#the worst that has happened are the bruno comparisons

[pinemangoart]

Every1 has that 1 pacifist on their server who treasures the mobs (do not take away their chickens)

Bonus past design idea for Alex n HB, I’m uhhhh working. On things. So many things all the time

[elaina-writes-things]

The sun hurts.

It's the only thing Bruno can focus on immediately after breaking through Casita's collapsing walls. The sun shines so bright he can't bear to take the bucket off, no matter how desperately he wants to.

He can hear his family screaming for Mirabel. He knows she's trying to grab the candle that blessed them all, and still he can't look up long enough to watch her climb the crumbling house. All he can do is sit in the shade, panting beside the rubble and shaking hard enough to rattle his teeth.

Yet, somehow, miraculously, his vision begins to clear. Everything stills, and he can't hear the walls caving in anymore.

Against the burning light, he can push the bucket off, and slowly climbs to his feet again. He has to keep his head down, has to use the bulk of his hair to keep the worst of the sun at bay, but he can see. The green of his ruana pales in comparison to the vividness of the grass under his feet, or the leaves in the trees. He becomes acutely aware of the ghostly pallor of his skin, an unavoidable effect of his years in the walls.

Bruno is shaken from his musings by his sister's voice - close, Julieta's too close, he's not ready to see her yet - yelling for Mirabel. Has she run off? She has nowhere to hide, the Casita is in pieces and cannot shield her the way it did for him.

Before he's consciously made the decision to do so, he's stumbling through the foliage in search of his niece. His heart hammers in his chest, a mixture of panic and concern and exhaustion, god, he hasn't moved this much in so long, it makes his chest heave and his body heavy -

Focus. He has to focus. Mirabel is in trouble, and he won't stand by and let his mother make her feel like he does. He won't let Mirabel become the new black sheep, no matter what happens to him from here.

--

There's hugging. There's so much hugging being done to him, and he was only able to get through one apology.

He remembers the contours of his mother's body as she squeezes him, yet ten years has changed the shape somewhat. The same can be said for his sisters. For his step-brothers. Time has transformed them all, in good ways and bad. Bruno feels out of place, like a puzzle piece trying to fit into the wrong board. His wiggly parts don't mesh with anyone else's, no matter how close he comes to doing so. Every embrace he's given drives that fact home, their bodies familiar and alien all at once.

He's overwhelmed by how much they missed him, by the fact that they missed him at all. No one has wanted to speak his name for years, as though they may invoke the bad luck that swarms him like a plague. Yet here they were, grinning at him in genuine affection for the missing seer.

Bruno feels his face mirror their glee, though much more subdued, but in the darkest parts of his mind, he's bitter that they only now rejoice in him because they fear losing him again.

Why, he wonders, as Mirabel shoots him a confident grin, didn't they look at him like this before he fled? Why didn't his familia worry after him when the visions made his migraines so bad he couldn't see, when the villagers' hostility grew to the point that he feared physical retaliation for delivering a bad prophecy? Why did it take sacrificing ten years of his life to be treated with this kind of care?

Bruno doesn't have the time to dwell on it for the first few days, too busy being split off into different groups as the village worked together to rebuild their fallen home. He hovers near the niece that discovered his hiding place, more at ease when he's grouped up with her. Mirabel doesn't pester him with questions, she simply hunkers down and gets the job done. He likes that.

The others set him on edge. They're very kind, and yet their gazes swim with questions he doesn't even want to begin to answer.

Where have you been? How is he supposed to answer that without coming off as a freak?

What have you been doing this whole time? Years of isolation have rusted up his finer social skills, and yet even Bruno knows that "training rats to perform romantic dramas for entertainment" is not an acceptable answer.

Are you here to stay?

Bruno looks at Antonio, his youngest nephew, after he asks the question. It's simple enough, and he understands why the five-year-old would want to know such a thing, but he doesn't have an answer right off the bat.

"We'll see, kid," he replies, gently ruffling the boy's hair. Antonio giggles, accepting the answer before running off to chase whatever else has stolen his attention.

Bruno wants to stay. Now that he's out of the walls, all he wants is to sit in the sun again. But his reputation precedes him - the whispers had never stopped, only quieted, and with his return they simply kicked back up again.

Those too young to have experienced his miracle first-hand avoid him because the stories their parents told were too frightening to face the real thing. Those who were around to experience his gift avoid him because they still believe that Bruno is the cause of their misfortune, rather than the messenger of what has already been destined.

But the candle has extinguished. Casita is rubble around him. His gift is gone, and though his heart aches for the rest of his family, Bruno could not be happier to be a normal man. There is no one approaching him and demanding a glimpse into their futures, no one capable of snapping at him for giving them less than perfect news. There's no migraines rocketing around his head and shooting down his spine from looking too far into the future or for too long.

He's just...Bruno. The realization makes him smile. It lifts a burden off of his back he's been carrying since childhood. While the rest of his loved ones mourn the loss of their talents, Bruno wants to celebrate his freedom.

His joy carries on through the rest of the new Casita's construction, happy to make spackle for this wall and paint that wall. Happy to install this door and hang that new painting. Happy to delve into skills he was forced to neglect in favor of "earning" his miracle.

Yeah, he thinks, nodding excitedly to Mirabel to install the final doorknob of their new home, he could get used to this.

"Let us in, kid."

-------

Do you guys think Bruno got pissed when the magic was restored? Imagine those blissful weeks of not being "Bad Luck Bruno" because he was just a normal guy, now, and then Casita comes back to life again. Poor guy 😭

[sims2bellaswan]

pas de deux IV [Bruno Bucciarati x Reader | Risotto Nero x Reader]

[SFW]

AO3 VERSION

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER

You’ve worked your whole life to earn a place in the Rome ballet company, yet everyone seems to work against you.

Between the stress of working to match the other dancers to unforeseen romantic issues, problems just seem to pile up.

Trish sighed into her spot on the loveseat. The man next to her, clad in a daring purple, silk suit. The gold buttons reflected the warm lighting; their little black buttonholes making them akin to sunkissed ladybugs peppering his suit. His button down almost had an iridescent quality, picking up the light and showing it back.

He pulled his hand through his blond hair, watching Trish pick up a champagne flute. His eyebrow cocked in surprise, “Drinking tonight?”

“I hate doing these parties. This is exhausting.” She sipped delicately, an attempt to not make her annoyance seen.

“You can think of a better word than that.” He smiled, dimples puckering on his tanned skin.

Remembering her lessons felt like a pike to the gut. “Demeaning, boring, absolutely pointless?” She looked over to him, staring through her lashes and furrowing her brows. “You aren’t my teacher, Giorno. Can we leave my failed english exam out of work?” There was a certain sting to her words.

Giorno clasped his hands in his lap, balancing his elbows on his knees. “Wouldn’t want your new ducklings to see your attitude just yet, Trish.” His voice felt playful in comparison to her’s. He was teasing her, as friends do. “Nor, would Fugo be very happy to hear you complaining about his lessons.”

“Enough. I told him I would make it up when the season ends.” She finished her champagne, quickly. “I have a lot on my plate.” Her sentence was punctuated with a gentle sigh.

Giorno was a benefactor: Trish’s first sponsor and closest friend. He hosted galas, collected donations, and dealt with money. It seemingly came easily to him, considering how well off he’s become. Gossip will tell you his father is big in England, a big shot lawyer, but you neither knew nor cared about English legal talk. Hopelessly polite and endlessly caring, he had a brilliant public face. His golden record was well known in ballet circles in Italy. Every serious ballerina in the country dreamed of being sponsored by him.

You pressed on your abdomen as you walked to Bruno and his conversational partner. You couldn’t place at all where you knew his face and it was beginning to bother you. Should he be someone you should've known, you’ll be outed for not having done your homework. That would be the final embarrassment of the night and you would probably die on impact. Or, more realistically, bawl your eyes out at home.

Bruno’s hand instinctively went to the small of your back, lingered for a moment, then fell away. “Nero, this is a friend of mine.” He glanced at you, it was painted on your face how nervous you made yourself.

Taking the hint, you introduced yourself. Nero, as you had heard, shook your hand. His hand was callossed and his grip was tight. You shook your hand lightly after the fact, pins and needles would’ve picked up if he had held on but a moment longer.

The man was almost looked out of place. If it were not for how well he wore his suit, you would’ve thought he was wandering in from a passing wedding party. He wore a black suit with a small repeating pattern across the blazer, in a red foiled thread. Noticing little details, he was out of place to the point of button colors. While his hair, stark white and braided, had little golden beads at the end, his suit was entirely detailed in silver. An aged silver tubing lined the hems, which complimented the red in its warmness.

Releasing you of his grasp and momentarily giving you his attention, he betrayed no emotion. “Risotto Nero.”

Like a million alarms, bells and warning sounds went off in your head, you had to hold back your physical realization. Today was not your day for recognizing, like, really important people. This is Risotto Nero as in the ballet master for the Rome Company. You’re not kicking yourself nearly as hard as you were when you hadn’t recognized Trish. But, you still kicked yourself.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, uhm, signore Nero.” Your second language fled your mind under your nerves. You wanted to cry. Oh, cruel fate.

He hummed, giving you no sign of continuing.

Seemingly dissatisfied with your response, he turns his attention back to Bruno. You try hard not to be disappointed. The key word there is ‘try’. Biting at your inner cheek and embarrassment filling your gut, you had half a mind to catch his attention again and earn a positive response. Yet, the waver building in your throat and your fear of disappointment held you back. Oh, cruel fate.

Their conversation continued on, but it faded out from your ears. The blood rushing to your cheeks and the pain from your incessant chewing began to take the place of your ability to hear. You found no place to insert yourself so you stood beside Bruno silently. It wasn’t until Risotto had walked away that you had realized the conversation had ended. Though, your friend did not seem satisfied with its end.

Bruno’s gentle hand led you from the ballroom to the garden as the party began to die. Surrounding a luxurious pool were a few stragglers, ballerinas who were on the last bits of their conversations and donors hoping to catch a word of next year’s season.

“I ruined that.” You muttered, collapsing into a wicker chair. Tears bore needles at your eyes, threatening and fighting to slip down your cheeks. “I just gave the worst impression to the one person who could break this for me.” This time, with feeling.

His hand squeezed your shoulder. “He was an ass.” There is clear disdain in his tone. It’s quiet, but knowing him this long, the steel in his voice is clear as day. “You’re not the only one.”

That was a bit of a kick to the stomach, you weren’t the only one who made a terrible impression. So, Bruno agreed. You needed to get home before you cried.

“He has no care for his dancers, you know that.” Bruno gently reminded you, walking the minefield of your broken spirit carefully. He was right, you were well aware of the complaints Risotto received as a master. Ballerinas quit the company in pieces after dancing for him; he broke them. Trish was the exception that proved the rule. You held little to no chance.

“If I quit, it’s going to be because of him.” Those words were hard to get out. Three hours ago, you wouldn’t have entertained the idea of quitting, you had worked so hard. In for a penny, in for a pound. But now? It was an all to real end to your dreams.

The cab home was rough. You elected to take one alone so you could call your parents. You ended up not doing that, opting instead to have a silent sob in the backseat. Crying until your eyes were dry, you wiped what remained of the makeup you spent hours perfecting off your cheeks. Your hair a mess, your mascara running, you looked more like a victim of breakup than a failing ballerina.

A beacon amongst the rocks, your apartment was a safe haven in Rome. The warm lights buzzed with age as you flipped them on, casting off your shoes and coat as you fell onto your bed. You reviewed the night in your head a million, no, a trillion times.

It wasn’t a disaster. Not a complete one, at least. You met Trish. You met Ballet Master Nero, which was the low moment of the night, but it still happened. You’ll have a friendly face at the first rehearsal. You’ll have Bruno. You began to cry again.

Smiling past your tears and glancing at the clock, you groaned. Your smile faded when you realized just how late it had become. Swallowing whatever emotions were left, you padded like a hurt dog to the bathroom. Your nightly routine was lethargic at best, with brief intermissions of staring at yourself in the mirror. You felt exactly like you did when you had thought you failed the Diamond solo. Everyone knew, everyone saw, and no one wanted to tell you how pathetic you looked while you were doing it.

You really needed this sleep.

[dwtsfun]

Dancing with the Stars Season 29 Week 10: Let’s Talk

So I spent some extra time really thinking about how I want to approach talking about this week. There are many parts and I want to address and I wanna do it as thoroughly as I can. So first let me get the trivial things out of the way. Tyra looked amazing. I loved the judges’ entrance. CAI looked incredible too. Bruno looked great. Derek’s suit would’ve looked better if it were a different color. Maybe a darker and cooler color would’ve been better, like a green, blue or purple. 

Okay now let me address the elephant in the room. Nelly. So here’s where I stand. He deserves to be in the final as much as anyone else that is there right now. Period. You can dislike it all you want, but he earned his spot. He is not a Skeleton type where he hasn’t improved, can’t dance for shit, talks shit about EVERYONE and expects to be rewarded high scores for terrible dances. From what we have all seen, Nelly seems to be genuinely shocked that he’s being received well and at the fact that he is doing as well as he is. And he’s hasn’t shown a sense of entitlement that Skeleton always had surrounding him. Plus, he minds his business and doesn’t bad mouth the other celebs. So I’m going to fully reject that comparison. It’s asinine.

“But he was the worst dancer left!” Okay. And? Your point? This is not new. We have had plenty of celebs who were not one of the best dancers make it to the finals. Kelly Osbourne made the finals over Aaron Carter and Joanna Krupa. Cristian de la Fuente made it over Mario. Marie Osmond made it over Sabrina Bryan and Jennie Garth. Jerry Rice made it over Lisa Rinna. Bristol Palin and Bill Engvall made it over everyone. Candace and Alek beat out a ton of people. Noah made it in over Nastia. Ginger dumbass (I actually have real issues with this lady) made it in over Wanya. David Ross got second place. Lauren Alaina got in over James van der Beek. And Nelly making it as far as he has should not be shocking. He’s got the biggest name of everyone on the show. He’s not a bad dancer (he’s actually pretty decent and better than most of the people that I just listed). And his journey is the quintessential DWTS journey. The audience loves a person that comes in with no experience, embraces the experience and improves as the weeks go on. So it’s very strange to me that Nelly is garnering this type of reaction because he’s “the worst left”. It’s almost like a lot of fans have never watched this show before. So I have to wonder what is driving this issue with him (I know why and I’m sure you all know too). It’s the same thing that drove (and still drives the uproar) for Jacoby placing higher than Aly back in season 16.

“But what about his sexual assault allegations! He shouldn’t succeed because of those.” Yes, I know those are surrounding him. Yes, I know he’s been arrested. Yes, I know it likely happened (and for those of you that are going to come in here acting like I’m doubting survivors, I am not. But I have a platform and I’m not trying to be sued if anyone on his team comes across this post). I am not absolving him of that. BUT, many of the fans don’t know that. To them, he’s just the really famous rapper that made those couple of songs that they like and has worked with Tim McGraw. He might even be their favorite rapper. We also cannot suddenly choose to take the moral high ground when it comes to Nelly, while still watching and supporting this show. This show has casted several different types of abusers, racists, downright hateful people and alleged MURDERERS since it’s inception. And it sympathizes with them. This is actually a shoe where many stars go so that they can try to rehab their image. So that moral high ground approach just doesn’t work for this show. Especially not when there is another alleged abuser sitting right next to him. You can make the personal choice not to vote for him for whatever reason. That is fine. But you also have to know that your continued support of the show is going to allow them to keep casting these types of celebrities.

“But Skai and Johnny were just better.” Yes. That is very true. AND people weren’t voting for them in the way that they were voting for everybody else. Each of them had already had at least one bottom 2 appearance. It made sense for them to both end up in the bottom 3 on double elimination night and be sent home. It’s actually what should have happened to Ally last season when she ended up in the bottom 2 with James.

“But his dances sucked!” I will get to his dances from Monday later on in the post. But his dances throughout the season largely did not suck. I will give you his first paso. That was a mess. The rest of his dances were decent to very good.

“Women have it harder than men on this show!” Well see, here is where need some more nuance. White men (pros and celebs alike) get rewarded for the bare minimum on this show. The judges will (and have) rip apart a Black, Indigenous or Asian man very easily. I would actually say that white women are more fairly treated than any other group besides their white male counterparts. The rest of us fall below everyone else in the social hierarchy.

Okay. I’ve gone on a lot so I’m going to make these rankings pretty short.

1. Skai and Alan- I am ranking these based on my personal enjoyment of both dances, So if you’ve followed me for a long time, you know that I love me a good Viennese waltz. And this was beautiful. Skai’s top line is gorgeous. She was very elegant. And the balance of confidence and vulnerability was something I have not seen from Skai this season. Her cha-cha was a definite redemption. I thought she did a great job with her hip action. She was loose. She was sure of herself. She was confident. I’m glad Skai got to have a week where everything was just top notch. If she had to leave, this was the perfect note to leave on.

2. Johnny and Britt- I really loved both of these dances as well. I was shocked at how well their salsa went. Johnny seemed to do a much better job of understanding the movement of it and executing it. As for the jazz, it was amazing. I loved it. And I loved that it didn’t seem like the freestyle lite routines that we’re used to seeing when couples are assigned jazz. These two should be incredibly proud of everything that they accomplished. I spent the season comparing Johnny to Evan Lysacek and while I think Evan beats Johnny in ballroom, I think Johnny was the overall better dancer.

3. Justina and Sasha- I really really liked this tango. I’m not sure if I would’ve given it a 10, because there were definite issues with her frame throughout. But, it was a huge improvement over their last one, so I’m okay with it. She wasn’t hopping throughout the dance and there was a difference in the way she embodied it that I just liked more. Maybe it was the lack of the character thrown on top of a dance that already has a distinct built in character. As for their contemporary, it was very pretty. I don’t care much for that style, but the perfect score was well deserved. 

4. Nelly and Daniella- Like everyone else tonight, Nelly definitely brought his A-game. That paso was a huge improvement from the first time that he did it. There was way more artistry this time around. He was shaping properly minus a few moments. He was smooth and intentional. It was actually very good. His feet still need work, but this was a very nice dance. I liked that Daniella left his shirt off because we really got to see all of the shaping. He is also very nice to look at lol. I honestly felt like this could have been a very solid 27. I could even see Bruno throwing in a 10 because of how attentive he was to the smaller details of this dance. As for the jive, this was actually the dance where I felt Nelly was most at ease. To me, this was their best dance of the season. That final gear that I could sense they hadn’t tapped into yet, was finally realized. Now from the way a lot of the fans were talking, you’d think this dance was a disaster. But it was far from it. He messed up the choreography a few times, so I don’t think it should’ve gotten a 30. But it was no less than a 27. Everything else he did was actually really good. Daniella put in a lot of content into this dance and he really nailed it. Also, recently there have been a ton of dances that were given perfect scores that may not have deserved them (including a few this season). So I don

5. Kaitlyn and Artem- Their paso was a definite improvement over the first time they did it. And I think it was technically the best dance of the first round. However, I still wasn’t feeling it. It was still too restrained for my liking. And while Derek tried to explain it away by saying that was the character of the dance, I just can’t let that slide.Their contemporary was beautiful though. By the time we got to their dance, I was all contemporary’d out because it was the last of three. So I didn’t appreciate it as much at first. But upon my second and third viewing of it, I actually really liked it. Everything that I had wanted from her in the paso and the Argentine tango was sitting right in this dance. I wish she had taken some of that and put it into those two dances as well. I might’ve actually been able to truly get behind her.

6. Nev and Jenna- Their foxtrot was an improvement but like my feeling with Kaitlyn, I just didn’t care. It was good. I don’t feel anything when he dances. It feels very hollow. His contemporary was nice but of the three contemporaries, I liked it the least. It didn’t really stand out. It was there. It was good. Perfect even. I wasn’t all that impressed though. I wish he would stop lying about his dance experience. 

So that’s it. Let me know your thoughts on the night and I will talk to you all soon.

[th3okamid3mon]

La Liga de los 5, México has their own heroes [SPOILERS]

Superheroes are very popular now days, kids love them very much, so let Anima Studios jump into the opportunity to tell the story of group of heroes with unique and not orthodox superpowers. Mexicans have a new group of heroes and they are spicy! 

Sinopsis:

After their parents passed away, Chema and Dolores have been living together while hiding. After using her powers and getting the attention of the main villain, she gets kidnapped and is held to be used for a ritual that brings back the worst evil the world has seen. Now Chema has to look for his parents´ comrades to save his little sister before it´s too late. 

Art design and animation: 

Let me get something out of the way: people always talk shit about this studio and about any animated Mexican movie. Mexican movies tend to be either gross humor and obscenities when it comes to animated movies, at least the ones with Huevo Cartoon, even Mexicans talk shit about their own studio! I hate that. Animation here is complicated to take out, people get inspire and do try to give something, to tell a story they believe in and show their creativity. People inside and out of the country have to understand we dont have the same resources but we do try to make something good. Ana y Bruno might not have looked pleasant but what it doesnt have in animation it has in character development and story. La leyenda de la Nahuala might have looked awkward, but the story and the effects (at the time) looked and gave slight horror to the kids who watch it. It´s a try and fail, it´s been a REALLY long time for animation in Mexico and this creators are trying their best, the main things they are using to tell stories might be viewed as over the top but those are practically the main parts of our culture. Of course there´s more, there are legends and places and such but for the love of god give the studio and the creators a break. They are trying to entertain you, they are trying to tell a story of bravery, of family, of accepting one self. STOP SHIT TALKING ABOUT MEXICAN MOVIES AS IF THEY ALL SUCK. THERE ARE PLENTY OF GOOD MEXICAN MOVIES, OLD AND NEW. SAYING MEXICAN MOVIES SUCK IS NOT A PERSONALITY TRAIT, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM EXIST, YOU ARE NOT COOL FOR HATING A MEDIA. 

Now where was I? Right. 

As always, Anima Studios amazes me with their different animation skills and artwork. Maybe for some people who are used to Pixar or Dreamworks this doesnt look appealing, but hey, it looks way better than I thought, this is actually an improvement from previous works. Their style is recognizable and distinguish. If you dont know which studio is Anima or what they´ve done, maybe you´ve heard of La leyenda de la Nahuala. No? How about Legend Quest? Yep. They made Legend Quest. 

The character design is always a treat, everyone look different from each other and always pop in their own ways. Even the background characters look different from each other, this people actually take care to make sure everyone looks unique. For some reason they didn´t use as many models as they used too, it look pretty empty in comparison to their other works but considering this is AN OPERA PRIMA from Maverick Núñez I think they did a really good job. 

The main protagonists also come in different shapes:

Just... Look. You can tell everyone apart. 

The backgrounds  are really eye catching to being waaay too different from the main characters animation, that´s like they common thing now. I dont really mind, they capture what A MEXICAN CITY LOOKS LIKE NOT LIKE OTHER USA OR WHATEVER OTHER COUNTRY PORTRAYS IT. I can´t find many pictures since it has been almost a week after it came out. 

The animation looked very fluid, one thing that is really awesome is that they use different types of animation, you have the main 2D and they mix up the 3D animation for villains and other models of backgrounds. Sure it pops up but it doesn´t do it as awkward as before, they made sure to blended a bit better. The effects are fitting and blend WAY better than other movies they´ve done. It looks part of the characters and part of the animation than a separated after effects thing. Anima Studios has improved a lot. 

Sound and editing: 

I don´t know if you know this, but sometimes some Mexican movies have troubles with sound, general sounds. Sometimes they are way to loud, other times way too low, then it has too much noise or sounds like a sound taken from the internet. This is one of the reasons some people don´t like Mexican movies, though the ones I´ve seen so far have improved more (And let me tell ya, Hollywood movies sometimes have sucky sound too. Really bad sound design sometimes, specially for horror movies and they HAVE A BIGGER BUDGETS! For example: The Conjuring used 20 000 000 dollars, Belzebuth, cost around 191 500 dollars. Like... Bruh). 

In this case the sound design was on well done, it wasn´t over the top and the sounds made sense. effects for the cars and the steps do sound like they were done. The designers really tried and accomplish, the dialogues were at the same volume and never were uneven. I liked they didnt use a lot of popular songs, Pachuco was actually a good song for the car chase scene. The music? BOI. I loved it. For some reason they have this whimsical and epic music and I have no idea where they got it. Even in La Leyenda de la Nahuala they always had this type of music: really well made, fitting to the scene, perfect between events and its not over used, letting the silence spaces to be silent and/or letting the background sounds do the job. 

The editing had a really fast pace. I´ve notice lately that a lot of animated movies are really fast now or feel really fast, this was way too fast. There´s not exactly enough time to breath, the events pass so quickly you have to pay attention to what´s going on. Even at moments where there has an emotional moment it passes so fast because of a next action. At some point they slow it down but then it makes it fast again. I think the main problem is the time, it is a 1:30 movie like many others but I feel this movie was longer than that so they had to reedit it to make it go faster. Plot is understandable, just fast. 

Writing and Characters: 

Ah, shit! Here we go again. I like this studio, I like the movies they´ve made (not all of them. Agente -P2? seriously, guys? That was a dark time...), but the writing has always been slightly awkward for me. Sometimes they have too many pauses or what they say doesn´t land correctly. I thought it was the voice actors but no, guys. The voice actors are really good, we have a lot of talent. In general is the writing. They did improve a lot, the pacing and the dialogues were cleaner and sounded natural but for some reason this one has the same problem in certain parts. It´s not like people dont talk like this I think its the pauses that make it weirder. Other than that, the story of the origins of the main 2 is not really original. Then again, as I said before, Originality is a lie. The characters and their powers are the original part. The tale of two siblings that become orphans and have to hide because the main villain is looking for them is old, its what happens around and how the characters act that matters. 

It could have used a bit more of a build up, maybe more interactions between the siblings to know them better. The opening scene and introduction was great, it shows you the characters, what happened to the parents and then you flashforward to the main two in their... teenage years? I think they are teens. It´s perfect, but other than that we don´t know Chema or Dolores that well, we know Chema is careful and gets worried a lot while Dolores is a bit more carefree and cheerful, and they interact and you can tell their personalities. i just think it could have used a bit more of their relationship. Dolores powers involve turning into a ghost, flying, going through walls and apparently, being a vessel to bring the evil Dr. Vampire. 

The other 4 characters are La Tuna, Catrina, Tetlepanquetzal and Tin Martin. 

Tin Martin is kind of annoying to me. He is smart and builds the different gadgets the heroes use, he is really useful and also the comic relief though he actually shows he cares about what I presume are his nephews. Its really competent in his area, all the gadgets he provides work perfectly which is odd to me, its usual for this type of guys to have something that doesnt work. It´s a nice change. 

La Tuna is a wrestler and has a goofy look, but this guy knows how to fight and really well. He is extremely strong, as strong or more than Tetlepanquetzal, and he actually has a soft side that isn´t shown as a weakness. He gives advice to Chema when he is down and encourages him to be brave and to believe in himself. Chema is really insecure because of his powers that are to make everyone get spiced. I´m not kidding, his power is to make the air spiced, like if you take chilli peppers and throw them in peoples faces, he does that without having any peppers around. Tuna tells him to believe in himself because his powers dont define him, Tuna had issues too because of his short stature and his powers are becoming prickly and secreting slimy substance (you know, like a nopal. Tuna is a prickly pear) but tells him his father told him that non of that matter, what really matter was who they were inside. Its a really nice and touching scene, Chema is a kid who had to grow fast and misses his parents and now he has a couple parental figures to help him with whats troubling him. 

Catrina is kind of a fresa? Like a rich queen or something, or its portrayed like that. Stylish and such, but she is loyal and does care about his friends and dont diminish them, she only teases them because they´ve known each other for a while. She is powerful, summoning bones to be use as armor and to kick the bad guys butts. Catrina has a strong personality, not taking shit and trying to focus on every situation, she is practically the glue that keeps the team on track. 

Tetlepanquetzal is the most left out character there is. He is silent, his expressions are ok but he doesn´t provide with any remarks. He does his job, his power is really cool too. He transforms into any animal he touches for a certain amount of time. He is the extra muscle, Tetlepanquetzal is smart but really goofy, due to having animals characteristics from the transformations he does  lot of goofy stuff but other than that its just like a silent wall. Strong wall that is. 

The villains... We have 2 which one of them I have no idea how it´s called. They never called him by his name in the whole movie. One of the henchman calls him boss so I will call him by that. Boss is a pyrotechnic mastermind, he controls the fireworks and uses that to destroy everything. He is the one that wants to use Dolores and open a portal to bring Dr. Vampire (which is the second villain). The reason? He used to have a daughter, and her daughter died in his house because of fireworks going off, she was burned or suffocated. The Dr. Vampire promised him he would bring her back if Boss brought him back.

Turns out the vampire lied and kind of turn his back on Boss, who now felt like an idiot and wanted to save Dolores. (There´s a point where Dolores enters Boss´ mind with the help of an obsidian mirror and sees the flashback of the daughter dying, so both characters do kind of have a mild bond) 

Dr. Vampire is the weirdest, dumbest looking villain I have ever seen. He looks like a edgy teenager but looks old as fuck. It´s super weird and is completely evil, bringing certain Mexican monuments to live and bring havoc to Mexico City. like... Holy shit, he has red messy hair, long face, nose and teeth, wears A FREAKING GOTH CLOAK AND BOOTS and has a trident. It´s a weird design for a vampire. We don´t know shit about this character, only that he was supposed to be brought back by Boss and that´s all. BUT HE IS PURE EVIL! 

They manage to defeat the villain by fighting each of the monuments and then fighting against the vampire, Chema and Dolores have a special combination that not only provokes an explosion but also gives the other 3 characters a power boost. I dont know why that happens, there´s no explanation. If there´s more of it I WISH AND HOPE THERE´S A SERIES. THIS!!! THIS RIGHT HERE:

THIS CAN BE TURN INTO A SERIES. PLEASE, NETFLIX: YOU ALREADY TOOK LA LEYENDA DE LA NAHUALA, TAKE THIS ONE! PLEASE!!! PLEASE!!! 

(If you take a closer look you can see the aura is in a pepper form, its so funny to me. The big pictures at the movie theater glow at a certain angle if they are stroke with a light) 

There´s something I like a lot and that´s that there isn´t a separation moment, they never get separated because of ¨I have to prove myself¨ or ¨i need to do this alone¨. They get separated due to circumstances like following a truck while others take care of a fallen comrade, but Chema is never alone. He is with at least one of them, mostly La Tuna (that´s how we get their emotional talk) and IM SO GLAD THEY DIDNT DO THAT KIND OF CLICHE. Chema never fights with them for stupid things or misunderstandings, they all work whatever misunderstanding right then and there and always stick together because THEY KNOW HOW DANGEROUS IT CAN BE. AND THEY LISTEN TO EACH OTHER! ITS GREAT! THEY ARE GREAT! 

Also the last scene, which parodies marvel movies:

Tin Martin: OH NO! A giant snake is eating Trompa´s wall

La Tuna: Let the snake eat it. 

(People call Trump El Trompas, trompas has several meanings like trumpet but we use it to also refer to the duck face) 

Conclusion:

Superheroes are really overdone. Marvel, you are ok I guess but please just let yourself die (At least after you give me Black Widow and the next Guardians of the Galaxy). In México the close to a superheroe we had was Santos and Blue Demon, being really popular wrestlers and movie stars and all in the silver era. Sure, we also have Villainous that explores villains and heroes that TO ME ARE ALL MEXICAN UNTIL PROVEN THE CONTRARY, but this is a movie not a web-series (that has probably being cancelled ´cause Ituriel doesn´t seem to know how to administrate his company and properly treat his workers). 

Anima Studios took the chance with Maverick Núñez and they really made a good job. As an Opera Prima it looks and sounds awesomely, the writing could still use some work but other than that it is an entertaining movie. It has a nice message, the characters are really well made from design to voice acting and the story is interesting. From what I read it had a really good opening, but it didn´t quite made it in the box office. Still, I think you should give it a watch, not because it´s a Mexican movie, but because it´s a superhero movie that just takes place in Mexico. It´s different from Marcianos vs Mexicanos because that one was full on ridiculousness and comedy while this one is drama with comedy. If you followed Anima Studios, you will see how much they have improve and advance. This company was and is the start of animation in México and they are becoming better. 

Now I´m waiting for their next movie: Las Leyendas: El origen. And you know why I am excited? Because it´s 2 movies from the same Studio in 1 year, they are really becoming bigger. 

Animation has never been this amazing, and Mexican Animation is growing faster and better. Please, be objective but supportive. Don´t be destructive for the sake of being destructive. People are trying their best and it is paying off in my opinion. 

Sincerely, a Mexican with hopes for more animations in her own country. 

[jusadode-blog]

:0 whats the tea?

I don’t know which tea you’re referring to but I’m having an emotional breakdown over vocaloid so I’m dumping vocaloid tea. Huge rant below.

The year is 2012, the vocaloid community is in a weird phase. V3 has been out and going steady for a bit, and a lot of the fans are demanding remakes rather than new vocaloids. The exploration of new languages is a new trendy thing in V3, however, people are mainly demanding remakes of lesser-known V2′s and even underappreciated V1′s. Miki is a popular candidate, as she has a stable fanbase, a decent voice, and her design is manifique, however, many companies are currently popping out new vocaloids who are beginning to grow individualized fandoms of their own. The big 5 (or 6 or 7 depending on if you include Luka and/or Gakupo in the major leagues) are getting their V3′s, but there’s a definitive copy-cat style going on of the big 5 with a lot of the newer vocaloids. However, someone new comes into the fray.

The greatest vocaloid in the history of mankind has just been released. The beautiful, the one and only Aoki Lapis, has graced the world with her perfect demo, her perfect design, and her perfect name. Her voice is crafted like that of an angel, and she is ready for all your basic vocaloid needs. She can sing cute, happy songs. She can sing painful, sad songs. Her voice is like that of a lonely puppy, ready to make or break your heart at a moments notice. Will she smile? Will she cry? The choice is up to the fans. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THEY FUCKING DID?

THEY IGNORED HER.

FUCKING INSTEAD, A YEAR OLD VOCALOID WHICH HAD NO FUCKING FANBASE UP UNTIL THAT POINT DECIDED TO START PICKING UP PACE.

Tone Rion, WHO’S INITIAL FANDOM WAS COMPRISED OF MANY FUCKING LOLICONS [aka PEDOPHILES] DUE TO HER FUCKING RIDICULOUSLY CHILDISH YET SEXUALIZED OUTFIT, started gaining traction despite her initial rocky start, ENDED UP WITH A LONG-STANDING FANDOM WHO STILL PRODUCE MUSIC TO THIS FUCKINGDAY. And I mean HER FACE IS EXACTLY LIKE FUCKING KAAI YUKI, A FUCKING KINDERGARTEN AGE VOCALOID. Tone Rion sounded so fucking bland, so fucking generic. Her voice is like that of if you put a hundread different fem vocaloid voices through a neural network and made it produce one of it’s own. It’s so fucking bland and has no emotion in it, AND YET GUSSS FUCKING WHAT?!?

SHE GET’S A FUCKING V4, AND THEY REDO HER WHOLE DESIGN BECAUSE THE WERID SEXUALIZED SCI-FI MAGICAL GIRL KID WITH TIDDY WINDOWS WAS KINDA A BAD IDEA. NOW SHE HAS A SUPER FUCKING CUTE DESIGN AND A NEW (IMRPOVED) VOICE BUT YOU FUCKING KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO AOKI???

SHE’S FUCKING DEAD, SHE HAS NO FANDOM. SHE HAS NO SONGS. THE ONLY SHIT SHE GET’S IS FUCKING COVERS AND TO WORK WITH OTHER VOCALOIDS. MERLI COULDN’T EVEN SAVE HER ASS, AND HONESTLY I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW MERLI GOT FUCKING RELEASED BY HOW LITTLE THE COMMUNITY PICKED HER UP.

They did my fucking girl SO WRONG.

So yeah, FUCK TONE RION. FUCK ALL HER INITIAL FANS. And FUCK EVERYONE WHO LEFT AOKI TO DIE.

IT’S 20 GODDAMN 19 WHY IS TONE RION POPPING UP IN MY GODDAMN YOUTUBE FEEDS?!!? I DON’T WANT THIS SHIT.

Especial shoutouts to FUCKING MEW, WHO Y’ALL FUCKING ALSO DROPPED LIKE A DEAD RAT, Cul (who’s fanbase was actually pretty solid for a while but fizzled out), and finally Galaco and Chika who everyone seems to have forgotten existed despite some somewhat proficient producers using her.

Also I’m still bitter Miriam wasn’t as loved as she should have been. It’s like everyone forget’s she ever existed.

SO YEAH THAT’S THE TEA. FUCK TONE RION’S NEW V4. Apparently she’s been out for a year but I just hadn’t of paid enough attention while scrolling away apparently.

ONE MORE THING SINCE THIS HAS ALL JUST BEEN ABOUT MY HATE ON V3:

Y’ALL FUCKERS DIDN’T PICK UP SACHIKO ENOUGH FROM V4. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL SHE SOUNDS SO GODDAMN AUTHENTIC?!?!? Like GODDAMN Sachiko is fucking god-tier like Aoki and y’all sleeping on her. HER BOX ART? GREAT. HER VOICE? GREAT. HER EMOTION, HER EVERYTHING??? FUCKING ON POINT. She’s got that rougher, deeper voice y’all loved about Luka, BUT LOO KWHAT YOU DID TO HER. Y’ALL LEFT HER FOR DEAD. Sachiko is EONS ahead of Luka in terms of rough, deep vocals, and god she sounds so fucking realistic because of it. It makes her emotion in depressing songs or creepy songs SO MUCH BETTER.

[Please note I’m angry at the community as a whole, and not individualized people and you should not feel in any way responsible for my anger. It is not your duty as a fan of something to show appreciation for lesser known characters or aspects of it. The vocaloid fandom, however, has a trend of picking up lesser-quality vocaloids in favor of the more robotic voices. Look at fucking SONIKA, one of the worst vocaloids to date MECHANICALLY WISE, NOT EVEN JUST VOCAL WISE, with her strong fandom and usage. And yes, the power of a producer using lesser-quality vocaloids and still making jams with them is a testimate to their skill, but it’s still painful to see the fans in turn also pick up said vocaloids because they want to be like their favorite producers rather than experiment with something new.

I used Maika fans as a example of “unproblematic fans” as most Maika songs are from Spanish! Vocaloid community, who really don’t have enough vocaloids to start discourse about lol. The only real discourse I saw on the spanish vocaloids was from the English and Japanese communities, who were super fucking shitty on Bruno and Clara but for ~some reason~ loved Maika. Honestly, Spanish Vocaloid community I’m so sorry y’alls first vocaloids went through such a hard time. Hope y’all get more vocaloids soon, y’all are such an awesome fanbase and I see y’all with all the subs you guys make. Keep being loud! Be seen! They’ll remember you’re a epic market!

Please note most of my critique is on the English vocaloid community, however also partially on the Japanese vocaloid community. It is very common for English producers to use non-english voice banks, however there’s a definitive trend to it all I hate. The Japanese vocaloid community is a lot harder for me to critique, however as a consumer of both english and japanese community creations I can fucking say that both of y’all assholes left my favs to die.]

TLDR: Tone Rion was initially a loli-bait style character who was made as if a mix between “robot magical girl” Miku, and Kaai Yuki with one of the most generic voices to date, but managed to get a V4 (and a VERY WELL NEEDED redesign I actually approve of as it’s more just to look cute rather than to be creepy) and a steady community while my fav Aoki just was thrown away and not even the underground community picked her up enough. I will reinterate here though, most Tone Rion fans now are not creeps. They’re just digging the cute remake of a vocaloid they may have some kind of nostalgia for just because they were hyped for all the new V3′s coming out at the time. Like, modern Tone Rion fans I’m more jealous of you rather than angry at you. Old fashion Tone Rion fans (especially those who didn’t like her new design) can go choke, that was a shit-tier design and she had an awful voice. Her new one is actually not bad, but still pretty dead in comparison to our lovely Lapis.

I will say a reason that most vocaloids “die” is caused by fans liking producers who make funky songs, and then buy  the same vocaloids of their favorite songs to mimic their producers rather than to explore new vocaloids. This leads to a cycle, ultimately leaving barely any room for new vocaloids to be explored. If a popular producer doesn’t pick up a vocaloid, or even if they did but didn’t utilize them enough (often because the vocals don’t mix well with their style or because the mechanics behind the voice are shit. Despite Circus-P getting a copy of Galaco she still died pretty hard, and she actually had a pretty alright voice and cute design. I think that one Yandere-style lolita-fashion vocaloid, can’t remember her name despite loving her, also beat her in popularity as she’s still being used quite decently.), and so that vocaloid’s popularity will be almost nothing.

Also my fav V4, Sachiko, was also discarded despite her BEAUTIFUL voice and design, because of her extremely rough voice not fitting the ~cutsy~ style of most vocaloid fans. For fucks sakes she’d be perfect for the Hagane fandom but we’re pretty fucking dead right now. Not even Yandere! vocaloid fandom picked her up and that’s such a disappointment man.

Thanks for stopping in for the tea anon! Hope you have a lovely day :D

[kokichiomakin]

Here’s my RockStar/Roquill/Pocket playlist! I use this playlist for inspiration a lot~

I’ve got my reasons for picking each song under the cut.

1. i’m not in love by 10cc straight from the movie, obviously. fits the mood at first - they’re unsure of each other, and almost in denial in a sense. this is more quill feeling denial, honestly - very soft denial of ‘nah, couldn’t happen’ 

2. i won’t say i’m in love from hercules now in comparison, here’s rocket’s denial. over the top, loud, bombastic screaming of ‘i don’t fall in love’ followed by quietly admitting to himself that maybe it’s okay to fall for someone - that someone being quill - but only admits it to himself in private. plus, god, is it fun to imagine groot as the muses and rocket as meg. 

3. the chain by fleetwood mac straight from the movies once more. this song is really about a struggling relationship and that’s how quill and rocket’s relationship is in the second movie. looking at the second movie from a shipping perspective, it’s kickstarted by rocket stealing the batteries - which he doesn’t need, it’s repeatedly said he doesn’t need them. he did it so quill would pay attention to him instead of gamora. he was jealous. hence the struggle. but they make it through.

4. troublemaker by olly murs & flo rida ‘troublemaker’ is probably one of the best words you can use to describe rocket. and with all the shit he gets everyone else into? oh yeah. this fits. but quill is definitely getting attached to him anyway, even with all the shenanigans he causes.

5. sleeping with a friend by neon trees do i have to explain this one? look at the title. but i can imagine this is more ‘quill’s first thoughts when starting this whole thing with rocket’: he’s not sure what it entirely is, they’re friends, but they’re clearly something else. ‘and if it was all up to me - i’d be no trouble. hell, we’re in trouble!’ and even if he’s really getting attached to rocket despite himself, he has no idea how rocket can and will feel, so he’s ‘if my heart’s gonna break before the night ends’

6. collar full by panic! at the disco in contrast, here’s rocket’s feelings on the situation at that point - he’s the one who ultimately fell first and fell hardest, and now that it’s requited he’s just clutching to it as much as he can and lingering in the feeling - ‘before the world catches up, because there’s always time for second guesses, i don’t wanna know, if you’re gonna be the death of me, that’s how i wanna go.’ he’s not sure how long it’ll last either but god is he relishing in it.

7. take me to church (cover) by postmodern jukebox rocket’s feelings again. it’s pure and simple truth that rocker really doesn’t like himself, so in a relationship he really does see his partner as the world. (not that quill won’t constantly tell him otherwise, no, bad, he’s no better than him. stop it.) of course, quill’s greatest goal is for him to eventually get rocket to love himself too but that’s a long-term one. the words ‘only then i am human’ particularly strike a chord because that’s a major shame point for rocket.

8. fooled around and fell in love by elvin bishop once more from the movies. this is more of a ‘they finally ease into the relationship’ song. i know it was used for the canon ship in the movies but shhh. stealing it. it’s a nice song that can show them accepting their feelings despite never really intending to have any in the first place - or expect it at all.

9. you’re the only one by maria mena OKAY THIS SONG. this song is the de facto ‘rocket’s feelings for quill’ song. try to find me a better one. i’ll wait. you can’t. every line pretty much fits - the one that hits the hardest sums rocket up entirely: there’s a part of me that likes to bring you down just to keep you around, because the day you realize how amazing you are, you’re gonna leave me. that’s his worst fear, that’s his walls crashing down entirely, that’s the ‘i never want to let you go’ moment of it all being out in the open and ugh. it’s so cute. slay me with this song and roquill. slay me.

10. come and get your love by redbone another from the movies. quill’s anthem, honestly - this is the song that best represents him, and it’s a return to form. he’s with rocket, he’s happy, everything’s okay! everything’s normal! 

11. finesse by bruno mars quill’s confidence gets the better of him sometimes, even when rocket doesn’t expect it. quill completely falling for someone most likely means ‘yep, i’m great, he’s great, there’s nothing to be ashamed of bc we’re the best couple in the whole world and that’s not gonna change anytime soon’. 

12. moves like jagger by maroon 5 and christina aguilera predictably, this is quill’s confidence showing itself again....only for rocket to immediately match it. which is ultimately something that drives them closer together. he’s got the moves like jagger, okay? rocket you’re stuck with the girl part, sorry, but that means blatant hitting on quill which is A+++

13. shut up and dance by walk the moon see above, really. another song about quill, dancing, and rocket joining in. there are two types of people, people who dance, and people who don’t, and whoops, they’re both dancers.

14. classic by mkto ‘baby, you’re so classic’ is probably one of the highest compliments in the peter quill flirtation handbook, and yep, rocket is slowly becoming part of his life, joining the things he loves,they both know each other so well by this point

15. shut up and drive by rihanna ok. i’m gonna be entirely honest. this is the ‘quill has successfully fired up his rocket....if you get what i mean’ song. this is it. this is the one. reeeeeed rocket~ moving on.

16. style by taylor swift okay maybe not quite yet we move on. more a sign that they definitely do still have their disagreements, but they know each and every time it’s going to end up with them together again - they never go out of style. i don’t take the ‘you’ve been out and about with some other girl’ line as cheating in this song obvs XD more of a shady reference to gamora....and then lylla in turn. ye. shh. it’s a good relationship.

17. can’t take my eyes off you by frankie valli there was a tumblr post where it was said ‘imagine your otp slow-dancing to this song together’ and whoops, i roquill’d, now it’s not gonna stop. this is totally a song that quill would use on a quiet, romantic night to just be close to his partner and rocket will call him a huge dork for it but at the end of the day he’s still going along with it and smiling softly and thinking that he’s a huge dork, yeah, but he’s his dork, he wouldn’t have it any other way

18. good together by the runaway club this is a lot of quill and rocket’s relationship: ‘don’t do this.’ ‘i’m gonna do it anyway.’ ‘i kinda knew you were gonna.’ ‘that’s why we’re together.’ ‘yep, i’m the only one guaranteed to always put up with your shit.’ ‘damn straight.’ ‘we’re not straight.’ ‘shut up.’ (also: ‘that’s fine!’ ‘fine!’ ‘i love you!’ ‘i love you too!’ ‘that’s the first time we’ve said that!’ ‘yes it is!’ ‘i’m gonna kiss you!’ ‘well, you better!’ that’s them. that’s exactly them.)

19. for him. by troye sivan and allday another really good song for them. ‘ad we take jokes way too far. and sometimes living’s too hard. we’re like two halves of one heart. we are, we are, we are.’ there’s a good amount of fitting lyrics and i like the mental image of rocket getting a burst of confidence and going ‘we can get married tonight if you really wanna, if you break my heart, it’d be an honor’, quill adores those bursts of confidence

20. son of a preacher man by aretha franklin another song about how surprised rocket is that he fell for quill, and that he’s pretty much the only guy he’d ever fall for. it’s a classic.

the rest are mostly love classics, but a lot were based on meaning~

[kakayunita]

Book Review: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas-John Boyne

The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas is an unusual novel and an imagination tale of the innocence young boy. One of the most difficult and disturbing story with nine years old character who really active, always curious, and like to explore. This is not only about children or just any child, but through the voice of a child. It can be proven from the awards that the author got upon kind of categories and from another country, such as Book Award Children’s Book of the Year, Irish Book Award People’s Choice Book of the Year, Bisto Book of the Year and another award from Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany. The novel of The Book in the Striped Pyjamas is one of Youth Novels from John Boyne’s work. John Boyne has been publishing nine novel for adults and the newest one is A History of Loneliness, and five for younger readers, the first creature is The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Noah Bartley water Runs Away, The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket, Stay Where You Are and Then Leave, and The Boy at The Top of The Mountain. He studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Besides being writer, Boyne become a regular book reviewer for The Irish Time and awarded the Hennessy Literary ‘Hall of Fame’ Award for his body of work in 2012 and awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia in 2015.

https://themisfitscloset.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/friendship-across-borders/

On the other hand, Boyne often writing for children’s book but read by the adults. It is not often for he writes the book based on his experiences then twisted being fiction novel. Beyond the story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which actually told about the Holocaust, Boyne also writes the little bit of his childhood experiences some of the years ago in his newest novel A Novel of Loneliness. There are almost similarities in the novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and A Novel of Loneliness is the tales which re-tell the atmosphere fiction about the violence history in the World War by children character. It can be one of the reason why Boyne put the children between age of six until nine like the main character in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, called Bruno, because as the psychoanalysis and cognitive theory by Sigmund Freud, the age of Bruno is where the children develop their social skill and intellectual in the places of emotional lives. The emotional lives described by Bruno in curiosity expression and easy to ask of everything that he wants to know with the other characters.

As an extraordinary book, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has so many readers not only from youth but also adults. They gave the best words to recommend the other people. Even the local and national online media like USA Today which has given the review and it put on the top of the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations, Goodreads. It said, powerful and unsettling. As memorable an introduction to the subject as The Diary of Anne Frank. It proofs that minority today aware against the history of violence in World War II, racial differences, even blind dogma and moral courage. Roddy Doyle is also Irish writer of screenplays from his novel The Snapper also gave his best words for this successful fiction book which captures the imagination for the readers. Doyle said that is a great book which had some different atmosphere for imagine how hard the time was and easy to influence the reader for falling in love at the plot of story. Doyle’s review placed on official Boyne’s website with the other reviewers from Irish Independent, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, an examiner, and also USA Today.

The novel of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas paint the friendship between son of Nazi commandant with a Jewish boy in concentration camp. Set in German with main character in the novel is a young boy in nine years old named Bruno and his family move from their home to Berlin due to Bruno’s father work. Their new house is about miles kilometer away from Berlin and has unfamiliar name “Out-With”. Bruno is really like to be explorer; he tempted to explore his new environment, but told that there are certain places that are “Out of Bounds At All Times And No Exceptions”. He comes open the fence that he follows until sees a young boy sitting on the other side of the fence. The boy is wearing striped pyjamas and cloth cap and armband with a star on it. Bruno became a friend with that boy called Shmuel. They share each other and undoubtedly they have the same birthday, share about their families, also where they are from.

Bruno continues his explore and often spending time with Shmuel. He brings foods and plays a game of football. One day, Shmuel told Bruno that he is unable to find his father, he became worried. Bruno desires to help Shmuel for looking his father, to that end, Shmuel promises to bring the pyjamas then Bruno will blend in on side of fence. One fateful day, Bruno sneaks onto Shmuel’s side by wearing the pyjamas then start to find Shmuel’s father together. Bruno among the people in Out-With (Auschwitz) and into the gas chambers where they meet their untimely death hand in hand. That is what called the irony of beauty a child’s innocence in a time of war.

The story brings the readers to throw back to the cruelty of the World War. That is the worst memories and also can be the good memoir memories for several people today in post colonial era. The story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is one of from a little example a large phenomenon behind the cruelty. It is capturing how two different races are treating and being treated. Specifically, the conflict between Nazi and Jewish was not always friendly because of their differences. Different religion, different belief, different races, the treasure of region, the hatred at different ideology was the most reason hatred that finished by genocide by Dictator Hitler or capture as The Fury in the novel. That conflict becomes wider till now in social, economy, politic, and culture terms.  Moreover, Jewish have the power in central strategic economy in Munich after the imperial of German was lost in the World War I that was also one of the reason that Dictator Hitler create the system of Holocaust which capture in the story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. It is all captured by Bruno’s parents who insist to him for not explore the outside of their new house to the Auschwitz concentration camp or as Bruno heard was Out-With.

The perspective of story The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas meant to be orientalism by Edward Said. The theory of orientalism in post colonialism study which mean to the two particles comparison meant to be, orient for East countries and occident for West countries. The theory of orientalism by Said claims the Western is dominate the Eastern by Eurocentric for the basic of divide the West and East.  Said also said that the orientalism method has high effectiveness to control the other country which become targeted to destroy because of differences. Just like what the father of Bruno have doing to the people in the Out-With. John Boyne tries to open the imagination of the readers from the children characterization. Other than that, the theory of psychoanalysis and cognitive by Sigmund Freud said that the age of Bruno is where the children develop their social skill and intellectual in the places of emotional lives. Social skill and intellectual should first come and treat by the family. Therefore, treating the children from the very beginning to respect each other and differences are the important implanted.  

The grab point at explanation above, the characterization from the innocence respect from children is one of the interesting ideas besides setting and the plot of story. The vividness of story brings the readers to gain the compassion of peace in post colonial ideology in post modernity. The differences are not the fence to embrace each other. Moreover, postcolonial effect that applied in this modernity may be the study for all the people to become understands how cultural differences works from the story The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

[vskpop]

May 2017 ⋅ Not so fresh

Lonely - SISTAR

 Why does this keep happening?! Can girl groups stop releasing amazing songs that are THEIR LAST EVER BECAUSE THEY ARE DISBANDING?

AL1 - SEVENTEEN

Forgive me, God of k-pop, for I have sinned. I said I wanted dark Seventeen and another Highlight, but now that I have it I really don’t want it at all.

I will preface everything I’m about to say by reiterating that Seventeen are probably my favourite third generation group and that I like Don’t Wanna Cry and the mini album in general.

However, the truth is my expectations were too high and I was disappointed by this comeback. As much as I love Woozi, Don’t Wanna Cry is the most unoriginal thing he’s ever produced. It isn’t just that it sounds like a Chainsmokers song: some parts are almost identical to Closer, and not in a good way, if there even is a good way to be Chainsmokers copycats.

The more I listen to the song, the more I like it and I love how Seventeen made it theirs, but this doesn’t change that this song doesn’t feel remotely as unique and personal as their previous releases.

I’m still mostly ok with Seventeen moving away from their bubbly, cute image, but not if it means rounding down to the blandest, trendiest thing they can come up with. This is pretty much the same complaint I had about Winner’s Really Really: it annoys me that a group with a specific identity would abandon it to go as generic as possible.

What made the comeback bearable for me is how beautiful and elegant their live performances are: it’s always hard to make thirteen people look good on a tiny stage, but with this choreography Seventeen have really outdone themselves. I don’t know if I’m more in love with Woozi’s, Joshua’s or Jeonghan’s solo moments, not to mention The8 starting his section with a somersault because why not. A good thing - even though not especially to my taste, obviously - is the rest of the album goes well with Don’t Wanna Cry, rather than being jarringly different and going back to “old” Seventeen. The performance team delivers a banger as usual with Swimming Fool, and for once the vocal team’s song Habit is a lovely powerballad (instead of being the most boring song in the album).

It’s not coincidental that the “American” sound of the song came with a video filmed around Los Angeles. I’m not sure where they got the idea of going the minimalistic, tumblr aesthetic route with their video and the performance styling. It’s not my favourite, but I don’t hate it either: it matches the song concept and it isn’t an insult to the human eye.

Overall this is a good comeback, but it’s hardly what I wanted from Seventeen: I find myself missing the pastels and the happiness, which is what made me like them in the first place. On the other hand, I guess I’ve seen worse rebranding (see iKON) and at least it’s clear how it makes sense for them to change direction. I’ll keep my hopes up for the repackaging.

New Kids: Begin - iKON

Now for something I really, really, really hated: iKON’s so-called rebranding. New Kids: Begin is their first comeback after a year and a half of touring and postponing. As the “new kids” suggests, this release should signal a change in direction for iKON or, as their promotional material said, a “new beginning” and “new style”.

I couldn’t imagine what a new style for iKON would look like and ...it doesn’t. It’s not a new era at all. They look and sound like an uninspired, inferior version of what they did in Rhythm Ta and Anthem. They’re doing exactly what they were doing before, but they’re not doing it well.

Both title tracks, Bling Bling and B-Day, are on the nonsensical bravado banger side of iKON’s repertoire.

Even after trying to make myself like it, I really detest Bling Bling. The instrumentals are ok for the first minute, but after that things get way too repetitive and boring, especially because entire song is rapped (or sing-rapped) and the singers get no space to add some texture to it. It could have been a better song, but it was over for me the moment I heard Junhoe being autotuned out of existence.

B-Day has a lot of YG’s recent material mixed in: it has the atmosphere of Bobby’s Holup, and the trippy melody of Big Bang’s Bae Bae and Fxxk It. It’s a much more interesting and captivating song than Bling Bling, which is why, obviously, it won’t be the promoted track.

The “bling bling” theme feels incredibly out of fashion; every time they say “champagne” I shudder. The big shiny cars feel far from anything that iKON would do - just think of the beat-up they were driving in Dumb & Dumber.

This kind of concept only worked when they looked like idiots playing dress-up. Even Bobby, who is the clear inspiration for the concept (last year’s Holup! music video is B-Day and Bling Bling), seems slightly uncomfortable with the part he’s been given. The other members don’t get to show off their vocal skills in the best cases, and seem on the verge of walking out in the worst. The videos are awkward, and the live performances are a secondhand embarrassment extravaganza.

YG didn’t even try to hide the fact that they’re trying to make iKON into the new Big Bang; the issue is that Big Bang did the crazy bangers with cryptic, super-high-budget videos when they were eight years into their career and not at their sophomore release.

It makes no sense for YG to rebrand them as this high-rolling, pseudo hip-hoppy group when so much of their success depended on how they mixed genres and looked like your average silly classmate, which is why the goofier parts of both videos work so well.

I can hardly find something that works well in this comeback. The songs are mediocre, the styling and concept are abysmal, the rebranding is ridiculous. The members that aren’t the two rappers basically disappear in the background (not that this is B.I or Bobby’s fault, to be clear). As much as I love them, they are mediocre dancers: I am baffled that they would focus their comeback campaign on the fact that “hey, they’re dancing now!” when literally nobody asked them to, and they did perfectly well without choreos being a predominant part of their image.

This is supposedly the beginning of a series of 2017 iKON comebacks, and I have a terrible feeling about them if this is the road that they’re taking.

I also want to mention how idiotic I found the fact that, a year and a half after debut, the members of iKON got new “English-sounding” names when everyone had already learned the Korean ones. I will never in my life call Jinhwan “Jay” or Yunhyung “Song”. NEVER.

199X - TRIPLE H

I’ll start by saying that the video for Triple H’s debut 365 Fresh is all sorts of no-no and comes with the biggest trigger warning I think I’ve ever issued for a k-pop video. It’s ironic that the only part I found refreshing (spoiler: it’s the threesome!) was the one that caused a stir and not, say, the sexual assault, the attempted suicide or all the other things that were glamourized when they really shouldn’t.

Anyway. If Triple H is another attempt from Cube to save whatever is left of the company, I will gladly take it. I’ve loved Hyuna for a long time, even through all of her basically-naked performances, and it is well documented that E’Dawn is one of my favourite members of Pentagon ...and I guess I don’t hate Hui.

365 Fresh hardly has anything fresh about it: it sounds almost exactly like Bruno Mars’ 24k Magic, and even that was not exactly original material. The good thing is that, even if it’s something we’ve all heard before a million times, it doesn’t lose its earworm power in this iteration. It’s the perfect summer song, especially in comparison to Hyuna’s summer comeback from last year.

Hui’s voice really manages to balance out Hyuna’s and E’Dawn’s timbres, and overall the balance of singing, rapping and hook-repeating works amazingly well. It was one step away from being too repetitive.

Hyuna’s charisma doesn’t need an introduction, but it’s cool to see Hui and E’Dawn hold their own. It’s especially surprising to see E’Dawn in the role of the beefcake, when that’s the last thing one would think of him seeing him next to the rest of Pentagon (for me he’s always been the one most likely to be involved in a drug scandal, if anything). I love that Hyuna got to wear actual clothes for an entire round of promotions.

It was surprising to me that they wouldn’t just come out with one single, and I thought the rest of the mini-album would be a bore; I was glad to be proven wrong. In just a handful of song, they incorporate a ton of retro references and stay interesting and cohesive throughout. My favourite has to be 80’s-flavour ballad Girl Girl Girl.

Signal - Twice

 The more I like a Twice song, the more everyone else will hate it, and I ve learned to live with this fact ever since Knock Knock. I’m so delighted that, while they’re still not straying too far from their signature sexy baby concept, Twice managed to pull off such an unusual song.

I don’t remember the last time I’ve heard such a prominent bass line, and I love that the structure of the song is not super-conventional. It’s hard to think that in general they are one of the most traditional girl groups in k-pop (not that that’s a bad thing).

I saw a lot of criticism about the fact that it’s not a vocally complex song (when have Twice ever had virtuoso songs?!) but I would give that up any day for a more equally split song: girls who never got to speak like Sana, Tzuyu and Mina got actual parts and all the others will be just fine.

I’m also happy to see that for once the video has a proper story, rather than being about just them being pretty. I loved the 70’s outfits and the alien storyline, and I thought even the superpowers part was done really quirkily. On the other hand, I was fairly annoyed that JYP had to stick the damn schoolgirl concept in there when it was completely superfluous.

I also love Three Times a Day and Only (which, by the way, was written by Yeeun) from the mini-album.

/

Rapid fire round

 Cactus - A.C.E.

I know it’s been done before, but whenever a k-pop group goes full 90’s eurodance, it always feels like the first time. I wouldn’t have given A.C.E. a single listen if the song hadn’t been called Cactus - the best title of the year - but I’m so glad I did, even just for their already iconic performances in short shorts.

  Puppet - Marmello

In a world of cute concepts, I don’t know how successful a girl band will ever be, but I will enjoy it while it lasts. I can’t bring myself to pretend it’s not a super-conventional and predictable song, but I’m so happy to see some girls playing instruments I don’t even care (and yes, I checked, they can actually play them).

 Shangri-La - VIXX

What an amazing mini album VIXX put out. I haven’t been particularly into them at any point except when they came out with Dynamite, and I don’t think I ever will, but I love every single song on Shangri-La. I’ve been complaining about k-pop really converging on the Chainsmokers/tropical trend, but it really works well mixed with VIXX’s style. Also: THE FAN DANCE.

  More songs of note

Beautiful - PENTAGON Bomb - PSY ft. Bobby & B.I

Dance Dance - DAY6 

Eclipse - Kim Lip (LOONA)

So Good - Taeyang 

Strays

• My favourites Dreamcatcher cover my other favourites’ song, Winner’s Really Really 

• The Japanese video for BTS’ Blood Sweat & Tears is really really (get it?) good 

[thecarelessmint]

Dear me

Hi me, it’s been a while.

I genuinely can’t believe I started this with the intention of it NOT becoming a shitpost but that was literally reference to JK’s ‘it’s been a while’, but regardless, it has.

It has been 390 days, so roughly a year and a month… a lot has changed.

I’m going to start with our usual ‘how am I?’ then go to where we left off last year and go on from there.

How am I? Well you see with everything that’s happened this year, I’m not so ok, and I’m sorry. We were close I know, we were happy, and the dissociation stopped but everything came tunneling back. So that’s how I am right now, I’ll explain more once I explain just what exactly happened this year.

Going to where we left off:

Funny thing, I went to Seattle again this year! I went alone this time, I’ll explain it in detail a bit later, but boy oh boy it was the same feeling, we were anxious most of the time kid sorry about that.

You’re still not good with people, in fact, I think you got worse hhh, except it’s for somewhat different reasons this time. A mix of being disattached and realizing that people are genuinely shit has made me realize that I need to stop allowing myself to be a welcome mat but if I’m being honest, it’s easier being a welcome mat than it is maintaining friendships at this point.

Let’s start on the year:

My last entry was August 15th 2017, it is currently September 9th 2018, lets dick sus.

You, started uni. You started university majoring in theatre production. It was hard.

The first month was footings, oh my god footings, I haven’t thought about that for a while. It was so jam packed, we were literally taught everything in one month and it just really showed you what the next two years would be like. God it was so much fun. Remember the first time we hung a source4, and now you’ve probably hung well over 100 lights.

September was hard, I couldn’t turn to the people I could turn to today so I was very much alone and used my spam instagram account (the super secret one) as an outlet. I remember continuously begging myself not to drop out on that account, and guess what, you didn’t.

Also hey, you don’t hate carpentry, actually you’re taking carpentry 2. Insane I know. Who would have guessed, 5ft me doing carpentry.

Serendipity dropped!! Oh boy, I remember crying for DAYS, Park Jimin I love you.

First Semester Classes:

English: A bitty dropped that class, 2 weeks in, yeah. Yup.

Footings: A solid 10/10, we went through hell but it was fun and we went to the bar for the first time afterwards. Genuinely a good time.

Drafting: Listen,, shit hit the fan, I’m pretty sure Clayton hates you, but we’re taking his year two class anyways so he’s stuck with me :)

Intro: Shit hit the fan part 2, this was all on you, you actual dumbass (ly)

Rigging: SHE WAS FUN, would definitely do again. The field trip to the opera was really fun too.

Audio: I somehow got an A in this class, and like, I’m not bad at audio but what the fuck?

Practicum: :((( Sister Act :((( My first show :( God there’s so much I can say about this. Thank you so much Sister Act. I owe you everything.

How on Earth do I sum all this up…

Footings ended, classes started regularly. You fell in love with all of the second years and fun fact, you’re still in love with them, god bless Mark. Melissa left :/, YOU WON THE RIGGING GAMES, YOU WON AND BROKE A RECORD, AND IT WAS AMAZING. You were a spotlight for sister act, headset was insane, bless Hunter. You became an addict to the bacanator at Wendys. You cut out 19 head pieces on a wardrobe call for sister act. Existential dates with Bruno at Denny’s because you were both far too stressed. You spent too much money because fuck freshman year right? You accidentally read a major character death. We went to Deadmenton with Tanika, Bella and Patty, it was really fun and Tanika kept screaming “Miss Keisha, Bitch, Bitch”. So much happened and this isn’t even a grain of salt in comparison.

So let’s talk about the big things. Mom told us to leave in September, and by November you were living with dad in a 2 bedroom apartment, 6 minutes from your school. It was hard, this was the first time I’d lived without my siblings, it, was hard.

Around that same time, you started going on twitter more, actually, you were put in a group chat. A lot came from that group chat, and I guess this is the perfect time to talk about the relationships in your life.

Siblings: You haven’t been as close to Pisona as you are now. Moving forced me to communicate with my siblings and that did bring us closer. I love my siblings and I would do anything for them, it’s unfortunate the situation that we’ve found ourselves in with our parents.

Friends:

Bruno: I love Bruno, I love Bruno so fucking much. I would do anything for Bruno. I don’t know how to fully express just how much I love Bruno. I love you moonshine.

Danait: In all honesty, that’s my Taehyung. I see us as partners for life, I don’t know what I would do without her and sure there are times when I want to let everything go, but she’s here, and she’s home.

Patty & Tanika: My kids! The gc moved to Line bc twitter was stressing us out, and its all jokes and screaming about life from there.

Q: I love Q, but it’s really hard, but it’ll be ok.

Dead Friendships:

Erika, Blakeish, Yadiel, Literally just everyone else and everyone from high school lmao.

New Relationships:

Jocelyn: Oh jeez, how the fuck do I do this. You know that group chat we joined, well you also happened to meet the love of your life in said group chat. Yup. Her name is Jocelyn, and she’s perfect, and she’s too good for you but you’re not one to decide that, and maybe you think about her a little too much, and maybe you fuck up, a lot, but you really like her.

Eyerusalem: So you didn’t just join one group chat, you joined multiple, you even made some yourself, and in one that you made, you met Yoongi. I can’t really explain what that means but you know what I mean because well, you’re me, and hope that you’re still friends with her when you read this a year from now, but I also know that It’s literally not possible for you to stop speaking to her because as far as we’re fucking considered, namgi shall rise and we are soulmates.

Fun fact, you only made two new friends. Everyone else is a classmate that although you like, you can’t really talk to or further your relationship with. There’s Caitlan but fuck Caitlan :)

This is long and it just keeps fucking going but there’s just so fucking much that happened this last year god, I haven’t even gotten half way through it all fuck.

Ok so: You didn’t finish any of the shows you said you would. You finished your first year without any electives so now you’re cramming. Also your parents are now living under the same roof because dad fucked up his arm so yes you moved back in with mom. YOU DATED A BOY, for like a week, it was awful, but you don’t hate him anymore. YOUR PERIOD CAME BACK, you were in Seattle when it happened, it was,, a lot, lots of blood, lots of mess, but it was gone for a year so it makes sense.

You fully delved into your sexuality, you aren’t exactly ace haha hahaha haahahahahaha ahhahahahahaha I FUCKIGN KNOW  I FUCKING KNOW OK, THATS WHO WE WERE, LISTEN IM SHOCKED TOO, but miss jocelyn over there single handedly changed everything, also you’re kinky as fuck, who would have fucking guessed, blame jocey.

Seattle wasn’t the worst, we went to the ocean a lot, and we only touched her once because we aren’t greedy and frankly I got too overwhelmed.

You have like 7 biases, deal with it. Your Japanese got better lmao, you tell me how.

I’m saying it here and now, but we’re joining the circus.

This is the best I can do for now because quite frankly, this year was too much to put into words and I knew it would be hard but I didn’t realize just how fucking hard. But anyways, you love bangtan a lot, and as hard as u try they really are the only group you can keep up with, im sorry stray kids im still trying, exo flew out the picture, i literally only care about pcy, bbh and ksoo/yixing lmaoooooooo NYWAYS

GN (it’s 1PM)

[dwtsfun]

Let’s Talk About It- Race, Colorism and Antiblackness on DWTS Part 2

I apologize for this being up later than I had initially planned to have it up. I had a lot going on. But I’m back. And I’m here and ready to drag. Anyway, I spoke about season 24 and Simone, specifically, in the last installment of this series. For this post, I will be focusing more on the pros and mostly Keo. There are a few things that I see regarding Britt and Brandon, but they haven’t been around long or featured enough for me to get a read on how they’re seen and treated on this show (which is sort of a problem in and of itself). 

Keo

So as we all know, DWTS has been on the air since 2005. From 2005 until 2014, there had never been a Black person as a teaching pro on the show. Even though there are tons of Black ballroom and Latin dancers all over the globe, the show never decided to give one a shot until season 19, nine years into the show’s existence. Season 19 was when we were all introduced to South African dancer, Keoikantse Motsepe. I was excited because Black people were finally getting some representation on this show. Finally after 9 years of never having a professional dancer on that looked like me. But I also knew that his inclusion was going to bring out a lot of ignorance. And it did. There wasn’t as much that happened immediately, since he and Lolo were the first couple out that season (thanks largely to her cringey interactions with the judges and Erin after a terrible dance). But there were still things that week and things that happened over time that I started see.

After Lolo’s first dance the first thing that Carrie Ann did, was screw up Keo’s name. I don’t think any other pro has had their name screwed up when they were being welcomed. And it wasn’t even his full name that she was saying. She was just saying “Keo”. That’s not any harder to pronounce than Maks, Tony, Val, Derek, Mark, etc. They were eliminated the next day, so the issues that could have followed this couple (because not only was he the first Black pro, but they were also the first Black couple on the show) died immediately. Then trio week came up. Val decided to choose Keo to help out with Janel’s salsa. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know how angry I was when this happened. Now that I’m older, more mature and I understand these things better, I can better articulate why I was so mad. So I’ll set up the scene first. It was a tribal theme which was my first red flag. But no big deal, right? We’ve seen that type of number before. And while they are problematic, it’s never been too bad. That was until Janel dubbed herself the ‘Queen of Color’ with this sort of “You see what I did there? You see? Because Keo is Black and I’m Asian. But mostly because Keo is Black. Haha. Bet you didn’t get that,” look on her face. You can’t tell me it was about the colors in the dance because there was only red and blue chalk at the very beginning and the lighting had a subtle purple to it. So that doesn’t work on me. And she would have never said that comment, had Keo not been in the number. So then we get to the dance. The costuming was pretty problematic. There were other issues with the choreography itself, more specifically the stuff at the beginning without Janel. Once the dance ended, the ignorance and stupidity kept on coming with Bruno making comments about having jungle fever. If you didn’t know, jungle fever is essentially a non-Black person, being attracted to a Black person. It relies on the idea that Black people are from the jungle. In this sense, Black people are considered savages, uncivilized and less than human. There’s more to unpack with this dance and his comments, especially if you want to get into the Josephine Baker comment that he threw out there. But again, that would turn this into a dissertation and I’m not doing this for a degree and I’m not getting paid for it.

Let’s move on to season 22. Keo was paired with Jodie Sweetin. This was the first season that he had a true contender on paper. I had my reservations because up to this point, Keo hadn’t really proved that he was a great pro. He wasn’t terrible and always took great care of his partners. But teaching and choreographing for him hadn’t been very good. Others felt the same too and took it as far as to say that he didn’t deserve her. That was understandable at first until they came out and Keo started to really grow and deliver with Jodie. It was very apparent that he was doing a really good job. But everyone was holding him to a much higher standard than pros like Val, who was coasting that season with Ginger, or Sasha, who was playing things very safe with Kim Fields. There were even articles being written, that were asking if Keo was failing Jodie. I have never seen any other pro get negative press like that for “failing his celeb.” He wasn’t failing her. In fact, there is only one other pro that I think would have been able to do a better job than Keo that season. And that is Derek. Jodie may have been a good dancer, but she had a lot of issues with keeping her nerves under control. You could tell that Jodie was also very fragile and had just fixed a lot of the things that she had been going through, throughout her life. As Courtney said over on Pure, she was Mischa Barton, had Mischa done the show 5 years after she was fully recovered. You’ve had Maks handle his partners very rough and had many of the other men pretty much verbally abuse some of their partners. Some of these women have been reduced to tears. Bloggers rarely, if ever wrote about it. In fact, I only remember them reporting on the Maks and Hope problem during season 13. But Jodie doesn’t do as well as people expected her to, so now Keo is blamed and is not doing his job. That reeks of antiblackness. The man did right by Jodie as far as I’m concerned.

We’re still going to be looking at season 22, but for this paragraph, we’ll be looking at switch up night.  Now as most of you all know, I loathe switch up week. The energy surrounding it is always just bad. The pros and the celebs dread it, the judges are meaner than usual and the fans are absolutely terrible. Blogging during those weeks was the absolute worst. So I can only imagine the way that the pros and celebs felt. Anyway, Keo and Kim were put together. Their personalities meshed well, but there was a HUGE height difference between them. With only like 5 days to get to know your new partner, establish some sort of connection and get a routine together that fits them, there’s only so much that you can do. So Keo elected to spend most of the dance doing open work. That was a smart idea considering the circumstances and the fact that Keo is over a foot taller than Kim. However, the judges came down super hard on him and really made a huge deal out of it and acted like it was terrible. It was so bad and hard to watch them get verbally abused like that. The dance wasn’t bad at all and actually was pretty good. But from the way Maks went in on them, you’d think that they just sat down in the middle of the floor and played patty cake the whole time. I think his treatment was probably worse than the way the judges tend to rip Witney apart on switchup week. And they’re awful with her. What’s the difference between Keo and the other pros? Season 22 was a ton of antiblackness and racism aimed directly at Keo, and it was disgusting to watch play out. It didn’t help that after a 6th place finish, the show decided to bench him and brought back Gleb and Maks for season 23. And neither one of them even had a smidgen of the success with their partners that season that Keo had with Jodie. That right that just shows you that Black people have to do twice as much just to even get half of what white people get. He did and went through all of that in season 22, just to be benched for season 23.

Brandon, Britt and Keo

Now that I’ve spoken about Keo, I’ll also just say a little about Brandon and Britt. These two have been featured very little in comparison to the other members of the troupe. I think Britt has fared slightly better than Brandon in this regard. The show seems to have invested a little more into her. I think they might be gearing up to promote her within the next couple of seasons just based on the fact that they put her in one of the trio numbers this season. Hopefully they do right by her. I doubt they will though. And to be honest, I think the only reason we saw Brandon featured as much as we did, is because he and Rashad hit it off. In fact, I’m glad that Rashad was on this season. I don’t think Keo and Brandon would have been featured as much if it weren’t for the fact that he befriended them. And Emma being smart, decided to use them in a few of their dances like Brandon in the quickstep and freestyle and Brandon and Keo (and the other guy) in the tango.

And that completes the second installment of Let’s Talk About It- Race, Antiblackness and Colorism in DWTS. The next part will hopefully be up by this weekend. I think I’m going to cover a lot of the issues that Black men face on the show. I’ll talk about Black women in the 4th installment. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts about this one and I will talk to you all soon.