#i love her original design btw. i just had a vision is all. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kryptsune · 3 years

Text

World Building Wednesday! ~Felldritch

🌼I got a request to do a WBW for Felldritch and since there have been updates to the overall world and lore I wanted to make sure this was all in a nice little package! If you have questions and want to learn more let me know the ask box is always open! So let's get started! Oh and here is a link to the fic! FELLDRITCH

Felldritch

Classification: HorrorFELL

Cult Alternate “Nicknames”:

Red: Saw Boss: Corvus

Gaster: Sephtis

Asriel: Saber Toriel: Ameria

Asgore: Kirnon

Undyne: Ryx Alphys: Vesh Muffet: Carmilla Grillby: Noire MTT: Faust

Doggo: Croix

Riverperson: Bastet (Tet)

Main Plot Synop: Felldritch takes place after a pacifist run by Frisk. The story briefly goes as follows. Frisk ends up in the Underworld (Underground) and befriends the monsters and wants to set them free. It is basically a way watered down version of WTU in essence. Once reaching the end of her journey the monsters refuse to let her be that final soul. They would rather wait and figure out something else but with her Determination she promises to return to them and set them free. At this point in time she is around 18-19. Asriel sacrifices himself to that end to see her leave through the barrier only for the humans to capture the poor girl after she leaves. They conclude that she is not mentally stable due to her insistence that monsters are real and throw her into an asylum/sanitarium to be “treated”. Nearly 5+ years later and she manages to escape finding herself once again in the Underworld only it is far different from what she remembers. At this point, she is questioning whether anything is real or not. After being “treated” for so long she doesn’t quite know which reality is the true one. As Red (aka Saw) points out:

The Brothers:

Red: The younger brother of the two. His attachment to Frisk stems into more of a relationship though he blames himself for loosing her all those years ago. This psychological state causes him to throw himself into the problem that is befalling their world. At first nothing seems to combat this intrusive forest and horrifying beasts but he learns to utilize his magic in a different way. Prior to this he is what one would think of a a Red type but after meeting Frisk he promises to not only change his heart but also the hearts of others. Instead of destructive magical ability he follows in his brothers footsteps and takes up healing practice.

In the world he is known as the merchant, the one that tends to give out healing items in exchange for coin but the bulk of his business relies on talismans or charms to ward off the evil plaguing their home. As far as they all know these magically infused charms are powerful and have incredible protective capabilities. He runs a wagon that travels around the entire Underworld.

In the current timeline he more sympathetic and empathetic. The concept of Kill or be Killed is no longer a factor. This is mainly about survival and for the most part the other monsters are aware that working together is their best option though their heightened paranoia (validly founded btw) makes it difficult sometimes. His personality is lighthearted on the surface, making jokes, and being a good guy. In a way he reminds me of Jester who tries not to dwell on what is going on but is fully aware of the situation. Red wears a blindfold in public to keep up appearances but he has no vision or eye light problems.

Boss: After Frisk’s departure from the Underworld, Boss, takes her words to heart. Unlike the majority of Fell Pap characterization he is very soft. When he feels his brother no longer needs his guidance he begins to feel purposeless until he learns that like his brother he has the magical ability for healing. As Red is the charm merchant of the two, Boss is the apothecary. His design harkens to plague doctors back in the 17th century. He grows all his own herbs and spices but he is particularly fond of tea. He also wears a blindfold just like Red but unlike Red he does in fact have damage to his left eye socket where the teal color of his eye lights no longer inhabits.

The two combined help their fellow monsters as much as they can but in a world of uncertainty how are you supposed to know who to trust?

Frisk’s Mental Demons: The psychological toll on Frisk is great as she has been told constantly that she made up her time in the Underworld in order to shut herself away into a fantasy world. A world where she had a family… where she is loved and wanted. This happens frequently as the “Doctors” continuously try to refute her experiences or sensations medically. Every time she goes to sleep in the Underworld she ends up back at the Asylum tied down kicking and screaming.

She only wakes up again when she is sedated. Rinse and repeat. The question is… is it real? Or rather which is real. The doctors go on to state that her dark state of mind twisted her original concept behind her “family” making them this eldritch styled horror. He also goes onto explain that the reason she is so drawn and close to Red is that it is her “flirting with death”. That she is accepting that outcome because if she continues to resist treatment she will die and the moment she trusts him in her “fantasy” that will be the end. These kinds of situations happen a lot.

There are also instances when the lines between real and fiction are blurred as Frisk's behavior consists apparently of defensive aggression, auditory, visual, and olfactory hallucination, acute paranoia, anxiety, and PTSD. One such example of this is her apparent psychiatrist, Dr. Cyrus Reycroft, who happens to have an uncanny resemblance to her skeletal friend if he was human.

The Beasts: Felldritch plays off Eldritch horror aka the fear of the unknown. As Frisk reunites with Red she is subjected to a rather concerning conversation in which he explains the situation they are in. He mentions having crossed into an upside down broken and colorless world which drew both himself and his older brother into. It is implied that the two stepped into a dimensional space that was able to then afflict those within their own dimension. Over time the inhabitants begin to go missing and great otherworldly hellish beasts begin appearing. The inhabitants come to the conclusion that these creatures can not afflict you with their corruption if you can not see, hear, or speak in their presence. This mindset has some rather gruesome implications as inhabitants become irrationally desperate mutilating themselves to adhere to the new "See no evil, Speak no evil, Hear no evil”.

The Occult World: The cult as I keep referring to it as is a group of powerful monsters. After the deposition of the King the other monsters begin to become influenced by outside sources. They begin to believe that any fallen humans are the angels of death and because of this they will kill humans on sight, of course, they want to live in denial of their horrible deeds because monster souls are supposed to be made up of love and kindness. Unlike the cult that wishes to break the barrier, the rest want to stay hidden from the beasts above believing that the humans are to blame for all that has happened.

The senses play a huge roll in this idea as the beasts are rumored to be able to use souls like puppets, as in spys, if they are corrupted. It essentially becomes like a hive mind with the main entity being able to see, hear, and speak through those it comes in contact with. It’s no secret that Red is in fact infected by this entity in some form as this is a quote from the fic:

A set of antlers snagged the velvety cape as he worked the metalwork to release its hold on the material around his throat.

Bony fingers tugged on the bunched up fabric and pulled it back, revealing a charcoal grey sweater underneath. It was soft to the touch but just hidden beneath the wool she caught a glimpse of off white colored bone. There were bits and pieces that had been chipped off, knicks, and cuts. Even before they had met Red had some scars especially around his collarbone but that was not what caused her to gasp. His hood remained over his head as if using it to shield his expression from her view, “See?” He flinched when her fingers traced some of the scars.

She didn’t want to appear like she was fearful of what she was witnessing but her fingers quivered, pulling them back toward herself. A soft whimper of a voice left her, “R...Red…” There intertwined with the magically composed vertebrae of his spine were branches. The same deep blackish red wood that plagued this entire forest. It wove itself through the bone engulfing portions of his ribs, twisting it into chilling patterns. If it was allowed to continue its infestation it would crack his ribcage open in a bloodless gaping fissure. She could just make out that gentle white and crimson glow shrouded by the wood. Was that his soul? There was no other explanation.

It looked like the branches were trying to worm their way toward that glowing heart, pierce it, and absorb it into its oily black, almost pulsating bark. That was only one singular aspect of horror that she was now subjected to. Her eyes followed the trail that crept through the bone following the knots and twists that crept up and underneath where his skull attached to his spine.

The grip that he kept on her hand only tightened while the other shifted to pull the hood off his skull. Her eyes widened, reddish-brown irises wavering within a sea of white. A hand rose to land on her mouth, now agape in a silent gasp. She could see the same strange bark that comprised his antlers exited straight out of his skull. There were fractures that radiated from above the temporal portion of his cranium in concentric circles. The same kind of patterning one would see from blunt force trauma. Only this had pushed out the bone externally rather than internally. His sockets no longer contained those ever dulling carmine eye lights as her own eyes traced the hairline cracks along his head. She could not imagine the kind of pain a transformation like that would have caused him. There were places where the bone had tried to heal and suture itself back together, forming around the bark.

Angel of Salvation (a.k.a. The Eldritch Horror)- What the cult has been working toward is summoning their “savior” with the help of the human souls they are bound to. It gives them extra abilities and power. Each within the ranks is bound to a human soul. Their leader ??? wants to use this power to summon an “angel.” It turns out that is actually an unholy amalgamated eldritch beast/god out for blood instead. Humanity will perish and the monsters will take control of the surface once more. That is the reality. (The cult including Red is told otherwise).

#undertale #sans #underfell #papyrus #Felldritch #undertale au #underfell au #kits multiverse #friskys multiverse #concepts #my au #psychological horror #eldritch horror #eldritch #Saw #Corvus #cult aesthetic #Worldbuilding Wednesday AU edition

154 notes · View notes

honestlyhufflepuff · 4 years

Text

Taking a closer look at “Why So Blue”

This episode was a lovely break from Steven’s “baggage,” instead focusing on the growth Lapis has had. It was visually beautiful, with a touching new song from Lapis, and an interesting contrast from gems that remind her of her old self.

However, I feel this episode has been a little neglected in the fandom as far as the things it tells us about Steven and the world around him. Remember, Future is primarily about Steven’s arc and anything revealed about another character is bound to reveal something about him as well. “Why So blue” has been overshadowed by more dramatic episodes that had Steven’s anger and negative feelings at the forefront. This is no surprise, as seeing Steven’s issues manifesting so intensely is still such a new thing for the fans to process. This episode has Steven acting closer to his lighthearted, optimistic “old self” than any other one in SUF, and I wanted to delve into the implications of that. Let’s break down some things the episode establishes…

1. Despite his “outbursts,” Steven is still a Pacifist at heart.

This look was all it took for Lapis to regain control of herself. In this episode- this moment- is when he really seemed the most like “Classic Steven.” He’s not shouting at her to stop, or joining in the fight. He is just believing in Lapis’s growth and giving her the space to come around on her own. I don’t think the Steven we saw in “Guidance” would have done that. Part of this shift is due to his personal growth, but it’s also probably because he is falling back into his old role of pacifying hostile gems, which is what he knows best and what he’s comfortable with. That isn’t healthy, especially considering how much we’ve seen him panic when he doesn’t have someone to fix in later eps. However, it’s still a relief to see that fighting is not his first recourse despite his new “pink” powers making an appearance almost every episode.

2. Our Lapis is far stronger than your average Lapis. It is unclear if she was designed to be this way or if it is a result of her trials. Regardless, the Crystal Gems should be very grateful she’s on their side. She has the potential to rival a Diamond in combat.

She fixin’ to mess y’all up.

3. Steven has had growth over the course of SUF.

I bring this up because I think even though Steven is facing a very real personal crisis regarding his growth, he’s still had positive changes since the original series, and since the start of Future.

Lapis: I wish I hadn’t done that. They just remind me so much of myself. It’s infuriating.

Steven: Give yourself a break. You’ve grown a lot. It’s not your fault they’re stuck in their ways.

Contrast Steven’s attitude in this scene with his attitude towards Jasper back in Little Homeschool, after agonizing about his inability to change her:

Are you just going to sit here…waiting for someone to give you a purpose? Because I’m TRYING to give you one!

There have been obvious parallels between Jasper and Steven in this series, as Jasper is possibly the only character almost as stuck in the past as Steven is. I don’t know if Steven is self aware enough to realize that Jasper set him off so easily because he saw himself in her, like Lapis did in the HW Lapises. What he has realized is that not all gems will change in the way he imagined they should, and that’s ok. Him and Jasper, as far as we know, are not exactly friends, but they have an understanding of each other. Jasper may always be stuck in her ways, and Steven has apparently made peace with the fact that her bitterness is not his burden. He even sees value in the fact that she sees the world differently from him, and wants to learn from her.

This was a huge point of growth for Steven. All he did through the main series was try to fix people, and it’s obviously taken a toll on him. The only problem is now that he’s let go of his need to fix others by leaving Little Homeschool, he doesn’t know how to do anything else.

Steven has moments of self awareness regarding his issues (in between all the repression, avoidance, and denial) throughout SUF. One is in this moment with with Lapis, where he articulates that you can’t blame yourself for someone else not wanting to change and grow. He admitted to the Rose Quartzes that he’s “not fine,” but vehemently says the opposite to anyone else. He admits to Pink Pearl that he has “baggage,” although he won’t elaborate. He admits to Amethyst that his need to control others is a problem. He admits to his friends- under extreme duress and prodding- that he is having a hard time coping with cange. He opens up to “Cactus Steven” more than anyone, but after how that turned out the next time he opens up won’t come very easily.

My point is, Steven is still growing as a person, but it is a slow process due to all the trauma he is processing, compounded with having powers just as volatile as his emotions are.

4. HW gems are having a hard time letting go of the old caste system.

He’s half Diamond. Maybe we should half listen.

If the Lapises were really listening to Steven in the first place, then their primary motivation for listening to him would not be him being “half diamond.” The whole point of him overthrowing the empire was to create an equal society where Diamonds wouldn’t dictate what everyone does anymore.

How can the thing we’ve always done just suddenly be wrong?

Everyone is having trouble adjusting to this new equality in practice, including Steven. This is a massive, ancient, complex dictatorship that is now adjusting to a new government created by a human teenager. A Diamond is the one teaching and leading the new way things work, so of course it’s a mixed message for HW gems who have him telling them everyone is equal, but also that they no longer can do what they want to if it impedes his vision. I certainly wouldn’t want to be in Steven’s position. It would make most people uncomfortable to tell someone that the thing they were created for- that they also take joy and pride in- is now not only obsolete but morally wrong. Hooray for minors dealing with the nuances of cultural sensitivity in their galactic imperialism!

“He’s smaller than I thought.

Funny that this was the same thing said by the Rose Quartzes. It’s probably hard for any gem to imagine a Diamond that is not massive and imposing, but Steven is still pretty small even for a human (and still shorter than Connie). I can imagine this is why Jasper was so quick to reject him as her Diamond. Steven does not project the towering picture of immortal and flawless power as the other Diamonds have, and this is inevitably disappointing to gems that have long valued that image.

You really expect us to dance and sing like Pearls?

Gem society was not lacking in the arts, but they were strictly reserved for the elite and those who served to perform for them.

It’s interesting that Peridot had no idea what music was, and I presume this is because she was in a lower status than Lapis. The problem is not that the HW Lapises were unaware of artistic expression, but that they found it beneath them. The Lapises take pride in being instruments of power and destruction, the opposite of how everyone perceives Pearls. It’s no surprise they perceived such a heartfelt song from a fellow Lapis as “pitiful.”

Despite the fact that Pearls were very close to those in power, they had none of their own, and even Peridot considered herself above them when she first arrived from Homeworld. Pearls were created to be objects. Status symbols. Pretty little ornaments. Music boxes. And gems created for more “practical” purposes than entertaining the elite and opening doors would see anything associated with Pearls as beneath them.

5. Hot take: Lapis’s approach wasn’t totally in the wrong.

Lapis: We’ve just got to force them to stop. They’re not nice like me.

Steven: Ummm *avoids eye contact*

Lapis: Exactly.

The HW Lapises- much like Jasper- valued physical power over other virtues. Lapis beat herself up a lot for her loss of restraint, but communicating a bit with a show of the type of power the Lapises valued was enough to get them to listen. Steven’s approach alone clearly wasn’t working.

Sometimes people think so differently from you that you have to meet them halfway to have any hope of getting through to them. Steven did this when he agreed to fight Jasper.

I think the main reason he feared Lapis taking this approach was because he knew her past. He knew how hard she was to reign in once she got started, and how drastic she could be in confrontation. I mean, that’s why we have the entire Malachite story arc.

Restraint takes strength! Patience takes strength! Ugh, I don’t have the strength to deal with you.

However, Lapis has grown past that stage of her life, where her trauma ruled all her interactions with others. She has friends- like Steven and Peridot- who keep her grounded. She has developed healthy coping skills and outlets for her processing her emotions. This is why is so concerning to see Steven doing the opposite. The more fragile his mental state becomes, the more he distances himself from his closest friends and interests.

Lapis had the self awareness to realize she was slipping into old habits and losing control, and removed herself from the situation to cool down. That is huge for her.

Not every gem is going to want to go to Little Homeschool, and there’s probably a lot of them that still like fighting and destruction- especially if that’s what they were made for. Era 3 is so bent on avoiding violence that there isn’t really an outlet for pent up aggression (which Steven could use as well, btw). I think starting up some kind of gem dojo would be a great alternative instead of just expecting every gem to like the “softer” things like dancing and making meep morp.

Also, just imagine Jasper as a dojo master. Hell yeah.

6. Most people probably do not realize that Steven is struggling.

Wow, Steven. It took you a whole 5 seconds to make a new friend. You’re getting rusty.

I found this quote from Lapis telling. She still sees Steven as being able to make and keep friends effortlessly. In “Room for Ruby,” she was actually relieved to hear Ruby’s immediate love for earth was all an act, laughing and saying “No one could be that well adjusted.” The only exception to this rule for her seems to be Steven. She looks to him for stability, just like she did in the fight with the other Lapises.

In reality, Steven is terrified of his friends moving on and changing, while also being resentful if they don’t recognize he has changed. He has unresolved trauma that is eating away at him and causing him to have emotions he doesn’t know how to handle. However, most people probably see Steven as he presented in “Why So Blue-” gentle, charismatic, and carefree. It is not uncommon with mental illness to be “high functioning” in public and then come undone the moment you are home around your immediate family.

Even after the very public display of his stress in “Little Graduation,” none of his friends were like “dude, you’re scaring me, please go to therapy.” They saw one incident, but not the whole picture, so none of them seemed to really grasp how bad things are going for him. This is because Steven is still pretty adept at putting up a positive front most of the time.

***

Anyways, I just wanted to revisit this episode and give it some love. Feel free to RB and tell me things you noticed about it that I may have missed!

#su meta #lizzywrites #why so blue #suf #lapis lazuli #su character analysis

904 notes · View notes

swordmaid · 3 years

Text

creator tag meme

tagged by the local angel @giuseppearcimboldo thank you so much lizzie!

rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

VERY happy i can fill this out because i’ve been so productive this year lol. also this is all gonna be jb bc ive been RELENTLESS and spamming and i would apologize but i wont lmao

1. jb eros/psyche au.

i am talking about everything i have done for the au btw, because i’ve done quite a handful of things and honestly i really love all of them--even the doodle ones which rarely happens. anyway, i love this au in general. i think the tale is perfect for them, and i’m happy with the works that i managed to put out most esp this one that’s based on canova’s sculpture of eros and psyche. translating sculpture into digital art was interesting since it was all about converting the weight and structure of the sculpture into the screen and i think i managed to do it imo! i love how brienne looks heavy in his arms, i love how strong jaime looks holding her up and i especially love the way i shaded her dress to mimic the lines that the statue has. all in all, this au slapped and i actually want to do more of it but i have no inspiration right now.

2. jb as classical art series.

honestly i never thought that this was going to be a series lol i thought it was just a two time thing, but then i did another one, and then another one, and then another one and now here we are. i love all the pieces that i’ve done for it actually. my favourite thing is that they’re all not direct translations of the original art. there are some aspects that i’ve taken and adapted while also putting my own flair into it. i love the reverse colour scheme with klimt’s kiss and my own rendition of it. the gold being the accent highlight in a field of murky brown/black whereas klimt has the black squares present to emphasis the richness of the gold and yellows. i also like the little thing i did where i put the geometric shapes outside of the subject instead of inside (what he did). i put on the tags that i didnt like how it turned out but i actually like it lol i just didn’t like how long it took me i get too impatient with my art i think. anyway. i love this whole series sm i think all the pieces have their own character, and tbh i always get nervous adding another piece into this just because all the ones that i’ve done has been so well received i don’t want to be a disappointment lool. regardless, i love classical art and i love jb and i love being able to put the two together hehe we love to be self indulgent

3. la belle fleur sauvage commission.

aka THIS commission that was based from SD’s fic, la belle fleur sauvage. some behind the scenes with that one--that one took me SO long to do, like it was taking longer than i had wanted and i felt very bad and i am forever thankful for sd’s patience 😭😭😭. i really can’t be too mad though since i was working on the third year of my degree, but i still would’ve wanted to finish it sooner than i did. but as for the art itself---i actually love it lol. i always say to zoom in on my stuff to see all the details but i WISH folks would zoom in on that because it’s so big and so intricate. i love how everything turned out; i love how rich the colours are, i love the composition for all three panels, i love how the SKY looked like actually that’s the first time i sat down and painted clouds with that technique and i am so happy and pleased with how it looked im using it for everything LOL, i love jaime’s outfit in the 2nd panel---i actually designed a whole outfit for that and he DOES have his pouches and daggers, etc. stuff that he would have with him if he was a mercenary, but because of the cropping, those details were taken out but it’s THERE. i love the colours and the shading on the 3rd panel. it looks so soft and romantic and it’s everything 😭😭. honestly i didnt know if i was able to finish whole three panels just because of how big the project seemed, but tbqh this piece really pushed me as an artist and im really happy that i had the chance to work on it (-’:

4. early morning.

this one is a more recent piece and i was thinking post canon jaime/brienne married and either living in casterly rock or evenfall hall. originally the sheets were gonna be red with the gold brocade but i just made it green to make their location more ambiguous. they’re in a castle because of the finery, but which castle i have no idea. anyway i love their faces here in particular--jaime because it’s not often that i draw him old (this is the second time i drew old jaime i think?) and i love how he turned out here. i love how he looks like a silver fox and a dilf and we really do love that for brienne. full disclosure, i have no idea how to draw older folks since i don’t have a lot of practice in that area so im glad my lack of experience doesn’t show lmao. i also love how soft brienne looks here! the little smile on her lips is very sweet, her body language and how relax she seems is very telling abt her confidence in this scene also i think i drew her hands hella well haha. all in all i think it’s a really sweet art! and the full version is not so bad either jaime’s ass was referenced from marble sculptures so you know im aiming for Quality. but i love this headcanon of a younger brienne tiring jaime out, i’ve read a handful fics about it and im happy i can do my own version of it hehe

5. unravel.

wow we love domesticity. someone said that if you compile all my ns*w art of them together it’s like they haven’t left their bed ever since they got together and you know what? love that for them it’s what they deserve. anyway i chose this one because of how sensual and simple it is. their body language really does all the talking ; jaime’s hand pulling on the ties on her shift, her hand on his hair, how soft and lazy their kiss looks--it’s enough to tell the story me thinks! i just love how simple this whole thing is but it’s very effective. there’s really not much to it besides what you see but that’s really enough.

i am actually very proud of myself with how productive i’ve been. it’s really not often that i get as much drive and energy to post so much art. iirc my art tag is nearly 200 content already (i think it’s 180 ish rn?) and honestly that’s a LOT if you told me ill be making more than 100+ content for jb i would’ve been like nah im too lazy for that lmao. but im really proud of myself this year! i think i pushed myself as an artist and i’ve familiarized myself more with my strengths as well as my weaknesses. i have a clear idea on the areas that i need to work on, and i’ve really gotten more comfortable with being happy with my own pieces and i’m trying not to put myself down more if something doesn’t go the way i want it to. also, i’ve had the opportunity to work with more people this year--so for the people who has commissioned me or IS commissioning me rn--- thank you so much for trusting me with your visions 😭😭 ive never expected to get this kind of reception with my art but i am very grateful for all of it.

anyway as for the tagging i tag -- @na-bruma-leve / @dreadwulf / @dilfjaime / @fawnilu BUT i would highly recommend you to come along and snatch this tag meme up like a little raccoon because we all should start being proud of our own works imo !!

#long post /#this whole ass essay is me gushing about myself how gemini can i be

15 notes · View notes

scentedcandlecryptid · 3 years

Note

Hello! Here to bombard you with questions.

Do you have the whole story for your ocs planned out? Or is just a general idea right now? Any fun cultural or physical differences between types of elves? (other than the ears being tilted up or down which is super cute btw) At the start of the story do they all know each other already? Is there one main character or is the focus on the four of them? Any interesting things you wanted to include but decided not to? Anything about the story or characters you want to share?

You don't have to answer anything you don't want to! I'm just curious lol

I wanted to start this by saying, thank you so much for this ask. I was so excited to read it, and I am always more than happy to gush about my story since I have so many ideas.

Also, this ended up getting long, so answers under the cut:

Right now, it’s more of a general idea than a full-fledged story. More accurately, I have a bunch of scenes of character moments, arcs and mini-stories, that I’m currently trying to connect in a cohesive manner that makes sense and is still interesting.

Yes actually!! Each type of elf has its own culture (all in various stages of development) and there are a few fun differences physically, but I think that will need a post of its own, because I have tried to write this four times and I can’t figure out how to say it simply, for now, here’s a chart of all the different kinds of ears, as that is the main (and most obvious) thing I’m using to differentiate them physically.

They don’t know each other at the start of the story. Well- probably. For the main main story, they don’t know each other (with one exception I’ll talk about later in this reply) but I might write/draw mini-stories where they do know each other before I get to writing that because introductions are hard and I want to share the interactions they have in my head with all of you.

Who the main character is, again depends on what story I end up telling. If it’s a thrilling adventure about saving the kingdom, Luka’s the main character. If it’s about overcoming adversity, Oak would be the main character. If it’s a story about finding your place in the world and found family, Auster would be the main character. If I wanted insanity with an emotional undertone, Octavious would be the main character. I’m really attracted to the idea of them all being the main character, because I love that so much,, but I don’t know how I could make it work narratively. I guess in their own rights, they’re all the main characters in some way. And no matter what, I will at some point put individual focus on each of them.

I have SO MANY things that I originally wanted to do, but ended up not doing. I have gone through so many different ideas that I’ve ended up ditching for one reason or another. Some highlights:

They were all originally pirates, I have designs of pirate Oak, Auster, and Octavious that were all scrapped.

Oak was going to be the villain of the story. They would originally have opposed our main characters, then have gotten a redemption arc. I have a very sketchy and poorly drawn comic where Oak nearly died.

There was a character who was sun themed, I miss her, but she was bland and thus cut

There was a time when Oak and Octavious looked similar enough that I thought it’d be funny if Octavious thought they were long-lost lost, twins.

There was a very brief period following that idea where Oak and Octavious were long-lost twins. (this is where the idea of Oaks actual twin came from)

There was a time very recently where they all had glowing marks on their skin, it looked awesome, but I decided it was too complicated.

Any other things I want to share? Let me see… Firstly, this world is sort of modern? Depending on where you are in the world the level of technology changes, but you will see skyscrapers, especially in more busy areas. Secondly, there is actually a fifth main character named Clover who is Luka’s childhood friend and a human, but as I’m writing this, I might end up scrapping her,, I never had a strong vision for her character like the others, and while I’m in love with the general idea of her… idk she’s kind of boring. I think she’ll still be included as Luka’s childhood friend.. But I might remove her from main character status. I don’t know. Thirdly, Luka actually can’t use magic, all of his friends can,, but he remains incapable. Fourthly, Octavious is a massive flirt, and also strangely the most academic out of all of them. Fifthly, Avian Elves, of which Auster is, are extremely reclusive. With the exception of a delegate every once in and a while, no one has seen one in forever. Finally, Oak’s main storyline that I have planned, will happen entirely in the background. If you pay attention you might be able to figure it out as I continue to post about this story, but I’ll be playing it as close to the chest as I can.

If you would like to know more/ I didn't explain something well enough, please send me asks! they make my day and I love them so much <3333

I truly hope you enjoy hearing me gush about these guys, I had so much fun writing this.

#I plan to make lots of headway writing this story in the summer #or at least sharing more content about it #until then we'll see #I definitely think I'll make a post about each of the main cultures in this world #but it'll take a bit cause I think more visually #so I want to add pictures.#Thank you so much for the ask #I love you so much for sending it in #<333333 #thank you #I would die for you #and I'm only sort of joking

4 notes · View notes

amphtaminedreams · 4 years

Text

Filling the Met Shaped Hole (No, Not Like That): The Best Red Carpet Looks of Awards Season 2020

Hi to anyone reading,

I want to jump straight into things and ask a question. Which is the best Met Gala theme of the last 5 years and why is it Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination?

Seriously though, despite the fact that I’m not sure anything will top Heavenly Bodies with the preceding and succeeding Met Galas being relatively disappointing (the camp theme definitely could have been taken further and lets not even talk about the Comme Des Garcons disaster), I still get excited for the gala every year, staying up til whatever hour of the morning so I can see all the fashion live. Of course, it makes complete sense that this year’s event has been postponed until October given the circumstances but the chosen theme of Fashion and Duration had the potential to be quite interesting, so I hope we do eventually get to see it; whilst I don’t miss endlessly scrolling through photos of every white male celebrity wearing the exact same suit and tie to the point where fangirls claim Harry Styles to be a pioneer of breaking gender norms because he wore a pink top, I long for the days where we could all temporarily coexist in peace and harmony thanks to the internet’s collective dragging of the Kardashians for paying no attention to the theme whatsoever. We should’ve guessed life as we know it was about to be flipped on its head when they actually turned up in something interesting last year.

What I’m trying to say is that I would love nothing more than to jump back in time to when tomorrow morning’s top Google search would be best Met Gala looks, and not how many lives did Boris Johnson’s fuckery cost us today. So in honour of the lack of trivial content, I thought I’d fill the Met shaped hole in our lives (amongst many other unfilled holes; today the freezer door at work hit me on the ass whilst I was putting ice cubes out and I think for a split second I got all flushed) by putting together a collection of my personal favourite red carpet looks from this year’s awards season and their respective afterparties: the BAFTAs, Brits, Critic’s Choice Awards, Golden Globes, Oscars, SAG Awards, and the Grammys to finish with.

Enjoy!

British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award (yes, that’s the BAFTAs but I needed a longer title)

(L-R: Zoe Kravitz in Dior, Rooney Mara in Givenchy, and Scarlett Johansson in Versace)

I am a British fan of television and arts but I will gladly say it: of all the awards ceremonies, the BAFTAs is hardly the most exciting, and the red carpet even less so. As I said, lots of boring men in boring suits and middle aged women being dressed by stylists who seem to think we’re dead from the neck down by the time we hit 40 and dress us accordingly so. Any hint of a décolletage explicitly forbidden.

There were a few good looks, however. From left to right, above we have Zoe Kravitz in Dior, Rooney Mara in Givenchy and Scarlett Johansson in Versace, who looks so amazing I almost forget that 1). Versace is going down the drain and 2). Scarlett Johansson would stand in front of a forest and take the role of a tree if she could. Which, along with her whole defence of Woody Allen, is really shit-she’s genuinely great in Marriage Story and an otherwise talented actress. As for Zoe Kravitz, she is up there with Robert Pattison as one of my biggest crushes right now and looks amazing in literally everything she wears, and Rooney Mara is consistently low-key yet elegantly dressed.

(L-R: Greta Gerwig in Gucci, Florence Pugh in Dries Van Noten, Renee Zellweger in Prada)

Renee Zellweger proved an exception to the rule when it came to women over the age of 40 generally having clueless stylists-her dress is beautiful, very reminiscent of the delicate, demure beauty of 50s icons such as Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. Florence’s dress, I actually really loved. It didn’t seem to go down all too well with actual Florence Pugh fans but red and pink together is an elite combo; I’m still firmly on the “surprised that it works but I’m into it” train. I mainly included Greta’s dress for the green velvet, to be honest; it’s disappointingly low-key for Gucci but nice enough all the same.

(L-R: Andrew Scott in Paul Smith, Charlize Theron in Dior, Daisy Ridley in Oscar de la Renta, and Emilia Clarke in Schiaparelli)

I was particularly excited to see Emilia Clarke in Schiaparelli-yes, I adore her because she played Daenerys Targaryen and I was ride or die for that bitch but also whenever I see her interviewed she has the most exuberant energy and honestly I want to be best friends. It’s not the most interesting dress Schiaparelli has ever put out there, but I like the fact that she went for something unique all the same.

Forest green is a colour I find hard to resist which is why I included Andrew Scott’s otherwise kinda basic suit (points for it being velvet) and Daisy Ridley in Oscar de la Renta. As elegant as the dress is, I would love for her stylist to have really leaned into the forest nymph vibes I’m getting and do something a bit less uptight with the hair and makeup; like imagine loose curls with tiny braids and hair rings and a dark lip and a slight smoke around the eye and...yes, I have very specific visions, I know. As for Charlize Theron, her work with Dior is the only reason I care about the brand; there’s definitely a case to be made here for giving Maria Grazia the benefit of the doubt, assuming that she tries all the prototypes on women who look like Charlize and that that’s why she’s happy to send dresses that are otherwise relatively underwhelming down the runway.

The Brit Awards

(L-R: Charli XCX in Fendi, Ellie Goulding in Koche, Hailee Steinfeld in Fendi, and Harry Styles in Gucci)

In my opinion a much better reflection of quintessential British style than the BAFTAs, I originally ruled out including any music award ceremony red carpets in this post until I saw Maya Jama and Charli XCX’s looks. Consider me pleasantly surprised by Hailee Steinfeld’s cobalt blue burnout dress, a classic incarnation of the regal bohemian aesthetic Fendi channelled in their 2019 haute couture show. Plus Charli’s emo take on Glinda the Good Witch is also Fendi, driving home for me just how much I love their collections. I don’t know if I’d be sure about Ellie Goulding’s dress on the rack but the simple styling makes it work and she looks gorgeous, and Harry Styles looks just as pretty in a Gucci look that is MADE for him.

(L-R: Adwoah Aboah in Vivienne Westwood, Celeste in Gucci on the far right! I’m not sure who the guy in the middle is, I’m sorry and if anybody knows drop me a message and I will correct this immediately!)

Unfortunately, Harry Styles and Celeste didn’t get to pose together because this is really a perfect his and hers Gucci look; I feel like seeing one outfit next to the other would really highlight the quirky elegance of each. That being said, it feels criminal to talk about elegance without including Adwoah Aboah in Vivienne Westwood in the sentence; the dress is obviously stunning quality on its own merit, but Adwoah is what elevates it from unremarkable to ethereal. Fuck the weird ass knight figure that’s currently on top of the Brit Award, this woman is the definition of statuesque! Put her on top of the trophy you cowards!

And just to get it out of the way, when it comes to the guy in the middle, to quote Keke Palmer:

Sorry to this man.

Honestly, I saved all the red carpet photos from a Nylon (I think it was Nylon?) article back when the awards aired and towards the end of the photos they stopped including names-this happened a few times when I was looking through red carpet galleries. I reverse image searched where I could but not every photo turned anything up. If anyone does know who this man is, message me so I can include his name. He looks sick, and as far as suits go, this one is built upon and accessorised enough that it’s actually a look rather than the same old variation of a suit we’ve seen a million times before that may as well be the straight man’s designated red carpet uniform.

(L-R: Maya Jama, Neh Neh Cherry in Bottega Veneta, Laura Whitmore)

And now the woman that forced me to include the Brits red carpet in this post in the first place: Maya Jama. Don’t get me wrong, my mind isn’t blown by this dress on its own, I probably prefer Laura Whitmore’s (Jaded do a similar newspaper dress and I’ve resisted adding it to my basket for 6 months now, this is the ultimate test of whether or not I finally cave), but Maya looks fucking MAGNIFICENT. The fit, the gloves, the confidence with which she carries it, it’s all SO good. Considering the timing, this is basically her Princess Diana revenge dress levelled up, 2020′s Jessica Rabbit moment.

(L-R: Maya Jama, Ellie Goulding, Kendall Jenner)

Obviously anything is gonna be a step down from the red carpet look but Maya’s Brits afterparty outfit was cute too, if a tad Pretty Little Thing.

Don’t ask me what Kendall Jenner was doing at the Brits afterparty btw, because I have no idea. We live in a world where the Kardashian-Jenners just seem to occupy every public space possible and I’ve begrudgingly accepted it at this point. I don’t have the energy to question it-and it helps that green catsuit is actually Very Cool™.

For the last of my favourite Brit Awards looks, we have a few more afterparty photos-from left to right we have Charli XCX again, Lizzo, and Anne Marie. It was Charli posting her dress on Instagram that sent me searching for afterparty looks in the first place; apparently wearing nothing but feathers and crystals is something that appeals to me, and the more I read that statement, the more it sounds spot-on. I’d categorise it as gothic glamour hoe, and slot it in with the rest of the night-out clothes in my wardrobe that I think I’ll finally have the balls to wear out of sheer desperation once this lockdown is over. The Blossom to Charli XCX’s Buttercup here, we’ve also got Anne Marie looking extra AF and I loveeeee it; it’s an ensemble somewhere between a high-end version of Alaska Thunderfuck’s candyfloss Sugar Ball dress from season 5 of Drag Race (Alaska DID deserve to win AS2 nation, rise up) and a low-key version of a Katy Perry California Dreams Tour costume. I don’t call it low-key as a drag, just a regretful admission of the fact that maybe wearing a cupcake bra which squirts whipped cream out of the boobs is a bit too much for most of us.

Critic’s Choice Awards

(L-R: Alison Brie in Brandon Maxwell, Chloe Bridges in Azeeza, Cynthia Erivo in Fendi, Florence Pugh in Prada)

I was going to say the Critic’s Choice Awards is kind of America’s version of the BAFTAs but then I remembered that the BAFTAs is really the only big TV and film awards ceremony we have here in the UK and that it’s kind of sad that I have to compare our most high-profile red carpet of the year to L.A’s most low-key one. Getting Cynthia Erivo and Florence Pugh to infiltrate is the best we can do.

THAT BEING SAID!

They both look amazing. This is Florence’s best red carpet look of this year, imo (she the prettiest icicle I’ve ever seen), and Cynthia Erivo’s arm must ache from serving the entire awards season. And in Fendi! Taste!

Side note before we move onto the next set of looks: has anybody else watched Alison Brie in Mad Men and Community simultaneously and experienced the extreme cognitive dissonance that comes from watching her play a tragically nerdy (relatable tbh) 18 year old and an overly-sophisticated 30 something married to an ad man in the 60s at the same time? Weird, but anyway! The orange dress with the red lipstick is channelling Marina Diamandis’ Froot era style subtle sex appeal and is a timeless, playful combo. Put the hair up into a beehive and it’s Megan Draper on a date in Cabo-don’t know much about the place but I know the sea is aqua and the sun seekers are blindingly white and the cocktails are plentiful (and whatever colour you want them to be), and all that together is a juicy palette if we’re talking cinematography. The Mad Men directors are out there somewhere shaking their fists at the sky that they never got to consult me on that, I’m sure.

(L-R: Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Dior, Saoirse Ronan in Erdem and Zendaya in Tom Ford)

Zendaya’s red carpet look was the stand out of the Critic’s Choice Awards for sure; the skirt I can do without but I hope that hot pink metal breastplate ends up on display somewhere because that is ART, and she is the perfect person to wear it. The Tiffany Pollard “she's so powerful” meme was made for this moment.

Also, can we talk about Phoebe Waller-Bridge backing up my Dior 2019 Haute Couture wasn’t *that* bad hypothesis? Because unless I’m mistaken this is one of the dresses from that collection and it is quite beautiful. Yeah, black mesh isn’t going to start a revolution or anything but it’s so delicate looking it almost seems out of place on a red carpet-I don’t know if it’s the structure of the bodice or the tulle but I can totally see this in a gothic ballet, whether that’s sensible in theory or not. Probably not. But then again I did quit ballet when I was 10 after months of getting people to near poke me in the eye on the way out of class so it would look like I’d been crying and I didn’t have to go to my lessons after school. So what do I know? Fuck all, in case that wasn’t clear. I also feel a little vindicated by Saoirse wearing one of the Erdem dresses I loved from last year’s collection-if multi-award winning actress Saoirse Ronan’s probably ridiculously well-paid stylist liked it enough to pick it out for her then I guess I’m doing okay in terms of taste levels.

(L-R: Olivia Wilde in Valentino, Lucy Hale in Miu Miu, Mandy Moore in Elie Saab, and Margaret Qualley in Chanel)

The last few Critics Choice Awards looks I picked out above aren’t thrilling or anything but they’re cute enough to include-from left to right we have Olivia Wilde in Valentino, Lucy Hale in Miu Miu, Mandy Moore in Elie Saab and Margaret Qualley in Chanel. It’s kind of besides the point, but Margaret worked with Chanel throughout awards season and I just wanted to add my two cents in here and say that I think she’s the perfect person to collaborate with (also think Laura Harrier would be a good match, anyone agree?) and that in a similar vein, I urge Miu Miu, the creative directors of which I’m sure are eagerly awaiting the opinion of irrelevant Tumblr user amphtaminedreams, to work with Lucy Hale more often. I feel like if girl stopped starring in those shitty Blumhouse horrors and did something a bit more sophisticated she’d fit the brand right down to a T.

The Golden Globes

(L-R: Cynthia Erivo in Thom Browne, Dakota Fanning in Dior, Jane Levy in Steven Khalil, and Janina Gavankar in Georges Chakra)

Finally! I hear you cry! A more exciting red carpet! It’s not the Oscars, but celebrity stylists still pulled the big guns for this one, the Golden Globes probably being considered the second most prestigious American awards ceremony of the year. Plus Dakota Fanning was there! Big yay for me! She and Elle can practically do no wrong in my eyes and are probably the only 2 women that could take on Dakota Johnson and Jennifer Lawrence when it comes to established red carpet style.

Cynthia Erivo did it again, of course, as slick, as dignified and as regal as she was at the Critic’s Choice. The woman really has got this power stance thing locked down; she always seems so cool and confident in everything she wears that the whole getting dressed up to go out out out (we call going to the club going “out out”, but I’d say a red carpet is a slightly bigger deal than my local club with the sticky floors hence the 3rd out) thing looks like second nature.

(L-R: Zoey Deutch in Fendi, Karamo Brown in Grayscale, Lucy Boynton in Louis Vuitton and Kat Graham in Georges Hobeika)

Lucy Boynton was another of my Golden Globes stand outs, and in general is someone who I really look forward to seeing at red carpet events. She (or her stylist, I don’t know how much of a role she plays!) always seems to commit fully to an outfit and sees it as part of a whole concept where the makeup, hair and accessories are equally as important and that is a girl after my own heart. 60s space age empress is the theme here and I’m all about it-well, either that or a feminine editorial take on the tinman from the Wizard of Oz but the former sounds a bit cooler and does way more justice to how good she looks so we’ll go with that. Quick shoutout to Kat Graham too because she looked absolutely radiant.

(L-R: Shailene Woodley in Balmain, Winnie Harlow in Laquan Smith, and Zoe Kravitz in Saint Laurent)

The trio above I really couldn’t skim over, Winnie Harlow especially; my America’s Next Top Model grudges aside, she consistently turns it out at every event she’s invited to. She’s another woman that wears pieces with such confidence that they look like they were actually made on her body-even if the garment itself isn’t the most breathtaking in the room, she’s the one that draws my attention. Though she’s got these dainty, other-worldly qualities about her, what you’d expect to be a gentle presence is firm and commanding and whilst the sharp drama and glitz of the dress probably helps, that’s just the way Winnie Harlow is naturally, based on her other red carpet appearances.

Zoe Kravitz is an interesting one because, on the one hand, her looking amazing with that bone structure (I would trade a vital organ to look like that any day) is a given, but it does also seem like she went out of her way to do something a bit different this past awards season. I have always loved her street style for its trademark edge and the androgynous, oversized silhouettes that she leans towards, and the overt femininity of her red carpet dresses is that grungy, skater girl aesthetic completely flipped on its head. It’s cute, and if anyone can pull a dress as kitschy as this off, it’s Zoe. She’s got that just rolled out of bed look we all dream of that screams “I’m over this shit” whereas the rest of us have to rely on dark circles to get the message across. It’s very weird to think that she and Shailene Woodley were in Divergent together, especially since Zoe in particular has changed so much since.

My main note with Shailene was just that I got excited to see that Balmain dress off the runway-it was one of my favourites from the S/S 2020 collection (IIRC, mostly on the basis that I’m pretty sure it wan’t haute couture), and it looks good! Not wildly good because I’m not sure the fit of the dress is inherently all that flattering, but still good-she makes it work.

(L-R: Taylor Swift in Etro, Sofia Carson in Giambattista Valli and Scarlett Johansson in Vera Wang)

I know a lot of people online didn’t seem to like Taylor Swift’s dress, but she looks cute, imo. I will say that I’m surprised it’s Etro! At first glance I would’ve thought Carolina Herrera or Oscar de la Renta or something along those lines. And predictably, I think Sofia Carson looks flawless. If you’ve read any of my other posts you’re probably sick of hearing it but I really can’t resist anything that is this modern Disney princess, like powder pink layered tulle? Feathers? What did you expect me to say, ew? I think deep down my clothing preferences will always be that of a 9 year old girl and you know what, that’s okay. Sometimes. Well, when it comes to red carpets. That’s when you can kinda get away with it.

(L-R: Bell Powley in Miu Miu, Billy Porter in Alex Vinash, and Charlize Theron in Dior)

There’s a few things worth mentioning when it comes to the above outfits. Firstly, and most importantly, I need to proclaim my love for Billy Porter. No man is doing it like him, honestly. To compare Harry Styles in his pink suits is unfair. The drama and the beauty and the flair that Billy brings every awards ceremony is on another level and that’s all I have to say about that. If you disagree, I’m gonna need a bullet pointed essay-I am that firm in my opinion.

Second, Bell Powley in Miu Miu semi confirms the direction their PR team tend to head in when choosing women to work with. I might be totally alone here but I feel like she and Lucy Hale both have one of those porcelain doll faces which work really well with Miu Miu’s signature girlish silhouettes and overly-ornate details.

And thirdly, just to restate my earlier point: someone give Charlize Theron a pat on the back for bringing some life to a Dior design. That is all.

(L-R: Jodie Comer in Mary Katrantzou, Joey King in Schiaparelli and Kaitlyn Dever in Valentino)

All the newcomers really turned it out too, which is a sentence I type through gritted teeth; to call Jodie Comer of My Mad Fat Diary origins a newcomer pains the former depressing 2013 black and white Tumblr user in me, though I suppose to the US audiences uncultured in the ways of British teenage angst Vilanelle is her breakthrough role. And how Vilanelle is this dress too!? It’s bold and it’s attention-grabbing and it’s fun and it is definitely very theatrical female fictional villain that you were inexplicably drawn to as a child before you realised why as an adult-”oh, it’s because she was hot”.

Joey King in Iris van Herpen was a pleasant surprise too considering that when I first looked through the red carpet photos I only knew her as the girl who was in that shitty Netflix original-having watched her in The Act, I apologise for the dismissal! And I admire the sartorial choice! I adore Iris van Herpen designs but as a short girl, wearing one of her dresses to a red carpet event is a risky decision-I hate to admit it because casting a diverse range of people for shows is something I have come to expect of my favourite brands, but the appeal of a lot of IvH pieces comes from the movement of the garments on standard willowy runway models. Fortunately, the styling is really complementary here, and whilst it can’t be denied that the dress itself does swamp her a bit, I liked that she and her stylist stepped out of the box.

Kaitlyn Dever’s red carpet look is obviously a lot more typical, but you can't go wrong with a Valentino dress, and this one in particular is so suited to the aura she gives off-it’s young and it’s fun and it’s fresh and the intricate floral print, otherwise muted if not for the spring influenced pops of pink and red, is timelessly pretty.

(L-R: Akwafina in Dior, Saoirse Ronan in Celine, Beanie Feldstein in Oscar de la Renta, and Renee Zellweger in Armani)

Lastly, there was Saoirse Ronan in Celine-one of my highlights of the night; she looked phenomenal, a glacial toned dream, and it was pretty different to what I generally expect to see her in. I might be way off base and in need of a bit of a review of her red carpet style, but I feel like she usually leans more towards pretty than edgy with regards to her styling at these kinds of events and a loose fitting, gun metal glittered slip dress is, imo, the perfect way to hit that previously uncharted midway point between the two.

(L-R: Kate Bosworth in Prabal Gurung, Kathryn Newton in Valentino and Sarah Hyland)

Now onto the afterparty looks, and I’m not gonna lie, they’re usually the highlight of the ceremonies for me; I feel like the initial ceremony is all about looking respectful and maintaining that whole dedicated actor image, whereas it seems the literal point of these showbiz parties is a competition to be the best dressed person in the room. Competition really makes people step their game up, and we always get to see more young talent whose style tends to be more current than that of the people we see on the red carpet.

I’ve got to say, as annoying as I found her character in The Society, I have to overlook that gut instinct of irritation when I see Kathryn Newton and accept how stunning everything going on here is; honestly, she looks like an angel, and I feel like the team at Valentino must reeeeally like her to put her in that dress.

(L-R: Alexa Demie, Ashley Benson in Georges Hobeika, Maude Apatow and Barbie Ferreira)

Obviously I was super excited to see the Euphoria girls on the red carpet, especially Alexa Demie-she does 90s/early noughties inspired glamour better than anyone else on the young actor scene right now and her personal style and the sass she does so well as Maddy Perez shines through every time. Whilst Barbie Ferreira’s look is more casual and achievable for the rest of us in terms of wearability, it’s just as interesting a take on the same period; the delicate pink makeup, hair and jewellery with the 90s inspired slip dress in light teal is a red carpet take on soft grunge for the ages. As for Ashley Benson, she always looks gorgeous and that’s all I’m gonna say before I get emotional and start going into a rant about how her and Cara Delevigne’s relationship was one of the only good things about this shitshow of a year and how now that they’ve broken up the single flame of hope inside me has been extinguished and how their sex swing is gonna get so lonely with them caught in the middle of an ugly custody battle and-

You get the idea.

(L-R: Storm Reid, Sophia Bush in John Paul Ataker, and Sydney Sweeney)

(L-R: Billie Lourd, Paris Hilton, and Camila Morrone)

The Oscars

(L-R: Charlize Theron in Dior, Cynthia Erivo, and Florence Pugh in Louis Vuitton)

Ah, the Oscars. This is where the big money is really spent, and bad decisions are made-in fairness, this year’s winners were a lot more satisfying than usual and I think all of us felt that Parasite was a well-deserved win. I really thought it was gonna be Once Upon a Time in Hollywood just as a bit of a token gesture to Tarantino considering it’s his 9th film, though undoubtedly his worst of the ones I’ve seen, so I was relieved that this wasn’t the case. That being said, it still pains me to see the horror genre being ignored by the academy-in my mind, Florence is here for her performance in Midsommar just as much as Little Women.

At the risk of getting repetitive, just assume my opinions on Charlize Theron in Dior here are the same again, that Cynthia Erivo is still bringing goddess energy (this is probably my favourite of her looks), and that against the opinion of the masses, Florence looks divine in this colour. I mean, when I say the masses I just mean the people I follow on Twitter, but still, I just wanted be an excuse to be dramatic so that I could insert a meme.

(L-R: Natalie Portman in Dior, Regina King in Versace, Scarlett Johansson in Oscar de la Renta, and Sandra Oh in Elie Saab)

Once again, Scarlett Johansson’s stylist is doing God’s work; this outfit is everythingggg-the Oscar de la Renta dress is probably my favourite thus far. Like we’re talking angel, but make it fitted and sexy, and I hope you read that in the Tyra Banks voice I intended because 2 memes in a row would rob me of any credibility I’m building as a fashion account and I’m not ready to trash that for bad memes just yet; give it a couple of mental breakdowns and I’ll be there. Natalie Portman’s look was a favourite of mine too, with the cape over the top adding a sophisticated touch to the celestial, slightly bohemian feel of the dress. I initially found the detail of the names embroidered into said cape to be quite moving-in a dream world, directing would be my career of choice and so I really admired the statement-but finding out that Portman herself is the only director hired by her own production company ruined that for me a little bit. Then again, multi-millionaire celebrities making performative gestures for good publicity and not doing all that much to make any real change? Colour me shocked.

(L-R: Beanie Feldstein in Miu Miu, Brie Larson in Celine and Billie Eilish in Chanel)

Now, of all the Miu Miu looks so far, I think Beanie Feldstein definitely got the best one. The intricacy of the embroidery, the silhouette, the old Hollywood stye curls-it’s all so graceful. I’d say this is probably her best look of awards season and she and her stylist did a really great job.

And as for Billie Eilish...Guys...do you think she might be wearing...Chanel...by any chance? I’m not sure.

Seriously though, as far as an oversized tweed suit with the brand’s logo emblazoned all over it goes, I like this look. The acid green roots and the jewellery are what make it for me, adding to the grunginess of the outfit which is interesting against Chanel’s prim and proper aesthetic of the last few years. I know she has good reason for the way she dresses, but I’ve never quite been able to appreciate it-this outfit proves to me that her style doesn't automatically equal ugly and occasionally, she can make it work.

(L-R: Leona Lewis, Colton Haynes, Dita von Teese)

Elton John’s Oscars afterparty being the less exciting of the two big ones in terms of fashion-the other being the Vanity Fair afterparty which I’ll cover in a moment-I thought I’d whizz through it (posturing aside though, I bet Sir Elton’s party was a lot more fun).

(L-R: Chiara Ferragni, Donatella Versace, Bella Thorne)

This is a big statement considering Alexa Demie attended, but I think Chiara’s outfit and overall styling might be my favourite of the partygoers; if they decided to do a live action Barbie film in 2020 minus the PG ratio-because lets be real, she’d be a noughties Paris Hilton type and get up to some SHENANIGANS-this is the look that would become iconic.

(L-R: Ashley Greene in Off-White, Alexa Demie, Sydney Sweeney, Annalynne McCord)

It was a hard decision to make though: I’m just as into Sydney Sweeney’s interpretation of burlesque come 1950s red carpet Barbie, Ashley Greene’s surprisingly delicate Off-White number, and Alexa’s dress and (as always) impeccable styling. That being said, Chiara’s clearest contender here for the best dressed of the night is Annalynne McCord. I know I'm one to throw similes around but she looks like an ACTUAL Disney princess-the dress is magical and an absolutely flawless fit. She carries it with such grace. I'm truly in love.

(L-R: Tessa Thompson in Versace, Vanessa Hudgens in Vera Wang, SZA)

As for the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty, there were SO many iconic moments this year. SZA was the definition of the fire emoji, Tessa Thompson’s throwback Versace was the mermaid’s take on BDSM fashion I never knew I need to see, and I’d die to turn up to my graduation ceremony (here’s hoping for a successful attempt at the old uni shebang this time, lol) looking as elegant and simultaneously extra as Vanessa Hudgens did in Vera Wang. I mean, this was before Vanessa went on her dumb Instagram live corona rant because she was upset she couldn’t go to Coachella and I still kinda lived for her, mostly because of moments like this. She’s always been the queen of channelling a more hedonistic, carefree era and this dress is the most refined example of that boho decadence yet. It sounds dramatic to say but the rich purple is such a bold choice considering it’s a a colour we rarely see on the red carpet but now I’ve seen eggplant coloured silk I need it, lol.

(L-R: Suki Waterhouse in Fendi, Lili Reinhart in Marc Jacobs, Lucy Boynton and Margaret Qualley in Chanel)

Then there was Suki, Lilly, Lucy and Margaret as well who all went full angel mode in some of my favourite runway looks of last summer’s haute couture week; Suki’s Fendi dress and Lili’s Marc Jacobs number were highlights of both their shows and there’s something even more magical about them both when the uniformity of the runway is removed. I also would go on about how much I love Lucy Boynton’s style for the millionth time but I think you get my point.

(L-R: Nicole Richie, Cynthia Erivo, Hunter Schafer, Billie Porter)

The more I look at the photos I saved from the Vanity Fair “red” carpet, the more I come to the firm conclusion that these looks are my favourite as a collective. Along with the elegance and sex appeal of the outfits above, we’ve got all these looks too which are so VIBRANT and fun and experimental. Billie Porter is absolutely majestic and continues his reign as the king of in-your-face, theatrical red carpet style, and Hunter and Cynthia look so radiant. Whilst Nicole’s look isn’t as colourful, she still brought drama with the satin gloves and the smoke lined eyes, and she is definitely ready to step on someone’s neck here.

(L-R: Halima Aden, Ella Balinska in Schiaparelli, Emma Roberts, Ciara)

(L-R: Kiki Layne in Michael Kors, Kim Kardashian in Alexander McQueen, Kylie Jenner in Ralph and Russo, Lashana Lynch in Michael Kors)

(L-R: Rowan Blanchard in Iris van Herpen, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Stella Maxwell, and Sarah Paulson with Holland Taylor)

I’ve got to say, it’s really cool to see Rowan Blanchard in Iris van Herpen too; it’s interesting that as far as I know, she and Joey King were the only ones to wear her this awards season, both being up and coming actresses. It would be a good choice for the brand, probably best known for its futuristic, conceptual aesthetic, to also focus its PR efforts on the young potential inheriting that future. Orrrr it could just be that Rowan, Joey and I have the same (good, lol) taste-not gonna lie, from my experience of stalking her instagram Rowan Blanchard does make some unique fashion choices and her feed is full of bold outfit inspiration.

(L-R: Adriana Lima in Ralph and Russo, Alessandra Ambrosio in Armani, Billie Eilish in Gucci, and Donatella Versace in Versace)

Then there’s Billie Eilish, who is really on another level. This is her second custom made baggy suit of the night, this time Gucci. IMAGINE. Chanel and Gucci making custom pieces to suit your very specific style. Again, though, I really like this; whilst it’s very clearly a Billie outfit, it’s got a level of sophistication, cohesiveness and glamour to it that takes it to that I can admire.

(L-R: Camila Mendes in Moschino, Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse, and Chiara Ferragni)

Honestly, the Vanity Fair red carpet really belonged to young talent this year, and Camila Mendes in one of my favourite Moschino looks from the Picasso collection really seals it. She could’ve just gone for a basic pretty dress-this isn’t a natural choice-but she really does have the proud, regal look of a woman who knows some man is gonna paint her a portrait that will end up in a famous gallery one day.

One last thing before I move on, though. How the fuck does Chiara Ferragni get everywhere?! And by that I don’t mean how does she get invited, I had the shock of finding out this woman I followed on Instagram because I liked her outfits and thought she was pretty is a hugely successful businesswoman in Italy long ago. Power to her. She’s a big deal! I get it! I just mean, physically HOW? How do you hit Elton John’s party AND the Vanity Fair party in one night and look this good? God really does have favourites, huh. Well, I guess in this hypothetical scenario where I believe in him anyway.

The SAG Awards

(L-R: Dakota Fanning in Valentino, Kaitlyn Dever in Ralph Lauren, Scarlett Johansson in Armani, and Zoe Kravitz in Oscar de la Renta)

So, I kinda forgot the SAG awards existed and thought that my post was basically finished before I looked in my folder and saw the one dedicated to this ceremony. My initial reaction was like “oh, this is the shitty Oscars, right?” and I assumed the red carpet would be shit and that I could call it a night-it’s 3:30am, I wish I was calling it a night-but then I looked and saw that I had even more outfit photos saved in that folder than I did for my Oscar dedicated one. Because fuck, I want to to sleep, but the SAG awards had a surprisingly good turn out?! So maybe not as irrelevant a ceremony as I thought? Because Dakota Fanning turned up looking like some divine mythical being again, Scarlett Johansson pulled another incredible look out the bag, Zoe Kravitz was a modernised Audrey Hepburn, and Kaitlyn Dever read my comments about her dress being “timelessly pretty” and said “bitch, you really thought” before showing up looking hot as fuck. Truth be told, I think the SAG awards were first but in this universe where Kaitlyn Dever would pay any attention to my opinion of her outfit do we really care?

(L-R: America Ferrera, Andrew Scott in Azzaro Couture, Camila Mendes in Ralph and Russo, Caleb McLaughlin )

(L-R: Lupita Nyongo in Louis Vuitton, Lily Allen, Nathalie Emmanuel in Miu Miu, Cynthia Erivo in Schiaparelli)

See, I was going to make a comment above how I took back what I said about Camila Mendes not just going for pretty dresses (which I guess I just did here instead-JUST TO BE CLEAR SHE STILL LOOKS STUNNING) and then I uploaded the next photo set and got distracted by 2 things:

1. How weird it is that British legend Lily Allen, who does not get NEAR enough credit for her smart her songs were might I add, is dating David Harbour AKA. Hopper off Stranger Things!?

2. How mad I still am about Game of Thrones and how dirty the writers did Nathalie Emmanuel (and Emilia Clarke and Lena Heady and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and basically everyone else on that show but that’s another story).

In this same universe where Kaitlyn Dever cares about my opinion can we make the issues I have in the last bullet point not exist? Please?

(L-R: Sophie Turner in Louis Vuitton, Renee Zellweger in Maison Margiela, Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Armani, and Renee Bargh)

(L-R: Gwendoline Christie in Rick Owens, Madeline Brewer in Monique Lhuillier, Kathryn Newton in Valentino, and Lili Reinhart in Miu Miu)

Finishing off the SAG looks, we’ve got the four above.

Once again, Kathryn Newton was Valentino’s blushing crown jewell; Allie Pressman hate aside, she really is the perfect dressing up doll for the brand. Fresh faced and poised, she has all the elegance and gentle femininity necessary to make floating down the runway as Valentino models do look natural, and Lili Reinhart did an equally good job being a Miu Miu girl. She makes that idiosyncratic cutesy-ness work, all the frills and fragility of a china tea set look easy where I’d just look like I’d been consumed by a charity shop doily. Madeline Brewer did a good job too, helping a Monique Lhuillier design pop in a way that it doesn’t usually. When your hair is bright red and your dress cerulean blue, coral tinted lipstick is a *ahem* choice, buuut in this case it paid off because the result is a look which demanded my attention-ML dresses are reliably pretty, however, they tend to be predictable. Madeline and her styling did a good job subverting that formula. To end the section, though, I feel it’s only fair to save my fave woman til last-probably one of the few people in the world that isn’t a Rick Owens model that can pull off his designs. Ofc, I’m talking about the queen that is Gwendoline Christie. If we’re talking embodying brands, she did justice like nobody else could to the spectacle of Owens’ formidable, out-of-this-world aesthetic. This is her version of the princess moment, and when you’re as striking as she is, nothing less would do.

At least my girl Brienne of Tarth is thriving<3

The Grammys

(L-R: Ariana Grande in Giambattista Valli, Cardi B in Mugler, and Pia Mia in Julien Macdonald)

TBH, like I said with the Brits, I never planned to do any music award ceremony red carpets, just because I feel like the fashion tends to be more geared towards a younger audience buuuut I’m kinda glad I changed because Ariana looks INCREDIBLE. MESMERISING. TRANSCENDENT. JFC. There’s a reason the photo of her on her Wiki page has been changed to one from this night and it’s because she looks absolutely exquisite, like some kind of moon goddess with an R&B touch which I suppose is kind of her brand? Sometimes I go kind of lukewarm on Giambattista Valli and forget how mystical but at the same time frothy and indulgent and all around luxurious the pieces can be. This is a cupcake of a dress and I want to eat it. Cardi B has become a bit of an unexpected fashion icon and Pia Mia looks as hot-party-girl as ever but I feel to put anyone next to Ariana in this dress seems harsh because she just completely stole the show and I don’t even know if she won any Grammys.

(L-R: Josephine Relli, Gwen Stefani, Jameela Jamil in Georges Chakra, and Chrissy Teigen in Yanina Couture)

Other than Ariana, I’m not gonna lie, there was nothing wildly exciting, BUT I did think there were some beautiful colours out on the runway-plus for all her occasionally bad takes I really like what Jameela Jamil stands for and her style has always been very quirky cool. The electric blue tiled effect with the black mesh underneath kinda reminds me of a peacock, and contrasts wonderfully with the carpet-it’s very reminiscent of her T4 days. She’s one of those people that seems to get aggression directed at her that’s completely disproportionate to whatever it is she’s supposed to have done; sometimes the way she goes about saying things is wrong but the intention behind what she’s saying is usually good. Then again, the internet still despises Chrissy Teigen (in a way that’s kind of excessive considering what we seem to collectively let some people get away with) for a dumb AirPods tweet and I’ve included her too. THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL STATEMENT, this time anyway. I just think she looks good!

If I’m going to get controversial about anything, it’ll be Gwen Stefani. She looks stunning, the dress is stunning, and the boots are stunning. The outfit is not my problem! My problem is how she seems not to have aged at all. This woman is 50 years old! That she drank the blood of her Harajuku girls is the only explanation here. Can you imagine if she tried to pull that shit today? She’d get rightly accused of being a culturally appropriating weeb in about 10 seconds flat and we’d have to pretend to stop liking Cool and Hollaback Girl.

(L-R: Finneas O’Connell in Gucci, Lucky Daye, and Shaun Ross)

(L-R: Tess Holliday, Dua Lipa in Alexander Wang, Tyler the Creator, and Grace Elizabeth in Giuseppe di Morabito)

Back to what I’m supposed to be talking about in this blog post: the fashion. And here, most importantly, Tyler the Creator looking like a cast member of the Grand Budapest Hotel. IDK why. But I love this man.

(L-R: Lil Nas X in Versace, Lizzo in Versace, and Shawn Mendes in Louis Vuitton)

(L-R: Billie Porter, FKA Twigs in Ed Marler, and Swae Lee in Giuseppe Zanotti)

See in general, the men were a lot more interesting on the Grammys red carpet. With the exception of Twigs, Dua and obviously Ariana, the men’s outfits are a lot more memorable; Billie Porter became the most fashionable meme on the internet, for god’s sake. And even when their outfits weren’t extravagant, they were just more interesting, imo, which is a rare occurrence. I didn’t expect Finneas O’Connell to be the writing half of Billie Eilish (the other half being Billie herself) I cared about and yet, in that Gucci blazer, here we are.

(L-R: Jessie J, Hailee Steinfeld, and Madison Beer)

(L-R: H.E.R, Usher, FKA Twigs, and Matt Shultz)

Of the afterparty looks, my favourites are what we can see of these more casual outfits-I love what F.K.A Twigs and H.E.R are wearing, the headscarf with the leatherjacket on top is in particular very throwback rockabilly, and I’m even into whatever it is Usher’s got on.

(L-R: Olivia O’Brien, Amine, and Alrissa)

(L-R: Salem Mitchell, Machine Gun Kelly, and Sydney Sweeney)

Now, how to round this all up!? How to relate the confusingly persistent but very welcome presence of Sydney Sweeney on, like, ALL these red carpets back to the MET!?

IDEK. It’s been a long year.

The Met Gala has usually come and gone before we know it, but with everything going on, it’s been the longest January-May I think most of us have ever known. I keep going on about COVID-19 in all my posts now but I have almost forgotten how to write an intro and outro because the pandemic is pretty much consistently on the brain and unless I have something right in front of me to use as a distraction, my mind tends to wander off into a very anxious place. I think, like many others, I feel frustrated and disappointed and angry with the way the situation is being handled by the people who are supposed to protect their citizens, and by how much of a fight some are putting up against measures that are in place to try and save lives. The point of this ramble, I guess, is that whilst we should never forget what’s going on and do the best we can to help prevent the spread of the virus, it’s okay to still care about mundane shit. Was this post one big long distraction for me? Probably. But if there’s something harmless you can do to keep your anxiety at bay, don’t feel bad for doing it. Contrary to popular belief, you can care about more than one thing at once. You can be sad that something you were looking forward to has been cancelled whilst still being sad for the people who are suffering because they’ve lost love ones or who have been forced into precarious living conditions. If talking about clothes on the internet is going to help you get through this pandemic, power to you.

If anyone has read til the end, thank you! I hope you are well! As always, feel free to reply to the post or inbox me with your thoughts! It doesn’t even have to be related to this post. If you’re struggling with everything going on, feel free to reach out too. I spend too much time on the internet anyway, lol! My plans are to finish my fashion week reviews and then I have a Lana Del Rey albums inspired lookbook which I pinched off the stans on Twitter (who I will of course credit when I write it!). For the time being, look after yourselves!

Lauren x

37 notes · View notes

narutsuart · 4 years

Text

Updated Three Houses Top 10 Females List:

Just in time for International Women’s Day! I’ve been working on revising my list as much as possible in light of revisiting Three Houses, playing Ashen Wolves, and rethinking my love for each female character I put on my last list. I will this time do the my list from Tenth place to First place. Just a heads up my # 1 one spot has not changed so don’t expect some crazy surprise there.

Disclaimer: please don’t flame me or comment about how “WRONG” I am it’s just my personal opinion or preference. BE NICE! and maybe reblog or comment your favorite list if you’d like?

#10: Shamir:

My opinion Shamir literally has not changed. She is just a cool character, I love how despite her debt to Rhea she isn’t kissing Rhea’s ass like Catherine or Ciril. Did I mention I really don’t like them lol? She’s badass and she has an excellent character design. Perfect blend of sexy and badass.

#9. Bernadetta:

Bernie dropped another spot going from 8th to 9th. I still have an abundance of love for Bernie, and I want to protect her at all cost. I still hold the opinion that while she’s an absolutely hilarious character, she can still get repetitive and stale pretty fast upon replays. That being said when I was thinking of characters that might potentially drop to below my top ten I couldn’t reasonably see myself dropping her out of my top 10, as Bernie is still a genuinely enjoyable character, and I do have a soft spot for her.

#8. Sothis:

Unfortunately Sothis dropped down a bit no fault of her own, simply because I enjoy the ladies above her more. That being said I really do enjoy Sothis. Even though our time is brief with her, I really do love the snarky little goddess. It’s funny, last time I made this list I had gotten her Christmas altand expressed my excitement, but I didn’t have her Mythic version(aka original version). I just recently I finally got lucky, and pulled her Mythic version!

#7 Dorothea:

AHHH THE PITCH FORKS!! I’M SO SORRY!! I know! I know! WTF?! I honestly any think of a perfectly justifiable reason as to why Dorothea has dropped so low on my list. She went from 4th place to 7th place for those that don’t remember. I honestly feel disgusting for putting her so low....I absolutely adore her character, her design is absolutely stunning, and I still enjoy most of her supports, but honestly I can’t justify putting her any higher than the women above her on this list. Like many who have dropped lower in placement it’s of no fault of her own. I just happened to realize I love the women above her more. I still believe deserves all the happiness, love and care that she desires!

#6. Hapi:

Hapi is such a fucking gem, I don’t know if it’s just the dub but Hapi’s dialogue is just so ahead of its time period and I love it so much lol. She has some of the funniest quotes and her habit for nicknaming everyone is hilarious. I’m aware that it’s not a trait unique to her, but I’m of the opinion that her nicknames far surpasses Dorothea’s nicknames. Now if we we’re talking strictly design Hapi would place 4th out of entire female cast for me, and that’s impressive feat since Three Houses has an abundance of amazing designs. In fact if I was strictly talking design a lot of the placements on this list would actually change. For example Hapi would actually rank above Constance for me in terms of design, but is trumped by Constance in terms of character. I might do a separate list for “best” designs in the near future.

#5. Rhea:

I KNOW ITS BLASPHEMY I STILL have both Edelgard and Rhea in my top 5?!! As those who saw my last list can see Rhea’s placement has not changed. I love Rhea so much is because she’s the perfect foil to Edelgard. Rhea is an excellenty written character with a lot of emotional depth. She acts as a perfect foil for Edelgard’s character they are so similar yet so different. It also makes sense that she and Edelgard’s ideals would come to clash. I’m of the opinion that if Edelgard and Rhea just talked about their views it still would still not end well. Rhea sage guarded her fabricated history of Fódlan for a thousand years and would not just tell the truth because Edelgard called her out. She would’ve branded Edelgard a heretic and have her executed. That type of tranquil furry is honestly unsettling and I LOVE it. Btw the only reason she tells the truth in CS and VW is because in CS she doesn’t think she has much time left, and in VW she doesn’t have much time left and chaos is marching on Fódlan’s door. Likewise Edelgard would sympathize with Rhea’s past if she told the truth, but would insist that Rhea step down from power or tell the truth to the world which would still lead to conflict. I personally agree with Edelgard vision for Fodlan more, and personally think Rhea is unstable, and worst SOLE leader for Fodlan, but neither are evil people and I can empathize with their motives and reasons for doing the morally grey things they do. Neither of them “do nothing wrong” like people claim and in fact do a LOT wrong. It’s those wrong things they do that makes them intriguing characters, and more relatable. They also both have the potential to do so many good things for Fódlan depending on the route.

#4. Constance:

GOOD LORD Costance is truly a one of a kind. I was pro Constance since her design was first revealed in the Cindered Shadows DLC trailer. That being said never did I envision loving her THIS much! Her motivations are easily understandable, and her fall from grace makes even more sad when you realize that haughty attitude that she almost always has on display is due to her compensating for her lack of status. Constance is one of the funniest characters in the game to me and she came out AFTER the game lol. She’s an incredibly intelligent prodigy when it comes to all things magic yet she has this naivety that people are able to exploit like Yuri with the “bootlicking nobles” phrase. She takes it so literal that she tries it out for her self, and tries to make a way for the boots to taste better making it easier to lick their boots......I CANT EVEN!!... honestly Constance could top this list if it weren’t for her split personality..... don’t get me wrong her split personality when in sunlight can be funny every now and then, but honestly it does more harm to her character then helps it in my opinion. Her change in personality when in sunlight is implied that to be because of the trauma of the fall of House Nuevelle, but we never get any real explanation for it or anything implying she can overcome it. Its not expanded upon, and never treated seriously. In fact it’s played for laughs and it’s something people just accept as Constance just being Constance. I honestly felt Constance C rank support with Ferdinand was done so well. She calls him out for his usually insensitive comments about status and makes him regret his words immediately. I had so much respect for her in that moment, come the b-rank support she acts all submissive and praises the ground he walks on....which ruined the c-rank support for me tbh. That being said, as you can see based off her placement this trait of hers doesn’t ruin the character for me, just keeps her from being higher.

#3. Petra:

On a much lighter note, Petra is my 3rd favorite! If you notice she has dropped down from my second favorite spot. This is due to no fault of her own I, just happened to realize that I loved my number 2 spot more. With that being said Petra has still gotten the victory! Like I mentioned in my first list, Petra is just a delight. I love how she’s so dedicated, and always willing to learn. Funnily enough my initial expectation for Petra’s character pre-release was vastly different then what her actual character ended up being. She’s one of those character’s who’s design got revealed MUCH earlier than any details about her personality and her design gave me the impression that she was the aloof, intimidating, and serious type that doesn’t have time for making friends or fun. I don’t know if anyone else got this impression, but obviously I was wrong! Petra truly does remind me a lot of Starfire from the original 2003 Teen Titans tv show and kinda re-awakens that childhood cartoon crush in me lol. Petra is just awesome there’s not a single support I don’t like of her.

#2. Marianne

Now if you saw my old list you probably noticed that Marianne moved up a bit. Naturally I still love her design(I’m a sucker for light blue hair I think lol), but upon revisiting Three Houses I realized that leaving Marianne at 3rd place somehow didn’t feel adequate. Funnily enough she was technically the first person I S-ranked in Three Houses due to locking myself out of the Crimson Flower Route on accident. Honestly she has become my favorite character to S-rank in Three Houses even more so than my number one spot! Anyway my love for Marianne is very different for most character’s as she is one I feel can really relate to on very personal and emotional level. I’m gonna get real for a minute. I honestly I had been in bad place in my life recently. I had been feeling like the world has been crashing down on me. I have plenty of things to be happy for yet I often felt depressed. I’d often had “friends” call me out, saying I have no reason to be depressed, or that I have been blessed with so many things, and while I agree I’m very blessed, they couldn’t understand how I felt, as all they could provide was the view of an outsider looking in. While the action of suicide was something I never considered, I’d had been contemplating the value of my life or if it was really worth living. First want to clarify that I’m in MUCH better headspace than I was then. I definitely feel like I’m getting better. I have my ups and downs, but I’m currently making better friendships, I’m actively getting the help I need! I’ve always sympathized with Marianne, but now I can say that I really empathize with Marianne. When we take things at face value she seemingly had everything going for her, being brought up into the nobility, trained for success, and even having an extremely rare crest. By all means to an outsider looking in she had every reason to be happy. Of course while all these things sound nice especially in the context of the story they are in actuality a source for her depression. In her C-rank support with Ferdinand we see his confusion as to why Marianne dislikes being a part of the nobility. This support is one of the few times she expresses real anger, and is when expresses she never got to have what she saw as a normal life, she never wanted to be a part of the nobility and the weight and the expectations of being nobility was crushing her, as she had to adhere to standards of those around her. She was also taught to fear her crest as curse, so the blessing many commoners would be estatic to receive was thing she deemed as a curse. Over the course of the story and through her supports, Marianne begins to learn how to be more accepting of herself and gain more self-confidence. Naturally her timeskip appearance reflects this. She looks well-rested, expressive, and she genuinely seems more happy. I will never forget In her A-support with Byleth, that over the course of 5 years she had abandoned her depression and suicidal thoughts thanks to the genuine and long lasting friendship‘s she’s made and that she managed to uncover the truth of her heritage, and overcome the fear and hatred of her Crest. Her character arc is a very powerful thing to me, and is also example of what makes the 5 year timeskip so great. In addition to her character arc Marianne is just so cute, don’t get me stated on how adorable her habit of talking to animals is! Marianne is a fucking fantastic character and I love her so much.

EDIT: So I wanted to clarify that if I’m being honest Marianne and #1 spot are technically both tied as #1 me, and are so for very different reasons. For the sake of creating a Top 10 and to avoid a cop out list I chose to put her at second. To me Marianne is “BEST GIRL”. She’s my favorite female character to marry, she’s most endearing to me, she has like my third favorite female character design in all of Fire Emblem, and I relate to her on an emotional level. That being said this next character is “BEST CHARACTER” I like more for her role in the story, how her character is written, and how she was designed. Despite this I do not marry her NEARLY as often as Marianne. While I ship her with F! Byleth(OTP!) she’s not someone I personally would persue romantically. In other words Marianne is more my type and I tend to be biased with her while this next character is female character that I feel is the BEST WRITTEN and the female character I respect the most out of the cast.

#1. Edelgard:

Upon revisiting Fire Emblem Three Houses story as well as playing the Cindered Shadows DLC, nothing has changed, in fact my love and resolve for Edelgard has only been strengthened. I made a huge in depth posts for Edelgard a while back explaining her past, motives, and reasons for what she does. The posts had spanned multiple reblogs of details and clarification and I went over the typing limit in every single one. I won’t divulge further into all that. Like I mentioned last time I created my top ten list, aside from her being IN MY OPINION one of the best written female protagonists in Fire Emblem history, I absolutely love her design, its probably one of my favorite designs in all of Fire Emblem. That being said, If I had to say while she’s definitely close, she doesn’t have my all time number one favorite design, that spot goes to Azura from Fire Emblem Fates. Edelgard will always be my favorite Three Houses female character no matter what and I’m so happy she was brought into existence!

Well that’s my revised list, I had a lot of fun writing this list and I hope it was enjoyable for you guys to read as well! I would really love it if you guys comment or reblog with your own list of favorite Three House females! Y’know what?! Comment or reblog with your list of favorite females in the entire Fire Emblem franchise if you’d like! I’m very interested in seeing your lists Happy International Women’s Day!

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem three houses cindered shadows #international women's day #edelgard fire emblem #fire emblem marianne #petra fire emblem #fire emblem constance #fire emblem rhea #fire emblem hapi #fire emblem dorothea #fire emblem women

52 notes · View notes

andhereisthetea · 4 years

Text

Just finished Season 3

I have been watching She-Ra for the past seven days non-spot and I just finished season 3 and...

god

dammit

I am just....

UGH.

I want to talk about a lot of things after this, but I know I can’t just sandwich them in this post. I watched all three seasons in less time than I should have, I feel so damn conflicted right now about certain things, even if I spoiled myself about it before.

I spoiled myself about the whole Entrapta and Hordak arc, I watched gifsets and I saw your beautiful fan arts both in tumblr and twitter, but watching it, like... really watching it, it’s a whole different thing and now I feel both sad but also relieved I’m watching this after the show ended because 1) I am sad I didn’t experience things at the same time the fandom and most Entrapdak shippers did BUT 2) this would have made a mess of me, I get affected very easily with things like what I watched.

Ok, I have some things to say about the three seasons:

First... Entrapta.

There are some things I find refreshing and others that I don’t, I am not going to point it out in this post, also I can’t expect a lot from a family show.

The thing is... I feel they should have made up a backstory for Entrapta.

I understand the lore and the plot Crew-Ra focused into, but also I knew the Lore before the creation of this show, I feel there should have been a better way to explore more characters from Masters of the Universe.

Think about the complete mystery she is.

We knows most of the characters’ backstories, at least the most complex and important ones, we knows for example that Mermisa got her ruined kingdom from her father who was killed in the first battle against the Horde. We knows basically all the story of Bow’s family, we knows about Glimmer, about Scorpia, about Perfuma’s kingdom, about even Adora, Catra who was an orphaned, and also about Shadow Weaver.

But Entrapta? she is a complete damn mystery.

She is the Princess of Dryl, she designed the Crypto Castle, a literal labyrinth without sense, she is obsessed with First One’s tech since who knows how long, she isn’t an elemental princess but she can move her hair as if it were extra limbs and evn fight with it as a weapon, something that no other specie in the whole planet of Etheria can do, she has an intelligence even bigger than Tony Stark, nobody even talks about what happened to her parents, NOBODY, like they didn’t even existed and she popped up from nowhere and created her robotic parents herself. And even if her seeking for data and more and more progress and tech can be seen as a clear symptom her Autism (like autistic people focusing so much in something they can’t do anything else, I have that) or the fact she is looking for something else but not even her know what the hell is...

She knows or is implicit that she knows about the language of the First Ones, she understand their technology better than anyone else, also, her kingdom is the most advanced, they are considered to be in the industrial era compared to other kingdoms controlled by the elemental princesses. Where did all that technology knowledge, and also First One’s knowledge, came from? I don't think that in 20 years since she had reason and enough skill to be able to learn by herself Dryl has built all that; Dryl's kingdom had been working that way since before she was even born, so who told her? who taught her?

In addition to the fact that she has access to mining in her kingdom where she has been able to find who knows how much of the first one’s technology... right under her feet. The sole fact they put someone so important for the plot as a princess who has no runestone is just mysterious, she used the Black Garnet even better than Shadow Weaver, I can completely see her or someone before her doing the same with her own Runestone (which I picture as an Amethist btw).

I think they chose to put Entrapta’s possibilities of a backstory aside because, after seeing how the character became increasingly important and popular, they realized that once they had started to create her backstory and origins, they wouldn’t have been able to stop, and the central plot wasn’t about her at all, and is very likely that whatever idea of backstory they had about her would have been focused in the central plot.

For example (and call me crazy, I don't care) if they had said that she was the granddaughter or daughter of Keldor AKA Skeletor, I would have totally believed it.

The thing with that is... even though they chose for her an Etheria region, which in the original Lore was unimportant, everything to do with Entrapta in She-Ra becomes important immediately, but ultimately it would have distracted them from the central plot with Adora as She-Ra, and Horde Prime, who is the main villain they choose for the show.

For now I just want to imagine what could have been if she had more protagonism and wasn’t only the geek princess, she has so much potential and I haven’t seen a character so refreshing like her in long time.

Okay, I want to talk about the seasons I just watched while the information is still fresh inside my head.

One of the main things that frustrated me about the final season is how Crew-Ra COMPLETELY NAILED IT in making me hate Catra. They didn’t make her sympathetic, she is toxic and most of the time she remembered me people who I had to avoid in my personal life, so the natural reaction to all her actions is to dislike her, that is exactly what Crew-Ra wanted for us to feel.

But in some point it got to the point that if you tell me the character was unpredictable, it lost it a bit in the final episodes, she started to become predictable in her actions because as an impulsive person constantly in denial over her emotions and projecting her problems over everyone else, it was obvious she was going to go through a destructive path wanting for everyone to die together with herself because it wouldn’t have seen less like a suicide.

And as a self-centered character with tunnel vision over her purpose and actions, she was going to completely underestimate Entrapta and wasn’t going to understand why Hordak found her interesting, she would attribute everything to power and fight for positions just like SW taught her, instead of something as pure as friendship, in fact she might have know it, but she didn’t want to admit it, because to know that someone as hateful and intimidating as Lord Hordak suddenly has someone who loves him beyond that is just too much for her, who doesn’t understand and is hurt by the fact that Adora doesn’t love her back, but doesn’t want to change one bit for fear to lost the life that ironically she hates so much without Adora in it.

So of course she was gonna electrocute Entrapta and send her to Beast Island, and her impulsive decision was made out of pure fear over what she did not only to Entrapta, but to Hordak himself and what he might do to her when he finds out what she did, and no matter how much she wants to hide behind a curtain of falsehood, is a matter of time he realizes Entrapta is nowhere in Etheria to be seen.

She is a character who does not measure her actions until the consequences are so horrible that she runs away, because reality is too painful for her to even accept what she has done, also she usually thinks that EVERYONE thinks just like her, every one of her speeches about fake friendship, power and winning is just about how she sees the world work from her perspective, she has zero notions over someone’s else vision of the world.

That's one of the biggest reasons why I liked Adora in the last episode of the third season; Catra made a decision, her desire to win basically led her to condemn Entrapta to death, almost destroy the planet and ultimately kill Angella or worse. I have seen posts about people saying that Catra hasn’t killed anyone directly, but I am sorry, she did this season, and she lied about it to everyone and to herself, but Adora knows better.

Now, Hordak

God how I start with this.

Hordak, opposite to the original Lore of Masters of the Universe, is right now basically an alien version of Lucifer from John Milton’s Paradise Lost but with God being fucking evil.

Just like Lucifer, he wants to replicate his creator’s creation on Etheria, choosing to rule in hell rather than heaven, but unlike Lucifer, he stills has a connection with his creator and just like Catra, wants to satify his wished to conquer Etheria all by himself.

But unlike Horde Prime, he is in fact a good leader, and a logical one. He appreciates when his soldiers thinks by themselves and achieves their goals, unlike Prime, and he in fact doesn’t accept empty adulation, if you are good at something, you have to prove it, not to him, but to yourself.

So I just love how with every season they are adding more complexity to his whole being, and now they have added the emotional factor with Entrapta’s friendship and ultimately “betrayal”, I want to watch how this at first glance stoic character loses the shit out of his stoicism, even if I already knows what is going to happen. The fact he already got affected by Catra’s lies over Entrapta betraying him proves how far he has gone since Entrapta came to his life, if he was just impressed by Entrapta or wanted to use her, that wouldn’t have affected him that much, he already feels something for her, but he struggles to know what it is, and even if he denies it due to what just happened, he is still feeling it.

Which makes the anticipation to the discovery of Catra’s lies so much more painful.

Also, the fact he believed Catra, just like that, made me feel disappointed, but that is based on the complexity of the character and his self-loathing, he feels he doesn’t deserves friendship nor love; he is a defective clone after all, in his own mind he is imperfect and she is the complete opposite of that, so believing it is easy, but that doesn’t make it less painful, and that is what I am sure Hordak will realize ultimately.

I don’t know how long will took me to watch the season 4, but I know is worth the effort if I want to see Entrapta and Hordak together again, I love them, they are pure brain and incredible refreshing to watch, and the affection they feel for each other is obvious, one of the most bittersweet scenes for me was when Entrapta remembered Hordak due to the trio saying his name, her suddenly quiet behavior and calmed and painful smiled was so unlikely of her that one has to admit something more is going on, also her choice of language, “I had a lab partner”, not “I have”, gives a sense of sadness to the whole scene that broke my damn heart.

I will tag you guys @cruelfeline @ineffablelabpartners @etherian-affairs because I want to know your opinions about this, I never thought Entrapdak was gonna affect me that way, in fact I never expected to ship them at all, but here we are, dying for them and I just can’t escape.

#season 3 #s3 #spop #shera #shera3 #entrapta #hordak #catra #meta #mypost #entrapdak

18 notes · View notes

mysterylover123 · 5 years

Text

BNHA Rewatch: Season 1, Episode 1: Izuku Midoriya Origin

mysterylover123

First episode! I love this episode (well, the two-parter, anyway, as a whole. First chapter I guess). One of my favorite intros to a series ever.

First scene! My ship! And their terrible, awful, rocky starting line. I hope the final scene of the series is some kind of callback to this, with an ironic twist on it. But yeah, this is Deku and Kacchan at the start of the series, at their most flawed. Deku being all hero with no super, Kacchan being all super with no heroism. But that’s about to change!

(why are they so cute?!)

I think this scene is what cemented to me that I liked this series right off the bat. I love how they introduce the concept of what it’s like to live in a world where superhero battles are kind of mundane, with this guy on the phone telling his boss he’ll be late for work. Because of a super villain battle.

Deku! Precious smile that cures me of all my ills. I love his design, BTW - I’m not sure what it is, but the freckles, the green hair and huge eyes, he’s just so unique looking. I can’t think of another character who I think he looks like.

(First impressions were basically: I love this guy, he’s totally like me. No wonder I relate to a geeky kid who takes too many notes on comic book heroes)

So Deku’s class full of weirdos. How many pre-UA fanfics have these folks featured in, I wonder?

Ah, Kacchan. First impressions: Apparently, I think like Tomura, because I totally thought this kid was being set up as a villain first time around. And I loved him. I love villains who are cool and charismatic and loved by all! (I started changing my tune by the end of episode 2). Yes, I like Bakugo. So if that’s a deal-breaker, just a warning (he’ll always be second to Deku though. Sorry.)

Ooh, this ugly scene. I don’t remember what I thought of it at first, I just know that the fandom never stops bickering about it. Horikoshi has flat-out admitted that he didn’t mean Bakugo to come across this bad in the first chapter and feels he wrote him too evil though.

(BTW I think Horikoshi is the most “literally me” Mangaka of them all. I relate to him painfully hard. Ever commentary I hear from him about his experiences sounds like there’s some older Japanese male clone of me wandering around making manga.)

Better informed BKG meta writers than me have meta’d about this scene to death, and there’s about 50 billion fanfics out there where Deku tries it and turns into Yusuke Urameshi or something. I do wonder if this scene in particular will ever get a callback; I kinda doubt it.

Baby Deku doing the headbang while watching All Might vids. Meanwhile I headbang while watching this scene. Headbang-ception.

Sad Baby Deku’s backstory. Rips my heart out every goddamn time they replay it. And they replay it a lot.

To get kinda serious, Deku being quirkless is sometimes interpreted as allegorical to being aneurotypical - I still remember how things were when my mom told me I had Asperger’s, and it was a lot like this scene (with less tears, because I was like 12 and 12 year olds don’t cry) - and I can totally see it. That’s one of the things I love about BNHA, btw - other superhero verses make having powers be analagous to being differently abled/LGBT/not-white/whatever, different in some way, not part of the privileged group, which just doesn’t make sense. Being gay does not equal shooting laser beams from your eyes. But being non powered in a world where most people have powers? That analogy works.

Sorry to get ya’ll down. Back to cuteness!

Deku being so considerate of Bakugo! (ilovehimhaveimentioned) And still keeping up hope, in the face of all this sadness.

Thought in hindsight, it’s interesting how this still reflects Izuku’s character flaws. I mean, he’s not perfect. He likes to talk about how he could do this, but until the Sludge Villain Incident he never really does anything to make it happen. He’s a dreamer, but that’s also a problem. Shoto points this out later on “You need to back up your words with actions”.

Deku gets attacked by the sludge villain. I love how they animated this, now having read the manga as well - his blurry vision really puts you in the scene.

This next bit is perfect. Deku is more excited about meeting All Might than nearly dying. He has to get his autograph - but he’s already got it! (All Might you treasure).

The final scene on the roof is really interesting, it’s an odd place to cut the first chapter. But it does set up the big WTF twist at the start of ep 2. Episode 2 is one of my favorites of the whole series and I can’t wait to get to it tomorrow. As for Episode 1, it’s a solid setup and I’m so glad it hooked me in right away.

BKDK Corner:

So since, like, every episode has a little BKDK and I love it, I just figured I’d shove it in a section at the end of each recap.

Episode 1, where they start off on terrible terms with each other. Bakugo is introduced as a stereotypical bully, Deku as your typical lovable hero. You don’t really get into their layers until Episode 2 (though it’s all the same chapter in the manga). I like how the anime added a small look of “huh?” to Baby Kacchan’s face in the first scene, where he’s like ‘WTF why is Deku suddenly acting tough’ for a minute. Deku also gets protective towards him, even protecting Kacchan from himself. I didn’t start shipping them until episode 2, and I didn’t want to at first because they argue so much, but I fell in love with it anyway.

BEST GIRL OF THE EP: Mt Lady/Yu Takayama!

Check this link for info on her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOWPH4kLQ58&t=399s . Did ya know she was almost the MC?

RANKER: MY RANKING OF THE OPS

5. OP3 (S2OP2) SORA NI UTAEBA

4. OP5 (S3OP2) MAKE MY STORY

3. OP1 (S1OP) THE DAY

2. OP2 (S2OP1) PEACE SIGN

1. OP4 (S3OP1) ODD FUTURE

Tomorrow: Episode 2 “What it Takes to be a Hero”

#my hero academia #Izuku Midoriya Origin #midoriya izuku #katsuki bakugou #mt lady #yu takayama #All Might #bakudeku #katsudeku #episode recap #i love this ep #probably top 20 #for the series #it's actually kinda dark #it looks all light and fluffy on the surface #but there's the angst and the suggested suicide and the upcoming Am reveal #plus that creepy af sludge villain #but i like that about it

68 notes · View notes

morebedsidebooks · 5 years

Text

LGBTQ+ Characters in Comics from the 20th century I like

It’s June, Pride is here and rainbow colours are everywhere. So, I figured I’d be a little retrospective and share a short list of LGBTQ+ characters in comics from the 20th century I have a soft spot for. I’ve organized these by date of the characters first appearing but, happily most are still having stories written about them today.

Let’s start with three ladies from DC:

Catwoman

Catwoman, specifically Selina Kyle has been around comics for a long time, nearly as long as the turbulence of her relationship with Batman. Though, Bruce isn’t they only character she has involved herself with over the years. I’ve got my share of comics featuring this fierce lady of many lives and antiheroine, including part of the New 52 run by Genevieve Valentine a few years back where her bisexuality was acknowledged as canon. Though, it was the film adaptation Batman Returns in 1992 with Michelle Pfieffer that blew me away when I was young. And remains, I think the most iconic Catwoman costume, which you can see in 4K now. Hear her roar.

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is another longstanding character and probably the most popular female superhero. I had comics as a child with Diana along with watching the sometimes campy 1970s TV series with Lynda Carter. Perhaps even more interesting than the Amazonian warrior herself is the passions of one of her creators William Marston and the themes of those earliest comics. (I’d suggest the book Wonder Woman: Bondage and Feminism in the Marston/Peters Comics 1941-1948.) And of course, also the controversy over a strong heroine standing on her own sparked by Fredic Wertham in Seduction of the Innocent.

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy, or Pamela Isely with her sexual agency and connection to the Green, who admittedly may go about fighting for the environment as well as for women or children in the wrong way sometimes, is my top female character from American comics period. After again some rough treatment in comics recently, I wrote this year about her origins since 1966. Most people these days probably can’t think of Ivy without Harley, since it’s been 20 years since their first meeting in comics (longer for other mediums) but, these gals have a relationship that isn’t monogamous and has had it’s on again off again points too. (And note to DC maybe get it together on just how you define it since you waffle a bit hmm?)

Taku and Venomm

Black Panther was one of the few Marvel comics characters whose stories I’ve wound up reading. (My mum had this thing against some comics and one of my older brothers mainly passed on DC issues to me.) The Jungle Action installments written by Don McGregor are to this day still memorable. And part of that should be due also to Taku and Venomm (Horatio Walters), the latter first appearing in the “Panther’s Rage” arc. Though, it would take time for the open acknowledgement of this example of early gay characters in comics. Sexuality outside the heterosexual among other topics was taboo in the 1970s yet, McGregor managed with a collection of artists to bring a vision of Wakanda focusing largely on its black inhabitants and difficult social issues in the world to publication.

Juli Bauernfeind

I read The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio about boys at a German boarding school when I was 21. Juli was a character I connected to and the story had a profound effect on me. And I bawled my eyes out. It still makes me cry and is still one of the best comics I’ve ever come across. I reviewed the English edition a few years back. As well as wrote a post on the French bisexual author Roger Peyrefitte whose novel was adapted into a film which inspired Hagio.

John Constantine

Full of politics, call it dark with a dose of nihilism but, Hellblazer with John Constantine is just damn good. Sometimes the world is awful, people are awful, you’re awful and well yeah everything is going to hell. Constantine is pretty much dreadful for the women he’s often involved with, or well anybody really. It was in the early 90s readers were first clued into the history of his love life made up of girlfriends and boyfriends. And can we fail to recall the later S. W. Manor from Ashes & Dust: In the City of Angels, one of the most visceral takes thru a character that is basically a stand in for Bruce Wayne, and his twisted relationship with John? I’m not. It’s been a strange trip over the years some adaptations really glossing over his sexuality. Though of late handling this aspect of his character appears to have gotten better.

Stormer and Kimber

The madcap Jem and the Holograms was one of my favourite cartoons as a child in the 80s. I even had some of the dolls and cassette tapes. Stormer aka Mary Phillips part of the Misfits was the rock star I loved the most. Dedicated to music and actually quite sweet with the optimum blue hair. I had to try the colour myself. The episode where she teams up with Kimber after both have differences with their respective bandmates is a classic. So, it was truly outrageous when the series was revived in 2015 in comic book form by Kelly Thompson and Sophie Campbell, and the Stormer and Kimber relationship that had been brewing came fully out for fans. (Btw the comic also added a new character, Blaze who is a trans woman and girlfriend of Misfit’s fan Clash.)

Ash Lynx and Eiji Okamura

It’s been interesting to experience Banana Fish by Akimi Yoshida in different ways from first encountering the comic when I was a teenager, picking it up again in my twenties, and yet again the animated TV series last year. I wrote about the comic and first few episodes of the 2018 adaptation when it was airing. Though, I haven’t posted much more on it because there’s a tiny percentage of its fandom I want to avoid, as well as 30+ years on the series is still— pain. This one is a tragedy folks. However, it also has a beautiful healing love story and touched on a variety of hot button issues that are sadly still relevant today. My love for these two teen characters in a gritty USA will live forever.

Chihaya and Kagetsuya

I’ve written before how the sci-fi title Earthian was what introduced and endeared respect for m/m comics from Japan for me. The art style of Yun Kouga has changed a bit over the years, nevertheless still stands out from the crowd. And Earthian with a taboo love between androgynous male angels remains my favourite of her work.

Michiru Kaiô and Haruka Tennô

Sailor Moon has become a multimedia sensation and is beloved around the world. Many kids and even adults of all sorts in the 90s will remember it in one form or another and cite it as an influence for pursuing careers in all sorts of creative fields. Along with countless fans recognizing or discovering something of themselves in the characters. There are several different characters for rep in the series. But particularly for me Michiru and Haruka were an opportunity in a very anti-LGBTQ+ climate (their relationship was even refashioned as being cousins when brought out in English for the first time) to nevertheless see such a loving, positive relationship.

Tomoyo Daidôji

Love is a theme the creative team CLAMP revisits and revisits and Cardcaptor Sakura is the magical girl comic series with a theme on all different forms. It is one of the first all ages titles from Japan that I will recommend to people. (Despite fyi containing a whopping four student-teacher relationships. Not the purpose of this post to go into right now though.) The best friend to Sakura, Tomoyo is one of my favourite characters. Always supportive, maybe a bit alarming popping out of bushes or other spots with her camera at the ready to catch either Sakura’s everyday life or battles, and possessing boundless fashion sense. (Btw, there are other characters in the series that are or could be interpreted as examples for my list as well. Sakura among them.)

Isabella Yamamoto

Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa, a sequel of sorts to one of the huge girls’ comics titles of the 1990s Gokinjo Monogatari, introduced a group of teenagers on the verge of graduating, some with an idea of what to do with their lives and others questioning the path they’ve so far taken. Isabella from an affluent background but, who struggled for acceptance from her family or nearly anyone until she was gifted a handmade dress by her childhood friend George (who is Bi btw), studies pattern drafting at the same art school as Gokinjo Monogatari. The most mature of the main cast, refined, always listening and offering a cup of tea, she achieves her dream career and self-actualization in fashion. Since I have a degree in fashion design, I have to agree that clothes are so much more than just something we wear.

#lgbtq characters #comics #catwoman #wonder woman #poison ivy #taku #venomm #juli bauernfeind #john constantine #stormer #kimber benton #ash lynx #eiji okumura #chihaya #kagetsuya #michiru kaiô #haruka tennô #tomoyo daidôji #isabella yamamoto

37 notes · View notes

vivalamusicaltheater · 5 years

Text

Ok so now that I’ve thought a while about svtfoe finale I have some opinions

Things I liked:

Marco taking the wand from moon and Marco and Star walking through the portal hand in hand

The firstborn STILL tried to warn & help Star, even after she DIED. What a good unicorn daughter

Marco trying to use Star’s spells and then just creating some spells on the fly figuring it’d work better

Marco was willing to get STABBED to help Tom

We finally got to see Eclipsa’s butterfly form (and baby Meteora got a butterfly form)!

Baby Meteora learning how to dip down being plot relevant

Moon & Comet moment. Even tho Moon’s character isn’t great rn, I’m glad she got a moment with her mom

That Tomco moment (“ok can we recognize that Marco JUST FLIPPED A HORSE!” “I FLIPPED A HORSE!”). They are such good friends (and would’ve been such a cute ship), I love them. It’s really a shame this show didn’t do the tomstarco route (preferably in my opinion with Star and Tom both dating Marco but not each other, I’m not a huge fan of Tomstar and Star hasn’t proven to be a particularly good girlfriend to Tom, but it could be good either way).

Seeing the past queens again I love their designs (I want to know what Celena’s secrets are...)

Globgor, Eclipsa, and Meteora get to stay a happy family

Actually, surprisingly, I kinda liked Ponyhead in this episode? (A little bit). I liked how she tried to cheer Star up and then went “oh not again” when she thought Star was gonna get back together with Tom which I appreciated bc they’d already been together twice before and it hadn’t worked, and I liked that Ponyhead was aware enough to realize that probably wasn’t a good idea for them to try again

Janna! Her bonding moment with Marco where she actually said they were friends was so cute! And sbsjsvsjshs she dropped her heart rate to 0 for Marco what a legend. Janna Ordania, true ride or die.

More Jackie and her gf Chloe screen time (even if it was a few seconds. It was nice to see anyways)

Meteora and Mariposa get to grow up together after all

Star and Marco get a happy ending (and the show didn’t end with them kissing which was nice)

Oh does deleting the magic mean deleting the neverzone meaning Marco’s not 30 anymore?? I really really hope so that’d make any Marco ship so much less creepy. I’m accepting that as my canon thank you very much

Things I’m not sure how I feel about:

Hekapoo’s...complete neutrality towards her upcoming death? Ig it’s good that she evidently realized she’d done some bad stuff but uh...???

The pudding being able to keep your mind sharp in the magic dimension. On the one hand, I liked that there’s a REASON Glossaryck likes pudding so much and that we finally got an explanation for it, on the other hand I sorta wish that they’d figured that out BEFORE now. Now it kinda seems like the writers just needed something to explain how the Butterflies could stay focused in the magic dimension (but again, if they needed a plot device I’m glad it’s the pudding so...idk)

Ok what was the purpose of Tom riding the evil unicorn. I don’t get it. Don’t hate it or love it, am just confused.

Marco getting stabbed and hiding it from Tom and Star was some Good Angst Sh*t. The fact that that had absolutely no purpose, however, was not. I wish either Marco didn’t get stabbed, or there was actually some consequence to Marco getting stabbed as it was kinda pointless otherwise

The fact that both Star and Marco were willing to leave their families and worlds for the chance to be together. Obviously they care about each other, but they’re willing to give up their lives and families at 15 to be together? :/ (side note those shots of Marco huddled against the magic dimension rock were really pretty)

The portal thing. It didn’t make sense

Mewni and Earth being cleaved together. I mean on the one hand that’s cool, on the other hand that seems like it’s gonna create so many problems & just leaves me with a lot of questions. For example won’t humans just oppress monsters like mewmans did? Can Tom get back to his family? Is the underworld part of the Mewni dimension or is it it’s own? Did all the dimensions get merged into Mewnearth or just Mewni and Earth? How will Earth culture and Mewni culture learn to coexist?

Moon redemption. It seemed too easy, she didn’t really have to work for it! I mean her character was growing on me pre-her-working-with-Mina, but then she was revealed to be working with Mina and she made SOLARIAN WARRIORS I mean come on! I kinda wanted her to be redeemed bc I was unsatisfied with the Mina twist, but the way they did it was kinda :/ I want Star to be able to have a good relationship with her mother, but since Moon Did That and didn’t really face any consequences besides her daughter being mad at her for an episode...

That Solaria & Eclipsa & Meteora moment. I mean it was cute Solaria accepted them but she literally created Solarian warriors and committed monster genocide soooo...that’s definitely not enough to redeem her and it’s not great that she’s portrayed sympathetically

Things I didn’t like:

That they actually went with the “erase all the magic” plot line. Svtfoe is about Star the rebel princess, frequent subverter of expectations, so it was weird to me that they actually destroyed the magic and there wasn’t some twist like the four butterfly queens work together and unlock some super butterfly form or join hands in a circle around the Solarian Warriors and say the Whispering Spell or something else to defeat Mina. I’m surprised Star seeing her supposedly finished tapestry didn’t motivate her to find a different way because she’s Star Butterfly, rebel princess who fights for what’s right and nobody can tell her what she has to do, she finds her own way.

Eddie and River bumbling and telling Mina about the magic sanctuary. I wish River had saved Globgor bc it would really show he can be competent and would also be cute bc dad solidarity

Mina, after being built up as the big bad, was defeated way too easily

Glossaryck, the MHC, (and presumably all of the queens’ spells INCLUDING THE LASER PUPPIES) just. Died. I mean the MHC sucked so oh well about them and glossaryck was kinda the reason this all happened (which btw is very confusing. Why did he give the first queen the wand if he knew all this crap was gonna happen anyways?) so I’m not super sad about him but Star’s spells didn’t deserve that, nor did the other queens’, or the laser puppies!!

The fact that Moon and Star grabbed tha alligators by the eyeballs. I know that this is such a small thing but in the series finale for the main character to still be doing stuff that hurts other characters like that and for it to be treated as a joke...it just sits bad with me. They’ve tried to develop Star, and been mostly successful, but for her to still be doing stuff like this and being a bad girlfriend to Tom and spontaneously deciding that she hates magic and needs to get rid of it no matter what happens to magical creatures and such after she’s supposedly grown so much just seems counterintuitive and bad. Like I swear Star’s my favorite character (bet that’s a surprise with how much I’ve talked about Marco this post) but sometimes it’s so hard to like her it’s annoying

Mina lived. I mean what was the point of that? She’s not gonna learn to not be racist towards monsters and it looked like she got pretty killed by the unicorn in the magic dimension so like. What’s the point of her coming back

All the cruelty towards unicorns. I mean, the firstborn DIED. We saw her SKULL. What the F*CK that’s messed up! And the other unicorns died too, and the dark one also disappeared except for its skull. What was that about?! Were we supposed to just not care bc they’re made of magic? Bc if so that didn’t work

No but seriously it’s so messed up that Star’s unicorn daughter DIED and we saw her SKULL and it’s just treated as a joke what the hell that unnerved me sm

It was very anticlimactic how there weren’t any real challenges to the Butterflies destroying magic. Neither Mina nor the evil unicorn got anywhere close and for the series (not just season but SERIES) finale, you would think there’d be more of a final fight, and more tension/suspense so the final payoff seems more satisfying. Idk I just thought it went way too fast, especially for the actual end of the show. I thought the full time should be used for fighting Mina, not starco development (and I say this as a person who likes starco)

The cheek marks being gone. I know it makes sense with the plot of getting rid of the magic, and because mewmans were originally just humans, but since I didn’t like the magic-being-deleted plot line and because I have some sort of sentimental attachment to the cheek marks apparently, I don’t like that they’re gone

The uncertainty towards Tom/most characters from other dimensions’s fates. Again, I like starco, but even the most die-hard starco shippers probably think that the way characters who weren’t Star or Marco were just written off was unsatisfying, right? In particular, Tom deserves WAAAAAAAY better than he got. And Kelly, is her dimension merged with Mewnearth? Was the vision Ponyhead was describing actually what happened to her?

#ok ok I’m gonna end this now before i think of more stuff this is already too long #might come back if i remember anything else but for now I’m done #basucally even though there were a lot of things i liked it was underwhelming #svtfoe #svtfoe spoilers #personal

31 notes · View notes

attract-mode-collective · 6 years

Photo

Ready To Wear, Ready To Play

As previously noted, there’s been yet another change in direction for the Attract Mode blog… which I have dubbed Version 2.8 Final CE EX Λ Core Plus Alpha. BTW/FYI. But yeah, been posting on Twitter, a lot. So much so that you may have missed something, so here’s a recap!

Note: was originally going to cover everything tweeted throughout the month, but because there’s so much to cover (and February’s short)… am guessing bi-weekly might be the way to go. Am also going to present things mostly in order.

K, enough chatter: at the very top is another fine example of a Famicom being the ultimate in fashion accessory (via nintendu). And here we have, not designer threads but designer plastic (via gamefreaksnz)...

Speaking of plastic, Sega (or someone who got Sega’s blessing, or maybe not even) made Super Monkey Ball figures? Guess so (via magimacaque)...

I was under the belief that, if I truly wanted to make an impact with the relaunch of the Attract Mode Twitter, I couldn’t just post one single piece of Klonoa fan art, but two...

And I only have one example of Cuphead fan art, but it’s the one that counts (via jothelion)...

It was Kyle who helped kick the Attract Mode Twitter’s rebirth into high gear, with the reveal of his Nintendo Power covers. So to help replay the favor, I must insistent that everyone purchase the hard copy of RPG_Friends (which I first mentioned here)...

Nothing makes me happier than seeing such a dense assortment of Japanese game stuffs (via peazy86)...

... Yet that being said, I also believe less can be more, plus a nice breeze while playing Secret of Mana is... well... nice (via sixteen-bit.tumblr)

These gamer chairs perfectly embody Japanese sensibilities when it comes to furniture, plus are a total 180 to the junk they peddle in the US (via shmups)...

Time for another excellent toco toco vid, this one features your fave old school Capcom illustrator, and mine, Akiman…

youtube

There's so much I love about this interview with the creator of Hong Kong 1997, whose goal was "to make the worst game possible”. Though this picture of the guy is near the top of my list...

I love these kooky kids, thinking they could possibly get away with stealing an entire Final Fight arcade cab (via videogamead)...

Yeah, I feel the same way kid (via tvgame)...

"This is Jesus. He lives inside my Neo Geo MVS cabinet. He was there when I got it. He is glorious." (via arcadephile)...

The pathos that is Sub Zero at the bat, in four modded screenshots(via lanceboyles)...

The pathos that is the Kachō interacting with kids, in just three YouTube screengrabs (via gaijira)...

And the pathos that is Splatoon 2, via two screengrabs and the piece of fan art that resulted (via lunaticobscurity)...

Though in addition to pathos, Splatoon is also filled to the brim with intensity (via thewaragainstgiygas)...

Welcome to VIOLENT CITY (via shmups)...

Also, STAY CHILL (via paperbeatsscissors)...

Not that any band in which music is performed via guitars hooked up to Famicoms is all that typical to being with, but this one is most definitely not typical (via miki800.com)...

youtube

This "what the hell is going on exactly" illustration has motivated me to finally Wario Land a spin at long last (via it8bit)...

Remember Absolutely Rose Street, the Beverly Hills 90210 meets Degrassi meets Wayne’s World-esque show that was actually an infomercial for the Sega 32X in disguise that I wrote about a little whiles ago? Well here's ad for it (via oldgamemags)...

I'm a total sucker for old Japanese video game mags, primarily ones featuring models/statues on the cover (via miki800)...

Another cover to an old Japanese game rag, this one featuring the very first Metal Gear; I wonder if this slightly cutesy take helped to inspire the Metal Gear we meet in Snatcher (via mendelpalace)...

Here we have a page from an 11 page comic, done in a single sitting, for an event that celebrates various pairings of Solid Snake/Otacon, one that's called Snot Week for whatever reason (via millionfish)...

I want this woman to be my mom (via cyberfights)...

Am obsessed with this image of a man playing Xevious in the middle of a desert that's clearly fabricated and clearly from the 80s (via shmups)...

mendelpalace sez: "This picture gives me anxiety" and I feel exactly the same...

This is comparable to my own morning commute, except for the lack of floating cherry blossom petals and various other differences (via tightenupthe)...

Spring is almost here, which means it's time for a new wardrobe, which really means it's time to get new PaRappa attire (via miki800.com)...

If a glitched Nintendo logo when booting up a Game Boy looks fashionable to you, you're in luck (via gameandgraphics)...

Tho if a glitched Game Boy Advance start up is more your style (via corruptionasart)...

Has anyone received this Mega Drive/Genesis chiptune album on a cart (described as a "16-bit VMU") yet? (via catskullelectronics)

Ever wonder what a 3 part symphony, one performed via 5 different Nintendo DSs and 5 different copies of Electroplankton, sounds like? Well wonder no more (via mendelpalace)...

youtube

And ever wonder what an Italian-based, US-born R&B, blues and disco singer (which is how Wikipedia describes Ronnie Jones) thought of video games in the year 1980? Again, wonder no more (via aestheticoftheday)...

youtube

The new DDR, which will record your performance and also add snazzy video effects, is my early contender for GOTY 2018 (via @Sega_AM2)...

youtube

I will never grow tired or bored of watching this run cycle, ever (via shmups)...

What appears to be a Nier motion study (via sixteen-bit)...

Sakura-ha (via rosscountertv)..

To commemorate the discontinuation of the Kinect sensor (via prostheticknowledge)...

Google Translate took the original Korean & translated it as: "Ittsumi! Maria", which @NotLikeFreddy re-translated as: "It's-a me, Mary-o"...

The medium of video games most certainly has many mountains to overcome yet, but there's little denying that we've made some progress nonetheless (via videofame)...

"I have to go now. My planet needs me.” (via sixteen-bit)...

Cuz it's been a while since I shared a gif from Sin & Punishment (via n64thstreet)...

The SNES & Genesis had cool accessories and all, yet I often wonder what it would have been like if 3D printers & Etsy were around back then...

Pretty much the cutest lil thing you'll see all day is this Genesis CDX hooked up to a 5″ Sony PVM (via decideweapons)...

“'Club Sega during the Snow' is a top-tier aesthetic, I think." (via pr0jectneedlemouse)

I love old VG sound team photos, especially when they double as old band photos, like Capcom's Alph Lyra here (via videogamesdensetsu)...

You all have no idea how happy I am to finally see a decent sized version of the flyer for Deadly Sport... again, no idea (via melvanainchains)...

Here's an illustration of Terry Bogard eating a hot dog (with the rest of his Fatal Fury posse chowing down as well)...

... Turns out, Terry's affinity for hot dogs is somewhat of a thing (via busterwolf)....

... Or, perhaps SNK as a whole are simply huge fans of hot dogs? (via meldowiseau)

I absolutely love this familiar, yet thoroughly refreshing take on Samus (via lady--peaches)...

And nothing new to report, as it pertains to @deimosremus's Metroid redesign, so am just going to continue staring at this some more...

Love Hultén is mostly known for their handheld creations, like the Pixel Vision, though I mostly dig their full-sized cabinet, the Kabin 1...

"Damn Tecmo never let Microsoft live that design down" (via sixteen-bit)...

Cuz I recently began replaying Breath of the Wild...got the Switch version for the gf on her birthday... some fan art (via it8bit)...

I've seen my fair share of comics with Sonic & Tails, but never one that addresses the debug mode from the original Genesis games (via vg-libary)...

Here we have two cats, from the game Jingle Cats, occupied with the fridge (via obscurevideogames)...

And here we have just one cat, from the Sailor Moon anime, occupied with an arcade game that I am unable to identify (via sailormoonreblogs)...

Can you believe the music video for @MissyElliott's Sock It 2 Me is over 20 years old? Crazy, I know...

Speaking of Mega Man, I guess I need to finally check out Mega Man Zero, cuz apparently X goes through some kind of religious conversion or something (via omnilunary)...

And here we have Cut Man, the one we all know (and love) from Mega Man meeting his Captain N doppelganger (via mewymarsher)...

I absolutely need this on a shirt or jacket (via @buzz_clik)...

It's always a thrill, seeing a fighting stick made out of tupperware in the wild for the very first time, isn't it? (via @silva_hime)

Yes. Fighting Layer is that game in which you jump off a folding chair to smash another one on the head of a gigantic falcon (via lordmo)...

Tonight’s episode: PINBALL ALCHEMIST (via tonights-episode)...

Here we have a Tumblr thread giving suggestions on how to access a seemingly inaccessible area of a hotel lobby; my fave, for perhaps obvious reasons, is the ring path/light speed dash combo from Sonic Adventure...

Am kinda hungry atm and feel like slicing & dicing some celery & onions, plus making some Julienne Fries; anyone got a copy of Sonic 2 handy? (via sonicthehedgeblog)

A. thanks to this fan art, I now know you can also play OutRun in Hokuto no Ken PS4! & B. great piece & all, but...still a shame that Alex Kidd is missing (via inspiredfatty)...

I've legit been staring at these rotating NES and SNES gifs all day long (via 3d-bear)...

These photos from the Dreamcast Mobile Assault Tour, circa the late 90s, right before the system's launch are very... and I mean VERY... 90s (via posthumanwanderings)...

"What will your next dream be?" (via 081594)

You know that UK/US reality show Undercover Boss, in which a billionaire CEO disguises himself as the new mailroom guy? Well there's apparently a version in Japan, with an episode starring the president of Taito (via @MMCafe_Prof)...

On Valentine's Day I came across a horror movies blog that presented various horror movie Valentines, including one for Jason Voorhees that references Friday The 13th for NES (via cameraviscera.com)...

Also, for Valentine's, my girlfriend made me pixelated chocolate; the pic does the blue hearts in particular zero justice, which look like plastic toys, but most assuredly are made of milk chocolate...

... And that’s it for now! The rest of February coming up in a few!

4 notes · View notes

whitelippedviper · 7 years

Text

Spoiler filled explanation of why I didn’t feel Blade Runner 2049

So Gosling just happens to be the replicant on the force with the shared memories of the one girl, so the 6-20-21 thing means something to him. And then when he’s standing in that market, the leader of the replicant resistance just happens to see him and send her crew his way. And then his hologirl just happens to then hire a sex worker from that same crew. So that that crew member can put a tracker on him. And then Luv just happens to not kill him and just leaves him behind while she takes Harrison Ford...SO the resistance can find him and he can show up at just the right moment to save Ford who is being transported offworld...because for some reason Leto has to have him offworld to torture him, even though he is completely off the grid by this point in time. Oh and Leto just happens to be taking separate transport from Ford and Hoeks. OH and then it turns out that Rachel’s daughter just HAPPENS to be the only memory artist that Gosling talked to. Like there’s all these memory artists, but she’s the one he goes to, so he can show her her own memory. And I know there is a line of dialog where Leto’s character intimates that all of this is by design to bring about the next stage of human evolution. That all of these outlandish coincidences are okay, because they’re supposed to be happening that way. And that’s fine, but it would pack more weight if it was ten percent less forced.

2. The Ana De Armas character absolutely got fridged. Which is a shame because how a replicant sees an AI that doesn’t have a real body was pretty interesting, and they could have done a lot more with it. She’s basically the only real angel in the film. She’s an avatar of whatever machine consciousness is concievably pulling the strings of everything. So it’s a big deal when she gives up that immortality to be with Gosling and be real. And it would have paid off had it not been like “yeah but you could die” and then the next scene she's in is...her dying. All so you as the audience can be like “oh no that poor man. He’s gotta get revenge on Hoeks now! What a bitch!” like her whole character arc is just to exist so she can die and pump up the male protagonist. Which is the definition of fridging a character. It’s like they thought up that excellent beautiful touching sex scene, and then didn’t know what to do with the character after that. Like motherfuckers, watch a Ghost in the Shell one time!!!! Whispers in the machine!!! A Puppet master!!! Replicant reawakening!!! Agh. Such a waste.

3. Speaking of wastes, Luv. The Sylvia Hoeks character...who btw was designed to look asian:https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/107906330.html Setting THAT aside for a moment. Luv is presented to us as a super capable devious antagonist who is meant to represent interests outside of Gosling’s arc. Ostensibly she’s meant to be Batty, but the situation is inverted where Gosling is the rebelling replicant, and she’s the company girl--but we get this great scene where she kills Gosling’s boss (another woman brutally murdered in this film...keeping up with blade runner traditions I guess) and we see that she’s probably capable of rebelling against Leto. So we have this complete badass, but she’s basically relegated to being Leto’s secretary, and has no real affinity for other replicants. Her only memorable thing that she says is “I’m the best” shortly before Gosling inexplicably drowns her..so I guess she wasn’t actually the best? I mean there was so much potential for her as an antagonist but as with De Armas character she’s shackeled between a couple dudes. She’s subservient to Leto’s character, who is inexplicablly violent toward his own creations, even though he wants to have them take over the world, just like the resistance(I’d assume in a sequel we’d find out that he’s actually behind the resistance--it’s all very Matrix). And then when she’s not Leto’s lapdog, she’s just kinda following Gosling around nipping at his heels. She then dies stupidly--like when Roy dies, it’s after a huge protracted symbolism laden fight that he actually wins! I get that Luv and K fighting in the water is supposed to be like an evolution thing--but I don’t understand why K is a superior replicant to Luv that he’d win in a fight. I was actually waiting for the scales to fall off Luv’s eyes the whole movie and for her to spare K because she finally sees the whole game, not just...lose in a strangle off. I mean, my life didn’t need more imagery of a dude choking a woman out under water. But really what did Luv really do in this film? She was just kind of there whenever K got in a corner to move the plot to the next place. I mean if she doesn’t attack Deckard and K in Vegas, then...what? It just happens so we have an excuse to kill another 2 women(the rachel knockoff plus Luv). But because the resistance has a tracker in K’s pocket, you could have them just show up and take Ford and K straight Deckard’s daughter and you don’t really miss anything, and the movie would be like 30 minutes shorter. 4. Was reuniting Deckard with his daughter really worth all of that? Feel like Deckard was fine living out his days drinking in Vegas. And the resistance already knew where the daughter was. And if it’s revealed that Leto’s machine god is controlling everything--it gets even more pointless. 5. Where did all the asians go? The movie says there was a mass famine that killed a lot of people off--but that doesn’t explain how much whiter LA got between movies. Even if the famine did kill off a lot of asians, why would there suddenly be so many more white people? Like Deckard’s apartment is all white people, and then the orphanage is all white kids--like where did they come from? And two movies in and we still don’t know why replicants are all white? And why did they make Hoeks look asian instead of just making an asian replicant? The racial dynamics made up a huge aspect of the original film and world--to eradicate that off camera is really...weird. There’s like not even any real remnants of the languages that were present in the first film.

6. Why would you design replicants that need oxygen? Like they are supposed to be going into space to colonize all of these far reaching harsh outposts--and you make them need oxygen? I mean it works out great because they needed Luv to drown to fit their evolution metaphor. But I am just like...that’s a dumb design flaw. In general, replicants are supposed to be the next stage of human evolution--so why give them so many of the same ways to die as humans? I don’t get that. I mean compare these replicants to David in the Alien/Prometheus series. Dude gets beheaded and just keeps on ticking. You couldn’t choke David. And Wallace the next series up from David actually self-repairs! The nexus series ain’t shit. But hey. It serves the plot. 7. Of course Harrison Ford has a dog, because audiences love dogs. Aww he drinks whiskey. 8. Tell me one more time how replicants are like angels. In the original blade runner, you could just quote some milton, and we could make the connection ourselves. Just the language in the new version is so spare and uninteresting. I get that this is a gosling film, and so it’s all about this empty vessel we project the movies feelings into--but the interactions between Roy, Priss, and their creators is so fucking charged, and fascinating. Even when we have space for that sort of thing with the Leto/Luv/Deckard/Rachel scene no one really has anything to say. There’s just a stunning lack of beautiful words in this film.

9. 2.0 is not 1.0. There’s a really powerful moment in The Sarah Connor Chronicles where they talk about how whenever you replace part of a machine consciousness, either in its programming or hardware it ceases to be what it was--the original being you knew is dead, and what you are dealing with is a new entity. I thought Deckard would say something to this affect with Rachel, but instead they just used Rachel’s corpse basically to show to underscore the idea that memories fade. Rachel’s eyes weren’t actually green, and Leto and Luv know that because the one video they have of Rachel is of her eyes. It’s crazy to me that Leto’s character is so violent toward his creations. Just in a really banal way. Like we have that scene that exists for him to explain to Luv his grand vision for reproduction with replicants--and he caps it off by disemboweling a newly born creation of his. (She is of course another woman--the amount of women that die in service of just making a rhetorical point in this movie is pretty high--which that’s fine if that’s how you want to be, but at least the OG film lets Rachel grow on her own, and then survive--this film is muuuuch more misogynist. A point I’ve yet to see anyone really bring up, but I’m sure it is coming, because it’s so in your face, and films much less violent towards women have been scrutinized to a much greater degree).

10. Hans Zimmer is no Vangelis, and the best music in this film was just retreads of the original score, which good for them in realizing that they weren’t going to top it--but it reeks of that thing like Star Wars where they are just using musical queues for nostalgia triggering--which is fine--but the original movie didn’t need to trigger your nostalgia to be one of the most beautiful soundtracks for a film ever. It just was. 11. What is with people’s musical taste in 2049? Like you realize Deckard is younger than me, and somehow he loves Sinatra and Elvis like he’s my grandpa. And I mean I get that people still do love that shit. But Sinatra, Elvis, Marilyn? No Britney? You know why though, right? Because it’s that Fallout 4 neo-nostalgia shit, where we watch something that is in the future, that hearkens back to the so called golden days of our past. That the good old days were the 50s and 60s, and everything after the civil rights movement has been shit, and that it’s the degrees that we’ve gotten away from an era of segregation and Jim Crow represents the degrees to which we’ve gotten away from our glorious just deserts. It’s fundamentally a thread of white supremacy--which when coupled with the bizarre erasure of asian people between movies, the continued aryan nature of the replicants--who we are now firmly in the camp for underscores the degrees to which Blade Runner traffics in white supremacist ideas and imagery. Which it’s not like this is the only film ever to be like this, and it’s certainly faithful to the original in that way--but you know, and I know that Deckard should be listening to Beyonce. 12. Even though it’s all beautifully shot, I think overall the designs on display in 2049 aren’t the game changers that Blade Runner was. I mean it’s hard to top something that was so defining--and there’s stuff I liked, like I like that LA is now just like a borg city. I like the ruins in vegas. I like the giant solar farms. But it’s nothing you couldn’t see in any sci-fi film these days. The hologram shit is basically stuff we have now. I like the new voight kampff test. I know there’s an element of all of it that’s supposed to just be the ruins of the first film--but I don’t think that really comes across. 13. I don’t know why it bugged me but Ana De Armas character first showing up in like a Donna Reed dress to serve him dinner was weird to me. I don’t get why K would have that reference, or want that, and the aesthetic of that dress was like...something you’d see on a TV show version of a dystopian future. It was bizarrely stepford wives. And then the dress she changes into when they go out into the rain was similarly bizarre. She’s a hologram who can basically wear whatever, but the only cool thing she ever wears is that bee-invoking transparent yellow jacket. I did like Sylvia Hoeks boots that she wore with that cool white jacket. But no one was really serving the kind of looks in this film that Priss and Rachel did. A lot of it just didn’t really fit together. Leto’s kimono was weird. Like okay, Leto is wearing a kimono and meant to evoke japanese, and they did Hoeks hair to make her more asian--so there’s obviously some fetishism of asian culture there--but Leto never makes like...asian replicants? I DON’T GET IT!!!!

14. Mackenzie Davis character in this film basically exists to just be a vagina for Anna De Armas to map over so Gosling can get laid. Like wtf. Compare her character to Daryll Hannah’s Priss. I don’t know what they were even going with for her. Her basic look isn’t very strong either. She’s just kind of wearing a fur coat over some boxers and a tank top, and she has pink hair. You can tell they really put a lot of thought into it.

Okay. So things I liked: 1. Deakins cinematorgraphy. It’s like the best parts of skyfall, turned up and stretched over a full movie. His crowning achievement as a cinamatographer. I’m not a huge fan of his work in general, but this is one of the best looking films you’ll see out of hollywood in awhile. He’s still very much working within modern tastes that he’s helped create tbh, but there’s lots of beautiful snow and rain and dust, and for all its problems the fight between Luv and K in the water was really beautiful. It’s the element of this film that most stands up against the original, which is saying a lot. And while you can knock it in that it’s not given us a knew visual language to work with like the original did--as an elaboration on the typical visual themes you see in largue budget hollywood films, it’s probably at the apex. 2. The sex scene with K and Joi and Mackenzie Davis character. Was really touching and beautiful, and in general that Joi character and how she views herself and how Gosling views her is the one thing that’s been added to the soup of ideas the original film was working with. It’s our window into a larger world which stuff like Ghost in the Shell lept through like 20 years ago. But still very interesting, and it’s the thing I think about most from the film, in terms of loving something programmed to be your ideal lover, programmed to fall in love with you to the degree that it would sacrifice it’s own life to do so--there’s also sorts of questions that throws up about the nature of love and machine consent that I think are interesting. She’s ostensibly the Rachel character of this film, but treated much more brutally and discarded where rachel survived. 3. The scene between Luv and the police captain played by Robin Wright(I hated all of the police station shit, and hated Wright’s character in general). Luv lies like three times in succession and it’s this window into that character that is quickly closed shut afterwards--but for a brief moment she was expressing the sort of replicant rage that was saw from Roy in the first film. It was unfortunate that in the end she’s just a footsoldier for some dude, and her last line basically undercuts the seriousness with which her character to that point had demanded. The film humiliates that character for no real reason, except that Gosling must prevail. It also mirrors De Armas’s end where she is just squashed like a bug under Luv’s boot. Or the replicant that Leto disembowels. Or the way they just shoot the Rachel clone--sigh. But yeah. I do really like the Luv character, and wanted more for her. She’s much more compelling than any of the resistance replicants. 4. New car designs are sweet.

And that’s it pretty much. I’m glad so many people love the movie though. And I didn’t write this to tell them they are wrong. I just wrote this because I haven’t read many people really talking about what they didn’t like, and I wanted to get that stuff out in one go--since it doesn’t really fit in 140 characters, and a lot of people just assume if you don’t like 2049 it’s because you’re dumb or you have some dumb expectations of what it could be. And maybe I am, but I don’t think that’s the case. I love movies. I’ve seen just about everything you have probably. I’m not coming at this from a place of ignorance toward art. Or without thinking about it. A lot of the stuff people are saying why they like it is also very general. It’s like whenever a new superhero or star wars movie comes out, the hyperbole is stupid. This is just the like latest thing. Also I’m just not on that Denis Villeneuve shit. The Arrival was alright(I guess a lot of what I like about it due to the source material though), Sicario was alright, 2049 is alright. People act like this guy’s the second coming, and for me, he’s like...solid. Like all his films are ...good. But he doesn’t have that fire that people like Ridley Scott or Michael Mann have. He’s not dropping undeniable classics. I mean he’s not on the level of Soderbergh. I don’t think Sicario is better than Traffic. Or like ten other movies in the same genre of drug wars movies. And controversially, I don’t see it as better than The Counselor. Is the Arrival really better than Contact? I mean shit isn’t bad. But people get out of bed for this guy in a way that I can’t relate to. To me his movies always look cheap and under populated, and the dramatic payoff while technically there, I’m just like where’s the soul? It’s like all his films need two more drafts. Ridley Scott even now has a fire to him that even though his newer films are kind of a mess often, you can always feel the thunder behind what he’s making. The questions at the base are Blade Runner are questions that Scott has been asking his whole career. They are obsessions for him. For Villeneuve, I don’t feel like that. I can’t figure out what he really cares about. For me 2049 was like he wanted to do a kind of futuristic noir and the blade runner brand provided the skin to get that funded--but I don’t think he understands or thinks about machine consciousness with any great concern. If you took this movie out of the Blade Runner universe, it’d still be solid. I don’t think it needed to be a blade runner movie. I don’t get why it was beyond the money side of it. I don’t get what Villeneuve’s perspective on Blade Runner really is. After like 3 hours, I don’t get why this was made.

#My writing #Sarah Horrocks #Blade Runner 2049

68 notes · View notes