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buglife · 3 years

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How about festivals and celebrations? Not only the regal, noble type, but the ones of common bugs too.

Here are a couple I figured out with a quick overview. I may expand on these later with illustrations or more depth depending on time and interest.

PART 1 - Pre-Infection Holidays

The Cast Off Festival: Something akin to a new years resolution. Once a year the citizens of Hallownest make an effigy of something they want to ‘cast off’ of themselves so they can improve. Example, they may make a figurine that represents self laziness or something that represents a nasty temper. Some folks may make tokens or figurines to sell that people can purchase if they cannot or don’t want to make their own. Celebrations include food and rituals indicative of purifying yourself to allow the new you to get a foothold over the old. Everyone gets together at the end of the celebration to throw said effigies into a communal fire and let the wind carry the ashes away. Just like how the Pale King cast off his previous form of a Wyrm to walk among the people and lead them to a much better existence, so too would common bugs follow that example to better themselves as well. Bugs may just have one effigy and some may have a whole box of them, the point is to give yourself a fresh new start and leave your old baggage holding you back as mere ashes. In general, it’s a very happy celebration in that you have a new chance to make the changes you want and if you have to do the same thing again next year, that’s okay. It takes time to change. The important part is that you recognize something about yourself that does need improvement and make a promise to work on it.

Feast of Fellowship: It’s not far fetched to imagine that even after granted Sapience, some bugs that were regularly preyed upon may have lingering instincts that may make interacting with carnivorous citizens a big nerve wracking. To counter act this, there is a yearly feast where folks are encouraged to share company and food with each other to not only celebrate the bounty from the harvest, but also the fact that many different kinds of bugs worked together to produce it. Spiders, Millipedes, Flies, Moths, ect ect, can all have a feast together and enjoy each other’s company. Takes place after the biggest harvest of the year so there is an abundance of food to go around that can be eaten up fresh before they must be preserved. Entire villages would just have one communal feast where everyone can share and enjoy. In big cities, usually these are more private with friends and colleagues being invited but I wouldn’t put it past a crown funded feast for everyone in the Capital. Citizens that are happy after all, are less likely to cause any trouble when they are busy sleeping off the biggest meal of the year. Lol.

Life Festival: A celebration for those wanting to be parents, those that have children, and those that have parents they love. It’s a day of fond wishes and hopes to be able to have healthy young. Different species have children in different ways, but it all comes down to the same thing, the want to reproduce. The day is spent lighting candles and leaving little offerings in the hopes to become gravid if trying to be. It is also a day for current parents to honor their offspring and be grateful to be blessed with them. Some take this day to grieve and honor any lost children and thank them for being there, even if it was for a short amount of time. Parents to be take the nights to be ‘extra sure’ their wishes will stick, if you know what I mean ;3. It can be rather bittersweet but it is important to many people. Children, however, take the day to honor the parents that gave them life, and there’s usually gift exchanges between parents and children. In general, it’s a celebration of life given and the gratitude of it all.

Birthdays are dependent on species and specific culture. Some celebrate when the egg actually hatches as a birthday. Some celebrate the day they emerge from their pupa an instar molt as the ‘birthday’. Still, there would be some sort of celebration where a child gets a celebration to mark another year of life. Complete with sweets and presents. It’s a big deal, as bugs before rarely made it past the nymph stage of life. It certainly is something to celebrate.

Celebration of Flight: For flying species, where the young take their first ritual flight to mark an important moment of their development. Non flying bugs are present as well and participate by offering support to their friends and family taking their first flight without any help.

Celebration of Weaving: For Spiders to show off their very first silk weavings and crafts and getting the praise they deserve. Primarily a Deepnest holiday.

Celebration of ____: If a species is known for a thing, you better believe they are going to have a cellebration around it! Digging, rolling, fighting, spitting, climbing, ect ect. There’s so many different kinds of bugs!

Mate Day: Bring your mate offerings so they don’t get cranky and try to bite anyone. Especially you. You better make them feel like the most special bug in existence.

King/Queen’s Day: Two days at different times of the year to celebrate the King and his lovely tree wife. Queen’s day is in ‘Spring’, and King’s day is ‘Winter’. Think of ‘Captain Picard Day’ in the TNG for the idea. Kids make little dolls and pictures and costumes and run around while parents buy them little King/Queen shaped sweets and participate in events run by the crown. Tours of the Palace take place in order to bring more transparency to the public. Both days would involve charity work depending on the ruler’s taste. Example, the Queen might sponsor a beatification effort by planting flowers and bushes around the kingdom and the King may just ask for groups to go around and clean up litter. Citizen bugs outside the Capital/major cities still would have their own home celebrations, perhaps just saying prayers of thanks or just cleaning around their village. Dolls and plushies are typically sold a lot and it’s not uncommon for children to have at least one doll of either the King, Queen, or both. There is a lottery where any citizen can participate, where winners may go before the Royals without having to fight through normal court to request some sort of help for either themselves or another organization. Royalty and Nobility have a separate feast afterwards, where there is a lot of ass kissing and the monarchs just want to eat their din dins and go the hell to bed please.

Day of Spirits: A day to honor and remember the dead. Offerings are set out for deceased loved ones and graves/memorials are carefully cleaned and put to order. It’s a time to remember those you love that are gone and give them honor by showing that you are continuing to live and remember them. There are usually parties where representations are included so the spirits of those gone are invited to participate in said party. It’s a day for laughter and love, not for grief. It’s said on this day the veil between the living and dead and thin, so you can directly tell your gone loved ones whatever you like and they have the greatest chance of hearing it.

Honey Festival: All things Honey. The Hive makes SO MUCH GEO during a week long Festival. They may not be part of the Kingdom but boy howdy, does everyone love honey and wax products.

Remembrance Days: Days to remember any well known person, such as visionaries, inventors, people who generally did a lot of good, and others. Bugs that did a lot of good for bugkind are remembered and honored in their own little celebrations. Usually it means that government offices shut down to give their workers a much needed break.

OF COURSE: There doesn’t need to be a reason for a celebration. Dances and ‘Ho Down’ style celebrations can spring up for any reason. Some villages have their own little celebration days and all it takes is one person setting up some music and drinks and you got a party. For moral, it’s common for there to be at least one celebration every ‘month/moon/cycle’ to keep up spirits and have at least a bit of time to relax.

#Hollow Knight #Hallownest #holidays #celebrations #festivals #world building #speculation #apencilknight #i did my best #twas a lot of thinking lol #i would go to all these celebrations cause i love to eat food

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itsmyregularcat · 3 years

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i think the 'extras' refers to extra clips, behind the scenes interviews and such that are on the bluray or dvd. It really doesn’t make sense to look at individual extras to mock them and by just watching the film you really can’t tell what they thought it would be like. And the way op says 'some of them involved' wouldn’t make sense because how would one extra be involved and others not and if not how would one know someone isn’t involved just by watching. Which makes me certain it wasn’t aimed at extras as in actors but extras as in bonus material.

Not to be a shit disturber (and at the same time to absolutely be a colossal shit disturber), I disagree with you. The way that post was worded was certainly aimed at the actors versus the content in the extra features. Someone would have to specifically seek out the extra footage, which I doubt they would do when it is such easy, low hanging fruit to say ‘hehe cats dumb bad movie’. If someone disliked the movie (enough to deride it online), it is quite unlikely that they own a physical / digital copy. That extra footage absolutely shows and appreciates the effort that went in to make the movie, not matter what the outcome turned out to be. I can agree with that. Those involved were unabashedly committed to the movie.

Why did the OP use a gif of a ‘background’ cat then, when they could have used the behind the scenes footage you alluded to? The cat in the gif, Freya Rowley, barely appears in any of the behind the scenes footage (aside from being in the background) if you have ever watched it, and the same goes with 90% of the rest of the cast. The interviews in the extra footage are only with a few (main) characters and some notable production team members, and even then it is basically Tom Hooper and Andy Blankenbuehler (who I admittedly do have respect for due to involvement with the Broadway Revival) waxing poetically and ego stroking themselves. Tom thought he was doing something with all of changes, and while the ambition is admirable, it fell flat in the end because he sought to make it ‘his vision’ over Andrew Lloyd Webber’s. ALW even had to reportedly step in to reverse some more extreme changes, or else he would not sign off on parts of the movie. The more you investigate, the stranger some of the potential and scrapped ideas you discover, but they are all hear-say in the end because none of them will ever be confirmed.

Essentially no one aside from Jason Derulo, Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, James Corden, Jennifer Hudson, and Rebel Wilson are interviewed in depth. Francesca Hayward gets a bit, and so does Robbie Fairchild, but the majority of the interviews focused on the big names and direction team. If they would have spent the time to interview someone like Freya Rowley or Zizi Strallen (who has a fairly illustrious stage career in her own right) I would have welcomed it. Give a voice to those who are not going to be widely known. For fucks sake, quite a few of the ‘background actors’ in the movie were in stage shows of Cats. Named characters played by Naoimh Morgan (Rumpleteazer), Freya, and Zizi, as well as unnamed ensemble cats, like Corey John Snide and Kolton Krouse, were all part of Cats before the movie. They never got the recognition they deserved.

Regardless, guess what? Everyone fucking hated it. Those people who poured their time and energies got ridiculed, and many pushed themselves away from associated themselves with the movie. It is likely the lesser name actors lost career prospects because of how poorly Cast (2019) was received. Imagine being in that movie, and seeing the reviews. I doubt you would say you were proud to be in it, though every actor should certainly be proud as all fuck that they were in such a movie. Who knows what the fallout from the movie will be for these actors because I assume the ongoing p*ndemic has ruined their careers even more.

Anyway, I will support and fight for Cats (2019) as long as I am in this fandom. I am tired of the insults related to how bad it was. I realize that it was not great, and that there was a lot that could have been so more better done, or that they destroyed the essence of the musical in many spots. It was my introduction, and why I gravitated to the stage productions. If the ill-fated movie led some viewers to discover the world of Cats, it does make up for some the derision and panning by a majority of asshats.

Thank you for your comment though. My apologies for going off a bit. You may be correct, but the way that post was presented suggests differently.

Anyway, stan Jellylorum 2019, stan Tantomile 2019, stan the whole damn cast, or if will fucking come for you I swear to the Everlasting Cat. Support those who cared enough to be in Cats and believe in it.

#cats 2019 #cats movie #cats the movie #cats movie 2019 #cats the musical #cats musical

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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years

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What I thought about WandaVision

Y'know, it's kind of crazy to think that it's been over a year since we've been given any content involving the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel Studios announced so many great movies, on top of new TV shows that actually impact the story, way back in the summer of 2019. But then 2020 happened. Resulting in everything, and I mean everything, we were promised getting pushed back for another year. So, when it was finally announced that the series WandaVision was, at last, ready to be released, fans were both excited as well as skeptical. Because the first thing that would reintegrate us back into this franchise would be a show about how two Avengers are stuck in a sitcom. It might be new, long-awaited content, but it also doesn't sound all that interesting. Could a story involving two characters who have yet to stand on their own be enough to carry a brand new adventure? Well, for eight whole weeks, fans were given that answer. And personally, I will admit that WandaVision might have been better than anybody could have ever expected...for the most part.

(Final spoiler warning if you haven't seen the show yet)

WHAT I LIKE

It Just Goes: This is easily the best way the series could have started. We are given no context about what is going on. We're just shown that Wanda and Vision are currently stuck in a sitcom, and that's it. By making it a mystery, fans are given this sort of interaction with the series as they find clues and come up with theories about how and why this happened. Sure, some assumptions were more far fetched than others (did people think Mephisto was confirmed just because of one misinterpreted line involving the Devil?), but it still makes the show a ton of fun to watch. Plus, even when we're given answers, it's only tiny pieces of the puzzle. We're always given a chance to figure out the bigger picture, resulting in an image that is, I'll admit, somewhat satisfying to see. Just as long as you ignore the crybabies who get upset that their favorite theories turned out to be wrong.

The Homages are on Point: I also love how straight the cast and crew play with the idea of two superheroes being stuck in a series of sitcoms. Everything they use fits in the era each sitcom takes place in. With things like camerawork, set design, special effects, acting quality, tropes, and even theme songs, everything works as a proper homage than just having two episodes in black and white and the rest in color. Each new sitcom that Wanda and Vision are rebooted in feels so genuine, to the point where they seem like they could be actual shows that could have existed. Seriously, my dad showed me stuff like The Dick Van Dyke Show when I was a kid, so trust me when I say that the very first episode nails the style that it's honoring. Not only is it charming as all forms of hell, but it also works in making these moments when characters break from the spell (get it) all the more jarring and even disturbing at times. Because when you're so keen on watching what seems like a fun and cheesy sitcom, you feel a bit unsettled when a character suddenly acts in a way that's a tad foreboding. Still, it's fun to watch and is easily the central hook for what makes this show work.

The Comedy: The homages also nail the comedy that came from each type of sitcom. The jokes fit with each period, from the cheesy and charming 50s to the cynical and dry 90s and early 2000s. It's another thing the writers play straight with, and I think it works. The only jokes made by most stories like this are just pointing out that these serious characters are stuck in a silly sitcom. Instead, the writers tell jokes that work for the period it's in, and it is all genuinely funny if you're used to those types of goofs and gags. If you didn't laugh, that's because the comedy isn't trying to reach out to you. It's reaching out to the people who actually watched these types of sitcoms. Or, in my case, the type of people who had their parents show them these types of sitcoms. And even then, I still think there are these lines and deliveries that are still funny even if you don't get the joke. For example, there's this brief moment with Vision and a toy baby that got a genuine chuckle out of me for how absurd it was. I wasn't expecting to laugh that much, but on top of the many surprises this show gave, being funny was definitely one of them.

“My husband, and his indestructible forehead”: He...hehe...hehehehahahaHAHAHAHA! AH! HA! HA! HA!

*Slowly starts sobbing*

>Squeaks<

I see what you did there.

Paul Bettany as “Vision,” “Vision,” and Vision: Can we give Paul Bettany a round of applause for basically playing three different characters, each with their own varying levels of emotions and purposes? Because goodness gracious, this man is a champion! I've seen tons of people praise Elizabeth Olson for her performance as Wanda, and to be fair, she does do a fantastic job...aside from one blatant issue (which I'll get into later). But as great as Olson is, Bettany still deserves some credit. Throughout most of the series, he has this level of comedic-timing that I didn't even know he was capable of, by going ham or just having a dry wit. Seriously, was someone going to tell me that Paul Bettany can be funny, or was I supposed to find that out for myself? On top of being hilarious, Bettany delivers such raw emotion that none of us would have ever expected from this character. That screaming match “Vision” has with Wanda shows the very first time that any version of him has ever been angry, and Bettany does a great job at making that moment as jarring as it needed to be. And that's just from playing one version of the character! I didn't even talk about how he nails the naive yet still wise Vision from the flashback in "Previously On" or the cold and robotic "Vision" from "The Series Finale." Bettany has range, and WandaVision is a great show that proves how. One just needs to have the right amount of vision to see it (HhhhhhhhhhhHA!)

Developing Wanda: But as great as Paul Bettany, and to a lesser extent, Vision, is, Wanda Maximoff is clearly the star of the show here (And yes, I know that it's Wanda who's the character and Elizabeth Olson is the actor, but...I'll get into it!). If WandaVision has taught me anything about these Disney+ shows, it's that we are finally going to get some long-awaited development to characters that are starved from it. And Wanda definitely needed it. Don't get me wrong, Wanda was great in past movies but wasn't that compelling of a character. Here, trust me when I say that the opposite is true.

We are given a deep dive into not only Wanda's morality but also her psyche. The writers really play around with how scary Wanda can be. As well as questioning if Wanda has the capability of being evil. Because, yeah, what she did was not right. True, our "heroine" was going through some rough s**t, but that doesn't excuse the amount of torture Wanda put the people of Westview through, no matter how unwittingly. Just look at that scene where everyone grills Wanda about what she's doing to them, not only pleading for whatever compromise they can get and even begging for her to kill them instead. That is dark! That is the darkest concept the MCU has ever offered, and the ending of Avengers: Infinity War exists!

But, while it doesn't entirely excuse everything, there is a reason why Wanda did all of this. You see, throughout WandaVision, Wanda goes through the five stages of grief. It all starts with denial as she pretends to live in a sitcom that she created where Vision is alive, and they get to even have kids together. Soon comes anger when she destroys anything and physically harms anyone that tries to bring her back to reality. Next, there's bargaining as Wanda strengthens her hex and expands it to keep outsiders out and keep Vision in. This leads to depression as the weight of all of Wanda's actions finally sinks in, and she's forced to realize the damage she's causing. Until all of it ends with acceptance, as Wanda finally, finally, gets to say goodbye to Vision. Something she never really got when Thanos ripped the mind stone out of Vision's forehead. It's both incredible to watch as it is fascinating. Wanda, through the course of her own little spin-off series, just went from a decent character to one of the most intriguing to dissect in the MCU. And we have this show to thank for it.

The Commercials: These commercials offer three things.

They're more homages to classic television, each product and filming for each one honoring how commercials looked in each era.

They offer more of an insight into Wanda's psyche as we see how each commercial shows bits of her history, regrets, and deepest desires. You see all of the above in the Lagos' paper towel commercial.

There are neat bits of foreshadowing of what's to come, like how Hydra Soak ends by saying it's for "your inner goddess" or how the 90s commercial ends by saying Magic isn't meant for the weak.

With all of that, these commercials are as fun to analyze as they are disturbing as hell.

The Dinner Scene: This was the moment it was clear that WandaVision wasn’t going to just be fun and games. The second that "Mr. Heart" starts screaming at Wanda about why she and Vision came, it becomes clear that the whole wacky scenario our heroes are in isn't as harmless as we all thought. And when "Mrs. Heart" playfully tells her husband to stop it when “Mr. Heart” starts choking, only to desperately scream at Wanda to stop it, audiences begin to piece together that the people of Westview are prisoners--no--victims. As for Wanda? She's the unknowing dictator forcing them to do what she says. And it was this scene that I knew I was going to really enjoy this show.

The Blip Scene: And it was this scene that made WandaVision skyrocket into top-tier MCU territory! As much as I love Spider-Man: Far From Home, I will admit that making a joke with the concept of something like the blip might not have been the best move. But showing the chaos of everyone coming back all at once? On top of showing the confusion that a person would have from being told that a five-second nap was five years? Yeah, that's more in line with what we want.

Returning Characters: Not only was I surprised by the fact that these pretty minor characters in the MCU made a return at all, but I was also shocked to find out they work better in this series than they did in their respective movies. First, there's Monica. Not only is she reintroduced as a brand new hero (with, admittingly, confusing superpowers), but she also works as the anti-Wanda. Both characters had someone they care about dearly die without getting a chance to say goodbye. The difference is that Monica doesn't have the abilities Wanda does and is instead forced to quickly accept that her mom is dead and won't come back. She even admits that she would bring her mom back if she could. But that just makes Monica the perfect person that Wanda needs. A person that understands where she's coming from and tries to convince Wanda to do the right thing, no matter how hard it is. Monica's methods may have been a tad bit sloppy, but she is still ten times more intriguing than that little girl who screwed around with the color scheme on Captain Marvel’s suit.

Then there's Jimmy Woo, who is both funnier here than in Ant-Man and the Wasp, and actually shows signs of being a competent FBI agent. A step up, I might add, from the hilariously incompetent character we saw in his previous appearance.

And also, Darcie is here...and still slightly annoying...but at least she still has a couple funny lines here and there! Which is more than I can say with Thor and Thor: The Dark World.

In my opinion, it's a good move having these characters with pretty small roles in vastly different stories make a return. It shows that they are not limited to their one little corner of the MCU. And that they can branch off into taller tales that suit them perfectly. It's pretty cool, and it makes me wonder what other small characters could make a triumphant return.

Billy and Tommy: These two are...fine. Billy and Tommy give me Zach and Cody vibes sometimes, the kids playing them do a decent job, and they both offer some great emotional moments. The problem is that out of the list of characters that WandaVision introduces and reintroduces, there's not much to talk about with Billy and Tommy. Honestly, the only reason why I briefly mentioned that I like them is that I don't want dozens of people crucifying me for not saying anything about them. I don't hate them, but I don't much care for them either.

Evan Peters as Quicksilver: Although I would have loved it if it was Aaron Taylor-Johnson who made a return, seeing Evan Peters in a good Marvel movie again is more than worth it. He plays a much more fun version of Quicksilver while still nailing the sibling relationship the character has with Wanda. In a way, it's a lot like how Marvel cast J.K. Simmons as J Jonah Jameson at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home. It's admitting that no one could have played the character better than this one actor and briefly making fans happy in the process. While also not doing something crazy like having it be the exact same Quicksilver from the X-Men movies. Only f**king idiots would believe something like that...

...

...But hypothetically speaking, let's say some people were stupid to believe that. While making an outrageous claim that the writers "lead them on to doing so." In which case, I will say the same thing that one would say when friend-zoning someone: "Nobody led you on to s**t. You were just too busy focusing on what you wanted to see instead of what you needed to see."

Because there was no evidence that it was the same Quicksilver other than the fact that it was the same actor. And, hypothetically speaking, if there were dozens of crybabies who were upset about it not being the same Quicksilver, then I have so much more respect for this character being nothing more than a boner joke. Because you did this to yourselves...hypothetically speaking.

Retconning Wanda’s Powers: ...I'm ok with this. Retcons happen all the time in the comics, as well as in movies and television. It's just a matter of making the retcon believable enough where there are few holes in what you're telling people. As for Wanda apparently having magic this entire time, but the mind stone amplified her powers? I can buy that. Besides, it's an acceptable excuse to make Wanda as powerful as she is in the comics (from what I've been told), so like I said, I'm ok with this.

“I can’t feel you…”: ...That's fine. I didn't need my heart anyway.

“Vision’s” Talk with “Vision”: Forget the horrible CGIed battles. I want more of this!

Now, I put both Visions in quotation marks because while they're both the same character, they're also...not the same. Which is, funnily enough, what this scene is: A philosophical discussion between two versions of the same android about what makes them both/neither the definitive version. One may look the same, and the other may be the same body, but neither "Vision" really is the true Vision. However, the fact that these two stop their fighting so they can have this discussion in the first place helps secure that while different, they are still the same. It's a thought-provoking discussion, and it is ten times more interesting to watch than Wanda and Agatha's CGI fight in the sky. Although it is kind of odd that White-Vision just peaces out the second Hex-Vision gives him a reboot. But hey, that's for the future movies to deal with.

“Thank you for choosing me to be your mom.”: >Deep inhale<...Girl.

Wanda Saying Goodbye to Vision: >DEEPER INHALE< HOOOOOOOOOOO BOY! I did not expect this much emotional turmoil from f**king WANDAVISION!

Joking aside, this is a well-handled scene. It's incredibly emotional to see these two characters say goodbye to each other as their arcs come to a close. "Vision" peacefully leaves knowing who he is in the world, and Wanda can finally start moving on as she gets to say goodbye to her one true love. It's as bittersweet as it is beautiful.

WHAT I DISLIKE

MCU logos flashing in every episode: You know how CinemaSins has this bulls**t excuse about how the MCU opening logo wastes time to get to the good stuff? This is the only instance where that's applicable. Because the opening logo was cool to see again for the first episode, but having it play in every single one after breaks the immersion when trying to binge the series. It's for a couple of seconds, sure, but after a while, it does get pretty annoying.

Elizabeth Olson as Scarlet Witch: Now, to be clear, I have no problems with Elizabeth Olson's acting ability in this series. She juggles being funny, heartbreaking, and threatening so well that I am likely to laugh and cry with her as I am to s**t my pants while in her presence. Elizabeth Olson does a great job with this character. The problem? Well, in the comics, Wanda Maximoff is Roma, and Elizabeth Olson...isn't. This means that WandaVision, and the MCU as a whole, has a bad case of white-washing.

I could go on about the issues this brings, but I am not as educated about this subject, and all I know is just stuff that seems like common sense. For instance, I believe it is more than reasonable to hire an actor of a specific race or ethnicity for a character who is of a that same race or ethnicity. But that is as far as my knowledge and personal stance goes, and to expand on it would be too much of a risk because I have no right to criticize the representation of something I am not a part of. So instead, I'm going to point you to @earnestdesire‘s blog and Jessica Reidy’s article on the subject. They do a great job at discussing the issues with Olson’s Wanda and pointing to the issues the MCU has in representing Wanda and Pietro's representation in the comics. And they do it in a far better way than I ever could have. So check them out to truly see why, despite doing a great job, Elizabeth Olson should not be the person donning the suit.

It Was Agatha All Along: AND I STILL F**KING HATE THAT!

I know, I know, I am in the minority on this one. And I still don't understand why! To me, Agatha has all of the problems that Hans has in Frozen. Sure, there are hints if you pay more attention during a few select scenes that are slightly questionable. Like how she refers to Wanda as "the star of the show" or coincidentally shows up with a dog house for Sparky. However, much like how Frozen didn't need a villain like Hans, WandaVision didn't need a comic book villain like Agatha. The story was perfectly passable as a personal conflict involving Wanda's grief where the only obstacle was the director of S.W.O.R.D. and his agents. There is nothing Agatha adds to that.

"But she helps Wanda find out what happens!" Yeah, but Monica could have done the same thing by actually breaking through to Wanda and calmly asking what happened. From then on, they could have worked things out together by having Wanda retrace events that transpired through the information that Monica knows as well.

"But Agatha helps Wanda realize what she's doing is wrong!" So could Vision! He could have shown up, did that mind-meld thing to the townspeople, and Wanda would finally learn what she was doing was wrong through the person she trusts the most.

"But Agatha helps Wanda learn that she's the Scarlet Witch!" Ok...but did that need to happen in this series? Because when you think about it, when the central conflict is all about exploring Wanda's grief, throwing in this narrative about becoming the Scarlet Witch has little to do with anything. Meaning that if you cut it from the story, little would change other than cutting a CGI battle that everyone agrees is the worst part of the series.

The most Agatha adds to the story is a secondary conflict that could easily be cut, and the overall quality would stay the same, if not better. And that is a problem. Agatha needs to add to the central conflict in a way that no other character could have. Like, give her a reason to be involved in Wanda’s life that goes beyond feeding off her magic and leading Wanda to her destiny. Because as is, even if you argue that Agatha is a good twist villain, she's a villain that really didn't need to be here.

Director Haywood: But as much as I don't like Agatha, I think we can all agree that Director Haywood is the worst villain in the MCU. Because one issue that Haywood has is a lack of motivation. For instance, why does he try so hard to write off Wanda as this supervillain? It was never explained, and for something so bizarre and crucial to his character, I feel like it needed to be. It would be passable if he was motivated out of fear and ignorance, but Haywood goes so far as to misedit security footage to prove his point. And I don't get why.

Is he sexist?

Did Wanda not show up at his kid's birthday party?

Did he secretly want to use Vision as a sexbot and didn't want Wanda to get between them?

I don't know, and I'll never know.

Plus, on top of having no motivation, Haywood is just forgettable. Agatha may piss me off to no end, but at least I'll remember her. I honestly forgot Haywood's name half the time, and I'm willing to bet that you did too. Case in point, his name isn't even Haywood. It's Hayward. And in the off chance that you didn't even know about that misspelling just proves my point about how forgettable Hayward is. While it's one thing to be hated, it's another to be forgotten. Because that just means that you left so little impact that you aren't even worth getting upset about.

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And that is what I thought about WandaVision. If I had to base this off my usual score, I'd have to give the show the same 7/10 that everyone else gave it. Because there's a lot that I love, but the stuff that I hate is so problematic that it takes the WandaVision down on a couple of notches. It's still a fantastic series with a solid story, a great message, incredible acting, and phenomenal character development. It's just that not everyone is going to be willing to tune in as much as you might think.

#marvel cinematic universe #wandavision #mcu reviews #wanda maximoff #vision #agatha harkness #what i thought about

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ghinanotlinetti · 4 years

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My thoughts on Netflix’s ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Seasons 1 & 2 and the liable (s)hero

Hello! I’m going to be talking about The Umbrella Academy. I got hooked on this show when it came out and my friend recommended it to me, at the time we were on our final semesters of university and had a lot of free time because we weren’t expected to take a lot of classes to focus on our final undergrad assignment, so why not binge watch TV shows! I remember the pace being quite slow, I wasn’t too invested to begin with but then later on as the episodes progressed I got so into it. And when the second season came out during this whole pandemic fiasco which was the perfect gift for us nerds!

I want to firstly mention that I've not read the comics and I don't think I'm planning on doing it soon, but I do like watching superhero movies and series. I can't describe what I'm into I just know that I like what I like which ranges from A to Z. So as an adaptation I can't say much on how the show does the comics justice, but from what I've heard from readers of the comics who've watched the show, the show pretty much follows the story from the comics (not word for word but not too loosely either) which is great I imagine. I can tell the series shows the story of these characters who we know and are invest in very well, it gets straight to the action, drama, and develops intriguing plot lines. I personally love siblings dynamics in TV shows; this family dynamic is so interesting to watch onscreen, from the flashback scenes of when they were little (I really do hope there's a spin-off with the kids!) to their current relationship that they have now with each other as siblings. The first season sets the story straight, then the next season steps it up a notch which is awesome! I love Klaus' character plot, especially the banter that he has with Ben, love those scenes and I'm glad we got to see more of Ben in season 2! In the first season I was drawn to Diego’s character specifically, and I also was intrigued by the backstory involving other characters like Reginald, Pogo and Grace. I like all the characters except for Luther but I can respect what he brings to the family dynamic and the role he plays in the story (even if it's very frustrating to watch). I like the story a lot, I can tell the writing is well thought out and it’s captivating to watch the story play out with each episode. And of course, the production is top tier, American productions really know how to produce high quality films, I really appreciate this and that it was paired beautifully with a good story! I thought the plot had pretty much every element needed to make a superhero franchise, from the conflict, character, even to (problematic) stereotypes...

I'm not very invested with superhero movies in general, but some of my favourite movies are those superhero movies. I love the Spiderman movies (the Toby Maguire ones are iconic, Andrew Garfield ones are good I enjoyed it, and I love Tom Holland's Spiderman a lot), haven't watched all of Thor but I really like Thor Ragnorok, obsessed with Black Panther, love Captain Marvel, I've watched all the Avenger movies without having watched any Ironman movies, the Hulk movie and the first Captain America movie. I also watched some of X-Men movies but I’m less invested in them compared to my mild obsession with the Avengers; I like Days of Future Past, Logan was so brilliant, and I've seen the other films but they haven't really stuck with me. So I get the gist of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (quite familiar with DC but not as much as MCU) and I have to say, I'm so done with the liable characters who are 9 out of 10 times women in these superhero franchises. Vanya is the liable character, Diego says this himself to her in season one when their house is intruded by Hazel and Cha Cha - everyone's using their powers to defeat them meanwhile Vanya does nothing because she can't and gets bruised. And I’m sick of it. I’ve seen this before with the Scarlet Witch (Wanda) and Jean Grey, and every time it’s annoying for me to watch. They’re the most powerful character, but they have no control over themselves it’s annoying! Wanda ends up having to kill Vision and it’s very upsetting for her because she loves him, and it’s all just frustrating to watch as a viewer because of her very bad timing and almost incompetence to be logical. Jean Grey is killed by Wolverine because she lost control of her powers and then in the Sophie Turner one she also dies to save her friends.

Only tragedy for these lot who most if not all the time are women. There’s already a visible lack of superwomen, so with this liable character trope it’s sad that when women are included in these stories we’re inclined to see them through how the patriarchy views women. If they’re not the hero then they’re the love interest, and if they do get to be the hero it’s the tragic hero incapable of control. Women are “strong” and are meant to save everyone but they’re delicate, too delicate that it gets in the way of them mastering their powers. Women are emotional, they can’t be logical beings so they’re not the leader despite being the most powerful one in the group. Captain Marvel flips this stereotype on its head; that scene when we think there’s about to be a showdown between Captain Marvel and Jude Law’s character (can’t remember the name for the life of me), it’s meant to be one-on-one with no powers but she refuses, blasts him with her fist and says to him that she has nothing to prove to him. Iconic! Now that's a movie and character which is clearly written by women for women and I want more of it! I want to see more female superheros who aren’t the tragic hero with bad timing, zero control over everything including their feelings and powers. The story arc of the liable hero is overdone and predictable, so I really would like to see literally anything else.

Vanya’s story arc was quite predictable. Of course she has to fall in love with the wrong people at the wrong time, and of course she has to face a nearly impossible dilemma to solve. From the beginning I knew I just didn't like Vanya's character but wasn't sure why, then I realised this female character was written by men, and that's why I found her so.. annoying. She's brilliant obviously don't get me wrong, she's the most powrful one but the fact that this had to be paired with her trauma from years of being neglected was utterly corny. It’s also not lost on me that there’s 7 Hargreeve children and 2 are girls; Allison’s story arc for a while was attached to an unnecessary romance with Luther, and Vanya is the seemingly incompetent one but plot twist, she’s actually the one to watch. I already knew the love story between Vanya and Sissy would be too good to last, but regardless I feel for her because Allison gets to have more than one romance throughout the course of the series, and though they also don’t really last either it’s not as heartbreaking for her to cope with when they end. Vanya gets better at controlling her powers in the second season, but she’s kind of the same lost character because she loses her memories and almost has to start from the beginning. Season 2 was also interesting to watch because it introduced a new character: Lila. So that’s another female superhero who’s also a WOC, great, but her story for me felt a bit like the liable one mostly because of her backstory which of course leads to a difficult dilemma towards the end. It'll be interesting to see what they decide to do with Lila's character in the future seasons, I don't think we really got to know her very well and I'm excited to find out more.

I really can’t wait for the next season but no rush, I can wait for how ever long it takes for the team to not slack, stay true to the story and deliver another season we deserve to watch (haven’t forgotten about GoT’s tragic downfall!). The screen writing is a 10/10 surprisingly for an American production, I hope it stays top tier in the upcoming seasons *fingerscrossed*. The production is obviously 10/10 and cast is 10/10. I guess the only thing lacking is the character, particularly the women which the show seems to not know what to do with them (and yet they know exactly what to do with the male characters). We only got to see a split second of the new Ben and I can’t wait to discover more of who the new Ben really is, which should be pretty exciting to watch!

#the umbrella academy #netflix #series review #movie review #klaus hargreeves #ben hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #allison hargreeves #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #female superhero

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missaureus · 4 years

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CRASH LANDING ON YOU

Number of Episodes: 16

Genre: Romance, Drama

Rating: 10/10

I actually finished this series prior to the quarantine season but let me just include it to the list because I invested so much emotions to it, to the point it left me handicapped.

Crash Landing on You has so much on its plate! Not to mention the controversy it faced, being criticized by the liberal party for romanticizing not their own kind. I truly appreciate how this production served something new to the audience! The disclaimer being rolled before each episode is a reminder how a vast mind can offer so much - a window to let us visually access how the life is in the world's most secretive country, North Korea. Sure, there are already dramas with North Korea as a setting but the overall portrayal of CLoY makes it loved by the general public.

Apart from the reason of casting big actors as leads, how the supporting roles in CLoY are being painted give a big impact to the whole canvas, even the hostiles and the helpless. The side stories are definitely not something to be skipped. Surprisingly, my favorite character is Seo Dan's mom. She exudes peak mom level! Actually, all mother figures radiate strong personalities! Among all, I appreciate Seo Dan's character development the most! She is definitely a revolution herself. Thank you for empowering women on screen! Lastly, the backbone of the story are the best squads in the history of kdrama, the soldier squad and the mom squad ㅋㅋThey are just pure and fun to watch, even their chemistry with Seri is good~

I honestly ran out of expectations from this drama. I was afraid how it is going to end but the greatest takeaway is that, each character reached their own resolution. Probably some might disagree re: Seo Dan and Seung Jun's tragedy. But the second male lead saying: I was wrong. When I die, there’s someone who will cry for me. The fact that it’s you makes me sad and happy. I guess that resolved his own conflict. *criii*

I have so much to say, to be honest because this drama is generous enough with insights. Highly recommended~ People saying this is too overrated need to sit down and repent lol!

ITAEWON CLASS

Number of Episodes: 16

Genre: Drama, Revenge

Rating: 9/10

First episode and it was already dark and bold. The plot caters a pool of societal issues such as class differences, abuse of power/injustices, transgender discrimination, and racism. This drama has a different aura compared to previous works of Park Seo Joon. Even the love story of the leads is not the typical lovey dovey~

The main character's determination to avenge his father's death is scalding hot throughout the episodes. It was as consistent as his hairstyle for years istg. Hard work does not betray, indeed. What struck me the most is when one character, Seung Kwon, who used to be Saeroyi jailmate, crossed paths again after years in the outer world. He narrated how everyone is given the same amount of time but the depth of time one spends is completely different compared to someone who does not set goals and persevere through time to get it.

No wonder how the rating of the show did good since the characters are effectively pulled off despite how tacky each personality is.

HI BYE, MAMA!

Number of Episodes: 16

Genre: Drama, Fantasy

Rating: 10/10

This series stirred the general public for a fact that the one portraying Seo Woo is actually a boy. The enormous attention it absorbed was also due to its heartbreaking storyline. It is not even an exaggeration that there is no episode that would not let you cry. It will give your tear ducts so much work.

It reflects a pool of family values and love. It will make you realize even more no matter what age you have, you will still need your mom. It will make you ponder how death can rob you in an instant. Midong, a shaman in the drama, once said: A woman who lost her husband is called a widow. A man who lost his wife is called a widower. And a kid who lost his parents is called an orphan. But there’s no word for a parent who lost their kid. Know why? It’s because no word can describe it. There’s no word in this world that can describe the excruciating pain. That is too devastating, I can't digest it.

I want to commend the three main characters so much! They deserve a round of applause each. Both Seowoo's moms deserve her. Yuri and Minjung are both selfless and strong, as mothers should be. It's true that being aggressive with their respective decision against the other without feeling sorry could have been done if one is mean towards the other. This drama has no antagonist and it is frustrating that no one can take the blame. Sadly, one mom must be hurt deeply in order to save the other mom. Shoutout to all stepmoms! Not all are evil, stop labeling them as one. Seowoo's dad, Kanghwa, for me, has the hardest character. He has been walking on eggshells. All his life, his shoulders are heavy. He endured so much and embraced unnecessary guilt. His walls are too high that made his relationship with others shaky. He is afraid for people to get hurt to the point being too considerate does not help him at all, making himself his own punching bag.

Hitting the resolution of the story is a painful process but it is the kind of hurt that liberated all characters involved. To be able to point out what went wrong and ungrasping it--- Yuri boldy telling his used-to-be husband "I am not yours anymore. You can let me go now." opened the door to silence the conflicts. Acceptance.

Literally, I cried how the epilogue gave a glimpse of the couple's life if Yuri was able to escape his death note. It only takes a second to change a life-changing event. But reaching the final episode was the real deal for my tear ducts ㅠ I seriously cried 90 minutes straight! I am so satisfied how it is wrapped up. No better ending no matter heartbreaking it is!

HE IS PSYCHOMETRIC

Number of Episodes: 16

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Fantasy, Thriller

Rating: 9/10

Why did I just watch it noW? ㅠ Wow, this is a masterpiece! The plot twist is insane! I love how the truth was unfold throughout the story. It was helluva stressful hahaha. Dark enough. Since I was hungry for an answer, I finished this one almost straight 16 hours!!! If you have watched While You Were Sleeping, which was about someone who can dream about the future, this series is a counterpart. The main lead can see the past by touching a person or object. This unique ability helped him solve cases, especially the event the greatly involved him in the past.

I commend Jinyoung for crying that much! Crazy he has lots of frame that in need of crying ㅋㅋㅋ Rise the flag of actor-idol! He is a natural, to be honest. His character, Ahn's funny antics always got me~ The female lead, Ye Eun has an uncanning resemblance of Yerim, hahaha it awed me while watching~

I am satisfied how it ended. Although I would to see more of their love story but in totality it is a must-watch definitely!

WHEN THE CAMELLIA BLOOMS

Number of Episodes: 40

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Thriller

Rating: 9/10

I love how this is filtered ♡ Very aesthetic that I want to live in Ongsan too! Life for the female lead is too complex. The plot revolves around straightening the strands of conflicts of her life. Dealing with her son who does not want her to have a boyfriend, who is short-tempered and acts maturely to protect her mom; dealing with her boyfriend who loves her unconditionally, who always believes in her and brings out the best of her; dealing with her ex husband, who wants to stand as a father to his child and fill in those years he missed to take care of him; dealing with her neighbors, who speak ill and put her in a bad light at first; dealing with her mother who made her an orphan and came back to her sick; dealing with her secret killer...

This runs for 20 hours and I could not remember the last drama I've watched this long but I savored it without any hint boredom. It ended but I still want mooore. I love how every character is given ample amount of screen time in the last episode. Everyone ended up happily. The went through so much, a happy ending is deserved by all. I was moved. I learned so much about life which is too complex to be completely understood.

Props to Haneul! His loud and vibrant acting is commendable!!! And the post-credit is so heartwarming ㅠㅠ I had a fair share of tears for this drama ㅠㅠ

BECAUSE THIS IS MY FIRST LIFE

Number of Episodes: 16

Genre: Drama, Romance

Rating: 9/10

I had two attempts to successfully finish this series and what a shame it took me this long? This series also moved me so much. It talks about views and opinion about living independently and marriage. Throughout, I was also questioning my decisions in life and effectively made me reflect.

Ji Ho who is 30, who is jobless, who is homeless. and Se Hee holds the answer to her problems. Se Hee who only loves his cat, who only values his house. Apart from having the same interest in beer and soccer, they mutually signed a contract that both benefitted them. Weird. How can you marry someone without involving emotions?

I also love the opposite personalities of the female lead's friends. Soo Ji who does not believe in marriage and described it as a tomb of a relationship. She is strong and independent. She does not take any guy seriously until Sang Goo happened. Ho Rang who dreams of being a housewife and a mother. She desperately wanted to marry his long-term partner because she is already hitting three decades. Sadly, his partner, Wonseok, expressed how he is not that ready yet and still starting to get a stable job.

I love how this drama ended! Heartwarming~

Part 1 | https://daisy-illusive.tumblr.com/post/162383689643

Part 2 | https://daisy-illusive.tumblr.com/post/169033240193

#personal #kdrama #kdrama recommendations #kdrama review #crash landing on you #hi bye mama #itaewon class #korean drama #korean series #review #he is psychometric #when the camellia blooms #because this is my first life

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angelhummel · 4 years

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In honor of Darren’s birthday I just wanted to go on a long and personal rant about him. About how I’ve been following him from the start, what he means to me, that sort of thing. I’ll hide it under a cut to save you all from scrolling ten minutes to get past it!

I first became aware of Darren Criss in about August 2009. I was barely into my sophomore year of high school and one of my friends told me about a Harry Potter musical some people made and put up online. I was a huge fan of HP and musicals and my first response was “how has this been up for six weeks and I’m only just now hearing about it??” So of course I looked it up the second I could and devoured every minute of it. I even got my best friend to be as obsessed over it as I was.

We went from being crazy about the musical to being crazy about the cast. I had bought sticker computer paper so I could print out my own stickers and we decorated our binders with them. One that was a collage of the whole cast, but several more of Darren because he was my favorite. (All the stickers weren’t Starkid related though, we weren’t quite that obsessive.) But we watched all their shows and playfully argued about which member was the cutest or which characters were better, all that good stuff.

She was the same friend that got me into Glee in the first place, so when we heard Darren was going to be on the show, of course we freaked out. We were tuning in every single week to see his beautiful face and hear his beautiful voice, just so we could meet back up at school the next day and gush about how great it was. And like I’ve said before, Kurt was my favorite character from the start. So seeing Darren embody this new character that was destined to get with Kurt, to be his best friend and soulmate and everything in between, it meant the world for me. I found myself tuning in more and more just to see what Kurt and Blaine were up to. Klaine is still, to this day, one of the most iconic, influential, game changing couples ever portrayed in media. They just were the show to me, and they’re a big part of why I’m still so involved in the fandom.

Glee and Klaine are the only reasons I have friends now. It might sound a little sad, a little crazy, but it’s the truth. When my real life friends weren’t as obsessive as me anymore, I had to wade through the treacherous waters of anonymous online chats to find people who were. I connected to a handful of people from all over the world, and we went from roleplaying two fictional characters in love to getting to know one another and being real friends. (And still roleplaying fictional characters. Don’t judge me.)

When Darren went from Blaine to Hedwig, my admiration for him only expanded alongside the range in versatility of his roles. I’ll admit, when NPH starred in the Hedwig revival, I had no idea what it was. But one of my friends that I met online, he loved the musical. He got me listening to the soundtrack before I even knew the premise of it. I learned all the songs, watched the movie over and over. It quickly made its way up to being one of (if not my absolute favorite) musical. When we learned Darren would be taking over the role, we were ecstatic.

So much so that I managed to convince my family to plan a trip to NY just so we could see the show (amongst other things). It remains to this day probably the best trip I’ve ever taken, mostly thanks in part to Darren. Getting to see him live was spectacular. He was so captivating, talented, all around amazing. He just disappeared into the role and it was mesmerizing to see, especially coming off of only seeing him as Blaine or a singing Harry Potter. The way he worked the whole crowd, even his improvised moments on stage- it all just lent itself to creating the best experience I’d ever had in a theater.

I saw the show with my sister and my ex (now and at the time) and we waited outside at the stage door, something I’d only done a couple of times before. And sadly, I was and probably still am the type to freeze up in a situation like this, so I hardly got to say anything to Darren as he came by signing autographs. I had two playbills in hand for him to sign (one for me and one for my friend who got me into the show, because I knew he’d never get to see it), as well as a poster for me. I wanted to tell him to personalize one signature for my friend (Mike) just so it would be extra special, but I couldn’t get the words out. Darren signed what I was holding and moved on, though he did linger near us a little longer because he was talking to my ex about his outfit. He said that he admired him getting dressed up in a suit and bowtie, because no one really got dressed up for the theater anymore. After he really moved on, my ex said he felt like he could just lay down in the street and die because Darren Criss told him he liked his outfit.

But I was stubborn and determined to get the personalized autograph, so I stayed behind. We waited until Darren had gone through everyone who’d come from the show, everyone who’d just wandered up on the street for a chance to see him. He was almost on his way to the car when I reached out over the little barrier and touched his arm to get his attention. I handed him the playbill and he looked confused that I was handing him something he’d already signed. I managed to explain it was for my friend Mike, and I wanted him to make it out to him. So Darren added a “Hi, Mike!” on the front, and even drew an arrow to his name as if Mike wouldn’t know who had written that. I thanked him profusely and was still kind of in shock just from seeing him and actually touching him, and that’s definitely the best encounter with a celebrity I’d ever had. I said like two whole sentences to him, way to go, me!

Darren has truly been a household name in my family since AVPM. My sister and I watched every Starkid production several times. My whole family sat down to watch Glee every week, and then did the same for ACS. When Girl Most Likely came out, my dad took me to go see it (and the closest theater playing it was over an hour away). My parents planned a whole trip to NY just so my sister and I could see Hedwig. And on the day when the LMDC tour was the closest it would be to where I lived, my dad woke me up that morning and said “Want to go see Darren and Lea tonight?” and then drove me to see the concert.

For over a decade now, I’ve been watching Darren’s star on the rise. He’s tackled about every single project a celebrity could tackle. Television, film, music videos, his own music (solo and in a band!), Broadway (musicals and now a play!) awards galore, and, well, lots of paid advertisement. It’s fine, he can get that coin however he wants.

I keep saying he should be doing more. The projects he’s tackling now are small potatoes compared to what he should and could be doing. What he deserves to be doing. But at the end of the day, I know this is just the tip of the iceberg for him. There is so much more to come. Look at where he was ten years ago compared to now. And just imagine where he’ll be in ten years compared to now.

It makes me so unbelievably happy to know that I’ve been in this talented human being’s corner from the beginning. It means a lot to me that I’ve actually got to watch someone go from basically a nobody to one of the most talented people of a generation (and actually be recognized for that talent!) It’s just an amazing feeling, and I’ve never had another celebrity that I felt like this about. Darren truly is an amazing human being. Talented, mesmerizing, magical, charismatic, kind, funny, versatile. He’s so much more than just some celebrity crush to me, and I couldn’t be prouder of him.

I hope he has an amazing birthday today, and I hope he knows there is so much more to come. I’m going to enjoy watching where he goes from here. I’m so proud of him, I love him, Happy Birthday Darren! As if you or anyone else read this whole thing :P

#glee cast #darren criss #happy birthday darren!#wow this is so long and rambly #but like i said i just wanted to get some thoughts out there #and wish my favorite star a happy birthday #dont even look at me if there are any typos or whatever #i did not read this a second time #my thoughts

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aintyourlove · 4 years

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Another List of all the K-dramas that I’ve watched:

I thought it would be fun do it again and in somehow helpful for someone maybe get a suggestion from here. Idk. Hope you guys like tho :)

One More Time / I Want to Protect You:

I’ve to put this one in the first place 'cause I forgot about it and it should be at the first list bc this was one of the first k-dramas that I’ve watched and I remember being like searching Korean dramas at Netflix when I didn’t to know where to find them and this was there for me!

It’s a great k-drama, a short one, true, but could be pretty interesting

It’s about this guy who tries to survive doing he’s music, an independent indie band doing local shows and stuffs like that, but he feels too bad about his life and the way that things it’s going on. Tired of that he become to be a trash guy with his girlfriend and friends. If life can be more than that he want to appreciate, but what is the price for that?

I was so mad about the way the main character keep treating his girlfriend at first because she was literally the most patience sweet human being with him. But as the show goes you start to realize that he cares about her and it’s sad seeing him crying about her

I like the end, I think it’s what I like the most in the whole show

7/10, actually it could be an 8/10 because of the end that it was cool

Romance is a Bonus Book:

You can watch it at Netflix :)

The atmosphere of the publishing company scenes gives to the show a special feeling because, for me, they talk with a such sensitivity about the process of publishing a book that it’s really special realize how one simple book can be made

I like the characters but I don't feel the romantically connection of the main couple, they are cute and all the stuff but its different from Tae-o and Song-I from My First First Love if you know what I mean ‘cause like in this drama Tae-o and Song-i were best friends since ever, the chemistry its other, but doesn't mean they are bad, its just a thought of mine

It’s the classic friends-who-dont-know-they-love-each-other story so you probably will enjoy, nothing too special with that honestly

What I like the most in this show it's the final product if you understand what I'm saying, the show as it is!

I think that is a good show to watch it when you just wanna relax, maybe in a raining day with a good snack or even when you are exhausted at home before a long day

7/10 to me, I loved watched one episode every night before going to bed but at some point I was kinda of tired cause it was to calm even for me, but again, it’s a good show

Oh My Ghost:

Park Young-bo one of my favorite actress of all the times

Had so much fun watching this one with my sister, we laugh many many times, I totally recommend this one

The story it’s about this girl that work at a restaurant, and she can see ghosts, and one of the ghost it's this virgin girl that needs to have her first time to go to the heaven ...at least that's what she thinks

The supportive cast it’s SO FUNNY they totally have my attention for the entire time, their scenes and interactions was awesome, every time they appear I waited for my laugh; the actor that does play the Sous-Chef it’s one of the actor that I love to see in scene; his names is Kang Ki- young and he deserves a main character for once!

Cordon: the best man of the show I was hoping that he would it be the “second” guy like some dramas do, you know, but he wasn’t; it didn’t matter tho - (and that’s how I found dramas I always like someone and go search what shows did they participate and when I see one that I liked I try to watch.)

“Chef” - Park Young-bo saying this it’s literally so cute lol

The ghost girl deserves better :(

Chef scenes with Soon-ae (she is the ghost) are the best

He liked the ghost and didn’t want to admit but I’ll do for him!

Police Choi - besides the two main actress he was the best one, he killed this character, the role was made for him, great great actor!

9/10

Hwarang:

Okay so if Hwarang was a boyband I would it be a fan ~just saying~

Taeyung should get more roles as an actor :P

Not sure if this is a historical romance, do not know if they use a real history with THE real events (probably not) but it was interesting seeing something like that, like an old asian romance, we (at least me) are used to see so much of europe historical series that the atmosphere here was a different experience, so cool I have to say

THE HAIR of the actor gosh auhauha that is it, I just have to mention it!

Park Seo Joon was the main character here and (God help me I KNOW IT WAS JUST ME) I did not like his character at all ...okay so for not saying that I hate him (I DON'T) at the end I was vibrating for something that he did that makes me feel “ ok you have me bro” jahjaha but seriously I just feel more connected with Park Hyung Seok characters tho

Park Hyung Seok oh my godness he is such a good actor I love to see him on my screen guys. I was such a fan girl of him in this drama every time he was upset because of the kingdom or Ah Ro I felt that too...

Ah Ro ignoring the king because she was in love with her bro well that made me roll my eyes so many times lol

The drama is about: A young king that no one knows the face but wants to make his kingdom a better place, a lady who tells erotic stories and do some medical treatments for free to the poor people of the village, a foreigner that will make justice to his murdered friend and everyone who needs help. The story of these characters are way more than that ...and the Hwarangs are free, remind that. You make your own choices.

8/10 for me

V’s character was so cute and funny and people should see Jungkook imitating his final scene :)

The Abyss :

Not sure how to describe this one uhauaua I mean that's its some crazy magical things going on here and the soul/appearance thing I do not know how to justify that

My girl Park Bo-Young is here I LOVE her one of my favorite actress EVER

Okay so the thing about this show to me it's that I do not know a thing about it UHAUAHUA I don't get if (and why) people on the show gets the appearance of their soul and o some of they get the appearance of someone else and the “angel aliens” appearance of the begging IDK at all but I did like it

It’s a good one to see if you don't have anything to see; I know it’s sounds kinda sad to say that but I’m not saying in that way, for me this is not a problem cause sometimes I just need something to pass time and I get involved with it so yeah does it work, and I like to watch one episode of something before goes to bed

It’s about this magical marble that can bring back to life people, and have this serial killer, friends who don't know that they love each other thing too and funny scenes, mystery, drama also some actions scenes

It bothers me a lot this thing that someone its ugly and then when he become “beautiful” now they’re valid for be in love. Love it’s so much more than just appearance and if they wanna say that doesn't matter, well there are A LONG LIST of better ways to do I don't know but this sucks the most of the times...

For me the main couple doesn't work that well, I mean they’re cute, and some scenes are really nice, but I don’t know they are just OK you know? Just a thought here

Also if I am being really honest, the best person in this show it’s the detective Park Dong-cheol, Gosh I love this man, he is the one for me in this drama.

6.5/10 the last episode it was kinda of rushed it

“Fallin’ song it’s on my playlist and the final song of every episode it is so cool

My ID is Gangnam Beauty:

The history behind this drama is basically that Kang Mi Rae it's a girl that suffer bullying for her whole life because of how she look. It was so intense that the only way that her seems to solve it its with plastic surgery. So the college starts and she thinks it could be a new beginning. But the thing is that being happy, having a good ordinary life its more than being “beautiful’

The “ugly becomes pretty” thing here its more poetic because they show to us that even when we think that we are fine we may not be because mental health its different from looking good and being accepeted

Talks about bullying, this pressure to be pretty, to follow the patters that society give to us.

I was so mad with the girl that continuous to drag down Kang Mi-rae and then acting like an angel

That scene when they use the old uniforms from school it was so sweet, and they as a couple work it so well

Kang Mi-rae could be more talkative since she is the main character here…

8.5/10

Hey ghost, lest fight!:

Okay, so my sister and I like to see korean dramas about ghosts together??!

Bong-Pal it’s an introspective guy that sees ghost since his was a child. Living seeing ghost and fighting with them turns out to be the way he makes money. It’s in one off these times that he was contract to fight against a ghost in a school its where he meets Kim Hyun-ji, a student ghost that later starts to live and work with him.

The professor character its so god, and it was scary look straight at him in some scenes, the actor who plays him did a such good job.

The guys from Sunbae Soup group hauhaua Kim Ki-young plays one of the guys of the club and I love that they became friends with Bong-Pal

The story its awesome. The pilot twist here are the best thing ever

They have great funny scenes

10/10 for me

Love the couple, love how they ended the story, love all the development that the drama give to us, the monk GOD HE IS SO CUTE, Bong-Pal and the monk what a cute family thought <3

Tomorrow with you:

So this one is pure DRAMA

Its about time travel. Yu Soo-Joon survive an accident in the subway and since that him stars to be able to travel the time. Its because of knowing the future that he save a woman from dying in a car accident. In the other hand Song Ma-rin it’s a star kid that grown up in the shadow of her fame, she is a photographer now that have to deal with the humiliation that the media still gives to her life when one day one strange saves her life. Since the day he saved her, their whole future changed.The thing about travelling the time it's that every time you go to the future and come back to the present your whole future becomes other as soon as you arrive in the new present.

I like this one bc it is emotional and funny at the same time

Shin Min-a its one of my favorite actress, actually I think she is my favorite. I love her acting, I love her in scene. She is the best. If you saw Venus Daegu you know that I’m not lying.

The main couple is PERFECT. The whole story, the drama it was so intense, I couldn't stop watching. I laughed I cried and I want more!

10/10 for me nothing else to say GO WATCH NOW

It was awesome to watch all these dramas, I truly enjoy them and I absolutely recommend to everyone. Honestly I hope you guys like or even discover new dramas to watch. Even thought I put reviews from zero to 10 in no way I’m trying to diss the shows, when I say to you guys go to watch its bc I know that someone could love something that I could only like so go ahead and discover something you could possibly fall in love with.

Also I want to thank all the people who share they favorites shows cause I discover many of these dramas like that.

Another disclaimer here: I know that all the actors are amazing and if in somehow I did offended them I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention like at all. And Im a kinda of a fan girl and Ik this can be inconvenient sometimes so sorry again! And if i did write something wrong, my apologies, Im trying so hard to improve my writing in english, but its kinda hard since I learn about the language by myself so I dont have anyone besides google to help me out and put everything on the right place.

ALL LOVE <3

you can find my last list here

#tomorrow with you #hey ghost let fight #kdramas #doramas #korean dramas #dramas coreanos #coreanos dramas #series coreanas #korean shows #oh my ghost #aintyourlove #romance is a bonus book #hwarang #v #bts #taehyung #my id is gangnam beauty #one more time #list of korean dramas

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themattress · 4 years

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Pokemon Franchise Narrative Comparison

To this day, there have been only three other mediums that have run for as long as the core Pokemon game series has: the anime series, the Pokemon Adventures manga series, and the Trading Card Game. With the obvious exception of the TCG, these have all had narrative arcs within each passing generation, and I want to use this post to compare their quality.

GEN I Games: Red/Blue/Green/Yellow Anime: Original Series: Indigo League + Orange Islands (The Beginning) Manga: Red/Blue/Green Chapter, Yellow Chapter

1st Place - Manga. The original R/B/G Chapter brings the world of the Game Boy games to life in stunning accuracy, while also its own spin on certain things and crafting a simple yet sophisticated coming-of-age narrative, with the Yellow Chapter being its Actionized Sequel that raises the stakes even higher and deepens everything within this manga series. Add to this clear influence from the anime and the fact that it’s the only Gen I product to feature the character of Green in it, and we have the definitive story for the franchise’s first generation.

2nd Place - Anime. While increasingly less faithful to the details of the games, the anime remained very faithful to the spirit of them while telling its own coming-of-age tale for Ash Ketchum in the Indigo League series, plus a “postgame scenario” equivalent with the Orange Islands series. The highlight of this story is definitely how it fleshes out the games’ main antagonists: Gary Oak, Team Rocket and Mewtwo, into interesting, memorable characters.

3rd Place - Games. The 8-bit adventure that started it all is incredibly bare-bones and basic: take the Pokemon League challenge, thwart the evil Team Rocket along the way, and if possible fill up that Pokedex with all 151 Pokemon (”Gotta Catch ‘Em All!”). As a story, it’s not very interesting, but as an excuse for gameplay it works marvelously and established a winning formula for the series, and to this day it’s still charming in its wholesome simplicity.

GEN II Games: Gold/Silver/Crystal Anime: Original Series: GS (Gold and Silver) Manga: Gold/Silver/Crystal Chapter

1st Place - Manga. It’s funny - in the first volume of the G/S/C Chapter, things seemed to be a definite downgrade from the Kanto-based arcs that came before in terms of artwork, characterization and narrative. But then the mysterious masked antagonist appears at the end, and from then on out things just keep escalating to such epic heights that it becomes the best Johto story in the franchise and arguably the best arc in the whole manga series! Practically everyone and everything from the previous two arcs end up joining up with the new elements and the series up to this point is brought to a satisfying, conclusive note.

2nd Place - Games. While the League challenge and Pokedex narrative threads are basically the same as before, and the Team Rocket thread is actually weaker, this story also features a stronger regional setting, a stronger rival, and stronger characterization for side characters both old and new, especially in the special edition, Crystal, making it a welcome step-up.

3rd Place - Anime. An attempt at a new narrative was notoriously abandoned early on, with Takeshi Shudo leaving the head writer position and the whole show devolving into formulaic Filler Hell. While the Johto League tournament that concluded the whole thing was good, there was barely a story to support getting there, and the main characters had all become Flanderized versions of their former selves by the end. Without question, the anime had jumped the shark. But Shudo did give us the best movie and an OVA that properly concluded Indigo League’s Mewtwo arc before he was through, so let’s not say it was a total waste.

GEN III Games: Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, FireRed/LeafGreen Anime: Advanced Generation (Ruby and Sapphire) Manga: Ruby/Sapphire Chapter, FireRed/LeafGreen Chapter, Emerald Chapter

1st Place - Games. The first time that the games get first place, but only on the technicality that the other contenders are worse, since this really isn’t that big an improvement over the previous two generations’ game narratives. The biggest difference is that your character is the child of one of the Gym Leaders, and the evil team narrative thread (Team Aqua and/or Team Magma this time) builds to an epic high-stakes event that involves the Legendary Pokemon mascot of the game which will become a mainstay of the formula from now on. There is also the remakes of the original Gen I games, and aside from some small tweaks of improvement and a postgame scenario in an island archipelago (anime-inspired, perhaps?), the narrative is basically the same as it was before. Nothing outstanding, but serviceable.

2nd Place - Manga. Talk about a mixed bag...the R/S Chapter started out with promise but ended up going to shit in its second half, the FR/LG Chapter was fantastic only to conclude with a bullshit last-minute cliffhanger, and the Emerald Chapter that connects the two arcs is just stereotypical, badly-written shonen crap with only a few good elements in it (plus some ironic enjoyment to be had in its batshit insane climax). On the whole, this was the weakest period that the manga series has ever had, despite Kusaka and Yamamoto’s best efforts.

3rd Place - Anime. Beyond May and her character arc which, by some lucky fluke, came together wonderfully, the anime hadn’t improved that much from the Johto days. Hoenn was not done any justice (even the manga did a better job with it!), and the FRLG/Emerald composite for the filler arc afterward was just weird in spite of how entertaining half of it was. All in all, the anime hadn’t gotten a real narrative back. It was just going through the motions.

GEN IV Games: Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, HeartGold/SoulSilver Anime: Diamond & Pearl Manga: Diamond/Pearl Chapter, Platinum Chapter, HeartGold/SoulSilver Chapter

1st Place - Manga. Pokemon Adventures retakes its crown in this generation, with a phenomental two arcs in the Sinnoh region that are so linked that they essentially make up one whole story, and a brief, adequate arc in Johto that properly bridges the gap between those Sinnoh arcs and the Emerald arc before them. Whenever I think of Sinnoh, it’s the region portrayed in this manga that comes to mind, which is a testament to its high quality.

2nd Place - Games. One word can describe the narratives of these games: overcooked. There are a lot of good ingredients here that elevate the series’ storytelling to a new level, but way too many cooks who don’t have a unified idea of how to properly mix them together means that it becomes a muddled mess of mythology, philosophy and vague character motivations. This particularly pisses me off when it effects the otherwise solid Gen II remakes. However, the good elements are still good regardless, and as showcased by the following generation this was a necessary learning curve to get through, so it deserves some respect.

3rd Place - Anime. Ugh. Newly appointed head writer Atsuhiro Tomioka tries to have his cake and eat it too here, maintaining the anime’s banal filler formula while also attempting to tell a legitimate narrative, but he as just one man somehow manages to clutter up that narrative more than the several writers did for the games in this generation! It is an increasingly insufferable roller coaster of plot threads and supposed character arcs that are drawn out to the point of disinterest across four years, with you really feeling the disastrous pace when it takes a years’ worth of time between Ash winning his 7th badge and him winning his 8th. Combine this with the source material of the games being disrespected or cast aside perhaps worse than ever, and you get what I will always believe is the lowest point for the anime.

GEN V Games: Black/White, Black 2/White 2 Anime: Best Wishes + Best Wishes Season 2 (Black and White) Manga: Black/White Chapter, Black 2/White 2 Chapter

1st Place - Games. With this generation, particularly with its first set of games, the learning curve undergone in Gen IV paid off. This is quite possibly the richest narrative in the whole game series in terms of plot, characterization and themes, and the peak of the traditional formula. Combined with stellar gameplay, it creates a high point that has yet to be matched.

2nd Place - Manga. The Black/White Chapter had a rough start, just copying the games’ plot almost to the letter but with the characterizations for the main characters truly being less than ideal (see what I did there?) However, once Black and White go their own separate ways the arc starts rapidly improving until it ends on a phenomenal high note that segues perfectly in the Black 2/White 2 arc that, like the Yellow arc, is an Actionized Sequel and, like the Platinum arc, is essentially the continuation and conclusion of the same story as in the previous arc. The only real mark against it is that it can be too fast-paced which only adds to the frustrating irony of the absolutely Hellish schedule slip it underwent (8 fucking years for an arc of just 24 chapters / 3 volumes to be completed! It’s never going to live that fact down!)

3rd Place - Anime. Kind of the reverse of the manga: had a great start being the best that the anime has been in a long time, only to get progressively weaker, with the third and final year being a trainwreck of checking off plot points in a mad rush to promote the upcoming Gen VI and pander to the whiny fanboys who’d been complaining about the loss of the formula and D/P-style story writing (yes, they actually liked those) plus the “soft reboot” aspect going on, particularly with Ash. However, much like the Gen IV games, the Gen V anime proved to be a necessary learning curve for the future and is a highly impactful series in that regard, so it deserves respect for that (although I hate that both a natural disaster and the B2/W2 games screwed up the originally planned Team Plasma arc! It’s never going to live that fact down!)

GEN VI Games: X/Y, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Anime: XY + XY&Z Manga: X/Y Chapter, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Chapter

1st Place - Manga. I thoroughly dislike the story of the X/Y games and the Delta Episode of OR/AS, so imagine my surprise when Pokemon Adventures actually makes something good out of them (or, in the Delta Episode’s case, something tolerable at best). The X/Y Chapter is a delightful deconstruction of a lot of what’s in the games, turning what was light and fluffy and hollow into something dark and suspenseful and meaningful. And the OR/AS Chapter gets points for being the best that Ruby and Sapphire have ever been characterized, to the point where they’ve been officially Rescued from my Scrappy Heap (Emerald’s still lame tho).

2nd Place - Games. Like I said, I dislike the X/Y games’ narrative and the Delta Episode of OR/AS; I think they are the worst writing the game series has ever seen to date. But the main narrative of OR/AS - the actual remake of the Gen III games which features a lot of new and necessary improvements - is solid, and that’s enough to put the games at second place here.

3rd Place - Anime. Similarly, the one thing the anime series does really well - the Myth Arc, which includes the Team Flare storyline - is not enough to elevate it beyond third place, because the rest of the series’ narrative is just as lame as the X/Y games’, there’s not much benefit from OR/AS elements, and everything that it positions in its shameful fan-pandering utterly fails to deliver or add up to anything meaningful in the end. The Mega Evolution specials pretty clearly demonstrate that this should have been Alain’s show, not Ash’s.

GEN VII Games: Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon Anime: Sun & Moon Manga: Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon Chapter

1st Place - Games. The Gen V games have serious competition story-wise with the Gen VII games. Both S/M and US/UM are excellent, with things not done so well in one being done better in the other and vice-versa to the point where they compliment each other beautifully.

2nd Place - Anime. Miracle of miracles! For the first time since Gen I, the anime series gets its narrative in second place, with Daiki Tomiyasu and Aya Matsui completely reinventing it in a refreshingly fun and vibrant way. There are some missed opportunities here and there, but overall it’s a perfect adaptation of the Alola region and everything that makes it so great.

3rd Place - Manga. While this is still an arc of good quality that I like, it’s also perhaps the most disappointing since Ruby/Sapphire back in Gen III. After doing so well with Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos, one senses that Kusaka and Yamamoto struggled to adapt Alola to that same standard, and while the decision to keep US/UM as part of the same arc rather than be a separate one was wise, it’s during the US/UM half of the arc that things really start falling apart and the wasted potential of stuff that got set up earlier becomes overbearing. It doesn’t help that the leads are an unlikable hero with an interesting, relatable goal and a likable heroine with an uninteresting, unrelatable goal respectively. Let’s hope that the patchwork done in the volume releases fixes some of the problems so that I can like this arc even more.

GEN VIII Games: Sword/Shield Anime: New Series (Journeys) Manga: Sword/Shield Chapter

1st Place - Manga. As I recently stated, Kusaka and Yamamoto are back at their A-Game with this arc, taking advantage of all that was lacking in the games’ story and utilizing them in an interesting narrative that I can’t wait to further experience alongside our surrogate, Marvin.

2nd Place - Games. If the Gen IV games’ narrative was overcooked, then the narrative of the games four generations later is most definitely undercooked. It’s not the worst story - that’s still Gen VI - but it’s possibly the most disappointing since it’s so easy to see how it could have been better and you are left baffled as to why the writers didn’t go in that direction.

3rd Place - Anime. This series is highly enjoyable thanks to the continued leadership of Daiki Tomiyasu, but not only is there not as much of a narrative as there’s been in earlier shows, it isn’t even uniquely Gen VIII-based: taking place across all regions in the Pokemon World and taking influence from mobile games like Go (released in Gen VI) and Masters (released in Gen VII). Add to that the unfortunate hiatus it’s now on and it can’t help but be placed last.

#Pokemon #Opinion #Analysis #Comparison

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hsmtmtsnet · 4 years

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It's opening night of the High School Musical drama theater production on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and that only means one thing: Not everything goes according to plan.

The penultimate episode of the Disney+ series' first season started off promising, with the young thespians of East High -- including Gina, temporarily back from the East Coast -- acing nearly all the musical numbers of Act 1, and Ricky and Nini's roller-coaster relationship in the best place it's ever been. But everything fell apart once Ricky, in the middle of the signature basketball number, "Get'cha Head in the Game," spotted his mother's new boyfriend in the audience during his climactic moment. To say the rest of the number quickly became a disaster would be an understatement, as Ricky

For HSM: TM: TS stars Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo, who play leads Ricky and Nini, exploring their characters' messy and often rocky friendship (and romantic complications) throughout the first season has been particularly gratifying.

"It perfectly mirrors real high school love lives. They can be pretty messy and the line is constantly blurred and literally every week, a new thing happens. I know at least when I was in high school, you're trying to keep up with what's going on and you're like, 'Wait, they're dating who now? This happened last night, what are you talking about?'" Bassett told ET. "Everything's kind of all over the place and it's cool to see the characters not only figure out their relationship with each other, but also grow into themselves as they are in their later years in high school and really starting to define who they are and what they stand for. I think it's cool to see the development of that throughout this season and seasons to come."

"Exactly that. I think it's so cool to be able to play this relationship. It mimics a lot of actual high school relationships, like Josh said," Rodrigo said to ET. "That it's just really fun and working with Josh and Matt has been amazing, and they're both lovely people. I think Rini stans are really going to want to watch episodes nine and 10, I think they're really going to love it."

While Bassett shared that his favorite Ricky and Nini moment is coming soon ("It has not aired... That's all I can say," the 19-year-old actor-singer hinted, revealing the scene is featured in next Friday's freshman finale), he offered a favorite of his that has aired between the two characters.

"In episode four when Ricky has basically lost all of his resources, he's got nowhere to go, his parents are going to be separating and the only place that he can call home is Nini's house. They have such a beautiful scene where there's nothing she can do to help him, but she's just there and that's enough in that moment to get him through that," Bassett said. "That's a beautiful scene because the romantic stuff is great, but at the end of the day, when everything hits the fan, for lack of a better word, having that person there for you at your darkest, worst moment is so important and it shows that they really care about each other in that moment in episode four. Aside from ... episode 10, that [scene], I would say, is my other favorite moment between Nini and Ricky, so far."

And in true high school fashion, Ricky and Nini's love lives are entangled with other people within their circle, namely Gina (Sofia Wylie) and E.J. (Matt Cornett). Bassett recalled being shocked that HSM: TM: TS was exploring a possible romantic pairing between Ricky and Gina midway through the season, which came as a bit of a surprise to viewers.

"I didn't even remember reading the script, and my jaw was on the floor. I was like, 'Wait, what?' I was like, 'What's happening here?' Yeah, I was just as surprised as the rest of the world," Bassett said. "But I think the cool thing is that these characters are so authentic, that you really care about them and you care about their well-being. And so, whether Ricky is there as a friend for Gina, or Gina and Nini are friends for each other, you care about them and you want each of them to succeed in whatever way they can. The audience figures it out as the characters are figuring things out, and it's cool to watch the evolution. And you know, Rick and Gina is just one of the crazy things that comes out of people figuring out who they are, who they're about and what they're about."

As Bassett and Rodrigo mused, the most inspiring and surreal interactions with HSM: TM: TS fans often involve their own covers of the show's featured songs and theorizing over what's to come for the East High Wildcats. "For me, it's seeing people do covers of the songs, whether it be people who do 'I Kinda, You know' covers or 'All I Want' covers. And 'All I Want' is viral on TikTok; it's crazy!" Rodrigo marveled. "That's cool to see people take something that we made and put their own twist on it and present it to the world in a totally different way, which is essentially what our series is doing with the original movies. People are doing that with our songs, so it's this cool creative process and it's fun to listen to people! People are so talented."

"Piggy-backing off of that, it is cool to see people finally discover [these storylines] for the first time. One of the funniest things for me is going on Twitter and seeing all the memes that people are making -- all the hilarious things they're finding and putting together and certain Easter eggs that they find that I completely forgot about or certain things they point out that I'm like, 'Oh my god!' Or fan theories," Bassett shared. "Some of them are spot on, some people literally predicted the entire season and then some people are completely off. So it's funny to see people in real time trying to keep up with the show. Watching them discover it is really exciting and really awesome to see."

Production on the second season is mere weeks away, and Bassett and Rodrigo are already counting down the days they'll be reunited with their HSM: TM: TS co-stars in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"I'm so excited to go back to Salt Lake. We've been texting and the whole cast, we're one big happy family. We get to go back to summer camp, essentially, and hang out with our best pals every day. I'm looking forward to that," Rodrigo said. "Season two, I think is going to bring a whole lot more drama. I'm excited to read in the script; I think I'm going to grow a lot as an actor and as a musician. I know I did in season one. If season two is half as good as season one is, I'm going to be in for the ride of a lifetime." "I'm really excited to see further development of all the characters because everyone gets their spotlight in season one, but it's hard to fit all of that into 10 episodes, to really give everyone their moment. We got two more episodes for season two, so it'll be 12 instead of 10, and that gives us that much more time to really give people the moment that they deserve," Bassett said. "And one thing that Tim said -- I'm totally going to misquote him -- in the last sprint in episode 10, it was something along the lines of, 'That's the end for now because there's so much talent in this cast that we couldn't fit it all into one season.' I think that is so well-said, that there's so much more that each individual in this cast has so many hidden talents, that they're really going to be able to go into in season two. As we all grow together, the fan base will grow with us through the journey and it's going to be a beautiful thing. I'm excited for everyone to get their time in the spotlight."

#joshua bassett #olivia rodrigo #articles #hsmtmts promo #long post

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derekklenadaily · 5 years

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Dani’s review/synopsis of the first preview of “Jagged Little Pill” on Broadway!

I had the privilege to go to New York City to see Derek’s first preview “Jagged Little Pill” this past Sunday. While growing up back in the early ‘90s, Alanis Morrisette was definitely one of the most known artists in that era, I do remember hearing her music on the radio all time and even sang along to her tunes with my mother in the car. So, when I saw the news that her music was going to be made into a musical, I was very excited. When I saw this musical last summer in Cambridge, MA during their out-of-town run, and my mind was pretty much blown. Before I go any further, sexual assault is mentioned in this review and very slight spoilers is also present.

Despite the changes for the first preview for the Broadway run, I got to say this musical is more than I ever thought it would be. The opening number just takes the audience by surprise with their exhilarating dancing and them singing fiercely but so passionately. We could feel such a big electric/energy charge in between us audience and the people on stage. It was like being an awesome rock concert, really. Then the music goes softer as we see the family of four comes up to the stage.

Elizabeth Stanley who plays Mary Jane Healy who plays the mother of Nick and Frankie and a wife of Steve Healy. In the show, Mary Jane is an all star-kind of mother who supports her kids at various things such as sports and school. But outside of that world, she currently is struggling with drug addiction due after having a car accident earlier that year. At the same time, she has difficult relationship with her husband Steve who has been away from the family most of the time and hasn’t had a great sexual relationship with him ever since the car accident incident. Elizabeth is absolutely beyond brilliant in this show. She has a great comedic timing especially the scenes with the family. Her acting and singing is definitely out of this world. I think the last scene (“Forgiven”) before intermission still got me shaking in the boots, because it was so incredibly beautiful, tragic and damn powerful at the same time, especially having numerous voices from the cast blending with hers as they stood behind. I’m definitely certain that the judges for any kind of theater awards will look into that scene and mark her as Best Actress in a Musical. She deserves to get it. I got to say her and Sean Allan Krill’s chemistry was absolutely perfect to form this tragic and destructive husband and wife relationship. They would start as tense - not wanting to touch each other and then lying behind each other back’s (her addiction with pills and him with pornography). Suddenly, Elizabeth and Sean went out of the box even more at one point - I thought they would end their characters’ marriage and slam it with divorce right there in the show. It was absolutely incredible.

Sean Allan Krill who plays the father of Nick and Frankie, also a husband of Mary Jane. He’s business man who travels and works in his office most of the time. He doesn’t have a very good relationship with Mary Jane because they hadn’t had any sex over a year. So, to feed that sexual drive - he goes on porn sites and becomes addicted with it. Like what I said in the paragraph before, he and Elizabeth has an amazing chemistry. There’s one scene that Sean does it so amazing when he sings “Mary Jane” in Act Two. It’s absolutely heart-wrenching that we can’t help feeling sorry for him and seeing him trying to mend his relationship with her after all that mess they went through.

There are some hidden secrets and devastating moments that each character cannot escape from, whether it’s sexual assault, drug-addiction, and sex addiction. Especially comes to Derek’s character, Nick - who is the good and golden boy who gets all the accolades and praises for his schoolwork and his sportsmanship. But that bubble suddenly bursts when one of his best friends gets accused of sexual assault by Bella (a classmate that Nick has known since sixth grade). Nick faces such a tremendous difficult decision on what to do and how he get through it without getting a scratch off his record. The songs he sings, “Perfect” was jaw-dropping and absolutely heart-wrenching, really. It shows that he is being pressurized by his parents, after being accepted to Harvard and how he is treated like as a hometown hero. “Wake Up” in Act One was absolutely incredible because it shows the depth of his feelings and being pressurized to speak up about what happened that night. As I watched Derek in the first preview, I found his character a bit more sympathetic than the Cambridge run. I definitely think that he has improved so much with his craft and his work after “Anastasia” and doing countless rehearsals with this show.

Kathyrn Gallagher who plays Bella, she is absolutely amazing in this role. After her countless researching and watching documentaries of sexual assaults and hearing several survivors’ stories, she definitely put her feet in their shoes to tell their stories on stage. It may be a really difficult and enormous thing to do, but she does it with a tremendous job. There is this scene where Kathryn sings “Predator” is absolutely devastating and heartbreaking but at the same time, it’s so beautiful because there is a dancer named Annelise Baker who interprets Bella’s character on that night. As Kathryn sings this number, she watches herself to unfold to a beautiful human being from into a complete shattered person. I got to give major kudos to Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui who is the choreographer (you may know his work in Beyoncé's music video). Every single dancing movement in the show is absolutely thrilling and exciting all at once. Also, we see several scenes that relates and mirrors her and Elizabeth’s character especially “Uninvited”. Near at the end of the show, Kathryn’s brilliant and such a strong number “No” with Derek and Celia along with the ensembles, it spreads various but incredibly important messages to speak up.

Celia Gooding who plays Frankie - Nick’s sister and a daughter of Mary Jane and Steve Healy. Frankie goes through several difficult situations in this play; one - she was adopted by Mary Jane and Steve when she was an infant and is the only black member in the family. So, she feels bit out of place especially dealing with Mary Jane who doesn’t grasp the idea of Frankie’s identity. Two, she tries to explores with her relationship in between Jo and Phoenix throughout the show and sees where and which her status falls in place. Celia is definitely bold and so much fierce as heck! She brings it all down when she sings “All I Really Want” with Elizabeth Stanley, “Hand in My Pocket” with Lauren Patten and then her solo piece “Unprodigal Daughter”. Her chemistry with Lauren is awesome because you can see how much they complement each other, it’s all very fun and playful. Her chemistry with Antonio was very cute and flirtatious. Lastly, her chemistry with Elizabeth Stanley was incredible because it showed that they had a tough mother-daughter relationship like Elizabeth had this wall up, blocking everything out and Celia tries to take it down by doing such ferocious, daring and bold things. Towards at the end of the show, something tragically happens in the family - we see the wall in between them shift and eventually come down for good.

Antonio Cipriano who plays Phoenix, who is Frankie’s classmate and befriends her. Throughout the show, we see how their relationship develops. Antonio who was the finalist for the Jimmy Award. He is extremely talented and absolutely brilliant in this production. He’s great comedic timing and has a wonderful chemistry with Celia Gooding. I absolutely love when they sing “Head Over Feet”. It was really cute! I’d love if he had a solo piece in this show because his singing voice is absolutely terrific. I’m so happy that he made his debut on Broadway which he deserves, along with this incredible cast.

Lauren Patten who plays Jo, who is Frankie’s best friend but also with benefits kind of relationship with Frankie. Like I said in Celia’s paragraph, Lauren has a wonderful chemistry with her. They bounce each other off so incredibly well that they have so much fun onstage and even off stage. And I must say holy crap, Lauren is awesome - I can’t decide which will they give a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress in A Musical? Celia or Kathryn? Can’t they call it a tie so they can give it to all three of them? In Act Two - she really gave her all and energy which brought the whole house down when singing “You Oughta Know” that we rose on our feet to give her a standing ovation as the song ended. It was so damn powerful. Holy sheeeetz!

Also, I cannot forget everyone in ensemble - they really bring this show alive and go way above the level of energy and perfection. Seriously, this show wouldn’t work without them - their amazing dance and outstanding singing performances, including even them doing the smallest things in the background in several scenes, they did stellar job to bring elevate the show to go where it needs to go.

I want to say “Jagged Little Pill” is one amazing show. Much as I love RENT the Musical but I dare to say that it’s so much better than RENT. It is even more thrilling after watching back in Cambridge last summer. It involves with lot of diversity dealing with gender identity and the important messages that we see in the news almost every day such as sexual harassment and many other things that are happening in today’s world. It definitely needs to be heard. Diablo Cody’s (won Academy Award Winner for Best Screenplay for “Juno”) outstanding writing and Alanis Morrisette’s music just blends it together so beautifully to create this musical and put it onstage in front of us. From the choreography, the sets, the lights and costumes, and everything in this show - including the cast, I highly believe they will have major success on Broadway for sure. It’s a possible chance that they will make it to award season maybe next year. Seriously, this show is not to miss, please do go see it. It will be worth it!

#Derek Klena #Elizabeth Stanley #Sean Allan Krill #Kathryn Gallagher #Celia Gooding #Antonio Cipranio #Lauren Patten #Jagged Little Pill Cast #Jagged Little Pill #Jagged Little Pill review/synopsis #previews #txt #danI**

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straightouttagershwin · 4 years

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Breaking Legs, Crushing Dreams

Witches, haunted opera houses, small-town diners, the founding fathers, and a magical Scottish town. These unusual topics are dazzling Broadway musicals loved by thousands. Musicals are a brilliant show of song, dance, and story that almost everyone can relate to. Every theatre kid has a role they would do anything to play. Unfortunately, casting bias based on race, gender, or sexuality, could make it difficult . In the past, most characters could be played by straight, white, cisgender actors. In today’s theatre world, that is being challenged. Why should there be a “basic” type of actor, and why should they get all of the parts? When people see themselves represented, it matters. It is especially important in youth development. Casting people of color, LGBTQ+ actors, and gender swapping, can change lives. A recent challenge to the status quo is the historical hip-hop musical, Hamilton. Casting a black man as George Washington, an Asian woman as Eliza Hamilton, and a Puerto Rican man as Alexander Hamilton himself, shocked audiences everywhere and opened up eyes to the possibilities of casting shows.

Ten years ago, a black man playing George Washington was unheard of. Why did modern day genius, Lin-Manuel Miranda, decide to challenge that? To tell “...the story of America then, told by America now.” What exactly does that mean though? Miranda wanted to tell the almost unbelievable story of America’s creation. But he wanted to tell it through the mouths of the immigrants the country was built on (Quiñónez). The founding fathers were young, rebellious, and brave. They went against their king to fight for freedom and justice for all, but to them, “all” was all white men. Through Hamilton, the people left out of “all men were created equal” get a chance to tell the story. The good, the bad, and everything inbewtween. Black men get to tell the story of soldiers fighting for the abolition of slavery, Latinx, Asian, and Black women have the opportunity to pay respects to some of the first feminists, and continue to spread the message of equality to the next generation.

The characters in Hamilton are all based on real people. Because of this, there is debate about whether there should be a line between fantasy and reality in casting. A popular example is Wicked. The story takes place before the events in The Wizard of Oz and includes many of the same characters. Wicked has been on Broadway for 16 years. This year, the first woman of color portrayed the deuteragonist, Glinda. Why did it take so long for this to happen? It’s unlikely that is was malicious. The casting directors did not sit in their offices and throw every woman of color’s headshot in the garbage. It is also quite unlikely that it was completely by chance. The reason was most likely somewhere in the middle. In 2003, Kristin Chenoweth originated the role of Glinda. Chenoweth is tiny, blonde, and white. This description was used in casting every Glinda after her, and very rarely changed. As stated in the Wicked Wiki page, there have been 32 Glindas on Broadway. 32, and only one was a woman of color. So when it did change, people noticed. Brittney Johnson made history in January 2019. She became the first woman of color to play Glinda on Broadway. She made headlines in the theatre community, and made hearts swell, as she gushed about how much it meant to be playing the character. In an Instagram post, the actress told about her excitement, “My hope and prayer is that people see my story and have faith that they can achieve their dreams too. Nothing is impossible! And no dream is too big.” The dream she speaks of, is crashing through the stigma of a white woman playing a beloved character. Through this, she shows kids, adults, and everyone in between, that they too can bring a character to life.

Aside from race, there are several other factors that could cause someone to not get a role in a show. Gender is a debated trait in modern theatre. Should characters be able to be gender swapped? Most argue that there are some roles that can be gender swapped, and some that cannot. And some believe that all characters should be cast as written. A recent example of gender swapping in a professional role is the character Old Joe in Waitress. Up until late 2018, the role was for a man, and played by one. In December 2018, the writers and directors decided to change that. When beloved actress June Squibb came to see the show, the creative team got an idea. They immediately decided to change the role to Old Josie, and cast Squibb in the part. “In this moment of time, it seems like a wonderful brush stroke to make the owner a woman-a strong, savvy business woman who is trying to help another woman find her footing.” says book writer, Jessie Nelson. Old Josie was loved by audiences and actors everywhere. But would the same love go to other characters?

In the recent past, I acted in a production of The Little Mermaid. A friend of mine tried out for Ursula, and had a shot at the role, except that this friend is a boy. He has the vocal range, the acting skills, and everything else necessary to play the character. But unfortunately, he wasn’t considered for the role. There are a lot of possible reasons for this. The conservative town, the young audience, or the views of the casting team, but it all comes down to the same reason. Our brains are trained to think that boys should play boys and girls should play girls. But is that even a factor here? The casting of mythical creatures has always been interesting to me. They’re fake, so there’s no reason for people to put any restrictions on who can play them.

Religion is another casting factor in theatre. Most of the characters in the famous show, The Fiddler on the Roof are Jewish. Does this mean they should only be played by those of Jewish faith? In most cases, religion isn’t an issue in casting. But when it comes to religions that have been discriminated against, there are arguments. Religions such as Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism are the most argued about. Because the people of these religions have been treated so poorly and given so little chance to be represented, when a character identifies as one of them, it’s important. Some argue that a person not of these religions should not play characters that are, because the young people of the religion deserve to see someone like them, playing someone like them. This is especially important for hijabi characters. Women who wear the traditional headdresses are tormented in public, have their hijabs ripped off, and are mocked and laughed at for their choice. So to put a random actress in a hijab for a show, seems wrong to those who undergo the discrimination every day.

Although America is supposed to be a haven for people of all backgrounds, racism is still a frequent issue. The iconic retelling of star crossed lovers, West Side Story, has been subject to a lot of whitewashing. To whitewash is to cast a white actor in a person of color’s role. In the 1961 film version of the show, the lead female character, Maria, a Puerto Rican girl, is played by Natalie Wood, a Russian woman. This casting, though common in it’s time, was offensive to the entire Latin community. Essentially telling them that their actresses were not good enough to play the character. However, the show is getting another chance. Set to be released in 2020, Steven Speilberg’s remake of West Side Story stars Rachel Zegler, a Colombian teenager, ready to take on the world as Maria. Zegler has spoken out several times about how important representation is. Millions of fans are awaiting seeing a true Latin Maria on the silver screen.

Sexuality is becoming a more and more important factor in casting every day. Recently, the Tony winning show, The Prom, has been in talks to become a movie. The show centers around two girls who want to go to prom together as a couple, but the school administration shuts down the prom in retaliation. Young queer kids everywhere were thrilled when the movie was announced. They were less thrilled when the casting possibilities were announced. When it was announced that Ariana Grande would be playing the main character, Alyssa Greene, fans were not happy. In the Broadway show, Alyssa was played by a queer woman of color, and as far as we know, Grande is neither. Casting LGBTQ+ actors as LGBTQ+ characters is extremely important to the audience. If a character is “straight-washed” it takes away part of the identity the original actor brought to the stage. It also takes a role from an actor that could play it with more honesty, emotion, and feeling, because they have shared experiences with the character.

Kelli Jolly has been involved in theatre for a long time. From growing up a dancer and actress, to choreographing shows, to becoming the president of a theatre organization, she pretty much lives and breathes it. When asked how casting has changed in her time in the theatre, Jolly said that it has changed a lot. “Directors are casting in creative ways to bring a story to life in a different way than the story has been portrayed in the past. It is exciting to watch different versions of the same play or musical with non-traditional casting.” Those like Jolly, who have theatre in every part of their lives, are excited to see change and creativity in shows. They are also excited to watch what the new generation of actors tell the same stories, in a whole new way. A group of 16 actors, directors, and stage managers were asked if (aside from characters that are written with a specific race, sexuality, or religious belief) casting should be blind, and 94% said yes. The world is changing, and theatre is changing with it.

Casting should be based on talent first. Casting an actor that does not deserve the role is wrong, no matter their race, gender, or religion. Characters can and should morph as the times change. Aiming to be more inclusive and to better represent the world around them. But if a character is a certain way for a reason, the actor should reflect that. Seeing yourself represented in media is important. Having diverse actors can help make that a reality for more people.

Works Cited

Fierberg, Ruthie. “Why Sara Bareilles, Diane Paulus, and Jessie Nelson Changed Waitress' Old Joe to Josie.” Playbill, PLAYBILL INC., 18 Nov. 2018, www.playbill.com/article/why-sara-bareilles-diane-paulus-and-jessie-nelson-changed-waitress-old-joe-to-josie.

Person, and ProfilePage. “Brittney Johnson on Instagram: ‘My Heart Is Bursting with Gratitude. Thank You, Thank You! God Is so Good! I Am so Humbled to Be the First Black Glinda and Honored to...".” Instagram, www.instagram.com/p/BsgWkRehCVo/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=dlfix.

Rogo, Paula. “This Actress Just Made History As First Black Woman To Play Glinda In Broadway's 'Wicked'.” Essence, Essence, 14 Jan. 2019, www.essence.com/entertainment/this-actress-just-made-history-as-first-black-woman-to-play-glinda-in-broadways-wicked/.

Samberg, Joel. “Fiddler on the Roof.” My Jewish Learning, My Jewish Learning, 6 Jan. 2004, www.myjewishlearning.com/article/fiddler-on-the-roof/.

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musicprincess655 · 4 years

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One year later…

“Strike! Batter out!”

Mei doesn’t even bother to try to dodge when Itsuki attacks him in a hug. At least Itsuki doesn’t pick him up and swing him around. He’s certainly strong enough, but Mei has a cool image, and he doesn’t want to give that up.

They’re one and one in their championship series against the Giants. Which means if they can win the next game, like they just won this game, they’ll win their league. They’ll be in the All Japan series, and they’ll have a shot at standing at the top of the nation.

They’re so close.

“Nice ball,” Itsuki says. Mei lifts his mask, and strongly considers kissing him. He knows better, but still.

“Nice call,” Mei tells him. He settles for squeezing Itsuki’s shoulder, settles for the way Itsuki’s eyes go wide and pleased.

The moment breaks when the rest of their teammates reach the mound. Mei is hauled up into a hug, feet leaving the ground, and he loses track of where Itsuki is. He doesn’t have to work to redirect praise Itsuki’s way, though. The team has long since learned Itsuki is at least as responsible as Mei for their victories.

A team does not win or lose on the strength of the battery alone, but a strong battery can stabilize an entire team. Itsuki has always been a good catcher, but the addition of Mei, who has more precision than any other pitcher in Japanese pro ball and a repertoire to make it matter, makes him shine as he should, gives his quick mind the materials it needs to outthink batters and runners alike. They’re better together than they would be apart, more than the sum of their parts.

Now, the reporters don’t just talk about Sawamura’s rivalry with Furuya. They talk about both of the younger pitchers trying to keep up with Mei. Furuya with his power, Sawamura with his insane number of usable pitches, and Mei somehow the midpoint between them and stronger for it.

Mei volunteers to take the reporters after the game, as he usually does. He’s the charming one, the best at handling the press. Itsuki follows him out after Mei casts him a look. They had an impressive showing as a battery, and the reporters will want to hear from both of them, the ace and the captain.

“Narumiya-san!” Mei lets his public grin take over his face, the one the cameras just love. Itsuki is a little stiff next to him, but a year of being officially declared captain has gotten him much more used to the spotlight. “Anything to say about the game?”

“Everyone worked together to achieve that victory,” Mei says. “It belongs to the whole team, and hopefully we can pull off another one tomorrow.”

“Tadano-san, have you changed anything now that you’re captain?” another reporter asks.

“Not at all,” Itsuki replies. “This is the product of slow, steady work over the course of years. Teams aren’t built overnight, and it’s taken us a while to get ours to this stage. Sorry for keeping everyone waiting.”

“Then is your battery the difference?” the first reporter asks. “Everyone expected great things from you when Narumiya-san came back to Japan.”

“How can I refuse a compliment from such a lovely lady?” Mei says. When he was seventeen, flirting with the reporters made him seem precocious and arrogant, but as an adult, he comes off suave and charming. Itsuki nudges him, and Mei doesn’t turn to see the grin he’s suppressing, see him thinking dramatic, because if he does, they’ll both burst out laughing. “I didn’t make the difference alone. Like Itsuki said, everyone’s worked hard for years to be able to play like this. You’re just seeing the results now.”

“Is the strength of your battery based on the strength of your friendship?” a reporter in the back asks.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Mei says, when Itsuki freezes up. “Itsuki deserves something for putting up with me all these years, right?”

Everyone laughs at that, and when their coach shows up, Mei and Itsuki take the chance to escape back into the locker room.

“I’ll never understand how you can be so calm about questions like that,” Itsuki says. “It always feels like everyone knows, and they’re just waiting to expose us.”

Mei shrugs as he pulls his jacket out of his locker.

“You know I don’t really care, right?” he says. “If anyone wants to look, it’s not that hard to find out I like boys too, and I don’t care.”

“See, that I don’t understand,” Itsuki presses. “Aren’t you afraid of losing everything? Losing baseball?”

“I don’t think I would,” Mei says. “Especially not if we win that game tomorrow. At some point, a player is too good to lose. The team would have to throw in behind us.”

“You’re confident about that,” Itsuki says.

“You should be more confident than me,” Mei replies. “You’re the captain. They wouldn’t fire the captain, not after how much you’ve proved yourself.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re not more concerned,” Itsuki says. “Miyuki and Sawamura have been together and in the pro league for a lot longer than us, and they’re still keeping it quiet. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“It tells me Kazuya’s a damn coward and always has been,” Mei says. “You’ve gotta admit, it’s pretty funny to see Sawamura deflect any time someone asks why they live together. I was a personal fan of the speech about manly bonds formed in the crucible of high school baseball, living and working together. It was very passionate.”

“I thought Miyuki was gonna pass out,” Itsuki says, but his mouth quirks up, because that interview had been funny. “You really think it’s just Miyuki?”

“I think Sawamura’s the kind of guy to shout about his love from the rooftops, but he’s not so stupid he won’t consider his partner,” Mei says. Itsuki gives him a strange look, but doesn’t say anything, so Mei lets it drop. Itsuki will tell him if it’s important.

They’ve gotten there. Enough that Mei can flirt harmlessly with reporters and it just makes Itsuki laugh, enough that they can take time to organize their thoughts before talking them all out. They spent a rough few months having to take an hour or more to have a heart to heart every time one of them had a thought, because Itsuki couldn’t train himself out of thinking Mei was hiding things and Mei couldn’t train himself out of overexplaining himself to avoid confusion. They probably would have gotten a lot farther a lot faster if they’d gone to someone else for help, especially someone professional, but they’d muddled through on their own, and even if it had been messy, even if it had involved a few arguments and one spectacular fight and late nights searching the internet for help and calling any friend that might have good advice, they’d gotten there eventually.

They’re still not perfect. Mei doesn’t think they ever will be. He’s not sure that’s how relationships work anyway, no happily ever after to whisk all the hard work away. Loving Itsuki is a choice, and the biggest mistake he made back in high school was pretending it is not. Making the choice every day is not unlike making the decision to forgive himself, and having to stick to that choice when he wakes up and when he goes to sleep and when it gets hard.

He’s never been happier to put the work in.

“Let’s go home,” Mei says, yawning. He’ll probably collapse the minute he hits the bed, and he doesn’t think Itsuki will be far behind him.

They’ve lived together long enough for Mei to know that, moving in just before this baseball season started. They’d originally toyed with the idea of just consolidating into one of their apartments, but in the end, neither could find a way to do that perfectly, so they’d found an entirely new place together, one that’s all their own.

That, more than anything, might be why some of Itsuki’s old fear is back. A close friendship is easy enough to pass over, especially between athletes, but living together is another thing entirely. It’s why Kazuya and Sawamura have been dodging rumors for years.

Mei meant it, though, when he said he doesn’t much care if someone does notice that they’re not just friends. He’s never been shy about the person he is, and he’s never changed it based on public pressure before. If he wasn’t respectful of the very clear boundary Itsuki has set on what he’s comfortable with the public knowing, Mei wouldn’t bother trying to deflect the questions at all.

Just as he predicted, Mei can feel himself drifting off to sleep the second he hits their bed, and he just registers Itsuki squirming under his arm before he’s out completely.

The next day, when they arrive at the stadium, Mei can’t stop shaking out his hands. He’s not nervous, doesn’t get fits of nerves like other players do, but this will be a hard game, and he can’t let himself get tense because of it.

The Giants didn’t have a very good showing last year, losing out to both the Swallows and the BayStars for a chance at the final stage, and they’ve clearly come back with a vengeance. They have the best record in the league this year, and the Swallows didn’t even make it, although they just barely lost out.

“Just like we always do?” Itsuki asks, pulling his mask over his face.

“Let’s crush them,” Mei says.

It’s a hard game, the hardest one they’ve had all season. For the first time, they have to go into an extra inning. Mei wonders if his coach anticipated this, though, because he’d had to sit through the first four innings, and now, as they head into a tenth, he’s still fresh enough to keep giving Itsuki his best.

The same can’t be said for the Giants’ pitcher. He’s been in since the first inning, and after the early lead the Giants had taken, he clearly didn’t expect to go into extra innings. He’s sloppy where Mei is still sharp, and in the end, Itsuki smacks a messy fastball clear out of the park.

They’re top of their league, and they’re playing in the Japan series.

This time, when Itsuki scoops Mei into a hug, he does pick him up and spin them both around, but Mei is too thrilled with the win to scold him, to worry about image. He just locks his thighs on Itsuki’s hips and lets them both celebrate.

It’s a blur as they finish closing ceremonies, as both Mei and Itsuki make their rounds with the reporters, and before he knows it, they’re in a bar celebrating their win.

The bar lets them stay far later than closing, and while Mei drank more than he should’ve at the beginning of the night, he’s letting himself sober up in preparation for leaving. He has his own ideas of how he’d like to celebrate the win, and he’d like to be sober when he gets home to suggest them.

Itsuki isn’t much worse than tipsy when they finally leave, and Mei hopes he might have the same idea. He didn’t see Itsuki drink much the whole night.

“I got another question about living together,” Itsuki tells him. “Whether we use the time together to plan for games.”

“That’s one use of living together,” Mei says, because it is. “I can think of better uses of our time, though.”

Particularly the length of soft red rope sitting in one of his drawers, and how good that would look against Itsuki’s tan skin. Itsuki barely blushes at the comment.

“It’s weird to give them half the truth about us,” Itsuki says. “Do you feel that way?”

Mei shrugs.

“If you want this to be just for us, that’s fine with me,” he says. “I’m not in the habit of hiding, but it’s not just about me.”

“You’d really tell everyone if you could?” Itsuki asks. “You wanna be the first openly gay couple in the pro league?”

“We’re both bi,” Mei says, just to be a shit. “And why not? When have I ever cared about what other people think of me? I’d ask you to marry me right now if I thought you’d say yes.”

“Really?” Itsuki’s voice is high and breathless, and Mei doesn’t know why that should be such a surprise.

“Of course,” he says. “I didn’t work so hard to deserve you to not spend the rest of my life with you.”

Itsuki is silent for so long that Mei is sure he must have said something wrong.

“Itsuki?” he asks, prepared to apologize for whatever he messed up, prepared to talk it out.

“Please take care of me,” Itsuki says, bowing his head.

“That’s for proposals,” Mei says dumbly, and then the implications hit him. “Wait, that wasn’t a proposal!”

“Sounded like one,” Itsuki says, and his cheeks are flushed pink, but he can’t seem to stop smiling.

“I can do so much better than that, I wasn’t even trying to propose there!” Mei protests.

“But you meant it?”

“Of course I meant it,” Mei scoffs.

“Then it’s good enough for me,” Itsuki says. “It was honest. Those were your true feelings. I don’t need something fancy.”

“If I’m allowed to propose, you definitely have to let me do it better,” Mei says. Itsuki deserves better than Mei just dumping his feelings, freely giving them without ceremony. “Come on, our proposal story can’t be that I proposed accidentally.”

“Fine,” Itsuki says, leaning his forehead into Mei’s. “The feelings are the most important to me anyway.”

“You’ve got those,” Mei promises. “I chose you a long time ago. I’ll keep choosing you.”

“Careful, now you’re getting into wedding vow territory,” Itsuki says.

“You’ve got no idea,” Mei says. “Just wait.”

“For the record, I’m saying this is when we got engaged.”

“Cheeky.”

Mei can’t stop grinning, though, and he kisses Itsuki on the cheek, smiling too wide to kiss properly, and then he’s laughing, and so is Itsuki, because they’re ridiculous, because their road here has been so long and so twisted that neither of them could’ve seen where it leads, and they’re together, and they’re happy, and even if no one else understands, just that is enough for them.

#itsumei #daiya no a #dna #my writing #bos

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edharrisdaily · 4 years

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What It Means to Stage To Kill a Mockingbird in 2019

The Broadway adaptation’s writer and star—Aaron Sorkin and Ed Harris, respectively—talk about updating and paying homage to Harper Lee’s American classic today.

The first line of Aaron Sorkin’s stage adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird is one of quiet confusion. “Something didn’t make sense,” Scout Finch tells the audience of the tale that’s about to unfold. Sorkin’s dramatization of Harper Lee’s novel, which opened on Broadway last December, is an unexpectedly probing work that refuses to let an American classic go unchallenged. Instead it stages two trials: One is from the book, where Scout’s attorney father Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson, an African American man accused of rape in 1930s Alabama, and tries to combat the community’s entrenched racism.

In Sorkin’s play, the other trial is of Atticus’s own nobility, and how it doesn’t always square with his grander vision of justice. Though the adaptation broadly follows the narrative arc of Lee’s novel, it uses Scout, her brother Jem, and her friend Dill (all played by adult actors) to cast a wary eye over some of the book’s more idealistic details. That framing encourages the audience to ponder the limits of Atticus’s impulse to empathize even with vile racists like Bob Ewell, a man who’s trying to pin his own assault of his daughter Mayella on Tom. The play beefs up the relatively anonymous parts given to black characters in Lee’s work, gives Atticus’s kids a more argumentative nature, and sheds harsher light on the book’s somewhat pat ending.

The stage adaptation is nonetheless made with appreciation for Lee’s novel, and that mix of homage and update has translated into a family-friendly Broadway hit. The production, directed by Bartlett Sher, premiered last year with Jeff Daniels headlining a seasoned cast and has now turned over with Ed Harris in the lead role. I was fascinated by the prospect of Harris, who brings an edge to even his most warm-hearted roles, playing one of the most heralded characters in the American literary canon, and he didn’t disappoint. There’s a sweetness and a sadness to his Atticus, a perfect match to the melancholy backward glance of Sorkin’s text. I talked to Harris and Sorkin together about their approach to the revival, Atticus’s status as a hero, and recasting the classics for a modern audience. This conversation has been edited.

David Sims: The show surprised me. I knew the book, and I had seen the film multiple times, so I was not expecting to be surprised.

Aaron Sorkin: I’m glad to hear that. From the moment the curtain goes up, we try to knock you off your pins a little bit. Scout spends the play trying to solve [the mystery of Bob Ewell’s death], but broadly what we’re doing is having a new conversation about the book, the story we all learned in seventh grade and thought we knew.

Sims: The industrial warehouse look of the set—it’s like a space that’s been there for a long time but has been standing empty.

Sorkin: That’s right. The curtain goes up and it’s not what you were expecting to see. And what the three characters—Scout, Jem, and Dill, are questioning is something from the book.

Sims: The ending, specifically. But also the entire tale.

Sorkin: When I started out [with this play], I thought it was a suicide mission, but I said yes right away cause I wanted to do a play so badly. My first draft was terrible because I tried to gently swaddle the book in bubble wrap and transfer it to the stage. It felt like a greatest-hits album done by a cover band, just somebody trying to imitate Harper Lee and standing up the most famous scenes from the book. I realized that Atticus, as the protagonist [of the stage version of the] story, has to change. And if he’s gonna be the protagonist he has to have a flaw.

How did Harper Lee get away with having a protagonist who doesn’t change? Because Atticus isn’t the protagonist in the book or the movie, Scout is—her flaw is that she’s young, and the change is that she loses some of her innocence. While I wanted to explore Scout, I absolutely wanted Atticus to be a traditional protagonist, so he needed to change and have a flaw … It turned out that Harper Lee had [already] given him one, it’s just that when we all learned the book it was taught as a virtue. It’s that Atticus believes that goodness can be found in everyone.

Sims: He excuses things [like bigotry and cruelty].

Sorkin: By the end of the play, he realizes he doesn’t know his friends and neighbors as well as he thought he did. That it may not be true that goodness can be found in everyone.

Sims: Ed, how did you get involved with the show?

Sorkin: How do you win the lottery!

Ed Harris: I was in San Francisco. I woke up in a hotel in the morning and I had an email from [the producer Scott Rudin] asking, “Do you want to play Atticus.” Period. How could I say no?

Sims: Aside from the thrill of playing Atticus, was there also the appeal of doing a big Broadway show again?

Harris: I knew Jeff [Daniels] had been doing it, but I hadn’t seen it—I’m glad I hadn’t and didn’t want to, just not to be influenced. I didn’t know what to expect in terms of whether they’d just paste us into a thing that already had its wheels turning. And it was very encouraging during rehearsal that [the director Bartlett Sher] realized this was a new cast. Yes, the play has been running for a year; yes, there are certain things you have to retain in terms of blocking. But within the themes and relationships, he was very open to us exploring stuff.

Sorkin: What Ed is describing is a big deal. To have four weeks of rehearsal, essentially just do the play all over again with a new group of people, is something you don’t find a lot. What happened on my end was, Scott called and said, “We have a chance to get Ed Harris.” So I talked to Bart about it. It’s a whole new cast, with someone like Ed Harris, you can’t just have the stage manager show them their blocking. So we started from the beginning. The result is even more thrilling because the quality hasn’t diminished at all. In fact, both Bart and I make a strong argument that the play has gotten better as a result of rehearsing it again.

Sims: For playing Atticus, how long had it been since you’d thought about the novel or Gregory Peck’s performance in the film?

Harris: I love the film. I think Peck’s portrayal in terms of that story and that script is just indelible. There are little things that happen on the stage even now, just a head move or something, that feels like Gregory Peck! But the inner life of this man I’m playing is so different [than Peck’s character]. He’s trying to hold onto a belief that’s being eroded slowly but surely. It’s really interesting to play. I’m not one of those people who finds a way to do it and is gonna do that same thing for six months. It’s always new. I try to stay open to allowing it to affect me every night.

Sims: The show is interrogating Atticus’s passivity and his nobility. How do you want to communicate that passivity, and the anger within him, as well?

Harris: Early on in the play, Bob Ewell comes by [to the Finch house] and threatens Atticus, saying “We’ve got two ropes.” And Jem, Atticus’s son, comes out and says, “You want me to respect Bob Ewell?” And he says, “Yeah, there’s good in everyone.” That statement in itself does not betray who Atticus is and how he behaves. The first clue [of Atticus’s inner anger] to me, at least, is when Atticus goes off on Mayella [in the courthouse].

Sims: That’s a fascinating scene, where Atticus yells at Mayella Ewell for falsely accusing Tom Robinson and refusing to admit the truth under oath. His frustration is very understandable; as Atticus acknowledges, she’s a victim who’s obviously suffering, but when she rejects his empathetic gesture, he loses his cool slightly. Aaron, did you want that moment to be played that frighteningly?

Sorkin: This may be weird for Ed to hear, but when I’m writing, I’m playing all the parts. I’m very physical; I’m up, I’m down, I’m talking to myself. It was easy for me to get angry at that moment and to write the line, “I want to make the truth known to this court, if I have to go through you to do it.” There’s a great tension there—we’re in the time of MeToo, and we’re doing a play about a woman falsely accusing a man of rape. And Mayella is a victim, and she does deserve pity. But Tom Robinson doesn’t have a choice, and Mayella does.

Sims: You give a lot of that anger to the kids. In the novel, I don’t remember them ever challenging their father; they’re more like observers who are invested in childish obsessions like [their mysterious neighbor] Boo Radley. But you’ve given them, especially Jem, a more defiant dynamic with Atticus.

Sorkin: Well, if Atticus is going to have all the answers, let’s ask him tougher questions.

Sims: Calpurnia [the Finch family’s black housekeeper] has more to do as well, and she’s a much more passive figure in the book.

Sorkin: I returned to the book and was surprised to find that in a story about racial tension, there were really only two significant African American characters, neither of whom had much to say. I want to be careful—this play is in no way meant to correct what I feel were mistakes that Harper Lee made. It’s a conversation. And I couldn’t do a Harper Lee impersonation or pretend like I was writing the play in 1960. But Calpurnia in the book is mostly concerned with whether Scout’s going to wear overalls or a dress; Tom Robinson pleads for his life, but we don’t know much more about him. In 1960, using African American characters mostly as atmosphere is something that probably would have gone unnoticed by a mostly white audience. But it would be noticeable today, and it’s a really big missed opportunity. You want their point of view in this.

Harris: One of my favorite things that Aaron did is the tension between Atticus and Calpurnia. And the reason for that tension is that when Atticus tells her he’s going to defend Tom Robinson, she isn’t “grateful” enough, and he says “you’re welcome” under his breath. And she calls him on it! That scene really resonates for me, because it says so much about Atticus, and his real motivations.

Sorkin: There’s a scene in the book and in the movie. For a lot of people it’s their favorite scene, it had always been mine. My father passed away a few years ago, it was his favorite, too. At the end of the trial, Atticus has lost, he’s putting stuff back in his briefcase, and the whole courtroom has cleared out, except for what they call the “colored section” up in the balcony. Atticus turns around to see that they’re all standing silently out of respect for him, and Calpurnia says [to Scout], “Stand up, Miss Jean Louise, your daddy’s passing.” It’s a good movie scene.

Sims: Of course, it gives you a chill.

Sorkin: But the people in the balcony should be burning the courthouse down. They should be out in the street chanting, “No justice, no peace.” Instead they are [written as] docile, they are quietly respecting the guy who I most identify with in the story, the guy who seems like my father, the white liberal guy. We all want to be identified as one of the good ones, and that’s what they’re saying to Atticus. And I do think Atticus is one of the good ones—it’s just a little harder than that, and it’s where Calpurnia’s dynamic with him comes from in the play.

Sims: It’s an ongoing conversation in 2019—what the limits of empathy should be.

Sorkin: And I’m not sure that there’s an answer to that, but I know those questions are being asked very loudly, because of the monumental election we had three years ago and the one we’ll have 11 months from now.

Sims: Ed, are these things you’re thinking about, or are you more trying to inhabit the person?

Harris: I’m just trying to live it more and more every night. I’m trying to fill up this character with humanity.

Sims: Have either of you seen the recent Broadway revival of Oklahoma? I bring it up because that’s a musical that ends with a crime being covered up—the death of Jud—and a miscarriage of justice, and then the ensemble sings a song and everything’s happy. But this revival tries to interrogate that [ugliness] a little more. And then I had forgotten that To Kill a Mockingbird also ends with a crime—the [murder] of Bob Ewell [by Boo Radley, trying to protect Scout]—being covered up!

Sorkin: Isn’t it amazing? I had forgotten about it, too, and I couldn’t believe it!

Sims: It’s a story about the greatest lawyer of all time—Atticus—and he’s complicit in this crime!

Sorkin: This novel ends with, as Scout said, “The most honest and decent person in Maycomb” covering up murder with a judge and a sheriff. Why didn’t that ever come up in my eighth-grade class? I saw that and thought, well, I can tell this exact same story, but can’t that [tension] be part of it from the beginning? But that even raises new questions that people have talked to me about—that Boo Radley gets a different kind of justice than Tom Robinson gets. Never are the judge and the sheriff saying, “We gotta get Tom out of here!” [for his protection].

Sims: And there’s infinite understanding for Boo.

Sorkin: Right. Now I have a defense for that, which is that Atticus and the judge, when they arrange for Tom Robinson to have a jury trial, sincerely believe that it’s going to be a good thing for Maycomb, that justice is going to be done. They do not anticipate [Tom being found guilty]. Atticus’s mantra is “there is nobody in this town so far gone that they would send an obviously innocent person to the electric chair.” And they do.

Sims: There’s mob justice at work—Bob Ewell is disgraced, and Atticus successfully proves the way [Bob is] treating his daughter, but the town’s reaction is just to excommunicate [Bob], not to make the leap forward of finding Tom innocent. It’s been an interesting year for these great American works getting interrogated on Broadway.

Sorkin: They’re not getting repainted. We’re just taking another look, given the times we’re living in.

#ed harris #aaron sorkin #misc.#interview #to kill a mockingbird #theater #broadway #q

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maraschinocheri · 5 years

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A novel no one needed on the Les Mis filmed concert: 1,800+ words of stuff and nonsense.

The first thing that jumps into my head is that I am so glad the concert run is over, and the second is that it’s a very strange feeling when the strongest vocal performances on stage seemed to belong to Enjolras, Eponine, and … Cosette. But let’s get the rest of it all over with first.

• Alfie Boe’s acting has improved since he last played Valjean, thankfully, but good lord, he really needs to not get involved in any even moderately extended run of anything, because he clearly cannot hack it physically or vocally. And while it may seem churlish to say so, I am so bored of his Valjean. Warble warble warble, seeming so out of place with everyone else’s voices, and just. Enough. He looked lovely, of course, and I’m sure his fans truly enjoyed this repeat of him in the role, when … he was actually there, but he sounded absolutely exhausted. I’m afraid I spent a lot of his performance wishing I were watching JOJ on film instead.

• Michael Ball’s mention during the encore that this was his last performance as Javert seems a fair thing; he is not—and never was— meant for this role on any level (I maintain he has all the threatening menace of Snidely Whiplash), though Stars was not bad, especially because he left himself, you know, sing and not bark or growl or spend so much damn time and energy trying to not be *~MICHAEL BALL~*. The gritted teeth “m’sieur! mayor!” was just a boring choice, the Confrontation was a muddy mess, the Intervention played too much for comic effect (though MASSIVE POINTS for bringing back the original why the hell did he run? instead of why on earth did he run?), the barricade scenes had too little punch, the Sewers had so much potential that disappeared, but …

But. While Ball’s is not my preferred style of Javert and never could be, I have to take a deep breath and blinkingly applaud his wild leaping commitment to batshittery in the Suicide. I mean, if you’re going for full on batshit at that point, you have to really sell it, and with any luck make it a different range of batshit than previous batshit Javerts, and he did. My dad, the sole member of my family not much prone to show commentary, said “That was excellent.” firmly after the Suicide, and a part of me grudgingly agreed. But please, never again, Michael. Honestly I think he’s relieved it’s done.

(Also honestly, the most amusing moment of the entire concert experience for me was my mother’s interval exclamation that she had “a new boyfriend!” Assuming she meant Bwadders, I laughed and asked oh really, who? And she said … Javert. After I recovered myself, I reminded her that Javert was Michael. Ball., who has been at one stage or another my—and everyone else’s—mother’s boyfriend since 1985. She had entirely forgotten he was playing Javert in the concert and was bizarrely fooled by wig and costume, but assured me that even now, she “could swim in his dimples.” My mother, everyone.)

• Shan Ako was a marvelous Eponine, and I loved her On My Own. She’ll be great fun to watch in the actual production, I think, and I so appreciated a tough cookie Eponine with old school vocal power but newer school technique and touch and oh my god subtlety without losing anything in characterization, even given the limitations of a concert performance. Houchen’s Marius wouldn’t have deserved her, anyway.

• Speaking of Houchen. You know, I was fond of Rob while he was in his actual run as Marius, but he’s absolutely checked out of it mentally and emotionally, and it shows. He still has a lovely voice that really works as Marius sometimes, but there’s nothing … there underneath the pretty sheen, and after the few years’ distance since his proper run, I’ve seen enough Marii who enjoyed the role and found substance in it that the lack of depth in Rob’s take was disappointing. However, I acknowledge that some of Marius’ actual-show chances of showing range don’t happen in the concert version, and perhaps if they’d been included my opinion would change. He knows he’s aged out the role now, however, and I highly doubt he’d ever want to do it again even if invited to do so. But who knows.

• I walked into the concert film with no opinion of Lily Kerhoas’ Cosette other than knowing she could sing it beautifully, but I was actually impressed—and sort of want to sit nearly every principal Cosette of the last, oh, decade in front of her performance and say, see you’re allowed to act; it can actually work—and I look forward to her work in the proper show as well, especially if they get her some costumes that actually fit and don’t look made of tissue.

• God, I hate Matt Lucas. The end.

• Katy Secombe has added some different touches to her Madame T, some good, and some—obviously Lucas-influenced—bad. It’s unfortunate that some of the Thenardier ~comedy absolutely cannot work in a concert setting—the wedding was awful—but she made a decent hash of a bad deal.

• Which brings me to Bwadders. Oh, Bradley. He’s just so very, very good at Enjolras, and always has been. This concert!jolras, however, had one very different vibe from his run’s take on the role, which was … a hopefulness, maybe? A joy and breathless hope running beneath the passion passion PASSION that’s always been there, and it was beautiful to watch in his eyes and mannerisms. The concert contained Bradley somewhat, in that his strong physicality wasn’t allowed to sort of fill the room (and barricade) as it had at the Queens, and I missed that. Also—and there is no getting around this, sadly, for me—that manbun still ain’t it. (Gingerfather—whose fave character in the show is Enjolras—just sighed heavily and said that there should’ve just been one of the Ponytails of Yore instead, and you know, he’s not wrong.) Bradley also nailed two of the three Big Notes, but his until the earth is free was done differently from how he approached it during his real run, and not for the better (the Ghost of THAXTON giveth, and it taketh away). And yet … it didn’t matter. It truly didn’t. He was the best of the principals, and at least for me would probably have been even if he’d bollocked the other two Big Notes as well. Anyway, Bwadders. A thrill to watch, and alive with energy so much of the show otherwise lacked.

• You will note no mention yet of Fletcher. I refer to the point above re: Matt Lucas.

• The Amis, as one. I am aware that many, many people adore Raymond Walsh’s Grantaire, and I entirely understand why. He was fine. Craig Mather’s Combeferre and Niall Sheehy’s Courfeyrac both allowed both actors to show off some real oomph in their voices, though I’m still much too rattled by a Courfeyrac wearing Joly’s clothes. I love Vinny Coyle because he’s just so obviously, thrillingly in love with the show, but he’s also a fabulous Feuilly, and I merrily handwave the not-so-great we’ll be therrrre because a) it’s a horrendous note few people can carry well, and b) I’ve seen and heard him do it brilliantly so many other times when he was covering Feuilly as a swing. And it was delicious to see Will Jennings as a background onstage SwingAmi. Everyone else was just sort of … there, though all very pretty. It was extremely clear who had been in casts properly educated and invested in the show, but that’s a record I’ve played enough.

• I will never not love seeing Sarah Lark, Jo Loxton, and Tamsin Dowsett. I also deeply appreciate seeing Oli Brenin doing everything, everywhere, all the time.

• It is never not wonderful seeing Earl Carpenter bishoping, but my god EARL WHAT EVEN with that Bamatabois. What even. There was active squeaky recoiling happening in my row.

• Gavroche was excellent and adorable and GINGER. Full marks.

• And so to the encores. The only point I could see to the coat handover from Michael to Bradley was to give Michael a Moment along the lines of the Valjeanfest, as it’s not like the role of Javert is new to Bradley. However, I was fascinated by the strangeness of the harmonized Stars, and I think I need to watch and listen to it again about a thousand times to really confirm my proper opinion. I know Bradley doesn’t sing Stars that high for real—and certainly doesn’t need to—and what they did here doesn’t really … show his approach to the role, but it was interesting, and I give them credit for the try. (I did attempt to imagine others—let’s be real, I was imagining THAXTON—even being asked to make a go of this, and my imagined Thaxtonic response will make for excellent nightmare fuel.)

• Then, then, then. All Valjeans all the time, including some Potato in a tour costume that still has me hissing at its wrongness. Anyway! Leaving aside Alfie—whose section just really sounded like jesus christ I cannot believe I have to do this again; I just want to lie down for a thousand years and block Cameron’s number from any further contact with me put to music—I found the whole thing much more palatable than the 25th anniversary Valjeanfest, perhaps mostly because of my fave part of the whole concert—the whole two lines JOJ and Killian shared—but also because the four Valjeans not actively praying for their own deaths all seemed to have physical, emotional, and vocal respect for the role, the show, the audience, and each other. It was a strange joy to watch.

Which, truly, this concert was as well, in enough places to ensure that I will buy the inevitable DVD. On some occasions I may even start its playback before Look Down (Paris). Maybe.

(One more small thought, though, on this concert and why I am glad it’s over: I know the run sparked a lot of joy for a lot of people, but if I saw one more bitchy tweet from the cast members I might have screamed. Are some audience members dickheads? Absolutely. Then enforce the fucking rules. Train and allow your FOH to go after those people (and force the management to back the FOH staff up!), remove them, throw one of the old pest catcher boxes from under the Queens seats at them, whatever. But shut up. I don’t even follow any of the whingers I saw! Twitter just enjoyed throwing their tweets into my feed like a toddler’s wall-splattering food. #blessed)

Anyway. That’s that done. The show’s world turns, though obviously it no longer revolves.

#ginger is headed this way with an opinion #natter natter natter

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