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haleigh-sloth · 1 year

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I am done reading AssClass

Okay, let's see if I can type this all out without crying lol

This isn't a review, just my personal feelings on the manga, the things I liked, the things I didn't like (there really aren't much), things I wish I had seen more of etc., and my overall opinion on the ending (;--;)

Things I liked:

All of it. But seriously, the commentary on the education system. The way that it's "subtext" but like, Horikoshi-style subtext. It's not really subtext it's kind of in your face, unable to be ignored. While I'm fully aware that it caters to commentary on the Japanese education system, which differs greatly from what I'm personally familiar with, there are a lot of relatable aspects in this manga that I can relate to American education. For instance, all the "problem kids" getting hidden away from the general classroom, scapegoated, looked down upon, etc. All of that was super obvious. The way it emphasizes how individualizing teaching approaches to the student can produce amazing results that matter to that student. I work in special education currently, but I've been working with kids since I graduated college, and this manga felt very validating to me with how it shows what impact adults can have on kids if they put effort into their relationships.

Moving on....

It's a shounen, but I love how it managed to maintain its slice of life vibe by keeping it focused on their school experiences. Just the way the manga made sure not to dive into power scaling territory in any way whatsoever and mostly focus on demonstrating the way Korosensei was getting through to the students, which as a result really drove the ending home. It's kind of funny how the parts of BNHA that hold my interest the absolute LEAST were the parts of this manga that I wanted to make sure didn't fade away.

I also appreciate how it balanced its large cast without it feeling like cameo city. Everyone got the perfect amount of focus. Nobody felt like side characters who were getting more screen time than necessary to an annoying extent. It has its main focus characters but it truly is a manga about all of Class 3-E. I was impressed by that, as with large casts I usually get irritated quickly when characters I don't particularly care about (because the manga gives me no reason to seriously care about or be invested in them) are being given screen time SOLELY for the purpose of getting screen time. Just...things I generally don't like, but this manga didn't have that issue.

The characters of focus:

Korosensei- I knew his character would be the source of my tears at the end. The person who recommended this manga to me went ahead and told me he would die (which I appreciated because I think I might have been upset/angry at the manga if I hadn't been warned---I'm not good with tragedies lol). So--I knew what was coming, just not the how or the when. Korosensei is the best character in the manga and everything that happens in his arc I feel very reasonably warrants the ending. However it doesn't take away the devastation it made me feel lol. I knew early on, I could tell that he was going to be the source of most of the emotion dredged up in the manga. He didn't disappoint. I've never favored a mentor/teacher character this much.

Karma- My favorite, no surprise. I love how he's introduced as this deranged, violent, uncontrollable teen but ends up being the most go-getting academic in the class. He's bothered when his grades drop the slightest and he more than makes up for it later (so he CARES). He's pretty chill in personality but his unhinged-ness comes out randomly throughout and it's either hilarious or just really cool. He's really not what he's introduced as. He's goofy, and he drops his "revenge against teachers" persona pretty quickly after he's introduced and Korosensei picks at him a little. His friendship with Nagisa gives me life. It's hidden in the shadows but you know it's there, and it finally gets focus toward the end which I ate UP.

Nagisa- BEST MAIN CHARACTER. He feels so passive without actually being passive. His development happens subtly imo, it wasn't something I noticed until the summer vacation arc. After that I paid a lot more attention to him and he easily slide his way into top favs. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how his backstory tied into his skills in the classroom, and how that drove him to change his mind about being an assassin. God that was cinema at its finest. And I said this already but his friendship with Karma is just *chefs kisses* I love them both. They're melons.

Kayano- SHE SHOCKED ME. SURPRISED ME. BUT I LOVE HER. She really did stick close to the protag and hide in his shadow and then come out at the MOST unexpected time. Her backstory tying into Korosensei's backstory, making her closer to him than anyone else in the class ;--;

And that leads me into when I started sobbing and didn't stop.

Korosensei's backstory was rough, but the conclusion to his backstory was where the tears started flowing, and didn't stop until I finished the manga.

I was waiting for the kids to finally acknowledge what assassinating their teacher meant, and finally when the realization came I was emotionally unequipped for it:

These moments had me in a blubbering mess, and it's taking a lot of effort not to cry RIGHT NOW LOOKING AT THEM

And then of course:

....okay in order to avoid crying I'm gonna move on lol

Things I didn't like--honestly not much. I don't have any actual complaints. I just want to sue for emotional damages.

Things I wish had been different:

Things that aren't critiques because they aren't a flaw, just personal wishes I have.

I wish we had gotten to see more of Asano Jr. and Itona. I feel like Asano absolutely could have been used and explored more. Maybe I just wanted him to join class E. I knew it wasn't going to happen just due to the point I was at in the chapters and knowing it wasn't long enough to get into that. But Asano was a fav that I would have been very interested in seeing more. He felt like a side character who absolutely could have been lifted out of side character territory. Itona drew me in more when he was unhinged, and my liking for him didn't go away but my fixation on him shifted to Asano lol. I feel like Itona could also have been used more. But the way in which he was used wasn't bad at all.

Other characters:

I LOVE what happened with Principal Asano, absolutely love it. It made me forgive everything he was about throughout the story. I love his perception of Korosensei changing and how he offered him a job to come back later, I love his shift in thinking, his reuniting with his former students no matter how bittersweet it was. I loved Korosensei telling P. Asano that he was replicating what Asano had envisioned when he started his school. Tear jerking forreal.

Karasuma and Irina: Loved them. Loved how Karasuma kept a hard front almost the entire manga and slowly started letting it fade away as time went on. I love how the three teachers bonded and at the end, Karasuma acknowledging that all three of them raised that class. More tears flowing. Irina best girl. She was fanservice-y but it wasn't a stupid gag and was a part of her character (a legit seductress), and she as a whole was great.

I coud go on and on about the ending and how emotional it made me watching everyone clean the building and the mountain, and Kayano saying it feels like Korosensei and Aguri are still there with them, so they don't intend to make it a memorial site. I could go on and on but I'm legit tired of crying lol I really can't handle it anymore. So I'll end it here and say that this replaced Naruto in my top 5 LOL (sorry Naruto). 10/10.

#the way that i can barely look at some of these pages #psychic damage is real

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spicedraws · 2 years

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Any other pikmin ships ya like? (asides from Loualph lol)

Oh God… You're asking a complete weirdo that- 😭

I don't know if I can talk about ships much without feeling like I'm gonna be burned over a fire for my sins- Hhh but if I'm ever gonna get over my crippling social anxiety I guess it's best to embarrass myself!

I'm sorry don't read this unless you're prepared for the unhinged ramblings of someone who pretends they aren't ship obsessed…

Loualph is the only thing I actually fully ship, I just feel like they complete each other really well. It's a chef's kiss, 💋 though that doesn't mean I don't enjoy seeing others and haven't thought about them.

I think Charlie x any of the other Kopaits can be cute (Charlie with D especially. I love seeing people's different interpretations of that scraped character.)

…But If I'm being honest with y'all there is a reason I haven't been able to ship Charlie. So- if Olimar wasn't already happily married I'd ship him with Charlie LOL. I just feel like it could be a very quality couple. Look, If they became close they could share each other's passion and become unstoppable! They will be rival bff lovers… One of my fav kinds of ships. They would constantly be building each other up whether if its intentionally with comforting each other or unintentionally from having their silly who is the better captain bickering.

I can imagine Charlie trying to be all brave and cool until Olimar gives him a smooch and he just MeLts-

Also since Olimar is apparently terrified of rubber duckies. I could imagine them having some deeply overly dramatic and emotional moment where Charlie is getting him to hold his rubber duckie for the first time. Meanwhile you just see Louie in the background questioning both of their sanity. (Chaotic gay ships just bring me so much joy I'm sorry my tastes are complete shit *sobs*…)

basically what I'm gathering from this is that I wanna ship Charlie with Olimar… but Olimar is a married man with a family so I don't- why am I like this frick. I love Olimar so much I just wish his wife actually had a personality and name, also had her own design not just Olimar's clone with makeup. Even more than his wife though I really wanna see more of his kids c'mon Pikmin!

Also I think it'd be funny and cute to find Shacho someone (I know he's married too but off of what I've seen the "happily" part is missing)

WAIT I ACTUALLY DO SHIP SOMETHING ELSE I FORGOT

I ship the Hocotate ship with the SS Drake because I just think it'd be a really fucking funny and unhinged ship.

Also Brittany... I just wanted to bring up her existence cause she's epic lol.

… whelp *crawls back into the shadows*

#spice rants #louie x alph #random bs my brain throws at the wall #shipping trash #im sorry im not a writter. i just attempt to type out what my brain thinks into words

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novelcain · 1 year

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HOLY SHIT When I asked about the dragon theories I didn't expect a wHOLE ASS RESEARCH PAPER. Luckily I'm similarly built like an unhinged academic

Essentially linking social consciousness to bioelectricty? Insane. Social consciousness is usually attributed to psychological nuture. It's the idea of a shared identity. But the possibility that the shared identity can be influenced by the funny little electricity in our heads is an angle I wish could be explored more now. How far can we take it? If humans were able to universally create a whole ass animal, what else could we do if we could tap into that kind of research?

(Let is be known that the only reason I am also not a mad scientist is because the educational system failed that badly)

- 🐟

Lmao EXACTLY!

I've been intrigued tho "obsessed" according my therapist with bioelectricity and its possible applications for as long as I could remember! I remember that forever ago, when I was around 9 to 10, I theorized that bioelectricity could be possibly be harnessed as a source of energy or a type of control unity for prosthetics (bc I was SUPER in bio mechanical engineering around that age) but I even have it written in a science diary somewhere, I was a very weird organized little kid, and then skip forward a few years to high school I was surfing the internet for science articles to read in my spare time and I stumbled upon on saying that my theory have been proven and put into practice!

I was so excited! Unfortunately, I was so excited that I ran to the first person I could find, my egg donor. And to make a long story short it ended up in her yelling at me for not telling her when I was younger so we could have made a patent.

Pft! Yeah right. I remember thinking how stupid that idea was. I was 9 and we had no money there's no way a patent would have ever happened that was just dumb. But I let her be mad so she'd let me go so I could do more research online about it.

I actually have a theory that within 10 years time it'll be common place to have implants in the eyes and brain that fully run on an individuals bioelectricity and will act as a kind of visual displace and that they'll replace phones all together. Kinda like a VR headset without the headset!😃 I'm you've all seen the scifi movies and animes with what I'm talkin about.

(Ugh! I feel you 🐟 anon. I was lucky enough to be able to figure out the education system super early on but I had a mental break down about it in high school and suffered severe autistic burn out bc of it and all the pressure I was under. I learned that education for my generation—gen z— is becoming more required while becoming less accessible. Its gotten to the point where a master's degree can be nothing but a useless piece of paper when 20 years ago that was guaranteed job with a 6 figure salary at the least.)

#🐟 anon #skittle answers #skittle rambles

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spinningbuster98 · 1 year

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youtube

Mega Man X4 (Zero) Ending

(Insert funny ha-ha meme joke here)

Ok strap in ‘cause this is a long one.

Gameplay wise the only things of note are the General, who I am convinced was not fully designed for Zero since hitting him with a sword is pretty damn awkward, and Sigma who can either be easier or harder than he is with X: easier because Zero cand dish out more damage but also harder because Zero doesn’t have X’s armor uphgrade so he takes more damage, Sigma’s rock launching attack especially is the bane of my existance since it’s random and you basically have to pray he doesn’t spam it too often.

No it’s the story that’s going on that we gotta talk about

Of course there’s the whole deal with Colonel and Iris which is just amateurishly told: we don’t know who these people are, the game never spent any time trying to establish their relationship with Zero, and yet we’re supposed to care about their deaths, Iris especially who really has no personality and is the perfect poster girl for a female character specifically designed to die so that the hero can feel sad.

Also if you’re wondering what that orb that Iris uses is: it’s Colonel’s core. Colonel and Iris have a whole backstory that the game never even alludes to but rather just spares for secondary materials such as artbooks and dev interviews, which is impossibly frustrating from a storytelling perspective and a franchise-wide issue unfortunately (even Classic is guilty of this as I’ll get into later)

However the part I wanted to focus the most on was the flashback where we see Zero fighting Sigma

On its own merits the scene does what it sets out to do pretty well: it follows up on the idea that Zero was made by Wily which was previously teased by X2 and this game’s first Zero cutscene by showing us how unhinged he was in the past but without outright telling us he’s a Wily robot and while still making us wonder what happened to him to make him good eventually. The early X games mostly tried building up to some grand finale and really pushed for Zero’s mystery and his inevitable confrontation with X, so this scene is actually really good in pushing said mystery forward and also keeping fans off the edges of their seats for whenever said mystery gets properly adressed.

And therein lies the issue: it never was properly adressed.

Sure, X5 tries to follow up on all of this by giving us some....vague answers, which is fine, not everything should always be blatantly spelled out for the audience, I don’t need Wily to come flying into the scene with his UFO telling us that he was Zero’s creator all along since it’s made pretty clear already with all the imagery and allusions.

The issue is that no game has ever truly explained all of the questions that are brought up by this scene, which in another work of art would be ok to me, but the x series’ writing has never garnered any kind of....trust in me to believe that the series just didn’t know what it was fully doing with this, because some details about this scene have been revealed in the past.

In additional materials.

Of questionable canonicity.

Which gave us information that was sometimes contradictory with other things.

Ok let’s do this generally ok?

Question #1 Why is Zero acting like a crazed lunatic?

A few years ago a developer document was discovered, dating since before X1′s release, featuring a rough outline of the X series’ storyline, indicating that the devs at the time had at least a general idea of what they wanted to do.

The document mentions that Zero was created by Wily to be the most evil robot ever, but was accidentally turned good by the Maverick Virus (more on that later), which would normally turn good robots evil.

The Megaman Zero Official Complete Works also mentions this idea in one of its pages:

however said page specifically mentions that this information was only considered during the series’ conceptual period and as such may not be canon. I think we can safely assume that it isn’t, given that this page also claims that the Maverick virus originated from....X? Yeah no that’s explicitly contradicted by the games

Even the X1 document may not be 100% canon, seeing as plans can change over the years and it doesn’t mentions the Virus secondary function as a way to explicitly reprogram Zero into being Wily’s ideal robot as mentioned in X5.

In general I think the idea of Wily purposefully making Zero so violent he’s uncontrollable to be just plain dumb, especially since X5 shows us in its bad ending just what Wily wanted Zero to be like and it sure wasn’t the irrational lunatic we see in the X4 flashback

In 2010 a timeline of events was posted on the japanese official site for the Megaman Zero Collection. This timeline introduced the idea that Zero had a flaw in his programming which made him ultra violent, forcing Wily to seal him in his capsule, which was also chock full of Maverick Virus, the same virus that, as seen in X5, has the potential to rewrite Zero into being loyal to Wily.

Now this makes much more sense. I’m....not too keen on the implication that Zero wasn’t infected by the virus despite being exposed to it for 100+ years but only being infected once his armor was damaged since 1) damage received has never been shown to affect wether or not a robot is infected by the Virus, even in X5 Zero isn’t all that damaged when he gets fully infected in the bad ending, and 2) you’d think Wily would consider this tiny detail before stuffing his creation in a capsule with a Virus of his own creation. My own personal take is that Zero was already infected in the sense that the Virus was in his body but was simply not affecting him outside of the occasional headache (which is supported by canon, since X5 explicitly states that huge and very potent amounts of the virus are required to fully “fix” Zero, what kinda bug did Wily accidentally put into Zero’s brain Jesus Fuck), but by damaging his head (as in the flashback) this allowed the Virus to affect his damaged components thus only having a partial effect: curing him of his insanity but without restoring his memories of his creator nor his mission, thus resulting in the Zero we know and love.

The main issue with this timeline is that it was taken off of Capcom’s site years ago and thus this information is no longer officially available. Of course this doesn’t deny the fact that capcom once used it and claimed it as canon, but as of now this means that there is no longer any fully official explanation as to why Zero behaved like he does in that X4 flashback

Question #2 Why does Zero become a good guy?

All sources consistently point to the Maverick Virus affecting him, however the specifics vary: the idea that the Virus was meant to fix him was however essentially confirmed in X5.

Question #3 How does this relate to Sigma going Maverick?

This is something the games themselves have utterly failed to convey aside from a throwaway line in X8.

All secondary materials mention Sigma being infected by the Maverick Virus, however the specifics on how the infection occurred vary between official sources and widespread fan interpretations mostly born from the extremely vague way of the series at handling all of this stuff.

The official stance, as far as I’m aware, is that Sigma was infected by the virus as it was leaking from Zero’s capsule and was thus airborne inside the lab.

Many fans however spread this idea, which I don’t know where it originated, that the Virus passed from Zero to Sigma, changing hosts.

Ok so...

1) Why would the Virus do this? How could it sense that Sigma would be a better host since Zero was beating the shit out of him?

2) We never see the Virus simply change hosts under any circumstance. It’s a virus, it multiplies and spreads infecting multiple people, it’s not a single parasite jumping from host to host.

3) The idea that by leaving him for Sigma, Zero turned good implies that Zero was created as a good heroic robot and was thus given the Virus to be evil, which is stupid as it implies that Wily purposefully made a good robot for his world domination plans and then later developed an evil virus to fix his blatant oopsie. C’mon.

I know that this last bit was fan stuff but I wanted to adress it anyway

So basically the mystery setup by this scene has never been properly adressed by the games and information about it was only dripfed to us through secondary materials of questionable canonicity which sometimes even clash with each other

I love Zero for his character but his backstory is a giant mess, or at least has been told as one, this is one of the biggest writing screw ups in the franchise outside of X6′s existence.

This is a big reason why I want an X9: the chance that they might finally fix this mess

Y’know the whole Wily and Light backstory that MM11 showed us and which really added lots of layers to Wily’s character? The general gist of that backstory had been a thing in the series for DECADES, but had only been reserved for secondary, obscure materials. Would you have ever guessed, by playing all the other games, that Wily had a personal vendetta and inferiority complex towards Light? He never spoke to him on screen before MM11 sans a brief concersation to him and Megaman in MM10!

If MM11 could finally show us the backstory to the series’ main villain after 30 years, giving him some really interesting layers and finally making things between him and Light crystal clear to fans, then I don’t see why this couldn’t be done for Zero’s backstory and that of the Maverick Virus. This is important stuff, it’s the basis for the entire conflict of the X series!

Rant over. X4 (and the X series in general) is my go-to example for Story-Shit-but-Game-Good

#youtube #megaman #megaman x4 #my gameplay

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dreamsmp-au-ideas · 3 years

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I was going to actually post this before asks closed (didn’t get the chance), but Teddy Bear Anon, you are one of my favorite people and a magnificent creature. You get my vibe.

About Bad canonically being Sapnap’s dad I feel like that has so much extra angst potential when we consider the rest of the found family. Like. Sapnap, Tommy, and Fundy all have dads who started with the best of intentions but for one reason or another ended up slowly becoming a danger to them. I imagine Tommy and Fundy one day showing up with a cake and telling Sapnap “We regretfully welcome you to the shit dad club” and Sapnap is torn between being upset still and laughing over the absurdity of the situation.

Bonus points if Tommy made the cake using a recipe book that Niki gave him, the last gift Niki ever gave to Tommy. Tommy was originally a really bad cook/baker but after the egg really started to take over he went full survivalist. Leaning to cook was necessary but learning to bake was something he did as a way to raise everyone’s spirits. He’s never gotten the flavor quite to match with Niki’s perfectly but everyone agrees he’s gotten pretty decent in terms of skills. He and Fundy in particular will sometimes just spend an entire day in silence baking and then quietly eat their creations while reflecting on the friends they’ve made and lost over the course of L'manberg’s lifetime. When the group got back to the past and Niki made cookies for Tommy and Fundy the pair very nearly started crying.

Tommy is in an interesting position as a character since he did commit a lot of minor crimes and acted as a general nuisance but he was also still a child. (A very traumatized one considering I canonize SMP Earth with its unlimited lives but even more wars. Including against God. Tommy fought God just let me have this.) He acknowledges the moments when he went over the line and has tried to apologize. In particular at some point before the egg fully takes over he pulls aside Jack and tells him that he’s sorry for the way he acted when he was still in exile, taking one of Jack’s lives and all. Jack and Niki in particular are an interesting subject to address and a painful one for immune!Tommy to think about when he sees younger Niki because the three never fully tossed out the hatchet but it was obvious in the eyes of someone like Sam that both of them were growing more and more hesitant to hurt Tommy. It was made worse by the fact neither were even marginally immune, and it didn’t take long for the egg to get to them.

He never stopped being chaotic. Tommy at his core is just that kind of person. He did, however, grow up enough to act in a more mature manner. Started to recognize what’s too much. In particular he became a lot less violent and willing to lash out after Sam Nook in essence reparented him. He’s still an absolute wild card of a person, which in the eyes of Sam and Sapnap is a good thing. For this au I think we should actually address Tommy having severe ptsd and during the building of his hotel/the early days of the egg before it becomes a noticeable threat it shows. He’s a lot more subdued. Shows of aggression all carry a kind of desperation and his typical jokes feel flat. Lashing out at people slowly becomes more of a defense mechanism to see if someone’s going to leave or betray him, to test the limits of how nice they’re willing to be. After all, nice people have only ever been nice to Tommy when they wanted something from him. His eyes, especially after L'manberg is blow sky high, are well and truly gray. The first time Tommy genuinely laughs after filling Sapnap’s room with chickens is considered celebration worthy to them. His pranks take on a more hermitcraft-esque feel to them which honestly makes them more funny.

By the time they get to the past Tommy has recovered, but he still carries the kind of maturity that like Teddy Bear mentioned is reminiscent of age swap Tommy. When he gets especially stressed though, Immune!Tommy will slip into moments where he acts as tired and done with the world as age swap Tommy. With that said, most of the time he just acts like a more mature Tommy. Nothing could ever completely erase his unique vibe which Ranboo has gone on record as describing “Willing to fight God deaf, blind, and backwards just to prove a point."

Immune Fundy and Tommy get on really well once Fundy manages to catch up with the rest of the group. It gets to the point where everyone from the past is kinda shocked since smp Fundy and Tommy do not get along. At all. Literally the first night Fundy’s back someone goes to wake them up and they find Fundy asleep on top of Tommy which is a wild experience since this Tommy is a goliath who often refuses to take off his full Netherite max enchant armor. He really becomes a "looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll” kinda mans.

Also, yeah, this is Dream’s retirement arc. He is literally just sitting in the corner watching Tommy dote on his younger self and Tubbo before completely pile driving two of the most powerful people on the server straight into the dirt. At some point Tommy sits down with past Punz. He tells this Punz that their Punz died protecting him and Tubbo and that Tommy never got to properly thank their Punz so he’s going to thank this Punz. Tommy then gives Punz an entire stack of Netherite. If we’re gonna go ahead and agree on Phoenix Tommy then Tommy is fire proof, meaning he probably spent a large amount of time in the nether to avoid the egg crew and get rare supplies. Meaning he also probably did a lot of mining just to distract himself and it resulted in him being loaded. Tommy used to have a fear of tnt and explosives but he seems like the type of mad lad to say “exposure therapy” and make a massive cavern in the underbelly of the nether.

I think it would also be really interesting to dedicate like, a couple of chapters to other people’s perspectives. I kind of want to set the time they arrive in the past partway through the Pogtopia arc since I like mildly unhinged but not completely gone Wilbur. Plus then it also makes more sense for Techno to be there. Just prefer the aesthetic really. I want to have Wilbur see this version of Tommy and come to a sudden “oh” moment. I want to have a moment where Tubbo looks between his Tommy and this new Tommy, seeing himself nowhere to be found, and has enough what the fuck moments to become aggressively protective of his own Tommy. Especially if immune!Tommy ever admits to the past Tubbo why he is the way he is, what he faced under the thumb of the people he trusted. Which, out of everyone on the server, Tubbo would be the first one from the past to actively learn.

I am fully on board with Tommy knowing how to sew. That should just automatically be canon in literally ever AU. Tommy for all intents and purposes is still Phil’s child for me. Survival runs in the family the same way that chaos does, so he’s got a ton of basic survival skills that he just doesn’t show off because it’s still Tommy. He would have been completely fine in exile if it wasn’t for Dream. Whenever someone ruins their clothes in the Immune group they automatically go to Tommy and at first the past versions are very confused (except for past Tommy and Tubbo obviously) and then Tommy’s just “Sapnap this is beyond ruined it can’t be saved, let me make you something new” and within a couple days he makes Sapnap a completely new outfit. Like maybe Sapnap fell into a lava pool because Blaze Sapnap Supremacy and his clothes are beyond saving and everyone is beyond baffled when Tommy just acts like this is a weekly occurrence. He’s memorized Sapnap’s measurements and style tastes and already had a new outfit in the works for him that Sapnap immediately adores upon it being presented to him. It takes about a week for past Eret to learn that Tommy stress sews new clothing and he cannot think of a better model. Eret has never had such a full closet. Eret has everything from three piece suits to ball gowns now. Eret lives in terror of the days where Tommy disappears god knows where with Fundy and the two reappear with a new wardrobe for the entire god damn server.

Speaking of disappearing I really like the idea of part phoenix and part tanuki Tommy for a couple reasons. Being a Tanuki he’d have access to enough magic to hide his hybrid traits, which if they’ve been present for long enough would be a necessity to him. Additionally think about Fundy and Tommy building a den under Church Prime that slowly turns into a maze. Think about it. It starts off simple and then they both start digging more and it gets deeper and deeper and more complicate and the two just refer to it as their den and the only ones who are fully aware of the connotations of that word are Sam, Sapnap, and Ranboo who remember the absolute hell that was trying to navigate the original. Just Fundy and Tommy bonding over the fact they are literally the only creatures on this server that have this catacomb memorized and at the end of the catacomb is their saferoom which connects to rail way that the two spent a month straight on. It goes at least 25k blocks from spawn and it’s a final emergency resort in case they can’t stop the egg and the Immunes needs to regroup and essentially try again (if they keep bringing their younger selves with them then hopefully they’ll finally get an army large enough to stop this, but everyone really hopes it doesn’t come to that.)

I’m working on the first chapter of my fic right now actually if I’m gonna be honest and phoenix Tommy is absolutely without question canon to it but I’ve still been going back and forth on if I want him to be part tanuki as well or just blessed/favored by one like Teddy Bear mentioned. I’m also tucking away the whole thing about the magma blood for later use. Phoenix Tommy just makes sense. They used to call him Zombie Kid for a reason back on SMP Earth, he just literally does not die ever unless he decides he does.

~Snapdragon & Firefly

#dream smp #dream smp au #immune au #tommyinnit #fundy #sapnap #eret #the eret #awesamdude #dream #dreamwastaken #wilbur soot #submission #snapdragon & firefly #long post

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gar-trek · 3 years

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As per tradition, here is my thoughts on TNG season three (I just realized I finished a whole season in like 10 days wtf)

Well, as you may have guessed that shit was like crack cocaine to me. For comparison, it took me almost 2 months to finish season 2. But season 3... oh man that shit just hit different 😳Finally, finally they have started hitting their stride. I feel like a big problem in season 2 was they had a lot of episodes that had completely unrelated A and B plots. I didn’t really like this because it would sometimes feel awkward jumping around plots in the same episode. I felt like the episodes in this season were a lot more cohesive. Everything just flowed together really nicely and kept me really engaged. Also they are a lot better at keeping characters consistent and likable... I don’t hate Picard anymore, friendship regain with Picard. They stopped writing him as an asshole and made his motivations more clear. Also, I am now in love with Riker, just am. Okay, here are some more specific thoughts on episodes:

Ones that were meh:

Manage a Troi: Idk why but Lwaxana Troi episodes just haven’t hit since her first appearance. Like I say her episode in season 1 was one of the best, but then her season 2 episode was soooo bad. This one was a little better but it was just a little boring and awkward. AND PLEASE! what is the nature of Riker and Troi’s relationship ??? are the exs? are they casually dating?? do they just bone every now and then? I’m so confused cuz like I thought they just had a crush on each other but didn’t wanna pursue a relationship, but then in this episode its just understood they are going to go to Betazoid and fuck. WHAT IS GOING ON!!!

Sins of the Father: I didn’t really like Worf’s brother or the fact they introduced a secret brother. Star Trek, that trope is so tired now. Stop with the secret sibling bullshit. Also I get it’s different for Klingons but I didn’t like that Worf was okay answering for things his biological dad did when he has two adopted parents who love him very much. Also, I have no idea what happened at the end of this episode. Was anyone else confused or was it just because I may or may not have been under the influence of legal substances? I was confused the whole episode.

My favs!!:

The Ensigns of Command: I loooovvveeee episodes were they test Data and he struggles a bit but of course ends up saving the day!!! Very good with tension all throughout and like even the plot on the enterprise was interesting. Also... Data got a little kissy :3

The Enemy: Centurion Bochra!!! CENTURION BOCHRA!!!! Who the fuck doesn’t love a redemption arc for an unhinged boy? I’d say its the backbone of this fucking website. ALSO!! a fucking GEORDI CENTRIC episode ???? we get to see my best friend Geordi save the day and work hard and use his kindness and good attitude and determination and smarts to do it?? I LOVE GEORDI!!!! also i just love Romulans, I think they are my fav evil race (Ferengi very close second)

Offspring: Let me tell you guys, I NEVER EVER cry and media ever, I don’t even cry at ANYTHING!! but.... certain scenes here... may have got me a little choked up... ngl. This episode was so funny but also so heart wrenching, that’s all I’ll say.

Hollow Pursuits: I don’t know, I just really like that they gave us a character centric episode that wasn’t one of the main cast. It was just a super interesting story. The whole time you are kinda tore between routing for Barclay and feeling like he’s a massive creep. Also, it shows the main cast an imperfect and not always accepting, as even the captain is a little mean to Barclay at one point and Riker kinda turns into a Chad bully. Idk it was an episode I would never expect from this show but very much enjoyed.

The Most Toys: yes Three out of five of my favorite episodes were Data centric ones, fucking sue me. I’m a basic Data loving bitch I will fully admit to that. I have a lot to say about this episode and what I wish they would have done different, but i think I’m going to post about that separately. But anyway, when Data went against his own will and sat in the chair to save that women's life... that shit got to me. I think about that scene daily

Okay, that’s all for now folks!! feel free to debate me in the comments and what not

#star trek #I read my season 1 reflection again #man it's so crazy #how man opinions are sooo different now #tng #the next generation #this was a ramble afffffffff

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youtiaoshutiao · 4 years

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传闻中的陈芊芊 thoughts

i haven’t been very active lately but i just came on to say, i binged on the romance of tiger and rose / 传闻中的陈芊芊 and have 2 eps left and i love it SO SO MUCH. i was expecting some pure crack but beyond that, i really ended up catching much feels for it?

and i think beyond the outlandish hilarity of some of the scenes and the cheeky meta, it’s actually a pretty decent drama with its plot and character motivations largely dictated by logic. i have to commend the scriptwriter nan zhen 南镇 for the entire set up of the drama (and it’s her original script!!! which is so rare in the industry nowadays run over by book adaptations - i mean i love those too but i still think it’s an easy way out for production companies when they adapt books with established fan bases). it’s actually really clever of her because all plot holes/flaws in world building can easily be attributed to xiaoqian’s lousy scriptwriting abilities?

i really did become quite impressed with the plot as the episodes progressed haha. the conflict and plot thickens as xiaoqian, now as qianqian, with the mindset that she’s not part of this story at all and that she’s interacting with a bunch of characters on paper, continues to engineer plot machinations trying to steer the plot in the right direction to get to the end so she can return back to the real world. and you slowly see how that just devolves into complete chaos and plot twists when surprise! she IS part of the story, she IS interacting with these characters and they are influenced by what she says and does! so you have her original male lead hanshuo, destined for the female lead chuchu, falling in love instead with her and changing his entire plan because of that. you have chuchu, the original female lead, slowly growing more unhinged as she perceives qianqian’s actions and words as callous and uncaring and outrightly antagonistic towards herself and as her resentment builds when everyone seems to shower affection and attention on qianqian still.

adding on to that is, how xiaoqian as a scriptwriter views and perceives her characters? some characters like hanshuo, she clearly constructed with much care and love, as seen by how she knows exactly how to make hanshuo happy and doesn’t want to upset him in the initial episodes (which caused him to fall for her like a devoted puppy). yet it seems like she either didn’t grasp fully their character motivations/personality/how their character is moulded by their backgrounds? which is why she probably didn’t see how the inherent difference with which her mother treats qianqian vs chuchu would lead to jealousy and resentment seeping in and poisoning chuchu’s heart. and her visualising han shuo as a murderous calculating career-driven male lead aka the male lead of eastern palace clearly runs contrary to how he is total putty and has barely hurt a fly ever since he fell in love with qianqian.

and there are characters too like her mother that she originally clearly just wrote in as characters to steer the plot forward, and in-world, she is clearly stricken when she realises how they have emotions and hidden depths beyond what she fathomed - like when her and her mother had that semi HTHT after she stole the dragon bone and her mum stayed by her bedchamber to watch over her all night. and another example would be su ziying - she’s so happy to see him when he appears as in that moment she’s viewing him from the lens of the scriptwriter of this story and she knows he’s going to push the plot forward. but seeing him and his actions actually playing out - she gets irritated by what he does and also his actions actually do end up affecting her, because she is in the story too!!!

and moving on from that, as the plot further progresses, another spanner is thrown into the mix when she realises that male lead is really really in love with her! and would give up everything for her! and... she too is in love with him!! and this changes things too because while initially all her actions were to push the plot to move forward the way she originally wrote it so that she can head back, now she’s actively trying to push back against the flow of events, as she’s now emotionally invested in this and doesn’t want the male lead to die as per her original script.

the play out of all these was really really entertaining and gripping to watch?? i was legitimately bowled over by how affected i was when all the angst came in, because it really felt like it made sense amidst all the crack and was well set up? and throughout it all, the actions of all the main players in the plot made sense and were logical, even the secondary leads chuchu and peiheng. haha idek if i’m ascribing too much credit to this whole plot, maybe it’s really just meant to be a cracky fun time and i’m too into it HAHA.

there’s also the set up of huayuan city being a matriarchal society where basically the roles of women and men are reversed. it is really v trippy!!! and An Experience to see scenes like men being harrassed by women, people tittering at other men for not being covered up enough in public, wares that can increase your chances of birthing a female heir being peddled on the streets. initially i was kind of apprehensive as to how it was going to play out. now at ep 22 where they’ve gone to xuanhu city which is patriarchal the conversation regarding gender roles and gender equality is continuing!! but i shall reserve my thoughts and comments till the entire arc plays out.

but beyond all that, the drama is just so much fun fun funnnnn!!!! i loveddddd seeing how this drama about a scriptwriter getting stuck in her own script had scenes interspersed with storytellers on the street retelling qianqian’s exploits and qianqian’s regular meetups with the storytellers/opera writers to discuss how the plot of the drama was going or even the scene where hanshuo and peiheng went to the opera house for their male lead showdown and the opera characters were there saying all the rude things they wanted to say to each other. such fun meta?? breaking the fourth wall?? satire?? idek LOL i just know i enjoyed it thoroughly

and lastly, apart from all the thinky thinky stuff, i’m thoroughly charmed by the otp HAHA. i loveeeee qianqian so much and zhao lusi is soo effortlessly adorable and natural and charming in this role that i can totally see why everyone from han shuo to her mother is enamoured by her. i actually am really curious also to see how qianqian before xiaoqian transmigrated into her body was like - seeing how her servant didn’t seem to have any whiplash from an extreme change in personality suggest that maybe qianqian wasn’t all that different from xiaoqian?? and probably might not have been that spoilt/callous/havoc-wreaking as everyone perceives her to be?

and han shuo too is SO entertaining and funny and darling - when he first came to huayuan city he’s all “i’m cunning and smart and i’m going to MANIPULATE EVERYBODY for my/xuan hu city’s benefit” and “i want chen qianqian to die with ten thousand arrows through her heart!! i want her to be stabbed by knives three thousand times!! not a single time less!!!” and “do you think i don’t dare to kill you?!”. then he falls in love with her and instantly he’s all puppy eyes and utter devotion. IT’S DELICIOUS. ding yuxi really makes staring at your FL like she’s the only one in the world an art form. and as one comment on a bilibili mv said regarding han shuo’s supposed bloodlust, “han shuo, up to this point you’ve only killed one horse” HAHA

(keep in mind that it’s not even that han shuo ordered the killing of this horse, it was his subordinate that killed it on his behalf, and han shuo was Not Happy about it after that!)

together the otp are even more adorable!!! it’s teeth rotting fluff but yet it comes off very earnest and adorable without being cloying. i was literally clutching my heart and grinning at the screen dopily at some scenes. and even though the otp dynamic and character setups are not really the same, the way the two of them bicker and act like children around each other kind of remind me of yongqi and xiaoyanzi from hzgg for some reason lol.

and apart from the otp, there are a whole host of supporting characters that are really very funny and adorable and entertaining to watch haha. special shoutout to both han shuo and qianqian’s subordinates who are HILARIOUS and plain Done with their masters’ nonsense (especially bai ji who really just wants to get shit done okay!! but his master just keeps on wanting to fall in love and date!!) there’s also qianqian’s older sister yuanyuan who is disabled and on a wheelchair, and with a sad yet somehow hilarious penchant for writing multiple drafts of her will. and her otp, su mu, a courtesan (yes the courtesans in this city are all male).

honestly i’m not sure where i’m going with this, i just briefly scanned through what i’ve written so far and lol seems like paragraphs of illogical incoherent rambling. I’m sorry it’s 5am over here i’m not really thinking straight T_T i just have a lot of feels for this drama okay ;_____;

#the romance of tiger and rose #传闻中的陈芊芊 #cdramanet #zhao lusi #ding yuxi #赵露思 #丁禹兮 #mine #drama watching #count the number of times i said the word funny... where has all my vocabulary gone lol

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melchron · 4 years

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Nightmare Time Episode 1 Thoughts

Ok. It took me about an hour but I think I can develop some thoughts on Nightmare Time. I'm just gonna type as I think so events will be all out of order.

My mom decided to watch it with me last minute so that was nice. She doesn't remember much from the Hatchetfield shows but she enjoyed this anyways.

The Knok Twist made me mad and happy at the same time. I have adopted all of Joey's soft boy characters and now I have to send my new son back for being a defective creep. But also Ted is hilarious, I kind of missed him (just a little though), and it was a nice twist.

Was Konk fully naked the whole time? Was he at least wearing pants or shorts or something?

Every entrance Robert made as Hidgens killed me. When he kicked down the door but had to scoot into frame with his leg still up, I died.

His dramatic Hidgens reveal made me squeal. I knew he was coming but I love how his reveal was dramatic anyway. It was like he went "Oh they want Hidgens? Time to Hidgens harder than ever."

Angela was so good as Lucy. I love how she is nothing like Lex. I love seeing more if her acting range. She is so talented.

I think I might like Ted now. Like before he was fine. I know people were obsessed with him but I was one of those jerks being like "They only like him because of SSN and their weird CharTed ship. He was funny in SSN but he's not that great. He's just fine. (I never said any of this to anyone. People can like what they like no matter my opinion. I kept my negative thoughts to myself.) I don't know what happened here but I think I like him. Still not obsessed but he's pretty cool. Maybe I'm still trying to have Konk idk.

I knew Hidgens was insane before but know he's absolutely unhinged. Before he was crazy like "A musical world is my dream and I want it. You think I'm crazy? Well it would also bring world peace so there I justified it. My actions are actually helping and not at all selfish." And now it's like "I will murder to make my musical. No justification here. I am absolutely selfish and I don't care."

How, when, and why did Ted decide to join Hidgens on his crazy plan?

I wonder how CharTed shippers feel about Lucy.

Bill is back and I'm loosing it!!

When did Alice get so moody? I know we didn't see much of her in TGWDLM but she seemed chill. I know denying doing drugs while underaged isn't the goodest possible thing but she seemed like she was a rule follower. I'm not mad at this Alice and I don't think it's bad, it's just different than what I imagined.

Bill is trying his best and I love him.

James's Blinky voice is cool and I love it.

James's bowtie was effected by the green screen background and that was funny to me.

I can't wait to meet Ziggy.

TED HAS A LITTLE BROTHER?! AND HE'S NERDY?! I WANT TO LEARN ABOUT THEY'RE DYNAMIC SO BAD!! NAME? LASTNAMES? MORE PLEASE!!

Bill saying he loves Alice but doesn't like her hit different. I had a friend whose mom said that to her as jokes and now I do the same to my brother. It was weird hearing someone be serious and then the person they said it to got actually hurt.

Is Snigglette ok? Do they sniggles have their own minds? I always thought they had a hivemind too. Why is there a Papa Sniggle? Did he birth them (Male sniggles can probably give birth we don't know) does every god in Drowsy Town have their own brand of sniggles? Where did the original sniggle come from? Is Papa the original? Who birthed him? Do the sniggles decided which god they want to follow. Do they have to follow whoever their Papa follows? Is Papa just a Smurfs reference and I'm overthinking his importance to sniggle lore? I have so many questions.

Do Wiggly and Blinky coexist or is this a different universe?

Can I get a date for whe this takes place? Like a month drop would be good.

Deb being an artist and Alice being a playwright made me extremely happy. Just two creative girls loving each other. Can we get a script drop? I will pay money?

Can we get a Blinky doll drop? I will pay money.

Matt did such an amazing job scoring the whole thing. Everything he played set the perfect mood.

Jeff is one of the most talented people I know of. All of the songs were so good. OMG that intro gave me chills in the trailer and everyone singing was so beautiful I love it.

I am obsessed with the Blinky song. James, Curt, and Jeff is now one of my new favorite harmonies I love their voices together.

Was the Becky Barnes tree thing a reference to their little Irish girl Becky who didn't come down for supper? If so, how does Hidgens now about Becky's childhood? How does Hidgens know Becky? Is she actually Irish?

How did Ted know about Lucy falling?

Why was this so spooky? I love horror movies and this actually had horror movie vibes. TGWDLM and Black Friday had its moments and they were spooky but I never got chills from them. I got chills from this.

What was Jon's character? Was he a sniggles or just some guy that was under Blinky's control? Either way he was creepy. He was just so eerily normal.

I wonder if in universe they were actually swearing in the Blinky song. Imagine parents just being like "I don't know what this is but I think it's supposed to be for kids. Oh well, their enjoying it so idc."

Surprise Jaime appearance was appreciated.

Everyone is absolute royalty but Corey and James are the kings.

Bill got a happy ending. It's what he deserved. Wait.....WE GOT A HAPPY HATCHETFIELD ENDING!!!!!

I think those are all of my thoughts. I absolutely love this and am most definitely buying tickets for 2 and 3.

#nightmare time #starkid #hatchetfield #the hatchetfield ape-man #watcher world #mel thinks thoughts

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keepyourpantsongohan · 4 years

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Ayesha Liveblogs Cardcaptor Sakura S1

For faithfulness reasons, I’ll forgo rewatching in English even though I’m Jared 19 and never learned how to read

I will say the original English dub had a BANGER of a theme song and I do miss that

"I’m a Fourth Grader at Tomoeda Elementary” I know I watched this like when I was age 7 or smth but SHE’S LIKE 10?? OH MY GOD who is letting this ten-year-old roam the streets

“I’m gonna stomp on him” [Lucille Bluth voice] good for her

I fully forgot Sakura had a dad I was ready to accept her Grade 11 brother raising her

Sakura’s roller blades give me visceral memories of my barbie skates

Lmao is Yuki’s ability to throw a piece of candy at a child from a moving bicycle backwards foreshadowing his superhero abilities

Okay having checked this scene in both English versions and Japanese, my opinion no one asked for: the Aminax version is bad voices on all counts, Japanese has a better voice for Toya and original English dub has a better voice for Sakura and Yukito (who they called Julian lmao) I am not accepting constructive criticism

Tomoyo and Sakura sound so similar I could not even tell that Tomoyo was speaking omg

“There isn’t anything cuter or more interesting than you Sakura-chan” Tomoyo is really honest with her feelings I guess ten-year-olds be like that sometimes

“Is someone there” home invasions are what happens when you don’t lock your front door

This is not a study lmao this is a personal library there is hardly a workspace just aisles of shelves

Oh shit The Clow WIND RAIN SHADOW WOOD SWORD POWER THUNDER SLEEP CARD CAPTORS OF THE CLOW EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED NOW

Wait if this is hanging out in her dad’s study was her dad the last Cardcaptor lmao

Or probs her mom, since she’s gone the way of all anime moms

Sakura is accepting this whole “tiny magical flying lion” thing p well

“I accidentally fell asleep” “For how long” “30 years” same

“Stand right over there” Kerberos does not ask permission before magical girl transforming you lmao

“Why are you acting so wimpy” bc she’s 10 and you’re asking her to fight a giant ghost bird???

Honestly I love a good quest-to-collect-important-items maybe Inuyasha and DBZ ruined my taste but it’s a great formula

“You’ll be a better adult if you have all sorts of experiences in your life” r u going to take career counselling advice from a tiny flying lion Sakura

I do kind of miss Kero’s slightly unhinged young man energy

I like that whenever Sakura’s brother is rude she steps on his foot or kicks him fkjhjgkh excellent little sister depiction

I was expecting more secrecy but it is very funny to see Tomoyo try to convince her friend to be a superhero

“Do a flashy one” kfhkjdhkj Kero supports the use of magic powers for showing off

“Trademark poses and skills are the basic parts of being a magical girl” oh my gooood

I mean if I walked into my school and there was a mountain of haphazard desks waiting there I too would be threatened

Sakura is the only one in this group who has a reasonable understanding of what ten-year-olds should be allowed to do

LMAO @ Tomoyo’s team of bodyguards dropping her off to break into the school ONLY TO DRIVE AWAY

Tomoyo and Kero’s friendship is killing me the SHENANIGANS

I’m not sure I accept this light logic bc you need light to cast a shadow

Sakura’s “heart-racing first date” ur TEN oh my god

I mean it’s nice that Sakura wants to save the penguin but why did it take that for her to get upset it was going to drown a whole adult woman

Did Toya just RIP APART a WHIRLPOOL with his BARE HANDS

I wonder how Toya feels that his little sister has a crush on his boyfriend lmao

This cell phone is really top of the line for 1999 lmao I love it

U know if I were a high school student and my friend asked my 10 year old sibling out to lunch instead of me I’d be confused

"They’re not even gonna hold hands? Kids these days” This is a VERY weird vibe for an episode

You know I guess if you never watch the second episode you never have context for all of these superhero outfits LMAO

None of these locations have security cameras I guess the 1990s was a lawless time

Will all of Yuki’s magical advice be delivered in the form of mysterious field trips

LMAO @ YUKITO ALWAYS TAKING SAKURA TO TOYA’S TEMP JOBS

Say what you will about the ominous influence of the other card, I think Wood is being fairly polite since it’s contorting around her house instead of destroying it lmao

“I was planning to film ‘Sakura Dances in the Jungle’ in the park today” I love Tomoyo

Every little girl in this show sounds so similar lmao this is not good for my distracted watching style

Wow Ms Maki is really unloading on these two fourth grade girls

Since Tomoyo clearly interacts with even the more spirit-like Clow Cards I really have to wonder why no one else in this town is seeing these giant ghost monsters loom around the city

Well I guess this episode is a direct response to my previous comment

“I can’t stand scary stories” says the girl who spends her nights going into isolated areas and fighting magical ghosts

Seeing Sakura activate her Fly card really gives me overwhelming nostalgia for the days I wanted nothing more than to be a Cardcaptor I used to wave around a toy broom like that magic key ahhhhhhhh

In the absence of the first English voice and with the added gentle Japanese intonation for his speaking, I am constantly forgetting that Yukito’s character is a 16-year-old boy

Toya is really casually bomb-dropping the fact that he used to see ghosts and Yuki’s just like ‘dope are there ghosts around now’

Omg Kero’s sad face as he dropped the flower in Sakura’s lap 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

“I want to see if she wants to tell me something” like maybe ‘don’t run around town at night chasing ghosts ur 10!!!’

UHHHH AGAIN TOYA REAL CASUAL ABOUT THE GHOST THING

Yukito Tsukishiro: Chronic Aid-er and Abet-er of Pre-teen Mischief

Also if I’m right his name means something like “Ice White Moon?” Very heavy-handed foreshadowing lmao

“After we left, I went to the museum again and borrowed one” TOMOYO U CASED THE JOINT KJDHFKJHF

WHY IS EVERY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KID IN THIS TOWN ABLE TO BREAK INTO THIS MUSEUM SO EASILY

Tomoyo is eerily well-prepared for this mission it’s like she has been planning to burgle a museum all her life

They really made an executive choice to have both a Yuuki and a Yuki that was a decision that someone made

Oh hey it’s the other pre-teen supehero!!! That guy!!

The more I think about it, the stranger the height difference between Sakura and her brother becomes bc compared to him she’s really like 2.5 feet tall they did not pick a proportion scale

U see this what I mean by gentle intonation, Syaoran somehow sounds older than Yuki simple by roughness of voice

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH TOYA U DEFEND UR SISTER

“Here, a steamed pork bun” Yuki sure nows how to de-escalate lmao

“That is made out of an insulator as well” Tomoyo is really prepared for any and every situation

It’s not fair of Li to compare what is probably years of magical training from his family to ‘trial by fire for eight weeks with a plush toy who doesn’t explain anything important until critical moments’

I’m really not sure what’s happening with Rika and the teacher but I DON’T LIKE IT

“I just want to be with you as long as possible” [cut to floral pattern] Tomoyo is aiming to supersede Yuki as Gentle Shojo Protagonist Sakura Fixates On looool

I’m sure there’s NOTHING significant about this familiar-looking sword brooch

Kero biting Li whenever whenever he says something rude to Sakura kghkjghk direct feminist action

What IS THIS business with Li running away flustered like that are pre-teen Cardcaptors ONLY allowed to have a crush on Yukito

“I guess I’ll have to beat him up once” Toya has zero qualms about fighting a ten-year-old

Two fourth graders giving Yukito chocolate while he peacefully hangs out with his boyfriend is the funniest version of executing this weirdness that could happen

What I’m really wondering is how the hell they cut out or explained away Li’s crush in the first English anime

“You were just a fledgling teacher and you married one of your [high school] students!!” u did WHAT what the FUCK MR. KINOMOTO I’m on Sonomi’s side

“Mother got married when she was 16″ MR. KINOMOTO CANCELLED! BANNED! THE HELL IS THIS!

“It was I who was granted time with Nadeshiko from her 16th to 27th birthdays” GO 2 JAIL DO NOT PASS GO

This episode has added a lot of layers to this show none of which I like

“What kind of person was my dad” someone who should be banned from teaching

“Your father is a disgusting person” WELL

SONOMI I KNOW UR TRYING TO BE NICE BUT HE HAS AT LEAST ONE MAJOR FLAW

Lmao they’re not even giving context why Yuki is around anymore he’s just an accepted artifact of the Kinomoto household

How is that the Time card is Li’s but not Thunder since he also returned that one to its original form

“Their fastest confirmed speed is over 100km/h” Yamazaki leave Li alone he just wants to adore the sloths jhfkhgjhgkhg

Ahhhhhh Li helping Sakura get the Power card?? These motives are quite hard to read but it seems sweet

OMGGG @ TOMOYO MAKING SAKURA DEADLIFT A PLAYGROUND

“I heard a rumour that everyone who asked Kinomoto out has been denied.” Well. [x]

“It’s one of the seven strangest things at this school, that both Kinomoto and Tsukishiro don’t have girlfriends.” WELL. [x]

AWWWWW YUKI DOESN’T LEAVE THE OTHER PRE-TEEN FAN CLUB MEMBERS OUT OF HIS KIND GESTURES

[Hannibal Buress voice] I was so caught up in euphoria of festival arcs, that for like a minute I lived in a world where the rest of this anime didn’t exist

TOYA BEING THE STAR OF DRAG CINDERELLA... OP UR MIND

I have no idea what the premise of the next Clow Card is but I really hope it’s “turn u into whatever ur acting as” bc I will LOSE my mind

I have not heard Yuki once intone as passionately as he did when he thought Toya was going to fall

“You like someone else” 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

“I didn’t promise anyone else a dance” Can I just say I LOVE TOYA?

The moment of stillness before Yukito revealed who he was asking to dance lmao... the repressed teenage wlw inside me LIVES

Yuki and Toya tag-teaming as the Sakura Support Team my heart!!

Geolocating someone from a fax... the incredible 90sness of this act....

I seriously don’t understand this world in which you leave 5- and 10-year-olds unattended for hours where are your child welfare laws

I am really choosing to ignore how absolutely bananas the concept of Tomoyo having a hidden Sakura Movie Theatre is

Speaking of weird, are we just trusting that this old man is normal? Is everyone doing that? I’m still not ready to trust yet the Sakura’s dad situation really burned me

“Girls look their best when they smile” a sweet thought that would not fly if an old man I just met told me that lmao

I’m REALLY not trusting this old man dressing up this girl in his dead (missing?) granddaughter’s clothes and staring broodily when she mentions there is a parent with her

“My great-granddaughter seemed happy” YOUR WHAT NOW

Their school trips seem much more fun than ours were we never went to the beach or fishing or got disappeared briefly in a cave

It continues to be funny how Sakura and Li have 0% tension re: Clow Cards, 99% tension re: Yukito who is already in a committed Something or the Other with Sakura’s brother

“Why were you on the roof” “Because it’s nice out today” LOL YUKITO

There’s no rhyme or reason to these card types huh some are like “I will destroy an entire zoo for fun” and other ones are like “mood lighting :)”

Sakura really isn’t out here to teach us any lessons lol it’s really a ‘get others to do your homework if you can get away with it’ episode

Rounding out the triad of superpowered pre-teens with Meilin I suppose

“Syaoran is my fiance” I have had it up to HERE with this anime cousinfuckery I don’t CARE if it’s cool in Japan or Hong Kong or whatever STOP BEING WEIRD WITH YOUR COUSINS

Poor Syaoran he was doing so well with getting along with Sakura until Meilin got here

"It was done by a girl again?” Oh my god is Meilin beating up grown men in parks for street cred

“It seems our relationship chart has gotten rather complicated” Tomoyo probably means astrology chart but here’s my understanding so far:

Speaking of complex relationships I wonder how Meilin will react to Syaoran’s crush on Yuki

This rivalry between Sakura and Meilin could not be more one-sided

I really was wondering for a second if the card was going to split in half

I love the vibe of Sakura and Toya teaming up to help their creepy dad but even MORE SO I love that Yukito is In This Household

“The contents are already up here” This episode really doesn’t hit the same way now that cloud storage exists and also what were all those floppy disks for if not to save your work Mr. Kinomoto

I love that Tomoyo always pulls her weight in her superhero sidekick role like she is here to support and help whenever needed

Sakura using her powers to impress her crush with a ghost duet lmao these priorities

“Sakura’s Little Adventure” I see what u did there

Kero’s little shoulder pat with his paw to let Sakura know he’s there aw

Omg this Clow Card is so cute “Is it your fault I’m so small now?” [nods pleasantly]

It is very bold of Sakura to be doing magic so casually when her brother and Yuki are right downstairs

I like that this show recognizes the inherent intimacy of allowing someone to cut your hair

“Information about you has gotten around to the cards” well this is an ominous start to this funky tarot reading

Well the experience of seeing his little sister try to murder him has got to be traumatizing for Toya I hope he doesn’t remember this

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM DID TOYA JUST FALL OFF OF A CLIFF

“Can you give me a break... and stop looking like Sakura” EXCUSE ME

“My mom’s up there too, so say hi to her for me” OH MY GOOOOD TOYA REALLY DOES SEE GHOSTS AHHHHHHHHHHH

WAIT SO IT WAS A CLOW CARD DOES TOYA HAVE MAGICAL POWERS TOO

Omg @ Toya feeding Yuki from his bed this really is an intimate episode

I kind of appreciate the slow build of this show like it took them 25 episodes to introduce meaningful stakes

“But it might be tougher than the earth going ‘boom!’ Depending on who you are...” Well hello threatening figure in sunglasses standing outside Sakura’s house what’s up

“I’ll look the other way” Ms Mizuki is literally this meme:

I can only assume that if Toya knows Ms. Mizuki then she must be a ghost

Personally if Mizuki gives Syaoran the heebie jeebies I trust his instincts

“Um... do you like Yukito too?” Oh my goooood they’re sincerely discussing being Not Straight in middle school in this 90s anime that I watched when I was 7 I cannot believe

“And it’s been a year since you told me you loved me here” WHY DOES EVERYONE IN THIS FAMILY WANT TO DATE SOMEONE TOO OLD FOR THEM WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING DATING SOMEONE TOYA’S AGE MIZUKI

Also I have to rethink every thought I had about Toya being gay. I mean bi is great too but my thoughts..... racing...........

“Because the next time I see you, you’ll have someone else that you’ll be in love with” Yukito BF confirmed but oh my GOD this relationship chart IS complicated good lord

If there’s anything the episode “Sakura and Her Shrine of Memories” has taught me it’s that everyone in this show is bisexual and all teachers in their neighbourhood should be in jail

I understand that Meilin is a kid but poor Syaoran he is constantly being harassed

I love Yuki’s bottomless stomach lmao

Syaoran and Sakura have such a genuinely supportive relationship but it is very funny how they try simultaneously to get Yuki’s attention with the exact same words

“I’ve been thinking for a while that Mr. Terada is a lot like my dad” oh thank you Rika for someone finally being normal in this show

“Well it’s a harmless one” You see this is what I mean the dichotomy of Clow Cards is like... “I’m going trap you in a maze until you perish” or “I’m gonna give you a sugar rush :]”

I like that Sakura and Syaoran are starting to partner up as a duo on purpose like yessss I love a 1-2 finish and friendship development

Ahhh poor Syaoran he’s realizing that Yukito’s #1 in his life is the Kinomoto fam

We’re all familiar with the eternal struggle of whether using ur superpowers for school sports is cheating

AWWW SYAORAN USING HIS POWERS FOR MAGICAL PEP TALKS AFTER HE HELPED TURN REI’S PET FOX INTO A POKEMON CARD THAT’S MY BOOOOY

“I will stomp on him” it’s been 31 episodes let Sakura stomp on her brother

Oh my GOOOD does this Big card mean that Sakura WILL FINALLY STOMP ON TOYA LMAO

Ur telling me that no one else in this ENTIRE TOWN notices this altercation of a giant preteen vs a dragon

Why does the logic for how voices travel based on size apply for the Little card (when Toya was speaking) and not for the Big card (when Sakura is speaking)

Sgskdhgkhkgjh honestly body switching as a trope will never not be funny

Syaoran blushing and running away from Sakura oh how the turn tables

Every domestic scene that Yuki and Toya have adds ten years to my life we love some gay/bi teens about to be gay/bi adults

Ffskhhfkj I absolutely cannot relate to this Southern Hemisphere nonsense of finding ten degrees celsius arctic cold like BRO that is a normal spring day here

“We’re not frozen because we have magical powers” I know that cutaway was to confirm Mizuki’s magical powers again but this would’ve been a hilarious time to reveal that like Yamazaki the Compulsively Lying Classmate had powers

Awwww he likes her now that’s cute

“I got work that day” I will bet someone ten dollars that Toya is working at that quiz rally

Update from 5 minutes later: PAYPAL ME $10

Kero keeps whispering to the moon when in fact some iteration of the moon is right around the corner (literally)

GOOOOOOOOD SYAORAN REALIZING HE HAS A CRUSH ON BOTH HALVES OF THAT TEAM KILLS ME SWEET BOY

Shared Gaze of People Who Have Dated* Toya and Have Magical Powers They Haven’t Revealed Yet

*Go to jail Mizuki

I am really going crazy wondering when they’re gonna reveal stuff about Yukito like bitchhhhhhh I know you’re a moon man when will u tellll usss

How many more times will Sakura have this same threatening dream before she realizes her math teacher is probably going to try to kill her

Update from one minute later: I guess it was exactly one more time

“That’s right, Yukito’s birthday is on Christmas day” is this coming to be a coming of age where he like suddenly sprouts wings at age 17

I’ve been thinking this for a while but this show makes it seem like Japan has a much more fun approach to athletics than my school experiences

Yukito really is unflappable about hanging out with a bunch of kids half his height huh he’s like the Fourth Grader Whisperer

I KNEW IT YUKITO NEVER GOES WITH SAKURA ANYWHERE UNLESS HER BROTHER WILL ALSO BE WORKING THERE DFHKDFHKJ every time it’s just “Hey Toya :)”

“This kid...” HAHAH TOYA HAS JUST REALIZED THAT SYAORAN HAS A CRUSH ON HIS LITTLE SISTER AND HIS BOYFRIEND THE UTTER SUSPICION IN HIS TONE

“Wind become a binding chain” Whoops Sakura foiled by 4th grade knowledge of the elements

Oh shiiiit love a world-building moment now we have two card combos in play ayyyyy

Lmao @ Kero using his returned powers immediately for fireworks mood lighting is a serious Clow Card priority

“I would like to come again this year” everything in this show feels like foreshadowing for dramatic irony

#ayesha talks anime #liveblogging #ayesha liveblog ccs #long post

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ladyloveandjustice · 5 years

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Thoughts on Utena: Blooming Rose of Deepest Black (THE MUSICAL)

Saw the Utena black rose musical and it was great! did a ton of cool things and additions to the arc. Gonna list my favorites.

-They did this really cool thing where when the Black Rose duelists were on stage the person they took the sword from was on stage too and Utena would be fighting both of them (and sometimes they would cross swords with each other too). You’d have both duelists saying things and going into their issues at the same time, so you could see how they mirrored each other. This REALLY paid off at the end when Utena was fighting Mikage, Dios showed up and Mikage was able to see him and was fighting both of them. The theme of duality and parallels between people was just emphasized super well.

-It is WAY more obvious in the musical Shiori has feelings back for Juri (but is expressing them in a truly fucked up way because she thinks she can’t keep Juri’s attention unless she has power over her) than it was in the show. While she and Juri are fighting Utena near the end, they both just kind of have a breakdown and Shiori lets her vulnerability actually show, they pull close to each other and straight up kiss (!!) then they both break away frantically with Juri saying “I don’t believe in miracles” and Shiori saying “I believe in miracles”, honestly I’d have to watch the whole thing again to give a full breakdown, but it was really interesting.

-Shiori’s actress was SO GOOD, she could alternate between sickeningly sweet and truly unhinged, you could just always FEEL she was a second from losing it. Akio did really well at giving me the creeps in every single scene as well.

-Like in the last musical, Saionji’s dorkiness is amped up in a way that makes him pretty fun to watch despite still being hot garbage, my favorite bit was when Utena knocks on the door while he’s living with Wakaba, he just STRAIGHT UP IS TOO INEPT TO FIGURE OUT WHERE TO HIDE in his panic, and poor Wakaba has to frustratedly shove him into a hiding place. Also, he later pretends to be a statue when Juri sees him. Also at one point Miki and Juri just straight up shove him out of the way, such is their disdain, it’s great.

-during said incident where Utena comes to visit Wakaba, Wakaba not only does the “I’M PRAYING! I’M VERY RELIGIOUS!” thing but also pretends she was “practicing transforming like a superhero” and yells “HENSHIN!” Utena offers her Anthy’s casserole which she says “tastes like the inside of a kendo mask” wow how could she NOT want it when you sell it like that Utena.

- the musical also gets more into the fallout of Wakaba’s duel! At the end of it, Utena cradles Wakaba in her arms, sobbing and shouting “WHO WOULD DO THIS? UNFORGIVEABLE!” Afterward, she’s worried Wakaba isn’t coming to school and isn’t answering her when she knocks on her dorm door, and says “I’m sure like the others she doesn’t remember the duel, I wonder if it has something to do with Saionji coming back.” (WOW BABY MADE AN OBVIOUS CONNECTION! I’M SO PROUD OF HER! no i really am)

but then Wakaba comes to visit with her own (better than Anthy’s of course) casserole all cheerful and Utena’s like “oh i didn’t have to worry!” (oh honey why must you always accept everything at face value) and they sing this WHOLE CHEESY SONG about the power of friendship while Anthy just sits there with her empty glassy eyed smile CLEARLY DYING INSIDE but near the end Utena nudges her into participating and she seems to kinda start to enjoy it, because she keeps singing it even while going to sit beside Akio on the couch and he looks SO ANNOYED.

-THEY INCLUDE THE NANAMI COW PLOT BECAUSE HOW COULD THEY NOT. There’s a part where Utena asks Miki why he won’t just tell her and he’s like “well she’s so confident now!” and it’s a genuinely funny asshole moment from him, LIKE LACK OF OUTWARD CONFIDENCE WAS EVER NANAMI’S PROBLEM.

I guess the main nitpick I have about the musical(s) is Nanami’s role IS pretty much completely reduced to comic relief, and the cow thing is her only real plotline in this- I was kinda hoping they’d fold her first duel into the Black Rose arc since it’d be pretty easy to, just have her be Touga’s duelist, but alas (I can see why they didn’t, it’d be a time crunch). Her arc was one of my favorites in the anime, so its a shame. Like yeah, a large part of her screentime were the comic relief episodes, but even those often gave us a look at the underlying insecurities that drove her. Even the cow episode has that sequence where she dreamed that now that she was fully a cow, her brother was sending her to the slaughterhouse. It showed that she was (rightly) terrified her brother would discard her at the slightest provocation, and was well aware of how he was. But even that part wasn’t in the musical.

There WAS a great moment however, when she ascended as student council president and Miki’s like “uhhhh are you a duelist? since when” and she was like “yeah I dueled Utena Tenjou last time” and looked at the audience and is like “JUST BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T SEE IT DOESN’T MEAN IT DIDN’T HAPPEN” so that at least confirms her arc still takes place in the canon of the musical it’s all just offscreen lol. I love that Nanami has the ability to break the fourth wall, she also thanks the stagehand at one point. There’s also an ongoing arc between her and Wakaba of all people, she kind of bullied her in the first musical, but in this one she got jealous of Wakaba during the moment she was “special” and tried competing with her as she sang. Then Wakaba successfully berated her into CARRYING A SETPIECE OFFSTAGE so they could change scenes.

- Anthy remains fantastic, she still has that super-lowkey creepy laugh that she did when Utena asked if the projector was her brother. You could also just REALLY see how uncertain and guilty she was about the whole Mamiya thing, and at the end there’s this part where while Akio is talking to her about her role in all of it, Utena’s running around looking for her, and then Anthy finally runs to her, and Utena says “I’ve got you” while standing behind her and kinda cradling her in that possessive/princely pose and Anthy just has this thousand yard terrified stare that’s full of guilt and conflict and a million other things and it cuts to black and it’s SO UNSETTLING, I got chills.

Anyway yeah, it’s a FANTASTIC show uttely fully of love for the story and good understanding of its themes, and I can’t wait to watch it again, there’s a million little things I missed or can’t remember enough to post about here, so maybe next time I see it I’ll try writing down some more stuff right after.

#revolutionary girl utena #black rose musical #anthy himemiya #utena tenjou #wakaba shinohara #nanami kiryuu #kyouichi saionji #shiori takatsuki #juri arisugawa #miki kaoru #musicals

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troutfishinginmusic · 4 years

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An album guide to Fuck

Fuck started with a limitation. If you can get past the giggly name, there’s a lot to take in. Off-kilter and slightly unsettling, Fuck is a band that falls between transgressive and heartwarming. In its brief moment of prominence in the Matador stable, the band was seen by critics as a quirky cousin to Pavement. This is selling the band short. A trip through the band’s discography shows one of the American underground’s most unheralded acts. As I go through all of Fuck’s albums I feel like I’m missing out on some kind of big in-joke. But, since there’s so little about the band out there, I wanted to try sum up its discography anyway. All these albums are pretty hard to find, luckily they’re all on Spotify.

Pretty…Slow (1996)

It’s amazing how fully formed Fuck sounds on its debut. The production is a bit shabby, but most of the songs still hold the same vaguely creepy aurora. Opener “Wrongy Wrong” doesn’t say much explicitly, but creates an atmosphere of unease that’s unique to the band. While the louder songs are performed competently, the slower songs (like “I Am Your King,” “From Heaven” and closer “Shotgun (H) Ours”) are where Fuck really shines. As the band went on, the noisier moments would be reined in a bit. Depending on your preference, this might be a downside. Pretty…Slow is a strong debut from a band that knew exactly what it wanted to be from the start.

Baby Loves a Funny Bunny (1996)

Listening to this makes you realize what Matador saw in the band. Things sound a bit more focused, while retaining the same strangeness of the previous album. “Love Me 2” and “Tired” are great examples noisy lo-fi guitar rock. The midsection of the album shows the band improving on affecting folk/country songs about misfits even further. “Part of Me” might be one of Fuck’s best songs, showcasing its talent for heart-breaking slow-burners. The back half of the album is more mixed. “Rococo” is a relatively straightforward rock song (in sound at least), while “Like You” sounds like a Nirvana outtake. “Loosened Mind” is a quirky song that employs a lot of atypical instruments (triangles?) to create something more detailed and psychedelic than usual. “Crush a Butterfly,” another great slow song, is followed by “Whimper and Cry.” What might set off red flags at first blush is actually, as far as I can tell, a song about S&M in a surprisingly sincere way. Other aspects of the album have aged worse (example: The usage of the word “retard” on one song). Baby Loves a Funny Bunny is strange album, but it ultimately made good on the promise of the band’s debut.

Pardon My French (1997)

Mass appeal? Filled with off-center bummer country, Pardon My French stands as a record that could’ve brought the band a larger audience. Strung together like overhearing a bunch of strange inside jokes that you want to understand. The songs are short and work best when taken as part of a whole. Some (like “Bestest Friend,” “Tether” and “For Lori”) could’ve found their way to alternative radio. Aspects of Pardon My French are just as affecting as more “ponderous” contemporaries like Smog and Cat Power. A great marijuana record (I hate to reducing any record to that), shifting from jokey to melancholy. French stands as a great “indie” album from the 90s. Yet it’s still a bit too scattered to be considered the band’s best work. There’s something preserved here, and throughout the Fuck’s discography, that was lost when the genre became more popular.

Conduct (1998)

There’s a certain darkness to this one. Some of the lighthearted nature of French is lost, which is surprising for a band called Fuck. Louder and a bit more unhinged, Conduct tries for something new and expands the band’s pallet a bit. It’s a fractured, drunken masterpiece that sounds more confident than French. There’s a loveliness to direct songs like “Drinking Artist,” “Laundry Shop,” “Never Comin’ Back,” “Get Over Him” and closer “Blind Beauty.” Even goofs like “Monkey Doll” and “Twist Off” are still pretty convincing. Melancholy folk/country is still where the band shines the best, though. Conduct is more like a collection of songs than a collection of interesting sketches. It’s possibly the band’s finest moment.

Cupid’s Cactus (2001)

This one loses some of the immediacy and memorability of Conduct. The opener “Glass Charms” dispels any potential sincerity with a faux-country accent part. Yet, after that point, the music of Cupid’s Cactus is even darker and slower moving than Conduct. A better point of comparison would be a more joke-y Low rather than Pavement. “Someday Aisle” is a gorgeous meditation that feels like a good companion to closing time at a bar. While Fuck was never bad at louder songs, the decision to focus on the slowcore side of its sound was a good idea. That said, the louder songs like “Awright” and “Never Alone” are still highlights and break things up a bit.

“Panties off” is a horribly depressing song about prostitution for drugs (I think), but gets across something the band has alluded to in more subtle ways on previous albums. The intention seems to be that sadness exists but there’s unintentional humor that’s impossible avoid even in the worst times. Some could read into this as mean-spirited or trivializing, but there’s something deeper and more complicated at work in these songs. This is something Fuck conveys better than say Ween.

Those Aren’t My Bongos (2003)

This might be the quintessential Fuck album. It gets its point across more clearly than the previous albums and sounds downright pretty. Those Aren’t My Bongos opens immediately questioning the audience’s uptight opinions on sex: “Does the penis offend you? Do the female charms alarm?” This might be the right disclaimer for every Fuck album. It seems like the band’s overarching goal is to create a sense of empathy and discuss the awkward parts of sex more openly. This is all done with a goofy lightheartedness to help balance the darker passages. The romantic acoustic strum of “Her Plastic Acupuncture Foot” was my introduction to the band. I’d argue it’s one of its best songs. How many bands can successfully weave a cartoon blowjob reference into something so romantic? Throughout the album some slight electronics are used as accents, working to vary the band’s sound a bit. Taking out individual moments on this one doesn’t really make sense; it definitely works better together. One that’s impossible not to mention, though, is the gorgeous “How to Say.” The song might be one of Fuck’s strangest considering how direct and sincere it is. TAMB is a patchwork of strange jokes and melancholy swirling together to make a truly unique statement. It rivals Conduct as the band’s best album.

The Band (2018)

It seemed like Fuck all but disappeared after Those Aren’t My Bongos. I was beyond shocked to see they were back together and had a new album out. This one sticks closer to albums like Pardon My French and Conduct, alternating between louder and softer songs. It’s also lighter and more jokey. “Cream Pie Patch” and “Thirsty Gnome” get closer to the balance struck on TAMB, reveling in sex jokes. It’s hard to call a Fuck album fun, but The Band definitely comes close. “Meet the Gibbons” for example is definitely sort of disturbing in its descriptions of mutilation, detracting from the fun vibe of the previous song (“Thirsty Gnome”). “Leave My Body” is a dreamy reverie of a song, leaning on the folk/country the band does so well. The back half of the album abandons the odder moments for the touching, slow-motion ballads Fuck excels at. The Band is a good example of a reunion record: A bit of a progression, a bit of a reminder. There’s something oddly comforting about that even for a band this deeply uncomfortable.

For a playlist of Fuck songs I put together click here.

#Fuck #matador records #1990s #indie rock

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caroloftheshells · 4 years

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recent screen exploits (herein: parasite, good time, mr robot, twin peaks)

parasite: ik i sound like every person ever when i say this but man what an incredible movie. i’m so happy i got to see it in theaters on i think its last day of matinee-price screenings in my area. the pacing was great and so were the visuals/camerawork-- everything makes sense in hindsight and it’s one of those movies that has really stuck with me days after seeing it. starts out as kind of a dark dramedy / heist movie and then hangs a left into the thriller zone. the way bong joon-ho uses physical levels/space/enclosures as well as more subtle visual cues to emphasize the social/class horror elements is really neat and something that i guess this shares with snowpiercer (which i’m using as a ref because that’s the only other one of his movies i’ve seen) but i think this movie feels more nuanced & precise wrt that in part because all the characters across the board feel more real and lived-in. also this gets bonus points for being a movie with a food allergy subplot that isn’t totally ridiculous and actually contributes to the story rather than being a weird deus ex machina-- as previously stated everything makes sense in context and i think that’s cool. anyway tl;dr it’s really compelling & funny & disturbing; favorite movie i’ve watched this year by far (it’s only been 17 days lol but still).

good time: robert pattinson runs around exploiting various people / ruining various lives in pink & green lighting for an hour and a half. this is one of those can’t-look-away train wreck sorts of movies where everything just continually gets worse for our protagonist as various forces close in on him, but also the dude gets less and less likable as things progress. robpat’s acting is great and he fully embodies that increasing level of unhinged scumbag. the score is also really good and successfully anxiety-inducing imo. that said i feel like this is almost a good movie about privilege/racism/the criminal justice system but maybe the writers didn’t quite go there or commit in terms of the framing. like, i guess i’d say i feel similarly abt how this one treats racism as i feel about blade runner 2049 and misogyny(?). it’s definitely there and it’s soaked into the plot but the framing of it is not super precise i guess from my viewing bc we’re constantly stuck with the white guy protagonist. uhh other cw’s for csa / statutory sa involving a teenager; ableism; shaky cam; drug use

mr robot: finally caught up through season 3 on this; no spoilers allowed for s4 because i just figured out how to watch it and haven’t yet. anyway i went back to this show after uhh several years and despite It All because the number of disaster lgbt’s outranks pretty much every other genre show i know of currently airing, and i like rami malek, and also i heard there was a sad and screwy wlw ship that seemed very much up my alley. so lo. anyway i’m still struck by how much i care about all these characters whose fundamental surrounding plot/situation is kinda meh. sam esmail was really like “how bout a show about sad anticapitalists in their 20s, mostly bisexuals & lesbians, having wonky relationships and coming to terms with their trauma” and the result is i guess i’m having fun. i appreciate the commitment to Going There re the abundance & complexity of the aforementioned characters while also giving us a few token cishet white men who are either evil or die. i mean tbf everybody’s probably gonna die at this point but w/e

twin peaks: i’ve only watched the first episode but i am finally jumping on this train and it is enjoyable thus far. as i said earlier i appreciate the sorta record-obsessed ditz representation we seem to be getting with our fbi protagonist dude. i have managed to avoid a significant portion of the lore here despite having been a scifi/specfic nerd my whole life so it’ll be interesting to see how it holds up in 2020

#carol overreacts to movies #carol overreacts to tv #carol overreacts to life #very long post! also formatting is probably bad but w/e

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crystalelemental · 5 years

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FE Fates Replay - Part 5

I was having such a good time. And then...

Chapter 9 starts out with Corrin returning successful from her mission to suppress the Ice Tribe’s rebellion. Even Garon is impressed, and makes some hesitant comments about being proud of her. Honestly, this is the Garon I want. The one that’s slightly unhinged, but generally does care about the well-being of his children. You know. The one with any level of complexity at all. For a moment all is well, until Iago decides to be the way that he is and announces that Corrin didn’t do it alone as commanded. Xander’s response here is kinda funny. “That’s really shitty, Iago, even for your slimy ass.” Or something to that effect. Anyway, Garon’s slightly miffed, but let’s it go because damn, she did a real good job on suppressing the rebellion without taking lives. Again, the Garon with some level of complexity. Instead of just murder man, he commends her specifically for not taking life in the suppression, which would be cool if that mentality of “not taking life in the conflict is a good thing.” Shame about the way this game handles villains.

You’re immediately given another assignment: go to...uh...shit. I can’t remember how to spell the place. Basically, he wants you to go capture a territory. Chapter 9 involves going through a fortress that’s the remains of a dragon, which is held by the Hoshidans. This is a fairly fun chapter. Not too difficult. Mostly Effie and Silas carry the day. You also recruit Azura and Nyx, making this the best recruitment chapter so far! I really like both of them. It’s a shame that Nyx is at level 9 when you get her. Her stats are, uh...pretty terrible. Okay, really terrible. Skill, Luck, and Defense are all abysmal, with Magic and Speed being her only worthwhile stats. They wouldn’t be as bad if she showed up a few levels lower, but at level 9, a lot of her stat spread is unsalvageable without stat boosting items. Which means if you’re gonna use her, you have to invest. And I absolutely intend to use her.

The map is your standard Seize map, after clearing everyone out, so not much to report on in terms of combat. After the fight, Azura explains that she’s stuck here because the Hoshidans, wary after Corrin’s decision, turned on her too and had her locked up here. So I guess that proves I made the right call. So much for family, am I right? Fuck Hoshido. Azura instantly joins up with you, since she’s got nowhere else to go. As for Nyx, just to give a bit of info on her, she’s apparently a really old magic user who, for reasons unknown, is in the body of a child. Honestly, if it weren’t for her outfit, she’d be perfect. She’s sassy and fun, and admittedly I like her hair.

Chapter 10 has the group arrive in some port town looking for passage to this territory they’re to take. At first, it’s assumed this port will be safe, but unfortunately for them, it’s now crawling with Hoshidans. Fortunately for me, Takumi is leading the charge, meaning it’s finally time to kick his ass. He goes on about Corrin being a traitor and all that, but what’s interesting is he mentions that some Hoshidans took Azura away, and that Ryoma was worried about her. He wasn’t, obviously, but what’s neat to me is that the eneimes from last chapter were apparently in active defiance of Ryoma, who is essentially their king now that the old queen is dead. At the very least, the Hoshidans are very disorganized. So that’s funny. Good job, idiots.

Honestly? This is my favorite chapter so far. I mentioned last time, I think, but while the developers of this game were insistent that Awakening’s weak point was its story (don’t ask how one can be so out of touch, I don’t know either), its actual weak point is mostly its maps. It’s been a while since I’ve fully played Awakening, but I remember about 90% of it being “route the enemy,” with very little else aside from standard Seize and Defeat the Boss. There aren’t too many weird conditions or gimmicks. Fates, at least on the Conquest route, has given some more interesting stuff. This one in particular is really fun. You’re defending the territory, so you have four squares at the far north of the map, where your units start, that the enemy can’t reach. If they do, you lose. To help out, you get a bunch of ranged weapons near your position to help weaken, but not KO, foes. There are also a lot of homes around the area that you can access to get some items. Naturally, as with any defending map, there are tons of reinforcements. What really makes the map interesting to me is that, so far, we’ve been using a lot of Dragon Veins. Allegedly. I don’t use them that often. They’re not always as helpful as they think. But in this map, Takumi activates one, and dries up all the water, allowing the enemies to traverse around the paths you’ve been defending. It’s incredibly frustrating, but a neat surprise that the map pulls to make your attempts at defense even harder. I know for me, I had spread out my units by this point. We’d managed to put a dent in their forces and were alerting the houses and trying to push south. But as soon as that happened, a bunch of reinforcements came in. The only one who could continue to move forward was Dragon Corrin. Everyone else had to start back-tracking to defend.

Chapter 10 also introduces three new units to our party. In order of least to greatest importance, we first have Beruka, one of Camilla’s retainers. She’s quiet and doesn’t talk much, but honestly was pretty funny in her debut. Selena, or Severa for those of us who played Awakening, is the same as she ever was, so you kind of expect her to tease Corrin about being heartless for not remembering them, but Beruka joining in was pretty good. Speaking of, Selena’s the other character who joins, and just like as Severa, she’s a lot of fun. She’s a bit more mellow here, if only slightly. A little more in tune with herself, perhaps? Then we have Camilla. She arrives, and is surprisingly intense about murdering dudes. Almost a bit Faye-like, only instead of the love of Alm, it’s for the love of her sister. It’s a bit disconcerting, frankly. I go back and forth on really liking Camilla and really disliking her. They just go a bit too heavy on some of her more intense traits, you know?

The map is pretty tough, but Corrin and Azura wound up kicking Takumi’s ass no sweat. In fact, I first had Corrin do it, and then with save states thanks to Casual, went back and had Azura finish him instead. Both of their dialogue reveals about what you’d expect. Takumi’s just a butthurt baby. After you win, he whines about Corrin’s betrayal again, and then gets a migraine or something and fucks off. This is one of those “Camilla is great” moments, because as Takumi is throwing insults as Corrin, Camilla just goes “What a rude boy. Perhaps I should beat some manners into him...” Corrin stops her and says no violence, but we really should’ve allowed it. Takumi mentions the Rainbow Sage, which is apparently our objective that I don’t think anyone has mentioned until now. He says Ryoma got the blessing so it’s all over for you fuckers now. Camilla lets us know that it’s fine, Xander also got the blessing ages ago, so the Hoshidans are really just one step behind. Though depending on time frame of Xander getting this blessing, this would mean that Ryoma could potentially be considered stronger, based on them being “even” in Chapter 6. Though in fairness, my run involved Xander immediately getting a crit and taking Ryoma out in one shot. So that was fucking hilarious.

Chapter 11, we finally arrive in this territory. We meet a nice lady who tells us about the dangers of the mountain the sage lives on, and that he’s been taken captive by the Hoshidans. Corrin naturally hurries to his rescue, and the fight is on! This time, it’s against Hinoka. The map itself is alright? It kinda forces you to take two separate paths and gets a little cluttered, but not too bad. Azama is, without question the worst part of this map. Staves don’t count as a weapon, so his special ability means you continuously take counter damage equal to what you deal to him, and he has some bullshit Hexlock Staff that cuts the HP of anyone hit by it to half for the remainder of the map. It’s such garbage. Thankfully, Jakob is very fast, so haha, idiot. I did get special dialogue with Hinoka, though. Camilla is just...so incredibly petty here. “She’s my sister now, you lose, bitch.” The amount of pettiness on display is unreal. Corrin, by comparison, actually has a pretty touching conversation. Hinoka seems to understand Corrin’s resolve, and doesn’t really pressure her the way the others did. She’s not happy with Corrin’s decision at all, but ultimately accepts Corrin’s decision and lives with it. This automatically makes Hinoka the best Hoshidan sibling in my book. I don’t regret siding against the others, but I do regret siding against her.

After the battle, Hinoka recognizes they need to retreat, and makes a comment about gathering their dead later. She is then informed that there are no dead, only wounded. Corrin gave the command to not kill anyone in this fight, and announces that she wants to end the war peacefully, without bloodshed if possible. Hinoka is taken aback, but flees quickly after. Kaze, however, remains behind to speak with Corrin. He’s impressed by her devotion to peace, and pledges loyalty to her. Another new ally! And a ninja at that!

We meet the Rainbow Sage, who activates something with Yato. He tells us to seek out the Nohrians who will activate the blade’s true power and awaken it as Grim Yato, the ultimate blade of darkness or whatever! Given that we already have two Nohrian siblings, I wonder who the two we need could be. Honestly, I’ve been holding on to this complaint, but now’s a good time: it’s bullshit that the female siblings don’t get unique weapons. Xander and Leo get unique, powerful weapons, as do Ryoma and Takumi. But the sisters? They have to make do with generic weapons. That’s such utter horseshit, and frankly, kinda sexist.

Immediately after this, Iago shows up and again, decides to be the way he is. Garon gave a command to kill the sage. Corrin outright refuses, stating the obvious: Ryoma already got the power, we’re not preventing anyone important from getting it because everyone already has said blessing, you’re doing this for nothing. The Rainbow Sage thanks Corrin for wanting to spare his life, but proclaims it was time for him to die anyway and just dies out on the spot. So I guess Mission Successful? Weird.

I was gonna cut here, as the natural end to a particular thread of the game, but I’m kinda having fun, so let’s keep going. Chapter 12! Elise takes ill from a weird virus thing in that territory, and we need to find help! Garon gives another command, specifically, to go to this one place for rest and relaxation. Oddly kind. It also turns out this place is the medical hub of the world, so suspiciously fortuitous. They group hurries there and fucking surprise, there are Hoshidans everywhere. Led by Ryoma. Amazing. Corrin begs him to let her pass, telling him about Elise’s condition. He offers the trade: Corrin comes with him, and they’ll let her pass without a fight. Corrin, of course, refuses. As she should. Listen, I get that it’s war, but by now they know what Corrin’s about. She’s aimed to prevent the death of their soldiers in every battle. They know she’s shown mercy where protecting life is concerned. So what does Ryoma do? Insist on fighting, potentially allowing Elise to die. Bastard.

Thankfully we get reinforcements in the nick of time, in the form of-oh fuck me. Laslow, listen. You’re cool. I’m glad you’re here. I liked Inigo too. But Peri. Motherfucking Peri. She is the worst character in the entire series for me. There’s no question. Not even a close second. Even Tharja doesn’t come close, because some of Tharja’s supports were at least endearing in some way. Peri is just a little sociopath who can’t shut the fuck up about murder. Xander, where the fuck did you find her, and why is she not in jail? I honestly feel it’s hypocritical to complain about Hans when you hired Peri on purpose, you asshat. Honestly, for your belief in doing right by people and wanting to protect others, I cannot believe you thought putting Peri in charge of anything was a good call. This is actively a blemish on your record.

Fuck, I can’t do this now. I can’t deal with Peri. We were having such a good day, then this little freak-ass gremlin shows up and prattles on about stabface of whatever the fuck, and now I’m just angry. I’ll deal with her later.

#fire emblem fates replay #fire emblem fates

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