#chekhov makes a video

[thechekhov]

I've been working on this since.... September? And I have been trying to piece it together like legos for two months now, and I've finally just decided to give up and leave it as is.

If you've ever wanted to read The Locked Tomb but were scared off by the worldbuilding and the terminology, this is for you.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Alright... you guys have asked for a while now, and some people have expressed interest in watching a video, so here it is. A video.

[tanieny]

You know That One Video that shows up in your recommended?

That One Video did appear on my recommended. Unfortunately for my sanity for the foreseeable future, I was reloading my page when I saw that. Now I live in paranioa gazing longingly at my youtube recomended hoping for That One Video

[las-lus]

Aziraphale lied Theory

First of all, this theory is not mine, its from @/doubleskk on Twitter and can be found HERE. Go show them some love! It's in Portuguese, so I'll do my best to translate it - blue texts are my personal additions!

This season, we have something very clear in Aziraphale's development arc: is his relationship with LIE. He lied to protect Job's children, and he lied he had performed a miracle to make Nina and Maggie fall in love. That's not counting other little lies, sprinkled throughout the season here and there.

We keep seeing Crowley say "I'm a demon, I lie", but in the big finale, we have Crowley saying the truth - the big truth, the one he has been avoiding for 6 thousand years.

All of this was to set the stage for the biggest lie of all: the lie he had to tell Crowley to fend him off and protect him.

When Metatron goes to buy the coffee, he asks Nina if people ask for death, as the name of her shop is "Give me a coffee, or give me death". What if that name is an allegory for the actual conversation between Metatron and Aziraphale?

Aziraphale may have been threatened. Either Azira goes back to heaven (coffee), or he and Crowley would have their existence erased from the Book of Life (death). So, to protect Crowley, Aziraphale had to invent a lie to make sure he got away. The Book of Life was namedropped a couple of times in the show, a Chekhov's gun that never went off - Neil is too good of a writer for that.

And Aziraphale knew that Crowley would be pissed if he agreed to go back to Heaven after everything that happened, and he knew that Crowley would never accept being an angel again. "But rescuing me makes him so happy" - Aziraphale had to make sure Crowley wouldn't realize he needed saving.

That's why he knew exactly what to say to mess with Crowley.

At 41:14 of episode 6, when Azira starts telling the (alleged) lie to Crowley, he becomes all flustered, moving his hands from side to side and stammering, SAME PATTERN as when he lies to the angels about having done the Nina and Maggie fall in love, in episode 2.

[This part really works better with 2 videos side by side, which you cannot do on tumblr, so if you want you can check them out here]

The sequence of him talking to Metatron at the table is nothing more than an enactment of his lie. The conversation didn't go like that, Aziraphale made everything up.

And when Crowley declares himself, Aziraphale starts shaking his head in despair: not now, don't tell me that now.

He also looks out the window as soon as the confession starts, as if he knows Metraton was watching him outside.

Then there's the kiss, Aziraphale falters for a moment, but he has to keep up with the lie and he knows he has to hurt Crowley on purpose. And after Crowley leaves, Aziraphale is MUST recover in seconds, because Metatron is coming back. Also notice that when Metatron comes back, he doesn't ask if Crowley agreed to go back to heaven or not. He just sends a "How did he take it?"

That is, there was never any choice, and for Metatron Aziraphale was only going to break the news that he was leaving. And Aziraphale had to invent a lie to the inmates to make sure Crowley stayed away from him.

[electrozeistyking]

I definitely had a lot more fun behind the scenes with Never Be Alone than I did with She's Gone. So here's the sillies, and some notes.

This is a guide video I made in cause I either forgot how I was rendering it, or I want to make a comic using this style again. I used Panel 3 because it was the original first panel. There is no audio, so you don't need to worry about unmuting it.

I did this with the flats for Panel 2 because it reminded me of a drawing featured in one of my earliest MD posts. This quote has had me in a choke-hold ever since I made it (by the way, I named that drawing I mentioned: "Heyyy Biiitch!").

I wanted to make sure a few panels in this comic looked right, so I drew them with my finger (because I wanted to and I felt like it). N's face looks so derpy here and that's by choice.

I made this because SolverUzi looked like she was accusingly pointing at N. The Solver does seem petty to me, so I feel like It'd do this. Fun fact, that's why It's wearing Uzi's face and why It didn't heal her hand: just so It can rub salt in N's wounds and call him "big brother" like Cyn does to SERIOUSLY fuck with him.

Pre-Gaussian Blur on the dialogue! This is another panel I drew with my finger to ensure it'd look right later on. The "BASICALLY HIGH AS BALLS" note was added because of his face. It's actually sad in context of the comic, seeing as this is one of the few moments where N genuinely smiles.

TESSA FOR THE WIN, BABY! I made this because I said "Whoa, suddenly Tessa!" at one point while working on this panel. As for the "Chekhov's stabby stick" part... I mean, come on. There was a closeup of that blade for approximately two seconds. If that's not a surprise tool they can use for later, I don't know what is.

There is no reason for this one beyond "I thought it was funny." It just exists and there's nothing we can do about it.

Imagine if I actually went with either this quote or "Well, that could've been a whole lot worse." I had to pick between them for a sillier take on this panel, but imagine if Tessa ACTUALLY said "Well, shit" after all that?

Anyway, that's all the sillies and the notes! :D

[sourrcandy]

how arcane taught me to outline — on character

inspired by @/schnee1 on youtube ; i’ve learned a lot from what he talks about in his arcane analysis video series and took inspiration from him to outline my wip, here are some of my notes on them! i’m also a film student so it might lean not so writeblry!

psa: this is my interpretation of arcane and the many helpful resources i found along the way + the things i learned from the show but i hope you find this helpful xx

i’m sure many of you have seen the award-winning hit netflix series arcane, league of legends fan or not. if you have to seen it, spoilers ahead if you keep reading and GO WATCH IT! whether or not you liked it, surely you’ll agree that its plot, characters, worldbuilding, conflict, etc, are on the next level. to say the least, i’m obsessed. so here’s a small writing help series of the many things arcane has taught me (with the help of the internet + youtube). this series is all thanks to you guys who said “yes do it” to me <3

— CHARACTER ARCS: arcane’s magic formula

arcane has a lot of common themes, but what the show really asks is: “how do different characters react to the same/similar situation?”. arcane’s characters make decisions on morality, technology (hextech), identity, politics, violence, family, and etc. arcane creates every character arc throughout the show with a very simple formula:

foundational question/choice ➞ story adds weight and stakes to choice (struggles) ➞ takes a turn (the twist!!) ➞ final pivotal decision.

let’s see how we can apply this formula to arcane’s cast:

powder: she wants to prove her worth ➞ she finally succeeds in her inventions but at the cost of losing her family ➞ vi abandons her ➞ she joins silco

vi: she chooses to sacrifices herself for her family ➞ she loses her family ➞ she finds out powder caused their deaths ➞ she abandons powder

jayce: he risks his everything to develop hextech ➞ he is isolated and betrayed by his closed ones ➞ he partners with fellow inventor outcast viktor ➞ together, they make a gamble to successfully innovate hextech

caitlyn: she is ostracised by her peers ➞ her relationships with family, co-workers, and vi deteriorate ➞ she is kidnapped and reunited with vi ➞ to save the cities she has to choose whether or not to hurt jinx

each character relates to each other in some degree. “corruption” is a theme in arcane that every character experiences, in society or themselves. vander, silco, singed, cassandra kiramman, ambessa medarda, and even heimerdinger “the father of the city” experience “parenthood”. the cast goes through “transformation”, powder loses her innocence and became the psychopathic jinx, jayce went from a humble researcher to an arrogant innovator and politician, and vander was a violent rebel leader who became a pacifist and central father figure to the zaun kids. every theme is explored by multiple characters in utterly different ways, and they can be compared and explored in parallels through the story.

— PROPS: crafting an extension of the character

if you’re thinking, but they’re league characters, of course they have a signature weapon/prop, it’s a game. you’re right, BUT in the storytelling sense, each character’s prop tells a story to enhance and further express each character’s core elements, values, beliefs. i, myself, am a writer who uses a lot of descriptions, props, and even fashion, to express who my characters are. as in arcane, there’s the following:

jayce’s hextech hammer: he brute forces his way through life (his hextech innovations) and causes unintended harm along the way

jinx’s giant guns: unpredictable and traumatic, she’s dangerous and her weapons reflect that. her final shark rocket launcher tells us her final choice of destruction that will lead to war between piltover and zaun, toppling the balance of the two cities.

vi’s iron gauntlets: she values force and it is a calling back to vander’s influence on her, as well as renovating the old to new as a symbol of her growth

caitlyn’s sniper rife: being a sharpshooter expresses who she is — direct, honest, and someone who doesn’t cut corners.

but how did a prop become so important? take vi’s flare. at the end of act one, vi gives powder a flare gun and tells her: “wherever you are, light it up and i’ll find you, i promise.”. then in act two, powder (now jinx) lights up the flare and vi reunited with her. now this is a plot device known as chekhov’s gun. chekhov’s gun is the dramatic principle about making a promise to the audience and keeping it. in its roots, it is setup and payoff.

— NOW WHAT?: on practical application

so i’ve said all this stuff, given examples and wow made points. and you have read through that giant chunk of text and now you’re thinking: but how should i use this to outline my characters? to summarise: 

creating a character arc! — use arcane’s formula to create a basic outline of your characters’ journeys. remember that actions have consequences. 

connect your characters! — your wip should have common themes and a message you want your audience to walk away with, whether it is redemption, corruption, betrayal, trauma, family, power, friendship, hope, love, transformation, the list goes on. this theme should be the soul of your wip. write about the way your characters react, the different roles in their settings, motivations, feelings, what do they base their decision-making on, etc.

but i can’t pinpoint my theme >:( — don’t worry! sometimes themes emerge in your wip later. look for patterns, similar details in your characters, or even just write down a specific theme you want to explore with your characters, it will help guide and create your narrative. your work will convey an underlying message no matter what.

look into chekhov’s gun! — don’t make promises you can’t keep to your audience. use the details in your wip to add impact to your story, foreshadow something in the early chapters, but make sure to not overemphasise on it too much or the payoff will not be impactful. remember with the introduction of the gun means that at some point the gun must be fired. 

REFERENCES/INSPO:

youtube: schnee - the secret to arcane’s depth

youtube: schnee - character development without the character

youtube: schnee - arcane’s weapons tell a story

youtube: amateur analyst - arcane: an analysis

upcoming: on character pt. 2 (show not tell, time, a character-driven plot)

feel free to send me an ask if you want me to further elaborate / other aspects to touch on! check out the masterlist here!

[that-ari-blogger]

Chekhov's Gattling Gun, Part 2

Usually, the climax of a story is the climax of someone's life. Right? There will be moments afterwards, but this is the main thing to happen to the protagonist, and they will spend the rest of their time winding down.

And yet, life doesn't work that way. Happily ever after can happen, but its usually more complex. New problems come into being and old ones might fade without every really being addressed. So, what if there was a climax to a story that mirrored this? How would that happen?

It would probably be about how to move forwards. It might suggest that there will be more trouble ahead, you just need to bear this with a smile and move on with your life. Push through to a greater tomorrow.

Maybe the antagonistic force is centred around regression? Maybe they want to preserve the past at any cost, even killing those whom they claim they want to protect.

You might end up with something like The Trial, from Stray Gods: The Role Playing Musical.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Stray Gods pays homage to a ton of Ancient Greek stories. The Odyssey is a notable one, as Adrift is a reference to Odysseus and his journey. But this moment is, at least in my eyes, reminiscent of the Orestia.

The Oresteia details the death of Agamemnon after the Iliad (because he was a wanker), and the consequences thereof. You can see the theme of choice and consequences pretty boldly there. The story is named after Orestes, the exiled son (it's complicated) of Agamemnon, and the murder spiral that leads to the invention of the Athenian justice system at the hands of Athena. Overly Sarcastic Productions has a fantastic video on the subject.

In any case, the story's climax decides how Orestes will go forwards, specifically alive, because of a murder he committed in revenge, because its technically a tragedy. This is reflected in Stray Gods, with the climax featuring a trial, with Athena serving as a judge, over a murder that the protagonist "committed".

The difference here is Athena's position in this. Because Calliope was killed on Athena's orders, in an attempt to preserve the past. This is a complete heel face turn from the Oresteia. Now instead of changing the world for the better, Athena is trying to keep it the same. But I would argue this isn't out of character.

There is another theme at work here, and I will get there in a moment.

Before that, however, the callbacks. My favourite is Freddie's moment, because it is Freddie, not Grace, that is Athena's antithesis. Grace falls in the middle of themes, unable to choose, unable to decide. She gets swept up in a murder plot, in which everyone is thinking grand scale, and wrapped in complex relationships with the past and future. Athena wants to control the future to hang on to the past, for example.

And Freddie doesn't care about that. Freddie is there for Grace, that's it, she's concerned with the little things. She believes that life will find a way, and you just have to ride the waves. It is notable that this is a version of the song where you, as Grace, have very little say in the events. Grace has relinquished control and will do as Freddie says. She will make her move, and await the result.

"Only, if only you knew

that you can't force the future"

I also love that little look at Grace as she says that, I take it as acceptance and forgiveness, momentarily, for the revival against her will.

But I also find the wording fascinating. Athena is the goddess of wisdom, and yet the response to her is "if only you knew." Wisdom should have gotten her this far, but something is holding her back.

Look at Apollo's body language here. This is the tune of Phantom Pains, a song notable for its deeply morose atmosphere, and now Apollo sings the tune with a bit more oomph, but his posture is... relaxed? He stands there, chest bare, heart open, holding out a hand to Athena.

And look at Athena's response to it. She's expecting a fight, something to stop her. But instead, Apollo is calm, and quiet. He's reassuring in posture, in contrast to what he's saying. Apollo means no harm here, there's a care for the enemy there that I really like.

"You're lost, little boy.

You've lost all perspective

You're ready to throw this away,

You call that wise."

For a woman who's whole thing is reason and debate, Athena's response to Apollo's question is fascinating. She doesn't answer it at all. Apollo asks if she is still a voice of wisdom, and Athena's response is an insult.

I think she knows she's losing it, and like Apollo does earlier in the musical, she is lashing out. "The best defence is a good offence" is a sentiment with debatable success in war, but in conversations like this, it is foolish.

Pan represents living in the moment. He is a smooth talker, here for the dancing type of character. But if you linger around a beach long enough, you will probably get an idea of what the waves are like, and what might happen when the wind changes.

"I'm here for the dance,

But I don't want to dance

with blood on my hands."

Athena is trying to keep everything the same, to crystalise a singular moment in time, and while all the other idols are suffering, so the obviously don't want to stay motionless, Pan is the truest embodiment of what Athena is trying to protect. Athena wants the carefree life of dancing, and that moment personified looks back at her and calls her out for destroying it. The dance isn't fun when people are being killed.

"Lost little girls, they dream up a future.

They're sure how they feel, sure their vision's true"

Who, exactly, is Persephone talking about here? Because it could fit Grace, as a compliment, to say Grace is sure of herself. Or it could be directed at herself and Athena.

Persephone was a character who saw everything as a threat and a weapon to be used against her, she tried to get back a past that was lost. But here is Athena, dressed in armour for a trial, ready to fight at the slightest hint of trouble, trying to hold on to a moment that has long passed, if it ever existed at all.

This reading is made even more apparent by Persephone's words in a different version of the song.

"A great shiny throne, but still in the darkness.

Kill her today, and Athena... that's you too."

The fact that they're standing in front of Hades' empty throne is poignant, because its a symbol of an empty ambition. Persephone has brought Athena to a baren kingdom and effectively said "this is what I wanted, you are the same as me."

I mentioned another theme in effect here, and that would be trauma. Athena has repeatedly taken the fall for the idols, over and over again, for hundreds of years. And she may be an idol, but she is very human. Of course, she is going to slip up from time to time, but she has internalised it in a martyr complex.

When Athena is challenged on her views, the screen goes red to mimic her blind rage in possibly the least subtle metaphor in the entire musical.

I wouldn't exactly call this a cycle of abuse, but it's not spontaneous either. Athena is lashing out at those closest to her, because she is scared, and she can't get through to them. Athena is lost, and the rest of the idols are getting caught in the crossfire of her own mind falling apart on itself.

"This lost little girl,

she's got a few tricks now.

She's taken some punches,

she's made some friends."

Once again, this melody comes back, now accompanied by a drum to hammer home the anger and the betrayal. The power of the muse has always been to empathise, not merely to make people sing. The music is a gimmick, this is what a muse does, and this is why Grace was chosen. Grace takes all of the pain and fear and throws it back at Athena, calling her out for it.

But the repeated wording here is important. Grace knows Athena is lost, and is trying to talk to her, maybe to help her, maybe not. But there is that recognition there. Grace has empathised with Athena, and is weaponizing that.

This is backed up here, in another version of this segment. It's a call back to The Ritual.

"I won't have you dying for me.

That's not how this should work,

I need you to see,

That you're lost in a moment, lost in a song"

I love that Athena is represented in the same way Ares was. All red (Ares had a bit of orange, but you get the point), and where Ares held Aphrodite in his hands, under his control, Athena now holds all of the idols. Their fate is up to her, and they're begging her to not destroy them.

The moments when everyone comforts Grace is cathartic for a number of reasons. First, up, it is a relief from all of the red and horror movie soundtrack of Athena's delusions. But more importantly, this is the moment in which you realise what you have achieved here.

You have saved Aphrodite and Eros from self-destruction. You have brought Asterion and Hecate together. You have made Apollo and Persephone get over themselves. And, maybe, just maybe, you have reconciled with your oldest friend.

You have made everyone in the trial room a better person by your actions, and now they stand up to help her in return. And this fading reveal that they are all still there, still behind Athena is empowering.

It doesn't matter how much the matron of the idols can posture, they have all changed. And now they are offering that aid, that chance to change and be better, to Athena. This is not a story in which everyone gets a good hit in on the villain before they are dramatically killed by the hero or fall from a great hight; this is a story about healing, and it would be callous to not extend that healing to Athena.

I love all the little callbacks in this one scene, the eye is Medusa's thing, the lighthouse for Apollo. I don't need to point them all out. What I want to talk about is the general mis en scene. There is a distinctly storybook aesthetic that these characters are holding onto. In contrast to Athena.

You would think that Athena, the person trying to get back to the past, would be associated with this aesthetic, but no. Athena has been cast out of this idyllic world by her own hand, and everyone else is trying to get her to see that.

"My Olympus is gone,

And you're all looking on,

At a stranger wearing my face.

My Olympus is gone,

now I'm some other one.

Just how long has she been in place?"

This is the Adrift tune again. I think that's so cool. This is Athena in the same place Grace was at the beginning of the musical. She's lost, and she knows it, and she doesn't know what to do.

Athena is in a rut of her own actions, and it's heartbreaking.

Look at the scale of Athena here. She is dwarfed by her own statue, and her own helmet. She is fragile, and small, next to the enormity of her image. And that image is covered in enough blood to drown someone. All of this serves as a fantastic metaphor to show just how crushed Athena is by her own guilt.

"I was wrong and now I don't know what the right thing is.

I leave it up to you what to do with this."

"I forgive you, Athena"

Final Thoughts

Bloody hell, this was long. Thank you for reading this far.

I really love this song, and while I think The Ritual is my favourite, The Trial definitely wins my award for being the most technically impressive, both on a musical level, and on a storytelling and visual level. There is so much cool stuff going on here that I didn't have the brain capacity to talk about in full.

Which brings me to my final thing. I would like to know what you think of Stray Gods, and I would like to create a little collage of opinions other than my own. So, send me a message or comment on this post your analysis, or even reblog this. It could be of a single line, or an entire song, or the entire story. And in two weeks time, when I put up my own final thoughts on the musical as a whole, I will show some other views as well, as a kind of collaborative discussion.

I'm going to be using It's Time to frame my analysis next week, so stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

[heartbreakprincewille]

Empathy As A Superpower

I was thinking about Wilhelm and one of his character traits which was used brilliantly as sort of a Chekhov's gun throughout the story: Empathy.

Wilhelm has always been an empathetic person. Sure, he often gets blindsided by his own assumptions and emotions but it's so human and also kind of understandable, given the environment he was brought up in. Right off from S1, we see many instances of Wilhelm being kind to the people around him. He tries to help Simon with rowing and tutoring stuff, he feels bad for exposing August's money problems and goes out of his way to get it resolved. He apologizes to August in his weakest moment, when his hurt from the video is still pretty raw. He tries his best to offer grace and humility to the people around him, and it's very cleverly explored as a character detail in S1.

In S2, although he is driven by anger and vengeance towards August, he does not lose sight of his empathy for other people. He sits back and listens to how the traditions are affecting other people. He hears Walter and Simon in Ep 1 talking about how they are hungry but they can't eat first because of a stifling tradition and takes action. He sees how the first years are treated around and tries to bring everyone to equal footing. It really reminded me of the stories I used to read as a kid where a king would often survey his kingdom disguised as a commoner and would bring justice to the aggrieved (which sort of works in his case because although him being the crown prince is common knowledge, he still does everything as a student). He befriends Alexander, and although his friendship is driven by guilt but he also offered warm comrade ship to him because deep in his heart, he knew that Alexander did not deserve what he and August did to him. He greets Marcus with sincerity at the ball because he thinks it's the best he can do for Simon in that moment.

And the speech at the end of S2 is where the Chekhov's gun is fired: Wilhelm is speaking the words supplied to him by the Royal Court about "uphelding traditions" and "passing those traditions to the future generations" and how hollow it all feels. How he is always told to keep facades for his own good and how he just can't keep up with them anymore, not after seeing how they stifle him, and everyone around him. How his empathy saved him from getting blindsided by his pain and pushed him to make things better for himself, for others.

[blogofloathing]

A loud, cheesy anthem plays as an awful stylilized OCWE appears on a black and white TV screen

"Good belated myorning folks, I am your esteemed host! Gillian Barlows Jr! And you are watching the Ocean City Watcher Éire! Hyere to bring you the latest scyoop on the people of our great city! who are they? Why are they? When are they? How do they peel their y'apples? Let's find out nyow!"

A new fangled transition effect plays as Gillian gives an overly exaggerated shocked expression.

Approaching our first interviewee, Gygan Clarks of the Ocean City Watchful Eye, but it seems he isn't particularly excited to see us haha, wonder why.

Our trusty boom man sticks the mic in his face, at which Gygan looks visibly annoyed, sheesh you'd think we killed this guys business or something.

"What do you want Gillian" he spat, frankly I'm offended he would be so rude to a reporter!

My cameraman delivers the question after a discreet go ahead sign waved in his direction

"Look unless you think apples can make coffee taste better I'm not interested," Gygan hisses, and after a short pause mutters "with a pocket knife"

And indeed if the bulge in his pocket isn't due to seeing me, he carries said weapon on him.

Let's move on from this wannabe newsman before he gets violent! You know how those types are.

Grumbling to himself, something about "fuckin' trend hopping fast news pieces of-" haha anyway!

An apple shaped transition plays, and due to formatting issues doesn't properly disappear

•••

Our next guest went up to us herself upon hearing there was a survey, so give it up for.. Simone Chekhov! Of the S.I.T Robotics department—

Somehow interrupting this audio added in post, the girl fires up a seemingly long held rant.

"Well actually it's Robotechtronics there's a very subtle but important difference in the two fields but anyway I made a machine that peels them so precisely the skin dissolves in contact with the air due to being sliced at such a thin micromascopic level that their mololcules are-" a thin homeless girl sticks a thumbs up wildly behind Simone.

The video is suddenly stopped here due to space, a cartoonish image of sad Gillian giving a thumbs down is shown onscreen for a few seconds.

•••

we're sorry to cut this short but our camera ran plumb out of juice trying to record it all haha!

Though this did little to falter her one sided rant, even as we turned our attention away from her

Moving onto the aforementioned hobo (it's good to get a perspective from the less than fortunate.)

"OOO OOO you're gonna ask me a question! Give it here!" She jumps excitedly, the words slamming into our crew much in the same way she physically rammed into my mic man in her overzealousness

The dusty girl, who we made sure didn't touch any of our equipment, had been chittering something inane at Simone when we asked, somehow able to properly talk between each other rather than over.

"I dunno I just chomp em, see?" taking a playful bite out of her sour face, leaving a toothy mark.

... the sounds of crickets chirping has been added

"Agh! Victoria!" She expleted, wiping her face off with her sleeve, "that's gross- you're gross!"

Though Victoria didn't seem too bothered, a sly little grin making its home on her spotted face.

"Hey don't pretend ya didn't like it" she slithered, at which Simone gave her a rather hard smack on the head "and there's more where that came from!" The bespectacled girl tittered haughtily.

A tinny and muffled laugh track plays, as Gillian audibly clicks a tape recorder to start and stop

•••

Moving on from those, shall we say interesting, characters, our boom operator caught wind of some music playing a few blocks down.

And we followed the groovy tunes to their source, coming upon quite the cello fellow!

Who is contentedly playing his instrument, my team having to remind him of the question, "oh I just slice em up with my trusty pocketknife!" Holding it up for a second before going back to ringing out the tunes.

Looks to be the same kinda knife as that.. eh I forgot his name already.

I say someone should definitely toss that guy a quarter, not me though.

Really if he can afford a cello is he actually that poor I mean cmon- ah, I've been instructed by my cameraman to stop here.

A bubble and wave crashing sound effect plays too loudly, with a chintzy fade to black transition

•••

Taking a dip per sé, we find.. someone else to ask.

Attempting to avoid being seen, the oddly slimy fellow is hiding against a wall, but seeing as his clothes aren't the exact shade and texture of bricks, "I, I don't know what an apple is? please leave me alone.." he croaks out in a froggy tone.

"Would you like to try one?" My boom operator chipperly inquires, at which the still unnamed weirdo looks even more terrified of us than before

"N-no I'm good really I.." it trailed off, guess they make hobos different these days, I can't get a read on what this guy might be on the street to beg for.

"Cmon I'll get ya a fresh one" he says again, taking a step closer to it, making the thing jump loudly.

Before running away from my team in a lurch, leaving weird wet slappy footprints in his wake.

Well that was certainly productive, why don't we heed this guys words and move on to another!

A hexagon transition with a splat sound effect, it doesn't even fully segue, cutting halfway through

•••

At the urging of my team, we reluctantly almer over to a goblin for questioning, she seemed to be dancing animatedly.. or maybe boxing with the air?

"Hi! Yes yes Hello! To apples slicing? No no, Gabby is practicing see?" It said, nearly assaulting one of my cameramen, "Gabby is champion of the box!"

a goofy swirl sound effect and then a laugh track

We don't speak creature so I have no idea what any of that meant, I'd say we get out of here before that thing gets aggressive, I've heard the stories of these kinds of monsters being dangerous!

They're lucky they don't have rights or else we'd totally sue them for emotional damages.

a spooky transition effect plays, bats flying across the screen and a very poorly done witches laugh

•••

As we were making our way back to the studio, my mic man caught eye of some kinda hobo living in the alley, I insisted we don't interview something like that but who listens to me around here?

Walking up to her, I'm already less than enthused about her appearance, something in her eyes wasn't like it should be, they seemed to stare directly inside of us unlike anything.

"Hello ma'am how would you say you peel-" my other cameraman began, being cut off by her wheezily trilling poem, "peel? Peeling, skin peeling wallpaper off the wall, apples falling trees cutting"

I.. wow! Okay! That is not at all what any of us were expecting, all our hairs stood violently on end.

Like looking into the den of a wounded predator about to make a strike, protecting its wounds.

She stepped closer to us, gazing through us, it felt as though she saw more than just my skin.

"Apples and oranges" it felt as though she wasn't even talking to us, despite facing our direction.

No one bothered putting a transition effect here, the camera simply cuts right to the next scene

•••

aaaaand one last questioneer today folks! As we were wrapping up and dutifully wiping down and sanitizing our stuff to get all the filth off them, a distracted old guy bumped into us, and sooooo!

"Oh! Eh uh, I mostly just eat cheese" the weirdo said emphatically before forcing us to look at a horrible mass of aged milk madness, before reassuring us that "it's Käse Brezel! The finest in the city! If ya see me come and buy so-" yeah no

Sorry sir I don't even know what language you just spoke there but I can tell it ain't somethin I'm gonna be eating, especially from someone like you

Though my crew seems oddly interested in it, I'll have to show them what real food is like I guess,

gives me an excuse to hang out with those mooks.

anywho, our final stop of the day was a nice little cheese pretzel shop, the finest in the city!

An equally loud and somehow even cheesier little outro theme plays as we fade back onto Gillian

"Well thyank you all for tyuning in this fine after nyoon, we hope we could answer all of your deep byurning questions! As always I am your esteemed host; Gillian Barlows Jr! And you have been watching the Ocean City Watcher Éire, where we catch up the scyoop and throw it to your hyoop! See y'all nyext week with our next Q: how good is the government doing right now? ( A: pyerfect!)"

[irrealisms]

okay so my most recent web weave was not in fact Intended to be about the dsmp but. while we are all here and thinking about metafiction and the dsmp. let’s talk about c!wilbur in pogtopia because it’s something that makes me chew on the drywall. specifically let’s talk about this bit that i transcribed, from his oct 17 VOD, at 33:47:

My L'Manberg. My L'Manberg. Ohhh. (hits desk) As long-- Chat, Tommy and Big Q can't know this. As long as I know the button is here. As long as I know. Hold on-- as long as I know the button is here. As long-- I'm-- it's just-- not, not today. I just need to know that it's there, for a fallback. I need to know it's there. You're saying "do it", chat, but you're-- this isn't-- you aren't affected, you just want to see explosions, you guys aren't affected, I understand, I understand, I-- I've been hasty. But the fact that I know it's there, and I can just.. stroke my right mouse button. (deep breath) That's all I need. As long as I know it's there. I'll be back. (breaks open exit) I'll be back for this. (leaves, blocks up exit. takes a deep breath.) Where are they, they've just left, they've just left the VC, where have they gone, have they gone to-- (clicking) I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Not sorry to you, I'm sorry to chat, I'm apologizing to chat.

now there’s a lot of things you could say about this--in particular the “I just need to know it’s there, for a fallback” is something I could talk about for ages-- but the thing I want to focus on here is that he’s very aware of his audience and what his audience wants. he’s aware of his chat, he talks to them directly. more than that, he’s aware that they want him to destroy things-- but only because it’s entertaining for them and they won’t actually have to live with the consequences. yet he still wants to do what they want-- he’s sorry to them for not doing what they want him to do. he’s more openly sorry to his chat than he is to c!Tommy or c!Quackity, who he has just put in a life-or-death situation.

(we also see him, throughout his time on the dream smp--during unambiguously in-character moments--look directly at and address the camera; here’s a video compilation of that. he’s definitely aware of the fourth wall!)

i also want to talk about a couple other things from pogtopia. the first is his famous conversation with Tommy about Chekhov’s gun (also from his October 17th VOD, 30:14):

Wilbur: You know what they say. Have you heard of something called a Chekhov’s gun, Tommy? Tommy: No. I’ve heard of a real gun, but… Wilbur: A Chekhov’s gun is the-- is an idea in, in, in plot devices, where if you tease something for long enough, and you keep showing it off, you have to do it at some point.

And he clearly considers himself bound to this! On November 16th, when deciding to blow up L’Manberg, he leaves the main VC to deliver a soliloquy, and the first thing he says is “Chekhov’s gun.” (The second thing he says is “I’ll be honest with you, chat”, emphasizing that this is directed to his chat, rather than just to himself.) But it’s an idea in plot devices. Most people do not consider Chekhov’s gun to be something that constrains the real world. It’s a dramatic principle, for writing a good story. c!wilbur is--at all times but particularly in pogtopia--aware that he is in a story, that he’s performing for an audience. Twice, in the button room conversation on October 17th, he exclaims “I’m such a fucking showman”, having been derailed in his plans to blow everything up due to his desire for an audience (in this case, because he brought Tommy and Quackity to watch)--

[27:20] I should have just done it. I should-- I’m such a fucking showman. I’m such a sh-- I should have just done it.

[29:37] I should have just-- I’m such a fucking showman.

And then, at Niki’s birthday party, when he derails it to go to the button room, we get the famous comment to Quackity of “you’re going to watch”, but we also get this comment:

[2:56:24] Look, I was waiting for there to be a stream that lots of people were watching, uh, before I did this-- because I didn’t want to do this off-stream, you know?

now, can you take this as an OOC comment? sure. but... he’s going to the button room, he’s talking about how he wants to blow everything up, Quackity has to talk him down by proposing a timeline for a meeting with Schlatt. he’s shown, in character, repeatedly, that he wants an audience of the other dsmp members; and he’s shown, in character, repeatedly, an awareness of the fourth wall, of his chat, of the camera and the audience. I think it’s fair of me to argue that this was IC, that c!wilbur was waiting for a big stream because he wanted a large viewer count for his suicide.

I don’t really have a conclusion to this, just... man, is that fucked up or what? Even more so because he’s right, he is a character in a story. There are people watching him, people who don’t necessarily care about him--or, at least, not in the same way as they would care about a “real person”? Obviously I care about him as a character immensely or else I wouldn’t have written all of this, but, like, if he were a real person I cared about, I would not be writing meta about his suicide, and presumably his chat would have been wildly different. As it is, I want the story to be interesting; I want it to be satisfying; I want it to cohere. I am interested in catharsis, in setup and payoff. I am much more flexible wrt whether him or his friends and family are happy and alive. and in Pogtopia he shares these priorities-- in addition to, among other things, his desire for attention, to put on a show, to be remembered. there are definitely other things going on as well, but it’s... a very bad combination, for him. and he dies for it, for us, for a satisfying finale, for the 100,000 people watching and egging him on.

[thesherrinfordfacility]

LWA here: I don't take the lockdown video as canon, as it's just too obviously a PSA. I do think there's more to be said about Crowley refusing to hear Chekhov's gun going off in the aftermath of S1, although that may be because I've now back-buttoned out of far too many supposed "fix-fics" in which Aziraphale has to abase himself before his much-abused demon. (Folks, they are equally to blame to the miscommunication pileup at the end! The yin/yang, single-character-split-in-half thing always manifests itself by them simultaneously botching things in their relationship! We are shown and told this explicitly! WTH?!) This is my own sequel to endlessly back-buttoning out of fics for S1.

I guess I'm one of the three or so people on the planet who got to the end of S1 and said, wait, there were two unambiguous betrayals during the course of this season, both related to trust issues, and unless they're discussed and resolved you cannot extrapolate a successful relationship out of this ending. Aziraphale betrays Crowley's faith that their friendship is different by not telling him about the Antichrist; Crowley betrays Aziraphale by manipulating him like /everyone else manipulates him/ by tempting him to kill first Warlock, then Adam. And there was a start to acknowledging the first during the bar scene, but there is no sign in the script that Crowley apologizes, mentions what he did, or even feels badly about it.* Fan attempts to excuse the manipulation usually repeat Crowley's own justification for the act at the park bench, but the script, via Madame Tracy, insists that "you can't kill kids" is a moral absolute. Crowley, and Aziraphale for going along with him, are in the wrong, end-stop. That was just such a massive stickle-burr for me in terms of conceptualizing how Crowley actually sees his own power in relation to Aziraphale's, and this season concretized that they are both suffering from trauma-related superiority complexes that they act out in ways that deny each other agency (Crowley by concealing information from Aziraphale about Heaven & Gabriel, then attempting to demon-handle him back into damsel-in-distress mode; Aziraphale by still being stuck in binary thinking patterns and offering Crowley a redemption plot he doesn't want).

*--I've seen exactly one analysis-in-fic-form that refuses to let Crowley off the hook, "Auguries of Innocence" (https://rainjoyswriting.dreamwidth.org/241857.html#cutid1), written by someone with experience teaching ethics. I think the author makes Crowley much too self-aware about what he did, but her conclusions about why he might be unable to bring himself to apologize are pretty plausible.

sliding this under a cut:

awesome, that's what i was kind of hoping someone would agree with me on (re: lockdown), mainly because from the feeling of the plot in s2 (plus the contextual characterisation already discussed about aziraphale's ability, vs surrender of his will, to protect himself/crowley's compulsion to overprotect), it felt rather extraneous of the canon narrative in retrospect. it felt like a fun, quirky PSA in isolation, but i didnt want to automatically discount it as not having its place in the story either if it indeed had one! so, im glad someone else was thinking what my gut was saying - that it is likely to be the former.

i get that many people are hungry for some kind of comfort following s2's ending (completely understandable), but i can't currently bring myself to read any fanfiction that follows the events of s2 because of this exact reason you've mentioned. frankly, i personally find it a little too uncomfortable that the resolution seen so far - in general terms, there are well-written exceptions - is for aziraphale to metaphorically prostrate and punish himself for the whole breakup, especially when i personally felt pretty much since ten minutes after finishing ep6 that there was more to it than aziraphale seemingly wanting to change crowley "into the angel he wants him to be", and rejecting him when he wouldn't. it's way more nuanced and complex than that. and every time i rewatch that scene, it feels so obvious that they are speaking words that on the surface fit together in terms of dialogue, but they are saying completely different things.

i love a misunderstanding-leads-to-angst trope, it's one of my favourites, and the way the dialogue was written in this scene to have so many interweaving and contradicting layers and meanings was a profound and immersive depiction of this. ultimately my end impression (until a point we get an actual Conversation in s3 that discusses these exact points) of the scene is that:

- aziraphale will always think he should and could do better and be better, even at the risk of sacrificing everything including crowley, and do so with only the greater good in mind... no matter if the greater good doesn't truly exist in the way he hopes or expects it to (and therefore is completely immaterial), and:

- crowley will always continue to keep and bury aziraphale in his own rage and pain, drawing him back in whenever aziraphale shifts to step outside of it, and do so because it's a constancy that has thus far worked in giving him purpose and a sense of being wanted.

there's way more to it than that, but those were the immediate first impressions i got. they may love each other endlessly, beyond understanding, and that's wonderful; but love alone is not enough to sustain a relationship of any kind. there has to be trust, yes, but also mutual respect, support for each others' true wants and needs, and a sense of wholly knowing yourself (even the things you wish you could change, or you dislike) so you know what you are giving to the other person. my perspective on being in a partnership is that your heart is no longer just your own, it becomes the other person's too - if not more - and you have to be someone that can be entrusted with it. neither of the characters give me the impression of having really learnt this yet, and have demonstrated on multiple occasions, including the ones you mentioned, that they haven't.

having a read of what you linked, this is exactly along the lines of why i think crowley doesn't want to recognise, or cant recognise, what he did in tempting aziraphale and manipulating him on the occasions that he did... because what would happen if he did accept it? and opened up the pandora's box that is bringing aziraphale's attention to it? how would aziraphale ever see crowley the same way again? id love to say it was the same lines along which i was thinking when i wrote the below re: saviour complex, but is far more insightful and eloquently put:

and also here, when talking in response to another ask of yours about I Forgive You:

essentially: that if aziraphale were to know why crowley does what he does, did what he did, if aziraphale received an explanation and a genuine apology for it, would crowley only be met with benevolence? or would he be genuinely forgiven in a way that is actually meaningful to him because it comes from aziraphale the person, not the angel? the latter would be too much to bear, i think. the irony however is that in not giving his shortcomings air, taking them out of the locked box he's crafted to hide them, he's occasioning further opportunity for misunderstanding between them.

trauma in whatever form is not a valid excuse to project that trauma onto someone else. it can be empathised with, but not excused. again, as always, at the risk of human-ifying two supernatural beings, it is entirely human to fuck up and do so, it's going to happen - that you hurt someone you love by keeping them in your pain. but it can't keep happening in a never-ending cycle, and has to have a breaking point that all parties actively learn from. this ground, them acknowledging having any feelings for each other, is brand new for them to tread on, but when it comes hand-in-hand with having millennia full of trauma, shame and pain, they also need to tread very carefully.

[thechekhov]

you mentioned in recent tags about a horror comic you drew- i understand not wanting to link publicly to it to avoid creating MORE misinterpretations, but i really like your storytelling and now i’m curious?? so if you could, that’d be great! no pressure either way!

(i’m sending this off anon so you have the choice to respond to it privately anyways) (love your art thanks) (and the dungeon meshi reacts)

Thanks for the kind message! And it's not a secret or anything, it's straight up this post:

I used language comparing humans and other animals as two separate things (for the sake of drawing the narrative conclusions I needed to, in order to make the concept understood in only a few pages), like this:

But because of this simplified language, people drew their OWN wild conclusions about me as a person.

For example, this guy on twitter:

I never actually said humans WEREN'T animals, never said humans were somehow 'above' biology...I was simply putting them into a separate category capable of a specific set of skills for the sake of the comparison I made in the last couple of pages as the punchline.

But they decided that it must "clearly" mean I believe X, Y and Z.

This has happened MORE than enough times!

Writing is difficult, and writing for varied audiences with different dialects, different levels of reading ability, and different attention spans is hard! Sometimes, people don't want to sit through 2 pages of 'well humans are animals but due to a specific evolutionary niche we fill our ability to use language and calculate mathematical equations to the degree that we do is really unique--'

Now, mind you... I STILL got grief for trying to be soft-boiled in my delivery. People (who don't have a linguistics degree) IMMEDIATELY also messaged me to tell me that chimps CAN learn language - and haven't I seen that one video with the gorilla, the dolphin, etc?

And that's it's own can of worms. (No, other animals cannot learn language the way humans can. Yes, they can communicate in complex ways. No, language is a very specific human thing as far as leading scientists are concerned, at least based on current data. Yes, I went to University for this. I have a degree. Please just trust me.)

It happens, I'm not actively mad about it... Humans tend to take whatever we read and run with it.

But we make this mistake often! I know I also make this mistake. We come conclusions based on scarce evidence! We jump to the worst case scenario! We presume that we know better than that person what they believe, based on minimal interaction with them.

It's yet another thing that's unique to humans thanks to... wait for it... language!

It's the price we pay for having memes.

[worldbuildguild]

Are you looking for a community full of visual storytellers and worldbuilders?

The launch of TheRedLineStation's (world)Build Guild is here! Where creative writers, worldbuilders, concept artists, and those who have any interest in designing stories and worlds for stories gather.

Do you have a science-fiction world that needs another layer of detail to really feel alive? Is your fantasy race a little too cookie-cutter and could use a new spin to stand out? Are you unsure how industry-savvy concept artists draw their characters so that others can clearly understand the design? How do they even design them, to begin with? BuildGuild might be able to help you!

For those who may have missed it, TheRedLineStation's art fundamentals venue has moved to discord, where our mod team and other like-minded artists discuss, give advice and socialize on TheRedLineStation's arts and craft server. Join us here! 

But as for the Tumblr-blog, as you may have noticed. We have rebranded and branched out to a slightly different type of creative work. That of designing and drawing for storytelling! On our blog, you can get help with anything from how to make a character reference, to designing fantasy creatures, to ways in which you can bring more depth and uniqueness to your own fictional world!

The submissions and askbox are now open! You can submit:

✎ - Artwork, such as sketches, illustrations, models, etc, of character design, creature design, prop design, or environmental design. 

✎ - Written ideas on worldbuilding.

✎ - Illustrations, comic strips, storyboards, or pages of scenes in your story.   - Please note that we do not give advice on art fundamentals but focus solely on the likes of composition, light and storytelling for illustrations. 

✎ - Questions about creative writing, concept art, worldbuilding and visual storytelling

Read more about how to Submit and Ask on our blog!

Who runs the blog?

TheRedLineStation's very own founder; The Chekhov is on our mod-team. However, the blog is primarily helmed and run by Mod Wackart. Who, with his years working alongside editors, production designers and other creatives are ready and excited to help you with your story, world, and characters!

Events, spotlights and resources to come!

Aside from helping our followers make progress on their individual projects. We also want to faciliate our followers into drawing, writing and designing for their own worlds. Be on the lookout for the blog's prompts, collections and mod activities, that we hope will inspire our followers to work motivated with their projects. A great pick-me-up if you feel like you've gotten stuck with your project.

Multi-platform content

For something new, BuildGuild will be cross-posting over multiple platforms to promote the blog to other potential creatives. But also as a means to provide a multitude of resources and feedback to our followers, in the form of video demonstrations or explainer videos.

So make sure to give the blog a follow, and drop your questions, ideas and designs into our inbox through our askbox or our submissions.

We look forward to meeting you!

[annabelle--cane]

I posted 15,558 times in 2022

That's 2,777 more posts than 2021!

1,341 posts created (9%)

14,217 posts reblogged (91%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@dingdongyouarewrong

@bananonbinary

@transjon

@doubleca5t

@annabelle--cane

I tagged 5,479 of my posts in 2022

#tma - 1,273 posts

#marina marvels at life - 1,216 posts

#art - 663 posts

#video - 404 posts

#cats - 354 posts

#answered - 292 posts

#anons - 200 posts

#id in alt text - 166 posts

#ofmd - 86 posts

#tsv - 86 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#cat takes female mouse male mouse will not depart but stands threatening and daring. if you do not let her go i will engage you as prodigiou

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

combining the "does it spark joy?" and "if it sucks, hit da bricks" mindsets together for ultimate enlightenment

42,417 notes - Posted September 27, 2022

#4

I think progressive groups have a bad habit of looking at inaccessible areas of academia and art and saying "this thing is for rich people, it sucks, get rid of it" (does not give poor people more opportunities) instead of "this thing should be 1000x cheaper" (does give poor people more opportunities). the goal should always be to improve the lives of the oppressed.

43,011 notes - Posted October 19, 2022

#3

"tumblr doesn't have an algorithm so likes are WORTHLESS they do NOTHING" well actually likes tell me that people liked my post. they have worth because they show me people saw my post and enjoyed it. that's still interaction even if it doesn't give an extra boost to make Number Go Up even more. yeah I generally get more out of written feedback in tags/replies but likes are still Something, they aren't people telling me "fuck you I'm not sharing your post" they're people telling me "hehe I give your post little a like as a treat."

59,789 notes - Posted October 28, 2022

#2

schrodinger's chekhov's gun. a detail in a story that looks like it should have some big payoff but it's too early to tell if that's relevant or if the author just has a passion for lovingly describing guns.

83,281 notes - Posted April 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

it's rotten work. especially to me especially if it's you. I'll fucking do it but christ alive.

115,035 notes - Posted July 16, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[cupcraft]

Welp inspired by a mutual and my yesterday video game au posting. Here's some ccrimeboys don't starve character ideas:

c!Wilbur: starts with no items but can make exclusive item "chekhov's gun". During the day the crossbow can be used to fight, but at night he can use it once to look into "limbo" to speak with his soul with a chance of restoring his health and also max HP for the next three days, however it comes at a small cost to his sanity (the meter in the dont starve game for reference).

c!Tommy: starts with music discs that he can use once per day to restore sanity and he has a % chance of finding new discs when exploring certain things. He can also invite others to listen to the discs (in multiplayer settings) to give them a small boost to sanity and a one day boost to attack strength over base weapons (called "revitalizing hope"). Tommy also has a chance of befriending/taming spiders, though they initially start off as hostile like for everyone else.

Feel free to add your own thoughts or other character ideas :)

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Exterminator 2 (Buntzman, 1984)

The premise and poster guarantee a baseline of enjoyment, and I can report that I didn’t mind sitting through the hour and a half runtime. Listen, I’m a man of simple pleasures, and you have the guy showing up with a flamethrower like in the poster and setting bad guys on fire with some regularity, I will not find the movie entirely unsatisfying. And unlike a lot of movies with a cool poster that might mislead you with respect to the contents of the actual film, this very much delivers on that front. If I’m filing a consumer report, I will not be lodging a complaint regarding false advertising.

I’d seen the first movie years ago and while I’m hazy on specific story details, the overall grimy ambience has lingered in my memory. This is nowhere near as sleazy on the whole. There are certainly exploitative elements, but the tone is much more cartoonish and the violence lacks the pungent charge of the original. The result is not unlike the transition from Death Wish II to Death Wish 3, trading grime for camp, although it never reaches the heights of the latter movie, which turns a city block into a war zone. (There’s also a similar use of Chekhov’s machine gun, although this movie does it with less gusto.) This is most evident with the depiction of the villains, who look more like music video extras than authentic street toughs or scumbags, and the leader of whom, played by Mario Van Peebles, is dressed like Vernon Wells from The Road Warrior. This is not a documentarian portrait of vigilantism by any means. Something was in the air generally, as you could see action movies transition to varying degrees of excess during those years, evident not just in the Death Wish movies but things like the Rambo and Max Max franchises as well. Something was definitely in the air at Cannon Films, which produced this movie and was in the habit of chasing trends no matter how ill-advised. It’s the only explanation for why this movie stops in the middle for a scene where the hero’s girlfriend joins some breakdancers in the park while electro blares on the soundtrack. I’m not complaining. If I can make a second case in favour of this movie, it’s that is serves as the movie you put on when you don’t know which Cannon Films production you want to watch.

All that being said, while I don’t think Death Wish 3 is the best directed movie, you can appreciate the conviction with which it lays waste to its villains and their environment, and the qualities that Charles Bronson brings to such material. Even if he’s less than fully committed, there’s an understatement, an implied capacity for violence, that makes him permeate a certain repugnant aura that makes him compelling in these contexts. This is a guy you do not want to fuck with. In contrast, I don’t think Robert Ginty has the same presence, although I think the issue is less his performance than the way he’s directed. No, he’s not the most charismatic actor, but there’s something curious about the way the movie seems to undermine him at every turn, cutting away anytime he’s been on screen for more than a few seconds, even if it’s in the middle of a dialogue scene. I understand the movie underwent extensive reshoots (and many of the violent scenes were added thusly), but the results onscreen are baffling. You even see it being done to Van Peebles, who is trying to give the kind of juicy, teeth gnashing performance that turn movies like this into cult favourites, yet is rarely afforded the grandeur he deserves. It’s a shame, because he certainly is magnetic.

So yeah, not great, but it’s not like Death Wish 3 has breakdancing or Breakin’ has gang members being flamethrowered, so maybe this is worth a look with low enough expectations.