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bimboficationblues · 8 months

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One Piece in Review, Part 1: Break of Romance Dawn! (Ch. 1-41)

Welcome to my One Piece reread review! In each part I’m gonna take a close look at each arc of the manga, what works, what doesn’t, how it relates to the work as a “whole" (such as it is).

First up: Romance Dawn [chapters 1-7], followed by two story arcs which I think follow enough of a similar pattern that they can all be understood as a unit: Orange Town [chapters 8-21] and Syrup Village [chapters 22-41]. Where the grand adventure begins! These make up the first half of the "East Blue" saga, a series of arcs that all take place in the "East Blue" sea.

The first three arcs of One Piece follow a very simple formula: our protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, is in need of members for his pirate crew and a ship. This is part of his ambition to become "King of the Pirates," which requires finding the treasure of previous Pirate King Gold Roger. He shows up in a small village or town, often by contrivance, and confronts a local villain who is menacing the locals in one form or another: an authoritarian Marine captain, a ransacking materialistic clown pirate, and a scheming ex-pirate trying to pull off one last job, respectively. Luffy gets involved not out of a desire to be heroic, but usually out of self-interest (such as acquiring a ship or a map of his destination) or to help an interpersonal connection he's made in the area. Along the way he meets an oddball with some special talent or skill who he invites to join his crew, and they eventually agree to join in pursuit of their own personal dream. In this series of arcs, he recruits powerful and stoic swordsman Roronoa Zoro, kleptomaniac and pirate-hating navigator Nami, and inventive but cowardly sharpshooter Usopp.

@canmom recently read through this segment of the story and posted what I think is an insightful perspective about the series’ beginnings, from the viewpoint of someone approaching the series for (approximately) the first time in its twenty-six year history. Her perspective is, I think it's fair to say, a little mixed, both because of the art style's notoriously divisive quality as well as the tone and content of this first part of the story.

These first three arcs kind of wear author Eiichiro Oda’s influences on their sleeve both narratively and visually, especially that of Akira Toriyama's Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball. I also think that some of the concepts are probably inspired (directly or not) by series like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Outlaw Star, such as the "Devil Fruit" (which resemble JJBA's Stands as a way to give characters unique and wacky powers, though simpler than Stands in general). The linework for characters is generally rounder and softer in shape, a little "cartoony," and it's not always consistent. There's a lot of visual gags, puns, and big reaction faces, though mercifully few lame sex jokes relative to the early portions of Dragon Ball. The strongest visual moments are in the action sequences and spreads (see below).

Similar to Dragon Ball, One Piece draws a lot on folk tales, fables, mythology, and fantasy literature, sometimes subtly and sometimes not so much (as is the case with the introduction of Usopp, a character who is initially both a variant on Pinocchio and the Boy Who Cried Wolf). And yet, Dragon Ball doesn’t really confront the grimmer sides of its story and world until fairly late into the “non-Z” portion. Within the first chapter of One Piece: a child cuts his face open with a large knife to prove his courage, a bandit gets shot in the head by a pirate, and another man has his arm torn off by a sea monster. (All of these are obfuscated in some way in the Toei anime.) None of this gets an especially graphic treatment visually, but combined with the apparent silliness of the power system and visual design, plus some of the more interesting setting details, it definitely establishes that this is a world full of both awe-inspiring wonder AND genuine danger.

And, unlike something like Dragon Ball or JoJo's where a lot of the writing is (self-admittedly) done by the seat of the author's pants, there's definitely a real effort to maintain something like a consistent world-logic - which isn't to say Oda doesn't sometimes abruptly change course. But concepts like the "Grand Line" or the Devil Fruit surface repeatedly, baiting readers to follow and learn more if they keep coming back. Below, Chapter 8 (an early mention of the Grand Line) and Chapter 22 (where it's actually explained in detail):

The settings and backgrounds of these early arcs tend to be sparse, minimal, and rustic: small houses, quiet taverns, little rickety boats, and tamed greenery. This, too, is a tradeoff. On the one hand, it effectively communicates how small this part of the world is, and on re-read this makes these early islands really stand out compared to the kinds of weird or grandiose places that the Straw Hat Pirates will visit later in the manga. It paints a picture of small communities and everyday people trying to eke out a stable existence on the periphery of the world, threatened by a mix of local crime and corrupt authority, which in turn point towards the existence of much larger forces.

On the other hand, those first forty chapters can feel a little drab because of this somewhat underwhelming aesthetic. Once the series starts to really hit its stride in the following saga, I think this is much less of a problem. And, just to defend the thing I just critiqued, @opbackgrounds has a cool write-up noting the differences between the architecture in the different villages, so although the settings aren't the most thrilling, their designs do still communicate distinct class and cultural differences, like Orange Town's obviously greater wealth communicated below, which corresponds to its success as a port town:

This same limitation of scope extends into the main conflicts. They skew small, with relatively minor pirate crews menacing the small towns that I described above. Unlike the antagonists of the "Paradise" [Ch. 101-597] and "New World" [Ch. 598-ongoing] portions of the story, who are admirals, warlords, emperors, and even a self-proclaimed god-king, the antagonists in these first three arcs are trying to acquire petty personal fiefdoms or fulfill private schemes, or in the case of that clown everyone was upset about a while back, reach *well* outside his grasp. It can feel a little "villain of the week," and in at least two out of four cases, with one edge case, that's an accurate label.

The two villains of Romance Dawn, for instance, are completely outclassed by our protagonists. "Iron Mace" Alvida and "Axe-Hand" Morgan never pose a serious threat to our heroes, they're largely vessels for Luffy and Zoro to display what they can do. They have two other useful qualities, though. First, they immediately set the tone for who the antagonists are generally going to be, a mix of Marines or government authorities, and other pirates with alternative worldviews to Luffy and the crew's. Second, they introduce some of the series' basic themes.

Both Morgan and Alvida rule by fear, with the former in particular demanding complete obedience, and using his rank in the Marines as proof of his own superiority and a means to personally enrich himself. By putting Luffy in conflict with these two, it suggests that the status of "Pirate King" maybe doesn't inherently carry the kind of connotation of superiority and command, or control over wealth, that you might assume. In the first chapter, we've seen Luffy glow with delight at the claim that "pirates have freedom." While the themes are a little embryonic at this point, it's clear from the start what direction the series is going.

In this way, most of the villains are direct foils for Luffy and the crew member being recruited in each arc. For example, Captain Kuro "of a Thousand Plans," the villain of the "Syrup Village" arc, is both a foil for Luffy and Usopp, willing to abandon his crew in pursuit of a quiet, shamed life as an ex-pirate rather than live loudly and proudly, and who relies on deception to advance his goals. Buggy the Clown, the villain of "Orange Town," has a boundless ambition for treasure that parallels both Luffy and Nami's aspirations, but while Luffy sees treasure in the variety of places and things that people value because of their history and connections to important people (like his own straw hat), and Nami's money-lust stems from a complicated history of hurt (which is only foreshadowed in this section), Buggy is simplistic and sadistic, incapable of seeing beyond himself.

A random aside: Buggy is an all-time gag antagonist, and unlike the other three, he will repeatedly resurface throughout the narrative. This is part of the core appeal of One Piece, imo. What seem like villains of the week or background characters often end up coming back, often in new roles. In Buggy's case, while he returns first as a minor villain and later an ally, above all he is essentially the series' longest-running gag: a man who is basically incompetent but keeps failing upwards largely through the misunderstandings of others.

This use of narrative foils to push specific ideas within each arc, which then form a web of interrelated themes throughout the whole saga or series, is a common feature of One Piece antagonists, but they get meatier and gain greater emotional complexity or thematic weight as the story goes on.

You might have noticed I've been quiet about the core cast so far, but now that I've touched on antagonists, it seems appropriate to say some words about them. But also, that's partly intentional because in the early days the information about our protagonists is relayed in a piecemeal way. We get basic backgrounds for Usopp, Luffy, and Zoro, but a better sense of who they are unfolds over time rather than in single chapters or arcs: how they behave with each other, the choices they make, what their personalities are like. This lack of instant information is deliberate on Oda's part. Luffy (after learning that Nami lost someone to pirates) expresses that he understands, but also indicates that he doesn't necessarily need to hear about it. These people aren't connected because they share intimate details of their histories with each other but because they have shared values and aspirations, and they inspire one another to pursue their goals.

The way Luffy is written, for example, leaves open a lot of questions around his familial and early life until they suddenly come roaring back into the story way later. But we do learn a decent amount about him in this arc: he's a bit of a dope and not a great sailor, but he's a strong fighter, he has some sense of honor and bravery but isn't above being underhanded, and despite his lack of intellect he has a fair amount of tactical and emotional intelligence.

While he hasn't quite figured out to be the best possible leader yet, Luffy has a sort of natural charisma by virtue of his sheer unblinking willpower. His dreams and aspirations inspire others around him to pursue their own, seemingly unachievable goals. So far, so shonen. But where he stands out from other shonen heroes is that his goals are so defiant of how the world "should" work - a young kid who can't swim, with the silly power of "stretching," from a backwater village in the "weakest" sea in the One Piece world - that it naturally brings him into conflict with that world's social and political order. It'll be interesting to observe how Luffy develops as a character and a leader as the series continues.

Each of the main cast is, fittingly for pirates, atypically heroic or arguably non-heroic. In spite of their position as protagonists, each one has an idiosyncratic personality, a self-interested goal, and a hoard of vices, and what's more is that these vices often aren't always positioned as things they need to overcome. Zoro is incredibly prideful to the point of putting himself in unnecessary danger, indulgent in alcohol, and easily gets lost. Nami is obsessed with making money and has an especially short fuse. Usopp is easily frightened and falls back on deception as a way to puff himself up.

And yet these are the things that endear the characters to each other, and us to them: Usopp uses lies not just to inflate his own ego but to make others feel better or to distract an enemy at critical moments; Zoro's prideful determination to basically defy all medical wisdom has saved the crew's life multiple times, as early as Orange Town; Nami's knack for stealing makes her a valuable asset under pressure, and her short fuse is because she often has to play the clever and rational member of the group.

I'm gonna decline to comment further on the remaining three characters, because I think while each of them gets time to shine in this section of the story, it'll be better to look at how they take shape in the context of the next string of arcs. Which means, once again, I find myself pointing to the long game as justification for what makes this section of the story work.

I think taken together, these qualities of the early series make it easy to see why One Piece is massively successful AND has something of a mixed reputation among non-readers, or people who pick up the first volume or two and then drop it.

My feelings on this earliest segment of One Piece are a bit mixed, myself. What makes it work for me is viewing it as part of an unfolding process, with the knowledge of what's to come and how the seemingly small and less exciting characters or concepts eventually swell in scope and emotional weight. But some of the emotional moments in this early section land with a bit of a thud for me (I've never been a huge fan of Zoro's backstory for instance), and the conflicts and characterization are hit or miss. But, considering the manga I've read that have stronger starting points but ultimately drown as they continue, there's a compelling case to be made that One Piece is a great example of manga-as-process rather than just a series of parts. It benefits from a long-term, serialized format in a way that not all works actually do.

Overall I'd say Romance Dawn is a little wobbly, while Orange Town and Syrup Village polish up the basic formula before it starts to get more complex in the next few arcs.

Next up, Baratie, Arlong Park, and Loguetown (ch. 42-100)!

#op reread #one piece

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kustas · 7 months

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It's so disappointing how time and time again I see reminders of Taiyô Matsumoto's stuff being put on that high shelf of "artsy, highbrow, gatekept", this line from My dream is to die was yesterday's reminder for me

"If you know you know, if you don't we can't help".

I went to a manga specific bookstore with friends lately and despite how accessible manga is here, being mainstream nowadays, you don't find his works alongsides normal series but only in the section reserved to artbooks and fancy collector's editions. It's not published like other manga. Other releases that suffer the same fate are the monsters dominating the "classic manga" category like Akira and Tezuka's work. Several editors have collections in a larger fancier format, of which I own a copy of for "Monster", but you can and will find that one edited as regular manga and on the same shelves as in stores too. I wanted to show the stuff I read to the people I was with and struggled to find anything until I hit that fancy section asides from the rest and even with that it took time to find the books, most of which who were, like fancy editions are, under plastic and not browsable. And extremely expensive, of course...

"both genius and a bit of a hard sell" annoys me. If something is good it has potential to be famous from being recognized as such. Why a hard sell? Assuming it's a mix of the weirdness in the writing and the unconventional art styles. Ironic for both as I grew up to see most manga labeled as weird and quirky for being culturally different, and as for the art, the crushing success of modern series like Mob Psycho and arguably One Piece should have (despite the amount of weebs hating on their visuals, I know) shown publishers it's worth giving them a chance.

In the first place, one of the reasons his work stands out from other manga are the BD influences, especially Moebius, and for having read Moebius and Druillet and Bilal among other Heavy Metal classics I can say their writing is way harder to parse. Taiyô Matsumoto's stories are typically extremely simple ones if anything, often slightly surreal or nuanced, but still damn simple. It'd take me a few paragraphs to explain the plot of the Incal. I can explain no.5's in two sentences and that series is the most obtuse I've read by him. Ironic that in taking some inspiration in french comics, french editors don't seem to see him as accessible either.

Why this annoys me in the first place is I am very fond of his work and it's disappointing to see that...subtle gatekeeping? Prevent him from a chance to the mainstream. Anyone who's really into comics as a whole usually reads his stuff but I seldom see it recommended. It's invisible in online manga communities that I've stumbled upon. My limited anime con experience gives the same results.

But when I find comment sections online related to his work, left on clips of the animes based of it, on tweet threads about a series, etc, I always find a few people saying hey, I saw/read this as a child and it stuck with me forever. Even if I was already grown up when I discovered his stuff the constant shilling from my end on here should show how much I think more people should read his work. It's why I'm annoyed and disappointed - I don't want those manga to explode in popularity because I want clout and stacks for the author and my favorite things to be #1, but because his work honestly does not come off as hard to access to me AND is both refreshing and very, very touching

#mine #rbs locked for now

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rennsdeaddoves · 10 months

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Long Fic / Fic Series List

a list of the long fic's / series, their sumaries, ratings, and ships! the colour of the fic titles indicate their position on my dead dove scale (if you need a reminder go to my intro post)

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Awakened - Akira / ghost in the shell crossover

this fic is a guilty pleasure of mine, it is a cross over between the 1988 film Akira (and the original manga) and the 1995 Ghost in the shell movie.

throughout this fic it follows my OC a girl named Tehanu who is on Major Motoko's team of elites. like the Major she is also a fully cyborg, she has a complete shell provided to her by section nine and thus she works dutifully with her team.

however on a slow day they get a call about explosions going off downtown Tokyo though when they arrive the culprit is gone, though not entirely as Tehanu catches a glimpse of a boy in a red cape fleeing the scene. she gives chance and when she catches up with him she is met with Tetsuo Shima, who is entirely confused on where he is and why he is not back at the stadium facing down Kaneda.

this is a slow burn, enemies to begrudging allies to lovers fic where the main paring is Tetsuo Shima (akira) x Cannon (my oc)

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When we Make it to the Other Side - Journey to the west

A modern day political Science major named Rue gets flung back though time and space ending up ancient china, after wandering for a few days on her own she runs into a traveling group comprised of three demons and a Monk. reluctantly she joins their group knowing that because they are headed to the Buddha himself it is likely her best bet of returning to her own time. but maybe she's not destined to go back...

Jttw fic where it has isekai type elements, @skittlescripts story Isekaie'd to the west inspired me to write this one

Sun Wukong x Oc

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The Sweetness of Rot - Lego Monkie Kid

Official Summary; Tao is the creation of Sun Wukong. She is his daughter, made by accident and loved wholeheartedly by; Him, his Monkeys, friends, gods, and demons alike

Wukong really thought that after her, his life turned around for the very best, truly he did… but fate is cruel and unfair. Tao is ripped away from him by destiny’s hand in the form of his oldest “friend”. Macaque thinks he deserves this, he has a right to her. After all, how dare the piece of shit that took his whole life away get to live his to the very best with a daughter and friends he doesn’t deserve. Taking her from him was only the first step in his plan, he will break her, pick up the pieces, and put them back together making someone who is unrecognizable to the monkey king. A perfect weapon to beat him, a monster to kill him.

Wukong x daughter oc

this one is gonna break ya'lls hearts i can guarantee it

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The Will of Gods and Monsters - Hellsing Ultimate

official summary; what is the human will? The age-old argument is of whether humans have free will at all, but if you want to go deeper, what about the Gods we serve? And what of the monsters they create?

Father Alexander Anderson makes choices that hurt him, he fixes those choices and eradicates all love for anyone except God. Though it is debatable who his god is.

Aireth made a choice in her young life to explore the world and subsequently got tangled up with a Lord by the name of Vlade Tempest, or Vlad the Impaler, she made an oath, by choice, and it continues to bite her in the ass even after she thinks she’s rid herself of it.

Finally, Abbadon. She seems to have no free will of her own, constantly controlled by the ones who took her as a child she never gets to make her own choices. Until she did, and the glass was broken.

It can be argued that humans have free will, Integra willingly killed her Uncle to save Hellsing, Walter willingly serves as her butler.

But what of the monsters under her control? Alucard, Aireth, Saris? What of the gods? Anderson, Seraph? Is their will their own?

Alexander Anderson x Oc + The Captain (Hans) x OC

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Jujutsu Kaisen End of the Dynasty series - Jujutsu kaisen

ok- technically this should be considered an au because i've changed quite a few things for this... but eh

so since there is no way i'm explaining what this is without a massive post imma just sumarize for yall.

Sukuna has a daughter which he despises at first, but he soon grows to love her. she grows under his reign as the king of curses and she is cared for, protected, and loved (also overly sheltered at some points)

eventually Sukuna gets sealed away and Kohaku (his daughter) is left to her own devices for 1000 years, she travels, trains, hones in her skills, and eventually begins to collect her father fingers so she can bring him back, but it doesn't go that way when the sorcerers ambush her and she is locked away until Satoru Gojo finds out and thinks that she can be an excellent asset.

Sukuna x Daughter series that transitions into a Yuji x oc (don't worry i handle the vessel issue)

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Star War; Untold Truths - Star Wars

Official summary;

Olds wounds are to be opened and secrets long kept will be washed ashore such is the nature of life. Even more, is the nature of the Sith, they lie and cheat their way to victory most times. Using methods of hatred and anger to get them to where they need to be, always in pares of two, no more no less;

But what if two became three for but a moment in time?

a series that likely has some of my most depraved work in terms of trauma and trigger warnings (like child sexual slavery)

Basically Darth Vader gains an apprentice appointed by the emperor, his own master, himself. so the Sith for a moment in time become greater than three. this story follows that appretince and how both Vader and her help one another through some of the darkest points in their lives.

Darth Vader x Apprentice OC (found family trope baby!!)

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Creature Series - Moon Knight

a series of four fics documenting one of Khonshu's best moon knights, a young women named Nem who would eventually become his queen

Khonshu x oc

fic one, Haunted by a Darker Side

Summary; The Gods were never reliable in any sense for Nem. her mother prayed and believed but she never did, she thought it was a waste of time and took matters into her own hands. Unfortunately taking things into your own hands will often get you into much more trouble than it's truly worth.

It was only when Nem really feared for her life that she prayed for the first time, it was only after running from guards with the shiver of the Pharaoh’s last words running through her mind, the moon clear above her as she lay dying in the sand that she truly prayed.

“Oh Lord Khonshu, god of the moon, Protector of the travellers of the night. Please protect my mother and brothers in my absence, watch over them when I could not. I beg of you if you are real please, please do this, I'm sorry I never believed or worshipped. I offer the rest of myself to you if you can do this one thing for me-”

What Nem was not expecting was a response to her prayer;

“Why don’t you protect them yourself? It would be a shame to die on a nice night like this. Allow me to keep you alive Nem of Iken”

She should have known there would be strings attached to that offer…

Fic two, Transcends to Walking in the Light

Summary; Nem would not let Khonshu be turned to stone, so with Anubis’ help, she announced that she was with child, a new god or goddess of the Ennead. Khonshu must live to raise the child, as Nem would not be able to handle it on her own unless they wanted a rouge god on their hands.

Begrudgingly they agree, freeing her God, but this freedom comes at a price.

“You must marry Khonshu, we cannot have a god be born naturally out of wedlock.”

At least it didn’t need to be conceived within wedlock- but these terms are easily agreed to by both parties. Now the next chapter of Nem’s patronage to Khonshu begins,

With her as his Queen.

Fic three, Slowly I'm Recovering

Summary; Most agree that on any given night the moon is beautiful, it always has been and always will be. So why was it that Casper could never face it? Did it have something to do with a past she didn’t want to relive and a personal mission that had yet to be completed? Yes, yes it did. But she is too stubborn to admit that aloud.

So when she gets mixed up with a nice fellow named Steven Grant and his life, her past with the moon god Khonshu comes to a head. And what she's been running from all this time is right in front of her, she just needs to face it with the honour she once had.

Fic four, The Beauty of Discovering (no summary yet)

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Did You hear the Golden Records? - Transformers Bayverse

a series of five fics covering all five movies and beyond. An Optimus Prime x oc which (after the third movie) turns into an Optimus Prime x daughter oc.

Fic one; MESSENGER

Summary; Up to this point life has not been kind to Ezra Rhett, but she manages in her own way and actually maybe made some good friends in the form of the Witwicky family. When Sam gets his first car and it apparently steels itself she’s the first person he’s calling, the next day when Giant metal beings show themselves to them all in a back alley and ask Sam to save the world she’s already had enough.

But that pleading look in his eyes has her reluctantly agreeing to go, and very quickly she realizes it would be a cold day in hell if she ever let these kids go through this alone.

Optimus Prime has a similar thought process when he realized how young the humans helping his team were. He is glad that Ezra decided to stay and help her young friends not for herself but for their safety. The Autobot leader also keeps his eyes on them, he doesn’t need any of the humans helping them get hurt along the way.

Though sometimes he finds himself being pulled by the Look in her eyes.

Fic two; Voyager Fic three; Apollo 11 Fic four; Pathfinder Fic Five; Interstellar

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Rust Can be Fatal - Transformers Prime / Undertale Crossover

a two part series where I cross over tfp and Undertale to make something i've been fantasizing about since grade school.

A Megatron x oc which eventually turns into a Megatron x Daughter oc in the second fic.

Fic one, It Had to be You

Summary; Cybertron was a stagnant planet, it had been since the collapse of the space bridges, no, likely since the fall of the thirteen. But it was all about to change, A Gladiator named Megatrounus arose and everything fell into chaos.

Within that chaos, Seadrift chose her side. She had seen firsthand what the upper castes, her castes had done to the lower and it needed to change. When the change that her planet finally went through happened, she changed with it, and Megatron with her. She never expected for it to happen, one day it was adoration and then she realized it was so much more. But she was never going to act on it, lucky for her he acted first.

At the peak of it all, they make a decision for the future, and Seadrift is sent away. A small planet on an outer galaxy that the Decepticons had been storing energon on for some time. What Seadrift didn’t expect was the people and Monsters that called the planet home.

The Monsters welcomed her, she became one of them. And when war engulfed the earth, she took up arms and fought alongside the ones who helped her the most. Seadrift had already lost one planet, one family to war. She’d be dammed if she lost another.

Fic two; The Reason I'm Alive

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#fanfic list #blog navigation #akira 1988 #ghost in the shell #jttw #lego monkie kid #hellsing ultimate #jujutsu kaisen #star wars #marvel #transformers bayverse #transformers prime #undertale

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reddish-green-personality · 3 years

Audio

Track #BrushYourTeeth

This track was one of those where the stupidest inspiration snowballs into something relatively good’.

I’ve been making too many slow tracks, so i thought to experiment with a groovy, dance-vibe type thing

Taglist @mango-pickle @some-major-ishues @ineedbackgroundmusicinmylife @wannabe-santiago @awesomeuvinthings @grace-k-sterling @apocalyptic-saboteur @holding-infinity-and-a-book @fleventes @damnicourmysunshine @stars-triumphant @starry-tea-party @ineffable-akira @dead-potato-monster @moon--bug @didyouputyournameinthegobi @aadya-said-chal-be @strudel-and-creme @sherlocksacchimesamlaingiknamhai @blizzard-witch @silent-nerd-deactivated20201202 @screechingnightchild @i-love-books-and-i-cannot-lie @rustycoffemachine @daughter-of-poseidon-97 @whythefuckdoiexist @rainbowsnowflake @percabeth-ish @cementcinema @amandaanubis @calltothewild

Hope you like it !

\/ Deconstruction \/

the first sound on this was a DONK from a bottle, whcih was sampled into the keys. then the light percussion from my tooth brush

bass guitar loop(because i dont got one)

vocal sample from internet, chopped into the pockets

went for the funkiest snares i could find, kindah analog, with a off-grid clap

some tonal and white noise risers, and some vinyl crackle for sauce

the reverse tool was very helpful on this track.

the last vocal groove was a happy accident when i consolidated to sped up vocal clips randomly

thats about it

#music #audibill

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raguna-blade · 3 years

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Persona 5, Makoto, And Cops

So, like...We can all agree that it's weird that Makoto want's to be a cop in the game right? Aside from general cop bastardry irl, there's like precisely one police officer in the entirety of P5 who's at all a clear cut good guy and even he basically just says out and out, super explicitly that the cops are like...Not great.

At BEST, at BEST, they ensure the laws are followed, but that doesn't always equate to justice being served, and it is hilariously easy for them to be made into tools of opression, and to be made into stooges of people who want to do wrong.

Like Zenkichi out and out says “You really shouldn't be a cop.”

But Makoto still want's to be, despite knowing this, despite agreeing with this, and it's a weird gap right? Of perhaps everyone in the group, she should know best how following the rules and laws can lead to people doing pretty screwed up things if her little stint stalking and then blackmailing joker and company.

And she's just a student council president you know? It's not like she has anywhere near the same authority as a police officer, and unlike Chie who (for sake of argument here) has pretty objectively Upstanding Excellent Cops in her neighborhood except for you know the one who decidedly wasn't but P4 isn't really dealing with Laws and their problems, so them not leaning into law enforcement is a problem makes sense. Dojima is a just dude trying to do his best and even here the only other cop of note is uh...A straight up monster who abused his position of authority to get away with terrible things.

But back to P5, like...The game isn't subtle about it's feelings about law enforcement. Every Single Shadow is represented in the field by varying kinds of law enforcement operative types. Guards, knights, actual cops, prison wardens, etc etc. The Ultimate Big Bad basically posits that humans can't follow the rules and for that need to be severely punished and so laws and rules more or less end up being the big bad foe here.

The motivation to be a cop is well...Painted as whole heartedly misguided at best. We never get to know anything about Makoto's dad, and he's her inspiration for that goal, but at the same time, we get to see the other daughter who I think it's safe to say ALSO had him as something of a goal and...Sae also doesn't exactly come off as a perfect avatar of justice here either.

She very clearly WANTS to be, no doubt, and the massive shock of the games events does change her trajectory, but she's been deep down in the swamp of the system and she knows intimately that well...It's a shit show at best.

So i'm circling back to it as...Why? What's the deal here with what the game is going for theme wise? The idea of internal reform I suppose is being suggested, but the game's also make it remarkably clear that that actually won't work.

I'd say even textually, not even dipping into subtext, the game is out and out saying that you cannot reform a system from the inside like that when it's that far gone. Between P5 and P5S it's made abundantly clear that even what is functionally in a metaphysical sense a hard system check of things going out of whack law wise like the phantom thieves (what with their flipping of the table) they can't actually solve the problems of the system itself being super fucked. At best they can stop it from going full on malignant, but the cancer is still there. If the people don't actually band together to overturn things that are broken, especially when it is well within their hands to do, it's not going to improve, it's not going to get better. It's a delaying action at best.

Like the Phantom Thieves can't save everyone. Akira Konoe bluntly makes it clear when he asks them and the PT can only really go...No we can't. If we knew sure, but we don't possess the ability to do that. It's outside our ability entirely to do so for everyone.

So...Back to Makoto then. It's abundantly clear, I think, that she's very much of the mold of she want's to be a cop to protect people. That's what the job description is, even if that's not what it is in reality. And I think we can at least say that she's not so naive by this point to think that if she goes in she's going to be able to reform things, not by herself. It's worth noting that her intended goal is to become a Police Commisioner, and basically form her own police branch under her rules and regulations which...Fair. Fine. There's something to be said for being an apt demonstration but it doesn't actually fix the problem at it's core does it?

Which I think pushes this into the funky grey area of things because I don't think she's precisely...Wrong to want to do this. As stated, I think the games make it abundantly clear that one person on their own can't make radical and deep changes. You need people and momentum and everyone willing to work and all that.

Certainly, I think, it would be tremendously easier to reform an organization if someone in that organization is willing to make calls against what they're doing presently. But by the same token, it's also clear if you're entering an organization to try and change that organization it's uh...Not precisely a good bet. Now there's something to be said for being willing to try it I think. While the game doesn't exactly indicate how it'll go, we can imagine that following the events of the game that Makoto wouldn't be crushed under the weight of it all and change for the worse....Though the question of if she'd be able to make her goals a reality are a different question. She has allies in that fight for sure, between Zenkichi, Sae, and (from all indications) Kaburagi, there is at least some element of reform at play, but it's also well...

The big ass conspiracy didn't exactly come out of nowhere no? And the cops at every level more or less were compromised to some level or another, and this includes these prospective allies.

But then, I guess this goes back to the Phantom Thieves themselves. They're not able to actually fundamentally fix the problems at play. They stop the worst excesses certainly, the most terminal aspects of it, although in doing so they are very nearly destroyed outright and with barely a thought. In that spirit, Of doing what you can with what you can it changes the read on the decision at least somewhat.

The Daughter of a well decorated cop, sister of a particularly well known ex prosecuter now defense lawyer, in addition to being a top honor student type, certainly gives her a bit more leverage to attack the problem, especially in the sense of getting into a position to actually change things. To say nothing of Joanna.

Taking her awakening quote into consideration

"Have you decided to tread the path of strife...? Very well. Let us proceed with our contract at once. I am thou, thou art I... You have finally found your own justice... Please... Never lose sight of it again. This memorable day marks your graduation from your false self..."

and the general story the game presents of Joanna as one who rose to the top of the organization she was in and shook it to it's core (doesn't particularly matter how true that is in reality, merely what the game says for this instance) it's clear that indeed that's her gambit, if not the specific trickster archetype she's supposed to embody (as opposed to Joker's completely outside the law rogue, Anne's Femme Fatale, or Morganna's Layabout by Day Vigilante by Night as off the cuff examples), of someone who appeared to all eyes to be a harmless simple part of the system until it was simply too late for them to do anything about it.

There is a solid arc there, and a story to be told, and I think in that light makes the continued ambition make sense especially given what we're shown of well...Uh, everything to do with law enforcement in P5.

Now if they actually communicated that idea WELL is um...probably a different story. I think it's there to see, but I can easily see this being overlooked if this was the actual intent. Though, thinking about it, the way the various trickster archetypes are shown to function isn't quite as clear as it could be, though I think there's something to say for looking into that.

Later though.

#Persona 5 #makoto nijima #theme analysis

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fostersffff · 3 years

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Robot Carnival Review

When I first started my blu-ray collecting kick, Discotek was hyping up their release of Memories, an anthology movie organized by Akira’s Katsuhiro Otomo. While doing research on it, I saw it was recommended in the company of Robot Carnival, another anthology movie Otomo was involved with, with more animators and thus individual shorts, and a unifying theme of “robots”. As a robot enjoyer, I figured I couldn’t go wrong with this, and I was right! This was a joy from start to finish, where even the weakest segment still had plenty to offer. If this sounds like it might be up your alley, it’s available to stream for free on RetroCrush and YouTube!

Additional note before I get into talking about each short individually: with the exception of Cloud, the music for every short was composed by Joe Hisaishi, who has way more range as a composer than I would’ve ever expected, considering I knew him exclusively as the Studio Ghibli composer. Additional additional note: I watched the anthology in the original Japanese order, the version on RetroCrush and YouTube uses an alternate order from the international release.

Opening/Ending (Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of Akira and Atsuko Fukushima, key animator on dozens of anime projects, including Akira) - A mobile fortress (literally the above Robot Carnival logo) traverses a post-apocalyptic wasteland, bringing death and destruction wherever it goes. The Opening sets the bar for what you should expect going forward in terms of production values, and the Ending is a nice send off for the whole thing, but I don’t really have much else to say about these shorts.

Franken’s Gears (Koji Morimoto, Director of Memories: Magnetic Rose) - A mad scientist attempts to bring their robot to life, succeeds horribly. I think of all the shorts in this movie, this one has the most impressive mechanical animation. The whole thing takes places in the scientist’s lab, and the emphasis really is on all of the ways the environment is struggling to bring the robot to life, to the point that once it does so, it begins to crumble and break apart. But the animation on the scientist himself is also really charming; the way he moves almost makes him look gooey, which is apt because my sister pointed out he was probably designed after a snail, what with the big orb on his back.

Deprive (Hidetoshi Omori, Animation Director for Char’s Counterattack) - A super android has to mamoru his imouto from an invading alien robot army. One of my favorite shorts in the anthology, this was an entire action movie expertly condensed down into not even ten minutes, complete with an awesome soundtrack. I’d actually go so far as to call this one perfect for what it is, but it’s not much more than that.

Presence (Yasuyomi Umetsu, Character Designer and Chief Animation Director of Megazone 23 Part II) - A man builds an android for companionship, and he gets more than he bargained for. Longest piece in the compilation by a mile, and the first one with voice acting. Despite enjoying some of the other shorts more, I think I would call Presence the “centerpiece” of this anthology, as it’s definitely the most story-rich. It even has some prescient worldbuilding: the people of this setting do not see robots as sentient beings, which is shown right at the start when a bunch of kids knock the head off of an android and play with it while absolutely no one in the crowded plaza reacts. This sets the tone for the main character’s interactions with his creation, and provide additional context for the things he does besides the obvious explanations.

This was also the first short where I noticed something off about the animation, where it seemed to animate too well in for certain movements. As it turns out I was right; the liner notes explain that the director was using this project to experiment, and he would animate different movements on different frame counts. It’s not terrible, but it is a little distracting to see how smoothly something like a simple head turn will animate while more complex motions look more standard. Also, unrelated but fun coincidence: the liner notes also explain a reference in the script to a story called Daddy Long Legs, about an orphan girl who receives funding from a wealthy philanthropist she never meets, which explains a reference that went over my head Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Star Light Angel (Hiroyuki Kitazume, Character Designer and Animation Director for Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ and Char’s Counterattack) - What could have been the most effective piece of robosexual propaganda ever made: a girl and her friend are at Tokyo Disneyland ROBOT WANDERLAND and are having a wonderful time, until she discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her, at which point she retreat into the park and winds up on a virtual reality ride. Meanwhile, a robot performer attempts to find her and return the locket she dropped while she ran past him. This is tied for my favorite, alongside Deprive, because I’m a big sucker for romance and the main song for the short is so perfect for the content. I was also delighted to find the explanation for this short was that Kitazume, who’s work up to this point was all mecha anime like Aura Battler Dunbine and Zeta Gundam, really wanted to try to flex with character expressions, and it came through brilliantly as the range and level of facial expressions was the first thing I really took notice of in this. Funny enough, though, Kitazume also apparently said he considers this and Deprive to be the weakest pieces of the anthology, and I suppose he’s right in that they have the least meat on their bones and are also probably the least technically impressive, but still: my two favorites!

Cloud (Mao Lamdo, a prolific animator on many projects, but probably best known for this) - A robotic boy wanders past a series of ever-changing clouds. Cloud is definitely a stand-out short for a number of reasons, from the way its animated to the incredibly tangential connection to the “robot” theme, and to be perfectly honest I got a lot more out of it after I read the liner notes. The short was adapted from a self-published book Mao Lamdo had written years prior that had nothing to do with robots, and his interpretation of the short and the change to making the main character a robot was that it represented his frustration with the trend in the anime industry at the time trending towards a being obsessed with the mechanical world, while he still preferred to draw and animate nature. As I mentioned at the top, this is also the only short to not have music composed by Joe Hisaishi, instead the piece used is by Isaku Fujita, and as far as I can tell, this is his only credit. Still, it’s a good credit to have; Lamdo said the song evoked the idea of having a conversation with God and asking the big questions, which I can completely see.

Strange Tales of Meiji Machine Culture: “The Westerner’s Invasion” (Hiroyuki Kitakubo, Director of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure OVA and Golden Boy) A terrible steampunk mech invades a Japanese town, and is warded off by a team of youths piloting their own terrible steampunk mech. I watched this one with the English dub first and then again in Japanese because it’s been a fuckin’ minute since I heard a dub this racist, complete with changing r’s to l’s and vice versa, only to be cracked across the skull by what I am certain was a Japanese man doing his very best to phonetically read English in the Japanese version. In spite of that, though, this is easily the funniest short for all the right reasons, and it kinda clicked once I found out that the director was also responsible for Golden Boy; it’s that exact kind of humor, complete with a protagonist who could very well be Kintaro Ue’s ancestor.

Chicken Man and Red Neck, a.k.a. Nightmare (Takeshi Nakamura, director of Catnapped! The Movie) - A robotic magician wreaks havoc on a city by transforming everything in sight into robotic monsters, and a vagrant gets caught up in the chaos. I initially wrote down “this one has the energy of a Don Bluth movie, particularly In the Dark of the Night from Anastasia”, although the liner notes say he actually was inspired by Night on Bald Mountain, which is definitely a more flattering inspiration and more accurate, to boot. I think of all the shorts in this anthology, this one gets the prizes for “best overall animation” and “best use of robots”, and it also has the most intense PS1 RPG sounding music, which once again speaks to Joe Hisaishi’s talent as a composer for doing that a full decade before the PS1 even existed. Also, fun trivia, the director turned down an offer from Hayao Miyazaki to be animation director on Castle in the Sky to make this, which… was maybe not the best career move, but still this was a terrific short and I’m glad to have it.

Again, the movie is easily accessible for free streaming, and I’d heartily recommend you check it out if you haven’t already. But if you’re into collecting physical media, the blu-ray is crammed full of tons of goodies, including the liner notes I’ve referenced, art galleries for each segment, and a lot of other production materials. Discotek also announced they’re doing a 4k UHD release of this soon, which won’t include all the extras due to the way UHD discs work, but I gotta be honest, this would be worth double dipping for if the resolution bump is noticeable enough.

#Robot Carnival #Katsuhiro Otomo #mecha #giant robot #robot #robots #anime #animation #blu-ray

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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ESSAY: Berserk's Journey of Acceptance Over 30 Years of Fandom

My descent into anime fandom began in the '90s, and just as watching Neon Genesis Evangelion caused my first revelation that cartoons could be art, reading Berserk gave me the same realization about comics. The news of Kentaro Miura’s death, who passed on May 6, has been emotionally complicated for me, as it's the first time a celebrity's death has hit truly close to home. In addition to being the lynchpin for several important personal revelations, Berserk is one of the longest-lasting works I’ve followed and that I must suddenly bid farewell to after existing alongside it for two-thirds of my life.

Berserk is a monolith not only for anime and manga, but also fantasy literature, video games, you name it. It might be one of the single most influential works of the ‘80s — on a level similar to Blade Runner — to a degree where it’s difficult to imagine what the world might look like without it, and the generations of creators the series inspired.

Although not the first, Guts is the prototypical large sword anime boy: Final Fantasy VII's Cloud Strife, Siegfried/Nightmare from Soulcalibur, and Black Clover's Asta are all links in the same chain, with other series like Dark Souls and Claymore taking clear inspiration from Berserk. But even deeper than that, the three-character dynamic between Guts, Griffith, and Casca, the monster designs, the grotesque violence, Miura’s image of hell — all of them can be spotted in countless pieces of media across the globe.

Despite this, it just doesn’t seem like people talk about it very much. For over 20 years, Berserk has stood among the critical pantheon for both anime and manga, but it doesn’t spur conversations in the same way as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Akira, or Dragon Ball Z still do today. Its graphic depictions certainly represent a barrier to entry much higher than even the aforementioned company.

Seeing the internet exude sympathy and fond reminiscing about Berserk was immensely validating and has been my single most therapeutic experience online. Moreso, it reminded me that the fans have always been there. And even looking into it, Berserk is the single best-selling property in the 35-year history of Dark Horse. My feeling is that Berserk just has something about it that reaches deep into you and gets stuck there.

I recall introducing one of my housemates to Berserk a few years ago — a person with all the intelligence and personal drive to both work on cancer research at Stanford while pursuing his own MD and maintaining a level of physical fitness that was frankly unreasonable for the hours that he kept. He was NOT in any way analytical about the media he consumed, but watching him sitting on the floor turning all his considerable willpower and intellect toward delivering an off-the-cuff treatise on how Berserk had so deeply touched him was a sight in itself to behold. His thoughts on the series' portrayal of sex as fundamentally violent leading up to Guts and Casca’s first moment of intimacy in the Golden Age movies was one of the most beautiful sentiments I’d ever heard in reaction to a piece of fiction.

I don’t think I’d ever heard him provide anything but a surface-level take on a piece of media before or since. He was a pretty forthright guy, but the way he just cut into himself and let his feelings pour out onto the floor left me awestruck. The process of reading Berserk can strike emotional chords within you that are tough to untangle. I’ve been writing analysis and experiential pieces related to anime and manga for almost ten years — and interacting with Berserk’s world for almost 30 years — and writing may just be yet another attempt for me to pull my own twisted-up feelings about it apart.

Berserk is one of the most deeply personal works I’ve ever read, both for myself and in my perception of Miura's works. The series' transformation in the past 30 years artistically and thematically is so singular it's difficult to find another work that comes close. The author of Hajime no Ippo, who was among the first to see Berserk as Miura presented him with some early drafts working as his assistant, claimed that the design for Guts and Puck had come from a mess of ideas Miura had been working on since his early school days.

写真は三浦建太郎君が寄稿してくれた鷹村です。今かなり感傷的になっています。思い出話をさせて下さい。僕が初めての週刊連載でスタッフが一人もいなくて困っていたら手伝いにきてくれました。彼が18で僕が19です。某大学の芸術学部の学生で講義明けにスケッチブックを片手に来てくれました。 pic.twitter.com/hT1JCWBTKu

— 森川ジョージ (@WANPOWANWAN) May 20, 2021

Miura claimed two of his big influences were Go Nagai’s Violence Jack and Tetsuo Hara and Buronson’s Fist of the North Star. Miura wears these influences on his sleeve, discovering the early concepts that had percolated in his mind just felt right. The beginning of Berserk, despite its amazing visual power, feels like it sprang from a very juvenile concept: Guts is a hypermasculine lone traveler breaking his body against nightmarish creatures in his single-minded pursuit of revenge, rigidly independent and distrustful of others due to his dark past.

Uncompromising, rugged, independent, a really big sword ... Guts is a romantic ideal of masculinity on a quest to personally serve justice against the one who wronged him. Almost nefarious in the manner in which his character checked these boxes, especially when it came to his grim stoicism, unblinkingly facing his struggle against literal cosmic forces. Never doubting himself, never trusting others, never weeping for what he had lost.

Miura said he sketched out most of the backstory when the manga began publication, so I have to assume the larger strokes of the Golden Arc were pretty well figured out from the outset, but I’m less sure if he had fully realized where he wanted to take the story to where we are now. After the introductory mini-arcs of demon-slaying, Berserk encounters Griffith and the story draws us back to a massive flashback arc. We see the same Guts living as a lone mercenary who Griffith persuades to join the Band of the Hawk to help realize his ambitions of rising above the circumstances of his birth to join the nobility.

We discover the horrific abuses of Guts’ adoptive father and eventually learn that Guts, Griffith, and Casca are all victims of sexual violence. The story develops into a sprawling semi-historical epic featuring politics and war, but the real narrative is in the growing companionship between Guts and the members of the band. Directionless and traumatized by his childhood, Guts slowly finds a purpose helping Griffith realize his dream and the courage to allow others to grow close to him.

Miura mentioned that many Band of the Hawk members were based on his early friend groups. Although he was always sparse with details about his personal life, he has spoken about how many of them referred to themselves as aspiring manga authors and how he felt an intense sense of competition, admitting that among them he may have been the only one seriously working toward that goal, desperately keeping ahead in his perceived race against them. It’s intriguing thinking about how much of this angst may have made it to the pages, as it's almost impossible not to imagine Miura put quite a bit of himself in Guts.

Perhaps this is why it feels so real and makes The Eclipse — the quintessential anime betrayal at the hands of Griffith — all the more heartbreaking. The raw violence and macabre imagery certainly helped. While Miura owed Hellraiser’s Cenobites much in the designs of the God Hand, his macabre portrayal of the Band of the Hawk’s eradication within the literal bowels of hell, the massive hand, the black sun, the Skull Knight, and even Miura’s page compositions have been endlessly referenced, copied, and outright plagiarized since.

The events were tragic in any context and I have heard many deeply personal experiences others drew from The Eclipse sympathizing with Guts, Casca, or even Griffith’s spiral driven by his perceived rejection by Guts. Mine were most closely aligned with the tragedy of Guts having overcome such painful circumstances to not only reject his own self enforced solitude, but to fearlessly express his affection for his loved ones.

The Golden Age was a methodical destruction of Guts’ self-destructive methods of preservation ruined in a single selfish act by his most trusted friend, leaving him once again alone and afraid of growing close to those around him. It ripped the romance of Guts’ mission and eventually took the story down a course I never expected. Berserk wasn’t a story of revenge but one of recovery.

Guess that’s enough beating around the bush, as I should talk about how this shift affected me personally. When I was young, when I began reading Berserk I found Guts’ unflagging stoicism to be really cool, not just aesthetically but in how I understood guys were supposed to be. I was slow to make friends during school and my rapidly gentrifying neighborhood had my friends' parents moving away faster than I could find new ones. At some point I think I became too afraid of putting myself out there anymore, risking rejection when even acceptance was so fleeting. It began to feel easier just to resign myself to solitude and pretend my circumstances were beyond my own power to correct.

Unfortunately, I became the stereotypical kid who ate alone during lunch break. Under the invisible expectations demanding I not display weakness, my loneliness was compounded by shame for feeling loneliness. My only recourse was to reveal none of those feelings and pretend the whole thing didn't bother me at all. Needless to say my attempts to cope probably fooled no one and only made things even worse, but I really didn’t know of any better way to handle my situation. I felt bad, I felt even worse about feeling bad and had been provided with zero tools to cope, much less even admit that I had a problem at all.

The arcs following the Golden Age completely changed my perspective. Guts had tragically, yet understandably, cut himself off from others to save himself from experiencing that trauma again and, in effect, denied himself any opportunity to allow himself to be happy again. As he began to meet other characters that attached themselves to him, between Rickert and Erica spending months waiting worried for his return, and even the slimmest hope to rescuing Casca began to seed itself into the story, I could only see Guts as a fool pursuing a grim and hopeless task rather than appreciating everything that he had managed to hold onto.

The same attributes that made Guts so compelling in the opening chapters were revealed as his true enemy. Griffith had committed an unforgivable act but Guts’ journey for revenge was one of self-inflicted pain and fear. The romanticism was gone.

Farnese’s inclusion in the Conviction arc was a revelation. Among the many brilliant aspects of her character, I identified with her simply for how she acted as a stand-in for myself as the reader: Plagued by self-doubt and fear, desperate to maintain her own stoic and uncompromising image, and resentful of her place in the world. She sees Guts’ fearlessness in the face of cosmic horror and believes she might be able to learn his confidence.

But in following Guts, Farnese instead finds a teacher in Casca. In taking care of her, Farnese develops a connection and is able to experience genuine sympathy that develops into a sense of responsibility. Caring for Casca allows Farnese to develop the courage she was lacking not out of reckless self-abandon but compassion.

I can’t exactly credit Berserk with turning my life around, but I feel that it genuinely helped crystallize within me a sense of growing doubts about my maladjusted high school days. My growing awareness of Guts' undeniable role in his own suffering forced me to admit my own role in mine and created a determination to take action to fix it rather than pretending enough stoicism might actually result in some sort of solution.

I visited the Berserk subreddit from time to time and always enjoyed the group's penchant for referring to all the members of the board as “fellow strugglers,” owing both to Skull Knight’s label for Guts and their own tongue-in-cheek humor at waiting through extended hiatuses. Only in retrospect did it feel truly fitting to me. Trying to avoid the pitfalls of Guts’ path is a constant struggle. Today I’m blessed with many good friends but still feel primal pangs of fear holding me back nearly every time I meet someone, the idea of telling others how much they mean to me or even sharing my thoughts and feelings about something I care about deeply as if each action will expose me to attack.

It’s taken time to pull myself away from the behaviors that were so deeply ingrained and it’s a journey where I’m not sure the work will ever be truly done, but witnessing Guts’ own slow progress has been a constant source of reassurance. My sense of admiration for Miura’s epic tale of a man allowing himself to let go after suffering such devastating circumstances brought my own humble problems and their way out into focus.

Over the years I, and many others, have been forced to come to terms with the fact that Berserk would likely never finish. The pattern of long, unexplained hiatuses and the solemn recognition that any of them could be the last is a familiar one. The double-edged sword of manga largely being works created by a single individual is that there is rarely anyone in a position to pick up the torch when the creator calls it quits. Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond, Ai Yazawa’s Nana, and likely Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter X Hunter all frozen in indefinite hiatus, the publishers respectfully holding the door open should the creators ever decide to return, leaving it in a liminal space with no sense of conclusion for the fans except what we can make for ourselves.

The reason for Miura’s hiatuses was unclear. Fans liked to joke that he would take long breaks to play The Idolmaster, but Miura was also infamous for taking “breaks” spent minutely illustrating panels to his exacting artistic standard, creating a tumultuous release schedule during the wars featuring thousands of tiny soldiers all dressed in period-appropriate armor. If his health was becoming an issue, it’s uncommon that news would be shared with fans for most authors, much less one as private as Miura.

Even without delays, the story Miura was building just seemed to be getting too big. The scale continued to grow, his narrative ambition swelling even faster after 20 years of publication, the depth and breadth of his universe constantly expanding. The fan-dubbed “Millennium Falcon Arc” was massive, changing the landscape of Berserk from a low fantasy plagued by roaming demons to a high fantasy where godlike beings of sanity-defying size battled for control of the world. How could Guts even meet Griffith again? What might Casca want to do when her sanity returned? What are the origins of the Skull Knight? And would he do battle with the God Hand? There was too much left to happen and Miura’s art only grew more and more elaborate. It would take decades to resolve all this.

But it didn’t need to. I imagine we’ll never get a precise picture of the final years of Miura’s life leading up to his tragic passing. In the final chapters he released, it felt as if he had directed the story to some conclusion. The unfinished Fantasia arc finds Guts and his newfound band finding a way to finally restore Casca’s sanity and — although there is still unmistakably a boundary separating them — both seem resolute in finding a way to mend their shared wounds together.

One of the final chapters features Guts drinking around the campfire with the two other men of his group, Serpico and Roderick, as he entrusts the recovery of Casca to Schierke and Farnese. It's a scene that, in the original Band of the Hawk, would have found Guts brooding as his fellows engage in bluster. The tone of this conversation, however, is completely different. The three commiserate over how much has changed and the strength each has found in the companionship of the others. After everything that has happened, Guts declares that he is grateful.

The suicidal dedication to his quest for vengeance and dispassionate pragmatism that defined Guts in the earliest chapters is gone. Although they first appeared to be a source of strength as the Black Swordsman, he has learned that they rose from the fear of losing his friends again, from letting others close enough to harm him, and from having no other purpose without others. Whether or not Guts and Griffith were to ever meet again, Guts has rediscovered the strength to no longer carry his burdens alone.

All that has happened is all there will ever be. We too must be grateful.

Peter Fobian is an Associate Manager of Social Video at Crunchyroll, writer for Anime Academy and Anime in America, and an editor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: Peter Fobian

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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kolbisneat · 4 years

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MONTHLY MEDIA: July 2020

……….FILM……….

Palm Springs (2020) I feel like there was a big marketing push for this movie at the start of the month and it totally worked. All the good buzz and fun artwork I saw relating to this was perfect and it was a fun time at the movies...at home.

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) It’s been yeeeeears since I last watched this and it turns out I remembered next to nothing. The worldbuilding was fantastic and while I still can’t piece together how the aging/curse on Sophie, it just feels that much more magical. Absolutely going to pick up the book to see if I can get a more in-depth narrative.

……….TELEVISION……….

What We Do In The Shadows (Episode 2.01 to 2.04) Hot dang this is continues to be a great series! I really hope Nadja’s doll sticks around for the whole season (or the rest of time) and it’s all just so fun!

Mad Men (Episode 4.07 to 4.11) Knowing there are 7 seasons really makes me feel like we’re in the middle of act 2. Things are getting real low for Don and I’m still baffled at the idea that anyone sees him as a role model/inspiration. It’s feeling bleak and I hope season 5 starts to point upwards again (not for Don but for everyone else).

Dear White People (Episode 1.01 to 2.10) So good! I don’t want to give too much away but what’s started out as a drama/comedy seems to be evolving into something else and I ready for it! I hope season 3 and 4 expand on what I hope it’s building.

……….READING……….

Forever and a Day by Anthony Hororwitz (Complete) A really fun Bond prequel and I think this is going to start me off on reading the original Fleming novels! Filled with all the best tropes from the movies (and maybe the books? Time will tell) and it was such a light and fun read. It was the perfect birthday gift as I needed a beach read.

Dracula by Bram Stoker (Complete) The pacing of this book is a good example of why I tend to prefer modern takes instead of the classics themselves. I appreciate what this book contributed to our collective consciousness, but the back drastically reduces the amount of vampire content in favour of Mina’s deteriorating health, the hunting party discussing their plans, and recounting an extensive travelogue.

The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Classic by Jason Surrell (Complete) I’ve always loved this ride so I was hoping to learn more about what’s happening with each illusion and effect. While I got sooooome of that, they clearly held back a bunch of secrets and I suppose I understand why. With that said, the history of the original ride’s development was super interesting! Same goes for how the attraction has evolved over the years and when moving to other parks.

Delicious In Dungeon Vol. 8 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Everything about this series, from the world to the characters, strikes a perfect balance (for me) between familiar and new. The monsters are typically based off of well-established mythology, but there’s usually enough of a twist that it feels more unique to this world. It’s excellent. And the same goes for the characters; at first glance they may look like simple tropes but the series consistently breaks them down or adds depth to inform why a character acts a certain way. Please go read this series.

Fun With Milk and Cheese by Evan Dorkin (Complete) This has the sort of confidence and frantic energy that it could only come out of the late nineties. Some of the stories work better than others, but I think that’s just my own taste.

Dragonball 3-in-1 Volume 1 by Akira Toriyama (Complete) Decided to return and reread this series and I always forget how jarring some of the early stuff is (mostly around gender and Bulma)...I know it’s likely cultural or a product of being over 30 years old, so I won’t fault it too much.

The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack by Nicholas Gurwitch (Complete) It’d been years since I’d read through most (if not all) of the PBF comics and I appreciate the variety of style even more now. Despite each comic being illustrated in a way that suits the narrative/joke/premise, it all still feels cohesive. It’s something I need to remind myself as I question if any of my own work is unified by anything. Also the insight into the abandoned and forgotten comics at the back of the book were so interesting to read! I love seeing how other creatives think.

The Mushroom Fan Club by Elise Gravel (Complete) Very cute all-ages introduction to mushrooms! Illustrations are so fun and personable and it really encourages outdoor adventuring and wandering around in the woods (safely), so that gets an A+ from me.

Death Wins a Goldfish by Brian Rea (Complete) A wonderfully charming book about Death on vacation. The art is breezy and the light text was surprisingly funny. It was a good reminder to kinda just take a break and recharge, you know?

……….AUDIO……….

Cuz I Love You by Lizzo (2019) After hearing Juice on a friend’s birthday playlist, I couldn’t NOT check this album out. It took me about three listens to really get into and it’s all great.

Bastionland Podcast - Tabletop Roleplaying Game Design (Podcast) If you’re interested in what goes on behind the curtain of game design (specifically tabletop role-playing games, but I think the principles and takeaways are fairly universal) then check this out.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The party has recovered a Mermaid’s prize coat and have a few other goals on the go, but most pressing is the weapon (an umbrella) of a Lich that they need to destroy in the lava flow of Neverland’s mountains (very Lord of the Rings). Also I’ve been doing more detailed write-ups on Reddit, if you’re into that sort of thing.

D&D Homebrew Adventure (Menace of Merlin) The group spent a session saying farewell to their undead minion (a yeti named Norm); role-playing games are fun.

And that’s it! As always, please feel free to send any recommendations my way and happy Friday!

#Monthly Media #Kolbisneat #Andrew Kolb

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ashenpages · 3 years

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WIP tag game!

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

Tagged by @elderbwrry. You! I saw this notification and was all, “yeah, okay, I’ll answer some weird questions about my WIPs, should be fun...”

AND THEN IT WAS ABOUT TITLES!!!

You have no idea the disaster you’ve wrought for me, tagging me in this. I tag all of my fandom WIPs with [Character A] x [Character B, C, etc], a hyphen, and then a stupid title name that strikes me. Sometimes it stays, sometimes it changes, but regardless, NOW I GOTTA OUT ALL MY SHIPS

HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME???

So you’re not gonna get titles. You’re gonna get my weird crazy sum-ups of what they are and how I remember them in my head. And it’s gonna be both fandom stuff and original stuff that was inspired by fandom stuff and got too big.

Here they are:

- Teen Titans, but it’s all kinds of gender bent and all about queer history and figuring out who you wanna be both as a person and as a hero.

- Invader Zim meets the Little Mermaid, monosex alien race member with sharp teeth and too many bio-tech enhancements to count and whom like’s she/her when she discovers earth pronouns and an aromantic but hyper-sexual cyrptid-obsessed NASA college student fall in love like garbage and save the universe. Alternate history where the US has its shit together, set near the Allan Telescope Array in California, because I miss going to visit my grandparents down there.

- Vampire hunter with Von Willibrands bleeding disorder and Alucard dhampire offspring of Dracula hunt down bad vampires together and question what makes a monster together while being scary and incredibly sapphic. Heavy Hellsing and Castlevania vibes (love both of those Alucards).

- Short story for an anthology that seems like a scary stalking story of a well-dressed Indian woman in Britain being chased through the streets at night by a bunch of dudes, until she turns out to be a vampire and eats them all. Then she meets up with her girlfriend for a late night dinner and declines to order anything because “she’s already eaten.” (this one’s due at the end of the month, so I better get typing)

- Other short story for an erotica anthology that has to include a sex scene, horror vibes, and a musical instrument (big ask for only 3-5K, but I’ll make it work!). Gonna have a hot museum curator seducing a book-ish scholar while telling her the myth of how Athena turned one of Medusa’s bones into a precious flute. I loved that myth growing up, and I’m looking forward to giving it some Hannibal vibes--while also getting to fulfill my life long dream of giving “fingering” a double entendre.

- Persona 5 Phantom Thieves in a polycule, Ryuji figures out what to do with his fucking life while getting seduced by Akira and Makoto figures out the police are bad while dating Ann. Yusuke and Futaba are the platonic life partners we all need to see in the world, and Haru is a very romantic asexual bean who loves how excited everyone gets. Akira is an ethical slut, and we love him.

- Lupin gang phantom thieves in a polycule (Fujiko offscreen) x 5. I have like five of these and they’re all different, and my spouse loves these goons, so I have a lot of them to write. We love this series from its 1970s origins all the way up through Season 5 and Lupin III: The First.

- Sonadow coffee shop vampire novelist AU. (ask me questions, it’s all too ridiculous to include here, it needs its own post/posts)

- Sonic Girls Blazamy thing where I get to sideline all the boys and just hang out with Amy, Blaze, Rouge, and Cream. Omega can come too. I haven’t played Riders and know nothing about Wave. It also wouldn’t be comics or Boom set because I’d get to distracted by how adorable Tangle and Whisper are together, I don’t wanna deal with the war they introduced in Forces, and in the Boom universe I kinda ship Amy with Sticks. But seeing Rouge play nice with other girls, seeing Cream be competant with all the skills she’s learned from Uncle Sonic, Uncle Shadow, and Aunt Rouge? Having Amy’s power inhibitors come off use the Chaos Emeralds alongside Blaze and her Sol Emeralds, and then kiss?! YES PLEASE!

- I’m sure I’ll get around to a ThanZagMeg threesome fic eventually, because Hades Game just gave me all the good poly feels for these three and ambushed me with the in-game threesome on Valentine’s Day of all days.

Thank you for tagging me in this. I know I completely changed it, but it was still fun. =D

I’ll tag @palenoface and @realperson022 because I wanna hear about your Sonic fics. <3

#WIP game #I'm sorry none of the them are Kylux fics Elderbwrry!#I hope something on this list of my WIPs was at least kinda fun to hear about!#I'm aware that I am Sonic trash

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wrestlingisfake · 3 years

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Raw Fake Rankings, 12/31/2020

Men’s heavyweight singles division - babyfaces

Drew McIntyre (WWE world champion)

Sheamus

Keith Lee

Ricochet

Men’s heavyweight singles division - heels

Randy Orton

Bobby Lashley (WWE United States champion)

AJ Styles

MVP

Elias

Mustafa Ali

Unranked: Akira Tozawa, Angel Garza, Drew Gulak, Humberto Carrillo, Jaxson Ryker, Mace, Slapjack, T-Bar

It feels like the real direction for the main event involves the intrigue between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus, with the Miz in the background with his Money in the Bank contract. Sounds like a pretty solid plan to kick off the year 2011, with fresh young talent that...wait, I’m being handed a bulletin. Tomorrow is 2021.

Seriously, though, the Sheamus storyline is at least novel, in that he never really turned babyface but--by virtue of his association with McIntyre--he’s all but ceased acting as a heel except to tease turning on Drew someday. And they seem to be doing a better job than usual protecting a guy (Lashley) to set up a money match down the line. (Although I’m not sure what that match is, since Lashley already challenged McIntyre and lost.) And I suppose they have a plan for Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt, even if I don’t get it.

However, Raw has struggled to make new stars. (McIntyre’s 2020 push has been a success, but I’d call that a do-over from when they dropped the ball on him in 2009-2013). Keith Lee’s run on this brand has been a critical failure. Elias is about 5% wrestler and 95% cheap heat skits, and now he’s got Ryker standing around helping him not wrestle much. Ricochet and Ali’s Retribution stable are in a battle of losers. The Hurt Business is getting over as a top heel group, but they have a median age of 45 and they’re running out of hot faces to fight.

What will make Raw interesting in 2021 is that the brand is truly painted into a corner. The show hit record low rating multiple times in 2020, and tried a lot of quick-fix hot angles that went nowhere. The big arrivals this year didn’t make much of an impact, and indeed they’ve eroded the fandom’s faith in “calling up someone from NXT for a big push on Raw.” So what else can they try? We’ll soon find out.

Men’s tag team division - babyfaces

The Hardy Bros - Jeff Hardy & Matt Riddle

The New Day - Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods

Lucha House Party - Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado

Men’s tag team division - heels

Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin (Raw tag team champions)

The Miz (Mr. Money in the Bank) & John Morrison

I’m not even totally sure Riddle and Hardy are a long-term team, but I guess WWE has already trademarked “Hardy Bros” so for now they believe they’re sticking with that. Lucha House Party showed up on the December 30 NXT to feud with Legado del Fantasma, which sure sounds like they’re leaving Raw for good, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Women’s singles division - babyfaces

Nikki Cross

Women’s singles division - heels

Reckoning

Raw’s women’s division is currently revolving around the tag title, so the singles division amounts to the women who don’t have tag partners right now. Incidentally, I’m very surprised that the Alexa Bliss-Nikki Cross split ended without either of them really turning heel.

Women’s tag team division - babyfaces

Asuka (Raw women’s champion) & Charlotte Flair (WWE women’s tag team champions)

Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose

Women’s tag team division - heels

Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler

Lacey Evans & Peyton Royce

Jax and Baszler were kinda thrown together as a monster super-team a while back, which then led to them picking on Lana, which then led to Asuka offering to help Lana go after the tag title, which somehow led to Asuka and Flair as the tag champions. Meanwhile, WWE went to all the trouble of repackaging Rose and Royce as solo acts just to turn around and put them in new teams for lack of any other ideas.

I suppose you could build up the tag division from these four makeshift teams, but I don’t expect they will. It’s all just in service to Asuka and Flair inevitably feuding over the singles title. Once that gets going, I would imagine Asuka and Flair will do a “lose the tag title through miscommunication” thing and the belts will go to Evans and Royce, and get lost in the shuffle just like every time Royce and Billie Kay got the belts.

No matches in 30 days: Alexa Bliss, Dabba-Kato, Erik, Omos, R-Truth (WWE 24/7 champion), Titus O’Neil, Tucker

Dabba-Kato has yet to wrestle an actual match on Raw, and hasn’t been seen since Raw Underground was shelved. Omos also hasn’t had a match yet, and technically isn’t even listed on WWE’s official roster. I’m not sure what the in-ring future is for Bliss--her association with Bray Wyatt is money, but I don’t foresee it leading to a lot of women’s matches.

I’m starting to wonder if WWE has actually lost interest in the 24/7 title, given that nobody seems to have chased R-Truth around for it in a while. It’s one of those things that can keep running on autopilot, well after they stop putting in actual effort--not unlike the original WWE hardcore title that inspired it--but now they don’t even seem to be doing that.

Part-time/semi-retired: Shane McMahon, The Big Show, Triple H

Shane was brought back in 2020 as the spokesperson for Raw Underground, so when that idea got canned, he disappeared as well. So it’s really hard to imagine how he could return, since his primary value to WWE is to make an unexpected return to hype some new hotshot idea, and they literally just tried and failed to do that. And it wouldn’t make much since for him to “invade” with a hotshot new faction, considering they still haven’t wound down Retribution.

Inactive

Andrade (elective surgery)

Becky Lynch (maternity leave)

Braun Strowman (storyline - indefinite suspension)

Bray Wyatt (storyline - burnt to a crisp)

Edge (right arm - triceps tear)

Ivar (neck - cervical vertebrae injury)

Jinder Mahal (right knee - unspecified injury)

Lana (storyline - head and left knee injuries)

Mickie James (nose - collapsed nasal cavity)

Naomi (abdomen - myomectomy)

Riddick Moss (knee - ACL tear)

Samoa Joe (concussion)

It was never entirely clear why Strowman was taken off TV, but I would assume he’ll back in time for the Royal Rumble, unless he’s dealing with an injury. Similarly, I’m sure Wyatt will be back by the end of January, having magically recovered from being immolated by Randy Orton. It’s interesting, though, that Wyatt and Orton will be settling their differences right around the time Edge is expected to return to renew his rivalry with Orton. Is it possible Orton could go 2-0 with Wyatt to build him up for Edge? And if so, how does Orton finish off Wyatt in a way that can top burning him alive?

Lana should be available to return whenever WWE needs, but it’s tough to gauge whether they’re waiting for the right moment in her story with Nia Jax, or if they’ve given up on all that and will leave her on the bench until they think of some totally new gimmick for her.

For the record, Andrade and James were in the 2020 draft pool but never picked, so technically they can show up on any brand once they return to action. Lynch, Edge, Ivar, Mahal, and Joe weren’t even included in the draft pool, but I think that had more to do with their lengthy time away than anything else. Regardless, I wouldn’t count on any of these performers leaving Raw anytime soon.

#wwe #raw #fake rankings

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almasexya · 4 years

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Return of the King (King Kong vs. Godzilla, 1962)

It’s difficult to overstate the impact of King Kong vs. Godzilla, the third movie in what was to become the Godzilla series and the first to be shot in color, yet a movie that has also been almost completely overshadowed by everything that came after. Produced to coincide with Toho’s 30th anniversary, King Kong vs. Godzilla was the most ambitious kaiju movie to date, a landmark production involving two of the most famous movie monsters put on screen. To try and give a modern day comparison, this was the equivalent of the first Avengers movie or Avatar (remember Avatar??)

That said, something tells me if you’re out looking for a Godzilla movie from this era, you’d pop in vs. Mothra or Mechagodzilla or one of the other more popular entries. The fact that until 2019, the only legal version that most of us in the west could get our hands on was the inferior English cut due to a licensing agreement between RKO (the original owners of King Kong) and Toho didn’t exactly help either.

But really it goes deeper than that. King Kong vs. Godzilla is a downright weird movie no matter which version you watch. And I’ve seen both of them, the Japanese cut a few times and the American version exactly once last night, since it came with my Criterion Blu Ray set. More importantly, that set came with a decent restoration of the notoriously shitty-looking Japanese cut, and represents the first time that version was ever legally available stateside, so that’s nice!

The Japanese cut was put together by the usual crew, with Ishiro Honda directing, Eiji Tsuburaya on effects, Akira Ifukube on soundtrack duties, and Tomoyuki Tanaka producing. The writer is again Shinichi Sekizawa, though from what I’ve read, the sheer wackiness of the plot has more to do with Honda and Tsuburaya than it does Sekizawa, though I highly doubt he wasn’t an unwilling partner in all this.

The main plot (of the Japanese cut at least) is that the constantly riled up Mr. Tako (Ichiro Arihima) is tired of the TV shows his pharmaceutical company produces bombing in the ratings, so when he hears of the news that a giant monster has been sighted in the south pacific, he sends two of the salarymen in his employ off on an adventure to bring the monster to Japan so they can make a TV show about it.

This plot, frankly, is fucking ridiculous. Even knowing what comes later in Godzilla’s career, it’s really difficult to take the first half of this movie seriously, and even when the second half introduces some tension, it barely ever lasts, usually foiled by the monsters mugging and clapping, or the antics of Mr. Tako and his two cohorts.

This was, in part, Honda’s idea. He had apparently been disgusted with the “ratings wars” numerous TV producers were engaged in at the time, and took that idea to its logical extreme by making a TV producer start a literal monster war.

And go to war they certainly do. Sakurai and Fujita, Mr. Tako’s subordinates, bring Kong back from the island just in time for Godzilla to pop out of the arctic fresh from his seven year nap after Godzilla Raids Again, and after some general dicking around they go at it for the first of two times, and the results are... interesting. Tsuburaya apparently wanted to take the monster action in a lighter, more family-friendly direction, a move which Honda was very much opposed to. The result is the inception of the boulder-flinging (get used to it) and a lot of mugging and general wackiness that couldn’t be more different from the animal savagery in Raids Again. Harou Nakajima and Shoichi Hirose, who played Godzilla and Kong respectively, apparently did their own choreography, and took a lot of their inspiration from pro wrestling.

It’s here that I’ll bring up the effects which, sufficed to say, are a disappointment. While the few city sets that the film shows look good, Kong sure as hell does not. With a dopey, blinking face and ratty fur, Kong looks like an old rug somebody forgot to throw out. Godzilla fares quite a bit better in his first color appearance, with a mean, angular face and great proportions. The matte work used to put the human characters in the same scenes as the monsters is downright repugnant, and has been done better in earlier movies. I’m inclined to think it was just that Tsuburaya’s team bit off more than they could chew, but it’s still hard to look at the effects of a movie this big and see literal green screen outlines around the main cast.

That said, the movie is still a fun watch, if only to try and make sense of it all. Kong miraculously gains the ability to eat lightning, (a relic from when the movie was planned to be a Frankenstein vehicle, let’s not get into it) Akihiko Hirata has a small role as a doctor, and this also is the first movie to use Ifukube’s famous Godzilla theme.

Almost none of these praises can be sung of the American version, which is a dreadful and boring disaster of a movie that seems to have had a singular objective of making as little sense as possible.

The team producing the English dub did have their work cut out for them, if I can say this one thing in their defense. The plot they had to work with of a deranged TV producer sending his underlings out to bring back a monster in order to boost ratings was so distinctly Japanese that, instead of trying to work with it, they just threw it out entirely.

Well, they threw out as much as they could. Sakurai and Fujita’s expedition to Faro Island and their retrieval of Kong takes up a significant portion of the film’s first act, to the point that they’re so integral to the plot that you really can‘t remove them and then explain where the hell Kong even came from.

The English cut solves this problem by trimming their appearances down to the sheerest atoms of footage they could, resulting in a movie that has no real protagonist or focal point at all. While Mr. Tako and his dynamic duo were hardly great protagonists, they at least have some claim to the title. Characters from the Japanese cut whizz by with the slightest possible introductions when they get one at all, leading the viewer to not understand what the hell they’re doing their in the first place.

In place of the original plot, we get a pair of talking head newscasters and a doctor who reads dinosaur facts out of a big picture book. I would have been alright with the removal of the original plot if what they’d replaced it with was worth something, but this just isn’t. The general plan was to present the movie as if it was being told through a newscast, meaning that many of the new actors stare unnervingly into the camera while reading their lines, which are often presented with the complete absence of emotion, befitting the detached newscaster aesthetic. Not to mention there’s something really disappointing about seeing shots that were simply part of the movie in the Japanese cut shrunk down to the size of a TV screen in the English version just to service this frame story that’s not worth shifting focus to.

To give them credit, this strategy worked for the American edit of the original Godzilla, a movie I decided not to cover due to the fact that it’s generally fine at what it does in that it tells the story through an American narrator but generally leaves the plot alone. Not so here, where the bizarre first half is replaced by something equal parts confusing and dull, with stock Universal monster music replacing Ifukube’s score to boot. They did at least dub over the American submarine crew who become Godzilla food, who sound like they’re reading their lines at gunpoint in the Japanese cut.

I don’t hate this movie, though it may seem like I do. King Kong vs. Godzilla is more of a mixed bag than anything else, a film that’s remembered more for what it started than what it is. Pretty much every Godzilla sequel we’re in for follows the whimsical template that started here, and whether that’s good or not is totally your call. But we did get Godzilla’s infamous dropkick out of the deal, so it isn’t all bad. Watch the Japanese version while you wait for Godzilla vs. Kong to come out, but stay far away from the English cut.

#monster monday #godzilla #king kong

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obsessivelollipoplalala · 4 years

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Because October is coming, Top 3 horror video games or movies.

Silent Hill 2

The best game of all time is Silent Hill 2. This is not up for debate. This is a certified FACT.

But really, any horror fan should play it or watch a walkthrough. I recommend watching someone play it for the first time to see their reaction to the Twists and Turns. It came out 19 years ago and the story and atmosphere are still amazing. I played through it for my friend so she could see the game a few years ago, and we still got creeped out by some parts. The game really gets under your skin, and the voice actress did such a fantastic job reading Mary’s full letter at the end. It still makes me tear up. Akira Yamaoka always did a fantastic job with the music and sound design of the series, too. I can talk for a very long time about this game. SH 3 is great, too. It has one of the best female protagonists in video games, in my opinion.

2. Fatal Frame 2

This is another oldie. They remade the game for the Wii back in 2011, I think, with updated graphics, but I don’t like some of the endings tbh, but in the original game you’re basically forced to get the canon ending on your first playthrough, and I think that ending is sad as fuck. It’s considered the best game of the series, and maybe it’s not exactly scary by today’s standards, but it’s pretty wonderfully creepy. You’re exploring a haunted Japanese village whose population was wiped out by the consequences of a ritual gone wrong, so it’s just eerie to read diary entries and get to know these people’s lives while knowing they met a terrible fate. You have to fight ghosts by looking through an old camera, meaning you have to get up close to them to fight them, so that’s a little spooky. Bonus points for weird ghosts and your sister being possessed by one. FF3 is a good one, too. Side note: the original ending song for FF2 (蝶) was the first time I ever heard Japanese, and made me want to learn it.

3. Resident Evil 2 Remake or Resident Evil 7

I can’t choose because they’re pretty different in a lot of ways, particular the former having a 3rd person over-the-shoulder camera, and the latter being in first person. Which style is scarier is subjective. They’re two really solid horror games with great enemies, and Jack stalking you in 7 is really intense upon a first playthrough. I like the inspiration from the Southern Gothic, as well. The remake of 2 is so damn good, both Leon and Claire’s campaigns, although I prefer hers. The game looks and plays great, there are enough monsters to keep you on edge but not too much to totally overwhelm you, and Mr. X is genuinely anxiety-inducing. I had to turn off the game the first time I played because he was stressing me out so much.

#horror #replies #Anonymous

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ceescedasticity · 4 years

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more director’s commentary: Escher Ch. 9

paragrin said: Director’s commentary on the Asherah fight and/or subsequent discussion/awakening?

Let’s see...

I do not like writing fight scenes. Fight scenes are HARD. My biggest concern in this one was having them lose believably.

Her mother's Shadow wasted no time, but immediately blurred and distorted and dammit, they'd never been ambushed by a Palace ruler before—

"Get ready to defend!" Yusuke yelled to Hifumi. Dammit, she should have had him take the Snuff Soul after all—

"The floor!" Hifumi yelped.

Asherah is, per Wikipedia, strongly associated with trees in the Bible. That’s the main inspiration for the Shadow’s form. I can’t remember how I came up with the rootlets on the floor, but I may have wanted a reason to have everyone playing ‘the floor is lava’ BESIDES all the little jars of Greek fire.

From the safety of Prometheus, Futaba looked down. There were — tendrils, spreading across the floor, twining around the clutter. She didn't want to follow them back, but did anyway, to see them thicken and join into — roots.

"You shouldn't be here!"

Her mother's Shadow was a tree.

Or. An Ent. Except the Ents in the movies only acted like they had two arms and decorative branches, as opposed to all the branches acting like arms, which really made more sense even though it was harder to fight, and really most of the Shadows they'd fought had been more grotesque, this was nothing really—

Asherah, Prometheus informed her. Strengths and weaknesses currently unknown.

It still had her mother's face.

I think the body horror is getting to Futaba just a bit. She wouldn’t care, if it wasn’t her mother.

Below, both Yusuke and Hifumi had managed to get clear of the roots — Yusuke was standing on a plinth, Hifumi balancing on a stone lion-dog. Yusuke was adjusting one of his boots. The rootlets were waving up at them from the floor, but not achieving any elevation gains.

One thing I enjoyed writing was specifying what features of the ridiculously cluttered and clashingly-furnished room they were standing on while playing ‘the floor is rootlets’.

One of the higher branches trembled, then lowered, and shook, and then Yusuke and Hifumi were being hit with a volley of acorns that did gun damage. Not too bad, but… not negligible, either.

"No info on weaknesses yet, guys," she said anxiously. "Just… be careful?" She really didn't need to worry, it wasn't like anything they'd done to the Palace-ruling Shadows in monster form had hurt the people—

How DOES that work, anyway?

"Fox, try ice," Hifumi said. "I'm going to stick to my bow for now… getting in close enough for melee doesn't seem practical."

Futaba assessed the results. "Resists ranged weapons, but it's not doing nothing… ice is connecting, but it's not a weakness." She'd thought ice might do more damage to a tree… but the weakness was probably fire. Not that that did them any good. Damn it, and Mona had mentioned something about tools that did elemental damage, but Futaba didn't know anything more about them because Akira had never used any when she was around because he could just use whichever Persona was needed…

Damn Wild Cards...

A different branch reached down, and out, and hit Yusuke with a melee attack which he managed to counter. The branch recoiled.

"How did you get all the way up here?" Asherah demanded.

"We climbed a lot of ladders," Hifumi said, and tried wind.

What kind of a stupid question is that, there are ladders everywhere. How did you get IN, that’s a better question.

"Same as ice, neither a strength nor a weakness," Futaba reported.

Yusuke did more damage with a stronger spell. "I need the Snuff Soul to keep this up."

"Use it," Hifumi said. "I'd suggest running, but the exit…"

The exit was covered with a network of rootlets. Damn it.

Had to keep them from running away since they hadn’t technically calling-carded so the ‘one chance’ thing PROBABLY isn’t a issue. Not that they’re trying to steal the Treasure...

"Who sent—" Asherah broke off. "Children. You're children!"

"I'm not a child," Hifumi said indignantly.

(Kiddo, you’re in middle school.)

Researchers at the lab have had ‘teenagers get Personas easier’ for a while now, and they’re coming up with ideas to exploit it, and Wakaba has been doing everything she can to shut it down/head it off. The Metaverse isn’t safe, and she wouldn’t trust the people who’ve slithered onto the project with supervising children taste-testing cookies. Actual Wakaba doesn’t think that the conspiracy already has teenage Metaverse operatives, the Shadow just jumped to that conclusion immediately. Because it does want them!

"How dare they," Asherah said. Yet another branch came down, this one covered in flowers. "This isn't right."

If that wasn't a status effect in the making, Futaba didn't know what was. "Guys—"

The branch showered Yusuke in flowers, and— Sleep.

Of course he immediately toppled off the plinth onto a delicate sandalwood chest and crashed through to the floor, and that woke him right up. Not in time to completely avoid the rootlets, though.

I learned after writing that apparently Sleep works differently on different difficulty levels? ‘Normal’ is probably closest to canonical...

Hifumi managed to evade another cloud of flowers by jumping from the lion-dog to a stack of books to a creepily smiling statue. "Oracle? What's this now?"

"Sleep," Futaba said. "There's armor to resist sleep, but we don't have it, because no one uses sleep, because you wake up the first time you get hit!" Or it could be fought with some kind of medicine they didn't have, or a healing technique which Futaba might be able to get ready at the right moment— "Fox isn't hurt — more — he's just… a little tied up."

"Was that supposed to be funny." Yusuke was half-standing, leaning on the plinth, using his sword to cut himself loose from the rootlets twined around his boots, up nearly to his knees. "I don't think it was funny." The sword was obviously not the best tool for the job. Hifumi's naginata would be worse yet — hopefully she could continue avoiding getting caught…

It was kinda funny.

"As soon as you're loose, Fox, agility buffs," Futaba said.

Hifumi got off another volley of arrows before she had to run from the flowers again — statue to reliquary to another lion-dog to Yusuke's plinth, to give him a hand up. "I'm not sure he shouldn't save his magic for the ice attacks, they're the only thing doing any meaningful damage!"

"Yes, but he's going to need agility to jump around avoiding the sleep attacks so he can use the ice attacks!"

Hifumi is the combat strategist, Futaba is the Metaverse-experienced person and does more logistics, and Yusuke mostly does what they tell him.

"I'm right here," Yusuke said mildly. He went with the agility buffs, and just in time — more flowers, and they had to run in opposite directions.

"Stop fighting — I don't wish to hurt you!"

"Sorry, Mom's Shadow," Futaba muttered, "not gonna take your word for that."

It genuinely does not want to hurt them, but honestly I wouldn’t trust it not to hurt them by accident even if they weren’t fighting.

The battle didn't improve from there, although not in the usual way. Asherah stuck to attacking with the sleep flowers, which it was easy to see coming and which could be evaded — assuming there was something other than the rootlet-covered floor to jump to. The most damage either of them took was when Hifumi slipped off an urn and landed on one of the smashable fire pots. She wasn't on fire for very long, thanks to Yusuke's questionable but effective use of an ice spell and the Shadow using a recovery spell on her, but it put enough of a dent in her health that she had to use a remedy.

If they weren’t so exhausted and nervous, they’d probably be commenting more on how it’s a really ridiculous-looking fight. The room looks ridiculous, they’re playing ‘the floor is lava’ on really tacky statues, the enemy is healing them... But the fight isn’t going well, so they’re focused on trying to turn it around.

Asherah just wasn't taking much damage, either. A few windtorn twigs, some marks in the bark from arrows or bullets, an ice gouge or three — not nothing — but it wasn't like they'd be able to keep this up indefinitely! Prometheus could do some magic restoration, but it wasn't keeping up!

"Say the word if you see a chance to get out, Shade," Futaba said finally. Running from a Palace-ruler fight felt all kinds of wrong, but it wasn't like they'd sent a calling card that would wear off.

"I've been looking," Hifumi replied tightly.

…Not good.

"Stop fighting!"

The first time Hifumi got hit with the sleep flowers, she managed to sort of drape herself over the statue whose plinth she was sharing and avoid falling to the floor — which was great as far as not being tied up by rootlets and having to try to cut her way loose with a naginata, but on the other hand the fall would have woken her up. It took Futaba several tries to muster a recovery spell to get rid of the sleep. In the meantime, Yusuke had the Shadow's complete attention and had to devote himself completely to dodging — no counterattacks, no agility buffs, no arginade. He was running out of places to jump to when Futaba managed to get Hifumi awake to distract Asherah with another attack. From her dwindling ammunition supply.

I think if they’d had even one more active combatant to split the Shadow’s attention they might have won.

Futaba had kind of been thinking they had until Yusuke ran out of magic to come up with something, but it was beginning to look like they'd be lucky to make it that long.

I’m going to break off here -- may continue later.

#writing babble #start again fic

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rebelsofshield · 4 years

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Star Wars The Mandalorian: “Chapter 4: Sanctuary”-Review

Gina Carano steals the show in an episode of The Mandalorian that is heavy on homage and formula.

(Review contains spoilers)

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Now on the run from both the Imperial Remnant and his other bounty hunting compatriots, The Mandalorian and his infant partner search desperately for a hideout away from prying eyes. They settle on the forest world of Sorgan, which is mostly inhabited by krill farmers with little access to the rest of the galaxy. However, upon arriving, the two find themselves caught in a battle between the locals and a relentless group of raiders. Together with a former rebel shocktrooper named Cara Dune, they must help prepare the formerly defenseless farm community for the inevitable return of these barbarians and in the process maybe finally find a place to settle down.

Of the many genre influences that have been built into Star Wars’ DNA from the start, the American western and Japanese samurai films have been the most consistent and formative. It makes sense given that both genres consistently built off one another, but also due to the stories of adventure and heroism built into each. The mysterious warrior with an unexpected heart of gold is a key trope for both genres, so it is unsurprising to see The Mandalorian fit so comfortably into this spot.

Never has either story telling form been more on display in Star Wars than in this week’s episode, “Sanctuary.” Written by Jon Favreau and directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, “Sanctuary” builds the continuing Mandalorian narrative into a well-worn formula. “The traveling warrior helps a village under siege from bandits” is a story structure that has become a core staple of both genres. While it is rightfully most known for Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece The Seven Samurai, this form has appeared in other media such as The Magnificent Seven, A Bug’s Life, and even before in Star Wars during The Clone Wars’ blandly tittled episode “Bounty Hunters.” Point being, that the plot of “Sanctuary” is unlikely to surprise viewers with even a passing familiarity to the storytelling tools that Favreau is playing with.

This ultimately comes as “Sanctuary’s” biggest struggle. It is a wonderful homage and has a few solid character beats built in, but as a whole, there just isn’t a whole lot to “Sanctuary” that people haven’t seen before. After three premiere episodes that took us through an enjoyable but predictable character arc, The Mandalorian seemed poised to take us to unexpected story telling directions. To jump immediately into a story that is predicated on homage so fast is more than a little disappointing.

It doesn’t make “Sanctuary” a poor episode of television though. A disappointing episode of The Mandalorian is still ahead of the pack of most other similar shows. Much of “Sanctuary’s” joy comes from Gina Carano’s delightfully badass, Cara Dune. A rebel shocktrooper now on the run from the New Republic, Cara Dune becomes a wandering badass partner in crime to our leading Mandalorian. Despite a very fun first interaction that ends in fisticuffs, The Mandalorian and Dune very quickly see each other as kindred souls, unable to find their way in a galaxy that is supposedly at peace. Their interactions are an episodic highlight due in no small part to Carano’s performance. With her background in UFC, Carano is a great physical actor and sells much of the choreography and action moments with a natural strength and fluidity. She also gives Dune a gruff and detached personality to match The Mandalorian’s own ever melting cynicism. There are some lines that may ring a little flat, but Carano makes a hell of a debut, and it becomes all the more disappointing that she has joined the revolving door of The Mandalorian’s supporting cast. The lack of other characters to carry over from episode to episode is really starting to hamper this series. If we are going to keep our masked protagonist relatively distant, we need regular faces to join their journey. Introducing and then jettisoning interesting characters on a weekly basis is starting to become a real frustration.

It is good that we are finally starting to see The Mandalorian with his guard down a little. There is an undeniably charming quality to seeing this previously gruff and violent person so quickly warm up to the prospect of being a father to Baby Yoda. The fact that the child’s protection and safety has become such a priority to him reveals a fun and unexpected facet to his character. It is particularly nice to see him not flinch at other characters calling Baby Yoda his “boy” and to care so deeply for his wellbeing. “Sanctuary” is at its most fascinating when we see the possibility of domesticity and a peaceful future appear so likely to our still so distant anti-hero.

Bryce Dallas Howard’s Star Wars directorial review is a solid one as well. In particular, the way that she frames the raiders’ hijacked AT-ST as a gigantic, mechanical monster with glowing red eyes is inspired. It turns the war machine that was defeated by teddy bears with log traps into a genuinely frightening threat and the battle against it is an episode strong point.

“Sanctuary” is a fun but frustratingly familiar episode of television. The Mandalorian’s strong cast, competent group of directors, and setting are always poised to turn in the best work possible, but the writing for this series has yet to truly delight in the way that the rest has. Baby Yoda can only carry this for so long.

Score: B

#Star Wars #The Mandalorian #review #reviews #Bryce Dallas Howard #Jon Favreau #Gina Carano

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thewhumpstuff · 4 years

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You and I, Me and You [6]

@badthingshappenbingo [Original characters and content for category - Flashbacks] [Warning: NSFW implications] [Teaser and Master List] [Archives of our Own] (You and I, Me and you: Chapter 7)

[<– Previous] ~ [Next –>]

Dark pillow talk.

The freedom of her upper limbs came at the price. A few more crimson scratches against the raw, twine-irritated skin. The torment of rolling around on her knees as her back contorted awkwardly to accomplish the task within the given limitations. But success felt heavenly. Her arms snapped away from one another when the twine finally came undone. With a manic urgency, she plucked off the blindfold. The cloth wrapped around her eyes had never curtailed her breathing, but getting rid of it left her panting with relief.

The only source of illumination was soft and painfully consistent, it crawled in from under the metal door to shatter against the broken glass and to lick at her feet. That felt like a gift for now. For some time, her freed arms and restored vision tasted like a small victory. For some time, she remained still and poised, clinging to the piece of glass with a fervent hope. Then, the seconds and minutes began chafing at her resolve. Slowly but surely. The fluidity of time was not assessable. Staring at a piece of wall was not conducive to keeping track of the hours.

There was not so much as a scuffle outside. She felt forgotten. First, she dropped the glass, then she got fidgety. Two ritualistic, alternating motions. She craned her neck to flatten her cheek against the wall, right side… then left, her vision oscillating between the corner… and the dark despair of the room. And the painstaking transfer of her weight, from her knees to her haunches. This went on long enough to leave her neck and shoulder muscles begging for mercy and her leg muscles twitching with the strain.

As her resolve slowly melted, fear eagerly took its place. The exchanges with Jared had left her mind steeping in the past. It felt like a deliberate concoction. And now he had left her alone to brew. She could not fight the thoughts as they gathered and strategically battered against the flimsy walls of her brain. She followed the string of memories, brought to the surface by a slightly broken voice echoing in the room… It was her own, it sounded angelic somehow. She closed her eyes in surrender. “♩“…Am I out of my head Am I out of my mind...”♩ ~~~ ♩"…If you only knew the bad things I like…"♩ She grinned up at him as she sang along with the song he played. It was the one from the party, before they were interrupted. It sure felt appropriate. They’d consummated their relationship already, on multiple occasions, but the air today, felt differently charged. She used her elbows to slide backwards onto his bed, till her head found his pillow. He crawled over her on his elbows and knees, watching her protectively. She loved that he was concerned, but she felt the pressing need to prove that she was stronger than he thought.

His lips found the scar he had left on her neck, his tongue flicked across it, tenderly. “Bite me.” ♫…Don't think that I can explain it… ♫ He obliged, sucking her skin into his mouth, he teased it with his teeth. “Harder.” ♫…What can I say, it's complicated…♫ Curiosity and hesitance danced in his mind as his jaw tightened. A soft gasp morphed into a softer mewl. He let go. The scar had a perfect row of teeth-marks above and below it. He stared at it, it left him disconcerted. He looked at her. She looked incandescent, excited… ecstatic and bold. All the good things. As he tentatively nipped at her arm, sedulous about the force. She suddenly let out a cry of mock anguish. He snapped away from her. “Did I hur-” Her snicker, interrupted him. Something about her soft cackle sent a chill down his spine. “Of course, you did! But I liked it.” The cuffs dug into her as she stretched her arms instinctively, she felt like pulling him into an embrace. Aki made do with her legs instead, wrapping them around his hips to draw him back to her. “Fuck, Shira.” He chastised through grit teeth. It only made her laugh some more. “What? I like scaring people a little.” She beamed up at him with faux innocence. He shook his head and half-smiled, nervously stifling his unease, as he lowered himself against her again.

♫…Nothing's that bad If it feels good So you come back Like I knew you would… ♫ She nuzzled into his neck, leaving a small bite-mark of her own. She could feel his eyelashes against her shoulders, he did not even wince. Something about that left her feeling challenged. She picked another spot and bit a little harder. He closed his eyes and tensed but did not flinch. He let her finish, he even let her scan her handiwork as he propped himself on his elbows, his face looming over hers. The disquietude found words. “You like… hurting people too?” She tensed. His question sounded impassive, but she felt judged, nonetheless. “Sorry.” “No… It is ok. I’m fine.” That was not a very convincing reassurance. She gnawed at her lower lip. Feeling a certain surge of insecurities, she sought to assuage them by hoping this was a shared trait.

Her voice carried with it a note of dread, and of anticipation. “Too? Do you?” “No, not really… I mean… Do you like scaring and hurting too?” “I…” Her face was like a play. Emotions battling desires, battling her morals.

He placed his fingers on her lips and wore a brighter smile. Jared had no intentions of creating turmoil within her, not today… not after everything. They needed each other. “Shh…” She kissed his fingers, her tongue now flicking across the scar she had left. “Am I a bad person?” Depends, he thought. But ardently shook his head. He reached over to his bedside drawer. With a press of a button the collar and the cuffs clicked open. He whisked them off the bed. They found amusement in the way the fell, symbolic of their own inhibitions. They laughed. The moment her wrists were free, her hands worked on the buttons of his shirt. His hands made quick work of her little black dress with the classic ripping sound. Her motion, inspired by his urgency, left buttons scattered around them as she held the collar and tugged it apart. Fabric rustled, bared passion and bared bodies followed. - Later that night, the empty cups of tea sat huddled on the bedside drawer. The silence between them embraced a very different song. ♫…Love of mine, someday you will die… ♫ It crooned the spooning couple; she sang along in a low octave. He joined in. They could feel the vibrations through the contact between his chest and her back. ♩…“But I'll be close behind and I'll follow you into the dark”… ♩ “Will you?” Her fingers were entwined with his, she gave a little squeeze to emphasize her question, which followed the song. Will you, follow me into the dark?. “I’ll be there before you, so you’ll be the one following!” He chided, pulling her closer. They breathed in sync and inhaled deeply. Satisfied sighs mingled. She elbowed him gently, with a small click of her tongue. “Always the hero.”

Jared wasn’t the insecure sort, but revelations today had left him perturbed and he knew she would eventually have to go away. So, today he too, wanted to ask. “Will you?” She pulled her hair to the side as she twisted to look at him. She didn't think of darkness as death. She saw it something to explore and something to challenge. And something that Jared had already encountered and won against. “I kinda am, already… Aren’t I? But my darkness, my turn!” He much rather wished that she could follow him into the light. Not that he had luck finding light. He did find it in her, and now she was insistently trying to test it. Test her own light, till that darkness won out. She was still basking in her chance at glory. There was nothing that could keep her mind away from that future for too long. He wanted nothing more than to bury it. Jared’s fingers idle shapes on her back, doodling his way out of the instinct to ask her to not take up the offer, again. She turned to face him completely, his hand lay across her, with a heavy laziness.

Akira’s curious eyes pinned him with an odd question. “How the hell do you have such a high tolerance, by the way?” She had always secretly admired his endurance; it’d seem they weren’t exaggerating when there was talk of it among the BioHackers. It was thrown around as an analogy: ‘It is very difficult to endure this procedure… Unless you’re Jared or something.’ ♫…Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black… ♫ He was amused by the lyrics that underpinned her question. “Practice.” There was some pride in his monosyllabic response, but it was wrapped in resigned discomfort.

He believed it to be among the biggest distinguishing factors between them… Their cumulative experiences. “Like… in The System and stuff?’’ Her macabre fascination with suffering, even his, left him a little speechless. He could tell from the falter in her whisper, that she was terrified of broaching the territories he avoided with a vehemence. And yet she did it anyway. He swallowed and stayed patient. “Yes.” ♫…And I held my tongue as she told me, Son, fear is the heart of love…♫ “Was that it?” She was sheepish in her ask and knew it wasn’t and he wasn’t ready to elaborate. It did lead him to a realization. His compromise with pain and darkness, started young and it happened circumstantially. Then things spiralled and he was forced to befriend suffering as it became a blanket for his cause. It was a relationship that bore the test of time and in some way, became his one sole companion. Life happened and he survived. Until now. That was the other pressing distinction between them. She… sought this darkness. One way or another. She was jumping into an inferno, having never played with the flicker of a candle flame. That would mean she’d have no coping mechanisms in place to deal with the monster in front of her. There was no leashing that suffering once it found her, and it inevitably would if she kept looking for it. It would wrest all the control and snatch away the ground she stood on. That is what he believed anyway. Should he then provide the flickering flame and the hearth? Is that what she wanted, is that what drew her to him? Could he teach her what she needed to learn if she were so set on this path?

“Never mind…” Akira whispered when her question was met with a pressing silence. She turned away again and closed her eyes. “What?” He asked absently, his thoughts had consumed him so entirely, he forgot the question they were borne out of. He recalled the conversation quickly enough, without needing another prompt. “You know there is more… Shira” He sounded stilted.

♫…Soles of your shoes are Are all worn down… ♫ She half-sung and half-hummed along with the song as it tapered to its end. She stretched and curled her toes, twisting to fit in the mould he made… Stolen covers, shared skin. She let her better judgement win and did not push the issue, unless he felt like divulging more himself. He did not. ♫…The time for sleep is now…♫ “But it’s all in the past now. You should get some rest, ‘Jared didn’t let me sleep’ won’t be an acceptable excuse to slip at training.”

~~~

♩…But it's n-nothing to cry about…♩” With the memories, her songs followed too. Holding notes while holding herself up was hard, but it was worth the effort as the trill hung poignantly in the room. The words only drew the tears that clung to her lashes, she ensured they didn’t fall and streak the grime her cheeks had collected off the walls.

There was a constant tug of impatience as he paced and waited for it to be long enough. A part of Jared was eager to get back. He couldn’t put a finger on why. What was he expecting to really resolve now? Time needed to soften her, so he could get on with business. This wasn’t something he’d struggled with before; this was the easiest part of interrogations he’d conducted in the past. But then, she wasn’t just any captive. Maybe it was time he came to terms with that. Objectivity would be harder to use as an anchor. But perhaps, that was his edge.

So, he fell prey to his impatience. Shuffling back to her holding cell. He heard her voice and it made him stop in his track. It was not just any song either… It had a firm spot in their playlist. His hand teetered over the latch as he waited. ♩“….'Cause we'll hold each other s-soon”…♩ It was sung slower than the original, giving it a beautifully eerie tone. Something rattled behind her. She fell silent and snatched the piece of glass off the floor. The door creaked open, he blocked most of the the light that pooled in, the bit that leaked past acted like an ambient spotlight on Akira. He remained by the threshold. “You know that song is special, by all means do finish…” She held the piece tightly enough to peel the scab and freshen the cut. Her breath hitched as she quickly blinked away the tears. No, I can’t show weakness. The lyric was too perfect, it longed to grace the moment. Who was she to stop them… “♩…I-in the blackest of rooms... ♩” [Category 2] [I’ve used ‘Bad things’ and ‘I’ll follow you into the dark’ as anchors for the post, I do not own the songs.]

#captive #interrogation #songs-and-flashbacks #implied-nsfw #badthingshappenbingo #context-focused #backstory #you and I me and you

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