#for my music video and comparing them directly to the series

[deadtiredghost]

Tmnt facts that are canon cause i said so:

All Leo's are sci-fi fans of varying degrees of old sci-fi series/movies

But MM!Leo thinks the old movies are old and thus has no major franchise to obsess over, he is just big into any of the more modern movies of the genre: I'm thinking Interstellar, Blade Runner, idk many more. And then he started watching Final Space and eventually got into Futurama.

But he still would think the other Leo's are old and a bit lame for enjoying old anime so much.

All the Donnie's and Leo's are the musical fans, but that doesn't mean that Raph and Mikey can't enjoy a musical too! Especially 2003!Raph who grew up watching shit like high school musical and teen beach movie with Leo and Donnie.

The 2003 boys all teamed up to sit on Mikey and tape Mikey's mouth shut cause he would dramatically and badly sing the songs otherwise.

2018 crew are hard into Hamilton of course while 2012 have a knock off version of it that flopped but Mikey loves.

2003 have a musical version of Lost Boys and Faries that could possibly be comparable with some rap songs and some emotional ballads.

Bayverse and MM have batman while 2018 have a weird mixture of some irl media and some really obvious knock offs. 2012 has Wingnut and Silber sentry as comics to replace Marvel and DC in their universe and we all know how 2003 is on superheroes.

All the Mikey's are naturally talented at drawing apart from 2012 who's skills apparently just got transferred to literally every single one of his siblings.

2012!Mikey's writing looks like chickenscratch and his drawings are chaotic in an abstract art kinda way, while 12!Leo can draw anime, 12!Karai is decent at drawing anything reallt, 12!Donnie preffers skatching items and backgrounds rather than people and 12!Raph is the one who does art the most in the fam.

The 1987 turtles are stuck in 1987 and have been since 1987. They like crossovers for the change of pace but 87!Raph and 87!Donnie very much dislike how other turtles have treated them in the past so take any and ever chance to fuck with their alternates in retaliation, feigning innocence well enough that they keep getting away with blatantly insulting their iterations to their face.

Leo is the tea drinker in the family across iterations but most of the iterations don't drink coffee - rottmnt gets into coffee wars (sans Leo and Splinter) but other than that 2007!Donnie and Bayverse!Raph are the only rabid coffee drinkers.

most of the Donnies drink energy drinks if they want a caffeine boost - the nonbinaries and their Monster especially.

The MM kids aren't allowed coffee because Splinter read a watched of child-raising YouTube videos and banned it. Of course that doesn't stop them from sneaking out. MM!Donnie is trying to convince him to allow coffee while MM!Raph just sneaks in his energy drinks.

2003!Casey was convinced the turtles were adults for at LEAST the first month into their friendship.

The ampunt Mikey wears stickers is directly proportional to the amount of leeway Splinter gives him - with the used-to-be-human Splinters being more strict on not personalising his weapon while the used-to-be-rat Splinters such as MM gives the go ahead.

The outlines of this rule are 03!Splinter and 18!Splinter of course who have entirely different ways of handling their adhd child.

And then there is bayverse!Splinter who said fuck the stickers, yes of course my 15-year-old children can have tattoos.

(And yes I firmly believe they were 15 in the first movie, and I attribute their tattoos to Splinter not really seeing the harm in it, or caring much as long as it won't hurt them.)

18!Leo is biologically the eldest but no one knows this apart from Draxum who will never tell at this point. Splinter aged them based on size.

On the other hand, 03!Leo is the biological youngest but only Donnie knows this (science shit to find it out) and will never tell anyone because he found out that 03!Mikey hatched first and that information can never be allowed to get to the turtle in question.

2012 Casey is transfem but doesn't know it yet and 2018 Casey is what 12!Casey will look like at 20.

All Donnie's watch anime and all Mikey's watch horror movies - despite how much they may or may not scream at the horror movies.

07!Mikey sells art online and 07!Leo becomes a language tutor in their 20's. Ironic as 12!Raph attempts to sell art online but becomes too emotionally attached to his work and 12!Donnie attempts to tutor for a time but is a terrible teacher.

Leo is a basketball or baseball fan, Raph likes wrestling and basketball, Donnie will partake in basketball or volleyball and Mikey prefers dancing but is open to playing anything... just not watching.

Splinter always watched the tennis, becuase his grandmother did. Leo likes to put it on but doesn't like playing it.

Mikey will forever be confused why the others enjoy watching sport. This stemms from when he was 12 and trying to watch his cartoons and Splinter would always take control of the TV during the Olympics. Mikey is still very salty and has an agenda against the Olympics and any other big sports match on their communal TV.

All the Leo's before 2012 just didnt use the Internet or any electronics as a kid and thus struggles with electronics massively.

Conversely 2012 and 2018 Leo were both on tumblr as kids and read fanfic about Space Heros and Jupiter Jim respectively.

And in addition: Donnie was on the Internet far too much as a kid.

(12!Donnie will never tell but 12!Mikey befriending Chris Bradford on Facebook hit a bit too close to home.)

After Don, Raph is the best at mechanics, other than 18!Raph who is kinda shit at them.

Splinter taught all of the turtles first aid but Raph and Mikey are patched up the most by the other two, which leads to the other two being more confident and skilled at first aid.

Leo's first aid experience is very much similar to an army medic, using improvisation based on his prior knowledge without any of the proper hospital procedure while Donnie's is much more based on his research into medicine and thus much more clinical.

The outliers are the 18!kids cause Donnie finds biological shit kinda disgusting unless he HAS to do it.

And then there is the 87!turtles who don't really get hurt for longer than an episode's run time. Despite this every single one of them are able to accurately and skillfully carry out any medical procedure should the need arise becuase cartoon logic and convenience. It is a skill they have and its usually 87!Donnie ordering them about while 87!Raph plays nurse.

Mikey and Raph spray paint together sometimes in all iterations other than 87.

87!Mikey and 87!Leo have never kmowingly committed a crime.

Mikey looks up to Leo most out of his siblings, and Leo would look up to Mikey in turn if he could get over the jealousy towards his youngest brother.

There is not a single itteration where Leo doesn't sometimes kinda wish he could be more like Mikey - he has never voiced these feelings and hates that he feels this jealousy.

If you wake Leo up from sleeping he will be alert, a bit grumpy about it, but will never turn you away. He rarely gets a full good night's sleep anyways, ans becuase of this he is prime target to bother when he is awake... up until they turn 14 where Leo gets into the habit of pretending to be asleep so Mikey doesn't bother him and starts meditating until he falls asleep.

The prior headcannon excludes rottmnt and mutant mayhem.

Mikey starts bothering Donnie more and joins him in the lab late at night a lot.

If you dare to disturb Raph's beauty sleep you will get a pillow to the face and a shouting to at the least.

Everyone of the turtles loves Kung Fu Panda or whatever similar movie exists in their world. They won't admit it but its because Poe reminds them of Mikey.

Raph maintains that he doesn't like physical contact much to get out of hugging the sweaty humans in his life. He is actually fairly chill with hugs he just hates the feeling of sweat on his scales so much, and learnt that the hard way when Casey brought him in for a hug after a fight and he shoved him off and blustered a bit. But any of his siblings hugging him is fine, he only ever shoves them off out of annoyance.

Donnie is the least huggy turtle, but he will sometimes lean his full body weight on April - which is fine in most iterations but some cannot handle the weight, I'm looking at Bayverse.

If Mikey were a human he would be a borderline nudist when home and everyone who lived with him would complain about it.

Like [insert hair covering here] and a fluffy dressing gown from when he was 9 wrapped around the waist if you're lucky.

[squadxx4392]

Analyzing 'Just Look My Way - Stolas' Lament' - Complete Version

So we all know that Stolas from Helluva Boss is very, very much in love with Blitzo(The 'o' is silent, so pronounced as 'Blitz').

However, throughout the series, Blitzo seems to be oblivious. An example of this is stated in the Helluva Boss series, "Hey! Stolas only cares about having a rugged peasant raw-dog him into his mattress, it's nothing.. y'know.. it's nothing else(Season Two, Episode Six, 10:12-10:20)."

Now, shortly after another episode of the series came out, season two episode seven, to be exact, a music video came out. It was a song for Stolas which, in the first minute, everyone could tell it was indefinitely about Blitzo.

The beginning of the music video starts with Stolas receiving an Asmodean Crystal from Asmodeous, the Sin of Lust, which Stolas had asked for in the sixth episode of season two, "...he needs to access the mortal realm to carry out his work. I know your demons are some of the only ones who can traverse freely and legally. I was wondering if you could help me find a way he could, too?(Season Two, Episode Six, 7:33-7:46)."

Throughout the music video, Blitzo is being compared to the full moon, which, as per an agreement the two made in the very first episode of the series, is a reference to their full moon contract.

Basically, their 'unspoken contract', as Stolas put it, is Blitzo gets to use Stolas' grimoire for his work, and because Stolas requires it to finish his duties with the Goetia family, they have a once monthly meeting on the full moon, where Stolas collects the grimoire and they have a night of 'passionate fornication'.

This is what makes Blitzo think of Stolas as a prick who doesn't want anything more than sex from him. This was stated in season one episode seven of the show, "Stolas, don't act like what we have is anything but you wanting me to f**k you, okay? You make that really clear all the time(Season One, Episode Seven, 14:36-14:43)." And this was what Stolas has realized what Blitzo thought of their relationship.

And so, in an effort to prove Stolas truly loves him and truly cares about more than sex, he is going to attempt to give Blitzo the crystal so he isn't made to associate with Stolas as he wouldn't require the grimoire to travel to Earth.

Now, back to the music video, which is what this analysis is truly about. We are going to be analyzing the lyrics of the song, and the meanings behind them.

After Stolas starts singing, he sings, "I am a guardian/a watcher of these ancient rites/yet I find myself drawn from that path/on those dazzling moonlit nights(Just Look My Way - Stolas' Lament, 0:30-0:46)." This is a reference to the full moon escapades he and Blitzo have.

"Let me hold you/Keep you close to me/I long to hear your voice/But dearest/I know better now/I must give you this choice(Just Look My Way - Stolas' Lament, 0:46-1:01)." Stolas is realizing he can't make Blitzo do something he doesn't want to do, so he's saying the choice is his to make, as it is. And he wants to be able to be close to his lover but he can't because Blitzo is just pushing him away.

"I can give you everything you need/Or do you want to hear me plead/Just look my way/Just look my way/Is there something more that I don't know/That you won't say 'til we've both grown cold/Just say 'please stay'/Look my way(Just Look My Way - Stolas' Lament, 1:02-1:33)." Through these lyrics, Stolas shows how much he truly cares about Blitzo. He is willing to plead with the Imp to show him how much he cares about him.

"This unspoken contract/A deed we forged for mutual gain/If that's all this was when you're not here/What is this rooted pain?/I don't care that you're of lower station/Or primed to sate my dark temptations/Why can't you understand?/Let me explain(Just Look My Way - Stolas' Lament, 1:36-2:07)." Stolas is shown to be in love, it's shown to be more obvious as he is directly addressing Blitzo with his feelings, even if he's not talking to Blitzo while he's saying it. The symbolism isn't as exaggerated as it was before the lyrics.

"And I'm terrified/As I cry/To make these feelings true/What's left for me/And my broken heart/If I cannot have you(Just Look My Way, 2:08-2:22)." Stolas is very obviously upset at the fact Blitzo does not seem to want him back in a romantic, and really even a sensual, sense, even though there were some notable instances where it is very obviously not true. In Helluva Boss' sixth episode of season two, Blitzo went on a tirade about the reasons Stolas doesn't like him back, as he is in denial about both of their feelings.

"Unless it's me/And no matter what in this world I could give/It's not enough/To get through the walls you've conjured up to live(Just Look My Way - Stolas' Lament, 2:25-2:40)." At this point, Stolas had realized that Blitzo tends to want to distance himself from people who he cares a lot about because he's afraid of hurting them. And Stolas is finally recognizing that fact.

"Is this what you feel?/Scorned by a realm that cannot comprehend/What you are/So I'll grant you this mercy/This bind/On our souls needs to end(Just Look My Way - Stolas' Lament, 2:40-2:59)." Stolas is finally recognizing Blitzo is not happy in the situation.

The entire music video is more of how his and Blitzo's relationship has evolved throughout the two current seasons and the lyrics are representing the seventh episode of the first season when Blitzo finally revealed what he felt about Stolas, "Stolas, don't act like what we have is anything but you wanting me to f**k you, okay? You make that really clear all the time(Season One, Episode Seven, 14:36-14:43)."

"I will try to make amends/For making you means to an end/So look my way/Please look my way/And if there's something more that I don't know/I'll save us both before we grow cold/If you'll stay/And just say 'Look my way'(Just Look My Way - Stolas' Lament, 3:02-3:34)." Interpreting this is Stolas is trying to restore a relationship with Blitzo and failing no matter what he does and it makes him feel like he's drowning as in the last lyric he is seen falling into water and sinking until he slumps into his desk and cries.

If it doesn't make a lot of sense as it goes on, even though it should, it will be okay. Interpreting the music video is basically just Stolas' feelings as he goes through the series with his relationship with Blitzo from start up until the point we're at in the Helluva Boss series.

To summarize, Stolas is very in love with Blitzo, but doesn't think he loves him back and vice versa. And the song and the analytics from the videos and the series itself just prove it in return. And this is why Stolas is in love with Blitzo from Helluva Boss.

[whining-ylthin]

Ylthin's Media Thread thingy for the tail-end of 2023 and 2024:

Normally I'd do it on Twitter but I fully expect that site to collapse in 6 months.

Glen Cook, "Czarna Kompania"/"Cień w ukryciu" ("Black Company"/"Shadows Linger") (Rebis, 2009 Polish edition, 2022 reprint)

I'm starting this list somewhat off the curb - I've finished the 2nd novel from this omnibus release just now, but I've also read the first one earlier this year... and I don't have much to say about either, honestly.

The prose is kind of clunky and awkward in a way that takes a moment to adjust to, and without directly comparing the Polish translation to the English original I can't tell how much of this unwieldiness is due to poor translation job and how much of it is just inherent to Cook's style. You're not reading this book for its characters, either - most of them are memorable only because of constant exposure, as names that you eventually learn to map to a broad role in the story or one, maybe two vague personality/appearance traits. What carried me through was what I can broadly describe as "vibes" and long-term significance of Black Company books - or maybe the wave of genre-fiction they were a part of. It certainly wasn't the first grim and gritty fantasy series out there, and the backside blurb's boasts about how Cook "brought the fantasy genre down to the level of common men" are very overblown (the books are literally about an evil sorceress' plan for world domination clashing against her messy divorce with her Dark Lord husband and a prophecy about the "divine savior" figure coming back to further piss into her breakfast), but I can still notice the seeds of interesting ideas being planted here and there, and the grit (while going for a very predictable "everyone is utterly miserable and the whores will give you all the STDs" route, and feeling more like catnip for 14-year-old boys rather than genuine "maturity") fortunately doesn't cross the line into unbearable edgelord territories yet. It was a part of the same wave of dark fantasy that either molded me directly (through Sapkowski's The Witcher novels and "Berserk"), indirectly (through a thousand imitators years down the line, from local fantasy authors of the 2000s to video games - Heroes of Might & Magic 5 in particular was retrospectively very blatantly inspired by Warhammer Fantasy), or infected me with sudden-onset brainrot in my mid-20s (Warhammer 40.000), and I can definitely feel and appreciate it even if I find these books to be rather mediocre so far.

I just wish I could get my hands on Moorcock's Elric books without going through a dozen hoops, but I guess I'll make do with Cook, Erikson and the odd Warhammer novel for the time being.

Oh, and this cover art? That tattered "dashing rogue" look, that borderline fractal leather-and-cloth patterning, the random spiky structures in the background? The long bob hair and goatee look straight out of the music video for "Imperium" by Machine Head? A cover that makes you think not even of actual early 2000s buttrock, but of Stuart Chatwood emulating it for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within's soundtrack? Hillariously mismatched with the actual novels. I haven't seen a choice this baffling since reading my dad's faded mid-90s pulp booklet edition of Ursula LeGuin's "Rocannon's World" paired up with either Vallejo or Frazetta sword-and-sandals artwork.

[antaxzantax]

I would also love to hear some of your headcanons for Alfred and Alexia. Only if you want, of course.

My headcanons are related to the fanfic I am currently writing, so none of them are directly related to the videogame and its canon.

Anyway, here are some of the headcanons I am working on (subject to change), from childhood to adulthood.

Alexia Ashford

Her family nickname is "Lexia". She hates her name being confused with Alexandra and its diminutives (Alexia is the feminine form of Alexis, not Alexander).

His greatest passion (and obsession) is literature. He reads absolutely everything as a form of escapism or hobby, as well as for study or knowledge. Outside of his studies and work, he reads a lot of contemporary philosophy and enjoys writing essays or non-fiction. Although he also reads a lot of fiction, he does not usually write prose, preferring poetry. Outside of literature, his interests include contemporary independent music (the more niche and quirky, the better) and cinema, which he watches with his brother, with the exception of a few films that catch his eye because of their subject matter or style. His favourite franchise is Alien because of the xenomorphs (because of their association with ants).

Apart from biology and chemistry, Alexia is interested in computer science, especially artificial intelligence, and music composition with electronic synthesizers. She is also knowledgeable in various disciplines such as physics, anthropology, history, etc. She is a Renaissance woman.

Alexia tends to be introverted and socially conformist so as not to attract attention. Unlike her brother, her personality, hobbies and tastes are straightforwardly unusual, rather than stereotypical, which tends to make her seem odd to those who do not know her.

The origin of their sociopathic tendencies is related to their social isolation, both forced and voluntary, due to their differences in intelligence and personality.

Alexia's genius is based on an accelerated learning capacity, and a highly developed problem-solving and creative ability.

Alfred Ashford

His family nickname is "Alf", like ALF the alien. The nickname was given to him by his maternal grandmother before the series premiered.

He started playing video games at the age of 7, as an escape and a way of overcoming the boredom of loneliness and the absence of his father and sister, who were at university. Alexander gave him the video game E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600 for his thirteenth birthday. As a teenager, his love of video games, especially the explicitly violent ones, would become one of his greatest passions and collections, along with music and film.

He is passionate about both high and pop culture. His favourite artist is David Bowie and his favourite film genres are slasher and snuff. His favourite serial killer is Michael Myers from the Halloween series.

His best and only real friend is his cousin Auguste Campbell, with whom he shares hobbies and sociopathic tendencies.

Alfred tends to be outgoing and socially normative, although his personality, hobbies and tastes are unconventional. He is not shy, but his lack of self-confidence makes him withdrawn and not as decisive as Alexia.

The origin of his sociopathic tendencies is related to the absent father syndrome with Alexander, his own insecurity at being compared to Alexia, and his contrast with Alexia's personality. He resents Alexander's incomprehensible indifference towards him, especially as he knows that Alexander had a very good relationship with his father Edward.

Alfred is gifted, although his talents come from the social sciences, the humanities and the arts. He has a talent for drawing.

[archivalofsins]

In seriousness-

Addendum: This isn't about the person in the last reblog. Even though I understand why it came off that way in hindsight. I don't vague about people. In this case, I failed to properly articulate my point and take into consideration the timing of my words, which wound up hurting someone's feelings. Being vagued about can lead to great emotional distress. This is something I have no excuse for failing to recognize. Regardless of my personal feelings at the time or intent, it doesn't change the impact my actions may have had.

The point of this was to complain about something that's been continuously occurring and explain why I've been so short in reblogs lately. Not place blame on any singular individual.

Because at the end of the day, it is a personal issue that has developed over the course of my involvement with the series and fandom. That I'm trying to navigate better. So, if I'm short with anyone outside of the things I state in that post directly to them nothing else I say after is about them, but my perception of events which I know can be wrong.

I'm sorry for my carelessness here. Taking accountability is important. This was my error for not being as specific as I should have been.

This shit is tiring at this point. It's like every day someone wants to be like,

"Let me have a debate with you."

This is why I think your point is incorrect, and I totally can't make my own post and just say that far away from you. No, I have to do the equivalent of egging your house and then asking what's wrong politiely. For something that isn't even actually a debate or based on anything factual but fully rooted in my own personal feelings. Along with what I'd find narratively interesting.

Okay, cool why did I have to be involved here at any point? Why? Well, because your post made me think this, and I thought you needed to know how harmful putting this forth was and how inaccurate I believe it to be. Especially the way you presented it. Okay, I know now and? And what? Don't you want to say why you think I'm wrong?

Further support you're point with more evidence.

No, I don't, actually. I'm super tired and I'd really like to just open this app one day and not have to debate against other people's personal opinions. Because that's not fun to me. Talking about facts is fun , and most of the people who do this don't have any. Because they are not interested in them. There's a difference between people who really want to know and engage with various other opinions and someone who just wants to talk somebody else's down.

It's an incredibly easy thing to spot as well. I actually do care about how people feel on other prisoners and why. I actually do want to see people defend their worse qualities and stick by them regardless of what they did. I actually would like to talk about the social issues Milgram addresses and the environmental factors that lead to the prisoners committing their crimes.

Discuss the economic stresses, societal expectations, and discrimination they faved that cause them to get to the point they're at now. The minute visual evidence throughout all the prisoners' music videos. That stuff is fun.

Debating people on their personal feelings and what they consider a sin comparable to murder is not fun. It's depressing. Because what a good amount of this fandom considers a sin I simply fucking consider people living their everyday lives. Like lying, abortion, or being a clingy romantic partner.

So, to set the record straight as I have said before-

I do not consider anything short of killing someone with one's bare hands with malicious intent murder. I don't consider someone else deciding to take their own life because of something someone else did murder, I don't consider abortion murder.

I don't consider someone going,

"Aww shit- Wouldn't it be cool if I dropped this coin off this thousands of feet in the air building you know just to see it fall.'

Then that coin somehow managing to slice the throat of someone walking down below murder. Just like I do not consider something that was clearly an accident or directly out of anyone's control murder such as a gun misfiring murder. There is criminal negligence, sure, but when the word murderer is used, I have a clear understanding of what that word on an individual level means.

I'm not going to debate people based on philosophical constructs that they keep making up and changing to suit their individual needs and keep coming to me with. Ultimately, that makes these sins less interesting to me and hamper my engagement. Making Milgram less enjoyable as a whole.

Especially when it feels like some are going completely out of their way to misinterpret my statements in new wholly unique, more interesting ways, in order to one up the last time it happened as the days continue. To each their own, though. I don't go vaguing about people looking for other people's theories or just starting debates for no reason. I don't even go in the tag. Because chances are some fuck is going to be vaguing about me at the top of it because that's happened several times before.

To the point that I can either say as little as possible or risk being a bitch for no reason. Simply going, I don't know what to say, actually. I'm just going to elaborate further on my point since you didn't fully understand it seems and leave.

Honestly, at this point, the alternative is to literally go each day I stray closer and closer into the belief that media literacy is a myth. Along with getting extremely close to pulling a Hinako Mukuhara in real life as I sit looking at my balcony like man wouldn't that be nice.

Should have did that several years ago when I had the chance when they took the old balcony fence down to replace it with a more stable one and the guy putting it in said jokingly why it was completely gone and he was leaving,

"Ha, ha now, don't you go jumping off now."

Then I chuckled like ha, ha, good one and went to my room. Because I'd been sitting there thinking about it the entire time watching him take the shit down like huh maybe he'll leave for a second while it's completely gone. Then he made the joke, and I thought man ya know what, I'd be such a shit person if I did that after he made that joke it wouldn't even just ruin his day that would ruin his life. That'd be rude as hell, so I went to my room and stared at a ceiling instead.

I do not want to have emotion based debates. Because I am sick of hurting people's feelings. By going well actually - I just want to talk about the thing I like the way I like to talk about it. Because I simply like to talk about it that way. It is not fun feeling like the one raining on everyone's parade all the time and getting worried sick about,

"Oh, what will I say wrong this time. What are they going to vague about me on anon to the confession blog about today? Should we even talk at all? I don't really think I'm doing this right. It doesn't feel like I'm doing this right."

Whelp, fuck me I guess I can't do it right when I want to do it right and I can't even do it wrong when I want to do it wrong.

Fuck it just keep rolling. I don't even have to be rolling anywhere anymore it can just be this forever until it's over. It is what it is. There are times in life when you have to be a responsible adult and realize things aren't about you they aren't about facts or feelings. They aren't about anything. Sometimes, it truly is about nothing.

And that's fine, that's totally okay. It is what it is. It'll stay what it will be. Just keep moving, and don't stop ever. Because they won't, so why should you. Just chill. And thank god that Deep Cover was fucking delayed so a break is on the horizon after next month.

[volthcworld]

First post! The world so far.

Hello Tumblr

This blog is gonna be about my Hardcore world, the things I do in it and the things surrounding it! This ranges from building farms in game to making the Youtube videos about them and everything else I do for this world.

From start to end

The beginning

Apologies for the clickbaity thumbnail, i dont like it either.

This is my 10th Hardcore world, hence S10. There was really only 1 other noteworthy world, S9, but its boring ahh hell compared to S10. The death of that world is what is referenced in the first clip of the vid

As usual the first thing i did was get to the End asap and beat the dragon. Lowkey speedrunning means if i die during the hardest part of the game, i lose pretty much no progress.

The video is literally just me beating the game relatively fast, and instantly getting like 3 elytras cus of sheer luck. Nothing super interesting compared to the kind of shit thats coming up.

"Early" game

Early game for me is probably not like the casual Minecraft, i pretty much start with an elytra and loot from the End cities.

Video speaks for itself mostly, i looted an Ancient city for Swift Sneak, made an xp farm, got more gear etc. all necessary to do basic stuff. Theres also a tutorial for an iron farm :DDD its very in depth and amazing! Oh and also a "stone farm" (stone generator), mob farm and yeah its still not that interesting.

The wither skeleton skull gathering compilation at the end is one of my favourite sequences ive made in a while now. Hades music is so perfect for them.

Time for farming

Hooooly shit i can barely even begin to tell you just how many farms are in this episode, its probaby best to just watch it and see for yourself.

Noteworthy is the ancient city i neutralize, you might think thats an impressive feat or that its brave. Thing is, im not brave, just fearless. Anyways like i say in the video pretty much all farms that i built are materials for a storage system somehow

Turning point

This is around the time shit hits the fan. I built a medium sized storage system that sorts out literally almost everything in the game. It features a whole bunch of sick storage tech from the storage tech discord, wired up together by myself. Right around this time, not mentioned in the video, i also switched to loading all of my farms into boxes automatically. Thats right, shulker boxes. Almost every farm i have and build load their stuff into boxes by now. This allows me to bring actual metric tons of items around without needing to load and unload everything out of shulker boxes first.

The Hole

The massive hole i made with the funny machine in the video is for a purely decorative build. The plan is to build the entire terrain from bedrock up to custom mountaintops. This is quite the task and overwhelms me constantly so i have barely worked on it.

The present

This is where the video series ends, but like you can probably tell, theres a whole lot of stuff i do for 1 video. The next video will be on its way, and it will contain 3 farms and some work on the massive building project in the hole.

If this image overwhelms you, dont worry, me too. The monster of concrete and redstone components on the left is a massive and overpowered dirt farm, that happens to also produce cobblestone, spruce logs, moss and azalea as byproducts. Designed by CUANS_FANG its more insane than i ever need it to be, which is what i strive for now. On the right side, the tower made out of moss, is a bonemeal farm, specifically Chromoss cubes by Hexatron (?). It produces enough bonemeal to keep up with the dirt farm and dumbs its overflow into shulker boxes in the storage.

The storage of this farm, shown in this image, sorts out every item. Theres a mass crafting station to turn clay balls into clay blocks, a super smelter to turn those clay blocks into terracotta and a small bone meal powered wheat farm directly fed by the bonemeal output.

Clay balls? you might ask, but the dirt farm doesnt produce those?

Thats where the clay/mud converter comes in. You can stand at the input, get fed dirt directly from the dirt farm output and place it into the converter, which pushes the dirt through the converter, turning it into mud and optionally converting it to clay. The output is send up via a water column to the central storage of the farm.

This took me like a month to put together and build, and ive used like, none of the things i got from it LMAO. But it will be useful in the future im sure (coping).

And the latest and greatest, the bamboo farm. Its ilmangos hopper minecart flying machine thing with box loader thing. Its uuh, a bit fast. Gives me the new bamboo wood really quickly tho! Dont ask me why this was the first thing i did for the new update, i havent gotten any cherry wood or armor trims LMAO, thats up next tho :).

The future

This is the latest thing that happened to the world. Next up is getting armor trims. Then ill probably be building another tree farm that lets me farm cherry and azalea as well! Will be posting stuff about it here :3

[creepychippy]

Time to ramble a bit about my OCs- uwu

Samadarshi:

as they are a Player who controls a Vessel, their true Appearance is unknown (my Intentions while first creating them back then was that they represent every Player, hence much about their "real Life" is left ambiguous)

they sometimes appear weird to other People, considering they perform certain "Quirks" (running around People in Circles, jumping around randomly, etc. Basically, any weird Quirk you would make your Player Character do while idling around in a Video Game)

while making Samadarshi, UnderTale was a huge Inspiration for me (I also love when Video Games acknowlede the Player directly/confirm that the Player is a distinct Individual compared to the Player Character. Themes of Players being included in Video Games have always fascinated me greatly- uwu)

in their Past, Samadarshi used to be a Genocider. They would let out their Feelings of Hatred and Despair onto Video Game Characters and NPCs, killing them over and over again

Sam mostly uses formal Speech when talking to others. The only Times their Speech becomes more informal is around their Friends

Killian:

a Mercenary skilled with many Types of Weapons

at the Moment, not much is known about his Past. Only some specific People possess high-classed Information about him

Killian dislikes Chewing Gum

some People who hired Killian for political Reasons screwed him over when it came to Payment. They regretted it deeply later on

his Design is heavily based off of a The Legend of Korra Character, Amon (funnily enough, I don't even watch that Series. I just came across this Character in a Video about Bloodbending and loves his Design- :^Pc)

Anemone:

Anemone has Paraplegia which means she is paralyzed from the Legs/Waist down

she has the Ability to control the Air/Wind around her

Anemone is best Friends with Kaleo and together they create Music. She in particular plays Piano

both Anemone and Kaleo also happen to be Fans of Boorei's Music

she really likes Classical Music as well

Bonus Fact: When it comes to my OCs, I am very particular when it comes to picking out their Names and the Meanings behind them- uwu

[poof346]

The Super Mario Bros. Movie: A Rollercoaster Ride of Thrills (spoilers inbound)

So, last Sunday I finally got around to watching The Super Mario Bros. movie in theaters. I feel like I should preface my thoughts by giving a summary of my history with Mario as a series. When I was a kid, my family got a Wii around 2007, and I played a bunch of Mario Strikers and the Galaxy duology with my sibling. I got a DSi sometime afterwards and played a bunch of the first New Super Mario Bros., SM64DS, and Mario Party DS. From there, I eventually went on to play...pretty much every platformer this dude has starred in, alongside the mountain of spin-offs. Needless to say, I feel qualified to talk about how much I fucking loved this movie on nearly every front as a representation of the series.

Do I think it was great as a film? Ehhhh, not necessarily, the pacing was a little fast due to how Illumination writes their films and I think a longer runtime might've helped them flesh out certain interactions more. But I only really noticed these flaws when reflecting on what I saw at home. In the moment, I was overcome by a feeling of childlike joy and wonder at almost every scene, seeing every element I love about Mario on the big screen. The colorful world and art design, the beautiful and upbeat music, the kinetic and fluid platforming action...all of it. Pretty comparable to how I felt when I watched Sonic 2 in theaters, funny enough.

That said, I'm not really interested in comparing the two films against each other to see which is better. I got a similar level of enjoyment from both and can accept they're going for different approaches, while also wishing they would've made some improvements. This is solely about the Mario movie on its own, which I feel already gives me plenty to talk about. So, I wanna start with my negatives first so I can get to everything I loved in an uninterrupted burst.

As I alluded to before, my main issue was the pacing. Particularly, I think the speed at which scenes moved caused some character arcs to feel a little undercooked, like with Donkey Kong. The movie wanted a moment where Mario and DK realize they're not too different in chasing after approval from their fathers, but this exchange gets like, 30 seconds dedicated to it before they're back into action. I understand that as a kid's movie, it's probably preferred by the staff to have a high volume of fun stuff on screen to keep the kids entertained, but I always feel like Illumination struggles with a good balance.

While this is a much smaller issue in comparison, I also wish the soundtrack had remained entirely original without the licensed songs. Mario has a very particular kind of sound that these song choices didn't quite fit with, plus it meant that they took the place of original tracks written for the movie. There was also the case of songs lifted directly from the games, like the DK Rap and Fury Bowser's theme, where the original composers weren't credited for their work. Proper credit is generally a big issue with productions like these, so I wouldn't say it was surprising to see, I was just a little disappointed.

That's about my main issues out of the way, now for the fun part.

Most immediately striking, this is a gorgeous-looking movie, but that's something I had no doubts about going in. If nothing else, Illumination has proven to me they know how to make visually appealing films. However, I need to give special credit to the artists and animators for capturing the look and feel of Mario's world so perfectly in every detail. The blocks, the hills, the girders, the karts, everything is colorful and exactly how I wanted it to be. Plus, the scenes of action have great kinetic energy that matches the platforming you'd do in Mario games, they were all fun to watch.

The music is also a particular highlight for me. I feel like a lot of video game movie adaptations don't properly pay tribute to the soundtracks of what they're adapting, so hearing all these iconic Mario tracks seamlessly fitting into scenes is a treat. And of course, Bowser's piano ballad about Peach, absolute classic already. I would've been very upset if they didn't use the casting of Jack Black as Bowser for a musical number.

Since I mentioned casting, I'll also address the voice cast for the main characters. While I'm still not totally on-board with the practice of celebrities taking voice acting roles, they did pretty well! My personal highlights were Charlie Day as Luigi and Jack Black as Bowser, they really fit those roles. And yes, I did actually warm up to Chris Pratt as Mario. Honestly, the commercials must've had something out for him, the takes they selected didn't give a proper impression of his voice throughout the movie (and some weren't actually used, like the "Mushroom Kingdom, here we come" line).

In general, I would say the Mario movie was a great experience as a first watch! I compared it to a rollercoaster ride in the title for a reason: it was exciting and fun in the moment, but there's also not a lot to analyze in terms of story or anything like that. The mixed reception from critics does make sense to me after seeing it, since if you don't have the prior attachment to the Mario franchise, would probably feel like a lot of spectacle with little substance.

[yotko97]

A lot of filmmakers around the world typically state of short films being nothing more than calling cards to showcase potential producers/studios on what your skills are as a filmmaker. I can’t blame them fully as generally, we weren’t educated on recent and ever growing platforms either dedicated to shorts/videos beyond just YouTube and Vimeo… and only educated in film schools that the only way to earn any money is from private premiers and hopefully win prize money from film festivals. 

And before you go ahead and say “But surely distributors can grab my film from me and put it out there on NETFLIX and Amazon prime and such…” Oh you sweet yet naive idiot. 

Firstly, notable and underground distributors generally don’t take shorts unless its made from Pixar or a famous director or something since they get as much eyeballs as much compared to features and documentaries.

Secondly, Most popular streaming services as a rule of thumb don’t insert shorts into their catalogues. Not many people watch as much shorts in the same way we watch features or doco’s, therefore, they would consider it a waste of money for streaming services to acquisition into their catalogues if not many people by design are going to watch them frequently.

But that’s not to say its all doom and gloom with no way to earn something from your shorts. Luckily, upon during my research on film distribution whilst making my first short outside of film school “FULL CIRCLE” I would like to shed some hopeful light on new filmmakers out there that have just created a short and clueless with what do do with them more than just slot them into your showreel or film festivals. Here are the tips, ideas and platforms you can submit and monetise your shorts;

Theatrical releases = You can contact a local cinema to hire a cinema hall for you to showcase your short film on a certain date and create a ticked screening event. If their quotes aren’t listed on their websites, you can ask for a quote to help calculate costs (including marketing & DCP testing). It would be wise to contact and network with local filmmakers where you can showcase other filmmakers shorts to aid with splitting the screening hire costs. In exchange you can offer a profit share system with all involved. Make sure you invest into marketing your event locally via word of mouth and social media’s to get bums on seats. You can also offer mercy to throw into the mix like posters, t shirts, USB’ etc… if done right, this can be a potential source of income from your short film.

. Website = You can create a filmmakers website to showcase and sell your shorts directly from your followers and customers. The price is up to you and can create one via Wix, square space, Shopify etc…

. Shortly = Shortly is a platform/App with the intent of exclusively streaming short films around the world. It’s a Combination of SVOD/AVOD options for filmmakers to monetise their shorts when they submit here. It’s a relatively new platform but its gaining traction amongst new filmmakers and new streamers.

. Vidiverse = founded by Notable Director Alex Proyas (The Crow, iRobot, Gods of Egypt), Vidiverse was created with the intention of kickstarting the commerciality of shorts in both auteur and non auteur style shorts. Shorts there can be viewed via a transaction or through a subscription. There are a few originals along with being able to directly submit your short here.

. INDIEFLIX = IndieFlix takes almost any bit of video content independently made from shorts to features to series to documentaries. They do a 50/50 split of the total generated revenue of the platform as a whole with the platforms and filmmakers. 

. Film hub = (kanopy, slash shorts) A platform  where filmmakers big and small can self upload almost any form of content wether they are Features, shorts, Documentaries or music videos. They’ll be forwarded to all the streaming platforms under their belt that accept your content and have some big streaming companies like Amazon prime, Apple TV and Hulu etc… Their primary methods of earning money are TVOD, SVOD and AVOD. Ther’es no upfront fees to upload your shorts but they do take 20% of total revenue made monthly or quarterly.

. Cineshort = An app platform where they showcase short films around the world both old titles to award winning festival run shorts. Their primary method of earning money are TVOD, SVOD and AVOD.

. WeShorts = A short film streaming platform based in Italy but they accept shorts that contain any language. They operate under an SVOD model.

. Facebook watch = This one goes without saying but for those living under a rock for a few years, you can upload and monetise all kinds of video content on facebook watch. As long as you have a facebook account/page, you’re good. They operate and monetise on via ads per certain views (they fluctuate and very due to type of content and from location to location). This seems to be an ever growing platform for short form content.

. Twitter/X = Thanks to their recent ad revenue share program, you can upload your short film and posts related to your content in general and start earning even use from ads and sponsors.. There are some conditions you must follow through however to be eligible, like having a premium account, min 500 followers and at least 5M organic impressions within 3 months, so try to drive as much traffic as you possibly can to achieve this creatori to start making money on twitter.

. FENIX360 = A growing TVOD platform dedicated to artists and creators as a marketplace for them to sell their content. These range from pre ticket releases to mercy to videos to even NFT’s. You can manually set the price on your short film to any amount desired during the upload process.

. Instagram reel/TikTok = cmon, you don’t really need me to let you know this is a good way right? You can re export your shorts into vertical aspect ratio along with cutting them into bite size chunks in top multiple parters and release them accordingly. They can be monetised via their creator programs where and add may show on a previous reel and earn a portion of the ad revenue from that. 

. Argo media = an established streaming service that’s dedicate to showing shorts from first releases to award winning shorts straight from Sundance. There are some shorts there with now prolific talent like Benedict Cumberbatch. Who would’ve thought?

. Dailymotion = Another form of YouTube that operates on the same basis but doesn’t seem to be  as popular compared to YouTube for some reason. Their CPM seems quite alright being $75 per hour played on your video per 1000 views, regardless of the type of content. If you can market your short well to draw people in to Dailymotion, you’d be making a good move I believe.

. Bitchute = A version of YouTube that’s more aligned with non fiction content, however you’re still at liberty to upload fictional shorts and such. This would seem like an ideal platform for short videos/documentaries. They’re operated and monetised via a shared AVOD scheme akin to twitters new scheme.

. Indie shorts = An app platform specifically for indie short films. They showcase shorts from no budget to relatively high budget shorts in any genre. They operate and monetised via AVOD.

. Shorts TV = A very notable platform tailored for shorts that has been going on for a while now. Most of their viewers stem from the UK and Europe but are growing to a global scale. They operate and monetised via AVOD and SVOD methods. 

. Shortindies = ShortIndies is…you guessed it, another exclusively short film streaming platforms primarily popular in Europe. They’re a combo of SVOD and AVOD options.

. Minute shorts = This is an OTT platform for short from India. However, they alo include western short films. Primarily AVOD based structure

. Vimeo/Vimeo OTT =  This one is pretty known in the filmmaker circles. Think of it as YouTube for creatives. You can see content ranging from music videos to feature length films. They can operate and monetise via TVOD and AVOD methods. You can either set a custom price for people to directly buy or just place ads before hand for free for people to enjoy.

. YouTube = This is an obvious one. If for some reason you don’t know what this platforms , its the biggest online video platform to date. You can earn money from uploading your short film onto here. It’s a 55/45 split with average CPM being $18-36 per 1000 views (at least in Australia, rates vary from location to location) but can generally earn a bigger CPM if your short is longer than 10 minutes.

. Patreon = A platforms where you can connect a YouTube account with and get people to donate to your channel for exclusive perks that you can custom create for your donors. You can control donation amount and different level of perks per subscription. 

. Buy me a coffee = Basically a newer alternate version of Patreon. Similar details as written above for Patreon.

. Crypt TV = a youtube network for horror short form content where they’re open to other filmmakers to submit horror shorts onto their platform for an agreed upon cut per frequency of time.

. Rooster Teeth TV = A well known production company with their own platform beyond just their youtube channel. They’ve been going on for years and are know willing to take your shorts to put onto their established channels only for a 10-20% cut per quarter. Not that bad compared to other alternatives distribution wise.

. Gumroad = Just like FENIX360. Gumroad is a reputable TVOD platform dedicated to artists and creators as a marketplace for them to sell their content. These range from e-books to merch to videos. You can manually set the price on your short film to any amount desired during the upload process.

. Payhip = Just like FENIX360 and Gumroad, Payhip is a growing yet still reputable TVOD platform dedicated to artists and creators as a marketplace for them to sell their content. These range from e-books to merch to videos. You can manually set the price on your short film to any amount desired during the upload process.

. Koji = Koji seems to the creators content website that has it all. It’s the most perfect combination of Patreon, Gumroad and facebook rolled into 1 site. You can manage social media’s to posting content, especially shorts and can place/adjust the format and pricing in any way you choose to sell to your audience and followers.

. Omeleto = A YouTube channel dedicated to showing sci-fi shorts from numerous filmmakers. They also get a major cut of the revenue when submitted, approved and uploaded onto their channel. They have a noticeably big and loyal amount of subscribers with consistently large amount of views per video.

. ALTAVOD = This is another VOD platform specifically catered to indie filmmakers to upload their films onto. This was also created by Robert Schwartzen (relative of Jason schwartzen, tali’s shire and Francis ford Coppola) and is primarily TVOD and is a standard 90/10 split between the filmmakers and the platform.

. Cubestream = Another quite recent platform for filmmakers to upload their content onto. The unique thing about this one is it’s based on the crypto blockchain system.

. Rumble = Ruble is an alternative to YouTube where creators can upload their content too besides just YouTube. It’s just gaining traction as more youth ears are also using the platform.

. GUDSHO = this is a relatively new platform that filmmakers can upload their shorts onto. It has a TVOD and SVOD system along with donations possible like Patreon. 

. Shortfundly = An OTT marketplace platform based in India that you can upload your short film to. Its primarily AVOD based.

. Short film Gem = A new short film platform that runs on the trifecta of TVOD, SVOD and AVOD as sources of revenue. It's new but its getting traction to submit when you still can.

. Stock video websites: Depending on the nature of your short, you can either submit your whole short if its under a minute or edit and cut bite size chunks of your short film, then submit those clips onto various stock video sites for extra revenue for either commercial/editorial use. If your smart, you can even isolate and export some B-roll or BTS clips or even some 2nd unit backdrop clips as seperate videos to submit. Here are the well known primary stock video website i know and use;

shutter stock

Adobe stock

Depositphotos

Nimia.com

Dissolve

Artgrid

Storyblocks

123RF

Dreamstime 

Getty images

. Stock photo websites = Same principle as with stock footage listed above but with still images. Find and screenshot the best stills within your shorts and sell them as stock photos. Here are the well known primary stock photo websites i know and use;

shutter stock

Adobe stock

Depositphotos

500px

Clickasnap

Bigstock

IStocks

Alamy

Getty images

Dreamstime

123RF

Thank you all who've read this blog. I hope these platforms help you prosper to make a living as a filmmaker to the max. Good luck.

[casuallyyoa]

HONKAI: STAR RAIL EARLY IMPRESSIONS

WHAT

Honkai: Star Rail is the newest live service game in the HoYoverse, launching globally 26 April 2023. The game is free to play / free to start, a primarily single-player turn-based action RPG available on mobile, PC and PlayStation consoles. It’s part of the larger Honkai series universe, featuring so-called alternate versions of the main universe’s characters. 

We know it’s an alternate Honkai universe because Himeko’s alive.

This early impressions video is brought to you by just under 9 hours worth of gameplay.

SETTINGS

That aside, I like to start with the options and settings. You start off by picking one of four servers, each effectively being an account of their own, broadly speaking. There’s quite a number of little things that Honkai: Star Rail has taken from HoYoverse stablemate, Genshin Impact, so this comes as no surprise.

You don’t get access to the actual settings right away which is somewhat a pet peeve of mine, but I won’t dwell on it too much. The actual options available are the standard swathe of graphics, audio and keybinds on PC, with little to no accessibility options. I suppose considering its overall gameplay, accessibility is less required compared to Genshin, but it would be great for larger developers to start standardizing their availability.

There’s quite the selection of text localization available, while the characters have voices in Chinese, English, Korean and Japanese with separate downloadable voice packs. I got too lazy to get them - even Japanese, despite my self-proclaimed weebery - which… is neither here nor there. Let’s move on.

OPENING HOUR

The first hour basically serves to get you familiar with the basics; of the story and the controls. You get to choose between the Stelle or Caelus forms, the selection of which the game warns cannot be changed later. Shortly after naming them, you become the industry standard mute, amnesiac hero. 

Much like Genshin, Star Rail’s protagonist IS voiced at points but otherwise only ‘speaks’ through dialogue options. I honestly think this is a shame; a decision perhaps meant to more easily facilitate self-insertion. Who am I to speculate, though?

PRESENTATION

Honkai: Star Rail is quite the looker of a game. At first glance, it may appear more muted with the dark backdrop of space and the stars, but it’s hardly lacking in colour - especially when it comes to the design of the playable characters; all interacting with each other in a 3D space. They have their respective, cohesive colour palettes and are button cute; important for marketing. Maybe the enemies do seem kind of boring, though. If you’re really nitpicky, NPC tend to not have mouth flaps even when they’re fully voiced, which might just seem weird.

I feel like the UI and menus could be a little more streamlined as there’s quite a few clicks to go through for upgrades and such, which the devs can consider for later.

Haven’t paid too much attention to the music, but you can get records to listen to select tracks on the phonograph you can find later on. The English dub is pretty good. At its quote-unquote, worst, it’s serviceable. 

My gripe is mostly the fact that there’s no Ultimate animation skip. Skipping story is one thing, but even with 2x speed in battles, be prepared to memorize the few canned lines and animation sequences whenever characters are off being cool and stuff.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay section will be split into how you interact with the world, and the systems in relation to the characters.

THE WORLD

I briefly mentioned it being a turn-based, action RPG. The turn-based part should be self-explanatory; characters and enemies act in order, visible on the top left of the screen. 

Enemies have a ‘break’ bar which doesn’t make them skip a turn, but does make them vulnerable to damage. You can break enemies by matching character elemental attacks to an enemy’s weakness, where a character without the corresponding advantageous element directly chips away at the enemy HP. 

Status effects exist. Debilitating statuses like Freeze will skip turns, while something like Bleed deals damage over time. Unless otherwise stated, damage over time damages shields before HP. Using skills take up skill points, seen as pips on the bottom right, which you gain simply by attacking. Once a character charges up enough Energy for an Ultimate, they can cast it at any point, though the order of when the Ultimate casts does still depend on when they’re input.

Enemies can be seen walking around on the overworld. It’s possible to run around them which alerts them to your presence. You can start the fight with an advantage by hitting them in their elemental weakness, which you can see as you approach. Furthermore, characters have field ‘Techniques’ which can either aid in exploration or for a pre-emptive attack on foes.

The overworld exploration in Honkai: Star Rail is more limited than the open world of Genshin Impact, more akin to connected instances instead of a seamless plane. For one, you can’t jump. There still are destructible objects, chests to open and puzzles scattered around, among other things. You just don’t need to worry about parkour.

Systems gradually unlock as you raise your Trailblazer level from going through the story and assorted missions. There will be daily missions, a Battle Pass, and repeatable ‘rogue-lite’ mode as the ones I consider major gameplay additions. The ‘rogue-lite’, called Simulated Universe, can be repeated weekly for rewards.

An assortment of currencies and quests serve as the busy work to get you more materials, rewards and the like. Conveniences such as repeatable battles, auto battle and item transmutation all exist. The stamina system recovers at 1 point every 6 minutes.

THE CHARACTERS

How about our colourful cast? As you might expect, they do have voicelines and some story you can read about. They could even send you messages which gets you a pittance of premium currency, like Dan Heng’s ‘dad joke’ message.

I wanted to talk about the character upgrades here too, without overloading the previous segment. To wit, we have:

Their base levels and related Ascensions, where you can also get some gacha tickets at certain Ascensions

Trails which look like a skill tree wherein new passives or skill upgrades can levelled up at unlocked nodes

Light Cones which to me are mechanically more similar to Fate/Grand Order’s Craft Essences to Genshin Impact’s weapons

A 4-Relic system which are like Genshin’s Artifacts

Eidolons aka Genshin’s Constellations by another name

These don’t sound like much, and would certainly be very familiar if you’ve already played Genshin. Doubtless you’re going to be spending plenty of time on the grind for these, though.

GACHA

Ah yes, if you’re going to be a free to start game, there’s gotta be a way to monetize. You have the usual packs and monthly pass for premium currency and assorted resources.

The actual gacha rate is pretty abysmal for Honkai: Star Rail, but at the very least, has a similar pity system to Genshin. The ‘discounted’ beginner pool guarantees at least one 5-star character in 50 pulls, so you could have a better start. Or maybe struggle a little with damage if you get Gepard.

The game has the same system where you have different pools for brand new characters and their associated Light Cone, and a permanent pool. Interestingly, after 300 pulls in the permanent pool, you’re able to obtain an ‘extra’ selectable 5-star ONCE.

C6 Qiqi havers could never. 

STORY

I don’t want to talk too much about the story for a couple of simple reasons:

I’m not familiar with the Honkai universe lore, so things I’m puzzling about could be answered simply by ‘go check the wiki’

As such, I’m not particularly invested and can’t pick up on references, and am just here for the ride

I feel like the story is fairly slow paced in the past 9 hours or so, presumably to pick up once more elements get introduced. 

For the lore hunters, there is a staggering amount of incidental pieces you can find lying around to read, not to mention the trash cans or little secrets you can find by being a dumbass or incredibly persistent person. Whether you enjoy it all, will be personal taste.

CONCLUSION

As an outsider trying out the hottest new game, Honkai: Star Rail is competently made and can certainly be enjoyable. I would think people who have enjoyed HoYoverse’s other titles and or are involved in the Honkai universe in general, would absolutely love this game.

I am merely lukewarm on it as I only have so much time in a day, and another live service game to contend with is something I do not intend to do. As befitting my so-called ‘brand’, I will be a casual here.

By all means, give the game a try and see how much you like it. I am just some guy on the internet with opinions. So go, have fun.

[iamanartichoke]

Rumor is that filming on Loki season 2 has started, so ... uh, do we know the status of Tom's hair vs. wig, or ???

[agermanadventurer]

A start

Let’s start somewhere shall we?

The German language is generally considered quite hard because of it’s grammar - which is understandable. If you are a monoligual English speaker you have never encountered the different complexities that are going to show up. But have no fear-! All of these things have been learned before and can be learned by you if you aspire to. I am not going to make this blog a step-by-step blog to learn German - I simply don’t have neither the time nor the patience to do that. But I will guide you to some free sources to get started to be able to follow along with other things I’ll be talking about in the future, and these are both things I’ve come across in my studying and also things I wish I had found earlier.

BOOKS (pdfs)

german language course - Simply named German Language Course is a pdf book that is written by several collaborating authors in an effort to create a beginner’s guide to the German language. It’s constantly being improved but the newer version here is lacking a bit and the original release from 2006 linked above is a bit more put together but choose from your own accord.

basic german - Basic German, a text/work book for grammar! Really- there’s a lot of grammar in there but it’s quite easy to navigate and can be useful for anyone learning the language or the grammar. 

mein-deutschbuch.de - Mein Deutschbuch is technically a website but nevermind that. It offers lists of different grammar rules and gives you excercises to practice your grammar. The only downside is that everything is in german. It’s great for more advanced learners though.

pdfdrive.com/german-language-books - And here’s a link to many other free books that can be downloaded.  

YOUTUBE CHANNELS (for language learning)

Get Germanized - A youtube channel dedicated to teaching it’s viewers German and also about the German culture. There are full course German videos only focusing on exposing and teaching as well as shorter videos with cultural comparisons and entertainment. 

Easy German - Easy German publish videos for both advanced learners and beginners. They focus much on teaching spoken German but also talks about grammar,  and they offer new vocabulary. 

Learn German - A channel that uses a simple artstyle to explain different parts of the German language. The channel also sorts their videos after language level so even for someone in level C1 might find something useful in there.   

Learn German with Herr Antrim - Herr Antrim wants to teach you German for free. His videos brings up grammar, pronounciation, and tak about the German culture.

Besides these channels you also have plenty of videos repeating german phrases and vocabulary for when you sleep (can’t really recommend to sleep while you listen to them) and you can sit down and take a few notes from those too if you want to become familiar with the sounds and some of the phrases.

YOUTUBE CHANNELS (for entertainment and exposure)

Hi From Hamburg - Lila is an american who moved to Hamburg and is making videos talking about her experience with it and she makes a lot of videos for simple entertainment. Her channel is one of the few English ones I’m going to include in this list. 

Dinge Erklärt - Kurzgesagt -  Kurzgesagt is a channel with pretty animation explaining different concepts, ideas, and myths in our modern society today. They talk about philosophy, science, religious ideas, psychology, and more.

maiLab - MaiLab is a scientific channel in German. In their videos they talk about various topics within biology, chemistry, psychology, or of different concepts and myths in society today.

Related to maiLab are also channels like Quarks and MrWissen2go.

100SekundenPhysik - For those who are into physics, this one can be intresting for you. 100SekundenPhysik brings up and explains physics, but in German and in short comprehensible videos. 

Dagi Bee - For those not as interested in science, here’s an entertainment channel (and a few more after this). Dagi Bee is a channel created for entertainment, she features music videos, make up and hair turtorials, reaction videos, vlogs and more.

Marvyn Macnificent - Marvyn makes entertainment and vlog videos; challenges, make up tutorials and reviews, collaborations (and videos with friends), and also different types of discussions of other social media figures.

Alycia Marie - This channel is for any make up and cosplay fan. Alycia’s channel is made up of make up tutorials, make up reviews and comparisons, as well as cosplay displays. She also have a second channel for her music.

Other channels like Dagi Bee and Alycia Marie is for example Luisa Crashion and Jasmin Azizam

DoctorBenx - A look into the gaming part of youtube and we have DoctorBenx as a prominent figure on the list. His videos consist of him playin games such as Minecraft and Roblox but also GTA5 and simulator/indie games. He works closely with the youtuber AwesomeElina.

Vlesk - If anyone’s still into Among Us you’ll want to check out Vlesk who almost exclusively makes videos of said game at the moment. His channel is rather young still but the older videos are him playing TTT in Garry’s Mod. 

Zombey - For those more intrested in playthroughs, Zombey is more appropriate. His channel features many different games such as Demon’s Soul and Fall Guys. 

APPS

Duolingo - Duolingo is always mentioned when it comes to these things, but it’s a good app. It provides a simple, almost game-like, format that helps you practice different concepts in your target language.

Memrise - Can’t forget Memrise on this list. Memrise uses video clips of real life people using the language to get you to associate the phrases with the situation and to get you to immerse yourself with the language. 

Drops - Drops focuses on visual learning, getting your brain to associate the vocabulary you’re exposed to with the pictures and symbols on the screen. The app is great for learning new vocabulary and you can choose yourself which topic to start with.

Wordbit German - WordBit German is useful for vocabulary exposure. You download it and every time you open your phone a German word is shown on the screen and you can mark different word by familiarity.

HelloTalk - This app helps you to reach out to native speakers of your target language and you can also help others seeking to learn your language. You can send voice messages, make corrections and translate the messages directly. The app can be used for free, but there are many functions that are limited without paying. Other similar apps are also available (often with lower quality but they are free). 

PODCASTS (language learning)

Slow German - The journalist Annik Rubens talks about everyday topics and phenomenons in the german culture and society in short recordings. Perfect to practice your listening comprehension as a beginner and get used to the new parts of the phonology - and it’s available on Spotify. 

Easy German - They also have a podcast! They also talk about the german culture but also topics relevant to the rest of the world, though in a bit more natural speed and with a bit more relaxed manner. (Available on Spotify)

Radio D - Unfortunately not available on Spotify but it is easily found with just a google search (and by the attached link). The podcast is made for complete beginners, guiding you throughout different scenarios and settings and building up your understanding and basic knowledge of the language. Transscripts are also available for download.

Coffee Break German - A series of lessons where the listener, together with the English speaking host Mark, gets to learn German phrases and vocabulary from scratch with the help of Thomas. Each episode is between 20 to 30 minutes so get your pen and paper out to take effective notes. (Available on Spotify)

 You will come across many other podcasts, these are just a good place to start.

PODCASTS (for entertainment)

Eine Stunde History - With new episodes every Friday this podcast takes events throughout history and compare their relevance to today and the future. Perfect for those who have an interest in history. (Available on Spotify)

ZEIT WISSEN - Woher weißt Du dass? - The central theme being science, this podcast gives you a scientific perspective on a new question that is being explored every week. You want to know if humans can hybernate or what the consequenses of having sex with the neanderthals were? Not necessarily! But now you can! (Available on Spotify)

Verbrechen - This podcast features true crime, being led by Andreas Sentker and Sabine Rückert. Sabine is the one talking about the cases she’s been met with throughout her career in law enforcement. (Available on Spotify)

Biologie Passion Podcast - If you have a biology test coming up, if you want to repeat some long lost knowledge from school, or maybe you just have a passion for biology - then this is a good podcast for you. Christian Schweda is happy to teach (or reteach) you some biology. (Available on Spotify)

Eli’s Abitur Crashkurs - For those of you who are study freaks in general, you can visit Eli on Spotify! She has made a podcast on everything she has to study for during her Abitur. And the best thing is - they only come in 10-20 min episodes. But be aware for speedy speech. (Available on Spotify)

Die Copycats - Both on Youtube and on Spotify these guys talk about all sorts of nerdy things from video games to bad music and give their opinions on many other things. They’re quite small so go and give them a bit of love. (Available on Spotify)

#QueerAsBerlin - Not available on Spotify unfortunately. But as the title suggests is this podcast a commentary, interviews and a view on different aspects of social problems through the lens of the LGBTQ+ community in Berlin.  

Bin ich Süßsauer? - For my fellow asian LGBTQ+ people out there; this underrated podcast features an asian host in Germany, talking about different parts of LGBTQ (from what I understand the host themselves are trans and therefore the general theme) with different guests. Of course this can be enjoyed by anyone, just a small shout out for diversity. (Available on Spotify)

Schnapsidee - der Podcast über Liebe, Love & sexy sein - From the name alone you are most likely able to deduse the theme of this podcast. Anna and Paula talks about their love life, relationships, and sex! Their content is lighthearted and enjoyable to listen to. (Available on Spotify)

Dick und Doof - Without any real theme to their podcast, the two friends Sandra and Luca is having a great time, and we get to listen to their conversations about anything and everything. The both of them focus mostly on humour, sprinkled with an insight in their private lives. (Available on Spotify)

Alliteration am Arsch - Or AAA in foreshortening, features Bastian Bielendorfer and Reinhard Remfort who found themselves as friends after realizing the things they had in common and now we get to listen as the both of them discuss anything and everything through the lens of comedy. (Available on Spotify)

[turnaroundroundround]

Morimyu in Classical reference

So, as for the fact that music in Morimyu Op. 3 resembles classical music in both progression and musical technicality, it's interesting how it's possible to keep coming up with different interpretations after re-watching the musical again and again.

I've made a thread on twitter about this before, but 1) word limitations and thread will never be enough to list all that I have to say lol 2) I'd prefer to have a fuller version noted down, especially one that I can edit and keep coming back over and over again when ever I come up with something new.

Either way, I am still (lol) not a pro in music theory and music history as well. All that is written here are based on my very very basic knowledge on music as well as something that I've picked up (and discussed) with my friends after watching Op. 3.

What's the point of this?

Why is it important? Lol I always need this to keep myself from writing off-topic but anyways. Why do the music sound good (except for the fact that because it does lol), and what do they represent? Surely there must be, and there always are, other things that are implied not only through the lyrics but also the music, and the flow in general.

Apart from the lyrics and the lines, it's also quite interesting to have a close look at the music - melody and harmony itself - to see how they portray the stories.

Most importantly, the continuality. How did Morimyu manage to insert so many songs and still managing to connect them as a whole? And how did they use music to go beyond what's on the pages? That's the most important thing about musicals - beyond the pages. We don't see stage or anime doing so very often, as they mainly focus on what's already there, bringing them to life as close as possible to how we imagine things might happen.

As for musical, they have the music. They have the arias and the songs. At some point, a character starts singing, and other characters followed suit. They have their very unique way of expressing the plot, and they have the orchestra, the arias where characters get their solo song, and the duets between characters with strong relationships, and the ensemble which emphasizes the plot, and so on.

A funny thing about duets in classical opera, they're often meant to show lovers' relationship because of the harmony but can also use opposition and all to show enemies' relationship. And in SherLiam's duet it's just both of them at the same time - thoughts connected while engaging in a chase, a hide and seek game of mystery. We'll go into that later.

Back to the topic. Morimyu follows the main plot strictly, but also uses their advantage with music to add all the side details that wasn't told in the manga to create a "complete" view of the plot. It is always available for musicals to do something unexpected (like how we never expected Lestrade's puppet show to be a whole 5 mins long piece lol). And where they did that they added arias and duets, they allowed moments where characters express and developed their emotions as well as going with the plan (yes Albert yessss). Of course there's both a good and bad side to this all the while.

💛 The good thing is they went all the way to show us sides of emotions that we don't see much in the manga or stage, the sides of the story that all of them have kept hidden while focusing on their grand plan. 💛 But then it does get too emotional at some point, especially those who came for the plot and the mind games behind all of it (like me - although I won't deny that I had a lot of fun picking out all the emotions behind the music here lol).

Musicals can always go beyond what we knew. As for Morimyu, their music is heavily influenced by opera and classical music, and it's shown quite clear. There is live music playing (instead of the entire orchestra we have a violin and piano duet), and they have distinctive arias and recitatives throughout.

So thanks to that, it's also possible to use a reference from classical music to interpret their songs.

A Sonata formation - The Narrative Series of SherLiam

Yes, songs arranged and analysed with reference to a Sonata formation, especially in the way they progress through the play.

Some notes before getting into the point

1 - Sonata = a piece of music consisting of several movements - very often 3, sometimes 4. First movement-Allegro: With the quick tempo, introducing the theme of the entire Sonata Second movement-Adagio/Largo: Slow tempo, can be emotional sometimes, as well as leading more towards the final movement Third movement-Rondo Vivace: The ending, quick-paced and vigorous, leading the Sonata to a close. A Sonata always has a general theme, a topic. The theme that I chose to write about is Mystery - the Hide and Seek game between the Detective and Lord of Crime

2 - Aria and Recitative = different types of songs used in an opera Recitative: Lines within a song that happens like a real conversation, as the characters sing they are also talking to each other Aria: A solo section where everything else is a freeze frame, while one actor remains and sing their own song about their thoughts, feelings, etc. In this post we're mainly discussing the arias of Sherlock and Liam, and the duet between them. But there's also some mention of recitatives here and there.

3 - Videos used To make it easier to understand which songs I'm talking about, I also arranged them in piano. And also to have a listen at how they might connect. Just in case the videos beneath don't work (they didn't work on my phone), the three songs discussed are Nazo, Liam's solo, Kokoro no Rondo, all piano arrangements.

All of the songs noted in this section are arias and duets from Op. 3 - the Ghost of the Whitechapel. The additional "series" that Morimyu has added spreading throughout the play, Sherlock and Liam's narratives, which portrays both their emotions and the chase between the detective and the Lord of Crime.

First Movement - Allegro: Nazo(謎) song

Starting from Lestrade's exit after his puppetshow and proceed to the scene, Sherlock's aria introduces the theme of the imaginary hide and seek game that the Lord of Crime has started. The song repeats the word (mystery) over and over again with a continuous rhythm.

Ends with Sherlock just mumbling the word Nazo (mystery) and exiting the stage - no conclusions, just like a mystery that leads into further mysteries with no answer.

♛♛♛ In regards to a Sonata formation, this is the beginning of the entire piece. Quick in tempo, written in 3/4 time and introduces the theme of the entire piece - Mystery.

Uso ka Shinjitsu ka - Lie or Truth song

Starting after Sherlock learns the truth behind Jack the Ripper, wondering if Lord of Crime is a good person after all.

Now I had a really hard time thinking whether this piece should be included or not. For one, it's not an aria. It can be viewed as a Da capo Aria, a development section of the Nazo song, repeating the theme that is introduced, coming and going rather quickly. So, for continuality.

It also does not fit into the series as a whole, being 1) a recitative. The lyrics focus entirely on Sherlock's deduction and whether he should expose the truth or not, etc. so on. 2) The lines in here, unlike the other arias, are taken directly from the manga, so it's not entirely an 'added' element to this chase. 3) Also because if we compare this to a Sonata form, this doesn't really fit anywhere

However, among Sherlock's arias, this song can also be seen as an interesting development as I have mentioned above, so I've decided to have it here, still.

There's another thing about almost all of Sherlock's arias throughout the 2 stages - they never have a conclusive end. The detective's mind is always running, mysteries after mysteries.

Most of the other characters' songs ends with some kind of closing lines, and piano continues to conclude the piece with a strong end, and then goes on to start another piece. All of their problems in the songs are concluded. They made up their minds in some ways.

But Sherlock, his songs always end with him repeating the melody, a capella, and exiting the stage. Piano waits for him to exit, then starts a new song. Or in Op. 2's Mindgame case going straight into the next conversation. We never get to know how Sherlock's songs end, because they didn't really end at those points. There's a hanging sense of waiting for a resolution, a conclusion. Sherlock never seems to have his problems solved within the songs, they just go on and on.

An idea initiates, then something happens and he is once again in the dark. And he spins around within his own mind.

Screenshot from Op. 2. Even if we look back to his aria Mindgames from Op. 2, this song doesn't really have a conclusive ending as well. He just starts singing, the music stops and he starts shooting and going on, resuming the play. It kind of has been a thing for Sherlock's arias?

Second Movement - Adagio/Largo: Liam's solo

♛♛♛ The "second movement" - the 'slower' piece - of the series, Liam's aria lol but actually the piano part of this song isn't slow at all but ok. The other side of this hide and seek game. The "development" section of the sonata series, where we see things in a much more emotional way.

This aria is much richer in harmony and melody. Not only Liam's melody, but also the piano's part which plays a beautiful melody in harmony.

I recall an interview where the stage director mentions how the "orchestra" - piano and violin are representations for Liam and Sherlock. It kind of applies here, where his music is created mostly by piano.

There is modulation, emotions rising and elevating quickly and strongly. But the harmony is beautiful, overflowing and rich with emotions. The song repeats certain lines, emphasizing aspects within Liam's thoughts.

Unlike Sherlock's train of thoughts that circles with no destination, Liam's solo has a definite ending in harmony -> Even with all his emotions in mind, Liam still has a goal already set before him. He has a brief moment of slowing down, pausing and sung about his feeling, before resuming the story.

Leading us to the final stage - Kokoro no Rondo.

Third Movement - Rondo Vivace: Kokoro no Rondo

Rondo formation: Rondo is a type of dance that revolves around a pattern, often ABA, ABACA, or ABACABA - where A is the ritournello ("meguri - kimi ni omou - meguru kokoro no rondo" section) that is repeated over and over with B, C parts in between. Rondo can also be combined with sonata form - this case applies to this song which begins with a key other than the tonic (Fm) before resolving to the tonic key (Fm) to put an end to the entire sonata series. For reference purposes, the last movement of Beethoven's Pathetique or the very typical Fur Elise is also written in a similar format. I also referred to Pathetique quite a lot when brainstorming this post.

♛♛♛ The "final movement" of this Sonata, the final scene of their "Hide and Seek" game. The song's tempo is vibrant and rapid, combining with the dancing sense, all the while strictly following the structure of a Rondo as mentioned above.

This is the stage where Liam and Sherlock's line interacts and reply to each other, as if in a real conversation - just like how the connection between them are now much stronger than what they had before.

In the ritournello, we have Liam and Sherlock's lines intertwining and chasing after one another, emphasizing the "Hide and Seek" element between the two of them.

The song comes to a definite ending, concluding with a strong tonic (Fm) chord. At this stage, there is no more question to be left open, for Sherlock at this point has already made up his mind to take the next step into solving the mysteries regarding the Lord of Crime.

Their imaginary game of Hide and Seek is coming to an end, as Sherlock came to a decision to take the next step - going to Durham.

That's the end of my first draft.

So far that is some of my thoughts noted down right after watching Op. 3 stream a while ago, with some edition made just now.

On the side note, at some point during my discussion with a friend, we also came up with the idea that a Suite may be a better reference. A Suite consists of 4 parts and a prelude, each of them having their specific characteristic. But we didn't go all the way analysing that idea, as 1) we couldn't find a 5th piece that can be added into the series. 2) Even if we did, the Truth or Lie song still would not really fit into the "aria" vibe of this series, as mentioned above.

But then quite interestingly, after a while, I've found another interesting fact that should have been quite obvious but I've missed for (lol) like ages.

The game of Hide and Seek between the detective and the Lord of Crime has begun ever since after Hope's case - that being said, ever since the end of Op. 1

And what is it that we have in Op. 2? "The Mind games of the Lord of Crime". The one where Sherlock went maniac rapping about all the thoughts he has and end up shooting randomly into the wall.

At first it begins like another recitative, but in the later half, the harmony starts to become more harmonious, written in 3/4 time flowing like a dance.

In that section, the melody of the piano and violin part resembles the one we have in Kokoro no Rondo, the Ritournello section, only that the melody of the violin in Op. 2 and the melody that SherLiam sung in Op. 3 are kind of reversed.

Coincidence much?

So now we have a collection of songs from both Opus, it becomes tricky. How do we connect them? And what's the story?

At this point, all these recitatives, aria and duets all in the theme of the Hide and Seek game. And they all connect to each other through harmony, progressions in harmony.

We know that the Mind games of the Lord of Crime has begun from ever since the end of Op. 1. We know that Sherlock keeps wondering about that in Op. 2, and then he wonders even further after he has been tested by the Lord of Crime. "また俺だけのメッセージなのか?" - Is this a message just for me?, as he wondered in the Truth or Lie song. We knew all of that. But Morimyu didn't let that stop them from emphasizing on this subplot even further.

They didn't let the gap between Op. 2 and Op. 3 stop them from making a smooth flow in plot either.

Correction, they didn't simply create a flow. They established a connection, all the while showing a strong progression of Sherlock's thoughts that goes on from Op. 2 straight onto Op. 3.

Very often, what makes a good plot is how their plots and sub-plots intertwine with each other. Morimyu has a main plot that follows Moriarty gang in the plan of changing society. And they have a smaller plot told from Sherlock's side of things. And they have this sub-plot told by harmony of how Sherlock is connected to Liam, or the Lord of Crime, by an invisible thread. A connection that is only expressed that clearly in Morimyu.

We have so many things going on, so many songs throughout the play. But each of those elements are all connected to something else, creating a sub-plot that enriches the main plot.

There is no loose connections. For everything that connects to the main plot, they're also linked to other elements. Each scene and every song has their own meaning not only in regards to other songs, but also to the plot as a whole.

Also, did I mention how Morimyu feels like a grand piece of music?

Opus -> What classical songs had that basically shows the order in which they are written. Morimyu - a title piece itself - has 3 Opus, 3 different parts with the same theme.

Classical music very often had all the different elements in it -> Morimyu had an overture, the song they sing just before the main theme song, just before introducing the stage. Then arias, ensembles and choruses. All of them are connected by similar harmony.

Classical music always had a big general theme, with each section having a smaller sequence connecting to each other. Subplots within a big plots. A Sonata piece has 3 movements, each having their own "sections" of development - expositions, development, recapitulation. -> Morimyu does the same to their plot and subplots, as discussed above.

Also, Opera reference

While Opus 2 used an opera reference to tell the story, I feel like Opus 3 has become an Opera itself. During Op. 2 the arias were mostly very loyal to the manga, taking their lines from the original work, like the Mind Games song. Their story progresses steadily but logically.

However starting from Op. 3, the aria became more independent. They developed and expressed even further what wasn't said in the manga. For instance, the 3 songs mentioned in the "Sonata" above. And there's also Albert's solo, and Patterson's solo and Milverton, which I haven't got the chance to discuss all.

But either way, they spring out of the original story, adding more emotions and "colours" to the characters. The aria became more original, all the while also much more expressive. We get to see new sides of the characters that we haven't seen anywhere before.

Anyways, it's probably time to go back to the main question: How Morimyu used music to go beyond what's on the pages.

-> Musicals aren't simply about music added to acting. The characters on stage don't just simply starts singing for no reason. All the songs are meant to express something, and while they do they also establish various connections to the plot's progression.

We don't get to see much of the characters' emotions in the manga. And we don't see much of the side story, the finer details behind each arc. Every time, Morimyu adds something original to enrich their plot. They express and develop what's already known to all the viewers, especially regarding the emotional and motivational side of the characters.

-> The manga shows us the entire plot, with details related, back stories that lead to the present, and all. But it doesn't give a lot of hint into how characters might feel. Surely, reading between the lines, it's up to the readers to interpret them.

But Morimyu gives us all of that, and they leave it to us to read between the music.

And even if we didn't, that's fine. Then the purpose of all of them linking together would be to create a performance where everything is connected harmoniously, allowing us to be emerged in the world of Yuumori.

-> The purpose of having a stage, primarily, is to allow the audience to engage in, experience and feel the emotions along with the characters they see on stage. The point of having a live stage, a plot, and the music, are all to let us emphasize with the characters on stage.

In Morimyu, we aren't just watching a plot between our favourite characters happening as we know it from the manga. We see a combination of mysteries unveiling slowly, the stories on the side of each characters as they slowly progress forward, as well as emphasising with their emotions in the story.

That's what I really like about Morimyu.

So, WHAT'S THE POINT OF THIS?

So I had to scroll back to the top (lol) to quote this and make sure I haven't gone too far from the main theme.

Regarding musical Yuumori, there's always so many things I'd like to talk about. And if I start going on about it then it only gets harder to focus on one single topic.

Since the topic here is Morimyu and their music, especially in classical reference, I've tried to keep everything I've discussed relevant. But whenever I start on something, there would always be something that comes to mind. Like how other songs might also have certain connections, or how they used stage directions and lightings, etc. I really want to look more into stage directions in Morimyu as well, but that would have to wait...

Anyways, I tried to keep this as simple as possible. When I sent the first version of this to my friends, I keep having the feeling that I got too technical with all the theories about harmony and structure lol

And once again, this is only some of my own interpretation of the series that I've picked up.

If something else came to mind... well. Either way, for the purpose of engaging in their wonderful music or for the purpose of watching a beautiful stage just for enjoyment, Morimyu definitely is worth watching. And to watch over and over again. I've said this for Op. 2 but I'll say this ten times as much for Op. 3. Truly magnificent.

And, that's pretty much it that I have for today, I guess.

Thanks a lot to all my friends who gave me lots of inspiration and motivation to complete this ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ Lots of love to @rikaaki as well ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ

[clannad2007]

that peak in early-mid 2010s on maplestory youtube where there were a ton of music videos/mmv’s and maple series.

a lot of them had kpop songs because korean. and video game osts like from final fantasy. there were a bunch of digital drawing oc’s videos. some maple stories even had voice auditions. remember bannedstory...3, 4.

there’s that overlap with anime for a lot of games and/or their communities, and here you could tell a lot of maple series creators were inspired by anime, and some series were anime copies but with their own maple oc’s. basically, maple series were a way to make your own mini anime series. all the animations, osts, editing, outside programs like sony vegas, photoshop, even some voice acting...you had the game as a base and a lot of room to be creative with your projects.

there are games that serve as more...flexible is maybe the word for this...mediums for creativity outside the game, specifically when it comes to the potential to make mini series using assets from the game or directly in the game itself. maplestory is one example and another off the top of my head is fantage, though i think the latter and fantage series were comparatively less popular. in fact, what i wanted to point out was that maple series had relatively a lot of views for this...niche...and i definitely find this different use for the game and its popularity very interesting despite its eventual decline.

a lot of maple series were really great and uncompleted and have left me blue balled to this day. i see those little chibis and the nostalgia rush...i fall to my knees...

[strangerthings4theories]

S3 Is Billy’s Superhero Origin Story - Not The END Of His Story

If you’ve been following my meta, you’ll know I’m in the middle of a discussion of Billy as the mythological “god-king” who dies and lives again. Well, in my next post, I was going to compare him to the three brother-gods of Greek mythology (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades). However, I need to bring up an important point first.

Stranger Things has already raised Billy to “god” status. 

The show is about superheroes - El, Kali, and others like them - facing off against the forces of evil. And superheroes are often modern-day gods with god-like powers. A few are lifted directly from ancient mythology (Thor, Loki, etc). Sometimes, if they aren’t full-fledged gods, they have gods for parents, making them demigods (such as Wonder Woman, who’s the daughter of Zeus in the recent movies).

In S3, Billy becomes a superhero. By becoming a superhero, he becomes a demigod. And, as I’ll explain, the Duffers have already tied that to his resurrection.

>>Explore the definition of “demigod,” and we run headlong into Billy.

When we look up “demigod,” Google comes back with this:

a being with partial or lesser divine status, such as a minor deity, the offspring of a god and a mortal, or a mortal raised to divine rank.

If we look up lists of demigods in mythology, we get some interesting results, like the Greco-Roman Hercules. Hercules was known for his incredible strength (!!), as well for performing The Twelve Labors of Hercules. Among these are slaying the Nine-Headed Hydra and the Nemean Lion.

Oh look it’s Hercules vs. the Hydra/Lion. I’d say Lion because killing it was the first labor of Hercules. Also the Mind Flayer doesn’t have nine symbolic heads yet, that’s probably coming in a future season

Because of his association with the Nemean Lion, Hercules is often depicted in ancient art as wearing a lion skin:

In Roman works of art and in Renaissance and post-Renaissance art, Hercules can be identified by his attributes, the lion skin and the gnarled club (his favorite weapon); in mosaic he is shown tanned bronze...

Gosh. Where have I seen that before?

Damn. A quick Google search about demigods, and we’re already knocking on Billy’s door. I haven’t even talked about him as a superhero yet ;_;

>>Superheroes could be considered modern demigods.

Like I said in the intro, superheroes often embody the “demigod” archetype. They’re gifted with powers that put them a cut above the average human. Some even have explicitly divine origins. This gives them a striking similarity to the demigods of old myths, such as Perseus, Achilles, and our favorite lion-killer, Hercules.

Isn’t it weird how Billy looks like Perseus and Achilles and Hercules though

>>Billy’s S3 storyline mimics a superhero origin story.

Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider and becomes Spiderman. Eddie Brock is possessed by an alien symbiote and becomes Venom. Billy Hargrove is possessed by an interdimensional monster and becomes... well, Billy Hargrove, but with the added bonuses of superstrength and super-healing.

One article I read has a line about Eddie Brock in The Amazing Spider-Man (1988) that I find especially eerie:

The symbiote enhances Brock's strength and endurance, and since the guy was already addicted to working out, the result is almost equal to Spider-Man in raw power.

Hi there, Billy. How ya’ doin today.

The same article points out that, over his 40-year history, Venom has slowly morphed from a villain to an anti-hero. Look up the definition of anti-hero and you get this:

The term anti-hero has been provided to those who act as superheroes for some time and villains for another. It is not a surprise that fans usually like anti-heroes more due to their rebellious nature...

Oh look. It’s Billy’s trajectory from S2 (villain) to S3 (a villain who becomes an anti-hero). But I’m sure that’s a total accident. Wanna bet he’ll go from “anti-hero” to straight up “hero” in future seasons

But it gets better...

>>The Duffers have already told us S3 is Billy’s superhero origin (!) story.

In the first scene of S3 Ep 4, Max and El are hanging out in Max’s room. Max shows El two comic books and asks, “Which one?” 

I don’t know about you, but that bit always gave me a weird vibe. It’s just one of those things that seems... purposeful... like it has a hidden meaning. So, following my instincts, I took a closer look at the scene.

Y’all.

Y’all.

Look at the comic books.

On one side, we have Wonder Woman. On the other side, we have the Green Lantern. Framed this way, they’re presented to us as dueling opposites. or a superhero dream team, but that’s for future seasons

Wonder Woman is El. The scene tells us this by having El ask about her. She’s drawn to her, sees herself in her.

The Green Lantern is Billy. In S3, he’s the opposing force to El’s Wonder Woman. Also, Green Lanterns draw their power from the aid of magic rings.

Huh. Interesting.

If you need more evidence, just juxtapose the comic book shot with this shot from Heather’s house:

Would you look at that. Max is in the middle, with Wonder Woman El on the left and the Green Lantern Billy on the right.

Furthermore, the Heather’s house shot happens at the end of Ep 3. In the very first scene of the next episode, we get the comic book shot. The juxtaposition in time suggests they’re linked.

Now look again at the Green Lantern comic book.

Origin issue.

Origin issue.

ORIGIN. ISSUE.

Are y’all seeing this.

Not only is Billy a superhero on par with El, he’s also coming back to kick ass. S3 was his origin story, not the end of it. The Duffers are telling us so.

The death and resurrection plotline shouldn’t surprise us. Superheroes die and come back all the time. Just check out this list of superheroes who have done exactly that. Batman, Captain America, Spiderman, Superman... seriously, it’s old hat by now. (The list notably includes Jean Grey, who I consider El’s X-Men alter ego. Kinda makes me think she’s gonna die and rise again too)

It makes sense that superheroes can cheat death. Like I explained, superheroes are basically demigods - humans who are more than human. 

What better way to show you’re more than human... than to beat the one enemy common to all humans everywhere?

»»————-　✼　————-««

P.S. Billy’s superhero status probably explains why he gets an El-and-Kali-style nosebleed in S2 ;) FORESHADOWING, BABY

Oh and I love the idea of Superhero Billy SO MUCH that I made a music video about it...

»»————-　✼　————-««

The “Billy Is Alive” Meta Series

[iamthenightcolormeblack]

My Thoughts on Pride and Prejudice 1980: The Ladies Take Center Stage

It's easy to forget that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other Pride and Prejudice adaptations because the discussion is generally limited to "1995 versus 2005." The subject of this review is the 1980 BBC miniseries adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which stars Elizabeth Garvie as Elizabeth Bennet and David Rintoul as Mr. Darcy and consists of five 1 hour long episodes. Some Pride and Prejudice fans consider this show as the definitive version of the book, since it was one of the first adaptations that attempted to be faithful to the story by incorporating much more of Austen's dialogue compared to previous adaptations.

1. THE PRODUCTION

The video quality is blurry (typical with 1970s/1980s BBC TV shows), so this adaptation is hard to watch compared with the 1995 and 2005 adaptations. While I like the historic houses used in the miniseries, boring, stuffy studio interiors are used for the interior scenes (except for Pemberley). I would only recommend this adaptation for extreme Pride and Prejudice fans/completionists.

Each episode's opening credits are accompanied by illustrations of what happens in the episodes, reminding the viewer that they are watching a filmed version of the book. The caricatured figures are not appealing to the eye and look dated. It doesn't help that they all are accompanied by "ye olde timey" music.

The costumes are for the most part very historically accurate for the early 19th century Regency Era, possibly even more so than the 1995 version with open chests, since the women's day dresses cover their necks as well. The costume designer mastered the famous Regency era white dress; I liked Elizabeth's white day dress and Jane's white evening gown. However, not all the costumes are flattering; some of the ugly floral patterns and garishly bright colors come straight from the 1970s, while a lot of decent evening dresses are ruined by fake lace or clunky 1970s bibs.

The hair is mostly accurate, with the exception of Mary's straight bangs and pixie cut. Unfortunately, the makeup is of the 1970s, especially with the penciled eyeliner/eyebrows on Jane and Caroline Bingley. Poor Mr. Bingley meanwhile has the most unflattering 1970s "helmet bowl" hairstyle.

2. PLOT AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

The adaptation focuses heavily on the female relationships within the book, much more so than other adaptations. Throughout the episodes, there are many slice-of-life scenes in which the Bennet sisters are gathered together in conversation while occupying themselves with typical activities for women of the Regency era (sewing, flower arranging, trying on clothing).

Charlotte Lucas has a larger role here than in the book. In this adaptation, she frequently visits the Bennet sisters at Longbourn, and the screenwriter uses her dialogue as a representation of the Regency perception of marriage as an economic proposition.

Mary Bennet also receives more screen time, and like Charlotte, she voices Regency attitudes towards women in general through her didactic remonstrances.

The many scenes in Elizabeth and Jane's bedroom are a means for Elizabeth to express the feelings and attitudes that she keeps hidden from society.

Elizabeth's favoring of Mr. Wickham is more obvious; she even pronounces him to be "above everyone, in person, countenance, [and] air" and is delighted that Wickham's trash-talking of Darcy confirms her hatred of him.

Inner monologues highlight Elizabeth's mental transformation as she grapples with the consequences of her prejudice against Mr. Darcy and considers the consequences of her family's social gaffes.

I dislike that the show chose to end with Mrs. Bennet's joy over the advantageous marriages of her elder daughters. It reinforces the perception that these marriages are ultimately for money rather than love.

The cast consists of largely unknown (to a mainstream audience) British actors whose portrayals of the characters are solid and replicate the book exactly. The rest of the supporting cast portray the characters just as they are in the book, but do not otherwise stand out. Here are my comments on the lead actors and other supporting cast:

Elizabeth Garvie: Garvie effectively portrays Elizabeth's wit, intelligence, and poise. She also looks right for the part, as she is believably youthful and has captivating eyes. Her pride is not so obvious because Garvie acts like a proper Regency girl, but it is brought out by the way Elizabeth looks people straight in the eye and addresses them directly while confidently stating her opinions, however flawed. My only minor nitpick is that Elizabeth is less vulnerable here; most of the time she is confidently in control of every situation she faces and has a smile for everyone.

David Rintoul: Rintoul looks the part, as he is tall, handsome, proud, and carries himself gracefully. However, he is too stiff and boring like a robot. In many scenes, even private ones with his close friends, he is always standing at attention like a soldier. With the exception of the Pemberley visit and the second proposal, he never smiles, and his voice is very monotone, even in the key romantic scenes where he is supposed to lose himself to his great passion for Elizabeth. Though he tries to appear amused at times, and shows some intelligence, his stiff body language never changes, undercutting the meaning behind his words.

While fans of this show have praised Rintoul for being stiff, like book Darcy, this stiff portrayal hinders Darcy's character development, since he must change his cold manners in order to be worthy of Elizabeth's love. There are MANY instances in the book where Darcy shows some emotion; he smiles as he teases Elizabeth at Rosings, becomes angry when Elizabeth rejects his first proposal, and blushes when he sees Elizabeth at Pemberley. This Mr. Darcy is "all politeness" and we don't get to see Elizabeth peeling back his cold exterior to reveal the good man underneath, unlike in the book.

Malcolm Rennie as Mr. Collins: His portrayal of Mr. Collins is very similar to 1995's Mr. Collins, as both are fat and simpering (maybe 1995's portrayal of Mr. Collins is a copy of this one, except even grosser). I also like how he is super moralizing and preachy in this version. He even walks like a penguin too!

Casting I disliked:

Moray Watson as Mr. Bennet: His Mr. Bennet is thoroughly unsympathetic; he does nothing but scold the family, slam doors, and drink tea. While Mr. Bennet is a neglectful parent, he expresses his dislike of the family in far more subtle ways and does not get into fits of anger easily.

Judy Parfitt as Lady Catherine de Bourgh: While the adaptation makes clear that Lady Catherine likes getting her way, this Lady Catherine isn’t intimidating enough to frighten anyone into submission. What doesn't help is that the scene where she interrogates Elizabeth about her family situation is cut; this scene is important in establishing Lady Catherine's tyrannical personality.

The actresses hired to play Kitty and Lydia Bennet are far too old for the parts; they do not look like teenagers!

Scenes I liked:

The opening scene -- the adaptation gives Charlotte a larger role, as she visits Elizabeth at Longbourn right after the news of Bingley's arrival. She also reveals her practical view on marriage as a necessity for securing comfort, which is at odds with Elizabeth's view of marriage as an equal partnership between people who love each other.

"First Impressions" -- Elizabeth shares her bad opinion of Darcy with Jane and reveals that the Bingleys earned their wealth in trade, making them "new money" as opposed to the Darcy family, which has many generations of nobility. This detail about the origins of Bingley's wealth could explain Caroline's extreme arrogance and make Jane's separation from Bingley on the basis of her poor connections more cruel.

Elizabeth at Mr. Lucas' party: This adaptation includes a scene from the book which isn't in many other adaptations, not even the 1995 miniseries. Elizabeth, acting impertinently to catch the attention of Darcy's "very satirical eye," addresses him sarcastically. Charlotte then gets Elizabeth to play the piano and she takes another opportunity to show off her wit:

"There is a fine old saying, which every body here is of course familiar with - 'Keep your breath to cool your porridge', and I shall keep mine to swell my song."

Jane and Elizabeth at Netherfield. In a series of scenes, Elizabeth confides in Jane her true thoughts and feelings about Darcy, the Bingleys, and the Hursts. For instance, she theorizes about why Darcy stares at her and rants about how disagreeable and annoying the Netherfield party are. It's really entertaining to see Elizabeth driven to frustration by the arrogant rich people.

Any scene with Mr. Collins in it, but here are the funniest ones:

Mr. Collins eating with the Bennet family: I laughed at how he examines the food with a critical eye before shoving it in his mouth quickly. It perfectly captures Mr. Collins' arrogance combined with bad manners.

Mr. Collins at the Netherfield Ball: he cannot dance and embarrasses Elizabeth (definitely a parallel with the 1995 version, where he bumps into the other dancers and apologizes profusely).

Mr. Collins' first proposal to Elizabeth: I laughed at the added flourish (not in the novel), where he bends down on one knee, but instead of professing love for the intended, states proudly to Elizabeth that the main benefit of the marriage is the patronage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Collins' proposal to Charlotte Lucas: this is not in the original book, as it is (mostly) limited to Elizabeth's point of view, where she only finds out about the proposal after it happens. This comical scene begins with pleasant music and blooming flowers to establish romantic connotations, before it cuts to an awkward Mr. Collins following Charlotte Lucas. When Charlotte accepts Mr. Collins, they are sitting together by a rosebush, and his pure joy at the unromantic, arranged marriage, combined with the floral imagery from earlier, elevate the situational irony and make for a good laugh. The flower imagery also ties into Charlotte's earlier comparison of marriage to growing a plant; Elizabeth challenges Charlotte's assertion by asking her what would happen if the soil was poor (metaphor for the respect Elizabeth feels is a foundation for a loving relationship).

Aunt Gardiner's advice to Elizabeth: This scene isn't included in other adaptations, not even the 1995 miniseries. Here Aunt Gardiner warns Elizabeth against falling in love with Wickham, telling her that she needs to keep her common sense intact; Elizabeth dismisses this, fully confident in her powers of judgment. It's great that this exchange is included because it foreshadows the discovery of Wickham's true character, and hints that Elizabeth's perceptions of others may be wrong.

Scenes I disliked:

The romantic scenes. This adaptation unfortunately fails in the romance department; there is zero chemistry between the actors; even the otherwise wonderful Elizabeth Garvie is not exempt. (more about this later).

The first country ball. The interior is dark, small, cramped and stagey. Also, the dancing and overall manner of the guests is very sedate and orderly; it’s so quiet you can hear the dancers feet scrape the floor in spite of the music. This isn't very realistic compared with the other adaptations, where we are presented with much more boisterous country dances.

The activation of Stalker Darcy: While Elizabeth plays the pianoforte, Darcy, while shrouded in darkness, moves like a ghost among the crowd until he all of a sudden appears very close to the pianoforte and golf-clapping. perhaps Darcy is a blood sucking vampire? Though this scene is entertaining for all the wrong reasons, it doesn't make sense that Darcy's love for Elizabeth makes him even more robotic and creepy.

Lady Catherine confronting Elizabeth: While the dialogue for this scene is lifted straight from the book, there isn't quite enough fury and anger on the part of either person.

3. THE SCRIPT

What makes this adaptation stand out is the script by Fay Weldon. While the majority of the script is taken directly from the book, many have commented that her interpretation of Pride and Prejudice is much more feminist because of the greater emphasis on Elizabeth's point of view, as well as her relationships with other women. Many of the creative changes made emphasize the ridiculousness of the patriarchy and Elizabeth's outspokenness. In addition, Austen's narration slips into the dialogue of the female characters; for instance, Mary proclaims the village's judgment of Darcy as "the proudest most disagreeable man in the world."

Creative Changes/Great Quotes from the Script:

Darcy adding further insult to injury: after proclaiming Elizabeth to be unattractive to him, he adds: "She has too many sisters."

Mrs. Bennet criticizing poor Mary: “You read too much! No wonder you’re shortsighted.”

Elizabeth has had enough with Darcy, the Hursts, and the Bingleys: “Jane, they are monsters! They like nothing and dislike everything!"

Elizabeth has no patience: "This is unendurable! Mr. Darcy has scarcely spoken more than 10 words to me during the whole of today!"

Mary Bennet praises Mr. Collins' writing skills: "But he is intelligent. In point of composition the letter he wrote Father was not deficient and it was very long."

Mr. Collins scrutinizes Longbourn (his future inheritance) Part 1: "The hall. The hall should be imposing. This one is spacious enough but a little dark..."

Mr. Collins scrutinizes Longbourn Part 2: "Truly a gracious dining room. Lady Catherine de Bourgh would not be ashamed to dine here...The table, though a trifle rustic, is solid and a good match."

Mr. Collins provides much needed moral lessons to Kitty and Lydia: "I have often observed how many young ladies are very little interested in books of a serious stamp, though written solely for their benefit. Certainly there can be nothing so advantageous to them as instruction."

Mr. Collins on Anne de Bourgh: "She is agreeably fragile, and she is to marry Mr. Darcy."

Lady Catherine de Bourgh supporting the patriarchy: "If I were to have more children, they should all be sons."

Mr. Collins' Aquatic Hat: In one of many examples where Lady Catherine micromanages everyone's life, she orders Mr. Collins to plant bulrushes by the lake and per her instructions he orders an ugly top hat with a shower cap inside it to prevent himself from drowning. Charlotte and Elizabeth laugh about it when Mr. Collins isn't looking.

Darcy is a dog person, how sweet! Before the first proposal and before he meets Elizabeth again at Pemberley, Darcy is accompanied by a dog. Perhaps if he brought his dog to the first proposal it would have succeeded?

Elizabeth's internal monologue after she reads the letter: I normally dislike internal monologues because they detract from the action or become redundant, but I like how this adaptation utilizes the internal monologue to show Elizabeth actively confronting her prejudice against Mr. Darcy and acknowledging that she has acted wrongly in judging him harshly. Some adaptations reduce or even leave out this fundamental part of Elizabeth's personal growth. My only quibble with this scene is that Elizabeth lets go of her prejudice too soon and in too calm a manner. In the book, she is initially angry at Darcy and needs to reread the letter multiple times before she starts to form a grudging respect for Mr. Darcy. For Elizabeth, letting go of her prejudice is a slow, exhausting, and emotionally taxing process, unlike in this adaptation, where her logical reasoning allows her to quickly overcome her unreasonable hatred of Darcy.

4. THE ROMANCE (or, to be more accurate, lack of)

Many of the key romantic scenes between Elizabeth and Darcy are shortened, which surprised me because the length of a miniseries in general allows for more character development. I was hoping to see a fuller picture of Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship than could be provided in a movie.

While the female characters of the adaptation are fully rounded and have many opportunities to express their perspectives, the male characters remain one-dimensional and do not get the same treatment as the women. In other words, the male characters are reduced to mere objects of affection.

Some critics have argued that Darcy is irresistible to women in part because he is mysterious. Even his appearance is left to the reader's imagination, as Austen only notes that Darcy has a "fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien...[and] ten thousand a year." Thus, the reader gets to craft their ideal version of Mr. Darcy; he could look like any handsome man. When the "historically accurate Mr. Darcy" image was released several years ago (where he looks like George Washington); many, including me, were disappointed because we all have different images of Mr. Darcy in our heads (or more likely, we pick between Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen). This adaptation capitalizes into the mystique of the character by leaving the viewers to guess Darcy's intentions. Since we do not have access to his internal thoughts or motivations, we are limited to what we see before our eyes, much like the Meryton villagers. We do not get to see how Darcy develops feelings for Elizabeth; nor do we see how he is like in private occasions (even when alone with his friends, he says little and reveals little).

Other critics/Austen scholars/fans have argued that the one-dimensional treatment of male characters is in keeping with the unique writing style of Pride and Prejudice. Typically, female characters were the ones reduced to objects of affection for the male characters. Austen reverses this norm by focusing more on Elizabeth's viewpoint while Darcy remains mysterious.

Though a more reserved Darcy may work in the book, it does not serve the development of the romance well. Darcy's falling in love with Elizabeth is characterized by a gradual loss of control over himself; in his words he was "in the middle before I knew that I had begun [falling in love]." After all, he cannot stop staring at Elizabeth and frequently tries to keep talking to her at Netherfield before he begins to feel "the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention." During his first proposal, he is agitated, and when Elizabeth rejects him, becomes angry. It is obvious, in the book and in the 1995 and 2005 adaptations as well, that the man is clearly an emotional train wreck.

The conflict between Darcy's outer shell and inner self is a key part of his falling in love with Elizabeth, and the adaptation misses out on this with a stiff, wooden Darcy who always carries himself properly and never smiles. In general, the most entertaining romances have this tension between self-control and passion, with lapses in manners usually the only sign of the passion beneath the surface; after all, in Elizabeth's words, “Is not general incivility the very essence of love?”

Back to the idea of the one-dimensional Darcy being an inversion of gender norms in writing: I have to disagree with this because (this is obvious I'm sure) Darcy is still a fully rounded character and does undergo his own journey, since he has to change his manners to earn Elizabeth's love. This quote shows what Darcy has learned about himself:

"I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle. As a child I was...given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit. Unfortunately an only son, (for many years an only child) I was spoilt by my parents [who] almost taught me to be selfish and overbearing, to care for none beyond my own family circle, to think meanly of all the rest of the world, to wish at least to think meanly of their sense and worth compared with my own."

Though some fans of this adaptation like how the other relationships are treated with equal importance as the well-known love story, the romance is important as a source of personal growth for Elizabeth as well as Darcy. After all, they do have to overcome the "pride and prejudice" that separates them.

The marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth is a feminist triumph for Elizabeth Bennet; in my review of the 2005 movie, I noted that Elizabeth Bennet is revolutionary because of her unwillingness to compromise on her belief that marriage should based on love and respect, contrary to the prevailing social view of marriage as an economic proposition. While it seems counter-intuitive for a repressive institution like marriage to be a feminist triumph, Austen's heroines use marriage as a means of gaining not just material comforts, but ultimately the self-respect they desire by uniting themselves with partners whom they are equals with. The marriages Austen's heroines make are testaments to their independence, as they are choices made by the women themselves. Even Charlotte Lucas' otherwise unhappy arranged marriage works for her, since she enjoys the freedom that running her own household gives her. Not focusing on the romance of Elizabeth and Darcy leaves out Austen's complex perspective on marriage as a social necessity but also an unlikely route to freedom.

Here's my breakdown of the Elizabeth and Darcy scenes in this adaptation and why the romance fails:

"She is tolerable:" Elizabeth reacts rather too sedately to the insult Darcy gives her (and he also makes an added comment about her having too many sisters); unlike in other versions where she attempts to suppress a laugh or even taunts Darcy outright. The adaptation diverges from the book by having Elizabeth tell her mother instead of her friends about Darcy's insult; it does not make sense why Elizabeth would confide this in her mother, given that she knows her mother is a fool.

Netherfield dance: Darcy attempts to flirt with Elizabeth during this dance (which only lasts one minute!), but doesn't succeed because of his poor social skills and her prejudice. It's also an amazing battle of wits, as Darcy counters Elizabeth's accusations while admonishing her not to trust Wickham.

Unfortunately, the adaptation cuts out essential dialogue revealing the extent of Elizabeth's prejudice and foreshadowing the discovery of Wickham's true character. For example, what isn't included is Elizabeth's accusations that Darcy is to blame for ruining Wickham's life, to which he replies that Wickham is capable of charming others but not necessarily of retaining good friends.

More significantly, the adaptation cuts Elizabeth's admission that she cannot figure Darcy out:

"'May I ask to what these questions tend?' 'Merely to the illustration of your character,' said she...

'And what is your success?' She shook her head. 'I do not get on at all. I her such different accounts of you as puzzle me exceedingly.'

'...I could wish, Miss Bennet, that you were not to sketch my character at the present moment, as there is reason to fear that the performance would reflect no credit on either.'"

The development of the romance is harmed due to the omission of the portrait metaphor. Here, Darcy shrewdly observes to Elizabeth that her judgment of character may be flawed and foreshadows the discovery of her prejudice against him. After his many observations of Elizabeth, Darcy knows her so well that he can read her like an open book (though he underestimates the extent of Elizabeth's prejudice against him). The metaphor of the picture as a representation of character also becomes literal through Darcy's portrait at Pemberley; Elizabeth only falls in love with Darcy after examining his character through the portrait.

Ultimately, the Netherfield Ball dance between Elizabeth and Darcy is essential in demonstrating the fallacy of first impressions, and reducing the dialogue only to the beginning part where Elizabeth teases Darcy on his inability to make small talk undermines the richness of the story.

Darcy's first proposal: This scene is definitely the worst one in this miniseries because it fails on so many levels. First, this Darcy remains stiff throughout the entire proposal, like he was at a public ball rather than declaring love. This is a total contrast to book Darcy; who, though formal, is "agitated" and "pale with anger" at times. Those famous opening lines ("In vain I have struggled...") are delivered so quickly and without any sort of overwhelming passion. What should be the climax of Darcy finally letting the volcano of his repressed emotions erupt (with bad consequences for him) instead becomes a cold recitation of the script. Elizabeth also becomes robotic as well, repeating her lines back with a detached tone of voice as if reading a teleprompter. I'm warning you: be prepared for the worst 5 minutes of your life.

Visiting Pemberley: The adaptation utilizes Elizabeth's inner monologue as she praises Pemberley; it's interesting to people who have read and re-read the book, but I don't think it's necessary to "copy and paste" large portions of the book and read them to the audience.

I do like that this adaptation clearly indicates that Elizabeth still stands by her decision to reject Darcy's first proposal, even though she really likes his great big house:

"'And of this place,' thought she, 'I might have been mistress! 'I might have rejoiced in [these rooms] as my own, and welcomed to them as visitors my uncle and aunt. - 'But no'... 'I should not have been allowed to invite them.'"

Most adaptations include the "Pemberley could have been mine" part, but don't include Elizabeth's realization that Darcy's class prejudice would have estranged her from the Gardiners (unfortunately that includes the 1995 miniseries). Including Elizabeth's thoughts about her aunt and uncle dispels the perception that she is a gold-digger who marries Darcy only after realizing how rich he is.

The portrait: why, why, why does Darcy not smile in his portrait?! The book LITERALLY EMPHASIZES that DARCY SMILES in his portrait, revealing a more sensitive side to him than his cold and formal appearance would otherwise suggest. Big mistake.

Lydia's elopement: the adaptation messes up this scene so badly, which is unfortunate because the scene is important in showing how much Elizabeth trusts Darcy and how much he still loves her, as shown through his concern for her. First, it diverges from the book by having Elizabeth run several miles to Pemberley (while fully outfitted in a spencer, bonnet, and long dress) and somehow she doesn't sweat or faint from the exertion. Running to Darcy to tell him the news doesn't make any sense, since the book makes clear that she did not want anyone outside her family to know about Lydia's elopement, or else her marriage prospects would certainly be ruined; the news devastated her because she feared losing Darcy's respect due to his social prejudice. Darcy learning of the news was purely a coincidence because he happened to be waiting for her at the inn where she was staying (aw how romantic!). As for Darcy, he remains cold and doesn't seem concerned enough for Elizabeth, in contrast with the book, where he immediately springs into action. The adaptation also omits Darcy's kindness by cutting out the part of the scene where he consoles Elizabeth, gets her to sit down, and brings her some wine.

Second proposal: Darcy breaks the rules of social etiquette by going out alone with Elizabeth before proposing to her, unlike in the book where they are with Jane and Bingley, but this scene is still thoroughly unromantic because the two actors have zero chemistry.

5. CONCLUSION

Although this adaptation has some good moments, the dated production design, underdeveloped romance, and wooden acting means that I will only recommend this version to Pride and Prejudice nerds/extreme book purists. The adaptation is boring to watch unless you know the book by heart.

This script highlights Austen's wit and sarcasm, but the performances don’t always do it justice. The feminist approach to the novel makes the adaptation stand out, but comes at the cost of Darcy's character development and the central love story.

Purists and casual book fans are better served by the 1995 BBC miniseries, which has the right balance of entertainment, historical accuracy, and faithfulness to the novel.

Thanks to JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America) for all the wonderful online articles that I pull many of my ideas from. I spent many hours entertaining myself by reading their scholarly analyses of Jane's other works as well as those related to Pride and Prejudice, and they have really helped me as I write these reviews.

@princesssarisa @austengivesmeserotonin @dahlia-coccinea @obscurelittlebird @appleinducedsleep @colonelfitzwilliams