Do you have specific fiction authors that you like to read? What aspects of a story make you want to really dig your fingers in it? Is it horror?
I’ve got a couple! Keigo Higashino for sure. anything Naoki Urasawa does: I will be reading it. Priest (Guardian and Mo Du are all time favorites). also KJ Charles and Andrew A Smith!
ngl I don’t really have a concrete list of favorite fiction writers, I spent several days thinking about this one: like, I have favorite books for sure, but I don’t often find myself considering an author to be a favorite just because their book blew my mind. I’ve only read three of Andrew A Smith’s works, but he’s here because he gave an interview years that changed my entire approach to storytelling, and I still revisit it whenever I start editing a story.
honestly the big thing is that I like character!! I like compelling characters (extremely varied definition of compelling, it doesn’t have to be much, but it does have to have something) I like it when something goes full throttle into whatever it wants to be. I’ll watch a slow paced slice of life romance with the same amount of enthusiasm that I had for Devil Judge, and the 1vs10 beat down in Ipman takes up just as much space in my brain as the ‘let’s not see each other from now on,’ breakup in the Heirs (but for extremely different reasons lmao)
however. if I have to pick something more thematically specific: I like seeing people in power get what they have coming to them, I like explorations and confrontations of political and social injustices. kingdom is one of my favorite shows, and the horror is great, but it was the political-class-power aspect of it that solidified it as a memorable watch to me. kamen rider build did something fundamental to the circuitry of my brain. etc.
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I feel like this is a growing side effect of fans being starved from Tails being the non-action tech guy for so long to where Forces caused a boiling point for so many, some are latching onto Nine or IDW in spite of it. (I argue Tails got drowned out often even back then when characters like Shadow, Silver, and Blaze were a huge talking point back in the 2000s. But still in good standing before Unleashed and Colors.)
While I'm glad the movie and Prime made Tails in general a big talking point again; more positively this time, I am mixed on it coming at the expense of his Modern self. MOSTH and Modern being playable again later in Frontiers is a start, but he's probably not going to really shake this off until he goes solo for a bit in a upfront way. (That, and having more interactions outside of Sonic to show off more of his character. Love their bond, don't love how fans treat it so one-sided when discussing it.)
Anon, you're probably right.
(Though I don't really see what is there to latch onto in idw, he doesn't really do much? I wouldn't even say his characterization is bad, it's just that he kinda. Exists around. I see people hype up idw Tails and I'm like. Wow no wonder people think he's boring and lame if this is what passes for good Tails representation)
The thing with Unleashed and Colors is interesting, because I feel like the characters who had good early portrayals (the aforementioned Blaze, Shadow and Silver) but hadn't appeared since are still remembered as competent and cool characters because this characterization is still fresh in people's minds even though it was so long ago, while due to Tails having more appearances he's more remembered for the more recent ones... (and probably there's a part of "Why can't my supercool fave be in this game, why is Tails here, he's lame!")
I feel there's also the thing that all of those characters had very... impressive introductions. No matter how bad the writing for Shadow gets people can go back to his introductory game and remember what he was invisioned to be as a character, etc.
But Tails's backstory is all in the manual. He even has a little character arc (seeing Sonic, becoming more optimistic and learning to fly/run fast enough to keep up with Sonic, meeting Sonic for the first time and following him into battle), and it's not only only in the manual, it happens before the events of the game itself. Even Knuckles has more of a character arc/involvement in his introductory game plot. (This is how we ended up with early adaptations where Tails thinks that math is yucky and hard despite canon Tails literally being an engineer) Tails just. Doesn't get to make the same impression, and never will, because he's a 30+ old character and that ship has sailed. (And it's ironic to see how people latched onto Nine since he's technically having the same arc, it's just like you know... Show, don't tell. It really works. (And also he's angsty, that helps too))
Yeah... I love people being excited about versions of Tails from adaptations, but it really brings me down when people use them to talk shit about mainline Tails. You know what this reminds me of? When there's a new Scooby Doo adaptation and everyone is like "Finally they fixed Daphne so she's competent and isn't a damsel in distress anymore". And it's like. Do you know anything about Daphne. And. Why are you giving credit to the adaptation for doing something that has always been a thing?
I'm not expecting Frontiers to break through Tails's public image either, but I hope he at least has an enjoyable gameplay so people could be like "Wow that was fun! I wish Sega would make even more games where you could play as Tails!" :3c And then maybe we could get this "solo adventure".
(Though the way it's worded in Frontiers it's more of a "Tails is going to the mountains to train" than "Tails is becoming a solo operation". Like he clearly just wants to get "stronger"(in a broad sense of the word. Though personally I think what he actually needs is to stop basing his self worth on his usefulness and Sonic's opinions. Ironically if he was more like Sonic in this way he would be happier) and is expecting to get back to Sonic at some point. I could live with this though, I don't mind it at all as long as he's actually treated as Sonic's partner afterwards rather than a cute accessory that Sonic talks to so he doesn't look weird talking to the broken robots.)
I love tmosth! Ian Sr is such a good writer, honestly I don't know about his abilities to write a cool adventure plot, but he has the character voices nailed down! (Except for maybe kleptomania jokes with Rouge) But Tails was so good! He was basically a co-protag with Barry (they had a very cute dynamic), we saw him interacting with other characters who aren't Sonic (honestly he and Sonic barely interact with each other there at all), he took charge of the investigation and got to show off his smarts beyond "I fix this broken thing like it's magic"(Though he did that as well!), and he was still shown to be insecure and childish at times, it's just *clenches fist* so good.
Sorry had to take a break to gush, this post was becoming too negative ahaha. Ok back to it.
The Unbreakable Bond thing. Yeah... I also love their relationship, but the fact that Tails doesn't really have developed relationships with the rest of the cast makes him feel very isolated and like his life revolves around Sonic. Even Amy and Knuckles, whose most developed relationships are with Sonic as well, have other characters that they interact with without Sonic being involved, (or at least used to interact with), like Rouge or Cream. Who does Tails have? Professor Pickle? Barry? Please. Tails is getting suffocated by the soulmate bond.
(And I don't love to criticize how other fans engage with the franchise because I also have my silly headcanons and interpretations. Like. I literally hc Tails as nonbinary which he isn't, in canon, as far as I'm aware. But. Yeah sometimes it feels like people are more into the idea of Sonic having a little brother that he can dote on. Rather than, you know. Sonic & Tails's actual relationship. Like I literally saw someone say (genuinely as far as I could guess) "Sonic sacrificed so much to raise Tails" and like. Ok. It's time to step back a little and look at the actual canon content. Sonic didn't even know where Tails's house was in sa1, what exactly is he sacrificing with such attentive parenting I wonder. But I do also love cute brotherly bonding stuff so. (One of the reasons why I love aosth so much, though there are other reasons as well. Also while I'm complaining, nobody understands the "Mom, Dad and the Picket Fence" thing.))
Sorry if this post got a big edgy at times, sometimes I start going and slip into it a little bit, even though I'm generally trying not to complain too much about the stuff I don't like and instead focus on the things I do.
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An interesting point AGAINST the headcanon that Rom was one of the Byrgenwerth scholars is that her title in Japanese original, without a doubt, calls her an idiot or some other sort of severe intellectual disability. The word canon uses is 'hakuchi' which is WAY more direct about it than rather sparing and vague word 'vacuous' localization decided on. Vacuous is more like absent minded or blank... though honestly I can understand why localization team wanted to avoid the original meaning.
Like sure you could pass it as Micolash just being a prick (if not outright ableist)... if it was not for her boss title to use the word. So as far as lore is concerned, she is referred to as intellectually disabled, or called stupid in derogatory way. Both ways to interpret the use of the term raise a question - why would someone severly intellectually disabled (or labeled as a a dumb person by others at least) be a student in the college?
I love scholar Rom headcanon as much as everyone else so I'd say the easy fix could be that the term applies only to her Great One form - like, with all this knowledge and power she just... chills in the lake? The God that doesn't comprehend their power, sees everything but understands none of it. Or maybe the disability of Rom was selective (for example being fantastic at academics but terribly failing at socializing and not doing very basic life skills without help).
Also an interesting interpretation - she could have been like, daughter of Willem who would not be able to study due to her intellectual disability, however that'd justify still being held close. Or she could have been a Research Hall patient who got enlightment listening to the Sea rather than going insane because of how her brain works...
But yeah, it is worth considering that she is unambiguously referred to as having underdeveloped intellect, or whatever is considered such within the lore. The connotation though is way more into disability direction than 'insulting' direction.
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so I really like wuthering heights, it's one of my favourite novels. which means that I've always wanted to find a way to reference it in my asakiku fics (because I love combining things that I like) but it never really worked out...
well today I stumbled upon some articles about how popular wuthering heights is in japan and I'm choosing to interpret this as a sign telling me to find a way to mention it in the fic I'm currently writing
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Do you have favorite actors for the various roles in "Cyrano de Bergerac"? I would love to hear your thoughts!
I do! I actually rambled a lot about this while I was watching the different productions I could get my hands on (I tagged it "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "I talk too much").
My favorite productions are the one with José Ferrer and the one with Benoit Solès, and those actors make the best Cyranos in my opinion. Though that's probably something in part beyond the actors' choice, their dynamic with their respective Roxane and Christian are the best ones, I think, and I find how Cyrano moves around these two particular characters at the core of a good Cyrano characterisation.
José Ferrer's use of his voice, which is arguably Cyrano's true most characteristic feature, is unmatched imo (although McAvoy does a very good job with this too), and he manauvers very well several of the different aspects of the character, such as his playfulness, his shittiness and longing. By the end of the play you believe he is the most beautiful man on Earth. Cyrano, however, is a bit pathetic (not just in a "pathos" way), and I'd say Ferrer gives off an air full of dignity very fitting of many scenes, but that eats almost entirely this aspect of Cyrano; Benoit Solès manages this very well, while also playing well with some of the other ones, such as the playfulness, the longing, the pain and the despair. Both Ferrer and Solès are hilarious, tender, a bit shitty, vulnerable, playful and sad. Albeit neither of them portrays 100% what Cyrano is, I think both come pretty close in slightly different flavours, and by the end of the play one ends up being terribly fond of them.
My favourite Roxane is Clara Huet in the production with Benoit Solès, but Mala Powers in the 1950 film is a close second. I think they portray wonderfully Roxane's spunk, and her mix of honest playful cheerfulness and her haughtiness, her intelligence and wit, and how much like Cyrano she is.
I've not come to love for now any Christian as much as I've loved Ferrer, Solès, Huet and Powers, but again I think the Christians in the 1950 film and the Solès productions are very very good. I love the dynamic they have with their Cyranos, especially the one Christian and Cyrano have in the 1950 film, enhanced positively by the added scenes (they actually work so well in showing their developing as friends, their deep love and care for each other!). I don't want to expand too much on this to avoid spoilers (beyond the already known 'Christian dies' ones I mean), but some things they do with both these Christians are a thing of genius, and both feel vulnerable, kind, ready to fight and truly desperate at times; I like when they do that.
There's an Italian production which has a Cyrano I truly enjoy as well, despite how they dumbify him more than I usually like my Christians. His mix of anger and deep pain when he discovers Cyrano's feelings for Roxane were so well made, and his physical presence makes you identify who Christian is even before the play starts.
The Podalydès production has two different Christians. The one in the version on youtube isn't bad, but @ride-a-dromedary likes Éric Ruf a lot. I actually adore him based on the clips and gifs she's posted of him, but I haven't been able to find the version with him online, so I can't know. But he truly seems one of the best. Based on what little I've seen, I love his intense gazes and subtle gestures.
I'm not entirely sold on any Le Bret, De Guiche or Ragueneau yet.
I think the German musical has a decent Ragueneau in vibes, and the 1990 French film does as well. I found his poem made song for what I think is a Spanish production (I'm not sure if it's a fan creation based on the Spanish production), and while I've not been able to find that production online, the song works well in vibes too I think.
The German musical's Le Bret in vibes is very good. He encompasses well his deep love and worry for Cyrano while also being done with his shit. They truly feel like close friends. The 1950 film kind of combines Gaston de Castel-Jaloux and Le Bret into one character, which sadly changes Le Bret's dynamic with Cyrano a bit, but that's a very good Le Bret as well. The one in Solès' production is pretty good too. He has my favourite delivery of the scene in which Le Bret chastises Cyrano for risking his life sending letters.
De Guiche is complicated. I think productions often make him too pathetic and laughable or too bad, so bad it makes the last act kind of not make sense. The 1950 one, the 1990 French one, the Kevin Kline one and the Solès one are all good, but I am not passionate for any of them either.
And basically that's it!
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