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#the start of my magnum opus i guess

cashmere-caveman · 11 months

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[1] Richard Siken, Portrait of Fryderyk in Shifting Light [2] Being Human S1E5 [3] Clint Smith, When people say, “we have made it through worse before” [4] Being Human S3E8 [5] Guillermo del Toro at the 2018 Golden Globes [6] Being Human S1E6 [7] Allie X, Fresh Laundry [8] Being Human S1E5 [9] Christian Wiman, The Parable of Perfect Silence [10] Being Human S3E8 [11] Hanif Abdurraqib, And What Good Will Your Vanity Be When The Rapture Comes [12] Being Human S2E8 [13] Allie X, Fresh Laundry [14] Heidi Priebe, To Love Someone Long-term Is To attend A Thousand Funerals of The People They Used To Be [16] Being Human S3E8 [17] Christian Wiman, Flight

#being human #john mitchell #being human uk #ok enough business tags. behold my magnum opus #according to my notes i started making this in fucking DECEMBER last year. it is now JUNE #it took me six fucking months..... this is truly a disease but i am so happy w it #webweaving as a format is so perfect for me bc its just the adhd experience of going wait this reminds me of--#anyway can u tell im a tragedy enjoyer. i love a good downfall #i also have so many thoughts abt george and annie and i have a whole idea abt the bt20 arc #and tbh i rlly wanna make one abt what the concepts of monstrous and human mean within the context of the show #but uhhhh exam season incoming so! see u in six months i guess rip x__x #i will come back to this and add alt text dw i just dont have the spoons rn #words #poetry #cavetext #caveweb

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scientia-rex · 2 months

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When I was in ninth grade I wanted to challenge what I saw as a very stupid dress code policy (not being allowed to wear spikes regardless of the size or sharpness of the spikes). My dad said to me, “What is your objective?”

He said it over and over. I contemplated that. I wanted to change an unfair dress code. What did I stand to gain? What did I stand to lose? If what I really wanted was to change the dress code, what would be my most effective potential approach? (He also gave me Discourses on the Fall of Rome by Titus Livius, Machiavelli’s magnum opus. Of course he’d already given me The Prince, Five Rings, and The Art of War.)

I ultimately printed out that phrase, coated it in Mod Podge, and clipped it to my bathroom mirror so I would look at it and think about it every day.

What is your objective?

Forget about how you feel. Ask yourself, what do you want to see happen? And then ask, how can you make it happen? Who needs to agree with you? Who has the power to implement this change? What are the points where you have leverage over them? If you use that leverage now, will you impair your ability to use it in the future? Getting what you want is about effectiveness. It is not about being an alpha or a sigma or whatever other bullshit the men’s right whiners are on about now. You won’t find any MRA talking points in Musashi, because they are not relevant.

I had no clear leverage on the dress code issue. My parents were not on the PTA; neither were any of my friend’s parents who liked me. The teachers did not care about this. Ultimately I just wore what I wanted, my patent leather collar from Hot Topic with large but flattened spikes, and I had guessed correctly—the teachers also did not care enough to discipline me.

I often see people on tumblr, mostly the very young, flail around in discourse. They don’t have an objective. They don’t know what they want to achieve, and they have never thought about strategizing and interpersonal effectiveness. No one can get everything they want by being an asshole. You must be able to work with other people, and that includes smiling when you hate them.

Read Machiavelli. Start with The Prince, but then move on to Discourses. Read Musashi’s Five Rings. Read The Art of War. They’re classics for a reason. They can’t cover all situations, but they can do more for how you think about strategizing than anything you’re getting in middle school and high school curricula.

Don’t vote third party unless you can tell me not only what your objective is but also why this action stands a meaningful chance of accomplishing it. Otherwise, back up and approach your strategy from a new angle. I don’t care how angry you are with Biden right now. He knows about it, and he is both trying to do something and not doing enough. I care about what will happen to millions of people if we have another Trump presidency. Look up Ross Perot, and learn from our past. Find your objective. If it is to stop the genocide in Palestine now, call your elected representatives now. They don’t care about emails; they care about phone calls, because they live in the past. I know this because I shadowed a lobbyist, because knowing how power works is critical to using it.

How do you think I have gotten two clinics to start including gender care in their planning?

Start small. Chip away. Keep working. Find your leverage; figure out how and when to effectively use it. Choose your battles, so that you can concentrate on the battle at hand instead of wasting your resources in many directions. Learn from the accumulated wisdom of people who spent their lives learning by doing, by making mistakes, by watching the mistakes of their enemies.

Don’t be a dickhead. Be smarter than I was at 14. Ask yourself: what is your objective?

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chrollohearttags · 8 days

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thank you all for your well wishes and love, I really appreciate it. I didn’t exactly plan to go on hiatus or leave. Honestly, I was just fine, nothing major even happening in life (at least I thought so) but I ended up having an unexpected mental break of sorts. School and work has always been manageable but work has began its busiest season and this last class was a little trying so I’m guessing it became too much. I started isolating from everyone and hadn’t been very social lately. Not to mention, I’m preparing to have surgery in a few months. Truthfully though, I think I just became exhausted with this app and its nonsense..or the clock app I should say. Like I said, I’ve been working on being less combative and confrontational on here bc it’s not who I am and as I stated in my post a couple months ago, if I have to be in defense mode, I don’t want to be here. Although I’ve gotten no anon hate recently, I can see posts. I can see anons being sent by proxy of my friends and I can see screenshots of my name being mentioned in comments on apps I don’t even use. I’ve always been very passionate about my writing and I try my best to pour as much of myself into it as I can. I know people say ‘passion project’ or ‘magnum opus’ but that’s what I strive for with each of my works. I never wanna give bare minimum, hence why I deny certain anons or don’t write certain tropes if they don’t align with that purpose.

Again, I’m perfect by no means and my fics are not for everyone. However, having these straw man fics about baby mamas and drug dealers attached to me is infuriating (not bc I have an issue with them, but bc it shows some of you don’t truly read my work) With that being said, I’ve got the next two weeks off from school and I’ve been working on some stuff I’m really excited to share. My only request is that y’all start spreading more love to ur writers..show ppl that you love their works. The energy that you use to critique and throw hate, use it to be reblog and show appreciation. I’ve seen so many great writers leave this app and I hate to join them, but I’m just not going to burn myself out for mediocre feedback and diet lite racist commentary. I have Google Docs and my drafts, I’m good. Be blessed everyone <3

#cherry chats 🍒#anyways hope everybody has been doing okay #love you all so much #thank you for checking on me #mini Thursday morning rant #can’t wait to be back posting

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patricia-taxxon · 2 months

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"Art, Furries, God" is one of the most transcendentally amazing videos on YouTube, and in terms of your more longform video essay style content, what I would consider to be your "magnum opus" on that front. It is a genuine work of art. What was your creative process when making the video? How much thought went into each aspect of its creation? Was it carefully calculated, or was it more spontaneous?

(Sorry if I sound like a pretentious dweeb here)

I had the whole thing charted out from the start, I was inspired by Jacob Geller's piecemeal analysis style. I think part of what made it work is that I really did have all of these disparate analysis nuggets come together in my head in real life after I saw Everything Everywhere All At Once, just as I described in the video. It's even in roughly chronological order, I had been rotating The Mollusk in my head for yeeeears before I wrote that video, JerryTerry was another clue I got a little later, and EEAAO hit me with the entire thesis like a thunderbolt. So I guess it was spontaneous in a way, but it was a long time in the making.

#cilantromixture #patricia taxxon ask #patty taxxon self analysis

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thestylesindependent · 10 months

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TS: I loved seeing one of my favourite images of yours in the book – one of Harry Styles for Another Man. I think it was the first issue of Another Man I wrote for, so it’s very special to me. What do you remember about that shoot?

AM: I mean, he’s a really lovely person. The reason why I like to take people back to where they’re from is because it gives them enthusiasm towards the project. It’s why I constantly go back to where I’m from. It generates an excitement and an enthusiasm for the pictures, for the photo shoot and for showing a different part of themselves; what they were like before they became this big person. The reason why we sat him on that bin was because he used to sit on that bin during break time or lunchtime. There was a moment when we were taking a picture at Holmes Chapel train station, and one of his old school friends got off the train and [Harry] started talking to him like he’d seen him at school last week. It was quite sweet to watch. Harry was no longer Harry, he was just a schoolmate.

TS: I guess you regress when you go home. So was there a sense of photographing him in his truest form?

AM: Yeah, there is that. It’s sort of a combination of both – there is who he is. But like, it’s nice to take him back.

#harry styles #another man #July 2023

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insertdisc5 · 9 months

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Devlog #16: Answers and Questions

Hello everyone! Welcome to this month’s devlog!

If you just stumbled upon this, I am Adrienne, also known as insertdisc5! I’m the developer, writer, artist, main programmer, etc of the game. The game being In Stars and Time, a timeloop RPG, which is also the next and final game in the START AGAIN series, following START AGAIN: a prologue (available here!). You can find out more about In Stars and Time here!!!

LET’S GET TO IT. This month is Q&A: Cohost edition!

“A Q&A again?” Heheh well I don’t have anything to talk about this month ✨ We’re working hard on finalizing the localization! And on porting to consoles! And on secret stuff! You know, the usual!!! Get excited!!! So, Q&A again 💖 And see, I asked questions for Q&As on Twitter. On Tumblr. On Discord. But some new social media platforms have entered the fray. SO.

Welcome to Q&A: Cohost edition. (Follow me on cohost and/or read this post I wrote about why I think cohost is neat teehee) (and follow me on bluesky if you want. I like it way less though. Sorry bluesky)

@ItsMeLilyV asks:

One of the bits of advice that gets tossed around by indie devs is to avoid making RPGs, especially for your first few games, because they tend to be large in scope, difficult to prototype, and easy to underestimate.

Was this ever a fear for you in making START AGAIN, or In Stars and Time? Did you take any special precaution to keep these games within a scope you could handle, and did you learn tricks from START AGAIN that carried over to ISAT when in came to keeping things manageable? Thank you!! ✨

I had no idea that was a piece of advice given, but yep, that makes a lot of sense! Since I didn’t know, I went in blissfully aware, teehee.

I will say that I am familiar with working on big projects from working on comics, and with seeing big webcomic artists always mention to never start with your magnum opus… And I could tell ISAT had the potential to be way bigger than I imagined, which is why I decided to start with creating the prologue to get used to RPGMaker as well as making games. Kind of a pilot of sorts!

Again, thanks to comics, I know to keep my scope pretty small, because even if you keep it small it WILL balloon into something way bigger than you thought. Just for the prologue, I imagined it’d be a 20mn game, and it’s easily a 2-3h one! Keep your scope small!!!

As for tricks, when I catch myself thinking “wow what if I added this cool thing”, I try to always keep in mind those two things: 1. How long will it take to implement (including bug testing), and 2. Does it add something important to the game. I know we always want to add a fishing game, or a fun minigame, but do you Need It. Does it add something substantial to the story, to the Themes. Or are you just adding it because you like fishing games. Which is a valid reason, but also, maybe just make a fishing game instead. You are not the Yakuza series!!!! You are a small indie gamedev!!!! Think about you in 4 months who has to fix all the fishing game bugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@stem asks:

how is it to have a piece of art that's basically done (as far as i understand) that you can't share yet? like how do you personally bide the time until it's finally ready to release, or is it not really a challenge to wait? :0c

It’s so weird!!! The game has been done for so long!!! I’m very glad I asked some friends to playtest the game, so I could at least get some feedback before the game is out… In some ways it feels like the game will be done twice: once back when I finished making the game, and once when the game actually comes out. It’s just a very strange experience. Sometimes people tell me they’re excited to find out more about this story beat, or about this character, and a part of me is like… Wait, haven't you played the game? Oh, yeah, it’s not actually out. Guess you’ll find out later.

EDIT: My god. I just checked on my private devlog for when I completed the Alpha of ISAT. It was in August of last year (I lay down on the floor and look at the ceiling) (I still had to finish all the illustrations so really the game was Done Donezo in October but still…)

anon asked:

What role did Armor Games play in creating the final product?

SO MANY THINGS. Here are some of them: support when it comes to porting/marketing/social media/localization, feedback on the game and how to make it better, community guidance, testing support, QA/internal testing… The game couldn’t be the way it is without them.

For more small details, I have a weekly meeting with my producer, Dora! We talk about the game and how everything is going. A couple months back, I also was checking in with the internal QA team fairly often to fix any remaining bugs. They also helped me find ISAT’s additional programmer, Isabella, and she is a godsend because coding is hard. They also take care of communicating with press, finding more opportunities to showcase the game in conventions, talking with the localization/porting teams… I am probably forgetting a thousand little things they did to help out!!! THEY’RE SO GOOD OK

Anon asked:

So obviously the skills/spells/what have you are based off of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Did you design each "type" to be like a certain style? Rock being heavy damage and defense buffs, scissors being speed and quick attacks, like that?

Absolutely! I just went with the obvious. Rock is physical damage, defense focused, Scissors is swords, attack focused, and Paper is magic, mind focused. It was fun to develop a spell system around those! I’m excited for people to find out more about Craft…

@nickshutter asks:

I really loved START AGAIN (streamed it for a small handful of friends) and was super happy to hear about a follow-up! The cast is so much fun and their personalities are really well-balanced—did any of the characters change pretty drastically from their initial conception during development of the game?

I’m so glad you streamed it with friends… I hope you had a good fun time…

And for sure! Isabeau and Mirabelle were pretty set from the get go (himbo and shy wallflower), but Odile started as more of a gentle teacher type, even if I very quickly went the snarky old lady route. Siffrin and Bonnie were harder to pin down– I wasn’t sure how to portray Siffrin’s despair in the prologue, and started showing them more overtly depressed, but I thought it’d be Very Yummy to have them show a happy facade to their friends. And then, for ISAT, I had to figure out what a non-depressed Siffrin would be like, for the first couple acts of the game before the despair sets in. As for Bonnie, I had a lot of trouble figuring out what they’d be like, what kind of kid they were, what their relationship with everyone else would be like, and then I thought about what their past would be like and then their characterization was set in stone. Sometimes you need to figure out One Thing to unlock a character’s brain. I’m very excited for everyone to find out more about each character in ISAT!

@SuperBiasedGary asks:

What games (or other media) lit a fire under you to create your own?

It could be stuff you liked so much it inspired, something you found frustrating because you felt an itch to do it differently, or something that made you realise humans make things and you could be one of them.

I found a lot of indie games inspiring, but I think Umineko might’ve been the one that made me go… Oh, anyone can just make a massive video game narrative. And you can make it very simple, with kinda goofy sprites, and still manage to make an incredibly touching story!

As for frustrating games that lit a fire under me, I think I’d say in general, I found issue with the classic trope of the “main character helps people and doesn’t get anything back”. What often happens in some games is that you help NPCs with their problems, sometimes helping them with very intense, complicated problems! For a very long time! And, in exchange, you get… A cool item? A nice new skill? And that’s it?

I know this might be complicated to implement on a narrative perspective, but I remember playing Persona 5, and your character just went through a very harrowing experience (like, oh, being INTERROGATED AND TORTURED BY THE POLICE) and you help your friends during social links, and they go “thanks for your help! Bye~” like WHAT ABOUT ME. WHAT ABOUT MY PROBLEMS. CAN YOU GIVE ME A HUG

So on a certain level, I wanted a game where instead of the characters around you having problems, the main character also has problems. And is subconsciously screaming “CAN YOU PLEASE NOTICE I HAVE PROBLEMS AND GIVE ME A HUG.” And hopefully, the characters notice. Winks

Hm. I do want to say I wrote most of the prologue/ISAT during the pandemic, and I felt very lonely and not supported. But then guess what. I told my friends about how I felt. And most of them told me they had no idea, and vowed to support me more. And now I’m closer to them. So the moral of this answer is, yeah, it’d be nice if people noticed, but also, you need to tell people when you’re feeling bad. LOOKS AT SIFFRIN

Anon asked:

Is there a song you listen to in order to put yourself in the sasasa/ISAT mindset?

I have a whole playlist baybee. Before you ask: there aren’t any hidden meanings behind those song choices. It’s about the Mood, and also my personal tastes in music I listen to when I need to concentrate. I like songs that go WUB WUB

In no particular order, here are five random songs I played on repeat when making the prologue:

Future Club (Arcade Version) by Perturbator (in bold because this was THE song I listened to on repeat. I believe I gave it to Lindar for inspiration lol)

Arcades by C2C

Wake Me Up by Para One

The First Wish by DROELOE

Les Enfants du Paradis by World’s End Girlfriend

And here are five random songs I played on repeat for In Stars and Time:

Down by Chloe x Halle

Nonsense Bungaku by Eve

Non-Breathe Oblige by PinocchioP

Gentle Heart by Jamie Paige

Ready For The Floor by Hot Chip

It’s interesting, the songs I listened to for the prologue are generally more heavy and frenetic, while the ones for ISAT are more hopeful… I made sure to listen to more lively songs for ISAT, since that’s the feeling I wanted to give off…

That’s all the questions I have! In other, non related ISAT news, I have started a new project and having a lot of fun. It’s a visual novel this time. I’m hoping to get some screenshots ready in the next few months, but also I’m taking it easy on this one. If it takes years with many breaks in between to get it done, it’s fine. What matters to me right now is the process!

That’s all I have to say for today! Let me know if you have any questions, or if there’s any aspect of the game development struggle you’d like me to talk about! See you next time!!!

AND DON’T FORGET TO WISHLIST THE GAME ON STEAM ALSO IT REALLY HELPS BECAUSE STEAM’S ALGORITHM IS MORE LIKELY TO SHOW OFF GAMES WITH A HIGH AMOUNT OF WISHLISTS THAT’S THE REASON WHY GAME DEVS ALWAYS ASK TO WISHLIST!!! OKAY BYE!!!!

#in stars and time #start again start again start again #devlog #game dev #game development #indie game #indie dev #indie games #timeloop

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chicgeekgirl89 · 4 months

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2023 Writing Roundup

Thanks to @liminalmemories21 and @ladytessa74 for the tags!

I guess the next time I'm mad at myself for not writing more I'll just...tell myself to shut up lol. Holy heck this is a lot of fic.

January

Paper Rings- A 5+1 of Tarlos wedding planning. I adore this one.

Packing a Piece- Early days Tarlos, T.K. taking care of Carlos as his feelings grow stronger.

My Pain Fits in the Palm of Your Freezing Hand- What a labor of love, Carlos' POV during the Ice Storm arc.

February

I Get it From You- 5+1 of habits the boys have picked up from each other. So fun to write!

Will You Take What's Left of Me?- Me trying to figure out the mess of Carlos having a secret wife 🙄

Like I'm Gonna Lose You- T.K. saving Carlos' life after his abduction and the aftermath.

Glitter and Be Gay- This one is so freaking funny lol. Carlos hates glitter and he suffers because of it. T.K. is amused.

How to Say Goodbye- My last NCIS LA Densi fic. That fandom has meant the world to me and I'm sad the show is over.

March

Love is Sitting on the Bathroom Floor- T.K. has food poisoning, Carlos takes care of him, it's so sweet!

The Luck O' the Irish- I truly love how this one turned out, my little fic about Tarlos doing a class project with their child in the future and Carlos being a neurotic dad lol.

April

I Won't Say I'm in Love- Carlos falling in love with T.K., Adriana and Francesca being their best/worst selves. This one has some of the best dialogue, god they're fun.

Mothers and Sons- Andrea caring for T.K. as they wedding plan. Made myself cry with this one.

May

Shiner- Coda for 4x15, Carlos finding out about T.K.'s black eye and taking care of him.

A Helping Hand- Lololol a fic based on my real life experience with rain and smoke detectors.

June

Happy Campers- Boys camping trip with whumped Carlos is just what the summer ordered!

July

We Have Suffered Enough- 4x16 post-ep. God did they really need the Huntington's scare?!

Day Zero- T.K. struggles after being drugged by Sadie.

August

Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting- This might be the best fic of the year. Mama and Papa Reyes getting into trouble at a bar with T.K. and poor Carlos having to sort it all out is the stuff my dreams are made of.

September

Rugby King- My sweet, sweet Heartstopper boys. I was so nervous writing this fic and I'm so glad I did. Whumpy Nick and worried Charlie are such perfection and it was so fun to jump into this fandom!

October

Come Sail Away- My magnum opus for this year lol. The longest thing I've written to date and a love letter to the drama and antics of Below Deck. Also my first AU! (Technically...)

November

Tío T.K.- T.K. being a freaking badass and helping Carlos' nephew. Adriana and Francesca return. A joy from start to finish.

Phew! What a year! Thanks to everyone who has read my work this year!

Tagging @lemonlyman-dotcom, @bonheur-cafe, @carlos-in-glasses, and @thisbuildinghasfeelings!

#2023 Writing Roundup #Tarlos #Heartstopper #Nick and Charlie #911 Lone Star #NCIS LA #Densi

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quohotos · 9 months

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I present to you, my Magnum Opus. The Underland Chronicles rendered in the style of an early 2000s flash based point and click adventure game (the MNOG)

I have spent so long on this. Inkscape doesn't log total project time the way Krita does, but it's the most time I've spent on any single piece of vector art. Even then there's still a million things I want to go in and change but... aaaaaa you have to cut it off somewhere. I have been copy pasting rats for hours, and don't even get me started on the shadows. The shadows look good, they are not physically accurate. I tried.

Here are some bonus features!

No text overlay. Clean if you want to print it or make it a desktop background.

Close up on Solovet and Ajax I've never actually drawn Solovet, or any underlanders really. I definitely am phoning it in by framing her from behind. When it came to designing what kind of armor they'd wear I took inspiration from both Greek and Roman designs. Ajax was originally much more saturated red until @paksenarrion-dorthansdotter corrected me. The books describe him as dried blood colored. (please don't look too close at the rats they don't hold up to scrutiny)

Close up on Ripred. He looks just a little bit small and fat in this one, but that's just because he's slouching. When he stands up it all stays in his hips and ass. I always draw Ripred like he appeared on my cover of Code of Claw. The scar on his face isn't really visible from this angle because it cuts left to right and he's looking left.

Lastly, here's Gregor and Ares. There is an official design for his armor as seen on the cover of my copy of Code of Claw. I redesigned it because I thought that version looked kinda pants, tbh. Little goofy and hard to take seriously.

The great thing about vector art is you can zoom in and obsess over tiny little details that end up only being like 4 pixels wide in the final export. Case in point, these rando flyers. Such minute detail that gets flattened out to a single pixel in some cases.

Sidenote: I always imagined the flyers as more microbat inspired, which is why I draw them with tails... but these ones end up looking very flying fox-like and have also some megabat proportions. This isn't really an intentional artistic choice, it's just a compromise I had to strike to make them look decent. I need to practice drawing microbats more.

Oh well. The author isn't that descriptive about their proportions so I guess it's up to interpretation.

Lastly, here's the original sketch that I traced over. A lot of features ultimately got cut, as well as the dimensions to the side being changed. Solovet originally was going to have a braid but then I remembered that line from the first book where Luxa explains that you have to cut your hair to go to war. Ripred also looked a lot more teddy bear like in the sketch, so I ended up not even tracing him. Bane was a redraw, and I actually did trace part of Ajax and then just frehanded the rest.

If anyone is reading this far and hasn't read the underland Chronicles, now is a great time to go to your local library and pick it up. These books slap and this tiny community would love to suffer our brainrot welcome you into our fold.

Fly You High

#my art #tuc #the underland chronicles #the underland chronicles spoilers #tuc spoilers #the code of claw spoilers #vector art #mnog #bats #rats #fantasy #tuc20 #inkscape

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evelili · 9 months

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okay I’ve been reading your magnum opus fic and I’m at the chapter with fluttershy and the manticore and GOOD GOD this fic is amazing. Your writing of twilight is stunning. Her steadfast belief in science at the start seemed odd but now that her past bullying has been revealed it feels like she was just clutching to the one thing that couldn’t hurt her. God sunset getting possessed is so cool and I am TERRIFIED of when twilights going to be forced to see her like that. Your characterization of Celestia blows me away, she’s this perfect mix of a loving mentor and a woman who would do ANYTHING to keep her demons locked away. I really like how you write that there’s this shift between her when she is talking to twilight normally vs when she’s talking about magic. She goes from loving to almost cold, it’s brilliant! I’m halfway through fluttershy’s chapter and good god. Applejack’s speech about it not being Twilights fault she got bullied and having to trust her in spite of all that has happened nearly brought me to tears but GOD. Twilight being a bit possessed by the manticore is such a cool shift from the original episode it makes it all so much more intense. Fluttershy and twilight talking about how twilight didn’t deserve to be bullied and it’s alright that she didn’t get over it!!

“Something’s wrong with me,” she whispered back, her mouth dry with guilt. Fluttershy nodded carefully, the stinger still inches away from her throat. Twilight didn’t trust herself to move, and instead added, “I don’t mean just right now. There’s still—” She choked on her words. “I didn’t get over it,” she said instead. “I couldn’t. Not like you.”

Like!!! This bit right here fucked me UP. Your descriptions of the emotions she’s feeling and how she’s expressing it physically between her mouth and her voice and how the wings and scorpion tail are reacting are BRILLIANT!!

Twilight didn’t try to move away. “But I’m not better,” she admitted. Fluttershy’s hand brushed against her cheek, gently tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. “And I don’t know why.”

This line is the one that broke me and made me write this. GOD. I don’t have words besides just. oh my god. Fluttershys gentleness is so good and so heartbreaking and I love it

I’ll be honest I’m not yet sure how to write long comments on fimfiction, but when I finish this fic you’re eithering getting a long ass ask in your inbox or a comment on there if I figure it out. Love this fic so far!!! Ah!!!!

AHHHHHH tysm for taking the time to write such a lovely comment!!! like holy shit you have just given me enough serotonin for WEEKS omg, it makes me so happy to know that you're enjoying the story!!

celestia is a rlly interesting chara to me, and im super happy w how the version of her in the fic turned out! actually, most of the reason for the 30k epilogue jumpscare is that i really needed to properly resolve her "arc" with twilight, so if you are a fan of this version of her please look forward to that! and, sunset as a "villain" was something we only saw briefly in eqg1 (and for my tastes, i wasnt a huge fan of how it was done) but there's so much POTENTIAL there i couldnt help myself in exploring it :)

chapter 5->act 2 is the real "turning point" i guess of the fic in terms of tone, and even tho it was a struggle to write shy's chapter i think over time i've rlly come around to liking how it turned out :D in the fic i ended up writing fluttershy as more of a later season version of herself (less cowardly maybe?), but the essence of her chara to me is someone who can be kind even in situations when she is receiving unkindness in return. and sometimes, this "fighting fire with kindness" is actually the only solution, and one that only shy can find.

wahhh i never know how to properly express how much i love and appreciate these sort of detailed responses, so please also accept a little doodle of the scene you mentioned liking as part of my thanks!

#FOLDING THIS ASK UP PUTTING IN MY POCKET KEEPING IT FOREVER #tysm again i appreciate u so much!!!!#lili talking #tte #mlp fanfic #my art #twilight sparkle #scitwi #fluttershy

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mushroomrealestate · 10 months

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The people have spoken I guess! Hear me out-

My little pony was a very wholesome thing for me growing up and very much influenced me artistically fjdjfjdjf thankfully I was not exposed to the more infamous aspects of the fandom. (I was traumatized by Gravity Falls content thank you very much.)

I don’t think anyone asked for this, but too bad you get it anyway! I pony-fied your Tokyo Ghoul and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!

I can’t tell if this is blessed or cursed I’m just thankful I can still draw ponies it’s been years! Just a silly little doodle that started as a joke but I don’t think it’s a joke anymore 😳 regardless behold my magnum opus. Cringe culture is dead and I’m dancing on it’s grave.

Kind regards,

-Your local girl who is super emotionally attached to Tokyo ghoul characters, despite not watching/reading it in years because it would most likely ruin the far superior version she has invented in her head. She seriously needs new hobbies.

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smuggonifico-lmao · 9 months

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Masterpost

All of my ROTTMNT AU EDITS

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MY MAGNUM OPUS "OTHER SIDE" (CAS Rottmnt AU)

Soulmate (CAS Rottmnt AU)

Poem (CAS Rottmnt AU)

Home (CAS Rottmnt AU)

Bones (CAS Rottmnt AU)

I wont take no for an answer (CAS Rottmnt AU)

WHERE WERE YOU!? (CAS Rottmnt AU)

FIX (CAS Rottmnt AU)

#NEW# ASHES (CAS Rottmnt AU)

Remember Me... (L.O.V.E Au Edit)

Oblivion (L.O.V.E Au Edit)

Alone (L.O.V.E Au Edit)

Being Human (L.O.V.E. Au Edit)

Turtles Heart (COALT AU Edit)

Blood (2AL AU Edit)

#NEW# Gladiator (Gemini AU Edit)

TapakaH Edit

Another TapakaH Edit

GUESS WHO MADE ANOTHER TAPAKAH EDIT

CAS Animation!!! Yipppee

CAS mini story

All my Rottmnt Movie Edits

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Thunder

Oblivion x Flying

Deal with God

My AU list

TWIOH AU

Seperated but also not AU

Hamato Spirit AU

Grapefruit AU

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TWIOH AU

The guys wake up in a strange apocalyptic future...

-START-

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Seperated but also not AU

Classic seperated AU but instead of writing or drawing for it, i decided to fucking explain it in memes until i feel like doing either of these

Seperated Au but!!!

They got seperated at ages 11-10-10-9

Donnie is fucking around and finding out in a government facility that got ahold of him

Raph and Leo landed their asses in the hidden city (without knowing that the other is there)

Raph is a feral street vigilante child

Leo somehow got to Big Mama and she was like "Its free real estate" and adopted him into her hotel staff

And mikey,,, points at all the memes regarding him

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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Hamato Spirit AU

AU where Mikey sealed everyone's Ninpo in Caseys mask instead of sending him back in time. Shenanigans ensue.

Lore post

Art by Notemaker!!! So pretty,,,

Casey go wooosh (plus lil story)

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Grapefruit AU

Summary TBA

Random PMV

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#rottmnt #Seperated but also not au #Hamato spirit Au #TWIOH Au

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darkpoisonouslove · 23 days

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Trivia Tuesday

Who says Trivia Tuesday is only for written works?

I have been putting this off for 3 months but I wanted to share this compilation of my favorite moments from my Daylight video for Griffin x Valtor and do some commentary on them, talk about the process behind this video.

*I chose to overlay the song from the beginning instead of making you listen to the different segments that go with the footage smashed together in a cacophony. Here's the full video if you want to reference which parts of the song correspond to the respective segments.

There is no reason for me to bring this up other than that in the og video the line "you and I drink the poison from the same vine" just so happens to play while this is going on. I swear that was not on purpose. I chose the vine attack against Valtor because of the dark green glow around the stem which looks like Griffin's magic in order to make this more convincing... and then I realized that this moment happened right as that lyric was playing.

This whole segment starting from Griffin and Faragonda and then switching to Valtor in his lonely tower before Griffin contacts him because she wants to talk to him too and can't tear herself away is just so wistful and nostalgic and the music (especially in the actual video) only adds to that vibe. They're both brooding - out of the daylight - because they despise their obsession with each other but still can't help it.

I especially love that he proceeds to break into Alfea to talk to her and she blasts him with a vortex of books because she sensed his presence (I just didn't include that part in this compilation because then I'd have to post the entire video). It is a headcanon that I've had for a while that because they were partners for so long and the Dragon Fire is the most powerful magic which created the whole universe, Griffin has learned to home in on his magical signature because she can distinguish it from anyone else's.

-- Join me. -- A horrible idea.

I find this moment utterly hilarious. I don't really have anything else to say about it but I guess I can share the process of picking the dialogue for the video. Valtor's lines were easier to pick because they mostly come from a couple of scenes but I had to scour the entire season 1 (aka every scene with Griffin) to figure out which of Griffin's lines can be useful and then I had to piece together actual conversations from them, the one above being my magnum opus.

I simply enjoy the way I made these two different scenes fit together into one to make it look like his whole "teleporting in your chair" shtick happens right in front of Griffin's and the viewer's eyes. This is why I love video editing!

This one! Oh, this was a legendary moment for me! A whole new step in my video making career. I feel like I unlocked a whole new part of my brain when I realized that I could use the mirror effect to showcase Griffin's spell creating her clone. I have never used the mirror effect before and finding such great application for it that adds to the story (because I wasn't sure my idea with the spell was coming through before I came up with this) was certainly a highlight of my video making process.

Kind of on the other end of the spectrum this is here because I wanted to explain that the vortex is the portal that Griffin opens to sneak back to her office and catch Valtor off guard while he's watching her clone. I wasn't sure all of that was clear but I was running out of ideas, mental energy and remaining seconds from the song so I kind of had to speedrun that if I wanted to fit everything in the video.

I thought Valtor deserved a taste of his own medicine (aka payback for the illusion spell he used on Griffin, Faragonda and Saladin at Light Rock lake). Is this scenario realistic? Mayhaps not. But! Griffin used to study under Lysslis with him so she could have picked up some very convincing illusion magic too!

I'm thinking that perhaps I would have been able to provide more insight into the video and my thoughts on it if I had written this back in January when I could still remember the process of making this but it is what it is. I got to talk about it again and rediscover some of the joys that this particular video brought to me which was fun! And now this post works as a throwback to refresh all our memory on my latest efforts in video making before we see where I go from here.

#winx club #griffin x valtor #winx griffin #winx valtor #covenshipping #my video #video #trivia tuesday

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samasmith23 · 11 months

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Evangelion: You Can (Not) Marathon — (Part 1)

Neon Genesis Evangelion, “Episode 1: ANGEL ATTACK”

Well it's time to officially start this marathon of the entire Evangelion anime franchise, beginning with Episode 1 of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, "ANGEL ATTACK"!

Just as a quick heads up, there will be SPOILERS for the entire franchise all throughout these blog posts! This your only warning, so if you have not watched the series yet, go ahead and do so right now! You can watch the original Neon Genesis Evangelion series + movies on Netflix, while the Rebuild Teatrology is available on Amazon Prime.

Also, for a reminder of how I plan on watching the series throughout this marathon, check out my prologue post here:

And with all that out of the way, "Evangelion: You Can (Not) Marathon"... LAUNCH!!!

First of all, words can not even begin to describe how legendary & phenomenal this series' opening credits theme is! Seriously, no matter how many times I watch this series, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" will forever remain one of the greatest anime openings in history!

Not only is the song itself, "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" (残酷な天使のテーゼ, Zankoku na Tenshi no Tēze) by Yoko Takahashi, Toshiyuki Ōmori, Hidetoshi Satō & Neko Oikawa, an incredibly unique J-Pop theme, but the accompanying visuals convey so much symbolism and important plot & character information that it would be impossilbe to discuss all of it within a short span of time!

I will state, however, that I'm personally fond of the visuals of Shinji staring out into the distance as silhouettes of Rei & Asuka float across the blue skies (emphasizing Shinji's loneliness and longing for human connection, as well as his internalized issues with women), as well as the proceeding visual of Misato glancing upward into the twilight sky as Shinji judges her from afar (highlighting the overt parallels between the two characters, as well as Misato's struggles to embrace the role of a surrogate-mother figure for Shinji).

However, I will provide a link to the video, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis Explained - What's in an OP," by anime YouTuber Geoff Thew from channel Mother's Basement, who does a far better job at analyzing the themes than I possibly ever could!

Moving on past the opening credits, it’s still hard to believe that Evangelion takes place in the year 2015. In-universe, the near-apocalypse known as Second Impact occurred 15-years earlier in at the dawn of the new millennium. In the real world we’re now in 2023, and the predicted total apocalypse known as Third Impact still hasn’t occurred yet.

2016 on the other hand… woof! Now that was certainly the year for an apocalypse since that was the year Donald Trump was unfortunately elected the President of the United States (geez... it still hurts to say those words...)! I guess Hideaki Anno and the staff at Studio's Gainax's predictions for the date of the end of the world were just one year off...

Actually, maybe that explains it all! Maybe we actually all died in Third Impact, and we’re all living inside a false dream reality where Trump managed to seize control over the White House for 4-years as a result! And we’re unfortunately still living in that nightmarish vision of Human Instrumentality considering the existence of bullcrap like Ron DeSantis’ outright fascist policies in Florida (God forbid he become president in 2024) and the Supreme Court rolling back the clock on civil rights by unconstitutionally undoing Roe V. Wade and openly threatening to go after gay marriage next.

That’s gotta be it! Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and every conservative Justice on the Supreme Court somehow discovered SEELE’s plans for Third Impact, and hijacked their Human Instrumentality Project to create the Hellscape that we’re all currently living in!

Getting back on track though, I love how these opening establishing shots not only establish the this series' post-apocalyptic setting through the half-submerged ruins of an old Japanese city, but also build-up tension for the reveal of this series' iconic monsters!

While the inital shots of the mysterious creature largely obscure its full apperance from the viewer, Anno & crew effectively convey the scale of this approaching threat through both its shadow beneath the water as well as extreme close-up shots its masked-face rapidly swiming past the sunken buildings.

So although the audience is still unsure of what exactly this monstrosity is, we already understand that its incredibly large and otherwordly through what little we see of its physical features!

The tension is further hightened through the quick-shots of dozens United Nations military tanks and their missile-armed cannons aiming directly towards the submerged ruins where the creature is approaching from, as well as audio of an emergency broadcast ordering the population of a nearby costal city to evacuate and take shelter.

Right off the bat, Anno demonstrates his talents as an animation director!

It is during this opening sequence that we get our official introduction to series' main protagonist, Shinji Ikari, and his future commanding officer/surrogate-mother figure, Misato Katsuragi!

I love how the first on-screen apperances we get of both Shinji & Misato are not through direct in-person interaction, but rather through photographs possessed by each other. With Shinji we're given an ID-badge photograph possed by an off-screen Misato driving her car, and with Misato the first apperance of her face is through a signed photograph in Shinji's possession as he's unable to get reception at a payphone!

This introduction scene for Shinji does a phenomenal job at conveying one of character's core defining attributes: namely his sense of isolation and aimlessness!

Not only is Shinji completely alone in the middle of the evacuated city-streets, but he quickly surrenders to a self-defeatist mentality when he's unable to get reception on the line, grunting to himself, "It's no use. This is dumb. I shouldn't have come here."

Although Shinji's frustration in this context is relatable even if the viewer doesn't also suffer from depression like he does! I mean, I too would personally be frustrated and confused if I was asked to wait to be picked up in an unfamiliar setting by a person whom I knew nothing about outside of a picture of herself that she mailed to me.

Speaking of which... lol! Misato’s inappropriately suggestive postcard (and in particular the “Check this out!” text & arrow pointing to her cleavage) NEVER fails to get a laugh out of me! But aside from functioning as a joke, this postcard is also important in establishing the fact that sexuality is a major element of Misato's characterization!

Also, since I'm still fairly early into the plot of the pilot episode, I want to take a brief aside to discuss some personal observervations I've made between the specific media I'm watching the series on:

So here’s a weird feature for the "Perfect Collection 0:1" DVD. None of the other original DVD releases by ADV Films have this, but in their first disc for whatever reason they removed all the kanji on objects like Shinji's ID badge or Misato's picture shown above, and instead added these weird overhanging white English text replacements where the kanji used to be that look very obviously superimposed… thank goodness ADV scrapped this weird design choice that for all the future DVD releases and instead just kept the original kanji and included subtitled translations for the text.

Conversely, over on the Blu-Ray side of things, the HD remasters for these episodes look FREAKING phenomenal! The animation and color palate on the GKids "Collector's Edition" boxset is incredibly clear and vibrant, whereas the image quality of old DVD copies could be quite muted and blurry by contrast. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that this Blu-Ray version utilizes the copies of the episodes from the old out-of-print “Platinum” DVD collection ADV released a while back (my DVDs are from the "Perfect Collection" first edition). Although I've also heard that the versions of the episodes on the American Blu-Ray release are the HD remasters that were originally exclusive to Japan before Netflix acquired the International licensing rights back in 2019 after the original series + movies were stuck in copyright Hell for over a decade after ADV Films (the original owners of the TV license in America) went out of business and Manga Entertaimnet's license for Death & Rebirth & The End of Evangelion expired.

Also, this remastering of EVA on the Blu-Ray makes a few minor soundtrack rearrangements during certain scenes. But most importantly it removes the notorious "Gainax Jitter," wherein the screen would frequently shake due to all of Gainax's anime during the 90s being produced on outdated softwares. Watching NGE on my original DVDs honestly made me feel dizzy sometimes due to that annoying jitter effect. So thank goodness that the "Gainax Jitter" is completely absent on the Blu-Ray version!

Returning to the episode proper though...

I love the sudden and mysterious appearance of Quantum-Rei off in the distance as Shinji is waiting in the phone booth for Misato to pick him up, and how instantly and just as mysteriously she disappears! Considering that Quantum-Rei also similarly appears before Shinji during the final scene of The End of Evangelion, this feels like an incredibly unique bookending device for the original series + movies, with Rei's entrance and disappearance in Shinji's life marking both the beginning and the end of his long tumultuous journey over the course of the narrative!

And here we see the first appearance of the mysterious beings attacking the Earth following the Second Impact, referred to within the series as Angels! And this bad boy here is classified as the 3rd Angel, Sachiel! When conceiving Evangelion, Anno & Studio Gainax wanted to distinguish the series from other giant-mecha/kaju anime which were airing at the time, and therefore decided to base the EVA's lore and mythos off of religious symbols and iconography lifted directly from Christianity, Judaism, and especially Kabbalhaism (i.e. Jewish mysticism) since said-faiths were uncommon in Japan, while also including references to Buddhism and Shintoism.

Concerning the etemology and translation of the Angels, most of my information about this comes from the Evangelion Fandom Wiki, but basically while both the ADV and Netflix dubs refer to these kaju as "Angels," in the original Japanese they were referred to as "使徒, shito" which roughly translates to "Apostles." However, the word "Angel" in this context is also derived for the other Japanese word used to refer to these creatures in the series, "天使 tenshi," which also translates to "sky messenger." So the term "Angel" still makes sense in-universe considering that the Angels are framed as to be destructive descendants, or "messengers," of the god-like being known as Adam, who was meant to be the original progenitor of life on Earth.

Returning to Sachiel specifically, according to Wikipedia this Angel's name is a reference to a being of the same name from "kabbalistic and Christian angelology. Sachiel (Ge'ez ሳቁኤል) [refers to] an archangel of the order of cherubim… the name 'Sachiel' originally occurs in the late 1500s grimoire called The Heptameron.”

Misato certainly knows how to make a badass entrance!

I always loved the animation during the sequence where Sachiel smashes one of the missiles with his bare fists!

Dang! This fight between the U.N. airforces and Sachiel is not only incredibly exciting in its own right (aided by composer Shiro Sagisu's phenomenal soundtrack, "Angel Attack"), but it also further communicates the threat-level that the Angel's represent, since all conventional human weaponry proves to be completely ineffective against its defenses!

Speaking of said defenses, the second-in-command of the mysterious NERV organization that's working alongside the U.N., Kōzō Fuyutsuki, refers to the Angel being protected by an "A.T. Field" (or "Absolute Terror Field").

These signature energy shields serve as a reoccuring thematic motif throughout the entire series since they're representative of the impenetrable walls that both protect the Angels from exterior damage and prevent humans from truly understanding each other.

So the name "Absolute Terror Field" possesses a double meaning from both a literal and metaphorical perspective! I love it!

Also, this angel’s weird gill flaps that are present while it’s regenerating after having this unvierse's equivalent of a nuclear bomb dropped onto it are so eerily uncanny, and further serve to hi-light just how truly alien this creature is despite it being referred to as an "Angel."

Also also, it makes sense that while the N² Mines in EVA generate nuclear-level explosions, they lack the subsequent radiation fallout considering Japan's own traumatic real-life history with the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki during World War II.

The fact that not even this world’s equivalent of a nuclear explosion is capable of killing an Angel is such an effective way of convincing both the U.N. and the viewers that NERV possesses the only means of truly destroying these eldritch threats to humanity’s survival!

Dang! Exactly just how strong are Misato & Shinji! The fact that both of them were able to push the former's capsized-car back to its proper position simply by leaning against it hard is quite the impressive feat! I mean, I know Misato drives an old beat-up sports car (literally held together by duck-tape; lol!) which is much lighter in weight compared to a SUV or truck, but still!

So why exactly did Misato steal all those batteries for her beat-up old car? Wait... I guess I just answered my own question there... lol!

The developing dynamic between Shinji & Misato during their car-ride to NERV HQ is already incredibly fascinating witness! Despite being a seasoned veteran military officer, Shinji quickly realizes just how immature and quick-tempered she can actually be.

Not only is Shinji unafraid to scold Misato for her borderline illegal car-battery shennanigans, but when she childishly mocks him for being too uptight (voice actress Allison Keith's delievery of Misato's playful teasing is absolutely hilarious) and Shinji calls out her immaturity, Misato aggresively responds by jerking her car back-&-forth!

Geez! Shinji and his father Gendo Ikari (the leading commander of NERV) haven’t even encountered each other yet, and already we’re seeing just how cold and detached Gendo’s attitude towards his estranged son truly is. As soon as Gendo decides to activate Evangelion Unit-01 and Professor Fuyutsuki accurately points out that they don’t have a pilot, Gendo simply replies, “Not any more. Another spare is being delivered.”

He essentially views his own son as just a backup program. And this gets even more revealing when you remember that Rei was originally the one who was supposed to pilot Unit-01 instead of Shinji!

Even Gendo's letter suddenly requesting Shinji’s presence after abandoning him a decade earlier only states, “COME! -Gendo Ikari.”

Man did I forget how much I absolutely hate Gendo’s guts! There's a reason why this scumbag is almost universally regarded as one of, it not the, absolute WORST fathers in all of anime!

On a more positive note, however, stairlift-like automobile conveyor-belt that Misato & Shinji utilize to travel underground to NERV Headquarters is honestly really cool! I wonder if we'll ever see futuristic technology like that IRL someday?

Ooff. Shinji's line, "What am I saying? Of course he wouldn't have sent me a letter unless he needed me for something," when asking if he'll be working for Gendo's secret agency effectively illustrates Shinji's internalized sense of self-loathing. Due to having been coldly abandoned by his father when he was only 4-years-old following the death of his mother, Shinji has suffered from severe depression and lack of self-esteem. Only finding value in his existence if he can be of use to others.

This correlates with a commonly misunderstood yet central element of Shinji's characterization that's been unfortunately subject to bad-faith criticisms on the Internet. Despite Evangelion's immense popularity and influential status within anime communities, several individuals have actively dismissed the entire series simply because they found Shinji's character to be overly whiny and annoying.

Except... Shinji is both clearly suffering from depression derrived from a childhood of isolation and paretnal neglect. To reduce Shinji's feelings of self-loathing and existential dread to simple whining is honestly insulting to other people who suffer from depression IRL (such as series' creator Hideaki Anno, who modeled Shinji as an authorial stand-in to discuss his own personal experiences with depression...), since depression is a LEGITIMATE mental illness rather than simple whining...

Also, Misato makes an interesting comment in response to Shinji's dismissive attitude towards his father: "Hmm... sounds like you don't get along with your dad. Ah, you sound just like me."

Dang! The reveal of NERV's underground headquarters directly beneath the city of Tokyo-3, the hollowed-out spherical cavern known as the "GeoFront" (which possesses upside down-skyscrapers attatched to the ceiling as well as a forested surface with a lake next to the large pyramid building functioning as NERV HQ itself), is still FREAKING epic & gorgeous!

NGE is already leaing heavily into hard science-fiction with such creative environments! Even though the idea of a gigantic hollowed-out cavern beneath a major metrpolitan city retro-fitted into a heavily armed military fortress/bunker would be completely implausible IRL, it makes for such an aesthetically unique location!

I can totally relate to Misato's feelings of confusion while navigating NERV's complex network moving walkway bridges! It definitely seems like an easy place to get lost in!

Lol! The way Ritsuko Akagi suggestively bumps into Misato on the elevator while still wearing her bathing-suit (she just finished scubba diving into the robot holding pen submerged in a weird red liquid substance)! While this was probably not the animator's intention, this still feels like some deliberate queer-coding! And this is the first interaction we see between the two characters!

Hey, I can totally see Ritsuko as being a closeted lesbian! She’d definitely be in a much healthier relationship with either Misato or Maya than the one she’s currently in with FREAKING Gendo. Like, NOT only is Gendo twice Ritsuko's age, but the bastard also previously slept with her late mother, Naoko Akagi! Gross!

Wait, time out! Fuyutsuki just said that this is Shinji & Gendo’s first meeting in 3 years, but I thought it was 10 years considering that Gendo abandoned Shinji shortly after his mother died when he was still 4-years-old?! Did I miss something?!

And here it is! The moment of truth! The official reveal of the giant robots that this series is well-renowned for: the titular Evangelions (with specific model Ritsuko & Misato are showing Shinji is known as "EVA Unit-01")!

So here's some interesting trivia regarding the EVA's that Ritsuko alluded to with her description about the "0-9 System" designed to control the mecha's activation! The physical designs of the Evangelions were directly inspired by demonic ogre-like creatures from traditional Japanese folklore known as "oni" (which "0-9" is a pun for BTW!). According to series' mecha-designer, Ikuto Yamashita:

"'So why did Evangelion wind up with that shape?' … The director instructed me to make, 'the image of [an oni].' A giant just barely under the control of mankind. I get the feeling I've seen that correlation before … The image I had for the design concept was the fairy tale, Gulliver's Travels. Enormous Power Restrained. … What I came up with was a giant that looks like a relief on a wall. … I happily discarded the efficiency and feeling of giant size that you can guess at by sight alone. … after the designs were handed in, it caused a stir — even among the staff, positive and negative opinions were flying. And from here on out, I imagine it will cause a stir among comic readers and animation viewers."

In addition to the activation system being named after a mythological "Japanese devil," we recieve more clues that there's far more to the EVA's beneath their metalic exteriors, as Ritsuko also describes Unit-01 as a "synthetic lifeform" (or even more suspiciously, "synthetic human," in the subtitled version)!

While it’s not stated in this episode, it will later be revealed that the EVA’s are not only cybernetic beings whose flesh was cloned from the Angel’s original Seed of Life, Adam (or in Unit-01’s case, humanity’s Seed of Life, Lilith), hence why they’re capable of killing the Angels, but that they also literally possess human souls inside of them. Those souls being the dead mothers of the pilots (who’s ability to synchronize with the EVAs is strongest at age 14 due to hormonal changes & all that jazz…).

It's also during the unveiling of EVA Unit-01 that Shinji is offically reunited with his father Gendo, who once again is as cold and distant from his son from both a figurative & literal sense!

Honestly, the visual symbolism of Gendo standing high above Shinji when they first reunite is an incredibly effective method of communicating both the distance between the two in their relationship, as well as the massive inferiority complex Shinji feels because of his abusive father.

Such masterful direction and visual storytelling on Anno's part!

And of course, the moment father & son are finally reunited after years apart, Gendo further demonstrates what a complete & unempathetic douchebag he is by immediately orders that Shinji pilot the EVA Unit-01 to fight the approaching Angel in hand-to-hand combat!

Again... looking back, it feels incredibly unfair that people have repeatedly accused Shinji of being whiny simply because he refusing to get in the robot as soon as Gendo & Ritsuko insist him to do so during Sachiel’s attack. Except, can you really blame Shinji here?

I mean… his father coldly abandoned him after his mom died when he was only a toddler, and now as a 14-year-old his dad suddenly calls him out of the blue to demand that he pilots a giant robot he’s neither seen nor heard of before (and possesses ZERO training experience), to fight a giant alien monstrosity he personally nearly just got killed by! That’s not Shinji whiny, that’s him being realistic!

Honestly, the whole "Get in the damn robot Shinji!" argument has always annoyed the absolute heck out of me! It was easily the epitome of early-to-late 2000s bad internet media criticism!

Also, criticisms like, "But Shinji's refusal to pilot is selfish because the fate of the entire human race is at stake," don't exactly hold water either since that can be easily explained away by Shinji lacking trust in his own abilities due to his depression and low self-esteem!

Also also, yeah it is technically a selfish descision on Shinji's part, but that's an INTENTIONAL character flaw on Anno's part, rather than being indicative of "bad writing"...

Seriously... so many people on the Internet have and still lack any media literacy skills... uuuggghhh!!!

I FREAKING love this exchange between Shinji & Misato after they realize that the Angel is directly above NERV HQ, with her sternly telling Shinji to "Get inside" the EVA before calmly asking him, "Why Shinji? Exactly why did you come here?"

It was at this specific moment in Episode 1 where it officially dawned on me during this rewatch just how incredibly efficient the NGE's pilot episode is at subtly establishing numerous elements that would help define the dynamic between Misato & Shinji throughout the rest of the series!

In addition to Misato earlier comparing Shinji to herself when he mentioned that he doesn’t get along with his father, she also compares Shinj’s more standoffish mannerisms to Gendo during the elevator ride with Ritsuko. This not only symbolizes Gendo's role as an older version of Shinji, but it also lays the groundwork for Misato’s own Elektra Complex in the sense that always views the men in her life through the lens of her strained relationship with her dead father.

And here in the present scene, we witness the struggle between surrogate parental-figure and commanding-officer that heavily defines Misato's relationship with Shinji. Despite pragmatically pivoting to Gendo & Ritsuko's point of view that Shinji needs to get in the EVA (which she intially understandably argued against...) to prevent Sachiel from destroying mankind, Misato simultaneously displays the motherly aspects of her personality by trying to positively uplift Shinji.

She confidently encouraging Shinji to find the answers to his questions of exactly why he came to NERV at Gendo’s request, ultimately telling him that he "mustn't run away."

As much as I love this scene though, one weird difference I noticed between the versions of it on my DVD & Blu-Ray copies respectively is that the timing of the soundtrack, "I, Shinji."

In the original ADV Films "Perfect Collection" DVD, the score continues to play after Sachiel's cross-shaped explosions begin targeting Toyko-3, and Misato gives her advice, whereas it stops after the explosions in the GKids "Collector's Edition" Blu-Ray version.

I honestly can't tell which version I prefer more, but considering the fact that the score on the original Japanese audio track more closely aligns with the Blu-Ray's English audio track, I'm guessing ADV didn't properly align the soundtrack during the intiall dubbing process (but later fixed it for their HD "Platinum Collection" DVD re-release I'm guessing...).

Le gasp! A “Sound Only” on Gendo’s monitor when he instructs Fuyutsuki to wake-up Rei to pilot Unit-01 in Shinji's place! EPIC FORESHADOWING!

So... why exactly was merchandise of the injured bandaged-up Rei Ayanami so insanely popular? I honestly just don’t see the appeal…

Another clever usage of foreshadowing here! Not only of Unit 01 going berserk in the very next episode, but also of the EVA’s true nature in that it houses the soul of Shinji's dead mother, Yui Ikari, considering how quickly it moves into to protect Shinji from the falling debris, plus Gendo’s unsurprised smirk there!

Joy! Shinji's first ever utterance of the iconic, "I musn't run away! I mustn't run away! I musn't run away," line as he glances at Rei's blood on his hands before finally deciding to pilot the EVA!

This reoccurring motif is such an important element of Shinji's character throughout the series, and Spike Spencer delivers this famous line pitch perfect! He totally sells Shinji's sense of anxiety and struggles to suppress his fear in the heat of the moment!

Also, even though I've rewatched this episode and the entire series countless times, I still find myself going back-&-forth on what exactly motivated Shinji to "not run away" here!

Was it purely for altrustic reasons after he saw how unfit for combat Rei was due to her critical condition? Did he feel legitimate sympathy for Rei despite meeting her for the first time? And if so, did he recognize her from the Quantum-Rei vision at the start of the episode? Was Shinji taking Misato's earlier words of encouragement to heart? Or did Shinji finally decide to pilot the EVA purely out of either a self-centered desire to prove his own worth, or out of guilt and not wanting Rei's death on his conscious?

Questions like these are a major element of why I adore EVA's writing so much! Despite being extremely vague open-ended with no one single universal interpretation, the series' characters are so humanized and complex that it actively engages the audience to speculate and analyze their underlying motivations!

It's why even as a long-time fan of the series, I still keep finding new & fascinating elements I didn't notice on my previous viewings!

And so begins the iconic launch preparation for EVA Unit-01, beginning with the insertion of the pilot's control vessel known as an "Entry-Plug" into the mecha's body!

Also, considering that EVA is famous for its usage of Freudian psychoanalytic and psychosexual symbolism (alongside all the religious imagery), as well as the fact that Shinji's character arc is analogous to the Oedipus Complex and the soul of his dead mother is inside of EVA Unit-01, the fact that Shinji's is placed inside a suggestively-shaped Entry-Plug that's then directly inserted into a hole on the back of the EVA's neck, I can’t help but be reminded of an old quote from Mystery Science Theater 3000...

Yeah, expect me to reference that MST3K quote a lot throughout this marathon…

Yeesh! I can't even begin to imagine how terrifying of a feeling that must be to intially feel like you're drowning as the capsuel is filled with Liquid LCL! Even though that mysterious fluid is breathable for humans, having your lungs completely filled with a foreign substance has got to be uncomfortable!

I don't blame Shinji at all for feeling incredibly nauseous before his lungs adjust!

Also, Misato's a bit overly harsh with her comment, "Stop complaining! You're a boy you know!" (This will be another reoccuring motif in Misato's interactions with Shinji BTW...)

Also also, the first appearance of LCL, or as it's been commonly referred to by EVA fans for the past two-and-a-half decades: "Tang!"

Those who have already watched The End of Evangelion know exactly what I'm talking about!

And so the episode ends with an exciting conclusion to the launch sequence as EVA Unit-01 is slowly released from its holding pen and all safe guards are switched off before the giant mech is launched up a tunnel network exiting the GeoFront and onto the now deserted-streets of a nightime Tokyo-3, exiting the hatch directly in front of Sachiel, teasing a deadly kaju battle between the two!

What a phenomenal way to close the series' pilot and pique the viewer's interest for the next episode!

So that was NGE, "Episode 1: ANGEL ATTACK," and it’s still really darn great! I’m honestly incredibly impressed with just how much subtle characterization and thematic elements are set up for later developments throughout the rest of the show within this 24-minute pilot episode! It honestly surprises me whenever I hear people argue that the tone of EVA drastically changed as the series progresses considering how even from the very start Hideaki Anno was laying the ground work for all the complex developments which defined the later half of NGE as well as EofE!

Also, hearing “Fly Me To The Moon” in the end credits of the DVD is simultaneously incredibly nostalgic and sad considering all future releases completely scrapped it! Seriously, screw Netflix and that copyright bullcrap! “Fly Me To The Moon” is an important part of the series darn it, so just pay the extra cash to keep it in! And heck, just buy the rights to the original dub instead of spending all that extra time to create an inferior half-assed new dub from scratch. The original dub has its flaws, but it still has heart and passion put into it!

Sorry about the tangent! I’m just still bitter and confused by Netflix’s choices when it comes to EVA.

Anyway, onto the second episode!

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pastelwell · 1 year

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With a new season airing I figured I would do a lil post of tomgreg fics I’ve written that I’m kind of proud of, just for funsies 🙈 I've loved being part of this fandom, and I'm hoping to contribute even more as the final season plays out :) I have two things half finished right now, so I guess we'll see.

I love to make friends (I know I'm so laaame shut upppp) and talk about succession so if you see this feel free to reach out here or on Twitter :) 💜

Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you did ahhh...

Truth or Dare Rating: E Probably my magnum opus lol. Tom & Greg play an insane game of truth or dare that drastically alters their relationship and throws everything they know into question. I love when Tom’s a little insane, and he is definitely insane in this (in a hopefully canon-typical way at least?!).

Landslide Rating: E A bit of a character study on Tom and his complex and layered emotions. He goes on a bit of a journey in this fic, trying to figure out how to be the most authentic version of himself after repressing it for so long (with Greg being enduringly patient).

Little lies Rating: T The blossoming of Tom & Greg’s relationship through the eyes of Shiv. I loved writing this so much that I made it into a mini series.

For what it’s worth Rating: E Tom propositions Greg over dinner and it goes better than he expects. The dialogue is some of the best I’ve written, I think, which isn't bad considering I'd watched like 5 episodes of Succession when I wrote it (plus about a million tomgreg fancams :'))

Pictures of the past Rating: E Wrote this for my iconic pal @chasingbodies birthday, who actually came up w the idea in the first place. Tom’s friend from college unearths pics of him from his youth and Greg kind of becomes obsessed with seeing them. Such a fun concept, Ana has the best prompts.

The Hirsch Foundation for Waifs and Strays Rating: T Throwing this in here because it’s just silly and cute. When I’m sad I write the softest nonsense and I was so sad when I wrote this 🫣 the plot is essentially ‘Greg can’t stop adopting dogs, and Tom let’s it happen bc he’s in love with Greg’

Surreal, but nice Rating: E Notting Hill AU. Ewan gives Greg his aging bookstore as an early inheritance, and in attempting to run it he meets mega famous actor Tom Wambsgans, who develops an interest in him 🤭 it’s literally a reimagining of the movie Notting Hill, which I highly recommend if you haven’t seen it. (Though I don't think you need to have seen it to enjoy this, it's just like if tomgreg were a romcom)

Microfics Rating: Varied An ongoing project that I have neglected of late, but just a home for drabbles that I’ve written to submitted prompts! You can see a chapter-by-chapter list of prompts here.

I’ve written quite a few tomgreg fics since I started posting 12 months ago, and you can find them here if you like! I always welcome prompts, though there’s no guarantee I’ll fill them. I have a bit of a list I’m working through though so… you never know :)

#tomgreg #tomgreg fic #succession #I truly do have Tom Wambsgans and Greg Hirsch brain rot #they are constantly on my mind #hence all this fic whew

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