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ultrahpfan5blog · 2 years

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Thor: Love and Thunder - an enjoyable but ultimately disappointing experience

So a bout of Covid put me a week late in catching up with Thor: Love and Thunder. Having read the reviews and reactions, I had tempered my expectations to something reasonable after being initially very excited with the Ragnarok team coming back for another Thor movie. But still, I had decent sized expectations because I have had a higher opinion of some of the Phase 4 films than some. I quite liked DS2. I thought it felt fresh and different. Taika hasn't put a foot wrong in the last several years, with Jojo Rabbit being a masterpiece imo. I really liked Ragnarok and thought it was easily the best of the Thor movies. However, I did feel a sense that Taika is the sort to go for the joke when in a decision to play a moment straight and get the dramatic emotion vs undercutting it to elicit a laugh, he would always go for the latter, to the movie's detriment. That is one of the reasons that I had some issue with GOTG2 as well. Unfortunately, Thor: Love and Thunder definitely falls into that flaw.

Without getting into deep spoilers, the flaws in Love and Thunder basically fall into two categories. One is lack of screen time and one is tonal inconsistency. Love and Thunder might be the lightest movie tonally in the MCU in recent times. Certainly the lightest in Phase 4. However, it is a movie also dealing with Jane dying with Stage 4 cancer and of a villain butchering Gods, who is reacting from the grief of losing his daughter and the apathy of the gods to his plight. Both of these stories have potential to be heartwrenching in their own ways, but neither is given the screen time it deserves. Part of that genuinely feels like Taika doesn't know how to incorporate these serious storylines into the lighthearted romp that he wants, but this is the same man who managed to tell stories of Nazi Germany with bittersweet humor. Somehow he never seems to be able to juggle the tones here. Jane's cancer is given token treatment. As in, it is shown as little as possible to tell the audience that this is something that is happening, and the rest of the time it is something that fades into the background until it becomes important. The Gorr the God Butcher issue is possibly even worse handled, because we literally see only one god die on screen. Everything else about what Gorr has been doing is told to us is via 3rd party. Its a particularly odd way to deal with a villain played by one of the best working actors today who is giving it his all. If there was a definition of an actor being too good for the role he's in and massively elevating an underwritten role, it is Christian Bale as Gorr.

On top of this, Taika needs to learn the act of restraint when it comes to a joke. There are several occurrences of a joke which is played one two many times. The screaming goats, for example, is pretty funny when they first appear and the first few times. But by the end it does start to get annoying. Same with the love triangle with Thor, Stormbreaker, and Mjonir. Its a joke that is funny the first couple of times but the film revisits the joke too many times. There are jokes rehashed from Ragnorok, like the skit played by well known actors, which is just not that funny the second time around, or scenes which should have been played straight for emotional impact, like Thor reuniting with Sif. Additionally, a lot of whether you feel the substance of this movie depends on whether you care for the Thor and Jane relationship. Unfortunately, while this film does a better job than either Thor or Thor: TDW with that relationship, it still doesn't change the fact that the two actors really don't have much chemistry together and thus its really hard to care about their romance. There are very important character beats and power abilities that are very important in this film that really come from nowhere.

Obviously, not everything is bad. The humor works for the most part. The action is excellent and the last act is pretty good. The entire section in Omnipotence City is gold with Russell Crowe having a scene stealing presence. The actors are all game, if not particularly challenged. Chris Hemsworth is at ease when asked to play this comedic version of the character. But I can't help but feel that the full range of the character already got explored between Ragnarok to Endgame. Natalie Portman is the most engaged she has been in the role, but you feel she could have done more if she had the material. Tessa Thompson is great, though again a bit wasted and not given much of an arc. Taika himself is there as Korg and is a hoot. Christian Bale is the clear standout for me even though he has just 5 scenes. He seems to be operating in a different movie at times, because he's clearly committing to the creep factor of the character and it really bums me out that he's so underwritten because he had everything required to be a top tier MCU villain. His scenes are what you remember the most.

In the end, this isn't a terrible movie, but honestly, this feels like a rather unsubstantial movie, even within the context of the Thor franchise. The first Thor was incredibly important in the setup to the Avengers, Thor: TDW, for all its flaws, ended up being an important chapter in the Infinity Saga and introduced the reality stone and was revisited in Endgame, and Ragnarok changed the status quo of Thor and Asgard quite massively. This film doesn't feel like it really changes or introduces anything in the MCU. I'll like to see again and see if I like it more the second time around. Right now, its like a 5.5-6/10

#thor love and thunder #thor 4 love and thunder #thor 4 #thor odinson #thor #jane foster #korg #valkyrie #zeus #gorr the god butcher #chris hemsworth #natalie portman #tessa thompson #taika waititi #christian bale #russell crowe #marvel cinematic universe #mcu phase 4

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ribbons-in-autumn · 4 months

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MY 2023 MEDIA ROUNDUP

I've read a lot of manga in 2023. I've watched some things in 2023. Here's my roundup of some of the best ones. Screenreader users I don't know how image ID descriptions work so I'm just gonna type out the text on the image.

Part 1 - Manga

There is no good manga that came out (or rather, started publication) in 2023. But here are some of my favourites that continued (or ended) publication.

Dungeon Meshi (ended publication) - An incredibly heartwarming story about family, adventure, and cuisine. Full of heart of traditional fantasy stories with an impeccable worldbuilding that accentuates its excellent characters.

Skip and Loafer (currently publishing) - Kindness and niceness doesn't always go hand in hand, but this story reminds you that everyone has the capacity for good. Its complex characters scheme, doubt themselves, keep secrets, confide in each other, tell jokes, keep busy, and do all the things that make them feel human and real.

Ikoku Nikki (ended publication) - Tearjerking, heartwrenching, cathartic. This story depicting life and grief makes me cry like no other, but it is not about sadness. It is about love, it is about awkwardness, it is about embarassment, it is about everything that keeps people going, that keeps us alive.

Medalist (currently publishing) - Something a bit different from the others, this is an underdog sports story, with wonderfully written characters and gorgeous art, it tells a story of grit, tenacity, and the hope that those feelings bring about. The main and deuteragonist characters are definite standouts at the cost of rather shallow side characters. Still, it's probably the best sports story in recent manga history, though.

The following are manga I read in 2023, but may be published earlier. Exercise caution as I'm too lazy to describe them.

Q.E.D. Shoumei Shuuryou - Case of the week mystery

Ohana Holoholo - Tearjerker story about former lovers who come to raise a child together

Ace of the Diamond - Baseball

Look Back - Growing pains and the horrors of being an artist

20th Century Boys - Insane goose chase conspiratorial mystery about a cult-driven coming apocalypse

Billy Bat - Supernatural thriller about international conspiracies based around a cartoon bat

Bokura no Funkasai ('Our Eruption Festival') - How two very different people handle their lvies being upended by a miracle

Tengoku Daimakyou ('Heavenly Delusion') - Post-post-apocalypse story about a country trying to rebuilt from its mysterious ashes

Sousou no Frieren ('Frieren: At Journey's End') - Longing, desire, regrets, and doing menial tasks for shit pay

Karakida-ke no Koshogurashi ('The Karakida Family's Life Among the Old Books') - Three sisters live together under the roof of their grandfather's antique bookstore

Part 2 - Movies

I'm not gonna claim I'm a regular moviegoer. Here's my best two out of ten movies I watched from this year:

Killers of the Flower Moon - This was my first Scorcese film and it did not disappoint. The direction and acting kept me repulsed at all times. I applaud them for portraying such an utterly unlikable protagonist. Lily Gladstone rocked.

Oppenheimer - Nolan's style of editing adds to the chaos of the story. The quick, sudden cuts from all the concurrent plotlines really lends itself well to how the story plays out. Cillian Murphy slayed.

Here's other movies which may have come out earlier:

Theatrical Revue Starlight (2021)

Dungeons & Dragons (2023)

The Handmaiden (2016)

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time (2021)

Part 3 - Shows

Which is mostly anime. Sorry.

The Bear (Season 2) - People trying to live their best lives in the fine dining industry past their traumas and hardships. It is very stressful emotionally, but also really cathartic.

BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! - Five girls, each 'lost' in their own way, find solace and comfort in music and each other's company. Within this idol anime lies so much heart and passion, it's no wonder Bushiroad has released countless merch of them.

These ones are all from 2023, I just don't want to write abot them.

Succession (Season 4) - Thrilling conclusion to the four season saga of this royal fuck-up of a family taking the world possible path on every crossroads

Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (Season 2) - A horribly rushed but still good ending of the main couple's storyline (and Guel). I just wish it was a 39-episode anime with a movie

Skip and Loafer - Incredibly faithful adaptation that stays true to the original while improving upon the already excellent characters

Heavenly Delusion - This anime is just straight up a better delivery of the first four books of the manga

Overtake! - NYOOOOOM! Also, great character writing.

#ribbons.txt #2023 media roundup #long post

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undertale-data · 3 years

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Closing Remarks

Feelings about the Survey

Ficus Licker: Thank you guys for taking our survey. When we started this project, it was just for fun, and I thought maybe a couple hundred or so people would take it. Receiving over 2500 responses was amazing and allowed us to view more accurate trends across the fandom. Everyone has been super nice and supportive throughout this project, including my fellow contributors. They’re great at reminding me to get sleep and not go too crazy stupid trying to do everything at once. There’s a limit to the amount of things you can do today, after all.

Vessel #1: I never expected this to get so big either. I’m just very glad for all the support we got throughout the event, both from the team, and every single one of you! It’s true that no research can be done without flaws, but this was a really good experience overall and I hope you guys liked being a part of it as much as we did.I felt like working with the team was amazing. Hell, I’m starting the Ficus Licker and Vessels [and redacted] fan club, because they’re brilliant people and it’s surprising they can still stand me. It’s like working on a group project where everyone does their part and it flows almost perfectly jsjsjs.

I’m excited to see how people react to our work, or if they motivate others to do their own events. Whatever it is, I’m rooting for all of you!

Vessel #2: Being a part of this survey has been a delight. I was technically the one who came up with the idea, but I wasn’t expecting my teammates to step up so hard and put it together so gorgeously. I think we all learned a lot about data analysis, different social media platforms, and graphic design, but for me, the biggest takeaway has been the overwhelming positivity of the fandom’s reactions. At first I was half joking about wanting to study the fandom because I thought statistics were cool, expecting this to be a niche project that a few friends responded to. Instead I was blown away by fans who were just as hyped about the data as I was. It was also the best feeling in the world to read through pages and pages of responses from all over the internet, and realize that so many different people have so much in common with me in their connections to this game. Thank you to everyone who participated, especially to my fantastic fellow Vessel and Ficus Licker, [and redacted if they would like to be credited] for turning my silly math ramblings into such a work of art. <3

Feelings about UNDERTALE

Ficus Licker: I never expected to get this deep into Undertale. I did not know anything about the game before playing it, except that there was a square robot named Mettaton, and that Sans was a meme. I only got it because it was on sale and I thought it would be a simple way to pass some time. And, well, here we are. I’m always a sucker for found family, as well as for video game mechanics influencing plot and/or lore, so it was no surprise that I ended up loving the game so much. I want a found family like the one in Undertale, even if I know that's not realistic haha.

Vessel #1: I honestly do not know what decisions led me here. Maybe it’s that when I played Undertale I was hooked. And I guess I also have a love for surveys, data and just… trying to understand people’s motivations. V2 said something about studying the fandom and I just exploded with the need to do it. Still, in general, Undertale and Deltarune meant a lot to me, they pushed me to be more creative, I found a huge community and met a lot of cool people (like FL, V2, and [redacted] even if they’re really far away). Oh! And as someone who’s terrible at video games, the game mechanics and story always made me stay determined. And that is not even mentioning the music, which is probably what motivated me to try out the games in the first place. Anyways… to cut it short, I love both the game, its story, and music and the people I’ve met because of it, thanks so much!

Vessel 2: I started playing Undertale because my friend was obsessed with it, and I’m so glad I did. The characters are all so fun and complex, and I think about them constantly. And the morals questions brought up by the game are so cool, I keep coming back to them. Still, it also manages to be a neat little game filled with friendly characters and a fabulous soundtrack. I love the depth and heartwrenching scenes, but more than that, I love that they are just… some guys. They are my some guys. Mettaton if you're out there you're doing fantastic.

If you would like to view all of the posts on this blog in google doc format, you are welcome to do so in this google drive folder. Also, our askbox will remain open if fans have questions on collecting fandom data. We will likely not answer all questions, but if you scream into the Void, the Void may scream back.

#closing remarks #undertale fandom census #ficus licker #vessel 1 #vessel 2

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

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The Voyage So Far: Enies Lobby

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

this is still one of my very favorite nami panels. i think she’s really great through all of water 7 and enies lobby in general, actually, even though she isn’t really one of the characters in focus for a lot of it- like zoro and sanji, she stays pretty steadfast and very badass even though everything that happens, and never gives up on robin for a moment despite being one of the ‘weaker’ members of the crew. and it’s always fun to see her playing with lightning.

one of my favorite jokes from the first half or so of enies lobby is the strawhats both being completely unsurprised that luffy charges in ahead of them as soon as they arrive AND being able to find him immediately by following the explosions. they know him so well.

luffy’s never been scared of dying, going all the way back to when he told coby he was fine with dying for his dream back in chapter two or three. that conversation is what his exchange with blueno here reminds me of- blueno asks him how long he intends to keep fighting, and luffy says until he dies, like there’s nothing to it.

it’s always been a trait of his to face death unflinching with a grin, so long as it’s for the sake of something he cares about, be it his crew or his brother or his dream, and i just really like that about him.

i’ll go into it in the dressrosa post too, but i think it’s really impressive just how long oda held off on giving luffy any sort of significant power-up. he gets his first big power boost in the whole series here, forty volumes in. i’ve always liked that oda is very conservative with power boosts like this, because it both keeps the series’ powerscaling in check and makes the times it does happen much weightier. this is a monumental moment, and it feels like it.

also, i love the way gear two is drawn pre-timeskip, especially with the steam. it looks very cool and atmospheric.

i really like how united the strawhat crew feels throughout enies lobby, after all the internal turmoil and discord of water seven. even though the matter of usopp leaving the crew is still unresolved, they’ll all together once more, on the same page, and fully united in the goal of saving robin, whatever consequences it might bring.

the tree of knowledge has such a cool design- it looks massive, and even more than that, it looks old. you look at that tree and you know its been there for easily thousands of years. its seen entire eras of history, and it would be priceless even without the countless books stored inside it.

and then it burns.

i’m so endlessly sad about the tragedy that is robin’s relationship with her mother. they never even got to see each other until their world was ending, and even then only for a couple minutes.

olvia is a very interesting character, because she’s someone who chose her dream over the people she loved. that’s not an inherently good or bad choice, but it is a choice she made, and it’s what led to the ending she and robin had to have. i’ve wondered a lot what might have happened if she chose the other way, if she never left or if she came back sooner or if she chose to flee the buster call with robin, and how different (and almost certainly better) robin’s life would have been if she had.

in a way, olvia reminds me a lot of kouzuki toki. they both die in order to fling a light of knowledge and hope into the future, and they both send their children away and choose to stay behind to choke on ash for the sake of a better tomorrow.

i didn’t really notice until putting these panels together, but a lot of things burn in enies lobby. ohara burns, and the pluton plans and the world government flag, and enies lobby itself, and at the end, the going merry burns, too. if you extend it back to water seven, there’s the galley-la headquarters, too. in an arc that deals so much with the preservation and destruction of history and knowledge, it’s a fitting motif.

the world government flag burning is still to this day one of the most striking panels out of a series full of them, in my opinion. in one act, the strawhats proclaim their absolute defiance against the world government, and their willingness to make enemies of the greatest power in the world for the sake of their friend.

it’s also another one of those moments that’s interesting to think about in the context of luffy’s past. it was a ship flying that same flag that shot sabo down, and while luffy wasn’t there to see it, i don’t think he’s oblivious to that fact, especially given how he says just before this he understands robin’s enemies perfectly.

dadan told him and ace that there was nothing they could do against the whole world, and luffy went and did it anyways.

sometimes i just think about how scary it must have been for robin, someone who’s been weighed down by the shackles of her past with no escape in sight for so very long, to open herself up and let herself hope, for life and freedom and a dream that’s always been out of reach.

franky has a lot of really great moments between this arc and water seven- his conversation with usopp as usopp is working on merry and his talk with robin on the sea train are two others. it’s almost impressive how quickly he becomes an immensely likable character once we start getting to know him, given how he’s first introduced as an absolute piece of shit.

his burning of the pluton plans is a favorite of mine, and i think it might be because, like so many people before and after him, he’s choosing here to stake all his hopes on the strawhats, on luffy’s ability to pull off the impossible and on robin’s goodness. when robin’s only ever been chased and hated and called a demon by the world, franky chooses to trust her and luffy with the legacy his dad died for, and neither of them let him down.

monster point looks SO FUCKING TERRIFYING in enies lobby, and i LOVE it. look at that. franky is seven and half feet tall, and in front of monster point he’s tiny. monster point is huge, and dead-eyed, and a force of absolute destruction. i do kind of wish we got to see chopper go completely feral like this more often. he deserves to be terrifying!

i love how much FAITH all the rest of the strawhats continue to have in usopp throughout enies lobby. he left the crew and they really would have a right to be angry at him if they chose to, but it doesn’t even seem to cross any of their minds. they’re just happy he’s okay, and they include him again without missing a beat, because he’s still their friend and they know down to their bones they can trust him, even after everything.

i’ve always really loved zoro and kaku’s little moment of post-battle banter here- zoro relays paulie’s message about cp9 being fired, kaku says he’s out of a job, zoro tells him to try the zoo, and kaku cracks up.

it feels very real to me for whatever reason, and i think part of it ties back into how well one piece handles morality with its characters- zoro and kaku are genuinely pretty similar people who get along decently, it just happens that they wound up on opposite sides. there are series where you’d never see moments like this due to the lines between good and bad being so firmly drawn, and i love how one piece blurs those lines so much they may as well not exist a lot of the time.

this is the other sequence, along with luffy climbing the drum rockies barehanded, that always makes me physically cringe to look at. it looks so painful. robin is so nearly powerless here, but not quite- she can still buy time for her crew to catch up, even if it’s only seconds, even if she risks shattering her teeth or even her jaw in the process. she’s spent so long giving up and has only just started daring to hope- she’s not about to go gentle.

there aren’t many panels that give me catharsis like this one. there really aren’t.

oda’s villains are usually complicated and awful and often a little admirable, if only for how clever or how terrifyingly powerful they are, but every now and then he comes up with someone who’s just pathetic and cowardly and pointlessly cruel. spandam is like this, obviously, and so is orochi, and the celestial dragons, and i’d argue flampe from whole cake island as well. and there’s nothing like seeing characters like them- weak, cruel people so assured in their own power and rightness- get obliterated.

one of the things i really like about enies lobby is that nobody really gets sidelined- everybody gets multiple chances to shine. luffy, usopp, and obviously robin are the most in focus, obviously, but zoro, sanji, nami, chopper, and even franky all get a bunch of individual awesome moments. oda’s ability to handle his cast satisfyingly is consistently really impressive (if sometimes strained in huge ensemble arcs like dressrosa or wano) and it really shows here, i think.

i just really love the entire climax of enies lobby. much like the arc as a whole, it just feels triumphant, even though the situation is extremely dire. luffy unlocking gear three, robin’s cuffs getting unlocked, usopp shooting spandam and the marines all the way from the tower of justice- it’s all just good, a long chain of much-needed victories and catharses, and it feels very good to read.

i’ll always be impressed by just how much characterization oda manages to give merry, a boat. she’s only really a character in water seven and the end of enies lobby, only about two chapters of which she actually speaks in. and yet i don’t think you’d find a single one piece fan who disagrees that merry’s death is easily one of the most heartwrenching in the entire series.

i love the reactions of the strawhats to robin’s thanks. they’ve just gone through hell to save her, most of them are beat to shit and they all risked their lives, and yet they all just smile, or brush it off, because to them there’s nothing else they could have done. it’s all worth it, so long as they got her back, so long as she’s safe and happy.

merry’s funeral just hits me in the chest every single time i read it. it’s tragic, of course, but there’s also something almost lovely about it, something peaceful about her getting to go out on her own terms, carrying her crew to safety one last time, defying every rule of the universe to do it. just like a strawhat pirate.

oda’s ability to communicate emotion through expressions really comes through here, too. merry has the only lines in this scene, fitting for her death in the limelight, but the shots of every other crewmate’s face let us know at a glance just what they’re all feeling and just how strongly they’re feeling it.

you know, i’d forgotten we only learn the name of the new world after enies lobby. we only get proper exposition about the revolutionary army and the yonkou here, too, despite them being set up since loguetown and jaya (or alabasta, or even chapter one if you count from shanks’s introduction) respectively. oda’s ability to parse out exposition and explanation so we always have just the right amount of information is really impressive- we always have more questions, but we also always have the feeling that those questions have answers, and that sooner or later they’ll be revealed.

points at shanks. i just think he’s neat.

it’s my opinion that one of the great joys of one piece is seeing luffy and the crew rise up in the world, and seeing them gain more and more notoriety. i love nothing they do ever happens in a vacuum- everything has impacts, and there are always outside eyes watching, and often those impacts are things that they never could have predicted.

ace and blackbeard is still, i think, definitely one of the coolest looking fights in the whole series. it’s not all that often we get to see two people with extremely flashy and showy abilities go all-out against each other, and the resulting fireworks are still really something to behold, despite how badly it all ends.

#the voyage so far #one piece #opmeta #long post #arc: enies lobby #arc: post enies lobby #not japanese

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ladyloveandjustice · 3 years

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Fall 2020 Anime Overview

I started out watching the a ton of anime for the Fall 2020 season, but then ended up not being caught up with most of them by the the time the end rolled around. I still pretty much intend to catch up with Yashahime Princess Half Demon someday (I do like the three leads, it just the plot’s been dull as dirt and the fights aren’t very inspired either) and though I dropped Wandering Witch after bad press started rolling in (I CANNOT deal with pointless tragedy in my current state of mind) I might check out a few more episodes someday just to from my own opinion. For now, let’s just quickly review the anime I DID manage to finish on time this season.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle is exactly what it says on the tin: Princess Syalis isn’t too bothered about being captured by demons and locked in their castle, but she does value a good night’s sleep, and she is absolutely ruthless when it comes to getting it- so ruthless, in fact, that the demons realized it might not be that she’s trapped in here with them, but that they’re trapped in here with her.

Sleepy Princess is top tier comedy comfort food. It rarely got a huge belly laugh, but it always but a smile on my face and was a great thing to watch before going to bed. Syalis’s single-minded search for some shut eye is a joke that could have gotten old very quickly, but the show consistently found creative ways to expand on the gags and build it’s world and a fun cast of characters along the way.

Though Syalis is downright brutal to the demons when it comes to getting what she wants (and has a knack for getting herself killed at well), thanks to a demon cleric that offers easy resurrections, you never feel too bad for anyone involved. In fact, the demons and Syalis form a strangely heartwarming bond over the course of the show , and it’s clear by the end that Syalis definitely has the ability to come and go if she damn well pleases and just finds this castle a fun place where she can find respite from her princessly responsibilities.

A nice bonus for those of us who like a little subversion is that the show has a lot of fun playing with standard adventure tropes- the demons often lament that Syalis is not at all what they expected from a captive princess, for one, but my favorite fun little twist is how Syalis feels about the hero currently on a (seemingly endless) quest to rescue her- she manages to both hold him in contempt AND consistently fail to remember his name. That level of disregard takes some impressive effort.

The show has the same director as the Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun anime and as such has a similarly nice comic and visual flourishes throughout. It definitely gets two sleepy thumbs up for me.

Jujutsu Kaisen

Jujutsu Kaisen follows a young man named Yuuji Itadori who, after tangling with a demon, ends up with one inside him. With a death sentence hanging over his head, he’s inducted into a school for “jujutsu sorcerers”, and begins training to use his newfound powers to defeat demons and curses.

Jujutsu Kaisen quickly tells you on no uncertain terms it is Action Shonen, introducing a huge cast of a characters and powers and super high stakes and hey there’s even gonna be a tournament arc soon. It is really, really pretty to look at, with a killer opening and ending, some seriously great animation and cool visuals for the fights especially. But is it particularly memorable otherwise? Noooooot really, so far. The sea of technobabble it tends to descend into when trying to explain how the various powers work often has me zoning out and wishing they’d just let me watch the pretty punches. The villains and the general plot isn’t particularly compelling. The characters are nice enough, but haven’t given me much to be attached to so far. Though I do appreciate this one dude who is the embodiment of millennial ennui:

I’ll keep watching though, because it is a visually stunning, action-y thing to my turn your brain off to and god knows I want to turn my brain off all the time lately.

And the characters do have potential- the One Girl of the main group, Nobara, has a really fun personality in that she’s a total shitlord doofus brawler who can thus doof around with our equally dumbass protagonist, which is an pretty fun, unusual personality for the One Girl to have! Her interactions with Maki, the weapons expert senpai girl, are promising too. I’m just waiting for her to actually, you know, DO something that really shows off her skills- I’m told she DOES eventually get to (gasp) win fights on her own and do cool stuff, but so far show has kind at that of failed miserably and underused her like most action shonen underuse their girls. Plus, taking Yuuji out of the group for such a long stretch seems like a weird choice, we’ve been deprived really seeing him for relationships with his peers. The pacing seems off. But maybe the upcoming tournament arc will make up for that and actually be worthwhile!

Talentless Nana

In a world where kids with superpowers are sent to island schools to fight mysterious “enemies of humanity”, one class of such kids is thrown into chaos when they find themselves targeted by a deadly force.

It’s pretty much impossible to talk about Talentless Nana without discussing how it deviates dramatically from what its premise appears to be in episode one, so I’ll just say if you like stories with superpowers and intrigue, you should definitely sit through that first episode and see if the plot that’s eventually revealed is something that you’re here for. But if you want to avoid spoilers, DON’T GO BELOW THE CUT, because I’m about to get very spoilery.

Basically, Talentless Nana pulls a bait and switch, starting it’s first episode posing as generic superhero anime where the protagonist appears to be your standard meek-but-powerful anime boy (Nanao) who just needs some support and encouragement from a pink haired mind reading manic pixie dream girl (Nana) to unlock his self-confidence and ~true power~ (ugh)...only to take SHARP swerve when Nana ruthlessly murders Nanao and reveals she’s been sent by the government to take out the superpowered kids one by one because THEY are the considered the true enemies of humanity. Oh, and she doesn’t have any superpowers, or “talents”- she was just able to sus out everything Nanao was thinking through basic deductive reasoning because he was so flippin’ obvious and basic.

As my love for a certain character in a certain game may have clued people into, I am ALWAYS delighted when what appears to be a generic, underwritten girlfriend character is then revealed to be an interesting, ruthless mastermind. And having an anime appear to be about a bland boy with a Dream Girlfriend but then actually turn into a show about a deeply cynical, morally dubious girl who’s clearly holding down a lot of messy feelings as she considers everyone her enemy...well, it may be a cheap trick to some, but it also feels a little bit like justice for all the underwritten female characters sacrificed to bland male leads. It’s still rare enough that I dig it when it happens. And the metatext of Nana zeroing in on this kid as the most standard of main character boys, assessing him as the biggest threat because of it and knowing the perfect way to take him out, is pretty inherently funny to me.

But if the show JUST banked on that twist and was about Nana brutally and cynically slaughtering these kids, it would get boring quickly and Nana would be a bland character herself. Fortunately, it doesn’t go that route. Nana struggles and grows a lot over the course of the show. She finds opposition in transfer student Kyoya, a stoic (and socially awkward) young man who pretty quickly becomes suspicious of her. A lot of the tension from the early episodes comes from her sweating as she tries to outmaneuver him and she makes plenty of mistakes along the way. She also slowly but surely starts to question her mission, and we get an idea of her backstory and how the government specifically has groomed her into believing people with powers to be evil. That belief is one that’s challenged by her friendship with another girl, and it’s pretty rewarding to watch Nana’s feelings and world expand little by little.

The show is definitely a little schlocky-some of the plots (as well as the general premise of the government thinking this is the optimal way to get rid of their superpowered kids problem) fall apart if you think too much about them, and some of the kids Nana goes up against are sleazy and unlikeable in over the top ways (which makes it easy for her to stick to her convictions all these kids deserve to die at first). In particular, I have to give a heads up for some sleazy guys doing and saying sleazy things, though the show never gets too overbearing or graphic with it (and the gore is generally PG-13 level as well).

Basically. There are some truly ridiculous happenings in this show. But how ridiculous and pulpy and over the top it is can be part of the appeal, and it’s fun to just sit back and watch the spectacle of Nana and her peers head-scratching machinations.

So, while certainly not an anime with airtight construction or flawless quality and depth, I found Nana an overall entertaining watch, especially as a fan of cat-and-mouse murder-y shenanigans, and thought it has a very compelling main character and managed to end on a heartwrenching (but earned) note. I definitely wouldn’t say no to a second season and would be interested to see where things go from here.

#anime overview #sleepy princess in the demon castle #jujutsu kaisen #talentless nana #munou na nana #maoujo de oyasumi #fall 2020 anime #anime #my reviews

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a-non-ymouswriter · 3 years

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Toby focuses a lot on helping others to the point where he is forgetting himself, doesn’t he? Imagine, Broken Masks au, Puffy suggests for Tommy and Toby to go to Logstedshire. Toby refuses, saying he doesn't need the therapy, but Tommy convinces him since Theo isn't the only one who needs to heal. They go, everything is there including that damn tower. Toby just stares at it trembling, until Tommy puts a hand on his shoulder and says "I'm here big man" and they take down the pillar together.

he’s the type of person to do that yes.

when puffy suggests that toby instantly says no, he can’t go back there and be reminded of the past like that. but he backtracks and really thinks of it since tommy might actually think it’s a good idea. and it’s not fair for toby to say no, when tommy says yes and he was the one who suffered through logstedshire.

so toby goes with tommy.

logstedshire is still a mess, but it’s grown over, the holes were still there but there was grass and flowers growing. it still shakes both tommy and toby, tommy especially.

the pillar makes things worse and just as tommy thinks he’s the one going to have a panic attack. toby’s the one who ends up making a heartwrenching noise because the pillar has haunted him from the beginning.

it’s the premise of where everything went wrong right after tubbo exiling tommy, it’s the literal pillar of regret that toby has in the back of his mind and seeing it again after so long- he cries. and he thinks its pathetic, him crying when tommy is there with him, when tommy is the one who built the pillar, it’s misplaced guilt because he’s not the one who tried to jump.

and seeing the grown man cry and apologize profusely for crying and more- tommy comforts him, reminds him that he hadn’t jumped to death. that unlike theo, he was still there. it makes toby cry harder but also he feels better.

they do take down the pillar together, though toby is extra careful and keeps a very close eye on tommy who doesn’t even make a single joke or quip.

#ask #heavy stuff #rewind meets canon au

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amythecinnabunny · 3 years

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71 and 100 Julie and Luke

71. Twenty-Four Hours to Live

100. Accidentally Saving the Day

You really would like to kill the fandom and me wouldn't you???? I tried so hard to make it jukebox specific but the whole band + Willie are so closely entwined with each other its nearly impossible akxbjsbsbs

So I'm thinking canon-verse? But a year later or less. I think more than a year would get a little awkward as Julie would surpass 17 in a year's time.

All our current problems and issues are resolved by this point. Ray, Carlos and Tia Victoria have met the band. Possibly Carrie too. The Bobby/Trevor debacle is dealt with. Caleb is deslth with (he's not dead(er) he's just keeping to the HGC). Julie and Carrie have since mended their friendship. Jukebox and Williex are official now. Possibly Flarrie too, maybe Kaylie. Maybe Nick/Flynn. Maybe Carricklynn. Maybe Nick/Reggie. Who knows, anything is possible. Julie can see but not touch Willie -- but he others can't see him at all.

The band has made it big by now. They're the latest and greatest. Almost everyone is talking about Julie and the Phantoms. By now, articles and posts refer to them as legends.

Julie's looking at colleges now and it's kinda settling in that Julie's growing up. In a year, she'll be done with high school and going off to college, something the boys never even had the change to do. So that angsty conversation's gonna happen.

But then things start to get weird. Sometimes, Julie will pass through the boys but they won't immediately notice. Or they'll be talking to someone other that Julie and they'll sort of flicker. Not physically or anything its just that to the other person, they're flickering.

Oh yeah, for this, I'm gonna go with the more they play with Julie, the more human-like they get and by the end of the year gap, they're visible full-time, just not always tangible to people other than Julie. They can still do their gimmick cause the whole visible thing is on command. So you can bet your ass Luke vanished on the spot when Ray asked about jukebox.

The strange thing is . . . It's happening with Willie too. Sometimes Willie's hand will go right through Alex's. Sometimes he and Reggie are playing video games with Carlos and then both of them see Reggie flickering and Reggie, of course, doesn't notice

One evening, after a late night gig, Julie and the boys gather on one couch to watch the local 24/7 news together and see them hit the highlights on a recap. The newscaster??? newsreader??? wtf do you call em? anyway the presenter brings them up near midnight and calls them Los Angeles' most beloved legends.

Midnight on the dot, the boys get these circles on their wrists. Like tattoos. A stamp. Just a thick black ring. They're all confused about it and they check Julie's wrist for a ring -- maybe it's a magic band thing? -- but Julie's wrists are free of any black circles.

They're so confused, they spend all night thinking about it. Julie doesn't even sleep. She calls Flynn about it. She calls Carrie about it. She even talks to Carlos until he gets tired. Alex brings Willie over to talk about it. They're all so baffled that they don't notice it changing until dawn-ish.

Willie's the one to notice Alex's. A quarter of the ring is missing. Julie grabs Luke's wrist and compares it to Reggie's before scrambling over each other to put their wrists next to Alex's. All still identical, with about a quarter of it missing.

"It looks like a countdown."

"What happens when it counts down to the end?"

Silence

Willie says he'll ask around the HGC. Yes, Caleb is safe to visit. His ass has been kicked and it's mostly embarrassment that keeps him holed up when he's not performing or practicing.

Reggie shrugs it off, saying he and Carlos have a date with Destiny. Destiny 2, to be specific. Alex also shrugs it aside, he has a Dirty Candy rehearsal to crash and he's not about to miss it. (The running lie is that the boys visit Julie after every gig. Maybe Kayla knows the truth too. Idk it's small details, up to the author that would like to decimate me by writing this)

That leaves Luke and Julie alone together. Julie can't get it out of her mind. If it's a countdown, what's it counting down to? What happens at the end?

Luke tries to take her mind off it with some songwriting after she gets breakfast, maybe practicing a little together. They even write a little bit of a duet together. Luke keeps Julie entertained for a full four hours, amid which Alex returned and chose to go and watch Reggie and Carlos completely lose track of time.

Julie takes an hour-long nap, leaving Luke to stare at the ring on his wrist and wonder why it's nearly a half circle now.

Willie pops into the studio in a frenzied panic, Reggie and Alex in tow. Luke is so startled, he nearly drops the acoustic. The clatter wakes Julie. Willie looks almost apologetic when he notices her.

Julie asks him what he found out as Luke sits next to her and helps her move her hair from her face. Willie struggles to explain. He's half hoping that maybe, if he doesn't say it aloud, it won't be true. He says it's a clock. It's twenty four hours.

Reggie is the one who asks what happens at the final hour. Willie doesn't answer for a long while. He just holds Alex's hand tight.

At the same time, Willie's hand drops as if he hadn't been holding on to anything and Luke's arm passes right through Julie. The boys flicker before Julie and Willie and it lasts nearly ten seconds.

It slowly dawns on them. No one wants to say it.

"They cross over," Julie whispers when the silence gets heavier than the revelation. Willie only nods. The silence in the garage weighs on them almost visibly.

They look at their wrists, almost half circles.

"So we have about twelve hours left," Alex says. "Maybe we can figure out a way to stop it."

Willie reaches for Alex's hand again. "I asked. There's no way to stop it. Once your unfinished business is complete, you have twenty four hours before you're gone from here. Gone for good."

Luke is adamant there's a way to stop it. His arm tightens around Julie, like she's the one leaving. He hates the defeated look in Willie's eyes. He hates that even in the back of his own mind, there's a voice telling him to get his affairs in order before he dies for the second time.

By the time Reggie determinedly states that there has to be a way to stop it and that they will figure it out, the marks have become perfect half-circles. There are only twelve hours left.

I don't wanna think too hard about it because I don't need to cry at 10pm, but there will be a lot of sad but sweet jukebox moments in between it all.

By the time there's only a third of the ring left, they've started losing hope. They haven't found a single ghost who has any idea how to help. The internet has been very unhelpful. There was a group of wiccans who tried to help but they suggested a spell that didn't look very authentic and it also involved sacrificing a goat at midnight and well, they didn't have until midnight. Still, the wiccans were very sympathetic and wished them well.

They didn't know how to tell the rest about this and they didn't have any idea how to say goodbye to each other. It felt like they were trying to say goodbye to a piece of themselves, the the most important part of themselves.

At the three-quarter mark, Reggie quietly tells Alex and Luke that they ought to spend some time alone with Willie and Julie. If Reggie/Nick or Reggie/Flynn is a thing for this, then Reggie would spend some time alone with them. If not, probably Ray and Carlos.

Cue the most heartwrenching conversation you have ever read in your life, ending with the worlds most grief-filled kiss. I'd get into it but like I said up there, I cannot afford to start crying now.

It's a thin black strip when they get together in the studio. Reggie's partner would be there too if he has one. If not, it's just the band + Willie.

Willie hasn't let go of Alex for over an hour, but now, when the mark is a nearly invisible line, he nudges Alex forward, towards Julie and Luke.

"Band circle?" Luke tries to joke. It only makes their tears fall faster.

Reminiscent of the hug they shared when Caleb's stamp lifted, the four of them try as hard as they can to hug each other as tightly as possible. Willie thinks to himself that he feels strange not being the last person to hold Alex, but it feels like for his band to be the last people to hold him.

None of them are very co-ordinated outside of music related things and just like the night a year ago, they tumble to the ground when someone stands on someone's foot and someone leans a little too much in one direction.

Willie can't help the laugh. It's just so them to be so undignified even in their last moments. He can't even see any of their marks anymore. The only reason he knows it must still be there is because the boys are this there. They knock the radio down and it starts playing the last inserted CD. Willie joins them on the ground and lays his head on Alex's chest as Now or Never fills the studio. --like we'll live forever, but live it like it's now or never

Julie, from between Luke and Reggie, reaches over to grab Alex's hoodie, just so she can be holding on to all of them when it happens. "I love you guys so much."

Luke kisses her forehead. There is a chorus of, "I love you too, Julie." Willie and Alex quietly share another set of "I love you"s.

Julie has long since gotten used to laying her head on Luke's chest and hearing nothing, but the silence behind the old song is nearly deafening. It just serves as a reminder than this is the last time she will ever see or touch Luke or Alex or Reggie again. She wraps her other arm around Reggie. It's uncomfortable and is probably bruising some part of her body, but she needs to be able to hold them all before they go.

Julie shuts her eyes and holds tightly to her boys, wishing with all her heart that there was some way to save her boys again. Some way to bring them back properly this time, so they could grow up with her. Some way to make sure Alex and Willie could stay together, that one of then won't ever have to say goodbye.

It only registers that something feels a little strange after the song abruptly cuts. The CD scratches, trying to play the rest of it but there's just a steady clicking sound. It clicks on a steady count. Like a steady drum beat. In time to a pulsing beat.

Like startled stoats, Willie and Julie shoot up and lock eyes over Alex and Luke.

The boys are, rightfully, confused.

Julie and Willie spiderman-meme point at each other, sputtering like an old car on a frozen winter morning.

Still confused and expecting to be long gone, they boys sit up and search their wrists for any traces of the mark, even the thinnest of lines.

Finally, Julie gets a coherent word out. "Heartbeat!"

"Heartbeat!" Willie echoes, nodding vigorously.

They're still jabbing their fingers at each other, having a full conversation with their sputtering sounds.

"Heartbeat?" Reggie echoes, baffled.

Julie and Willie yell at Luke and Alex, "Heartbeat!" It seems to be the only word they can get out. Clicking her tongue, Julie grabs Luke's hand and presses it to his own chest.

Reggie screams suddenly. He's standing suddenly and he's got his fingers at his neck. "P-p-p-pulse!"

He looks at Julie and Willie. "Heartbeat," he says slowly, understanding.

Alex screams. Willie only realises Alex had been holding his wrist when he lets go.

"What?"

Alex reaches out for Willie, as if to cue his face, but instead places his fingers just under Willie's jaw. He screams again, startling Willie, who never expected his boyfriend to look him in the eye and shout like he'd seen a demon. So Willie screams. Which startles Alex. Who screams again.

Luke finally registers what's going on. He screams. Right in Julie's ear. She gets startled. She screams. Startling Luke. Who screams again.

Reggie is still screaming with each place he puts his fingers and feels a steady beat.

There is so much screaming going on in the studio that Ray and Carlos make their way down too. Carri and Flynn, who wanted to be there for Julie after, come barreling in after. The four of them stand there, perplexed, as Julie, Alex, Reggie, Willie and Luke, all standing now, point at each other and scream.

Its pandemonium, honestly. A miracle none of the neighbors have come over to check.

And Julie drops her first curse in front of her dad as she stares at Luke, Reggie and Alex. "WHAT THE FUCK, YOU GUYS????"

Willie, who's never had any qualms cursing when no living adult could ever hear him, stares at Juliie like she's grown a second head. "NO! NO NO NO! NOT THEM WHAT THE FUCK! ME WHAT THE FUCK!!! ME!!!!"

Julie squints at Willie. "What??"

Alex holds up Willie's wrist. "PULSE!!"

Julie's eyebrows shoot up. "PULSE???? WHAT DO YOU MEAN PULSE?!"

"I mean pulse! What do you think??"

"What the hell is going on in here?" Carrie finally mutters.

As one, they all turn to the perplexed group in the doorway. Julie grabs Luke and drags him up to Carrie. She almost throws him at Carrie with the amount of force she uses to thrust his arm at her. "Pulse," she says, pointing to Luke's wrist.

Carrie sighs. "You know you're the only one that can--" Carrie screams when Julie slaps her arm with Luke's hand. Carrie screaming startles Flynn, who let's out a short screech.

"NO MORE SCREAMING!" Ray yells. In the silence, the clicking radio seems to get louder. Not trusting any of the screaming teenagers, Ray turns to his son. "Carlos, can you turn that off, please?"

Carlos rights the radio and presses the pause button. He presses it again. Sunset Curve fills the studio for a second -- dreaming like we'll live forever -- before Carlos manages to get it off.

Later, after they've explained everything and are still trying to wrap their heads around it, Julie crawls onto the couch beside Luke and lays her head on his chest. It's incredibly strange to hear a steady beat where there was once nothing but she can't deny that she loves the sound of it.

"That demo has more magic in it than the entire Hollywood Ghost Club," Alex mutters from the armchair he and Willie are squished into.

"I wonder what'll happen if I listen to any of the other tracks on the demo," Julie jokes.

"We'll probably grow wings," Reggie mutters from under Carlos, who had been so thrilled that Reggie wasn't leaving anytime soon, he had fallen asleep hugging Reggie.

Alex and Luke laugh, sharing an inside joke.

"You think you guys would still be here if Reggie didn't knock the radio over?" Willie asks.

"All hail, my mighty inability to watch where I'm going."

This time, Julie and Willie laugh too.

Julie curls up against Luke and sighs contentedly, listening to Luke's heart pound against his ribcage. In that moment, she can't think if anywhere else she'd rather be, anything else she'd rather listen to.

For the first time since they died, when Julie finally falls asleep, they doze off too.

Willie feels strange. When he yawns, he realizes he hasn't been tired since he first woke up as a ghost. It's nightly inconvenient and annoying, but he hasn't felt this alive since Alex first kissed him. As Willie dozes off, he makes a mental reminder to figure out what included him in the whole thing. He'll forget when he wakes up and they spend the day celebrating their mere alive-ness.

Things get even more interesting when Julie and the Phantoms perform again and Jullie accidentally walks through Luke, but that's a whole other story.

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #julie and the himbos #julie and the fat ones #jatp fic #jatp fic idea #ask #ask meme #thanks for the ask!#trope mashup ask

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kalinara · 4 years

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It does occur to me that episode 5 of the Witcher is possibly my favorite in terms of interpersonal dynamics. Specifically for Yennefer and Geralt.

It’s always tricky when we’re dealing with a limited series, with one episode per short story (and not even the full episode, really), to establish strong relationships of the sort that tie the narrative together. This is especially the case for Yen and Geralt, since its their relationship and its push and pull that’s so very important in the novels and the games. (Even if you go the other romantic path, it’s still incredibly significant.)

But overall, I think that episode 5 (and episode 6 after that) do a surprisingly good job with the set up.

A lot of the relationship dynamic between Yennefer and Geralt is set up with what came before. I joked about how the juxtaposition of Geralt’s interest at Calanthe’s torture threat and Yen’s “I *inflict* pain” are the show’s unsubtle way of showing how compatible they are. But honestly, it’s kind of true. If you look at the relationships set up at the very beginning: Geralt and Renfri, Yennefer and Istredd, we start to see how the two can fit together. Yennefer doesn’t play at being anything other than she is. Geralt (with one exception) doesn’t judge her ambition or lust for power.

I think for people looking for a conventional romance, episode five might seem more than a little lacking. But Yennefer and Geralt aren’t really a conventional romance. They’re a kinky romance. Their initial give and take is more about the exchange of power than it is sweet words and candlelight.

The moment they meet, in the middle of the orgy, the power dynamics are already visibly in play. He’s out of armor, disarmed, asking for help and bringing apple juice of all things. She’s gowned and masked, domme chic, lounging in what might as well be a throne. She’s standing above him as they meet and slowly descends as they speak. She sets the terms, he accepts.

Then there’s the bath. He’s naked, in plain sight, while she stalks around him appreciatively. She lowers herself into the bath, but only after making him turn his back. She shifts the mirror so he can’t see. He doesn’t seem to mind that at all.

It gets really interesting though when he mocks her transformation: what was her flaw? A clubbed foot? Split ends? That’s the moment that Yennefer freezes up. And I don’t think it’s because she was offended. I think it has to do with the way Yennefer sees her transformation. Because Yennefer’s transformation was never really about fixing her physical flaws. If you recall the beginning of episode 3, Yennefer’s big complaint was that she had no idea what her idealized self would look like. She tells Istredd that he’s lucky: Ban Ard boys don’t have to go through the transformation at all. She’s not ashamed of her disfigurements, nor should she be. They may have made her a target for village bullies, but in Aretuza, they’ve never held her back.

Istredd accuses her of being angry that she missed her chance to be beautiful, but there’s no real indication that Yennefer was even thinking about that when she missed the ceremony. She was still focused on the damage her ancestry reveal had done to her ambition. She does choose to undergo the transformation, but as a weapon and a means for the power she wants. It’s a mask, the same as she was wearing in the orgy.

What Geralt did in that moment was say “I see that you’re wearing a mask, and I don’t really care what you’re hiding.” And that is where things shift.

She immediately drops the idea of him prostituting himself for his friend’s life (something that he finds obviously disappointing. Clearly he was enjoying the power exchange too) and goes for a more overt means of getting him out of the way. But the sexual chemistry is still there and unspoken, and she can’t completely drop the domme act: see, for example, the way she dresses him.

So then we get mind control and an almost execution. I don’t necessarily think Yen was trying to kill him there. She probably assumed he’d escape before execution (I doubt she had any idea that the one guard really wanted to “play” with a Witcher. And how fitting is it that we get those sexualized taunts in an episode that’s all kinky power exchange.). Or that Jaskier would wish them both away. Though Yen is also pretty focused on her own desires, so I’m not sure that she that she’d have felt that badly if he had died there.

But then he comes to save her. And that’s where things get really interesting. He offers her his wish, she can have whatever she actually wants if she just takes it. But she refuses. Her desire for a fertility cure has never really been about having a child. It’s about being denied something she wants. It doesn’t mean anything if someone else gives it to her. And I think she especially doesn’t want HIM to be the one to give it to her. Yennefer will always be dominant, damnit.

Then Geralt makes his wish. We don’t know what his exact wording was, but I think we know Geralt well enough to know that whatever wish he made wouldn’t have involved Yennefer falling in love with him. He’s as emphatic about choice as she is, in his own way.

But at that point their relationship has shifted again. Yennefer realizes, at least subconsciously, that this is a man who has seen her at her most power hungry. He saw her in the center of maelstrom screaming that she wanted everything. Istredd may have loved her before she was beautiful, but he found her lust for power revolting. Tissaia ridicules it. But Geralt, who saw her at her worst, experienced her at her worst, doesn’t mind it.

In fact, he trusts her enough to fall asleep in her presence. That’s got to be intoxicating for someone like Yen.

Geralt’s side of things is also interesting. (And requires a bit of future knowledge to analyze.) I think there are a few elements at work here: first, his desire to save self-destructive women is clearly what gets him back into that building after she puts him under mind control. But I don’t think that’s the point where he truly became enthralled.

I think it was seeing Yennefer at her worst actually: it was seeing her power-lust and her ambition. It was seeing how much she WANTS.

Because that’s the thing that stands out about season 1 Geralt: except maybe at the very beginning, he doesn’t seem to WANT much of anything.

Of course, he demands coin for service. But he shies away from any kind of more substantial reward. Especially if it feels like it’s undeserved. The whole reason he got a Child Surprise is because he didn’t want a reward at all. Duny had persisted and Geralt just said “fuck it, give me the next goat you have.” Geralt’s a dumbass who doesn’t appreciate destiny’s sense of humor. But he still tries like hell to refuse that gift.

He doesn’t seem to have much by way of long term physical possessions, besides that amulet. He has Roach...possibly, assuming Roach isn’t a sequence of horses under the same name. But with the way he talks to her, it’s clear that Roach (Roaches?) is a being to him, not a possession.

Geralt doesn’t seem to care about personal comfort. He rejects gifts. And the only thing we ever see him buy for himself is a night’s companionship with a sex worker.

And I think that’s not meant to be a positive thing. It’s like Geralt says in episode 6, when Yennefer asks him if he ever wanted anything else besides being a Witcher. And he says that if he had, it was too long ago to remember.

That’s heartwrenching in its own right. Kaer Morhen did such a number on him that he literally can’t imagine anything other than being a Witcher.

But it’s also even more heartwrenching after episode 8, when we do get to see a Geralt who IS young enough to want something. And we see at least some of what happened to him to change that.

And it’s sad-funny too, because early on Yennefer doesn’t believe that he went looking for a djinn just to get a good night’s sleep. But I think we’ve seen enough of Geralt to believe just that. That’s how broken he is, the closest thing he has to a “want” is sleep.

And then he meets Yennefer. Who is indeed magnificent. And she wants EVERYTHING. She’s everything he doesn’t know how to be.

And when she refuses to accept his wish for herself, she forces him to make a wish. And in that second, he does want. He wants HER. Not her love or companionship, obviously, or she’d never have been able to storm away from him in episode 6, but he still didn’t want to lose her.

It’s not a healthy relationship by any means. Not yet anyway. (Maybe Jaskier can give them a pamphlet about safe BDSM practices and teach them about safewords?) It’s not a traditionally romantic relationship at all. But I find it absolutely compelling.

And hot. I own my kinks.

#geralt of rivia #yennefer of vengerberg #yennefer x geralt #geralt x yennefer #do we have a pairing name for this?#the witcher (netflix)#beautiful of face dumb of ass #the real antihero of this opera #vengerwitch

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dawsonscreekwasalwaysbad · 5 years

Text

season 6 thoughts

hey quick question why the FUCK did you start with that

like on the one hand i’m glad that now i know what happened right after the end of “that’s too much man!”. on the other hand… ow

the mountain bojack climbs is called “metaphor mountain” God bless Lisa Hanawalt

i LOVE the way the episodes are framed… like you get one flashback to bojack drinking and you think that was the first time then it’s like NOPE he was even younger

CINDY CRAWFISH AKSHDJDSF

AND BABY BOJACK SNUGGLING UP TO HIS MOTHER… TRYING TO FEEL AN EMBRACE SHE WOULD NEVER GIVE… CATCH ME CRYING IN THE CLUB

WHO THE FUCK CAME UP WITH THIS NEW INTRO

AND THE WAY IT HAS ALL THOSE FLASHBACK SCENES BUT IT STILL ENDS WITH HIM FALLING INTO THE POOL AND DIANE AND PEANUTBUTTER CHECKING TO SEE IF HES OK AND THEN HES JSUT LOUNGING IN HIS APPLE SHORTS;;; it’s just,, he’s going back home in the end, going back to the place where he started, as if everything will go back to the way it was before and he’ll find himself stuck in the same cycles he tried so hard to escape… all im saying is, i dont think this season is gonna end well

and how it dwells on his past, everything he did wrong, all the most heartwrenching moments, and there aren’t any changes to the intro (as far as i could tell) until episode 8… nothing changes if all you do is look back.

I am LOVING the Mr. Peanutbutter we’re getting this season. I was never really attached to him before; it’s not that I hated him, just that I liked all the other main characters better. and now that they’ve had him do something really bad and reckon with that,, he’s plumbing new depths, exploring those dark places, questioning if he’s truly as happy as he says he is

and bonding with bojack??? who would have guessed

bojack keeps giving advice that is, at best, the kind he doesn’t follow himself, and at worst, bringing others down into the well of self-pity that he’s been stuck in the whole series

Someone give Princess Carolyn a break…

SHE NAMED HER DAUGHTER RUTHIE IM CRYING

Guy seems like a cool guy but I feel like they’re setting him up to seem nice so that it’s more surprising when it’s revealed he’s not. I’m probably being too suspicious, but also we don’t know much of the details about his divorce, do we? Lakeith Stanfield's great tho

EPISODE 4 WAS COMEDY GOLD

The return of Queefburglar69

I WANNA WRAP PICKLES UP IN A BLANKET LIKE A BURRITO AND TELL HER EVERYTHINGS OKAY

Oh man Pickles talking about how her subscribers will always be there for her… like… it’s not one person, it’s a cloud of people, the contents and shape of which changes, might even be completely different and unrecognizable from one year to the next, but they’re all still there as this nebulous support system. and it reminded me of what bojack said to young sarah lynn about how her fans are the only things she can count on

Todd is babey.

Also him wearing the ace colors under his hoodie!!

I knew Diane’s rationale for going to chicago was bullshit. she said it makes her feel good, but “it doesn’t matter where you are, it’s who you are,” and she still dwells on her bad feelings and hates herself just as much in chicago as she did in LA. moving somewhere else isn’t necessarily gonna change those tendencies, she has to work on it herself.

OH MAN AND WHEN BOJACK GETS DR CHAMP DRUNK AGAIN… THROWING THE BOTTLE OUT THE WINDOW WAS A WAY TO AVOID RUINING ANOTHER LIFE AND HE ENDS UP DOING THE EXACT THING HE HOPED HE WOULD NEVER DO AGAIN

was honestly kinda hoping that Dr Champ was just pretending he got drunk to show how bad bojack could get if he relapsed but at the end when he was like “stay…” that’s how i knew that shit was real.

todd is so fucking stupid i love him

ngl am kinda disappointed that todd’s confirmed white, cause i’ve kinda been picturing him as latino for a long time and i know rbw said he doesn’t want to alienate latino viewers who relate to todd. but it makes a lot of sense, cause he always gets away with stupid shit and gets to the top of things without even having to try just because he knows a guy. and maybe the reason he’s so positive all the time is because it’s so easy for him to be, he never has to worry about shit bc of the privilege his whiteness affords him. also I love that we got to learn more about his backstory

THE CONTRAST BTWN “all the shitty things I did that I can barely even remember because I was high or drunk or it was thirty years ago” and “I remember everything. I’m sober now.” !!!!!!!!!!!!!

sharona sounds like a cross btwn princess carolyn and margo martindale

I have… mixed feelings about the haircut

Oh man Mr. Peanutbutter had a moment… he finally got that crossover episode… I was kinda hoping for a joke that went “Mr. Peanutbutter and BoJack Horseman in the same room? What is this, Philbert?” or “What is this, a short-lived show on a streaming network that got canceled because the star got addicted to painkillers and strangled his costar in a drugged haze?” but this is SO MUCH BETTER. I've never seen him cry before and the way he reacts to himself crying suggests that maybe he’s never cried before at all, and that’s why he just keeps laughing, almost like it’s forced, cause this is supposed to be his happiest moment and it’s not supposed to make him so sad. fucking,, character development

and the cold open of ep 8… you can forgive yourself and move on from your past wrongs but it doesn’t erase the things you did, the effects they have on people, and the trauma they’ve suffered. and then like, how can you forgive yourself if they never forgive you? how do you maintain that balance? why should you move forward if they can’t?

its weird to have an episode consisting entirely of guest stars but it also illustrates the extensive world they’ve built and i applaud that… also where the fuck is ana spanakopita

GINA RETURNS!!! HELL YEAH

her quote about not wanting to be defined by what bojack did to her has always stuck with me, and i feel like now, that quote has sort of come true. like, her saying that made us avoid reducing her to what happened to her, and thats why i wanted to see her come back this season, hopefully moving past it. but she can’t. it traumatized her. and everyone can see the effects of it but she feels like she can’t come forward, cause if she does she’ll be punished. shit like that changes you.

and it’s another instance on the show where someone chooses to advance their career & preserve their reputation over doing the right thing (like what bojack does with herb & sharona), but bojack does it out of self-interest, and gina does it so she doesn’t have to relive her trauma every time she gets interviewed or recognized by a fan. but even when she keeps quiet about it she’s still reliving her trauma

noah fence but what a waste of the once-per-season fuck word. youre really gonna use it in an episode IN WHICH BOJACK DOES NOT EVEN APPEAR, and not only that, but RECYCLE AN OLD SENTENCE FROM A PREVIOUS EPISODE

netflix places no limits on a show’s use of the fuck word (i think), so… fingers crossed for something better in the second part?

OH MY GOD PETE REPEAT INTRODUCED HIMSELF AS PETER ITS ALMOST LIKE HES TRYING TO FORGET THAT TIME & THAT PERSON HE WAS (im probably reading into it too much, I’m sure it’s mostly so we wouldn’t figure out who it was immediately. maybe im just like the kid with the coffee cup.)

and just… ppl describe this show as “family guy or the simpsons except the protagonist faces consequences for his actions” but bojack has gotten away with everything.

you ever just like… you ever watch a scene and feel the cliffhanger vibes creeping up and you just know it’s gonna end there and leave you unsatisfied and begging for more but at the same time that’s what makes it such a good place to end it. that was me with this. (and also the ending of undone)

the thing about this show is, it illustrates what it’s like to be a toxic person. and sure, he has it hard, but the show never asserts that he has it any worse than his victims, even if bojack himself does so. and he only does it so he can feel better about himself. he deserves a reckoning, he needs to pay for his bad deeds. but then, when you know what made him this way and what goes on inside his mind and that he wants to get better, it makes you feel for him, and forces you to ask if he deserves to get better and forgive himself and move forward. but even if he does, it doesn’t change the things he did. it doesn’t fix the lives he’s ruined.

anyway sound off if you think bojack’s gonna die at the end. hopefully not by suicide

#long post #bojack horseman #diane nguyen #todd chavez #princess carolyn #mr. peanutbutter #pickles aplenty #pete repeat #bojack horseman season 6 spoilers #doctor champ #sarah lynn #gina cazador #horsin' around #mr. peanutbutter's house #netflix #raphael bob-waksberg #lisa hanawalt #phoebe talks #mine

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disasterbialert · 4 years

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So, I finished The Untamed and ok ok I think I have collected most of my thoughts about it. (I’m late, so I guess these thoughts don’t really matter, but I wanted to put them somewhere and here seemed like the place.) SO here’s a post absolutely NO ONE WANTS and imma do it anyway cool cool.

Firstly: love. This entire show is about love. Obviously other things too ok I’m simplifying for the sake of my point. But importantly it is about love. The love for our families, found, made and blood. The love of soulmates, romantic and platonic. The love of humanity, of the people known and unknown, love for them purely because they are human and are therefore deserving of love. The love inherent in honour and duty, the sacrifices made for that love. Loving someone—bravely, in the face of every adversity, despite being told it’s wrong. Learning to be true to that love, learning to love faithfully, learning to love, to show love, to be loved.

Bless the tireless translators. Y’all. The work you do is often thankless but y’all are so valued. Thank you.

The music. I actually don’t have the words for this, I can only thank the composers and musicians for the gifts they have blessed us with. My heart my heart my heart.

The costumes, set, props and cinematography are all so exquisite. I’m not an expert in any of these fields but I can see the care and detail paid to each facet of this show. What an absolute visual joy. Stunning.

And now, the characters.

I’ll start with the ladies. They deserved so much more. We deserved to have more than just one by the end, but I understand this wasn’t their story (still hurts tho).

Jiang Yanli. Proof that kindness is powerful. Her heart holds entire worlds. She is not weak (don’t even try me I swear to the gods). She holds her family together. She takes care of her siblings. She feeds their bodies and their souls. WWX is right—JZX does not deserve her but that’s because nobody does. But Jiang Yanli deserves to be happy, therefore her marriage to the Flower Peacock is valid purely bc it makes her happy. She stands up for what’s right, she will not compromise her morals, she will defend her family to her last breath (and so she does💔). She does not harden herself, she does not have to. Her patience and kindness, her softness, her gentleness—things that are seen as weaknesses or inferiorities—are what put her above all around her. She is gracious, she is strong, she is loving, she is determined, she is brave. She deserved better.

Wen Qing. A queen. A powerhouse. The most brilliant mind. A lightning-quick and sharp-bladed tongue. She loves Wen Ning so much and her love is powerful, just as Jiang Yanli’s. Her dedication and devotion to her people, her true family, not just a name, is incredible, inspiring. Why? Because she’s not perfect. So she learns. She grows. She becomes herself. When she’s at the Burial Mounds, she essentially adopts WWX as another younger brother, caring for him because she knows he won’t care for himself, and she does so out of love and respect. But she never replaces Jiang Yanli. She is keenly aware of all she perceives WWX loses because he aids them. Hence the pivotal, crucial: I’m sorry and thank you. She walks to what she knows is her own death with her head held high and her hand in her brother’s, offering love and support and what protection she can to the end. She does not flinch. She does not bow. She fights with all of her and surrenders with grace not reflected by those she surrenders to. Honestly I could write an entire thesis on Wen Qing but I’ll cry too hard so I’ll just leave it here that she deserved better, she deserved to live, she deserved to be free.

Mian Mian. Mian motherfucking Mian. Here is a woman who stares injustice full in the face and says no fucking way, says over my dead body, says you and what army old man. Strips the robes of the hypocritical off her own damn body, throws them at the feet of a false god and walks out, back straight, head held high. She makes her own way in the world, carves out her own life, finds love and happiness and lives. She does not compromise. She does not bow. She fights and she wins and she is glorious. And she lives she lives she lives.

Yu ZiYuan. I may be in the minority here but that’s ok. No I don’t approve of her abuse, just gonna nip that one in the bud right out of the gate. Was she fair? No. Was she cruel? Yes. Was she an incredible fighter who fought for her family, for her home? Who showed raw courage and furious strength in the face of insurmountable odds? Who loved a man with her whole bitter heart, loved her children with that same fractured heart? Was clearly the subject of spiteful rumour and vicious gossip and did not let it defeat her? Refused to bow to anyone? I do not like her, do not like how her bitterness made her cruel. But seeing her wield her blade, take wound after wound, witness the death of her love, then take her own blade and rob the monsters invading her home of the satisfaction of taking her life, took her own life with her own hands because that’s how she did everything in her life so why the fuck wouldn’t she do it in death too, who crawled her way to the man she loved, laced their fingers together so he wouldn’t die alone, so they could both die held? How can I not respect her.

Ok. The lads.

Jiang Cheng is a man-child idiot with the emotional expression range of a loquat, an inferiority complex the size of the moon and self-worth issues going back farther than the Big Bang, and I love him, ok? He loves so hard and so much and it is heartwrenching that he cannot communicate that. Some of his best moments are actually in the background, which is both funny and terribly sad. His rage is at times ridiculous, at times frustrating, at times all he has left, his joy is bright but brief, his grief is devastating. Watching JY greet WWX after the 3 months in the Burial Mounds. The entire temple scene. Crying on his knees. We were to be the Heroes of Yunmeng. Take care. Fuck me right in my feelings ok.

Wen Ning is so fucking precious and I would die for him for all eternity. What an absolute gift his character is. I honestly can’t write much more about him because I’ll cry. But special mentions to his interactions with A-Yuan/Lan SiZhui and the incredible scene where he reveals to Jiang Cheng the truth about his/WWX’s golden core. Unparalleled emotional intensity. The equal parts tenderness and fierceness of his love is breathtaking.

And the loves.

Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen. There is a lot of tragedy in The Untamed. There is great sadness in the main plot line and even in the small side plots. The Ballad of Song Lan and Xian Xingchen (as it’s come to be known in my head) is for me the most devastating and poignant. They just wanted to do good, to wander the world together and do their part to make it a better and safer place. It’s noble, yes, but it’s also so human, so close to home. Because we all want that, to know that we can do some good before we leave this world. They do not want to be involved in the petty squabbles, the undignified and cruel vying for power and dominance. They simply want to live and be. The fact that both of their deaths are pointless, could have been avoided, are the faults of poor timing and terrible terrible luck and cruel turns fate is almost what makes it sadder. Xue Yang screams that XXC is not better than him, that his righteousness and the righteous way he has attempted to live his life is all for naught. And then he is immediately proven wrong—XXC’s heartbreak means he can’t become XY’s puppet. SL is free from XY’s control and avenges himself and XXC. Which is also somehow just as devastating. That XXC and SL were so close, so very close to being together, to living, to making it, but didn’t. Nothing grand or heroic about their deaths—just the unknown and unpredictable nature of life. There is no rhyme or reason, no big important plan, no fate or destiny. They both simply die as we all one day will. And it is their potential cut short, the love and life they could’ve had, that hurts the most. They are not Lan Zhan and Wei Ying: they do not get their second chance, their reunion, their happily ever after. The look shared between SL and LWJ—the shared grief, the recognition, the understanding—and LWJ’s brief and unelaborated-on comment to WWX ‘how fortunate’ speaks volumes. How fortunate you came back/I found you/that’s not us when it could’ve been. That final shot of SL walking away and the brief out-of-focus moment of XXC walking beside him—particularly when it’s echoed with the parallel of WWX and LWJ—chokes me every time.

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. Soulmates in every sense of the word. Their song. Their bunnies. Their child. The years they were robbed of. The yearning. The pining. The loyalty. The growth. The love the love the love. The loss the loss the loss. Every Lan Zhan. Every Wei Ying. Every glance. Every soft breath. Every gentle touch. The tenderness. The intimacy. The quiet acceptance. Their love story is one of the ages and, on a personal note as a queer person, what a gift it is to see a queer love story like this. (even when censored as a bromance, which like I mean, they tried but the glances alone are +9000 gay pining but whatever and yes I am making a joke because I’m crying don’t look at me)

TL;DR: I am so thankful The Untamed/CQL/MDZS and all of its adaptations (the source material included obvs) exists. I am so thankful to the writers, translators, casts, crews, creators. I am thankful for the community of fans that exist that love it as I do, who share that love and passion—whether through passionate discussion, rich fanfic or mind-blowing fanart. I am thankful I live in a time where content like this exists and can be shared. I learned a whole lot and I’m so grateful there aren’t even words. Love y’all. I’m gonna go be soft now. 💙

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machikuragii · 4 years

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Rank the Sohmas and explain your ranking?

Anon, this got really long, so I’ve put everything under the cut. Also I don’t have solid rankings beyond my top 2 so I went into ‘tiers’ that aren’t necessarily ordered by how much I like a character. TLDR; I love all the zodiacs for different reasons, see readmore for more in-depth thoughts.

1. Yuki Sohma

Yuki as a character is really, really important to me. I think about him so much, and how he goes from a neglected, unwanted child with no support network to a confident young adult who is so comfortable with himself and free to be happy and at ease and surrounded by those who love him. I think about how important it is that Takaya displays this journey as incremental, and not necessarily linear. I think about how Yuki’s strength comes not only from himself and his desire to improve step by step, but from the support he gradually starts to receive from the people around him. I think about just how important it is when Takaya says that it’s ok to be weak, to reach out for help, and that for some people, it is only when they DO receive the needed support from others that they are able to get better. I think about just how much it means for a boy with so little self-worth to gradually find himself in the company of people who enjoy his presence and like him for who he is, and I think about how he is able to reach out and help others after receiving the warm and foundation he himself needs, when he is emotionally ready. I think about then, how SIGNIFICANT it is to show a character who had absolutely NOTHING in his childhood go on to make sure that his own child has everything he longed for in a home in his childhood.

There’s a little bit of Yuki in everyone. Every bit of his internal monologue hits like a truck for anyone who struggles with insecurity and low self-esteem, and his drive and aspiration to find his own purpose and happiness, can be a source of inspiration to so many. Yuki Sohma is one of the best, if not THE definitely best written Fruits Basket characters, and I really wish more people recognised this. As sensei once said herself, I know that Yuki will always have his fans, but I wished that more people realised and appreciated his importance in the story and carrying the themes of Fruits Basket.

2. Hatori Sohma

This is more a remnant of a past phase, but Hatori is here because he was my first anime crush ksksksasoksks . Jokes aside though, I love Hatori because of his kindness and selfless nature that is masked by a cold exterior. As an adult I realise that Hatori’s actions are not always perfect or enough, but I still really think that he is someone who truly cares. There are so many instances that improve his character in my eyes. Can you imagine going through what he goes through with Kana, and learning of her marriage, and not feeling bitterness, but relief that she is happy? And yet he values his own happiness so little that it really breaks my heart. Or the way that he doesn’t avoid Momiji after the ordeal with his mother, but checks up on him and in a way helps raise him? Dude is more of a father figure to Momiji than his own dad. Narratively, Hatori’s backstory is such an effective introduction to the darker, more mature themes of Fruits Basket, and yeah you can bet it worked on kid me.

TIER: “These are great characters, I love their complexity but I’m also just fond of them as well” (no particular order)

Isuzu Sohma

Someone who definitely grew on me this time round. When I was a child I found it hard to understand what she was going through and didn’t really relate to her either. But oh my god, this girl goes through so much. She’s such a kindhearted character at heart, but struggles with connecting with others and receiving their kindness because of what she went through as a child. It’s so hard to watch her struggle, because we know she deserves the world.

Akito Sohma

Controversial to say I love Akito just after I said I love Rin, lol. I’ve never had an overly negative impression of Akito throughout Fruits Basket (this is partially because my friends used to call me Akito when we were little.....because I was an Asian girl... and Akito is also an Asian girl????? idk now that I’m thinking back over it...gee thanks guys), so it was relatively easier for me to accept her redemption when it came. Akito’s actions are not defensible, but I find it much more interesting to explore where she is coming from, rather than just mindlessly spew hate and wish violent things for her like some people prefer to do. Akito’s character is a tragedy, and I feel like people are way less willing to emphasise when the victim is not “perfect”, per se. Akito went through the same “broken home” parental abuse that a lot of the characters in Fruits Basket went through, but somehow people are unwilling even to extend the tiniest amount of baseline empathy towards her just because he trauma manifested in a way that hurts others. Guys, she’s a tragic character!!! A tragic character isn’t always “a perfect person who has bad things happen to them”, it can also mean “a character who becomes antagonistic because of circumstances.” Her actions are inexcusable, but there is a lot to learn when we explore WHY she became this way.

Shigure Sohma

Gonna try make this short. Shigure is a controversial character but I like him because I like characters that demonstrate moral ambiguity. The point of Shigure is NOT to be a good person, and he doesn’t have to be one to justify liking him. Once again, you can like Shigure and still know that he’s a piece of shit. The whole idea of “he genuinely cares for Tohru but will hurt her if it means achieving his own goals” is a fascinating one to me, because it shows that the idea of “good people” and “bad people” is vast oversimplification of how actual people think and behave. Still though, I’m really not fond of how Akigure was executed in canon. I think the two could have potentially had a fascinating relationship but it ended up being more disturbing and swept under the rug&uncomfortable than interesting.

Momiji Sohma

On the opposite end of the spectrum we have Momiji who is just genuinely such a good person. I like the dichotomy between his outwardly ‘childish’ and ‘immature’ appearance and behaviors, versus what we gradually learn about him: that he has had to be mature and selfless at a very young age, and that he is also very emotionally intelligent and empathetic. Watching him gradually grow up before our eyes (we were ROBBED of it in the anime) but at the same time feeling more and more lost broke my freaking heart. When his curse breaks and he realises that even though he is now ‘free’, that nothing has changed and the damage was already done - absolutely heartwrenching. He’s someone I would have loved explore more of what happened post-canon, because I just want good things for him and Momo, screw whatever the hell their asshole dad thinks.

TIER: “I love these characters but don’t focus on them as much as I think the fandom does”

Kyo Sohma

I’m a self-professed “probably don’t think about Kyo that much” person haha. I know I know, sue me. I think its because out of the main 3, I love Yuki and Tohru so much that I don’t tend to focus on Kyo. I still like him a whole lot though!! I’m a big fan of the way he matures and changes throughout the series, and much like how Yuki does too, becomes a much happier person. When I compare early-series Kyo with later-series Kyo, one thing that always sticks out to me is how much more he smiles. The way he smiles at Tohru is so full of genuine warmth and happiness that it makes my heart melt, especially when I think about how this is a boy who has so much baggage, and has to gradually accept the fact that he deserves happiness before he allows himself finally to accept it.

Hatsuharu Sohma

Most of my love for Haru comes from the relationship he has with Yuki. It takes so much maturity to accept that your prejudices may be unfair, and Haru did so at such a young age. Sometimes I just think about how much Haru did and continues to do for Yuki without the need for reciprocation or even recognition and it just hits me how much of a good person Haru is. He was Yuki’s ONLY friend at a time he had NO ONE, and is the reason Yuki was able to move out of the estate and become the person we know and love. Haha sorry for making this about Yuki again, but I think their relationship also says a lot about Haru as a person.

TIER: “I like Kureno and am tired of making a thousand disclaimers every time I want to say I like him, Takaya-sensei whyyyy”

Kureno Sohma

I really like Kureno. This is again pretty controversial, but let me try to explain. I like Kureno because he’s an example of someone who wants to do the right thing that causes the least amount of harm to everyone, but inevitably ends up making the decision that causes much more damage. It’s a classic “good intentions, bad outcome” scenario and I freaking love it. I love that it’s absolutely not what he wants, but Kureno ends up doing a lot of wrong things and destroying not only Akito, but also his own life in the process. I just find the idea of an adult of his age who is so isolated from all of society that even a shopping trip is something foreign and out-of-the-ordinary, really, really sad.

On the romance side though, I hate that Takaya-sensei decided that Arisa would be his romantic interest, but I do like the idea of romance being a part of his arc. (I actually think their interactions are somewhat cute but that the overarching age gap ruins everything - i keep thinking about if Arisa was older or Kureno was younger, but touching their ages at all would affect the plot so I would rather it wasn’t Arisa at all). Just the idea of Kureno by Akito’s side, playing the part of what he thinks is her “lover” (god sensei why are u liek dis), when he meets someone on one of his rare trips outside the Sohma estate that causes him to realise that what he and Akito have is not at all what a healthy relationship should feel like - and it causes him to reevaluate the harm he is doing to them both, and take steps to leave her. That is...not exactly what Sensei did, but I always remember how much I felt for Kureno when he said in the upcoming anime chapter how it was the first time he had felt like he loved someone out of his own choice...I just felt like that one “choice” could have lead him to the realisation that he can start to make more of his own, healthier choices in life. But yeah. Wish it wasn’t Arisa because it didn’t do anything good to her character arc, and it’s creepy.

TIER: “I really like these characters but don’t go out of my way to think about them”

Kagura Sohma

Ok I lied, I do go out of my way to think about Kagura. I love her too, despite common opinion. I think her reflection of her relationship with Kyo was so wonderful. Her confession that she started to like him out of pity, but that over time they became genuine feelings. But that Kyo can’t reciprocate her feelings so she’s accepting of that, and thankful that he gave her time to express herself, although she will still go on loving Kyo. Kagura is one of those characters where Takaya-sensei once again demonstrates her ability to take a “trope” of a character and actually delve into their psyche and explains why they feel this way.

Ayame Sohma

I love Ayame because he’s genuinely so much fun! I appreciate the arc of him rejecting Yuki, but how he is now reaching out to help him, and I feel like we don’t get a good insight into just how significant this rejection was until we see it from Yuki’s perspective. I also admire how he is able to recognise his own shortcomings, and respects Hatori because of his sensitivity to other people’s feelings. He’s a character who could definitely have been explored more if desired, but isn’t underexplored or incomplete as is.

Ritsu Sohma

My poor Ritsu. In contrast to Ayame, Ritsu was definitely underexplored. Such a great potential to explore confidence, identity, and assertiveness. Ritsu as it stands though, is largely a minor character who wasn’t given the time they needed to be fully fleshed out. I would have loved to see them gradually gain more confidence over the series!!

Kisa Sohma

Love love love Kisa, she’s such a cutie pie. But I feel like there wasn’t much more to say about her that wasn’t said in her arc. Kisa is more a character who is used to show the messed-up state of the Sohma house/Akito more than she herself is a complex character, I think. I love her arc and her parallels to Yuki though, it gave us such a great quote about needing to be loved by others before learning to love yourself.

Hiro Sohma

Hiro is known to be an unlikeable brat but I love him as well!!! I think it’s really important to have characters who aren’t just lovely and receptive to Tohru’s kindness, and his character served to show an important flaw in Tohru’s character, and the way that her kindness could be taken advantage of. For Hiro himself though, I think his brattiness is alright because he’s very young, and I really appreciate his efforts to become a more mature person when he recognises his own flaws!

#fruits basket #yuki sohma #hatori sohma #akito sohma #kureno sohma #fruits basket spoilers #long post #asks #anonymous #Anonymous

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loveau · 4 years

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reverse-idol!jisung

request: hii are u still doing the reverse idol series? if you are could i request a jisung one? 🥺🥺 if you arent anymore,then its okay thank you!💗💗💗

others: doyoung (part 2) | jaehyun (part 2) | jaemin (part 2) | haechan (part 2) | renjun

you absolutely love your trainee work

yes, it’s absolutely vigorous and so time consuming and mentally draining and you’re not sure you can even get up the next day your body’s so sore

but you love it!

the only thing that never seems to tire is your voice

you can go on for hours just singing, humming, even rapping

you can also talk someone’s ear off if you really wanted

but your main focus is to continue singing that sweet melody and hitting those high notes

you do it quite frequently

whether it’s at home in the kitchen or shower, in the practice room during choreo, or even in the halls at school

most people love to hear your voice, you have a real talent after all!

you also love to showcase it!

and jisung? he hates it

to be fair, waking up at 6 and having to hear loud singing everyday isn’t exactly ideal

especially when you can’t really help whether or not you get to hear it

but it seems almost unavoidable whenever he steps foot on campus

he's tried it all

waking up even earlier to see if he'd beat you to school and get a couple extra minutes if quiet

or even coming to school right on the dot with a huge risk of being late so he could prolong his peacefulness

he's tried different routes, different entrances to the building, he's even sat in the wrong class on purpose to see if by chance your voice wouldn't carry

of course you somehow would bump into him on the way or be joking around with your friends in the other classes

it wasn't that he didn't like your singing, in fact he would say that it's really good

perhaps one of the best voices he's ever heard

but it's so constant and you keep singing those sappy, cheerful pop songs and it's so loud and he doesn't know what else to do?????

he often complains that he seems to be the only one not enamored with your voice like the others

don't get me wrong they too don't feel the need to listen to it 24/7, but your openness and friendliness to them makes it so nice!

a nice personality with that charming voice, a deadly duo

and jisung doesn't want to be falling for any of that

he tolerates your friendliness in class just fine and is responsive when you wave to him on the journey to school

he just wishes that he could play his own music loud enough to get that heavenly falsetto out of his mind

or wishing that he didn't have to hear the melody drifting in and out of the halls

he thought he'd never see the end of it

until one day he finds that you're nowhere to be heard

he's not used to this

the sudden quietness it seems

the regular conversation, laughter, and yelling from pranks if still there

but there's no cheerful melody of some girl group song or the hardcore raps of a boy group accompanying them

it's also strange that nobody seems to notice

he's looking around, waiting for those silly lyrics about unconditional love or unrequited crushes

he's waiting for it.............

but it never comes

jisung doesn't realize that he's looking lost until his friends are like

"hey bro are u okay?"

and he snaps out of it like "uhhhhh....... yeah? i'm fine"

"arrrrrrre you sure?" jisung realizes he's still looking for you and straining his ears that all of a sudden he's frustrated by the noise level preventing him from hearing well

he leaves his friends saying he's going to go to the bathroom, he isn't feeling well

and he's so distracted that he completely ignores how his friends are teasing him that he has to take a dump

jisung doesn't know how long he's been roaming the halls for you, or doesn't even know how long he's been running down them

it isn't until he hears a long note that he feels the strong wave of recognition hit him

he wants to say annoyance at hearing your voice again is there, but he's surprised that it's more relief..............

he's also surprised to feel that he's rather concerned

after all, it doesn't sound like your typical singing even though he knows it's you

he's heard your voice plenty of times to recognize it at first but........ why does it sound so different?

jisung listens more to pinpoint where you are and as he continues hearing this song he realizes

he's heard this song before

on one of those music shows that his mom listens to, because she's a sucker for those love ballads

and while you're singing one of those, jisung thinks you aren't singing about having your heartbroken by a past lover like the lyrics say

there's so much raw emotion and it's so different than those innocent pop songs you prefer

he eventually finds you outside by the sports field, standing tall and your voice carrying out very clearly

he'd come to realize the power in your voice if he was able to hear you from inside the school building

you finally finish that song you were singing and that's when jisung finally reaches where you are

he actually can't explain why he walked up to you

before, his goal was merely........ to find you???

not because he missed you or anything

but he also was just..... curious? as to what happened and where you went and more importantly why were you singing so sadly?

unsure of what else to do now that you've ended your song jisung only claps and you're sort of startled when you hear them

but you take the applause easily, already used to the attention you get for your loud singing

"it was good." like always, but he thinks he'd have to swallow some of his pride to say

he'd be too stubborn to have to throw out his annoyances now

"hi, jisung! normally you aren't out here, what's up?"

although he's awkward about interacting with you besides being classmates..... he's never had much more than that other than complaining about your singing going on for so long or the songs you get stuck in his head because he can't not listen

except this time.... he feels more determined and compelled to figure out why the song choice and emotion was so strong

as well as why you seemed to put up that act........

your happy self was accompanied by your happy voice....

so it was obvious you were hiding

"normally you aren't out here either... i just wanted to check up on you"

there's curiosity in those eyes and jisung isn't backing down now

you can see that he's curious but all of a sudden you find that you can't speak

it was as if his very presence made you break down all the walls you had built up so you could stay strong....

especially not when he continues with

"you don't sound the same when you're sad. although it's good... it's different"

and you're smiling but it's very pained and you can't even bring yourself to hum a note like you want to

you thought that like before, you could just sing it all away and instead everyone can focus on your talent!!

not on your flaws or shortcomings, especially as a rising trainee

"i was gonna have a solo song for our debut album"

jisung doesn't really know what to say

he feels bad for how he would think about your constant singing all of a sudden

it was as if the sadness in your eyes, especially your voice, was too much to bear

you hum this time, but it's a flat note and your tone is almost gravelly the next time you speak

jisung's heart stops when he sees how watery your eyes are

"they told me my voice wasn't good enough alone, so they took it out of the album... i have to work a lot harder if they want to incorporate it in the future"

at this jisung is astonished....

liKE?? HUH?!?!?!?! EXCUSE ME????

one of the BEST talents in the GENERATION......... and the company decides to give that up????

his shock melds into anger once he sees the mopey pout on your face

he tries to keep his tone level so he doesn't push you or overstep

"...... how long have you known?"

you hum again and it's calmer, more in thought

"a month or two..."

and jisung can only think.... wow...... you held it together for so long and now???? :(((((

this poor baby feels so bad about judging you before because you never quieted down

but now he can't help but miss your cheerful singing

sure it's only been a day and he just heard one of the most emotion ladden, heartwrenching ballad covers of the century but......

it's just not...... you

while you continue to sulk in thought, you're brought back into reality by hearing a cluster of off-key notes

you look bewildered to find a somewhat red in the face jisung mumble-singing and avoiding your gaze

it's cute, really, to see him trying not to mess up but he is doing so a lot

you can't help but laugh a little when his voice cracks and jisung sputters

"w-what?!!?!? it's not like i'm used to singing!!! ........ in front of an audience anyways...."

you're laughing even more at his face now pouting much like you were before

"no!!! no, it was fine. it was good. for a bit.... you messed up some of the notes"

jisung blushes a little and he really wants to crawl under a rock to hide forever

but............... the happy smile on your face is back and it makes jisung feel so proud of himself

he did that!

he! did! that!

he made you smile!!!!!

you bet that makes him feel so accomplished after seeing you so down before

you know because of your comment and amused laugh, jisung would be less likely to sing again unprompted

but you start humming a note, trying to find a key similar to his voice from what you remembered

"here" you start, and his attention is now solely on you like a student awaiting the teacher "i want you to try to copy the note i hum"

he nods and after a couple of tries and him swallowing down embarrassment when his voice cracks again, he gets it

"okay, now sing the note without me. i'm going to harmonize with you!!"

and the two of you successfully sing a note together and jisung is kind of amazed at how easily you could adapt to his voice

just kidding he's super amazed, but he'd never tell you that

the rest of the lunch is spent harmonizing random songs and notes together while you sway side to side and jisung tries not to blush under your radiating smile

he feels so happy hearing your happy singing again, even if his voice mixed in the bunch makes it sound clunky

but you have a way of making it sound pretty okay!!

and suddenly you’re teasing him saying he should be getting ready to debut with a voice like his

jisung doesn’t even mind that his voice keeps cracking anymore

jisung would happily continue to voice crack if it meant his voice would make you sing again

little did he know that he'd be doing this a lot more even when you aren't sad

he'd be doing this to cheer you up, because you roped him into a duet, or just because he wants to be around you and being around you makes him want to sing out

after all, he can't stand your voice... but he hates it even more when you sound sad

#elli writes #nct #nct dream #jisung #nct dream imagines #nct dream scenarios #nct dream fluff #nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct fluff #jisung x reader #jisung fluff #jisung imagines #jisung scenarios #fluff #neutral pronouns #reverse idol au

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harlskeener · 4 years

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Thank you so much for the thoughtful reply! I believe Dane's Harry ironically had the potential to be the more accurate portrayal. I agree there's a raw fragility to him that Franco lacked. Harry being more reflective of his father's abuse while still being severely affected by it in everything he does was a great concept. Dane and Andrew's chemistry was also impeccable and could have given us so much emotional parksborn. But they rendered Harry needlessly cruel and irredeemable at the very end.

please i lovelovelove talking about dane’s harry; thank you for sending me asks to let me talk about him !! @electronicprince

i feel like dane’s harry definitely could have the more accurate between the two because along with fragility -- his was just far more nuanced in my opinion! i mean i really hate to say it, but dane’s harry undergoes more character development (even if it might be negatively) in a single movie than franco’s does in three? dane’s capable of playing harry with vulnerability but still manage to have him able to put his foot down and be terse when needed.

norman being dead is still an interesting choice to me because -- while it was probably just to have harry be goblin -- it puts an interesting spin on his character because so much of harry is a result of his parents. harry’s longing for stability and fear of abandonment after the death of his mother versus the way he constantly lashed out and never felt good enough stemming from his father’s cold, abusive parenting. while we have never gotten a media where harry’s mom is alive, tasm is really the first time there’s been an iteration where norman isn’t an active or even looming presence. and i genuinely think if given the right material to navigate that, dane would have played it off beautifully.

especially given the fact that peter plays a role in the relationship between norman and harry in canon anyways given the fact that norman preferred peter as a son over harry -- i think, had norman been written in tasm 1 or had norman alive in tasm 2 and pushed the plot of tasm 2 onto tasm 3 in order to establish the dynamics in tasm 2 -- we would have gotten such interesting conversations and scenes between andrew and dane that would have been heartwrenching.

andrew and dane are such great actors as is, but their chemistry is honestly so so beautiful. they definitely played off each other really well, and you can feel the aching distance between them that fades once they start joking with each other, and you just feel so much love from them that they genuinely are so relieved to see each other and to be each other’s temporary normality in their chaotic lives.

overall, the action of making harry be like his father (killing gwen) completely just. goes against. literally everything that harry’s character is and stands for ?? and it really sucks because even if we did get a chance at a tasm 3, there’s no way to go back from that !!! there’s no gotcha! to fix that -- his character was ruined.

and i think something that also upsets me greatly because of it is that his character got literally tainted by the experience. it happens all the time with live-actions, of course: the same way harry got this reputation for being a charming playboy from franco’s iteration, and after tasm 2: harry got this cruel, demonising perception after that ending.

it’s incredibly frustrating, considering that perception stuck around for YEARS (and still find its roots in fanworks), and while i do stand by my fact that mcu utilising harry osborn is not an idea i’m entirely on board with: i just sincerely hope they can use an actor that: a) has the right chemistry with tom that andrew and dane had with each other, b) has the range and can believably pull off a character with fragility while also making it clear he has a backbone, and c) someone you want to feel for !!!

i truly do think if we had gotten dane in tasm 1 (at least mentioned) (or at the very least: we had gotten affirmation that tasm would be more than a trilogy, that way tasm 2 wouldn’t have become so rushed), that dane’s harry would be a force to be reckoned with.

#harry osborn #marvel #tasm #tasm 2 #ch: harry osborn #film: tasm 2 #meta: marvel #meta: harry osborn #mine: meta #mine.#electronicprince

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