I posted these first at my discord server and the dailies server!

Quotes below were my captions/updates along with my daily at my tiny discord server.

Day 1 My first plein airpril 🥹

I tried™️

Not sure what I was doing but I just wanted to practice with shapes, colours, proportions, etc

Day 2 Kirby anniversary Month x Plein Airpril

GAH environments are not my interest/thing
so the trees from day 2 especially got me struggling
It’s Kirby anniversary month so I’ll be adding kirby to things. Spent too much time than I would have liked and losing interest in background even more
Losing interest and morale :’)

Day 3 Kirby anniversary Month x Plein Airpril 🌻

Kirby on a sunflower.
Keeping it simple this time as I build a buffer when I can’t do it during intense work days
Because work days will be a lot intense/stressful juggling :’)

Day 4 Kirby anniversary Month x Plein Airpril

Kirby under the pink sky

Day 5 Kirby anniversary Month x Plein Airpril

Kirby, Waddle Doo, Waddle Dee sheltering under some shade.
And I’m trying to make this challenge more interesting for me too ;P

King Dedede anniversary Month x Plein Airpril Day 6

Where on Popstar is King Dedede

Not having a great break with a lot of stressful things happening… but trying to relax better today

I’m struggling as dailies are hard to keep up but also addicting to keep the streak…

Finally watched it and thoughts ON KPOP DEMON HUNTERS / spoilers

Please I am not an expert at anything so if I get anything wrong I am happy to be corrected.

This is just my thoughts at the moment.

before watching:

• someone saying the art/animation/songs are incredible/great but the story is like “rock rolling down a hill”
  • I was managing my expectations whenever I hear about the story like that
  • I am a story person so I was not sure if this is my thing
• why on earth are is the blue tiger called Derpy and the 6 eyed raven/crow Sussie???
  • glad they’re not actually named in the movie that way because it’s distracting
• did roughly skim through the art of kpop demon hunters when they shared that online before the Oscar awards too but I didn’t know the story details

after watching

ART

• incredible art, character design and cinematography and colours
• Rumi’s hair looks most painful that she’s never without that tight long braid
  • it does reflect her character that she hides a lot of things
  • tight and hidden away because she’s taught that all her life growing up
  • but she could have let her hair down when she becomes fully honest and free though…
  • I guess they’re avoiding the Elsa “let hair down” moment
• I am not a fan of Demon King Gwa-Ma’s design
  • because I hoped for a powered up final form for the king of demons, king of death
  • something that’s more impressive, sinister and intimidating than adding eyes and brows to the jaggy mouth in pink/violet fire
  • Give me a transforming/shapeshifting form that’s more mobile and not a flame that’s stuck on the ground!!
  • It’s really a villain that wants to eat souls and does emotional/psychological manipulation and negative talk that lives in everyone’s heads to get what he wants – power
  • the ultimate “seeing the worst in everything and bringing that fear out” kind of demon king
• with the Saja boys…
  • they’re so stylised, effective, great, caricatured, exaggerated to be handsome to represent what the idol industry does that I find most of them not appealing at all and repulsive (because it’s blatantly not genuine)
  • them being malicious demons with no backstories to each of them didn’t help
  • everything is focused on Jinu, his handsome looks, his sins/regrets/backstory and they’re just background characters with their key features that didn’t feel threatening
    • ie abs/sexualised saja,
    • mysterious/private long fringe saja,
    • infantalised baby face saja
    • and flirty femboy saja
  • I guess it makes sense that apparently they’re just mindless monsters without souls??
    • they already sold their souls to the demon king so they lost their past
  • I don’t see how “join the Pride” and the Lion icon – how it relates to them as a group though
    • had to look it up and it’s saja = lion/great beast/fierce creature/grim reaper or messenger of the afterlife
    • the last two makes more sense so the lion motif threw me off because I don’t connect grim reaper with lions
    • I guess it’s just about being fearless with lions
• I guess the blue tiger cat and the hat stealing raven are just messengers and creatures there to be cute to sell merch too ;P
  • I don’t think it’s that deep…
  • probably Korean folklore in here that I’m not aware about
    

ANIMATION

• Really great
• the anime/weeby expressions
  • a few of them don’t work and could look better
  • feels like obvious flat texture and not adapted to 3D space
  • a lot of great memey faces but I can’t register/process them at times – I’m slow 😛
• at times in the movie it’s just too fast and overstimulating for me to register the cool shots, expressions, poses they were doing so I just hyperfocused on character acting

SONGS

• before watching the movie:
  • I like Your Idol as it’s essentially what the idol industry is doing with their songs so that fans keep funding the business/idols
  • I did not and still do not care for Soda Pop that much
    • it’s a peppy song about drinking souls that didn’t resonate with me
  • I am not really a Kpop group follower person
• What it sounds like is great,
• Your Idol is a great villain song
  • demonstrating the true nature of idol worship
• I do like Free because I’m a romantic sad soul so I like this mushy romatnic stuff
  • but I kept thinking that the vulnerable, emotional love ballad is so fast between Rumi and Jinu
  • they just met really briefly from fighting to secret meetings
    • (how many times did they actually meet in secret??)
    • and it’s already this strong because of their struggles
    • I guess their meeting montage didn’t really sell me enough with their bond
  • and he was also lying to her all along and his foot was half in and out the door
    • so it wasn’t a great start with equal footing
• Takedown is great and catchy
• Golden and How it’s done are good
• I probably need to listen to these properly again because in the context of the movie it goes by fast when you’re also taking it in as part of the movie

STORY

• now that I’ve watched it…
  • yes story is like a rock down the hill that goes too fast with the pacing sometimes
  • the story is the weakest aspect and it feels like a movie that strings all the music videos together and pushing the drama to the max
  • the start was exposition and being given the base backstory for all of them through fancy animated slides / story beats
  • the exposition at the start was so fast and we’re just thick into the idol stuff and we’re told how it is very quickly
• can’t help but feel Zoey and Mira got sidelined for a badboy demon Jinu :’D
  • OOF
  • Mira and Zoey got done dirty with their backstories too
• with Rumi – it’s realistic in that when you’ve been told all your life growing up to do this thing
  • you stick to it and follow/trust what your parental figure says out of respect/fear/love/blind trust even though you don’t feel it’s right for you
  • so every time Rumi lies to her dear friends it’s painful
    • yes I relate to this in some ways
    • one instance – I’ve had to do things and teaching as a career for too long, thinking that that’s what my parents wanted, did not do what I wanted and became a trapped, dead, numb husk of hopeless and sadness in denial
      • a stressful and unhappy time
• FOR ONCE it’s not the movie friendly convenient “too good to be true” resolution where all parental bonds are easily sorted and forgiven (like Encanto and many others)
  • instead it’s realistically Celine not changing her views/values and being conditional with her love
  • and Rumi having to break free of this
    • and move on with people who will accept and love her as she is
  • A lot of Asian Parents from that gen are stubborn
    • they don’t change their ways in my own experience and they feel entitled to respect, given face and to be right and get their way 😛
    • they go back to old negative, toxic and disrespectful habits despite all the times you call it out
  • also Celine didn’t do anything when the world was in danger,
    • she just stuck by her tree/garden and in denial
    • which makes her even more stubborn and unlikeable
    • I guess it’s refreshing rather than the unrealistic “she comes in the end to help save the world and relationship with Rumi being slowly healed”
• this is the classic trope of “JUST TALK TO YOUR LIFE LONG FRIENDS/SISTERS”
  • the problems wouldn’t be this BAD if she did talk
  • the whole brainwashing Rumi had to believe she must hide her patterns is being challenged
    • (like Elsa hiding her ice powers)
  • but of course this is for the extreme emotional DRAMA!!
  • “LIES exposed” moment must escalate/explode at the end for Rumi
• I do like how we know Rumi has patterns – was shown to us early on
• AH yes inter-generational trauma of a foster parent that did wrong
  • telling Rumi to hide her real self all her life
  • Celine refuses to acknowledge and accept her as she is
  • there is no happy resolution between them
  • for once it felt realistic because it’s my reality
  • A lot of the time, there is no happy resolution with your parents/parental figure and/or relatives unlike Turning Red
  • you just have to cut them out of your life after they’ve messed up your (early or all your) life and psychological wellbeing with their trauma, values and beliefs ;P
    • for your own sanity and wellbeing
  • Celine is even more unlikable for not doing anything to help with the world ending
    • even when she was previously a demon hunter
  • why are there only 3 ladies being demon hunters at a time???
    • only 3 to fight demons and save the whole world
    • that’s too high risk with no backup people / other teams to help???
    • what if one team member is not around???
• I keep wondering what has Jinu been doing for 400 years under the demon king
  • only NOW he has the idea of the a boy idol group
  • and only NOW wants to erase his memories
  • Jinu is a terrible person who is so dissociated from all the lives/people he directly/indirectly killed too
  • so his soul is gone but not completely for SOME reason
  • well until his soul became a supernatural sword and his physical demon form died??
• What is the Demon king mouth thing doing for 400+ years??
  • Just stuck in his realm??
  • does he do anything beyond intrude into people’s fears/dark side??
• I feel like Jinu is not fully dead but just a talking sword in the future maybe? who knows
  • He only finally did the right thing at the end by sacrificing himself
  • his intentional trauma dumping at the start to seduce Rumi and how the emotional bond with Rumi was SUPER fast and plot driven that I didn’t feel sad about it when he died
  • I don’t feel like they went through thick and thin together at all to warrant this deep connection so fast
• Rumi let Sussie and Derpy into her room so early and at the same time she shut out her friends / ah the contrast
  • she was desperate to find people/creatures who knows the real her
  • but she can’t/won’t be honest all her life with Mira and Zoey with her emotional denial shield
• I like these characters but I don’t care enough with the story though
  • because they don’t go deep and slow enough
  • it just goes through the motions and hoping you feel the intended emotions…
• also why are the demons in the underworld so underdeveloped
  • are they just living and standing in front of a whiny negative demon king for all eternity/hundreds/thousands of years and just standing there as servants???
  • do they not have architecture, buildings, living spaces???
  • do they not have lives but they just stand there in court attendance for eternity??
  • that sucks for them!!
• Maybe we have more fleshed out characters in Mira and Zoey and the other characters in the sequel movie.
  • Do we get them have the heart to heart talk??
  • as they went back to good times without processing the emotional stuff (or is it just off screen)
  • Where’s the group hug that’s not just chilling in the bathhouse at the end???
• what also bothers me is the hustle/workaholic culture
  • Rumi didn’t let anyone take an actual break because she’s rushing to get “fixed from her patterns”
    • for SOME reason she has the power to release GOLDEN without consequences
  • everyone else is “OH WELL, I GUESS BACK TO WORK” all because it’s out without notice
    • with some complaints from Mira and Zoey
    • manager was ready for his vacation!!
    • why did no one push back and get their break back???
  • and at the end of the movie they didn’t get much of a break either and went over to chat with the fans instead
    • will they ever REST with a long break???
  • I say this but I need to follow it too. I am HORRIBLE at not resting properly….
• Is the Demon King really dead when there’s always negativity and darkness in our hearts and it’s something we’re all managing??
• SO what happened to all the souls eaten during the movie??
  • Are they revived or actually dead??
  • or missing but now found? HELLO??
  • I guess they’re dead
• I am glad I watched this movie
  • If I were to watch it again, I would need to pause stuff so I can register what is going on with the details
  • Otherwise I don’t really want to watch it again
    • the story didn’t really go too deep nor resonate enough to make me feel deeper emotions
  • It was a ride and it was enough emotions but things kept moving along…
    • and you know things will work out.
  • I would want to watch the songs/music videos I like instead since that’s the strongest part of it.
    • I’m not even a kpop person – I just stumble upon songs i like ;P

I may also watch an essay about the movie when I feel mentally ready to :’D Maybe.

Hope my rambling made sense…

Leonie rambles about…

• Why You Run Away From Good Relationships (The Avoidant Brain)
  • I am managing this but the negative self talk and being distrustful of positive things is strong sometimes
  • especially when you have a narcissistic, selfish, guilt tripping, manipulative, negative parental figure in all your life and the ongoing trauma to deal with
• watching games –
  • Pathologic 3
  • jrpg Lost Odyssey (at Disc 4 now)
  • and other smaller ones
• continued disappointment in Level 5 for going ham on genAi
  • not planning to play Professor Layton and the New World of Steam – not sure if it’s for me anymore
  • clear that they can’t afford to hire english VA now but they now have top Japanese VA instead
• still not done with Road Trip mode (single player) with Kirby Air Riders, I got to do 3 long runs now ahhhh
  • when done I hope to play the Tomodachi Life demo
• looking forward to the new Rhythm Heaven game, Rhythm Paradise Groove
  • even though I’m not great at it 😀
• got reminded of emoji kitchen being a thing with huge emotes and weird emote combos
• got inspired to do a physical life/habit tracker (by Reysu) on top of my complex spreadsheet tracker
  • only just started this though
  • got inspired by other artist peeps discussing how they’re tracking their Plein air dailies and life habits
  • I shared an ADHD version and a printable they shared at my serer
  • for me I have a lot to track – 7 things?
    • I won’t track my weight though in my journal – not my focus and weight fluctuates anyway due to a lot of factors, especially what you eat and sleep :’)
    • I focus tracking on how long I spend on a type of art, exercise, etc
    • others is more tracking if I did something for the day like zoning out/meditating
  • I envy people who have the brain capacity to remember all their plans and beyond in their head
    • I use lists and reminders a lot because I focus on what’s at present and in front of me more
    • maybe if I had more consistent sleep I would have better mind powers…
• social media likes bad art / xyphid
  • I don’t know who this person is though
  • but I agree that rough art gets more attention because people can relate to the mess more
  • and they don’t really appreciate finished art that took ages in comparison as they can’t see the hard work and struggle behind it
• again I share more resources at my discord server (link at footer) ;P
• gah it’s so cold with the weather now :<

Personal update – ah life is a struggle and a mixed bag

As you can see in some pleinair captions above, unfortunate things happened this month, escalated and an ongoing stressful, disruptive, frustrating, toxic, selfish, stubborn, ignorant, obnoxious, uncommunicative, guilt tripping, insufferable, exhausting family situation became even super difficult to manage because all of this is now magnified because of many health issues they neglected and causing more problems in its wake. And I am not even taking the majority/full brunt of dealing with it 🙁 And new/other people have managed/faced them for a while and they felt the same…

Just doing our best, managing the conflicted/complex feelings, figure out help and find a better norm. Because right now it’s a lot of trying to protect sleep time and life boundaries day by day, putting out issues that spring up and not letting the stress of this labour get to us :/ Trying to keep up the morale…

Just wanted to vent a tiny bit and stayed vague because privacy is important and I don’t want to talk about private problems here ;P

I’ll call it stressful family situation from now on when I refer to it. Trying to manage my stress and tense body because I don’t want to suffer from TMJ/jaw strain, teeth pain and more hair loss 🙁 I’m trying to relax 😭

Anyhoo work is intense as well and I’m at day 13/14 (as of posting) of plein airpril too (but I have a buffer because I have some bad / low days) so I’m juggling ahhh

I will keep future blog posts shorter than this whoops

Gah it’s late I need to sleep and run ahhhhh

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