#oscar isaac is very much a 'special' case in that sense

[jewishbarbies]

Hey, I have read one of your recent posts about Oscar Isaac, and I wanted to ask about the acceptance of someone who's Jewish only on their father's side. Is it that crucial?

I'm asking because my partner is Jewish, while I'm not, but we both really want our future kids to carry the Jewish culture too. Do you think they will be excluded from the community or there can be some problems like that?

I think it generally depends on the denomination and community itself. If you raise your children jewish and you're apart of the community, i think they'll be considered jewish. either way, a lot of people will consider them jewish, but some denominations won't which is why it depends. ethnically, they will always be jewish. a jew is a jew is a jew. being considered religiously jewish has its own set of rules depending on the kind of judaism you'd like to practice. i'm not super knowledgeable on a lot of technicalities, so take this with a grain of salt, but it really all just depends.

[burkeandblops]

EUSTACE BURKE AGE: 41 BIRTHDAY: August 7, 1945 GENDER: non-binary BLOOD STATUS: Pure blood PREVIOUS SCHOOL: Hogwarts School, Slytherin OCCUPATION: Healer at St. Mungos ALLEGIANCE: The Cabal MAGICAL SPECIALIZATION: Necromancer SUGGESTED FACE CLAIMS: Oscar Isaac

PENSIEVE

Eustace Burke was born into the Burke Family, a lineage with strong ties to the dark arts and the Slytherin house. His parents, Boudicea and Leopold Burke didn't have any other children, and he was his uncle Caractacus favourite nephew since he was a child. With a lot of potential in his blood and the expectations of the family on him, it was only obvious that he was sorted into the Slytherin house when he joined Hogwarts.

Eustace grew up having a special disposition toward potions and herbology, being his favorite subjects at school. He didn't have to make much effort to do right in his studies or make friends wherever he went, as he possessed a certain charm and disposition with everybody that approached him. This bright and charming side he developed after seeing how his family had more of a brooding and dark attitude towards people, making it hard for them to thrive in some circles.

Deep inside, Eustace wanted to be liked, admired, and adored, so he made sure to work on the right connections at school, and detach, in some way, from the usual Slytherin reputation of being intimidating and cunning. Don't get him wrong, he IS all those things, but he doesn't see the need in showing them, especially if what he wants to do is achieve greatness and more power.

So, it wasn't weird that when Voldemort started gaining popularity, Eustace was there, not first but certainly in line to cooperate. He wasn't a death eater per se, but he liked to see himself as a collaborator. In his mind, joining the most powerful side at the moment was winning in all aspects. Thanks to his last name, as well as his credentials, he was appointed the role of spy, working at St. Mungos applying his knowledge as a healer, and developing connections with Order of the Phoenix members, as well as the Ministry.

During this time of affiliation with the death eaters, he was careful not to be too visible as one, understanding the implications for his popularity in case there was a downfall... which was the case. Somehow, he came out unscathed but disappointed in the sloppiness of putting all his eggs in one basket... Until he caught wind, through his good friend Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde of a new revolution: The Cabal.

Joining such a select secret society not only was attractive to him, but it was also the kind of power and control he was craving. His charms and being friends with people in high places allowed Eustace to get a place of importance and power in the Cabal, still keeping his "cover" job as a healer at St Mungo's, he's always in the loop of the latest happenings in the wizarding world. His allegiance to the Cabal may seem fickle to some, but deep inside he sees the project as part of him and his loyalty now lies with that secretive crowd.

For Eustace, the war seems to be just starting, and keeping tabs on all the key players is essential for survival.

PERSONALITY

Elegant, charming and incredibly smart, Eustace never passes ignore in any social gathering or visit he pays. Being the embodiment of what a true gentleman should be holds a dark past and a rather complicated character: full of prejudices, he always finds all faults in everybody but him and finds it hard to accept his own flaws. He's got distant manners, and his large personal sense of pride, expresses itself pretty often as arrogance, but inside, he is a really caring man, willing to do anything for the ones he loves most (but these people he can count with the fingers of ONE hand).

On a bad day Eustace is silent, sharp like a knife, say the wrong thing and he'll have the perfect and most hurtful remark brought from the past to hit where it hurts the most. However, getting to this instance with him is very hard. Aware of these dark tendencies, instead of giving in, he suppresses all negative impulses and keeps them to himself, image is everything and he would not risk hurting a profitable relationship for a simple anger bust. But the anger is there and he is scared of the repercussions it may have if he lets the beast out.

On the other hand, on a good day, which is almost every day, Eustace shows a helpful, charming facade. Getting people to trust and confide in him is one of his favourite things, and feeling needed by others drives him. Working in the "service" industry has taught him that the power of words is even stronger than some spells (although, he specializes in nonverbal magic as well, just for the economy of words).

Amortentia The ocean, beach sand and tropical summer nights

Boggart Being ignored and not listened to

Campbell’s character archetypes The everyman. Seeks connections and belonging; is recognized as supportive, faithful and down-to-earth.

Celtic zodiac Salmon - Intuitive, goal-oriented and fun-loving

Chinese zodiac Rooster - Punctual, sense of humor, caring.

Patronus An eagle

Western zodiac Sun in Leo - Eager for attention, charming, the soul of the party, enthusiastic, entrepreneurial, and a leader by nature. Vain and a little careless with other people's feelings. Scorpio Rising - Cunning in appearance, sharp, interesting, and enigmatic at times. Looks like someone you would confide all your secrets to, deep inside all he wants is to use those secrets to manipulate you. Moon in Leo - Needs validation and public recognition for his achievements. Seeks security in the world through his social status and career. Nurtures others through his work and voluntary role.

[shewholovestoread]

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

I’ve been sitting on this for a while. I saw the film on Friday and I’ve spent the days since trying to come to terms with what I saw. While there was a healthy dose of skepticism especially after the mess that was GoT Season 8, I was still hopeful that Star Wars couldn’t possibly go that route, there was no way. I’m sad to say that while I did not hate the film, I didn’t quite love it either.

First the good, there were more than a few parts of the film that I loved. I loved that we saw Leia training to be a Jedi, I loved that she had her own lightsaber. I loved Rey and Ben together, each trying to reach the other. I loved that there was an internal conflict within her, something she had to actively work on. I loved that Ben returned to the light and both of his parents were involved. I loved that we got Reylo, something that quite of us had already predicted. I loved that Finn was Force Sensitive. But that’s about it.

There are massive plot holes in the film that are simply not addressed. How had Palpatine survived all those years? Was Palpatine always planned to be the final big bad? Because I don’t see it. The set-up came too late with little to no time for a satisfying resolve. Whichever way you look at it, it would have always felt too rushed. Where was the build-up? You needed at least 2 films to do the whole thing justice, especially with the way the film was planned. You don’t introduce a villain that big and then bump him off in 1 film.

I was unhappy that they made Rey a Palpatine. One of the best aspects of TLJ was that she was a nobody. She was a regular person, like everyone else. She didn’t come from an über powerful family. That was a novel idea, it broke from the old Star Wars tradition where everyone is linked to the Skywalkers in some capacity or another. Her struggle with the Dark Side could have still been a key component without connecting her to a Palpatine.

Where do I even start with Finn and Poe? They were relegated to the background and their entire arc was fairly messy. They served a purpose but there was no emotional payoff. The entire Resistance plot felt undercooked.

There were too many new characters for a film that was serving as the finale for a franchise roughly 40 years in the making. This should have been about wrapping up the story, not adding new elements that you didn’t have any time for. Having said that, I did like Zorii and Jannah. I liked that there were Storm-troopers who had rebelled against their training.

Then there was Ben Solo/Kylo Ren. Full disclosure, I’ve liked his character from the beginning and I loved the way Driver played him. All that unchecked rage at odds with the vulnerability of a lost and lonely boy. His fate seemed especially cruel. We learn in TROS that he was manipulated by Palpaltine from the very beginning, since he was in Leia’s womb. His own parents didn’t understand him, his uncle/mentor tried to kill him. He finally broke away from all that negativity only to die at the end? That seems harsh. What’s the message here? Ben Solo deserved to live a life of peace. The one silver lining is that he died protecting the woman he loved. It was a choice he made.

It is also not surprising that JJ and Terio killed him off. TROS plot, in a lot of ways, feels like a check-list and it shows. They tried to put in a little something for everyone from the fanboys to the shippers (so long as they were not Finn-Poe) They had to redeem Kylo Ren, that was always gonna happen but they also probably feared backlash from the majority fan-base. They probably figured that that would appease both Kylo haters and those who saw Bendemption in the cards.

But this is Star Wars and no one ever really dies. If Ahsoka Tano can be brought back from the dead then so can Ben. It’s even more likely in his case because he and Rey share a soul, they’re literally soul mates and that kind of bond doesn’t just disappear. I’m hoping and praying that there are canon books in the works where we see this happen. If not, there’s always Fanfiction.

The end with Rey taking the Skywalker name seems even more disingenuous. You’re going back to the legacy family, implying that the name makes her special. She was Rey and that was enough. She survived on Jakku for years, relying only on her wits and resilience. There was no Force there to help her out, no Jedi masters. Rey is enough, she did not need to take on another name. And while we’re on the subject, if anything, it would have made more sense for to take on the Solo name. She was close to Leia, Han and Ben. Luke wasn’t exactly nice to her when she trained with him, they weren’t close. Why the hell would she take on that name?

TROS would have been Carrie Fisher’s film and I will forever be heartbroken that we never got to see it what that could have been.

The Last Jedi was a revolutionary Star Wars in so many ways from the narrative arc to the cinematography, it felt new. TROS went back to the formulaic way of the earlier films and it was poorer for it.

I did not hate Star Wars, I can’t, there’s too much emotional investment for that. But this film fell woefully short on many fronts and that is deeply disappointing.

To Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and the entire cast, I want to end by saying a heartfelt thank you. In your own way, you made these films special and that will always remain.

[twilightofthe]

SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE EPISODE 9 BENEATH THE CUT.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

S O . . .

Honestly I’m kinda really glad I spoiled myself for this movie because I got really really upset by the reviews and went in with my expectations basically on the floor, so I was actually able to be pleased and happy with a couple things in the movie, so I will start off with the few things I did like.

I loved the Rey/Finn/Poe dynamic.  The actors’ chemistry works sooooo well together and I loved their adventure through the first two acts.  You can see how much these guys all genuinely like each other-- even tho the script seems to try VERY HARD to stick Poe and Finn with the worst case of “NO HOMO NO HOMO”-ing I’ve seen in Star Wars since Anakin and Obi Wan in The Clone Wars lol.  Seriously, the script is trying so so hard to pick fights between Poe and Finn, but blessed amazing Oscar Isaac and John Boyega manage to play it so the entire conflict reads more like Poe is jealous of Finn’s feelings over Rey, they act it VERY MUCH like quarreling lovers and it is completely 100% the work of John and Oscar and I love these two so much, I owe them my life.

I adore Rey and Finn’s chemistry too, they spend the entire film with Finn desperately worrying over Rey and Rey confiding her worries and fears to Finn and constantly giving each other looks and ugh, I love them so much.

Force Sensitive!Finn!!!  Just for a second but it happened!  They should have been more blatant but I like that he canonically is!!!

Just in general, I’ve always been a Jedistormpilot shipper, and I feel the ending really leaves that as an open option I will happily take.

The bits with the Resistance and Leia did the best they could with Carrie’s footage.  It was choppy and kinda obvious that footage was all they had to work with, but they tried their hardest and given what little they had to work with, I will unhappily accept it and the fact that Leia had little to no role in the story.  I’m still really upset about it and her character’s death was so damn anticlimactic, but it was what happened.

Billy Dee Williams was charming and awesome as Lando, I loved seeing him, and he did a wonderful job, even if he was just a nostalgia cameo.

3PO was entertaining as ever!  I liked him!  They definitely sidelined R2 way too much, but I was glad to see 3PO and I was glad that he didn’t permanently lose his memory!  The only thing I was kinda ehhh about was the bit with the dagger and the Sith language because the way he was suddenly able to translate it after not being able to translate it?????  Did not make sense at all???????????

Abrams fucking got me with the nostalgia for a second during the Luke Force Ghost scene.  I’m sorry, but I was so happy to see that Leia had done a bit of Jedi training then chose to give it up, I loved the callback to Yoda lifting the X-Wing but then Luke’s ghost did it-- COMPLETE WITH THE OG MUSIC!!!!!  Mark knocked it out of the park and I just love seeing him.

Same for Ian and Sidious!  While I personally did not like the Sidious plot at all and I will expand more on that later, I loved seeing Mr. McDiarmid again and he always just fills me with a bit of glee being his dramatic Palpy self because he’s just as good and as hatable as he’s always been and I thank him for it.

I think that was about it for what I liked, and honestly that was all the work of the talented actors and me being happy to see them pulling off their characters to the best of their abilities.  The plot itself???  Ehhhhhhhhhh.....

Look, as I mentioned before, I liked the Jedistormpilot mission.  That was fun.  

The entire Resistance plot?  Way way way too staggered and jumped around too much, not going into detail, felt a lot like it was trying to cram in everything with little payoff and not much emphasis placed on the importance of its plan so the audience really doesn’t get time to register everything that’s happening with them, let alone care about them

Naomi Ackie did a charming job with Jannah, I would have liked it if her entire plot didn’t kinda invalidate Finn’s overall story arc.  I get they were trying to say “oh look!  Finn’s not alone!  There are other ex-stormtrooper rebels!  Just like Finn!!!”  Instead what it looks like is saying basically that Finn isn’t special, Finn’s defection wasn’t important overall, literally everyone does it, and it means nothing.

(Also going off of this, it really felt like JJ caved to the TLJ hate and totally sidelined Rose, she did like jacksquat in this and I’m mad)

The thing is, I don’t think the Resistance plot and the search for Palpy mission would have been as scattered and rushed and disorganized IF: Rey Palpatine wasn’t a thing, Reylo wasn’t a thing, and Force Ghosts were utilized more.

Look, I was fine with Palpy coming back (on a condition).  Someone had to be the big bad and Disney is too worried about toy sales for it to ever be Kylo, so I knew Sidious could work-- provided they brought back the Skywalkers whose stories were intertwined with his and involved them in his ultimate downfall somehow.

I was fine with Rey Nobody. I was a little mad all the Skywalker legacy was going to her without her earning it really, but I figured that if the final film connected her with the Skywalkers properly, it would be fine, she had time to earn it.

Instead, we got little to no Skywalkers-- one Luke scene that meant nothing to the plot, scraped together Leia footage they could only take so far, and a fucking muddled voiceover from the man who Sidious screwed over the most, the one who originally killed him, the one who should have been THERE.  Look, I should have known they would never actually bring Anakin back, but dammit, he SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE.  HE SHOULD HAVE.  This was his story originally, like it or not, and the entire goddamn Sequel Trilogy never so much as said his name, even when they brought back the creep that destroyed his life and he was supposed to give his own to defeat.

Literally no one asked for the Rey Palpatine plot.  It made no sense, you feel nothing for her “heroic” parents because you know literally nothing about either of them, the convoluted logic on why/why not Sidious wants her alive makes no sense.  His goal makes no sense, it’s confusing, so he wants Kylo to kill her but he also doesn’t, he wants Rey there so she can kill him and he can transfer his life force into her and then he’ll bring the Sith back somehow with all that hooded crowd on the bottom of Exetor???  Where did they even come from??  What happened to the canon saying all the dead Sith were on Korriban?  How is Palpy even gonna use Rey to bring back the other Sith????  When can his ghost/zombie corpse/whatever the fuck he is just fucking pull life energy out of people’s chests?  

What they should have focused on instead of the timeline devoted to Rey Palpatine was keep Sidious as the threat, keep all his other “raising the dead Sith” stuff-- just move his hidey hole to Korriban dammit --and have all the Rey’s parents plot shift to scenes with her interacting with Luke and Anakin’s Force Ghosts trying to figure out how to take down Palps together once and for all.  Let her get adopted into the Skywalker family by the only two who actually carried the name, not just have her randomly take it at the end after interacting with Luke freaking once.  She has seemingly close relationships with Leia and Ben, dammit, in that case she should have been Rey Solo or Rey Organa.

Also have Luke’s Force Ghost replace the nonsense with whatever guy Luke was apparently working with to track down Sidious on Exetor-- we never saw all of that and having aaaaaall of that background wordvomited onto us by 3PO at once makes it jarring and confusing and forgettable.  Literally just have Luke show up and tell them!!!!  

Han’s appearance to Kylo on whatsitsname Endor water moon???  Also should have been Anakin if they really wanted to show Kylo/Ben’s beginning to turn (really it should have been Leia but again I get why they couldn’t) back to the Light via a convo with the dead.  Like omgggg let him finally talk to the grandfather he was trying to impress!!  The opening was right there????  But nope, Han is there, and I guess whatever he says is suddenly enough to turn him good again???

(THIS ALSO MEANS MY FUCKING FANFIC WAS RIGHT.  HAN SOLO IS A FORCE GHOST.  WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.  THAT WAS LITERALLY THE ONE THING I PROCLAIMED WOULD NOT BE CANON.  I’M THE NEW ORACLE OF DELPHI BITCHES.  WHAT THE FUCK.)

Aaaaand this brings me to the romance.  The fucking romance.  Look, I’m sorry if you guys all do, I really am, and I respect if you want to unfollow, but I never have been able to stomach Reylo.  Ever.  I never saw the romance.  I saw pain and abuse and one-sided obsession.  Check that, I will admit that I always saw some sort of want from Kylo.  Adam played him very much being obsessed with having Rey with him for some reason throughout all the films, but it also always played as toxic, and him not knowing what to do with that want, and just lashing out and abusing and forcing himself on her at every turn.  It never played as a healthy relationship and it never played like Kylo should be rewarded for it.  And this entire film????  I see still no romance????  Like the first half is just Rey being damn furious at Kylo, hating him, literally wanting nothing to do with him.  I think another part of it is that I have never in the films seen Rey as having romantic or emotional feelings for Kylo, not ever.  Not consistantly.  It’s always just been an entire film’s worth of her despising him-- no not in an enemies to lovers UST despising, like actual hate and frustration --and then one singular bizarre scene that sticks out like a wart on a face where she suddenly does a 180 and is soft with him, like in the elevator scene in TLJ or the ending scene of TROS.  I wouldn’t even say Rey feels soft for Kylo the first damn time she stabs and kills him before healing him.  That to me seems a lot more like guilt to Leia her mentor over stabbing her son, and healing him for Leia’s sake than Rey actually wanting him alive.  Maybe that’s just because from what I’ve seen, Daisy isn’t the biggest Reylo fan and just didn’t play it with her heart.

I’m glad Ben was redeemed, after what Sidious put that family through, I would have been upset with the last Skywalker descendant dying in Dark disgrace.  But I’ve never been able to like his character really because they never fully let him be evil or an intriguing villain character, but they never showed him as good.  I’m sorry, but the comics don’t do it for me either because it seems they’re just trying to slightly alter Anakin’s issues and problems and stick them onto him and go “see they’re the same!” and it just rings fake and irritating for me, and his sudden turnaround does not have the same weight behind it because I don’t even know what he really turned back to the Light for.  Was it for Rey?  That obsession didn’t look like love.  Was it for Leia?  We never got to see him speak two words to her.  Was it for Han?  Possibly?!?!  That scene was not clear?!??!?!!?!  It sure as hell wasn’t for Anakin or Luke because they weren’t allowed to interact with him at all.  His return to the Light made no real sense because there wasn’t a clear motive besides “plot says so” and I Could Not See the logic in Rey suddenly wanting to make out with him, whether he saved her or not.  Really the one good thing about it was that their lack of chemistry throughout the film means that if I ignore the fact that that kiss happened, it’s pretty easy to pretend they never got together ;D  Plus, that Jedistormpilot hug at the very end tho, like I said, possibilities........

AND ANOTHER THING (god I really am a crotchety old lady), THE ABILITIES OF BEN AND REY TO BRING EACH OTHER BACK FROM DEATH.  Rey effortlessly healed a straight saber wound through the gut that has fucking killed multiple trained Force users dead and even more non Force users, healed it in seconds.  Now I probably seem like the biggest hypocrite here as I’m planning on having Anakin survive that same exact type of wound in a fic I’m writing (spoilers for those reading it lol but not really, did y’all actually think I was gonna kill him like that xD  And that in no means says he’s gonna recover completely...), but the difference is that I’m not having him survive through someone else effortlessly curing the wound.  If Ben survived that gut wound by healing himself, using his raw energy that all Skywalkers are supposed to have, I would be able to believe that.  Self preservation will to live saved Vader on Mustafar, saved Luke, saved fucking Sidious.  

But the matter is, if Rey was so powerful that she could just heal Ben from dying like that, why the fuck in the prequels is Anakin so panicked over his loved ones dying ever?  He’s supposed to be the most powerful Force user in existence, more powerful than Rey, shouldn’t he have been able to do that for say, Shmi??  One might argue, “but Rey’s had training!”  Who trained her?  Leia, who learned from Luke, who learned from Obi Wan and Yoda, neither of whom knew how to fucking do that and pass it down, don’t tell me they did.  The other option is that Rey did it untrained on natural talented instinct, which again, in that case, why couldn’t Anakin figure that out?  Why didn’t any Jedi?  Rey worked off of emotion healing Ben, Anakin should have been able to figure that out too.  I will accept Ben’s energy transfer to Rey saving her after she died later as that literally killed him, that makes sense, trading energy at an equal point-- and further canonizes my theory that Sidious was able to steal and drain Padmé’s life energy through her bond with Anakin to save him after he burned, which was the actual reason Pads died in Ep 3.  But Rey effortlessly bringing Ben back like that????  I just can’t, that just doesn’t work for canon for me.  I’m sorry, but no.

My final issue is the sheer amount of ignoring this trilogy did of the prequels.  I’ve already ranted about Anakin not showing up when he should and I will not repeat myself, this rant got long and I’m getting tired, but he should have been there, dammit.  He really should have.  Luke should have had more screentime.  That bit at the end where Rey hears all of the other Jedi’s voices speaking to her???  I’m sorry, but that really does break canon!  It was supposed to be only Qui Gon’s line, or those he taught and could pass it down, who could become Force Ghosts, and as delighted as I was to hear Kanan again and Windu and Luminara and everyone else, their voices should not have been there as they are not Force Ghosts! (and this is only partially me whinging over the fact that in my Force Ghost fic I have already stupidly proclaimed that only Qui Gon’s line has become ghosts and now I somehow have to fix that o_o)

(ALSO also the appearance of Ahsoka Tano amongst the voices means that she is dead which means they had the actual audacity to fucking kill her off OFFSCREEN with no explanation which grrrrrr)

One last whine about the romance, everything with Zorri Bliss and Poe seemed really forced and just another way for the script to blare out “HE’S NOT IN LOVE WITH FINN HE’S NOT HE’S STRAIGHT SUPER STRAIGHT LOOK LOOK LOOK”, tho Zorri’s character herself was fun without the forced romance.

Look, overall, I really liked the characters of the sequels, but I felt the plot was really poorly executed, and I really felt that this was not the “Skywalker Saga”.  The Skywalkers felt cast aside and put in the background and ignored and totally invalidated.  They were my favorites and I feel the narrative let them down and it makes my heart unhappy.  It really feels like abusers like Palpatine and Kylo got to win at the expense of their victims, and that really makes my heart unhappy.  That’s just my personal feelings.  Nothing wrong if you did like it, but it’s just me.  I miss my Skywalkers and their happy ending and I probably always will.  I probs won’t ever really be satisfied with what happened to them, tho I will work my hardest on it.  I guess that’s it.

[littlemisssquiggles]

In your Pinehead Headcanons #54, you mentioned that you think that Oscar will inherit Ozma's magic in time. But Ozpin stated in Volume 5 that his magic was fading, so we can assume that his magic reserves are limited. Do you think this will play a role once Oscar inherits Ozma's magic and if so, how?

Hiya Mizuike! Here’s the thing, it’s not so much just that Oscar will inheritOzma’s magic but pretty much become the very personification of it as someonewho is proven to be more powerful than Ozma or any of the past Wizards; if thatmakes any sense.

When I first shared the concept of Oscar inheriting Ozma’s magic and awakening his magical potential, I did it under the pretenceof another Pinehead headcanon of mine where Oscargains the ability to take back magic from the Maidens. The idea I had was that Cinder, upon learning that the Maidenmagic originated from Ozma, will target Oscar in an attempt to drain any bit ofpower that Ozpin claimed to be left dwindling inside him.

Back in V5, we saw Cinder take thismegalomaniac approach when she dared to steal the Spring Maiden powers. So itwouldn’t surprise me if she suddenly got the urge to pull the same stunt withOscar—pilfering the rest of Ozma’s power for herself. But in doing so, shewould simultaneously spark something in Oscar—an ability that could workeither as a semblance or just something unique to Oscar as he is an incarnate of Ozma.It is the ability to revoke magic from the Maidens and return it to itsoriginal source—Ozma’s soul.

If Ozma was able to gift his magic away during the creation of the First Maidens, then surely he (or any of his descendants) must possess the capability of taking said magic back should it fall into the wrong hands, right?

Basically, in a nutshell, what I’m hoping for is for Oscar to revoke the Fall Maiden magic from Cinder Fall, thus empowering him with her share of Ozma’s magic which in turn would make Oscar just as powerful as the Maidens. Maybe even a little stronger.

In a previous Pinehead headcanon on this subject, this is how I worked it out: When Ozma, as Isaac the Hermit, first created the Maidens, let’s say he sacrificed 90% of his magic to the girls while reserving 10% of it to use for himself.

That same 90% magical strength was then divided evenly amongst the four Maidens. Therefore, each Maiden is 22.5% magically powerful. I use this example because it would justify, in a sense, the battles between Cinder vs Raven and Ozpin respectively and why each fight concluded the way they did.

My hunch is that, despite being magically competent, Ozpin or any of the Wizards, for that matter, are only half as powerful as a Maiden. They’re practically immensely weaker now given how much magic the Wizardshave used since the Maidens’ birth.

Even with his experience and superior fighting skills, it is my belief that it was inevitable that Oz would’ve been defeated by Cinder since her magic was far superior than his. The last shot we had of their fight was Cinder unleashing her Fall Maiden magic on Ozpin at full blast while he himself used his to shield against hers. In the end, I think Cinder only won that fight because Ozpin was magically weaker than her. That’s my theory.

As for the Raven and Cinder battle—that dual was pretty much evenly matched since Cinder and Raven were of the same power level, magically. What made the difference was wit and a little outside help. In the end, it was Raven’s tactical prowess coupled together with outside assistance from Vernal that gave her an edge in finally downing Cinder in a battle that probably could have gone on forever since, like I said, both Maidens were evenly match.

No Maiden is more powerful than the other since they all share the same level of magic—hypothetically speaking, of course.

Returning to my point on Oscar—currently Oscar is only working with 10% orless of Ozma’s original magic; similar to what Ozpin has been using prior to him. And it would make sense that the magic is dwindling since, technically Ozma did used some of that magic again before Oscar’s time.

To be fair, who knows what else Ozpin or any of the past Wizards utilized Ozma’s magic to do in the centuries prior. One of my guesses is that Ozma, during his lifetime as the Phadrig—the Warrior King of Vale, must’ve used some of his magic to create the Vaults to hide the Relics. It would make sense if magic was involved in the construction of these mystical vaults since thus far, using theVault of the Spring Maiden as example, these Vaults have been very magical innature. Not to mention the room that was used to house the power of the Relic.

Ozpin—well Ozma’s magic is dwindling or currently weaker since a) he sacrificed the majority of it to create the First Maidens and b) later possibly utilized what little magic he left to forge the Vaults, tailoring them to suit each particular Maiden and Relic.

In addition to that, he also gifted animalistic shapeshifting abilities to the Branwen Twins. So let’s use math again for this. Okay, so after his life as the Hermit, Ozma had been working with only 10% of his magic, correct? (Iknow some RWBY theorists believe that the Hermit came after the King of Valebut this squiggle meister believes in the opposite hunch. My guess is that theHermit came before the King and that’s how I’m going to work it out).

Let’s say, as the King of Vale, from that 10% magical strength, Ozmaused 4% of said power in the construction of each Vault of the Maidens to housethe Relics. He may have even used differing amounts of magic for certain vaultsfor certain Relics since I’d imagine the creating a Vault to house the Relic ofDestruction, might not be so simple.

But for the sake of this example, let’s keep it even steven. So after creating the Vaults, Ozma was left with 6% magical strength.

So when Ozpin came into the picture, he was only working with 6% of the previous 10% he had since the King of Vale used some of it to create the Vaults, allegedly.So Ozpin was only 6% magically strong during his reign. However, eventually Ozpin gifted some of Ozma’s magic yet again to turn the Branwen Twins of Team STQR into his heralds—his travelling eyes in the sky.

And once again, for the sake of this example, let’s say Oz gave up 2% of his magic to turn both twins into birds. He did mention in V5 that turning the Branwens into birds only required a little bit of magic and it would make sense. I’d imagine turning two impressionable teenagers into shapeshifters was child’s play compared to what Ozma has done with his magic both in current Remnant and First Remnant.

But if Ozma, as Ozpin, yet again gave up some of his magic, what does that leave him with now? Only 4% magical strength.

At the start, Ozma was 100% as powerfulas any person from First Remnant. But after creating Maidens and vaults andshapeshifters, all that’s left of his original power is a measly 4% of howpowerful he originally was.

Let’s not forget that technically, Ozma was more powerful than Salem, mind you. Ozma defeated Salem during his second life as Diggs. He succeeded in killing her but if it weren’t for the Brother Gods’ dumbass idea of gifting immortality to the very being who double-crossed them and then dared to destroy them both—if it weren’t for that Salem would be a thing of the past.

So between our two titular remnants of First Remnant, Ozma was magically superior at full strength. This would additionally make sense from a fairy tale standpoint since in the Wizard of Oz, as the true ruler of Oz, Princess Ozma was the most powerful magi in Oz—more powerful than the Wizard of Oz and the Wicked Witch.

But ultimately, despite being sopowerful, Ozma gave away his magic and opted to work with only a small fractionof his power. A power that will soon be inherited by Oscar. But it’s such a small amount.

This is why I like the idea of Oscar taking back Ozma’s power from theMaidens; starting with Cinder.

My theory was that at some point, Oscarwill come to the realization that if he was to ever stand a fighting chance magicallyagainst Salem and her forces, he needed to be at fullpower. So after revoking the Fall Maiden magic,Oscar planned to take back the magic from the remaining Maidens so that bythen, he’ll be closer in power to how he used to be—at least how Ozma used tobe.

This then ties into my theory that Oscar is Ozma—his trueincarnation as the manifestation of Ozma’s originalbody (that he never got back) reborn in Modern Remnant. My idea is that theMerge isn’t meant to kill Oscar. It’s meant to make him whole againas he remembers who he truly is. If Ozpin is the current culmination of Ozma’ssoul plus all the past Wizards then, hypothetically, by my assumption, that would make Ozpinthe current version of Ozma’s soul.

And if Oscaris revealed to be Ozma’s original form reborn then both body andsoul will finally be reunited in the Merge.Thus making Oscar—well Ozma, whole again. Truly reviving him this time. I really love my ‘Oscar is Ozma’ theory since it makes the most sense to me out of all the Merge theoriesI’ve heard and shared. It’s also leagues better than him just being another oneof Ozma’s lives. Most fans tend to buy into this being Oscar’s ultimate fatebut this honestly can’t be true. Especially considering that series itselftries to tell you that this isn’t the case.

Oscar is meant to be special. Hisexperience as a current Wizard of Light is going to be different from his predecessors.He isn’t going to be another one of Ozma’s lives. He is the life.The last life, hopefully. I love this theory since, here we have Oscar beingconcerned about losing himself to the Merge when the reality is, it’s meant tochange him for the better.

Here we have Oscar worrying about hislife being taken over by another when the reality is, he’s going to be made complete.Oscar—Ozma will become the most complete he’s felt in centuries and fromthere, he can make the choice to live as whoever he wants. He could choose tobe called Ozma or continue living asOscar.

And I like the idea of Oscar choosingto live as Oscar. Ozma may be who he is but he was also his past. Whohe used to be. After living amongst the other Wizards, Ozma is no longerhimself. He’s been touched and inspired by so many people throughout his manylifetimes including the men who’s shared their lives with him.

It’s all part of a destiny that Oscarfigured he didn’t have a choice in avoiding at first. But now he does. And he chooses to be Oscar whilefighting to uphold the vow he made to the God of Light to save humanity and carryon the legacy of the valiant men who sacrificed their lives to uphold it. That’smy theory.

I want Oscarto be revealed as the fully revived version of Ozma so that from henceforth, he could live his life as himself, notworrying about taking another innocent soul ever again. I’m still waiting formy Lost Fable parallel where Oscarmeets with one of the Brother Gods in the Realm Between Realms like how Ozmadid.

I figured since Ozma met the God ofLight, it’d be interesting if, shouldOscar wind up in the Realm, he’d meet up with the God of Darkness instead.

I have this gut feeling that sinceLight was the one who gave Ozma his reincarnation powers, his brother Dark hadno idea of his brother’s actions or something to that liking. There’s also thatside of me that believes that even Ozma’s revival and reincarnation cycle wascreated as another experiment by the Brothers.

And just as how Ozma made a deal withthe God of Light to keep reincarnating to help humanity, imagine if…Oscar makes a deal with the God of Darkness to…I dunno…end thecycle in exchange that he will stop Salemonce and for all?

Do you know what would be interesting?If Oscar makes a deal with God of Darkness to turn him into basically a human martyr—likesince the God of Darkness’ power is destruction then it’d be interesting itOscar acts to be granted the power to kill Salem. Darkness tells Oscar that hecan grant him such a power but y’know—equivalent exchange and all that. To begiven the power to kill to take an immortal life, another immortal life must besacrificed.

So imagineif…Oscar gives up his immortal soul to be granted the power to stop Salem once and for all. Basicallyimagine if…Oscar turning himself into some kind of Failsafe. Like he becomes the key to stopping Salem for good but since it’s at the expense of taking his own life for humanity,his friends are vehemently against him doing that.

Can I see Oscar willingly turning himself into amartyr to save humanity? Yes. Can I see his friends—the people who careabout him strongly opposing this option and opting to only use this Failsafe as last resortshould they not find another alternative to stopping Salem again since they’re all hellbent on NOT losingOscar? Yes. Thus Oscar becomes the last Wizard—thelast life; taking on the burden of protecting humanity on himself andhimself alone so no other soul would be made to go through what he, Ozma andall the other Wizards went through. I know all of this sounds very stretchy and reach-y. Nevertheless, as always, these are only theories. 

And believe it or not, ALL of this tiesback into my Oscar and magic theory. At least the Ozma part. If Oscar learnsthat he is Ozma then he would probably wish to undo some of the actions he had madein his previous lives. Starting with the Maidens. Perhaps Oscar would come to think that creating the Maidens was a mistake?

One thing that disappointed me aboutthe Maidens is that, their only purpose in RWBY’s narrative thus far is servingto open the door to acquire the Relics. They’re not even needed to keep theVault open or something more important like…imagineif…eachRelic was magically bound to a Maiden andthus could only be handled by them or something like that.

It bums me out that the Maidens onlyserve to show up to open the Vaults and then be expendable—to be killed for their power mostly. It would’ve been nice tosee a story where our heroes had to gather the Four Maidens, not just for thesake of the Relics but in the fight against Salem overall. Perhaps the combinedpower could’ve been rumoured to have the potential to overpower Salem or go toeto toe with her or something like that.

It could’ve been cool to see our heroesbefriend the Maidens. Have them join theheroes and actually be characters worth gettingto know. But for now, it seems like a Maiden’s fate is to mostly open a doorand then die for the sake of her power being lost. This is why I’m liking theidea of one of two things:

One, like I said, Oscar takes the FallMaiden powers back from Cinder. He doesn’t kill her for it because, in keepingwith his Wizard of Oz counterpart—Princess Ozma was a pacifist who didn’t believein killing her foes. I can see a bit of that was rubbed off on Ozma since hechose to wield one of the least lethal weapons in the series. It’d beinteresting if Salem was technically the only person Ozma ever killed periodand following that, he vowed never to kill anyone again or something. Anyways, what if…Oscarmanages to take back the Fall Maiden magic sparing Cinder’s life (for theCinder fans who believe in her redemption or further story).

Now stronger than he was before with aquarter of his magical strength restored, Oscar decides that he needs to takethe Maiden magic back. Perhaps he feels responsible for the Maidens who have died since theMaiden magic was a power he had enforced onto the originals. He had meant it tobe something they can use for good but whatif…like his reincarnation curse, Oscarcomes to see that perhaps he has only burdened the Maiden candidates with his power and made them targets forSalem.

So because of this, Oscar vows to findthe remaining Maidens and take the power back. Without killing them, of course.By my headcanons, Oscar, asa Wizard and the original Ozma, is the only person capable of taking the Maidenmagic back without killing thecandidate.

The other idea I have is Oscar deciding to gather the Maidens, buildinga small team consisting of himself leading the remaining three living Maidens asRemnant’s first and only all magi team, technically.. Perhaps…Oscarwill seek to ask the Maidens to join him and the other heroes in the fight to stop Salem for theirmagic could provide everyone an advantage in the fight. After all, in the past,Ozma kept the identities and existence of the Maidens a secret from the world. What if…Oscarwould strive the change that. Perhaps, in his mind, he’d think it’d be better if the Maidens are seenfor what they are. Heroes who use the gifts he had blessed them with to help others simplybecause they’re able to.

So in the event of a Second Great War to come or Remnant is challenged by Salem and her foces, I thinkit’d be cool if Oscar were to seek out the Maidens to help him stop it and fendoff Salem. That could be another idea to play off of.

So…yeah…that’s my answer. This wassupposed to be a short answer but…oh well. Hope I actually managed to answeryou there Mizu.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[hcpefulmarshmallow]

I wanted to take some time out of our irregularly scheduled content to talk about something near and dear to my heart: Komaeda’s voice. Specifically, two of his character songs which I have been more eager to dissect than you know. 

A couple of points before we begin:

These songs were not written by the same people who designed, scripted or even localised Komaeda, but rather his Japanese VA, Megumi Ogata. It has, however, been sanctioned as canon material, even released under the Danganronpa brand. Therefore, I will treat it with the same consideration that I do explicitly canon material.

The songs are, of course, in Japanese. I do not speak this language, so I’ll be going off the translations available on the DR wiki. If you do speak Japanese and you realise I’ve missed or misinterpreted something due to the language barrier, please let me know. Otherwise, as an English speaker, I’ll do my best with what I have. 

My goal here is to reconcile his musical characterisation with his canon characterisation, as well as extrapolate whatever new things we can learn from these songs about our beloved boy. And if you’re reading this crazy long post and thinking, “wow, she’s reading way too into this,” ... yeah. That’s sort of the fun of it. My goal isn’t to challenge anybody, or shame anyone’s headcanons. This is just a weird niche hobby of mine.

Apologies for the lack of a cut. This much text, I felt, might be a little hard on some peoples’ eyes on my theme. It is tagged though.

Okay, onto the good stuff.

 Zettai Kibou Birthday is, according to Megumi, a song about how Nagito feels on the “outside”. It contains a literal narrative and a metanarrative which is a word I like to use to sound smart, but in this case, just refers to an overarching interpretation that isn’t necessarily verbatim, but rather is represented, or is provided a structure, or is given meaning by the actual text. 

 In this case, the literal narrative is this: Nagito meets somebody on campus he was “born to meet”, and they have some sort of steamy rendezvous, and in amongst all the smooshing, there are several references to absolute hope. However, the song isn’t supposed to be a literal recount of events, but rather an expression of Nagito’s feelings; about hope, love, intimacy and connection. This is the metanarrative. The plot, if you will, is simply a presentation of that message. 

 While the song functions on a conceptual level and not a physical one, it interests me that sex is the medium through which he allegorises hope, intimacy and interpersonal connection. I think it’s also interesting that hope and intimacy are grouped together, as if to find one is to find the other. To quote Nagito himself, “Now that I’m on the verge of death, I’ve finally realised what I wanted all along: somebody’s love.”

 Again, the song isn’t literal. It captures a feeling, likening that exhilaration and comfort of making a deep and impossible connection to the feeling of finding Ultimate Hope. And for someone who has been so lonely for so long, it makes sense he would find that hope in another person. Someone who isn’t afraid to be close to him in every possible sense of the word. 

 Now let me get it out there - I don’t expect a song like this to have explicit depictions of sex or anything. There is a fine line to walk when using the topic in media lest you be branded with a hard “lewd” rating, but there’s still no shortage of ways to use it without being explicit. Take, for instance, Carla Gugino & Oscar Isaac’s cover of Love Is The Drug. (Why the cover and not the original? Because I actually liked Sucker Punch, fight me.)

Late that night I park my car / Stake my place in the singles' bar / Face to face, toe to toe / Heart to heart as we hit the floor Lumber up, limbo down / The locked embrace, the stumble round / I say go, (and I say yes) / Dim the lights, you can guess the rest

 The words describe literally what is going on, while still invoking the right mood and the emotions the characters in the song were feeling. It’s very well-balanced lyrically, especially with what Oscar and Carla’s performance brings to it. Contrast, if you will, with:

So lock up, mix up, cut up… key up, sex up, wrap up /  I'll let you mess me up and indulge  That's it, break up, use up, end up… hook up—because we're connected / The omen of hope after the worst disaster

 If you look close, you can definitely see what’s happening in the actual narrative of the song. However, the details are more or less obfuscated under this layer of words that don’t really mean anything on their own. It’s more like a flurry of different sensations rather than one, tangible experience. These feelings he’s having during these experience are, in the next breath, directly correlated with connection, and then hope. 

 Nagito is a guy who works on the conceptual and the philosophical more than the literal. Even in canon, he’s heavily into symbolism. He likes to carry around Go stones because of what the colours represent to him. So this use of intimacy and word play to describe a significant bond between two people is remarkably fitting. What’s literally happening isn’t half as important as what is going on beneath the surface, and the way it makes him feel. 

 Like I said, it’s interesting that, of all the ways he could express hope and connection, this is the one he went with. I do believe that this also expresses an underlying attitude towards intimacy; that it’s something he only wishes to share with someone truly special. In many fan circles he is portrayed as a highly sexualised character, even though in the canon media, he is quite chaste, never taking any sexual interest in a situation that isn’t sexual; for instance, any of the many times Mikan falls over herself and winds up in a suggestive pose. (And nor should he, let me stress.) 

 And I can already foresee the counterargument that Nagito is gay, so of course he won’t enjoy seeing a girl’s underwear; and to that, I have two points. One is that, personally, I disagree. This doesn’t have to matter, but I headcanon him as bi or pan, possibly even demi. Either way, I don’t believe gender plays a major role in who he is attracted to. There’s no canon evidence to say who is “right” here (as right as anyone can be regarding fiction), but I don’t judge. If that’s your interpretation, you do you. The second is that, even towards the characters he is shown to be attracted to (namely, Hajime) his expressions of interest tend to be pure, for lack of a better word. Yes, there’s the joke about stripping naked on the beach, but I’m pretty sure that’s just a joke. He does tend to play a lot, after all.

 And let me be clear -- there is nothing wrong with being a sexual person, or expressing one’s desire’s healthily. And certainly, Nagito has that side to him. He absolutely has sexual interest, urges and whatnot. It’s just not a highly key component to his characterisation. The point I want to make is: this song was a really good method to explore his feelings towards intimacy in a natural way, as well as provide more depth and context to attitudes he expressed in canon but couldn’t be explored to their fullest because, you know, it’s a story about murder, not Nagito’s feelings. The way he groups hope, love and sex as this euphoric thing, a singular whirlwind of emotions rather than separate happenings, is telling toward this desire he has for these things, the way he sees them as interconnected, and, with the way the song is so upbeat and uplifting, his hope that he can achieve it. 

 Nagito is someone who strongly believes in the idea that people are born a certain way, either hopeful or hopeless, talented or untalented. In short, destiny. And in this song, he speaks directly to the person he believes he’s destined for.

In the school campus at midnight, my heart throbs as I continue waiting "I was born for the sake of meeting you" I’II think at the moment

 This song puts a tangible goal on this “Absolute Hope”, rather than the vague “overcoming Despair” thing he talks about all the time. Nagito really, truly wants to believe - and seems to believe - that his soulmate is out there, and it isn’t too late to make a deep and meaningful connection with somebody; someone who will be just as eager to reciprocate. Someone he can be unafraid with, captivated with, and with whom, he can experience that Ultimate Hope. It’s even in the title - the moment he meets such a person, is the moment true Hope itself is born. Something far stronger than what already exists in the world. 

 Zansakura, the companion piece to ZKB, is worlds apart in many ways. 

 It is, according to Megumi, how Nagito feels on the “inside”, the other side of the proverbial coin to ZKB being how he feels on the “outside”. Likely, this means that part deep within him he doesn’t let others see. This is present in the overall tone alone. While ZKB embodied in it that uplifting way which Nagito talks about Ultimate Hope, Zansakura is much more somber. ZKB echoes the Nagito we see through Hajime’s eyes; while Zansakura is more congruent with those fleeting moments we experience the game from his perspective, wherein he is even more down on himself. As we play through the Final Dead Room with him, we see that the excessive way which he berates himself out loud is nothing compared to the second-guessing and self-debasement that goes through his mind. It truly is a dark and melancholy place, which shows through in the slow, sad melody of Zansakura. 

 This one takes the imagery to a whole other level, relying primarily on the cultural and symbolic relevancy of cherry blossoms. I’ve written about all this before, so for the sake of those who have been around this blog a while, I’ll try to summarise as best as I can. 

 In Japan, Cherry Blossoms are symbolic of the ephemeral nature of life -- in other words, the fleetingness and impermanence of it all. In no small degree, the connection between the symbolism of Cherry Blossoms and life and death comes from the influence of Buddhist culture, and is embodied specifically in the concept of mono no aware. This can be translated a number of ways that all pretty much come back to the same idea of existing for only a short period of time. It’s used to describe the awareness of impermanence, the transience of things, and a sadness or wistfulness as their passing; and a deeper sadness about this being the reality of things. I know this seems boring and irrelevant, but please keep especially this last bit in mind, as it’s very important to the meaning behind this song. 

 The most popular variety of Cherry Blossom in Japan are the Somei Yoshino, which are almost pure white and tinged with pale pink near the stem. Although this song was written after the fact, I have to wonder if this was always intended to be part of the character’s aesthetic, because these colours are reflected in Nagito’s character design - specifically, his hair. Anyway, the Somei Yoshino typically bloom and fall within a week. Winter Sakura or Fuyuzakura begin blooming in autumn and continue sporadically throughout winter alone. 

 Though Cherry Blossoms are an important, and even iconic image for the country, most people are surprised to learn they don’t last for very long. For Nagito to compare himself to these flowers is to admit that he, too, is here to bloom for a short period of time. It’s also worth noting that Cherry Blossoms are considered their most beautiful, not as they bloom, but rather as they wither and fall. And all of a sudden, I’m reminded of all the times Nagito talks about attaining hope through despair, and how his life has only found meaning as he inches closer to death.

 Yeah, I don’t like remembering this detail because it’s profoundly sad, but our marshmallow boy doesn’t exactly have long to live. He was given a year, at most, before starting at Hope’s Peak - and, at the end of the series, is presumably in his early-to-mid 20s. He’s beaten his own life expectancy, but not his illnesses. 

 The song starts in the most typical Nagito way I can think of:

“We can see again tomorrow", I laughed, short-lived cherry blossoms within my heart

 As he always does, he laughs and is cheerful with others, even though deep down, he’s tremendously sad. 

 The song then takes us through this most beautiful and haunting imagery, of cherry blossoms in bloom after surviving a storm*, preparing to wither and fall; until at last they do, and as the flowers are carried away by the wind and water, a lonely, broken branch is left behind, wanting to bloom again.

 (*The actual word used is ‘struggle’, however further down, the survival of a storm is mentioned, along with the flowers (aka hope) which will bloom after. The whole thing is a metaphor for his hope/luck cycle, is what I’m saying.)

 He talks about this imagery as someone observing it (The storm of flowers, the sudden wind / I halt and open my eyes); again, with this idea of a metanarrative lurking beneath a literal one. He does, however, break the narrative to address (presumably) that same elusive “you” from Zettai Kibou Birthday:

To live an ordinary life, and die together with you / Oh, if that could come true

 This seems so disconnected from the Nagito we know, who seems to have no interest in ‘ordinary’ things, and chases only hope. But as we’ve established, the place he most desires to seek hope is in another person. As he spends more time with Hajime during Island Mode, we know already that he admits to seeing hope in himself, and that he doesn’t necessarily take it as good news. But this line, right here, I feel embodies what this song is about, and what Nagito is all about. 

 Nagito is a very lonely person, desperate by his own admission for love and understanding. He knows he has little time left, and his prospects are...dim. Everyone he’s ever loved has either died or suffered at the hands of his luck, a force far beyond his control. And those who remain - namely, his classmates - either don’t like or don’t understand him. In ZKB - again, how Nagito feels on the “outside” - he expresses a hopefulness that there’s still someone he can love, who can love him, who he can experience that Absolute Hope with. But Zansakura has far more pessimistic expectations. 

 By breaking the metaphor to be straightforward and honest for a line, we get Nagito’s most core desire: to live a life with somebody; to love and be loved. Which, yeah, he’s already admitted to. For someone who’s been through so much, that probably seems like the most unattainable thing. Every time he gets comfortable, something invariably rips all that out from under him. And of that, he is painfully aware. Oh, if only that could come true - in other words, he knows it won’t. 

 Once again, do recall the concept of mono no aware. It’s not just an awareness of transience and impermanence, but also an intense, wistful sadness in the face of it. He knows he’s dying, and he knows he’s dying alone. But he’s not frustrated or angry, or even defiant. He’s not trying to fight it. As much as Nagito wants to hope for the best, deep down, he just can’t. He knows this is the reality, and he doesn’t have it in him to fight back. He’s just completely, deeply, helplessly sad. 

 In this song, Nagito’s life is represented as the petals that bloom for a short time, then fall; while he is the broken branch left behind; forgotten, wounded and unappealing; yearning for more time. Deep down, this is how he feels about himself. He is boring and unextraordinary, and yet (perhaps selfishly) he wishes that brief taste he has of being alive would last if only a little longer. He’s not quite ready to die yet, not until “the day this ordinary life is devoted”.

[thejoeydavis]

Movies of 2016

(I’m posting this late but for archival purposes I’m putting it here)

Every January I do a list of all the movies I watched over the past year in chronological order and this,, as you can tell,, is that list. Each movie is rated out of 10 and rounded to the nearest whole number for simplicity and because I use the letterboxd app to log all my movies and it uses a 5 star system. These number ratings are meant to be as objective as possible, which means they’re judged on commonly agreed upon film conventions and what most critics and kinophiles would consider to be “good film,” as pretentious as that sounds. Really it just means I went with my gut feeling and then considered technical aspects and effectiveness on all of these. Paired with each are some thoughts to talk about what I liked or disliked, how it made me feel, etc. I’ll try to keep it short on as many as I can since there are so many. tl;dr: top 10 is at the bottom

Anomalisa – 7 – a predictably depressing Charlie Kaufman film about loneliness and being human—somewhat ironic considering it’s a stop motion film. Don’t let the puppets with 3d printed faces fool you; this is a very human movie with one of the most realistic sex scenes ever captured on film. Probably don’t see this with your mom like I did.

Inside Llewyn Davis – 8 – one of my favorite movies of the past few years and one of my top Coen bros movies. The charismatic but dickish performance by Oscar Isaac and beautiful folk soundtrack depicts a hard life for a musician in early 1960s New York that will make you feel better about yourself (unless you’re a musician).

 Me, and Earl, and the Dying Girl – 8 – also one of my favorite movies of the past few years, this love letter to classic film by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is a beautiful story of a popular kid in high school who befriends a girl with terminal cancer. Essentially Perks of Being a Wallflower meets criterion collection.

Project X – 7 – one of my guilty pleasure movies. Lots of fun.

 The Hateful Eight (70mm) – 6 – I got to see this in 70mm complete with preshow overture and intermission and it was an incredible experience. I loved the movie but it’s not Tarantino’s best by any stretch. Note the huge disparity in rating from last year when I gave it a 9.2. This film is not a 9.2.

 The Forest – 3 – in this movie Natalie Dormer goes to the Japanese suicide forest to search for her sister who went missing. Suicide is a very apt theme here considering how heavily I considered ending my life during this movie. Truly awful.

 Carol – 6 – one of those movies that I know is good but I just didn’t enjoy. It’s about Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett as they try to hide their forbidden romantic relationship in 1950s New York. Long, slow, but very pretty and touching, I’d recommend it if you like character driven stories—especially ones about LGBT issues because it’s very good in that regard.

 Hail, Caesar – 7 – underrated mystery film by the Coen’s about old Hollywood and communists. More along the lines of the Big Lebowski than No Country For Old Men. Just a really fun movie with a great sense of world building that makes 1930s Hollywood really come alive.

 Deadpool – 7 – pretty funny and exactly the kind of movie Ryan Reynolds and fans wanted. Probably the only good Marvel movie made by Fox.

 The Witch – 8 – a visceral and disturbing film about a cursed life in 1600s New England, The Witch (stylized as The VVitch) is one of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen. Be warned though, it’s the definition of slow burn horror so you’ll probably dislike it if you’re used to modern horror films.

 10 Cloverfield Lane – 7 – one of the big surprises of the year and also one of the most thrilling, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman both give excellent performances. It’s basically a bottle episode completely unrelated to the first film. People have criticized Winstead’s character for her actions at the end but it completes her character arc perfectly so it definitely works.

 Room – 8 – beautiful film. Somewhat overrated.

 Brooklyn – 8 – one of my favorites from 2015 and immensely enjoyable from start to finish. This story of an Irish girl moving to Brooklyn shows that the conflict doesn’t have to be high stakes for it to be compelling.

 Batman v Superman – 4 – wow surprise surprise, Zack Snyder made another shit movie. Awful film full of clichés and nonsensical dialogue, bizarre editing, and the incredibly moronic decision to try and kickstart an entire cinematic universe in a dreadfully painful 2+ hour runtime. This movie sucks and DC needs to either hire some competent scriptwriters and directors or just give up already.

 Zootopia – 7 – ah the quintessential furry movie 2016. I really enjoyed this and it has great rewatch value. One of the most beautifully animated movies of the year.

 Midnight Special – 6 – I had no expectations for this movie and I was pleasantly surprised by it, although somewhat let down by the ending. It’s an interesting story about a kid with unknown supernatural powers being smuggled to a specific coordinates where he says something will happen. The mystery unfolds throughout the run time and there are some pretty cool scenes. Fun sci-fi to rent maybe.

 Midnight in Paris – 7 – 1920s Paris is arguably one of the best eras to be alive in and Woody Allen captures the magic of the period well. As with most modern Woody Allen films it’s pretty cheesy—especially the modern day scenes—but the scenes that take place in the 1920s with F Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Picasso are truly a delight. One of my favorite movies from 2011.

 Captain America Civil War – 7 – not bad but much worse than Winter Soldier. It was enjoyable at least and miles ahead of Avengers 2.

 Green Room – 8 – a disturbing, white-knuckle rollercoaster of a film that follows a punk band as they fight off a bar full of alt-righ—I mean neo-nazis. An absolute must-see.

 The Nice Guys – 7 – fun from start to finish, Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe give two funny and over the top performances in this 1970s period film about two detectives who get caught up in a case that’s way over their heads. Definite recommendation. Crowe’s performance in the first third/half or so is very melodramatic and over the top cool-guy but I believe it was intended to be tongue in cheek so don’t let it throw you.

 The Jungle Book – 6 – not bad.

 Raiders of the Lost Ark – 9 – a near perfect movie and one of, if not the best action movie of all time.

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 Make Happy – 8 – Bo Burnham tweeted about a special premiere screening of his new special back in March so I bought tickets and went with Andrew to see it. We went to the Largo in West Hollywood and were treated to a short comedy show and the grand premiere of Make Happy, Bo’s last one-man show for the foreseeable future. It was an incredible experience.

 The World of Tomorrow – 8 – it’s only 16 minutes and it’s by Don Herzfeldt—what’s not to love? Get ready for an existential crisis.

 The Conjuring 2 – 7 – pretty spooky in some parts with a cool little i spy game you can play with the name of the ghost demon lady. Not as good as the first.

 Finding Dory – 7 – older Pixar films have a certain level of charm that all their films post-Toy Story 3 (barring Monsters University) don’t seem to have and this is no exception. It was very enjoyable but it just felt like it doesn’t have the magic that the old ones have.

 The Shallows – 4 – the amount of praise this movie received was deadass baffling. This is one of the worst movies I’ve seen this year and I don’t see how so many people missed the cliché dialogue and plot, ridiculous shark cgi, exploitative ass shots, and absolutely insane and unrealistic attempts to kill the shark. Critics and audiences comparing this to Jaws is an insult to not only Spielberg, but also the art of filmmaking itself.

 Frances Ha – 9 – one of my favorite movies of all time, this black and white indie film by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig is a cozy tale of solipsistic loneliness, friendship, and following your dreams. It’s depressing, but in a very relatable and reassuring way. Greta Gerwig as the New York dancer Frances is so believable that seeing her in other roles feels almost disingenuous. Honestly if you watch anything on this list you should watch this first, foremost and as soon as possible. It’s on netflix!

 Mistress America – 7 – another one by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig and it was actually my introduction to their work. I loved this movie when I first saw it but it pales in comparison to Frances. Still a great movie with wonderful acting and snappy as hell dialogue. Fun fact: Noah Baumbach worked with Wes Anderson in the past and it shows here, especially in the dialogue.

 The Neon Demon – 8 – one of the most polarizing films of the year but a definite return to form by the near infamous Nicolas Winding Refn. The success of the 2011 masterpiece Drive was not good for Refn’s ego apparently as he followed it up with the nauseatingly self-indulgent Only God Forgives. Thank goodness he was able to find a balance between pure art film and accessible indie film with the Neon Demon. It’s by no means very accessible but the acting, especially from the main girls and a sleazy Keanu Reeves, is great and the visuals are incredibly surreal and v e r y v e r y n e o n . Recommend if you like artsy films with lots of sex and blood.

 Back to the Future – 10 – a textbook example of what a perfect movie looks like.

 It Follows – 8 – nothing but love for this creepy and atmospheric 2015 horror/suspense film about the end of childhood and the impending dread of adulthood. Really it’s about a supernatural shape shifting thing with its “rule” being that acts like an std being passed down through sexual partners. If the thing catches you, it then goes after the previous person in the chain and so on, so the only way to save yourself is to pass it on or run endlessly in futility. Please do see this it’s great.

 The Secret Life of Pets – 6 – a disappointment but Louis CK as a dog was fun to see.

 Hush – 5 – not very good Netflix horror movie about a guy terrorizing a deaf lady at her home in the woods for some reason.

 Snatch – 6 – I suppose if I were more familiar with Guy Ritchie’s work I would’ve enjoyed it more but it looks like it was shot by a Tarantino wannabe edgelord and edited in windows moviemaker. Still entertaining though.

 Horace and Pete – 10 – Horace and Pete is a dramedy web series multi-camera sitcom written, directed, and produced by Louis CK and it’s the single best serial program I’ve ever seen. This is a true masterpiece in every sense and the writing and acting is some of the best in a serial program. It was so good that I actually could not enjoy anything else for days after because everything paled in comparison. For example, I watched Stranger Things the day after I finished this and I had to stop watching three episodes in because it was completely and utterly awful compared to Horace and Pete. The quality of writing is unbelievable and I laughed and cried at many many points. Louis CK, Steve Buscemi, Edie Falco, and Alan Alda, bring career defining performances to the small screen and I cannot wait to watch it again—although I’m not sure I’m prepared for it.

 Breathless (1960) – 7 – one of the most defining films of the French New Wave, this film by Jean Luc-Godard is a love story shot in some of the most unconventional ways I’ve seen in a film. It’s not surreal or weird but it certainly is interesting. Worth a watch if you like the cinematography of Wes Anderson, Woody Allen, or Louis CK—although it’s a much more saturated French New Wave style since all those styles are derivative of this. Has some of the most intriguing and innovative tracking/dolly shots I’ve ever seen. In fact, at one point two characters are walking down the street but they couldn’t afford a dolly for the tracking shot, so they had the cameraman sit in a wheelchair and film while someone pulled him backwards to make the shot. Really that’s what French New Wave is all about: innovating and using filmmaking techniques that were unprecedented at the time.

 Star Trek Beyond – 6 – a really fun return to the franchise that actually felt somewhat like a Star Trek film—unlike that last one. It’s still just an action movie franchise now but it’s just a real good time.

 Lights Out – 3 – again, the praise this film received was COMPLETELY unwarranted and totally baffling. This movie blows and is so saturated with clichés that I can’t imagine liking this film. don’t waste ur time.

 Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates – 5 – actually hilarious movie. Really dumb but so goddamn funny. Zach Efron and Adam Devine are a great duo. Has arguably the best exchange about fisting in the history of film.

 Café Society – 6 – a pretty good modern Woody Allen film. Much better than his last two, Irrational Man and Magic in the Moonlight. It’s nice to see a film from Woody Allen that isn’t about a much older man falling in love with a much younger woman.

 Suicide Squad – 2 – “roses are red/there is no god/my favorite movie?/suicide squad.” – Gideon Ondap deadass one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I wrote a 10 page essay on this after it came out but basically the editing is jarring enough to induce brain trauma, the acting is atrocious, and the script is objectively bad. A complete and utter failure of a film. The name is a warning.

 The Room – 1 – another one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen yet 1000x more enjoyable than Suicide Squad. Tommy Wisseau is a genius and this is his magnum opus. Required viewing. Also I must say that a Suicide Squad/The Room double feature makes for one of the funniest nights of life.

 Scott Pilgrim vs The World – 8 – honestly one of my favorite movies. A super well done adaptation directed by Edgar Wright, this film is able to stand independently next to the already spectacular Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series. The music is incredible. It never gets old.

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 Sausage Party – 5 – obscene, racist, vulgar, and dumb as hell with a giant food orgy at one point. Still laughed at much of it.

 Captain Fantastic – 8 – a dad raising his kids to survive in the wilderness of Washington must bring them into society to attend their dead mother’s funeral. A big surprise and one of the most enjoyable movies I saw this year.

 Don’t Think Twice – 8 – Mike Birbiglia has always been one of my favorite comedians because his stories were so heartwarming, wholesome, and packed to the brim with jokes that would reward you on multiple viewings or listens. Don’t Think Twice is Mike’s second movie I believe, and it’s about an improv group in Brooklyn having fun doing their craft while trying to make a life for themselves. When you’re a comedian/improviser,, your friends are too, but if one of you actually gets a big break then it’s that person’s break and no one else’s. It causes a lot of tension between performers because even though they’re all friends, they’re still actively competing in a highly sought after profession. Judd Apatow came out after he saw the movie and said how accurately it depicts the life of comedy performers. It’s a really depressing (in a relatable way) and realistic take on the competitive world of improv and deals with friendship, comedy, and how cruel life can really be. Beautiful movie.

 American Beauty – 8 – really did not like this the first time but warmed up to it on the second viewing and it really shines despite many dated aspects.

 Antz – 6 – woody allen as a ant oy vey

 Back to the Future II – 5 – pretty bad sequel until he goes back to 1955. Worse than the third tbh

 Everybody Wants Some!! – 7 – even after the abortion that was Boyhood I didn’t give up on Richard Linklater and I’m glad I didn’t. This spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused (but in the 80s this time!) was a ton of fun.

 Clapping for the Wrong Reasons – 8 – this short film written by Donald Glover and directed by Hiro Murai is about a surreal day in the life of The Boy, a character Donald Glover created as the speaker of his Because the Internet album (his magnum opus imo). Hot take: Chance v Bino push up contest contender for best film scene ever.

 Kubo and the Two Strings – 7 – the most beautiful disappointment of the year. The incredible stop motion animation is unfortunately much more enjoyable than the underwhelming story. Not as good as Coraline.

 Hell or High Water – 8 – the director of photography from Sicario returns for this modern western about two brothers who rob the banks that screwed over their mother. Great performances from Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster, and Chris Pine.

 Don’t Breathe – 7 – this horror film about three thieves who break into an old blind man’s house borders on exploitation film towards the end. Not that bad.

 Blair Witch – 6 – not as bad as everyone said it was. It’s a soft reboot of 99’s Blair Witch Project but with a modern horror twist—which means it relies mainly on jump scares and unnecessary use of found footage tropes rather than atmosphere building and genuine terror. I still thoroughly enjoyed it and thought the last 15 minutes or so were really spooky. The creature design was really great and the way time moved was an interesting horror device. If you liked the first one but were bored by it then you’ll probably like this one because it moves a bit faster although you might be bored by it too. Oh but side note: that drone scene was fucking stupid.

 Over The Garden Wall – 10 – this 10 episode cartoon network animated miniseries aired in the fall of 2014 and follows two boys as they wander through the woods to find their way back home. It stars Elijah Wood, Christopher Lloyd, Melanie Lynskey, John Cleese, Tom Lennon, and Tim Curry among others. The story itself is inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Inferno and the music is inspired by early 20th century Americana folk music. It’s literally the single most charming thing I’ve ever seen and it’s an absolute MUST SEE.

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 Doctor Strange – 7 – not much to say about this one but I liked it. The visuals were top notch and although Dr Strange is basically just Tony Stark pt 2, it makes sense considering how much lesser of a role Stark will play in later movies. I’m really excited for the new Thor movie now.

 The Purge Election Year – 4 – each Purge movie is better than the last and this third installment is still a 4. That’s pretty much all there is to say. There are some legitimately hilarious parts in this though—all unintentional.

 O Brother, Where Art Thou? – 7 – another silly Coen film and one of their most accessible. Good film based on the Odyssey.

 Arrival – 9 – Dennis Villeneuve is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors after last year’s Sicario and now 2016’s Arrival. This is a film about humanity, the complete frivolity of our problems, and how staying divided will be our undoing. The cinematography is breathtaking, the score is great (much of it follows the circle of 5ths, which will make sense after watching), the acting is good, and the film just has a beautiful sense of scope to it. I encourage you to watch this and DON’T WATCH ANY TRAILERS OR READ ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I assure you; you’ll want to go into this as blind as possible (and you should never watch trailers anyway they literally ruin films).  In Trump’s America this movie is even more important so please I urge you to watch this.

 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – 5 – the Phantom Menace of the Harry Potter universe, Fantastic Beasts has so much exposition and forced world building that anyone who hasn’t seen the first 8 hp films will probably have a tough time figuring out what’s going on. The opening sequence is literally just a montage of newspaper headlines saying how terrible this dark wizard is, which was done in harry potter but over the span of roughly 3 movies rather than 1 minute. Overall positives: the creature designs were fun, Jacob was rad, the humor was effective, the cgi wasn’t /that/ bad, newt’s hair was wavy af (and he was a hufflepuff, which I appreciate), and the costumes may get an Oscar nomination. As for the cons: so much panning, craning, and tracking that I could barely see what was going on due to low framerate, the first 10-15 minutes are a suicide squad level editing disaster, the pacing was weird at times, they revealed who the main antagonist was in his actual first scene, too many plotlines interweaved, inexcusably bad framing in a few shots, and the ending was a little bit Chekhov’s gun but was pretty much deus ex machina. This just didn’t feel as magical as the harry potter films and, like star wars 7, it feels like a failed attempt to recapture what made people love the franchise in the first place. It was a very flawed film but I still enjoyed it and will watch it again.

 Moana – 6 – VERY overrated but still good. How a lot of people felt about Frozen is how I feel about this movie. The animation was incredible, the voice acting was great, the songs were good (although not nearly as catchy or memorable as Frozen, save for Shiny) and it ends up being another Tangled, a movie I enjoyed but will forget about very soon—hell I’ve already forgotten about it. Just think about how long Frozen was a thing. People were talking about Frozen for months after and I haven’t seen anyone mention Moana since its opening weekend. Overall a huge disappointment. Zootopia was the far superior animated feature this year.

 The Handmaiden – 8 – my first Park Chan-wook film and I loved it ! This film is fucking enigma for the first half and then as soon as one detail is revealed it suddenly opens up and becomes an incredible psychological thriller. I honestly was not enjoying this film for the first act or so because of how seemingly meaningless it was but it really shaped up to be one of my favorites of the year. Never before have I experienced a film that made me 180 on opinion during the course of its runtime. Be warned: don’t see this with your parents or anyone you would feel awkward watching porn with because this shit is basically pornography at MANY points during the film. I don’t know if my friend and his brother have forgiven me yet.

 Unedited Footage of a Bear – 8 – there’s a tl;dr at the bottom of this one because it’s a little long and expository. I was watching an idubbbz video (https://youtu.be/5Bs45yITIt0) back in November and many criticized how unfunny and bizarre it was compared to his other content. People started to speculate that he was doing a metafictional series about his channel along the lines of alantutorial (https://www.youtube.com/user/alantutorial), a channel in which performance artist Alan Resnick plays a fictionalized version of himself who is depicted as a mentally ill young man obsessed with making tutorial videos. This alantutorial series is a commentary on poorly made tutorial videos that flood youtube, as well as social media in general and the overwhelming desire for likes, favorites, going viral, etc. after discovering Alan Resnick and watching all his videos I started to seek out his other content and I found this short film that aired as part of Adult Swim’s infomercial slot at 4 a.m. This may sound familiar to some as the timeslot for Too Many Cooks, which went viral. This short film, titled Unedited Footage of a Bear, can be watched here: https://youtu.be/2gMjJNGg9Z8 and parodies those commercials you’ll often see on tv about drugs that are peddled to mentally ill people without proper testing. This film depicts addiction as a force that can and will ruin your life, your family’s life, and will kill you if left unchecked. There’s an explanation you can watch here: https://youtu.be/_2e5ia9j0TA that explains it really well and is worth the watch. tl;dr: cool 10-minute short horror film about addiction by performance artist Alan Resnick – check it out.

Twin Peaks (Pilot) – 8 – it was good

 This House Has People In It – 8 – hey look another Alan Resnick short film. you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/x-pj8OtyO2I and the attempted explanation is here: https://youtu.be/mjBTAnCUbZc because this one is pretty complicated compared to footage of a bear. also worth the watch simply for the L O R E

 No Country For Old Men – 10 – one of the best movies of this century hands down. not sure if I rate it quite as high as There Will Be Blood though, which came out the same year. The Coen’s crowning achievement (although you could argue that title belongs to The Big Lebowski for reasons)

 Moonlight – 9 – a very heavy coming of age film about a young boy living in the south who attempts to find himself while growing up in an incredibly unforgiving environment. beautiful film and I’m excited to see it again. very very important film for LGBT issues.

 Nocturnal Animals – 8 – one of the biggest surprises this year. I LOVED this movie and it stayed with me for days. as soon as it started I made a mental note that I’d have to really pay attention to everything because I figured it would be heavy with metaphor and symbolism and boi was I right about that. Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal give great performances and I honestly can’t tell you the last time I got so emotionally invested in a film. people have criticized Adams’ performance as melodramatic and cold, which is the point because she’s not supposed to be likeable. the narrative structure is refreshing and fun to piece together and the visuals were pretty alright. my favorite part of this movie was piecing together all the metaphors (of which there are many) and figuring out what the events of the Nocturnal Animals manuscript (in the film) means for the characters. It’s been a very polarizing film apparently, which surprised me since it doesn’t really try to be anything more than it is. It definitely rewards close observation but I can’t guarantee everyone will like this one. I won’t say more because going into it blind is the best way but I do recommend it. Tense, emotional, gripping, funny. It’s good.

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 Star Wars Rogue One – 8 – I really enjoyed this. I probably don’t need to say much because it’s star wars but this was the best star wars film since Empire Strikes Back in my opinion (although episode III wasn’t that bad). the characters were a little flat, some of the humor was out of place, and the first 30 minutes had bad pacing, but overall it was great. the action in this one was insane and I’m so happy that we finally got to see a proper space battle (and holy shit is it a good one). this has one of my favorite moments of the entire series and it actually feels like a star wars movie unlike episode VII.

 La La Land – 10 – I’m at a loss for words honestly. This movie is so fucking good. The soundtrack is incredible, the choreography is awesome, the cinematography is BEAUTIFUL, and the performances are wonderful. I could keep thinking of adjectives or I could just tell you to go see this movie as soon as you can. Best movie of the year hands down. LA has never looked so fucking good OH MAN please go see this movie you’ll surely regret it if you don’t. OH and we went to see this in the Vista Theater in LA, which was a once in a lifetime experience. See this in the most old-Hollywood theater you can because it actually improves it if that’s possible. Now there are some flaws, mainly in third act pacing, but it’s so enjoyable that it doesn’t matter.

 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – 10 – it’s a classic and could be considered a perfect film. not much to say but it’s definitely one of my favorites of all time. never gets old.

 Home Alone – 8 – this was the first time I watched Home Alone and I liked it.

 Assassin’s Creed – 6 – the neckbeard-y guy doing anime runs up and down the stairs of the theatre behind us really set the tone for this movie. I didn’t hate it but it was pretty dreary and I feel like almost nothing happened. I don’t think it translates to the screen well but it did capture the feel of the games, or at least the first one. Let’s just say after seeing this I went on a mission to watch at least one more movie so it wouldn’t be my last of the year.

 Swiss Army Man – 7 – the praise for this movie was a bit unwarranted. It’s really silly and touching but it wasn’t the modern masterpiece that everyone was saying it was. maybe I missed something but the corpse of Daniel Radcliffe farting is only tolerable and funny for so long. I will say that this is one of the most unique movies I’ve ever seen, so I’ll give it props for that, and the soundtrack was actually incredible. I enjoyed it very much and need to watch it again but it was alright.

Come Together – 8 – an H&M short film by Wes Anderson that can be watched here: https://youtu.be/VDinoNRC49c . It was cute and I guess it’ll hold me over until Isle of Dogs, which comes out in 2018 (no it won’t)

 The Lobster – 8 – this absurd commentary on relationships and their influence on society is just bizarre and has a wonderfully dry performance from Colin Farrell and, well, every other actor too. this film is just crazy and I really need to watch it again. Expect it to be on my next year’s list as well. TOP TEN RELEASED IN 2016 xxx 10 – The Nice Guys

9 – Hell or High Water

8 – The Handmaiden

7 – Don’t Think Twice

6 – The Witch

5 – Moonlight

4 – Nocturnal Animals

3 – Green Room

2 – Arrival

1 – La La Land honorable mentions: Captain Fantastic, Horace and Pete, The Neon Demon, Make Happy recommendations: Frances Ha, Mistress America, Over the Garden Wall, The World of Tomorrow, Midnight in Paris, Me, and Earl, and the Dying Girl, The Lobster and finally the award for worst movie of the year goes to ,,,,, SUICIDE SQUAD duh. In 2016 I watched 77 movies, which is terrible considering I watched 124 last year and 92 in 2014. That gap from September to November really killed me in that regard and hopefully it won’t happen again or for as long next time. Overall this was actually a pretty weak year for movies it seems. Looking at my top of the year list, it looks significantly weaker than last year’s which had The Revenant, It Follows, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Sicario, and Brooklyn. If anyone has questions or suggestions about anything I’d love to have a discussion so feel free. Here’s to another year of great movies. also if you’d like to follow me on twitter @thejoeydavis please do because I’m a huge slut for likes and I desperately want and need your approval. thanks for reading