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ballblender · 1 year

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"You can't film here."

Uramichi Omota x singleparent!tvstationworker!reader

summary: uramichi finds reader in the prep room, awkwardness ensues.

(LMAO IDK WHAT TO LABEL THE READER AS - also not much of an actual romance fic, more like an extra scene (if that makes sense??))

cw: sfw, workplace, reader was previously married to a man, secret pining, uramichi's tiredness lol

First non-headcanon post - tell me if there's any errors, I do not check these over.

"Thanks for coming today everyone!"

"WOOO!!"

"Thank you Uramichi!"

The screams and shouts of joyful children ring throughout Uramichi's ears, as he forcibly stretches his smile beyond what he thought was even possible. It's not like he doesn't want to be smiling, but when it's part of the job description, it doesn't feel that fun anymore. It's not like the children hadn't noticed it too; the dark circles of tiredness under his eyes, fitted with his pale complexion, it was no surprise that Uramichi had started being nicknamed 'Panda Bear' by the TV station president's grandson; it's just a shame that his co-workers started calling him that too.

"Nice work today, Mr Panda!"

The grating sound of Derekida's voice: not exactly what he wants to hear right now.

"Now, go over to the Prep Room, we need you to star in the new segment next week, and we need to measure you for the pig costume!"

A pig? Of all things?

As Uramichi walks to the Prep Room, only the worst scenarios run through his mind. Is the pig costume multicoloured? Will I have to wear a snout? Will I have to walk on my hands and feet for the entire segment? Will I have to do gymnastics in the costume?

That's when he hears rustling, and the sound of a phone video recording starting.

He unlocks the door, scanning the room, making sure there aren't any theives; not that anything that comes out of Hanabee's mind is worth stealing...

He catches sight of you, panning the phone camera across the set pieces, costumes and props.

"Hey..." he says.

You jolt a little, ending the recording, and turning around.

"You can't film here." His expression isn't exactly one of strong conviction, but he's suspicious of you nonetheless.

You slip your phone back into your pocket and say "I know, I'm sorry, my kid just really loves 'Together with Maman', so I wanted to show him some of the things that we made for next week's segment."

His face softens a bit at your explanation, before his eyes fall onto the pig costume; and it drops again.

"...you made this...?" You can hear the tiredness in his voice: he's not looking forward to next week.

You let out a pathetic giggle, sympathizing with his dislike towards the - certainly interesting - design.

"Well, it was initially meant to look like this,", you show Uramichi a sketchpad with an array of concept designs, "but Hanabee was screaming about how "It's Wrong!" or "You need to do it again!", so this is the result of the last 5 days of overtime.".

Uramichi flips through the pages of the sketchpad; obviously, it's a pig costume, one design can't be that much better than the other, but your sketches showed real skill.

"These, are actually good." Uramichi says, turning page after page of the sketchpad, looking at previous rejected designs.

You smile, happy to meet someone who genuinely appreciates your efforts. "Thanks." You start walking over to your bags and begin packing.

Curious to learn a little more about somebody on the team with actual talent, he asks you a question.

"You said you've been working overtime, is your husband watching your kid right now?"

"Oh, we're not married anymore, but my ex-husband is looking after him until next Monday."

"Oh- I'm sorry." Uramichi is a little shaken, afraid he's just asked a personal question, or maybe reminded you of something you didn't want to remember.

You've heard it all before, so this really doesn't bother you.

"Don't worry about it, our split was amicable.", you smile at him reassuringly.

He smiles back, eased by your kindness.

"I'm glad to hear that." he replies.

But. It's a little awkward now. Neither of you feel like you can just leave after that. So.

Suddenly, Mr Derekida bursts in, marvelling at the different costumes and props, followed by Edei, who tells him to "Calm down."

You take this as your cue to leave, waving at Uramichi, who does the same, before walking out.

Edei walks up to Uramichi with a smirk on his face.

"...Did I do something?" Uramichi asks, genuinely confused.

Edei's brows shift in confusion, "You mean, they didn't say anything?"

"Say what?"

"Y/N? They said nothing to you?"

"Well, we spoke, but it was like 1 minute."

Edei sighs in disappointment.

"You didn't hear this from me, but," Edei lowers his voice as to not allow Mr Derekida to eavesdrop.

"I overheard Y/N talking to Tadano the other day. They've got the hots for you man."

A lot of thoughts flood Uramichi's head at once; What?: They’ve got a kid...: I probably should already have kids...: Do I make a move?: Do I wait for them to make a move?: Do I even want them to make a move? Who even says "got the hots for you" anymore?

Edei chuckles a little at Uramichi's face, which is still processing what he was just told.

Mr Derekida slaps Uramichi on the shoulder, slamming directly on the area where the strain is the most painful, causing him to groan a little in pain, while also bringing him back to reality.

"Hope your shoulder gets better before next week, the kids need to ride the pig-horse in order to save the fish from the knight!"

....What does that even mean? And is that why the costume is so, that?

Uramichi sighs for what may well have been the hundredth time that day, before taking his leave.

"AND REMEMBER YOUR LINES!" yells Derekida.

As he walks home, Uramichi remembers Edei’s words.

Perhaps he should take a chance…

oh shit, he was meant to be measured for the costume.

--------

Well thanks for reading, this took forever, I don't know how to feel, goodbye.

can you tell i've never wrote anything like this before. don't tell me actually.

#this title was inspired by that brandon rogers video #uramichi x reader #uramichi omota #life lessons with uramichi

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minevn · 5 months

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Here we go again talking about "Mine" and explaining my absence. For the past month or two I've been questioning myself if I want to put Mine on a hiatus(Which I didn't feel was surprising considering that I've vented about the game so much on this blog, I'm sorry for that). I wouldn't be getting rid of it and I would be heading back to it eventually, but I just needed to step away and really think about what I wanted to do. At this point in time I'm still questioning what I want to do. Long story short Mine won't be getting released any time soon and it needs a lot of work to be done on it, in every way.

I think my biggest issue was rushing into this project. I was so SO excited to just get my story out and talk about my characters and ideas, but I had almost nothing set in stone or planned out. Some of my favorite story aspects I created after I made this blog, granted it wasn't a obvious change since it had to do with spoilers, and story aspect kind of just fit together to make a bigger plot twist. I still love what I've created thus far, but it needs so much work, and it feels weird and off to have changes just happen with the characters and story.

I was getting bored of certain characters and the art style. I won't be getting rid of any characters because even the ones who don't seem that important to the overall plot are still important, but I'll be changing/upgrading character designs. And especially changing the art style. I was really disliking my style for Mine and even more so after the Halloween drawing. I did practice around a bit and I found a style I like, but it's still not set in stone.

This is kind of what I was thinking. The eyes have a more defined shape, the nose is different, the hair is more detailed. I've also been wanted to mess around with coloring and shading. And once again this style is not set in stone, but this is what I'm leaning towards as of now. I want the game to have an anime style for reasons, but I did also try a style that's more mine I guess? Like I drew Yani in the style I draw in the most, the style that's most consistent to me. I mainly did this because one my bestfriends has been helping me sort out my own feelings and she said to at least try a more cartoon style even if the anime style is what I'm aiming for in the end.

I obviously I do like the style, but it's just not what I'm going for, so I was going to try drawing different eyes styles and then I would build a face to match that.

I did like these, but it didn't inspire me and I didn't want these for Mine. So this is what I've been working on for now, I'm trying t build my interest in this story again. I know I've talked about it before, but Yani and Jun's designs are the ones I'm most proud about(maybe Aki as well, if I change anything it wouldn't be too extreme), but the other characters will be getting an upgrade, in design, story, and personality.

Minato in particular. I feel so bad because as much as I like Minato, he feels so plain to me. Like I don't have fun writing him or drawing him. There are things I do really enjoy about him, like his hair style, and his yellow eyes. But I'm bored with pretty much everything else about him, and that's not a good sign, he's the first route, the first character to be released. he needs something to draw in the player, but I don't feel like he has that. I don't know where to really go with him though. I think the fact that he's the least yandere is charming and important, like to lure the player into a false sense of security, almost as if they were just playing a normal visual novel/dating sim with routes, and then the creepy stuff starts mainly happening with the other routes, but obviously I need something to make his route exciting.

In the meantime asks will most likely not be answered until I've figured the characters out more. When I figure out the characters as well, I want to go back and slowly work on updating previous asks to fit the new personality and stories. I'll probably make a poll on how to go about that just in case people want the old answered asks or something. Maybe I could just do something like-

Old: bhjdhsvjagjhasgd

New: VHJDhfdjgshdf

I don't know as of now. I also want to go back and update my 100 followers event drawings, and obviously finish that. Which by the way I am so sorry to everyone who sent in requests, for that event and just in general. Me struggling with Mine's art style has been a thing, even with the refs, there were some refs that I just hated how they turned out(cough cough Hoshi). I also have been practicing with more cartoon(?) styles, so working on a game with an anime style reminds me of my past styles, which I hated because I got those feeling of hating my style or falling behind my peers who were finding their style. I'm a lot better with it now, but I felt like I was falling back into old habits/styles, and it was upsetting.

While I was planning my hiatus, I kept thinking about some of my other game ideas because if I was going to go on hiatus I would focus on another one of my games with a more simple style(Since I wondered if complexity of the style was also an issue for my lack of motivation with Mine), and I do like my other games and ideas and characters, but none of hem were appealing to me like how Mine did. I went into Mine so excited and ready to talk and share my characters, but with my other stories I was just feeling more unmotivated with them, other then "The Magi Academy" which makes sense since that is my comfort story but also I'm gonna work on this in the background since the game is huge.

Another thing I thought about doing while on hiatus was making a test game, where I get used to making games, where I practice. Cause Mine is my first game, but I'm not sure I want it to actually be my first game, but I have no interest in my other games as of now so this game would be simple, a little test to get used to everything that comes with making a game. I'll probably work on this while I'm working on the art style for Mine and the character designs. It will have multiple routes and characters. I wouldn't really call it a dating sim, there will be romance elements but I think more then anything it will be a little "get to know my oc's" type story. Maybe I'll talk about it more if anyone if interested. Although when I make games in the future I'll either make the blogs later, when the game is almost finished or if finished, or at least claim the name and work on them later.

I'd say that Mine is going on a hiatus, at least with this blog, but I will be working on it! Mine won't be getting released soon and when I made this blog I didn't expect Mine to come out this year. Another thing I want to end up doing is dev logs, maybe weekly or monthly, it won't happen soon, but eventually I want to do dev logs. As of now though, I have a lot to think about with the characters and the story/stories. I'll probably work on character personalities and stories before their actual design so I can get back to writing asks, and then I'll be redoing refs and any bigger drawings I've done so far. I also want to have a schedule for answering asks, so I'll probably spend the weekends answering asks and then the weekdays I'll be working on the game, but this is for the future. My ask box and messages will be open though if anyone has any questions :3 I hope that this will help me regain the passion and excitement that I hold for this story, have a great day/night, and thank you for you continued support🩵

#Sorry for my absence #it will happen again #Jun and Yani will stay pretty much the same #their designs are more what I'm used to #more detailed I guess #if they do get any change it wouldn't be too extreme #Although I do want to work on writing Yani better #really amplifying those yandere tendencies #esp the identity theft since that was a really interesting topic to write!!#I don't plan on changing everything about the other characters either though just things that I think could use some changing and updating #id like to keep you guys updated with character designs and art style ideas though!#sorry to come back with some negative news but i wanted to come clean and be honest about my feelings with mine

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satellite-blossom · 14 days

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NEW ART !? It's more likely than you think !

I've redesigned Léa's Magical form again, but this time around I've actually colored (& shaded) the whole thing ; I'll share more of my process under the read more.

Feel free to reblog this (but it's ok if you don't) !

(Léa use they/them pronouns and are agender)

So this is Léa's old Magical form, or at least the last art of it I had completed before the 2024 version :

I was going for a fancy, somewhat ouji inspired outfit that'd still be comfortable to wear, as Léa Acorn's style is all about being cute yet comfy. Their body saw no change from their regular form.

I think I was already not fully satisfied with this design by the end of 2021, but as time went on my list of grievances kept growing longer. I started to dislike how much of the design was pure white ; it's not really something I like on Magical Girl designs but for some reason I included it here, probably because I was trying to branch out and take inspiration from series like Lolirock & Pretty Cure for once. I also ended up finding the jacket kinda dumb, or at least the way it fit on top of the shirt seemed off. I had no idea how to color the shoes when I drew this design and it was bugging me more and more over time.

But while I fell out of love with the outfit, my main grievance was the staff-paintbrush-scythe hybrid, which was not only drawn poorly but also pretty boring. I couldn't help but try to redesign it just a month or two after completing the new ref, but I didn't want to redo the whole thing as back then I still made my refs in Microsoft Publisher with the help of Photofiltre, which was a slow and painful process I dreaded.

(Léa's Mobian forms 2021 ref, for... Reference)

So between my laziness, art block and the general state of my life I wasn't able to complete any new design before this year (2024). Let's break down this new design, shall we ?

This was my main inspo board this time around :

As you can see I kept the lolita/ouji influence but added some streetwear elements to it. I felt like the previous design didn't do a great job showcasing the mix of preppy prince & comfy fashion Léa are supposed to encapsulate, so I brought up pictures of a character that had only influenced their story and personality so far : Sora from Kingdom Hearts !

It's not something I bring up a lot anymore, but I used to be well-versed in Kingdom Hearts lore and Léa's story was heavily influenced by it ; they were even supposed to fight with a keyblade at one point ! Design-wise, I borrowed the length of Sora's shorts/jumpsuit for Léa's bloomers, and replaced their cropped suit jacket by a short-sleeved hoodie (which also mirrors some of their Sonic.exe world designs). I mixed these elements with lolita items for a cuter look.

Léa share my love of ties, so I've replaced their bow tie by a regular one ; it's somewhat short to showcase their shirt, which is a revamped version of the old one.

For the legwear I took inspiration from some long flowy legwarmers I saw in a few fairy kei coords, and also the shoes from this CocoPPaDolls screenshot I've taken years ago, back when the game was still up :

(I miss this game every day)

And of course I needed the shoes to be velcro LED shoes, because that's just the Léa Acorn way.

The rounded pink heart-shaped gems throughout the outfit were somewhat inspired by Amulet Heart from Shugo Chara.

Talking about gems, time to talk about the staff ! It was inspired by Amulet Spade's paintbrush, some Lolirock items, and a bunch of bootleg Magical Girl wands. Why reference bootleg wands, you might ask ? Well, since they're already off compared to the real deals, they allow me to not design wands that are too similar to ones from well-known properties.

I've been meaning to make Léa's eyes pink in their magical form for years but didn't actually follow through for a while. I ended up making their eyes brownish pink to not make their eyes too light, as I felt like it'd remove some of their charm (I already felt guilty for not keeping their eyes brown in this form). And of course, I had to bedazzle their eyes to hell and back.

Actually all this shininess and sparkling was inspired by the original drawing of Léa's Magical Form drawn all the way back in 2017 and redrawn in 2018 :

For some reason I took a lot of inspiration from Sailor Moon for these despite Léa's role being inspired by Card Captor Sakura (and Kingdom Hearts). Also Wish Gems used to be called "Magical Chaos Emeralds" and look just like the regular Chaos Emeralds, which was kinda dumb. But I loved the energy of these pieces so I've tried to recapture the "sparkly pink magical transformation void" vibes they had ; I hope I've succeeded on that front.

Anyway, thank you for reading this all the way through ! I hope this was an interesting read, somewhat.

#my berry own art #sth #sonic oc #magical transformation #magical girl #magical boy #magical enby #mobian oc #mobian #Léa Acorn #sonic fan character #kawaii #artists on tumblr #art #digital art #sonic fc #sonic original character #oc redesign #scythe

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amemenojaku · 1 month

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002 | Yukari, if applicable?

How I feel about this character: I've always liked her but she's definitely grown on me in the past 5-6 years. In my top 10 now for sure. I love her role in the lore and her designs are fantastic (PCB dress will always be the best though sorry) and her aesthetic is flawless and she's cool and scary and funny and gross. Absolutely an icon of the franchise

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Any Yukari ship can potentially pick my interest if it's done a certain way tbh... But my big ones are with Okina (and poly sages depending on how Kasen's written) and Reimu. I also still like her with Yuyuko a little bit but more as exes who don't get back together, with Akyuu and her past selves in a non-commited weird situationship, and I think it's entertaining to imagine her with the more powerful/important characters in general because I just like when strong women flirt with each other u_u

My favorite platonic relationship for this character: With the Hakurei shrine maidens!! Yes all of them. So Reimu and whoever the previous ones were... I like to add Labelko from DiPP but that's just me :> Overall her relationship with them is so fascinating to me, the symbolism and all the little details etc. I think I'd suck at explaining it with words though so one day I'll just have to draw my ideas lol

Things done in fanworks that annoy me: The old "jokes" from last decade aside (cuz I'll always dislike those anyway), I hate it when she's portrayed as a motherly figure... Like are we talking about the same character?? 😩

Things I look for in fanworks: There's already plenty of fanworks with the kind of stuff I like (the scheming/shady plans, backstory fanworks with her role as a sage and/or Merry theories etc), but I'd love to see more introspective stories on her relationship with the shrine maidens, maybe even some on the horror side, and also more references to literature and especially japanese classics... I love those and they fit her character well

A headcanon: She reads a lot of poetry and learns some of it as a way to train her (big and old) memory. You'd have to be really good to win a round of karuta against her.

#thank you!!

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mellow-strain · 5 months

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Romwe x Corpse Bride: A Critical & possibly hypocritical review.

This review will be fast fashion negative, while giving credit to artistic aesthetics. I own some of the items mentioned (some of which, I regret).

A summary of my opinion: most of it is crap.

This is kind of becoming a series, with my previous Hello Kitty and Friends x Forever 21 review

Disclaimer: I do not like Tim Burton. I like a lot of his media (The Corpse Bride, Wednesday, Frankenwinie, etc.) but I do not agree with his attitudes (most notably towards POC inclusion).

If any Shien apologists come my way I will simply block them. This post is not about "is it ok to order from Shien ever?" Or about the accessibility of fashion or anything like that. Maybe I'm a future post, but for now, go read someone else's opinion piece about it

Why did I order this stuff?

The answer is very simple: Nostalgia and scarcity mindset. I've loved the Corpse Bride ever since I was younger. I owned the DVD and watched it more times than I can count. Additionally, I doubt that there will ever be any other affordable clothing collaborations with the Corpse Bride, at least, not for another while. But please send me other Corpse Bride official and unofficial collaborations if you see any. I'll put a little 🌠 next to anything I bought. Note: I may not include everything I bought from the Collab just because I may not have the strongest opinions on that particular garment or my other arguments may better explain.

What did I like?

The general aesthetics. Motifs of the flowers, butterflies, swirls, skeletons, colour pallets. I liked it all! Was it well executed? No. A lot of the patterns weren't done justice (as seen in the review photos)

The stock images were STUNNING. Which is the point, but still credit where it's due.

It appealed to my nostalgia. I think it was lazy, but it certainly did warm my inner baby bat heart.

Onto specifics. This capette

This capette is fun! I love a good capette! There's obvious flaws like how randomly the little pictures are chosen and I feel the white and black is just a little too high contrast, maybe black and light blue would have worked better?

5. This Graphic T. 🌠

I love this design so much I bought one in the black colour way too. Do I stand by that decision? Not entirely. But as a long-term Corpse Bride fan I feel that I will appreciate them for a very very long term.

6. The Legwarmers 🌠

They did these legwarmers so dirty! As seen in the stock images, the ends are rolling up! I need to reinforce them with my own hidden ribbing and also gently steam them. You may also note that those butterflies are PRINTED ON and it's pretty bad IRL.

7. jeans (?)

But if you see a pair of boring jeans in a charity shop that fit well, why not bring them home and customise them with paint, bleach, trims, embroidery or patches? Remind me to write a post on DIY jean ideas. Anyway, could be fun to browse Shien and Pinterest and steal their ideas! Maybe invite some friends and have some snacks and make it 'a little get together'?

I'm stealing the print of these jeans. A reoccurring hot take of mine is that I hate that EVERYWHERE sells jeans. Go into any high street retailer and they have a WHOLE SELECTION of jeans. From skinny to bootcut to mom to boyfriend to ripped and in black, acid wash, proper denim, super light blue and sometimes white. it's all far too much (in my opinion).

The reason why I feature the "?" in the title is because I don't really see jeans as very Corpse Bride, seems more fairy grunge (I've discussed fairy grunge lightly in the past but I do hope to make a longer opinion post about it)

General dislikes

106 listings. Why SO many graphic t-shirts? I need to count the specifics because there's just too many. And I counted roughly 24 hoodies/sweatshirts (given, there could be duplicates of the plus size and straight sizes) but my point remains. Why is there 106 listings?

Excessive reuse of certain designs and many of the designs are really similar.

No collection of that many pieces could ever be of decent quality or with a lot of thought and the proof is in the pudding (the garments). It simply isn't. Typical Shien. Bare basics stitching, low quality materials, etc.

Polyester for undergarments. Cotton, bamboo and hemp are just far superior fabrics for underwear and socks! I can't imagine polyester is good for the health of external private areas.

Objectively these are cute, but I have recently truly understood how dangerous synthetic materials can be especially for private areas.

I will be referencing this print in my future customised clothing.

Future post idea: Cotton vs. Polyester

At some point in the future, I do intend on posting more information about cotton/natural fibers vs. polyester. Including resources that further discuss the oppression of the Uyghur Muslims, modern cotton slavery, the mistreatment of garment workers. Then also, the production and manufacturing process on various fibers and their quality. Additionally, a bit about micro plastics and our clothes.

Most of it will just be directly referencing and providing information from creators who are more knowledgeable on the topic with minimal opinions and input from me, though there will be a sequel post that includes my opinions and a reflection on how I navigate the topic.

If anyone has any links and resources on that topic let me know!

Thanks for reading!

#corpse bride #the corpse bride #romwe #shien anti haul #anti-haul #deinfluencing #romwe x Corpse Bride #romwe x the corpse bride #anti consumerist #anti fast fashion #unmellow opinions #fashion review #shien review #fashion ethics #alternative fashion blog

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marciabrady · 1 year

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You don’t have to answer this but you mentioned in a previous ask that you believe certain princesses should be removed for the line. I’m very curious about this as I know there’s a lot of debate around certain princesses and why they should/shouldn’t “qualify.” As well as why certain princesses should be retired (one in particular). And then, were there any princesses you wished had made the line? It’s sad that some lost out due to lack of financial success as they often seemed as deserving of it as others. Sorry if you answered these before. You have so much passion in how you speak on Disney and the princesses, I’m curious for your thoughts. Thank you! <3

Thank you so much for wanting to know what I think and for valuing my opinion! This is a sticky conversation because in certain instances, like with Moana for instance, I don't think she should be a princess at all but I'd rather have her in the line than someone like Rapunzel because, despite the fact that I don't like either of them, Moana adds more to the line in terms of representation whereas Rapunzel...in my opinion, adds nothing.

In terms of omission, I don't want Rapunzel in the line personally but that's just because I dislike her and I feel like she clashes with the other princesses, through her personality and appearance. I mentioned previously how I felt all the other princesses, even if I didn't like certain ones, had their own universes and unique perspectives and energies. Rapunzel doesn't offer that, in my opinion, and began the wave of the princesses becoming generic and cookie cutter in terms of having a very similar personality and the obligatory homogenization and infantilization that comes along with 3d animation. Plus, I think the others- despite having certain factors about their films or attitudes that might be indicative of the time they came out in- escape being too dated and age pretty well, whereas the 3d girls just have a short shelf life to me and remind me too much of the time they were released in. So, honestly, of the existing princesses, I think the line should've ended with Tiana because I think she was a really good addition? If we're including the 3d girls, I don't know why Merida is in there considering she was made by Pixar and, I'm not even going to front, I think her values stem from a misogyny masquerading as feminism place and I don't even think she'd want to be in the line. The fact that she's so reluctant about being a princess kinda bums me out considering how much heroines like Mulan and Tiana add by virtue of being in the lineup and how much harder they had to work to be considered. I also really don't think Moana should be in the line- I hate the music of her film, how immature she is and how a minor provided her voice, and she literally says within her movie, canonically, "I'm not a princess"- and says so with disgust. So...why is she included?

Pocahontas is a difficult situation because I personally like her being in the line as I love her design, the music of her film, and her morals. However, her descendants have spoken up and said they wish she would be omitted from the line, so it's not really my place to say whether she stays or leaves. I'd love if Esmeralda stayed in the line and if Meg was included, though I don't know if they'd quite fit. I'm happy with Giselle being excluded and though I wish Wendy and Alice were more prevalent in Disney merchandising, I do think they would be too young for the "Leading Ladies" vibe I want.

I replied to a similiar ask on a different blog and think that my reply is relevant here: my personal recommendation is to begin splitting the marketing up! I think Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty should be marketed together as “Walt’s Princesses.” Aimed for an older audience of art lovers that are collectors, the line would feature authentic items and continue the tradition of hand drawn animation. A lot of integration about Walt would be abundant here, as his hand was paramount to their creation. I want them to be marketed as the women they are, instead of the weird baby hybrids they sometimes become. I think this move would be able to retain Aurora’s operative quality, Cinderella’s soft jazz voice, and Snow White’s coloratura that is eradicated so often for a generic “pop” feel. They’d also just be able to feel like themselves and they, with the aim of this franchise being marketed to a 30-90+ age base, would help animation be seen as a category of film, as opposed to kids’ stuff, the way Walt intended. Another line- “ready to stand” would feature Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Esmeralda, Meg, Mulan, Tiana, and Pocahontas! So much great diversity, and keeping them with one another would really allow them to continue looking like products of the 90s, as opposed to whatever they’re currently turning into. They’re also all Broadway girls! It’d be aimed to a base that’s in the 20-40ish age range. It’s fancy, has sing along values, and the nostalgia, but also the adult factor with characters like Esmeralda, Pocahontas, and Meg bringing a more serious tone. Lastly, the 3D girls: Rapunzel, Frozen sisters, Moana, Merida, and Raya. They’re all 3D and should be aimed toward like a preK-early 20s audience because I feel like they mostly cater to that age range? Part of me almost wants to spilt them up into Rapunzel, Frozen sisters, Giselle, and Merida and then have Raya, Moana, Kida…maybe a grown up Eilowny and Nakoma too???

#ask #anonymous

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toychest321 · 1 year

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Alright toy lovers, I finally went out to Dollar Tree and got all four Friends Forever Club dolls! Read below for a fully comprehensive review of each doll and four out of five of the available fashion packs!

First impressions, I'm genuinely impressed with what Dollar Tree was able to accomplish with these! Some pretty good diversity for the few dolls they've released thus far, and the rubber fashions remind me of Polly Pocket. One aspect I really like is the fact that they went down the friend group doll line route, because as cheap as they are ($1.25 each) it won't be difficult for kids to afford to collect them!

I've ordered each one from favorite to least favorite left to right: Iha, Viera, Alanis, and Carina.

Iha is perfect imo, 10/10. The best example of the concept they were going for. Just by looking at her design you can immediately tell her personality and interests (Marine Biology). And all the little details in her outfit! Her sleeves resembling fins, the scale pattern on her skirt, the shell in her hair! And multiple pieces allows for more creative outfit combos

Viera certainly looks nice, no doubt about it (although her face kinda reminds me of Ferngully), but I'm not sure the design works as well as Iha's. Apparently her likes include Geology and Minerology? Her pink and green outfit meanwhile seems more fruit-like, reminiscent of strawberries or watermelon. I feel like they could've done a little bit more to get her character across

The first thing I noticed about Alanis is either because of the doll's construction, her uneven shoes, or her big ponytail, for some reason it's far more difficult to get her to stand than the others. I feel like the designers unfortunately hadn't taken the weight of her hair piece into account. I also dislike that 90% of her outfit is painted on, the only rubber pieces being her overalls (which would leave any other dolls wearing them rather bare) and her shoes. Luckily Iha's shirt works relatively well underneath them. Despite all that, her interest in robotics is clear, although like Viera's outfit they could have done more to get it across.

Carina is sadly the most dissappointing out of all of them. Im always a fan of textured hair in dolls (or at least as textured as hard plastic can be), and her glasses make her stand out from the others. Her outfit's deep colors even work in service of displaying her interest. But the number one dealbreaker is her outfit, namely the detail I hadn't noticed until she was out of the packaging: the sleeves of her hoodie are painted on. While this was an issue with Alanis, at least her sleeves were short enough to be easily covered by the available fabric fashions. But because of the length of Carina's sleeves, even though the rest of her body is completely unpainted, there isn't a single outfit you can put her in where they don't show. You can't even remove them, because her arms are made from that color of plastic with her hands painted on. This not only seems pointless, as her design could have worked just as well without sleeves, but it defeats this doll line's entire selling point of mixing and matching the dolls' styles. For this reason she is my least favorite, until I can find the time to paint over them. I hope that if they continue this line with alternate looks or different characters that they resolve this issue for her doll, as she clearly has a lot of potential.

Similarly to the previous image, I've arranged the dolls by the fabric fashion packs they're wearing from favorite to least favorite.

The yellow dress, due to a lack of sleeves, fits very well and gives a nice summer beachy look. While I wish the blue cherry dress had velcro in the back for the skirt, the collar is nice and snug and the ribbon belt stays in place rather easily. The pink flowery dress, on the other hand, has a much looser collar and a belt that needs some stitching to keep at the waistline. Finally while I admire their attempt at a doll-sized sweater, it seems to unravel very easily (although for an off-the-shoulders casual look you can combine it with Carina'a shorts and sneakers); the corresponding skirt piece is also too low and loose to work with its shirt, I'd suggest shortening the ribbon straps.

I've also checked, and Friends Forever fashions also fit on Chelsea and Barbie Extra Mini bodies (the latter of which matches the Fashion Friends bodies almost perfectly in height and proportions)! The fabric fashions are a bit too loose for the Extra Mini bodies, and the rubber fashions the dolls come with are unfortunately too tight to fit a Chelsea. Regardless, I'd definitely suggest them for cheaper alternatives to official Chelsea fashion packs.

Most of my nitpicks, though, can be easily forgiven by the dolls' low prices. Taking that into consideration, I can't reccomend these dolls enough! Overall I give the line a

7.5/10

#dolls #dollar tree #friends forever club #doll clothes #doll review #fashion pack #fashion packs #dollar tree friends forever club

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batbeato · 4 months

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persona 5 tactica update: at the final dungeon (I'd presume) with angel boi.

i hate it here.

first of all, the design of the final dungeon is... interesting. I understand what they're going for - the characters even explicitly said it: that it's meant to be boring and ugly and same-y because that's what stagnancy is like - but it doesn't change that it... is boring and ugly and same-y in a very unappealing way.

in the same way, I understand what they're going for with the boss gauntlet, but I also... dislike it. I don't think just reskinning the bosses to be silver like this is goddamn inverse-xibalba (...I'm so sorry for comparing this place to xibalba persona 2 I love you xibalba and your metal recreations of figures of trauma) is that interesting. I would have really liked it if they made new (can still be monochrome/silver!) twisted/distorted designs of the previous bosses, or at least modified the designs slightly more, to really hammer home that these are just recreations Salmael made without the glimmer-glammer-oomph-whatever of Toshiro's memories.

in addition. having Toshiro join the party was really... interesting. the reveal that Elle was actually his Persona was very ??? and even the game talks about how it's such a special unique case. so. don't think I even need to go there. they really put themselves in a corner idk. it also doesn't make a ton of sense to me that you can still use Elle as an individual unit but also have Toshiro in the party using her as a Persona, but. okay.

Toshiro had a mask for .5 seconds that he ripped off during his Persona awakening and then just never got a Phantom Thief outfit of any kind. anything to spice his design up. even just a goddamn PHANTOM THIEF CODENAME. NOPE!! It honestly feels like an act of laziness or oversight, since this is one of the things the game didn't even bother to explain! unlike how kindly it tried to explain Elle and the Kingdoms.

the reveal, btw, that the Kingdoms were just... made by Salmael to break Toshiro's spirit is something. as is that Salmael is THIS obsessed with one man. even the man that's going to be prime minister. seriously. why not bother some billionaire with tons of financial power who could easily end world hu - nvm I'm giving it too much credit. gotta dial it back. anyway.

I don't mind Salmael as a concept. at this point we are all used to the obligatory world-ending god final boss in Persona. it's a requirement for any given Persona game. I do mind how Salmael gets to be responsible for Everything and how his existence gets to wave away any more interesting worldbuilding about Kingdoms. I was really hoping we'd get something about, idk, remnants of Shido's faction doing experiments on Shido's successor or some shit. nope. To be fair maybe I will get that. I haven't fully cleared the game yet. But thus far, nope.

Another thing that interests me is just how much... better a fit for this game's protagonist/focus Eri seems to be. she wants to be a journalist - super fitting for the PTs. she has a strong sense of justice. she got screwed over in the past and framed for a crime she didn't commit (like Joker!). she's so cool. why is Elle just here to be Toshiro's pet Eri. why is Toshiro the main guy and not her cute traumatized boyfriend she has to save.

Oh, and another thing! So many interesting things this game gives me to think about! Why is Toshiro's Persona of the opposite gender to him...? I think that this is like, a single case of this occurring, or else just generally rare since I don't remember any instances (outside the wildcard protags taking on female Personas). Personally I think it's funny to imagine that Toshiro is trans or some flavor of genderqueer and hasn't realized it yet. I know it's probably meant to be some romantic BS but in my dreams... Idk maybe Toshiro's gay and Toshiro's 'attraction' to Elle/Eri is because Toshiro wants to BE her. In my dreams.

Since I've been working my way backwards, it seems: Toshiro's Shadow. Oh, Toshiro's Shadow. He doesn't make any sense. He doesn't have any internal logic. He expresses "ohhhh we got Eri hurt we're so baddddd" and then five seconds later "ohhh Eri is so badddd with her rebellious ideaalssss". The game is like "oh yeah this is Toshiro's Shadow totes for reals" and I'm sitting here going "no this is clearly some shit evil god-angel bitch made up to fuck with Toshiro. this is nothing like anything Toshiro has ever said ever". It sucks. Reminds me of Persona 4, in a bad way.

Usually I try to put some positives in these posts to not be too negative towards the game. It's a little difficult this time since I am now FORCED to have Toshiro in my party even if I would rather leave his ass to rot. I dislike having him there and would very much like to continue my fun routine of rotating party members around to get to play with everyone. He disrupts this by never going tf away. Game didn't even force me to use ELLE most of the time and yet now I always have to use Toshiro. Man...

Well. I did finally change the game's difficulty from Normal to Hard. I thought I wasn't that good at strategy games, so it might just be that the game's difficulty curve isn't quite right. That, or I'm actually good at the game. Not sure which. Anyway the seratonin hit of making giant-ass All Out Attack triangles to hit ten million enemies with at once? Addictive. Beautiful. Best part of this game.

#persona 5 tactica #persona 5 tactica spoilers #p5 tactica #persona 5 #i almost feel bad for toshiro at this point man #like I would love to like him. I just need him to not be so central to the plot I think #my brain latches onto shit I shouldn't like. like adachi #I miss adachi so much every scene with him was a double layered comedy #give me back problematic middle aged babygirls with cabbage issues #tactica is still better written than persona 4 though thank goodness

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iamthenightcolormeblack · 3 years

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My Thoughts on Pride and Prejudice 1980: The Ladies Take Center Stage

It's easy to forget that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other Pride and Prejudice adaptations because the discussion is generally limited to "1995 versus 2005." The subject of this review is the 1980 BBC miniseries adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which stars Elizabeth Garvie as Elizabeth Bennet and David Rintoul as Mr. Darcy and consists of five 1 hour long episodes. Some Pride and Prejudice fans consider this show as the definitive version of the book, since it was one of the first adaptations that attempted to be faithful to the story by incorporating much more of Austen's dialogue compared to previous adaptations.

1. THE PRODUCTION

The video quality is blurry (typical with 1970s/1980s BBC TV shows), so this adaptation is hard to watch compared with the 1995 and 2005 adaptations. While I like the historic houses used in the miniseries, boring, stuffy studio interiors are used for the interior scenes (except for Pemberley). I would only recommend this adaptation for extreme Pride and Prejudice fans/completionists.

Each episode's opening credits are accompanied by illustrations of what happens in the episodes, reminding the viewer that they are watching a filmed version of the book. The caricatured figures are not appealing to the eye and look dated. It doesn't help that they all are accompanied by "ye olde timey" music.

The costumes are for the most part very historically accurate for the early 19th century Regency Era, possibly even more so than the 1995 version with open chests, since the women's day dresses cover their necks as well. The costume designer mastered the famous Regency era white dress; I liked Elizabeth's white day dress and Jane's white evening gown. However, not all the costumes are flattering; some of the ugly floral patterns and garishly bright colors come straight from the 1970s, while a lot of decent evening dresses are ruined by fake lace or clunky 1970s bibs.

The hair is mostly accurate, with the exception of Mary's straight bangs and pixie cut. Unfortunately, the makeup is of the 1970s, especially with the penciled eyeliner/eyebrows on Jane and Caroline Bingley. Poor Mr. Bingley meanwhile has the most unflattering 1970s "helmet bowl" hairstyle.

2. PLOT AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

The adaptation focuses heavily on the female relationships within the book, much more so than other adaptations. Throughout the episodes, there are many slice-of-life scenes in which the Bennet sisters are gathered together in conversation while occupying themselves with typical activities for women of the Regency era (sewing, flower arranging, trying on clothing).

Charlotte Lucas has a larger role here than in the book. In this adaptation, she frequently visits the Bennet sisters at Longbourn, and the screenwriter uses her dialogue as a representation of the Regency perception of marriage as an economic proposition.

Mary Bennet also receives more screen time, and like Charlotte, she voices Regency attitudes towards women in general through her didactic remonstrances.

The many scenes in Elizabeth and Jane's bedroom are a means for Elizabeth to express the feelings and attitudes that she keeps hidden from society.

Elizabeth's favoring of Mr. Wickham is more obvious; she even pronounces him to be "above everyone, in person, countenance, [and] air" and is delighted that Wickham's trash-talking of Darcy confirms her hatred of him.

Inner monologues highlight Elizabeth's mental transformation as she grapples with the consequences of her prejudice against Mr. Darcy and considers the consequences of her family's social gaffes.

I dislike that the show chose to end with Mrs. Bennet's joy over the advantageous marriages of her elder daughters. It reinforces the perception that these marriages are ultimately for money rather than love.

The cast consists of largely unknown (to a mainstream audience) British actors whose portrayals of the characters are solid and replicate the book exactly. The rest of the supporting cast portray the characters just as they are in the book, but do not otherwise stand out. Here are my comments on the lead actors and other supporting cast:

Elizabeth Garvie: Garvie effectively portrays Elizabeth's wit, intelligence, and poise. She also looks right for the part, as she is believably youthful and has captivating eyes. Her pride is not so obvious because Garvie acts like a proper Regency girl, but it is brought out by the way Elizabeth looks people straight in the eye and addresses them directly while confidently stating her opinions, however flawed. My only minor nitpick is that Elizabeth is less vulnerable here; most of the time she is confidently in control of every situation she faces and has a smile for everyone.

David Rintoul: Rintoul looks the part, as he is tall, handsome, proud, and carries himself gracefully. However, he is too stiff and boring like a robot. In many scenes, even private ones with his close friends, he is always standing at attention like a soldier. With the exception of the Pemberley visit and the second proposal, he never smiles, and his voice is very monotone, even in the key romantic scenes where he is supposed to lose himself to his great passion for Elizabeth. Though he tries to appear amused at times, and shows some intelligence, his stiff body language never changes, undercutting the meaning behind his words.

While fans of this show have praised Rintoul for being stiff, like book Darcy, this stiff portrayal hinders Darcy's character development, since he must change his cold manners in order to be worthy of Elizabeth's love. There are MANY instances in the book where Darcy shows some emotion; he smiles as he teases Elizabeth at Rosings, becomes angry when Elizabeth rejects his first proposal, and blushes when he sees Elizabeth at Pemberley. This Mr. Darcy is "all politeness" and we don't get to see Elizabeth peeling back his cold exterior to reveal the good man underneath, unlike in the book.

Malcolm Rennie as Mr. Collins: His portrayal of Mr. Collins is very similar to 1995's Mr. Collins, as both are fat and simpering (maybe 1995's portrayal of Mr. Collins is a copy of this one, except even grosser). I also like how he is super moralizing and preachy in this version. He even walks like a penguin too!

Casting I disliked:

Moray Watson as Mr. Bennet: His Mr. Bennet is thoroughly unsympathetic; he does nothing but scold the family, slam doors, and drink tea. While Mr. Bennet is a neglectful parent, he expresses his dislike of the family in far more subtle ways and does not get into fits of anger easily.

Judy Parfitt as Lady Catherine de Bourgh: While the adaptation makes clear that Lady Catherine likes getting her way, this Lady Catherine isn’t intimidating enough to frighten anyone into submission. What doesn't help is that the scene where she interrogates Elizabeth about her family situation is cut; this scene is important in establishing Lady Catherine's tyrannical personality.

The actresses hired to play Kitty and Lydia Bennet are far too old for the parts; they do not look like teenagers!

Scenes I liked:

The opening scene -- the adaptation gives Charlotte a larger role, as she visits Elizabeth at Longbourn right after the news of Bingley's arrival. She also reveals her practical view on marriage as a necessity for securing comfort, which is at odds with Elizabeth's view of marriage as an equal partnership between people who love each other.

"First Impressions" -- Elizabeth shares her bad opinion of Darcy with Jane and reveals that the Bingleys earned their wealth in trade, making them "new money" as opposed to the Darcy family, which has many generations of nobility. This detail about the origins of Bingley's wealth could explain Caroline's extreme arrogance and make Jane's separation from Bingley on the basis of her poor connections more cruel.

Elizabeth at Mr. Lucas' party: This adaptation includes a scene from the book which isn't in many other adaptations, not even the 1995 miniseries. Elizabeth, acting impertinently to catch the attention of Darcy's "very satirical eye," addresses him sarcastically. Charlotte then gets Elizabeth to play the piano and she takes another opportunity to show off her wit:

"There is a fine old saying, which every body here is of course familiar with - 'Keep your breath to cool your porridge', and I shall keep mine to swell my song."

Jane and Elizabeth at Netherfield. In a series of scenes, Elizabeth confides in Jane her true thoughts and feelings about Darcy, the Bingleys, and the Hursts. For instance, she theorizes about why Darcy stares at her and rants about how disagreeable and annoying the Netherfield party are. It's really entertaining to see Elizabeth driven to frustration by the arrogant rich people.

Any scene with Mr. Collins in it, but here are the funniest ones:

Mr. Collins eating with the Bennet family: I laughed at how he examines the food with a critical eye before shoving it in his mouth quickly. It perfectly captures Mr. Collins' arrogance combined with bad manners.

Mr. Collins at the Netherfield Ball: he cannot dance and embarrasses Elizabeth (definitely a parallel with the 1995 version, where he bumps into the other dancers and apologizes profusely).

Mr. Collins' first proposal to Elizabeth: I laughed at the added flourish (not in the novel), where he bends down on one knee, but instead of professing love for the intended, states proudly to Elizabeth that the main benefit of the marriage is the patronage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Collins' proposal to Charlotte Lucas: this is not in the original book, as it is (mostly) limited to Elizabeth's point of view, where she only finds out about the proposal after it happens. This comical scene begins with pleasant music and blooming flowers to establish romantic connotations, before it cuts to an awkward Mr. Collins following Charlotte Lucas. When Charlotte accepts Mr. Collins, they are sitting together by a rosebush, and his pure joy at the unromantic, arranged marriage, combined with the floral imagery from earlier, elevate the situational irony and make for a good laugh. The flower imagery also ties into Charlotte's earlier comparison of marriage to growing a plant; Elizabeth challenges Charlotte's assertion by asking her what would happen if the soil was poor (metaphor for the respect Elizabeth feels is a foundation for a loving relationship).

Aunt Gardiner's advice to Elizabeth: This scene isn't included in other adaptations, not even the 1995 miniseries. Here Aunt Gardiner warns Elizabeth against falling in love with Wickham, telling her that she needs to keep her common sense intact; Elizabeth dismisses this, fully confident in her powers of judgment. It's great that this exchange is included because it foreshadows the discovery of Wickham's true character, and hints that Elizabeth's perceptions of others may be wrong.

Scenes I disliked:

The romantic scenes. This adaptation unfortunately fails in the romance department; there is zero chemistry between the actors; even the otherwise wonderful Elizabeth Garvie is not exempt. (more about this later).

The first country ball. The interior is dark, small, cramped and stagey. Also, the dancing and overall manner of the guests is very sedate and orderly; it’s so quiet you can hear the dancers feet scrape the floor in spite of the music. This isn't very realistic compared with the other adaptations, where we are presented with much more boisterous country dances.

The activation of Stalker Darcy: While Elizabeth plays the pianoforte, Darcy, while shrouded in darkness, moves like a ghost among the crowd until he all of a sudden appears very close to the pianoforte and golf-clapping. perhaps Darcy is a blood sucking vampire? Though this scene is entertaining for all the wrong reasons, it doesn't make sense that Darcy's love for Elizabeth makes him even more robotic and creepy.

Lady Catherine confronting Elizabeth: While the dialogue for this scene is lifted straight from the book, there isn't quite enough fury and anger on the part of either person.

3. THE SCRIPT

What makes this adaptation stand out is the script by Fay Weldon. While the majority of the script is taken directly from the book, many have commented that her interpretation of Pride and Prejudice is much more feminist because of the greater emphasis on Elizabeth's point of view, as well as her relationships with other women. Many of the creative changes made emphasize the ridiculousness of the patriarchy and Elizabeth's outspokenness. In addition, Austen's narration slips into the dialogue of the female characters; for instance, Mary proclaims the village's judgment of Darcy as "the proudest most disagreeable man in the world."

Creative Changes/Great Quotes from the Script:

Darcy adding further insult to injury: after proclaiming Elizabeth to be unattractive to him, he adds: "She has too many sisters."

Mrs. Bennet criticizing poor Mary: “You read too much! No wonder you’re shortsighted.”

Elizabeth has had enough with Darcy, the Hursts, and the Bingleys: “Jane, they are monsters! They like nothing and dislike everything!"

Elizabeth has no patience: "This is unendurable! Mr. Darcy has scarcely spoken more than 10 words to me during the whole of today!"

Mary Bennet praises Mr. Collins' writing skills: "But he is intelligent. In point of composition the letter he wrote Father was not deficient and it was very long."

Mr. Collins scrutinizes Longbourn (his future inheritance) Part 1: "The hall. The hall should be imposing. This one is spacious enough but a little dark..."

Mr. Collins scrutinizes Longbourn Part 2: "Truly a gracious dining room. Lady Catherine de Bourgh would not be ashamed to dine here...The table, though a trifle rustic, is solid and a good match."

Mr. Collins provides much needed moral lessons to Kitty and Lydia: "I have often observed how many young ladies are very little interested in books of a serious stamp, though written solely for their benefit. Certainly there can be nothing so advantageous to them as instruction."

Mr. Collins on Anne de Bourgh: "She is agreeably fragile, and she is to marry Mr. Darcy."

Lady Catherine de Bourgh supporting the patriarchy: "If I were to have more children, they should all be sons."

Mr. Collins' Aquatic Hat: In one of many examples where Lady Catherine micromanages everyone's life, she orders Mr. Collins to plant bulrushes by the lake and per her instructions he orders an ugly top hat with a shower cap inside it to prevent himself from drowning. Charlotte and Elizabeth laugh about it when Mr. Collins isn't looking.

Darcy is a dog person, how sweet! Before the first proposal and before he meets Elizabeth again at Pemberley, Darcy is accompanied by a dog. Perhaps if he brought his dog to the first proposal it would have succeeded?

Elizabeth's internal monologue after she reads the letter: I normally dislike internal monologues because they detract from the action or become redundant, but I like how this adaptation utilizes the internal monologue to show Elizabeth actively confronting her prejudice against Mr. Darcy and acknowledging that she has acted wrongly in judging him harshly. Some adaptations reduce or even leave out this fundamental part of Elizabeth's personal growth. My only quibble with this scene is that Elizabeth lets go of her prejudice too soon and in too calm a manner. In the book, she is initially angry at Darcy and needs to reread the letter multiple times before she starts to form a grudging respect for Mr. Darcy. For Elizabeth, letting go of her prejudice is a slow, exhausting, and emotionally taxing process, unlike in this adaptation, where her logical reasoning allows her to quickly overcome her unreasonable hatred of Darcy.

4. THE ROMANCE (or, to be more accurate, lack of)

Many of the key romantic scenes between Elizabeth and Darcy are shortened, which surprised me because the length of a miniseries in general allows for more character development. I was hoping to see a fuller picture of Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship than could be provided in a movie.

While the female characters of the adaptation are fully rounded and have many opportunities to express their perspectives, the male characters remain one-dimensional and do not get the same treatment as the women. In other words, the male characters are reduced to mere objects of affection.

Some critics have argued that Darcy is irresistible to women in part because he is mysterious. Even his appearance is left to the reader's imagination, as Austen only notes that Darcy has a "fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien...[and] ten thousand a year." Thus, the reader gets to craft their ideal version of Mr. Darcy; he could look like any handsome man. When the "historically accurate Mr. Darcy" image was released several years ago (where he looks like George Washington); many, including me, were disappointed because we all have different images of Mr. Darcy in our heads (or more likely, we pick between Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen). This adaptation capitalizes into the mystique of the character by leaving the viewers to guess Darcy's intentions. Since we do not have access to his internal thoughts or motivations, we are limited to what we see before our eyes, much like the Meryton villagers. We do not get to see how Darcy develops feelings for Elizabeth; nor do we see how he is like in private occasions (even when alone with his friends, he says little and reveals little).

Other critics/Austen scholars/fans have argued that the one-dimensional treatment of male characters is in keeping with the unique writing style of Pride and Prejudice. Typically, female characters were the ones reduced to objects of affection for the male characters. Austen reverses this norm by focusing more on Elizabeth's viewpoint while Darcy remains mysterious.

Though a more reserved Darcy may work in the book, it does not serve the development of the romance well. Darcy's falling in love with Elizabeth is characterized by a gradual loss of control over himself; in his words he was "in the middle before I knew that I had begun [falling in love]." After all, he cannot stop staring at Elizabeth and frequently tries to keep talking to her at Netherfield before he begins to feel "the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention." During his first proposal, he is agitated, and when Elizabeth rejects him, becomes angry. It is obvious, in the book and in the 1995 and 2005 adaptations as well, that the man is clearly an emotional train wreck.

The conflict between Darcy's outer shell and inner self is a key part of his falling in love with Elizabeth, and the adaptation misses out on this with a stiff, wooden Darcy who always carries himself properly and never smiles. In general, the most entertaining romances have this tension between self-control and passion, with lapses in manners usually the only sign of the passion beneath the surface; after all, in Elizabeth's words, “Is not general incivility the very essence of love?”

Back to the idea of the one-dimensional Darcy being an inversion of gender norms in writing: I have to disagree with this because (this is obvious I'm sure) Darcy is still a fully rounded character and does undergo his own journey, since he has to change his manners to earn Elizabeth's love. This quote shows what Darcy has learned about himself:

"I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle. As a child I was...given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit. Unfortunately an only son, (for many years an only child) I was spoilt by my parents [who] almost taught me to be selfish and overbearing, to care for none beyond my own family circle, to think meanly of all the rest of the world, to wish at least to think meanly of their sense and worth compared with my own."

Though some fans of this adaptation like how the other relationships are treated with equal importance as the well-known love story, the romance is important as a source of personal growth for Elizabeth as well as Darcy. After all, they do have to overcome the "pride and prejudice" that separates them.

The marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth is a feminist triumph for Elizabeth Bennet; in my review of the 2005 movie, I noted that Elizabeth Bennet is revolutionary because of her unwillingness to compromise on her belief that marriage should based on love and respect, contrary to the prevailing social view of marriage as an economic proposition. While it seems counter-intuitive for a repressive institution like marriage to be a feminist triumph, Austen's heroines use marriage as a means of gaining not just material comforts, but ultimately the self-respect they desire by uniting themselves with partners whom they are equals with. The marriages Austen's heroines make are testaments to their independence, as they are choices made by the women themselves. Even Charlotte Lucas' otherwise unhappy arranged marriage works for her, since she enjoys the freedom that running her own household gives her. Not focusing on the romance of Elizabeth and Darcy leaves out Austen's complex perspective on marriage as a social necessity but also an unlikely route to freedom.

Here's my breakdown of the Elizabeth and Darcy scenes in this adaptation and why the romance fails:

"She is tolerable:" Elizabeth reacts rather too sedately to the insult Darcy gives her (and he also makes an added comment about her having too many sisters); unlike in other versions where she attempts to suppress a laugh or even taunts Darcy outright. The adaptation diverges from the book by having Elizabeth tell her mother instead of her friends about Darcy's insult; it does not make sense why Elizabeth would confide this in her mother, given that she knows her mother is a fool.

Netherfield dance: Darcy attempts to flirt with Elizabeth during this dance (which only lasts one minute!), but doesn't succeed because of his poor social skills and her prejudice. It's also an amazing battle of wits, as Darcy counters Elizabeth's accusations while admonishing her not to trust Wickham.

Unfortunately, the adaptation cuts out essential dialogue revealing the extent of Elizabeth's prejudice and foreshadowing the discovery of Wickham's true character. For example, what isn't included is Elizabeth's accusations that Darcy is to blame for ruining Wickham's life, to which he replies that Wickham is capable of charming others but not necessarily of retaining good friends.

More significantly, the adaptation cuts Elizabeth's admission that she cannot figure Darcy out:

"'May I ask to what these questions tend?' 'Merely to the illustration of your character,' said she...

'And what is your success?' She shook her head. 'I do not get on at all. I her such different accounts of you as puzzle me exceedingly.'

'...I could wish, Miss Bennet, that you were not to sketch my character at the present moment, as there is reason to fear that the performance would reflect no credit on either.'"

The development of the romance is harmed due to the omission of the portrait metaphor. Here, Darcy shrewdly observes to Elizabeth that her judgment of character may be flawed and foreshadows the discovery of her prejudice against him. After his many observations of Elizabeth, Darcy knows her so well that he can read her like an open book (though he underestimates the extent of Elizabeth's prejudice against him). The metaphor of the picture as a representation of character also becomes literal through Darcy's portrait at Pemberley; Elizabeth only falls in love with Darcy after examining his character through the portrait.

Ultimately, the Netherfield Ball dance between Elizabeth and Darcy is essential in demonstrating the fallacy of first impressions, and reducing the dialogue only to the beginning part where Elizabeth teases Darcy on his inability to make small talk undermines the richness of the story.

Darcy's first proposal: This scene is definitely the worst one in this miniseries because it fails on so many levels. First, this Darcy remains stiff throughout the entire proposal, like he was at a public ball rather than declaring love. This is a total contrast to book Darcy; who, though formal, is "agitated" and "pale with anger" at times. Those famous opening lines ("In vain I have struggled...") are delivered so quickly and without any sort of overwhelming passion. What should be the climax of Darcy finally letting the volcano of his repressed emotions erupt (with bad consequences for him) instead becomes a cold recitation of the script. Elizabeth also becomes robotic as well, repeating her lines back with a detached tone of voice as if reading a teleprompter. I'm warning you: be prepared for the worst 5 minutes of your life.

Visiting Pemberley: The adaptation utilizes Elizabeth's inner monologue as she praises Pemberley; it's interesting to people who have read and re-read the book, but I don't think it's necessary to "copy and paste" large portions of the book and read them to the audience.

I do like that this adaptation clearly indicates that Elizabeth still stands by her decision to reject Darcy's first proposal, even though she really likes his great big house:

"'And of this place,' thought she, 'I might have been mistress! 'I might have rejoiced in [these rooms] as my own, and welcomed to them as visitors my uncle and aunt. - 'But no'... 'I should not have been allowed to invite them.'"

Most adaptations include the "Pemberley could have been mine" part, but don't include Elizabeth's realization that Darcy's class prejudice would have estranged her from the Gardiners (unfortunately that includes the 1995 miniseries). Including Elizabeth's thoughts about her aunt and uncle dispels the perception that she is a gold-digger who marries Darcy only after realizing how rich he is.

The portrait: why, why, why does Darcy not smile in his portrait?! The book LITERALLY EMPHASIZES that DARCY SMILES in his portrait, revealing a more sensitive side to him than his cold and formal appearance would otherwise suggest. Big mistake.

Lydia's elopement: the adaptation messes up this scene so badly, which is unfortunate because the scene is important in showing how much Elizabeth trusts Darcy and how much he still loves her, as shown through his concern for her. First, it diverges from the book by having Elizabeth run several miles to Pemberley (while fully outfitted in a spencer, bonnet, and long dress) and somehow she doesn't sweat or faint from the exertion. Running to Darcy to tell him the news doesn't make any sense, since the book makes clear that she did not want anyone outside her family to know about Lydia's elopement, or else her marriage prospects would certainly be ruined; the news devastated her because she feared losing Darcy's respect due to his social prejudice. Darcy learning of the news was purely a coincidence because he happened to be waiting for her at the inn where she was staying (aw how romantic!). As for Darcy, he remains cold and doesn't seem concerned enough for Elizabeth, in contrast with the book, where he immediately springs into action. The adaptation also omits Darcy's kindness by cutting out the part of the scene where he consoles Elizabeth, gets her to sit down, and brings her some wine.

Second proposal: Darcy breaks the rules of social etiquette by going out alone with Elizabeth before proposing to her, unlike in the book where they are with Jane and Bingley, but this scene is still thoroughly unromantic because the two actors have zero chemistry.

5. CONCLUSION

Although this adaptation has some good moments, the dated production design, underdeveloped romance, and wooden acting means that I will only recommend this version to Pride and Prejudice nerds/extreme book purists. The adaptation is boring to watch unless you know the book by heart.

This script highlights Austen's wit and sarcasm, but the performances don’t always do it justice. The feminist approach to the novel makes the adaptation stand out, but comes at the cost of Darcy's character development and the central love story.

Purists and casual book fans are better served by the 1995 BBC miniseries, which has the right balance of entertainment, historical accuracy, and faithfulness to the novel.

Thanks to JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America) for all the wonderful online articles that I pull many of my ideas from. I spent many hours entertaining myself by reading their scholarly analyses of Jane's other works as well as those related to Pride and Prejudice, and they have really helped me as I write these reviews.

@princesssarisa @austengivesmeserotonin @dahlia-coccinea @obscurelittlebird @appleinducedsleep @colonelfitzwilliams

#book adaptation #pride and predjudice #pride and prejudice #elizabeth bennet #mr darcy #mr bingley #long post #tv show review

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genshin-impact-writings · 3 years

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When i started playing Genshin i was a bit skeptical about that game because my previous experiences with gacha games weren't that good (and honestly, some parts of the game are still icky to me) but two things really made me go "oh wow there is some care in this game": the music and the characters

I'm a big music nerd (part of being a musician lmao) and seeing games that take care on sound a music, make sure their leitmotives and instruments make sense and are used accordingly and make the music of a place feel like it works is fucking amazing and makes me love the game almost immediately

The characters i feel have a lot of human side on them, they have their quirks and likes and dislikes and even the ones that don't have much of a story apart from a hangout event or the flavour text, they feel full and with a lot of potential. Even stuff like Venti being allergic to cats, Xiao having chronic pain, Xinyan being scared of frogs... Sure there are some representation issues here and there, but man, there is care put into the characters, apart from a pretty face and cool designs to make you pull for them

What are the things that made you go "oh fuck yes hell yeah" about Genshin?

I've never played any gacha games before Genshin, so I can't say much about that but I agree on everything else you said. Sometimes I just stand there in game and listen to the music because it just fits the atmosphere so perfectly. They have clearly put a lot of thought into that, as you already mentioned. And yes, the characters do feel more alive than in other games and I really love that. Of course I also admire their designs and stuff (that's the artist in me, I guess) but it's awesome that they all have individual traits and flaws and stuff like that.

What made me fall in love with the game, apart from the things you already mentioned, was actually the scenery. I remember how I kept wandering around Mondstadt and the nearby areas, ignoring all quests and stuff, because everything just looked so damn pretty. I experienced the same when I got to Liyue and Inazuma, and one of my friends who only started playing recently, feels the same way. The landscape of Teyvat is so pretty, they did a great job with that imo.

#jj answers #i really need to download the ost on spotify

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honeytrappaz · 4 years

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💕Yandere Hawks headcanon💕

warnings: yandere, stalking, blackmail.

A/n: whhwheheh its 3am finally finished this with my slow ass.

As explained in this post with anon, Keigo is not a stereotypical yandere. He's harmless compared to other kinds of yandere but he can get manipulative and dangerous if he feels the need to.

There three kinds of yandere that I think fit well with him: Self sacrifice, harmless, and stalker. But yes...he can scary🥺

Harmless:

Most of the time keigo is a harmless yandere, he's lovesick in a unhealthy obsession, but nonetheless harmless.

He's all about his s/o's happiness, giving luxurious and grandiose gifts, open displays of affection and eventually a confession, he desperately wants to be with them.

As sweet as his infatuation is, it escalates to obsession, and he finds it impossible to stay away from his s/o, to the point where his love is all or nothing. He doesn't want anyone else but his s/o. keigo will want nobody but his s/o, even if they don't want him back, his obsession can last for years.

Keigo takes rejection well for a yandere, he doesn't wanna lock them up and force his love on them. He just wants to give them the best and make their lives as easy as possible.

Even if his s/o were to find a better partner, hawks will not let go of his obsession, and will still treat them with grandoise displays of affection.

but if his s/o accepts his love, that obsession will intensify, and he'll have those feelings for life, he'll never let that go. "hawks mate for life" is no lie for keigo.

self sacrifice:

Hawks will voluntarily throw himself under the bus if he meant his s/o's wellbeing. He'll put himself in deep shit to prove his love.

And by like "deep shit" it's most definitely crimes or injuries that his s/o did not ask for. Risking the chance of destroying his career just so his s/o can be safe...or just to prove he loves them.

This man says he's willing to die for his s/o in a joking manner, but deadass it's not a joke he really will die for them.

All hell breaks loose if his s/o was a femme fatale, keigo's ride or die mentality will be taken advantage of.

He would do any kind of dirty work that his s/o needs, covering up crimes, bribing law enforcement, lying. and if they're caught, keigo will place all the blame on himself and convince everyone his s/o had nothing to do with it.

As keigo says, he's willing to corrupt himself for the sake of society, than he is more than willing to do the same for his s/o.

In conclusion, Keigo is a simp.

Stalker:

Okay so this is a trait that's a real slippery slope because it's not harmless. But as I mentioned in my previous hawks post, hawks is more than nosy, he's a protective stalker.

He's got hawk eyes on his s/o, especially during the morning and evening. He'll watch his s/o walk to work and walk home, and has been doing so before they even dated.

Anyone that is a threat to his s/o has gone missing without explanation.

loves to swoop into his s/o's house to snatch a few items, like dirty clothes, hair, baby photos and any item that is s/o's favorite color. All the items are somewhere deep in his penthouse, a fine collection of items place on a little shrine area.

But keigo simply does not take without giving back, that's not his style. He'll secretly place new items around s/o's house. Items like flowers, tons of food, shit ton of money, and new clothes that fit s/o's body measurements to a Tee, almost as if they're custom designed.

He's wants to know his s/o like the back of his hand. He wants to know their past, their family, bank info, address, work address, anything, you name it.

keigo knows his s/o's whole morning routine. He knows what they eat for breakfast and lunch, who they're talking to, and even knows how many times his s/o went to the bathroom.

Keigo especially has interest in knowing the people his s/o love or hates.

For people his s/o loves, specifically family, keigo will make their lives easy. Lifting them out of poverty, covering all the medical expenses, not a single bill to pay. s/o's family is suddenly flushed with cash and they can't explain why! it just appears in their bank account, they have no idea it's keigo's doing.

As for people his s/o dislikes? damn...

Bullies? Abusive exes? Creepy boss or colleague? they all go missing. keigo hunts down every single person that has brought pain and suffering into his s/o's life.

He's not the type to kill all these bad people, he just black mails them or sabotage their lives beyond recovery.

Keigo will destroy their lives, destroying relationships, careers, finances, property, anything valuable is destroyed.

He'll abuse his power as #2 hero by stalking these people's personal lives and gathering confidential info for the sake of finding dirt. If there isn't enough dirt, he'll frame them through a fake crime scene and put them in jail.

How do these people disappear? Usually keigo either puts them in jail, or gives them a "free ticket to Paradise," making that person leave the country entirely and change their name.

Loves watching his s/o live a happy and luxurious life with no shitty people, it makes all his efforts worth it.

#my hero academia #bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #tw yandere #yandere #yandere headcanons #yandere!hawks #yandere hawks #hawks headcanons #hawks x reader #mha hawks #hawks #keigo takami headcanons #my hero academia keigo takami #keigo x reader #keigo takami #tw stalking

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done-mer-moved · 4 years

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i Also don't know ur OCs but: 1, 4, 5, 8, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 33, 42, 50, 54, 56, 61, 73, and 78 please? -drunkmiraak

[[LKdghlkj sorry this took so long!! I got super sick so it sat half-done in my drafts for 84 years. @drunkmiraak]]

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

So, while I’ve got half a billion OCs by technicality, my main idiot is Azaryne Redoran who takes the role of the Vestige in the ESO story I write with @sinnaroll by the name of Soulbound. (Ima also just casually pass on these questions for her to answer in reply for D'tannen, who is the other main character in this thingy so you can get to know him too!)

Thank you so much for asking!! Here we gooooo~!

1. What is/are your OC’s nickname(s) and how did it come about?

Az’s main nickname is the self-explanatory name shortening from “Azaryne” to “Az”. But D'tannen has kinda stuck on jabbing him with “pretty boy” to the point where it’s basically a nickname lol

Also, in-game plot reasons dictate that the Five Companions also know him by “Vestige”, much to his dismay. It’s what the Scrolls named him by, so the Prophet tends to slip and refer to him that way, and the others kinda do too by proxy for a while. However, after Az makes it clear that he’s really uncomfortable with it, Lyris and Sai specifically make a point not to call him that.

4. What is a noticeable physical attribute of your OC?

So I memed twice earlier before I got to these questions lasdgkh gomen, but my goofier answers are Dorito Shape and Resting Trouble Face

But more seriously, one of his major notable physical features is that he’s pretty much covered in tattoos from his neck down past his waist and starting down his legs. They’re being redesigned from scratch right now because I can’t ever allow myself to have characters that can be adequately represented in game i guess lmfao but here’s the in-game tattoos with some photo-editing for an earlier visual draft on where they might cut off—

It’s a total personal headcanon but I decided that since the in-game body marking style was pretty clearly influenced by Maori-style kiriituhi, that Az’s tattoos are also highly significant in a similar way. Each piece symbolizes or connects to either his ancestry, or his own life and skills and milestones. His designs weren’t finished, but have the indication of where they were meant to continue as he hit new points in his life. Unfortunately, since his life was cut so short, that’s as far as they ever get.

On a lighter note, he also has pretty big ears?? Lmao

5. What does your OC normally wear? What would your OC wear on a special night?

He likes clothes that are comfortable but flattering. He knows what his assets are and enjoys looking well-dressed – a bit of a remnant from his previous life as a noble.

He tends to favor sleeveless tops and cool-colored fabrics with neutral accents. He particularly likes blues of all shades, and some purples. He’ll also occasionally wear red. On his travels he wears leather armor that fits within these features, and notably has a Khajiiti-style jack because he liked the aesthetic of it when he saw the style in a tailor’s display.

When he’s dressing up, he’ll wear more flowing robe-like attire. He had more reason to do so while he was alive, and at the time it was usually specifically Dunmeri cultural clothing. Over the course of Soulbound, he only dresses up the once so far for a date with Sinna. That takes place in Orsinium, so it’s Orcish formal wear.

Even if the situation’s not a fancy one, though, he’ll usually still wear kohl eyeshadow, which D’tannen gives him shit for, of course lol.

8. How does your OC talk/what does your OC’s voice sound like?

Az’s voice is light, crisp, warm and friendly. It’s between tenor and baritone in range, and the expected Dunmeri accent. He’s well spoken, and you can tell he’s well educated, but his phrasing isn’t snobbish or condescending, and there’s a firm sort of sincerity to his speech, even when he’s being playful.

15. What was your OC’s childhood like?

Az’s childhood was a little complicated in that it came with a great deal of privilege, but also a great deal of expectation. He was noble-born— the eldest son of House Redoran’s Archmaster— so before he was even old enough to have an awareness of the world, his parents had already decided many things about his future.

In spite of both this and the constant pressure of the Redoran philosophy that “a light, careless life is not worth living”, Az had an untamable spirit that continuously tried his parents’ patience. As a child, his impulsivity, tendency to bend the rules, and headstrong defiance on points he fundamentally disagreed with led to frequent discipline, and a particularly strained relationship with his father.

Over time, he begrudgingly learned to play by the rules, but would still disappear from time to time for brief moments of freedom.

He had two younger siblings— Eralane and Meril, and they had very close and loving relationships with each other. Az always did his bes to see right by them, so they felt safe in knowing that he would always have their backs. They didn’t ever keep much from him, as a result, and Meril specifically often looked up to him as a role model.

By the time he was fourteen, he’d been arranged into a political betrothal to solidify clan relations within the House, and it was decided that the two would be married in 16 years when they were both fully grown adults. Neither he nor his intended fiancée were really comfortable with this, but even as young as they were, they knew it was a sticky situation far bigger than just the two of them. So, they quickly established that, future aside, they didn’t feel entitled to each other’s feelings. They would both rather have a straightforward, honest friendship than try to force things between them.

Because of this, there was no tension when other chemistries developed in later years. Instead, they continued to ignore their inevitable marriage, and turned their performative date nights into formally-dressed vent and gossip sessions. Using the expectations put upon them to their advantage as they got older, they also happily became each other’s alibi when either of them needed time away with other people.

22. Who is/are your OC’s closest friend(s)?

Since arriving back on Tamriel, he’s been shuffling company a lot on his journeys. He’s also pretty introverted, despite being fairly socially adept. He doesn’t have any real connections from his previous life anymore, but has met many people and made casual friends and positive acquaintances with a solid chunk of new ones.

In terms of more serious friendships, D’tannen is honestly the closest, which is kind of incredible honestly laksdhg. But, they travel with each other day in and day out, so there’s a tight bond there that’s developing fast.

He’s also particularly attached to Irvane, who was his first friend since coming back to Nirn.

23. Who are the people your OC surrounds him/herself with?

Along the same lines as I just said above, he’s never in one place for very long right now, so he is constantly around new people. His kind heart and need for hands-on activity means he tends to gravitate toward people he can help in some way or another. His empathy and sense of honor do most of the weeding. He’d rather be around someone who has shown good intentions, even if they are rough around the edges, than someone who rests on the laurels of past deeds and judges others against themselves.

24. Who are the people your OC dislikes/hates?

It’s pretty damn hard to make this list, at least if you have any sort of good bone in your body. He’s really very empathetic and patient, and will forgive so quickly once he feels amends have been made that it’s honestly gotten him into trouble.

But, even with that said, he’s got some strong resentments for some strong reasons… Notably: Mannimarco and his Worm Cult, ol’ Molag Bal himself, and pretty much anyone who allies with them… Malacus is another name that quickly finds its way on the list under “kill unflinchingly” as he becomes closer with D’tannen.

25. If your OC has a soulmate, who is it?

oh my god im so sorry this joke is just right here its too easy to grab i can’t help myself –

Doesn’t a soulmate require… a soul…?

33. What subjects interested your OC?

He’s always done whittling as a hobby, so he’s currently kinda advancing on that in woodcarving. Since he was also trained in maintaining and repairing his own weapons and armor in life, that’s carried over into an interest in actually crafting weapons on his own. He does wind up making his own bow way later on, and even spends a bit of time with the Morkul Orcs in the Orsinium arc learning to do some metalwork.

42. What makes your OC happy?

He’s very attached to his dog Blackjack, and the mutt can always seem to pick him up when he’s otherwise faltering. He loves whittling and tends to carve little objects to occupy his mind. Complicatedly, D’tannen makes him happy as well, lol.

He also tends to have moments where he finds happiness in specific things, but the emotion related feels strange or misplaced. When this happens, it’s usually because whatever he’s experiencing— a particular sight or smell or flavor— is something that ties directly to a positive memory he’s lost from his life before. A sort of unwitting-nostalgia that’s hard to pinpoint or replicate.

As a general rule, he’s pretty easily contented. He lives very much in the moment, which combined with his adaptability and natural optimism, means that he’s usually able to find some small spark of cheer for himself anywhere he goes. He’s always wanted the freedom of life as an adventurer, so if circumstances were different, this would honestly be an ideal life for him. However, it’s pretty dampened by the stress of current events, along with the nagging restless and hollow feeling of having lost his soul.

50. What secrets does your OC have?

This is a bit of a tricky one. He’s not a super open person, but he also doesn’t like to lie to cover things up. However, there are many things about his life at present that he finds he has to dance around giving knowledge of. In some ways, the very nature of his current existence is something he keeps tucked away. It’s not very easy to explain to anyone, so he’s grateful that for the majority of the people he interacts with, direct questions never really come up.

In the second act of Soulbound, however, after he becomes very close with Sinna, Sinna asks him directly for his story. He dodges it for quite some time before finally giving him the details, but he’s kind of nervous at that point to state it. He doesn’t know how Sinna might react. But, he lays it out on the table anyway: He’s not truly alive. He’s what remained of himself after he was sacrificed by cultists to Molag Bal. His soul was stolen, and he has only vague pieces of memories from when he lived. And now, he’s been prophesied to assist in stopping a daedric invasion.

Sinna’s response was heartfelt. But, nobody could blame him for the fact that all he could manage for a brief moment after listening was “Wild….”

54. Does your OC think with his/her head or heart?

Heart… His upbringing tried its best to instill an ability to detach for the sake of duty, but honestly, he’s never been able to. Even when he knows there’s no way he can avoid a difficult situation, and is able to approach it tactically, emotion will be gnawing at him all the while, and he’ll be completely staunch on the things he believes the most if those interfere with the “logical” course of action.

56. What are some of your OC’s strengths?

He’s honestly got a wide range of skills in a lot of ways. He’s a highly skilled archer, and has a very well-rounded set of combat and survival skills that have been hardwired into him since a very young age. He’s also got a great sense of aesthetics, which he likes to express in woodworking and whittling when he can. He’s intelligent, but a lot of his skill specifically in emotional/social intelligence comes from his powerful empathy, and how dramatic swings of circumstances in his life have given him many perspectives to draw from, even subconsciously through the massive amnesia he struggles with. He’s incredibly adaptable. He’s intensely loyal, courageous, and firmly optimistic even through the worst circumstances. He’s got an incredibly strong character to him, and it tends to be both charming and inspiring, even when he doesn’t recognize that he’s producing these effects himself.

61. What is the general impression your OC gives other people?

Honest. Empathetic and selfless. Good-natured, down to earth, and a bit wild-spirited. Patient, incredibly forgiving. Helpful. Playfully charming. A protector. A defender of good.

73. What is your OC’s favorite form of entertainment?

He likes art, stories, nature, animals, and adventure. Crafting from time to time as well.

78. What is your OC’s favorite time of day?

Late morning. The point in the day when you’re up and awake and setting off. The whole day lies in wait before you, and you’re ready to meet it

#eso #the vestige #dunmer #redoran #the elder scrolls online #drunkmiraak #thank you again!! <3 #az #azaryne #soulbound

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skriaki · 4 years

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TOP 10 NINTENDO SWITCH GAMES 2019 - my arbitrary list!

Sometimes it's good to be proven wrong. I was pretty sceptical when the Switch was first announced, as it didn't seem too different from the Wii U's gamepad. Then I spent two years watching Nintendo enjoy a complete reversal of fortune, to the point of potentially amassing a more compelling library than Sony's or Microsoft's consoles. So that's how I quite suddenly found myself buying a Switch in October 2019, after having resisted the PS4 and Xbone for five whole years, and my free time has since been dominated by this little machine that defied the odds.

Some of Nintendo's business decisions can still seem inexplicable, but releasing a powerful handheld console that can also be docked with a TV at a moment's notice has proved to be an inspired idea, rather than the gimmick the Wii U's gamepad mostly turned out to be. And along with Nintendo's dependable series of top-notch exclusives, the Switch has enjoyed much better third-party support, which is how I ended up buying Dark Souls for the fourth bloody time just because the option to play it portably was too tempting to resist.

The Switch is the first console I've bought since the PS3 and for all Nintendo's quirks, there's a reason the Switch has dominated Christmas wishlists for three years running. Games like Super Mario Odyssey feel like full-size adventures that just happen to have a portable option, as opposed to handheld games you can also play on the big screen. This is the first year in a long while that I've actually played enough topical titles to justify a "games of the year" list, even if my recent Nintendo bias is pretty blatant.

So with that caveat in mind, and in no particular order, here's my entirely subjective list of the best Nintendo Switch games of 2019.

Luigi's Mansion 3

This is a franchise I'd always been curious about and can finally have an opinion on. The process of going from floor to floor of the hotel hoovering up ghosts and solving puzzles is pretty straightforward, but Luigi's Mansion 3 has so much polish and personality crammed into the cartridge. Luigi is immediately lovable as a determined coward, and each level has a wildly different theme that's realised with extravagant audio and visual flair, so progress always feels rewarding. Though this isn't true horror by any means, there can be an unsettling atmosphere and some of the bosses are pretty freaky. I officially love this oddball franchise and am desperate for a chance to play the story again in co-op. Unquestionably a first-class exclusive.

Doom (Switch port)

Not to be confused with the impressive Switch version of Doom 2016, this is the iconic Doom made cheap and accessible. While purists may take issue with some minor technical deviations, this is the first time I've got most of the way through Doom because the portability and *glorious* true dual-stick control makes this easily my favourite version. There's even a cheat menu for when I just want to mindlessly punch hell beasts. The main thing that ages Doom is its maze-like structure, but playing it casually experience alleviates that frustration somewhat. At a grand total of four pounds, this is a BFB (big fucking bargain).

Untitled Goose Game

You know a game is good when the only asterisk I put on my recommendation is that it *may* be overpriced. Untitled Goose Game took the internet by storm this year because it's the quintessential indie game: cute, simple and with anti-authoritarian undertones. As a horrible goose, it's your mission to cause havoc in an unsuspecting English village, interacting with people and objects to cause chain reactions of chaos. Some of the puzzle solutions are maybe a bit obscure, but 90% of the time just messing around with everything in the area will lead to a solution. Untitled Goose Game makes up for its brevity with sheer comedic charm, feeling much better-designed than a "lul so random" affair like Goat Simulator. A honking good time.

Terraria (Switch port)

I have spent literally hundreds of hours on the PC version of Terraria, so when I was broke after buying my Switch the new Terraria port was an obvious cost-effective choice. While the controls aren't as precise, the amount of time spent mining and sorting through loot makes this a great handheld experience. I can't comment on the multiplayer options but few games represent such a sheer value for money, as there's always a new cave to explore or a new boss to overcome. Time has been kind to this 2011 classic, grind notwithstanding.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

While I personally enjoyed the original Yooka-Laylee, it was definitely flawed and I never seriously expected to see a sequel. But Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair launched quite abruptly and did a pretty spectacular job of upstaging its predecessor. All the previous game's half-baked feel has been replaced with clever design touches, like the equippable tonics which grant helpful abilities at the cost of a currency penalty. The titular Lair is actually the final level and available to throw yourself at right from the beginning, but beating it without first obtaining more hitpoints by completing other stages is incredibly hard, which is a great way to incentivize progress without denying more confident players the option of beating the game earlier if they can meet the challenge. Impossible Lair might be this year's biggest surprise, and despite a modest budget I think it's worthy of comparison to excellent 2D platformers like Rayman Legends. Just don't expect to defeat Capital B on your first attempt.

A Hat In Time (Switch port)

I recently reviewed A Hat In Time but at the risk of repeating myself, it's one of the most charming games of the last few years and an incredibly impressive crowdfunded achievement. Mario's offerings may be a grander technical feat, but A Hat In Time is a fast and fabulous journey through a series of weird and wonderful worlds that all feel distinct in content and tone. It's very openly inspired by GameCube-era platformers like Mario Sunshine and Psychonauts and it easily scratches that itch. Simply one of the best original platformers of this generation, and I defy you not to love Hat Kid's cheeky antics.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Switch port)

As someone who thinks the original Spyro trilogy holds up better than most early 3D games, I'd have actually preferred a simple port rather than a full remake, but The Reignited Trilogy is honestly impeccable. The updated visuals are gorgeous while maintaining the general style of those old, jaggy models, and very little of the gameplay or content has changed except for sensible updates like the ability to immediately warp between every level you've visited. Having full dual-analogue control is also an absolute godsend even for a PS1 veteran like me. Though Spyro may seem a bit basic these days when faced with modern platformer marvels, the Reignited Trilogy makes these old favourites accessible again at a generous price point.

Ring Fit Adventure

Yes, I have a Wii kicking around in a box somewhere. No, Wii Fit never held my attention as anything more than a curiosity. Ring Fit Adventure, meanwhile, is limited only by my cholesterol-encrusted heart and dislike of excessive showering. This is an honest-to-goodness attempt at making an RPG out of a workout toy, and the amount of polish put into the game's presentation and hardware implementation is pretty remarkable. Levels involve jogging on the spot and squeezing the ring accessory to collect goodies and overcome obstacles, and periodically you'll engage in turn-based combat where you use a custom selection of exercise moves to deal damage. It's a fantastic idea pulled off much more elegantly than it sounds. The ring accessory unfortunately makes this quite an expensive game, so it'll take a lot of regular use to get your money's worth, but I can honestly (and surprisingly) say that exercise suddenly becomes more compelling when it's presented as a light RPG adventure with anthropomorphic gym equipment encouraging you to take breaks and drink plenty of water.

Pokémon Sword/Shield

Disclaimer: I can only give my impressions from 25 hours of playing Pokémon Shield, so this is DEFINITELY not a full review. That being said, this is still an easy recommendation to existing Pokemaniacs and a good starting point for any new acolytes. While the core formula hasn't evolved (har har) much since the very first Pokemon, Sword and Shield still has a number of modern quality of life improvements that make previous generations show their age. I've had so much fun building a core crew of cute and/or badass 'mons in a weird Nintendo version of Britain, and the online features combine with a VASTLY improved random encounter system to make grinding far less of a concern. The wild area takes some getting used to, but it's satisfying to come back and capture the huge Onyx you had to run away from a few hours before. Even if Pokémon Sword/Shield has some technical blemishes and could have pushed the series further in some regards, it's still easy to see why this franchise has maintained such a beloved status for so long.

Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-mars-tered (Switch port)

Along with Dark Souls, Red Faction was a game I never even knew I needed on the go, but now I've got it I can't imagine ever going back. A cult classic due to its amazing destruction physics, Red Faction sees you leading a proletariat revolution on Mars, literally tearing down corporate monuments to free the working class from systematic oppression. The open world is a bit claustrophobic and the shooting isn't exactly mind-blowing, but there's a reason I've beaten Red Faction every couple of years ever since its original 2009 release. The Switch port does the game justice and if you set the difficulty to easy then this is one of the best rage-venting experiences money can buy. So yes, I recommend getting your ass to Mars.

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