#(and others. ensemble cast)

[non-plutonian-druid]

[ID: A drawing of all the Hargreeves plus Lila riding in Diego's van from season 4, wearing the outfits they usually wear in the promo posters. Diego is driving and using a fist to mime singing into a mic. Five is reading a newspaper in the passenger seat. In the row behind them, Klaus is dangling his arms out the window, Lila is throwing snacks at Five's head, and Allison is sharing headphones with Viktor who is sitting behind her. Ben is in the same row as Viktor and is staring straight ahead looking shaken. Luther is taking a nap in the trunk. End ID.]

Family Road Trip!!

[that-vibe-i-cant-explain]

Obsessed with stories about a group of kids who stumble across a dark secret in their small hometown, get drawn into a fight to save said hometown, and forge friendships strong enough to see them through whatever evil they have to face.

[variousqueerthings]

reblogging again about Big Eden made me think about some of the native american/canadian queer cinema (Indigiqueer Cinema) I've enjoyed.

Found a handy dandy Letterboxd List called Queer Native Pride and Beyond that has a whole bunch of movies I haven't seen yet, and below some of the ones I've gotten to experience (three out of four are linked):

Big Eden: a story about a gay man who returns home, because his grandfather gets sick. A sweet, beautiful man (played by Eric Schweig) starts to secretly make him food to help out. it's an amazing slice-of-life/subtly utopian bit of film-making, in that nobody in the town is homophobic, but being gay/shame is still a big part of the exploration within it.

Wildhood: a movie I got to watch at a film festival (always good to go to your local queer film festivals, many surprises to be had) and it blew me away. a roadtrip movie about two brothers who escape their abusive father to reconnect with the elder's mother and Mi'kmaq heritage. letting go of the instilled shame of being indigenous goes hand in hand with letting go of the instilled shame of being queer

Fancy Dance: this movie isn't about being queer, it's about the ongoing murder of indigenous woman and girls, and it's also a beautiful road trip film between an aunt and her niece, the former of whom is sure her sister is dead but unwilling to face it and to destroy her niece's innocence. Lily Gladstone plays the lead, who's also a lesbian, which is just a choice that works really well for the movie even if it's not the focal point (available on Apple+ TV and however you access movies, but would recommend throwing this one some views if you have access to official streaming)

Honey Moccasin: a 1998 movie i watched at another film festival (this time online), it's anarchic, it's a comedy, it's a thriller, it's got musical beats, it weaves in the intricacies of exploring Native identity and Queer identity, it's a surreal story about a few things, one of which include focus on a "closeted drag queen." it's a movie that beats against conventional film-making to create something not beholden to tropes and clichés forced upon narratives about being Native

[squidsploitation]

hello, russian-speaking gk community (and everyone else willing to put their fate in the hands of machine translation), today i bring you some questionable news headlines, and tomorrow.. who knows..

[astralleywright]

i have a lot of thoughts about orym's character arc, seemingly resolved as it is, but most of them are really just my disappointment that the process felt so thoroughly disconnected from anyone in bh, except a little bit dorian at the very end. especially given that grief and self-sacrifice bordering on passive suicidal ideation are major parts of like. the majority of their characters.

[strawberryicemoon]

There are VERY few shows that are truly an ensemble main cast, as usually there is one character who is front and center. In group shots, in overarching narrative, etc.

Code Lyoko is definitely an ensemble cast though. You can make a compelling argument for every one of the main characters that they are THE primary character.

Jeremie is sort of a a shoe in as the the guy who started this whole thing. He turned on the super computer. And his role as "Guy in the chair" is never presented like some supporting cast role. He's constantly working to help fix whatever is going on, and whatever Jeremie is doing is usually the most important part of the plot. He's even blue. He''s just visually in official art, often to the side (though not always) on account of his lack of a Lyoko form's been central in some official art, but he's also been known to be off to the side or excluded altogether, since he doesn't participate in the cool sci-fi battles in the virtual world so he's really not cool from a marketing perspective. He doesn't have main character vibes so to speak, but they could tell me he's the main protagonist and I'd believe it.

Aelita is a late addition to the cast, not literally in show, but in development, not appearing in Garage Kids or the earlier short film, The Children Make Their Movies. However, the main plot of code lyoko is hinged on her and her backstory. She's the one who was trapped in the super computer, whose father built it, whose mother was kidnapped. She's not passive in her life either. She's the most important person on Lyoko, where most of the action takes place because her father gave her the keys to Lyoko, making her the only one who can do certain things. The one who must be protected.

For the first part of the show, when she's confined to Lyoko she and Jeremie have alternate roles. Aelita, the most important special powerful person on Lyoko (but unable to leave it). Jeremie, the most important person outside of Code Lyoko who acts as the eyes in the sky and programs things into Code Lyoko (and outside of it). The very thing giving them main protag potential also being an argument against that status for a show focusing on school drama and virtual world fights. On the other hand this leaves the trio of Ulrich, Yumi and Odd, who ultimately all don't have the same amount of personal investment in Lyoko, so the show wouldn't completely fall apart without them, but they still have their own traits that make them "main charactery".

Odd seems like he was almost the main character once, though not so much anymore. He's the new guy, the most extroverted and with a unique skillset (being a cat boy apparently) with the weirdly implemented, potentially but not really OP power of precognition. When Code Lyoko was still "Garage Kids", him being the new guy was seemingly more plot relevant as everyone else was in on "Xanadu" before he was introduced, and was front and center on the poster, giving the vibes that he was the main character. He's also got a dog that he snuck into school. Generally he just is not the center of the plot, and and outside of animal themed shows purple cat boys isn't something that makes you think "main character".

Ulrich is probably the closest to the expected lead character. He's just a dude. He's the everyman. He's not great at school and is the star athlete. He's the guy whose at the center of the shows main love triangle (which gets turned into a love zigzag later with him still involved in both triangles. He often gets to be front and center (in virtual form) in promotional material, but so do the rest of teammates. His associated colors are green and yellow, neither of which are ever strongly with leaders. He foils Odd, as his quiet and grumpy attitude is one usually more reserved for the edgy deuteragonist, complete with a harsh and demanding father.

Yumi is probably the one with the weakest argument. But she's still the character who is in the center of the group shot at the end of the first opening so there is still definitely an argument to be made. She's also the only day student and thus her family drama is the most prevalent, which is kinda a protagy thing to do. Her Lyoko color is red which along with blue is usually one of the central protag colors. But really, she and Ulrich go together, and the two form a sort of dual protagonist situation within the ensemble. The main argument is probably just that she's too she's too busy playing that role to be main protag. She's at the center of the shows second love triangle which is an extension of the first that centered Ulrich. She's a martial artist on par with Ulrich. Not to mention she and Ulrich both have Japanese themed forms and some official art places her on par with Ulrich in the center. She just doesn't have Ulrich's "everyman" qualities. In fact she has kind of "othering" qualities such as being the token minority (Japanese), being a grade above everyone else, and also being a girl in an early 2000s action adventure show. Basically she's got a lot going on that makes her a perfectly qualified deuteragonist type. Which may be for the best in a series otherwise full of protagonist types.

But really every character takes their turn at being central in the art, and the stereotypical "main protag traits" tend to be distributed amongst them. Ulrich may have the stereotypical skillset for instance, but Odd is closer to the stereotypical personality and Yumi has the more fleshed out home life. Jeremie drives the plot forward, but the plot is about Aelita's family. You really can't point at a single character and go "that's the face of Code Lyoko".

[jadelemonadee]

how it feels to yell at pinterest comments from four years ago calling any cast of hamilton that isn’t with the exact obc actors + casting “fakes”

[queen-mabs-revenge]

ok but the fact that sam's story line this episode was filmed before but aired after the whole gary lineker situation (i'm assuming) is such an indictment of the uk gov that their vile racism is so routine and ingrained that you can write stories about it down to the very detail and it plays out that eerily accurately.

but having said that, i'm really actually kind of appalled with the way sam's whole story was handled. the fact that it is a fucking to-the-letter accurate representation of the horrific political situation and the takeaway was... what? shit is wretched but anger will get you nowhere? forgive and move on in the face of actual violent injustice? sam's anger wasn't just lashing out, it was justified anger.

i appreciated the solidarity of the last scene, but i think with the stakes that they set up that story needed to be taken a lot more seriously within the larger story of the club -- keeley's storyline should have very involved in working ways to support and protect sam, there should have been a wider discussion about publicly supporting sam, the restaurant clean-up effort should have been a publicized response to condemn the violent policies sam was speaking out against and the violence and hate crimes it begets, and to show solidarity in fighting against it. that needed to be front and centre re: the ties that bind us, not just sam's side story with a feel-good coda.

like i think the dubai air story was handled better in the sense of the public facing aspect of it and the political weight of it. the fact that the consequences were knitted in with the club's story with the sponsor change, the entire team taking a public stance in solidarity, the press conference after. meanwhile this seemed very... hmmmmmmmmm yeah idk it didn't feel like it was given the weight that something sam's denouncements and the subsequent hate-fueled property damage really would have.

and esp bc we've since seen how an absolute institution like gary lineker was punished for similar criticisms, and how the solidaristic actions of other pundits refusing to go on air and publicly stating why was a huge deal as far as supporting that denouncement of state-sponsored racist violence. like the quiet response in the show feels really inadequate in light of that, you know?

it just felt like if they were gonna go there they needed to really commit to going there with all of the fall-out and club involvement it would entail, and they just didn't, which feels wishy-washy and frankly really dismissive. it was a writing choice to introduce this story and not actually deal with it with the weight it deserved.

really feels worse the more i think about it

[spacedlexi]

the way the ericson group were at the outbreak just a bunch of troubled kids who made various mistakes or committed crimes and were judged by a system that punished and abandoned them instead of giving them the support and love they needed, are then nearly a decade later put into a situation where now they must judge a troubled child for the mistakes and crimes hes committed against them. and 5 to 3 vote them out 😭

[lesbinewren]

honestly rebels is one of the best examples of an ensemble cast bc you put any 2 of the main 6 characters together and have a fun dynamic worth an entire episode about. there are a few more “obvious” pairings within the group obviously but picking any 2 characters at random gives you a great relationship to explore no matter what, and i think it really goes to show how much effort was put into making them all feel like a family and how it pays off

[etrosgate]

the second readthrough of world trigger is where it really kicks in

[hazellvsq]

it is always the whackest fics that have intriguing characterization. like i cannotttt put this on the rec list😭😭😭

[yume-fanfare]

*hits you with a magic school shoujo beam*

[nexus-nebulae]

every day i wish that Rats SMP was a cartoon bc it would make the greatest show ever i think

[averlym]

some very very quick costume shorthands!

[kurokeip]

Happy birthday to my girlwifeguy. Kiryu.

In all seriousness though, I did go on a rambling analysis of his character arc through the years, that you can read down here.

I hope people can appreciate the surprising nuance that he holds, since he's not often discussed!

I wanted to talk a bit about Kuro's character growth through the years, as it is his birthday, since I feel like it goes unnoticed by people most of the time!

Kuro, as we know, is a character that is a reformed Delinquent. One of the running themes of his Character is his self-worth, his regret, and his complex feelings surrounding how people perceive him.

(I also want to pen down my thoughts on the gender aspect of this later)

His 'atonement' arc begins with him applying to Yumenosaki, a place where he could hopefully become An idol that would make his little sister smile. At the time of his enrollment, however, Yumenosaki was not a place of serious study and passion.

Already we can see his core character traits emergent in this decision: His love for his family, His rash decision making and, Most importantly, his desperate desire to change, something, anything.

(In the interest of keeping this brief I will not prattle on too much about Keito Hasumi's involvement. Another time.)

Kuro was, and kind of still is, grappling with grief. Not just for his mother, but Also for himself. He lost himself, in a way. He missed out that normal life, on being a normal brother for his sister, on being a good son to his Mother and a good friend to Shu.

All of his mistakes overwhelm him, he's paralyzed by how badly he's screwed up, and thus resorts to Passive self harm, in an attempt to tip the scales, somehow. If he lets enough people punch him, he might feel like he deserves to have anything.

I cannot stress enough how bad his self-worth issues are. They are arguably the worst in Akatsuki, and that is Saying Something.

Now, after he joins Akatsuki and the war reaches his conclusion, he's decided to swing in the complete opposite way.

This is what I feel is less discussed, his tendency to mask his discomfort and extreme adaptability. He consistently lowers himself, and by consequence, his Own preferences and needs in order to compensate for a variety of things, like:

- His appearance

- His natural temperament and behavior

- His masculinity (again, thoughts to chew on another time)

This is why I really like Kuro's FS1. It marks his growth in !! Era. In ! Era he was extremely ashamed of his past and actively swallowed down most of his irritation, because he was afraid of what would happen if he got angry. He channels that energy into sewing and Karate instead.

He's trying so hard, to be a perfect Senpai, to live up to his Own view of what a 'good person' is: Someone who is unconditionally loving, forgiving and kind, someone who is... Mother-like. I think about that time he said that a Mother is a transcendent being, quite a bit. It reveals so much.

In Unification By Force, we see him finally snap, lash out at Keito, someone who he had repeatedly reassured that he'd listen to, be obedient to. He immediately regrets it, but it also causes him to contemplate their relationship, and more importantly his relationship with his past.

Kuro is coming to terms with the fact he will never be A good, perfect, shiny person. That people like Keito, Souma, Chiaki and Nazuna, that he idolized in a way, are not good people.

You can never become a 'good person', because the only one that can truly evaluate that is yourself, and if you are predisposed to dislike yourself, You can pretty much kiss that title goodbye.

He... Isn't endlessly kind, or tolerant, or polished. His designs that got rejected, came from a suppression of himself, and it showed in his work. He's rash, stubborn at times, airheaded, speaks crudely and brute forces his way Through things frequently. Even though he hates them, these things are what make him Kuro, Even his delinquent past.

And the Kuro he is today, is loved by so many people, who remind him daily, and they wouldn't love him if he wasn't himself in the first place, blood on his hands and all.

He knows as much, when he acknowledges Keito and Souma's patience in response to his ugly side. The fact that both of them are easily able to forgive and remedy their relationship speaks volumes for how much Kuro means to them, and it finally clicks for Kuro.

He doesn't have to overcompensate. He can't pretend that he never made a mistake, but he can't let it control him. He has to come to terms with his past, and his own self and appearance.

The people that care about him are able to immediately identify when his Outfit concept is Forced looking. His final outfit design is him coming to terms with this. It wouldn't have been the same, had they decided to go with the cute stuff that most people wanted. It wouldn't have been Kuro.

In conclusion, I love Kuro Kiryu and his unending drive to be a better person and his care for other people and his journey through grief and self-love and think people should love him for more than just how wife-material he is! He is so compelling!