brigh

19

[gallowhill]

Romain Slocombe - City of the Broken Dolls: A Medical Art Diary, 1993-96

[katebeckets]

@pscentral event 34: fantasy & sci-fi

(SOME) FAVORITE BARBIE MOVIES Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses (2006) Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus (2005) Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004) Barbie and the Diamond Castle (2008) Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia (2006)

[xanaxfarts]

Textile Sample Book ‘テキスタイル見本帳’ Edo period (1615–1868)

Medium: Paper and cotton Dimensions: 9 1/2 x 7 in. (24.13 x 17.78 cm)

[theinternetarchive]

embroidered and beaded dress borders, french c. 1800s.

[theinternetarchive]

cotton fabric samples, french, mulhausen c. 1840.

[babykatafan]

kukrushka has… destroyed everything.

[babykatafan]

[babykatafan]

gnosia doodles, mostly from a few months ago! pink thing is my player sona

[babykatafan]

the girls are fightingggg

[fuzzbuns]

thought about them and it felt like i was inflicted with 50000000 negative status effects

[stillshehauntsme]

Alice in Wonderland - Movie archive

(This has sat in my drafts since 2018 but *somebody* wanted to see it and I can’t link to unpublished drafts so here we are)

I think there is a list out there somewhere but when I last saw it it was rather outdated so I thought I’ll make my own.

I tried to gather all the movie adaptations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland here.

1903 - Alice in Wonderland

First ever movie adaptation, directed by Cecil Hepworth. Alice is played by Mary Clark. About 9 minutes survived out of original 12, sadly.

Language: silent   

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeIXfdogJbA

1910 - Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

This one is often said to be lost but it’s on youtube… Made by the Edison Manufacturing Company, stars Gladys Hulette as Alice. The character designs are Tenniel-based, they are live-action versions of the original illustrations.

Language: silent  

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJxPDs8Q–Y

1915 - Alice in Wonderland

First American adaptation. Viola Savoy as Alice, director W.W. Young. The animal costumes are pretty amazing in this one.

Language: silent

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSQ2w9WeNDQ

1931 - Alice in Wonderland

Small budget film. Stars Ruth Gilbert as Alice, who is really sweet and stares at the camera a scary lot. Never got popular but it’s great…

Language: English

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH24yRuHfEU

1933 - Alice in Wonderland

A Paramount Pictures production, it was the ,,official live action version”. It was big really when it came out. Charlotte Henry as Alice.

Language: English

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY7M42Fk9Qo

1934 - Betty in Blunderland

A Betty Boop film. Betty falls asleep while doing an Alice in Wonderland jigsaw puzzle, end up in Wonderland and sings and dances with the classic characters.

Watch here (original): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf6RohRVKBY

Watch here (colorized): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRhBtRaIKc4

1949 - Alice au Pays des Merveilles

This might be the first colorful Alice movie. Really interesting animation. Was banned in Britain for a while because they thought the Queen of Hearts was a mockery of Queen Victoria. Carol Marsh as Alice.

Language: French / English

Watch here (Fr): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jPbelf_-XM

Watch here (En): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA-WJFK3DgU

1951 - Alice in Wonderland

The good old Disney classic. Not much to say here. I was horrified to death by this movie as a child, fun fact.

Language: Originally English

Watch here: https://kisscartoon.ac/Cartoon/Alice-in-Wonderland/Movie?id=1967 (warning, site is full of ads, don’t click anything - most of them will be very NSFW)

1954 - Kraft Television Theatre’s Alice in Wonderland

A recording of a live performance, but still technically a film. The Kraft Television Theatre was a TV series that presented different plays each week. Robin Morgan as Alice.

Language: English

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ka4honG5s

1955 - Alice in Wonderland

A TV adaptation of the 1932 Broadway version. A shame that most of it is lost, it looked lovely based on the couple of minutes of it I could find.

Watch here (first three minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1dkSEULhkU

1966 - Alice in Wonderland (or What’s a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?)

I could find the audio but not the animation of this one, apparently it has never been released on video or dvd or anything. The usual story, characters singing and stuff.

Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY1y36Eks6Q

1966 - Alice in Wonderland

Jonathan Miller’s Alice is something else. It’s surreal and creepy and confusing and beautiful, all that without any costumes. Now I might be a tiny bit biased because I love the heck out of this movie, haha.

Watch here: https://vimeo.com/84173613

1972 - Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

This one is very fairytale-like, and instead of fictional Alice, Alice Liddell herself is the one dreaming the dream. We even get to see Carroll as a character.  It won a whole bunch of awards.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz6YdGgGoYA

1973 - Alice in Wonderland (Festival of Family Classics episode)

A little animated thing that used to air on children’s TV channels.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVxw4MFSQWQ

1976 - Alice in Wonderland: An X-Rated Musical Comedy

Exactly what it says on the tin. It’s porn but it’s Alice in Wonderland and they sing. Goes without saying, don’t watch if you are underage.

Watch here: https://www7.fmovies.se/film/alice-in-wonderland-an-x-rated-musical-fantasy.7798/m  (don’t click on ads or anything if you don’t want your computer dead)

1981 - Alisa v Strane Chudes

An animated film from the USSR. Really pretty art, surreal colors.

Watch here (Russian with English subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oym9aw-Iso

1982 - Alisa v Zazerkale

Second part of the previous on the list, based on the second Alice book, with the same peculiar animation.

Watch here (Russian): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEP4vX0ISHI

1982 - Alice at the Palace

A TV recording of Elizabeth Swados’s musical. Stars Meryl Streep as Alice.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Y15Crljk4

1982 - Alicja

A very odd live action musical adaptation of the original story. It only took the symbolism of Wonderland, not the plot. Alice is all grown up, and falls for a man named Rabbit. The plot is difficult to follow, oftentimes makes no sense. TW: suicide attempt.

Watch here (English with Polish subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgZYzG96RKQ

1983 - Alice in Wonderland

The old Broadway version. Very true to the original book. Young Kate Burton as a lovely Alice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69BootOOHLk

1983 - Fushigi no Kuni no Arisu

An anime series based on both Alice books. Was very popular in Asia.

Watch all episodes here (English): https://kissanime.ac/Anime/Alice-in-Wonderland-Dub/

1985 - Alice in Wonderland

Anglia TV’s miniseries. Live action meets puppets. Uses the original dialogue and word from the books.

Watch here:

Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwugRCVjBIo

Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs7GgvU-15g

Episode 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-erJ-2TYJn0

Episode 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkvpTLnCv7s

Episode 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKG4EJc653A&t=2s

1985 - Alice in Wonderland

This one was made for television, colorful and lovely sets and costumes.

Watch here (English with Portugese subtitles):

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKkv3pAJ0x0&t=5s

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OThIhfsUnHI

1985 - Dreamchild

This movie is from the point of view of old Alice Liddell (now Mrs Haregraves), and how she begins to remember her childhood, Lewis Carroll, and Wonderland. TW: pedophilia - nothing explicit, but it made me very uncomfortable so thought I’d mention.

Watch here: https://www7.fmovies.se/film/dreamchild.jv1q2/1zyv4p (again, don’t click on ads or anything if you don’t want your computer dead)

1986 - Alice in Wonderland

A BBC miniseries in four parts by Barry Letts.

I could not find it online.

1987 - Alice Through the Looking Glass

Only slightly based on the book, an Australian animated film.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS24PF182V0

1988 - Alice in Wonderland

Another Australian animation. The same company produced it as the 1987 Through The Looking Glass.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86p1eC6IPCE

1988 - Něco z Alenky / Alice

A Czech movie. Not a sweet fairytale, but something actually out of a dream. Surreal, creepy, strange. Personal favorite. :)

Watch here (Czech with English subtitles): https://www7.fmovies.se/film/alice.n1zk/pw23xj (again, don’t click on anything)

1995 - Alice in Wonderland

Another animated version, by Jetlag Producions. Alice wears pink. The animation style is exactly the same as in the old My Little Pony movies, or at least that’s what it remind me of…

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfRAL0AgzGs&t=68s

1998 - Alice Through The Looking Glass

Family fantasy movie, very true to it’s genre, colorful, a bit tacky. This time Alice is a mother who falls asleep while reading a bedtime story.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGM7aiQkAAI

1999 - Alice in Wonderland

The special effects are slowly starting to catch up to Carroll’s imagination. They tried and they succeeded but I feel like they tried too hard… Oh also it’s nearly three hours long.

Watch here: https://www7.fmovies.se/film/alice-in-wonderland.xjpo3/my13jz (don’t click the ads)

2010 - Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton’s version. ,,Nineteen-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny.”

Watch here: https://watchcartoonsonline.la/watch-alice-in-wonderland-2010-full-movie/ (don’t click ads and close pop-up windows quickly)

2015 - CBeebies Alice in Wonderland

A TV recording of an Alice in Wonderland children’s show.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq6FO0Q3D6w

[genericaces]

runs in the family

[pineandbrine]

dick and charlie's tea room | big cypress bayou, texas

[pppuri]

first date idea: i hit you with a metal ball

[medakakurokami]

I finished over 100 visual novels, here’s a long post with some recommendations

Last month I hit 100 Finished VN’s over on the VNDB and I thought I’d shoot out some recommendations while the Steam Summer Sale is going on (even though some of these aren’t going to be on Steam)

I already have finished up some stragglers and caught some shorter titles so it’s up to 104 Finished, but all the better. I have been reading some VN’s since 2015, but it really became a hobby and a genre I was invested in during Covid lockdown in 2020. I had trouble getting into some of the popular titles, but a couple of games that were lesser known at that time really blew me away that year and I started digging more into the medium. I still have a lot to try out and other classics I’m still interested in trying, but here’s a top 10 I’m confident in recommending to most people, at least the kinda people that would follow this blog. A few of these recommendations are actually multi-part series, but hopefully accessible all around.

Planetarian ($10 on Steam and Switch, ~$5 on sale)

This is a very late entry onto this list but I think it’s an easy recommendation. This is a very short 2-4 hour visual novel that got a well received 2 hour movie adaptation in 2016, but it was strong enough that even while knowing the plot everything still hit hard. It is a story set 30 years after an apocalyptic event destroys most of the world, as a human junk-trader comes across a planetarium with a somehow-still-functional robot named Hoshino still performing her daily duties after 30 years without customers or coworkers. It can come across as a bit saccharine, but it is a quick, well made, and effective tearjerker.

Narcissu 1st & 2nd (Free on Steam)

Narcissu’s first two parts are pretty compelling stories to do with suicidal ideation within the scope of the terminally ill. Which is to say they’re also real tear jerkers, and pretty open about some harsh self-reflective emotions. They both have stellar endings, and can be quite immersive despite the very limited artwork (if the screencap looks weird, the game’s art exists within a narrow strip on the screen, with a sentence or two reading out the story underneath it). Maybe the least accessible on this list, but a $0 price tag makes it easier in some sense to get into.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni / When The Seagulls Cry (~$50 on Steam, $30 on sale)

Umineko you’ve probably already heard of, and here’s me recommending it. Umineko comes in two parts, on Steam referred to as the Questions Arc and the Answers Arc. Despite the split, the overall story follows the events of a certain day on Rokkenjima Island in 1986 as a family meets to discuss their inheritance and their family’s mysteries. Unbeknownst to them they are soon haunted, over and over again, by the revenant of the Golden Witch said to live in the woods of their family’s island.

I’m in the minority of preferring the Questions Arc, where well written and deeply human characters find themselves in deeply inhumane and nonsensical scenarios. The Answers Arc back seats some of that to start delving into an esoteric explosion of clues and backstories, and was still very entertaining even if I was more invested in the episodic stories than the overarching mystery. This may also be seen as inaccessible, $30-50 for a slightly older title and over 140 hours long on average playthroughs, but it is deeply absorbing.

Witch on the Holy Night a.k.a. Mahoyo ($40 on PS4 and Switch)

Mahoyo is me and Nasu’s marriage counselor, it really made me see the good in him. It follows a young witch co-habitating with her magic colleague and the puppy-like boy that unwittingly steps into their world at risk to his own life, just as unexplained apparent murders are witnessed in their town.

This could possibly be a higher level recommendation, though it was apparently intended to have sequels and you can somewhat feel that in the isolated feeling of its main conflict. Despite this, the game is definitely worth experiencing for its classy charm and extremely well made action sequences that at times make you forget you’re not watching a full anime film. It’s also a showcase of Nasu’s strengths in writing character interactions and comedy, and he finally lets Show take over and stops Telling you piles of mage society worldbuilding quite so often. It is also has some of the highest quality production value I’ve ever seen, second maybe to…

Marco and the Galaxy Dragon ($20 on Steam/Switch, less than $10 on sale)

Marco and the Galaxy Dragon is an explosive opera of art, energy, color, and of course music. It follows the orphaned Marco and her dragon compatriot Arco as they hunt for treasure across the cosmos, finding their way to Earth on the hunt for Marco’s mother.

If Umineko’s 140 hours seems steep, Marco has you covered with a quick 6 hour rundown of a rebellious orphan fighting back against her space alien menace to find her own sense of place and identity in the universe, along with ALL the friends she made along the way. If Mahoyo feels like an anime film sometimes, Marco actually just has fully animated FMV cutscenes that are fun as hell and have their own unique artstyle to the VN itself. Thousands of pieces of artwork and a 52-track OST fill the game’s short runtime with no cut corners and and overflow of passion from the devs. Honestly even if you don’t want to read it go buy it, it’s cheap and they earned it.

White Album 2 (You’ll have to be creative to find this one)

This is the only recommendation that’s currently only available in an adults only 18+ Rating for the English translation. That being said, it’s one of the few erotic VN’s that felt justified in its pornographic scenes. The story is split into two releases: Opening Chapter and Closing Chapter.

Opening is a short and powerfully delivered love triangle narrative following Haruki, Setsuna, and Touma as their hastily formed 3-man light music band falls into itself with feelings. It’s charming but gut wrenching and sweeps you into its drama very effectively before kicking you on your ass in the end.

Closing Chapter is a long and drawn out disassembling of their lives as they fail to heal from the wounds of the relationships seen in Opening. It, to great effect, takes the readers own experience with how fun and passionate the Opening Chapter was, and shows how trying to cling to halcyon days can make us so dispassionate about our present lives. Painful stuff! Good music, too.

The Princess, The Stray Cat, and Matters of the Heart 1 & 2

a.k.a. Noratoto ($40 on Steam for both, ~$15 for both on sale)

This is a very personal recommendation, and maybe one more easy to make on this blog where many of my followers might be receptive to sincere but slapstick ecchi comedy as art. Every route is highly different however and to me, some are pretty average for galge, while others stand out as amazing. The comedy writing as well feels like it was written by someone with actual comic writing experience, and not just regurgitating the usual ecchi manga jokes.

The general premise of Noratoto is the protagonist Nora, being transformed into a cat by Patricia the princess of the Netherworld, and he must reverse this curse via a kiss before it becomes permanent. A benign fairy tale premise, but one that somehow gives way to underlying stories about existence and finding purpose in families and where that leaves those without families or with abusive or divided families (it is from the same developers as Marco and the Galaxy Dragon, and the themes of finding identity without family match up very closely). Uniquely it is a visual novel written somewhat in 3rd person, narrated by a motherly voice as if the VN was being read to you as a bedtime story.

Like I said, it is dependent on route and some come across as your usual ecchi gal-game schtick, but some stick out, and if every route was as high quality as Nobuchina’s in the 2nd game, it would probably be my favorite visual novel.

The Original Ace Attorney Trilogy ($30 on most platforms, $10 on sale)

You’ve almost certainly heard of Ace Attorney already and have most likely played it. This is me telling any Ace Attorney fans reading that the original trilogy still reigns supreme (regardless of Turnabout Big Top). This is also me telling anyone who has held out on trying Ace Attorney to try it, and to start with the original trilogy.

Obviously this trilogy follows the Meme Man Himself, Phoenix Wright, as he defends the innocent and brings the guilty to justice acting as both lawyer and his own main investigator. While each case presents a unique mystery, the original trilogy has an underlying arc that reaches from beginning to end with a massive conspiracy that Phoenix has to breach to bring justice to the perpetrators and resolve the memory and regrets of his beloved mentor.

These games have some speedbumps as you may be banging your head against the wall trying to find the right evidence, but the experience that breaks through does so with gusto, succeeding on what it sets out to be: games that make you feel like you’ve brought justice to the world.

Utawarerumono Trilogy ($40/60 each on Steam, trilogy bundle $62 on sale)

Utawarerumono was my first proper visual novel, and it set the standards pretty high. I’ve posted about it several times in the last few years, and it remains one of my favorites. It is a labor of love on the part of the developers (the same developers as White Album 2), who developed the latter two games over the course of several years and have made this the spearhead of their company for the time being. Which makes sense, since it is about war.

The first game follows a masked man who is given the name Hakuoro waking up in a rural village with amnesia, confused about the strange population of beast-men living there. Despite not understanding his situation, his ingenuity brings the village prosperity. When the local lords try to put the village under their thumb, Hakuoro and the villagers are able to turn the tides against them. Their village grows into a kingdom as Hakuoro seeks the mysteries of himself and the world around him.

The latter two games pick up some twenty years after the conclusion of the first, and follow a man who is given the name Haku, waking up in the woods with amnesia confused about the… you get it. He is met by Kuon, a young girl on her way traveling to the capital of their nation of Yamato. Haku graciously accepts her help getting out of the cold woods, and decides to join her to the capital. As events play out, Haku finds himself under the direct command of the nation’s leader the Mikado, and carries out missions on his behalf as the nation continues to drag itself into war and conflict and Haku also seeks the truth of his identity.

These games are expansive in scope while still putting a large focus on the day-to-day lives of its characters. Around 100 hours across all three games it is impressive how much story it manages to fit in, but the pacing does bounce around between sweeping conflict and sleepy conversations. It is also in part, a strategy RPG game with the battles in the war being controlled by the player. These are decently made, especially well in the third game, but don’t ask too much of the player and the story remains the main focus and biggest portion of the runtime.

The House In Fata Morgana a.k.a. Fatamoru

($40 complete version on PS4/Switch, ~$40 main game + expansion on Steam)

I’ve gushed about this enough on this tumblr, I’ll keep it brief.

You are a formless soul who is led by the hand of a mysterious maid through the doors of a mansion on an unknown plane of existence. Through each door lies a story of the house in a different era, all following people bound together in ways that leave them cruelly and violently undone by the end of their stories. The connection between these stories, the mystery of the house and the supposed witch that resides within, and the mystery of You the wandering soul all slowly unravel in a bloody show of catharsis and soul. The game is dripping with traumatic poetic text, grating beautiful music, and all of its atmosphere geared toward being oppressive yet enticing. One of the best things I’ve read.

Honorable mentions:

Va-11 Hall-A and Endless Mondays get shout outs as some of the best Original English Language VN’s I’ve read, with cool artstyles and a mature cast they manage to be fun and relatable. Va-11 Hall-A delivers a great arc for its protagonist and Endless Mondays has great dialogue on the threat of automation of creative industries.

Grisaia Trilogy and Hatsumira are both absolutely raucous trilogies that are a lot of fun. Not wholly recommendable to all, Grisaia has some strong moments and a hilarious unique cast but is a mess overall (but we love Michiru). Hatsumira is a bit more consistent, a more stable and fantasy-oriented Grisaia.

A.I. The Somnium Files duology are detective games with highly divisive endings, but great comedy and characters that make them very easy to get through and enjoy the whole way to the end. It’s just a toss-up whether you’ll like that ending.

Sakura Wars games are finally being translated, and they are a great showing for anyone who wants to try some classic dating sim stuff but with some pizazz thrown in with the setting and mecha combat.

The Tears to Tiara duology by the same developers of Utawarerumono and White Album is also one to keep an eye out for. The first game’s definitive version isn’t available in English and the second game is stuck on the PS3 and no longer available digitally, but if they ever come out on Steam they are worth your time.

Nanairo Reincarnation and Kinkoi: Golden Loveriche are also two solid ecchi comedy galge. Both have surprisingly deep and genuinely heartbreaking underlying mysteries and conclusions.

I still have a lot I wanna read, Planetarian is the only Key novel I’ve read. On the docket are Labyrinth of Galleria, Little Busters, the 9 -nine- series, and Kara no Shoujo and White Album 1 releasing on Steam this year. Some classics I didn’t mention are Fate/Stay Night, Muv Luv, Steins Gate. Muv Luv I read Extra and enjoyed it, but never pulled the trigger on reading the rest, I may at some point on a whim. Steins;Gate I played through half of on PS3 and now my PS3 is in the closet, the VN is really good and has a unique atmosphere to the anime, buuuuuuut knowing the plot has made it hard to want to restart on PC or another console. Steins;Gate is good, if anyone is reading this far and hasn’t seen the anime or read the VN, do it.

[lakevida]

notice how the barrier is much thinner today

[it-appears-that-bruno-has-deact]

[rageagainststormy-deactivated20]

me too