I just watched the original Snowpiercer movie and man, that was dark.

#makeitblue or #makeitpink ?

How about we make it both! 🎊

Here she is, Princess Aurora, finally complete ❤️

Aw gosh, you guys have no idea how obsessed I am with her!!

Okay, okay, a little info about this doll and how it came to be 👀

Obviously, I wanted to play with the blue/pink dress, and I actually picked this fabric almost three-four years ago I think especially for this project, but then it stayed on the bottom of the fabric chest for a long time, waiting for its moment, and it finally arrived!

For the general look (her hair color, her eyes, her make up and her color palette in general), you might notice that it's darker than what we are used to with any Aurora doll, and here's why: since I was a kid, watching the movie on the VHS, there was one single frame where she was showed sleeping in her dark room, at night, with impossibly gold hair, that kept me glued to the tv screen, I loved it sooo much! And when she finally opened her eyes at the end of the movie...Blue blue blue eyes, aww I was in love!!!

So yeah, while she is usually represented with purple/violet eyes and blonde hair, here I wanted to show that specific version of her, at nighttime and with little light, and here's the result 💜

I hope you like her, because there's a lot more to come! ❤️

Why I like Vox vs Mr. Puzzles

So recently this matchup was in my head for sometime and I want to explain why I think Vox vs Mr. Puzzles is a good matchup. If you disagree that's completelly fine this just my oppinion so don't take it personalle, anyway now with that sayed let's begin.

Connection:

Both are tv head'ed entitys how wear stylish cloths

Both seek perfection (Vox wanting his brand to be perfect and Puzzles wanting the perfect review)

Both own some sort of company/srraming service (Vox the CEO of Voxtek and Puzzles opening his stteaming service Puzzlevision)

Both are mysterious and can get angry when something trys to ruin there goal (Vox getting angry at Valentino trying to kill Angel whitch would ruin hos brand and Puzzles being pissed of at Mario for ruining his show)

Potential:

Now that we have the connections out of the way let's talk about the potential of the fight. Both characters have arsenals whitch would make it pretty good, you can have Vox going threw the TVs and attakcing Puzzles only to get hit by Puzzles or you can have Puzzles enter himself that way we can get the two fighting in the TVs whitch would make it pretty fun to see when that alone has a lot of potential, you can easily have them fight trew past Death Battles kinda like Billcord, not to meantion that Mr. Puzzles can rewrite time and to all some sorr of stuff so you can have multiple things to do with that as for Vox while we don't see much of him he still does have stuff you can like trying to hypnotise Puzzles or the civilianz and have them attack Mr. Puzzles. And finally the bander would be great, it would be similar to Billcord with Vox taiking things seriouslly while Puzzles threats this as a game until the end when decides to end this, that could really cool and fun to see.

Debate:

Now as for the debate... there actually sorta isn't. If you know how powerful there series are then you know why, but foe those who don't Vox would town to city level from what we're shown while Mr. Puzzles would be much hogher than that since he scales to or evem up scales characters like SMG4 and SMG4 Mario how was able to with stand a black hole and there are characters like SMG0 who destroyed Universes whitch would make him Multiversal, now we don't know how powerful Mr. Puzzles is compare to SMG0 however since he was able to trap SMG4 and other characters and he also has plot manipulation and is able to break the 4th wall it likely that Mr. Puzzles is Universal, as for speed like I sayed he scales to SMG4 how kept up with Sanic with would give Mr. Puzzles FTL speeds to potentially much higher. So yeah clearly Mr. Puzzles has everything he needs to beat Vox.

Music potential:

It's really good, you can have the music start of nice with a bit of an edg to it then the music starts being darker and more sinister and finally it starts playing a bit faster something more like Nightmare and that's just the music if it's a vocal track then tje lyrics would be like Discordant Decipher with both combatants roasting each other that could be really fun to hear.

So yeah those are the reasons why I like this matchup it can be extremely fun with a lot of potential, if you disagree that's completely fine this is just MY opinion so don't take it pwrsinalle.

re: choose violence meme Utena answer, I don't want to drag you into the wretched discourse lol, so no pressure to answer, but... okay so I haven't watched IWTV but from what little I see. you seem SO TAPPED IN to what's going on w interplay of the book VS the tv show's handling of race, gender, etc. so I am wondering... penny for your thoughts on Ikuhara's handling / not handling of race (and / or sexuality)... and / or the fandom's takes... orz

oh yeah im down& i appreciate the compliment!<3 im hesitant to over-speak, but i know ikuni & saito have explicitly said anthy is based off lalah sune from mobile suit gundam.. lalah is from bombay (mumbai) & was trafficked into the flannigan institute (2d space military experimentation) as a means to experiment n find the answer on newtypes, which r basically an esoteric arbitrarily defined concept from gundam to gundam thats exploited in the space age military apparatus. lalah sune in the uc gundam series is used as a plot device: its one of char’s greatest mistake/s in his culpability in lalah’s situation, therefore once again violating his father zeon’s revolutionary precepts on what the newtypes were for, and one of amuro’s greatest mistake/s in that he made a brief but rather profound bond w/ such a ~kindred spirit~ n ended up being the one who killed her. she ends up haunting both of them in char’s counterratack & while i thought that was enjoyable to watch.. its laughably easy to read lalah as a pretext for amuro + char’s later fixation on eachother (& tomino even encourages it). ultimately, lalah’s own characterization, much less any story arc on how she was the means to introduce newtypes in the gundam series is tertiary to what she represented to amuro and char. now why am i talking about lalah here? bc ikuni+ saito r explicitly inspired by her in making anthy n ima try to say my piece in how ikuni, and the rgu narrative in both animanga treat anthy (& akio, as a result of being her brother)’s racialization. a lot of shoujo animanga period always has the trope of the character or two at the most who r noticeably darker than the pale-skinned cast, yet theyre never really clearly defined as who or what they are much less is this used to supplement their characterization. with rgu, as u have discussed before, ikuni nem use eternity as a motif. like what does it mean to be eternal? n all. u have anthy and akio, these two darker skinned (indian) characters like lalah, being seen as the vanguard , the introduction to and the disseminator of this esoteric concept that ever eludes the rest of the cast. u have these indian characters who play into these new-age stereotypes , namely how the new age has coopted a lot of the indian faiths & refuse to see yalls cultures as something that actually evolves, but is stagnant + ‘eternal’. the modern world is outside, ohtori headed by akio is the cycle of life repeating over& over n over again. when it comes to the vitriolic protracted abuse + projection anthy faces thru the series, its implicit that this is bc shes a darker skinned girl in a sea of lighter skinned people & abused by her older brother. i cant say if it was ikuni nems intention in doing this but the canon is ample for this argument n how i read this idea of being the rose bride , the ultimate target for humanity’s hate to be a commentary in part on what it means to be a girl/woman of color. dios having the burden to save all of humanity is the archetypical prince, and the expectation on boys of color to prematurely ‘rise up’ n ‘be the man’ so & anthy pulling her brother away from this burden made her a target to all of Humanity, metaphorically for refusing to play the martyr. n ive faced shit in the past for articulating such& bc im a bw, ppl have seemed to misinterpret me saying this as saying ‘anthy is black’ LOL. the fandom is woefully reluctant to tackle this, bc there is no immediate white (european) involved. they want to say utena tenjou n em are ‘white’ bc theyre so eurocentric that this is the only way they can think. when these are japanese creators , creating characters n r relying on stereotypes of indian spirituality + people to define them in relation to the japanese characters. like its a reason they made anthy , the rose bride, the witch, based off lalah sune & not like. utena or shiori yk? the question of sexuality tied to this is rly weighted too, esp bc anthy (+ akio?) sport the marriage colored bindi, but i feel like that was the most intentional they went there

I was tagged by @sirtadcooper - thank you!! 😃

Tag someone you want to know AND/OR some of your besties.

(mandatory under the cut because I'm an idiot who can't keep it short to save her life 😅)

Favourite colour: this is an easy one, I'm in an established relationship and still madly in love after so many years with practically every shade of violet/purple that exists! 💜 Maybe I'm slightly more drawn to colder hues, but I'm not really that picky when it comes to this family of colours!

(This is a picture of a portion of wall in my bedroom I have asked to be painted with this shade of violet - which is a bit darker in reality but y' know, artificial light, that corner is way too dark to photograph otherwise... the whole room has various hues of purple scattered around: curtains, decorations, blankets, pillows... here's a special appearance of my beautiful boat lamp! ⛵💕)

Last song: thanks to a suggestion from Youtube, which probably hates me, because I'm still recovering from a flu and generally weak so it would be wise to avoid any kind of unneccessary emotional outburst:

Not technically a song, but still... I'm not sure if I was crying while watching this because I haven't had the chance to listen to them live yet, since they made a European tour twice but never touched my country and I couldn't travel abroad to see them, or because of... whatever it is that is going on with this performance and these artists, "epicness" to me barely covers it, I know I'm exaggerating but that's how much I love Two Steps From Hell, what can I say... In any case here I am being even more of a mess than I already am, you'd think I have had enough of using handkerchiefs these days! 😭❤️‍🔥

Last movie: I think it was Imagine me & you, which I finally watched after seeing a lot about it here (unpopular opinion no one asked for, I thought I would have enjoyed it more... ☹️)... It was either that or Bros (which I actually enjoyed it more than I expected instead 😁), at the moment I don't remember exactly which came last...

Currently watching: Fellow Travelers as for new shows (fuck me, seriously, what am I doing to myself 😭 - I'm crying quite a bit in this post 😅), rewatching Blackadder after having finished A bit of Fry and Laurie 😆, and sports as well, mainly tennis, padel and basketball atm!

Other stuff I watched this year: Oh my, I didn't watch an awful lot of things, but I'll surely forget something - I'm terrible remembering this kind of stuff (if only it was just these things 😅)! Let's see, in no particular order, I can recall Minx (so far this year the most pleasant surprise in terms of TV series I've watched for the first time, silly [affectionate] little show), Wednesday (it was a bit meh for me, not sure if I'll watch next season), Red, white & royal blue (likely one of my favourite movies this year ❤️... yeah, it's not certainly a big deal of a movie ofc and I'm not even a rom com gal, especially for those Hallmark style movies, like this kinda is, but idk, it was cute and warm and brought good feelings and probably I watched it in the right moment for me, or one on which I just needed good vibes, what can I say), Call me by your name (even more than watching the movie reading the book was... quite an experience - I'm not saying it an entirely bad way, but I'm still so utterly confused about my feelings about this novel), What's love, The kissing booth (don't ask me about this one, the things I do to watch an actor I like 😅 - there's a whole trilogy of it but I only watched the two movies that had in the cast the actor I was interested in, really can't be bothered to do more than that, it was enough suffering I endured 🤣), Only murders in the building, The witcher, National treasure: edge of history (I don't care what anyone says, this show deserved at least another season, it was far from perfect but there has been way worse that still sticks around, and I'm speaking as a fan of the movies foremost, especially the first one, which is one of my comfort movies, as absurd and silly as it is 😊), Shadow and bone, The witcher (as for these, I'll probably keep watching an eventual next season only for some of the cast, because both were an utter disappointment and I wouldn't bother continuing otherwise), let's see, what else, oh yeah, Smiley (this was another nice show tbh, and in this case I could also train my ear a bit on the language since it's in Spanish and I'm trying to learn and improve it 😝) and two other Spanish shows (guilty again for watching mainly for an actor I wanted to see ah ehm), Merlì/Merlì: Sapere Aude and Alguien tiene que morir, and Érase una vez… pero ya no, all pretty much forgettable... I don't know what else, probably there is something more, but I'm making it lenghty already, I should stop anyway!

Shows I dropped this year/didn’t finish: damn, I should make a sheet about tv/movies as I do with books, it's honestly hard remembering what I watched or dropped! I can recall not going through the second episode of Warrior nun: again, another show I was curious about having seen things here on Tumblr, but I didn't feel it after the first episode, I'm not even sure exactly why - it's possible I'll try again someday, it's way too early to have an opinion after only one episode! I also didn't finish Lockwood & co., this one wasn't really for me tbh... I'm not even mentioning something I've been watching only and exclusively because it's a sort of joke I have with a friend of mine... All right, I'll say, it's High School Musical: The musical - the series 😅 Truth is, my friend likes the movies and low key also the series, whereas I hate them all, and she knows they piss me off and she has fun hearing my comments and teasing me about it... I have a bit less fun submitting myself to this "torture" but whatever! 🤣 I try to watch the series when I'm particularly willing to waste my time, because the only reason I'm doing it is to have a laugh with said friend, anyway rn I'm at the last season and it's so bad, sooooooo bad (mind you, meaning it's just not for me, I'm likely too old and too millennial to watch this kind of shows anymore), I don't know how I am supposed to endure any more of it lol!! I guess at some point I'll force myself to finish it to end my suffering and hoping my friend and I will finally close this questionable chapter of our watching experience, but damn it's hard! 😝 As for shows of which I completed a season but didn't watch the next, I could say one was Abbott Elementary: pretty bummed about it because it was actually cute and was enjoying it, I finished the first season when the second didn't air yet and when it did, I had moved on and lost interest a bit and wasn't in the mood to continue my watching (happens to me a lot)... I think at some point I will resume this one, just have to find the right inspiration! 😛 (I'm rather complicated and picky about my watching/reading experience in general, ops) And I have to mention as well, even if it will surely grant me some disapproval from the person who tagged me in this game 😆, I couldn't pick up Our flag means death after the first season as well, and for now I don't think I will resume it: I didn't really feel this show, I don't know what to say... 🤷 Should I mention that I also tried rewatching The Terror but I was like "oh hell no!" after the first episode?! 😅 In my defense I watched it at night, and the show is A LOT and nearly killed me the first time, yeah ok I'm making excuses but I have to be in a certain state of mind to watch certain things and The Terror is one of those cases - I already mentioned I'm complicated with my watching experience, yes?! 😜 Anyway it was a rewatch so it shouldn't count sssshhhh 🤫😁

Currently reading: more like, the books I've put on hold atm, ouch! True that this year, especially in the first half, I've read way more than I expected and definitely way more than I usually do, but that's not an excuse to make a pause - still, I'm realizing that it's been few weeks since I've picked up my readings! Anyway, what I've been reading is Mercanti avventurieri by Attilio Brilli, which collects stories about merchants and their travels and trades through the centuries; Columbus by Lawrence Bergreen, the account of Cristoforo Colombo's voyages in America - not happy enough of ending up horrified and outraged by the chronicle of Magellano's expedition (by the story and events, not the author's writing, which I actually appreciated a lot), I decided to educate myself more about another so called "pioneer" who thanks to his hubris committed terrible atrocities in the name of "progress" and "religion" and "civilization" and so on 😡 , since the little knowledge I have about Colombo comes mainly from my years at school... Despite the fact that my respect for this man is nowhere to be seen, I'm still somehow fascinated by the narration of sea voyages, which in the end are actually my main interest when reading this kind of stories; Atlante delle fortune di mare di Cyril Hofstein, an account of tales about (mis)fortunes at sea, involving incidents, lost treasures, mysterious events, discoveries, disappearances, disasters and so forth - btw, in the book there is this particular chapter:

The disappearance of the Erebus and Terror is the title - the real story is terrifying enough even without creating a fictional horror show inspired by it jfc!

And lastly, this is definitely the less "serious" reading, The Lawrence Browne affair by Cat Sebastian, one of my first attempts at reading "proper" (meaning they're not fanfictions, not that I don't consider those "proper" literature, on the contrary many of them are written far better than some published books I've read, so yeah, I should say "published" instead) erotic novels lmao 😝 This was a whim really, I felt I wanted to read something light, "wicked" and not to be taken seriously (it also was probably some sort of "knee-jerk reaction" to many of the queer books I read this year, which were sad, depressing and/or tragic 😔)! Romance novels are not really my jam in general, but every once in a while they don't hurt, since I'm doing it just for fun! This one is actually the second book of a trilogy, more disappointing than the first book I have to say, which was more "juicy" and entertaining! 😁

Currently listening to: ah, this is a tough one to pinpoint, because lately my Spotify is on shuffle most of the time (I have a folder literally called "Miscellanea" that keeps a bit of everything, it's a glorious mess lol), and my music preferences are rather varied... Let's say that if I have to consciously choose something at the moment, there would certainly be Poets of the Fall, Gaelic Storm, The Irish Rovers, Santiano (in general celtic folk/punk songs, especially if inspired by sea and sailors stories- those are good for all seasons 🥰), Two Steps From Hell, J2 and "epic music" in general, and dance-pop music from '70 to '00, original or remixes, especially when I work out in the last case!

Currently working on: do crosswords count? It's my newest pursuit lol 😆 Because otherwise I'm afraid I'm not working on anything in particular at the moment (and I should start, since I had a couple of ideas for gifts for Christmas that alas, have to be handcrafted in order to be created, and if I want to have them done I am the one who must work on them, ugh can you believe it, outrageous, what has the world come to 😂)... I occasionally do a bit of calligraphy, create costume jewellery or create little macramè things, again usually trinkets but this summer I bought thicker yarns so I could have a go at something a little bigger like coin purses, wallets and little bags, and all in all it didn't go that bad:

The problem is, at least with the purses, that with these dimensions I can't fit half the things I usually bring with me when I go out because "you never know what might happen I might need this thing", so these purses were more like first tries and will likely not be used by me very much because they are too small for my necessities! 😅 In any case, I had to put this activity on hold for a bit because I lacked some time to dedicate myself to it!

Oh, wait, does trying to repair a porcelain ornament that fell on the floor (not because of me, I want to clarify, for once that I don't accidentally bump into stuff and make a mess - which happens more often than I'd like 😅) count? Hardly but whatever, anyway it's going to be complicated to glue the pieces back, some have shattered in such tiny fragments, sigh...

Current obsession: I'm almost shocked to report that at the current moment no particular obsession has consumed my every waking hour 🤣 I mean, even the flame of padel, which I've been following almost religiously all year, has dimmed a little, but it is the end of the season/year, everyone is tired and so am I apparently, rooting for couples who almost never have significant results (story of my life lol), so I guess I'm recharging the batteries for another round of hopeless cheer next year, yay! 🥳 For the rest, in terms of media I believe there is nothing of significance to report in terms of proper "obsession" for the time being, so yeah, that's it 😌 (the times of Black Sails or even Agents of SHIELD are far behind me, I miss being that "obsessed" tbh ☹️)

Tagging @thelifeinmyshadesofgrey , @whitestnoise , @lives-ruined-and-bloodshed, @valentinaonthemoon , @mednay , @tirairgid (ofc if you want to and haven't done it before) and whoever wants to give it a go really!

I don't want to get caught up in evaluating whether the old show is better than the new show, but I've been thinking lately about how wildly different the Trigun animes are.

The new show characterizes everyone very differently than the old one did. In the old version, Vash has this facade that he's carrying, a jokester silly man act to hide how fucked up things have been for him and how sad he really is. He also gets the chance to save some people now and then, and that's important, because it's what keeps him holding on. If he never saved anyone, the despair would be overwhelming and he might stop trying.

In the newer show, it's all out in the open. He starts as a sad boy, and he doesn't really save anyone. Some people survive, but it's not the same thing, there's little or no catharsis for his character. His experience is so bleak and his sorrow so obvious that I found it jarring when he was silly.

Meryl is different too. In the old version, she's a badass who has a shit ton of derringer pistols in her cloak because she knows the world is dangerous. She's savvy and prepared for anyone and everyone to try to fuck her over. She literally lives in a world so dangerous that following Vash the stampede to keep her job is worth it to her, and she keeps Vash at arms length for a long time because of all that.

In the new version she's basically Lois Lane. Other people fight and die for her as she naively follows Vash because she...thinks he's newsworthy? I found it hard to understand her motivation. She's also no longer the leader or the senior in her coworking relationship.

And then there's Milly from the old version. I loved her simply on big girl rules, so I'm definitely biased, but that said, she also brought an important humanity to the team. Milly was there to remind you that even though the world of the story is mean and desperate, there are still nice people who can treat others kindly. Talk softly, carry a big gun.

So how does Roberto De Niro (yeah, they really named him after the actor) stand up to Milly? He's mostly looking out for himself, but I guess he has fatherly feelings for Meryl, or he wouldn't keep shlupping along with her. I don't know, I found him and his motivations mysterious and eye-rolling. Is he a hard ass that is only doing a job, or someone who actually cares about all this?

But it's not just the characters, I'd argue the very plot is characterized differently. The first anime is all about characterization and spends a lot of time with the characters before getting to the broody sci-fi stuff, which only happens toward the very end. A lot of people who watched it when it came out won't even remember the darker sci-fi stuff because it was aired on old school tv and they just missed an episode here or there.

The new one is almost entirely concerned with the darker sci-fi plot, which is really interesting, but their characterization suffers for it. The action scenes are more impressive, but perhaps less fun. There isn't a lot of mystery to Vash's past in the newer version, but it definitely does a better job of telling the sci-fi part of the story than the first one did.

I haven't read the manga, this is just what I got from watching both animes recently. I find I like them both for different reasons, but it does make me want to read the manga to see how each compares to the original concept. It's easy to get tied down to the first way you meet a fictional character, but it's important to remember that they aren't real people and they change based on who is writing them. If I say I like Batman, am I talking about Adam West's version or Frank Miller's?

pb n jj help what’s going on with woozi, mingi, and soobin 😭😭 i hate twitter with a passion so i’m a little lost

AH OK SO . i’ll put it utc 👍 i hope i explain it ok ☠️ i didnt really keep up with what was happening with mingi but im p sure his issue got cleared up pretty quickly and i didn’t see too much hate towards him

basically they [sb, wz] were getting flamed because people noticed an anime they’d mentioned watching called made in abyss. it (quoting from google) “follows the story of an orphaned girl named riko, who finds and befriends a part-robot boy named reg, and descends with him into the titular "abyss" that leads deep into the earth, in hopes of exploring it and finding her mother.” and i think was actually pretty popular when it came out because people really liked the world building & the plot, but there was also some darker elements to it (gore, and some weird fetishy shit related to the child mcs) that people found strange. that and the fact that apparently the mangaka is kind of a freak irl was enough for people to start calling them out for reading something that i saw some people call ‘child torture fetish porn.’

personal thoughts here for a sec - i get wanting to hold your idols accountable for talking about things you think are a bit sketch (especially to a large audience such as when you’re on a livestream), but also i think some people were taking it a bit too far? going to the lengths of using a term as weighty as ‘pedo’ was something i don’t think should’ve ever came into the conversation [when being used to refer to sb, wz, & other idols who were dragged into it]. the calls to kick them out of their respective groups were also a little weird to me (with wz especially like 😭 that is one of svt’s actual backbones please be serious. plus they were never going to get kicked out because people on twitter wanted them to anyway) but . Yeah .

anw. woozi’s was cleared up because he only mentioned mia once on a stream as one in a list of animes that he’d started but hadn’t had the time to continue because of. tours? concerts? one of the two. he didn’t speak any more about it than that. with soobin, while he did specifically talk about mia on a weverse live, he did also say that he wouldn’t recommend it because of the provocative themes in the show. those things (plus if you take into account what heavy censorship it would’ve gone through before it would’ve even been thought about being broadcasted on south korean tv) stopped a lot of the hate coming towards them and i think things have (mostly) blown over now 👍 my tl is mostly ab the news ab seunghan.

i think thats it??? things were pretty bad with sb but oh my god TAEYONG?? sol i was in the trenches . hope this kind of explained tbings for u bsf 😓

Various Hello Puppets headcanons #2

Hello everyone, I have some more headcanons I would like to share. Again, this is a mess of headcanons, and some might show up in my main fic. Mainly fun/wholesome stuff, but some darker stuff as well

Daisy knows “Scandinavian”, and what I mean by that is that she knows a mix between Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish, cuz back in the show days they didn’t have the best translator on the team, so it just became a mess 

Riley probably knows german, she just has the vibes, you know

Mortimer knows Latin, as well as Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek (those were the languages the spell book was written in)

Nick knows a lot of languages and picks up new ones pretty easily. He mainly uses it so he can enjoy plays and music in its original language

I think Nick would like the play “Peer Gynt” by Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, cuz it’s a very interesting and dramatic story, and everything is actually said in rhyme. I feel like Daisy helped him translate it from Norwegian. If you have no clue what I am talking about, you have probably heard the song “in the hall of the mountain king” which is from this play

Riley is a coffee “addict”, but the only times she can get it is when she steals from people she kidnaps to become hosts. She is very happy puppets can’t die of caffeine overdose, or else she would be on thin ice- Edit: I have been reminded of Riley cola by @lookineedsleep so yeah, Riley being caffeine addicted is pretty much canon

Mortimer is really good at card games, and knows all the card tricks there are to know

Riley hides away whenever she feels strong emotions, either positive or negative. Either she smiles or cries, she will turn her back to everyone in the room, trying to hide her true emotions. She tends to shake tho when her emotions are negative, so you can usually tell. The reason she hides away is because “she is a woman of science, and shouldn’t let her emotions get to her”, it’s a way for her to rationalize why she does it to herself (her emotions are also used against her in canon so-)

All the puppets would probably appreciate a weighted blanket, I think they need that. Personally, I wish I had one, I think it would solve a lot of my problems, and therefore I am projecting it onto them

Riley would be so pissed when she finds out Pluto is no longer classified as a planet (and who can blame her? Viva la Pluto)

Scout enjoys stop motion movies, she thinks it’s a very neat way of making movies, and knowing how much effort and care and how many hours go into it, she appreciates it more than many other movies 

If the Handeemen had known that Scout was made by Owen, she would have been treated completely differently, regardless of if they knew why she was created

I think the funniest family dynamic you can have with these puppets is that the Handeemen are the siblings close in age, while Scout is the “surprise baby” years later. Like that one video: “Do you want a beer?” “Dude, he’s four.” “I don’t know, what am I supposed to do with him????”

All the Handeemen steal from hotels if they visit them. Nick would probably steal soaps and lotions if they smell good. Daisy would take the drinks in the mini-fridge (you usually have to pay for it so). Mortimer just takes all the tea in the breakfast area. Riley and Scout would steal the weirdest stuff and get away with it, like they take the shower head or the remote control for the tv. Scout has stolen the entire tv at least 3 times as well (kudos to the Culteemen (specifically @dreamland-creations and @yourlocalnicknackkinnie) for this headcanon)

Riley adores astronomy! You can't tell me this lady wouldn't love stars, galaxies, and everything in the night sky. She is practically the only one who leaves the studio anyway (to kidnap hosts, and only during the night), and when she manages to take small breaks, she just watches the stars that are visible. She has wanted to start making a star map for so long, but has never gotten the time, and there are barely any good star-watching spots near the studio (there's a lot of light pollution in the area)

Since Riley is the one leaving (and kidnapping) the most, she is also the one most physically harmed of the Handeemen. She has some scratches, a couple of dents, and of course her mouth injury (but that was caused inside the studio). She also picks on her fingers, so they are pretty damaged, which is why she constantly wears her gloves to minimize the damage and not show it to the others

Riley and Scout when they are not enemies are the best and most chaotic duo. Being with Scout allows Riley to infodump a lot about different things she is researching/experimenting with at the moment, and in turn, Scout can infodump about shows and games. Scout might tease Riley about her liking Lord of the rings, but she loves the series too much as well to actually be hurtful with it (*sobs in my headcanons that Riley would have been a great older sister/mentor for Scout, but I know it will never be canon*)

Scout never sleeps a full 8 hours, but also takes naps throughout the day so she technically gets enough sleep. She sleeps the best around her host (Bee in my au), as they are the safest person she knows

Riley does not get enough sleep, ever. All the Handeemen have had to force her to go to sleep before, Daisy mainly does this task tho

The rest of them have pretty decent sleep schedules tho, except for the occational sleepless night they all experience

I think it's obvious by now who my favorites are… Scout and Riley my beloveds

Headcanon asks are very much open, feel free to ask my stuff^^

BTTF Year-End Tag Game!

This year:

How many times would you guess you watched the first back to the future movie?

At least fifteen times through, easy. Probably more than that.

Did you get any sweet bttf merch? If so, what?

I sure did! I got my really neat BTTF backpack, a Hot Wheels miniature of the DeLorean, a couple prints from CC including a metal print of the DeLorean about to time travel, and probably another thing or two I can't think of off the top of my head.

How many cans of Pepsi Free did you chug this year?

Not one. I don't really drink soda. If I do, it's probably root beer or ginger ale.

What was a favourite bttf fanfic you read this year?

Oh god, one I absolutely LOVED was Time Is A Flat Circle. I really liked the darker tone of this fic, the villainous version of Doc presented here (because he would be a terrifying villain, lbr), and all the foreshadowing done in this fic as you get closer to the end that maybe you'll miss the first time and then you'll see it all come together later—wow, fantastic. Big fan of being unable to change the present/future via the past because everything's set to play out that way.

A favourite bttf fanart you saw this year? (please give us a link, not a screencap/repost!)

Ah hmmmmm. I don't go searching for fanart on here as much as I should, tbh. I did actually catch a couple of the Doctober artworks going around and a lot of those were incredible. I'll have to get back to you on this one.

Did you create any bttf fanart or fanfic? If you did, what one(s) are you proudest of?

I'm working on a doodle of Doc atm for fun, we'll see if I ever do anything with it. But fanfics, yeah, I guess you could sort of say I did! I participated in the Doctober '23 event, and actually completed all 31 days. I'm very hard on myself so I don't know if I'd give one I'm proudest of, but I definitely got much more comfortable with my writing as the days went on.

How many times were you late for school this year?

I have long since graduated haha.

Did you watch any other movies/tv shows with BTTF actors in them?

A few (I'm not a huge film person actually), and I think they were mostly Chris Lloyd's things hmmm—Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, Star Trek III: Search for Spock, I Am Not A Serial Killer, Doc Brown Saves the World (it counts, I guess), Million Ways to Die in the West, there were probably others I'm sure but off the top of my head, these are the ones I remember.

Was there a memorable moment you heard a Huey Lewis song this year?

A memorable moment? Hmmmm I'm not sure. I listened to enough Huey Lewis this year but I can't think of something particularly memorable about doing so.

How many times did you fall down this year?

A couple, probably. Can't say I kept count.

Did you get to see BTTF: The Musical? What was your experience like!

I sure did! I've seen it twice now and I'd see it a third time in a heartbeat. It was an amazing experience, I went in completely blind, didn't know anything about the production, the soundtrack, nothing. When it came to Broadway, my first time seeing it was in the pre-showing (or whatever they're called); like it wasn't technically open yet but wow, I was FLOORED. I came out immediately getting the soundtrack and listening to that damn thing on repeat for weeks.

How many times did your mom retell the story of how she and your father met?

I think she's only told it to me once. Twice, perhaps, for different context. But theirs is not a happy story so it's not exactly something that gets spoken about often.

If you could describe your year in a BTTF quote, which one would it be?

My year in a BTTF quote? Uhhhhh. "Yeah, I saw it on a rerun." OR "Yeah, well uh, let's keep this brain melting stuff to ourselves, okay?"

⚡️LIGHTNING ROUND⚡️

Did you get to: go on any trains, skate on a skateboard, ride a horse, drive a DeLorean, run in the rain, go to a dance, hang up a clock (maybe on this one because I may have knocked one down, can't remember), play the guitar, pull an all-nighter, read science fiction, or drive thru Burger King this year?

Your future is whatever you make it! So what are you going to make of this coming year?

Oh fuck if I know—this may be the year I quit the job that I hate that doesn't pay me what I deserve for my qualifications and figure out what I actually enjoy doing. I'll work on my confidence re: the content I put out, namely being proud of the things I create, whatever they are.

tagged by: @cheriboms (thank you! not only for the tag, but for all the support and kind things you've said about anything I've posted) tagging: i'm not sure who to tag for this but if you see it and you like it, steal it!

Started playing Jedi: Survivor! Gonna post miscellaneous thoughts I’m having as I play through it. For reference, I’m also playing on Story Mode (I just want to be safe cuz I have no idea what will be thrown at me lol).

And of course, if it wasn’t obvious, spoilers under the cut.

So we begin with Cal being “captured” and taken to this Pau’an senator (the same one as in the first teaser). He seems to be like a big shot... or at least is hoping to become one, since he’s hoping to gain the Emperor’s favour by saying he caught a Jedi. It’s really just a ruse (the cops holding Cal are actually fellow rebels working for Saw Gerrera), and well soon stuff gets crazy.

Probably the most notable issue so far is framerate? Like, for reference, I’m playing on PS5 and am using Performance Mode (it would be pointless to do anything else since my TV only has a max 1080p resolution). It’s not exactly bad, like it definitely isn’t the nightmare that PC players seem to be experiencing, but I find that especially between the transitions between gameplay and cutscenes it can get kinda choppy. I get why the cutscenes have a lower framerate, it’s so they look more cinematic, and honestly I’m more than fine with that, but the transitions and even a few gameplay moments feel slow.

Also maybe it’s just because I already know how Fallen Order played and I’m also on Story difficulty, but I think the opening level dragged out a bit too long? It makes sense it’s an easy and simple level, but eh, who finds tutorial sections fun anyway, lol.

On the other hand, being in the Coruscant underworld was a pretty cool opening setting. There’s a lot of narrative parallels to Fallen Order already, and there’s parts of Coruscant that actually remind me of Bracca in some ways. Many parts looked a bit dark, but IDK if that’s just my TV or what, but that aside it all looked cool.

Nerd moment: the first enemies you fight being the patrol troopers from Solo was fun. What’s more fun than killing stormtroopers? Killing COP stormtroopers.

Bode seems cool, I guess. I do feel like them emphasising the monetary involvement he’s working with Saw for is gonna come into play later on though, like if someone offers him more to pay for him and his kid he could pull something on Cal. Also they introduced the buddy AI system, which lets you tell your friend to do certain things, and command them to help you in fights. IDK how effective it will be (especially on Story mode where so far I’m cutting through Stormtroopers like nothing lol), but it’s still cool to have your pal show up and fuck with some enemies.

Cal’s already got some fun quips, but I’m also interested to see he already seems darker. Like, when they eventually capture the senator, he basically makes a death threat, but what really stood out to me was when you learn the confusion power. Like, he literally says something like “I don’t think Cere told me to use it like that”. And like... that line only made me think of Ezra at the start of Season 3 of Rebels even more than already recalling Ezra puppet that walker off that base. Two Jedi who feel like they need to do more to stop the Empire and Dark Side, but are flirting with darker tactics to get there.

So Ninth Sister returns. The way she talks almost makes it sound like she’s some recurring enemy Cal keeps running into. KESTIIIIIISSSSSSSSS!!!!! But yeah she’s the first boss (which feels a lot like the first Trilla fight on Bracca, speaking of which another parallel has Cal pull a Trilla on one of the gunships surrounding them). Cal... fucking decapitates her. It’s an interesting moment to me, another sign he’s darker of course, but I’m getting a lot of different feelings here. Like on one hand, he doesn’t seem to relish it at all, even trying to reach out to her, even calling her Masana Tide, her original name before she turned dark. But on the other... he’s like “I’ll set you free” and decides who must live or die. Like sure, Masana wouldn’t listen to him, she’s just full of rage and pain, but still, playing executioner like that was still a dark moment to me.

I should also mention the lightsabre stances, because the boss is where you first lean dual blade. So far... I’ve barely used single blade, lol. I’m fine using double and dual blade for now, honestly. IDK how it is on harder difficulties, but I think they compliment each other nicely. Double blade for crowd control and more defensive fights, and dual blade when I feel like being more offensive. Also, nerd brain just thinks it’s neat to have a sabrestaff you split and put back together.

Controls are mostly similar, there’s some slight changes here and there, I’ll get used to them with time probably. Force powers still work as expected. I’m a monster that loves using confusion to make enemies fight each other, lol. It IS cool that it can’t work on all enemies though, like purge troopers are immune since they’d obviously be trained to resist mind tricks, some creatures you can’t seem to affect I guess because they’re just too weird or whatever, and you can’t use it on droids because they’re not organic. Making Bedlam Raiders kill their own droid underlings they’re in charge of is funny.

Oh yeah, Koboh. Only gotten up to Greez’s cantina and I just stopped right after I found the part we need for the Mantis, but it already feels massive. Interesting scenery too, like it reminds me of a savannah in like Australia or even Africa. Also, I’m guessing the bogling population came from the Mantis stowaways in Fallen Order, lol.

The minimap is much more helpful actually. Still a bit complex, but there’s a lot more notified to tell you where you can go and even traces where you’ve come from, and it helps give clearer directions on where to progress too. It’s not so easy like say Lego Skywalker Saga where the default just lets you follow markers that tell you exactly where to go, you still need to look around sometimes to find how to progress or solve a puzzle, but for someone like me who can get stuck for pretty stupid reasons, it is handy to have these extra hints.

So the scene with Cal and BD looking at old footage they had of the crew together was definitely sentimental. It seems to be around or soon after Fallen Order since the characters still have their looks from that game, but it’s nice to see the times they spent together, and you can tell how much Cal misses them all even if they all parted ways.

On the other hand... we got TWO Greez salt jokes within the span of a few minutes. They KNOW and they really want to remind us, lol. First, one of the videos displayed has Greez say to Merrin say something like “too much salt is bad for you”, which well, yeah, the irony is obvious. There’s also what used to be the Mantis’ terrarium now holding some old belongings, and one of them was Greez and salt related, I think it was his salt shaker? But yes, salty Greez fans, you will not be disappointed.

The locals at Koboh seem interesting enough so far. Little frog due and big Klaud dude! Rayvis had an... interesting first impression. Like at first he’s all shouty and dramatic to the point where I found it a bit much, but after Cal kills his enforcer, he actually starts acting more honourable and subdued? Hard to read guy, I guess. Sounds like he’s building to something, though I have no idea why harassing people on some Outer Rim world is necessary for that. Like, the people in the bar talk like they just show up and cause trouble because they can. Cal stepping in to defend the frog dude was cool though, nice reminder that at heart he’s still a Jedi even if I have... questions about some of his new tactics, lol.

Greez reunion! Was a pretty sweet moment, honestly. And there’s also a sassy droid at the bar who co-runs the place (I think their name was Monk?). Greez is rightfully concerned about Cal though, like Cal misses the crew but it sounds like his own obsession with fighting the Empire was a key factor in what caused the rifts to form in the first place. Something definitely seemed to happen with Cere especially, like when Cal talks about Merrin Greez is like “actually I was asking if you’ve spoken to Cere”. Cal does lose it for a moment, too. He feels like because he might be one of the only Jedi left, he has to shoulder that responsibility to fight the Empire. It’s kind of like the opposite to Obi-Wan’s situation - right around this time, Obi-Wan has given up hope and thinks it’s pointless to do anything, while Cal is so into the fight it seems like it’s consuming him. Like, Greez made this room for Cal to chill in even for a bit, but Cal’s all GOTTA GET ON THE MOVE. Also, for more parallels, a callback to the sleep talking scene, lol.

Anyway, stuck underground and Cal noticed something weird, I’ll get to it later and we’ll see what else happens!

The Secret History Review

for @readerbookclub

I really loved the book <3 I'm so glad glad it was picked for this month, since it gave me an excuse to finally pick it up. I'd been seeing it around everywhere and I really wanted to read it.

It's such a cleverly written satirical novel about the dangers of romanticising liberal arts, it's just 🤌🏼

How did your opinion of the book change as the story progressed?

I had a theory when I started the book. I thought it would involve a weird cultish ritual where the secret club planned to sacrifice Richard Papen to Bacchus for eternal life or something along those lines, but they end up killing Bunny instead for some coercive reason. A very wild, chaotic theory, but it did get proven wrong, of course.

The book was miles better than what I had imagined it to be. I really liked the way it flowed, especially over to the second part. It got darker, every character's facade, including our narrator's started to crack and we saw them without their pristine, well put together aesthetic. Everyone in this book is so twisted and unlikeable, but I think that's the thing that got me interested more and more as the story progressed. It was clear they were all going to be miserable in their own ways by the end of this, just as they deserved. I wish Richard suffered more though, and Charles, both of those characters thrived comparatively better compared to Henry, Camilla and Francis, despite being the worse than the lot (debatable).

So even though I was horrified reading through it all, I loved the book. It's clever, it's dark, I never want to pick it up again, but it's still a great book.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would, but only to the friends who like satire. I don't think this book is for everyone, either because it's just not something they would read, or just because they won't get the satire and end up idolising or hating it, with no middle ground.

Did this book remind you of something? Another book? A film or TV show? A song? What was it and in what ways are they similar?

Oh it reminded me of this song lol

The lyrics seem to fit our little club of dark academia and bacchanal obsessed kids pretty well tbh.

What message was the book trying to convey? Do you agree with it?

Oh it was definitely about why it's really not the best decision to romanticise liberal arts, but in a more extreme sense.

We see Richard Papen, in love with the idea of studying Greek and classics, because he's already in awe with the way the five students look. He starts us off with a line stating that his fatal flaw is a longing of the picturesque at all costs, so it doesn't come as a surprise. He's not so different from your average social media dark academia enthusiast, detached from the grasps of reality of academia and what actually lies in the discipline, entranced only by the aesthetics of it, which Julian actively feeds into.

For example, the Bacchanal. Julian paints an aesthetic about beauty and terror and chaos in a way that it influences a bunch of rich kids to experience it themselves. They are so obsessed with the aesthetic of it, that they don't even seem to come to terms with the level of horror that their little drug trip has caused. "We saw him, we saw Dionysus." Yeah, okay, maybe in your feral state, you did see Dionysus, but you also ripped apart an innocent man, let's talk about that first.

The book hints on it several times too. A little off the line of idea I'm going with, but what comes to my mind is where Charles, after being questioned about Bunny's murder, says how he never really realised that they all rely on appearances so much, that it's not that they're really that smart, it's just that they don't look like they did it. And that's true isn't it? None of them are really that smart or sly, they just look the sort of people who wouldn't be involved in something so heinous. Appearances over reality.

Speaking of reality, it starts to dawn on Richard too, during the last chapter, when the "aesthetic" of it all starts to fall apart in front of his eyes. He realizes how little options he has compared to the others, the lack of safety net that they have. How he has merely adopted ideas throughout his time in university and has nothing to show for the three years he has spent there. He's been so trapped in the idea of things, so seduced by the possibilities in his head that he's taken aback when the prettiness is all stripped away.

And I do agree with the message the book is trying to convey. Academia isn't fun, it isn't really a pretty aesthetic you can adopt. It is rarely ever pretty, no matter how much you romanticise it in your head.

Did reading this book change what you think of “Dark Academia”?

Yes. The book did make me dislike the aesthetic in general. At first, I was neutral with the moodboards and everything else around social media, but after this book, it's kind of made me not like it anymore? Just me though, I love it for the people who want to make moodboards or indulge in it all for the fun of it.

But I also found it really funny how people tag this book as a necessity to have the dark academia aesthetic, when it's about the dangers of indulging in one to an excess.

This book was part of our “morally grey” reading list. Do you think it belonged there?

I'm so sorry, but I didn't think so.

I don't think anyone in this book falls in the morally grey area. I didn't sympathize with their problems or their reasons for what they did, and that's generally what a morally grey character is meant to do. Richard would have belonged in that area if he had a less stoned brain cell that made decisions for him though.

The Secret History is a famous book. Had you heard of it before? If so, was it what you expected?

I had seen it around almost everywhere, especially the quotes under dark academia aesthetic things. It wasn't what I was expecting at all. For one, it turned out to be satire, very clearly so from the first chapter itself, and two, I thought it would be a glorification of dark academia, which again, it wasn't. Both things I haven't seen around in tumblr posts, so it was a surprise. And I've also seen people love Richard Papen?? A big surprise considering how much I disliked his character and I couldn't even see the appeal.

But overall, mostly pleasantly surprised by the book.

How did you find Richard as a narrator? How do you think having Richard as a narrator affected the story?

Richard was an unreliable narrator. Having him as the narrator was also important though, because initially, we can see his thoughts and views differing from Julian and the others. We see that clearly, and it's important because Julian and the others haven't struggled to come here as he has, they don't have the background he does. They're posh, snobby and privileged, and it shows in contrast to Richard. His views warp, obviously, but it's mostly him trying to fit into this little elitist group and it's cleverly written out.

Our view about Richard is almost neutral, sometimes sympathy and secondhand embarrassment. Compared to the others, he is more human, until he's not. He mentions some odd things in passing, very casually, and we don't really pay attention to them. His views about certain characters, his attention to certain features about people in a masculine and feminine sense, his theories on certain relationships, his ideals about Julian, the chick he choked to death, that one Camilla paragraph near the end. They all add to his character.

Richard is a perfect narrator for a book like this, he does a great job to really nail in the satirical, clever writing of Donna Tartt. Is he likeable? No. Is he a perfect unreliable narrator? Yes.

I cant wait for yurika's vd to be like trial 1 Mikoto where she just goes apeshit on the guards (i know she cant, but the thought is funny nonetheless.) Also, could we get a general map of your prison? Is it exactly like canongram, or a bit different?

well, uh. well about that. um. a-anyway, her vd is gonna be fun <3

okay, so i suck at drawing maps, soooo instead i just wrote down some things about how the prison looks!

this prison doesn't have eleven cells and only has ten. so yeah, it doesn't have a secret eleventh prisoner or anything like that. it doesn't mean that eiji and miki were always supposed to be the guards though. all cells have the same numbers as the prisoners.

the way the cells are located is a bit different though: on the map it looks like they aren't that far from each other, but to get to each cell, you will need at least five minutes. in fact, sometimes it feels like those cells are actually pretty far and eiji and miki may need more than ten minutes. and considering that one of the guards is very physically weak for understandable reasons, walking there can be really painful for eiji. why would they even need to make these cells so far apart from each other and why would they try to make it look like you will need less than two minutes to get to each cell? it feels like they're making fun of the guards, honestly.. or do they just want to see how loyal they really are? it probably doesn't make a lot of sense because the cells are most likely supposed to be exactly next to each other, BUT THIS IS MY VISION.

the wiki says that the canongram cells are supposed to look like these white rooms with everyone's height charts, but in my head the linagram cells look much darker and overall have a more scary atmosphere. it's not really related to the map, just something i wanted to share jdkslsls.

BOY THIS PRISON HAS SO MANY HIDDEN THINGS. first of all, lots of cameras. it's really hard to find them and they're basically not visible, but it is possible that someone will notice them one day. the cameras are there to keep an eye on eiji, miki and the prisoners, but they're also there so that the third guard can watch them without having to leave his room. of course, he's not the only one who uses them.

in the corridor, you can also see a small screen hanging on the wall and there's also one in the dining room. eiji and miki's rooms have screens as well, but they're only used to talk about everyone's verdicts. eiji and miki have never found the fact that even the dining room has a screen weird and just thought that it's supposed to be like that. some prisoners thought they could watch tv here and were disappointed when they found out this is not the case.

the dining room, the storage room and the shower rooms are also there and eiji and miki have their own rooms as well. their rooms actually don't look much like es' room and both of them are unique, show their personalities and have everything those guards might need. it looks like whoever is in charge of everything really wanted these two to feel at home. well, they already do.

this prison has a lot of hidden rooms though and they're made to look like all of them are actually a part of the wall. basically, they have the same color and texture as the wall, they don't have any doorknobs, they don't stand out in any way. so naturally, no one notices them. one of those rooms is the third guard' room, jackalope's room is also there. most of those rooms are locked, but not all of them.

Expansion on my thoughts on: The Evil Dead Franchise

I wanted to expand on my point of view on Evil Dead Rise, since I don’t think I explained myself very well in my last post. This isn’t me saying this franchise is the most personal to me, or saying that this new one is an insult to it, because neither are true. I’m just trying to reflect on why it felt I didn’t engage as much as previous entries. Everything I’ve written on here is just my subjective opinion, nothing more and that’s not changing now.

I’ll even concede that over time, this one will warm up to me as much as the others ones. I think it’s possible...because I had to do the same for Evil Dead 2. When I first saw it, about 15 years ago or so, I didn’t know what to make of it.  Sure the wacky tone was fun. But I was taken out of it by the fact that this man was literally being tormented by his murdered girlfriend’s corpse. I felt this was because I was relatively new to horror films to that point, so “having fun with it” felt like like an alien concept given the subject matter. It wasn’t really my gateway horror film. I can think of a few more accurate examples, most notable the original Predator. And sure, I was tricked by my parents to rent Gremlins when I was little thinking it was another kids film. I DID NOT enjoy it at that time, for obvious reasons. But Evil Dead 2, after I sampled a couple more with a lot more serious tone, had a playfulness that felt like a good anchor to came back to. 

It helped me worked up the courage to watch the original, which I avoided until my last year of undergrad, because I heard it was so intense. When I did, I could take it. I was more experienced and granted, it showed it’s age with it’s cheapness a bit. But either way, I was able to vibe with it more then if I watched it instead of the sequel. And I believed it was because other horror films I worked up to seeing before it helped me to.

Army of Darkness I liked straightaway, along with Ash VS Evil Dead. Sure, it did some changes to the lore I felt off(The immortal maker of the book, Ruby, being played by a much-easier-on-the-eyes-than-any-deadite Lucy Lawless, for example), but it was consistent with the tone of 2 and 3, and felt like an true continuation of Ash’s story, selfishness and stupidity included. And for the 2013 remake, at the danger of repeating myself, while it wasn’t mind-blowing, I respected for committing to making me wince more than any movie I’ve ever seen. I didn’t even take issue that they had a final girl except the more rare final boy because I believed Mia more than earned the right to survive. Also that Jane Levy gave the best performance in the movie up to that point.

That actually brings me to my first reason here. If we were going by what franchise entries in order of release, the last one before Rises was the TV show. So the next entry having a darker tone again made sense for keeping things fresh. While for me, the last Evil Dead thing I watch before this was the remake, which had a similar tone. So, even though it didn’t make sense, it felt like I was getting more of the same, which wasn’t entirely true. 

To be fair, I did like the new lore connected to the new Necronomicon. I did like the performance given by the mom played by Alyssa Sutherland, both pre and post-possession. You generally don’t need a main villain for this scenario but given the point of this story, it made sense. The subtext of re-connecting with your old family for guidance, only to realize how it’s messed up beyond repair in cycle of abuse so it’s better to cut ties and save who you can. It’s one of those subjects where in a demon-less real world setting, you can see unfolding more or less the same over years instead of hours. The gore was good. Although am I the only one let down that the cheese grater didn’t do more damage to her leg? Maybe that’s the real problem. I’m too much of a cynical asshole.

Yeah, maybe that’s it. 

With the energy and tone this franchise is known for, giving any kind of happy or even bittersweet ending doesn’t feel right. There always felt like a nihilistic reason why each of these movies had their energies and tone. “These people are going to die horribly due to their own stupidity! Ain’t it great?!” I don’t mind if there’s a metaphor or point to the story of an Evil Dead movie. I just think it shouldn’t take less time to solve than Ash did. Not because no one deserves it, but I don’t believe these demons would so easily let anyone go. The happiness, if any admittedly, felt unearned.

I guess that’s my real point. It won’t feel right if this is the last we see of Beth and Kassie. Sure, it made sense to end where it did, but I don’t believe either of them is okay. I want to know more about how they’re holding up. But who knows. Maybe I’d like for them to stumble upon the cabin at the beginning years later. It’d be very interesting to see how Kassie, a kid who was exposed and lost her family to these things at a very young age, would develop psychologically. Would it be similar to Andy from the Child’s Play movies? (That’s a franchise I need to catch up on) And yeah, maybe all these survivors, including Ash, should meet up at some point. Or at least become aware of each other’s existence. I don’t want any of them to die (unless it’s written well). Death is cheap, but trauma is rich. 

A big reason why rewatching one of these movies every October for me is a must is because they each feel like a fun ride through a haunted house. I did like this enough, I’ll add it to the rotation. Maybe, in a few years, I’ll soften on this one like I did Evil Dead 2. It’s funny how I didn’t like that one at first because I thought it was too mean and not taking itself seriously. Now, I’m saying this one’s my least favorite because it’s too “precious” and serious. Maybe the real deadite is the one I became along the way.

I think Dana explained the betas though, it was the characters in a much different, heavier and darker story, that probably would have leaned more into the idea of witches and… well hell. Since Hieronymus Bosch drew lots of purgatory images. But you cant really do that for Disney. Plus to be fair, you’re meant to be able to throw ideas at a wall (even if they are very unlikely to work) for concept art and then be willing to immediately dump stuff and try new ideas without getting attached.

 Side note, while the big selling point for the Betas is that they are edgy or can be used to explore darker subjects, people sometimes just make them borderline evil, or just… actual evil, did you know its very easy to find beta fics tagged with non con and/or underage? Yea. They make Willow actively hateful and sadistic or make the Lumity ship a copy paste of Catradora, aka have them beat the life out of each other but then say uwu owo its not toxic, they love each other.

(seriously i cannot take ship discourse in fandoms seriously, they'll say one ship is toxic or problematic and turn around and ship the same thing but worse.)

For the first point... You're absolutely right. I should not judge for someone exploring different possibilities in concept art because I have no idea when in production that art was made or what the idea for the show was at the time. A LOT of things go through a half a dozen rewrites before the public ever sees them. Frozen apparently came down to the wire for its final plot and it's a miracle we got what we did at all. And even then, I think that movie is still a bit of a mess at times.

Also, fun fact, I have considered an Owl House AU where Luz went to hell instead. In that, Eda would be a demon looking for redemption and her only real ally, but also the only one trying to be real with her so Luz keeps thinking the demons who want to manipulate her are the ones to trust. Amity would have also been an angel undercover and supposed to be giving reports to god about the comatose child who's soul went to hell for some reason when the worst she deserves is Limbo. I could do a concept pitch blog for it but *shrug*

So I think it's personally wrong to conflate canon material with fan material and what is being criticized. Fanworks and the like are one of the safest places to explore different topics or express pain and the like you've had. It also only commonly has one or two eyes on it to say something might be toxic while media on tv usually has a few dozen and the fact that no one catches the red flags is... questionable. Especially why those red flags exist.

(As a note: I can't weigh in on if Catradora is toxic or not because I have watched only one episode of that show. Not even the first. I really ought to though since it seems up my alley.)

WITH THAT SAID, fanfiction authors aren't exactly going to always be respectful about such topics and the like and it took the majority of a year for anyone to tell me people used the Betas for more than murderous, drug addicted psycopaths. Even those people praised a story for having the two get into random fist fights with strangers in a Denny's parking lot so... Yeah. I'm not going to say the characterization of the Betas in the fandom is the best, or their use for that matter.

With all that said, I feel like the nicer Amity has become, and the more the two have come closer and closer to their Beta designs, the less I see of the Betas. Even now, I see lot less blood smears and sadistic grins and a lot more "It's just a normal Lumity picture except a different design." These aren't criticisms really but more just me ruminating on the fact that I think the fandom lost a lot of people who liked the edgier possibilities because of how poorly the show handled its own edge.

As for me as a content creator, have I ever considered using the Betas? I mean, I have for a one off or two, notably a one off where Luz is a dragon and Amity the willing sacrifice to her, but a one off can be hard to capture anything really interesting about them. I'd say I've only had one idea where I maybe wanted to use the Betas and that idea is a Noir Mystery? (It's complicated) story where Amity is a brothel owner in part to make her mom mad, Boscha is both bouncer and stripper for said brothel and dating Amity and Luz is a detective but not super gritty or the like. More Columbo (from what I hear, haven't seen it myself) than normal pulpy fiction Noir types. Also her detective style would lean a lot more into reading people and connections than forensics.

Another story I could do a concept pitch blog for since god only knows when or if I'll ever get to it. That idea is WAY more fleshed out than the going to hell one though.

But yeah, the betas are fine in my opinion to exist and mostly fine in how the fandom uses them because... I mean, if you don't like what they're being used for, just don't consume it. It's not necessary AT ALL to be a part of the fandom and I think a lot of fandoms really need to learn to chill about content creators creating content they don't like.

I don't think people realize the sorts of spaces they're creating within their own fandom because of that or the damage to their show's popularity either. It's a complicated topic and one I've had to give a lot of thought as, well... Ex-erotica writer, remember? And I've still done one erotic story for TOH too, even if it's aged up.

Everything You Didn’t Want to Know About Pork Quality (DFD Edition)

I'm about to nerd out on everyone, so sorry in advance 😁

(There is also a little tidbit about how this can relate to the TV show Hannibal too)

(if you are squeamish about meat or pictures of meat, please skip.  There is also a very very brief mention of animal death, so if you don’t like that, please skip as well.  Take care of yourself!!)

Today at work, we were trimming pork ham insides (slap the inside part of your thigh and it's the same muscle), and one of them was DFD (dark, firm, dry). You can see in the picture below. To the left is DFD, and the right is normal pork.

Here is the flip side! You can still see the difference.

To make sure it wasn't blood splash (another meat quality issue), I cut into the very dark part. If it was blood splash, there would be bright red dots all over the area.  As you can see, there are none.

What causes this? It's stress! More specifically, chronic (long term) stress. It's more likely to be seen in the winter (It's December now!), because the animal is dealing with a stressor (the cold weather) for a long period of time.

Why does this happen?  The animal uses up all the energy (ATP) in the body to deal with this stress. Then, when the animal is harvested (slaughtered, if you want to use the less academic term ((yeah, I know it's weird word to use, don't get me started))), the carcass doesn't have a lot of energy (ATP) left over when it goes through anaerobic metabolism, and not a lot of lactic acid is produced (the anaerobic metabolism and the lactic acid produced is what causes your muscles to feel sore when you exercise for the first time after a while).

Since there is not a lot of lactic acid in the carcass, the pH doesn't drop (less acid!), so the pH is around 6 to 6.3, closer to water (7, which is neutral. Meat is normally around 5.6-5.8). This higher pH makes the muscle fibers want to hold on to water, so the water in the meat doesn't release as much, making the meat look dry and feel a bit sticky. Since there is more water being held in the meat, it feels firm to the touch also. The meat appears dark because more myoglobin (the protein that gives meat its color) being held in the meat.  Myoglobin is water soluble (water dissolves it), so when water comes out of the meat, the myoglobin does too (which doesn’t happen in this case).

(Side note, this is the liquid you see in the package of meat in the meat case of the grocery store.  It’s called purge.  It’s not blood, like what people usually call it.  If it was blood, the liquid would be darker and would coagulate, like blood!)

Why is this a meat quality issue?  Well, look at the pictures!  It doesn’t appear normal.  If a customer sees this in the meat case, they are less likely to purchase it.  Also, the pH is closer to neutral (7).  Nasty spoilage microbes like pHs closer to neutral, so this meat will probably spoil faster too.  

What can this be used for?  This pork inside is actually going to get ground up, along with some more pork insides.  This will dilute the color and pH difference, so it shouldn’t affect the product I make out of it.  If I had a bunch of pork insides like this, then I would have a problem.  

If I was to cook this up and eat it, it would be fine.  It’s not harmful at all (as long as it’s not spoiled).  If anything, it will probably be juicier than the pork inside next to it, since it has more water being held in the meat.  I think it might have a metallic taste, but with enough seasonings, that would hide that.

It’s not often that I get to see something like this!  With the improvements in pork quality and animal handling throughout the years, it’s only in extreme cases this happens.  Besides this time, I’ve only seen this once, maybe twice (and I used to work in a pork packing plant!).

Well, I hope whoever read this learned something interesting about meat science!  I used to lecture about this when I helped out in the meat science classes at my university, and when I did the county fair carcass show circuit in my state.  If I find anything else interesting that passes through the lab I work in, maybe I’ll post it here.  And, when I become brave enough and/or more people become interested, I’ll open up my asks ;)

(OH and fun fact, when Hannibal talks about meat tasting frightened, THIS IS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT.  THIS IS ONE OF THE CAUSES).

((along with pse pork, but that’s another issue entirely))

violet, snowdrop, lilac, primrose, orchid, daisy, lotus, bluebell, tulip, marigold, poppy, tigerlily, sunflower, lavender, freesia<33

Hi anon! Oooh boy okay, I'll try to hit them all briefly:

violet— do you like to cook or bake? if so, what is it that you like to make?

I WISH I did, in my mind I totally romanticize cooking and baking but I actually just don't enjoy doing it. I want to so bad, I love the idea of myself doing it, but I just don't lol

snowdrop— would you say that you have been in love before?

I have!

lilac— is there anyone you currently miss right now? if so, who?

So many people, like actually most of the people I care about currently live 2+ hours away, which!! Sucks!! And at the top of that list is someone particularly special 💕

primrose— how long does it take for you to get ready for the day what does your routine usually consist of?

AhAAAA recently I have been snoozing my alarm so much that I can get ready and out the door in 10-15 minutes? But IDEALLY I get up at 5:45 and out the door around 6:30. Recently? .......up at 6:25, leaving at 6:40 lmao.

But my morning routine on a work day is to do my skincare and brush my teeth, put on my makeup and decide whether my curls are able to be tamed or if I need to put them in a scrunchie, feed my cats (who have been meowing and weaving in and out of my legs for every step of the process so far), take my meds and eat my yogurt and possibly something else, and then hopefully: leave for work on time lol.

orchid— when you're being extremely quiet, what are you typically thinking of?

Honestly it's usually work lol. I am very often thinking about work. I've been thinking a lot recently about how like,,,my job doesn't need to be my life, but it's something so integral to who I am right now that it's hard to separate what I do from anything else. I can't decide whether it's good or bad-—to feel like my identity is so tied to that. It's something I love and something I'm good at. But i also have to have a life outside of it, and I have to feel okay about myself on the days I don't do my job particularly well. Anyway—that's a long way of answering the question. But yeah, when I'm thinking, it's often work lol

daisy— what is your idea of the perfect date?

Laughter and long talks and my favorite person

lotus— what is your favorite color and in what shade? e.g. sage green, navy blue, ect.

Honestly I don't think I have a favorite color? Because I like them all in different moments! But the other day a coworker told me she noticed I wear a lot of dark green, and that somehow made me like it more?

bluebell— do you have any pets? if so, what are their names?

I do! Two kitties named Melody and Harmony

tulip— do you wear makeup? if so, how do you like to wear/style it?

My makeup is fairly simple, mostly because I never learned how to do anything more than that. But I just do some foundation, mascara and lipgloss most days!

marigold— do you wear any kind of jewelry on a regular basis? if so, what kind?

For work I do—I usually wear the same heart necklace most days, and I switch out my earrings all the time cause I have a couple I like.

poppy— out of the four seasons, which season of the year is your favorite and why?

I normally answer autumn, because I love the leaves and the weather, but also it's a time of getting colder and darker which—right now, just doesn't sound good to me so this time I'll say spring! For warmer days and longer days and things coming back to life.

tigerlily— do you have any favorite quotes from any movies, tv shows, books, or poetry? (or from people in real life)

SO many, but I'll give you whichever one pops up first when I scroll through my faves:

An excerpt from Good Bones by Maggie Smith:

Life is short and the world
is at least half terrible, and for every kind
stranger, there is one who would break you,
though I keep this from my children. I am trying
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.

sunflower— in your opinion, what is the best photo on your phone of? (serious or non-serious answers)

Oh man I have no idea,,,,maybe the one where my cats look like they're kissing lol

lavender— what is currently on your mind (aside from this ask game)?

I have to solidify my thesis topic and do some work but I have had the headache to end all headaches today and I don't want to do itttttt

Also—saw my grandfather today and he's not doing great, so just distantly worrying about him.

freesia— what do you want people to remember you for? (serious or non-serious answers)

I can't think of anything specific other than kindness and laughter <3

(from an ask game I can't find the link to now!)