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ikemenomegas · 1 year

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Hey!! (animeomegas here <3) I don't know anything about jjk, but I love actor AUs and I was wondering if you have any fun ideas for Naruto, the arcana or Mystic messenger? For some reason I've been imagining how a Mystic Messenger TV show would work and sketching out poster ideas for it 😫 This isn't really intended as a request, I just want to hear your stream of thought haha. Hope you've been having a wonderful day! <33

Hi @animeomegas I actually had a really long day but it was nice! I got a lot of things done. I hope you also had a good day ^^. So, okay okay okay you know I love casual stream of thought... and talking ahaha, and I also love behind the camera drama (I am also avoiding any wip work because 9+ hours at work fried the thesaurus bit of my brain)

Naruto

Naruto is such a specifically anime show. The budget for a complete 1:1 live action remake would probably make people so mad, there would have to be so much CGI for the final battle.

I feel like it could work for actors au as either:

1. Make Naruto a movie series. It's probably got a cult following like Star Wars and started off as some kind of original idea in the 70s and then got acquisitioned by a huge conglomerate in the 90s-2000s era, and had enough films (like the fast and furious franchises XD, so... eight at least) that it was able to cover all the material up until our time lol.

I actually went and reviewed the arcs because I love procrastination through research oop, but if you cut out/combine the filler arcs/turn them into serialized shows for streaming, you're left with enough material for about 3 movies from genin-days (when the actors Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura age from 11-14) and 5 movies from the shippuden era (there the main trio actors age from 16-24)

Playing off that nostalgia factor, Jiraiya's actor either played Minato or Naruto in the 70s film. He's since become a very famous actor/producer/director. Kakashi's father also played Kakashi's character in the original 70s film, so having him return as Sakumo for the Pein arc was a little Easter egg. There's a couple of instances of this throughout the series. For example, Madara is actually played by the same actor who played Sasuke in the og series, and the makeup used to age him in the flashback arcs gets high praise. Hashirama is played by the same kid who played Rock Lee in the first films too. Tsunade was played by the same girl who was either Ino in the original, etc.

Kind of like marvel, there's a ton of actors who are only sort of or not very famous when the films start, and the kids are certainly no-name actors (kind of [Sakura reads to me like a former disney-channel kid lol]), and then as the films get wildly popular, the franchise gains the Midas touch and even all of the recurrent minor characters get arcs/spinoffs/or see further success in their careers.

And as with marvel, it truly becomes like... everyone famous in a certain generation was in the Naruto franchise.

Sasuke had some actual industry connections prior to casting, but that was only because his brother was a young up-and-coming model. They sort of spring-boarded one anothers' careers. Playing the franchise characters traumatized them oop, and irl they're very close. There's a noticeable uptick in viewership for compilation videos of the Uchiha brothers being best siblings after about movie 6 when Sasuke finally kills Itachi and movie 7's fight with Kabuto is one of the most watched clips ever.

Also marvel-esque, I think people have mixed opinions about the ending lol (just like they do the anime) because on one hand, explosions! amazing visual effects! the whole ensemble ready to assemble! stacked nostalgia value! answers to some of the most asked fandom questions! amazing physical feats (Naruto and by extension Sasuke mostly insist on doing their own stunts)! and on the other... you have some of the thousand story threads being lost in the sauce, lackluster characterization for a some of the ladies, leaning perhaps too much on nostalgia value, complete obliteration of power scaling, suddenly there's almost too much content, and you have to have watched all three spinoff series to understand some of the in-world references, also fighting between the original concept creator and head writer and the production teams :p (yes this is Io being too literal haha)

2nd option: The Naruto characters all belong to the same representative entertainment company (think SM or YG /pulls face because cabal culture disturbs me/). I think this is more like an idols AU, and the relationships are significantly more catty and have more drama, but they're all actors/other entertainment related career lol so it's also kind of actors au?

The company probably tried for a ninjas/powers theme during recruitment and promotion so that's where you get Kakashi associated with dogs and lightning, Sasuke associated with snakes and later hawks and fire, Naruto associated with frogs and wind, Sakura associated with slugs and healing, Itachi associated with crows and dreams, Haku associated with ice and mirrors, Sai associated with tigers and ink, Tenzo/Yamato associated with trees, Gaara associated with tanuki and sand etc.

Itachi and Sasuke have an infamous rivalry that never really "resolves" so much as disappears because Itachi retires for a few years to deal with physical and mental health issues. It would be during this time he goes public with a relationship and he gets married before making a comeback. Even after the brothers reconcile and do projects together, people still bring up their Fighting Era and it pisses Sasuke off because the public doesn't really know what happened and he hates the speculation. Part of the controversy is that Sasuke left the company only a few years after signing on, joined a small rival company that was later embroiled in scandal, and then returned to the same company as his brother right around the time Itachi took a break.

Kakashi is the oldest of the "new generation" that's promoted during that time, but he's a very successful child actor turned model and adult actor. He did a bunch of shows that have great repeat value though so he basically lives off residuals and picks his projects and is very obvious but rather quiet about the ways he critiques the current entertainment industry. He's very good friends with Tenzo, stagename Yamato

Haku is a musician first and an actor second. He made his debut as part of a short lived idol group before going solo and starting musical stages. He's an up and coming favorite for historical dramas.

Gaara and Naruto are child actors who have been best friends for ages and help one another work through the inevitable industry challenges. They separately become really popular role models for kids from their hometowns. Kankuro is Gaara's personal rock in the working world, even though Kankuro's bad-boy image and slightly freaky aesthetic don't surface level seem to match with Gaara's more reserved and authentic method of dealing with the constant press.

Shikamaru and Nagato both separately give me musician/model vibes, but in different genres. Shikamaru quits the music thing very quickly to become a producer lol because more math and less fighting with fickle public opinion.

Mystic Messenger

If you sketch the the poster idea you haaaave to post it, please pretty please Amy?? Because you're so right, the whole plot is absolutely like a thriller/romcom kdrama. (Because the characters are well fleshed out it could also work with preserving the character backstories but have them all have entered acting later on.)

I looked up some Kdrama posters and the one where the leads for "because this is my first life" are standing in a stylized apartment balcony reminded me somewhat of thee game, mostly because the MC is stuck in the apartment for a good portion of the seven days lol.

If the whole Mystic Messenger plot were a drama...

MC is probably a rookie actor with one or two well done but not widely distributed productions under their belt.

Yoosung was maybe a child-actor which makes the whole ingenue thing kind of funny for his fans. Like yes, this is his first "adult role" (his baby face means he otherwise plays a lot of high schoolers) but it's this odd mixture of experience meaning he plays the role perfectly, but lack of experience with normal people resulting in a lot of blushing and stammering and totally tunnel vision flirting during the press tour haha.

I'd love for Jumin to come from a similar but less severe situation as game-Jumin. Like maybe his father has remarried a bunch of times, but he actually gets along with the stepmother who's been his mother for most of his life and he takes her to premiers with him. He grew up poor so he finds playing a lot of wealthy heirs type characters because of his looks to be a very strange turn of events, but he overall doesn't talk about his past much in public.

Hmmm, Jaehee seems the type to play a lot of severe characters in her usual roles because of her appearance, but like game-Jaehee she's got a very cute and adorable side that's coupled with a very genuine personalty. The interviewers probably make her do a lot of aegyo T.T poor Jaehee. She probably also worked her way through a prestigious drama school, either in-country or abroad, so she loves to read.

Zen always offers to do the aegyo with Jaehee so she doesn't have to suffer alone haha. He on the other hand never went to drama school, he's been acting since he was about 17 so all his training was in-company, although his company helped to put him through college where he did an advertising and media degree. He didn't have the exposure Jaehee did to classical media and arts, so they are irl very good friends who bond over their interest in business and Zen's interest in gaining a deeper understanding of acting and theater.

I see 707 as the person who was probably an idol musician before he started acting and mostly left group music behind. I've never played his route through, but he seems like the kind of person who is sometimes frustratingly talented lol. He is a natural at almost everything he tries which sometimes stresses him out because he wonders if there's something else he should be doing besides acting.

V seems like the kind of person however who was maybe a model first, and then turned to acting? I hate to say this, but it's the kind of situation where his incredible looks and sweet irl personality have garnered him a very devoted following but his parts in dramas tend to be second-string or somewhat minor or... kind of weird lol, and when he is the lead the show is usually only "okay" because the writing will be strange 😅 which is technically not his fault, but to be honest most of his income comes from promotional deals.

You like Saeran, right? so I won't leave him out! He's got this doe-eyed look that makes me think of a new debut actor! This is also one of his first major roles so he and MC lean on each other a lot and have to work hard to make sure their relationship off-screen is comfortable because they have so many scary intense scenes later on. He and 707 are either irl siblings, or just because so close during filming that they're truly like brothers now and 707 is always seen supporting Saeran, especially when Saeran decides to venture into the music scene and his vocal style and color means he explodes into popularity almost right away.

The Arcana

Somehow I can see this becoming an HBO drama? or maybe an Akuzon special because it's very good about placing lgbtq themes in-world (which was sort of groundbreaking when the game debuted). This one is so hard because each route gradually ended up diverging so much and in such different ways and expanding on the world in such a rewarding diversity of directions that you could truly have a beautiful, successful show no matter what route was filmed.

You could potentially have a Witcher-type situation where you really do have multiple routes and timeline splitting. If someone who's got a really good editing team working with a really tight writing team I think they could do it.

But otherwise, this is another situation where the main cast has had friend configurations for a While and doing this project brought them all closer together!

Ilya and Asra have known one another probably the longest industry-wise. They did a smaller well received indie film once about five years before Arcana with the vaguest of nods to brokeback mountain (I've never seen it, sorry) but a much happier road trip lovers plot, so having to play disillusioned, one-sided pining ex-lovers who had a very toxic last year to their relationship is... something XD.

Asra and Muriel have been personal friends since their days as students - they went to the same camps and programs to study acting and in their interviews, they have a fun time talking about some personal anecdotes (like the fact they did indeed frequently camp at a lakeside together as children) which made it into their own characters' backstories.

Nadia and Lucio are very Nikolaj/Gwendoline during their press and off-screen interactions. They find their characters' personas to be sort of hilariously poorly matched.

Portia is a famously hard working actress who clawed her way through the world of cinema and still managed to stay a decent, well grounded person. She's not actually related to Ilya irl but they got along really well from the beginning so there's lots of videos of them acting like siblings off screen.

Because the on-site shoots for Arcana required so much travel, the cast got to spend a lot of bonding time together, and saw a ton of unique places. The cast always has stories of swimming and hiking or trying new food or pictures of each other at famous sites during their days off. Muriel is actually the one who plans the outdoor adventures the best, he was an athlete and had military training before becoming an actor and he loves being outside so he'll lead these kinds of outings. People adore his social media because he's got that outdoors guy vibe but he's very sweet and he smiles a lot more irl than his roles usually do.

Portia and Julian are the most likely to get lost in any place, but they're also super fun to travel with because they always find interesting people and places that are off the beaten path.

Nadia and Asra have the most normal but also most aesthetic social media feeds. They always seem able to catch the golden hour light somehow...

After Arcana, they each often end up cast in or around the same movies/franchises/series as well, because they do work very well together. The show also helped them break out of some type casting, to their delight.

Lucio trends towards action and romcom films, he does often get typecast as some kind of villain, but his redemption arc in Arcana actually helped him break into more of the antihero type roles. He can be adorably goofy at times.

Nadia used to play the femme fatale quite frequently but since Arcana she's been able to take on softer roles, still often playing a woman in power, but she's been able to mix and cross genres. She also has been working on a screenplay and wants to try directing.

Portia was famous before Arcana but the show helped enter her into some of the more mainstream conversation and she has her first action-type role soon after Arcana ends.

Asra has a delicate physique and had some trouble in the past with being passed over roles that required more "force of presence" in the past. However, since showing his side as the secretive, enigmatic, manipulative magician, he's been able to try on the hats of villains, return to some roles on the true stage (his first love), and play the lead in a more serious political thriller.

Muriel had the opposite problem with his large build often precluding him from anything but action films. Since Arcana he's been able to try a few romantic lead parts, and has embraced his popularity by searching out meaningful mid-budget films where he can broaden his talents.

Julian is very tall, so he used to play quite a few more domineering, dastardly types in the films he did before Arcana. The show also brought him into the spotlight. He still does well as the sneering, dangerous, tall and dark type, but he's found that he can and is willing to push for playing something softer, someone who follows instead of leads in the on-screen dynamics. You and Ilya end up in a bodyguard type of drama at some point where he spends a lot of time on his knees swearing his devotion and playing a lot of subtext lol.

MC in this seems like they would have been a more experienced actor before taking on the linchpin role for Arcana, but the show granted you the experience to step into other roles both in front of and behind the camera and we'll probably see an MC directed and produced short film or indie film within the next few years!

#ask answered #hi amy!#actor au #naruto #mystic messenger #the arcana #one am fics lol goodnight!

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yamaguchikinnie · 2 years

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attack on titian review

In the early 2000s, a college student named Hajime Isayama was working in a café when suddenly someone grabbed him by the collar violently. It was this, “the fear of meeting a person I can't communicate with,” that inspired a brilliant idea of writing what now would be the best anime of the decade. Attack on Titan is a dark fantasy manga (Japanese comic) that got turned into an anime. The anime gained a lot of popularity very rapidly and for a good reason. The show hurt me, it broke me in the most beautiful way, every episode left me with so many unanswered questions, every episode left a big impact on me as a person, it changed my sense of morality, the way I view life, it truly took me the whole new perspective.

Now theirs a lot of reason A.O.T is good but some of the main ones are:

The main storyline:

The anime/manga is set in a world where humanity lives peacefully inside cities surrounded by three enormous worshiped walls that have been built for a century, these walls protect them from a gigantic man eating creatures called titans, one day unexpectedly a titan larger than the 3rd outer wall (wall Maria) breaks it causing chaos destruction and fear leaving other titans to enter, titans start devouring humans at high rates as the main character Eren Jagear and his friends try to find his mother so they can enter the second wall and seek coverage but it’s too late, he watches as his own mother gets eaten alive, her shoe drooping symbolizing her leaving her son behind, in that very moment Eren swears that he’ll take revenge and slaughter all titans and give humanity hope for freedom since he’s always looked at the walls as if they are cages blocking him from the outer world ( it’s pretty ironic since the walls are what used to protect them ) then the real story begins following him entering the scouts regiment building relationships with other characters, and very unexpected plots that will change the whole course of the story.

The well written characters:

Attack on titan by far has the best written characters. each character has their own unique personality, different interest, different point of views, a motive and a dream, weaknesses and strengths, yet they all are relatable and have one thing in common; they all are trying to survive or save their loved ones at least. We always see them learning and improving from each other, even balancing each other. For example Armin lacks physical strength yet he has a good head on his shoulder while Eren is the opposite, he tends to let his emotions and humanity take over him. And in one scene Eren was refusing to kill Annie even if it was self defense thinking it was inhumane as he heard those words “To surpass monsters, you must be willing to abandon your humanity.” – Armin Alert. The story is also shown from every character point of view and that left us wondering if maybe Eren is in the wrong, maybe he’s the bad guy . Yet in the same time he’s the hero? The story is the same yet the point of views are changed and the audience are left to think for themselves, and the change of him from being the oppressed to being the oppressor was brilliant. The whole story was a big example of ‘’I can’t blame you nor you can blame me’’.

As Armin once said “A good person? Well… I don’t really like that term. Because to me, it just seems to mean someone who’s good for you. And I don’t think there’s any one person who’s good for everyone.”

Diversity and awareness:

growing up it was hard for me to relate to characters, there wasn’t any diversity whatsoever. Male characters were superior while female characters were never taken seriously, not mention they always had to live up to the white beauty standards that were limiting to so many children. In attack on titan they empowered all genders, personalities, bodies, races , and they did it in a proper way to show awareness for example every female character wasn’t sexualized nor objectified like most shows do and were written as proper humans with feeling and motives they were also respected an seen as equals with the male characters sometimes even stronger , as for appearance we see both woman and men with different unique features , a lot of the characters have a hooked/roman noses, the strongest character is also the shortest, Onyankopon is a dark-skinned man with black hair styled in a short crew cut and when someone asked him why his skin was dark showing ignores he simply answered by saying: because our creator thought it would be interesting if there was a mix of people, we got created cause we were wanted. The anime also explores other issues like parental abuse, in one seen a character was screaming calling out to her father apologizing while getting eaten by a titan and screaming this was a sign of trauma caused by her father’s abuse in the past. In other scenes we see parents manipulating their children or guilt tripping them into doing what they want for example historia and annie, Another thing the show raised awareness towards governmental corruption the show showed people abusing their authority multiple times and in one seen a we see a soldier with access to governmental equipment selling them illegally. The government also had a history of lying to the citizens and hurting those who were brave enough speak the truth (Erwin’s father was killed) In season 2 the government falsely accused the 104 cadets by committing crimes against the crown and they sent people to kill them illegally just because they were discovering the truth. The list goes on and on of the governments greediness.

The dark themes and mixed emotions:

“The world is merciless, and it's also very beautiful.”- Mikasa. as I said before the show showed some serious problems and the dark realistic sides the world in general and with these situations we are bound to get a lot of emotions like regret , feeling used, hopelessness, feeling stuck, losing touch with humanity, losing sight of you goals , betrayal, and more yet in the same time the show showed that in darkness there’s always some light , you see people stuck in a conflict find that they’re actually very similar to each other and becoming lovers, we see Armin achieving his long dream of wanting to see the ocean in with his own eyes , we see characters improving to the best version of themselves . The anime ended with our lovable main character dying and getting buried under the same tree he would sit under with the person he loved the most before the war, which was truly a bittersweet ending.

Attack on titian was very bittersweet and an emotional roller-coaster and it hurt me in the most beautiful way possible, it changed my morals, my views on life, it helped me learn valuable lessons. The anime is a masterpiece and I recommend it for everyone Possible.

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itsclydebitches · 4 years

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Strings”

Happy Saturday, RWBY friends! I am, quite obviously, going to dive into the recap in just a moment, but first I wanted to take a short detour to discuss the elephant in the tumblr room. Namely, Supernatural.

For those of you out of the loop, the tl;dr is that a fifteen year, beloved show ended with a truly horrendous finale. Specifically, the finale rejected everything that the show had been building towards: the logical conclusion to character arcs, the theme that “family don’t end in blood,” the potential for a queer romantic relationship… I could go on. The point I want to make is that the fandom had every reason to believe we’d be getting these things. This isn’t a case of fans upset that the finale didn’t go the way they wanted as an individual viewer, but rather that the finale didn’t go the way the show clearly and explicitly said it would. It’s not an exaggeration to say that in many respects, viewers were straight up lied to.

(I recommend reading the reviews.)

What does this all have to do with RWBY? Well, I can’t help but think that history is repeating itself. Certainly there are some notable similarities between the two series. Both have long, meandering plotlines with no clear end in sight (though I hope RWBY doesn’t reach the 15 Volume mark…). Both began with a small, core cast, but quickly expanded—generating the expectation that these now equally important characters will be given their due. Both have moved from the small conflict of fighting everyday monsters to a god-based mythology. Both have a popular queer relationship dangled in front of the viewers, featuring scenes where they’re “obviously” in love… but will it ever be confirmed? Both have a fanbase that says loudly and confidently that the writers know what they’re doing. Just wait! It’s all been planned! We’ll be rewarded for our patience and soon all the naysayers will be proven wrong.

Thing is, the Supernatural fandom wasn’t rewarded. Right up until a week ago those fans—myself included—had faith that the writers knew what they were doing because they can’t really be that out of touch with their own story...right? It’s not possible. Yet they were, it was, and now that I’ve gotten solid proof of precisely how far a show can go to reject its own logic, themes, and premise, that just makes me more wary of RWBY’s mistakes. Before I had a solid faith that things couldn’t possibly get that bad, that no matter how much RWBY might be messing up in the short term, it will undoubtedly pull it together overall, because what show wouldn’t? Especially a show with such promise and, at times, wonderful storytelling. Well, Supernatural didn’t manage it and frankly I’m not sure what to do with that information.

Seriously. I don’t have any grand conclusion here. It’s not my intention to suggest that anyone should stop watching RWBY, or to claim that it will absolutely fail because Supernatural did. Obviously, we don’t know what will happen until we get to see it in the show. I only want to acknowledge these parallels and the similar journey I see both fanbases on. I can’t help but wonder if, a couple years from now, RWBY fans will be making incredibly optimistic posts about how it’s all coming together, just have some faith, everyone who says that the group won’t get a satisfying ending, or Blake and Yang won’t be confirmed are just mean trolls… only to wake up that Saturday morning and get another metaphorical slap in the face.

It’s something to think about.

But here I’ve spent a page talking about the wrong show. Let’s get into the episode!

We open on a black screen with lots of ambiguous noises. At first I thought this was Oscar struggling in the Hound’s grip or something, but then I remembered that RWBY likes to insert an episode between cliffhangers. I watched Ironwood (presumably) shoot a guy and he only came back this week (though that question still isn’t answered. At this point I kind of wonder if it will be). Oscar was kidnapped last week, which means we won’t get to see him until next week. Or… two weeks from now? RT skips the week of Thanksgiving, don’t they? Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Something horrible happens to Oscar and we need to wait two weeks to find out how it’s resolved.

Watch him escape the Hound off screen and return to the group with a new outfit 😂

So it’s not Oscar we hear, but Ruby, the last one coming out of the tube. Weiss is in the process of pulling Nora’s ear for that stunt… with a frankly strange looking hand. What’s up with RWBY animating weird hands lately? I’m pretty sure that’s not how anatomy works.

Anyway, Nora counters that this was a “Once in a lifetime experience,” but they were all going to go through the tubes regardless. Weiss isn’t pissed that you sent her through, she’s pissed that you did it unexpectedly when she was alone, heading into enemy territory. But of course, there’s no one in the room to hinder them, so the mistake is meaningless.

We’re setting the tone again though. For the first half of this episode everything is sunshine and giddy adventure, which doesn’t fit the situation at all. It also creates emotional whiplash when I’m suddenly supposed to be super worried about things later on. This sort of about-face works once in a blue moon, as an emotional punch, like we see in Mulan:

But RWBY does it every other episode, which makes the overall tone of the series confusing instead. Half the time RWBY feels like two different stories—the cartoony tale of girls going on fun adventures, and the traumatic tale of a fantasy war—that have been badly spliced together.

“Alight, Robo-Girl, which way?” May asks and Penny demonstrates why she’s the best for sneaking into a facility. She’s able to map out the whole place, including seeing where everyone is so they can avoid detection. Kudos to RT for going this route. I was worried that they would have Ruby and the others straight up attacking Atlas grunts, knocking them out/potentially even killing them because who cares, right? They’re the bad guys! So I’m glad they’re working to get in and out undetected. Granted, we see in some places that they’re clearly willing to fight the soldiers if it comes to that—they’re reaching for their weapons when Penny opens the final door, expecting the room to be full of people. They were going to attack—but at least they’re trying to lessen that conflict as much as possible. That’s the sort of choice I expect to see from heroes and I’m glad we got it here.

After scouting the area Penny corrects May: “And my name is Penny,” to which Ruby gives a satisfied “Heh.” I’ve got no problem with Penny rejecting nicknames, even potentially well-meaning ones, because she’s always struggled with her status as a real girl and her name is her own. She gets to decide what others call her. I do, however, have a problem with making the presumed trans character the one who is corrected. Granted yes, we haven’t gotten confirmation in the show that May is trans, but RT doesn’t get to cash in on that rep without likewise suffering the consequences for how the character is treated. You’re telling me that a trans woman is going to roll her eyes when someone asks her to use a specific name? Please give May flaws, yes, she’s a person, but out of all the millions of flaws across the human spectrum, this is the one we’re shown?

Not to mention Ruby’s continued attitude. It’s like, ‘Yeah, May. Stop being a horrible person who draws attention to the fact that Penny is a robot. I never did that.’ Except when Ruby first met her she didn’t know Penny was a robot. Just like she didn’t know Blake was a faunus—something we’re reminded of this episode. We might assume Ruby wouldn’t have ever made any missteps at the beginning of these relationships, but the fact remains that she got to know both girls before their minority status was ever revealed. Ruby loved them before she ever had to grapple with their differences.

Put in her place, May then demonstrates that she can make lots of people invisible, not just herself. That’s handy. She creates an invisibility bubble that reminds me of Harry’s invisibility cloak. In the sense that others might not be able to see you, but they can still hear and touch you, which makes sneaking around still pretty challenging.

No sooner have I thought that then two guards get into the elevator with them. The group keeps quiet as the duo discusses how no one can get close to Salem’s storm without “getting shocked right out of the air.” Interesting. And frankly one hell of a roadblock if the Hound escapes into the clouds. Oscar may be gone for a while if he doesn’t escape on his own... The woman also comments about how creepy it is that all the grimm are just hanging out, waiting. It’s “worse than if they’d attacked.”

No it’s not! RT, stop trying to implement the idea that Salem withholding her forces is some epically cool choice. She should have decimated everyone by now and the fact that she hasn’t just shows how transparent the problem is: you’ve created a villain that’s too powerful and now you don’t know what to do with her.

As the group sneaks out of the elevator Nora grins and presses all the buttons, which is, as expected, a dumb move. They’re supposed to be sneaking into this base. If they’re caught they’re going to be thrown in jail at best, killed at worst, but Nora wants to risk that for a practical joke? Again and again we see this insistence on incorporating comedy where it’s not only unnecessary, but actively interferes with other aspects of the scene.

Reaching a terminal, Penny inserts her finger and gains access via Pietro’s credentials. She’s really demonstrating this episode why she’s… pretty terrifying? I mean, Penny is an incredibly powerful fighter with a computer’s view of the world, access to everything in the most powerful Kingdom alongside its information, and she now has Maiden powers to boot. Which, I should add, it took her one fight to master (because remember, the heroes are now always as strong as they need to be to win…). Now that Watts is planning to hack her, I expect her to be an incredibly formidable enemy, just given the amount she could potentially do. I think Penny herself is too kind to exploit all that potential and as we’ll see via Pietro briefly taking control, she doesn’t always have the knowledge to use the tools at her disposal. But in the hands of someone like Watts? He’ll turn Penny into the ultimate weapon.

Access granted, they learn that they have to go “Right through central command!” Of course, Penny makes it sound like a fun game and the spy-movie music/cartoon lecture doesn’t help. Again, tone. It’s adorable! It just doesn’t fit sneaking into a military base with your lives on the line while Salem waits outside. That was a RWBY Chibi moment.

Penny explains—twice—that Ruby can use her semblance to fly them all through central command and it’s treated like a revelation. At first, I was pretty confused because Ruby has been dong this for ages? She carried Weiss in “Argus Limited” and Nora during the Geist fight. But upon close inspection, what Penny seems to have “figured out” is that Ruby can carry multiple people at once because the “mass doesn’t matter.” Okay. Not a contradiction then, though I think RT could have made it a little more clear that Ruby was shocked at the idea of carrying multiple people, not carrying someone at all.

What I do take issue with though is Ruby mastering this skill instantaneously. I mean, why is Ruby being forced to try this on the fly (pun not intended)—Penny has known the layout of the building since they made this plan. She knew they had to get past central control and that it would be packed with people. She’s obviously thought about Ruby’s semblance a great deal—and why is she succeeding? Give me a Volume 7 where Ruby actually trains in this technique, set up via Harriet’s comment early on about her semblance, and then she’s victorious here when it finally matters. Or give me Ruby assuming she can pull off this incredibly difficult skill only to fall out of her semblance halfway through, a roomful of Atlas personnel staring at them. Then what?

Not this.

This is a character who does everything perfectly on the first try without ever having to fail. Ruby is boring like this.

Crisis averted, we transfer to Ironwood who is… working with Watts.

What else is there to say? I’ve already laid out all the reasons why this is stupid and makes no sense. Others keep coming onto my posts to explain to me how Ironwood’s awful deeds up until now fully show his decent into villainy, conveniently ignoring the numerous limitations he was under and his choice to do what he thought was best for the world using inaccurate information. Ironwood was always a divisive character and many are happy to ignore the years’ worth of deconstruction done—a man who looks like the Evil Military General but actually isn’t—because they never liked him to begin with. Not liking him is fine, no one has to like any character, but I’m honestly shocked by the number of viewers who refuse to acknowledge how bad the writing is, even if it means defending a character they hate a teensy tiny bit (#SupernaturalVibes). As a friend put it, Ironwood now feels like a caricature of his former self, a Pure Evil Ironwood who appeared out of nowhere and is now here to stay. He shoots kids. He shoots unarmed civilians. He teams up with Salem’s men and tries to hack Penny. These are undeniably horrible acts, they’ve just been given to a character who never would have done them until RT randomly flipped the Evil switch.

The “RWBY” tag, alongside all the fluff moments of this episode, is now filled with posts encouraging Marrow to turn, yelling at the Ace Ops for being “bootlickers,” and capslock screaming at anyone who dared to speak up for Ironwood. It still sucks to have bad writing twisted into an attack on the fans and it’s going to continue to suck until at least the rest of Volume 8. I’d like to again remind everyone that Qrow teamed up with Tyrian a few episodes, yet because he’s again in Ruby’s graces, that was twisted into a ‘not that bad’ situation. The issue isn’t really that Ironwood is teaming up with one of Salem’s subordinates, but that he’s doing it to go against RWBYJNOR… the second a character teams up with Salem to get what Ruby wants (to not have her team in jail) then that’s totally fine… but that’s a wrinkle a lot of people are happy to ignore.

So yeah, Ironwood is an idiot now too. Like Qrow also was last Volume. He really thinks Watts isn’t going to betray him somehow? Although, I do wonder if the chance to ruin Pietro’s creation outweighs his loyalty to Salem, but the point is that Ironwood can’t be sure of that either. At least he’s smart enough to keep Watts under continuous guard. He puts his hand on Watts’ shoulders and goes, “I’d hate for us to have to try motivating you. Again.”

So he tortures people too now? Like I said, caricature. This was Ironwood and we were given no clear idea of where he disappeared to.

RIP a great character.

Watts notices though that Pietro has apparently accessed a secure area and alerts Ironwood to it. I laugh that the information is just ¡EMERGENCY! In large, red letters. Ironwood immediately makes an announcement for everyone to be on guard. It’s a level 3 lockdown — that won’t impede the group leaving via airship! — and they’re to use “lethal force” if necessary. Weiss is disgusted.

As much as I disagree with making Ironwood into a shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy — he’s definitely wrong to be doing this — I also find myself rolling my eyes at reactions like that. Yes, Weiss. You attacked four operatives until they were knocked unconscious. Prevented an entire city from escaping Salem’s wrath, endangering them all. Now you’re breaking into the most classified room in the Kingdom to steal an equally qualified project and use it for your own means. There’s no reason why Ironwood would level his might against you. Is death still an extreme response? Yes. Should Weiss be acting like Ironwood is crazy for responding to them in an extreme manner? No. Her remark makes it sound like Ironwood is attacking her poor, innocent, defenseless team… not the team that’s been lying to him, betraying him, attacking him, and stealing from him. Not the team carrying deadly weapons into a facility to take what they want at any cost.

With their presence known, May wants to go grab an airship. That’s the series now.

Meanwhile, Penny insists that they can still complete their mission and we see Nora come up with some sort of plan.

Except, what plan was this?? What did she say to the group? ‘Hey, let’s wait around until some guy conveniently walks by with a full cup of coffee. Then we can trip him and the mug will fly alllll the way across this gap to land on a terminal, startling at least two workers. Except this guy will be hated by the whole room because he’s always messing things up—his coffee mug has been changed from #1 Dad to #1 Dud—so that this little mishap will create a ruckus that gets everyone involved, giving us the opportunity to slip by them all.’

Seriously, what? This kind of “plan” only works with someone like Clover, where we know he has a good luck semblance and thus all these unlikely pieces fall into place. I could absolutely buy Clover smiling smugly, working under the knowledge that he just has to wait around a few minutes and something will come along that works entirely in his favor. But Nora? How did she know any of this would happen? Obviously she couldn’t have, so what exactly was their intention if this coffee carrying, hated guy didn’t show up? RWBY, your contrived plots are showing.

I do, however, love the grimm Jaws poster. Jaws is an absolute favorite of mine, so seeing a reference to it in RWBY? A funny one at that? It almost makes up for how bad this episode is lol.

Because frankly I’m bored. The group sneaks around, criticizes May and Ironwood, briefly confuses me about Ruby’s semblance knowledge, and gets through tons of Atlas personnel in the stupidest way possible. I have to watch this guy running out of the room with coffee on his pants screaming, “WHHHYYY???” and he doesn’t notice the five girls standing right next to him. It’s silly. It’s boring. Luckily for RWBY, things are about to pick up in the second half.

After Ruby gets them upstairs and the final room is also conveniently devoid of people, Pietro takes control of Penny—including yellow possession eyes like Oscar has with Ozpin—and he...gets Amity started. That’s it. After a whole volume of ‘It’s not finished yet’ and ‘We barely have the resources’ and ‘Robyn stole what we were using to do idek what with’ he presses buttons for a while and they’re in. How good for them!

I do love that Penny calls Pietro “Dad” though. I’m here for the android-father relationship.

While Pietro works we turn to Blake, Weiss, and Nora. Blake tries to convince the audience that Ruby and Yang had an actual fight with, “I’ve never seen Yang and Ruby fight like this.” Yeah, because no one in this group has ever said the sliiiiightest thing against Ruby, so you all read the tinniest disagreement as a “fight” to be worried about. I mean, doesn’t RT have friends to draw inspiration from? They’ve never disagreed about Huge and Complex Questions before? Never gotten pissed and then shrugged it off the next time you want to text? RWBY’s idea of a diverse friend group feels like many other writers’ idea of a sibling relationship: anyone with an actual sibling goes, “What is this?” Speaking of, Weiss explains that sisters often have “very different ideas about what’s right” as if, again, people don’t have different ideas? Just in general? Why is this suddenly a sister thing? She’s clearly thinking about Winter, but doesn’t actually bring it up, so all we’re left with is the same situation we had last Volume. Weiss thinks she’s right, Winter is wrong, and they’re just going down their separate roads because there’s definitely no reason to re-examine any choices here. It’s all static.

Until Winter betrays Ironwood, of course.

Nora tries to reassure Blake that the group will be fine (ha) even though they’ve split, the irony being that we, the audience, know they just got wrecked by the Hound. Jaune is a great leader though, Oscar has grown so much, Yang could defend them all in a fight, and Ren… well, she can’t think of anything to say about Ren. I hate the Nora is acting like Ren has drawn away from her for no reason, after she chose to kiss him—without consent—rather than listening to what was bothering him, then proceeded to pretend that this mystery problem never existed. What does she expect? I do, however, like the general acknowledgement that she doesn’t know who she is without Ren. Who is Nora? Someone who is “strong and hit[s] stuff?”

See, this feels like RT writing self-consciously because Nora doesn’t have much of a personality. Oh, on a surface level she’s bursting with it, but past the bubbly exterior? That single layer? We can add maybe one thing to this “Likes Ren, is strong, hits stuff” list: she’s funny. That’s it. Anything else we might add like “she’s loyal” or “she’s kind” is just a generic characteristic of this entire team. They’re all meant to be crazy talented good guys and even the “is strong” aspect is suspect when others frequently pull off attacks as showy as Nora’s hammer hits. So who is she? What are Nora’s dreams? What are her hobbies? Her fears? Her history? We’ve seen a single flashback of her on the streets and one scene back at Beacon where she listens to music and reads a magazine. Seven years worth of material and that’s it. There’s a reason why the go-to, non-combat action for Nora in fics is “makes pancakes.” We know so little about her still.

So I was excited for a brief, shining moment. Yes! Explore who Nora is outside of being strong and hitting stuff! … and then her big action this episode is, as she says, being strong and hitting something. Don’t get me wrong, outside of that setup it’s pretty epic. I like Nora going to those lengths to save Penny and I absolutely love the repercussions of the choice: a broken aura, passing out, and badass lightning scars all over her arms and neck (especially when women often aren’t allowed to accumulate scars in visual media). That’s pretty damn awesome. It’s just that it comes on the heels of the story insisting that Nora is more than this, that we’ll learn something new about her… and we haven’t. This is indeed cool, but we already knew that Nora was willing to crazy lengths by hitting things really hard. That’s already her established norm.

At least this moment has some really nice characterization alongside the stupidity. The conversation between Ruby and Penny is just plain stupid. Penny wants to stay to help with the evacuations, but Pietro says she should come with him in Amity. Why? As Ruby says, because then she’ll be up in the sky and Salem won’t be able to access the relic.

That’s what Ironwood wanted to do! We could have had this conflict episodes ago with you all working with him! I really can’t with this cast. Also, the rest of this is still confusing. I thought pretty much everyone was in the slums by now, so what evacuation are they talking about? Do they plan to evacuate everyone in Mantle out of the kingdom somehow… like Ironwood wanted to do with Atlas? And why are they acting like Amity is evacuating some people too? I thought they were just using it as a communication device? To add insult to injury, Ruby then contradicts herself a minute later when she tells Harriet that Ironwood can’t have the relic because “Salem will find her way to the relic no matter where you go.” Ruby, if Salem can access the relic high in the sky she can also access Penny in the sky. If you believe that literally nowhere is safe then why are you sending Penny away under the claim that she—and via her the Relic—will be safer? If you want Penny in Amity to lessen the chance of Salem getting the Relic, why can’t Penny be in Atlas while simultaneously (hopefully) getting a whole slew of people to safety?

I’m continually confused by this “plan” of theirs. Their claims just flip-flop according to what (supposedly) contrasts them with Ironwood. Even though that’s not actually the case.

Penny is me, sad while watching this train wreck of a scene.

So yeah, the Ace Ops are here. I’ve wondered since the trailer why Weiss looked smug while everyone else was startled. Turns out it’s because of her line, “So, your first time losing to us wasn’t enough?” I can’t express how much I dislike all the girls’ personalities now. I want to shake some compassion and humility into them. Plus, they never should have won that fight in the first place. Marrow yells, “We were holding back!” but coming from the team’s weakest member it reads as defensive. Like we’re supposed to go, ‘Lol yeah right, Marrow. Just admit you got your ass kicked,’ even tough the Ace Ops should have wiped the floor with them, holding back or not. That’s my biggest takeaway from this fight: it’s the reverse of what we should have gotten. The Ace Ops should have beaten Team RWBY with ease and struggled greatly against an android Maiden, not falling before a bunch of teens and succeeding against Penny if not for Nora’s timely breakthrough. Your half-trained cast of growing heroes should not come across as more powerful than an intelligently designed weapon now wielding magic.

Before the fight starts we get a whole lot of lines that are, frankly, frustrating. Vine tells Penny, “I thought you were supposed to protect the people, not hurt them” which is true enough. Penny is taking action that is putting a lot of people in danger, regardless of the fact that Ruby is at the helm. Problem is, the Ace Ops then blame her for Winter’s injuries and “stealing” the power? That’s not the issue here. The issue is Penny’s blind loyalty to Ruby, but by having the Ace Ops back a stance that is clearly inaccurate—Penny didn’t cause Winter’s injuries, Cinder did; Penny didn’t steal the powers, she was encouraged to take them—it makes them come across as Very Evil people who will twist things to make poor Penny look like the villain. Even if this is a case of Ace Ops having bad intel (which seems unlikely. Wouldn’t Winter have told them what happened?) RT has avoided letting the Ace Ops take a justified stance here because that would make them look too sympathetic… even though they do have multiple justified stances to take. Like, ‘Hey, stop keeping half a kingdom here where Salem can easily kill them all’ or, ‘Hey, why did you spend months betraying Ironwood and then turn on us instead of trying to find a compromise?’ Even, ‘Why did your uncle help kill our leader?’ There’s plenty that the Ace Ops should be rightfully pissed about, so choosing Penny and Winter out of everything feels like RT is firmly backing them into Ironwood’s corner: you’re just bad now and bad people blame innocent girls, rather than acknowledging the actual wrongs done against them.

So we have Ruby contradicting herself and the Ace Ops backing warped ideas that make them look worse than they actually are. Adding to the stupidity is the fact that Elm mentions that Winter is in “critical condition” and Weiss… doesn’t care. Harriet then tells Ruby that she’s “throwing [her] in jail right next to your uncle, runt” and... Ruby doesn’t care. Qrow is missing and Ruby just found out he’s been captured by Ironwood, yet there’s no reaction whatsoever. This show continues to go hard on the ‘screw adults’ mentality, huh? Ozpin needs to keep quiet and is horrible for coming back. Ironwood is now a cartoon villain. Winter made the wrong choice so no one cares about her anymore, not even her sister. The Ace Ops remain enemies despite trying to talk things out. Qrow? Barely know him. Who’s he? This is a Ruby loves Penny episode. There isn’t enough emotional nuance for her to care about him too.

The sad thing is I adore Nuts&Dolts. In a different context these moments would be a goldmine for me.

If anything, this episode feels worse than the majority of last week’s because there are good things here that have been thrown into a bad setup. I can’t get excited for the group’s battles when I see who they’re attacking. It’s hard to squee over Ruby hugging Penny when she doesn’t react to Qrow. Watching Nora go all Thor feels like it only has half its potential when it’s coming out of a very messing, ‘I’m more than just being strong and hitting things… which is why I’ll continue being strong and hitting things.’ RWBY has excellent moments set into a terrible story.

The fight, at least, is exciting. The Ace Ops goad Penny into stepping away so they can trap the rest of Ruby’s team—smart—and she’s forced to hold her own while Weiss tries to break through with her knight, then Nora overloads the system. To be frank, I’m not great at analyzing combat. Not unless I’m looking for something specific like whether a win is justified. I’ve already mentioned above the broad issue of the Ace Ops very nearly beating the most powerful fighter next to Salem herself, yet failing so spectacularly against Team RWBY. Outside of that context though? I really enjoyed this. Lots of tight action, creative attacks, teamwork, some emotional pauses throughout… it feels like a pretty solid battle. Put it on Youtube as a clip, outside of the rest of the story’s messiness, and you’ve got yourself a fantastic watch.

We can’t stay in the combat forever though. During all this Weiss calls the Ace Ops “cowards” for making it four vs. one. You know, RWBY should really just do away with dialogue and make the show purely action because the cast frequently sounds so stupid when they speak. Like her comment about Ironwood’s lockdown… really Weiss? ‘Yes, we might be wanted criminals who betrayed this group in the worst possible way, but how dare they not do the honorable thing and have three of their teammates sit out while trying to capture us? Even though the girl they’re trying to capture has magic. I mean, the nerve of them!’

Weiss, at this point I’m not sure how to explain to you that the people you’ve made into your enemies do not owe you a fair fight.

Another detail: we get to see Ruby fall off the edge of the walkway and this time she remembers she can fly! A definite improvement from Volume 6.

Finally: by the time Penny’s eyes go full Maiden in Elm’s grip, I think we’ve seen everything from our trailer. Episode 4 will truly be a mystery.

Ironwood has, of course, been watching the fight this whole time. When it looks like the Ace Ops will lose against the team he means to send in reinforcements, but Watts says he has “a message for your operatives.” Instead of capturing Penny they steal one of her swords instead, ending with a shot on Marrow looking conflicted.

Because remember, there’s no actual moral grayness in this story. The protagonists are right and everyone else is wrong. It’s (supposedly) black and white. Which means that if the Ace Ops have any hope of surviving this Volume and being seen as anything other than evil bootlickers, they have to join with Ruby. Marrow seems primed to do that.

Am I surprised? No. Disappointed? Always lol.

May has the airship ready to go and they fly off… despite the shields. And the lockdown. Consistency? Who’s she? Nora is said to be “in bad shape” and after another hug Penny leaves to hide in Amity, even though Ruby thinks that hiding is a useless, cowardly choice. Just not when she and her allies choose to do it.

We end the episode with Watts receiving Penny’s sword and making the statement, “If you can’t beat them… then make them join you.” I have to say, his cheesy villainy is something I continue to enjoy, even if it’s heavy handed at times. Watts is just fun. I do have to say though: if Penny is hacked, what does that say about her agency? We double-downed on the ‘real girl’ narrative by giving her the Maiden powers, but she’s simultaneously synthetic enough that a single piece of her can remove all autonomy? It once again feels like RT isn’t sure what point they’re trying to make, they’re just chucking a lot of themes at the wall and seeing what sticks. Still, we’ll have to let it all play out before making any judgements.

And that’s it for this week. It seems like this is a slightly shorter recap than normal, though that may be because I struggle with discussing pure action sequences, which made up a decent chunk of this episode. I’ll no doubt return to the Ace Ops vs. Penny fight when I’m not on a self-imposed, one day deadline for posting. The only thing left is to update the Bingo Card, but I don’t think we made any headway this week. So... good job, RWBY?

I’m still going to hold off on the civilian’s square until Salem’s army actually attacks, as well as the two day timeline square.

No Winter this episode

Watts is teaming up with Ironwood which is… so much worse than him teaming up with Jacques again. Does a square get an X if the canon is even worse than what you assumed it would be??

Maria was mentioned this episode. Jury’s out on whether she’ll actually do anything.

Atlas is still standing, we knew Penny was heading towards a hack so it’s not much of a cliffhanger, no Qrow, no Ozpin, no Neo or Cinder.

It certainly looks like we can check off “The team gets Amity up and running,” but let’s just see if there are any problems next episode. If the problem is only ‘We would have launched it if not for Salem’s attack’ or something, I’m checking it off. The point is it would have worked.

I’m also leaning towards “More obvious Blake/Yang implications without confirming a relationship” given Blake’s heart-to-heart with Nora… but let’s see if the Volume does anything more egregious.

All in all (and perhaps despite what I’ve written above), I don’t think it’s fair to totally drag this episode. As said, this feels like a strong episode in a bad story, something that I would have LOVED if a) Salem weren’t here and b) the ‘ethical dilemma’ wasn’t boiled down to a ‘Team Ruby is good’ and ‘Ironwood and everyone associated with him is evil’ situation. It’s an episode whose tone and character action belong in a different version of RWBY. If you gave us this fun episode in an earlier Volume against a Pure Evil antagonist? It would have been great.

Ah well. It is what it is. Expect more emotional whiplash when we come back and everyone learns that Oscar has been kidnapped by Salem’s talking pooch 🙃

See you then! 💜

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #rwby strings #mymetas #rwby recaps #apologies if this Recap is messier than normal #I have a zoom meeting in five minutes lol #gotta go fast!

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karasuno-writings · 5 years

Text

Soulmate AU scenarios

Hi!! So in hopes to get some followers so I can get some requests I made these scenarios for some Haikyuu!! boys I love fondly!! I hope you all like them!!!

Characters: Yamaguchi, Nishinoya, and Tsukishima

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Yamaguchi Tadashi

Everything you draw on your skin also appears on your soulmate’s skin

Y/N doodled absentmindedly on their skin, peppering their arm with stars and planets, it was odd, but it helped them focus when the teacher spoke, and they liked to imagine their soulmate liking the décor. Y/N knew that whatever they decided to pepper their skin on was going to appear on their soulmate’s skin, so they decided they would draw at least a small doodle until they found the one that was meant for them. Their soulmate was not idle either, sometimes Y/N would notice a few doodles here and there. Y/N had tried to speak to him, especially when they had just found out about soulmates, but they had been explained countless times that messages would blur and appear as ink splotches rather than deliver, which was totally unfair and made everything rather challenging. So, they had given up on writing and rather expressed through doodles, a sun in the mornings, a heart when they wanted for their soulmate to feel loved, a dog or an animal when they were happy and always a moon and a star at night. They were sometimes met with décor, little clouds, small stars, hearts and what could be animals with enough imagination, those little added details brightened their day.

They looked outside, longing to find their soulmate, whichever hints they could give they would, they just needed something, anything they could to help. A lone raven crowed outside, perching on the windowsill just outside the classroom. Y/N smiled, of course! With the growing popularity of the volleyball team across Japan a raven might be a good hint! They hopped their soulmate would make the connection; with that they decided the decorations for today might be enough.

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Yamaguchi stared at his arm as little swivels spread on his wrist, he had not found them yet, but he understood, the little details, the drawings were not coincidences, they reflected them and their thoughts, and he found that adorable.

“Tsk, they spend enough time drawing, they should have lend you some clues already…maybe they are too thick for that” Tsukishima sneered when he noticed his friend staring, “and you don’t seem too keen on helping them either”, he said stoically.

Yamaguchi knew he was not being mean with his words; he was rather pushing him to do something other than stare; to try and find them. He tried to make sense of what had appeared today on his wrist, some stars, hearts, flowers…was that a bird? A black bird mid flight adorned the top of the masterpiece, it was big and inside a circle, clearly to state its importance. Could it be? Was it a coincidence, that the “flightless ravens” just starting to gain height had so much yet maybe not enough to do with that drawing? If it was not a coincidence, if they knew…. that meant they were closer than he ever imagined, this filled his heart with a new hope.

Tsukishima knew that Yamaguchi was not thick, but he knew him well enough to know he was holding back due to his own insecurities, and he had to admit it, he was scared they would be disappointed when they met him. He squinted his eyes and turned to look at his blonde friend, “I will find them today”, a fire of determination had been lit within him and when he set his mind nothing would hold him back. He uncapped a marker, ready to try.

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Y/N noticed that just above their constellation splotches of ink began to appear, their soulmate was drawing something, bigger than the usual add-ons. Something round, something square; he truly was not the best at this. They squinted their eyes; ¿Was he trying to say something? Y/N added some question marks next to the drawing, Yamaguchi huffed, clearly his art skills needed some polishing. His strategy needed to change; when he was determined to do something, he was sure to carry it out, he would not give up on them, not when he felt them so close.

Yamaguchi hopped they would forgive him, that they would not mind, and gathering the courage he drew a black heart on his cheeks just below his left eye. If the raven was not a coincidence, he would be able to recognize them.

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Y/N exited their clubroom, the activities have been delayed so they were headed home a little later than usual. As they walked outside school Y/N would buy some snacks for the way home on the nearest convenience store. They were about to enter when a volleyball rolled towards their feet, they picked it up and looked around, wondering where it might have come from. They saw a figure running towards them, the light was dim but they could see that it was a boy around their age, floppy hair that stuck in different directions and freckles that adorned his face and… was that a heart on his cheek?

Yamaguchi stopped dead on his tracks as he saw Y/N holding the ball out to him, he felt his cheeks flush and he could not help his smile. He knew them from school, Y/N, he shared the first class with them and honestly Yamaguchi always thought they were beautiful, and they were nice with their classmates…but could it be? Cheeks flushed red he lifted his hand as if to touch the heart in their cheek, however he figured that they might have not noticed it before so instead he lifted his arm to display their beautiful artwork right there on his wrist.

They gasped and looked at him, then at their arm, lifting it up to compare the identical scribbles Y/N remembered making. They looked at his cheek and lifted a hand to their own. “Did you…make it?” was all Y/N managed to say. Yamaguchi, enticed with them, their eyes and smile, only nodded. Y/N smiled and held his hand, his already flushed cheeks turning a deeper shade of red, “Maybe we can go out sometime soon, I am ______” They said admiring the boy that stood before them. Yamaguchi gulped “I am Yamaguchi Tadashi, its late already, mind if I walk you home?”. Y/N smiled at the sweet suggestion and nodded “I’d love to, we have a lot of catching up to do”.

Nishinoya Yu

Soulmates that feel each other’s pain and get each other’s bruises

You were enjoying your after-school club as usual; everything was running smoothly. That is until you felt a warm pain spread across your side. Flinching you held your breath as you felt it spread before disappearing, relaxing after it was gone. Sure, this one would not be tainting your skin in the usual purple bruises that seem way too common on your body now. You can’t say it took you by surprise, you were expecting it sooner or later as your soulmate seemed to become especially reckless at this time of the day.

Ever since you were little pain seemed to invade you without an apparent cause, bruises were common on your legs and arms, your parents explained that this was because of your soulmate, your other half’s pain was meant to be yours too. You had then understood that your soulmate was either someone really clumsy or incredibly reckless.

Yet again pain spread though you, this time it was sharp in your arms, this was the most common place for it, leaving red splotches on your arms. It stopped being odd for you a while ago, even if you could not muster to think of a reason why this was.

However, you were sure that when you met your soulmate you’d have to file in some complaints.

_____________________________________________________________________

Kageyama sent the ball right into Hinata’s hand, Noya followed its every movement as Hinata spiked it, and while it was a powerful hit, Tsukishima managed to block it just in time. Noya’s time to shine was here, he dived towards the ball as it fell, sure that he would be able to save it and give his team one more chance. However, his measurements were a little off, and the ball instead of hitting his arms was headed straight to his face. Noya braced for impact, and immediately he felt stinging hot pain on his forehead and nose, where the ball had hit. Everyone stopped dead, and even though the save was successful it didn’t seem to matter, all eyes were fixed on him, the ball hit the ground with a dull thud.

“What?” He stood up, ignoring the remaining ache “Why are you looking at me like that? It wasn’t that bad! We can carry on!”. A drop of blood fell to the ground, as soon as he noticed this he felt a warm sensation on the right side of his face. He excused himself and ran out of the gym, towards the infirmary, he wanted to carry on as soon as possible but he had to stop the blood first.

_____________________________________________________________________

When he entered the infirmary the nurse was tending to someone else, he could only see her back and make out the silhouette of what seemed to be a classmate of his. Considering all that he needed was some gauze and that his mind was still in the rush of game, he hoped they would not mind the interruption. “Hi! Sorry to interrupt but I swear this will be quick it-“. He was abruptly taken aback, the nurse had turned to face him, annoyed by the tasteless interruption, and behind her Y/N sat, a white compress on the right side of their forehead.

Their mouth hung agape “You!!”, Y/N had finally found the culprit, and while they probably should be mad, seeing him standing there all sweet and quite handsome, Y/N couldn’t help but feel their heart melt. Noya turned bright red, after all it was his fault they were both here, but smiled bright nonetheless as he knew exactly what this meant. “Nishinoya, actually, nice to meet you!” They were gorgeous, and he really hoped they would forgive him for all the troubles they had probably been though because of his reckless actions, “I promise all make it up to you! Are you free this Friday?”. They smiled and rolled their eyes, maybe he was not so bad after all.

Tsukishima Kei

Not being able to see colour until you look at your soulmate’s eyes.

Kei walked around the schoolyard, his headphones playing his favorite song. Classes had ended early today, and he still had yet to wait for the clubs to start. He had finished all that was for tomorrow, so he had time to spare, sadly he had forgotten the book he used to read in his free hours. Walking towards a bench to sit down he saw a couple pass hand in hand, not meaning to eavesdrop he heard them talk about an apparent “sunset”. He had heard of the idea before, his brother used to tell him stories about how the sky would turn into beautiful “colors”, which he had described as emotions; however he stopped believing in those fairytales as soon as he lost his faith in Akiteru.

“Tsk”, he clicked his tongue, suddenly annoyed by the memory, whoever had come up with such silly stories clearly didn’t think it through. If there was really a thing such as a “soulmate” and “true love” he wanted nothing to do with it. What was the point of giving people hope if at least a good fraction of them ends up alone anyways? He sat down and closed his eyes, letting himself drift to the sound of the music to distract himself from the thought. Still the idea danced on the back of his mind, along with a classmate of his, he could not really wrap his mind around why they seemed to have something special about them. He blushed and clicked his tongue once more, such silly thoughts would be the end of him. He had not even talked to them, all he knew was what he saw of them when they talked to their classmates, they just seemed…different. Kei stood up, even more annoyed than before, he wanted to stop his mind from wandering more so he decided to go to the library and use this time to study English.

_____________________________________________________________________

Y/N rushed along towards the library, they had been asked to hand in some projects from her classmates, after that they were free to go. They clutched the neatly stacked folders close to their chest, not really paying attention to were they were headed since this path had become very familiar to them. When they opened the door to the building somethings seemed…off, the grey hues seemed particularly unstable that day, almost mocking her as if they were to suddenly burst into colors. This had been happening a lot recently, specially whenever Y/N was at school.

They entered the library and greeted the librarian, who smiled at them as they handed in the projects, “Thank you dear, the book you’ve been asking for is finally in! You can look for it on hallway 7G”. “Thank you!”, Y/N went on their way towards the English section of the library, where she saw his classmate Tsukishima staring at the books with a frown on his face.

Y/N could not lie, he was very handsome, and while he usually seemed cold they were sure that there was more to him that what his demeanor sold off, he was intriguing and while they had not talked to him personally, Y/N felt some pull and a big want to get to know him. Considering he was standing in front of the book they wanted to rent, they decided it was ideal to start a conversation. “Hi! Are you looking for any book in specific?” Kei did not turn to face them just yet, reading the backsides with particular attention, he would never admit it but it was partially to hide his surprise at the sudden interaction, “Not really, I just wanted something to help me practice”. Y/N smiled and took the book they were looking for, “This one is the best! I was going to use it but I already know most of it so you can take it.”, they held it out for him. When Tsukishima turned around to thank them, he was abruptly stopped, he was not one to get startled with ease, but this time he could hardly hide his surprise as he held in a deep breath. Y/N dropped the book they were holding, looking straight into Kei’s eyes as the world around them changed in the most wonderful way possible. Both of them dared not to move as color busted in that little section of the library, the small windows near the celling letting in the light of the sunset, orange and pink hues lightened up the backsides of the books which to them were now filled with different tones of crimson and navy blue. However, Y/N was still fixated on him, his hair golden and eyes a beautiful warm honey.

Kei quickly composed himself, he did not know what to say, he really did not think anything like this would ever happen to him. He clicked his tongue once more; he was stupidly proven wrong by this sweet classmate of his whose E/C was the most beautiful thing he had yet seen and as annoying as that was he could not muster to be mad. “You should be more careful with the books, you know? Tsk, dropping them like that…terribly clumsy” he picked it up, “Are you just going to stare at me?”. Y/n smiled “I’m Y/N, we could maybe share the book, if you want?”.

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu tsukishima #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x reader #tsukishima x reader #yamaguchi x reader #nishinoya x reader #Kei Tsukishima #yamaguchi tadashi #Nishinoya #haikyuu matchups

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notthefilmreview · 4 years

Text

Falling in love with Aster Flores in 1hr and 45m (aka watching THE HALF OF IT)

Hi, it’s Dana and today I’m going to be reviewing THE HALF OF IT!

I am so excited; I have been waiting for this movie since the trailer first came out weeks ago so it’s safe to say that my expectations are high and I truly hope that this will be rememorable.

I also did a reaction to the trailer of THE HALF OF IT so if you haven’t seen that the link is here.

I think that’s all I really have to say so read on to see my reaction to THE HALF OF IT...

This is just a lovely way to start a movie and I have noticed that a lot of movies do that. I personally really like the simplicity of adding a meaningful quote at the beginning of a movie (especially if it’s actually corely related, not just added for the sake of adding it) because it gives it that book-like, nostalgic feeling.

In the first few seconds of the movie we already have that idea of soulmates explained in some really creative animation and lovely narration. What I’m thinking is that obviously alluding to that connection between Aster and Ellie being almost soulmate-like.

And here we have Ellie who is scientific and rational and doesn’t believe in soulmates. Oh, she is going to find that everything she has once believed in is going to be proved so so wrong once she meets Aster and I just can’t wait!!!!

Ellie’s mum. We don’t know what has happened to her yet. Is she dead? Has she left? Is she missing? Was there an accident? But what we do know is that she is the reason why Ellie has closed herself off from other people and believes that love is irrational and meaningless. Therefore, for Ellie to truly accept her feelings for Aster she’ll have to face her mum and I am not ready for this; this is going to most likely be such an emotional part of the movie and I will definitely be crying my eyes out as I attempt to write up this review.

Also, Ellie has a lot of checklists and I feel that vibe because that is pretty much my whole entire life.

Mr Flores? As in Astra Flores?

I think the music teacher might be Aster’s dad and I feel like that’s going to relate in someway. I don’t *exactly* know how - yet - but I will ponder on it throughout the review.

So Aster is also in her dad’s class and she has such a beautiful voice, seriously, listen to it; she sounds like an actual angel and she makes it look so effortless. I understand why everyone likes her so much because even I want to marry her!

I think that Ellie has a crush on her even before she meets her in the corridor and that’s quite cool considering that the trailer made it look as though she gained a love at first sight crush on her (which she obviously doesn’t believe in).

Ellie’s philosophy teacher, who is quite close to her, knows about her essay writing business but never actually turns her in. This was a question I had during my trailer review because I was wondering how none of the teachers have noticed (or they were all just blind).

Another question about the essay business I had was how she manages to get away with writing around the same essays for everyone. However, it turns out that Ellie writes different essays for everyone and that is just amazing.

Also, Ellie was talking about leaving or staying for university so I think that’s also going to be a big thing. I hope that she ends up leaving at the end for her own sake.

Wow, okay, was it just me or did you feel that sexual tension too?

Because that just took my breath away and just made me love Aster even more. I didn’t even know that I could love her more but just watching her talk to Ellie was so beautiful and I just love her. Wow.

She’s so smart and so knowledgable about everything. I just want her to talk to me for hours and hours about anything that comes to her mind.

Aster also has known Ellie for some time which was a surprise because from the trailer I thought that they only met there for the first time. Hmmmm...maybe Aster also has feelings for Ellie????

I’m sensing a theme. Almost feels like a philosophy essay on love...maybe.

Everyone seems to be hanging out in the church which is quite different, I guess.

Aw, Aster is insecure about being at the peak of popularity and she’s being extremely honest about this to someone she’s only just met. This really shows that even through Ellie’s writing, Aster can tell that the person who’s writing this is genuine and someone she can trust to open up to.

(Also, she should drop her friends and find other people who don’t try to boost their own ego by bringing you down to their level. You are above them. Aster! They are nothing like you, honey!)

But her boyfriend’s quite funny and cute (in like a puppy kind of way). I know we’re meant to not like him because he’s getting in the way of Aster and Ellie but if they just break up I feel like he’ll just be a bit of a cool guy. I love how he has taco time with his girlfriend because that’s just too cute (and also makes me quite hungry).

This.

Oh my, this is just beautiful.

They created art together from a bunch of lines that just so happened to get together.

Wow.

They are goals.

...this, on the other hand, is anything but.

I feel so bad for Aster being letter-fished (y’know, like catfished?) like that. She just wants someone who understands her at that deep sort of level; someone she can talk to about philosophy and art and literature; she needs Ellie (or me because I love books, abstract art, and philosophy too - hit me up, Aster!)

Omg, guys, is Aster Flores my soulmate?

She laughs at horror films! I laugh at horror films! I have seriously never met anyone else who’s crazy enough to laugh at horror films apart from Aster and I am astonished.

Why is she perfect in every way for me?????

However, I do find it extremely creepy how they’re basically stalking Aster and learning everything about her, writing every detail on whiteboards, windows, and notebooks.

I just love the contrast between Paul’s energetic, lively, and chaotic family contrasting with Ellie’s small and quiet home atmosphere.

What’s a taco sausage? A taco with sausage pieces? A hotdog but with a taco shell instead of a bun? A taco shell in the shape of a sausage?

It turns out that Ellie’s mum died when she was quite young.

Paul ends up finding out about Ellie’s crush on Aster quite early on. Actually, everything in this movie happens quite early on which I like because it just gets to the point of the plot without beating around the bush, constantly keeping the audience on their toes. I just love this movie so much.

What I also love is how Paul doesn’t go “you’re gay????” with all those question marks. It’s just normalised without questioning the gender of who she loves; just the person. Paul is actually just a cinammon roll at heart and he does deserve to find love but not with Aster (and I hope he learns that).

I’d probably eat that.

Hmmmm I’m thinking that this might be a bit of foreshadowing for the ending. I predict that Ellie leaves Squahamish and as the train is leaving, Aster (or maybe even Paul because I can’t see Aster running after trains) runs after her to say goodbye.

Hearing them eat those taco sausages has actually made me quite hungry.

Awwwwwww look at this boy; he is too cute to handle; he deserves so much love.

Ellie’s song - oh my. Can you just imagine her having a duet with Aster singing this song? And the fact that everyone claps is just beautiful.

Just no. Please, no. Please, stop, you’re only hurting yourself here. She has a name, please use it.

Also, Ellie’s sudden popularity??? Drunk Ellie??? Protective Paul???

Their friendship is everything that is needed in the world.

Okay, so if I thought that the corridor seen had sexual tension well...this...is on a whole other level.

Aster is conflicted between her destiny to marry Trig and how understood she feels when “Paul” writes to her.

Also I am here for the bromance between Ellie’s dad and Paul.

THIS. SHOT. IS. EVERYTHING.

It sort of reminds me of the lake scene in After - except better.

(Btw, this was kind of their first date. Right?)

Ummm...okay...WHAT DID I JUST WATCH?

WTF PAUL?

Paul, oh my, are you okay? Paul, honey, you were a cinammon roll. I cared about you, Paul. I believed that you deserved to find love when you finally realise you’re just not right for Aster.

Paul, I know that you’re not the brightest bulb in the shop but - this is not what I meant. This is not how I wanted conflict to arise.

This movie was going so well having this PLATONIC friendship that is sweet, caring, and supportive.

Paul, you’ve ruined it.

But, you know what the most annoying part is??? It’s the fact that I know at the end of this movie him and Ellie are probably going to make up and they’re going to brush that near kiss off as Paul being cofused or something and everything will be happy.

Usually, I enjoy watching something that I did not expect and the movie has been delivering that so far - including this. This, on the other hand, I did not like.

What kind of signals are you getting, Paul????

I seriously just want to know what’s going through this guys mind when he asks Ellie “You don’t want me to kiss you?” because she has seriously shown no signs of wanting to kiss him. Not gonna lie, Paul, but I think Ellie would rather make out with a bottle of Yakult than you!

I don’t know, I feel like that just ruined this movie for me. Going into this movie I knew that there will be something that causes a rift in their friendship but I thought this movie was better than using that over-used plot of platonic friendship turning into something more (or something like that, anyone ever watched Naomi and Eli’s No Kiss List? Well that’s what I’m sort of talking about).

There’s about 25 minutes left in the movie so I guess we’ll get through it (I just hope that somehow Paul redeems himself because even Trig seems more of an appealing character now).

Wait.

I swear we established this way at the beginning of the movie.

I’m so confused.

Wow, too far Paul.

I seriously take back every nice thing I said about you earlier being accepting, lovely, caring, and all that because this scene has just ruined him for me. I can’t believe they’re kind of making Paul the antagonist!!!! He had so much potential and they just did that.

There is just no way he’s redeeming himself at the end. I wouldn’t make friends with him again after this.

I really just want to fight him at this point; he just needs to go away; I’m not happy at all.

Why is the only good guy in this movie Ellie’s dad? Seriously, there is not a single good guy and that just makes me so annoyed.

I can confirm.

I feel so bad for Aster, seeing the one person who she thought understood her (Paul) try to kiss Ellie.

And you don’t either Paul.

I’m pretty sure Ellie’s dad understands her a lot more than you could any day so don’t go around thinking that you really know her because if you did then you wouldn’t have said what you said.

AND THIS IS THE REASON WHY YOU ARE A QUEEN ASTER FLORES!

Paul got what he deserved and I had to replay that soooo many times just to get that satisfaction.

(Personally, I think that Aster should have slapped Paul and then kissed Ellie amongst all the triggered homophobes).

This shot is just beautiful. They know they’re both heading in different paths, with Ellie deciding to go to Grinnell and Aster going to art school and this might just be their last chance to get things right between them.

Are we seeing this???

THIS IS EVERYTHING I WANTED FROM THIS MOVIE!

Even though they’re not ending up together their is that agreement that they like each other and they might even wait for each other after university.

That was just the best goodbye ever. I am so proud of Ellie’s confidence growth.

Ew, no, not you again.

I thought we were done with this guy after he got slapped.

Why can’t it be Ellie’s dad wishing her a farewell???

I can’t believe she just forgives him after he told her she’s basically going to go to Hell and we don’t even see him say sorry to her. I just hate how we were made to love him and...

Oh he’s running after the train oh my, I hate this so much.

Alright, this running and this goodbye would have been cute if all that stuff before didn’t happen - but it did. And no matter how much I try I can’t see Paul the same way no matter how much he attempts to make it up to Ellie.

Paul doesn’t deserve her tears.

(say it with me kids)

The most annoying thing is the fact that this was meant to be a friendship-centric story so I did expect that Aster and Ellie wouldn’t be the main focus but they just ruined the friendship and attempted to restore it in the last 25 minutes through Paul’s speech at church. This wasn’t a friendship story and Paul wasn’t a good friend.

Paul, in the first half was a good friend (the best) and had so much potential. Paul, in the second half destroyed first half Paul and replaced him with his evil homophobic twin brother.

Lol maybe that’s why they call it THE HALF OF IT!

At this point, I don’t even have anything to say except for the fact that I am very much disappointed in Paul’s storyline and what Netflix thinks is a “platonic friendship between a guy and a girl” (or a friendship in general).

As for Aster and Ellie, they got the ending I partially expected with Ellie deciding to leave Squahamish for university and them going their separate ways after that brilliant kiss (there are no words to describe the thick sexual tension between these two people).

Aster in general is just an amazing person who deserves to rule the world and I hate how she had to go through that letter-fishing but the upside is that she has time to figure herself out and what she wants in life at art school without fake friends and Trig holding her back.

I’m happy that Ellie gets to leave Squahamish but I feel sorry that her dad has to hang out with Paul the homophobe back home (I hope his taco sausage business fails and I’m not even sorry).

Anyway, that was a bit of a disappointment but if I just the almost kiss part out of my mind then it’ll be less traumatic.

What did you think of the movie? Good? Bad? Still angry with Paul? Tell me in the comment! Bye!

#the half of it #netflix #movies #movie commentary #ellie chu #aster flores is my bae #aster flores

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makeste · 6 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 181: 9:59 A.M.

Previously on BnHA: Gentle continued to rassle with Deku and asked him why he wanted to be a hero. Deku said it was because of everyone who helped him and supported him and believed in him; he wanted to make them proud and “show them a brighter future.” The two of them bonded in that shounen way, and meanwhile La Brava sprinted into the woods trying to hack U.A.’s network. Unfortunately she ran into Hounddog and a bunch of Ectoplasm clones. Realizing the jig was up, she went back to warn Gentle, only to find him lying defeated on the ground, having just fallen victim to Deku’s latest Shoot Style move, St. Louis Smash. La Brava was all “let him go!!” and ran up to Deku and started adorably beating on him with her lil fists. Gentle belatedly realized that he had put her in this situation and made her into his accomplice even though she was innocent. In an attempt to get her sentence reduced, he flung Deku into the air with his quirk to try and make it look like the battle never occurred. Ecto and Hounddog then came out of the woods, and Gentle surrendered.

Today on BnHA: There is a not-as-tense-as-they-try-to-make-it-seem scene where we wait and see if the festival is going to be cancelled due to Gentle’s shenanigans. Apparently the heroes have been instructed to start the evacuation process upon “confirmation of hostile intent.” But Gentle says he is not hostile. He says he’s committed a lot of crimes, but that La Brava is innocent and was brainwashed by him, and he asks them to pardon her. Deku then comes out of the woods and the heroes ask if he fought with Gentle. Deku white lies his way out of the situation, saying that Gentle was trying to pull a prank and that the two of them had “a small dispute.” Apparently Hounddog is satisfied by that, because he reports back to the other heroes that the situation is fine, and then he and Ecto apprehend Gentle and La Brava and take them to the police. Meanwhile Deku hurries back to get cleaned up and changed, and makes it back with only moments to spare. The concert begins, with Eri watching excitedly from Mirio’s arms.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 207 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

we’re opening on a “moments earlier” flashback of Ecto being informed via his headset that a student went out shopping earlier and hasn’t come back

and now Hounddog is contacting him and saying that something’s going on near to where he is, and he’s going to borrow a few of Ecto’s clones to go check it out

Ecto’s asking if it’s an emergency, and Hounddog is giving him a ton of detail based on scent alone omg

wow Hounddog, you’re pretty cool aren’t you. “three people, not moving any more, and they’re all freaked out and sweaty”

and look how scary he is

I freaking love him omg

OH THANK GOD

so because the intruders have no hostile intent, the festival can still go on! what a stupid loophole! I’m so glad they exploited it lmao

you know, if this was in any way a serious villain operation, this kind of shrugging-your-shoulders approach would definitely get a few more students kidnapped and/or killed. nice to see U.A. hasn’t learned a damn thing lol

Ecto recognizes Gentle from his Youtube vids as “that villain that’s only quick to run away”

now Hounddog’s grabbing him by the collar and asking where his comrades are

Gentle says he has none

Hounddog is all “what about those injuries and the general mess in the vicinity indicating that a battle has recently taken place?”

and Gentle says he “had a stumble”

lmao. “one heck of a whoopsy-daisy there. good thing I have Life Alert”

Hounddog’s asking if it was just the two of them and Gentle says yes

oh snaaaaaaaaap

I wonder if he knows which student? he should learn how to identify Deku’s scent specifically since it’s always him getting involved in these things. would save some time

meanwhile we’re cutting back to the student in question who is landing now

and he’s thinking back to what Gentle said earlier and he’s figured out that he was trying to protect La Brava and spare her from the full consequences of all this if possible

meanwhile Gentle is telling Hounddog, “if you’re looking for the boy, he’s just over there...”

oh have you finally learned a life lesson then

Gentle gained +500 self awareness points! too late! but at least he got them lol

I hope Aiba has the sense to keep her mouth shut

he’s asking them to pardon her

she’s so little and cute, I’m sure they will omg

meanwhile Aiba is sobbing and clinging to Gentle and thinking no, he didn’t brainwash her, she really loves him

eh, a little of column A, a little of column B...

now Hounddog is asking Deku if he fought Gentle

well, aside from it being obvious at a glance, I’m sure he can probably smell it too

wow Deku

look at this little green punk and his smooth white lies

anyways, so he says it’s all right now

Aiba is still clinging to Gentle and sobbing

getting the feeling these guys can see right through Deku’s bullshit, but at the same time they can kind of figure out why he’s not being 100% truthful, and they don’t want to ruin the day for the kids and bring a storm of negative PR raining down upon U.A. either

so The Sheriff -- who we haven’t seen a while, how you doin bud -- is asking for a report!

AND OH MY GOD

FUCKING CALLED IT. LOOK AT THIS GUY. JUST A BIG SOFTIE IN THE END ARENTCHA

so he says they’ll continue to keep their guard up, but for the time being they can stand down

and they’re taking Gentle into custody and telling him he can explain the details to the police

and as they lead him away, Gentle is telling Deku that he was once enrolled in a hero course, and that he became a criminal due to the despair of having to drop out

look how fucking massive Hounddog’s arm is oh my god

and also! yes, that’s very sweet, very nice, catharsis, etc. etc. everyone understands each other yay

fsdfkhlk now Ecto is stepping in and suddenly unleashing an array of powerful dad moves!!

telling him All Might was worried! seeing Deku look panicked when he realizes the time, and reassuring him that he still has time to get back! telling Deku they’ll go together to pick up the things Deku lost! ECTO YOU ARE GREAT AND SO UNDERRATED OMG. DARK HORSE MVP

MEANWHILE ONE OF DEKU’S ACTUAL DADS HAS JUST FOUND OUT HE’S MISSING AND HE’S REALLY PISSED OFF

getting the feeling that Aizawa would have never signed that permission slip. it was pretty irresponsible of All Might tbh. just, statistically the data shows that you don’t let Deku go off on his own. you just don’t. you don’t, All Might

and apparently the shirts say “A Band”! even for the kids who aren’t in the actual band! I wonder who came up with that name. sounds like the work of Todoroki “my hero name is Shouto” Shouto to me

(ETA: as we now know, it was actually Yaoyorozu “Shouto and I have a lot more in common than you know” Momo)

now we’re following Deku on a brief journey to pick up the bags he dropped, while he thinks to himself about how similar he and Gentle were, and that they both fought for others

okay but let’s not pretend Gentle was fighting for La Brava’s sake until the very end, though

anyway, the bags weren’t where Deku left them, but thankfully an old lady picked them up and they found them around 9:35!

AND GUYS LOOK AT THIS OMG

KAMINARI DENKI YOU TRULY KNOW NO FEAR HUH. that Kacchan thing really emboldened him. he came out of it alive and was all, “wow I can really get away with anything, huh?”

AND HE CAN! WHAT A REVELATION

(ETA: okay but for real, I know BakuDeku and KiriBaku are the #1 and #3 most popular pairings in the series (going by AO3 anyway), but after reading this arc, I can’t help but feel like KamiBaku is being slept on. Kaminari’s Little Bro Energy and his willingness to test boundaries put together with Kacchan’s frankly shocking levels of compliance make for an amazing combo. the cuteness potential here is off the fucking charts)

so people are milling around and wondering what class A has in store and saying they’re excited

and of course they are, because class A famously kicks ass as we have all realized by now

and now Eri is shyly tugging at her big bro Mirio’s sleeve and asking if Deku is going to dance

YOU BET HE IS, ERI. HE’S GOING TO DANCE YOUR SOCKS OFF

and All Might is running up to Aizawa, presumably to tell him they found Deku and everything’s hunky dory now

look at all these people!

SO LET’S BE SURE TO GIVE EM A SHOW, EVERYONE

holy shit it’s 9:59 and still no Deku in sight. fucking kid always has to make an entrance

AHHHHHHHHHH

I’M MORE EXCITED THAN THIS WHOLE FUCKING CROWD PUT TOGETHER OMGGG

WHO IS THAT SHOUTING “YAOYOROZU” OVER ON THE LEFT?? DID I SOMEHOW GET TRANSPORTED INTO THIS MANGA AND DIDN’T REALIZE

(ETA: apparently these are all of her fans from the commercials she did with Snake Hair Lady and Kendou. not my preferred way for Momo to get a following, but I can’t say I object to her having a following. what can I say, these people know perfection when they see it)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS IT OH MY GOD. THE ANIME BETTER KNOCK THIS OUT OF THE FUCKING PARK

BUT OH MY GOD, EVEN THOUGH IT’S JUST ONE PAGE I’M FUCKING LOSING MY MIND

(ETA: oh my god I’m so glad we got more in the next chapter though. I was prepared to take whatever we got, but for a moment I genuinely thought this was gonna be it, and after all of that buildup I’m so happy we did get the full performance and each of the characters got a little moment to shine)

MOMO’S HARDCORE CHEERING SQUAD!! EITHER THAT OR JIROU ACTUALLY WROTE A SONG THAT CONSISTS OF NOTHING BUT MOMO’S NAME OVER AND OVER, AND THEY ELECTED TO PLAY THIS AS THEIR OPENING ACT. I KNOW THIS ISN’T ACTUALLY WHAT’S HAPPENING, BUT IT STILL CAN BE CANON IN MY HEART

MIRIO HOISTING ERI UP TO SEE

THIS IS THE CUTEST PANEL WE’VE EVER HAD IN THIS MANGA. SUCK IT, ALL YOU OTHER PANELS

BAKUGOU PLAYING THE SHIT OUT OF THOSE DRUMS! FUCKING MURDER EVERYONE WITH YOUR SOUND BOIIIII

AND ERI SMILING

I’M DEAD. THIS IS BEAUTIFUL. THIS IS SO FUCKING GREAT. I LOVE IT. THANK YOU, MANGA. I’M PLAYING “Y CONTROL” ON REPEAT, FUCK YEAH

YOU DON’T NEED A BONUS, JUST ENJOY THE MAGICAL MOMENT

#bnha #boku no hero academia #midoriya izuku #gentle (bnha)#la brava #hounddog (bnha)#ectoplasm (bnha)#bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #my ideal a band set:#y control by the yeah yeah yeahs #followed by cake by the ocean by dnce #followed by locked out of heaven by bruno mars #and concluding with everlong by the foo fighters #because you just can’t top everlong

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oscar-isaacs-number-one-bitch · 6 years

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“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” Movie Review

When Sony decided to allow Marvel Studios to put Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many were relieved, citing Sony’s missteps with their previous two Amazing Spider-Man live-action outings as sufficient evidence that Marvel Studios would better handle the character in their universe and that it was time for Sony to let go of the character. Sony would maintain creative control of the property, but they would no longer be able to make live-action Spider-Man films, at least not ones featuring that character (hence their Venom franchise, which is off to a surprisingly lucrative start). Without the most popular version of their largest tentpole franchise to bring in the big bucks, Sony would have to innovate with a fresh new idea if they hoped to keep it going.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, then, is Sony’s first ever feature-length animated film with the title character, only this time, there’s a slight twist to their usual formula: there are six of them. Yes, in this iteration, there are six Spider-people all running around New York City at once, trying to save the world. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? The film begins by giving us a glance into the life of Miles Morales, a scrappy Afro-Latino high school boy from the streets of Brooklyn who’s not super jazzed about going to a Charter school due to having won his spot in a lottery. When a radioactive spider from another dimension bites him during a little subway adventure with his Uncle Aaron, Miles gains the powers of Spider-Man, and following a tragic event involving an inter-dimensional portal built by Kingpin, five other Spider-beings show up in his universe, all seeking a way to get back home. With very little training from a roughed-up Peter Parker and a whole host of family issues to deal with, Miles must train to become a new Spider-Man, and send all these other Spider-people home before this universe is damaged forever (and that’s about as much as I can say without giving away spoilers).

I loved this movie, a lot. Of course, there’s always a market of people like me waiting for a new Spider-Man story (the original 2002 film is what got me into acting, after all), so I may be going into this with the tiniest bit of fanboy-ism running my energy levels, but as a film critic attempting to give as objective a review as possible to any material I happen to view, I still genuinely loved this movie. In fact, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that this is perhaps the third or even second best Spider-Man film ever made (theatrically), and that’s not hyperbole. As much as I enjoyed Homecoming, I think it’s a far stronger high school comedy than it is a Spider-Man movie, and to that film’s credit, it works well enough for what it had to accomplish in terms of the MCU’s full-length introduction to the character. Into the Spider-Verse, though, truly understands the fundamental staples of what makes the character compelling, those being guilt, consequences, and most importantly, differences.

Part of what works best about this film, which was written by Phil Lord and produced by himself and the other half of his creating team, Chris Miller, is that it doesn’t see the differences between the different Spider-beings as reasons why other kinds of people can’t occupy the costume or wear the mask. One of the most prominent lines in the entire movie is Miles telling the audience that anyone, no matter who you are, can wear the mask. And instead of having anything to prove anything, or thinking that it owes anyone an explanation as to why there’s a black Spider-Man this time, or a Spider-Woman, or an anime Spider-girl named Peni Parker, or even a literal Spider pig called Spider-Ham (voiced by my favorite stand-up comedian of all time), the script just assumes that this is normal because it should be. Anyone being able to wear the Spider-Man mask, not despite but because of their differences, is one of the film’s main themes, and the script takes pride in that rather than treating it like a chore to get over and done with (which a surprising amount of films do).

The film is also genuinely funny, with trademark Lord & Miller humor sprinkled in just the right amounts throughout the film’s runtime, the recaps of each Spider-person’s origin providing some of the most consistent and uproarious laughs of the bunch, particularly during the recap of Peter Parker’s backstory. Part of what makes the story in Into the Spider-Verse not just fun, but compelling as well, is that even within this humor, there are real life lessons being taught, sometimes ones that even adults need to learn from. And that’s what makes a great animated film great, when it can transcend that line between children and adults and have something everyone can learn from and take away from the experience of watching it. So many animated films this year have failed to send messages as compellingly as this one, and yet Into the Spider-Verse makes it look so effortless that one wonders why other films fail to do it so often (it’s because it’s not effortless; it’s genuinely hard to make a movie, but the people who worked on this really put in the effort and it shows).

The voice talent work in this film is fantastic, from what I’ve already mentioned with Jake Johnson as Peter Parker and John Mulaney as Spider-Ham, to Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, to Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy (she’s having a great weekend for early screenings, huh?), to smaller parts like Brian Tyree Henry as Miles’ father and Mahershala Ali as his Uncle Aaron, and of course, the great Nicolas Cage as Spider-Noir. Each performance is full of heart and fun, and there are many moments where one feels that only that actor’s voice could deliver that line in that way, and it is perfect. Perhaps the only true flaw in the movie is Kingpin’s characterization (since he kind of acts like a cutout cartoon character still despite what they give him to work with, but then again it is animation), but that has more to do with the writing than the voice casting. Major kudos to the casting directors on this one.

And yet in all of this, I have yet to mention the animation, which is astounding. Each time an exaggerated sound effect or a narration happens in the film, a little comic book style text or text box appears on the screen to accompany it, and it feels genuinely conceivable that someone could have written this film as a comic book with every panel brought spectacularly to life. One would think the hybrid style of 3D modeling made to look like a come-to-life comic book panel should have been by now one of the most obvious techniques in animated history, but then again, we just got CG-Lego hybrids only 4 years ago and photoreal animation from Jungle Book only 2 years ago, so maybe there’s still more to be realized in this medium (I, for one, can’t wait to see if there is).

I was looking forward to this movie from the moment I saw the first trailer drop, but what I didn’t expect was that I would genuinely love it this much; the more I reflect on it, the more I find right with it, and the less it’s very few flaws bother me at all. This is perhaps the greatest Spider-Man movie since Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, and by far the best animated film of this year – certainly the most unique in terms of animation style, story, humor, and charazterization. Lord & Miller are one of the world’s greatest creative forces in the cinematic landscape, and if there were any movie this year I actually wanted a sequel to, it’s this one (stay for both credits scenes; it’s 100% worth it).

I’m giving “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” a 9.1/10

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texandviolence · 4 years

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What Makes a Life Significant

William James

IN my previous talk, 'On a Certain Blindness,' I tried to make you feel how soaked and shot-through life is with values and meanings which we fail to realize because of our external and insensible point of view. The meanings are there for the others, but they are not there for us. There lies more than a mere interest of curious speculation in understanding this. It has the most tremendous practical importance. I wish that I could convince you of it as I feel it myself. It is the basis of all our tolerance, social, religious, and political. The forgetting of it lies at the root of every stupid and sanguinary mistake that rulers over subject-peoples make. The first thing to learn in intercourse with others is non-interference with their own peculiar ways of being happy, provided those ways do not assume to interfere by violence with ours. No one has insight into all the ideals. No one should presume to judge them off-hand. The pretension to dogmatize about them in each other is the root of most human injustices and cruelties, and the trait in human character most likely to make the angels weep.

Every Jack sees in his own particular Jill charms and perfections to the enchantment of which we stolid onlookers are stone-cold. And which has the superior view of the absolute truth, he or we? Which has the more vital insight into the nature of Jill's existence, as a fact? Is he in excess, being in this matter a maniac? or are we in defect, being victims of a pathological anæsthesia as regards Jill's magical importance? Surely the latter; surely to Jack are the profounder truths revealed; surely poor Jill's palpitating little life-throbs are among the wonders of creation, are worthy of this sympathetic interest; and it is to our shame that the rest of us cannot feel like Jack. For Jack realizes Jill concretely, and we do not. He struggles toward a union with her inner life, divining her feelings, anticipating her desires, understanding her limits as manfully as he can, and yet inadequately, too; for he is also afflicted with some blindness, even here. Whilst we, dead clods that we are, do not even seek after these things, but are contented that that portion of eternal fact named Jill should be for us as if it were not. Jill, who knows her inner life, knows that Jack's way of taking it— so importantly—is the true and serious way; and she responds to the truth in him by taking him truly and seriously, too. May the ancient blindness never wrap its clouds about either of them again! Where would any of us be, were there no one willing to know us as we really are or ready to repay us for our insight by making recognizant return? We ought, all of us, to realize each other in this intense, pathetic, and important way.

If you say that this is absurd, and that we cannot be in love with everyone at once, I merely point out to you that, as a matter of fact, certain persons do exist with an enormous capacity for friendship and for taking delight in other people's lives; and 'that such persons know more of truth than if their hearts were not so big. The vice of ordinary Jack and Jill affection is not its intensity, but its exclusions and its jealousies. Leave those out, and you see that the ideal I am holding up before you, however impracticable to-day, yet contains nothing intrinsically absurd.

We have unquestionably a great cloud-bank of ancestral blindness weighing down upon us, only transiently riven here and there by fitful revelations of the truth. It is vain to hope for this state of things to alter much. Our inner secrets must remain for the most part impenetrable by others, for beings as essentially practical as we are necessarily short of sight. But, if we cannot gain much positive insight into one another, cannot we at least use our sense of our own blindness to make us more cautious in going over the dark places? Cannot we escape some of those hideous ancestral intolerances; and cruelties, and positive reversals of the truth?

For the remainder of this hour I invite you to seek with me some principle to make our tolerance less chaotic. And, as I began my previous lecture by a personal reminiscence, I am going to ask your indulgence for a similar bit of egotism now.

A few summers ago I spent a happy week at the famous Assembly Grounds on the borders of Chautauqua Lake. The moment one treads that sacred enclosure, one feels one's self in an atmosphere of success. Sobriety and industry, intelligence and goodness, orderliness and ideality, prosperity and cheerfulness, pervade the air. It is a serious and studious picnic on a gigantic scale. Here you have a town of many thousands of inhabitants, beautifully laid out in the forest and drained, and equipped with means for satisfying all the necessary lower and most of the superfluous higher wants of man. You have a first-class college in full blast. You have magnificent music-a chorus of seven hundred voices, with possibly the most perfect open-air auditorium in the world. You have every sort of athletic exercise from sailing, rowing, swimming, bicycling, to the ball-field and the more artificial doings which the gymnasium affords. You have kindergartens and model secondary schools. You have general religious services and special club-houses for the several sects. You have perpetually running soda-water fountains, and daily popular lectures by distinguished men. You have the best of company, and yet no effort. You have no zymotic diseases, no poverty, no drunkenness, no crime, no police. You have culture, you have kindness, you have cheapness, you have equality, you have the best fruits of what mankind has fought and bled and striven for under the name of civilization for centuries. You have, in short, a foretaste of what human society might be, were it all in the light, with no suffering and no dark corners.

I went in curiosity for a day. I stayed for a week, held spell-bound by the charm and ease of everything, by the middle-class paradise, without a sin, without a victim, without a blot, without a tear.

And yet what was my own astonishment, on emerging into the dark and wicked world again, to catch myself quite unexpectedly and involuntarily saying: "Ouf! what a relief! Now for something primordial and savage, even though it were as bad as an Armenian massacre, to set the balance straight again. This order is too tame, this culture too second-rate, this goodness too uninspiring. This human drama without a villain or a pang; this community so refined that ice-cream soda-water is the utmost offering it can make to the brute animal in man; this city simmering in the tepid lakeside sun; this atrocious harmlessness of all things,-I cannot abide with them. Let me take my chances again in the big outside worldly wilderness with all its sins and sufferings. There are the heights and depths, the precipices and the steep ideals, the gleams of the awful and the infinite; and there is more hope and help a thousand times than in this dead level and quintessence of every mediocrity."

Such was the sudden right-about-face performed for me by my lawless fancy! There had been spread before me the realization—on a small, sample scale of course—of all the ideals for which our civilization has been striving: security, intelligence, humanity, and order; and here was the instinctive hostile reaction, not of the natural man, but of a so-called cultivated man upon such a Utopia. There seemed thus to be a self-contradiction and paradox somewhere, which I, as a professor drawing a full salary, was in duty bound to unravel and explain, if I could.

So I meditated. And, first of all, I asked myself what the thing was that was so lacking in this Sabbatical city, and the lack of which kept one forever falling short of the higher sort of contentment. And I soon recognized that it was the element that gives to the wicked outer world all its moral style, expressiveness and picturesqueness,—the element of precipitousness, so to call it, of strength and strenuousness, intensity and danger. What excites and interests the looker-on at life, what the romances and the statues celebrate and the grim civic monuments remind us of, is the everlasting battle of the powers of light with those of darkness; with heroism, reduced to its bare chance, yet ever and anon snatching victory from the jaws of death. But in this unspeakable Chautauqua there was no potentiality of death in sight anywhere, and no point of the compass visible from which danger might possibly appear. The ideal was so completely victorious already that no sign of any previous battle remained, the place just resting on its oars. But what our human emotions seem to require is the sight of the struggle going on. The moment the fruits are being merely eaten, things become ignoble. Sweat and effort, human nature strained to its uttermost and on the rack, yet getting through alive, and then turning its back on its success to pursue another more rare and arduous still-this is the sort of thing the presence of which inspires us, and the reality of which it seems to be the function of all the higher forms of literature and fine art to bring home to us and suggest. At Chautauqua there were no racks, even in the place's historical museum; and no sweat, except possibly the gentle moisture on the brow of some lecturer, or on the sides of some player in the ball-field.

Such absence of human nature in extremis anywhere seemed, then, a sufficient explanation for Chautauqua's flatness and lack of zest.

But was not this a paradox well calculated to fill one with dismay? It looks indeed, thought 1, as if the romantic idealists with their pessimism about our civilization were, after all, quite right. An irremediable flatness is coming over the world. Bourgeoisie and mediocrity, church sociables and teachers' conventions, are taking the place of the old heights and depths and romantic chiaroscuro. And, to get human life in its wild intensity, we must in future turn more and more away from the actual, and forget it, if we can, in the romancer's or the poet's pages. The whole world, delightful and sinful as it may still appear for a moment to one just escaped from the Chautauquan enclosure, is nevertheless obeying more and more just those ideals that are sure to make of it in the end a mere Chautauqua Assembly on an enormous scale. Was im Gesang soll leben muss im Leben untergehn. Even now, in our own country, correctness, fairness, and compromise for every small advantage are crowding out all other qualities. The higher heroisms and the old rare flavors are passing out of life.*

With these thoughts in my mind, I was speeding with the train toward Buffalo, when, near that city, the sight of a workman doing something on the dizzy edge of a sky-scaling iron construction brought me to my senses very suddenly. And now I perceived, by a flash of insight, that I had been steeping myself in pure ancestral blindness, and looking at life with the eyes of a remote spectator. Wishing for heroism and the spectacle of human nature on the rack, I had never noticed the great fields of heroism lying round about me, I had failed to see it present and alive. I could only think of it as dead and embalmed, labelled and costumed, as it is in the pages of romance. And yet there it was before me in the daily lives of the laboring classes. Not in clanging fights and desperate marches only is heroism to be looked for, but on every railway bridge and fire-proof building that is going up to-day. On freight-trains, on the decks of vessels, in cattleyards and mines, on lumber-rafts, among the firemen and the policemen, the demand for courage is incessant; and the supply never fails. There, every day of the year somewhere, is human nature in extremis for you. And wherever a scythe, an axe, a pick, or a shovel is wielded, you have it sweating and aching and with its powers of patient endurance racked to the utmost under the length of hours of the strain.

As I awoke to all this unidealized heroic life around me, the scales seemed to fall from my eyes; and a wave of sympathy greater than anything I had ever before felt with the common life of common men began to fill my soul. It began to seem as if virtue with horny hands and dirty skin were the only virtue genuine and vital enough to take account of. Every other virtue poses; none is absolutely unconscious and simple, and unexpectant of decoration or recognition, like this. These are our soldiers, thought I., these our sustainers, these the very parents of our life.

Many years ago, when in Vienna, I had had a similar feeling of awe and reverence in looking at the peasant women, in from the country on their business at the market for the day. Old hags many of them were, dried and brown and wrinkled, kerchiefed and short-petticoated, with thick wool stockings on their bony shanks, stumping through the glittering thoroughfares, looking neither to the right nor the left, bent on duty, envying nothing, humble-hearted, remote;—and yet at bottom, when you came to think of it, bearing the whole fabric of the splendors and corruptions of that city on their laborious backs. For where would any of it have been without their unremitting, unrewarded labor in the fields? And so with us: not to our generals and poets, I thought, but to the Italian and Hungarian laborers in the Subway, rather, ought the monuments of gratitude and reverence of a city like Boston to be reared.

If any of you have been readers of Tolstoï, you will see that I passed into a vein of feeling similar to his, with its abhorrence of all that conventionally passes for distinguished, and its exclusive deification of the bravery, patience, kindliness, and dumbness of the unconscious natural man.

Where now is our Tolstoï, I said, to bring the truth of all this home to our American bosoms, fill us with a better insight, and wean us away from that spurious literary romanticism on which our wretched culture-as it calls itself-is fed? Divinity lies all about us, and culture is too bide-bound to even suspect the fact. Could a Howells or a Kipling be enlisted in this mission? or are they still too deep in the ancestral blindness, and not humane enough for the inner joy and meaning of the laborer's existence to be really revealed? Must we wait for some one born and bred and living as a laborer himself, but who, by grace of Heaven, shall also find a literary voice?

And there I rested on that day, with a sense of widening of vision, and with what it is surely fair to call an increase of religious insight into life. In God's eyes the differences of social position, of intellect, of culture, of cleanliness, of dress, which different men exhibit? and all the other rarities and exceptions on which they so fantastically pin their pride, must be so small as practically quite to vanish; and all that should remain is the common fact that here we are, a countless multitude of vessels of life, each of us pent in to peculiar difficulties, with which we must severally struggle by using whatever of fortitude and goodness we can summon up. The exercise of the courage, patience, and kindness, must be the significant portion of the whole business; and the distinctions of position can only be a manner of diversifying the phenomenal surface upon which these underground virtues may manifest their effects. At this rate, the deepest human life is everywhere, is eternal. And, if any human attributes exist only in particular individuals, they must belong to the mere trapping and decoration of the surface-show.

Thus are men's lives levelled up as well as levelled down,—levelled up in their common inner meaning, levelled down in their outer gloriousness and show. Yet always, we must confess, this levelling insight tends to be obscured again; and always the ancestral blindness returns and wraps us up, so that we end once more by thinking that creation can be for no other purpose than to develop remarkable situations and conventional distinctions and merits. And then always some new leveller in the shape of a religious prophet has to arise—the Buddha, the Christ, or some Saint Francis, some Rousseau or Tolstoï—to redispel our blindness. Yet, little by little, there comes some stable gain; for the world does get more humane, and the religion of democracy tends toward permanent increase.

This, as I said, became for a time my conviction, and gave me great content. I have put the matter into the form of a personal reminiscence, so that I might lead you into it more directly and completely, and so save time. But now I am going to discuss the rest of it with you in a more impersonal way.

Tolstoï's levelling philosophy began long before be bad the crisis of melancholy commemorated in that wonderful document of his entitled 'My Confession,' which led the way to his more specifically religious works. In his masterpiece 'War and Peace,'—assuredly the greatest of human novels,—the rôle of the spiritual hero is given to a poor little soldier named Karataïeff, so helpful, so cheerful, and so devout that, in spite of his ignorance and filthiness, the sight of him opens the heavens, which have been closed, to the mind of the principal character of the book; and his example evidently is meant by Tolstoï to let God into the world again for the reader. Poor little Karataïeff is taken prisoner by the French; and, when too exhausted by hardship and fever to march, is shot as other prisoners were in the famous retreat from Moscow. The last view one gets of him is his little figure leaning against a white birch-tree, and uncomplainingly awaiting the end.

"The more," writes Tolstoï in the work 'My Confession,' "the more I examined the life of these laboring folks, the more persuaded I became that they veritably have faith, and get from it alone the sense and the possibility of life. . . . Contrariwise to those of our own class, who protest against destiny and grow indignant at its rigor, these people receive maladies and misfortunes without revolt, without opposition, and with a firm and tranquil confidence that all had to be like that, could not be otherwise, and that it is all right so. . . . The more we live by our intellect, the less we understand the meaning of life. We see only a cruel jest in suffering and death, whereas these people live, suffer, and draw near to death with tranquillity, and oftener than not with joy. . . . There are enormous multitudes of them happy with the most perfect happiness, although deprived of what for us is the sole of good of life. Those who understand life's meaning, and know how to live and die thus, are to be counted not by twos, threes, tens, but by hundreds, thousands, millions. They labor quietly, endure privations and pains, live and die, and throughout everything see the good without seeing the vanity. I had to love these people. The more I entered into their life, the more I loved them; and the more it became possible for me to live, too. It came about not only that the life of our society, of the learned and of the rich, disgusted me-more than that, it lost all semblance of meaning in my eyes. All our actions, our deliberations, our sciences, our arts, all appeared to me with a new significance. I understood that these things might be charming pastimes, but that one need seek in them no depth, whereas the life of the hardworking populace, of that multitude of human beings who really contribute to existence, appeared to me in its true light. I understood that there veritably is life, that the meaning which life there receives is the truth; and I accepted it."**

In a similar way does Stevenson appeal to our piety toward the elemental virtue of mankind.

"What a wonderful thing," he writes,*** "is this Man! How surprising are his attributes! Poor soul, here for so little, cast among so many hardships, savagely surrounded, savagely descended, irremediably condemned to prey upon his fellow-lives,—who should have blamed him, had be been of a piece with his destiny and a being merely barbarous? . . . [Yet] it matters not where we look, under what climate we observe him, in what stage of society, in what depth of ignorance, burdened with what erroneous morality; in ships at sea, a man inured to hardship and vile pleasures, his brightest hope a fiddle in a tavern, and a bedizened trull who sells herself to rob him, and be, for all that, simple, innocent, cheerful, kindly like a child, constant to toil, brave to drown, for others; . . . in the slums of cities, moving among indifferent millions to mechanical employments, without hope of change in the future, with scarce a pleasure in the present, and yet true to his virtues, honest up to his lights, kind to his neighbors, tempted perhaps in vain by the bright gin-palace, . . . often repaying the world's scorn with service, often standing firm upon a scruple; . . . everywhere some virtue cherished or affected, everywhere some decency of thought and courage, everywhere the ensign of man's ineffectual goodness,—ah! if I could show you this! If I could show you these men and women all the world over, in every stage of history, under every abuse of error, under every circumstance of failure, without hope, without help, without thanks, still obscurely fighting the lost fight of virtue, still clinging to some rag of honor, the poor jewel of their souls."

All this is as true as it is splendid, and terribly do we need our Tolstoïs and Stevensons to keep our sense for it alive. Yet you remember the Irishman who, when asked, "Is not one man as good as another?" replied, "Yes; and a great deal better, too!" Similarly (it seems to me) does Tolstoï overcorrect our social prejudices, when he makes his love of the peasant so exclusive, and hardens his heart toward the educated man as absolutely as he does. Grant that at Chautauqua there was little moral effort, little sweat or muscular strain in view. Still, deep down in the souls of the participants we may be sure that something of the sort was hid, some inner stress, some vital virtue not found wanting when required. And, after all, the question recurs, and forces itself upon us, Is it so certain that the surroundings and circumstances of the virtue do make so little difference in the importance of the result? Is the functional utility, the worth to the universe of a certain definite amount of courage, kindliness, and patience, no greater if the possessor of these virtues is in an educated situation, working out far-reaching tasks, than if he be an illiterate nobody, hewing wood and drawing water, just to keep himself alive? Tolstoï's philosophy, deeply enlightening though it certainly is, remains a false abstraction. It savors too much of that Oriental pessimism and nihilism of his, which declares the whole phenomenal world and its facts and their distinctions to be a cunning fraud.

A mere bare fraud is just what our Western common sense will never believe the phenomenal world to be. It admits fully that the inner joys and virtues are the essential part of life's business, but it is sure that some positive part is also played by the adjuncts of the show. If it is idiotic in romanticism to recognize the heroic only when it sees it labelled and dressed-up in books, it is really just as idiotic to see it only in the dirty boots and sweaty shirt of some one in the fields. It is with us really under every disguise: at Chautauqua; here in your college; in the stock-yards and on the freight-trains; and in the czar of Russia's court. But, instinctively, we make a combination of two things in judging the total significance of a human being. We feel it to be some sort of a product (if such a product only could be calculated) of his inner virtue and his outer place,—neither singly taken, but both conjoined. If the outer differences had no meaning for life, why indeed should all this immense variety of them exist? They must be significant elements of the world as well.

Just test Tolstoï's deification of the mere manual laborer by the facts. This is what Mr. Walter Wyckoff, after working as an unskilled laborer in the demolition of some buildings at West Point, writes of the spiritual condition of the class of men to which he temporarily chose to belong:—

"The salient features of our condition are plain enough. We are grown men, and are without a trade. In the labor-market we stand ready to sell to the highest bidder our mere muscular strength for so many hours each day. We are thus in the lowest grade of labor. And, selling our muscular strength in the open market for what it will bring, we sell it under peculiar conditions. It is all the capital that we have. We have no reserve means of subsistence, and cannot, therefore, stand off for a 'reserve price.' We sell under the necessity of satisfying imminent hunger. Broadly speaking, we must sell our labor or starve; and, as hunger is a matter of a few hours, and we have no other way of meeting this need, we must sell at once for what the market offers for our labor.

"Our employer is buying labor in a dear market, and be will certainly get from us as much work as he can at the price. The gang-boss is secured for this purpose, and thoroughly does he know his business. He has sole command of us. He never saw us before, and he will discharge us all when the debris is cleared away. In the mean time he must get from us, if he can, the utmost of physical labor which we, individually and collectively, are capable of. If be should drive some of us to exhaustion, and we should not be able to continue at work, he would not be the loser; for the market would soon supply him with others to take our places.

"We are ignorant men, but so much we clearly see,—that we have sold our labor where we could sell it dearest, and our employer has bought it where be could buy it cheapest. He has paid high, and be must get all the labor that he can; and, by a strong instinct which possesses us, we shall part with as little as we can. From work like ours there seems to us to have been eliminated every element which constitutes the nobility of labor. We feel no personal pride in its progress, and no community of interest with our employer. There is none of the joy of responsibility, none of the sense of achievement, only the dull monotony of grinding toil, with the longing for the signal to quit work, and for our wages at the end.

"And being what we are, the dregs of the labor-market, and having no certainty of permanent employment, and no organization among ourselves, we must expect to work under the watchful eye of a gang-boss, and be driven, like the wage-slaves that we are, through our tasks.

"All this is to tell us, in effect, that our lives are hard, barren, hopeless lives."

And such bard, barren, hopeless lives, surely, are not lives in which one ought to be willing permanently to remain. And why is this so? Is it because they are so dirty? Well, Nansen grew a great deal dirtier on his polar expedition; and we think none the worse of his life for that. Is it the insensibility? Our soldiers have to grow vastly more insensible, and we extol them to the skies. Is it the poverty? Poverty has been reckoned the crowning beauty of many a heroic career. Is it the slavery to a task, the loss of finer pleasures? Such slavery and loss are of the very essence of the higher fortitude, and are always counted to its credit,-read the records of missionary devotion all over the world. It is not any one of these things, then, taken by itself,-no, nor all of them together,-that make such a life undesirable. A man might in truth live like an unskilled laborer, and do the work of one, and yet count as one of the noblest of God's creatures. Quite possibly there were some such persons in the gang that our author describes; but the current of their souls ran underground; and he was too steeped in the ancestral blindness to discern it.

If there were any such morally exceptional individuals, however, what made them different from the rest? It can only have been this,—that their souls worked and endured in obedience to some inner ideal, while their comrades were not actuated by anything worthy of that name. These ideals of other lives are among those secrets that we can almost never penetrate, although something about the man may often tell us when they are there. In Mr. Wyckoff's own case we know exactly what the self-imposed ideal was. Partly he had stumped himself, as the boys say, to carry through a strenuous achievement; but mainly he wished to enlarge his sympathetic insight into fellow-lives. For this his sweat and toil acquire a certain heroic significance, and make us accord to him exceptional esteem. But it is easy to imagine his fellows with various other ideals. To say nothing of wives and babies, one may have been a convert of the Salvation Army, and bad a nightingale singing of expiation and forgiveness in his heart all the while be labored. Or there might have been an apostle like Tolstoï himself, or his compatriot Bondaïeff, in the gang, voluntarily embracing labor as their religious mission. Class-loyalty was undoubtedly an ideal with many. And who knows how much of that higher manliness of poverty, of which Phillips Brooks has spoken so penetratingly, was or was not present in that gang?

"A rugged, barren land," says Phillips Brooks, "is poverty to live in,—a land where I am thankful very often if I can get a berry or a root to cat. But living in it really, letting it bear witness to me of itself, not dishonoring it all the time by judging it after the standard of the other lands, gradually there come out its qualities. Behold! no land like this barren and naked land of poverty could show the moral geology of the world. See how the hard ribs . . . stand out strong and solid. No life like poverty could so get one to the heart of things and make men know their meaning, could so let us feel life and the world with all the soft cushions stripped off and thrown away. . . . Poverty makes men come very near each other,, and recognize each other's human hearts; and poverty, highest and best of all, demands and cries out for faith in God. . . . I know how superficial and unfeeling, how like mere mockery, words in praise of poverty may seem. . . . But I am sure that the poor man's dignity and freedom, his self-respect and energy, depend upon his cordial knowledge that his poverty is a true region and kind of life, with its own chances of character, its own springs of happiness and revelations of God. Let him resist the characterlessness which often goes with being poor. Let him insist on respecting the condition where he lives. Let him learn to love it, so that by and by, [if] he grows rich, he shall go out of the low door of the old familiar poverty with a true pang of regret, and with a true honor for the narrow home in which he has lived so long."****

The barrenness and ignobleness of the more usual laborer's life consist in the fact that it is moved by no such ideal inner springs. The backache, the long hours, the danger, are patiently endured-for what? To gain a quid of tobacco, a glass of beer, a cup of coffee, a meal, and a bed, and to begin again the next day and shirk as much as one can. This really is why we raise no monument to the laborers in the Subway, even though they be out conscripts, and even though after a fashion our city is indeed based upon their patient hearts and enduring backs and shoulders. And this is why we do raise monuments to our soldiers, whose outward conditions were even brutaller still. The soldiers are supposed to have followed an ideal, and the laborers are supposed to have followed none.

You see, my friends, how the plot now thickens; and how strangely the complexities of this wonderful human nature of ours begin to develop under our hands. We have seen the blindness and deadness to each other which are our natural inheritance; and, in spite of them, ,ve have been led to acknowledge an inner meaning which passeth show, and which may be present in the lives of others where we least descry it. And now we are led to say that such inner meaning can be complete and valid for us also, only when the inner joy, courage, and endurance are joined with an ideal.

But what, exactly, do we mean by an ideal? Can we give no definite account of such a word?

To a certain extent we can. An ideal, for instance, must be something intellectually conceived, something of which we are not unconscious, if we 'have it; and it must carry with it that sort of outlook, uplift, and brightness that go with all intellectual facts. Secondly, there must be novelty in an ideal,-novelty at least for him whom the ideal grasps. Sodden routine is incompatible with ideality, although what is sodden routine for one person may be ideal novelty for another. This shows that there is nothing absolutely ideal: ideals are relative to the lives that entertain them. To keep out of the gutter is for us here no part of consciousness at all, yet for many of our brethren it is the most legitimately engrossing of ideals.

Now, taken nakedly, abstractly, and immediately, you see that mere ideals are the cheapest things in life. Everybody has them in some shape or other, personal or general, sound or mistaken, low or high; and the most worthless sentimentalists and dreamers, drunkards, shirks and verse-makers, who never show a grain of effort, courage, or endurance, possibly have them on the most copious scale. Education, enlarging as it does our horizon and perspective, is a means of multiplying our ideals, of bringing new ones into view. And your college professor, with a starched shirt and spectacles, would, if a stock of ideals were all alone by itself enough to render a life significant, be the most absolutely and deeply significant of men. Tolstoï would be completely blind in despising him for a prig, a pedant and a parody; and all our new insight into the divinity of muscular labor would be altogether off the track of truth.

But such consequences as this, you instinctively feel, are erroneous. The more ideals a man has, the more contemptible, on the whole, do you continue to deem him, if the matter ends there for him, and if none of the laboring man's virtues are called into action on his part,—no courage shown, no privations undergone, no dirt or scars contracted in the attempt to get them realized. It is quite obvious that something more than the mere possession of ideals is required to make a life significant in any sense that claims the spectator's admiration. Inner joy, to be sure, it may have, with its ideals; but that is its own private sentimental matter. To extort from us, outsiders as we are, with our own ideals to look after, the tribute of our grudging recognition, it must back its ideal visions with what the laborers have, the sterner stuff of manly virtue; it must multiply their sentimental surface by the dimension of the active will, if we are to have depth, if we are to have anything cubical and solid in the way of character.

The significance of a human life for communicable and publicly recognizable purposes is thus the offspring of a marriage of two different parents, either of whom alone is barren. The ideals taken by themselves give no reality, the virtues by themselves no novelty. And let the orientalists and pessimists say what they will, the thing of deepest—or, at any rate, of comparatively deepest—significance in life does seem to be its character of progress, or that strange union of reality with ideal novelty which it continues from one moment to another to present. To recognize ideal novelty is the task of what we call intelligence. Not every one's intelligence can tell which novelties are ideal. For many the ideal thing will always seem to cling still to the older more familiar good. In this case character, though not significant' totally, may be still significant pathetically. So, if we are to choose which is the more essential factor of human character, the fighting virtue or the intellectual breadth, we must side with Tolstoï, and choose that simple faithfulness to his light or darkness which any common unintellectual man can show.

But, with all this beating and tacking on my part, I fear you take me to be reaching a confused result. I seem to be just taking things up and dropping them again. First I took up Chautauqua, and dropped that; then Tolstoï and the heroism of common toil, and dropped them; finally, I took up ideals, and seem now almost dropping those. But please observe in what sense it is that I drop them. It is when they pretend singly to redeem life from insignificance. Culture and refinement all alone are not enough to do so. Ideal aspirations are not enough, when uncombined with pluck and will. But neither are pluck and will, dogged endurance and insensibility to danger enough, when taken all alone. There must be some sort of fusion, some chemical combination among these principles, for a life objectively and thoroughly significant to result.

Of course, this is a somewhat vague conclusion. But in a question of significance, of worth, like this, conclusions can never be precise. The answer of appreciation, of sentiment, is always a more or a less, a balance struck by sympathy, insight, and good will. But it is an answer, all the same ' a real conclusion. And, in the course of getting it, it seems to me that our eyes have been opened to many important things. Some of you are, perhaps, more livingly aware than you were an hour ago of the depths of worth that lie around you, hid in alien lives. And, when you -ask bow much sympathy you ought to bestow, although the amount is, truly enough, a matter of ideal on your own part, yet in this notion of the combination of ideals with active virtues you have a rough standard for shaping your decision. In any case, your imagination is extended. You divine in the world about you matter for a little more humility on your own part, and tolerance, reverence, and love for others; and you gain a certain inner joyfulness at the increased importance of our common life. Such joyfulness is a religious inspiration and an element of spiritual health, and worth more than large amounts of that sort of technical and accurate information which we professors are supposed to be able to impart.

To show the sort of thing I mean by these words, I will just make one brief practical illustration, and then close.

We are suffering to-day in America from what is called the labor-question; and., when you go out into the world, you will each and all of you be caught up in its perplexities. I use the brief term labor-question to cover all sorts of anarchistic discontents and socialistic projects, and the conservative resistances which they provoke. So far as this conflict is unhealthy and regrettable,—and I think it is so only to a limited extent,—the unhealthiness consists solely in the fact that one-half of our fellow countrymen remain entirely blind to the internal significance of the lives of the other half. They miss the joys and sorrows, they fail to feel the moral virtue, and they do not guess the presence of the intellectual ideals. They are at cross-purposes all along the line, regarding each other as they might regard a set of dangerously gesticulating automata, or, if they seek to get at the inner motivation, making the most horrible mistakes. Often all that the poor man can think of in the rich man is a cowardly greediness for safety, luxury, and effeminacy, and a boundless affectation. What he is, is not a human being, but a pocket-book, a bank-account. And a similar greediness, turned by disappointment into envy, is all that many rich men can see in the state of mind of the dissatisfied poor. And, if the rich man begins to do the sentimental act over the poor man, what senseless blunders does he make, pitying him for just those very duties and those very immunities which, rightly taken, are the condition of his most abiding and characteristic joys! Each, in short, ignores the fact that happiness and unhappiness and significance are a vital mystery; each pins them absolutely on some ridiculous feature of the external situation; and everybody remains outside of everybody else's sight.

Society has, with all this, undoubtedly got to pass toward some newer and better equilibrium, and the distribution of wealth has doubtless slowly got to change: such changes have always happened, and will happen to the end of time. But if, after all that I have said, any of you expect that they will make any genuine vital difference on a large scale, to the lives of our descendants, you will have missed the significance of my entire lecture. The solid meaning of life is always the same eternal thing,— the marriage, namely, of some unhabitual ideal, however special, with some fidelity, courage, and endurance; with some man 2 s or woman 's pains.—And, whatever or wherever life may be, there will always be the chance for that marriage to take place.

Fitz-James Stephen wrote many years ago words to this effect more eloquent than any I can speak: "The 'Great Eastern,' or some of her successors," he said, "will perhaps defy the roll of the Atlantic, and cross the seas without allowing their passengers to feel that they have left the firm land. The voyage from the cradle to the grave may come to be performed with similar facility. Progress and science may perhaps enable untold millions to live and die without a care, without a pang, without an anxiety. They will have a pleasant passage and plenty of brilliant conversation. They will wonder that men ever believed at all in clanging fights and blazing towns and sinking ships and praying bands; and, when they come to the end of their course, they will go their way, and the place thereof will know them no more. But it seems unlikely that they will have such a knowledge of the great ocean on which they sail, with its storms and wrecks, its currents and icebergs, its huge waves and mighty winds, as those who battled with it for years together in the little craft, which, if they had few other merits, brought those who navigated them full into the presence of time and eternity, their maker and themselves, and forced them to have some definite view of their relations to them and to each other."*****

In this solid and tridimensional sense, so to call it, those philosophers are right who contend that the world is a standing thing, with no progress, no real history. The changing conditions of history touch only the surface of the show. The altered equilibriums and redistributions only diversify our opportunities and open chances to us for new ideals. But, with each new ideal that comes into life, the chance for a life based on some old ideal will vanish; and he would needs be a presumptuous calculator who should with confidence say that the total sum of significances is positively and absolutely greater at any one epoch than at any other of the world.

I am speaking broadly, I know, and omitting to consider certain qualifications in which I myself believe. But one can only make one point in one lecture, and I shall be well content if I have brought my point home to you this evening in even a slight degree. There are compensations: and no outward changes of condition in life can keep the nightingale of its eternal meaning from singing in all sorts of different men's hearts. That is the main fact to remember. If we could not only admit it with our lips, but really and truly believe it, how our convulsive insistencies, how our antipathies and dreads of each other, would soften down! If the poor and the rich could look at each other in this way, sub specie æternatis, bow gentle would grow their disputes! what tolerance and good humor, what willingness to live and let live, would come into the world!

* This address was composed before the Cuban and Philippine wars. Such outbursts of the passion of mastery are, however, only episodes in a social process which in the long run seems everywhere heading toward the Chatauquan ideals.

**My Confession, X. (condensed).

***Across the Plains: "Pulvis et Umbra" (abridged).

****Sermons, 5th Series, New York, 1893, PP. 166, 167.

****** Essays by a Barrister, London, 1862, P. 318.

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zachwritesstuff · 7 years

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Who Killed Suzumiya Haruhi?

It's hard to believe that, back in the early 2000s, the most popular anime were Death Note, Code Geass, and a random quirky show about a schoolgirl. But 11 years ago, a show premiered that seemed to break out beyond it's niche audience inside the slice of life genre, and actually gain a bit of mainstream appeal. It's impact could be debatable, but as a person who lived through it, it was hard not to hear about the phenomenon of Suzumiya Haruhi, thanks in part to it's amazing performances, great use in Key Animation, and of course, it's catchy ending theme, complete with accompanying dance.

With all this hype and popularity, it was pretty much certain that the series would go down as one of the mainstays of Anime worldwide. And yet, in 2018, it's little more than a footnote, at best a forgotten groundwork for things that came after it, at worst, a tarnished collection of broken promises, missed opportunities and terrible decisions.

Strong arguments can and have been made for how it ended up like this. The main culprit, as we will venture into, is the scheduling and release of new episodes. It's a terrible thing that has brought down shows bigger and smaller than it. But to say that it was the only reason for it would be, I believe, an oversimplification of just all that went on from the premiere of Haruhi to now. Hell, if that was the only problem, than there shouldn't have been any issue with the series from a couple years back based on Nagato Yuki. And yet, it ended up as a mostly middling show with very little fanfare throughout.

So what, in the long run, killed this series to the point of near obscurity? Well, let's take a look at some of the suspects...

1. Releases

So let's first talk about the aforementioned elephant in the room: The release of episodes. From the start, the way that they released new episodes for the series was bizarre, but in a fun way. Instead of just doing it normally, they released it in a nonlinear order. And it made an immediate impact too. The first episode, shot in the style of an amateur movie, introduces all of the characters as they are playing other characters, with only hints of the title character Haruhi, who served as the director for this film. From there, we are introduced to her and her quirks, along with the extended cast of oddballs like Mikuru, Yuki and Koizumi.

The first season of Haruhi was, unquestionably, a success. Not only did it bring it fans internationally, it also helped put Kyoto Animation on the map, helping them eventually become one of the major anime production companies in Japan. Though they had some success with shows like Full Metal Panic and Air, Haruhi was the first show that had the success on the level they hadn't experienced before, and influenced all of their shows from then on (not including the Key shows, like Clannad and Kanon, of course).

So that made it even more bizarre that, instead of immediately working on a sequel, there was a three year break between seasons. Other shows take breaks that are that long, and even longer, but what made it so weird is how little information came out between the two. After the release of Lucky Star, which had many references to Haruhi, there was a virtual silence, save for weird clues and ARG-like hints on what might come.

When the second season eventually did come, they did it in their similarly quirky way. Instead of simply airing the new season out of order, like the first season, they instead aired the first season in order, and interspersed the episodes from the second season where they would fit in the first season chronological. A bit irksome, but very much in line with how Haruhi operated up to that point. The first nail in Haruhi's coffin didn't really come until...

2. The Endless Eight

The Endless Eight was a storyline in the novel series that involved Haruhi wanting the summer season to never end, inadvertently causing her and her friends to relive the same eight days over and over again without them knowing. It was a single chapter in the novels, and had a few repeated scenes to highlight the cyclical nature of the eight days. When it came time to adapt them to the anime series, the producers decided to have some fun. Why not take the eight days, and show how repetitive it REALLY was, by making it into eight episodes?

And so they did. For eight weeks, viewers tuned in to see the same episode played time after time, with only the outfits and a couple lines of dialogue different with each episode. The first couple of times, it seemed funny. By the third episode, one would wonder if they were actually doing what we thought they were doing. And after confirmation by the fourth episode, at least personally, myself and friends simply gave up, skipping the rest until the end, when we would finally get the conclusion without the quirkiness.

This sentiment was shared among many fans, and made one thing pretty clear: Though it was in line with the style of the show, fans really didn't want to watch the same episode over and over, especially since it cut a majority of the season out, leaving only six original episode. It also didn't help that the last five episode of the season were a five part miniseries that had it's own problematic scene of the beloved main character drugging her friend.

The second season of Haruhi wasn't fondly remembered, to say the least. Though the first episode of it is considered one of the better episodes of the show, everything that followed was pretty much downhill, with very little rise after the Endless Eight. It also didn't help that there was...

3. Internal Competition

The reairing of Haruhi with the second season started on April 3rd, 2009. The same day, Kyoto Animation premiered another one of it's shows: A fun show about a group of girls starting a band in school called K-On!. Compared to the disappointment of what was going on with Haruhi, the simplicity and overall cute aesthetic of K-On! was a breath of fresh air. It overshadowed it's predecessor and spelled out the next step for Kyoto Animation: A much simpler and straight forward way of releasing their shows, free of quirks and clues.

The reaction from Season 2 of Haruhi also seemed to scare KyoAni from ever making more than two seasons of a show, as they did not do so for the next nine years, only breaking their record in the summer of 2018, making a third season of Free! Eternal Summer.

4. Film, Spin-Offs and Novel Releases

The last hurrah for Haruhi ended up being The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi, the film based on the novel by the same name. Unlike the second season, the film was pretty well received, considered one of the best showings of all of the characters. It, along with the showings of the side adaptions of popular fan series Nyoron Churuya-san and The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan, gave the fans some modicum of hope that the series could build it's way out of the hole that Endless Eight dug.

And then another problem arose.

The writer of the original novel series, Nagaru Tanigawa, wrote the novels pretty consistently, starting in 2003. He would release 1-2 novels a year, up until 2007, roughly a year after the first season ended. Not much is really known about the whole situation, as no one has really come out to talk about it. All that is really known is that, after the end of the first season, there was a gap of all Haruhi related content for a few years, until the second season and movie premiered. The next set of novels wouldn't come out until 4 years later, in 2011, before leaving off on an open ending that, to this day, has never been resolved. Tanigawa has not stated that the series has ended, but at least at the time of this writing, there have been no plans for anymore novels.

And that was pretty much the last anyone heard about Haruhi for several years. Little hints and clues would pop up every once in a while, but they ended up being new products and blu-ray releases of the older series. It wasn't until 2015 that another series based on Haruhi was released, this time based on the universe set up in Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi and focusing on the side character Yuki. It was the first time the original cast had been together since the movie back in 2010, which was especially surprising when you consider the fact that the actresses behind Haruhi and Mikuru, Aya Hirano and Yuko Goto respectively, had serious health issues that threatened their careers.

The combination of gaps in productions, memories of the Endless Eight and the constantly changing anime industry spelled out the unfortunate truth for this new show: no one really cared about Haruhi anymore. A series that started as a cultural phenomenon ended with barely a wimper. A truly sad sight.

So now the big question posed by the title: Who Killed Suzumiya Haruhi? Well, looking at all of the evidence, it seems that the ultimate answer is simple: Time. The long gaps and slow followups caused the world to change around it, leaving it behind. Make no mistake, Haruhi was and is great, even today. But you can't fumble too many times without eventually losing the ball all together. It's completely possible that there might be a resurgence of Haruhi in the future, and I would welcome it, just as I welcomed the original show over ten years ago. But for now, we will leave it as a sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant, memory of the anime industry, and let it's catchy ending song and dance play it out...

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#the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya #suzumiya haruhi no yuuutsu #aya hirano #kyoto animation #kyoani #k-on

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nathanscovell · 6 years

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Red Miller and Mandy Bloom are a happy couple living a peaceful remote life together. Red is a logger and Mandy is a gas station clerk. She’s also an illustrator which Red admires a great deal. The life they live is wonderful and uncomplicated, that is until this placid life is shattered by a cult named The Children of The Dawn and their brutally evil leader Jeremiah Sand. Soon, Red finds himself immersed in a drug-induced frenzied slaughter as he reeks vengeance on every person that has done him wrong.

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Drugs, demon bikers, crazy cults, lots of blood, battle axes and brutal deaths! All of these ingredients make for a amazingly awesome movie!

Mandy is a 2018 action/horror film directed by a fairly new director named Panos Cosmatos. Starring Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, and Linus Roache. Mandy was officially released as a Sundance film in January. It quickly won critical acclaim; receiving a larger theatrical release in September that same year. Literally just a couple of weeks ago it was released on Amazon. From there it has gained widespread popularity for it’s surreal directing and blazing performance by the entire cast. especially Nicolas Cage.

Metal Mandy

If there was a movie that best represented a heavy metal cover then this would be it. Even the “innertitle” screens are done in a heavy metal font. It’s truly one of the best aesthetics of the movie. For some reason I always see the title screens like you were watching through the view of the Nintendo Virtual Boy!

Mandy is mesmerizing, brutal, gorgeous, sick, thought provoking and completely kick ass. Fans of the Kubrick/Lynch style cinematography mixed in with psychotic violence and deep seeded meaning will delight in this blood bath. With Mandy or any surreal film like this, often times the strength of the scenes aren’t met with a great deal of dialogue. The emotion and message is felt through the visuals. Which means it’s a movie for adults and not morons! I’ve watched Mandy nearly five times already and each time is a new experience.

The Story

The story itself isn’t really anything new. Many people may watch the entire film and say “What the hell did I just watch? Demon bikers, crazed cult members, Nicolas Cage chugging a bottle of Vodka and making a battle ax? Chainsaw battles and dudes with knives for a dingus! I don’t get it but dang that was awesome!”

I love that the movie is set in the 80’s yet doesn’t go overboard with the 80’s references like some movies do. There are a few homage references in the film and they’re not hard to miss. Things like Friday The 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 are extremely easy to see. But I loved that Tor Books is given a spotlight in this movie! Nerd alert! I’m a huge Wheel of Time fan so seeing a Tor reference blew my mind.

Seriously though, if you’ve seen that 2006 movie The Marine with the Academy Award Winning John Cena (please note the sarcasm) then that’s the story right there. Except Mandy isn’t a pile of wrestling garbage. Can I just ask that if wrestlers start acting in movies, that they don’t use wrestling moves as fighting styles. I’m no Marine, but I doubt the Marines are taught body slams or choke slams in hand-to-hand combat tactics.

Cage in A Cage

I mentioned before that the film has been praised for acting performance and I’m not kidding. This is Nicolas Cage is at his finest. He goes in absolute berserk mode and it is a thing of beauty. He has those crazy eyes and that strange jacked up smile. Think of all of his films like Wicker Man, Bad Lieutenant or Lord of War. Cage literally has moments of insanity in those films and Mandy takes all of those and multiplies it by twenty with a slaughtered goat on top! I loved his performance as Red and found myself feeling so many emotions and developing sincere attachments to the character Red.

The other character that pulls off a mesmerizing performance is Linus Roache. He plays Jeremiah Sand, the antagonist and leader of the Children of the Dawn. This guy is dark and twisted. A manipulator that would could make Hillary Clinton grovel to her knees. Roache makes you hate this man Sand and fear him above all others. There are these demonic bikers that make an appearance. They’re all bound in black leather, studded with metal spikes and chains. They drink a highly concentrated form of LSD and consume human flesh, yet Jeremiah Sand scares me more than them. Demon psychos is a straight forward thing, you know what you’re gonna get. Violence and growling. A psychotic cult leader is a blind trail caught in nightmarish hail storm.

Moving Meaning

There are many theories as to the meaning behind the movie. At first glance you may say it’s a story about a man committing great acts of violence against terrible people. Yes, if you want to think that and take it as a two hour narcotic fueled murder fest then be my guest. But Mandy is a much deeper film.

!! Minor Spoilers Alert !!

In my opinion Reds bloodbath is a metaphor for battling substance abuse. It might be a long stretch but I saw the character Mandy as being Reds sobriety. Losing her brings him back into the dark recesses of addiction. The only memories of Mandy that he sees are animated depictions, an ultimate form of memories that you want to get back.

As you can see before Red goes on his killing spree, he quickly goes to an associate to retrieve an old weapon. Then he starts welding a giant death metal battle ax. No planning, no blue prints. He just goes right to work like he was a grade A weapons maker. As if this is a ritual he’s been used to. He then knows exactly where to go and how to kill. Red is fighting literal and metaphorical demons and striving to rid the world of the things that keep him addicted. His revenge on the cult and demon bikers could be his way of bringing Mandy ( his sobriety) back. It’s not until the end, going through a drug induced battle and cleansing his conscience of his temptations and addictions does he free himself. By finishing off Sand he then re-establishes his sobriety. In the end, bloodied and torn; Red is driving away from his carnage and Mandy sits next to him once more. Smiling and giving Red true comfort.

End of Spoiler

So I could be wrong. I gave it my best shot and that’s what I came up with. If you’ve seen Mandy then please by all means let me know your opinions. It truly is a movie worth deep conversation and I would love to see what other people have come up with. There are other theories online like Mandy is a nymph and Red caught her. It’s why the cult leader Sand (an actual demon claiming to be God) want her so much. It could be a message about losing a loved one and the inner battles one faces. Whatever the case, I would love to hear yours.

Whatever the meaning behind the film, I think it’s something we can all admire. I truly hope Panos Cosmatos makes other films just like this because I loved Mandy. I admire how there is meaning and artistic expression behind a pretty typical story. In this it makes Mandy completely separate and original. You don’t see a great deal of movies being made like this. I also love the brutal violence and gore of the film. It’s not a film you would watch with your mother. Maybe let your grandma watch it and have some deep meaningful conversations. Which is why I’ve selected this 2018 masterpiece for day two of Horror Movie Marathon 2018!

Read last years day 2 movie

Day to of Horror Movie Marathon 2018 brings us Mandy! An action/horror film of insane proportions! Red Miller and Mandy Bloom are a happy couple living a peaceful remote life together. Red is a logger and Mandy is a gas station clerk.

#HMM 2018 #HMM Day 2 #Horror #Horror Movie Marathon 2018 #horror movies #Mandy #Nathan Scovell #nscovell

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trendingnewsb · 7 years

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The bright spots in the dark era of Trump Twitter: political parody accounts

Image: mashable composite: Christopher Mineses

Over the course of his first months in the White House, President Trump notoriously turned Twitter into his personal outlet for unhinged political venting. That of course inspired the creation of dozens of parody accounts that became tools of resistance, coping mechanisms, and light-hearted distractions from the political chaos.

A simple Twitter search for “Donald Trump Parody” reveals a collection of over 50 accounts, and though each tackles Trumps presidency with a different approach, they all set out with a common goal: to make Twitter in the Trump era a bit more bearable.

SEE ALSO: Hit Trump where it hurts (his Twitter account)

To get a better sense of what it takes to challenge Trump on his favorite social platform, we reached out to the creators of two of the most popular Trump parody accounts on Twitter and uncovered some intriguing facts about the 24/7 job.

For instance: One of the most thought-provoking accounts on Twitter was inspired by Trump’s spat with the musical Hamilton.

While accounts like @RealDonalDrumpf and @mechanicaltrump attempt to imitate Trump’s unique online behavior, tweeting with an excessive amount of exclamation points and bashing Obama and the Democratic party every chance they get, others, like @aTinyTrump, give followers a good laugh with the help of Photoshop.

Wouldn’t it just be terrible if @realDonaldTrump saw our page and threw a little tantrum like this? That would just be tremendous. http://pic.twitter.com/twbHwJxPjI

TinyTrump (@aTinyTrump) February 19, 2017

The more serious parody account @DTrumpExposed, meanwhile, provides followers with essential information related to Trump’s presidency and his administration, serving as an alternative source of news for those who want to stay in the loop.

@IfHillaryHad imagines American politics in an alternate reality, tweeting on a day-to-day basis as Hillary Clinton had she won the election. @BRIDGETTRUMPSD1 is a depiction of Trump’s diary entries if they were written in the style of Bridget Jones. You know, very normal stuff.

Which brings us to @HalfOnionInABag, the scrap of a vegetable just looking to get more Twitter followers than Trump. It hasn’t quite reached the president’s 28.4 million, but 739,000 followers is still pretty impressive for a vegetable.

What if this account that is simply half an onion in a Ziploc bag ended up with more followers than @realDonaldTrump? http://pic.twitter.com/D28lODPZLO

Half An Onion (@HalfOnionInABag) January 20, 2017

Trump now with maturity!

If there’s anything we’ve learned from the overzealous, typo-ridden 140-character messages posted to the president’s Twitter account, it’s where there’s a Trump tweet, there’s room for improvement.

One man decided to take on the taxing job of editing those tweets to try and make the president’s words sound more, well, presidential. Under the promise of anonymity, the 52-year-old creator of Mature Trump Tweets spoke to us about the inspiration behind the thought-provoking account, how life has changed since starting it, and what kind of impact he hopes his revised words have on the world.

Here’s how he edited one of Trump’s tweets about “fake news”:

The independent media have an important job to do. Informed Americans can ferret out the truth w/out my need to try to sully or discredit. https://t.co/URR1qsHxly

PresidentialTrump (@MatureTrumpTwts) February 25, 2017

Since several early followers wondered if Barack Obama were behind the account, the creator has decided to go by the nickname Barry.

“I think he’s failed to recognize, or worse doesn’t care, that his words matter.”

He began the account last fall, a few weeks after Trump won the election, as things on Twitter got more and more surreal.

“I think he’s failed to recognize, or worse doesn’t care, that his words matter,” Barry said. “I became almost numb due to the Twitter assault that seemed to attack first amendment rights and lack of civility in his tone,” he went on, identifying the president’s Twitter beef with the cast of Hamilton as one of the events that drove him to create the account.

“I needed to do something because I felt powerless. So I decided to recreate his tweets and tweet the way I think a true diplomatic statesman would. It was cathartic for me, and I had a hunch it would be for others too.”

Watched @nbcsnl for laughs b4 turning in. Just need @AlecBaldwin to purse his lips a bit more :-)If we can’t laugh at ourselves, we’re sunk. https://t.co/qOFVb2sg8n

PresidentialTrump (@MatureTrumpTwts) December 4, 2016

Throughout the course of the young presidency, Barry’s goals for the account have evolved. “Originally it was selfish. I needed an outlet,” he explained. “I also was determined to not allow this type of tone to be normalized. That’s a scary proposition.”

Retweets from powerful social media voices like J.K. Rowling, Ricky Gervais, Seth McFarlane, and Mark Cuban were soon to follow. Mature Trump Tweets has 123,000 followers, some of whom have reached out to tell Barry how important the account is to them, offering to start GoFundMe or Kickstarter campaigns to ensure it remains up and running.

The first 90 days of my presidency has been humbling. I’ll work tirelessly for you & this country. We have much yet to accomplish, together. https://t.co/9OvgFOoObr

PresidentialTrump (@MatureTrumpTwts) April 17, 2017

“Today, I have bigger goals,” Barry admitted. “I think this could be a counter movement. One that espouses kindness, civility, decorum things I think Americans and people around the world truly want and crave.”

Maintaining an account that directly responds to Trump’s relentless Twitter activity isn’t always easy. “I usually retweet Trump when he tweets, which means daily usually early in the morning or late at night,” Barry said.

Barry also tweets whenever he feels the president should be tweeting, even if Trump remains silent. “Those are often the most popular, because it demonstrates the fact he seems tone deaf on what’s important and what the majority of Americans want to hear from him.”

“W/so much negativity in headlines right now, know we really can & will build a better, kinder world together. Pls keep believing.” – Barry

PresidentialTrump (@MatureTrumpTwts) April 20, 2017

Embracing the chaos through humor

During Trump’s first month in office, executive order signing became something of a sport for President Trump and it wasn’t long before 34-year-old Mike Gaines took notice.

With each document Trump presented, Gaines thought he resembled a proud little kid showing off his drawings to his parents. Gaines was inspired to take a more lighthearted approach to manage his political frustrations. Trump Draws a brilliant collection of photoshopped GIFs was born.

kat http://pic.twitter.com/ra55wo0ulW

Trump Draws (@TrumpDraws) January 31, 2017

When Trump fired Sally Yates, the deputy attorney general who refused to defend his travel ban, the Los Angeles-based visual effects artist decided to transform the proud president into an ambitiously doodling toddler with the help of his iPad Pro, the app Procreate, and Adobe After Effects.

Gaines began posting to the account several times a week, showing Trump dramatically revealing drawings of cute little animals and holiday greetings, with timely political references. He misspelled captions (in too-real Trump fashion) and occasionally even doodled with his non-dominant hand to really capture the youthful aspect of his photoshop creations.

me http://pic.twitter.com/R64NwAYGKu

Trump Draws (@TrumpDraws) January 31, 2017

“In this increasingly divisive political world, the account somehow cuts through all the BS,” Gaines said. It’s “simply a way to laugh at the doodles of a very proud man, who just happens to be the president of the United States.”

After the account which is currently at 439,000 followers received such a positive response from Twitter users, Gaines decided to expand the endeavor to include paintings in the White House, presentation tools, and really any other white surface begging to be memed.

my office http://pic.twitter.com/rqjbKxRxgr

Trump Draws (@TrumpDraws) March 1, 2017

my lemonade stand http://pic.twitter.com/1T8SxB0BkQ

Trump Draws (@TrumpDraws) April 5, 2017

“I feel like these accounts really are a bright light in a pretty dismal world right now, he said. “Laughing and comedy are the best way to cope.”

Though Gaines refers to Trump as “a diamond mine for comedy,” he thinks the president’s seemingly unfiltered, unprofessional Twitter account is a true cause for concern. “Dude needs to pick a new game … maybe trying to run the country instead?” he suggested, clarifying that he’s not trying to use Trump Draws to make a political statement.

“I really just want to add some levity to this crazy political climate,” Gaines said. “Sometimes you just need to see Trump childishly draw an elephant to get you through the day.”

So simple, yet so effective.

my job http://pic.twitter.com/H0FL6n8JP5

Trump Draws (@TrumpDraws) April 28, 2017

Parodies FTW

Though its tough to say definitively whether Trump is the most parodied president in history I mean, even George Washington was subject to sketches The Donald does seem to have a big target painted on his back in the social media age.

Even when it comes to more recent presidents, a search for “Barack Obama parody” yields eighteen results on the platform. “George Bush parody” reveals a mere three. (Though, to be fair, Obama was elected when Twitter was only in its infancy.)

The takeaway? When it comes to being parodied on Twitter, Trump is winning. So much winning.

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