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rikalovesrice · 3 years

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My Thoughts on Trollhunters : Rise of the Titans

WARNING : ALL THE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW

Mmmmm. Okay. So I just finished the movie. I’m fatigued as always so this’ll be a bit of a mess lol. Gotta spew the thoughts while they’re still fresh, y’all know how it is.

Right out the gate, I definitely want to talk about the things I loved.

The animation was, of course, phenomenal and gorgeous!

Voice acting was incredible as always

MUSIC SLAPPED

Douxie. I just loved seeing Douxie again and honestly kept my eyes trained on him for most the of movie lol

OK DOUXIE AND NARI SWITCHING?? BODIES??? Definitely didn’t see that coming and I legit started screaming lol

Nari in Douxie’s body is the most precious, chaotic, and wholesome thing like holy cow that was so adorable LOOKIT DOUXIE CROUCHING AND CRAWLING AROUND ON ALL FOURS WITH THOSE NOODLE LIMBS OF HIS I CAN’T --

We called Nari’s mind control and Douxie trying to reason with her!

In the very few scenes they were together, Douxie’s love and affection for Nari really came through. You could really feel how much he cared about her. ALSO THAT TENDER HUG AND NARI’S LITTLE HAPPY SQUEAK MY HEART NO--

Loved Barbara. Always love Barbara.

Walter and Barbara getting engaged

Nomura back in action

Claire being the powerful sorceress she’s become

Loved seeing Aja, Krel, and Varvatos all together again.

NARI VS SKRAEL WAS ALL SORTS OF EPIC AND CRUSHING EMOTIONS.

The way Douxie yelled Nari’s name and ran to her after she died and the remnants of her magic falling all around him, like she was saying goodbye, just *UGLY CRYING*

It was so cool to see Charlie out of his den and flying about like the mighty dragon he is

Loved the Guardians of Arcadia pulling Excaliber out together.

All the gang all going after Bellroc together

YES JIM MY BOOOOOOY

BLINKY DIDN’T DIE

Aarrgh I love you so much

Stuart, what a bro!

We saw a hint of mercy in Bellroc towards the end.

Toby’s death... That was a huge curveball. Jim might as well have cut my heart out with Excaliber as he sobbed over his best friend.

Uh.....um....and.....Er...what else........ .___.

..........Alright so.......It’s about to get a bit brutal from here on out as I talk about the things I didn’t like at all. And the really sad thing is, at least to me, the cons far outweigh the pros in this movie. Because I’m actually having difficulty picking out things I enjoyed, they were so few and far between...which really sucks.

So here we go.

Gosh, where to begin... I guess I’ll go ahead and say this : I’m really disappointed.

Like as I’m here typing this, I’m just thinking, “...That was it? That was the movie?? The big finale???”

So much of this movie just felt....unnecessary. I hate to say almost like filler. The entire intro re-caping the series really wasn’t needed. And then Toby went and restated it all again when he was being interrogated. The pacing, oh my gosh...Guys, the pacing in this movie was not good. The action started and it never seemed to stop. There wasn’t a single moment of rest, of levity, of our characters just being themselves, getting to know each other, being friends outside of the battle. No Reckless Club Segment. No fun, just... I mean Claire and Aja didn’t speak to each other at all. Douxie and Toby hardly interacted. Steve was turned into a gross male pregnancy joke. Jim and Krel barely spoke. Douxie and Aja had nothing to say to each other. Even Aja and Krel didn’t have any moments together. The list goes on. The whole movie was just go, go, go. And it’s so frustrating because there was time for it but it was poorly executed.

Like was the whole break-in to the Chinese Trollmarket really necessary?? Guys, I really found myself not caring. I didn’t care to see this random side quest involving an insignificant new troll character and a Trollmarket that had little to no bearing on the plot. Did I love seeing Charlie, Archie, Blinky, and Claire? Of course! But these scenes were so pointless. So needless. They could’ve written other ways for all our heroes to go after the chronosphere (Maybe we could’ve had Zoe for crying out loud). But instead this vital artifact was the hands of a character we don’t know and don’t care about in a place that turned out to have basically nothing to do with anything.

Deaths. The deaths in this movie. Because of the pacing in this movie, there wasn’t nearly enough time for the emotional impacts to sink in. Nomura? Gone and the only ones mourning her are Aaarrgh and Douxie, who barely knew her. Walter’s death was handled better since we got to see Jim and Barbara actually having a moment to mourn him. The weight of Nari’s death was singlehandedly carried by Douxie, but even that was over before it started. The immense gravity of Toby’s death, which really got to me, was also short-lived to make way for an ending that...I don’t know.

ALSO DOUXIE JUST??? BEING OKAY WITH HIS FAMILIAR, THE ONE WHO RAISED HIM AND WENT THROUGH SO MUCH WITH HIM FOR CENTURIES, LEAVING HIM FOREVER TO BE TRAPPED IN THAT DUMB TROLLMARKET WITH CHARLIE LIKE???

“I hope he’s happy.”

WHAT. THE. EVERLASTING. FRICK.

Douxie’s reaction objectively doesn’t make a shred of sense. Geez, it’s almost like Douxie was expecting Archie to up and leave him someday to be with Charlegmane. Just...what???

What also frustrates me so much is how this movie undid so much characterization and development that happened in Wizards. Or more like all that development didn’t even matter.

What was the point of Steve’s arc in Wizards if he was just going to be reduced to...this?

I was so excited to see Douxie really being a Master Wizard. To see him lead the Guardians of Arcadia alongside Jim. To see him in action as Successor to Merlin and Protector of this Realm.

But no.

Douxie, who had such an incredible arc in Wizards and a character who’s come to mean so much to me in my life, was nerfed and sidelined.

And then time restarts and I can’t help but wonder why any of this mattered at all. What the heck was the freaking point of the suffering, the loss, the pain, the growth, enduring and overcoming so much, the friendships and family spanning across three shows... All gone. Starting all over. Undoing everything, except what Jim went through. As much as I love Jim, I didn’t think he’d be the only character I’d be getting closure for at the grand finale of this entire franchise. But that’s what happened and I really hate it.

Just...all in all, this movie wasn’t satisfying. Not to me. It had its good moments. But not nearly enough. The comedy was misplaced and fell flat. The climax was sorely anticlimactic and didn’t hold a candle to Eternal Knight. The writing, the direction, characterization...For some reason it was all lost and confused and none of it felt right and so much didn’t make sense.

I’m not at all upset with the writers, though, because they still pulled through and did what they could. When the movie did something right, it was beautiful. The things I loved about it I truly adored. No, I’m not upset in the least bit with any of the creative team.

I’m upset with Netflix. I’m upset that Wizards was robbed of the seasons it should’ve had. I’m upset with big cooperations stifling creators. I’m upset that this’ll be it. This is the ending we got and nothing can be done about it.

Aaron did say there’s every possibility for the franchise to continue in some capacity, and I’m hoping for that someday. Because so much, too much, has been left unanswered. So much left to be explored that couldn’t. But until then....I guess this is it. This is what we get.

Now, I want to remind everyone that this is my own personal experience with the movie. These are all my opinions. If you enjoyed every second the movie, that’s wonderful! And who knows how my thoughts will change upon another viewing. But in the meantime, Rise of the Titans really missed the mark for me. I wanted found family badassery and fluff. But nope. Just fighting and heaviness and no payoff. It’s such a letdown...a real shame.

But yeah...Thanks to any and everyone who read to the end of this haha

I still love Tales of Arcadia. It’s a series that has blessed and inspired me so much as an artist, writer, and as a person in general. I do want to keep making ToA content for a while. Cause this movie isn’t the end. Not my ending, at least.

I’ll continue to hope for more Tales of Arcadia in the future (a Douxie spin-off series please Lord pleaaase). We shall see. Until then, fics and fanart fixing this mess galore haha

Until next time everyone! God bless!

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tiecladartist · 3 years

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Okay, spoilers beneath the cut because I have some issues with Rise of the Titans.

Tales of Arcadia is one of my favorite series ever. It handled the "Kid is the chosen one" situation brilliantly, every character had depth (even characters like Steve, Eli, the teachers, etc). Theme was expertly handled with each part of the series. Destiny, heroism and sacrifice for Trollhunters; Family, duty and home for 3-Below; Legacy, prejudice and family (again) for Wizards. Every season brought me to tears, made me laugh, made me fear for the safety of the characters and want good things for them after watching them sacrifice over and over again. It is a comfort show for me and always will be.

Now, the movie...

So, I don't think it was bad. I also don't think it was good, unfortunately. The animation took a bit of getting used to after bingeing everything else leading up to this, but I can't deny it was incredibly beautiful. It was especially nice to see places other than Arcadia and Akiridion-5. It started off strong with the train fight, and admittedly there were a lot of scenes I quite liked during the movie. But, just the scenes. I liked moments, but overall it didn't come together quite as well as the shows did.

The biggest factor is likely time. I doubt making this a movie was the initial plan since I know production companies enjoy snubbing out strong series for various reasons. Honestly, I was surprised we got an "ending" at all based on the trends of recent shows being forced to wrap things up prematurely. Even Wizards felt rushed compared to the others and as a result a lot of interesting concepts were brushed over quickly. I mean, I for one would've loved to see more Camelot "filler" shenanigans since those less plot-heavy episodes that we had throughout Trollhunters and 3-Below helped us explore the characters and grow to love them, and we didn't get quite as much of that with Douxie, Archie, Lancelot, Charlemagne, etc. But I digress, this post is supposed to be about the movie, not Wizards.

So yeah, I think Rise of the Titans should've been a show rather than a movie. We could have more time before Nari is captured, focusing on the "where are they now" of all the characters after the year we skipped. Jim gets to cook and eat human food after losing that passion when becoming a troll, adjusting to being human again! Maybe him and Toby talk about Barbara and Stickler being together and how it's kinda weird (Toby could compare it to having conflicting feelings over his Nana dating an alien). Krel and Aja have a call about how it is being the Queen and Steve interrupts because he misses Aja. Perhaps we hear Eli in the background doing something related to the "Secret weapon" and the call gets cut off quickly because this leads to a small disaster on Aja's end that she needs to go fix. Claire is practicing her magic with the help of Zoe while Douxie is off with Nari. NARI AND DOUXIE INTERACT WITH EACHOTHER AND WE ACTUALLY GET TO SEE IT! (Like, I know that they were travelling together for a year and that that is why Douxie is sad when Nari dies, but it didn't impact at all outside of empathy because there was no emotional investment on my end towards their friendship). But yeah, we get to see what's going on with everyone, and then perhaps this first episode ends with the reveal of them being ready for a plan of sorts (luring the arcane order and cutting off their magic. That wouldn't be revealed though). Cut to the Arcane Order in their super secret clubhouse saying they're close to finding Nari and you get a decent cliffhanger.

Episode 2 would start with the train fight and go fairly the same way. We see Jim struggling with fighting with no armor. Or perhaps he has akiridion armor, but it's too rigid or keeps malfunctioning (doesn't fit, so to speak). Only difference is that Jim's arc wouldn't be about whether or not he's still the trollhunter, because we've been through that already and he knows. I could get having moments of doubt, but his full on denial was kinda out of place after everything he went through. Instead, it could be that he feels useless due to now being a burden in a fight. Or perhaps instead he's wrestling with guilt. He's blaming himself since the arcane order got the seals due to them trying to rescue him. Maybe both? Maybe he even misses his troll body and feels that he's too weak now. Yes, he's still the trollhunter, amulet or not, but he's feeling less and less capable of answering this particular call, and that bothers him. He doesn't want to be a burden after all. Fight ends with the train crash, arrest, Douxie swapping with Nari, all the same.

Now, this is where things would go very very differently. Have more time before Douxie and Nari switch back. Let the Arcane order monologue a little more. They want to reset the world because the balance has been shifted? Cool! Tell me more! Did they used to try to get along with the humans? Did they try diplomacy in the past only to fail due to the stubborn humans, and that's why they've decided to take drastic measures? Or if not, explore why they believe they're the ones allowed to decide the balance is off. Is it because they're powerful? Or how long they've been on Earth? Did they reset it in the past and thus know through experience? I don't mind not knowing, since not everything needs to be spelled out for the audience, but there was potential to make them characters rather than obstacles, and it wasn't really utilized to its full potential. Allow Douxie to pick their brains a little instead of immediately swapping him and Nari back and only succeeding in delaying things a few more hours. Hell, if it was a TV show I honestly would've had one or two episodes before doing that while we address how that initial failure (and the fact that magical creatures/aliens were revealed to the world) affected everyone.

Maybe I'll go through and like, actually plot out episodes and stuff, but since I only just finished watching, here's just some various things I'd change:

-Get rid of that whole Steve pregnancy. That was just out of place and rather than the "comedy" breaking the tension, it shattered it completely and distracted from everything. If you wanna explore his father-based character arc, maybe have him and Aja discussing the fact that now that she's queen, she'll need heirs. And maybe Steve isn't sure he could be a good dad due to his history with paternal figures. You could even have it that he's taking care of Nari while her and Douxie are switched, and that leads to a situation where he helps her out and realizes he may be a better dad than expected. Or perhaps Blinky gives him paternal advice. Or Strickler. Or even BARBARA AND JIM like, Steve couldn't be worse than Jim's dad, and letting Steve and Jim bond over that would be nice. There was so much potential, but instead, Steve was reduced to an out of place running gag instead of getting a resolution to his character arc. And hey, if you wanna keep the whole male akiridions give birth thing that's cool, but it's gotta be done in moments where it won't distract. Or, you could even have it be that it means Aja and Steve need to adopt because uh... she's inorganic and he's organic? His body likely isn't actually built for akiridion childbirth despite the movie glossing over this fact? And maybe Steve has mixed feelings about someone else being the dad of his kids, but Coach and him talk about how Coach isn't his biological dad, but that doesn't mean he loves Steve any less.

-GIVE DOUXIE MORE SCREEN TIME! Seriously, had this been a show he would have the most potential for character growth out of everyone. His series was the shortest, so really all he got was a confidence boost and moving past needing Merlin's approval. But there was so much to explore with him still. What was up with that extreme burst of magic after Merlin's death that was never brought up again? How has he been mentally handling singlehandedly guarding Nari against the Arcane order for a year? Once he and Nari switch back, does he feel guilt over not being able to protect her? "Merlin wouldn't have failed like that. He kept her safe for thousands of years, I lasted a little over one". Perhaps, in his constant desire to prove himself to the people he cares about, he takes risky moves to try and save Nari again and make up for his mistakes, similar to how Jim was acting in the movie. Eventually, when he and Nari meet up again when trying to break her controlled state, Douxie is apologizing and talking about how he wants to make things right. He sees Nari as a friend; as family, just as much as Archie, and he doesn't want to lose her like he lost Merlin. He doesn't want to lose anyone else (which would make Archie getting stuck in the other Trollmarket, and Nari's sacrifice even more painful later on if that still happened).

-Krel, Eli and Stewart also needed more time. I get it was a movie, so time was short, but still. Krel's entire thing is that he grew to see Earth as his true home, and we didn't get to address the fact that he was immediately at risk of losing it at all. Not to mention the sheer amount of stuff he'd built for everyone. Like, could you imagine an episode where, to break up the tension (in a proper way, not a weird pregnancy way), in the midst of everyone trying to figure out how to stop the titans, Krel has overworked himself fixing and managing everyone's tech. He has to spend a day resting and disasters ensue as no one knows how to fix any of the stuff he usually manages. Like the tech keeping Camelot afloat, for example. Stewart and Eli could be the ones that end up stepping up to fill the Krel sized gap for the day.

-And I know that these fillers would lower the tension a bit, but like, having the titans need to charge up after awakening (like, absorbing elemental energy or something), or perhaps making the Arcane Order have to collect certain things to break the seals in the first place that they had on their fortress but lost when that was destroyed , or any other kinda obstacle to give time between the train fight and the Titans waking up would give time for less plot-heavy, more character focused episodes. And even after the titans wake up, they were moving super slowly and walking across the planet. It's not like they'd be short on time despite the movie making it seem like walking from china to america was a short jog at most.

-Don't give Toby the amulet. Don't get me wrong, I love Toby very much and literally bawled out loud at his sacrifice scene. But like, it made no sense to give him the amulet? Jim doing everything again with years of Trollhunter experience would help solve a lot of problems from his first go around (and I'm not fully on board with the whole time reset in the first place. Resetting to the start of the movie, or even just the fight with Bellroc would be better). Jim knows the burdens of being a trollhunter first hand, and you really think he'd be okay dumping all that on Tobes? Toby, the guy completely content with being the wingman and helping the people he cares about. Toby, the guy who never worried about not having a grand destiny up until the movie. The guy who in his biggest dreams was a Duke, not a king. I think Toby was well aware of how important moral support is and wouldn't see it as a lame superpower. But even if he did, in a tv show they could explore that in a way where he comes to learn just how much that moral support does for his friends. And if you still want his moment of glorious sacrifice (because I count that as one of the well done moments), then do that! But rather than going back in time to save everyone, make it so they sacrifice the stone to turn back time a bit. Risk their victory to try saving Toby. Have them fight Bellroc together instead of it being just Jim, because it's trollhunters, not trollhunter. It always has been, always will.

-And if you're like "But if they don't go back then Strickler and Nomura stay dead!" Then how about they don't kill them for shock factor in the first place? Have Strickler badly injured instead, because by god Barbara deserves some happiness. And think of the potential scene of her treating his wounds, and the two of them think about how things have changed since that visit to trollmarket when they were both hurt. About how Strickler stuck around, and when Barbara thought she'd lost him it scared her. How she's sick of almost losing everyone she cares about. She could talk a bit about Jim's dad then too, and it could be revealed that Jim was outside because he was going to check on them, but stopped when he realized they were talking. And then later on, he asks about his dad, admitting he overheard, and we get that conversation they had in the movie. And if you keep the Nomura sacrifice, give her more of a moment ffs. Like, she deserved better! Have the death be a sacrifice to save someone else instead of just "oops I got caught and I'm in the sun now". Make it deliberate. Make it her decision after a life of serving others. Finally, she got to be the one in control of her fate, and she chose to protect the people she cared about.

There's so much more I could say about this and the potential that was killed by the lack of time, but this is getting long and I should probably try actually doing the work I need to do today.

Edit (Because this just popped in my head and I need to add it).

THEY WERE LITERALLY AROUND THE ROUND TABLE! THE NINTH CONFIGURATION (which like, screw that there are more than 9 heroes here to save the day) WERE THE NEW KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE. They were there to protect the world, and like... did the bond between Lancelot and Steve just not exist anymore? Did that get timeline erased too? Could you imagine Steve fighting to protect the world, doing his best to protect the people he cared about so that he never loses someone like he lost Lance again? He gets to keep his promise to carry on the legacy of the Knights even after they died. THE POTENTIAL WAS THERE!!! THE SET UP WAS THERE!!! BUT NO! WE GET MPREG STEVE INSTEAD!!

#tales of arcadia #trollhunters #3-below #wizards #toa #toa trollhunters #toa 3below #toa wizards #rise of the titans #toa rise of the titans #rise of the titans spoilers

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elexuscal · 4 years

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Media after COVID-19

I’ve mentioned before that Covid-19 is going to almost certainly have a huge impact on our lives. These impacts will be varied, far reaching, and affect varied elements of our lives.

I”m gonna focus on media cuz it’s fun and relatively easier to predict.

To start, we’re gonna see a reeaaal slow down in most main stream films and TV shows. Can’t film if studios are closed, after all- and who wants to risk putting movies out if you don’t know when people will be going to theaters again?

That said, don’t expect this to be immediate. There’s gonna be plenty of stuff in post-production which might have some delay, but still be coming out.

Expect things like books, podcasts, indie games, etc- all stuff that can mostly be done at home, in smaller teams- to keep chugging along. I personally fully intend to fill my Media Void with them

Also, I’m expecting at least one YA novel about a world where Touching Is forbidden because of a Terrible Plague. Protag Girl accidentally touches Love Interest Boy- the scandal!- but sparks fly. Protag Girl will turn out to be immune.

But, okay. What about once the Mainstream Media gets back into full swing?

There’s that one post going around about A Straight White Middle Class Couple that falls in love again. This prediction is completely accurate.

There’s that one post going around about the ‘America- Fuck Yeah!’ piece on how the US singlehandedly stopped the pandemic. This prediction is also completely accurate.

I like to hope, however, there will also be another, much better, more accurate dramatization of the Covid-19 response that will take a global perspective and show Proper Science in it.

I’m fully expecting a “Based On a True Story” heart-string puller about some kid and/or grandparent who gets coronavirus and how Nearly Dying Taught Them To Live. 50/50 on whether they survive or not, irregardless of whether the person its based on did or not.

A Zany Comedy about a hapless dad who gets stuck as his kids’ sole caregiver during quarantine. Hijinks ensue.

Please give me at least one murder mystery where the closed door set up is they’re all stuck inside cuz quarantine.

Zombie stories are gonna be coming back in a biiiig way. I know folks. We’re still barely over the last wave of them. Whether or not it’ll last depends on whether the reaction is ‘sweet catharsis’ or ‘actually this is a little on the nose’.

Sit coms/dramas set in the real world are gonna have to tackle the question of how to address This Whole Thing when they first come back. There will be a few approaches:

A number will just ignore them flat out. Easier that way, don’t have to mess with current plots/timelines.

A handful will wave it away with comments like, “When did you grow a beard?” “y’know, in quarantine.”

Plenty will have A Single Episode about the epidemic. The comedic ones with be Self-Isolation Hijinks, while the serious ones will involve a cast member actually getting sick. Quality will vary hugely.

Soooooo many physical distancing bottle episodes. I’m looking forward to this, cuz I’m a sucker for a good bottle episode.

I’m predicting one or two series/seasons specifically set during Covid-19, for its full duration. I’m expecting quality to either be fantastic or awful, no in between.

Adult animated comedies like South Park are gonna have a field day, one seconded only by...

Medical procedurals. You can just imagine.

At least one of those medical procedurals will win an Emmy.

Annnd... I think that’s what I’ve got. Anyone got anything to add on?

#covid-19 #media

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sunnysaylorboy · 4 years

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my opinion on/a surprisingly passionate defense of Mulan (2020) (SPOILERS)

I’ve seen a lot of ppl ragging on the new Mulan for so many reasons, so I will go over why these (mostly) are stupid reasons and why I love the new movie.

1. Liu Yifei supporting the Hong Kong police. Now this is not a stupid reason, this is valid. I am an East Asian studies major, and as much as I love Disney, when I first heard the news I knew I could not watch Mulan (2020) in good conscience. It went against everything I have learned in my studies, and everything I believe. However, now I am almost positive Liu Yifei was forced to make those comments- I've seen several sources saying so recently. You can look for these sources on your own, because this isn’t the whole point of my post, but I think it's true. A movie about a woman defying her government and social expectations of the time? Hong Kong citizens could absolutely use her as a symbol for protesting against China. It makes sense that the government would take preventative measures before this could happen. But anyways, I was not planning on watching Mulan (2020) until I found out that what she said was most likely fake/forced.

2. The removal of Mushu. Yes, I too miss Mushu but I completely understand why they did that. A lot of ppl make these sort of complaints about the live action remakes not using humor in the same way as the original, but that’s bc it doesn’t translate well. Humor in animated movies is exaggerated or silly, and it works in that medium but if you do the exact same in a live action film, it will come off as too slapstick. Think Will Ferrell in Elf (still a good movie). Mushu’s whole character is based off of this humor that appeals more to kids, and it would have really made the dialogue with him super cringey. and I know if they made him a more serious supportive character people would've complained about that too, so I understand why they did it.

3. The removal of Li Shang. I miss our bisexual boy too, but I actually think they did a really great job with the new guy Honghui. The directors removed Li Shang because he is in a sense, Mulan’s boss, and they felt that it was too much like the #MeToo movement, which I applaud. At first I was upset that supposedly this new character would be a jerk to Mulan until he found out she was a girl, but that's not what happened in the film fortunately. Honghui and Mulan start off on the wrong foot but they grow as comrades and sort-of friends, and Honghui is the first to stick by Mulan’s side when she reveals who she is. Even if there aren’t as many signals of him being bi, I think they progressed their relationship nicely. (I was sorta hoping for a kiss at the end though).

4. Mulan’s “chi.” Apparently people do not like that Mulan already has a sort of warrior streak inside of her already, as opposed to the 1998 version where she struggles to get used to the army. I think this is an overgeneralization. Mulan does struggle to become a soldier, as we can see in the training montage. Similar to the pole and the arrow at the top, she cannot reach the top of the mountain carrying the buckets with her arms outstretched like everyone else at first- then when she manages to do it, she knows she has proven herself. Plus, I like that they gave her more character. We don’t see any of Mulan’s childhood years in the original, so it is a little hard to understand why she is such an outcast. She only had one incident with the matchmaker and suddenly she is questioning her identity. But the 2020 version establishes that Mulan has been different from the start and everyone has known it since then. It makes it more believable that she brings dishonor on her family so easily. And just because she has strong chi doesn’t necessarily mean she is already a warrior. She is told to hide her chi as a child, and she does not tap into it easily- her commanding officers can sense something is holding her back. She is special, yes, but she isn’t “the chosen one.” She still works hard and she still relies a lot on her strategy instead of brute force just like in the animated version.

5. Lack of musical numbers. I do miss the musical numbers. But they did well with incorporating the musical themes from the original into the movie. The little “Honor to Us All” theme playing while she gets ready for the matchmaker? Perfect. The bit of “Reflection” playing when she reaches the top of mountain? Beautiful. And “Reflection” playing at the end when she is recognized as a hero? I was bawling. Also, this isn’t the first remake that Disney hasn’t made as a musical- the 2015 Cinderella did not include “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” (except in the credits like Mulan did), or “Bibbidi-Bobbido-Boo,” or “So This is Love.” I know that Cinderella is an older movie and may not be as beloved to this generation as Mulan, but those song are still incredibly iconic to the Disney brand and I didn't see anyone complaining about those songs being removed. Idk, I don’t think it’s a big enough deal to be upset over it, especially because they included instrumentals of the songs for the live-action version.

6. The addition of the witch. I can’t believe people are complaining about the personification of the hawk from the first movie- seriously, watch the remake and you’ll see how great Xian Liang’s character is. I love the parallels drawn between her and Mulan. Despite fighting for opposite sides, she sees herself in Mulan, and Mulan sees how she might end up if she had chosen the route of evil. I think they did it wonderfully and I’m definitely not gay for Gong Li...

7. The cost. This one, I understand. $30 is a lot to pay for a movie, but I get it because they’re losing money from not going to theaters for a few months. I paid the $30 because I felt like I had waited long enough to see it, I was foaming at the mouth the night of its release, and I had $30 I was willing to spend on it. Ofc Disney is a multi-million dollar company, so I don’t begrudge anyone pirating it bc screw capitalism.

I just had to get this off my chest because so many criticisms of this film seem so unjustified, weak, or deliberately negative. I swear, not just with Mulan, I see so many people who hate the live-action remakes- it’s like they’re trying to find things to hate about them, and I'm frankly getting sick of it. Like damn bitch why you gotta be so negative about everything?? The acting is great, the music is phenomenal and timeless, the costumes are so extravagant, the action sequences make you hold your breath in anticipation... y'all will find anything to whine about and I'm TIRED. And it seems like some of y'all are purposefully ignoring WHY they made these changes. These changes were made to adhere to the Legend of Mulan more closely, to make up for some of the racial insensitivity/cultural inaccuracies in the original, and to appeal to their Asian audience. the 1998 version is a VERY Americanized way to tell they story- so stop complaining, you got “your version” that appeals to you.

Some things I loved were

1. Mulan’s sister. It’s not often we see Disney princesses with siblings. Even though she didn’t have much screen time, I loved Xiu and the relationship she had with Mulan.

2. The phoenix symbolism. In Mulan (1998), there is heavy dragon symbolism as Mulan is preparing to run away to the army. This insinuates that Mulan is the dragon, the protector of the family, and that is why the Great Stone Dragon doesn’t awaken later. In this version, she is instead guarded and represented by a phoenix. In Chinese mythology (correct me if I'm wrong), the phoenix stands for yin and yang, harmony and is often the female counterpart to the dragon. The wings specifically represent duty, which is why the wings of the phoenix spread behind Mulan when she saves the emperor singlehandedly. Though I don’t know if they intended this, in Greek mythology the phoenix is a symbol of death and rebirth. Mulan is reborn again as Hua Jun, but ultimately in this version she is not discovered as a girl, she chooses to fight as one. The moment she does, “Hua Jun died, and Mulan was born again,” as she sees the phoenix once more. Mulan is the phoenix, and she brings harmony after defeating the Rourans. It’s beautiful.

3. The avalanche scene. A lot of the battle scene was different, but I loved that they kept in the avalanche from the original. Mulan’s planning in this one shows how big her brain is, and how well her strategy works.

4. Xian Liang and Honghui. As I already mentioned, I really loved how they portrayed these characters.

5. The fight scenes. God they really got the perfect actress to play Mulan. Liu Yifei leaning back to avoid an arrow from a Rouran? Impeccable. Mulan’s display of her techniques when she and Honghui get into it when they’re supposed to be practicing? So cool.

All in all, I loved this movie just like I love all of the other Disney princess live-action remakes. Disney obviously spent a lot of money on the action sequences, the costumes, the backgrounds, the historical accuracies, the casting, the storyline, everything is amazing. I will definitely be watching again.

#this is definitely like a rant only slightly organized #mulan #a defense of mulan #mulan 2020 #my post #my posts

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zapsalis-d · 3 years

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Hi! ☺️ How're you? a question, in case you feel like it: who are, in your opinion, the 5 best SW characters? From the whole universe: movies, animation, Spin offs, series...😉

i’m great, thank you!! i don’t mind answering these questions at all 😌 it’s very difficult for me to narrow it down since there’s so many amazing star wars characters i love 😂 but my 5 favorite sw characters are:

1. ahsoka tano. ahsoka has always been my favorite character ever since i watched the first clone wars episode when i was younger, and she will probably always be my top favorite. her complex character and development is just *chefs kiss* and i loved watching her grow throughout the shows she’s appeared in, from the clone wars to rebels to the mandalorian! she’s an awesome character and i‘m extremely hyped for her new show 😌

2. din djarin. he’s gotta be one of the best characters star wars has ever created. jon favreu did an excellent job with the show because by episode 1, i already loved him 😂 he was all tough and harsh in the beginning but we all knew he was secretly s o f t e n i n g when he saw baby grogu for the first time, plus he’s attractive even when he’d decked out in beskar and he has those ✨ brown eyes ✨ i mean, how could you not love him? 🤎👄🤎

3. luke skywalker. he is mr. Star Wars himself, how could he not be on the list? luke is such a great character!! i loved watching him develop from a farm boy on tatooine to a master jedi by the end—and i just know he’s taking good care of grogu and training him well 😌 seeing him appear in the mandalorian season 2 finale was dkfjfnfmgmgglg

there are no words to explain the hype i felt watching him slaughter all those dark troopers singlehandedly. that was a whole other experience and i wish i could see it for the first time again. luke skywalker is just one of those characters that have so much power and impact on the movies and shows he appears in. he’s always been one of my top favorite characters since the beginning.

4. obi-wan kenobi. obi is such a soft man and it hurts me every time i see the ending he got in the prequels 🥲 he’s been through so much—people very close to him have died right in front of his eyes, and he had to watch anakin—whom he considered to be his brother—turn to the dark side… his story just makes me so sad because he did not deserve any of that. and in spite of everything, he never gave up and never turned to the dark. he’s a really great character as well 🥺

5. r2d2. sassy space robot. i love~ 💕

#thank you for this #it was fun!!#zappy answers #star wars #ily kind anons #the mandalorian #rebels #tcw

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coolgreatwebsite · 3 years

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Cool Games I Finished In 2020 (In No Real Order)

Oh, hey! Right! I have a website! I’m like a week late on writing this, but what’s a week on top of an entire year of not writing, right? 2020 was... well, we all know what 2020 was. For me personally, it was simultaneously the best and worst year of my life. The worst in both ways you can probably assume and ways you definitely can’t (neither of which I’ll be getting into), and the best in ways I absolutely never would have guessed. That uncertain job I mentioned last year got very suddenly much more certain, at a much bigger company, for a much larger amount of money. That allowed me to get my own place, making my weird living situation much less weird. Still haven’t gotten the majority of my belongings off of the east coast, but if the entire world wasn’t currently fucked up by a global pandemic I’d have sorted all that out too. What I’m saying is that, for the third year in a row, my life has been a complete whirlwind that has left me very little time to get comfortable with any aspect of it. But I did manage to play more video games than I did last year! Which is perfect, because it’s once again time for another one of these. Here’s a bunch of cool games I experienced for the first time in 2020.

Astro’s Playroom (PlayStation 5, 2020)

My one word description of Astro's Playroom is "delightful". It's just an absolute goddamn delight. A total surprise too! Included with every PlayStation 5, Astro's Playroom is, in my opinion, one of the best pack-in games of all time.

First off, it's an incredible tech demo for the PS5's new DualSense controller. It was easy to brush off Sony's talk about the controller's haptic feedback and triggers as some Nintendo-style HD Rumble bullshit, but it really is incredibly cool once you get your hands on it. The game is obviously more than a tech demo though, or else it wouldn't be on here. It also just so happens to be an extremely solid and fun platformer on top of that. Astro controls exceptionally well and the levels are all well-designed and fun, even the gimmick vehicle ones designed to show off different features of the controller. It also has an oddly compelling speedrun mode, made all the more compelling by the PS5 notifying you when your friends beat your times and the ability to load into it within two seconds from anywhere on the console. But the biggest thing for me and, call me a mark, because I am, is that the game is an honestly incredible love letter to PlayStation history.

For the first time ever, Sony has pulled off a nostalgia piece without it ending up as embarrassing garbage in the vein of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. There's a Nintendo-like joyful reverence for all things PlayStation oozing out of every single corner of this game. There are so many nods and references and gags for literally every PlayStation thing of note throughout the the last 25 years, and then on top of that there's a whole heap more for the things that AREN'T of note that only hyperdorks like me would get! A sly reference to the ill-fated boomerang controller? Yep. A goof on the fat PS3's Spider-Man font? You betcha. A trophy you can earn by repeatedly punching a Sony Interactive Entertainment sign until it breaks and reveals the Sony Computer Entertainment sign it was slapped on top of? Yeah buddy. It's deep cuts all the way down, even up until the final boss which had me grinning like a total dipshit the entire time. The game is endlessly, effortlessly charming.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo Switch, 2020)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the perfect game at the perfect time. That doesn't mean it's a perfect game, I actually have some issues with it, but it could not have released at a better time than when it did. It came out at the very very beginning of everyone going into lockdown due to the pandemic, and it was the biggest game in the world for a couple of months as a result. I played like 300 hours and that pales in comparison to the amount of time many others put into it.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the most different Animal Crossing game there's ever been, and I'm of two minds on it. Like, I loved the game, I played a ton of it, but it's lacking so much of the stuff that made me love Animal Crossing in the first place. The series has been slowly trending in this direction for a bit now, but it's not really a game that happens around you anymore. It's all about total player control. You select where everything goes, you customize every detail of everything to your liking, hell, you can even terraform the landmass to be exactly what you want. Your neighbors take a backseat in focus and end up as little more than decorations with limited dialogue and next to no quests associated with them. Series staples like Gyroids are missing in action. Facilities and services that have been around since Wild World aren't implemented. It's similar to past Animal Crossing games in a lot of ways, but on the whole it feels like a different thing.

But like I said, two minds. New Horizons strays from what I truly want from an Animal Crossing game, but I can't deny that the game as it is is a hell of a lot of fun. There's SO much you can do and SO many options, it's super addictive. Plus it implemented my long-requested feature of letting you effortlessly send mail to friends online! Too bad the actual online play is as cumbersome as ever.

In conclusion, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a land of contrasts. I'm kidding. It's good, but definitely missing something in a way where I can understand some people being disappointed in it. I had a ton of fun though, and I'm probably going to get back into it later in 2021.

Trials of Mana (Nintendo Switch, 2019)

Late in 2019, with the physical release of Collection of Mana for the Switch, I decided I was going to play through each game on it for the first time and finally find out what this whole Mana thing was about. I went into Final Fantasy Adventure (the first game in the Mana series, because every RPG had to be Final Fantasy back then) with zero expectations and found a totally serviceable little Zelda-like with light RPG elements. I enjoyed my time with it. I went into Secret of Mana with the expectation of it being a beloved classic and found the worst game I beat that year, hands down. That game fucking sucks. I get why it made an impression on people at the time, but it's just so so SO awful to play. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed. Honestly, I would have been disappointed even if I hadn't heard it was one of "the best games" for so long. It would have been a disappointing follow-up to Final Fantasy Adventure, a game that in and of itself isn't anything incredible. Secret of Mana is just that rotten.

I braced myself for more disappointment when (after a much needed vacation from the series) I started up Trials of Mana. This game had a reputation too, as a long-lost classic that never made it stateside. One of the best games on the Super Nintendo, criminally never released for western audiences! Like Secret of Mana before it, I'd heard nothing but effusive praise. Unlike Secret of Mana, however, I was very pleased to find out that Trials of Mana mostly lives up to the hype. From a gameplay standpoint, Trials is an improvement on Secret in almost every single way. It's not perfect. The menus are still kinda clunky, animations for things like magic and items are still frequently disruptive. But the main thing is it actually plays like a sensible video game designed by humans with brains. Attacking is responsive! Hitboxes aren't complete nonsense! You don't constantly get stunlocked to death! There are more answers to combat than casting the same spell for five straight minutes to kill your enemies before they get a chance to move! It's great!

On top of being an enjoyable video game to actually play, the presentation is top notch. Secret of Mana could be a pretty game with decent music in some spots, but Trials is consistently gorgeous and the soundtrack is across the board great instead of randomly having songs that sound like clown vomit. And while Trials of Mana doesn't have the deepest story in the world, it manages to avoid being completely paper-thin like Secret. The story actually kind of has a reason for being a bit straightforward, and the reason is that it has a really cool system where you pick your three playable characters from a pool of six. Each character has their own goals and storyline, some of which line up with other potential party members, some of which don't, and you'll even run into the characters you didn't choose as NPCs along the way. This and the relatively brisk pace of the game make it highly replayable.

I'm really glad that Trials of Mana made it over here in an official capacity, even if it was like 25 years late. It's as good as I expected Secret of Mana to be and singlehandedly saved my interest in seeing any more of the series. I'm aware the quality of what came after is very spotty, but I'll get to the rest eventually!

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PlayStation 4, 2020)

They (almost) did it. They (basically) pulled it off. They remade (a chunk of) Final Fantasy VII and (for the most part) didn't fuck it up. Ok, funny parentheticals aside, Final Fantasy VII Remake is astoundingly good coming off of over two decades of just absolutely dreadful post-FF7 sequels, side games, and movies.

Final Fantasy VII has been historically misremembered as this kind of miserable, angsty, brooding thing, both by fans and by the company that made it. FF7-branded media after FF7 itself is a minefield of changed personalities, embarrassing original characters, and monumentally lame stories. Final Fantasy VII Remake is the first post-FF7 anything that actually remembers the characters, setting, and plot of Final Fantasy VII and what made them memorable and special to people in the first place. Which isn't to say it's a slavish recreation! There's a ton of changes and additions, and I actually like almost all of them! Except for some really big stuff I'll touch on in a bit!

The combat in Final Fantasy VII Remake is great. I was super skeptical about it when the game was first announced, but they actually managed to make the blend of real-time action and turn-based RPG menuing fun and engaging. The characters all play super differently from each other too, which is a huge and welcome difference from the original game. The Materia system fits like a glove in this revamped combat system as well. The remixed music is good as hell, and the visuals are beautiful (outside of a couple of very specific spots that I'm kinda of surprised they haven't fixed in a patch yet). It's a well-executed package all around.

But alas, as always, there are negatives. For starters, this is only part one of the overall Final Fantasy VII Remake project. It goes up to the party leaving Midgar which, as you may or may not recall, is the first six hours of the original game. They compensated for this by fleshing the hell out of the Midgar section the game, ballooning the overall playtime to total of about 30-ish hours. The game feeling padded is a common complaint but for what it's worth, I didn't really feel it until the unnecessarily long final dungeon, There's also the previously mentioned and funny parenthetical'd changes and additions I don't like.

This is big time spoilers for this game so if you don't want that jump ahead to the next game on the list. The Whispers suck ass. Final Fantasy VII Remake should have been brave enough to be different without having to constantly derail everything in the most ham-fisted and intrusive way possible. You can have Jessie twist her ankle without making a spooky plot ghost trip her. I don't want to fight the physical manifestation of the game everyone thought they were getting as an end boss. If you're not doing a straight remake, that's fine, but have the fucking guts to stand by your artistic decisions without feeling the need to invent the lamest deus ex machina I've ever fucking seen. The last couple of hours of this game are 100% about the Whispers and are awful for it. It's a true testament to the strength of the rest of Final Fantasy VII Remake that this aspect didn't completely sour me on it. I can only hope that they stay dead and gone for good in the games yet to come and the remake can be different while standing on its own two feet.

I truly cannot wait for the next entry in the Final Fantasy VII Remake project. I'm excited for Final Fantasy VII in a way I haven't been since the late 90s. I have a bit of trepidation that they could royally screw it up. I mean, they already got kinda close, as I said in my last paragraph. But they got so much right in this entry that, for the first time in decades, I'm willing to believe in Square Enix when it comes to Final Fantasy VII.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PlayStation 4, 2020)

My one word description of 13 Sentinels is "fucking crazy". I realize that's two words, but shut up. A bizarre hybrid of visual novel, adventure game, and strategy RPG, 13 Sentinels not only makes that work, but makes it work incredibly well.

The story is fucking bonkers. It's told entirely non-linearly and is purposefully dense and confusing, but it does an amazing job of hooking you with a cast of likable characters and some impressively well-paced twists, made all the more impressive by the fact that you can tackle the story in basically whatever order you want. I'll say it again for those in the back, the story is Fucking Bonkers. Wherever you think it's going, it's not going. Where it is going is PLACES. Seriously, if you want a wild goddamn ride, this is the game for you. The presentation is also stunning. It's a drop dead gorgeous game with a really nice soundtrack. Easily Vanillaware's best looking game, which is saying something seeing as looking good is Vanillaware's whole deal.

If I had to levy one criticism against the game, it's that the strategy RPG portion is just kind of ok. It's enjoyable enough, it doesn't get in the way and there's not too much of it, but once it starts introducing armored versions of previous enemy types it's kind of done doing anything different. It is really good at getting people to out themselves as having no idea what tower defense is as a genre though!

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (Nintendo Switch, 2018)

I haven't really historically been a "Musou Guy". Not to say I've actively disliked them, they're just not something I've seeked out very often or played very much of. Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition kinda turned me into a "Musou Guy" a little bit? It's good, surprisingly-less-mindless-than-you'd-think fun.

I actually super don't care about the Zelda branding. I think all the fanservice stuff is meh at best. What I do care about is that there's a ton of character variety and a metric shitload of content. There's so many different characters and weapons for those characters that all play differently from one another and SOOOOOO many levels to play. Like the story mode is, again, kinda meh, the real meat of the game is the Adventure mode and there's a ton of it. It's 8 different world maps, each based off a different Zelda game, with each square of the map containing a little mini-scenario with unique objectives and rewards. There has to be at least 1000 scenarios between all the maps. There's so much. And that's not even getting into some of the other side stuff like the challenge modes and the fairy raising. It's a crazy amount of game in this game.

And again, it's not as mindless as it'd seem. It's not really a game ABOUT destroying 5000 guys, it's an area control and resource management game where the 5000 guys are one of those resources. Knowing who to send where and when to fight who is way more important than pressing the XXX YYY XXX YYY on the more than one million troops.

I'd say that if you're even cursorily potentially maybe interested in a musou game, this is the one to try. And if you like it, it could literally be your forever game. A sequel came out recently too, and I'm looking forward to trying that out soon.

Phantasy Star Online 2 (Xbox One, 2020)

Phantasy Star Online 2 finally came stateside in the year 2020, eight years after its initial Japanese release and initial American cancellation. It's no Phantasy Star Online 1, but it is a really fun game in its own right provided you can find the willpower to break through its clunkiness and eight years of confusing poorly tutorialized free-to-play MMO cruft.

The main thing going for PSO2, and this is a major improvement from PSO1, is that the act of engaging in its combat is fun. The combat is just feels really really good. There's a bunch of different weapon types and classes, and once you find the ones that really click with you you're in for a good time, whether you're izuna dropping dudes with wire claws or literally doing air juggles and rainstorm from Devil May Cry with the dual machine guns.

The other stuff around that combat is weird. I generally like it, but it's weird. The story mode is one of the most bizarrely presented things I've ever seen. It apparently used to be something you'd seek out in the levels themselves, but presently it's just a list of scenes you pick from a menu and watch with next to no context until it makes you fight a boss sometimes. There's some weird moments in there that MIGHT have been cool if it were presented in literally any other way?

The systems and presentation are also way more... I dunno, pinball? Pachislot? In very stark contrast to how chill original Phantasy Star Online was, everything in PSO2 is designed in a way to maximize that flashy light bing bing wahoo you got ~*~RARE DROP CHANCE UP~*~ feeling. Which isn't to say I don't like flashy light bing bing wahoo, but it's a weird different thing.

Was it worth the wait? Yeah, sure! For me! This is another one that I played like 300 hours of! I haven't even seen half of it, I fell off right before Episode 4 released because it coincided with my move! I'm gonna go back and see all that shit! PSO2's fun! A different flavor of fun than the original, sure, but fun all the same. Another one that I'm glad finally made it over here.

Riichi Mahjong (A Table, 1924)

Holy shit I fucking did it I finally learned how to play Mahjong and it rules.

It started when I picked up Clubhouse Games for the Switch. I saw that it had Riichi Mahjong and something in my brain snapped. For whatever reason, I decided that this was the time I was going to rip the band-aid off and figure this shit out. It wasn't too dissimilar to the first time I decided to try eggs, but that's a different and much stupider story for a different time. I did the tutorial in Clubhouse Games, looked up some more basics and advice because the tutorial wasn't super amazing, and I kept playing while being aided by the game's nice helper features like the button that pulls up recommended hands. I kept playing and... sorta got it. I learned the basic rules, but none of the strategy. And then I stopped playing for a few months.

In that few months, for whatever reason, a decent amount of people I know had their brains snap the same way? Like a more-than-two amount of people I'm either friends with or following online also decided to learn Mahjong. I decided to get back on the horse and downloaded Mahjong Soul and I don't know whether it was perseverance or the power of anime babes, but this time I got it. I still refer to a sheet with all the hands and whether they work open or closed, and I'm by no means a master player, but I actually honest to god understand what I'm doing and it's an incredible feeling.

Mahjong has such a huge amount of what I like to call "Get That Ass" energy. It is the energy you feel when you get someone's ass. In Mahjong you are either constantly getting someone's ass or getting your ass gotten. Someone puts down the wrong tile and you fucking GET THEIR ASS DUDE! They're got!! They're a fucking idiot that put down the wrong thing and now you have their points!!! Or you draw what you need yourself and you're a brain genius all according to plan and everyone gives you points because you're so wise!!!! It's great!!!!!

Mahjong has long been one of those games where I'd say "I'll learn this someday" and never reeeeally actually try to learn, and I'm so glad I finally took the effort to because it's good as hell. And, truth be told, it wasn't THAT hard to learn? Like you can get to the point where I was where I didn't know the strategy fairly easily in my opinion, and once you do that It's just a matter of continuing to play to understand the rest. I highly recommended that you also go out and learn it if you similarly revel in getting that ass, it's so satisfying once you do.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PlayStation 4, 2020)

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio took a big gamble with Yakuza: Like a Dragon. After seven games (more if you take spinoffs and remakes into consideration) they decided to focus on a new main character and, even more unexpectedly, they decided to change things up by turning the series into a turn-based JRPG. Their gamble paid off in spades. This is easily in my top 3 favorite Yakuza games.

The JRPG gameplay is surprisingly solid. There's definite room for improvement, but they nailed a bunch of it right out of the gate. Some mechanics are a little janky and I wish the job system was more fleshed out or just worked more like Final Fantasy V's, but they nailed one of the most important things and made the battles brisk and fun. It's a great foundation, especially for a team that's never attempted anything like this, and it's way more fun than the combat's been in any of the previous Dragon Engine games. I can't wait to see them iterate on it.

Everything else is top fuckin' notch. The music is great, the side content is fully fleshed out in a way it hasn't been since before they switched to the Dragon Engine, and I love the characters and story so much. Yakuza has a new main character in Ichiban Kasuga, and he's my son and I love him. Kiryu was great, and I love him too, but he was a bit of a passive protagonist. Stuff happened around him and he mostly just stoically reacted to it. Ichi is a much more active lead and it's great. He's a big lovable dope, and his tendency to keep an upbeat attitude and eagerness to leap into action is such a breath of fresh air. And it's not only Ichiban, since this is an RPG you have a whole party of characters and they're all great! Having them with you at all times bantering with each other and reacting to things is another great change of narrative pace, too.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon just straight up rules. As someone who has historically not been too much of a fan of the Dragon Engine games, it's simultaneously a refreshing new take on the series and a fantastic return to form. I can't wait for what comes next. Wherever Ichiban goes, I go.

Moon: Remix RPG Adventure (Nintendo Switch, 2020)

After 23 years of Japanese PS1 exclusivity, Moon: Remix RPG Adventure finally got an English release this year for Nintendo Switch. I'm glad it did, because Moon isn't just the very definition of A Sebmal Game. It's the Sebmal Game missing link. In addition to being just a great video game, it helped me make a mental throughline for a bunch of games I love and a large part of my taste in video games.

To keep a long story short (seriously, I have a much much longer version of this saved in my drafts that I'll maybe finish someday), Moon turned out to be not the JRPG I assumed it was, given the title and basic story pitch, but a secret prequel to a game I love named Chulip. Moon's developer, Love-de-Lic, was formed by a handful of ex-Squaresoft employees, many of which worked on an extremely formative game I love named Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Love-de-Lic broke up in the year 2000 and its staff went on to form a bunch of different studios that ended up making a BUNCH of different games I love like Chibi-Robo, Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, Dandy Dungeon, and the aforementioned Chulip. These games, when you make the connection and line them up, all have a very distinct weirdness in common that makes perfect sense once you've realized many of the same people worked on them. Figuring this all out felt like snapping a piece of my brain back in place, and it was really crazy to come to understand exactly how much this studio that formed and disbanded decades before I'd even heard of them had impacted my tastes and, hell, my life.

So what is Moon, for those who don't innately understand what I mean by "a secret prequel to Chulip"? Moon is an adventure game where you explore a world with a day/night cycle, learn about that world's inhabitants, and eventually solve their problems. Think of it kind of like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, but if the sidequests were the entirety of the focus with no Groundhog Day time reset mechanic and none of the Zelda stuff like combat and dungeons. You play as a young boy who, after a late night JRPG binge session, is sucked into the world of the game he was just playing. Everything is off from the way it was portrayed while the boy was playing the game, though. The hero he had previously controlled is actually a silent menace, raiding peoples' houses for treasure and slaughtering every innocent animal that crosses his path in an endless quest for EXP. The townspeople seem more concerned with problems in their day-to-day lives than the supposed world threatening crisis outlined in the game's intro. It's up to you as the boy to investigate this world's mysteries, help the townsfolk, mend the damage the hero has done, and eventually restore love to a loveless world.

Speaking of love, I fucking loved Moon. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the music, I loved the way it looks (even though the Switch port is a little crusty in that basic emulator-y kinda way), I loved how constantly bizarre and surprising and funny it was. Like I said earlier, it's the very definition of a game made for me. It was essentially the progenitor of a long line of games made for me, and of games potentially made for me but I don't know yet because I haven't played them due to not understanding Japanese (UFO: A Day in the Life translation next please? Anyone from Onion Games reading this??). For as similar as Moon and Chulip are in their systems and pacing, I think I might actually like Moon better despite it coming earlier? It's not as full force maximum impact absurd as Chulip is, but it is a lot more playable and less obtuse once you get a grip on the time limit mechanic. You don't need a full strategy guide included in the instruction manual for Moon, and you don't need to exchange business cards with every single character to get information vital to finishing the game either.

I truly cannot recommend Moon enough if your taste in games ventures anywhere off the beaten path. Maybe this is a little conceited of me, but I assume if you're reading this article, let alone this far down into it, you relate to my video game opinions at least a little bit? You should play Moon. Everyone reading this sentence should play Moon. Moon: Remix RPG Adventure is my game of the year for the year 2020.

These games were also cool, I just had less to say about them:

Death Stranding (PlayStation 4, 2019): Death Stranding, much like Metal Gear Solid V, was a game I enjoyed for the gameplay and not much else. The story, characters, and writing were a huge disappointment for me, but man if I didn't enjoy lugging those boxes around and setting up my hellish cross-continental goon summer camp lookin' zipline network. Mr. Driller Drill Land (Nintendo Switch, 2020): I am a known Mr. Driller Enjoyer, and I enjoyed this Mr. Driller. Originally released for the Gamecube, Mr. Driller Drill Land is another long-time Japanese exclusive that finally came stateside this year and it's packed with new and novel twists on the Mr. Driller format. It looks super sharp, the music's great (also the credits music is the most impossibly out of place and extra as hell shit in the world and it's hilarious), and it's just a good ass time. The main campaign is pretty damn short, but if you're a post-game content kinda guy it has that and it's all super hard. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 (PlayStation 4, 2020): They finally made another good new Tony Hawk game, and all it took was perfectly remaking two of the best old Tony Hawk games! Plays exactly like you remember it with the added benefit of the best mechanics from up to THUG1, looks great, packed full of content, even has most of the music alongside some mostly crappy new stuff. It's the full package as is, but I do hope they end up adding THPS3 to it eventually. Mad Rat Dead (Nintendo Switch, 2020): Mad Rat Dead was a pleasant surprise that I only picked up because I saw a couple of people on my Twitter timeline constantly talking about it. A fun and inventive platformer where all your actions need to be on beat with the music. The gameplay feels great (aside from some not so great performance issues on Switch), the soundtrack is fun, and it's got a real good style to it. Demon's Souls (PlayStation 5, 2020): I love Demon's Souls and this is Demon's Souls. It plays exactly the same with some minor quality of life changes. I don't agree with many of the artistic changes, but there's no denying it looks incredible on a technical level. If you want to play Demon's Souls again or for the first time, this is a perfectly valid and fun way to do so. Groove Coaster: Wai Wai Party!!!! (Nintendo Switch, 2019): Groove Coaster is one of my favorite rhythm games, and they finally made an acceptable at-home version with Wai Wai Party. It's not a perfect replication of the arcade game control-wise, I have some issues with the song choices, and the pricing is frankly fucking ridiculous if you're not a Groove Coaster maniac like I am, but the same ultra satisfying gameplay is all there. You can even play it vertically in handheld mode! Flip Griiiiiiiip!

And we're done! Phew! Honestly didn't realize I played that many good games until I typed all this out. Thanks as always for reading this far. I'm gonna try and get back to regularly posting Breviews this year at the very least. Honestly don't know if I'll get anything else up on here, but we'll see. Here's to hoping 2021 is a little bit less of a nightmare!

#article #Year Wrapup

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mulanxiaojie · 4 years

Link

Disney’s new live-action Mulan trailer debuted during Women’s World Cup Finale on Sunday. There have been waves of praises from everywhere about how “authentic” and “truer to the source material” and “respectful to Chinese culture” the movie would be, judging from the trailer.

Eh… Really? How? From the trailer, this movie might be slightly better than the original animation, but still nowhere near “authentic” or “respectful” to my culture.

花木兰 or Hua Mu Lan or Mulan Hua is a Chinese folk hero. She might be a real historical figure, but there wasn’t any solid historical record of her existence. She first appeared in a poem called “The Ballad of Mulan” from North Wei dynasty (from 386 to 534 AD). The narrative poem has 6 verses, depicting Mulan journey. She disguised as a man to join the army in the position of her elderly father. She had purchased the equipment and reported to duty at the camp. She had served 10 years in the army, rising to a prominent position and was commended by the emperor. She gave up position and reward and went home to her family. She removed her armor and changed into her female clothing and meet her comrades for the first time.

Hua Mu Lan later gains popularity as a unique female warrior hero in Chinese culture. In many ways, Hua Mu Lan in Chinese culture is very similar to King Arthur or Robin Hood in Western culture. While these characters might not be historical figures, they’re an important part of its respective culture.

Now let’s talk about Disney’s Mulan.

Do you notice what’s NOT in the original Mulan poem? Matchmakers. Family honors. Parents force Mulan to fulfill her daughterly duty. None of those are in there. None of those are ever part of Mulan lore in China. Mulan’s parents and siblings seemed to be supportive of her endeavor. She didn’t keep her trip in secret, in fact, the poem had mentioned she went purchasing horse, saddle, and other equipment in the market, and bid farewell to her parents before she left. There’s no mention of her parents wanted her to get married or to bring honor to her family.

In other words, it would be like, Chinese people made a Robin Hood movie and added Robin Hood entire back story about how his parents would want him to join the army and bring honor to his father, who had always wanted to be a knight.

I’m sick and tired of this rigid stereotypical Chinese family trope. It was as if the moment you mentioned Chinese families, people have this impression about a stern father, a submissive mother, and children rebel this way or that way. Can we please have some diversity? Or at least, can we be respectful to the source material and show Mu Lan’s family as how it was written in the poem, a loving family who supported Mu Lan’s decision by giving her money to buy equipment and seeing her leave without resentments.

Now, to the new elements in the trailer: Fujian Tulou.

I’m glad that Disney finally realized there is diversity within Chinese culture, that not all of us we live in either hovels or palaces in the same style for thousands of years. I’m glad Disney did some research and realized, hey! there’s this interesting family compound structure called Tulou in Fujian provinces.

Except… Fujian province is located in Southeast China. Hua Mu Lan was from North Wei, which was a dynasty established in North China. Hua Mu Lan, if she actually existed in history, was most likely a Xianbei person. Xian Bei people were an ancient nomadic people that might be related to Sibe people. The original poem specifically talked about how Mulan had left her home at the bank of Yellow River. On top of that, the Tulou structure was first seen in 12 century AD, about 600 years later than Hua Mu Lan’s time.

To make Mu Lan’s home a Tulou isn’t “authentic”. Just because Tulou was a Chinese architecture style, doesn’t mean you get to stick Hua Mu Lan in it! Using my previous Robin Hood example, this would be the same as having Robin Hood living in a Roman Villa. It’s absurd and shows great disrespect to my culture. It basically tells me that Disney sees all diversity within Chinese culture as interchangeable. They pick something they like and mismatch it with something completely unrelated, and call it diversity.

No. That’s not diversity. That’s not respect. That’s the opposite of diversity and respect of source material. That’s butchering the source material for the sake of convenient and exotic.

It’s the same old Bullshit of Orientalism.

I love Hua Mu Lan’s story. It’s one of those few stories in Chinese folklore where a woman chose her own destiny, was supported by her family and friends and eventually triumphed. Her choice was made because she wanted to help her family. She became a hero but decided once again to give it up so she could go back to her family again. She didn’t get married or fall in love. She was her own person from beginning to end.

Isn’t this a good enough story already? Why can’t we just make a Mulan story as it was in the folklore? As she was, for us Chinese people, for thousands of years?

And last not least, Liu Yi Fei (the actress) was a terrible actress. She has ONE face: that slightly pissed off resting bitch face. She was pretty, but she can’t act. Her English is passable at best. Is there no young Chinese American actress for this role? If we’re talking about promoting better representation, shouldn’t we choose a Chinese American young woman/teenager for this role instead of an already successful Chinese actress in her 30s?

Everything about this movie irks me to no end. From the ridiculous Tulou, to Mulan’s casting choice, to the BS about how her family wanted her to get married, to the stereotypical depiction of the rigid cold Chinese family, to the entire made up “tradition” of meeting the matchmaker, to her singlehandedly facing an army, and (looks like) saving the city.

None of that is Mu Lan. It’s again a butchered fake Chinese story Disney cooked up because, OMG, China is so exotic!

Disney is moving in the right direction, sure, since we don’t have the stupid dragon and Mulan doesn’t seem to have a romantic interest (from the trailer at least). But when it comes to “authenticity” or “show respect to the source material and culture”, Disney and by extension, the entire western media, still have a long way to go.

#mulan #live action mulan #article #disney #cultural authenticity #chinese

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iheartsunset · 4 years

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Can I have some headcanons about deano

Papa Louie Deano HC

-Deano Abbadeli is a 34 year old gondolier and salesman who lives with his wife, Katherina; his son, Matteo; and his daughter, Bianca, in a small Portallini house. While he had wanted to become an opera singer in the past, he met Maximo Del Mare in his adolescence and was inspired to take on his gondoliering after high school.

-Deano is a charming gentleman who while extremely average, always attempts to make himself a larger character than he actually is. His voice and mannerisms are similar to broadway actors or someone in a kids’ show, which make people either laugh or silently cry. After a hard day’s work, he has the tendency to be much grumpier and quiet, though this immediately melts away when he finally gets to see his family again.

-He is also the one to boat Utah and Doan to and from their workplace and to the train stations, which puts extra pressure on them to make his orders amazing. This is also due to Edoardo telling them a scary story about people who wrong Deano suddenly ending up in a waterfront “accident”. In all actuality, Deano’s too nice of a guy to be that petty (and Utah reminds him too much of his own daughter to ever be rude to her). Besides, why would Deano commit homicide for undercooked pasta?

-Much like a radio, if you ask him to whistle you a song, he will. He can also whistle for extremely long amounts of time. He wants to actually sing, but his voice isn’t very good and it disturbs the guests, so he just whistles. When his voice gets too tired, he just talks about his family or let’s the guests tell stories.

-He doesn’t eat all his food at the Pastaria so that he could take some home and bring it to Bianca since she loves gnocchi.

-He met Maximo when he was still in high school. He took the gondola one day after being made fun of again in choir for his awful singing. To be honest, Maximo usually just smiles and nods when guests tell stories because he doesn’t care, but Deano wouldn’t stop crying, so he got too emotionally invested in the story. He decided to cheer Deano up by showing him how to work a gondola, which inspired the boy to become his apprentice. They had a very close relationship and Maximo was even the father in law for both Deano’s kids. Deano misses Maximo very much, but runs the gondola business in his honor.

-When he got bullied by the kids in choir after school, he’d scrape barnacles off the bottom of the gondola and throw them at them. A lot of them left him alone after that, which was also because Katherina (who was his classmate at the time) protected him.

-He can speak Italian, English, Spanish, Japanese, German, and French. This is so he can better connect with his clients when giving them tours or having conversations with them.

-His favorite thing to do is stroll on Portallini’s bridge at night and look up at the stars and street lights. He sometimes does this with Utah and Deano after they’ve all had a particularly exhausting day. They all find it very relaxing.

-His favorite movies are silent movies and black and white films. He likes to imaging how their voices sound and what the actual colors of the screen would be. He’s mostly forced to watch rom coms or animated movies with his family, but he likes those too.

-He and Akari have sort of a rivalry because of their chosen vehicles. It actually doesn’t make sense, the whole boats vs motorcycles thing, but they don’t really like each other. She’s also much too sassy and brazen for his liking while he’s too much of a coward in her eyes (not on Hacky Zak level though).

-Sienna brings him pumpkin and apple pies on Thanksgiving as thanks for always helping her travel. He likes to make her a turkey in return, but it’s almost always raw in the center or dressed up with absurd ingredients, so she always secretly throws it away.

-He is probably singlehandedly keeping the hat shops alive because he keeps having to buy hats after his blow away. He never learns to just take the hat off or to just not wear a hat altogether.

-If you rock the boat on purpose to be silly, he will hit you on the head with an oar or throw a barnacle at you. Utah and Bruna can definitely attest to that.

-Sorry, my headcanons here are kinda weak. Deano used to piss me off when I first started playing Papa’s Pastaria solely because of his shirt, I hate big blue vertical stripes. Also because his hat looked like it was about to fall off and I don’t like feeling anticipation when looking at someone. Despite this, Deano seems like a cool dude.

#flipline studios #papa louie #my hcs #flipline #deano #I’m doing this instead of my English homework #deano is me singing bc I suck #last time I went in a gondola I fell off and nearly died #so I hate gondolas now

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princesssarisa · 4 years

Text

22 questions

Thanks, @cinefantastiquemitho!

01. The book that transformed your life. Freak the Mighty. It traumatized me so much in middle school, I think it singlehandedly changed me from a mostly happy (if quiet and overemotional) child into a moody, anxious teenager. The same goes for it’s ‘90s movie adaptation, The Mighty, starring a young Elden Henson and Kieran Culkin. It’s about the unlikely friendship between two misfit middle school boys: Max, the big, hulking, “stupid,” somewhat mentally disabled protagonist with a traumatic past, and “Freak,” an intelligent yet small, severely crippled, and (spoiler alert) terminally ill boy who rides on Max’s shoulders and serves as his “brain,” leading him in modeling their lives after the knights in the Arthurian legends he reads. Basically, it’s like Bridge to Terabithia meets a PG-rated Midnight Cowboy with Arthurian themes. I was forced to read it and watch the movie in school and it shook me to the core because I identified too much with Max. Not that I ever thought I was stupid, but since I was also a physically heavy, intellectually disabled, socially awkward, often teased, withdrawn misfit, I saw myself in him, very, very much. So to watch his struggles, and then in the end to see him devastated by his only friend’s death, hit hard. If that spirit medium I recently talked to was telling the truth about my past life as Emily Brontë’s best and possibly only friend, then maybe subconsciously I saw her in Freak (since she was also a “freakish” misfit who nonetheless was highly intelligent, witty and imaginative) and relived her illness and death in his. At any rate, it plunged me into a long depression that must have seemed inexplicable to the adults around me.

02. The movie that changed your way of seeing the world. The 1983 telecast of Madama Butterfly from the Arena di Verona, starring Raina Kabaivanska as Cio-Cio-San. In hindsight, it was a flawed production. Kabaivanska was a 49-year-old Bulgarian grand dame, not the least bit convincing as a 15-year-old Japanese girl. The tenor, who was supposed to be her worldly seducer, was young enough to be her son. There wasn’t a single Japanese person in either the cast or the creative team – it was all a European fantasy of Japan. For that matter, Madama Butterfly is inherently problematic with its racial and gender issues (in other news, water is wet). But watching this old telecast on VHS, out of curiosity about Miss Saigon’s source material, was the real beginning of my passion for opera. I was already familiar with The Magic Flute, but this was the start of my love for opera beyond that one. The tragic romance of the story, the visual beauty of the sets and costumes, and Puccini’s sumptuous musical score captivated my fourteen-year-old self. It led me to VHSs of La Traviata, Carmen, La Bohéme, Tosca, Rigoletto, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, L’Orfeo and Turandot, as well as other videos of Butterfly, and then to opera performances onstage. It gave me a new passion and gave me something beautiful to share with other people through “Opera Quest,” the program I’ve created to introduce opera to elementary school students. I’m so, so grateful to it!

03. The music that makes part of the soundtrack of your life. Opera, Broadway/West End show tunes, and Disney songs.

04. Define longing. It’s wanting, but deeper and stronger. It’s constant wanting, painful wanting, wanting that almost becomes obsession.

05. If you got back in time, which scene would you visit of your life? Any of my Thanksgiving visits to my grandma in Mesa, Arizona. Of course I’d love to see her again – she died 12 years ago – but I also loved wandering around the pretty retirement community where she lived, listening to Les Misérables or to Andrew Lloyd Webber on my headphones, and then sometimes swimming in the outdoor pool. I also loved the restaurant we always went to for Thanksgiving dinner, and if possible, going to see the lavish Christmas lights at the Mormon Temple a day or two later.

06. The place where your heart is. Los Angeles. Even though I wasn’t born there, it’s the earliest place I remember. I grew up there and it’s only been four years since I moved away. Every time I’ve gone back to visit since, I I’ve had the overwhelming feeling of “I’m home!” Even though I’m glad not to be living in a big city right now, I wish I lived closer and could visit more often.

07. The travel of your life. I haven’t travelled very much outside the US, though I have been to Canada, London and Ireland. Within the US, I was born in Connecticut, I’ve lived most of my life in California, and I’ve spent a lot of time in New York (relatives live there), Washington State (more relatives live there), Arizona (my grandma lived there), Florida (other grandparents, plus Walt Disney World), Montana (still more relatives), North Carolina (still more), and Minnesota (family friends). Once each I’ve been to Chicago, Boston, Cape Cod, and small towns in Vermont and New Hampshire, and I’d love to go back to each of them one day. I’ve also been to North Dakota, but don’t remember it very well, and I’ve spent at least a few hours each in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, but not long enough to do much of anything.

08. An author that you have met recently, and whose works you want to continue to read. Not too long ago I took a writing class taught by April Halprin Wayland, who wrote the beautiful Jewish children’s book New Year at the Pier about the tradition of Tashlich on Rosh Hashanah. I’d definitely like to read more of her books, especially her Passover children’s book, More Than Enough. I’d love buy them for my little cousins on the Jewish side of my family.

09. Coffee or tea? Herbal tea. Rooibos chai is my favorite.

10. Who's your Doctor (if you don't watch Doctor Who, who's your favorite character from a TV series)? I couldn’t say. I don’t watch Doctor Who or much TV at all anymore. Let’s just say I love the main characters from all the TV shows I watched when I was little.

11. If you could just throw everything away and live your dream, what would you do? I’d buy a safe and luxurious self-driving RV (this is a fantasy, after all) and travel all over the US, living in a different place for a week, two weeks, or a month at a time. In this fantasy, there’s no pandemic going on, so I have the freedom to go anywhere. I’d visit every big city, every cozy small town, and every notable place of natural beauty, I’d go to the opera and see local productions of Les Misérables wherever I could. I’d visit my relatives whenever I liked. I’d present “Opera Quest” at a local school in each place I visited. But I’d also spend plenty of alone time in my RV, or in whatever hotel or inn I chose to stay in for a little while, and work on the books I’m writing, listen to music and meditate. There would be no pressure on me from anyone to do anything. That would be amazing.

12. If you could choose to be a character from a book, TV series or movie, who you would be? None. Some of them have nice lives, but they all have their problems too, and I’d rather keep my own problems than take on theirs.

13. What makes you not like a story? Characters we’re supposed to like being cruel and spiteful to each other and neither regretting it nor being properly called out for it. If their behavior is clearly supposed to be bad and treated as such within the story, it’s one thing. Even if they never regret their own behavior, that’s fine as long as the other characters call it out as bad. But when they don’t, I feel like the author is saying that anyone would be just as cruel and spiteful in that situation. That it’s no big deal, it’s just human nature and anything better would be unrealistic. I hate that.

14. Do you like romance in stories? Why? Yes, I do like it. Not if it’s badly written, but when it’s well written, I love it. I love watching two characters come to care so deeply for each other, fill each other’s deepest needs and bring each other happiness. Of course that happens with platonic love too, but romance is the way it most often happens in stories.

15. Which book did you hate having read? Well, I didn’t like having to read Candide as a college freshman, because despite all its humor, it’s cynicism depressed me. I was going through a stage where I was feeling overwhelmed by the world’s problems and had turned to idealistic spiritual beliefs to comfort myself, so I hated having to read a book that essentially said “Optimism is stupid, the world is a terrible place, there is no God and no good reason for anything, and all we can do is try to make the best of our individual lives.” (Yes, I know that’s a vast oversimplification of Voltaire’s philosophy – it just came across that way to me at the time.)

16. Which movie did you hate having watched? I’ve already mentioned The Mighty, above, so... another one... When I was seven or eight, I saw Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for the first time, and I was very disturbed at the end by Wonka’s angry outburst about Charlie and Grandpa Joe stealing the Fizzy Lifting Drinks. Of course everyone can agree about how scary and mean Gene Wilder acts in that scene. But imagine how much worse it would be to an ultra-sensitive little kid on the autism spectrum, especially since I wasn’t expecting it. I had read the original book already, so the fates of the four bratty kids and the infamous boat scene didn’t phase me because I knew to expect them. But movie-Wonka’s final test is a movie-only addition, so I had no idea he was going to start screaming at poor Charlie, and to me at that age, an adult suddenly screaming in rage at a child was scarier than a child turning into a blueberry any day. Yes, it’s only a test, Charlie passes it and all ends happily, but it still upset me.

17. Do you like anime/manga? Any favorite? It all looks very nice, but apart from seeing Kiki’s Delivery Service and a few episodes of Pokemon as a kid, I haven’t experienced much of it. Maybe I should explore it more.

18. Who is the best villain you saw in a story? I don’t think I can choose just one from all the stories I know. For the best villain from Shakespeare and opera, I’d probably have to say Iago, because of how thoroughly effective his scheming and manipulation are. For the best Disney villain, I’d have to say Frollo, because of how horribly realistic he is: as an abuser of power, a racist, a religious bigot, a sexual predator, a psychologically abusive foster parent, and in the way he believes everything he does is holy and right. But there are so many good villains in all genres of fiction, choosing just one favorite is impossible.

19. If you could do an interview with any person, alive or dead, from our world, who would you choose and why? William Shakespeare. I have so many questions about his plays. They’ve all been interpreted in hundreds of different ways and I’d like to hear what his real intentions were when he wrote them. And for that matter, if he really did write all of them or if there’s any truth in the anti-Stratfordian theories.

20. If you could meet and and befriend a writer, who would it be? I just said Shakespeare, but I don’t want to repeat the same answer twice... Well, if that spirit medium was right, then I’ve already met and befriended three famous writers in a past life: Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë. Supposedly I spent “many hours” with all three of them, but was especially close to Emily. If that’s true, then I’d love to meet them again, do some catching up, and talk with them about the modern controversies surrounding their books... especially Wuthering Heights, which seems to defy easy interpretations of its characters and themes.

21. Cats or dogs? Dogs. I just adore them!

22. If you could choose any time period or society to live, which it would be? A year ago, I would have said “right here, right now.” But with this global pandemic taking place and the future of the world and of America in particular feeling so uncertain, I’ve changed my mind. I’d rather live in one of the fantasy worlds I’ve created: either the Sisterhood of Nira’s valley (the setting of my completed but unpublished novel An Eternal Crown) or Zalina Island (the setting of the Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid retellings I’m working on). Those places might have flaws of their own, but at least they’ve made social progress that this country hasn’t made, and they have magic too. If I could I’d move to one of them, at least until the pandemic is over and we have a new president.

I tag @simone-boccanegra, @astrangechoiceoffavourites, @nitrateglow, @thatvermilionflycatcher, @sunlit-music, @theheightsthatwuthered, @fairychamber, @wuthering-valleys

#questions #about me

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arandomsewer · 5 years

Text

Reacting to Batman vs TMNT

Part 3:

-huh, look at that, I miscalculated:

Hufflepuff is on the lead with 55 points, Slytherin follows with 35, then gryffindor with 30 and ravenclaw with 20.

Come on, Donnie you can do better!

-so. Mikey pulls out an awesome chart.

-(me) you are awesome.

-oh wow. Did you see it? Did you see that? Donnie kind of has a turtle beak.

Un like the others, who have a more human face design, and who's expressions are more highlited. Maybe he got the genes from that part of the tree (so to say) fascinating.

+5 points for ravenclaw

-wait. Counterpart the mutagen? Like, retromutagen? ...shit

-this movie's got blood. And issues.

...I like it.

10 points for slytherin just for the threat to demutate the turtles.

-nobody cares? NOBODY CARES!?

-DONNIE, SINGLEHANDEDLY, JUST FIGURED OUT THE POSITION OF THE BATCAVE... IN A DAY

-and nobody cares?

- 10 points less for griffindor.

-and you know what? This is awesome, but even more by the fact that I am not so shocked. Donnie is just that good. Its his thing. It makes sense.

-Donnie, you are the MVP 10 points for Ravenclaw

-and 5 points for Mikey's grubby paws, and for Donnie's eyes when he saw the computer

-Mikey, on Batman's suit, on a t-rex, playing with the cape.

-"Mikey, get down"

-"nah man, I live here now"

-those plus points to both huffs and griffs

-Mikey's reaction to Robin.

-I love that Robin doesn't seem to be able to beat them, but they are not fighting seriously, and get hurt.

-pfff Mikey and Robin fighting for the cape

-just Robin's personality

-and Mikey and Robin again

-and I can't explain how they do it, but I like that they can get in theyr shells

-Donnie I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

-just so you know, Im counting the house's points with crossed lines now, 'cause Im running out of paper

-they finally explain themselves

-Raph's sneaky gesture

-security guy didn't back up when he saw the sword. Perhaps he didnt see the sword.

-uh! A chopped head. That angle got me by surprise!

-ARKAHAM

-the effect of Shreder's knifes on the security guy

-noooo the guy with the 'gotham's best dad' mug!

-oooh so cool all the villians here...

-THANK YOU, SCRIPT WRITERS FOR THE SCENE WITH HARLEY QUEEN. THANK YOU

-(guys, its Harley Queen, and the Shreder. Interacting. And funny!!)

-Mikey skateboarding down the Wayne house stairs, and ruining them for the sound of it. And runing over Alfred, who is bikering about teenagers, 'cause he offered to cook, but they preffer pizza.

-Leo so proud 'cause fucking Batman recognices his father taught him well.

While training with Batman

-how much does this movie cost? ITS PRICELESS

-lets be realistic, how did that picture get there? Was there a camera right in front of the guy when he turned inmortal? The design is nice, I guess its trying to be um, sexy and dramatic?

-kudos for creativity, thoug

-Raph doesn't like the idea of an inmortal Shreder. Neither did the other raphs who lived in a dimension where he actually was.

-I kind of like the human shreder. Its closer to the original concept from the comic, and its more vulnerable, but also more threatening 'cause its freaking human!!! How does he keep coming back? Where will he stop? Can't trust him, he's human!!

-shit careful with that shit!

-yeahlisten to Raph thats dangerous guys!

-oooh the retromutagen only works withing 12 hours of the mutation... For reasons

-... 10 points less from Ravenclaw

-ok, its untested, so, dangerous side efects. Good. I will take that. Thats good, thats... 10 points back to Ravs

-oh uff I was worried we would not get to see Splinter here, but at the very least we get a nice japanese style drawing.

Still hoping to see him.

-Alfred and Mikey~~

-they each eat two pizzas. TWO PIZZAS

-come on man, let the kids eat!

Like, literaly kids. Working. For you. For the city too but, let them fucking eat!

-yeah Mikey...

-no shit he did not. HE DID NOOOT

-Donnie knows just how to calm Mikey. Shove pizza in his mouth and cuddle him.

-shreder, kill him. Kill him!

Nooo nonono dont give the Joker fucking ooze. Killit killit!!

-they turtles show themselves to the inspector and he is just so done with everything

-Mikey's still here!

And he's got his rollskater back

-and he rides it

-HAHAHA

-DOCTOR Harley Queen

-ok the transformation secuence is cool too

-ok, one cool detail: up close, Harley Queen's teeth look quite realistic. I just like it when they look like that, not like anime or other shows, where they are just triangles.

-and Batman's greet to Harley is "what have they done to you?"

Thats becouse Batman's character is one that cares a lot for people, even villians, sometimes.

-this is all just GOOOD SHIT

-Mikey reacts to being inside a scary movie with 'this is so cool' just like me with the movie

-oooh Leo's been gassed!!! What will he see? In this cool ass movie with blood and insults!?

-well, that is nightmare fuel

-the fight with the polar bear. Like, Raph deeps his zai in his arm, and he has to shake it to get him off!

-and Mikey. Just, all Mikey

-Mikey's buuurn!

-yeah, who's fastest now, Robin?

-oh wow that is long, isnt it? Yeah, I will continue in the next post. Upsie!!

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #tmnt #batman vs teenage mutant ninja turtles #batman vs tmnt #batman #howarts #react #reaction #recap

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robertjacobsugdens · 6 years

Text

Here’s my proposal week exchange fic for the wonderful @mrshiftyafsugden who asked for groomzilla Robert. Happy proposal week and enjoy!

the devil in the details

The thing, Aaron thinks, lying on his bed, Robert’s head on his chest, is that in hindsight, he should probably have seen it coming. You don’t spend the better part of four years with Robert Sugden without realizing he’s prone to extremes. So, really, in a way this is probably as much his fault as Robert’s.

It all started benignly enough, with the color scheme.

It’s not that Aaron isn’t interested in planning the wedding. It’s just that, well. It’s not exactly his territory, is it? Unless Robert wants to go for a gray on black color scheme, he’s not really sure how to contribute.

Robert, to his credit, has taken it in stride.

Ever since the proposal, he’s been spending every free minute researching the best options, something that from a distance looks suspiciously like Pinterest open on his laptop and his calculator app in hand.

Aaron hasn’t made fun of him for it yet only because a) it’s actually really sweet, and b) he’d have to admit that he can recognize Pinterest from a distance. He lives in constant hope either Vic or Liv will see Robert in action and take the mick though.

“We should go with maroon and blue.” Robert says.

They’ve been discussing the wedding on and off all evening, on the couch, Aaron lying with his head on top of Robert, a superhero movie they’re only half watching on tv.

“For the wedding.” Robert adds. “They’re sort of our colors, aren’t they?” He continues with the tone of someone who’s fully aware they’re saying something incredibly sappy.

Lucky for him, Aaron is in the mood for sappy.

“Awww.” Aaron says mockingly, but he’s pretty sure the effect is ruined by the huge grin on his face.

Aaron would never admit it, but there’s still a shiver that goes down his spine every time he remembers that he and Robert are actually getting married again. The first time around had been a surprise and he hadn’t had the chance to really savor it. Now, however, every morning he looks at the calendar app on his phone and stares at that day marked in red and he feels it. He feels the joy of it and the anticipation.

Aaron gets up to straddle Robert’s thighs. He’s barely settled when they crash into each other, mouths hungry, Robert’s hands on Aaron’s ass, Aaron’s fingers twisting Robert’s hair.

This is their life now, sometimes they remember they’re getting married and end up making out like teenagers.

Not that Aaron’s complaining.

“Here. Give these to Liv, Cain, and Paddy.” Robert says, putting a stack of papers in front of Aaron’s breakfast.

“What?” Aaron grunts.

“Pantone 1815 and Pantone 2768. Give one of each to the people in your wedding party.” Robert replies, getting coffee from the pot like he just said something that makes sense, instead of stringing together random words and numbers.

Aaron must look as confused as he feels because Robert decides to further explain. “They’re paint chips. Maroon and navy blue. So they can match their outfits to the wedding colors. I’ll pass by the Woolpack later and give them to Vic, Doug, and Vanessa.”

Aaron, who hadn’t even settled on a wedding party until this very moment, just nods and takes them.

Aaron gets a text from Vic the next day.

“Really? REALLY???”

He assumes Robert gave her the paint samples.

Aaron is enjoying a pint in the pub when Marlon corners him.

“Keep your husband away from my kitchen.” Marlon says and Aaron isn’t proud that he’s mostly focusing on the fact that Marlon called Robert his husband. He doubts it’s something that’ll ever lose its magic.

“I’m serious, Aaron. If he comes back here I won’t be held responsible for my actions.” Marlon continues, putting his hands up.

“Why? Did he criticize your grilling skills again?” Aaron asks, trying to hold back a grin at the memory.

“He’s driving me nuts. Him and his wedding cake. He might not even live to see the wedding.” Marlon replies, punctuating the threat with wild flails of his arms.

Aaron rolls his eyes. “It’s a cake, Marlon.”

“Oh, is it? Is it?” Marlon says, taking a photo out of his apron and handing it to Aaron. There, printed on some fancy photo paper and everything, is a picture of a cake. It’s blue, it’s got three layers, flecks of gold painted at the bottom of each one, and deep red flowers decorate one side. It’s a nice cake.

“- edible gold paint, real flowers. He wants ranunculi, Aaron, they’re a winter flower. It’s August.” Marlon says, putting his head between his hands, unaware Aaron hasn’t been listening.

He can’t stop looking at the picture of the cake. It’s a proper wedding cake. It makes something warm open in his chest and he can’t quite explain even to himself why.

“Just do as he asks.” Aaron says, trying to mask the sudden swell of emotion with a shrug.

“You are aware you’re not paying me, right?” Marlon asks, eyes wide.

“We’re family we shouldn’t even have to ask.” Aaron says, going back to his beer.

Marlon huffs out something that sounds suspiciously like a curse and retreats back into the kitchen.

As soon as Marlon’s out of sight, Aaron drowns his beer and gets up. He’s been suddenly overcome with the need to go home and go see his husband.

“Aaron, can I talk to you for a moment, lad?” Zak asks, approaching Aaron like most people would approach a wild animal.

“What’s wrong?” Aaron asks, his mind already racing.

“Oh, nothing wrong, really. Marlon has been ranting and raving about your Robert lately and I just wanted to make sure everything’s fine.”

Aaron can’t help but laugh.

“I’m pretty sure this can be legally classified as child labor.” Liv says just as Aaron is coming in.

The living room is drowning in wedding favors, every surface covered in blue, gold, and red.

Sitting on the floor are Liv, Gabby, and Jacob. They seem to have a system going on, with Liv assembling blue cardboard into small boxes, Gabby putting chocolates wrapped in golden foil inside, and Jacob tying everything up with red ribbons.

“No, it can’t.” Robert replies, emerging from the stairs. “Hey.” He continues once he spots Aaron.

Robert gets close and, like always, the world is reduced to Robert’s presence, inches away from Aaron. They kiss and Aaron can barely hear the kids telling them to get a room.

“Productive day?” Aaron asks, eyeing the mess in their living room.

“Very. Almost all the wedding favors are done.” Robert replies, dragging Aaron into the kitchen.

“He says, as if he’s had anything to do with it.” Liv says, rolling her eyes.

“I’m sure you’re getting your fill of chocolate, so don’t complain.” Aaron tells her, getting a beer from the fridge.

“Are you joking? He’s been counting them all day. We couldn’t sneak one if we tried.” Gabby interjects. “It’s like working for Miss Trunchbull.”

“Who’s that?” Jacob asks, not taking his eyes off the ribbons. David is probably going to bill them for his new glasses at this rate.

“It’s a character from this old movie, from like, the 90s.” Gabby replies, pulling a face.

“He’s insane.” Aaron can hear Gabby’s voice coming from Liv’s room. He’s not snooping, he just came out to get some water and Liv’s bedroom door is slightly open.

“I don’t know. I think he’s just excited. It’s nice.” Liv replies.

“Fifty wedding favors, Liv.” Gabby whines and Liv laughs.

It’s the night before Aaron’s wedding and he’s supposed to be spending it at the Woolpack. It’s something his mom has insisted on, and hey, at least this time around Aaron knows the wedding’s happening with some advance. He’s not about to complain.

Except, he can’t sleep.

It’s been the first time in months he’s had to sleep without Robert, and between that and the excitement for tomorrow, he can’t quite manage it.

That’s why he’s been walking around for the past fifteen minutes, trying to walk himself into tiredness. So far, all he’s managed to do is find himself in front of the Mill.

He’s about to walk past it when he sees a light in the garden.

There, he finds Robert, holding his phone with the flashlight on in one hand, and trying to singlehandedly move the huge white tent covering their table for the reception.

“You need a hand with that?” Aaron asks, making Robert jump.

“What are you doing here?” Robert asks, getting closer to Aaron.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Aaron replies, putting his hands on Robert’s waist, Robert smirks.

“That what they’re calling it these days?” He asks, leaning down and kissing Aaron.

It’s a heated kiss, made even more frantic by the fact they haven’t seen each for most of the day.

Whoever decided they shouldn’t see each other before the wedding is Aaron’s worst enemy.

“Let’s go inside.” Robert says, nodding towards their home.

“Should I ask why you were in the garden at 4 am trying to move a two tons tent?” Aaron asks him instead.

“It looks better a few inches to the right.” Robert says, like this is a normal thing to be worried about in the middle of the night. “I tried calling the company, but they refused to come back for it.” He then continues.

“Did you call them at 10 pm?” Aaron asks, because Aaron knows his soon to be husband.

“It’s bad customer service!” Robert says like it personally offends him that those poor blokes who spent most of the afternoon setting the whole thing up won’t come back in the middle of the night to take it down and rebuild it a few inches to the right.

“Robert, relax. It looks amazing.” Aaron says, looking Robert in the eyes.

“I just want it to be perfect.” Robert says, eyes softening. “For you.”

“For me?” Aaron asks.

“I wanted to give you the whole big wedding thing. Money’s been tight recently, but you deserve it.” Robert says, his hands moving up and down Aaron’s arms.

“Robert, I’m marrying you.” Aaron says, one of his hands coming to rest behind Robert’s neck. “That’s all I want. This, all this, the suits, the garden, the cake, is beautiful and I love it. But I’d marry you in a dumpster behind a McDonald’s.”

“Good thing we paid for almost none of this then.” Robert replies and Aaron laughs. Marlon and Vic might not speak to either one of them for the next few years, but it’ll have been worth it.

“Come on, let’s go inside, let me show you how happy I am to be marrying you.” Aaron says, taking Robert’s hand in his and leading him into their home.

#text #mrshiftyafsugden #proposal week ficlet exchange #aaron x robert #writing*

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