#- liked the story. I think ON becoming this huge was unexpected & him having to perform so much fanservice & have - | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

homestuckreplay · 18 days

Text

Webcomics at Day 100 #4: explodingdog

Pages read: 2000-01-10 - 2000-09-17 (100 update days, but over 500 pages) & 2009-04-13 - 2009-05-26 (a further 13 days/42 pages)

Reason for selection: explodingdog may have been the first popular webcomic to work from reader submissions, and its drawings look like they were made in MS Paint, both key features of early Homestuck. explodingdog also broke containment, with many of its drawings spread elsewhere without attribution, such as being turned into LiveJournal icons or even painted on a building in Seattle.

Original run: 2000-2015, with lots of pages but an intermittent update schedule. Ongoing while Homestuck is getting started.

Content warnings: Extreme (but very abstract/cartoon) violence, gross-out humor involving bodily fluids

Overall thoughts:

I love the idea for this comic. Readers send in a short phrase via email, which can be absolutely anything, and artist Sam Brown chooses the ones that inspire him and draws a picture based on that phrase. However, reading the comic as an archive in the future, I don’t love the execution. Quite a few of the drawings made me openly groan, roll my eyes, or shake my head. There were definitely a few that got genuine laughs out of me, but they were a small percentage.

None of this is intended as shade to the artist – Brown seems like a decent guy based on the interviews I’ve read, and I hope he had fun making this. Running a webcomic for fifteen years is an impressive feat in itself, but this one just isn’t for me, at this point, in its current form.

Brown has stated that he has ‘never really seen explodingdog as a comic’ and calls his work a ‘collaborative art project’ although his reasoning hinges on the idea that comics have to be funny, and that humor isn’t the goal of his work. I personally think that comics are a medium that can work in any genre, not just comedy, and so webcomic is appropriate. In an essay, Kyle Conway argues that explodingdog is an absurdist theater performance, employing improvisation and experienced as live by its audience. Conway also highlights the design of the website, where instead of placing the most recent installment on the homepage as most webcomics do, individual titles have to be clicked on to see the accompanying artwork. In Brown’s words, ‘the story happens in your head’ between the title and image.

Conway’s arguments make sense from his position as a real-time reader. A huge draw of explodingdog is the knowledge that the captions came from ordinary folk on the internet, and that you, the reader, could submit a caption, and a cooler guy on the internet would think it was interesting or poignant or funny enough to make a drawing out of. The moment between clicking on the page’s title and seeing its corresponding image, where the reader comes up with their own interpretation of the title, is meaningful when the drawings are given out a handful at a time on sporadic days.

But these things don’t work the same in an archive. There’s a much greater distance between the reader and the creator, with no chance of personally becoming part of the work. And having to click every individual page from the menu isn’t a smooth reading experience for over 500 pages at once – there’s no ‘next’ button, although weirdly the entire image on each page functions as a ‘previous’ button, which makes an accidental click really frustrating. Brown knew from the start that creating art on the internet made it more temporary than physical art, as websites changed form over time – in a 2006 interview, he said ‘i think it is very possible that either because of government regulation or changes in technology or greedy corporations or a combination of all three, the internet as we expect it to be in 2006 won’t exist in ten years.’

The response to explodingdog during its release seems extremely positive, with lots of people praising how it twists the meaning of prompts and comes up with unexpected interpretations. I personally found that it got very repetitive, very fast. The same twists would happen in a lot of drawings, and would usually involve 2000s-era internet humor such as robots, aliens, stick figures bleeding due to missing their head or limbs, green monsters that are referred to as ‘monkeys,’ and riffs on the idea that ‘other people are stupid.’ There are recurring characters, including the Red Robot – famous enough to be featured in quite a few other webcomics – a second robot that grows roses in its stomach, a guy watching TV in a space wasteland, Phil, and more.

In some cases, an entire picture is reused. ‘better than being lost in the city’ (6/29/2000) and ‘In the morning things will be better’ (7/13/2000) feature the exact same piece of art, the later one slightly zoomed in. ‘toast from a toaster’ (1/11/2000), ‘Toast goes in the toaster’ (6/19/2000) and ‘Toast’ (7/17/2000) all three contain the same image. The gimmick, as discussed often by Brown, is that the images are inspired by the captions – not that the images already existed and happened to fit something that was submitted. I really hope this disappears in later years.

Like other comics I’ve read, I did notice a lot of improvement in the art between 2000 and 2009 in terms of complexity and ease of understanding. In both cases the art is mostly irregular, childlike stick figures and blobs, with no intent for the art to be technically good. In 2000, there’s a lot of muted colors including browns, grays, khakis and oranges. The color palette often isn’t nice to look at (in my opinion) and as the images often depict unpleasant things such as vomit and lobotomies, they sometimes feel like shock value art. In 2009, the colors have brightened and become more varied, and there’s more use of backgrounds even when the image doesn’t require it. The stick figures are more polished with smoother lines. I was surprised to learn that Brown was already a fine art graduate in 2000; in the nicest possible way, he does such a good job of hiding any actual skill.e

I think that even in the modern day there is great potential for certain explodingdog comics to be used as reaction images or ‘tag your oc’ style memes. However, due to the nature of the project, I think this comic would be better enjoyed as a greatest hits collection than as a full archive.

Relevance to Homestuck: explodingdog is one of the webcomics linked from MSPA under the heading ‘No Shortage of Good Websites,’ and due to its prominence in the 2000s, may have been a direct influence on Hussie choosing to work from reader commands. They’re both comics that collaborate with their audience and invite readers who want to share in the work’s creation.

In explodingdog, the images vary on how they relate to the captions – some draw the phrase straight up, some are a ‘yes and,’ some are a direct response (if the caption is a question) and some feel unrelated, but feature a stick figure who could possibly be saying that caption. The ‘yes and,’ where Brown uses the phrase and adds a second, followup phrase that changes the context, were the most effective ones for me. This might be because they felt the most Homestuck – Hussie does the same move where they take a reader command and add something else so that the command is followed, but is different to intended. A recent example is p.597, where the command is ‘Use ice maker, it’s still hot around here.’ and the response is ‘yes, Dave uses the ice maker, and it’s full of cherry bombs, not ice.’

Finally, both comics put out a large number of pages per day, unlike the majority of comics which stick to a single page per day. Both explodingdog and Homestuck published 4-6 pages on most update days in their first years, and both occasionally broke into double digits. Clearly some aspect of their creation is designed to make a lot of content, as fast as possible, to the point that some readers might consider them quantity over quality.

Continue reading? In a 2004 interview Brown said ‘my website is available to anyone on the Internet for free, but millions of people would rather see porn or sports scores.’ I’m not huge on either porn or sports scores but I still think I am one of those people.

#i actually am excited the nfl is starting back up. but i ONLY check my team’s scores never anyone elses #won the first game babey!!#webcomics 100 #explodingdog #chrono

10 notes · View notes

invisibleicewands · 7 days

Text

[...] Sheen—a man already well known for portraying real-life people onscreen—has outdone himself this year by playing two of the U.K.’s most famous figures, though the men in question could not be more different from one another. His leading role in the National Theatre’s Nye saw him transform into Aneurin Bevan, the beloved Labour politician who spearheaded the creation of Britain’s National Health Service and an icon to many throughout the United Kingdom. But for the actor, portraying the two men fairly close to one another led to the realization of some unexpected parallels.

“It was interesting because I did literally go from finishing filming on this into rehearsing Nye,” Sheen tells Paste. “And so I was thinking about both of them at the same time, and it did make me think about the idea of the pursuit of power and the opportunities of privilege, and how differently you can use those things, and what you can put them to the service of. It was quite striking.”

To say that portraying two men as different as Bevan (a Welshman from a Tredegar mining family) and Prince Andrew (the second son of Queen Elizabeth II) is a challenge feels like a massive understatement. But for Sheen, much of the work, at least from a character-building, was the same.

“With Aneurin Bevan, there’s very little footage of him, so there was very little to go on,” he says when asked about his approach to playing two such very different men—with such very different legacies. “There’s lots written about him but very little to look at. And so piecing both of these characterizations together were very different kinds of processes. But I think what informs them both is—you’ve got to put your personal opinions aside, your judgments of characters you’re playing. Because, ultimately, you have to be looking out from behind their eyes and playing a rounded, complex character rather than an editorialized version of them.”

And to hear Sheen tell it, his performance—even when playing someone more like Andrew than Nye Bevan—still comes from many of the same places, both as an actor and an individual.

“[The performance] has got to be coming from somewhere. There’s got to be some compass that is guiding you in… I look for vulnerability, I look for contradiction. I look for when a person is getting in their own way, that kind of stuff. That’s my compass as an actor,” he says. “But then, there’s also my compass as a citizen, which you’re also putting into it. Your performance sits in the context of certain things you believe about the world and how things work in it. Inevitably, those two things, they’re sometimes the same compass and sometimes not. But they work the same for whatever character it might be.” [...]

“The car-crash nature of the interview itself and the memes that it feeds and the late-night chat show host opening monologue gags and all that sensationalized circus aspect obviously feeds our cultural appetites in huge ways,” Sheen says. “There’s a huge appetite for that. But the issues it also raises about privilege, exploitation, sex, and people in positions of power being able to silence people who don’t have a voice, it seems to explore a lot of areas we are culturally both fascinated and compelled by at the moment all in one story. Certainly, that’s what it speaks to for me.” [...]

“There’s been an ongoing debate, hasn’t there, about how you interview certain kinds of politicians and how difficult it has become to question certain kinds of people in positions of power and whether the media is somehow falling into traps being laid by those people,” Sheen adds. “That’s been an ongoing debate for about the last ten years or so, I’d guess. Particularly in the U.S., but also increasingly so in the U.K. as well.” [...]

“We’re used to the idea of politicians not answering the question and saying what they want to say regardless. But then, there’s a new wave of people who seem to have confounded a lot of journalists and sparked the debate of how you go about handling that,” Sheen says. “And [this interview] is an instance where someone voluntarily put themselves in a position of being exposed, and a journalist of great craft and skill did a masterclass on [how to do] that. I think that’s particularly… It speaks to something of now as well. That we will probably never see something like that happen again.”

#Michael Sheen #Prince Andrew #Interview #A Very Royal Scandal

6 notes · View notes

starsreminisce · 9 months

Text

I took a sip from my cup of hot water—we couldn’t even afford tea these days—as Nesta continued her story to Elain. “Well, I said to him, ‘If you think you can just ask me so nonchalantly, sir, I’m going to decline!’ And you know what Tomas said?” Arms braced on the table and eyes wide, Elain shook her head.

I think there is a part where Elain does feel that Lucien is entitled to her, given how venomous Graysen's words were towards her and the prejudices towards the fae being animalistic. Feyre didn't have that hesitation, but Nesta absolutely did, so it's not unfathomable for me to believe that Elain would align with her beliefs.

We have never seen Lucien act on this entitlement, and I've thought about there being some sort of conversation/argument in the beginning, clearing up the past years and effectively clearing the slate

So, here is the vision since SJM does like to plot according to holidays:

Nynsar marks the beginning of Elain's feelings for him. By Calanmai, the lines between their bond and genuine emotions blur, as Lucien may initially attribute her responses to the bond. The turning point comes during Summer Solstice when Elain decides to either accepts the bond or fully acknowledges her feelings, possibly culminating by the end of the celebration.

Nynsar presents a unique opportunity for Elain and Lucien, offering a juxtaposition to Feyre's earlier comment about Azriel's interest. Lucien, taking this minor holiday seriously and mirroring Feysand's pivotal Starfall, emerges not just as 'her mate' but someone genuinely interested in her hobbies. This occasion becomes a stepping stone for Lucien to engage Elain in conversations about Prythian's flowers, gradually breaking down the preconceived image she holds of him.

Tarquin and Rhys had been talking lightly, both already sounding bored, of the approaching Nynsar—of the native flowers that both courts would display for the minor, brief holiday. Calanmai wouldn’t be too long after that.

Calanmai, I still believe, will be where lines are starting to blur. I know some people hope that this is where Elain accepts the bond but I still see Calanmai being 'Feysand's holiday,' considering that she met Rhys on Calanmai one year and accepted the bond the next year but we haven't seen it to how the Spring Court celebrates it. I think a huge chunk of the angst and denial would come here where Elain can't stand the idea of Lucien performing the rite with someone else and Lucien wanting to make sure he doesn't cross that boundary with Elain. When they do cross that line, Lucien would feel the guilt for putting Elain in that position and Elain would have to grapple whether it's the bond or her that pushed for him to choose her as the maiden.

“Solstice celebrates when the sun outshines the night. As the longest day of the year, it’s a time when everyone can take down their hair and simply enjoy being a faerie - not a High Fae or faerie, just us, and nothing else” “So there’s singing and dancing and excessive drinking,” Lucien chimed in, falling into step besides me. “And dallying,” he added with a wicked grin.

Weird that my hardcopy has one version but the pdf has another version so this is from my hardcopy.

The Summer Solstice marks a crucial moment for Elain and Lucien, culminating in a potential acceptance of their bond. As Elain, who has grappled with the challenges of being Made, navigates this celebration, a significant realization may dawn upon her – an acknowledgment of her deepening feelings for Lucien. The symmetry of her journey, coming full circle to acceptance, could be a powerful narrative choice. Whether she accepted the bond suddenly, akin to its unexpected snap, or recognizes her love for Lucien, the grand festivities of singing, dancing, excessive drinking, and, of course, dallying

#elucien #pro elucien #elain x lucien #elucien headcanon #elucien theory

18 notes · View notes

shxdowvoixes · 9 months

Text

Fan Meet (Yechan)

The atmosphere at the Xikers meet and greet was electric, with fans eagerly waiting for their chance to meet the members. Among them was me, excited and a bit nervous to come face-to-face with the charismatic Yechan.

As I approached Yechan for the meet and greet, his warm smile and genuine greeting instantly put me at ease. "Annyeong, it's great to meet you," he said, his eyes sparking a connection that felt surprisingly personal.

"Hi, Yechan! I'm Y/N. I'm a huge fan! Your performances are always amazing."

His eyes sparkled with wonder. "Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy our performances."

Is he holding a conversation with me? I'm going to scream! "Well, I couldn't miss the chance to meet Xikers in person. Your music has been such a big part of my life."

With a growing smile he met my eyes. "That means a lot. I'm really grateful for fans like you. Do you have a favorite song or performance?"

I felt myself light up "Oh, it's hard to choose, but 'Tricky House' is definitely one of my favorites. The choreography is incredible!"

"I'm glad you like it! The choreography for 'Tricky' was challenging, but we enjoyed every moment of it."

I felt myself fangirling. "I LOVE your choreography in your parts, I've always been curious about your creative process. How do you come up with ideas for your songs?"

"We often draw inspiration from personal experiences and emotions. We also collaborate a lot within the group to bring different perspectives to the table."

"It really adds depth to your music! Oh! I have to ask, your stage presence is incredible. How do you stay so confident on stage?"

There was a chuckle that escaped his lips. "Thank you! Confidence comes with practice, I think. We spend a lot of time rehearsing and working on our performances to make sure we give our best to the fans. It's also the energy we get from our supporters that keeps us going."

If my love could grow any more for him, it did. "Your hard work definitely shows. Meeting you is a dream come true, Yechan." I beamed up at him.

He gave me a huge hug. "I'm honored to hear that Y/N. It's fans like you who make all of this so special for us. Thanks for coming today, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the meet and greet!"

"Thank you, Yechan! It's been amazing talking to you. You have no idea how much I'll treasure this moment."

Throughout the event, Yechan and I had shared a few laughs and engaged in a genuine conversation. Little did I know that the other members couldn't help but notice. Sumin exchanged a knowing look with Minjae, and the atmosphere within the group seemed to ripple with unspoken intrigue.

As the meet and greet concluded, I couldn't shake the feeling that our interaction had created a ripple effect among Xikers. The members, initially focused on the fans, now found themselves playfully speculating about the connection they had witnessed.

Little did I know that this chance encounter would become a memorable story within Xikers, adding an unexpected twist to their journey in the world of K-pop. The genuine connection forged during the meet and greet became a topic of discussion and curiosity among the members, leaving an indelible mark on that memorable day.

*****************************

After everyone had gone from the meet and greet, the energy in the room had shifted, and the subtle connection between Yechan and Y/N didn't go unnoticed by the observant duo. They decided to approach Yechan, their expressions a mix of playful teasing and genuine interest.

Minjae smirked, "Well, well, Yechan, looks like you had quite the connection with Y/N there during the meet and greet."

Yechan lit up."Yeah, Y/N is really nice. It was a great conversation."

Sumin wanted to keep teasing. "Nice, huh? I saw more than just 'nice.' There was a spark! What's going on, Yechan?"

Cute giggles escaped Yechan's lips, "You guys are reading too much into it. Y/N is just a fan who appreciates our music."

Minjae raised his eyebrow, "Come on, Yechan. We've been through enough fan meets to recognize when something more is happening. Looks like someone is making a new friend. We approve!"

Sumin asked if he thought Yechan would ever see Y/N again.

Honestly who knew if they would ever cross paths again. There was hope, and that was gonna have to be good enough for now.

As the trio shared a laugh and continued discussing the events of the meet and greet, Yechan couldn't help but appreciate the playful support from his fellow Xikers members. Little did they know, the unfolding connection with Y/N was about to add a new chapter to their journey as a group.

**A/N: Check Out "Tricky Boi's (Xikers)" on Wattpad if ya'll want more drabbles

#xikers #yechan #minjae #sumin #hunter #jinsik #junmin #yujun #hyunwoo #seeun #junghoon

3 notes · View notes

star-shard · 2 years

Text

Elvis & Nixon (2016) review

Whelp, since I gave the showtime 90s movie depicting this infamous story a watch, time for the modern Amazon version. And right off the bat they are both similar and very different. It contains by far the strangest Elvis performance I've ever seen acting along side a certain disgraced Hollywood actor... Theres a lot to go through so let's take a walk

Okay, bandaid off, Kevin Spacey plays Nixon. In watching this movie I in no way promote him or his actions, and frankly whether his performance was good or not doesn't change my negative feelings on him as a person. This viewing experience was for reviewing purposes only.

Theres a lot to cover so I'll try to keep it informative without going into full on spoiler territory.

Right, so the movie itself, the story of Elvis meeting Nixon. It's a comedy (hard for a story like this not to be) but a different one from it's more campy 90s predecessor in almost every way.

Structurally speaking, Jerry Schilling is a major player in this movie (both in producing and as a character) And it dips into the themes of Elvis as a person always kind of pulling him back into his life now and then. Jerry is sort of the audience stand in, in that way. But unfortunately this lands with Elvis's own character not being as deeply explored.

What I do like is they give him a couple of scenes in which he expresses a loss of identity, and like most Elvis movies worth their salt, Jesse Garon gets a mention.

But time for the other elephant in the room.

Micheal Shannon as Elvis.

So as someone who has now seen a ridiculous amount of Elvis movies, theres a spectrum of how actors depict him. You want to be recognizable without going full on novelty impersonation.

Theres even a scene that pokes fun at over the top impersonators.

Austin Butler hit that golden spot where he found a way to do the accent, the voice, mannerisms, without it becoming like a halloween costume, it's hard to pull off.

Whats interesting about Micheal Shannon is he went for the complete opposite. In that he acted nothing like Elvis. No accent, no drawl, no pet names or nothing. Now in his defense, this is a comedy/drama. The idea of someone being soft voiced and deadpan while being Elvis Presley is funny.

But, this movie doesn't go all the way with it. Maybe the idea behind it was 'wouldn't it be crazy if we cast two totally unexpected actors for these parts?' Heres the issue I had. Spacey plays it straight.

Yeah, Kevin Spacey is just doing a regular ass Nixon performance, it's not campy or over the top its just a regular performance. And every other actors are also playing their character pretty straight as well. There are also a couple of more serious scenes that include Elvis questioning his identity.

If the whole movie was weird, then yeah, Micheal Shanon would be a perfect fit. But all I'm thinking here as an audience member is... 'why are the people around him blown away by this deeply underwhelming guy in sunglasses?'

And if the point was 'Elvis was a man, not a brand', it missed the mark on that too. Humanizing is one thing. But Elvis truly was a charismatic and magnetic person. And if you completely cut that out, I'm sorry it's missing a huge part of who he was.

Now not every movie has to worship the ground that Elvis walked on. But with Elvis Meets Nixon (1997) There was a real sense for the guy, you totally got why people put up with his more silly shit, you got why women would let him get away with murder. Even if the actor playing him in that wasn't drop dead gorgeous, his charisma put across just how he got into places no one else could. That movie both took pot shots at him, and showed an understanding.

In the context of Elvis & Nixon (2016), Elvis just comes off as an old famous guy with money. He's cold to his fans and strangers a like. Without the hair and glasses, you would have no idea what this performance is going for. And if you're gonna be passing off Elvis like that, you better be packing in a hell of a lot more laughs along the way.

The saving grace is by the end Spacey and Shannon work off together pretty well. But nothing great, honestly. And I'll say this, it's more realistic than 'Elvis Meets Nixon', if thats more your speed.

Considering it has fuckin Kevin Spacey as one actor and a deeply odd version of Elvis across him, I'd say skip this one. If you're on a marathon, I'm sure it's on the list, but I just don't feel much of any heart in this one. It just comes and go without much impact and honestly, not much point.

#elvis #movie review

0 notes

noramoons · 2 years

Text

RECS TAG GAME

tagged by @lixesque + @petrichor-han + @decembermoonskz , thank you all sm for thinking of me !! 🧡🧡

rules: recommend 5 or more of your own works that you would rec to someone asking what they should read first & explain a little bit about the work. these can be the most popular, the ones you think are underrated, or your own favorites! then tag five other writers!

1. for reasons wretched and divine. [nsfw, 93k]

big huge surprise to everyone i’m sure 😻 in all seriousness, this was the first fic i posted on this blog, and it means the world to me. this series is seventeen chapters of combining all my favorite interests at the time (skz + greek mythology + demons) caused by severe brainrot from the kingdom wolfgang performance. i woke up that july morning last year, watched the video, and then thought abt what would become this fic for literally the next seven months 😭 it was a very fun write and i’m very grateful for the feedback i’ve received on it!

2. by my side. [nsfw, 15k+]

my ongoing minho bodyguard au series! this one’s got a little bit of everything: enemies to lovers (AND childhood friends to lovers), mutual pining, two main characters that are too stubborn/dumb to admit they like each other, and an underlying mystery that connects both of them in more ways than one 😯

3. feels like we only go backwards. [nsfw, 8.5k]

i debated for quite a while about adding “if this feels personal, that’s because it is!” in the tags when i posted this, because that’s exactly what this was: (VERY LOOSELY) based on some things that had happened/were happening to me at the time with someone i had been interested in on and off for several years. this fic depicts that, as well as a few discussions about what happens when you continuously prioritize someone else’s feelings/comfort over yours in any relationship, especially a messy one. frat boy!changbin is also very important to me and i will continue to push this agenda whenever i get the chance 😌

4. for the record (player). [sfw, 1k]

this is the shortest piece on this list, but i’m still very proud of this one. i rlly like the overall softness in this (compared to the other fics on this list LOL)—it’s a coworkers au, and it’s about being able to take care of someone like minho who might not always look after himself the best and having a nice little 3am dinner + dance in the kitchen anyway <3

5. what lies beneath (teaser). [sfw]

okay i’m taking a page out of rain’s book by recommending a work that i technically haven’t finished yet LOL but working on this fic has really reminded me how much i enjoy writing fantasy-adjacent stories—i think it may actually be my favorite genre to write. this is my first fic for ateez, and it’s about accidentally discovering siren!hongjoong on a summer trip to the beach (and maybe falling in love with him?? 🤭🤭), but you know all along that your time with him has to be limited. (right? …….)

i also want to mention one of my other wips here bc y’all. i am so excited for seasons (waiting on you) to be posted—it has been a huge outlet (LMAO) for me recently and i’m really proud of how it’s come along. it’s my first time writing for txt, and i haven’t had this kind of inspo for a fic in a while—it’s been a fun exercise in working through all the emotions you go through during a long and unexpected breakup, and i’m so excited for you all to read it too.

tagging: @nightlychans @sulfurcosmos @h0neydewmoon @seung-scrittore @starlighthan and anyone else who would like to talk about their works !! <33

#maybe i’ll post a teaser later for seasons too 🤔🤔#🍊: tag games

16 notes · View notes

lovee-infected · 4 years

Note

So Merlin the goddamn great, smh but no ROOK LORE I AM FURIOUS! I STILL WANT TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS

Warning: Spoiler alert!

Oooooofff the final episodes of chapter 5 did seriously explode the fandom I see, from the overblot Grim to our twst Merlin, everything literally everything about the end of this chapter was a big surprise but... This chapter has also brought up a considerably huge wave of drama along with it, which is basically because of Rook voting for RSA instead of NRC. I, personally, considered it to be just a reason to laugh and make a meme or two about this chapter and all. But looking at the fandom, I can clearly see that it's been causing some serious consequences, some fans/creators are leaving the fandom, there has been a couple of offensively worded Rook hate posts (small memes and jokes aren't counted) and there's ever a #RookIsOverParty on Twitter now.

Okay but, it was all cool and chill until it was just a joke. Can't you see? This happens in many fandoms! And is often a good chance to laugh! But...This is getting serious. A huge majority of this fandom (even Rook/Vil shippers and Rook stans themselves) are hating on Rook/Rook stans and fans are leaving, therefore I believe the situation needs to be clarified before it leads to more dramas.

Many of you had also requested a Rook analysis before sooooo- here we go!

First off, this episode did eventually give us a considerable amount of Rook lore although it wasn't as perfect as we wanted it to be. Most of us wanted to get to know him more, but I'd say focusing on all we've got already would do for now. But before that, let's talk about what exactly happened in chapter 5 and why are fand hating on Rook rn:

after the performances are voted on, it’s revealed that nrc lost to rsa by just a single vote. that vote turned out to be rook, who voted for rsa in favor of their own team as he was moved by their spirit. the whole nrc team is shellshocked (of course) and vil faints

it’s also later revealed that rook is one of neige’s biggest fans, possessing albums full of his bromides, going to each meet and greet, and even writing him anonymous fan letters.

Okay okay I know this was quite unexpected and resulted in NRC's loss, but before you say how much of a shitty character Rook is consider this:

1) He was totally honest with his opinion and thoughts.

One of the interesting facts regarding Rook's character design and presence in chapter 5, is how he played the role of both the huntsman and the mirror.

He was honest with his beliefs and decision, although it was against his friends. Just as how the mirror introduced Snow White as the fairest one of all although Evil Queen didn't want to hear of her.

This is also what Rook did, he judged based on his idealistics towards beauty. NOT because he's a screaming Neige fanboy and NOT because he disliked Vil.

Honestly, if there's one person whose judgement would be strong and on point, that'll be Rook and only him; in parts (2) & (4) we'll explain why.

2) His decision has nothing to do with his personal relationship with Vil!

Yes, he voted for RSA, but to assume that this means he secretly preferred Neige over Vil all this time and call him a betrayer now, that's wrong.

Look, if there one person who could judge NRC's process through the training sessions fairly, that'll be Rook. He's been there all this time, watching each and every second of Vil's coaching and team's progressing, note that he also helped Vil the most, this performance would've been impossible without his help!

But, he was also there when Vil lost it, when Vil's fear of not being the winner took over him and made him even try to poison Neige. At some point Vil was nothing like the perfect coach he was at the very beginning, and if Rook hadn't told Neige to escape who knows how terrible the whole think might've gone.

His decision, on the other hand, was HIS decision. He was asked to choose one performance, and he chose what he liked; that's all, no big deal. Note that the silly thing with the whole issue isn't mainly how Rook voted for RSA, it's also about how half of the audience as well voted for RSA which makes it sound almost stupid, this point will be explained in part (5)!

3) Have you all really forgotten what Rook is like?

I mean, come on this is what he is in general! This is Rook Hunt we're speaking of, one of the rarely known characters of the game and mister of surprises and unpredictable decisions!

Him being a Neige fan is no big deal, and I assure you, he probably stans a lot of other people else than Neige too. Don't forget that this is the same monseiur Rook who gave 100 points! to anyone who participated in NRC's VDC test, so there shouldn't really be a panic taking all over the fandom just because we know he stans Neige, Rook is one to greatly appreciate the concept of beauty in general, and Neige is one of the most famous and beautiful people in the whole twisted wonderland, so other than this being much of a snow white reference, it was totally expected to see him stanning Neige as well. Keep this in mind that just because he's a fan of Neige, it doesn't mean that he hates or he has betrayed Vil.

In Rook's point of view, there is no such thing as rivals in beauty, he just appreciates both Vil and Neige's beauty regardless of what's going on between them.

4) This chapter proved that Rook is indeed a perfect friend for Vil.

While there hasn't ever been a mention of a canon relationship between Vil and Rook, shipper may be happy to know that this episode didn't sink the ship at all. And if you judge and see through what happened in the right eye, you'll see it even shows how strong their friendship is.

Note that this wasn't the first time Rook criticizes Vil either, back in Vil's SR lab coat story he openly criticized Vil and said he's gonna get fat if he continued to eat like this. See? Rook never the once lied to Vil, he openly judges him, and his judgements are logical and on point.

Vil on the other hand is always working his hardest to improve, to become better and completer by each and every day that passes. He needs such a friend by his side to judge him nonetheless, a friend to judge him just like the mirror judged the Queen. But there's a difference, Vil accepts and appreciates criticism BECAUSE, he wants to improve.

A friend like Rook is seriously what he needs, Rook supported and helped him all the way as RSA was getting prepared for VDC, he could've just made them lose and by ruining their training sessions if he wanted to! Can't you see? He helped Vil more than anyone else, but didn't lie to him when it was the time to judge. Vil still has a long way to go, and Rook is aware. He wants Vil to see that he isn't yet complete so that he can become better than he already is.

That's it, that's what a real friend would do.

5) Twst needs to be more considerative toward story line and sudden reveals.

On the one hand, it's mainly fans who are exaggerating the whole issue and starting drama over a simple voting and all, but twst itself as well is partly guilty. This is such a huge and active fandom, each and every detail about the story can be super effective (ex: Sebek being half human, Malleus being an orphan, etc). After making RSA's Yahoo performance look super silly they worst thing they could do was to make NRC lose like this, meaningless, silly and helpless. Why?

Twst seriously needs to take details more seriously as they could've AT LEAST made this comparison sound reasonable by choosing a better and stronger song than a twisted version of Heigh-Ho.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Rook voting for Neige, but seriously? Rook voting for Neige had to be a symbol of honesty and Rook's loyalty toward the concept of beauty itself and not Vil, not an stupid decision to make Rook prefer a childish song over NRC's wonderful performance and look like a helpless Neige fan boy.

-Sigh- Well, I guess that's all I had for now, hope I didn't miss anything. But anyway, the Rook drama is slowly getting overwhelming. There's nothing wrong with memes and jokes AS LONG AS THEY'RE JUST A JOKE- offending characters with clear intention and causing drama because of it is not okay. I know that was unexpected please remember not to exaggerate the story too much either!

#answered #starshiningsirius #twst #twisted wonderland #rook hunt #Vil Schoenheit #Pomefiore #neige leblanche #character analysis #spoilers #epel felmier

416 notes · View notes

studyvibes · 3 years

Text

Another new translation of Maneskin interview

I planned on translating the interview last week, but the day I was free the whole area where I lived had an issue with the WiFi, so through out the week, when I had a bit of free time I translated the interviewer piece by piece.

The translation is of this video: https://youtu.be/4Meslb_X9Fg

youtube

I thought it was best to include the video of the interview because there are videos and images relevant to their answers.

So this interview is by the VK which is basically like Russian Facebook.

In the original video the host speaks in Russian and Maneskin reply in Italian with Russian subtitles shown.

(Text which is bold and in brackets during the translation are some notes I added, to add come context)

Interviewer: For the first time, Maneskin is visiting Moscow, who are the winners of Eurovision. And today we are welcoming them in our studio. Guys, hello. (If you translate exact its: Guys, big hello to you)

Maneskin: Thank you very much

[0:17] Interviewer: The site Kontakte is one of the biggest sites in Russia and also one of the biggest music platforms in Russia, where people listen to your music. In our top charts of most listened songs you are one of the very few international musicians/bands that are included in the chart. In general the chart includes mostly songs in Russian language, so this shows how very popular you are in our country.

Maneskin: That’s very nice!

Interviewer: Please tell me - your international success just happened in 3 months: charts in Russia, charts in Billboard, I think this is the first time ever since ABBA that a musician/band became famous even in America after Eurovision. How did your life change in this span of 3 months?

Damiano: yeah there was a big difference/change.

Damiano: We could say that it was sudden and how we saw everything explode after Eurovision, but we are very happy

Damiano: Ofcourse this means a lot of work is expected because everything that we did before for Italy, we do now around the world. But we are very happy: this what we wanted and why we worked so hard -we are very, very happy/lucky.

[1:30]Interviewer: Going back to Eurovision, I was present at backstage and at the final, sharing happiness about your winning. I’d like to ask, did you know and how did you react to the fact that all artist for the past two weeks were saying that you were the obvious winners, even though the genre of your performance is a complete contrast to most competitor’s songs. How confident were you.

Interviewer: To solidify my words (about being at Eurovision) I have a photo *shows a photo on iPad of Interviewer and Maneskin on the night they won Eurovision*

Maneskin: oh it was you!

Victoria: We weren’t exactly confident. When we went to Eurovision, we thought only about being able to carry our music to a very wide auditorium, but we didn’t expect that we would be able to win - especially with the type of genre we play and sing in Italian - it is not something that appears often in this competition

Thomas: Yeah, that’s true, it was very unexpected and even the people - in Eurovision - were saying “You will win, you will win” - of course to us it was nice, but we completely didn’t expect it. And same with what happened after.

Ethan: (he said something, but they didn’t add a translation to what he said)

[2:45] Interviewer: I’d like to say a few words about our Manizha - Russian Woman (she represented Russia in Eurovision 2021) - were you able to meet her and chat with her? And are you planning to see her in Moscow

Victoria: yes yes, she even sang an Italian song

Damiano: it was something “Ti amo, ti amo”

Thomas: No, no, no, not that one!

Damiano: “Felicità”?

Thomas: No, no. I don’t remember.

Interviewer: (I didn’t hear him but I think he agreed with Damiano)

Maneskin: “Felicità”, yes, “Felicità”!

Damiano: They even sang in multiple voices! (Manizha had back singers with her, who joined her for Eurovision)

Interviewer: So after you won Eurovision, you were congratulated by Eros Ramazzotti, Royal Blood, and Franz Ferdinand. Which congratulation towards you was unusual and unexpected? And what did it mean to you

Victoria: Probably the big groups, which we always listen to, which always inspired us. It was also really nice, already the fact, that they talk about us - it was unbelievable. And because, of course, for us it was very important, that they liked us/valued us. And what most wild/unusual out of is that we got to collaborate with Iggy Pop.

Rest of Maneskin: *agreeing with Victoria’s answer*

Victoria: He is one of our main idols, he is one of the people who created/established punk-rock.

Thomas: Yes, of course, support from big musicians, from people who we listened to from the very start - it’s really wonderful and important/valuable recognition

Interviewer: tell us about your work with Iggy Pop. How did it happen, did he contact you or you were able to reach out to him?

Victoria: We were always huge fans of him. And when everything so well, he saw who we were and what type of music we have, and we asked him, if he would’ve want to produce something together. He said, that he really likes the song “I wanna be your slave.” and wanted to make a collaboration.

Interviewer: I saw that Miley Cyrus made a repost video of where you are performing a cover of her song and said you are her friends. Is there a possible collab with Miley?

Maneskin: Anything is possible.

Damiano: (in English) Who knows

Interviewer: with who would you want to collab?

Victoria: with many, with many! Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters, I don’t know.. with so many!

Interviewer: An interesting thing - the group BTS became the symbol of South Korea, making kpop genre popular. You are becoming...you became, the symbol of Italy. Do you feel any responsibility and are you planning on promoting Italian language/ making Italian language popular?

Damiano: We are thinking about making our music, and if our country will choose us to be their representatives, we would be happy. But no, we don’t feel this responsibility, we are thinking of own work/ business.

Interviewer: I can’t not ask very important question which is interesting for the fans - are you preparing an album, can you share some hints/ secrets? Because everyone is waiting for it. And the fact that in one of your songs which was released years back reached the top world wide charts, now we all can’t wait.

Victoria: Its all secret!

Damiano: We can say, that we are preparing new music - this is the secret which we can reveal.

Thomas: Yeah, and we are trying to find time, to write, to work on music. Certainly/undoubtedly, you can expect multiple surprises.

Interviewer: you are a unique group - from the point that your centre/focus is towards all of the members, which is different to other bands where bands are seen as the frontman and the rest of musicians. But each member of your group is seen a big celebrity. Did this happen accidentally or is this the concept you made, and how does your friendship help you with you work?

Damiano: We always tries to avoid the stereotypes of bands/groups, where only the vocalist is recognized/known. We always tried to push not only the group as whole, but also the 4 individuals of the group. And this is probably also happens because of our close friendship. Luckily, nobody feels like they are in the shadows pushed by others.

[7:38] Interviewer: It’s really cool that you change/ remove the stereotypes and create new trends.

Maneskin: We try, We try. We carry our little contribution.

Interviewer: Damiano, I would like to ask you personally a question - from what I am aware of, at the start, the band didn’t accept you into the band, something didn’t work out, could you please tell us in more detail?

*Maneskin laughing at Damiano*

Victoria: He became older, and his voice became magically/suddenly different!

Interviewer: what I understood was that it happened was because you originally sang more pop music, not rock with the band.

Damiano: In reality/to be honest, nothing changed, I stayed pop. Let’s say, I grew, and my voice changed, and I started to sound more earnest/persuasive.

[8:22] Interviewer: How did the band form? You first place of performance was at the street of Rome?

Maneskin: Yes, we started to play in school

Victoria: and since then everything went with the flow. We started to play on the streets, at small establishments, at school - anywhere where we could have an opportunity to perform

Interviewer: what was the hardest in those performances?

Thomas: To find a place where we can perform

Victoria: Yes, exactly, where to perform. And later, it was very small establishments and the audience at the start didn’t take us too seriously. But together as a band we supported each other - in the end, it was our dream, we even liked to perform in front of just a few people, which is why we continued.

Thomas: Exactly, yes. At the start we sometimes performed to an auditorium with a few people, but even then you had to stay convincing/conclusive. Over some period of time, in the crowd, people start to appear who valued our music, what we did. But for me, it was probably, the main challenge was to see, play, perform well and stay yourself in front of 2 or 3 people.

Ethan: Yes, there were times when we performed in front of an audience in which there were only parents. We gave out the same level and the same energy.

Interviewer: I think it is common thing to happen when a musician/ band performs at private party, where Russian musicians performed for one person in the hall.

Maneskin: oh this is something very very private

Interviewer: I think I’ll get in trouble for telling you this, but Little Big told me this story.

*Maneskin recognizing the bands name*

Maneskin: Aaa, Yes!

Interviewer: Ed Sheehan, in his time, took a challenge, he also started from street performing, to make 300 performance in a year. Are you ready to start your world tour and to perform nearly every day?

Thomas: Of course, definitely. The other way it won’t happen.

[10:25] Interviewer: I’d also like to know/ask, if you often spend your time together, as friends, if you have any common hobbies, and what do you do as a break/rest?

Victoria: We practically don’t have any life outside the frame of music, we spend all our time in work. But when we do find spare time, we just go somewhere to relax and have fun.

Interviewer: What simple tip/advise would you give to young musicians which at the moment are street performing but dream to perform in big stadiums?

Victoria: I think, you should continued with your journey and don’t change due to other people’s opinions.

Ethan: Yes, that right. Be always yourself.

Interviewer: your time of fame happened in Italy a few years ago from the show X Factor when you performed the cover from the band the Four seasons on their song “Beggin”. Did you expect that your cover would become a world hit in a few years? And a lot of people associate the song more with you (like more than the original band)

Ethan: Yeah. It’s.... weird!

[11:33] Interviewer: I’d like to show you an interesting photo. The photo illustrates when it was the last time Russia saw Italians. It’s a movie from the year 1974 which is called “the unbelievable journey of Italians in Russsia” do you see any similarity?

*at [11:48] you can see the image of four people: on the left two men happily hugging each other, in the centre a woman, and on the right a tired looking man*

Maneskin: Nooooo *laughing*

Ethan: Wow (the exact words that were written in subtitles were “Да ты что!” Which in Russian is used as an expression of surprise )

Ethan and Thomas point at which person they think they are in the left

Ethan: I am the one in the left

Interviewer: This is actually a very popular Soviet comedy and the movie is about Italians which travelled to Russia in search of treasure, which left was by one of the main character’s grandmother. I would like to know after which treasure did you go after in Russia?

Victoria: I think, our fans, possibly perform, and play in concerts. All the love and affection.

Interviewer: It would be nice if you could watch the movie, maybe during your flight, and share your opinion on social media.

Ethan: ok, will do.

Interviewer: I’d also like to show you a very popular video which was spreading in Russia. Where it was comparing your lyrics from “I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE” and lyrics from a Russian musician Alla Pugacheva. Both songs have same repeating words: “master” and “gangster”

Maneskin: (idk who said it) I saw it in Tiktok

Interviewer: just in case, I’ll show you the video

*[11:58] shows the video which interviewer talked about*

Thomas: You already saw it.

Interviewer: Your Russian fans, went further, started to look for famous Russian performers who wore similar outfits that you wear. But it turned out that all the similar outfits were worn by on person, his name is Valery Leontiev. I’d like to show you the pictures to show you just how similar his outfits are.

*[13:35] you can see the image comparisons, in the background you can hear Damiano laughing and say “no no”*

Thomas or Ethan: Unbelievable! This is crazy, this isn’t possible.

Interviewer: Yes the similarities are on point/ are exact.

Interviewer: I’d like to conclude the interviewer with genuine admiration because for the past 3 months you exploded the whole music industry, which didn’t happen for ages. And to be honest, it is true what you said about saving your authenticity and believe in yourself. We are very proud of you, Russians love Italians (ik that a lot of old Italian movies and songs are very popular in Russia). Please continue to grow and make wonderful music.

Maneskin: Thank, thank you very much.

————————————-

Hopefully you enjoyed the interview and the translations made sense

#my post #my translation #Maneskin #maneskin victoria #maneskin ethan #maneskin thomas #maneskin damiano #victoria de angelis #thomas raggi #ethan torchio #damiano david #Youtube

50 notes · View notes

shihalyfie · 3 years

Text

Some fun talking about and analyzing the tri. stage play, and its relationship to Kizuna

The tri. stage play (full title: "Super Evolution Stage! Digimon Adventure tri. August 1st Adventure") is honestly quite an unusual entry in this franchise, even within Adventure standards. Nearly everything about its production is unusual -- the entire genre it's in is unexpected, the choice of time period to release something like this is unusual, and moreover, now that Kizuna’s out, a lot of people have noticed a lot of suspiciously similar themes and even language, most notably the key “we’ll always be together” line (phrased even exactly the same way in Japanese). In fact, despite ostensibly being a tri.-branded product, other than a few vague token nods to the anime series in the play itself, said stage play has very little to do with the actual anime sharing its name, so the similarity to Kizuna is even more striking in retrospect.

Perhaps another interesting thing about this play is that it’s a very good example of a standout work in the Adventure universe that didn’t have any original creator involvement (other than some minor tips from Seki). I think there’s often a tendency for people to think that in order for a sequel or spinoff to be true to the original, it has to have some member of original staff on there, especially since the Adventure (and 02) characters tend to be a bit overly complex and it helps to have the reassurance that someone who knows them is behind the wheel -- Kizuna used the presence of Seki and Yamatoya as an outright advertising point -- but this stage play’s director and writer had no experience with the franchise beforehand, not even as a fan, yet still made a very respectful product that has generally been received well by Adventure (and 02) fans and even got the original director’s approval, too. If anything, that makes it all the more impressive!

(Note that the below text spoils the story content of the play, but not Kizuna’s to any substantial degree.)

Some production background

Anime and video game stage tie-ins are fairly common -- much like this one, they tend to have very short runs and are targeted at a limited audience -- but they’re usually stereotyped as being for the otome crowd (i.e. predominantly female otaku audience), so works like this are generally associated with it. As a result, when this play was announced and released between tri. Parts 4 and 5, quite a few people were surprised, because this franchise originally came from products associated with shounen anime. In practice, this was a period where it was becoming increasingly clear that there was, in fact, a huge female audience for Digimon (especially Adventure universe), on top of the fact that (as noted by the performers in the final show) the audience for this show ended up being unusually mixed-gender, because Digimon really is universal -- but it did lead to the announcement of the play being initially received with heavy skepticism, partially because of the usual misogyny (stigma around things associated with female audiences, etc.), and partially because this was during a time where...well, saying that a very huge percentage of the fanbase, especially the Japanese side, was really pissed off at anything tri.-branded at the time is kind of an understatement. Ultimately, the play ended up very well-received with a small but dedicated following, and it’s currently referred to as “dejisute” (short for “Digimon Stage”) in Japanese fan shorthand. Bringing it up generally elicits positive critical feedback, even among those who were initially skeptical.

Some interesting things also surround the circumstances of its production as well. As some might know already, the tri. anime series and Kizuna share only one key member of staff: Kinoshita Yousuke, who was involved in tri. Parts 5 and 6, and eventually went on to become the producer for Kizuna and the upcoming 02-based movie. tri. was a work that (for some reason) had a huge number of producers on it, of which Kinoshita was only one; he seemed to have been replacing Arai Shuuhei, who left the project after Part 4. However, while Arai was formerly one of the most visible of tri.’s producers (he was the only one regularly brought up in interviews), how much degree of influence Kinoshita had with tri. is unknown, other than the fact he had no involvement in its story. Given that the decision to make Kizuna also seemed to have been made around Part 5, it seems that Kinoshita may have been brought on specifically for the purpose of observing and prepping for Kizuna, because his role on tri. seems to have been so minimal that the moment he was put in charge of Kizuna, the production philosophy ended up becoming completely different under his management. (When you think about it, tri. and Kizuna have very little in common, other than the rough premises of involving the older Adventure cast.)

The thing is, though, Part 5 isn’t actually the first tri. work Kinoshita is credited for, but this stage play is -- which is interesting to consider when taking into account the heavy amount of thematic parallels between this and Kizuna three years later, and in general the very unusual creative decision to make a stage play that suddenly popped up at exactly this time, making heavier tributes to Adventure (and even 02) than the actual anime it was branded with. Making things even more interesting was that the stage play’s director and writer, Tani Kenichi, was allegedly recruited by an unnamed producer impressed with his work (by the way, did I mention Kinoshita used to work in live-action before joining Toei?). Given all that, perhaps this stage play coming off unnervingly like a sort of Kizuna prototype isn’t all that surprising...

Unfortunately, right now we’re still kind of in a time period where official will get barraged with violently angry comments for even so much as putting the series on streaming services, so it’ll probably be a few more years (if ever) before official will be willing to be more open about what went on behind tri. production, and it’s probably a bit much to get too speculative about things like this when real people are involved. Nevertheless, one thing is apparent: the director and writer, Tani, was a newcomer to Digimon -- not even someone who’d been a fan beforehand -- but watched all of Adventure and 02 in preparation for it and stated openly that he was very, very emotionally touched by it. The work itself is obviously made with a lot of love and respect for the series, and one really cool thing about it is that you can also tell that it came from the perspective of an adult with no preconceived notions about it, therefore meaning it comes from someone analyzing the series without necessarily caving to fanbase mantras, and making some very cogent observations about the characters. It’s also just a fabulous work production-wise in general -- the puppet work and making the Digimon look convincing on stage is very well-done, especially when you consider that this play had only ten showings -- and you really gotta appreciate the fact that, even before Seki gave him a few pointers, he was so passionate about the importance of Digimon partners that he pushed for all eight to be represented despite the expenses.

Taking a look at the play itself

Despite ostensibly tying into the tri. anime series it's branded with, the play only really seems to loosely refer to some of its key elements as taking place at approximately the same time, such as Koushirou’s server, infected Digimon, setpieces like KNIFE OF DAY, and an eventual “reveal” that this seems to take place ostensibly around the rough time period of tri.’s Part 4. Look closely, however, and you’ll notice that a lot of things in the characterization and plot arena actually don’t track much with tri. at all -- for instance, in a very non-comprehensive list of things:

It’s implied that Yamato himself is embarrassed about the KNIFE OF DAY band name and is desperately trying to get through it with passion, which doesn’t quite line up with his attitude about it in the anime.

The timeline just really doesn’t line up; Mochizuki Meiko, Meicoomon, and the infections obviously exist, but you can’t have a time period in Part 4 where the kids recognize Meicoomon as being related to the distortions or infections while also being separated from Meiko. Moreover, the “reboot” just doesn’t seem to have happened at all (and to be fair, if you’re planning on making a two-hour tribute to Adventure, not having the Digimon with memories of said adventure would seriously limit the scope of your plot, so this kind of “leeway” was probably downright necessary).

The tri. anime series portrayed Takeru as having a very sharp shift in language, presumably under the implication he’s putting up a front as a flirtatious, aggressive playboy, and so his first-person pronoun was turned into the aggressive ore and his way of referring to Yamato aniki. In Adventure and 02, Takeru had used the polite boku and childish/cutesy onii-chan, and the boku was prominently used as a plot point to hint at Takeru’s identity as the series narrator. (Yes, these kinds of things are actually kind of a big deal in fiction.) Since even longtime fans generally agree that at some point Takeru would be likely to stop using onii-chan once he became old enough, the stage play likewise also prefers aniki over onii-chan, but, notably, it doesn’t even bother with ore in the slightest nor any of the implications that surround it, and Takeru comfortably uses boku for the entirety of the play. Considering that the use of aniki is still a bit unusual (both Diablomon Strikes Back and Kizuna prominently favor the slightly more polite nii-san instead), it seems that the play was made with an awareness that both aspects of Takeru’s language had changed, but a conscious decision to hold over only one from the anime.

And so on and so forth.

In general, the way you could describe this play’s handling of Adventure universe lore and characterization elements is that it’s a bit selective about which tri.-related elements it makes use of, particularly in regards to ones that might be too difficult to reconcile with the original Adventure (and 02). (This is basically the same attitude Kizuna roughly takes in regards to handling of tri. elements, although it’s less noticeable there partially because of the five-year gap between tri. and Kizuna.) Obviously, being completely incongruous with the tri. anime would be a pretty crude thing to do for a play that’s actually branded with it (and especially when said anime was still ongoing at the time, regardless of public opinion), but, regardless, the end result is that its actual relationship with the tri. anime’s version of canon is a bit tenuous.

The main reason for this is probably that, on the flip side, the stage play's references to Adventure -- as in, the specific series that aired in 1999-2000 and took place in the in-universe August 1 and 3, 1999 -- are incredibly aggressive. In fact, it’s actually far more aggressive in this respect than Kizuna is. For all Kizuna is branded as an Adventure movie and puts the original Adventure cast first and foremost in all of the advertising, if you watch the actual movie, in practice, it’s more of something that lies in the gap between Adventure and 02 and the two series together as a whole. Adventure was a series that practically revolved around a "trapped in another world" story and the specific impact its events had on the kids involved, but Kizuna focuses more on the “larger world”, including real world society (very much 02 things), with a lot of themes with suspicious pertinence to 02 and references to its epilogue looming over the plot; the specific Adventure references and even the Digital World don’t come into play until the climax. (And that’s before we get into the fact that the 02 quartet gets more screentime than a good chunk of their seniors.) Really, you can see it just by the fact that a majority of the primary key visuals line the 02 quartet up with everyone else; it’s a movie about both, not just Adventure.

So in other words, Kizuna is really about mixing Adventure and 02 elements, serving as a sort of stopgap work, and recasting the Adventure group in a lot of 02′s context. (And that’s by no means a bad thing; since Adventure wasn’t about that, the differing juxtaposition is a fresh perspective in its own way.) But in terms of revisiting what the actual series called Digimon Adventure was and how those events might have an influence on its relevant cast years later, this play (which actually has longer runtime than Kizuna, being around two hours) is a good place to go to if that’s what you’re looking for. The entire premise of the play revolves around copiously referencing that specific adventure back in 1999, and, more importantly, what impact it’s still continuing to have in this particular group’s memories, to the point where they’re starting to romanticize it and wish they could return to it forever...

Ah, right, that’s what this play has in common with Kizuna: the overall theme of unhealthy fixation on rose-colored nostalgia, and the need to move forward from it. (And, driving it home, “unhealthy fixation on the events of Adventure” as a symbol of that rose-colored nostalgia, to boot.)

The premise of the play itself is that the kids decide to hold a camping trip as tribute to the adventure in 1999, as part of a desire to "go back to those times" (and, as is eventually revealed, it’s actually part of a pocket universe their subconscious wishes had dreamed up as a desire to recreate the past, thanks to the power of the Digital World). So all of the references to Adventure are concrete and fleshed out in specific detail, ranging from everyone referencing specific events and how they impacted them (Jou very explicitly refers to his experiences in Adventure episodes 46-47 in terms of why it fuels his current desire to become a doctor) to even the most minor of references (direct reference to bananas on File Island, from Adventure episode 3).

As a brief aside, a positive side effect of centering the plot on this specific adventure is that it justifies the reason for why these eight are working together (at least prior to the endgame reveal that they’re still involved in tri.’s events); the eight of them weren’t portrayed as liable to do so without good reason, and while certain aspects and events from 02 are alluded to when they’re relevant, the absence of the actual quartet passing without note is completely justifiable because they simply were not on that adventure anyway. (They weren’t initially planned to be at the event in 02 episode 17, and knowing them, it’s likely they wouldn’t want to be at this kind of outright commemorative camping event, because they’d feel like they’d be intrusive in something they had nothing to do with.) So within the scope of the play in two hours, the narrative can be very neatly condensed to be mostly about Adventure itself.

Although this play and Kizuna both share the common theme of the existential crisis that comes with getting older and the tendency to romanticize one’s childhood, the underlying reasons are a bit different; Kizuna’s is very close to 02 in that it’s largely to do with societal pressures and expectations, especially since the question of "what you want to do with your career" is a driving motivation in it. In other words, the existential crisis comes from living up to other people’s expectations, or trying to fit into an arbitrary societal mold of an “adult” without necessarily knowing if that’s what you really want. In the case of this stage play, being set in everyone’s high school years where everyone’s relationship to “the world at large” is a bit more tenuous, the reason for the existential crisis is somewhat closer to Adventure’s: everyone’s started to think they might have been better people back then. More confident, less hesitant, more honest with their feelings. Adventure was a series about self-improvement and one’s relationship with oneself, so it’s understandable that a work meant to look back on that specific adventure will ask the question “well, did they become better people after all?” as a result.

But there’s two problems with this line of thinking: one, this is a very rose-colored evaluation of their former selves, because just because they might have been “more confident” back then doesn’t mean they didn’t have other problems going on (Hikari calls her past self out for being arguably “more honest”, but also somewhat of a dependent child), and two, being more hesitant doesn’t make one a weaker person, just one who’s dealing with a lot more problems and awareness and things to worry about because of how much the scope of their lives has increased. As Agumon says at the end, the old Taichi and the current Taichi are still the same person; it’s just that he’s dealing with more, so he’ll naturally worry about more, and taking on those extra burdens is actually his own way of “evolving”.

Particularly interesting is the position of Jou, the not-so-unsung hero of this story, who is explicitly identified as the person most clearly aware of his future dreams and proceeding without hesitation towards them, to the point of being somewhat immune to the effects of the dream world. (Somewhat, mainly because the ending establishes that he wasn’t entirely.) It's consistent in line with the fact that we actually saw, directly, the train of thought that led to his decision to become a doctor back in Adventure, and he even states it directly in this play himself: he doesn’t consider himself someone who wants to solve things through fighting, but rather someone who can prevent casualties and heal the injured if he pursues this line of study, and thus is determined to make it happen. Even from the very early points of the play, there are several hints at him being able to see a metaphorical “future” that the others cannot, and while he remains unfailingly loyal to his friends (there’s a long sequence of him constantly claiming he’ll leave them as per Koushirou’s request but constantly coming back because he just can’t bring himself to abandon them), he also is the first one to depart the camping trip to attend to a test -- that is to say, he treasures his past, but he has a strong enough dream for his future that he’s willing to move on better than the others can.

Jou’s also the one to personally advise Yamato about the difference in nuance between doing things because you feel you must, versus doing it because you yourself truly want to, a difference in nuance that also becomes very pertinent in Kizuna. Also pertinent to both works in common is the discussion of nuances between “staying trapped in one’s memories” and “violently cutting them all away” (the consequences of the latter being more extensively discussed in Kizuna), versus the ideal situation of reflecting on those memories and experiences from the past in order to productively move forward.

And in the end, rose-colored nostalgia is, indeed, rose-colored nostalgia. Because, sure, that adventure back in the day was great, and they grew a lot, but they also grew a lot because they were overcoming some very harsh, difficult troubles; omitting those parts is losing the substance. The re-invocation of the fun “camping trip” also means re-invoking all of the other things that came along with it, including all of the dangerous threats they’d faced back then. It’s a package deal, and you can’t just filter those out, because it misses the point of what you gained out of it in the first place.

In general, the character writing for this play is also very good; there are some differences between the characters here and them back in 02, but they’re all within the believable scope of positive progression within three years and general adherence to core tenets of their character (Koushirou is certainly more assertive, but emphasis continues to be placed on his deference to others, penchant for spotting details, and capability for being an organizational leader in his own sense). Also notably, this play manages to verbalize a lot of the subtleties in Adventure and 02 that the mainstream tends to gloss over (and don’t tend to get put in official profiles) but are well-known to those deeply familiar with the series. This is the kind of attention to detail usually associated with those who have been studying the series for years, so it’s refreshing to see these come out in words -- for instance, Koushirou stating outright that he was one of the closest people to Taichi for a long time (very true!), Hikari and Takeru actually commenting on each other from back in Adventure (something we never really got in 02, despite “them having known each other for a while” being part of their character arcs), and Sora explicitly admitting that she goes out of her way for others because it’s easier to work for others than it is to even think about herself.

Actually, the attention to detail in general is fantastic; other than a minor slip-up (Sora refers to having met Koushirou during the summer camp at the beginning of the play when she’d actually known him prior from the soccer club, a detail that’s very easy to miss because it’s only mentioned once in Adventure episode 16 and clarified further in the novels), a lot of things from Adventure and 02 are made use of and framed in very clever context; the choice of Etemon as the enemy for this play is well-placed for both his entertainment value and the fact that, as an enemy personally defeated by MetalGreymon in Adventure episode 20, it makes perfect sense that he would have a grudge against Taichi in particular. (It’s also explicitly mentioned that Hikari and Tailmon never met Etemon in person even once, and that Taichi never actually got to see MetalEtemon, so there’s a lot of attention paid to logistics like that.)

Also, while 02 is not really brought up within the scope of the story (and really shouldn’t be, not when this story so heavily centers around Adventure and its themes), its place in canon and its contributions to the worldbuilding are fully respected; a lot of the offhand references to family situations and background are elements that were originally introduced in 02, and many aspects of its Digital World lore are used to assist the plot premise (in particular, the idea of the Digital World being connected to something that can conjure up unconscious dreams wasn’t explicitly invoked until 02). Rather amusingly, at one point, Hikari uses the events of 02 episode 13 to tell a “scary story” to troll Mimi, and it’s interesting and rather refreshing to see the implication that Hikari’s been able to move past the incident enough to use it to troll someone else. There are also some latent epilogue references as well, with Hikari directly bringing up her goal of becoming a kindergarten teacher, Takeru making some really subtle references to wanting to be a novelist and chronicle their adventures (in true Takeru fashion, he never states it outright, but anyone familiar with the epilogue can figure it out), and Taichi alluding to an ultimate goal of humans coexisting alongside Digimon.

Finally, attention should be called to the play’s relationship writing in general. As stated before, the play does call attention to relationships between characters that often don’t get brought up by the mainstream but are somewhat more well-known to fans -- Koushirou and Taichi, Sora and Mimi, Jou and Yamato -- but even the well-known ones are treated with nuance endemic to that from Adventure and especially 02, given that Taichi and Yamato don’t actually have the stereotypical “cold rivals” atmosphere that shounen anime would usually suggest, and the two of them have an extended heart-to-heart in which Yamato actively tries to figure out what’s wrong with Taichi and treat him kindly. (Like in Adventure, the only time they break out in a fight is when Yamato gets emotionally compromised and starts worrying that Taichi isn’t doing enough for others’ welfare.) It’s also very consistent with how the two treat each other in Kizuna as well (the izakaya scene comes to mind, and has a lot of similarities to the awkward-but-ultimately-close conversation they have at night in this play).

And, of course, the centerpiece of the narrative overall: the human-partner relationship. Of course, a lot of this was probably helped by Seki lecturing Tani to not mess this part up, but it really is impressive to consider in light of the fact we’re working with a lot of puppets that have handlers clearly in plain view, so you have to have some massive suspension of disbelief to make this work. But not only are the movements well-done to make it convincing that you really are seeing these actors physically interacting with their partners on stage, the narrative also puts huge spotlights on them, making the Digimon outright be the ones to snap their partners out of their worst patterns of thinking (especially with Agumon and Taichi), and dedicating a long period of silence where literal stage spotlights are dedicated to each kid having some alone time with their partner. The intimacy is very convincing, and, truly, Tani’s insistence on making sure every single one of the main Digimon was represented in spite of the prohibitive budget paid off very well. The point is made: a Digimon partner has to be someone who knows you well and intimately and can call you out at your worst moments, and Taichi even spells it out: Agumon’s capable of seeing right through him.

Putting it next to Kizuna -- a movie dedicated entirely to examining the meaning of a partner relationship, what happens when it deteriorates, what that means for oneself, and what it takes to recover it again -- it’s perhaps unsurprising that this play ends on the same line that was used in all of Kizuna’s advertising and was central to its own plot: “We’ll always be together.”

#digimon #tri stage play #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #shihameta

65 notes · View notes

romioneficfest · 3 years

Text

Valeria

Title: Valeria

Prompt: Photo

Tumblr name:

Rating: GA

Word Count: 1392

Brief summary: Sometimes someone steps into your life when you least expect it. Ron and Hermione had made a lot of life changing decisions together, and this is the beginning of another.

Any content warning: None

*******

When the first ray of sunlight appeared on the horizon, marking the start of this new day, a very tall, red-headed man walked through the streets of London with a confident stride. His burgundy-red robes billowed behind him and his tired, unshaven face painted the picture of a somehow shady individual roaming the streets in these early morning hours. This, however, contrasted with the spring in his steps, the spark in his eyes and the huge smile lighting up the ginger’s fatigued face.

Ron Weasley was dealing with a whirlwind of emotions right now. His heartbeat raced as fast as his mind, causing his chest to fill with both anxiety and excitement.

He was on his way home from one of his Auror missions. Although Ron retired from this kind of work many years ago, he couldn’t say no when Harry asked him to help out in one of his cases, only one day after Hugo went off to Hogwarts for the first time.

Destiny and fate weren’t a concept Ron believed in, but if he did, he might think it was meant to be that he got asked to join this particular mission. Two weeks ago, he accompanied a ten-year-old Squib girl to an orphanage. She had not said a single word that day, but kept holding Ron’s hand from the moment they had found her at the crime scene right until it had been time for Ron to leave for home.

The following evenings, he’d kept visiting Valeria before his night shifts started. Her silence remained for several more days and Ron just sat with her, talking about the weather, chess and the newest invention sold at the joke shop. One day though, she suddenly reached for the wedding band on his left hand, briefly grazing over the gold ring.

“Can you tell me about your family?” Valeria asked, her voice quiet and barely audible.

He’d deliberately avoided the topic so far because he assumed talking about his wife and kids would only inflict pain. “What do you want to know?”

Valeria thought about it for a second before her curious eyes flitted to his hand again.

“Is she pretty?” she asked, smiling a little at Ron’s amused expression.

“Very,” Ron told her as he fished out a photograph from his wallet and gave it to her.

It was an old picture his mother-in-law had taken of them when Rose and Hugo were 6 and 4. Instead of looking into the camera, Rose, despite laughing, had her eyes squeezed shut as their dog Jeff licked across her face. And while Ron and Hermione dutifully smiled into the camera, Hugo had not sat still in his mother’s arms. The boy had gifted his grandmother a toothy smile while his upper body was hanging upside down, causing Hermione's smile to waver a bit as she struggled to hold Hugo.

“Hermione and I accepted a long time ago that a perfect family picture will most likely never happen,” Ron chuckled, causing Valeria to smile too as she stared at the photograph.

“I think it is perfect,” she said and Ron couldn't help but agree.

Ron shifted in his seat to make himself more comfortable before narrating the adventures of the Granger-Weasley family.

Valeria listened with rapt attention, smiling and laughing and gasping at Ron's stories, and not once did she let go of the photograph.

*******

Hermione sat at the kitchen table, remaining silent after Ron had finished his little speech.

He knew that what he was proposing was crazy. The plan he came up with within the last few hours contained everything they needed to do in order to adopt Valeria. From how they could manage their working hours over therapy possibilities to Muggle school options.

Still, he was well aware that this came out of the blue, even to himself. This would, without a doubt, change their lives forever. But when Ron had to leave for work that night, Valeria had reluctantly given the photograph of his family back to him. And right at that moment, something suddenly clicked into place.

All throughout his shift that night he had been thinking about his idea. Would Hermione agree? Would they be fit to care for this girl? Would Hugo and Rose be okay with this? And most of all, would Valeria even want to be a part of their family? But the idea cemented itself both inside his mind and heart.

“She's probably traumatized and needs professional help,” Hermione broke her silence.

“She's definitely traumatized. And yes.”

“She might not want to live with us. Maybe she wants to right now but later decide she doesn't want to anymore.”

“Yes.”

“We might not be fit to handle a traumatized child,” Hermione voiced his own concerns.

“Possibly.”

“She might become sad and angry about her not being able to do magic when she'll see it performed around her every day.”

Ron nodded. He thought about this too, wincing when he remembered how his family, him included, kept talking about their Squib relative from his Mum’s side.

“The adoption process is probably not that easy. I assume there’s a lot of paper work to go through and take care of. Maybe we can be her foster parents for a while before we adopt. Are foster parents a thing in the magical world?” Hermione frowned at the thought of bureaucracy making this harder for them.

Without giving Ron the chance to reply she kept talking, “The kids could not get along with her. Although I'm quite sure Hugo will stop at nothing to make her like him. And Rose will probably take her on broom rides and try to coax her into this book club her brother and all her cousins refuse to take part in. Would she be okay with Jeff? He can be very overwhelming sometimes, after all. Should we make Valeria and Rose share a room? Rose won't be home for-”

Ron cut her off with a sound kiss on her lips. Emotions threatened to overwhelm him as he cradled his wife's face between his hands and found that certain glint he loved lighting up in her dark eyes.

“So, we'll do it?”

Hermione stood up on her tiptoes, kissing the tip of Ron's nose. “Yes,” she said, “Ron, I think this is wonderful. This is scary and risky and unexpected but I really want to do this. I can’t wait to meet Valeria and ask her if she wants to live with us.”

“Brilliant,” Ron murmured as he showered her face with kisses, “Let's write the kids.”

*******

Hermione traced one of Ron's brain scars, letting her fingers glide over the skin of his right shoulder. Goosebumps appeared underneath her touch and for a smug second she marvelled about the effect she still had on him after over 20 years.

She lifted her head from his shoulder to look at him, “I love you!”

He gave her one of his lopsided smiles, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief, “I'm quite the catch, aren't I?”

Usually, she would join the banter, but not today. Today she needed him to know how brilliant he was.

“No, Ron, I mean it.” Soppy love declarations were never her forte but tonight she could not let it be with a simple I love you.

“I never thought I could love you more than I already did,” she said as her eyes flitted to the framed photograph on Ron's nightstand where younger versions of themselves smiled and waved into the camera as newlyweds,

“Today you proved me wrong, though. I have never loved you more than I do right now.”

#Hpfic #romione ficfest 2021 #Romione #Ron Weasley #Hermione Granger #Rated G #Ace Safe #cw:#cw: mentions of wartime

79 notes · View notes

niji-translated · 3 years

Text

“Hold Your Breath” – tst-movie Interview

Translation by me (niji-translated)

[If you wish to use any of my translations, please ask]

Link to original interview:

Hulu Original ‘Hold Your Breath’ Episode 3, Murakami Nijiro Interview

The one thing that cannot be missing when getting married.

Reporter A: Shinpei and yourself seem to be people very different from each other to me, but were you aware of any similarities?

Nijiro: I’ve known Director Nakagawa Ryutarou a long time, so he know a lot about me. I thought “you know me, and you’re making a parody”. Therefore, him and myself are not that different, I feel that just the world changed. Even if it’s like I’m playing myself, if it didn’t look like that, I feel that we succeeded.

Reporter A: Shinpei isn’t accepted by society, but aren’t you accepted by society?

Nijiro: I rarely think I’m accepted by society. I’ve always been a social misfit, everyday I live with this thinking. When I can have a normal conversation with you like this, I think I’m doing well, and yet when I get home I’ll think “I knew it, I'm still not doing this right" And I’ll go right back. (laughs). It’s a fleeting feeling.

Reporter A: That’s unexpected.

Nijiro: Is it really? When I’m home alone, I can’t help thinking ‘where are your social skills?’ I can have a conversation like this, but I’ll keep thinking ‘what was I doing then?’

Myson (main interviewer): I thought it was interesting that it was a short story this time. Do you have a different approach when you play a role that starts off with a lot of information compared to a role where you can let your imagination run wild?

Nijiro: Pain, suffering, crying and so on, of course there is always a lot of space, meaning to them and the amount of time you put in doesn’t change. I think it’s less difficult for me to show bigger emotions, that’s been with me from the start. I don’t think I’m very good at it now, but when I look at my early works, I think I’m more like myself when I say something like “Ahhhh!!”

(laughs). “Good morning” and “by the way”, and so on, those are the most difficult. Since this work is the latter, it was a challenge for me (laughs). Especially from where I was a few years ago, I couldn't have done this, I’m not changing my approach at all, but for me this kind of work has a higher level of difficulty.

Myson: Performing the everyday is more difficult, did you start with the "what is natural?" approach, then?

Nijiro: I think there is also that, because you’re depicting something the norm, I think performing something universal is difficult. Universal, I mean, by majority, which means it’s the majority that will be observing and judging, there’s a feeling that it’s more demanding. (laughs)

Myson: Certainly! (laughs). However, during the quarrel scene, when you’re very angry, it’s like there’s a half smile, I could see the excitement in your eyes. I thought it was very realistic

Nijiro: Is it? But, I also have a huge complex about the universal. I may be completely misunderstanding this, but when I’m talking to people, eating meals, when going out on site with new people, sometimes it’s like there’s some kind of tension and pressure points are very different, mostly they don’t match. This is my own experiences and feelings, I often feel that I enjoy things differently to everyone else, I have a huge complex about others (laughs). I don’t mean that in a bad way, you saying ‘ it was realistic’, that makes me happy.

Myson: This work is about people who live along the Tama-gawa, but if work and corona have nothing to do with it, what city or what kind of place would you want to live in?

Nijiro: I really like the city, but I want to live with animals. I was born in Tokyo, and I believe my roots are in Tokyo, but I grew up in the countryside, I was in the wilderness for a lot of my time, especially during my adolescence. At that time I lived with goats and birds, cats and so on, therefore there’s a feeling that living with animals is natural. It’s not like ‘Princess Mononoke’ but I love big animals, I want to live with something extreme, like bears or something.

Myson & Reporter A: Ehhh!???

Nijiro: Looking at social media, aren’t there a lot of animal videos? Overseas you can see men playing with bears, and I really like when fierce animals like tigers or something are cute when they’re babies. I also like squirrel monkeys and cats, birds and other small animals, they’re cute, I want to live with all of them. But, I love Tokyo and I love the city therefore, seeking the two extremes you’d definitely need a lot of money, right. I’m an actor who films away from home, so I’m not really suited to that kind of life. Desires and work don’t match, what can I do? (laughs). It’s not like I’d have a sitter raise them. If I’m not there, then there’s no point.

Myson: Certainly! (laughs)

Nijiro: Like learning asset management, I think it’s not that easy (laughs). This might be a bad way of putting it but, in my mind, I think of marriage as a contract that the partner will keep animals as well. It’s not a contract with a woman, it’s a ‘contract to raise animals together’.

Myson: Hahahaha!

Nijiro: If not that, then I won’t get married, or at least have a de-facto marriage.

Myson: That’s the most important thing in order to marry!

Nijiro: It is important, isn’t it. How did we get talking about this? (laughs)

Myson: We were talking about where you want to live. (laughs)

Nijiro: Where I want to live, well I'm not wrong then!

Everyone: Hahahaha!

As a child I felt a distance from the entertainment industry

Myson: As a small child I guess the entertainment industry felt close to home, but how did you become interested in actors and the job itself? Did it feel natural that you would become an actor?

Nijiro: Maybe it was the reverse. By my school and my parents I was banned from all media, so my intake of drama and movies, compared to people who grow up in a world with normal TV, it was about a tenth of that. I used to watch “Rookies” in secret, but I knew very little about it, so I couldn’t admire it. I did have manga and games though. So instead this world was rather far away. I have opportunities to meet various people close to my parents, but those kind of people are so over the top, there are a lot of people who look the opposite of celebrity (laughs). In that sense, my generation, and the generation below my parents is still fresh. Because I was born during my parents busiest time, I was raised by my grandmother, and even though I was small, I had a vague thought of “why ain’t ya around?”. In that sense, I vaguely didn’t like it. When I was still a small child I didn’t know how great my dads performance is, but before I realised it, I started to understand. Now that I’m an actor I think I understand it more.

Myson: I don’t know if this is the right way to ask, but, do you enjoy being an actor?

Nijiro: I don’t know anything else, in that way it’s painful because it’s the only thing I know. Makes me wonder if there’s something more fun than this, you know. Because we want what we don’t have. Therefore, I don’t know how fun it is as an average, but I think I’m still continuing because I’m still enjoying it.

Myson: How about acting overseas? Do you have any interest?

Nijiro: Not that it isn’t possible at all, but I don’t think it’s possible to speak slang like a native in a film. I’d be happy to have those kinds of opportunities, like voice acting in Wes Anderson’s films, like Nagase’s role in Jim Jarmunsch’s ‘Patterson’, of course I’m interested. But, if I was going to spend all that time on English, I think I’d sooner be reborn. Of course, I’d study more if I had if i get that kind of opportunity.

Myson: I see. How do you usually choose the films you watch?

Nijiro: What is it, huh, it has a shine, doesn’t it? All the information I want to get now.. That’s a bit of a sparkly statement. (laughs).

Myson: No, no, no, hahaha! Do you watch both Western and Japanese films?

Nijiro: That doesn’t matter at all, I’ll watch anything including dramas and documentaries.

Myson: It’s like buying the jacket visuals and watching it.

Nijiro: In other words, I’m very influenced by the visuals. No matter how good the cast is, if I’m not attracted to the poster I’ll put off watching it. The visuals are the most important. I think this is good and bad though. After I started acting, I always had a natural appetite to watch things, even if it wasn’t something I needed to know or feel right away, if it may or may not be useful right now, lately that’s changed little by little. That’s not a good part of it, since there’s no guarantees, and there’s a feeling that you can’t afford to spend too much time on something that you get nothing from. It’s right to get what you need most, but I haven’t surprised myself much recently, it’s like I’m not surprised at all anymore, I think the reason is because I don’t touch anything I’m not sure of. Right now it’s not easy to go for a drink but, for example, when I go out of a drink and I think ‘I’m 80% likely to not enjoy myself if I go there’, then I won’t go, but the remaining 20% is very important, isn’t it? There’s the possibility of that roughly 20% could make me think ‘that was really fun!” I think I need to do more with that small percent.

Myson: Thank you very much!

#murakami nijiro #Nijiro Murakami #my translation #translation

62 notes · View notes

nincompoopydoo · 3 years

Text

PAIRING, BAGELS, REPEAT

— US AGAINST THE WORLD ; PART 4 / ?

( credits to @animusrox for this gif )

PAIRING: Bruce Wayne x reader

WORD COUNT: 2247 hot diggy dog

SUMMARY: You have a heart-to-heart conversation with one of your students before the play and you're hit with the realization that your love for Bruce may be more than meets the eye. hence, you’re starting to wonder if it was a mistake you can never fix.

A/N: This one’s long and kinda depressing. I’m in an angsty mood now whoops. Nevertheless, thank you for reading this series, the bagels will make its appearance and enjoy this one folks.

WARNINGS: Anxiety, depressing thoughts.

MASTERLIST ; MASTERPOST

The night of the show arrived quicker than you anticipated. The flurry of theatre kids rushing about backstage is quite the sight, feeling the incredible sense of pride of a mother for her children. Yet in prayer, you ask Mrs. Wilson for the gift of strength and ability to manage a bunch of highly-strung teenagers. It’s only Shakespeare after all but you knew that wasn’t the genuine nature behind their stage jitters. With all tickets sold out within a week, it has easily become the biggest event of the year aside from homecoming. It may be a little pretentious for a high school production of an over-performed Shakspeare play to emerge as the highlight of the year, but you know it will help with some of the students’ portfolios for acting school.

The clock ticks—thirty minutes before showtime and panic starts to creep.

Your fingertips dance along the selvage of the extensive drapery of the stage as lighting queues are being run through for the last time. The urge of curiosity lets you crack open the curtain as you peeked at the rest of the theatre. The bustling crowd made up of mostly teenagers with seats rapidly being filled, it’s certainly a sight for sore eyes. Amongst the settling audience, you spot Bruce, seated between Mr. Walken, the principal, and Mr. Huckleberry, the vice-principal, likely being shamelessly asked for donations. He looks engaged, but his posture and the gaze of his eyes tell a very different story—Bruce is barely listening to a word they’re saying.

He then turns in the direction of your hiding spot and despite the distance, he catches your eye, immediately recognizing it’s you spying from behind the curtains. You watch the curve of his lips turn up into more of a smirk, swiftly sending a wink your way. You instantly disappear behind the curtains, cheeks burning.

You sometimes find it hard to believe you’re sleeping with the man with no strings attached because you’re incredibly attracted to him.

Someday, you’ll burst out into an exaggerated love confession, and you know it’s going to be ugly. It’s a reality check and right now, it’s the last thing you want. Running away from your problems is more of a habit than a choice as you would rather live in the world your mind has created, where miracles are made and defects cease to exist. Anyone would trade the cruelties of reality for a perfect one yet getting too caught up in a daydream will eventually evolve into toxicity. Bruce orbits the very core of your problems and daydreams. You want to run away from him and allow yourself to be engulfed by his presence at the same time.

You just need...to breathe. Hence, the second dressing room has a weird stench to it. It’s a mess but it’s empty. Yet, it seems you aren’t the only one in need of space, away from everyone else. Shaniqua is seated at the far corner of the room on a crooked metal chair, dressed in a somewhat modernized version of an Elizabethan era dress. Very elaborate and theatrical. Despite her introverted character, she was constantly bright-eyed and keen during your classes. She had a drive like no other. Hell, she miraculously memorized all her lines in two days.

You’ve never seen a furrow of the girl’s brows, until now, and it worries you. Even her glitter-covered eyes could not conceal the dismay they portray with prominence. Gingerly, you made your way to her as she stared at her fidgeting hands. It was only when you settled on the opposite dusty old chair when she finally noticed your presence.

“Stage fright, huh?” you casually asked, resting your arm on the dressing table. She mirrors your posture, heaving a deep sigh, and shakes her head. “No, it’s just,” A pause, her gaze finds yours. You nod, flashing her a smile. It’s a simple gesture that you’re here to listen. “It’s about Oscar...” You catch a hint of a smile as she trailed off and in an instant, your brow raises with curiosity. Oh? Another beat of silence, her eyes dart around the room. You sit quietly with patience because you knew she had more to say.

“It’s just that doing this play has got me thinking a lot about my feelings. I mean, if Romeo and Juliet could be lovers, despite their feuding families, then it must be easy enough for me to admit that I like Oscar.”

“You have a point.” You chuckle, eyes crinkling with amusement. Sometimes she thinks too much for her own good. She reminds you of Bruce. Shaniqua flashes you a faint smile, lips pressed with doubt. “But why am I finding it so hard to just tell him that?”

You stayed silent for a moment or two, mind deep in thought. The chair creaks as you shift in your seat. “Well, could it be that you aren’t sure if he likes you back?”

A hum in response, shrugging coyly as she mumbled a ‘maybe’. Although it was clear as day to you that Oscar liked her back, you wondered if her doubts emerged due to their differences in character. The familiarity of the situation is beginning to feel a lot like deja vu.

“How do you know that someone is the one?” Her sudden question catches you off guard because, in all honesty, you aren’t confident if you knew the answer. A straightforward question, commonly seen in the pages of teenage magazines, written for innocent eyes. You knew its true nature and it terrifies you. The image of Bruce charges through your thoughts like rushing water, memories of times when the two of you were younger clouding your mind. You forcefully push back your university days, buried back deep into your conscience.

“I don’t exactly know the answer to that but in my opinion, it’s—it’s the feeling of completeness when you love them and know they love you. They may be different from you, but it doesn’t make you love them any less. There’s no conflict or strife; it’s just the two of you against the world.”

Those words were raw and genuine, carefully crafted directly from the heart. You weren’t surprised by your words because you’ve thought about it a lot, especially on nights you slept on Bruce’s bed. Maybe, you do love him, and that's a huge ass problem. It’s amazing how unexpected situations tend to encourage apprehension on large issues you never knew existed in the first place. Perhaps it was your astonishing lack of discernment when it came to matters that could potentially alter your life.

Tonight, a sixteen-year-old girl did just that.

Amid your growing anxiety, you manage to catch sight of the wall clock, hung on the other side of the room. It’s now eight minutes until showtime. Your eyes are now wide as you sprung up from your seat in the sudden realization that everyone should be at their respective positions two minutes ago. “Oh God, we’re running late. Shaniqua, word of advice—don’t end up regretting something you didn’t do,” You shoot her a pointed look, index finger stretching towards her. “Now, you really need to go, or we’ll have to delay and you know Mr. Walken hates waiting.”

It’s a quarter to nine, and the theatre is empty. Outside, the foyer and the hallways are buzzing with the remaining audience, lingering and sharing inane conversations as others wait for a car to take them home. You had only just finished rearranging the costumes in the wardrobe of the dressing room. You tried to sweep the scatter of glitter all over the floor but it deemed a task as impossible; you’ll deal with it next week.

You’re sitting in the seat at the front row, nearest to the aisle with a large box filled with props on your lap. Alone in transcendental silence, feeling as empty as the theatre itself. It was partly the conversation you had with Shaniqua that hit you with the reminder of all the mistakes you made that have led you to this unchanging world of a blur that takes the blame for the wretched feeling in your chest. Yet, as the show progressed, hearing the words of affection from two lovers had sent your mind reeling. You were desperate to head home, crawl into bed and potentially cry yourself to sleep but the growing anxiety forbids it, you don’t even think you could drive home.

So, you stillness of the theatre reminds you of Edward Hopper’s painting, Solitary Figure in a Theater. With eyes shut, you pretend you are the figure in the painting, sheathed in black, sitting alone in the cavernous dark.

You hear the door of the theatre squeak, swinging open followed by the shuffling of feet. You don’t look at first, too tired anyway. You’d assume someone had either forgotten something or it was the janitor that you’re sure is going to be upset over the glitter massacre in the dressing room. It looked like a crime scene, except it was the murder of a literal unicorn. You made a mental note to send an apology sandwich of some sorts next week.

It was the familiarity in the whiff of cologne that made you snap your eyes wide open, looking over your shoulder to meet with the sight of Bruce, ambling down the aisle towards you. He smiles, and you mirror him, shifting in your seat and nearly toppling the box to the ground. “What are you still doing here?” He smiles, and you mirror him, shifting in your seat and nearly toppling the box to the ground. “I could ask you the same question.” He settles in the seat next to you, elbow brushing against yours. Your head tilts, gesturing to the box. Bruce merely hums and nods thoughtfully.

“So, how was the play? Does it get a Wayne seal of approval?” There’s a hint of teasing in the curve of your lips as his eyes drift to the stage. “I liked it. The kids have talent.” Your eyes glint with amusement, your smile growing wider. “I never knew you were a fan of romance.” His laugh comes out more like a huff of air, crinkled eyes meeting yours, and nudges you lightly. “Well, now you know.”

He recognizes the way your smile doesn’t quite reach your eyes and the way you’re fussing with the edges of the box on your lap. Something is bothering you and he knows it. He nudges you once more. “Penny for your thoughts?”

You blink once. Then twice, face wincing instinctively. You keep forgetting how well Bruce can read people, especially you. You exhale slowly as he watches you struggle to pick the right words.

“It’s really nothing. It’s just-” you say after a long minute, cutting yourself short. Then, you turn to Bruce. “I’m growing older, and I’ve spent my entire life in a fog with so much fear for reality, I’m afraid it’s too late to fix all my mistakes and regrets.” Your voice dwindles with every word that escaped your lips. You were young, naïve with the notion that time was extensive to make decisions without thinking it through. To know that you could never take back the things you did. Saturn’s rising, it’s a wake-up call now that you’re older and the fear that you would never change creeps onto you with every passing birthday.

Bruce defines the epitome of the sinking feeling in your chest whenever you lay in bed at night and let your mind reel about your existence. Yet, it isn’t as simple as you want it to be. The boy you met at university has grown into a far more complex and entangled mess of the grief of his parents, the responsibility he held over this city and the drive to just...keep moving on. For the longest time, it was him against the world, and a part of you wants to believe that it doesn’t have to be that way. That maybe, you could be enough for him.

He glanced away from you, trying to hide the despondency in his eyes. He holds back a sigh as he speaks, “Do you regret us doing this?” As vague as his question is, you know what he exactly means. He remembers the time the two of you used to exchange senseless conversations and laughter so vividly that it scares him. Juvenile friends, lacking the knowledge to know what love really was. Hence, the agreement—it was just two friends, messing around. Nothing could go wrong. Now, the hole has been dug in too deep, with no way of getting out.

“I don’t,” you reply and with just two simple words, his chest feels like fire. It was the way you had said it, with so much confidence and assurance, despite the intricacy of this relationship. For the first time in a long time, you were extremely sure about an answer. You could never regret Bruce. Never.

It’s almost hesitant in the way his hand finds yours, but it represents his care for you, even if you may not know it. The warmth of his hand feels like fire. Hell, your chest feels like it’s on fire, heart burning for the man beside you. “I’ll drive you home,” he whispers with a squeeze of your hand. You flash him a grateful smile as the two of you drift into a comfortable silence. Silence so eloquent that you don’t feel so empty anymore. No longer a solitary figure trapped in a painting but now two, hand in hand, against the world.

TAGLIST

@raineeace

#bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne #batman #batman x reader #justice league #batman imagine #bruce wayne imagine #pining bagels repeat

83 notes · View notes

twistedtummies2 · 3 years

Text

Two Weeks in the TARDIS - The Tenth Doctor

Welcome to Two Weeks in the TARDIS! I’m talking about the different versions of the titular protagonist from “Doctor Who.” Each day I’ll be covering a different Doctor, going in order from the First to the Thirteenth.

Today, we’ll be discussing arguably the most iconic modern Doctor. This is David Tennant, the Tenth Doctor!

BACKGROUND

After Christopher Eccleston left the program, Scottish actor David Tennant - a rising star - was called upon to take his place. While every other Doctor before and since was allowed to keep their natural dialect, Tennant was directed to speak with an Estuary English accent. This, of course, did absolutely nothing to prevent his popularity: to this day, when people think of Doctor Who, Tennant seems to be one of two key faces to automatically come to mind, the other being Tom Baker. Matt Smith, his successor (more on him next time) seems to be catching up, however…but I digress. I think this is because of the reason I said last time: “You never forget your first Doctor.” While Tennant was not the first New Who Doctor, he lasted significantly longer than Christopher Eccleston, with three seasons and more than three times as many stories within them. As a result, more people would simply RECOGNIZE him as the Doctor, and since many of these young budding fans had likely never even seen Tom Baker or any of the other Classic Doctors, it’s not surprising that Tennant would rise rapidly in terms of popularity. I strongly suspect the same goes for Smith, and given a few years, more and more people will say the same about Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker. It helps that a lot of the people who worked on and STILL work on the modern series were and are huge fans of Doctor Who themselves: it’s become a show made for fans BY fans, and Tennant was no exception: he was a HUGE fan of Doctor Who, and this became his dream role. That fact is not surprising, because, alongside Tom Baker and perhaps Sylvester McCoy, I would argue that Tennant’s portrayal of the Doctor has the least disconnect between the role and the performer. It’s telling that, ever since seeing him AS the Doctor, nearly every time I hear or see Tennant in anything, the Doctor is all that comes to mind: Kilgrave from the MCU? “Oh, so THAT’S what it would have been like if he played The Master instead!” His version of Hamlet? “Oh, so THIS is what it would have been like if Shakespeare had invited him to perform in one episode!” Scrooge McDuck? (pauses) Okay, actually, as Scrooge he’s pretty invisible, but hey, if DuckTales had ever featured the Daleks? I wouldn’t have been surprised. Tennant brings a natural zaniness and melodramatic intensity to the role, mixing swaggering humor with something much deeper and darker to create a truly fascinating take on the Time Lord.

PERSONALITY

Of all the Doctors I’ve talked about, Tennant’s Tenth is actually the single hardest for me to analyze and describe in terms of personality. That’s actually, I think, what makes him so particularly fascinating: he’s not an easy Doctor to categorize, so to speak. Mixing elements of various early Doctors with his own special seasoning, Tennant creates a particularly changeable Time Lord, whose moods and ethics are not easily explained. On the surface, Ten at first seems like a stark contrast to the Ninth Doctor: instead of the moody, slightly standoffish character of Eccleston, Tennant’s is superficially more extroverted and chipper, with a particularly zany sense of humor and a sort of wild-eyed passion in everything he does. He is, at first, a seemingly much happier person, but we soon start to realize the traumas are still there, and just as strong as ever: this is a man haunted by failure, who no longer wants to see things fall apart the way they did. As the Tenth Doctor’s era continues, the character develops in a startling and unexpected way: still haunted by his actions in the Great Time War, the Tenth Doctor puts on a veneer of apologetic pacifism, always trying to give his enemies a chance, even when they don’t deserve it. But at the same time, he is absolutely ruthless when he has to be, and does things to his foes that often make him seem more villainous than almost any Doctor (the only other one who might come close is the Seventh), as his vengeance on his foes is particularly nasty at times. There’s something particularly unhinged about his Doctor, like he’s constantly teetering on the boundary between sanity and madness; between being a good samaritan and a punishing devil. He can be hilariously silly, he can be vulnerable and sympathetic, and he can also be a holy terror, sometimes almost all at once. There’s a reason that, in the audio plays, there’s actually a parallel universe where the Tenth Doctor ends up becoming a villain rather than a hero: of all the Doctors out there, he’s one of the most morally and psychologically questionable, but he still manages to be endearing. The most notable thing people have noted about the Tenth Doctor’s era is the “Space Jesus” angle: Christ-like allegorical imagery and elements are used with the character constantly throughout his time on the TARDIS. He’s also VERY certain of his powers, perhaps to the point of outright hubris: this was the first Doctor to give what I like to call the “I’m the Doctor, STFU” speeches that modern Who is filled with today. Just by saying who he was, in grand fashion, this Doctor could bring his foes to their knees, and placed himself as a high authority. However, what’s interesting about all this is the way it’s used, and how his story arc tracks through his time in the franchise. At first, in the series, his attitude is actually treated as a good thing, as he takes down wrongful authority figures and saves lives, and while he’s egotistical, he’s also compassionate…but as time goes on, his arrogance starts to spiral out of control. We start to see that he’s not nearly as perfect as he believes, or as anyone would like to think. Without going into too many spoilers, this Doctor’s end is particularly bitter, as he is forced to come to terms with the fact that he’s neither invulnerable nor almighty, and the toughest challenges in his life are ones he ultimately has to face alone.

COSTUME

Again, the NewWho series tends to go for costumes that are less about “walking anachronisms” and instead ones that would fit in more with a modern, contemporary society’s norms. However, with the Tenth Doctor, the costumes DO start to become more eccentric. In some ways, this was another very Sherlockian Doctor: not as detached as Sherlock Holmes, but with the same mixture of madcap heroics and flawed danger. In fact, many of his stories played out almost like detective stories, including one episode where he met famed mystery writer, Agatha Christie. As a result, Tennant’s costume is something of a sort of “eccentric detective” getup. He’s often seen wearing a trenchcoat, like someone out of an old film noir, and under the trenchcoat he typically wore a suit of brown or blue, with pinstripes and a tie. All of this is elegant and almost 1940s esque, but then it gets contrasted by the unconventional choice of sandshoes, a spiky sort of hairdo, and the wide-lensed reading glasses he occasionally wears. He’s both classy and yet a total dork, for lack of a better way of putting it. On anyone else, the costume might look a bit bizarre, the different elements not necessarily smoothly tying together, but Tennant is so at home in the costume, that the way he moves, sits, and stands in it always makes it feel like a second skin: it’s all natural to him, and so he can be all the things he needs to be - from dangerous to daffy - no matter what the weather.

NOTABLE COMPANIONS

The Tenth Doctor started out with Rose Tyler as his companion, carried on from Christopher Eccleston. Fans have mixed feelings about Rose’s time with the Doctor, but personally I didn’t mind it, and the moment when she left the show was really quite sad. My big problem is that Rose seemed to be treated as the “uber-companion” for the reminder of Ten’s time in the series. I suppose it makes sense, since - unless you count Grace Holloway and POSSIBLY Jo Grant - this was the first time the Doctor had actually apparently fallen in love with his companion. However, it became a problem when the next major companion - Martha Jones - showed up. Martha starts off with promise, but in my opinion she became rather bland as the series went on; she really felt like she was just a replacement for Rose, and one wonders why she even HAD to be replaced. Did Billie Piper, Rose’s actress, just not want to do the show anymore? (Seems unlikely, since she returned several times as a recurring character for the rest of Ten and even Eleven’s run.) Then came the third major companion, Donna Noble: in Donna’s first appearance, she’s a bit annoying, in my opinion, but when she became a fully-fledged companion...I’m going to be honest, I think she became my favorite companion of David Tennant’s. Part of this may be because of the relationship between both the actors AND the characters: in contrast to Rose and Martha, the Doctor no longer wanted a romantic interest, he just wanted a friend. And that was cool with Donna, because that was all SHE saw the Doctor as: her absolute best friend. In a way, she was a lot like Sarah Jane Smith (who made a surprise return during this era as a recurring character), but with even more sass and spunk than before. Actress Catherine Tate and David Tennant had amazing chemistry, and it’s telling that they would often work together after this - especially in comedic settings - as their friendship offscreen is and was just as powerful as it was onscreen. One last character worth noting is River Song: not a COMPANION, but a major recurring character who first appeared in this era. River was revealed to be the Doctor’s wife, but who met the Doctor in a future lifetime. Naturally, this led to shenanigans and heartbreak alike; all in a day’s work for this series.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

DEAR GOD, WHAT DO I CHOOSE?! XD The issue with the Tenth Doctor’s era, in stories, is that it’s sort of a giant mixed bag, in my opinion. There really isn’t any one episode of the entire show I would truly call definitive. Some showcase great villains, or have great stories, but aren’t necessarily most emblematic of what this Doctor was all about. Others are terrific showcases for David Tennant’s character, but lack the proper Companions needed or have particularly famous baddies involved. Some episodes are still great, some were well-received back then but have since received some rightful backlash, and some suck but at least have a sort of “so bad it’s good” quality to them. So...jeeze and darn, what do I even PICK here? I siphoned through a LOT of iconic stories before finally deciding on what I felt was the best choice here...not my FAVORITE Tenth Doctor story, I should point out, but the one I think comes the CLOSEST to a “definitive Tenth Doctor episode” I can find. That episode is the two-parter “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead.” In this one, the Doctor and Donna Noble have their first meeting with River Song, while doing battle with a race of carnivorous shadow monsters known as the Vashta Nerada. The story is dark, high-flying in its intellectual mind-bending, has a great sense of humor underneath it all, features the best Doctor/Companion relationship of the era (in my opinion), showcases River Song, and has one of the Doctor’s most iconic “I’m The Doctor, Now STFU” speeches in the show’s history. There are so many other episodes worth noting, it’s not even funny, but this one, I think, has the MOST of all the things I love about the Tenth Doctor’s era, so it gets my vote: if you’re only going to watch ONE David Tennant episode...don’t, please, watch more than one if you can, but consider starting with this one first.

Next time we’ll be discussing Matt Smith, the Eleventh Doctor: The Madman in a Box.

#two weeks in the tardis #doctor who #dr. who #sci-fi #tv #history #retrospective #new year's countdown #january special #tenth doctor #david tennant

13 notes · View notes

ordinaryschmuck · 3 years

Text

What I Thought About "Echoes of the Past" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who most certainly won’t read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

What probably gets debated the most in the fandom is the legitimacy behind King being the King of Demons. Some believe that there's truth to his statement, while others, like me, like to think that he was just some stray Eda picked up off the streets. Either option seemed likely, especially since Season One never gave an answer that leaned one way or the other.

Then here comes the writers finally answering the question of who King is in episode THREE of Season Two! Because, again, they don't waste time on giving fans exactly what they want.

Fans wanted answers behind King, we got 'em, and analyzing what those answers mean requires going deep into spoilers. So if you haven't checked the episode out yet, I highly recommend that you do. Trust me, it's worth seeing.

Now let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Luz Experimenting with Spells: Hey, look! More proof that Luz isn't an idiot like some people flanderize her to be!

But, seriously though, this is a perfect little thread to introduce into the story. Luz collecting knowledge from Lilith's old books and past work she and Eda made adds to Luz's intelligence while also providing a believable explanation for how she gets new spells. It's also nice to see that she has this little notebook (or spellbook) to help see what works and what doesn't. It's a level of experimentation that proves her dedication to becoming a witch while also exemplifying how she isn't stupid. Occasionally reckless, sure, but you can't say that the person who figured out an invisibility spell through showing her work is also an idiot.

Francios with a Knife: How did Francois get a knife? I don't know. But the fact that a random knife plopped out behind him with little to no explanation is funny, and I will not hear otherwise.

I don't make the rules. I just abide by them.

Luz’s Invisibility Spell: I breezed past this, but I honestly love this invisibility spell. More specifically, I love that there's a limiter. It can turn you, objects, and people you're in contact with invisible, but only as long as you can hold your breath. It helps make the spell something the characters can't always rely on, which is appreciated. Because if it works as long as they concentrate, what's stopping them from sneaking into Belos' castle and assassinating him in his sleep? It's a smart way of explaining why they can't always rely on something, despite how insanely useful it is.

Luz: Let's gush about Luz some more, shall we!

"Echoes of the Past" is another episode that has Luz on top form. She is constantly supportive of King, even if Lilith has a point in the dangers of indulging his fantasy as a powerful tyrant. Doing so would cause more harm than good, especially when King finds out Luz doesn't believe him, but her going along with it was all done with the best of intentions. Luz doesn't want to hurt her friend, and even if she did in the long run, she still makes up for it by helping King learn more about his past.

And, as another reminder, Luz isn't stupid. She's the first to say they should leave when it's clear how dangerous the castle is and is quick to figure out there should be more at the top. Luz is a loyal and caring friend who's also guarded and intuitive when the situation calls for it. This episode understood that, so here's hoping other fans will too.

Lilith: Yeah, she's still growing on me.

I feel like this episode shows a better idea of Lilith's place in the group more than the past two. She's a person who's obsessed with knowledge and learning but considers herself above the jovial nature of King, Luz, and definitely Eda. Therefore, she acts as the perfect catalyst for what jumpstarts this week's adventure. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that she almost instantly dismisses King's claims due to considering herself more knowledgeable than everyone else. Still, I like how she's willing to believe King once she finally sees evidence that seemingly proves he really was the King of Demons, to the point of referring to him as "her lord." Hooty does the same thing, but it comes across as him fearing for his own life and choosing to be friends with someone who could maybe kill him in an instant. For Lilith, her newfound respect comes from the desire to learn more, and it's that desire that makes Lilith an enjoyable character to me. It's adorable to see, and it has some comedic flavor in moments like when she dismisses everyone else and their emotional revelations to take pictures of the carvings around her. I'm sure she'll cause some controversy like other characters with rushed reformations, but for me, I'm more than ok with her addition to the main cast.

More of Lilith’s and Hooty’s Friendship: HOW DOES THIS WORK!?

ON PAPER, IT SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD BE A BAD IDEA, BUT IT F**KING WORKS!

HOW?!

WHAT BLACK MAGIC DID THESE WRITERS USE TO MAKE A RELATIONSHIP SO UNEXPECTED COME ACROSS AS SO ENDEARING AND ADORABLE?!

And where can I get some for my stories...just asking.

But seriously: HOW?!

Hooty Making Himself Portable: Ah, yes. The classic bit where a character does something horrifically grotesque off-screen, and we have nothing but character reactions and sound effects to imagine what happened between shot A and shot B. It's an oldie, but given how hard I was laughing (mostly because of Luz's gagging), it's still a goodie.

Eda’s Portable Bathtub Boat Thing: I mean...I was expecting Eda would use something to catch up with the others, but...that thing...well...I mean, I'm still laughing just by thinking about it. That should tell you how well executed this joke was.

John Luke: ...I'm gonna go ahead and add him to the list because HOLY S**T was this guy disturbing! From his design to his movements to even the sounds he makes when moving, everything about John Luke screams as something that will stay in kids' nightmares for a while. Now, this might seem like a complaint, but to be honest, I'm more than alright with how creepy John Luke is. I highly doubt adult viewers will consider John Luke scary, but I guarantee he'll terrify some of the youngins that this series is aimed for. And that's fine. It's good to creep kids out a little bit with something somewhat scary, as it might introduce them to more good horror stories later in life.

Plus, the reveal that John Luke was only a guard for King is pretty solid narratively speaking. You can see how John never really meant to hurt King aside from one accident when Eda escaped with him. If you want to read into it, I guess it might be questionable to tell kids that something that looks dangerous is secretly nice, but that's really nitpicky, in my opinion. John Luke was a fantastic threat that is designed and animated well, with a solidly executed twist. Some might hate what he presents, most will fear him, but we can all agree on one thing: His theme is awesome (can I get the track for that, please)!

King’s Backstory: Finally, at long last, we know who King is, thus putting an end to a year-long debate. And I fully mean it when I say that the writers gave the best possible answer. Because in a way, everyone was right. Yes, King was just an animal that Eda decided to adopt, like the nature-loving hippie she is inside (She's got the hair for it). However, while he may not be the King of Demons himself, he is still the son of someone who deserves that title. So while he isn't the King, there's a chance he might be the Prince. Once again, there's no direct answer, but given how the writers came up with something that pleases everyone while still providing more questions for debate, it acts as a brilliant move, in my opinion. So whatever answer we get next, I'm sure it will be just as perfect.

Baby King:

My heart was not prepared for that level of cuteness!

King’s Breakdown: NOR WAS IT READY FOR THIS LEVEL OF SADNESS!

But in all seriousness, a HUGE round of applause to Alex Hirsch for his performance in this episode. He expertly captured the raw emotions of shock, anger, betrayal, and sadness that King must have felt when finding out that everything he believed he was is a lie. It's one of those moments where I don't hear a person voicing lines in a booth (or wherever the hell VAs are voicing characters nowadays), but instead hear a living person being emotionally torn apart. It was heartbreaking seeing King so vulnerable as he's so guarded with his emotions. Seeing him like this adds so much more layers to a character that many would mistake him as a cute, comedic animal sidekick. But just like with Luz, there's more to him than people will tell you.

“I don’t even know what’s real or fake anymore!”: I'm just pointing out this line because I believe it's what convinces Luz to help King learn more about who he is. Hell, not knowing what's real or fake is the main reason why Luz got sent away in the first place, so I feel like she can relate to King when he's in a similar predicament.

Hooty and Lilith vs John Luke: This was just a cool scene with some epic moments of dodging John Luke's attacks and some funny ones, like how Hooty said the word "pain." It's a ten out of ten that I would rewind to watch again.

King’s Other Horn: I'd question the logistics of how a horn that got broken off when he was a baby still manages to fit perfectly in the present...but it is neat symbolism of King accepting his past and letting it be a part of him, so who cares?

(The fact that the colors of the broken-off piece don't match the rest of the horn is nice attention to detail as well.)

WHAT I DISLIKED

It's a Little Too Predictable: I pretty much figured almost every little twist the episode offers. But, I'm willing to say that's because I'm in my twenties, and I've seen enough stories similar to this one, so I'm more likely to know what will happen. The little monsters watching this will see it for the first time, so they'll most likely get more surprised than me...And that was my only complaint about the episode...which is more of a personal problem than an actual issue...I guess that means it's perfect.

IN CONCLUSION

"Echoes of the Past" is an easy A+ in my book. It gives lore and backstory that furtherly develops the characters that episodes like this should. It also tells a tragic story about King that still sprinkles in a few good jokes every now and again to lighten up the mood. Sure, there are some nitpicks I could mention (how did King remember his own birth?). But when the good stuff is done so well, what's the point of dwelling on small, insignificant issues? This is still a phenomenal episode that flew past all expectations I had for it, and it continues the winning steak this season is having so far.

(But that's still three home runs in a row. Meaning that a stinker is coming. Ooiee, is it coming!)

#the owl house #the owl house season 2 #king of demons #luz noceda #lilith clawthorne #toh hooty #the owl house reviews #what i thought about

50 notes · View notes