the clutches of the guards and the piano goes on the fritz, leading Pock to desperately try any keys he can in an attempt to get back. At this time, the fairies are getting worried, seeing as they haven’t heard from Pock in ages, and so set out on a massive manhunt to find him, singing “Pontoffel Pock, Where the Fuck Heck Are You?” This is the part where our hero finally triumphs. Pock suddenly out of the blue remembers the proper switch and zaps back to save his imprisoned beloved, so of course… he crashes the piano into the tower.

[Pictured: A man who can do literally nothing right]

Neefa Feefa sends out a prayer, and thankfully it is heard by the fairies, who descend from the heavens and save everyone’s ass. Pontoffel Pock’s quest to get some poon seemingly impresses the boss at the pickle factory, because not only is Pock rehired, but Neefa Feefa gets hired there too, and apparently the dress codes are extremely lax there as she gets to wear her eyeball dancer outfit to work. Pock manages to get away scot free despite fucking everything up and manages to get a hot girl and a stable job, so I guess the moral of the story is “Going to great lengths to get pussy will make up for all of your constant fuckups.”

[Huh. I guess The Lorax was right]

So that was Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? and I think it goes without saying this is one weird, quirky, and unique animated story. It’s not very long and is a bit corny and cliche, and the shortness doesn’t do much favors to the story as it leads to things feeling a bit rushed, but quite frankly it all adds to the silly, Seussy charm. The animation, the designs, and just all the wacky creativity on display here is Seuss at his best, and frankly it’s hard to hate a story of a man who fucks up his pickle factory job and gets a magical flying piano from fairies so that he can score with a belly dancer.

I really wish this was more well-known than it is. God knows this deserves it. It’s just so charmingly weird. If you like weird and silly animated things or the work of Dr. Seuss, this is something to check out, though if you’re a huge fan of the latter you may already know this. I don’t think this is really something that deserves to be held up alongside the greats like The Grinch or The Lorax, but I think it deserves an honorable 3rd place alongside those two; this is an underrated obscure gem if there ever was one.

Now I’m going to sit back and pray that this review becomes popular enough to get people to draw Neefa Feefa porn.

[Real talk: This is the only reason I wrote this review]

#Michael After Midnight #Review #animation review #Dr. Seuss #Pontoffel Pock #Pontoffel Pock Where Are You #Neefa Feefa #animation #animated special #obscure

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