#becoming the most cringe and fail person in my family as a character arc this year

[gideonisms]

sometimes I'm like wow there is truly someone for everyone who really wants to fall in love. then other times I think, that sounds like an awful lot of effort though

[hisbeautysurroundsus]

How-two Become One

It takes a village—several villages and a flood.  A happy marriage is not the product of one soul wandering boundlessly through the cosmos until it unavoidably bounces into its always-meant-to-be life-pairing.  It makes for a good story, but that is not what happens in real life.  A good story is not built on good things.  Conflict drives a storyline.  But conflict is not our story. 

Our love is everything that went right, all of our life’s work and most intense passions, and yet altogether none of our doing.  It is everything we ever wanted but never realized was possible until we had it.  Our story is about what went right in a union, but the line between faith, fate, and serendipity is unclear.      

How to have a happy marriage can be confusing because there is no how-to; sometimes, two people just make perfect sense together.  I am writing about my true love, my life partner of twenty-seven years, because that is what writers do, even if we cannot do the story justice. 

Every story needs an emotional arc, some conflict overcome, some redemption, or a great lesson learned by the main character.  What if none of that is true?  What if something just made sense from the beginning, two people so perfectly matched that there is no great conflict to overcome?  What if the main characters of the story learned nothing from their journey, there was no great redemption because they were so right for each other from the start?  No one wants to read that story.

I am writing our story as if my wife will not read it, as if my writing ability will in no way reflect the measure of my affection for her (even though she proofreads all my work).  I am usually a logical person, not easily rattled.  Level-headed is how 98.6% of people would describe me.  But putting our love and happiness, our story, onto the page is bewildering.  I suppose it is best to start with our beginning.  That would take us back to the village.

I have come to know that not all long marriages are happy marriages.  The length of a marriage is not proportional to the love shared; the two are not mutually inclusive, nor do they have to be mutually exclusive.  My earliest recollection of love and marriage, separate from the long line of long (not necessarily happy) marriages I witnessed in my family, was when I overheard my mother’s morning prayers as a boy. 

My mother prayed that God would intervene in my life and help me find a helpmate, someone I could be happy with and share a happy life with.  She did not pray for a long marriage; she prayed for a happy one.  She prayed that God would prepare me a wife and that I would have the character to wait until he brought us together before I gave my heart to another.  I also remember our pastor calling all the teenagers down to the altar and praying over us, that we would be attentive to God’s plan for our lives in selecting a life partner.  My wife recalls that her parents prayed the same thing for her.  My parents in Florida, hers in Mississippi, our churches, in this way, it takes a village.

I made early attempts at love; we both did, but they failed.  They did not fail so much as they never really got off the ground.  The thought of how different our lives would be should we have paired with earlier versions of what we thought could be love now feels like a glass on the edge of a table over a marble floor.  The what-ifs of a life not lived together elicit a cringe of catastrophe deep in my gut.  What if we never were?  As I reflect on the first time we met, the feeling of fragility permeates every small happenchance that led to that unlikely meeting in the Wool Market Baptist Church gym.

It was May 1995, and I was a young Airman in the US Air Force.  My first assignment following technical training was to Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi.  My boss was a member of the local American Red Cross disaster response team, and he was called to assist victims of the Little Biloxi River flood in Biloxi, Mississippi.  The week before he departed, a family emergency left him unable to fulfill his duties.  He asked me if I would consider attending a course in operating an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) and filling in for him at the flood.  I reluctantly accepted because that is what is expected when a Technical Sergeant gives an Airman a “volunteer” opportunity.  He informed me that I would have to take leave to assist, of which I only had two weeks built up, making the decision even harder.  I decided to go.    

Following a crash course on caring for disaster victims, I drove our team to Biloxi.  We immediately started preparing meals and stockpiling cleanup supplies in the Wool Market Baptist Church gym.  My job was to deliver food and cleanup supplies to those impacted by the flood.  After a few days, one of my fellow ERV drivers said that there was another American Red Cross volunteer that I had to meet.  He introduced me to my future wife, Rebekah, at the relief center in the gym at Wool Market Baptist Church. 

We briefly said hello, and nothing was particularly spectacular about that first encounter.  We agreed to meet that night for a group dinner and to discuss our business.  Rebekah and I talked at dinner, and even though she was beautiful, I felt she was too young at four years my junior.  Over the next few days, we talked in between deliveries and at dinner with the group.  She was different, not like any girl I had ever dated.  We were kindred spirits from the start.  Every conversation came easy.  We were of like faith, had similar likes and dislikes, and seemed to be heading in the same direction.    

Following the relief efforts, we spoke on the phone every night, sometimes for hours.  Never, not once, have we ever stopped talking.  We were instantly friends, though it was not immediately apparent that we would be more than that.  She was a Christian, confident, and yet unassuming and humble.  Other girls had played games, but she did not.  She was just the person I thought she was.  Although I know her much more intimately now, my initial assessment has not changed in the twenty-seven years we have spent together since.  We quickly became best friends.  

After some months of talking on the phone and a few brief visits, it became apparent that there was much more to our relationship.  I felt confident that God had brought us together and that this was the person I wanted to marry.  We dated for two and a half years and married in September 1997.  As I look back on it, a thousand small things had to align for us to meet: our parents, the flood, my boss, the training, my leave, the introduction by a friend—so many small things perfectly ordered for our marriage of twenty-seven years to get off the ground.  Only God can do that.    

Since we were married, our two separate lives have become one.  We have traveled the world with my military career, living overseas for twenty-three years.  We spent our first three years in Germany before the internet became widely available.  With no phone, no television service in English, and no family interference, we played board games and spent our evenings talking around the table.  We made blanket tents draped over couch cushions in the living room and watched movies on the VCR all weekend.  We learned to work through all our challenges together and to rely on each other in God.  We shared one vehicle, which meant we went nearly everywhere together.  We traveled all over Europe on a shoestring budget.  We held hands.  We fell in love.  We built a life together.  We became each other’s everything. 

With twelve military assignments, nine overseas, we saw the world together.  I was busy with my career and education, so Rebekah did most of our travel research.  I saw the world through her eyes as she meticulously curated each trip to maximize our shared experience.  We kissed under the Eifel Tower in Paris, climbed Mt. Fuji in Japan, scuba-dived the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, trekked across the Alps in New Zealand, and ate bulgogi in Seoul.  She showed me the best sites in over thirty countries, and as I reflect on all our shared travel experiences, I know that they were only great because we were there together.  

We experienced tragedy and disappointment, but never—not once—was our marriage in jeopardy.  We went through the loss of loved ones and all the challenges of life together.  We were strong going into these challenges and stronger yet because we overcame them together.  The challenges were never between us; they were always external to our marriage.  Her strengths complemented my weaknesses, and vice versa.  I knew she always looked out for my best interest and vice versa.  We had each other’s backs.  There was no competition between us; we were on the same team.  Her success meant my success, and my success meant her success.  A win for either of us meant a win for both.  We loved each other wholeheartedly.  We built no walls between us.  We risked everything on this one chance at true, uninhibited love.    

We are known as R&r (Rus & Rebekah) by most.  When I was promoted into leadership positions later in my military career, she was right there with me, caring for the unit’s spouses and families.  We not only survived the pressures of a military marriage, we thrived in it together.  We taught Sunday school together in churches all around the world.  We led youth groups, kids that now have kids of their own, on nearly every continent.  We have children all around the world, even though after many years of trying, we were never able to have kids of our own. 

Sometimes, while road-tripping in the truck or sitting on the garage-patio looking out at the mountains, we may not say a word for a significant length of time.  We are content to just be in each other’s presence.  We enjoy pretenseless quiet with a comfort only earned through thirty years of great conversations. Then, as if with some unheard cue, we both speak about the same thing simultaneously.  We smile knowingly as one of us yields to the other to say what we are both thinking.  We voice a private conversation we were already having in our collective subconscious.  Our conversational patterns, and likely our thought patterns, have become one.  Time does that. 

Some military assignments were five years, while others were only one year.  She made our house a home as we moved from continent to continent.  She transformed each apartment or house into a comfortable, familiar place.  She could condense our belongings and keepsakes from a two-story home into a two-bedroom apartment.  She made all of our things fit neatly, then expanded it back out when we moved back into a house.  She kept our lives balanced.  A change in our house did not mean a change in our home.      

When, in retirement, I announced to her that God was leading me to be a writer, she said she was happy to accompany me on this next chapter of our journey together.  Our story does not have the elements of a good narrative because it has always reflected God’s abundant and unmerited goodness to us.  Our life has been nothing short of grand; we have lived every experience together, yet we can take no credit for the outcome.  I cannot pass along some excellent marriage advice because no lessons were learned the hard way.  Our story contains none of the elements of a grand tale.  We were just us from the beginning.  We knew that we would share the rest of our lives together from the start.  We knew we would finish what we started because that is what we both do.  Our story has no great ending because we are still living it.  Yet our story is the one I must write, even if my limited skill in the craft could never capture the grandeur of the life we shared.

I snapped this pic on The Grand Traverse, a Great Walk on the South Island of New Zealand.

[agearinthevastklok]

Thoughts on AotD

I like that "it's about fear" very much announces the theme of Nathan's own fears of failing and self doubt, which stem from his constant perfectionism we've seen since s1. This is really emphasises in Nathan telling everyone he doesn't know how to write the Song of Salvation and subsequently crossing 'band' off - he is filled with self doubt and fear and is unable to find safety with that. This hits especially hard when you get that "is this the wrong song?" moment that hits so sudden and so hard. I think the "come back" line also really feels full of that fear - his fear is reinforced by loneliness and abandonment and grief and it's so, so powerful when he really becomes vulnerable in that moment.

The entire funeral scene is almost unbearable it felt like way too many things to deal with all at once made 100% more painful because they were ruining the funeral. I wish the bit with Nathan had happened back at their home because I had to keep stopping it just to cope with how much second hand cringe I was getting seeing that all happen in front of all those people at the funeral.

Skwisgaar using his own name/3rd person in speech feels new?

Charles' character seems to have changed quite a bit but I'm obsessed with literally all of his scenes because they pack so much punch. From his speech at the start to his return with the fans, his cool as fuck fight, his final smile - i literally cherish them. "Those are my spiritual savours you're fucking with" knocked the breath out of me.

The character arcs are so good! Nathan's "Life might actually be precious" at the start to realising how to write the Song of Salvation at the end. Murderface putting himself out there to help Charles after being convinced he had no value at the beginning. General Crozier's entire redemption arc.

Also character relationships really do so much here. Toki and Skwisgaar's dynamic becomes far more caring and close with Toki literally looking after Skwisgaar despite still bickering. The whole band getting emotionaly upfront with Murderface about needing him and that beautiful "but you always feel it" line is so so good. Pickles knowing Nathan's order perfectly, their "see you on stage" moment, hugging Toki, being so parental, honestly doing the Most for them all. Nathan's relationship with his parents being still loving and full of supportive words. Toki getting Deaddybear back and Nathan saying "you're one hell of a motherfucker" to Edgar in that fond voice. Murderface honouring Knubbler before the song. Nathan calling the band his family. Hell, even Nathan going from despising the fans to opening his hand to them and eventually thanking them, it's so good. And, yeah, his "relationship to music" bit with the visual metaphor penis, i thought that was good too!

Character confrontations are also really good! I LOVE the bit where Skwisgaar confronts Murderface in that really intense voice- probably my fav bit of voice acting in the whole film. Also Pickles cofnronting Nathan and making him realise why he'd failed his task (with that hilarious "this is weird" commentary from Murderface).

The animation is GORGEOUS - especially in scenes focused on Murderface. There are some very heavily anime-influenced moments which are sometimes beautiful and sometimes a little jarring. Nathan also somehow suffers from some off-model moments a few times.

The artwork is also gorgeous! Backgrounds, stained glass, graphic design, so much beautiful work! Similarly to the animation, there is some very anime-esque scenery I found jarring compared to what MTL usually looks like.

The humour is really great! Knubbler falling down those stairs had me wheezing and the gong breaking is funny both times. Murderface's "like us" funniest joke in the whole movie. "That was upsetting!" made me cackle. Nathan's conversation with Salacia was also very funny but I felt that was at the price of a less dramatic character confrontation.

The amount of 'men in female roles' is so good. Mother Pickles and Sister Toki are doing so much gender for me especially because of how much Pickles just COMMITS to that. "bring mommy his scotch" "you're the absolute best mother" both excellent for my heart. Also "you are the beast daughters of the apocalypse" offers so much gender feeling.

Nathans weird awkward moment during the "your role" bit is very endearing somehow and feels very similar to his sense of humour when he learned he could make a silly voice in the shower

There's some great one-off lines. "Sunshines rainbows marshmallows man" my beloved. "Good rock talk" love that. Nathan's entire realisation sequence at the end calling fans the army of the doomstar and that they're the great reuniting is just very fun final moment stuff. "It's about what we do when we fail" LOVE that as a line esp as they do in fact fail to prevent the metalocalypse and they have to pick up and regroup and try again.

Big whale god my beloved.

I really like how Nathan's voice becomes very breathy and weak compared to his usual growl. For a character who consistently has such presence and power it's such a choice to have his iconic voice be the signifier of his internal weakness. This feels especially interesting when we really see Nathan's raw physical strength when he rips himself from that metal wheel.

Seeing the retreat being destroyed scene by scene was actually very sad!!!! As well as all those Klokateers, especially after Doomstar Requiem

The character deaths hit harder this time around! Knubbler calmly sacrificing himself while Nathan desperately slammed against the barrier not wanting to see another person sacrifice themself for him, that hit hard! Edgar's sacrifice with that "my brother, my love, i'll be with you" was so heartwrenching especially after the "do it all for my brother" in Doomstar Requiem. Even Senator Stampingston has such a visually grotesque, dramatic death I enjoyed that too.

The drowning/near death moment was SO strong, however the jarring animation was particularly notable then and the "or all will die" line seemed ? weirdly unfitting given all dying anyway seemed to be the plan. I LOVE that eerily quiet way they handled nathan doing cpr for so long though

"gear in the wheel of the klok" "go into the water" those song references rock so much i love that.

probably a bad take but I sorta wish the resulting Song of Salvation had been....more??? i guess after the musical diversity of Doomstar Requiem i was expecting something completely next level. it's a good song dont get me wrong and i LOVE the lyrics! i guess i just expected some sort of 10 minute genre-mixing thing to really shake up stuff

I love the final scene I think it really tied off the series in a very strong way

Remember when this was a comedy etc etc

[iggy-hands]

I only watch the ofmd fandom from afar but some people give the impression of not conciliating well how the show is light hearted and comforting but also deals with heavy subjects in a general violent contex. the fact I've seen people say there's no homophobia when it's the central driving force of the plot is the most exaggerated example. but it's also in this attempt to flatten characters into "uwu baby" and "who's right vs who's wrong" (or at worse who's an abuser) when the show clearly does its best to create a likable flawed cast. Stede is extremely insecure and a horrible father/husband even before he abandons his family. Ed is an abuse survivor and he struggles with anger. Izzy is an asshole and it's funny- I mean he's a brit working class caricature. those things interact and its what makes the show human and interesting. why try to smash it into a simplistic dichotomy. it won't work 😭😭

and obviously you know all of this. so I guess it's: thanks for having braincells 😘😘

I don't actually know how old this ask is, but, it's been in my inbox for a while lol, sorry!

I think observing from a distance might be the most enjoyable way, it's been years since I was this close to the centre of a fandom and it's wild.

But yes, you're absolutely correct, it's a show about flawed characters and their ability to realise they're in the wrong, and change themselves - if that's what they want! Obviously not every character is given this opportunity, nor should they be, but I think my main issue with people coming down on the characters either way is that currently, they're unfinished!

...maybe Izzy will get worse next season, maybe his racism/general abusiveness and manipulation will become his main character traits, maybe his arc is that he rejects offers of kindness and belonging because of his own prejudices/self-importance and in the end this destroys him. I'd love to see that play out, but I'd love to see whatever they do with him play out too.

Taking a break for a while really made me realise that actually, this is a comedy show about pirates? What Are We Doing??

I love the meta and the drawn out explanation - I am an English Literature and Media Studies graduate, like literally I dedicated years of my life to this stuff! But one of the main reasons for these analyses is that it's supposed to be a discussion, there are supposed to be disagreements and alternative theories, and you should look at whether the evidence is actually in support of what is being said.

It isn't about deciding what is moral/immoral content to consume. Especially in a comedy show, where the character people are angry about is so cringe-fail within the show itself, and who's worst traits seem only to be evident through close-reading.

One of the first things you learn if you take Lit/Media in higher education is that you can be wrong about a text. You can't just say whatever you want without actual textual evidence (and, pet-peeve, but I personally do not count interviews etc). And sometimes, completely contrasting information can be true - because of the ambiguity! Whether these meanings are intentional or not - this is unknowable. And of course you can have your own personal opinions or readings of a text, but it's weird to decide that because you are right, everything else must be wrong.

I also see posts that essentially read - "this character is deep and multifaceted and we should look closely at them. But this character sucks and if you engage with content that looks closely at them then you suck too!" And I can't help but feel that that's worse than if we weren't to engage with textual analysis at all. Ignoring the actions of "evil" characters, who shape the narrative, feels very dismissive to me - disrespectful both to the text itself but also to the real world issues that it draws from.

I suppose in conclusion, everyone continue to think critically, consume media critically, but also, touch grass sometimes. and maybe read a book too.

[crimeronan]

Can you explain the appeal of Julian Blackthorn? This is a genuine question because I read the books and came away utterly bored by him and unconvinced of his moral greyness as opposed to like, Adam Parrish’s. He seemed so one dimensional to me but I want to know if I’m Wrong TM considering I tend to be very very biased toward my favourite characters and bored by the rest, and my favourites were Mark and Kieran. So maybe I just didn’t pay him enough attention??

it’s been a while since i wrote any earnest tsc meta but cringe culture is dead and the chance to infodump about my julian thoughts has me vibrating where i’m sitting so.  yes okay.

technical stuff

(aka: things pertaining to How The Story Is Constructed)

cassandra clare’s characterization has become much stronger just in general since she first began writing the series like twenty years ago

perhaps most importantly: the more recent stuff i’ve read from her has involved characters who actually grow, change, and learn from their past mistakes 

rather than repeating the same stupid decisions over and over again

and over and over and over some more

seriously take a shot every time someone in tmi miscommunicates or self-destructs in ways They Have Learned Not To Do for no real reason. u will die of alcohol poisoning

in tda this shines ESPECIALLY with the evolution of mark, kieran, and cristina’s relationship, but that’s a separate post

clare’s trademark is also the angsty traumatized jerkass love interest with a secret heart of gold

the woman is almost singlehandedly responsible for draco in leather pants and the proliferation of this kind of character type in fandom and teen lit. this isn’t a criticism it’s me marveling at how if you commit hard enough to a single trope you truly can change the world.  follow your dreams

sad jackass with a heart of gold isn’t an Inherently Problematic Character Type

but poorly done it can lead to relationship dynamics in which one partner is constantly being hurt by and then forgiving the other despite them making no real effort to change, because they are narratively absolved due to being sad

(there’s a lot of this with earlier jace content.  in some ways i think will was later created specifically to be a same-archetype protagonist who actually does get called on his shit and grow. that’s also another post)

also if all of your sexy male love interests are tortured jackasses with a heart of gold then people start calling you a one-trick pony

enter julian blackthorn!

from the very start everything about him is designed to be the INVERSE of the heart of gold jackass.  which immediately makes him interesting just from a meta perspective

(mark and kieran are also both alternate angles on this time-honored archetype.  mark gets the heart of gold and kieran gets the jackass and then they’re both much more deeply messy than that.  yet another post)

julian is kind, self-sacrificing, empathetic, artistic, emotionally supportive, responsible, and favored by old grannies everywhere

so a completely nonthreatening milquetoast guy, right

immediately forgettable if you’re only here for the dramatic conflicts and shithead antics of clare’s other protags

except that he is A Mess

and that he has structured his priorities very carefully, and they are as selfless as you expect from The Hero (TM) but they are also Not Heroic (TM) and they do not align with the moral framework The Hero (TM) is supposed to use

moral ambiguity in characters always exists in relation to their narratives imo. you mention adam parrish - trc’s narrative already mucks around in different ethical shades of gray, and adam falls on the canon scale about where julian does on his canon scale.  both more willing than the average pov character to do the ruthless thing or make the fucked-up choice if the ends justify the means; both with an intensely strong sense of internal priorities that they adhere to at all costs, both so unbelievably fucking down for murder; etc

i do think there are ways julian’s choices could have been pushed even further, but considering the number of readers who hate his guts already, i can see why clare opted not to go for the most controversial possible conflicts

so we’re flipping the narrative

instead of seeing this angsty bad boy and peeling back the layers of his trauma to find his heart of gold, we’re seeing the put-together selfless family man and peeling back the layers of his Responsibility Mask to expose the rotting husk underneath

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

THAT IS FUN AS FUCK

then when julian DOES lash out in hurtful, uncontrolled ways, he has significantly more narrative justification for it than most of clare’s protagonists (will elaborate in characterization thoughts)

julian is also interesting as fuck because of how his struggles allow for a more in-depth look at the failings of shadowhunter society, something that’s also sorely lacking in clare’s earlier work

his apparent amorality is simply the result of him making pragmatic and impossible choices because he has been faced with fucked-up ethical dilemmas since age 12 Because Society Has Failed Him

which opens the door for narrative exploration of how and why he’s been failed so badly & what needs to change

i also love that he has such a coldly calculated way of analyzing situations and allowing harm to occur when need be, bc a lot of clare’s early protagonists have such a bad case of Rush In And Get Myself Killed Because I’ve Got Feelings About Impulsive Heroism syndrome that i wanna push them in front of a truck

probably there’s other meta narrative stuff i could say but i’m stopping myself and moving on to character analysis

characterization stuff

(aka: reasons why i’m also attached to him in a vacuum)

i don’t read him as one-dimensional at all tbh

u may feel the narrative pushes “ruthless julian blackthorn” too much without delivering enough actual ruthless julian But i don’t think that’s the same as having only one dimension

from the get-go, the big question centered on julian is always “how far are you willing to go?” and the narrative pushes the stakes slowly higher and higher to continuously test julian’s “the price is always justified” mindset

he has a far more layered and realistic response to trauma than clare’s early protagonists - trauma affects every single aspect of his personality and how he conducts himself, and the effects vary depending on the circumstances

his conviction that he has to be the perfect parent to his siblings because they will fall apart if they see him show weakness??  rooted in how he feels like he’s fallen apart since losing the stable adult support he once relied upon

his willingness to hurt semi-innocent people, commit coldblooded murder, manipulate people using political leverage, allow harm to befall any stranger if it protects his family??  rooted in how he has already had to ask himself how much he’s willing to sacrifice, and how his family is his only source of stability when the world has never done Shit for him

his conviction that he has a darker heart than anyone else because he killed his possessed father, even though intellectually he knows he was saving his brother’s life??  rooted in having no means of processing this trauma and being unable to voice his feelings for fear of backlash from a deeply non-understanding society

the way he represses every single negative emotion he ever has, to the point where emma - his actual literal magic soulmate who can feel his emotions - is startled to find him hurting or angry??  once again all about how he has to be the perfect father or he’s failed completely

the way his anger is so totally disproportionate to different situations and the way his negative emotions can only come out in completely uncontrolled breaks??  all that repression baybey.  this kid has not processed a single bad feeling in five years.  every single real grievance and petty annoyance has been festering indefinitely inside him like a slowly spreading infection

julian’s arc involves him needing to get thru being his worst self to actually start to heal

as in, he has to actually learn to acknowledge his feelings, take care of himself, lean on his family, and let other people take some responsibility

he also has to learn that in his quest to be the perfect emotionally controlled authority figure, he has not actually learned how to control or deal with his emotions. like. At Fucking All. good god

the narrative setup is also about asking “how far are you willing to go?” until the answer is finally “not this far.  not this far”

and once he reaches that point, he has to reevaluate everything about how he weighs his priorities and morals and plans, etc

(i also like that emma has a perpendicular arc in which she’s always the one tempering julian and telling him “no we can’t go that far” until she’s willing to do something horrific that he absolutely won’t and HE has to stop HER. very sexy)

it’s also just really nice to have a character who’s learned to relate so well to literally every single member of his family while still having a very detached ruthless interior consciousness. i have similar feelings about how adam teaches himself to love people, but with julian it’s spelled out more explicitly in canon & it’s a more central character theme

i’m sure i’m also forgetting stuff here but this post is long enough so i’m gonna say good enough

and like i said in the tags on my other post, there are things i’d personally write differently if it were my story - plot points i’d shift, character contrasts i’d up, themes i’d explore differently, pacing i’d adjust, etc.  i have plenty of ways i could be nitpicky and editorial about the effectiveness of julian’s arc.  but i also don’t feel like writing them out at the moment & none of my critiques on effectiveness have an impact on the core appeal of his character 2 me.  he’s so fucking good

[theprotagonistdies]

Mortal Kombat 2021 Movie Review (w spoilers)

Just wanted to get this off my chest now that the movie’s been released in America. I watched this on 8th April when it was first released in Singapore, and two more times the following week.

So, overall I give the movie about a 6.5-7/10 or C+. Acting: Decent Story: Average at best Action: Above average to Good Gore: Graphic but not as often or much Best highlights: Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Costuming

I’ll be referencing some comments by others about the movie, but this’ll all be my opinions. I reviewed the movie based on my understanding that it’s a low budget film before even watching the movie. I am also a fan of the game (though I do not play, I watched most of the lore)

-------

When I first watched the movie, I was excited. The intro showing Hanzo Hasashi’s backstory would be something familiar to fans of the game. As expected, his wife and child were killed, but as we know it, they have an extra baby girl who later survives and carries on the bloodline. At this point, I was already ‘eh’ because it was so predictable what happens next. I was already disappointed that they named the son ‘Jyubei’ in the subtitles, when the wife didn’t even utter his name in Japanese. In the game, Hanzo’s son is called Satoshi. But one can say that’s something petty.

Anyways, as it goes on, we meet Joe Taslim as Bi-Han. He’s menacing, he’s cocky and has the presence that fills the screen. Already, I was smitten. While some people were saying the movie is rushed, I’d say this part of the intro felt a little draggy. But, the fight scene after is great, and we see Hanzo and Bi-Han throw hands.

I’d have to say at this point: ALL fight scenes including  Bi-Han/Sub-Zero were great. They’re the best. Every other fight scene with the other characters were decent but not great.

Then we get introduced to Cole Young. From the get go, I do not like new characters not in the lore. I’m that type of person who does not like original characters in fanfiction. And his story further made me feel that a lot of time was wasted on him. Mortal Kombat has story elements around family, yes, but it’s not central, and it made the movie too wholesome and not in a way that I feel implemented well. In my opinion, it made the movie a little cringey at times. I like Lewis Tan who plays Cole but unfortunately he’s been given a role that was completely unnecessary.

A Youtube reviewer said it best: Why make up an entirely new character when there’s a plethora of characters to choose from? Heck, if you want him related to Hanzo, you could have used Takeda or something (though yes i know he’s not related to Hanzo, but he could be like a distant cousin relative whatever, with Takehashi on one of this other parents side).

There’s Jax and Sonya - why not just use Sonya? She’s the one gathering all the information. They could have used her. 

Anyway, moving on. We also meet Kano. He was good and I see a lot of people loved him. Personally I thought he was okay, but he was too comedic in my opinion and felt underwhelming. While funny quips and mockery are appreciated, he felt like what Liu Kang called him: A small, angry little bunny. Not at all what I’d expect of the leader of Black Dragon. 

There was... it that supposed to be Reptile? I honestly do not know, but I don’t believe that’s the Reptile we know from the game, and more of a mindless monster that has Reptile’s abilities.

I loved Sonya in this movie. Jessica McNamee was amazing as her. One - she’s attractive as hell, and Two - she felt far more relatable than Cole Young. From her being a soldier living in her ‘shithole’, to her curiosity in trying to find out more about the Mortal Kombat tournament.

They look for Raiden’s Temple in the desert. This was a little slow and again, I say Kano just felt like a chump here. A try-hard doing his best to appear intimidating but failing.

Liu Kang appears. Kano won’t shut up. Liu Kang’s introduction was interesting and I liked it, but later on his monologues and exaggerated actions were so odd and ‘extra’ to me that I was cringing. I don’t know why they don’t just make him a normal guy who’s a Shaolin monk lol.

Raiden is as cranky as we know him in the game. He’s kinda dull here, but to be honest, so is he in the game, so I don’t mind it. I saw someone compare him to the 1995 version which while I enjoyed and appreciated, did not think he suited the game and movie. So Tadanobu Asano’s Raiden is fine to me! Also, shut up to the people who get on others’ case on the way they pronounce Raiden. In Japanese it’s Rai-den, not Ray-den, like they say in the game. Both are correct, so shut up.

Sub-Zero makes an entrance again, menacingly running down the hall and making me sploosh, and Kung Lao also makes an entrance. Here you can see how poor the CG is. This is where you can tell the budget is low and realise that all the sets we’ve seen so far is pretty small and closed.

The ‘arcana’ thing that they made up to explain their powers was honestly pretty smart and I quite liked it. It then becomes a training arc, which while understandably can be seen as slow, it’s quite needed for the story.

The villains in this story were sadly underutilised. Admittedly I am unfamiliar with Nitara and Reiko, so them being throwaway characters did not affect me. Kabal, while very charismatic, died but I felt it was a decent end. I personally wish they could have included him more. However, for Mileena and Goro, I could see the moment I watched it that people were gonna be mad. I’m not fans of either of them but I understood that they are major characters in the game. So for them to be offed that easily was... tbh very disappointing and quite insulting. I sincerely hope they will bring back Mileena for the next movie, experimented on and brought to life using Kitana’s blood or something.

But best villain? Obviously goes to Bi-Han/Sub-Zero. Honestly I went into the movie expecting to root for Scorpion but I ended up being so in love with Joe Taslim’s menacing and chilling portrayal of Sub-Zero. He’s soooo good. People said he was like a slasher film villain and I think they made a great choice doing so!

As for Cole - I’m still not a fan of him or his powers. I like they used tonfas, but as some called it - he has literally plot armour which, tru. Hahahhaa.

So finally after all that, we finally get to the last fight.

Sub-Zero is about to kill Cole then Scorpion is summoned. They both fight and actually one can see Scorpion is winning? He got more hits in than Sub-Zero (two stabs, a side slash and a throw from Scorp, meanwhile Sub got one slash and a throw) so I don’t understand why people thought he actually needed help from Cole.

Also, this is another major complaint about the ‘wholesomeness’. Why was Hanzo’s family killed but Cole’s family spared by Sub-Zero? Why couldn’t they just killed them off for extra weight to the story instead of making it so safe? I felt that would have redeemed Cole’s character as more of  Mortal Kombat character if they did so.

But I really enjoyed the fight here. As I mentioned all fights that involved Sub-Zero are amazing and people not giving the credit to this fight scene are blind. I also saw a comment that said they were expecting ‘John-Wick level’ of fight. Both fair and unfair comment because: It’s a low budget movie and they are two different styles of movies. John Wick is more realistic while this one is more fantastical. Though for them to call this a Marvel level choreography... I’m not sure bc Marvel put a lot of money, so that means for their budget the MK movie did well? So IDK but I believe the fight choreography was good in this most especially in the Sub-Zero/Scorpion fights.

Fatalities were great, costuming were great and for the sets while small and enclosed they did good.

Story could have been better and I cannot stress how much I find Cole’s role completely pointless. Pacing wise I actually do not find a problem with it. I only wished for more fighting and less about ‘family’.

From the movie overall I understood it as to be a set up, and even before watching it, from the trailers, I somehow knew it was not going to have a tournament so I don’t know why all these people in comments are lamenting about the lack of a tournament. It feels clear to me that this is a set up movie and more are to come.

So while I have a lot of issues with this movie, I do think it’s a fun watch which is why I give it a pretty generous score imo.

Hopefully we’ll have more to come, improving everything in all aspects with hopefully a bigger budget!

[yourdeepestfathoms]

we poured mud through their veins (part one)

the first installment of an au i am in love with 

in which a new member joins the Deetz-Maitland family!

-------------------------------

The sky was the color of the ocean- dark, wild, and swallowing everything in its wake. The only thing that could possibly rival its impenetrable wall of thick black-blue were the occasional cracks of blazing lightning that split the roiling clouds like a hot knife. The storm would be cut in half at the flash of its searing glory, then sewed itself back together like a monstrous, watery wound. The wind was so fierce that it seemed to be sent by an enraged being (in which Delia would helpfully say it was “God” or “angels playing bowling”) to punish Winter River for some unruly sin. Water rushed down the streets like baby rivers, threatening to drag anything and anyone in its way down the asphalt with it. Raindrops battered windows and walls and doors, knocking so viciously like an unwanted guest.

An unwanted guest. That was what this damn storm was. And Lydia was at her wit’s end with this elemental stranger.

Her computer crashed for the third time and she finally slammed the lid close, letting out a miserable groan that was soon challenged by a deep rumble of thunder. She cringed, curling her shoulders in, and then sighed.

 “Fuck this storm,” She growled.

 “Language,” Barbara said from the kitchen.

 “Sorry,” Lydia muttered. “Screw this storm.”

Barbara chuckled lovingly. “Better.” She peered over at the closed laptop. “Everything okay?”

 “It keeps crashing,” Lydia said miserably. “And I’m finally not procrastinating on doing my essay!”

 “You had an essay due?” Adam looked at Lydia sharply, yanking his head out from the spice cabinet.

Lydia smiled innocently. “Maaaybe,” She said. She noticed the stern expression on Adam’s face. “Hey, I’m doing it! So don’t worry!”

 “Hmm,” Adam squinted at her suspiciously. “Seems like you planned this.”

 “What? Me? Never!” Lydia said.

Barbara laughed again and then turned back to the pot she was stirring. “What’s your essay on?”

 “Well, my English class needed to write something that had to do with society or the ecosystem,” Lydia explained. “So I chose to do mine on why the eighth amendment should be abolished!”

Barbara and Adam blinked at her proud expression.

 “Reason?” Adam asked.

 “If we don’t have the eighth amendment, then we can torture rapists,” Lydia said confidently.

Barbara and Adam then nodded in agreement.

It had been nine months since the whole incident with the ghosts, and it was honestly some of the best months of Lydia’s entire life. Not only did the Maitlands officially become part of the family, but Beetlejuice stuck around, too, becoming Lydia’s chaotic best friend and older brother figure, at least after being properly “housebroken” as her father would describe it. Waking up each morning always greeted her with new mayhem from one of the otherworldly tenants and more things she could learn about them. It was incredible.

They were a family.

 “It’s really coming down out there.”

Lydia looked over her shoulder to see Delia standing at the back door, sipping a steaming cup of her weird herbal tea (which tasted disgusting, by the way).

 “It’s what you would call ‘Noah’s Arc’,” Barbara said knowingly. Except her ‘knowledgeable’ comment got a weird look from Lydia and a laugh from Adam and Delia.

 “Noah’s Arc was the, well, arc, honey,” Adam said. “Not the storm. But nice try.”

 “It’s so foggy,” Delia commented. “The river may flood at this rate.”

Foggy.

Fog.

That word always sparked a memory in Lydia’s mind.

The Netherworld.

Lydia remembered the Netherworld clearly.

The air there had been wet and heavy, like she was breathing in a thick fog that stuck to her throat like tar. There was a certain sticky humidity in that dark place, pressing down on her in heavy waves, as if the very atmosphere itself was trying to crush her skull, punishing her for even plucking up the courage to step foot in the place where the Living didn’t belong. It was cold, yet uncomfortably warm at the same time, with no wind blowing to ease the mild heat that had settled its oppressive, sultry murk over the Dead’s civilization. It spilled into every street, every alleyway, every house that dared to open the window, thinking that it would help with the clamminess that fogged their home, but to no avail.

This, of course, had brought upon complete and utter dreariness that coated every Dead making their rounds through their daily lives. And, in reaction to her presence, the gloom tried to wrap its dark protections of the underworld around her in layers that pressed deeply into her skin, trying to become a part of her. It adorned her until she was nearly suffocated in the thick, moist air.

She did not belong there.

The Netherworld had been filled with enough freaks to make a whole circus- a suicidal beauty pageant queen with slashed open wrists, a failed skydiver in a shredded jumpsuit, a lady swathed in a smoldering towel and had hair crackling hair that hugged a toaster to her chest, a charred man who breathed smoke like a great fire dragon, a very confused football player, a man with a huge cleaver lodged in his skull as a sign of his infidelity, a gravely-injured jockey that spit blood when she talked, some kind of hunter with a shrunken head, and a very excitable victim of explosion, among many more that Lydia hadn’t seen. Not that she was surprised at the amount of strange characters in the underworld.

Aside from the beauty pageant queen, the jockey was the Dead that Lydia got to know the most. Even for the short amount of time she was down in the Netherworld , the jockey seemed to grow attached to her, talking to her animatedly as if they had been friends for years and hanging onto her arm like a baby koala would to its mother. She learned that her name was Presley.

And Lydia had to leave Presley behind.

It wasn’t because she wanted to- she had to! Presley said it herself: the living didn’t belong in the Netherworld. But still, it kinda hurt to leave her new friend behind.

But she got over it. And she moved on. And she got a new family that made her completely forget about the undead horse rider.

Lydia’s memories were then interrupted by a terrible crash of thunder that seemed to rip the entire town in half. The sound rang in all of their ears, even causing Lydia to snap her hands up to cover her own, much to her embarrassment, and making Adam phase straight into the drywall of the kitchen in reaction to the shock, and the sonic boom that followed rocked the house from side-to-side.

As the rumble faded and the lights overhead flickered, there was a heavy thud from upstairs.

From Lydia’s room.

Lydia groaned. “That’ll probably be Beej,” She said. “Messing with my stuff. Again. Probably thought the thunder could cover up the sound of him setting some kind of prank.” She turned her head to yell up the staircase as she stood up. “But not this time!”

She heard Barbara, Adam, and Delia laugh as she walked upstairs.

As quietly as possible, Lydia snuck up the stairs and to her bedroom. Inside, she could hear shuffling and a muttering voice.

Someone was in there.

Wanting to scare Beetlejuice for trying to prank her again, she grasped the doorknob, slowly pushed open the door, and peeked in at the demon in her bedroom.

The light from the lamp that she had left on fed into his white and red suit, soaking into the filthy fabric. He kept looking this way and that, the helmet he was wearing shifting against his head, and-- that was not Beetlejuice.

But Lydia did know this person.

White-and-red checkered shirt, white pants, gloves, black riding boots, a helmet with a crack straight down the middle, a crop holstered to narrow hips, old blood and hoofprints all over…

 “Presley?!” Lydia yelped out loud, then quickly shut her mouth. She stepped fully into her room and closed the door behind her. A moment later, the undead jockey was in her arms, clinging to her in a way that felt more like how a drowning woman to cling to the side of a boat than a normal hug between reuniting friends.

Except she didn’t feel undead. She felt warm, solid, real…living.

She was living.

But…that shouldn’t have been possible.

 “Presley…” Lydia said slowly. “How are you here?”

Presley looked up at her, the rim of her helmet sliding into her eyes slightly, then glanced all around. When she turned her head back up to Lydia, she seemed equally as confused. There was a stream of dried blood trickling down between her eyes and on one side of her nose. There was another scoring her right temple.

 “I don’t-- I don’t know,” Presley whispered, and her voice was hoarse and weak. She then sucked in a sharp breath and coughed. Lydia realized this must have been the first time she had breathed in a long while.

 “Well, that’s…confusing…” Lydia said. She batted Presley backwards so she would be away from the door. Presley clung onto her arm with one hand like it was her lifeline. “I thought you were dead? Like, really dead?”

 “Yeah…” Presley shifted. “I would know.”

Lydia laughed slightly. “What happened? How did this happen?”

Presley shrugged helplessly. “Your guess is as good as mine. I was just sitting in my room, crying, as I usually am, and then I fell asleep and now I’m here!” She looked around. “Nice room, by the way.”

 “Thanks,” Lydia said. She glanced at her door. “Okay, well…” She ran a hand through her hair. “This…will cause some issues.”

 “Oh.”

Presley took a shuffling step backwards and unholstered her crop, which she began to fidget with nervously. Lydia thought it was strange- wasn’t that the thing that basically caused her untimely demise? How could she be comfortable with even having it on her person after that?

 “Sorry…”

 “Hey, it’s not your fault,” Lydia assured her. “How were you supposed to know that you were going to…come back to life?”

 “Heh. Yeah.” Presley smiled slightly at her, which then turned into a grimace of pain. “May I sit down?”

 “Yeah, of course,” Lydia said, and Presley instantly dropped down to her knees. Her breathing came out strained and ragged. “Are you alright?”

Presley gave her a weak smile, and there was blood in her teeth and blood on her lips and blood on her tongue. “Yeah, yeah… I’ll be fine.”

 “Are you sure?” Lydia prodded, crouching down in front of her. “You don’t look so good.”

 “Well, you know how I died,” Presley said, sitting up from her hunched position. She pressed a hand against the left side of her ribs, wincing. “Wasn’t exactly very, ahh, pretty…” She swallowed.

 “Your wounds didn’t heal after you came back to life?” Lydia said. “I guess that’s what we’re calling this. But you didn’t get a fresh new start?”

Presley shook her head. She unbuttoned her jockey uniform and opened up one flap, the cloth making a disgusting peeling sound as it detached from her skin, to reveal the dark black abyss that was her trampled chest. Looking at it, even in the lamp’s golden glow, Lydia couldn’t tell where one wound ended and another wound began. They were all- the bruises and the lacerations and the welts and the hoofprints- melted into one big blemish of agony upon the young jockey’s torso. For a moment, Lydia didn’t even see that she had a sports bra on because the fabric (it had been grey, once upon a time) was completely soaked in blood and blending in with the rest of the mess.  

 “Unfortunately, no,” Presley closed her shirt. “I suppose it’s a fair trade. Being brought back for a second chance at life, but I have to live with the effects of how I died in the first one. Actually, that isn’t as fair as I thought. My internal organs had definitely been ruptured when--” She stopped talking and looked down at her stomach grimly.

 “Well, that…sucks,” Lydia said. She glanced at her door again. How was she going to explain this to her family?

 “Lydia!”

And speaking of the devils…

Lydia turned back to Presley. “Ready to meet my family?”

Presley perked up. “Really?”

 “You don’t exactly have anywhere else to go,” Lydia said. “And you’re here, aren’t you? One more supernatural being living in our house won’t hurt!”

Presley tilted her head, and her helmet slumped over on her skull with the movement. “There are others?”

Lydia grinned. “Yep,” She said. “I got pretty much the coolest family.”

 “Lydia!”

 “Coming!” Lydia called back to the voice yelling for her. She looked back at Presley. “I’m going to go talk to them first. I’ll call down for you once they’re ready. Just be cool, okay? They’ll like you.”

At least, she hoped they would. Presley didn’t have anywhere else to go if they didn’t.

Delia, Barbara, Adam, and Charles, who had emerged from his office, were all assembled downstairs, preparing for dinner. Barbara smiled at Lydia when she came down.

 “Did you find BJ?” Barbara asked.

 “How long did it take to dismantle the prank?” Adam asked, sounding amused.

 “What prank?” Beetlejuice materialized beside Charles, nearly making him drop the bowl of spaghetti he had been carrying to the table. He looked at him. “Sorry, Chuck.” He looked back at Lydia. “Now, what about a prank?”

All eyes turned to Lydia, and Lydia couldn’t help but feel like she was being interrogated, which was weird because she hadn’t done anything wrong. The ghost of a jockey who got killed during a race appearing in her bedroom as a living person wasn’t her fault! That was nobody’s fault!

 “It turns out there was no prank,” Lydia said.

 “Then what fell?” Delia asked.

 “Yeah, about that…” Lydia glanced up the staircase. She faintly saw Presley hovering in the hallway. “Remember that one time we went to the Netherworld?”

 “Yes,” Charles said. “It was the worst place ever.”

 “Oh god,” Beetlejuice said. “Is this another lecture? I already said I’m sorry!”

 “No, no, this isn’t about that,” Lydia said quickly. “While I was there, I met this girl. We kinda became friends, but, you know, I had to come back here so I haven’t seen her since.”

 “Where is this going?” Adam asked, looking curious and slightly concerned.

 “What if I told you guys that my friend came back to life somehow and appeared in my bedroom for no real rhyme or reason but now she’s here and has nowhere else to go?”

The house went quiet. Thunder rumbled outside, as if the very universe itself were laughing about the situation.

And then--

 “WHAT?” Adam yelped.

 “That can happen?” Delia said at the same time, looking at Beetlejuice.

 “I guess!” Beetlejuice yelled.

 “Wait, so there’s someone in our house right now?” Charles asked.

 “Surprise!” Lydia said weakly. She looked up the staircase. “You can come down now.”

There was shuffling from upstairs; Presley emerged into the light of the open stairwell and staggered her way down the stairs, each step she took being punctuated by a wince. There were several gasps, mainly from Barbara, Delia, and Adam, as she stopped next to Lydia- not that Lydia blamed her family for their reactions.

Presley looked much, much worse in full lightning. Her skin was no longer pale pink like it had been in the Netherworld, rather just pale, as if all the blood was drained from her body and leaving her as an empty shell. Even her lips were completely leached of color. It was impossible to tell if the dark rings around her eyes were from sleep deprivation or were just shiners caused by her death. Her jockey uniform was slathered in a thick caking of mud--and then Lydia realized most of that was just dried blood. Black hoofprints were stamped up and down her chest, stomach, and legs, and some areas of the fabric were ripped, revealing grimy, bruised, and bloodied flesh underneath. The streams of blood down her face and side of her head were completely dried now, crusted over and flaking off. She was squeezing her crop nervously, bright hazel eyes darting everywhere around the house, but she quickly latched onto Lydia’s arm with one of her hands, holding on tightly, similarly to how she did down in the Netherworld when they first met. 

 “Everyone…” Lydia said to her gaping family. “Meet Presley!”

[heartlessconviction]

What makes a compelling RP Character:

So I see this everywhere, and heck I’ve been guilty on this as well when first making an OC 10 years ago. They are usually cliché stereotypes that serve as a main character, they have zero room to grow; as they are already perfect as is... A Mary Sue essentially... Fortunately as Mun’s Mature, and in turn improve their ability in the craft, they typically move out of this phase and actually improve the quality of their character building.  A fair few don’t however, so it begs to question to what actually dictates an interesting character to begin with; whether it be an OC or a Canon entity these are the 3 things I’ve chalked such down to:  1. Interesting Premise So the first is an interesting premise, every good character needs a backbone within their motivations and writing; to create this you need to build a great foundation for your OC to stand upon, thus grow from.  One mistake I see often is something I dub, Main Character Syndrome: This is when said character is the goat, they are the best, they can shit on Son Goku and know everything there is to know already on day 1. Individuals who often write such introductions, come from a place of inexperience and/or insecurities within their writing skills. And it truly shows...  The one misconception that trips people up here, is that power/status does not equate to compelling writing or development. I.e; just because your character is a god, doesn’t make them important nor interesting. If you have to rely on a title you gave your character yourself to justify their existence, rather than their innate qualities and traits they possess as a person; then you’ve failed in this regard. To be fair here, writing the introduction for your character is often the hardest if they are an OC, as you never truly learn everything about your character often until years later. A tip to help you is starting your character off from the midpoint of their lives, often when you create the conception of a muse; they are ever hardly at the beginning of their journey as, they are usually adults or slightly older. Use this to your advantage, flesh out the basic conception of your character from this time frame, before delving in further and exploring their past and future.  You will truly see your muse flourish when you put the time in to flesh them out in this regard. 2. A plan This kind of extends into my prior point, you need to construct a plan for your character to follow down. This can be formed in many ways, i.e. Perhaps you have a number of interesting events in your mind, these events may represent part of your OC’s past; or where they end up, towards the end of their lives.  Write them down, figure out what is going to be the motivations of your characters. How their past have effected them, and how they can grow through the events laid out in their future. Fill them up with new ideas and interactions, this is your time to get creative as not every idea you come up with will turn out well; you will most likely change these as time goes on.  Still its important to write them down, as to observe the progression of your muse; it also gives you a backlog to their history and references that maybe relevant at a later date. Always keep record in a plan! 3. The perfect character to write for, is often one filled with imperfections  Now this is the most important, remember when I said earlier, just because your character is a god; that doesn’t make them a compelling character? Yeah this is the point I was alluding to.  Now one of my favorite characters of all time, is none other than Ayane from DOA... (Specifically 1-4... She was mishandled in Dimensions/5/6) But my point is Ayane is awesome. She’s beautiful, she has an attitude that I can get behind, she oozes confidence wherever she goes; needless to say if I could marry Ayane I would.  That isn’t why I love her so much, the reason why I adore her to this extent. Is due to the authenticity of her character; stemming from the challenges she has to face and overcome throughout the series.  So Ayane is a member of the Mugen Tenshin Clan, her father raped her mother which led to her conception. Unwilling to harm the child, her uncle Shiden sent her to live with Genra so she was not raised in the same household as her siblings.  Ayane grew up in this village, getting shat on by the vast majority of people. Whilst her sister Kasumi was raised like a princess, she did not come to find out why until many years later, and when she did; came to resent Kasumi and the life she never had.  Now does Ayane’s backstory make her compelling on its own? No, in fact if your muses backstory is too edgy, that can be a detriment to them as characters. You want to entice the readers, not make them cringe. However a good backstory can allow your muse to be relatable if their evolution and emotions are handled in a humane manner.  For Ayane (Before Dimensions fucked everything up plot wise.) this is successful. Her feelings of resentment and jealousy toward Kasumi are justified in this case, she was born into a world where most people treated her like shit; for an event she had literally no control over. Meanwhile being an outcast as her Sister lived happily with their family; at this point in time Ayane is around 14-16 years old... So the emotions she encapsulates in this moment are believable and authentic given this fact. What really makes Ayane an amazing character, is her growth beyond this resentment. (Again, before Dimensions fucked everything up plot wise; what I will be explaining got retconned in that game and I don’t acknowledge it.)  So for the first two games, she’s pretty much trying to Kill Kasumi, as per orders from Shiden. So in those 2 iterations, she’s basically an antagonist; it wasn’t until DOA 3 where Ayane’s growth really started taking off, when her foster father Genra is manipulated by DOATEC and becomes Omega. (In Dimensions they retconned this, and Genra joined them willingly. I hate this as it diminishes Ayane’s resolve and ending in 3, forcing Hayate and Hayabusa in there for the sake of it.)  Now Ayane is torn emotionally, she has loyalty to the Mugen Tenshin Clan and Hayate, thus she wants to be the one to kill her foster father. Even going as far as beating the absolute shite out of Hayate; to prevent him from interfering in her own personal mission.  In that same token, she also has emotional loyalty to Genra. The man to raise her and being the only person to really sort of treat her like a human being in the first place, at the age of 16 she is forced into an unfavorable position forcing her to mature as she made her decision to kill her father... You see this in her confrontation with Kasumi, opting not to kill her so she can go and see Hayate, as she had bigger fish to fry. Whilst she still held these feelings of resentment within her, slowly Ayane grew to overcome them in the face of something far more important to her.  When Ayane defeats Genra. (On her own, Dimensions didn’t happen.) This serves to wrap up most of her character arc, at this point she knows who she is and what she has to do going forward; going into 4 she has mellowed out considerably. Still seeing Kasumi as a traitor, now it was more along the lines of a rivalry rather than needing to kill her (even though it was still her orders iirc.)  When the opportunity arises to allow Kasumi to die, running back into the burning DOATEC building at the end of 4. Ayane stopped her, she still wasn’t on the best terms with Kasumi; however considering where she started off from such an action was significant to her growth as a person.  My whole gush over Ayane was to emphasize this point: An imperfect character is often the best character to write for. You will succeed in creating awesome muses if you can understand that growth, is the prospect that will dictate whether your muse is truly compelling. Nobody likes a know it all, nobody likes a Mary Sue... What people enjoy are characters they can relate to on a fundamental level, this is why often times characters other than the main in anime and manga such as Vegeta; tend to be the most well written in the grand scheme of things. They have flaws, a ton of flaws; however they grow from them and overcome them. Failure builds character, imperfection promotes growth. Don’t be afraid to make a character with flaws, if your character doesn’t have any flaws then that is more concerning as a reader; if I cannot see your character evolve overtime why would I be compelled to follow them?  Whew... That was a ramble... 

[dontletthishappentoyou]

Shows Bonding - I had mild concerns in the first season that were absolutely addressed in the second. Overall, this was what I was looking for. I realized that I’ve been mostly doing cartoons for the past couple years, and it was nice to have some live action stuff that pulled off what it was going for with its characters as well as this one. 

Community - Going into this one not knowing if it’ll have the things I like or the things I dislike about Dan Harmon. Turns out it has both, but right now I’m mostly enjoying it for the same kinds of reasons people enjoy Friends or all those other shows that let lonely people vicariously feel that they have friends, or a community.  Ratched - What the heck was this? Somebody read and watched One Flew Over the Kuckoos Nest and thought “Nurse Ratched needs a spin-off seiries.” And then they actually clearly put a ton of effort into it? It kinda worked. I kind of wish I had known what to expect a little bit. Basically, what you should expect is kind of out there historical fiction that addresses things like coming to terms with your sexuality in the age of inhumane conversion therapy, mistreatment of the mentally ill, and also petty drama with the coersion and manipulation you might expect from a spy movie and a sitcom at the same time. It works if you’re ready for that.  Russian Doll - Bingeable. I wouldn’t watch a second season, but enjoyed it for what it was. I’ve been super into digging into characters lately, and this hit that spot. I found it by just searching for ‘sadcoms’ and this was exactly what I’d hope for.  After Life - Ricky Gervais. Very very Ricky Gervais. To the extent that the whole time I was kind of cringing hoping, but not confident, that some of his character’s flaws would be addressed by the end of the series. Most of them were, which I guess is fine. It kind of felt like watching someone figure out how to do something you consider simple. The character arc was a mediocre version of some stuff addressed in Bojack. If you really need more Bojack and can’t find anything good, go for it with this, but meh.  She-Ra - Here’s the winner for things I’ve watched this past year. The plot does get convoluted, but I might do an actual video essay about its portrayal of a psudo-leftist utopia, although the political issues it addresses are very limited, since it obviously doesn’t really get into economics or anything like that. But heteronormativiy is out the window, body types are what they are and are portrayed as unquestionably lovable, acceptance is the default, while still refusing to tolerate intolerance and imperialism. It’s interesting to pair it with a series like Ratchet that addresses homophobia directly, but I don’t think it’s failure to recognize the challenges that these people have in the real world is a downside at all. It just exists to show what things would be like without any of that. The antagonist team is generally portrayed as imperialist, stuff you’d safely call evil, while still humanizing its individual members, often delving deep into the manipulation that led them to become a part of the Horde. Which of course gets back to character. Zuko tier stuff here. Not just with the obvious one. At first I kind of disliked the main characters arc, but watched a bunch of videos about it and actually kind of figured out that some of it is largely related to my own personal failures as a person in some of my ineffective attempts to avoid negative attributes. Anyway, there’s nothing I’ve watched that I’d recommend more highly than this in a long time.  Movies The Irishman - I didn’t finish this one. It had a pretentious feeling to it that made me feel like I should take the intellectual respnosibility for enjoying it myself or else risk admitting a failure of sophistocation. But it is way to telly over showy and I felt comfortable just not participating in that after the first hour went by without anything I’d clearly identify as the inciting incident.  Marriage Story - Watched this with Ivy on Valentines day. Wouldn’t recommend it in that context, but once again, dug into character. Made me freak out about custody, but I’m assuming it won’t have that effect on most people. People said the acting was good, and I completely see what they mean. If I hadn’t been occasionally paying attention and having that in mind, I’m not sure I would have noticed, but that did make it extremely engaging.  Room - I really enjoyed the structure of this one. It felt like halfway through it could have been the end and we would have successfully surpassed a hero’s journey or whatever, but that would have ignored the emotional consequences of the kind of issues that the story addressed, so it kept going, introduced a whole new set of characters an hour in, and I don’t think there would have been any other way it would have worked for me. Definitely something I’d recommend.  Music  Red Velvet - I’ve been listening to this alongside BTS and Black Pink in my dive into K-Pop. With prog and indie, you get CDs, download stuff, listen one way or another, you get your friends to listen to it, then you go to concerts to get closer to the music, witness the viruosity in the case of prog, or connect more humanly with indie. With ska and electronica, you have friends who vaguely like the genre, you go to concerts because they’ll be crazy and fun. But I’ve been kind of exploring how different musics interact with culture over the last few years. Classical, traditional Celtic, folk, and now K-Pop.  Y’all have seen the culture around K-Pop. People get deep into it in a different way. I can recognize Petrucci’s solo style, with the rapid picking in the middle register fast stuff, I know Mike Portnoy used a double pedal on a single bass drum in LTE but not DT, I’ve heard people talk about the different distortion pedals Steven Wilson uses, but when people get into Kpop, they know what year RM had different hair colors, what kind of family he comes from, they might have memorized a couple interviews with him, and it’s just taken a bit farther than boy band fandom was taken even in the 90s.  I definitely used to see all that as extremely shallow, believing that music should be about the music, but I don’t feel so fundamentalist with my approach to how music ‘should’ interact with culture these days, so I’m seeing if I can get into it. Of course I’m failing a little bit. I mention Red Velvet specifically here because that’s the band who’s music I’ve gotten into most. I just listen to it in the background. I don’t know the names. I’ve been trying with BTS a little bit, but it’s tough when I don’t emotionally connect with the band. I’m trying to see if Red Velvet’s breaking of that barrier with their mildly complex harmony, occasional counterpoint, and diverse instrumentation and style can kind of be a gateway into that culture and I can stop listen to BTS thinking “they have seven dudes, why don’t they utilize their potential for awesome vocal harmonies?" and start listening to it on its own merits.  100 gecs - Nice. It has a playful tone to it. I can imagine doing similar things if instead of having Garage Band, I had been given and taught to use some more intricate production software. Often it sounds like they do the kinds of things people do when they discover new instruments and want to try it out and push it to its limits with no hesitation that people trained might have with more critical ears, but then it’s refined a bit and comes across as authentic and energetic with just a bit of the punk spirit to it, but adjusted to the modern zeitgeist.  Other than that, music consumption hasn’t been as prominent in my life as it has and I’d like to get more of that going. I’ve been introducing kids to a variety of things, but that kind of gets me listening to stuff all over the place that I’m already very familiar with and have set associations with. 

[mysaldate]

what are your thoughts on kaigaku as a character? your analyses are always interesting to read so i'm curious to hear what you have to say about that... special... boy.

I'm putting this one up front since it's analysis and not headcanons (and also because he's an interesting character).

If you've seen my demon POV masterpost, you already know the outlines of what I'm gonna talk about. Kaigaku, like many other demons, suffered from the POV the story is told from. Furthermore, we didn't even get to see his side of the story, just Zenitsu's. And since we know Zenitsu is the character we're supposed to feel sorry for, I think it's safe to say most of us viewed Kaigaku as little more than another wrench in the lighning boi's life, thus there was little sympathy for him. Ever. Much less when we found out he became a demon.

But there's much more to Kaigaku than a prideful jerk, regardless of what the fandom might tell you. After all, we've been over fandom interpretations that omit backstory for the sake of painting a character in a worse light and Kaigaku's case is no different. But I said there's more to him than that because he certainly is a prideful jerk no matter how you look at it.

Guess what, that doesn't make him a bad guy, not in the slightest. You know who else is prideful? Most the pillars to a certain degree. You know who else is a jerk? Sanemi Most the pillars to a certain degree! That doesn't make them the bad guys in the slightest because somehow their position makes us feel like they have the right to be like that. It's a classic double standard, nothing too unusual both in fiction and real life. We forgive people above us way more than we would ever let slide if it came to someone we consider inferior to us. That might be the main issue with Kaigaku's character as well.

From the very first glimpse we get of Kaigaku, it's clear he respects their teacher way more than Zenitsu does in spite of having none of the warm familial relationship those two have. He scolds Zenitsu when he feels like he's not showing their elder enough respect and we don't see him ever allowing even himself to call Jigoro anything but master up till the moment where he feels neglected and underprecciated.

Honestly, much like in Kyogai's case, much of Kaigaku's anger and many of his actions are caused simply by feeling shunned but unlike with Kyogai, we never got to see a full backstory (+ there's the thing where we're supposed to like Zenitsu so we get to see this from his eyes rather than Kaigaku's). Kaigaku worked really hard and there was just a single technique he couldn't master. Meanwhile, Zenitsu was always crying and running away and didn't properly appreciate their teacher and only ever managed to learn a single technique — and he couldn't even use it consciously on top of that. By plain logic alone, Kaigaku was superior in every possible way. And yet, Jigoro decided to make the two of them equal, make them both become his successors together, thus completely destroying any feeling of achievement Kaigaku had.

And don't get me wrong, you can see where he was coming from too. It wasn't meant to harm Kaigaku or make him feel like whatever he was doing was not good enough for his teacher. But intentions and actual results may often clash. And that's completely fine, that's just how life works. And Kaigaku was mad and wouldn't understand the point of this. That's also fine, that can also happen and we've seen it on the human side of our cast many times already (Sanemi and Genya being the most notable example). Here lies what I believe might be the most controversial part of the backstory though.

We saw how quickly Jigoro got attached to Zenitsu despite Zeni having absolutely no qualifications, no redeeming qualities and no wish to become a slayer. He was a pathetic loser, incapable of even defending himself from an unfair debt. Jigoro not only took him in and cleaned up his mess after him but quite obviously cared for him very deeply.

With Kaigaku, we didn't really get to see much but the fact that he wouldn't ever think of calling him anything other than master (until he became a demon) and even scolded Zenitsu for showing such disrespect hints on a lot. Kaigaku's relationship with Jigoro was strictly proffessional in order to make him strong. There was no tender patient care like with Zenitsu. After all, while Zeni was allowed to only learn a single move, Kaigaku was refused his one ambition because he failed to learn one technique even though he mastered all the others.

It's obvious how this may seem as a double standard, especially if you put yourself in Kaigaku's position. Because it was pretty unfair, let's be honest here.

Of course, we know how this story ends. Kaigaku almost gets killed by Kokushibou but in the last minutes, Koku actually recognizes his strength and offers him blood. Kaigaku, who was already bitter and feeling rejected and shunned, and now also scared of dying, gladly takes him up on the offer. And we can't really blame him for that, we saw people turning into demons for less (playing outside with other kids in Rui's case for example). Not to mention, the rage he feels towards Zenitsu, the way he sees him as something less, that is very similar to how Kokushibou saw Yoriichi. Yet, you don't see people complaining about him being a jerk, at least not so much as you see it with Kaigaku.

And guess what, even as a demon, his eventual inferiority to Zeni is just as much of a burden as it has always been, perhaps even more. Forget the fact Zeni could only master one technique, forget the fact he was a cowardly crybaby up till now. No, in the final arc, he suddenly gets over his issues all at once. Suddenly, he's all brave and selfless and even comes up with an entirely new technique we have never even seen him train or attempt and-

You know what, I'm bitter about what a rushed arc Zenitsu's personal one was. It was out of nowhere, bland, boring and with no build-up. Zenitsu was an annoying character who only ever cried and ran away and hit on girls (and not even normally hit on them, he just went Mr. Creepy on them) and then, one meditation later, he's suddenly badass who is dedicated to a revenge plot? Look, I don't necessarily dislike comedic relief characters and if a character starts like that and then gets developed to be deep and cool, that's even better. But there's just so much cringe and out of nowhere sudden development for Zenitsu that I feel honestly cheated.

TLDR: Kaigaku doesn't deserve the shit he's getting because he's basically Koku but with more reasons behind his jealousy and also because his supposedly better counterpart is objectively worse than him in every way while Yoriichi was at least praised for his actual skills.

[italkaboutbooks]

An in depth review of Aurora Rising//Part 2

If you haven’t already, read part one here.

So welcome to the second part of my ramblings about this novel. Last time, I talked about how chapters 18-24 were some of the most confusing and infuriating chapters I have ever read, and how I hated that.

I’m actually going to complain about it a little bit more in...

Pacing!

Aurora Rising’s pacing is...questionable at best. Bad at worst.

So the novel is split into three parts. You know how some novels have specific parts like part 1 and part 2? That’s used in Aurora Rising. Immediately, the three act structure comes to mind. I understand that it may be used for movies more but hear me out.

The basics of structure and pacing is that, by the end of the second act, you’re nearing the climax. Basically, the story should be increasing in tension, because the antagonist is usually at its most powerful at this point.

Aurora Rising doesn’t do that. Or maybe it just failed me and not you for some reason. But if you remember the end of part 2 aka chapters 18-24, you would know that the characters succeed. And what that success does, is lower the tension. Because the heroes won the battle and they’re feeling pretty confident. That doesn’t raise the stakes in my opinion. I feel like if Auri actually was taken, then there would be stronger stakes, but the pacing failed in that regard. So it’s another big complaint from me.

There’s nothing really remarkable about plot of pacing for me to comment on. So let’s go to the next part.

Characters

For this section, I am simply going to rank the main cast aka the squad, and tell you my thoughts about them. 7 being my least favourite character and 1 being my favourite. I’ll talk about their relationships which each other in a separate section.

7. Zila

Zila doesn’t have a personality. She is the stereotypical “smart” person in the group that doesn’t express emotion. Or in this case, has none. She’s a robot. She has no interests, no motivations, and we’re not given a backstory. She has nothing. I personally believe that the authors didn’t even care about her. They just added her there to be smart. That is all. She shows a smidgen of an arc near the end, but it’s not even the bare minimum. I wished the authors actually put effort into Zila because it’s obvious that they didn’t.

6. Tyler Jones

Tyler Jones is the definition of the bland white boy. He is one of the worst protagonists I have ever seen in a book. Why does he suck so much in my eyes? Because he’s perfect. He’s handsome, he’s good at everything, everyone likes him, and even if they don’t like him, they at least respect him. He never makes any mistakes, doesn’t have any flaws, and has dimples. He is infuriating.

Personally, I like flawed characters. That’s what makes characters and stories interesting. If you give me a character who essentially wins every battle, I will think that they are the most bland and boring person in existence. Your characters need flaws, especially your protagonist! Remember chapters 18-24? Yeah, another complaint about that part is making them succeed just makes Tyler more of a Mary Sue.

Also there’s a scene in chapter 12 where Tyler says he doesn’t want to kill a Terran because he’s a Terran and acts like killing his own kind is unheard of. ....Aurora has a lot of explaining to do for you buddy.

Tyler gets the second worst ranking because at least he is allowed to experience emotions, and the authors tried to give him an arc. (But does Tyler really have an arc? Because I didn’t see it.)

5. Cat

I have mixed feelings about Cat. I talked before about the arc that I thought she was going to have. And the arc she gets...well it’s kind of disappointing.

Cat’s character seems to be that she’s in love with Tyler (for some reason) but he rejected her and now she’s just trying to cope with it but doesn’t do it well. She dies, but dies knowing that Tyler actually loved her all along and I don’t really like it. But at the same time, I do?

See, when I read the ending of the book, I was sad. Cat died and I was sad because of that. I’ll give the book merit for that, (especially since I’ve been slandering it.) It made me care about a character’s death. But at the same time, I don’t like that Cat’s arc was essentially her getting over a man. It feels cheap to me. My idea for her arc was her learning to listen to others opinions more and make her more loyal, which is not dependent on a man. So I don’t straight up hate Cat, but I would make a lot of changes to her character and arc.

And also she’s kind of annoying. She’s says bloody way too often and I thought the authors did that so she could be “unique.” Apparently Cat’s Aussie...somehow. I’m so sorry to Australians everywhere, I’m sure you all don’t talk like Cat.

4. Scarlet Jones

I don’t really like Scarlet all that much, but I like her more than Cat. Here’s the thing: she’s immediately better than Tyler because she actually has flaws. Which I like. She cares about her friends and the squad members. She’s a sweetheart, and I like that. Her motivations are understandable in a way, but I also relate to them which kind of makes me hate her.

Also she does some questionable things that don’t make me hate her, they just confuse me, and creep me out. For starters, she has a list of all her exes. I don’t wanna judge her because I really don’t hate her, but that’s creepy. Also there’s a scene where she drugs two guys for their uniforms, and she takes them to a hotel room, and leaves her bra there, along with some kiss marks, to give to illusion that she had sex with them. She said something along the lines of “Gotta leave some evidence.”

First of all, that’s not how you commit a crime. (For legal reasons, this is a joke.) When you commit a crime, you make sure that there’s no evidence so that you don’t get caught. Second, leaving signs that these guys had sex with you tells them that they had sex with you under the influence. They didn’t give their consent, meaning you’re making them think that you raped them. And when you think about how males usually are the ones to drug and rape females, it just becomes even more questionable.

I also need to point out the fact that her name is Scarlet, and she has red hair. Wow. Amazing. So original. Aside from that though, she’s okay.

3. Kallis 🥉

Kal is a good character. He got the number three spot and I think he deserves it. I liked reading his POV chapters the most. It shows how he’s trying to hold back from his instincts to kill because that’s how he was raised. He’s a tsundere in ways. Cold and harsh on the outside, but deep down, he does care about the greater good. We don’t really get a warm side to him in the first book, but it’s there, I promise.

2. Aurora 🥈

Auri is baby, okay? She’s had to deal with loosing her family and life in one day. Even less than that. She had to deal with visions and hallucinations and new powers of telekinesis in a very short time. Home girl was going through some crap. But through all of that, she still manages to be a sweet girl. She’s never mean to the others, except for irritation at Kal. She tries her best to stay optimistic, and I think she went through the best arc in the group. (Although it’s kind of on the nose.) I love Auri and I think she deserves all the love.

1. Finian 🥇

Finian De Steel? Did you mean, the best character is Aurora Rising?

I love Fin with my entire heart. He is literally the best. He is so funny and snarky and easily has the best lines. But he’s also the most sympathetic in my opinion, along with Auri. You learn about his past and how people tend to treat him differently because he’s disabled, and how he has a hard time connecting with others despite wanting a connection with others so badly.

He’s a great character. I also think they represented his disability pretty well. He has an exosuit which makes him move, but it’s not treated as a cure. The suit gets damaged which affects Fin’s mobility, and he experiences pain because of it. So I think they did a good job with that. And he’s just awesome in general.

I understand that the humour in this book is pretty juvenile. However, some of Fin’s lines actually made me laugh and smile, and I usually don’t laugh or smile much. Humour is subjective and I’m not going to stand here and act like mine is the best. My sense of humour is bad puns and inside jokes between my family so...it was fine for me. Granted, Fin was the only character who actually was good at humour, so there.

Character Relationships

Yes, I think that this needs a section of its own.

Let’s start simple. Tyler and Scarlet. They’re both twins, with Scarlet being the older by like a minute. I think they were written pretty well as siblings, except for the fact that Scarlet calls Tyler her “baby brother” in her internal dialogue/narration including spoken dialogue. Siblings don’t call each other that, I promise you. As someone who has a sibling, reading fictional characters call each other that makes me cringe so much.

Then there’s Kal and Auri, who are essentially “soulmates” in a way by the end of the book. They aren’t canon or anything, it’s just extremely obvious that they’re endgame. Kal told Auri that she was essentially her mate and that they were fated to be together. Some people saw it as some Wolf alpha shiz, I saw it more as soulmates personally. I don’t think that they’re a bad pairing, it’s kind of cute sometimes. But to me, they don’t feel like two people who have feelings for each other. It just feels like a pairing that is usually a popular ship in fandoms.

The best way for me to describe it to you is this. When I see Kal and Auri together, I don’t think, “Oh these two characters have great chemistry. They could be romantic partners.” No, I think, “I feel like fans of this book ship them really hard.”

So in a way, their relationship may be cute, but it doesn’t feel real, because I’ll always see it as something the fans created and not the actual authors, which doesn’t even make sense to me. I’m not even trying to hate on shippers, this pairing just confuses me.

By bigger pet peeve is that the authors seem to want to pair up every other character, because by the end of the book, Fin and Scarlet seem to crush on each other. It’s really annoying when people think that romance is the end game.

I’ve also read reviews where the readers were upset at how heteronormative the couple pairings were. And I agree with them. While reading the book, I always thought Fin was gay. To me, he was coded as gay or bi. Also, there’s a scene where Tyler kisses Kal because a guard was about to catch them. Seeing how the book was released in 2019, I can see how LGBTQ+ readers were disappointed that their identities were used as a really cheap way for the characters to get out of a situation, and not give them actual representation.

(Personally, I wouldn’t mind if Tyler got caught, maybe then he could actually have consequences for his actions.)

But you see, these relationships are okay to me. Not perfect. Definitely room for improvement, but they don’t upset me. But the found family, aka the whole squad, disappointed me. Not enough to make me not want to get the sequel, but enough to make me write about it.

You see, what I was expecting was enemies to friends. Nobody wants to be in this squad, so they constantly argue and mess up their mission because of it. After some near death experiences and real stakes, they start to become friends until they actually see each other as family in a way.

But we don’t get that. At least, I didn’t feel like we got that. Because this found family feels forced to me.

Despite them not liking each other, they don’t argue. They give each other insulting banter, but that doesn’t count as actual differences of opinions. We’re not even shown them disagreeing with each other. We’re told in one of Auri’s chapters, but that’s not enough for me. And it doesn’t correlate with the fact that they didn’t fail a mission. Technically yes, they failed the first one, but because the GIA came to stop it, it didn’t feel like a failure to me. And that was their only failure. They did everything else right, despite them being so different, and hating each other and etc.

The one time we actually got a real disagreement was in chapter 18, and we already know how I feel about chapter 18.

So yeah, their found family is cute and all, but I feel like it could’ve flowed more naturally, so that it would make sense. I remember Kristoff comparing this book to Guardians of the Galaxy on goodreads, which I feel like is insulting to GotG. Because in GotG the characters actually hate each other and go to jail because the first thing they did when they met was fight. So yeah, GotG did it better in my opinion.

And that’s enough for part 2. I can’t believe I have to make a third part, but hopefully it will be the last. If you read this far, thank you. You should consider following me because I might want to do more in-depth reviews like this.

Part 3

[princesssarisa]

Frozen II  – my thoughts on Elsa’s outcome (warning – long and full of spoilers)

At this point, my only real objection to the ending is the fact that separation endings have been way, way overdone in the past year. If Ralph Breaks the Internet, Toy Story 4, How to Train Your Dragon 3, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Steve’s outcome in Avengers: Endgame, and the finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic didn’t exist, my feelings would be almost fully positive. Especially because Elsa and Anna will still see each other all the time, they just don’t live under the same roof anymore.

I also have a minor quibble about the idea that growing up means you “need” to live apart from your siblings or extended family (not that the movie ever says that, it’s just a cultural norm). And when I read comments from fans saying “Yes, it’s slightly bittersweet, but that’s realistic, it’s a mature ending,” I feel a little sad that not even Disney is letting kids believe in happily ever after anymore. This applies to the whole separation/bittersweet ending trend throughout the past year’s family media. Again, these are minor issues.

But as a person on the autism spectrum who, like so many, feels a connection to Elsa, I love the way things turn out for her.

First of all, there’s the fact that for all of Elsa’s popularity, the protagonist of the original Frozen is Anna, and Elsa, though certainly not the villain, is, in terms of story structure, the main antagonist. Throughout most of the first film, her powers are a deadly force to be overcome – the endless winter must be stopped and Anna’s frozen heart must be thawed. Yes, the beauty of her powers is also highlighted and she fully realizes and shares that beauty in the end, but for the most part her magic is still a negative presence in the story. There’s a reason why so many viewers see it as analogous to a mental disorder.

Also, as many have pointed out, “Let It Go” has a bit of a Misaimed Fandom. Meta joke about how overplayed it is aside, it’s no wonder that in the sequel Elsa cringes at the memory of herself singing it. Yes, it’s an empowering anthem and it’s a good thing that she finally stops suppressing her powers, but it’s a bad thing that she turns her back on her people, her responsibilities and her sister, and while she’s reveling in her new freedom, she’s unwittingly burying Arendelle in snow. In the end she has to go back and give up some of that freedom, and even though she’s happy, it can still ring bittersweet to those of us who connect with the song.

The analogy is imperfect, but I do think of how my own situation with mild autism compares to Elsa’s. My huge emotions, panic attacks and ferocious meltdowns, so hard to control (see the Intense World Theory), and my difficulty with social interactions and playing by society’s rules in general. The concept of a person born with destructive magical powers tied to her emotions is an apt analogy. Her years behind closed doors bring to mind my own introversion and social anxiety. I hear “Conceal, don’t feel” and think of all times I’ve been instructed or scolded to keep my unruly emotions and odd instincts under control. Like Elsa’s powers, my autism has some beauty in it too: my intelligence, creativity, good memory, etc. But it’s still a disorder that society isn’t built for, and generally it’s something I need to mask around others. Also like Elsa, I’ve struggled with guilt and with feeling like a burden to my family. I know I’m not alone in relating to her for these reasons.

So imagine my vicarious thrill over “Show Yourself.” When Elsa finally learns the origin of her powers and learns that she was born that way for a reason – that it isn’t a curse, or just a random difference, but a gift. When she steps fully into her power for the first time, and unlike in “Let It Go,” it’s unambiguously a wonderful thing, both for her and for others. When she finally fully embraces self-love, realizing that everything she thought she needed from the outside is already within her (“You are the one you’ve been waiting for”) and that it’s time to fully show herself to the world. When she goes on to truly “see what she can do” and “test the limits and break through,” as she once sang, but this time in a heroic way, saving her people from her grandfather’s past sins – not from her own mistakes for a change. The moment I first learned about the plot point of the dam and the tidal wave that would destroy Arendelle if it fell, I was thrilled by the thought of Elsa using her powers to stop that tidal wave. The character whom we misfits relate to thoroughly leaves behind her old “sympathetic antagonist” territory and becomes a true heroine, taking her raw power that once endangered the kingdom and using it to save it.

(This is another reason why I don’t believe the rumors that she was originally supposed to stay frozen and that her revival is a Focus Group Ending. In the first place, what would be the point of her glorious self-actualization if it were only leading to her death? In the second place, who would stop the flood?)

I’d love to have the kind of experience she does. I wish I could learn that everything “disordered” about me is actually a gift and that fully being myself will bring good things both to me and to others. Maybe someday this will happen, but I don’t see it happening any time soon, so to see it happen to Elsa is incredibly therapeutic.

Then we have her becoming the forest’s guardian in the end. At first the idea made me uncomfortable because I thought it might seem to say that people who are different belong outside of human society. But the fact that she still regularly visits Arendelle and evidently stays close to the Northuldra too puts that concern at ease. I also understand why some people who relate to her are upset that she gives up her throne, because it was therapeutic to see someone so different and insecure not only find love and acceptance, but be able to rule a kingdom too. I agree that if she had wanted to stay queen forever, that would have been perfectly fine. But I think it’s perfectly reasonable that in the end it’s not what she wants.

Isn’t it arguably a bit of a waste for Elsa’s epic powers, which can alter landscapes, build castles, create life or take it, etc., to be confined to making pretty decorations and skating rinks? Isn’t it reasonable that after her self-actualization, she prefers a life’s purpose where her powers are central, since they’ve always been her chief defining feature and shaped most of who she is? As opposed to the life of a queen, where they’re only incidental? I can’t help but remember how much I struggled in school, from first grade through the first two years of college, when my hyper-focused passions for the arts, music and stories (the hyper-focus being an autistic trait, the passions being tied to the hyper-emotional sensitivity I’ve mentioned) had to be treated as just “what I do for fun in my spare time,” while math (UGH!!!), science, and other things i had no interest in and no talent for were treated as my life’s purpose. I also think of all the people in mundane corporate and blue-collar jobs, which I’m grateful every day that I’ve been lucky enough to avoid so far. If they were to find new jobs that reflect their greatest talents and unlock their full potential, wouldn’t we want them to take those new jobs? This is why I’m happy that Elsa’s new life purpose revolves around nature and magic.

Yes, I’ve read the complaints from some fans that Elsa has “lost some of her humanity,” and that’s fair. But let’s not be too quick to equate “humanity” with normality and “inhumanity” with difference. even if said difference is supernatural magic. Another reason why I like Elsa’s outcome is that Disney hasn’t always had the best track record with misfit characters who remind me of myself. I love Beauty and the Beast, especially from a feminist viewpoint, but when I see myself in the Beast, I sometimes feel awkward about his arc. I know they probably didn’t mean to code him as autistic, but still – a misunderstood loner outcast, to whom neatness, grooming and manners don’t come naturally, who struggles with the most basic social skills, who fails to understand others’ emotions at first, and who has massive meltdowns of rage when he’s under stress? How can I not see it? The fact that his journey consists of his being “tamed,” learning to suppress all his raw emotions and rough edges to please Belle, and that his happy ending is to become fully normal by becoming human again, doesn’t make him much fun to relate to. Give me a character like Elsa, who learns that her differences are her strength.

Elsa’s ending is just what I wanted for her, because it’s what I want for myself. Identifying with her is a more enjoyable thing than ever now.

[lorewytch]

The Lunar Battle

Okay! I’m skipping the other episode to go straight into what I thought about Moonvasion. Oh my gosh....there is SO MUCH to talk about! First of all, am I the only one who thought that the part with the newscaster was pretty funny? Poor Carl was right! LOL Also.. Scottish Music!

Also Webby: NERP! pfffttttt.

I love Scrooge’s speech to the help they gathered. I love that they gathered everyone good from the past episodes to become the army of sorts! So many characters! But it felt like they all got equal screen time especially during the fight scene! Seeing Lena fight was so awesome too! I loved seeing her magic and it was so cool to see her and Violet fighting for them! XD Also with Gizmoduck and the pies and harpies..classic! I enjoyed it and the animation was so fluid and smooth. Quackfasters attack was by far the most amusing and the animation on it was just awesome! They also showed blood when Beakley got hurt! Not a lot of animated kids shows really do that. I legit went “BEAKLEY!” when it happened and was like OMG no let them be okay! Dewey Ex machina!!! XD and yes Dewey Webby will be there to save you, always LOL I love that Dewey believes he can save the world. I knew Dewey would want to become one! “Who am I?”

“Darkwing Duck!”

“Alright!”

I was kind of let down by Lunaris plan. It seems so.....80s XD Have the earth revolve around the moon? Pfffttt. Serious yet not. Lunaris to me at that point seemed a bit of a two bit villain. Granted, he had done really well until that point and yes I shouldn’t have expected something more logical. It does make sense to his character. He hates the earth and probably has some kind of complex to where he hates that the moon revolves around the earth. So it is a logical scheme. But in the previous episodes he had focused more on Scrooge McDuck and his family. Then the moonlanders gave up on searching for them when Della and the kids landed on the island. Its like, Oh okay this was not what I was expecting. I mean it wasn’t horrible. 

Honestly I loved the scene with Donald and Della meeting on the island with the watermelon mickey head XDDDD That was my moms favorite part! “Has the melon been a thing the time I’ve been gone or....”

“No that’s new.” Della and Donald meeting for the first time was almost everything I thought it would be. Personally I thought they would meet in a rather dangerous situation. Possibly with a swirling portal behind them? (too much Gravity Falls there! XDD) Then tearfully hug each other before yelling at each other with the “Where have you been?!” This was way more amusing though with the mickey head. I hope they sell those plushies now.. Watermelon mickey heads.. I’d buy one! Also watching Scrooge fail to come up with a plan was pretty sad to see. Beakley’s line was hilarious.

“Not reassuring he went down instead of up.” Probably my favorite line of the episode. Seeing Glomgold become a good guy trying to help them is weird and yet very amusing. The fact that Scrooge goes with it shows how desperate he is. Oh man, I mean the logic is there.. Lunaris won’t be expecting a really dumb scheme and somehow they are hoping it works. Although Scrooge doesn’t hold out much hope. 

“I’m gonna miss being a planet.”

With Della also realizing that this was the moon all over again, the next scene is Louie and Della, trying to reconnect again. It’s really interesting to see Louie trying to comfort Della. Despite how scared Louie is, he reminds her that bad things happen and you can’t always plan for it. And I really connected to both of them in that aspect. It’s a important lesson to note. One I didn’t learn until much later in life. Things don’t always go as planned. Your world falls apart...Sometimes you just have to roll with it and even though there are bad things that happen.. good surprises, good things happen to. Learning that Donald sang the Moon theme to the kids every night was so amazing! I had hoped that was canon! It was! Although...Donald singing it.. it kind of makes me cringe to imagine it. Still awesome though! XDD That part alone was what made this part of the story okay with me. They needed that moment. This arc was about Louie and this gave closure to the Della and Louie part for me. Yes, they didn’t go into more detail and it felt like the entire problems these two had with each other seemed rushed. But, this was the ending of that.....that I expected. This is how I wanted that arc to end in a sense. So I was okay with it. Louie will still scheme and Della won’t always be okay with it. But now that she knows this is who Louie is, she can try to steer him in the right path away from hopefully the real danger. “Oh man am I the Uncle Donald?” Dewey sad to say... yes...yes you are in that pose configuration XD Thanks Frank for that nod to the fans! The animation in the scene where Scrooge has to be forced to wear the santa costume was so cool. As Scrooge angrily grabbed the costume. I loved it! “None of this makes any sense!” I’m with ya there Lunaris...lol Watching the ship be destroyed by all this randomness was amusing. 

I think the space battle was so cool and loved the animation and Penny coming in at the last minute to save everyone really made me jump a bit in joy. I was so worried that she died in that moment. But to see her slam into the ship I was like YES SHE’S OKAY. Also Karma...Lunaris you jerk your a moon, deal with it XD Okay, now onto what I REALLY wanna talk about. Holy F.O.W.L!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG! I was not expecting that. I should have.. but wtf?! Seeing all these returning and new villains made my mouth drop open and go. Season 3...what will you do to me? Now.. logic dictates that Season 3 is Huey’s season. But to me.. Fowl seems more like Webby’s enemy more than Huey’s. We still know little to nothing about Webby’s past and no one has hinted about it much. But Webby confronted Black Heron and Scrooge is close to the Vulture brothers. Oddly enough too.. on that picture something really bothers me. Webby is hugging Scrooge and the boys and Della and Donald and a few others are looking down at Scrooge and Webby. Now Darkwing isnt, and a few others aren’t as well. Maybe I’m looking too much into the picture but that’s just odd that it seems more focused on those two vs Huey if it is Huey’s season. I know for sure Heron would want her revenge on Webby. But I can’t help but feel Fowl is more closely tied to Webby and Beakley than any of the others. Huey could definitely unravel the mystery of FOWL no questions on that. It could become something he obsesses over a bit. But I think Webby would team up with him and be the fists if needed to fight the baddies. Who knows, maybe we will learn more about Webby’s past. They sadly haven’t revealed a season 4 announcement which does worry me that we won’t get a “Webby Season” in a sense and that they may try to cram it in at the end of season three? I’m not sure and it does worry me. I’d like these questions answered before the series is cancelled for good :( I HAVE HOPE THOUGH! HOPE will keep it alive! I also have like 3 new fanfic ideas in my head that won’t go away.

BUT AHHHHH!! That last scene made me shake my computer and go “THAT’S IT?!” I sort am dreading and excited for season 3!!! Now we have enemies in FOWL and I can see this being a very challenging season for our favorite Duck family!!

[joyofcrime-elinorhigh]

Watamote Review: (Oh, The Cringe)

"Beware that, when fighting cringe, you yourself do not become a cringe lord yourself.. for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche: 1886 -(Probably) -(Don't Google it)

 Hello there, everybody. My name is JoyofCrimeArt, and the word "cringe" is definitely thrown around a lot these days, to the point where some say that the word is starting to lose all meaning. "Oh, you like some band or movie that I don't like? That's so cringe, lol." No, Damn it! I'm sick of all of it! I'm looking for true, unadulterated cringe, in it's purest form! The type of cringe that makes you unsure if you should laugh or cry. The type of cringe that makes you question if our species evolutionary process is going backwards or forwards. That is why I am on a quest to find this cringe, for the good of science! So today in my journey to find the most cringe thing ever created (other than myself, obviously) we will be diving head first into the deep end of the cringe pool, as we head to Japan once again to talk about the 2013 anime series Watamote. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWOTQRduHeA

(Yes, I'm using the ending credit song here. I know people love the shows opening, and while I think that the song on it's own isn't that bad and the visuals are really nice, the heavy metal doesn't really match the show in my opinion. Couple with the clever lyrics here, I find this song a better representation of the show, and much catchier.)   Watamote (Aka: No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys' Fault I’m Not Popular! Aka: No Matter How I Look at It, This Series Really Needs a Shorter Title.) is a twelve episode anime series based off of the manga by the same name written by two writers who both go by the pen name Nico Tanigawa. The series follows the misadventures of main protagonist Tomoko Kuroki, a very socially backwards teenage girl who's about to enter her first year of high school. Being unpopular in middle school, Tomoko decides that high school is going to be a fresh start for her, as she decides that she will not only become the most popular girl in school, but will also get a boyfriend as well. Things do not turn out that way and hijinks ensue. Seems like a fairly standard, if not somewhat bland premise, right? Well you might assume that at first, but what if I were to tell you that this show handles the subject in such a unique and creative way, that it was actually able to became one of my personal favorite animated series of the decade so far? Why is that, you ask? Well, let's dive in and find out.  Let's start by talking about our main character, Tomoko Kuroki. Tomoko is a first year high school student who dreams of becoming popular and getting a boyfriend. However, there are two big things that makes this hard for her. The first thing is that she is not a very friendly person. She's bitter, cynical, and even a bit demented at points. She has her soft moments, but in general she tends to assume the worst in almost anybody, and holds a lot of resentment for people who are more socially skilled than she is. The second thing is that Tomoko is HEAVILY implied to suffers from a surprisingly fairly realistic depiction of social anxiety disorder. At the start of the series Tomoko is completely unable to talk to anybody outside of her own family. These two facts, particularly the latter, are what makes Tomoko's goal of becoming the most popular girl in school such an enormous challenge, and Tomoko trying to break out of her shell serves as the main arc of the series. Social anxiety disorder is not a topic that I've seen covered very much in other forms of media, and I can't think of any other series that covers it in the way Watamote does. But I'll get to that a bit later.  There are some other side characters, but honestly there aren't that many. There's Tomoko's younger and stoic brother Tomoki, who has to put up with Tomoko's annoying antics. There's also Yu, Tomoko's only friend from middle school who now goes to a separate high school. While she too was unpopular in middle school, unlike Tomoko she actually was able to reinvent herself when she entered high school by dying her hair blond and hiding her love of anime. She acts as a good contrast to Tomoko as a reflection of what Tomoko wants to be. There's also one other character who comes in near the end of the series, but I can't really talk about her to much without getting into mild spoiler territory. All of these characters are good in there own right, but other then them the show is mostly about Tomoko. This is clever as by keeping the cast of side characters small, it helps drive the point home about how lonely she really is due to her social anxiety. Resulting in about eighty five to ninety percent of the shows "dialogue" to actually be Tomoko's internal dialogue, as she talks to herself about whatever situation she is in. I've never seen a show do something like this before and it's really an interesting thing to do. It ties the audience much more into Tomoko's struggle by truly making the series her story, and her's alone. However, this means that the entire series does rely on you liking Tomoko as a character. If you don't than there isn't much else to latch on to.    Episodes of the show are pretty formulaic. They almost always center around either Tomoko coming up with some kind of hare brain scheme to get more popular or involve her being forced to act in some kind of social situation. Often times the plots do not act as much of a "linear plot" as much as a series of short vignettes that center around a theme. Like episodes four, where the plot is that "it's raining" and we get several different segments of Tomoko doing stuff while it's raining. Or episode seven, where the whole plot is just Tomoko doing several things during her summer break. It's a pretty unique format that I haven't seen many other times before and makes the episodes feel less like a coherent stories and more like just moments of Tomoko's life. I really enjoy this way of storytelling, as it makes the stories seem a lot smaller. That might sound like a bad thing, but I think it helps ground the world and the characters, and makes it feel more relatable. It makes the stories feel like something that could actually happen in real life.  Now despite how depressing this show might sound from my description of it, it is still a comedy. It's just that it's a very dark comedy. Most of the jokes in the series coming from Tomoko's failure to understand the way that people are suppose to act socially, or the leaps in logic she makes when it comes to her schemes to become more popular. This often results in what is known as "cringe comedy" or as what I like to call it "Oh God, please stop." comedy. This is a style of humor that this show has perfected to a t. Every situation that Tomoko finds herself in is uncomfortable to watch, in the best of way. It's actually a great show to watch if you are socially awkward, cause then you can say, "Well hey, at least I'm not THAT bad." Unless of course you are that bad, in which case you really need to question your life decisions.

THIS IS THE STUFF WE'RE DEALING WITH, PEOPLE!  Tomoko's plans are always doomed from the start, to the point where failure is an inevitability. This actually provides an interesting viewing experience in a strange kind of way. Most of the time in good stories a character will think of a plan that is just crazy enough to work. You as the viewer will be unsure of whether or not the characters plan will work or not and that's how the series builds suspense. But Watamote's plot structure doesn't work like that. The plots of Watamote function less like conventional stories and more like a car driving into a brick wall. What I mean by this is that whenever Tomoko comes up with any kind of plan to become popular you know form the very beginning that it's going to fail. The schemes are so disconnected from any kind of reality that it's obvious to anyone who isn't Tomoko that the plan won't work. An example of this in the episode six where she tries to become more attractive by playing dating sims game, due to the fact that she believed that by being aroused by these games, her body would create more feminine hormones, and those hormones would make her more attractive. And that's not even her dumbest plan she has in this series! You know from the start that this plan makes absolutely no Goddamn sense, but then you have to sit there for the next six to ten minutes and watch it fail. You have to watch the metaphorical car crash unfold. The show definitely has a niche style of humor that won't be for everyone, but I personally can't get enough of it.  Now, while the show has gotten mixed to positive reviews from fans and critics, those who do dislike the show site a major problem with the series being how it deals with the topic of social anxiety. Many say that the show does not tackle the topic with much tack or grace, as the series is basically about laughing at how miserable Tomoko is because of her illness. Not to mention the fact that pretty much no adult in the series tries in anyway to actually help Tomoko through her problem. Not even her parents. Many argue that this show is taking the subject to lightly. Honestly though, I disagree with this analysis, and honestly I have no idea where they would get this idea from.

Oh, Tomoko! You're so CRAY CRAY! Ha Ha! You see, it's funny because social anxiety is hilarious!  Okay, in all seriousness, I can get that complaint. Heck, now that I think about it, I honestly don't think this story would have been able to air if it came out in America due to the way it handles the issue. So the question becomes "is this show offensive to people with social anxiety disorder"? Well, I don't think so. The show does play a lot of the social anxiety stuff for laughs, but it is also played for drama as well. Tomoko's whole character arc is about her learning to cope with her condition while also trying to conquer it. And while I don't have social anxiety disorder (Though I am EXTREMELY introverted, so take of that what you will.) I think that the story would be very inspiring for someone who does have it. Watamote is a lot like an TV-MA rated version of the comic strip Peanuts, (hear me out, here!) Like Charlie Brown Tomoko is a character that the world is just out to get. She tries her hardest, but from the very beginning we know that failure is inevitable. But Tomoko never stops trying. And when she does have even the smallest of victories it feels all the more satisfying. Because Tomoko does change over the course of the twelve episodes. The change is very gradual, but as the series goes on she does become more and more confident speaking around other people, and it feels like a real accomplishments, even though it's clear at the end of the series that she still has quite a way to go. Even her motivations change over the course of the series, going from "Wanting to be the most popular girl in school and having a boyfriend" to "Just wanting a boyfriend" to "Just wanting to have a friend." It shows the struggles that comes with anxiety, but it also shows that with hard work you can rise above it, even if it's only one step at a time. For a comedy driven show it actually has a lot of heart behind it. And it's this heart that I think keeps the show from being just a show that uses social anxiety as a punchline, into a series that really treats the issue with the respect it should be treated with, albeit in a comedic way.

 The show treads a careful line into dipping into "torture porn" territory (Which, for anyone who is not aware, is a term often used to describe a show that features one character suffering over and over again for no good reason. BTDubz, we also learn is one of Tomoko's kinks.) What I mean is that as an audience member you want to watch the main character succeed in there endeavors. However, Tomoko fails ninety nine percent of the time. The series could easily dip to far and end up becoming too depressing and mean spirited. But luckily there able to carefully avoid this my making almost of Tomoko's suffering is caused by internal forces, not external. No one actually bullies Tomoko for her condition, or anything. it just that most people don't know she exists. If Tomoko could actually just talk to someone instead of overthinking things she wouldn't have a problem making friends at all. This stops the series from coming across as overly mean spirited. Because it is Tomoko, or more specifically her condition, that makes her life hard. Not anyone or anything else. Tomoko life is separated from all of her peers, and the show cleverly illustrates this by having a lot of the background characters being drawn without faces. Because, to Tomoko, there just a faceless mob. That and it probably helps cut cost on the character design budget-

 Also, the fact that Tomoko is such a jerky character also helps the series feel less like a torture porn. Cause while obviously you don't want Tomoko to suffer, it is a lot easier to watch a lovable jerk suffer compared to someone who did nothing wrong. I mean seriously, look at the way Tomoko talks about her only friend Yuu in her internal monologue!

She's such a jerk!  But because we know what she goes through it stops her from becoming to unlikeable...For the most part.  That leads me into some of the flaws with the show. While I do really love this show a lot, I believe that everything has pros and cons to it, and it deserves to be talked about. Just keep in mind though that many of these flaws are kinda nitpicks, that don't distract too much from the series as a whole.  Sometimes Tomoko can come across as to mean spirited and unlikeable. The bit before the train scene in episode four is probably the worst of it, though there at least she does learn that she was wrong. The show also has a tendency to reuse music from previous episodes, which while not that bad does get fairly noticeable as the series goes on. The series also has a lot of references to both Japanese pop cultural references and references and Japaness culture in general. For some reason a lot of the Japanese brand names or anime series that are names dropped in the series are censored out in the sub? It's weird because there not removed like they are in the dub, but they'll have one or two letters blocked out. I don't get the point. But yeah, a lot of those jokes went over my head, and would probably work better if I knew more about day to day life of a Japanese youth.  Also the ending of the series is kinda lackluster. I'm not going to go into spoilers, but Watamote is based off of a manga. A manga that is still running today, so they didn't really have an ending they could adapt. And it's kinda clear from the feeling of the finale that the people behind the anime didn't really know what to do when they got to the end of there twelve episode run. The finale isn't really that bad to be completely honest, but it does feel like a very abrupt end written by people who where just kinda guessing what the ending of the manga might end up being like.  Also, while I don't see this as a flaw, this show will not be everybody. This show will make you feel uncomfortable. A lot of scenes are really hard to watch, just due to how intentionally awkward they are. I kept out A LOT of the really cringy moments from the show out of the review as not to spoil them, but trust me. It gets truly hard to watch at some points. This is Butch Hartman's YouTube channel levels of cringe! (Okay, that's a lie, nothing is that cringe. Sorry Watamote.) It's both the shows greatest strength and greatest weakness. The humor is both very unique but also very niche, which is why while this show was fairly successful when it came out, I would find very few people other than myself who would call it one of there favorite anime series.  Now, it's time to talk about the age old debate. How should you watch the series, Dubbed or Subbed? Well, honestly, I don't really care. It's your life man, As long as you're not hurting anybody what do I care? But if you wanted my opinion, I'd be happy to share it with you! Since most of the lines come from Tomoko she'll be the big deciding factor. For the sub we have the performance of Izumi Kitta. Ms. Kitta nails the role of Tomoko in my personal opinion. She has such a meek and high pitched voice that it really sells the emotional scenes in the series. When Tomoko is forced to talk to someone in the sub her voice is at a near inaudible whisper, which really does help give you the sense that Tomoko is truly unable to communicate with most people. In the dub Tomoko is played by voice acting legend Monica Rial. Her take on Tomoko's voice is less cutesy and is a lot more nasally, which does work as an interpretation. She captures the comedy moments really well too. However, I feel like she isn't as good at capturing the moments of anxiety as well as Kitta, and due to Kitta managing to pull of the comedic and the touching side I think her take is the better version.  No offence to Monica Rial though. I do love the fact that her version of Tomoko sounds like a cross between Renge from Ouran High School Host Club  (Who she also voices in the dub) and Peridot from Steven Universe. THAT'S A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN I TELLS' YA!

 So in the end, should you watch Watamote? Well, I think it depends on who you are. The series won't be for everyone. It's brand of humor is very unique, and will likely turn a lot of people off. But I think if you're the type of person who likes weird, uncomfortable humor they'll be something for you here. ESPECIALLY if you're shy or introverted. There will definitely be a part of you who will be able to relate to the show, even if you're not exactly proud that you related to it. The series is also only twelve episodes, so it isn't that much of a commitment. It's really a shame that it's only twelve episodes though, as they only ended up adapting about three and a half volumes out of the still ongoing ten volume run. They could of done more if they wanted too. But then again, leave them wanting more as they say. (That way you can force them to buy your manga set...) The series can be found subbed on Crunchyroll for free, or on Hulu if you already have an account. Unfortunately the only way to find the series dubbed legally is on DVD or blu-ray sets, and those are about thirty bucks on Amazon here in the US. However, depending on your financial situation it may just be worth it...(But God knows I don't have that kind of money!) If this review got you at all interested consider checking the series out.  So that's my review of the anime series Watamote. What do you think of the series? Which moment was the hardest to watch for you? Tell me all that in the comments down bellow. I'd love to start a conversation, even if you don't necessarily agree with all of the points I've made. Please fav, follow, and comment if you liked this review, or if you have any suggestions for any other reviews in the future. Have a great day. (Interesting fact. Whenever I'm at work during my lunch break at work I will either go to the bookstore that's right by my work establishment or I'll just sit in the break room reading my volumes of  Watamote mangas by myself while trying to make it so my co-workers can't see what I am reading. THIS SHOW IS SO ME AND THAT'S NOT A GOOD THING-) (I do not own any of the images or videos in this review all credit goes to there original owners.)

https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/Watamote-REVIEW-Oh-the-Cringe-698766244 DA Link

[justanotherskamstan]

My thoughts and ranking of on SKAM remakes so far

The special thing about the series SKAM as a whole was that it was authentic and a real reflection on teenage lives of Norwegians. The show creates extremely special moments with valuable lessons for everyone through a diverse, age-appropriate cast and shows that its creator, Julie Andem, did understand what the market was missing in terms of teen-drama shows. The show had a huge impact on the lives of its young actors and many viewers, creating a worldwide phenomenon, especially during its 3rd season run featuring the character Isak. The storytelling process of each season changes, because there is a different main character in each one, and the season tells their story and the stories of others through the main character’s perspective. Quite a unique thing to do, because most of the time teen shows feel like how the adult writers think teenagers would like/do, however, SKAM was very honest about the reality of teenagers and how it is not this perfect, pinky, beautiful world where everyone ends up happily ever after. The acting talent of the cast at such a young age was extraordinary, so kudos to Ms.Andem for creating this great melting pot of talented actors, amazing writers and a creative director to form this almost-perfect show. The show is not perfect, and with many pointing out the “problematic” aspects of certain characters, however, I feel like that adds to the realness of everything, since there are no perfect people in this world, especially at the age of making mistake and learning from them. The success of the show has spawned 7 international remakes so far, and I am going to rank them from my favorite to least favorite (most likely to rewatch willingly) with an accompanying analysis of the pros and cons of each. The order in which I watched them was SKAM Austin, OG SKAM, SKAM Italia, Druck, SKAM France, and then I live watched SKAM NL, SKAM Espana, WTFock and the current season of Druck along of SKAM Italia season 2. These are my thoughts and opinions, so please if you agree or disagree, don’t hate!

Druck (1 completed season, and 1 currently airing, future unsure)

Season 1 of Druck focuses on Hannah Jung (Eva) and her relationships with her boyfriend Jonas (Jonas) and her new group of friends, while season 2’s main character is Mia (Noora). There were many that ranks this remake as one of their least favorite, I think because it started airing during the same time frame as SKAM Italia (the most popular remake domestically and internationally) and SKAM Austin, so many did not give it a proper chance. The chemistry between Hannah and Jonas have got to be the best in all the remakes, particularly during the final episode of the season, when they eventually part ways to truly find out what they want before they could consider rekindling. The ways Jonas cried during that scene and the way they touched their noses together, weirdly enough made it very intimate without needing anything too risqué. The dynamic of Hannah’s girl squad was very well executed, as their respective personalities complimented each other’s well. Hannah’s father is probably the funniest SKAM parent character of all the remakes, since he is just slightly awkward enough and old-person enough to be funny without cringing. Druck is one of the remakes that stick pretty close to the original, but changes the characters, plot points, etc. just enough to make it their own without compromising on the SKAM framework. Besides Hannah, the standouts to me where Mia and girl Sam. Mia is an extremely beautiful, caring, but strong-minded character, but differs from the OG Noora in the fact that Mia is bisexual and her character’s actions in season 2 would not be something that Noora would be caught doing, even if it is in the name of protecting her friend. Girl Sam is completely different from OG Chris, as she is very sex-positive, funny, outgoing, and a character unique enough that I haven’t encountered anyone similar in all of the remakes. Mia and Sam are some of the best versions of their characters. Alex (William) is probably everyone’s least favorite William remake because he is so cold during the first season (and “looks like he’s married with kids”), which led to many complaints from viewers about how unrealistic it would be for Mia to fall for Alex in the second season, since she never really responded well to his advances in the first. However, so far into the second season their dynamic seems to have improved and the way the writers go about getting these two together have been very different from the OG. Let’s just wait and see where it takes us. But so far there have been noticeable improvements in the releasing of clips and the characters’ social media activity. During season 1, one of the weakest link of Druck was the real-time social media aspect, as there were irregular posts and the characters did not interact with one another very much. I think that the writers have listened to their audience and upped their social media game, and a noticeable example of this was a text between the girl squad about their respective careers after school which perfectly showcased the race, class dynamics of Germany. The first season was also extremely short compared to the other versions, and so far for season 2, every clip released has been a decent length, so good on them for improving on that. Also, the soundtrack of Druck is my favorite of all the remakes, as their spotify playlist have become my place to find new music. Also, the diversity of their casting is great, Amira, Sam, and Toilet-Sam are all POC, and Amira especially shows authentically how a hijab-wearing teenage girl in Germany is because she is one. 

The biggest issue I have with Druck has got to be the character of Kiki (Vilde). She has expressed ideas of Islamophobia, racism, and has a general aggressiveness to her. In the OG, after Vilde learns her lesson near the end of the first season, her attitude improves for the better, but Kiki has gotten worse in season 2, even though she got what she wanted, which was to get together with Alex. In the first episode her remark about how both Sams are black and named Sam was micro-aggression at its finest, but in season 2 she shows her temper when she exploded on Mia for being concerned about her diet/workout/drug-use. Even though she later apologized to Mia with an expensive gift, I think it would be hard for her to truly redeem herself in the eyes of the audience. The actress’s performance is not bad, but I question the reasoning behind the writer’s decision to make this character act this way, which maybe answered later in the season. Another concern I have about Druck is how its future going to be like. As the girl squad is in their final year of high school, and when they graduate in spring there would probably go off into different universities/jobs. Season 2 ends in March of 2019, so the odds of fitting in a Matteo (Isak) and a Amira (Sana) season before they all graduate seem impossible. The long hiatus between season 1 and 2 contributed to that especially, since they had to fail Alex’s character for German class so he could stay behind for a year to complete Mia story arc. Another minor complaint I’ve heard from many German-speaking viewers is that the language they speak seem very weird to native speakers, this is not really an issue for me as I rely solely on English subtitles to comprehend their conversations, but it has been noted. I’m very excited to see where this takes us, but hopefully they can make it work and renew for other seasons since season 2 has brought in a huge spike in viewership. 

2. WTFock (1 completed season, and renewed for a second)

The newest baby of the SKAM remakes family, and a surprising favorite of mine. Season 1 focuses on Jana (Eva) and her boyfriend Jens (Jonas), and follow the storyline of OG season 1 pretty closely. Also another underdog remake in my personal opinion, airing at the same time as SKAM Italia season 2 and the OG SKAM’s bloopers. The most special thing about WTFock is that even though it sticks pretty closely to the OG, its original scenes that is added changes the storyline ever so slightly so that it avoids the errors of previous remakes, which I think is very smart. An example of this is in the OG and several remakes, the character of William apologizes to Vilde in exchange for a date with Noora, however, in WTFock, Zoe (Noora) prompts Senne (William) to apologize to Amber (Vilde) on his own by sort of teasing/mocking his intelligence in an original scene. Many viewers called the OG version “blackmailing” and “manipulation”, so by changing that ever so slightly it gives it a different feel. Another positive change made to the storyline of Robbe’s (Isak) character is that in the OG, he tells Eva that the reason behind his decision to ruin her relationship with his best-friend is that he has feelings for her. However, in WTFock, Robbe confesses to Jana that he feels left out and jealous of the amount of time Jens spends with her, which is much more truthful than Isak’s reasoning. Jana’s mom is my favorite mom character in SKAM, since she is very sweet and caring, even though her job may make her physically and sometimes emotionally distant from her only child. Their mother and daughter bond was strengthened, for me at least, in the scene where it was revealed that Jana’s dad is dead, with the scene itself being very quiet but emotionally captivating at the same time. The best character to come out of WTFock is Zoe in my opinion. Her version of Noora is much more sarcastic, has very quick wit, strong-minded but also very soft towards those that she cares about. The dynamics of this girl squad is great, despite the fact that certain crucial scenes like the party scene was missing Yasmina (Sana), their bond blossomed very nicely. Especially the close friendship between Yasmina and Zoe has its groundwork laid out well, which would help make Zoe’s season more understandable. Also, Zoe’s connection with Senne in this remake is one of the most obvious one early on, as the inclusion of some original scenes in the last two episodes make it abundantly clear, as oppose to other remakes which usually wait till season 2 to build on their relationship further. Out of all the remakes, I can see that this one is the most wholesome, and easiest to like due to changes to make it “less problematic”. Also, their social media posts, especially Zoe’s is very aesthetically pleasing, and they are very interactive with one another on there. 

I think the casting of WTFock in general is great, everyone looks age-appropriate, even Senne, who’s actor is actually 22 according to wikipedia. I loved that Jana has braces, and even though they are usually considered ugly, she is still very confident and beautiful with them on. However, there is only 2 POC in the entire cast, not necessary the most diverse cast out of the remakes. I also don’t really like the idea of the only black character, Keisha (original character), befriending Jana and inviting her to a party, only to offer her drugs. I know it is a scene used to help us see Jana’s aversion to drug-use, which affects her relationship with Jens greatly, but did they really have to have the only black character be that type of character. I personally don’t feel like reinforcing bad stereotypes about black people is the greatest thing to do in this inclusive teen series. Maybe her character would have more screen time in season 2 with better character development. Also, the Mexican-themed party where Jana and Luka (P-Chris) kiss is really cultural appropriation at its finest. The beautiful scene where these two characters, whom I greatly ship together, is kind of destroyed by the huge sombrero hanging off of Luka’s neck. Maybe next season the writers can think of better themes for parties that don’t really include taking another culture and not really giving it the respect it deserves. Another problem I have is with the character of Jens himself, and how popular of a character he is compared to the other characters on social media, even though some of the things he says to Jana are very troubling. In the scene where Jana and Jens are talking on a bench by a lake/ocean, Jens mentions Jana’s drinking and comparing it to his choice to smoke weed. For his character to use his girlfriend’s choice to drink alcohol against her, and use it as leverage to justify his decision to skip out on the planned dinner with her mom to smoke weed and lying to her about who he was with seems much more questionable than the OG’s excuse. It was surprising to me how his character has the most Instagram followers out of everyone in the cast, most possibly because he is very good-looking, but still it is quite odd to see a character say very troubling things to be the most followed. Also, the decision for them to have a breakup sex scene I feel like was unnecessary for this remake, as unlike some other Eva and Jonas versions, their relationship seems less physical so it was kind of awkward for them to do that since they haven’t been doing that as much throughout the season. Another minor complaint is with the music choices. I have greatly enjoyed many songs from the WTFock spotify playlist, but the sheer number of them are so many that sometimes it detracts from the scenes that it is included with. Out of all the remakes, I think WTFock have used the most number of songs in just the first season, so maybe they can scale back on that a bit, quality over quantity. Despite not being the international fandom’s favorite remake, WTFock has achieved major success domestically, reaching 3 million views just from being an online series and got a spot to air on TV. The show runners have created the very good framework to expand into the next season, and with a few fixes here and there, I think this remake could get even better. I hope some of the casts’ interests could be incorporated into their characters next season, for example the actor who plays Luka does parkour, maybe we could get a scene where he showcases his skills to impress Jana. WTFock is the remake that has the very high chance of being renewed further. Also, this remake has got to be the show that says its name within the show the most out of any I’ve watch, maybe not say WTFock every episode, cause I’m pretty sure anytime I watch a movie or show where a character says the name of the film/show, my mind goes “Roll credits”, but that’s a personal thing. 

3. Tie- SKAM NL (1 completed season, and renewed for a second) and SKAM Italia (2 completed season, and completed filming for a third)

For me personally both SKAM NL and SKAM Italia have some great qualities to it, however, these remakes have some major issues that is harder for me to get passed. Had they been slightly different, these remakes would probably be at the top of my ranking. 

SKAM NL:

SKAM NL is one of the newer remakes to come out this year, and it did not disappoint. Season 1 is focused on Isa (Eva) and her storyline similar to that of the OG. The best thing going for SKAM NL is the casting choices. This cast is the most diverse out of all the remakes, Kes (Jonas), Imaan (Sana), Liv (Noora) etc. are all POC. This is the first remake to have a biracial Noorhelm, with the first biracial couple being Emma and Yann from SKAM France. There are so many great characters in SKAM NL, many which differ from the OG’s personalities. Even the pilot episode, which most remakes have copied exactly like the OG, was made very different in NL with Gijs (P-Chris) coming to introduce himself to Isa instead of her trying to find someone with a similar name, and for Isa to be entranced by Liv’s singing before they talk about Olivia (Ingrid) calling Isa a slut. The actress who plays Isa interpreted her role very different from any other version of Eva, which I think makes her the standout for NL. She’s fiercely herself in a way that the other Evas weren’t, and her confrontation scene with Olivia is one of the best, because instead of them both breaking down to tears, Isa makes the remark of something similar to “He (Kes) got both of us here, and look at us now.” which hit me as I came to greatly appreciate her version of the character. Another character which surprised me was Engel (Vilde). Her soft, sweet, and all thing pink personality was somewhat in line with the OG, but in the scene where the girls fought Gijs’ girlfriend, it was Engel who was one of the most proactive participants of the fight. She is one of the most naive Vildes, sometimes a little too naive, but her conversation with Isa on the street where she says something along the lines of “I admire you for who you are, but then you were not who I thought you were.” gave her character more depth than some other Vildes had. In general, all of the performances were great, and the soundtrack is excellent. The song accompanying Noah’s (William) first entrance was iconic and was stuck in my head for a few days. 

Because SKAM NL airs on TV as well as is released online, the amount of time for each episode have been an issue for me. Especially during the necessarily longer clips like the one where Isa confronts Kes after the news leaked about her kiss with Gijs, the scene was too short and didn’t give the audience enough time to process what the two were saying to each other and the emotional impact it has on their relationship before Kes stormed off with his skateboard and Isa was left alone. If the show had been online series only, I think the show itself could afford to be a bit longer and would have more success since its air time on TV was making it compete directly with one of the most popular shows in the Netherlands. In general, SKAM NL has been a very good series for me up until the season 1 finale, which had some moments where I really questioned the decisions made by the writers. First, the Isa and Kes breakup scene, where all they did was have sex. I know that their relationship is quite physical, so the scene did not feel weird, but afterwards they did not speak to each other much about their relationship and the impact their choices had to its ultimate doom. The breakup conversation to me is more important than the sex scene because it shows the character’s maturity in that they realize both of them have done wrong and should fix themselves before they can reunite. The cinematography for all of the series are great, but like SKAM NL I need Kes and Isa to talk more about their relationship ending. I think this directly links with the whole TV time slot problem that I mentioned before. It was very disappointing for me to see that the character of Imaan was not very prevalent in the show, not showing up to the final party. I know what it was mentioned the actress had personal issues that made her unavailable for filming, but I hope that come next season her character is more incorporated in the show, since her entrance scene is one of the best Sana introduction in all of the remakes. Another character whom I questioned the choices his character made in the finale was Noah. His character is wildly different from OG William, he’s the cool, artsy, weed-smooking type, which I really liked since it is so unique. However, in the final party when he apologized to Engel about insulting her, he also slipped Liv a note (which we did not get to see what was in it) in front of her friends. I know that most of the William characters only apologized to get Noora to agree on a date, making them have an ulterior motive, but Noah’s apology seem the most sincere out of all of them. I’m not quite sure how the writers are going to take on this characters and his relationship with Liv next season, but I hope they somehow justify his poor apology somewhat. Because I like their relationship’s dynamics, especially after that banter about “If you can count, don’t count on it” and the book head tap thing, but now I’m questioning myself for liking his character a bit. I appreciate that after a text was released where Janna (Chris) made a rape joke, the show-runners saw that the viewers didn’t like it and pulled it from the show, as they are displaying that they listen to their audience. Despite not being a complete success domestically, I feel like many international viewers loved SKAM NL’s changes to the OG, making it their favorite remake, for good reasons. I hope they improve on some of the issues from the first season and I can’t wait to see where Liv and Noah take us. 

SKAM Italia:

The golden standard of remakes, also the most popular domestically and internationally, set the bar high for remakes after it. The beautiful cinematography from season 1, along with the best acting performances from all of the remakes from Eva (Eva) and Martino (Isak). SKAM Italia has no many things going for it, the dynamics of the relationships, the girl squad and performances make it the “best remake” in many viewers’ opinions, also its IMBD score is also the highest out of all of the remakes, just a bit lower than OG SKAM. I would say that this remake is the most mature/risqué remake of them all. The inclusion of nudity in Eva and Gio (Jonas) sex scene make it much more passionate and stands out from others. Their relationship as a whole is quite a bit different from others, in the fact that Gio is like Eva’ best friend and boyfriend, as he understands her very well, even knowing where she will be without her telling him. In general, the couples of SKAM Italia have very good chemistry with one another, even Eleonora (Noora) and Eduardo (William), who have only shared a few scenes together, yet have palpable chemistry on screen. As season  3 have been confirmed as Eleonora’s, it would be very interesting to see their dynamics for full episodes instead of a few clips. Season 1 of SKAM Italia many consider even better than OG, I really don’t like saying anything is better than the original, but I will say that certain aspects of it is better, but not as a whole season. Season 2 has garnered critical acclaim, as the performances of Martino and Nico (Even) are very good. They hit many of the same points the OG did, like the underwater pool kiss, Nico having his mental breakdown leading to him running naked around the city, Martino’s home problems. However, I loved that in this remake, Martino and his mom somewhat made up, despite the fact that she can be a somewhat absentee parent, she ultimately loves her son and accepts him for who he is.  This season also creates this great bond between the boys of the boy squad, especially Gio and Martino, with Gio being the supportive friend Martino needed during some of his lowest points.

The biggest issue I have, and I think many would agree, is that SKAM Italia’s casting is very strange to say the least. A smaller aspect of it is that most of the cast is in their 20s, with Edoardo’s actor being 27, and most of them look their age, it is quite strange to see the actors looking like older college students playing high school roles. But since most of them are more experienced actors, I don’t think that the age makes a huge difference in the overall series. However, the casting choice for Sana (Sana) on the other hand is my biggest gripe. The actress who plays this character is not a Muslim person, nor is she a POC. The SKAM Italia cast is like all white people, which some may say “no one wants a POC character thrown in for no reason” but since SKAM is a reflection of teenagers in a diverse environment, especially set in Rome, one of the most popular cities in Europe, there is no excuse for not casting POC. The reason why OG Sana was authentic is because she playings parts of herself in the role, as a young Muslim hijab-wearing women in Oslo, and her experiences with discrimination/racism. As a white person who is not Muslim, I don’t really know how that Italian Sana is going to accurately portray the experiences of a young Muslim hijab-wearing women in Rome without having experienced it firsthand. I read somewhere that the actress is learning Arabic and reading the Quran to prepare for her season (don’t know if this is factual), but I hope that if (when) her season comes she can do the role some justice. It’s just kind of hard to get excited for the season where you know that its not going to be truly authentic. My biggest annoyance with season 2 is the cinematography. Compared to season 1, season 2 happens a lot at night, so many things happen in the dark or very dim lighting, making really hard to see what the hell is going on in certain scenes. I had to turn my screen brightness to the highest point to decipher what was happening sometimes. I know it is a metaphor for Martino’s turbulent situation and what not, but if I can’t even see that well what is happening in each scene, then Martino’s great performance has gone to waste. There were quite a few scandals over the run of season 2, like Nico saying the n-word during a scene. I agree that the viewers where justified in being mad at that, but for the director and the actors to try and justify their decision to include this scene was really troubling. The director of SKAM Italia is a very problematic person, in that he doesn’t admit that he’s wrong for casting Sana or the n-word scene, trying to justify his mistakes is just something I don’t want to see from someone who has the creative control of such a good series. Even some of the texts shared between the boy squad is really uncomfortable, as they sort of fat shame Federica (Chris), even though she invited them to her birthday party. The soundtrack is pretty good, but not my favorite, as I don’t really know much about some of the songs they have chosen. Overall, I can’t wait for season 3 to air, as I know it would be good. But for season 4, I’m not sure what to expect. There are some major issues for me with SKAM Italia, but I will continue to watch it until either I can’t stand the director’s decisions anymore or the dark scenes officially get too dark for me to see what’s going on. 

4. SKAM Espana (1 completed season, and renewed for a second)

The remake with the most changes to its name, SKAM Espana is surprising us viewers left and right with its twists and turns. My thing with this remake is that some of the changes I loved and some were did not agree with me. I was shocked that this remake was renewed for another season even before the first episode aired, as the first clip introducing Alejandro (William) garnered many international viewers’ interest.The main for season 1 is Eva (Eva), who is quite a unique Eva in her own right. She is the one Eva who cries the most often, and is more vulnerable compared to the OG. She doesn’t raise her opinion on things because she doesn’t want to lose her boyfriend, who she suspects has been lying to her. Her boyfriend Jorge (Jonas) is similar to other Jonas but instead of doing drugs behind her back, he was making her a really bad fake ID so that they can drink/club together. I don’t necessarily feel as much chemistry between them as compared to Druck’s or SKAM Italia’s version, so I am very grateful that they spared us the breakup sex scene and instead just had these two talk it out with one another. The scene was beautiful, starting with the barrier in between them and shooting at an angle where they look/feel separated, as opposed to the beginning of the season where they were stuck to the hip. Nora (Noora) and Eva’s friendship is very precious, as Nora stuck by Eva’s side when no one else would. She was the most supportive friend in the group and her interactions with Alejandro have been quite entertaining, with the last clip of them talking on a bench, her showing her jealousy really cute. The most beautiful change this version made was for Lucas (Isak) to come out to Eva that he is gay, instead of being exposed by his internet history by the Evas and Nooras of other remakes. The scene was touching, and the actors stepped up to the plate with his performance of a teen coming out of the closet. I loved that the finale scene was Eva spending her birthday with her girlfriends enjoying themselves, being the happy teenager that she deserves to be. 

Many people have an issue with SKAM Espana’s casting, and I kind of agree but for a different aspect of it. A lot of people say that the cast look really young, but since Nora’s actress is 16 and Alejandro’s actor is 18, I don’t really see a huge problem as long as their acting skills are good. However, the cast is really white, not as bad as SKAM Italia, but besides Amira (Sana), there are no other POC. Spain is a very diverse country, so to be so not diverse in casting is very disappointing. Also, the character of Cris (Chris) in this version is a very pretty, popular, skinny bisexual girl, very unlike the OG. My favorite remakes of this character have brought their own unique twists to the character, along with the funny aspects of the OG, like Druck’s Sam or SKAM Austin’s Jo, so for SKAM Espana’s Chris to be a regular pretty girl who kisses both boys and girls and is not interested in a relationship, I expected more out of her character, and hopefully I will see more in season 2. I kind of liked the twist of Lara (original character) being Chris’s girlfriend instead of some random girl Eva didn’t know. But the way the show handle the news being leaked by Viri (Vilde) and how the girl squad, besides Nora, kind of abandoned Eva afterwards is not what I wanted out of the situation and kind of ruined their group dynamics for me. Especially the way Amira, who was suspicious of something between Eva and Ines (Ingrid), tried goading Eva into telling her the story in a game of truth and dare. Also, how she treated Eva when the news hit and left her after saying “I asked you and you didn’t tell me”, even though Amira herself should know best how horrible it is to be ostracized by your peers. The cyberbullying instagram account spread across the school is a very different approach, but to suddenly one day after weeks of harassment, just by Viri posting a photo of Christian kissing another girl, everyone in school started to feel bad for Eva. I don’t really believe that is how it would have happened in real life, and also, Viri never truly redeemed herself after the leakage for me, as she was judging and seeing Eva in pain and still did nothing until things got way out of hand. After that happened everyone’s friends again, like if I was Eva I wouldn’t be so quick to accept these people back into my life after what they have done. Also, Eva accusing Lucas of being the leak and liking Jorge, especially after he came out to only her was a very low blow. Her apology wasn’t really adequate, but hey, if Lucas is okay with it then I guess we’re good. The ending didn’t feel right as it left a few questions unanswered and probably won’t answer it ever, like who was behind that instagram account that posted photos of Eva accusing her of being a prostitute and nasty stuff. The two more minor things that I really don’t get is the herpes/STDs and the cats. Alejandro giving Viri herpes is an important lesson for girls about protection and safe sex, but every time I see Alejandro on screen I see him with this blob of herpes thing on his lip, so does Viri. I know the actor who plays Alejandro is a model in real life, and he’s very handsome, but once you see someone with herpes, you really can’t unsee the herpes. Also, the crown for most confusing/weirdest SKAM scene I’ve ever seen is for SKAM Espana’s cat scene with Eva and Jorge. I was sat there thinking what the hell is this, what does any of this mean, like what am I watching. The soundtrack is ok, not great but not bad, I somewhat appreciate sentiment of including of a slower Spanish song during the fight scene, but it kind of killed the vibe of the scene for me. I am going to watch season 2, as there is potential for this remake to be better, but I’m not sure how they are going to go about it, since they have not announced who is going to be the main character for season 2 yet. The performances so far have been good for such young/inexperienced actors. 

5. SKAM France (2 completed seasons, completed filming for the third and fourth seasons)

Everyone says this remake is like the copy and paste version of OG SKAM, and I have to largely agree. Season 1 and 2 have been very cut and dry, not interesting to say the least. The main thing going for this remake is its potential for improvement for the next seasons. As there is a new director for seasons 3 and 4, and I have read somewhere that since France was the first remake, they were forced to follow the OG very closely so they could get the rights to it (cannot confirm if this is factual). What I appreciate most about SKAM France is the chemistry between Manon (Noora) and Charles (William), as they are a couple in real life, their performances show much passion and love for one another. The breakout star to me is Daphne (Vilde), as she is the classiest Vilde, the perfect combination of sweet, kind and also naivety. She is the one character out of the OG 4 that I hope gets her own season to explore her story further. Also, Emma’s (Eva) performance did improve between seasons 1 and 2, which is kind of ironic cause she’s funnier to me in the season that she’s not the main character. Also, the casting for SKAM France I think had diversity in mind, since Yann (Jonas), Imane (Sana) and Alex (P-Chris) are all POC. Besides the fact that the actors for Charles and Alex are really hot, I’m running out of positive things to say about SKAM France. 

The thing I think is the thing going against it the most is the filming schedule of this remake. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed within about a month, and so did seasons 3 and 4. I think that is not enough time to film all of the necessary scenes and make them good. It is hard to take in audience feedback after you have already wrapped up filming months ago. Also, since the show is aired on TV, it runs into the same issue for me as SKAM NL, which is that due to the strict TV time slots, it cuts out important moments from the OG that builds the feel of authenticity and cuts things very short, especially the scene where in the OG Noora played the guitar and sang for William, which I wished the French version did, because the actress who plays Manon can sing. For me, in season 1, when Yann threw his skateboard to the floor I sort of bursted out laughing, which now thinking about it, it really wasn’t funny, but to me at the time the scene made no sense. Why are you throwing your skateboard on the ground, there are more ways to show anger/frustration, physical violence is not really necessary. Also, I am slightly concerned about season 3, as the actor who plays Lucas (Isak) hasn’t really done much of anything throughout the series. I hope that he is capable of taking on such an emotionally damaged character who has gone through and is going to be put through a lot in his season. I will watch SKAM France, but not likely to rewatch it in full. I like certain scenes, but those I can catch the clips of without having to watch an entire episode. I think this remake has a great potential to be renewed for more seasons outside of the OG 4, so here’s to hopping they put all of their creative juices together and make something original for Daphne’s journey. 

6. SKAM Austin (1 completed season, and renewed for a second)

The first SKAM series I watched and did not hold up over a second rewatch. It is not a bad show by any means, compared to other US teen shows this is probably one of the most realistic ones (compared to stuff like Riverdale), but as someone who lived in Austin and went through a Texas high school this show falls very short of reality. The thing I liked most about the show was the confrontation scene where Grace (Noora) says “Move!” to Daniel (William), that was iconic and I rewatched that scene several times. The best thing to come out of SKAM Austin is Jo (Chris), she’s a funny, unique, charismatic Latina and I honestly have met people just like her, so I loved seeing a character that resembles real people. A YouTuber that I watched said something along the lines of SKAM Austin guys aren’t that hot, and compared to their European counterparts, they aren’t really. But as someone who’s been through high school here, let’s just say the pickings are slim, and you got the best ones out of it. Also, Shay (Isak) is a very interesting character and I hope to see where her season goes, if they get renewed. Don’t know too much about her, but I liked how Grace discovered that she was already out as a lesbian to Tyler (original character), it is more believable than checking the person’s browser history. Another nice touch was Jo (P-Chris) and Megan having hooked up before, giving it more of a backstory, but that really wasn’t explained further than their discussion on the bowling date, which pretty much went no where. 

I’m glad that Julie is getting her SKAM on, but to be honest with you, I would have rather had a different person at the creative control for this show. Because there are a lot of plot holes/things that don’t make sense, which shows that whoever wrote it doesn’t really know much about Texas high schools or American teenagers in general. Football season ends in December-ish, depending on whether your team makes it to the playoffs and advances further to state or not. So football practice in May is not believable, cause summer camp for football players start during the summer holidays. I know we all kind of enjoy the cliche of Americans playing football, but honestly, if you do it, please do it right. The dance team, which also makes no sense to me. The girls’ parents make monthly payments to pay for trips to competitions, uniforms, training camps, etc. Once you quit, your parents would know pretty soon that you’re not on the team, so I’m quite surprised that Megan’s (Eva) parents kept paying hundreds of dollars for something she wasn’t doing anymore. And creating a new dance team takes more than just 5 students, there is the coach, the assistant coach, all of the costume, performance training, etc. And so for Zoya (Sana) to want to join a dance team, aka the girls who perform at football games, is very odd to me because their uniforms are not conservative. The premise them getting together with football guys so they get to perform at the games and be more popular is ludicrous, because the people putting football game performances together are the band director, cheer director and the dance team director, not the football players themselves. Maybe if you wanted to be more popular, then yes, getting with football guys will get you there, but they can’t really help your dance team recruit people. In my high school with over 2 thousand students, there was only 1 hijab-wearing girl, and we had a few classes together. Let’s just say I went to high school in a more conservative part of Texas and I have never seen the girl been treated badly or been ostracized for her religion, and Austin is a much more liberal and diverse city. Since in the school here you go from elementary to high school with pretty much the same people, most of these kids have known each other for years if they hadn’t moved from the school district, so it is hard for me to believe that these girls (beside Grace) have never met each other before. I wish that had picked something else to kind of get the girls together, since anyone who’s been through high school knows this is unrealistic. I also wish they had done something else to show Zoya being discriminated against, cause I am really tired of the dumb blond cliche. I also never got the idea for a regional/city SKAM, cause usually the remakes are SKAM (country name), and so had it been SKAM USA, I won’t have griped on so much, but since it has Austin in the name, I am disappointed it did not capture the authentic feel of a Texas public high school. Some of the actors are not from Texas, so you can kind of pick up their West/East Coast accents, not the biggest problem, but noticeable if you are from here. The use of slang words were kind of all over the place, just because teens say “Lit” a lot doesn’t mean you should incorporate it into every scene, this feels like how an adult would use teen slang, very awkward placement. Also, I am not sure why there weren’t many more trendy things if they were going for the authenticity. No whip and nae nae, no the floor is lava, no flipping a half full water bottle to make it stand straight, and no dabbing. I mean, the best American high school has to offer is not incorporated. Since the show is on Facebook, I know they have to use Facebook products, but seriously, no teen uses Facebook to connect with friends, they do it for the older family members to message them, and maybe see a few racist/homophobic posts made by them. The actors are young and inexperienced, so I can kind of get not having their performances be the best of the best, but Megan is not good at all. I’m sorry, but her performance was the weak link in this whole thing, and her and Marlon are the most annoying couple of all SKAM, and that’s including Vilde and Magnus from the OG, who were sucking faces 24/7. Their relationship was pretty shitty and I was not rooting for either of them, especially after I found out that Marlon was a drug dealer and Megan still stayed with him. All they did was smush and argue, with not good chemistry or emotions from Megan. Marlon is pretty delusional in that he thinks his music is 1) good, 2) something he can live off of. Also, the car wash breakup sex scene is so overdone at this point. Has anyone ever been to a car wash, it doesn’t last that long, so all that passionate smushing probably lasted for a maximum of 3 minutes in real life. The bowling date was weird in that there was no one else there besides them, so did 4 teenagers rent out an entire bowling alley for a double date? The actors are teenagers from Texas for the most part, so I am kind of shocked that they didn’t tell Julie and the writers about how they would act in school to add to the realism. I am very thankful that watching this series led me to discovering SKAM universe, but I am sort of not the most excited for season 2, since having watched how great all of the remakes are, it’s very hard to compete. I don’t know how the show is going to go on after season 2, since Daniel is graduating in May/June, so after that is Grace going to London with him? Because of the long hiatus, the show has 2 more seasons after season 2 to do if they want to do it the OG way, and there’s like one year left on the clock to do so, but like the show only produces one season a year, so I’m not sure how it’s going to work out. Wishing them the best, hope they get renewed so they can improve. When season 2 comes, I may watch it just to see if anything’s improved.

Notes and observations about the way different remakes handle the actors social media: 

It was really interesting to see SKAM NL and SKAM Espana come out at the same time, yet have such different approach to the actors’ social media usage. SKAM Espana actors all have their social media on private and they don’t really post anything, according to what I’ve heard. But SKAM NL cast have public social media, and they comment and like stuff if they are tagged on it. SKAM Austin, SKAM Italia, and SKAM France cast also have public social media. Some of the SKAM Italia cast will also answer questions about the show if you DM them, which is pretty cool. On the flip side, Druck and WTFock’s cast is have private Instagrams. But weirdly enough I have seen some of the WTFock cast like stuff on Twitter, along with their director, which is cool since they know what their audience is responding to. The actor who plays Alex on Druck, Chris Veres, posts Instagram lives where he answered questions about the show, but for the rest of the cast they are pretty irregular with social media usage. 

Please let me know if you agree or disagree with me, and what things you thought I overlooked in my evaluation of each remake. I’m open to hear your thoughts as well, but please don’t diss one remake/version for another. We all love different things. Sorry for the long essay length, I got so into it and spent 5 hours typing my thoughts it, it may not be very cohesive, but it pretty summarizes my thoughts on each remake and the reasoning behind it. 

[lokgifsandmusings]

Definitive Ranking of Book 1 Episodes, #8/12

8. 1x10 “Turning  the Tide”

Baby cramps, heroic sacrifices, turn-based combat, and some quality time for Hiroshi and Amon. 

If you read my last definitive ranking, you knew this episode was coming next. And full disclosure: I actually don’t overly mind it. I think the pacing is pretty decent and moves, the interpersonal tensions are...unfortunate though understandable given everyone’s perspective/history, and it raised the stakes of the season in a pretty tangible way.

Now, that said, this is also the episode many point to as where the wheels sort of came off in terms of the main plot. Amon bombed the city, and immediately all nuance was stripped from the narrative. The Equalists went from having a point, but going too far in their pursuit of their definition of justice, to being more one-note villains looking to break Republic City. From Nolan’s Bane to Lady Shiva, if you will. (I’m probably wrong about this comparison in some way.)

TEC is really good right now btw. And interestingly Nolan’s Bane is rather like this Ra’s.

What’s dangerous about this criticism is that it can veer into “well it’s not what I wanted territory.” But I truly don’t think it’s controversial to say that the best potential this season offered was digging into the nonbender vs. bender conflict and how the latter group’s privilege was creating quite the untenable society. I mean...that’s what the antagonist and the Equalists were built on, after all.

What’s weird is that Bryke did seem to want to tap into that, at least somewhat. “When Extremes Meet” showed the oppression of the masses in a pretty stark way, and a way that specifically evoked police brutality in our world. It’s impossible to separate Tarrlok rounding everyone up from today’s cultural context. Hell, even the series opener had Korra pointing out how the city was “totally out of whack”, because it was. She witnessed extortion and the domination of the triads first-hand, not to mention arbitrary “no fishing” rules when there were people who clearly were struggling to feed themselves.

In “And The Winner Is...” Amon painted the shock gloves as a means of liberation. Then there’s also a very valid reading of debending as “disarmament”, particularly when Amon was just targeting triad members. His debending of Tahno undercut his point, but there was some neatly spun bullshit about the bending-worship culture and Tahno being a symbol of all that was wrong.

I guess what I’m saying is that there was a very strong, consistent thread regarding the nonbenders’ plight and relegation from positions of recourse. There was room to debate Amon’s method and desired outcome, and obviously that room was filled with characters like Asami who would never blame benders as a monolith or join the Equalists, yet still were committed to justice. Granted, she was only given her father as a sounding board for those beliefs and it was framed in a very personal, rather than systemic way, but we at least know people like Asami exist, and are probably in the majority. (The full stadium for the probending final suggested that, for example.)

So what the hell were Bryke thinking when they had Amon and Hiroshi bomb the city? We’re not talking a targeted attack on the police department either...we’re talking a major bombing campaign that looked pretty damn arbitrary.

It’s like...they came up with a way to script the world that would have rejected Korra as a symbol (as her arc demanded) and challenged her to find her own voice and place within it. They also came up with an antagonist that was chilling in the way that you could see people signing onto his campaign, yet was out of balance in his method of achieving equality. But then Bryke were worried that given these two components, they didn’t have a way to argue our protagonists’ side for them or something, so they just...had the Equalists bomb everything.

It’s frustrating, because Amon’s targeting of council members and the policemen were effective parts of the episode. It was clever how they went about doing that (down to the exterminator-in-disguise and giant magnets), and the action surrounding those two events worked. Yeah, we had a weird turn-based combat thing going with Mako, Korra, Bolin, and Asami outside of the police department, but it also showcased their individual abilities and their collective action as a team outside of a car.

What boggles my mind is that Bryke had the perfect mouthpieces through which they could have dug into the implications of the story they were telling: Pema and Asami. I know I’ve complained about the wasted potential in their one shared scene before, and probably too much for most people’s liking. But come the fuck on; these are the two most prominent nonbenders in the show (at this point), and the focus is Pema’s baby cramps instead of us hearing it articulated why they can’t side with Amon—why it is that his methods are too extreme.

I think what’s worse too is watching this in 2018. Fighting back physically against oppressors and dismantling corrupt systems is a whole lot less of a hypothetical thought exercise than it used to be, and more like issues and decisions we may well have to grapple with. So let’s hear a word put in for nonviolent resistance! Let’s see what the counter ideas from the nonbending perspective look like. And for the love of god, let’s have people actually object to Amon’s various puppy-kicking moments. Hell, he and Hiroshi could have even had a conversation about the “necessity” of what they’re doing! It could become clear that Hiroshi disagrees, but is kind of in for a dime, in for a dollar, and blinded by his own personal grievance.

Ugh, I’m doing fix-it fic again, aren’t I? But these are very valid storytelling options that were ignored. Hiroshi just became the guy who provided tech, rather than someone who could have like...challenged this a little. Make him singularly focused on wiping out the triads, and it can become increasingly clear that his “acceptable loss” meter is wayyy out of balance, while Amon has no true interest in being remotely measured and is after every bender. Idk, I’m just spitballing here, but I do feel that actually digging into this would have made his ultimate defeat more satisfying. And the off-screen presidency less of an ass-pull and more something that came out of a dialogue introduced in Book 1.

None of these problems are contained to “Turning the Tides,” I should note. “Skeletons in the Closet” had very bizarre aftermath of the bombing, and also introduced personal stakes for Amon that were entirely separate from the cultural dynamic the season was digging into. Like it’s a fine story that he was cynically capitalizing on it for his own purposes, I guess, but then there was so little between him and Korra that any larger point was missing (unlike, say, Kuvira who was also personally driven, yet a perfect foil and actively “taking over for Korra” in Korra’s mind).

It’s just that “Turning the Tides” truly lived up to its name; it was the episode that scrubbed all nuance away from the plotline, even wrapping up the plotline was notably “worse” in terms of quality of the show.

What’s odd is that despite this, it was still fairly enjoyable, and not just because it gave us our first whiff of Makoperator.

As I said, the two bigger action sequences were good. Asami and Mako’s ongoing fight was not exactly compelling TV, but still gave Asami a fair bit of agency and was “realistic” enough for teenagers. Lin agreeing to protect Tenzin’s family shows us that once again she’s Too Good™ for literally everyone around her, and of course her sacrifice at the end was completely gripping. Too bad it gets undercut.

The worst that can be said outside of the implications is that the fart-bending was cringe-worthy, and I’ve yet to figure out a rationale for the necessity of that failed Equalist invasion during Pema’s labor. Rohan wasn’t even given a name like “Aemon Steelsong” where the situation of his birth affected anything. I guess it was cute to see Ikki, Jinora, and Meelo’s capabilities, though we also get that in “Endgame” (sorry, Lin).

Altogether, that’s why this episode ranks as back-middle. I can’t really complain when I’m watching it...just when I think about it.

But again and again I keep coming back to the main issue of the season: Bryke didn’t understand what they wanted to say. Not for Korra’s arc at all, and now as this episode demonstrates, not for the tensions introduced.

It was a cool concept, but this is the moment that marked it for just that, and nothing more.

#12 1x12 “Endgame”

#11 1x05 “The Spirit of Competition"

#10 1x11 “Skeletons in the Closet”

#9 1x06 “And The Winner Is...”

1x10 photo recap found here

Book 2 ranking/essays found here

Book 4 ranking/essays found here