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being-of-rain · 2 years

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Thoughts from my Classic Who watch, this time season 11. (Amy Pond voice) Posh fistycuff man, goodbye.

I’ve read of quite a few Doctor Who writers saying that Three and Sarah are their favourite Tardis team, which has surprised me since I thought Sarah was more well-known as Four’s companion. But I can see now why Sarah’s early stories would’ve had such an impact on them, and why she went on to be one of the show’s most popular characters. She’s immediately likable; witty and smart and funny and charming. The banter and joking between her and the Doctor is endless fun. It’s hilarious that she’s first introduced to him under a false name because she’s currently infiltrating a military establishment for a news story, absolute icon. And honestly her occasionally in-your-face feminism is so refreshing after the total disrespect that Jo sometimes got. The rest of The Time Warrior is great too. It feels like a modern episode of the show- the script is tight, there are lots of good and funny character moments, and it’s a neat introduction for the Sontarans. Sorry to go back to talking about Sarah again, but I can’t believe she escaped from the occupied castle with another prisoner in there, befriended some local aristocracy, and then broke back in to the first castle to kidnap the Doctor out of it! And all this without the Doctor’s help or even explanations that she had time-travelled! Once again I must say, absolute icon!!

Invasion of the Dinosaurs was definitely an interesting one! Firstly, I’ll always be amused that the title was shortened in the first episode to preserve a twist in this story and this story only, as opposed to every story ever with ‘Dalek’ in the title that used “it’s the Daleks!!” as the cliffhanger to part one. Secondly, is this the most Disaster Movie that Classic Who has ever got? I was actually shocked by the bloody corpse of the looter that they showed at one point. Now, back to Sarah. She really knows how to accept things and roll with them, it says volumes how quickly she followed the Doctor’s lead and smiled for her mugshots 😂 I once saw a post describing that as the first time she got arrested, but given how she met the Doctor (not to mention her general demeanour), I find that somewhat hard to believe. And honestly she basically wraps up the whole plot of this story herself. While the Doctor and the Brig are busy first being hoodwinked by Yates and then dealing with the Doctor being (badly) framed, Sarah does actual investigative research, finds the people responsible for the situation, and leads a revolt against them. She wouldn’t have needed the Doctor at all if her gang had done the smart thing at the end and moved the evil scientist away from the doomsday lever. As for the other characters, this story really gets what makes the UNIT family fun. There’s so many great gags with them, especially the scene where the Doctor gets fed up with everyone distracting him, which ends with him looking about as distressed as you ever see him (and with Jon Pertwee’s fantastic face, that’s saying something). I’m glad it was this story that involved Yates’ betrayal, because it ties his point of view back to his past experiences, and makes it very clear throughout that he’s still holding onto his morals even as he betrays everyone. Very ironically, this is maybe the most likable Yates has ever been for me, it breaks your heart a little when the one thing he seems most certain of is that his life doesn’t matter. I did start to worry that this story and Operation Golden Age was a reaction to The Green Death and was arguing against the strong environmentalist themes in that story. But thankfully that wasn’t the case at all, it never goes down that path, and actually makes a point at the end to say “saving the environment is extremely important, just don’t be an eco-fascist about it.” Also, Sarah being separated and ending in a colony vastly far away from the Doctor in time and space while he mucks around in modern-day England definitely feels like inspiration for the Interference novels. That subplot happens to Fitz, except in that case its actually real, and it only loops back round to the Doctor’s plot with heartbreaking consequences.

Those nasty Daleks are back again! And this time the story isn’t really about them, even though they still eventually become the most imposing threat, which I think is a nice balance that Death to the Daleks managed to strike. The beginning of the story was proper spooky, with all the darkness and mist. The TARDIS’ safety being invaded always feels unnerving, so Sarah seeking sanctuary in it before finding that a creature had found its way into the new shadows of the console room was really creepy. And shout-out to Elizabeth Sladen for being a hell of an actress and making all of Sarah’s terror very believable, even when I think the script and directing was probably doing her a disservice by making her scream and freak out quite a bit. The horror of the planet was undercut a bit for me when it was revealed that the aggressors were a tribe of native species that veered a little too close to Colony In Space territory for me. I started to think that maybe I’d been quick to judge when it was revealed that there were other Exxilons who were more open-minded than the tribe that worshipped the city, that they were the remnants of a galactic empire, and when the antagonistic Galloway made a bigoted comment that sounded very self-aware of the show. But then it turned around and out of nowhere said that ancient Peruvians couldn’t possibly have built their buildings without alien intervention, so I think I’m going to go ahead and chalk this story up to another reason Classic Who should be banned from using the word “primitive” until it learns its lesson. Finally, I love a good puzzle rooms plot, but the fact that so many people literally starved to death in a room where the puzzle was a maze that looked like it could be in a children’s puzzle book made me laugh. And so did the cliffhanger which was just a dramatic zoom on a pattern on the floor. I adore a Living City, but I don’t think this story used the trope as much as it could.

I can see why Peladon was popular enough to revisit, it was a very strong setting last season. And The Monster of Peladon was okay, but in my eyes it didn’t live up to its predecessor because it didn’t do some of the things that most interested me in Curse: it didn’t have a bunch of interesting new alien species, and its twist was that the Ice Warriors were the villains. Again. Although, admittedly, Ice Lord Azaxyr being held back by four strong men then throwing them all off at the end looked cool as heck. Also, Monster is 2 episodes longer than Curse. I think I get more easily bored by 6-parters after 60s Who than I did during the show’s early years, maybe because I was kept entertained by the charming quaintness of ‘60s television, I don’t know. Also also, Aggedor is cute as heck again in this, and it’s so sad that he dies 😭 I should’ve checked Does The Aggedor Die Dot Com. I love how the Doctor sees a character in need of some Womens Liberation and immediately refers her to Sarah jsdlkfj. Everyone knows about Sarah saying “there’s nothing only about being a girl,” but at the end of the story she also tells the queen that “there's nothing only about being a miner, your Majesty, any more there was about being a girl.” Sarah Jane said intersectional feminism! Another line I didn’t realise Sarah said was when she quoted what the Doctor has apparently said to her, that “while there’s life...” before trailing off. That’s some great foreshadowing.

I’m glad I’m not more arachnophobic than the average person, because Planet of the Spiders has some Magnus Archives-esque shit near the start, when the Doctor projects the recorded thoughts of a dead man and gets a screen full of spiders, and when some meditating men physically manifest the horrors of their unconscious mind and it’s a giant spider. Overall, the story is very intriguing because of its sudden interest in Buddhism, which gives it a good vibe for the Third Doctor’s send-off I think. I did like that it addressed the Doctor’s faults, because that’s something I think Three’s era sometimes failed to do to its detriment, even if phrasing it as the Doctor’s greed was a bit weird. Once again, Sarah jumps into the plot quicker than the Doctor. It’s extremely interesting how chummy she is with Yates at the very start of the story, calling him Mike and getting driven around the countryside by him alone, when Invasion of the Dinosaurs was her first meeting with him and apparently he hasn’t talked to the Doctor or the Brigadier since then. It makes me think that there’s definite room for a short story featuring Sarah and Yates between the two stories, maybe with Sarah sympathising with him after being on the same end of the Golden Age’s brainwashing as he was. Speaking of Yates, it tugged at the heartstrings that evidentally everyone thought it was best not to tell Jo about Yate’s betrayal (though it was lovely to hear from her for Three’s final story). And speaking of untold stories with Sarah, it’s interesting that there’s a 3 week gap for her between the final scene and the rest of Planet of the Spiders, but apparently no Doctor Who media has dipped into that time. If this franchise is going to milk stories out of the gaps in episodes, they should look at the ones that would give interesting character pieces! Okay this post has already become so long. For the Third Doctor’s last story, let’s do five rapid final points. -There’s some good villains in this one! Lupton and his spider outcast friend both being fallible and (for lack of a better term) human was engaging and well demonstrated when they both started causing each other pain in a childish attempt to get their way. Lupton’s gang really felt like a bunch of normal people who didn’t actually set out to be the villains, and regular spiders given superintelligence is at the same time funny and scary, and well used. -Poor Professor Clegg is such a tragedy. He’s made so sympathetic in his few scenes before being killed off, which was basically the result of the Doctor roping him into doing some trials. I like that the Doctor admits to feeling guilty about that too. That’s good writing that is. -The Brigadier is maybe used for comic relief a bit too much, and is painted as a bit of a buffoon during his short screentime. Oh, I do love that he calls Harry Sullivan at one point, that’s a great little easter egg for people watching with future knowledge. -I’ve always found it appropriate for Jon Pertwee that there was such a sprawling vehicle chase sequence during episode 2. Including Bessie v Whomobile, Dawn of Justice. And on the topic of vehicles, it also feels appropriate that after all the work the TARDIS has had done this era, the Doctor refers to her as being alive here. I love the headcanon/basically canon that it was the Doctor’s time taking apart and rebuilding a lot of the TARDIS during his exile that really made him realise how much of a living thing his ship is, and how close a bond they share. -And finally, as always, the Doctor and Sarah’s chemistry is wonderful. A particular highlight is when they’re both trapped in spiderweb and making very silly jokes to pass the time while their fellow prisoner looks on in disbelief. Also, of course, their fantastically-acted farewell as the Doctor dies 💔

#Apparently I had a lot to say for this season! To be fair most of it is just how great Sarah Jane is.#Doctor Who #my thoughts #three #sarah #brig #yates #benton #unit #daleks #sontarans #edit: accidentally called the gap at the end of Planet of the Spiders 3 months instead of 3 weeks. Changed that

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flowerymoments · 2 years

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My horror manga readings pt. 1

Inuki Kanako no Dai Kyoufu!, Kanako Inuki: It was a nice read. A collection of short stories that are built around the psychological terror of its protagonists who are dealing with their insecurities, lack of self-esteem, loneliness etc. I absolutely love her art!! a mix of cute and macabre. I wasn't much impressed by the stories, but overall they were good.

Additionally, this volume has interesting facts about the author, such as her favorite horror manga and movies and the source of inspiration for some of the stories, which honestly made reading this more entertaining. I look forward to read more of her works.

Ilha dos Gatos, Tokushige Kawakatsu: (literal translation: Island of Cats). On a summer day, three friends discover an island. An old man tells them that there’s nothing there except for a cat altar. Excited by the discovery, they begin to explore the island, but then something happens... Right off the bat I was worried with what the first pages hinted at, how the plot would move forward to a satisfying conclusion as there were so few pages. But it ended up going in a direction I hadn't even thought about. The twist made me go from “no opinion” to a “oh okay! this was good actually”. It changed the whole thing. It wasn’t mind-blowing but it was a simple enough psychological story to leave an impression on me.

The Laughing Vampire, Suehiro Maruo: I have mixed feelings about this work and I had a whole rant prepared about it, but then I read in another edition a quote of Suehiro Maruo saying how he intended for his works to not have any complicated message, no deep philosophical conclusion to be drawn, instead he would like for his readers to see the artistic vision of a nightmare. I calmed down and I agree lol. I found the plot and pacing mediocre (the second part of the story was worse) and the characters as well. Thematically, I felt he was barely scratching the surface for my liking but what kept me going was the atmosphere. I couldn’t stop once I started reading, surprisingly it really grabbed me in! It was haunting, the gothic visuals really immersed me in this gloomy, melancholic and sinister ambience.

About the characters, although I felt like they had little to no personality whatsoever, there were moments, sadly short, that portrayed their internal conflicts regarding their lives as vampires. Those scenes were so good that they left me wishing that this was a story about their relationship with the passage of time or coming to terms with eternal youth in the case of Mori and Miyawaki but alas! I guess for that I will read Poe no Ichizoku instead. I loved Rakuda by the way, and her character design. The art is 10/10.

#my horror readings #i had to rewrite and rewrite but i am finally satisfied with this final version #this horror series posts are not recommendations per se it is just me sharing what i have been reading

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wondereads · 1 year

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Books I Read in October + Opinions

Ahaha I meant to post this a week ago whoops

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (9/10)

This is the first of many I read for school. Despite being technically forced to read it, I enjoyed this one! The concept is super interesting, and I liked the writing style. The meandering, stream-of-consciousness writing really serves to enforce the tone of the story. However, I will say that it's pretty unsatisfying at the end. I can let it go somewhat because it's kind of the whole point, but it's still frustrating.

Heaven Official's Blessing Vol. 3 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (9/10)

Xie Lian's backstory is absolutely heartwrenching in this volume, and I know we're far from over. I'm loving the slow burn (on Xie Lian's part) so far! The only reason this isn't a 10 is because Xie Lian's past and present each take up about one half of the volume, and they feel a little disjointed as if they're different stories. Still, I appreciated getting back to the present since it's a little more lighthearted. Hua Cheng interacting with any heavenly officials that aren't Xie Lian is hilarious.

Strike the Zither by Joan He (7/10)

I enjoyed this book, I did! I love political and military fantasy, and this book is a combination of the two with a big emphasis on the strategy side of things. I especially like the main character, Zephyr, who was nuanced, complicated, and a great perspective to read from. However, I can't look past the fact that the pacing is all kinds of off. There's just not enough space for this kind of story. There's a huge plot twist halfway through, and it's not paid even half the attention it should. Still, I'll definitely be reading the next book. Check out my full review here!

The Girl With All the Gifts by M. R. Carey (6/10)

This is another book I read for school. It's another take on the zombie apocalypse, a really good one. After all, it's told from the perspective of one of the zombies. It asks interesting questions about what qualifies as humans and what will replace us once we're gone. So then, why did I give it a 6? Because this book is painfully written by a man. Of the five perspectives, the three female ones are perfectly fine. The men, however, won't shut up about masturbation and porn and whatnot. It pulled me out of the story and just grossed me out overall.

Beguiled by Cyla Panin (8/10)

This is actually the first partnership with an author I did! I did a reading vlog with it and everything Still, I can promise you this is my personal, honest opinion. I enjoyed reading this book; a lot of research went into the weaving aspect, and I loved the way the main character used lots of weaving metaphors. I also really like the Irish folklore influences, but I wished there had been more about the world, specifically the political climate. It was slow to start, but we got there! Check out the reading vlog here!

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 3 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (10/10)

This volume was very backstory heavy, but it still had me giggling and kicking my feet. Look, they are very cute! Yes, there is all sorts of tragedy and horrendous corruption stuff going on. Do I care? Kind of, but not really. There was tons of character development in this volume, and I think it ended on the perfect note for the fourth one.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (5/10)

Yet another book I read for school. This is a childhood classic, but it also means a lot of stuff went over my head. Such as the vitriolic racism and classism, which is present throughout the entire book. I have to say, it really impacted my enjoyment; I couldn't stop thinking about throwaway lines that basically amounted to certain people being inherently better and more civilized than others. I don't think I'll be rereading this one anytime soon.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (10/10)

It is my firm belief that this book is one of the best dystopian novels ever written. It addresses a plethora of issues in a way that is serious but understandable for teenagers. Also, it doesn't fall into the black-and-white worldview that other famous dystopian novels (i.e. 1984) fall into. People from the Districts can be awful and corrupt, and people from the Capitol can grow and be kind. Katniss is a stupendous main character, and the political atmosphere for the future books is perfectly set up. Check out my review here!

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (10/10)

This is the third time I've read this book in a year and a half, and I still had the time of my life. This time around was a bit more analytical, and I especially noticed a lot of Jones' family life reflected in this story. I love Diana Wynne Jones' writing, and Sophie is one of my favorite protagonists ever. Her no-nonsense attitude is exactly what I love in a heroine, and I love her and Howl's dynamic. The side characters really shine, especially Calcifer, who is a fan favorite for good reasons. Check out my review here!

Shades of Rust and Ruin by A. G. Howard (8/10)

A. G. Howard is one of my favorite authors; I love her writing style, and she does great retellings. I really liked Nix, the main character, and I loved the worldbuilding, which meshed traditional faerie lore and steampunk aesthetic. However, this book is strikingly similar to another book of hers, Splintered. So much so that I was actually waiting for elements to line up with each other (which they often did). It was really entertaining, but I just can't get over that, so it's rating dropped a bit. Check out my review here!

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (9/10)

This was a really sweet children's book; I can't believe I've never read it before! It pulls a lot from Chinese mythology and culture in both physical items and creatures and ideological themes. The illustrations are beautiful and clearly inspired by traditional Chinese art. The message is sweet and pushed in a way that will get through to children but doesn't feel like it's being forced down my throat. A lovely book!

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik (10/10)

I could not have asked for a better conclusion to this series. I was in great distress half the time, but that feels about par for the course while reading The Scholomance. El and Orion's story came to a beautiful close while answering all the questions yet to be answered about the magical world. The message is lovely, one that isn't often told in adult fantasy. It destroyed me, and I am very happy about it. Go read The Scholomance trilogy.

Bonus! November TBR

The theme this month, in honor of NaNoWriMo and my attempt to write a fantasy novel, is classic fantasy (+ some ARCs and overflow from previous TBRs)

Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory

The Serpent's Shadow by Mercedes Lackey

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amelie Wen Zhao

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Damsel by Evelyn Skye

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir

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rsadelle · 3 years

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The best books I read in 2020

I read 167 books in 2020, which is a little more than one and a half times as many as I read in 2019. (I had a crisis of counting at one point when I read a string of novellas, but ultimately came down on the side of if I can check out the ebook from the library as a single volume, then it counts as a book for the purposes of my list.) Only ten of those are books I reread, which is a fairly low reread number/percentage for me. The large number of books I read this year made it extra difficult to narrow down a small number of the best ones, which is why this list is longer than in previous years. It is, in fact, long enough that I have put it behind a cut to spare your dash.

Top 11 fiction books/series I read for the first time in 2020

Bread Alone trilogy (Bread Alone, The Baker's Apprentice, and Baker's Blues) by Judith Ryan Hendricks - I so enjoyed this trilogy about bread baking and figuring out your life and building a home/community and love. I read it at the beginning of the pandemic, when everyone was baking bread, and it was one of those things I was sad to finish because I didn't want to leave the characters.

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson - I have read a lot of suburban housewife with a secret books over the last couple of years. This was an excellent example of the genre with the good use of a thematic motif and a second secret reveal after you learn what you think is the biggest secret. Content notes: I had to skim a few chapters because of the large amount of weight and disordered eating content (which is relevant to the character), and there is sexual abuse of a young teenager by an adult as part of the story.

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin - This was such an interesting concept and done so well. It was one of the most popular books my sci fi book club read this year, and the New Yorker in our group said it was her favorite New York book ever. The most disappointing part of this book is that it's the first book in a trilogy and the other books haven't been published yet. Content notes: eldritch horror and realistic racism.

The Sci-Regency Series (My Fair Captain, The Englor Affair, My Regelence Rake, Diplomatic Relations, and My Highland Laird) by J.L. Langley - The delightfully ludicrous premise of this series is that there is a gay Regency society in space, which makes for some really fun romances. I've loved this series for over a decade, and I was thrilled to reread the first three books before reading the two new books that came out this summer. I recommend reading the novels in order, as there is an overarching plot involving the Intergalactic Navy that is interesting and ongoing without overshadowing the romances. Content note: these are on the erotica end of the romance spectrum, which means they have very explicit sex scenes. I wrote a lot more about this series in a Yuletide promo post comment.

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo - I was so sad to finish this book! I have read a lot of commercial/literary fiction about families in the past few years, and this might be my favorite. I found the characters really compelling and enjoyed seeing their differing perspectives. I didn't want to leave this family.

Throne of Glass series (Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn, and Kingdom of Ash) by Sarah J. Maas - This YA fantasy series shouldn't work given its constant escalation, and yet, somehow it does. I greatly enjoyed it, and I cried more than once at the last book. This is a series where I recommend not reading anything about future books until you've read all the books before them so you can enjoy the continual reveals. These are very much genre novels, and if you don't like the genre, these books will not be for you. Content note: there is a lot of genre-typical violence.

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai - I admit that I was mildly skeptical about this book given that what I knew about it was that it was a story about the AIDS epidemic where one of the two timelines is about a woman trying to reconnect with her daughter, but I ended up loving it. The two alternating timelines fit together beautifully, and I thought it did a good job of not eliding the horror of the AIDS epidemic experienced by the gay community in favor of the straight woman's experience. I do remain skeptical of how many awards it won; while it was a genuinely excellent book, I also know that awards bodies love dead queer people.

We Set the Dark on Fire and We Unleash the Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia - I loved this YA dystopianish (more cultural class divide than apocalypse or singular villain in control) duology about queer women falling in love while working toward revolution. The world building was good, the plot was good, and the romance was good.

Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather - This novella about an order of nuns who travel through space in an organic slug-like spaceship was absolutely wonderful. It deals with issues of faith, purpose, central control, and doing what you can to make the world a better place.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson - I loved this YA novel in a sort of Regency-ish setting about a girl who grew up in a library full of magic books and her dealings with some sorcerers, complete with a romance. Content note: attempted mental coercion and institutionalization.

The Wren Hunt and The Wickerlight by Mary Watson - This is a YA duology about rival druid groups in modern day Ireland. I found both books totally compelling with interesting druid politics and magic. It was also really interesting how well we get to see the worst of both sides of the rival druid groups in the two different books.

Top 5 books/series I read and then thought about a lot in 2020

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher - A friend recommended the author to me. This particularly book is a supernatural horror novel I don't necessarily recommend. However, I have continued to think about elements of it since I read it. (Before you @ me about the author's other work, this was the third of her books I read and the other two were in the more beloved fantasy novel genre.)

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal - I actually didn't like this book that much. We read it for a book club, and it had an interesting concept that wasn't super well executed. However, I have thought about elements of it a lot since then, particularly in comparison to some of the other sci fi I encountered this year.

Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - I don't know how much "I actively thought about these a lot" describes my actual experience of having read these, but given their popularity and the number of conversations I had about them, I can't omit them from this post entirely. I liked the first one once I figured out what kind of story it actually was, had absolutely no idea what was happening at any point in the second one, and discovered with both of them that I have a much more limited vocabulary than I thought, at least when it comes to death-related words. I am invested enough that I will read the third book when it comes out, but probably won't read any more of the author's work beyond that. If you want to know more about what I thought, I wrote a very spoilery post about them.

The Sixth World (Trail of Lightning and Storm of Locusts) by Rebecca Roanhorse - This is a pair of novels set in a post-apocalyptic world where there's a magically/divinely-erected wall around Dinétah (the Navajo lands). The worldbuilding and characters are so interesting, and it's a series where some of the details stuck with me and I would randomly think of them. I'm looking forward to reading one of her other books in a few months for my sci fi book club.

Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics by Mirabai Starr - This was one of two books about women mystics I read and disliked this year, and the more disappointing of the two as I'd heard an interview with the author that I found interesting. I continued to think about this one a lot in an angry, "and another thing!" way, which did help me articulate more of the things I dislike about new age-ish framing of "feminine" wisdom/divinity/knowledge.

Top 3 non-fiction books I read in 2020

The Vagina Bible: The vulva and the vagina - separating the myth from the medicine by Dr. Jen Gunter - This is probably better as a reference work than as a straight read-through, but it was interesting enough to read straight through. The book is deeply rooted in science and facts, and she has a whole chapter on "Vaginas and Vulvas in Transition" specifically about anatomy for trans people.

Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life - in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There) by Sarah Hurwitz - This is a useful, contemporary introduction to Judaism from someone who shares a lot of my values. The first half is an introduction to Jewish thought, while the second half focuses more on spirituality and practice. The book is part general introduction and part spiritual memoir. I found it deeply inspirational and I added it to a wish list of books I want to own copies of (I read it as a library ebook) because I would like to both reread it in hardcopy where I can easily flip back and forth and use it as a resource for further study and reading.

You Can Draw in 30 Days by Mark Kistler - You may remember that I wrote more about this when I originally finished reading the book. I found it a gentle, funny, helpful book to teach you the basics of drawing.

The 2 authors I read the most in 2020

Jennifer Lynne Barnes - I read fifteen of her books in three weeks in January, when I was still working full time, and a sixteenth after it was published later in the year. Her books are fast-read YA novels that are deeply engaging and generally have some sort of mystery element to them which may or may not involve family secrets. She has a tendency to write variations of the same characters, which meant that I enjoyed mentally mapping the characters from various books onto characters from other books. Also, her werewolf trilogy does one of my favorite werewolf story things that you almost never see (but it doesn't happen until the end of the first book, so I won't spoil it by telling you what it is). Many of her books involve violence, so heed the summaries or email/message me if you want some content notes.

Laura Lippman - I read nineteen of her books this year, eighteen novels and a non-fiction essay collection. She's an excellent mystery writer with a distinctive voice. The time I read four of her books in four days, I found myself thinking in her style. Even if I hadn't otherwise enjoyed My Life As A Villainess, her essay collection, it would have been worth reading just for the kicker on "The Thirty-First Stocking." Content note: her novels frequently involve violence or its aftermath.

#books #book rec

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midnight-in-town · 4 years

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Are there manga/anime you didn't expect you like it, but you did?

Hello! Haha, omg, actually I hardly ever start a series if something in the summary or the art style doesn’t intrigue me, so I always go in because I’m interested in a thing I read or saw about it.

However, there are definitely series I didn’t expect to like as much as I first thought I would. The series I blog about the most (be it manga, animes or games) are generally such cases of “wow I didn’t expect to like it so much and now I’m doomed forever”. xD

I’m supposing you are looking for some examples, so here we go for the ones I remember the most vividly:

Ace Attorney

I received the first game as an unexpected gift when I was a teen, even though I knew nothing of the story or its characters.

Played the first case, was like ‘uh ok it’s nice and funny’ then things start to kick in in case 2 (’spirit mediums????’) and until the end of the game, which had me yelling everywhere in excitement considering how good cases 4 and 5 were. Then I played JFA, loved it obviously and T&T was not yet out in English by then.

That being said, it only took the first game to dive pretty far into the well crafted world that is Ace Attorney, but I always enjoyed how the universe expands with each game.

And today, aside from the DGS prequel games which I haven’t played, I know the series by heart! It’s my first Internet fandom and still a favorite: I love how the games evolved (even if the first trilogy remains my fave), I love how good the character developments in these games are, I love the plot twists, the slight supernatural powers, etc.

Still a fave to this day and probably 5ever! Also these games are the reason why & how I became fluent in English and, just for that, they changed my life quite permanently, haha. xD

The Suzumiya Haruhi series

My first anime!

Kinda related to Ace Attorney actually because, at some point in the Suzumiya Haruhi anime they make a parody of AA as they’re solving a “murder case”, and that’s how I discovered the series (as I was browsing about AA on youtube).

So I started watching it with no real idea in mind, but as it turned out, I loved how awkward it is, haha! The movie (an adaptation of the fourth light novel) is also my absolute favorite as far as animated works go.

UDDUP

My first manga! And quite a great one at that! I remember finding the first volumes in a bookstore, thinking “wow the covers are so pretty?”, which is why I started reading it, haha.

Thanks to it I came to discover manga, so I’ll always love it a lot, just for that.

What I enjoyed the most though is how realistic and well-built the universe is. The cast of characters is also quite diversified, which is not something you find often and a very enjoyable fact. You can read more about it here and here.

Berserk

I already expanded on how I came to discover it here. :)

Blade of the Immortal

Ah, my latest favorite discovery! I had seen panels and screenshots of it passing by on my dash for years, but the summary had never struck me as that interesting. How wrong I was, haha.

Then someone I follow was asked about it and answered something about how “it was too violent” for them despite how enjoyable the story was. So I thought “hey maybe I should check this out”, which I did.

I only have one advice: go read it!! It’s truly a masterpiece on the level of Berserk or Urasawa Naoki’s Monster!

Pierre Bottero’s Multiverse

He is a French author, so I doubt you’ve heard of him. He used to be quite famous in France in the fantastic/fantasy realm of fiction writers.

His multiverse is made of 4 different trilogies and a stand alone book, which was supposed to be an introduction to a final trilogy tying everything together, but then he died in a car accident.

These books are probably my favorite book series ever. I read the first one thinking “okay it’s good but” and then I went to read the rest of the first trilogy and I absolutely loved it.

I didn’t know back then that he intended on developing his ideas into multiple books, so I ended up following his book releases for years quite faithfully, until his death actually. May he rest in peace. <3

Katekyo Hitman Reborn

One of these series I started because I was bored & everyone was yelling that it was super good.

I checked the anime for a few episodes, ended up bored out of my mind and dropping it for a few months. Then I came across some characters’ design (the Varia’s to be precise) and I was here like ‘??? where are these characters in the anime?’ so I went back to see more of the anime from where I had stopped.

As it turns out, the episode I had stopped on was quite good and I ended up watching it for all the laughs that it caused me, until the actual plot kicked in after 20 episodes or so. xD

Anyway, there was a reason everyone was yelling it was super good despite how peculiar it is at times, haha, and I ended up being no exception and drawn to its charms. x)

Avatar: the last Airbender

Ahhh, well, this is one series I discovered rather late! I was away on vacation with some friends and we were discussing stuff from our childhood that we still liked today, when this one friend started to mention ATLA.

And the thing is, I remembered watching some TV episodes but I couldn’t envision that this was a series with a particular or well-defined plot, because it left me no impression at all as a kid.

But my friend was quite eager about how good it was and our other friend was watching LOK at the time (without knowing about ATLA) so they both made me want to check what ATLA truly was like.

I ended up watching the whole thing a few weeks after in, like, two or three days, without being able to stop screaming about it, haha. :))

There you go Anon. :) I actually have many more examples, because I hardly ever know what to truly expect whenever I start a series. The MO is: the more it surprises me, the more I tend to love it!

Have a nice weekend!

#personal #ace attorney #berserk #khr #uddup #avatar #pierre bottero #blade of the immortal #suzumiya haruhi series #anon #answers

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letmetellyouaboutmyfeels · 5 years

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I have my own small pile of headcanons but I kinda wanna hear your past!Eliot/Moreau meta if you have any :D Like, I wanna just bundle Eliot up away from the angst but at the same time, how the show approaches NOT TALKING about that part of his life always made me more curious. :D

Okay you literally caught me at the BEST/WORST moment for this because I was JUST screaming about a new Eliot and Parker headcanon to a friend so OH BOY OH BOY AM I IN THE MOOD TO TALK ABOUT HEADCANONS.

I JUST FINISHED REWATCHING THE ENTIRE SERIES BY THE WAY SO IMAGINE ME HOPPED UP ON SUGAR THAT’S WHAT’S GOING ON HERE

*ahem*

Because you’re absolutely right–to know Eliot, you have to look at what he’s not saying. Nate is known for keeping secrets re: his plans and holding stuff back with that, but his actual backstory and personality are an open book. Multiple people read him like an illustrated children’s novel. Hardison’s backstory is remarkable in its simplicity and lack of trauma compared to the others, which is refreshing in a person of color. Not that Hardison hasn’t struggled or doesn’t have issues, as we all do, but as the backstories of the group unfold it becomes clear that Hardison’s backstory is one of triumph in spite of odds.

Sophie’s backstory, on the other hand, is about what she lies about, not about what she doesn’t say. Sophie’s backstory is like Hardison’s only more amusing, because Sophie’s backstory is her stories on the cons she’s run. And Parker, well, Parker’s backstory is about what she doesn’t want to tell you that you end up finding out anyway. Her brother, her father, her Christmases, her foster home experience, her apprenticeship to Archie. Parker’s backstory unfolds just as her development unfolds and it’s all dragged out into the light.

Eliot’s backstory is never dragged out into the light. You have to look at the dark patches to understand. Because what Eliot doesn’t say, that’s what speaks, that’s what’s important.

For example, we don’t learn about Eliot’s falling out with his father until season five. But throughout all five seasons we see him unusually protective of children, especially when it comes to their relationships with their fathers. And he never mentions his mother. All that he doesn’t say about his parents speaks volumes and tells us, long before we learn about the falling out in The Low Low Price Job, that Eliot had a hard childhood, probably without a mother, and that his relationship with his father could be frustrating and strained.

We see this in The French Connection job as well. We don’t know until season five why Eliot is so into cooking and so intense about it: it literally gave him back himself. Eliot tells Parker, “Y'know, I didn’t feel anything for a long time. And Toby taught me to cook, and after he did, I started to feel stuff again.”

But even before we hear this, we already know it, because we see Eliot taking care of Hardison and Parker through food. He loves cooking so much that Hardison buys Eliot a brewpub as a sign of romantic affection. Eliot never says how he learned to cook or why or when, but we the audience are supposed to read into the fact that he never talks about it because for something so important to him, it’s pretty damn significant that he never talks about how he came to learn how to cook. Ergo, learning how to cook was a pretty damn important and emotional thing for him.

With Eliot, read the silence.

And with Moreau? Eliot is silent. He never mentions Moreau, not all season, although if you watch the season again after you watch the finale, you start to see pretty obvious emotional signs that Eliot knows Moreau, which, kudos to the crew and Christian Kane on that (this is a great example of why you tell your actors plot twists instead of springing it on them at the last minute). Every time Moreau is mentioned, Eliot warns the team, or specifically Nate, against him. He cautions Nate. And he gets very stiff and angry. Watching season three knowing what’s coming, it’s clear that Eliot spends the whole Moreau chase on tenterhooks.

By the time we hear Eliot say, “I did things for Moreau,” the audience should already know that whoever this guy is, he’s a big deal to Eliot, and specifically to Eliot emotionally.

Then let’s look at the timeline. When Moreau meets Eliot again in the pool he mentions what fun they had in Belgrade.

…which is the same city where Eliot met Toby Heath, the chef who turned him onto cooking and gave Eliot back his sense of self. This is also incidentally the same location as the flashback in the pilot that shows Eliot’s skill set–which takes place in a restaurant/café.

The implication, therefore, is that Moreau was the reason Eliot so lost his sense of self and why Eliot was in such a bad place. Which then brings me to what Eliot says when he confesses he knows Moreau:

“You think you know what I’ve done? The worst thing I ever did in my entire life, I did for Damien Moreau. And I… I’ll never be clean of that.”

Eliot has only twice demonstrated his ability/willingness to kill in the series–with Parker and with Hardison. When the fake psychic exposes Parker’s brother’s death, Parker says she wants him dead, and Eliot straight-up offers to kill him. This is after Eliot tells Hardison early on in the series not to ask him to kill, because if he asks, Eliot will do it. Eliot’s relationship with Parker and Hardison is coded by the writers as romantic and sexual. So if Eliot is willing to break his moral code for them, two people with whom he has a romantic relationship, the implication is that the one other person for whom he broke his moral code (Moreau)… he also was in a romantic relationship with.

This is further implied in the Parker/Eliot interaction that accompanies this. Parker asks him, “What did you do?” and Eliot, tears in his eyes, begs her not to ask him, “because if you ask me, I’m gonna tell you.” Eliot cannot deny the people that he loves, and that’s part of what makes him so wonderful but it’s also part of why he is such a danger to himself because he will give until it hurts and then keep giving past that point, to the point where he can be exploited by those he trusts.

…y’know what I was going to talk about this later but since I mentioned that let’s just dive into it here real quick.

Another thing to keep in mind about Eliot that the audience should have figured out by the end of season three is that Eliot has very submissive behavior. Despite his repeated refrains of, “Dammit, Hardison!” he actually prefers to follow orders instead of give them. I joke about him being a bratty sub with my friends but in all seriousness, it becomes clear pretty quickly that Eliot’s love language is acts of service.

This is a wonderful thing, but it also opens Eliot up to being abused and manipulated, because all the person he loves has to do is hint that they would really really love it if, say, they could have that one delicious risotto for dinner… or if y’know that pesky rival arms dealer would just… vanish… and bam. Eliot takes care of it.

Eliot might not be big on the whole “saying I love you” thing, but he will cook dinner, he will go after the bad guys, literally anything Parker or Hardison say they want, Eliot finds a way to do it for them. A good comparison to this is Hardison, whose love language is gift giving.

(Note: This is all the love language they give, not necessarily the one they receive. Hardison likes to receive words of affirmation i.e. “Good job, Hardison,” which is why he butts heads with Nate because Nate SUCKS at words of affirmation. But Hardison gives in presents.)

Hardison gifts Parker the little Parker II robot. He buys a building in Portland with high ceilings and brick walls and all the structural stuff Parker likes but with a brew pub for Eliot. He gives high-tech earbuds. He gifts Parker the parachute to go with her weighted boots so she can sail to safety. He gifts everyone with state-of-the-art tech to keep them safe.

Parker, on the other hand, gives in physical touch. She scoots right up next to Eliot on the couch and pokes Eliot constantly. She climbs all over Hardison like a jungle gym. She snuggles them.

Eliot doesn’t go out of his way to touch anyone, and he doesn’t buy anyone anything, but he finds ways to serve them. Which is why, when Eliot says “the worst thing I ever did in my life” was for Moreau, that should be pinging alarm bells to any alert viewer. It should tell you two facts. One, I served this man, and he took advantage of it, and two, I served him the way I serve Parker and Hardison now, and that means we had the same relationship.

And this is all ignoring actual Eliot-Moreau interactions!

So even if we IGNORE all of the interactions Eliot has with Moreau, we’re building a pretty damning case here. Eliot’s telling silence, the timeline, and the fact that he admits Moreau had a hold on him, an ability to break Eliot’s self-imposed code, which does not happen easily and is intrinsically tied to Eliot’s love for someone… all of this screams that Moreau was not just a boss but someone personal, and important, to Eliot.

Then Moreau actually saunters into the picture (a moment of silence so we may all drool) and it all dials up to eleven.

Let’s start with the sex angle. Or, rather, the lack of a sex angle.

See, we find Moreau in the middle of a “party” in a hotel pool. There’s plenty of scantily clad women around. But Moreau never once looks at them or touches them. They might as well not even be there. Every other mark who is placed in a similar situation is shown interacting with the women or at least looking at them appreciatively. Moreau straight up ignores them. They might as well not be there. They’re window dressing.

Interesting, non?

This gets even more interesting when you line Moreau up along with all the other marks the team has gone after and realize that Moreau is one of the few marks, possibly the only male mark, that the team doesn’t try any kind of romantic/sexual grift on.

Often when there’s a woman involved you’ll see Eliot slide in and briefly grift her, the biggest example being The Stork Job where Eliot ends up grifting almost the entire episode, aided by Sophie. When it’s a man, though, when have we not seen Sophie charm him? Moreau stands out because he and Sophie don’t even meet until the team gets to San Lorenzo. He’s not grifted… except by Eliot, who lies to him about who Hardison is.

Then consider Moreau’s wedding ring. Now, yes, I know, the costume department was probably just like “yeah okay keep your wedding ring on who cares,” but the writing team is usually good about having the Leverage team bring up any family connections. Especially when the team gets to San Lorenzo, Moreau’s home turf. Moreau has an expensive villa and a wedding ring and, what, the team just conveniently decided not to go after his spouse? When a spouse is probably the easiest way to get to someone?

If the team doesn’t go after Moreau’s spouse, then that means that he’s not close enough to his spouse for there to be any leverage there (ba dum tish). That plus ignoring the women–again the only mark to do so–and the only male mark Sophie doesn’t in some way try to grift…

…I’m just saying.

There’s also the fact that Moreau comments on Eliot’s haircut (“I like the new haircut”), the “delicious five course meal” look he gives Eliot the entire time they’re at the pool together, and the fact that he actually seems pleased to see Eliot, and furthermore, relaxed around him. And we can’t put that relaxation off to just thinking he has the upper hand. Moreau thinks he has the upper hand with Nate in San Lorenzo, but he never relaxes around him the way he does around Eliot.

Speaking of which, rather interesting that Eliot tries to avoid being alone with Moreau in San Lorenzo… but we’ll get to that later.

So. Moreau and Eliot meet in person. And hoo boy is that a doozy.

Immediately Eliot is completely different from how we usually see him. He tucks his shoulders in. He makes himself small. He postures to the new head of security but with Moreau, Eliot’s careful. Measuring his words. Darting his eyes down.

Moreau, on the other hand, is amused and almost delighted. He looks like he’s been waiting cheerfully for this day to arrive, the day Eliot walks back in through the door. We’ve never seen Eliot so out of his element, and Moreau has all the cards. This is the moment where the audience realizes just how dangerous Moreau is, because we see Eliot’s reactions to him. Eliot is walking the razor’s edge.

This is all just in reading body language. This doesn’t include the actual dialogue. The dialogue… well. See for yourself.

“He prefers beer.” (Note that Moreau doesn’t give the girl a once over, he looks her in the eyes dismissively, every single other male mark would give the girl a once over.) Moreau knows Eliot’s personal tastes.

“Whose Snoopy lunchbox did I take?” This isn’t a random object. Snoopy lunch box? That’s pretty specific. “Whose school lunch did I take” or “whose lunch box did I take” would get the same condescending joke across, but Snoopy lunch box. Moreau’s referencing a specific event between himself and Eliot, reminding Eliot of their past.

“I don’t know you [Hardison] but I do know you [Eliot]. We could talk.” This is accompanied by a smile. Moreau then immediately removes Hardison from the equation by kicking him into the pool so that he is, essentially, talking to Eliot in private.

“Let’s keep it short.” “I already have international buyers so it’s not an issue.” Moreau is toying with Eliot and Eliot is letting him. Eliot is speaking quietly. Barely moving. Shut down, almost, like he’s scared of showing Moreau too much.

The casual behavior that Moreau is showing throughout suggests that even if he knows Eliot’s trying to double cross him, he doesn’t care. The words he’s saying remind Eliot of their past. Both of these indicate that they have, or once had, a deep trust between one another.

“What else you got?” After Eliot has given Moreau his information, Moreau waits a full thirty seconds (thirty seconds he knows the drowning man in the pool can’t afford), even though Moreau has clearly already made up his mind. Again, toying with Eliot. Here we’re seeing Moreau’s ability to manipulate people, and especially his ability to manipulate Eliot.

This entire scene, it’s like he’s pushing Eliot towards a particular something, trying to get Eliot to give him something specific that Moreau wants, and already knows that he wants. This scene right here shows us Moreau and Eliot’s entire relationship and it’s a bone-chilling one of manipulation, coercion, and power plays where Eliot is submissive and scared, poker faced, holding his cards close for fear they’ll be ripped from him.

Now, no relationship starts out this blatantly abusive. Moreau’s behavior shows that he’s clearly fond of Eliot, especially compared to the rest of this episode and the next (The Big Bang Job and The San Lorenzo Job) where we see how Moreau manipulates and treats people of whom he isn’t fond.

“I like this one. Just like old times. Reminds me of Belgrade.” All said while Moreau is laughing, speaking in a low, amused, intimate voice, staring Eliot right in the eyes as Eliot struggles not to flinch away. Making his like of Hardison more disturbing and threatening than his dislike would be, implying that Moreau liking Hardison is bad news for Hardison, activating Eliot’s protective instincts.

Also please tell me I’m not the only one who heard “we have a deal” and was like that sounds like he wants Eliot to do sex stuff.

If Eliot was a woman, or if Moreau was a woman, I don’t think anyone viewing would be in any doubt that there was a sexual undercurrent to this entire exchange, especially in those last few sentences. And Eliot just stares back, not defiant the way he usually does, but like he’s silently begging for this whole thing to be over.

In fact, the only time Eliot starts to become himself again is when Hardison says he sucked the air out of the chair and complains about Eliot not diving into the pool after him. Now, Hardison couldn’t hear what was being exchanged up there, but Hardison is the most emotionally aware of the OT3, and arguably the most emotionally aware of the entire group (it’s a toss-up between him and Sophie). Hardison, even before he was kicked into the pool, knows something is horribly wrong here not just with the situation but with Eliot. Which leads me to believe that Hardison is berating Eliot for not going in after him not because Hardison genuinely cares (by season three he trusts Eliot in these matters) but because it gives Eliot something to snap him out of it.

And Eliot does snap out of it. He banters back at Hardison, comes back to himself and becomes the Eliot we know and love, which highlights his previous behavior with Moreau even more sharply. Eliot always snarks back. Always. And yet not once did he do that with Moreau. They’ve gone up against guys were were just as “bad” as Moreau is, so why is Eliot scared of this one, why is Eliot not snarking back, why does Moreau hold all the cards, relaxed in a bathrobe, while Eliot stands with his arms folded like a shield?

Because there is something personal, and painful, at play here for Eliot.

Which leads us all to my final belief, which is that Eliot fled Moreau and never actually properly ‘quit’. That is, he gave his resignation over a phone call or letter, and never actually did it face to face.

Why?

Because Eliot’s behavior all suggests a huge lack of closure.

Eliot avoids Moreau at all costs, especially in San Lorenzo, Moreau’s home turf. He never confronts Moreau alone. Never speaks to him alone. In fact he seems loathe to speak to or about Moreau at all. Eliot casually mentions a lot of the other shit he’s done, but he never mentions Moreau or the shit he did with Moreau, which suggests that he can’t talk about it–because he hasn’t faced it and therefore can’t accept it.

Given how Moreau handles his business associates (“you’re either an asset or a liability”), I think we can assume that anyone who wanted to a) quit his employ or b) break up with him had to do it by running for their lives and leaving a Dear John letter. And if we think back to the timeline, Eliot learning how to cook, then we can assume he was hiding out with this chef instead of doing actual work.

And remember–Moreau is happy to see Eliot. He’s amused and cheerful. He establishes his authority by kicking Hardison into the pool but he’s not angry. If Eliot and Moreau had a big falling-out fight, I doubt he would’ve been so jovial.

Which means that instead of confronting Moreau and saying “hey you’re an asshole and I’m leaving you,” Eliot fled. Which means that Moreau thinks he still has some kind of hold over Eliot because he knows Eliot operated out of fear and didn’t have the guts to confront him, and which also means that Eliot never got to face down the man of whom he was so scared. Which means a lack of closure.

Which Eliot finally, finally gets by locking Moreau up. He literally gets to put his asshole ex in jail himself, how many people get to do that?

MY CONCLUSION:

Eliot and Moreau started out as hitman and boss, respectively, but developed a romantic and probably also sexual relationship. It was emotionally manipulative at best and outright emotionally abusive at worst. Eliot’s love language, as we discussed, is acts of service and so out of that close emotional bond he ‘served’ and did things that he wouldn’t otherwise have done, things that haunted him and fucked him up emotionally. But you can’t always see the forest for the trees when you’re in an abusive relationship, and when you love someone it’s hard to let them go and walk away, and so it wasn’t until Eliot met Toby that he was able to start to rediscover himself and his independence.

Eliot left Moreau, probably by just leaving a note or voicemail, since if they’d fought, I a) doubt Moreau would’ve been so indulgent at the pool and b) doubt Eliot would’ve made it out alive. If Eliot just straight up says “we’re done, bye,” and flees, this also explains Moreau’s amused and commanding presence at the pool–he’s assuming that somewhere, deep down, Eliot left without a proper goodbye because he would’ve stayed if he tried that, would’ve fallen for Moreau’s manipulation again, and Moreau believes he can therefore still manipulate Eliot.

And he’s partially right. Moreau reads Eliot like a book and it’s thanks to the smarts of the rest of the team that they manage to force Moreau to flee to San Lorenzo. Eliot himself is, well, compromised.

Eliot is now in a much better and healthier place, with himself and with the people around him, but yes, Moreau is the asshole ex-boyfriend who rears his ugly head, and in putting him in prison, Eliot is also able to lay his past bad relationship to rest and get closure.

And that is my Eliot/Moreau meta, someone please wrap this poor sweet boy up in blankets, please and thank.

#mads answers things #leverage #leverage meta #eliot spencer #eliot spencer meta #eliot spencer x damien moreau #the feels #I haz them #brassmama #longpost

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zephyrthejester · 4 years

Text

Three Years Blog Anniversary!

Well, would you look at that. In the blink of an eye, an entire year has gone by! It has now been a grand total of three years since I started up this liveblog, and ever since, it's been a whirlwind of an adventure that has introduced me to amazing shows, amazing games, and above all, amazing people! As has become tradition, it's time for us to gather 'round by the fire, bundle up in blankets, sip some hot cocoa, and reminisce about the shenanigans we got up to in the year 2019.

You know the drill! Click "Keep Reading" to see the rest! Let's go!

January kicked off with the closing episodes to Steven Universe's fifth season, and what a finale it was! In true SU nature, it managed to be wholesome, funny, terrifying, and sad all at once! Not to mention the finale episode specifically, which was rife with both fan service and a breath-taking final confrontation. It even prompted me to type up three whole Addendum posts just so I could get all my thoughts out there. Intermingling with these episodes were some rather poignant and touching episodes of RWBY's 6th Volume, which saw some great plot advancements for some of my favorite characters. And of course, there was one liveblog session early on dedicated to Fate/Stay Night, a series I began back in 2018. And that would end up being the last I'd liveblog about it. Following the technical difficulties of the Visual Novel crashing at an important moment, I lost much of my motivation to keep going at it, putting Fate/Stay Night on the bench... For now. But more on Fate/Stay Night later.

Then came February! Where I proceeded to do absolutely nothing at all. For 42 days, I fell into a pretty bad funk that I called depression, at the time. Well! I must be in a better mental space right now, because until it came time to make this post, I forgot all about it! Moving past the shame I felt for wordlessly abandoning my blog and discord community for over a month, come March I pressed right into a brand new liveblog: Kill la Kill! A frenetic, frantic, freaky series that serves as the spiritual sequel to what was, once upon a time, my favorite anime ever: Gurren Lagann. I was immediately charmed by it's absurdist humor and over-the-top everything. However, it wasn't long before I succumbed to my greatest flaw. I'm exceptionally picky about what I liveblog, and sadly, Kill la Kill didn't tick the boxes that needed to be ticked for me to stick with it. I eventually dropped the series after only three episodes.

Needless to say, I was getting desperate to reinvigorate my lost momentum. It was then and there, at the tail end of March, that I introduced the most significant change to my brand ever: Liveblogging itself was being benched in favor of a fanciful second attempt at running my video game focused Youtube Channel! While I would certainly continue to liveblog new episodes of shows I had previously caught up with, my efforts would be redoubled and focused upon something I hoped would shake things up for me. I put in the effort of buying a new, fancy, high-tech microphone, and set about to new projects!

First up was a tense and troublesome self-imposed-challenge: A playthrough of Resident Evil 2 Remake on its hardest difficulty, with the added stipulation that I can never access the item storage box! My knowledge and skills of that game were put to the test as I skirted by the dangerous zombies and mutants while carrying only the bare essentials on my person. That series lasted 7 videos, plus a Highlight Reel, over about a week. My new microphone really brought out my screams of terror. Yes.

Immediately following the conclusion of the REmake 2 challenge run in early April, a new series debuted: A blind let's play of Subnautica! A simply incredible sci-fi survival game set on a planet that's nearly entirely an ocean... But much to my surprise, it was secretly a horror game all along. Spanning 18 episodes + a highlight reel between April 5th and May 23rd, we descended ever deeper into the abyss, deciphered alien riddles, fled from toothy leviathan-class predators, established a lovely home base, and had a great ol' time overall. A truly remarkable game with a surprisingly good story, for its genre, and it left me eagerly looking forward to making a Let's Play of its sequel: Below Zero.

Simultaneously, beginning on April 10th, I embarked upon yet another adventure that was of such a large scope, I made my channel's primary time slot dedicated to it. The Phoenix Wright Trilogy! A collection of the first three Visual Novels in a wonderful, wonderful series about the titular attorney at law. It wasn't long before I fell in love with this series, big time. It had everything! Immensely satisfying mysteries for me to solve, memorable and lovable characters, great pacing, and it knew how to keep things fresh and interesting. Although I started out the Let's Play by saying I wouldn't read everything aloud, that proved to be a lie. As of now, the series is a whopping 78 videos long (I do expect it to reach 100 before all is said and done), and I have given voice to roughly 50 unique characters so far. The series really helped awaken my Let's Play chops by improving my speech, vocal clarity, and focus. Swapping between my first video ever (for Legend of Grimrock II) and the most recent Phoenix Wright video is a real night-and-day difference! Overall, it's very safe to say that the series has stolen my heart. Unmatched hype, dizzying plot twists, and delightful shenanigans burst from the seams, truly. The Let's Play is currently ongoing, though the end is within sight...

As the Let's Plays of Subnautica and Phoenix Wright Trilogy progressed, so too did the production quality of my videos. I got a better grip on editing, improving the design of my video thumbnails and taking more care to edit out needless and dull moments of gameplay. I even introduced a brief and stylish video intro, which was my avatar appearing over a dark background before it faded off into gameplay. That would be the image up above! However, as we move into 2020, I’ve begun to feel that it could do with a slight improvement... Wink wink!

Following the end of Subnautica came a new Let's Play involving yet another sci-fi horror game: Prey! Spanning 25 videos + a highlight reel between June 3rd and November 19th, it immediately gripped me with its stunning attention to detail, marvelously crafted environments, and boundlessly creative gameplay. It was a pleasure to explore the varied regions of the Talos One space station, blasting aliens, uncovering secrets, untangling the connections between the employees there, and making some seriously difficult moral choices. A truly impressive video game that's just begging for a second playthrough on my own time at some point.

July 20th saw the beginning of new activity on my blog. In a spur-of-the-moment decision that I didn't think out too well, I brazenly announced out of nowhere that I would be doing a re-watch of Steven Universe! I proceeded to liveblog the first 11 episodes of Steven Universe over a week, lovingly looking back at the series' origins, calling out moments of foreshadowing, and analyzing everything with the lens of all my knowledge about the show. And then... Nothing! Just as soon as it began, the project was dropped. I had hoped it would rekindle my interest in Liveblogging (outside of new episodes of SU and RWBY), but I had no such luck. You know I'm burnt out when even Steven Universe, my favorite thing ever, can't help...

By September 3rd, the Steven Universe Movie had finally released! Over a hype-as-hell two days, I liveblogged the entire film. It truly was Steven Universe at its absolute best! Touching, sincere, unexpected, and rife with some stellar songs that are STILL stuck in my head. It proved that the Crewniverse hadn't lost its spark since the conclusion of the original series.

November 5th was my 25th birthday! My family celebrated by all going out for an amazing sushi dinner. Good times! Sometimes, it's really hard for me to grasp that I'm actually 25... I'm a kid at heart, really! Or maybe it's that I'm a social recluse who enjoys watching anime a little too much. Regardless, I feel no shame!

November 10th saw the debut of RWBY Volume 7, and so far it has been an exceptionally strong season. I've long maintained the opinion that the show gets better and better every season, and Volume 7 has given me no reason to doubt that. One episode in particular became my second favorite in the series, right behind a certain one from Volume 6! I'm really enjoying how the characters, new and old, are playing off each other this go around, and the fights and art direction have been no slouch either. This season's a looker! I'm really looking forward to seeing how it ends.

Hot on the heels of the ending Let's Play of Prey, I immediately started up a new series on November 20th... Chrono Trigger! A legendary and widely loved JRPG from the SNES era of gaming that I had somehow gone all my life without playing. Better late than never to fix a mistake like that! I eagerly dived in and nearly immediately understood why it's heralded as an all-time great. The series is currently 13 episodes long, and each one is an endless stream of me being hyped and giddy. I’m already excited to record more!

December 8th saw the debut of Steven Universe Future, a very special epilogue series that's sure to tie a nice bow on the franchise as a whole. As of this post, I have liveblogged the first 8 episodes, and it's fair to say that while it's not holding back in giving the audience exactly what it wants, it's also doing something very unexpected and very, very interesting with Steven himself. Only time will tell how it all ends and whether every remaining mystery will be answered, but so far I have been more than satisfied with it.

And that brings us to the present! Wow, it felt like a lot less happened this year than you would think, huh? No, it's been jam packed with new adventures! I think I am very content with how the year has gone, and I hope you are as well. We'll be striding into the year 2020 with more Steven Universe, more RWBY, more Phoenix Wright, and more Chrono Trigger! Plus, it may very well be that we'll see the return of Made in Abyss and Madoka Magica, both of which (I believe) are getting continuation movies in 2020. I may or may not be entirely wrong about this. Forgive me if I am...

In the near future, the Phoenix Wright Trilogy will be followed up by a Let's Play of Fate/Stay Night! Indeed, the canceled Liveblog will be reborn in youtube video form! And following Chrono Trigger, well... It's mostly up in the air, though I do have a few good ideas. In particular, I recently got a Virtual Reality system set up... Wink wink!

So that's really all there is to it! Cheers, lads! Cheers to a good year, and cheers to the next year being even better! To our good health, our unbreakable friendships, and all the stupid bullshit we’ll get into together! 2020 has arrived!

#Zephyr the Jester #Blog Anniversary

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duhragonball · 4 years

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Potpourri

I’ve been thinking about various storytelling things, not really Dragon Ball related, but I figured I could write them all down here and make something out of it. Yeah, like an old school Livejournal post, except I can’t write a sassy message in the read-more cut.

Okay, first, I’ve been watching a lot of AEW Dark episodes on YouTube, because AEW puts out a new one every Tuesday and it’s easy to fall behind on them. So it’s like reliving wrestling angles that I watched on AEW Dynamite back in June and July. One of these angles was a world title match between champion Jon Moxley, and “The Machine” Brian Cage, who debuted by winning a ladder match in dramatic fashion, along with his new manager, Taz.

Taz does a lot of the color commentary for these episodes of Dark, and Cage debuted around the release of Episode 35, so after that, Taz started using his announcing job to promote the upcoming title match and gloat about how his guy Cage was going to destroy Jon Moxley and win the title. Taz’s main argument was that Cage is absolutely jacked, which made him a success before, but now he’s got Taz coaching him in all the cool stuff Taz used to do in ECW: suplexes, submission holds, etc. Taz sells you Brian Cage’s world title victory like a lawyer presenting a case to a jury. At the center of Taz’s argument was his claim that Cage was simply too big, too strong, and too prepared for Jon Moxley’s finishing move, the Paradigm Shift. Taz predicted that Mox wouldn’t be able to apply the Paradigm Shift properly, and even if he could hit it, it wouldn’t be enough to stop Cage.

The plot twist came from real life, when Moxley had to stay home because his wife contracted COVID-19. There was a lot of speculation that he might get sick, and even if he didn’t, that he wouldn’t be able to appear for the title match. Fortunately, it didn’t come to that, and the match was simply postponed an extra week. During that time, Taz accused Moxley of ducking Brian Cage, which I wasn’t crazy about, since I didn’t like coronavirus being used in a wrestling angle. On the other hand, it did give Taz a couple of weeks to run down the champion unopposed. At one point he reintroduced his old FTW title belt and gave it to Cage because the world title match had been postponed. Good stuff.

So finally, Moxley comes back, and he did one promo before the title match, and this was his chance to respond to all the shittalking Taz had been doing. It was brilliant, because for weeks, Taz had been declaring victory, and he shut it all down in one quick segment. He brought up Taz’s claim that the Paradigm Shift wouldn’t work on Cage, and Moxley just said “well maybe I won’t try to use my finisher on him. No, instead, I’m going to target his left bicep, which was surgically repaired last year, putting Cage out of action for several months.”

And just like that, the tone of the show changed, where suddenly it looked like Cage might be in trouble, because his camp only seemed to have a perfect game plan, and here was the champion announcing his own counter-strategy in advance. “You talked shit about my wife being sick, so I will reinjure your arm.”

And it was awesome. At one point Moxley went for a pin, and Cage kicked out, only for Moxley to reverse the pin into a submission move on the arm. There were points where it seemed like he couldn’t decide which arm to target, and eventually I realized he was going after both of them, switching from one to the other as needed. It’s smart, because if you go after the good arm, he’s gotta use the vulnerable one to fight you off, and by doing that Cage basically handed it to Mox for his next hold.

Finally, Moxley had Cage trapped in an arm hold, and the whole time he was looking Taz in the eye, basically waiting for a submission or a ref stoppage, and Taz had no choice but to throw in the towel to save Brian Cage’s career. It was a beautiful finish because it sewed up the whole story. Cage never tapped out, so he still looks like a relentless badass, but Taz had to let discretion be the better part of valor. He mocked Moxley for playing it safe when his wife got sick, so Moxley forced Taz to make the same choice. Great stuff.

Second. I’ve been reading Darth Vader comics since Marvel started publishing new Star Wars stuff again. Disney bought Marvel and Star Wars, so it was only a matter of time before the comics began to reflect this. The smart thing they did was to give Vader his own title, which I like because I’m not that into the adventures of Luke and Han.

The first Vader series was twenty-odd issues featuring his fall from grace after the Death Star’s destruction, and his rise to command of the Imperial Fleet. Basically it charts Vader’s career between Episodes IV and V, though there’s plenty of room for other side-stories.

The second series flashed back to the final scenes of Revenge of the Sith, and tracks Vader’s actions before A New Hope. It doesn’t cover the entire period, but it hits a lot of the important notes. How he got his red lightsaber, how he trained the Inquisitors and hunted down the surviving Jedi, and how he built the castle on Mustafar seen in Rogue One. So it handles everything important Vader was known to have done between Episodes III and IV.

The third series, currently ongoing, starts right after Vader’s final scene in Empire Strikes Back, and I would assume it’s going to lead him right up to his arrival at Death Star II in Return of the Jedi. I’m really into this, because I feel like this is an especially overlooked stage of Vader’s career. Starting out, it seems to be mostly about Vader investigating how his son survived Padme’s death, as he seeks revenge against anyone who hid the boy from him. Of course, nearly everyone involved in that cover-up is already dead, so I’m not sure where this is going to lead.

All three volumes of the Vader title focus on the utter futility of Vader’s quests for power and revenge. His hunts for Jedi survivors was just something for him to do in his spare time, since the Jedi were no longer a threat to him. His castle on Mustafar was designed to give him special knowledge of the Force, but it only revealed truths that he already knew, or had long since rejected. His plot to regain the Emperor’s favor after Yavin was very satisfying to watch, but also pointless: The Emperor needed him too badly to dispose of him, and Vader’s still a patsy whether he’s the #2 guy in the Empire or the #5 guy in the Empire. And now this new series sees him chasing ghosts, trying to make sense of Luke’s refusal to join him. He wants some sort of answer to his dilemma, but the only answer he’s ever going to find is the one in ROTJ, where he sacrifices himself to kill the Emperor, the one thing he cannot bring himself to contemplate until the time comes.

What saddens me, a little, is the realization that there doesn’t seem to be anywhere else for Marvel to go with the guy. We’ve got an arc of Vader between Episodes III and IV, an arc between IV and V, and now V and VI, and that’s it. The only way to do another Darth Vader series after this would be to go back and cover one of those three periods of his career. And I’d be up for that, but the three series Marvel has done seem a little too decisive for this. Like they purposely planned these comics because they weren’t going to revisit the character again for a while. At least, not as the star of his own feature.

I guess I could deal with that. Maybe Marvel could finally get around to exploring the Sith career of Count Dooku between Episodes I and II, or work out some loose ends with the Emperor between Episodes VI and IX. The main thing that’s been on my mind about Vader, though, is this idea that the character could just be done, and laid aside.

This is something I’ve often observed about Cell and Frieza in DBZ. I still think it’s dumb how they brought back Frieza after Trunks killed him, because there really wasn’t anything left to do with the character after he got turned into a cyborg and instakilled. There’s nowhere to go after that. His character arc was to start as the Final Boss of the entire Universe and then to get reduced to a pathetic, minor threat. You can bring him back, but your only choice, dramatically speaking, is to reset the character, which means putting him back on the same track he’s already covered. There’s no way to bring back Frieza and not have it be a retread of stuff he’s already done once before.

Cell might have some interesting applications beyond his original story, but he’s too much of a slave to his purpose. His job was to carry on Dr. Gero’s revenge scheme, and that all ended when the saga ended, so he just seems out of place whenever he appears after that. This is why I’m glad Toei and Toriyama haven’t brought Cell back, although at this rate it feels like it’s only a matter of time. The thing is, if they brought him back, what else could they do with him?

With Darth Vader, all of his most important moments have already been covered in the movies, so all that’s left is to produce some side-story content. The old Expanded Universe tended to steer clear of Darth Vader, probably out of respect for George Lucas’ prequel plans. Later, the Clone Wars projects gave us more Anakin Skywalker than anyone knew what to do with, which is basically Darth Vader content, but not quite. That’s why I dig these Marvel books so much, because there’s never been such a sustained effort to tell a Darth Vader story like this. But once it’s run its course, the only way to keep using the character would basically be to start over. I have a hard time seeing Marvel do that. They’d have to get a new writer to retell those years like the first set of comics didn’t happen. That could be very entertaining, but it doesn’t sound likely to happen.

I’m not terribly worried about getting my Darth Vader fix in the future. They’ll keep making stories about him long after I’m dead. It’s just that I’ve been thinking about the limits of what you can do with one character. I’ve long thought that you can always find gaps in the narrative that can be filled in with new stories, but maybe that isn’t true. Maybe at some point, for some characters, there’s a finite amount of things to do with them. You look at all of the Anakin Skywalker Clone Wars stories, and I’m sure someone could write a few hundred more, but would it really accomplish anything that hasn’t already been covered? Is it possible to “use up” a character? I probably won’t know for sure anytime soon.

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oosteven-universe · 4 years

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Undead Messiah Volume 1

Undead Messiah Volume 1 TokyoPop 2018 By Gin Zarbo A pregnant woman is pursued by a supernatural creature. On the internet, videos of a bandaged hero surface. 15-year-old Tim Muley makes a terrible discovery in his neighbor's garden. Three seemingly unrelated events, all of which seem to point to an imminent zombie apocalypse! But this time the story's not about the end of mankind; it's about a new beginning... I have always had a complicated relationship with Manga. There are those that I think are stellar and then there's the whole Yaoi genre which baffles my mind even as a gay man. I was working on a press release for TokyoPop when I saw the cover to this volume and thought okay this is something I need to read. I'm a sucker for a zombie story even the bad ones, doesn't matter I will watch and/or read them all. So I was thrilled to be given the chance to read and review this one. This is truly one of the perks of doing what I do and it's bringing a whole new realm to my site in terms of books that you'll see. I really rather like the way that this is being told. The right to left style of reading comes a little more naturally have studied Hebrew most of my life, though then this also begs the question when did left to right change to right to left? Already engaging my mind in ways that surprise me and that's a great thing because this means that this makes you feel something. The story & plot development that we see here through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is perfectly presented. The flow that the book has in regards to how we meet Tim and M-Kay, learn about them, their relationship to one another it creates this believability in seeing them as real people and that's impressive as all get out to me. The character development here is phenomenal as we see them learn and grow through the circumstances and situations they encounter. The pacing is utterly amazing as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way while it showcases how all this works together to create the ebb & flow we see. I found myself loving the story here. I was wondering how this was going to stand by itself in the literal ocean of zombie stories that are out there. What discovered is a very good, interesting take on the subject and the raw emotional material manages to hit closer to home than expected. This is one of the best books I have read in a while and I do mean in any genre. I love the interiors here. The linework is absolutely stunning and exquisite to behold. The black and white style is so incredibly revealing of an artists talent and the utilisation of the varying weights and how we see them bring out this level and quality of attention to detail is phenomenal. The sheer raw emotion that we see come off the page is so palpable to the reader. Then add in backgrounds here and we get this delicious depth perception a sense of scale and that overall feeling of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show us this amazingly talented eye for storytelling. The impact the interiors have on the story is sensational and that Gin does it all himself so everything we see on the page is exactly how he wants it to appear is truly a thing of beauty. If you think Manga is for kids or just full Yaoi books think again. This is phenomenal and while Train to Busan transformed the zombie film genre Undead Messiah is doing that for written storytelling. So I highly, HIGHLY recommend that you pick this up and see for yourself that this is a book you need in your life.

#comic books #comics reviews #tokyopop #gin zarbo

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lovemesomerafael · 5 years

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El Amor Todo Lo Puede Chapter 42: Teamwork

Source: @rawresparza

Chapters 1-40 Chapter 41

The guy had been weaving his contorted way through every questioning technique they’d tried on him. None of them had been able to build rapport with him. Threats, promises, and intimidation didn’t work. Role-playing had failed entirely because he’d seen through it instantly. He was intuitive in the extreme; he could spot a weakness or sore spot instantly from the slightest clue. Once he did, he would use it to slash at the person so that, rather than continuing to press the questioning, they would recoil to defend themselves. It was classic manipulative narcissist behavior, and the squad had been watching him do it successfully for over six hours. Nothing was working with him. They were all tired, seriously pissed off at him, and frustrated.

The worst part was that they knew he was enjoying the game. He hadn’t asked for a lawyer because any lawyer would have ended the interrogation, and he wasn’t done sporting with them yet. But they could not stop. If they let him go, it was entirely likely that they’d never get a hold of him again, and a dead certainty that he would go back to victimizing pretty much every woman who had the misfortune of meeting him. They couldn’t arrest him without more evidence, so they had to keep him talking in the interrogation room.

Olivia and Carisi shuffled out of the interrogation room, drained and stymied.

“That asswipe is not gonna give it up,” Carisi griped. “I say we just toss him out the window, tell the brass he escaped.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Olivia sighed. “I couldn’t take one more minute in there with that slime.”

“What’s left to try?” Fin asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe we need to just give up trying to get him to say anything we can use. Get him the old-fashioned way, with physical evidence.”

“Abrams doesn’t leave physical evidence. That’s the problem,” Rafael noted.

“Let’s not give up just yet,” Laura said. “We’ve been watching this creep for six hours now, and his moves are starting to get predictable. Plus, you’ve been taking turns with him. He’s been in there the whole time. He’s gotta be more tired than we are.”

“I just don’t think we’re gonna get anything out of him,” Olivia said. “We’ve tried everything.”

Rafael looked at Benson, his head tilted slightly, a nasty smirk suddenly appearing on his face. There was a definite wicked gleam in his eye. “Not everything.”

He turned to Laura. “Wanna have some fun?”

Simply based upon sly, sexy look on his face, Laura would have agreed to absolutely anything. “What are you thinking?”

“Just follow me.”

He opened the interrogation room door and waved her in.

“Mr. Abrams, I’m Detective Parker, this is Assistant District Attorney Barba.” They sat down on the other side of the table facing the handsome, well-groomed blond.

“Oh. Conceding defeat, huh? The game is lost, so they’re sending in the benchwarmers to get a little practice since they can’t do any harm?”

Rafael raised an eyebrow and directed his words to Laura. “Clearly doesn’t know baseball or business. Not familiar with the concept of a closer.”

Abrams sneered. “Parker. Laura Parker. Formerly of the Chicago PD. Been with the NYPD just two years.”

Rafael shrugged. “On the plus side, he knows how to use Google.”

“You see a computer in here? Have I had time to look you up since you walked in here?”

Laura, quickly picking up on Rafael’s game, shrugged and leaned insolently back in her chair. “You didn’t have to, you transparent twat. You’ve been committing sex crimes in New York for, what, ten years? Any moron who makes a habit of that would have looked to see who might be coming after him.”

Rafael made a note on his legal pad. “Not as smart as they said he was.”

“You guys fucking?” Abrams asked.

“Also not that creative,” Laura said to Rafael.

“Stupid cunt,” Abrams sighed.

“As I said…” Laura gestured to Rafael at the predictability of the insult before turning to Abrams. “You people. You all think you’re so special.”

“’You people’?”

Rafael shrugged. “Manipulators. You think because you could bamboozle some housewife in Queens, you’re Rasputin. You’re like the fourth one this week for us, so don’t take it personally if we’re not impressed.”

The slightest ripple of irritation crossed Abrams’s features. “You’re the A.D.A., huh? Are you here to offer me a deal?”

Rafael sat immobile. “No,” he said, his face and voice entirely neutral.

Abrams skipped a beat. Not much to grab onto with someone who didn’t speak. “Hey, man, that’s a hell of a suit. Etro?”

Again, Rafael simply said in a flat voice, “No.”

“So you watch the obituaries and find yourself a young widow. You Google her, follow her around for a while, figure out your approach, and go after her,” Laura tried.

Rafael stepped in before Abrams could respond. “Yawn. Teenagers do that every day to get prom dates.”

Laura continued. “You bleed her dry, then dump her.”

“Been done by every bleached blonde with fake tits ever,” Rafael sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“She threatens to go to the cops, you stage a break-in, rape and kill her.”

“The plot of every bargain bin mystery novel since Adam. Exact same story with Michelle Trujillo, Myra Simpkins, and three other women. What, exactly, is supposed to be so special about you?”

Abrams didn’t like the way there were two conversations going on, one of which was about him but didn’t involve him. And he definitely didn’t like the attitude of these new assholes. “Well, obviously they thought I was special, they couldn’t get enough of me. They wanted to show their appreciation so they gave me gifts. Want me to show you what’s special about me?” He leered at Laura.

“To quote my friend here, no.” She answered.

“So what exactly makes a snotty little bitch like you want to work sex crimes? You a prude? Can’t stand the idea of anyone having a good time while you’re home with your cats?” He squinted at her and leaned across the table, getting closer to Laura as he spoke. “Actually, no. That’s not it. I think it’s the opposite. You get a front row seat to the sickest shit people can do to each other, and you get off on it. Tell me something, did you see those disgusting pictures your friends were waving around earlier? Do you email yourself copies of those kinds of pictures so you can enjoy them later, when you’re all alone?”

“Bored now,” Laura said flatly.

Abrams made a disturbingly lewd gesture.

Rafael asked the next question without either of them reacting to what Abrams had done. “Where’s the money?”

“What money?”

“Ah.” She looked at Rafael, as though Abrams’ question had spoken unintended volumes. “It’s gone. Spent it all.”

“Not all,” Rafael disagreed, as though contemplating the ways a fool like this could squander money. “Maybe spent half on clothes, and lost the rest gambling.”

“I’m thinking he spent a fair amount on hair products,” she replied, the angle of her gaze making it clear that she was talking to Rafael.

Abrams fumed, the superiority and amusement in their faces and voices having exactly the intended effect. He was really starting not to like the snarky conversation about him taking place as though he wasn’t there.

Rafael turned to Abrams. “You better have another housewife lined up, then.”

“Poughkeepsie this time?” Laura suggested. “You could probably find someone naïve and desperate enough to buy – “ she raised her hand up and down to indicate him. “What you’re selling.”

Rafael and Laura could both see Abrams’ anger. He turned to Rafael to give himself a moment to regroup. “She’s a piece of work. Got a mouth on her. You have to work with her all the time? You better keep that mouth busy, brother. If I had to listen to that every day, I’d…”

“Stage a break-in, rape and kill her. We know,” Rafael finished for him, rolling his eyes in disdain as only Rafael could.

“You know, I was right about you,” Abrams put an arrogant smirk on his face as he crossed his arms. Only the tightness of his posture belied the crumbling control behind his fake contempt. “You really are the practice team, aren’t you? Your friends at least tried to get me to talk. You’re not even doing that. Lemme guess, you just here to make it look like the NYPD hasn’t given up. You’re pathetic. This isn’t even fun anymore, I think I’m losing IQ points just from being in the room with you.”

Laura and Rafael both knew they had him at that point. His insults had been much subtler and more pointedly specific earlier in the day. Laura put her elbow on the table and rested her head on it listlessly. Rafael began to doodle on his legal pad.

“You really are a hopeless dyke. Why don’t you get on your knees and at least make yourself useful? Even you oughtta be able to follow some simple directions. C’mon, get over here and suck me, then this day won’t be a total loss. Maybe I’ll even bend you over this table and treat you to an ass-fucking you won’t –“

Laura rolled her eyes, sat back in her chair, and began to pantomime male masturbation with a disinterested expression. Fortunately, that pushed Abrams over the edge because Rafael couldn’t hide his shocked amusement at seeing her make such an unexpected and vulgar gesture.

Abrams lunged across the table at her. “You fucking cunt! I’ll gut you, bitch! I’ll show you what a man can do – “

As he reached for her throat, as she’d expected him to, she took one of his wrists in both her hands and came around the table as she twisted his arm up behind him. She kept his arm in one hand and used the other to push his head down on the table. Rafael had expected him to snap, as well, so he simply stood up to make sure he could react if necessary.

“Yeah?” Laura sneered in Abrams’ ear. “What man? All I see is you. No wonder you have to go after lonely widows in the ‘burbs.”

He reared back, throwing her off-balance and backward, which gave him the opportunity to whip around and grab her by the throat. He didn’t see her motion behind him for Rafael not to interfere. “You’ll be begging me to kill you when I’m done with you!”

Laura clasped her hands together and, with the strength of both arms, drove her elbow under his chin, surprising and momentarily stunning him. As she expected, he was so enraged that he let go of her throat so she could gulp some air, and drew an arm back to punch her. He was big and very strong, but that only meant she was much faster than he was. She simply moved aside so that he drove his fist full-force into the grating over the window. He roared with pain and fury, and began blindly swinging. He did catch her on the side of the head, but due to the angle of the blow, it had nowhere near the power he was capable of.

“This is it? How the hell did you kill those women when you’re this weak and slow?”

She let him grab her around the waist and wrestle her to the floor. “I’ll tell you how, bitch, those broads had no idea who they were dealing with. They were all, ‘oh, Neil, what are you doing, don’t hurt me!’ I didn’t even have to tie them up – just fucked the brainless cows while they whined about how they loved me. I had my knife in them before they even realized it was really happening! You, now, you’re gonna be more fun, you got a little fight in –“

At that moment, having baited him into confessing, Laura relaxed her arms and legs. She had been holding them spread just enough that he would think he had her in a firm grip. When she relaxed them, she had a split second to twist violently to one side, putting her in the perfect position to knee him solidly in the groin. It was over at that point, although Fin and Olivia burst into the room.

Laura crab-walked out off the way until her back rested against the wall, catching her breath and watching Fin cuff and arrest Abrams. He was still spewing vile threats, but no one was paying much attention. Fin escorted him from the room to be booked, a tired but amused grin on his face.

Olivia crouched down to check on Laura. Rafael stood behind him, concerned but fairly confident she was not badly hurt.

“You OK?”

“Of course.”

“Nice job,” Olivia said.

“Not really. You knew he had to be tired. All we did was poke him until he went off.”

Rafael smirked. “Anytime you need to piss someone off, Parker’s your girl.”

Laura laughed out loud as Olivia helped her to her feet.

“I wouldn’t take bets on the outcome of a contest between you and me in that area, if I were you.”

For the first time in four months, Rafael and Laura stood simply smiling at one another.

#law & order svu #law & order: special victims unit #rafael barba #raul esparza #chicago pd #chicago fire #chicago med #fin tutuola #olivia benson #sonny carisi

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klaineship2 · 5 years

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TDB Rewatch The Back Up Plan Episode 5x18

“Well, June isn’t exactly a friend.”

This episode is about taking opportunities when they are presented to you and making the best of it. And about friends helping each other out.

Out of the three plot lines the Mercedes-Santana one is the one that makes the most sense to me. Everything involving Mercedes’ record deal sounds realistic. She has a nice producer who, despite being all business, still is sympathetic to people. His look speaks volumes when Santana says: “Forget it, I’m not worth it.” Of course Mercedes (who has always been nothing but kind and loving to other people) tries to help her find some footing in the business, as well and finds a way of changing her producer’s mind. And... is Santana now living with Mercedes, Sam and Blaine? Where does she sleep? On the couch? In Blaine’s room? I'm glad that NY-Santana is back. She has grown on me a lot during this season. Her snarky kindness even includes Rachel even though she has treated her so badly during that whole understudy-feud. But I am actually surprised that she is able to perform the entire show at the drop of a hat, considering that she quit being an understudy (and thus rehearsing) almost a year ago..... (I think, meanwhile Glee has lost track of it’s own timeline...)

Rachel’s story on the other hand doesn’t make sense at all. After almost 5 seasons of pining after her dream role and dreaming of Broadway she has reached her goal (way to early in her life). Rachel has known for years what she’d be signing up for. 8 shows a week is the normal Broadway-routine. And now already being bored out after 4(!) weeks?! And then: She has signed a contract she has to stick to!!! Of course, the ambitious, irresponsible, spoiled brat she is, she is jumping at the first opportunity someone is dangling in front of her nose, without even asking further questions - she’s perfectly happy just knowing the title of the show - because like always when someone praises her talent she goes blind and loses all of her common sense. Why doesn’t she negotiate a different audition date on one of her days off? (no shows on monday!) - if they really wanted her so badly they would agree. And after her remorseful realization of having screwed up badly and barely dodging getting fired, she’s only three steps outside of Sidney’s office when she immediately jumps onto the next alleged chance, because Paulblatt babbles something about a new show. ...she does the exact same thing like before. She never learns something from her mistakes and she always gets away with it.... argh, did I ever mention that I hate the Rachel storylines?!? Everyone is going out of their way to safe her sorry ass and then she just screws up again for the very same reasons.

There are 4 good things about the Rachel-story, though

Wake Me Up: it is very well done to show the repetitiveness of a stage show,

The Rose: she sounds really good and it’s hilarious how Paulblatt and the others try to cut her off several times before they just give up and sit it out

For a change Santana is the one to coddle her up and tell her what a talented person she is, instead of Kurt.

all of Kurt’s reactions towards her when she suggests calling in sick and later when she calls from LA are perfect. I love all his suggestions to have her show delayed, lol.

Kurt and Blaine:

Okay let’s start with the fact that wanting to do everything together as professional actors is completely naive and unrealistic, especially after having to move into separate apartments because Kurt felt smothered by Blaine’s constant presence. Another thing that bugs me, everytime I watch the episode, is Kurt’s performance. I absolutely looove Story of My Life. They sound so amazing together, but seeing Kurt awkwardly move around is such an unnecessary twist. (Kurt has 2 years of acting school under his belt - he should be able to perform professionally, albeit being nervous or insecure. Had Kurt given a good performance and June had chosen Blaine regardless, that would have made so much more sense. Maybe the show thinks they need to spell it out for us or we won’t get it.

What I absolutely love is the fact that both of them are so very supportive of each other. Blaine is excited when he learns that Kurt will be performing and when June talks to them after the performance and both of them think it’s Kurt whom she’s going to choose, Blaine looks genuinely happy about it. His reaction when June chooses him is very similar to his reaction when he had been offered the role of Tony for Westside Story in s3. But just like then, Kurt doesn’t begrudge Blaine his success, even though he’s sorry for his own failure. One of my favorite scenes is that little old-married-couple moment when Kurt helps Blaine getting ready for his date. The thing I absolutely doesn’t get is why Blaine lies to Kurt about his involvement with the showcase.Why does Blaine feel like he has to go out of his way to make sure that Kurt’s vision comes true (going through the door that opens for Blaine with him)? During that scene on the couch Kurt is assuring Blaine to still spend time with June whenever she asks for it. He is utterly supportive and genuinely happy for Blaine’s chance of having a supportive patron - so there was no need for Blaine to blurt it all out instead of waiting until he’d successfully persuaded June

June and Blaine - I hate her, she’s an awful person who loves to manipulate people. She knows exactly what she’s doing when she leads Kurt on by addressing both of them at the same time after their performance. She clearly savors Kurt’s disappointment upon realizing that it’s not him she’s gonna choose. I get Blaine’s admiration for her, though. She is completely at ease in society circles even Blaine has never been a part of. She wraps people around her finger with her performance and makes them donate money (it’s a benefit dinner to raise money for a good cause, isn’t it?) so what June does (in Blaine’s opinion) is ‘make art and help people’ - sounds familiar? It is not until she asks him to break it off with Kurt that he starts to question her good intentions. But since he’s always been a people pleaser who could charm his way into people’s hearts, he’s convinced that he’ll be able to change her mind.

Kurt-Blaine Things:

“It’s drama school - the students get abuzz when the snack machine is running out of gummi worms.”

“I tried to sneak you an extra ticket I just didn’t have the 25 grand it would cost.”

“Well, is she being inappropriate? Because I draw a line.”

Other Things:

At the stage door Rachel barely signs 3 playbills before she’s waving condescendingly and leaving. For someone who has been a nobody weeks ago this speaks of her delusions of grandeur.

Why would Rachel need an agency anyway, if she’d do nothing but Fanny for the next 15 years.

It’s like Guardians of the Galaxy meets Game of Thrones... with a strong Grey’s Anatomy element.

“I realized that the world is even colder than I am and the only thing that you can do to keep from freezing to death is have good friends around you to keep you warm.”

@todaydreambelievers @spaceorphan18

#TDB rewatch #TDB rewatch The Back Up Plan #5x18 #meta monday #TDB meta monday #Glee meta

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years

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Michael After Midnight: TGWTG Anniversary Crossovers

I think enough time has passed where I can talk about these films without looking like I’m jumping on a trend.

Back when it was, you know, an actual thing, Channel Awesome would every so often gather together and make a big-as anniversary film to celebrate the site. The movies would always be these massive doorstoppers where everyone would be running around in Halloween costumes of whatever character they liked the most that fit the theme and fighting some random villain. None of this ever really tied in to their work, and none of this even remotely had anything to do with reviews. It was all just hanging around with friends and having dumb fun, and when I was younger I kind of just accepted that.

But certain revelations have made that dubious. No one was having fun making these. Everyone was miserable, except perhaps Doug Walker, who was just utterly oblivious to the plight of his coworkers. There was seedy stuff going on, people were pretty much being tortured and abused, and it’s a wonder anyone was ever able to feign enjoyment in any of their scenes. And looking back on these movies I used to remember fondly, I have to say… they kind of really, legitimately suck ass. These three films – Kickassia, Suburban Knights, and To Boldly Flee – are just legitimately painful and depressing to sit through, for reasons both meta and writing-wise.

The biggest problem with all of them is their humor, which is a pretty big problem when you’re starring a bunch of comedians, some of whom can be legitimately funny. The worst bits tend to revolve around the mind-boggling number of references they cram into each script; To Boldly Flee and Suburban Knights are much worse in this regard, as they have all of the actors literally dressed up as their favorite characters, but there are two examples of this sort of thing that shine as the worst examples of all. The first is Lindsay Ellis doing a Sarah Palin impersonation in Kickassia; Palin was such a flash-in-the-pan politician that it instantly dates the whole movie, and I don’t know if it was just bad writing, lack of direction, or what, but Ellis just fails to make this joke work at all. Like I know I can’t expect this to be as funny as Iron Sky’s Palin riffing, but still, it’s just sad.

The absolute worst, however, is JO in To Boldly Flee as Ed from Cowboy Bepob… at least that’s who I think he’s supposed to be playing. I know nothing about Cowboy Bebop and have outright refused to ever watch it because if Ed is anything like how JO played her, I’m going to fucking hate the whole show, Steve Blum and Melissa Fahn be damned. JO’s portrayal is whiny, hyper, annoying, manic, obnoxious… there’s not a single positive thing that can be said. His performance of the character is pretty much the poster child for just how absolutely awful these movies could get.

There’s also a lot of jokes where the punchline is basically just “this guy’s body/genitalia is funny, teehee.” Suburban Knights and To Boldly Flee have some truly awful examples of this, such as the numerous upskirts Doug Walker gets as Link and the infamous Spoony Dune scene. But even that isn’t the worst of it. The worst of it comes from the frequent states of near-nudity that Justin “JewWario” Carmichael would find himself in throughout these films. To Boldly Flee has him channeling George Takei and fencing without his shirt on, which is bad enough, but Suburban Knights has perhaps the worst scene of all, in any of these films, though only with hindsight.

For those of you not familiar, JewWario was outed as a creepy sexual predator during the whole #ChangeTheChannel fiasco. The guy groomed young women and did god knows what else during his time on the site, with none of his coworkers any the wiser and the management doing their best to cover it up; in fact, everyone only found out because the suits who owned CA made a huge blunder during their rebuttal of the claims of its former employees. With all of that context, please try and rewatch Suburban Knights’ climax in which JewWario helps save the day by revealing his penis to everyone. This right here is Keyser Soze levels of “uncomfortable in hindsight.”

The stories aren’t much better, and often fall into the same sort of issues that The Angry Video Game Nerd movie fell into, in that nothing in these films really showcases why we love the reviewers; Kickassia infamously has the Dr. Insano twist, as one example of how they botched this. All of these movies just feel too epic in scope and don’t really try to incorporate anything that we love about these reviewers into the films. Only To Boldly Flee really does anything right in that regard, as it throws back to everything from oneshot Nostalgia Critic villains to the Todd-Lindsay-Lupa love triangle to Phelous dying… the real problem is you have to actually sit through To Boldly Flee to see that. The movies go for these epic plots where the reviewers do cool shit like take over micronations (Kickassia), quest for powerful artifacts (Suburban Knights), or deal with extremely heavy-handed and hamfisted allegories for internet privacy bills (To Boldly Flee). You’d think maybe throwing a bunch of comedians into an epic plot like any of these could lead to some funny jokes, or maybe some sort of Monty Python-esque parody, but no, instead these comedians decide to revel in melodrama and try to genuinely act, with EXTREMELY mixed results. It doesn’t help that some of these people just aren’t even remotely funny when they’re trying to be.

Here’s the thing with The Angry Video Game Nerd’s movie, in comparison to these, though: it may have had this epic, ridiculous, goofy plot involving Area 51, kaiju, aliens, and crappy Atari games buried in a landfill, but the entire plot was building up to, and ultimately delivered on, the promise of the long-awaited review of the E.T. game. For all the film’s flaws, Rolfe knew what we loved about the Nerd, he knew what the fans wanted, and by god did he give it to them in the silliest, most epic way possible. Even if I didn’t love the film, the fact Rolfe knew why we’d want to see a feature-length Nerd film in the first place speaks volumes about how he understands that he can do what will make him happy artistically and still show the fans what they want to see.

These movies from the Channel Awesome crew don’t seem to get that at all. They don’t build up to a review. They don’t build up to them discovering the worst movie or song or whatever they review. They’re all very straightforward genre comedies where they can make a bunch of shallow, Seltzer & Friedberg-esque “Look at this thing that exists! That’s a joke right?” references. Aside from seeing your favorite reviewers in a goofy plot like this, where is there any bit of the reason you watch these people in the first place? Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they were playing characters instead of them playing themselves, in their internet reviewer personas; at least then you wouldn’t be watching Brad Jones stumbling around in a Darth Vader helmet and think to yourself miserably “God I wish that poor guy was watching another E.T. porno.”

So there are some positives in these films, shockingly enough. Brad Jones is consistently good across the entire ‘trilogy,’ especially in Kickassia where he has the good sense to walk out on all the bullshit for a while. Maybe it’s just because these films got me interested in him, but I definitely think he does a good job. The same can be said for a lot of the actors, such as the bad guy in Suburban Knights and Ma-Ti’s actor; they manage to deliver at least solid performances in spite of the films. And then there are the James Rolfe cameos, and it’s just always good to see Rolfe in general.

To Boldly Flee, despite its reputation, actually has a lot of genuinely good bits. For instance, the distraction song is actually a really solid musical number. Linkara, Doug, and Spoony actually play really well off of each other, so when they have their three idiot villains team up they at least get some decently good moments. And other reviewers I generally like such as Phelous or Todd do a solid job, and frankly in To Boldly Flee Doug Walker does show some impressive dramatic acting… but it’s in service of a character who has previously been portrayed as a petulant, whiny, self-serving, egotistical manchild, so it almost feels like he’s playing a totally different character. Still, credit where credit is due.

None of these films succeed at what they want to. Ostensibly, they are supposed to be celebrating the site and the friendship of the reviewers, but as I mentioned, there’s no reviewing, there’s nothing that indicates what the site is about, and they all just come off as ego-stroking self-congratulatory wanking. None of these films were worth the pain and suffering that the cast and crew had to go through to produce these, and watching them at all these days is especially hard knowing that a lot of these people are smiling and joking through pain, stress, and abuse. It’s sick.

Kickassia may be the most competent, but that isn’t saying much at all. Aside from the whole Palin bit, this one has a simple, straightforward plot and is relatively down-to-earth, and it almost feels like it really was just a bunch of friends making a shitty low budget action movie in the desert… something sadly undermined by reality. Suburban Knights is probably one of the most uncomfortable to sit through due to jokes like Film Brain saying he’d eat Kinley Mochrie’s “pea-ness” (this was before she came out mind you) and the numerous jokes surrounding JewWario’s junk, but it almost works, like it nearly comes close to being a dumb epic fantasy comedy, but it just frequently shoots itself in the foot with the bad writing and acting and its overreliance on references.

To Boldly Flee is, to put it absolutely simple, a hot mess. This film is an utter trainwreck from start to finish. It is the Battlefield Earth of internet review movies, a bloated, messy, overly long dumpster fire with some of the most nightmarish behind-the-scenes stories and horrendous financial mismanagement you could ever imagine. But where Battlefield Earth is at least unintentionally funny, this film… is not. This film just makes you feel bad for everyone involved, it makes your heart ache for all the poor reviewers who had to suffer under the miserable conditions, it makes you question Doug Walker’s sanity in thinking he could turn his screeching manchild of a reviewer into some tragic martyr in a total 180 from how he had always been portrayed prior. None of these three films are worth sitting through, but I think To Boldly Flee is, with hindsight, the one least worth sitting through, which is a truly incredible accomplishment.

It’s kind of tragic. I still like a lot of the reviewers who took part in these – Todd, Linkara, Phelous, Brad Jones, and even Doug to some extent (though that’s an unpopular opinion these days) – but I just can’t muster up any forgiveness for these films anymore. And I don’t blame any of the people in it (except maybe Doug); most of them were there out of obligation or friendship or what have you. These films are just a monument to hubris, ignorance, broken friendships, horrible management, and wanton cruelty to those who called you friends.

See that picture up there at the top? With all of them gathered together like friends? God, how I wish that were the reality. How I wish that picture accurately reflected life, that they were all pals having a good time and that these films were something they were proud of. But behind that picture are stories all of them could tell of hurt, betrayal, resentment, anger, contempt, and some very unspeakable things in Carmichael’s case. I wish the sort of world a surface level glance at that picture shows you existed, where the crew of TGWTG all had a blast making these shitty movies together, because at least in that case I could find a sort of ironic enjoyment in them. But reality has gone out of its way to undermine any of that.

#Michael After Midnight #Review #Movie review #Channel Awesome #TGWTG #That Guy with the Glasses #Kickassia #Suburban Knights #To Boldly Flee #Internet reviewers

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nobodies-png · 5 years

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modern!au is a CONCEPT. bless y'all. could u do some hcs for modern! roxas, ventus, vanitas, xion, and sora + having a disney marathon w/ their s/o? like what movies they pick, do they sing along, r there snuggles, what snacks are brought, etc. (pls feel free to add any other details u want. i love lil details.) (this might've sent once already, my page refreshed. if so, sorry!) hugs & kisses!

o this is such a wholesome prompt, thanks for sending it !

Sora :

You’re looking at the Disney King himself. He knows a shit ton of movies and almost every song in existence so you bet your ass he’s gonna sing. And you’ll probably tag along too, his enthusiasm is just so contagious - hell, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the lyrics, just sing whatever you want to the rhythm of the song with him !

He’ll b e g you to watch Big Hero Six and the Lion King movies with him. After that, you can choose anything you want but just p l e a s e let him watch those, they’re his absolute favorites. Also, remember to keep some napkins around cause Sora will cry no matter the movie, the messages just hit d e e p and he’s just a softie. Just snuggle with him for a bit and pat his back while he just stutters about how cool the movies were, he’ll eventually stop with the waterworks.

You know what ? Sora probably has a lot of Disney merch. If you guys are having a disney marathon, you’re gonna do it properly. He won’t hesitate to prepare his entire house just for this movie night - building a pillow fort in the living room so you two can chill comfortably, hoarding a lot of snacks and like a thousand popcorn bags, wearing his Stitch onesie (and probably lending you his Winnie the Pooh onesie if you’re up for it !)

Like the whole concept could feel childish, but not to Sora ! He grew up with Disney and he holds those movies very dear to his heart, so he’d be so happy to know that you’re willing to pull an all-nighter with him ! You’re never too old to enjoy these things.

You know Sora would suggest inviting absolutely everyone, but he won’t complain if you wish for a more intimate date. That’s fine with him too ! The two of you would have such a fun time and then pass out in the pillow fort at like 4 am.

Vanitas :

You know those people who are like “Pffft, Disney is overrated” ? That’s Vanitas right there. The guy looks like he’s fueled by kicking puppies and being a generally mean jerk - but you know better than that. Vanitas has zero knowledge about Disney cause he was never interested in cartoons as a kid so he simply assumes it’s bad. It’s up to you to show him the real deal.

At first he’d be against the idea of having a marathon. The guy can barely pay attention to class or hold a normal conversation and you want him to just sit there and watch movies ? U n b e l i e v a b l e. Are you singing ? Please stop, no singing allowed in this house, no he doesn't want to be part of your world, plEASE SPARE HIM - Accepts in the end just to avoid doing homework. He’d let you pick whatever movie you want, but if he were to choose, he’d probably go with the Lady and the Tramp, Treasure Planet or any Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

No one will be able to wipe off that shit eating grin off your face after seeing Vanitas go from constantly talking over the movie, critizicing everything, teasing you for being so childish to just being dead silent, completely absorbed in whatever movie you two decide to watch. Feel free to catch him off guard with a smooch here, he’ll probably have a hard time processing what the fuck you just did cause holy shit did you see Hercules beat Hades' ass?

If you introduce Vanitas to the whole conspiracy theory about all Disney movies being related, you better be ready for 3 hours of him just rambling about the posibilities. Now THAT’s something that interests him. The movies would just be background noise as you two just talk away into the night, probably in the kitchen while preparing some weird food combination cause you two ran out of snacks.

If you expect Vanitas to admit that he was wrong and that Disney was, in fact, something pretty cool then you better sit down, honey. The closest thing you’ll get is him just stubbornly saying that “he wouldn’t mind spending more time with you, watching movies for kids.”

Ventus :

Ventus is a casual fan. The type that just knows the old 2D princess classics because he grew up with them, but just slowly lost track of what the hell Disney was doing. Like he probably didn't even get to see the Princess and the Frog - But's all good cause he's eager to see your favorite Disney movies !

If you make him choose a movie to watch, he'd go with the safe choices. Stuff that he knows like Snow White, the Little Mermaid and Cinderella. I can see him loving Pocahontas, Moana and the Three Musketeers, though.

If you want to pull an all nighter to watch as many classics as you can, he won't stop you and he'll try to stay awake with you (and pass out a little after midnight, lmao) - but he'd insist on taking breaks cause looking at a screen for over 6 hours straight can't be h e a l t h y.

Ventus would gladly cuddle and snuggle with you - and he'd also love to sing along, but the poor dude doesn't really know any of the lyrics. Solution ? Just put on those good subtitles and there you go ! He'd love to sing Aladdin's A Whole New World with you or just any duet. You two would get so into it that your neighbours would propably have to knock on the walls a few times so you'll lower your volume.

If you ever mention your favorite (s) disney character(s), you can totally expect Ventus to show up one day unnanounced with a plushie of them, just for you. Consider this his way of saying thanks ! And also apologize for passing out so early - he'll make up for that inviting you to yet another movie night with him.

Roxas :

Another casual fan, but the complete opposite of Ventus. Roxas never got into 2D Disney as a kid and he's more into the 3D additions like Brave, Coco or Frankenweenie. He's also that type of controversial fan who actually enjoyed the liveaction remakes of the old classics.

But don't get him wrong, he's still a r u t h l e s s critic. Roxas gets bored pretty quickly with movies that have such obvious and bland plots and twists that he can see them coming from a mile away. I see him being more of a Pixar fan, just quoting Shrek in his usual deadpan voice on a daily basis. Roxas' brain in a 1000 heartless fight : "and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they-"

If you want to watch movies with him, prepare to discover Roxas' more sassy side - the guy just can't hold back all these funny remarks and jabs at Disney Fairy Tale Logic™. "Oh good for you Gaston, trying to send your crush's father to a psychiatric ward just so she can pay attention to you is SUCH a powermove. You should've dated Lefou instead -" "Do you think Ariel's daughter was born with a mermaid tail or legs? Imagine the monstrosity -".

In the end you two wouldn't even pay attention to the actual movies, since you'd be too busy mocking and impersonating every character and just rolling on the floor laughing your asses off. Your snapchat and instagram stories would be filled with videos of each other doing dumb stuff, calling out all the tiny mistakes as if you two were CinemaSins.

In the end, this Disney Marathon would just turn into a weekly movie night where you two just watch everything and anything. Sometimes it's fun and goofy, and sometimes you two actually get into the plot and discuss all the h i d d e n lore. Roxas would feel super special to have this little new tradition with you.

Xion :

Xion is the definition of a Disney Princess. She absolutely loves every princess movie and you bet your ass she screamed when all of them appeared in full 3D during Ralph breaks the Internet. Like she's a natural romantic and a dreamer at heart, so all the fairy tales just get to her, always tearing up during the climax of the movies.

Ironically, most of her favorite Disney movies aren't princess related : Aristocats, Peter Pan, Tangled and Brother Bear. Xion is that type of person who just points out all the similarities between her friends and the characters. Like Kenai and Kods's bond remind her of her and Roxas' friendship with Axel, Saix reminds her of Randall from Monsters Inc, Kairi is totally Lilo and Aqua is Nani - You get the idea !

Even if you suggested the idea of a Disney Marathon, Xion would just plan the best course of action and take the lead almost immediately. She's just so excited to be able to spend this night with you that she wants to make the most of it ! Snacks ? Check. Netflix and other sites to see movies ? Check. A shit ton of blankets and hot cocoa ? Check. The perfect partner ? Check.

Xion would do her best to not break out into fullblown singing - mostly out of respect for her roommates and neighbours, but you'll definitely hear her hum along and mutter the lyrics under her breath. And if the song is catchy enough, she'd love to pull you in for a dance !

At the end of the night, you two would be exhausted but content. Probably giving up on seeing all the movies, just listening to a disney playlist on Youtube while you two do stupid and silly Buzzfeed quizzes like "What Disney villain are you based on your aesthetics" and such. Xion has trouble sleeping, so you'll most likely end up falling asleep on her first. She'll stay awake till sunrise, taking a few sneaky selfies with you peacefully sleeping by her side.

#kh headcanons #sora #vanitas #ventus #roxas #xion #anonymous

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