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dorky-thighchi · 4 years

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WHAT I LOVE ABOUT DAISUGA AND CANON MOMENTS

Let’s appreciate these two for leading the team to the nationals (long post ahead)

1. Their goals and hard work for the team:

They’re always shown together planning for the team. When Asahi stopped playing volleyball, Noya got suspended, former coach Ukai stopped coaching. I felt bad for these two, they went through hard times as their captain and vice captain it’s their obligation to unite and guide the team. During their first year and second year they were used to failure and called flightless crows. Their expectations crumpled but they did not give up. It’s Daichi and Suga’s job to bring back the name of Karasuno to the nationals with the help of coach Ukai and Takeda, finally they made it to nationals, that’s why their former captain was so proud of them because they followed his words. When they didn't have their coach yet, they behaved as Karasuno’s temporary coaches (thank goodness Takeda’s an angel). Daichi was shown coaching the team in the first few episodes and Suga helped Tanaka bond Kageyama and Hinata. Suga questioned Daichi’s plan about the weird duo (Daichi’s a matchmaker) but after what Daichi said he helped the two bond and honed their skills.

In the HQ light novel “Melancholy of the third year student”, Asahi stated “with Sawamura leading the team and Sugawara taking care of the members, what could i possibly do to contribute” he witnessed Daichi and Suga walking together in the hallway; Asahi was impressed because of their dedication to guide the team to the nationals despite they’re in college prep class still they gave their best in guiding the team. Tanaka also acknowledged his senpais hard work that’s why he extremely respects his senpais, he was always there supporting the two. Coach Ukai madly respects Suga because he gave his setter position to Kageyama for the sake of the team and Daichi because he’s the best in motivating the team.

2. They know each other so well:

Daichi has this proud mode when he talks about Suga. When he told the team that Suga’s an experienced setter he had this “Yes that’s my amazing setter” face and when Suga did that amazing spike he jumped like a kid. In the HQ light novel “Sugawara’s decision” this happened during the first training camp. Suga was anxious to tell Daichi of his plan to give his setter position to Kageyama. When Suga finally told Ukai about his decision, Daichi and Asahi overheard their conversation and promised to win any match as much as they can. When Suga stated “I think in order to win, the person we need right now is Kageyama” Daichi and Asahi expressed their concern because the three promised to step on the court together (i get so emotional when the 3rd yrs play together). Daichi was worried and he told Suga that they can do something about it. THIS IS ACTUALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE HQ LNs because of what Suga thought after their discussion “He was glad to have sawamura who accepted him the way he is, as his teammate” AND I FUCKIN LOST IT HQ LN SHOULD BE ANIMATED. Daichi supported Suga’s decision for the team, “Daichi was very certain of Suga who had been with him for the past 3 years”, he even stopped Tanaka from interrupting Suga’s monologue telling him to listen.

Remember when Ukai announced the first lineup for dateko vs karasuno match and the shot was focused to Suga and back to Daichi; you can see Daichi did this weird eye thing glancing at Suga. Daichi’s proud moments of Suga were “I think you’ve revived too Suga” and “I’m glad you still want to fight” when he told Daichi “I do wish my tosses could’ve played a part in the victory”. When Asahi and Noya stopped coming to the team, the only members left were Suga, Daichi and the 2nd years. Suga also took the blame and Daichi was there for him. He was shown secretly listening to Yamaguchi and Suga’s conversation about the mop (and comforted him that he shouldn't blame himself. I’m kinda disappointed they didn't include this in the anime). These panels show their trust and respect for each other.

He cant even dare to hurt Suga (but lets Suga punch him anytime) and he knows when Suga goes to overthinking mode. Also Suga knows Daichi so well i think i’m gonna cry. Scolding Daichi when he was not vocal during the game; Suga’s known for being the only one who can lecture Daichi. When Daichi told Suga and Asahi that it’s better to hand over the team to the 2nd yrs, Suga knew Daichi didn't mean that; Daichi felt hopeless because they lost again. He knew Daichi wanted to stay and play volleyball and step on the orange court.

He’s also used to Daichi’s stern mode. Daichi was also shown being the one who can keep Suga in control like “Suga please calm down”. Their relationship isn’t fully conveyed in the anime but i’m thankful that creators created drama cds, light novels, extras, spin-offs and haikyuu stage play to let us know more about the characters.

3. The team parents:

They always discuss about their team members like Suga asking Daichi about Kageyama and Hinata (kagehina bond ep) and Tsukishima. In the haikyuu drama cds “what if karasuno’s manager isn’t shimizu kiyoko” and “the reason behind the t-shirts” they were worried about entrusting the manager’s job to Tanaka, Noya and Hinata. When the team was hungry because Kiyoko wasn’t there, Suga told Daichi to take action so he assigned the weird duo to buy foods for the team and they were the ones who planned for the names of the shirts with the help of Noya, Kiyoko was pissed at the two because they were busy thinking of their own shirts. In the haikyuu light novel “the last summer vacation” (Sources: 1|2) Suga watched the team with worry on his face because it was so hot so he approached Daichi and expressed his concern that the team will get sick from the heat. Coach Ukai overheard the discussion and called a meeting. They’re usually seen together in every scene in the anime, stage play, haikyuu light novel, extras, manga, spin-offs and drama cds, scolding Tanaka, Noya, Hinata, Kageyama and Tsukishima; discussing volleyball stuffs; and buying pork buns for the team. In the lets haikyuu and extras (hq spin-off) it’s actually semi-canon they’re karasuno’s team parents. They also have this karasuno christmas bonding tradition.

It was also STATED BY THE DIRECTOR IN THE HQ MAGAZINE AND THE VOICE ACTORS THAT DAICHI AND SUGA ARE THE TEAM PARENTS AND TANAKA’S THE BIG BROTHER (here are the links: 1| 2|3)

IT’S CANON!!!!!! IT’S DAMN RIGHT CANON!!!!!TEAM PARENTS DAISUGA IS CANON!!!!!!

4. Teasing, bickering and just them being dorks:

Suga teasing daichi is my jam. In the HQ LN “Yachi’s delivery mission” (Sources 1|2), this conversation frickin made me squeal like a mouse with laryngitis. After practice the team was thirsty and wanted something cold to eat. “It’s indeed hot, lets get ice pops before we head home” daichi stated then frickin SLY/LIL SHIT SUGA JUST CASUALLY SAID THIS REMARK “Oh that’s not a bad idea, are you going to treat us Daichi-san” HE FRICKIN ADDED -SAN. So the team didn't let the opportunity go away they screamed with joy and thanked Daichi. After what happened Daichi just glared at Suga who was smiling at him. Daichi’s a softie when Suga’s involved. Suga got Daichi to buy ice cream for the team. I REPEAT HQ LN SHOULD BE ANIMATED.

Daichi knows when Suga’s about to do something stupid and his antics. They argued about this. When Suga was mad at Daichi because he was implying that the last year shrine visit was nothing; he was so pissed he started fuming at daichi. Suga also told Daichi that steak just being steak is better over diced steak. Hyped suga and daichi trying to calm him down is the cutest shit. In the HQ LN “Tokyo Expedition: Captains’ Meeting”(Sources: 1|2), Daichi warned Suga about Kuroo because he knows how to read minds and loves mind games and Suga was like ‘you need to chill Daichi’. When it was Suga’s turn to pick a card from Daichi’s deck he picked the joker and twitched his brows, Daichi whispered at Suga telling him whenever he drew the joker his brows twitch so Suga massaged his brows. I REPEAT AGAIN THIS SHOULD BE ANIMATED. The other captains and vice captains are competing against each other but look at these frickin idiots they are helping each other. DAICHI OBSERVING SUGA THEN WARNED HIM ABOUT HIS TENDENCY OF TWITCHING HIS EYEBROWS. IM GONNA FRICKIN DO A BACKFLIP. Also Daichi and Suga love to make fun of asahi but when you frickin hurt asahi these two will frickin punch you in the face. Frickin daisugasting dorks.

5. They are always together and in sync:

In the manga, anime, extras, stage play, light novel, drama cds and official art/merchandise they’re usually frickin together and always in sync, same reactions and thoughts. Remember when Daichi looked at Suga (S1 ep24) like he was asking for approval then Suga nodded. That was so cute ugh.

Extras:

Suga is 6 months older than Daichi. June 13 and December 31. Their birth dates makes me go WAIT WHAT.

Suga and Daichi’s name meanings are compatible.

During the christmas bonding time, Suga received daichi’s gift, a daruma. Daichi bought it as a gift because it weighs like a volleyball (he’s such a volleyball nerd) and he told Suga that they should draw the eye together. (Source link)

Suga thought that Daichi was jealous of his t-shirt because the phrase on his shirt was cooler than his. (Source link)

Suga’s first synchronize attack was a success and he tossed it to Daichi. Coach Ukai assigned these two along with Tanaka to learn synchronize attack.(Remember when Daichi told Suga he borrowed coach ukai’s tablet so they can watch the videos together)

The way they look at each other like there’s nothing else to look at.

What I truly love about these two is their relationship and trust for each other.They complement each other, which makes them a good combination. They went through obstacles and look THEY MADE IT TO THE NATIONALS, kiyoko witnessed their progress and asahi thanked suga and daichi because they welcomed him again in the team, remember when asahi was not sure if they’d accept him to the team but daichi and suga were just laughing and made fun of him.

Their vice captain and captain interaction isn't fully expressed in the anime and i hope that everyone will appreciate them more! They made it to nationals! And them being proud of Hinata and Kageyama in the hq time skip is one of the best treasures Furudate sensei gave to us.

Lets talk about these two. Daisugasting volleyball idiots.

I rest my case.

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droidrights · 3 years

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For your writing prompt... A scene from always red or stay the black but in Cals POV?

Ask and you shall receive! Thanks so much for the prompt, Anon! This was fun!

Sometimes Pink

This here is the scene at the end of Chapter 9 of Always Red where Cal first wakes up after the escape from Nur.

2nd person/ present tense like the rest of Always Red except Cal is “you”.

Inquisitor Cal Kestis x Jedi Reader

Words: 1918

Warnings: Description of Injury and near death

“Now you'll be what I make you.” Her voice rings in your head. Somehow over the roar of the flames, over the howling sea wind and even over the crash of thunder, you hear her claim you in a whisper.

Laid flat on your back, soaked through to your bones, you blink the raindrops from your eyes and through bleary vision you dare to take in the sight of her. Writhed in the towering flames that engulf the Fortress Inquisitorius she stands over you in victory; small strings of blue electricity blink between her flexing fingers. The memory of those fingers pressed on the side of your face, even to deliver a brain rattling Force blast, becomes something you find yourself clinging to. Those hands, you've thought, the things those hands could do.

It's the last thing you recall before things go black.

Fuzzy and indistinct, you imagine the brush of those deadly fingers over your forehead. Most certainly imagined, in a moment burst with brightness shining behind your eyelids. Blazing and uncomfortable before the comfort of the black seeps back in.

You've always hoped that when you died your spirit would scatter, made to rejoin the living Force. There would be a loss of consciousness surely, a kind of oblivion. Force users are taught to believe they live on through connectivity to the Force and they do but...not as they were. You consider that this could be death. The Black, this endless float peppered with visions of this and that. Her. Could be worse.

Later you are slowly stirred to consciousness by the astringent scent of bacta gel stinging your nostrils, and more gentle touching though less imagined this time. When your eyelids become unstuck you spy a world much different from the one you had been imagining.

In a heartbeat the comfort of the black is banished. The place that allowed you to drift carelessly and linger on your memories of thunder and lightning evaporate in an instant, replaced with an air of the urgency to live. In the here and now you are a prisoner, confirmed bu the metallic clank of durasteel cuffs at their limit. Blazing overhead lights are blinding and your instincts are the only thing you have, aside from an intense throbbing ache on the right side of your head. You have survived many times before by allowing your instincts to take control and so your rational mind takes a backseat to an animal impulse toward survival by any means necessary.

There is a muffled crack as you fold your thumb inward, making one hand more amenable to slipping its restraint. It hurts, of course it hurts but you tell yourself it doesn't.

A startled medic bounces from his seat at witnessing his patient wake so suddenly and commit violence on himself. With one free hand, you bolt upright and the twi'lek gingerly, mistakenly presses his hands on your shoulders. No touching.

“Be calm, you mustn't aggriva-!” the twi'lek's words are cut short when you raise your open fist. His breathing become raspy and short as you draw your fingers closer and closer together.

The decision to attack had been simple for you. It always is. What you hadn't known is that you had been asleep for the past four days in recovery from grievous wounds. Against his better judgment, Byt Ilan agreed to treat your injuries as best he could, despite the fact that he witnessed your role in the battle that had lead all of you to this point. Despite the fact that you had been an active member in the institution that tortured and imprisoned him, because he is good. Truly good.

Byt claws at his throat uselessly as you get to your feet. To you there is nothing, no one, other than this obstacle before you. The only sound that matters is the hiss and wheeze that escapes this twi'lek's lips.

It's not even that much pressure, honestly. To think that most living things have a soft little spot for you to squeeze and wrench the life from. It is both dazzling and intoxicating to exercise this power. Your vision tunnels and you move with the intent and purpose of a predator that has not been unconscious for days but waiting. Your trembling fingers, broken thumb included, curls into a tight fist as you move to cross the room.

In your battle fervor, you fail to release the restraint fastened to your other wrist. Your fervent pursuit of the medic causes the heavy metal gurney to overturn. Your balance is thrown immediately and the thing brings you back a ways. There is a loud and muted pop and you know right away that your arm has become dislocated from your shoulder. It's happened several times before, each instance more unpleasant than the last.

Byt's legs scramble in the air haplessly, far from the ground. He knows he's near finished when a darkness begins to creep in from the edges of his vision. Until he is suddenly dropped to the ground like a sack of grain.

Years of training within the Empire has given you the singularity of mind that allows you to pour your focus into your goals, and exactly nothing else, until they are achieved. Discomfort, pain, your very limbs are second only to your gain. In this moment nothing matters beyond dispatching the nearest jailer.

Byt uses the brief pause in your assault to scream for help, though the wracked sound produced by his broken throat is nothing like the alarm he had intended. When he cries out a second time it is for horror at watching you drag the overturned bed, dislocated arm and all, in his direction, renewing the fight.

Byt struggles to his feet in time to be hefted again into the air. When his back hits the opposite wall of the small cargo area the twi'lek loses a lungful of air he could not spare. Your pupils triple in size as victory grows nearer and your connection to the dark side spreads its wings inside you.

“Cal, no!” A voice cries out. Y/N arrives in a flurry and immediately places herself between you and your opponent. You don't see her. There is only you and Byt Ilan's final breaths.

“Cal, stop right now!” She roars again, this time with more menace.

You hear nothing, you see nothing. You are dead to the world but for the quiet symphony of blood vessels popping in the twi'lek's eyes. The hard thump of his heart against his ribs, so rapid and vital until the blessed moment of silence that will follow. Any second now.

A loud crack echoes off the walls of the hold and every nerve on your face lights up in a spark when she strikes you with the flat of her hand. You recognize the feel of that hand across your face instantly. A bright stinging throb blossoms across your cheek and the hard contact of skin on skin breaks the kill's hold over you. The things those hands can do.

Blindsided by the sensation, you loose your grip on the poor creature by unclenching your fingers. He hits the ground hard and his breath does not return immediately. The twi'lek's rosy pink cheeks and lips have turned gray

More and more of your surroundings come to light. Gathering crew and guests become shadows around this drama in the cargo hold. Someone rushes to the medic's side and slaps him hard between the shoulder blades until he gulps in a shuddering breath. Another figure moves in the space around you but goes unnoticed. Your tunnel vision has fixated on someone new.

After the dazzling white light clears your vision you still can't quite believe your eyes. You see her before you the way she looks in your memories, the way she looks in your dreams. Framed in fire, windswept, tired, bloody and gloriously furious.

“Y/N?” you whisper, confused. You blink hard and this time she is a more realistic version of herself. Still tired, still angry. Your hand stays hefted in the air, unsteady.

You don't believe what your eyes are telling you. You died and this is a sick joke, which normally you might appreciate, but for the look on her face. You would never understand the combination of emotions you see there. Your shoulder, your head, your hand, they all pulse in various octaves of pain. It's disorienting.

It's not her, it can't be. You lost and she killed you. Shaky, you lurch forward keeping your hand outstretched. You have to be sure.

There is a swift movement from the shadow behind you and in a flash there is a sting in your neck. So minor compared to the other aches, throbs and stings but you were unprepared for the suddenness of it.

A normally welcomed old companion, the blackness, creeps in again. Your heart cries out to wait, just one more second while you figure this out. While you reach out to her.

Before you hit the ground the very tip of your longest finger connects with her chin, just below her lip, before trailing its way down her chest and belly. The hem of her shirt snaps up when the crook of your finger tugs and releases it.

As your head hits the metal flooring you decide it really was Y/N. You are indeed still living and for some reason she had decided to spare you in the rain on Nur. The fool.

You've tried to tell her since Zeffo that she's yours, from the second you saw her on Bracca, whether she knew it or not. When she inched closer to you step by step, siding against the Ninth Sister she was yours. When you touched her Master's lightsaber and saw her as a frightened and defenseless padawan she was yours. Hands and feet fastened together, jammed in the back of your TIE fighter she was yours. Until you handed her over to the Empire...and she was theirs.

What you had not anticipated were all the myriad moments that led to you belonging utterly and madly to her. Starting with the hard resolve in her face when she went for your throat in your first rain-washed clash. Again when she teased you in the industrial caverns of that Zeffo mountain. Especially when she was bubbling over with wrath and vengeance even lying weak on the floor of her cell, imagining the demolition of Imperial control. You were more hers then and completely when she made good on her promise by conjuring destruction from the air like a goddess. It's like you never had a choice.

That's a lie. It's a choice you've made repeatedly. You embraced it, fought it, misinterpreted it but you never denied it. Fool that you are.

Y/N will be your undoing, she makes you weaker than anything the Empire has put you through and nothing is scarier than to know that you will lose every time.

Yes, you tried again to kill her but it's only because you are the one who does what others will not. It was your final attempt at releasing you both from this thing. Y/N is strong but not stronger than what's between the two of you. You tried to be but it turns out you aren't either.

Now you are doomed to each other. For your part at least, you commit yourself willingly to the flames.

She really should have killed you.

#always ask #always red #stay the black #jedi fallen order #calquisitor #cal valeska #writing prompt #thank you for the suggestion #star wars jfo #star wars jedi: fallen order #inquisitor cal x reader #he is a puppy #cal kestis

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utterlyinevitable · 3 years

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Alrighty sooo we all know Becca but what about this woman named...Hannah in you WIPS? (and in my WhatsApp) 1,2,4,8,9,15,16,18,23,26,27,31,33,39,45,52,54,55 this shall keep u occupied lol

*sighs* Hannah Hannah Hannah... when will I finish your saga 😔

i’m going to use both prompt lists for this and choose my favorite questions aha

1. What’s their full name? Why was that chosen? Does it mean anything? & Age, Birthday, Star Sign

Hannah Amelia Weill

I really like writing complicated women with long names and multiple identities.

Growing up her friends all called her Hannie. She was always Hannah to her family and everyone who doesn’t know her intimately. One boy (’Bryce’) called her Han. Later in life her partner calls her Anna because of his thick accent. Her alias and the name she went by during her uni identity crisis was Leah, a derivative of her middle name.

I don’t like her last name so it may change to fit with the metaphor of the whole piece 🤷🏻‍♀️

The story moves between her being 16-18 and 23.

tbh i haven’t given much thought to her birthday 😂 i feel like she’d be an edgy libra

2. Do they have any titles? How did they get them? & Gender Identity

Nothing formal lol

But her mother calls her a ‘hurricane’ and after high school that group of friends she had relegated her to a ‘selfish bitch’ and proceeded to cut her out of their lives without any warning. (side note: later in life she’ll realize she may have been The Toxic Friend)

She’s hetero female. Though she was bi-curious with only one friend when she was 17. She leaned into that for a while but realized women just weren’t doing it for her.

4. What is their relationship with their parents? What’s a good and bad memory with them? Did they know both parents? & Race and Ethnicity

She’s estranged from her father and hasn’t seen him since she was five. She’s an only child and had some distance between her and her mother because of socio-economic factors. At her core Hannah is a private, enigmatic person and her mother always kinda let her do whatever she wanted as long as she kept her grades up. It wasn’t a bad childhood or growing up. There were some rough patches but she lived in a bubble compared to the rest of the world. When she moved away her relationship with her mother got better because her mom would call or text her every week to make sure she’s alive. She still does and Hannah sometimes doesn’t answer so her mom calls.

She’s white bread with European roots.

8. Did they have pets as a child? Do they have pets as an adult? Do they like animals? & Weapon of Choice(?)

They had a dog which she loved and taught her the meaning of unconditional love. The dog even slept in her twin sized bed. As an adult Hannah is much to irresponsible (and self aware about this fact) to bring a pet into her life. She loves animals but keeps a distance and prefers the odd well behaved domestic pup.

She has wit, stoicism and psychological manipulations at her disposal.

9. Hometown and current residence

She grew up on the waterfront in Suffolk, New York. Now she resides in Southwark, UK.

15. Are they good at cooking? Do they enjoy it? What do others think of their cooking? & Can they sing? Can they dance?

She can cook if she has to. She’s not bad at it when she knows what she likes but she cannot handle another person in the kitchen with her and gets so so so angry when they make comments over her shoulder. Some times she gets the urge to bake but it’s TERRIBLE at dough so it’s just a box cake or cookies. Others think it’s edible.

When she’s older ‘Ethan’ teaches her how to cook fancy, complex meals and it’s rather meditative. And maybe she doesn’t mind having him in the kitchen with her.

She cannot sing to save her life. She has absolutely no rhythm. Doesn’t stop her from doing either. Her go-to dance of choice is a drunken grind.

16. Do they collect anything? What do they do with it? Where do they keep it? & Can they drive?

She doesn’t, well not really. She tries to hoard books but she’s moved around so much her moms outlook on life seeped in. Her mom always encouraged her to get rid of unnecessary things and so she has very minimal clutter (excluding her closet girl loves clothes). She does have a book shelf filled with CDs and vinyls and books and that makes her happy.

When she’s settled down and has disposable income she starts to collect tattoos and street art.

She can drive but doesn’t like to, especially in Europe. She’s thankful she lives in places with fantastic public transport.

18. What’s their favourite genre of: books, music, tv shows, films, video games and anything else & Have any special keepsakes?

Books: she likes horror and drama as books she’ll read in public. When she’s alone she likes a romance book or young adult novel.

Music: folk, indie and alternative.

TV: comedy, drama, anything on the old CW was her jam. She likes dark humor.

Films: romantic comedy. she went through a phase of only watching foreign films to seem more cultured. she’ll only watch action if there’s a comedic lead because blood and gore disgust her.

Video games: she doesn’t play. never got into them. but she did try because ‘Bryce’ really loved his xbox and she loved ‘Bryce’.

The one thing she made sure to take with her was a throw pillow that she’s had since she was a kid.

23. Do they have a good memory? Short term or long term? Are they good with names? Or faces?

She remembers everything about the people in her life. For better or worse - it’s no bueno for her mental health because she overanalyzes everything and dissects it until she’s essentially fabricated a whole other reality.

She misplaces things all the time and gets mad about it. ‘Ethan’ finds it an endearingly annoying habit of hers.

She’s okay with names and better with faces. But she really identifies people by their vibe and how they make her feel. If she feels good she’ll remember every single thing about them. If they make her feel bad she’ll only remember the bits about that person that make her feel that way - even if it’s only one sentence out of an entire year of friendship, that person will become that one bad thing to her.

She never truly forgets someone. Sometimes it’s better to pretend like she did in order to save face.

26. How do they act when they’re happy? Do they sing? Dance? Hum? Or do they hide their emotions? & Guilty Pleasure

When she’s happy she can do anything! She feels like she can fly. She usually is listening to a song and she’s very creative in this space. She parades around in her underwear singing at the top of her lungs when she’s alone. When she’s happy and with someone, she lets her guard down and shows who she really is. When she’s happy she’s the person she wants to be and not the front of an unbreakable woman she’s been pretending to be since she was old enough to remember it’s importance.

Oh yes, Hannah hides her emotions. it’s her MO.

Her guilty pleasure is popular culture. ‘Ethan’ makes fun of her for it but indulges her any chance he can get. For the longest time he’s also her guilty pleasure. She doesn’t want to like him from the beginning. But conversation just flows. And he’s such a Good Boy. she can’t help but fall for him quick and quietly.

27. What makes them sad? Do they cry regularly? Do they cry openly or hide it? What are they like they are sad? & What’s their family like? Who’s in it? What’s their relationship with them?

People make her sad. Failure makes her sad. She’s trying to cultivate a better life she’s read about in stories and feels like she needs to be successful to show up everyone who’s ever doubted her. She needs to be successful to prove to herself that she’s not a waste of space and worthy of this existence.

But successful comes in all shapes and sizes. Which is something she’ll learn when she least expects it.

Hannah only lets herself cry less than a handful of times a year. Usually in the dead of night or in the shower. And only when she knows she’ll be alone the entire time.

After she falls for ‘Ethan’ she can’t control her emotions as well any more. He’s always there for her even if he’s the source of her tears.

When she’s mad it’s almost manic depressive. She gets really really low and cuts people out. ‘Ethan’ will not have that. He will not let her go through this alone. Even if she doesn’t want him to see her or hold her he’ll still only be a short walk away.

I think I answered this above ? Her family was her and her mom. They weren’t close growing up but once she moved away they both made an effort to keep in contact.

31. Do they drink? What are they like drunk? What are they like hungover? How do they act when other people are drunk or hungover? Kind or teasing? & What’s their current main conflict?

Yes. She chooses whiskey and scotch for the connotation associated with them. She cannot stand scotch but the commitment to the illusion is greater than her taste buds. Her new friend Polly introduces her to wine. She gets really bad stains on her lips from red wine and no one tells her this until she’s half a bottle down with ‘Ethan’ and he comments on it. She’s so embarrassed and rushed to the bathroom to wipe it off. He stands just outside the doorway laughing his ass off.

She’s the kind of drunk that wants a smoke or sex. Sometimes both.

When other people are drunk and she’s not she cannot stand it and avoids them. Unless it’s her roommates whom she cannot avoid. She’s teasing and loving and will be a complete idiot with them.

When ‘Ethan’ is drunk she lovingly teases him and finds him so fucking cute.

uhhhhh her main conflict during the entire series is trying to find herself. She needs to stop being the person she is out of necessity and be the person she doesn’t know who she is at her core.

Then there’s the conflict of falling in love with ‘Ethan’ given the circumstances and how stupidly happy he makes her. And the conflict of still loving the ‘Bryce’ she knew back then that still gives her butterflies and plagues her thoughts and dreams and then comes face to face with her temptation after all these years.

The Enigma, The Boy and the What If 👀

this girl’s just trying to figure life out because she didn’t have a strict parent to map her whole life out for her. it’s a blessing and a curse compared to all those she grew up with and modeled her life after. She’s just off on an unknown adventure making things up and she goes and stripping the past from her future.

33. What underwear do they wear? Boxers or briefs? Lacey? Comfy granny panties? & How have they changed over time?

She likes hipsters but if there’s an ounce of a chance she’s gonna be naked she needs a v-string even if they make her feel constipated. As for bras she loathes them. But apparently she needs them because of her body type. So if she’s gotta have a bra it’s padded and sexy. She’s not wearing it for her it’s for whoever will see her in it.

Eventually she’ll learn to love lingerie. For herself, not for ‘Ethan’.

The Hannah Evolution is messy.

A generally happy kid -> bogged down by having a single parent and the connotations that comes with that -> curating the perfect personality not to put strain on her mom -> creating an air of mystery and becoming an enigma. of never sharing her true feelings with anyone, even herself -> going after her dreams even if it pisses people off -> stupidly letting herself fall in love -> self sabotaging her happiness -> letting the facade crumble and rising from the ashes

39. Do they like letters? Or prefer emails/messaging? & Your character walks into a cafe. What do they order?

Modern love letters are texts to wake up to and fall to sleep to. That’s something she romanticized with ‘Bryce’ and didn’t realize that meant nothing until ‘Ethan’ showed her.

Cappuccino. Probably a lemon poppy seed muffin. Or if they do sandwiches it would be a panini.

45. How do other people see them? Is it similar to how they see themselves?

Other people not related to her see her as arrogant and a closed book. She isn’t forthcoming and makes it really hard to get to know her on a personal level. That makes making friends in adulthood hard.

Her ex-friends see her as selfish and fake and can’t deal with the drama that seems to follow her. They are actually really resentful for how well life was panning out for her once they all stopped being friends.

‘Ethan’ is intrigued by her. She finds her brilliant and beautiful and he wants to know more about her. The difference is he’s willing to put in the work. He’s able to see the funny girl hiding behind the rogue exterior.

She varies in how she sees herself. Some days she loves who she is and walks down the street with unwavering confidence. Other days she cakes on a face full of make up and becomes her alter ego. She’s never truly fully happy with herself. Something inside her is constantly looking for the next best thing to happen in her life and it is detrimental.

52. How are you and your character the same? How are you different?

You can find the projection yourself 😅

I’m not as bold as Hannah. I also like to think I’m a little more lovable and have a better grip on reality than this mess.

54. What does your character want, and what do they need?

She wants to be successful and shove her success up the ass of everyone who told her no growing up. She wants to be on the cover of Forbes 30 under 30. She’s creative and a bit chaotic and follows whims. She just wants recognition.

What she needs is ‘Ethan’ and everything he’s opened her eyes to.

55. What’s your character’s core trait? What’s their best trait? What’s their worst trait? When happens when these all interact with each other?

Instability.

Her best trait is her drive. It’s a little shaky in the grand scheme of things but at her core she just wants the best life.

Her worst trait is her tendency to write and cut people off without another glance. She does it swiftly and unapologetically.

Gosh all of these things combined come out when she fights with someone and it’s terrible. There’s screaming and slamming doors and ‘Ethan’ doesn’t know what’s going on and wishes she’ll just talk to him. But she’s not that easy and he understands that but goddamn he loves her and for him this is worth fighting for.

THE END.

#aylaramseycarrera #asked #oc #hannah weill #fun fact: her last name is a typo that i took as a sign #to change from farina to weill lolll #theo zaino #elliott hensley #the enigma the boy and the what if #Ayla i required detailed feedback on this thank u much love

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metalandmagi · 5 years

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December End of the Year Media Madness!

It’s a new month and a new year! And what a crazy month it was what with Tumblr imploding and all. But I’ll still throw this on here just because I’ll be on this site until it literally boots me out. But I do have a twitter now…@metalandmagi where I’m also barely active at all.

Anyway, why make top 10 lists for the entire year when I can just ramble about all the media I consumed this month? There’s only a marginal amount of holiday things on here by my standards!

November media

Movies!

Give me some credit there’s only four Christmas movies on here.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?: A documentary about Mr. Rogers starting with the birth of the television show to his death. This is the fluffiest most heartwarming thing I could have possibly picked to watch on Christmas, and I encourage everyone, even people who hate documentaries and/or never grew up with Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, to watch it. There’s a lot of important messages about acceptance, dealing with tragedy, and mental health that people can learn from and feel good about. Not to mention how he completely revolutionized children’s television. So yeah, he was awesome.10/10

Spider-man Into the Spider-verse: When a rip between dimensions is opened, a bunch of different spider themed superheroes from every comic fan’s wet dreams all get together to close it. Guys I’m not that big of a Spider-man fan, but dang this movie was a ton of fun. I came for the amazing visual effects and stayed for the amazing...everything else. The music, the performances, and the story were all top notch. Also I now have a new favorite Nick Cage role. If you thought the trailer made the animation look interesting, it was just the tip of the iceberg because it is the most visually interesting movie I’ve seen in the last three years. I strongly suggest any fan of animation...or even any fan of great stories and movies in general go see it even if you’re not that big on Spider-Man. Now I’m demanding a Spider-verse Aunt May movie because I have so many questions! And the post credits scene was the best out of any Marvel movie. Period. 10,000/10

The Wiz (2015 musical): I should start making a section for musicals or plays instead of just lumping it in with the movies. It’s the Wizard of Oz...but cool. I’ve never seen any iteration of The Wiz and it seems like I’m constantly hearing about it. So I watched the 2015 version of the 1975 Broadway musical that NBC aired. And yeah it’s good. There were some great performances. But I wasn’t very impressed with the songs themselves, and it’s not really the same without a dog along for the ride, but whatever. 7.5/10

Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle: The surprisingly fun reboot/sequel thing of Jumanji where four teenagers get stuck in a video game that follows every “stuck in a video game” trope you can imagine but actually does it well. It’s a sweet, funny romp through the jungle with some great comedic performances. I really don’t have much to say about it except that this movie is better than it has any right to be. 8/10

The Christmas Chronicles: Two children stow away on Kurt Russell’s, I mean Santa’s sleigh and go on a dangerous, balls to the wall adventure throughout Chicago trying to save Christmas or something. After everyone started talking about how crazy this Netflix movie is I had to watch it to verify if it is indeed as wild as they said. And yes...yes it is. It is so laughably ridiculous and questionable that it’s impossible to actually hate. The elves are some unholy mixture of minions and gremlins, one of the children is a literal felon that no one is concerned about, and Kurt Russell is super into the role but has some sort of thing about fat-shaming Santa. I just...have so many questions! But it was certainly a trip, so I’d have to recommend it just so you too can witness the insanity. -10 “savvy, straight-talking St. Nicks”/10

Arthur Christmas: No, it’s not a Christmas special related to the aardvark cartoon! This is the 2011 animated movie that no one remembers exists. Santa’s clumsy but enthusiastic son Arthur must deliver a forgotten present in less than two hours while the rest of his family deals with some Arrested Development style family drama. This is by far the most underrated Christmas movie of all time; even I didn’t realize it was actually good until I watched it for the first time in 2016! The fun road-trip style plot and the entertaining characters were victims of bad marketing. Arthur is hilariously endearing, and there was so much heart and effort put into it that I can find new things to notice every time I watch it. Not to mention the amazingly animated opening spy sequence! And also Mrs. Claus is secretly a total badass and Bryony the elf is the coolest female character in a Christmas movie ever. The movie’s message of old vs new is nothing we haven’t seen before, but I really don’t care because at the heart of it all, it’s about making people happy on Christmas. If you’re like me and just assumed this movie would suck...or didn’t know it exists, please give it a chance. It’s not perfect, but it’s worth seeing. 9/10

Neo Yokio Pink Christmas: Yes, it’s the Christmas special for Neo Yokio. No I cannot accurately describe it with mere words. There’s a rich bachelor gift exchange, demon possession, and pompous French aunts slinging insults at each other. It is unironically my favorite holiday episode of a show ever, and to me it’s the best Christmas special ever made. I thought I was prepared for the absolute bat-shit ride I would go on, but no...I wasn’t even close. At this point I don’t know if it’s written like this on purpose or if some divine twist of fate made the executives believe this is truly brilliant television. Either way, it is a masterpiece in its own right. There’s even a somewhat intriguing plot and a message about gift giving and capitalism under all the crazy! If you haven’t jumped down the rabbit hole yet, I implore you to watch the insanity that is Neo Yokio and follow it up with Pink Christmas because it will truly make your holiday season. 100,000 demon DNA drugs out of 100,000!

Die Hard: Nothing says Christmas like terrorists taking over a skyscraper and Bruce Willis having to take them all down by himself. Yeah...so I’ve never seen Die Hard before, but this is one of those movies that is so famous that I felt like I’d already absorbed everything important through cultural osmosis. And even though it’s pretty good, I would have liked it better if I didn’t know what was going to happen. My only real complaint is that I think it goes on way too long. More than anything it just made me sad to remember that Alan Rickman is gone. And it bothers me so much that John McClane goes through this building that’s under construction WITHOUT SHOES! 8/10

Books!

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis: The 4th/6th book in the Chronicles of Narnia, in which Eustace Scrubb and his classmate Jill Pole go to the underworld to find King Caspian’s long lost son. Even though my children- the Pevensies aren’t in it, I actually think this book is my favorite of the series so far. Jill and Eustace are both sassy enough to play off each other, Puddleglum absolutely hilarious, and the book actually has a clear cut plot! It reads much more like a Greek myth than a children’s fairy tale since there aren’t nearly as many of Lewis’s trademark author interjections, and you know...it’s a literal journey to the underworld. And can I just say that it’s super refreshing to have an author write two main characters WITH ZERO ROMANTIC INTENTIONS! Especially since they’re freaking children! Now I just wish Disney had continued the movies even more! 9/10

Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare: I’m going to do this with only minor spoilers. It’s the final book in The Dark Artifices trilogy. Will Emma and Julian break the parabatai bond? Will the reflection of the modern day American government- I mean the Cohort/ the Clave fuck up the relationships between Shadowhunters and Downworlders forever? You’ll have to suffer like the rest of us to find out! In my opinion, 99% of this book is amazing, but in the last 50 pages there are some...bullshit ways of solving problems. Like everything that went down with the Cohort in Idris. Not to mention we’ve been so invested in the parabatai curse and how Julian and Emma’s bond would go down and...let’s just say the resolution was way too easy. And if you thought Clare’s other finales were jam packed, you ain't seen nothin’ yet. My copy is 880 pages and there was still more stuff that I wanted to happen...like any sort of scene between Dru and Ash...or an ending between Kit and Ty that doesn’t make me want to cry (the Wicked Powers is going to be brutal). But the rest of that 99% is mind-blowing! There’s so much good I can say that it mostly outranks anything I didn’t like...I mean we finally got a Malec wedding and a proper polyamorous relationship for the Angel’s sake! It may be my least favorite of her finales by default but it was still a fun ride! 9/10

TV shows!

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018): An elite soldier finds a sword that can transform her into a super buff magical girl who helps princesses take down the forces of evil. It’s a reboot of the 1980s cartoon, and holy crap it’s AMAZING! I have a whole new group of children to adopt, each episode is entertaining in its own way, and there’s so...many...good...ships! And it gives Steven Universe a run for its money with the care that went into making every character a different kind of warrior, which I love because the cast is 99% female. My only real complaint is that I never warmed up to Catra because she wasn’t particularly sympathetic to me from the beginning. But I understand why some people love her. If you love well crafted adventurous character driven cartoons and haven’t watched it yet WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? 10/10

Nailed It Holiday: Yes, my favorite baking show (and by that I mean the only baking show I watch) has a holiday season out on Netflix, in which newbie bakers are tasked with making incredibly professional desserts with a very short time limit. And whoever makes the best treat gets 10,000 dollars. I’ve talked about this show before in my June media madness, and I don’t know what it is but I’m so addicted to it. 10/10

Brooklyn nine-nine (season 5): Come on we all know the cop sitcom. It’s the best sitcom. Just in general it’s the best. Great characters that subvert expectations, great humor, and a lot of heart. I’ve known that this show is supposed to be amazing for years, but I only started watching it a few months ago. And since I couldn’t find season 5 anywhere...I got a Hulu subscription just to watch it before season 6 comes out. That’s how good this show is. 10/10

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (season 2): Our favorite underdog comedian is back, and she’s slowly gaining popularity and doing...stuff. Like going on tour. And hanging out with Zachary Levi. Yes, this season is great, but my problem with this series is that every character aside from Midge and Susie are the fucking worst, especially the parents. Midge’s parents suck, Joel’s parents suck, Midge and Joel are appropriately neglectful parents for the time period...I could go on. And it’s not even in a funny way; like it’s just disgusting to watch these power dynamics. Not to mention how old the comedic bits for the parents get (how many times can we hear about Joel needing to date or Midge needing to get married?!) Yes, I realize that we’re supposed to be annoyed AND YES I realize that this is a product of culture and how society was, but none of the parents have any redeeming qualities. In episode one, we’re led to believe that Midge’s parents will grow and change through the season and they never do! At least there are moments where Joel can kind of be redeeming and expand on his actual character before he reverts back to being an asshole. Anyway, my thoughts are pretty much the same as the first season. It’s funny and interesting to watch, but it can be ridiculously frustrating when you hate almost all the characters! 8/10

Fuller House (season 4): Yes I do watch the ridiculous Netflix reboot of Full House. And yes, it is absolutely terrible! I really really hate it! But will I stop watching it? Let’s just say you can pry this pile of garbage from my cold dead hands. I don’t know if I’d call this a guilty pleasure or a hate watch type of show... it’s certainly not so bad it’s good territory like Neo Yokio...but Full House was pretty much my entire childhood. And yes, the original show is also not great. I loved it as a kid, and it was my first real exposure to a non-traditional family in live action, but yeah it doesn’t age well. What I’m trying to say is...I have no good reason for watching this.

I don’t mean to say that there’s nothing good about it, especially this season. They really back off on the more cringe-worthy catch phrases, Stephanie being aware of how stupid the writing is and constantly pointing it out is actually funny, their Christmas episode was surprisingly genuine, and they impressed me by actually make two female characters try and work through their difficulties instead of pitting them against each other for laughs. It has its moments, just like the original but definitely not enough to make up for the worst of it. Maybe this generation of children will like it the way lots of my generation used to like Full House...but yeah it’s awful, I hate it so much. -1 missing Tanner child out of 3

Voltron Legendary Defender (season 8) SPOILERS: It’s the final season of Netflix’s Voltron, and boy it was...something. I didn’t want to make this a big rant/defense of the show...but I feel like I have to highlight some things because this fandom is a shithole that refuses to see the good in anything.

There is so much good and so much...not good I can say about it, so here’s a couple things. I know this show didn’t go the direction anyone wanted, but that doesn’t make it bad. In addition to the stunning fight scenes and music, the performances this season were just amazing! I literally wanted to cry every other episode even though sometimes I didn’t know why the fuck something was happening. I don’t know how I feel about Honerva’s plan. I understand her motivation, but I was constantly questioning how we got from point A to point B... so yeah the plot and writing could be...weird at times. Also everyone seemed to have super pointy chins this season...

Spoiler alert: Not many of us wanted Lance and Allura to happen, but I truly believe it wasn’t done in a half assed way. At the very least, I appreciate that they had a genuine bond that developed over so many seasons. BECAUSE YES IT DID! Anyone who says they had no development or that it felt forced never paid attention. I wanted it to stay platonic; I wanted Klance to happen, but...I can’t be too mad at the writers because they at least tried. I still believe that Klance was endgame and the creators were forced to change the outcome of the show later on. AND YES LANCE DID GET A CHARACTER ARC! It may not have been the one we wanted to see, but I’m baffled that people think Lance living with his family, surrounded by people he loves-which is what he wanted all along- is not a happy ending. I just wish his relationship with Keith wasn’t pretty much ignored all season. But I believe Allura is his past that taught him to genuinely love and Keith is his future who will make Lance his “first choice”. And I’m not even gonna try to explain how I feel about Shiro and Allura’s endings because everything I feel is so complicated and layered. There is good and there is bad.

TLDR: This show teaches us that we’re stronger together, and I think the “fandom” completely missed the point because they do nothing but tear others down and refuse to look at things from other perspectives. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO NOT LIKE IT, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO TAKE AWAY OTHER PEOPLE’S ENJOYMENT AND BE A DICK ABOUT IT. It may not have been everything I wanted, but I’m glad I went on this ride. Besides, there are canonically infinite realities so there’s got to be a reality where all your dreams for the show come true. As a season, I’d say it’s a 7.5/10.

Honorable Mentions

I watched Avengers: Infinity War again. And yes it’s still great.

I’m watching Superstore because when another sitcom comes on before The Good Place, why not? Also since I finished season 5 of Brooklyn 99 I had to use my Hulu subscription for something.

Camp Camp has a holiday episode...so naturally I watched it...several times. Please watch Camp Camp.

Hellsing Ultimate Abridged finally ended, and I feel obligated to shout this out because, hey when you put out one episode a year it’s a big accomplishment to finish it!

Super Smash Bros Ultimate is finally here!!!!!!!!!!!

ALL THE WINTER ANIME IS ENDING!!! They were all so amazing! So shout out to Iroduku-The world in colors, Bloom into You, Hinomaru Sumo, Dakaichi, Banana Fish, Jingai no Yomen, Golden Kamuy, Skull-faced Bookseller Honda-san, Tsurune, AND RUN WITH THE WIND even though they’re not finished yet.

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messedupessy · 6 years

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Hii! Congrats on 500 followers!!!!

Hellu and thank you Bone daddy!! (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) and oh movies, have to admit I don’t watch that much movies so I don’t know much about different one’s, or at least not popular one’s unless it’s a Disney movie or something, but I will do my best, will do more of an idea on what kind of movies they would like instead of specific ones, so here goes

Sans:

He does not care much of what he watches, as he usually falls asleep less than half way in, but he do like science fiction movies allot, movies with allot of technology and stuff about space, as he finds them really interesting as it's fun to try to think up if some of those machines and gadgets would be possible to make in real life, his mind running away with ideas but he usually doesn’t get much further than that, though mostly he just finds it interesting what people can come up with.

He at times pretends to fall asleep just to mess with his bro while they watch movies together, then just to suddenly joke or comment on something or toss some popcorn or something else on his bro, making Papyrus jump in surprise and then smack him on the arm because that was not funny brother now don’t interrupt him he’s trying to watch this movie, unlike you you lazybones making Sans chuckle as both of them return to the movie, Sans flipping one last piece of popcorn on Papyrus just because he can.

He also do like watching documentaries, doesn’t really matter what about, documentaries are pretty much the only thing he doesn’t fall asleep to, as he is one big nerd deep down and loves to learn, he also like comedy movies of course.

But anything goes though, he will either fall asleep or sit and toss random puns, jokes and various snacks through out the whole thing anyhow, though he is not that big of a fan of horror though, like he will watch it but he won’t really enjoy it, it’s just not his thing.

And for snacks, pretty much the same as for the movies anything goes, he will dip whatever it is in lots of ketchup though, wether if that is because he likes the taste or just for shits and giggles is anyone’s guess, he do prefer more saltier snacks though like chips and popcorn but won’t say no to something else.

Papyrus:

He absolutely loves watching movies, it’s a great way to bond and spend time with your friends and family, he is very picky with what he watches tho and usually prefers to watch movies he have already watched a dozen times before, he isn’t against watching new things he just have really high standards and just a preference to watch the same things over and over again, especially his MTT shows which he have recorded on a bunch of old VH’s.

He especially like movies when it’s about a hero/heroine/etc on a quest to save the world with their friends, when there is a great evil they need to defeat with a slice of romance, so fantasy movies are a big yes to him, anything with epic journeys in strange worlds where the main character needs to go through trials to grow as a person and find a way to save everyone, movies with knights and medieval things, magic and lot’s of drama and dramatic flair to everything!

Papyrus often gets pretty emotional when watching movies as he gets really into the story and the characters, he gets easily embarrassed and flustered when a character does something embarrassing, making him shout out at the screen while burying his face in a pillow, or if it’s really bad he will quickly excuse himself after asking the others to pause for a bit alongside a bad excuse and either jump out of the nearest window or rush out into another room to shout out his embarrassment, like no why did they do that no, just no WHY?! then he will calmly as if nothing happened return to his seat, saying they can turn it back on now.

Undyne has introduced him to anime and he absolutely loves it, especially love ghibli movies they are right up his alley, he have also ended up watching some old Disney and dreamworks movies which he also love to watch, he have ended up crying a bunch of times thanks to them which he insist he isn’t he just got something in his eye, as he sniffles loudly and cries harder, why couldn’t the fox and the hound stay friends for?! Sans giving him some pats on his shoulder with a there there, and then he makes a pun making Papyrus snort and then toss a pillow at him because brother no do not ruin this extremely sad and emotional moment of the movie with your puns!

He also of course likes watching movies where there are puzzles and you have to think and try to solve stuff, might not be movies but he do love gaming shows where you have to answer stuff and figure things out etc.

He like Sans is not big on horror movies, as they end up making him extremely jumpy for days afterwards and he just do not like them, at all, but he will insist on watching them if it is suggested, as there is no way the great Papyrus is scared!

And when it comes to snacks, he of course insist on having all different kinds while he watches movies for the ultimate movie watching experience, he usually forget to eat any of them though as he usually gets so engrossed in the movie he’s watching, he does not have that big of a sweet tooth tho so if he do eat anything it’s probably some chips or popcorn, though he do like his popcorn very buttery tho.

Red:

Really old and shitty horror movies is his jam, the worse they are the better he likes them, he doesn’t watch much movies but when he do he is all about the bad horror, or just horror in general, as he can’t stop himself from laughing really loudly at how stupid people are or how bad the plot and everything is, making anyone else who watches with him glare at him and wishing for him to shut the fuck up, and will tell him so if they know him well enough not to be scared shitless of him, Edge will smack him for him to shut up if he is there watching which he most likely is.

He will point out inaccuracies in how the various people are killed with a wide smirk, telling in way too much gory detail how to do it properly just to make people uncomfortable for shits and giggles, Edge if he is around will once again smack him because please just shut the fuck up no one wants to hear it god damn it.

Red also loves watching really dark comedy movies, something like “happy three friends” or something like it, just really dark, horrible, and extremely offensive comedies is something he loves to watch.

Though he isn’t that picky with what he watches, something he refuses to watch though is anything involving science, or at least when it’s allot of science going on at least, as he detest science so damn much thanks to his past, anything science brings up too many bad memories he does not want to remember, that he will immediately gets pissed and either he will immediately leave or insist that they change movies because otherwise he is fucking leaving, it has happened that he have destroyed the tv with a bone attack when something sciency has appeared on it, mostly without thinking like a damn reflex, he tries not to react like that after the last time when he got scolded af by Edge, they might be very well off nowadays but tvs are still very expensive!

If watching movies with Edge, which he most likely is, he will be sitting with his phone and randomly take photos of his bro through out the movie, as he always need more photos of his baby bro so he can show the world what a fantastic and cute brother he has, which will fluster Edge to no end because Brother stop it why are you like this why can’t you just watch the god damn movie in peace and stop been so weird?

Red just like Sans also at times falls asleep while watching movies, not as often as Sans does though, Red prefers to stay awake but at times pretends to fall asleep just to mess around, making extremely loud snore noises and when people least expect it shouts out a “BUH!” or something else when people least expects it scaring the shit out of them and him then ending up in a laughing fit at their reactions.

When it comes to snacks, anything goes he will sit there and pop his mouth full with various chips and candy at the same time chewing as loudly as possible just to piss people off, just been disgusting and getting shit all over himself, unless he is wearing his jacket, then he is not spilling anything at all, as he got the jacket from Edge so he treasures it hella lot and no way is he getting it ruined, Red do prefer to just sit and drink while watching movies tho, like he usually only eat stuff to gross people out because he’s a bit of an ass, there is obviously alcohol in what he drinks, like beers etc, he also ofc drinks mustard, he do like eating chips while drinking though.

Edge:

Edge does not watch movies often, mostly because he considers watching movies a waste of his time as he got much more important stuff he needs to do, like his never ending pile of paperwork, cleaning the house, training and checking up on his guardsmen, checking traps and do patrols etc, as Edge is one big workaholic, but when he do end up watching movies so is it because either Red or Cackles, aka UF Undyne, forces him to because he works way too much, he protests hella lot but eventually gives in as he knows he srs need to take a break even though he doesn’t want to, but just for an evening then he needs to be back or someone will mess his hard work up completely and he can’t allow that to happen.

And for what kind of movies he prefers to watch, so is he a sucker for romance movies, the cheesier and more dramatic the better, he would totally love those Spanish dramas allot, he loves romance movies because he is a super romantic at heart, is all about giving roses and fancy dinner dates etc, which he will vehemently deny that he is and that he likes those kind of movies if asked, unless he truly trusts you then he can hesitantly admit it that he do with a blush, so what if he likes romance movies?! just because he is the feared and famous captain of the royal guard doesn’t mean he can’t like romance movies! though please keep that knowledge on the down low he got a reputation to uphold after all!

He similar to Papyrus gets really into the movies he watches, at least when it comes to romance ones otherwise he doesn’t get as invested, but with romance movies though he either gets so into the movie that he argues with the things that happens, telling the characters to not do that, that is not what happened you got it all wrong, you shouldn’t take him back Linda what are you doing you fool you’re supposed to get together with Mark! or he will sit there completely quiet, not allowing anyone to talk or else he will schreech at them to shut up or else they will wish they had never talked in the first place! he also like Papyrus does not handle very embarrassing parts in movies that well either, lot’s of schreeching into a pillow or have to leave the room for a bit because no just no why did they do such a stupid thing while been extremely embarrassed himself.

Edge is very opinionated when he watches movies, no matter what movie or how invested in the movie he is, he will have opinions on it no matter what, he will immediately point out things he do not agree with or how if the characters in it had done this instead of what they had done like a pair of utter idiots things would had turned out so much better, he will try to stay quiet if someone asks him to, but he will still let out sarcastic af comments under his breath, and don’t get him started on plot holes! he do not like it when something makes absolutely no sense, like don’t let him watch a movie like “The Room” he will snap and go into a rant, schreeching how awful and just horrible the whole thing is while Red laughs his non existent guts out in the background.

Romantic tragedies are the ultimate guilty pleasure for him, like they don’t even have to be good ones, he will end up crying and clutching a pillow anyway, denying that he is crying if pointed out with a barely held back sniffle, this place is clearly dusty as he have gotten some dust in his eye he will have to clean later to make sure it doesn’t happen again shut up! Red will tease him when he cries which will piss Edge off because you are ruining the moment Red shut your damn mouth and let him enjoy the movie in peace! and stop taking photos of me you’re not allowed to take photos of me when I am crying I have told you so many times!

Something Edge does not enjoy watching is comedies, not even romantic comedies, as he finds the comedy and humour in them to be pretty tasteless, like there is no class in the humour it’s not executed well and the jokes are not funny, though if watching them he will end up letting out a snort at the worst jokes of them all which he immediately denies, claiming it was just so bad he had to laugh at it when he in fact found it kinda funny. he also isn’t that big of a fan of horror movies, mostly because they also are bad and tasteless, and that he already has to see such horrors time to time in real life why would he want to see more of it? and also they are doing stuff completely wrong most of the time too, but he will watch them if Red really wants to, he isn’t a fan of animated or cartoonish movies either, mostly as he considers them to be for children, Cackles is trying to get him to watch some anime with her and he is slowly caving in to at least try it out, and when he do he will end up absolutely loving it.

For snacks, so is he not really into snacking while watching, or snacking at all, as he just does not like candy or stuff like that that much, he prefers like some carrots or something with some dip if he now snacks, as he is a bit of a health nut and has a diet he follows religiously so to stay healthy, Red thinks Edge needs to get that stick out of his ass and live a little, relax it’s just some snacks for a night baby bro just give in already, Edge will of course resist any sort of attempt on his brothers part because no way is he going to eat such unhealthy things unless forced to in a social setting, though he do have a weakness for this one candy, it’s like a chocolate ball kind of candy which he really likes but tries hard not to eat as they are filled with sugar and stuff.

#undertale #underfell #sans #papyrus #MessedUpEssy #underfell papyrus #underfell sans #undertale sans #undertale papyrus #undertale headcanons #Essy's Undertale Headcanons #undertale headcanon #dang this turned out hella long #should I put it under a read more?#nah can't be bothered #still this took awhile to write #and I am pretty happy with it #really had to think what kind of things they would like which was fun #I had a part which I liked on sans but which I removed as it was a bit out of character #that he was going to dislike when the science was wrong in movies #and end up in arguments and debates with ppl watching it who also are very sciency #also for him to toss popcorn and boohing etc #but like I said it felt way too out of character even though I find it funny #edge is precious and I srs love him #the workaholic boy that he is #he srs need a damn vacation #sorry that these are taking so long #btw if any of you wonders about anything that I have written etc then feel free to send an ask in #now just 12 more to go I think #yay

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thefandomhouse · 4 years

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just wanted to write out a bunch of My Hero thoughts/opinions because idk anybody else who watches it (or who would want to), but i don't really want to get into deep enough into the fandom to see the #drama

so, a bunch of random shit in no particular order:

- this is more about my relationship with anime in general but.... i always feel like i need to put a disclaimer on My Anime Opinions because of the perviness and fanservice and sexualization. it’s frustrating because the “shounen” genre (and yeah i know it’s not exactly a genre. whatever) caters to my interests in so many other ways!!! big, flashy battles, cool powers and magic systems, huge emphasis on The Power of Friendship, cheesy humor, great animation, everything is all kinds of HYPE and EXCITEMENT and FUN....but since shows like this are targeted towards teenage boys and often made by horny men, there’s also Boobs and token pervert characters that serve as an excuse to show More Boobs or Fantasize About Boobs. and the women’s powers are either “look i’m a girl!!!” (there were a couple of women early on in hunter x hunter whose powers were....sewing and vacuuming?? seriously??? and then another one later on who was an older woman who chose to make herself look like a little girl as her superpower??) or “what’s a power-related excuse to make these costumes As Skimpy As Possible” (cough cough Momo and Hagakure cough cough) or even having NO excuse (what the fuck, Bubble Girl, i know it was a fan design contest thing but that never should have been accepted it makes no sense i--) and that’s. really damn tiring and annoying. mha hasn’t quite crossed the line for me yet overall -- meaning my disgust with grape trash and other gross tropes hasn’t outweighed my enjoyment of every other aspect of the story and characters, and i hope that never becomes the case. (i tried to watch 7 deadly sins on netflix and??? the main character gropes an unconscious woman in literally the first episode with no consequences???? no fucking thank you!!!!! i’m OUT)

- anyway if anybody reads this and has any show recs that hit that Good Shounen Hype vibe with good animation, fantasy/sci-fi/superpower elements, but minimal (or nonexistent??) Creep Vibes, please send them my way. i know there are a bunch of good slice-of-life or comedy or drama shows that have queer themes and sensitive storytelling but man.....if there’s no magic or dragons what’s even the POINT

- on a related note, god fucking bless every “AU - M!neta M!norou Doesn’t Exist” fic on ao3, and everyone who makes every member of class 1-a queer in some way or another, so i can get my cool powers and great characters and dramatic plots without the threat of disgust and frustration

- also i just read the School Briefs series and while there were entirely too many chapters/sections that focused on grape trash, it WAS mentioned that Tiger of the Wild Wild Pussycats is canonically a trans man (who hasn’t been killed off!), and Shinso Hitoshi became the only man at UA I respect with one line: “He’s gotta be expelled for sexual harassment one of these days, right?”

- seriously, if shinso’s transfer gets approved i would literally rather have grape trash expelled than whoever ends up being the traitor (if it’s a hero course student. i honestly don’t really care about traitor speculation/theories).

- and yes “only man i respect” includes aizawa and every other 1-a boy who just!! lets shit happen with barely a comment!!! again, bless every fic where grape trash gets expelled early on or at the training camp because Hey, What He Does Is Fucked Up Actually and maybe someone who consistently disrespects and violates his peers’ boundaries and privacy shouldn’t be accepted as a HERO without getting some behavioral therapy first???? same kinda goes for bakugo too though, they really need to address his anger issues and beef with mido beyond “let’s force them to team up in high-stress situations even though this boy basically tried to obliterate the other one on, like, the second day of class. they’ll probably work it out!!”

- and on the subject of bakugo! i really fucking can’t ship him romantically with mido as their history and relationship stands in canon. (this is not meant to shame anybody for shipping it, i just want to articulate why it’s a notp for me personally. expressing my opinions is the point of this list.) i can see the foundations -- mido obsessed with baku, baku constantly frustrated by yet aware of mido, both of them being drawn to each other and tangled up in each other’s ideas of what it means to be a hero. but. baku made mido’s entire childhood hell. rejected and abused him for something he couldn’t control, ostracized him from all of his peers, mocked his passions, crushed his dreams, told him to jump off a roof. of course mido still clung to him--baku’s strong and smart and talented, and he was the only friend mido ever had, the only friend he had left, the “hero” he could see in his own life.

but at UA he has other friends, other heroes, people who support him and believe in him. it’s his chance to step outside of baku’s shadow and see his own self worth. and it’s baku’s chance to see how wrong he was, and outgrow his anger and prejudice!! see others as his equals instead of his inferiors! but it’s gonna take years for that to happen for both of them, and while i can see them becoming partners and friends who can finally talk to each other on the same level, and work together better than anyone because they know each other so damn well after everything they went through....i think they need to do that healing and growth separately, for the most part.

and like...okay, disclaimer, i am fully asexual and aromantic, so while i love reading shippy fics, there are some things i just cannot fucking understand or relate to. the whole “sexual tension between people who hate each other but can’t stop thinking about each other” or “arguments turn into make-out sessions” thing is just beyond me. if i hate a person i Do Not Want to be around them! at all!! so the idea that baku treats mido like that BECAUSE he’s attracted to him?? incomprehensible.

and on mido’s end, no matter how much he respects or admires baku, or even if he was endlessly infatuated with/attracted to him when they were younger, why the FUCK would he want to stay with someone who made him feel like dirt for so long, when he’s finally surrounded by people who love him fully and unapologetically? i want him to have more self-respect than that. i honestly, truly want to see baku grow and develop to the extent that he and mido can stand on the same level as equals. i want to see mido unashamed and unafraid, i want baku to apologize and mean it, i want mido to forgive him, i want baku to become the kind of hero mido always believed he could be.

but to me, that depth and complexity of relationship (while very very very good!!) is NOT the same thing as a romance, and turning it into one feels wrong when the foundations of it are just....baku tormenting mido, while mido had nothing and no one else to turn to. (his mom is great, but a parent is not the same as a friend, and she was literally the only person in his life who cared about him while baku and his cronies were beating him up and ridiculing him in front of teachers who turned a blind eye.) if they had been equal rivals from the beginning, with mido able to hold his own physically, socially, and/or emotionally instead of being left bruised and battered in the dirt every time, then sure! rivals to lovers, have at it. but for me, there’s gotta be that give-and-take.

i haven’t read shippy fic for those two and i’m sure there’s a lot of great stuff!! i’ve read platonic bk//dk-centric fic by writers who DO ship them and write mostly shippy stuff, and their take on that relationship is great and engaging and everything. but i feel like, to me, even when the growth and development of their canon-based relationship is handled really well, it’d feel wrong to me as soon as it turned romantic.

- .....which is one of the reasons why todo//mido is my JAM. bonding over shared loneliness and trauma, respecting each other as rivals right from the beginning, the contrast of chatty and sunny mido with quiet and calm todo, hurt/comfort on both sides, navigating their relationships with the people who have hurt them so much in the past, the capacity to be gentle and tender with each other while remaining passionate and dedicated rivals, growing and healing together, that good good Pining because neither one of them believes that they deserve the other, all of it!!! now THAT i can relate to and understand and see as the basis for romance. mido changed todo’s whole damn worldview in ONE FIGHT after todo spilled his whole tragic backstory to mido in their second conversation.

even so (and again, this might be ace/aro me not relating) i kinda roll my eyes whenever a fic emphasizes how attractive they find each other right away (especially on todo’s end, when mido is consistently described as plain or unremarkable). worst offenders are when they ~just so happen~ to be EXACTLY each other’s “type.” like, alright, sure, i gUESS.

it’s just so much more interesting to me if attraction follows affection instead of the other way around? especially in the context of canon events. but whatever, love at first sight’s just not my thing. never has been. and i like the idea that even though the start of their friendship is so chaotic and rushed in some ways, it still takes them time to get to know each other and come to terms with their own feelings. (slow burn slow burn SLOW BURN)

- okay those are all my more sincere/serious opinions

- i know canon is like “stop being such a crybaby :/” but mido crying all the time is one of my favorite things about him and i hope it never goes away, at least not completely

- some fics have mido getting growth spurts and getting really tall, and it’s an anime trope that getting taller parallels character growth/maturity (like Ed growing up in FMA after being short and mad about it was one of his defining characteristics for so long) but again......i just want him to stay short....please let my boy stay a small overemotional nerd.... hori please i’m begging you

- it’s hilarious to me that the “dabi is a todoroki” theory is present in almost every single damn fic where that character makes an appearance. personally i have no stake in the theory (wouldn’t be surprised if it’s true, wouldn’t be disappointed if it isn’t) but i feel like it’s never gonna die even after his identity is truly revealed

- apparently shinso/kami is a decently popular ship and i.....have no idea if those two have ever interacted at all?? did they talk to each other in the show or in the manga or some side story and i missed it? are they popular JUST because they parallel eraser//mic to some extent??? or is it purely a case of “those personalities would be fun together--SHIP TIME”?? idk i don’t get it but it’s funny

- back to School Briefs, there’s a neat Kendo-centric chapter during the school festival that ends up being an introspective on kendo’s relationship with her own gender and the idea of performing femininity for the beauty pageant and it kind of rules??

- there’s also an entire chapter from the pov of koda’s bunny during their first couple days in the dorms. apparently koda can’t understand animals, he can just control them by talking to them!

- in shinso’s chapter he overhears the dance squad talking about the sports festival and he hears mido talk about how useful and great shinso’s quirk will be for hero work and shinso’s like “!!! thank you???? finally???” and then resolves to get stronger and make it into the hero course before they meet again

- during the school festival when mido ran off to make eri’s candy apples, iida and todo were like “is he running into trouble again?? can he PLEASE tell us where he’s going? we would track his phone but he never brings it with him anyways!!! what are we supposed to do about him!!!!” and then they found out what he was doing and went “oh ;u;”

- School Briefs in general (minus grape trash sections) were exactly the kind of “slice of life but there are superpowers” fluffy nonsense i always crave, would recommend

- also hilarious: baby mido in fic (especially de-aging fic) is often either a) the Most Precious Sunshine Child in Existence, even villains can’t help but adore him, or b) the most obnoxious, borderline-creepy, whiny little brat in existence, No Wonder Baku Couldn’t Stand Him. i imagine the “reality” would fall somewhere in the middle and it’s always a little jarring when authors so solidly fall on one extreme or the other lmfao

- just bnha fanfic things: “is this an intentional use of All for One vs One for All or was it a typo/mistake on the author’s part??”

- that’s all i’ve got for now yall i love these characters

#some minor efforts have been taken to keep this from showing up in main tags #but not really #so if it does uh: these are just a bunch of barely coherent opinions thrown together inone long monster post #mine

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inoue-takehiko-blog · 7 years

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Monthly Mangaka Spotlight 9: Takehiko Inoue

Hey gang, and welcome to the 9th installment of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, featuring Takehiko Inoue!

I will be completely honest starting from here. At first I decided to take Takehiko Inoue for two reasons. Firstly, I really want an excuse to read all the Vagabond again, it's a statement I feel I do not need to justify. Second, he had three famous manga enough to read my book not starting with an animal hunt. Also, Nate has made me read the Slam Dunk for years now and I thought writing an article about it would eventually bring this to the rest.

When you are best known for almost single-handedly popularizing a sport in your country, you can rest assured you probably did something noteworthy. Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk did just that, bringing basketball to national attention in Japan and winning awards from publishers, fans, and the Japanese Basketball Association along the way. A true fan of the sport, Inoue leveraged the popularity into the Slam Dunk Scholarship Program run by its publisher Shueisha. Not bad for only his third best manga.

Inoue spent just less than a year as an assistant, working with Hoko Tsukasa on City Hunter for 11 months. His first published work was Purple Maple in 1988, a simple short about Akagi, a high schooler, whose basketball team challenge his rivals in a regional tournament in a fight over a girl. Although his art was already exceptional, the simple plot was typical of a first work and showcased his obsession with basketball. Although Inoue himself has not confirmed it, many of Inoue’s fans consider Purple Maple the trial run for Slam Dunk.

Slam Dunk, a 31 volume series published between 1990 and 1996 Weekly Shonen Jump, is easily the series most synonymous with Inoue’s name and likely more than a little autobiographical in nature. Much like Inoue himself, the protagonist, Hanamichi Sakuragi, joins his school’s basketball team to impress a girl. Also like Inoue, Sakuragi is egotistical and fancies himself a prodigy at basketball before even playing his first game. Unlike Inoue--probably--he is extremely physically gifted, considered an unbeatable monster among the delinquents from his previous school.

The story of Slam Dunk is one of personal growth. Despite all his advantages, Sakuragi is forced to come to terms with the fact that personal strength will only get you so far and it takes dedicated work to become a great basketball player. Sakuragi learns humility and grows as a person all while the reader enjoys Shohoku’s triumphs, high school hijinks, and Inoue’s artwork during the period he really comes into his own as an artist. Although basketball is the vehicle upon which the story rides, what makes Slam Dunk so iconic is the strong characters and excellent pacing of the manga.

After Slam Dunk, Inoue began work on a manga i like to call “the Japanese Space Jam”. Buzzer Beater, a four volume series originally published in Monthly Shonen Jump, was Inoue’s third--and, in my opinion, last---series to focus on basketball. The manga had a much more flamboyant style and character design than Slam Dunk, taking place in a setting in which intergalactic alien teams dominate the sport of basketball. Hideyoshi Tanaka is an orphan living in New York who makes his living hustling people in street basketball who is drafted into the Earth’s team which may just have a chance at winning a championship.

During his work on Buzzer Beater, Inoue contemplated ending his career as a mangaka, feeling he had nothing else to contribute. One of his editors at Morning recommended he read the novel Miyamoto Musashi by Yoshikawa Eiji. While reading the book, Inoue felt the desire to draw the faces of the characters, which eventually resulted in his decision to write Vagabond. In retrospect, the shift from Slam Dunk to Vagabond seemed almost natural for Inoue. Sakuragi and Musashi are similar protagonists being young, egotistical prodigies, but Inoue’s Musashi is a force of nature.

An ongoing series first published in Weekly Morning in 1998, Vagabond chronicles the early life and development of the legendary Miyamoto Musashi from a wild boy to the greatest philosopher swordsman in the history of Japan. The series has the atmosphere of mythic quest, a series of individual, almost allegorical, lessons that Musashi must overcome to reach the next stage of his odyssey to become “invincible under the sun”. Inoue’s portrayal of Musashi is unique among both fictional and historical works. My personal theory is that Inoue is drawing upon the true archetypical force of Musashi, which must be enormously stressful for him. Inoue has put the series on hiatus a number of times due to health concerns without halting work on REAL.

REAL, an ongoing series published in Weekly Young Jump since 1999, is perhaps the most aptly named manga I have ever read, although Way Too Real may have been better. On the face of it, the manga seems to be about a number of characters related to the wheelchair basketball team named the Tigers, but basketball takes a back seat to the real theme of the series. Describing it as a more serious take on Slam Dunk is simply inaccurate. The closest comparisons I can conjure are to JUST Jude Law’s tumultuous character from the ‘90s science fiction film Gattaca or perhaps a perspective piece placing the reader in the shoes of Robin William’s character in Awakenings.

I don’t often like to discuss themes in manga because my experience studying authors has taught me that almost 100% of the time they are unintended if not entirely opposed to the author’s intentions. Even Inoue will admit that he never has a theme going into a particular work, but they tend to crystalize over the course of his writing and he is able to distinguish them in retrospect. With REAL, it's overcoming personal disaster, and the manga absolutely does not pull punches. In heartfelt series like One Piece, action and drama build to crescendos that crystalize into singular evocative moments, but REAL seems to touch upon that rarity in every chapter as it describes every small tragedy of the characters autonomy being taken away piece by piece and their fight, both with their personal hopelessness and with their new physical and social limitations, to take it back.

Inoue’s is a self-described egoist who endorses that personality type in his own works and therefore has paid close attention to his own development as a mangaka. Like many artists, he looks back at his earlier work with a feeling of embarrassment. He takes pride in his work, both in terms of quality and quantity, saying in one interview “One story is 150 frames. I've been known to make three in five hours”. He feels that in his early days as a mangaka, all he wanted to draw was “cool” things, but as he grew more mature he broadened the scope of his work, becoming drawn to illustrating ugly characters and portraying bad people.

Even early on it was plain to see that Inoue was going to become something special as an artist. The way he captured the movement of Shohoku’s players in action showed both his intrinsic understanding of the movement as a basketball player and a tremendous grasp of anatomy. Many of the most impactful panels in his works would not be possible without his mastery of portraying mood through shading and capturing emotion through expression. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is one of single most gifted artists in the industry. His illustration truly are art and are evocative in their own right, combined with his vivid characters, Inoue has produced some achingly beautiful moments. Inoue credits his use of a brush for the unique appearance of his art, stating that he began using one during Vagabond when he realized Musashi's rival, Kojiro Sasaki, could not be drawn with a pen.

To Inoue, story is second to characters. He has said that truly vivid characters will tell the story all by themselves. Each character requires that he draw something from himself and face the same challenges as them. Once he has a vivid character, he said, the story comes naturally as a result of their struggle. In that way, Inoue attempts to write each manga as if it were their documentary, with all the respect to the individual that entails. It’s easy to see how that may come naturally to him as so many of his characters likely face the same challenges as Inoue himself. Young and confident but uncertain about their futures, talented but forced to confront the fact that they will still have to work hard to succeed. To a one they realize they must overcome challenges to eventually meet the standards demanded by their high opinion of themselves.

With such a transcendent artistic talent, it is truly remarkable that Inoue’s writing could be considered equal to his illustrations. Although he humbly stated that he hadn’t thought himself good enough at art to become a fine artist, Inoue seems to have the opinion that creating manga is more difficult. Unlike artists, who must convey beauty on a canvas, with mangaka beauty is not enough, since they must create stories which must have meaning and entertain. In terms of raw work, only catching two hours of sleep a night when a deadline draws near, despite having a team of five assistants supporting you, Inoue certainly presents a strong argument. Much like his protagonists, Inoue’s ability is likely the result of tremendous talent honed to its absolute potential through an unbelievable amount of work. Only that could produce the works he has created.

Source: crunchyroll

#akehiko inoue

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dukeofriven · 7 years

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Brevity Isn’t My Jam: Musings on Nerd Culture 2017 [An Adjuration for Compassion]

Watching the news flow out of SanDiego Comic Con I am realizing just how much Import Nerd Stuff there is that I used to watch but stopped caring about because it’s mediocre. It feels like 99% of what’s hip and mainstream in nerdom right now is stuff with great visuals, punchy dialogue, and no soul - bonus points for confusing cynicism and violence for mature storytelling. I stopped watching the Marvel Netflix TV shows after Daredevil Season 2 demonstrated that it had a lot to show about violence but nothing to say about it. I walked away from Game of Thrones a long time ago when I realized that great cinematography and great acting don’t make-up for a show whose real themes all end up being bleak, cynical, and rather juvenile - GoT smears a lot of mud on everything, but it’s a simulacrum of realism, not the real thing. Westworld? I enjoyed the first few episodes, but when I went away on a trip and came back the impetus to pick it back up again was gone. I knew what I’d get watching it: some pseudo-serious philosophic musing intercut with bloody violence and titivating nudity that in the end don’t actually mean anything.

It’s not that any of these shows are bad per-se - but they’re not great, either. They’re fine. They’re okay. It feels like the entire scope of Nerdom industries is just... biding it’s time, waiting for something to effect actual change, while everything else just sort of continues on, like Bilbo aging with the ring of power. HBO-esque blood dramas look and feel like this, super hero movies look and feel like that, indie hits all bleed into another. It’s why I watch a lot of cartoon shows - it’s like they’re ten years ahead on finding post-modern deconstructed narratives played-out. They’re not afraid to be sincere in their emotions, they’re not afraid to experiment in truly unusual ways. They’re not afraid to be kind. I struggle a lot with kindness. As an often-bullied, thinks-he’s-so-smart hey-there-faggot sort of kid, sarcasm and irony were my tools of survival, the shows I enjoyed often as sarcastic and ironic as I was - or, like with MST3K, a celebration of heckling itself.* But for irony to have any meaning it has to have some kind of sincerity to bounce off of, just as a deconstruction needs a construction to be a reflection of. What’s GoT a deconstruction of, exactly - Lord of the Rings? Our nearest filmic touchstone is the Jackson movies, which - like GoT’s - were incredibly violent. The biggest difference, besides their postive-versus-cynical tone, is that LOTR has far less female characters, but doesn’t treat them so brutally or disposable. Is that really what we needed in our lives? “Man LOTR was all-right but what it lacked was violence against women, especially sexual violence. And tiddies. I hope someone with an extremely dim view of humanity comes along and rectifies that on TV”** It was hip to be cynical when your reference point for fantasy films was 1985′s Legend and saccharine Disney flickers, but almost every fantasy film since Shrek has felt the need to acknowledge within the text that the conventions of fantasy are unrealistic: every fantasy movie seems to feel the need to reassure its audience that it knows better than to be a fantasy movie. Shrek came out in 2001, which means no teenager alive came of age in a time when animated movies didn’t have someone hanging a lampshade on the conventions of the genre and winking at the camera. In others words, none of them came up in a world experiencing any of those lamp-shaded conventions our cynical, deconstructive media is skewering in the first place. (Also, no one under 20 remembers the merchandizing world that existed pre-Pokémon, which blows my goddamn mind.) What has all that wink-and-a-nod cynicism done to our psyches? Preserved ironic teenaged detachment well into adulthood, certainly, which is possibly the only reason something so ridiculously juvenile as Frank Miller’s take on Batman can be enjoying such a renaissance. My point, which I’ve largely let drift away from me here, is that it is very hard to be kind when your instinct is to be cutting - to get a laugh from the crowd by bringing someone down rather than raise them up. The impulse to wander over into the AvClub and treat everyone to my rapier wit about how their crummy show sure likes stacking up the bodies is a strong one, but what’s that get me? I want to be kinder. I want to be better at it. For the time being if you hit my particular buttons (like defending your right to use noxious fabric softeners that can be smelt a block away and make scent-sensitive people physically ill) I’m going to get riled up and pissy - but I don’t want to be. There’s a Vonnegut quote, good for any occasion

“Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.” that I wish was more in circulation. Take a look at the crop of today’s nerdy properties and what binds most of them together is the shared belief that kindness is so rare as to be miraculous. A brief, unexpected respite from the awfulness that is the default human existence is almost unbelievable to the rational mind. Kindness is the exception, not the rule - left to their own devices the people of Westworld will abuse robots with no thought to morality. The Fates in Westros do nothing but punish the hubris of anyone who acts with honourable intentions. Don’t know what is happening on Marvel TV, but it probably involves a lot of slow punching, corrupt politicians, and the most fleeting reprieve from grinding, eternal despair. The real world is awful enough as it is right now without all of our media feeling the need to double-down and reinforce the air of cynicism and disheartenment; nobody finishes an episode of The Walking Dead and feels upbeat about the future. I’m not asking for endlessly cheerful propaganda, but in the bad times our media should reflect the best of us, just as in good times it should check the hubris of gilded tunnel vision. Modern Nerd media has vey little to say about the modern: it merely holds up a mirror to the real world to reflect its worst elements. I get that every day from the news - I’d like my stories to be a little different. I’d like a world where ‘Cruel to Be Kind’ is only a great Nick Lowe song, not a mantra that demands that our only heroes be as morally compromised as our current crop of political leaders. I’m tired of a media landscape that tells me that kindness is a rarity: I want a landscape that repeats the opposite over and over until people stop thinking the former is true and start finding kindness in unexpected places - such as within themselves. The most adult movie ever made has no gore and no brutal violence against women in the name of realism or verisimilitude. It’s called My Dinner With Andre, where two theatre people sit and eat dinner for an hour-and-a-half and talk about the nature of happiness and spirituality. They talk about what it means to be human - and not a single horde of zombies needs to make an appearance for either of them to make their respective points. I don’t need GoT or The Walking Dead to be nothing but people having mature conversations - but I would like to kill the notion that watching people be awful to each other is some kind of profound or meaningful insight. It’s not anything but a choice the show made: the world is not inherently horrible just because it is in Game of Thrones. I’d like to kill the notion that kindness is a unicorn, and that stories are better when compassion is rationed and withheld from the audience (because they would find a surfeit unrealistic.)

If nothing else, I’d like to end the notion that the best way to wind-down after a miserable day is to watch five nominally different TV shows that all have the same story: people are miserable and are capable of nothing but creating more misery.

_______________ *This is not entirely fair: outside of some real atrocious stinkers like Monster-A-Go-Go. MST3K always had an affectionate love for the cheesy movies it was showing; its humour rarely came from a place of malice or cruelty. That is why I prefer it to Rifftrax, which often comes-off as three grumpy old men getting cranky about having to watch a film that has people under the age of sixty in it.

**More than once George R.R. Martin has compared his works to LOTR, and every time has shown a remarkably poor understanding of LOTR, to the point that if you told me he hadn’t engaged with the work since he was fifteen I would nod my head and go ‘yeah that’s obvious.’

#Westworld #the walking dead #game of thrones #comic con #GoT #MST3K #Rifftrax #marvel #nerd #nerdom #nerd culture #media #george r.r. martin #kindness #long post #LOTR #empathy

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hawk-in-a-jazzy-hat · 7 years

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On the Ending of Logan

Okay so I posted a sphiel the other day about endings and why Infinity War should be the last superhero movie for a while. I stand by that, but in the meantime I’ve watched Logan, which is probably going to become one of my favourite movies because it is completely and utterly my jam in every respect; dark yet strangely meaningful, fantastic character interactions and drama, Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart giving the performances of their lives and probably the best child actor I’ve seen in recent memory.

This film, despite its minor flaws, should stand as Wolverine’s swansong. But more than that, I think it should stand to end the current X-Men phase, and that’s down to the ending. From a plot perspective, it reaches a little. But from a purely thematic perspective, it is the perfect conclusion to events that have been going on since the very first X-Men film, with an ending that wraps everything up very nearly to where it all began.

Obviously I’m going to be freely spoiling Logan here, as well as the majority of the other X-Men films. But without further ado, let’s dive in.

Jackman’s Wolverine has remained a staple of the series since the first movie, and has pretty much remained the figurehead. X-Men is probably somewhat revolutionary in terms of the superhero movie, having redefined the genre into something that could work in the box office. Sure, Tim Burton’s Batman remains a cult hit, but X-Men showed that the concept of heroes in spandex was viable blockbuster material, and for a little while everyone tried to do the same; some worked, like Spiderman, whereas others, like Daredevil, didn’t.

And X-Men gave pretty much what it promised; superpowered fights, delightfully over the top villains, speeches on justice and humanity, and a cast of eclectic characters bouncing off one another. Classic comic book stuff. X-Men was a good film. X2 was even better. The Last Stand gets way too much flack (and I would argue is still better than the original), but I can see the point that people realized it was getting a bit silly, especially since Batman Begins had come out the year before.

Comic book movies needed to change, and when the Dark Knight came out in 2008, it became clear how; suddenly the silly costumes and campy moments needed to give way to gritty reality and political commentary. Iron Man in 2009, and the MCU in general, took it in a slightly different direction by having their movies essentially be long character studies. The ‘heroes’ became severely flawed; egotistical, naïve, violent, having harsh backstories and even harsher stories. The heroes, and the villains, needed to become relatable and human.

X-Men didn’t cotton onto this, at least not at first. If The Last Stand was getting old, then X-Men Origins was way out of date. They were clearly trying, but it wasn’t viable as a superhero movie anymore. Despite an admittedly interesting dynamic between Logan and Victor, the rest of the movie was fanbaity, cartoony, and frankly just…boring. It was impossible to sell the franchise on cool visuals anymore, and even the face of the X-Men couldn’t carry the old phase any more.

So they changed it up with First Class, which probably remains the best X-Men movie to date. That was the new generation of heroes; human heroes, and weirdly, increasingly human villains. Magneto became far more of an antihero character, and instead was replaced by Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club, who really came across more as a racist arsehole than a grand sweeping theatrical villain. And for the context of the movie, that’s a good thing.

The Wolverine sort of came and went, but that too decided to be more human, looking at Logan’s character more than any of the other movies (with the possible exception of X2, but I think that was a bit of a fluke).

Then came Days of Future Past, which instead of quietly ignoring the previous phase, decided to break all conventions and face it head on; two generations of heroes, fighting side by side, with Wolverine at the centre. It’s here where the phases truly split; the ‘young’ phase, which would go onto a more comic book style (for better or for worse), and the current one.

So many films, always changing depending on what the current audience wanted. And frankly, it’s true; the old films are no longer relevant in today’s society. The franchise knows this, and decided to split them apart to allow for something new. But, and I love them for this, they didn’t forget the old. They couldn’t continue it; even as a campy flashy superhero movie, they would never be able to compete with the MCU. So, they decided to give it the definitive death it needed.

Logan, as a character, is tired. He’s been fighting for so long, the world has changed around him. The mutants he was once friends with have all gone, with the exception of Charles who he keeps locked away, not so much for his own good as for a memento to the past. There are no more tyrannical mutants roaming around; only tyrannical people. Supervillains are no longer relevant; the people who we need to be afraid of now are the people we look up to. The people we depend on. The humans.

This was the biggest change. Magneto was no longer the villain. The Phoenix was no longer the villain. From First Class we had Shaw, who was far more subdued and less theatrical, coming across as an opportunist than a revolutionary. In fact, you could say he was a mutant masquerading as a human. The Wolverine and DoFP took it one step further by having their main villains be humans who were envious of the mutant race, and took control. Characters such as young Magneto, or Viper, would take the stage, but their actions were always driven by the humans. Logan completes the journey; it is the first X-Men film in which none of the main antagonists are mutants. Even the clone is merely a construct; no soul, nor a stop to its rage. Humanity has taken over the mutant, and has crushed it.

The ‘superior humans’ have beaten the ‘inferior mutants’, and in doing so, they have taken their place. And the ‘superior humans’ are bringing the world to its knees.

Logan knows his kind is dying, deep down, but he can’t let go. He’s lost, and he needs a direction. He needs reassurance that there is some way to survive.

There is. But not the way he wants. As he looks at Laura, he sees himself. And he’s split. Deep down, he wants her to be like him. But even deeper, he knows that will destroy her. He holds onto the past for dear life, even though he knows that he has to let go. The franchise knows that it has to let go. All throughout the movie we see the X-Men comics, and we here reminiscing about better times.

We miss them. I miss them. I miss the campy old X-Men films, warts and all. And in a meta sense, I miss the times when we could get behind the superheroes fighting the supervillains, rather than having to cower and look up to the ‘superheroes’ of our own.

It’s so tempting to keep fighting for what’s been and gone, but sometimes, you need to step back and look to the future. The old days are gone. And honestly, that might be for the best. But what you can do is ensure an even better future for the next generation, even if you know you can never see it.

This is Logan’s journey throughout the movie; finally letting go. He must let go of Charles, who he was desperate to protect, being the only father figure he’s ever known. He must let go of what he feels is the only way to fight, and instead teach the next generation how to fight in a better way than he ever could. By surviving. By living. By sending them towards Eden.

All the while, ghosts of his past are chasing him, constantly. The egotistical arsehole, who is relentless, constantly ruining his life. The unethical scientist, who will keep going to new lengths, treating him as an object. And eventually, himself.

While the execution could have been better, having Logan’s final battle be against himself is a stroke of genius, since it finally allows him to see how the humans view him. And possibly, how he views himself. He has lived a long and terrible life, and he’s done many terrible things. He is the Wolverine; savage, unpredictable, more animal than man, and that is the identity he has clung to throughout his years of being a hero. That is the past which will not let him go, and which will kill everyone he’s ever known. It kills Charles, the last memory he has of a better time. And eventually, it kills him.

Logan finally stops fighting to keep the past, when he finally sees the children running towards the future ahead of him. He knows at that point that it’s too late; there’s nothing else he can give, except to give the next generation the best chance he possibly can. But in the end, he can’t stop it. Not completely. His past will never let him go, and it destroys him. Logan dies by his own hand, as he always planned.

But he still wins. For the next generation…Laura…ends the animal right there. The past is destroyed for good, leaving the Wolverine dead. Forever. There’s only Logan, left for a few moments to say goodbye, and to give his blessing.

Logan knew he could never reach Eden. He could only open the gate for the others. And yet, after hundreds of years, he dies peacefully, finally being the hero he wanted.

The final scene may be one of my favourite scenes in movie history. Laura, and the kids, standing there, while she recites the lines:

“There's no living with a killing. There's no going back from it. Right or wrong, it's a brand, a brand that sticks. There's no going back. Now, you run on home to your mother and tell her, tell her everything's alright, and there aren't any more guns in the valley.”

The children leave, to where, they don’t know. But to a future, and one they can only hope will be a better one. The camera zooms in on Logan’s grave, with the crude wooden cross. The Wolverine’s final resting place.

Laura turns back, pulls up the cross, and turns it, just a little. Leaving an X.

Logan is dead. The Wolverine is dead. But the hero who saved her life will live forever. The X-Men may be no more, but they will remain a symbol; a beacon of hope, at the border of a better world.

The world is constantly changing, and always will. I’d like to think that, bit by bit, we are heading towards that better world. We are marching, one step at a time, towards paradise. And I want to do my bit to make that happen, even though I won’t get us very far on my own.

As for the future of the X-Men, well…I don’t think there’s much more they can do. I can see us getting a few more on the 80s timeline, but honestly, I think they should leave it for a few years. Maybe even a decade. Because the world is going to change, and the heroes and villains of the world will change as well. And one day, sometime far in the future, something new will come along where we’ll need to stand up and fight once again.

At that time, the X-Men should return. And wouldn’t that be a great way to bring them back. The next generation, standing where the heroes of the past once stood, ready to fight their own battles.

We may even have a new Wolverine standing amongst them.

We certainly have the perfect candidate.

#logan #wolverine #x-men #laura kinney #x-23 #charles xavier

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