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pipermca · 2 months

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Feedback Fest 2024

In honour of International Fanworks Day (today! February 15) I am posting some fic recommendations that I've made in the past. (I am super swamped at work and can't write up any new recs, but I previously rec'd these over on my main blog over the past few years. I'm collecting them together again here on my writing blog!)

These ten rec's are in no particular order, and all are in the Transformers fandom (with some crossovers). Ratings and pairings (if relevant) are noted.

(I also had to split this list into two parts because I waxed too poetic about these fics. See my reblog for the next part. 🙂)

Frivolities by @neveralarch (G, Megatron & Starscream). Summary: “My correct form of address is in my ID tag,” snapped Starscream. “Use it or lose your tongue.” My comments: I love this story. I love it so much I’ve recommended it to people who would ordinarily never read Transformers fanfic, simply because I think they’d appreciate what the author is doing. They took canon and fanon, and from it alchemized a story of dysphoria and wanting to be seen and acknowledged in a way the character wants, and wrapped it up in a tidy package that hits like a truck, and have I mentioned I love this story! (makes fists) Read it!

Working Through It by @trinarysuns (M, Skywarp/Thundercracker/Marissa Faireborn). Summary: “TC,” Skywarp says, “I’m, like, ninety percent sure that humans don’t have interface cables.” Thundercracker squawks and almost knocks him over trying to get the script out of his hands. My comments: I can’t say enough about this story. I love it and it pushed so many buttons for me. Not even smutty buttons, just interaction buttons: humans interacting with giant alien robots, old loves reuniting, logitical issues of interspecies getting it on… Tumblr deleted my review of this story, (SIGH) so I reposted my review on DW here. It says a lot more about this fic!

The Soft Rush of Black Static by Monstrosibee (NR, Bluestreak/Prowl). Summary: Prowl doesn’t know a lot of bots on this newly salvaged Cybertron, and he definitely doesn’t know the bot intruding on his construction site. My comments: While this fic is essentially a fix-it fic for a story from the Aligned continuity, it just destroyed me. You can read the basics of what happened between Bluestreak and Prowl on TFWiki (at the end of Chapter 7 of The Covenant of Primus) but it was devastating to actually read how upset Prowl was by what happened. This short little fix-it brought all those emotions back and then healed them. I loved this.

Someone You Might Have Been by @astolat (T, Megatron/Optimus Prime.) Summary: I didn’t love him because he wasn’t you. My comments: I'm rec'ing this because it's just pure "this is exactly what I want to read!" for me. This is a delightful mashup of the Shattered Glass universe and G1, in which the Optimus Primes from each universe get (temporarily) swapped. It’s an amazingly heartwrenching MegOP story.

Crash Site by Slyboots (G, Breakdown/Knock Out). Summary: June Darby does not believe in aliens, or in haunted highways, or in government conspiracies, or in any other small-town folklore. The new mechanics in town are uncanny, all the same. My comments: I am a sucker for Transformers: Prime fics, and one of the (it's canon! suck it Hasbro) ships from the show that I love is Knock Out/Breakdown. But besides that, I just love the vibe of this story. You can feel Knock Out and Breakdown in it, even if June doesn’t really see them, except out of the corner of her eye. And I am SO HERE for the idea that the two of them got some lovely downtime together before the events in TFP.

#ifd2024 #feedback fest 2024 #international fanworks day #fic rec #maccadam

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destieltropecollection · 1 year

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DESTIEL TROPE COLLECTION 2023 | DAY 8 | Case Fic

I'll Always Come When You Call | @blessyourhondahurley

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1,960 Main Tags/Warnings: Established Castiel/Dean Winchester Summary: Cas takes a quick case with Garth that turns out to be not so quick. Dean comes in with the assist.

Blue Like Grace | @aaronthe8thdemon

Rating: Mature Word Count: 3,226 Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Season/Series 08, Fake Marriage, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst, Winged Castiel (Supernatural), Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Interspecies Romance, Angel Marriage (Supernatural), Repressed Bisexual Dean Winchester Summary: Dean ain’t used to getting to “decorate” things. Decorations are usually shit for other people with normal lives. He’d see it on tv when he was younger, in shows people would put up streamers for their kids’ birthdays or whatever. And also in bars during holidays, those tacky shiny things hung on walls and from ceilings. But Dean’s never done it himself. Which means that Cas, right now, is driving him fucking insane.

Just Say It | @curlynerd

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 7,494 Main Tags/Warnings: Post-Canon Fix-It, Case Fic, Dean Winchester is Bad at Feelings, Ghosts, Day At The Beach, Love Confessions, First Kiss, Finale doesn't exist, (weakened)Angel!Cas Summary: A string of violent deaths at an otherwise charming B&B was all the excuse Dean needed to drag Cas down to Florida for some fun in the sun. Things had been awkward since Cas came back from the Empty and they could finally be together, but Dean was sure that a romantic getaway was the perfect thing to help Cas get out of the training wheels stage of Angel's-First-Romance and start acting like a real couple. Just as soon as they took care of a vengeful spirit. What could possibly go wrong?

Jupiter's Rings | @notastupidbird

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 7,527 Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Fallen Angel Castiel (Supernatural), Solo Hunter Dean Winchester, Hunters For Hire, Monsters are Known, Case Fic, Meet-Weird, POV Dean Winchester Summary: “No, this is perfect! I was just about to put up a notice today.” Dean stops packing up his stuff and rests an elbow on the table. “Yeah? What for?” The man gives a quick look around the diner and then leans in close. “I got an alien in my barn.” - + - In a world where supernatural encounters are a normal part of everyday life, Dean works alone as a hunter-for-hire. After wrapping up a case in rural Missouri, Dean is just about to hit the road again when a man stops him and asks for help dealing with something Dean's never heard of before — an alien. Never one to turn somebody away, Dean takes the case and finds out that he's in way over his head when he discovers just what this "alien" really is — a fallen angel.

This Angel Is Naturally And Artificially Flavored | @aaronthe8thdemon

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 7,687 Main Tags/Warnings: Angst and Humor, Explicit Sexual Content, Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester, Undercover as a Couple, Case Fic, Canon Compliant, Autistic Castiel (Supernatural), Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Surprise Ending Summary: “I don’t understand,” Castiel interrupts. “If you don’t require my assistance, then why did she pray for me?” “Dean, if you go there yourself, nothing’s gonna get done,” Charlie says, clearly resuming some type of argument that was taking place before he arrived. “You can just go with me!” is Dean’s response. “It’s a gay club, you’re gay, it’ll totally work!” “Yeah, if what you’re going for is the world’s least convincing lavender marriage!”

Forest Fever | @amaranthhiding

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 8,586 Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Universe, Post-Ep 12x10, Monster of the Week, Forests, Monster Hunt, Mystery (a little), Hallucinations, Angst with Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Humor, First Kiss, Emotional Sex, Angel Grace, Dean POV, Sam POV, Dean/Cas Stab Fest 2022 Summary: After the crushing events of episode 12x10 "Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets", Castiel is low on grace and morale. In an attempt to restore at least one of these two, Sam and Dean take him on a hunt. Things start going wrong when Sam gets injured and Cas seemingly disappears. They get worse when Dean turns from hunter to prey for something feeling far more at home in this dark, rainy forest than he does.

Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies | @ariasune

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 13,575 Main Tags/Warnings: Castiel's True Form, Deep Sea Horror, First Kiss, Season 8 Summary: "Look, Charlie thinks the Men of Letters have something that can help you actually, you know, find this monster.” “Good,” Dean licks at his thumb to get the last of the chicken salt clean. “Cause right now it seems like we’ve got a monster that’s some 20, 000 leagues under the sea…” He stops. “This isn’t some 20, 000 leagues shit is it?” “It’s a submarine, actually.” Fuck, that sounds like a yes.

A Midsummer Night's Dean | @payphoneangel

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 16,949 Main Tags/Warnings: Casefic, friends to lovers, love spells, love confessions, getting together, canon-typical violence, POV Dean Winchester, Summary: When an uncanny string of deaths lead TFW to California, they're pointed in the direction of a kitschy hotel with a reputation for being haunted. Will they discover what’s causing the love-sickness, or will their stay end in (deadly) heartbreak?

Stranded | @malicmalic

Rating: Mature Word Count: 27,980 Main Tags/Warnings: Deserted island, Case fic, Idiots in Love, Fluff and Angst, Crack, Funny situations, Competitions Summary: Prompt: Cas and Dean are hunting and they touch a portkey/ artifact that transports them somewhere warm and sunny/ place full of couples. Artefact also temporarily stops Cas from flying back so they have to muddle through an activity. Snorkeling, abseiling, anything out of the boys comfort zone. Or how Dean and Cas manage to get themselves into some funny and interesting situations while stranded on a deserted island that isn't really deserted at all.

Under My Skin | @whichstiel

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 39,596 Main Tags/Warnings: Curses, Fae and Faeries, Fungus, Sex magic, Body horror Summary: Dean and Castiel head to a remote town in the Ozarks to investigate a series of mysterious deaths. In each case, the victim mutilates their own skin, gruesomely clawing at it until death stops their hands. They scramble for answers, trying to solve the case before more victims succumb. In this small town, the only motel room available means that they will be sharing a bed. They've never been more aware of each other, or the potential that lies between them. When they learn that an ancient sex magic ritual is the best way to stop the deaths? Well, somebody has to take one for the team.

Heart Shaped Box | @mittensmorgul

Rating: Mature Word Count: 43,504 Main Tags/Warnings: s15 fix it fic (human Cas, everyone lives), curses, references to past canon/trauma Summary: The bunker is full of dusty old artifacts. Only now that Chuck is out of the picture once and for all, and Cas is fully restored from the empty and in his first days of adjusting to humanity in Dean’s debatable care, does Sam really have a chance to start sorting through it all. The ornate little box he finds feels like the perfect gift for Eileen, but he both wants Cas to feel included and needed, and really wants a strong second opinion on anything in the bunker being safe to give anyone as a gift. Cas declares it a perfectly normal box, until Dean reaches out to give it his own inspection, triggering a spell that will pull them through their own history and open a door to allow them the time and space to settle all the open questions between them. Meanwhile back in the bunker, once the explosion of light resolves, Sam is left with a slightly radioactive looking box and the sinking terror that Dean and Cas had been cursed all because of him. A little trip down memory lane, Supernatural style, ensues.

Lonely Is The Night | @trenchcoatparadigm

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 50,420 Main Tags/Warnings: Prostitution, During Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bottom Castiel/Top Dean Winchester, Human Castiel (Supernatural), Monster of the Week, Season/Series 09, First Kiss, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Eventual Smut Summary: “Listen, buddy. You can’t stay.” Five little words that had sent Castiel’s whole world crumbling down around him. What would he do? Where would he go? How would he survive now that he was human? That had been nearly 2 years ago. He did what he needed to get by. Had a roof over his head, just about. Minimal food in his belly, enough to keep him alive at least. And money in his pocket. Dirty, filthy money he earned by offering himself up to people that did unspeakable, sinful things to him. Once an angel of the lord, now left to lurking on street corners, hoping someone would give him the time of day just so he could stay alive. Whispers of disappearances had been rife through 5th street. But when familiar faces start vanishing, Castiel isn’t sure if people were leaving out of fear or something worse. Just when everything seemed its bleakest there was a tiny glimmer of hope, pinging brightly off chrome alloys and glossy black paintwork. The rumbling beast cruising through his neighbourhood, by his corner. He never thought he’d see that car again. The Winchester brothers brought to the city on a new case. A new case that sat a little too close to home.

#destiel trope collection #destiel trope collection 2023 #destiel #fanfic #case fic #day 8

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l-flyhight · 6 months

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Im getting rather annoyed

No. Everyone has the right yo ship what they want. Whatever brings you joy. This is but my opinon thats it. No judgement no shame. Im venting.

Now im a bit of a multishipper. Like to see some diversity in art you know? But never have i met such people that are so angry or vicious as tipo shippers. Kung fu panda po x tigress

Where do i start with this? Never in the course of the films have at any point do they show or hint that their crushing on each other. No romantic coded scenes. Nothing. So thats unfortunate why i don't see what all you lovley people see because i dont.

Tigress tai lung and po are conected in the parent upbringing sibling cycle. But hey ship whatever you want.

Now this is where people start to hate on me but let me clarify no hate nor disrespect to anyone. Im sick of looking at kung fu panda art and what? 97% of it is tigress? How abertary. Dull. What about the others? Do they not deserve as much attention? Clearly not.

As for the ship people get my goat "make it canon" blah blah. In the art of story telling to have it rondomly their into each other after like nothing? Makes for bad writing.

I do enjoy anything kung fu panda related but the ship for me anyway just doesn't fly. Those whom are super into the franchise are like yes they are but those who have seen all three films and enjoy them are like what? No.

Again if your going to ship them why on earth is tigress oc? Like shes all happy and silly? No.

Still here? Angry yet? Fuming because my trained animation degree with honors head doesnt comprehend what apparently im missing? Well thats ok.

Now i know alot of people who are actually nice but ive met vicious fans directing their hate towards me. Death threats. Vulgar language. The works. Made me just not want to draw anything kung fu panda related due to it.

Now recently due to the encouragement of others i did draw ship art. Dragon knight? Yes. Why? Because its actually hinted at in such a badly written way. I wont get into it. Thats a rant another time.

Now as something that i personally dont like and that goes across any anthro media is interspecies relations. Not a fan. However their ate acceptions to the rule and that has alot to do with the universe in which the fandom is set. BNA for example. The grimior of zero explains this perfectly, interspecies actually doesnt matter due to the world building. But in cases like zootopia or kung fu panda (films only) interspecies relationships arnt explored nor shown.

As for tipo po loves kung fu thats it. The only time he has ever shown any interest in a girl is meimei. Drops his baobao bun. Pupils dilate. yes theirs a but the illusion broke when she spoke soooo that doesn't really count.

Still here? Well good for you. still pissed at me for not conforming to liking what everyone else does? Well that too is ok.

If you ship tipo thats cool. Heck ive seen art. Some of its nice. Art is art and a ship diesnt define a person. But stop with the viciousness po will probably never end up with tigress. But thats a good thing. He doesnt end up with anyone. That way everyone wins. But the viciousness and anger and the make it canon because insert reaons here is so stupid.

Stuck around? Read my vent? Great. Please refrain from commenting anything vulgar towards my person and remember. Opinon.

Ship whatever you like. Awesome. Great.

Now piss off. Im tired.

(Brit humour)

#kung fu panda #rant #personal rant #rant post #tipo #shipping #leave me alone #vent #shitpost

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picapicamagpie · 1 year

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Sing Birds: Concept Art Edition

Warning: I go a bit insane over birds sorry not sorry. This is more of a deep dive into the design of Sing birds and what the “canon” is on them.

Body

Much like how there appears to be two different dog body styles (Suki, and then every other dog breed), there are two types of bird bodies in Sing. You have the ones that are just shaped like real birds, like this ostrich and the flamingoes. And you have the ones that have a human-like posture that most of the Sing animals have, like the cranes. I know the Sing wiki calls them herons, and they could be, but they are lacking the same markings as herons. Also their entire audition was Eastern Asian themed and the crane is a very important animal in East Asian culture. Here’s a stick figure showing just how human-like the body of these cranes are:

Wings

Sing makes it very clear that its birds have feather fingers and their wings work as arms and hands. The concept art isn’t accurate to the final design. In the films, birds have a whole single feather for each finger, rather than hands that look like they’re covered in multiple feathers. Many Sing birds are shown holding things with them, manipulating objects with them, and Hobbs can bloody drive a car with his. Again the cranes are a great example and have very distinct hands while retaining their feathered wings. Real birds have their hand and finger bones fused and could never use them to hold anything. But Sing birds have evolved some way to keep their hands and wings at the same time. I have a couple of theoretical explanations on this but it gets too biological and I’m already wasting my time on this massive post no one will read.

Beak

I can’t attach photos because I hit the limit, but the ducklings in the Sing 2 audition also demonstrate that in this universe, birds’ beaks are more flexible. Real birds have rigid beaks that are not like lips at all (though they are incredibly sensitive), but in Sing birds, beaks are basically just their lips. This is common in most animated birds, not just Sing. I won’t get into the biology of how birds are able to produce speech without lips because I’ve rambled enough but in Sing we can see that beaks are more flexible and essentially just lips and have the same range of movement. They must not be as hard as real beaks and must be softer in order to move this way. Bonus note: the middle flamingo here has feathers that swoop down like hair. I used this same idea for my bird oc.

Something very interesting is that Sing birds canonically have teeth. Real birds don’t have teeth. But somewhere in the evolution of Sing animals, their birds kept them.

Legs

Something interesting in this concept art is that their “knee” bends the way a human’s would. Again birds generally have a “knee” that bends the opposite way (I could go on for ages about this but basically it’s not a knee but an ankle; birds are digitigrade, just like all felines and canines, and are considered to walk on their toes. Their real knee is usually just under their feathers, and it moves like ours). I imagine the Sing creators, like most non-bird-insane people, assume that this is a knee and bird legs are the same as human legs. You can see this in the cranes again and how the legs look basically human. I’m guilty of this too; my bird oc has humanoid legs. Because hey, if a digitigrade wolf like Porsha can have human legs then a digitigrade bird can too. Fun fact: Old World monkeys like proboscis monkeys (Klaus) are also classified as digitigrade.

Extra Concept Art

Concept art for the puffins in Sing 1. Not much to say except that these aren’t puffins. They look a bit more like masked lovebirds? Wonder why they changed the species.

And to round it off: Couples from Les Calmars! A nice interspecies mix here!

Flamingo and crocodile couple 💖 interesting they planned for flamingoes as early as Sing 1. And she’s SO CUTE WTF

A rooster and a hyena? 😂 Love this one. There was also an ostrich with a hippo but I hit the photo limit.

Despite so few birds appearing in the films, Sing has taken a really varied approach to them. Some look basically just like real birds (the roosters, the flamingoes), and some have the more mammal-like body type of the rest of the animals (the cranes, the penguins). The closest thing I can get the “canon” rules for Sing bird designs:

🪶 Can have a body that is either the same as a real bird’s, or can have a body that is more mammalian and like the rest of the Sing animals. Each individual species can have either body type

🪶 Still has teeth

🪶 Has a wing hand, where the feathers work as fingers and thumbs, while still retaining the whole wing (they all still have wings and don’t have just feathered arms)

🪶 Can have legs that function the same as a real bird’s or can have legs that are basically just human, like the rest of the Sing animals

🪶 Their beaks are able to move like lips

🪶 The jury’s out on whether or not they can fly. I headcanon that they can, but we’ve yet to see it. I’ll do a whole new post for my specific headcanons though because this one is long enough

The only “in universe” explanation I can come to is that the animals in Sing have evolved different biology to our own ones. Whatever started them on the route to becoming more intelligent/sapient also changed their bodies slightly. All are bipedal now, even animals originally lacking proper feet like a walrus (I’m looking at you, Mason) and have the same rough body shape. They’ve lost a lot of their natural animal behaviour, for example none of the tailed animals use their tails for expression. Porsha, Jimmy, Suki etc; all their tails just kind of hang lifelessly. With the exception of that one audition sheep, they don’t make any animal noises. I can think of only a few exceptions, such as Buster and the wolves using their ears for expression, Ash scattering quills, etc. Out of the “big 3” anthro animal city media - Sing, Zootopia, Beastars - the Sing animals are the most human and homogenous, with the least variation between species’ behaviour and have the least natural animal traits shown. The Sing koalas don’t have their extra thumb. Sing walruses stand on two feet rather than… whatever the heck it is that walruses do. Clay only had one wife and not a harem pride of lionesses. What I’m trying to say is real animals ≠ Sing animals. I can only hope Sing koalas aren’t riddled with chlamydia like most real koalas are 😂

If anyone wants to see a deep dive on other species just let me know! I’m not as knowledgeable on other animals as I am about birds but I’ll give it a good shot! Also Tumblr app formatting is godawful I’m so sorry I can’t shorten this post or remove the weird gaps even though it’s too late now

#this time on posts that interest only me:#I warned you I’d be insane about birds again #IS MY OBSESSION SHOWING?#it’s basically a guide on how to design a canon compliant Sing bird character #plus some random stuff I noticed #sing #sing 2 #sing movie #sing 2016 #sing 2021 #sing headcanons #no characters to tag :’)

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takasgf · 5 months

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💌☕️🛏️ for frogeru and 💘❤️📝 for morgen!!

-aya (@softskiesahead)

Hewwo :3c Thank you a whole lot for all the questions!! They were fun to do <33

💌: How would your dynamic be portrayed? What might people focus on most? Any misconceptions?

Funny girl and her nerd boyfriend!! I like to think they would respect their dynamic in canon because its rather silly and playful. They are super versatile and have the right amount of fluff and angst to appeal to most. For misconceptions, there would be those who emphasise on Taka'a sensibility and make him a crybaby who cant function without his girlfriend. Yuck. For "he asked for no pickles!!" jokes its fine, but i know Taka fans enough to know some will take it seriously. They dont respect him enough.

☕️: What are the most common plots of shipping fics between you and your f/o?

The way their relationship develops during the KG (it wont be super detailed in-game, but there will be sweet lil moments in the manga, FTE or the UTDP so people will be able to build it up from there), them having to stay in the same room for the night (5 feet away from eachother but lovingly watching over the other and making sure they feel safe), CONFESSION FICS, royal AUs :3

🛌: What tropes show up in fics involving your ship?

I'm not familiar with many tropes but I'd say childhood friends AU, royalty and their knight, hurt-comfort, spending holidays together, family angst (as in their families not accepting their relationship)

💘: Why would people love your ship? Why would people dislike your ship? How might it start debates?

Generally, Morket would be loved for all its fluffy potential. It's a grumpy guy falling in love with a sweet gal who is very gentle and understanding with him. I feel like people who like Rocket and want his best would appreciate Morgs as his significant other, because it's the right person for someone as damaged as him. Patient and caring... They're just super cute together.

The most popular anti-morket argument would be that it's interspecies. Even if Rocket has ALL the capabilities of a human person and he is infinitely smarter than one, he'll still be "just a raccoon" to some people. Canon Morket would be humanoid x furry, and there will be people who disagree with that. Even if there is no consent issue here; he can clearly state if he loves Morgen back or not. For those who look too much into things, and are also "Morgen stans" but dislike Rocket, they'd criticize him for his initially cold attitude towards her - perhaps they'll think he's not putting in the same effort as her (he does). Throws bricks at them

❤️: How popular is you x your f/o? Are you a rarepair?

It's their respective most popular ship :] Definitely not a rarepair in the G.OTG fandom but i dont think the rest of the M.CU would care about them that much. They're kinda just there, in that context.

📝: How would your story in canon go? How would you influence the events of the original story?

Morgen's story doesnt influence the main events at all, besides becoming Rocket's buddy and eventually lover. Her whole story, escaping her planet and running away from her princess role is just an extra, because i already love G.OTG's story so much. She's there to take care of her boyfren and remind him how much he's loved <33 he still suffers in this universe, but Morgs helps him cope with it, unlike in canon where he's pretty closed off from everyone.

#ishigeru #morket

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adamworu · 3 years

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Hi there today is Tanabata, 7/7 of the lunisolar calendar so here some thoughts on stars in 3.0 (include a tiny bit of 3.0+1.0)

Everybody know the Altair and Vega are on 3.0 poster and in like every shots that show the night sky in 3.0, and they represent star-crossed lovers - such a perfect theme I love it sm - but I haven't seen anyone talked much about the parallel to the love story of Hikoboshi and Orihime, Japanese's name for Altair and Vega, also the origin of Tanabata. There's a sumary of the story on Tanabata wikipedia page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata

Vega is above Kaworu's head and Altair is above Shinji's on the poster so we have Kaworu=Orihime and Shinji=Hikoboshi. Orihime was one of the celestial beings, yes they serve their God you can call them Easten's depiction of angels, Kaworu=Orihime is super legit. There's a version of the story that Hikoboshi is only a human cowherd boy so their interspecies love is forbidden and they are allowed to meet only once per year just to be repeatedly seperated. Like, this is obviously Kawoshin!?

And in 3.0+1.0 star-gazing scene replay, there's finally a change. The night sky is a whole lot brighter with starlight overflowing in the space between the two stars which makes the Milky Way less visibly -> from now on they're no longer separated but connected to each other instead. The Milky Way is a metonym for the universe. The universe changed, Shinji is changing it, so that they won't have to suffer the tragedy of separation ever again.

Gosh so neat and beautiful, imma cry again rn. How the half-joking headcanon about Kaworu being Shinji's Orihime that Rei and Misato's VA made back then in 1997 Evangelion Symphony actually became canon 15 years later and now, despite all, is still canon in the final movie release.

!!!!

#neon genesis evangelion #kaworu #kawoshin #nge #final spoilers

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cynthiaandsamus · 3 years

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Custom Toonami Block Week 74 Rundown

Code Geass: So we’ve got another one of those “wacky bullshit student activities” episodes, though this one seems to ride the hardest on “shit is going down, the world is ending but haha Shirley romance drama” though admittedly it does have a nice character arc for Milly so that’s cool. Lelouch is worried that the Knights of the Round are here to investigate him until he realizes both of them only have one braincell between them so it’s fine. Cornelia’s also murdering her way through religious fanatics so that’s cool. And last but not least we have Shirley and Lelouch finally getting together right before Jeremiah Geass Cancels her amnesia so she knows Lelouch is Zero and killed her dad and presumably the other stuff that Charles put in the whole school’s brain somehow. I’m sure this will end well and their romance will survive in a way that isn’t insanely tragic.

Inuyasha: We’re still in fillertown and it’s another SangoxMiroku episode. Man we get a lot of these in filler huh? I kinda don’t remember which Sango/Miroku moments are canon at this point. I’d kinda laugh if it was just all filler and some manga-only fans were bewildered when they ended up together in the end. Anyway, Feudal Lord has a thing for Sango because he has great taste and Kagome ships Sango/Miroku so she doesn’t want her to go, Miroku’s like “Hey it’s her choice, she’s been through enough, she can choose her own life, I’m not gonna get involved” which is pretty mature but the girls still hate on him for it. Sango’s just like “Dude even if I wanted to stay I still have this Naraku-slaying quest to go on and I’m not about to sit around all day and be royalty while my friends go kick Naraku’s ass for me.” Which is how most love confessions in this series go. Also Sango suplexes a demon bear the size of a building with her bare hands and it’s pretty great. In the end the lord doesn’t give up going after Sango but they finish the bear stuff and are on their way. I like how they don’t go out of their way to demonize this guy in the end to prop Miroku up, he’s still a good guy, Sango’s just got shit to do and is more the type to like a warrior who’s got her back. There’s some really cute shipping shenanigans here and all in all it’s fun filler.

Yu Yu Hakusho: We’ve got a three for one deal here as Yusuke and Kuwabara assblast their way through the Dark Triad in one episode, continuing their power play of beating villains with little effort while the boss man bets that they’ll completely wreck his guards which is still a pretty interesting dynamic. We’ve got cringey 90s trans commentary, an invisible dude that gets blindsided easily and a hostage ogre that gets beaten by Botan taking off her coat. Honestly for these guys being supposedly minibosses they kind of went down easier than some of the grunts. But now Kuwabara’s in contact with Yukina because his bullshit power of love connection actually works for some reason and they’re in on the final fight with the Toguro brothers. With this many people betting the GDP of countries on the fight there’s no way this isn’t rigged. I really like how YYH basically makes shonen fights just part of stupid black market deals for a large part of it, just like in real life everything’s decided by some old rich guy.

Fate Zero: Kayneth’s still fucked up and has Rock Lee syndrome and can’t use jutsu anymore so his wife’s like “Yo buddy you can’t give Lancer the magic cummies anymore anyway, lemme take control of your hunky knight manslave or I swear to god I’ll rip your arm off and jerk him off with it” which since she asked so nicely he just kind of does. With Lancer still kinda being uppity about Kayneth having dibs on his soul and Sola-Ui being weirdly horny and increasingly yandere for him I’m sure this’ll end well. Saber and Kiritsugu are still pissy with each other because Saber wants to go after Caster to stop the child murders which is fair but she’s also injured and shit and she’s mad at Kiritsugu for not teaming up with Kayneth to just take down Caster right there and I mean I don’t think he really had time to suggest a truce while getting attacked with Terminator 2 goo, he’s not really the asshole here. Meanwhile and more importantly, ISKANDAR HAS PANTS! Nothing can stop him now and they crash Caster’s child murder party and are jumped by Assassin’s Forty Thieves (they aren’t named yet but I’mma just assume) and Iskander’s just like “Yeah no I’m not fighting five ninjas knee deep in child guts.” And they just burn the whole place down.

Konosuba: So in a bizarre Interspecies Reviewers/Food Wars crossover, Kazuma goes to a succubus house and instead of just getting sex they do dreams and shit which seems more complicated but I guess it’s less morally gray. Anyway, naked Darkness and contrived hentai plots ensue. They sprinkle in some good character stuff for Kazuma which is nice, it’s always kind of hard to pin down where his principles lie. Like he’s generally a scumbag and will take the easy way out of anything but he’s not evil and will give Darkness an out on their encounter if she wants and will get his ass kicked to protect his local sex worker. The Principled Scumbag approach is kind of neat for him, I wish a few more of these moments didn’t feel the need to immediately undercut themselves with a joke but that’s the nature of the series. I feel like one or two more genuinely sincere moments throughout a couple episodes would do wonders but either way it’s still amusing.

Sailor Moon Crystal: We pick up right where we left off with Tuxedo Mask throwing himself in front of the Kamehameha for Usagi and then she goes Super Saiyan and cries pokemon tears to bring him back to life. But the bad guys are somehow like ‘yoink’ and steal him from her lap through a barrier somehow (that still kinda pisses me off) and for some reason the crystal that booped its way into his chest isn’t there anymore and Usagi still has and and Usagi’s going through a lot of shit right now between processing the trauma of a millennia-old kingdom falling that’s partially her fault, working through her romantic feelings and having a Steven Universe identity crisis about how to process her identity as a reincarnation of someone a lot cooler than she is, so most of this episode is Usagi crying, as most episodes are, but at least she has a good reason. Then we get a Girl Squad Roll Out montage because fuck it we’re going to the moon somehow.

Durarara!!: Apparently everyone knows about where Celty’s head is but her because she visits Izaya’s office where the head is just kinda behind some books on his bookshelf and she doesn’t know but Shinra’s dad has enough time to mug Namie after telling Shinra and Celty off for their weird interspecies relationship and tell Izaya to have fun fucking around with the head. Also people have shifted from being worried about the Dollars to being worried about Saika and ALSO being worried about the Dollars maybe being at war with the Yellow Scarves. Celty’s looking into it and Shinra shows some character development in just coming out with it that Saika was the sword that severed her connection with her head… I don’t know how you cut the soul of a head that’s already cut off but okay, at least Shinra’s not hiding shit from here anymore. Also Saika’s about to seriously chop up Anri and Masaomi comes to visit his girl in the hospital finally.

#ooc #Toonami #Custom Toonami Block #Code Geass #Inuyasha #Yu Yu Hakusho #Fate Zero #Konosuba #Sailor Moon Crystal #Durarara!!

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medea10 · 3 years

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Medea’s Worst Year of All-Time Anime/Game Superlative

Nobody saw this year coming…except for maybe Barbara Walters! Who could have predicted that this year would bless us with Australia burning, the entire west coast of the U.S. set on fire, stupid people setting fires because they wanted to reveal a baby’s gender, murder hornets, Ruth Bader Ginsburg dying, an almost war with Iran, serial killer mascots arrested, policemen killing unarmed black folks for having a counterfit $20, policemen killing unarmed black folks for breaking up a fight, policemen killing black folks for holding sandwiches, policemen killing unarmed black folks for fucking sleeping, a wide variety of “Karens” coming out of the woodworks, the end of Bojack, the end of Steven Universe, the end of Empire, and a pandemic so huge it’s killed the economy, canceled fun, and given the U.S. president the dumb-fuck idea of injecting bleach to kill the virus!?

SERIOUSLY, WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED ALL OF THIS WAS GOING TO FALL IN OUR LAPS LIKE HOT COFFEE ON THE CROTCH?!

At least there was anime this year.

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At least there was SOME anime this year.

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Biden won the election and Vickeblanca came out with Black Catcher this year.

Hey internet, it’s Medea here to give you her trashy opinion on this years anime and games that she’s watched or played. Because for some reason, my loser-ass loves to do out-dated as fuck memes! I shouldn’t complain, this shit brings a lot of attention to my page every year when I do this. Yes, 2020 was a complete dumpster fire so large that Domestic Girlfriend is crying foul. Many of us had to go on lockdown and ended up binge-watching the entire 957+ episodes of One Piece. I did no such thing. I am one of those “essential workers” so I didn’t hunker down for 9 months straight. But when I was home, I was watching anime. Actually, I would have done that even without the pandemic. I’m an introvert and find the human race to be deplorable.

You all know how this goes. I go over the best this year had to offer me. I had to search really hard to find the good in this year, especially in the anime world. Many things had to be put on hiatus or were delayed to a later date. Just a reminder, I don’t discriminate in what year the anime or game came out. If something came out in the happier times of 2007, that anime or game counts! Let’s get at it!

First Fandom of 2020: Interspecies Reviewers

Did anyone expect a fan-favorite of 2020 was going to be a hentai? Did anyone have on their batshit 2020 bingo card that a hentai was going to grab everybody’s attention? At the beginning of the year, my mind was set on the Railgun sequel and Eizoken. It wasn’t until licensors, streaming sites, and TV stations in Japan dropped this series that I started to pay attention. And got immediately hooked! It’s about three men going to different brothels and reviewing their time with the ladies. And these ladies are of different species! So with every bang comes possible enlightenment, new kinks, or a night of having your dick sucked off more than humanly possible. This anime blew away all of my skepticism and first impressions right out the window. Maybe it’s because I’m a degenerate and am often curious about sexual content, but this was a guilty pleasure of mine this year.

Favorite Main Character of 2020: Moroha from Yashahime

I know the majority of this story is going to revolve around Towa and Setsuna, but can we please focus a little more energy on the spunky, quarter-demon girl?! I know they’re pitting Moroha as the comic relief, but I’m hopeful that she’s going to surprise us one day. We fans of InuYasha would spend the past decade and some change wondering what InuYasha and Kagome’s daughter would be like. This year, we got our answer with Moroha. She’s got this wild side to her, probably due to the fact that she’s spent her entire life on her own. And while she’s silly at times, she can get down to business in a pinch. She has her father’s sense of smell. She has a sword. She’s able to shoot sacred arrows much like her mother. And to top it all off, she has this special rouge that if she puts it on, she’s able to unleash that ¼ demon power inside her and become Beniyasha! Yeah, I know the power only lasts a minute, she’s only 14, give her a break! I will gladly go through another week scratching my head at the confusion this story gives me if I get to see one more second of Moroha and her crazy antics or her bad-ass slaying.

Favorite Villain of 2020: The Devil Believers from Black Clover

This was one hell of a year for Black Clover. It would have been an easy choice to pick the devil and possible super devil that appeared during the elf fight. But I’d like to give a nod to the filler arc villains. And you can’t blame this group for wanting the power of the devil. They’re literally the bottom-rung of the Clover Kingdom and ones with little to no power or mana. So I can agree with why they would want the power of the devil. For one thing, they’d have more power. And for another thing, they’d be able to exact revenge on those who have wronged them. On some occasions I agree with exacting revenge and when it comes to the nobles and some characters in Black Clover, some folks do deserve death. I mean, have you met the king of the Clover Kingdom? Plus, this town and many other poorer towns get looked over by the kingdom. Peasant uprise! Anyways, I thought these people were really crafty in their crimes. I mean, they were able to knock Asta out on his ass with specially made poisons. I was actually hooked to this story of Black Clover (despite it being a filler arc). I know we’ll never see them again as they have been exiled, but it did have me semi-rooting for them.

Favorite Video Game Character of 2020: Honey from Pokemon – Sword & Shield (Expansion Pass)

Sorry Raymond from Animal Crossing!

Honey is the saucy wife of Mustard…I did not expect that to come out the way it did, but here we are! She has one hell of a team you can fight once a day. She looks out for her husband, the dojo, and the students of the dojo like they were her own children by providing food, drinks, and others. However that does come at a price as you do have to give up a sizable chunk of your watts that you collect in raid dens. I’m sure a bunch of MILF chasers were more than happy enough to give her all their hard-earned watts just so they can have their one-on-one moment on the beach with Honey.

What won me over was when that one guy from a rival dojo bad-mouthed her husband’s dojo and she…I think she kicked this guy’s ass herself. I don’t think she used any of her pokemon. Game Freak won’t show it, but we all know she kicked this guy’s ass to a point where he’s begging for mercy.

Honey, for the win!

Favorite Game of 2020: Animal Crossing New Horizons

This game was just Zen for me. I know the release of this game came with some controversy like Gamestop saying it’s an essential business and will remain open for people to get their copies of the game. Hell, I was one of those assholes in line waiting to get a copy on March 20th. Did I predict that a pandemic was going to rage out of control when I got a prepay copy of this for Christmas 2019? NO! I only predict political things, not deadly pandemics! The good news, we social distanced, didn’t catch the covid and got the game.

Anyways, this game has been a non-stop calming and fun ride. I can even forgive their botch-up of Bunny Day. They even have events for holidays I never thought they would ever touch. I mean, does anybody know when Museum Day is? Probably not until Animal Crossing had an event for it! I’ve been able to let my freak-flag fly with designing my island. And this goes way beyond New Leaf for the 3DS. I can make a sign post with the words “Fuck Trump” on it and post it in my yard. I can dig up trees and plant them elsewhere. I can poop in a toilet. I can craft furniture and put my own design on it. My furniture can have Tracey Sketchit’s beautiful mug on it. I can sit on Tracey Sketchit’s face. I am a sick fuck and I don’t care. I can give Raymond and Bob maid outfits. Magical time in my game! My hopes for next year…I don’t know, get the Festivale furniture, get Papi and Olivia to join my island, maybe visit Danny Trejo’s island, who knows, sky’s da limit!

Favorite Het Couple of 2020: Nasa and Tsukasa Yuzaki from Tonikawa

This is one of the most unorthodox marriages I’ve ever seen. But in this 90 Day Fiance world we’re living in, I shouldn’t pass judgement on these two getting married in episode one and not knowing much about each other. Nasa meets Tsukasa as he was about to be plowed by a truck. Tsukasa saves his life. Nasa says she’s beautiful. Tsukasa says she’ll be his girlfriend if they get married. He agrees. She disappears. Four years later, Tsukasa appears in front of Nasa’s front door with a marriage registration form. Congratulations buddy, you’ve got yourself a waifu! In some way, this felt like watching Yamato and Takeo from My Love Story. I was fascinated with them progressing through their relationship. The only difference is that Yamato and Takeo took the old-fashioned route. This couple did everything ass-backwards in terms of having a relationship. But I couldn’t take my eyes off Nasa and Tsukasa’s relationship during each episode. I find them cute.

Favorite Yuri Couple of 2020: Karin Asaka x Emma Verde from Love Live Nijigasaki High School Idol Club

AAAAAAAAAH! I’M IN IDOL HELL AGAIN! Yeah, no kidding! I came this close to putting Miu x Nicole from that abomination 22/7. But thank God for Love Live! There’s no telling if any of the girls from the Love Live franchise are confirmed to be lesbians. But fuck it, all of them attend all-girl schools, no males exist anywhere, and Sunshine gave us Kanan x Mari! Yeah, you know Kanan and Mari is canon as fuck, don’t at me. So naturally, I found more third-years to ship in the new Love Live series. Now I know I should have put up Ai x Rina or Ayumu x Yuu. Especially the latter due to recent events! But Emma x Karin is my OTP.

Now Emma is an exchange student from Switzerland and in coming to Nijigasaki, she first meets Karin and they became instant friends. When Emma said she wants to become an idol, Karin helped her quite a bit. Even though Karin had no interest in being an idol as her modeling career is starting up, Karin would occasionally help Emma out. And surprise, surprise, Karin ends up fascinated with the idol world and Emma helps her come to the light to be herself there. Okay, I’m totally reading this in some fragmented way, but I’m currently playing Love Live School Idol Festival All Stars and the app game has a lot more stuff involving stuff the anime has yet to talk about. Confirmed or not, Karin x Emma for the win!

Favorite Yaoi Couple of 2020: Eiji Okumura x Ash Lynx from Banana Fish

It took me a while to get here, but I finally made it to 2018’s overlooked gem. Forgive me for not being fully caught up, but from what I’m watching at the moment, I’m sticking to my guns and supporting the hell out of this. I mean, I could have mentioned The Titan’s Bride here…but fuck no, I ain’t goin’ down that mess! Ash has gone through a lot, I mean a helluva lot in his past. His cute boy looks have made him a target on the streets of New York, with mafia dons, and with prison inmates. But dude can kill if you mess with him. Then you have Eiji, who is just a literal example of a “pure cinnamon roll (until episode 8)”. These two are as opposite as you can possibly get. Ash is from New York and Eiji is from Japan. Ash likes hot dogs with everything on it. Eiji likes grilled fish and natto. Ash spent the majority of his life killing on the streets. Eiji was a track superstar. You get my meaning. But when we got these two together it’s quite adorable. Ash is really able to change when he’s around Eiji. Ash isn’t some heartless killer on the street about to kill a thug with prosthetic fingers. When he’s with Eiji, he’s a joker that can easily get scared of pumpkins. And even in later episodes, you got these two acting like a husband and wife.

Fandom That You Didn’t Expect to Get Into: Les Miserables – A Girl Named Cosette

Let me explain a little something. Les Mis! I have never seen the play, watched the movie, or read the novel prior to picking up this anime. Not a single one of those! And that’s a bit of a head-scratcher when you realize I was a bit of a musical theater nut in my teenage years. But one thing I do like is when Japan does an anime based on plays or historical events (like Romeo x Juliet or Rose of Versailles). The second I popped in Les Miserables the anime, I wanted to binge watch the whole 52 episode series. It is by no means a perfect adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel. Several key players end up surviving all the way up to the end of the story! But because this was my very first viewing of anything Les Mis, I took to the story of Cosette and was eager to see what was going to happen next in her tale. Unlike the movies and play, Cosette was the main focus of the story besides Jean Valjean and Javert. And thanks to watching the unfortunate stories of Cosette, Jean Valjean, the Thenadiers, Javert, Marius, and the rest, I thought it was time to watch the OTHER adaptations to Les Mis.

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Russell Crowe sucks.

Fandom That Made An Unexpected Comeback: Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni

Higurashi or When They Cry is one of my favorite fandoms of all time! So naturally when we heard that it was making a comeback, I was excited. It was also very odd that Higurashi was given this sequel or reboot. Ahem! There’s another franchise that needs a face-lift. Umineko still deserves a better treatment. Plus, now that this series was out of the faulty hands of Studio Deen, Higurashi will get the special care it deserves. Believe it or not, it wasn’t just the anime that made a comeback for me, but the manga as well. Since 2009, I’ve read several volumes (out of order) and would every now and then come back to read the story. Back to the anime, this reboot or sequel…you know what, I’m gonna call it a “rebooqual”! This rebooqual sucked me back to the town of Hinamizawa and all the murders. Every week, I find myself comparing the current episode to one from the 2006 version. But then the fourth episode of each arc seems to catch me off guard.

Where are they going with this story and these twist endings to our favorite arcs? I did not expect Rena to turn a simple attempted murder into the end of School Days! I didn’t expect Rika to die in the most disgusting fashion they could think of. Could someone kill Teppei fucking Hojo? I will pay ¥5000 for someone to do that job. So yeah, because I know how much of this plays out and who does what, I’m usually watching and reading while making wise-ass remarks. But I still have fun with it.

Fandom That Inspired the Most Crack: Konosuba

In a year where I caught up with the popular Isekais like Shield Hero and Re:Zero, I found the wacky misadventures of Kazuma Satou to be amusing as all get-out. From the first 5 minutes, I found myself laughing at Kazuma’s misfortune. Seriously, how the fuck do you mistake a tractor for a car, have a heart attack, piss yourself, and fucking die in the first couple minutes to the series? You can only get away with this shit in gag animes! But it’s not just Kazuma’s dumbass, there’s a mage who only does explosions, but loses all her energy after one blow-up. Then there’s a busty, blonde who gets turned on by getting hurt and can’t strike anything with her sword. Anime’s biggest masochist or Cheryl Tunt incarnate, I haven’t decided which one to believe! Then you have this loud, crazy goddess chick named Aqua. She’s also useless about 86% of the time! Watching their unfortunate missions is all the crack that I need to get through this year. Seriously, Darkness is just all kinds of fucked up, but we love her.

Last Fandom of 2020: Yashahime

That’s right, the InuYasha sequel gets top spot here! Even though week after week I find myself asking more questions than when the episode started, I’m still hooked. If you’re like me, you watched and fell in love with the series InuYasha. So if they’re doing a sequel, you’re expecting to see all of your favorite characters from the prequel like InuYasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Sesshomaru, Koga, Rin, and the rest. Actually, no! Quite the opposite! We’ve got Sesshomaru’s daughters, but no Sesshomaru. Rin is sleeping in a tree we think! We’ve got InuYasha and Kagome’s daughter, but they’re M.I.A. None of the girls even know a thing about their birth parents.

Now are these new characters a catch like the ones from the previous series? Some are! The three main girls, yes! Especially Moroha! I’ve already praised her name earlier in the superlative. Towa and Setsuna do take on some personality traits from their parents. Setsuna is definitely serious like Sesshomaru and Towa sometimes has a carefree yet loyal aura to her like Rin. I know I’m always skeptical when a series gives us a sequel featuring the offspring of the main characters. Especially when you’ve got some lame examples like Boruto and Eureka Seven AO (I might retract my diss on Boruto later)! As each week gives us a new episode, we’re unraveling new clues into a lot of things involving our old favorite characters, as well as the new ones. So I have high hopes for Yashahime for the time being!

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lady-griffin · 4 years

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Avatar both Korra and Aang legends?

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my --

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Favorite character: Aang, Katara, Toph, or Zuko (I can’t decide)

Least Favorite character: Pakku (his sexism was only really “solved” by Katarina being the granddaughter of the women he was once betrothed too – it felt forced and weak. I also didn’t like him letting Katara call him grandfather (or a version of that), but not Sokka.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Zutara, Kataang, Zuko x Mai, Sokka x Suki, Mai x Ty Lee

Character I find most attractive: Katara, also definitely June

Character I would marry: Sokka or Suki

Character I would be best friends with: Katara or Suki

a random thought: Are the combo animals their own unique species or are the animals in the Avatar world able to reproduce with different animals and just over time, those half babies were able reproduce as well, and thus becoming their own species.

That would explain the existence of both Solo Animals and Combo Animals. Example: Bears (Solo), Armadillo Bears and Platypus Bears (Combo)

If that’s the case does that mean, the interspecies mixing happened millions and millions maybe a billion years ago, if so, is that why solo animals (cats, bears) are so rare while combo animals are the majority?

Solo animals are super rare, which makes me think Bosco was like a super expensive/valuable gift to the King - showing his status as King.

Turtle Ducks are the greatest thing ever.

An unpopular opinion: I never really thought “The Great Divide” was as awful as people make it out to be. It’s certainly not my favorite, but I was surprised when I learned how much people truly hated it.

My Canon OTP: Kataang

My Non-canon OTP: Zutara

Most Badass Character: Azula, also Kyoshi

Most Epic Villain: Azula and Ozai

Pairing I am not a fan of: Azula x Ty Lee (I don’t hate it, but given how toxic their relationship was, I can’t say I’m a big fan)

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

Not a character, but I thought that having Fire Lord Sozin banned homosexuality (in the comics) felt very weird to me and not in line with the Fire Nation. Out of the three remaining nations, the Fire Nations seemed the most “progressive” in terms of equality for women or more accurately for the goal of world domination they were willing to used everything and everyone they had.

It’s also interesting see how each nation and their relative status in terms of morality and their relation to female warriors/fighters/

The Fire Nation (Bad) has the most female fighters. We see actual women in the army, female prison guards, as well as the most individual named fighters/characters – Azula, Ty Lee, Mai, June, Lo and Li. Azula’s teachers must have been on an entirely different level than everyone else, as neither one was a fire-bender, but yet they were charged with being Azula’s mentors and teachers in regards to fighting and fire bending.

The Northern and Southern Tribes (Good) have pretty sexist views. Sokka is pretty sexist in the beginning (he had to learn that from somewhere), in Katara’s introduction all the men left (not all that were capable) and Sokka felt as the only teenaged male it was his duty to be in charge/protect everyone.

We literally have episodes that explored the sexism of The Northern Tribe and it literally takes Katara throwing down with an old man from them to start to change. And to my knowledge, there are only two named female water benders – Katara and Hama, maybe the healer in the northern tribe had a name(?), but the fact that I would have to look up her name, if she has one (proves my point). Her name is Yugoda. We don’t have any non-bender female fighters for the Water Tribes.

The Earth Kingdom (Neutral) has Suki, Avatar Kyoshi and the Kyoshi warriors (unnamed), June, and the girl from Jet’s gang, but the only living female earth bender we ever see is Toph, aside from her we only ever see male earth benders.

The Air Nomads (Strive For/Good) seem to treat everyone as equals, but women and men lived and were raised separately.

So, it just felt lazy to say oh the fire nation is ruled by an oppressive regime and the regime is bad and banning/outlawing same-sex couple is also bad – so there.

When I think you could’ve had a very interesting story, when the Water Tribes who we’ve seen have the most backwards views on women, being the nation to ban same-sex marriages/relationships.

Avatar was very good on the whole – “It’s not that simple” and “Oh god, it’s so much more complicated - so, I think it would’ve been a very interesting storyline to have The Water Nations have been the ones to ban same-sex relations, while maybe the Fire Nation maybe took after some ancient (Greece/Roman societies) where some thought a soldier would fight harder if they were fighting and protecting their lover/love.

Also, maybe in the recovery period. The Fire Nation wants to have same-sex be legal, but as they were were literally trying to take over the world and systematically tried to destroy other nations and colonize, the Water Tribes don’t want their traditions and customs being dictated by those of the Fire Nation. I don’t know, that could’ve been very complicated and nuance story.

It just seemed lazy to me and sort of ignoring what they’ve already set up in their canon universe, on purpose or not.

Favorite Friendship: Momo and Appa, Aang and Sokka, Aang and Zuko, Aang and Toph… Aang with anyone really

Character I most identify with: I don’t think I really identify with anyone, but when it came out, definitely Mai.

Character I wish I could be: Mai or Ty Lee

Avatar: The Legend of Korra

Favorite character: Korra

Least Favorite character: Varrick, Unalaq (weak villain), Mako (at times)

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Korrasami, Bolin x Opal, Korralin, Kai x Jinora, Makorralin (…I’ve read a lot good smut of these guys, so yeah...)

Character I find most attractive: Asami

Character I would marry: Asami

Character I would be best friends with: Jinora

a random thought: Why did they have Korra sleeping on her bed with shoes on in season one… that will forever bother me.

An unpopular opinion: I’m have no idea if this is unpopular, but I think Bumi getting air-bending was such a copout. There was something very interesting about the child of two of the most powerful benders (literally his dad is the avatar and his mother was the avatar’s water bender teacher) being a non-bender and that really could’ve been explored. It felt “cheap” to give him air-bending…I was never a fan of that

Also, it bothered me that the Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi all had skin tones that matched perfectly with their respected powers/lack of powers and also they all dress with that same mind set. As one of the first mixed families we really get to see, It would’ve been nice, if their styles of clothing were different or combos of Air Nomad, Water Nation and Earth Kingdom (given where they lived).

Having only Tenzin be the only we see dress as an Air Nomad and later Bumi (when he gets air-bending) definitely gives credence to the idea that Bumi definitely had a reason for thinking he didn’t truly belong in the Air Nation.

I think Legend of Korra loss a good opportunity of introducing the first mixed families/kids, but still had them dress in regards to their respected element

It felt weird that Bolin and Mako, dressed with their specific element color.

Especially since Republic City was this huge diverse city, with influences and people from across the four nations.

My Canon OTP: Korrasami

My Non-canon OTP: Korralin/Gender-Reverse Korralin

Most Badass Character: Korra

Most Epic Villain: The Red Lotus

Pairing I am not a fan of: Makorra, I was a huge fan of them when it started, but honestly as the show continued and looking back at it, their chemistry was off after the second episode. They had such a great set-up with the gazing end and music, but after that it was downhill.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Not so much a character, but Aang and Katara and their relationship with their children never felt right to me.

In general, though, I think the creators struggled in finding the right groove for many of the characters if not all of them, at one point or another.

Favorite Friendship: Korra and Asami, Korra and the Airbending Kids

Character I most identify with: Jinora and Ikki

Character I wish I could be: Asami

#catradidsomethingwrong #ATLA #ATLOK #Avatar The Last Airbender #Avatar #avatar the legend of korra #the last airbender #The Legend of Korra #Legend of Korra #Korra #Aang

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multsicorn · 4 years

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deep space nine first(ish) impressions

Posting this in case of it's interest to anyone, but most especially to @jazzypizzaz. I have started watching Deep Space Nine! ... (though writing it any other way than DS9, c.g. TOS, TNG, etc., just feels wrong to me. Years of internet fandom!). ANYWAY. I've been watching for a week-ish, and I'm up through episode twelve.

Time for some early impressions!...

1. It takes a while to get most of the characters established. Kira is the most immediately interesting to me, her anger and her sense of purpose. I have, um, complicated feelings about the Bajoran politics narrative, which I will come back to in a bit, but her position between Bajor and Starfleet is at the very least intriguing. And that "frontier medicine? this is my home" bit was - great. Expand on it pls.

2. Speaking of which. BASHIR. Is definitely my favorite right now. I can see why fandom latched onto him. He thinks he's all that! And he wants to be a hero! Have adventures! He's excited for them!... and he doesn't know what the *fuck* to do, and makes both a fool and an ass of himself. That is exactly the sort of wonderful/awful combination I need and adore, thank.

I don't like how he keeps asking Dax out after she's rejected him, or his supposedly charming flirtiness in general, e.g. with that one woman at the bar before he goes and falls asleep for an episode and you say YES GOOD, ... but neither do I hold them against him as a character, cause it's so clearly shitty out-of-universe standards about what's cool and okay seeping though.

3. The most present relationship so far is definitely the one between Odo and Quark. And I see where there's potential there ;)! The cop and the shady sometimes criminal character who seem to be each other's best friends - if only (I mean, the trope's best) - because neither of them seem to have any other friends. They're both outsiders on the station but in really different ways. And not only are they always talking, sharing scenes, etc., but with that undercurrent of 'I'm keeping an eye on you' vs. 'I am doing absolutely nothing wrong,' there's a huge tendency for them to be not quite talking about what they're thinking about, and vice versa.

Neither of them have grabbed me so much so far as characters - but between "Move Along Home" and "The Nagus" for Quark, and then "Vortex" for Odo - I think they're growing on me.

4. The BEST relationship, though, at this point, is definitely between Jake and Nog. They like each other, they have fun together, they seem exactly on the same wavelength - and if it's the wavelength of furthering interspecies harmony by rebelling against their families? Lol. It's pretty great.

5. I have residual feelings of fondness for Dax (as if for an old fandom fave) just like HI YOUR FACE that are apparently leftover and now reactivated from the time I watched this show and loved her when it was airing, and I was ten. Since I remember nothing from that time besides the general premise of the setting and characters, I have no idea why. Maybe I'll be able to guess later? ... Honestly I suspect that I simply thought that being a trill would be REALLY COOL. There are worse things to think!

6. Sisko is? Fine? He feels pretty bland to me, so far, though I feel bad about that; he's made a fair number of difficult-but-right decisions... I think the place where he's humanized most though (as opposed to filling those Starfleet Captain boots) is probably his relationship with Jake, and - I think it's good? But normal healthy parent/kid relationships are more alien to me than all the rubber foreheads in all the galaxy.

7. O'Brien is on this station because we want some crossover appeal with TNG, I guess. (Not that I ever gave a shit about him on TNG either.) (I remember my TNG feelings way better than DS9, that was the one I loved when I was a kid.)

8. And I promised Bajoran politics feelings! OKAY SO. It’s just - like I said - Kira is a pretty great character, and has a promising setup, but I would love it SO MUCH MORE, if, at some point, we get a Bajoran who’s not willing to compromise and work with the Federation, who's still working for independence... and who’s not okay with killing random civilians for this purpose! It’s not as if ‘work with the occupying forces’ and ‘terrorist’ are the only two options, goddamn... I’d had the impression that this storyline would be more complicated than that, and I hope that later on it is.

9. Speaking of more thematic issues, now: I see why people don’t like ~Ferengi episodes.~ When I got to “The Nagus:” ugh. The characterization of sliding between thief and trader, between someone who only cares about their own gain vs. being more ~honorable,~ works for Quark and Quark's family! (Rom, Nog). But why even have an alien culture without upsides to its downsides (as far as we can (yet? maybe pls) see)? And... yeah... it's every Jewish stereotype. Thanks, I hate it!

10. re: shipping. Because one must! Odo and Quark are just not attractive, #srynotsry. Whereas Bashir is very attractive. And it seems that I won't see Garak again till s2... but I did very much like how overly close/touchy he was with Bashir, and how much Bashir seemed both attracted and flustered, like he wants this!, but what do?... which was, of course, about being a spy, (so Romantic!), supposedly, but if that continues... yeah, I see why this is the number one ship. (And I also see why Quodo is a thing! I always thought it was out of nowhere but I just forgot; they always talk to each other). And then Jake and Nog - well, they’re kids NOW, but the show goes on for seven seasons. So who KNOWS.

11. Anyway after writing all those shipping thoughts, I’m still not looking for another fandom. I’m not quite done with Good Omens yet, Check Please is still lurking for me back there, ... and I’ve been missing having an open-canon fandom with frequent/regular new episodes for QUITE some time now, though I also don’t want to get sucked into the excitement of one. Later, not yet! ... the point is, I doubt that I’ll get into this show fannishly. I’ll just watch it. Hopefully. Will those be famous last words, maybe, who knows! But it is definitely improving and getting its hooks more into me, over the course of the first half-season or so, so... expect more updates.

(oh, another way ten-year-old me was right: this is definitely the Superior opening music, compared to TNG.)

#ds9 blacklist tag #f: to boldly go

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voldiebuns · 4 years

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2019 End of Year Writing Meme

Adapted from here. This only includes things posted on AO3, since I have a ton of finished and unfinished stuff I haven’t posted there yet and it’s easier to quantify.

Total number of completed stories: 99

Total word count: 56,606

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?

A lot less. The number of completed stories doesn’t show that, but a lot of that was posting backlog. And the word count is down about 20k from the year before. I went into 2019 intending to write more by not overwhelming myself with exchange and fest fics and that... really didn’t work. Until I gave that up midyear, I hardly wrote anything new.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?

I somehow ended up writing a lot of Star Wars incest fic?? Like I’d written one Han/Ben fic before so it wasn’t totally weird, but in 2019 I wrote three Luke/Ben fics, another Han/Ben, and a Kylo/Darth Vader (and uh Kylo/Darth Vader’s helmet...). I’m not even into any of those ships. Heck, I’m barely into Star Wars in general anymore lol

What's your own favourite story of the year? Not necessarily the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?

I think I’ll go with Yours, Mine, Ours (original, M/M). It’s just so fluffy and cute and I really enjoyed writing it.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I did some poetry! like a breath (Person of Interest, Harold/multi), which is a series of haikus, and an odd group of people (A Knight’s Tale, gen), which is a series of limmericks. I've written plenty of poetry, even fandom poetry, but mostly freeverse, so working within some forms I’m not all that familiar with was interesting. I really do love how they turned out though. I feel like I had to get into the characters’ heads a lot more than usual for these too.

From my past year of writing, what was....

My best story of this year:

I think probably It Always Ends in Blood (Harry Potter, gen). Stylistically and content wise, it’s not really what I usually write, but I think it came out really really well. I’m very proud of it tbh lol

My most popular story of this year:

By hits and kudos, Not Such a Virgin (Teen Wolf, Sterek). Which is kind of annoying bc I’ve been mostly out of Teen Wolf for so long and yet ever time I write for it, it shoots to the top of my stats. But on the other hand, this was a WIP that’s been sitting in my folder for years, so I’m glad I finished it and it was appreciated!

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

the memory and the mirror (original, F/F). This is one of those rare cases that the fic came out pretty much exactly as I’d imagined when I started. I really like the concept I came up with and I think it’s a really good fic. Unfortunately original fic on AO3 really only does well if it’s kinky smut so my angsty little G rated fic didn’t get much attention.

Most fun story to write:

Maybe bitter as oranges (Buzzfeed Unsolved, Shyan). I love me some demon!Shane and bringing fan theories stuff into the “canon” so it was really fun to do.

Most difficult story to write:

A Real Life Fairy Tale (Buzzfeed Unsolved, Shyan). Idk why, but I struggled with this a lot. I rarely start a fic over or do much in the way of rewrite, but this one required both.

Most Unintentionally Telling Story:

Uh, idk. I’ll go with Scientific Marvel (Star Trek: DS9, Garashir). It’s go mpreg and interspecies relationships and ~logical marriage proposals~ so like what more is there to want lol

Do you have any writing goals for the new year?

Write 100k words. Finish an original piece of writing for publishing. Finish a posted WIP. Post through my google drive fic backlog.

#meme #Reeby writes

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gal-liveblogs · 4 years

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So there was another Homestuck 2 upd8, but I’ve been too busy to sit down and read it. Now I’m finally getting around to doing that!

Oh, so everything before this was prologue? Interesting.

Oh hey, it’s John’s house from Earth C! Is that John himself out in the garden? If it is that must mean we’re in the Candy timeline OR this is set before John made The Choice.

But wait, what’s that at the top?

Ah, I see, we are keeping the trigger warnings from the epilogues, but now they will pop up with each chapter, rather than all lumped in the beginning. If we’re dealing with Alcoholism then we must be seeing some Lalondes at some point.

But the denizens of this particular iteration of Earth C don’t know it. All of this is just business as fucking usual for a planet plagued by war, continuous inclement ghost weather, and the general malaise of being absolutely severed from canon.

So we’re definitely in the Candy timeline for now. I wonder if the only remnants of the Meat timeline we’ll be seeing in this story is Dirk and his crew while everyone else will be from Candy?

In the midst of this, a middle-aged man kneels in a garden. It isn’t his garden,

Not his garden? OK, so that makes me think one of two things. Either this isn’t John (because that is clearly his house) and instead might be an older Harry Anderson OR this is John, but he wasn’t the one to set up this garden (which makes sense because he never really seemed like the gardening type) despite it being on his lawn.

Plants, Jake has decided,

Oh. It’s Jake. I guess I did notice that little blob of black looked more like Jake’s hair than John’s three-pointed hair, but I was kinda fooling myself into believing Jake couldn’t possibly be here. Now that I am forced to accept this fact I do recall Candy Jake ending up staying with John after they both left their marriages.

And they don’t make increasingly inhumane arms deals and appear on talk shows expounding on the dangers of interspecies marriage. They have never, as far as Jake knows, fucked a clown.

Jane really has become the biggest bummer. Poor Rose, she’s a literal god in this universe and she’s getting slammed for her marriage choice. I would say there’s no way Jane has any sway given that they are both gods, but since Jane is also covertly (or not so covertly) controlling mortal politics she probably does have more sway over the popular opinion.

John has been an incredible pal, opening up his home to Jake and his son on such short notice, and even offering him a pair of pants, as well as a shirt that he has so far neglected to put on. John’s house doesn’t have air conditioning. It’s a charming little cottage, but it could sure as aces use some airing out. And dusting. And just general upkeep. The old place really has gone to seed since John’s been away.

So are we right where Candy had left off? No timeskip? This sounds like Jake being here is still a really recent thing. He doesn’t have his own clothes yet and the house is still a mess.

. . .

. . . . . . . .

Dear god, suddenly I am attracted to Jake English. HOW AM I SUDDENLY ATTRACTED TO THIS BLOB MAN? Shit, I finally fell into the English Allure that every single character in this story is victim to, it’s finally happened.

Aaaaaand immediately Jake gets sloshed. Attraction over. Guess the alcoholism mentioned was Jake’s.

Well that’s a neat little transition. Is this a booze induced dream?

The dream narrated Jake getting attacked by a monster, but a far different monster is approaching.

JAKE: So what youre saying is you arent my dirk.

DIRK: ...That is a whole ‘nother conversation that we really don’t have time for, pertaining to exactly who or what ‘your dirk’ actually constitutes.

HA! I can just feel the awkward tenseness behind his cool and laid-back tone.

DIRK: If you mean the Dirk that you fucked and then ghosted, no, I’m not your Dirk.

So. Confirmation that two teen-aged boys boned. For what it’s worth.

JAKE: Ahhh! Brain ghost dirk!

DIRK: In the ghosty flesh.

Ah, OK, we’re dealing with this Dirk. Not sure how I feel about this particular Dirk. He’s still a Dirk, but he isn’t the mega villain.... right?

DIRK: Until recently there’s been a shortage of ambient narrative relevance for Dirks, since one particular motherfucker has been sucking it all up like a thirsty little twink at his first interspecies rave.

Oh good, I’m feeling better about this Dirk now. He seems real dismissive of Ultimate Dirk.

JAKE: I suppose ill just have to trust you!

DIRK: Yeah.

DIRK: Good luck with that.

HAHAHAHA! Man, that’s some good comedic timing.

Though this does make me question exactly what Brain Ghost Dirk is up to. Why rescue Jake from dream monsters, introduce yourself, and then shove him back into danger?

Consciousness hits Jake like a bottle to the back of the head.

Ah, that’s what he’s up to. Waking Jake up out of his drunken stupor. That’s a good plan.

In fact, the bottle is on the table, tipped over and sluggishly dripping from the mouth.

Excuse me?

The bottle is clearly still in his hand and not dripping at all. Me thinks the art department and writing department had a breakdown somewhere in production.

Brain ghost Dirk is still a thing even outside of dreams, which of course he is. He’s not Dream Dirk. So what’s the rest of your plan, BGD? Jake’s awake now, I assume there’s a part two to your sudden reappearance?

JAKE: And what side am i supposed to be fighting on? for jane or against her?

DIRK: Against her. Obviously. What the fuck, dude.

Yeah, Jake, seriously. Jane is full on villain at this point, I thought you were well aware of this fact by now.

DIRK: Yeah, I did. And every single one of them kicked ass. I wanted Jane to be the democratically elected president. Not a cake-slinging Jeff Bezos with a great rack.

JAKE: Jeff who?

Heh, as good a joke as that is it does make me question exactly how Dirk knows about Jeff Bezos. Was he a thing in Dirk’s history books? You know what, probably. Knowing Homestuck Mr. Bezos was probably one of those people that cozied up to Fish Hitler and helped her take over the world.

DIRK: That’s horseshit and we both know it. Jane would take you back in a second. She loves you.

JAKE: Psshaw. Not to be maudlin brain ghost dirk but jane hasnt cared about me in a very a long time if she ever did at all.

JAKE: I thought you knew everything i do.

DIRK: There’s a part of you that still hopes. You can’t help it.

You know what? I just really like this interaction.

Woah, I guess so montage of Jake getting his act together, or a drawn out sequence of Jake making plans and getting them done. We’re just jumping right ahead to Him being on the ship.

It’s then that Jake realizes that Jane isn’t mad because she’d never realized he was gone.

Well shit. That really does say something about their marriage.

Dirk is such a strange man. I can’t tell if that’s just how he’s comfortable waiting, or if he’s actively trying to woo Jake as Jane sobs on his shoulder.

DIRK: All according to keikaku.

Shut the fuck up, Dirk.

DIRK: Don’t know anything about stiff lips, dude. But that’s not what I mean. It’s not because you’re a man. You’re a god.

JAKE: Oh right. That.

DIRK: The world comes first, even at the expense of all your relationships and personal happiness. That’s what being a hero means.

Interesting perspective. Not surprising coming from Dirk. I mean, Ultimate Dirk seems to have given up on his own happiness to play Villain, so of course Dirk’s philosophy is that the same applies to Heroes. Also Ultimate Dirk is, like, an ultimate god, so it goes double for him.

DIRK: Think what you want about Jane, but at least she realizes that none of you can ever be normal, and she never bothered to try. Can it really be a god-complex if you’re actually a god?

I mean, that’s true, but is wanting a simple life as a god really bad? Also Just because you’re a god doesn’t mean you get exempt from making bad choices, and boy has Jane made some bad choices.

DIRK: People like us don’t get happy endings.

JAKE: Is...is that really how dirk felt the whole gosh darned time?

Yes.

And on that sad note we end things. Hoo boy this was a doozy. I’m feeling more hopeful about how this story is progressing! Heh heh, hopeful. Get it? ‘Cause Jake? Heh.

#gal liveblogs #homestuck 2 #homestuck 2 liveblog

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moistwithgender · 5 years

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Monthly Media Roundup (June-July 2019)

Well, I neglected doing a post last month, and now another has passed. I haven’t done too much, about three games each month and not anything else media-wise, so let’s get it all done right now!

Little Nightmares (PC/Steam):

These types of spooky “cinematic platformers”, like LIMBO and INSIDE, never really scare me or fill me with dread. Part of this may be that due to the trappings of cinematic platformers. Checkpoints are very fair, and nothing is too difficult because priority is on delivering the story. Little side challenges exist, like trying to light all the candles or break all the porcelain dolls in the short 3-hour run of the game, but these are also pretty reasonable, even if you’re in a chase sequence. I’m reminded of a youtuber I briefly followed who talked about how horror games aren’t scary anymore, and somewhat unintentionally delivered the point that as you become accustomed to the limits of a medium, and therefore are less likely to be surprised by it, you’re also much less likely to be scared by it. It’s a somewhat unfortunate and inevitable trade-off to becoming more invested in a hobby. When I was a kid, all games held infinite possibility, and so an NPC in Harvest Moon telling me that wild dogs came out at night led me to think that night time held the possibility of ENEMIES in a game without combat. What the NPC meant was that you should build fences. As an adult who has spent my life playing games, I can tell you that a game is almost never going to put you in a situation without the means to deal with it. If there’s going to be combat, you’re going to know how combat works before an ambush. If there’s an escape sequence, you’re going to be in an area that facilitates your escape (often a narrow space that leads you in a direction while also making it as harrowing as possible). Games are theme park rides, and while learning that can make seemingly difficult games more manageable and enjoyable, it also gradually disillusions you. Thankfully, there are always new things to learn if you keep an open mind.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS):

2019 has been about thoroughly enjoying the games that I considered overrated in my young adulthood. I joked on twitter that 70% of my personality was disliking Final Fantasy VII and Ocarina of Time, and honestly, it might as well have been. I earned a lot of undeserved respect in college through arrogantly spouting hot takes about “objectively good art”, and a lot of people reasonably assumed this must mean I know exactly what I’m talking about. The way I process art and media is much looser and more personal than it used to be, partially due to burning out and becoming too exhausted to deal with other arrogant people. I think a lot about how tiring I had to be for other people to talk to. Watching Tim Rogers bleed his personal trauma into his video series on the subtleties of FF7’s japanese script was the most instrumental in turning me back toward the game. When Square Enix revealed gameplay footage of the remake at E3 this year, I was hooting and hollering with the longtime fans.

But, this is about Zelda, not Final Fantasy. I had already played through OoT, as hurriedly as possible, just to say I had done it. It was the better part of a decade ago, at the urging of a then-girlfriend who had nostalgia for it. Frustrations with the Water Temple in the original version are valid despite it being largely well designed, due to some minor shortsighted-ness that blows up into nagging issues, but I think I had put myself in the headspace to dislike it from the get-go. Similarly, I didn’t want to do any collecting in the game as a whole. I had convinced myself that there was no joy to be found in collecting in games (a take bereft of nuance). When the point of Zelda games is to inspire the player to explore every nook and cranny in search of rewards, going in as a player and stubbornly trying to avoid any of that ensures that you’ll miss the point of the whole experience. I’m not sure what it was that made me want to go back. It might be that I wanted to prove my younger, cockier self wrong, and pave over my old evaluations with more nuance.

It certainly worked out that way, as several previous opinions changed entirely. Ruto used to be annoying to me, but was now one of my favorite characters. Doing all the little minigames felt rewarding in itself, and in turn I was unexpectedly rewarded with important items (they really did bet everything on the entire world they’d made). The Water Temple, now tweaked for a bit more convenience in the 3DS version, was extremely interesting. The side quest to acquire the Biggoron Sword was easily doable, whereas I had grown up assuming it impossible. And the story which had never appealed to me (because I wouldn’t let it) now felt relatable in a way I hadn’t expected. Link intends to do good, but through unfortunate circumstances and honest mistakes becomes unable to take part in the world, and it spirals downward for years as he remains trapped in a room, aging but inactive. Something about that mirrors my own experiences with depression. Sure, Link, can travel back to his younger self at any time, but there’s still a powerlessness in the inability to affect the seven year gap. You can flash back, but you can’t change what you’ve lost.

Banjo-Kazooie (N64):

You know, as a kid I probably would have just accepted that Grunty was evil, but as an adult it’s hard not to see her as a product of her environment. Obsessed with asking her cauldron who the objectively prettiest in the world is, she seeks out and kidnaps the younger girl given the title in an attempt to steal her youth. Every character in the game describes Grunty as ugly, rather than evil, and even her own sister shows up in every area to tell you how gross she is and how terrible her lifestyle is. I ended up sympathizing with her more than anyone else. I’ve only played half an hour of Banjo-Tooie, but it was a relief in multiple ways to see her pivot to straight up murder after rising from the dead.

Despite playing Donkey Kong Country multiple times growing up, I’d never really grown to love Rare’s in-house aesthetic of big-eyed cartoony animals. It might be hypocritical, but Smash Ultimate’s reveals for both King K. Rool and Banjo (and) Kazooie made me see the charm in these characters. Something about how Smash canonizes characters as essential pieces of game history always causes me to drop any negative pretense and adopt them as favorites. It’s a little intellectually hypocritical, but I can’t help liking what I like. After the trailer for B-K in Smash, I immediately started up the original game in Retroarch. Thankfully the core I used was advanced enough to play the game without issues (the same cannot be said for Tooie), as other alternatives were expensive or hard to get a hold of. While the slightly-mean humor and talking animate objects took a bit of getting used to, I get it now. I get the children’s show aesthetic they were aiming for, and I appreciate the feel of the physics and control of the interspecies friendship of the protagonists working in tandem with each other, even if the game is at times quite difficult.

Dragon Quest I, II, & III (SNES):

Yes, I did play through three JRPGs in a row! And yes, you might notice that the hero of Dragon Quest XI (and VIII, and IV, and III) was also announced for Smash Ultimate. They recently released, as of this writing! A lot of what I’ve been playing has been influenced by outside forces, whether it be Nintendo news or friends, but I’m not bothered at all when otherwise I might not have the energy to play anything. The games I’ve been playing are also ones I’ve intended to play for a while, so the excuses have been convenient for me. Though, actually, this decision had less to do with the Smash announcement and more to do with the upcoming re-release of DQXI, which seems to be related to the original three games, known as The Erdrick Trilogy. I had heard that you can play XI on its own, but that there is an extra layer of appreciation to be had if you’ve played the original trilogy. Me being me, I naturally queued them up. I chose the older fan translations of the SNES remakes, and though I did finish them, I can tell you that they have their fair share of bugs (DQII even has a game breaking glitch I had to finagle through using save states across multiple versions, phew). Besides that, those old translations lack the modern localizations of the games, so if they namedrop something in XI, there’s a chance it’ll go over my head. Oops! If you want to play these games, the best versions are currently on mobile phones.

Around a decade ago I was in early college, with no friends except for those still in high school or at another university. I was very lonely and nervous. I started playing Dragon Quest V purely by chance, and it served as the perfect salve for that loneliness, with its lonely child protagonist traveling around the world accumulating found family. It’s one of the more poignant and cathartic JRPGs I’ve ever played, and for the next decade I would actually be bothered that the rest of the games didn’t live up to the catharsis of DQV.

In revisiting the roots of the series, and playing it through to see how it develops from title to title, it finally clicked with me, and continues to click with me, as I keep learning more about the series. Rather than comparing every entry to DQV, I should have been comparing them in order. This might sound obvious, but it really did make a world of difference to see that V’s narrative is placed on top of the foundation the previous games set, rather than a singular case of lightning in a bottle. And the games have always featured loneliness, but in differing contexts, and to different degrees. The hero of DQI is almost entirely alone through the full game. In DQII, the princess comes from lonely circumstances, and one of the princes comes down with a sickness that leaves him temporarily unable to help his friends. In DQIII you can make as many team members as you want, but you grow up with an absent father, and your own good deeds receive bittersweet resolution. They are all games built on simple settings and followed through with empathy. The series is at times disarmingly heavy, which is part of what makes the games as memorable as they are. You’re never quite as prepared for Dragon Quest as you think you are.

As of this writing I’m currently half-way through a replay of Dragon Quest IV, and I’m enjoying it a lot more. I’m looking forward to replaying V. I have no idea what VI will be like. I’ve heard it’s a lower point in the series, but that’s what I heard about II as well, and I ended up loving it, so who knows. Dragon Quest is good.

---

Well, I managed to catch up. I didn’t get into the finer details of the DQ playthroughs, but DQIII is honestly so good I don’t want to spoil it for anyone (you should play these games). Maybe in August I’ll actually get back to watching and reading things. Maybe I’ll try to keep these things to a single paragraph per item, to make it more manageable to read. Let me know what you think, if you think.

#monthly post #curry plays games #dragon quest #banjo kazooie #little nightmares #ocarina of time #dragon quest ii #dragon quest iii

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picapicamagpie · 1 year

Note

Apologies if you've already answered this, but why is Cadance so big for a magpie?

No need to apologise! I love answering asks, especially oc ones! 💖

Uh, I go off the rails a little bit with an analysis on some characters, sorry. I am physically incapable of just answering something with a sentence.

The reason for Cadence's height is the same as Nana's, Suki's, and the Crystal's: to portray an aesthetic.

As I noted in my height chart series, Illumination only loosely sticks to accurate species heights. There are many animals who are too tall (Suki, Nana/Eddie, Porsha/Jimmy) or too short (Meena/Alfonso, Hobbs, all the dang gorillas) for their species. Illumination will also very happily break all height restrictions when designing a character with a specific look:

Nana Noodleman: I don't think I need to tell anyone that sheep are not almost gorilla-sized. Nana's got no business being almost as tall as Johnny. As @lemonisntreal pointed out to me, only the Noodleman family is like this. All the other sheep we see in Sing are short and round. Eddie's family for some reason is tall and thin. I believe this is because Illumination had a specific intention behind Nana's design - she needed to look elegant and beautiful, and she needed to be a bit scary and intimidating. So they made her really tall so she can tower over the much smaller Buster. Her species was basically irrelevant to her size. Eddie got to be tall too since he's her relative.

Suki: Every, and I mean every, single dog breed we see in Sing is tiny. Short, and usually round. We see beagles, corgis, dalmatians, and a german shepard and a bloodhound. And then there's Suki, a saluki, who is 6 dang feet tall. WHY is she as tall as a lion? A saluki is the same size as a bloodhound, so by all logic Suki and this guy should be the same height:

Yeah. She's about twice or even triple the height. Again, Illumination made a lot of exceptions for Suki's design - she's much, much taller than she "should" be, and she's got hair. And no ears. I could do a whole post alone on Suki's design. But again, Illumination wanted a specific image for her: beautiful, like a glamorous model from a famous city. I also think they wanted the Redshore animals to look almost exotic and out of place on purpose, to show how Buster's gang are in a completely alien setting.

The Crystals: Wolves are pretty big, no doubt there, but they are smaller than lions. Gorillas are also larger than wolves, but Jimmy and Porsha are as large as Big Daddy. For Jimmy, I believe the reason is that he's meant to be intimidating and scary, so they needed him to be tall. We're supposed to see him from Buster's perspective and how helpless he feels against Jimmy. Porsha is similar to Suki in that I think Illumination wanted her to look beautiful and glamorous.

Long ass story short: Cadence is taller because I imagined her design from the standpoint of Illumination. I tried to design her with their mindset. And Illumination have shown us several times now that they are okay with making some random animal look very different to its real life counterpart if it means portraying a certain aesthetic. This applies to Cadence! I like to imagine, if she were "canon", that Illumination made her that way because they wanted to portray her elegance and beauty. They did it for Suki, Nana, and Porsha; they can do it again.

The In-Universe explanation is... That's just how she is (how magpies are?). Like how Suki and Nana just are.

Or maybe she just has some raven in her ancestry. Those things are huge ;)

And corvids can interbreed which fits my headcanon on interspecies mingling

#yeah I COULD have just said 'because I said so' but where's the fun in that #Anyway good anon thank you for good ask <3 #where I lose the plot for several paragraphs #I need a tag for my sing analysis stuff #sing #sing 2 #sing 2016 #sing 2021 #sing movie #jimmy crystal #porsha crystal #suki lane #nana noodleman #bird chatter #sing oc #sing cadence #cadence

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