#Old West realism

[captaingimpy]

Review: American Primeval (2025)

Starring Taylor Kitsch, Betty Gilpin, and Shawnee Pourier American Primeval is a six-episode Netflix series that strips away the romanticized veneer of the Old West, delivering a raw and unflinching portrayal of frontier life. Set in 1857 during the Utah War, the narrative centers on Sara Rowell (Betty Gilpin) and her son Devin (Preston Mota) as they navigate a treacherous landscape teeming with…

[waifwastecity]

real

[principiumindividuationis777]

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fiction Free-for-All Book Bracket Tournament: Round 5

Book summaries below:

Wayward Children series (Every Heart a Doorway, Down Among the Sticks and Bones, Beneath the Sugar Sky, In an Absent Dream, Come Tumbling Down, Across the Green Grass Fields, Where the Drowned Girls Go, Lost in the Moment and Found, Mislaid in Parts Half-Known, Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear, and other stories) by Seanan McGuire

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children No Solicitations No Visitors No Guests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

Fantasy, portal fantasy, mystery, magical realism, boarding school, novella, series, adult

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites by Joy Demorra

In a world of dwindling hope, love has never mattered more...

Captain Nathan J. Northland had no idea what to expect when he returned home to Lorehaven injured from war, but it certainly wasn't to find himself posted on an island full of vampires. An island whose local vampire dandy lord causes Nathan to feel strange things he'd never felt before. Particularly about fangs.

When Vlad Blutstein agreed to hire Nathan as Captain of the Eyrie Guard, he hadn't been sure what to expect either, but it certainly hadn't been to fall in love with a disabled werewolf. However Vlad has fallen and fallen hard, and that's the problem.

Torn by their allegiances—to family, to duty, and the age-old enmity between vampires and werewolves—the pair find themselves in a difficult situation: to love where the heart wants or to follow where expectation demands.

The situation is complicated further when a mysterious and beguiling figure known only as Lady Ursula crashes into their lives, bringing with her dark omens of death, doom, and destruction in her wake.

And a desperate plea for help neither of them can ignore.

Thrown together in uncertain times and struggling to find their place amidst the rising human empire, the unlikely trio must decide how to face the coming darkness: united as one or divided and alone. One thing is for certain, none of them will ever be the same.

Fantasy, romance, paranormal, series, adult

[goldfinchwrites]

goldfinchwrites - a writeblr intro

Hello - I'm Lottie, and I'm making a tentative return to writeblr. I've been here on and off for years but I've missed it and thus am returning. A little about me:

I'm 26 years old, based in the UK and use she/her pronouns.

I've been writing since I was 15, got my degree in English Literature and then last year completed a Master's in Creative Writing and am now working on an Environmental Science degree

I like to write literary fiction most, but am partial to the gothic and including touches of horror and magical realism. I've also written a little poetry and am looking to return to it as well.

I have a discord linked below for anyone (18+) who is interested in writing literary fiction!

I have two “finished” manuscripts, that I likely will end up editing again, and perhaps query? Both of them are quite different in terms of tones and theme so it's become difficult to categorise what sort of fiction I like to write.

That said, things that tend to come up: the misery of small town England, particularly in the West Country/Cotswolds, country houses, the late 20th Century, queer themes, nature and the environment, and casts of very unlikable people.

I’m also very interested in hauntology and countercultural history.

The authors I'm presently most inspired by are Shirley Jackson, Donna Tartt, Elfriede Jelinek, Bret Easton Ellis, Carmen Maria Machado, Sayaka Murata, William Boyd and Evelyn Waugh, but, in essence, my reading taste is 20th Century Classics.

I’m currently working on what I call for a shorthand “seventies gothic”, working title of What A Wounded Name and an actual title I’m keeping private

I'm looking to follow some writeblrs - especially litfic writeblrs, and dip my toe back into the community!

I also really don’t like people spam liking/otherwise interacting so please don’t. storygraph / bluesky / letterboxd / litfic writers discord

[meta-squash]

I'm so irritated by the entire Ian and Mickey get an apartment storyline because it's just so inaccurate on like every count. I know this is fiction and also the show's been over for ages but still. The last few series had such terrible writing and made no sense.

The map location that Ian looks at when they first find the apartment is like in the UIC/medical district area, almost in the loop. But also like. There are not a lot of apartments in Chicago with pools. You want a pool in your apartment complex, you're gonna be paying a lot more than $900 for a 1 bed 1 bath apartment. I mean, you're gonna be paying more than $900 period in that area. Plus like their income is better but not stable-stable from the security gig (and isn't it mostly under the table?) so I seriously doubt landlords there would even consider them.

(Not to mention the whole bullshit about Ian signing the lease without talking to Mickey about it first. (And Mickey would have to also sign the lease before it went into effect, unless everything is in Ian's name? So Mickey could have just said no.) Like that's such shitty behavior in terms of relationship stuff.)

But anyway, most of the actual west side is barely better off than the south side in terms of poverty. If they'd moved to the north side area or even north west it would have made more sense to have all the drama about bougie apartments and quiet and blah blah blah. (But then they absolutely would not be able to afford rent.)

My headcanon is that they move to the Hermosa/Austin/West Humboldt-ish area because they can actually afford it, and Mickey gets a mechanic job and Ian goes back to school at Malcolm X to get some medical-based associates degree or something that will let him do some sort of helping people job. Mickey actually learned Spanish while he was in Mexico (because he's not stupid and because how else was he going to get respect in the cartel) and ends up making friends with the old Puerto Rican guys that hang out in his neighborhood. They have an apartment that's not amazing but it's better than either of the falling apart houses they grew up in. They actually communicate and talk to each other and are friends and shit like that.

I know it's nitpicky as shit and the Shameless writers gave up realism and emotional interest for bullshit comedy in like series 7 or whatever but it's just so frustrating that not a single part of that storyline made sense or was at all interesting or compelling.

[ledetlore]

Planning outfits for the hoedown chapter atm (I will update when I get my festering corpse out of bed) and like. If y'all have any ideas. Send me some asks/dms.

I already have half a clue for some of them, but like. I am so open to suggestions. If you have a favourite Cowle, send me something. If you want to play dress up with Artie, go ahead (Come on Artie, let's go party).

I will take any and all suggestions for Gideon/Kremy.

Also!! Doesn't have to be Old West specifically!! Just. You know. Cowboy-esque. Western-ish. I've given up on the realism in certain aspects to allow for some fun.

[bookreviewcoffee]

Cormac McCarthy "Blood Meridian"

"Blood Meridian" is a historical study based on real events. Alongside the author, we follow a gang of mercenaries and witness ultraviolence in all its glory—senseless, purposeless, and ruthless. Rivers of blood, mountains of corpses, and grim landscapes unfold before the reader, striking with their brutal realism.

Cormac McCarthy was not the first to deconstruct the myth of the Wild West, but he did so more convincingly than anyone else. He set the precedent for a modern trend where heroic adventures are replaced by a world of cruelty, chaos, and meaningless, abrupt death. However, unlike many of his followers, McCarthy takes an almost academic, detached approach, examining how human beings become trapped in an endless cycle of violence from birth.

Following the nameless protagonist and the gang of scalp hunters, McCarthy deliberately disregards the classic Western formula. There are no heroes, no villains, no justice, and no clear purpose—only an endless, merciless journey. Each chapter unfolds like another loop in a spiraling nightmare, propelled not by dialogue but by vivid details: a hermit slave trader, a bull lifting a horse onto its horns, a girl cradling a dead bear.

McCarthy possesses a rare talent—he can describe both a sunset and a jet of blood from a severed head with equal poetry. He seamlessly blends brutal realism, grotesque imagery, and hallucinatory horror, culminating in one of the most terrifying figures in literature—Judge Holden. A demon from hell, an ancient deity, or perhaps a Lovecraftian monster as old as the earth itself. The only being in perfect harmony with this world, which he himself describes as "a fairground with attractions."

"Blood Meridian" is an outstanding and unique work, one of the few novels truly deserving of the title Great American Novel—capitalized, in every sense of the word.

[maybe-boys-do-love]

“Why is dialogue so emotionally exaggerated in Japanese film?” one reddit user asked.

The response HarryMcFann gave is an incredible primer to understanding Japanese performance style and the media influenced by it (I’m looking at you, BLs and Kdramas).

“Not claiming to be an expert or have a definitive answer here, but these are my two cents based off of what I know about Japan and Japanese film. This is a very general overview. It’s important to note that culture is complex and full of nuances, but this should give a general understanding as to why Japanese films are somewhat exaggerated.

As u/scytheavatar pointed out, Japanese film is influenced by Japanese theater, but that doesn't fully answer your question. For example, you may ask about Western theater as it relates to Western films, and so on (Western theater is exagerated, but films today aren’t). So let’s look at Japanese theater.

The three main forms of Japanese theater are Kabuki, Noh, and Bunraku, and each of these forms influenced Japanese films in different ways. Now what is important to note here is that back in the early years of cinema, those in France and the rest of the West saw film as a new form of photography, while the Japanese viewed film as a new form of theater. Just think about that for a second, and what the implications are. Back in the late 19th and early 20th century the big thing about photography was it’s ability to capture realism, and that realism was a huge concern for many Western filmmakers. The famous French film critic, André Bazin, wrote extensively about how he believed the essence of cinema is its ability to reproduce reality (there were, of course, Western filmmakers who rejected this notion, such as the Soviet formalists and German expressionists, but going into that would require a lot more words). In Japan this was not the case, and from its inception, the Japanese rejected the Western idea of cinematic “realism.”

How did this manifest itself in early Japanese cinema? One thing the Japanese directly took from theater was the presence of a narrator. Japanese silent films were always accompanied by someone called a Benshi (fun fact, Kurosawa’s brother was a benshi), who would narrate the film. Japanese silent films would then have few intertitles, because the benshi would be there to explain the plot, and so on. What’s more, audiences would often attend a film based off of which benshi was performing. The benshi where local celebrities in many ways, and they would try to one-up one another. So naturally, to give a good show, the benshi would have to exaggerate in order to give more life to the performance (these guys would voice characters and play all the different roles). Directors would make their films knowing that there was going to a benshi present. So popular was the benshi, that much of the resistance to transitioning into talking films was from those lamenting the loss of the benshi narrators. Japan actually finally made the transition into talking films much later than the rest of the world.

It is also important to understand that “realism” is a relative term (cue some 15-year-old calling me pretentious). Yes, Western theater is also exaggerated and not particularly realistic, but traditional Western theater really doesn’t compare to Japanese theater. In fact, the famous German playwright, Bertolt Brecht, based many of his ideas of modernism in theater on traditional Japanese theater. This is why Ozu is seen as the most “traditional” of Japanese filmmakers while also being viewed as an early “modernist.” (It’s all really confusing and requires a bunch of quotation marks). Anyway, the Japanese don’t really have the 4th wall in theater the same way we do here in the West. In Japanese theater, audience interaction is huge, and stagehands (albeit often wearing black) walk freely on stage and move props and scenery around the actors, and so on. The key difference here between Japanese theater and Western theater is that while the West try to disguise and mask the artifice of the stage, the Japanese embraced it. A quick example of the way a Japanese actor performs in theater would be the Mie. The Mie is a powerful and emotional pose struck by an actor, who then freezes for a moment. This pose is more for the audience than the drama of the play, and often times reveals important information about that character. This idea of the artificiality of the performance in theater can also be seen in Japanese film.

Finally, it is worth noting how the Japanese view nature vs how the West does. In the West, we look at the natural as being something untouched by people. Interestingly, this isn’t really the case in Japan. In Japan there’s a belief that something only becomes “natural” when it has been in some way shaped by a person. Weird, right? To quote Donald Richie:

“To most Japanese, the Western idea of “realism,” particularly in its naturalistic phase, was something truly new. All early Japanese dramatic forms had assumed the necessity of a structure created through mediation. The same was true of Japanese culture in general: the wilderness was natural only after it had been shaped and presented in a palpable form, as in the Japanese garden, or flowers were considered living (ikebana) only after having been cut and arranged for viewing. Life was thus dramatically lifelike only after having been explained and commented on. Art and entertainment alike were presentational, that is they rendered a particular reality by way of an authoritative voice (be it the noh chorus or the benshi). This approach stood in marked contrast to the representational style of the West in which one assumed the reality of what was being shown.”

I want to make it clear that not all Japanese films are like this. If you watch films by a director like Hirokazu Koreeda, you will not see the same sort of exaggeration.”

[alpaca-clouds]

Why is it so hard to deconstruct Magical Girls?

As some might have noticed, I have recently been rewatching a lot of old anime from my teen days. And something I cannot help but think about while doing this is: "Why is it seemingly so hard to deconstruct the magical girl genre?" Because here is the thing: I know several attempts at genre deconstruction for this specific genre... But none of them are actually what I would count as a genre deconstruction.

Basically, deconstruction of a genre usually means that a genre is played straight. Like, you take the usual tropes of a genre and play them straight or with some sense of realism. Which we have plenty of in a variety of genre. I mean, with the rise of the superhero stuff over in the west, we have a ton of superhero deconstructions (like The Boys or Invincible), that mostly go for the most obvious issue with superheroes: "What if Superman was evil?" While also dealing with some other stuff, like how superheroes might be organized and controlled, how this would work with capitalism and so on and so forth. Now, a lot of folks are bored with "Superman, but evil", but yes, it is a very clear deconstruction.

In anime/manga we also have a ton of deconstruction going on. I mean, by now it should be fairly clear: Yeah, my original fandom obsession was Digimon Tamers, which basically deconstructs the first two seasons in many regards. And when it comes to the monster taming genre, there is also Narutaru, which is a deconstruction of the genre. And I might talk about Narutaru on another day.

There is also a ton of really great Mecha genre deconstructions - though ironically speaking, I feel like most of the Mecha genre is already deconstructing itself. When your biggest franchise (Gundam) in a genre frequently is build around the premise of: "You do realize, that this is about child soldiers, right? RIGHT?!" then maybe deconstructing the genre is not that hard.

But somehow... magical girls are different.

Like, there is a variety of shows that are kinda attempting to deconstruct the genre, but... Well, if you look on TV Tropes for the Genre Deconstruction Trope, it explicitly calls out that a Genre Deconstruction is "playing the tropes of the genre straight and more realistic", and it is explicitly not "some tropes of the genre, but darker and edgier".

And here is the thing: Most of what I know as Magical Girl Deconstructions, is actually "darker and edgier", not a straight up deconstruction of the genre. Which is not to say that they are bad! Hell no! I enjoy most of them. But they are not deconstructions.

Let me go over the three that left the biggest impact on me. Though first maybe we should define what makes Magical Girls?

I mean, the genre has changed a whole lot ever since Sailor Moon appeared on the scene. And maybe that in itself is a thing, because in some regards Sailor Moon - like Gundam - was fairly good at deconstructing itself. Never the less, I will go with the ideas that have been prevelent in the genre since Sailor Moon, even though there was magical girl media before it, that worked by different rules.

One or more girls usually between 12 and 17 years of age get a magical power to transform into super heroines.

The story usually is set in the real world.

Usually they will draw those powers over some sort of mascot character or multiple characters.

The shows usually mainly exist to promote merchandise, which is why the magical girls will usually have a ton of magic items and weaponry.

Almost always there is gonna be some fetch- or collect-quest involved for powering up those items.

The power of friendship!

Romance might or might not play a role, but it will always be secondary to the aforementioned power of friendship.

Usually the magical girls will fight "monsters of the week", that often are normal everyday things that get filled with evil magic by the villains.

The villains often are some sort of otherworldly empire, that has come to earth to either take over or collect items of some sort.

My Otome: Now, some people say that MyHiME is also a Magical Girl Deconstruction, with which I absolutely do not agree, where the fuck are my cute costumes and transformation sequences? MyHiME if anything to me reads like a monster tamer deconstruction, really. But MyOtome? MyOtome is a Magical Girl Something for sure. But... Well, it does not really deconstruct the genre, does it? This already starts with the story being set in a different world from ours, and with the girls not really being "chosen", but the setting being a school for magical girls. While some of the first half of the show does play with some of the typical tropes (monster of the week and such), the story fairly quickly goes to deep into the politics of its fictional world and the war story. While yes, technically you absolutely can argue that magical girls are in fact also child soldiers... They are not usually soldiers in a literal war, and the entire fantasy politics stuff - while I absolutely loved it - does not really feel like a real deconstruction. Instead it feels more like a fantasy war story, that you also put magical girls into. Yes, those magical girls behave a lot more like realistic teens, but that does not make it a deconstruction.

Uta~Kata: Alright, let me talk about my favorite of these, despite me being rather disturbed at some of the fanservice considering the girls are like 13. In Uta~Kata we have one girl, who gets magic powers, which is fine though, as several magical girl shows actually have just one main character. It is also set in the real world. However, this is where it ends. Because... Well, there is no fights. There is no evil. There is no weapons. There is none of the usual tropes. It is basically just deities mindfucking with this one girl to find out something, that I shall not spoil, given that nobody knows this series for some reason. But basically the only deconstruction in it is: "This is a girl with magic powers, and the girl works more like a realistic teenager would." Which... Uhm, yeah, no, does not really make it a deconstruction, does it?

Madoka Magica: Madoka is probably the one really well known Magical Girl deconstruction, but I once again will argue that it does not really qualify much as a deconstruction - because the thing that makes the entire draw of Madoka Magica is that it does not play the tropes straight or realistic, but rather subverts them completely. The entire concept of Madoka Magica is build around the idea that the girls are supposed to die/be corrupted by design, which is a twist on the usual magical girl formular, not a deconstruction. While Madoka Magica is good at playing around with the aesthetics of the genre, the show does not really play any of the tropes straight, but rather puts in completely new tropes in that place. Sure, some of those tropes (teenage girls being moody and this makes them so great for corruption) are kinda based in what the genre offers in itself - but it also does not feel like a straight up deconstruction.

Again, nothing against any of these shows. I love them dearly. I do. I just find it... interesting.

And I am honestly starting to wonder at this: Why is there not a straight up deconstruction of a Magical Girls show? And be it just as a manga or comic or something along the sort.

Sure, the shows above do deconstruct single aspects of the Magical Girl genre, but never the whole thing.

Like, thinking of deconstructions of other genre, there is like a ton of stuff I could see as a deconstruction of the magical girl genre - without actually going into fully subverting it and twisting it around. I mean, especially Uta~Kata and Madoka go more into psychological horror than actually into the deconstruction, right?

Something I would more expect to see in a genre deconstruction would be:

Magical Girls actually running into issues in regards of keeping up performance in school/clubs while also saving the world.

Magical Girls running into issues keeping their identities secret and actually facing consequences because of this.

Yeah, obviously, I also could see "Magical Girl, who gets bullied, uses her powers on the bullies" (or, depending on how harsh you wanna go with this, you could also go for more severe scenarios like: "Magical Girl who gets sexually exploited by a teacher uses her powers against teacher".)

Something in regards to: "Well, what if the power of friendship starts to break?" As well as actually kinda deconstruction the entire "friendship and love" dynamic that Magical Girl stuff does play around with a lot.

Given how prevalent sapphic subtext is within the genre, one could probably also work with that.

The entire merchandise/weapons/item thing is also so ready for deconstruction - something that could go in a variety of directions. Either with how unpractical the actual stuff is, or just how it does hinder plot.

And of course the other prime thing ready for deconstruction: You usually have a fucking alien invasion of some sort in these stories with monsters, and people getting hurt, buildings being destroyed and what not... and nobody from any government gives a shit? No, but really. I would assume that some sort of government would try to get involved here.

There is probably a million other subtropes that one could deconstruct about the genre, but that is some stuff I could think about.

Ironically it would not even need to go fully into horror for that, even though deconstructions will probably always have a slight horror-sensibility about themselves. But... you know. I think if I look at the Magical Girl deconstruction stuff at large (aka the shows that I did not name here), a lot of it is built way too much around shock factor of the violence that one gets shown. And that... is not really interesting deconstruction, right?

Sure, violence can absolutely be a part of deconstruction. And I do not think a proper deconstruction should be anything less than PG13, if not R-Rated. But... Why make it all bloody? Like the main things that one can play straight and realistic, do not need blood. It needs ore like characters being more... batshit.

[kyndaris]

I Am Astro Bot!

There is something whimsical and carefree about the latest title from Team Asobi. While the PlayStation 5 came equipped with Astro's Playroom (primarily as a bid to showcase the powers of the console and the DualSense controller, Astro Bot takes one back to the good old days of wonder with its charm, vibrant palette and how fun it is to play. Is it any wonder it has wowed audiences of all ages despite the controversy surrounding the shuttering of Concord only a few weeks prior?

Some, of course, might feel like it's a cash grab and celebration of all things PlayStation (which it is), but this latest mascot platformer brings something we need in this day and age (especially after the recent US election).

Levity.

I've never felt as much joy as I did with Astro Bot (the challenge levels notwithstanding). From the early hours of the bots cruising through space in their PlayStation spaceship to all the bosses of each galaxy where each part of the PlayStation 5 has been hidden due to some green Martian-esque bad guys. What's more, it brings to bear the power of the PlayStation 5 without focusing on realism. The cartoony art style, in fact, makes the game pop in a way so many others games fail to do so.

And yet, it doesn't skimp on the capabilities brought about by the PlayStation 5 with its love of filling each stage with various knick-knacks to show off the particle effects. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a better game on the PlayStation 5, with the possible exception of Rachet and Clank: Rift Apart.

It just goes to show realistic graphics are not the way to go. Rather, the ones which hold up the best are the ones that pick something stylistic. Certainly, Astro Bot will be far more memorable than another bland washed-out open-world game.

More than that, Astro Bot is a game that never overstays its welcome. While I suffered from much fatigue with the likes of Tears of the Kingdom, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, Horizon: Forbidden West and Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Astro Bot was much more compact. Each stage, or planet, could be completed in just a few short minutes - thus making them infinitely replayable. Deaths, too, weren't too harshly punished.

But I digress from my effusive praise.

In every sense of the word, Astro Bot is a celebration.

Of the long storied history of PlayStation, yes, but also of gaming in general.

What I liked most was how our protagonist would take on the roles of other PlayStation powerhouses. The love and care dedicated to those levels brought a smile to my face as I played through them - from the God of War inspired one to Uncharted. Heck, even Loco Roco with its very unique way of traversal!

Even without the PlayStation powerhouses, Astro Bot also had special powerups that could be used for specific stages. These included the frog boxing gloves, the dog rush, chicken booster, metal ball upgrade, the monkey, and even a magnet! I loved how each were utilised within the levels they were located in, and especially in how they could be used to tackle the galaxy bosses.

Not to mention the music!

I loved how each themed stage had specific music tied to it - from the ghostly haunted ones to the ice stages to even the underground mushroom ones! I mean, who doesn't love a dancing fungi in the background? Heck, even the main title's song managed to sneak its way into my head!

From a story perspective, there isn't much to write home about. Astro and friends are attacked by a green alien. The PlayStation mothership crash lands into a desert planet, its core parts scattered. It is up to Astro to collect them all and rescue the other bots (all 300 of them). He does this by heading to five different galaxies and defeating the big hulking bosses at the end of them. Once that's done, he and a special hero from the PlayStation roster head to one last planet to round up the missing part before taking it back to the crash land site.

In the end, Astro and his friends battle against the aliens to win back the CPU.

They win, of course, but not without some sacrifice. Yet, though the game ends on a sad note, Astro is thrown back from the void he vanished into, broken. Like the ship itself, they are brought back to life with the help of the other bots.

So ends the game, with a playable section of the credits!

What's not to love?

And if you're asking me why I'm referring to Astro as 'they,' well, I really should be referring to the bot as it. After all, Astro is a robot. To give Astro a gender would be the HEIGHT of wokeness. And since I read on an online post that the REASON why Astro Bot was such a good game was because it wasn't woke, Astro must remain an 'it.' Or they/ them.

Of course, should Astro choose to go by male pronouns, who am I to argue? It certainly doesn't affect me, or deter me from enjoying a very good game (maybe one of these days, I'll go over how anti-woke politics on the internet has truly enraged me one of these days, but this post isn't it. I just want to enjoy my video games without people trying to pull it down because they feel like having a woman main character or a trans side character is somehow 'shoving the woke agenda down their throats').

In short, Astro Bot was a joy to play through. I liked how it encapsulated what made gaming so fun in the past, and bringing it to the present. This was just a silly little robot running around colourful worlds and tackling enemies with aplomb. And while I don't think the gaming landscape needs to be saturated with such titles, it was a welcome relief to the grittier realism that has infected a lot of modern gaming. Here's to many more adventures with Astro (with perhaps a return for some beloved older titles).

[ywpd-translations]

Fic rec! (part 1)

Here are some of the fanfics I have bookmarked on my AO3! I have a few more, so I'll do a part 2 of this soon enough. All of these fics are amazing, so please go read them and show the author some love!

If you have fics to recommend please share them!!

Under read more because it got long~

Makishima/Toudou (TouMaki)

Yowamushi Pedal Three Sentence Fics by mikkimouse (Toudou/Makishima / Fluff / 1282 words /Teen and Up audience. It's a collection a lovely short stories!)

Hanging on the Line by Jaela (Toudou/Makishima / 2026 words / Fake relationship / general audiences)

five times they didn’t kiss and one time they did by Yellow (Makishima/Toudou / 4003 words / 5 times / general audiences)

Aoyagi/Kaburagi (AoKabu)

reminisce by foodandfandom (Aoyagi/Kaburagi / 1253 words / general audiences /Kabu has a crush but of course he's oblivious about it /beautiful beautiful fic, I love it with all my heart)

Imaizumi/Naruko (ImaNaru)

on the west mezzanine by monkeyingaround (Imaizumi/Naruko / 3743 words / Teen and up audience / literally one of my fave Imanaru ever!!)

your hands on my cheeks (your shoulder in my mouth) by monkeyingaround (Imaizumi/Naruko / 6115 words / Explicit / basically the nsfw version of the previous one! Just as amazing)

Your Eyes by Allen_Nara (Imaizumi/Naruko / 4018 words / fluff, kissing, touching / Mature)

Butterflies by LadyMarshmallow (Imaizumi/Naruko / 1326 words / fluff, mostly Imaizumi's thoughts / not rated)

Manami/Onoda (SanSaka)

I can still use it by sky_prince (Manami/Onoda / 3913 words / general audiences / so so beautiful, this author really has a way with words)

Kinjou/Arakita (KinAra)

ready to start by joestars for phantomdoodler (Arakita/Kinjou / 3047 words / Fluff / General audiences)

do you want to be with somebody like me? by joestars (Arakita/Kinjou /3082 words /domestic fluff, getting together / Mature / god i absolutely adore this!)

third time's the charm by kinjoy (Arakita/Kinjou / 2115 words /Fluff, first kiss / general audiences)

time to go home by softintelligence (Arakita/Kinjou / 4165 words / magical realism /teen and up audiences)

Danchiku/Kaburagi

Trial Run by GingerCinnamon (Danchiku/Kaburagi / 1749 words / love confessions / general audiences /absolutely adorable)

Urakubo/Niwazuma (NiwaUra)

a beginning colored blue by championhestu (Urakubo/Niwazuma / 1284 words / general audiences / literally my favourite thing ever basically the only fic about them I haven't written myself i own this author my eternal gratitude)

Ishigaki/Midosuji (IshiMido)

Dragonfly Circle by Anonymous (Ishigaki/Midosuji / 11808 words / Explicit / it's been so long since i've read this one but i remember i adored it)

A Night, Your Night by Anonymous (Ishigaki/Midosuji / 7356 words / love confessions, angst / mature)

Arakita/Makishima (MakiAra)

One Hell of a Declaration, Darling by hostilovi (Arakita/Makishima / 9834 words / pining, future fic / teen and up audiences)

Machimiya/Ibitani (IbiMiya)

It's really something by HapaxLegomenon (Machimiya/Ibitani / 1543 words / mutual pining, love confessions / teen and up audiences / a very old one i haven't read in a long while but i remember i loved it)

Onoda/Imaizumi/Naruko

and it's all in my head but– by risquetendencies (Onoda/imaizumi/Naruko / 11792 words / getting together, feeling realization / teen and up audiences / absolutely showstopping, perfect)

Applied Research by rascals (lordlings) (Onoda/imaizumi/Naruko / 17696 words / fluff, confessions / general audiences / again, showstopping)

Midosuji/Onoda (MidoSaka)

A Cast Shadow by Anonymous (Onoda/Midosuji / 55899 words / angst, slow burn, fluff / teen and up audiences / oh god this was so beautiful i need to reread it)

Manami/Teshima (ManaTe)

One More by Anonymous (Manami/Teshima / 45712 words / getting together, banter, flirting / Explicit / i love this fic more than i love myself okay? It's not finished but it doesn't matter it's still worth reading it, literally amazing)

Various Ships

The many meanings of rival by zephsomething (Makishima/Toudou, Imaizumi/Naruko, Onoda/Manami / 1594 words / general audiences)

[darkmaga-returns]

Today, the geography of the new world order that Trump and his supporters are determined to build is becoming increasingly clear. This time, Trump 2.0 is firmly resolved to break away from both left-liberal globalism and the neocons (who are, in essence, just another form of globalists) and refuses to compromise with their projects. He is severing ties with the past and setting the U.S. aircraft carrier on a new course.

The model of international relations that Trump adheres to can be described as the “Order of Great Powers.” This is a logical extension of the entire MAGA ideology — “Make America Great Again.” The very name underscores that it is not about the West, not about spreading liberal democracy worldwide, and not about Atlanticism, but specifically about the United States as a nation-state. According to Trump’s vision, this state must completely free itself from globalism, along with the constraints, obligations, and imperatives associated with it. In Trump’s eyes, almost all existing international institutions reflect the old order, whereas he seeks to create a new one. This applies to everything — the UN, NATO, WTO, WHO, and all other supranational bodies. He sees all of them as the creations of liberals and globalists, whereas he himself firmly and consistently stands on the principles of realism.

Realists and liberals are the two main schools of thought in international relations, opposing each other in all aspects, especially in their fundamental understanding of sovereignty. Realists consider sovereignty to be absolute, while liberals see it as relative, striving to subordinate national administrations to a higher international authority. In their view, this should eventually lead to the unification of humanity and the creation of a World Government. Realists categorically reject this, seeing it as an assault on the freedom and independence of states. This is why Trumpists refer to globalists as the “Deep State” — the entity that seeks to subordinate U.S. policy to a supranational agenda.

[deke-rivers-1957]

It Happened at the World's Fair Review

It Happened at the World's Fair expands on what was introduced in Girls! Girls! Girls! (which came out after World's Fair filming started). Taking inspiration from Blue Hawaii, this set of movies are music heavy, have colorful scenery and involve Elvis having to work with child actors. The scenery in this case is the real life world's fair. The 1962 World's Fair in Seattle opened in April and closed in October. With a very limited timeline, it was very important that the movie comes out before the novelty of the fair is gone.

Because this is an actively operating fair, there were many issues involving crowd control. It's a major reason why filming didn't even start in September when most children started school. Naturally, this posed a problem because this meant despite making the movie as fast as possible, it still came out in April 1963 (6 months after the fair closed). Despite the logistical issues, does this movie capture the beauty of the World's Fair while balancing its plot, or does it take a complete nose dive because of the rushed production? Let's find out.

To start with, I'm not a big fan of the title. I get you need to highlight the World's Fair but it's a bit clunky. Might I suggest "World's Fair Wonders"? This opening song is forgettable. "Beyond the Bend" sounds like a rejected version of "Ridin' the Rainbow" from Kid Galahad. Since those two songs have the same songwriters, I get the idea that they repeat melodies to make up for the extra songs. After all Kid Galahad (at the time the last movie the songwriters worked on) only had 6 songs while this movie now has 10.

Elvis singing while flying a crop duster feels dangerous since it's obvious he's distracted. He looks goofy wearing those goggles and just seems out of place. We immediately get jokes with Elvis being a pilot claiming he can't see the barn. It's a joke as old as the Three Stooges. Elvis is so irresponsible that he flies the plane practically next to the road just to flirt with some girls. They almost crash into some telephone wires and I wonder if Paradise, Hawaiian Style was inspired by this scene when they did the helicopter scene with the dogs.

Surprisingly for a cliche womanizer, Mike is financially responsible. It isn't much but it does give him some depth. Given how he almost crashed the plane because he was distracted by women, it's impressive that he that it's not his entire character. As to why he doesn't take the money with him, I have no idea. I guess you have to assume that Mike doesn't know Danny had access to his hiding place.

So he goes to meet one of his girlfriends, Dorothy, who we never see again. They're making out on the couch while Dorothy wants to push away to get some iced tea. But Mike insists on keeping the action going. I know out of context "Relax" is a steamy song, but I wonder if it was intentional to make Mike so pushy. Because he's always touching Dorothy while she pushes him away and does everything she can to get away from him. He pulls stuff out of her hands and it's just creepy.

Her parents come back and I'm very confused on why Dorothy's dad is so upset. Unless we're assuming that they have never met Mike in their entire lives, it's very strange to react like that. At least seeing Mike run for the hills gives us a little chuckle as if to say "yeah he had it coming". The whole scene is just random as we didn't need to emphasize that Mike's a womanizer. The opening scene already tells us that he's a flirt. Since Dorothy doesn't even come back, it just feels like a scene where you go "ok that happened" as it came and went without adding anything.

Mike somehow catches up with a now broke Danny. After multiple bad hands, Danny can't pay his losses to some guys including a Red West cameo. A fight breaks out in the office and I don't think I've ever seen such an ugly scene. That gives it a bit more realism. You don't expect regular guys to have the punch of death. It's supposed to be ugly and brutal and it's not completely unrealistic that Mike and Danny win long enough to get away in their plane, Bessie.

The duo lands in Sherrington where they find out that because of the many debts they have, the sheriff "boots" their plane. He takes away their keys and gives them the ultimatum: pay the $1200 debt in 2 weeks or their plane goes up for auction to recoup the money. That's a pretty good set up for a conflict. It doesn't involve Elvis having bad luck, but instead relies on his friend having a realistic character flaw in the form of a gambling addiction.

Penniless and stranded, the duo tries to get a free ride into town. For how expensive his suits were, I'm amazed they had Elvis walking down the road in it. At first a car with a couple women stop but they only wanted Mike's lighter. I'm not sure if it was meant to be a joke or a narrative device meant to make the audience feel bad for them. Personally I don't think it does any of that. I didn't think it was funny and the "pain" they endure from the bad luck doesn't last long as they immediately get a ride. It makes me wonder why it was even added since there was no indication that a long period of time passed.

We get introduced Mr. Walter Ling and his niece Sue-Lin. I love this family. It's obvious that this is an Asian immigrant family which is very realistic for this part of the country and the time period. Despite Mr. Ling's actor being Chinese and Sue-Lin's actress being born in Manila (which is in the Philippines), it's actually not that bizarre. The Philippines does have a Chinese population so you can easily assume that Sue-Lin has some Chinese ancestry. For the time period, I'm so glad that this family is depicted as real people as opposed to stereotypes.

They drive to the World's Fair and I love the real backgrounds we get because of it. Mr. Ling being a delivery driver makes perfect sense since there are plenty of farms around the Seattle area. He can make extra money to be able to afford going to the fair. Sue-Lin has Mike try to explain what she might see and we get a decent song as "Take Me to the Fair" is a whimsical tune. I love Sue-Lin as a character. She isn't a generic cutesy girl character. We get genuine depth by showing that she's able to understand Chinese when her uncle is talking on the phone. When she finds out that uncle Walter has an important job and can't take her to the fair, she's naturally upset. It's not done in an over the top way where she has a complete tantrum. She understands that uncle Walter needs to take the job, but she's of course disappointed. Her realistic reaction only makes you appreciate Mike when he at first begrudgingly agrees to take her.

Mike's distracted by woman and we get it he's a womanizer. They could've just had him be absentminded because he's worried about finding a way to get money. But I do love how we see Mike and Sue-Lin interact with the real exhibitions such as the monorail. It gives you a special perspective that goes beyond a soundstage and shows just how big this fair is.

We get a Joe cameo as the man who gives Sue-Lin her red dog. I love the montage of them going around the fair. It's a wonderful showcase of what was there in case the viewer never had a chance to go and for younger generations who might not even know about the fair. Plus we get to see Mike warm up to Sue-Lin like he's taking his own daughter or niece to the fair. I can believe a change like that can happen in a short period of time. Unlike a romantic relationship, you don't need to have a lot happen to get along with a child. And it's not like Mike hated Sue-Lin as they got along on the truck ride.

It's really incredible to see just how much you can do at the fair for what doesn't seem like a lot of money. If only this was made earlier as it would've been a great way to promote the movie. After one too many treats, Mike takes Sue-Lin to the fair's nurse station. While Sue-Lin's being treated, Mike starts talking to himself and looks distractingly tan. When the nurse comes in and sees this he naturally can't help but flirt with her.

He pretends to have something in his eye and it's shocking how unapologetically pushy he is. I love how Nurse Warren rightfully calls him out on this. You really feel uncomfortable for her since it's relatable to have a man flirt unwarranted. Sue-Lin feels better so the two of them leave. Mike looks smitten and I have no idea what's meant to be so special about Nurse Warren. Because unless he thinks she's just playing hard to get, they have literally no chemistry.

I love this song. "They Remind Me Too Much of You" is such a beautiful ballad that if it wasn't for the fact that his first interaction with Nurse Warren went horribly, it would be the perfect ballad. We never see a quiet moment like this in any Elvis movie. In fact this is the first time outside of the opening song where Elvis isn't even singing out loud. He's only thinking about it as Sue-Lin sleeps. Not a single word is spoken as we take in this moment of Mike reflecting about his feelings. It's easily the best scene in the movie as it shows that Mike is so much more than a womanizer.

Mr. Ling returns to pick up Sue-Lin and you really get the idea that Mike loved "chaperoning" her. Sure he does say out loud to Danny that he was more happy about meeting Nurse Warren, but I honestly think the movie should've skipped the romance altogether. Mike had more chemistry with Sue-Lin in that one montage than he ever had with any other woman. The scenes with Dorothy and Nurse Warren only shows how shallow he is with women. With Sue-Lin we see a different side of Mike where he grows to care for Sue-Lin like she's his own family member.

Danny manages to swing the duo a temporary home that was set up for people attending the fair. We get introduced to Barney "yoo hoo" Thatcher who Danny uses as his pigeon to get money. Mike talks about how to get with Nurse Warren and again all I can think of is just how shallow he is. Even if he does succeed, it doesn't feel satisfying here because it doesn't feel like he'll change.

"One Broken Heart for Sale" is such an unnecessary song. We don't need to be bashed over the head with the obvious fact that Mike is horny for the nurse. Mike doesn't even deserve to say his heart is broken. You can't say your heart is broken just because someone you just met didn't reciprocate your pushy behavior. It doesn't add anything and just feels so out of place since you also have the other old men magically know what he's singing. Just shows how even the best songwriters can have duds if they're not in the right context. It's a shame because Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott have had great successes with Elvis.

We cut to the next day as Mike has a ploy to get Nurse Warren's attention. He pays a boy, played by an uncredited Kurt Russell, a quarter to kick him in the shin. I love how as Elvis screams in pain, you can see people in the background turn to see what happened. That's a sign that this was a genuine crowd and only makes the setting feel real. Given the extent of the actual injury I'm more amazed that the nurses didn't immediately call for an ambulance. If Mike supposedly can't walk properly that could possibly be a sign of a broken leg. Mike says he blacked out which if you're a nurse is a red flag. The head nurse even has him walk on it and you just have to wonder why they're doing this. They don't know Mike is exaggerating so they're doing a horrible job of insuring his safety when the head nurse suggests Nurse Warren escorts him home.

As Nurse Warren shows no sense of urgency we get pretty obvious rear screen projections as the two talk. Why are we doing this? Nurse Warren doesn't know that Mike's faking so why is she taking her sweet time getting him home? In fact, when Mike again lies about blacking out, instead of calling for an ambulance she instead helps him up to the real rotating restaurant. Why? A professional would've immediately called for an ambulance. You would never risk moving someone who feels that dizzy as you would risk causing them further injury.

His ploy seems to work though since Nurse Warren is in no rush to leave the restaurant. In fact based on the passage of time they've been in that restaurant for hours. Mike even sings a ballad about how he's in love with Nurse Warren. "I'm Falling in Love Tonight" is such a generic ballad that I have no idea why I'm supposed to support this budding romance. Nurse Warren falling for Mike is something I don't buy at all. If anything it's showing that so long as you get the girl, you can be as pushy and manipulative as you want. That's a terrible moral to have for what's supposed to be a family film. It'd make more sense if she's just going along with this until it all blows up in his face, but that isn't at all how it's presented

I do love how the extras have their own charm to the movie. These were legit patrons that had no idea of what's happening. Them clapping after Mike's song was real and I love it because it shows just how weird it is to have someone burst into song in a restaurant. Mike's ploy immediately falls apart as the boy from earlier comes back. He kicks Mike in the shin and I love the old man who's just like "oh my God what's happening". He looks realistically concerned.

As Mike tries to apologize to Nurse Warren, Sue-Lin rushes up to him. She tearfully tells him that her uncle didn't come back from a job. Given how she waited from 9 am to 3 pm for Mr. Ling to return, I'd say Sue-Lin handled the situation very well for a child. You always allow for some delay if someone's traveling because you never know what would happen. When it became obvious that something had to have happened, it's natural for her to be very concerned.

This is the most realistic acting from a child I've ever seen. A 7 year old girl possibly losing her only guardian is terrifying situation to be in. It really says a lot that she didn't go one of her neighbors since they were living in one of those temporary homes as well. In fact, I'm amazed that not a single adult noticed her wandering the fair alone and most likely in distress. It's like the movie wants us to believe Mike's the only adult in this movie who Sue-Lin can even trust.

He takes Sue-Lin home and the movie immediately got better again. Mike explains that he took every measure to make sure people know he has Sue-Lin. I love this as he could've easily been the buffoon that has no idea how to tell anyone that he's watching a child who would otherwise have no one. It seems like it's relatively late at night, so while you can question if Mike's doing the right thing, it's at least better to have Sue-Lin be in a safe space than drive around trying to find the authorities.

We get a sweet scene where Sue-Lin dresses in her traditionally Chinese pajamas. Mike even sings "Cotton Candy Land" as a lullaby. In the context that it's in, I know the lullaby is meant to be sweet, but I only get a creepy vibe to it. I'm not sure why but to me Mike singing it in a quiet voice and the music just makes me feel more scared than soothed. The sandman doesn't feel like this whimsical creature but more like a monster. I'm sure that was unintentional as I don't think it's a common opinion to feel that way.

After pretending to be sick so Mike can make up with Nurse Warren, she arrives to check out Sue-Lin. It's a bit distracting how the studio light casts a big shadow. You know that little night lamp isn't doing that. Sue-Lin tells Nurse Warren the truth and I'm amazed Nurse Warren didn't immediately raise an eyebrow. Then again this is the same woman who took what she believed to be an injured Mike up to a rotating restaurant when he said he was about to blackout. I can't take any expertise or authority a character like her should have seriously.

The movie clearly has no idea on how to handle their relationship as Nurse Warren starts to fall for Mike again when he serenades her. "A World of Our Own" is so unnecessary. Mike being nice to Sue-Lin and taking care of her doesn't eliminate the fact that he was pushy and manipulated her. The whole relationship just feels forced as I don't think this couple has any chemistry. Again there's nothing about Nurse Warren that makes her different since there's a clear difference between playing hard to get and having no interest. While the movie wants to tell you that she's the former, you really know that it's the latter.

Danny comes back from his card games completely drunk. You would think this would tell Nurse Warren that Sue-Lin living with Mike is a bad idea. But no. It's not even a thought that was uttered as she just drives home. How? She has the authority to report this to the authorities since Danny being drunk can lead to terrible consequences. Especially when you have a child in the home.

Danny meanwhile meets up with a guy named Vince who offers Danny a deal to fly up to Canada. Oh yeah they had a debt to repay. I almost forgot about that since that plot took a back seat to the conflict of Mike caring for Sue-Lin and the conflict of Mike getting with Nurse Warren. Vince outright agrees to pay them the whole amount that would allow the duo to get their plane back. So naturally you assume he's going to be the villain which can't possibly be a good thing since he's been introduced way too late in the movie to really do anything important.

Mike comes back from asking about Sue-Lin's uncle. We get a sweet moment where he watches her color before playing "How Would You Like to Be?" with the windup clowns. I love the song as it does serve a purpose. Mike is trying to cheer up Sue-Lin and it of course makes sense that Sue-Lin only sings along once she feels better. These aren't complicated lyrics to try to have a young girl learn so it feels realistic for her to join in. Her dancing along with Mike is sweet but the smirk he has does feel out of place. I would've used a different shot as out of context you don't think he's looking at a 7 year old girl.

A woman from Child Services arrive to take Sue-Lin away. Because after a couple days, now it's a problem for Sue-Lin to be here. The woman says "an abandoned child is automatically a ward of the state" which is a lie. Sue-Lin wasn't immediately taken by the police who had to have known she was with Mike. This whole plot point is terrible as it doesn't properly set up why now all of a sudden is it a problem. The woman claims that it was Nurse Warren who made the complaint which you immediately know isn't true. If Nurse Warren genuinely believed that Sue-Lin wasn't safe, that would've been conveyed in the previous scene. This is just terrible drama meant to turn Mike off of her. Also there's no way that woman from Child Services would straight up tell Mike who made the complaint. That would put the person who made the complaint at risk of retaliation.

This whole situation is gets even worse as for someone who's supposed to be in Child Services, she can't even keep track of one child. I understand that Child Services has a very legitimate job, but this movie doesn't paint them in a good light at all. Instead of taking this seriously, I just see Child Services as a joke in this movie. They're only now making a stink about custody of a child when not even the police mentioned it. Instead of making it a forced situation from the start, it was only "suggested" so I have no reason to buy this organization as legitimate. I can only think of the much later film Lilo & Stitch as it does a better job of setting up why Lilo could be taken out of the home.

So we have Mike now desperately trying to find Sue-Lin as he's the only one who would know where she could be. As irrational as it is that he wouldn't tell authorities where she would be, I 100% get it in this situation. The authorities have done nothing to prove that they are reliable. In fact, if Mike didn't find her, you already know Sue-Lin would just runaway again. It's really sad that a child feels more safe with Mike than the authorities meant to protect abandoned children. It's also frustrating that because of the situation, Mike's now being painted as if he's abducting her.

Mike and Sue-Lin manage to make it to the airport just as Nurse Warren arrives trying to find them. She tries to explain what happened but he naturally doesn't want to hear it. Mike is just so done with everyone as he immediately finds out about the smuggling scheme. I know that Vince being a criminal was going to be this twist but wow they really just dropped that fur smuggling scheme that quickly. It doesn't even give that much importance or tension as Sue-Lin actually does something by biting Vince's finger when he's holding them at gunpoint. A fight breaks out and again it's ugly. Just like a real fight between non-professionals. Mike at this point is running on pure adrenaline so it makes perfect sense for him to win. But it's just so anti-climatic because really? This is what you've been building Danny's subplot up to? This plot element of Danny being involved in a fur smuggling scheme is introduced and resolved so quickly that there's no point in it even existing.

They get caught by the police and it turns out Danny was the one who contacted Child Services. This is a stupid twist as there's no way he could've fooled the woman from Child Services into thinking he's a woman. Also why's he now deciding that Sue-Lin was a problem when he didn't want her being there in the first place? It's not like he cared about Mike's feelings for her.We then find out that Mr Ling was only 20 miles south of the town and was in an emergency hospital. 20 miles is not that far so I have no idea why it took them all these days to figure this out. If Sue-Lin knew where he was going that she knew he should be back by certain point, what's the mystery here? It isn't like uncle Walter got kidnapped and no one knows where he could've been taken. Again a very anti-climatic ending for something that took up a big chunk of the movie.

We time skip to Mike applying to NASA as he walks with Nurse Warren through the fairgrounds. He sings about how this is a happy ending with a very fitting title "Happy Ending". Danny and Sue-Lin with her uncle Walter are nowhere to be seen to share this moment and absolutely nothing was earned. Maybe I'm missing something, but I just don't think this couple is likable and Mike was better off forgetting about her. It isn't unrealistic to realize "hey my priorities have changed. Getting the girl doesn't matter to me anymore. All that matters is that Sue-Lin is safe." That's character growth.

But no this is an Elvis movie and regardless of whether it makes sense for them to be together, he has to get the girl. It just makes you wonder why we spent all this time on something only for it to be completely hand waved like it was nothing. Almost like they completely ran out of time with writing the script and just had to say "everything is magically resolved no matter how ridiculous it is".

This movie clearly tried to do too much and it shows. You have the conflict of Mike and Danny being broke and needing to get the money for their plane; Mike wanting to get with Nurse Warren and having to deal with her being mad at him because he lied; Sue-Lin's uncle going missing and people thinking she needs to go to Child Services; and a last minute fur smuggling scheme. None of these plots were resolved in a way that feels like thought was put into it. They were only resolved because it's an Elvis movie that has to have a happy ending as opposed to naturally fixing them. As a result, the whole film is messy and is a case of wasted potential. It seriously needs a rewrite to smooth out everything that doesn't connect together well.

That being said, I give this film a 7/10. I can respect the attempt at giving an Elvis character depth, but I still think more work needed to be done. I do recommend watching it simply because the fairground scenes act as a time capsule of what life was like back then. It's just unfortunate that the movie was rushed because it was a great concept. No matter how you look at it, you wouldn't have been able to get this movie out in time to promote the fair. You can't film before the fair opens because then you have nothing to serve as a background since it's being built. You definitely can't film it in April because then you have to worry about the massive crowds since it's a total novelty and you can't do what the directors chose to do and film near the fair's ending because then you won't be able to get it out in time to promote it. It's a lose-lose situation which is a horrible shame but I at least respect the fact that they tried doing something like this.

AN: Thank you to my discord bestie snaileyinsheff for suggesting this movie and providing input. Also shout out to @hooked-on-elvis for providing the link that I used to watch the movie.

Tagging: @eapep, @i-r-i-n-a-a, @atleastpleasetelephone, @huhhhhsthings, @jhoneybees,

@eptodaytommorowforever, @thetaoofzoe, @smokeymountainboy, @dragonkingsdaughter, @myradiaz,

@dnnenenens, @wildhorseinkansas, @lett-them-eatt-cake, @vintagepresley, @mercsandmonsters,

@velvetelvis, @arrolyn1114, @alienelvisobsession, @xanatenshi, @peskybedtime,

@peaceloveelvis, and @tacozebra051.

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries below:

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children series)

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children No Solicitations No Visitors No Guests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

Fantasy, portal fantasy, mystery, magical realism, boarding school, novella, series, adult

Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher (The Saint of Steel series)

Piper is a lich-doctor, a physician who works among the dead, determining causes of death for the city guard's investigations. It's a peaceful, if solitary profession…until the day when he's called to the river to examine the latest in a series of mysterious bodies, mangled by some unknown force.

Galen is a paladin of a dead god, lost to holiness and no longer entirely sane. He has long since given up on any hope of love. But when the two men and a brave gnole constable are drawn into the web of the mysterious killer, it's Galen's job to protect Piper from the traps that await them.

He's just not sure if he can protect Piper from the most dangerous threat of all…

Fantasy, romance, mystery, secondary world, standalone-ish within series, adult

[which-hospital]

I bought myself a bunch of old copies of magazines (that I already knew had some kind of Casualty stuff in them) and I think it’s probably easier to read this stuff when I post it as text rather than photos and it makes it easier for me to go back to it than having to find it in the magazines, so here’s some more Casualty stuff…

From the Letters to Radio Times, November 1, 1986 (page 96).

Casualty is just the remedy

Having been a nurse myself, I understand the duties and circumstances that casualty departments have to go through. I feel great admiration, therefore, for the way in which the scriptwriters and directors of Casualty (Saturdays BBC1) show how feelings can be misunderstood. More programmes of this sympathetic nature should be shown about a profession that is often given a rough deal. The acting is superb, and has my brother and me glued to the set.

G. S. King

Darrington, West Yorkshire

Heartless remark

I was most offended at a remark made during the first episode of Casualty (Gas, 6 September). I am aware that some of the medical profession are not in favour of transplant surgery, but the way in which this matter was referred to in this programme - ‘Dr Ellison is already talking gleefully about organ transplants' - was in very bad taste.

My wife recently received a heart/lung transplant which has totally changed both her life, and those of her family and friends. She is able for the first time to enjoy the things that most of us take very much for granted. This was made possible by the actions of dedicated surgeons, committed hospital staff and the generosity of the donor family. The remark was offensive to all those who have benefited from transplant surgery, to those awaiting surgery, and most of all to those who, at a time of grief, made the utmost sacrifice and gave the organs of their loved ones so that someone, somewhere, could benefit from their tragic loss. I hope that in the future the scriptwriters will be more sensitive.

Philip Hatton

Sutton-on-Sea, Lincolnshire

Surgical spirit

I hope that the episode of Casualty on 4 October (Blood Brothers) has reassured many people. I had major heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary last year. My blood was tested for Hepatitis B and HTLV III (AIDS), and the blood I received during and after surgery was tested at least twice to make sure that the donor was also negative. It is quite safe now to receive blood...

(Mr) Micheál P. Ward

Fivehead, Somerset

Emergency case

Casualty should be rushed to an intensive care unit for immediate resuscitation and injections of life-giving scriptwriting; rarely have I seen such an inept and trite beginning to what promised to be an interesting series. I should hate to be treated by most of the staff portrayed, who seem to be casual to the point of disinterest. As for allowing a porter to rummage about among confidential medical records, that was incredibly unlikely and created a dangerous precedent. Tighter scripting, better dialogue, more attention to detail, more realism and less standing about under the night sky philosophising while watching police cars drive away, and I think the patient might recover.

(Mrs) Jenny Jenkinson

Combe Martin, Devon

Jumpy picture

As an ambulanceman for some 17 years I am writing to object to several scenes in Casualty (Jump Start, 27 September). In the same way as the police fought for many years over their 'bungling bobby' image, so we must fight against being portrayed as stupid and inefficient. As the ambulance crew arrived at the scene of a traffic accident they were greeted by a police officer, yelling at them for not having a doctor with them, suggesting that the crew were not capable of dealing with the accident. As for the argument between the police officer and ambulanceman, I can assure you we do not walk around the road shouting at each other. In fact our relationship with the police is excellent.

In another scene, a doctor remarked to a patient that they had just dealt with a nasty accident where there were 'two dead'. As any doctor will tell you, such a comment to a patient would never be made. I realise that for drama an exciting programme is desirable, but can we not have excitement with accuracy?

L. F. Hope

Salford, Manchester

Geraint Morris, Producer ‘Casualty’, replies: I am delighted that 'Casualty' is receiving such a strong response. All I would say, briefly, is that we have endeavoured to research this emotive subject as honestly and thoroughly as possible with the full support of our medical advisers. I would also remind viewers that the series is not a documentary. Mr Hope's letter claims that in episode four the ambulance crew were portrayed as ‘stupid and inefficient'. The Avon ambulance service have given their full support throughout the series and were present during the shooting of this sequence. Coping with crises is not always easy; this scene was intended to show how competently the ambulance crew dealt with the victims of the crash despite being so overstretched. In no way did we intend to undermine the excellent relationship that exists between the emergency services - only to show that they are human. I am also pleased to add that this particular episode is being used as a training film by the London St John Ambulance Brigade.