#watching thus far

[sparring-spirals]

i want to ask your thoughts about ylfa from neverafter because eeeeee some many thoughts and i love your meta

thank you! :D i am Also full of Neverafter thoughts, and ESPECIALLY Ylfa thoughts, albeit with minimal time to ruminate on them, much less write meta. We're nearly at the next ep being released so I'm just going to toss some half marinated angstier thoughts at you for now rather than delay it another week! My apologies in advance for haphazardness!

tldr bc it got a little long: ylfa and rage and fear and preteen girls and that self sacrificial streak and monsters and princesses and. idk. its not super coherent ok.

In a rough order:

- God, I love Emily Axford's commitment to playing her characters as like...unflinchingly true to what she says they are. This IS an awkward preteen girl with all of that aching sincerity and hunger and rage and kindness and growing discomfort and also just. Tooth-aching awkwardness. Perfect.

- Emily Axford has Such A Big Brain for the way that this little Red is a barbarian, is a werewolf that she doesn't want to be. Little preteen girls with a rage that rips the world apart, the rage only matched by their bone deep fear of it.

- Red says over and over: I really appreciate a strong authority figure. I appreciate having some rules enforced. I like having guidance on what to do next. And I just. Augh. Of course! Of course. Shes a kid. She's a kid. She's not quite a kid anymore. She is outside of a house, hulking and dangerous and her skin and body different, and she is pleading in a voice distorted by something she is scared of, asking her mom to open the door, please. She's her kid. She's scared.

- Red is scared- Red was scared of the wolf, of what happened after straying, but in front of that house- by the time we meet her- Red is not quite scared of the wolf. She is scared of herself. She is scared of the damage she can do, the damage she brings. She is scared of monsters, but mostly the ones in the mirror.

- Red says: Women are either princesses, or monsters. And she's not a princess.

- (I love this refrain, this detail from her so much, there's SO MANY LAYERS to it. Like yes Rosamund and herself, yes Emily's comment during AP about werewolves as a puberty story and others perceiving. Its also about binaries and falling short of a bar and monstrous failure and "i think there's something wrong in me that others don't have, something fundamentally flawed-" and- god its fucking good. This could have its own meta.)

- Red is- wildly self sacrificial, and from tactics POV, like great! Barbarian tank! but also. Like. Fuck! This is a little girl. Far from home, with all of that unsureness and shyness and regret and something deeper that makes her keep. Putting herself out first. Everything she says to Mother Goose about: I think Rosamund is the key, so I'll protect her. I think you and your book might be the trick. I'll put myself in front of you. I create a bottleneck and stare down a sea of furniture to give my companions their shot. I breathe through the pain and let the girl fade and the beast take over.

- Red just wants an authority figure and some assurance. She just wants friends, she wants companionship and understanding, she wants to keep the people around her safe from the danger in her, she wants something to strive for.

- Red is at a fork between an easier story and a harder one and says. I want the easy story. I want soft endings and cookies and kindness. I don't want this hardship.

- Of course she doesn't. She's a kid.

- She's human.

- Red follows her grandmother down the harder path, eager for a guiding figure. She is tricked, maybe. But at the end of it- hearing about greater stories, about Mother Goose needing her help- she looks the hardship in the eye, and chooses to keep going.

- She comes back more wolf, less girl, this time. Stars in her eyes when she talks to Rosamund (a princess! In all the ways that matter.). Apologies for the claws and the flaws.

- Ylfa turns herself into forms that best serves the people around her, and apologizes profusely for it, and eagerly accepts guidance and correction. Ylfa says some girls are not meant to be princesses, best make the most of being a monster.

- "You royals keep beasts at your side! I will fight alongside you proudly."

- A bunch of cowards and the bravest little girl in the world. the bravest little girl, nothing to lose. the bravest little girl, scared to the bone and apologetic and furious and monstrous.

- "I'm thinking that- Survival doesn't feel inspiring, but I guess protecting does."

[bumblebeebats]

I've been watching so much Leverage lately while in the grippe of a terrible cold and honestly it's been so soothing in this billionaire-bootlicking day and age to watch a show that is so unashamedly fond of just straight up psychologically torturing corrupt rich people. Like remember that episode where they locked a hedge fund manager in a hospital and made him think he had a fatal disease? Every single ep the client is like "I just want him to face legal justice for what he did to my poor daughter/grandpa/pony/etc :(" and the crew is like "Not only will we do that, we will also find out this bastard's hopes, their fears, their deepest darkest dreams and desires, and rip their whole life to shreds right in front of their eyes while they watch and weep in abject dispair. And then we will give you $2 million dollars cash." Fucking legends. Do Elon next

[bayheart]

HIIIIII so this was for a server gift exchange teehee, my giftee was @funnywizard3000 !!! AS U CAN TELL BY THE USERNAME.... funny wizard image was in order :)

team game night!!!!! bulkhead is winning. also prowl would have corrected bee on the dnd spell name first if he wasn’t busy using this opportunity to look at bulkhead’s cards. u know how it is 💖

[kmesons]

listening to the demos for cinderella's castle is an interesting experience, because for the first time in years, these starkid songs aren't attached to a pre-existing universe, so we get entirely unfamiliar melodies. that's not to say that hatchetfield gave us new songs in every installment of the series, but in cinderella's castle, we get completely new leitmotifs to analyse, which is really fun.

[phocidine]

Everyones saying “oh thank god the new people didn’t come today” like tomorrow isn’t going to be somehow 10x weirder

[bellatheinkdemon]

Well I know what I'm saving my money on

[callias-w]

Old man yaoi

[remyfire]

Lines that always hit so fucking good

[koishua]

GAGGINGGGGG THROWING UP SCREECHING i paused on each frame and sobbed like a FREAK he can never stay mad at her he's so freaking smitten, down bad, he's a simp my god get a GRIP sunjae wth

[the-random-tyler]

Uncles

[dimension-20-every-introduction]

Everyone Introduced in Dimension 20′s Burrow's End episode 1

[catharsis-in-a-bottle]

terry pratchett was genuinely such a good writer every time i read a discworld book i laugh and cry and experience every single shrimp emotion, all while screaming over the subtlety of some of what he does. screaming over his characterization and character voices. augh

[ilistentogirlinred]

the crow guy is absolutely gonna end up making me sad isn't he

[existentialterror]

watch Maple Ridge (youtube series)

DID YOU KNOW that people are still making slenderman youtube series in this day and age?! Love it. This particular “new generation” series, Maple Ridge, looks really fun so far. It’s just starting up, only a few short episodes so far. I’m gonna be following this one.

I feel like SCP and Slenderman grew up next to each other, low-barrier-to-entry crowdsourced horror out of the pits of the internet. I watched Marble Hornets as it was coming out and even wrote an SCP with multiple references to it many years ago. I’ve recently rewatched Marble Hornets and a few others too; EveryManHYBRID and The Record of Stan Frederick are absolutely fantastic.

Maple Ridge has the DNA but feels new too. I'm glad the tradition is carrying on and am looking forward to seeing where Maple Ridge goes.

[socksandbuttons]

'killcode isnt smart enough to make backups of himself'

HE DIDNT WANT TO.... eclipse please ur forgettinhg the LORE

[the-red-thread-that-strangles]

Alright. Let's talk about Akai's and Furuya's fighting styles, control, and the ferris wheel fight, featuring some tangents on professionalism.

The second reason is the implied: Akai is (in general, probably not in this situation, because he is going along with the fight Rei wants) a professional, and professionals do not fight. A professional will either ambush or assassinate (you know, like the sniping Akai is so well-known for), and generally do everything in his power to avoid a fight. It's about gaining the advantage, pressing and keeping it, to maintain control over the situation. For comparison, fights are between people of roughly equal footing, and fighting follows rules. As a person who lives in the world of actual violence, Akai does not need the fancy dances of a fighting sport, he needs his rifles, guns, and a self-defense technique for when things go really bad and personal. (Incidentally, a professional will also plan, won't let his emotions get in the way, stay calm, and keep working in bad conditions - we also see these traits in Akai.) I can remember two instances of Akai fighting (there might be more)- the ferris wheel fight, and the one time he knocked out the people after Yumi (and arguably, they didn't really have a chance and it wasn't really a fight). Other than that, he's just coordinating and providing tactical support.

Akai using Jeet Kune Do for fighting is an interesting choice. It's not as well-known as many other fighting styles (hell, it's not even a fighting style, it's a self defense technique and really more of a philosophy or a principle), but it has a couple of key values that characterize him well. First off, it's hugely individualistic. Practitioner's are encouraged to find their own way, to find what works for them, which really is Akai in a nutshell, doing what he wants. Secondly, it is described as a highly efficient way to fight. There are few, if any, rules to Jeet Kune Do, you're expected to use whatever technique will help you the most in the moment. For this reason, it is also highly adaptable, and requires an appropriate mindset to use. This latter point, I think, really mirrors the approach the FBI has in the series - do what you need to in order to get the results we want, at whatever the cost.

The fact that it's a self defense technique is important for two reasons: one is the immediate one for our context - Akai's defending himself from an angry Rei on the ferris wheel.

With all that out of the way, let's get into the ferris wheel fight, and what we learn about them there.

For contrast, let's look at Rei. It's almost funny how little professionalism Rei has compared to Akai, when it comes to the world they're living in. Rei's choice of fighting style is boxing, and he's practicing a rather straightforward, aggresive version, with barely any defense, at great personal risk. That point about professionals not letting their emotions get in their way? Well, either Rei has never heard it, or he's deliberately ignoring it. Either way, it really holds him back from gaining and maintaing control.

(I would be remiss not to point out that boxing is also done for show, fitting for this show-off.)

Boxing might honestly be good for Rei in order get out his anger and to up his pain tolerance, but for the purpose of keeping him alive, it sucks. It's up close, it's personal, and it's dirty (that tagline might as well describe Furuya himself). A threat who's gotten into that range is already a problem. Sure, usually - though not in this instance - he's also got his handgun, with its limited reach, limited firepower. For his purposes, it might suffice - he's not supposed to be a fighter, and the advantage of his gun is in its concealability. I suppose he gets a couple points in professionalism for that choice, and for often bringing back-up, whether he's working for the PSB or the BO. For what it's worth, he's also likely trained in Kendo or something similar, as we see in Wild Police Story, but he doesn't really use it. We see Rei fighting rarely, but it happens; with Matsuda at the beginning of WPS, casually inflicting violence on a kidnapper, and now here on the ferris wheel.

It's so interesting to me how they interact here.

Despite both of them bleeding, it starts to feel like Akai is in control, or at least not dated by the fighting - he gets Rei good with Jeet Kune Do's signature One Inch Punch, but has enough presence of mind to casually grabs him so he doesn't fall to his death (which gets him shoved off with a foot. Give Furuya an inch, and he'll try to take your head). Furuya's meanwhile clearly enjoying himself, might have even entered the zone, a sort of battlejoy/trance, asking for a second round (here we go again, this is a fight, with certain rules, like rounds), and Akai, well, he's beaten up, but it doesn't look like he'd surrender to get Furuya off his back - despite it being an option that would end the fight early. We see both of them smiling at points in this exchange, and I think it speaks to both of them, inherently, being thrillseekers. Putting all they are into the outcome of this fight against a dangerous enemy is a thrilling brush with mortality.

Them fighting at all, on top of the ferris wheel, is stupid, plain and simple. They expect the BO to show up any minute, and they'd better be in peak condition - instead they indulge in this fight. Really, it's Rei launching himself at Akai, who's mostly dodging and defending where necessary (I say indulge, because he is armed, and could probably escalate/end the fight early). Fights happen for a variety of reasons, usually social (because otherwise we'd be talking about violence, not a fight), and this implies Rei sees Akai as roughly equal/wants him to have a fair fighting chance, following the social contract of announcing his presence. He launches the attack, takes the initiative but the distance is so large, and he telegraphs his intentions clearly enough that his advantage is minimal.

Akai has the distinct disadvantage of carrying his rifle case, protecting its contents, because he'll need them later. He is, as the series lets us know, a capable fighter (described stronger as Masumi, who can deal with Ran, an established capable martial artist), and we can see it in this fight. He's reading Rei's movements and blocking most of the hits - for what it's worth, Rei's style seems more focused on quantity of attacks over quality. He does get Akai with some unconventional angles of attack (like swinging up into a kick from falling), and mostly this initial struggle is about them fighting for control.

When we cut back to the fight, they're still at it. I find it interesting that Akai tries to talk Rei down throughout the fight. Because the presence of mind necessary to form coherent sentences in a fight is not nothing, and the fact that he at least tries to go for a different solution is noteworthy, even if it is ultimately useless.

Then Conan calls Akai. This is in a small pause to the fight, because, surprise surprise, fighting takes effort (another reason professionals avoid it). It is really funny to me how Rei respects the rules of a fight, but he also sees an opportunity in his opponent's distraction, and seizes it (at the cost of also throwing himself down into a chasm, the self-sacrificial bastard).

Only at this point does it feel like Akai is taking the fight more seriously. I'd wager this is a) because Rei has displayed the willingness to destroy himself to take Akai with him, b) due to the enclosed space - less space to dodge and c) because at least he is aware time is ticking. They're both injured, and the enemy is coming soon. This fight better be over quick.

They only don't fight each other to the death because of Conan's timely intervention. He calls to Akai for help, and just like that, the conflict is resolved, for now. Akai wordlessly rejects Rei's request for a second round, which Rei just...accepts. Allows Akai that level of control, and the control of the flow of information (namely, they don't tell Conan they've been at it). It baffles me, but then again, I suppose it is a fight, the fight has rules, and, clearly, something more important takes precedence. Then again, this whole damn exchange makes no logical sense. Rei has sworn bloody revenge on Akai, who just saved his life today, and instead of doing something about the BO they're fighting a little. Logic is nowhere to be seen, all of this is emotional. On both sides.

I guess bonus points in professionalism for working together for the rest of the rest of the movie, even if they're sharing intel with/depending on a literal child for the solutions to their problem. It's a very unusual set of circumstances indubitably not covered by their training, granted, so what can you do (I'd still love for the adults in this universe to do their job, sue me).

Last point of note for the movie, in my opinion, is Akai waiting after all the chaos is over for Rei to spot him. Is this a case of checking in and simultaneously showing that he, too, made it out alive? He is clearly noticed by Rei, and only then walks away. And Rei just lets him. Akai is in control, in the end.