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eachuisge-cc · 9 months

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How to make regular TS4 clothing compatible with digitigrade legs: PART 1

This tutorial assumes you're converting for my digitigrade leg mesh used in my satyr legs and werewolf override, but it should also apply to any other funky-shaped legs you might want to do this with. Useful either if you want your digitigrade sim to be able to wear a piece of vanilla maxis clothing, or for converting cc (please get permission from the creator where applicable before doing so, especially if they make their own meshes).

I'll do my best to make this tutorial accessible to relative beginners, but I'm assuming that you already have some basic blender knowledge. If you don't, there are a lot of good tutorials that explain its clusterfuck of an interface better than I could, so I recommend finding a few of those and familiarizing yourself with the software before you continue.

You'll need Sims 4 Studio, blender, and potentially an image editor like gimp or CSP (anything that can handle transparency) depending on the clothing.

This first part will cover shorts and anything else that ends above the knee (along with some extra s4s stuff like category settings and CAS thumbnails that I do to make them look better and behave properly in-game); next section will cover long loose pants which is a somewhat different process, as well as cuffed pants, skintight leggings, and other things that might require some heavier editing and altering of the shadow map, UV, and textures.

Getting Started

Digitigrade base meshes are available for download here. Please don't reupload them unaltered, and I highly recommend not changing the edited part of the leg mesh (knees down, basically), or it may mess up their ability to match up seamlessly with other digitigrade leg parts. The most effective way to use them is to append them to the project you're working on and frankenstein them onto your mesh as needed rather than modifying the blend files themselves, especially if you're making WW parts since these don't include Turbodriver's rig.

Mesh Editing For Shorts

Shorts, miniskirts, and anything else that ends above the knee are great because you don't need to do much, if any, actual sculpting, and once you know how it's relatively quick to do.

To start, export the mesh for the shorts you want to convert the same way you did the legs, all LODs. If you're converting cc, it's possible the original creator won't have made proper LODs (some don't because it's incredibly tedious, but it's good practice and improves visuals and performance in-game), and if that's the case you might want to make some LODs, but I won't tell you how to live your life.

For this, I'll be using these base game vanilla shorts, since I need to convert them anyway. Because when I think of satyrs, obviously I think of khaki shorts.

Yeah.

Append the digitigrade leg mesh via File>Append. navigate to where you put the legs, pick the mesh you want (make sure the one you're importing is the same LOD and frame as the mesh you're altering), select the object folder, and import s4studio_mesh_1.

You'll end up with a situation that looks something like this. Do not be alarmed.

I don't know why it imports these things along with the mesh (there's a non-zero chance someone will yell at me for doing it wrong and it's not supposed to be like that) but in my experience you don't need any of it, so deselect the mesh and delete everything else that imported.

At this point, to make things easier on yourself, you'll want to hit numpad 3 for orthographic side view, set viewport shading to solid, and hit alt+Z to toggle x-ray view.

Take note of how many objects make up your mesh. For most maxis shorts (and probably a lot of cc ones) there are three that divide up the legs, and it's important that you maintain that number and don't remove/replace any of them, otherwise the mesh will be broken once you import it to S4S. It's finicky like that.

Select the digitigrade legs and go into edit mode, then select everything up to here:

Separate this bit into a new object (P>Selection), then go back to object mode. Select the separated lower leg bit you just made, then select the lowest piece of the vanilla leg (select them IN THAT ORDER, very important), and hit ctrl+J to join them into one object. Go to edit mode for the newly joined leg bits, and delete the vanilla part, leaving only the lower piece of the digitigrade leg. If you've done everything right up to now, your mesh list will still look like this.

or whatever it looked like when you started, plus the one appended mesh.

Now go back to the main digitigrade mesh and select up to here:

separate it and repeat the process you just did, replacing the next leg segment up.

Now go into the topmost part of the vanilla shorts, and select only the leg part and delete it (it's almost always detached from the shorts in vanilla clothes and very easy to select, but with cc this might be a mixed bag and could take more time/effort to do). At this point you should have only the digitigrade leg and the shorts themselves.

You now want to go back to the uppermost section of the digitigrade mesh and delete most of the top part of it, trimming it down so that the leg ends just inside the shorts.

For a lot of shorts and skirts, especially shorter ones, this is all you'll have to do, but in this case I'm going to move those very top/front vertices back a tiny bit, just to make sure there won't be any clipping during animations. I also like to switch viewport shading back to material preview mode at this point to make it easier to see if there are any bits poking through that shouldn't be.

At this point you join the upper legs and shorts like you did with the other two segments (again selecting the digitigrade mesh first and the vanilla shorts second) and by the end your objects list should be back to this:

Now you're done, you can save and import to S4S. the digitigrade legs are already weight painted and have their UVs set up and everything so you don't need to do anything more to them, they'll just work, and as long as you don't edit the mesh or uvs they should blend seamlessly with the goat hooves and/or werewolf paws just like the naked leg.

Now do the same thing for the other three LODs. Maybe while singing a sea shanty to stave off the tedium (personally I like listening to podcasts while I do batches of these, it's kind of like knitting for people who love eye strain take breaks from your computer, kids).

S4S Categories/Thumbnails

The three main things you want to do with any digitigrade conversion are disable it for random, restrict opposite frame, and uncheck all occults. That should prevent any broken leg situations. Don't forget to apply to all swatches (I say this because I forget about 30% of the time and end up having to go back and fix it).

At this point, you don't have to do anything more. The clothes will function as they should in-game. If you want nicer looking thumbnails though, and you have the digitigrade werewolves override, there's one more thing I like to do.

Make sure all the thumbnails are blank and check only the werewolf occult in the categories tab, then save and load up the game. Find the clothing you just made in CAS (it will probably show up by default on werewolves of whichever gender you made it for) and cycle through all the swatches to generate new thumbnails that look like this:

instead of this:

Once all the thumbnails are generated, exit the game and export them all (if some of them appear blank, restart S4S and they'll usually show up), uncheck the werewolf occult, clear the thumbnails again, and re-import the werewolf ones. This ensures they won't randomly switch back to the human ones. And it's way faster and easier than making your own custom thumbnails with screenshots and cropping/editing, which is important if you're doing a large amount of these things.

And voilà, you've got your own digitigrade-compatible clothes. I'll be updating the tutorials as needed for clarity/any information I forgot to include, so please message me if something doesn't make sense or I need to go into more detail on something, and I'll edit it with more/better info. I also entirely learned this through trial and error, so if there's a better way to do any of it that you happen to know, tell me that too, this is just the best way I've worked out to do it.

#ts4 cc #sims 4 cc

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itsdappleagain · 11 months

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BARK BARK ITS FINALLY TIME FOR THE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME CAPER

not giving up on my trademark of being late for csweekly even though i vowed i wouldn't be late on this one. i have an excuse. i was doing audition prep/submission for a musical

OKAY ANYWAY

i think if i ever actually visited the belltower i would take damage just from being in the space

notes under the cut as always!

OKAY starting thoughts. this is. literally my favorite episode in the entire show. my favorite. im so fucking stoked you don't even know i love watching my blorbos get beat up. me 🤝rueitae

anyways. biting this episode and shaking it violently

i like that the faculty tie actually makes sense and they have solid motivations. it isnt just a plot device for a tie

love this shiot/angle of bellum btw so behold her. she is so amazing

okay hi. immediately stopping to go on a rant about the atmosphere in this caper. its. fucking. incredible. the scenery is so perfect. the right balance of beautiful and desolate, and it changes as the mood does. i could do this later but i will do it now because idk i want to its my post

notice as the episode goes on how as the tone gets darker in carmen's plotline, the scenery and mood around her gets colder and literally darker as well.

ivy's backgrounds, meanwhile, stay pretty light throughout because she has somewhat of a more comedic and hopeful storyline while carmen dies in a ditch somewhere.

also, as soon as carmen calls chief, the snow/light of the hologram/shot composition away from the dark trees shows that there is hope now

just....hope that is tinted with cop fingerprints all over it. i just GOD i fucking LOVE how you can VISUALLY SEE HOW HER LIFE IS GOING its reflected by the very environment around her. compare any shot after she gets acme in to the very last one i put in that set of five.

no moment is darker for carmen than when she gives up, on the brink of death, and calls for help, submitting herself to prison and interrogation in the hopes that even if vile wins today, she can somehow survive to take them down again another day.

man, i am barely a minute into the actual episode and i have a lot to say. that trend will continue. sorry not sorry. back to the actual liveblogging.

fun fact the first time i watched this episode i did not notice the acme agents on top of the building watching "carmen"

i love the little hints dropped to audience members who arent entirely in the know yet (7 year olds) that its ivy, not carmen, and that something is up here. lack of gigantic poofy brown hair, different stature, ivys little smile as she goes past. of course, if you're obsessive like me, youve memorized every characters outline and can tell even with wigs on

OH hey my favorite acme agent hang on

its her. she is drop dead gorgeous and has a nose piercing. she also i think gets all of one line in the s4 opener telling crackle to do whatever (or maybe its her partner but anyway i love her)

I have already earned from her

have you been GAY for twenty years chief? julia has

julia slays so hard in this episode. wish devineaux stayed dead longer because she thrives when she's by herself

episode is literally so gorgeous

i love zari just being like oh my god this bitches gay. bad for them

that soft little "i should have known" smile julia does when carmen puts her hand on her shoulder guts me like an animal

live acme (ants to classify and monitor evildoers) reaction

hey!! next time ivy gets into a frozen adventure with carmen in germany she gets an earbud upgrade :D

zack too!!

that "but powerful" line is literally gay. happy pride month from ivy "muscles" "milady" "i feel powerful dressing in my girlfriend's clothing" lastname

obsessed with zack's little finger wiggles to emulate typing when he imitates player

i love just how. rrgh casual they are. yes carmen is super serious and focused this caper (for good reason. launch codes) but they get in a little. julia notices something small about carmen and that she's cold and the playful tone in the reply from carmen before everything kind of goes to shit. "had to loan my coat once I spotted your reinforcements!" its just a bit of information but its some that she trusts julia with. she asks julia if chief is listening but if she was. carmen would have already blown ivy's cover. i know she stole the pen for good measure but seriously she TRUSTS her

i love how julia pats her jacket and then does not react in the slightest she was just making sure that was HER pen not someone else's

ivy being horrible in snow gag is the best part of this episode

i love julia showing off. she doesnt get to infodump to anyone else but she knows carmen will appreciate it. and shes trying to be coy about knowing what carmen is there to do (sorry jules. you would have been right any other time)

i also like that as julia is infodumping shes absorbing MORE by walking backwards and gazing around the city hall

fun fact: i always wondered how the hell the acme agents got into/hid in the hall without anyone seeing them but there are doors in between all of those pillars!

also

this hallway does in fact exist! i mean considering the cs team probably went there to location scout in person (see below picture of duane and the team in san fran) it makes sense!!

anyway. should i made an "only vaguely related tangents" tally counter for these things at the end of the post lmao

i love how super serious carmen gets here. this episode is so much more mature in its theming than some other episodes. from the launch codes to the fakeout suicide to the continued death before capture thing carmen has going on. man. i cant tell if ivys comic relief section is good for lightheartedness or tonal whiplash lmao

she has for a split second the look of a mother who just heard her child say "i frew up"

ARGH and i also love how literally nothing julia can say in that time will help. she tries- oh, she tries- but "its not what you think" mistakenly sounds like she was still in on it. it looks, for the moment, like julia was trying to distract her or this acme agent missed her cue or something. of course later in the ep carmen has plennnty of time

interestingly cs does away with the doors in between the pillars for a more ethereal and sophisticated look but there are doors in my heart

i love how carmen turns to run sideways. girl even if there weren't acme agents there where were you going

i also just fucking love carmen's completely silent analysis once shit gets really serious. she calculates and recalculates what she needs to do to survive here. and she's RUTHLESS about it. i think this is kind of the one time we really see her vile training come out in comparison to someone other than vile itself. she takes those acme agents OUT

part of me wonders if carmen, in that little pause by the door, thought that maybe her chances were better backtracking but she didn't want to have to hurt jules to get out. maybe im just gay and wistful idk BUT okay here's my reasoning!! hang on! stay with me!! carmen equals BAD in tight spaces. saw it in rio, saw it in nz, saw it in poitiers. its everywhere- she does better with more space. however, she does like her high grounds, so honestly this is pure headcanon but like,,, not wanting to hurt julia. send post

also you can see in the background julia TAKING OFF after the other agents....no gun drawn of course

this fight scene with carmen is so fucking fantastic

she never. NEVER. EVER does full fight scenes where she does a lot of offensive but this situation is so different. she SPRINTS at that bitch she holds him HOSTAGE and while of course she's acting so that she doesn't get caught the fight almost portrays her a little villainously with the trail of bodies she leaves behind her as she goes

ALSO THAT FLIP OFF THE WALL MOVE IS SO DAMN COOL. she tricks the acme agent into gassing herself almost effortlessly and only takes a split second to coldly look behind her to make sure there's no one else coming before she takes off again

and then the other three who didnt get knocked out start going after her again which distracts her just enough to let zari catch her with the shot

the shaky "camera" and blurred vision pov as carmen fades in and out of consciousness while instinct alone keeps her going up the stairs is just ARGH chefs kiss

fun fact zari's "there after her" line gets reused in the series finale

btw carmen falling of the tower scared me so bad when i first watched this at like 13. suicide fakeout <3 scared me so bad

also how the camera keeps moving even when carmen doesnt even seem to be in the picture anymore before her glider catches up with it. top. tier

and then the stockholm music kicks in. hoo mama the music in this episode is fucking unparalleled. that incessant, chilling, repetitive string instrument motif as carmen's situation begins to get really dire. aurgh.

carmen's continued pov as player starts getting really concerned about her and she fades in and out. carmen weaving all over the sky and crashing into shit grggrgrgr its so good

ivy getting tazed. yeah.

ivy can pass as an....argentinian.. right boys

player and zack when two out of four of their active teammates just went mia in the span of a minute: 👁️👄👁️

man do you think they thought it was an ambush or something. like i mean it was but an organized effort by one team. do you think zack was scared he would be next and that player would be left in the dark. anyway

the way moose picks ivy up by the scruff like a cat kills me

the citizens of stockholm on this day watching a foreign police strike happen at city hall and then a tourist get tazed, mugged, and kidnapped by some locals: 👁️👄👁️

IN WITH THE HIGH NOTES ON THE PIANO IN THAT SAME REPETITIVE, INCESSANT, CHILLING STYLE OF MUSIC THIS EPISODE HAS AS CARMNE LIES MOTIONLESS IN THE SNOW ARGEHDHDHGDGSDGSDHD

i really enjoy that they show us this desolate, still shot of carmen, completely motionless, trapped in a ravine, miles and miles away from the city. she doesnt wake up. its just the cold, harsh reality. and its starting to snow a lot harder.

julia just snatching the pen gets me every time

i love the emotion dropping out of chiefs tone once she sees the 5'2" pissed off lesbian on the other end

YES julia GO OFF she should have gotten to do so much more. she should have gotten to kill someone.

julia glancing back at zari when she says "chase her away and squander her trust" and zari turning away and balling her first is such a juicy little character moment

the venom in "we had an agreement." fhrjhgfejsjjd step on me

you know how people want that throwback spinoff series for the owl house with the lost moments. that but cs. shadowsan's malaysia mission, how the team operated and the jobs while carmen was recovering, more of black sheep's time at vile/her holdover year, her and player learning together once she tours around after escaping, the shanghai job (not the tsonts one), the cairo job, the swiss bank job. how julia got into law, how chase chose his name, more on carlotta and dexter, the two years after vile's defeat and before their reappearance, more of evil carmen, player's backstory as told in silver lion. there is. so much i want to see. tangent tally.

god. player's decision here is such a hard one. he's like sixteen, and he's potentially juggling the lives of two of his best friends with that line. the decision seems obvious, but in this case it is completely, entirely wrong. player's choice to save ivy instead of carmen damn near kills her, and there's no way he could have known. player guilt angst, please!

once again the music. thank you.

carmen's cry of pure pain as she moves juuust tickles something in my brain. she has no one to put on a brave face for and that crash landing HURT.

also how hoarse her voice is

the more groans of pain as she forces herself off the ground they are so good.

i love this episode for its look into carmen's psyche. so much of her is playing off of others, but in this one she is utterly alone. we see her thought processes in the worst of times with no one to fight but the weather and herself. fantastic shit. never forgiving sarcastic chorus for skimming over this episode and saying nothing happens did you watch it

the puff of breath when carmen says "player"!!!

carmen's tone when she goes "oookay." just is so good. gina did not skimp out on this performance and part of me wonders if she could have done better if she wasnt always trying to play the emotionless, suave hero figure and she let carmen be more human, like in this episode. carmen is seeing that she is injured, acme is trying to reach her, her glider is broken, she has no protection from the cold, and that player and any other help is completely out of range and she is not happy about it

carmen crying out when she slips even more when she's trying to climb its so tangible and delicious

FUN ANECODTE because i havent gone on enough tangents for this post already but the first time i ever saw this episode my dad came to pick me up for his half of the week right here. i had to leave the episode right here, with ivy kidnapped and mia and carmen alone in the frozen ravine, the acme pen blinking. i didnt have access to netflix to finish the episode. for. four. days. let me tell you. um. this episode literally did not let me sleep. that first night i was lying in bed i stayed up until like 3am just staring at the ceiling replaying the scenes and making theories. i was dry in the mouth. when i fell asleep i dreamed about it and kept waking up in the middle of the night. i cornered my dad and recounted the entire episode to him and then reeled off my theories to him. i reeled off my theories to my friends. i was literally consumed by the ending of this episode that i could not see. it was Not Healthy and it impacted me VERY HEAVILY as you can see.

but anyway my one theory was that carmen was going to be forced to call acme for help and be arrested because they kept doing closeups on the pen. good job, thirteen year old me. the foreshadowing worked.

back to the episode

ivys literally so cute in this episode

look at her.

ottoman has chihuahua vibes

the ice lodge staff watching two guys drag some poor red haired white bitch into the hotel like a sack of potatos: im sure shes fine they probably told them she was drunk lmao

im goosebumping something wicked here is one of the phrases of all time

DUMSKALLE

that raw, desperate "no" and scream from carmen is so good. that fall hurt five thousand times more because it was a failure. and also she probably just broke all the ribs that weren't broken before

it took me a few watches originally to see that carmen hits her glider on the way down. first time around i was like where tf did she get that wack ass blanket

draw me like one of your moose boys

moose boy unironically seems like a nice guy who got dragged into this by otter

can you imagine if they showed up with ivy and were like HAHA. CARMEN SANDIEGO. what would the faculty do with this poor white girl who is definitely not carmen. probably wipe her memory and boot out otter and moose but can you imagine their reactions

MOOSE BOY IS VOICED BY SONIC THE HEDGEHOG?? SCREAMING

or maybe it was right here that i got cut off with the panning shot of the pen and carmen sitting away from it staring at it. whatever it was but anyway yeah

the sadness and defeat as carmen shivers and tells this imaginary chief that vile is winning today either way just kills me i love it so much. carmen's death before capture ideology (almost. capture wins but it almost doesnt)

LAUNCH CODES? AS IN NUCYULAH?

also team red. didnt know what was on the data crystal!! they didnt know what the handoff was!!! they just knew it was fucking serious and that makes this all the more scary. had ivy not gotten kidnapped they would have missed it. i mean carmen would have probably tried to drag her foot on deaths doorstep ass over to the ice lodge to try anyway but she would have gotten triple pulverized

someone swinging (insert wieldy object) at a gigantic villain and it doing nothing is my favorite battle trope

more ivy appreciation

she said NOPE

ivy is literally so cool in this episode. she's still herself but she's trying to channel carmen and fill her gigantic shoes by making her proud. but she isnt carmen, and thats okay. she ends up doing it with a mix of carmen's help and her own goofy, clumsy style

AND IVYS TWANGY LITTLE VERSION OF CARMENS THEME AS SHE SUITS UP. ITS AWESOME

again. ivy being terrible on ice gag is the best. winters in boston must have been torture

man it doesnt even show all of it but you can see the agonizing that went into carmen's decision to call acme. once she makes it she doesnt hesitate in grabbing and clicking it. she does it seamlessly and with resignation. shes already fought with herself enough in her own head.

carmen: literally in the middle of the woods, shaking like a travelling fair rollercoaster ride, and bleeding from a thousand cuts chief: oh hey! sorry about that

MAN CARMEN THREW THAT PEN A LONG WAY

i also like that carmen has to heave herself up from sitting, and that she's only standing as a last display of control when every other ounce of it has been ripped from her. she has to lean on the tree, still, even to manage it. as soon as she pushes off of that tree and starts walking towards chief she collapses.

chief those business negotiations. can you wait

i do appreciate that chief doesnt play dumb or think carmen is dumb. she's been calling that pen for as long as carmens been staring at it. she knows carmen knows what calling her means and doesnt try to hide that theyre coming for her.

haha. where in the world is carmen sandiego reference. get it

MAN AND THEN EVERYTHING GETS SOO BAD. you realize just how serious this is when carmen drops the tough act and just reaches out. she does a quip, but her face is just hopeless and she drops like a STONE. she was barely hanging on. already dumped this onto rueitae's post but i think that as soon as she knew she'd done everything she could do and had exhausted every single option except dying on the spot. well. she didnt have a reason to hang on anymore. she gave up every single ounce of control to chief when she clicked that pen and her body needed to shut down to save her. so so so good

i really really like chief running over and hesitating before she puts her "hand" on carmens shoulder. she knows she cant do anything, but she can pretend and she can hope

i really do think she was concerned about carmen here, not just about the intel she was potentially losing. this scene mirrors her past with wolfe nearly perfectly, and it NEVER gets talked about. once again a call chief made on a person who turned out to have innocent intentions (gun was really car keys, julia going off the grid was really just her and carmen talking it out) gets them killed- or, in carmen's case, almost. chief, this time, has the power to save her and fix this mistake. parallels are also fun because obviously carmen is wolfe's daughter so double angst.

ivy immediately switching to suspicious spy face after she slams into the bar is so funny

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW OFTEN I USED TO JUST RANDOMLY SAY "hello, im shady mcshade from some sleazy rogue nation, check out my briefcase full of untraceable cash!" to just RANDOM PEOPLE IN MY LIFE with NO CONTEXT

the bartender is not paid enough for this

I LOVE THE LADY WHO JUST GETS TF OUTTA THERE WHEN IVY CRASHES INTO HER CHAIR

the little trill of carmens triumph theme when ivy looks at the grappling hook is so good

girl. ivy. you missed that REALLY BADLY for someone who threw an anchor up three stories with pinpoint accuracy like a couple years ago

poor ivy she was doing so well with the quips and the competence until she announced it to the entire ice lodge

warrior cats girls on the playground

ivys unhinged scream as she barells towards otter is so fantastic

it would really have super sucked if zack had run ivy over

again. this episode is so beautiful

i love that otter and moose would normally have never even been glanced at for an episode because they suck so bad but because it was untrained baby ivy (who still kicked their asses) they could be there also who assigned them the nuclear fucking launch codes. who did that

oh man you can see the smile drop off ivys face when zack asks where they can find carmen. she doesnt even think that carmen is still missing. she probably thinks carmens back on track by now, not that it would be HOURS later and shes still missing.

zack getting to ivy on the other side of stockholm: 🐌🐌🐌 zack getting to carmen twice as far away in the middle of the woods: 🦔 (too lazy to find sonic meme. sonic meme.)

julia just giving zari the most disappointed look when zari kicks carmen when shes down

FUN FACT OF THE DAY! in the original storyboards, julia and zari were supposed to get a SHOOKETH reaction shot when chief offers carmen a way out with z and i. they cut it. rude.

the pen lowering down to reveal julia behind it has always felt like such an important shot and i dont know why. like theres some symbolism im majorly missing out on there

ahh, the heartbroken look between friends

AGAIN this episode punches you like an elephant on steroids with that quiet "is she going to make it?" CARMEN IS ON THE BRINK. OF DEATH. AND HER FRIENDS ARENT EVEN CERTAIN SHES GOING TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT. MAN. it raises the stakes up so high like obviously she wont die but in a tvy7 kids cartoon this is so fucking serious

carmen, delirious with the cold and pain, wondering if someone made a clone of her:

addressing all groups of people from now on as "student body most vile"

hey vile has a sick waterfall wall

it is really interesting that they do in fact shut down the academy. no one is allowed at the castle anymore once they move there. its also cool that in s4 because bellum doesnt have to be there teaching she can go to the himalayas and tinker full time!

wow. zuko and luz are in that crowd <3

okay. so. best episode ever. i love it so much and ive already gushed about it way too much so i wont keep you much longer.

tangent tally final count: like at least five it depends how specific you are

sorry about how long this is take it up with a brick wall it will be remorseful than me

#csweekly #cs weekly #carmen sandiego weekly #carmen sandiego 2019 #carmen sandiego #rejoice! four thousand word stockholm post be upon ye

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boo-cool-robot · 4 months

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Everything I Watched This Year

I have watched the most movies this year of my life, which is still so few that I can fit them all into one tumblr post, so here they are in approximately chronological order (along with TV shows). I almost exclusively watch visual media with other people, and they're often the ones picking. Favorites get an asterisk (*), and this does not include rewatches.

*Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-Wai): Five loosely connected lonely people chase imagined versions of each other around the Hong Kong nightscape. I didn't go into a plotless arthouse film expecting it to be extremely funny, but it is. He Zhiwu (my new tumblr icon!) deserves to be up there among the deranged autistic blorbos of all time.

What We Do in the Shadows (Showrun by Paul Simms and Stefani Robinson) [First half of S4]: If you're on tumblr you probably know the premise already. I was disappointed that after S3, which felt like a build to huge shifts in the characters and status quo, S4 felt like a walkback. Don't remember much else about it other than crying laughing at the sequence where they try to get baby Colin Robinson into private school.

Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee): Everyone knows what this movie is already. It's well-made and solid, but it wasn't anything that exciting for me. I expected it to be more striking. Love the 70s home production design in that one scene though, and that kiss truly is good.

*Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes): A reporter tracks down the truth of a rock star gay affair that sparked his own queer coming of age. Dreamy, gorgeous, and I could not describe the plot scene to scene if you paid me. Just a really lovely film to experience for me, someone who had latent and unnamed transgay feelings as a teenager about the concept of "emo boys kissing."

Phantom of the Paradise (Brian De Palma): Phantom of the Opera-inspired drama about a songwriter getting revenge on the predatory producer that ruined his life. Total delight of a campy melodrama.

Kamikaze Girls (Tetsuya Nakashima): A delinquent and fashion-obsessed scam artist strike up a lesbian-tinged unlikely friendship. This movie is bananas. Way more stylistically experimental than I'd expected--there's a sequence of the protagonist's birth, people just float offscreen sometimes, the townspeople constantly turn to the camera and advertise for the megamart they buy all their clothes from, etc. A really really surprisingly fun watch.

*Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (Hiroshi Kobayashi and Ryō Andō) [First 6 episodes only]: Optimistic young pilot of a war machine that she may have an illegal psionic connection with goes to space high school and is promptly drawn into political plotting via accidentally getting gay engaged to a corporate heiress. Highly enjoyed the parts of it I saw - great action sequences, fun character drama, and just enough political substance. Not as weird as Utena, which it's inspired by, but can be brutal where necessary. I should watch more!

*In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai): Two Shanghainese emigrants in Hong Kong discover their spouses are cheating and embark on a tragic affair of their own. God, this movie deserves every bit of praise it gets. I gasped out loud multiple times at the gorgeousness of shot compositions. Top notch acting, gorgeous colors. This tends to be a movie pitched as being about a repressed love affair, but it's also a movie about the positionality about being middle class colonial subjects and the relationships they have with the world. This gave me so much to chew on after I watched it.

Happy Together (Wong Kar-Wai): Two Hong Kong expats living in Argentina have a toxic gay relationship trapped in a tiny apartment. This one felt very opaque to me, and it is allegedly an allegory for Hong Kong being returned to Chinese rule after British colonialism, which I absolutely do not have enough background to really get. Wong is a great director though, and I constantly think about the sequence of the main character seeing the abusive ex walk into the club, beat while he finishes his drink, and then he breaks his bottle off and goes in to screams.

Bound (The Wachowskis): A lesbian handyman falls for a woman married to an abusive mobster that they plot to rob. The first 45 minutes were very enjoyable as a lesbian heist film. Unfortunately, once the gunshots started the torture scenes became so stressful for me to watch that I sweated through my shirt. (I also had Covid).

#hey did you know tumblr has a character limit?#because I hit it in this post #long post

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demyxdancer · 7 months

Text

Anime Summer 2023

Overall I thought this was an enjoyable season with quite a few high quality shows in it and a few surprises.

Here's my thoughts on Summer 2023 anime, from most favorite to least.

Bungou Stray Dogs Season 5

How could anything else be at the top? While I think overall this was a little weaker than S4 for me -- I really like some of the character work in S4, particularly Ranpo and Yosano's pasts -- this was an absolute roller coaster ride from start to finish. I can't help but admire BSD's ability to throw absolutely ridiculous and over the top plot points one after another and still make it all work. It came to a reasonably satisfying conclusion as well. BSD in general has shot up to become one of my favorite anime of all time and this season didn't disappoint at all.

Highlights: Ranpo saving everyone's asses. Sigma just wants a home. Bram just wants tunes. Aya is the MVP. Chuuya and his Spirit Halloween vampire fangs. You can't kill Dazai in a way that matters.

Complaints: I can only hope we're getting some light novel movies or else we're going to be waiting a long time for more BSD.

My Happy Marriage

Romance in anime tends to be hit or miss, but this one was incredibly refreshing. Far too many romance stories just don't do a good job of showing how the leads are meant for each other, but this show was delightful whenever the leads were on screen. I loved how they were able to talk to each other sensibly and how gently Kiyouka treated Miyo's trauma. Plus, it was beautifully animated.

Highlights: Kiyouka burning the Saimori house the fuck down. Any time Miyo wore a new kimono. The exchange of the hair cord and the comb. Miyo finally getting to protect Kiyouko.

Complaints: The first arc was stronger than the second. The abrupt turnaround by the Usuba family was a little strained.

Jujutsu Kaisen

The art change has made JJK more beautiful than ever. The production values and the OP/EDs of this show don't miss. The Hidden Inventory arc was so intense and featured some stunning fights. While I think the last few eps have been a bit rocky, I'm looking forward to seeing what's going to be cooked up.

Highlights: Pulling on our heartstrings with the girl's sudden death. Gojo's revenge rampage. Geto tormented by the clapping of hands. Yuuji's friends teasing him about a girl.

Complaints: JJK's commitment to never slowing down means we never get to spend as much time in the character moments as I'd like. I think this hurts arcs like Hidden Inventory where Geto's turn to the dark side would be better done if they slowed down a bit.

Undead Murder Farce

This season's big surprise for me. This show was incredibly entertaining and had everything you could want. Vampires! Werewolves! A phantom thief! Sherlock Holmes! Lesbians! The supernatural creatures in an alternate history late 1800s Europe thing did a little bit to fill the Vanitas-shaped hole in my heart. I really appreciated how solid production values and creative visuals spiced up episodes that were really mostly just talking. There had better be another season of this. The story's just getting started!

Highlights: Phantom Thief Lupin and his dramatics. Literary characters showing up one after the other. Vampire murder mystery.

Complaints: The second arc was definitely the best one, and the following werewolf arc dragged a bit and couldn't quite compare.

Saint Cecilia and Paster Lawrence

This show just doesn't work as a romcom, which it ostensibly is trying to be. Lawrence is just too dense and the development is excruciatingly slow even by anime romcom standards. Thankfully, this show does work nicely as a charming slice of life. It's consistently cozy and heartwarming even if nothing ever actually happens. The village full of supportive townsfolk looking after these two reminds me almost of Stardew Valley.

Highlights: The trip to the city where we actually inched along the plot a bit. Cecilia's outfits -- she really does look cute in anything. The scene with Cecilia and Lawrence in the attic.

Complaints: Nothing ever happens. Ending on Lawrence confused about whether or not he thinks of Cecilia as family was kind of a downer.

Sunshine in the Mirror

I haven't watched Love Live! Sunshine (which this show is a spinoff of) but I did watch Superstar and it's not like it's difficult to follow a Love Live show. This one started out promising with a cute enough premise, but kind of fell apart halfway through. The cute slice of life content wasn't bad, but the plot itself was poorly done with unclear stakes. The magic badness engulfing the town was primarily shown as fog with a few angry deer in it. That's just New Hampshire, I'm not scared of that.

Highlights: While all idol music sounds a little samey to me, this one was on the higher end of enjoyability. Cute outfits and consistently colorful and fun to look at. Lailaps plot was cute enough.

Complaints: The overarching plot was really badly written, and that killed a lot of the momentum of the series.

Bang Dream! It's MyGo!

This show has one thing going for it compared to Love Live, and that is willingness to show actual teenage drama and teens being petty and selfish. I loved the lead singer character and her awkwardness and her bandaid collection and wished the show were more about her, but I guess not all shows can be Bocchi the Rock. While the writing had its good points, I ended up dropping this due to pointless drama overload and the fact that I couldn't tell the girls apart.

Highlights: Lead singer character was endearing when she got to be on screen.

Complaints: CGI animation was stiff and poor. Characters impossible to tell apart. Teen drama maybe a little too realistic and hard to watch as a result.

Zom 100

This had an outstanding first episode but quickly went down the tubes for me. I'm not a big fan of zombies in the first place, so bouncing off the show is probably on me. I dropped it after the first handful of episodes.

Highlights: First episode is well worth watching on its own. Colorful animation.

Complaints: Unfunny humor. Production quality drops significantly after the first episode. Treatment of female characters made me uncomfortable. Guilt over watching an anime about exploitative companies knowing how many production delays this has had and that the people making this are also being exploited.

Fall 2023

Fall 2023 is looking absolutely slammed! Dr. Stone and Spy x Family are back. Frieren, Apothecary Diaries, I'm in Love with the Villainess and Tearmoon Empire are high on my list of shows to try. And we'll have the second cour of Jujutsu Kaisen.

#bungou stray dogs #my happy marriage #jujutsu kaisen #undead murder farce #saint cecilia and pastor lawrence #sunshine in the mirror #bang dream #zom 100: bucket list of the dead #anime #anime fall 2023

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marley-manson · 10 months

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What are your favorite fanvids, if you don't mind me asking?

ty, I appreciate your interest!

I have so many though lol, I have like a folder of vids I've saved throughout the years and I still occasionally rewatch a lot of them. So this ended up turning into a giant rec list instead of an offer of one or two.

These are mostly old classic live action vids from the 00s with just a few exceptions. Not in any particular order aside from grouping fandoms together. I tried to warn for physical triggers but I may have missed some since I haven't rewatched all these vids recently.

You Can Call Me - sdwolfpup (Due South)

I consider this my all-time favourite vid. The reason it's so good is less about the visual impact and more about clip choices imo. Every choice is just brilliant. The basketball on shot at redemption; each character walking down the street in a direction illustrative of their vibe; the evolving framing structure with Ray and Ray's finale scene in the bullpen; angels in the architecture; the smile on hallelujah; and most especially - the way Fraser's chorus opens up onto the show as a whole rather than just the relationships between him and the Rays. It's a perfect love letter to the show.

Phoenix - scribe (Due South)

I actually have not watched this vid very many times because it hits me too hard lol. No cathartic tears, just a physical ache in my chest. It's a fantastic constructed reality vid but mostly I watch it and go RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.

Zebra by shalott (Due South)

Fast-paced and jarring, purposefully and successfully so. A character study that really captures the vibe of the character.

cw: fast cuts

Icebound Stream - sisabet (Due South)

Gorgeous use of found footage, visually stunning, amazing all around.

cw: mild flashing effects

Out Here - Here's Luck (Due South)

This vid is absolutely outstanding at constructing a mood and building emotional tension up to a cathartic release, and I would absolutely recommend watching it especially if you've never seen Due South because I'm gonna be real: I don't ship them I don't like these seasons and when I recall some of the contexts of the scenes in the vid they're actively diminished lol. This feels more like a constructed reality vid to me, and a very very successful one. It takes my breath away.

Satellite - sdwolfpup (Due South)

Just a classic solid ship vid for my favourite ship.

Handlebars - flummery (Doctor Who)

I watched this when it was posted, having never heard the song before so I had no idea what to expect, and it blew my tits clean off. Absolutely impeccable sense of escalation, and the constructed reality aspect was so well done too. The visual intensity of the final chorus gives me chills every time.

cw: some flashing lights

Don't Lose Yourself - sweetestdrain (Doctor Who)

Absolutely destroyed me, I remember watching it the first time not long after the s4 finale and just weeping lol. The usage of effects is probably the most effective I've ever seen, and the way it ends is ridiculously perfect and devastating.

cw: mild flashing effects, quick cuts

And She Was - faneunice (Doctor Who)

Just a solid uplifting Rose vid.

New Dawn Fades - obsessive24 (Doctor Who)

Very thinky meta in vid form, ie maybe my favourite type of vid. Similar theme as Handlebars, but more moody and less punchy. More emphasis on the Doctor's self-destructiveness too. Excellent narrative structure as well, and the visual parallels and crosscutting thereof is just immaculate.

Thistledown Tears - Here's Luck (Firefly)

Never was a big fan of this show, especially now, but it had an amazing vid scene. The continuity of camera movement in this one is gorgeous. Plus excellent emotional escalation, mood, etc.

(Out of) Classical Gas - jarrow (Firefly)

Musicality musicality musicality! Fantastic showcase of vidding to an instrumental track.

Rodeohead - AbsoluteDestiny (Firefly)

Just incredibly fun, perfect song choice, totally on point in every way.

Superstar - Here's Luck (Buffy)

Idk what to say about it other than it's a classic for a reason.

cw: flashing lights

I Put You There - Laura Shapiro (Buffy, kind of)

This is largely original animation but it's made in the context of vidding fandom and it's one of my faves so I'm counting it. Adorable and unique meta vid on fandom and the blorbo obsession that goes with it.

Volcano Girls - DualBunny (Buffy)

I just dig the juxtapositions, parallels, recontextualizing bookends... good stuff.

cw: flashing lights

Two Birds - Meg (Utena)

A more recent find for me, my love for this largely comes down to the song choice and usage and thesis statement. It's the perfect song for the show, and very well utilized. I love the parallel couples here.

cw: flashing lights

I'll Find You - Gemma Lemon (Utena)

This is probably the most technically perfect vid on this list. I'm big on musicality and rhythm in vids, but a lot vids that really lay it on heavy miss me due to not having much to say beyond 'cutting stuff to the beat perfectly.' This was both a perfect illustration of the music, and emotionally and intellectually engaging and impactful.

cw: flashing lights, very quick cuts

Razzle Dazzle by T. Jonsey and Killa (Star Trek: TOS)

I must've watched this like 50+ times over the years and it still makes me laugh every single time no exaggeration. It's also an absolute masterclass in internal movement; it's incredibly satisfying to watch because it's so constantly on rhythm, and I'd recommend every aspiring vidder watch this and keep it in mind when they're cutting and timing clips.

Drop Dead Gorgeous - Shalott (Smallville)

Never seen this show, but I love this vid. It's SO fast paced and yet totally visually coherent, those strobing match cuts are amazing, and it's really fun.

cw: very fast cuts, flashing lights

Girl Anachronism - Lierdumoa (Gia)

Another that I have little to say about other than it's so good.

cw: some flashing lights

Fiat Lux - PieandBeerAMV (Tokyo Godfathers)

Just a fucking gorgeous retelling of the movie. The choice to cut away at the climax is incredible.

Stray Italian Greyhound - Butterfly (Yuri on Ice)

When the "what do I do what do I do"s come in I tear up every time without fail lol. Perfect encapsulation of the skating is love theme.

Women's Work - Luminosity and Sisabet (Supernatural)

One of THE classic meta commentary vids, for a good reason.

Swing Down Chariot - faneunice (Dogma)

More internal movement, delightful repeating motion, great rhythm. And I'm in love with the shot choice on the final 'calm and easy.'

The Man Who Sold The World - obsessive24 (Velvet Goldmine)

Gorgeous, love the focus on the public spotlight they're in ft excellent effects usage to mimick newspaper photos, and obviously there's no better possible song choice.

cw: flashing lights

Whatever it Takes - faneunice (Bend it Like Beckham)

Just a good uplifting retelling of the movie.

Rebel Sodville - DualBunny (The Princess Bride)

Just a great time. The vidder calls it the story the characters think they're in, and it's a great description. Really shows off the epic adventure aspect of the movie.

#text post #honestly i'm shocked i managed to find intact streams/dls of all these #vid #recs

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tiktaalic · 2 years

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ok totally understandable if you dont have particular feelings abt this, i love seeing ur spn director thoughts anyway bc i love thinking about composition. BUT do you have any fave episode with directing and framing you really like?

on the head of a pin's crazy crazy crazy shots of all fucking time. i cant think about it i feel too crazy. the opener. the street lamp halo. anna closing the distance between her and cas. WOOZY. FACE

hello. hello. hello. hello. thank you mike rohl.

bloody mary has some incredible shots because i mean it's really hard to mess up mirrors and bleeding out of your eyes.

hey emo boy!

i think the rapture's a really solid piece of work i think there's a really good visual distinction made between jimmy and cas. and of course. theres this.

also the dock dream which is beautiful beautiful. imo.

all of anna's episodes are really well shot. very striking. oh my god when she passes out on the car. she always Looks like an angel. it's definitely a 50/50 thing where in later seasons people who were playing angels werent playing angels in the way cas anna uriel zachariah raphael were but they also weren't being SHOT like cas/anna/uriel/zachariah/raphael were. you know? anna in particular i feel like out of all the s4/5 angels is shot in a way that actively adds to her characterization. to cas it added to his characterization but it was also like. it was 20% characterization 80% making misha collins look hot. ummmmm that's all from the top of my head. thank you

#sworcerie #ask #spnwatch

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henrysglock · 1 year

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okay okay i love talking about dnd - dnd anon back again

just general fyi, there's multiple editions for dnd. new monsters get added over the course of them, some stats change, game mechanics get reworked ect. we're on E5 right now. the party in ST would be playing with E1 which came out in the early 80s (E2 came out in the late 80s and is definitely relevant to anything S4 and onwards). i know most of the original 80s stats, but just mentioning here that some numbers went up or down a few digits over the years

okay and now breaking this down:

in dnd you have CRs (= Challenge Ratings) which are a number between 0 and 30. those give you an idea of the general strength of an enemy, the higher the stronger. that's generally how you as a DM decide what to throw at your party since you don't want to give and absolute BeastTM to you Lvl. 1 party (CRs also aren't always 100% reliable since DMs can tweak stats slightly to fit their parties better, but CRs DO give you a pretty solid idea of how fucked you're going to be on average going into an encounter)

and long story short, a Mindflayers CR is 7. Vecna's is 26. and yeah that'd basically already be enough said, one of these is Not like the other. Tldr: Vecna is an absolute Unit and wins this competition every time

but now also, more in depth:

first more stats: CR only give you the General difficulty of an enemy. you also have AC (Armour Class) and HP for every enemy for example:

AC -> MF: 15, V: 18

HP -> MF: 71 (potentially up to +13 with additional roles when creating the enemy), V: 272 (with a roll up to +128)

Vecna, again, unsurprisingly given the CR, wins everything here BY FAR. but besides stats, the actual game lore is also interesting:

for one, i said A Mindflayer intentionally because there's actually multiple. it's not a unique enemy type (it's still rare though). they're also called Illithids and are actually much more human looking than on the show -> a bit of a wizard type - also much more human sized than the one in ST. their faces are very much spider tentacles tho so I'm guessing that's from where we got the visuals for our favorite Big Guy. (also, fun fact: Illithids/ Mindflayers tend to show up in combat with a handful of followers they're mindcontrolling, very similar to the plot of s3 actually, just think that's neat :D)

and then there's VECNA. THE Vecna. the ONE and only (ha). totally unique. actually, as of E1 Vecna wasn't even a fightable enemy with stats yet. he was only Referenced in the monster manual (where all the dnd enemy lore at the time came from) + his eye (or arm actually? sorry not sure which one it actually was) were super strong items you could find. but no Vecna in the flesh yet - he was just this elusive evil in the background. only in E2 did Vecna actually get a stats sheet and was something you could actually try and fight. and Vecna is Big in dnd, a bit of a staple figure actually - especially in E2 at the time. Mindflayers may be more of an enemy class than a given "name" for one specific person/monster. but oh boy did Vecna sure make a name for himself alone. multiple names actually, that's the guy people call "the Arch Lich" and "the Undying King" to name a few, if there's One wizard you're going to be sweating to fight in late 80s dnd it's THIS guy. Hard as Hell to beat! and a dnd icon on top of it!

and even the fighting in itself is going to be an absolute Bitch, so here a general idea of how combat works:

aside from attacking, you constantly roll saving throws. that's how you avoid dying/ taking damage/ suffering negative effects like poison or burning etc. the saving throws are all in a specific attribute so Intelligence or Wisdom for example. you roll with a D20 and need to get something higher than a certain predetermined number to actually get the save and avoid whatever made you roll for the save in the first place. depending on the stat you're rolling in, the numbers for the MFs are basically all between 6-7. but for VECNA they're all between 12-15.

the combat system in E1 and E2 is slightly different than today and i'm not Totally in tune with it, so i'm not Completely sure if/how saving throws might have worked a bit different back then,

but the HIGH requirement for saves (consistently rolling over 12-15 with a D20 is Fucked btw) is also why we see the game in S4 go down the way it does. the entire group makes it to the final boss alright but then starts falling like flies. because you'd have to consistently roll REALLY high to keep hitting saves and not chip your health down slowly or get CRIT'ed in one go. and even if you're lucky with rolls, the longer the combat goes on the more likely you are to start missing saves and either die from a direct hit or get a negative effect that kills you over time. which is why we see the entire party go down alongside Mike during Eddie's game, except for Dustin and Erica who are both still 1 hit from death.

even the parts of the game sequence we actually get SEE on screen in s4 show us this directly, when we see Mike going first in the combat order and look upset immediately when he presumably fails his first save right away (unlucky) -> i've seen people confused why Mike looks upset but an Enemy figure gets knocked down on the board instead of his paladin. this is why as far as i can tell here. he might have still won against whatever he was fighting but took massive damage or got a passive negative effect from failing his first save. he zero'd out later at some point, since only Erica and Dustin are left by the end, but i probably wasn't Directly after the first hit he took (even though it could obviously be Because of that hit, since it might've been a passive effect which can kill you with a few rounds delay)

so Yupp, that's the general breakdown here! so tldr Again: if you had the choice between facing the Mindflayer or Vecna on the condition that everybody sticks to dnd rules you do NOT go for Vecna. Ever. that guy is Horrible to beat. literally the chance of fucking up like Mike here and missing your FIRST save right off the bat is 60-75%, that's BAD, that can KILL you

me with my melted ice cream brain: yeah what u said

but actually yeah looking at the numbers it’s v clear who’s the big bad even from the dnd framework. and it also makes sense why El et al. are able to defeat the mindflayer twice but not Vecna/Henry even once

#asks #henry/vecna/001 #dnd analysis

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wheelfield · 2 years

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my thoughts on stranger things s4, volume 1 (SPOILERS BEWARE)

overall — this season answered a lot of questions and explored the shows lore in a way that season 3 failed to. it was emotional, well acted and ambitious. however like many people said, it was bloated.

the new characters — chrissy and eddie were great. i was quickly able to connect with both of them, even with chrissy’s short time on screen. patrick and fred also. argyle was a mixed bag; he was funny and enjoyable, but i feel they could’ve done more with him. jason, on the other hand, would’ve been better in smaller doses.

overall pros:

- max’s story. it was absolutely perfect. sadie is a gem to watch, and i’ve always connected to max, but this season blew it out of the water.

- both byler and ronance were so great to watch, and there were some really touching moments for byler. ronance bounced off each other in a way i found really fun.

- lucas sinclair. giving lucas more emotional depth, taking his bond with max more seriously, giving him time with dustin, and allowing us to watch him grapple with high school was great. it took me back to season 1, when we actually followed him on a journey.

- el. i have a few issues with her storyline, but overall it was definitely a hit. millie proved that she can literally do anything when it comes to acting. to me, el is a hero with or without her powers, and sometimes i wish someone else would save her this time.

- vecna was a solid villain, a big improvement from previous seasons.

- there are quite a lot more pros, such as erica and lucas’s amazing chemistry as siblings, and the way they got creative with the upside down, but you get the idea.

now for the cons:

- as much as i love hopper and joyce, the russia plot was a huge mistake. i really don’t think it should have ever been made a thing. at least in season 3 it was more visually and narratively interesting.

- nancy was brilliant and then she wasn’t. i didn’t like the whole stancy thing, and that’s not just because i’ve never never shipped them. 1: it was out of character for both of them. 2: i wanted more nancy and robin, or more Platonic nancy and steve.

- the jock plot was too prevalent, although i appreciated the satanic panic stuff they were incorporating.

also el’s story was incredible, but the stuff with peter did get confusing at times.

thankyou that’s all! i give st4 an 8 out of 10 if you forget the russia plot existed xoxoxo

#spoilers #st4 spoilers #st spoilers #stranger things 4 #st4 #kit talks

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leftoverlight · 1 year

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I think the big difference in season three was the aesthetic and such

Personally I think it’s a solid season and it set up a good arc of “friends growing apart” which is a harsh reality (and then S4 kinda fumbled the payoff) and had good emotional beats and pretty consistent storylines

The aesthetic set it apart, even from S4 because it was summer; 1&2 were during the fall and winter which contributed to the “darker” tone but summer is a bright happy time for friends, and the visuals, greys in S1/2, bright colors in S3, reflected that. It also kinda dropped the “will is connected to the mindflayer” because it had been banished so they needed a new host (billy, who deserved better writing tbh)

I think more camera work where it shifted to greys during dark moments would’ve made a good contrast but it’s still better then season 4 part 2, and overall a good but very different season

maybe it's just because of the aesthetics that it feels so different but i think that to me season 3 didn't really expand much more on the actual lore of the show, like the upside down itself and how it's connected to el and her past that was hinted at before and all that, it just felt a very classic set up with monster to fight -> big fight -> the hero saves the day (mind i have not watched in years so theres a big chance im just wrong lol im just going off what i remember, i know they had the russian plot but i have genuinely forgotten so much of it im for sure missing something here) and at this point after two seasons that had a similar development but that also felt like they were adding depth and natural progress to the show in their way it just felt a bit repetitive and dull to me. and thats why i really liked season 4 at first, because it tied back to those things that were kinda left up in the air before. i did like the ending of season 3 with the group separating and especially with el losing her powers so that at least the set up for the new season looked fresh and raised new stakes that i didnt really find in the 3rd season

#local girl writes way too long comments about a show she barely remembers

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anantradingpvtltd · 1 year

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dinitride-art · 1 year

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I've had an strangled relationship with Eleven since season 1, so much so that when s3 came around i had to stop watching because i couldn't stand the M!leven in it and so, it took me about 2 years to actually watch s3.... now after s4, and having watched it a few times now, i kind of made peace with her, because i absolutely love the bond she has with Will. I still sort of cringe at the idea of her and Mike, but Will is such a peacemaker, even within the show. I'm really at peace now.

Sorry for this stupid ask, i just needed to share it with someone i guess.

Don't worry, it's not stupid. I think I get it and it's making me think about some things. Mike and El's relationship... it's hard to watch sometimes. A lot of the time. (small warning, I get really into analyzing some stuff after this- whoops?)

Without knowing the ending we can't really see the reason that they've written it that way. It's not the easiest thing to trust them to do it right either. El's a bit more complicated, to me at least, because she's written to have reactions to things that need explanations. But we don't really get an explanation for her and Mike's relationship. Not like we do when she hits Angela in the face with a roller skate- and we get a flashback of Brenner. Or when she's crying in Mike's closet in season one and we see her in the lab, locked in a room. Those things, I think, give us the ability to understand El and root for her. Because we understand how what she's been through affects her. But when she trips Max in season two? Or spies on Mike in season three? Or when her and Mike fight in season four? We don't get to know the reason for her actions yet.

I really don't think that her and Mike's relationship was ever intended to portray romantic feelings. I think it was meant to make us feel uncomfortable. I remember trying to avoid thinking about Mike and El's relationship in season three because it just... I didn't like it. But after I started thinking about how maybe there's supposed to be something wrong with how I feel about it, it got easier to watch.

When El's with Will she's easier to... figure out? If that makes any sense? But when El's with Mike, and Mike's with El, they're both hard to get a read on. Mike gets frustrated quicker and El doesn't really seem to like giving an explanation for what she's doing. But with Will we can see what's happening inside her head. He can read her like a book. And so then we know that, okay. She's getting bullied at school. She doesn't want Mike to know. She's grieving Hopper's death. It's all easy to see. But when she starts yelling at Mike the next day, we can't see exactly where she's coming from. She didn't talk to anyone about "from, Mike" this is the first we're hearing of it. Sure, there were visual clues like the card attached to the flowers Mike gave her, but that's it. No further explanation is given for why she feels like this, or why she's only bringing it up now, or why Mike hasn't said it in the first place. We get nothing.

There's information they aren't giving us about why Mike and El's relationship isn't working and hasn't been working since it began. It makes it really easy to hate Mike. Without thinking that maybe he's not in love with El and doesn't actually want this relationship- he's just a dick. And I can see how it might make it easy to fell weird about El too. Because somethings wrong on her end of things as well.

There's a vagueness about Mike and El's relationship that looks like a shitty teenage romance at first. A crush. Nerd boy gets the girl with superpowers. Somethings off about it but we haven't been given a solid reason to think that. It's awkward and uncomfortable and looks like terrible writing at points- because we don't get to know what's going on under the surface.

Sorry that this turned into five paragraphs of me running around with my red string, but. Yeah, Mike and El are weird. Here's to hoping that there's a reason for it

#ask #we'll see what happens in s5 #but i dont think that a romantic relationship should be like this #hopper and joyce didnt make me uncomfortable- well maybe a little in the church but at least it was watchable #and jonathan and nancy were okay even with their relationship problems #and lucas and max literally have a joke about lucas stalking her and that doesnt make me not want to watch them #but mike and el who really are just doing what couples are supposed to do are weird and uncomfortable #ive got a lot of thoughts on this #way too many actually

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aliciaphen · 1 year

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☆ ALICIA’S MONTHLY MEDIA MENTIONS: NOVEMBER `22

it's mid-December. school is eating me alive. but here are my media faves of November.

Visual:

Howl's Moving Castle (2004) dir. Hayao Miyazaki - I was never a Ghibli kid growing up, and I think part of the reason why is that I was not exposed to it when I was younger. But holy shit was I missing out. I loved the story, the animation was gorgeous. It has further cemented this desire to pursue a career in filmmaking.

Class Action Park (2020) dir. Seth Porges & Chris Charles Scott - So, this is a documentary about Action Park, a New Jersey water park from the 70s and the crazy fucking way it operated. I'd recommend watching it, just because it's absolutely wild seeing the different attractions they had and just how dangerous they were. But just a heads up that it swings between nostalgic past employers/customers to families who have been victimized by the owner who prioritizes capital gain over human life.

Extracurricular (2020) dir. Kim Jinmin - I don't watch too many k-dramas, because I feel like most of them have an unnecessary romance going on that I just don't want to see lol. This is no exception, but the plot is interesting. It's about a couple of high schoolers and how they get involved in a prostitution ring. It gets you asking some moral questions; it's one of those dramas you'd like to debate with someone over. Justice for Seo Minhee.

She Loves Me (film) dir. David Horn, Scott Ellis (staging) - For a school assignment, I'm making a theatre poster for the play Parfumerie, a Hungarian play written by Miklós László, set in a 1930s perfume shop, and watching She Loves Me was part of my research of the play. It's a sweet, romantic story between two coworkers who have unknowingly been exchanging letters with each other. For the trope fanatics, it's an enemies-to-lovers story. I wouldn't say the songs are quite memorable compared to other musicals I've watched, but it would be something fun to see as the holidays approach.

Fire of Love (2022) dir. Sara Dosa - This is a documentary about two French volcanologists, Maurice and Katia Krafft, and the exciting lives they led studying, filming, and photographing volcanoes. I watched this on a really cold day at the Hot Docs theatre in Toronto. I feel like I went in expecting a romantic movie about the pair, but it didn't quite feel that way. It focused more on their lives and the crazy expeditions they took to study volcanoes. If anyone has watched Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, the final episode, The Murmuring dir. Jennifer Kent, feels similar.

Atlanta, S4 EP8: The Goof Who Sat by the Door (2022) - My awesome roommate got me into watching Atlanta. So within a month or so, I had binged all four seasons. If you're unfamiliar with the show, it can only really be described as afro-surrealism - it follows its main cast through their ventures in Atlanta and navigating the music industry, and has the occasional off-plot single episode. And it's created by Donald Glover - so you know it's good. This episode is one of those off-plot ones and it's a mockumentary of the career of Thomas Washington, the first black animator and CEO of Disney. I went in thinking this was real LMFAO. But if you go in with that mindset, it's such an impactful episode. Any exaggeration or irony flies right past you and you just see the story and how amazing it is.

Music: November 2022 Spotify Playlist

SMITHEREENS (2022) - Joji - Ugh. What can I say? It's so good. that good Joji sadness we all love to cry to. A few faves include Glimpse of Us, Die For You, YUKON (INTERLUDE), and 1AM FREESTYLE.

'The ReVe Festival 2022 - Birthday' - Red Velvet - I'm always excited for a Red Velvet comeback. I think the album is solid, but by far my favourite track is Celebrate. I listened to this album for the first time with my roommate, and it just so happens that both our birthdays are coming soon. (We're born three days apart!)

Books:

These are all books I'm in the midst of reading.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - I decided to read this solely because I couldn't get enough of the film and decided to read the book as well.

Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon - I'm still in the middle of it, but I'd recommend this to fellow artists! An insightful, useful guide to making your way in the art world.

#alicia phen #alicia's monthly media mentions #november 2022

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punderfulowl · 3 years

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Top 10 Anime (That I've Seen) in 2020

Well now, it has certainly been awhile. I'm currently sitting at eight months too late for posting this, but, y'know, something something life happens. More accurately, I already made this list, but wanted to try out what response I'd get from Reddit. Turns out, they're not as cool as you guys!

Anyways, as the title states, this is not a list of my favorite anime that came out during 2020, but instead my favorite anime that I just so happen to see during that year. While it's fun to have an end of the year retrospective, I find that having a list in this format not only adds variety, but also helps bring attention to anime that might have been lost in the shuffle in previous years (I also don't have enough time to stay caught up in seasonal releases).

Honorable mentions:

Aggretsuko S3, My Hero Academia S4, Today's Menu For the Emiya Family, Interspecies Reviewers (yes, really), and I Couldn't Become a Hero So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job

10. Maid-Sama (2010)

In hindsight, I find it a bit funny that I wanted to watch something wholesome to kick off 2020. Anyway, Maid-Sama is about a high school girl that is also a no nonsense Class President and she kind of has to be at a school where, until recently, was an all boys school. While she kills it in academics and is good at shutting down any shenanigans from the male student body, her financial situation isn't the greatest and has to balance a job at a maid cafe along with her school-related responsibilities. She does her best to hide her employment there to keep up appearances, but is one day found out by one of the boys who happens to be a big flirt and, yeah, hijinks ensue. While this anime doesn't have too many surprises, our main leads bounce off each other well enough to keep me entertained. Nothing I haven't seen already in other anime Rom-Coms, but I think it has more than earned its place at the start of this list.

9. Haganai NEXT (2013)

It's a personal rule of mine when making these lists that I don't include sequels of shows that were in previous lists. While I DID see the first season of Haganai a couple of years ago, it didn't quite make it into the top ten at that time. Because of that, it meets the criteria for this year's list. While I found the characters were just as charming here as I did during the first season, the development of their relationships really took off. It's a shame that it will most likely not get a third season, but I'm happy with what ride this show gave me. But hey! At least I can read the light novels/manga to continue the story! Wait, nevermind, the Haganai fans on Reddit are saying that's a bad idea.

8. Engaged to the Unidentified (2014)

Based off of a Four Panel joke manga, Engaged to the Unidentified tells the story of a girl in high school suddenly getting some life changing news. As it turns out, her grandfather made an arranged engagement with her and the son of a family he knew. Next thing she knows, the boy in question, as well as his little sister, moves into her family's house! While the boy is unassuming at first, there may be more to him and his family than he lets on. Plain and simple, this anime has charmed me. There's a decent amount of drama and mystery despite the source material and I applaud it! Even though this also doesn't have much new to offer, even to the point where I would compare this to Maid-Sama, what made me pick this at the 8th spot were the color choices and animation quality. Give this a shot if you can!

7. Grimoire of Zero (2017)

It's a fantasy/adventure story starring a loli sorcerer and a huge, anthropomorphic white tiger man. I honestly can't say anything else. I won't be able to do it justice. That first sentence should intrigue you a lease a little bit. Read it, again. Please check it out. It's an underrated gem that no one is talking about.

6. ID: Invaded (2020)

Hey, here's something recent! Unfortunately, this is also not something I can say much about. There may not be too many deep characters and the secret bad guy isn't hard to figure out, but BOY is this anime cool! The best way to describe this series is that it's like the movie Inception, but instead of brain heists, it's brain murder mysteries.

5. Carole and Tuesday (2019)

A runaway rich girl has a fated meeting with an orphan and they decide to make music together...oh, this also takes place Mars. Joking aside, this show was something special with its music (a new song almost every episode no less), interesting setting (freaking Mars, dude), and endearing main cast. Shoot, the music itself would be top 3, maybe number 1, but what bogs it down is the show's second half. I can easily see myself watching this again someday, and maybe my opinion will lighten up, but for now, 5 is a dang good spot.

4. Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia (2019)

Part of me hesitates placing this high up on list due to this show being animated, fan service spectacle for Fate fans. However, that hesitation is overshadowed by the fact that I am a Fate fan myself and I can do whatever I want with this list. Even if you're not a Fate fan or play FGO, if you enjoy some solid fight animation, this is worth a look.

3. K-On S1 (2009)

I'll admit it, I might regret not watching the second season then putting the series on the list as a whole, but this how I've been doing these lists and I'm such a creature of habit. There's not much I can say about K-On that hasn't already been said. By itself it's an anime classic and one of Kyo-ani's biggest properties. It's a sweet and wholesome watch, but be sure to have some insulin within reach.

2. Princess Principal (2017)

Imagine you're working with a team of programmers trying to make a mobile game then all of a sudden someone asks to make a show out of it. You know, a show with different character motivations, plot, twist and turns and all that? Most might say that's just a shameless, shallow cash grab, but it turns out okay for Princess Principal. Sure, most might summarize this anime as, "cute girls doing espionage things," but with its cast, visuals, and interesting alternative timeline, it works! Apparently there's a new season or movie in the works and I am all for it!

1. Beastars (2019)

I was not expecting this to be number one, but with much deliberation (with myself obviously) this feels right. It tells a pretty unique story while showing itself to be the exception to the rule when it comes to 3D anime.....it being that it's actually good. While I acknowledge that shows like K-On are classics and deserves to be number one on many different lists, it didn't line up with my personal criteria like Beastars did. My biggest deciding factor is: Now that I've watched this, do I want more? It's true that while I'm excited to start K-On S2, Beastars intrigues me more and ever since season two was announced, I'm looking forward to that more.

Sorry again for this list being so late, but at least the silver lining is that the next end of the year list is about four months away (in theory)!

#anime #k-on #beastars #princess principal #fate grand order #carole and tuesday #id invaded #grimoire of zero #engaged to the unidentified #haganai #maid sama

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