#hes cool i like how hes written so that he tries to justify his actions/twisting his actions to the reader themself

[vaugarde]

been reading rise of kyoshi and can i just say that jianzhu is a cool ass concept for an avatar antagonist

[esperanta-dragon]

I feel like there is a need to write down why so many people hate Sylvanas so much, me included. Maybe you can’t stand her too OR you love her and you don’t understand why the hell people can hate such an amazing character. Here is why. And I will try to write this down logically as possible. No “hur dur I hate her because she is a bitch!”. No, I will put down all things so you can understand. And one sad disclaimer... it’s not the character’s fault.

WHY WE STARTED TO LOVE HER

Sylvanas showed up in Warcraft III as a Ranger General of Quel’thalas. She was protecting her country for quite some time when Arthas attacked Eversong Woods in order to get to Sunwell and resurrect Kel’Thuzad as a lich. Sylvanas paid with her life and her soul to protect her people and her country. She was made banshee and was forced to do things against her will and serve the Scourge she hated. But she was still plotting her revenge, didn’t give up until the moment came and she took the chance. She reclaimed her body back and almost killed Arthas, and took over Lordaeron City. Then she took over the undead slowly freeing from the Lich King’s grasp and gave them a place where to stay, becoming their Queen. And since then, she was planning to kill the Lich King for good.

That’s why we loved her (I never did, I will explain that later why). She really kicked his ass. She slapped the Scourge in the face. She never gave up and was doing everything to achieve her goals, her revenge. There are not so many such strong female characters, so resolute. She was not good but also not evil, she was shady, she was not the boring good guy. So why the hell people hate her? She is perfect! Let’s go to what happened during and after WotLK... Because here it starts.

WRATH OF THE LICH KING

As I said, many people adore Sylvanas since Warcraft III. But they don’t understand the character is not the same. She was never good, she was an anti-hero, that’s the fact (the Ebon Blade are also anti-heroes and they are not bad, they just do necessary things to keep the Scourge in check). She was doing everything to take revenge on Arthas. And everything means that she had no problems walking over corpses of her allies. Causalities because of my fault? Pfft! No matter as long as the piece of trash sitting on the Frozen Throne will get what he deserves!

This was pretty much visible after Wrathgate when Varimathras and Putress tried to take over Undercity and Alliance and the Horde saw what she is doing inside the city. Still fine, it was in character, she was doing EVERYTHING to take revenge on Arthas. Everything. That’s why she existed, why she kept going. Even back then, I didn’t hate her. She was still a very well-written character. This is what a character in her position would do. 

But once everything was done, the Lich King was taken care of, she realized there is no point in her existence. She saw the Lich King was not destroyed. They only replaced him. So she threw herself from the Icecrown Citadel and fell on saronite spikes, the only thing that could definitely kill her.

And she ended up in a dark place. And the pain she felt was not like anything she felt before. It was the most horrible, the most inconsolable place. But val’kyras came down to her and sacrificed for her to get her back. Now we know what happened as we progress in the Shadowlands but... let’s say this was the beginning of the end for a good character Sylvanas once was. This was a start of cliché, inconsistency, and a great example that good characters should be allowed to go and leave so they can be remembered as a good characters.

WHAT CHANGED

Look, I came to WoW really late. I was playing on WotLK free servers as I could not afford to pay for official servers. But I knew the story in WotLK and I was still pretty ok with Sylvanas. I don’t remember hating her this much. She was well written.

It was Cataclysm Firelands patch when I finally could come to official servers. And Sylvanas was already doing pretty shady and disgusting stuff. I played Forsaken starting quest line so I know. Raising undead like the Lich King did? No problem for her. She even said she is like Arthas but she is working for the Horde (she never cared for them anyway, it was just more beneficial for her). What happened in Gilneas was not alright. Who gases the whole zone and making it inhabitable? Alright, let’s say Horde was expanding and Gilneas was next to Lordaeron. Alright. But back then, I finally dove deep into lore and I’ve noticed many people are really devoted to Sylvanas. It seemed almost like a cult. And every time I asked people, why they love this psyhopathic banshee, they were like: “She is my Queen! I love her, I would die for her! She is cool, she is taking care of us, she has a good heart!”

Something was amiss here... I couldn’t understand this. I couldn’t see what they saw. I saw a shady, ruthless and careless psychopath who is using her loyal subjects to save herself from something. And many people believed it even in BfA. Me and my friend had to show them excerpts from short stories where she say that “once they were arrows in her quiver, now they are bulwark against the darkness”. They couldn’t believe they loved Queen would not love them back!

But hey, still, I wanted to understand why people love her. I would understand if it would be still Warcraft III or WotLK, that’s fine. But Cata? Legion? BfA? Shadowlands? 

So I started reading all books, short stories where she was. Articles about her. I tried to catch the glimpse of why people loved her: the majority told me she is still good and has a good heart and she is an amazing person. But I didn’t see it. Maybe I am stupid and I don’t understand, I am missing something... So I kept studying, trying to see anything good in her, I was failing. I saw a character falling more down into a pit full of anger and hate. Her loyalists said she was an amazing creature, loving, caring.

And the more I was told by people that she is caring and she has a good heart, the more I was getting disgusted and angry because the more I was reading about her and the more her loyalists told me, the more I saw what Sylvanas is: inconsistent character.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH SYLVANAS

In one book she was written like this. In another book, she was written like that. In one quest it was like this, then it was like that. In one expansion she behaved this way, in the next expansion, it was that way. She was doing more and more twisted things and her loyalists kept telling me she has a good heart. My frustration was growing to the point I could not stand her. It felt like I’ve met the person I knew was torturing her friends but when I met them, they told me with bruises on their faces and definitely mentally abused that she is amazing and it’s not her fault, she is just misunderstood and I should love her too.

When she killed Liam Greymane, loyalists were like: “I have no clue why Genn hates her so much! That stupid dog should die!” Yeah right, somebody kills your son and destroys your home, you have no reason to be angry, it’s ok.

She burns down Teldrassil and they said: “Why Tyrande wants to kill her? I hope Sylvanas kills her first!” Sure, somebody burns down a city with thousands of innocent people, it’s fine, let them go, no hard feelings. And sometimes these people are able to justify her actions with: “But this is fantasy! There is different morale than in real world!” Please, guys, never ever write a story. Never touch it. You will end up like Steve Danuser making characters to behave like idiots and without emotions. Stay away. Please. Do world the favor.

I was trying really hard. Trying to figure out what kind of character she is. Find a pattern. Because you can write a chaotic character and still find a pattern and it can be still a consistent character. But Sylvanas? I felt more and more that not even Blizzard knows what to do with her, how to write her... she felt more and more inconsistent and out of place with every expansion. And you know what? That happens to characters which are kept in the story longer than they should. If character losts a meaning of their existence, there are only two options: you either let them go or you have to find them a new meaning. And in case of Sylvanas, the second option led to a narrative disaster.

We were told by Blizzard: “Don’t worry! Everything falls in place! It makes sense what she does!” But after the Sanctum of Domination finale? It was a big fat lie...

Before I come to the cinematic, let me tell you what made me hate her beyond every possible measure: her fandom.

HITLER HAD A GOOD HEART!

In Legion, she was doing shady stuff. But in BfA? She became a Hitler. She burned down Teldrassil because... IDK she snapped and wanted to show one elven archer that you can kill hope? And what kind of catapults she had has reach 20 km? What kind of catapults can burn down incredibly big tree SOAKED in water with thick bark. Was that azerite or... no, I am not gonna get angry. And I won’t even start with the b*shit Blizzard pulled: “Look, just because Sylvanas is right in front of Teldrassil doesn’t mean it was her who burned it down!” They had to lie to us to look that they can create a better story than what it actually is.

She destroyed Undercity so Forsaken lost their home. Is this how you take care of your subjects if you are loving and caring? I think not.

And with her actions, millions of souls from the whole cosmos are going right into the Maw for eternal suffering. And why? Because she was scared. Because instead of thinking about herself and trying to change, she rather schemed with the god of death... who was responsible for her misery. And even teamed with Kel’Thuzad, who was reason of her fate in the first place! And yet, after all this, after mass genocide, destroying souls, millions, maybe billions of souls are suffering because of her... and you can still tell me there is still good in her and she deserves redemption arch... And with love say: “She got us into this, she will get us out of this <3 ^_^” So somebody is making everybody suffer and some people are like “Ooooh it’s fine, I support her! I bet she will realize what she is doing and she will save us!” Would you say the same about Hitler? That he was misunderstood, he was trying to fix something that’s why he murdered millions of people? I am just asking what kind of people her loyalists are in real life.

I have a question... would you still love her if she was a man? Or decomposing undead? Or if she wouldn’t be sexy elf at all? If she would be ugly? I think we all know the answer (disclaimer, beautiful people are not always kind and nice, what a surprise). I bet she would be already killed or hated by majority of the community at least two expansions back. Why Garrosh had to stand trial for war crimes and Sylvanas doesn’t? To be honest, I never liked Garrosh, I hated him, but I never hated him as much I hate Sylvanas. He was at least consistent to his very last moment. But I am fed up by the fact that everybody keeps excusing what she does just because she is a sexy elf. This is not character I can respect. How can you say about such character that she is cool when you know she is commiting genocide? Let’s replace her with ugly elf and let’s see how many of you will still love her.

If you love her because she is a crazy homicidal maniac and you want her to do evil stuff, go ahead, nothing wrong with you, it’s fine. You love her because you think that she has a good heart and she is sending millions of souls into hell because she wants to help us? Take your pills and think twice before going on date with a manipulative person who will use you, beat you but will tell you they love you so much while cheating on you. Thanks.

If you are lying to yourself that she is good and has a good heart because you are afraid you wouldn’t like her anymore as a bad guy, then you love illusion you made around her, not the character itself. And you should seriously think if you really love the character if you need to change it that much in your mind to keep loving her.

GRAND FINALE

“If they are gonna give her redemption arch, I am gonna puke.” Many people told me, they would not. They are not gonna do it. She is beyond redemption, she is antagonist, period. Guess what, they did. The cheapest way possible.

Blizzard kept telling us everything will make sense in the end, why she did all these things. But it did not. And it only confirmed my greatest fear: Sylvanas is an inconsistent character since Cataclysm.

Sylvanas was afraid to go to the Maw. So she got an amazing idea. Let’s free the god of death, the malevolent creature trapped there because for sure he is suffering just like me, and injustice was done to him. He is the reason of my suffering because he made Helm of Domination and Frostmourne, that’s why I was killed and I am like this? I am sure he is a good guy, in the end, let’s remake reality so there is no life and death! That guy must be pretty ok. Oh wait his job is to torture souls? No, I don’t believe he is bad.

So when Jailer gets all he wanted, ofc he say that he will remake all reality and everybody will serve. And Sylvanas realizes: “Oh my, he is just like the Lich King! I didn’t want this! I will never serve!” Even she served him for the past few expansions. And suddenly she sees he is a bad guy. Suddenly.

And then, Jailer gives her half of her soul back... So... this is the explanation? She was doing all this because she was not whole? Is this an excuse for genocide? Now we will all feel sorry for her? Tell her it’s ok, you were not yourself?

I am saying this all the years and I will say it again: the Ebon Blade are order full of those with a fate like Sylvanas. The whole order. Multiple characters suffered under the Lich King like her, lost themselves, were made to kill their friends, their families. And they, too, took revenge on him. But instead of going crazy and trying to hurt everybody because they were hurt, they tried to help and protect people. Maybe they are missing part of their souls too. But are they running around, burning innocents, committing genocide? No. So please, the is no excuse, she was aware of what she was doing. I am not buying this and for sure this won’t make me feel sorry for her. It was her choice. You can be depressed and hurt into the very core and still decide not to be homicidal maniac.

Another annoying thing is, Blizzard kept telling us she is a master strategist and she is highly inteligent. Would a highly inteligent person try to help somebody responsible for her suffering? Being ok with them? There was not shown how come she is ok with the Jailer! Look I thought she is smart but after the cinematic, she does not look like that.

What was her plan anyway? Did she believe such creature won’t betray her, he won’t dump her? I was hoping he will dump her and kill her. That would be the only ending fitting for the character. I didn’t want another Kerrigan, I didn’t want redemption arch for her... I was hoping I will finally like her as a villain. Now I can’t... there is no way I will like her ever again because Blizzard probably can’t do just evil characters. There always must be something behind, some explanation why they are like this. “I was good this whole time!” And I am tired of this... Suddenly I like Garrosh because he was an asshole but he was consistent. He had a good ending. He “died” like a boss.

THEY SHOULD HAVE LET HER DIE

And I mean it. If they would let her go after WotLK, it would be a good ending for her. Tragic end for the tragic character. She fulfilled her purpose and she would be remembered as a good consistent character. But she is making a lot of money, many people love her (not anymore, even people who liked her hate her now and her fanbase is getting smaller) so Blizzard decided they have to milk her as much as possible.

I think everything good should come to an end. “You would either die as a hero or live long enough to become a villain.” In this case “You would either die as a good character or live long enough to become inconsistent and annoying character.” And it happened.

Remember how people were angry how Thrall is getting a lot of attention in Cata? Haha, good old times. How about Sylvanas in 3 expansion cinematics (and some side cinematics like Reckoning, etc) and 2 expansions fully focusing on her (and some other expansions where she is a lot too). How about the 15th figure in a row. And 4th Blizzcon art. And I can keep going.

Metzen had favorite characters... but they were never overused as much as Sylvanas. Vol’jin was warchief for 1 expansion where he did nothing and then he died so she could take lead in story. So many characters are forgotten, pushed down so she can be on the spotlight. And I am sick of it. This is not single player, this is MMORPG. The world feels ridiculously small thanks to this, we have more characters than Sylvanas + 5 characters they keep using and recycling all the time.

And keep using Sylvanas and putting her into the spotlight all the time did not help. You can start hating character you liked before just because you have enough of them and you want to see other characters. This world has a big potential. So many characters are unused because of Sylvanas. Because the lead narrative designer loves her so much that he had to make her the main character of WoW and doesn’t care there is a whole world to take care of. And he does the worst job possible. Because he tried to make her complicated and complex and in the end he was just trying to make it look like that but it didn’t work out. It was just inconsistent. It didn’t fall in place.

Her plot armor is so laughable and it’s the most annoying thing about Sylvanas. How characters around her are so stupid and dumb so they can let her do such stuff (hello Horde in BfA). The whole universe and Blizzard especially is protecting Sylvanas of any harm. How can you like such character when it behaves like Mary Sue? I didn’t want to see cinematic how she comes and beat up really powerful guy without any issues. You know how interesting would be if Four Horsemen managed to arrive earlier and they wouldn’t know if to fight the Lich King or Sylvanas? No, Blizzard wanted to show lady Sylvanas Plotarmor.

And the worst thing is, I feel like Shadowlands are my last expansion in WoW. This is where the story ends for me. And I know that many characters won’t get resolution, many story arcs will never close because they’ve put too much effort to work on Sylvanas and ignore other characters. So many characters could have met. Lore in Shadowlands could have been expanded about The Scourge, death knights, rune magic, etc... it did not. 

So no, Sylvanas is not one of the best characters created. If this is the best WoW can muster then there is nothing to be proud of. We would have good or better characters if Blizzard tried to work with more characters and give them space and a chance to develop. But we will never have them because Sylvanas took the spotlight.

Sylvanas for me is the character who will be put on guidelines on how to not use a character. This character will be perfect for DO NOT character development guidelines. And the whole story of WoW at least in BfA and Shadowlands is a great example of how to destroy the world with an amazing setting and characters. 

I hope I’ve made this clear why many people hate her. Because it’s much more complex problem. This character was misused, written horribly, overused, was given a poor and cheap story arch, made look stupid and it no longer makes sense. And on top of that, many characters will never get a resolution, many storylines won’t be finished because all story was focused on her and not on the world. World which was supposed to be “everybody’s story” was made story about Sylvanas. Just because she sells.

Good job Danuser, I hope you are happy.

Tl;Dr: Sylvanas is inconsistent since Cataclysm because Blizzard tried to make her complex character artificially and failed horribly. She should have died after WotLK and never made Warchief. They should have let her go so we can remember her as a good consistent character

P.S.: I am not native speaker, sorry for grammar errors.

[macgyvertape]

Castlevania kinda had a pacing problem

spoilers for all of Netflix’s Castlevania. I haven’t seen much analysis for the show on tumblr, im honestly curious if discussions I had with irl friends mirror what fandom talks about

tldr: Castlevania seems inconsistently paced from season to season, and within season as well, leads to a lot of characters motivations feeling unclear so characters repeatedly explain why they are doing something while they’re doing it

overview of the seasons:

S1 I know somewhat of a test for Netflix but it has good main trio character establishment and sets the scale of the conflict

s2: pretty complete emotional arc for most characters and resolves the plot of killing Dracula while setting up additional characters to continue the story. Isaac, Hector, Carmilla all established with the audience as characters whose story would continue

honestly I would bet this is the most popular season

S3: s2 did a bit of worldbuilding, but this season really fleshed out the world with both a wide range of locations and exploring the question of “what now, Dracula is dead but vampires and night creatures remain”.

There were basically 4 plot threads: 1) Sypha/Trevor investigating the cult & Saint Germain; 2) Hector & Carmilla (also introducing Lenore, Striga, Morana); 3) Isaac’s journey of revenge & self discovery; 4) Alucard sits around the castle and is betrayed.

overall characters roughly feel like they are in the same place if not worse. A big criticism I saw at the time, which hold up after rewatching this before s4 is nothing felt resolved for the main characters

I would say this season is where the pacing issues start to become apparent, juggling 4 plot threads that lack a central theme or even mutual character connection. If there was a central theme it would be “humans are awful to each other”. The Judge doing Hot Fuzz style murders, The Wizard in the tower, Sumi & Taka

S4: it starts with the same 4 plot threads, though upfront it is made clear that the plot theme is “people are trying to resurrect Dracula”, and the progression of the plot works to resolve unrelated plot threads until the main trio reunites for the boss fights. To me and my friends watching it was obvious that the show would reunite the main trio, the question was how and how far into the run time.

Season 4 is why I’m writing this essay, for the past 2 days I’ve been like, yeah that character sure explained their motives repeatedly maybe with some philosophical discussion, but it’s just such a weird place considering where they were in s3

Alucard’s arc:

Where he was left in season 3, it was after killing people he had trusted in self defense and impaling their corpses. It was clearly meant to parallel Dracula’s dislike of humanity. However overall his character lacked a proactive motivating force.

Honestly the most interesting thing I found in s3 was Alucard clearly misses Sypha and Trevor, however they don’t miss him or refer to him

One reason Sumi & Taka betray Alucard is for the secrets and power of Castlevania. After inviting the village including St Germain who Alucard was warned of into the Castle, Alucard makes 0 effort to secure anything, not even his personal childhood room. Guess he really learned nothing

Discussing St Germain, I think it’s funny that they had a several minute flashback sequence for his lost girlfriend (who doesn’t have a name or a voice actor), to remind the viewer of who he is, and to justify how he’s suddenly back and down for murder.

In s4 there is the call to help the village, and the walk back to the castle is a montage of Alucard opening up to Greta and becoming friendly literally overnight. He laughs off the impaling, and basically all of the darker things he went through in season 3, which has me asking what was the point of his season 3 arc then? 

Honestly writing this I realize the biggest parallel he has with Dracula is the call to action from a bold woman with a dramatic entrance speech which then leads to a romance

Isaac’s arc:

in s3, with all the other themes of “humanity sucks” I was always unsure if the townspeople were meant to appear irrational while attacking a larger force instead of letting him pass through an leave, or him not caring about how he’s provoking them is meant to show his insanity

ive seen the discussion elsewhere, curious about the Discourse here

is s4 Isaac has the whole monologue about how he now has agency but him gaining that agency was his s3 arc. In s4 he’s already at the point of accepting it. By the end of s4 he’s one of those who comes the furthest from his first character appearance to his last.

s4e5 where of Isaac attacking Carmilla in Isaac’s 2nd appearance had him resolving like 4 plot threads at once (Carmilla, Striga& Morana, Hector, and Isaac himself).

but i do wonder if Trevor, Sypha, or Alucard even know any of these people exist. I think not

I was honestly confused if I missed a scene from his dialogue about building something and what is inherent nature, to “My plan has evolved, my plan is now conquest” because he only conquests the one castle and the rest is left unclear

Upon rewatch the connection there is “killing [the wizard] felt just ... I liked that feeling”, so the show says that Isaac in the end attacked Carmilla for the sake of justice and not revenge.

Isaac in his last conversation expresses the theme of s4 “build something new on these old bones, where people can live for the future”

however, his arc honestly feel scenes were cut, and then dialogue was written around it. He’s the only living character who doesn’t show up in the epilogue and the sentient night creature “what if I could empty hell” dialogue was some of the most interesting worldbuilding. Night creatures with sentience and possibility of regaining memories!!!!

The Council of Sisters & Hector’s arc:

oh I’ve already seen s4 discourse about Lenore/Hector while searching for character analysis, a chunk of it seems to be rationalizing the absolute difference between how s3 ended with these characters and s4. It was extremely confusing for me and my friends; wondering if 1) was Hector showing more emotional intelligence than before and putting on a facade to cover up hatred? Nope 2) did more time pass than 6 weeks for there to be some kind stockholm syndrome? No, Hector seems fine to let Lenore kill herself

The slave control ring: played up in the climax of s3 and easily solved s4. s3 Lenore says if he tries to harm them, flee, or take it off it would cause crippling pain, in s4 Hector just easily cuts off his own finger.

for a control ring that they take time to show a version being on the Rebus, it doesn’t do much controlling of Hector

also guess the definition of “do harm” just refers to direct action

Lenore in s4: has no purpose in conquest, has that useless remarked on by multiple characters, is imprisoned, then kills herself after a genre aware philosophical discussion. This essay is long enough, but what the fuck happened to this character who ended s3 clearly physically and sexually abusive? Seriously this was one of the biggest writing changes to the point where she was treating Hector as an equal. Compare her last words in s3 “shh the real people [vampires] are talking”. The change in the relationship is actually something I would have taken being shown, or atleast told of what exactly caused this change other than the vague “you adopted him”

Striga&Morana get the best arc of the Council. 3 scenes: the tent argument, Daybreak armor fight & argument resolution, declaration of feelings and turning away. You could argue Castlevania is plot to be connective tissue between fight scenes, but for all the dialogue about human resistance in different seasons it was nice to see it. Overall the scenes were short but had a lot of showing what their relationship is not just telling,

unlike Carmilla. For as much hyping up as they did with her, and as much power as she had, she only appeared in 2 episodes and no other group except Isaac knew about her military conquest.

the map scene where she states her motive for conquest of wanting to take things from old men is the key example of how characterization became tell not show. How interesting was that monologue compared to the past seasons flashback to her murmuring the old vampire lord, or all her repeated insults of men/man-children that shows how she judges people??

That monologue had to carry the weight of justifying the Sisterhood bonds falling apart as well as why her motivation changed from building a human pen from Styria to Braila to world conquest. I think it did so poorly

Sypha & Trevor

really Sypha & Trevor have the main plot in the show. I checked and post season 1 the only episode they don’t appear in is s4e6, which is entirely devoted to the Isaac, Hector, and Council of Sisterhood arc. Their partnership and adventures are the main plot of the show.

Its easy to see what Trevor’s arc was over the show: coming to peace with the deaths of his family, taking up the mantle of being a Belmont, and starting a new family with Sypha.

With Sypha I actually had to scroll through tv tropes for what is her character arc, and I guess hers is disillusionment from adventure and life outside the speakers? My friends joke that Sypha’s magic is what the plot demands to look cool in a fight, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Tangent: the ending of their arc was easy to guess: as soon as Trevor went to fight the final boss alone I literally said “oh i bet Sypha’s pregnant, Trevor’s doing a heroic sacrifice, theyll use the unexplained magical dagger mcguffin, and 60/40 odds that he goes through an infinite corridor to outright come back vs just the implication he might come back”

I guess my final thought of the show, was overall the SUPER Final Boss got my by surprise. It was a good twist I enjoyed. Not that Death appeared, I had guessed that from the heavy foreshadowing, but I was surprised by who it was, because I had thought I thought the characters involved feeling shoehorned into the plot was just more bad writing. The Alchemist who put St Germain on the path or murder for no discernible motive for helping? Sure gotta move the plot along. New Dracula court member Varney who has a whole introduction with almost every character he meets and banter about his smell? Sure thats basically how all characters talk with a snarky and acerbic voice.

[cherubcow]

“Invincible”, Season 1 (2021) Review

Somehow both very cool and very fucking stupid :D

About Created and written primarily by Robert Kirkman (principle writer for The Walking Dead comic and TV show), this Young Adult cartoon basically synthesizes a number of comic book characters (e.g., Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Hellboy, Wonder Woman, Gambit) and tries to balance their heroism with cynical twists and dark realities. It's an exercise like Brightburn (2019) in that it mirrors existing comic writing all too closely in order to make violent twists. The cool stuff arrives pretty much immediately. You can tell right away that the physics have some level of realism, and it quickly gets serious because of this. The easy comparison would be to The Boys (also by Amazon, also about violent heroes, and also very well-produced). So, if you like The Boys (2019–), you'll probably like Invincible only a little less.

(( Some spoilers but nothing too specific ))

Wrong Focus But, the stupid stuff comes from the same error that the Kick-Ass movie (2010) made: it focuses on the wrong person(s). In Kick-Ass, the error was focusing on.. well.. "Kick-Ass", an irredeemable loser and waste of screen time. Invincible makes the same mistake, focusing on.. well.. "Invincible", a (so far) irredeemable loser and waste of screen time. So, despite its virtues, this show cannot escape that it made the decision to go for the Young Adult viewing demographic. It reminds me of Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in that way too: some very cool adult concepts ruined by the dramatic devices of unrepentant teenage stupidity and irrelevance. I didn't even like that stuff when I was a teenager, though Jordan Catalano gets a pass.

Main Cast and Characters The supporting characters were also very stupid. The most annoying was definitely Amber Bennett (voiced by the otherwise cool Zazie Beetz from Deadpool 2 (2018) and Joker (2019)), 

who is supposed to be attractive somehow to Mark Grayson ("Invincible", voiced by Steven Yeun, who played Glenn on The Walking Dead) 

despite the fact that she constantly judges him, fails to understand him, often fails to give him any kind of benefit of the doubt, and continues to scowl at him and be hurtful towards him even when she has information that should change her outlook towards him. And because she is part of the love triangle shared between herself, Invincible/Mark, and "Atom Eve"/Samantha (voiced by the awesome Gillian Jacobs from Community (2009–2014)), 

audiences simply have to bear with it that Amber's annoying character will be present and wasting time until Mark can realize that Amber is in fact toxic and that Eve actually understands him and can improve him in more positive directions. That love triangle should have been a 20-minute distraction, but I'm guessing that it will eat up a season or two more, especially if the writers become cowardly and fail to change things for fear of messing up a perceived "winning" formula. In my ideal story line, they would skip ahead 10 years, drop the teen drama, the love triangle, and the stupid jokes and have Invincible and Eve paired in defense of Earth, with the main tension being from their worry that the other would be horribly gored in front of them during lethal fights against cosmic enemies ;)

Aside, I am aware of Amber’s motivation for being a bad person, I just think her justification is not based in understanding, empathy, and a regard for the gravity of Invincible’s situation. In a strict political sense, Invincible should not commit a lie of omission by keeping her in the dark about his identity — even if for the “noble lie” reason of protecting her — but in a real sense, he is a fucking teenager who just developed his super powers. For her to pretend that he should reveal his entire identity to her — a potentially transformative and even dangerous decision — after a few months of teenage romance paints an absurd portrait of her mind. It does, however, align her with Omni-Man, because where Omni-Man forces Invincible to become an adult in the fighting sense (pushing with full force early on), Amber forces Invincible to become an emotional adult by getting him to understand that toxic people such as herself need to be given boundaries — and he needs to learn to clearly delineate and communicate his real desires. By knowing that he does not want Amber, people who regiment his free time, or people who do not suit him, for instance, he can realize why Eve was an obvious decision: Eve understands, can make time when they have time, and will let him find his decisions. Part of a coming-of-age story tends to be realizing what one actually wants, and Invincible’s hesitation in telling Amber his identity shows that he does not truly want her. This separates Invincible from, say, Spider-Man, who avoided telling Mary Jane his identity not because he did not want her but because he wanted at all costs to protect her.

The next most annoying character has to be Debbie Grayson (voiced by TV-cancer Sandra Oh and who luckily was not animated to look like the real Sandra Oh and who should have been voiced instead by Bobby Lee due to Lee's successful MadTV parody of Sandra Oh). 

Debbie basically fills the role of Skyler in Breaking Bad, except that Debbie's character tends to be slightly more understanding before her inevitable and toxic Skyler-resentment and undermining behavior. Despite having an 8-episode arc of change, Debbie's character flips too quickly and lacks the empathy and Omni-Man motive-justifying that would make her interesting (the comic's development may vary). For instance, if she refused to believe that Omni-Man meant his own words, that would make her empathetic and perhaps virtuous even if misled, but instead she dropped their "20 years" of understanding after viewing Omni-Man in action, which makes her appear shallow, easily manipulated, and unsympathetic. That was a definite "Young Adult" genre move because it shows immaturity by the writers to break apart a bond of 20 years so quickly. Mediocre teens might accept such a fissure because their lives have not yet seen or may not comprehend that level of time, but adults know that even long-standing and problematic relationships (which, beyond the lie, Omni-Man's and Debbie's was not shown to be) take a lot of time to break — even with lies exposed.

Omni-Man The biggest show strength for me was of course Omni-Man, who in a success of casting was voiced by J.K. Simmons in a kind of reprisal of Simmons' role as Fletcher from Whiplash (2014). 

The Fletcher/Omni-Man parallel shows through their being incredibly harsh but extremely disciplined and principled, forcing people to become beyond even their own ideal selves (this via Omni-Man's tough-love teaching of Invincible — comically, Omni-Man was actually psychologically easier on Invincible than Fletcher was on Whiplash's Andrew character). Despite the show's attempts to villainize Omni-Man, he, like Fletcher and also like Breaking Bad's Walter White, becomes progressively more awesome, eventually representing a Spartan will, an unconquerable drive, and a realistic and martial understanding of a hero's role.

To the show's credit, while it wrote Omni-Man to be outright genocidal and from a culture of eugenicists (again, Spartan), they could not help but admire him and his "violence" and "naked force" (for a Starship Troopers reference), giving him a path to redemption. That redemption comes in part because — despite the show's attempt to be often realistic and violent — its decision to be directed at young adults via dumb jokes, petty relationship drama, the characters’ reckless lack of anonymity and security in their neighborhood (loudly taking off and landing right at the doorstep), and light indy music also made the portrayed violence far less literal. With a less literal violence, the real statement becomes not that Omni-Man really did kill so many people (though he certainly did kill those people within the show's plot) but that he was symbolically capable of terrible violence but could be reformed for good. That's the shortcoming with putting violence under demographic limitations. If it's a PG-13 Godzilla knocking down cities, the deaths in the many fallen skyscrapers don't matter so much (the audience will even forgive Godzilla for mass death if it happens mostly in removed spectacle), whereas if it's Cormac McCarthy envisioning a very realistic fiction, every death rides the edge of true trauma.

By showing light between the real and the symbolic, it is much easier to identify and agree with Omni-Man. For instance, when Robot (voiced by Zachary Quinto of Heroes and the newer Star Trek movies) 

shows too much empathy for the revealed weakness of "Monster Girl" (voiced by Grey Griffin), the audience may have thought, "Pathetic," even before Omni-Man himself said it. And this because Omni-Man knows that true and powerful enemies (including himself) will not hesitate to use ultra-violence against these avenues of weakness. "Invincible" can make his Spider-Man quips while in lethal battles, but he does so while riding the edge of death — something that Omni-Man has to teach Invincible by riding him to the brink of his own.

Other Cast/Characters and Amazon's Hidden Budget It was impressive how many big-name actors were thrown into this — a true hemorrhage of producer funding. Amazon has so far hidden the budget numbers, perhaps because they don't want people to know that the show (like many of its shows) represents a kind of loss-leader to jump-start its entertainment brand.

Aside from those already mentioned, the show borrows a number of actors from The Walking Dead (WD), including.. • Chad L. Coleman ("Martian Man"; "Tyreese" on WD),

• Khary Payton ("Black Samson"; "Ezekiel" on WD),

• Ross Marquand (several characters; "Aaron" on WD)

• Lauren Cohan ("War Woman"; "Maggie" on WD)

• Michael Cudlitz ("Red Rush"; "Abraham" on WD)

• Lennie James ("Darkwing"; "Morgan" on WD)

• Sonequa Martin-Green ("Green Ghost"; "Sasha" on WD) 

There were also connections to Rick and Morty and Community, not just with Gillian Jacobs but also with... • Justin Roiland ("Doug Cheston"), who voices both Rick and Morty in Rick and Morty,

• Jason Mantzoukas ("Rex"),

• Walton Goggins ("Cecil"),

• Chris Diamantopoulos (several characters),

• Clancy Brown ("Damien Darkblood"),

• Kevin Michael Richardson ("Mauler Twins"), and

• Ryan Ridley (writing)

That's a lot of overlap. They even had Michael Dorn from Star Trek: TNG (1987–1994) (there he played Worf) and Reginald VelJohnson from Family Matters (1989–1998) and Die Hard (1988), and even Mark Hamill. Pretty much everyone in the voice cast was significant and known. Maybe Amazon got a discount for COVID since the actors could all do voice-work from home? ;)

Overall Bad that it was for the Young Adult target demo but good for the infrequent adult themes and ultra-violence. Very high production value and a good watch for those who like dark superhero stories. I have heard that the comic gets progressively darker, which fits for Robert Kirkman, so it will likely be worth keeping up with this show.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #481

Top Ten Pixar Villains

Those rascals and rapscallions at Pixar are famous for twisting our emotions, aren’t they? Perverse masters at making us cry with sadness or joy, often at the same time (I’m looking at you, Inside Out, with your yellow and blue marbles). Oh yes, they’ll stick the knife in and give it a good old yank, like John Travolta teaches his daughter to do in Face/Off when he’s not really John Travolta and it’s a bit icky but then she stabs him at the end of the film so it’s alright really.

Where was I?

Oh yeah. Pixar, renowned for turning grown men into blubbering messes, mostly because an adult character was convinced to part with old toys he no longer plays with. But I’d argue that one thing they’ve done less well than their parent studio (that’s Disney) is crafting iconic baddies. I mean, we all know the Disney Villains; they’re so iconic and successful as pop culture icons that there’s an entire trilogy of movies based on what would happen if a bunch of them had kids (apparently they’d sing a lot). Pixar baddies though? Hmmm, maybe not quite so iconic. I can’t see someone making a live action prequel movie about Chef Skinner.

But that’s not to say they’re not great; in fact, rather than going down the route of snarling, moustache-twirling villainy, Pixar actually does a great job in creating antagonists instead. Sometimes they’re misunderstood; sometimes they’re not the person you thought they were! Quite often some kind of redemption is offered, and the villains are very, very rarely dropped off something tall. A lot of them aren’t even defeated, so to speak! A good deal of nuance and shade goes into a Pixar villain, and if they haven’t made as many all-time-great iconic ne’er-do-wells, it does seem as if their approach is starting to rub off on Disney mothership (the likes of Frozen II and Moana either don’t have, or at least subvert, the notion of all-powerful bad guys).

So what do we have? Well, hopefully, we’ve got a list of really cool villains from Pixar movies. most of them are presented as the film’s “big bad”, although there are a couple of lesser baddies. And I think we do see the pattern emerging, of more mundane levels of villainy; the selfish and greedy and damaged. It makes for great characterisation and some beautiful storytelling; some complex and pitiable characters. And, yes, a few absolute bastards too. Let’s tut disapprovingly.

Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear (Ned Beatty, Toy Story 3, 2010): a superb performance from Beatty as a seemingly nice, jovial old bear who’s really a manipulative, power-hungry, gaslighting bully. Realistically portrayed as damaged and bitter, he has a tragic backstory that feels real, and a sense of pain and loss that feels earned in this universe. Questions the nature of everything the movies are about, and is a genuine threat in more ways than one. Plus he literally leaves them all to die in the furnace!

Syndrome (Jason Lee, The Incredibles, 2004): Buddy Pine’s backstory is one of belittlement and rejection, so his switch to villainy is as well explored as many a comic book bad guy. But he’s interesting partly in what his character says about Mr. Incredible – in a way justifying the criticisms of superheroes, as Mr. I does ignore the admittedly-annoying Buddy rather than mentoring or respecting him – but also because he prefigures notions of toxic masculinity about a decade or so before they became, well, a threat to global democracy.

Al (Wayne Knight, Toy Story 2, 1999): Like how Lots-o can be seen as a dark examination of toy life (all toys are replaceable, kids don’t really love you, etc), Al also shows us another dark facet of toy-dom: namely the life of a “collectable”. Toys, in this world, want to be played with, preferably by children, so a big ol’ man-child who stores them in boxes or puts them on display is not ideal. It’s an inversion of what a toy is for; an object of joy reduced to a commodity. Is it entertainment versus art? Who can say? Also, he’s really just a massive jerk and a huge slob, so we feel no pity for him once he gets his comeuppance at the end of the film.

Sid Phillips (Erik von Detten, Toy Story, 1995): man, they nailed the Toy Story villains, didn’t they? Maybe there’s even more to come! But right out of the gate, Sid was a classic. An utter sadist in a skull t-shirt, torturing toys for kicks; adults can see the traits of a genuine sociopath (some serial killers start by torturing animals, remember!), and he’s portrayed like a character in a horror movie. Seriously, in 1995, Sid’s room was legitimately disturbing. I’m not sure what moral lessons his actions teach us, but just as a pure article of terror, he’s supreme.

Hopper (Kevin Spacey, A Bug’s Life, 1998): it feels a bit weird, if I’m honest, to celebrate a Spacey performance. But as a character, Hopper is excellent, one of the best things about the generally-overlooked-but-still-a-bit-lesser-Pixar Bug’s Life. Riffing on biker gangs, Hopper’s locust swarm in, revving their wings. Hopper’s a classic tough guy thug, dominating through violence and threat; a creature with a small amount of power determined to hold onto it, and ultimately eaten by a terrifying bird. Just don’t look at the cast list.

Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt, Coco, 2017): after the horror of Sid and the thuggery of Hopper, de la Cruz is a different, more insidious villain. He’s a thief and a betrayer who exploited and murdered his best friend, condemning him not just to death but to a forgotten obsolescence in the afterlife. He’s a perfect example of the gaslighting, friendly-seeming bad guy, more in the mould of Lots-o, but with the world on his side and a sweet guitar. Genuinely hissable.

Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammar, Toy Story 2, 1999): what, more Toy Story? Well, yeah. Don’t blame me, blame Pixar. And so Stinky Pete; a far more relatable and understandable villain, one driven to desperation through a lifetime of rejection and broken promises. Unlike the Machiavellian, power-hungry Lots-o, Pete just wants everyone to retire quietly together; he can’t accept the risks of freedom and only becomes sneaky and, indeed, violent after all else fails. But he does kinda get a happy ending, even if he doesn’t realise it; this is a villain who I feel could eventually be redeemed.

Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi, Monsters, Inc., 2001): Waternoose is the real baddy in Monsters, Inc., of course; a conniving capitalist who’s prepared to sacrifice the world’s children to keep his monopoly. But it’s Randy who sticks in the mind; his selfish, vain lackey, a monster with a huge chip on his shoulder. His design – lizard-like, snake-ish, with a huge mouth and invisibility – is seriously disturbing. Hearing Buscemi’s voice come from that form – an aggravated teacher, a furious accountant – adds something special, something darkly hilarious.

Evelyn Deavor (Catherine Keener, Incredibles 2, 2018): visually and conceptually, The Screenslaver (great name) is pretty cool, but when it’s revealed that the Big Bad is really under-appreciated tech genius Evelyn, that’s a great twist. A smart woman propping up her schmoozing brother, her criticisms of the heroes – like Buddy Pine’s – have resonance, although she’s learning the wrong lessons from tragedy. Her relationship with Elastigirl, from friendship to enmity, is very well-written and performed, and her belligerence at the end is a nice touch, denying the heroes of any catharsis from her capture.

Shelby Forthright (Fred Willard, WALL-E, 2008): I was originally going to feature the autopilot, but then I figured, if you can get Fred Willard in your list… and really, who’s the big villain here? It’s us, right? We killed the Earth. But Willard’s smiling, happy CEO is there, encouraging his customers to buy, promising them safety and security, promising them a repaired world… but really he’s shovelling them off the planet, secretly commanding the computer to take humanity far away and never look back. It’s a devious, horrible plan, giving the people unending luxury, making them want for nothing, turning them into fab, soporific blobs, basically because that’s easier than the alternative. It’s a horrible indictment of humanity (also: he’s the CEO of a company, but also – it looks like – that makes him rule the world? Creepy). So, yeah, the autopilot might be a baddun, but it’s the man in charge who’s the real villain of the piece, even hundreds of years later.

Sadly no room for John Lasseter, who may not have tried to enslave humanity or torture children, but still managed to be a huge jerk and a phenomenal disappointment.

[benisasoftboi]

Unorganised thoughts on Trails of Cold Steel III:

...I’m gonna need like a week to process that

I guess I know why people hate George now!

Could really use a good old reset from KeA right now

This is the best game in the Cold Steel series so far. Easily

I... there’s no way they’re all really dead, right? This series has been completely toothless about killing anyone who isn’t a villain until now, no way they’re permanently killing someone who’s been here since practically day 1, no way. Show me a body

And even then I’ll doubt it with all these revivals happening all over the place 

‘He’s HIDING’ I sob as I apply clown make-up 

Ben Diskin did not need to go so hard on the voice acting at Millium’s death he did not need to do that to me

My god when Angie drove into the graveyard and my PS4 popped up a little notification telling me it was a blocked scene, the tension in me... and I never saw that coming, I’ll have to see if it was foreshadowed at all by replaying CS1 and 2 some time

I saw Lughman being a baddie a mile away (a mysterious professor turning out to be evil in a Trails game? UNPRECEDENTED!) but he’s Alisa’s dad!?

Neat writing trick actually, since they probably knew we’d guess the former, they blindside us with the latter

I can’t express how happy it made me that the Rufus battle was Machias Jusis Elliot. My dream team!

Estelle and Joshua got mentioned so much I figured they’d make a surprise appearance at the end and save the day

:(

So. Characters:

Rean: Rean is once again moderately more interesting than he was before, but still the least interesting person in the game. I guess he’s got some guilt that’s actually justified now, that’s cool? 

I ship him with Crow, not because the pairing really appeals to me that much, but because being shipped with Crow would totally piss Rean off and I find that extremely funny

His relationship with Altina is the best relationship he’s ever had with a female character and it is 100% because she’s the only girl he’s never ship teased with

(I don’t have an issue with the concept of ship tease itself, I have an issue with Rean-ship tease because 1. I still truly do not understand why so many girls like him so much and 2. None of it will ever canonically go anywhere)

(Seriously I’m so tempted to write a breakdown of why every other guy in Erebonia is more desirable than Rean)

Juna: I like Juna. I realised early on that she and Kurt remind me of Estelle and Joshua, without being carbon copies, and that’s good. I also think her relationship with Rean was really interesting - ‘I don’t know how to feel about you because you saved my life, but it also wouldn’t have needed saving if it weren’t for your country’s actions, which you’ve played a major role in - but now I’m being forced to confront that you’re a human being too’ is a really complicated situation for her. It’s a lot more interesting than ‘I don’t like you because you accidentally got a face full of chest’, Alisa

I also really liked using her, I ended up loading her with the Platinum Pecky Medal and defensive stuff, and she was a wall, she took an S-craft from Arianrhod in her stride! My buff girl!

She should’ve just been the new protagonist ngl

Kurt: Kurt had a lot to live up to, seeing as his brother is my favourite minor character. And oh does he succeed, Kurt is my favourite of New VII, he’s a good straight man, he’s great in battle, I like his arc, I like his friendship with Juna, I like Kurt

Altina: I was not sure about Altina just... being a student now. But damn if she didn’t have the best character arc in the game. I only did her final bonding event on a whim, but it’s the best one I saw. My girl Allie deserves the damn world

I really, truly believe those three have a bond as well, they’re very well written as a group. This was a problem I had with Old VII, the fact that so many of them just... didn’t have relationships with each other. How do, say, Fie and Machias feel about each other? I have no idea. But this group has a fantastic dynamic and it makes that ending so much more effective

It’s like I praised Crossbell for, really - having a small core group is much more manageable in terms of giving them all equal screen time and getting me to care about them

Musse: Uh, kind of one-note and annoying, honestly. I don’t hate her or anything, but like... she’s either Being Mysterious or Hitting On Her Teacher (I hate it I hate it so much). It’s just hard to care about someone who’s clearly so fake, I guess? I’m definitely interested in her, but like... I don’t really like her

Ash: Poor boy. I thought Ash was such an interesting character (and man do I love having someone around who does not like Rean, and never really changes his mind about it). Ash is very well done imo

Alisa: Alisa is good when the issue is her family drama, and is so goddamn boring when it comes to Rean. Nothing new there

Elliot: I love his little ponytail I love it he’s so cute I want to hug him so bad

Laura: Winner of the ‘best new outfit’ award (was never that fond of her war outfit, but this one is perfect). Still good, but not notably so. I feel so bad for Laura, she tries so hard to matter, but she’s by far the character you’d have the easiest time lifting out of the game

And while I love Elliot... same situation really. You could go back to the start and have one character named Elliaura who likes swords and music and has two big-shot dads, and you wouldn’t lose much

Machias: Took down Rufus, yeah, destroy your best friend (boyfriend)’s evil family! Winner of the ‘worst new outfit’ award, AGAIN. Also winner of ‘dorkiest S-craft’. I did his final bonding event first, and according to Playstation trophies it’s the least popular one! Stop sleeping on my boy Machias guys, I know he was annoying in the first game but I love him :(

Gaius: Special award to Gaius for finally being interesting! Boy’s a Gralsritter now, did not see that coming!

And of course it happened off screen. Because god forbid interesting stuff happen to Gaius when we’re actually around

Oh also goddamn, that is a beautiful man

Emma: Don’t really like the new outfit. It’s kind of remarkable that she’s so important but I keep forgetting she exists. Exposition witch who sometimes just doesn’t deliver the exposition I guess

Fie: Still my fav girl. Wish there had been more focus on her feelings about her dad coming back to life. Like that she’s a bracer

Jusis: Wasn’t sure how to feel about his newly close friendship with Millium because I was concerned that I was meant to ship it (by far my least favourite thing about this franchise is that that was not an unreasonable concern, as it wouldn’t even be the most inappropriate relationship in this game alone). Very, very glad it was confirmed sibling-y (not that it’s stopped them before). He didn’t really get to do anything else, sadly, but he’s good as always

I did the Purebread contest with him, and he made bread from coffee beans Machias gave him, the Ferdibert Fire Emblem energy- 

“What are you doing underneath this scarlet Pleroma Grass?”

Milliam: :(

Sara: Doesn’t get much to do because this cast is bloated but like, I still really like her :)

Towa: Someone needs to check on Towa all her friends are dead or evil the poor poor girl (or uh. I guess Crow isn’t... hmm.)

Angie :(

My kids Tita and Agate are back and completely overshadowed by people teasing this almost 30-year old man about being in love with a 17 year old that he’s only ever claimed to see as a sister, I swear to god

The orbal gear looks so goofy lol

Stop mentioning Schera as just being ‘totally here, just off screen, ha ha’ give her a model! Have her be here!

Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing Josette again, I just don’t get... why? Why is she here?

Tio is back! And so is Randy, as a major character! I’m very very happy, I love them both

Michael’s fine, I guess? He’s kind of bland but I guess that’s kind of the point and I like him just fine. He serves his purpose well

I’ve never really liked Claire all that much, but she’s fine in this one again I suppose. A bit disappointed by the Lechter reveals really, I had expected more, to be honest

Aurelia is a fun character and I enjoy her as the principal. Want to see her fight Cassius

Want to see Cassius 

I love my girl Annabelle, but she’s the only reason I didn’t get all the character profiles (how was I meant to know I could even go to the highway at that point hmmm Falcom!?)

They picked a good selection of returning Thors students. Even Dorothee isn’t as annoying as she used to be. Hilarious that she’s the only one who didn’t get a profile

Juna gave a great big speech about how awesome the SSS are and namedrops everyone EXCEPT WAZY! My FAVOURITE Crossbell character! So offensive!

Oh speaking of offensive I took Machias to the Mishy show and was told he and Rean did a Mishy dance but they didn’t show it, what the hell-

Playable Olivier! Olivier back story! I could write a goddamn essay on why Olivier is such a great character. Glaring at you Falcom

I miss Mueller :(

Ada Grant is wonderful and I want better things for her

Rufus is a damn great villain just because of how much sense his actions suddenly make when you know that one little detail of him not actually being Jusis’s brother

I hate Cedric but like, in a way where I’m having fun hating him. That little bitch

Literally what do you even actually want Osbourne

I still cannot stand Elise. Something I realised playing this game is that one of the things that stops the Estelle and Joshua relationship from being as weird as it could be is that they don’t look at all alike, it’s very clear they’re not related in the slightest. Elise and Rean look like they really could be siblings, and come to think, so do Lloyd and Cecile. Which is also teased, to a lesser extent. It would be so much less uncomfortable if they just swapped Elise and Alfin’s models ngl (though still not good)

inb4 the final plot twist of the whole series is that Estelle and Joshua actually were biological siblings all along

This game looks so much better than its predecessors. Having the models being a little rounder and softer looking makes it look much more like an updated version of the original style than the complete departure that was CS1 and 2. Every time there was a flashback, Rean would be like ‘back then...’ and I’d feel compelled to say out loud ‘when we were shiny, and looked bad!’

‘Evil ancient magic corrupts people into making them do bad things!’ is... honestly a bit of a cop out that I did not expect from this series 

I found Rean telling Patrick ‘leave room for Aidios when dancing with my sister’ extremely funny. Rean would totally be a Christian summer camp counsellor in the real world

I honestly would have enjoyed it a lot more if Alfin decided to cause a scandal and have her first dance with Elise, but we can’t have such luxuries I suppose

When you get that book on dystopias, very clever to put the author on the last page. Seeing the name Gideon gave me such a start

Racquel was easily my fav new location

Leeves > Trista no doubt, maybe I’m just biased because it looks a lot like the village I grew up in but it’s just such a nicer design

Also the branch campus > main campus purely for being smaller, making the filler segments between field trips more bearable 

I prefer the longer but fewer chapters set-up, I think

There’s so many sad faces in this write up :( 

Back when I played Sky SC, I said something about how one of the themes is ‘you are not defined by your trauma’. I now think it would be more accurate to say that the theme of all the games (but especially the Sky arc) is ‘don’t let your worst experiences define you’

Because there are characters who define themselves by their traumas and worst experiences - and those characters are all villains, or miserable, or both. Like, they don’t phrase it as such, but the requirement to be an Ouroboros enforcer is ‘have trauma and define yourself by it’

And both Joshua and Renne’s arcs are about learning not to do that

Equally, the idea that ‘it’s much easier to not to define yourself by your trauma when you have a good support system that wants the best for you’ is a big theme as well

I just think that’s a really interesting idea for a JRPG series to tackle, idk

I can’t believe I’m at the last game! This series has been my life for the past near-half a year, what do I do when I finish it?

...go back and play Sky FC, maybe?

[darkshadow90]

A Rant about people judging others for finding Penny’s death upsetting.

Hey, guys. This post is gonna be a little different than the ones I’ve made in the past. This one is more of a rant. I really need to get something off my chest. It’s bothered me, and it bothers me even more that people are okay with what Arthur did, and then judge people like me who find it upsetting. Even if it has nothing to do with the context of the situation. Before I get into it, I want to clarify that this has nothing to do with the Joker fandom, nor is it directed toward anyone specifically. Y’all are cool, and I think you’ll understand where I’m coming from. This is more about the reactions I’ve read about and seen from random people in general. Also there will be swears in this post, so just a heads up.

Okay, so, obviously there are a lot of unsettling scenes in Joker. One of them that really got me was the scene when Arthur kills Penny. It still bothers me, but I can handle it better than I did the first time I saw it. Just so you all know, I’m a really sensitive person. I don’t like scenes in movies that involve violence against animals, or scenes where defenseless people are hurt or killed. If movies have scenes like that, I skip them. I don’t care about the context involved. That shit fucks me up. Unfortunately, because it was in the theater, I couldn’t skip it. Also, I didn’t think Arthur was gonna kill Penny. I thought he was gonna confront her about everything. But then the movie was like “LOL, no.” So here’s what happened the first time I saw it.

I’m sitting there, processing everything Arthur just found out. I was so heartbroken for him. I wanted to hug him so badly. The scene where he’s in Penny’s hospital room comes up. I’m thinking “This must be where Arthur confronts her about everything he found out. What will she say to him when he asks her about the abuse, and the fact that he was adopted?” Well, none of that happened. Arthur doesn’t say a word to Penny about the abuse he suffered. He never mentions she adopted him, that Thomas Wayne isn’t his father. He’s just angry at her. He says he always hated the last name “Fleck” that his laugh was never a condition, it was the real him. When he gets up and says, “You know what’s funny? You wanna know what really makes me laugh?” I knew some bad shit was about to happen. Then he snatches the pillow out from under her neck. I was upset. As dumb as it sounds, I was internally hoping Arthur wouldn’t do it. And then he proceeds to smother her, I was silently pleading for him to stop. He pins her down under his weight brutally smothering her with a pillow without displaying emotion. Penny is literally defenseless against him. He has no problem killing a defenseless person. The whole scene upset me. It was so hard to watch. I was so upset Arthur did that.

Now, I’m not making excuses for Penny. I know Arthur was abused. Yes, I know Penny wasn’t the best mother ever. But here’s the thing. We don’t know what actually happened. There are two headlines in the news papers. One says “House of Horrors for Mother and Son.” The other says, “Mother Allowed Her Son’s Abuse.” I believe both Arthur and Penny were abused by her boyfriend. Maybe the reason Penny said she never heard him crying and Arthur always seemed like such a happy little boy really was because Penny never saw him sad. Maybe her boyfriend threatened Arthur with worse abuse if he cried in front of Penny. Maybe Penny tried to get help for both of them, but was dismissed because of her mental health issues, which makes me wonder. I get things were different in those times, but how was a mentally ill woman able to adopt a child in the first place? Adoption wasn’t easy for many people back then, and I would think it would be especially difficult for someone with mental health issues to adopt a child. I don’t know if Penny completely allowed the abuse to happen or not. The truth could be somewhere in the middle. Now, about Penny Lying to Arthur about her relationship with Thomas Wayne. I don’t think she was intentionally lying to Arthur. She was delusional. She thinks her relationship with Thomas Wayne was real. She thinks she was telling the truth. I don’t get the impression she was deliberately lying or trying to trick Arthur into believing he’s Thomas Wayne’s son. I think she genuinely believes it’s the truth. And there are some things that could suggest the relationship between her and Thomas Wayne was real. Thomas Wayne isn’t exactly the nicest guy. We know that for sure. We also know he’s a very wealthy man. It’s very possible that he covered up the relationship with Penny, and had her locked up in Arkham. Due to his wealth, he has been a highly prolific figure in Gotham, probably even before he ran for Mayor. He probably always had plans to run for Mayor and he knew if word got out that he was in a relationship and had a son with an employee, it would be a scandal, so he probably used connections he had in Arkham to help him cover it up. After all, who would believe a woman with a history of mental illness? Also, it’s likely Thomas did get Penny’s letters, and he ignored Penny’s requests for help. That could explain why she never heard from him. I looked at the handwriting on the back of the picture of her and a man, probably Thomas together. It said, “Love your smile. T.W.” I’m not entirely sure, but the handwriting on the back of the picture looked different from the handwriting in Penny’s letter to Thomas. I don’t think it was Penny’s handwriting. She could’ve written that, but I don’t think so. I doubt Penny would have different handwriting for just one picture. I also don’t think she would write that to herself. It’s definitely suspicious.

So why did I go on a tangent about Penny, you may ask? Because I want to look at things in a different perspective. There are usually multiple sides to a story. The person I was with told me I shouldn’t be upset about what Arthur did, that Penny is no angel. And yeah, I agree. Penny wasn’t mother of the year. But I don’t know if I believe everything Arthur/Joker is showing us without question. This is the fucking Joker. We will only see what he wants us to see, even if it turns out parts of the story are twisted around. I wasn’t the only one who found the scene upsetting. I saw a comment thread of people talking about how the scene made them cry. Other people left the theater because it was too much for them. And the replies they got pissed me off. Things like “Lol what a bunch of babies. Why are they upset?” “She deserved it. She lied to him and let him be abused. I was happy when he killed her.” People could’ve been trolling. I don’t care. It’s more about the fact that there are people out there who were trying to justify Arthur killing the woman who raised him, and even worse someone who was defenseless against him. It’s not entirely clear what really happened. Also, while I may understand why Arthur killed Penny, and I may have both empathy and sympathy for him, it doesn’t make it right. I’m not talking about people who sympathize with Arthur and can understand his actions. We all feel bad for Arthur, what he’s been through, how he’s been treated. We just want good things for him. I’m talking about the people who are totally fine with him killing Penny, and are dicks to the people who find it upsetting and are like “Why are you upset? He was abused so it’s fine.” Those people exist. It’s scary as fuck. Thankfully, I haven’t seen any of them in the Joker fam.

I’ll go ahead and talk about what bothers me so much about this scene. Regardless of the context, of wether or not Penny allowed Arthur to be abused or not, of wether her relationship with Thomas Wayne was real or not, Arthur ruthlessly smothers a defenseless person to death. Arthur loved Penny up until that point. He looked after her, did everything to make sure she was cared for. But then, after finding out some heartbreaking information about her, and her past, and things about his past, he was able to just cut any of those feelings he had for her entirely? I get that he would be angry, but as I said earlier he never asks her about anything he found out. He never says, “Hey, Penny/Mom. I went by Arkham and found out you adopted me. I’m not really Thomas Wayne’s son. I also found out you had an abusive boyfriend and I was horribly abused by him. How could you let that happen? Why did you lie to me about everything?” I know that’s not the best thing to say when confronting someone about delicate information, but he still could’ve mentioned those things to her. It’s like Arthur assumes Penny knows why he’s upset. But she doesn’t. She just sees that he came to visit her one day and is upset. She has no idea. And as he’s smothering her, she’s probably terrified and confused. Arthur was emotionless the whole time. He killed the woman who raised him like it was no big deal. Doesn’t it seem weird that he wasn’t reacting at all? He wasn’t crying no guilt, nothing. And that, in spite of how interesting I find Arthur, in spite of the sympathy I have for him, and just want him to find love and be happy is one of the things that scares the shit out of me about him the most. It scares me about Joker even more. This touches a bit on my post about what a relationship with them would actually be like, and I want to reiterate the potential danger a girl could find herself in.

No one is safe from Arthur or Joker. I believe he would be capable of loving someone, and wouldn’t intentionally hurt them. The scary thing to consider is, if Arthur thinks the girl he’s with wronged him in any way, her life would be in danger. If he can kill the woman who raised him like it’s no big deal, if he can kill his own mother, he can do the same to her. There might be a slim chance she’d be okay. If she can show that he’s misinterpreted a situation, he’ll see that he overreacted and feel terrible about it. And if she found out about him killing people he would try to console her and try to make her understand why he did it. He would promise he would never hurt her. He might not be able to keep that promise. With Joker, it would be even worse. If he thinks she wronged him, he wouldn’t give her a chance to explain everything. He would be convinced what she did happened and that would be it. If Joker killed someone in front of her, he wouldn’t give a shit about how she felt about it. He would ask her why she’s upset about it and then tell her they deserved it. God help her if Joker thinks she wronged him. Talk about waking up every morning constantly afraid Joker will lose his shit. She would be walking on eggshells every day. So yeah, just wanted to touch on that point real quick.

To wrap things up, I’ve been holding my feelings about Penny’s death and the people who justify what Arthur did back for awhile. Again, this isn’t directed to anyone specifically. Just random people who got a kick out of it and made excuses for why it was okay, and then are assholes to people who found it upsetting. I’ve seen a GIF online of a guy that has a shocked expression on his face, then as it zooms out he’s clapping. There are captions on it that say, “My reaction when Arthur kills *insert people here*” There was one for each person he killed, including Penny. It was probably just a joke and that’s fine. But I’m also sure there are people who got a kick out of watching that scene. And for those people, I sincerely hope they seek professional help. Just a quick side note: I still love the movie. Penny’s death scene doesn’t make me love it any less. I’m actually very glad I was able get through rest of the movie the first time I saw it lol What can I say maybe I am a weak person. Okay, rant over. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[anahera-sdm]

Hotel Del Luna (2019) Thoughts

Warning: will contain spoilers. I suggest you watch the drama first to relate with what I’m talking about because it will be messy.

Disclaimer: Everything written only reflects my own thoughts. There’s a possibility of incoherence. Forgive me, sometimes my brain is all over the place.

Ever since IU was announced as a main lead for this drama, I have been looking forward to it. I have enjoyed IU’s other dramas especially her most recent one in Netflix - Persona. Yeo Jin goo is an actor I like but the last drama of his that I was able to finish (and barely at that) was Orange Marmalade (2015). I couldn’t get into his next dramas after that and ended up dropping them. 

After seeing the plot and the fantasy tag (I always have a soft spot for fantasy dramas), as much as I enjoyed and looked forward to new episodes of its predecessor, Arthdal Chronicles, I also could not wait for it to start. 

Additional warning: Everything is all over the place and this is going to be a lengthy post. I wrote everything that I wanted to talk about right after watching the subbed version of the last episode but there is no proper structure. I apologise in advance if you decide to read everything.

I don’t even know where I should start. The Hong Sisters really did well with this drama - the years spent on it was worth it. That ending was, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I was so satisfied even though they didn’t spend much time together in this life. I was expecting a bittersweet ending when the drama started anyway. I loved the ending and that reincarnation scene (although it is not definite but just an ‘eventually, it will end up that way’ scene) was everything to me. I don’t know why but I loved how they didn’t try to extend Man Wol’s time with Chan Seong (example, releasing her from the hotel and making her human again). It was enough for me because Man Wol also spent enough time suffering. Her time with Chan Seong, although brief, was good enough because she experienced the love she needed and she gets sent off full of it.  

That twist at the end though, how Chan Seong was chosen by Mago - I’m crying. Chan Seong was definitely a reincarnation of someone from her past. They were actually acquainted during Man Wol’s childhood - and he was the one who introduced her to the guesthouse of the moon. 

So now, let’s go to the other parts I really wanna talk about.

One of the reasons why I got hooked and invested with Hotel Del Luna was the fact the way they executed the comical elements despite the horror and drama tags. Additionally, the music and the CGI were really well done. The soundtrack really gets me.

The other reasons, well, IU can really pull off Jang Man Wol - a protagonist who can be ruthless, has a slightly bitchy attitude, crooked (but her actions can be justified) and holds a deep resentment. Yet, she has her cute sides too; all the Kim Joon Hyun moments were a sight to see (her obsession for the restaurants he’s been to, enjoyed it! Later we find out her obsession to find good restaurants were actually influenced by Chan Seong who went to the past! Mind blown!). And her fighting scenes were so cool. IU’s eyes are really expressive in my eyes - 

Appreciate.

I love how despite being crude in her ways when it comes to dealing with the grudges of the souls she’s helping, there is an underlying meaning to it - example, Hyun Joong being able to graduate because of the money donated by his friend. And, I can’t blame her for loving money and wealth. After all, that was what she didn’t have when she was living. I have to add that one of the things I look forward to every episode was IU’s outfit changes. She looks so good in everything! [I actually couldn’t stop myself from buying some of the stuff she wore. Hold your horses, I can only afford the cheap ones like the earrings and hair clips from Get Me Bling that she wore. And I wanna do a face palm because I accidentally bought 2 sets for one of her earrings so now I’m like, what do I do with this?]

The bickering between the leads together with that comical/mischievous soundtrack, pure gold. It’s easily one of my favourite moments. It’s just really funny how sometimes Jang Man Wol is left without words because Chan Seong is right.

The more I watch this gif tho, it starts to look weirder to look at so don't watch it more than 10 times.

I also like how they dealt with Man Wol’s back story - not giving the viewers everything in just one episode. Instead, it was spliced and distributed nicely throughout. Oh but gods, I was a wreck when everything was laid down - Chung Myung’s sacrifice... I just can’t. And how he was with her as a firefly since the beginning... My heart... I actually forgot that scene from the beginning until they showed it again. I though it was just an artistic shot. I actually wanted Man Wol to go with him to the afterlife when it was finally time for him to go. When she escorted him, I wanted her to walk with him during that moment. But at the same time, I can see that there was only a one-sided love left between them because Man Wol spent so many years resenting him that there was no love left. When she finally learned the truth, the only thing left in her was forgiveness and that was the only thing she can offer. The CGI on the bridge to the afterlife though, the aesthetic, props to the CGI team.

Can I just talk about how the actor grew on me? Like, omg, I’m now looking forward to any drama he’s going to be on. [Note: I have since seen him in a new drama, The Great Show (I was watching it because of Lee Sunbin (one of my favourite actresses)) and he’s the teen version of the male lead! I screamed when I saw him.] I should check him out on his previous dramas but when I saw the list of dramas, I don’t think I’ll get into them yet.

Help my heart, their story is so sad.

Helping Kim Seonbi /Kim Si Ik solve his grudge was really fun to watch. And the ‘fact’ that he was the writer of those stories almost all Koreans know, what a twist. Man Wol really cared for him despite not showing it to him - how she tried to find a way to solve his grudge and how she cried after he finally left. 

Choi Seo hee’s story was an unfortunate one but it added more flavour to the already flavourful drama. Those who value family ties or still have crooked views when it comes to family lineage will resonate with her story and perhaps have a change of heart.

Hyun Joong; I love how they gave more depth to his story. That it was not only because of his sister that he was staying as a hotel staff but deep inside there was a resentment. When they wrapped his story up, all I can do was to smile wistfully. His story arc with Yuna was a great addition despite their bittersweet goodbye.

The Sanchez story arc; I... I... He was such a fun character and a good friend to Chan Seong. I sincerely thought they were going to get rid of his character when he went overseas to oversee the funeral of his girlfriend. But we got him back and see another side to him - a rather relatable side where if one loses a loved one, they would find ways to reconnect or hold on to any sliver of hope that they’ll be able to once more be able to talk to them or give them something. Probably, not making sense anymore, but if you’ve lost a loved one before, you’ll get what I'm talking about. After finally getting over it, well, he was not the same Sanchez after that but there was growth in his character.

Mira and Young soo. A twist of fate, these two. Enemies in the past life but became lovers in their current life. Their bitter fates became sweeter this time around. I can't entirely hate on Mira’s past life because her next lives were spent repenting (although it wasn’t shown). Her currently life was finally rewarded, if you can call being with Young soo in her current life a reward. I kept on thinking Mira was just like Chan Seong (not a rich person) but I was so surprised to learn her parents were kimchi factory owners and that Young Soo ate those kimchi since young. 

Mago - easily my favourite character. Wait, characters. Because of how many personalities/sisters she has. Really have to give mad props to the actress. She is just so good. Probably my favourite sister has to be the pink sister and then the eldest. It was so funny when they were having a meeting discussing about the new hotel owner and mentioned the ‘poor’ sister still stuck in Joseon dynasty.

Ah, the cameos in this drama. I can’t not cover that.The amount of cameo is just, whoa! This drama is so rich with it. Some really memorable ones to me are: Kim Won hae (as a corrupt mayor), Lee Joon Gi (as an exorcist; Park Il Do hahah, The Guest feels (I ought to make a post on my thoughts about this drama soon); can’t forget the Scarlet Heart feels too), Lee Si Eon (as an astronaut; I couldn't help laugh at the scene), Lee Yi-kyung (as an actor who can’t really act; Waikiki feels!), Kim Joon Hyun (as himself; I screamed because the first few scenes didn't show his face), Park Jin Joo (as an imaginary spirit), Sulli (as the granddaughter of Chairman Wang), Nam Da reum(as a water deity; I really don’t like the fact he’s younger than me; kidding. He’s a talented kid.) Hwang Young Hee (as IU’s previous manager; she’s a really good actress) and Kim Soo Hyun (as the new owner of the hotel; He renamed it Hotel Blue Moon. I’m telling you, I hyperventilated when his scene came. Such a good way to end the drama - at least for me. Hotel Blue Moon as a drama please!)

For the last episode, I wanted to watch it during the actual broadcast time but I actually calculated the time wrongly (thinking I'm 4 hours ahead but actually just 3 hours; good thing I checked the site). I missed the first 25 mins of the actual broadcast. But I eventually re-watched it with subs and came to write this post). I can only understand roughly 80-85% of the dialogue for the raw version but even then, I was bawling - all the goodbyes; it was so sad but so satisfying at the same time because they were sent off really well. From Kim Seonbi’s to Choi Seohee’s. Painful to see the goodbyes but also very heartwarming; how they finally come to resolve their resentments, came to realizations and tied up loose ends - it was so beautiful. The relationship between the Hotel crew was just so precious - Jang Man Wol crying as she realises how she’ll miss them. Feels. Feels. Feels. 

Overall, I learned so many things in this drama and came to certain realisations such as treasuring the time you have with others, don’t take it for granted. One day, when the time to say goodbye comes, you won’t regret anything. Also, even the people who did bad things in their life can have the chance to live a better one in the next once they have paid for those wrongdoings.

This drama was a perfect blend of comedy, drama, horror, fantasy, romance. In terms of food, it satisfied my cravings. Watching this drama was one of the best things that I did this year. As much as I want to talk more about this drama and cover more areas, I should stop here. All in all, I would say, I really loved this drama. I’ll definitely go back to watching this when I have nothing else to watch. P.S. I ought to make a Jang Man Wol inspired look but when I tried, I failed. 

I’ll miss you, Jang Man Wol-ssi.

Rating: 10 / 10

Re-watch value : 10 / 10

Soundtrack : 10 / 10

[makeste]

the good, the bad, and the basement

so @caliginouscarpacian asked me a while back if I could post my thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of the Overhaul/Yakuza/Internship Arc once I finished up. so this is my post about that, now that I’ve had a little bit of time to reflect. I decided to do one of those alternating good/bad list things, so we’ll see how that goes.

this is quite a long post, so it’s under a cut. and just to be clear, this post is chock full of spoilers up through the end of the Internship Arc (chapter 161).

the good: the villains

okay, I’m starting with this one because truthfully, it’s my favorite thing about the whole arc. the League of Villains finally came into their own, and it was everything I could have hoped for. they are competent but not too overpowered. they are smart and willing to be patient and bide their time for the sake of cool plot twists. THERE’S A FUCKING CAR CHASE. there is character development! these guys actually care about each other! holy shit. there’s actual chemistry between them. they trust one another and they trust Tomura, and he shows for the first time that he might just actually be worthy of that trust. unlike some other villains I can name. anyways. these guys are amazing, and if this arc did nothing else, it firmly established them as serious, in-it-for-the-long-haul adversaries who are cool and interesting and can hold their own on-screen and whose lives and relationships I’m actually invested in. and like, they’re still evil. just to be clear. but they’re also cool and compelling and a genuine delight whenever they make an appearance, and I can’t wait to see what shenanigans they get up to next.

the bad: the villains

hahaha. okay, so I’m not even gonna talk about Overhaul yet -- he gets his own little mini-rant all to himself. but let’s talk about the Eight Precepts for a moment. I was so let down by these guys it’s not even funny. YOU ASSHOLES WERE SUPPOSED TO BE COOL. you’re the fucking yakuza for fuck’s sake! but instead they’re just boring. not one of them felt even remotely threatening, and it was just obnoxious to watch the good guys struggling against some of them. none of them had interesting personalities or backstories. a few of them did have interesting quirks (thinking specifically of the Thief quirk and the truth serum confession quirk), but they go to waste since they’re used in decidedly uninteresting ways. (seriously though, that is such a mind-blowing waste of a truth serum quirk that it’s painful to think about. it could have been used for character development, interrogations... any number of plot uses. and what does this asshole do instead? HE TRIES TO MAKE MIRIO SAD. come the fuck on.)

and arguably worse than that is the fact that they all wear the same mask. that was such a bad move on Horikoshi’s part. it means there’s no way for any of them to stand out. if their quirks or personalities weren’t going to cut it, their appearances were the only thing left, and he goes and designs them all to essentially have the same fucking face. why would you do that. as if they didn’t all blend together enough to start with.

and lastly, the blind, ferocious loyalty they all have to Overhaul is completely absurd and makes no fucking sense. like, several of them were literally like, “oh I was treated like shit all my life, and then this guy came along who also treats me like shit, but ~with him I have a place~.” the truth serum guy IIRC liked Overhaul simply because he was honest. at least Chance the Rappa had a decent reason for liking him which was that he was freakishly strong and he just wanted to defeat him. meanwhile his monk friend supposedly doesn’t like violence, and yet here he is loyally serving a man who offs his own subordinates at the drop of a hat, and whose master plan hinges on the perpetual torture of a kindergartner.

just. they all suck so much.

 the good: Sir Nighteye

Nighteye had such a great arc. I’m not the biggest fan of how it ended, because that was a perfectly good heart of mine that they ripped out and stomped all over, but aside from that, yeah. he starts out as this cold, disdainful pencil of a man, only for it to gradually be revealed that he’s really just a broken shell of himself, afraid to use his own quirk because he’s scared of whatever horrors he might see that he’ll be helpless to do anything about. he supports Mirio over Deku because he loves Mirio and genuinely thinks he’ll be the better successor, and because he loves All Might, and he’s desperate to stop his premonition from six years ago from actually coming true. it didn’t really surprise me that he became a more likable character in the end, but the degree to which it happened really caught me off guard. I was not expecting to end up loving him so much. and also I just really love the idea of the foresight quirk being as mentally damaging as it turns out to be, because it makes perfect sense, and it’s the perfect way to put such a potentially overpowered quirk in check. just, well done on every aspect of Nighteye’s character and his story arc.

the bad: Overhaul

Overhaul started out with so much potential and it all just went to shit. I’ll start with the good stuff first: his quirk is cool and terrifying, I like his character design, and I like the little touch with him being a germaphobe, even if they didn’t really do much with it in the end.

now the bad. I think my main complaint about Overhaul is that as a rule of thumb, I think that good villains should be written as though they genuinely believe they’re the heroes of their own story. this goes for all types of villains. even sociopaths take pride in being smart enough to take advantage of what they view as the stupidity and weakness of others. meanwhile, righteous villains justify their heinous acts as being for the sake of the greater good. and those villains who are in-between may feel some guilt about some of the things they’ve done, but they justify those acts as being something they had to do, or something the victim deserved, or something they themselves deserved after all of their own pain and suffering. (Tomura is a good example of this type of villain.) then you’ve got anarchist villains who are just in it for the lulz and figure there’s no real purpose to life, so they might as well enjoy themselves. all of these are valid villain personalities and motivations.

the problem with Overhaul is that he acts like a sociopath, and yet supposedly he’s doing all of this in order to somehow pay back his boss for his kindness. and that just doesn’t track. he has not demonstrated himself to be even remotely capable of empathy, so that level of loyalty from him feels forced and entirely unbelievable. I would have much preferred if instead he’d just gone full sociopath. maybe even have it turn out that he was making a power play all along and that he in fact was the one who caused the previous boss’s medical issues in order to seize power. that would have at least made sense with his level of evilness. but instead we have a guy who does shit without remorse that no one with even the barest hint of a functional empathy switch should be able to consider. his boss even tells him on multiple occasions, “hey that’s fucked up, don’t do that.” and he completely fucking ignores him, and we’re supposed to believe that in the end this is his way of trying to show his gratitude? there’s just no internal logic to it at all, and it makes me completely unable to take Overhaul seriously as a character, and so in the end he’s just annoying. 

the good: Kirishima

Kirishima is definitely a highlight of this arc. having sneaked up on everyone to become the surprise 5th most popular character, I guess Horikoshi took that as a sign that it was time to give him more development. and it’s such good development. it’s so unexpected to see middle school Kirishima -- brave, sturdy, loyal-to-a-fault Kirishima -- freezing up in the face of danger and panicking and not being able to do anything when others are in peril. and then we learn that he actually has massive self-esteem issues and has no real confidence in his own “boring” quirk, and despite his dream, he finds it difficult to see himself as worthy of being a hero. and yet he managed to overcome that and become the Kirishima we know today, who’s determined to become the manly hero he’s always wanted to be, even if he has to fake it till he makes it. it’s just good stuff, and it was great to see him get the spotlight.

the bad: Kirishima

lol. but having said that, I’m going to be real here: as much as I love him, there’s just no denying the fact that Kiri, when you get down to it, Only Does One Thing. he makes his body harder. that’s it. yes, it’s a very strong and powerful quirk, and he’s absolutely worthy of being in U.A. and will make a great hero one day for sure. but that said, one-on-one Kirishima fights are just not that interesting to watch. Horikoshi has yet to find a way to mix things up and do anything remotely surprising with his quirk. Kiri just makes himself as hard as possible and tries to hold out against whoever he’s fighting until he can either knock them out, or they tire themselves out, or he gets backup, or he loses. so I’ll go ahead and say this here: there was absolutely no fucking reason to give him two multi-chapter fights in this arc. it makes no sense. just combine the two. or at the very least shorten one of them if you absolutely must have him fight twice for whatever reason. but just. I don’t know why we had to sit through so many chapters of him just standing there getting hit by bad guys. jesus christ. and meanwhile neither Ochako or Tsuyu ended up seeing any onscreen action at all, which is fucking ridiculous. they’re both just as deserving of fight time as Kiri is, and Tsuyu in particular has never had her own one-on-one fight and it would have kicked ass. you can’t tell me it wouldn’t have. so yeah. this was definitely a misstep IMO.

the good: the overall dark mood of the arc

this arc was craaaaaaazy dark. like yikes!dark. guns. drugs. the fucking mob. child abuse. depression. anxiety. prophecies of death. lost powers. dead mentors. just, holy shit. it does what it set out to do, which IMO was to introduce the dark side of the hero world, and all the horrors that the job can lead to. this is what you guys are signing up for. this is the reality of what you’ll be facing at times. it’s brutal, but it sure is realistic.

the bad: apparently there is such a thing as too much angst

yeah. who knew? and look, okay, I fucking love angst. love it. but at some point it just gets to be too much. this isn’t fucking Breaking Bad. you’ve gotta throw us a bone here every so often. we need some humor sprinkled here and there, and the occasional moment of triumph and hope. you know it’s bad when somehow we end up having to rely on the villains for both of those things. and yet that’s what happened here, and Toga and Twice basically saved the arc when it was reaching its most frustrating point, and injected some much-needed life back into it.

and speaking of dark, while I was mostly speaking figuratively, I do also mean that quite literally as well. this arc was too dark. lesson learned: never set your 20-chapters-long climax in a fucking basement. chapter after chapter of drab gray settings. no background variation whatsoever. just, god. why would you fucking do that.

the good: girl power

I got so excited when I realized that for the first time ever, the arc was going to feature precisely two female and two male class 1-A students. a fucking 1:1 ratio. 50/50. and this was in addition to Hadou and Ryuukyuu (Ryuukyuu being the very first female top ten ranked hero we’d been introduced to). all in all I was fucking pumped.

the bad: ...but not really

so fucking go figure that right off the bat, they get attacked on the way in and ALL OF THE GIRL CHARACTERS STAY OUTSIDE while the guys go on to continue the arc. except for Bubble, but she gets left behind barely pages later. and then we don’t see any of the ladies again until the very fucking end. fucking travesty tbh. 

honestly, none of the girls has really gotten any spotlight action since Ochako fought Bakugou all the way back in the sports festival arc, and it’s getting tired at this point. this is probably one of the reasons why Toga has climbed so high on my favorite character list. because at least we still get to see her fighting, and it’s always entertaining. but I need more ladies kicking ass goddammit.

 anyways, this is getting quite long and my will to rant is waning, so I’ll just list the rest of the pros and cons I can think of real quick.

the good: Mirio (such a good boy); the quirk-be-gone and trigger drugs; Eri (who is so sweet and precious and I honestly love her quirk, even if it’s ridiculously overpowered. that’s why they gave it to a six-year-old lol. I don’t think we have to worry about it becoming too broken for a long time); the prophecy and all related angst; and of course, that ending which ripped my heart out and also made me cheer so hard when Overhaul got his comeuppance.

the bad: the basement (yes, I mentioned it before, but honestly it deserves another mention); Overhaul’s lack of an actual master plan (such a letdown, smdh); lack of all of our other faves for like 30 chapters. Bakugou. Todoroki. Momo. Kaminari. Mina. Iida. Sero. god but I missed them so, so much.

 final verdict: all in all, this was an excellent arc for world-building, and  it set up a few things which I think will have a lasting impact on the story (Nighteye’s premonition; Eri; the whole concept of internships; and last but not least Tomura getting hold of the quirk-erasing drug). it also gave us some decent character development on the heroes’ side, and some frankly excellent character development for nearly every last member of the League of Villains. I am very appreciative of that last in particular, and if I ever go back to reread any parts of the arc once I’m done with the recaps, it will probably be those chapters.

having said that, this arc marked the first time that the series, to me, has ever felt dragged-out and dull, and for multiple chapters in a row at that. I was seriously getting concerned at some points, because it felt nothing at all like the fast-paced series I’d grown accustomed to for the first 120 chapters, with most arcs being resolved in a dozen chapters or less, and moving right along to the next arc. I hate the feeling of having to force myself to read something, and that was the case for quite a few chapters in this arc, which sucks. and there was no reason for it, really. it was just bad writing.

probably the best example of this is coming up in just a few chapters in the recaps. I am referring to chapter 138, which is probably my least favorite chapter in the series to date. this chapter begins with the heroes gathered outside of Overhaul’s house getting ready to enter. it ends with the heroes still outside the fucking house, still having not entered. they literally spend an entire chapter, 19 full pages, trying to go inside a house. the pacing is abysmal. hardly anything interesting happens aside from that really big guy busting through the front gate, and Ryuukyuu turning into her dragon form to stop him. that’s basically it. it’s just boring as fuck. this chapter basically sums up all of the problems I have with this arc in one go.

was it an important arc for the story? yes. would I read it again? probably not, LoV antics aside. basically those are my feelings in a nutshell.

 anyways, I’m curious what everyone else’s thoughts are on this arc if anyone else feels like sharing! now that I’m finished with it, it’s a lot more fun to talk about. some things are just more enjoyable in hindsight, when you have finally moved on past them and can joke about them from a safe distance lol.

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Hi, how would Trollhunter Claire beat Bular? To force Claire to open the Bridge, would Blinky be captured, or someone else, since he isn't as much of a father figure? And finally, how do you feel about Fem!AAARRRGGHH in the book, compared to her male counterpart, and why did they change her gender for the show?

As with the Draal fight, if I were to write a Trollhunter!Claire fic (which I am not), I’d probably just lift the scene from the show and change the Trollhunter’s name and pronouns, because I like that fight the way it is. The line where Bular tries to tempt the Trollhunter into giving up by claiming he could give Enrique back would have more emotional impact on Claire than it did on Jim, but she wouldn’t trust him enough to take him up on it.

Even if Blinky isn’t Claire’s father figure, he’s still her mentor and important to her, so Claire would still come and rescue him if he were taken hostage.

It would be an interesting twist if NotEnrique were used as the hostage, but I’m not sure Claire would be close enough to him by that point in the story. Maybe if the Bridge opening was pushed back a few months, or if he were swapped and discovered sooner.

Johanna was interesting. I liked how she was a magnet for cats (poor kitties!) and how Toby made her ‘braces’ since she found his so interesting.

Her being the one to have torn out Gunmar’s eye was ghoulishly cool. (In the show, Gunmarl loses his eye to the previous Gumm-Gumm warlord instead, rather than AAARRRGGHH ripping it out while deserting, possibly to justify why Trollmarket didn’t have the eye.)

Johanna is also a fighter the entire time, so the subplot of AAARRRGGHH’s pacifism at the start of the show was nearly as big a shift as the gender swap. Because AAARRRGGHH rescinds his oath of nonviolence in the second half of the first season, I think the pacifism may have been introduced in the first place to ‘justify’ to the audience why Jim had to learn to fight. (”What about him? He’s big!” “Pacifist.”)

I think she was made male in the show primarily due to Meddling Executives:

”We can’t have too many girls in the show or boys won’t watch it!” (Like how Nomura was temporarily written out of the show when Claire became more important, or how Barbara is never seen talking to another woman* until Season Three.) (*Having tea with Nomura in Season One doesn’t count because any conversation between them was off camera - while on screen, they don’t say a word to each other, only to Jim, and Nomura doesn’t even start talking until Barbara is unconscious.)

“Everyone’s going to want a toy of AAARRRGGHH, but we can’t make action figures of a female character; that would be madness!” (This is an established thing that toy collectors complain about merchandise departments doing.)

“Okay, if you’re not going to feminize this character’s visual design, the character can’t be a girl anymore.” (Johanna is feminine by troll standards but humans need to be told in order to tell, which could make a marketing team for a kid-or-teen oriented show nervous about parental reactions.)

It may have also been an attempt to curb audience inclination to see AAARRRGGHH and Blinky as a couple, which did not work, since BlinkAAARRRGGHH is still popular fanon.

I don’t know how widespread this theory is but I’ve seen it posited, and I like the idea, that AAARRRGGHH in the show is transgender, and that detail of his past is never brought up to avoid dead-naming him. I’ve also seen people headcanoning that Johanna was his mother’s name. [Someone wrote a fic where Johanna is his mother and started attacking Gumm-Gumms trying to get her baby back and Deya the Deliverer thinks this is very hot.]

[queerinette]

My opinion on Astruc he wants to have big reveals and twists but Zag wont stop spoiling shit. So he tries too hard to keep said shit under wraps that he comes off as an asshole “is chloe gonna get redeemed?” “NO! She’s shit and doesnt deserve it” “i think she can be redeemed” “shit. Um, no! Um, is her Prettiness misleading you??”. Not to mention he’s not the best writer out there, to put it gently. None of this justfies his shitty behaviour though. It’s rude, and unnecessary.

On the other hand, you’re also being rude. You can say you disagree without calling them ‘ass truck’

You know what would be really cool? If someone who’s writing a kid’s show wasn’t like. A really rude fucking asshole. He doesn’t know how old the fans interacting with him are, and being snarky isn’t funny at all. It’s rude, and it hurts. I know for a fact that if content creators I actually admire responded to me the way Astruc does to his fans, I would be crushed. It is, in no way, okay for him to devastate his fans just because he can’t be a decent human being.

And seriously, it’s really funny how you’re bending over backwards to justify something that can be seen from a mile away: he’s sexist. That’s it. That’s why he’s constantly bashing Lila and Chloe. Speaking on just the things that are in released episodes, he forces Chloe and Marinette to have consequences to their actions, whereas we’re too busy focusing on how poor Adrien has to deal with his unreciprocated crush and terrible home life to call him out on his behavior. Plus, he’s constantly calling Adrien ~flawless~ and ~perfect~. And like, I’d get it if he was just saying it to say it, but he! Never! Makes! Adrien! Face! Consequences! For! His! Actions! Marinette has so many arcs where in the end she’s faced to confront that her behavior wasn’t okay. Adrien is never shown to confront that his actions aren’t always perfect. 

And seriously, he doesn’t need to be hating on Chloe. Chloe’s a teenage girl. Obviously she’s going to grow because she’s going to be the bee hero. But like. Whenever a fan (WHO MIGHT BE VERY YOUNG IN CASE YOU FORGOT) asks him about Chloe and her character, he brushes it off, talks about how she isn’t worth it. And like. He doesn’t need to be talking about how evil she is. You know who is evil, whose actions people constantly condone? Gabriel Agreste. But of course, he’s not bashing the evil white man (read, because he’s sexist). There is no excuse for him to be bashing on Chloe. Even if he’s ~trying to keep things under wraps~. He can always just like. Redirect the conversation.

And I’m going to call him Ass Truck. 1. You don’t tell me what to do, and 2. Me calling him Ass Truck clearly isn’t hurting his job. Like, obviously I’m being rude. What gave it away? The part where I @ him to block me, or the part where I keep aggravating him by pointing out that he’s a huge dick who needs to shut up? I feel like me being rude to a huge dick is nothing, compared to the fact that the huge dick is a writer for a kid’s show who constantly sexualizes his main character and demonizes his female characters. That doesn’t scream feminist to me. Neither does his racist portrayal of Chinese culture, or him brushing off the racism in a comic written for his show. I don’t know about you, but it’s pretty fucking shitty that this show written by a sexist, racist moron is being marketed as a feminist show. 

I don’t care what your opinion on Astruc is. I really, really don’t. He’s proven over and over how revolting of a human being he is. And if you can’t admit that to yourself, that’s not my problem. If you want to actually talk about him, great. But do you see my description? Do you see what I wrote there? This is exactly why I wrote it. I don’t need to justify my behavior to someone I don’t know. I trust my friends to tell me what I’m doing isn’t cool. 

Besides, I have never claimed to be nice. 

[justauthoring]

It Wasn’t Real (part nine)

Summary: You’re part of the infamous Loser’s Club, and often asked, what are you afraid of? You reply, nothing, but what your friends don’t know is that your biggest fear is them.

prologue - one - two - three - four - five - six - seven - eight - nine - ten - eleven - finale

A/N: ALSO, WARNING: This is kinda seeming like a Stan x Reader with how much i mention Stan but don’t get it twisted: IT WILL BE A RICHIE X READER! It’s just Stan was so close to winning i wanna still make him a strong, prominent character!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Send me a little comment in the ask section or leave it below on what you thought of this chapter. It doesn’t have to be long, I appreciate every single comment I receive and telling me just helps inspire me to write it more frequently.

Pairing: Loser’s Club x Reader, slight Henry x Reader (you’ll see) Richie x Reader.

Warnings: force, bullying, depressing and sad tones, and sexual abuse (mild) plus Henry being a dick, so….

Tag’s List: @chalatea - @darlingimafangirl - @chalatea - @myfriendmagislit -@frozenhealswrites - @fl0werb0nes18 - @emotionallyenterprised - @alec-lighwccd - @bellasett - @starshininginthedark - @tastefulcaring - @impulsivesuperrobin - @newtandthediamonds - @huge-waste-of-time​ - @jess-sxcks​ - @theoraekensnotsosecretlover​ - @moonageharry​ - @nieligator​ - @sufferingstilinski​ - @the-fantastic-fandom-dork - @horsiesandstuff​ - @arianamichelle04​ - @alloffmyships​ - @darlingimawriter​ - @gcnnyweasleys​ - @redvelvet-cupcake​ - @almusanzug​ - @d0nt-g0-imagines​ - @brighter-thanthe-sky​ - @murphamy-minefeild​ - @celestesfairy​ - @fly-like-a-grayson​ - @emrysaaryn - @holy-minseok - @antiherojason - @multifandom-states - @mysticsthinking - @ladyfairenvale - @crazyinlovewithbatman - @shaniacboogara - @welcometoourcomputershow - @17marvelousfreak - @funtik2011 - @anon-leaning-against-a-trashbin - @terrashrone - @im-fandom-trash - @mrgrytyrll - @ponyboys-sunsets - @captainslugcat - @eachandeveryfandom - @queenylime - @catwoman2502 - @1enchantedfantasy1 I will no longer be adding anyone! bolded is who I couldn’t tag.

You hadn’t realized how late you’d been at quarry, until you stepped back outside. There, standing in the middle of the road stood you, panting and pacing in the stop. The sun was setting and you could feel the cool air breeze in as the warm sun was covered by the dark sky. 

Your mind was running wild. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t think coherently. IT had Stan... while you and everyone else had been bonding at the quarry, Stan had been in danger. And it was all because of you. If you hadn’t dragged him back into this mess, if you’d just left him alone... then none of this would’ve happened. You needed to find Richie, needed to tell him what had happened. But no one else, Richie already knew and that was the only reason why you justified going to him.

You wouldn’t risk the lives of your friends by dragging them back into something they thought was done.

You clenched your fists, nodding to yourself. Richie had only left a little bit ago, if you continued down the path you should be able to reach him before he got home. Then, you’d tell him everything and you’d guys would figure out what to do. So, nodding your head you began walking again, not quite running but your feet carried you along the road quickly. It wasn’t until you reached an alleyway, a alleyway you were sure Richie took home and turned a corner, did you feel your body flying downwards.

Something’d tripped you.

You were confused as to what had happened until you heard his voice; “Y/N.” Henry announced, walking around your body so you could see his worn out shoes. You felt your heart drop. This was possibly the worst timing. “Just the girl i’ve been looking for.”

You groaned, placing your hands on either side of your face and tried to push yourself up. You didn’t get far as Henry kicked his foot out, knocking your hand off the concrete. Your chin smacked against the ground beneath you, making you bite your tongue by accident. You moaned in pain, feeling blood pool your mouth. You didn’t have much time to wallow in your pain before you felt two sets of arms grab your own and haul you up.

You groaned, your head falling back as Henry stood before you. Part of you felt fear run through you, after the stunt you’d pulled you knew this wouldn’t end well. But in the back of your mind you saw the words ‘WHERE’S STAN?’ written on your bedroom ceiling in blood and you were reminded why you needed to get out of this. As soon as possible. 

“H-Henry-” You mumbled, blinking at the boy. Henry smirked, pushing his face much closer to your own and gripped your chin just like last time. You felt him pull your head forward and his hot breath on your face as you tried not to flinch away in disgust. “No. See, you don’t get to talk this time.” Henry spat; “I waited until four eyes was far enough he wouldn’t hear us. It’s just you and me Y/N.”

Part of you wanted to snap at the fact that he had his two goons holding you back, so technically you weren’t really alone. But you knew better.

Then, it was almost as if Henry had read your mind. He nodded his head, signalling something to Belch and Victor before you felt them let go your arms. You stared in shock at your now free position, too dumbfounded to take this chance and run away. But then again, you knew you wouldn’t be able to get that far.

You needed to though. Stan needed you now. What you needed was to find Richie. And from the looks of it that didn’t seem like it was happening anytime soon.

The moment you’d snapped out of blankness, and started thinking rationally again, you felt your back smacking against the alley wall behind you. You let out a yelp of pain as your head once again smacked against something hard, already feeling the beginnings of a concussion developing. Yet, you sucked in your stomach, sticking your chin out and raising your brows defiantly Henry’s way. “What do you want, Henry?”

He smiled, his hand still gripping your chin; “you know what I want.”

“No!” You suddenly screamed; “no! Henry! I don’t- I don’t need you anymore.”

“Don’t fool yourself.” Henry sneered, pushing harshly on your head so it squished against the brick wall behind you. “You need me. Or... what was it? You’d end up alone. You’re nothing without me.” You snarled, pushing at his grip desperately to try and get away but it was useless. Yet you couldn’t stop the anger that surged within you, tired of being controlled by others. The loser’s let you be what you wanted to be, no one else ever did.

Your mom. Henry. The kids at school. They all controlled you, your actions and what you said. It made you feel trapped; isolated, even in a room full of people. If that’s all Henry brought, then you were tired of it. 

Using your semi-free hand, you raised it, aiming it directly at his crotch. Henry immediately let go of you, holding himself as he let out a scream of pain. Taking this chance you begun to run in the other direction, running in the opposite way Belch and Victor had gone. But just like that day in the woods, you hadn’t managed to get far before Henry managed to snatch your arm and yank you harshly backwards. You stumbled quite literally over your feet until your back hit the wall again.

This time, Henry made sure to press himself up against you. One hand trapped your left arm against yourself and the other grabbed your neck, slightly choking you. “No one’s here. No one’s going to help you.” Henry reminded. “I’m going to do what i intended to that day, and then you’ll really realize who you belong to.” You felt yourself go stiff as he pulled out the familiar knife. Wasting no more time, he let go of your neck and used it to grab your other arm, raising it and pressing it into the wall behind you.

You felt your skin scratch against the rough exterior of the bricks, but that was hardly your biggest issue. 

Your eyes watched without falter as Henry pressed the knife against your arm. Terror flooded every emotion, the only thing running through your mind was the fact that Henry was going to cut into your skin, and it was going to hurt, badly. 

“Henry!” You called, “Henry please! Please! I-I’ll stop, i’ll listen!”

“No!” Henry snapped, shoving his face into yours as you suddenly fell very quiet. “You brought this on yourself.” You felt like you were going to puke. You were going to puke. No one was here to help you; Richie and Eddie weren’t going to come and save you, no one was. And no matter how hard you fought, Henry would still be able to carve his name into your skin.

The minute the knife sliced through your skin, you let out a scream. It was so loud you’re sure the entire neighbourhood could here, but something this neighbourhood specialized in was ignoring everything. No one was coming to help you.

Henry prolonged the pain, making sure every slice was deep enough it’d scar. Eventually the pain became too much, you found yourself blanking out. Yet you could still feel your mouth move and the distant sound of yourself screaming. You don’t know how long it lasted, or if you passed out halfway through. All you knew was when the knife finally left your skin, it felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off your shoulder. 

Henry let go of your arm, and you let it fall against your side without looking. You didn’t dare look.

His hands, slightly stained with blood went to grasp your chin, but this time in a nurturing method. He cooed at you, as if you were a child who’d tripped and scraped your knee. With tears staining your face, Henry softly brought you into his embrace. This is what he did. Hurt you but was always there for the end, when you needed someone the most. It was the most effective way to keep you with him, being there when no one else was. Even if it was him who’d caused the pain in the first place.

You didn’t fight him, just let yourself fall into his warmth. You felt your arm throb and you’re sure that your shirt was stained with blood, but you didn’t care. 

“Come on, my dad’s not home.”

The next day, you found yourself by Henry’s side, his arm around your chest and Belch, Victor and some random guy with you as you walked around. Eventually the lot of you set yourself far away enough that no adults would catch you. You weren’t sure what exactly you were doing; your mind focused on taking puffs of your cigarette instead. You tried to fight the guilt that welled within you, the only thing consoling you was the toxicity pumping through your veins.

What had you done?

What were you doing?

Stan was gone, you hadn’t gone home last night, instead spent the night with Henry. Everything was falling apart, IT was coming back for the worse. And here you were, sitting on a rock with a cig in-between your two fingers, a blank look in your eyes. You felt guilt, immense guilt, yet no part of you moved. You didn’t get up, you didn’t do anything. You were just done.

You were gone.

“Hey, hand that over!” Victor called, making his way over to you and extending his hand out. You knew what he wanted, a swig of your cig. There was no way you were giving up the one thing keeping you calm at the moment. “Get your fucking own.” You spat, placing it between your dry lips once again.

You heard Victor laugh and eventually the rest joined, minus Henry. “Hey, Henry, tell your fucking bitch to give me her cigarette.” Victor said and you felt anger surge through you. He acted as if you weren’t even there, like everyone damn else. “Y/N, do as he says.” You weren’t surprise, figures Henry’d be the one to ‘command’ you. Sighing heavily, you stood up and passed your cigarette over to the skinny boy.

“Good girl.” You bit your lip, hiding back whatever remark you wanted to make back. Victor took the cigarette, satisfyingly walking away as you were left to your own devices.

“Y/N, come here.” Like the good little girl you were, you begun making your way over to Henry with a heavy heart. You hated yourself for it, following his commands like you were some doll. But the bloodied stained word carved in your name just proved what would happen if you didn’t listen to him.

“No, I don’t think she will.” 

Though, your steps halted, halfway between Henry and the boy who’d spoke. Your eyes widened, immediately recognizing who’d spoken and as you turned your head, your assumptions were correct. Though instead of it just being Richie, who you’d heard, there stood everyone. Bill, Beverly, Ben, Mike, Eddie but no Stan...

You felt caught in middle, quiet literally, unsure of where to go.

“Excuse me?” Henry spat, immediately becoming defensive. Victor, Belch and whoever else had come along all began gathering around Henry and in default you as you gazed back at your friends with amazement. You’d never thought that they’d come. Not in a million years.

“We said, Y/N won’t be hanging with you guys anymore.” Mike announced, standing tall and defiantly. Disbelief flooded through you, had Mike just...?

“Y/N, what did he do to you?” You heard Beverly ask in an eerily quiet voice, and you were suddenly reminded of the blood that stained your shirt (you hadn’t changed) and your bare arm where what Henry had carved into you was clear as day. Biting your lip, you raised your right arm, holding it against your chest. “Oh my god...”

“Y/N, get the hell over here.” Henry demanded and you let your gaze fall on him finally, seeing his face twist into unbelievable frustration. His fists were clenched so tight that the knuckles were white and veins were popping out of his arms. You didn’t move, didn’t listen. You were close enough that if you tried, you could reach your friends before Henry could reach you. “Y/N.”

When you looked back over at your friends, you watched their faces for a reaction but one particularly caught your eyes. There in the middle stood Richie, his face twisted into an expression you couldn’t read but all you knew was that he was mad. Silence followed, you quite literally decided over what would become your life. Though in that time, Richie had stepped forward, his worn fists clenched; “I already told you, Y/N isn’t coming near you and your fucking tag-team anymore.”

Richie reached you in record time, pushing you behind him gently. You watched with butterflies in your stomach, Henry stepping forward himself. Then before you knew it, and something you definitely hadn’t expected, Richie raised his arm, reeled back and shot it forward, smacking Henry directly in the face. The assaulted boy groaned out in pain, his hands fall to his face as he stumbled back.

Victor, Belch and the other guy stepped forward but then all of a sudden everyone else ran forward, and Beverly grabbed ahold of you. Gently she pushed you back, and you watched on with worry. This was dumb. No matter how hard the boys tried or how much they’d grown, the couldn’t beat Henry. And you didn’t want them getting hurt because of you. “Let’s just go!” You screamed, “please!”

No one listened to you.

You huffed, tired of being ignored. No longer would you let your voice be unheard. 

You shoved your way through your friends, reaching Richie in record time and grabbing his hand before he could attempt another punch on Henry. Pulling his attention you, you yelled; “we need to go!”

“But-”

“No, you’ll never beat them. Not now.” You interrupted, shaking your head and lightly tugging on his wrist. “Let’s go.” Richie paused, looking back at his friends for a moment before nodding. Then suddenly you were tugging the boy away and in the opposite direction. The rest automatically followed and you felt adrenaline rush through you. You were beyond thankful they’d come, but as you listened to their rasped breaths and could just imagined their battered faces, you wished they’d thought it through more clearly.

“Are you guys crazy?” You yelled once you were far enough. Huffing, you let go of Richie and waved your arms widely. “They could’ve killed you! Henry would’ve killed you!”

“Are you crazy?” Richie yelled; “he was going to fucking kill you!”

That made you freeze, your eyes falling on your friends as they all looked away ashamed. “I had it under control....” You mumbled.

“I-It didn’t look like you did.” Bill muttered. You opened your mouth to defend yourself but Ben interrupted you;

“Y/N, he literally carved his name into your arm!” Ben exclaimed, gesturing towards your blistering wound. Holding it, you gazed down at it for what seemed the first time. Your eyes scanning the letters ‘H’ ‘E’ ‘N’ ‘R’ ‘Y’. They were right, he would’ve killed you. Maybe not today, but some time soon. It was all just too much, everything was spinning.

“Thank you.” You muttered and they all just nodded. And as you let your eyes wander around them, you bit your lip; you couldn’t leave it any longer. They needed to know and now, no matter how much it hurt. “IT has Stan.” Everyones face snapped towards you, and you heard Richie mutter your name softly but you shook your head. No. Not now.

“IT. IT has Stan.”

“I-I don’t unders-”

“Yes you do!” You interrupted Eddie, your words leaving no room for argument. “You can lie all you want but I know you remember. And it doesn’t matter if it makes no sense, Stan needs us now.”

Part 10?

Let me know what you thought!

[zachwritesstuff]

Digimon Adventure Tri: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

I’ve been a fan of Digimon ever since I was 11, back in 2001. Though I’ve had a rocky relationship with it, I’ve always admitted myself as a fan of those weird little monsters and their wacky adventures.

It’s why I was so excited by the announcement of Digimon Adventure Tri. One of my favorite seasons was, of course, the first, and I was excited to see what they could do with these characters in a more modern setting, with them a bit older and tastes and themes in anime having changed since the heyday of the monster partner genre. Heck, I was even excited by the rumors (that ended up being true) that the season 2 characters would have very little involvement in the plot. I had long stated that Season 2 was my least favorite season, so that felt like the icing on the cake for a great show.

Having recently finished the last movie, and hearing the news of more on the way, I have to say that my view on this revitalization experiment is not as shiny and bright. While I will say it was an interesting thing to watch, especially after such a long time, it was hard to say if it was good or not. So I’m going to go over some positive and negative aspects I found over the several years it took for this entire series to come out.

By the way, as this will be talking about this series as a whole, there will be spoilers

The Good

1.  It was good to see them again

Let’s get that out of the way real quick. Despite overall problems I had with this series, I will admit that the fanboy in me did really like seeing new material with these characters I loved as a kid. Hell, I even kind of enjoyed their appearances in Digimon Xros Wars, even if that was the most pure pandering of all time.

I also liked their updated look, even though it was a bit controversial that they moved away from the classic big head/hands/feet look from the old shows. It helped deliver the message that they were maturing and would be presenting a different kind of story from the original. But with the original voice actors of the Digimon returning to join a brand new cast, it at also said that it wasn’t going to stray too far from the original. Different but not too different. It could work… Right?

But while we’re talking about the characters, let’s talk about…

2. Character Growth

With the maturing characters, they couldn’t really be the same precocious children anymore. It would seem weird to have this people in their teens acting like 10-12 year olds still. So they had to grow up in some way, and to the credit of the writer’s, much of it felt very sensible.

I think the strongest among them is probably Tai. It makes the most sense, as he is the main character. Whereas he was formerly headstrong and first to enter action before, by Tri, he had become more level headed and questioned his motivation a lot more. This made the series a bit more interesting, as it helped give depth to his decisions and not make it as cliche and repetitive that Digimon tended to be sometimes.

Along with Tai, characters like Izzy, Joe, Mimi and Sora also expanded emotionally, though theirs is a little less obvious. Izzy and Joe are shown to be studying and working in their fields a lot more heavily, while Sora is opening up more and Mimi is becoming more of a headstrong leading type. Unfortunately, since Digimon has always had problems with letting specific characters shines, their character advancement didn’t get much notice, and they weren’t given much room to stretch. Because of this, we only got bits and pieces of who they had become after a few years of development.

The ones that came off the worst of the original crew were probably Matt, TK and Kari. Not to say that they didn’t also advance a bit, but they probably had the least of all. Matt still was cool, and was just now older and cooler. TK seemed like he was supposed to be an auxiliary leader of the group, but with Tai and Matt taking most of the leadership positions, he was left with nothing much to do. And Kari, well… I think she said maybe 20 words in the first couple of movies, and mostly stood around and smiled. For a long time, it seemed like she would get no development, but she did finally get some storylines after what felt like forever. Which leads me to my next point…

3. Kari’s Importance

Kari has always been my favorite character of the Digimon series. She came during my favorite arc of the original season, and her character felt a bit different from the other known female characters, who were the archetype Girly Girl and Tomboy. She had weaknesses in her often recurring sickness (always unnamed), but it was soon revealed that she had a deeper connection to the plot, and possibly even revealing a much more perplexing story behind the Digital World and what it might hide.

Then… Nothing happened after season 1. They hinted at her connection to the Digital World during Season 2, including the introduction of the Dark Ocean involving her, but through the rest of the series, she just ends up being fodder for Davis’ crush and generally just being Another Character.

That’s why I was glad to see them actually touch on it. They didn’t go too deeply, but they showed that not only did she have a much stronger tie with the Digital World and Digimon, but she also might be able to go beyond, to communicate with Digmon in limbo and help those that might need help. I really do hope that they continue to dive into it and bring her whole deal to a head in future material. And speaking of future…

The Bad

1. Season 2’s Epilogue

This is honestly a little hard for me to think about, and it won’t be the only time in this article I talk about it. So let’s get it out of the way: I, like pretty much every fan in the Digimon fandom, hate the final Epilogue scene to season 2. It made no sense, it gave random jobs to people that didn’t fit their personality, and basically threw an active grenade into the whole shipping side of the show, making that a basically banned subject if you talk to any fan of the series. So when, at first, it seemed like it was going to retcon all of the epilogue, I was over the moon.

But just like epilogue itself, they give hints to it at the very, very end of the last movie. They talk about Matt’s desire for space, TK is now writing journals of his adventures and Tai’s change in career focus. Despite everything fans have said about it, they are going to stick to their guns, and justify the dumb as hell ending they made.

And you know what? I can respect that. They introduced that bit of canon, and for better or worse, they’re going to stick to it. They’re going to try as hard as they can to try and make sense of what was set forth for these kids future, even if it does seem like an impossible task. A really impossible task, to be perfectly honest…

Okay but seriously, they really wanted to try to justify this? It’s basically like badly written fanfiction. Everyone in the world has a Digimon, Matt is an astronaut, Davis has a ramen stand, Mimi has a cooking show, it feels like a madlib. Even the little hints they put in at the end of Digimon Tri felt like more like a mandate than an actual attempt to be inclusive to the original canon.

And if we are going to talk about the consistency, than you have to really wonder about the things they now have to retcon INTO the epilogue. Namely, Mei, and this whole Digimon shadow government organization. Where do they factor into this idealistic future? Sorry, I’m ranting a bit, but it felt like a big misstep that they could have easily written out with little argument, and yet they felt the need to include it. Hell, they didn’t even physically show the characters of Season 2, and yet they still feel the need to bring back the worst part of that season? It’s just dumb, though to be completely fair, that might just be my own disdain coloring my thoughts.

To be fair, it can work, and I would even be okay with them going in the middle almost, keeping some of the general ideas from the epilogue, but coloring them in a more realistic fashion. I think the big problem myself and many people had with it was how it was presented. It was basically bullet points that were presented without any context. If they do decide to delve deeper, I’m hoping that at the very least, they try to connect it to their characters and modernize it a little bit (I.E. making Mimi more of a media mogul than just a Cooking Show host, make Davis more of an entrepreneur than just a guy with a Ramen Cart). I don’t like it, but if it must be there, at least make it sensible, right?

2. Season 2 characters

So as you can probably infer from above, I don’t hold the second season of Digimon Adventure in the highest regard. The characters are no exception. But Jesus Christ, not even I would have treated them as piss poor as Digimon Tri did. Not only did they not even appear as actual characters, they didn’t even bother to update their appearances! I went and looked back at the scene, and as noted in the appearance section of their wiki entries, their silhouettes are basically just wearing clothes they wore in the past (It’s even noted that Davis is wearing his square goggles from the pilot of Digimon 02). They are then barely mentioned until the last two movies, where they are simply props to fuel how evil and twisted the villain is. Never once are they seen as more than shadowy figures, and the fact that they even lived at the end is a couple of lines in the last five minutes.

Now while I don’t love these guys, I do think that this series of movies was their chance to do SOMETHING with them. Either delve into their characters deeper and separate them from the carbon copies of S1 characters, like they were, or turn into the skid and really have fun with people’s perception of them,much like how Dragon Ball Kai and Super did with Yamcha. They could have really done some cool things with this group, but instead, they basically act like they don’t exist until they’re needed as objects to further the plot

Hell, from here, they could even introduce an interesting plot, on how they were literally gone for weeks, maybe months, yet none of the main 8 characters seemed to care that they were near death somewhere in the Digital World. That could make for an interesting dynamic between them, and even play into a meta competition between Season 1 and Season 2. But, deep down, I know that all of those ideas are just fever dreams, and most likely, any further material will continue to leave them in the background.

3. Some Adult Situations May Apply

When I was told that the Director of these films also directed School Days and one of the Persona 3 films, it was one of the least surprising thing I had ever heard. For a series who’s whole deal is being a “kids with monster friends” show, it does not feel like it was made for that demographic at all!

I can understand wanting to gear it towards an older audience. It makes perfect sense, actually. The people who grew up with the original Digimon Adventure were now adults, so wanting to make something for their sensibilities seems like the most obvious decision. No problem at all!

But it really is only good on paper. Looking at the history of kid focused shows being transitioned to older focused shows paints a rather different, and more ugly, picture. You get the likes of Ren & Stimpy’s Adult Party Cartoon, or more recently, the absolutely atrocious showing of DC’s Titans, based on the popular Teen Titans series (note: as of this writing, only the first preview has come out, so there is still time to save it, even if it looks unlikely). True, there have been some good shows made from kids properties, like Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast and Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law, but it comes with the caveat of those shows having nothing to do with what they were originally based on.

On the subject of Digimon, it seemed like they were less interested in making a Digimon movie and more interested in making a Persona movie, even down to the final monster being a giant nude angel beast who’s butt is prominently featured on most of it’s shots. Add in the scenes of Tai heavily injured and covered in blood, and multiple characters either dying or going mad with grief, and you basically have the David Lynch student film that is Digimon Tri.

I think the biggest question is… Why? There was absolutely no need to get this grimdark with it. The people who grew up with Digimon enjoyed it for it’s values in friendship and teamwork, in the world building of this fascinating patchwork world, and in these characters growing up and learning. And especially in an age where streaming services allow for modern audiences to go back and watch the original whenever they want, it seems weirdly outdated to think that they would need to make it more “cool and mature” for the original fans.

I could go on and on about this, but really, I’m just hoping they learn that changing the tone of the story is not necessary. We love the characters, and we want to see them grow and prosper, not suffer needlessly.

The Ugly

1. The Grown Ups

Boy oh boy, was I not a fan of these two. Two government agents at the Incorporate Administrative Industry (I had to look it up because it’s barely mentioned by name), Maki and Daigo are the two exposition machines of this series of films. They try very, very hard to make these two likeable, but it just comes out completely flat and uninspired. Worse, their misguided development takes away screen time from more deserving characters, like Joe, Izzy, TK and Kari.

Their motivations seemed to just be “We’re the government and we gotta stop Digimon”, and they hint at a deeper motive for them. But the hints are extremely vague, to the point where it seems like they didn’t actually know what they were going to do with them in the first few movies. It wasn’t even until the second to last where we learned that, surprise, they’re two of the original Digidestined! And they’re trying to find their old Digimon! Or Something! I’m actually not sure at all…

Then you get to the last movie, and they’re just… removed. Maki is seen wandering off into the Dark Ocean, and Daigo makes a Heroic Sacrifice to save Tai and everyone else. It feels like it should be very deep and moving, but I found myself not caring much because there was never anything to really draw me into either of them. There were fun moments here and there, but never anything an audience could connect or relate to beyond “These two knew each other growing up and dated a little bit.” Though you can’t blame that all on just the general story....

2. The Movie Format, Animation, and the Big Bad(s?)

Pretty much every review of Digimon Adventure Tri has touched on this, so I won’t get too deep into it. Needless to say, releasing this story as 6 movies hurt it immensely. It caused the story, the character development, the tones, to all feel disjointed and hard to follow, especially with the long wait times between each of them. They were released over 4 damn years, and even as a diehard fan, I found myself struggling to even remember what happened in past installments.

Of course, part of their plan with having the big gaps was to continually renew interest, causing people to want to go back and rewatch the past movies, or purchase them when they came out on dvd/blu-ray. And this would have worked, if it weren’t for the fact that these movies aren’t, well… Really well made.

The animation wasn’t awful, let’s get that out of the way. But it was very inconsistent, and you can tell where corners were cut to save money. It’s no more obvious than in the opening, where half of it had fantastic animation, while the other half looked like a fan film made in Flash.

All the disjointedness and inconsistent flow didn’t help the antagonists of the films either. It became extremely hard to tell who was good and who was bad at times. Was it Meicoomon, who had this deadly virus in her that was going to destroy both worlds? Was it Homeostasis, who wants to reset the Digital World, effectively wiping everything out? Was it Dark Gennai and the who King Drasil group, who want to just cause chaos? I’m pretty sure ends up really being them, but it’s not really mentioned until after everything’s taken care of. And if King Drasil is really the Big Bad person he’s supposed to be, than why was he defeated off school, during a time skip? It’s hard to really figure out who the baddie is when most of the final movie is taken up by Ms. Big Butt Angel Demon.

Which brings me to my final, and biggest, problem with Digimon Adventure Tri.

3. Mei and Meicoomon

These two are a waste of space, and the perfect definition of a Whipping Boy type character. She is not introduced to be particularly strong or special. Her entire purpose seems to be to fulfill two things: To suffer in place of the main characters, and to be a love interest to Tai since Sora marries Matt in the future. She is shown to be meek and unassuming, not talking much and acting shy around other people. At first, things aren’t so bad. Her interactions with Mimi helping her come out of her shell starts to establish a good character arc for her, and it seems like she is organically going to become a part of the group. But then Meicoomon ruins the fun.

Meicoomon is her cat Digimon, based off the Maine Coon. 70% of Meicoomon’s dialogue is her yelling “Mei!” I would tell your more about Meicoomon’s character, but that is it. She exists, then she becomes evil and has to be defeated, while Mei cries for four movies over the fact that Meicoomon is evil. That’s basically the long and short of it. By the end of the second movie, Mei is catatonic, and Meicoomon is a glitch monster who is destroying everything. The end.

What makes it even worse is the fact that, even by Digimon’s standards, her story isn’t that original! It’s basically just a reworked version of Wallace/Willis and Kokomon from the Digimon Hurricane Touchdown movie (third section of Digimon: The Movie in America), of a kid who’s Digimon friend becomes corrupted, and they are forced to destroy them to stop them. The only difference being that Wallace had two Digimon, and his story was over in 1 movie, while Mei’s dragged on for six of them.

All in all, I think that there is still potential for some good Digimon productions, both for Adventure and other continuities. The films seemed to do alright in the limited box office run in Japan, and they were popular enough to warrant another movie being made (which was announced in the middle of writing this). I’m hoping that does better, but I also hope that it’s the final send off for these characters. Two seasons and a handful of movies is enough for them, let’s give another cast a shot!

Also I still hold out hope for a Digimon Tamers continuation. One can dream~

[petelanemoviereviews-blog1]

Mute (2018) Review

Review Date: 3/20/18

“…………”

While there are some great aspects of the film including an ensemble cast, Duncan Jones’ dream project turns out to be a major downer.

Premise: Set in the future, an Amish boy named Leo is rendered unable to speak due to a boating accident. Years later Leo works as a bartender in Neo-Berlin. When his girlfriend goes missing, the technologically-illiterate man must journey into the bowels of the strange city to search for her.

From Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code, Warcraft) comes something that clearly started out as a great idea that became complicated due to the untimely death of his father, David Bowie. You can clearly see director’s pain over his dad’s passing as he continuously tries to pay homage to his dad. It’s sad to the point where now actually thinking about it brings me to the point of tears. I’m going to discuss many of the film’s faults, but I feel I should let many slide.

First off, I absolutely loved Jones’ directorial debut ‘Moon’, which this film happens to be set in the same universe as. The film blew me away with Sam Rockwell’s pretty much solo performance (it was just him and a robot voiced by Kevin Spacey. Still probably not the right time to mention that guy’s name) and a solid script with a fantastic twist. If you haven’t seen it, you’ll be expecting the twist now. Sorry. In Mute, there are a few quick references to the film. If you have a keen eye, you’ll spot them. I counted two or three, but there are probably more. The problem here is that there’s really no reason for the two films to be connected. They do nothing to strengthen each other, other than to show how strange a world Rockwell’s character comes from. It’s reminiscent of when Paul W.S. Anderson decided to put his 1998 film ‘Soldier’ starring Kurt Russell into the Blade Runner universe. In both cases, it’s kind of like a ‘So what?”. But, getting back to Moon. It showed me that Jones could stand on his own and not be known only as David Bowie’s son. He followed up this film with ‘Source Code’, which also received critical acclaim. At the time of this review, I’d only watched half of it and that was three or four years ago, but from what I saw, I really was impressed. Around that time, it was announced that Jones would be directing the movie adaptation of the hit video game series ‘Warcraft’. The film got huge buzz but was ultimately deemed a failure in critics’ eyes when it was released. I saw it when it hit the home market and somewhat enjoyed it for what it was despite knowing little of the lore behind the games. But it wasn’t the Duncan Jones I knew. And now, nearly two years later, here we are. I honestly thought this movie would hit theaters when I first heard about it. It sounded great…then I heard it was coming to Netflix. As much as I love Netflix, I will agree with what people are saying that it is a dumping ground for movies their studio think won’t do well in theaters. Take this year’s ‘Cloverfield Paradox’ for example; it would have bombed at the theaters and I would have been disappointed walking out of the theater after seeing it. I enjoyed it for a Netflix movie and am one of the few people who understand it and will defend it, yet I totally see why the studio sold it to the streaming media company. The same thing was done with David Ayer’s ‘Bright’ starring Will Smith a month earlier. I wasn’t too impressed with ‘Bright’ even for a Netflix movie. Mute falls right in the middle of that film and Cloverfield Paradox to me personally.

The film started to go downhill for when I realized Neo-Berlin looked eerily reminiscent of Blade Runner. A lot of futuristic movies coming out nowadays use this look to where it’s becoming more of a gimmick than a homage. I don’t necessarily call that a bad thing as I love futurism and the whole Cyberpunk genre. Netflix’s Altered Carbon did the exact same thing and to be honest that show and this film looks VERY similar. In both, you’re gonna see some pretty strange stuff. More so in this and that leads me to my first issue. This is where it seems like Jones’ is paying homage to his father but then it goes way too far and over-the-top. Robot Strippers? You got them. Wacky Japanese-inspired video games. Fine. A whole lot of Androgyny. OK… Seeing Robert Sheehan with breasts was a little jarring. Dominic Monaghan dressed as a geisha strongly implied to be having a threesome with robots. What the actual f**k?! These aren’t your robots that resemble humans like in Alien and Blade Runner. These are your robots that look like they’re straight out of ‘I, Robot’ (without the facial expressions) and Terminator. And we do get a lengthy shot of them really going at it. That’s an image I won’t be getting out of my head for quite some time. That was definitely something I never thought I’d see. The Androgyny thing I get. David Bowie was known for doing that of stuff. Like I’ve said before, Jones is clearly paying homage to him even if at times, it goes overboard. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m judging. The problem is, they don’t do anything to strengthen the story. It’s the ‘oooh hey look how bizarre the future is gonna be’ schtick. Another thing that seems out of place in this movie and before I say this, I love this actor. Prepare for your mind to be blown, because it blew mine when he first appeared on screen. Paul Rudd is in this movie sporting a porn-stache and he’s not a very nice guy nor is he that funny. It’s a serious role for him and he’s actually good, to be honest. Still, I wasn’t prepared to see him in that kind of role and it did throw me off a few times.

Another big issue is that there’s a very disturbing subplot. I honestly didn’t Jones would go that far, and I was surprised and even a little disgusted when it first came up. Jones makes it make some sense in the end, but the movie would have been just the same if not better without it. There were other ways to make this movie more dramatic. Worse, is the story kinda delves into that plotline in the third act, shifting to an almost horror-type tone. You’ll see what I’m talking about and I’m sure you’ll agree with me.

Another issue is the script. I’m serious when I say this is some of the worst dialogue I’ve ever heard come out of these (in my opinion) good actors’ mouths. I refuse to believe Jones wrote any of this dialogue. You’re left to wonder why most of these actors even signed onto this. I’d like to believe there were many pointless rewrites.

My final issue is this: How the heck has this Amish guy been living in the middle of a city so technologically advanced for so long? It’s stated that he ignores all the basic survival utilities but that really doesn’t make sense, because even today, it’s virtually impossible to escape modern technology. Even today’s Amish use some modern technology to a small extent. Maybe if he lived out in the country (if the world isn’t completely covered by vast cityscapes) that might work. A better idea would be to have him live outside the city with his girlfriend coming to visit him. But no, he lives in a soaring high-rise apartment. He’s a bartender at a robot/human strip club. I get that maybe he doesn’t use computers in that field taking money instead of credit cards or whatever they use in that time. Still, kind of a plot hole.

Now to get into the good things. The story and mystery at its core are actually pretty solid. Yeah, the mystery aspect is a bit confusing and feels a bit messy at times, but it comes together OK in the end. Not great but I was sort of satisfied…and kind of happy for this thing to end. I will say one more negative thing. The third act drags on for way too long. I kept checking how many minutes were left. This movie didn’t need to be as long as it is. The only reason for the long run time is that there’s so much unnecessary stuff forcefully crammed into it. But yes, in the end, I was surprised at how everything turned out. I feel kind of dumb for not catching on earlier as I’m usually very good at figuring out that kind of stuff. Another thing I enjoyed was the performances. Alexander Skarsgård, Paul Rudd, and even Justin Theroux are too good for this movie. I also loved and felt sympathy for the main character. For a guy who doesn’t say anything, he’s well written and Skarsgård does fine emoting through his face. A few of the action scenes are pretty cool and well done for the most part.

In final, this movie is a mess, but I feel this is one of the few cases where it’s justified. Jones had just lost his father and it’s clear he was going through a lot of grief, so I’m not gonna rag on him. I think this guy has talent and I believe one day we’ll see this guy on top with other films as great as Moon and Source Code. Score: 4.3/10

[lotornomiko]

The Dark Flavor Of Addiction Chapter Seven

3B cannon divergence with a heavy focus on a secret sexual relationship between Hook and Belle. Both devoted and swearing to love others, Hook and Belle both can’t deny the irresistible passion and attraction they have for one another, leading to repeated secret trysts, hurt feelings, and a whole lot of jealousy. But what happens when feelings unravel completely,& secrets come out?

Captain Beauty Endgame…so not safe for work….

That lust that I feel for him, this thus far undeniable passion, is the same reason I shouldn't be surprised now. I've never much cared for time or place, and that was BEFORE Rumplestiltskin had died. I can only imagine how much more brazen and shameless I had become, how self serving and without remorse I had been. Had I even mourned, had I even cared to try? The answer was what I feared, was what made me shed tears that I was undeserving of.

Faintly I hear him, Hook speaking my name. I could only stand there shaking, the tears leaving their hot trails on my cheeks. At his touch I became completely undone, my legs giving out, my body collapsing against his. I hear Hook grunt, feel him take an unsteady step back before his arms strengthened their hold around me. He held me as I shook, my face buried against his chest, my tears wetting Hook's shirt.

Time slipped away from me then, much like the year I had lost. One minute I was coherent of nothing but the overwhelming sadness, the upset over the person I had become, that greedy, uncaring woman. And then the next? I found myself seated, a metal flask pressed against my lips. I had already imbibed a generous helping of the rum, and not even the stinging taste, and strong smell had completely gotten through to me. At least not at first. I found myself blinking still wet eyes, found myself seated not on a chair, but across Hook's lap.

I was too distraught to color in embarrassment. Too distraught to do much of anything but stare. He wasn't smiling anymore, that sensual mouth of his instead frowning. His blue eyes were dark, and more serious than I could ever recall seeing and yet I couldn't begin to fathom where his thoughts lay.

I don't know how long we stared at each other in this way. Maybe we would have kept on staring for just about forever, but the sudden shrill ringing of my phone, jolted me into action. The flask fell to the floor, the remains of the rum spilling out onto the lacquered wood. I was already lurching upright, intent on finding and answering the phone, when calloused fingers closed around my wrist. That was all the warning I got before Hook jerked me off balance, and I came tumbling back down on top of him.

"Wh--what?!" Was all that I managed to say, the breath knocked out of me, out of us both. Before I could do much more than squirm, Hook's arms had locked around me, holding me in place. "The phone..." I tried to say, the insistent ringing continuing. I got the next shock of my life, when Hook buried his face in my hair, muttering something too soft to make out.

His behavior confused me, and yet I tried again. "It could be important..." I froze at his response, Hook's lips finding my ear, whispering a hoarse question into it.

"Is it really that repugnant....the idea of spending so much of that missing year with me?"

If I hadn't already been so shocked, I might have managed a frown. Instead I could only blink rapidly, barely able to fathom what meaning to put behind that question of his.

"Well? Is it?!" His voice came out sharper, a hint of anger to it. I startled in place against him, reacting to that tone with a shiver going through me.

"I..." My voice came out with a shaky breath, my inability to truly speak agitating him further. I felt the tears leaving their slick trails once more on my skin, Hook then lifting his head at my sniffle.

"Belle?"

I couldn't, wouldn't apologize for crying. For mourning that which I wasn't. I closed my eyes briefly, mustered my courage to ask Hook about my greatest sin. "Did I....Did I even once...feel anything for Rumplestiltskin's passing?"

The startled look that he showed me, was nothing in comparison to the relief that followed. Hook managed so much as a half smile, tilting his head in a nod.

"Aye." He said. I wanted to take comfort from his strong, sure confirmation, but that alone wasn't enough. I needed more, needed to know every last detail if I was to have a semblance of peace. Hook seemed to sense where my thoughts lay, his expression still serious even with that glimmer of a smile.

"I held you often enough like this in the weeks that followed." His hand lifted, fingers touching my face, brushing back some of my unruly curls. "You were besides yourself with grief. We BOTH were."

"Emma." I managed to say her name without any true anger to it, the jealousy I had no real right to, held at bay for this one moment.

"Aye, Emma." He said her name almost wearily, a new resignation in his eyes. "I thought her lost to me for forever..." Hook shook his head, laughing without true humor to it. "I was wrong."

"Oh?" My own tone was guarded, my muddled feelings such that I couldn't begin to fathom the right response to show. Hook's expression became rueful, the man again shaking his head. He was still playing his fingers over my hair, but that touch couldn't detract from the seriousness of the mood, or Hook's words.

"You can't lose what you've never had."

I couldn't stop myself, my eyes widening in shock. Hook let loose a humorless chuckle, but was otherwise silent.

"That's quite a realization to have." I finally say.

Hook nodded. "It's one that's been a long time coming." He scowled then. "I was just too stubborn to accept it."

There were no words that seemed appropriate, nothing I could say that wouldn't ring insincere. I wasn't sorry for what-who he had lost, and I only regretted that Hook hadn't written off a chance with Emma a lot sooner than this.

"So now what?" I finally settled on a cautious question.

"Now?" He asked, his tone soft. My insides appeared to do somersaults, Hook having dipped his gaze to look with hungry longing at my lips. The smile he gave me was wolfish, Hook having felt the way I had begun to tremble in response. "Now I suppose..." His face was closer, his breath warm on my mouth. "There's no reason to hold back..."

I was caught unprepared, not by his kiss, but by what had been said. Not just the epiphany Hook had had about his chance with Emma, but by all of it, by the missing year, by the fact that I had apparently grieved Rumplestiltskin after all. And for weeks by the sound of it, but a million questions remained. So too did the mistrust, the doubts and insecurities. I began shoving away from the pirate, trying to squirm free of his arms.

"Belle." My name was a tortured moan from his throat, Hook again trying to kiss me. God help me, but I WANTED his kiss, even as I fought to evade it. I kept turning away, kept trying to shove free, fighting myself as much as I did Hook. He was all too tempting, and it would be far too easy to fall into old habits, our familiar give and take of twisted need and comfort. I had--was changing, no longer able to settle for simply being the woman Hook sought out for sex and solace. I had my dignity to think of, my self respect, but that uncontrollable lust, that fiery passion Hook always stoked so expertly inside me, was ready to burn away any attempt at resisting.

Hook abandoned his quest for my lips, his feverish kisses falling along my throat and exposed collar. I couldn't stop the gasp, couldn't stop from quivering with need, my body both wanting to melt and purr over such a touch. I felt like such a weak, wanton of a woman, so desperate and needy, and to such extremes for this man. Only my earlier vows, both the anger and the hurt I had felt over being used, and the memory of how much it had gutted me to hear Hook moan Emma's name, kept me from giving in so completely. Even as my body grew damp in eager preparation, even as my legs trembled with the force needed to keep my thighs closed to him. I was pushing away, my hands slapping wildly and then I was free.

"Belle?!" His passion wasn't cooled one bit by his anger and confusion. Hook panted as hard as I did, both of us sounding as though we had run several miles. I shook all over, even as I took unsteady steps back, Hook rising to his feet to aggressively pursue me.

"No!" I said it loudly and strongly, my right hand held forward to ward him off. I watched the tic in his cheek dance, watched the way Hook glowered in frustration, his fingers curling into a half formed fist. "No." I said it more quietly, but with no less force. "I won't be your rebound. I won't be the tool you use to get over the hurt Emma has dealt you."

"Emma?" His look was a confused frown, Hook shaking his head no. "This no longer has anything to do with her."

"So you say." I retort quickly. "But do you honestly believe that?!"

"I..."

"And do you honestly think I can believe that?!" I added, with a shake of my head. "No, nothing's changed. She's STILL hurting you, and in turn, you're still using me as some twisted coping mechanism." I willed myself to stay angry, to not give in and let bitter tears fill my eyes. I wanted to present a strong front, to not appear torn up and twisted inside by him and the situations we faced together, or the feelings that he made me feel, that wild want, that irrational need to own and possess him.

Those feelings were so dark, so twisted, and so far beyond my current understanding. I was drawn to Hook, in ways I couldn't explain. In ways that were different from my attraction to Rumplestiltskin. I wanted, maybe even needed the pirate, in ways I had never any other man. But I didn't love him. I couldn't, this need a suffocating obsession that would see us dead if I didn't put an end to it.

"Belle..." I had thought his prolonged silence a confirmation of my accusation, but then I saw the determination in his eyes. "Yes, Emma has hurt me, and hurt me many times over. And yes, I can see that I've spilled that hurt onto you...but the blinders that I wore, the sway she had over me, it's all gone. I had a realization today, hell I had several, and I don't want to be chasing forever after a woman who doesn't want me. A woman who has given her heart to another."

"Like I've given my heart to Rumplestiltskin?" I demanded tartly. It didn't have the desired effect, Hook smirking as he once again advanced on me. The edge of a table hit the small of my back, my trembling hands reaching behind me for a steadying support. "I love him!" I said it quickly, trying to stave off Hook's touch. "It's Emma all over again...."

"It's not." Hook's hand went flat on my chest, as though he would reach in and caress directly my wildly beating heart. "There's a very real difference between you and her...." He was already leaning into me, his lip's aim a chaste touch on the lobe of my ear. His whisper was husky, his all too real satisfaction inerrant in the words he relished. "Emma never once gave herself over to me."

I closed my eyes at that, his hand now curving around my breast. I couldn't play surprised, couldn't do much of anything, having already known Emma wasn't sleeping with Hook. He never would have continued to fuck me otherwise. He would have been loyal, in ways I hadn't been able to be to Rumplestiltskin.

The guilt in my heart was written on my face. Even as I spoke, even as I told Hook that this had all been a mistake, I knew he was right. There was a difference between myself and Emma, the savior able to love truly and not falter in the face of temptation.