#mason still has the 'more power' motive

[blazingflareon]

fucking finally got this asshole to a point where im somewhat happy with it. shoes my beloathed

also not sure abt some colors but blegh im done with it for now. onto artfight with you

[mylifeisjustafeverdream]

A Retelling of My Mind Whilst Reading Shadow Kissed-

Omg it's the Sixth Sense up in this bitch

Bitch when are you ever "just tired" when weird shit starts happening to you, I swear to fuck.

Rose is so me because I too would rather die than spend an extended amount of time with my best friends boyfriend.

Eddie Castile the man that you are.

From the bottom of my heart I hope Jesse gets his shit rocked.

Omg Rose girl do something, ANYTHING. YOU'RE EMBARRASSING US.

Least Favorite Trope: Entire plot would be resolved if this dumbass just like communicated the issues she is having OMFG.

If Rose Hathaway has no haters all her teachers must be dead because wtf is their issue???

Homegirl is unstable at best.

I feel like at this point she should probably go to where Mason the Friendly Ghost is pointing.

Girly-pop that's not a migraine....

I do not fucking trust that bitch Tatianna

*Viktor explains master plan* "Cool motive still murder"

*Law and Order sounds*

HE JUST SAID THAT SHIT IN OPEN COURT IT'S ON THE RECORD

How much of an asshole do you have to be that it's more believable that you're lying than a crime having actually happened lol

Lissa is so clueless it's kinda funny.

You know what I hope Rose fucks Adrienne and gets pregnant just to spite Tatianna.

She wants her nails done omg she's just a girl 🥺

*starts looking at my tarot book to see if this is accurate*

I love when Dimitri starts lore dropping to Rose

Well.... I think they know about the ghosts now.

That doctor is the only rational adult at the school cause literally why tf didn't she talk to a counselor.

Her therapist just clocked her so hard.

Well that's an unfortunate fact about Shadow Kissed Anna

Dimitri took part in that attack exercise specifically so she would hop on it lmao

Can't even celebrate for a moment before Lissa is off doing something dumb I swear to god

Lissa try not to get tortured challenge go

*New power unlocked*

YES ROSE BEAT HIS ASS GIRL......oh shit.....GIRL YOU GOT HIM IT'S GOOD.

She's like a feral cat.... Dimitri should use a spray bottle.

Oh my GOD IT'S HAPPENING EVERYONE REMAIN FUCKING CALM

Girl you gotta give me more details than that PLEASE

"My body ached" that'll happen when your first time is with a 6'7 Russian built like a tank

CAN WE NOT HAVE ONE GOD DAMN MOMENT OF PEACE

Girl I'm gonna throw up he's all alone out there.

CHRISTIAN OZERA THE MAN THAT YOU ARE

HE DIDN'T DIE THANK FUCK

Mason upstaging Dimitri even from the afterlife that's my man right there.

SECRET TUNNELS, SECRET TUNNELS THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS

The uncanny ability that 17 year old female herions have to radicalize societies is amazing

Do y'all think Dimitri came up with that life plan while he was fighting the strigoi?

"You're scared of my mother" um yea girl she's fs going to catch an attempted murder charge once she finds out.

*Clenched my jaw so tight during the cave fight it started to hurt*

Oh my God girl stop internal monologuing about how everything is going to work out THAT ALWAYS GOES POORLY

Oh God it's that blonde bitch from earlier this is going to be so much worse than him being dead.

Rose: *literally tries to throw herself back into a vicious attack just to save Dimitri's body*

Everyone Else: She just respected him as a teacher so much there's no other possible explanation.

Lissa clocking what was happening with Rose and Dimitri just now is like when someone steals the answer on Wheel of Fortune after the other contestant mispronounced the phrase

*Knows it's definitely going to happen* "Dimitri is a strigoi"*gasps*

I'm shocked they didn't grab like a single Guardian teacher to try and talk down Rose like why tf did they think Kirova would have any affect.

I know it's not malicious on Lissa's part but I'm glad Rose is finally speaking about how one sided this relationship is.

"Off to kill the man I love" oh this next book is going to fuck me up.

[thatsodapopgirl]

I think Alastor is a mix of Dexter Hannibal and Crowley

Just wanted to post something fun and have my thoughts out there. I haven’t had the chance to read the Dexter and Hannibal books, I’m just going with the shows and movie characterizations.

First I’m just going to list off the similar traits each of the characters have which are: sadistic, violent, manipulative, charming, egotistical, killing and a love of their craft. If I were to put them in a color scale of good to evil, it would be a very gray scale to black.

I’ll start with Crowley from Supernatural, because I think Alastor might be headed the same direction as him in the upcoming seasons. Like Alastor, Crowley was known for being a deal maker that he was called king of the crossroads in the show. When Crowley teamed up with Sam and Dean it was because of self preservation and once Lucifer was gone, Crowley went for the throne to become the next king of hell. Then throughout the show, Crowley would continue to be on and off again alley/enemy with the Winchesters. Eventually, sacrificing himself for the Winchesters, who he grew fond of. Now I’m curious if that’s the direction Alastor is heading towards for the next seasons, because I get the feeling he might turn on the hotel once we figure out what his true goal is. Like is his soul owned by Liltith, Roo or someone else? And once he’s free, what will he do then? And then there’s the favor he has with Charlie. Alastor seems like he has a huge ego, could he possibly go for the throne of hell once the royal family are out the chess board? I’ve been hearing that Alastor would become the next big bad or the final boss of the series and eventually sacrifice himself in the end. But who knows what direction Alastor will go.

For Hannibal Lector, I’m going to point out the first thing which is the cannibalism. Also in the show Hannibal, Hannibal is at times portrayed as a Wendigo (even though Alastor just a deer, but hey they both got antlers). While watching both movies and the show, Hannibal loves to play with people’s heads and show off his intellect, even when he’s incarcerated. It’s a power move, “I may be locked up but you still need me because I have the answers you seek.” I also get a sense of narcissism off him, because he tends to look down on others who he deems are rude, disgusting or did him wrong. Most of those people are the ones that end up being on his plate and being served in one of his many dinner parties. This makes me questios Alastor’s motive for going after those overlords; it can’t just only be a rise to power or did something go down between Alastor and them? Because when he threatened Husk, he mentioned disrespect. There’s also Hannibal’s twisted sense of morals. He detests someone like Mason Verger because Hannibal has a soft spot for children and holds a respect for women. You could say the same for Alastor, yeah he’s a sadistic murderer, but he never really goes for the weak, like when he saved a sheep demon from getting eaten by the butcher and Alastor seems to get along with women a lot more than with men. And in the show, Alastor gives off that superiority complex, especially towards Vox, Lucifer and Sir Pentious. There’s also showcasing their murders to an audience; Alastor would broadcast the screams of his victims while Hannibal saw himself as an artist and turned his guards into some kind art display.

And finally Dexter Morgan. Dexter, you could say is the bad guy for bad guys because he goes after other serial killers, while managing a double life as a blood analyst for the police department. But as I watched the show, I believe Dexter himself acknowledges what he does is evil but justifies it himself that he’s doing society a favor (the same could be said for Hannibal’s point of view). And when Vivziepop mentioned that Alastor was similar to Dexter, it could mean that Alastor went after people who were probably killers themselves or bad in some way. In season two, Dexter did begin to view himself as some kind of vigilante because of the public’s perception but eventually came to realize that what he’s doing is wrong, especially when he had Doakes captive. And killing is mostly because it’s what he wants and if it weren't for his dad Harry, Dexter could have followed a similar path as his brother the ice truck killer. In the first episode he is impressed by the ice truck killers’ work and other killers in the show; he's never disgusted or enraged by their actions; in the end of season one Dexter imagines how people would be proud of his actions. If Dexter went to the Hellverse, he’d probably be happy because he wouldn’t have to hide who he is and be able to demonstrate his work. And I’m bringing up the overlords again because they’re in hell for a reason, maybe they didn’t just disrespect Alastor but probably were just as bad or maybe worse.

As I stated before, we just gotta see what’s in store for Alastor in the next season but we still have info on him from the lore and interviews. But I’m just wondering if that will change or still continue.

[madame-mortician]

DBD x Silent Hill Fun Facts:

(Spoilers for SH1-SH3)

The Lisa Garland that appears in DBD isn’t the real one and is instead the monster manifestation of Lisa Garland. Why this version of Lisa was taken in unclear, since the Entity can take people before they die, but it’s most likely because of how powerful “Lisa’s” suffering was when Harry left her (which is when the Entity took her in the timeline.)

Pyramid Head is also weird, since technically he doesn’t exist and is a manifestation unique to James, so it’s possible that in canon James was taken at the same time as Cheryl despite being added much later. That or the manifestation of Pyramid Head was taken but sometime later the Entity went back for James, likely to motivate Pyramid Head more.

Another thing about Lisa is she seems very happy to be here. It’s not uncommon to see survivors that are smiling or look calm, but Lisa is smiling from ear to ear. It’s likely the reason she is so happy is because even though she’s now trapped in an alternate dimension and forced to be repeatedly killed, she is now no longer alone in Silent Hill doomed to be tortured for an eternity. At least in the Entity’s realm she is with other people, can take breaks, and has a chance to survive.

Akira Yamaoka created a unique soundtrack for the Silent Hill chapter, including lobby music and menu music, though the menu music is currently unavailable since it was only added for the release. You can still listen to it online.

Cheryl Mason was taken roughly at least three months after Silent Hill 3, after hearing Claudia Wolf’s voice on the youth hotline.

Cybil Bennet was taken during an unspecified time in Silent Hill, whilst looking for the original Cheryl Mason.

Lisa Garland was taken shortly after Harry locked her in a room and abandoned her.

James Sunderland was taken shortly after entering Silent Hill, and likely didn’t make it far.

Maria was taken after her first meeting with James. The promotional art also implies this was when James was taken too.

Pyramid Head was taken after the events of Silent Hill 2, it is unknown which ending he is from since the lore is very vague simply saying “when his duty was complete.” This confirms that despite being from the same game, the James that appears in DBD isn’t the same exact one Pyramid Head encountered.

Despite being a manifestation of James’ personal guilt, Pyramid Head in DBD is specifically after Cheryl, likely being how the Entity convinced Pyramid Head to come to the realm (assuming James didn’t arrive at the same time as Cheryl.)

Pyramid Head has a tongue model, that is unused but was likely going to be part of the mori, in reference to one death in SH2 where James is strangled by the tongue.

Eggs are randomly appearing add-ons for killers in DBD, but the two egg add-ons for Pyramid Head are actually relevant as they were dropped by the two Pyramid Head’s once they killed themselves in SH2. One was rusty and the other was clean, with the common theory that the rusty one represents his old murder of Mary, whilst the clean one represents his recent murder of Eddie.

Despite technically being a different character, the Alessa Gillespie skin isn’t a legendary but is a costume, meaning it’s just Cheryl dressed like Alessa. This was likely done because of two reasons. #1 Alessa was 14, and was too young to become an actual character. #2 Cheryl and Alessa are the same person.

If the Maria art is to be taken as canon, it means that Maria hadn’t “died” at all yet, and the James in game doesn’t know the truth about Mary yet.

Maria is the only survivor without a last name.

Maria and Lisa are the only survivors that aren’t real people.

Maria and Lisa were both taken likely because of their emotional connections to James and Cheryl respectively. (Maria for obvious reasons, Lisa because Cheryl remembers her from her past life.)

[shelbbswrites]

Who's your favorite Vampire Academy character and why?

The cool thing about Vampire Academy's first season is that my favorite character changed as the story evolved and strengthened.

I immediately adored Rose and Lissa because their friendship felt organic from their jump. Those two young women being positioned as the revolutionary spark from the opening allured me.

I was drawn to Dimitri because he's a deeply complex character, and I have a type. I liked how Kieron Moore portrayed Dimitri's stillness.

It took me a beat to warm up to Christian, but he became a forever fave by the end of Season 1.

I wish Meredith and Mason had more individualized stories because I really liked them. Mia was intriguing, especially as she became disillusioned with the world she grew up in and owned her powers.

Sonya was also an instant fave because it was compelling to see someone who prides themselves on their softness and kindness in a dark and twisted world.

So, this is cheating, but I like all of them. Even the villains. I like to dig into their motivations, how the characters have to move through the Dominion, how they reject or embrace that, and why. Vampire Academy's storytelling has so many intricate parts — I eat it all up.

Do you have a favorite character?

[introvertguide]

Abuse of Children Portrayed in Film

I like to use movies as an escape from the harshness of the real world and one of the things that I have learned about in my education is the effects on children when they are mistreated. I have a Masters Degree in Developmental Psychology and one of the hardest classes for me to handle was Abnormal Development in Children and Adolescents. We covered everything from dealing with dyslexia and ADHD to surviving severe abuse and loss at a very early age. We had guest speakers that ranged from people who had escaped genocide as children, to individuals who had been sold into prostitution by their parents, to people who had suffered severe abuse from their parents or guardian. I have heard stories that will stick with me forever and that is nightmare fuel that I don't want to share.

Because of my background education, I take note of the treatment and behavior of children and adolescents in the movies that I watch. There have been many great movies over the years that have depicted the suffering of children and it has always been difficult for me to deal with. There are more well known examples of films that focus on suffering but throw in more of a "sometimes we all suffer, even the children" message that demonstrate that kids aren't immune to great travesties (basically any film about The Holocaust). There are also well known films that show children "coming of age" through hardship (Annie 1982, Oliver! 1968) but end perfectly. There is a more current series of films that focuses entirely on a boy discovering a fantasy world that was robbed from him when his parents were murdered by a tyrant (Harry Potter series). But in this list I want to review some lesser known films that show examples of abuse. Even after all that I have seen and heard, the following list of films have affected me personally for one reason or another. Sometimes the children in these films endure and overcome their situation in the end. Sometimes these children do not survive or sadly remain in their misfortunes. To me, this can make the movie all the more powerful because of the incredible amount of pathos that endangering a child character can add. It can also make it a heart wrenching experience that is painful to watch. Here are some powerful films in which children suffer and the struggle is one of the main plot lines of the movie:

SPOILER WARNING AND VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISORY!!! I AM GOING TO GIVE AWAY THE PLOT TO THESE FILMS AND IT SHOULD GO WITHOUT SAYING THAT SOME OF THE PLOTS ARE DISTURBING!!! EITHER WATCH THE FILM IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS OR CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING SUMMARIES IF YOU WOULD RATHER JUST HEAR WHAT HAPPENS SO YOU KNOW IF YOU WANT TO WATCH OR NOT!!!

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Sybil (TV Movie) 1976

I just recently saw this film after I had heard of the story in my abnormal development class almost 10 years ago. It is the story of a woman who developed multiple personalities to deal with a childhood in the care of an undiagnosed schizophrenic mother. The movie stars Sally Fields and is based on a true account of Shirley Ardell Mason and her treatment by psychologist Cornelia Wilbur. The acting in the film is overdramatic at times, but it definitely reminded me of some of the actual old videos of Shirley Mason and her sudden strange switches in personality when she was scared or anxious. Dr. Wilbur used hypnosis to actually introduce Mason to her alternate personalities and she was able to recognize her disassociative identity disorder and overcome it. It still hurts me to think that this person was mentally wounded so deeply by her parents that it basically shattered her into pieces in an effort to make sense of things.

Leon: The Professional 1994

I mention this film a lot because it is a heartwarming story of an assassin teaching a young orphan how to murder. It is the breakout role for Natalie Portman and it is just amazing. Leon is a "cleaner" that lives next door to an abusive and addictive family with a troubled girl named Mathilda. The father gets in trouble with the mob and some enforcers come by and slaughter most of the family while Mathilda is getting groceries. She returns during the massacre and realizes what is happening so continues next door and pleads for shelter. Leon takes her in and teachers her the trade and protects her from the men who want to finish her off. The movie was written and directed by Luc Besson and stars Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, and Natalie Portman. The suffering that this girl endures because of her parent's addictions hurts me, yet I have seen and enjoyed this film many times. I recommend watching when in the mood to be deeply affected by the trials of a little girl and the killer who protected her.

Kids 1995

This film came out when I was early in high school and bothered me greatly. It is a story by Harmony Korine, and one of his many attempts to capture the hopeless lives of unmotivated and unsupervised teens. These are young teens having unprotected sex, stealing money to do drugs, and attacking people in the park. I did not really go to these kinds of parties when I was that age (or ever really) and it has bothered me to think that adolescents would partake in this kind of behavior. It is hard for me to believe that these kids had the ability to mentally comprehend the consequences of their actions and some of the characters end up contracting HIV from each other. I would not recommend the film because it is a depressing day in the life that no youth should have.

Gummo 1997

I would not call this a good movie and I wouldn't really recommend it. It is another work by Harmony Korine and really details the depravity that can occur with unsupervised youths living in low socio-economic conditions. This movie is just depressing and motivated me to find something to motivate me into action. I got into both psychology and teaching, which has served me well for the past 20 years. It was this film that showed me how low the bar for quality of life could be, and I guess for that I am thankful. However, I still wouldn't recommend it.

Happiness 1998

This movie I didn't see right away but noticed it at the video store on many occasions. I final watched it when I was about 25 on the recommendation of a friend and one particular storyline greatly disturbed me. It is basically the story of 3 sisters that feel they should be happy and project a face of happiness, yet they are miserable and have horrible lives. One sister in particular is married to a psychiatrist who turns out to be a pedophile that rapes the friends of his young son. At one point rather early on in the movie, this man confesses to his son that he raped the boy's friends and that he would do it again. The son is so confused that he asks his father why he never raped him. It is so disturbing to me because I know the boys that were assaulted will be forever damaged and this boy who was not actually raped will be mentally scarred as well. The fact that there are people in the world that would harm children that way, recognize what they had done, and then know they didn't have the self control to stop themselves from doing it again is horrifying to me.

Lilya 4-Ever 2002

This film is deeply disturbing and I highly recommend never watching it. I will spoil it for you now so you never have to see it if you don't want. A 16-year-old girl named Lilya lives with her mother. The mom gets a boyfriend and the couple move to America and abandons Lilya with a neglectful aunt. The aunt movies into the old apartment of her sister and Lilya is forced to move out and become a prostitute to make money. A boy comes along and convinces her to move to Sweden to escape her life. When they arrive, this boy sells her to a pimp and she becomes a teenage sex slave. She almost escapes, but is then captured and beaten almost to death. She escapes again and this time commits suicide so she won't be recaptured. This movie is awful and changed my mind about giving every film a chance. I wish I could forget this film, but I can't. Perhaps it is just not for me, but this film presentation is definitely an experience that you won't soon forget.

The Kite Runner 2007

I read this book in my twenties and saw the film in my thirties and both affected me greatly. A well-to-do boy and his friend are in a kite battle competition and the friend is beaten and raped when he goes to retrieve a fallen kite. The well-to-do boy denies knowing what happened to his friend (he does know) and basically shames and abandons him. This action haunts the well-to-do boy for the rest of his life. How the boy who was raped is basically falling prey to blaming the victim is heartbreaking, and the lifetime of guilt of the other boy is pitiable. Neither boy was the actual attacker yet they both were the ones that suffered.

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There are many other examples of movies along these lines and could be found if you feel like suffering. I can't say that I would recommend them because they are very difficult to watch. Beyond just dealing with the content, it is rare to find child actors who can actually portray somebody who has truly suffered. The mix of bad acting and a depressing plot can make for a terrible movie going experience. The genre of movie involving suffering does exist, though, and it could be enjoyed (?) by some. Just not generally by me.

[trulyinspiringmovies]

The Black Phone

“The Black Phone” has a few great moments, but everything in between feels restrained.

Finney Blake is constantly being abused by everyone in his life, whether it’s by his school bullies or his alcoholic father. The year is 1978 and a serial child abductor called, The Grabber, is on the loose. Unfortunately, Finney finds himself being his latest victim. He wakes up in a sound-proofed basement with nothing but a mattress and a disconnected black phone. Through the phone, Finney hears the voices of The Grabber’s previous victims and works with them to try and escape.

I didn’t really have high expectations for this movie and I still came out a bit underwhelmed. I saw a lot of reviews for this movie that were positive and I think I might know why. A lot of those people giving glowing reviews were also highlighting the fact that this movie was made by Scott Derrickson, who also made “Sinister”. I personally really liked “Sinister”, but I didn’t know “The Black Phone” was directed by the same person. The short story this movie is based on is also written by Joe Hill, who is the son of Stephen King. This was another fact I wasn’t aware of before watching the movie. I think maybe knowing the team behind this movie really got people already thinking positively. Without that knowledge, there’s a lot to say about this movie. First off, I didn’t really like the child actors. Maybe I’m spoiled by the performances from the kids in “Stranger Things”, but I felt like the kids in this movie were flat. Mason Thames plays Finney with such indifference throughout most of the film that it was hard to get invested in the stakes. There’s a point in the story where Finney is at his lowest and feeling hopeless. He starts to cry, but there were no tears to be seen. To make matters worse, the camera does a closeup to confirm that there were no tears. I really want to give the benefit of the doubt and say that he was dehydrated from all the work her was doing, but something tells me that wasn’t the case. Madeleine McGraw, who plays Gwen, feels like she has the most potential, but still doesn’t quite hit the mark. Gwen gets beat by her father in one scene and the tone in her voice is just right, but the body language and facial expressions were off. The most egregious example was Miguel Cazarez Mora as Robin. There’s this one scene with Robin and Finney talking in a bathroom and the deliveries from both actors were so dry. Jeremy Davies plays Finney and Gwen’s father and he’s just serviceable. I would’ve loved to see something other than the kidnappings explored in this movie. I would’ve loved to see the backstory of Finney and Gwen’s mother. She clearly had some powers and passed them down to her kids. Maybe revealing the motivations of The Grabber would’ve been cool too. I get that it would take away from the mystique and ruin the horror, but I’m begging the movie to give me something at this point. This movie had a choice to either explore more of the supernatural aspect or the psychological aspect and did neither. Ethan Hawke is obviously the star of the movie and brings the best performance, but there’s so little he’s able to do in the movie that it feels a bit like wasted potential. James Ransone seemed like he’d be a cool character, but ended up feeling super out-of-place for a movie like this. I wish I could’ve seen an actual interaction between him and Ethan Hawke’s character to connect the location together, but we never really get that either. Still, what we do get are some great moments of tension and I think that’s worth something. I do have to admit that some scenes had me holding my breath. Other than that, I think this movie is skippable until they inevitably turn this into a multi-movie franchise.

★★★

Watched on July 13th, 2022

[princeescaluswords]

*once more, dons the fancy and stylish hat of fandom logic and dramatically runs on all fours onto stage like Derek Hale* Following fanon criteria of what constitutes a "good alpha", Derek is terrible. You all say yourselves that his repeated awful decisions are "he's trying his BEST!1" and coddling him because he has Trauma. Well, maybe that makes him unfit for the role. Why didn't he kill Kate? How hard could it be for a superior born werewolf to kill a human? Murder is the best choice right? Shouldn't he have also sensed that Deaton wasn't a werewolf, let alone a Alpha, like how he sneered at Scott for using his smell at lacrosse practice? Shouldn't Derek have a sacred, special connection to the Hale alpha spark and sensed it inside Peter? Why can't this incompetent 20 something do ANYTHING right?

Competence has always been a red herring, for both the production and the fandom.

The production used it as a red herring in a positive way, highlighting that true strength and heroism comes from your motives and methods and not the final result. Yes, part of the subversiveness of Teen Wolf is that it rejects a staple of the urban fantasy/horror genre, saying that the end does not justify the means. Scott isn't the True Alpha because he'll destroy those who threaten his loved ones or pass judgment on those who don't agree with him, he's the True Alpha because ... well, let's go to the tape for some examples.

In Venomous (2x05):

Derek: I don't know why you think you have to protect everyone now, Scott, but even so, Lydia has killed people and she's gonna do it again, and next time, it's gonna be one of us.

Scott: What if you're wrong?

In Currents (3x07):

Deaton: It's rare. It's something that doesn't happen within 100 years, but every once in a while a beta can become an Alpha without having to steal or take that power. They call it a true Alpha. It's one who rises purely on the strength of the character, by virtue, by sheer force of will.

In Illuminated (3x16):

Ethan: You don't get it, do you? Scott doesn't care about power. He cares about people. You want to be a wolf in his pack? Try being a human in high school.

In Monstrous (4x10):

Meredith: He's the alpha. He's always been the alpha. He'll make it right. It never was with us. Too many people died because of us. We're the monsters. Even Banshees. Even me.

Lydia: I don't believe that. Not all monsters do monstrous things.

Meredith: Like who?

Lydia: Like Scott.

In Strange Frequencies (5x07):

Theo: If Scott really gave up on you for some piece of crap like Donovan, then he wouldn't be a True Alpha, would he?

Stiles: Or maybe that's the definition of one, someone who doesn't put up with murder.

In Apotheosis (5x20):

Kira: Me again. I have to leave. But I'm coming back to help. I promise. Because you're right, Scott. If anyone's going to save Mason, it's you. It's us.

In Pressure Test (6x05):

Tierney: Why do you care anyway?

Theo: Oh, I don't. But you should find Scott McCall. He's got a thing for taking in strays.

Again and again, Scott places the most value on each and every individual life, regardless of who it is and what it means in the grand scheme of things, and that is how he changes the world. Notice that this has nothing to do with whether he succeeds or not. In the show, he's not the strongest, or the smartest, or the best speaker, or the best tracker, or the most skilled fighter. People -- a lot of people -- still die as he struggles to defeat the villains. He does, however, care for others -- even Peter who transformed and violated him, even Chris Argent who hunted him, even Derek who manipulated him and beat him, even Deucalion who tried to reshape Scott into his image, even Stiles who lied to him and betrayed him, even Liam and Theo who worked together to murder him.

And, much to the show's credit, they didn't have Scott doing this effortlessly, implying that it's an innate function or Chosen-One destiny. Scott had moments of anger, of resentment, of ruthlessness, or giving in to the urge to win at any cost. In order for Teen Wolf to make its point, Scott had to be shown as just as capable of being a goal-oriented prick as any other character. That's why they had him threaten Gerard as he did, why they had him toss Isaac into a wall, why he dreamed of murdering Liam, and why he lied to Kira and violated Corey. The show didn't want to imply that only special people are capable of this feat, that he was somehow unique in the world, but that he chose to be this way.

And, parts of the fandom, as parts of the fandom always do, performed a nose-plant into the dirt to allow this point -- telegraphed so often -- to wiz right on past their head.

You see, the show -- much to my personal irritation -- allowed individuals like Peter to be successful. After all, Peter killed everyone involved with the Hale fire. He resurrected himself. He escaped Eichen House and the Wild Hunt. He discovered his daughter and forcibly inserted himself into her life. He ended the show having reclaimed his families legacy with his freedom and wealth intact.

But we will always know that he ended the series in such a positive position because of Scott. Just as Derek was able to change the way he approached the world, was able to move past his trust issues and put to rest his demons because of Scott. Just as Theo was able to find a new way to live because of Scott. As Chris Argent did. As Lydia did. Scott's leadership was, to use a phrase, transformative.

And yes, I hear the anti-Scott white-power Machiavellian wannabes grinding their teeth in outrage. There's scene after scene of text -- and not invented subtext -- which makes that the point of the show. They'll choke on it before they can bring themselves to admit it.

[nothingunrealistic]

We’re fascinated with the rich and powerful, which is why viewers love to escape into the lavish world of Showtime’s hit drama Billions. Despite the loss of Damian Lewis' Bobby Axelrod, the series has continued to grow its streaming audience with every season since premiering in 2016. The 12-episode sixth season delivered its most-watched opening week ever.

While this season is still about custom-built yachts and high-end fashion, it’s also focused on how money can help those less fortunate. In a recent interview, Asia Kate Dillon talked about their character, Taylor Mason, who is particularly interested in taking those accumulated billions and changing the world for the better. We focused on the recently aired episode “Burn Rate” and Taylor’s showdown with new boss Michael Prince (Corey Stoll).

—————

Fans have watched Taylor skillfully navigate the landscape at Axe Cap but now things are shifting. Not only is Prince’s name now on the wall but the goal has changed from that of accumulation to one of giving back.

"Taylor has always struggled with how to be a good person," Dillon recently explained. "Episode four is the first time we really get to hear from Taylor as to their why - the deeper reasons underneath it all. They really want to affect lasting social advancements and make positive change that stands the test of time."

Power shifts are expected in these halls but for Taylor, it's more like running through a minefield. "Taylor still has their guard up about Prince and who he is and what his ultimate motives are and whether he can be trusted. They have PTSD from Axe and wonder if Prince will throw them under the bus."

Taylor's main effort in this episode is to bring free WiFi to the people in Africa and while this is an altruistic goal, they are met yet again with obstacles. "Taylor realizes they are not done learning. They need to really hear what Prince is saying and shift their monetary goal in order to make the kind of change they want to make."

Dillon is excited to explore the various power dynamics Taylor is engaged in this season. “Taylor can now stand up to Prince without being afraid. They continue to try and figure out how to exist in their world while remaining a good person. Is that even possible?"

[chitto]

dreamsmp but its soul eater

part one of maybe more (?)

part 2

note: for the uninformed soul eater is anime/manga series about a world where some people can turn into weapons such as a sythe, sword or pistols (i use those examples as they’re the main weapons on the show). these weapons have a partner called a ‘meister’ who wields the weapon in combat. a weapon can change between human and weapon form and can sometimes be both at the same time (making their arm into a sword etc.) a meister and weapon pair are deeply bonded with trust and your other stereotypical anime stuff. (weapon and meister pairs don’t always have to be deeply bonded and in no way are any of the trust elevated to a romantic level, SHIPPERS DNI). 

- tommy’s the double bladed sword with tubbo as his meister. at first tubbo thought the two bladed sword was too big and bulky but he grew better at it. he’s able to spin it around with ease, intimidating any foe. they have one of the stronger bonds between weapon and meister because of the friendship they had. it helps make the two of them a very powerful duo, not to mention a 5’5 teenager running at you with a giant double bladed sword yelling profanities is a pretty terrifying sight. during the exile, tubbo didn’t participate in the butcher army as he felt incomplete using any other weapon. 

- wilbur and schlatt had a rocky relationship. it started well, they were pretty powerful. there was a level of trust bedded deep below their constant bickering. wilbur was a gladius with the meister schlatt. they had defeated many evils. until the election. their trust was fractured. wilbur and niki, both weapons, began to wield each other, neither one having a true meister. schlatt wouldn’t wield anyone but would make quackity the battleaxe do any dirty work for him. after the two died, they found eachother again. neither of them could remember their pasts but they felt familiar to each other. now the revived glatt uses ghostbur as his weapon, if the two ever need to fight. 

- sapnap is the meister to both karl and quackity, twin battleaxes. at first there was lots of debate over who sapnap should use as his weapon as battle axes are large and can be hard to use in tandem, but sapnap shut down the argument by showing that he was strong enough to wield the two of them at the same time. because the three of them are engaged, their more compatible than most. however, 99% of the time, they have maybe one brain cell between them that bounces back and forth from person to person. but when they’re motivated they can be an admirable opponent. (sapnap personally believes his weapons are the coolest out of everyone else’s) 

- when karl time travels, he wields himself as a weapon. he notices that james and mason were meisters, while drew and jack were battle axes. they feel familiar. 

- george is a sythe with dream as his meister. the two originally hated being paired up, dream complaining that a sythe was awkward in battle and george flat out saying dream got on his nerves. but they improved, as did dream’s sythe skills. but, when dream’s motivations started to go downhill as he became more and more unstable, george abandoned him. george was worried dream was going to start using violence and didn’t want to be a part of it. for the disc wars, dream used his own standard weapon, that he once tried to spin like a sythe before realizing george wasn’t with him. george hasn’t visited dream in prison out of fear and disappointment. george believed dream could do great things, that they could have done great things together. not this. 

- ranboo is his own weapon. ranboo’s unknown side is made up of weapon material, meaning he is able to call himself as a weapon. this stemmed from him always being alone, on his own side. he had to learn to protect himself and not rely on others for help. but, fighting using his own body proved detrimental as any hit his weapon took, he took as well. when he started to open up to fundy, who is a bastard sword, he started to become ranboo’s weapon. they trusted each other. until doomsday, when their differences of opinion broke their bond. fundy ran away and ranboo was reminded of why he was his own weapon. you can’t trust anyone. 

- phil and techno are a meister weapon pair who have been working for ages. techno, a broad sword, was one of phil’s only friends. the two had been defeating things like the ender dragon and complex governmental systems for as long as they could remember. there was never a thing they wouldn’t do for each other. on an adventure once, phil had gotten injuried. nothing life threatening but it was still enough for the excursion to be called off. since then, techno has been adamant about keeping phil safe. he didn’t know what he would do if anything happened to him. 

- niki the trident and meister jack manifold are a new weapon/meister duo on the server. the two of them came together after doomsday, both realizing that tommy (and tubbo by proxy) were the problems on the server. they swore that together, they would cause ultimate chaos and anarchy. they bonded on being pushed aside and overlooked. their power comes from their disregard for most people. they’ve been walked over by almost everyone on the server. they both understand it’ll be difficult to take down tommy and tubbo, so currently the pair is training for the day of reckoning.

[livingbythewords]

Theo Raeken, Scott McCall and the concept of betrayal in friendship - a Teen Wolf meta

Recently I came upon an interesting and somewhat subversive perspective on two phenomena that have been occupying my mind for a long time – friendship and betrayal. Because these two themes are not only often present in Teen Wolf, but are at the very core of season 5, I had some thoughts on the psychological concepts of friendship and betrayal in relation to the series.

General consensus in our view on both friendship and betrayal suggests that we tend to view friendship as a natural state of things developing through mutual trust and loyalty with love at its core, whereas betrayal is viewed as disruptive event that causes mostly pain, confusion and destruction. The perspective I am talking about considers the possibility that "the roots of both [friendship and betrayal] may draw their energy from the same deep layers of the human psyche" (French, Gosling and Case, 2009) and that betrayal is in fact not something that comes out of nowhere and disrupts friendship, but rather precedes it and constitutes its inherent part. It also introduces a very interesting concept of "virtuous betrayal", which may be regarded as "betrayal in the service of a higher purpose‟ (Krantz, 2006). Both betrayal and friendship are therefore complex phenomena, which according to the authors are interdependent and have deep impact on each other.

I'm going to start from the concept of virtuous betrayal, which to me is interesting and rather uncommon and puts Theo's attempts at dismantling the McCall pack in a new light (at least to me). In Status Asthmaticus (season 5, episode 10) Theo fully reveals the motivation behind his actions:

I never lied about why I came to Beacon Hills. I'm here for a pack. I came for the were-coyote. The one whose first instinct is to kill. I came for the banshee. The girl surrounded by death. The kitsune, the beta with anger issues, I came for Void Stiles. That's the pack I want. Unfortunately, it doesn't include Scott.

What we see here is something which may be regarded as a fundamental difference in Theo and Scott's understanding of what the pack and friendship as the force that binds it means. Scott's understanding of friendship has its roots in the concept that Aristotle called vera amicitia or amicitia perfecta, a 'disinterested friendship', where the well-being of the others is of primary concern, and he is ready to make sacrifices he considers necessary (for example, his willingness to join Deucalion's pack of Alphas, knowing that there might be no way out of it once he agrees). Meanwhile Theo regards the pack mostly in terms of power and safety, where the element of friendship is non-existent. In his speech, he emphasizes only traits which are mostly viewed as negative, which is very revealing when it comes to his understanding of the world and its rules. He genuinely believes that removing Scott from his position as the pack leader is for the greater good; to him, friendship, love and caring that constitute the basis of Scott's pack are all weaknesses. This is the result of his formative years spent under the 'care' of The Dread Doctors and the values instilled in him, which are the exact opposite of what Scott believes in. Theo views the pack and leadership through the lens of utilitarianism, "to the exclusion of the pursuit of virtue and commitment to the good" (French, Gosling and Case, 2009), which is the complete opposite of what Scott believes in. He knows the Doctors' main goal – unleashing of the Beast of Gevaudan – and wants to get out alive; his main goal is survival. It is worth mentioning that he also operates from the point of a deeply rooted inferiority complex ("I'm not even a real werewolf"). Therefore he believes that what guarantees him survival and safety is securing his position as the leader of a pack by fear and control instead of mutual trust and loyalty.

This perspective raises the question of the degree to which he can be held responsible for his actions. I tend to disagree both with the view according to which Theo is considered only a victim, as well as the one which considers him only a "bad guy" without taking into consideration all the mitigating circumstances surrounding the way he was raised. We all act according to the values imprinted in us in early childhood, which shape the lens through which we view the world. Therefore, I deeply disagree with the view that Theo 'deserved' whatever happened to him. Of course, he does have the ability to make choices, and it doesn't excuse the bad ones he made (for example killing Josh and Tracy). However from his perspective, all the choices he made were necessary for both his survival and his attempts to feel whole, to be a real person instead of an artificial construct he perceives himself to be.

How does this relate to theory I mentioned above, which considers betrayal not only a fundamental part of human experience, but an inherent element of friendship, which in fact inevitably precedes it instead of outside force that disrupts it? Well, at this point it became obvious to me that this is exactly how Theo perceives the world. According to James Hillman and his reflections on betrayal as viewed through the myth of the Garden of Eden, betrayal is a natural and necessary stage in the „unfolding‟ of human consciousness (Hillman, 1975, in: French, Gosling and Case, 2009). Through betrayal, our real self is born, as it was depicted in the myth of the fall of Eden, in which the "death" described in Genesis – „of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die‟ (Genesis 2:16) – means the death of illusions that we as human beings like to hide behind, for example perceiving people as either good or bad without understanding that humans are complex beings with different motivations and initial circumstances that formed them. In the case of Theo, he was already put at a deep disadvantage comparing to the rest of the pack members and had no chance to develop positive and healthy values and coping mechanisms that would enable him to earn what he desired instead of taking it by force, which was the only way he knew for his whole life. Again, that doesn't in any way negate traumas and hardships the other members of the pack went through, neither excuses Theo's behavior and the choices he made. I'm simply pointing out the factors that were a huge part of why he did what he did.

Now, let's get back to Scott. It's interesting to me that Scott, despite the fact that this view of the world and the values he believes in are very different than Theo's, seems to understand his motivations, at least to some degree:

Scared people do things you wouldn't believe. (season 6, episode 12)

Life can’t ever be all bad or all good. You know, eventually, things have to come back to the middle. (season 5, episode 1)

Especially the second quote (regression to the mean theory) is interesting, because to some degree it agrees with Hillman's theory about betrayal being the necessary part of evolving human consciousness and the 'death' of illusions that humanity develops to avoid facing uncomfortable truths about themselves (such as Stiles rejecting the 'shadow' part of himself which then manifests as the Nogitsune). Scott's deeply empathetic and caring nature explain his enormous ability to forgive things that most people would consider unforgivable, which is reflected in the scene of his death:

SCOTT: They're not like you. They never will be.

THEO: Because I'm a Chimera? Because I'm not a real werewolf?

SCOTT: Because you're barely even human.

Barely even human. Even in his darkest moment, as he is dying at the hands of his former close friend and now his greatest enemy, Scott refuses to fully dehumanize Theo. He doesn't call him a monster. He doesn't hurl insults towards him. He still considers him a person. In fact, he never in the course of the whole show acts hostile towards Theo or mistreats him, not even once, although he would have plenty of reasons. The main emotion he expresses towards Theo is deep disappointment. He doesn't even express regret in having trusted Theo. He decides to trust him again by sending him with Mason to the tunnels and by asking him to get to the hospital to take care of his friends, which – if this trust was misplaced – could have serious consequences.

Although perspective on betrayal as a fundamental part of human nature inevitably connected to friendship may seem somewhat pessimistic, it may also seem the opposite. "In our heart of hearts, we carry both experiences together: they coexist, so that if one is dominant, the other is always present as a 'shadow' (French, Gosling and Case, 2009)". From that perspective, we can understand the necessity of forgiveness more deeply and be ready to work on and develop our ability to forgive, which can in time become our greatest strength instead of our greatest weakness. Just like in case of Scott McCall, who – by forgiving the unforgivable – made his enemy, the man who betrayed him, turned his friends against him and murdered him, into his trusted ally.

[wildfey]

Anon from yesterday back again! About the set-up, a post on twitter explained the theory much better and I gotta look up the name. The gist is that Phoenix could've proved that he was set up. He did not have the time to have a forgery done since he got the job for defending Zak only the day before. Plus the money. Instead, there is no evidence at all he even tried. Why? Because he'd seen the courts' corruption before and decided it didn't matter anymore, plus too dangerous.

(continued) You could even point at his reply to the Judge's words and wonder if Phoenix has nothing to say because he knows it's useless to argue. Hidden powers have already decided that they will attack him and try to drag him down.

okay, okay, hello again anon, good to see you back with another excellent ask.

I always think that there are two ways to look at Phoenix's disbarment:

a) that the problem was straight-up with bringing forged evidence into court, no matter what the circumstances were.

b) that the problem was that Phoenix was assumed to have created the forged evidence and bought it into court intentionally.

Ace Attorney really flips around on which of these is true in universe (it's a plot point to some extent in 1-5, 3-3, 4-1, and 4-4) but considering that Phoenix gets his badge back almost immediately after it's proved that the second wasn't the case, I'm going to assume that presenting forged evidence accidentally is either not an issue or less of an issue. This tends to be the fanon majority stance too. (It's worth noting that Edgeworth is implied to have pulled some strings irt getting Phoenix's badge back. Ymmv and so on.)

With our framework safely in place, the question arises: If Phoenix could have avoided punishment, or at least public shaming, by revealing the set-up, why wouldn't he? As you point out, the forgery doesn't make sense once you start to look into it and we know that Phoenix did put a lot of these pieces together. Hell, he could have made these arguments when Misham testified during the Gramarye trial. But he doesn't. (Warning: this is a more headcanon-y meta than my last one, because the 7yg is... a gap and we have very little concrete info on what the fuck Phoenix was up to. He got a kid, worked on jury trials, played good poker + bad piano, and had some sort of frenemyship with Kristoph. That's pretty much all we've got).

Firstly: Corruption. The AA court system is ridiculously corrupt, and at the point that Phoenix is disbarred, he becomes emblematic of this - he's a man with a history of revealing injustice - notably Von Karma & Gant, but even without them he still won some high profile cases - and once he's disbarred, it's implied that the narrative is flipped, turning him into a figurehead for that which he fought against (dark age of the law, etc). The obvious conclusion is that his disbarment was a convenient way to discredit him - powerful and corrupt figures (and in AA there are many) don't need to fear Phoenix Wright if he isn't a lawyer and his reputation is ruined. The counter argument is that Phoenix... has always done some questionable things with evidence (1-5, 2-4, and 3-3 stand out to me). But no more so than anyone else in this fucked-up universe. Either way, Phoenix has always worked in a system stacked against him, and it's very possible that he suspected there to be manoevering behind the scenes (and there was! We know Kristoph existed and was purposefully working against Phoenix.) HOWEVER, I don't believe that any of this would stop him on it's own, because it's been long established that Phoenix Wright does not give a shit about bad odds.

So, what would make him accept it? Anon, you mention danger in your ask, and I do see that as partially true - Phoenix isn't concerned about danger to himself, but he has a kid to care for. I would say, however, that especially when we come to Kristoph, as much of a bastard as he is, Phoenix had no evidence that he could be violent to the point of murder until 4-1. Before that, his influence was long-distance life ruining, rather than active threat (though long-distance life ruining is pretty scary on its own when you're raising a small child with low funds). I do see that as a cause, but one of many, and this is the point where I'd like to go back to the conversation on motivation.

I am going to make the argument here, as I did in the other answer, that Phoenix, in the 7yg and possibly elsewhere, is depressed, and that one symptom of that is a loss of motivation. It's implied by the game itself, and makes more sense than most of the alternatives.

(I won't get too personal, but the years of my life where I dressed like this... not good years lol)

My headcanon has always been that by the point that Phoenix had sorted out his guardianship of Trucy and got himself out of that initial low that came from having his life ruined, it was too late to fix his disbarment and he had to change tracks, and that's when he became interested in MASON. (Not to self-promote, but I'm realising that a lot of what I've said here is rephrased ideas from The Path Once So Clear, so if you want 15,000-ish words on the subject, it's there). Of course, when talking about Phoenix's 7yg depression, I think it's also important to mention that Phoenix in AA4 is very much implied to be putting on an act (which is pretty common in AA4 in general. Most characters in that game have both a public and private face). Being 'Beanix' - eg. the piano/poker player with no prospects who works in a shitty restaurant and takes nothing seriously - is a convenient cover while he works on the things that he doesn't want to be targeted for (and here we come back to the corruption angle).

As to how far the depression helps that act... well, that could be a whole conversation on its own. Once again, I'm very much coming into headcanon here, but I'm reminded of the phenomenon where someone with depression will deliberately exacerbate it, either as a form of self-harm or as some attempt to fit a role (artists are especially prone, due to the 'depressed artist' stereotype. I see it most in the emo scene). Beanix has always seemed to me as someone who is deliberately messing up his own life - he repeatedly provokes Apollo, essentially sabotaging their relationship, he puts himself into dangerous situations for no real reason (this is a general Phoenix trait), and despite the fact that we KNOW Maya and Edgeworth were supportive of him during this period, we never actually see them around, presumably because he's keeping them at a distance. How much of this is for the act, and how much is real?

Again, we've come very much off topic (whoops) but I see a lot of this as another aspect of Phoenix's low self worth - is there a difference between the image he projects of a man who has given up due to being disbarred, and the real Phoenix who is still actively working behind the scenes but is very obviously not doing well because he can't 'save people' - the thing which so much of his identity relies upon? I think there is, but I also think the image too often becomes the reality, and AA4 does carry this underlying theme of how wearing these masks of a public persona can affect your 'true self'.

As always, I genuinely love to see other people's takes on this, either in the tags, in reblogs, or via asks. This one is very headcanon-y, and I know there some entirely different perspectives out there, some of which I really like. (Also this one got to be heavy. Look after yourselves guys.)

[noethicalconsumptionunderdisney]

Just saw your delightful post about Laex’s houses and I wondered how you would sort the rest of the family ? Also , @wisteria-lodge wrote a post about Gryffindor / Slytherin that would probably interest you .

Holy shit, I am so sorry this is getting back to you so late, anon!  This got lost in my Drafts and I totally forgot about it until I was recently trying to dig some stuff back up and got slapped in the face with this.  So even though this is months and months (and two Sorting essays lol) later, let me try to answer this the best I can:

(Links to Alex, Justin, and Max and their respective essays, so I don’t have to repeat myself)

Everyone else (...that I bothered to sort at least) below the cut:

All of the other Big Characters:

* Jerry Russo: Slytherin/Ravenclaw.  

Slytherin Primary- He broke off from the wizard world and chose a normal life because he met The One, and figured that being mortal was worth it if it meant being with her, going against what was expected of him from his community, and everything he’d believed about himself in order to do it.  

I also do believe he’s ambitious to an extent about his sub shop-- he certainly seems to care the most about whether it does well, and we know he cares a lot about his family legacy from how upset he was when it seemed that legacy would end (the times the kids might all lose their powers, that time they almost lost their lair).  Beyond that, he doesn’t seem to give much thought to the world outside his family, or even to his long-lost sister, who’s likely been kicked out of his inner circle, so I don’t think saving the world has ever really been a huge priority for him like it is for the kids.

Ravenclaw Secondary- One reason he makes a really good teacher is that he knows and remembers most of the spells the kids need to learn.  What he doesn’t remember, he can always look up in a spellbook, which he has a ton of.  He also has a lot of various magical trinkets that he’s collected over the years.  Plenty of them have value in terms of teaching, but I really do think most of their collection is because he thinks they’re neat.  This is also probably why they have a subway car as part of their sub shop, so that he would have a reason to use it, and therefore have a reason to have it.  

(You could argue Hufflepuff Secondary in regards to how he invests in his business, but even there, he likes to cut a lot of corners and doesn’t seem to feel particularly bad about doing so, as long as he doesn’t get in trouble for it.)

* Theresa Russo: Hufflepuff/Gryffindor.  

Hufflepuff Primary- She could be Slytherin too but I keep circling back to how much she cares about the traditions and cultures she left behind, and how, while she is happy in the life she has with Jerry and her kids, she’s still genuinely sad about losing that connection.  I also think about it in terms of her difficult relationship with Alex, how she calls her mija, how she pushed so hard to give Alex a quinceañera (that she didn’t want), how she was upset that Alex was failing Spanish, and how out of her depth she is with the wizard world.  

It has to sting a bit that her husband’s world, which she has no real connection to outside of him and the kids, has such an impact on everyone’s daily lives, while her world kind of gets left behind, either because the kids aren’t as interested, aren’t as exposed, or because she has to keep her extended family away from her immediate family so that magic doesn’t get exposed, how she has to follow the rules of a world she doesn’t even like that much.  Or perhaps she doesn’t like it because she’s lost so much to it.

Gryffindor Secondary- The Movie in particular solidified this one for me, just the way she gets curious about magic and Jerry and Max’s journey even though she thinks they’re strangers, dives headfirst into it despite Jerry worrying about letting a mortal be part of the adventure, and how she sees a parrot turn into a human, who is clearly Bad News, walks right up to her, and tells her all the shit she’s been put through and why she needs that stone.  

There are great moments from the show, too-- the ones that stick out to me are her talking back to the van Heusens when she knows damn well they’re vampires, and her getting Alex to teleport her to Megan’s so she can stand up for her kids’ right to have their powers, powers she doesn’t even like most of the time.  She definitely has a temper, and it’s usually played for laughs, but I also think it fits because she’s an incredibly brave person, and while there are definitely times when she runs away scared, more often than not she’ll stand her ground even in times of danger (and probably a few times where she maybe should’ve been more careful...).

* Harper Finkle: Slytherin/Hufflepuff

(Note: I like to think of this one as the Best Friend sorting, because it’s used a lot with Main Character’s Best Friend (and the Girl Friday, but this is Disney Channel so that’s not as common here), and because that combination tends to make for some pretty damn good ones.)

Slytherin Primary- I think it’s very possible Harper has a Hufflepuff Primary Model here, because it took me some thinking and rewatching to decide this, but nah, Harper’s best friends with Alex for a reason, and it’s not out of, like, the goodness of her heart or whatever.  Harper does like being part of things -- she enjoys being part of the Russo family, she enjoys being in clubs in a way Alex doesn’t get, she was excited to be invited to Gigi’s tea party because she thought she was being included in their “high society lady” rituals -- and she likes doing the nice, kind, good thing, but on the occasions where she does act purely in her own self-interest, she doesn’t feel the least bit guilty about it.  

We see this side of her more in seasons 3 and 4, but as early as season 2, we see her taking advantage of Cupid’s arrow making Justin fall for her even after Alex informs her of the situation (and only starting to hate it when she gets tired of his clinging, not for ethical or compassionate reasons), happily accepting the ribbons that make Alex’s Gryffindor squirm, because “it’s about time she got some appreciation,” and deciding she’ll continue to work for the vampires that just tried to eat her and her best friend because she “kinda needs the job” (honestly, mood tho).

Hufflepuff Secondary- More often than not, it seems Harper is taken advantage of rather than the one taking advantage, though, and I think this is why.  Working hard makes her feel good!  Being dependable makes her feel good!  She’s upset when it’s revealed that Alex used magic to help her win at everything she tried when she was little, and that she’s actually bad at those things.  She cares about earning her accomplishments, not just getting them.  She has a perfect attendance record and she cares about it a lot.  And that’s the core of what a Hufflepuff Secondary is: show up every day, and try as hard as you can.

She also prides herself on her moral support.  She’s generally willing to drop everything to help Alex and the thing she got the most furious with Alex for saying was that she was a bad friend.  This ties back to the Slytherin Primary thing, but I think it has a lot to do with how much work she puts into everything, and how much work she does for Alex, when Alex won’t do her own, and she doesn’t even mind doing it, maybe even likes doing it, as long as she gets credit for her dedication.  Luckily, Alex does appreciate her as a friend, even if she doesn’t show it as often as she probably should, and has her moments where she’ll come through for Harper too.

* Juliet van Heusen: Ravenclaw/Gryffindor.

Ravenclaw Primary- She goes against her natural instincts to hunt humans and instead sticks to animals as the more “ethical” path.  Granted, she was given a soul by her parents, which both helps her blend in better and might be what leads to her more ethical behavior, but I do think her Ideals are something she chose to live by, rather than something that was given to her, and I think part of why she likes Justin is that she connects with him intellectually, so I lean Ravenclaw for her Primary.  

Gryffindor Secondary- She tends to be pretty forthright and brutally honest a lot of the time.  She tells her parents she’s dating Justin by just... shouting that she likes him and then running back to tell him, she answers Zeke’s question about a horse-drawn carriage by implying that she killed them (for context, he’s a mortal), and she motivates Justin to win by bluntly telling him she’ll have to break up with him if he loses his powers.  She’s restrained enough to keep her vampire secret, but... not very restrained outside of that.

* Mason Greyback: Slytherin/Gryffindor.  

Slytherin Primary- His main motivation seems to be Alex, and he’s very singlemindedly dedicated to her most of the time.  The only times I can think of where he isn’t focused on her is in that first episode, when he wants to paint dogs, and only gets focused on her when she casts a spell on him, and in that moment where he sees Juliet again and confesses his undying love (oops).  He says afterwards that werewolves are “very loyal,” and I think based on the episode where we meet Mason’s parents, we can infer that that means “loyal to their own,” as they don’t like him dating a non-werewolf.  They might not include Alex in their definition of “their own,” but Mason clearly does, and puts her above everything, even citing her as his main motivation to “stay good” against Gorog’s influence.

Gryffindor Secondary-  For his impulsivity and temper, yes, but also for his dedication to Big Romantic Gestures, which I think are the ultimate Gryffindor Secondary love language.  Not that other Secondaries can’t perform them, but I think with Gryffindors it’s more likely to be a regular thing.  He tries to be more subtle in the apartment arc and it comes out more passive-aggressive, and then he ends up Doing The Big Thing anyway, like breaking the elevator in desperation or running to Bermuda to save Alex.  Even the big sculpture he makes Alex for their anniversary earlier that season, while it does take a lot of time and effort, there’s still this element of just throwing yourself wholeheartedly into something and focusing exclusively on the thing until the thing gets done (to the point of neglecting everything else) that feels more to me like Gryffindor Secondary’s battering ram than Hufflepuff Secondary’s slow and steady tortoise.

...+ a few others I thought were relevant:

* Zeke Beakerman: Ravenclaw/Ravenclaw.  To his own detriment, even: when he runs for president against Justin, he ends up voting... for Justin, because he really thought it through and Decided that Justin would probably be the better leader.  (And then retracts it because he’s morally opposed to Justin not voting.)  It’s played for laughs, but I think that does show he puts ethics before himself (and... possibly before reason.  Such are Idealists, lol).  He also likes to gather a lot of obscure knowledge and hobbies such as clogging, collecting skills because he finds learning them fun.  Ravenclaw, through and through.

* Stevie Nichols: Gryffindor/Slytherin.  Perhaps a much more stark example than Alex on both sides: more unscrupulous and more mischievous on the Slytherin side, more committed to her Cause and her Ideals on the Gryffindor side.  They bond over their shared Slytherin-ness, naturally meeting in detention because where else, and I actually think their shared Gryffindor is what ultimately comes between them- Stevie wants to convert Alex to her Cause, Alex freezes her and lets her die (maybe?) because she believes her Cause is evil.  Because unfortunately, sharing the same emphasis on Ideals and method for determining them, doesn’t always mean you’ll have the same ones.

* Rosie: Slytherin/Slytherin.  She lies to Justin when she meets him, saying she’s a wizard, when she’s actually an angel, and it doesn’t get much better from there.  She turns her wings white around Justin and acts good right up until she has him, then she starts influencing him to turn bad, so when it’s revealed she’s an Angel of Darkness, he’s too far gone to be upset.  But that Slytherin loyalty works both ways -- while his Slytherin loyalty to her made him do bad things and join the Angels of Darkness, her Slytherin loyalty to him made her convince Alex to save him, because she’d fallen in love with him for real and wasn’t okay with Gorog disposing of him once he’d outlived his usefulness, and that caused her to turn on Gorog for good, and then For Good, when she rejoined the Good Angels.  Just as she was the one who turned Justin to the dark side, she’s the one who turned him back to the light, and I think they were able to have this influence on each other because of that shared understanding of Slytherin loyalty.

... And I think that’s more than enough for now!  It’s been fun to think about all this, and even better to finally share it.  Again, sorry it took so long, but hope you enjoyed!

(P.S.: Btw, totally agree on that Gryffindor/Slytherin post-- it fits Alex so well (though definitely more the Jack Sparrow/Lovable Rogue variety).  I’m glad you see it, too!)

[the-institute-promos]

➤ WANTED CONNECTION: COULD IT BE RIGHT FOR YOU?

CONNECTION TO: Zaki Okoye CHARACTER NAME: Callisto Nkemdiche FACE CLAIM: Kerry Washington AGE: 487 STATUS: Professor, guard or administration staff SPECIES: Succubus

➤ PERSONALITY

Callisto is motivated, driven and ruthless. She has a good sense for what people want and believes everyone can be bought, their minds swayed to her way of thinking, for the right price. She is Nomadic, moving every so often so she can mostly preserve her identity, but also because she enjoys starting over and immersing herself in different cultures and new people. At heart, she is cold and calculating, but most don’t notice anything but her winning smile.

➤ BACKGROUND

Callisto was born in Avato (formerly known as Bey Kioy), Greece in 1533, but her ancestral roots are from Senegal on her mother’s side, and Sudan from her father’s. She was born to hardworking parents who were able to give her a fairly decent life for the time period. She was one of 4 children, but it was clear that her parent’s favorite was Callisto. That didn’t exempt her from hard work. Their family worked a dairy farm, her father became a relatively profitable merchant with their products, having developed strong relationships with vendors and buyers across the Mediterranean. It was those connections that allowed Callisto to eventually leave her family’s home, traveling all across Europe and Western Africa, enjoying and harnessing her powers. She would return home every so often to visit her parents, her siblings were still working there. When both parents passed, they left the farm to her. Instead of allowing her siblings to remain there, she sold it wanting to help fund her international travels. Needless to say, it was the first enemies she had made, but they were not the last.

Callisto found various ways to make money, not against conning someone out of their wealth. It was never her go-to, she was more than happy to work for it if given the opportunity. In fact, usually her travels revolved around work, going to where a job she felt suited for awaited her. Most of her jobs were in large cities, such as London. There was plenty of work there during World War II. Zaki’s father was stationed in the UK during that time, and had met her mother while she was working at a flower shop. Her father was with his friends at a Cafe across the street. Both couldn’t stop looking at each other, and eventually, Zaki’s father walked over and bought her one of the bouquet of flowers she was selling. Callisto had been in relationships before, but she felt a closeness with Zaki’s father she hadn’t before. He was the first Incubus she had been with, and she had always wanted an heir, someone to continue her legacy. She had gotten fairly powerful over her many years, and she didn’t want to be all for not. Zaki’s father did not want that. He felt very differently about what being a demon meant, and after Callisto had threatened to take Zaki away, His father acted quicker, eventually bringing him to America, and away from Callisto.

➤ HOW ARE THE CHARACTERS CONNECTED?

Callisto is Zaki’s mother.

➤ ANYTHING ELSE?

Totally open to collaborate so we can include elements you’d like to add to the character. Her backstory is intentionally left vague so we can fill things in together, but I am more than comfortable giving specific details I’ve thought of for her.

Please contact Mason to discuss this connection further.

Main - Plot - Rules - Ask - Apply

[antoine-roquentin]

The Orlando Sentinel’s extensive coverage of Joel Greenberg started getting attention this week. National news organizations wanted to know more about the disgraced Seminole County tax collector’s connections to Florida U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who’s under investigation for possible sexual misconduct.

So they turned to a news outlet that still values local news.

The Sentinel produced dozens of stories chronicling Greenberg’s failings as a public servant because the newspaper has dedicated journalists who cover Seminole County. That’s the hallmark of the Sentinel’s work — covering local stories.

Our news staff reports on county commissions and school boards, high school and college sports, restaurants and recipes, live music and local theater, roads and trains. We’re the watchdog that uncovers scandal at the expressway and airport authorities.

That’s why the impending takeover of Tribune Publishing, the Sentinel’s parent company, by the notorious hedge fund Alden Global Capital feels like an existential moment for our newspaper’s future.

Alden’s history with newspaper ownership is akin to a biblical plague of locusts — it devours newsroom resources to maximize profits, leaving ruin in its wake.

But more on that shortly.

Because we’re feeling more hopeful that the Sentinel and Tribune Publishing might be rescued from a future under Alden’s thumb.

Wealthy potential investors, who appear to appreciate more than just the financial value of newspapers, have taken an interest in Tribune and may join forces to make a counter-offer to Alden.

They include hotel executive Stewart Bainum, who originally wanted to buy just the Baltimore Sun from Alden; Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss; and Mason Slaine, a former media executive who lives in South Florida.

Here in Orlando, Craig Mateer, the founder of Bags Inc., says he wants to join the group but as an investor in the Sentinel. Mateer, who sold the baggage-handling company in 2018, has a personal connection with the paper — his father was an attorney who worked with the Sentinel’s longtime owner, Martin Andersen.

Other community leaders and philanthropists have expressed interest — a very encouraging sign.

All say they’re motivated by the desire to see newspapers thrive. Like the nation’s founders, they understand the fundamental civic value of news in our society — to keep the public informed and hold government officials like Joel Greenberg accountable.

This is the kind of principled ownership the Sentinel and other Tribune papers like the Chicago Tribune and South Florida Sun Sentinel need to survive and thrive, investors who see not just an opportunity to make money (because many papers, ours included, still make money) but also a way to strengthen their communities.

Alden, on the other hand, sees only profit potential. And that’s not hyperbole.

When Alden assumed control of the MediaNews Group newspaper chain in 2010, one of its premier properties was the Denver Post with a newsroom of some 230 reporters, editors and photographers. Today, the Post has diminished to about 70 journalists in its newsroom. This to cover a metro area of nearly 3 million people. Other papers in the Alden-owned chain have seen bone-deep staff cuts, too.

The Sentinel has hardly been immune to downsizing cuts under Tribune Publishing ownership. The 170-person newsroom in 2010 now numbers just under 80. Like other papers, we’ve closed bureaus, and narrowed our areas of coverage. Our eyes are wide open about what we are able to do today versus 10 years ago.

With Alden as our owner, however, it could get much, much worse.

National Public Radio reported earlier this year that Chicago Tribune Editor Colin McMahon told the newsroom that Alden will expect some papers to nearly double their profit margins.

In our business, just about the only way to make that happen is by cutting personnel, which would mean fewer journalists covering a metro area of 2.6 million people, one of the fastest growing regions in the nation.

Fewer reporters to cover high school football, follow local political campaigns, review the newest restaurants and uncover stories about a tax collector misspending money and abusing power.

We can’t say with 100% certainty that doom awaits if Alden takes over. Nor can we be 100% certain that a purchase by more benevolent investors would preserve community journalism in Central Florida.

But we do know Alden’s track record. And we can contrast the gutting of papers like the Denver Post with the experience in places like Minnesota, where a local investor — Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor — bought the Star Tribune newspaper in 2010.

There, the newsroom still has well over 200 journalists covering a metro area of 3.6 million.

(The Alden-owned newspaper that makes up the other half of the Twin Cities, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, has dropped from 260 newsroom staffers to 50 today.)

[erictmason]

The Road To “Godzilla VS. Kong”, Day One

KING KONG VS. GODZILLA (AMERICAN VERSION)

Originally Released: June 26th, 1963

Director: Ishiro Honda

Writers: Shinichi Sekizawa, Paul Mason and Bruce Howard

Starring: Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, Ichiro Arashima, Mie Hama, Michael Keith, Harry Halcomb

“King Kong VS. Godzilla” is a movie whose reputation often precedes it amongst certain circles of Genre Film fans.  Even if one is unaware of the convoluted, more than slightly seedy story behind its creation (short version: the original “King Kong”’s special-effects artist, Willis O’Brien, was interested in creating a sequel that would have pitted Kong against a giant animalistic version of the Frakenstein Monster, but shady producer John Beck wound up stealing the idea and, when American studios balked at the project for fear that the use of stop-motion animation to realize the effects work would be too expensive, wound up shopping it to the more cost-effective Toho Studios in Japan, who reconceived it as a new “Godzilla” project in hopes of revitalizing interest in the character), it is still one of the most singularly important Giant Monster Movies ever made.  For one thing, it basically defined The Kaiju Movie as we know it today; sure, the original “Gojira” from 1954 (and by extension its Americanized adaptation, “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” in 1956) may have effectively created the genre, but you’ll notice the majority of such movies that exist today are more about Fanciful Title Bouts between two Clashing Monsters rather than somber moody Allegories about the horrors of Nuclear Weapons.  For another, it’s the movie that really put Godzilla himself on the map as a Big Star in his own right; at the time, he only had two prior films to his name, and while one of them was the aforementioned genre-creating watershed “Gojira”, the other was “Godzilla’s Counterattack” from 1956, which proved such a box-office disappointment that it put the character into retirement for the better part of a decade (and to give you a sense of just how much less weight the name “Godzilla” carried back then, when that movie was released in America in 1959, it was initially re-titled “Gigantis The Fire Monster”).  With “King Kong VS. Godzilla”, however, he would begin to star in more and more movies, building a film franchise that continues to this day.  

So it’s a bit of a shame that I’ve never liked it all that much.

To be clear, the “it” in question here is specifically the American version of the movie, which is the one most Western audiences would be familiar with since, until recently, it was the only one readily available to us (though Criterion finally corrected that back in 2019, when they included the original Japanese version of the movie as a bonus feature in their “Showa Era” collector’s set).  Certainly, it’s the one that I grew up watching as a kid, when my mom, ever so protective and knowing how easily upset I could be when Fictional Characters I Loved got hurt, made sure to watch ahead to see who exactly won the title match-up (and since it was Kong, I wouldn’t actually get around to finishing my viewing of the movie for a good long while).  Back then, of course, I viewed it very much through that childish prism of who I thought should win, and it was exactly the kind of Schoolyard Logic you’d expect: Kong was supposed to be a great deal smaller than Godzilla, and where Godzilla had his iconic fire breath, Kong had no extraordinary powers; Kid Me understandably concluded that this match-up really ought to be a shoe-in for Godzilla, which worked out well since Godzilla just so happened to be the one Kid Me actually cared about.  Kid Me was thus quite irritated to discover that, for the sake of this movie, Kong had in fact been significantly sized up and given random electricity-absorbing powers.  It felt like cheating to Kid Me, and it left me less than positively disposed towards the film proper.

These days, of course, I’m able to give the film a somewhat fairer shake, though I would be lying if I said that My Inner Childish Fan-Boy is completely quiet on the matter (in particular, it always bothers me that, to emphasize the advantage Kong’s electrical powers give him in their fight, the movie explicitly cites Godzilla’s “vulnerability” to electricity, despite one of the most singularly iconic images of the original “Gojira” being his ability to walk straight through a power-line barricade).  Indeed, my most recent re-watch for this very review honestly left me feeling fonder toward it than I was even on my last most recent re-watch (back in 2014, in preparation for the then-upcoming Gareth Edwards “Godzillla”, which we’ll also be getting to in this re-watch soon).  The portrayal of the title monsters themselves in particular left me much happier this time around than it has in the past; the design for Godzilla himself- thick around the center with big heavy-browed eyes and what appears to be a constantly self-amused grin, huge sharp claws that dominate the fingers and a tail that moves with a real sense of weight and purpose-took me a long time to warm up to, for example, but these days I would happily cite it as one of the very best of the original series.  Kong gets it a bit worse, sadly; the suit they design for him here (a fact that original “Kong” director Merian C. Cooper openly despised, incidentally; the idea of portraying Kong as just some guy in a gorilla costume was one of the things he explicitly set out to avoid in the original movie) has a distinctive enough face if not an especially memorable one, but the costume always looks and feels a bit raggedy, with the sagging pecs and ill-fitted arms (throughout the movie the suit switches between “regular” arms designed to allow the actor mobility, and extended arms to help give it a more ape-like gait; the result is that both versions feel weirdly out of place on the costume a lot of the time) looking especially awkward.  However, even beyond how they look, the way the monsters act is genuinely enjoyable, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and Shoichi Hirose as Kong both putting in fantastic performances that imbue them with a great sense of personality that is just consistently delightful all movie long.  Whether it’s Godzilla hopping around, arms flailing in triumph whenever he manages to pull off another victory, or Kong drunkenly swallowing up giant pots’ worth of a narcotic usd to keep him docile, the movie very visibly delights in imbuing these creatures with fun foibles, and It’s no coincidence that the it’s at its strongest, not so much when the monsters are fighting, but when they are simply interacting as actual Characters: Godzilla here feels often like a particularly arrogant, boundlessly-energized child, while Kong is a bit more confused and subdued but quick to anger when irritated; their first meeting, when both these strong visible personalities most openly bounce off each other, is unquestionably my favorite moment of the movie.

The rest of it isn’t exactly bad, per se, but it is a lot less entertaining.  Some of that is simply what the American version inherited from the Japanese original, not least of all the noxiously racist portrayal of the Natives living on a remote pacific island with Kong (here named “Faro Island” for some reason instead of the usual “Skull Island”).  On top of the sins it recreates from the original “King Kong” (a fairly ooga-booga understanding of What Islanders Are Like, all of whom are portrayed by non-Native actors slathered in brownface make-up), it also includes a decently insulting bit wherein the initially-hostile islanders are pacified by the introduction of “magic” in the form of a hand-held radio and cartons of cigarettes.  There’s also the fact that the plot is driven almost entirely by Random Contrivance rather than anything that flows naturally from either the characters or the premise; Godzilla and Kong have no real compelling reason to meet, let alone fight, other than the pure coincidence of their both happening to be active at around the same time in the same part of the world (the American version attempts to ameliorate this somewhat by stating that the two are “instinctive rivals” who will be “naturally driven to destroy one another”, but that flimsy lip-service to Motivation just winds up making the otherwise-arbitrary plotting feel all the worse), and we are constantly bombarded by Total Coincidences as a way of shuffling the characters around from place to place with dizzying frequency.  But some of those troubles are only exacerbated by the approach the American version has taken to the material.  We’ll talk about this more tomorrow, but the Japanese “King Kong VS. Godzilla” is, at heart, a Satirical Comedy; this, unsurprisingly, was not an idea that went over well with Universal Studios in America, who chose to try and reshape that comedy into a more traditional Monster Movie.  An understandable objective, but not one the Japanese cut of the film made easy to achieve; to avoid the most overt Comic bits meant cutting almost all of the human characters in the film (most notably the eccentric executive Mr. Tako, played by Ichiro Arishima) down to only their most essential appearances, which in turn means that they all wind up feeling vaguely undefined and out of place in their own story (this feels especially true of our ostensible main character, Tadao Takashima‘s Sakurai, who is present enough to FEEL like a main character but has little left to do in this cut of the film). To make up the weight of all that cut footage, meanwhile, we get gobs of new footage consisting mostly of Michael Keith as a United Nations reporter talking at us in the most stultifying way possible, often joined by Harry Holcombe as an equally stultifying scientist (who apparently gets his knowledge of dinosaurs primarily from children’s picture books, which in fairness would explain a lot of the nonsense he ends up saying), though he also frequently talks with a fellow reporter played by James Yagi.  These scenes are not, perhaps, without their charms, but they also deaden the movie’s pacing, especially since nine times out of ten they exist mostly to reiterate stuff we already know because it literally just happened.  Given how much a faster pace seems to be one of the American cut’s top priorities (a sub-plot from the Japanese version about a submarine inadvertently encountering Godzilla is reduced to a single sequence for this version), that choice proves a counterintuitive one.

Because the other major problem with the American approach to this movie is that, to be frank, the Monster Action is nowhere near Epic enough to bear the weight this new cut puts on it.  Again, it’s not without its merits; Godzilla and Kong’s outsized personalities do a lot to lend even the less effective sequences a certain fun spirit, and there is still an unmistakably strong sense of craftsmanship to the miniatures used throughout the movie to create the appropriate sense of scale for our Monsters to play around in (the demolition of a recreation of Atami Castle shines a spotlight on that very fact).  But in terms of both their scope and their choreography, there’s just not enough There there; far too often, “King Kong VS. Godzilla”’s Big Marquee Action Scenes amount to the monsters just sort of lazily throwing rocks at each other, or else engaging in less-interesting recreations of their previous Iconic Moments (Kong especially goes through a truncated version of his original appearance’s third act, though here he ends up on top of the National Diet Building rather than the Empire State Building).  That’s slightly less of a problem in the Japanese version; again, there, the main thrust of the film lies in its comedy, and thus the Monster Action being relatively lightweight is less of a hinderance and more a spicy Flavoring to the main story.  But here, it is the main story, and while it’s pretty clear some real love went into the Effects Work (the puppetry especially is very solid; there are a few instances where the switch from Suit Actor to Puppet for Godzilla is borderline seamless, and I also enjoy the decently-animated feel of Kong’s facial puppet as well) it ultimately doesn’t have nearly enough substance to fill that role. This comes through especially clearly in the Final Showdown between the monsters; again, there is some deservedly iconic stuff here (Kong trying to shove a tree down Godzilla’s throat only to have it rebuffed in a puff of flames has become an impressively-enduring Meme for a reason) but, much like most of the story, winds up being driven far more by Contrivance than anything clever or satisfying (a bit where Kong knocks himself over feels especially annoying for how unmotivated it seems to be). It was always going to be a tall order to make a match-up with as much implicit weight to it (both metaphorical and literal) live up to the heightened expectations placed on it, maybe.  But even taking that into account, it’s hard not to feel like “King Kong VS. Godzilla” could have put a little more effort into things.

Still, I was saying, at the start, that I walked away from “King Kong VS. Godzilla” happier this time than in many of my past viewings.  And that is ultimately true: for as much as I find myself often wishing it could be a different movie, the movie it actually is already does manage to work decently well on its own terms.  The dub-work here in particular honestly deserves notice; in contrast to the standardized casts Toho would start using for most of its “Godzilla” movies moving forward, here we get a more distinctive sounding voice-cast who manage to put some real Life into their performances (the voice they give to Kenji Sahara’s Fujita stands out especially to me, nasally and over-earnest but capable of some real Fire when the moment calls for it, as befits the character).  And, again, whatever my beef with the Action Scenes, the actual portrayal of the Monsters really is uniquely fun (indeed, given how many other elements Toho would consistently crib from it, I’m often surprised that Godzilla’s distinctive body language throughout isn’t one of them), which winds up giving the movie enough Real Heart in the end to make it a positive Experience overall, even against the stuff that even now stands out to me as Not Up To Snuff.  At the very least, it’s a lot easier for me to recognize how and why this movie created the Legacy it did, even if the American Version makes a bit more of a mess out of it.