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tedturneriscrazy · 4 years ago

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Here's Eclipse Lake, an episode that has been highly anticipated! Will it top Knock, Knock, Knockin' On Hooty's Door?

I'll skip the pretense: No. It won't.

You'll see under the cut.

Hmm, that list of ingredients for the Grimwalker...I'll let other people theorize about this (like @sepublic ), but it sure looks like a thing

Guess the mysterious green goo won't cut it, huh?

Belos face reveal already?! Huh, didn't expect it so soon.

Oh, no, he's hot! (And I'm mad about it)

Still an ass, though

Now we know why Hunter was wearing a different outfit (because people fixated on that for some reason)

Amity with the clipboard gives me strong Dipper vibes

GHOST! My beloved!

I need a moment because CAT!

(Also, someone pointed out earlier that Ghost was based on Dana's cat, and that's super obvious in hindsight)

Raine?! Oh, wait, you mean rain. Sigh.

Eda gets training tips from DBZ confirmed

(Also Amity's face when reacting to Eda's explanation is priceless)

Oh God Eda's a weeb I need another moment

Damn, Amity just straight up calling Eda old

Oh, loopy Luz

(The abomination holding the tissue box is adorable for many reasons)

Yeah, don't want Luz to eat the McGuffin

I have several questions about those Tamagotchis that I'll refrain from listing here

Amity your Odalia is showing

Girlfriend counter: 1

(Yes I am introducing a counting gag, deal with it)

Was wondering if they were ever gonna reference the dissection incident. We've come a long way, baby!

Oh, so that's what everyone was looking at

Luz honey your enthusiasm is admirable but no

Luz burrito is quite cute, though

Girlfriend counter: 2

(Damn, still wild to think that that's the case)

Just occurred to me that "Boots" is probably shortened from "Bossyboots" from earlier

Guess the Luz hiss compilation needs to be updated again

Those tunnels ain't the only thing around here that's unstable, amirite?

Oops, guess Kiki was justified, after all

Maybe don't talk so loudly about your plans, dude

That is her son, get it right!

Serves you right for having that stupid strand of hair sticking out like that

Is this just the episode where everyone dunks on White Boy? Because I can totally get behind that.

Already mentioned this, but I am loving the parallels between Katara and Amity with that bottle of abomination goo. Insert obligatory "Two Nickels" meme here about Mae Whitman.

We really are just dunking on the white boy and I am living for it

Hooty had to get it from somewhere, I suppose

Nothing says mother-son bonding like shooting things at each other (see also: Separate Tides)

I'm sure the magic bouncing off the veins won't come into play later at all

Oh well, at least the echolocation looked cool

At this point Amity would kill Hunter for a Klondike bar

Wait why does Hooty need a chair

Willow with the galaxy brain ideas

"A bad but sad boy" Luz is a genius at succinctly summing people up

Kikimora continues to be unhinged. Ironically she's not wrong about Hunter.

Motherfucker stop acting like you know what that says

(Also, projecting much?)

Girlfriend counter: 3

Friendly reminder that Hunter is still an antagonist

Uh oh

UH OH

I know someone mentioned Willow having the brain cell, but honestly it seemed like Luz had it this whole time. And that's not good.

WHY IS FOOL'S BLOOD EVEN A THING

Aaaaand cue the getting screwed over

Further reminder that he's still an antagonist (Apparently there's a vocal segment who's Really Mad at him that seem to forget this fact)

You unhand Ghost right now!! And Amity too, I guess.

(I kid, she's literally my second favorite character)

For what she did to Raine it warms my heart to know Kiki has had zero peace of mind

Wait, the Abomatons are Transformers?! Okay, that's kind of awesome, actually. Alador might be a shit dad but he is a brilliant inventor.

Chucking kids off cliffs is a surpisingly common pastime in the Boiling Isles

Owlbert no!

Eda did spend literal decades fighting the Owl Beast within, so I guess she can't be blamed for not thinking to talk to it

Also hurry up guys I'm very concerned about Owlbert

Fuck yeah Harpy Milf!

Yay Ghost returns!

She's glad they're okay (I didn't need to take this, I just thought it was cute. Also this is surprisingly high quality considering I just took a photo of my TV screen)

Oh, so they do have video games in the Demon Realm. That or Luz introduced them.

Trailer shot!

Oh dear, we about to have a fight over the key

Wow, being so high ranking under Belos is really bad for mental health

Jesus Christ Belos what have you been putting in this poor kid's head?

Leave it to King to give radical recontextualizations

Amity, I'm glad you remembered/realized this about Luz, please don't let the sad white boy play you like that again

Also, I appreciate the gesture you're making, and it's a wonderful summary of your character development, but goddamnit he's gonna go for that key because he's STILL AN ANTAGONIST

"Being nice usually works for Luz!" A) Not always, and B) Amity I love you but Luz you are not. A valiant attempt nonetheless.

Ooh, cool fight scene!

Always lovely to see such superb animation

I was privately griping about not seeing Amity use magic for so long, and now I am fed

Don't think I didn't hear the glass breaking

Appreciate your ass from a hole in the ground, Golden Boy!

(jk I don't actually feel that strongly about him still. That kind of threat still isn't cool, though)

Oh so that's why it's the Common Mold!

It's kinda cute, actually. Or maybe it's just because it's Luz.

TIL Hooty is heat resistant

Apparently Owl Beast just wanted a snack

Girlfriend counter: 4

Also love how calling Amity her awesome girlfriend is literally the first thing Luz says to her upon returning.

Yesssss return the hug! You deserve it!

(I know there are higher quality versions of this screenshot, I just didn't feel like looking around)

King demands huggies, too! (And gets 'em)

Reminder that Amity is smart as hell. I knew that glass breaking indicated something!

So once again I've been had. I let the fandom trick me into thinking this episode would be way more intense. Guess that one screenshot was from the next episode.

Overall this was...fine. Some nice Lumity moments, Harpy Eda strutting her stuff, that gorgeously animated fight sequence; those were all lovely.

I do wish Willow and Gus had a bit more to do. And I'm still rather unenthusiastic about Hunter, to be honest. I've seen his type several times before, and the path they have for him is rather obvious. I may never share the fandom's love for him, and I guess I'll have to deal with that.

Anybody who says this was better than KKKOHD is a damn fool.

Mid season finale next week! I think Yesterday's Lie will finally bring the pain!

#the owl house #amity blight #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #king clawthorne #toh hooty #willow park #gus porter #emperor belos #toh hunter #toh ghost #kikimora #toh s2 spoilers #the owl house s2 spoilers #the owl house season 2 spoilers #the owl house spoilers #toh spoilers

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teawaffles · 4 years ago

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The Fugitives from the Fire: Chapter 3

Note: Some language.

Showers of sparks flew in all directions, fanned by blasts of hot air; amidst all that, both police officers and locals were using buckets and pots to throw water on the flames, in a strenuous bid to put out the fire.

“……Oi oi, we’ve already got a problem?” Sherlock mumbled, half in shock.

It wouldn’t be easily resolved — in an unexpected way, those words had come true. Lestrade grabbed a nearby officer by the arm.

“What the hell happened here?!”

The officer answered loudly, almost in a scream.

“A fire broke out! The building we were holding the criminal in caught fire!”

“……Jesus!”

Lestrade spat that word out, and threw himself into the firefighting effort right away.

“I’ll help too! Someone give me water!”

A split second later, Sherlock also moved to help. He took a bucket of water from the man closest to him — but the moment he saw his face, he stopped.

“……Gregson?” [1]

The man — Assistant Inspector Gregson — widened his eyes in shock.

“Holmes! You bastard — why’re you here?!”

As a famous detective, Sherlock often disregarded the police when solving his cases; Gregson could never stand the sight of him, and so it was no wonder he’d raised his voice. However, having grown accustomed to that enmity, Sherlock spoke quickly in response.

“Lestrade called me in himself. Anyway, were you the one sent to secure the other fugitive?”

Gregson waved the question away, as if he was in a terrible gloom.

“Dammit, quit yammering! Let’s talk about the details later! Our priority now’s to put out the fire!”

Saying that, he rushed off to draw more water. It was a reasonable point, so Sherlock refrained from pursuing the matter. Still, he found Gregson’s unusually impatient manner strange.

The quick arrest of the first fugitive. The burning building. And Assistant Inspector Gregson.

From all the elements that had presented themselves at this stage, Sherlock Holmes was certain that this case would be a tough one.

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

Roughly five hours after Sherlock and Lestrade arrived at the scene, the fire had finally been extinguished.

Having given their all in putting out the fire, the volunteer firefighters were now sitting on the roads as they caught their breath. But the building had been reduced to nothing more than a charred skeleton — it had completely burnt down. A heap of blackened wood lay on the ground where it once stood; within it, tiny embers still smouldered away, and thin trails of smoke wafted into the air. It was still too dangerous to enter the site, but as a small blessing amidst this misfortune, the adjacent buildings had been left largely unscathed, with only their outer walls scorched by the flames.

“……It feels like one job’s been completed, but the real work starts here, huh.”

A worn-out Sherlock muttered to himself, having already shed his jacket. Then, the familiar voice of his partner rang out in his mind.

“Sherlock. Isn’t it too convenient for a fire to break out at this time? If the fugitive they were interrogating had been caught in the blaze……”

——I know. But first, let’s remain calm, and listen to what they have to say.

He answered John in his heart, then walked over to Lestrade, who was conferring with another officer a short distance away. It seemed he was in the middle of asking the other officer what had happened.

“O—y, Lestrade. Did you find anything useful?”

“Yeah: it seems it’s going to be a while before we can inspect the scene, but from my subordinate’s report, I’ve gotten the details of what happened before this. I’ll explain.”

Saying that, Lestrade began to narrate the sequence of events, and Sherlock listened in silence.

From what he’d heard from his subordinate, the building was a cheap old three-storey inn built from wood. After searching the interior based on the tip-off, they quickly found and arrested one of the fugitives. After which, in order to find the location of the other criminal, they immediately brought the arrested man to a room and began to interrogate him.

“Where’s the room located?”

Sherlock cut in, and Lestrade looked up at the spot where the room had likely once stood.

“It was at the end of the second floor — the one the man himself had rented. Each floor had three rooms: taking the ground floor as an example, the room numbers had been assigned as 101, 102 and 103. ” [2]

“So the one at the end of the second floor would be number 303. Did all the officers storm the room together?”

“No; out of the ten men who arrived first, five of them entered the building while the other five stood by in the vicinity. Among the five who entered, two were questioning the man in room 303, one stood watch outside the room, while the remaining two stood in the ground and first floor corridors respectively, observing the movements of the guests in the inn.”

Listening to the breakdown of the officers’ positions, Sherlock looked at the ruins of the building as they lay heaped on the ground.

“If the building was only this large, leaving five people outside would be enough…… But why have men stationed on each floor at the corridors?”

“The other fugitive might’ve been hiding in the building, so they wanted to interview the guests and ascertain their backgrounds. However, it seems the innkeeper detests the Yard: they allowed us to question the fugitive, but refused to let us to visit the other rooms, insisting it would bother the guests. So the officers had no choice but to quietly stand watch in the corridors.”

Having realised yet again the animosity in the slums towards the police, Lestrade sighed, and Sherlock nodded in reply.

“From the start, the source of the information had been an anonymous tip-off, which is　suspicious. The story up to that point was that the police arrived here half in doubt, then actually found the criminal — from that alone, it would’ve been difficult to insist on advancing the investigation any further.”

Sherlock understood the bind the officers had found themselves in back then. He continued.

“During the interrogation, they did check everyone who entered and left the inn, didn’t they?”

“Of course. But I didn’t receive any reports about any suspicious characters.”

“Okay. I’ve got the deployment of the officers at the time; please continue.”

The arrested fugitive had been surprisingly stubborn, and refused to utter a word about the other man’s whereabouts. At that rate, the officers had judged that they were getting nowhere, and left the room for a short break. Their strategy had been to give the man time to relax, then force him into a state of tension once again, in order to strain his mental state.

In addition, by this time, the locals had gotten wind of the Yard’s presence. They’d begun to gather around the inn and create a commotion: the atmosphere had turned bleak. In order to avoid the situation escalating into a riot, out of the five officers in the building, four went outside to appeal to them to remain calm.

Just like this, the fugitive had been left alone in the room. The man had been made to sit in a wooden chair that had been furnished as part of the room, with each of his hands cuffed to the chair’s armrests. The only entry point to the room — the door — had one officer standing guard in front of it. Moreover, even if he were to leave by the window opposite the door, as the room was on the second floor, he couldn’t simply escape by jumping out. With these conditions in place, the officers had thought that there was no chance of him escaping.

——In fact, that line of thought had held true. The criminal had not escaped; rather, he had been murdered inside the room.

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

Five minutes after their break had started. In the vicinity of the inn, something odd had arisen. Complaints and jeers had suddenly turned into shrieks and screams. The lone police officer who’d remained in the building thought it strange, and immediately after, someone yelled “Fire!”.

He went downstairs to see for himself: true enough, flames were rising up from the ground floor. The officer rushed to spread the word to everyone in the building, directing them to evacuate. Of course, he then went to release the man handcuffed in room 303, but the door couldn’t open: it had been locked from the inside.

At this point, Sherlock placed a hand under his chin as he muttered.

“If he had been bound to a chair, then even with his hands cuffed to the armrests, he would still be able to move around the room. If it’d been a bed, depending on the size of it, he might still be able to move. The man could’ve locked the door from the inside, but…… By the way, was it really locked? And not that the door had been warped and gotten stuck, or something?”

“It seems that much was certain: I understood he tried many times, but found the door locked from within.”

“I see. Sorry, I’ve been interrupting you quite a bit.”

“No, I don’t mind……. After that, the officer peeked into the room via the keyhole. And then, inside the room, he saw something he would never have imagined.”

From Lestrade’s tone, Sherlock was fairly certain what had happened in there.

“The room was locked from the inside, and the man lay dead within it……?”

It seemed his prediction had been spot on: startled, Lestrade stared at him, then muttered “Yeah” in a sombre tone as he continued.

——From the keyhole, the officer saw the man lying prone on the floor while still cuffed to the chair. His back had been soaked in a red substance akin to blood, and he showed absolutely no sign of movement. Amidst the commotion from the fire, it was as if time had stood still for him alone.

Panicked, the officer rammed the door in a bid to break it down. But no matter how many times he slammed himself against it, the door merely creaked, showing no signs of opening. Apparently, the innkeeper had taken precautions to prevent the police from entering the rooms without their permission — it seemed the doors had been robustly built. Making matters worse, his fellow officers were desperately engaged in fighting the fire, as well as evacuating the surrounding residents: they had no leeway to come to the second floor and help.

After that, the officer kept trying to break the door open. But the fire swept through the wooden building, and soon, the flames had reached the floor right beneath him. Inside the room, the man remained motionless. After a further struggle, the police officer gave up on rescuing him, and ensured that there was no one else left in the building as he made his escape.

That was the gist of how the inn had been burnt to the ground.

“…………”

A sudden fire. A room with its door firmly shut. And a man who’d collapsed in a prone position.

Having listened till the end of the story, Sherlock replayed the situation back then in his head. In his heart, he cracked a wry smile.

The search for a fugitive had turned into a locked-room case.

T/N: It’s a proper mystery this time!! I quite like this one :3

Footnotes:

[1] Gregson first appeared in Chapter 8 (“A Study in ‘S’, Act 2") after Lestrade arrested Sherlock on suspicion of Count Drebber’s murder. This is his first panel:

(Taken from the official translation of Volume 2)

[2] Similar to Story 1, I’ll be using the British way of referring to building levels (i.e. ground floor, first floor, second floor).

#moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #yuumori #english translation #the girl who sees rainbows

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twinvictim · 3 years ago

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hi, here's a batch of questions for the rgg game! A5, A11, B4, C11, D10, E4, F3

A5 favorite final boss

So far I think I'd have to say Lao Gui, being that it's a cool boss fight in general and all of Majima's feral fighting is really cathartic (& sexy). Second place goes to Mine for being my one of favorite villains and not being frustrating and a honorary mention to Nishiki for it being really funny that he demands you fight him as an equal to prove he's worth anything and you can cheese the whole fight by throwing furniture at him.

A11 favorite healing items

I have a preference for using food as a healing item, I know it really doesn't do much compared to the medicine drinks or whatever but I love the charm of getting shot and eating an egg sandwich to heal yourself

B4 who would you like to post more about but dont/ why?

If I posted more ab Nishiki I think everyone would block me for being annoying. Not really but I don't really feel like I refrain from posting anything unless you count being too lazy to post which I am guilty of.

C11 best taste in clothing/worst

I have about the fashion sense as most of these men and that is in fact derogatory. Best is probably y0 Nishiki as it's definitely my favorite of those suits it looks very nice, very much enjoy Awano's purple ass suit and I also like Mine's even if its a little more basic. Worst is probably Rikiya or Akiyama but Rikiya gets a pass for his Kamurocho outfit being aggressively transgender. Akiyama's is bad mostly bc it's sloppy and I don't know why his pants are so. Yeah. Bonus points for the fact that I hate Kiryu's ugly grey suit but every other outfit on him is very <3

D10 something everyone loves that you hate

Idk about "loves" but besides it being really funny in y3 when you chase Mame around or when Shinada chases that chicken for the chicken racing thing I really don't get the appeal of the chase sequences? They just kind of happen. Tho I think many of my grievances come from y4 because I find them more intrusive there and also bc i do not care for y4 in general. Also once again idk about people loving him but I wish Date would explode leave me alone

E4 ramen or takoyaki

I do love ramen but I'd have to take the chance to try takoyaki it sounds very good

F3 who are you inviting to karaoke

Akiyama if only bc I LOVE his voice it's fucked up that he only has like 2 songs

#ant emails #Ty!!!#i love to speak about the gaymes

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thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 5 years ago

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Re: Star Wars prequel novelizations - the Revenge of the Sith book is genuinely one of the best things I have ever read and changed my life.

THANK YOU, anon, for reminding me about the Revenge of the Sith novelization. I just reread it, and my crops are watered, my skin is clear, and — I cannot overstate this — I actually remember why I love Star Wars. That love has been for too long stolen by The Fandom Menace sucking the life out of those movies to invent a new definition of suffering while digesting them slowly over a thousand years.

Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover is one of the greatest works of adventure fiction I have ever read, and it continues to inspire the way I write action sequences and character conflicts. It does so damn much to transform a movie that is, to be honest, just okay. There are a couple of big additions from the novel that make the whole Skywalker saga richer, and there are about five hundred little tweaks that deepen the lore in a way that shows that Stover loves Star Wars to the core.

First big addition: having Obi-Wan tell Padmé that he’s in love with Anakin. This is great because yay, queer representation! But within the specific context of RotS, it also sets up the super-important contrast between Obi-Wan and Anakin. Obi-Wan, Stover’s novel makes clear, is the quiet and unassuming embodiment of everything a Jedi is supposed to be: he’s selfless, loving, hard-working, and incredibly skilled with the Force. Obi-Wan falls in love with Anakin, realizes that Anakin doesn’t love him back in that way, and... lives with it. He spends time with Anakin, supports Anakin, enjoys Anakin’s company, and doesn’t act like the world will end if Anakin isn’t his.

Anakin loves Obi-Wan, in a siblinglike way, and he loves Padmé. But he’s got a nasty habit of expressing that love through possession and control, through going behind Padmé’s back to “fix” her life without her permission. Anakin falls in love with Padmé and immediately concludes that he cannot possibly live like this: they must begin a secret relationship, and he must both marry her and remain a Jedi. Later he destroys the Jedi and eventually Padmé herself because he sees himself as having no way out of that dilemma.

And all the while, Obi-Wan is there in the background. Also in love with someone with whom he cannot have a relationship, and just… dealing with it like an adult. Because millions of people are in love with people who don’t love them back, and that’s just how it is sometimes. It’s selfish to obsess over “having” their love at all costs. For Anakin, that obsession with saving Obi-Wan and Padmé eventually leads to him killing them both.

When Yoda tells Anakin that he must deal with his fear of losing Padmé through letting go, Anakin takes this to mean “let her die.” But what Yoda means is not “let her die,” but rather “love her the way Obi-Wan loves you: quietly, selflessly, and with a willingness to do what’s best for her, whether or not that means you get to have her.” And Anakin never understands that, because Anakin’s view of the world is so intensely egocentric.

Second big addition: updating the Force to explain the Dark Side. Revenge of the Sith, even more so than any other Star Wars, is all about the contrast between the Dark Side and the Light Side. Here, Stover’s contribution is brilliant; he makes the Dark Side egocentric and the Light allocentric.

Terminology! “Egocentric” in psych refers to the perspective that focuses on how the world affects you and how you affect the world. At the extreme, egocentric thinking can be believing that a baby is crying in a deliberate effort to annoy you, or that every person in a crowded cafeteria will remember what shirt you wore when you ate there a week ago. “Allocentric” refers to the perspective that the self is one of several disparate elements buffered around by the world. At the extreme, allocentric thinking can be failing to realize that others are reacting to your presence, or viewing your own life as one thing you can give to help others.

Stover doesn’t use those terms, but he does describe how Dooku “drew power into his innermost being until the Force itself existed only to serve his will” (p. 64). Later, Obi-Wan “gave himself to the living Force… the Force moved him, let him collapse as though he’d suddenly fainted, then it brought his lightsaber from his belt to his hand” (p. 285). Dooku ultimately loses his fight against Anakin because he focuses on how everyone is responding to him, and misses that Anakin and Palpatine are beginning to build an alternate alliance right under his nose. Obi-Wan ultimately wins his fight against Anakin because he allows the Force to shove him around, and sets aside his concern with both his own life and that of his best friend while fighting for the greater goal of peace.

Not only that, but Obi-Wan’s understanding of the Force moves beyond that of most Jedi. He compares “the will of the Force” to “the will of gravity,” in essence stating that simply because it is beyond human comprehension doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its own rules. One can be a Jedi without needing to understand the Force in the same way one can be a pilot without needing to be a physicist. In RotS, we see that his refrain of “search your feelings” is a way of calling on a Force user to be mindful enough to accept realities that are already evident, if one can only allow oneself to have that knowledge.

Stover also uses these competing perspectives — allocentric and egocentric — to explain why the Jedi Order falls. The tight control the Order exerts over the Jedi moves them away from the will of the Force and toward the will of the Council. Its insularity creates a sense of superiority, which is the reason so many Jedi fail to see their clone troopers as threats until it’s too late. Stover tweaks the Jedi Purge scene to emphasize that the only reason Obi-Wan and Yoda survive is because of their selflessness. Obi-Wan takes the time to befriend his alien mount, repeatedly confirming her well-being, and then she shields him with her body when his troopers open fire. Yoda respects the Wookie command and puts himself in a position to assist rather than lead the resistance movement on Kashyyyk, meaning that when a fight breaks out between him and his troopers the Wookies don’t hesitate to side with him. Yoda and Obi-Wan are the only two Jedi who truly give themselves to the service of others, and thus they are the only two to survive the Purge.

...and the million little favors this book does for the movie.

During the opening battle, having Obi-Wan tell Anakin to “use the Force” to fly a narrow trench and having Anakin roll his eyes at such an obvious suggestion. It’s a callback to A New Hope, but one that drives home how much more the Force is integrated in the lives of Old Republic Jedi than it is in the lives of Imperial kids like Luke.

Fixing the minor continuity error from Episode III to Episode IV — why would Admiral Motti dismiss Vader as following outdated superstitions if there were millions of Jedi within his lifetime? — by explicitly stating that the Sith are considered a dead culture. Ergo, Vader’s “ancient religion” isn’t the Force in general; it’s specifically the Sith creed.

Making Palpatine scarier and more seductive than he is in the movie. Stover’s rhetoric about killing even the Jedi children is frighteningly rational and coherent, and he uses it to give Palpatine some stomach-churning speeches while corrupting Anakin.

Using the novel format for all it’s worth. Stover skims over the physical-comedy elevator sequence in favor of having Dooku and Palpatine discussing their plans for the war. He only tells us about Anakin’s conversation with Yoda after the fact, in scattered flashes as a panicking Anakin runs through the halls of the Jedi temple. He gives us intense focus on Anakin’s mindset while trying to land the broken halves of Invisible Hand, less on what the ship itself is doing. He cuts away from Anakin and Obi-Wan’s final battle, toward R2D2 and C3PO as they struggle to drag a dying Padmé into her ship out of a desperation to find some small way to help her.

Revealing that Palpatine spends the entire story trying to kill Obi-Wan. This gets hinted at in the movie, but Stover includes several moments throughout Palpatine’s “rescue” from Dooku when Palpatine sets Obi-Wan up to die, and mentions like eight other attempts on Obi-Wan’s life as orchestrated by Palpatine. It’s a great character addition, that Palpatine assumes he cannot get Anakin to fall unless he first eliminates Obi-Wan.

Expanding Padmé’s role in the movie (set dressing, and later refrigerator filling) by having her secretly organize and launch the Rebel Alliance right under Vader and Palpatine’s noses.

Those are just examples of how Stover clearly knows the Force, gets the Force, and strives to make the Force more internally coherent. How he sometimes translates, sometimes preserves, and always improves the pacing and tone of the film.

I haven’t even touched on the FUCKING AMAZEBALLS imagery or introspection in the book yet, but this post is getting wicked long, so I’ll go ahead and leave it here for now. Point is, all y’all should go out immediately and get a copy from your library and/or used bookstore, because Nonny is right and it’ll change your life.

#star wars #revenge of the sith #star wars episode iii #matthew stover #revenge of the sith novelization #book review #long post #nothing to do with animorphs #the force #star wars episode iii: revenge of the sith #anonymous #asks

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iwriteaboutkpopsometimes · 4 years ago

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Hyunjin "Play With Fire (Feat. Yacht Money)" (원곡 : Sam Tinnesz) | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER] ~A Love Letter~

I talk about why I love this video so much and deliver an excruciatingly detailed play by play of it, but why read a two thousand word, five page essay on a three minute video when you can just go watch the aforementioned three minute video? Forget me spending hours writing this, why are you here, seriously, it would take you significantly less time to watch the actual video. Regardless, enjoy my attempt to refrain from saying the same three things, “he's so cool”, “I love him”, and “this is so good”, in exchange for a more, hopefully, academically professional sound.

Watching him perform never fails to put me in a trance, it’s incredibly captivating how precise and sharp while simultaneously lively and energy-filled his movements are. This video feels reminiscent of enjoying a movie I’ve seen countless times, memorized every line of dialogue from, and genuinely think of every part as the best it has to offer. I greatly missed seeing him dance and having this as his grand welcome back into the spotlight is nothing less of a gift. Every second leaves my heart pounding and as excited as the last, as he continuously tops himself the longer I watch. I feel that revisiting the video is the least I can do, for giving it only one view doesn’t feel morally acceptable if I intend to truly appreciate it for that art that it is. Dramatic of me? Perhaps, but I can’t help but perceive it as more than just this one video that was uploaded onto their YouTube channel. It isn’t just about all of the work he and others put into the making of this particular video, his choreography for the song was a result of years upon years of practice and learning different techniques. A performance this good doesn’t only involve technical skill though, but also skill in regards to one’s inner mind. To have confidence in one’s self, to hit every move powerfully, to know what you’re doing and be unapologetic about it, that is skill. Sure, the performer is at the focus of any performance, but don’t forget that it’s also about the audience, it is after all for the enjoyment of the viewer. If the audience senses your doubt and insecurity and uncertainty, it will make your stage that much less enjoyable. Whatever you feel, they can feel too. When I watch him, I don’t feel any of that. In fact, I feel the exact opposite, I feel inspired, motivated, confident, excited to advance in my own endeavors. The emotion that this video evokes from me goes beyond anything Stray Kids or K-Pop or even dance itself, it makes me want to be a better person, be kinder to myself and work harder. That might sound like a lot for one video to do for someone, but it’s the truth. All of the details, even down to the individual frames, it all works together to create the most gratifying viewing experience. At the time of writing this, the video has just hit five million views and has over one million likes, only a mere three days after its initial upload.

The first shot of his footsteps alone, as he goes to stand in front of the mirror, I already feel this sense of importance coming from him, delicate, yet powerful. The setting, cold and empty, yet inviting, it makes room for him and gives him just enough light to be seen, for he doesn’t need all that much help to surely shine. The credits that pop up use a dark shade of pink-red for it’s background color and white text that acknowledges the same deep red imagery and text associated with the material of the original work. His outfit is neat and pristine with some sparkle, resembling one a prince would seem fit. He stares at his reflection, holding a sheer white ribbon in his mouth, gathers a section of hair behind his head and proceeds to tie it with said ribbon. The music starts as he finishes tying and lets his arms fall down at his sides. The over the shoulder shot looking into the mirror, shows that his expression is neutral, almost calm. This can most certainly be described as “the calm before the storm”, except the storm itself is antonymous to a tragedy, because when the singing starts, it’s as if his performance persona was turned on by a switch, a charismatic possession that took place in a matter of seconds that sends chills down your spine in the best way. His previously neutral, calm-like expression and gently resting arms are quickly replaced by the sudden placement of his right hand around his neck and a look that resembles more of a vengeful, hesitant, and somehow playful one. Similar to what I’d imagine a villain would look like right before being bested during an epic fight sequence at the climax of a film. It’s satisfying to see him popping to the beat’s rhythm, his arms, wrists, and head smoothly illustrating the flow of the words, his focus and the secure angles he’s able to form before even fully utilizing his lower body. On the line “Got secrets I can’t tell”, he delicately places his pointer finger in between his teeth, as he turns back to meet the camera with his eyes, the shot now semi-closely focusing on both Hyunjin and his reflection as opposed to just one or the other. He extends his right arm, his hand forming a fist, and the camera movement making it as if I’ve been punched and sent flying. He stumbles to the middle of the room, does an opening gesture with his arms, like a proud baker showing off their completed wedding cake, along with a dramatic spin incorporating his thin, white, flowy cape. Reaching the pre-chorus, we get to see the room more clearly, like the stone pillars and the contrast of the small, warm lights on the walls to the grand grayness radiating from the large window that makes him appear as a near silhouette. There’s a certain holiness about him spending a count with his head down and arms out, much like the Crucifixion of Christ, before showcasing more of a demonic energy when he faces the window with his body, but bends backward and looks to the camera upside down. He rips off the cape, tosses it behind him, to his right. This could symbolize a transformation, an abandonment of a particularly purer image of oneself, a liberation. The music picks up, and the manner in which he dances is like a visual representation of one’s inner turmoil combined with an agenda to seduce those watching, wanting to dance for himself while taking us along for the ride. Now that the first minute of the video is out of the way, let’s continue.

The music fades into the background and the video takes on a sudden widescreen and grayscale appearance as he falls back on his right hand, flings his left hand over to his right shoulder, as though he’s been shot, and is being supported by his knees. He leans forward, places his right hand on the ground in front of him, uses his left hand to push his right knee over to achieve ideal balance, setting up his body roll. He extends his right leg back, getting close to the ground, and there’s something quite feral, yet intimate about the way he traces the length of his arm with his face and left hand. It looks like he’s taking out his frustrations through his moves while never sacrificing the detailed quality of the performance as a whole. It reminds me of how it’s more than common for artists to use their pain in their art, whether it be a point of well-intentioned expression with a specific purpose or simply an outlet for them to channel into. Hyunjin is the definition of aggressive elegance. The fullscreen, colorful display and music entirely return when he spins and lands on the ground in a Spider- Man esc pose, the room a lot warmer than even before the stylistic grayscale section. There’s hints of red, acting as a match that’s set to illuminate and ignite the puddle of gasoline that is him and his performance, that replaces the once colder, icy blue that previously enveloped his silhouette. He bounces to the beat showing off his proud, devilish smile that, instead of striking fear, makes me feel proud, as I’m essentially rooting for the villain in the movie. If the transition to the grayscale widescreen was him getting shot, then the transition back to fullscreen color is him emerging from his grave, an awakening. His shirt is no longer neatly tucked into his pants, but rather, hanging very loosely and mostly unbuttoned. He covers his face with his left hand, pulling it down for just a second before revealing his expression that has swiftly reverted to a roughly indifferent one. The inner conflict has greatly subsided, and focuses on the hesitant-free embracing of his newly discovered self, one of immense confidence and sex-appeal. Although, something about the flow of how he averts his gaze, looking to the left and not the lense, while pointing and doing body rolls at the camera, covers his eyes with crossed arms, and then allows for his hair to cover his eyes as well, makes me feel like he doesn’t want the viewer to know he is still at least a little bit shy. He quickly makes you forget though, because the next and final minute exaggerates everything he’s shown us up until this point, taking it to a whole new, spectacular level.

The bridge of the song creates a slower, softer atmosphere, which is beautifully interpreted with how Hyunjin carries himself during this part. Bigger gestures that blend into each other seamlessly, centering on really taking up the space he’s in. He gently and precisely lowers his body to the floor, collecting a white rose between his teeth. As soon as he returns to his upright stature, the setting changes dramatically. His hair now completely down, he’s under a spotlight in an otherwise pitch black and foggy room. There’s blue and red light reflecting off of his white top and his skin as he dances. This part feels more humane compared to the rest, with more of an obvious balance between sharp, impactful moves and tender, compassionate ones. He draws attention to his shoulders, brings his hands and feet close to his body, and showcases his red lit back. I particularly enjoy when he flicks his wrists and twists his ankles to the right in unison on the second syllable of “unstoppable”. For the “legendary animal” part of that line, his arms create a cage-like structure by doing a climbing motion and carrying it over all the way to the left. A cage in which he destroys the walls and breaks out of, shown by him punching downward on beat. From holding the rose in his mouth to holding it in his hand, he brings it over his head to his left shoulder, and raises his heels. He carries the rose down and around his left arm, his left arm momentarily resting at his waist, his right arm extended downward, he raises his heels again. His whole body lowers as a rigid wave starts at his up flicked wrists and subsequently elbows and shoulders. This collection of gestures results in petals falling off of the rose. He then inevitably throws it into the void, out of the reach of the lovely spotlight. I see this spotlight dance as a danse macabre, or dance of death. The white ribbon, white shirt, and white rose all coming together to illustrate this innocent and pure quality to him, that through this dance, he finalizes the renouncement of. He is more than ready to embrace a new and different side of him, but especially to get rid of the older and repetitive side that felt restrictive more than anything. The spotlight dance ends with Hyunjin looking directly into the camera, tracing his right hand down his chest and to his side, and the camera backing away. The last chorus of the song brings us back to the oh so familiar main room, Hyunjin’s hair back to being tied up, the lighting is the same, but there’s something that stands out. His shirt is on the verge of being completely unbuttoned and that allows for something alluringly shiny to be fully in view compared to before. The video comes full circle with Hyunjin’s hand around his neck, he stands in the hallway, and walks away a new man as the screen fades to black.

As I wrap up this essay on Hyunjin’s “Play With Fire (Feat. Yacht Money)”, original song by Sam Tinnesz, Stray Kids: SKZ-PLAYER, the video has reached six million views, a million more than when I first started writing this, and I feel proud to have spent a day simply pouring my heart and mind out on this wordy display of my appreciation. Don’t be fooled though, for my necessary research, I guess you could call it, for this project may no longer be so necessary, I shall continue to watch and applaud the masterpiece and experience that is this video for my own personal enjoyment, much like how this whole piece was written for my own personal enjoyment. It was an interesting challenge to properly voice not only the contents of the video but also my thoughts and feelings on it. Hyunjin is a highly valued dancer, member of Stray Kids, and person and five pages isn’t ever going to be enough to fully explain the respect and admiration I feel for him and his various projects. I think he’s really cool, I experience all sorts of fiery euphoria watching him dance, his rap and singing alike are addictive as hell, and he’s pretty, haha. I missed him a lot while he was inactive, and I’m so happy to have him back and doing great things as per usual. I’m excited to see what he and the rest of the group have left to show us this year. I advise you to watch the video if you haven’t, but somehow ended up reading an essay on it first, and if you’ve already seen it, watch it again, yeah. I’ll leave you with lovely thoughts and lovely vibes and I hope you too can appreciate the work he’s put into the video, as well as my work on this essay. Thank you for taking the time to read my love letter, essentially, and bye for now ^ ^

#straykids #stay #hyunjin #skzplayer #lovestay #kpop

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beliamh-its-me · 4 years ago

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Performance overview & Research

The overarching theme of My Country is inspired by the question, ‘How united is the United Kingdom?’. The idea behind the theme derived from the contrasting verbatim scripted opinions surrounding Brexit. Through acknowledging the vast amount of opinions and stories, we compared each region to the referendum results. Not only did this support our theme, it helped to structure the fictional manifestations of regional characters. For example, Caledonia’s persona has been based off the Scottish remain vote totalling 62.0% (BBC, 2016). So, in order to amplify this, Caledonia is extremely defensive and angry in a way to foreshadow the verbatim lines. Brexit links to the exploitation of corruption within the UK’s patriotism, something amplified in the script. A poignant line, to support the theme comes from Theresa May, ‘...a vision that works not for the privileged few’. The message shows the government promoting the UK as a satisfied minority, proposing changes are needed. This idea finishes the play, leaving the audience questioning the current political climate. We aspire to start a conversation, about politics and its importance. May, quickly became the Conservative party leader. Offering an idea that Brexit was a distant idea, until it was not, accompanied with unsettling optimism. Another issue that arises is the name ‘Brexit’. Broken-down it means ‘Britain’ and ‘Exit’. This means Northern Ireland is excluded from the branding, linking to a long history of division within the UK, and is played on in the script. The major element, being the lack of spoken lines from NI through verbatim, to create the sense of lesser respect for NI’s opinions. The theme of delight breaks tension in the performance. During the fictional scenes, there is shared food, facts and laughter! This is important in remaining partial, but mostly to celebrate the UK for individuality. The constant return of the characters throughout the verbatim sections, create a sense of familiarity. The creative vision is synonymous with the medium, Zoom. The Guardian (2019) reported that Farage’s party accounted for 51% of all shared content on Facebook and Twitter during the campaign. Meaning that Brexit was a social media operation. We used this to incorporate the fictional characters. This is shown through using Facebook inspired videos that indicate joining a ‘Pub Chat’ group call. This implies the characters oversee the verbatim characters, and join the audience in watching the performance. Further, creating a sense of realism as the audience form a relationship with the fictional characters. Both parties are learning about the Brexit repercussions, however the voices of the nation’s get drunk instead resolving the issues within the discussion. This imitates life, as Brexit was unclear.

The creative vision started with explicit use of the Facebook page however, due to complications of practicality, we decided to use the page as an implied structure, through ‘Pub chat’ videos. This was determined after wanting to use a link to the page, to display images alongside monologues. The page distracted the words being spoken, so we refrained. Click here for rehearsal footage

In two ways we have portrayed to the audience the right atmosphere. First, creating a sense of urgency through breaking up scenes with movement and digital influence. This mirrors the masses of campaigning prevalent at the time, and allows information to form in an unbiased way. The second aspect is placing the audience vote before the ‘vote’ scene. This immerses the audience and clarifies a timeline of the performance.

We discussed other avenues to separate the fictional characters from verbatim. Through development of the first scene, we determined that costume would support our intentions. All fictional scenes have Union Jack hats and tops. This is so we can physically change our aesthetic to make transitions easier for the audience. Click here for rehearsal footage.

Research:

My Country- a work in progress, is a verbatim play created by Carol Ann Duffy and Rufus Norris (2017). Duffy is an award-winning writer for her work writing raw and expressive poetry and plays. Duffy’s work includes Take My Husband (1982) and Standing Female Nude (1985). Rufus Norris has acted, written and directed numerous plays/operas such as, Market Boy (2006), Cabaret(2007) (BBC, 2013). Together these playwrights have been able to create an enticing piece surrounding the Brexit debate, with views from numerous angles of the leave/remain spectrum. Verbatim interviews promise direct access to actual lived experiences and make them authentic (Fisher, 2011). To convey Brexit and the volume of controversy surrounding it, verbatim is one of the best ways to express the UK’s concerns fairly. The final vote was 51.9% Leave, 48.1% remain (BBC, 2016). This shows that it is almost impossible to depict the UK’s opinions without using both sides, especially when looking at regions such as Northern Ireland and Scotland who have a troubled history with England. Summerskill (2021) see’s verbatim as ‘Documenting aspects of historical material which tend to be missing from other sources relating to lived experience (p. 24). With the combination of media, technology can thicken participant’s experience, through building different versions of reality, or spaces (Burnett, 2019). This supports our intentions to blend education with theatrics. It also justifies our ideas to improve audience connection. Our audience, typically, were under the voting age during the referendum. This means that, although the effects of Brexit will deeply govern their lives, they had no say in the matter. With the use of verbatim we can transfer the thoughts, feelings and facts from the UK to give the audience an education. Although Brexit has happened, the British Youth Council (2020) are still fighting for young people to be ‘stakeholders in [their] future’. Through reminding them of the past we could motivate them to work on their future in this country. The challenges of creating a political performance entail removing any bias, to allow a genuine response from audience members. If it is done correctly, the abstract creation of political theatre can initiate enquiry and evaluation instead of negative confrontation (Kritzer, 2008).

When looking at companies to influence ideas throughout the creative process, I wanted to draw on two avenues:

The first, being movement to enhance the digital platform. As the creator of the ‘Feast’ and ‘Europe’ sequences, I wanted to make sure that we were utilising the ability to make smaller gestures, whilst still adding abstract and full-bodied movement. I drew inspiration from DV8, a physical theatre company. DV8’s published work of Can We Talk About This?, depict a woman talking in verbatim whilst holding a tea cup. The movement around her is abstract and exciting. The idea to have a focus whilst also conveying deeper dramaturgical control is powerful and I wanted it to be seen within the above-mentioned scenes.

The second, the incorporation of portraying political information. I have drawn on a slightly abstract perspective for this influence. This American Life (2020) by Ross Gay explores delight, which is one of our themes, in this there is a podcast of a boy getting the bus for the first time. Although he is surrounded by the excitement of childhood, he still speaks of death and anxiety. This is something echoed in our piece, a lot of the audience members have been treated like children in the eye of Brexit, but are being given the platform to learn it as they maybe should have at the time. We use our polls to give the audience the chance to express this.

The link below will take you to a specific research document for this performance, containing sources for performance material and references.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X5ibI5xWIoWm3bK9W6aAgplQtarR-Hq5gq8m9uGf1u4/edit

The link below will take you to the social media page:

https://www.facebook.com/RuleBritannia1922

Bibliography

Afflick, R. (2020). ‘British Youth Council urge Government to consult young people on Brexit’. British Youth Council, 31 January. Available at: https://www.byc.org.uk/news/2020/british-youth-council-urge-government-to-consult-young-people-on-brexit (Accessed: 12 March 2021).

‌BBC (2015). ‘EU Referendum Results’. BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu_referendum/results (Accessed: 2 March 2021).

Burnett, C. et al. (2019) ‘Conceptualising Digital Technology Integration in Participatory Theatre from a Sociomaterialist Perspective: Ways Forward for Research’, Research Papers in Education, 34(6), pp. 680–700. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1229827&site=eds-live&scope=site (Accessed: 12 March 2021).

DV8 (2021). DV8 Physical Theatre. Dv8.co.uk. Available at: https://www.dv8.co.uk/media-portal (Accessed: 8 May 2021).

DV8 (2021). DV8 Physical Theatre. Dv8.co.uk. Available at: https://www.dv8.co.uk/projects/can-we-talk-about-this/foreword-by-lloyd-newson (Accessed: 12 May 2021).

Fisher, A. (2011) ‘Trauma, Authenticity and the Limits of Verbatim’, Performance Research, 16(1), pp. 112–122. doi: 10.1080/13528165.2011.561683

Gay, R.. (2020). The Show of Delights - This American Life. Available at: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/692/the-show-of-delights (Accessed: 12 May 2021).

Kritzer, A. (2008) Political Theatre in Post-Thatcher Britain: New Writing, 1995-2005. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

My Country: A Work In Progress by C.A. Duffy (2017)

Savage, M. (2019). ‘How Brexit party won Euro elections on social media – simple, negative messages to older voters’. The Guardian, 29 June. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/29/how-brexit-party-won-euro-elections-on-social-media (Accessed: 26 April 2021).

Smith, N. (2013). ‘Rufus Norris: Who is the new National Theatre director?’ BBC News, 15 October. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24532470 (Accessed: 10 March 2021).

Summerskill, C. (2021) Creating verbatim theatre from oral histories. Routledge: New York.

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captain-azoren · 4 years ago

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I don't have a complete plot for the story I want to write, but I do know the specific sequence of events and character interactions I want to build it around;

Protagonist is seeking revenge on his nemesis, an old supposed friend who savagely broke him in the past. It really messed him up and turned him into an a him, antisocial broken mess prone to anger.

The nemesis is working for a charismatic Big Bad who has other villains and mercenaries in his employ.

Protagonist is harassed by a quirky but powerful minion of the Big Bad. She is a witch who loves to toy with him. She likes seeing him get angry and flustered and is usually at an advantage in their fights.

At the climax of a dungeon crawl, the witch gets caught in a trap due to her own hubris, likely involving getting left behind or sacrificed by the Big Bad to die in, let's say, a cave in.

Protag has a chance to kill the nemesis he's been after, but he hears the witch begging for help as rocks fall around her.

Instead of taking his revenge, he saves the witch but is injured, and they both end up stuck in a cave system under a mountain.

Protagonist mentally kicks himself for letting his conscience get to him, saving someone who has been messing with him just because she was crying and missing his chance to complete the goal he's been after for years.

The two call a truce so they can work together to survive, make it out of the cave, and then both take revenge on those who wronged them.

They travel a while together and learn more about each other. Protagonist is closed and mistrustful at first, but the witch is actually very extroverted.

The witch feels extremely embarrassed that the protag witnessed her begging for help. She teases him to make up for it and keeps trying to get him to lighten up, even if they are on a revenge quest despite all the teasing and insults she's thrown at him in the past.

They complete a side quest on their travels that gets them to trust each other and even act like friends, but there's still some underlying unresolved tension.

Witch turns out to be more morally grey rather than outright evil. She joined the big bad because she wanted to share in the thrill and fortune of his exploits, and because he was cool and charming.

She also reveals she grew up in a very strict and sheltered enclave where she learned magic. One day she escaped and went off to indulge in her every hedonistic whim, as she had been starved for pleasure her whole life.

Tension finally boils over after the former minion teases the protag a little too much. Protag has had enough and demands she either be honest with him or stop teasing.

He silently confesses he's attracted to her, but doesn't want to open up unless she's willing to be real with him.

The witch is attracted to him too and was trying to get him to make the first move. The two of them share their first really intimate experience with another person.

Protag acts awkward about it at first, but he finally starts to get over himself and cheers up once he has someone he can really trust again.

The two catch up to the other heroes and villains to stop the Big Bad from taking control of a super weapon that can wipe out the environment.

The witch helps the supporting cast fight the Big Bad while the protag fights his nemesis that's in the way.

Protagonist gets another chance at revenge. He beats his nemesis in a fair duel, but refrains from finishing him off as he doesn't want that anymore and there are more important things to take care of.

The Big Bad is defeated (for now), and the protag and witch decide to stick together as an adventuring battle couple.

So what I'm missing is a good chunk of the beginning, because all this is like the second and third acts. I have some ideas, but I have a hard time putting things together to get all the pieces where they need to be. That's my last big roadblock to this story. I need more reasons for these characters to collide.

#kingdoms of gaia #lygron #ibunet #writing

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sofilms · 5 years ago

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Anna and the Apocalypse

Okay, let’s give the relevant part of Anna and the Apocalypse (2017) first shall we? It’s a musical, horror, teen, Christmas zombie movie set in Scotland. The blurb said it’s High School Musical meets Shaun of the Dead, and that’s not a bad description.

The movie is fun, enjoyable and energetic. Having a bunch of teen characters sing while zombies are attacking is a pretty fun conceit, and generally the characters are likable, there’s some decent humour, neat set pieces and the story... well the story is “get youself and everybody you love to safety”, this is a zombie movie, there’s no innovation in that regard.

So if that’s your thing, go watch it.

Right, so with that done, let me eviscerate this movie like the much like the antagonist itself. Spoilers ahead! You have been warned

Right, so lets cut into the biggest problem with the movie. It gets worse in its second half. First up is the tone change. Having a movie that starts bright and cheerful and gets dark and depressing can work... but c’mon, this is meant to be a Christmas film! Instead we end with the remaining survivors escaping the city having no clue what to do next and thinking about all the (many) people they’ve lost. Yes, this move has “apocalypse” in the title, but this is a movie that started with characters singing about how they were going to break away and turn their life around. To go from that to shell shocked might be completely realistic, but maybe doesn’t count as much as entertainment. It doesn’t help that some of the deaths seem pointless or contrived.

The moment I think the movie goes from the good half to the second half is when our group of characters are like “shall we take this incredibly dangerous shortcut or not?” They do, and the two most expendable characters die instantly. So predictable. The next death is less predictable admittedly, but it also immediately makes things much darker. So we’ve got a downward tone shift, badly contrived writing, and clichéd deaths (partially due to the writing) all in one scene. And because the bad writing led to the deaths, we know that the writers specifically wanted these characters dead. In a Christmas movie. And the emotional death still doesn’t effect the plot substantially except by having less characters in subsequent scenes.. Yeah, this is definitely the part the movie goes downhill. More and more somewhat contrived yet emotional deaths are right ahead, until you’re beaten down as much as the characters by the end of the movie and mentally remove this film from the “Christmas movie” category.

The songs themselves are generally decent to good, gets you into the mood. There is a bit of a “sameness” to them, but not too bad, though I will say they miss the classic musical trick of having a refrain of some description. No song that’s early in the movie and then sung again with a different quality later on. This makes sense because as I’ve said the movie has very different halves which imply the writers didn’t fully know what tone what they were going for and didn’t know how to properly tie the beginning and end of the movie into a cohesive whole theme-wise.

Seriously speaking, the main character wants to leave the city and go to Australia in the opening of the movie, and does leave the city in the closing, but the movie never tries to actually develop this parallel. What’s more, the main character is told “you always know what to do” so you think that will be relevant, but at the end of the movie the main character is asked “What do we do now?” and she just doesn’t answer. Things set up, but not resolved. I though they would have had the main character reply to that question by going “We go to Australia.” Which would have tied it back to the start of the movie; continued her character development; teased at a possible sequel; given the movie a slightly more upbeat ending AND actually gave truth to the final song which was about continuing on when things seemed bleak. It would have been such a solid way to end the movie (if a bit reckless, considering its an insane trip to make), but of course the moviemakers didn’t do that.

So, as I said, the last song is about continuing on when things seem bleak and hope seems lost, and yet its not fully reflected in the movie. This is an unfortunate trend in the movie. Some songs are dead on. An early song about teens wanting to break free makes sense. And the song about another group taking glee in killing zombies also works well. But then you’ve got that’s about how social media is preventing face to face communication... right when the internet connection is spotty at best and everyone is pretty much right in front of eachother. The songs seemed designed to be generic so that they can be sung even outside of the context of the movie, but there also seems to be a gulf between some songs and their movie context.

One song is about someone saying “hey, if I die here I’ll go with some spectacular fighting”, but they sing this in the context of trying to rescue someone.... If you’re rescuing someone, shouldn’t the song be kinda directed towards them, rather than admitting the strong possibility that you’ll fail and they assumedly will die?

Decent song on its own, bad song in its original context, doesn’t flow with what’s going on. Kinda like the musical equivalent of ludonarrative dissonance.

There’s one really chipper song the character sings right at the outbreak. It’s one of the strongest songs because its hilarious to see the character upbeat, singing, and oblivious to the zombie carnage happening around her... however there’s no clear reason why she’s suddenly so upbeat. She had a bad day yesterday and wakes to find herself late to school. You just have to go along with it that she now feels good for no apparent reason.

So those are my major gripes with the movie. There’s a lot that does work well, and some sequences are fun, but ultimately I feel it gets too needlessly dark towards the end and the songs could do a better effort of jiving with the film proper. Still, I appreciate the huge amount of work put into it, and it does seem like we’re dealing with people trying to genuinely create something they love. So more power to them and hopefully I’ll enjoy their next movie better.

This is Sofox, signing off.

#anna and the apocalypse #movie #movie critique #movie review

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hail-dondus · 6 years ago

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SPOILERS: Aladdin (2019) - Review/Thoughts

So I just watched the new Aladdin at the cinema where I work (yay for free tickets, am I right), and I just wanted to do what I usually do and discuss some of my thoughts after seeing it.

Just as background, I of course grew up watching the animation; while it wasn’t my favourite Disney film, it was still one that I watched often and knew well. When they announced that they were remaking it, I was very apprehensive because obviously no one can beat Robin Williams’ Genie - no one. He improvised a lot of his stuff and there was hours of content that were unused because of how brilliant he was. So in that sense I’m a bit biased, but I’m not such a hardcore fan that the slightest deviation from the story makes me mad.

Anyway, moving on!

!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

I’m honestly glad they didn’t just remake the original frame for frame - I always feel that remakes should at least try to improve on the original, or try to change a few things just to keep it more original.

Naomi Scott as Jasmine...I mean WOW. We are blessed. I was so thrilled to have a slightly more active feminist Jasmine - obviously in the animation she’s pretty feminist but in this they made her more so in all the right ways

Mena Massoud did pretty great as Aladdin to be fair, though I was surprised Aladdin was way more awkward at certain points in this film

The soundtrack is so good, to be honest - I’m not as familiar with the songs in Aladdin as I am with other Disney movies but I still think all of the songs had a nice charm

“Speechless” — I LOVED BOTH TIMES THIS SONG WAS SUNG, I AM SO GLAD JASMINE HAD HER OWN SONG

I am very curious about what happened to Jasmine’s mum?? They say that she was killed but never expand on it - I was half expecting to learn that Jafar offed her or something

I feel like they tried to imply a backstory to Jafar...but all I got from it was that he was tired of being second best and that he wanted to be all powerful

I mean, Marwan Kenzari wasn’t a bad Jafar, he just didn’t come across as scary or threatening as he probably should have

Oh god I love Abu 🐒

Shoutout to the Magic Carpet for making me think it was really dead at the end, oh my god my heart stopped

I wasnt quite sure how I felt about Jasmine having a handmaiden in the film since I’m the original the point is that she’s alone and has no one but Rajah to talk to. But I actually really liked the addition of Dalia to the film in a weird way

I KNEW right at the start that the Genie had married the fucking handmaiden and had kids with her, they didn’t show her face but I KNEW, IT WAS SO OBVIOUS

The scene where Aladdin is trying to impress Jasmine while pretending to be Prince Ali? Fucking hilarious 😂 JAMS

I said this before but Princess Jasmine fighting against the men who tell her to know her place? Who tell her to be seen and not heard? I STAN A SULTAN QUEEN

The nostalgia was too real in this movie to be honest, like I feel that if you have never watched the original, you probably wouldn’t feel the same as someone else watching who HAS seen the original

I can’t believe they had Aladdin practically break dance and do back flips in this movie

Other than that, the dancing sequence at the party was pretty cool

JASMINES OUTFITS WERE FABULOUS THATS ALL

I really had to refrain from thinking Twisted/Starkid jokes during the film, I’m so sorry but it’s true

At one point Aladdin is asked to point out on a map where his fake country (Ababwa?) is and the Genie puts Sleeping Beauty’s castle with the name “Fantasyland” on the map - this is so clearly a Disneyland Parks reference 😂 It literally looks exactly like it does on the map for Disneyland Paris

Also, I love that when they showed drawings of the Genie (on the map/hierarchy chart I think) they used a drawing of the animated Genie 🧞‍♂️

“A Whole New World” was very pretty - not quite the caliber of the animated version but still very nice. Obviously there’s more limits with live action than animation, so that makes sense I guess

Iago was SO FREAKY OMG WHY WOULD YOU MAKE HIM THAT BIG EVEN FOR THREE MINUTES

Also way too many shots of Iago flying - like it looked awesome at first but after a while it’s noticeable and tedious :/

RAJAH. THE GOOD BOY. GOOD KITTY. GOOD TIGER. MY BOY 🐯🐅 I LOVE HIM TOO MUCH

Rajah literally nearly took someone’s fucking arm off, I LOVE HIM

Now obviously everyone’s probably wondering about the Genie and like...okay, that deserves its own section because I have some stuff to unpack.

To be fair to Will Smith, he did NOT have an easy job. It was going to be difficult for any actor to play Genie after Robin Williams. He really had a difficult job, and there will always be comparisons being made. I feel for him.

I still prefer Robin Williams’ Genie, but Will Smith wasn’t bad. He was clearly trying to make the character his own whilst still paying tribute to Robin Williams, so I can’t fault him for that.

There were quite a few moments he made me laugh - the scenes where he stands with Aladdin and makes little comments are the best, they had me choking on my Coca Cola!

“I’ve spent 2000 years trapped in a tiny lamp - and this is worse.”

I feel like my only issue with this Genie (other than constantly comparing him to the 1992 Genie) was that he’s such a big character and really over the top - and then the rest of the film is nowhere near as OTT. It feels almost like two different films at times.

I honestly didn’t hate him as the Genie like I thought I would - he’s not Robin Williams but he does his best to make his own Genie and I can respect that.

So would I recommend the film? Sure! It’s not the best Disney film ever made, not even the best remake, and I’m sure lots of people will trash it. It isn’t the best film it could have been either, but as a fun family movie with nostalgic feels, it’s still a good watch. I think people are so prepared to bash it already that they’re not giving it any chances - like I said, it’s nowhere near as good as the original, but it’s still a nice film.

And now here’s a gif of my boy Rajah who wasn’t even a real tiger but still stole the whole movie

#aladdin #aladdin 2019 #disney

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i-just-like-commenting · 6 years ago

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“Venom” and Romance Story Structure

Given the structural mess of 2018′s Venom as a superhero movie (look in your hearts, you know it to be true) I thought it was worth taking seriously the idea that this works better as a romance. To this end I checked out romance author and editor Gwen Hayes’ Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels, part of her “How to Write Kissing Books” series. Her four-part structure is a modification of the traditional three act screenplay structure, with the lengthy second act divided into two halves, the development then the collapse of the relationship.

How well does Venom match her structure? The answer is that in some ways it actually matches quite well, since it is a story with two protagonists (Eddie and Venom) learning to overcome their aversion to each other and develop a partnership. However, Venom misses some key beats in her outline, and I think looking at these beats can give us an indication of how this movie might have been improved. (And as a side note, I think more writers subdividing their second acts into “it all seems to be going well” and “then it all falls apart” would help the weak second acts of many stories, regardless of genre).

Part 1: Set Up

Hayes subdivides this section into five beats. The first two are introducing your two main characters and their central flaws that they will overcome through their relationship together. To a certain degree, Venom actually does this in its first act. We establish Eddie, the successful and driven reporter who we see violate his fiancee’s privacy to get his story. Eddie can’t compromise on his ambition and goals, even if it hurts the person he cares about the most. Meanwhile, he is irritating and pushy with his coworkers and boss -- he needs to learn to work better with others.

Our introduction to Venom is unfortunately weaker, as we meet them as one of the symbiotes, and their weakness is the same general one as the rest of them: killing their hosts in order to survive. They need to learn empathy. But we don’t get to know Venom as a distinct personality until much later, and in general their development is weaker than Eddie’s.

What is missing entirely are the “meet cute” and “no way” beats where our heroes become aware of each other but reject the idea of a relationship. Instead Venom and Eddie never meet until the fifth beat, “adhesion,” where your couple becomes stuck together.

Imagine if, instead of Eddie’s career dying over a tangentially related malfeasance, he instead actually encountered the symbiotes. He wouldn’t have to know what they were, just catch a glimpse of them, and be filled with a mixture of revulsion and fascination. Imagine if Eddie was discredited as the crackpot talking about aliens in the Life Foundation’s Labs, the symbiotes becoming his obsession even as he hates them, and then he gets infected by one once Dr. Skirth breaks him in.

Or, alternatively, eliminate most of the movie before the time skip, introduce Eddie already disgraced along with why, and turn the “meet cute” and “no way” being Eddie viewing footage of the symbiotes brought to him by Dr. Skirth. This would be my preference, as I felt the first act of Venom was overlong. Either way, however, it would help make the first act more cohesive than it is now.

Part 2: Falling Love

After the point of adhesion, however, Venom meets almost all of Hayes’ beats and structure point by point. We have “No Way 2,” as Eddie slowly realizes he’s been infected and looks for a way to get the symbiote out of him. This beat is more of a slow development than a one-point moment, but Hayes admits the structure can be shifted around and take several scenes.

We get our first “inkling this could work” from Venom helping Eddie escape the lab, and then shutting down his noisy next-door neighbor; we don’t have “deepening desire” because at this point Eddie isn’t aware that the symbiote is sentient and a part of this relationship. This, again, is where the lack of development for Venom continues to be a problem. It needs a few more moments of Venom talking to Eddie, to give us insights into how Venom’s conception of this relationship is changing, how their empathy for Eddie is increasing.

It definitely hits “maybe this will work” during the big action sequence where Venom and Eddie first start collaborating to escape Drake’s goons. Venom reveals themself to Eddie, explaining what their deal is and even declaring that “you are mine.” If anything, “deepening desire” gets shifted to this point, as they negotiate infiltrating the newspaper offices. Ideally this beat would have been more spread out over part 2 to ease up the suddenness of their relationship shift.

Because then we reach Hayes’ “midpoint of LOVE plot thrust.” This is when romance characters have their first moment of true intimacy (opening up about their feelings for the first time, having sex for the first time, having meaningful sex for the first time, etc.), where this becomes a real or serious relationship.

And so, “Mask on.” “Roger that.” Eddie voluntarily lets Venom take over, Venom refrains from eating the police officers when Eddie asks, and they work in sync, and start to say “we.” This is their midpoint, the false high that’s going to collapse.

Part 3: Retreating From Love

Our “inkling of doubt” and “deepening doubt” are also rather quickly back to back on each other. In spite of their established partnership, Venom sometimes switches back to “I,” which Eddie calls them out on. Is this partnership real or is Venom just parasitic? Eddie doesn’t trust Venom enough for them to get in the car together with Annie, and has to be reassured that, no, Venom won’t eat the woman he cares for. We as an audience are reassured that this relationship is good, however, by Venom convincing Eddie to apologize to Annie. Eddie has made Venom more empathetic, and Venom encourages Eddie to be more considerate and admit his past mistakes.

“Retreat” and “shields up” come into play when it’s revealed that Venom has slowly been consuming Eddie’s internal organs and killing him. Even though Venom intends to repair the damage now that they care about Eddie, Eddie isn’t willing to trust him and his defenses go up, demanding that they be separated, even using the knowledge of Venom’s weakness to sound against them. We have our “break up” when Venom and Eddie are separated.

This part goes relatively fast, but given the very real damage that Venom does to Eddie, I feel like this is justified. This isn’t just Eddie’s own failings leading him to think that Venom is betraying him, Venom did in fact betray him by not revealing that Eddie’s sickness was caused by them. That leads to a very precipitous collapse in their newfound relationship.

Part 4: Fighting for Love

The “dark night of the soul” beat corresponds to the low point at the start of the third act in a traditional screenplay structure. Venom is forced into the body of a puppy to survive, Eddie is captured by Drake. The “wake-up/catharsis” comes, I think, to Venom, though again their lack of voice makes the exact moment when they realize they need Eddie - not just as a body but as a partner - hard to determine. But given Venom’s immediate body hopping into Annie and then body-hopping through a kiss back to Eddie, then opening up about how seeing the world through Eddie’s eyes has changed him, it must have happened while at the hospital.

That kiss is the first of Venom’s two “grand gestures.” But since Venom is more at fault here than Eddie was. they make a second, final grand gesture through almost sacrificing themself to save not just Eddie but Earth in general. Venom really has changed, and has proven it to Eddie.

This is where there’s another big problem in the movie: we don’t get to see our couple reunite. The “grand gesture” beat is only complete, in Hayes; model, if you see it accepted. We got a resolve to grand gesture #1 through Eddie’s willingness to work with Venom again, even reuniting with him after their separation in the final fight, but we don’t get one for grand gesture #2. Eddie’s panic over Venom’s seeming death indicates that all is forgiven, but it’s missing the catharsis of seeing them get back together.

The ending of the film does, however, manage to absolutely nail her final beat: “this is what whole-hearted looks like.” Here you show the couple together and mirror scenes from earlier in the story, showing how much more whole and happy they are together than they were apart. We have an interaction between Eddie and Annie that mirrors their scene from the (post time jump) first act, now friendly rather than hostile. Eddie goes back to the same bodega as from the opening, and now with Venom’s help is able to stop the thug terrorizing the owner, whereas before all he could do was look on. Good echoing, good bookends, along with the well-written banter and camaraderie between them this is why the ending is the best part of the entire film.

Conclusion

Venom isn’t precisely structured like a romance, but it gets close, and its strongest moments are when it does. Of course, this structure can work for any kind of story where the central conflict is whether a duo can get along; buddy cop films often follow a similar structure, just centered on friendship. However you want to consider Eddie and Venom’s relationship, I do think viewing this as a relationship-centered story is to its benefit, and had the studio embraced that earlier on, it would have been a better structured film.

#venom #symbrock #story structure #meta #gwen hayes #this is over 1600 words long what am i doing with my life

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itsclydebitches · 6 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: Vol. 5 "Dread in the Air"

This is a re-posting from Oct. 21st, 2017 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

Seeing the intro for the first time as an intro in Episode 2 is always exciting, especially since RWBY has a history of hinting at things to come in their openings. Though it is a little reminiscent of an Instagram filter, I do enjoy the grainy texture given to each of the girls' introduction shots--a move from pure, bright coloring to a darker texture reflective of the show's darker themes. The fact that we have house shenanigans alongside a passing silhouette of Ozpin, an intense fight against a literally larger than life Salem while Ruby still finds reasons to smile... it's looking like Volume 5 is finding its balance.

Indeed, in the name of balance this is one of the rare episodes where Ruby never shows up. "Rare" doesn't even cover it really, considering that in previous episodes focusing on others she at least appeared in the background: attending class, cheering on her teammates in the tournament, etc. However, as the stakes and cast grow, we should expect more time to be devoted to the other players in this game. "Dread in the Air" pays particular attention to its villains.

Any lingering doubts about Lionheart's loyalty are laid to rest as Watts visits him personally, escorting him to one of Salem's jellyfish grimm that's... just hanging out in the middle of the school somewhere? Alright then. We see partly now why Lionheart got rid of all his security. Not easy to keep your duplicity a secret if you're housing stuff like that next to the broom closet. Regardless, it's clear that he's being threatened or blackmailed and is caving under that pressure pretty quick. For a long time the fandom considered Qrow/Tai/Ironwood/Ozpin as the scarecrow/cowardly lion/tin man/wizard representatives, but with the introduction of Lionheart as a cowardly figure and an obviously lion-ish look/name, we might eventually be getting a third school headmaster in need of a brain...

Now that jellyfish thing is certainly creepy--remember Mercury and Emerald's first reactions?--but here we get to see that even the creepiest grimm become a thousand times worse in Salem's hands. Lionheart makes the mistake of trying to order her around, telling Salem to hurry and get the Spring Maiden before Qrow does, and his outburst is rewarded by tentacles snapping out to choke him, one threatening to put out an eye. The fact that Salem can control her grimm from such a distance lends credence to the theory that she's the other "brother" from Qrow's story, capable of manipulating all her creations. Or at least she’s connected to them somehow. She is, in short, their god. Does that mean then Ozpin can do similar things with life as her opposite? Regardless, this moment also implies that these jellyfish grimm aren't inherently weird scroll replacements, but rather that this communication is an ability that Salem is bestowing on them. After all, we haven't seen any of the other creatures being used as tools yet.

As Lionheart reports that he's found the Spring Maiden we learn that Cinder has finally recovered, at least enough to tell Watts to shut up and argue with Salem about murdering children. (Didn't you miss her?). I'm always pretty attuned to when people use names vs. epithets, and Cinder's move from "the silver eyed girl" to "Ruby" when she begs Salem to kill her shows just how personal this fight has become. Salem also warns Cinder that Ruby's powers--once she harnesses them--are a real threat to the Maiden's. Jury’s still out on whether that’s because of their magic or something else intrinsic to the Maidens.

After Salem asks to speak with Tyrion (appearing highly displeased) and Watts is tasked with somehow getting him a new tail, we cut to Weiss where my reading of last's week's conflict (and Weiss' character) rings true. They are still near the ship that sent out the distress call and after another one crashes Weiss says enough is enough. She's going to help, "What we should have done in the first place." We're then treated to what are, in my humble opinion, the most god awful grimm to ever grace the RWBY screen.

Wasps.

Or lancers, as they're called, with stingers that act like grappling hooks--isn't that wonderful?

A lot of people have complained about the fight sequences since Monty's death, but there's still a wonderful wealth of creativity here. Flexible magic structures aside, from a purely fight standpoint I've always appreciated the ways that Weiss utilizes her glyphs, in this case to steady herself on a moving airship, shoot volleys at a number of moving targets, slow their descent, and lift an entire cargo hold of dust to turn it into a bomb. (Seriously... she can do anything with that semblance.) When that doesn’t work we get what we all knew was coming: that knight. For the first time we really get to see it in action and learn that these summoned creatures aren't just mindless minions, but rather avatars that Weiss can control. While she closes her eyes in concentration the knight fights with her style: using glyphs as launching points to attack, the exact move we first got in her trailer.

It's also worth noting Weiss' little smirk while they're getting attacked by freaking wasps that shoot spikes and have a queen that is impervious to dust. It doesn't matter how hard things get. Like Ruby, Weiss just loves the challenge.

Meanwhile RWBY is once again showing that they have a very iffy handle on race issues. People have voiced numerous grievances over the years, from the small (that the racism against faunus is never actually shown--Cardin doesn't count when he's a bully to everyone), to the large (turning the group demanding equality into one of the series' main villains is...not good.) These problems are even more overt with the introduction of Sienna Khan, a tiger faunus who is murdered after just a few minutes of screen time. Her opinion that attacking the schools "crosses a line" and her speech that she wants respect from the humans sets her apart from Adam's radicalism. Yet at the same time including "fear" in what she wants and the implication that she's only refraining from going to war because she might not win... it adds complexity to her motives, complexity that we rarely see in so short a scene. Not that it matters, considering Adam runs her through with his sword seconds later. The fact that Sienna is one of the very few PoCs in RWBY (and a woman to boot) just makes her sudden death all the more cringe-worthy. It wasn't impactful and it hardly seemed necessary. Was I really the only one who thought Adam was already in charge of the White Fang? RWBY's wiki assures me Salem mentioned Sienna once, but it was hardly emphasized. Her loss of power means little when at least some of us didn't realize she had that power to begin with.

Admittedly some fans are already theorizing that Sienna survived (A single stabbing couldn't kill her, right? What's her semblance? Where’s her aura? They didn't have to mention that burial...) but we'll have to wait to find out if Sienna pops back up and spills some blood when they try to put her in the ground. For now Adam lounges on the throne, dreaming of the humans serving him, and Hazel laments that, "Nobody needed to die today." Despite my interest in Hazel and his connection to Oscar, I can't overlook the fact that this is two white men seizing power (and the scene) through violence. It's apt, but not exactly refreshing.

Luckily we don't end with these two. Poor Weiss takes a beating in that crash and the final scene is her waking up, begging two shady-looking men for help. Who should walk over then but Raven. See? Groups are already coming together! Just... not how we wanted.

First the Spring Maiden and now the (former) Schnee heiress. Raven sure does like kidnapping important young women. Sadly we'll have to wait until next week to see how Weiss gets out of this one.

Until then,

Other Details of Note

Watts - "A little birdie told us." You're hilarious, asshole. Please stick around.

Nice change in audio as Salem speaks through the grimm. Her voice echoes a great deal, making her appear even more powerful and threatening than usual.

I appreciated the pilot's skill helping to save Weiss' ass. It's incredibly rare for us to see non-Huntsmen making a difference in combat.

We learn that the White Fang will execute its members if needed. They're no longer just an "activist" organization, but truly creating their own government and rule. Salem is, in many ways, no longer the biggest threat.

Can't help but think that Adam's choice to blame Sienna's death on a human huntsmen will cause serious trouble down the road (as is his intention). The kingdoms are already divided on the huntsman's place within society and having the White Fang hyper-focused on them (as an embodiment of the worst of humanity) certainly won't help.

#rwby #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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elkfeast · 6 years ago

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PART. I / II / III / IV tw: violence, blood + suicide ! * also has depiction of wwi / trench warfare.

every breath you take. ❛ so if i may dissect this ; the law enforcement came together and formed a so called band called ‘ the police ’ ? but you sang it ! are you to tell me that you were part of the police force at some point or another in your mortal life ? seems very unlike you to be quite honest. ❜ utter confusion. the pixelated laugher that escapes his partner, the infamous Vox Populi pitch in a variety of colourful notes from high to low with flailing arms.

Alastor doesn’t get what’s so funny but the subject is further explained in a summarized manner with music developing over the decades, so has the play on names for various groups or individuals in the industry ; the police being a prime example. still, the Radio Demon couldn’t help but picture uniformed cops singing their hymns like some kind of Christmas carol. but he did raise his glass of Courvoisier to give toast to his brilliant apprentice’s voice and dance moves. glasses clink. they both down the cognac and laugh at their silliness, dressed in sequence and expensive diamonds. ❛ and is this man who calls himself Sting a bee enthusiast? ❜

the second time he hears the song he’s driving his red plymouth cuda convertible ; one of the very few modern possessions he had won at an auction and he’s switching through stations. he’s taken a liking to having the wind blow through his hair instead of taking the limousine on a daily. a chauffeur isn’t always a necessity. beside him sitting in the passenger seat is Charlie who perks up recalling the song being one of her favourites. she’s surprised that he has knowledge of something regarding the modern era but takes the positive feeling in stride that comes when he refrains from switching stations and turns the volume up instead.

❛ let me guess, Vox? ❜ she asks, her voice has a hint of playfulness to it. without baring teeth, Alastor just gives her a genuine smile and a wink.

as for the third time, well, there isn’t. Alastor feels himself fly across the map as his feet become weightless and his entire body hits the concrete with a hard thud. the cold surface of the floor felt soothing and he was out of breath. as another grenade erupted and unclogged his ears, rubble sprayed his form in tiny chunks of pebbles. he only flinched, face down and exhausted. the great Radio Demon felt... defeated. this is no ordinary EXTERMINATION and he knew it. too deliberate, too planned. since when did angels bring entire platoons with explosives and guns of their own? this is a mission.

and hell’s chivalry just arrived. in a burst of colours and spray of bullets, the tides of heaven and hell clashed with enough time for Alastor to register what was happening and raise his head as he heard Rosie’s voice, distant but jovial. her British accent replaced by her born cockney. as his vision focused he caught a glimpse of white and before he knew it he was flying above the skirmish and stumbling to his feet as the soles of his shoes touched ground on the second floor. still recovering he looked up, rifle slung over his shoulder but at the ready should he need it. two bullets left was all he had so he isn’t going to just waste it on anybody but, when he saw Lucifer coming to approach Alastor took one step forward to meet. how they got to the upper level is a mystery to the deer seeing as the monarch still lacked his wings but, he did know that his blonde compatriot had a way of getting around when necessary so he just didn’t question that part.

❛ it’s my brother Michael. kill his form with this knife and he’ll return to Heaven. now get to the tower and i’ll hold the line with Rosie and her soldiers until the rest arrive. ❜ white gloves take hold of dark ones, placing the dagger in the other’s hands. the deer scoffs, quick to replace the hunting knife he had in his sheath with the weapon provided.

❛ ah, there it is... ❜ wagging his finger, still trying to maintain his balance through the recent shell shock Alastor almost grinned if it weren’t for the displeasing information. ❛ thought your angelic family had something they wanted with my apprentice. why can’t you come with me now? ❜

❛ they want him dead and i need to find my daughter first. she followed you here. ❜ the devil’s voice was firm. Lucifer isn’t fooling around today and Alastor isn’t willing to admit that he felt sick at the notion of placing Charlie in danger despite her choice of pursuing his solo suicide mission. he may have plans of his own for her but her attachment had grown sickeningly troublesome for her own good and try as he might, he couldn’t be at two places at once. truth be told, he didn’t feel quite like his usual self. there’s dread in the air.

❛ alright. ❜ is all Alastor says as he and Lucifer go their separate ways.

the elevator ride to the tower is quiet and long winded. the lack of music eerie though, he had a strong feeling that even with an instrumental track in the background his anxiety would only continue to spike. and such a feeling would jump to complete and panic as the elevator shook and stopped abruptly, causing him to stumble forth and onto his knees. fluorescent lights flicker. the lift creaking under its own weight. then far too close, there’s a muffled explosion that throws his body down again and this time onto its side. there’s a snap ! up above and the lift threatens to collapse.

❛ shit ! ❜ Alastor jumps to his feet, running to the doors. the lights continue to flicker around him as he manages to wedge his claws through the gap in the door and slowly pry it open. his shadows, quickly coming to his aid as they shoot out and pry the next set of exit doors open to the other floor. another snap ! and the shadows force the shaft doors open to the other floor as half of them slip out and watch in terror as the lift slam close again, trapping their owner inside. but Alastor with his weight betraying him and having him collapse again upon the elevator’s second time giving way, gets back on his feet and begins the rigorous process again ; his lift now in between floors. he gets the doors open, throws his rifle over the open gap and hops up onto the ledge, claws scrambling to grab hold of the smooth surface of the exit as his shadows come to his aid. the rest of the metallic cords break and the elevator lift descends with Alastor rolling out into the hallway just in the nick of time.

out of breath he allows his shadows to settle ‘neath the fabric of his black coat again before getting up and taking his rifle. his ears perk up as he hears a struggle a few levels up and he knows he’s close to his destination. entering the fire escape he climbs the stairs, arming his rifle and checking over the last two bullets he has left before throwing open the last set of doors and entering the auditorium from the side as he fires one bullet upon entering.

bullseye as Michael’s ribcage explodes right open and the archangel falls to his knees with gritted teeth. the television in the midst of running out of fighting power disappears in the shadows, and Alastor keeps his rifle trained at the enemy as he makes his approach. one bullet left, and witnessing the angel stagger he knew that the knife Lucifer had given him is his only resort to getting rid of this angelic asshole. ❛ fly on home. ❜

#*♔.･ come with me and take the ride / to the other side ( v: vox populi ) ♬♪#*♔.･ i roared / and i rampaged / and i got bloody satisfaction ( v: lady in red ) ♬♪#long post

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intoxicatingimmediacy · 7 years ago

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You Have to Be Smart to Survive: Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal on Blindspotting

During a press tour last month, Diggs and Casal spoke with RogerEbert.com about their meticulous approach to sound design, their seamlessly stylized dialogue and why having intelligent characters is a politically charged statement.

RC: The idea was to give every character their version of what was right in their mind. Early on, there are moments with Val where the audience is made to be pitted against her, and we make sure to eventually come around to her perspective, as well as the perspective of Miles’s girlfriend, Ashley. Even for Miles and Collin, it was necessary to have those moments. We liked the idea that it was messy and complex, because that is usually how perspective works.

DD: I am attracted to art that doesn’t present itself as an authority. As an artist presenting a piece of art, you have to be aware of your own blind spots. I think I am attracted to art where woven into the fabric of the thing is this fractured perspective, this idea that there are many ways to look at this thing that you are watching right now.

Your portrayal of the film’s inciting incident—the brawl outside the bar—is twofold: we first see it from a comedic angle, where the clueless white victim is dubbed “Portlandia,” and then from a tragic angle, as we hear the man echo Eric Garner’s cries of “I can’t breathe.”

DD: We do so much work early on to ensure that everyone can feel the world from Collin’s perspective, where we understand a lot of his reasoning for everything and for all of his choices. To present that moment in a way that is comedic allows you to really watch it without judging him initially. Then all of a sudden, you get to see the moment play out from Val’s perspective, in order for the audience to understand much more about her feelings, and also about the nature of this crime. If we’ve done our job right, this shift occurs without the audience realizing it. By the end of the film, you are rooting for a felon convicted of a violent crime, who maybe doesn’t get a lot of second glances in real life. We did a lot of work in the script to try and underscore Collin’s humanity and make sure that his entire self was represented. He is not only the crime that he committed, and even from one perspective, the crime is hilarious if you think about it.

RC: Our intention was to make the entire theater be on his side for most of that fight. Everyone in the room hates the hipster and thinks that Miles is being funny and the fire is entertaining. That flip on the perspective regarding the violence, depending on how we are encouraged to feel about it, matters. It shows how easily you can get swept up in a point of view if it favors your beliefs or is playing to your intuitive nature. We are giving you comedy, and so you are responding to the comedy, same as when you are watching the news. If the newscasters tell you that a person is a villain, you will treat them like a villain. The same trick that is happening in the film is what’s happening on the news every day.

I found the tonal shifts and lyrical dialogue in “Blindspotting” to be so much more seamless and assured than they were in a picture like Spike Lee’s “Chi-Raq.”

DD: We’re doing different things than Spike. “Chi-Raq” was an adaptation of a Classical Greek comedy, so the way he was attempting to use poetry was already forced. It was a forced situation that was meant to draw attention to the fact that the dialogue was poetry and not prose. We are doing the exact opposite. We’re trying to make you forget that you are listening to verse, but still have it function in the same way where it forces you to hear the important things and as a result, you sit forward a little bit in your chair. The writing is different, yes, but the biggest difference is in terms of performance. Carlos also played a big role in helping it feel natural when people are reciting verse but performing it as text. Rafael and I grew up doing that, so we’ve had a lot of practice. In many ways, the film is a reflection of how we grew up interacting with language. That is a big thing in the Bay Area, so we were really just trying to show off what we can do.

I particularly loved when Miles tells Val, “I am as moved by your greeting as you are moved by an elliptical.”

RC: It’s a joke that takes a couple seconds to register, and by the time it does, it’s more of an internal laugh. It’s a headier joke where you are like, “Oh, because an elliptical doesn’t move…” [laughs] But what I love about that line is it gives you a sense of the character’s vocabulary. One thing Daveed and I talked about a lot is how important it was for all of our characters to be really intelligent people. The Bay’s a very well-read place. A lot of the parents are very educated, whether traditionally or nontraditionally, and that savviness, that sophistication also coexists with the norm of city life and street culture. It doesn’t change it, it just gives it this nuance. That is a very heady joke for Miles to make and in any other movie, It would feel so strange for the street dudes to reference an elliptical as a joke in passing. Their intelligence has this broad stroke to it that allows you to watch them process things much faster, which also enables the verse. You know that they’re quick, witty and clever, but you don’t have a good sense of what their knowledge base is. You really just know a little bit about their behavioral flaws and not necessarily the limits of their intellect. For all we know, in every moment we don’t see him on camera, Collin sits around reading all day. There were versions of the script where that was the case. Miles and Ashley watch the news every night, and as younger people, that is not as common.

DD: I think it’s a politically left statement to not have stupid people in our work. We are existing in a world where there is this normalizing of ignorance, which is dangerous and actually untrue. That’s not how people are. I don’t know very many stupid people in my life, certainly not among disenfranchised people because it is hard to live that way. This normalizing of people being uninformed is dangerous because it presents it as okay, whereas that’s contrary to our survival mechanisms. You have to be smart to survive.

How involved were you both in the film’s extraordinarily visceral sound design?

RC: We were deeply involved from the beginning. All of those rhythmic musical refrains and elements to design Collin’s PTSD were originally in the script and decided on before we shot the film.

DD: We set the tempo months before we started shooting with members of my band Clipping. We did some rough passes on sound design elements, and though very little of that stuff got used, we recorded to them. When we performed the scenes, we had clicks in our ear. For the scene toward the end where Collin is in basement, I had that beeping sound in my ear to keep in line with the rhythm.

RC: I had a similar click in my ear during the dream sequence set in the courtroom. We knew super-super early on that both the score and the sound design were going to be essential in tracking Collin’s descent. We knew those PTSD moments were going to ramp up and climax in some of our final scenes, and that everything would have to get threaded back throughout the entire film, so we have alternating start points of when we learn about them, such as car horns or other sounds. We also had to make sure that the sounds were accurate in relation to where the characters were in Oakland, because we knew that people from the area would intuitively know if we had gotten something wrong.

DD: Getting to mix in Dolby Atmos was an extra sort of bonus after we received their grant. We worked with their artists while sitting on Michael Bay’s mixing stage and got to make adjustments like, “Can we throw that train noise back into the right because we know where this house is in relation to the actual train tracks in Oakland?” Coming from music, that was the sort of stuff that we were obsessed with. I am super-proud of the sound design in this film, and next time we do a movie, we’ll do more. We’ll actually start that process way earlier. I think there’s so much more we could’ve done.

RC: Even when we were doing our web series [“Hobbes and Me”], sound design was always our favorite part of the process. That is when everything on the screen comes to life, so when we got to sit in that room, that is where we, as filmmakers in post-production, really got to excel.

DD: That’s the coolest part to me. On my next film, I’m going to have composers onset the whole time.

#blindspotting #rafael casal #daveed diggs

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betweenthetimeandsound · 4 years ago

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Three Minutes to Eternity: My ESC 250 (#170-161)

#170: Dino Merlin and Beatrice -- Putnici (Bosnia and Herzegovina 1999)

“Šta smo ti i ja, do putnici bez mjesta?”

“What are we, if not travellers without a place?”

In the relatively dull set of 1999, Putnici was a highlight at first listen. From the ethnic instrumental to the almost-philosophical lyrics, I am taken onto the journey Dino and Beatrice go on, with a mix of Bosnian and French lyrics (with the latter a bit less developed than the former, as it sounds like a basic conjugation table). It’s a bit funky, a bit hipsterish, but all kinds of enjoyable. Too bad there isn’t a clear performance video on the internet; every time a video featuring them appears, it gets muted.

It's a shame because it deserves a lot more attention, even though I don't think about it occasionally.

What's a bigger shame was how Bosnia needed ~150 points to make it through to the 2000 contest. They had a bunch of lower-midtable finishes throughout the 1990s, including a second to last in 1996, thus putting them in this position. Despite getting their best result at the time, they still got relegated because of their five-year average.

(On another note, did anybody actually contact Amina to get her to perform the French parts? Asking for a friend.

Personal ranking: 1st/23 Actual ranking: 7th/23 in Jerusalem

Final Impressions of 1999: Compared to the years that preceded it, 1999 was a bit of a letdown. The loosening of both the language and live-music rules didn't immediately lead to better quality songs, as I find most of the field pretty dull. While I accept the top two, I'm not sure how good they were in the end, and the best song of the year used backing vocals on the track. Ugh.

The stage was nice, though one blogger mentioned the "half-finished" catwalk on the left-side, and I can't really unsee that now.

#169: Dana -- All Kinds of Everything (Ireland 1970)

“Seagulls and aeroplanes, things of the sky Winds that go howling, breezes that sigh City sights, neon lights, grey skies or blue All kinds of everything remind me of you...”

The four-way tie of 1969 resulted in four countries withdrawing for the following contest, stripping it down to twelve countries. That year, while short, had its fair share of gems, of which All Kinds of Everything rose to the top of the crop.

While a bit overlooked today, All Kinds of Everything stands out with its tenderness and innocence, as Dana lists the things which remind her of her loved one. It's a list-song, sure, but one that works effectively with Dana's sweet voice.

And Ireland's first win has done wonders--not only was it a hit across the continent, but it represented some semblance of calm. Dana was originally from Northern Ireland, so representing Ireland during the Troubles initially wasn't the best solution. Once she won, she was greeted back in song (and Dana herself was a politician at some point).

If Amsterdam 1970 had a worse winner, we wouldn't have a contest to speak of.

Personal and actual ranking: 1st/12 in Amsterdam

#168: NOX -- Forogj, Világ! (Hungary 2005)

“Ne bánts, világ, Ne ölelj, ne érezz, Szerelmed jobban fáj, Ne játssz, világ, Eressz, ha boldog táj hív.”

“Don't hurt me, world, Don't hug, don't feel Your love hurts more Don't play, world Let me go if a happy land calls”

What happens when you combine Riverdance and influences from the previous winner? You get a vibrant, spirited song with really thoughtful lyrics in between. The mix of percussion, ethnic-influences, and dancing create a throbbing beat to this overlooked bop.

As mentioned, the lyrics are part of this intriguing package. Here, the narrator wants to discover more of herself. The ones mentioned here are a bit paradoxical, in that she wants to to be embraced, but also wants to discover more. Szilvia has a delicate voice, but it works in this context.

For a year which is known for its ethno-bops, 2005's grand final started with a good dose of energy. (And Hungary had to leave the way they came...suddenly)

Personal ranking: 3rd/39 Actual ranking: 12th/24 GF in Kyiv

#167: Aminata -- Love Injected (Latvia 2015)

"I’m safe into your hands Let’s move away, the edges expand"

While I knew for a while Love Injected was a fan-favorite, I initally didn't get it. Most of the time, I listened to the refrain in clips, which put me off from listening to the entire thing.

It wasn't until I stumbled on a mashup of this, with Truth and Skeletons, which it all makes sense. As I liked the latter two songs more, I was initially hooked, but it was the bridge to Love Injected that really stood out to me.

When I watched the final performance in Vienna, the dark sensuality of the verses that attracted me. Very minlmal synthesizers, but well-executed. The chorus then made sense in context, as Aminata shifts from the soft, delicate vocals to a more powerful explosion. Combined with the minimalistic staging, it turns out as a contemporary and sophisticated package.

Personal ranking: 6th/40 Actual ranking: 6th/27 GF in Vienna

#166: 1X Band -- Tih dezeven dan (Slovenia 1993)

“Kako dobro se zlivam v ta svet, ki me omamlja, Kako vase potegne me čas, ki ne obstaja?”

“How well I merge with this world that dazes me, How I'm absorbed in time that doesn't exist?”

Slovenia managed to break off of Yugoslavia with relatively less bloodshed than their fellow successor states, thanks to only needing ten days to fight the Yugoslav army in summer 1991. As a result, they managed to avoid the worst of the conflict, and hosted Kvalificacija za Millstreet, the pre-qualifying round for seven new countries in 1993.

1X Band managed to win that, only to place poorly and getting relegated for the following year.

It wasn’t fair, because Tih dezeven dan is a solid debut entry with some incredibly thoughtful lyrics. Compared to its fellow ex-Yugoslav debutants, it focuses more on existance and how life would be nothing without dreams. Combined with an easy melody, it conveys its own mood--a bouncy, fun soundscape (and good orchestration) with a questioning theme.

(or was it fair because of those costumes? They were better at Kvalificacija za Millstreet...)

Personal ranking: 5th/25 Actual ranking: =22nd/25 (with Denmark) in Millstreet

#165: Urban Trad -- Sanomi (Belgium 2003)

“Léala, léala, sorimana, sorimana.. “

Who would’ve thought a song sung in a fake language would almost win the competition? And in a very tight voting sequence; there was a three-point gap between first and third (for the latter, it's #241).

One thing which helps is the folksy sound of “Sanomi”, which makes it sound more like a folk chant than something gimmickier, like the country's 2008 entry. Personally, it sounds like it could be a song about the joys of fishing, hehe.

The duo’s voices work together to create a mythical atmosphere, and it really challenged my favorite that year with its surrealism. Combined with the drum-machine and the record-scratches, it's still grounded into 2003, without making it sound too over-produced.

In the end, would it have made a better winner? The 2000s featured a bunch of first-time winners, and having Belgium win could bring some help for Western Europe, who progressively became more cynical towards the 100% televote era. On the other hand, it would've reflected the 1990s more than the 2000s, so where would the contest go then?

Personal and actual ranking: 2nd/26 in Riga

#164: Chanée & N'evergreen - In A Moment Like This (Denmark 2010)

“I'm lost and I don't know Where am I supposed to go? I still miss you so...”

You know that last song in a movie which sums up the whole thing while it plays in the credits? And then you ask yourself what that song is called because it got stuck in your head for a while, and then you get relieved because you finally found it on Youtube/Spotify/Shazam?

That’s what I get from In a Moment Like This; its placement as the last song in 2010 grand final adds to that feel (thank you random running order). There was a bit of controversy about the melody itself, because it resembled that from "Every Breath You Take", but it’s still really relaxing and the staging tells a story.

Notoriously, Chanee and N'evergreen didn't really get along that much, and apparently it showed in their chemistry. But in the end, they played their parts in this performance, and got rewarded for it justly.

Personal ranking: 5th/39 Actual ranking: 4th/25 GF in Oslo

#163: Vlado Janevski -- Ne Zori, Zoro (North Macedonia 1998)

“Стој, не зори, зоро, душманке В пушти ноќта да ги сокрие, Очиве што раѓаат бисери, Срцево што друга не љуби,”

“Stop, dawn, don't rise, you fiend, Let the night hide these eyes which bear pearls This heart which can't love another.”

The first song from North Macedonia, and the last song with an orchestral arrangement. Historical significance aside, it’s a powerful song, with an interesting story to tell.

The narrator has his mother go out (in traditional Macedonian way, apparently) and ask for his girlfriend's hand for marriage with the rest of the family. During the night, he waits with tears in his eyes, waiting for an answer. And so he calls on the dawn to not come until then.

Curiously, the original version featured more ethnic instruments, but the orchestration in Birmingham, along with Vlado's deep vocals , was worthy of a finale. Even though the song was a bit too low-key to end the contest (and I kept thinking that the Turkish entry preceding it would make a more dramatic one, along with a better showcase of the strings), there's still some melancholy at the end of an era.

Personal ranking: 5th/25 Actual ranking: 19th/25 in Birmingham

Final Impressions on North Macedonia: They can't catch a break sometimes, can't they? From being the only constituent state of Yugoslavia to not participate while they were all together, to having good songs with bad stagings, it seems like they don't always have the best luck. That said, they still have a bunch of good songs on their repetoire: hopefully their 7th place in 2019 will show that they can do well. (And they have more entries here in this countdown than both sides of Czechoslovakia, hehe)

#162: Brainstorm -- My Star (Latvia 2000)

“I will follow my star till the end of my days And my heart's gonna lead me through so many ways And if you're gonna join me, I'll be your guide Baby, never say never, be my runaway-bride“

I find it weird that Estonia and Lithuania managed to debut in 1994 (and the former participated in Kvalificacija za Millstreet in 1993), but it took six more years for Latvia to do the same. They had the opportunity to do so in 1999, but waited one more year.

When they did so, it turned out it was worth it.

My Star a whimsical song, and reminds me of bicycling on a sunny day. The performance is more of an acquired taste with Renars' eccentric vocals and dancing, but after a few watches it just brings instant joy.

Unfortunately for Latvia, it's also a case of "peaking too early". Despite winning two years later, I still think it's their best song--it's some solid pop-rock with a bit of magic, which one can't say of "I Wanna".

(interestingly this also has some closing-credits energy to it, haha)

Personal ranking: 2nd/24 Actual ranking: 3rd/24 in Stockholm

#161: Roger Pontare -- When Spirits are Calling My Name (Sweden 2000)

“So bring me the power, I'll be the king of the land and the seas Show me the way to go, let me fight with my body and soul”

Originally from the Volga River region of modern-day Russia, the Sami people have inhabited parts of Northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland for millennia. For centuries, they hardly had any contact with their Germanic-speaking Scandinavian neighbors until the 18th and 19th centuries, when the Norwegian and Swedish governments wanted to have more control of the north. This also interplayed with the environment today.

When Spirits are Calling My Name hints at fighting for the protection of theirs lands and beliefs. The native peoples from other groups come and perform with Roger, and that solidifies their solidarity.

This is so epic, and I love the combination of pop/schlager and ethnic elements here. It's rousing and proud and determined--honestly, I would've preferred this to win rather than the entry they actually won with in 1999.

I've also heard about people preferring the original Swedish version--I get it, especially as Roger flubs some of the lyrics in the second verse, but I think the English one holds up just the same!

Also, the performance had the first use of pyrotechnics at Melodifestvalen, so yeah yeah fi

Personal ranking: 1st/24 Actual ranking: 7th/24 in Stockholm

#eurovision song contest #esc 250 #esc top 250 #esc bosnia and herzegovina #esc ireland #esc hungary #esc latvia #esc slovenia #esc belgium #esc denmark #esc north macedonia #esc sweden #vintage eurovision #three minutes of eternity

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