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elia-de-silentio · 2 years

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TENTATIVE ANALYSES: THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

Episode 1: We Only See Each Other At Weddings And Funerals

Fifth and penultimate in the current rooster of the Tentative Analyses, here's The Umbrella Academy.

The Umbrella Academy is a Netflix production that debuted with its first season in 2019, with the second coming out in 2020. It is based on a comic book series of the same name by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bà, published by Dark Horse Comics.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

This episode follows a three-act-structure to introduce us the characters, setting, and conflict.

1. Act 1, Setup: in the first scenes of the episode, we are presented with the common backstory for all characters (babies mysteriously born from one-day pregnancies and endowed with magical powers, sold by their families to an eccentric billionaire who wanted to turn them into a superhero team) and the separated lives they are currently leading as adults. They are brought together by the Inciting Incident, the death of their father, and gather to their childhood home for the funeral services.

2. Act 2, Rising Action: the Hargreeves siblings meet each other, and it's immediately shown that there are tensions amongst them; especially Diego, the others make awkwards attempts to at least be cordial to each other. In this section, we get two important elements that will lead the plot from now on: Luther's suspicion that their father's death might have actually been caused by one of them (pissing off everyone, unsurprisingly) and the return of Number Five, the long lost brother who has travelled into the future ("it's shit, by the way", but he doesn't elaborate more). The second section has its own climax at the actual funeral, where the tensions building between Luther and Diego explode in a physical fight between the two around their father's ashes.

3. Act 3, Resolution: at the end of the ceremony, the siblings go their separate way again. We follow three of them: Viktor*, Diego+Klaus, and Five. The first leaves as awkwardly as he had arrived. The second group presents 1) a hint that Luther might have been onto something with his suspicions, because Diego has the vanished monocle that triggered them in the first place and 2) the last of the Hargreeves siblings, the deceased Ben, who can be seen only by the medium Klaus. The third continues the 'time travel' plotline, as members of a mysterious organization pursue him. Five easily dispatches all of them, and then goes to Viktor, the sibling he was the closest too while growing up, and confides him a real bomb: the world is going to end is eight days, and he has absolutely no idea why and how to stop the process. End of the episode.

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES

The most notable narrative device is the use of multiple flashbacks interspected with the episode, which show us the past of the Hargreeves siblings. They shed light on the kind of education that Reginald imparted on them, and the kind of situations they found themselves in since they were very young (their attack on the bank robbers was brutal, not the kind of things you would ever show to children, let alone let them partecipate in; and keep in mind that back then Five was a regular member of the group, so they were at least thirteen and likely even younger), explaining how they came to the familiar situation they're in as adults.

In general, this episode is very skillful in avoiding falling into as-you-knows by setting up reasonable causes for the explainations: we learn that Viktor wrote a book that aired family secrets to the world via Diego angrily confronting her about it when they saw each other for the first time in a long while, we learn about Allison's divorce when she talks about it to Luther, who has been with no contact with the others for at least several months.

Another notable trait of the show is its use of music. The siblings are introduced to variations on The Phantom of the Opera, each in their 'everyday lives'. The fight between Five and his pursuers is set to Istanbul (not Costantinople): a song about the impossibility to truly go back to a place because something inherent to that changed plays for the fight of a grown man in the body of a young boy, who has returned to his family and the places of his childhood but by now both he and his siblings are very changed people.

And then there is the iconic I think we're alone now: a song about children getting a brief respite from the attention of the grownups to have some time to themselves (something the Hargreeves siblings rarely truly had, since Reginald had cameras in their rooms).

Lastly, there is the sheer whimsy of the setting of the siblings' household. The Hargreeves kids were born in 1989 and the show is set in our days, but have you seen Reginald Hargreeves? He dresses like a Victorian gentleman, always elegant, complete with a monocle. His mansion follows the same style. He has a talking chimpanzee for a butler, tell me if it doesn't seem taken straight out of some 1800' s story about an eccentric rich adventurer. The mother of the children has the looks of a '50s star actress and the behaviour of a '50s devoted housewife; at least she's justified by being a robot. The whole setting is bizarre and unreal, and this makes already clear that the show won't be taking itself too seriously.

CHARACTERS

Thw whole casts presents itself as both a representation of how abuse work and a deconstruction of the 'superhero team'.

Reginald Hargreeves, present only in flashbacks, has the Mentor archetype, the one who trains the kids to use their power and also spouts things like the Power of the Team that goes beyond that of the lone individual, something that usually goes in the mouth of the good guy; but he is also an abusive father figure, to almost black comedy levels. He literally bought the children; save for training them, he refused to pay any attention to them; he forced them in dangerous situations; and excluded Viktor as 'not extraordinary enough'.

The siblings, once reunited for the funeral, show themselves to be a representation of how children react to abuse growing up and a deconstruction of superhero archetypes.

Luther deconstructs the Hero archetype: he acts like he was a leader of sort to the team (maybe because he had the super strenght, maybe because he was the one who listened to Reginald the most, maybe because he was the only heterosexual cisgender white male available between the siblings), but this position isn't recognized by ... pretty much anyone: Diego openly mocks him for this, the rest of the siblings, while less hostile, still angrily protest and ignore him after he implied that some of them might have killed their father. They don't show the minimal inclination to let him 'lead' them. Luther represents the 'Golden Child': the one who believes that acting like his father wants him to, he will get some of his affection and respect (spoiler, it doesn't work).

Diego deconstructs The Lancer (the archetype that is paired with the hero and has the 'job' of being a contrast to him, often in terms of power and characterization). His powers are the finesse of a perfect knife-throwing to contrast Luther's immense physical strenght, he acts angrily and snidely in contrast to Luther who at least tries to stay calm and collected. While the Lancer archetype played straight would have these moment of sarcastic remarks as comedy, Diego's come across as actual verbal attacks, aimed at his siblings' insecurities to punish them for perceived offenses. He rejects Viktor for the book without giving him a chance at explaining himself, he mocks Luther for having suspicions he doesn't agree with and physically attacks him at the father's funeral for his attempts to keep the thing vaguely formal - even using a knife -, he mocks Allison for her failed marriage because she dared to criticize him for his excessive violence. The actual comedy when Diego is involved comes out when others make fun of him for ... basically the lone brooder archetype he plays into. Diego represents the child who has recognized the abuse, who wants others to recognize it (and rightfully so), but that very abuse stunted his emotional capabilities so much that he has trouble recognizing that his siblings' emotion can be more complicated, refuses any perspective but his own and can only express himself with scorn and violence.

Allison, through in this episode she's more out of focus than some of her siblings, represents the Heart archetype: usually a female and the love interest of the hero, she's the one skilled with emotions and has the 'job' of helping everyone with theirs, while being the most calm and balanced. While Allison tries her hand at the job - she greets Viktor kindly despite also being involved in his book, she chats affectionately with Klaus and Luther, she tries to get Diego to calm down - her efficiency is quite low, can't prevent the fights or bring a reconciliation, and is herself the target of scorn. She represents the abused child who tried to take a more 'mature' role for their siblings, but failed due to that abuse taking a toll on her emotional development.

Klaus deconstructs the Jester archetype: while his antics are genuinely hilarious for the audience, they annoy his siblings, who end up seeing him as some idiot that can't take things seriously and gets no respect. Klaus does have a serious side: despite having joked at Luther's suggestion to do so, once he's alone actually tries to contact their father's spirit. He fails, and ... that's probably it. Klaus represents the abused child who was scared of the ridiculous pressure his parent put on him, and reacted by acting as someone from whom one can't expect nothing, stunting his actual capabilities in a self-fulfilling prophecy. He is the one who tries to escape from the expectations of reality and his painful past, as shown in his use of mind-altering substances.

Five has relatively little screentime compared to his siblings, but we can start to see him as a deconstruction of the 'Smart Guy' archetype: due to his time-traveling, he has more knowledge of the bigger plot than his siblings, but he fails to properly explain himself to them; only at the end, while talking with Viktor, he admits what the problem is and his unability to solve it. Five has lived most of his life separated from his family, and here we see the littlest of his relationship to Reginald; but sure he wasn't distraught, casually commenting about missing the funeral.

Ben is seen in a flashback, that shows him as the one with the most impressive power and yet the most reluctant to use it, to which his siblings show no sympathy, insisting that it's his duty. I'll return to his character in a later analysis, as this is too little for me.

Lastly, Viktor, the 'Everyman' archetype. He was the only one not to get a power, and as such, he was excluded from the superheroing; since this was the main activity of his siblings, this means he was cut off from them. This came with a side helping of blame: Reginald treated him as if it was his fault that he didn't have any powers, and did nothing to help him with his feelings of exclusion. As an adult, he appears to have a rather dull life, not as glamorous as some of his sibling and not as difficult as others'. He represents the 'Scapegoat' child, the one who is treated by the abuser as the openly inferior one.

The kids' mother, Grace, is literally a robot built to take care of them according to Reginald's orders, and she appears to have little to no awareness of what's going on, maintaining her 'perfect, smiling housewife' attitude even during the funeral.

Pogo is a more accurate representation of an 'accomplice' parent: a caregiver paired to the abusive one that doesn't directly abuse the children, might even be good to them, but does nothing to stop the mistreatments either and whose solution to the problem is trying to get the children to behave and give them hollow reassurings that the other parent loves them very much. Thus, the abusive person is not held responsible, and the children are required to be more adult than their parent.

THEMES

This first episode introduces the two themes that will carry for all of the series: what constitutes a family and abuse, both entwined due to Reginald's A+ parenting.

I've seen a couple of funny comments, here on Tumblr, about the Umbrella Academy being the opposite of the Found Family trope, a Forced Family: here's a bunch of people that maybe you wouldn't even interact with normally, whom you know a lot of intimate details and who know a lot of intimate details about you, now go along and be each other's support (... do I get questions on my mental health if I notice that this is basically the concept of a normal family?).

The point is: the Hargreeves weren't working together because they liked each other or played off each other's strenghts and weaknesses, they're together because seven women were thrown in enough of a loop for the unnatural pregnancies that they were fine with giving away the unexpected and unwanted babies for some money. So, they were treated as commodities from the get go; Reginald only continued from there, raising them as his personal squad of child soldiers and failing utterly to provide them with any kind of affection and emotional support. This had a devastating effect on them: most have had trouble with aspects of the adult life such as work and relationships, Klaus even became an homeless addict; all of them save Luther (Five and Ben are out due to outside forces) eventually drifted away from Reginald, thrashing whatever expectations he had from them. But in the process, they also drifted away from each other: the psychological scars left on each of them mean that they weren't able to stay close to the siblings that were in the same situation, but reacted in different, 'incomprehensible' ways. Now they are brought together by their father's death, and there's no true reunion, they begin to drift away again. The one subversion to this status quo is Five, who returns after 17 years of absence and, after antagonizing his former teammates, goes to confide in Viktor, the non-powered one with whom he had the best relationship growing up, precisely because he saw him as something of an 'outsider' to the family.

SYMBOLISM

• Clothing: each of the shown Hargreeves has a very different fashion style that says a lots of things about them.

1. Reginald dresses like a Victorian gentleman about a century after the end of the Victorian era. This goes to illustrate him being detached from most of society and his stern, antiquated mindset.

2. Luther wears muted colors and baggy clothes, to conceal [spoiler], showing how much he doesn't accept himself and fears his siblings' reaction to the fact that he's not perfect.

3. Diego constantly goes around in black, often in his clothes as a vigilante, something Allison even remarks on. He has chosen a 'tough' persona for himself, and he won't drop it, especially in front of his family.

4. Allison always looks very elegant and fashionable, ever the stylish actress ready for a photoshoot. She tries to put on a confident, charming persona.

5. Klaus wears eye-catching, eccentric clothes, in one occasion even a skirt. He has little concern for what society deems appropriate.

6. Five has his old school uniform, the one Reginald chose as the Umbrella Academy. He's the one at the moment most concerned with the world-ending threat - especially because until near the end is the only one who knows about it.

7. Viktor wears frumpy, baggy, nondescript clothes: he's used to stay unobserved.

• The Umbrellas: due to the name of their organization, they represent the influence Reginald had on the siblings; he literally had this symbol tattooed on them when they were just children, despite the process being painful for them. The only one who didn't receive a tattoo was Viktor, who tried to draw an umbrella on himself with black crayon just to feel like a part of his family. During the funeral scene, it's raining and they're all under umbrellas, save for Diego.

• The Dance Scene: the siblings' reaction to the song Luther puts on is a very effective way to represent how their relationship works. They make sure that nobody is around to see (Diego even locks the door) and start dancing. Each has a different style: Luther moves around awkwardly due to his huge body, Diego surprisingly breaks in some really cool moves, Allison dances with a pink feather boa like she's on an actual stage, Klaus waltzes with his father's funerary urn, Viktor has awkward, stilted moves. Every sibling is in their childhood bedroom, except for Viktor: the one who always felt excluded from the family, and dances in the hallway. It serves as a brilliant visual metaphore for the way the siblings are ultimately similar people whose big differences are mostly superficial (their different dance styles), but at the same time are so closed off each other (their being in separate rooms) that they can't see it.

RIFERIMENTI

• David Castañeda, Diego's actor, says that the moves he did during the dance sequence were inspired by 90's clips like Moving Color and Will Smith dancing.

* in the show proper, at this point he's called Vanya. Elliot Page, the actor, came out as trans between seasons two and three, and recently it has been revealed that the character will follow suit instead of leaving it crosscast. So, I think the best thing to do is to avoid what's now a deadname in the analysis, even if it's the one used by the characters.

And this was all for the first episode. Thanks for reading so far.

If you like my writing, would you please consider offering me a ko-fi?

#tua #the umbrella academy #tua meta #tua analysis #tua reginald #tua luther #tua diego #tua allison #tua klaus #tua five #tua ben #tua viktor #tua pogo #tentative analyses #tentative analyses: the umbrella academy

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sirenofthetimes · 3 years

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Every Proposal on Gilmore Girls Was Absolutely Unhinged

This show was rich in couples, swimming in conflict, and desperately lacking in healthy communication. Which made for some batshit marriage proposals! Let's go:

Christopher to Lorelai in Season 1 ep. 15: Christopher Returns

In Christopher's first appearance on the show, he rocks up to Stars Hollow on his motorcycle at the end of the previous episode, out of the blue, and in this one archetypes are made clear: he establishes himself as the irresponsible deadbeat single dad to Lorelai's hardworking, mature yet still fun single mom. They have a weird dinner with everyone's parents where his parents, Straub and Francine, are shown to be even more uptight and awful than Richard and Emily can be. A lot of fighting and yelling and relitigating past choices ensues. Then Lorelai and Christopher go off to have emotional, nostalgic sex on her childhood balcony, and off the strength of that, he walks into her kitchen the next morning and blurts out that he wants to marry her so they can be a "real family". They barely see each other. They know hardly anything about each other's current lives. This is the first time he's visited the town they've been living in since Rory was a child and yet. A marriage proposal. Naturally, she turns him down, but we have not heard the last of Christopher Hayden.

Max to Lorelai in Season 1 ep. 21: Love, Daisies and Troubadours

This relationship was used mostly to discuss Lorelai's commitment issues, the difficulties of dating as a single mom, and have her fight allegations of her being promiscuous (which are not true, she can be very sexually conservative) by having her do something risky like try to date one of her daughter's teachers at the stuffy private school that also exists in her parents' world. So despite them having okay chemistry, they haven't really dated much and broke up after two months before getting back together shortly before the night of the proposal. Max comes by the house to pick Lorelai up and finds Luke there getting his toolbox and relaying the news that Rachel broke up with him (because she has a basic level of intuition and picked up on his feelings for Lorelai). Max and Luke have a very cringy dick measuring contest, Max (in possession of similar intuition) assumes Luke and Lorelai dated at some point but it's not season 5 yet so she's not legally allowed to admit she's into Luke. They argue, Max expresses frustration that their relationship can never seem to get off the ground, and what does he propose as a solution? Yoking their lives together in blessed matrimony. Lorelai is justifiably frustrated and tells him that's not how you propose, that a proposal is supposed to be special and grand. She lists "a thousand yellow daisies" as an example how to truly pop the question and the next day Max arranges for that famous logistical nightmare romantic gesture at the inn, then says some flowery bullshit on the phone and because it's the season finale and emotions are high, Lorelai accepts. Though later, right after her bachelorette party, she runs away and calls off the wedding. They meet a couple more times for closure, and then the relationship is truly dead.

Jackson to Sookie in Season 2 ep 13: A-Tisket A-Tasket

Sookie and Jackson's budding relationship has actually been pretty nice to watch up until this point. They have a fun balance between awkward but cute flirting and comical bickering about produce. But there's something in the area's water supply that makes people unable to clearly express their wants and needs in a romantic relationship so when Sookie doesn't respond how Jackson wanted her to to him saying his lease was up and asking her what she thought, he sulks. The sulking manifests itself in him not bidding on Sookie's basket at the bid a basket auction so she confronts him to see what's up and they actually manage to have a decent conversation about what moving in together would mean. And that could've been a nice ending for that storyline. But shacking up together? Out of wedlock? Impossible. So at their picnic for two, Jackson fakes Sookie out and says he doesn't want to talk about moving in together any more... because he thinks they should get married. Sookie, reeling from that whiplash, accepts, and since the rules of TV beta couples states they must move faster than the main will-they-won't-they couple at all times, they get married, stay married, and continue struggling to effectively talk through big life decisions,with some admittedly nice moments in between.

Lorelai to Luke in Season 5 ep 22: A House is Not a Home and Season 6 ep 1: New and Improved Lorelai

Lorelai and Luke are in kind of a weird place at the moment, with Luke upset with Lorelai for considering selling the Dragonfly to a corporation owned by one of her father's contacts, which would have her traveling and consulting instead. While she's not too serious about it, she's enjoying being courted by the company, but this is in complete disregard for the giant house Luke bought without telling her or the kids he's thinking about having that he also hasn't discussed with her so it's causing problems. This is forgotten however with the news that Rory wants to take time off from Yale after receiving some rare negative feedback, and that Richard and Emily are letting her stay with them after just telling Lorelai they would help her force Rory back into Yale. So when Lorelai walks into the diner lamenting the fact that Rory is making a decision independent from the vision Lorelai had for her life, and Luke comes forth with a nonsensical plan to, again, force Rory back to Yale, Lorelai is touched that she finally has someone on her side. And since she's a veteran of the season finale marriage proposal, she celebrates having her partner agree with her by asking him to marry her. He accepts in the next season's premiere with no hesitation, but eventually their tendency to hide things from each other to not ruin their relationship.... ruins their relationship. Shocking.

Zack to Lane in Season 6 ep 16: Bridesmaids Revisited

Zack is on a bit of a redemption tour after ruining Hep Alien's showcase in front of a major label by throwing a tantrum about Brian potentially writing a song for Lane. This random burst of jealousy sends him on a power trip that has him throwing out their set list and screaming at his band mates until a fight breaks out and the band and him and Lane split up. But when he sees Lane in the music shop some time later putting up a flier advertising her drumming services to other bands, the thought of her daring to potentially continue living her life without him spurs Zach into action. He convinces Brian and Gil to get the band back together and they're in if Lane's in. And his way of getting Lane back is to walk into Luke's while she's working, go off on some tangent about how he doesn't feel good, and propose in front of a huge crowd of gossipy small town people. Lane must have smacked her head on some antique furniture that day because although she at least stops to ask if he's thought about this, when he presents her with the pawn shop ring he got that "belonged to like an Elk or a Moose or something", she accepts and walks right into marriage and babies land and right out of development that would make sense for her character or be interesting.

Christopher to Lorelai in Season 7 ep. 7: French Twist

Ever since Lorelai walked out of her fraught engagement with Luke and into Christopher's bed, he has taken the reality of a woman coping with feelings of rejection by hooking up with the man she keeps stashed in the background for occasions such as these, and spun it into an elaborate romantic tale of two star crossed loves who waited their whole lives to be together. And when Sherry who, guided by the hands of karma, previously abandoned Gigi leaving Christopher to raise her on his own, writes a letter saying she's totally fine now trust her and wants Gigi to spend a few months with her in Paris, Christopher invites Lorelai along for a big romantic gesture trip. They spend most of it jetlagged, but Christopher remembers he's super rich now (as opposed to just being regular rich like before) and he bribes a restaurant to open early for the two of them. Lorelai, basking in the romance™ of it all, confesses her love, and Christopher pounces on that and starts in on a whole speech. Basically, even though he said he'd be willing to wait for Lorelai to fall in line with his vision, he doesn't feel like waiting any more. Lorelai, sensing where this is going, suggests they wait, as they've only been really dating for a couple of months. She also brings up Rory, figuring she'd want to be up to date and present any big changes. But Christopher waves those perfectly valid concerns away, stresses how long they've known each other, insists that they're meant to be, and fate has brought them together. And then comes out with it and asks her to marry him. Which are very intense words for Lorelai, an emotionally vulnerable woman who just broke off an engagement because her fiancé seemed overly hesitant to actually get married, to hear. We don't see her accept, but there's a scene of them returning home where he calls her "Mrs. Hayden" (as if she would ever change her name), and their marriage immediately began to fall apart like wet tissue paper.

Logan to Rory in Season 7 ep. 21: Unto the Breach

It's the end of Rory's time at Yale, and on the heels of her New York Times fellowship rejection, rejections from other newspapers across the country, and the fact that she rejected her one job offer for better things that did not come, Rory's future is wide open and unstable. On the other hand, Logan is completing his character transformation from irresponsible party animal trust fund kid to hardworking and responsible trust fund kid, accepting a job offer for an internet company in San Francisco. The question emerges: How will the young couple handle this next phase of their lives? And when Logan shows up at Lorelai's house in the previous episode, he comes with a solution. He wants to marry Rory and take her to California, and he wants Lorelai's blessing to propose. She gives it, though not without trepidation, and Logan does propose. In the middle of the graduation party Richard and Emily are throwing for Rory, he gets up in front of everyone and takes out the ring. Rory is caught completely off guard and takes him outside to talk about it, where he reveals that he got the job, picked out a house for them to rent, researched newspapers where she could apply to work, and even planned activities for them to do in their spare time. The original plan being that she would say yes to his proposal without knowing all this and walk blindly into her new, pre-arranged West Coast life. But Rory needs time to process the idea of marrying Logan immediately after college, and on the day of her graduation, she declines. Logan decides if he can't marry her, there's no point in being with her at all, and the two go their separate ways, to eventually meet again in a years long affair, for some reason. Though I barely acknowledge the revival.

Honestly, the only proposal that truly makes sense is Lorelai's to Luke in the revival but I won't discuss it here because a) again, the revival basically doesn't exist to me and b) they should've married during the original run of the show.

#gilmore girls #originals #this sat in my drafts for ages because every time i watched a proposal scene i need to Take A Minute #i mean imo even a lot of your standard proposals are still wild to me #but these.... woof

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white-queen-lacus · 3 years

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Frederica and Homura as potential love interests?

Ok, before writing this post, I must admit that this thought has been wandering in my mind for some time and I will do my best to be as analytical as I can in the explanation. First of all, I've truly and wholeheartedly supported Shinkane since season 1 and I am sure that before or after, they will be endgame (in Psycho Pass' meaning, well... offscreen if we're lucky enough), so this post is just an attempt to see what is happening.

Let's make a premise: PP3, among all the seasons of PP, is the one that addressed romance in a more evident way, somehow. Not that it is a priority and it's fair as it is, since the focus of the series is basically human nature and its reaction to a world dominated by AI, but among the three seasons, PP3 caressed the topic. Not that it wasn't already addressed in the previous installments (Shion and Yayoi, Kaori's wedding, Akane's growing fascination, and not-so-well-hidden attraction and love for Kougami, Mika and her schoolmate, just to say), but starting with Sinners of the System, something else happened. Masaoka and Sae, Sugo and his friend's wife (tell me whatever, but he seemed to care a little bit too much and I found something similar in Arata's behavior towards Maiko)... and in season 3, the already mentioned Arata, both with Maiko (the hospital scene) and Karina, but also with Irie and Mao (I loved the whole music box scene) and Mao *not-so-well-hidden* fancying Kei. Did I mention the brief and glorious Shinkane's scenes? The cherry blossoms in First Inspector screamed "LOVE" in caps lock.

Well, ladies first, so let's talk about the mysterious and glamorous agent of the SAD: Hanashiro Frederica. When her character was revealed, all of us (or at least, the majority) thought that she could be a potential threat or a possible enemy. So far, it seems that apart from bigger fanservice than all the girls in PP, a still-secret agenda, and the fact that she managed to recruit Kougami, Gino and Sugo in her team (as well as granting them some privileges), there isn't any evidence that she could be an enemy. Yes, the whole Ministry of Foreign Affairs/SAD goals and mission aren't clear, that's why I hope we might get PP4 or a dedicated special, in order to understand more about them and her apparently personal motivations too. Now... thanks to the lovely @kumapillow who kindly translated the SAD extra chapter, something made me wonder. I already said in another post that Frederica seems to have a soft spot for Kougami. Just a few words about Kougami. So far, with the exception of the novels, where his feelings are clearer, he's never shown particular interest in women (or relationships in general). In the profiling book, it's said that he doesn't remember his first love, but it's also said that he would let Sybil choose for him once the time comes, until the movie updated version when it's said that his favorite type of girl is a companion who can keep up a conversation. Considering that in season 1 he was revenge-driven and Makishima-absorbed, romance was practically out of question (also, if we consider that he's been a workaholic since he was an Inspector, I'm not this impressed if he never had a proper relationship). Complete silence in season 2, then in the movies he said that wherever he goes, he's punctually involved in some conflict, aka... no time for romance again (for ghost!Makishima's joy). I read sometimes that the fact that he declined Shion's advances in episode 18 with the sentence "I don't think we are each others' type" was eloquent about his sexuality, since he probably is gay or bi, at least. I don't think he is, but simply, being the kind person he is, Kougami just found a colloquial way to remember Shion where her heart truly laid (and in the novel, it's more obvious). No surprise, during the fight against Rutaganda, when the mercenary said that listening to Kougami made him happy like he was listening to some Wagner's piéce, Kougami promptly answers that he could have rather listened to those words from a glamorous beauty than from him (he used the word "bijin" there). I won't mention all the Shinkane subtle of the movie, but it was truly obvious how things had changed for Akane and Kougami and what could have been happened if the mercenaries hadn't come. Case 3 shows that his relationship with the fair sex still hasn't progressed this much... though I LOVED Kougami's interactions with Tenzing and the teasing of the little girl who said that he reminded her of her dad (ok, that's progress, since in a radio drama both he and Gino made a small child crying because of their idiocy) and I headcanon that in the years past Case 3 Kou had some chances to hear back from Tenzing (because of MoFA and Frederica's care), when it comes to the blonde colleague... I guess that things haven't changed this much. Now, so far, Kougami has NEVER shown any sign of reciprocating Frederica's possible feelings, but it seems that he's the only one who knows how to cheer her up or to understand her. Coming back to Frederica, after this digression, that's the core: she technically has all the qualities Kougami would possibly need. She's a glamorous beauty (hello there, reference to the gekijouban). She's a companion who could keep up a conversation. This point is trickier, because the conversation under the moonlight (now that it comes to my mind, it was also said that if he ever had to set a date, he would probably talk about work or taking somebody to stargaze), which largely reminds me of his conversation with Akane in the movie (I'm talking about the structure of the scene in general), shows that

Frederica too is perfectly able to lecture Kougami and pull the shits out of him about his true motives for keeping on traveling, she's been interested in him since the lessons with professor Saiga, but also... the fact that she mentioned his mother, I think was some kind of a rehash of the novel version of the conversation between Akane and Kou. I was under the impression that Ubukata and Shiotani were trying to test the waters... Also, Frederica is a skilled fighter, she has a no-nonsense attitude and she's pretty harsh in what she says, but she's also friendly, humorous, and caring (the days they spent together with Tenzing). Then the renowned scene of the two of them making the deal... ok, I need to admit that in the beginning, I didn't see it as malicious, neither I do it now, but... mhhh... sharing the same bottle of water to make a deal... well... kinda intimate, right? Not that Kougami made a fuss, but Frederica was... pleased? After all, she didn't do any of this with Sugo (also, her approach to him was more formal) and we still don't know how she recruited Gino (I think it happened because of Kougami, after Akane's demotion)... I don't know, but it seems to me that her approach toward Kougami (at least in Case 3 and in the manga extras) is more personal... after all, when she approached him the first time, she was quite intrigued, since she wanted to take a look at the face of a celebrity like him (all said while pleasantly smiling). The extra chapter shows that while Gino and Sugo's efforts to help their chief were wasted (not for us who read), only Kougami's proposal was well received by her. Shooting like in a guerrilla field... after all, Frederica is a tough one (just like Akane) and Kougami knows it very well... like Gino adds at the end, she's definitely a female version of him, but she also is somebody able to kick Kou's glorious ass (just like Akane). Now, time will say where the truth is, but I feel like that if Ubukata and Shiotani keep on following the route "there's a deep respect and a bond which goes beyond love and romance between Shinkane... and also Kougami doesn't see Akane in that way", and instead they choose to spice things up (but I don't think so) Frederica might be the one chosen. Luckily enough, our dear former Enforcer seems to have chosen the celibate warrior monk route, but I'm still sure that things can change and in the end, the most natural outcome will be Shinkane. Well... since the post has become longer than I expected, I'll write another time of Shizuka and Akane, but thanks for reading until now!

#psycho pass #psycho-pass #psycho pass 3 #psycho pass sinners of the system #sinners of the system #characters relationships analysis #kougami shinya #hanashiro frederica #tsunemori akane #shinkane #does a frederica-kougami ship exist?#I can't write fregami because in Italian has a certain mean XDDDD

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justanotherpersonsuniverse · 4 years

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How I’d rewrite/reboot Miraculous Season 1/2/3

And I mean, like, if I got handed Miraculous and I was allowed to direct an entirely new show.

These are just a few notes, maybe I’ll write more on just character stuff, but that’d just be me complaining about how the writers write their characters and you’ve heard me complain about that already.

Anyways though, I’d give Chat Noir more powers definitely. I always thought that little black hole thing in the concept art was cool.

Also god almighty I’d make the show have an actual timeline

I always thought the “watch it in any order” thing was BS.

Anyways, my main change though would be the episodes in general, and this is why the timeline is important:

First season wise, I’d cut a few akuma episodes (maybe move Puppeteer from season 1 to 2 as well as Numeric and Guitar Villain), but make sure every classmate gets their own episode. (I’d also give Vanisher her own fucking episode cause she deserved one)

The kicker would be that the akuma episodes would be almost ENTIRELY character driven, and not on Mari and Adrien no no- About 50% of the episode would be about the akumatized character. Their motivations, their past, their personal goals and ideals. About 15% is just Marinette, the other 15% is just Adrien, because they’re BOTH main characters here, the twenty percent is both of them, and the rest is the akuma

There would be a moment in every episode where the akuma would mutter “What am I doing?” As they wonder why they’re so angry, justifying it or cementing the fact that they are in the wrong, before continuing the fight.

This can become a moment to Volpina as Lila asks herself “What am I doing?”, only to shake her head- a short flashback goes across her, very brief and very close curtained to give mystery as she corrects herself and says “No, I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Volpina would be more about Adrien and Marinette, especially because this episode is testing them and is a season finale.

Then. There would be episodes that are entirely unrelated to the akumas. About the kids. About the class. About Marinette and Adrien.

Then, in Volpina, which is put on its head because Lila’s put in more mystery as a potential villain with a secluded past- we get the cliffhanger that is Chat Noir and Ladybug meeting Master Fu, but with more build up as he drops the damn mic.

But how I’d end the season isn’t a cliffhanger of meeting Master Fu, no no, that’s not the cliffhanger I’m ending it on, here’s a.. I guess screen play on what i’d write:

...

Master Fu: Ladybug and Chat Noir..

[The akuma alert rings out on three new people’s phones that you cannot see, as Master Fu’s voice continues to speak over]

Master Fu: the powers of the miraculous is a tricky thing children. You two..

[Chat Noir and Ladybug rush through the city to see a giant roaring Kaiju like Akuma breaking through the streaks.]

Master Fu: ..are the mirrors of each other. The yin and yang to this world. The Creation and Destruction. You hold the balance of good and evil, and the future of whether we shall fall or rise.

[Chat Noir looks softly at Ladybug who looks back, as they’re standing on the edge of a building, their hands intertwined tightly as they share a determined gaze]

Master Fu: But you are still children. With the weight of the world on their backs, and it is a terrifying battle you both face, and though I shall guide you on this journey- My shield has long been shattered. [The camera pans back to his Parlor as he grips tightly to his cane, however his wrist is barren. No bracelet attached.]

Master Fu: But..

[It snaps back to Ladybug and Chat Noir, as a foot steps into frame, the two turning around in confusion, before it clicks back to Master Fu one last time as he smiles] Master Fu: You are no longer alone.

[The music rises as looking towards the hero’s with glowing eyes of their respective colors are three new figures. One with a fox pendent, one with a turtle bracelet, and one with a Bee Comb]

[End]

And then with the start of Season 2, we would be introduced to our three new Permanent heroes and Main Characters! Rena Rouge; the slightly bullheaded but well meaning fox hero who’s stubbornness and idolizing of Ladybug occasionally gets in the way of her true brilliance. Carapace; the laid back protector, who’s overwhelming passion to keep his friends safe is challenged by his insecurities and fears. And Queen Bee; the snarky lancer to Ladybug despite her clear admiration to the red hero, who has much to learn and much to do.

While our two centric disaster kids are still the main POV characters who we’ll see every episode, Season 2 would feature Alya, Nino, and Chloe in their own special and unique to themself episodes, as we travel in their shoes now as heroics are placed into their lives as people.

Like the show, Mayura would show up by the end of Season 2, just when the new hero team just got used to being a team and felt confident for like five minutes. It only gets worse with the return of Lila Rossi.

Season 3′s conflict would be less about Love and more about the theme of Trust and Support.

Lila’s battle of minds against Marinette as the trust of the class and support wavers from these two; Master Fu grows old and maybe even senile as the years catch up to him and his trust in the other users besides Ladybug starts to become fragile; Adrien’s growing paranoia on whether or not Ladybug trusts him anymore grows more and more; Alya is split between two of her good friends and isn’t sure what to do; Nino does his best to support everyone, and Chloe has to learn to trust herself to make the right decision with the return of Audrey.

Also, how Kagami and Luka’s different acts of support for Marinette and Adrien affect them. Meaning their impact isn’t just because they’re love interests, it’s because during this stressful season, they bring peace to Marinette and Adrien, which throws around the Love Square not for plot sake, but because the characters genuinely like Kagami and Luka.

Instead of Miracle Queen, it’s actually Marinette who snaps. I’ve written this akumanette season finale idea before here’s the link to it: https://justanotherpersonsuniverse.tumblr.com/post/629706086227771393/i-feel-like-if-she-was-going-to-snap-itd-be

ANYWAYS

That’s just some main things I would do if I rebooted miraculous, save Chat Blanc for a finale. Uh. Hope you liked this? Send me feedback I could be fun to talk about these ideas I guess?

#Miraculous ladybug #writing #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #rewrite #miraculous rewrite #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #chloe bourgeois

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nhkamira · 3 years

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MY SPRING 2021 ANIME WATCHLIST🌼🌈✨

Spring is officially starting and what a marvelous season we have ahead. Full of great anime continuations and some news that I’m really looking forward to. Since I post practically every review (only Horimiya left) here I present you my Spring 2021 watchlist:

1. Boku no Hero Academia 5th Season (27/03). Can y’all hear me screaming?😭 Finally, our heroes are back and I couldn’t be more excited. Many friends told me this season would be really amazing and I can’t wait! Bones studio is still in charge of the series so we will continue having a great animation. Genres: Action, Comedy, Super Power, School, Shounen.

2. Koi to Yobu ni wa Kimochi Warui (29/03). A strange encounter spurs the meeting of Amakusa Ryou, a high spec businessman, and his high school sister's best friend, Arima Ichika. From there, he falls madly in love and tries to approach her, while she responds simply disgusted, insulting him without hesitation. Can this be a nice shoujo anime? We’ll see. Studio Nomad is doing the work, I haven’t seen their previous work but the trailer animation looks nice. Genres: Comedy, Romance.

3. Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood (31/03). An original and first series by Bakken Records. Set in alternate history Japan in 1931 the anime will follow the activities of "Nue," an organization of shogunate executioners who enforce the government. The dissident organization Kuchinawa strives to overthrow the administration, while the Nue of the Tokugawa regime, which was entrusted with its extermination, is in conflict. Sawa Yukimura, whose family was killed when she was young, continues to search for Janome, the executioner of the Nue. I don’t usually enjoy historical anime but hopefully, this would be good. Genres: Action, Historical, Supernatural.

4. Shaman King - 2021 (1/04). Can believe this actually got a remake, which I’m really really excited for. In a brief, Shamans are extraordinary individuals with the ability to communicate with ghosts, spirits, and gods. To life circumstances You befriends Manta due to his ability to see spirits, they set out to accomplish You's goal of becoming the next Shaman King. Studio Bridge is in charge, the ones behind my all-time favorite “Fairy Tail” ^^. Genres: Action, Adventure, Supernatural, Comedy, Shounen.

5. Mashiro no Oto (3/04). Lowkey I’m expecting this to be as good as “Kono Oto Tomare. Shin-Ei Animation is the studio behind this and they’ve worked in the Doraemon and Shin-chan movies. The story follows Sawamura Setsu, since their grandfather's death, he dropped out of high school, moved to Tokyo, and has been drifting, not knowing what to do besides playing his Shamisen. That's when his successful and rich mother, Umeko, storms into his life and tries to shape Setsu up. She enrolls him back into high school, but little does Setsu know that he is about to rediscover his passion for Shamisen. Genres: Music, Drama, School.

6. Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou (5/04). Project no.9 the studio of Jaku-chara is bringing a more dramatic story this season. Office worker Yoshida has been crushing on his coworker, Airi Gotou, for five years. Despite finally scoring a date with her, his confession is promptly rejected. Drunk and disappointed, he stumbles home, only to find a high school girl sitting on the side of the road. The girl, needing a place to stay the night, attempts to seduce Yoshida. Despite rejecting her advances, he nevertheless invites her into his apartment. Genres: Drama, Romance

7. Fruits Basket: The Final (6/04). If I started talking about this anime and how excited I am I will never stop talking. I’m ready to cry, get flustered, angry, and be happy. I’m sad but at the same time happy that the story is ending I’m dying to see the zodiac members at least feeling peaceful. Genres: Slice of Life, Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Comedy, Supernatural.

8. Shadows House (11/04). CloverWorks is doing this one and it would probably be beautifully animated. The story is about faceless shadow nobles living in a vast mansion, attended by living dolls who spend much of their time cleaning up the soot endlessly emitted by their mysterious masters. It's not horror but I like the creepy vibe. Hope is good. Genres: Slice of Life, Supernatural, Seinen.

9. Edens Zero (11/04). My Fairy Tail heart is singing of joy. J.C.Staff is animating the series so we know it would be good. Ever since the manga came out I started immediately. It’s really good so I hope people enjoy it without being too critical about the resembles of Fairy Tail. Here is a brief: At Granbell Kingdom, an abandoned amusement park, Shiki has lived his entire life among machines. But one day, Rebecca and her cat companion Happy appear at the park's front gates. Little do these newcomers know that this is the first human contact Granbell has had in a hundred years! As Shiki stumbles his way into making new friends, his former neighbors stir at an opportunity for a robo-rebellion… And when his old homeland becomes too dangerous, Shiki must join Rebecca and Happy on their spaceship and escape into the boundless cosmos. Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Shounen

10. Tokyo Revengers (11/04). I really don’t know what to expect from this since LIDENFILMS has done some pretty awful or uninteresting works, but the trailer looked very cool. Our mc is Takemichi Hanagaki, his life is at an all-time low. Just when he thought it couldn't get worse, he finds out that Hinata Tachibana, his ex-girlfriend, was murdered by the Tokyo Manji Gang: a group of vicious criminals that has been disturbing society's peace for quite some time. Wondering where it all went wrong, Takemichi suddenly finds himself traveling through time, ending up 12 years in the past—when he was still in a relationship with Hinata. Realizing he has a chance to save her, Takemichi resolves to infiltrate the Tokyo Manji Gang and climb the ranks in order to rewrite the future and save Hinata from her tragic fate. Genres: Action, Drama, School, Shounen.

11. Fumetsu no Anata e (12/04). I think this is the most expected new anime for this season, and one of the most visually beautiful this season. Follows the story of It, a mysterious immortal being, is sent to the Earth with no emotions nor identity. However, It is able to take the shape of those around that have a strong impetus. Acquiring the form of a boy, It sets off on a never-ending journey, in search of new experiences, places, and people. Genres: Adventure, Supernatural, Drama, Shounen.

12. Marimashita! Iruka-kun 2nd Season (17/04). Yes yes yess. So we finally are going to find out what happened to Iruma-chi at the end of the first season. I’m really excited to see everyone again ^^ if you haven’t seen season 1 I invite you to do it and you can also read my review under this anime hashtag ^^ Genres: Comedy, Demons, Supernatural, School, Fantasy.

This season looks very promising!

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turtle-paced · 3 years

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A:tLA Re-Watch: Fine-Toothed Comb Edition

The warning for the last episode was genocide. The warning for this episode is second-hand embarrassment.

Book 1, Chapter 4 - The Warriors of Kyoshi

(0:55) Previously on Avatar, Aang announced that he has Serious Business to attend to before learning waterbending. Zuko made a new enemy in Admiral Zhao on top of his existing problems with his dad, now revealed to have kicked him out of home pending Avatar-capture. Aang learned he really is the last airbender.

(1:48) Zuko’s room still has those broadswords on the wall, in case anyone was wondering.

(2:08) Today we’re focusing on Zuko’s scarred side while he talks about his single-minded dedication to catching the Avatar. In the context of the previous episode and the previously-on, I think this is the scar as the symbol of Zuko’s supposed obligations to his family, rather than scar = bad guy. Which is more obvious on the re-watch.

(2:17) “Uncle, you taught me that keeping a level head is a sign of a great leader.” He’s trying. Not very successfully right now, since he’s got capital I Issues, but he’s trying.

Moreover, it’s a pretty consistent thread with Zuko that he definitely wants to run the Fire Nation and does things to a) secure that outcome and b) prepare himself for the job so he can do it well. It’s an understated but profound contrast with both Aang, who’s already stated outright that he doesn’t want to be the Avatar, as well as with the blind, destructive ambitions of Ozai and Zhao. The latter is something I’ll definitely talk about more later, probably when the show digs into firebending philosophy. For the moment, however, Zuko’s overt desire for the Fire Nation throne hits a lot of genre biases about the evils of ambition. The show puts that out there now…so we can talk about it better, later.

(2:26) Zuko’s anger manifests in overactive candles; Iroh gently reprimands him for the effect (the heat, telling him to open a window), rather than for being angry.

(2:38) “He’s clearly a master of evasive maneuvering,” Zuko says, despairing of ever tracking down the Avatar. Aside from the cut to Aang’s actual methods right now, this one’s a bit of an awwwww moment when you think of the series finale, where the universal response to “we can’t find Aang” is for everyone to look to Zuko, trusting he’ll have some ideas. How things change.

Over in the A-plot, Sokka has the maps. This will also be consistent.

(2:50) Aang stares up at Katara, who’s focused on her mending, and tries and fails to get her undivided attention. This episode makes some important progress in Aang and Katara’s relationship. Now that they’ve decided to be in each other’s lives, now that the novelty’s wearing off, what are things going to look like when the other is an everyday feature? Katara’s got stuff to do and can’t look up every time Aang wants any of her attention. Aang can’t always be after attention, either.

(3:15) Sokka’s sexism is very obviously brought up here. Gotta love Katara hauling him up on it by withdrawing the benefit he gets from her work, leaving him scrambling to apologise. And for his pants.

(3:46) Goal-oriented Sokka wants to keep flying. Aang wants to stop and enjoy travelling. This time, Katara agrees with her brother, pretty understandable given her investment in learning waterbending. Always interesting keeping track of how often the main characters disagree with each other, even over little things - it’s actually pretty often. This is a good thing for the story! Arguing characters are showing the viewers what they want, how much they want it, and how they want to get it.

In terms of timeline, we’re still solidly in winter, and Katara’s projecting arrival in the Northern Water Tribe close to spring.

(3:55) Bad habits from Aang; he doesn’t defend his desire to stay here on its merits, but uses Appa as an excuse. He avoids even this little argument.

(4:15) Plus his insistence that Katara watch him ride the elephant-koi (which sound terrifying). Same thing as the marbles just then, but with the danger level scaled up.

(5:14) This sort of miscommunication, where Katara and Sokka are stuck on shore yelling for Aang to get out of the water and being dramatically misinterpreted, could only happen this early in the series. Much past this point, and Katara in particular would be confident enough to charge in herself and do some rescuing, especially on open water.

(5:48) Having narrowly escaped sea monsters, the gAang get ambushed by a group of mysterious warriors. And taken out quite effectively, too. Again not the sort of thing that would be possible later in the series.

We intentionally don’t get a good look at the ambushers at this point.

(6:13) Not that we’re left hanging for long, as the voice of the person in uniform is clearly female. Three seconds later, Sokka’s blindfold is torn off to reveal - ta-da - an organised, professional team of female warriors defending their home island. We can get the organised and professional thing from the fact that they’ve got uniforms and Suki’s headband clearly being a marker of rank.

In case it wasn’t already apparent that this episode is going to smack Sokka out of the very worst of his sexist ideas about women in combat, Sokka puts his foot in his mouth by asking where the men who ambushed the party are. Nowhere, mate, they don’t exist.

(6:41) Since Sokka can’t stop being sexist for thirty seconds, it’s left to Katara and Aang to talk their way out. Neither of them seem to share Sokka’s patriarchal notions; we’ve already seen that Katara’s an outspoken feminist in her patriarchal society. Aang just hasn’t commented. He simply doesn’t say anything about women in combat, and through his silence conveys that it’s just not all that remarkable to him.

(6:46) Kyoshi Island might be formally neutral and staying out of direct conflicts, but it’s still Earth Kingdom - they’re not worried about generic spies or generic partisans, but specifically Fire Nation spies.

(7:01) Exposition and timeline. Avatar Kyoshi, for whom Kyoshi Island was named, born 400 years ago. Helps us see the enduring legend of some past Avatars, despite the disrepair her statue is in. This is before we got the information about typical Avatar lifespans and who, specifically, came before Roku. Thinking that there were five Avatars between Aang and Kyoshi wouldn’t have been too out there a conclusion.

(7:07) Aang reveals himself as the Avatar of his own volition. Right now it’s just to get himself out of a jam with local authorities, but as we’ll see over the course of the episode, it’s got consequences other than people wanting to kill him.

(7:22) Another example of airbending being proof positive that Aang must be the Avatar. This goes to show just how thoroughly the Fire Nation wiped out the Air Nomads. Airbending is so vanishingly rare in this setting now that people think it’s more likely the kid airbender is the Avatar than a random descendant of a random survivor.

(7:38) Can’t say I like the running joke of the guy foaming at the mouth. But this kicks off the counterpoint to how Aang’s relationship with Katara is settling. The people of Kyoshi immediately give Aang attention. Lots of it. Lots and lots of positive attention. The Avatar is a celebrity.

Aang, for his part, is completely fine with being the centre of attention. He likes the spotlight. This won’t be the last time we see him seek it out, not by a long shot. This episode does some character work for him in this regard.

(7:47) In something of a continuation of last episode’s giant spiritual announcement that the Avatar is back, this montage shows us word spreading throughout ordinary people in the southern Earth Kingdom. From one person to another and eventually to people who’d see Aang captured. Love how the colour palette changes and the Fire Nation horn comes in through the music over that quick montage.

(7:58) Here’s another way Zuko’s season one treatment differs from your Zhaos and your season two Azulas - you see him and Iroh in little domestic moments like this. Zuko’s not in armour, he’s sitting down for a meal with his uncle, he leaves the scene insisting he’s saving his meal for later. He and Iroh are depicted as having lives outside messing with the protagonists. (Villain domesticity gets a different twist in season three, which is heavily into exploring how the war’s messed up the Fire Nation at home, in all senses of ‘at home’.)

Broadsword status: still there. Seriously, the animators left them in for a single shot where they’re only partly in view behind Zuko’s head. They were extremely careful with that particular detail, given that not one but two plot points hang on Zuko having and displaying those swords.

(8:13) Cut to the statue of Kyoshi being cleaned and repainted, showing how the people of Kyoshi are honouring the Avatar. Appa is also getting the spa treatment, lucky Appa.

(8:32) Aang immediately identifies the food set out in front of him as a dessert not usually served at breakfast and starts scarfing it down; Katara looks at it more dubiously. She’s never left the South Pole before, so she’s not familiar with Earth Kingdom cuisine. Aang’s travelled pretty extensively, so he is. Have I mentioned recently how much I love the attention to detail in this show?

(8:41) Sokka, meanwhile, is sulking in a corner. His sexism is depicted here as petty and as more self-inflicted misery, pathetic and self-sabotaging.

(9:15) Again, the pattern. Katara says ‘we’re probably going to have a problem if we stay here too long’, looking at future issues, Aang says ‘nah, we’re fine for the moment!’ Another thing he learns a lesson about by the end of the episode - and he doesn’t repeat that specific mistake.

It’s also noticeable that even as Aang’s clearly glutting on the attention, it’s important to him that he’s making the town happy. He wants the people around him to be happy, even just casual contacts.

(9:25) Katara spells out the moral of Aang’s story this episode. The attention is going to Aang’s head, and he needs to get a grip.

(9:33) Even here in episode four, Katara is noticeably annoyed at girls around Aang’s age fangirling over him, and at how positively Aang reacts to it. Not going anywhere but Kataang, just a question of maturity.

Cue montage of Aang being very popular and doing a bit of showing off (airbending push-ups! An exercise in lifting one’s own body weight with airbending, with sufficient control not to physics oneself flying backwards!), while Katara prepared to move on and looks rather unimpressed.

(10:34) Sokka, who as I mentioned back in episode one, is teenage insecure, walks up to the Kyoshi Warriors’ training area with the clear intention of proving something to himself, I mean, to them. When he approaches, we see the Kyoshi Warriors are moving in unison, again showing us their discipline and professionalism.

(10:42) Incidentally, Sokka totally knows what he’s doing by calling the Kyoshi Warriors’ practice a “little dance lesson”. Condescension guaranteed to raise blood pressure.

(10:50) Suki, who is way more gracious than Sokka deserves right now, apologises for arresting Sokka and friends on suspicion of being Fire Nation spies. Not because arresting suspected Fire Nation spies without a lick of proof is bad, mind you, but because the assumption turned out to be wrong. Compare with Sokka and Gran-Gran wanting to kick Aang out of the South Pole village and into the antarctic wastes without so much as a snack or a blanket. We’ll see this more in the next few episodes, but the Fire Nation’s war damages the ability of Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom to trust any stranger.

(11:01) Suki’s patience is not infinite. When Sokka doubles down on being a dickhead, she gets ready to smack him down. This doesn’t seem like her first experience dealing with men talking down to her and her group, either.

Over the course of the series we’ll see some Earth Kingdom women in some bureaucratic positions with varying levels of power (never a top job), but aside from Toph, I don’t think I can recall seeing any Earth Kingdom women in active combat situations. As a whole, the setting as of the time of the main series seems to be patriarchal. The Earth Kingdom seems to settle into a place between the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation, with sexism being a little less obvious than the Water Tribes’ outright “stay in the kitchen,” and the glass ceilings firmly in place.

(11:31) As you’d expect, the teenager who’s had the opportunity to train their martial skills regularly with other warriors handily defeats the teenager who hasn’t. It’s not even close.

(12:11) In contrast to Sokka’s sexism, Aang’s hanging out with the younger girls of Kyoshi Island, happily showing off the fact that he was a woman in a past life, and not batting an eyelid when one of the girls says Aang was very pretty in that past life.

(12:20) Katara asks Aang to help out with the shopping for provisions; Aang refuses because he booked himself having fun with other people. He still wants Katara to come along, though. Ah, different attitudes to work. Katara picks up responsibilities without being asked, Aang puts the work off. Katara also uses her words to say “watching you show off isn’t fun for me” - she wants to be Aang’s friend, rather than his audience, while Aang’s having a bit of trouble distinguishing the two.

Aang’s issues with attention are also rendered a bit more painful on the rewatch. On first viewing, it’s immaturity, plain and simple. And there’s a lot of immaturity involved here, it’s true. The first impression isn’t entirely inaccurate. With knowledge of ‘The Storm’, the viewer also knows that the reveal that Aang’s the Avatar threw a wrench into his peer relationships, which he never had a chance to rebuild or readjust. The girls of Kyoshi aren’t exactly Aang’s friends, but they are providing companionship and strings-free fun, something which Aang was feeling pretty short of prior to running away. The issue’s more complex than just the attention going to Aang’s head.

For his part, Aang also accurately assesses that Katara’s jealous. She doesn’t want to just sit back and watch Aang, she’s said as much, but it’s true that she also wants Aang’s attention in return. The context of Katara and Sokka’s social decisions in this episode is them trying to work out how to relate to people around their own age, something neither has had to do before. So while Katara doesn’t want to be Aang’s audience, like she said, and she’s not willing to put her goals on the backburner just to keep Aang happy, she’s also on new social ground and not the smoothest about it.

(13:18) Outside the Kyoshi Warriors’ HQ, Sokka is kicking rocks and clearly thinking about something.

(13:35) And here Sokka starts to prove his worth. When evidence and facts conflicted with his worldview, Sokka went with the evidence and the facts - Suki and company are better at fighting than he is. So to improve his own skills, he respectfully requests that Suki teach him.

Realistically, this does not instantly make Sokka the perfect feminist ally, as we’ll see. Even here he’s gone for the “if I insulted you earlier” apology, though I’d tend to be a bit more tolerant when that’s followed up with the blunt “I was wrong,” as Sokka does. Suki, who’s well within her rights to be annoyed at a guy coming back to ask her a favour after insulting her like that, tests Sokka’s commitment by insisting he train in their traditional dress and facepaint.

(14:10) Suki’s explanation further makes it clear that any humiliation Sokka might feel is a Sokka problem, as opposed to her inflicting women’s clothing on Sokka specifically for humiliation value. Her uniform was tailored for women, and it’s also a warrior’s uniform. Nothing to be ashamed of. So if Sokka wants to train as a Kyoshi Warrior, he dresses for it.

(14:17) Like I said, getting the bulk of the point doesn’t instantly make Sokka a perfect feminist - when Aang says “nice dress,” he still can’t hang on to Suki’s point that dressing “like a girl” isn’t inherently insulting.

(14:26) Katara just quietly practicing waterbending in a free moment, nothing flashy, just manipulating small amounts of water.

(14:34) In a transparent attempt to get Katara’s attention, Aang says he’s going to go do something silly and dangerous. Katara’s not indulging these particular antics. It’s a brief fight and definitely a kid fight.

(15:05) Sokka’s fumbling with a new routine and new weapon in new armour is accentuated by the off-key music.

(15:29) The way that Sokka manages to knock Suki down with exactly the technique she was talking about shows how quick a study he can be when he actually tries to learn. They’re probably both right in their little spat here, too - Sokka did get her, Suki probably did let her guard down more than she usually would since Sokka is such a beginner.

(15:45) Back over in Aang’s storyline, Aang’s fanclub is getting bored with the lack of sea monster action.

(16:04) But as the fanclub wanders off, Katara arrives. And there’s the point for Aang this episode. Katara’s not Aang’s fangirl, she won’t always agree with him, they’ll occasionally fight - but she means it when she says she wants what’s best for him, and she’s not going to wander off on him because she got bored.

(16:24) So they end it by mutually acknowledging what they did wrong and apologising to each other. What is this communicating business? Who does that in an episodic drama? And what sort of sea monster attacks after our protagonists have got their emotional act together?

(17:27) This is a lackluster action sequence by this series’ standards, because it’s basically Aang getting whipped backwards and forwards by a giant eel, while Katara stands on shore. The creativity isn’t there. Fortunately, this part of the action sequence is brief.

(17:42) When Katara does manage to intervene, again we can see that she’s not practiced in a fight. Her waterbending does want she wants it to do, blast her and Aang back towards shore and away from the Unagi, but damn that’s a simple and straightforward use of the art. Note also that waterbending was her last resort - she waded out to Aang rather than any waterbending that would let her maintain speed and maneuverability.

(17:56) Zuko shows up here, because the fight scene needed a boost.

(18:10) Where’d he get the komodo-rhinos? Who knows.

(18:35) Katara’s earlier practice drawing water out of a basic bowl here gets a more lifesaving use, as she waterbends the water right out of Aang’s windpipe. The show didn’t make a big deal of Katara’s earlier practice, but here it is, same move!

(18:51) It’s sunset, and Sokka and Suki are still training together. This has clearly not been a miserable experience for either of them.

(19:09) Another instance of Zuko rocking up to a location and just shouting “Avatar! Where are you, Avatar!” No intro. No niceties. Just single-minded shouting.

(19:18) When, shockingly, the Avatar does not show his face at such an eloquent plea to come out and get kidnapped, Zuko orders his men to search the village. Bad things for bad reasons, just trampling over people’s homes and peace of mind for his objective.

(19:40) The Kyoshi Warriors are a match for non-benders, but have a bit more trouble with Zuko, especially when he’s on a komodo-rhino (and apparently knows how to use that fact).

(20:07) In the brief exchange between Zuko and his soldiers and the Kyoshi Warriors, Zuko does not personally set any building on fire. He doesn’t do what Zhao does later this season and trash everything his fire touches. That doesn’t negate the fact that he showed up to terrorise people until the Avatar showed up, assaulted a bunch of people, and that his subordinates weren’t as careful about the buildings as Zuko was.

(20:38) Aang uses some dropped fans to blast Zuko right through a wall, and we get a reaction shot afterwards to note that he’s not happy. Aang doesn’t like fighting and tries not to hit back.

(20:45) Aang glides over the village and gets a look at the destruction, including a look back at the statue of Kyoshi in flames.

(21:10) Aang blames himself for the village getting burned down. Katara says it’s not his fault. Again, it’s a deceptively complex ethical issue for a kids’ show. Arson is on the arsonists, but what are Aang’s responsibilities to random villagers in living in indefensible, flammable locations, when they don’t know Aang’s being chased and Aang does? As a matter of sheer practicality, Aang can flee a lot more easily than most villagers can fight back against the Fire Nation.

There aren’t good, totally fair answers to this. But after this point, if the gAang decides to stop in one place for a while, it’s either a decent-sized population centre, or somewhere out of the way. Not a village.

(21:19) Katara says she reckons Zuko will leave Kyoshi Island alone to chase them, and resigned, Aang says he’ll call Appa. Goodbye, any hope of normal travel! This looks to me like the point where Aang internalised that yes, in the dystopian future he woke up in, being the Avatar means being hunted down by the Fire Nation.

(21:33) Sokka apologises for treating Suki like a girl when he should have treated her like a warrior. Suki gives us the galaxy brain take - there’s no contradiction, she can be both.

(21:52) Appa takes off and Katara’s prediction is borne out. Zuko drops everything to chase them.

(22:11) Aang isn’t happy with just running, though. He feels obliged to do something else to defend Kyoshi when it’s already burning. So he dives back into the ocean and lures the Unagi back out to spray water all over the village.

(22:38) The look on Zuko’s face at being drenched is priceless.

(22:58) Katara gives Aang a hug for risking himself to help others, and the group flies off into the sunset to end the episode.

So, on the whole. This episode doesn’t do anything radical in terms of the plot, but it does provide some character development that needed to happen early. Aang needed to come to terms with being the centre of attention, whether the attention was shallow adoration or a serious desire to harm him without much regard for collateral damage. Katara and Aang both needed to work on maintaining a long-term friendship not based on novelty value. Sokka needed to snap out of that particular form sexism, because the rest of the series isn’t going to be short on female combatants.

#a:tla #fine toothed comb edition

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somegirlsnerdywords2 · 3 years

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Anime i’m Interested in: Spring 2021

1. Boku no Hero Academia 5th Season: Airing March 27th, 2021

Synopsis: Fifth season of Boku no Hero Academia.

2. Fruits Basket: The Final: Airing April 6th, 2021

Synopsis: Final season of Fruits Basket.

3. Zombieland Saga: Revenge: Airing April 9th, 2021

Synopsis: Second Season of Zombieland Saga.

4. Tokyo Revengers: Airing April 11th, 2021 (Maybeeeee i’ll watch, big maybe)

Synopsis: Takemichi Hanagaki's life is at an all-time low. Just when he thought it couldn't get worse, he finds out that Hinata Tachibana, his ex-girlfriend, was murdered by the Tokyo Manji Gang: a group of vicious criminals that has been disturbing society's peace for quite some time. Wondering where it all went wrong, Takemichi suddenly finds himself travelling through time, ending up 12 years in the past—when he was still in a relationship with Hinata. Realizing he has a chance to save her, Takemichi resolves to infiltrate the Tokyo Manji Gang and climb the ranks in order to rewrite the future and save Hinata from her tragic fate. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

5. Mars Red: Airing April 6th, 2021 (Maybe i’ll watch, big maybe)

Synopsis: Mars Red takes place in 1923, and vampires have existed for quite a while. But now, the number of vampires is increasing and a mysterious, artificial blood source called Ascra has appeared. The Japanese government, in turn, creates "Code Zero," an unit within the army tasked with taking down the vampiric forces. And what better way to track vampires than by using vampires? Created by Lieutenant General Nakajima, this unit has historically been in the business of information war, but has been re-assigned to solve the vampire crisis. (Source: Funimation, edited)

6. Shadows House: Airing April 11th, 2021

Synopsis: Faceless shadow nobles living in a vast mansion, attended by living dolls who spend much of their time cleaning up the soot endlessly emitted by their mysterious masters. Follow the story of Emilyko, a young and cheerful living doll, as she learns her duties serving as the attendant for Kate Shadow-sama. (Source: MU)

7. Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood: Airing April 7th, 2021

Synopsis: Set in alternate history Japan in 1931 and the 64th year of the Meiji era, the Tokugawa shogunate was never abolished and Emperor Meiji was never restored to power. The anime will follow the activities of "Nue," an organization of shogunate executioners who enforce the government. The country has developed its own energy source, the "dragon vein," and has achieved a unique development in which science and the Edo period are mixed. However, behind the glamorous city, the dissident organization Kuchinawa strives to overthrow the administration, while the Nue of the Tokugawa regime, who was entrusted with its extermination, are in conflict. Sawa Yukimura, whose family was killed when she was young, continues to search for Janome, the executioner of the Nue. (Source: MAL News)

8. Mashiro no Oto: Airing April 3rd, 2021

Synopsis: Shamisen is a traditional Japanese musical instrument that looks similar to a guitar. Teenager Sawamura Setsu's grandfather who raised him and his older brother Wakana, recently passed away. His grandfather was one of the greatest Shamisen players and the two siblings grew up listening to him play and learning to play the instrument. Since their grandfather's death, Setsu dropped out of high school, moved to Tokyo and has been drifting, not knowing what to do besides play his Shamisen. That's when his successful and rich mother, Umeko, storms into his life and tries to shape Setsu up. She enrolls him back into high school, but little does Setsu know that he is about to rediscover his passion for Shamisen. (Source: MU, edited)

9. Gokushufudou: Airing April 8th, 2021

Synopsis: "Immortal Tatsu," the legendary yakuza who single-handedly defeated a rival gang with a lead pipe, is a name known to strike fear in both hardened police officers and vicious criminals. Soon after his sudden disappearance, he resurfaces with a slight change in profession. Now equipped with an apron, Tatsu has given up violence and is trying to make an honest living as a house husband. While adapting to mundane household tasks, Tatsu finds that being a house husband has its own challenges, from the battlefield known as supermarket sales to failures in the kitchen. Despite living peacefully, misunderstandings seem to follow him left and right. Gokushufudou follows the daily life of the comically serious ex-yakuza as he leaves behind his dangerous previous life to become a stay-at-home husband. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

10. Godzilla: Singular Point: Airing March 25th, 2021

Synopsis: This series features an original story, which depicts the young geniuses Mei Kamino, a female researcher, and Yun Arikawa, a male engineer, as they take on an unprecedented threat with their companions. When danger comes up from the depths, only young geniuses Mei, Yun, and their team can face the threat in Godzilla Singular Point! (Source: Netflix)

#boku no hero academia #Fruits Basket #zombieland saga #tokyo revengers #mars red #Shadows house #jouran: the princess of blood and snow #anime #mashiro no oto #gokushufudou #godzilla singular point

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Ducktales Reviews! 3-5: Louie’s Eleven!

In my most anticipated ep of this batch, Louie’s Ocean’s Eleven esque heist gets derailed by his own ego and someone pulling a Die Hard while Donald finds love in an elevator living it up when he’s going down with the best Daisy in history. Romantic musical numbers, people being dicks, and suprise returns insure. Hey you kooky beatniks there’s gonna be a heist, tonnnniggghtttt under the cut.

If the little intro blurb didn’t give it away, i’ve been waiting for this one all season, with the last two being okay but not amazing and a suprise treat respectivley. WIth Daisy debuting, a heist (a genre I love and need to watch more of) and the Cablleros, expectations were high... and met and exceded. Yeah while the show has disapointed me before (The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks, which this episode is somehow a sequel to is the prime example. ) with an episode I was chomping at the bit for this one delivered. The basic setup is as you’d expect: Donald, now having less parental obligations has gotten the Cablleros back together. It’s something Frank hinted at in the EW interview for this episode: That they wanted to explore just what Donald would do now he could ease up a bit. He’s not alone anymore: He trusts Scrooge again, He has Beakly to educate them and his sister to split parenting duties with and make up for lost time. He’s in a good place and has freedom for the first time in 10 years, almost 11... so what DOES he do with it? Up until now his life has been his kids: Sure his overproection of them and trying to get them away from Scrooge was more him projecting over his issues with Della and his childhood in general, but he still meant well on some level. Their his world, the thing he cares most about, and while the boys can be disprectful it’s been shown multiple times they truly love their adopted dad as much as their newly returned mom and Donald did an outstanding job raising them warts and all. What do you do when your life has been one thing for a good third of it? It’s why I think him trying to get famous through his music makes a lot of sense: His college days and adventures were a happy time for him: hanging out with his best friends, doing something he truly loved, and doing something normal at the same time. So of course the idea of having them not only presumibly move to the area for this, so he has friends close again, and do something from a time he was truly happy... of course he’d jump on that. But given our trio consists of a disaster area with horrible planning skills 90% of the time, a boisterous rooster, and a playboy Parrot, their plana mounts to “Go to rich people’s bathrooms and plkay and hope they don’t get thrown out”. Since that failed, Louie, being Louie steps in with a crooked contract (Which Donald relucntantly signs after Panchito has already forged his name) and an elaborate heist on tastemaker Emma Glamour’s annual party with the help of his 11: Louie himself, Dewey (More on him in a minute), one of the background characters, the cabs, webby, Huey (whose suprised to find out he just did a forgery), Gyro (who is TOTALLY not in just to test out his new headsets which TOTALLY don’t make your head go pop if you wear them too long) and Manny as his trump card. But naturally this being a heist pastiche, things go wrong from the start: Turns out Glamour beefed up security with an old familiar face: Falcon Graves, who you may remember from infernal internship and was freaking awesome and kinda hot. He’s back, and Dewey’s understandably afraid of Graves spotting him given last time they met Dewey threw him off a roof. Things naturally snowball from there: An attempt to have Donald grab a stage pass from Glamour’s assitant, Daisy, aka the reason everyone anticipated this episode so much including me, goes sideways because well Donald and he gets trapped in the elevator with her strapped together. Oh and she finds out he’s a party crasher here for his own plans. Great first meeting. Meanwhile Jose and Panchito fail to get past the rest of security, Louie continues to undervalue Dewey and fails to schmooze Glamour, and oh yeah: Graves was pulling a Die Hard the entire time in a really nice twist I didn’t see coming. Graves brings in some familiar hired goons: The smashnikovs and Gabby McStabberson from the pilot, back again if in a minor role. The night is full of many happy returns, but we’ll get to the last suprise guest in a second. Meanwhile Donald bonds with Daisy as both feel ignored: Daisy is revealed to, in line with her charcter in general, be a budding fashion designer who wants her dress, the stunning green number that’s been circulating around, to get on the list and hoped by showing it to Glamour at the party and helping plan it, she’d throw her a bone. I REALLY like Daisy’s character here a LOT. She has Daisy’s empathy, love of fashion, with some added ambition and combat prowess, more on that in a second, while still being willing to call someone out if she has to, and even when she does so to Donald it is after she finds out he was gatecrashing her one shot at getting ahead in her dream career, calming down when she gets an understanding of his reasons and just how lonely he truly feels. Frank scraped together every good part of every version of daisy and left her old, horribly outdated and sexist “nagging girlfriend/wife from every sitcom that came decades after this character was created” characterization used at times dead and buried. Speaking of Donald, the musical number was utterly beautiful, the clear highlight of the episode and wonderfully romantic, while also heartbreaking: and Donald not being listend to DOES really tie into his character for me: no one really has: Della and Scrooge flat out ignored his concerns about space travel, while the boys love him they will, with Huey being the outlier, ignore or dispresct him frequently. And even his two best friends bicker over their own directions for the bands while ignoring him up to the end, something I DO wish had gotten more focus, as do I wish the cabs had gotten just a touch more in general as their mostly off to the side. That being said I like this: besides being somewhat meta given donald’s spare use in season 1 and being only in about half of season 2, I like this: It shows that while he appears to take his family ignroing waht he wants constantly in stride inside he jsut wants SOMEONE to care about what he wants and needs, genuinely care. I mean “The Golden Spear” did show they TRY at times, with the cruise being an especially nice gesture, but most of the time they generally don’t think about donald when planning family outings or what not, it’s just one adventure after another with him left in the dust or fearing for his life. He’s a great adventuer, truly legendary.. but he dosen’t LIKE adventuering. He just wants someone who cares about what he wants.. and he’s found it in someone looking for the same and seeing not someone they love but don’t respect.. but a sweet kind man who just wants for someone to respect what he wants and genuinelyw ork at doing that. And he got it. Before we get to the climax the other main plot, since both plots share equal time this ep really and are really just two halfs of the same main plot, the Dewey and Louie plot is a bit weaker. It’s not BAD but it is predictable, though it was nice to see Louie be the control freak and it makes sense: hustling what he’s good at so of course he wants to see his plan go through and get the glory... but he fails to be actually GOOD at heisting whicha lso makes sense: Louie’s good at manipulationa nd seeing angles.. but he’s so caught up in his own scheme, he can’t see them and is blind to the value of his own brother. While Deweey can be massively unehlpful and attention whorish, he does have a genuine knowledge of the partya nd Glamour that woudl’ve made things go faster, and it does fit his character enough not to be jaring and the ending of it, with Dewey providing a critical distraction AND getting on the list himself, whlie Louie saves his eleven and a huge fight with them, and daisy who proves every bit as badass and prone to bersekerr rages as her man, that’s a treat to see, is predictable, though the bit of Louie giving Dewey a new heist plan with his brother included and admitting he was wrong wa nice. It’s not bad, it just pales in comaprison to the donsy plot right next to it that’s so much fresher and more intersting. However while the main brother conflict is mostly passable, the rest of the heist is wells et up and the ep as a whole shot up from good to great witht he climax, starting with a big, wonderful, and fucking hilarous reveal: Graves was after Glamour’s phone, which acesses her website and sold it off to the highest bidder.. and the second we find out that was his plan, it becomes obvious just whose coming back: Beaksy is back, to graves utter horror after the fiasco from last time, as he wants on the list. And while the minute graves mentioned he was selling off Emma’s phone I could tell Beaks was about to make his way in, the show did throw me a genuine , wonderful curveball: Emma is beaks mother. Given his mom is a cold and distant assholish tastemaker and “Coach Dad” apparently mocked his unatheltic son, it explains.. pretty much everything really. Graves is mortified and eventually just plans to say screw it and kill both for annoying him, another bit I like as it shows even a consumate professional can get fed up with the beaks family, understandably their Duckberg’s version of the Sapperstiens at this point, but Emma is saved by Daisy, who after Graves whaleson donald, returns the favor and beats the shit out of him. It twas glorious. So things wrap up: everyone’s new faviorite couple takes turns telling Emma off who actually concedes to Daisy telling her someone needed to stand up to her, and puts her dress ont he list, graves is arressed by Detective Cabrera (to my utter delight, one last nice suprise) and the boys play their number.. they don’t get on the list because donald can’t sing, but Daisy is smitten and Donald likewise. Also beaks is squatted next to his mom whining like a petulant child because of course he is. All in all a great ending As you could tell I loved this ep. While again the main dewey and louie conflict was just kinda stock and predictable, the amount of energy and heart in the rest of the episode easily overrides it, and I was delighted both to see Graves come back and to see beaks suprise appearnce tying him to both of the episodes antagonists. Overall a well plotted fun romp despite it’s flaws and one of the highlights so far. An instant classic. As for where it ranks... 1. Quack Pack 2. Louie’s Eleven 3. Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks! 4. The Lost Harp of MIrvana! 6. Double O Duck . HOpe you liked the review and if there’s any other episode from the first two seasons of the reboot or from the original, or from the disney afternoon or the animated marvel canon, just throw me a message or an ask. Later days. Stray thoughts; 1. Huey’s bit was gold and I feel for the poor boy. 2. I was mildly disapointed the eleven mostly included exactly who you thought and Manny when we have a rather large supporitng cast to pull from.

#ducktales spoilers #ducktales #Louie's Eleven #donald duck #daisy duck #donsy #louie duck #dewey duck #falcon graves #emma glamour #mark beaks #panchito pistoles #jose carioca #Gyro Gearloose

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twisted-dummy · 2 years

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#kraftwerk #rammstein #queen band #queen #alternate universe #Travel in the past #Welt #Travel in the past Season 2 #Travel in the past Season 2: Musical Conflict #kraftwerk au

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creative-ive · 4 years

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Yeezus by Kanye West (Album Review)

Yeezus by Kanye West

Kanye West’s 6th studio album Yeezus starts off with an ear-shattering noise like a robot being killed or sacrificed. “Yeezy season approaching,” the first words spoken give us a glimpse of the culture shift that was about to be brought upon us. His album, you either loved or hated… no in-between really. Kanye pursued to separate himself from the lack luster mainstream music going on right now. He chose no radio single. No huge marketing campaign. DONDA (his creative company) designed a marketing plan to use only the power of the internet and the creativity amongst die-hard Kanye fans. Who traveled distances to see the projections of “New Slaves” all around the world. The creation of “Please Add Graffiti” gave fans an opportunity to create an album cover out of the clear glass case with nothing but a simple red-orange sticker. With songs like “Black Skinhead” that have a dark, rebellious, and tribal influence raging against racism and establishments. Kanye being a successful African American as he is in a white-dominant culture creates the analogy that a white woman at the top floor with him would cause havoc to the point where they military would have to come in and kill King Kong. Although, it is the most dark-toned album Kanye has released to date it is also his most comedic and sexual one.

“I Am A God,” one of the most controversial songs of all time is essentially a masterpiece. He never does say he IS god. Simply a God amongst many while a man of God at the same time exemplifying that he is also able to fall to sin as other humans are. Again, “New Slaves” became the most talked about song (behind Kendrick Lamar’s Control) in various cities all over the world. Racism, corporations, greed, one-percenters, fashion, and black people all discussed and brought to life in this song. Kanye portrays himself as the epitome of an elusive and enslaving economic fantasy that is chased by black people their entire lives. Kanye holds himself to the level of Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Henry Ford, Picasso, Basquiat, etc. Although, many might scoff at the idea of Kanye being at that level, only to call him arrogant are wrong. Kanye has differentiated himself from other rappers to call become a creative genius and in the position of power he’s at in culture he has every right too. With 21 Grammy’s, 1 away from Stevie Wonder, it is difficult to deny his influence.

“I’m in it,” is his most sexual song yet conscious battle between women, civil rights, the night-life that conflicts with his wife-and-kids life he has now. Then comes, “Blood On The Leaves” to what I believe is the strongest work on the entire album. From production TNGHT, 88 Keys, Kanye, Mike Dean, 6 July, Arca, monster line-up to sample “Strange Fruit,” (a Nina Simone’s cover of Billie Holiday’s classic song). It is one of the most politically driven songs of all time and Kanye chose to rap about past relationships which could have parallels within. “When I would hold you, before the blood on the leaves” is used to define sacrifice which could be a reference to a relationship that couldn’t handle the life of a rock star or his mother who passed away in 2007 due to plastic surgery who was stolen from him by the limelight of media. The outro essentially is the most intriguing aspect he’s waiting for the “summer rose” which is a metaphor for hopelessness of heartbreak after all other roses have died. From the poem “The Last Rose of Summer” by Thomas Moore, he plucks the last roses’ pedals to leave it from being lonely. “Guilt Trip,” is the after effects of a rough relationship and the guilt from sacrificing someone. It’s ironic that former G.O.O.D. Music member Kid Cudi harmonizes “if you love me so much then why’d you let me go?” when he actually left for his own label Wicked Awesome Records. This is when the heaven analogy starts to become more concrete with “Send It Up” whose beat is compared to that of 2003 “In da Club” by 50 Cent. “Tight dress dancing close to him, Yeezus just rose again” are his final words of the song which creates (possibly) this big phallic metaphor in which he refers to his penis as Yeezus since the attractive girl grinds on it literally causing it to “rose” or rise. It being the most sexual album to date and he��d much “rather be a dick than a swallower,” it makes sense. Also, sending it up Yeezus rose/ascended to heaven which would explain why “Bound 2” sounds more soulful than the rest of the entire album. Kanye was Bound 2 heaven. To fall in love finally after a seemingly lost Kanye throughout many failed relationships finally finding Kim Kardashian.

My favorite line is “Close your eyes and let the word paint a thousand pictures, One good girl is worth a thousand bitches,” which shows the growth of Kanye over time from his misogynistic views and paints the picture for those lost in the idea that lots of women is more satisfying. Kanye’s been talking to Jesus for so long, it finally seems like he’s talking back.

Overall, sonically this album has changed the entire music landscape and already sees early influences in Childish Gambino’s Because The Internet, Beyoncé’s surprise album with no marketing whatsoever. Changing what a ‘feature’ on an album really means. He’s a leader, not a follower. He continues transcending the genre countless times since he’s arrived in the industry. It is fitting that Yeezus deserves a Grammy/Best Album of the year for its daring and bold risks calls against corporate, racism, and various themes in a minimalistic Rick Rubin assisted piece of work. The Yeezus Tour has drawn millions of people to see the art that is his performance; including countless high-profile celebrities.

Its cover art has become iconic. Its clear jewel case keeps it from being damaged but the gem remains to be seen in complete display.

Art in an essence does require a frame.

By Erik De La Cruz

https://erikthegenius.com/

Originally published on December 30, 2013.

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araminakilla · 4 years

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Ducktales theory: Modern Arabian Night(mare)s

Warning: Long theory, has a little of angst too.

So, you already know I love the Treasure of the Lost Lamp characters, and with Found Lamp! things got better. Today's theory is about D'jinn (I'm not sorry) and a concept that was introduced in this new Ducktales' season 2. What is that concept? Stay tuned.

This Christmas I was watching an original Netflix movie with the name of "Knight before Christmas" The plot is simple: An european knight from the XIV century meets a witch in the forest. Said witch brings him to the present in 2019, days before our Christmas. He has to complete a quest before the Holidays or he can't return home, that is, his time period.

While there is more to tell, I wanted to point this because the knight spoke in a manner that made me think in D'jinn. That's when I realized: That's how medieval knights spoke! (yeah, I think you knew this by this point, I'm slow in some things, it happens)

Not only that, but said knight tried to solve conflicts with his sword and is very loyal with people he just met but have good intentions. Also, he was talking about his quest during the movie, just like D'jinn in the Found Lamp! episode.

There was a post about the movie where the person said that the knight was handsome, among other things, but also very stupid. Then I found this comment:

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, here comes the theory part. I thought in two possibilities of why D'jinn acts like a medieval knight.

1) He's a fan of stories with ancient arabian medieval knights and is imitating them (a dramatic theater boy)

2) He IS an ancient arabian medieval knight stuck in the present.

But how? Well, I think it has to be with this lamp: (pictures belong to @scroogeislife)

The lamp of Eternity. It has to do with time, so that could mean something. At first I thought of Merlock given that he's inmortal, and maybe that could be Gene the Genie's new lamp design, but who knows?

Also a fun fact: Faris means "knight" in Arabic so if D'jinn is really a knight that would make him "Al-Faris Faris D'jinn" which would translate to "The knight Faris D'jinn" or is The knight Knight Genie?? Anyway...

The point is, Faris was doing what arabian knights did with the company of other knights from his hometown. I theorize that he was in a war against some new invaders that wanted to conquer his homeland and destroy his family for the lamp. I would say they were either the Knight Templars or the Ottomans, let's go with the Ottomans since it was established he hates them in the series. The time period would be the early/mid XIV century (I don't really know much about arabian history in those times, so lets continue)

Be a lamp, a wizard or some strange magic, our Faris ended up in the XXI century, 700 years in the future.

To make things better (for us) he ends up in a modern arabian City with many modern malls, very advanced technology and beautiful skyscrapers (because yes, there are still people who believe those things don't exist in the Middle East)

He naturaly freaks up and demands to know what happens and for "demands" that means raising his sword, pointing it at everyone who is making eye contact with him and screaming: What kind of sorcery is this!?

The people around him also freak out, culminating in D'jinn being taken to the police, who proceeds to take pictures of him, hence those pictures in Lunaris' secret war room and why there are two of them when everyone has only one.

They began to make questions like: Who are you? Where did you come from? What are your intentions?

And D'jinn is like: I am Faris D'jinn! Loyal knight of (Insert name of a sultan here) who along with other magnificent people has the sacred duty of stop the Ottomans so they can not expand and become a powerful Empire!

And the police is like: Do you know the Ottoman Empire ended almost a century ago right?

Which is why Faris asks: They became an Empire!? How!? When!? What year is this!?

The Officers explain that the Ottomans ruled the Middle East for centuries and by the time of World War One they started to fall and now their descendants are the Turks. Oh, and also that this is the XXI century.

And then Faris D'jinn.exe has stopped working.

The officers were worried about this guy's mental health and told him they were going to call a doctor to see if he can help him and that he has to wait in a room.

But D'jinn had other things in mind. What happened seven centuries ago after he disappeared? What happened to his people, his companions in war, his family? Where are they now? He wants to know all those answers. He wants to know everything NOW.

So, like the good warrior he is, he escapes and begins to seach for the D'jinn family.

Unfortunately, they seem to have disappeared. There's no sign of his family or descendants with his last name. He begins to fear for the worst. He sometimes thinks the Ottomans wiped them out of existence, but other times he believes they are fine and it's only matter of seaching more, hence why Faris told Huey that the Ottomans failed miserably at trying to destroy his family (and suddenly another funny moment becomes an angsty one)

Gif belongs to @drummergirl231-2

We believed Della had it rough? Well yes that's very true but what about being the only survivor of your family? That must hurt a lot, specialy for someone very family-oriented and who consider bloodline and legacy to be very important.

He actually goes through the 5 stages of grief, the Anger and Depression stages being the most prominent ones.

He refuses to have any contact or friendship with other people, as he can't understand them and he feels they will never understand him.

It's only when he gets to the Acceptance stage that he begins to talk to others and is interested in modern technology, music, etc.

D'jinn even records everything new he learns in different scrolls just in case he has the posibility of return to his time period.

The people (mostly millenials) around him find his way of thinking and speaking funny and they call him a loony when he tries to convince them he is an actual knight from the past.

That's where we return to the "Knight before Christmas" post. D'jinn is not dumb, he's from another time period. He's adapting, with hilarous consequences.

After hundreds of failed intents to revelal his true identity, Faris gives up and adopts a "sure, I'm a dramatic man who loves knights, whatever" attitude, which makes him feel more lonely than what already was before.

Years pass and he knows how to use a cellphone properly, how to ride a motorcycle, among other things. But he still has the hope to return to his true home and see his family again.

In the future (our present), his quest for the lamp of the first Genie continues as it still is one of the (if not the only) relics his family has.

Then he meets the Duck family and the rest is history...

After the lamp adventure, he meets the Living Mummies and bonds with them as they were in a similar situation, being from "other times" and adapting to the present.

If he gets to meet Gene and have the lamp in his hands, he would try to make a wish to return to his original time period. But there are problems:

1) He is starting to like his new present and will miss all of his new allies (the Ducks and the Mummies)

2) He knows to much. OF COURSE he's going to tell everyone about what happens in the future which could end in him becoming the arab equivalent of Nostradamus at best, or everyone thinking he is crazy at worst.

3) He and his family have a code that if someone found a thing with a Genie in it and if the genie is good, they would free it with their first wish. This code is as strong as the Mandalorian's code of not removing his helmet (This is the way) so Faris will be torn about betraying the family code only to return to them or staying in the future and never see his family and friends again.

The only solution would be asking the Ducks to make a wish so he can return but knowing Scrooge, Della and Donald, they would consider that very dangerous because again, he knows to much, he could change dramatically the events of history.

Gif belongs to @nerdalmighty

And things could get worse if Merlock/F.O.W.L. get to know about the time traveler knight.

But that is another story.

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tinytieflingtiff · 4 years

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[Part 4] made pokemon teams for all my dnd characters. ill post them in handfuls and for my own sense of fun im gonna explain why i chose each pokemon for who :] most will just be me copy-pasting pokedex entries lol. i tried to incorporate pokemon into the teams that were both similar to the character and ones they’d be drawn to.

1- Jumi: Musical Pokemon, knight-ish Pokemon was what I was going for, them being a bard/paladin.

Escavalier- Symbolic of Helm, their deity, and life as a paladin. [BLACK] “They fly around at high speed, striking with their pointed spears. Even when in trouble, they face opponents bravely.” [SH] “It charges its enemies, lances at the ready. An image of one of its duels is captured in a famous painting of Escavalier clashing with Sirfetch'd.”

Aegislash- Similar reasoning to Escavalier. But also... [Y/AS] “Apparently, it can detect the innate qualities of leadership. According to legend, whoever it recognizes is destined to become king.”

Gallade- Gallade’s aesthetic, especially in mega-evolution form, fits Jumi very well. It is knight-like, as well. Also, its intelligence.. [HGSS] “Because it can sense what its foe is thinking, its attacks burst out first, fast, and fierce.” [SH] “Sharply attuned to others' wishes for help, this Pokémon seeks out those in need and aids them in battle.”

Chimecho- Another on-point aesthetic Pokemon for them more than anything. [Y] “Emitting ultrasonic cries, it floats on winds to travel great distances.”

Sawsbuck- Obviously added due to Jumi being a Satyr. However, I like that it changes with the seasons -- as does Jumi, in their eyes, but in a more metaphorical way lol. [Y/AS] “They migrate according to seasons, so some people call Sawsbuck the harbingers of spring.”

Grookey- Showcases Jumi’s more lighthearted, carefree side, I think. It’s curious by nature, energetic and it plays music, so. [SW] “When it uses its special stick to strike up a beat, the sound waves produced carry revitalizing energy to the plants and flowers in the area.”

2- Daemyar: Daemyar is pretty gentle, kind and relaxed so I wanted to give them less like “battle-oriented” Pokemon (for the most part) and more Pokemon I think they’d simply enjoy raising and taking care of (and ones similar to them obv). I wanted at least one fighting type for the sake of their being a monk.

Bidoof- [DIAMOND] “With nerves of steel, nothing can perturb it. It is more agile and active than it appears.”

Pidgey- [DP] “It is docile and prefers to avoid conflict. If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back.” [RUBY] “Pidgey has an extremely sharp sense of direction. It is capable of unerringly returning home to its nest, however far it may be removed from its familiar surroundings.” Daemyar also really likes small birds.

Skiploom- Skiploom is depicted typically very calm and simply enjoying nature/life, so I thought it was a good fit. I think Daemyar would Vibe with this one.

Hitmontop- [SH] “After doing a handstand to throw off the opponent's timing, it presents its fancy kick moves.” [ORAS] “Hitmontop spins on its head at high speed, all the while delivering kicks. This technique is a remarkable mix of both offense and defense at the same time. The Pokémon travels faster spinning than it does walking.“

Cutiefly- First, like with Pidgey, Daemyar is a big fan of bees and Cutiefly is pretty similar to one honestly. Also, it’s gentle and simply exists -- things Daemyar likes :]. Also... [SH] “An opponent's aura can tell Cutiefly what that opponent's next move will be. Then Cutiefly can glide around the attack and strike back.”

Audino- Here for their healing nature as a monk, being way of mercy. Also ears!!! [AS] “It touches others with the feelers on its ears, using the sound of their heartbeats to tell how they are feeling.”

#daemyar #jumi #dnd pokemon teams #not art

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fijiangecko · 5 years

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When the Sun Rises in the West

Prologue

A/N: AHHH IT'S HERE!! I'm so excited to finally share this! I'm planning on posting chapters every couple days so I make you all wait for it 😉 this whole series was entirely based off of this playlist, and every chapter will have a theme. This one isn't super edited but I actually love this series. Heavily based off of GoT (locations and dergons) but no spoilers. This story doesn't use the same plot or same characters.

C/N = City Name

Word Count: 1,700+

The barren wasteland of Essos was home to many people for the past several centuries. From dry deserts to scattered mountain ranges, the people couldn't have been happier to be alive and not in Westeros, dealing with the war of the iron throne. Blood shed, tears, agony and resentment are what wars left behind, not the virtues of peace and prosperity they promised. You, for one, would never want to experience anything like it. As heiress to a city newfound within the last century, your heart is only filled with love for your people. Never in your life would you wish to put a sword in a child's hand and tell them to fight for your honor, and not their own.

There's a reason your people haven't had to fight yet. Both the natural defenses that C/N holds and the ferociousness of native animals. C/N lies in a valley between several mountains. It is deep enough to have its own water supply, and no sane ruler would have his army climb over such steep mountain tops. Plus, they've only heard rumors about you, but no one would dare see if they were true.

The people of C/N love your family and care for you deeply, wishing you good health and even better prosperity. Children walk with you through the streets as you treat them to exotic fruits and pleasantries. The adults are thankful to all gods that they have found this Oasis, this sanctuary of peace and happiness. After trekking across the Red Waste and the Dothraki Sea they found a home for both themselves and their families. They smile as you walk by, greeting you and presenting you with their wares. Oftentimes, they will want you to take it for free - a gift, but you refuse every time. You live with the head family, there's no need for you to get freebies. Everyone lives in simple splendor with their everyday lives; content at the opportunity to have an easy life until they die.

"Y/N!" You snap out of a memory where you're dancing around a great pyre to an ancient song with the town elders. It was the celebration of your fifteenth birthday, an important day in a young person's life as they graduate from childhood to adulthood. "You know you have to leave soon, right?" Your mother walks around the grand table to you, and tests her hand on top of yours. She smiles sweetly as she waits for a response.

"I know, I just don't want too." Your eyes travel downwards at the new memory. Your birthday was in two months, and the 22nd birthday through your family lineage meant marriage. Although you wouldn't be taking over C/N anytime soon due to Fathers good health, there's still a need to have good trade relationships with other cities across the nation. You know that they wouldn't force you into a relationship, as their parents didn't, but let something grow naturally with one of the children of other head families. Out of so many there was bound to be one that caught your favor… or so they hoped.

"It'll be okay pumpkin, we didn't want to send you away for so many months, but Masaru's son is the only person in the world that is like you. There has to be a bond there we don't know about." In the past few months, head families have traveled to meet you and hope that they can tie the knot with you. They were all turned away, due to a couple big factors. 1) they were too young, 2) they had a stick up their ass, 3) they didn't give a shit about what happened to the citizens of their towns and would profit off of their tragedy and 4) there were allegations of slave trade among them. True or not, you would not stand to put a price on human life. If there were allegations, then that means someone connected to them was either in or around the trades themselves. It was sickening to think about. As far as you know, the Bakugou bloodline doesn't have any affiliations with slave traders, their son is your age, if not a little older and cared about his people in an odd way.

"Why am I going for so long? I'm going to miss my 22nd celebration…"

"Well, the Bakugou's haven't been sending us a lot of materials lately, so you're not only there for personal interest but diplomatically. We need these materials for more homes. Those children you live are becoming adults, but we don't have the means to help them." She squeezes your hand. "You can help them. Missing your celebration will suck, I know, but we'll have it as soon as you get back. Plus we'll need to talk about who's going to marry who."

Anxiety bubbles in your chest, but you pop it with a calming smile. "I know. I don't like any of the other candidates, but if the rumors about the younger Bakugou are true than I shouldn't have to worry. If we are the only two in the world that are this way, isn't that a sign from gods old and new?"

"That's the spirit Y/N. We'll finish packing your stuff. Go finish saying your goodbyes." Your mother smiles sweetly and give you a tight hug before letting you go. The rest of the night you reminisce with old friends. You all talk about old shenanigans and pranks you used it pull on older people, but now you're the older people having pranks pulled on them. It is a great night of food and friends with a light dusting of sadness topped off with tears. You were gonna miss everyone, but you must do what they need you to do. They weren't crying because they were acted for you, more like they didn't want you to leave.

At first you misinterpreted their tears, "Guys, I'm gonna be okay! I'll have Rhaegal and Viserion with me."

"No Y/N, we don't want you to go!" Mina cries from across the tavern table. The tears were appreciated, and broke your heart.

"I'll be back before you know it. Maybe I'll even have some eye candy at my side." Everyone laughs and you take the rest of the night to enjoy their company. You wouldn't have been able to sleep anyways, so this was a pleasant alternative.

The morning sun is bright when your eyes crack open. They hurt for a couple seconds, but it passes as your body adjusts to new circumstances. The sun itself is only cresting over the mountain tops, creating a golden glow around everything the light touches. That's when it hits you - this is last sunrise you'll be seeing for who knows how long. If all goes well diplomatically, then you'll be able to return home within a month, but if conflicts arise… you try not to put much thought into it and just watch the hues of peach and orange dance across the sky.

Softly, someone places a hand on your shoulder breaking your stream of thoughtlessness. "It's time to go." Your mother spoke quietly, as though cooing a newborn. Her velvet voice helps calm you even further. It'll only be for a little while. I don't even have to focus on Masaru's son if I don't want too. "C'mon, let's go grab Rhaegal and Viserion."

Walking towards the edge of town, a cart with all of your things lies ahead on the path, waiting to be pulled by 2 horses and their carriage master, Kota. He smiles at you, and you back to him. You can't help but wonder how such a sweet stable boy would want in Mereen, but maybe he just wanted to take Clyde and Grumm out for a walk after being cooped up for so long. You and your mother walk around the base of one of the surrounding mountains to a cave entrance. It's too dark to see inside, but you know the two are there; waiting to be set free since the last incident.

"Ñuhyz zaldrīzesse." Screeching bounced off of the cavern walls, the cacophony animalistic gurgles and grunts echo both out and further into the tunnels. An orange flame lights up the room suddenly, and the scale from the beasts glisten in the fire light. Large cuffs are wrapped around their necks that have chains bolted into the mountain walls. "Ñuha riñar, Rhaegal se Viserion. Iksan vaoreznuni." You walk over to the chains and unlatch them. Their large bodies tower over your own, but you can feel that they mean no harm. Rhaegal nuzzles his chin on the top of your head, as if saying "I know". His green scales shine Viserion bellows out another flame. Altogether, you exit the cave.

"They don't seem agitated." Your mother stands back quite a ways; she knows that they would never harm her but they are very large creatures.

"No, they learned their lesson." You run a hand over Viserion's cream colored scales, looking into his golden eyes. "Daēz." Upon the last sound leaving your lips, the spread their massive wings and take off, spurring dust clouds at their feet.

"Hopefully the Bakugou boy is as caring as you are." She laughs as you both walk to the wagon. Kota stares at the beasts in the sky, marvelling at them as they sore and howl.

"If he's the only other person in this world who has one, then he better be taking care of it as if it were his child."

"There is a reason they call you Muña Zaldrīzoti, my dear." You both laugh for a second and you look up at her.

"I'm going to miss you." You take her hands in your own, and squeeze them. She reciprocates it by releasing your hands and going for a hug.

"You'll do great. I know it and so does your father." She squeezes her arms before releasing. "Now go off and do amazing things." Tears prick the corners of you eyes, but you hold them back as best you can. With one last glance at your smiling mother, you hop on the carriage next to Koda and start on your journey to Mereen.

Ñuhyz zaldrīzesse - My dragons

Ñuha riñar - My children

Iksan vaoreznuni - I'm sorry

Daēz - Be Free

Muña Zaldrīzoti - Mother of Dragons

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