#wrong!!! first episode the master’s ever in it’s established that he was the better student

[corallapis]

yeah :(

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Lila Rossi: I’d Say She’s a Good Villain, but Then I’d Be Lying (300 Follower Special)

Deception and cunning are easily two of the most important traits an antagonist could have. It shows that even if they don't have the strength to overcome obstacles, their wit is more than enough. This kind of trait is why characters like Lex Luthor, David Xanatos, and Princess Azula are so beloved, simply because of how intelligent they can be as villains and pose a real threat to the heroes.

It's clear that the Miraculous Ladybug writers want Lila to be seen as this, but the writing seriously fails to back that claim up.

Easily one of the most controversial characters in Miraculous Ladybug is Lila, mainly for the writing surrounding her. But there was a time where she was actually more of an ambiguous character, mainly for the lack of screentime she had until Season 3. But unfortunately, the more appearances she's had have painted a very poor portrait of an antagonist.

Lila's Tragic and Sympathetic Motivation for Hating Ladybug

Lila's first appearance was at the tail end of Season 1, “Volpina”. She was a new transfer student from Italy, and quickly made friends with a lot of her classmates for the lies she told, including being friends with Ladybug (which Alya blindly believed without doing any research like any excellent journalist). But because of how close she was getting to Adrien, Marinette, in a rare act of selfishness, transforms into Ladybug just to chew out Lila for lying about knowing her, humiliating her in front of Adrien. And this is the only motivation we get for what Lila does afterwards.

I'm not saying that it's wrong for Lila to get upset at Ladybug for doing this, and I like the moment of weakness Marinette has, but this is literally the only explanation we get for Lila deciding to side with Hawkmoth, a literal terrorist. As much as I hated the way the arc turned out, I could still understand Chloe siding with Hawkmoth, as it was clear that Hawkmoth was manipulating her and taking advantage of her ego. Lila? Ladybug's mean to her one time, and that inspires her to conspire with a complete stranger who brainwashes people to attack the city, which endangers innocent people and causes God knows how much in collateral damage if not for Miraculous Ladybug fixing everything.

I just don't get how a single negative interaction with someone is enough to conspire with a literal supervillain. Even in Season 3, when Marinette and Lila truly became enemies, it was because she risked exposing all the lies she told, which could damage her reputation. Sure, it's petty, but it makes sense for Lila to want to keep up the illusion. If she was simply an antagonist to Marinette in her civilian life like Chloe was before “Miracle Queen” , I'd be fine with that, but the writers clearly want her to be seen as on the same level of evil as Hawkmoth. I'll get into why that doesn't work later on.

Why Lila is an Excellent Liar

In my Master Fu analysis, I had pointed out that despite all the flaws he had, the narrative insisted on portraying him as an incredibly wise mentor. The same problem applies for Lila as well. We're supposed to see Lila as an expert manipulator and liar, but her lies are insultingly obvious. She always claims to be friends with celebrities and does all these awesome things, and in an age where we can have almost any question answered thanks to the internet, nobody ever stops to question her.

It's even more frustrating when you hear Lila talk about saving Jagged Stone's cat, when Jagged Stone is established to be very fond of Marinette (evidentially more than his own daughter), and nobody ever points that out. I think if Lila's lies were more stories about her travels around the world than outright lies about real people, it could have worked. It'd still be hard to believe, but it's something.

But this is a problem with writing shows aimed at children. As much as we hate writers who need to spell out things to kids, sometimes, they just don't understand some of the media they consume. Seriously, I never got this joke in SpongeBob as a kid, and I can't believe Nickelodeon actually approved this.

So the dilemma when writing a show with children in mind is finding that sweet spot between assuming your audience can figure it out, but not being too vague in your details. It's even harder when you need to find a way to convey the fact that someone is lying without being too obvious. Unfortunately, the show clearly fails to do that

Okay, this is going to sound like an incredibly weird thing to cite, and I only know about it because I used to know someone who was a huge fan of the franchise, but the movie Monster High: Friday Night Frights does a better job of subtly explaining to the audience that a character is lying. Please, just hear me out.

The movie follows the main characters competing in their high school's roller derby for the season after everyone on the usual team gets injured, and the championship match is against another school whose team tends to cheat to win matches. How they manage to do this without getting caught is anyone's guess. While the main characters are practicing, their coach, Clawd, notices a spy for the enemy team taking video of them to study their moves. In response, he calls over one of the athletes, Operetta, to chew her out for her showboating attitude. In reality, he's alerting her to the spy. Only using facial expressions, he clues her, and by extension, the audience, in on the fact that they know what the opposing team is trying to do.

This soon leads to Operetta pretending to tell the enemy team about their secret plan for the championship match, which was really an attempt to outsmart them to gain the advantage in the final stretch. The brilliance of this is how the audience is informed of this with no dialogue, and there's no scene afterwards spelling it out for those who don't get it. It manages to convey deception without being too obvious that Clawd and Operetta are being deceitful.

I think if there were more subtle hints to show the audience Lila was lying, she would be seen in a better light. As it is, Lila's lies are just pathetic, and it's ridiculous that everyone believes her. Which leads me to...

Lila, the Master Manipulator

I once read a Star Trek: Voyager fanfic that poked fun at the series by claiming that the reason a lot of the dumber episodes like “Threshold” and “Twisted” happened was because one of the crew members was an alien who unintentionally produced mood altering pheromones, with Captain Janeway actually realizing they were all high because of said pheromones, while two of the unaffected crew members were wondering what the hell they were doing before they found out the cause. Why do I bring this up? Sometimes, it feels like Lila is an unintentional parallel to the alien in that story.

Like so many characters, it's clear the show desperately wants the audience to view Lila in a certain way, but her actions do very little to actually back up that claim. When she's not using lies to tell stories about so many famous people she knows like her uncle who works for Nintendo, Lila is using strategies to manipulate everyone that are so obviously deceptive, the Thermians could pick up on them. Everyone and their mother knows how ridiculous a lot of what Lila does in episodes like “Chameleon” and “Ladybug” are, and I've talked about them before, so I'll try to be quick.

First off, as someone who had access to accommodations through high school and has had assistance in college so far, there is no way in hell that Ms. Bustier should take Lila's tinnitus at face value in “Chameleon”. If a student has a disability that could interfere with the education process, physical or developmental, not only does the school have to evaluate their performance, and determine if they're eligible for an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, but her teachers would have to be notified in the first place. As her primary educator, Ms. Bustier would be part of the team to oversee Lila's IEP and determine what accommodations she needs to help her learn better with her tinnitus and arthritis. But because the writers don't know what Google is, they just ignore it,  assume that Lila can just say she has a disability, and have everyone believe it. Even when Eric Cartman pretended to be disabled to compete in the Special Olympics, he put in more effort to look the part, even if he looked like a caricature.

Then there's the fact that that in “Chameleon”, everyone just believes Lila when she says Marinette stole her grandmother's necklace when not only is said necklace from the Agreste line of jewelry, but Alya, who is Rena Rouge, can't pick up on the fact that it's a fake. All she does to justify these lies is come up with a sob story about how nobody believes her, yet nobody ever tries to defend Marinette except Alya one time, and it was after she got expelled.

Or what about in “Oni-Chan”, where Lila thinks having Kagami kill Ladybug while claiming she'll back away from Adrien is a good idea? Let's say Oni-Chan does kill Ladybug or at least take away her Miraculous, what then? We know Lila wouldn't go through with this promise, and as soon as Kagami sees her harassing Adrien, she'll be ripe for akumatization again. Overall, not a great plan.

And yet somehow, this last example is what made her worthy enough to become one of Hawkmoth's most trusted agents. I'm just going to say it: Lila is not a good fit for the power of illusion. Whenever she's Volpina or Chameleon, she always goes out of her way to make a big show instead of being subtle with her deceptions. “Chameleon” is the worst offender, as even though Lila gets the power to shapeshift into someone else, instead of being discreet and cornering people into kissing them and gaining their appearance, she just runs around to get Ladybug's attention instead of being subtle. Even Felix had the bright idea to pretend to be Adrien to catch Ladybug off guard. How do you lose to something that happened in “Felix”?

Despite all of these screw-ups, we're still supposed to see her as this master of deception worthy of allying with Hawkmoth in both his supervillain and civilian form, when really, she's a terrible liar on the schoolyard and on the battlefield.

Why Lila is an Important Character

In the grand scheme of things, Lila just isn't as important of a character that the show loves to parade her around as. She's nothing more than a plot device used to raise the stakes in an episode, given how much reality seems to bend over just to accommodate for her lies. Even when the show alludes to her being part of bigger things, like her deal with Adrien, or her rivalry with Marinette, they don't even go anywhere.

She just feels pointless when you remember Astruc's brilliant idea to force Chloe into being the final Akuma for the season while Lila isn't even mentioned once. She only really makes appearances whenever the writers feel like it, which is why it’s hard to take her seriously. Why should I take this character seriously as a threat if the writers refuse to take her seriously as a threat? Why build Lila up as a big threat and not give her a major role in the finale? Why even include her in the show in the first place when you could show Chloe being more manipulative to fill in the plots Lila plays a big part in?

As of the time I am writing this analysis, four episodes of Season 4 have aired, three of them have been about lies or deception, and Lila hasn't been mentioned at all. It honestly seems like she won't appear unless the writers need a easy way to drive up the conflict, so they can justify it by saying that Lila's “superpower” of lying is more powerful than the common sense of everyone else.

I'm sorry this post was shorter than the last one, but compared to Master Fu, there's not that much to say about Lila that I haven't already said. Even the show barely gives her any attention, so it's hard for me to really find a lot to talk about.

[parachutingkitten]

Season 5 Analysis

STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I am going to be applying the concept of criticism to a TV show you presumably love and adore as much as I do. If you do not want your idea that the show is immaculate to be challenged, I would not advise reading past this point.

Additional Disclaimer: This includes criticism of Nya’s arc, so if you’re the type of person to get catty about this subject, turn back now.

Mood for this season: It’s spoopy time.

You don’t need to, but if you are interested, and haven’t seen my analysis of past seasons, you can find those here:

Pilot - Season 1 - Season 2 - Season 3 - Season 4

You can also find all of these, and future installments, on my blog using the tag #analysis 

Hey everyone! I’m still doing these things! Let’s see, when was my last one? Over two years ago...? Yikes, I owe y’all an apology. I really didn’t mean to put these off that long. Anyway, get ready to hate me, cuz although (for the most part) this seems to be the fandom favorite season… I think it’s overhyped. I know, don’t kill me. I’ll explain myself. I don’t think it’s bad or anything, it’s very well structured, but I definitely wouldn’t rank it among my favorites. First, for a little context, I am making a one second of every ninjago episode video right now, so I’ve been binging the series and all it’s shorts back to back, so I think I’ll have a bit more to say about connective tissue between seasons, and hopefully you guys can look forward to more of these analyses between now and the new year when I’m releasing that video. I’m also officially a film major now so… sorry if I come of as extra pretentious or get too deep. Anyway, let’s jump into the thick of it, shall we? 

Plot

This is probably the area I have the fewest number of complaints about. This season has a breakneck pace and it keeps everyone busy. I think that’s why people like it. Everyone’s favorite has something to do. Which brings me to the question… which ninja’s season is this? Lloyd is on a lot of the promotional stuff, but he’s possessed and out of the picture for over half the season, so that can’t be right. Cole turns into a ghost, and the season is a ghost season, but that can’t be right cuz I don’t know that I’ve ever heard anyone claim it was his. Nya reaches her true potential, maybe it’s hers? Well, she does have a large b-plot, but she is consistently not a part of the a-plot. Kai has a whole thing with being protective of Lloyd, he has his fear of water, maybe it’s just another Kai season? Thing is, it’s no one’s. It is an ensemble season, and I think that’s a healthy thing for ninjago to keep doing. The more we label certain seasons for certain ninja, the more complaining we’ll get about who’s turn it is for screen time that we’ll miss out on telling a good story. Also, If the season is focused on a ninja you don’t like, you are less likely to like the season (see my next analysis for that can of worms). Again, this season tells it’s story really well. Morro directly ties into the ending of last season, and Nya’s getting water powers was foreshadowed the season before. That’s some cool connective tissue to start. The opening episode establishes the three different things the ninja will be looking for, and for once they’re actual tools instead of a series of weapons, blades, masks, whatever. I like that. Jay has some really good humor, Zane has his speech changes, Kai has his irrational fears and protective instincts, Cole has his ghost angst, Lloyd has to deal with his father’s passing, Nya is a new water ninja, Wu has a shop to run and a student to reconnect with, even Ronin has an arc about developing morals and gaining friends. There’s the mystery about how to deal with the ghosts, what the rules are, there’s the leader subplot, the ninja’s money situation, and lore of the different realms, they even worked in Skylor and Borg, there’s a lot of cool stuff going on. This is a tightly woven script that manages to include a lot of new concepts that you get pretty quick. I don’t feel like there’s even that much fat to cut. The opening is a little slow and strange, and the cloud kingdom episode feels a little unnecessary, but I do like the idea of visiting a different realm early in the season so the audience isn’t caught off guard in the climax. Again, the plot all works for me, it’s the other stuff I find myself pretty meh on.

Characters

Ronin

I’m pretty sure Ronin is the only new (non villain) character introduced. I like him a lot. Ninjago needed a true wildcard to shake things up and be unpredictable. I also think he’s pretty nicely woven into the action of the plot. I think his introduction is a bit strange. Like, the ninja already know him, but we’ve never seen him before? Just the way they talk about him sounds like they’re quickly recapping who this guy is for those who missed previous episodes. It’s fine if the ninja already know him but either 1) Introduce or foreshadow him a season earlier or 2) Introduce their dynamic to the audience before it becomes plot relevant. Maybe the ninja are grumbling about him being a nuisance while tea shenanigans are going on or something. Or maybe you have a scene of him stealing the scroll and making snarky remarks about the ninja while he does it. Idk. just something so his sudden plot relevance isn’t out of nowhere. Also, I don’t hate his and Nya’s dynamic, but I know a lot of people love it, and I’m just not totally here for it. Is he supposed to be a father figure for her? Mentor? Frienemy? Just plain friend? (love interest???) it’s not super clear and I could have used some clarification. I also like his use and tie to the next season, so overall, well integrated character.

Nya

I’m adding in Nya here cuz she goes through a major character change, and how she’s handled is one of the things that rubs me the wrong way about the season. A lot of people will probably disagree and/or hate me for this section of the analysis so… here we go! The thing she has to get past to reach her true potential is fear of failure (supposedly) and the solution to that is to just… not care as much? First of all, I know this isn’t supper important, but the fun thing about the ninjago elements is that every elemental master matched up personality wise with their element. Jay is the energetic master of lightning, Kai is the hothead master of fire, Zane is the calm and calculating master of ice, Cole is the strong and dependable master of earth, Lloyd is the literal child master of energy. This especially goes for all the new season 4 masters. So what qualities are often associated with water personalities? Well, serenity, control, flexibility, elegance, patience… calm. You know, like a Zane type character (the element directly adjacent to hers). These are things that Nya isn’t - or at the very least don’t define her. (there’s also something to be said about water and its ties to more feminine qualities, which Nya has been actively shown to reject, but I won’t go into that rant here.) She was designed as the fire master’s sister, and when you try to fit a fire personality into a water shaped character mold… it doesn’t exactly mesh well. It doesn’t make sense. But, like I said, whatever. Maybe that’s the point? Like she has to change her personality to be more in tune with water? Sure. But let’s talk about this fear of failure thing. Because that’s the stated thing that dialogue tells us she needs to overcome. But when has Nya ever been afraid of failure? Fear of failure means avoiding doing something because of fear. Nya is ridiculously persistent, always has been (you know, fire personality). She tries training when no one tells her to, she makes her own alter ego to try and be a hero and save the people who would constantly tell her she wasn’t ready. Wu says she only wants things that come easy, but that’s never been her character before now, she has carried the team with her tech, research, and covert ops that no one forced her to do, all things which are not easy. Fear of failure is usually characterized by what if questions. If Nya is so afraid of failure, why don’t we hear her saying stuff like “but what if I’m not strong enough, what if I can’t save them in time, or worse, what if I lose control of my power and end up hurting people?” Cole shows much more of a fear of failure this season surrounding his insecurity about being a ghost. He wants to sit out from missions because he’s not sure he’ll be able to do it - he’s afraid of failure. But whatever, the writing isn’t clear at expressing her true setbacks, but she does display a real problem that a lot of people have and I think could have been well done if set up correctly. She shows an undying persistence that gets her too close, and makes her increasingly incapable. She lets her frustration hinder her progress (again, fire personality trait), and I think that’s interesting because I don’t think ninjago has done this character arc yet. The supposed solution to this problem is that she just needs to… care less? And yes, I kind of see where they were going with this, we sometimes cloud our natural potential by thinking about it too much, but saying “you need to stop caring” is the absolute wrong way to word it. Caring is not her problem, the problem is her control over the emotions that come from her caring. Caring is a good thing, and teaching kids that if you’re ambivalent about your problems, they’ll go away is not a good message. What she needs to do is take a step back. She needs to take a break, stop to think, and look at the big picture instead of hyper focusing on the roadblock directly in front of her. The usual and much better wording of the moral I think they were going for is “stop overthinking things”. Teaching kids to look at a problem from a different angle and give themselves time to cool down is a great thing. And just think of it, in the climax she could have this ah-ha moment where she steps back and looks at the bigger picture - the whole town, surrounded by the ocean - and gets the idea to sink the preeminent into the water, you could even easily tie that back into the bucket exercise, and that’s what triggers her true potential rather than the current… I’m honestly not sure what. Random flashbacks and the end of the season approaching quickly. Alternatively, you could tie it more directly into samurai x, and make her struggle with letting go of the past and allowing yourself to give up something good in your life to progress to something better. Anyway, I don’t think this was a bad decision long term, she needed to be solidified on the team as a full fledged ninja, I just think this season doesn’t handle the transition that well. Anyway, whatever, I’ll be waiting for your hate comments in the notes.

Romance

Um… there’s none this season? Like there’s a few Wusako moments that are still as weird as they were in season 2, but they’re really not prevalent. There’s also the Jay seeing the future thing which has some weird implications next season (again, some interesting connective tissue between seasons), but that’s about it. Maybe that’s part of why I don’t love this season? Like where’s the pixane? Lol, I’m kidding. But maybe that’s why a lot of people do like it. If you don’t like the canon ships… this is a nice little safe haven for you. Rare for a majority of the series.

Villains

So Morro is a good idea… in theory. I know he’s the fandom’s favorite edgy boy, but idk I think the brand of angsty teen they ended up with was more of an angsty 13 year old than 17 year old. His voice is really grating and I always want to yell at him to just… go get some cough drops. Stop throat screaming, use your diaphragm man! Also, everyone goes on about his last minute redemption, but as far as season 5 goes, he has like half a second of a change of heart. Literally, when Wu comes over and he’s drowning, he’s still being a persistent little idiot like “you never cared about me nooooo!” and it’s only at the last possible second that gives him the crystal, and even that he does it kind of saltily. The preeminent is pretty cool, I like her concept, her design, all that. All the other ghosts are fine I guess. Nothing super memorable out of them, although their aesthetic, especially when there’s a bunch of them swarming around is pretty cool. One last thing was I never understood how Morro “becoming the green ninja” worked and what exactly it was that… did for him? Like he didn’t actually get the power of energy, right? I don’t remember him using it. Did just him defeating Lloyd make him the green ninja? How does that transfer work? And why did he need it to take over the world or realms or whatever? Like I get that it’s supposed to give him more power and what not but idk, it wasn’t super clear. That’s a minor thing though.

Climax

Pretty cool. I like the ATMOSPHERE. Green light is a hard thing to use and justify correctly, but it works really well here, especially with the dark kinda gray blue sky complimenting it. When the preeminent starts walking into the ocean, it’s genuinely terrifying, but you understand exactly how it works and why she’s strong enough to do it. Nya’s true potential is again a little out of left field and could have had some better motivation put behind it. Like what is it Nya learned in that instant? To not be afraid to protect people? She’s… been doing that. Idk. I’ve hit on that enough for now. Overall, there was good variety. I like the green ninja fake out, I like the realm hopping, I even like the little Garmadon visit and Lloyd getting the robe. I feel like we didn’t need a part one and two, you could have had different titles. I mean come on. But hey, now we know, if Pix had only been there, the whole climax would have been wrapped up in like 10 minutes apparently. Pix for the win.

Humor

Really good. Like I’m surprised how much I laughed. Jay wasn’t annoying humor, it was good stuff, there were some good running gags, there’s a solid fourth wall joke about who the lead ninja is at the beginning of the season. Overall, I am pretty impressed. My favorite joke was perhaps the bit where Jay is sarcastically positive, the voice acting is just really solid. Then again, there’s also the whole Borg scene where he roasts half the ninja, that’s solid stuff right there. There’s just some really solid character interaction this season and the humor feels a lot more natural and less forced.

Drama

Okay, we’ve got a lot this season. Y’all know how I feel about Nya’s arc by now. It does not work for me. Ronin’s relationship with her is alright, but kind of comes out of nowhere. Ronin’s solo plot about kinda working for the ghosts works. Cole’s ghost angst works for the most part, although I wish he would have actually skipped a mission and then gone in to help save his friends once they can’t do it without him. That was probably the most solid drama of the season. The other main thing we have this season is Kai’s whole… fear/protective streak. This also doesn’t really work for me. Like, I get that Lloyd and Kai are friends and stuff, like his whole true potential was centered around Lloyd. But like, why does it have to be framed so weirdly? Sometimes in trying to make it seem like Kai is protective of him, it seems like the other ninja just like… don’t care about him? Not all the time, but there are some weird vibes. Also, it doesn’t really go anywhere. No one learns anything about themselves from this subplot, nothing comes of it, there isn’t really a payoff. Also, Kai has yet another irrational fear, this time of water, which really comes right the hell out of nowhere. They try to explain it away like “Oh, Kai feels powerless and so water can get to him” but like… what? That’s the exact situation he was in at the end of season 2 and he seemed perfectly content to literally swim across the ocean (which um… what do you mean the sworn protector of ninjago can’t swim?). Where is this coming from?! Again, it doesn’t really go anywhere, there’s not a point where he has to learn to confront it or he grows because of it. It’s just pointless stuff added cuz the writers like giving Kai vague trails to try and develop him. The cloud kingdom is kinda cool. That last minute twist about them working with Morro is… stupid and unnecessary though. 

Spotlight Episode

I really like the Spinjitzu master tomb episode. Some cool riddles, I like the first two rooms a lot. I do think the third room is a bit strange. Like, the clue was “don’t look ahead” and the solution was to look beneath them, which is the exact same solution as the previous room. Like, you already have magic ice that shows the future, why not play into that? Don’t look ahead could maybe mean don’t look to the future, the opposite of that being the past. Maybe they have to draw on their past adventures to solve it somehow? Learning from the past is a good lesson, right? But overall, I really like it. Some real solid humor this episode. This episode has the sarcastic Jay optimism, Kai totally stalling for time, Zane dealing a pretty sick burn on Cole, just a lot of fun stuff. I like it. It just has great energy and nothing feels like it’s drawn out for too long.

Misc

The aesthetic this season… can be inconsistent, but the main ghost vibe displayed in the opening theme is really solid and I really like it

Speaking of the opening, Ghost wip is great and the opening in on par with last season’s (which is my fav) for sure

Ice age references… okay.

Chima references…. OKAY...

Okay, but like Deepstone can… kill ghosts? Or not? Is it just something ghosts can touch? It’s supposed to be like water in weapon form, right? Like that’s how I understood it when they first introduced it. Wouldn’t the deepstone bars kill Ghoultar then? And then like, Cole’s bike is made of deepstone. He uses it as a weapon. Wouldn’t it kill him? It kills other ghosts when they touch it. How… how does it work?! I need answers!!!

The captain of the steam boat says they’re going as fast as possible, but later Ronin comes in and cranks it up like twice as fast… that always bothered me like, why would he lie about that? Who is this captain and why is he so chill about everyone’s lives?! And then later Wu cranks it up yet again, like the ship had slowed down to it’s previous speed. What the hell is happening with the controls of this ship???

So pissed that the nasty CGI nightmare cloud monster that chases the ninja is named Nimbus. Totally forgot about that. I have an OC with a cat named Nimbus… I promise, there is not going to be a stupid twist bout the cat being the monster thing in Mists of Fate. That would be very stupid.

I was all excited that season 13 gave us minecart chases, but I totally forgot season 5 gave us one first. I really like the return to the caves of despair btw, good reuse of a known location.

How many times this season did we do the: 

Kai: Oh, I don’t like water, I can’t do it uwu  Cole: ...You serious?

Thanks for reading! And if you got this far… I don’t know. I would love to hear your thoughts if you have any! These are just my opinions, so don’t think too much of it if you disagree.

-Kitten

[edelweiss123]

It still baffles me...

...that the writers of a kid's show who were willing to blatantly address various heavy topics on-screen such as revenge, war, torture, racism, famine, sexism, ableism, child abuse, abandonment, and fucking GENOCIDE, with gravity and aplomb...

...still somehow thought that "literal 12-year-old doesn't end up with his first crush" would be a deal-breaker.  Like...?

Okay.  First, a disclaimer.  I am a die-hard Zutara shipper. I'm also really fond of MaiLee and Taang, independent of that, and really don't care for Maiko, but that's topic for a different post.  None of the points I’m going to go over have anything to do with those pairings.

But EVEN IF I didn't feel that there were far better canon characters for Katara and Aang to end up with respectively...

Kataang, as it is written in canon, is sad and weird and uncomfortable to me, and here's why:

The Dynamic

Maybe if the characters had been, say, 16 and 18 when they first met, this wouldn't be a problem.  But Aang is 12 and Katara's 14.  And their maturity gap is far larger than a mere two years.

Aang, despite being well traveled and the burden of Avatarhood on his shoulders, is also a very *young* 12.  Remember, up until the iceberg, he's lived a pretty idyllic, mostly responsibilty free life.  He's only known he was the Avatar for like, a month, tops, before that.  Sure, the other monk children don't play with him after this reveal, but it's well established he has friends all over the globe; he's a prodigy, yes, with all the pressure that can bring, but it doesn't appear he was pushed to master air so fast?  He just very much enjoys airbending.  And Gyatso is a loving guardian.

Which is why he runs away at the first sign of something difficult in his life--the possibility of losing Gyatso.

Compare this to Katara, who was born in a hostile landscape amongst a struggling people.  She is, as far as she knows, the last of her kind, with no teacher to guide her.  She suffers a traumatic loss young, and it is *explicitly stated in the show* that she stepped up to fill her mother's shoes at what, 7? 8? While her family grieved.  Her father leaves, possibly to never return, when she is 11.  She is laden with responsibility beyond her years.  Her time and energy are not for her to spend on herself--she has too much to do.  *She is not a child*

So of *course* she starts mothering this wide-eyed cheerful boy, who got taken away by the same people who murdered her mother within a day of meeting him.  He's the Avatar but he's also an innocent kid in need of protection and care.

Now, does that mean she never acts immature?  No--she *is* still a teenager, and prone to occasional bouts of typical teenager dumbassery. (see: waterbending scroll).  But she does most of the chores and nags the others about their misbehavior and tries to console them when when they're down. She literally poses as Aang's mother at a PTA meeting.  For fucks sake, at the end of Season 2, when she's holding a dead Aang sprawled in her arms and looking pleadingly at the sky, there is NO WAY you can convince me all those art students storyboarding that scene WEREN'T making an intentional reference to *La Pieta*--You know, that super famous statue where Mary is cradling her dead Savior son (before he gets resurrected) and that is widely considered one of the most poignant examples of MOTHERLY LOVE AND GRIEF in the whole WORLD.

And I don't know about you... but it's really, really creepy to me for a *romantic* relationship to result from something with that much mother/son energy deliberately coded into the show.

The Lack Of Development

At what point does Katara reciprocate the crush? It's very well established that Aang has a crush, of course.  But we've got 61 episodes and basically no definitive evidence that Katara feels anything for Aang beyond platonic affection.  There's the time a fortune teller says she'll marry a powerful bender and she's like, 'huh' (let's ignore the fact that Aang at the time is like the only powerful bender she really knows).  There's the time she (almost?) kisses Aang in a cave because, you know, she thinks they might stay lost forever and starve to death if she doesn't (romantic!)  

The other two times Aang kisses her--she's just kind of shocked after the first one, and gets mad after the second one because she *had just expressed a desire to not do so seconds before*  And the fourth kiss is in the literal last 30 seconds of the show, with no dialogue, no lead-up, just a fade to black "welp this is happening, aaaand, SCENE."  It very, very much has the feeling of "hero gets the prize/girl" instead of "two people who have been mutually longing for each other come together", and that's really, really gross to me.  It does such a disservice to both their characters, but Katara's especially.  It feels like she had no agency in this result, that they got together because Aang wanted it so much, but it matters so little what she wanted that we don’t even need to bother showing her wanting it.

The Stunting/Regression of Character Growth

What does Aang sacrifice? The answer?  Nothing.  'Now, wait a minute', I can hear you say, 'he lost his entire people and culture!  How can you say he's lost nothing!'  I didn't say he's never suffered *loss*.  But having something taken away from you and giving something up for another's sake are two entirely different things.  Aang, in the end, gets everything he wanted--the girl he wanted, his pacifist morals intact and unchallenged, his culture eventually restored.  Hell, he even somehow gets the Avatar State, despite never explaining how he manages it when it was EXPLICITLY STATED he couldn't do so without letting go of certain attachments.  Wow, guess it turns out he never needed to sort out all of his emotional trauma to acheive inner peace and enlightenment after all--just needed a good acupressure session to get those chakras flowin'! One quick magic whack to the back!

I don't think 'the hero is always right' is a good message.  The theme of 'just because you want something doesn't necessarily mean it's what's good for you, or others' is a pretty recurring theme throughout the rest of the show, and having the universe warp itself to accomodate the beliefs of the protagonist  (lookin' at you, deus-ex-machina turtle) so he is always right, no matter what, means that he never has to reevaluate his beliefs, never really has to *grow* as a character.  

Kya, Ursa, Yue, Iroh, Hakoda, Katara, Sokka, Zuko--hell, even Toph, who makes the decision to let Appa get taken so she can save her friends...

Over and over it's shown that Love is Sacrifice, and I think Aang should have been shown making some personal sacrifices for the sake of the world, instead of showing that the power of clinging to his absolutist morals is enough to solve all his problems.

I understand why the writers, despite showing many characters die off-screen, hesitated to show Aang killing someone, even someone unredeemably evil, because there would be no way to do it OFF screen, and it IS still a kid's show.  (On that note:  couldn’t they have just somehow...idk, trapped Ozai in the Spirit World or something?  Have him literally sent to not-hell?)  

BUT, that doesn't mean they couldn't have shown Aang doing something that made him realize that, as the Avatar, even if a necessary action went against his personal beliefs or wasn't what he wanted, his needs are superceded by the needs of the world he claims to love.  He ignores this in S2 and nearly pays the ultimate price... but it's never properly addressed again. And thus, because that never happens, I honestly don't consider 13-yr-old Aang all that much more mature than 12-yr-old Aang, and I think that's a waste of potential.  

And as for character regression...

Katara? Master Waterbender and war-hero?  Who grabbed onto the first opportunity to explore the world beyond her tiny home, who fought for every scrap of skill and recognition she had--against a world determined to see her as lesser because of her race, her gender, her age?  Who never backed down from what she thought was right, even when her own family and friends didn't support her?  You're telling me that, according to canon, *that same Katara* was perfectly content to retreat to the South Pole and do nothing of note for the next 70 years except for being a good little housewife and healer?  Get the fuck out of here with that misogynistic horseshit.

IN CONCLUSION

I could go on.  I could talk about the unequal division of emotional labor between the two--with Katara constantly having to be mindful of not upsetting Aang too much lest he fly away and/or have an Avatar State tantrum.  With Katara constantly reassuring Aang, but Aang, for instance, offering unsolicited advice about revenge instead of trying to understand what she needed, or kissing her without asking--twice!--and expecting them to be together without him ever even asking if that's what she wanted.  I could talk about Katara not taking Aang to task for things he does wrong and Aang not being willing to see that Katara isn't perfect--how he puts her on a pedastal and Katara is afraid to leave it and break his illusions by being her real self.

But ultimately, what it boils down to, it that the most unrealistic thing about AtLA was not the magic, or the spirits, or the hybrid animals.

No, the most unbelievable thing about this show is that the ending was ruined just because more than creating a consistent thematic and emotional throughline, a couple of white dudes wanted to vicariously live out all of their "hot-for-babysitter" childhood fantasies.

And that's all I have to say about that.

[trustyourgutblog]

When Shit Got Real - My Journey to Digestive Disease Diagnoses

Greetings everyone! C Here :]

One of the reasons that S and I decided to create this blog is that we both struggle with chronic health conditions. I thought a good place to start would be talking about my journey of how I got diagnosed. In May of 2016, I graduated from my clinical social work master’s program. The previous 2 years had been among some of the most stress-inducing years of my life and I have a feeling that the life stressors, along with genetic predispositions, were significant catalysts to my diagnoses.

I had grown up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (s/o to all da Yoopers reading this) and in order to pursue my dreams of attending graduate school to become a mental health provider, I had to move away from my family, friends, and the place that I had always called home. 

*Enter huge stress catalyst number 1*

A few weeks before I was scheduled to leave for graduate school, I started to experience some major anxiety about moving so far away from my family and friends and attending school (thanks to the semester that I had taken off). I wasn’t experiencing full blown panic attacks, but my episodes of racing thoughts, rapid heart rate, and shortness of breath were enough to make me ask my primary care provider for anxiety medication. Thank the universe that she was a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and encouraged me to try more holistic ways to manage my anxiety such as going for walks, staying active, and seeking out help from natural supports.

Fast forward to finding an apartment, completing the 400 mile move, and entering graduate school. The first few weeks were pretty difficult, but eventually I made friends and began to somewhat relax. The academic and scheduling demands of grad school were constant and I was experiencing a baseline level of stress at all times (juggling classes, homework, reading, my internship, and a side job). Not to mention, I also pushed myself out of my comfort zone to study abroad in Europe for 2 weeks during the summer between my first and second year. Don’t get me wrong, I was having a blast and the busyness of my new life was exhilarating. But, I was putting my body under months and months of ongoing stress without pause.

Grad school seemed to fly by and before I knew it, it was May of 2016 and I graduated with a 4.0.  You guessed it – I’m Type A and a self-proclaimed perfectionist (I’m including my GPA here to illustrate the level of chronic stress that I was experiencing – if you’re a control freak like me, you know this type of stress).  A few weeks after graduation, I continued to work my student assistant job as I looked for a job in social work. I was also on the hunt for a rural location so that I could get more assistance with my student loans. Seven applications later and I had gotten a call back from a Community Mental Health agency requesting to schedule an interview.

A few days after the interview, I received a phone call stating that I had landed the job! Praise be! I was so excited that thinking about the stress of finding a new place to live and the 2- hour commute hadn’t even occurred to me. It turns out that they were short-staffed (big surprise in social work, I know) and wanted me to start right away. So, I gave a 2 week notice at my other job and began looking for a place to live. I started working a few days a week at my new job (since commuting 2 hours a day, 5 days a week is enough to make anyone go mad), and was able to able to find a place that was halfway in between my boyfriend’s job and mine. About a week after my boyfriend and I had signed the lease, he was given another work assignment and he would no longer be working at this site – he was now going to be assigned a traveling job where he would have to visit sites all over the country. So here I was. Stuck in a 1-year lease in a town with no friends or family and facing the cold, hard reality of a long distance relationship. Well, shit. I was now going to be separated from my best friend who I had lived with since I was 17 years old.

*Cue mental breakdown*

I tried to stay positive and began my new job with my typical enthusiastic, bright personality.  However, your first job as a social worker, fresh out of graduate school, is anything but bright. Don’t get me wrong!  I gained some invaluable experience and met the most phenomenal people.  But, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that it was confusing, stressful, and straight up terrifying.

*Enter gut health spiral*

A few weeks into my job, I started noticing some changes in my digestion. If you feel uncomfortable with females talking about their bowel movements, then you may want to stop reading here. Seriously - there’s gonna be a lot of poop talk. As a kid, I’ve always been a 3,4,5 times a day pooper (where’s the poop emoji on this thing?!). My bowel movements always seemed “healthy” and I never had any trouble going. So, it was very strange to me that I was starting to experience constipation.

Huh, that’s odd, I thought. 

Too busy to think much of it, I “just kept swimming” with my fast-paced life.  After a few weeks of on and off constipation, I started noticing that I had blood in my stools.

Woah. That’s not right.

My mind immediately thought of my older sister. She had been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease within the last 2 years. My first cousin had also recently been diagnosed with Crohn’s after a major hospitalization and the removal of some of her colon. Naturally, I began to panic. I immediately thought I must have it too and texted my sister. She texted back a few minutes

later –

“You need to go get a colonoscopy.”

So, I went about finding a primary care doctor as I had barely been moved to the area for a month and hadn’t been established with anyone yet. The provider I found was nice enough, but she totally dismissed my concerns as some mild constipation and potential hemorrhoids. I requested that she refer me to a gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy and instead she sent me to a colorectal surgeon. 

*eye roll*

 Looking back, I wish I would have advocated further for myself. This provider was clearly dismissing my concerns and referring me to a surgeon would get me off of her back. She expected him to examine me and find that nothing was wrong. No, I’m not making a judgment. The next time she saw me I had already been diagnosed and she was genuinely surprised. I should have trusted my gut (see what I did there ;]) and pushed for a colonoscopy right away.

At this next appointment, the provider (who, mind you, was a dude) performed a Sigmoidoscopy.  This means that he put a long tube with a camera attached to it up my butt (WHILE I WAS AWAKE) and promptly told me that he was seeing inflammation and I needed a colonoscopy.

NO FUCKING SHIT.

So, after spending an uncomfortable $40 at this appointment, he referred me to a gastroenterologist and said that there’s a potential that I have Ulcerative Colitis. Phew. Anything was better than a Crohn’s diagnosis.  Since I had that appointment with the surgeon, I was able to skip right to a colonoscopy without a GI consult prior. I had to call my boyfriend (who was currently across the country in Utah) and ask if he could fly home for a few days to drive me to and from the appointment. Being the supportive angel that he is, he agreed to come home and a few weeks later I had my first colonoscopy.

My new GI doc - a pretty, blonde, and particularly cold woman, explained that she couldn’t figure out if I had Crohn’s or not. Basically, the inflammation in my colon that was causing the bleeding and constipation was so far up in my tract that they needed to try an Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). Aka go in the other way. She prescribed a mild steroid to help control the inflammation while they tried to figure out exactly what was going on. Thankfully, my boyfriend was home for a week, so I was able to schedule the EGD while he was home. Another round of prep (aka pooping my brains out), another 2 days off of work, and a procedure later and they STILL couldn’t definitively diagnose me with Crohn’s.

So, another procedure was recommended.

“We’ll need to complete a Capsule Endoscopy.” 

Aka swallow a giant horse pill that is actually a camera and it takes pictures of your insides while it moves through your digestive tract.  Am I actually in an episode of the Magic School Bus? Another day of prep and another day taken off of work to walk around with a giant fanny pack (and not the cute kind) of wires taking pictures of my insides.

Finally, here I sit in an exam room at my new GI’s office - four months later. Anxiously waiting at my GI doctor’s office for her to come in and inform me of the results of the plethora of testing that I had undergone. It had been 6 months since I first noticed the blood in my stool. Six months of labs, procedures, and office visits. If there was ever a drum roll moment, this was it.

My GI doc walked in, greeted me, and said, “Well, it looks like you have Crohn’s.” My heart stopped and ironically, my stomach dropped. Watching my sister endure the complicated symptoms of her Crohn’s over the last 2 years did not give me a hopeful look into my future. She had told me horror stories of having to poop in the woods while on a run because she just couldn’t hold it any longer, extreme fatigue that caused her to feel like she needs 12+ hours of sleep per night, and stomach cramping that was so unbearable it caused her to double over.

I wanted to cry, but I didn’t (see earlier reference to my doctor being cold AF). We discussed treatment options, she prescribed medications, and told me to “eat bland foods like bread, grilled cheese, and rice,” and sent me on my way. I got into my car after the appointment, called my boyfriend, and immediately broke down. The way I saw it, a Crohn’s diagnosis was a “see you later” to my former, happier existence. I couldn’t believe that this was my reality. My next call was to my sister, who I appreciate beyond belief. Because she knew the heartache that I was experiencing at that exact moment.

Okay, pity party over – flash to present day. I’ve now been living with Crohn’s, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) for 3 years. Surprisingly, I am doing pretty well. My health isn’t perfect, but I’ve come a long way from 2016. If I’ve kept you entertained this far, I’d like to share more of my journey on how I’ve made my way to this healthier place in my next blog post.

As much as I felt like my diagnoses were a death sentence – I can now see that they were just a beginning to a new chapter in my life. This new chapter includes becoming more aware, mindful, and attuned to my body. In my upcoming blog posts, I’ll share how I have been able to improve my self-care, nutrition, and lifestyle in an effort to lead a more fulfilling, aligned life.

[avengcrwanda]

TLJ Commentary

This is just my compilation of the different responses I had to folks who were sharing their metas/interpretations on The Last Jedi. Mainly for my reference since I might do a review/analysis in the future once I’ve got a copy of the bluray.

 This will cover the following:

Finn and Rose in Canto Bight is not a useless arc.

Hux and why he can be a Big Bad.

Kylo/Ben and why he’s wrong on “letting the past die.”

Kylo/Ben is not worse than Anakin/Vader, like some people want to believe.

Kylo/Ben was let down by his family, but that doesn’t mean they are bad people.

Paige Tico - she is important.

Poe and his reaction to Holdo’s plan.

Rey’s parentage and why she really is a nobody.

Note: If you choose to read this, please keep in mind that this is my opinion and reflects how I read the movie. You can have a different interpretation.

1. Finn and Rose’s adventure in Canto Bight is not a useless arc, and highlights that we shouldn’t be viewing Star Wars as black and white. Originally posted here, in response to grejedi’s commentary here. @darth--darcy​ had some awesome points to add which you can find here.  

The Canto Bight arc showed us several points: (1) that when you choose neutrality (just like DJ), you choose the side of the oppressor; and (2) that the good guy-bad guy dynamic depends on your point of view. Let’s focus on the second point.

Finn and the Resistance view the First Order as the Bad Guys; therefore, the Resistance is the group of the Good Guys. This is true to a certain extent - after all, the First Order somewhat represents oppression and fascism. But when the Resistance defeats them and the Good Guys win - what happens next? New government, another New Republic. Will it be a rehash of the Rebellion defeating the Empire? And then another form of the FO comes popping out? If I recall correctly, the new government/New Republic didn’t exactly live up to their promises and bring peace to the galaxy. There were still corrupt senators, and the system they established allowed the FO to breed in the first place. And their same system allowed the Canto Bight folks to profit from selling weapons. (And for a bigger picture – Jakku seemed like a forgotten town, with folks there suffering from extreme poverty. Didn’t they care about them?)

Both the FO and the Resistance (as well as the old Rebellion) contributed to the hardships of the galaxy. And maybe both have something good to fight for. Maybe instead of an all-out weapons war, these two groups could meet in the middle. Balance, anyone?

If you recall what Luke said in the teasers, “It’s so much bigger.” He was probably referring to the force, but I think it applies to the whole war as well. I try to understand that maybe some folks just do a surface read and walk away with incomplete tidbits and say, “Oh this is just another war movie: the Resistance is the underdog we must cheer for and Kylo and the rest of the FO are the oppressors the underdog must completely eliminate.”

But - newsflash - even real-life war isn’t so black and white. People need to dig deeper and understand - why did the war start in the first place? Were the "winners” really justified? What were the “losers” fighting for anyway? Because if we just take it at face value - “Oh, this group won because they were fighting for the good thing. Everything else from the losing side is garbage.” - we will just repeat the cycle. If the root cause isn’t addressed, the future will just be the same; the new government will again be ineffective and another insurgent faction will creep up.

Even the characters aren’t so black and white. The sequel trilogy wants its viewers to think and question what we know. Example: Luke, Leia, and Han.

One of the major beefs of the fans of the OT - and I know this has made countless rounds online - is that the original heroes didn’t turn out how they expected, i.e. always pure and good. “Luke was a hero at the end of the OT, he should remain a hero for the rest of his life. Leia and Han resolved their differences and got together, they deserve their happily ever after.” And to go against this will be out of character for them.

But what they need to realize is that people change and evolve depending on their experiences. The major characters of Star Wars weren’t meant to be one-dimensional. How boring will that be? Heroes can’t make good decisions all the time. We must give them room to make mistakes.

People make mistakes. People make bad decisions. People fall off from the high pedestals some put them on. We must be able to accept this. The way they wrote Luke, Leia, and Han made the characters very relatable – they’re people who make mistakes and bad decisions. Han AND Luke were able to accept this before they died. They knew that they failed Ben and confronted and apologized to him for it. And they moved on. But some viewers haven’t, apparently.

2. Just because Hux is not a Force user, and that he had some comedic moments in TLJ, does not mean he cannot be a Big Bad in Episode IX. Originally posted here, in response to daxcat79’s and i-live-in-the-reylo-moon’s post here.

While he had a lot of comedic moments in TLJ, you have to give Hux credit.

It’s been mentioned in various sources and by a number of folks that Hux is cutthroat and ambitious. He also has a delicate ego and is very sneaky. I believe the TLJ Visual Dictionary even states that he has an assassin on command – and that this assassin is afraid of Hux himself.

A see a lot of folks saying that Hux is weak and won’t be able to kill/plot against Kylo/Ben because he doesn’t have control over the Force. But recall Order 66? All those clones did not have any ounce of Firce power yet they were able to successfully eliminate most of the Jedi. The element of surprise + sheer numbers – I bet Hux has control over the First Order officers and troopers – can overpower even the most skilled Force user.

Personally, it will be interesting to see a big bad who cannot use the Force. Just like the Rey heroes-can-come-from-anywhere storyline, Hux can be the villans-can-come-from-anywhere one.

3. Kylo/Ben’s view of letting his past die is actually hurting him rather than making him move on. Originally posted here, in response to reylo11’s post here.

The only way to go forward is to embrace the past, figure out what is good and what is not good about it. But it’s never going to not be a part of who we all are.

This is what Kylo/Ben needs to realize. I feel that he struggles so much with himself because he’s so intent on killing his past (“Let the past die.”), even doing so literally. He wants to create a new version of himself by forgetting where he came from. He looks at his past with so much hatred. I understand that it wasn’t all fun and rainbows given that his parents abandoned him and his uncle and master tried to off him in his sleep (at least from his point of view). But instead of him accepting these experiences, he wants to throw them away as if they never happened. Because his view is these experiences make him weak.

Those who do not know how to look back to their past will not arrive at their future. One has to be able to look back into your past and accept all your experiences if you want to be the best person you can be.

We are made up of all our experiences, even the shitty ones we want to forget. They build character and make us a stronger person. The good things and the bad all contribute to our character. Kylo/Ben needs to accept this so he can finally decide what his future will be.

4. Kylo/Ben is not worse than Anakin/Vader. Originally posted here, in response to @renperor-of-the-galaxy​’s post here.

Until the novelization comes out, we probably wouldn’t know what really happened in Luke’s Jedi temple. We just know that (1) Luke thought about offing Ben while he was asleep; (2) Ben misinterpreted Luke’s action as a definite attempt to murder; (3) Ben brought down the hut, rendering Luke unconscious; and (4) By the time Luke woke up, his temple was burning, some of his students were dead, and Ben was gone with a number of his other students.

It’s possible that Ben killed his fellow padawans/knights. It’s possible that he didn’t – maybe the two groups of students just fought it out. The thing is, we don’t know for sure. While Ben is known as “The Jedi Killer,” this could also be based off rumours.

To say that he is worse than Anakin/Vader isn’t quite right. Remember the scene in ROTS where the younglings looked up to Anakin while the temple was being attacked? “Master Skywalker, there’s too many of them. What do we do?” The younglings were so relieved to see him and then Anakin suddenly ignites his lightsaber. They were completely defenceless.

Now, versus Luke’s students – we don’t know if there were younglings. We don’t know if they were defenceless. If we go by the Visual Dictionary, it looks like they were Ben’s age, so would have been able to fight.

To sum it all up – calling Kylo/Ben worse than Anakin/Vader is premature.

5. On Ben’s family, and how it doesn’t mean they are bad people. Originally posted here, in response to a longer thread here (commentary by shallowlethargy, a-heart-of-kyber, and renpressrey).

There’s a difference between calling Luke, Leia, and Han as bad people vs bad parents. Antis need to understand this. Even good people - and heroes - make mistakes. For the Skywalker-Solos, it translated to not being there for Ben enough when he needed love and guidance.

To Antis saying Ben is a grown ass man so he should know better - not necessarily. His formative years weren’t exactly fun and nurturing: parents busy with other things, culminating with (from his POV) attempted murder from his uncle/second father figure could mess someone up. Add in Snoke to the mix and you have a very troubled person (which Kylo/Ben is).

He is still very conflicted (pull to the light, etc.) so this makes me believe he is inherently a good person. It’s just hard for him to reconcile this because of his experiences: the people on the “good” side (his family) didn’t exactly treat him right AND he has Snoke constantly whispering in his head. In a sense, he was sort of conditioned to act a certain way, which is very hard to break, no matter how old you are.

6. Paige Tico is also important. Snippet originally posted here.

I feel like Paige isn’t being talked about enough. Not gonna lie - I was so emotionally invested in Paige. Her death is the second saddest moment of the film for me, after the Reylo throne room conversation.

She gives a face to all the forgotten less-than-side characters who sacrifice themselves so the heroes can go save the day. Versus Holdo, who is a high ranking official, she shows that even the ordinary folks are able to contribute to the big picture.

7. Poe’s big lesson on trust. Originally posted here, in response to a longer thread here (commentary by hunterinabrowncoat, whtwlf, frozenmusings).

TRUST was really a big lesson for Poe.

Some people are complaining that Holdo just should have told everyone of her plan. From an audience standpoint, this would make the most sense; as a viewer, we won’t question the decision, right? And maybe we expect the characters/Holdo’s subordinates to do the same.

But the members of the Resistance are active participants in this. There’s a chance they won’t just “go with the flow.” There will be arguments, just like what happened with Poe. The mutiny could have happened earlier, and the Resistance will still be in a bad shape.

With the clock ticking on the Resistance, they just couldn’t afford drawn out discussions on what to do. Holdo had every right to make an executive decision. Given her rank and experience, as well as that of her team, she more or less knows the direction she should be going.

And guys, this happens in real life, too. You don’t have the leadership teams of various organizations (even non-military ones) broadcasting each and every detail of the plans they have as they go along. There may be a right time for this.

8. On Rey’s parentage. Originally posted here, in response to skysilencer’s analysis here.

Earlier in the movie (shirtless Force Bond scene), Kylo/Ben tells Rey that she can’t stop needing her parents who threw her away like garbage - “It’s your greatest weakness.” And this is true. Rey wanted to go back to Jakku, a backwater planet, because she’s still holding on to the idea of her parents coming back. She was willing to throw away her future and her potential because of this weakness.

As stated above, the delivery (especially the throne room) wasn’t exactly great, but it helped push Rey into the path of acceptance and moving on. I think a lot of people miss that she was the first one to admit that her parents were nobody. And what Kylo/Ben is telling her is that it is okay - okay that she doesn’t have a big background, okay that she doesn’t come from famous parents. And it’s great that she can now move on from the past! She defeated this weakness and can be what she was meant to be, so to speak.

Rian says, “If the answer presented to her was, ‘Your parents are so-and-so, here you go, here’s your place in this story.’ That would be the easiest thing for her to hear. And easiest thing for us to hear! Wish fulfilment. It’s like, ‘Oh, great! That’s who I am. That’s that.’ The hardest thing she could hear is, 'No, you’re not going to get that answer, that definition.’”

A lot of people were shocked over the reveal, which I guess was the point. As mentioned by Skysilencer above (and in other metas), the whole movie was about failure and subverting everyone’s expectations. A lot of folks expected Rey to come from somewhere - just like Rey was in denial and that her parents were coming back - and by revealing that she doesn’t come from an important family, we share her pain.

As talked in this article, Rey is on a journey of self-discovery. Her bigger conflict is not the current war of the First Order vs the galaxy - it’s figuring out who she is and what her place in the story is. To quote from the article, “To have her learn some kind of easy answer about a noble ancestry would not only immediately zap away that important conflict, but would also totally freeze and dismantle her important journey of self-discovery. Without the simple explanation, the heroine must stand on her own and carve out her own path, rather than just follow one already carved out for her.”

[ramblesandmumblesofanerd]

Rambling Reviews: EQG - Friendship Games

After gushing about Rainbow Rocks, we return to talk about the Equestria Girls series once again. As I said in the previous review, I found the second film to have a higher quality than the original. The villains were both intimidating and fun, the songs were catchy and Sunset Shimmer went from being the villain I hated to the hero I can actually begin to like. The only weak point was the HuMain 5, who did nothing but bicker and whine until the finale where they inevitably banded together to beat the bad guys in what I have labeled the best climax of the series. So, of course, another sequel was inevitable, especially after the cliffhanger with a human version of Twilight Sparkle investigating the weird events occurring at Canterlot High School. And now the time has come to look at that sequel, known as Friendship Games. Will this film be even better than the last, or will it fail to live up to the high expectations Rainbow Rocks established? Well, as Tom Hardy once said: “Let the games begin.”

We begin once more in the human world, where Sunset Shimmer is running to Canterlot High on an early morning while sporting a new outfit. Her and the HuMain 5 meet up at the front of the school, where Rainbow Dash has brought them all together for an emergency like no other...she needs a spare guitar string.

DUN-DUN-DUUUUUN

*sigh* We’re not even five minutes into this film, and already Rainbow Dash is making an effort to get on my nerves. She sent an emergency group text to everyone in the hopes that one of them had a spare guitar string so she can perform for some fans from the Battle of the Bands. If she starts singing a reprise of Awesome As I Want To Be, I’m out of here!

Mercifully, that doesn’t happen. Instead, while the others go inside to see Rainbow’s performance, Sunset sits on the front steps to write in her magical journal from the last film. And no sooner does she write out a message to Twilight Sparkle in Equestria then a girl in a hoodie arrives by bus to investigate the mirror with her PKE Meter. Yeah, it probably has some other techno-babble name, but look at it. It’s the PKE Meter from Ghostbusters. Way to take a page from Suburban Commando, guys. But, before Sunset can discover who the girl is, she jumps onto another bus, which conveniently made a stop just minutes after the original bus dropped her off. Seriously, what is the bus schedule like in this town? And, of course, while Sunset asks who the girl was, it’s revealed that the girl was the human Twilight Sparkle, more commonly referred to as “Sci-Twi” due to her prowess in science. This is proven by her immediately dismantling her PKE Meter and using the technology inside to make a new device that totally doesn’t look like a compact mirror at all. The people who whine about these films being thinly veiled commercials will never know, Hasbro! After a half ominous half energetic title sequence, we get some backstory about what the Friendship Games are and who Canterlot High will be competing against this year, Crystal Prep’s Shadowbolts (no doubt a not so subtle reference to the Shadowbolts from Season 1 Episode 2 of the TV show). The HuMain 5 groan about how Crystal Prep has always beaten them every year, but Sunset initially scoffs at how silly the rivalry is. And just like that, Sunny has earned some brownie points from me.

Well, at least Rainbow Dash isn’t singing about how awesome she is and how she’s gonna win the Friendship Games. She instead sings about how everyone is awesome and how they’re going to win the Friendship Games. Honestly, though, this song is pretty good in spite of it’s “yay school pride” vibe. It’s a peppy, energetic song that gets everyone in the room amped up in spite of their initial melancholy. They even make a reference to Sunset’s she-demon form. Nice of them to remind Sunset about the lowest point in her life again.

But things take a strange turn as Rainbow Dash’s powers start to appear in spite of her not playing her guitar (notice how I avoid using the phrase “pony-up”). After feeding Rainbows ego for a split second, Sunset gives probably the most fitting line to describe Equestria Girls as a whole:

“It just seems so random.”

Chalk up another brownie point for Ms. Shimmer.

Anyways, in order to keep up appearance, Vice-Principal Luna assigns Sunset Shimmer with the task of keeping the HuMain 5’s magic under control, but that is easier said than done. Sunny already feels the stress of not knowing how the magic works due to it’s sudden evolution, and writes a worried message to the Equestrian Twilight hoping for a reply soon.

Meanwhile, at the sparkliest of Preparatory Schools, Sci-Twi sings an obligatory Disney Princess song while on her way to the principal’s office. This is probably one of the few songs I’m not overly interested in, but it does help reinforce that this Twilight is socially awkward and intelligent. So intelligent, in fact, that she feels that sticking around at Crystal Prep would only be a hinderance, which is why she has sent the principal an application for an independant study program. Speaking of the principal, Ms. Cinch here asks Sci-Twi to participate in the Friendship Games in order to basically show off her most gifted student like a prized pony...and yes, I realized that I just made a terrible joke. When Sci-Twi shows reluctance, Cinch basically extorts her by saying if Sci-Twi fails to participate and win the games, he application to the independant study program will be denied. Sci-Twi begrudgingly agrees which gives way to the movie introducing the most obnoxious if not underdeveloped characters I’ve seen in these films; The Shadowbolts. There’s Sour Sweet, who is essentially Two-Face, Indigo Zap, a loud, over competitive girl, Sunny Flare who...does nothing, Sugar Coat who is so blunt you could use her as a bludgeoning weapon, and Lemon Zest, who gets a brownie point for her taste in music.

As the Showdowbolts get off their bus at Canterlot High, Sci-Twi picks up a signal from inside and sets off to find the source...kinda like Yami Bakura and his Millennium Ring. Inevitably, every student inside mistakes her for the Equestrian Twilight, even Flash Sentry, who I swear has become the lost puppy looking for his master ever since Rainbow Rocks. Look how dejected the guy is whenever Sci-Twi brushes him aside, he looks so crushed. Even Derpy Hooves...oh, sorry, Ditzy Do...what?! That’s wrong too? Well, what am I supposed to call her?

...I hate PC Parents.

Anyways, after Derpy makes an obligatory cameo to cheer Flash up, Sci-Twi converges on the location of the magic, which is just Rarity gushing about all the pointless clothes she made for the Games. No sooner does she say making clothes makes her feel alive then her magic springs up only for Sci-Twi’s device to steal it. Not realizing what Sci-Twi has done or that she is not the Equestrian Princess, the HuMain 5, Sunset and even Principal Celestia greet her like everyone else has only for Cinch to drag her away minutes later. And then the first film rears it’s ugly head for a brief moment like a phantom as Pinkie becomes a Deus Ex Machina device in order to explain what the audience already knows about Sci-Twi, to which Principal Celestia gives the best response.

“...Nevermind.”

While the HuMain 5 wonder about Sci-Twi, Sunset tries to use the mirror to Equestria, only for Sci-Twi’s Millennium Compact Mirror to steal her magic through the portal. Before Sunset can confront her, Sci-Twi leaves with her classmates, leaving Sunset to investigate the mirror. To her sheer horror, she realizes that the portal (which is now supposed to be open all the time) is dead. Nothing can get in, nothing can get out. Including Princess Twilight.

So, realizing she has to take matters into her own hands, Sunset goes to confront Twilight who is still using her device to locate more magic. Before she can get any information, however, the Shadowbolts intervene, but Pinkie manages to snag Sci-Twi and have her help in livening up the dull party in the gymnasium. As Pinkie’s tactics work, she starts to show her powers like the others, and the device goes nuts again, not devouring the magic but also ripping open the very fabric of the universe until Sci-Twi snaps it shut. What was that quote from Sunset again? “It just seems so random.”

Ahh, I’m going to get so much use out of that line now.

Principal Cinch immediately kills the party and pretty much reiterates that she will be the lukewarm bad guy for the movie, basically saying that “Canterlot sucks and Crystal Prep rules. Nany-nany-boo-boo, stick your head in doo doo.” Ok, she didn’t say that specifically, but she might as well have.

What follows is a montage of events with the song AcaDeca paying over. It’s actually a fun segment with both of the teams talking smack to one another as the events unfold. We even get cute moments like Flash Sentry and Bon Bon somehow failing to make a cake and instead making...Sprinkled Bread? Speaking of cake, check out the Mona Lisa cake that was of course made by Pinkie. Don’t ask how she did it, it’s Pinkie Pie. Logic does not comply. So, the two teams compete in the Academic Decathlon segment of the Friendship Games until Sunset and Sci-Twi are the last two standing, each representing their schools. Of course. And while Sunset fails to score the point, the HuMain 5 and their classmates congratulate her for getting so far because friendship.

After she wins the AcaDeca, Sci-Twi meets Fluttershy, who shows off all of her animal friends while Twilight gives her dog Spike some air. Oh, I forgot to mention him, didn’t I? Yeah, up until this point, Spike’s presence in the film has been pretty lukewarm. Why do I say “up until this point”? Because after Sci-Twi, once again, steals more magic and rips more holes in the universe, Spike somehow gains the ability to talk.

“It just seems so random.”

In either case, after more extorting from Cinch, the HuMain 5 discover what the friendship games has in store next: a tricross rally, with archery, roller skating and motocross. Yes, motocross. In high school. Before anyone starts freaking out, I actually did the research; this is an actual thing, especially back in the 70’s-80’s. It’s not exactly common due to how expensive it is, but it is a thing nonetheless. A very overkill sort of thing. And guess who shares my opinion?

Ahh, Sunset. One more brownie point for the bacon hair.

So, the rally begins with the always bipolar Sour Sweet berating Sci-Twi for being an unathletic wuss. Gee, it’s almost like she wasn’t supposed to be in this competition. One could say that she is being forced to participate. Regardless, Applejack helps her out, but reveals her pony powers in the process. You know the drill by now, the machine goes haywire, sucks in the magic and more portals open up, only this time something comes out. Straight out of a hentai, a giant plant monster starts to attack the girls during the motocross segment, forcing Rainbow to show off her powers again and help whoever the monster captures. This catches Cinch’s attention, and she covertly watches what unfolds next.

After Rainbow Dash deals with the monster while Sunset wins the motocross segment, thus tying the score with Crystal Prep. Sunset doesn’t give a care about the score though, as she snaps Sci-Twi’s Millennium Compact Mirror shut and basically snaps at her. All throughout this film, Sunset has been trying to contain and understand this magic, and then Sci-Twi tampers with things she doesn’t understand to the point where people almost got hurt or worse. This is the straw on the camel’s back for Sunset, and she lashes out against Sci-Twi, almost to the point where you feel like the original Sunset starts to leak out. So, after Sunset gives her a tongue lashing, Sci-Twi leaves and the wheels in Cinch’s head start to turn.

And then, Principal Celestia talks to Cinch and has probably the best idea in this entire film; cancel the games and call it a tie between the schools. Cinch, being a sensible adult responsible for the well being of the children attending her school, accepts the terms of this deal, and they all lived happily ever...oh, who am I kidding, of course Cinch refuses to take such a deal, as it would “tarnish her reputation”.

Thus, the students meet up for the final event, but Cinch pulls Sci-Twi aside to propose a crazy idea: Unleash The Magic. Yes, through a song, Cinch and the Shadowbolts tell Sci-Twi to fight fire with fire and use the magic that she has collected against the Wondercolts. Sci-Twi, having been abused by Cinch, her classmates and Sunset, gives into peer pressure and opens her device.

What follows is that climax I teased in the last review.

Twilight goes through what looks like a terrifying transformation, reaching out to whoever can listen to her pleas for help before being enveloped and corrupted by the raw magic. Much like Sunset She-Demon, Twilight becomes drunk on power and becomes...Midnight Sparkle.

*crickets chirp* Don’t look at me, I didn’t name her.

Midnight then proceeds to rip holes in the fabric of reality while cackling like a madwoman while Sunset, the HuMain 5 and even the Shadowbolts try to save the students who fall through the cracks. Sunset tries to snap Midnight out of her madness, but it’s no good. So, Sunset grabs the discarded compact mirror in order to absorb more magic from her friends in order to become… Seraph Shimmer. *more crickets chirp* Ok, that time I did name her. After Seraphim seals the cracks, the two demigods proceed to have a Dragonball style showdown, which Seraph inevitably wins when Spike momentarily distracts Midnight with those big puppy dog eyes. But, victory isn’t immediate, as Seraph doesn’t straight up blast Midnight. Rather, for a brief moment, she and Midnight are sealed into a white void where Seraph tries once more to convince Midnight that there is a different way to learn about magic, a way that is far less lonely than the path she travels now. Sci-Twi takes Sunset’s hand, and the two revert to their human forms, the crisis now averted.

Cinch, who hid after causing this in the first place, demands that Canterlot High must forfeit the Friendship Games for their use of magic or she will contact the school board. Everyone, even her own students and staff, call her out on her lies and blatant disregard for student safety, but invite her to tell the school board all about the magical flying girls, the portals to different dimensions and the talking dog. Cinch, having finally been backed into a corner, silently walks away and has never been seen since.

So, it’s time for the obligatory wrap-up, with both teams winning the Friendship Games...somehow, and Sci-Twi wanting to transfer to Canterlot High rather than go through with her independent study application. Sunset and the HuMain 5 wholeheartedly accept Sci-Twi as a new friend...just when the mirror portal decides to work again. Yup, the Equestrian Twilight finally makes an appearance at the last thirty seconds of the film right before the credits to basically give a reason as to why the portal died besides Sci-Twi stealing magic, and it’s a funny if not cute thirty seconds.

And with that, Friendship Games comes to a close with a cute slideshow. So,how was this film? Well, obviously it’s quite a good film, and in some ways I suppose it is better than Rainbow Rocks, but I feel like Friendship Games cannot surpass it’s predecessor. Now, like I said, it is a good film. The songs are all catchy, some of the characters are written a lot better than before, the climax was certainly just as epic if not more so than before and the film was very entertaining overall. There’s even this self-aware air about Friendship Games, as if the writers knew what the adult fanbase was upset about and decided to throw them a bone for their troubles. But, there are just certain aspects of the film that keep me from liking it more than I actually do.

For starters, let’s talk about the magic. I’m sure you folks are wondering how the magic works in this world, and even if you’re not I’m gonna tell you. According to Sunset Shimmer, at the end of the film, the magic now works only when the HuMain 5 show their Elemental nature (i.e. Applejack being honest, Pinkie Pie spreading cheer, etc.). To quote Sunset, “it seems so random” after we clearly established in Rainbow Rocks that the magic works with instruments. Then again, in the original film the girls didn’t do anything and yet they were able to do that deus ex machina attack. This may sound like a nitpick, and I will admit it kinda is, but I’m just asking for some consistency in these films.

Also, let’s talk about the Shadowbolts. These ladies were probably the least threatening “villains” since Sunset, forcing Cinch to carry to weight and being the driving force of evil and even that doesn’t work all the time. I don’t know, maybe I just prefer it when the villains are Equestrian creatures masquerading as humans who know more about magic than Sunset and the Equestrian Twilight, but sometimes changes are necessary in order to keep things interesting, otherwise these films would be a tad formulaic in its structure.

Although, maybe it was a tad late for the structure in the first place, as the plot line of Twilight stealing the magic became a tad repetitive. She tracks magic down, encounters a member of the HuMain 5, they show an attribute of themselves that reveals their magic, Sci-Twi steals it and causes weird things to happen, rinse and repeat.

Look, I’m not saying Friendship Games is bad. I’m honestly grasping at straws trying to find things to genuinely complain about rather than just sounding very nitpicky. If anything, I appreciate that this film took the risk of introducing an all human cast, minus Sunset Shimmer  and Spike, of course, and have the villains be humans rather than an obligatory Equestrian villain. Also, cutting Sunset off from the portal was honestly a nice touch, allowing Sunset to prove that she could handle this situation without Princess Twilight using the power of Deus Ex Machina to save the day from her human counterpart. But for some reason, I cannot like this film more than Rainbow Rocks. Maybe it’s because of the lack of character the Shadowbolts are given, maybe it’s the inconsistencies in the overall plot across the films, maybe it’s the repetitive structure of the story, I don’t know.

What I do know is this; Friendship Games is another great entry in the Equestria Girls series, and I would watch it again if I wanted to, in spite of my love-hate relationship with the film. It may not be as personally gratifying as Rainbow Rocks, but it is certainly is an improvement over the first film. I know that is not saying much, but it’s the best I can say for this film. In any case, that’s three films down, one more to go.

In the meantime, never stop rambling, TM

[ancientchinesesolutions]

Payton Milton’s “beginning” .

Allow me to begin - from what I would call - the beginning... It was September of 2012, I had just turned 18 the month before. One day upon waking up, I remember looking around my room - seeing that everything remained (physically) the same - "This is definitely my room...", I thought "But something is NOT the same." but even to this day, I could not explain to you for sure why that was. I sat there for a while before thinking hysterically before I left my bedroom, hoping that my mother who I lived with at the time, wouldn't look me in the eyes and I remember thinking this thought, and thinking "WHAT THE F*** IS WRONG WITH ME. Why am I afraid to look my mom in the eyes?" and the answer to the question hit me like a ton of bricks "Because I know she can feel my thoughts... & I don't want her to know." This answer did not leave me feeling well. Fast forward a few months - I had quit smoking weed, started working out every day, & researching brain health, taking supplements such as ginkgo biloba, and attempting to meditate (I say attempting because I would usually just wind up putting myself to sleep). All to no avail, my anxiety was constant, and much worse around people. The only people I felt comfortable around anymore were people who could easily take me out if I did anything wrong. It was as if I had this constant nagging in my brain, telling me I was a threat to everyone around me, it was seemingly inescapable. I spent a few years living my life like this... It was quite the excruciating existence & I wasn’t sure it would ever end. I remember at one point, I was working in the back of a pizza shop, sincerely missing the feeling of boredom, wondering if I would ever be able to find a wife to have kids with in the state of mind I couldn't seem to alleviate, or escape. I was determined to live my life - I was not brave enough to commit suicide is what I would tell myself, and so, this wreckage of what was once a proud young man, continued on. It was not long after this that I reconnected with a friend of mine who shared the same experience as me, her name was Sarah. She had just began dating a Qi Gong teacher, and she wanted to introduce me to him. So she picked me up from that same pizza shop, and we went over to his place. She had asked him to guide us through a Qi Gong form, and he did. I thought it was pretty cool, I didn't really think to much of it in the beginning. Over the next couple months we all spent at least one day a week hanging out, and he had guided us through the same form 3 times - thats when I decided to stop being guided and start learning. So I observed him as carefully as possible, asked him questions about the different moves involved in the form, and was able to remember the entire form on my own. That is when I began my individual practice. At the time I was training myself in Muay Thai drills using YouTube, I spent about an hour per day doing this - but the Qi Gong form I had learned from Mark, my teacher, seemed to be what I wanted to do instead. So every other day I replaced my Martial Arts practice with this Qi Gong form for just less than two weeks I was practicing Qi Gong every other day for about an hour. One day - I had a vision about half way through my Qi Gong form - my first, full waking vision ever... I was flying over mountains, through clouds on the back of a giant Black - Gold trimmed Chinese Dragon, who appeared to be swimming through the Sky. He spoke to me without words and in essence, this is what he said "I am sorry for taking so long to get to you, but you must understand how small you truly are compared to the bigger things I must tend to, I had to wait until you were in between my larger callings, and here you are... & if you want to help me... This is how you can do it." I was filled to the brim with purpose for life in that moment. The thing he wanted me to do was spread the Art of Qi Gong. My anxiety was lifted, & I haven't struggled with it since. When it would rear its head at me, I would find it laughable - and I would begin my Qi Gong breathing. This was during the Late Spring/Early Summer of 2015, my 21st birthday was right around the corner. Over the next few months I had begun developing my Qi Gong practice into nothing short of a miracle - it seems I have the best luck when it comes to stumbling across amazingly authentic lineages in my Arts & Practices. I started seeing things like energy sparks, which made me feel with absolutely no doubt I knew what they meant, their origin, and was able to confidently respond to them. These newfound perceptions baffled & amazed me - how do you tell people you can see energy? & that meditating with specific movements & intentions in a certain order brought these new awarenesses to light? Well the short answer is - you can't. Not if you want people to take you seriously and not treat you like a loon! It was around this time I got a girlfriend, and not long after that my younger brother came down with the same anxiety that I had experienced. I was excited - because I had already found the cure. All he had to do was listen to me... I did not foresee what happened in the coming month as a possibility. Long story short I did not treat my brother with the amount of kindness that he required to be drawn into the only solution I was able to find in those long 3 years of anxiety. He ended up attempting to take his own life and failing once, but if there was something that anybody who knew my brother well should know about him. It's that He was determined, and He always got what He set out to get. September 7th, Labor Day, 2015 - He had an episode & stole my dads car. Driving straight off a 3-way intersection onto HWY 9 in Snohomish, WA at about 120 MPH he hit a tree, and got stuck as the car burned up. Ending his life... He had spent the last couple weeks of his life making amends with people he felt he ought to. His values shifted dramatically, from being an entrepreneur to wanting to heal people. I was so excited to spend our future pursuing the same path, pushing each other to be greater through brotherly competition. You could say what I miss most about my brother is the future we never had. This happening brought me great despair - which I have transformed into another reason to spread the Ancient Chinese Healing Art that brought back my ability to feel at peace. I was to start college later that September. To save you some time it was short lived, and I did not return for the second quarter. Traditional school was never really my strong suit. I needed something I was truly interested in to shine, & I never really found that within the school system. So I began searching for residential/live-in Martial Arts schools. You would be surprised at how very few of these you can actually find, I found none within the United States when I originally searched (for hours upon hours & multiple days). I eventually found Nam Yang retreat in Thailand. It was a Kung Fu retreat, they trained full-time - 35 Hours of training a week were scheduled. Included in their tuition was room & board, breakfast & dinner, but what really drew me in was their reputation for practicing Qi Gong (They spell it Chi Kung, but it really is the same thing).  Master Iain Armstrong performs various Qi demonstrations, including washing his face with broken glass, slapping a chain lit on fire, being kicked in the groin, and even bending swords & spears with the soft spot on his neck! This was just amazing to me, and the decision practically made itself. I signed up for their teacher training program as soon as I could get the funds together. I flew out and arrived Nov. 1st, 2017 to begin my training. I had never really been in an official teaching position before my time spent training with Master Iain, and I wouldn't find this out until earlier this year (2019), but man am I glad that he was the first man to teach me how to teach. His teaching methods are refined to a point of genius. Everything from day one compiles with perfect synchronicity well into the 4th month, and by that time, I had become my own best teacher. That is not to say I have nothing more to learn from him. What it means is that I understood the concepts that make up the Tiger-Crane Art to the point where I knew that developing myself further required constant contradictions, & variations in my training. There was never "nothing" that needed improvement. To improve one aspect you must, at times, break another. Just to come back and re-develop the broken aspect until both, contradicting motions, were able to be performed simultaneously, coinciding with perfect order & execution. In order to expand, you must contract, in order to push more effectively, you must practice how to pull better. The list of contradictions is practically endless, and they are all true! One of the most amazing things I had the pleasure of learning & experiencing was the synchronicities I discovered between Qi Gong & Kung Fu. The Horse riding stance, taught to us allowed the torso to expand even larger than embryonic breathing by itself does, and I have always been a big believer in the little differences. Everything has a point where it must reach in order to achieve its purpose, and without reaching that point, the miracle of Qi Gong & Kung Fu will not be realized. By the time I left Nam Yang, I earned my Instructor's certificate, granting me permission to teach the Tong Ling Chi Kung, Shuang Yang, & Tiger-Crane Kung Fu under the Nam Yang name. That was back in July of 2018, & perhaps the biggest accomplishment thus far in my life. Upon returning to the US of A, I began to establish a student base. This proved to be phenomenally difficult! Over the span of a year I managed to teach about six Qi Gong students, and one in both Kung Fu & Qi Gong. I struggled to charge my students, as I was having a difficult time putting a price upon these Ancient Chinese Arts that I sincerely believe transcend monetary value. (How do you put a price on effectively treating severe anxiety?) I also struggled with justifying the cost of a studio's upkeep, and as a result, hymned and hawed as I attempted to get more students interested in my services, usually just in an effort to spread the word about me. I was making no money, traveling to and from my students (who were usually over an hour away), you could say that in a way I was paying to teach. I needed a change! I wanted a reset, a change of pace. I wanted to leave society behind and disappear into the mountains for some isolated training - after all, I could easily spend 35 hours a week training without the stresses of today's world upon me. There was just one hang up... I was not confident in my ability to take care of myself, and I couldn't justify the lack of nutrition that would come without knowing how to properly forage, and hunt or fish. Thats when I began researching how to survive in the wilderness, & I came across Joshua Hamlin's & Rob Allen's survival YouTube Channel. I paid a visit to their website, and saw them offering a 45-day Wilderness Survival Instructor Course, in which they claimed to be able to teach you how to confidently survive in the wilderness - with just a knife. That was exactly what I needed in order to disappear into the mountains with confidence. It didn't take long before I convinced myself to sign up. I was absolutely thrilled to add survival to my teaching arsenal. I thought, “What if I could teach people how to confidently train themselves to become competent Martial Artists & awaken/improve their awareness by practicing Qi Gong & Meditation in the Wilderness...?” My vision had transformed! I had developed a passion for teaching, and I couldn't imagine anything more awesome than being able to teach people everything they'd need to know to confidently isolate in the wilderness, and train - not only their body, but their mind, to become the most effective instrument of being possible! Prior to attending the 45-day Wilderness Survival Instructor Course at Sigma 3 Survival School, I had no idea how great of a teacher Master Iain had truly crafted me to be. My standards of expectation were very high considering the price that I paid... To my dismay, it seemed the Instructor program was designed to weed out the weak, ensuring that only the best will filter through & earn their Instructor's certificate. A sound plan really. It is survival after all.In the beginning I abhorred this approach, and was extremely upset about it - but I refused to be defeated so easily. In addition to building shelters, fire making, procuring water, and foraging for sustenance or creating medical supplies with, we learned other various crafts necessary to sustain yourself inevitably with more ease in the wilderness, like making baskets & cordage... But the two most important lessons I learned were these; 1) How truly great my standard is for teaching my own students, and the value that it holds. 2) If you want something, and you have the means to create a functional version that fills that void - it is better to fill that void with something barely functional, than to put it off thinking that a perfect/ideal version is the only thing worth your time & effort.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Astra 4 - 6 | Demon Slayer 17 - 19 | Cop Craft 4 - 6 | Dr Stone 3 - 6 | Fruits Basket 15 - 19 | Given 3 - 5

Astra 4

How does anyone wash their hands with a spacesuit on?

Those exaggerated faces (reaction to candy plants) weren’t in the manga. Good thing too – they improve on the source.

Hey, man (Ulgar)! “Big girl” is offensive. (I’m probably saying that because I’m not too big myself.)

The *ding ding ding!* was pretty hilarious…LOL.

I remember this was pretty harsh to read for me the first time…because y’know what they say about representation mattering in feminist studies/articles? Yeah, that. (Exactly how I’m represented? That I’ll leave to your imagination…)

Aw, the Gruppie sounds adorable!

I think I’ve said this already, but Kanata uses the word “zetsubou” – despair, not necessarily “hopeless” – to say what he says.

Demon Slayer 17

I was a bit confused as to why Inosuke was majorly angry all the time, but then I realised that he’s not necessarily angry, per se - he is just majorly competitive.

*head on spider legs appears* ARGHHHHHHHHHHH! That reminds me of that head on spider legs from Toy Story…I seem to remember that freaked me out to some degree. I’m actually not afraid of spiders, but show me an image for “trypophobia” (fear of tiny holes) or stick me somewhere high up without secure footing…and I’m gone.

This episode is…great! I’m cursing as I watch, but it’s great! The CGI is adding to the creepiness! Also, I so didn’t expect Zenitsu to have black hair.

I agree with Zenitsu’s master, he is a moron…

…but truth be told, I think I see myself in him. That’s probably why I find him so annoying. Lately, I’ve found there are periods where I resent myself more than anyone else…and that’s the scariest part about living life. But I can’t complain, because I put my name down to help others in the same situation.

Z-Zenitsu! I-I’m sorry I ever doubted you! I’m so sorry…! I promise I’ll stop thinking you’re annoying, because you remind me of meeeeeeeeeee…! *sob, snivel, sob…*

Ukogiiiiiiiiii! Wahhhhhhhhh!

Hmm…you can smell rain. I’ve smelt it before. But thunderclouds…? Not so much.

Demon Slayer 18

“Rookie Mizunoto join the battle!” – The Smash Bros intro is a fun way to introduce people, no?

I thought Shinobu Kocho was Naruto running, but instead she has her jacket on her shoulders…so it only looks like Naruto running.

CG models are back to being awkward again…

“If you can’t slash something with one sword, you just gotta pound it with another sword!” – Basically, the philosophy of the entire shonen genre when dealing with swords.

“I’m gonna die.” – Well, there’s some words I thought I’d never hear from Inosuke…

Oh yeah…I forgot Inosuke’s never met Giyu.

Hmm…I’ve been suspecting Rui is the member of the 12 Kizuki as a demon with lower possibility of being so (but being raised by Ply’s hint during our collab and Tanjiro’s fight), but I’m more certain of the father being the 12 Kizuki based on what the series has shown us already. Hmm…so who is it???

*starts watching Taisho Secret* Wait, where did Giyu come from??? *watches again* Oh, he appears from above…! Interesting…

Hmm…I like salmon onigiri myself. I also like tuna…most flavours, really.

Cop Craft 4

The man (?) with the purplish hair who called Kei over is meant to be a gay stereotype or at least close to one. Aside from his (?) appearance, you can tell by him (?) nding his sentences with “wa”.

Marth’s post for ep. 4 said “And Suddenly, Vampires”, so…I’m thinking about how Cop Craft actually does the horror vibe really well as I watch.

Aw, these cliffhangers suck! I’m starting to thank myself that I ran behind on every show but Demon Slayer.

Cop Craft 5

O-Oh, the CG is getting worse…

Who was the 2nd person dead? The 1st was Chapman…

Astra 5

As I’m laughing at the reactions from the makeover (because I knew this was coming), I’m simultaneously wondering…holding those scissors in the way you’re doing is dangerous, Luca!!!

Oh great…midseason animation slump. This is only the 2nd show to suffer from that this season…and I’ve only caught up on 3 shows so far.

“Mine is bigger!” “No, mine is!” – Ah, anime boys and their ability to make things vaguely Freudian when out of context…*slight sweatdrop*

*slow pan, with a final shot on Aries’s boobs* - Oh, really…? *grumpy*

*…then proceeds to do boob shots of all the girls* Oh, really?!? You wanna go, show?! You were doing so well, up until this episode!!! I didn’t read past volume 2 of the manga, so this beach stuff is all new to me!!! Plus, it sucks because boob shots are everywhere!!!

“…approach him like that…”

People have been pointing this out, but McPa = Camp, Shummoor = Mushroom, Vilavurs = Survival…so Arispade = Paradise.

Ulgar really reminds me of Tooi, even though he came first…

Dr Stone 3

Taiju’s ugly tears make me go “d’aww” now that this scene is animated…it was nice in manga format, but even better when it was moving and with colour.

Now that I think about it, Tsukasa’s “benefit of the new world” talk reminds me of Death Note.

Senku trying to steal Kamakura Buddha bronze looks like Bart Simpson…

Boueibu should’ve taught you that Hakone is home to hot springs.

Dr Stone 4

You don’t fire a smoke signal…

Oh wow, Mecha Senku! Wouldya lookit that! *points at him* He answers questions in the manga, so I didn’t think he’d get adapted!

Are those…CGI trees? Oh great, why does all shonen these days need CGI trees???

Fighting over established interests means a Thucydides trap (a mini version of which seems to be playing out here with Tsukasa)…that’s basically the only thing I remember from my old politics classes.

I just noticed Yuzuriha refers to all the boys with –kun. She wants to stay friends with all of them…I guess even Tsukasa’s on that list, huh?

Hmm…Senku’s eyes are a reddish colour, but otherwise he’s normally representd with blue to Taiju’s red…

I just realised Senku has a red pen and a black pen in one of his breast pockets.

Aww…it’s nice to have rivals who aren’t 100% evil for once. Sure, pure evil rivals are easy to write but hard to justify. Good guys with one morally wrong aspect to them are harder to write, but easier to get behind. (Plus, at least they’re not Sasuke-style angsty.)

Dr Stone 5

So…I went searching…and I was wondering why I wanted to claim Tsukasa as husbando (but man, he’s a bit more stereotypical for a gal to fall in love with – all girls like bad guys, amirite???), but as it turns out, Senku and his buds from our era (Tsukasa included) are 18 and so are ripe for the husbando/waifu picking (not to mention they’re technically over 3700 years old, which more than makes them legal for things like drinking alcohol, as Senku himself pointed out a few eps back).

D’aww…this was in the manga, but now I find Tsukasa inserting himself into Senku’s flashback cute.

Notably, Gen Asagiri appears on the front of the book this student is asking the question from. Who’s Gen Asagiri, you ask, my dear anime-only random nonexistent entity I type these notes for? You’ll find out…soon.

Hmm…Yuzuriha is more observant than we give her credit for. Also, Senku pulled a Gen Asagiri right there…LOL.

LOL…those ‘shrooms seem massively symbolic. They were also in the manga, IIRC.

Why does Yuzuriha wear a neck scarf, anyway?

Hey, they even managed to get the game-like text box right! Awesome! (It reminds me of Little Alchemy, to be honest.)

“Himo” translates to rope…or a cord. Just FYI.

Astra 6

Eyyy…this show is calling me out.

Eyyyyy…Toi vibes from Ulgar!!!

Eyyyyy…wut? I can’t believe Anime Feminist was on the money here??? (Context: The reviewer for Astra said Luca was “one ambiguously-gendered character”.)

Hey…I once read a book with a 50% similarity to this plot. (There was a gay character – not intersex - and all the characters are adopted.)

I think Xenodude said this, but…in space, nobody can hear you scream.

I’m laughing so hard…why are Kanata’s abs the thing that hurt the most? (It’s because he’s got the harness in that region…forget I asked. It’s still funny though.)

“MILD THING” – Yep, Ulgar’s gonna be mild after what happened this episode…

Ohhhhh, I didn’t understand the “hairpiece” thing until it was revealed it was a toupee through context.

Ooh, 50% chance of lying here. Who to trust, who to trust? Charce or Aries? (I trust Aries, by the way.)

Dr Stone 6

The alien explanation etc. was in the manga, but…why do all the attackers look like Senku???

Senku does his best Thinker impression.

Eyyy! Fighter vs. fighter. I love this scene, even if only because Tsukasa (and his muscles) have the upper hand in both the visual angle and the power balance, although [BLEEP <- no spoilers!] has the surprise factor.

I remember learning once blonde hair is recessive…so does that mean most of the community is blonde? (I know the answer to that, but you, my non-existent anime-discussing entity, don’t.)

I’m tempted to hear Senku scream, “This. Is. SCIENCE!!!”

Fruits Basket 15

For some reason, videos run much faster on my phone than my laptop…

Hmm…this is the first time I’m properly listening to the 2nd ED…It’s kinda like how you’d expect an ED to be: quieter than an ED, but still serving up cuteness.

Fruits Basket 16

This episode’s visually very dark…

Middle School!Tohru reminds me of Hitori Bocchi.

Smol Uo looks like Kyo.

Fruits Basket 17

(nothing this time, sorry!)

Fruits Basket 18

Oh! I remember the matching scene in the manga (where Kisa bites Tohru for the first time).

I also remember the manga Hatsuharu is reading is called “Mogeta and the Ant” (Ari).

Now you see why Tohru is Kyoko’s daughter…

“…what her hair and eye colour were.”

Fruits Basket 19

The ep is called “I’m So Sorry!”…I think I know who’s going to star in this episode, alright…

For some reason, when I see Ritsu and Mitchan apologising to each other, I think of me and Astral…(LOL…?)

…Or maybe it reminds me of Zenitsu…?

Eyyyyyyyy, A-ya is A-ya…

This overly-apologetic character of Ritsu…this is why Martin was my favourite character back in the original Ro.Te.O days…*sighs while basking in nostalgia*

Demon Slayer 19

This episode’s been hyped since last week. Let’s get on with it!

Ooh, no pattern on this title card…

Wow (sarcastic), talk about infighting…but amazingly, I found Inosuke’s art shift to be funny for once in my life! (Amazing!...and yes, the exclamation of “Amazing!” is sincere)

Using terror is…well, Machiavellian. Hard power. You get my drift, right?

So basically, Rui breaks down the nuclear family for us.

Wait a flippin’ second…Hinokami (god of fire)? Charcoal selling? Water Breathing??? One of these is not like the others, for sure.

I get the feeling the father’s dance was recorded as video then converted to animation by ufotable staff…that’s what they did for YoI, no?

“The cold won’t bother you, either.” - Well, due to his fire theming, the cold never bothered Tanjiro anyway…*echoes of “Let It Go” suddenly play in the background*

Go for it, Nezuko! Be the Bakugo of the Demon Slayer world!

According to the credits, Tanjiro’s dad’s name is Tanjuro…that’s confusing, to say the least…

(Sorry Astral, the background noise while I was watching meant I did’t watch it with sound on…Also, is it wrong that I think the dad is hot??? Another thing: why do Tanjuro and Tanjiro have matching scars on their temples…?)

One of Tanjiro’s bros looks like Zenitsu??? Wuh???

Ooh, insert song “Kamado Tanjiro’s Song” by Go Shiina ft Nami Nakagawa. I’ll have to listen to it when I can. (Ever since SGRS, I’ve loved Go Shiina’s work…guess I didn’t expect it here, though.) Update: Misattributed the work. Go Shiina does videogame work, Sheens Ringo did SGRS stuf.

Given 3

I never knew that asking someone into a band was like asking someone out…(probably because I’ve never been in a band).

Given’s a frickin’ riot – that’s one reason I stuck with it.

I forgot Mafuyu was underage…!

Cop Craft 6

That car chase was basically Need for Speed…with worse graphics…

“Prayboy”…hmm…

I followed Kei’s advice to Google Jeffrey Dahmer…and I regret it.

The text says “Someone from the Semanian gang of thieves made contact.”

I didn’t make sense of “I hate being McCloud” until I rewound a bit and found that’s a disguise or alter ego of Tony’s.

“Shift the transmission into ‘Reverse’. The car will begin to roll backward sharply…” - The driving instructions are real, at least.

Given 4

Ehhhhh…still shots…

Kaji sure looks tough for a violinist…but a music major? Never thought he’d be one…(I saw some spoilers saying Kaji was a violinist before I watched the episode, hence my lack of surprise in that department.)

Not everyone’s in a band, y’know…

$120…? Nasty…

$70…

Ah, a layby? I don’t actually know what other countries call it, but where I am they’re called laybys, not layaways. (At the charity store I volunteer at, they call ‘em “holds”, though…which makes things even more confusing.)

Watching th first ep at the anime club made me realise that one had a piano version of Marutsuke, while this one is standard Marutsuke.

Given 5

Ooh, I see English-translated lyrics! Nice one, subbers! By the way, the title of the OP “Kizuato” sounds like it should translate to “Traces of Scars/Wounds” in English, but it’s in katakana, so I can’t confirm that…

It seems joining a band is a metaphor for love in this show…(see ep. 3 notes for more on that)

Holy moly! I’m still fairly new to BL/yaoi in general, so two-timing the boyfriend is not a trope ‘ve seen before, let alone dealt with in my head…

Ooh, more translated lyrics! That (ED singer) does sound like Mafuyu, come to think of it…

[circular-time]

About "Koschei" and degrees of canon

I thought the name first appeared in Divided Loyalties, but I think it’s actually The Dark Path, a Virgin Missing Adventure published in 1997.

Doctor Who canon is very malleable, because it’s been going for over a half a century, nobody can consume let alone keep track of all of it, and various people in charge of it have given more or less of a damn about it and/or past eras.

As fans, our impression of canon is going to vary by the era we first watched on TV, what other EU stuff we enjoy the most (if we enjoy any), and our personal experience.

For ME, that’s:

The Pertwee to Davison era. Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy were my “new Who.” I’m not old enough to remember when the addition of the “12 regenerations” limit and the depiction of Gallifrey in The Deadly Assassin, The Invasion of Time, Arc of Infinity and The Five Doctors were controversial. Whereas Saward’s grimdark era and the Cartmel Masterplan still raise my hackles a bit, in the same way that RTD fans side-eye some of Moffat’s stuff. ;) 

Big Finish. Which has made me appreciate Colin Baker far more and accept the Eighth Doctor as adopted into Classic Who instead of Wilderness Years, a significant distinction for those of us crushed by the show’s cancellation in 1990. 

I have MAs in classics and mythology, with training in evaluating the authority, applicability and trustworthiness of certain texts. 

This has caused me to privilege TV Who, especially classic; it causes me to accept/resist EU Who based on how much it seems to fit the spirit and canon I remember; and it causes me to pay attention to behind-the-scenes creation of particular stories. I gauge “degrees of canon” partly according to how much a story was vetted by showrunners or crew working on TV production of Who. (Which is why I tend to regard Big Finish as a bit more canon-ish; the showrunners of classic Who aren’t usually involved, but the cast is, adding another subtle layer of vetting.)

That’s the short version. Here’s the long version. I have a lot of thoughts about degrees of canon and how to look at it. 

As a student of myth, I’m trained to notice when representations of a myth jibe or clash with the more common and popular versions of the myth, in art or ritual or text. 

There’s no “one true version,” but there are versions that get more or less at the heart of certain myths or mythological figures. There are certain versions that get told again and again, or that appear in art again and again, that are the common, default versions of the myth. And then there are versions presented by one particular artist or playwright or writer trying to deconstruct, reinterpret, spoof or embellish elements of the myth: they’re not wrong, and they’re often illuminating or insightful, but they shouldn’t be treated as typical. They’re fanfiction. Also, common perceptions of particular myths and mythological figures change over time, especially when new cultures adopt and adapt older things. Sometimes fanfiction ascends to the “default” version of a myth.

Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream has come a long way from Dionysos and Bacchus, but traces of his ancestry, even that tendency to disrupt and poke fun at the aristocrats of the city (see The Bacchai from the 5th century BCE), peep through. 

Doctor Who, to me, is not just a fictional character we’re treating as real with real history and backstory. He’s a mythological figure. So I’m more forgiving of details being jiggered around (as long as people don’t take them as The One True Version ™), as long as they don’t betray the basic spirit of the character or show. I try to remember that the myth has changed/evolved over time, but I sometimes react against newer elements that go against the grain of the myth I grew up with.

On the other hand, as a ex classics scholar (studying Greek and Roman history and culture, plus Egyptian because Egypt Is Cool), I can’t help but sweat the details, too.

Scholars of ancient literature try to determine which copies of a text are the most accurate, and which have details interpolated by centuries of scribal error, editorial comment slipped into the body of the text, passages rewritten by somebody who objected to something, or bits added by later writers to make a point or insert what he thought should be there. And that’s just whether one copy of a text is close to how it was originally written down.

The other question is whether the chap who first wrote it down (usually a chap, thanks to sexist literary traditions) knew bugger-all about what he was talking about and/or cared about being historically accurate (faithful to canon). 

Maybe he was an eyewitness or talked to eyewitnesses who may or may not have remembered details correctly. Maybe he lived at a later period, but was a general who knew military tactics, or a career politician who had access to official documents, or a scientist or someone with expert knowledge of the subject. Maybe he was Making Shit Up because it sounded good, or illustrated the point he was trying to make, or was entertaining, or was the sort of thing he thought the historical figures at that event might have said, since in those days people didn’t have cameras. Maybe he wasn’t a very good writer or didn’t care or didn’t know his subject matter but later scribes copied it because it was all they had to go on. And what’s come down to us is often written by later writers trying to pool together information from earlier, now lost sources, whose validity they had to weigh for themselves. EU writers, in other words.

How does that translate to Doctor Who?

I’m aware that early Who was mostly produced by people in a hurry to get the shows out, during a time when there was no easy way to look back at what had already been said (whether you were a writer or a fan) since tapes weren’t available or at least easy to get to. 1960s Who cast members have remarked that episodes in those days were thought to be ephemeral; they never expected fans to watch them again after their initial broadcast.

So they didn’t worry about rigorous consistency, until around the beginning of the color era. Even then, it was far more casual than now. There was no “canon bible,” no Wikis to consult. Producers/writers weren’t going back to check that their version of the Time Lords in The Five Doctors matched what we saw of them in The Three Doctors a decade earlier. But at least, all the way through the classic era, there was a continuous literary tradition, so to speak, of people who had worked on it earlier handing it down to those who came after.

The cancellation of classic Who establishes a huge “canon” and “post-canon” demarcation in my mind. Without a TV studio to advocate for the show or the BBC interested in maintaining it, nobody much was minding the store during the Wilderness Years.

Nowadays, Big Finish scripts, written mostly by fans and passed under the nose of Nicholas Briggs and at least one script editor who knows classic Who REALLY REALLY WELL, are sent to the Cardiff studio at the idea-proposal stage and at the finished-script stage, and they’ll sometimes be rejected or asked for a rewrite. I don’t know how involved Moffat himself is involved in that vetting, but that means every Big Finish story is subject to new Who AND classic Who continuity policing, a more rigorous editorial process than ever before.

That’s pretty canon-ish.

Whereas in the Wilderness Years, when the BBC had cancelled Who and didn’t intend to do anything with it ever again, there was little to no oversight. Some Virgin novels were damn fine fanfiction, written by professional writers who were also fans and knew more about classic Who than some of those who had actually worked on the TV show. But they were enjoying a certain amount of creative license which made for some amazing stories but which sometimes took pretty wide sweeping paths away from typical or primary canon. Besides which, a lot of the Wilderness Years material is now inaccessible to fans because those books are out of print.

Wilderness Years Who isn’t wrong, and many of the best bits have now been incorporated into TV and Big Finish canon, because fans who hung onto their love of Who through the Wilderness Years are now in charge of the show. So some of what started out as ascended fanfiction is now pretty much “canon-ish" (like President Romana). BUT. I am still wary of retroactively forcing details from the Wilderness Years onto classic Who TV episodes. Which is why I tend to chirp when the name “Koschei” shows up in discussions of the Pertwee era, or when people start going on about Looms in relation to Deadly Assassin, or Time Lords’ aversion to plants when discussing Arc of Infinity.

I am also somewhat wary of new Who retroactively rewriting classic Who stories. I don’t care (much) if Cybermen and Sontarans and Daleks and the Master and the Doctor are presented very differently in episodes now than they were then. It would be too cumbersome trying to be faithful to everything that went before! New Who had to start with an almost-clean slate and license to rewrite anything it wanted. And sometimes the new version is better-thought-out. That’s all perfectly fine in my book, although I grit my teeth sometimes when they jettison a bit of canon I loved.

BUT at the same time I object when they show clips of the past, real footage from classic episodes, and Photoshop it, so to speak, so that it looks different or reads differently than it did when it was broadcast. That’s not what happened, I scream internally. I resent “my” Who being misrepresented to modern fans. I want to understand and enjoy and discuss old Who stories as they were for their audience and their writers and their actors when they were first broadcast.

Mind you, newer interpretations/embellishments/fanon/fanfiction can be rewarding, enjoyable, and fascinating. They breathe new life into stories that would otherwise be pretty well fossilized by now. My blog is named for an EU audio that dared to throw an entirely new spin on the Fifth Doctor’s regeneration, which for fans my age is a fairly “sacred” moment of canon. BUT however much I love some of the EU, and however much it’s “headcanon fucking ACCEPTED,” it’s not quite the same as “original, classic Who canon,” so I won’t blur the two when discussing a classic Who story that aired on TV. 

And this is all my own VERY biased opinion.

Also, for the most part? I try not to dwell on what is or isn’t canon(ish), or what I dislike about the eras and parts of Who that don’t work for me. 

I’d much rather put my energy into discussing, sharing, and enthusing about the eras of the show I love most. And, yes, that includes coming up with fan theories and fanfiction of my own. Which isn’t canon. ;)