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ninjagirlstar5 · 10 months

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Protag Teruya AU - Mikado Sannoji's FTE (Part 4)

Word count is 7,145!

AO3 Version

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 5

Disclaimer: While Sannotori is problematic, it’s a thing in this AU/fic and the dynamic is not the same as it is in canon.

The Protag Teruya AU was inspired by @/anotherprofessional’s post! Beware of Void spoilers though!

Fic is under read more!

“Holy–”

“Whoa, step back!”

Teruya scrambles away from the Monocrow Machine as it violently shakes. Setsuka, who was doing her own shopping in the gift shop, helps him to his feet and they run to the other side of the store. They keep their distance from the machine as it struggles to function, before it finally spits out the gift. Or rather, gifts as multiple objects spill out from the vending machine. The noises from the Monocrow Machine eventually calmed down and went quiet. Certain that nothing else was going to pop out or explode, Teruya cautiously moved forward to examine the gifts.

“...Books?” Teruya said, dumbfounded as he kneels down to pick one up. The book didn’t have a title on it, but the cover had fancy engravings in black and a symbol that was a triangle with an eyeball in the middle. He can’t help but feel a little bit creeped out as he opens the book to try and read it. But he quickly realizes that he can’t as it was filled with runes he did not understand at all. “What kind of books are these??”

“Let me see…ooo, looks like these books might be about magic!” Setsuka said, picking up a book and scanning through it. Her smile wanes a bit. “...Too bad I can’t understand any of this.”

“Oh…” Teruya blinks. Honestly, with all these symbols and runes, it’d make the most sense that these were spell books. What else could they be just by the aesthetic alone? He starts stacking the books on top of each other and speaks as he thinks. “Where does Monocrow even find this kind of stuff…?”

“Honestly, it’s probably stuff from Hope’s Peak.” Setsuka hands him the book she held. “I mean, they’re a school made to study our talents and help us develop them. So it’d make sense they’d find stuff for someone like Mikado…Even if he’s like, the first wizard I’ve ever heard of.”

“Yeah…” Teruya sets the book on top of the stack and starts to question how he’s going to move all of these books. There’s no way all of them will fit in his backpack and it’ll be too heavy to carry even if he could. “I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen magic even before I got amnesia. But even then, it’s weird that they’re able to find all this stuff for a talent that felt so…obscure up to this point. Especially since it’s all about magic, something…something that’s never been real. You know?”

“Hm…that is a good point.” Setsuka frowns…before shrugging her shoulders as she starts to grin again. “Maybe there’s a secret society of magic users no one has heard of until now!”

“Um…” Teruya hesitates. He didn’t want to shoot down Setsuka’s enthusiasm, nor did he want to question her idea if it was actually plausible. He just…didn’t want to come off as incompetent. And yet, the reminder of his journal and the questions he had asked himself last night encouraged him to speak up. After all, Mikado did tell him to get used to asking questions if he wanted to improve his thinking. “...Why, uh, why do you think so?”

“Hm? Oh, well…it is a concept in fiction. And since Mikado seems like the real deal, it would make sense that magic would have to come from somewhere.” Setsuka said, crossing her arms and answering his question head on. “I don’t know where or how he learned his magic, but he had to learn somehow if he were to become the Ultimate Wizard.” Her smile widens as she raises her index finger. “Sooo if a secret society of magic users exists, then Hope’s Peak could’ve found a way to contact them and asked for materials to help nurture his talent!”

“That…I mean, it could be possible.” Teruya admits, even if he had his doubts. Thinking on it harder only strengthened them as Mikado said that he never had a mentor and was completely self-taught through a book he found by chance. And if there was a secret society of magic users, well, that only brought up more questions than answers. “But, um…how do I explain myself…? I don’t think that would make much sense…?” He rubs his forehead. Setsuka doesn’t push him, simply waiting for him to gather his thoughts. Teruya appreciated her patience. “If magic has existed for years, centuries even…why are we only hearing this now? Why haven’t magic users made themselves known before? I mean, I don’t remember our history at all, but I’m pretty sure some people would be interested in using magic to help or hurt others. And if there really is a secret society, uh…how would Hope’s Peak find them?”

“...That I don’t know.” Setsuka admits, scratching the back of her head. She was still smiling but her expression was much more awkward now. “I’ll admit, I was mostly spitballing the first idea that came to mind. And it’s not like Hope’s Peak is able to grab their hands on information that should’ve been hidden. Take Ruko or even Syobai as an example. Neither of them were trying to gain Hope’s Peak’s attention but they were found out anyway and got scouted into the school. I’m just saying, if it did exist and Hope’s Peak Academy somehow got into contact with them, I wouldn’t be surprised.” She then sighs and shrugs her shoulders. “But who knows? The whole magic thing is pretty much new to everyone here and the only one who’s even intimate with that knowledge is Mikado himself…and he ain’t really talking. So all we can really do is speculate!”

“...Yeah, that’s all we really can do, huh?” Teruya stands up and stares down at the stack of spell books. He was tempted to mention that Mikado learned magic all on his own but decided against it. That was a part of Mikado’s past, and it was something he had opened up to him about. Not anyone else. So he shouldn’t spill it out to others willy-nilly as that was information only he was trusted with so far. “We don’t really have the evidence to speculate in the first place. And it wouldn’t really be a secret society if we knew all about it anyways.” Setsuka nods but doesn’t add anything else. With the topic officially dying out, Teruya looks around to figure out how he’s going to transport all of these books. When his eyes land on some strings, an idea forms in his head and he walks over to the shelf. He had to pay for them from his handbook but he didn’t care as he had an abundance of Crow-Cards at this point. Taking a decent amount of string, he carefully lays them down on the floor before putting the stack of books on top. He then grabs the string and ties them together at the top, keeping the stack together in one piece. “This should work…”

“I’d say so.” Setsuka rubs her right eye, leaning over to stare at his handiwork. “You’re really good at tying knots. I kinda just wing it and then I’m stuck with a big tangle of strings instead.”

“I could teach you next time we hang out.” Teruya offered, testing the weight of the books before deciding to just pick them up from the bottom. With a huff, he manages to carry them with ease.

“Maybe next time! You look like you have places to be right now.” Setsuka said, not denying or accepting the request. Probably something they can talk about next time. “Gonna hang out with Mikado now?”

“Yep.” Teruya said, popping the ‘p.’ “He’s giving me lessons in the library and I don’t want to be late for that.”

“Ooo, lessons! What kind of lessons?” She grins mischievously, nudging her elbow against his side. Teruya blinks at her.

“Uh…Investigation lessons? Cause, you know, I, uh, kinda sucked at the fake class trial. So Mikado offered to help and I don’t want to get left behind.” Teruya explained. He readjusts his grip, completely missing the slightly disappointed look Setsuka sends his way. “I better get going. See ya.”

“Ah, sure. See ya, Teru!” Setsuka smiles back at him and leaves the gift shop first. The nickname made his heart both flutter and tighten. Teruya takes a deep breath. He should focus on what’s important right now.

He walks down the halls of the Monocruise, slowly making his way towards the library. When he finally reached the double doors, he had to use his foot to push it open. Almost immediately, his eyes land on Mikado reading another book. It would’ve been a nice, peaceful sight to witness if he hadn’t noticed that the cover was another psychology book, reminding him of Kokoro's possible motivations again. Mikado’s real eye glances up from the book, looks back down, and then does a double take.

“What are you carrying?” Mikado asked, lifting his face from his book. Teruya simply sends him a smile.

“Spell books, apparently.” He said. Mikado blinks his eyes, both real and mask, as Teruya sets down the stack on the table with a grunt. “Maybe I should spend more time in the gym. My arms are actually sore from carrying all of these.” He stretches, lifting his arms above his head until his spine makes a popping sound.

“I believe that’s a sign you should rest, not over do it.” Mikado closes his book and it disappears into his cape. He then leans over to look at the stack of books. “I’m assuming that these are a gift?”

“Yep!” Teruya’s smile grew a little bit before he undid the tie. He hands Mikado the first book. “I don’t know if you’ve seen these books before, but I remember that you wanted to learn more about magic. And this stuff popped out of the Monocrow Machine earlier. So I thought you’d want something like this.” Mikado stares at the book before taking it. He flips it open and starts scanning the contents, his eyes glowing along with the words. Teruya leans in, wondering what Mikado could be doing with his magic.

“This…This is…” Mikado suddenly shuts the book. Teruya flinched at the sudden sound, but the wizard was already taking the second book to look through it. The same glowing effect takes place and then he closes it. He stares at the cover intently. “Teruya, these books…”

“Uhhh, yeah?” Teruya shifts on the ball of his feet. He hoped he didn’t somehow offend Mikado. Were the books fake somehow? Or something far worse? He certainly starts to fear for the worse when Mikado’s mask suddenly goes blank, just like the times when he would go into shock. His body breaks out in a sweat. “I, uh, I’m-”

“I’ve been looking for these books since…forever.” His voice cuts him off, quiet and restrained. Mikado lifts the book to his face before holding it close to his chest. “And you’re giving these…to me?”

“Uhhhh, yeah!” Teruya laughs awkwardly. “I mean, as long as you like them! If you don’t-”

“Like them?” Mikado said, almost sounding baffled. And when he turned around, Teruya felt himself freeze. His mask was completely blank, but his face…his real face. It was giving him this big smile, his eye shining bright like gold. “I love them! I could never get my hands on the full set before and you just…You got all of the books! And you’re giving them to me. You’re…You’re really…really giving it to me…right?”

Teruya gulps.

“Y-Yeah, of course I am! You love magic and you’d get the most out of this so…” Teruya rubs his neck, averting his gaze. He tries to fight against the blush rising to his face. “So it’s yours.”

It was then that Mikado got out of seat and took his hand.

“Thank you!” Mikado said, jumping up and down with a squeal. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” And just as quickly as he had held his hand, he lets go and pulls the stack of books closer to his side of the table. “I can’t wait to read all of these! Maybe I can squeeze some time in at night…ah, but…Hm…I need to do some research…But the books…!”

“Heh…” Teruya couldn’t help himself. Even as Mikado’s gaze snaps back to him, he just keeps chuckling. “Sorry, it’s just…It’s, uh, cute. To see you get all excited.” Teruya smiles at the wizard. “You look great with a smile. A real smile.”

“Real…ah!” Mikado’s eye goes wide before turning away. He covers the mask with his hand. “I…didn’t mean to smile like that.” Teruya feels his heart sink a little. But only briefly as Mikado’s ears slowly start to turn red. “But…thank you. For the compliment.”

“Uh, heh, you’re welcome.” Teruya said, unable to keep himself from blushing any longer. He sits down with his hands in his lap. Mikado also sat back down. The two of them weren’t able to look at each other until the blush on Mikado’s ears went down. As soon as that happened, Mikado put his hand down and his mask went back to normal. It blinks its wide eye before going to its normal smile. He turns to him, his real face going back to its usual blank expression.

Teruya wished he could see that smile again.

“Thank you for the books, Otori-san. I will be sure to put them to good use.” Mikado said, setting the two other books back on the stack. He waves his cape over it and just like that, the stack disappears underneath it. He then adjusts his cape behind himself. “I will find you a suitable gift later.”

“Oh, no. You don’t have to do something like that.” Teruya raises both of his hands to try and appease him, feeling the blush on his face start to cool. But Mikado was already shaking his head.

“I insist, Otori-san. You’ve been spoiling me with gifts since we’ve been hanging out. It’s only natural that I give you something in return.” Mikado rubs his thumbs together, clearly pleased. “Especially after you gave me a wonderful gift.”

“...You’re not gonna budge, no matter what I say, huh?” Teruya said, caving in with a chuckle. He sets his hands down on the table. “Well…I guess I’ll just look forward to it then.”

“Please do.” Mikado then pulls out his handbook and sets it up on the table. “With that out of the way, let us get into the lesson. Did you do the assignment I asked you to do yesterday?”

“Yeah. It’s all in my journal.” Teruya pulls it out from his coat. Flipping it to the most recent pages, he lays it flat on the table and adjusts it so Mikado can read it better from his side. He had tried his best to brainstorm any and all questions he could think of last night, mostly about himself, the killing game and Kokoro’s role as the mastermind. Most of it was stuff he already knew or discussed with others in the dining room. But it’s good to have it on record so he can reference it later. Honestly, it was something he probably should’ve done from the start. “So, uh, where should we start?”

“How about the first page…which is apparently about yourself.” Mikado said, tapping on the page in question. He scoots his chair closer so he can read it better. On the page, he had written down ‘My Identity’ and circled it. After that, he made a few branching points and tried to keep the questions to one word or as short as possible to save space. He already listed his name since meeting Rei Mekaru and that woman was the closest people to be able to confirm that much. Unless they were lying, but he’d rather not think about that. They acted like they knew him, so they were probably the best people to trust when it comes to his missing identity.

Too bad they’re dead. It would make things so much easier for him if he knew himself. Or at least, his name.

“Hm…there’s little notes about your name.” Mikado points at it. “‘Shining house’...”

“Oh, I was just trying to see what kind of kanji spellings I can use for my name.” Teruya said, leaning closer. “I know my e-handbook already shows how it’s spelled. I just thought it’d be good to cover my bases, you know?”

“I see…” Mikado’s finger traces the kanji before him. There weren’t many spellings to his name, to be honest. His e-handbook spelled his name ‘Teruya Otori’ with the ‘teru’ kanji meaning ‘to illuminate’ or ‘to shine’ and the ‘ya’ kanji meaning ‘shop’, while ‘Otori’ straight up meant ‘large bird'. Any other spellings were pretty similar if not the same. Teruya can also be written as ‘shining house’ and some spellings with Otori can be spelled ‘Phoenix’ or something similar to ‘big bird.’ Not a lot of spellings when it comes to his name. But that clues him in that his parents had chosen a very specific name for him at least. “What is a ‘Fenghuang?’ Feels foreign.”

“Ah…I think it’s a bird from Chinese mythology.” Teruya scratches his cheek with his finger. The information was once again flowing through his head, like it was the most natural thing for him to know. “An immortal bird, like a phoenix, is an omen of good luck…I think. It’s just another way to spell ‘Otori,’ if I’m doing this correctly.”

“Your kanji spelling makes sense, if that’s what you’re asking.” Mikado lifts his hand up to mouth with a chuckle. “A phoenix…it would certainly explain the little drawing you made, huh?” Teruya glances at the drawing in question. It was of a bird, made of circles and swirls, three feathers on top of its head, two tails and its wing was in front of its body like it was in the middle of flying. He licks his lips before shrugging.

“It just came to me, to be honest.” Teruya admits. The moment he had written down Fenghuang, the image just flowed into his brain and he couldn’t help but draw it right that instant. Upon looking at the little doodle, his heart had started to ache. But of course, no memories came back to him. Just a vague feeling that simply made his chest hurt. He almost wanted to shut his journal then and there, but he pushed on. He wanted to explore every question he could think of, for the sake of completing Mikado’s assignment. “...It’s a cute drawing. I think the design made an impression on me, but I don’t know where…”

“...Actually, I think I do recognize that specific doodle from somewhere.” Mikado speaks up and Teruya instantly straightens his posture.

“You do?!” He gapes at him with wide eyes. “Where??”

“Calm down.” Mikado puts his hand up to soothe him. Teruya shifts in his seat but calms his excitement. He probably shouldn’t get his hopes up too much. That would only be setting himself up for disappointment. “...I believe it’s part of a logo. A business that dabbled in almost anything you could think of.”

“Anything you could think of…” Teruya felt his brain throb, a familiarity surfacing in his memory. But it doesn’t break through, much to his disappointment. “...Do you remember what it’s called? If I’m drawing the logo, it must be important…or something.”

“...Don’t freak out. But, well…” Mikado pauses before his real eye looks away. His words are blunt and straight to the point. “It’s called the ‘Otori Mart.’”

“...Huh?” He stares at him, processing his words. “The…Otori Mart…” His jaw was hanging before the pieces finally clicked in his head and he snapped his mouth shut. He stands from his seat and slams his hands against the table. Mikado jolts. “Why didn’t you mention this sooner?! That’s…That’s my name! It has my name!”

“My apologies…I simply didn’t want to confuse you.” Mikado said, cringing at his shrill voice. Teruya made his displeasure clear on his face by frowning deeply. The wizard gestures for him to sit down. “Allow me to explain, at least.” Teruya narrows his eyebrows but he slowly sits back down. Once he did, Mikado continued. “...I was not aware that you and the Otori Mart were possibly related. Just because you share a name with a business doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a connection. The possibility of a coincidence is always there and nothing more. And because I lacked the evidence to connect you and the Otori Mart beyond just your name, I didn’t want to bring it up as it would confuse you. Reality does not always coincide with imagination, and it’d be easy to build up an expectation of your past self when it could be farther from the truth. At best, you’d be disappointed. At worst…you may end up trying to reject your past self. And I don’t want you to do that to yourself. Regardless of what the truth is, that past is still a part of you. Even if you never remember it.”

“...So, in other words…you were keeping quiet because you didn’t want me to believe in something that might not be true.” Teruya slowly summed up. Mikado nods his head. “I…see.” He looks away. Now he felt a little shameful. “That, um, makes sense actually…”

“I’m sorry I have kept quiet up till now. I just didn’t want to make assumptions without the evidence to back it up.” Mikado said, looking back at the doodle of the bird. “It’s…a bit circumstantial as evidence. But if the logo made such a strong impression on you, perhaps there is a deeper connection.”

“Do you…know if the Otori Mart has an heir? Someone to inherit the business?” Teruya asked. It felt natural to ask such a question. Mikado, however, was already shaking his head.

“I’m afraid that’s…beyond me. I wouldn’t know how a business works behind the scenes.” Mikado scratches the back of his head, almost as if he was disappointed in himself. “Unless it was on the news, I don’t know if the Otori Mart is a business that runs on family inheritance. And even then, I barely paid any attention to the news unless I noticed something very concerning.”

“Ah…Well, I guess I shouldn’t expect it to be that easy.” Teruya sighs and pulls out a pen. He adds the Otori Mart under a bubble labeled ‘past’ with a question mark on the end. “But it’s something. Thank you for speaking up on this…and, um, I’m sorry for snapping earlier.”

“Do not apologize for that. It’s understandable that you would be upset as it’s a possible connection to your past.” Mikado waves his hand placatingly before setting it down on the table. “Keyword possible. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”

“I understand.” Teruya then looks back at the page. “I think we should move on from my name. It’s one of the few things I know for certain about myself.”

“Very well. Hmm…” Mikado points to another bubble. “I see you put your own age and talent in question marks. Your lack of an idea for a talent makes sense, as we could only speculate on it based on the skills and interests you’ve shown so far.” His finger circles the talents he had listed out, some of which were the ones Mikado suggested in the past. Others were ones he came up with on his own, like bank teller, financier or advertiser to list a few. But none of them really clicked in his head so they all had question marks around them. “But why are you questioning your age?”

“Uh…I mean, I know I’m a Hope’s Peak Student. I wouldn’t be here as your classmate if I wasn’t.” Teruya runs his fingers through his hair. “But, I don’t know. When I saw Rei Mekaru and that woman, I felt…strangely attached to them? I don’t know, I just…I feel a bit more closer to Shinji’s age…or something.”

“I see.” Mikado was quiet for a while. He then shrugs. “It’s not unheard of for there to be older Hope’s Peak Students. Shinji is a living example of that. And we should keep in mind that height does not necessarily equate to one’s age.”

“Yeah, I know.” Teruya props his hand on his chin. “Yuri is short as hell but he’s the same age as everyone else. I guess I just feel a little weird about my age since I don’t even remember the specific number. Let alone my own birthday.”

“If we ever come across any evidence about yourself or get out of here, you will find out eventually.” Mikado assured, staring down at the journal. Teruya slowly nods his head. He supposed he’ll just have to wait and see. Assuming he survives long enough to find out. If only Rei Mekaru and that woman were still around, they probably would’ve given him the answers he seeks.

Speaking of which…

“Do you have any guesses about my relation to the Kisaragi Foundation?” Teruya points at the ‘past’ bubble with the name of the organization written underneath. “Like, maybe I worked and developed my talent there?”

“Perhaps.” Mikado puts his finger up to his lips. “It would certainly be an explanation for how they knew you. But it’s possible that there are other ways you’ve gotten to know them. Ms. Mekaru was the Former Ultimate Professor, correct? Perhaps she tutored you.”

“Haha, maybe.” Teruya said with a chuckle. While it was an on the fly suggestion, it feels as though something like that had happened in the past. He couldn’t remember it, but he definitely had that feeling. He looks down at the list again. The Kisaragi Foundation, the Otori Mart, his familiarity with Yuki Maeda and that guy from the portrait, his family…He clicks his tongue. “Yuki isn’t much help. If he doesn’t remember me, there’s no point in asking. The guy from the portrait is dead, according to Kokoro and as much as I don’t trust her, I don’t see why she would lie. She seemed…genuine in her grief. And my family…” Teruya puts his hand over his chest. “When I try to think about my mother, I don’t feel much. Maybe I’m a little sad but it’s nothing I can’t deal with. But when I…think about my father…” He swallows, trying to get rid of this lump in his throat.

But it doesn’t go away.

Even as he tried not to think about it, it felt hard to breathe.

Like something was choking him, drowning him in a sea of sorrow.

He can see someone in his head, his back turned to him as he sits at his desk. Warm and comforting.

But no matter how he tries to reach out to him, he feels the memory sink deeper into the abyss. Never to be found again.

Like the days of being held were gone, gone, gone–

“Otori-san. Otori-san.”

He feels a hand wrap around his. Teruya flinches as it’s pulled away from his neck, letting go of the scarf he held so tightly. He felt sweat cling to his skin, his chest felt like it was tight and in pain, and his heart kept rapidly pounding against his ribs. But Mikado uses his other hand to make Teruya face him, staring right into his eyes.

“It’s okay. You can get through this.” Mikado said gently, rubbing his thumb along his hand. “Just slow your breathing. Count to ten. I will help you so watch me.”

Mikado takes in a slow deep breath, holds, and then lets it out. Teruya focuses on him and follows his example. The wizard counts out loud for him, repeating with each breath he takes, stops, and lets out. They do this a couple of times until the pain in his chest slowly alleviates. He can feel himself calming down and once he does, his grip on Mikado starts to loosen.

“Do you need anything, Otori-san? I can go grab it right now.” Mikado asked, still rubbing his thumb along his hand. Teruya stares at their conjoined hands, quiet.

“What…What about our lesson…?” Teruya looks up. Mikado’s mask forms a small frown.

“You can’t learn if your body is shutting down on you. If you’re not up for it, we can always skip today’s lesson and relax.” Mikado said, holding his hand tightly. When Teruya starts to frown, he slowly shakes his head. “I know you’re concerned about getting left behind. But you shouldn’t push yourself. You’ll only get frustrated.”

“...Okay…” He finally caves in. He just felt so tired right now that he can’t bring himself to argue. “Can you…grab me some water?”

“Right away.” Mikado lets go of his hand and in the blink of an eye, he disappears in a flash of fire. Teruya barely had to sit there for a minute before the wizard came back with a water bottle in hand. He twists the cap without him asking to. “Here you go, Otori-san.”

“Thanks…” Teruya murmured before lifting the drink to his lips. The cool water made him close his eyes at the refreshing taste. After downing a few gulps, he finally starts to relax a little and smacks his lips once he’s done. Teruya sets the water bottle on the table and leans against it with a sigh. “Ah, that feels good.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Mikado said, sitting back down on the chair. He pulls the journal over to his side of the table. “Moving on from yourself…it seems you’ve written down questions about our situation and Kokoro, although it’s stuff we’ve already speculated about. Including her strange motivations about brains and memories…although I see you’ve written down ‘Remnants of Despair’ as well.”

“I mean…Rei Mekaru mentioned it before. Which means this group of people are very dangerous, not unlike Kokoro.” Teruya explains his thoughts. He rubs his forehead with a sigh. “I don’t know…or rather, I don’t remember what they are. All I know is that they’re bad. Bad enough that Rei Mekaru called Kokoro that on the day we all woke up in this killing game.”

“Yes…she has.” Mikado said slowly. His mask slowly smiles. “You’re putting all of this together very nicely, Otori-san.”

“I-I am?” Teruya lifts his head, staring at him with wide eyes. Mikado nods his head.

“Yes. While the answers aren’t concrete, you’re speculating, which means you’re using your brain. That’s good.” Mikado slides his journal back over to him. “It means you’re being curious and that means this assignment went very well. Keep it up, Otori-san.”

“Uh, hehehe…” Teruya feels a smile grow on his face from the praise. He still wasn’t feeling well, but the compliment cheered him up. If only a little bit.

“...Do you wish to continue the lesson, Otori-san?” Mikado tilts his head at him. “If you feel like we can continue, we can go ahead with the plan.”

“Um…” Teruya hesitates. He wanted to continue their lesson. He knows they should. He needed this if he wanted to be useful in a class trial. If there ever is another class trial. But…his brain felt completely fried right now. And his gut was telling him that there was no way he'd be absorbing any sort of knowledge tonight. Not after what just happened with his body just moments ago. “...To be honest, I don’t think I can do this today. But I still want to learn something. Otherwise, I feel like we just wasted an entire day.”

“...How about this then?” Mikado starts putting away his handbook. “We spend the rest of our time working on that jigsaw puzzle we haven’t finished, and I give you an assignment to work on for later. Does this compromise work for you?”

“Yeah…Yeah, I think I like that idea.” Teruya smiles a little bit as he lifts his head. “Although I can’t promise I’ll be able to finish it tonight.”

“That’s fine. The best plans are the ones that are flexible, so I don’t mind changing things up. Even if it is only our second day of starting these lessons.” Mikado said, pulling the jigsaw puzzle box out of his cape. “And even if you don’t finish the assignment tonight, just think about it. Okay?”

“Alright.” Teruya replied, straightening his posture. “...Thank you, Mikado.”

Mikado’s mask smiles at him before scooting his chair closer to him. He then sets the box down and carefully sets up their jigsaw puzzle. With his magic, it was very easy to keep the half completed puzzle together and set it down on the table, along with the piles of puzzle pieces they made last time. Both of them were quiet as they started picking up pieces and putting them together. But eventually, Mikado speaks up.

“Did you remember something?” He asks, his voice low but gentle. Teruya lifts his head just as he attaches another puzzle piece to the jigsaw. “About your father, I mean.”

“Ah…not really.” Teruya admits. He can feel the disappointment weighing down on his shoulders. “I saw him sitting at a desk, but I couldn’t even remember what he looked like. But I did feel…happy and comforted when I saw him. And yet…I feel as though my heart is broken in two.”

“Sounds like something complicated happened between you and your father.” Mikado points out. Teruya shifts in his seat, staring at the puzzle apprehensively. “...Would you like to talk about something else?”

“Please.” Teruya nods and he quickly thinks of a topic. “...What’s it like using magic? You seem to love it a lot.”

“Using magic is exhilarating.” Mikado’s answer was almost instantaneous. He can feel the excitement radiating off of him. “Being able to change nature itself, create objects out of thin air, seeing things that the naked eye cannot…It's a whole different world. Not to mention I get to fly through the air! I wasn’t able to do that back in Japan.”

“Because you would’ve gotten into trouble if people saw you using magic, right?” Teruya said, remembering their conversation yesterday. Mikado nods his head with a sigh, connecting another puzzle piece.

“Yes…As I’ve said before, using magic is not only taxing but also dangerous to reveal. Back in Japan, I had to be careful when and how I should use my magic. But here…I have so much freedom.” Mikado stares at his hand, a giant smile forming on his mask. “There’s no one else around but our classmates and as the Ultimate Wizard, I’m allowed to use my magic to my heart’s content. I was so excited to study more about magic…” He then hangs his head with a sigh. “But alas…Well, I don’t have to explain any further, now do I?”

“Nope. I imagine the killing game put a stop to almost everyone’s plans for Hope’s Peak…” Teruya picks up a few puzzle pieces. A frown slowly forms on his face. “Unless…someone decides to murder…”

“Hopefully not. You’ve been checking on everyone since we got here…No one has been doing anything suspicious, yes?” Mikado tilts his head at him. But Teruya shakes his head.

“Not that I noticed. Nothing has been taken or restocked in the gift shop. At least, nothing suspicious like the tasers. I, uh, check every day.” Teruya clears his throat awkwardly. He can’t help but feel embarrassed for doing something that’s probably considered weird. Even if it felt natural to do so. “It seems Monocrow restocks everything in the gift shop after twenty-four hours.”

“Which means, if someone takes something from the gift shop, you’ll only have until the night time announcement to notice…” Mikado sighs, rubbing his forehead as he picks up another puzzle piece. “Not very useful since people can take things and use them for later. Perhaps if you keep an active record of who takes what, you could bypass that. But getting people to cooperate with that would be impossible, let alone put any sort of surveillance on the gift shop. And then there’s the U-Mart…”

“Yeah, anyone could go in there, too.” Teruya scratches his head. “I don’t think there’s a good way of keeping an eye on the stores, especially by myself. And even if there was only one store, I’d have to camp out there almost twenty-four seven just to catch people coming in and out and make a record of what they buy. Which means I wouldn’t be able to investigate or do anything else the whole day.”

“Hm…” Mikado’s mask frowns as he lifts his finger to his lips. “...I might have an idea, actually.”

“You do?” Teruya raised an eyebrow at that. He puts down a few puzzle pieces, staring at the picture that was slowly coming together.

“I’ll talk to you about it later. I need to make sure I won’t be breaking any rules before committing to my idea.” Mikado said, attaching another puzzle piece to the jigsaw. “If it goes through, I’ll update you during our lesson tomorrow. Alright?”

“Okay.” Teruya’s fingers brush against his goggles. Its cool, worn surface made his heart calm down, even when there’s a pang of hurt behind it as well. He then huffs upon realizing something. “...Geez, how did we get to talking about preventing possible murders when we’re supposed to be relaxing?”

“Oops. Well, it happens when you get carried away onto another topic.” Mikado rubs the back of his head with an awkward frown. But the mask quickly cheers back up. “How about we move onto a lighter topic…like, what did you do this morning? You and Iroha seemed to have hit it off well.”

“Oh, we have! She’s been trying to teach me how to draw and we’ve also been talking about rainbows…”

“Hahaha, what is with your obsession with rainbows? It's a strange interest.” Mikado chuckles and Teruya huffs, swatting his shoulder.

“Because rainbows are awesome.” Teruya then points at the sun emblem clasp that keeps Mikado’s cape together. “It’s not like you don’t have a motif either. You seem to really like the sun.”

“Oh ho, on the contrary, I love all sorts of celestial symbols. Moons, suns, stars…They’re connected to the wonders of magic.” Mikado smiles gleefully and Teruya feels himself smile back.

The two of them spent the rest of their time together, talking, teasing each other and putting together the puzzle before them. Teruya talked about his time with Iroha and the other students, his exploration of the island with those students, and the strange gifts he would find in the stores. Mikado would add in his own commentary, but he didn’t have many stories to share himself. Despite working hard in researching ways to get out of the killing game, he hasn’t interacted with the other students unless he absolutely had to. Teruya wanted him to make a few connections with his fellow students. But he also didn’t want to force him to socialize when he didn’t want to.

He’ll just have to come up with a plan later.

Teruya sets the final puzzle piece into place, completing the image of the jigsaw puzzle.

It was a beautiful image, made of blue and black. Pretty lights washed the forest with a glow, and trees without leaves pointed towards the dark sky. The flow of stars reached the ground and further and further up until it can no longer be seen on the jigsaw puzzle.

“It’s a really lovely picture.” Teruya said, if only because he couldn’t think of anything else to say. Mikado nods his head.

“I’ll be sure to give you another jigsaw puzzle to solve on your own later.” Mikado replied. His hand carefully runs over the picture. Teruya can’t help but take out his handbook so he can take a picture of it. Once he did, the wizard pulled the box over and moved the completed picture back to where it belonged with the help of his magic. “So, about your assignment…”

“Right. What is it?” Teruya gets up from his seat. Mikado puts the box away in his cape and stands up as well.

“Well, I came up with a ‘case’ for you to solve on your own.” Mikado starts and Teruya tenses a little. He gently pats his shoulder. “Like I said, you don’t have to start it tonight. But if you do decide to take a look, just open the document I will send over via the e-handbook.”

“Alright…I’ll see if I’m in a better mood later, then.” Teruya still felt a little stressed, despite taking a break with Mikado. Maybe he should relax in his room for a while. It would help with his fatigue. “I’ll be going then.”

“Wait.” Mikado raises his hand. Teruya stops in his tracks. “Let me go grab your gift. It might help you relax.”

“Oh, sure.” Teruya nods his head and the wizard disappears in a flash of fire. After only a minute of waiting, Mikado returns with a small object. He barely had to take a look at it to realize that it was a candle with a black cap over it and was purple to match the scent labeled on it. “A…lavender scented candle?”

“I used to come across these candles a lot while working. A…friend used to use these a lot.” Mikado admits, staring down at the candle in his hand. His mask even looked a little…sad. And not in its exaggerated teary expression. But he keeps talking before Teruya could ask if he’s okay. “The scent is quite comforting and has a calming and relaxing effect. If you light it by your bedside, it will help reduce anxiety, manage insomnia…and even help those with memory issues.”

“Wow, how thoughtful.” The tease was light, but the words were genuine. Teruya wasn’t expecting the candle to fix all of his memories. That would be one hell of a miracle if it did. But highly unlikely. Still, he appreciated the gift as Mikado clearly wanted to help him with his health. “I’ll be sure to use it tonight…But, a friend?”

“...We’re no longer friends.” Mikado said, looking away. Teruya mutters a small ‘oh’ before the wizard shakes his head. “But it’s alright. As long as you enjoy the aromatic smell, I will be happy with that.”

“Okay…Thank you.” Teruya carefully puts the candle away in his bag. Maybe he should use it while he relaxes for the afternoon. “I’ll see you later then?”

“Yes. I’ll see you at dinner.” Mikado then disappears from the library.

Teruya yawns, his fatigue weighing down on him.

He’s been working very hard or socializing a lot these past few days.

Maybe he deserves to have a break in his room for a while.

Your relationship rank with Mikado Sannoji has risen from 3 to 4!

Mikado Sannoji’s information has been recorded in the e-Handbook+’s profile page.

#SDRA2 #Super Danganronpa Another 2 #Protag Teruya AU #Teruya Otori #Mikado Sannoji #SDRA2 Spoilers #Sannotori #Terukado #Setsuka Chiebukuro

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elliewiltarwyn · 4 months

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for the meme!: Top 5 Jobs (ICly and/or what you prefer to play)

this was harder than I thought, considering that if I like a job I tend to bend my own personal canon to make it work in-character -- like Ellie picked up reaper because deep down she knew she wanted to go head-to-head with Zenos on his own terms. but that doesn't mean it's actually still what I prefer to play, either, so it got weird. I decided to make this about which job I like playing most in each role...though I am pretty bad at ranged and caster. and healer. I have a very obviously in-your-face playstyle, I'm pretty sure.

at any rate!

-------------------------

Tank: Dark Knight

i have. exulted quite a bit about dark knight in these answers lmao. but part of the reason i love it so much is because I genuinely have a blast playing it. It feels big and powerful, it feels risky, it really nails the feel of making yourself bleed to protect your comrades. The burst phase when you just throw absolutely everything you have at the enemy is an incredibly satisfying, violent rampage. They made it an ability to call upon your dark twin to help you in combat, and I've mentioned how much of a sucker I am for dark twin shit. Blackest Night, imo, is the most rewarding "super shield" tank ability. And post-buff, I'd argue Living Dead is the best invuln.

plus you know, everything about the entire storyline and Esteem and the image of playing through Shadowbringers in this job. it's all just so good. Immensely satisfying to play and is probably the best at fulfilling its "job fantasy" for me.

2. Melee: Monk

I always like the hand-to-hand characters or movesets in fantasy settings; there's something very appealing to me about facing a bunch of fantastic supernatural beings and just punching them in the face. That said, I actually had several false starts with FFXIV before it finally hooked me about... four years ago. Every one of those times I picked pugilist as my starting class, got frustrated by never being able to hit positionals (it was because i was using lockon. why does the lockon in this game exist lmao.), and would give up. Once I was finally properly playing, I pushed through leveling pugilist into monk and thought it was... alright, but felt incredibly high-strung, like they were putting in more effort to do the same damage. Then Endwalker completely reworked the kit.

They lowered the level requirements for the chakra moves, making them actually fun and usable long before Stormblood. They made Greased Lightning a constant trait instead of having to struggle to keep it up so your GCD wasn't ass. They added the Masterful Blitz mechanic to dial in combos that end with kickass finishers. They... didn't give it any new buttons for the actual 80-90 level range that EW covered, but that was okay because I was suddenly having way more fun working this rotation than almost anything else in the whole game. It's either tied with or above DRK for my absolute favorite to play, because it's fun, rewards skilled play, and I get to do DBZ shit and zip all over to kick my enemies into oblivion. Plus, I'm doing almost as much damage as my co-melee in my static who uses the hanzo steel of a samurai, but I'm using my bare fists. It rules.

(not really a fan of the storyline, though. hence why canonically Ellie trains with Lyse instead of Erik and Widargelt. :V)

3. Healer: Sage

I kinda feel bad that I started as a conjurer, and yet I am by far worse at healing than any other role. At least with White Mage you can kinda get away with spamming Medica II through most of the MSQ, but y'know... that's pretty boring. Pretty effective, and I'd still probably prefer WHM if I ever attempted to heal high-end content, but I'd struggle.

Sage though, I have an absolute blast playing even if I'm not necessarily being a great healer. The aesthetic rules and can pretty easily be written as magitek-y: hence, Mia canonically can use Sage even though she's Garlean and can't usually do a caster job. I love flipping Eukrasia to activate powerful energy shields, even though it also means one more button press than all the other healers to apply the DoT. I love zapping dudes with Gundam-esque funnels and having that channel heals to whoever I want, I love throwing out Physis+Kerachole before a big raidwide, or Krasis+Haima onto the tank before a buster. I even kinda love that it really encourages you to be constantly using your Addersgall pips to help manage your MP. It makes high demands kinda like monk did pre-EW, but for some reason it's a lot more fun as sage. Maybe because of all the sick twists and dramatic pointing you do while firing lasers from Gundam funnels.

I always forget Holos exists though. I have no idea why.

4. Caster: Red Mage

look, the more red you wear, the more damage you do as red mage. it's scientific. Ellie's favorite color is red, idk how obvious it is. :V

Canonically, I don't think any of my WoLs actually use this. But of the three current casters, RDM strikes the best balance for me of a complex rotation with rewarding mechanics, balancing black and white levels and trying to keep them unsynced so you can keep properly proccing your real attacks, without being overly-demanding like Black Mage or sort of basic with not much room for variations like Summoner (I'm sorry SMN mains! I do like SMN! it's really good for me when I'm having a bad brain day, which is frequent. >.>). You also get to completely save disaster runs with instant-rezzes and double heals, and then never get any comms for it! /eyetwitch

And above all else, it's stylish as fuck to the extent that I kinda wish I had the physical ability to try fencing.

5. Ranged: Dancer

Funny, I actually thought I was going to choose MCH because gun, but then I thought about what actually satisfies me the most to play, and... it's massively buffing the whole party and then just whaling on every button on your hotbar that lights up, and suddenly I understand how people get addicted to like, pachinko and such games. But seriously, it's fun, it's stylish, the rotation's easy to pick up, you get to feel good about making a buddy do mega damage, and you get to make big damage numbers yourself (I mean obviously it's because of how long it takes to activate the dances but damn it's still satisfying to see that many numbers).

I haven't remotely figured out how, but I do want Lily to canonically pick up and use Dancer. You look like you're having fun when you dance on the battlefield, and Lily deserves good things like having fun in the middle of combat.

and now you're way too familiar with how I play this game. :3 thanks for the prompt, @viiioca!!

#ffxiv #ffxiv screenshots #ffxiv gpose #final fantasy xiv #wol questions #ask games #reaper's an honorable mention; i really like playing it and i do find the rotation a blast #but i also feel like i hit the skill ceiling relatively quickly with it and i didn't really have much room to push further #but damn am i glad i played it for EW because getting to go reaper-to-reaper with Zenos frickin' *ruled* lmao

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anotherrevue · 1 year

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The Top 25 Movies of 2022

When I think about 2022, the highs of the year feel like a return to form, for movies and for myself personally. And yet, on further inspection, it’s possible that two straight years of largely garbage movies and even more garbage circumstances have set the bar rather low. Yes indeed, this year has been better in comparison, but it has not by any means measured up to “normal”.

There have been some bright spots – travelling all over the country to meet friends, watching movies I’ve been waiting to see for several years, etc – and there have been some dark recesses – of the mind, yes, but also whatever the fuck has been happening at Warner Bros. Discovery. And as far as my empty promises of lots of new pieces that I made in my first ever post, the ideas are still there, I just haven’t yet made most of them as coherent as I’d hoped. However, I have some breaking news for you: the year’s over, which means it’s time for the highlight reel babyyy! You’ll only find best-ofs here (sorry to The Gray Man) as we kick off another year.

Quick note to anyone who didn’t read the Shepitko piece: I’m totally on your side. It’s too long and too much like a SparkNotes summary of a biography. I wrote it while I was stuck deep down a well of love for this incredible artist who thought much along the same lines about art: “If I don’t do it, I’ll die.” Is that a sideways excuse for why I haven’t updated this blog in a long time? Maybe…

But back to 2022. An incredible year for theatres: Top Gun Maverick recreating the late great Tony Scott’s aesthetic for a fleeting 2 hour thrill ride was something I never expected. Avatar: The Way of Water leading the charge for high quality, must-see-in-3D movies on the other hand was something I completely expected and yet I still walked out absolutely in love with Pandora. The return of Jaws, ET and The Godfather in the form of picture-perfect restorations and pristine transfers was such a perfect lure back to theatres.

But as with any year, I saw most movies this year in my bedroom or on TV. 594 is a very large number, which troubles me. I worry that I watch too any movies – do I really process what I watch or is it robotic? Am I just putting on movies as a way to distract myself, and if so, is that fair?

I don’t really have answers there. It has certainly felt mechanical at times, and I felt like I reached saturation, occasionally feeling like I didn’t even care about movies. And then, just in the nick of time would come something like Crimes of the Future, a nasty piece of mystery fiction, but nasty in the best possible way, twisted by ol’ Dave Cronenberg to forefront his own preoccupations with the human body and relationships. Suddenly, I’d be back in love with films.

So what can I do? I’ll keep watching movies, but maybe slow down a little. Take time to process each movie before moving on. Watch with more purpose, more discernment. Maybe I don’t need to watch ALL of the new Pinocchios (del Toro’s is by far the most enjoyable, Zemeckis’ is a complete nothingburger and the Russian one is… unfathomably awful). And most of all, I’ll write more, because that helps me connect to movies more than just letting it swirl around in the cesspool that is my mind.

But enough of the rambling preamble. As a movie year, 2022 was twisty and all over the place. A great year for Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell (who was excellent in FOUR WHOLE MOVIES THANK YOU to the film deities!!), a great year for horror, a great year for weird shit that seemed to be aimed directly at me. A terrible year (I know I said no negativity so I’ll get this over quickly) for unfortunate franchises (Branagh’s Poirot, Jurassic World) and Tom Hanks, who was in the bad Pinocchio and generally agreed to be the worst part of Elvis. Undecided result for Margot Robbie, who was passably charming in an inexplicable film (Amsterdam) and reportedly excellent in an unmitigated flop that I’m excited to watch (Babylon).

I watched 141 movies released in 2022. Here are my top 25.

25. Causeway

24. Saloum

23. Save the Cinema

22. Bheeshma Parvam

21. The Lost King

20. Pada

19. Everything Everywhere All at Once

18. Nope

17. God’s Country

16. Hinterland

15. Hustle

14. The Northman

13. The Banshees of Inisherin

12. Prey

11. Benediction

10. Fire of Love

This was among my most anticipated movies of 2022. It’s rare for me to be so excited for a documentary – I usually stumble upon them and then get pulled into loving it. And unlike another documentary from this year that I loved (my precious Good Night Oppy, which made me cry, much like most movies about the space program), I wasn’t really pre-disposed to loving it. I’m a space guy, not a lava guy. Yet Fire of Love is special, because the premise promises a tragic love story, but from the first moment that we see the Kraffts, we realize that this isn’t tragic to them, no matter the outcome. They understand the risks fully and still it’s completely joyous for them. And the footage of the volcanoes is mesmerizing, you almost understand how inextricably drawn they felt to them. NatGeo, two years running, making my best of year list. I’ll keep my eye out for their 2023 releases.

9. The Woman King

This is Gladiator with most of the flab cut off. Gina Prince-Bythewood is one of my favourite working directors and her shift into action filmmaking is really remarkable, considering how emotionally focused her first three movies are. It makes sense though, once you realize that her action scenes are so fluid is because she herself is an athlete and she frames the scenes, not just as balletic or violent feats, but as a show of athletic prowess. From the opening – which is very reminiscent of the first Nakia scene in Black Panther – I was fully on board with the tone and scale of this movie, boosted in no small part by Viola Davis (the biggest Oscar snub of the year), Lashana Lynch (being an absolute dynamo on screen) and Thusu Mbedu (who somehow holds her own as a co-lead in this movie opposite Davis).

8. Jackass Forever

Like every iteration of Jackass, Forever is wonderfully juvenile, but there’s an added tinge of melancholy in watching Knoxville, Steve-O, Dave England and the rest of the original cast slowly come to terms with the fact that their bodies can’t take the same levels of punishment anymore. We see them hand over a lot of the stunts to the newer additions, who take the reins while also trying to get out of the giant shadows of Ryan Dunn and Bam. All that said, Knoxville and Steve-O still do the two most what the fuck gags in the movie, and Danger Ehren, as ever, is the victim of a nightmarish flurry of pain. But Jackass isn’t about violence; it’s just the most stupidly violent franchise about friends who love each other.

7. Kimi

Any movie Steven Soderbergh puts out is likely to make my best of, and it speaks to the quality of the top 10 this year that Kimi has dropped to the back half. This movie is fun as hell, an old school conspiracy thriller in the vein of (quite obviously) The Conversation and Rear Window, but set in a tech world that’s increasingly more familiar – and more frightening – to us. Of course, Soderbergh isn’t new to conspiracies (see: Erin Brockovich), but the thing that makes his work in Kimi particularly enthralling is his ability to capture natural human behaviour on screen. He makes excellent hangout movies (Oceans 11-13, Magic Mike, Let Them All Talk) because he knows that if you shoot movie stars in a certain way and pace it right, anything they do will be immensely watchable. And for Kimi, he teamed up with one of the very rare true-blue movie stars under 35 in Zoe Kravitz. She pulls the camera with a natural, easy magnetism that automatically sets us up on her side. Add Soderbergh’s excellent technical craft, and you get a lean, mean, murder mystery machine that has you in and out and completely satisfied in 90 minutes flat.

6. Top Gun: Maverick

Often the Best Actor/Actress Oscar is won by someone doing an interpretation of a real person that we’re all familiar with (Rami Malek for Freddie Mercury, Renee Zellweger for Judy Garland and possibly – god forbid – Austin Butler for Elvis). I think that should just be its own special Oscar: Best Re-Creation. And this year, Top Gun: Maverick should win that honour, because Joseph Kosinski (who I’m overall pretty mixed on as a director) does a spectacular job recreating that early Tony Scott style that made the first Top Gun so exhilarating. Funny thing, leading up to the release of this movie, I put my favourite Tony Scott movies on TV (I’ll take any excuse really). My sister walked in during the first 10 minutes of Unstoppable and not only was she completely hooked, but she insisted on watching the rest of the movies with me. So it was particularly fantastic to be able to show my sister a Tony Scott-esque movie in theatres for the first time. I wish there were more of them.

5. Avatar: The Way of Water

Yes I loved it. Am I a sucker for Jim Cameron? Also yes. The water footage is like watching NatGeo from another planet (in a good way, you should know by now that I’m a fiend for NatGeo). Cameron knows how the build tension in an action scene and he also knows how to shoot it so that you know exactly where everyone is in relation to each other, which seems to be a lost art in big budget blockbusters these days. But what gets The Way of Water to number 5 is the tulkun. What an incredible idea to have this species of space whales be intellectually and emotionally smarter than the Na’vi and yet have them choose to intertwine themselves with the Na’vi. And the decision to introduce this kind of an interspecies dynamic in the SECOND MOVIE when there’s is no analogue for it in the first, is a feat on its own. Although I should have probably recused myself from reviewing this movie, since Payakan is my best friend.

4. The Fabelmans

Steven Spielberg has always been a filmmaking savant, which this movie will tell you, but I think what makes The Fabelmans so good, and what has really been working for Spielberg in this last decade, is that he tackles honest, complex emotions head on instead of eschewing it for the classic Spielberg sentimentality. He portrays the intricate and overlapping familial dynamics in the Fabelman household (a thinly veiled depiction of his own home life) with shockingly little guile or deflection and shows us not only the joys, but the strains of being an artist.

3. TÁR

Hard to talk about this movie without just lavishing praise on Cate Blanchett, but I’ll try – not because she isn’t the best thing about it, but because every discussion about TÁR is so dominated by Cate Blanchett that other great parts of the movie fade into the noise. Todd Field as an actor is best known as Nick Nightingale in Eyes Wide Shut, but his work as a director in TÁR reminds me of the second half another Kubrick movie: Barry Lyndon. To start the movie at the peak of someone’s prowess and document their downfall, and not have audiences utterly despairing by the end is a special talent that few have, and Field certainly nails it. Noemie Merlant (of Portrait of a Lady on Fire fame) is an absolute beacon of charisma as Lydia Tar’s assistant, and her performance subtly elevates the audience’s investment in the story. But I think the secret sauce to the movie, and the emotional crux, is on the shoulders of Nina Hoss, who has very little screen time, yet really underscores the whole movie with one incredible line reading. The individual pieces of TÁR are excellent in their own right, which sometimes poses a problem when the filmmaker tries to put them all together, but the movie is so well-conceived and Field has such a strong artistic voice that the brilliance of each part only works to elevate the whole.

2. After Yang

The first of Colin Farrell’s 2022 movies remains my favourite, which is a shock because I would have put money on The Banshees of Inisherin being my number one movie of the year overall. And though Banshees has been slowly creeping up my rankings the longer I think on it, After Yang has held strong for nigh on a year. Kogonada’s first movie, Columbus, juxtaposed an emotional gentleness with the sadness of real life in a way that didn’t make me want to run away as movies like that normally do. Instead, he made the real world an enviable gentle place that doesn’t magic away tragedies but accepts them as an essential part of every person. In After Yang, Kogonada takes that sensibility and applies it to a sci-fi idea that is perhaps as old as the genre: what if a robot began to feel? The set-up is, on paper, similar to classics like Blade Runner and AI, but the movie is handled with a tenderness that those earlier movies had only sparingly. There’s a lot in After Yang about loss and grief and parenting, but also about the joys of culture and art.

1. Three Thousand Years of Longing

If you go back to my list last year, my number one was Night of the Kings, a Ivorian prison drama about the importance of storytelling. So I guess it’s pretty boring that this year, yet again, I’ve picked a film that features tales of magic and wonder. Three Thousand Years of Longing is a djinn movie, but what sets Three Thousand Years apart is the way these fairytales are portrayed. Rooted in real history, the stories have a sense of dream logic that makes every instance of magic makes sense. And the main story itself, much like another movie I loved this year (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande), cautiously but lovingly explores the awkward romanticism of two strangers in a hotel. Idris Elba’s Djinn is wary of his summoner, while Tilda Swinton’s Alithea, a scholar of storytelling, is well aware of the mischievous nature of djinns. Hijinks do not ensue, however. Rather, the two of them slowly let their guards down, as the Djinn warns Alithea of the dangers of previous wishes he’d had to grant, weaving tales of a mystical history that has her (and me) completely enraptured. Three Thousand Years feels to me like the closest a movie can get to the magic of bard recounting an oral tradition of love and war and the follies of humans.

***

As usual, some honourable mentions:

Decision to Leave, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Athena, A Man of Action, Mukundan Unni Associates, Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood, Watcher, Something from Tiffany’s (a very solid romcom) and motherfucking Ambulance because what a goddamn ride that movie is.

I don’t recommend stand-up specials often because nothing is less appealing than comedy recommendations. But Jerrod Carmichael’s Rothaniel is really the most intimate special I’ve seen while still being hilarious.

I know I don’t talk TV often but Andor and Slow Horses have three essentially perfect seasons between them and I’m very excited for what’s next.

Finally, Dinner in America is the most punk rock movie of the year and I really hope it gets a bit more traction because there aren’t enough straight up fuck the system movies being made, which is a major bummer.

***

I want to end on a note of cautious optimism, but I’ve gone on too long already, so let me just say this: we’re probably getting new movies from our greatest working directors[1], not to mention new entries in some of the most high quality franchises. Yes indeed, folks, a promising movie year lies ahead, and you might as well stay tuned to Another Revue - who knows? I might be true to my word about writing more.

___

Soderbergh (Magic Mike 3), Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), Michael Mann (Ferrari), Sofia Coppola (Priscilla), Miyazaki (How Do You Live?), Fincher (The Killer), Gerwig (Barbie), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things and possibly And), Reichardt (Showing Up), Nolan (Oppenheimer), Shyamalan (Knock at the Cabin), Ridley Scott (Napoleon), Steve McQueen (Blitz), Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest) ↩

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callmejud3 · 2 years

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I posted 13,785 times in 2022

That's 13,785 more posts than 2021!

473 posts created (3%)

13,312 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@so-far-from-the-stars

@espressopatronum454

@lovelettersmp4

@greenalienwookie

@fyodarling

I tagged 1,353 of my posts in 2022

#jude’s answers - 336 posts

#memories thingy - 128 posts

#platonic hamliza tag <3 - 76 posts

#adhi tag - 74 posts

#addy tag - 73 posts

#mutuals<;33 - 61 posts

#fav mutuals - 48 posts

#seb tag <3 - 48 posts

#jude’s shitposting - 46 posts

#walphemia - 43 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#barty?? seriously guys stop just because she’s the female main character doesn’t mean you have to ship her with every character existing

My Top Posts in 2022:

THIS !!!!!!

@thebattlehamster

44 notes - Posted April 22, 2022

Soooo i did the TikTok trend where you put your name + core (+ aesthetic) on Pinterest that what I got !

See the full post

48 notes - Posted May 28, 2022

Okkkk so half canon compliant walphemia au

So walphemia we’re together in hogwarts but at the start of sixth year Bugs and Orion learn that they were going to get married after graduation but Wally wanted to keep it a secret (yk bc of Effie) so they did. after graduation they just both ghosted everyone and get married. (bc they thought it would less hurt that way) Monty, Lyall and Effie learned it in the daily prophet. And they were really chocked and felt betrayed mostly Effie.

So years pass Effie falls in love w/ Monty and Lyall w/ Hope (lyall and monty were tgthr n had an healthy brake up) so eventually James and Remus came in the picture so does Sirius and Regulus on the other side. the kids go to hogwarts they met and befriended (BUGS IS A GOOD MOM) so when Sirius went to Potters for the first time Effie was so chocked she almost cried so did Wally when she met James. They both eventually find a way to not see each other bc they knew they wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Years pass (again) and jegulus/wolfstar eventually happen. AND that’s at one of the wedding that Walburga and Euphemia met again for the first time after years (26 maybe) and yk they’re not in love anymore…but they still hold a big place in each other’s heart. So they just befriended again and became besties !!!! (total menace duo)

So in the end Harry and Ted got to grow up with they’re grandmas Gigi and Fifi

okay that’s it thx for listening guys !!! ✨💗

@archie-ships-jegulus @espressopatronum454 @if-i-were-a-villain

55 notes - Posted May 1, 2022

🌻So guys…. To celebrate this !!!!🌻

You’re getting surprises !!!!!! (little one shots that I planed)

HAHAHAH I’M SO EXCITED !!!!!

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Tagging my moots !!!! : @wifeofdevil @black-potter-danvers @sternenleserin @ur-lil-bunny @creaturre @artemislosthunter @fuckboyregulus @elder-millennial-trash @if-i-were-a-villain @aithusarosekiller @espressopatronum454 @dr-james-potter @saphire-me @sarahsedserio @aureusprongs @littlequeers @lily-the-ravenclaw @lorenzo-the-dummy @minaaddams @dis-weird-person @deadgay-wizards @theoretically-theo @whatsorryiwasntlistening @annapoofle @regulusb14ck @romanticvampire @eyp-is-covered-in-mud-and-blood @siriusly-fruity @greenalienwookie and I may have forgot a lot of you guys !!!! But I love you all !!! Bc it wouldn’t have been possible without you !!! 💗✨💗✨💗✨💗✨💗✨💗✨💗✨💗

72 notes - Posted June 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

soooo can someone explain to me WHY the fuck did we kept Ted as wolfstar’s kid’s name bc I like it’s a really cute name but it doesn’t makes sense to me

bc ok Harry as jegulus or even rosestarkillerchaser kid awesome and the name Harry as nothing specific to do w/ lily so it’s alright and it’s cute

luna as pandalily same nothing special to Xenophilius….. I think, tell me if I’m wrong tho

so why did the whole fandom decided to keep Ted as his name like it’s literally Tonk’s dad’s name so why !! bc if he’s wolfstar’s and tonk isn’t in the picture….????? It does not make sense to me !!!!

298 notes - Posted May 4, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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kingsmedley · 2 years

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I posted 3,633 times in 2022

That's 3,587 more posts than 2021!

2,268 posts created (62%)

1,365 posts reblogged (38%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@strawberry-barista

@limitlesspossibilities

@pureposer

@skater-brain

@shibuyacrossed

I tagged 3,628 of my posts in 2022

#to dust or to gold || ooc - 1,735 posts

#you are king || post-neo verse - 652 posts

#strawberry-barista - 376 posts

#i smile easily because it does me well || chatting - 366 posts

#i see things that others won't believe || normal kid verse - 258 posts

#let me see you show your fangs || asks - 206 posts

#i don’t care what you think as long as it’s about me || dash commentary - 153 posts

#took me to the sky || aesthetics & musings - 148 posts

#the giggle at a funeral || memes - 138 posts

#nothing more than an empty ghost || headcanons - 95 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#i'm not going to push myself rn but i might respond later. for now please know that i see them and i appreciate them and i love you 💜💜💜

My Top Posts in 2022:

@strawberry-barista

It had been a while, hadn’t it? Since he’d travelled like this, felt that thrill of a new world--excitement mixed with fear. Anticipation.

And that while had been almost comfortable. Settling into a routine. Going to school, exploring, starting to make friends, even if it was just two. Pretending things were permanent.

So now, looking around a familiar place he didn’t know, he wasn’t sure how to feel.

Besides, it was just... Shibuya. That was the case a lot of the time, but it was also just a tad disappointing. Sure, the differences were interesting sometimes, but he knew how many other, more exciting worlds there were, so being sent to one that resembled his own wasn’t optimal.

He’d done some poking around and found that this world didn’t seem to have any major deviations from his own, making it all the more boring, but he was curious about something, which was why he found himself down in the café on Cat Street.

30 notes - Posted September 2, 2022

@pureposer [continued]

Joshua nods along. After all, that would have been his answer only a couple years ago.

“I completely understand,” he says. “Though, these ‘weird results’ you mentioned intrigue me. Tell me, are you disturbed by the thoughts humans have?”

36 notes - Posted June 6, 2022

@skater-brain

Wildkat was empty. It wasn’t an unusual sight, especially after the three-year-long hiatus, but it was nonetheless a disappointing one.

Joshua made himself a cup of coffee. He tapped his fingers against the table as he waited for the mug to fill, watching it with dull eyes. When it was done, he took a sip, considered pouring the rest down the drain, decided against it, and took his usual seat at the counter.

Behind him, the door swung open. He must have forgotten to lock it.

Lazily, he spun around in his seat, and by the time the visitor came into view, his usual smug smile was sat secure on his face.

“Hello, Daisukenojo Bito,” he said. “Fancy seeing you here.”

54 notes - Posted March 31, 2022

@strawberry-barista

Joshua stood outside Wildkat for a good few minutes, just gathering his composure enough that he wouldn’t fall apart the moment he opened his mouth.

He didn’t know why he was here. If Mr. H caught on that something was amiss, he’d likely press the issue like he did last time, and Joshua... didn’t want to open up about this. Right? So maybe it was just that he had no way of contacting Neku on his own, their current arrangement dependent on Neku taking the initiative, and this was the only other place he could think of to go when he so desperately needed to get out of the house.

Taking a deep breath, he put on his usual smile and entered the café.

“Hi, Mr. H,” he called cheerfully as he approached the counter. “Remember me?”

60 notes - Posted March 4, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

@strawberry-barista [continued]

“Aw, come on. You like gambling but you don’t like games?”

101 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #to dust or to gold || ooc #long post

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ultraviolentuncaring · 11 months

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Sef:“soft asks to get to know people” 2. what’s your feel-good movie?

Well like I said in previous post I guess I’m gonna keep answering these. As someone thats pretty obsessed with story telling and the arts this is another good question for me i spose

I have a fair few favourite movies, I keep the my favs in a black disc folder that moves around with me everywhere I go- as for feel-good thats a bit of a strange and specifc one to answer, because I’m usually attracted to the macarbre, philosophical, dark and frightening lol basically if its kind of pretentious I’ll like it

I think for feel-good vibes it would have to be something with that bit of childlike wonder: When I first moved away from home to the big city I landed a job had a pretty small room and never felt that independence or struggle before and life thru some pretty difficult curve balls my way- I think one film that helped me feel warm and looked after in that time was Spirited Away- it had that reminder that magic exists in the world as well as that struggle with the unfamiliar and learning to get what you want story element that proved to hit harder at that point in my life than it did before- there have been a few times ive returned to that film and it always hits the spot

If I had to recomend something a little obscure on a similar wavelength it would have to be The Adventures of Mark Twain. It has a philosophical and beauty in it that always sticks with me, as well as this sort of bewildering twisted style, weird plot beats and vintage aesthetic that totally takes me to that other world I too hope is my life after death

Cool so thats question 2 done, I think I’ve enjoyed writing this so I will probably do it again tomorrow

Sef

Spirited Away (2001)

The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985)

#SefSoftAsks #spiritedaway

0 notes

spiritwinding · 4 years

Note

(your ooc post is very valid and tbh i feel you a lot, but kinda opposite maybe? i follow any/everyone i think is neat so i can watch them write and plot and stuff, but tend to not get the chance to interact so i lurk. but you're good!! i love seeing you on the dash. have a nice night/morning what have you. mwah)

ftrdtfygbhn youre so nice stop it

i used to do that!! but then i felt like it was. too much ykno? i do sometimes hop on blogs i dont follow that i like to read but i wanna keep my dash smaller to not get overwhelmed which is................ Hard given rp is abt building a community WSEDFVGB its a time

thank u!!! ur also good and so nice dfgvbhnj

#felt weird 2 answer on aesthetic post so #Anonymous #◜° ★ ▸ bass boosted caramelldansen remix ╱ ❪ ooc ❫#◜° ★ ▸ incoming transmission... ╱ ❪ asks ❫

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gunterfan1992 · 3 years

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Episode Review: ‘Together Again’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 3)

Airdate: May 20, 2021

Story by: Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang, Hanna K. Nyström, Christina Catucci, Jesse Moynihan, Adam Muto

Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Iggy Craig, Maya Petersen, Serena Wu

Directed by: Miki Brewster (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

Across Adventure Time’s ten season run, the show explored a bevy of “mature” themes and story ideas—topics, like love, sexuality, depression, and grieving. The show also touched upon death, but the emphasis was usually placed on the emotional toll of a loved one dying, not really what happens when you die. We knew there were Dead Worlds and Death. We knew that there was reincarnation. But how does it all fit together? What does it mean? How does it work?

With “Together Again,” we finally have many of the answers.

This special opens with a marvelous fake-out episode simply called “Finn & Jake,” that sees the two steal a magical cartoon of 50-flavor ice cream before rescuing Turtle Princess and LSP from the clutches of the villainous Ice King. This is all deliberately anachronistic and over the top. Ice King is back to his season one ways, Finn has both arms, and he is still wielding his golden sword that he lost in season two’s “The Real You.” There’s lolrandom dialogue and silly monsters; it’s like a parody of seasons 1-2. But then, this adventure starts to get all wonky, and in time Finn realizes that he is in a some sort of trance or illusion: one that ends with Jake being buried in the ground. Suddenly, Finn awakens from his reverie. He’s an old man. And he’s dead. We’re then presented with a new title card that lets us know the episode is actually called “Finn & Jake Are Dead.”

Holy Glob! They actually went there.

Turns out Jake died years before Finn, so naturally Finn is super excited to see his best bud. But something’s wrong—he cannot find Jake!! They planned to spend eternity together. But all that Finn can find is his very own psychopomp, Mr. Fox (voiced by Tom Herpich, whose purposefully stilted line readings are the epitome of delightful). Finn rightfully assumes that Jake is in a different Dead World, and so, being the ball of spunk and energy that he is, he demands to meet with Death, only to discover that there’s a New Death in town (voiced by Chris Fleming). The episode eventually explains that New Death was the son of Death and Life, and after New Death killed his father, he became the sovereign of the afterlife. New Death hates his job and decides to just blow up all the Dead Worlds so he doesn’t have to deal with it all. (I won’t get too much into the details here, because there would be a lot of story to parse out.)

Finn soon learns that Jake has reached nirvana in the 50th Dead World, where there is nothing but peace and serenity. Finn nevertheless tracks down Jake, pulls him from paradise, but in doing so, accidentally lets New Death in, who promptly obliterates Elysium, sending all the enlightened souls—including those from different levels of the afterlife—to the 1st Dead World. This gronks up the afterlife, temporarily halting the reincarnation process.

Well, Finn and Jake are rightfully ticked, and so they haunt the material plane looking for Princess Bubblegum. She’s not home (more on that later), but Peppermint Butler is! After Ghost Finn and Ghost Jake explain the situation, Peppermint Butler tells them what to do: They need to find Life and explain the situation. The duo manage just that, and Life is rightfully angry that her kid has stopped the transmigration of souls. After Life gives Finn a McGuffin sword that can hurt Death, Finn and Jake return to his abode. A brawl ensues wherein we learn that New Death has been possessed… by none other than that spirit of the Lich.

That’s right, it’s the Lich! He’s back, and boy is he evil.

The Lich explains that by possessing Death, he can destroy the afterlife, thereby destroying a key aspect of reality. Naturally, Finn and Jake are not cool with this, and they engage in combat. After Mr. Fox grabs the McGuffin sword and uses it to annihilate the Lich and New Death, he is proclaimed the New New Death and sets everything right. Finn is slated to be reincarnated, and Jake is slated to return to the 50th Dead World where he and Finn will one day be reunited. As Finn is pulled into the wheel of souls, Jake suddenly decides to go back with Finn, too, “Just for fun.” The episode ends with a card letting us know that the episode is neither called “Finn & Jake” nor “Finn & Jake Are Dead.” Instead, it is “Finn and Jake Are Together Again.”

As they say, “And there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”

If you were to tell me several years ago that the last episode to star Finn and Jake would revolve around them dying, I think I would’ve been upset. Not simply sad, but rather frustrated because “they all died” can feel like a cheap ending. But with “Together Again,” it all works. And a large reason that it works is because the show goes all in with their ideas. Finn and Jake don’t magically leap back into their old life (no, no, they very much do bite the dust). Instead, the special emphasizes the cyclical nature of life through the transmigration of souls. The episode ends with a beautiful scene of Finn and Jake, bound together as soul-brothers, being reborn into a new, mysterious (possibly Ooo 1000+?) world. It’s both aesthetically and emotionally pleasing; it doesn’t feel off the way over finales might. This is right. This is the way life works. “Round and round as nature goes,” and all that jazz.

I loved the series explanation of how death works. It seems that souls land in a specific Dead World, where they ‘marinate’ for a bit, presumably being rewarded or punished based on their life in our meat reality. After a time, they are then reborn. This process repeats, with each soul reaching higher and higher levels of enlightenment until they hit nirvana, which is the 50th Dead World. So in a sense, Adventure Time has a roughly Buddhist cosmology with a dash of Greco-Roman mythos thrown in for flavor. (As to what happens after a soul stays in the 50th Dead World for a long period is anyone’s guess, but I’d speculate that when all the souls in the multiverse have been purified and land in the 50th Dead World, they will all collapse into one another and form one perfect Monad. Perhaps this is the sphere of perfection that the beings who merged into Matthew thought they were connecting to? Who knows! It’s anyone’s guess!) I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see who Death, Prismo, Life, etc.’s boss was, but perhaps that’s a mystery better left up to the imagination!

One minor thing that I loved about this special was the number of characters who made cameos as well as all the callbacks that were made to previous episodes. Regarding the former: Finn and Jake’s canine family show up (including the oft-forgotten Jermaine!), as do Tree Trunks and her myriad husbands. Tiffany plays a major role in all these shenanigans as a “death cop” of all things. There is a delightful rogues gallery stuck in the 1st Dead World (including, among others, Maja, Sharon from “The Gut Grinder,” and Wyatt). In the 50th we find Ghost Princess and Clarence happily at peace next to Booshy, the weird spirit mentioned in the Pen Ward classic “High Strangeness.” As far as callbacks go, perhaps my favorite is the clap (from “James Baxter the Horse”) that Jake taught to Finn in case they ever do get separated in the afterlife. And of course, there are myriad references made to “Death in Bloom,” the episode that planted the seed for what this would grow into.

Going into the special suspecting that it would involve Death, I was curious how they were going to handle Miguel Ferrer’s character. (In case a reader is not aware, Ferrer played Death in episodes like “Death in Bloom” and “Betty,” but he sadly passed away a few years ago). The producers’ choice to feature him in a non-speaking cameo—despite playing a relatively significant role in the story—was wise; I’m not sure if I can articulate the exact reasons, but something about his role felt appropriate and not gross, as some post-mortem memorials can be. Speaking of which, the wonderful, lovely Polly Lou Livingston was featured for the last time in this episode as Tree Trunks, happily in heaven with her literal harem of husbands. It was funny, it really was, and I’m sure that Polly Lou would’ve gotten a kick out of seeing it on screen. (Also, this is a pro-Tree Trunks safe space. Any Tree Trunks haters will be chucked into the 1st Dead World with Wyatt.)

The biggest mystery in this whole thing, for me at least, is the question of Princess Bubblegum and Marceline. Several years ago, I wrote an essay about what could’ve happened to them in the Ooo 1000+ universe. I speculated that they peaced out and left Ooo behind. In this special, neither Bubblegum nor Marceline are to be found in the Candy Kingdom—Peppermint Butler seems to be the one in charge, given that he is now wearing Bubblegum’s crown. Likewise, the duo aren’t anywhere in the Dead Worlds either. Maybe the two of them skipped town and got a duplex in the Nightosphere? Who knows… I just want my favorite gals to be OK!

All things considered, “Together Again” was a marvel: An episode that managed to feel like a series finale even more than “Come Along with Me” already did without taking away from the series itself. An episode that managed to make the idea of dying funny. An episode that brought back the Lich in a way that wasn’t forced. An episode that made Mr. Fox the New New Death. An episode that gave us a beautiful ending to Finn and Jake’s story… as well as the beautiful beginning to a new one. I said it on Twitter, and I’ll say it again here: “Together Again” was the end of a sentence in a book with infinite pages. Truly, the fun will never end.

Mushroom War evidence: Everything takes place in the Dead Worlds, so not really. Perhaps a more eagle-eyed viewer can inform us...

Final Grade: That’s right, I’m gonna do it...

Post-script, I actually messaged Jesse Moynihan to ask about his writing credit. He told me that it was for an unused story idea that he had developed. I’m not certain, but I’ll bet it was a part of the cancelled TV movie they were trying to make during season 5, since that would’ve seen Finn and Orgalorg journey to the various Dead Worlds.

#adventure time #adventuretime #atimers #at #atdl #distant lands #adventure time distant lands #finn the human #jake the dog #together again #togetheragain #dead worlds #hanna k. nyström #Hanna K #adam muto #jack pendarvis

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captnjacksparrow · 3 years

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i dont like sasusaku and not even slightest naruhina, but its weird that you hate sakura as a character and not the creator himself. as much as i hate sakura, i used to love her development but all that went to trash right around the ending. honestly they should've just made narusasu a canon because that made more sense and even sakuino made more sense that some of the hetero pairings 🚮

Apart from the first line of your ask, I somehow disagree with everything, Anon.

Let me tell you why.

First off,

SNS becoming canon by holding hands or kissing or walking towards Sunset.... was never going to happen. So expecting that is kind of extremely childish. I was only unhappy because they wanted to go for this Next Gen shit. That made Kishi to marry off every other characters without any development until Chapter 699.

Second off,

I am immensely happy with what I got. That is NaruSasu became Soulmates. One can't exist without the Other, One complement the Other. Even though they have married those girls and have children, I don't think they will die for their families. And they still love each other more than their own families. Point me one popular Shounen with this kind of Development between 2 male Characters???!!! So, Kishimoto made something extra-ordinary, unusual and I must appreciate him for this from the bottom of my heart. From the way he has written their bond, he really wanted to end with an Open Ending... Like no pairs and trash.

Third off,

What even SakuIno means???? I mean, Sakura was totally going horny over Sasuke's dick and kiss. She was always touching his Body whenever she gets the chance. How can she be paired with a girl??? Same case with Ino. I am not Anti-SakuIno or anything. Probably you ship them for their aesthetics. But both the girls are filtered Heterosexual. They don't have any Lesbian Subtexts like SNS has. Sorry, that is just a crack ship just like SasuHina. They both are friends. That's all.

Fourth off,

Since when did Sakura's character had better development, Anon?? You mean that Sasori fight??? You are calling it as a development, and I am still calling it as a Selfish Obsession on her Sasuke-Kun. Sakura took that fight very seriously only after Sasori mentioned the name of Orochimaru. Sakura thought, if she manage to defeat Sasori, she could get information about Orochimaru which inturn will make it easier for her to retrieve Sasuke. She never fought for Gaara or Naruto, which is what she should've done in the first place. Tell me, how is this called as Development??? Just because she repeatedly punch stuffs???

In part 1, she was a total annoying Asshole and in the end she was even more of an Asshole.

It's not like the Author developed her as some Badass Girl and then dumped her for no reason. She was always written to be hated. At no point, I felt the Author made any conscious effort to make her likeable.

Fifth off,

You are asking me to blame the creator.... And why should I??? If Kishimoto can write amazing women characters like Tsunade, Konan, Kushina.... Why can't he do that for Sakura as well???

Let's take Tsunade

Her body was splitted into Two Halves. It's really gory to look. I think even Danzo had a pretty nice death... I think she is the only character in Narutoverse to have her Torso separated from her Lower Body....

Even then

She still wants to save other people with whom she had no proper connection with!! She was still thinking about saving other Kages rather than saving herself.

Tell me atleast one moment when Sakura thought about putting her life on the line to save other people??? Or tell me at what point point of the story, Sakura remotely displayed her selflessness???

You can't.

If Kishimoto can write someone like Tsunade, why can't he make Sakura, a strong person??

Let me tell you... If I am an Author and if I want to make a character likeable, the very first thing I would do is, to make that character be nicer to the Titular Character. This is an inherent and unwritten rule. That's exactly why Hinata was liked by many people.... It's funny, people really liked her a lot in Part 1 (not realizing her inherent shittiness)... But he decided to potray her in a wrong way starting from Part 2. If only Sakura was nicer towards Naruto, I repeat nicer... not to love him... people would have liked Sakura more. But all she did was behaving extremely horny towards Sasuke but showing Drainage-level care towards Naruto. And do you really think Kishimoto don't know this logic?? At no point, I've seen her being completely genuine towards Naruto. Even when she wanted to feed him Ramen, she only did it because of Naruto's devotion towards Sasuke.

Throughout part 1, she was an asshole... Towards the end of part 1, she was nice because she needs Sasuke's dick.... And in the beginning of Part 2, She totally was using him to retrieve Sasuke... She cared him here and there.. In the middle of Part 2, she shamelessly fake confessed him.... In the end of Part 2, she was begging Sasuke to like her... She didn't care about Naruto or Tsunade, who were about to be killed by Sasuke...

Where is this development you speak of, Anon???

I am Sorry, I still feel like you are a big Sakura fan and want to make an excuse by pushing the blame on the Creator. Because Hinata fans also always do this same thing... Like pushing the blame on Kishimoto for writing her that way. They never once realise that the character they like was piss poor because the author wanted it that way.

By that logic, I must criticize him for making Sasuke take certain decision which I am not OK with, too... Right???

If your favourite character don't behave in certain way like you expected, then there's only one thing to do. Blame the Author.

Sorry, I won't be doing it for any other characters in Naruto series. I accept every characters with the way the author has written.

Sakura is a pathetic character and she was meant to be. It was intentional and deliberate from Kishimoto's side. He wants this character to be hated and that's why he wrote her that way... And I know The reason for why he did it... Which is not the point of this post.

Just ask yourself, this question Anon...

If a secondary character like Ino who was very similar to Sakura, got a good development towards the end... There are so many good woman characters inside the Narutoverse. But still, in the end, why Sakura and Hinata alone was shown to have a negative and ugly development??? What makes Sakura and Hinata different from the other women??? Why particularly these two women???

Just give this question a deep thought and you will find the Answer.

People taking the wrong cue about a Character and blaming the author for the Character's shittiness... I am Sorry, I don't support this logic.

I would really appreciate those Sakura fans who completely accept her shittiness, mistakes, flaws and still able to love her... Without blaming the author. Because I've seen such fans but they are very rare to come across.

#antisakura #anti sakura

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anolyso · 3 years

Text

Utena thoughts...about 2 weeks later

I've been putting it off for way too long and so most of my thoughts stopped being fresh. On top of watching way too many analysis vids post-watch, but still I do at least want to put my 2cents of Revolutionary Girl Utena out there for the world.

Utena is perhaps one of the most famous "magical girl"/shoujo action shows out there for not only it's transgressive themes of relationship abuse and low-key pretty much being the poster girl for like actual feminist perspective on/in anime...but also just doing it all in both a heavily allegorical and understated, yet super over-the-top stylish fashion

But that's it's reputation preceding itself, is Utena worth while all these years? The answer is Yes, but it also really shows it's age and budget in pacing and repetition, tho as an appreciator for "behind the scenes" compromises in art, it's more showcasing Ikuhara's talent in working around both taboo and long-form budget constraints with just well-thought out and iconic imagery that - while episodic and formulaic - is just very good at filling the 39 eps with feasts for the eyes.

Utena broadly is about tomboy Utena with memories long ago after her parents died being "saved" by a princely figure like a princess...except she's so enthralled by the nostalgia that instead she becomes a full on Prince herself and receives a dueling ring to fight in the Ohtori Acadamy secret duels for "engagement" to Rose Bride Himemiya Anthy.

Utena is divided between 4 arcs, only the first and last being Manga adapted from hearsay:

1: Student Council Saga

2: Black Rose Saga

3: Akio Ohtori Saga

4: Apocalypse

From back to forth I'd say that Akio + Apoc is more just escalation into the finale while Black Rose being anime original comes off as a glorified side-character study which while complementing the secondary cast, feels like one of those Anime movies that has to say "but if you don't watch this part, it's pretty much optional for the main plot" despite it also actually introducing the most important antagonist within it's margins.

More importantly, it's the Student Council (arc and the actual people) that lay the foundation but also a large part of the show's focus which ironically puts Utena in the background until like almost the finale and some in-between developments, so it's less "Utena (and Anthy Himemiya)'s story" until the very end, but more like a showcase of how fucked up the system at large is (pin in that).

By the Council themselves is:

Kyouichi Saionji: The biggest jobber, like actually introduced as the most despicable loser ep 1 and proceeds to be a complete arrogant joke for the rest of the show. Honestly in another shojo "love" story, they'd find some way to redeem him but semi-compellingly they turn him into like an Aqua-lad type pathetic brat with an inferiority complex to the actual Student head

Miki Kaoru: the naive "nice, non-threatening soft boy" that also just never actually listens to the girls around him. Probably adds more complexity to the whole patriarchal idea on analytic reflection since yeah, the whole "nice guy finishes last" plays up better when the kid comes off as that "ally" energy of wanting to save Himemiya from being the Rose Bride but also low-key won't actually not just do the duels and win her cuz he's that sorta wishy-washy hypocrite. Arguably the least hateable guy in the cast (minus mascot Chu-Chu)

Juri Arisugawa: TRAGIC LESBIAN TRIANGLE LOVE. Probably the biggest point to of both "not-explicitly homosexual" but also really freaking obvious since her entire story is her girlfriend stealing her "boy crush" when actually she was crushing on her and being pretty much frustrated throughout her story as pining most of it. It's quaint by today's standards but also like damn girl, get over her she was like the worst back stabbing bitch (literally if Black Rose counts)

Nanami Kiryuu: SPEAKING OF QUEEN BITCH, it's been a long time since I've watched a High School girl bully and honestly it's kinda refreshing. If Miki is "soft-boy uwu" Nanami is a brat that gets her come-uppance often, featured prominently as an anime only with the MOST filler/comedic episodes but also not low-key, being the most out-spoken actual brother complex ironically spins perhaps the biggest twist and ironic relationships of "I love my brother but not-like-that but also like-that" by the end. Mostly comedic relief but I find her inclusion to actually add a lot more to juxtapose...

Touga Kiryuu: Big Student Council Prez himself, the first arc antagonist and also a strong foil to Saionji and later a stepping stone for Akio. Touga is THE image of a Princely Playboy Heart-Throb that in any other Shoujo romance would have the main girl win him over from all those "other girls" despite him being apathetic if not outright manipulative of them. Good thing Utena is better than that and really puts a spotlight on just not-actually-ok his power hunger for "the power to bring the world revolution" that leads him to heavily objectify Anthy, arguably even more than Misogynist Trophy Girlfriend beater Saionji, since he doesn't even see her as more than a means to an end despite professing and looking the Prince part but lacking all the actual virtues.

The Student council matters more since they're characters and subsequent tragic flaws are the ACTUAL meat of the show and on second rumination actual shows more how fucked up the system/gender dynamic/power hierarchy is since - while it blatantly fucks over Juri who can't just outright say who she likes - also show almost it's own sub-text of Masculine failings: Saionji desperately clinging to being TOXIC MASCULINE™ and completely falling short underneath Touga; Miki's "nice boy" act belying him trying to replace his low-key nostalgia for his sister (also a bitch, but apparently was more like Nanami in the manga); and best yet Touga being the quintessential "Prince in all but actual behavior" by emulating a cutthroat and Machiavellian world view but coming up empty because well, he's just an illusion of a prince...but that leads in way more to the big finale piece where I'll reintroduce the actual story's main trio

Utena Tenjou: Tomboy Prince with brain empty except for lesbian thoughts. Honestly probably what every western "STRONG INDEPENDENT WOMAN" archetype wishes they were since while having very tomboyish personality in athletics, blunt speaking and also VERY oblivious to the actual plot for REAL DRAMATIC IRONY, but also never actually demeaning her being feminine partially due to her love of an childhood prince and how she maintains her relationship with both her friend Wakaba and later Anthy. Honestly mostly a plot device after S1 until she gets ACTUAL development by the very end and instead kinda bumbles her way into undoing the entire REVOLUTION OF THE WORLD. I kinda wish she felt either more cognizant or at least felt like she was developing/properly rebuking the rest of the cast's power obsessions but I guess that's for the movie.

Anthy Himemiya: Actual Trophy Wife with a dark secret (darker than ski- wait no that's terrible scratch that). Set-up very much as an immediate princess in distress while also being the most femme Yamato Nadeshiko, Anthy being the Rose Bride as a literal prize who acts and behaves as whom she's "engaged" with desires while otherwise being quiet, wry, mysterious and noticably submissive, by the end it actually plays up into THE BIG REVEALS of just how abused she's been into a hopeless acceptance...like y'know actual abuse victims.

Akio Ohtori: Grade A Antagonist, probably the most insidious I've seen a villain in a while, Akio is notable for, back in 1997, being perhaps the big go-to of actual deconstructing the facade of a whole shoujo genre's "hots for a teacher/sexy man putting the moves" and highlighting how actually exploitative and abusive a person like that really is. Being Himemiya's brother (somewhat justified in the manga by both being a weird Sailor Moon-esque reincarnation of gods/godesses of Dios), despite how much of his motives are runing the background and how the entire back story is uh...brought up in like barely in the last arc with little lead up (some scenes feel like they'd be a full melodrama season and they just have like 1 scene in the final arc episodes) he manages to one-up Touga (in the plot as well) by instead of "just" objectifying girls, not-just-flat out saying Utena looks best as a princess, but y'know the fact that he is implicitly yet constantly exploiting and victim-blaming Anthy for her own suffering for "the power of Dios/Revolution of the world" turns it on its head

I've spent all this time on characters but in truth a lot of the meat of the show relies again on the Council Members fleshing out the issues of system leading to outright divorcing "being a Prince" (heroic altruistic virtues) and "being a man" (considering like all but maybe the comedic relief have some deliberately misogynistic behavior) and beyond just the plot (or rather character) synopsis, the talent goes far more in how it's framed, the symbolic/allegorical shots, the repetition adding a good episode formula flow to character showcases, probably the most "tasteful" allusion to uh...*ahem* sexual abuse that so many other edgier/prentious shows fumble. Both in how intimidating yet understated it's foreshadowing is until they hard-reveal it despite never explicitly naming it even tho it sends Nanami into hysterics

Really it's both a massive blessing and reason for it's cult beloved status for it's aesthetics but also it's burden, for being a full 39 episodic season by season character development study of everyone BUT the main trio except for snippets and the very end that makes it greatly appreciable as a legitimate work of art.

What I wanted more to say however (long overdue) is that a large part of following is, visibly at least, western feminist critiques and yes while it almost seems like Utena fits the "deconstructing patriarchy" story like a glove...it's weird how almost none of them actually can give a good historical account of actual Japanese female/gender/sexuality norms nor Anime contemporaries actually were. Like Tenchi Muyo and Berserk came out the same year (Cardcaptor Sakura the next) and despite how you can "feel" the influence in lots of modern shows like SHAFT's signature visual imagery cuts or many WESETERN shows having straight scene references to Utena....almost no one has a similar feel to Utena until like Princess Tutu comes out.

Really tho probably should've watched Utena and then Tutu because while it's undeniable that Utena is a major pillar of shoujo re-codification - what with everyone before Utena was saying they thought it'd be like a Rose of Versaille or Lady Knight rip-off...whose laughing now? - it's almost like there's a missing link between it and it's major western fanbase (probably with what few anime did get overseas, this one probably rose to the top), or how very noticeable there IS an influence on it's genre in Japan

Almost none of the big analyst fans actually know A) it's not "a deconstruction of Magical Girls" since despite Ikuhara working on Sailor Moon just before this, almost none of the tropes line up and instead more with Shoujo genre as a whole. or one of the major inspirations was Takarazuka theater.

And this is not to dismiss how inspirational it is to it's western fandom, but while I am notably cynical towards placing things on pedestals, there's probably something about cultivating the whole pop-culture feminist reading commune with people making weird time-loop theories while kinda most of it is just filling in a mad-lib mostly thanks to Ikuhara just keeping things on the vague and letting the audience take away their own perspective.

Again, most of the show is completely sub-textual or visually/symbolically depicted and never stated nor properly defines it's weird key words (End of the World, Revolutionize the World, Power of Dios, Rose Bride, all things said constantly but never really said what they "mean". But that's also perhaps its charm, in it's allegory and very Death of the Author approach, it has definitely allowed it's fan theorizing and appreciation to flourish so there's something there for that.

Ultimately I'd say Utena the TV series is great more so for what it isn't...or rather I should say it's great for not just subverting Shoujo tropes and archetypes for the Japanese audience but also that despite dealing with some very serious and heavy subjects in obtuse and perhaps understated ways for the time, people have allowed it to be put on it's pedestal because they can easily fit it in themselves.

Honestly though, not that a more "straight forward" approach wouldn't detract from Utena but I will say that the movie, Adolescence of Utena, is very much the best encapsulation of what Utena strives to be (for another big blog post) and while the TV series has plenty of time and flexes it's directorial muscles with budget constraints and season pacing UNrestrained, the movie will trim a lot of the fat

#long post #Revolutionary Girl Utena #I haven't actually done my Anime thoughts in a while #Maybe I'll keep this on my main blog this time #I wrote this mostly on facebook tho if I wrote it here first I'd better integrate images probably #anolyso's media time #uh...except now that's on my main blog

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iloveyouphillipmorris · 2 years

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CW/ abuse/ed/colourism/ all that fun stuff

re: tags of last post like .

when i was a teenager i had a very rigorously curated aesthetic & existence . which is partially the influence of growing up on the internet during the advent of the influencer era but also very much bred from the internalised colourism & fatphobia i experienced ages 10-15 for the colourism thing & literally up til like 19 for the latter. + eating disorders & gender dysphoria & a lot of abuse. like growing up my parents surrounded me w/ rail thin paler than the driven snow white men who walked the androgynous line to a T & so i was ashamed of having a darker skin tone (& im like p light skinned naturally anyways but it bothered me when i was in elementary school) like. i heard stories of my dad having used to use medicinal products to essentially burn his skin tone to be paler & there was that rly prevalent rumour that michael jackson had bleached his skin & that’s why he was pale now. so i had tried to use bleach for like cloth on my hands by just kinda pouring it on it but got scared & washed it off. it didn’t do anything but i never took off my hoodie bcoz 1. i didn’t want people to see my body & therefore continue to bully me for being “”fat”” & 2. i didn’t want to tan under absolutely any circumstances whatsoever in case i looked darker

by high school i was over the colourism thing but still felt hopeless in many ways. when i was a kid my dad had a thing of not letting me get second servings of food unless i “wanted to a pig like your mom” so . i just had this horrible eating disorder & an unlimited amount of access to alcohol, xanax, & valium. so i was a drug addicted, anorexic, deeply traumatised teenager who curated this aesthetic around myself of the tightest jeans you have EVER seen & long oversized button ups ala the horrors or nikki sudden or whatever & like. i carried myself in a weird cross between pete do.herty & EBR??? i wrote a lot i drew a lot all my friends saw my lack of attendance in school, nonchalant apathy towards grades, excelling in specific areas etc etc as like. cool, i think. like. i was never present @ lunch cuz my anxiety/autism couldn’t handle the noise etc, But I Like. i wasn’t . skipping lunch. i was hiding in the library cuz i was so mentally unwell i was in the 410 program or whatever it was called but i never told anyone that. i just pretended my absence was natural to me, like ‘why Would i be there?’ y’know . i made all my actions seem deliberate & as perks to the way i lived my highly aestheticised life all the while they were often symptoms of handicaps i had due to continual abuse & a horrible mental health issue.

and THATS what i think people fell in love with. i think people fell in love w/ my ability to brush off shortcomings as positives & Cool, Actually. i was & still kinda am very nonchalant about things. people who “fell in love with me” or whatever had habits of wanting approval, or idk smth & so they’d feed my addictions (probably never realising they were addictions cuz we were all kids) & like, sorta copy the way i dressed or what i listened to & it was like soooo important 2 me as a teenager but liek. y’know i’m 21 now it’s fine i don’t care mimicry is how humans learn & adapt & become themselves i don’t care . like . anyway but i felt…. soooo powerless against my own image. like i could NOT say no i was always so bad at saying no i would have people over bcoz they always said they “needed lu time” & i’d sit in the corner of the room w/ the bottle of wine they got me, hugging it & drinking w/ my back to the window & curled to the record shelf while theybsat across from me just. emotionally outpouring everything onto me & i’d kinda diagnose them w/ a song bcoz i didn’t know … how to help . i just felt if i answered my own problems w/ music, others probably needed that music Also.

being treated my age by loke rah.bek in around 2016 or so was Shocking to me. like i was amazed. he did everything he could to make sure i was safe amongst adults, he asked me my age & understood i was 15 & didn’t have the power to like protect myself against these dudes so he kept me between him & hannes after some dudes were creepy /+ rude to me. it totally changed the way i saw myself. i was still sick for years after n don’t consider myself to be healed yet but im a lot different.

iv only confessed feelings for maybe max 5 people & it never worked out ever or i didn’t act on it. i met munna in the in-between of the PI/experimental lucien era & whatever i did after that & they’re the only person i trust with my entire whole heart (other than my brother) & i have told them i love them & have feelings for them. i’m not good @ distinguishing romantic & platonic love but i know if they were here, we’d be inseparable & id lie my head on their lap while they played sonic & i’d doodle felix & sonic as best buddies while we lounged around. but alas god is evil & munna lives in bham, uk so. but munna has Always like, always always always been so respectful, loving, supportive, & just accepting of me. i can be honest w them & im comfy w them & i Don’t think they like the “idea” of lucien. i think they just like lucien. & i just like munna. no ideas or mirages. not to mention they’re one of the very few people who have ever actively tried to get me to get help. arguably i would have never gotten diagnosed with fibro/RA if munna hadn’t encouraged me to Please go to a doctor cuz i like. just do not do that. i don’t go to doctor or get help ever cuz i don’t wanna bother anyone so like . i mean it’s almost killed me a few times or put me in real harm . but i did get help largely so i could be better for munna. munna is like my daily micro dosing of LR. aka good person.

#tally ho !#sorry for the rant

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we-are-indeed-villains · 3 years

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Some things I wish I had known before getting sucked into the whole “dark academia” business:

I waited a very long time to start posting here because It just seemed necessary to wait a bit since DA exploded out of nowhere last year. I just couldn’t bring myself to write when I was so disgusted with the community. Now that it seems like we are out of fashion again (lol) I decided it could be worth giving this blog a try.

Also, almost everything I say here goes for pretty much any change in lifestyle, and these are just some general guidelines that I find particularly easy to follow, but do what works best for you!

1 - You DON’T have to spend all of your money to fit into this “aesthetic”.

The biggest problem with what is now called dark academia (but really, it has been a thing for such a long time) is that people put it in the same category as, for instance, VSCO girls or Indie (not that there is any problem with these aesthetics in specific, they are actually quite cute!). I know this sounds like rubbish, but DA really is a little bit more than that. The clothing/visual part of it may be important to some, but the way you choose to live your life and the hobbies you opt to engage with are crucial for everyone!

That being said, don’t spend a ridiculous amount of money on expensive linen shirts and fancy blazers. You don’t need a brand new pair of Oxfords or a 100% leather messenger bag to consider yourself DA. Start small, then make investments if you find it to be worth it. That brings us to our second point:

2 - Find your favourite aspect of the community.

I know it can be very overwhelming to adhere to any new style of living, but there are some easier ways to make a smoother transition (also, you don’t really want everyone to notice that you went from water to wine in one week, and then back to water after two more because you felt lost amidst all of those weird nerds you found on Tumblr, right?).

Begin with figuring out what part of the lifestyle you identify with the most. Is it the musical part? Classical dance? Are you into poetry? Books? History?

Once you have that done (I plan on doing posts on all of those topics and more, so stay tuned!), narrow it down until you find the very core of your interest. For example, I absolutely love literature, but what do I love about it? Is it the writing part? The reading part? Both? Do I have a favourite style? If the answer for the previous question is ‘no’, try to find one! There are so many amazing styles and eras to explore!

After determining what is/are your main interests, make sure to find time to fit them into your life. Buy more books, if possible. There are also public libraries with a great variety of literature to choose from! If you already do that, I encourage you to try getting out of your comfort zone and attempting something new. Why not experiment reading a different style of books? Or maybe getting into the more poetic part of literature?

3 - Get into it!

Have you found your main interest? Great! Now it may be time to actually get into the fashion aspect of the whole thing. Also, remember that, although it is not a requirement per say, being academically successful is something you may want to achieve, so put some effort into that as well.

I won’t get too much into the fashion rabbithole, but I may write something about it later. In the meantime, you can definitely find some great guides on different DA related blogs.

4 - Don’t adhere to all the negative habits that DA romanticizes.

We all know that mental illness and self destructive behaviors are heavily romanticised, and I will say this from the bottom of my heart: DO NOT LET YOUR MENTAL HEALTH SLIP BECAUSE OF SOME 15 YEAR OLD ON TUMBLR! Trust me, it is NOT worth it.

Cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, all-nighters, heavier drugs. All of that may seem cool and edgy from the outside (why people think that, I could not tell you), but it can also defeat the main purpose of DA and, even worse, ruin your physical and mental health for good. How are you going to stay ahead in school and go to Oxford if you are too busy partying and snorting coke? You will get a sore nose and a big hole in your pocket, that’s all.

Nihilism is another one. Note that I said “nihilism”, not "existentialism" (more on that coming in the future). If you enjoy pondering the reason for human existence and you question the religious beliefs that control our society, welcome to the club! But please, please, don’t let that get too much in your head. Existential depression is a very painful and difficult thing to deal with. It will take away any joy you may find and it is not in any way productive. If you have it, you will know what I mean. Thinking about it sometimes, writing poems, debating with friends, that’s all good, even encouraged, but don’t let it go to your head and become a problem. Not worth it.

Some extra things I would like to mention:

1 - Don’t force yourself into doing or enjoying anything. Sure, reading is good, but if it isn’t enjoyable there is no reason to become obsessed with it! DA should not be a burden.

2 - Stay away from the eurocentric ideals that come with the community. Racism is bad even if you want to live in the 1800s. There is simply no excuse to think that European culture is richer or more refined than any other. Remember that the only reason you think that is because some rich, old, white men decided to murder and opress millions of different people for pure egoism. Not really something to be proud of.

Also, if you are thinking “Yeah, whatever, but English culture is a lot nicer than Mexican, or Indian culture”, then you should probably reevaluate the reasons for your interest in DA.

3 - Don’t be mean to people just because you think it fits with your all-new pretentious and arrogant character. I don’t care if you want to be perceived as such, but it can be very bad in the long-run. Just be aware of that.

And most importantly, don’t let DA take away your personality! It’s okay to like video games and read gossip magazines every once in a while. It is also okay to be yourself. You don’t have to (and probably shouldn't) get rid of all the qualities that make you unique (yes, this is a cliche, but there is a reason why people say it all the time). Be silly, say dumb things and play minecraft with your friends all night, for godsakes!

“This above all: to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

(Hamlet - Polonius, act 1 scene 3)

-- Shakespeare, William

Memento Mori, dear villains.

#dark acadamia aesthetic #dark academia #chaotic academia #light academia #romantic academia #cottage academia #art academia #classic academia #aesthetic #guide #vintage aesthetic #literature #poetry #classic

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purrincess-chat · 3 years

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Cat’s Definitive Ranking of Every ML Episode as of 4/22/21

Are you guys ready for this? I did the thing. You’re all welcome. Don’t ever ask me for anything again. You can watch me get progressively more unhinged in real time.

Now, just to preface this, I did not give this too much thought. Most of these are just my gut feelings. I went through every episode and just made some snap judgments based off the lasting impressions I’ve been left with. These are my opinions. If you don’t like them, tough. And also I don’t care. Go spend 4 hours making your own damn ranking. And shut the hell up. Anyway, this is probably the longest post I’ve ever made, so I’m gonna put it all under a read more. Click on it if you have an hour to read it. Okay, here we go!

1. Origins II- Good starting point for our heroes. Good establishment of canon ships and character dynamics. Umbrella scene literally stole my wallet. Cannot emphasis enough that I am whipped for the umbrella scene. I wrote a whole ass AU just to say how whipped I am for the umbrella scene. In the Rain will play at my wedding. Jk. Weddings are for suckers. But dammit if I don’t want these kids to get married. 10/10

2. Origins I- Good introduction to lore. Good introduction to characters. Good establishment of status quoyo. Just good. 10/10

3. Simon Says- Listen, I am nothing if not a shipper at heart. This episode just sparks joy. And the whole series almost ended when Gabriel almost jumped off the roof. I was really rooting for this one. This was the episode where I saw Ladrien and went yes, ma’am, I’ll have one of those. 10/10

4. Evillustrator- Are you all surprised? Cat, the MC-skeptic ranked the pivotal MC episode so highly? Well, let me tell you all a thing, I started this fandom out a MC shipper because of this episode. Their first interaction is gold. I don’t deny that. I enjoy it. This is the MC dynamic I fell in love with. Yall toxic shippers ruined MC for me when you opened your mouths and spat in the face of Ladrien and baselessly declared MC the sin-ship. We all know it’s Ladrien. Stop kidding yourselves. Boy in leather catsuit? Please. Basic ass vanilla bitches. I’m getting off-topic. Solid episode 10/10. We love to see it.

5. Stormy Weather- Baby’s first Miraculous episode. It holds a special place in my heart. It’s a solid episode. Good establishment of what the show is. Fun villain. Good times. Fond memories. 10/10

6. Riposte- Listen, I know I’m an Adrinette stan, but hear me out: Ladrien. It’s just so good. And Kagami was compelling in this episode. It was just really solid. It’s my favorite s2 episode. If you ask me if I want to rewatch Riposte, the answer is always yes. 10/10. We stan.

7. Gorizilla- Okay, so this episode has some solid Adrinette in it, but the real reason it ranks so high is that fucking Ladrien trust fall. I stare at that scene for hours, you guys. HOURS. It is absolutely just *chefs kiss*. Sometimes when I need a pick-me-up, I just go watch gifs of that catch on loop. 10/10. Beautiful. Radiant. Carefree.

8. Gang of Secrets- I have been keeping most of my opinions to myself about s4 (mostly because I’ve backed way the hell out of this fandom), but GoS was pretty solid. Gotta say, it’s the first episode in a long time with this show that made me actually excited to see what happens next. Most other episodes I was like, okay, that was cute. The show is still meh overall. But GoS really got me like oh shit, is ML good again? 10/10 for making me feel things again.

9. Oblivio- Told you guys this one was probably rated higher than I thought. Oblivio is just really fun. There is good Adrinette. That “No wonder I fell in love with you” paired with the softest of Adrien smiles just sends me. And the kisses. The unquestionable trust. These two kids literally woke up together alone in an elevator with no memories and said welp, you’re my boyfriend/girlfriend obviously, I don’t make the rules. Honestly, how anyone could argue that these two dorks aren’t made for each other after that episode is beyond me. 9/10

10. Backwarder- Okay, I know I am weird and alone for this one, but I really liked this episode. It got a lot of shit for the constipation capsule thing at the end, but like who cares? We finally got some more backstory on Fu. He got a love-interest who is dope as hell. This episode is my favorite lucky charm use ever. Like that queen DID that. I like Backwarder, guys! Fuck off. 9/10.

11. Kwamibuster- We all know I am a Marinette-stan by this point, but our girl was SHINING this episode. This bitch said gimme all them and let me go whoop this bitch’s ass, and she DID. Hawkmoth could never. Multimouse is a gift, and Marinette is a boss ass queen. 9/10

12. Chat Blanc- Listen, this episode was very good. I enjoy the idea of my children being happy in another timeline somewhere very much. We got all 4 sides of the square in an episode. It’s just really solid. I know this is the fandom’s favorite, and everyone is gonna shit their pants because it didn’t make my top 10, but this is my list. So, I put it at number 12. It’s good. I like it. It just didn’t steal my wallet like other episodes did. Put the pitchforks down. It’s gonna be okay, you can still love it more than me. 8/10

13. New York Special- I know everyone felt some type of way about this special, but I wasn’t mad at it. My perception of it might be clouded because I watched it in Disney World where I was chilling and having a great time, but like this special really did somethings for me. The Adrinette was top tier. Tippy top tier. Even though they hurt us in the end, I am okay with it because it just means the children will grow and come out stronger. I don’t care if it’s not technically canon. Ask me if I give a fuck. I don’t. I had fun here. 8/10. Solid.

14. The Collector- This one might shock a lot of you, but let me paint you a scene. It’s the first episode of s2. We have just come off a 2 year hiatus. The fandom is thriving. We’re hungry for canon content. We have hopes and dreams and expectations. Everyone is going wild with theories. This episode confirmed something that was long since obvious (in my opinion) and ended the stupid arguments people had been having. It made Gabriel actually seem semi-competent. We got our first taste of how Chat/Adrien will react to his dad being Hawkmoth. We got a peek at their life. Adrien’s isolation and sadness. They were so close to figuring it out. The battle was epic. Like Collector really had them on the ropes there for a second. It’s a solid episode, yall. I’m not wrong. Hate me all you want, but this episode brought it. 8/10

15. Despair Bear- Is this episode up this high because of the Adrinette slow dance scene? YOU BET YOUR ASS IT IS. Okay, but fr though, shipping aside, this episode gave us hope that Chloe was actually gonna redeem herself. I mean, she didn’t but, we didn’t know that at the time. Seeing her run around trying to be nice was fun. And then she actually did something good, and we had a moment of okay, she’s capable. We’ll get there. We didn’t. But what a ride this episode was for making us think she would. 8/10

16. Startrain- Cat, you’re just ranking all the Adrinette episodes highest. And? What of it? Are you surprised? You clicked a blog that has simping for Adrinette in the description, and you’re surprised all my favorite episodes have Adrinette? I’m not wrong, you’re just an idiot. The Adrinette nap cuddles aside though, this was a pretty good episode. If you don’t think too hard about the whole space thing, we got a look at Max’s life, his mom is a driven, smart lady doing her best. Adrien rebels against papa for once. Alya stops a Lila scheme. Chloe gets to play the hero. Alya and Nino actually investigate like the heroes they are. Gabriel gets to realize what a dumbass bitch he is. I mean. Guys. Startrain is solid. 7.5/10

17. Sapotis- This one shot up in rank for me after GoS, but tbh it’s always been a solid episode. Alyanette sleepover? Check. Alya becoming a superhero? Check. It’s a fun episode. And looking back, it’s nicely called back to later in GoS. We love it. 7.5/10

18. Sandboy- Idk why I enjoy this episode as much as I do, but I do. Sandboy is a cute bean. I love his aesthetic. We also get hilarious looks at everyone’s nightmares. “Plagg, who turned you into a sock?” cracks me up cause like Adrien, bby, no XD And Chat Noir’s nightmare. I think it would have been interesting though if since Sandboy dusted the Agreste mansion, if we got a peek at Hawkmoth’s nightmares. It would have been a nice hint of plot to go along with Master Fu’s nightmare. Also Plagg giving the akuma the slip like the clever boy we know he is deep down? 7.5/10

19. Furious Fu- If you guys haven’t realized by now that I love Fu, idk what you’re doing. Pay attention. I know that some people don’t like him, but I’m just gonna say it, you’re wrong. Fu took care of the Miracle Box for over 100 years, and this episode kind of gives some insight to what the Order was like. Very strict. Lots of rules. And ya know what, Fu said fuck the police, I’m gonna befriend these little magical demigods, and fuck off! Like what an absolute legend. I was really happy to see him living his best life, and that he and Marianne got married because it’s what he deserves. We love to see it. 7.5/10

20. Gamer- People like to shit on Marinette in this episode, but like honestly, if I were in her shoes, I’d have probably done the same thing if I had the skill. Ain’t nothing wrong with a girl trying to spend time with the boy she likes. And Tom and Sabine being absolute shipping trash. I love them. And the awkward Adrinette. The introduction of the lucky charm that Adrien STILL carries. Wholesome. This was a good episode for their friendship, and we love to see it. 7.5/10

21. Christmaster- Okay, I know a lot of people hated this episode when it aired, but I thought it was really funny? Everyone skidding around in the ice rink was hilarious. If you don’t take this episode seriously, it’s really fun. Chris is pretty cute, and damn right Ladybug is the best kid in the world. Idk. This episode is fun. I’m not mad at it. Sue me. 7.5/10

22. Weredad- What? Another MC-heavy episode in Cat’s top 30? Listen, I don’t hate canon MC. The fans just annoy me. This episode was funny. The secondhand embarrassment and cringe was real. Plagg taunting Adrien because he knows the secret was great. Marinette being a self-saving queen was great. It’s a good episode. I like MC, you guys. I do. I swear! 7.5/10

23. Miraculer- This episode was interesting to me, and I think it’s still a good development episode. For one, Sabrina finally got her own akuma episode named after her. Secondly, because it’s a big step for Chloe, just not in the way we expected. It totally makes sense that Chloe can’t have her Miraculous back because literally everyone knows her identity. Can’t argue that logic. And she is the first person to ever refuse to become akumatized, so like mad respect. I know a lot of people had high hopes for redeemed Chloe (myself included), but I think watching a character fall from revering someone to hating them is also an interesting path. The friends to enemies arc as it were. Idk. I liked this episode. It was an opportunity for Chloe to grow, even if she didn’t in the end, but we’ll talk about that later. 7.5/10

24. Lady Wifi- I like Alya. I feel like I don’t say that much, and people make some assumptions because of MDCSP, but MDCSP is just a concept I wanted to explore. It doesn’t really reflect how I feel about any one character. Except maybe Lila. And Gabe. But every other spite fic I’ve written branching from Chameleon, the class has been fine. Alya has been fine. So, let it be known that I like Alya. Lady Wifi was a fun episode. Putting aside the fact that she thought Chloe was Ladybug for no reason, I like her akuma. I like the interactions we get with LadyNoir in this episode. After GoS, this episode gets a bit funnier. It’s solid. 7/10

25. Dark Cupid- I don’t have much to say about this one. LadyNoir. That’s it. That’s the tweet. Send it. 7/10

26. Volpina- So many things about this episode. It introduced a new antagonist who we didn’t exactly 100% know was going to be an antagonist at the time. This episode sparked a lot of fun fan theories for a while. Who was Lila? How was she going to shake things up? Not to mention this episode gave us a taste of plot and lore, and set up Marinette meeting Master Fu officially. Lots of intrigue sparked from this episode. And that LadyNoir door scene? OOOOOO 7/10

27. Hearthunter- One word: Adrigaminette. This episode was so cute for them! I loved seeing them all goofing and running around together. Adrien and Kagami being absolutely in love with Marinette when her hair is down. They both love her, I don’t make the rules. Not to mention, Marinette takes a big step by letting her friends be happy without her. Kagami not wanting to hurt Marinette. The drama!! Gabriel being a messy ass bitch to his friends. It loses points for the abomination of an akuma, but overall, I wasn’t too mad at it. Yet. 7/10

28. Glaciator- More MC in Cat’s top 30? It’s more likely than you think. Listen. Listen… Listen. MC is fine. This episode was the closest thing to fanfiction that we got. The balcony scene was really sweet. I was drinking the irony. We got introduced to Andre the icecream fraud. Andre the please just give me the flavor I asked for man. I could have done without Chat pouting, but the LadyNoir in the end was pretty good. I wish they’d done more with Ladybug’s feelings for Chat. Had her question herself a bit more after this one, but overall, it’s cute. 7/10

29. Zombizou- A lot of people started hating Mlle. Bustier after this episode, and like I can kind of see it, if I squint, but I did not draw that same conclusion from this episode. Mlle. Bustier just wants good things for all of her students. They’re 14 ffs, she just wants to be a good influence on all of her students and wants them all to be successful. But go off, I guess? Plus, this episode was basically just a spoof on zombie apocalypse movies. We got so many things. Julerose, Myvan, DJWifi. Chloe actually showing some depth and emotion. LadyNoir. We won this episode, babes. Sorry you didn’t get the memo. 7/10

30. Timetagger- Okay. This is the last episode in the ones that I’d venture to call “good.” Number 30. I enjoyed Timetagger. I know people have feelings about timey-wimey bullshit, and like I’m not gonna lie and say I’m thrilled with it either (I mean, I changed the rabbit’s power in MDCSP) but that being said, Timetagger was so sassy. Bunnix was cool as hell. We get to see that LB and CN are still doing the thing in the future. So many questions sparked from this episode. It was fun. Idk. I liked it. That’s all I got. 7/10

31. Malediktator- Okay, from this point on, less comments because this is the section that are more or less just meh to me. Like they’re fine. This episode was fine. Chloe was fine. Chat playing with the laser was cute. 6.5/10

32. Mayura- Adrien’s speech at the end. Nuff said 6.5/10

33. Ikari Gozen- Ryuko/Ryuuko. Gals being pals. 6.5/10

34. Reflekdoll- I talked about this earlier, but I don’t hate this episode. It’s not as bad as people make it out to be. Sue me. 6.5/10

35. Anansi- Nino is the goodest boy. Also I need more of the gang taking Adrien on adventures via Facetime. Stat. 6.5/10

36. Shanghai- This one is new, and tbh I still haven’t watched it with subs, but I had a good time. Fei was cute. The boy squad was cute. Adrien bonding with Great Uncle Cheng was cute. Hawkmoth getting literally dunked on was *chefs kiss* 6.5/10

37. Gigantitan- I love overly supportive, ride-or-die girl squad. 6.5/10

38. Party Crasher- Idk why this episode was funny to me. Kim is the purest bean. We don’t deserve him. 6.5/10

39. Desperada- This episode was an emotional roller coaster, and even though we all collectively hate Aspik’s stupid egghead, we love the Ladrien this episode provided us. 6/10

40. Oni-chan- Listen, I loved seeing Lila get a tiny bit of karma even if she made it up in the end. I loved Chat going off on her. I loved seeing her get outsmarted in the end. 6/10

41. Frightningale- My good lesbian Clara Nightingale. We stan. 6/10

42. Style Queen- I like Audrey in a “she’s the worst person I’ve ever met, I want to travel the world with her” kind of way. She’s funny to me. Idk. I love her firing everyone. She’s the one I love to hate. She’s the worst, but we love her for it. Plus this episode gave us Plagg’s adorable little Cataclysm that destroyed half the city. 6/10

43. Gamer 2.0- Chat confidently strutting in heels made this episode worth it. And we get to see the beginning of Marinette being overwhelmed. Plus it was the return of gamer!nette. 6/10

44. Troublemaker- I don’t hate this episode as much as the next person either. It was fine. Jagged is a manchild, but we love him for it. He’s a Marinette stan which like mood. The Adrinette at the end was cute. I wasn’t mad at it. Idk. It’s fine. 6/10

45. Reflekta- Where are all my Juleka stans at? I loved the LadyNoir banter in this ep. V. cute. 6/10

46. Dark Owl- This episode was fun. And it really shows their level of trust. Plus Plagg and Tikki interacted. 6/10

47. Timebreaker- Have I ever mentioned that I like Alix? I like Alix. 6/10

48. Silencer- I don’t hate this episode as much as you’d expect me to, and that is 100% because of the LadyNoir. 5.5/10

49. Prime Queen- Chat purrs. 5.5/10

50. Syren- I think the fish power-up is adorable. Ondine is a gem. Kim is a pure bean, but we been knew. 5.5/10

51. Befana- I like Gina, but this episode fell flat for me. Almost as flat as the animation. 5.5/10

52. Reverser- Another episode that everyone hates that I am actually fine with. This episode made me like Nathaniel more. Probably because I was previously indifferent toward him. Marc is cute too. 5.5/10

53. Mr. Pigeon- Marinette is one clever girl. And the Adrinette hand-touch. 5.5/10

54. Felix- Felix is a gremlin of chaos. A true chaotic neutral. He gives his uncle the finger, and I think that’s beautiful. 5.5/10

55. Truth- Bet you expected this episode to be higher. While I did enjoy watching toxic people’s world crumble, this episode still gets a meh from me dog. 5/10

56. Lies- The Adrigami was cute, and I respect Kagami as a character. The akuma could have been better tho. 5/10

57. Princess Fragrance- Not much to say here. 5/10

58. Copycat- 5/10

59. Bubbler- 5/10

60. Mime- 5/10

61. Animan- 5/10

62. Robostus- 5/10

63. Ladybug- This episode ranks this low purely because I don’t care about GabeNath, and I hate that Lila won something in the end. But Adrien saying I won’t hesitate, bitch! At the end was nice to see. 5/10

64. Catalyst- I know I ranked Mayura way higher, but Catalyst fell flat for me. Like it was fine. Wasn’t as into it though. 4.5/10

65. Puppeteer- One of my favorite lucky charm uses. 4.5/10

66. Pixelator- My favorite Cataclysm. 4.5/10

67. Horrificator- That almost-Adrinette kiss tho 4.5/10

68. Pharaoh- 4.5/10

69. Kung Food- 4.5/10

70. Rogercop- 4/10

71. Guitar Villain- 4/10

72. Dark Blade- 4/10

73. Bakerix- 4/10

74. Antibug- And now onto the bottom 10. To start us off, I will just say: UGH, this episode annoyed me. First of all, Sabrina didn’t even get her own episode. Chloe was a piece of shit. Idk why they made Ladybug the one in the wrong when Chloe was being obnoxious. Ugh. 3/10

75. Captain Hardrock- I’m gonna be honest. My apathy for this episode has grown into loathing. Toxic stans are 100% to blame. Birthday ruining, bitches. This is the reason I threw a breakup bash after Truth. Yall deserved it. 3/10

76. Christmas Special- I didn’t hate this episode as much as everyone, but it still wasn’t great. 2.5/10

77. Stormy Weather 2.0- This episode was really dumb. It didn’t need to exist. 2.0/10

78. Queen Wasp- Why did we give Chloe a Miraculous after this episode? 2/10

79. Animaestro- Did we really need a self-insert? Did we really? 2/10

80. Puppeteer 2.0- Listen, this episode would have made more sense in s1 or at the very latest early s2. Adrien gave a whole ass speech on how great Marinette is, then he turns around and is like idk if she likes me… Clean it up. 2/10

81. Miracle Queen- I could talk at length about how much I hate the ending of this episode and what they did with Chloe and Master Fu, but we’re just going to remain calm and give it a solid 1.5/10

82. Frozer- This episode made no goddamn sense. I call bullshit on so many things. Just ugh. 1/10

83. Chameleon- Surprisingly, even though this episode sparked many, many spite fics out of me, it’s not my least favorite because at least Ladybug semi-redeemed this episode. Still really dumb and ooc tho. 1/10

84. Feast- Okay, okay, okay, here we are. Bottom of the barrel. Cat’s most hated episode, and you wanna know why? You want to know why this episode fills me with the rage? Because we spent two fucking seasons building up all this mystery and lore and intrigue surrounding Fu’s big mistake, and they dropped the fucking ball! They did my mans so dirty! They could have really deepened his character, deepened the Order, deepened anything other than whatever fucking affair Gabriel and Nathalie have going on, but NO. They made it some stupid, bland-ass thing that got resolved magically in the end, then just ignored it for the rest of the season. I will never not be salty about how they did my boy Fu in this show. I’m happy he found his peace, but fuck if I’m not livid about how they did it. Whatever. Chat being done with Ladybug’s shit when they’re about to get eaten was funny I guess. .5/10

#cat speaks #cat spoils #episode ranking #long post #i'm tired now #i go to bed

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