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cynicallyscorned · 2 years ago

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Ship Bias!!

5 ships i'm biased about for my muse! ( accepting. )

and the #1 contender is... shocking nobody,

Sonic X Cynic.

listen. okay. when i first conceptualized cynic, I went in with absolutely no expectations when it came to ships. the goal was just to play a version of sonic that was fun to hate with a warped idea of self image and right and wrong. I was not expecting cynonic (and every variation it can come in) to be one of the main OTPs here. Tbh I didn't even care much for dupe-shipping since part of me thought it was a lil weird, and the other part just had no experience w the concept. enter my friend Jeremy, who came up with an AU sonic on the spot as I was sharing a bit of info about cynic that is basically the polar opposite to his rugged bad boi persona. a couple impromptu improv charming exchanges between them later and I was sold LMFAO. I haven't been the same since. and since then I've developed such a soft spot for the idea of this traumatized lil rat learning to become...okay with himself and who he is and come away from the darkness through Sonic's help. (frankly, sonic being such a strong influence in the other character's life in a positive way has always been one of my favorite things abt his pairings) I've adored every interaction he's had with every sonic! platonic, romantic, sibling like, enemies -- it does not matter to me. it will always fascinate me and I will always get a kick out of writing this guy's complicated and messy feelings abt his alternates because it's always so unique every time.

Shadow X Cynic.

I'LL BE REAL CHIEF. the OG plan was so far away from this pairing. I came up with cynic during a period where sonadow had been a bit soured for me due to bad rp experiences. part of the way I established cynic and his dynamic with his own shadow from his dimension was a little influenced by this fact. WITH THAT SAID - I've been completely sold on the pairing I have going with seiko's shadow (@somewhereinchaos) because it's like a completely different spin on sonadow. at first it just seems like two edgy moody assholes that somehow get along but then the nuance and actual sonadow undertones start coming out as their relationship develops. cynic and shadow are quite similar and they find comradery in their shared grievances with the world - yet at the same time also have strongly different personalities and they manage to strike an unexpected balance of lifting each other up and leaning on one another for support. I love that cynic brings out a soft and emotionally consoling side of seiko's shadow that had nearly been forgotten, while shadow brings out more of the heart and passion that makes cynic A sonic! its so fascinating... their relationship has also made me fall in love with sonadow all over again and I just care them so very much. 🙏

Scourge X Cynic.

You are strongly responsible for this brainrot turning into a full fledged otp because I was not prepared for how much these two would have me in a choke hold HDGLJ. like, I already knew cynic would think scourge is cool, that he'd have a person crush on him. I've said before while describing him that cynic is of a similar concept to scourge if he just never changed his identity. radical differences aside, they both understand what it feels like to be told (indirectly or otherwise) that they are inherently wrong and their version of 'sonic-ing' is bad. but where cynic desperately clings onto his identity as sonic with a struggling grip, scourge cast that life aside and became something bigger. that suggestion is so dangerously tempting to cynic as it is painfully relatable, to embrace your worst side because it's 'all you'll ever be.' BUT BESIDES ALL THAT - it ALSO is in a hilarious yet tragic way, a dark spin on cynonic. scourge has all the personality traits of sonic that pull you in, make you wanna like him, which is.. infectious to cynic. they are doomed by the narrative but you still can't help but go 'aww' when scourge gets cynic to laugh or when they riff off each other in their dumb competitive natures.

Surge x Cynic.

THIS ONE CAME COMPLETELY OUT OF LEFT FIELD FOR ME BUT I AM NORMAL. ok, maybe not normal. I haven't caught up on IDW since reading the first issue for imposter syndrome so there's stuff I'm missing here -- but the bottom line is @synnrrgy's surge has wormed her way into cynic's tiny little brain and he is down bad. they somehow bonded through beating the shit out of each other and sharing that same brash attitude, not to mention their mutual dislike for sonic and feeling the inferiority complex. they are the kind of pairing where one part of the ship is always pushing each other's buttons and vice versa but still can bond over doing dumb and reckless shit. what's more, cynic is hopelessly drawn to dysfunction, and still has that deep seeded ache to help people deep down. the situation surge is in with starline aches my HEART because it seriously brings out the desperation cynic has to protect the ppl he cares about, making him pull a complete 180 to the closed off and aloof demeanor he usually has. and the memory loss.. augh. I love me a good angsty antag pair that motivates one part of ship to try to be the 'hero'

Blaze x Cynic.

THIS ONE.. KINDA JUST HAPPENED and it's not exactly the setting you'd expect either. in the TBC au ive mentioned dozens of times on this blog, cynic who is a misunderstood outcast at school develops a crush on @warraigoe 's blaze, and due to tragic circumstances leads to them both being put in a position where they have to sorta set aside any growing feelings so they can prioritize 'leading' the one standing force against CHORUS tech. blaze is both cynic's rock and also someone he trusts to watch his back, but she is also nearing dangerously close to hosting age (essentially when a teenager comes of age and falls victim to the brainwashing hive mind psychic force known as the Song. it's like an invisible illness that comes for almost everyone at some point in this verse) and so cynic is deeply afraid of losing her too. it's another very doomed by the narrative pairing and it's their softer moments with each other that just makes all the upsetting things that end up happening to them hit even harder. in another life they are happier and able to maybe get a chance to actually enjoy each other's time without the threat of inescapable doom bearing down on them...

#🚫 — everyone’s out to get me. ❪ answered. ❫#scumbagthehedgehog #you caught me right before i was about to head off to sleep LMAO #anyway not me gushing forever abt the ships this hedgehog has... because i WILL gush about them

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gweniala · 1 year ago

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Hogwarts Legacy: A minor rant

I have finished the game Hogwarts Legacy and I have something to say.

The dialogue was super generic. This is not how real people talk! Why did the Keepers not want to wield this "ancient magic"? What did Isidora do that was so wrong besides taking away people's ability to feel emotions (I mean dementor's kiss is lawful punishment) and harnessing the byproduct as power? Why didn't the Keepers explain their fears to her? Fancy accents don't make up for lack of meaning.

Highlands exploration was fine as long as it was about unlocking the map and seeing new places. Dungeons and Merlin's trials were useless after the first twenty.

The Hogwarts castle was absolutely amazing. Walking around the place was a childhood dream-come-true. Hogsmeade, also pretty cool. If the entire game was built around the castle with no interactive "you are here" map, I wouldn't mind that I'd need to learn the layout of Hogwarts by heart. Flying on a broomstick around the Hogwarts towers was amazing. Weird that it couldn't be done in Hogsmeade as well.

The "nasty" dialogue option was incredibly polite, which was hilarious.

It's weird how the main character gets to decide everything. There are four people involved in Sebastian using the killing curse on his uncle, but it's the main character who decides whether he goes to Azkaban or not. And at the time it's framed as "just give us your opinion".

There is not enough warm winter clothes in the gear appearances. I want my character to look warm!

The seaside vivarium music was gorgeous.

At the beginning of the game, I decided not to touch dark magic. Then I ducked inside a Dark Arts Arena, realised that I wasn't going to survive unless I use unforgivables (which were suddenly available among my spells?), and from then on every bad guy was shouting at me "Hey you're the one who uses dark arts!" :/

It's absolutely hilarious how many people I have murdered. And how the game just lampshades this. It's a big deal when Sebastian does it, but dude, my body count is in the hundreds, no one ever said a thing and the bodies all disappeared into thin air.

What part of putting beasts into your bag is "rescuing"? At best you sell them soon for a profit. The other options are keeping them in a tiny vivarium with way too many other beasts, and keeping them in the bag of non-existence forever. Dear Poppy, I am sorry but I am the most potent poacher in the Highlands. I have cought dozens of beasts, bread them and sold them. You're never seeing Highwing again. The last graphorn around? Forget about it. Phoenixes? Nope, not anymore. The only thing I didn't steal were the golden snidgets. Now that I think about it, it's really weird the game didn't let me "take care of them" as well.

The multicultural professor cast were fun.

There should be some way to mark all items in a collection as "seen". Scrolling through the list of conjurations or field guide pages and looking for the one new wasn't fun.

Hogsmeade is supposed to be the only fully wizarding village in England, which, I presume, means that it's the only one that doesn't have a muggle cover-up identity and a muggle population majority. So it was weird to have absolutely no muggles in the Highlands. Hear me out. How about a system where every village on the map beside Hogsmeade is a muggle village? If you get spotted doing weird shit or even practising magic, you get a warning, then suspension (boring unskippable mini-games), and can eventually be expelled (game over). You learn to Obliviate at some point, but you still have to find every individual muggle who saw you and erase their memories before they tell everyone.

The final boss fight was so much harder than the rest of the game that I had to lower my difficulty just for him. Goddamn. I hadn't died once until then…

Things that I wasn't able to do and it sucked the life out of me: Sitting at my house's table in the Great Hall and having dinner. Sleeping in my bed. Ordering butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks.

Some references to the books were stupid. I'm pretty sure that Harry's and Voldemort's wands connecting at the end of Book 4 was a very rare occurrence, and only happened because Harry was a horcrux (and had the same wand core as Voldemort). In this game, you get wand laser push-of-war three times an hour in the main quest line.

I absolutely adored the music sites throughout the castle. The enchanted instruments, the playing portraits, the piano in the Ravenclaw common room, the music room. I love the idea that music is such a normal part of a wizard's life that they have it playing on multiple points inside the castle.

It was weird to get one (very exciting!) stealth quest through "forbidden parts of the castle", only to be allowed to go there afterward without any restriction.

Sebastian and Ominis should kiss.

Ominis' reaction to Salazar's scriptorium was the best piece of dialogue from the entire game. Genuinely felt for the poor guy. And the way he keeps mentioning it later… A rare example where something has consequences in the game. Even if it's unavoidable and the consequences are mild.

#hogwarts legacy #review

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lighthouselesbian · 2 years ago

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I did really enjoy the show! I think watching the movie first made the show more enjoyable for me tbh. I thought Kit was really annoying at first but I think that was just because she was interacting with her mom, because as soon as they went questing how much of a dick she is became way funnier. Jade felt really underdeveloped in the first few episodes and was generally boring, but when the castle episode hit and they gave her something besides being a knight I really liked her. Their romance was cute but I didn't really understand the stuff about kit breaking her heart cause like what jade you didn't even ask her out man. did I miss something how did she break your heart. I know she's a bitch but that's seriously nothing new how did it break your heart. Anyways still was cute. A really like Elora she is so stupid and charming. Boorman is not as good as Madmartigan but he is funny enough serves his role pretty well without being super annoying. I don't have very strong feelings about Willow, but I think it's funny how hypocritical he is about Elora wielding the wand like man you just waved that thing round willy nilly no training give her a chance. The other guy was good until he started being in love with Elora now he's just annoying in every scene. Ngl I'm glad the crux of the show is that the brother got kidnapped he was so annoying in the first episode. I think the random pop songs to end the episodes are hilarious. Overall 8/10 was too many discussions about possum as a cooking ingredient

AH this just appeared in my box!!!

anyway yes yes yes this is all 10/10 i agree they really picked up with Jade after ep4 and also i thought that all their "im mad at you for reasons" back and forth was really dumb for the first like 3 eps but i really liked the reveal about Jade letting Kit win and also when Jade had to kill Ballantine was very very good for her !!!

YES elora <3 shes such a good Chosen One bc shes literally so underqualified. but she is also perfect !!! and has never done anything wrong

i agree with your takes on Willow and Graydon; I for one am glad Willow takes a much more backseat role in comparison to the actual main cast bc i was worried the show would be too stuck on the movie characters. also YES ON GRAYDON THATS WHAT IVE BEEN SAYING!! he's like. fine. the nice guy gimmick kinda wore off after like episodes and now i feel he serves very little purpose so like why. i def think that Kit + Jade + Elora are the heart of the show <3 graydon is fine willows a good mentor figure. im excited for them to expand Boorman so far bc beyond character relief he provides interesting plot and also his interactions w the main trio are all very very good so!!!!!

im personally also loving the pop songs and also the american accents and modern slang. sick of fantasy that takes itself super seriously and only has British Accents And Orchestral Compositions. super fun imo

thank you for your thoughts bestie u literally dont even know but my brain is just going vvvvvvvmmmmmmmm so im !!!! glad u liked it !!!!! excited for next wednesday!!!!!

#finch tag #thank u finch <333 loved ur fanart btw.#asks #willow #willow 2022 #cynda post

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dingodad · 5 years ago

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act 2 is... not fun! i can basically go down the reasons i didn’t enjoy the game without spoiling anything about the game’s actual plot.

like i’ve said already pretty much the entire charm factor of the first act is gone. act 1 laughed in the face of trial-and-error point-and-clicks that acted like you were stupid for putting the wrong two items together by giving completely unique flavour for every combination of items. even if you knew two items didn’t go together, there was incentive for you to try! act 2 has none of this. 90% of object interactions are the same almost verbatim “these items probably won’t work together” text. there’s no incentive to try out different items, which makes a majority of the game’s objectives into just “click on the one right thing and then walk to the end of the room”.

the rooms themselves are totally empty! most have between one and three interactive objects in them; any other setpieces, no matter how intriguing they might be to the player and/or the viewpoint character joey, serve no plot purpose and are therefore purely background. the few objects that can be observed have only short, dry descriptions; any object description longer than a single sentence is a RARITY. even extremely obvious and again, interesting to the player combinations yield zero returns. there’s a huge ant lusus in one scene. applying the lusus handbook to this lusus returns the message... there’s nothing in this book about giant ants.

there are entire rooms full of CHARACTERS who can’t even be OBSERVED... 4 characters in a room of maybe two dozen can be clicked on, and no real reason is given for this. i suppose the player is just expected to “recognise” who the “main characters” are because they already saw the troll call... how many years ago?

not only are the rooms empty but they are huge. they are way too large for the miniscule amount of content in them and this is ONLY compounded by the backtracking fetch quests you start being put through in the second half of the act. a character literally makes fun of you for going back and forth through the game over and over again but no remedy is provided. one of the ultimate objectives of the game involves backtracking all the way back to the START of the game... only to be told you have no reason to be there, and should walk right back to the end again.

the entire inventory system is basically a joke in this act. most of your items will not get used. when you do get a new item, you will almost invariably get rid of it again by the time you leave that same room. again, almost no item combinations result in anything funny. one of the only act 1 items that gets used in this act is - if you’ll allow me to spoil one thing - xefros’ microphone, which he gives away to another character at almost the beginning of the act. xefros’ entire "rapping about random objects” shtick from the first game is completely discarded! it literally almost feels like an excuse for the writers not to have to write any more witty flavour than they absolutely have to. joey gets a new abilitech in this act which she uses exactly once. the rest of her abilitechs are basically dead space in her inventory like everything else.

instead of the actually charming... you know... pointing and clicking aspects of the first act, the developers seem to have taken on board how popular the friendship simulators were, and tried to make act 2 a dialogue-driven character game? which would be fine if... the characters were interesting. the fact is that most of the stuff they might have wanted to explore in act 2 has ALREADY BEEN DONE, in the friendsims. let it be said that the ace attorney minigame we all knew was coming takes up about half of the game. anyone who told you hiveswap act 2 was about 8 hours of playtime obviously milked as much out of this courtroom sequence as they could, which, if you don’t care about hiveswap’s small cult cast of jadebloods and tealbloods, is very little. most of the game’s dialog was obviously written for this scene. unlike the rest of the game, almost every little combination of choices has its own unique text in this part of the game: but if you’ve never played an ace attorney game before, you will have a hard time finding any of the right or even interesting combinations. to put it bluntly, unless you were already really invested in some of the elements involved, this part of the game will be a long, boring slog.

the game isn’t even particularly funny. act 1 got laughs out of me. act 2′s jokes either fall flat or quickly beat themselves to death. the cultural references serve no purpose. ace attorney “because lawyers!” is funny as a sight gag (like terezi’s OBJECTION!s in the original homestuck) but it serves no purpose as an extended, hour-long part of gameplay. and why does an ongoing gag about KPOP of all things take up so much of this scene, in a game that’s been patting itself on the back over its appeal to 90s nostalgia? (this to me is one of the most damning examples of the what pumpkin team putting out stuff that they personally find hilarious without once stopping to wonder if it’s a product that will actually have appeal). why is the “highblood statue” used in a single scene actually an anime figurine? because anime is funny, i guess?

the game DOES look beautiful, with little exception (the game’s minimalist philosophy makes most of the rooms like pretty empty, after the immediate “wow we’re on an alien planet!” magic wears off), but i struggle to say it’s even a serviceable bit of software. the gui is practically inscrutable. every door says something different on it. “exit”? “open”? “use”? some doors just have a pair of feet hovering above them, which means “walk through door” (just like in act 1, which worked fine). except sometimes the feet just mean “walk on this floor”. it depends entirely on which room you’re standing in.

the actual gameplay is hardly any better. let’s ignore the ace attorney minigame for once. any puzzle that isn’t “bring item from character a to character b” is literally indecipherable. they’ve graciously allowed us to finally use the hint button, which is completely necessary for some of the more arcane ““puzzles”“ (which are really just more of the same trial and error click-and-clicks), but for some reason... only joey can get hints? you’re free to switch between joey and xefros at any time, but only for xefros does the button say “hints currently unavailable”. if you want hints you have to switch to joey. this has no other bearing on the gameplay.

music is fine, but not “we’ve been sitting on this soundtrack for years!” or “we got the undertale guy to compose for us!” levels of blow-your-mind incredible. it’s obvious that the soundtrack composed years ago is not reflective of a game that was clearly cobbled together within the last 15 months. did i mention that out of the 38 troll call characters who were literally advertised as “the cast of hiveswap act 2″, zebede and charun are just entirely absent without cause or explanation?

#hiveswap

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vivalavi-daa · 4 years ago

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Fav 2020 K-Dramas

1. Hospital Playlist

If there's anything I felt happy about in 2020, it's the fact that I've found my next ultimate fav kdramas. More than another, this kdrama feels like a home I could return to every time. Yes, hospital playlist is a slice of life drama that portrays the lives of people in hospital, but there's something about it that is so captivating to watch. I love how it realistically portrays the adults' daily lives & has no major villain of the story that heats things up whatsoever. Instead, I find it easy to emphatize with every character here, even with a patient who appears less than 5 minutes because this kdrama taught us that every life is worth it. And the friendship of the professors... it really has the power to bring joy & warmth to me.

(I also made a post about hospital playlist's characters study on my side blog. Here, if you’re interested).

2. Flower of Evil

Stories that revolve around someone who isn't capable of having emotions aren't nothing new in kdrama land. But this one, especially, is a gem. This one kept me on the edge of my seat because of how nerve wracking some of the scenes are. The suspenseful dramas, the mysteries, the romance...they're all so engaging to watch. I wasn't sure what to expect from the lead character and therefore it's exciting to see what was going to happen & to see how the characters would develop. And to be noted, I swear the cast who played the villain here gives off really scary vibes. He deserves an award for that alone

3. Mr. Queen

I'm not usually a big fan of Saeguk drama and yet here I am putting one on my fav kdrama list. I watched it merely to ease my boredom but then I surprised myself of how much I enjoyed this kdrama. The opening video was appealing & I love how entertaining Mr. Queen was. It became my weekly dose of serotonin (though it gets angsty at times). I thought the story's gonna be weird since it's about a man trapped in a woman's body in joseon era but heck, it was worth it; hilarious, and delicious (yeah, the cooking part) to watch. I've always known Shin Hye Sun is great at acting, but she truly nailed it in this one I swear.

4. 365: Repeat the Year

This drama is gold! It has a promising premise, and the rest of the story went better than I expected. It just never let me down. I thought it's merely about a time travel story, but turns out it's more than that. I never knew what to expect & every time I thought I figured something out, they always have a way to throw a surprise every week. This drama deserves more recognition imo.

5. When the Weather is Fine

This drama is a pleasant to eyes and heart. Watching it is like having a warm tea during winter days. I wasn't truly engaged with the first eps, but I slowly began to see how beautiful & heartwarming this drama is. Yes, the story pace is a bit slow, but I realized that it's important to make us understand each character deeply, what they suffer from, and how the characters slowly develop. It shows us that the journey toward emotional healing may take time, but it's worth it. Choosing to heal itself is a big step & deserves an appreciation. Another thing I highly praise from this drama is how it implicitly reminds us that if we do suffer emotionally, don't be afraid to ask for help, or to let someone help you.

6. Tale of the Nine Tailed

From the first moment I knew who would cast in this drama and what the drama is about, it's obvious that I'd love it. And I was right. The first eps had already got me hooked. The stories were amazing & funny at times. It has unique lovable characters that complete the drama. In addition, I love the mystical fantasy vibes and how they wrapped up urban legends in modern settings. Not to mention how adorable Kim Bum's character here. He & Lee Dong Wook's bromance is to die for.

7. Do You Like Brahms?

I watched it by chance, and then I fell in love the instant I watched the first eps. The drama is just beautifully done. It has soothing music & ambience and mainly revolves around good people. It's appealing how they portrayed the different perspectives between the lead couple--one who doesn't have talent but works hard to achieve her dream, and one who has talent but wishes he didn't have it. Though the lead couple has different dreams, I can't help but rooting for them... as I've never seen a relationship so awkward yet so real and so adorable before them.

8. Record of Youth

Honestly, it took a bit long for me to be completely enamored of the stories and feel what the characters feel. But as the stories developed, I began to cherish what this drama tried to show us: of how important it is to have good communication & to support each other in our family, of how everyone has different timings in life, and that everyone could have second chance in life. It's also refreshing to see the main couple here & how they interact; we could learn a lot from their communication & relationship. Overall, record of youth is one light & comforting kdrama that's perfect to watch while we need a short escape or need something to cheer us up.

9. Start Up

Honestly, I have a conflicted feelings towards this kdrama. It started off as great but...I have a hard time making sense of some of the stories afterward. And not to mention how we used to ship-debating every week it was a bit draining 😅. But to exclude it from my last year fav kdrama list seems wrong anyhow because I did love this drama. Idk, it gives off this positive energy that I needed to go through a crazy year. It somehow encouraged me to move forward & fight for my dream no matter what. The story's also quiet creative and relatable in nowadays world, while also educating us about the world of business.

10. Find Me in Your Memory

I started watching without any expectations and turns out it's really good. It's not hard to love this drama since it has likeable characters with interesting background (a guy who can't forget everything & a woman who forgets some of her important moments). The lead couple's interactions were interesting to watch. They have the kind of romance that grows slowly & when it finally reachs its peak, it burns. I loved every minute of it.

K-drama recommendations: 5/?

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stomp-that-ho-regard · 3 years ago

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the existence of the "cr discourse" tag itself makes me kinda sad honestly bc of the culture of fear it contributes to. if you scroll down for like 5 minutes you'll see that every other post in that tag is tagged w some kind of hedging like "not maintagging to be safe" or "oh this isn't really negative I'm just tagging discourse to be safe" meanwhile the post itself is something like "I wasn't a huge fan of [x moment]" or "I wish more people in the fandom recognized [y fact]" like ... do you not realize how sad and toxic it is that people are scared to maintag even the most milquetoast criticism of a thing they like ....

I was thinking about this a few days ago.

It’s the combination of toxic positivity and canon worship that has fostered this fear. Fans are genuinely afraid to post their honest opinions in the main tag because they know at the barest hint of criticism, they will be dogpiled. This is not how a healthy fandom space functions. This is NOT NORMAL.

It’s not just a problem on here though. I’ve seen this same kind of thing on Twitter, and it’s usually ship-related. Tweets that have anything positive to say about Beaujester, are typically prefaced or followed with some kind of praise for Beau/yasha. Like, “I love BY, they’re great together. They’re perfect. But BJ was done dirty.” or “I really miss BJ. Don’t get me wrong though, I love BY. It’s amazing!”

It’s the same fear. The feeling that you have to add a whole ass disclaimer to your opinion, which is insane. (It even happened to me on here. Right after ep108, I had to work up the courage to post in the main tag, and I put a disclaimer at the top saying, “This is not a hate post, I’m just venting.”, because I was worried I’d get ripped apart.)

Those kinds of ‘disclaimer’ tweets are usually coming from people who multi-ship, or used to multi-ship. But because a majority of their followers/mutuals are BY’s, they feel they have to be very careful about what they say and how they say it. They cannot express ANY kind of affection for BJ without blowback, so the disclaimer is tacked on in order to avoid that. (I know I’m making assumptions here, but that’s what the situation looks like, because why else would they feel the need to qualify it?)

So it’s not just being critical of character interactions or wishing there was more focus on a certain story aspect, or even company decisions. It’s fairly innocuous ship stuff too. And as I said, the toxic positivity and canon worship has created a whirlwind of hostility. It’s almost hilarious how ironic it all is. That in the larger CR fandom’s quest to make this a positive, uplifting, ‘safe’ space, they have actually turned it into a cesspool of negativity. They achieved the very opposite of what they wanted.

The cr discourse tag reminds me why I’m grateful that, even when I watched the show, I never really got too involved with the fandom.

Well, I’m glad you've been able to avoid that, anon. I wish I could’ve avoided getting too involved. It’s easy to fall into fandoms. And it can be fun and is usually pretty nice... until it isn’t. They all implode at some point. But the spoiling of the CR fandom has been more disappointing then most, because it’s sold itself as something different; more open, more loving, more inclusive. But there’s way too much ego floating around for any real love or inclusiveness to exist. People are too obsessed with ‘being right’; the ‘right’ opinions, the ‘right’ behavior, and policing other fans with some made-up ideas in their heads about what the cast really wants. They act as if they’re the casts’ mouthpieces.

It’s exhausting.

#op #ask #2 asks 1 post #critical role #cr discourse #hello dipsh*ts #i'm in your tag now

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empress-of-snark · 3 years ago

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FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE—REVIEW

AKA: the series pulls a u-turn and gets good again!

(spoiler-free!)

Okay, WOW. I had such low hopes for this movie after Crimes of Grindelwald. I was mostly still seeing it out of loyalty to any and all Harry Potter content and wasn’t actually expecting it to be much better than the last.

I was wrong! While the first movie will always be my favorite of the franchise (for all the lovely magical beast shenanigans), Secrets of Dumbledore is now a close second!

I think a large part of the reason why is that I’m less concerned about nitpicky details now. Like, oh Professor McGonagall wasn’t actually born until 1935? Whatever, she’s not a major character here and that info isn’t in the books anyway. Oh, Newt shouldn’t be involved in the fight against Grindelwald because in the HP books, we only know him as a magizoologist? Harry frequently fell asleep in his History of Magic classes, so who’s to say he didn’t just miss the lesson that covered Newt Scamander’s involvement in the first wizarding war?

Anyway, for the sake of consistency with my Crimes of Grindelwald review, I’m gonna do some bullet pointing, although it won’t be in chronological order because this one’s fresher in my mind.

-Jude Law completely stole the show as Dumbledore. His Irish accent was a tad inconsistent, but I’m choosing to call it a character choice. He was wise, he was mischievous, he was burdened by guilt, and I loved every minute of his screen time, especially his interactions with Jacob. Because of course Dumbledore would get along so well with a charming Muggle baker from Queens. Also really loved the scene where Dumbledore was literally painting with magic—it was so cool and unique to his character.

-Mads Mikkelson is such an improvement as Grindelwald. Not gonna get into the messy personal stuff that Johnny Depp is going through cause it’s a complicated situation, but I think getting out of this franchise was the best option for him at the moment (also I’m kinda tired of his acting lately). I was uncertain about Mikkelson’s casting cause I haven’t seen a lot of his work but he did a fantastic job as Grindelwald. He brings out the full scope of Grindelwald’s emotions and makes it easier to believe that this character would gain such a massive following.

-I also really appreciate that they changed his look, cause the white-blonde hair and drastically different eye colors just wasn’t working for me. He looked much more normal in this one.

-And do not listen to anyone claiming that the series is “queer-baiting.” Dumbledore explicitly says he was in love with Grindelwald. That’s canon. That’s not baiting. And it’s obvious in their every interaction how they feel about each other. Yes, we could’ve used some flashbacks to when they were young, but I wouldn’t say they’re necessary.

-I will say that the main premise of an election being decided by a baby deer who bows to the candidate that’s ‘purest of heart’ is… a little silly lol. But they pulled it off well enough. I actually really enjoyed it.

-The rest of the movie felt like a political spy thriller and I was very into it. On the whole, it felt way more streamlined than the last, which was very scattered and confusing. In CoG, it felt like every character was working towards a different goal, whereas here, they actually have more of a plan.

-Eddie Redmayne is still such a fantastic Newt. I really love all of his little mannerisms and physicality, and his and Theseus’s scene with the crabs in the German dungeon was hilarious.

-Theseus was a little boring, but I still like him.

-Jacob was hilarious and adorable as always. It feels like he never really gets to do anything, like, really pivotal to the plot, but everyone likes him so much that they keep him around anyway, lol. Dan Fogler really makes him so lovable and he has great chemistry with everyone. Newt’s really just like “here’s my team of extremely talented and powerful witches and wizards. And this is my best friend Jacob, he brought snacks :)”

-The Jacob/Queenie romance deserved more screen time, but what we got was heart-wrenchingly good.

-Professor Eulalie Hicks may be my new favorite character, she’s so cool and I love her very much. Apparition via book? Hell yes, I love it. I want much more screen time for her in the next two movies, please and thank you.

-While I’m sad we didn’t get more Tina (from what I understand, Katherine Waterson came down with COVID real bad), the scenes we did get were sweet, especially Newt keeping her photo in his suitcase. I wish we had gotten to see how she handled Queenie joining Grindelwald, though. I imagine she took it hard, and it’s unfortunate that we don’t really know her perspective about that. Fingers crossed that she and Queenie have a lot of scenes together in the next movie!

-Credence was… kinda boring. I’m gonna be honest, he’s not my favorite character of the franchise. Maybe I just don’t like Ezra Miller, idk. I think his storyline was a little rushed and kinda pointless at times, but I’m pleased with how they handled the whole “you’re a Dumbledore” plot twist. That was one of my biggest beefs with CoG, but they actually pulled it off in a way that made sense.

-Also, about fifteen minutes in, my mom leaned over and whispered, “He looks like Yoko Ono” which distracted me for every one of his scenes lmao.

-Yeah, my mom really wanted to see it cause she loves Harry Potter (and Jacob — “is that funny little guy gonna be in this one??” she asked me) except she didn’t see the second one, so I was whispering a lot of explanations to her throughout.

-Cinematography was gorgeous—the HP books/movies feel a bit stationary, being primarily set at Hogwarts, so I love that this series opens up the wider wizarding world and explores how magic differs in different places.

-Very satisfying ending. I’ve heard rumors that Warner Brothers is considering not continuing the franchise (cowards), but if it does end here, it won’t feel incomplete. Yes, there are still plot threads to be tied up, but nothing major enough that I’ll lose sleep over it.

All in all, this series took a major upswing and got good again! Yay! I really really hope we get those last two movies, cause Crimes of Grindelwald burned me, but Secrets of Dumbledore gently rubbed aloe vera on my wound and kissed it better.

#fantastic beasts 3 #the secrets of dumbledore #fantastic movies and where to find them #I’m honestly considering going to see it again #I really loved it #harry potter

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lastxviolet · 4 years ago

Text

The Assistant - CH. 2

Description: Summary - Her sixth year at Hogwarts was supposed to be relatively peaceful but after an incident on the Hogwarts express, Violet Wilkes finds herself the newest target of the Weasley twins. This, combined with a dark family secret, and the Triwizard tournament, makes her first few months back more exciting and stressful than every year before.

pairing: George Weasley x Original Female Character

warnings: pg-13. slow burn, eventual smut hehe

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28218804/chapters/69148695

Cool air stung her face as she followed Sadie off the train. They'd left London completely under the thumb of summer so the autumnal chill was entirely welcome. She sucked in the familiar earthy, forest air, relishing in the arrival at their destination, and shook the image of her family having dinner tonight without her while pushing through the crowd of students chatting loudly. The small Hogsmeade platform was hardly big enough to house them all so she quickened her pace, desperate to emerge from the pack before the crowd was shoulder to shoulder.

As she walked, she eyed the students around her hopefully. There was still one dear friend that she owned a greeting to but she hadn't seen her on the train. She searched the crowd making its way to the enchanted carriages at the beginning of the forest and spotted sporadic curls walking quickly behind a group of Gryffindors, a few feet in front of her.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Hermione Granger outside of their evenings in the library. Her almost two-year-long friendship with the witch wasn't necessarily a secret but it was certainly unexpected and not very well known.

It had been annoying at first, sharing her late-night library refuge with the young bushy-haired witch, until one night they talked so long that Madam Pince had found them asleep at the desks around sunrise. They'd crossed paths almost every night in the library since, spewing factoids, and quizzing each other but also sitting in comfortable silence. She would never admit it to her fellow Slytherin's but studying with Hermione always made her miss her younger sister a little less.

"Alright, Granger?" She called loudly enough to cut through the bleating crowd, accidentally making her friend jump a little. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley's necks snapped back towards her, ready to defend their friend, but relaxed and kept walking at the sight of her.

She scowled. If she had to see any more red hair today, she would vomit. She didn't mind Harry or Ron too much, not that she'd ever spoken more than a few sentences with them. But, by the way, they spoke to Hermione when they came to occasionally tear her away from the library, they didn't appreciate the brilliant witch nearly enough, which rubbed her the wrong way.

Hermione abandoned her red and gold crowd briefly to awkwardly hug her shoulders. "Violet!"

She had grown a bit taller over the summer and Violet no longer had to look down on her, now they stood face to face. Her tawny eyes were bright against her freckled skin. A summer of unwinding had done her some good.

"How was your summer," Hermione continued, smiling broadly.

"Excellent, and you," she asked into Hermione's signature curls, as the witch held her tight.

"Quite busy really, I have loads to tell you," she exclaimed. "I'll find you in the library, I've made some astounding discoveries in Arithmancy that I think you'll find interesting."

Hermione let go of her shoulder as Harry and Ron pulled her onto the enchanted carriage, landing next to Neville Longbottom, a particularly tragic Gryffindor.

"I can't wait to hear about advanced potions this year," she half shouted from her seat, waving as they rolled away towards the castle.

That's right, it was her sixth year so she finally got to be in the N.E.W.T level potions class, the most advanced potions course that Hogwarts offered. How had she forgotten? She silently thanked Hermione for the much needed happy thought.

"You'll be sick of hearing about it before Christmas!"

She smiled. Leave it to the Gryffindor to make her look on the bright side of things.

Sadie pulled her up to their carriage and nuzzled into her as they glided through the trees, cold air whipping any exposed skin.

If it weren't so cold, it would've been a nice walk. The Hogsmeade train station was close to the spot she occasionally wandered to in her free time. There were a few feet, closer to the lake where the various protection spells and other charms were weakest and her cassette tape player worked. She stared at it longingly as they passed by. It, and a few books, would be the closest she'd be to the muggle world for another year.

The Great Hall was already hustling and bustling with students scurrying to say hello to friends from other houses before the feast commenced, by the time they got there. The ceiling glowed ominous blue and black, mirroring the storm that was brewing outside. Below it, thousands of candles hovered, glittering the ornate gold accents and casting bright reflections around the room.

One more important hello left, she thought, as Sadie dragged them to their table.

She passed the Bloody Baron, shooting their house ghost a nod, and craned her neck to inspect the head table at the front of the room before sitting down.

Professor Snape was already glowering at the Slytherin table, inspecting them for appropriate behavior no doubt, so all she needed to do was raise her arm in a small wave to get his attention. It took only a second for his eyes to find her. She greeted him with a curt smile, to which he responded with a polite nod. His somber eyes lit up for just a moment at their interaction but it ultimately made no dent in his stoic expression, not that she expected much more than that. He was incredibly guarded, strict, and stoic but she respected him immensely.

"Did you see him?"

Sadie pulled her down to their seats.

She furrowed her brow in confusion. "See who?"

Sadie huffed slightly, aware that she hadn't been listening to her since they walked into the room.

"Graham Montague!"

She'd heard that name too many times come from Sadies mouth to be curious about what was on about. Their tumultuous fling for the past few years had been exhausting to hear about.

"Oh yes, sorry I see him, but I wish I couldn't," she rested her head in her hands and tried to look interested.

"He wrote me over the summer you know," Sadie continued, ignoring the dig. "I told him that he owed me five galleons for making me read his stupid ramblings."

The sound of thunder made the room jump as the clouds on the ceiling broke, signaling a night of rain. Impatience had never been a flaw of hers but silly, elongated ordeals like the first feast of the year brought out the feeling in full force. It was a huge fiasco that took forever. She tried to calm her anxiously bouncing knee but it was torture to be away from the library when it was raining. No one would be there to witness the water droplets ricocheting off the stained glass that contorted the sprawling green grounds outside, transforming the world into a Monet painting.

The front doors opened with a bang and she turned to watch the soaking wet first years scurry down the center aisle. Enchanted music swelled to greet them, much to the surprise of the muggle-born students. They looked like they'd stumbled into a dream as they registered the amount of magic swirling around them.

Her first year, she'd pinched herself the entire boat ride across the lake, waiting for the majestic castle to disappear and be replaced by her bedroom ceiling. Her father's descriptions of the castle and campus hadn't done it justice and she still found new things to marvel at from time to time. She wished there was a way to sneak a camera in next year so that she could capture her sisters reaction.

The festivities crawled at a snail's pace. She politely clapped along for every sorting, ignoring the pang of nerves in her gut when a few of the newly sorted Slytherins scampered over to greet Malfoy with a handshake, clearly aware of the pure-blood supremacy they were joining, and it's leader.

The others nervously stared at their plates, occasionally looking up to search for a friendly face, which she and Sadie were always happy to provide. It was tough, especially for those who were aware of Slytherin's reputation but had expected to be sorted into a different house. Tougher though, for those who had to learn the hard way. She pitied them, as she'd pitied herself. Her father didn't talk about the wizarding world much so she was left to piece together the dos and don'ts through old photos and whispers between her parents. It was a learning curve, especially coming from a muggle school but it took almost no time to realize that a simple green tie could be interpreted in terrible ways.

She glared at the sorting hat as a professor whisked it away.

The shrill noise of echoing metal against glass signaled the room to be quiet. Professor Dumbledore rose from his seat, effectively hushing the students. He extended his arms, the silver of his robes shimmered in the candlelight, as his soft eyes took in the room.

"I have only two words to say to you," he said, pausing pervasively. "Tuck in."

Dinner flooded onto the tables, appearing out of thin air. She craned her neck to watch the first years again, the shock on their faces was hilarious and would probably take a few more meals to disappear. The rest of the room was completely distracted by the lavish meal.

Finally.

"That's my cue," she whispered low enough for only Sadie to hear, turning to swing a leg over the bench.

"I don't think you can escape so easily."

She shot her friend a puzzled look before following her gaze towards the closed main doors, being guarded diligently by the caretaker, Filch.

"Bloody hell," she huffed, glancing around the buzzing room for an explanation. Sadie spotted the Bloody Baron again, making his way down the table and beckoned him to join them.

"Tell me, Baron," she mewed, smiling sweetly. "Why does Filch look like he'd tackle anyone who tried to leave?"

Even in his wispy white form, the Baron's eyes twinkled at the opportunity for gossip. You wouldn't expect it from his name but he had two soft spots; Slytherins and the chance to spread rumors.

"You didn't hear it from me Miss Baldock but the Headmaster wants everyone here for a special announcement at the end of dinner," he answered in nothing more than a whisper. "However, I would be willing to assist you, should you need to make a quick escape." He bared his teeth and shot a devilish glare at the caretaker.

So, she was stuck.

"Thank you Baron but that's alright, I'd hate to miss anything important," Violet insisted, resettling herself back on the bench.

"Suit yourself, Miss Wilkes, I might just go and do it anyway. Excuse me," the ghost floated back through the hall, giving them a mischievous wink.

She glanced back up to the head table. Other than a few more empty seats than normal, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Maybe he had some new professors to introduce? Or perhaps some new school rules to brief them on? Either way, the thought of being trapped was making her restless.

She pursed her lips in thought and begrudgingly returned to the one-sided conversation Sadie was having with her.

"As I was saying, if we don't have Care of Magical Creatures together I will have a fit."

She held her fork and picked at the food in front of her; trying and failing to enjoy herself.

"Oh Sadie, please tell me you're not still on about your obsession with Hagrid," she regarded her friend with a knowing glance.

"I am not ashamed of my lust for a big, daft man," Sadie said, pointing her chin towards the rest of the Slytherin table. "Lord knows none of these twigs could do the job — daft yes —but twigs none the less."

She laughed, easing the nerves in her torso. Sadie's pessimistic view of their house wasn't entirely wrong, the only exceptions were Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, two particularly porky fourth years who followed Malfoy around like puppies. Definitely not the big and dumb that Sadie was looking for.

She'd never really looked at anyone from her house as a romantic possibility. Very few gave her the time of day and the ones that did usually regretted it. Her short fuse and hot temper didn't mesh well with the haughty nature and overconfidence of most Slytherin boys.

She participated in bits of conversation here and there during dinner but was at her wit's end by the time dessert finished. The air shifted from excitement to agitation as the rest of the room finally noticed their inability to leave. Dumbledore must have sensed the unrest because not a moment later, he was situated at his podium in front of the head table.

"Now that we are all settled in a sorted, I'd like to make an announcement," his voice echoed through the hall and drowned out the inquisitive chatter. "This castle will not only be your home this year but home to some very special guests as well. See, Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event, the Triwizard Tournament."

The conversation was instantaneous and ricocheted off of every surface. Students, mostly from wizarding families, picked their jaws up off the floor and tried to explain the exhilarating news to their less-informed peers, like herself.

The noise was enough to make her miss the train.

Over the twittering, Fred Weasley yelled, "You're JOKING," from the Gryffindor table and the room burst into a fit of laughter. Even Dumbledore struggled to stifle his giggle of delight.

"No, Mr. Weasley, I am not joking. Now for those of you who don't know, the Triwizard Tournament brings together three schools for a magical contest."

Their headmaster paused dramatically, and then continued, seemingly satisfied with the awe-struck look on nearly everyone's faces.

"From each school, a single student is selected, and let me be clear, if chosen, you stand alone. Trust me when I say, these contests are not for the faint-hearted." His voice turned eerily serious and a shudder rattled down her back.

So not a fun, light-hearted tournament then, she thought. It had been a shock to learn that most things in the wizarding world came with a good amount of danger, even some of the most common forms of travel were riddled with risk. She was an idiot to think that a school event would be any different. Just look at Quidditch.

"More of that later," he said, snapping out of the somber trance. "Now please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies from the Bauxbatons Academy of Magic and their Head Mistress, Madame Maxine."

The doors finally opened and a group of girls clad in light blue silk strutted through, nearly appearing out of midair. She rose out of her seat slightly to watch them flit down the aisle between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, releasing blue butterflies with every step. Male voices erupted into cheers. Not surprisingly, the lewdest and loudest comments came from the Slytherin table.

Disgusting pricks had no respect. Not even for themselves.

"Blimey, I'd crack skulls if I were that big," Sadie gasped.

The giant Headmistress waltzed in behind her students, lead by Dumbledore.

"What a woman," she echoed, trying to tune out the embarrassing howls from her male peers as the French witches finished their show. She'd heard of other wizarding schools around the world but never expected to see their students in person.

She clapped along and admired the flattering Bauxbaton's school uniform. Who on earth had designed the grey and black Hogwarts uniform when other schools got that?

Maybe an all-girls school wouldn't have been such a bad idea.

"And now, our friends from the north," Dumbledore bellowed from the podium once more. "Please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and their headmaster, Igor Karkaroff."

With a bang, a group of large, tall, men strode into the hall sporting dark turtlenecks and fur coats. This time it was Sadie shouting lewd comments over the crowd.

"Bloody hell I think I'm going to slide off my seat," Sadie said breathlessly, pretending to grip her arm for support. "Guess I won't have to settle for Hagrid this year!"

She couldn't help but smile and laugh at the unconventional, scandalous humor of her friend.

The Durmstrang boy's faces were stoic and brooding, clearly, the cold northern winters were less kind to soft adolescent features. She wondered how they could be the same age as anyone at Hogwarts.

Sparks poured from the ends of their walking sticks, each strike leaving scorch marks on the stone floor. Gasps echoed through the hall as their quick pace eventually turned into a run, with some bounding forward to show off incredible acrobatics before joining the Bauxbaton girls at the front of the hall. Cheers turned into low murmurs as a man, who she guessed was their headmaster, walked into the room with a very stoic and large boy at his side.

"Fuck me," Sadie muttered. "That's Victor Krum. I can't believe my eyes. He's even better looking in person."

Violet tore her eyes from the pair strutting down the main aisle. "In person? What do you mean?"

"Quidditch of course," she snapped. "He almost won Bulgaria the Quidditch World Cup just last week. It's a wonder how he even has time for school."

Figured. Her father didn't even follow muggle sports, let alone wizarding ones. She'd successfully avoided the Quidditch pitch for a majority of games and could barely name a single ball.

The three headmasters met at Dumbledores podium, but the room was still abuzz, eyeing the celebrity excitedly.

This was her chance.

"Fill me in later," she said, swinging her legs over the bench, once more, to hop up from the table. She crouched and ran, hoping to go unnoticed.

"You're a real bore you know that," was all she heard before a rogue lighting bolt from the enchanted ceiling above helped her slip out the door without interruption.

Filch didn't notice her disappearance and she heard the doors slam closed when she was a few feet away. The noise was canceled immediately. The silence was a relief after nearly an entire day of chaos.

She marched towards the library, trying to stick to the shadows as much as possible, as she didn't normally go out of her way to break the rules like this. The halls were empty except for a few raging fireplaces, lighting her way and the occasional preoccupied ghost.

The isolation was heavenly.

She pressed a hand to the library door and pushed. Locked. Of course. Madam Pince was still at the feast, she thought, pressing her wand to the door.

Alohomora

The unlocked doors opened with a loud groan signaling that no one had been there all summer. The long room with mazes of books, desks, couches, and chairs was stale and less inviting in its dark state, than it normally was, fully lit and busy.

Incendio

She smiled. The familiar flickering orange glow illuminated the room and extinguished the final bit of nerves left from the train ride and annoyingly long feast.

One,

Two,

Three…

She counted the bookcases diligently. It took 40 to get to the hidden alcove at the end of the hall but even if she lost count, she'd know her plush, velvet chair anywhere.

No one except for Hermione ever wandered that deep into the library so the long walk was well worth the refuge and privacy that it allowed.

The sound of rain echoed through the shelves and high ceilings, creating a loud repetitive sound, only interrupted by her thudding footsteps on the rug. She dodged a few self-sorting books, enchanted to move on their own, but other than that, there was no movement.

Thirty-eight,

Thirty-nine,

Forty.

Relief.

The large wingback velvet chair in the corner welcomed her back with a familiar creak and groan as she nestled into her favorite spot. Nothing about the sanctuary had changed. Her chair, the oversized couch, and Hermione's long wooden desk with a few matching chairs sat exactly where they had been when she'd left in June. Satisfied with the familiar surroundings, she turned her attention to the large window. The colors outside were much less vibrant as darkness cascaded over the campus but at least she could still make out the last of a purple and pink sunset reflecting off of the lake.

Accio

A copy of Advanced Potions came barreling out of a bookcase too far away for her to see and landed in her outstretched hand. The familiar purple cover reminded her of all the ways that the castle felt like home.

The first time Snape had given her a copy of this textbook was during her fourth year. She'd worked through it late into the night for almost the entire term, only being befuddled by a few of the more time-consuming recipes. The look on Snape's face as she'd presented him with a box of vials containing the completed potions just before Christmas break, was the closest she'd ever seen him smile.

The pages were crisp as she flipped idly through the instructions, much different than her worn copy, and decided on the chapter about love potions.

After a few hours of leisurely reading, she battled the heaviness of her eyelids in vain. She nodded awake, surrendering to her need for sleep, and muttered a spell to return the book to its place. The library was still entirely undisturbed as she made her way to the door sleepily.

The sound of heels clicking over the whirling wind and rain against the windows signaled Madam Pince's return at the entrance of the library.

"I just cannot keep you away," the librarian said, letting her pass. "Is Granger back there as well or can I lock up for the night?"

Violet grinned. "Nope, just me, and I'll be out of your hair until tomorrow."

The generally stern woman shot her a wink and closed the door behind her. Madam Pince had probably seen enough of her to last an entire lifetime but she always made it seem like she was pleased to see her every time. Violet wondered if it was genuine.

Her exhaustion escaped her as she stepped out into the hallway, finding it in a state of disarray with her peers abuzz, running from one group to another, all gossiping about the Triwizard tournament.

Darting back down the main hall, she dodged running Prefects, and giggling underclassmen, sticking to the wall to avoid any familiar faces. Even on a normal day, it was quite easy to disappear in the vast castle and busy hallways. Steering clear of wandering eyes only took a step into a shadow here, or a quiet shuffle behind a babbling group, there. Which is just what she did as she made her way through the corridor. Only a few more paces of being invisible and she'd be back in the dungeon.

The energy in the hall practically rattled the stone walls. She couldn't fight the feeling that she'd missed something else important. She wondered if she was correct, and if leaving early had been worth it. The answer came as soon as the thought passed her mind, as a familiar voice boomed through the hall.

"They can't do that!" George Weasley yelled. "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"

Her heart race quickened as the redhead and nearly half of Gryffindor house came into view only a few feet away.

"They're not stopping me from entering," Fred waved his arms wildly next to his brother. "The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!"

Of course, they wanted to enter. There was no doubt in her mind that a Gryffindor would be chosen as the school's champion. They had a tendency for danger, and for proving bravery. She stayed in the shadows but watched the pack's trajectory closely, fearing that it might intersect with hers.

Hermione trailed behind the group, ushering them towards the moving staircase, and pestering them about being the last ones to make it to the common room. The young witch always looked at her whits end around her friends. How she had the energy to herd cats, was a mystery.

Violet accidentally caught her eye and picked up her pace, hoping to escape the group of extroverts with a smile and a nod.

"Violet," Hermione called as they crossed paths. "Can you believe the news about the tournament? Are you thinking about entering? You're seventeen aren't you?"

It would have been easy to lose them in the crowd but she couldn't be rude to her friend. Even if she was accompanied by a pack of lions. Begrudgingly, she peeled herself out of the shadows and met them in the middle of the hall.

"Not until October," she admitted to the group, all of which had their eyes on her. They were significantly less intimidating than her own house, but annoying all the same. The Weasley twins appeared to her left but she refused to meet their eyes.

How was it possible to avoid their hi-jinx for nearly five years, and now, she'd seen them three times on their very first day back, twice before they'd even made it to the castle. Well, she thought, bad things always come in threes so this would surely be the last time having to speak with them.

"The tournament doesn't start until after Halloween so you'll be just in time," Hermione said in an awkward tone, clearly sensing her apprehension. The encounter was uncomfortable but she appreciated the interesting revelation about an age limit. It certainly explained the prominent maturity of the students from the other schools.

The twins pushed between her and Hermione before she could answer.

Her heart rate spiked slightly. The devilish look in their eyes from when they'd entered her train car had returned. Were they going to confront her about the incident? Make her do something worse and in front of everyone?

"An older woman then," George sneered, still looking rather burnt about their previous encounter.

"Whaddya say, Wilkes? Do us a favor and put our names in the Goblet?" Fred echoed.

He loomed over her, his eyebrows arched in question and mouth stretched from ear to ear. She doubted he'd ever held his tongue in a conversation this long, and appreciated the show of restraint.

Regardless, she rolled her eyes. "And watch you get yourself killed?" She took a step around the boisterous twin and squeezed Hermione's hand in a silent goodbye. "I'd be happy to."

The Gryffindors laughed at Fred's protests but she ignored them, pushing through the group, regretting leaving the announcement too early.

She practically flew down the dungeon stairs, happy to have escaped from the interaction with minimal worlds. Freezing air and the smell of stone and musk welcomed her underground. It was good to be back.

The Slytherin common room door came into view and her excitement fizzled. A long summer away had made the putrid password, slip from her mind.

This was, perhaps, when she envied other houses the most. They all changed their common room passwords with the seasons, or just for fun; ad-libbing silly meaningless phrases to make homesick first years laugh as they entered their home away from home.

Not theirs though.

It stayed the same, year after year. She kept it hidden in her subconscious, only acknowledging it for the split second it took to open the common room door. Even then, she tried to regard it as meaningless, simply an old-fashioned tradition that refused to die, but deep down she knew what it was.

Submission.

A forced admission of blood superiority so that everyone knew, regardless of house, who was meant to submit to who. The sour taste lessened the more times she said it throughout the years but the first time back was always the worst.

Her lips curled and teeth bared in order to force her tongue to spit it out.

Pureblood

The stone slab slid away, revealing the elegant stone, leather, and green velvet common room within. She shook off the cloud of disgust and wove through a sea of familiar faces chatting and hanging off of couches and chairs. A group of seventh-year boys boasted loudly to the room about how they would bring Slytherin glory by winning the tournament.

She sucked her lips to her teeth and swallowed a smile. These purebred, pampered, prats wouldn't last a day in the muggle world, let alone with actual beasts, she thought.

Sadie practically pounced on her as soon as she pushed open the door marked Wilkes & Baldock. Despite her roommate's animated pestering, their new two-person suite, a perk for upperclassmen, was quite peaceful. Emerald sheets, curtains, and pillows, accented by dark wood furniture and adorned with silver knick-knacks, memorabilia from alumni past, made the room quite cozy.

She looked around the room once more before submitting to Sadie's chatter.

"Alright, what did I miss?"

"Could you have taken any longer? I've been back for ages," she scolded, pacing back and forth while trying to hold a straight face. "Sometimes I wonder what you would do if I wasn't always waiting around to fill you in on stuff."

She smiled at Sadies attempt to be withholding, especially with such clearly juicy information. Keeping secrets was not her specialty, not that Violet minded. Her lack of scandalous behavior ensured that she only ever got to reap the rewards of her friend's knack for gossip and weakness for babbling.

"But you are," she reminded her.

Sadies half-hearted scowl cracked. "Good point Vi," she said with a bemused grin. "Okay, where do I even begin to begin?"

Violet made herself comfortable in a pile of throws and cushions on the floor and listened attentively in order to correctly adorn Sadies dramatic retelling with appropriate gasps of shock, and bursts of laughter.

It wasn't that Violet didn't like to talk, because she did, but Sadies ramblings were somewhat comforting to her. It relieved her of the pressure to be entertaining, or the center of attention. She liked how relaxed she could be, as her friend had no expectations for her to fill the silence.

She'd missed the arrival of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, who had quelled the stray lighting that had covered her escape. Sadie hadn't caught his name but he was apparently very strange looking, not an unusual trait for the rather cursed position in recent years.

Sadie's face lit up as she recounted the looks of shock from everyone in the room when the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation from the Ministry of Magic had stepped forward to warn them about the real dangers of the tournament, and deliver the bad news of the age limit.

Real dangers, she thought. What had they been dealing with beforehand?

Their school definitely seemed more pampered than the Durmstrang's. Surely no one at Hogwarts stood a chance against these men somehow passing for teenagers, who looked like they'd seen worse things on their walk to class than they had in Defense Against the Dark Arts. She didn't even want to fathom the skill hidden behind the pleasant French faces from Beauxbatons.

She couldn't think of a single person at Hogwarts who might fare favorably against the dangerous tasks that had been alluded to. She wouldn't stand a chance unless she could bring a potions kit and be allotted weeks on end to brew. Maybe Hermione, but she was much too busy. If the twins did indeed find a way to enter, they wouldn't stand a chance at surviving, unless the monsters they faced liked pranks and bad jokes.

"Obviously I am going to enter," Sadie said. "I mean I've basically fought half the school already. And I'll take any chance I can get for those Drum — whatever, boys to fawn over me."

Strangely enough, it wasn't Sadie's worst idea.

"I'll happily and safely cheer you on from the stands," she assured her friend. "And help you cheat of course."

Sadie squealed in delight and continued her lecture, only stopping when she noticed how difficult it was for Violet to keep her eyes open.

They changed for bed, and Violet whispered an incantation to turn off the lights, ignoring Sadies not so silent departure from the room shortly after. Probably sneaking off somewhere to argue and then subsequently make out with Graham Montague for the millionth time.

Sleep came for her quickly, and she gladly joined it, despite the ominous impending images of Death Eaters and Dark Marks.

#george weasley x original female character #george weasley #george weasley fanfic #george weasley fanfiction #george weasley smut #dating george weasley #george weasley fic

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itsclydebitches · 5 years ago

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Welcome back, everyone! Starting here in Chapter Six these recaps are doing double duty with my latest attempt at completing National Novel Writing Month. Granted, this isn’t a novel and yes, I technically started this project well before November, but there’s no way I’d manage 50,000 words of fiction in 2020, so I’m hoping to hit that with these recaps instead. You all get semi-frequent updates and I may get to finally say I completed this challenge! That’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned.

Quick reminder: new teams, CFVY was separated, everything is awful. There, done. Seventy-five pages in we’ve come back to Velvet’s point of view as she and the other students are carted off in airbuses. She’s experiencing the “same shock and dismay” that she saw on Yatsuhashi’s face before they were separated, thus I’d like to re-emphasize last chapter’s argument that though shaking up the teams isn’t inherently a bad idea, doing it in this way while your students are recovering from/still involved in a war is… not so great for their mental health. Yeah, yeah, Remnant is a hard place and these kids experience traumatic events on the weekly, but still. There’s a fine line between preparing students for that kind of life and simply traumatizing them further, because this is a kind of trauma when the teams so heavily rely on one another - fill every aspect of one another’s lives: friend, colleague, family, teacher, student, leader, follower, romantic partner - and you’re now uprooting them with no warning. Whether or not new teams actually happen, the students think they are and that’s messing with their heads. Basically they’re just:

This problem is highlighted when we get confirmation of what I stated last time: the teams aren’t merely colleagues turned friends, but family. These fighters have got all their emotional eggs in one basket. Velvet goes so far as to imply that she loves her team more than her parents, with the logic being that they (her parents) “never talked to each other anymore.” So… if Coco and Yatsuhashi stopped talking would that undermine your love for each of them as individuals? I get what the overall takeaway is - divorce is a nasty business and can leave lasting scars on kids caught in the middle, to say nothing of the fact that, as a young adult, Velvet is poised to start creating a family by choice, not blood - but it’s still an odd way to phrase the issue. Here we have another instance of me picking up on implications due to RWBY, the franchise’s, overall themes. When you’ve got a story so thoroughly touting a teens vs. adults mentality, having Velvet mentally reject her parents for her team reads differently than it otherwise would. Chock that onto the pile that already includes things like, ‘Ruby denies that Qrow ever helped her’ and ‘Yang is no longer a part of grieving for Summer’ and ‘Weiss seems to have forgotten all that Klein did for her.’ There’s a lot of uncomfortable details attached to our heroes and how they see the adults in their lives, parents included.

Velvet doesn’t get to worry for long though. A much happier voice sounds across the airbus and she spots Sun, classically hanging from his tail. Instead of hearing more about her fears we segue into - you guessed it - Sun bashing. The first thought to pop into her head is that Sun “wasn’t with the rest of his team, but knowing Sun, that might have been his decision.”

...Velvet, you just tried desperately to stay with your own team and were (somehow) swept away by the apparently overwhelming crowed (still ridiculous imo). But if you didn’t manage this, what makes you think Sun had a chance? Why is his separation suddenly a potential choice when yours was presented as nothing of the sort? That is some real insistence on thinking the worst of him. I dragged Sun for abandoning his team in Volume 4 because that was abandonment. It was a choice worthy of criticism. This? This was outside of his control and Velvet knows it.

Sun saw her, smiled, and waved. Velvet looked away.

Nice, Velvet.

He comes over anyway and (kindly!) asks if she’s okay. Velvet says no, specifically because “Yatsu and I were separated.” Here we have another example of how close the partners get even within each team. Blake and Yang are inseparable. Ruby talks to Weiss more than her sister (and the concept of her talking to Blake in any meaningfully way is hilarious at this point). Now, despite being separated from her entire team - everyone is in the same awful boat - Velvet frames the situation as just being separated from Yatsuhashi. Later she repeats, “Well, I still want to try to find Yatsu.” So would it be a disappointment to find Fox or Coco instead? It’s especially weird because in the main show we see Velvet and Coco interacting the most. I actually had to look up who Velvet’s partner was because I just assumed our two girls were a duo. Apparently not. I’m not really into the CFVY side of the fandom, but I imagine there’s a substantial ship community for these two based solely on how Velvet embraces RWBY partnerships in this book, outside of the always popular Velvet/Coco, of course.

That’s admittedly a ship I can get behind.

After Velvet unloads all her worries “Sun stared ahead, like he couldn’t quite manage to feel bad.” Attention, readers, this is an important lesson coming up! In fandom spaces I often see people analyzing novels (and other print media/visual media with narration) without taking into consideration the perspective. Unless we’ve got an omniscient perspective we need to take into account that our narrator might, simply put, be wrong (and even then, omniscient unreliable narrators are a popular choice). Often I see readers taking a characters’ thoughts - and words - at face value, which is understandable given that we’re meant to emotionally connect with them, but we have to keep in mind that this is their interpretation of events. We see the story through their eyes, how they perceive the world, but their perception of the world may not be accurate or, at the very least, is open to further interpretation. Sometimes this is used in an obvious, plot-driven manner - there’s a surprise twist for the reader, made possible because our protagonist was likewise kept in the dark - but it applies to our reading of more casual interactions too. This is a good example. Just because Velvet says Sun looks “like he couldn’t quite manage to feel bad” doesn’t mean that’s actually how Sun feels. As we’ve just re-established, Velvet is inclined to think the worst of Sun, or at least consider the worst as a distinct possibility. So if we’re asking the question, “Is Velvet’s perspective accurate to reality here?” weighing her previous assumptions against actions like Sun smiling, waving, and asking how she’s doing, AKA caring about her situation… I’d say no, it’s likely not.

At least she doesn’t outright accuse him of anything. Given that he’s not privy to these insulting thoughts, Sun chatters on about the test. He thinks it “isn’t a bad idea” because, as established, a lot of students lost teammates and are having trouble settling into Shade while still trying to live the life they had at Beacon. Changing the teams could be a “chance to really commit to our new school and our training, and learn from one another in a new way.” That’s what I think!

“Right… Or maybe some of us burned bridges with our team and might be looking for an easy way to avoid fixing those relationships.”

Velvet what the actual fuck. Can our cast NOT be assholes for five minutes??

Sun goes red at the accusation and calls her out on being harsh. “Tough love” Velvet calls it. Okay, no. Tough love is reserved for people you’re actually friends with and is meant to have them face a harsh reality they might be avoiding. Sun is avoiding an overt apology with his team, but we (and Velvet) have been given no indication that his thoughts on the test are a smokescreen to hide ulterior motives, which is what she’s talking about here. Sun clearly wants to make up with his team, he’s just struggling to accept what needs to be done to do that. Tough love would have been Velvet encouraging Sun to use this separation to reflect on what his team means to him and then, regardless of whether they end up back together, apologizing for how he unintentionally hurt them. Not… this. Plus, again, Velvet hasn’t exactly been friendly lately. She has little ground for dishing out “tough love.” You need established “love” before the “tough” part.

In addition, she’s not listening to what Sun’s saying. “If they want us prepared for an attack, breaking up teams sounds counterproductive.” When did Sun mention anything about an attack? That’s your assumption of what’s going down based on the illegal investigation you’ve been assisting with. Sun just said that changing the teams would provide some of them with a much needed clean slate, which is true. Just because that’s not what Velvet needs doesn’t mean it’s not useful for others. As she eventually acknowledges, they can get too comfortable in the roles they’ve been playing.

We get her line about wanting to find Yatsuhashi followed by, “Sun, you do whatever you want. That’s what you’re good at.” Velvet seriously? Then minutes later she’s hoping Sun sticks close to her if he can. Real talk: everyone deserves better than this. ‘Friends’ who constantly act like your presence is a burden, insult you whenever they get the chance, insist such insults are for your benefit (it’s just tough love), but then turn around and play nice when you have something they want... those aren’t friends. Note that Velvet is - both privately and overtly - mean to Sun while he’s just existing in the airbus, going through the same horrible test as her, trying to be nice, and holding an otherwise civil conversation. While trapped on the bus with nowhere to go, Sun is a nuisance despite his best efforts. When the floor suddenly opens up and Velvet is terrified of falling and surviving on her own though, then his presence is desirable. That’s not friendship and in another story I’d praise the author(s) for writing a compelling move from shaky acquaintances to a strong bond… but I’m honestly not sure that the relationship (any of them, really) will improve. Far as I can gather, Myers thinks this is friendship.

So Velvet accuses Sun of always and forever hurting others in his pursuit of doing what pleases him (after checking in on Velvet… literally minutes ago…) which is right around when Scarlet decides to make himself known. He agrees with Sun’s belief that this test will be harder than they assume: “I think you’re right… For a change.” Everything comes with a caveat. Apparently Scarlet has been listening in the whole time, but somehow manages to turn that into an insult as well with “I’ve been standing five feet away. Maybe I’m ready for a new team, too.” Wait, is the implication that Scarlet is further annoyed because Sun didn’t notice him? Do you all have ANY idea how many times a friend has stood right next to me and I didn’t notice them because I was caught up in something like work, a show… a conversation? I’m oblivious af. I get that Sun has things to make up for but at the very least these characters could keep their criticisms to what he’s actually done wrong, not crazy reaches like, ‘Sun probably abandoned his team when everyone was separated’ or ‘Sun was busy talking to Velvet and didn’t notice me eavesdropping, so I guess I don’t mean much to him, huh.’ I’m constantly torn between the presumed realism of this writing - people are unfair in their criticisms, teens do hold unsubstantiated grudges - and acknowledging that Myers seems to have felt confident writing (1) personality and just gave it to everyone. Velvet privately becomes as critical as Coco, who is as vocal as Fox, who agrees with Yatsuhashi, who echoes Sun’s team, and Sun himself often throws that attitude right back. Round and round we go.

As one might imagine, the three begin theorizing about what the test itself will be like. Usually Shade sets up initiation just like this. Students are transported in windowless airbuses, dumped in the desert, and told to find their way home. I’m interested in the bit about how teams are made up not only based on arrival, but also “the manner in which [the students] survived.” It definitely lends support to the assumption I’ve always had that the teams can really be random. At least not entirely. There’s strategy on the part of the instructors, thinking through aspects like, ‘Well, these two students used their wits in this manner so they’d pair together nicely.’ Or the reverse, ‘Put together the strategist with the student in love with blunt force, let them balance each other out.’ I certainly don’t think that Ozpin formed teams based solely on who ran into each other first. Not only do we have agency on the part of the students (Weiss leaves Ruby, then Jaune, then goes back to Ruby), as well as the fact that two sets of partners had to be paired together someway, but Ozpin was also carefully watching their whole performance. If the only thing that mattered was getting back to Beacon with a chess piece, why bother examining their choices? Shade appears to employ a similar setup of careful decisions portrayed as randomness, which would make sense given that Ozpin set up these schools. Though all the headmasters may not realize it (is Theodore a part of the inner circle?), or perhaps don’t agree with his methods overall, Ozpin’s influence is undeniably evident in each institution we’ve seen.

The only difference between normal initiation and this test seems to be that the students have to find a gold figurine this time around. Though as our trio points out, there’s likely to be other differences as well, otherwise the original Shade students would have a pretty significant advantage.

During all this Velvet remanences about Beacon’s initiation and we learn that Ozpin does, apparently, use the whole ‘Throw you into the woods where you’ll find some relic’ setup each year, as Velvet remembers being “thrown into the air” during hers. She also hits on another concern that hadn’t crossed my mind until now: what if a team includes a new student alongside the “more vocal in harassing recruits from Beacon and Haven?” It might do the Shade students some good to get to know the newcomers, but it’s not the newcomers’ responsibility to teach them some basic respect and kindness.

During all this Rumpole, via a screen, has been explaining how the test will go down. Her little info session concludes with her telling them to “Prepare for drop-off… See you back home soon.” I really like that she used the term “home” here. It says something about how she views the school and her students’ place in it, despite the tough attitude and tougher culture of Vacuo.

Turns out, when Rumpole said drop-off she meant that literally. The floor opens up and we get a mix of some students panicking while others just happily jump out.

Yeet.

Like I said, Ozpin’s influence.

I didn’t understand the panic initially - aren’t landing strategies a basic part of huntsmen training, something everyone (except Jaune) is expected to know coming into a school? Isn’t it at least partway through the year when everyone, even firsties, has had practice at this? - until I remembered Rumpole’s comment about how she hoped everyone remembered to bring their weapons this morning.

…that’s one hell of a lesson. Let’s break this down for a second. Yes, everyone at Shade is expected to carry their weapons at all times, but the meeting that started all this was early in the morning and, far as I can tell, entirely unexpected. ‘Supposed to’ is not the same thing as ‘will,’ especially when one is dealing with college-equivalent students who are still figuring expectations out. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that someone did leave their weapon behind. So now what? These buses are thousands of feet in the air, dropping students randomly as they jump/fall. If a student did need help how in the world would a professor assist them? Do they just expect other students to help like Pyrrha did for Jaune? It’s possible given that in a moment Octavia will help Velvet despite seeming to dislike her... but that’s not something I’d want to bank on. Whether a student forgot their weapon or has a weapon unsuited to a landing strategy, they’re going to die from this fall. Yeah, yeah, the test is supposed to be deadly, but what’s there to learn then? You’re dead! The lesson ‘Don’t forget your weapon’ or ‘Find a weapon more suited to landing strategies’ will never stick unless there are contingency plans in place to ensure that students survive their first mistakes.

It just all seems kind of flimsy, like everything works out because the plot says it must, not because I believe this in-world setup is geared towards keeping students alive and teaching them how to survive this world. (The reverse of the story conveniently not killing civilians off during a major grimm attack.) If landing strategies are so crucial to a huntsmen’s work - and we see them a lot - why are students allowed to have weapons like Yatsuhashi’s Fulcrum that, far as I can see, provide you with no way of slowing your descent? What if you don’t have a suitable semblance? Or it hasn’t been unlocked yet? What if your weapon would work, theoretically, but you haven’t taken any pictures of other suitable weapons lately (Velvet)? What if you never figure out that there are parachutes on the ship? Unless the instructors have a secret way of saving someone from getting splattered, this seems like a test rife with deadly mistakes, not just encounters. Why not teach your students to carry mini high-tech parachutes on their belts, with weapons and semblances as backups? Incorporate Atlas tech into standard schooling, then give us huntsmen who suddenly have it taken away with the embargo, resulting in a lot of problems. I mean, the students are legit scared in this scene, Velvet included. Having them face deadly grimm is one thing, but why test the odds with a thousand foot plunge when there’s absolutely no reason to? Far as I can see, the schooling isn’t built around ensuring they survive a fall like this - nothing like weapon requirements, or carrying additional gear if you semblance is something like Ren’s - which means making the fall a part of the test itself is... not great.

Which, to be clear, is the fault of the author(s) and how much thought (or not) they’ve put into their fictional school, not the fictional school’s fault because it’s, you know, fictional. Basically, the world building in this series kind of drives me nuts, in case you haven’t noticed lol.

Velvet does find the parachutes, oh so conveniently, and at least has the decency to give one to Sun. Also yeah, kudos for thinking to search for them in the first place. I do like the ‘survival is the only thing that counts’ theme. Cheating, lying, and the like is great when it’s used because the odds are already stacked against you. We get her agreement to try and stick close because remember, there’s nothing like a dangerous situation to remind you to be decent towards someone else. As Velvet magnanimously thinks, “Being with Sun would be better than being alone.”

Okay. Low bar, but okay.

So they fall and we get to hear a fair bit about Vacuo’s history based on what Velvet remembers about each landmark from history class. Honestly, I’m impressed at her recall. I wouldn’t be able to dredge up class notes while falling through the air. We get an abandoned city previously hidden by sand and the somewhat confusing sentence, “These were all that was left of the underground mines, the Drylands, the site of the old Paradise Oasis, long since dried up following Dust mining and the Great War.” Are these three separate places among the rock-less area pockmarked with holes? Or is this a single area of underground mines, called the Drylands (for some reason?), that includes the contrasting place called Paradise Oasis? I’m not sure. The takeaway though is that Velvet hopes Coco isn’t heading to that ambiguously named place because she’s incredibly claustrophobic.

What I find the most informative in all this is the description of the quarries as “physical manifestations of the wounds that still ran deep in the people of Vacuo.” The overall issue of outsiders coming into Vacuo, draining it of its resources, and then taking it back to their own kingdoms (while leaving their trash behind) is the sort of theme significant to our own lives and worthy of examination in fiction… Not saying that RWBY necessarily handles this theme well - especially given the messy conflation of that generational trauma and the awful treatment of any ‘outsider’ who wanders into the kingdom - but I do appreciate when I can see the series trying. Even if it fails, effort is (to an extent) still worth acknowledgement.

What I’m less inclined to praise is the strange follow up of “maybe that was why Rumpole was sending students there.” …what does this mean? Velvet just told us the quarries are the “wounds” of Vacuo, so are they being sent there because they’re dangerous? Because huntsmen will somehow fix this?? Neither of these make sense but I literally don’t know what point Myers is trying to make… which happens a lot. Again, there’s a whole lot of wise-sounding statements in this novel that, at the end of the day, mean very little - if anything at all.

Velvet eventually lands, nearly getting pulled into one of the openings when she can’t get out of her parachute. She’s saved at the last moment by Octavia Ember, a member of Team NDGO. You know, “One of the people she least wanted to run into.” We all knew the moment Velvet worried about running into one of the crueler members of Shade that it would happen.

Their conversation is filled with heartfelt gratitude and riveting greetings:

“Thanks?” Velvet said.

“Whatever.” Octavia sheathed her blade and started walking away. That was more like it.

What is wrong with all of these people? My kingdom for a kind, enthusiastic, non-team exchange!

You know the ‘enemies forced to work together’ conflict couldn’t end there though (a trope I normally love and would likely love here except having Octavia be another stereotypical mean girl was the least innovative choice possible). She and Velvet end up heading towards the same quarry, simply because there’s nothing else for miles around. Velvet displays some quick thinking when she explains that the instructors likely hid the relics in there to ensure they weren’t forever hidden under the sand. Velvet, unlike Yatsuhashi, has also realized that there’s more to the test than just their fighting skills. They’ll be graded on everything, “Including how we treat each other.” I’m always appreciative of characters who use their brains as much as their brawns.

Perhaps that not-so-subtle nudge resonated with Octavia because she opens up a bit. By this I mean she moves from “Whatever” to telling Velvet the traumatizing story of how she lost a third of her clan to Blind Worms in one of these quarries. Okay. That’s a complete 180, but I’ll take it. Velvet continues to have supposed insights about the Vacuans like, ‘Maybe they don’t cry because that’s a waste of water?’ and ‘Maybe they hate everyone on principal because of the past?’ and ‘I guess bullying is just something you’re supposed to survive out here’ (um… no.) In Velvet - and Myers’ - defense she acknowledges that none of these explanations excuse their actions… but I’m not so sure it explains them either. A few chapters ago we were hammering home how teens don’t have an emotional connection to their past, despite it not actually being that long ago (recall Coco’s conversation with Rumpole in class), but now we’re supposed to believe that all of these teens reject newcomers because of stuff that happened during a war they weren’t alive for? Also, I’m neither a doctor nor an anthropologist, but the concept of a desert people refusing to cry because it’s a waste of water - especially in an otherwise advanced civilization - seems suspect. I can buy someone being unable to cry because they’re currently dehydrated, but a whole culture denying themselves this outlet when most of them don’t actually lack water anymore is odd.

Granted, culture isn’t always logical. Case in point: memes. So let’s give that a pass.

However, we’ve still got the issue of continuity across paragraphs. First Velvet is smug because she’s a better climber than Octavia. Then Octavia is ahead and supposedly annoyed that Velvet was slowing her down. It’s unclear when, or if, they’ve finished climbing at this point and a second later Octavia is climbing a tree - why didn’t Velvet do that? Really, I lay little blips like this at the feet of the editors, not the author(s), simply because as an author I know precisely how easy it is to lose track of every detail you’ve introduced. It becomes obvious to the reader when things don’t quite align, but it will often go unnoticed by the writer - like typos. (RIP my own work.) Which is why you need that second perspective to not just catch the big mistakes, but tweak all the smaller ones too. RWBY is now a part of WarnerMedia and Before the Dawn was published by Scholastic. There’s a standard here I don’t think either is meeting.

As said previously though, Octavia climbs a tree because Velvet - with faunus eyes - spotted a trinket the others had missed. Octavia falls, Velvet catches her, and a whole swarm of Ravagers show up, which seem to be a bat-like grimm. Nice. My gothic, vampire, Stellaluna loving ass can get behind that.

Behold: my childhood.

They make a run for it and we - finally - get some solidarity as Octavia admits that the relic is technically Velvet’s and Velvet wonders in turn if they can share it. I offered my kingdom for a kind exchange and I got it! Hurray! More importantly, apparently that is an option because the airbus coordinates have shown up on both their scrolls. I’m not going to pretend that I understand how that tech works, but that’s a level of world building we don’t actually need. Not unless the hypothetical of students piggybacking on another’s relic is a part of the evaluation.

I love that Velvet used her camera flash to scare off the Ravager in their way. That’s a fantastic twist on the ‘Velvet will use her semblance and impress Octavia’ expectation as well as a great way to demonstrate that she is a formidable fighter, capable of paying attention to her situation/surroundings and responding accordingly.

There are more Ravagers though, incoming Blind Worms, an avalanche… and the airbus. A narrow escape indeed. Octavia drops that attention-catching, “Thank the Brothers” as they reach safety.

Going back to my earlier point about Shade seeming happy to kill its kids, apparently Velvet and Octavia were the last to reach the bus and Sun told the pilot to wait. That says good things about Sun, but horrible things about the test. If Sun hadn’t insisted on staying would Octavia and Velvet have had a way out? Why in the world wasn’t the pilot told to wait longer?? The whole timeline is confusing, with Sun and Velvet leaving the airship only a short time after everyone else, but it looks like the whole group was way ahead of them (the quarry is empty of both relics and people by the time they arrive), except Sun managed to get super far ahead of Velvet somehow, and their pilot was apparently working under an unspoken deadline… I’m just taking information at face value because if you try to piece it all together, good luck.

Also sorry, but I straight up laughed at Sun’s “You woke up the Ravagers. And you lived to tell the tale.” That is so unnecessarily dramatic. Oh no. Not the Ravagers. Literally the first thing I thought of was some B horror movie like

Coming only to a streaming service near your couch because we’re still living through a pandemic. Wear your masks, friends!

Back to this very entertaining reaction. Sun, you and Velvet have both taken out Atlesian knights, you fought a gigantic sea monster with Blake, and Velvet just bypassed a nest of Ravagers with a simple bright light. If RWBY is going to randomly try and make the grimm threatening again, do it with stuff that actually reads as a significant threat to these fighters. After you’ve got your first years blasting through (Yang) and riding (Nora) bear grimm at initiation, a couple of bat grimm just doesn’t cut it.

Moving on, Velvet’s iffy perspective rears its head once more as she thinks, “What if Sun had passed by the trinket in the tree, knowing it would be too dangerous to retrieve it? She and Octavia had not had that luxury.”

There’s a lot wrong with this theory:

How do you know Sun has better vision, even as a fellow faunus? As Volume 7’s Tyrian attack brought to the surface, supposedly not every faunus has that advantage.

Velvet straight up says that she wasn’t able to see the Ravagers, otherwise she would have warned Octavia about them. The whole point is that they startled her and she fell. So what, Sun not only has faunus vision but better than Velvet’s? (Do monkeys have better vision than rabbits? I have no idea, but this is the kind of stuff I would google if I wanted to potentially draw attention to it in my book).

If that trinket was too dangerous to retrieve, why did the instructors put it there in the first place? Fox mentioned things being unfair with his lack of sight, but that’s a pretty big difference: easy grabs in a supposedly abandoned quarry vs. a grab that wakes up the whole nest of grimm.

“She and Octavia had not had that luxury” why does this sound like another dig at Sun? Like it’s worth criticizing that he… got there first? Got lucky with the relics closer to the floor? Probably because everything is a dig at Sun in this book, including Velvet’s surprise that he might have “respect in his eyes.” Velvet! He was just asking about you, made the bus wait, and has always worn his heart on his sleeve! Sun’s respect/care is not in question, only how he chooses (at times) to display it.

Not that the story seems to get that. We can’t work through Sun’s questionable choices if we’re stuck in this never ending loop of ‘He’s so annoying/incompetent/willfully cruel’ into ‘Hark! is that a positive trait I see?’ and then back to ‘Never mind he’s awful.’ Maybe Velvet’s pride at his reaction to the Ravagers will finally move things forward.

Which is where we leave off. The airbus scares off the other Ravagers with its guns, the group heads back towards Shade (or a second part of the test? That did feel too much like a normal initiation to be fair), and Velvet ends with the equally dramatic line, “The initiation ritual had been hard and almost deadly, and even worse was yet to come: the assignment of the new teams.”

I have to say though, that is the most teen-accurate thought I’ve seen so far. An 18 year old would be more scared of their team social life than getting eaten by a monster lol.

On that note, drop a comment or an ask if you feel like being social yourself and I’ll see you during the next burst of NaNoWriMo energy! 💜

[ Ko-Fi ]

#rwby #BTD Recaps #Before the Dawn #mymetas

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agentnico · 4 years ago

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The Prom (2020) Review

Last musical film I watched was Cats. That is all.

Plot: A troupe of hilariously self-obsessed theatre stars swarm into a small conservative Indiana town in support of a high school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom.

Ah Christmas, the perfect season to enjoy the festivities, where one can go spend time with their families and friends and loved ones, go to the local pub with your mates, have a German sausage at the city Christmas market, sing carols and go to parties, check out the big Christmas releases at the cinema.....oh wait, sorry, that’s me talking about normal Christmas. We are in Christmas 2020 where the holiday isn’t really a holiday and the biggest Grinch of them all - Coronavirus (oh yeah, I said the C word!!) - is here to steal the fun. But hey, at least Netflix has stepped up to provide us with a major merry musical, and following that totally accidental piece of alliteration, I’m gonna talk about it!

Right, anyone here doesn’t like musicals? Anyone? Lets see some hands, come on, don’t be shy? Ah, there you are! Well, to you sweet peeps I have to bid a swift adieu, as you don’t need to read further on into this review. If you don’t like musicals, you are not going to find any enjoyment in The Prom, as it is as musical as musicals can be. It’s over the top, whimsical, colourful, with many cheesy songs and big set pieces, with folks jumping into distinctly choreographed dance sequences without a care in the world. If you’re into that kind of stuff, you guaranteed to find the movie a least bit delightful. It’s in no way ground-breaking for its genre, this musical is not going to reinvent musicals going forth, but there is nothing wrong with staying old school. The movie plays it safe, and rightly so, and you’re left with a jolly show for the end of the year.

That said, its not perfect. It is a bit too long and certain parts drag quite a bit, and also don’t get invested in too many characters, as you don’t see much of them. Most of the actors are doing a solid job, but they simply aren’t provided with enough screen-time to leave a strong impression. Also, certain things don’t make sense. For example, characters become friends too quickly in this thing. The main high-school girl and Nicole Kidman’s character become besties out of nowhere and during a breakdown the girl confides in Kidman like they are old time buds. Look, I get that getting lost in Nicole Kidman’s eyes is very very easy, but let’s think realistically here. Like, the girl only met Kidman a day ago, and hasn’t even interacted with her much, and all of a sudden she allows Kidman to stay over at her place for a few days like they are childhood besties Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn! Okay, I feel like I may be looking into this too much, but dammit, I like logic and this is not logical! Then again, this is just a silly little musical so maybe I should just be quiet. But no, I shall not be silenced!! I shall nit-pick this thing and you cannot stop me! So, moving on, the film’s main message is about acceptance and love and being true to who you are. Its a good message and I respect the movie for it, but as typical with other Ryan Murphy productions, it becomes too preachy. I totally understand that activism can be important, but when you are bashed over the head with it every single second, you end up feeling like you’re in some seminar rather than what is supposed to be an enjoyable movie. Also, the movie is predictable. If you read the plot, you can guess exactly how things will pan out. There are no surprises there! So save the WOW factor for when you open your Christmas presents instead.

The soundtrack is good. Look, it’s not the best musical I’ve heard, but there are some very catchy tunes here too. “Tonight Belongs to You” and “Love Thy Neigbour” are proper showstoppers, but my favourite one was actually one of the slower numbers. Midway through the film, Keegan Michael-Key (on top form by the way) sings a song about escapism and how the arts and theatre provide a temporary form of freedom and expressionism that cleanse one’s mind from the problems of the real world. It was especially powerful hearing it now, when due to the pandemic so many entertainment venues have been forced to close, causing a lot of them to lose money and go out of business, and as such looking at a future where entertainment and the arts will never be as they were before is scary and frightening.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. No, I’m not insinuating anything about his size, but I am indeed talking about James Corden. Upon release this movie was hit with controversy over the casting choice of James Corden as a gay character. Look, it is a long running debate of whether actors such play roles that are of a different sexuality. In my eyes, I think that any actor has the right to play any role, as long as he provides a quality performance. Personally for me, I think Corden did a good job. Having had experience working on Broadway before, as well as his work on his talk show, he’s got the vocal chords and the showman qualities to play this character to the fullest. And yes, you can assume that he may be offensive with his portrayal of the gay character with the stereotypes, however if you look at the original Broadway performance of The Prom, the character there is played really flamboyantly and campy too. So in my eyes if that is how the character was written, Corden was simply working with what he’s been given. Again though, I myself am not a gay man, so maybe I am missing something here. Nevertheless, I thought James Corden wasn’t bad at all.

All in all, The Prom is an old-school silly musical with a good message and all the sparkle and gloss one can take, and though uneven and rough along the edges, this one can be enjoyed for what it is.

Overall score: 6/10

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franeridan · 4 years ago

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Fran, what are the animes you're into this season, like that one with the pretty girls with nice colors 👀👀👀 (I'm in desperate need of distractions, but if this is annoying please ignore it and also have a nice day!!!)

Definitely not annoying please do allow me to gush about all the anime I'm following this season is full of great stuff!!! I'll give a little summary of what the story seems to be about for each of them, don't read that if you don't want spoilers for the first episodes! * next to the ones I really think you should check out

ura sekai picnic - about two girls (uni students!) who make a habit of crossing into a parallel dimension where urban legends are real and fight with them. one of them is looking for her lost friend, the other is unable to say no to the first and goes with her despite reason telling her it's better to let it go. seems gay atm so bonus points for that! makes liberal use of unnecessary cgi so points detracted for that. The girls are extremely amusing for me though!

* wonder egg priority - the one with the pretty girls in pretty colors! Something just slightly off of being a majokko, in which girls who've lost someone important to them seem to have found a way to bring them back to life by constantly risking their lives to fight monsters. It's more complicated than that, but this one isn't easy to explain in two words - extremely pretty, golden animation, wonderful moods and camera work, all the girls introduced till now seem wonderful! the plot is very interesting too, just on the wrong side of hopeful to make you sure something will go wrong any moment, love that

2.43 - volleyball anime! there's nothing much to say about this one tbh, it's mostly your typical sports anime. If I had to tell you to watch one anime out of this list this one would Not be it, but if you're like me and you enjoy listening to japanese accents you don't hear often in anime this one is amusing in that sense 😂😂 sorry, that's probably not what you want to know about this, but it really is my favourite thing about watching this one haha

back arrow - this one is DUMB. mecha anime in a fantasy setting, about a world that ends with a wall and a boy insisting he came from the other side of said wall and wanting to go back. it feels so random to watch you kinda want to keep on following it just to figure out where it's trying to go?? the protagonist is delightfully empty headed and the supporting cast has interesting dynamics and fun designs - also there's one guy between the maybe-antagonists that's so extremely chaotic neutral I enjoy every second he's on screen ngl

kai byoui ramune - about a doctor who cures supernatural illnesses. I can't say it's an exceptional anime in any way for now, but the sheer chaos the protagonist brings wherever he goes has me hooked for sure. Is he a nice guy? is he a bastard? is he actually both at the same time somehow??? I dunno but what's for sure is that he's exactly my type of character, and the supporting cast isn't half bad either!

* sk8 the infinity - about weirdos skating!!! delightful, fantastic, incredible colors and animation and designs and characters and character interactions, really a bones studio anime, I love it a bit more each new episode out. And it's hilarious! I don't think I've spent more than a couple of minutes of it not laughing in the whole three episodes out atm, really really suggest this one! Biggest selling point is the relationship between the two protagonists for sure, love me two best friends who just love the shit out of each other without an ounce of shame

* horimiya - shoujo manga about two classmates who one day find out they're completely different people outside school and become best friends. Adorable!!! Lovely!!!! Soft AND hilarious, the main girl is a gem and the main boy is just ideal, plus all the supporting characters are extremely charming and fun - the relationships between everyone seem to sail smoothly too, which makes the whole of it really relaxing to watch! I just love it, so glad I'm following it

* kemono jihen - demon anime about a halfling kid who one day finds out he isn't completely human and decides to join an agency that takes care of monsters-related accidents to maybe figure out what happened to his parents. This one is GOOD. First of all, the main protagonist is extremely charming, he's weird in a way that's on the edge of just being sad and it makes you want to keep following him to find out how the new bonds he's forming will help him grow. It IS kind of disgusting at points, but as far as I'm concerned it just adds to the charm of the anime - the visuals are damn great and the cast seems a lot of fun, can't wait to see how it keeps going 👀 I already have it in the list of manga I'll catch up on after the anime's over

PLUS I'm still following jujutsu kaisen, hanyou no yashahime and the digimon remake, but the last two are really just nostalgia things and the first I assume you already know I love with my whole heart 😂😂 this a busy season!!

#replies #long post #sorry i have no clue if you can put a read more on mobile l m a o #bear with this im following a lot of stuff this season #......i hope in didn't miss anything

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iwach4n · 5 years ago

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this is basically an AU me and @snazzieyama have been talking about where haikyuu characters are the actors in Hamilton, and i haven’t been able to get it out of my mind so have an obnoxiously long set of headcanons about it

(i wrote this listening to the soundtrack, proper jamming i tell you)

CAST LIST (hear me out on some of these)

alexander hamilton - hinata shoyo

aaron burr - akaashi keiji

eliza schuyler - kageyama tobio

angelica schuyler - atsumu miya

peggy schuyler - yachi hitoka

john laurens / phillip hamilton - nishinoya yuu

marquis de laffayette - bokuto koutarou

hercules mulligan - tanaka ryuunosuke

george washington - sawamura daichi

thomas jefferson - tsukishima kei

james madison - yamaguchi tadashi

king george III - oikawa tooru

maria reynolds - kozume kenma

james reynolds / the doctor - kuroo tetsurou

samuel seabury - sugawara koushi

charles lee - lev haiba

george eacker - yaku morisuke

the bullet - shimizu kiyoko

HEADCANONS

hinata auditioned for hamilton despite having literally no theatre experience besides like school musicals and like one community theatre show. he was cast in ensemble at first but worked his way up to hamilton’s understudy and then the official hamilton

tsukishima auditioned for burr. he was salty that he was cast as someone else (his dynamic with yamaguchi was too good to pass up and akaashi had a better voice for Wait For It) at first but then he immediately clashed with hinata and took great pleasure with being able to roast him every night

in Alexander Hamilton, the laffayette/jefferson and mulligan/madison parts switch actors every show so bokuto, tsukishima, tanaka and yamaguchi all get to do it. sometimes they switch it at the last minute because “please dude my grandma’s come to watch i need to be on stage as much as possible”

tanaka has the Best fun on stage. he never fails to get the crowd pumped, he is jumping around and bringing so much energy, especially in his part in yorktown. it makes you mad that its a musical and you can’t start jumping up and singing along

suga was cast as seabury because he was perfectly good at the role and they preferred kageyama as eliza, which he auditioned for originally. he’s really good at it but it took way too long for Farmer Refuted to come together because him and hinata kept bursting out laughing. they both consider each other, like, the least threatening people ever, and they couldn’t take it seriously whenever hinata would have to get in suga’s face

SOMETIMES IT STILL HAPPENS!! if you watch carefully, you might see one of their lips twitch while they try to keep a straight face. the minute suga gets off stage, someone always has some cushion or piece of clothing he can laugh into because once he started laughing while his mic was still on

THE BIGGEST CAST JOKE IS ABOUT THE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAMILTON AND ELIZA!! kageyama looks so much taller than hinata (coz he is but its so noticeable when they’re alone on stage) and they torment hinata with pictures where it just looks ridiculous

oikawa always absolutely steals the show. he’s so dramatic, but he’s also one of the most simped-for cast members and sometimes he’ll throw a wink into the audience in the middle of You’ll Be Back to make things more interesting.

also the bits in act 2 where he just comes in to watch and laugh at everything that’s happening? he’s so fun! just because he’s not the main focus of the scene doesn’t mean he isn’t gonna make the most hilarious facial expressions. half the audience ends up focusing on him instead.

daichi is the most commanding washington literally ever. he just comes on and he immediately takes over the stage. he barely has to try to give the character the air of authority. literally the perfect actor for the role

he’s also been in the show the longest. was cast as washington right off the bat and has been doing the role for multiple years. it makes him the unofficial dad of the cast and the go-to for advice since he’s seen a bunch of people do every other role

the “CALL ME SON ONE MORE TIME” line was another one that took too long for them to do without laughing. daichi has been doing this for ages but when he practices with hinata, he can’t help but laugh because this is the kid who he witnessed choke on hello kitty gummies with five minutes until the show began (back when hinata was in ensemble). hinata does the line too well and its hard to take it seriously at first

akaashi singing Wait For It is the literal most beautiful part of the show. he’s an amazing actor and his voice is incredible and it’s the sort of thing you could rewatch on loop for an entire week non-stop without getting bored

bokuto got akaashi the audition for burr, and even though their characters don’t interact too much their chemistry is really good. The “everyone give it up for everyone’s favourite fighting frenchman!” line is so genuine they just really admire each other as actors

lev auditioned for lee for the sole purpose of getting the line “i’m a general, WHEEEE”. he got the role mostly because he was just,,, really good at that line

atsumu refused to interact with anyone outside of rehearsals and performances for a solid month. the instagram of the cast had loads of photos on the story that were just mugshots of him saying “day 24, atsumu still won’t talk to us :(” whenever any of the cast take over it for a day

akaashi is the second most simped-for actor in the cast (after oikawa). you can literally feel people in the audience swooning in Dear Theodosia because he’s just so sweet

when yachi found out she was the only girl in the main cast she was literally terrified. she latched onto kiyoko really quickly and there’s a ridiculous amount of pictures that every fan has seen of those two together

kiyoko is really mesmerising as the bullet!! when she’s lifted her form is just stunning she just looks really nice okay-

every wondered whether kageyama would be like,,, actually good because he just seems kind of awkward off stage, but the minute he’s on stage and following a script, he’s like the perfect eliza

nishinoya has the perfect range for both laurens and phillip. fun and friendly yet still principled and serious rebel? check. small sweet nine year old? check. charismatic flirt? check. heartbreakingly dying from a gunshot wound? check.

tsukishima is a really unique jefferson. he’s not as flamboyant as the role usually is, but he’s super sassy to make up for it. it’s really refreshing and SO fun to watch. “uh,,, france?” becomes “france.” with a ‘are you stupid’ expression

yamaguchi wasn’t expecting to get anything past ensemble but he came in to audition with tsukishima and he is so good at what few lines he has. “which I wrote!” is said with such a scandalised tone, it gets a laugh every time

everyone who knew kenma before thought he’d be too awkward to do maria but he is actually really good once he gets past the initial awkwardness, he manages to portray her like a victim really well

i’ve already done like two of these so here’s some more scenes that took too long before they didn’t burst out laughing: eliza teaching phillip to play piano in Take A Break (just imagine nishinoya and kageyama doing it i can’t-), the duel in Ten Duel Commandments (the height difference between nishinoya and lev made them laugh every time they turned around), 90% of Say No To This but especially the kiss (kenma would just stop and get off like ‘no, i can’t, i can’t do this’ every time it was about to happen while hinata just started cackling)

part of the reason noya got cast as phillip as well as laurens was because he’s one of the only people who auditioned who was shorter than hinata

in rehearsals, akaashi has fallen off the table from The Room Where It Happens because they couldn’t time him jumping while the tablecloth was pulled off. there’s a compilation of the falls on youtube, no one knows who recorded them, let alone who posted it (it was kuroo)

speaking of kuroo, he takes his like five lines and he runs with them. he’s awesome as james reynolds but he’s also the fandoms favourite instagram of the cast because he just posts all the backstage shenanigans. he’s somehow always recording whenever something is going wrong.

he also teases kenma relentlessly about how their characters are married, but kenma is having none of it. it always goes like “awe we’re married” “,,, you’re literally abusive” or “come on, do it for your husband” “i’m cheating on you”

(i stopped here to jam to That Part of Hurrican. i wrote my way out hell i wrote my way to revolution i was louder than the crack in the bell i wrote eliza love letters until she fell-)

bokuto managed to rap Guns And Ships first try. he listened to it like twice, read the lyrics, and he could immediately do it. he took ages to do a convincing french accent though, and it pained everyone

TSUKISHIMA COULDN’T DO THE FAST PART OF WASHINGTON ON YOUR SIDE AND HAD TO ASK BOKUTO FOR HELP

bokuto is just,,, such a good laffayette. he’s jumping all over the place, flexing his muscles while he does the fast raps without looking out of breath at all. it seems almost impossible

also!!!! kuroo has a ridiculous amount of videos of bokuto backstage fortnite dancing to serious songs like Burn or Its Quiet Uptown

kageyama in Burn!!! heartbreaking and beautiful but he burns his hand on the letter too often. he’s gotten used to it at this point so he only slightly flinches when the flames touch his hand. its worrying

congratulations was almost brought back because atsumu really likes it and he absolutely kills it. they recorded him singing it in like a studio and everything because its just that good

when noya found out yaku was playing eacker he was so happy because they’re both short and he already looks ridiculous and tiny enough in the first duel

tsukishima will never admit how much fun he has with “southern motherfucking democratic republicans!!!” but its so clear his eyes literally shine (he kind of carries that line coz yamaguchi and akaashi are a lot more mellow)

oikawa once got dared to fortnite dance in reynolds pamphlet when he’s throwing the one singular sheet of paper. he was going to do it but the directors found out about it and literally threatened to fire him if he did it (they did it in a rehearsal to make up for it)

you know that bit in Your Obedient Servant where its like “careful how you proceed good man, intemperate indeed good man, answer for the accusations i lay at your feet or prepare to bleed good man”? literal chills from the look on akaashi’s face when he does it

whenever other cast members get food gifts from fans and they leave them unattended atsumu will always steal them. only daichi has figured out its him and he has kept quiet on two conditions - he leaves his alone, and he gets half of all the cakes

sometimes yachi just likes to lie down in the middle of the spinny floor and spin to destress. yamaguchi joins her sometimes.

there’s always a ton of people waiting at stage door, and kuroo has made it his mission to come out first and announce everyone as they leave. people play along with it and cheer for every person. some of the cast (mainly oikawa and bokuto) make it super dramatic and do massive bows as they walk out. kageyama never fails to look bewildered despite it happening every day

oikawa chills in full king gear backstage way before and way after he needs to. like half of his instagram is selfies is him in it doing dramatic poses. he’s broken the crown too many times because it fell off his head

hinata sometimes subconsciously does the My Shot dance while he’s going about his life. he can’t escape

they can be sorted into three groups: is the literal sweetest baby to their fans and is kind of shocked they even exist, adores having fans and fully expects them to exist, and the ‘i appreciate the support but pls leave me alone i want to go home’

i don’t know how to round this off but this is getting too long and its gonna keep on going because i’m listening to the soundtrack as i write. maybe there will be a part 2 one day.

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Bridesmaids Ten Years on: “It Should Not Have Been Subversive”

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“From the producer of Superbad, Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin” headlines the 2011 poster for Bridesmaids. It might as well have continued “comes a comedy starring… women!” While the producer in question, Judd Apatow, had nearly created his own subgenre of modern coming-of-age comedies featuring male friendships (regardless of the age his characters were ‘coming of’), a credible, genuinely funny, ensemble laugher starring all women was virtually unheard of. Or at least so it seemed at the time. Quotes on other posters included proclamations like, “Chick flicks don’t have to suck!” (Movieline) and “Better Than The Hangover!” (Cosmopolitan).

Ten years on, it seems both like yesterday when the film came out and also a whole era away: a time when women headlining a comedy movie was somehow strange, “chick flicks” were accepted to be a lesser form of cinema, and The Hangover was considered the pinnacle of hilarity. From a script written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig (who also stars), featuring a wedding where romance is in no way the focus of the movie, and starring a host of funny women, a smattering of gross-out humor, and some of the most honest and empathetic depictions of female friendship around, Bridesmaids was a beacon. And it shines just as strong today.

A week ahead of Bridesmaids’ 10th birthday (its original U.S. release was May 13, 2011), Den of Geek is chatting with director Paul Feig via Zoom. Feig is in Belfast and into week four of his fantasy adaptation The School for Good and Evil (based on the book). When we tell him we can’t quite believe it’s been 10 years he laughs, “You can’t? Imagine how I feel!”

While the movie itself remains fresh, funny, and sweet, that it was considered quite so daring just 10 years ago is a bit of a shock now. Certainly Feig never considered the movie to be subversive at the time.

“But everybody kept talking to us like it was!” he says. “It just made me mad because the whole subversive thing was, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a movie starring women.’ And it was like, ‘Really?’ It was 2009 or 2010 at the time we were making it. It was like ‘Wow, if this is subversive, that’s kind of a sad indictment of the industry that we’re in.’ It was annoyingly subversive. It should not have been subversive. It should just have been a funny comedy starring funny people.”

He’s right of course. The fact is the movie was a benchmark. Feig explains that female writer friends who were pitching ideas for female casts at the time Bridesmaids was being made were all told across the board, “We have to wait and see how Bridesmaids does.” That is a whole lot of pressure for one movie—the idea that Feig’s comedy would influence the cinematic landscape for an entire gender. But the reality is, it did.

Feig is demure when we bring up how much the movie changed the film world, but he concedes that it did help to prove to studio execs that female-led films can make money.

“I’d been told in the years running up to that, when I would be pitching female-led projects, ‘Oh no, you can’t, because men won’t go see it. Internationally, it won’t work. Blah, blah, blah.’ All these rules, rules, rules, and you just start to go like, ‘Well, so we’re just going to accept those rules? So women can never have their own projects?’

“We were able to at least show them, ‘Look, if you do it, and it works, then audiences will show up. And not just female audiences. Men will show up.’ I think our movie benefited from the fact that women would bring their significant others to the film, whether they wanted to go or not, and then they could tell their friends, ‘Hey, you should see that. It’s really funny.’”

It worked. Bridesmaids was a massive success, both critically and commercially, grossing over $288 million worldwide (it’s the highest grossing Apatow movie to date) and bagging two Oscar nominations.

Bridesmaids isn’t the first female ensemble comedy, but it’s undeniable that it was a 21st century game-changer. Without it we may not have had movies like Pitch Perfect and its two sequels (if you think that film isn’t influenced by Bridesmaids, check out the poster), Bad Moms, Ocean’s Eight, Girls’ Trip, Feig’s own Ghostbusters reboot, Rough Night, as well as Melissa McCarthy vehicles Identity Thief, The Heat, Spy, Tammy, and The Boss.

Not every one of those projects is gold and nor should they have to be. The fact that they are allowed to exist and stand or fall on their own merits is crucial. It’s the equivalent of the idea that women in various forms of employment automatically have to be that much better than their male counterparts. Women should have the right to create and star in terrible comedies just as much as men…

Though she was relatively famous before Bridesmaids—perhaps most recognizable for her TV roles including as Sookie St. James in Gilmore Girls—it was Bridesmaids that truly pushed Melissa McCarthy into the mainstream. Nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as sister of the groom Megan in Bridesmaids, since then McCarthy’s become one of the highest paid actresses in the world.

It’s quite astonishing, then, that Feig didn’t actually know who she was before he met her at a table read.

“I had never met her before in my life,” he laughs. “We brought her in for an audition because she was friends with Kristen and Annie, and we were having trouble casting that role. Then she just blew me away. And I can’t believe to this day that I did not know she existed until the moment I saw her because she’d been working a lot before that.”

Feig’s first encounter with the script and McCarthy was at a table read back in 2007. Feig says he was in the middle of post-production on an “unsuccessful Christmas movie” called Unaccompanied Minors, which featured Wiig, when Apatow called up.

“He said ‘I know you like to work with female characters, so you should come and see this.’” Feig recalls. “I remember just going like, ‘Oh my God, we can have an amazing vehicle for the funniest women we can find.”

It wasn’t until three years later though that the project finally came to fruition. Feig says all the basic structure of the script was there but with some differences to the detail. The airplane scene wasn’t originally in the movie, and the women made it to Vegas. The character of Officer Rhodes (played by Chris O’Dowd) was a little different. And the infamous dress shop scene, where the group gets explosively ill after Wiig’s Annie takes them for a meal at a cheap restaurant was, according to Feig, “a little more of a competition about Helen [Rose Byrne] wanting an expensive dress and Annie trying to steer towards a cheap dress.”

The dress shop scene in the finished film has become notorious with food poisoning landing in full force during a bridal fitting, McCarthy’s Megan straddling a sink, and Maya Rudolph’s bride-to-be Lillian forced to relieve herself in the middle of the road wearing a wedding dress. Yep, not only is Bridesmaids a film about women, it’s a film where women have violent diarrhea, a massive taboo, even still. Feig recalls it was a delicate balance to make sure it was character driven and not just gross.

“When we first came up with the idea and pitched it to Kristen, she was a little nervous, but rightly so. I mean, honestly, with Judd and I, two guys suddenly going, ‘Hey, let’s do this,’ it could have been terrible,” Feig says.

“We like to have these outrageous scenes that stick with you, but they can’t be outrageous just because, ‘Hey, let’s just have something, everybody shits and farts all over the place.’ That’s not funny to us. What’s funny to us is the idea of she’s competing with somebody who has more money. She has no money. She’s going to try to compete by taking them to a shitty restaurant and saying it’s a good restaurant. And it’s going to blow up in her face. How does it blow up in her face?

“The funny thing is she’s not going to admit in front of her nemesis that this blew up in her face. And so now the comedy is like, ‘We’re just going to throw so much evidence at you that you’ve screwed up.’ The comedy’s going to be like, ‘I’m fine. They’re fine. Nothing’s wrong. I’m not sweating. I’m not about to die.’ And that’s why it’s funny. Then that allows us to go like, ‘And now let’s just have the evidence be hilarious and go crazy with it.’”

So much of what works so brilliantly about the movie is the chemistry between all of the cast. Wiig and Rudolph were already best friends in real life, and the rest of the cast, who all came from the world of improv, had either worked together or at least seen each other’s work.

“The great thing about comedy people, in improv especially, is they’re not lone wolves,” Feig explains. “They live and die by the interaction they have with the people they’re working with. So you don’t get a situation where somebody is a diva or trying to be like, ‘Oh, they’re stealing my jokes.’ They want to make each other as funny as they can while they also make themselves as funny as they can. So it was just a wonderful, supportive set. I mean, we had so much fun. There were never any moments of anything other than just laughing and having a great time.”

Though most of the cast was recognizable, to a U.S. audience at least, from TV shows like SNL, since Bridesmaids their careers have boomed. As well as McCarthy’s enormous success, Wiig has most recently starred as a main character in Wonder Woman 1984 (with a chance she might return for another installment); Ellie Kemper is now best known as The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmit; Wendi McLendon-Covey is the star of The Goldbergs; and Maya Rudolph seems to be in everything—we loved her as the Judge in The Good Place, among other things.

Pre-Bridesmaids Australian actress Rose Byrne was probably best known for serious roles in movies like Sunshine, 28 Weeks Later and Troy, and while her character, Helen, is something of the straight woman of the gang, she’s had plenty of opportunities to exercise her comedy chops since, with movies including Neighbors, Instant Family, and Like a Boss.

Though the antagonism between Annie and Helen and the effect it has on Annie’s friendship with Lillian is the central tension of the plot, it was always important to Wiig and Feig not to turn Helen into the villain of the piece.

“Helen doesn’t really do anything terrible,” Feig explains. “I always said, we have to face this from Helen’s point-of-view, which is: Helen meets Lillian. Lillian’s this awesome, smart person. And she then meets her friend who she’s heard all these weird stories about and the friend is kind of a mess. And so to her, she goes like, ‘That’s kind of a toxic friend. I’m going to, in a very lovely way, try to steer Lillian away from this bad influence in her life and towards better things, because I think she can go better places.’ So from Helen’s point-of-view, everything that Annie is doing is terrible because Annie’s trying so hard.”

It means that Bridesmaids very clearly avoids the trope that women aren’t able to get along, and Feig and Wiig pointedly wanted to avoid any sense of it being a catfight.

“We like to redeem people at the end,” Feig says. “It’s really sweet to redeem Helen and go, no, she’s just this needy person who has a husband who was never home. And she’s trying. She clearly has no self-confidence whatsoever, no self-esteem and so she’s just trying to buy it. So it just makes everybody redeemable and lovely at the end.”

Feig says he’s always been fascinated by female friendships and says he’s mostly friends with women. It’s another reason it was always important to him that despite being a “wedding movie” that Bridesmaids kept the relationships between the women at the heart.

Says Feig, “I don’t consider this a romantic comedy, even with the Chris O’Dowd love story. To me, that’s just a prize at the end that Annie gets when she works herself out with her friend. But that’s what drew me to it. If you look at my other movies, I’m just obsessed with the idea of female friendship and exploring it on screen, because I just find it to be one of the most interesting and fun and sweet relationships in my life that I’ve experienced.”

It’s this authenticity that helps Bridesmaids still ring so true a decade on. Though a comedy about women, written by two really funny women, which isn’t a romance and contains farts and shits shouldn’t be subversive, it was definitely a trailblazer. And Feig concedes that it’s helped with “getting over that stupid hurdle of ‘chick flick.’”

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“I despise that term because it’s just a way for guys to dismiss movies starring the opposite sex,” he says. “Hollywood is not an altruistic town. They’re not going to do stuff just to do the right thing. It has to make money. We were at least able to show: look, you can actually make money and do the right thing.”

Bridesmaids is now exclusively streaming on Peacock.

The post Bridesmaids Ten Years on: “It Should Not Have Been Subversive” appeared first on Den of Geek.

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