#good pacing great story beats fun character arcs

[fanyeline]

maybe i just have f@tt exhaustion & need a break but most of palisade has been incredibly bleak & idk if this post credits ending is going to fix that. let's take a look at where the characters started and "ended" this season

Kalvin Brnine: started unable to talk abt their feelings & with hope that millenium break could change lives. ended unable to talk abt their feelings, estranged 3 important relationships & with a death wish.

Thisbe: started w the idea that they have no freedom. ended with the realization that they have freedom, but also they have an energy thing in them that prevents them from relaxing

The Figure in Bismuth: started w wanting to break free from slavery. Ended up dead.

Phrygian: started w wanting to fight the good fight & end the war. Ended up dead.

Coriolis Sunset: started idealistic & naive. ended up grizzled, chased from planet to planet & having forcibly lost their girlfriend to a contract with a God

from my point of view, if the idea was that they wanted to make a corny, hopeful season, they picked the wrong game from the start. armor astir's pillars are practically undefeatable, that is part of the game.

secondly, the cause VS principality gameplay where the team was split into two groups didn't really work for me. it felt like it created aggression between groups, where both groups wanted to win instead of creating a collaborative story. you can hear austin struggling with this in early episodes of the game against jack & art, and eventually it felt like they just leaned into the opposition between the two groups. This is maybe "fun", but in the end it creates this feeling that there's always a losing side.

secondly part 2, the inclusion of the stellar combuster arc towards the beginning of the season felt super weird, pacing wise. i know we can't always control these things, but overall that whole arc only felt stressful, never fun or rewarding. even when brnine killed the princept, i was just kind of stressed out!

third, i'm not sure the final questlandia game was a great ending game, especially when so many of the character beats couldn't really explored in a system that's talking about kingdom level activities. Besides that, I found the choice of characters to be a little disappointing. Bringing in Levi after figure's death didn't feel like a breath of fresh air, it just felt like 'well who is this guy?'. I felt the same way about Jack's character, August Righteousness. I think either could have played a character we already had a strong connection with. What about Gucci? What about Jesset? How about Mustard Red? Keith bringing back Leap was the right choice, not only bc leap is someone we already cared about but because he's like this incredible force as a character. He is someone who generates change.

fourth, I felt the treatment of Clem as a character was absolutely ridiculous. the immediate dislike and rejection by the cast of an extremely popular character after art brought up playing her felt like it was both disrespecting art as a player and his ability to do a villain justice, and towards the listeners who have been invested in Clem's story since she was a player character in Partizan. It felt like after a certain point, Art had to give up caring about what Clem did or face backlash from the other players! In the last few kingdom episodes, art was going "I mean, whatever, I don't really care" half the time they asked him about what he felt clem would do. And I also found it to be a huge bummer to listen to the players have discourse over Clem.

There's a big difference to me over fandom discourse and players taking part in that discourse. First and foremost, Clem is a character in a story, and while their "what should we do about Clem" discussion should have revolved around how to give her a satisfying character arc, it felt more like they were trying to figure out how to wash their hands of her. I don't really understand how or why the friends soured on Clem so much, and you know what? I get being sick of a character. But having a public discussion about it was really weird, & as a fan, a total bummer to hear.

So yeah, over all I feel really burned out by this season and the decisions they've made. I think it's been a sad time. I don't think it's been fun or goofy for awhile.

Obviously as creators they have a right to do whatever they want with their art, but I can't help but find it disappointing. It feels really different to what they've put out before & I'm having a hard time enjoying this gritty, sad and stressful season.

[ponett]

I have now finally seen the Mario movie. It was Pretty Good. Here are my wordy thoughts on it. (I am going to spoil the entire movie. Duh.)

In many ways, the Mario movie does what I wish the first Sonic movie had done. They just took the characters and the premise and the world from the games, and made it a straightforward animated adventure movie. It's bright and colorful and remixes things JUST enough to include fun elements from multiple games, and it doesn't make Mario get adopted by James Marsden or whatever. It even has the music!

That's all you really need, right? Right...?

I'll get this out of the way up front. Chris Pratt was fine. He's fine

If anything, it really feels like they did the movie a disservice by letting us hear so little of the Mario voice in the previews. It took one scene for Pratt to disappear into the role for me. It was totally fine. If anything, I found Charlie Day's normal voice coming out of Luigi WAY more distracting, even if I did like him in the role.

Everyone else was pretty good, for the most part. Jack Black was obviously very good as Bowser, but I'm biased. Seth Rogen does the Seth Rogen laughs as Donkey Kong, but I thought DK was fun, too. (I liked his little rivalry with Mario where he was just constantly giving him shit.) The only casting choice I truly hated was Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong. I hated every line that came out of his mouth. He sounds atrocious. Just the worst. I swear to fucking god if they do a DKC movie and we have to hear him for 90 minutes

I did think Peach was lacking, but that was on the script, not Anya Taylor-Joy's performance. It's cool to see Peach fight, but it's one of those all too common instances where the writers put so much effort into making the main girl kick ass and be an effortlessly confident girlboss that they forgot to give her an actual personality. Not that I'd point to Super Princess Peach and its mood swing superpowers as positive representation or anything, but there's a happy middle ground, surely. Shrek was 22 years ago, just having the princess do flying kung fu kicks isn't enough.

Okay. With the voices out of the way, let's talk about the big picture:

It's way better than the words "Illumination Mario movie" implied, and I mostly enjoyed my time with it. The spirit of Mario is there 100%. But I'd also describe it as "ruthlessly efficient."

This was perhaps the main complaint critics had, and they were absolutely right. People have responded to these totally average reviews with "Well, what did you expect? Shakespeare?! It's MARIO!!" Like, yes, I would prefer it if the movie I paid to see had writing that was good instead of bad. What a shocker. My issue isn't that it's not "high-brow" enough. The problem is that it feels mercenary. It feels like an editor went through and deleted almost every line of dialogue that isn't some form of exposition, at the expense of the pacing. Any scene that's not a montage or some sort of action is kept as short as they could make it, with barely any room for embellishment, character interaction, or anything other than the bare minimum word count to hit all the typical Save the Cat Hollywood screenwriting 101 story beats to the letter. There aren't even as many jokes as you might think (and the ones that are there are extremely hit or miss, including a lot of the slapstick with Mario himself).

Mario and Peach's little arc together in the front half of the film is probably the worst example of this pacing. Even having read reviews that complained about how fast Peach goes from meeting Mario (by her admission the first other human she's ever met) to deciding to train him as the new savior of the Mushroom Kingdom, I was SHOCKED at how fast it was. They don't even lampshade it.

Peach takes Mario straight into the big training sequence where he learns how to use mushrooms and jump over platforming obstacles. Peach is apparently already a hypercompetent platforming pro and a great fighter, so there's no clear reason why she's taking the time to train this random guy to be half as good as her when the world is in danger. Then they set off on their adventure, Toad joins them, and we get a VERY brief travel montage. It's about thirty seconds total - just long enough to give Peach a line about how she wants to protect this beautiful world of hers to try and give her some stakes. We get the genre-mandated nighttime campfire heart to heart, which is exactly long enough to have Mario say he misses Luigi and to have Peach give the two sentence summary of her origin story and not a second longer. Then they reach the Kongs, and their big journey is complete. (They barely interact for the rest of the movie.) So much of the movie is like this - always ready to get on to the next scene as soon as a new one starts.

I'm not criticizing the script because I expect The Super Mario Bros. Movie to be a prestige drama - although there are certainly halfhearted attempts at a dramatic arc. The stuff with Mario's family was a fun enough idea, but again, ruthless efficiency. We get one quick scene with them at the start to give Mario some pathos, because I guess Save the Cat said he's gotta have some pathos. And then Mario gets his dad's approval amidst the action of the final battle in Brooklyn to resolve his arc, just so the movie can end as quickly as possible once Bowser is defeated. (Despite now having the approval of their family and their community back in Brooklyn, Mario and Luigi move to the Mushroom Kingdom off-screen without a single word dedicated to this decision, because that's where they live in the games.)

Look. I am not comparing it to The Godfather. Don't give me that shit. I am not asking for an extra half hour to explore Mario and Luigi's childhood trauma. I am not asking for the complex inner workings of the Mushroom Kingdom monarchy. I know this is gonna be a basic Hero's Journey adventure for kids. It just feels like it's turning down so many opportunities to have a little fun with the characters, to let them interact and play off of each other, to let there be some adventure on this adventure. This is the first time we've gotten to see these characters interact with fully voiced dialogue in a very, very long time! "Yeah, it's not High Art, but it's FUN!" Stories are fun! Character interactions are fun! The script could be having so much more fun!! It is adamantly against making the Story parts of this story-driven movie any more Fun than they functionally need to be!!!

Mario, Peach, and Toad's journey to find the Kongs is shorter than the training montage that precedes it. After the opening, Bowser mostly just sits in his castle and waits for the third act to start. Luigi's there, too, but he only gets one scene with Bowser and then the movie mostly forgets he exists until the climax. He doesn't even get to try and sneak out of Bowser's castle and get up to hijinx. He's just there to be a motivation for Mario, so he sits in a cage for half the movie. It's the bare outline of a script with action scenes added in.

Aside from the fact that it's Jack Black singing as Bowser, I feel like this overly-efficient script might be part of the reason why the "Peaches" scene stands out so much. It's a moment that didn't strictly need to be there to keep the plot moving or to provide an action setpiece. It's not even a reference to another Mario thing. It's just a fun and memorable little character moment that's there for its own sake. That's what the movie needed more of. To stop and smell the roses more often. To play in the space.

To be clear, this isn't a unique problem with this movie. Critics have been noting for years that second acts are disappearing from big Hollywood movies in favor of the Act I plot setup and the Act III action, even though Act II is supposed to be where you get to explore your actual premise. And lots of animated movies give me this exact same vibe of being too "screenwriterly," or feeling like they had an executive breathing down their necks and demanding changes based on focus testing. But these common issues are why I come away mostly feeling like the movie is on the better end of "average," rather than totally blowing my mind. You have seen this movie many times before, just not with Mario in it.

And, of course, there's the music. The score by Brian Tyler based on various classic Mario and Donkey Kong tunes (frustratingly all attributed to Koji Kondo) is absolutely beautiful, but it's unfortunately frequently overshadowed by the licensed music. Everyone already complained about things like the use of Take On Me in place of a lovingly arranged DKC medley, but it feels illustrative of the tug of war the movie is caught in the middle of, between wanting to be a lavishly faithful Mario movie and wanting to be a generic tentpole animated adventure movie. Every single licensed song used is the most obvious, overused song they could have picked for the scene. It reeks of cynical executive meddling and it took me out of the movie every time.

But there really was a lot of care and love put into this movie - more than probably any other video game movie ever made, not that that's a high bar. I don't want to underplay that too much amidst all my complaints spurred by the absolutely insane response to the reviews.

Aside from the countless background references that people will be picking apart for years, touches like the Captain Toad tune playing in the background of Toad's introduction or the Mario Kart 8 menu music playing in the kart garage really help bring it to another level of authenticity. I also enjoyed seeing some more obscure Mario enemies that felt like they were picked more for being fun to animate than for being nostalgic and marketable. No matter how many times I sarcastically pointed to the screen and deadpanned "reference. reference." I am not immune to noticing these things and smiling. I am not immune to the DK Rap. These alone don't make the movie good, but it's nice to have a video game movie that feels like it was made by people who like video games.

Most importantly, the animation is great throughout. It's leaps and bounds ahead of other Illumination work, and it's the best the Mario cast has ever looked. They even made Donkey Kong handsome, somehow. They're all so squishy and expressive, and they move so fluidly - especially in the action scenes. I particularly liked the more kinetic ones like the aerial Banzai Bill chase and the Mario Kart sequence. Truly, the Mad Max-inspired car battle on Rainbow Road where Mario literally does the speedrun shortcut is this movie firing on all cylinders.

Other, more hand-to-hand fights nail the Popeye-esque vibe Mario should be going for. He's an underdog who gets the shit kicked out of him by bigger, stronger opponents until he gets his signature powerup and turns the tables on them. My favorite animation of all probably came from the use of Cat Mario to turn the tide in the DK fight. They had so much fun making Mario move like a cat. Again, it feels like a choice made because it'd be fun to animate rather than just a nostalgia move.

It's that animation and that attention to detail that carry the film, really. They elevate it from mediocrity into being a fun watch for a fan like me, albeit one I couldn't help but pick apart with Anthony as we watched it at home. I'm glad I saw it, but there's a lot of room to improve with the inevitable sequel. I hope they do. I can't deny that I had fun with the movie, but I hope next time that fun is partially because of the script instead of in spite of it.

Stray thoughts:

Overall, I would say I enjoyed the movie a lot more than Sonic 1, but probably not as much as Sonic 2. Not that these movies need to be pitted against each other.

I hated the Luma. I hated how hilarious they clearly thought the Luma was. They have the fucking Luma break the fourth wall to end the movie and start the credits. This is going to be a deep cut for fans of bad animated films, but the whole time I was just thinking of the little fish from Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With A Kiss who's just the director's kid saying random nonsense. You know I'm right

I rolled my eyes at the "our princess is in another castle" joke and several other jokes that would have been dated in a gamer webcomic 20 years ago but I guess they had to be there

How much of Brooklyn did Bowser's giant floating castle take out? We know 9/11 happened in this universe because the Freedom Tower is there, hasn't New York been through enough

I can't believe there's a Diskun easter egg

The dog is the most Illumination character design in the movie. It felt like it wandered on set from The Secret Life of Pets

Mario being a gamer and playing Kid Icarus of all things just made me remember this tweet:

Yes Anthony did get mad at me for being thirsty for Bowser

[greenerteacups]

Hi! Just wanted to say the latest chapter is lovely & amazing & sweet & had me smiling the whole time! I absolutely love your characterisation of everyone, especially Draco, so it was so so lovely to return to this world & to his thoughts!! with his best friend and crush at malfoy manor no less! All the yearning is already off to a great start hehe I am so excited for the rest of book 5!

Wanted to ask you how has it been for you to write this new book and volume? Has your writing process changed since when you’d first begun taking on a long form project like this?

& also are there any moments or surprises in this book that you’re especially excited about?

sending so much love & gratitude for you and your incredible works 💓

Thank you so much! This is really encouraging, I so appreciate it.

Inasmuch as I can use this metaphor without having kids myself, I sort of see each of the books as a different child. The first one flew out in basically a few weeks of very intensive writing, and it was a total dream — plot, pacing, symbolism, major beats, all fell into place basically without effort. The character stuff was the hardest, as I've written about before, but even then, the glorious part of writing beginnings is it's the most energy you'll ever have for a project, so the lows were pretty soft lows. Book 2, in contrast, I had to drag kicking and screaming by its ankle from under the bottommost mattress of my brain. It's one of my least favorite books (tone problem; COS has killer plot/setting/ingredients for a YA novel, but it's stuck in the doldrums of Harry Potter's well-documented Early-Installment Weirdness, before Cedric Diggory slams the gas and upshifts the whole series into its correct age bracket). More specifically, once I'd gone through and picked out everything in the book that happened because of Lucius, I didn't have a plot — hey alexa how do you rewrite Chamber of Secrets when We Got No Fucking Chamber Of Secrets — and oh by the way, even if you want to do a moody tone/political setup book, remember that your protagonists are still twelve, so if you go too dark or too intense, you'll risk torpedoing your readers' suspension of disbelief. Good luck, Charlie.

Book 3 felt the most like its own novel, if that makes sense? It's the last truly feel-good book of the series; it's a great stand-alone mystery novel with relatively low stakes. Plus you get a bunch of the big series icons: patronuses, dementors, werewolves, Hogsmeade, the Marauders' Map, and time turners arithmancy. It just felt like a good old-fashioned motherfucking romp of a mystery/adventure story, before any of the complex character work and major stakes of the late books come in.

Book 4 was the most fun I've had writing anything maybe ever. I don't even know what it was. Maybe the tournament arc, honestly? Love me a tournament arc. But in any case, I opened every new chapter feeling a tingle of excitement for what I was gonna get to do. Oh, and the romance started, finally, Jesus God (if it feels like a slow burn reading, just imagine what it felt like writing it, when everything takes ten times as long, and you have to figure out how to word the fucker.)

Book 5, in contrast, has felt much less like that tingle of "here we go!" and more like "oh, man, this is gonna be cool." Because this is the arc of the story that composed the original idea for Lionheart, literally years ago, and to be honest, I didn't think I'd get this far! If you'd asked me "do you know that it's going to take you 500,000 words of backstory before you can start writing that concept you're thinking about, and you're going to do it anyway?" I would have said: "absolutely not, strange mind-reader!" But like... I'm here! Finally! And it's... real now? Like, this isn't just a bunch of clips of scenes in my head anymore! That's rad!

That being said, it's definitely been slower than Book 4, because I kept switching back to my outline document to make sure that certain things were set up properly, and that I hadn't lost any of the plot threads or forgotten a minor beat that was vitally important for the story three chapters later. And I had a minor crisis about three months ago when I ripped out about 8 chapters in the first third of the book — basically everything from September to December — because I'd done a readthrough to check pacing (big mistake! never edit while drafting, that's satan talking) and realized I had a missing storyline. Like, there was a whole layer of the story that was just. Missing. Not there. And the existing text really couldn't fit another thread, so instead of taking weeks to pore through and try to sift out what I could save, I needed to factory reset and start over. And I didn't want to! I vividly remember sitting there with my head in my hands, trying not to weep, because I'd decimated 90,000 words of work in a single edit. But it had to be done. Because the story wasn't going to work. And now (hopefully) it will.

And of course, there's still that sense of excitement and exhilaration from before. Always. But whereas Book 4 felt like a delicious chocolate pudding, Book 5 is a medium-rare steak.

(Book 6, so far, is four shots of espresso and a whiskey chaser. FWIW.)

[popcultureoverdosed]

Blood Blockade Battlefront is New York at its Finest

NYC often gets a bad rep. Most people either see it as a smelly hellhole filled with crime and crappy attitudes or a breeding ground for hipsters and vapid socialites. People only see what they want to see without looking at the whole picture. This makes Leonardo's all-seeing eyes of God all the more important. Instead of lumping NYC into a box, he sees it for what it truly is; a chaotic blend of volatile elements.

The storytelling of Blood Blockade Battlefront is pure chaos from beginning to end. Leonardo is thrown into a world of highly deadly scenarios with very little breathing room in between. Each episode focuses on a moment in the character's life. One episode will focus on Leonardo befriending an amnesiac monster who loves burgers and another will feature a brigade of Charlie's angels-esque spies who happen to be invisible werewolves. It's the type of show that always keeps you on your toes because you never know what to expect. Some have criticized the show for its lack of an overarching plot and treat it as if that's inherently bad. Blood Bloockade isn't the type of show that needs a complex narrative. Its biggest appeal is simply seeing its eccentric cast interact with each other. Its episodic nature made watching it a breeze since viewers are never overwhelmed with too much information.

Worldbuilding is done at a casual pace where background lore is only given when it's relevant to what's currently happening. Since most characters are already well familiar with the lore, they usually cut the small talk and get straight to the action. In this way, the narrative mirrors New Yorker's aversion to beating around the bush. Show don't tell at its finest. We need more shows that just get to the point. Rie Matsumoto, director of season 1, feels a bit different about the story than I do, though. She inserted two original characters, Black and White, a pair of siblings who share a character arc that Intersects with Leo's. Under normal circumstances, this would have been an incredibly bad move. Filler in anime tends to feel pointless and just detracts from the story. Luckily, Rie Matsumoto made sure that the filler didn't feel like filler. It was fun watching the mystery surrounding the sibling duo unravel with each episode. It eventually culminated in a finale that was nearly an hour long. Matsumoto took a huge risk with her bold decision, but she definitely stuck the landing.

The production values of the show are also top-notch. Pretty much every episode is a reminder of why studio Bones is such a beloved company. They seriously put their key animators to work in both seasons. The fluidity of the fight scenes always left me impressed. Character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto did a great job at bringing Yasuhiro Nightow's art to animation with his iconic style. I love how even when Toshihiro is adapting someone else's character design, his style still shines through.

Special mention needs to be given to composer Taisei Iwasaki because he really killed it with this soundtrack. It's an eclectic blend of jazz, RNB, hip-hop, rock and more genres that perfectly captures the vibe of a busy New York City. Each track is a different flavor of the city and made me feel at home. The soundtrack truly embodies the chaotic feel of the show and captures its occasional serene moments perfectly.The true musical highlights are the openings and endings. BBB is one of those shows where you feel compelled to watch the full episode because the opening and ending are too good to skip. They're all incredibly upbeat songs that make you wanna stop everything and dance. Sugar song and bitter step is one of my favorite anime endings because of it's colorful animation and cheerful aura.

Blood Blockade Battlefront is the type of show that can really resonate with native New Yorkers. We see all the highs and lows of the city almost every day and you have to be just a little bit crazy to appreciate NYC for what it is.

[oodlyenough]

now that i've finished dual destinies here is how i'd rank the aa games that i've played.

this started as a bulleted list but then as always i ended up rambling forever, so, some of it is under the cut. spoilers for AA1-5 & AAI1. anything not listed is a game i've not yet played

1. Ace Attorney (1)

can't beat the original. ok so maybe the first time i played turnabout samurai i got so bored i took a 3 year break. that's not the point. i was weak. i think this game is the tightest and as the introduction to the concept and the characters it does a surprisingly good job of balancing and developing all of them. pretty satisfying arcs and relationships for every major character. also 1-4 and 1-5 are two of The best cases ever.

2. Ace Attorney 3/Trials and Tribulations

this one coasts on the strength of the dahlia throughline. all three of her cases are great. the fey lore develops so well and so interestingly, i loved getting a chance to play mia, dahlia is the best AA villain, bridge to turnabout has so many great things going on, edgeworth v franziska rules, phoenix investigating with franziska rules. it had some of my favourite puzzles and puzzle solving. the weak points that lose it top spot for me are that i didn't like how edgeworth and franziska evaporate from 3-5 in the second half, i wish maya had a bigger role in 3-5, and i don't enjoy anything about godot. also the two middle cases bored me to tears

3. Ace Attorney 2/Justice for All

this is a messier game than the above two for sure and i also thought it had the worst puzzle writing of the original trilogy. the magatama's use here is a bit clunky. i also think the way edgeworth's disappearance and return is handled is not quite as satisfying as it could've been for such a big emotional thing. the execution of the start of 2-4 with maya's kidnapping and engarde hiring phoenix could've been done much smoother.

BUT: i love the expansion of the fey lore, introduction of morgan and pearl and kurain, and franziska is my specialest little girl and i love that she's here. and 2-4, especially as it goes on, is such a good interesting case and some of the BEST character stuff for phoenix and edgeworth and truly made me unwell about the ship indefinitely. edgeworth hunched over his desk with bugged out eyes through gritted teeth "the prosecution... rests..." ??? peak romance

4. Ace Attorney 4/Apollo Justice

this is a really fun game that has the difficult task of introducing a lot of new characters and it pulls that off fairly well. apollo, trucy and klavier are all really fun. it's super interesting to see phoenix as an NPC and see what a mysterious galaxybrain he is when you're not given a front-row ticket to his scattered thoughts. i think the mystery writing here was coherent and pretty tight and i had fun solving the puzzles. 4-1 is one of the best tutorial cases for sure.

downside is that it's underbaked and you can tell. the new characters, while likable, barely get a chance to shine or really develop. apollo is not really much more than an avatar, the story is still about phoenix. and even when i'm enjoying the game, it just does honestly feel kind of... mean... the way the game drops every character from the trilogy and does what it does with phoenix.

5. Ace Attorney Investigations 1

fun pixel sprites, some fun new characters, it's cool to be able to walk my lil dude around and click on stuff. some of it is pretty funny. there's a surprisingly large variety of new female characters in different kinds of roles and personalities and designs and i always appreciate that.

the mysteries are not very good and the puzzles are frequently frustrating. the lack of trial day structure means the pacing feels wonky in many places. the returning characters are not written very well, franziska in particular is a flanderized shadow of herself, and most damning of all: edgeworth, the main character, is not written particularly well. the bratworth flashback in particular shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the character established by the trilogy imo.

6. Ace Attorney 5/Dual Destinies

this game had most of the same flaws as AAI and it didn't even have nice art or fun investigation banter to save it. i like athena a lot, i love aura and canon lesbians, it's nice to see phoenix as a lawyer again and get some confirmation edgeworth and the feys didn't fuckin die off screen. aa5 klavier is fucking hilarious. some of the new NPCs are funny s/o to the orca and plonco and robin.

the non-chronological plot was unnecessarily convoluted, the dark age of the law was emphasized so much only to be totally underdeveloped, the phantom plot twist was cool for three seconds and then pretty stupid in retrospect. apollo's storyline is a disaster. trucy has been replaced by an automaton that talks about panties. the lack of being able to investigate scenery makes the investigation days short, hurts character development and contributes the pacing that makes every final trial day feel interminably long and infuriating. too many plot twists rely on the game simply not providing evidence until the last second, at which point the twist becomes obvious. the nicest thing i can say for dual destinies is that it didn't irreparably break anything i loved in the previous games.

[applesandbannas747]

If you lost all of the stories you’ve ever published on ao3 and were only able to recover five, which stories would they be, and why? (Top five across the board, but top five fence fics would be cool too) 📚✨

I completely welcome you to write a novel length answer 📝✨

okay HOW did I never see this one? This is such a fun and mean question!!

In no particular order:

Fairy Bound - this is my only current Artemis Fowl fic, but it's one of my favorite things I've ever written because it's everything I want in a series that was long finished when I wrote it. It's the ending and conclusion I wish the characters got (and I'm disappointed severely with the new canon material). It's also just full of tropes I love and has moments that have a soft spot in my heart. I also know it's meant as much to a good number of people in the fandom as it has to me, so it would be missed if it were lost

Truths - this took the cake for longest work I'd written for a long time before being dethroned, and it was a really cool experience to write. I think the Truths series was the last I wrote as I posted, which was really fun because some comments helped shape it if I remember correctly. It's where I really fleshed out a lot of my ideas about Fence and the characters and was a huge milestone in my writing abilitiy--it really helped me to improve in a lot of ways, and I think it was a milestone in my Fence era as well. I connected with a lot of people during its run that I've longsince lost contact with but will always love, and it's another one that people tell me from time to time really means something to them, which makes me love it extra for that--I don’t know, connection? And of course I used a lot of tropes I love and built up a lot of headcanons and lore that I still carry to this day!

Trouble - man this is where Eugesse started, and I can't abandon it even if I'd change so much about it if I wrote it again. I love a lot of moments from this fic and I indulged so much in building the Labaos and learning how to code to make text messages--it was a fic filled with so many firsts! But I also assumed it would be a fic filled with a lot of lasts--I truly didn't intend to write Eugesse again until we had more content on him because this was back during The Great Hiatus (but boy am I glad I didn't stick to that 💀💀💀)... So the iea with Trouble was that it got to be paced weirdly because there were so many moments, beats, and tropes I wanted to hit with Eugesse and this was my only chance, so I needed to fit them all in. So while this is the only fic I debated over including on this list because I think it's the weakest one here in terms of writing, it will always hold a special place in my heart, and it means a lot to me.

Promised Things - how could I not include the Things to Hold Onto series? In a very literal way if my house were burning to the ground, the physical bookbound (!!!!!) versions a friend made and sent me would be top priority after living things. This is another fic that I really strove to improve my writing with, and it's significant as well because it was the fic I wrote after an autistic meltdown over the ARC of Striking Distance I read, after which, I felt sick and conflicted whenever I thought about writing for Fence because the thought of adjusting my characterizations to fit canon made sent me spiraling. So I took a break and wrote a couple novels, including one that took the plot of an au I'd been looking forward to writing (if you're wondering when this 'break' took place, it was March-July 2020; I had enough backlog that there was never a break in my posting schedule to reflect the break I took in writing). But do you know what I found? I was more miserable not writing for Fence than anything, and even while I was actively writing novels in NaNoWriMo challenges, I found myself sneaking in writing time for Fence anyway--for Promised Things, specifically. And I found my love of Fence again through it, which sounds like such a conceited thing to say lmfao but I love who I thought the characters were and writing this fic helped me start to accept that it was okay to still write them the way I saw them. So on a meta level, this one means a lot to me. And on a writing level, I'm proud of the detail I put into it and the planning it took. Pull up any chapter in this series and I could find the day of the week it took place on. I've not quite achieved this level of detail since. It also got a lot of editing to improve it as we went along, and I'm happy with how it turned out and proud of the work that went into it. And, yeah, I'm lizardbrained too and the fact that this one got WAY more love than I ever expected in any way does (positively) effect how I see it. So this one's getting saved lol

Breakable Things - to this day, this fic is one of the stories I am proudest of, and I think it's a strong piece of writing in terms of character development. It was a long redemption arc for Jesse and I worked really hard on making it a successful one--and it is the number one fic I've had people tell me I won them over with Jesse in, so I like to think that it was a successful arc XD I've always said that in this series, Seiji and Jesse both grew up in hell, but they both view Jesse and Jesse only as the monster--and in Promised Things, we get Seiji's point of view, and Nick's, who is seeing through the damage done to Seiji and seeing a monster in Jesse through it. Which made writing Breakable Things so fucking fun because Eugene's the only perspective that doesn't cast Jesse as the villain. And, yeah, Jesse sees himself as a victim and likes to throw himself pity parties, but under it all, it's not Seiji he blames for anything, it's not his dad, it's hardly even Nick. and we get to see that in this fic and see how the damage he caused is just as real as before, but that his pain isn't less than Seiji's. And more than any other character in the series, Jesse works to confront the truth of who he is and figure it out and improve, a lot of the time, alone. Seiji fell into a situation that naturally healed him. Jesse dove head first into one that was intended to break everyone--but he was also put on an edge that Seiji wasn't, and that made all the difference. Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about Jesse and I had a lot of fun trying to redeem him/show his side and contrast it with Seiji's without making it feel like I was trying to tragic-backstory his ass out of accountability for the shit he did. Also! I wrote bits of this fic in tandem with Promised Things--any major scene with Jesse, I either had notes for Jesse's side, wrote Jesse's side right after, or even wrote Jesse's POV of it first, which was an interesting way of writing a sequel that I've never done any other time.

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

I actually am trying to remember is you answered this already. But do you have any characters that are essentially “Bakugou but done better”?

I have but it’s been so far back that I can’t even find it 😭. Seriously, why does Tumblr’s search system when searching for stuff in your own blog suck so much?

So Katsuki’s archetype is basically smug prick who learns to be a better person. These characters have similar arcs to Katsuki, but are obviously done way better:

- Superboy/Kon-el/Conner Kent (DC Comics): Easily the best example of this trope, and I’m not saying that cause he’s my favorite character of all time. Going from a smug kid who thought he deserved to be called Superman to someone who carved his own legacy and became a hero who inspired many. His story’s a very powerful one that I love. If you haven’t followed Superboy’s journey in the comics, seriously consider doing so. I can’t express how much I adore this character.

- Teddy Jin (Weak Hero): Another fantastic example. His change doesn’t feel forced, he faces consequences for his actions, and even learns that there’s more to life than what he initially thought. If you haven’t read Weak Hero, I’d really recommend doing so. It starts slow, but once it picks up its pace, it’s a great read, especially if you were a former/current bully victim.

- Ryu (The Boxer): Easily one of the best characters who follows the same archetype as Katsuki. As a character, nearly the exact same as Katsuki, where he’s gifted and as such, bullies those who are weaker. He gets a much needed reality check right off the bat, he faces consequences for his actions, is humbled, and even delivers a heartfelt apology to his former victim by only using the two words “I’m sorry”. For him though, it works because you can see that he’s actually sorry and the apology had some fantastic buildup to it. If you haven’t read The Boxer, please do. It’s a fantastically written WEBTOON with a lot of heart and you really grow attached and invested in the characters that show up in the story.

- Tony Stark/Iron Man (MCU): Goes from doing whatever he wants to realizing that his actions have consequences, so he does his best to be a better person.

- Dr. Strange (MCU): Learns what it’s like to suffer, ends up being more grateful for the things in his life, and learns that you can’t control everything.

I also wanna give a mention to Wolf Keum from Weak Hero. Though I wouldn’t say he’s from the same archetype as Katsuki, they do share similar traits. Both are unapologetic assholes who love fighting. However, where Wolf succeeds and Katsuki fails is that the narrative agrees that Wolf is an unapologetic asshole whereas MHA constantly forces the idea that there’s some good in Katsuki. Except for a fight against the MC, Wolf’s fights are against other assholes, and as such, it’s really fun to watch him be the adrenaline crazy fuck that he is without the narrative trying to tell us that he’s good. He’s one of those characters where he’s clearly bad, but who gives a fuck? In MHA, the narrative wants us to think there’s some good in Katsuki and that he’s going to redeem himself, but when he does shit like bully Izuku or brutally beat his classmates, it doesn’t come off as charming or endearing. It’s just outright vile.

[sfsolace]

My thoughts on the Hakumei & Mikochi anime

Having recently finished watching the series again, i felt like giving my opinion on the anime adaptation of "Hakumei & Mikochi".

Warning: this post will contain spoilers for season 1 of the anime, so if you just want a quick overview of what to expect, please check my other post.

(Believe it or not, i couldn't find a decent picture of the cover art. The one on imbd is the english version with the horrible font and the one on myanimelist has approximately 5 total pixels)

So here's my general thoughts on the anime: I like it a lot! It's what first introduced me to the series and i think it's a great adaptation of the source material. They did a bunch of smart things in adapting the manga and created something that can stand on it's own as a season of television. It's still my go to anime to recommend to someone to watch while they're sick or feeling a bit down, since the 12 episodes can be watched in a relatively short timeframe.

I really like the vibe of the anime, everything has sort of a warmness to it. From the sound design to the color palette to the pacing, it all has a soft, warm, homely feel that hits exactly right.

What I also like is that some shots are actual panels, giving it sort of a manga feel. This, together with the vignettes that are always matched to the content of a given scene, is a great choice by the director and adds to the unique style of the anime.

I already talked about the music in this other post, so I won't repeat too much here; but the soundtrack is honestly one of the most varied and creative anime soundtracks I've ever heard. It amazes me how the composer can use this many different instruments while still making it seem unified instead of messy. The soundtrack really elevates the anime and makes the emotional beats hit so much harder.

Plus, the ending is also an absolute jam and i love how they used it to close out the final episode with all of the characters we've met. I'm pretty sure this is one of the original additions to the anime, as I can't find an equivalent in the manga.

Which brings me to my next point: it's awesome that the creators of the show took the episodic nature of the manga and used it to make more of a "greatest hits compilation" of the first five volumes instead of going through the chapters chronologically. This way certain stories/chapters were moved to the same episode, so they form more complete arcs.

The anime lets it all culminate in the final episode, where we get to see the next harvest festival, with all the characters we've met throughout the series being there to celebrate. It's a fun sendoff to the stories that were told in this short season and i think they gave a lot the characters ample time to shine.

I think the anime nails the artstyle of the manga. Sure, a lot of the more intricate drawings from the original are hard to top; but the creators of the anime focused on getting the characters and general feel right, which should be the top priority.

The voice acting also makes a huge difference when comparing the story on page and on screen. The original japanese dub just has amazing performances all around. I especially like Jada's voice, because it adds such a unique touch to her character. When she appears in the manga, i instantly read the lines in her voice.

On this recent rewatch i watched the english dub for the first time (didn't know there was one) and I gotta say: It's pretty good! Hakumei and Mikochi are pretty well cast, Conju and Iwashi are great; however, a few characters feel like safe/uninteresting choices. Also the translation and voice acting is a bit "uneven" at times.

I don't think that's the fault of the team that did the dubbing, a lot of these moments feel like they just needed another pass over the script or another take for a scene and simply didn't have enough time for it. I can defnitely recommend the english dub to people who don't watch anime with subs.

All in all, I think the anime is a wonderful adaption and even if you don't follow the manga, it is a nice 12-episode anime to watch and recommend. The team behind it seems to have passion for the story and used the limited resources they had to make something really special.

I don't think we're gonna get a season two, since the anime didn't perform too well; but I'm very grateful to have found this anime before it disappeared from streaming.

If this was at all interesting to you and you like cozy anime: please give it a watch! It's only 12 episodes and it's something really special.

Thanks for reading! <3

[onceuponalegendbg]

Alright so, my thoughts on what is hopefully the first season of the One Piece Live Action adaptation.

I really really enjoyed it.

Oh my god the pacing of this show, for the most part, is so good. The pacing of this show didn’t make me want to pull my hair out. I feel like that’s one of my biggest gripes with the anime, because of the nature of what it is, it will draw things out forever and by the time we get to the point I’ve already lost interest. Not a problem here… for the most part, but I’ll touch on that in a moment.

The overall look and feel of the show is actually what it needed to be. It didn’t take itself too seriously, especially at the beginning, was fun and captured the spirit of adventure the show has. The sets were also just incredible and I have to applaud the use of practical effects where they could. Really helped make things seem more tangible… because it was. And the CGI they do use, for the most part, looks really good. Not completely realistic but not “oh wow that’s cheap.”

Do you realize how hard it is to make a character like Arlong actually seem threatening in live action? And not come off looking incredibly stupid? A lot of that is due to the make up team obviously, but also the voice and presence of the actor. Mckinley Belcher III really pulls some weight, despite obviously not being as giant as his anime/manga counterpart.

The cast for this show was spot on. People have been praising Inaki Godoy, as they should. He deserves it. He’s a great Luffy. Mackenyu was great as Zoro, perfect amount of swagger. Jacob Romero was fun as Usopp, actually made me kind of like Usopp. His chemistry with the actress playing Kaya (Celeste Loots) was so good. Taz Skylar was good as Sanji though I feel he really didn’t get a whole lot of time to show off.

Though unsurprisingly to me, I think my favorite performance was from Emily Rudd. Nami was already my favorite of the crew members but Emily really just hit all the right notes for me. Those screams when the Marines are taking her money? Perfection. But also everything leading up to the Arlong Arc, her trying to keep her walls up but also realizing she cares about this ragtag group of weirdos she’s found herself with, the subtleties in how she’s absolutely torn because she knows it can’t last forever. And when she’s playing tough amongst Arlong’s crew it doesn’t come off as cheesy or forced, she sells all of it.

I think overall there was only one weak performance for me but they still did what they were supposed to.

Alright, now with my positives out of the way…

I feel like we spent too much time with the Marines. Don’t get me wrong, the development for those characters was fine, but the more we cut back to them the more I was like “really? Again?” This was really my only gripe with the pacing, cuz it felt like a lot of the time we were just having Koby discover the same thing again and again. Koby is idealistic, oh no the Marines/Garp do something to threaten that idealism, rinse and repeat rinse and repeat rinse and repeat. That’s why I almost completely stopped commenting on that side of the story.

As much as I dislike saying it, outside of the great acting from everyone involved, the Arlong Arc kind of felt a little weak to me? Don’t get me wrong, I knew it wasn’t gonna beat the anime. The way you can emphasize things in animation is just more dynamic than live action. So I knew to keep my expectations somewhat more grounded. Still.

I lot of my issues are with how they told the story. I feel like a lot of the punch for the Arlong Arc came from Nojiko and the village knowing. They pretended to not know so Nami wouldn’t feel guilty abandoning them. And then that moment where all of the village is ready die fighting, Nami realizing she’s about to lose everything anyway after eight years of trying to protect it, that all leading into her breakdown… Not to mention Nami just continuing to deny Luffy’s help, throwing dirt, crying, telling Luffy this has nothing to do with him until finally finally she asks for help. Heck, we don’t even get Bellemere’s name spoken in this show! And the emphasis on Luffy destroying Nami’s prison! I just feel like we needed a bit more time with this story, which we could have got if we cut a couple Marine scenes.

Obviously, again, I wasn’t expecting a complete one for one retelling. I don’t mind changes as long as it still carries that emotion.

Would I still feel that way if I hadn’t seen the anime? I don’t know. I like to think I’d still be a little concerned about the pacing of that arc but that’s only speculation on my end.

It also just felt a little off that we had this big climax with Arlong and then we had to throw in that little confrontation with Garp. That kind of took some wind out of my sails. I get why they needed it, especially since they probably weren’t sure if they were gonna get a second season. Still.

All of this being said, I must reiterate that I really enjoyed this show. It wasn’t perfect but for an adaptation of an anime it was pretty spectacular. There was a lot of passion and love put into this, and it definitely shows. Hopefully we’re getting that season 2 eventually, and hopefully Netflix doesn’t do what they do and cancel it after that second season. *knock on wood*

[pbear]

Going to include some opinions on this one. Warning on spoilers for any of them.

Tokyo Revengers: Honestly kind of slogging through this one. I don’t exactly dislike it but I don’t think it’s for me. The time travel concept I do like but I’m not really into watching middle schoolers beat each other up. Still in the middle of season 1.

Horimiya: Literally watched all of season 1 in 2 days. Very enjoyable. It doesn’t beat around the bush and I like that. (Hori and Miyamura actually become a couple before the series ends so you see their dynamic before and after and it’s not some super dramatic moment where they get together. It just happens.) The characters are all extremely likable and I love watching their antics. I’m watching Horimiya: The Missing Pieces as it comes out and it’s great even though it’s mostly just everyday activities with the gang. Love them all.

Trigun 1998: Moved pretty slowly through this one. Finishing one episode didn’t make me want to watch another and it wasn’t because I was disliking the plot or characters. I got to the end and enjoyed it overall, but I never really had a clue what was going to happen next which didn’t make me anticipate the next episode. Wolfwood is my favorite even though the main four were all great. It also gave me Cowboy Bebop vibes.

Jujutsu Kaisen: On Season 2. Very good and animation is good as always. The flashback of Gojo’s time at Jujutsu Tech is bittersweet. Riko’s death is so painful and sudden. You see Geto’s change and it makes the current events of the series more personal. Shibuya arc is coming up and from the manga fans’ reaction, I’m expecting a lot of pain.

Bungou Stray Dogs: SEASON FIVE BABYYYYYYY. THIS SHOW HAS MY HEART AND SOUL. So far, the pacing has been better than last season. Mourning Akutagawa smiling as he lets Atsushi escape. Bones has left out some bits and pieces but it’s been very enjoyable. It’s weird that we’re catching up to manga events very fast though. I’m not sure where this season will end yet.

Black Clover: My new obsession. Watched it because it gave me Fairy Tail vibes and I love it for a lot of the same reasons I love Fairy Tail. The magic types are so cool to watch. The found family in the Black Bulls is a peak example of the trope. I love them all. A lot of the characters I’m super invested in. Favorites right now are Luck, Klaus, and Magna though. I keep making posts saying I just started but I’m like a third through the series already. It hasn’t made me cry yet but I know it will.

D20 Fantasy High Sophomore Year: Not as good as the first season but still great. I still have to finish the last episode but the arcs and development for all the Bad Kids is amazing. Dimension 20 in general is great for how it can switch between fun antics and telling a truly great story with touching moments. Standout moments include Hilda Hilda, Fabian learning to dance, Kristen trying to fly with a dance ribbon, Gorgug learning to be an artificer to talk to Zelda, and Fig and Ayda.

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Review Blurbs: Barbie (2023)

~General Thoughts~

-I thought this movie would be like... PG. And then it got really emotional when Barbie was looking through Gloria's memories of the days when her and her daughter were at their happiest before Sasha grew up. And then Barbie got called a fascist. So

-Margot Robbie is an insanely talented actor. I'm gonna be honest, I'm not sure how well the movie would've done for me if I wasn't invested in the main character but Margot completely ate the role and made the story of Stereotypical Barbie very endearing to watch

-The pacing was surprisingly good for me, I'm usually really picky about pacing but they were able to balance out transitioning from the silly stuff to serious and back again pretty well, Greta Gerwig you have my applause

-Its an interesting detail that the Real World is still intentionally somewhat unrealistic and caricature-ish similar to the Barbie world is; not sure if that's just Greta's style or if there was a reason for it, made the movie a little jarring imo but I'd love to know why she did it and what effect she was going for

-The fact that Barbie wasn't interested in Ken and rejected him and it was treated as a good thing is just *chef's kiss*

-The Kens fight scene being a colorful musical number with eccentric choreography was so fun to watch I want more

-I don't care what you've been through, nothing could've prepared anyone for that gynecology line. Its such a genius way to remind you that Barbie now has to deal with the biological changes of becoming human. 10/10

-Allan beating up the construction worker Kens was the best moment 10/10

-Speaking of Allan, I loved how Allan was a metaphor for someone who doesn't fit into the gender binary. He was the only non Barbie/Ken, had his own unique name and was always uncomfortable/disappointed with the world around him no matter who was in charge, which was a great way to subtly insert this kind of character. He happily sided with the Barbies to help take down the Kens, embracing all the pink and cheering alongside them when they won, while also looking very sad during the part where the Kens were realizing they failed. Just all of it screamed gender-non conforming to me. I've seen some interpretations saying Allan is a representation of a gay man (being more of a "Ken" presentation wise but finding more of a space among women and being deeply uncomfortable with patriarchy perpetuated by straight men) and some saying he's nonbinary (wanting to leave Barbieland behind and never being satisfied no matter who was in charge); either way, what they did with Allan was very cool and I'm glad some queerness, even if subtle and less prominent, was included in the movie)

-Similarly, Weird Barbie isn't getting nearly enough love. She was one of the most fun characters for me (Kate McKinnon magic, duh) and she like Allan could definitely represent someone out of the cishetero-normative/gender binary (I've seen people saying she's very queer-coded and it honestly makes sense, she tends to dress and act in more un-feminine ways which I think says butch lesbian but its up to interpretation) I am also very gay for her give her more attention cause she deserves it, seriously

-John Cena mermaid

-Simu Liu Ken constantly antagonizing Ryan Gosling Ken over Barbie's attention and being the better Ken within Barbieland is a metaphor for how patriarchy will put women against each other for the attention of men and make women fight each other too much to realize who the real enemy is

-Margot Robbie being acknowledged as "not the best to make this point about ugliness" was fantastic lmao, love the meta-narration

-The way Ken's story arc and the commentary around patriarchy with the incel-pipeline was very strong, and I respect Greta for critiquing it the way she did (I made a full post here )

-Ken and Ken should've kissed. Any of them. All of them.

-Barbie deciding to be human in the end despite her whole journey being about wanting to be a perfect Barbie doll again and her being terrified of flat feet and cellulite but then telling that old woman how beautiful she was and watching humans be normal and mimicking their expressions because even though its scary she wants to feel the way humans do because she sees the beauty in it and its a love letter to women and to people and the complexity of our messy species omfg I'm gonna cry other people said it better than me so go look at their stuff

-Barbie helping out Ken despite everything he'd done because she didn't want things to go back to how they were when Barbies ruled the world, she wanted something different, better, and she helped the person she had every right to want to hurt because we're supposed to be better than those who hurt us

~Criticisms~

-As an add-on to the caricature blurb, I felt a bit weird watching cause Greta's style recreated facets of misogyny as a caricature, so things like patriarchal brainwashing, sexual assault and other very harmful misogynist rhetoric were told in a slapstick way. I was uncomfortable throughout a lot of it, and I'm still deciding if I consider it a genuine criticism to have such matters told in this way or if its just personal preference; would like to know other thoughts if you're willing to share. Regardless, just be aware of it if that stuff's triggering to you so you're prepared for it

-Loved the emphasis on uplifting femininity in Barbie, and I understand the metaphor behind the change, but I can't help feel they pulled a Breakfast Club with Sasha going from her all black attire to suddenly very feminine and with makeup. Being gender non-conforming isn't just for queer people, lots of women are like this and it feels like media makes it seem like this kind of woman is impossible. Not all women wear makeup, not all women are feminine, and I would love for a more masculine/GNC woman character to be able to actually be that. I'll forgive it a bit since Barbies' styles kinda revolve around makeup, and Weird Barbie was consistently butch, just wish characters that are brought up with the prospect of gender-nonconformity could actually stay that way

~Final Thoughts~

Surprisingly good! Don't get me wrong, movies with this style can be good for sure but with the recent surge of mediocre movies I didn't have too much faith. However, I was very happy with how enjoyable and passionate it was. Highly recommend if you like caricature-type works, and/or want to get into some basic feminist ideology in a more fun way that's still very meaningful and heartfelt. Barbie is not just a feminist critique, but a love letter to women, girl hood, and the complexities of humans and how beautiful that can be <3

[saviourkingslut]

okay but curry can we PLEASE talk about how fucking PHENOMENAL like action Mihawk is. Had me on the brink of mental collapse 24/7 bc I kept thinking about his magnificence- he knocked it out of the PARK GODDAMNIT!!! Who's your fave from the live action cast and what are your thoughts?? Personally I think it's very good, I just wish Sanji's arc hadn't been cut (tho Don Krieg sucks as a villain, ngl, kinda happy Mihawk got rid of that bitchboy so easily ☠️☠️☠️), but other than that I'm SO proud of everyone involved, they really put in lov and dedication and respect for the series, I'm looking forward to more!!! How about you??🌸🌼🍀

ok full disclosure lest anyone think i have read the manga or seen the anime: i haven't, it's way long and i've never felt particularly drawn to it. HOWEVER i've seen my fair share of (shounen) anime and when i saw they were doing a live action of one piece i really thought it was going to suck bc the live actions always suck. boy was i wrong. everyone working on this from screenwriters to cinematographers to costume department to the actors themselves clearly love the source material and knew exactly what they were doing, and the vibe is Exactly Right. it's camp and fun and a little stupid like shounen anime tend to be and it fully embraces it and so it feels completely natural. of course the cat-themed pirate crew hiss and wear knife-gloves. of course there's characters with blue and green and whatever colour hair. of course the officers in the marines have personal Themes. we don't need any explanation, the world is just like this. and it's balanced exactly right so the more emotional, serious aspects of the story carry the weight that they need to without feeling out of place.

also, as a someone who hasn't engaged with the manga/anime, i think the series cut away/kept enough of the original material to come out of it feeling well-paced, understandable to newcomers and filled with fun recognisable bits for long-time fans. perhaps this meant, as you say, cutting out some pieces of character development/background that might have been enjoyable, but it's a well-made sacrifice bc it prevented the story from feeling too bloated. i think it was just right like this: gave us background on everyone and simultaneously left room for the story to process, without too many things at once to focus on. you could still sense that it was based on a manga bc of its little arcs - usually two eps with a minor boss to beat each time, and a bigger, badder boss at the end of the season. so i feel like keeping that theme in a narrative sense also really helped to make it reminiscent of the material it draws from and made it well-rounded and well-structured overall.

ANYWAY. mihawk. oh my god. i rewatched his scenes. multiple times. he was gorgeous. effervescent. insert the lady gaga meme. again i haven't engaged with the og material but i know these kinds of manga characters and there's so many ways to do them wrong but steven john ward really said 'i was made for this role actually' and he served absolute cunt. definitely up there among my favourite characters in the show - and that's saying a LOT bc im obsessed with almost everyone in it fr. they made me like the fucking clown (i hate clowns) buggy is genuinely incredible. the main cast? what the hell dude. they just found luffy living irl like... genuinely what the fuck. iñaki was born to play him and he did it so wonderfully - guy who is fatally optimistic but also insane and it works. nami's really cool as well - i've heard/read some stuff abt the writing of women especially in the earlier parts of the manga (woman in shounen main character group syndrome) but i think she was solid here and her interactions with the rest of the cast were great. also usopp! is so cute! so much potential to not have that kind of character work out in a real life adaptation but he's so lovable

and on that note the fucking. interactions amongst the main cast? im sobbing screaming crying they're everything to me. the way they're so supportive and proud and protective of each other and yet they talk shit the whole time too. there's so much chemistry among them and they truly do feel like people from different backgrounds who (sometimes reluctantly) come together and would do anything for each other. like real friends who have fun and make fun of each other too, it's a great dynamic and they really hit the mark there.

as to who's my favourite, well, as i said, mihawk's definitely up there, and im a simple hoe - i love zoro. but i think i enjoyed sanji's scenes the most and not just bc of his ass. heard he's kind of pervy in the og material? well the direction they took him in the live action where they kept the 'imprints on woman' but is overall sweet about it and generally less moody than he is in the anime/manga was a great direction i think. he's supremely enjoyable as a character. the accent? the facial expressions? the smiles? the jokes? im on my bed swooning and giggling and kicking my feet he is so fucking funny and i want him so bad. 'apologies madam i didn't see you there.' 'oooh back for seconds must have liked it' i literally re-watched every scene he was in at least once. his kicks were so nicely choreographed too it was really satisfying to look at, very clean (taz did god's work on his training). sometimes at home ill be doing nothing in particular like ill be standing in the living room and i'll mutter to myself 'cotelette. collier. epaulé. poitrine.' and go on with my day he lives in my brain rent free.

so uhm yea i think the series is really good and 1) sanji 2) mihawk 3) zoro if i had to put them in order i think lmaooo

[unnursvanablog]

Good Omens, season 2 / tv show review

This is not a spoiler free opinion on the the second season Good Omens

Although I was excited about this new series of Good Omens I did have my doubts and wondered how it would all turn out. The first series used the entire story that Gaiman and Pratchett had written in the novel, so there was nothing left to build the season two story on. However, there was another book that those friends had planning that never came out and one can always depend on Gaiman to be able to churn out a decent plot.

But somehow one might find it hard to see much of that plotting in season two of Good Omens, because there really isn't much meat on the bones when it comes to the multi-threaded narrative, stakes and such things that season one had to offer and it becomes very much just a way for the actors to play with the back story of the main characters and chemistry that Tennant and Sheen have have with each other. And since most people were tuning into Good Omens for that very reason (to see Tennant and Sheen together) there's not much more to the story and everything comes together at a steady but pleasant pace with very little stakes; becoming the ultimate cozy fantasy with a very slow-burn romance.

At first you almost don't notice the near lack of plot because there's still that little hint of a mystery that the main character have to solve and it hasn't hit you yet that it's all just a fluff. But by the middle it's become a little obvious that this puzzle that the main characters are solving and the various side stories are don't any urgency, or stakes to then. Which makes it all seem aimless at times. But despite the lack of highly thought-out plots, I can't say there wasn't any character exploration going on in the second season of Good Omens - even if those characters didn't have as much of an arc or room to grow as characters we get a good feel for their values, why they are they way they are ​​and their sense of the world and other things that do play a significant role within the story and explains certain decisions later on.

I also have to note the interesting use of romantic subplots this season with characters that almost mirror the two main character in terms of personality traits or aesthetics and how that love story affected or somewhat mirrored the relationship of the main characters in this will-this-happen-or-not relationship that Crowley and Aziraphale have. The ultimate slow-burn romance, which I really enjoy watching.

I thought for a long time that Gaiman was doing this (as well as another relationship that also manages to mirror the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale a bit) to make up for the fact that nothing was really going to happen right away with between these two immortal beings which is the glue that holds this story together, but it didn't turn out which I thought was great. I didn't expect it and I would have liked more than what we got with a better core story, but it still made my heart skip a beat. And I thought every little hint of this with the side shots and the mirrors was neat and well done by Gaiman.

Now, despite Pratchett and Gaiman started planning the sequel of Good Omens long before Pratchett passed away and the TV show existed and I applaud Gaiman as a writer this series felt like fluffy fanfic and as a bridge between the first and third series and the true, real plot of it all is all in the third season. That does not take away from the fun of it, but it got a bit frustrating towards the end. It never felt like a whole, complete story like the first one, which was frustrating.

It's fan service with a rather flimsy plot, but episodes easy to watch, there's good humor there, and you can literally watch Tennant and Sheen together on screen forever because they are just so good together. This is for the most part, if you don't focus too much on the plot that just sort of there, a very pleasant viewing experience. I just wanted something a little more complex, a little more plot and a little more risk to it all; not some bridge for something big in season three (because what if it just doesn't happen).

[giphit]

Review of Spider-Man 2 (PS2/GCN/Xbox)

A few months ago, I decided to play Spider-Man 2 on my VERY REAL Nintendo GameCube (Dolphin edition). Overall, I had a very fun time. Obviously the swinging is phenomenal, though it is not as approachable as the PS4 game. The combat is clunky but works most of the time. The world itself is honestly kind of barren and carried by the fact that swinging is fun. And the story is a mixed bag.

Long in-depth thoughts:

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Story

There's not much but the story in this game is very weird. As you'd expect, it covers the main narrative beats of the Raimi Spider-Man 2 movie but it adds its own stuff. And, opposite of what I expected, the movie stuff is the weakest part. As an actual adaptation, it's like we're just given an abridged version of that movie. These parts of the game feel kind of lackluster compared to the other parts of the story.

An example of this is with Doc Ock. In the movie we spend a good amount of time developing his relationship with Peter and establishing him as a mentor figure, meanwhile in the game, he's given a couple cutscenes before his accident and most of his time with Peter is cut off before a fade-to-black, back to the city as Spider-Man. Spidey will then say something along the lines of "Wow dinner with Doc was great, he's so smart, love that guy" and that's it. Maybe they expected you to have seen the movie so you'd know what these gaps were supposed to be.

A retelling of the movie isn't all this game is though, and the original content it gives you alongside the movie is super fun and interesting. My personal highlight is the Mysterio story line- everyone's seen the funny health bar clip. He's introduced as Quentin Beck, who dislikes Spider-Man and challenges him publicly only to lose. Post-humiliation, he puts a fish bowl on his head and uses his mystical power of "too much money and spare time" to pretend to be an alien staging an invasion of earth. This was just a fully enjoyable and funny quest line that doesn't just pad out the game but adds to it.

There's also the entirely new character arc that Peter goes on due to his interactions with Black Cat which actually introduce added depth to the internal "Spider-Man vs Peter Parker" thing he has going on. These two and other minor game-specific beats make it feel kind of "held-back" by having to tell the movie's story. You'll have a sequence of some really fun original quests followed by a watered down version of a moment from Spider-Man 2 (the movie).

I wouldn't say this even really takes away from the fun of the game, it is just a weird discrepancy.

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Swinging

It is nothing short of spectacular that this game, made in 2004, manages to have such enticing, deep and FUN traversal throughout the streets of New York. Jamie Fistrom is a genius, this idea of his was what paved the way for the evolution of Spider-Man games. But it's not perfect.

At the time, it probably was as perfect as could be but now going back to play it, there are some grievances. Mostly the problems are in the fine controls, a lot of games from this era have this "problem" of actually being TOO tight and responsive. Smash Melee is the best example (I love Melee), where it's near unapproachable for newer players due to a lack of buffer and requirement of clean execution on complicated tech.

Spider-Man 2 is not as hard to get into as Super Smash Bros. Melee but it definitely has a learning curve to it. Or I just suck. I was swinging into buildings non stop at the beginning of the game but over time you get better at it and more proficient at keeping your pace up.

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Combat

The combat in this game is very similar to the Arkham games, which is funny because those games came out 9 years after this. It's fair to say the combat is unrefined but it does get the job done and the combos are fun to pull off. Where the combat fall apart for me is in boss fights.

Despite liking the vibes and progression of the Mysterio parts of this game, I did not like the Mysterio "fight" (if you can call it that) at the statue of liberty. Getting to the orbs was annoying thanks to a lack of cooperation from Spider-Man's webs paired with me probably being a little bad at the game.

Then there's the Doctor Octopus fights which were just annoying. These fights feel really inconsistent and at some point I was just spamming buttons and hoping, which worked because this game was meant for children, but it was not satisfying to bang a head against a wall for a while. I'm sure there is a way to beat him consistently but the game did not convey it very well.

The shocker fights and Rhino were much more manageable but quite simple. Overall the combat is fine but there are points where it feels like a chore.

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Gameplay

Gameplay loop is very important in video games, and in this game, it ranges from fun to "oh this again, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay". The things to do in the city are: race, pizza, random crime and that fucking balloon.

Racing is a mixed bag. The races that are just swinging are fun because the swinging is fun. The races that ask you to wall run are annoying because the wall running in this game is not fun. Should be noted that I barely did any races during my playthrough and it's been months so maybe not the most accurate perspective coming from me here.

Pizza is fun, mostly because of the song, it is basically just another form of race but with more fun music and less stipulations. You just have to get from point A to points B through Z within an allotted time and make it back to point A. Don't do tricks or you'll ruin the pizza. Overall just fun.

Random crimes are incredibly annoying- after a while at least. When I started in the game, I was enjoying being Spider-Man, helping people out on a whim but as the game progressed, I realised that there are about 15 whole crimes/events to experience here. A couple are added to the RNG pool during the main story like Mysterio's robots and some walking tanks but that's it. Since you are forced to get hero points in every chapter, you have to keep doing these and by the end they are just monotonous tasks. It sucks that this is really all the city has to offer.

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Rating and Conclusion

Very fun game to play, technical achievement for its time and surprisingly well-aged. Combat is average, traversal is phenomenal, gameplay loop is pretty monotonous and the story is enjoyable in some parts and boring in others.

7/10

[beboped1]

Maskerade

It's been a few months - I realized I needed a break, that the books were starting to run together and feel samey. Then things exploded for a while, but now I'm back! I'll probably be slower than last time, but I'm hoping to find a sustainable pace to get through the whole set.

Maskerade

First Read: I honestly don't remember. Probably after grad school.

Verdict then: Fun but not super memorable. The twist ending is mostly what stuck

Verdict now: Some great lines, and Weatherwax/Ogg is always delightful. It's better than Moving Pictures, but Pratchett still hadn't quite nailed the balance between homage, parody, and core story. Plus, while admittedly good for its time, the fat jokes are still pretty gross.

I dropped out about 2/3 of the way through, after struggling for a couple weeks to get that far, and 9 months later, restarted and blasted through in two weekdays. I'd definitely been getting too used to Pratchett's style and jokes, making them less likely to land, and the break fixed that. But this book still felt almost standard - hitting many of the same kinds of jokes and same kinds of parody/homage/story beats as Moving Pictures, Witches Abroad, and Wyrd Sisters did.

As someone familiar with, but not enamored with Opera (did season tickets for about 4 years, but stopped after that), the jokes mostly landed, especially the ones which crossed over with modern theater. Pratchett does construct this book in a pretty clever way, intending for the book itself to stand as an example of how all those "silly" operatic tropes can still create emotion and story and wonder. But he's ultimately just not quite a good enough writer yet to pull it all off - the meta-structure of the book is too transparent, the twist too easily predictable (even given the meta structure), the binding to Phantom of the Opera in particular too tight. Where Moving Pictures' weakness came from the broadness of its focus, Maskerade was too focused - it's not a parody/homage of opera, it's a parody/homage of Phantom of the Opera.

Weatherwax is also too good in this book - after the complexity and struggles of Witches Abroad and Lords & Ladies, it's a little sad to return to a version of Weatherwax that's more Wyrd Sisters or Equal Rites, where Granny is too clever and too strong for anything to really bother her. I feel like the book takes her side against Nanny Ogg too often also - while their relationship has a lot of good-natured catfighting in it, many of the exchanges in this book crossed the line into cruelty for me. Ogg herself is wonderful though - I do love the way her way is constrasted to Granny's mostly without making it seem lesser.

That brings us to Agnes/Perdita. Pratchett is trying, oh, he's trying. And for the 90s, he's doing better than a lot of people - hell, he's still probably better than many today. But, man, the way he described Agnes' body, and Basilica/Slugg's, and even Ogg got a few jabs, was just shitty. Tie that to the Agnes/Perdita split, which may have resonated more with me when I was younger, I'll admit, but which now just felt...like not enough. Pratchett, while he was ultimately trying to treat his fat characters with some compassion, as he does everyone, still didn't question so much of the bullshit around weight that's hanging around in society. The complete acceptance of the standard cultural framing around weight meant that he could only be so compassionate, so understanding of Agnes. And that lack of connection, of understanding, meant the whole character fell flat to me in the end. Even her arc, a classic "coming to accept yourself" bit, didn't really work for me.

So, in the end, Maskerade is perfectly serviceable, and it's a long way from the mess of Interesting Times, but I'm not surprised I'd forgotten most of it - in the end, it just doesn't stand out. I was really hoping this rut I was seeing was just me getting burned out - but no, Maskerade still falls prey to many of the same things Soul Music and Feet of Clay did.

[absolutebearings]

after this latest ultimate extended rewatch with @lecampy i can finally say for sure: i like the hobbit movies more than the OT ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

All 6 are more consistent in quality than I remembered so there's less for me to get hung up on that i wasn't already accepting from the first movies -- there's infrequently wonky cgi, weird act 3 pacing, and stupid action sequences in the OT but they didn't get in the way of my enjoyment then, that's still the case for me here

i already like tolkien dwarves so all the focus on them was awesome, i like that they blended in some other tolkien works, i like that there were references to the cartoons and various illustrated editions

it must be said -- the soundtrack fucks! howard shore adds some new great dwarvish themes to the leitmotifs we're already familiar with and it works so well -- in particular its underscoring of thorin's descent is really really good

the biggest thing for me though is the characters. I am incredibly fond of all the dwarves, and bc the movies put effort into differentiating them I was able to quickly learn names. i always come away from a rewatching getting attached to a new character (this time its balin ;__;)

riddles in the dark! the barrel escape! goofy and heartfelt songs! outwitting trolls and bluffing dragons! i think all the best stuff from the novel is a lot of fun in large part bc freeman is the perfect bilbo, he handles this ridiculous, increasingly depressing procession of events with a combination of twitchy insecurity and desperate nerve and its exactly as i imagined

dont even get me started on armitage as thorin jesus christ holy fcuk. I'm still recovering and it's been a decade. his last scene had me in hysterics

in general bilbo is a more interesting and compelling protagonist, (all his little tics are so endearing!! there's like 50 Relatable Bilbo Moments per movie) and thorin's tragic character arc beats the shit out of anything from the OT. i wish i had 10 more hours of them interacting. i wish they had more time together

love the stuff with bard the bowman, he is a much more interesting figure than i initially gave him credit for, especially after laketown is destroyed and he's trying to care for all the refugees who immediately looked to him for guidance because he's the one that killed the dragon. he feels the weight of responsibility for their survival on his shoulders, his dragonslaying wasn't so much a feat as it is a prelude to the real work that is the result of prowess -- those who can, MUST. and that pressure drives his plea for thorin to just honor their prior agreement, and the feeling of betrayal when that plea is callously refused. its just like thorin taking responsibility for his people after erebor was lost (and the deliciousness of thorin treating bard like thranduil treated him, and the way the trauma of being abandoned to starvation and exile ripples out over years)

the critique i agree most with is the execution of the kili/tauriel romantic subplot, it could have been better developed imo, theyre really intense about each other after like one conversation LKJFdsjf

pacing is definitely wonky at times

specifically the pacing of the gandalf subplot was not as good as the main plot, but i think it was better handled in the extended editions

i dont think smaug was killed too quickly, or the confrontation was weirdly positioned astride the 2nd and 3rd movies bc the dragon isn't the most interesting antagonist of this story and there are more important things to explore, like thorin's descent into paranoia, his awful choices as a leader once he steps inside erebor and how theyre connected to his past experiences, and the way infighting leaves all parties vulnerable to destruction. but i'm someone who was bummed they cut scourging of the shire from the OT so i would enjoy stuff like this, those arcs that show the fallout after the Big Final Battle, (or what seemed like it at the time), where you have to reconcile real world shit like diplomacy w/ neighboring polities.

i still love the OT, its a classic for a reason, but the hobbit movies are underrated and i'll die on this (under)hill.