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Thinking about the zelda cartoon and ive hinted at this idea in that zelda cartoon comic i havent worked on in a while, but i have an idea of how to connect the cartoon loosely to Z1 and adventures of link. It involves killing link for like a minute. Because obviously ganon has to come back. Link survives and is fine but like for a minute he died. Imagine the DRAMA.

Some time after Z2, peace restored to hyrule yadda whatever pthpp and then in a single moment of weakness, distraction, link is slaughtered. BAM. Ganon revival. Link is revived but his death still counts.

Idk if id make a comic illustrating this, on top of all the other comics im doing lol,but it is a thought.

#Rambling #Zelda cartoon #Thoughts on things

I’m obsessed with all the repeating themes in the Hunger Games, but one I’m absolutely in love with is how Snow can never escape Lucy Gray.

[This post contains spoilers!]

We know this almost immediately simply from the title, Songbirds and Snakes, as we remember Katniss and her mockingjay and singing in the arena. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Snow hates Katniss for the rebellion, of course. But perhaps more than that is what a call she is to his lost love, not in personality so much as spirit.

Lucy Gray is Truly Inescapable

Lucy Gray is named for the Ballad of Lucy Gray, and immediately when we learn this, there is the sinking knowledge that she will not survive this story.

But after the disappearance of the ballad’s Lucy Gray, they follow her footprints, the impressions she’s left behind. And later is one of my favourite lines from the ballad:

Yet some maintain that to this day She is a living Child, That you may see sweet Lucy Gray Upon the lonesome Wild.

To all the knowledge that the girls family has, she has died. But they still see her.

And also pulling in the newly released Can’t Catch Me Now:

But I'm in the trees, I'm in the breeze My footsteps on the ground You'll see my face in every place But you can't catch me now

(I’m so in love with how well this song ties the franchise together, it’s so perfect)

From the second he lands in Twelve, Snow hates the mockingjays and does his best to eradicate them. He sees them as unnatural creatures who survived not only without the Capitol, but inspite of them. And yet he fails to get rid of them, the mockingjays survive despite his best efforts.

And even years later, their sheer existence haunts him, eventually proving to be one of his greatest failures.

And all of the messes you made Yeah, you think that you got away

This is a great line to me because, since this being told from the perspective of Lucy Gray, it turns the story on its head. We and Snow are never really sure if she survived, so you could think that she got away. But it’s in fact Snow who has deluded himself into getting away from her. She will follow him, everywhere, for the rest of his miserable life.

At the end of TBOSAS, he says there would be a vague memory of a girl who had once sung in the arena, and that Lucy Gray and her mockingjays could never hurt him again.

Then gloriously, devastatingly, 65 years later Snow sees another girl with braided hair from Distinct Twelve in the games, adorned with a mockingjay, who sings Rue to sleep, who escapes the arena by cheating with something the Capitol themselves has provided (Katniss with the berries, Lucy Gray with the snakes).

Katniss, who then goes on to spark rebellion with that same symbol of mockingjays, with the song that Lucy Gray penned.

Snow is seeing Lucy Gray everywhere, in the mockingjays, in Peeta’s personality, in Katniss’ appearance, in the song about that tree that changed his life. But he cannot catch her.

He tried, and never knew if he succeeded. But she is everywhere, the symbol of his weakness, the one thing that maybe could have made him give up his future. The person who made him come to detest the very idea of love, who made him swear that if he ever married it will be to someone he hates so they could never manipulate him.

Her spirit chokes him. He is drowning in her and her mockingjays, and they finally are his downfall.

And that is beautiful.

#I am beyond excited #can’t catch me now just embodies the whole franchise so perfectly and I can’t handle it #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #lucy gray baird #coriolanus snow #tbosas spoilers #the ballad of songbirds and snakes spoilers #the hunger games #president snow #can’t catch me now #olivia rodrigo #tbosas #thg #thoughts on things

96 Thoughts while rewatching the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Pilot.

1. Midge graduated college early, got married and had her first kid in like a year and a half holy shit girl.

#The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel #Midge Maisel #thoughts on things

President Loki can fuck me in that ruined bowling alley up against a giant candy cane any time he wants.

#loki tv series spoilers #thoughts on things

playlist called “indie hits for classically educated christian kids” but it’s just the entire the oh hellos discography

#sufjan can get a couple on there but he doesn’t have enough w classical or c s lewis references #thoughts on things

Initial Thoughts on “Remake Our Life”

Intro

I’m a 28-year-old loser with a fine arts degree that’s struggled with failed dreams of becoming some kind of artist.

“Remake Our Life!” was initially like ripping open cat nip for me. Kyouya Hashiba is a late bloomer. He went for a “safe” degree and job until he couldn’t take it anymore. He recently switched career paths to try and cut his teeth as a video game developer. After getting laid off from one developer job, he stumbles upon the best entry level position he could hope for at a triple A publisher. It’s an ideal set-up: If he puts in the effort and work, he’ll meet the Platinum Generation, other successful creatives his age, and have the opportunity to build up and progress further as a developer.

The company goes bankrupt and Kyouya finds himself right back in his childhood bedroom. So, he’s had two different positions bust on him. And he wonders if he’d be part of the Platinum Generation or better if he’d gone to art school 10 years ago. As the show title suggests, Kyouya travels back to 2006 and gets that miraculous “re-do” he was longing for.

The series itself is okay. I like that Kyouya is taking his redo seriously and working to really take life by the reigns, whether it’s a creative project or helping out a friend and future collaborative partner. For the most part, the supporting cast have fun personalities and believable, sympathetic struggles with their own passions and talents. The story tries to set up and sell Kyouya’s interactions with others as symbiotic: He can help them with his previous developer knowledge and they can help fill him in on subjects he’s lacking in. Because of his influence, both Kyouya and the Platinum Generation are on a trajectory towards figuring out themselves, their talents, and their goals sooner and finding career success faster.

That symbiotic dynamic pops up with Kawasegawa and some of his earlier dialogue with Shinoaki, but as the series progresses, it feels more like Kyouya has the perfect solution and all the answers for everyone else but doesn’t need much direction himself. Maybe Kyouya’s taking a back seat narratively to give them more of a spotlight? It just feels off that he knows the exact right thing to say or do to push them in the right direction. Of course, some things are believable because of his previous work or life experience. But it feels excessive that he knows or easily figures out everything he needs to get just right. By episode 8, I’m more interested in the other characters than Kyouya because they have more going for them in regards to character growth or development.

The only exception at the moment is Kawasegawa. Kyouya is having trouble keeping his proverbial head above water as a producer and trades notes with her as the one with more leadership and professional experience. Their exchanges are refreshing and showcase that very human, openly collaborative meat I want to see more of. She acknowledges that Kyouya has a very warm, sympathetic, relatable quality to him. That can be backed up and expanded on. It just feels like that quality is “super-human” or writer favoritism vs organic at the moment.

On another note, I’m not keen on the fan service or the building harem. Between boob shots and Nanako or Shinoaki vying for Kyouya’s affections, it subtracts from the more significant parts of Kyouya’s relationships with either as producer and music developer or producer and key artist. Just set up a slow burn romance with one girl and keep the other relationships friendly or platonic. It might trend more in that direction as the story progresses. Part of my bias might be my hunger for more strictly platonic guy/girl friendships in fiction overall. The series might trend more in that direction as the story continues. There was a dangling thread that Kyouya needs to have that discussion with both girls soon. I’m cautiously optimistic because there’s enough interesting story elements otherwise that I feel like I’m judging a bit harshly.

I’ve chocked it up to: I want things from this story and set-up that don’t quite sync up with what it’s going for. While it’s an interesting time travel story, it’s also very much a self-insert and wish-fulfillment story. So far, the series has straddled the line between character piece and reader fantasy. It’s dubious if Remake will continue the balancing act, but there are enough threads that I think the emphasis will stick to “Kyouya wants to become a successful game developer” vs all-out “College Harem Romcom Funtime.”

After Watching Further

So, I’ve watched up to episode 11. I was roped back in when the series abruptly switched gears from college to Kyouya waking up 10 years in the future married to Shinoaki with a young daughter and his dream job. The series provided substantial follow-up to Kyouya stepping in and trying to push all of the Platinums to their fullest potential by helping him design and develop games. While his efforts were well-intentioned, the Platinums started relying on and following his judgment over their own. The result was Tsurayuki dropping out of school and giving up on writing, Nanako never gaining any significant traction as a singer or musician, and Shinoaki getting burnt out enough that she gave up on art entirely.

Now, there’s a timeline where Kyouya ended up with his dream life, but the Platinums never became the successful celebrities he knew. At first, he blames himself for everything and becomes depressed after seeing how negatively his meddling impacted others. He wants to lay low and leave everyone’s lives and respective problems alone. This is especially difficult since his colleague Kawasegawa was handed a shit sandwich by their boss: She’s expected to do damage control after the company released a gacha game that wasn’t finished, set up with an incompatible game engine, incomplete art assets, and glitches galore. Eventually, Kyouya stumbles across a video from Nanako where she says she blamed Kyouya for feeling a lack of confidence in her skills, but ultimately realized that it wasn’t his fault but really, it was up to her to pursue her dreams.

The ultimate takeaway is that Kyouya’s meddling wasn’t the reason the Platinums gave up on their dreams or fell short of their previous success. In Kyouya’s original timeline, they were successful because of their resilience and persistence in the face of other obstacles they faced outside of and without Kyouya. So, they could reclaim that esteem and success, if not more substantial and fulfilling pursuits, with or without Kyouya’s help if they rediscover that “spark” Nanako found. When Kyouya steps in to help Kawasegawa, it’s him realizing that he can significantly help others, but there’s a time and a place for his efforts without eclipsing their needs, wants, and goals.

I like the general ideas and theme, but I stopped watching after the scene where Kyouya steps in. The way the scene was set up and framed echoed previous scenes where Kyouya comes across as a “superhero” or wish-fulfillment more than his own character. To be fair, there have been other scenes where Kawasegawa offered him advice or a proverbial olive branch. So, there’s thematic significance to Kyouya stepping in to rescue her team from “drowning.” I don’t know. Kyouya never felt like a fully realized character; more like a convenient bucket of traits and skills. There’s just enough blanks for what Kyouya is supposed to be vs who he actually is that certain story beats, dialogue, and resolutions ring hollow. I’ll go back and give this another go eventually. At the moment, I’m frustrated enough by not knowing what Kyouya’s character is or how to articulate it that I’m not in a big rush.

Other Thoughts

Honestly, I want another take on a story like this with no time travel angle. I want to see a character in a position like Kyouya’s figure out how to bounce back from getting laid off and move on to build an indie game team or even create their own indie game. With how “Remake Our Life” is set up, there was an opening to have 28-year-old Kyouya meet Shinoaki and the other Platinums. Presumably, they were working on the same game with that same bankrupted company. Maybe they’re at a point where their projects are drying up, they have a creative slump, or they’ve been thinking about “taking the plunge” and going independent. There’s plenty of openings for “late bloomer game developer” and “burnt out professional” to cross and find common ground.

“Remake” has similar appeal to some of the more recent isekai from “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime” or “I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years.” The general premise is: The protagonist gets a “second chance” at life, whether it’s a chance to go to art school like Kyouya, reshaping a fantasy world as a powerful slime monster, or living out a more peaceful, tranquil life in a fantasy world as an immortal witch. All of them have a meaningful message about re-evaluating and improving your life in one way or another. But they’re all also escapist fantasies with the reset button as a major part of the story.

That’s not an inherently bad thing. I’m just wondering where the stories tackling the 28-year-old burnout or the 30-year-old loser are. As in, there’s no reset button, they have to tackle their problems directly, and the series follows them struggling, but making significant, healthy changes in their life.

The closest I can immediately think of are Reigen and Serizawa, the secondary protagonist and a side character in Mob Psycho 100. Reigen is a self-proclaimed psychic that makes a living selling massage therapy, life coaching, and whatever else as “spiritual help.” He’s a fraudster that puts on a big smile and charismatic front, but as charming as he appears, he has no friends or social life outside of his business. While he can drum up sixteen different solutions for clients, he doesn’t quite know what he wants for himself or what direction to go. The big crux of his struggles are learning to be more honest and vulnerable with himself and with others.

In Serizawa’s case, the biggest part of his story is trying to reintegrate into society after 10+ years as a hikikomori and being led astray by a power-hungry boss that took advantage of his lack of experience and naivety. He’s dealing with navigating a mix of trauma, self-doubt, and intense anxiety; he’s set as a thematically sympathetic counterpart to the protagonist. Because he let his fears of his psychic powers rule his life for so long, he didn’t start on his self-improvement and self-discovery until much later. But he isn’t framed as a failure. When he starts working for Reigen as well as finishing his education, it’s framed as an achievement. A new start for better things in his life.

I’m not going to expand too much more on that here. In short, I want more stories focusing on late 20-somethings or early 30-somethings trying to navigate and improve their lives.

#remake our life!#remake our life opinion #opinion #opinion piece #rambles #rambly review #thoughts #thoughts on anime #thoughts on things #mp100 #mob psycho 100 #not sure what to label this

"Wow! You're really talented!"

― It's an overused compliment.

Don't take this the wrong way, there's nothing inappropriate about the phrase. But, to some people, this phrase might seem as if someone's belittling their hard work.

Whether a person's talented or not, diligence is something needed in pursuing a certain goal. Talent is something exclusive for an individual, but it also weighs some responsibility to them. Talent without refinement is just... talent, nothing more to it. If someone isn't willing to work hard and develop the talents they have, people around them who have done so can easily surpass them.

It's hard to just rely solely upon talent, academically or professionally. That's why a lot of people work hard to improve.

Not only talent that we should seek in an individual, but their hard work needs to be praised as well.

#art #keii's thoughts #thoughts on things #philosophy of language #blue period