#AGAIN this is obviously only one element of the shitty looking movie problem

[lucid-jester]

I think part of the problem (or at the very least one of many, many reasons) is that directors and executives no longer know how VFX work. They think VFX is like a magic wand and can do whatever they want it to, but they don't understand the work that goes into it.

I am by no means an expert, I just happen to watch a hell of a lot of behind-the-scenes videos of movies because I like to know how they work. But if you look at how the directors and producers act in older movies, movies like LOTR or The Abyss or Terminator, they are quite literally looking over the shoulder of the VFX workers. Sure, maybe a director won't know everything about what goes into the digital effects, but they at the very least can see the struggle that goes into it.

A lot of CGI and VFX these days can be done remotely, and because the technology has advanced so far, it's a lot easier for the higher-ups to believe everything can be fixed in post in a very short time frame because they have no idea how it works. They're a lot more disconnected from that particular aspect of movie-making than they were in the past, so they don't realize that raw footage has to be good enough for the VFX artists to work with.

The reason effects in movies like The Abyss or Terminator or Lord of the Rings still hold up so well is that the shots in the movies were planned ahead of time to work with whatever visual effect they wanted to add in later. This was absolutely necessary, because they had to literally invent technology to get the effect they were looking for. And their software was a lot slower and harder to work with than what we have now. Because of that, the raw footage had to be as perfect as possible to make it easier to add in digital elements.

Now I'm not a director or a VFX artist, but I think one of the reasons execs think they can get away with poor raw footage and insanely short time frames is that they think CGI and VFX are easy. But they aren't. They still take time, and having shitty footage means "fixing it in post" can only go so far.

OMG. Somebody said it out loud.

Disney is absolutely not the only studio doing this though.

It seems to have become standard practice across movies and series everywhere.

Anything that doesn't do it is like a breath of sunlight and fresh air inside a dank musty cave.

It's part of the 'fix it in post-production' epidemic sweeping through the studios. Fix it in post is often used as a time/money-saving measure - and is absolutely part of the same mess that the WGA is fighting against currently.

Rather than fixing things on-set - audio, lighting, something in-frame that shouldn't be, etc. (which is all handled by unionized crew) - they leave it for the CG folks (not unionized) to edit later.

(on ridiculously tight schedules that leave them scrambling, cutting corners, and working inhumane hours)

See also: that part where scripts aren't finished, because the studio won't fully staff the writers room, and won't pay to have writers on-set for day-of-filming script questions and fixes (which could resolve issues such as 'what kind of lighting do we need here?')

Anyway, all this shit we, as audiences, keep complaining about - bad lighting, bad sound, wonky visual effects, over-usage of not-great CGI, stilted acting on green-screen sets, scripts that seem not-quite-finished, costumes that look like they're cheap and flimsy, terrible hair and makeup, films and series that aren't as polished as they could be...

Plus the complaints we have about streaming services and their shenanigans...

All of that is enmeshed in the extreme capitalism that has taken over everything, including entertainment, to the point that studios are abusing their workforce and churning out material that - at best just doesn't live up to its potential - at worst, is just unwatchable shit.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis is a series that looks at villains across various media in the hopes of coming to something of a consensus on the overall quality of the character. Are they performed well? Do they enrich the narrative? Are their motives fleshed out? Are they voiced by Tim Curry and thus a sex icon? 

There are a lot of important questions that I look into, but ultimately, Psycho Analysis boils down to asking one simple little question: How bad can a character be?

Thankfully, there’s one villain who decided to answer that question for me... in song form.

Psycho Analysis: The Once-ler

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Yeah, I’m finally talking about everyone’s favorite greedy bastard who, back in some of the darkest days of Tumblr history, ended up being the premier sexyman on the website. People were thirsting over this twiggy weirdo, acting as if he were God’s gift to women and shipping him with alternate versions of himself. Much like the movie he’s from, he is now incredibly hard to take seriously.

But hey, speaking of alternate versions of himself, I’m going to be covering him from the original book and the animated short film as well. Might as well just knock it all out of the park at once, right? Now let’s see how ba-a-a-ad this guy can be.

Motivation/Goals: The Once-ler is all about biggering. He’s making thneeds (things that everyone needs) and he is gonna stop at nothing to craft these things. Not even the power of the Lorax, Danny DeVito or otherwise, is going to stay his hand from getting that sweet, soft Truffula fluff to make his wares. This is ultimately a little unrealistic, at least for the Illumination version; if Danny DeVito asked me not to do something, I’d listen, no questions asked.

Performance: In the animated special, Bob Holt does double duty, as he is portraying both Once-ler and the title character. It works really well for what they’re going for, and the double casting is interesting because it highlights the ultimate role of the Lorax as the Once-ler’s conscience given form.

In the film, Ed Helms portrays the Once-ler, and he’s fine. He’s certainly better casting than Audrey, but that’s not particularly saying much considering that’s a non-singing Taylor Swift (when Cats is able to utilize Taylor Swift better than your musical, you know there’s trouble). I don’t know, Ed Helms is fun and all, but I’m just not sure his take on the Once-ler is all too compelling overall.

Final Fate: In the original book and the special, the Once-ler wins… but even he realizes it’s a terrible, pointless victory, and all he has achieved is ruin, his family leaving him, his business ultimately collapsing, and the environment permanently damaged. He’s left as a miserable, jaded hermit, broken by the bleak consequences his greedy actions have sown upon the world and only able to tell his story and pass on the last Truffula seed in the hopes that maybe, maybe someday the trees can regrow and the Lorax will return. The Illumination version follows this but then tacks on a happy ending  where the Lorax and Once-ler reunite because as we know ambiguity and bittersweet endings cannot exist in children’s films.

Best Scene: Obviously it’s the scene where he shakes his ass to seduce Jack Frost, in one of the greatest gay romances ever put to film.

Joking aside, it is undoubtedly his villain song. It has become such a meme, but real talk? “How Bad Can I Be” slaps. This is a really good song, probably too good for the movie but you know what, I’ll take it.

Best Quote: HOW BA-A-A-AD CAN I BE? Yes, I’m using a line from his villain song. Sue me.

Final Thoughts & Score: What can one really say about the movie version of the Once-ler that hasn’t already been run into the ground? Well, how about… He’s not too bad, honestly? Like, yes, he has next to nothing to do with his book counterpart and they really go way too far into trying to make a capitalist pig sympathetic… but the animated special from the 70s did that too. I think the Once-ler honestly works better when there is a dash of complexity to him and he isn’t just a simple-minded Captain Planet villain.

Of course, the issue here is that the 70s version took a simpler approach, kind of less is more. The 70s Once-ler brings up some valid points to the Lorax about his work, and the Lorax can’t help but agree that there’s no easy answer while also stressing that the environmental devastation is still really, really bad. It works, it feels complex, and it arguably helps the ultimate point that we need to protect the environment better than even the book did (and I love the book, don’t get me wrong, but its take on the Once-ler is a bit too simple for its own good; it almost runs into the Femme Fatale problem by being a bit too much of a strawman). The movie version has a bit too much going on, especially with his family. His family are much more blatantly evil, greedy, and manipulative, but they’re relegated to the background for much of the film and don’t effect things all that much. The whole narrative would have been infinitely stronger if they were the greater scope villains behind Once-ler and were who needed to be defeated and maybe taught a lesson, but instead they are ignored in favor of someone I’ll address very shortly.

All of this leaves movie Once-ler feeling extremely disjointed, but not irredeemably so. As I said before, his villain song is unironically awesome, and as lame as it is compared to the more haunting, contemplative ending of the book and the special, I’m not so much of a curmudgeon that I didn’t at least smile when he finally reconciled with the Lorax. Ultimately though, him being memed to death really didn’t help his case, but it means I’m not giving the movie version anything less than a 3/10. He might in fact be the best “so bad it’s good” villain ever, or at least up there. He’s just so undeniably enjoyable even if the narrative isn’t making him as complex as it thinks it is. The animated special version gets a 9/10, the book version is a 7/10, and the Once-ler’s family gets a 5/10 for being an interesting concept they sadly do little with, which will now be elaborated on as I follow up on the foreshadowing from the last paragraph...

Psycho Analysis: Aloysius O’Hare

Remember how I said the Once-ler’s family gets ignored in favor of someone else? Here he is, Aloysius O’Hare, one of the absolute lamest villains ever put to screen.

Motivation/Goals: He’s greedy. That’s it. I’m not kidding. He’s just a cartoonish caricature of a rich person, which still makes him a realistic portayal but also makes him boring as sin compared to the wacky dude with a big musical number about how bad he can be.

Performance: Rob Riggle does a decent job, but there’s really not much for him to work with here. This character is a cardboard cutout who exists to be as cartoonishly greedy and evil as possible with no nuance so the kids know who to root against and so that Once-ler doesn’t look bad in comparison.

Final Fate: Look, he’s a blatantly evil corporate villain in a kid’s movie about the environment. Of course he gets defeated and everyone turns on him. What’s especially funny though is that, on the brink of learning his lesson, he rejects any form of redemption and just goes whole hog on being a villain.

Best Scene: I will absolutely give him this: in the face of his ultimate defeat, after having the virtues of trees sung to him and the entire town turning on him, he for a moment contemplates turning over a new leaf… and then absolutely rejects the thought and instead decides being evil is just too much fun, at which point he tries to get everyone back on his side by seeing a funny little song about death while wavedashing. If more shitty villains did this, I don’t think there would be shitty villains.

Best Quote: LET IT DIE, LET IT DIE, LET IT SHRIVEL UP AND DIE! Yes I’m quoting a song again.

Final Thoughts & Score: Look, I’m not gonna mine words here: O’Hare sucks. Big time. He is a prime example of why The Lorax failed as an adaptation. In a story that is dealing with a moral grayness with no easy answers, O’Hare is just a big, blatant target, a dark shade of black in terms of black-and-white morality. He’s like a reject Captain Planet villain with Edna Mode’s haircut.

The movie would have been infinitely better if, instead of him, the Once-ler’s family were in control of the town, and they needed to learn the lesson about saving the trees instead of simply vanishing from the story. They were shown to be overbearing, manipulative, and greedy, and they had a much more personal connection with Once-ler being, you know, his actual family. The fact they abandon him and never really get any sort of comeuppance despite being perhaps the most evil people in the move, egging on Once-ler and taking full advantage of him, makes O’Hare all the more egregious, because there could have been some strong thematic elements that would have tied the film together and made it come off as much less preachy and more nuanced.

But we don’t live in a world where that happened, we live in a world where we got O’Hare. Aside from some genuine hilarity from him at the end, O’Hare really adds very little to the film. I gotta give him a 2/10, but I will say he’s a lot closer to a 3 than he is to a 1; there’s no denying his absolute rejection of learning a moral is absolutely hilarious. I love when villains do that. It’s just a shame those funny moments are wrapped up in something monumentally unimpressive.

[rpbetter]

what's the nicest possible way to tell a close friend their roleplay blogs suck and if they want followers and interaction like they keep complaining about they have to actually put effort into it instead of just making blog after blog and slapping a character on it like that's they need to do. I've tried to suggest this to her before by comparing other blogs that play her muse but she just feels inadequate instead of inspired to emulate them which I understand but it's very frustrating when I suggest a million ways to make her blog better and she brushes them all off for one reason or another and I don't want to say anything because she's like a sister to me. sigh.

Unfortunately, the short answer to this is that there really isn't any way you can make her see this unless she's ready to see it.

But, I don't like giving those sorts of answers, they feel hopeless and shitty, so, let's try this...

Understanding what the problem with your friend and her connecting with this information is, is important. It might help in talking to her about the issue.

What I find in these instances, and a lot of similar ones, is that the mun is unhappy about the results but quite happy with the process. She's enjoying some part of this, it's just not the lack of interaction, obviously. It's the very things she's doing to turn people off of her muses.

I think a lot of people get kind of addicted to new muses. I mean, the entire process of having a new muse:

interest to outright fixation, no matter how short-lived, in a new, inspiring muse

who is almost certainly in a new fandom, and probably, one that is very busy and popular at the moment

"someone stop me" phase, even though they've already decided

picking the perfect URL, creating the new blog, making the graphics and batches of icons

reblogging All The Content about the new muse, at least, the visual content and maybe, a couple of "oof, right in the feels" style short meta posts

plugging the new muse on the old blogs, through friends, etc.

mass follows

new mutuals! Shiny new meme asks in the inbox! New threads!

It's about the newness, the excitement, and the irrationally promising feeling that damn it, this time, the blog and muse is going to be successful, popular even, beloved, the actual favorite iteration of the character in the RPC. Like anything exciting, it's addicting for people. And like anything addicting, it can take hitting rock bottom and going several more feet down, a few times, before they're over it and want to change.

Which is, of course, where you come in with your as-yet failed RP interventions.

What makes what you're trying to do here very difficult is that there isn't a total bottoming out she's going to reach. There will always be something new and exciting coming out with a new and exciting muse that'll fix the problem, in her mind. There will always be the option and availability to create another blog, slap another muse on it, rinse and repeat. With shampoo and conditioner that never runs out.

You definitely had the right idea by trying to get her to contrast between why what she is doing isn't working the way she wants and why what someone else is doing is working out that way. It's just, as you found out, often not the best idea, no matter how well-intentioned it is. With her blogs constantly failing for reasons she refuses to believe, it's incredibly likely she's already done some comparison in all the wrong ways, ultimately going back and forth between blaming the other iterations, finding nothing but errors in the way they write the character and set up their blogs, and feeling depressed that she's not good enough, but they are.

So, you might have unintentionally inflamed all of this! She could be in a place where she's even more likely to believe that what she's doing is great as a defense mechanism for being hard on herself.

I'd also like to say that I'm aware the "right" advice here is, "there's nothing you can do, you'll just make her feel bad, people have a right to RP however they want." But, you're also her friend, and you have to be around the complaining and upset when this just keeps happening.

Furthermore, when we have very close friends like this, we automatically keep trying to fill in the gaps for them at cost to ourselves - every time they make another blog/muse, we get roped into writing things we know are just going to be dropped, making them things we know are going to left on a deserted blog, and so on. Eventually, it makes you feel bad about yourself because your efforts aren't good enough, either. It can really ruin the hobby for you, sucking away enjoyment and creativity you could be spending elsewhere.

I don't think you're wrong in trying to help both her and yourself.

Keep being honest with her. When she complains, be honest about why this is happening. And you can, indeed, be kind and honest!

Let's say that she says something about how she wrote all these opens and no one is going for them.

You could say something like, "that sucks. I liked this one, it's the one that feels and sounds like the character to me. What were you doing when you wrote that? You should rewrite the others to be a little more like that, I think people are looking for more of the character like we saw them in the series."

You're acknowledging that she's right, it does suck, it's a shitty feeling no matter how at fault for it she is. While pointing out something she did good (and, okay, maybe she didn't, maybe they all categorically sucked lol but find one that was even a tiny bit better/that has elements you can use to both boost her confidence and show her what is right, not just wrong). Then, giving her an idea - whatever she was thinking, watching, listening to at that time, she tapped into something more like the actual character, and she could do it again. And telling her what the problem is, at least with this, that people don't want a cardboard cutout muse, they want the one they like from the fandom book/show/movie.

No need to actually compare with another active mun and muse, or tell her that it's because what she's doing is terribly and driving you nuts. Even if both are true.

If she's the one that compares herself to another blog this time, seize the opportunity!

"Well, people like that the muse is developed and like the character they know. When you interact with another canon, don't you want them to be like the character you liked? You liked -current muse- for a reason. When I've felt like that, I reminded myself of why I was drawn to the character and worked harder on writing them accurately and getting their voice down. I think this other blog has done that and you haven't yet."

It's a little harsher, but she may very well only be looking for validation from you that this other blog actually sucks and she's doing great. A lot of complaints on tumblr are that - seeking validation, not help. The entire culture of that shit is not at all helpful. You don't want to try to sort of shock her out of it by being too harsh, but you do want to make it clear that you're not going to just give ass pats and tell her what she wants to hear.

You're telling her why this other blog is more successful, that the muse comes off as the character and is enjoyable to write with. Because the mun put in the effort to make them both accurate to the character and a muse that's fun/interesting/engaging to write with in RP.*

*Not all characters transfer over well to RP, either, and this might also be some of her problem. For whatever reason, some people are deeply drawn to the worst possible choices for them. They will find the least applicable character in a whole series, one with a billion characters that spans decades of material, plenty of viable options all around, but no, it's got to be this one. The one that's impossible for them to pull off, boring or disliked by the fandom, is incredibly difficult to interact with (think manic pixie bullshit, villains that are extreme loners, incredibly quiet and reserved characters, or those who are only ever seen in their canon to be bantering with friends and enemies - people they have established relationships with, unlike someone else's muse, even if that muse is a canonical friend or enemy), or is an active turn off in RP, like an outrageously overpowered character whose entire existence is based on being OP as fuck. That's going to be what they go for. Every. Damn. Time.

If you notice she's doing this, she could be compensating without even realizing it by turning the string of muses into identical and empty clichés she thinks people want to interact with, but that she can still handle writing. And unfortunately, your job is even harder, OP, because everyone has a character type...and your bestie's is Fucking Impossible to RP for 90% of the RPC Population Type lmao I'm...I'm so sorry.

Maybe if this is the case, you can get her to try out a different character that has some of the traits you've noticed she seems to always be drawn to, but without the complications. Work smarter, not harder, though! Propose this as you desperately wanting your muse to interact with x. Some people react very badly to being told "you'd write a great -muse name," others are flattered by it. If you don't know for certain that she'd be flattered, or at least not offended, that she doesn't hate this character or anything, do not say this. Just tell her that you love this character, you think she could handle them as a NPC in a thread, could she please try?

And make that the single most interesting thread in the history of threads. Specifically, for her. Give her tons of engagement with this NPC of the sort she tends to want the most. It might stick and reset some of her perspective on the types of characters she keeps choosing.

You're reminding her that she's a RPer, too, which sounds like a crazy thing to have to remind a RPer, but we do weirdly lose track of this. We get very invested in what we're putting out more than what we've successfully been given, especially when we're not being given much of what we want. So, you're prodding her to recall that there are two parts of this equation, she's been on the side of it - she's wanted to interact specifically with a canon muse because she loved the character/ship with hers/whatever, and has, as we all have, experienced both the disappointment of running through a ton of them who just are not that character and also finding the version that very much is.

This helps to put other people back into perspective in a way that isn't just "interactions." (Read as "desired attention." Which isn't a slam, it's true. It's also not a problem, we all are here to interact, we all enjoy having devoted mutuals and such. It's only a problem when we stop seeing them as anything other than a means to an end for ourselves.) She might be able to relate to them, thus, why they don't like her muses, if she can put herself back into their shoes.

You stick with that and transition it into why she picked the current muse. It's the same deal, there was something about the muse that sparked interest, creativity, etc. What was it? Something that isn't there, or there enough, in her writing. In all the excitement of muse-creation, she's probably let whatever it was slide right out the door. If you can get her to recall that feeling of interest and identify for herself what all triggered it, she might be able to stick with it.

And you've encouraged her again to give people what they want if she wants interactions by developing her muses. You've also done so, if it all applicable and true, by using yourself here, making it feel like not just a common problem, but one experienced and overcome by someone she cares about and trusts.

She might have an issue with needing a lot of high-interest, high-reward scenarios, too.

This is a high-effort, minimum reward situation for her. A lot of us in the RPC have shit like ADHD that can really make this difficult once we're experiencing it in this way, but even those who don't absolutely fall into it as well. So, you'll need ways to make it fun, but...I think if you can sort of kindly trick her into experiencing the effort as its own reward, it'd go a long, long way.

I can't really say what I do, having this problem with high-effort, minimal reward because I don't tend to experience that in RP. The writing is the reward for me, as much as I lose it utterly with happiness every time a writing partner is loving what I've given them. My reward system is set up around the writing and exploring characters. Hers seems to be set up around the reaction to it and amount of engagement with it. You need to try to use the latter to give her some of the former.

If she likes Halloween or Christmas, Fall or Winter, this could be your way into doing it!

Get her hyped about a seasonal prompt list you're doing. This does, yeah, mean you will have to do it, too lol but in the end, any time you aren't able to produce something daily like these lists usually are set up for, you're showing her that it isn't a job she's got to fulfill - the rules are only as strict as she wants to make them for herself. And if you keep yours short and fun, she'll feel like it's perfectly fine and good to do it this way as well. That it doesn't need to be a damn masterpiece or anything, just fun, something different to show off her muse.

While what she's actually doing, in addition to that, is getting in touch with and developing her muse. Importantly, when we write in a way that is just for ourselves like this, we tend to kind of...bond, for lack of a less weird sounding way of putting it, with a muse. It makes them stick with us longer, raising their importance and easier availability to us.

Let her know you're doing this, pick one out you genuinely like, and don't expect her to be down with it immediately. It's work with no foreseeable reward. Except, it's very hard to listen to our friends be excited, proud of themselves, enjoying themselves without wanting to join in. It'll be especially helpful, though, if you think people you interact with will like the posts and comment on them, or even try to turn them into threads if you include their muses (with their consent, of course, and no pressure). If she sees that, it might make it even more interesting to her. You might also have to pose this as her helping you out, that you don't think you'll get more than two done if she isn't doing it as well, as a sort of a challenge she can hold you to.

Whatever you think might work best for engaging her, you know her well, you can do it!

Be there to help her out with ideas if she goes for it. Throw out some easy, fun suggestions you think she might like, that even give her some opportunity to write something with her muse that she doesn't get a chance to. Pull from the muse's canon, is there something in their canon that goes with the prompt word "snow," for instance? Is it something she enjoyed about the canon story? Suggest it. Thinking about both the muse and your friend, is there something else that came to mind about that prompt you could suggest? Do it!

Again, whatever she's most into, it's an angle. Humor? Her serious muse is forced into a ridiculous, funny situation that involves the snow. Angst? A sad memory associated with the snow. Shipping? A romantic, fluffy scene (or steamy one). And so on.

Be there to express interest and encouragement while she's doing it. Don't do things that are going to come off as pressuring or helicopter moming her, of course! Like, asking how much she's gotten done, did she start working on it yet? That's a bad idea, unless she enjoys that sort of thing. Instead, tell her how much you can't wait to see this, ask about how it's going, tell her about yours to encourage her to talk about it.

And be there to be her audience when she posts it. This really seems to be her highest reward, so give it to her. Like the post, comment on the post, tell her in messages. Not individually, all of those things. If you can find a way to that doesn't mess up what you've got going on with your blog, mutuals, other friends, etc., mention it on your blog.

At this point, people might be both aware of her RP habits and wary of engaging with her, but someone might bite if you're enthused and go like the post. If it's applicable, make some jokes about it on the dash, turn it into a moment of inside joke-like crack for people to see. Mention that she wrote this and you loved it, link it or outright reblog her post. Hell, mention that you and her are doing such and such prompts for whatever holiday or season before the fact, that way, it doesn't come out of nowhere to your mutuals, either. Again, if applicable, you can ask to turn it into a thread.

The point, at this juncture, isn't to attract people to her blog and posts, it's to demonstrate to her that this is fun and rewarding. If you can get people to go like the posts, great, but you can only count on yourself to do it at first.

Most people enjoy those sorts of prompts on their dash from mutuals, though. You're always going to have some who feel like it's annoying because it wasn't strictly a RP reply, but whatever, they're not the majority in most fandoms anymore, thankfully. Point is, it's literally showing her mutuals that she's capable of thinking as her muse and working on her muse. It's showing off good things and making her muse more interesting and uniquely hers in a good way. And it's totally possible that she's going to organically generate likes, people wanting to use this as a plot with her for RP, and mutuals who are increasingly following along with every post made.

The hope is that she experiences the beginnings of more interest in the muse than she does making muses, gain some confidence in doing this with the enjoyment of it, and stick with a muse longer than five seconds so that she can actually end up with the interactions she wants.

There are definitely other ways of doing this, the prompt thing just came to mind because it's major prompt season. You've got a prompt list floating around for literally every popular point of interest right now, from whump to extreme fluff to horror to humor. And it's going to keep going until January. It's also something that can be as short as a paragraph or as long as several thousand words, and that a hell of a lot of people don't do all of. So, it's easy, so long as she's got a reason to find it interesting and stay on course with it even a little bit.

You could also try getting her into doing something like moodboards for her muse but with little additions of writing that go along with them. Nothing major, just things like a quote from her muse or a sentence from a starter, thread, whatever.

So long as you can get her to start refocusing on RP being enjoyable from the inside and not just the outside, it's valid as hell to try it! She seems to be experiencing RP as instant gratification and basing that gratification on things she can't control, like popularity.

Right now, even giving her the sober truth that one can write the best version of a canon muse there is to be found, be someone enjoyable and interesting in OOC interactions, and be an amazing writer without that being enough to garner popularity, or even the plots that are wanted. That being a very popular RPer and having more interactions than you know what to do with (honestly sucks ass) isn't a set of absolute values, but rather, variables that are always in flux and often, totally mysterious. It's usually a mixture of total luck, visual appeal, and both mun being on point with what people want to see right this second and muse being the mixture of fanon that is desirable, also, right at this exact second. It is seriously not within anyone's control, no matter how much effort, quality, or even outright bullshit they have to put out there.

If she's ever going to stick to a muse and not find herself envious, upset, and bored it's absolutely got to come from herself. She's got to be popular with herself, enjoying herself regardless of what others are seemingly achieving or want to give her. It's not going to be recognized no matter how harsh or sweet you are about the problem, unless she's capable of really looking at those problems as problems, and I don't think she's going to get to that point through negatively bottoming out. She might get there through the opposite, though!

It's...just going to take a lot of effort and patience from you, with no expectation of reward yourself.

Because it's still likely as hell it's just not going to happen. And while it seems like you are the kind of friend who would find the effort worth it because you care and are invested in her, please know that there's no shame in merely contemplating this and noping right out.

You've got a life and are trying to enjoy the hobby as well! And if it seems like something that could sour your friendship? It's not worth it. You're better off just accepting that she'll inevitably tire of doing this and move on to another hobby, maybe decide to do fandom blogs or something instead that you can support her in.

It's definitely an unenviable and frustrating position you're in. All you can really do is try not to let this negatively impact the friendship, to keep refraining from just outright telling her things she'd find hurtful, and try your best to show her that it's rewarding to develop the muse and stick with it, not a task. That there are improvements she can make to her blog, and that it isn't a negative reflection on her that they can be made. You can try all the compassionate trickery in the world to lead her there, but it's ultimately up to her whether she brushes this off as well, don't let it hurt your feelings or exasperate you too much!

Also, it's totally possible that even if you met through RP and/or it has been a big part of the friendship, you might have grown in different directions in the hobby.

Growing within the hobby is inherent to any hobby you stick to for long enough, especially if you started out in it young. Some people seamlessly just keep growing to things that make them happy, others experience a lot of growing pains along the way as they're maybe ready for change, but only in select areas they have to discover for themselves. Still others grow in a way that doesn't make them very happy, but they're both not ready (or willing) to approach why and what they can do, and also still too attached to the good times they had to reassess whether it's still something they want to do, or if it's something better moved away from into something else.

That's always very difficult as a friend. Difficult in watching your friends not go the same directions as you anymore, even in something as comparatively silly as a hobby, in seeing them not enjoying themselves, and in the possibility that it could signal the end of enjoying the hobby with them. It's sad and frustrating, and can feel lonely, but if you're close enough friends, you've got so many other things to still be good friends over, so keep that in mind!

She might need to keep doing this with her blog and muse situation until she comes not to the realization that she needs to change how she's RPing to get what she wants, but rather, that she wants to stop RPing. That could be the burnout that happens here eventually, but again, not only can you still be great friends, if it makes her happier, it's good.

[wendibird]

SPN 15X15 Observations

The saga of my shitty cable/internet provider continues. This week I was again watching it on my computer through the streaming app since TV still isn’t getting reliable reception, and my internet connection kept dropping! (Luckily, I’ve also set it to record, so I was able to re-watch the episode after it aired.) So, my notes are much less coherent probably, and I’ve had a long day so my after-episode thoughts probably are too. 

Everything else under the cut for those who wish to avoid spoilers and all my rambling:

- Connor isn't going to last long. - wtf? (freaky teddy bear!) - "she and I used to have a thing"? Seriously Dean? - Cas: "Sam?" (aka "Please be the reasonable one.") - soooooo much salt from Cas. - "Agent Swift!" - BABY YODA!!!! - I think the crossroads thing is Cas just making a phone call more or less. - Cas, there are NEVER "too many cats". - LOL I love Cas' literalness - Eeeeee..... love them bonding. - Hrm. So there's definitely a karmic element to these killings. I mean, "Lair" seemed like a bit of a stretch for the other kid, unless the "lie" was in him agreeing with the snobby girls. But I have a feeling this lady here is going to end up with something like "thief" carved into her. (So, thoughts: Avenging Angel? Just Deserts? Probably something new.)

- Also I feel like there was maybe something in that "previously" scene that I don't remember seeing before. (Was talking about Dean going into detail about needing to take Amara out as well as Chuck. I remember part of that conversation, but some parts felt "new" to me? Though I've only seen through this current season once, so I might just not be remembering everything right.) - Sam's worried/concerned about Jack! <3 - "At least this time it's not you and me." Oh man does that feel like foreshadowing. - Not sure I trust the pastor. - I've been watching this show too long. They all feel sketchy. Especially the girl with the headband. *LOL* - Oh man. Are they really going "Torture Porn" on us again? (Apparently) - His (Jack’s) Mom died 3 years ago too. - "I have more dads than most." <3 - "Put your trust in God." Wow. *LOL* Poor Jack. - Cas, you're totally one of his dads. But yes. It is complicated. - Ahhh. Maybe that's what the "Liar" thing was about. (Connor being gay and hiding it?) - Hi Amara! (My cat wants to get into my closet.)

- Amara's still in relatively light colors.

(Stupid internet signal is being a pain)

- I wish I knew what was going on.

(Aaaaand more internet problems)

- I love Cas! (still confused about what's going on.)

- So, what's with the random demon in the squad car? - Dammit.... I had a feeling Jack would end up having to die to kill Chuck and Amara.

(OKAY! Now that the episode is over, I'm going to re-watch parts of it so I can find out what the hell I missed! (still irritated))

- Jack HAS one of those teddy's! I wonder which one got it for him.... (My guess is Sam or Cas) - Maybe it was Zack in the cop car at the end? He DID say he was really bored. - Reason why I was thinking it might be something supernatural was because the one who did it seemed to know in advance who they were going after, but that lady just now stole from the poor box. So, how did the daughter know? Unless she'd done it before? Hrm. - Minor note: "We've been on the road almost two days." WTF? SPN doing somewhat realistic travel times?! *LMAO* - Trying to tell what's in her other hand. Looks like it's duct-taped closed into a fist around something. A transmitter maybe? It's an odd detail that I don't think gets explained. - So, did she call him a "liar" because she saw the two of them as having dated and then he came out as gay at some point? - So, they're just gonna leave the Impala there while it's gassing up? *LOL* - I still love Cas for this part. Sharing his "Journey". - Okay, got to see the guys' talk with Amara. (At least the first half of it.) I still think it's risky for Dean to tell her about Jack even being a player on the board. Though I get that he had to give her SOMETHING so she would get that the threat is credible. That they actually CAN do something against Chuck. - Also, SPN can't settle on its history. *LOL* But that's nothing new. Back in S5 it was God and Death and Death couldn't remember who came first. Then at the end of Season 10 we got an updated version with the Darkness (Who didn't seem to have met Death prior to her imprisonment.) Now, Darkness and God were twins. - Ewwwwww.... dead guy. - Wow.... They actually textualized that. (About Mary.) - He sounded like he meant it when he said "I will never hurt you." - I still love Cas being a subtle badass. - Jack... it's NOT the only way... (And I'm pretty sure Sam HAS forgiven Jack. But I don't think they've really talked.)

SO.

I apologize that my "notes" this time are a train-wreck, but so was my internet connection, so sadly, this is what happens when I watch part of the episode, miss some important bits, and watch most of the rest of it (while still missing more bits) and then when it's finally over I can finally go back and re-watch the bits I'd missed. And I wound up mostly just re-watching the whole thing again anyway. And some things definitely made more sense, and I definitely noticed some things I hadn't caught the first time.

I know a lot of people aren't going to like it because it mostly featured Cas and Jack while being light on the brothers. (But there WAS some good brother content!) I did enjoy it well enough though. (Like, it's not gonna make my top 10 total episodes, but I liked it better than a lot of the ones earlier this season.)

Organizing my thoughts is gonna be a bit hard (I've had a long day) but I'll make an attempt here.

Cas and Jack's arc: It definitely had a more old-school SPN horror vibe to me, though more like some of the newer horror movies (like Saw and the like) and I think both characters were written well. We had two awkward angels who still don't get all things human, but they obviously care. There was also a lot of talk about God in a way that I felt made both of them feel awkward considering their perspective on Chuck. I do still wonder though about some of the details of what Sylvia was doing. Like, I get how she'd probably been stewing about the one boy for a while. But the lady (could never quite tell if it was Valerie or Mallory) had literally JUST stolen from the donation box when she stepped outside into the trap laid for her. So, was this maybe a habit of her's? How would Sylvia have known about it beforehand? And also, what was with the crossroads demon at the very end posing as/possessing a police officer? Is he going rogue because he's bored? Is he acting on some weird kind of orders? I saw some theories about maybe the Dad made a crossroads deal to spring his daughter, but... I dunno. Unless it's supposed be a tease for something to come later, it feels odd and random.

Overall, I did really like Cas in this episode. I thought his blend of salt, cluelessness, and altruism was good, and I loved what he said about his past, and how he found his new purpose. Because he has been drifting quite a bit since he lost his original purpose. But he definitely seems to have found it again with Jack. So naturally he gets to find out that Jack is fated to die taking out God and the Darkness. *sigh* Dude CANNOT catch a break! Also, JACK! I love him so much! (And honestly, I'd had suspicions already that this is what had been troubling him. I'm glad he finally told one of his dads at least.)

Also, just wanna reiterate, I loved that bit at the beginning when Dean suggests Cas and Jack go tackle this case "that probably isn't anything (supernatural)" and he turns to Sam like "Please be the sane one here." (My hope/headcanon is that Sam encouraged him to go because he knows something has been troubling Jack, and if Jack won't open up to Sam about it, maybe he was hoping he'd open up to Cas at least. Then maybe SOMEONE could help him. But I don't know if the writers are thinking that deeply about Sam.)

Speaking of Sam and Dean... Okay, overall I thought their part of the episode was okay for what we saw. Like, the brother talk in the Impala, mild bickering about driving times and regular mundane stuff. Also their talk with Amara had some GOOD emotional beats in it. For Dean and Amara. Sam was mostly just there. And then he wasn't even there for the main part. So... *sigh* It's not that I begrudge Dean having that moment. I mean, he definitely had more of a connection to Amara than Sam did. But it still feels like not much really happened with him besides being a soundingboard and showing some concern for Jack. Hopefully we get more of him actually being important to the plot in upcoming episodes.

But let me reiterate that I DID like the talk Dean and Amara had! I'm glad that she textualized something that I know a lot of fans have theorized about Mary and her purpose narratively. That prior to her resurrection she had been put on this pedestal, but Dean and Sam were actually able to get to know the real woman. That the real woman was better than the memory because she WAS real. Flaws and all. (Not that I blame Dean for being angry.) I'm just glad that it was said outright. Because I got the feeling from some of the things Samantha Smith has said at cons that that was part of the point of Mary's character since S12, to make her real. And I know a lot of people couldn't see past her flaws and still hate her. (I DO think some things could have been handled better with her character, but that's not the point of this long rambly post today.) Also, when Dean said that he could never hurt her? It felt like him telling the truth. Maybe he was able to get that feeling across because technically he WAS telling the truth, since the plan is for Jack to be the one doing the hurting. But I dunno.

Anyway, overall I thought it was a decent episode. It had some good character moments in it, and considering I thiiiiink the next episode is going to be very Sam and Dean heavy, I'm not gonna begrudge Cas and Jack some screentime in this one since things are likely going to be getting dicey here fairly soon.

(And again, I apologize for how scattered this is this time.)

P.S. Oh, and one last thing before I forget. Especially after last episode, I find it odd that Jack still thinks BOTH brothers haven't forgiven him. I get why he would think that about Dean. The dude outright said it was going to take some time. But Sam, as far as we've seen has been shown to be supportive of Jack. So, I wonder if it's because Jack still hasn't forgiven himself? Or if it's because maybe he and Sam haven't really talked about that whole issue, so maybe Jack thinks Sam is just avoiding it? (Or if the writers are just lumping Sam&Dean together again because WHY would anyone see them as two separate entities? *salty*) Because if anyone in this show SHOULD be aware that the brothers don't always think the same it should be Jack. Because from the start Sam has tended to hold a different stance in regards to him than Dean. *sigh* Ah well. We'll see how things fall out. Especially considering what Cas (I’m assuming anyway) told Dean about Jack and Billy’s plan. 

[quicktelling-blog]

Amira’s Vanished Hustle, Perceptions of Missed Opportunities, and What Everyone Should Consider About the Story So Far

[deep dive under the cut]

Some messages I got over the weekend were along the lines of: “No Damira again on Friday whew you must be heartbroken huh?” But, y’all, I wasn’t surprised. And to be completely honest, my reaction on Friday was very different from the ones I saw in the tag. Yeah, I was super happy for the adorable Amira and I was also side-eying the glaring absence of Carlos’s besties at his own housewarming -- but my main thought after the clip was: “LOL OH SHIT HERE WE GO.” Because in my mind Friday was an ENORMOUS RED FLAG that the only substantial thing left to do in Amira’s story arc is the cute Bon Voyage party to send her off on her dream trip. Even before this big POV shift happened, Druck hadn’t given us any reason to expect much more than that in her remaining plot, and I’ll elaborate on that here.

I don’t wanna jump to the conclusion that Druck can’t possibly stick the landing, because hey, they might! We have no clear idea what will happen between now and the final goodbye party, so maybe good things are coming that will subvert all of our worst imaginings! But I feel like this is a hinge point in the season to do a little reassessing of expectations... and to come clean about one big reason why I’ve mostly spoken superficially about this season up until now.

The very first red flag, for me, was when I realized Druck was planning to basically pretend Amira never had a job. That oversight might not seem like a big deal to most, and it’s not like her job was the first thing Druck ever made disappear unceremoniously (remember when Leonie and Sara had other close girl friends? lol) but to me it was a signal that my expectations for Amira’s story (based on her previous strong characterization) had maybe been too high. And I immediately felt a bit cheated.

Amira was already so fleshed out coming into her season. She was demanding, quick-witted, and nurturing. She was fiercely protective of her friends, and even more fiercely ambitious, with a willingness to work harder than anyone to get ahead in life. She was sunny but tough-shelled, with a well-established resistance to trusting any men. And, loving her as much as I do, I felt strongly that she deserved to have plenty of brand new story elements that reflected all those things. To have her own story shaped around her, rather than she herself being reshaped to fit Sana’s story.

But then it was finally her turn to shine, in a Summer season, when it would make perfect sense for her to be on a job grind to earn cash for her trip, and... she’s not working? Huh? She managed to work all through a tough school year, but not her free summer vacation? Why? Because of Druck’s low budget? Because they lacked cohesion in the writing process? Some combination of the two? Yikes. Who knows. But suddenly, nonsensically, they had flushed away the perfect framing to showcase her work ethic, her daily perseverance, and her varied interactions (good and bad) with lots of strange customers around Berlin.

It felt like a bad omen to me somehow. Which wasn’t a great mindset to start the season with. And that was the beginning of me trying very, very hard not to be confused and salty about every little thing I began to perceive as missed opportunities to give Amira a new kind of substance in her story.

For example: While David, Matteo, and Sam began having fun off-screen, working on an bold alien movie, Amira inexplicably had no involvement. She kinda scoffed at the idea when it came up on-screen, then immediately lost interest in the conversation because her man was texting. Fair enough, right? That scene was moving her story forward while generously giving a little shoutout to the meta insta storyline, right? The problem is: the off-screen story ended up seeming much more interesting than watching Amira chilling on her own texting a bunch, and we weren’t even given a reason for her to not be part of it after the whole crew was invited to join in. Imagine if we had followed her onto a shitty little makeshift movie set and seen her reacting to the chaos and strangeness of it. Imagine her finding a resourceful solution to a production hiccup or mediating a creative disagreement while trying to hide her own inner turmoil from her friends. And imagine her having an extremely important conversation with David (and/or Matteo and/or Sam) about the film’s deeper themes of alienation and otherness that they can both sadly relate to.

That’s just one weirdly specific scenario, but there are sooo many other ways I fantasized about Amira bonding with her friends (particularly the ones who aren’t cishet white kids or brand new characters). Talking with one or more of them about what it means to be dangerously marginalized, or to be afraid of letting someone get close to you, or to feel torn in two different directions in life. Maybe something like that could still happen before the season ends, but I’m not counting on it. And I think the time has passed for it to have the biggest impact. It could’ve been amazing (and really narratively useful!) if it happened before the resolution of Amira’s brief conflicts with Kiki, Erva, and Mohammed. We saw a lot of scenes with her looking angry and sad, but we weren’t really privy to much of her thought process during all that reflection, so it felt uncomfortably unearned when problems she once saw as insurmountable were shortly waved aside. I would’ve really appreciated even a short conversation with some good change-of-heart exposition.

And while other people were cheering about all the controversial Sana season conflicts being blessedly truncated or completely stripped away, the whole time I couldn’t stop thinking: “Okay, awesome, but what are they gonna replace that storyline with? Nothing?” And, for the most part, that seemed to be true.

But the problem clearly wasn’t limited to a shortage of well-integrated story threads with Amira at their center. It was arguably also a failure to capitalize on the stories they did use. Instead of getting to watch the emotional fight with her mother about punching someone, and witnessing Amira faced with the threat of losing Australia, we only heard about the drama afterward. Just like we only heard about her family’s religious holiday together. Just like we only got a few texts between Amira and Jonas about the refugee event. And just like how, as I sat typing this, Amira’s mother re-blessed the trip off-screen. On and on goes the list of examples of this unfortunate tell-don’t-show approach, and I’m sure a lot of it can be attributed to low budget and tricky cast scheduling, but the time limit excuse probably doesn’t apply if Amira’s main plot really has been efficiently pared down to 7 episodes.

Don’t get me wrong, I want to reserve final judgment on the season until the credits roll, and there are plenty of good things to say about it in the meantime. Yes, it’s been lovely to see so many gorgeous shots of Tua praying, and boxing, and expressing everything from attraction to anguish to helpless rage. Yes, she and Hassan both did some really strong work selling the magnetic pull between their characters, even in the face of (what I consider to be) an underdeveloped narrative that didn’t totally sell me on the relationship overall. Yes, it was wonderful to have some aesthetically pleasing scenes of the girl squad loving and supporting each other, even if they mostly talked about boys the way Amira hoped they wouldn’t. And obviously just having a story about a strong, kind, devoted hijabi girl is vitally important visibility. So I really haven’t wanted to say anything negative in the face of all that...

... but now I have to say: if you’re feeling cheated and mad about the POV shift, then take some time to consider what else specifically you think should’ve happened to Amira before we entered this resolution phase of her story. It seemed like most people were perfectly happy for her to not face any complex conflict, and not have any lingering hardship to dramatically and triumphantly overcome. Every obstacle getting a relatively swift and easy solution felt underbaked to me, but it was a big relief and source of praise for most people in the tags right up until Amira disappeared from clips. So: in hindsight, how would you have added not just length, but also more compelling drama and greater social impact to her story, so that the extra length felt well-used? It’s really worth thinking and talking about that, even if you’re hesitant to voice any criticism of Amira’s part of the story (even after the season ends, and even if it’s totally constructive) -- because thinking and talking about it is how we’ll get that kind of richer, fuller story in the future.

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Symbiote Spider-Man #1 Thoughts

Tl:dr version: Screw Ahmed’s ASM annual, THIS is a black costume story done right!

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with this book.

In spite of the back pages from editor Devin Lewis (who I am shocked to discover is about my age...Jesus) this is a title clearly existing because

a)      Venom had a movie last year

b)      Mysterio will be in a movie this year

c)       Venom is perennially popular

d)      The black suit is perennially popular

e)      There is an event coming up centred around those who were hosts to symbiotes, Spider-Man being the most famous

And as a side note the Spider Office/Peter David himself seem keen to maintain a PAD led title of some sort. No complaints from me, older creators shouldn’t be thrown away, especially one as talented as PAD.

However in this issue PAD has delivered quite frankly his best Spider-Man work in YEARS, possibly a whole decade. His 2099 book? This blows it out the water. His Scarlet Spider work, lol please.

I attribute this to 3 key factors:

a)      PAD is writing a character he honestly likes which wasn’t the case with Ben Reilly

b)      PAD is writing the character in the status quo he’d obviously prefer which wasn’t the case for 2099

c)       This being an untold tale series that’s also a mini, this title cannot be derailed by crossovers which was the case in...pretty much everything Spider related he’s written since 2005

This issue was magnificent.

It is essentially Peter David doing Untold Tales of Spider-Man but set in the Alien Costume Saga.

Untold Tales’ writing intended to evoke a bygone era (coincidentally 30+ years before its publication, just like this series) but with a dash of modernity.

This series is much the same.

The dialogue is mostly modern but leans a bit more towards the past, is happy to use editorial captions for comic references (something most modern comics are afraid to do for some reason) and is doesn’t feel all that out of place with the stories of 1984!

The same cannot be said for the art which is obviously nothing like what Frenz and (to a less extent) Leonardi were doing back then.

However even then, maybe I just didn’t notice but the art honestly seemed...okay. Considering this is Greg Land this surprised me. Maybe someone will do a breakdown to prove me wrong but I didn’t notice anything that wrong with it.

Well that is until Felicia turned up then you realize he was obviously tracing. She looked a little like Pamela Anderson to me but god knows who he was ‘basing’ her on.

The only REAL art problem I noticed was the miscolouring of Felicia’s hair. She was a regular blonde as opposed to the platinum blonde she is supposed to be, but you could just say that was artistic licence.

Though it becomes harder to ignore since she’s supposed to resemble another blonde woman earlier in the story. I guess she was platinum blonde too?????

ANYWAY, the story itself is solid.

It’s a Mysterio character piece first and foremost and you can tell PAD loves this character a lot. I was worried it was going to be another origin for Mysterio contradicting his canon one but it wasn’t. It honestly felt very much like a story we might’ve gotten from back in the 80s had anyone been that interested in Mysterio.

It brings up the good point that, IIRC is entirely true, that (at least at this point in time) Mysterio never killed anyone and has him have a crisis when he inadvertently leads to a woman dying.

Honestly the main problems with this story were the woman arguably getting fridged and how maybe lame the set up for it was. She was literally introduced, established as having a family and axed within the same scene. Okay that scene plus Felicia concluding the costume was alive. I guess you can No. Prize it away but it seems kinda weird that neither Peter nor Felicia brought up how she called it right that day. Maybe they just forgot. Also maybe it was a bit of a continuity error that Felicia calls out Peter for being angry that she doesn’t accept his normal life. Then again I think you could massage continuity to make it fit.

Speaking of Felicia PAD likes the character, PAD likes this era for her and for the series (no shit, this was around the time he began writing Spider-Man so he’s very much at home here) and along with Spencer and Marvel over all he seems to be throwing Felicia much love now Slott is done abusing her.

Unlike in Ahmed’s shitty ass Annual last year Felicia is on point here and entirely within character (love her flirtation) with PAD throwing us a moment that I’m sure must’ve happened off panel at some point but we never get to see it.

Felicia basically confronting the ghost of Uncle Ben. PAD nails the tension between the Peter/Spidey/Felicia love triangle but does it correctly. Too often people oversimplify that she simply wholesale rejected his life as Peter Parker when the truth is whilst that was Felicia’s initial reaction, she did TRY to accept that side of Peter.

Going to Ben’s grave formally meeting Aunt May (she’d previously done so in costume) does that. She likes Aunt May, she’s sympathetic towards Peter (she lost her Dad too remember).

This is good drama no one ever milked!

Plus it, along with many other moments in the issue were just funny, you could tell PAD  was having a good time and he’s a witty writer in general.

I think a key component of this issue’s success is that it’s well researched. I’d somewhat forgive PAD for not re-reading the Alien Costume saga since it was around the time he was working on Spider-Man, but apparently he re-read both trades collecting the Alien Costume Saga and you can tell.

Unlike Ahmed who clearly didn’t read these issues because he made blatantly obvious mistakes, apart from the teeny tiny nitpicks I mentioned NOTHING in this issue is out of place.

And I know because I double checked!

Numerous times I thought I’d spotted an error.

-          Aunt May knowing Peter dropped out of college

-          The Human Fly being alive

-          Spider-Man’s aggression which I thought was being implied to be the symbiote’s fault

Nope. Nope. Nope.

PAD danced between the raindrops of continuity expertly. Aunt May found out Peter dropped out in ASM #253 DURING the Alien Costume Saga. The Human Fly was in fact alive, seen in a story shortly before Peter went to Battleworld. Peter’s aggression has an entirely different and logical explanation.

It was a job worthy of Busieck. Much kudos to PAD! Much shame on Ahmed.

Okay now let’s talk about the elephant in the room, or rather the twin set of elephants.

Yeah in this story...the Twin Towers are just fine.

There is a very interesting explanation at the back of the issue as to why this was.

Essentially PAD and Marvel were in two minds (ironically) about including the Towers for obvious reasons, PAD even having an alternately written scene in mind.

Now from a reader point of view it was a shock, I felt something so that’s good. And PAD being in New York when it happened I think lends him a certain degree of licence to touch on the tragedy. He actually already has in his 2099 book, a character revealed as a latent Inhuman comments that her life was shaped by the tragedy. That was maybe the first time ever since the ASM tribute issue that I recall a Marvel title using 9/11 as a piece of history as a story element much as they use WWII all the time.

The rationale behind doing it at all was that it was more immersive in the period, because obviously in 1984 the Twin Towers were still there. Although I wasn’t sure if PAD’s implication was that if you backtracked from this point in Spider-Man’s life to the point when he had the black suit that the Towers would still have been there. Because the latter would not be true since at most Peter would’ve been 17-18 and that’s if you accept he’s 35 NOW!

Regardless I think it worked well, I think Marvel handled it tastefully and I respect that they made the effort to justify it as opposed to just throwing it out there.

It’s also very much in line with the ethos of Untold Tales because IIRC whilst the stories were not EXACTLY set in the 1960s they were effectively set in the 1960s and had the same fashions.* Along with the Towers PAD also throws out references to the Muppet Babies and Power Pack who were huge in the 1980s.

All in all I can’t recommend this title highly enough.

BUY IT!

P.S. the only other complaint I have is that we’re apparently getting the Spot later and the Spot didn’t show up until after the Saga. So...we’ll see what happens there.

*Even though nobody in the actual 1960s looked or talked much like Stan Lee wrote Peter and the gang to but you catch my drift.

[davidmann95]

Why is spiderman so great?

The same thing needs to be said upfront here as with Superman and Batman: what makes a character good - at least in the sense of defining core principles of their personality and themes - is not the same thing as what makes them successful. That’s a necessary ingredient, but Spider-Man didn’t climb to the top of the merchandising heap on the back of Peter Parker worrying about his money problems. What was much more relevant - starting at the visceral mass-appeal stuff and working our way down - is likely that:

Everything about Spider-Man and his world looks cool

Each aspect of how Spider-Man looks and moves is calibrated to be slick as hell. He’s got that nifty Steve Ditko costume that shouldn’t work at all with how much detail it has going on and how much it obscures what his deal actually is with traditional superhero elements, but it comes out to a streamlined whole that accentuates how his body curls and angles itself around, and obscuring he’s based on spiders isn’t a problem because they’re the actual worst. He doesn’t just run or fly, but cirque du soleil’s through endless freefall on manmade tightropes and swings that he sticks to and contorts himself around at impossible angles. And he does it all through the most iconic skyline in America - Gotham’s creepy, Metropolis is generic, the other Marvel heroes (aside from a couple in Hell’s Kitchen) use NYC as a base for adventures elsewhere, but Spidey’s the Manhattan hero, ducking and weaving through neon and brick in three dimensions. Add the little storytelling touches on top like the spider-sense lightning and his mask and face appearing at the same time, and his adventures are just cool to look at in a way unlike any other superhero.

His power fantasy is physically easy to imagine

I commented with Superman that he just does what we do but better, and it’s much the same with Spider-Man, but on an even smaller, more intimate scale. His only powers that aren’t just better versions of the things we already do (though not SO much better as to become incomprehensible) are:

* He’s sticky

* He swings from ropes

* He gets a bad feeling about things

We know what those are like. We can imagine the sensations that accompany being him in a way that few other superheroes can match, and therefore watching him do what he does has a certain extra power to it that doesn’t come with watching a hero use telepathy or a wishing ring.

Spider-Man’s funny

So before moving past a picture and the ‘Powers’ section of his Marvel’s Who’s Who entry he’s got a lot going for him, but that’s not the same as a character. But he’s got that too, to an extent even takes as far afield as the Sam Raimi movies at least somewhat understood the biggest detail: Spider-Man’s a goof. Not of the winking-at-the-screen untouchable Bugs Bunny type Deadpool’s popularized lately, but a dope mouthing off in the face of danger because he’s too scared to shut up; whether or not he’s even actually successfully funny almost matters less than that he makes the effort while he’s fighting for his life, and the personality that lends him in the middle a fight where most superheroes default to grimacing silence. The surface qualities I talked about earlier help here too; his spindly figure and ability to get himself into just about any position help with the physical side of comedy, and even ducking the obvious metaphor, him firing silly string and goo all over the place (where it can fizzle out at any moment) like a one-man birthday clown doesn’t hurt. And that he doesn’t put up a serious front additionally means he can FREAK RIGHT OUT when under fire in a way that his colleagues can’t, giving him that little extra range in the right circumstances.

Spider-Man’s the ‘normal’ one

That he acts like a normal human (albeit one asking for a sock in the jaw) in the middle of fights points to the other defining side of his day-to-day adventures: he’s the hero who’s one of us. That’s a gimmick that’s a dime a dozen these days - in fact, Spider-Man didn’t even have the defining “superhero being a normal person” comic of the decade, that was Hawkeye - but he’s original and the A-lister who plays by those rules, and that gives him a cultural foothold that can’t be matched. It’s not just the big, soap-operatic material like his Aunt’s health troubles or losing his job or his friends trying to kill him either; it’s catching the flu, it’s his costume shrinking in the wash, it’s fighting crime for a couple weeks with his arm in a sling or trying to hold a conversation over the phone while people are shooting at him. These ‘what makes X great’ posts of mine tend to focus on what makes characters immediately and obviously connect to a general audience that generally pays attention to them for about 2 1/2 hours every 2-3 years, and with Spider-Man it’s obvious - his adventures are seeped in the mundane of everyday life in a way completely divorced from any other major superhero, and that makes it easy to look at him and go “hah, his costume’s soaked in the rain and he can’t get the boot off/he screwed up and took his mask off while someone was looking/he didn’t stick the landing and fell on his ass! Yeah, I know that feel, that’s probably how I’d be as a superhero too”.

Spider-Man’s a great character

And this comes last: not what draws ‘em in, but what keeps ‘em. Skipping past anything and everything to do with power, responsibility, and dead uncles, Peter Parker’s an interesting dude, because by all rights he should have been a supervillain. On the second page of his first story he’s all but thinking “I’ll show them! I’ll show them all!!!”, his immediate instinct is to make money, and his defining trait at first aside from power and ego is that he’s a budding mad scientist; May and Ben tried their best, and he loves them for it, but Parker’s been hurt by the world every day of his life and hasn’t developed any meaningful concept of why he should bother doing anything for it. But then what happens, happens...and in the original stories, he keeps being an asshole, only quitting showbusiness when he can’t cash the checks, only getting into crimefighting so he can sell pictures of his adventures. He’s just not a very good person by nature; he’s petty and vindictive, short-sighted, fearful, and above all arrogant.

But slowly, painfully, he learns his lesson, over and over and over again. He realizes what happens when he brushes aside his duties, he comes out of his shell and opens up to people, he goes from self-aggrandizing and self-pitying to self-effacing. In other words he stops being a shitty teenager and gets it beat into his head what it means to be a grownup, and no matter how much the world craps on his shoulders he takes it in his stride (give or take an understandable breakdown) and figures his way through it to the next crisis, because he remembers what happens when he shrugs his shoulders and lets the world just roll on past him as not his problem. That may be guilt talking more than principle or reason much of the time, but that’s what makes him vulnerable and scared and human; he fucks up hard and frequently, and keeps going because he can’t quit even when he wants to. He’s just some dude getting by in spite of himself; in other words, he’s the hero who could be you.

[gurguliare]

do you have any ideas for how a Good version of TLJ might have gone? Assuming TFA stayed the same

Okay here I have summarized a convoluted revised version of TLJ for you, keeping as much of the plot skeleton as possible. What I am proposing is not so much a “Good” version as a “trashy version I would have enjoyed.” I feel comfortable in the knowledge that no one is going to read to the end of this read more.

Rey plot: have the initial focus/mystery be the fact that Luke having voluntarily cut himself off from the Force, and the “darkness” on the island then is some kind of very literal dissociated embodiment of his trauma, or whatever; like, Rey talks to Luke and gets nothing from him, Rey goes to the kelp pit and gets the same traumatic memory projector effect as she got from the lightsaber but x1000. Kelp pit is grief pit. Also instead of the porgs retrieving the lightsaber it would have washed up in the sea cave there, obviously. Also logically the pit should be under the tree/temple/whatever, I don’t know why the pit wouldn’t be under the tree. OH maybe there is no tree and Luke destroyed it years ago lmao. And is like, somewhat sheepish about this, but not that sheepish. Luke gives an actual cogent argument for why the Jedi need to end + a description of what it’s like to be submerged in the Force and be tempted, constantly, by the ‘destiny’ the Force recommends, even after having already failed—he wanted to restart the school! He dreamed of finding other children to replace the dead students! He couldn’t bear the hope, so he cut himself off. Rey: “… it’s nothing like that for me. are you sure that was the Force. btw there’s a mirror underground here and it hates you.” The ROTJ parallel isn’t Luke and Vader / Rey and Kylo, it’s Rey distractedly, bemusedly saving Luke.

(As far as the Kylo backstory goes, uhhhh, my problem is that I really LIKE “Kylo thought Luke was going to kill him” from the Kylo side, it’s a classic fucked-up thing triggers massively fucked-up reaction type scenario, my favorite, but I Just. Cannot. Do It. with any amount of finagling. on Luke’s. And all the stopgaps I’m coming up with are ridiculous. “Snoke makes a projection of Luke attack Kylo, foreshadowing Luke’s projection of himself at the end” “Snoke makes a projection of SNOKE attack Luke, Kylo tries to ‘defend’ Luke and accidentally blows up the temple, foreshadowing his failure to blow up Luke’s projection at the end” These are all so bad. I’m realizing that I cut the Luke-projecting-himself element. Maybe uhhhhhh Luke realized that Snoke had been tampering with Ben’s mind and tried to temporarily cut off Ben’s access to the Force >_ Or asked Ben to close off the Force and Ben interpreted that as a threat, rapidly escalated things into a physical confrontation, pretty much accidentally did serious injury to Luke, and then panicked? I don’t know that’s still pretty shitty but I like the idea of this then leading to the world’s most melodramatic self-punishment on the subject, also could tie into “the vanity of the Jedi, thinking they own the Force!”)

0k that’s my tentative proposition. Luke explains this to Rey in five minutes or less, she’s like, “bye,” jumps down the hole. She is crying the whole time for reasons probably. For the record, I would keep a lot of the stuff with Kylo’s and her minds being bridged, or at least I would keep the fact of them being linked all throughout her time on the island—actually, wait, I got it, Kylo is one of the things waiting on the other side of Luke’s severed bonds, so when she goes to the pit she accidentally picks up on that. BTW the Force speech Luke gives her would be all about “bonds” and would be MUCH more Orson Scott Card as a consequence. So now Kylo’s manipulation to the tune of, When I was a child, the galaxy was so silent. Mother was there, and Uncle Luke was there, and everywhere else, silence. Don’t you know what it’s like to be alone? Imagine if someone had asked you—to shut your ears—and she’s like I STAYED ON JAKKU FOR 23 YEARS and smashes the mirror

Luke, extremely Force-hungover: oh

AND THUS, HUT EXPLOSION.

Then Rey and Luke have some kind of excitable shouted conversation in the pouring rain where Luke is like “he’s looking for me!” “YEAH, HE’S LOOKING FOR YOU.” “no, you don’t understand—he’s looking for me!” “HE’S LOOKING AT YOU RIGHT NOW, ACTUALLY.” “but he wasn’t—he disappeared for years! he did take my advice, in the worst way possible! i feel so connected!” “ARGHHHHH”

luke + rey pilot the millennium falcon resistanceward, she discovers he is also a backseat driver

Finn plot: I assumed in the first five minutes of the movie that the way the First Order was “tracking” the Resistance was through Finn, and I still think that makes the most sense/offers the easiest dramatic tension. I mean it’s cheap but whatever this is still a hypothetical Disney movie we’re talking about. Uh… I don’t know there are a bunch of directions you could take this but like … I guess playing on Rose’s initial hero-worship of Finn, make it a thing where… mm. Finn convinces her that the reason he’s sneaking onto an escape pod is because he’s nobly trying to save the Resistance by removing his implanted tracking beacon from the ship (there is no such device and he’s making this up, to the best of his knowledge); she comes up with the plan to uncouple the devices on-site, if they can sneak aboard the ship, because he’s Finn and it’s so important that he escape finally and for real! he makes up a bunch of mumbo-jumbo about First Order security and an expert codebreaker who might be their only hope, planning to lose her on Canto Bight; on Canto Bight, they have some uncomfortable conversation about growing up as slaves and the appeal of the Resistance, Finn maybe assuming that Rose joined for her sister’s sake? wrongly, blah blah extended annoying conversation about how there’s protecting the actual person and then there’s protecting the things that person would want to protect; Lando Calrissian arrests them for parking violations halfway through the conversation, which continues in the prison, where small child jailers throw bones and debris at them; he tries to ditch her in the confusion of the prisonbreak, she catches up to him and is Very Betrayed; then the First Order scoops them up because it turns out they were using Finn to track the Resistance, and the reason they managed to do so even at lightspeed was because Kylo Ren could detect Finn’s force signature. Because of how Force-sensitive Finn is.

Cue tragicomic re-recruitment sequence in which we POSSIBLY meet some of the other Knights of Ren, and also, Phasma is there, “helping.” Phasma: it’ll be just like endurance training! You LOVED endurance training! You did so well on all your diagnostics! Finn: …………………….

Finally Kylo kicks everyone else out and is very casually like hey are you and Rey force-bonded because for some reason she’s stopped talking to me and I’d really love to consult her about somethinggggg, I was wondering if she’d trust me more if I already had your support! Don’t you want revenge? I’m going to kill Snoke. It turns out my uncle loved me!

Finn: should you just say that

Kylo: I’ve been thinking it every day for the past fifteen years so I doubt he’s too worried

Finn: DO YOU NOT SEE THE ISSUE HERE

then unfortunately right at that moment he does actually hear Rey’s voice in his head. Some prior buildup with Rey actively reaching out toward Finn before that and being SUPER FRUSTRATED to constantly get Kylo. Rey: Finn, don’t worry, Master Luke has a plan, we’re coming for you! We’re .… . . crashlanding in the main docking bay and being arrested. Oh my g

I’m basically picturing Luke, like, uselessly draped over several stormtroopers’ unwilling arms because he’s so high on being In Tune With The Force Again, and oh btw the stormtroopers received orders to toss Luke to Kylo but bring Rey straight to Snoke—Kylo: fuck!!! He weirdly ignores Luke, seeming satisfied now that he’s gotten his validation from him. So then Finn and Luke are left alone under guard and Kylo storms off to confront Snoke.

Luke: mmmmmmmm. huh. hello.

Finn: Hey quick q if I’m so fucking Force-sensitive why can’t I read minds and control people’s wills

Luke: [surprised voice] Can’t you? I thought you didn’t want to

Finn: OH MY GOD, I HATE YOU PEOPLE

Luke: Or I could blow up all the electronics in this room, hold on

(later in the chase sequence finn mindcontrols hux and is like “oh god it was so SLIMY like holding an eel”)

Probably some dumb climax where Snoke makes a pitch to Rey re: Luke not training her, which is a true established thing in this version of TLJ, and tells Rey to kill Kylo because he (Snoke) can only afford one apprentice. Rey: are u serious, I actually kind of don’t want to murder him at this point, it seems like a lot of hassle. I want to learn, and you and Luke both suck—Kylo won’t you teach me

(Luke as Finn hauls him across, likely, a catwalk: Do you remember feeling like you couldn’t fit in, like you were always different? The one person you knew who wasn’t part of a whole?

Finn: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Luke: I’ll tell you a secret. That’s because you’re part of something bigger. Something much bigger than your squad, or Hux’s army, or even the Resistance. But you already knew that, didn’t you?

Finn: is it the jedi.

Luke: no. NO. i said BIGGER)

To be fair to Rian Johnson, I have no clue how to write a satisfying multipart star wars climax. something something where Kylo explodes grandpa’s lightsaber in order to finish off Snoke, and I guess takes unconscious Rey prisoner, is realistically how I would end this?? The triumphant Lando-restocked Resistance decloaks, but the First Order fleet turns tail and runs after a few rounds? Finn deliberately uses the Force to find Rose and trace a (reluctant, angry) path through the disintegrating star destroyer, goes with Luke and Rose on the Millennium Falcon, having fought off Phasma but sort of in a hurry? Rose maybe killed Hux? Idk what the reasoning for Finn agreeing to leave Rey would be, other than I guess “the awareness that Kylo wants to use him to manipulate her, however ineptly.” Rose probs involved somehow. Rose: It’s still important that you escaped. Finn: I HAVEN’T GOTTEN AWAY ONCE

end scene where Finn has just finished an offscreen argument with Luke about Luke training him in the Force, and therefore comes to Leia

end-end scene where they all hear Rey’s voice at once because she picked up telepathic specialization from Snoke, because it’s traditional that Rey gain wild new Force powers in every movie purely through observation.

end-end-end scene where Luke has an audibly two-sided argument with Anakin’s ghost behind a closed door (“I’m not the last Jedi. I should have been, but I’m not. It’s my duty—” “what duty. it’s been ten years you haven’t answered my calls” “Daaad.”)

Start of the next movie: Kylo: You know, I used our telepathic bond to mislead Snoke. Rey: cool, don’t care. Kylo: It is ironic because of how he used that same bond to manipulate me. Rey: RED MEN ARE GLISTENING

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Poe plot: Can someone else do this one

[0poole]

Edge of Tomorrow VS Groundhog Day VS Undertale

So me and my family just recently rewatched Edge of Tomorrow, which naturally led us to rewatching Groundhog Day (Except it was my first viewing, apparently it’s one of my parent’s all-time favorite movies) and while doing that I realized Undertale deals with a similar concept to the two films. And, since I’m so in love with basic concepts taken to their natural extremes in stories, I really feel like talking about it. I don’t really know what there is to get out of me talking about it but hey I feel like doing it anyway.

So yeah, I love stories that revolve around one simple, basic concept. You don’t need any interstellar wars with deep political intrigue or complex interpersonal relations to hold up a story if you just say “hey, here’s a weird thing that’s going on and here’s what happens because of it.” From there, you could basically do anything and keep me interested. 

Obviously all the stories are good ones, but I definitely think there’s a hierarchy in how the idea is dealt with. 

Edge of Tomorrow is probably the worst of the bunch, mainly because it feels like the “Time Travel” aspect of the movie is just a sort of tool inside of a normal alien-action movie with the shitty alien hive mind plot device that I actually can’t stand at all anymore but that’s a rant for another day. I still like the movie, obviously, because I like the concept and the aliens at least look really cool, but after watching Groundhog Day I’m realizing there’s some iffy-er feelings about it. First of all, the thing I realized without even having to watch GHD is that they really try to explain too much. The whole problem behind that is that, even with the explanation, it still makes no sense what so ever. Apart from the hive mind device, I also hate it when alien species are presented with “biological superpowers” like they just naturally evolved to control time somehow. Obviously until we actually meet any aliens all bets are off, but as far as we know that is completely ludicrous. The whole “Time Travel” ability is so supernatural that, even when they say “That’s just how the aliens are and getting dissolved by their blood gives you the same power too but only while you still have their blood” is so contrived that you just think “Okay. Sure.” 

I feel like, if you’re to explain anything like this, you really have to make it realistically work or just forego it all together. If you try to give rules to something, all you’re doing is giving Youtube movie reviewers the ammunition to dismiss your whole movies because of plot holes. For example, the plot hole of the main girl character somehow knowing that getting your blood replaced removes your power even though she would have to die to truly be sure. When you try to explain everything, the viewer expects you to explain that too, and as far as I remember it was just a “It felt like it was gone.” Also, spoilers, at the end of the movie when Cruz woke up in the helicopter after destroying the center of the hive mind, it sort of confused you because you weren’t really sure where the starting point for the “Time Travel” starts. If he just woke up on the ground like he did before, you’d just accept it, but changing the location and time makes you think there’s something else at work, and therefore we should at least have some idea of what it is. That one’s kinda just a side affect of the quirkiness of time travel though, especially because he went back in time to right about when the aliens died as a whole even though he technically did that in the future, and yet his current time is seemingly drastically affected by it because he somehow got a higher rank after destroying them... It’s just a mess, and it feels like a mess because we expect an explanation, even though it would just be arbitrary anyways. Again, since something like this just can’t be explained well, trying to explain it just doesn’t feel satisfying.

But to be fair, the one thing I loved about both of the films is the editing as the main character gets into a routine with his infinite day. The way they shrink everything down in time slowly but surely, and then when emotions strike high they show us most of the generic events again. Really, it’s one of the few times you can confidently say that the editing was the best part of the movie. Usually it’s just the acting, plot, characters, etc, but you rarely get something where the editing is in the forefront.

Also the glowy spaghetti aliens looked cool.

But for Undertale, I really only realized it sort of used the same idea as I watched Bill Murray kill himself a dozen times. Unlike the films, Undertale of course could be more meta about it and say the “Time Travel” is just video game logic applied to the canon story itself. Also, the events are being experienced by multiple characters, including the player. It was basically one of the selling points of the game, because the idea of video game logic as a plot device wasn’t really as well known as it is now (thanks to it itself for popularizing it). It didn’t really have to explain much because it was sort of built upon what we already know, i.e. that we die in the game and reset time to our last save point. All they had to do is just say “Hey, that’s called ‘Determination’” and that’s it. When you have Determination, you come back from the dead and keep going. Considering they didn’t try so hard to explain that in detail, you can somewhat pass off the little things, like why the stars specifically are the points at which you come back, etc. When you don’t try to explain things so hard, “plot holes” just become irrelevant details.

But the bigger selling point for Undertale is the characters, and Sans especially is the one made the most interesting out of the concept. Flowey did have the power, and he just went full psychopath on everyone just to see what happened, which naturally is another key point of the game. Him being completely devoid of emotion and sympathy also made him relatively interesting, but Sans being completely unable to control any of it was basically why I like him as a character. Naturally a lot of these characters are sort of one-off personalities, which is definitely fine because of how fun and well written they are. So, you see Sans and you’re like “Okay yeah, he’s lazy and makes jokes. That’s him.” But then you fight him, and say he’s so lazy because he can’t muster up the courage to do anything because he knows that when the player resets the game he’ll just go back in time like he never did it. That’s basically the next ideal step in exploring the concept. GHD is the most basic version of the idea, where the guy that time’s focused around just does whatever he feels like, EoT is when the guy uses the power to save humanity, and UT (or just Sans’ character) is about how a person without this power would react to someone else using the power. It’s actually seriously interesting, and a perfect way to explain a character’s personality. Also, you can’t disrespect an amazing battle theme. 

But, as you’d expect from the order, Groundhog Day is the king of them all, because it is just pure concept. Literally nothing supernatural happens to Murray (and yes I refer to characters by their actors sometimes sue, me) to cause the “Time Travel,” and literally nothing supernatural happens to him to stop it. All the movie is is just “This is happening and this is how he reacts.” Frankly, for something like this, that’s the ideal. You go to the movie in order to see what happens when a guy has to relive one single day no matter what, and that’s it. No extra bells or whistles. You get exactly what you came for, and you get it in such high quality it’s perfect. No one has to care why it’s happening.

First of all, I love how it’s focused around Groundhog Day and the weather as a whole. Weather is so unpredictable that even the professionals have to assign a percentage to it. It’s one of the least predictable things we know of, and that’s exactly why it’s perfect here, because it shows for absolute sure what’s going on. Murray can predict everything, so he could even predict the most unpredictable thing in these circumstances.

Second, it’s a great mish-mash of two key elements of the concepts from both EoT and UT. From EoT, he used his knowledge of the day to his advantage, like anyone would, but using the knowledge differently at different times (i.e. knowing he’ll meet an old friend, to remembering his name, then to punching him in the face, then to buying out his insurance, etc). From UT, he feels like it is happening out of his control, so you get the middle-late section of the movie where he spirals into a deep depression, and throughout just changing his personality. It all feels so natural. At first, you’d totally say “Yeah, I’d do that if I were in his shoes” and towards the end you’d say “Yeah, that’s probably how I would end up if I were actually in his shoes...” I mean, personally I’d go the skill-learning route first but that’s besides the point. You come in wondering what would happen to the guy, and you get exactly that. It just feels right.

Plus, it was just written extremely well, both in the natural progression of his character and in the humor. I’ll always die on the hill of movies having to make you laugh before they can make you truly cry. It lets your guard down. I swear, the day where Murray realizes his actions have no consequences is one of the best parts of any movie I’ve seen. It was so hilarious and fun, even though internally you’re a bit like “What an asshole.” Then you get to the montage of him nonchalantly killing himself, and you really just feel bad for him. Considering humans, as you’d guess, experience a full range of emotions, showing his full range makes him feel so much more human, making him easy to sympathize with. Then, with the cathartic solution at the very end (which is where I usually cry to be honest, not sure why), it feels so good to see him break out of the giant loop of emotions he went through, especially since he seemingly got the best possible ending out of all of them, where he didn’t brute force his way into his love’s heart, and found the goodness inside of him by ignoring his personal interests and consistently doing things to the benefit of others, even though he knows he’ll just have to do it again tomorrow. I’m not sure where to fit it in cleanly but the turning point of him realizing he can’t do a single thing to save that homeless man’s life was seriously heartbreaking, because he felt even more out of control than he already did. 

But yeah, this post was pretty much just a stealth way of me saying how much I like Undertale and Groundhog Day and also mentioning how much I hate the hive mind alien plot devices.

Seriously. What kind of alien species would evolve to be that dependent on a single being? Surely one wrong move means their extinction, right? How could an entire species exist that long under that principle? I would kill for a movie that makes it seem like their aliens are a hive mind, but then once they kill the “queen” the drones all turn on the heroes and wail on them, and after they’re done they just biologically convert one of them into a new queen. You know, like how it actually happens in nature. Every cliche needs exactly and only one instance where another form of media points at it explicitly and laughs, and I’ve yet to see that for this damn hive mind cliche. At least go the Alien route and make the enemy a single organism, so there’s no funny business. I mean I’d also kill for more movies like Valerian where there are so many normal, human-tier aliens that just exist together in a society like actual sentient (sapient) beings. Baby steps, though. I just want good aliens.

[cassandraclare]

on the rights of women to own their own work. crummy crabapple speaks!

Yes, this stuff is still going on. I was hoping it would have ended after this, but it hasn’t, and being called a bitch whore murderer gets wearing fast when it’s based on nothing.

Look, frank talk about this stuff on Tumblr is often discouraged — when you have a small but pretty active group of “haters,” as happens nowadays to most successful creators, especially women, the general rule of thumb is not to talk to or about them. Blocking them on twitter excites them: it’s attention. Replying is pointless, explaining is deliberately misinterpreted, the truth is a lie, lies are truth, up is down, winning is losing. You can’t win in this situation, anyway: nobody can or does, everyone loses. The creators, the fandom, those caught in the middle (actors, etc.) Everyone.

This business about me killing Alec isn’t a rumor. It’s a lie. A purposeful lie told to make a point: that I am a bad person unworthy of my creations and that if I am a bad enough person, it’s okay to say they don’t belong to me, that I didn’t create them, that there is essentially no value in the act of creation, especially when it is done by a woman.

As we all know but mostly don’t talk about because If You Speak It They Will Come, there is a small group of anti-TMI-book fans who believe the books and the show are at war.  (They are not the show’s fans. They are something else entirely. I talk to perfectly nice show fans all the time: these are less people who love Shadowhunters than people dedicated to the idea that if they scream about it long enough, the show will cease being based on this particular book series: an ultimately doomed goal that nevertheless leaves them plenty of opportunities to annoy the rest of us.) Instead of being able to accept that art is partly subjective, they are in a constant battle for an imaginary moral high ground in which they are the keepers of a version of the Mortal Instruments that has been objectively purified of all problematic elements. 

The problem there being, of course, that there is no such thing as perfect, unproblematic media. Art comes from humans and humans are flawed. If you expect perfection you will be bitterly disappointed every single time: I’ve watched it happen over and over, as the this showrunner is a gift tag turns into the This showrunner is not a gift tag,  and many of those who last year spoke glowingly of wrapping Ed Decter, their unproblematic hero (who once said to me in wonder, “You really worked a miracle with Malec, you know, people care about them as if they were a normal couple”), in cotton wool and fuzzy socks, now refer to Todd Slavkin as “Toad.”* Plenty of articles about the problematic elements of Shadowhunters have now been written and plenty of posts posted. (If Ed hadn’t been fired, he might have stuck around long enough to get called Ediot; these things are, after all, just a matter of time. (i get called “Casserole”, seriously, I am not kidding you, you cannot make this shit up.) ) 

To clarify: I am definitely NOT saying that a (potentially problematic) work should remain uncriticized to spare the feelings of the creators because they are flawed humans like everyone else. Criticism is valid; criticism is useful; criticism is important. What I am talking about in this post is not criticism. Telling a creator that her creations should be taken away from her because she “doesn’t deserve them”: not criticism. Making up funny names and mean hashtags for creators you don’t like: obviously hilarious for some, but definitely not criticism. And to some extent everyone knows this – so if it’s important to you that a creator be denied the right to claim ownership of, and pride in, her own work, it has to be because she is not just problematic but corrupt, evil, and cruel. She has to be morally bankrupt such that removing her from the narrative of her own creation is a moral good.

And so the lie that I’m planning to kill Alec (framed within the true narrative that killing off LGBT+ characters is a serious fucking problem in media) is a natural development: because wouldn’t that be awful and mean the books were morally very bad and wrong and shouldn’t creators who create bad wrong things have their creations taken away from them? Which would be just another Misogyny Tuesday on the internet except for the fact that it’s exploiting the fears of a vulnerable group of people (LGBT+ fans for whom Alec means a lot, in whatever format -- fans who have seen over and over LGBT characters die for nothing, for shitty reasons, for straight people, on TV and in movies and in comics and in books and are therefore in a place to be incredibly hurt by it happening again), to score a point in what is basically a ship war. And that is really shitty.

And yes, it’s a ship war.

There was really a “salty casserole” joke in there begging to be made. Missed opportunity!

So, why am I salty, you might ask? There is this belief that I must be Upset With The Show because people care about Malec on it more than Clace: my friends, the field where I grow my fucks is barren on this topic. I made up both couples. I don’t care which one you ship more, especially in a format where their story is not being told by me and for all I know, the showrunners don’t even want you shipping Clace at the moment. They seem into Climon and oh God, I have bored myself with this tangent.

I invented Clace and Malec. I’m writing a trilogy about Malec because I love Malec and have a story in my head about them, despite being offered three times the money to write one about Clace, as they’re “more marketable.” I do not have a favorite. Maybe writing works that way for some people but I doubt it. I’ve always said I don’t ship in my own books, and that is precisely what I meant. 

Moving on: Are there things that have upset me about the show and the way it was developed? Yes — being told my mostly-female audience wasn’t a desirable one because they’re female; the fact that the female artist of color who created the runes has never been paid or credited for their use; being told Isabelle was “tits and ass”, being told Alec being gay was “a strike against his likeability”, contractual shit you will never know about because that stuff isn’t public — but for some reason I’m supposed to give a flying fuck about who ships what canon couple on the show? For viewers, as it should be, this is a TV show: for me this is part of my brand and has real-world consequences for my life. Unsurprisingly I care about those, not some imaginary ship war.

I was thrilled Shadowhunters won a GLAAD award for Magnus and Alec.  (I was thrilled when the movie of Mortal Instruments got a GLAAD award nomination for Magnus and Alec though there was so little of them in the movie, it served to really underline the paucity of LGBT+ storylines in major film and tv.) I congratulated Matt and Harry on twitter; the comments below mine are something of a primer in why female creators are fleeing the internet in greater and greater numbers.

https://twitter.com/cassieclare/status/848497330999369729

The message is overwhelmingly: “Shut up, bitch, how dare you open your mouth and remind us that this show exists because your books do, even though you didn’t actually say that but you see, we like to pretend you’re dead and it’s inconvenient when you speak.” I’d imagine every one of those commenters would tell you they were a feminist, too. The idea that nothing is gained by shutting up women or denying that their intellectual property has worth or value is apparently one that seems good in the abstract, but falls at the first hurdle of but I don’t like her.

The abstract often does fail when it comes into conflict with the concrete. Being a feminist ally means being an ally even to women you don’t like, because being an ally only to people you like requires no effort and less thought. That doesn’t mean never criticizing women or their work. But it does require interrogating what’s going on in your own head. One of the most unpleasant haters I see on twitter, who viciously loathes me though we have never met, has read all my books; she has Malec in her username, and a quote from the books in her bio. She has Cassandra Jean’s art on her twitter page, and Valerie Freire’s rune designs in her text and background. That’s a lot of mental and artistic real estate devoted to the work of three women she refers to as 
“garbage trash.” (Though I think Cassandra Jean and Val are mostly garbage trash because they associate with me and should instead have waited ten years for the TV show to come along so they could draw pictures of it or something. I don’t really understand it: the cognitive dissonance that allows to you dedicate your life to “Malec” while crapping on the person who created both characters and their relationship is so enormous that I can only follow it so far and no farther. I understand thinking that the show version is better, but not whatever warped fantasy tells you that if the books had never been written the show (now called “Evilchasers” perhaps) would have heroically found a way to invent the  story of a gay demon-fighting warrior and his biracial warlock boyfriend anyway because that very specific story was floating around the ethereal planes waiting to be discovered by the psychic powers of Disney and it is only by great misfortune that I got to it first.) Point being: if your username is “Bubbles loves Malec” yet your twitter is dedicated to spewing venom at the person without whom the thing you love would not exist, it might be time to ask yourself some questions about cause and effect, and also, what that hate of yours is doing for you, psychologically speaking.

Look, I am going to get a lot of shit for this post, but whatever — the upside of being constantly screamed at for things you have not done (slut-shamed Isabelle, planned to murder Alec, thus contributing to the fucking awful homophobic trope of killing off gay characters, "stabbed the actors in the back”, promoted incest, poisoned the earth’s water supply) is that you no longer bother worrying about being screamed at for things you did do. I won’t do set visits or conventions since coming back from NY Comicon to stuff like this:  

I’m not going to comment on the specifics, save to say they represent a massive and almost hilarious (though probably deliberate) misinterpretation of literally everything that happened on that panel. (If the network didn’t want book fans there, asking me questions, they wouldn’t have brought me there. I was there to do promotion for the show by talking about the show and the books — I am the author, and what the literal fuck else do you think they brought me there to talk about? The history of Belgian cabinet-making? They don’t think attention paid to the books takes away from the show: only a small group of asshats think that, and it’s weird that the OP never paused to think that if they didn’t want me there talking about the books, they could simply NOT HAVE INVITED ME. Also did it seriously never occur to them that panelists are asked to speak at certain junctures or in reference to certain questions, or gestured at to do so, we don’t just randomly interject? Lord.

I will admit it was extreme of Harry not to leave me lying there on the floor or maybe drop a chair on my head while no one was looking. He should reconsider his choices.)

But that’s the thing: posts like this one are the reason I haven’t gone back to set, or gone to another convention, or promoted the show. Would you go to a convention if you knew people like this were going to be feet away from you in the audience? I’m a grown-up, I can take being called Crummy Crabapple (did the whole kindergarten class vote on that one or was it a decision by fiat…?) but the sheer hate that underpins the silliness of the post makes the idea of being near people who think like that fairly shuddery. 

I gathered a few such posts together to show to FF, and the network’s never blamed me for not wanting to go out and physically promote again. The sad part of all this is that mostly I pretend the show doesn’t exist because the downside of mentioning it is being screamed at for days by asshats (Let me be very specific what I mean by “asshats” = people who send threats, who use insulting gendered language, make anti-Semitic slurs, and repeatedly tell me I should not be allowed to own my own work — if this is not stuff you do, I’m not talking about you. Criticism of the books is fine and irrelevant.) 

We all know these asshats exist — and we are all sad about it: me, the network, the actors, the showrunners, because the net result of them existing is that I don’t talk about or promote the show, and that’s a loss for a show that could really use that outreach. Losing me, my online audience, my worldwide publishers, as potential promotional partners is bad, not good, for a show that these people theoretically love. Losing the book fans the show depended on as viewers, but who can’t stand the toxic atmosphere, is bad, not good, for the actors and writers they claim to support. Screaming “INCEST FREAK!” at every twelve year old who comes online and timidly asks when they will see Chairman Meow is not going to raise the show’s ratings. If someone is more interested in driving away the show’s potential audience because they regard them as moral degenerates than they are in getting it renewed, that’s their bliss to follow, but the reason I’m mentioning these people at all is 1) I’m disturbed by the narrative women shouldn’t be allowed to own their own work and 2) many many posts have now been made about what an awful place the Shadowhunters/TMI fandom is, and that sucks for everyone. Sadly, it doesn’t take that many people to ruin an online space.

The idea that the books and the show are at war for kibbles is a fannish one (most people, including my publisher, regard TV shows based on books as advertising for those books because from a book perspective that’s what they are) seems to come out of the fact that fans argue about which they like better, something that has happened since the dawn of adaptations. I remember it from when I was in the Harry Potter fandom: Alan Rickman understood Snape better than JKR, the movies gave Draco more depth, etc and so on. Looking back now I can see the irony of people with usernames like Lupinfan talking about how Lupin was sidelined in the books but not the movies, but distance gives infinite perspective, I suppose. If you like Malec better on the show: awesome. They still exist on the show because they were invented in the books. That statement will be interpreted as the height of arrogance, but it’s just flat fact. They matter in both formats to a lot of people. There will never be a hand of God that reaches down from the sky and declares either one better. It will always be a matter of taste and opinion. The fact that art is subjective is something we all have to live with.

This is what I mean about the “killing Alec” lie: it has become part of the justification for my unworthiness to claim to have anything to do with my own characters. Killing Alec would be a bad thing to do to Alec (and Magnus); thus I would be terribly maltreating Alec (and Magnus); thus I don’t deserve to have anything to do with Alec (or Magnus). Thus it is okay to tell me to get the fuck out – how dare I even open my bitch mouth to congratulate the actors playing my characters if I would do something so terrible to them, after all? And who cares if it’s a lie and no one can source it? (Come on now, be real — no one tried.)

Whether I deserve Alec and Magnus is somewhat beside the point: I invented them regardless, and there was a large and profoundly intense Malec fandom before the show ever aired, whose existence is in fact directly responsible for the fact that Malec are a thing on the show at all. (Initially, neither of them appeared or were even referred to in the pilot.) Reality doesn’t really intrude into the fantasy that Magnus and Alec and Isabelle and Jace descended, pre-created, from a sky cloud, though: the fan/creator ownership dichotomy has existed since before Arthur Conan Doyle was bullied into bringing Sherlock back from the dead. Fans and creators don’t always agree and creators aren’t always right. What they are, however, always, is creators.

(In case I had forgotten that I am not, in fact, a hot dude actor. ASTONISHING INFORMATION.) It is mysterious to interpret congratulating actors as taking “credit for Matt and Harry’s hard work”;  I neither need or want that anyway because I am not an actor; I am already credited on the show as the author of the source material, which is what I am. (I’ve won plenty of book awards but would be very puzzled to win, say, a Nobel prize for chemistry.) I congratulated the actors knowing I’d get a raft of shit for either doing so or not doing so: I chose to do so despite the inevitable annoyance factor because I like Matt and Harry; I wanted them hired; I like how much they love the characters, and I’ve always found them to be kind people who would loathe and despise the kind of tweets these folks are sending on their behalf.

Ironic, that.

But yeah, I also sent it because I’m proud of Malec. Deal with that. Women need to be allowed to be proud of their work sometimes without that being considered a deep evil. I don’t think the Magnus and Alec I created are perfect (by which I mean my writing of them, not their endearing flaws ;) but they represent years of work and love, and like any author would be, I’m thrilled to see the screen version of them acknowledged twice as something special. That’s very normal: for the GLAAD win, I got flowers from my publisher, congrats from the network and from my agents at CAA, because why wouldn’t you congratulate an author on something good happening to an adaptation of their books? The idea that when discussing an adaptation of their work, an author should reel back in terror screaming “I AM UNWORTHY TO BE MENTIONED IN THE SAME SENTENCES AS THE CHARACTERS I CREATED!” is so bizarre to most people that if you tried to explain to them that some women, not all women hahaha of course, but SOME WOMEN JUST DONT DESERVE TO BE ALLOWED TO TALK OR CLAIM THEY CAN “OWN” THINGS AMIRITE, they would back quietly away muttering that they had an important appointment to get their hedgehog dyed blue because they would literally think you were probably a serial killer.

This situation is not unique to these books, to me, or to this show: however, there is a special angle to this particular situation. Many commenters on all this have noted that the books are a female creation, the show a male one. Ed, Todd, Michael, Matt, McG, and Darren are all men, and in many ways, people find it much more comfortable, much easier, and much simpler to give uncritical admiration to men. They’re men, and therefore they have authority I don’t, and my continued existence as the author of the source material of Shadowhunters is seen as even more horrible because it makes it a girl thing, and “girl things” are less serious and less worthy. One of the things I often see the haters say is that the show is “older”; in fact the audience of the show is statistically younger than the book’s audience (I’ve seen the numbers) but I think it’s hard not to want to dismiss something so imbued with lady germs as being inherently inferior (and what’s more inferior than young women? It’s trendy to bash YA, which is seen as the province the young and the female – surely preferring men’s work makes you, you know, a more serious person? And surely if I had the sense God gave a weasel, I’d stop writing, give the book rights to some guy, and retire in shame? GO FORTH HARLOT AND WRITE YA NO MORE.)

Feminism does not mean you cannot criticize works by women. I’ve said that before, but I’m saying it again because it’s so easy to dismiss essays like this by saying “She’s hiding behind feminism and claiming we can’t criticize her because she’s a woman!” Nope. (Though it does mean you look for patterns. It’s kind of interesting there’s this small group of people who believe these characters/storylines really came alive when control of them was handed over to a series of ever-changing white middle-aged men. I mean, coincidence perhaps, but…?) I haven’t addressed criticism here really because it’s not the point: there is a huge gap between writing a bad review of a woman’s book and crusading for the idea that she shouldn’t be allowed to own her own intellectual property. Men taking away, literally taking away the money made from and authorship of women’s work is an ugly part of history (“Colette and [her husband] separated in 1906, although it was not until 1910 that the divorce became final. She had no access to the sizable earnings of the Claudine books [she had written]—the copyright belonged to him”) and it’s disturbing to see a group of primarily women argue that it should be repeated.

If the idea that a woman created Magnus and Alec, or any characters or world, is so horribly, terribly bothersome that you have to make up lies that, in your mind, render her unworthy of her own creation so that it’s all right to “take it from her” by discounting her role as a writer, her ownership of her own intellectual property, her right to exist as a person and to stand on the same stage at a convention as the “gem-like saint” male actors playing her characters —  maybe think about why?* What does screaming that I’d better not think Alec and Magnus have anything to do with me get you, really? Except the knowledge that if, one day, you write or create or draw something people love, you’ve helped create an environment in which it’s a veritable certainty you’ll get treated like you’re a piece of shit for doing it?

*And “bitch” is “bitch”, friends. It doesn’t matter what letters you take out, it’s still misogynist and still shitty. You know what you’re saying, and so does everyone else. Try asshat, really. I recommend it.

[auvan]

#2- Van McCann

REQUEST: Anonymous: Just read #1, liked your writing a lot! Could you maybe do one in which the reader is studying something like sound engineering so she gets an internship working with the boys’ sound team, and Van eyes her a lot and tries to make conversation all the time but she’s kinda shy at first? And then they become friends but they obviously like each other? Sorry if this is oddly specific, it’s the first time I make a request lmao Thank youuu, xx Anonymous: i need some serious van angst like where the reader upsets him or something but they make up and its cute af

Word Count: 2396

Note: I combined a full request with a vague one, so I did change things up a bit. I’m pretty proud of this one, and all feedback is appreciated. Please, please, please feel free to request.

When you were first accepted into the summer internship program at your university, you were ecstatic. Initially, you weren't told much about exactly what you'd be doing, just that you were heading out on a nationwide tour with a rock band to study in your field for the summer semester. You learned that you'd be directly practicing your hand in audio engineering. You felt a bit out of your element at first, and rightfully so. You were one of the youngest and by far the most experienced on the tour.

You met the tour in the big city just short of a week after your semester ended. The sound team was extremely kind and open, immediately bringing you up to speed on everything going on. At the first soundcheck, Van McCann lit up the stage like a true star. He was so full of energy and carried so much pride in what he did. He was all smiles and laughs.

He took his time introducing himself to everyone he didn't know and greet old friends and crew members, and something made you want to fade into the background in that moment. It wasn't that you didn't want to meet him, because holy shit, you did. Just, something about him made you nervous and far more shy than usual. When he got up to the sound crew, he greeted everyone in the order that they stood. You were last.

“I’m Van!” He was clearly excited and happy. He had a smile worth a thousand words. “Great to meet you, Love. Are you the new sound intern?”

“Um, yeah. I’m Y/N.” You tried not to blush, or shake, or give away how nervous you were. But your voice totally didn't get the memo and cracked, betraying the cool vibe you were trying to portray.

“Pretty name, pretty girl.” Van grinned, and straight after, someone called his name. “Excuse me, that's my queue.” He joked.

As he jogged off, you sighed to yourself. It wasn't that you didn't want to meet or know Van, because you definitely did. He just seemed far too cool, calm, and collected for you. You brought your hands up to your mouth and chewed at your nails, bringing your focus back to what the sound engineers were describing to you.

It wasn't unusual for you to get shy. It was almost a part of your character. When it came to Van, though, your shyness seemed to intensify. He had a way of carrying himself that was unintentionally intimidating. It wasn't something you found yourself coping with. Many people mistook you for rude or snobby, but you were really just shy. You found yourself easily intimidated and your shyness could often turn to defensiveness, but once your walls came down, you were sweet, kind and funny. It just took a while, and most people didn't care to stick around for you to get there.

As the next couple weeks progressed, you fell into a peaceful routine of skipping from city to city, learning everything about professional sound engineering. You'd become close with the bands on tour, but still found yourself hiding away when Van approached you. In most cases, you were able to dodge him gracefully, ducking around equipment or finding someone else to talk to. In the rare occasion that you couldn't dodge Van, you'd talk short and sweet, doing your best to come across as busy or tired or find another excuse to end the conversation.

It was a Thursday afternoon, about two hours before the boys were to hit the stage, when Van caught you outside having a smoke. “Can I join you?” He smiled, pulling a cigarette from his pack before you could answer.

“Sure thing,” You smiled. Your nerves were in full force. Wiping your sweaty palms on your jeans, you tried to finish your smoke as quickly as possible. When you looked up, you noticed Van was watching you. You watched back, not saying anything, but rather trying to cope with him being so close to you.

Van was pretty. Probably the most handsome guy you’d ever seen, if you were being honest with yourself. His eyes were so blue, like the brightest sky or the clearest ocean. His bone structure seemed to be carved out perfectly, and the way he pushed his hair back was incredibly sexy. God. You could’ve kissed him right there. Instead, though, you found yourself ducking away.

“Are you avoiding me?” Van’s voice startled you. You wanted to cringe, but you didn’t.

“Yeah,” You shrugged. Maybe he’d save you from suffering and just leave you alone. “I guess.”

“I’ll leave you be then,” He shook his head. “No need for you to run off. Again.”

You definitely didn’t mean to upset Van. That clearly wasn’t your intention. But the way he blew smoke from his mouth with a huff and walked away made you want to cry. This wasn’t the first time your shyness had driven someone away, and you feared that it wouldn’t be your last. You wanted to turn around and follow him and yell “I’m sorry! You make me nervous! I don’t want to make a fool of myself!” But instead, you turned inside to be met by Larry rolling his eyes.

The next few days after that seemed to drag on in a daze of weird gazes and angry looks. Okay, the angry looks were really only from Larry, but whatever. It still sucked. If anything, it made you more shy. You wanted to crawl into a hole, but for now, your bunk would suffice. Something about knowing that you upset Van made you feel equally anxious and horrible. On one hand, you wanted to find him and tell him that you did want to know him, he just made you nervous; that you'd always been shy and easily intimidated. On the other, you were pretty sure that your heart would explode before you could get all the words out.

In all reality, you loved every second you spent around Van. He was incredible to watch on stage, and his voice was somehow soft and smooth and rough all at once. Your job, as an audio engineer, was to make the band sound as good as possible. You felt like he made your job easy, because holy shit, he always sounded incredible. So did the others. Catfish and the Bottlemen sounded immaculate together. There was so much raw talent that it was almost overwhelming. Almost.

Finally, the tour was halfway done. It was bleak at times, but also the best time you'd ever had. The half tour celebration fell on a Wednesday night, and the entire band lineup and the crew went out for drinks. You'd particularly warmed up to Kim, one of the publicists. She was in her early 30s and probably one of the most radical people you'd ever met. She helped you a lot, specifically through homesickness, motion sickness (from the bus), and of course, your incredible shyness. She seemed to bring you out of your shell just enough to convince you to come along with everyone else.

Drinks came quickly, and the fruity ones were better than any shitty drinks you'd had at the pubs near your university. You found yourself watching members of the bands and crews taking turns doing karaoke, or picking songs from the jukebox to dance to. You, against what assumed would happen, were having a blast. Even if you just stayed in one spot. Van was probably the worst dancer you'd ever seen, Larry being an extremely close second. You thought about joining them, but the thought seemed to cause your palms to sweat once again. Maybe someday, you decided.

Whoever decided to call alcohol liquid courage was right. For whatever reason, when you watched Van grab his jacket and announce that he was heading out to smoke, you joined him.

“Hi,” Your voice was smaller than you intended. “I know we didn't get off on the right foot. I’m sorry about that. Really, I think you're so cool. And fucking talented, Van. Just, you make me nervous. I’m already shy as fuck, and you make it worse, and I know I came off as a bitch, but I really just want to be your friend.” In one big breath, you got all of that out. Your cheeks were flushed red and your hands were shaking (partially because you'd forgotten your jacket).

“I’m sorry,” Van laughed. Not in a cruel way, but rather, at himself. “I just figured you were too good for me. I guess I didn't even think that, maybe, you were feelin’ a bit shy.”

“Yeah,” you laughed back, trying to stay as cool as you wanted to be. “Still, I’m sorry.”

“You're proper cute, yanno?” Van ignored your apology. Your cheeks flushed deeper.

“Friends?” You held your hand out.

“Friends.” Van shook your hand, holding it a lick longer than he had to.

From there out, things were breezier. Van always joined you to smoke, and you often found yourself lounging around with him, watching movies or listening to old records. He was intent on learning every detail of your life from childhood to now, and he had no problem relaying the same to you. Within a week, Van was your best friend. He seemed to know everything about you and was teaching you everything about him. On the few days you had off, he'd take you sightseeing. Larry stopped glaring at you every chance he got. Friendship with Van McCann was easily built. He was open and funny and, as you suspected, way too cool for you. Still, from the second you declared friendship on him, he was a true ride or die.

As the tour started to die down, you realized that life was going to return to normal. You were starting to miss your new life, and it wasn't even over yet! It bummed your mood a bit, because holy shit, you were loving every second of tour now. Van had brought you out of your shell and easily became your best friend on the tour, you warmed up to nearly everyone else, and you were having the time of your life. You hated that you spend half of the tour being shy and afraid, because now, it seemed like time wasted on what could have been the best of your life. You never wanted any of this to change.

Van was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, eyes locked on some wildlife documentary. You wanted to pay attention to whatever the voice was saying about stingrays, or sharks? Whatever. But you couldn't. Your eyes were dead locked on Van. From the second you set your eyes on him, he seemed to cloud your thoughts more often than not. Even when he thought you hated him. Even when the idea of talking to him sent you into sweats. Now, when he was sitting straight in front of you, you just wanted to pause the world for a while.

“Van,” You pressed a hand to his shoulder to get his attention.

“What is it, Love?” Just like every time he called you Love, butterflies erupted in your stomach.

“I think you're my best friend.” Fuck. That was lame.

“I think you're mine, too, babe.” He smiled over his shoulder. Big and toothy.

“We can still be friends when the tour’s over, right?” You didn't mean to be so lame, but it had easily become your biggest fear. You wanted these moments with Van to last forever.

“Always.” Van took your hand and kissed the top of it. “You can't get rid of me that easily.”

“I wouldn't want to.” It was the truth. You never wanted to get rid of Van. He was one of your favorite people.

Within the remainder of the tour you'd made lifelong friends, especially Van, found yourself falling in love with your career all over again, and started finding a way to sneak out of your shell little by little. You had one day left- just one day of nothing but celebrations of a successful tour and friendship all around. Your heart was entirely full. You weren't quite sure where you were headed, or what would come next, but you had memories to hold onto and new friendships that you had no doubt would last a lifetime.

Standing outside of the bus, your suitcases on either side of you, Van was standing next to you. You'd be heading to some hotel for just one more night. With a smoke in his mouth, Van started to giggle.

“What?” The sun was in your eyes, so you were squinting up at Van.

“This is stupid,” Van shook his head. “But tomorrow, I’m supposed to let you leave! That’s dead fucked, Y/N!”

“What do you mean?” You laughed back, but you really weren't sure what Van meant at all.

“I proper love ya,” Van wasn't usually soft spoken, but his voice was much lighter than usual. “I don't want you to leave. I want you to come back with me, as crazy as that would be.”

“Van…” You choked out, shaking your head.

“It's fuckin’ selfish, I know it is. But for fuck’s sake, Y/N, I don't know what I’m gonna do without you.”

“Van, I- it's not selfish.” You weren't sure what else you could say. “I love you too, I think, and-”

Van didn't let you finish, instead, he wrapped an arm around you, leaned down, and kissed you. Hard. Then soft. It was the kind of kiss that up until that moment you were sure only happened in movies. It was the kind of kiss that sent lightning through your limbs and made your heart soar.

The cab pulled up, drawing you out of your daze. Van didn't speak, rather just threw the suitcases into the trunk and grabbed your hand. You weren't quite sure how everything would work with Van’s touring schedule and your school, but that didn't seem to matter. The boy that you'd once tried too hard to avoid laced his fingers in yours and didn't let go, and somehow, you doubted that he ever really would.

“We have a lot to figure out, you know.” You rested your head on Van’s shoulder.

“Easy,” Van kissed the top of your head. “It’ll be easy.”

[bellakitse]

Science buddies

Isak and Sana study at her place, she tells him what’s been bothering her. Isak meets Yousef.

“Okay, the symbol Sb stands for stibnum or stibnite. What is the modern name of this element?” Sana asks as she and Isak sit on the floor of her living room, using the coffee table as a desk.

Isak squints for a moment, holding up a hand when Sana goes to answers. “Wait, wait, I know this give me a sec.”

Sana closes her mouth and leans back against the couch, waiting.

“Antimoy!” Isak shouts suddenly and excited. “I’m right, right? Tell me I’m right.”

Sana chuckles as she nods. “Correct, stibnum is the old name for antimoy,”

“Thank fuck,” Isak says letting out a sigh of relief. “I didn’t think Chemistry would be this hard, Biology was a breeze.”

“Maybe it’s not so much that the subject is hard, but that you are distracted with other things,” Sana says throwing Isak a knowing smirk as Isak starts to blush. “Like sucking face with a certain giant, you recently moved in with?”

“Everyone acts like that’s all we do,” Isak says with a little pout on his face.

Sana raises an eyebrow at that. “It’s not?”

“No,” Isak shakes his head. “We also watch his highly pretentious movies while he goes on and on about the cinematic genius it went into every shot and listen to shitty pop music which he makes me dance to with him.”

Sana grins widely at the picture that makes in her head and the boy before her who is trying to control his own goofy smile. “You love every second of it, don’t you?”

Isak shrugs bashful, a small genuine smile on his face. “Yeah.”

Sana nods, placing a hand over Isak, giving it a squeeze when he looks up at her. “I’m glad, Isak,” Sana says her voice quiet, and she means it. She’s happy for the boy in front of her who she can honestly call a friend, but she’d be lying if she didn’t admit to feeling a pang at not having anything even close to what he has. “Everyone should be as happy as you and Even are, you guys are lucky to have found it.”

Isak stares at Sana for a moment, holding on to her hand when she tries to remove it from his. “Are you okay, Sana?”

Sana startles at the question, wondering when was the last time anyone asked her that. When was the last time anyone even noticed that she might not be?

“I-“ Sana starts to bluff her way out of the question, of course, she’s fine. Everyone expects her to be fine all the time, she’s Sana Bakkoush, she’s untouchable.

“Sana?” Isak questions again gently.

She lets out a sigh and feels like a balloon deflating, her energy drained. “I’ve been better.”

Isak waits quietly for her to continues, and when she opens her mouth, it all starts pouring out, like a sudden flood, fast and unstoppable. Her disconnect from her friends and their lack of awareness, Vilde endless sex conversations. Her brother’s friends and the girls’ interest in them. She whispers her own interest in Yousef and the confusing feelings whenever he’s around, Isak smiles at that and she rolls her eyes in return while a small smile tugs on her own lips, feeling lighter with each word that passes her lips. When she’s done, she left out another breath, the tension in her shoulders easing.

“A little better?” Isak asks, his shoulder pressing into hers, having moved closer during her talking.

“Yeah,” she says and is grateful that it’s true. She knows talking about everything that she’s been feeling with Isak isn’t going to magically fix her problems, but suddenly she realizes just how badly she needed to talk to someone. “Better, thanks.”

“Anytime,” Isak answers simply and Sana knows he really means that. They both stay quiet for a moment, though Sana can see a grin playing at Isak’s lips.

“So,” he drags out, his green eyes twinkling with mischief. “You have a crush, is he cute?”

Sana lets out a sound of outrage when Isak starts chuckling. “That’s what you decided to focus on?”

Isak shrugs. “It’s the least complicated part of everything you told me. I’m not Muslim I can’t even begin to understand the shit you have to deal on a daily basis because of people’s ignorance about your religion. I’m not a part of your girl squad so the dynamic there is tricky for me, though I do think you should tell them how they are making you feel, they’re your friends and they care about you. The Vilde and sex thing, all I can say is thank god Magnus isn’t sharing like her, although that does bring up some questions because if they are having as much sex as she says they are having, I would think he would tell us, Magnus doesn’t exactly know how not to overshare. If anything, the crush part is the easiest thing.”

Sana looks at Isak skeptical about his logic but curious. “How?”

“Well,” Isak starts with a wide playful smile as he leans in a little closer to her. “If you like this guy, he obviously has to like you back-“

Sana raises an eyebrow as Isak trails off and watches as his amused smile turns gentle. “After all, how can any guy not like you back Sanasol, you’re awesome.”

Sana feels herself blush despite herself, feeling warm from the inside out. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I speak the truth,” Isak affirms.

Sana opens her mouth when she hears the front door open followed by the laughter. She picks out one voice in particular. “Crap, it’s him,” she whispers as she quickly smooths out her clothes, running a finger under her bottom lip to check her lipstick isn’t feathering.

Isak’s eyes widen and mouths ‘the boy’ to which Sana nods furiously too, she doesn’t get to do anything else as Elias and Yousef enter the living room, stopping short when they spot Sana and Isak. Elias raises an eyebrow at them it’s only then that Sana realizes just how close Isak and her are sitting. She starts to shift only to have Isak nudge her with his foot, when she looks at him he darts his eyes towards the two boys and then back at her. It goes to show how much her friendship with Isak has grown that she reads him quickly. She looks back at Elias and Yousef, and while her brother is looking at the curiously, Yousef expression is more complicated as he frowns at them. She stops from moving away from Isak and settles back next to him, Yousef’s frown grows and well isn’t that interesting.

“Hey,” she says casually, offering nothing more in the way of explanation.

“Hey,” her brother greets back, still looking between the two of them. “Didn’t know you’d be home.”

“Isak and I needed a place to study,” she answers. “Isak this is my brother Elias and his friend Yousef.”

Isak nods, saying hello to the two boys which they respond in kind.

“So, what are you guys studying?” Yousef asks as he sits on a chair across from them when Elias leaves the room to get some equipment they need.

“Chemistry,” Isak answers for them, nudging her shoulder with his again, giving her a wide grin. “Though really, it’s more like Sana saving my ass, I’ve been slacking on the reading, and my science buddy here took pity on me and gave me her notes and has been quizzing me.”

“Well you are pitiful,” Sana replies, laughing when Isak lets out a wounded ‘hey.'

Isak shakes his head at her, smiling. “How can someone so cute be so mean,” Isak asks to the room at large though his eyes are focused on Yousef, a smirk playing on his lips.

Sana turns her gaze to Yousef, her eyes widening as she watches his cheeks redden.

The room remains quiet for a moment longer before Isak starts to stand. “Well I should be off, it’s getting late. Sanasol, thank you for saving me once again, Yousef, it was nice meeting you man.”

Sana stands too as Isak gathers his stuff. “I’ll walk you out,” she says ignoring the way Yousef’s eyes follow them as they leave the living room.

Isak is putting on his shoes, grinning at her like an idiot. “I was right,” he whispers to not be overheard.

“About what?” she hisses back, the whole encounter having left her off balance.

“That boy,” Isak starts pointing towards the living room. “Is so gone for you, it ridiculous.”

“You’re ridiculous,” she shoots back, like earlier.

“He was jealous at how close we were, and he looks at you like you hung the moon,” Isak hisses back, putting on his jacket.

“Your proof?” Sana questions even as her stomach flutters at the possibly.

“My eyes, Sana,” Isak says deadpan as he opens the door. “Now go back in there and work your magic, good luck and tell me everything later.”

He flashes her a thumbs up like the fool he is, and Sana shakes her head as she closes the door behind him, taking in a deep breath for courage before walking back into the living room.

“Elias not back yet?” she asks as she starts to pick up her books from the coffee table.

“No, he probably can’t find it in that mess he calls a room,” Yousef says with a chuckle.

“Yeah,” Sana agrees, and an awkward silence fills around them.

“Well, I’m going to my room-“

“Is that Isak guy your boyfriend-“

“What?” Sana questions as Yousef stares at her with wide eyes. “What did you just say?”

Sana watches as Yousef licks his lips nervously. “I asked is Isak your boyfriend, you seemed…close.”

“We’re friends,” Sana says carefully.

“But maybe he’s interested in you,” Yousef continues, and Sana lets out a loud laugh at that, startling him.

“Sorry,” Sana says still chuckling. “Sorry, no, Isak likes me like a friend, and that’s it, trust me.”

“And you?” Yousef questions quietly, looking down at his shoes.

Sana bites down on her bottom lip to keep from smiling and for a moment thinks of Isak and how smug he’s going to be when they talk. “No, he’s not really my type,” she murmurs, holding Yousef’s gaze when he looks back at her, feeling her cheeks heat up as Yousef starts to slowly smile at her they longer they stare at each other.

The small ‘oh’ he lets out has her grinning despite her blush.

[uniformbravo]

hmm couldnt stop thinking abt wreck-it ralph 2 so here’s some Thoughts (things i didn’t like, things i would have changed. u know how it is)

obligatory disclaimer im not calling myself an Expert™ here im just letting off some steam ok don’t take this as a legitimate effort gnfkgn

ok so my initial thoughts after seeing this movie were that it was a complete mess, there’s a ton of clutter that doesn’t need to be there, too much random shit is introduced in the late game. but then i was like. well not totally?? regarding that last point at least; it felt like the virus was this random plot point they decided to pull in outta nowhere just to create a big dramatic climax, but the concept actually was introduced at the beginning of the movie? when ralph & vanellope are hanging out in the tron game & it glitches & they’re like well shit. this is what ralph specifically calls back to when he gets the idea to use a virus on the slaughter race game later on, so it’s not like the movie pulled this out of thin air, it did kind of lay the groundwork beforehand. kind of. except that even then it still doesn’t really feel like it

like, it’s honestly a pretty weak connection? this virus that ralph uses is kind of a Big Deal because it directly leads to his & vanellope’s fight and then the literal climax of the movie, they have to fight this thing to save the Entire Internet, but the point where the concept is introduced during the tron scene feels so easily dismissed in comparison. Like, it doesn’t feel dangerous in any way, it’s just kind of like “aw shucks, looks like we can’t play in tron anymore, oh well” and that tonal dissonance makes for a super weak setup. i mean, fuck, ralph literally had to have dialogue reminding you that it even happened just so he could connect it to this new plot point, which is pretty fuckin bad tbh!

there’s also the fact that it wasn’t even a virus in the tron game in the first place. it was literally just a glitch, and the connection between that and this virus was “well that glitch made the game not fun so vanellope didn’t want to play it anymore, so maybe i can use a virus to get the same effect in slaughter race!” which. doesn’t even technically make it a real callback, it literally is just introducing a new element in the late game, therefore making it feel v abrupt and out of place in the story.

i think it could have been integrated better if the tron thing and the virus were actually the same thing? and there could have been more importance placed on the tron scene, like instead of just making it this throwaway little “ralph & vanellope are friends!” scene it coulda been like “oh shit watch out for viruses, they are dangerous and will fuck up your game!” which would have made ralph’s conscious decision to use one later way more impactful, since the audience would have had that association from before

now. speaking of ralph using the virus. we come to my biggest issue w/ the movie,,

i... hate how they handled the conflict between ralph & vanellope’s arcs lol. i mean, it starts with a genuinely interesting concept: ralph and vanellope are best friends. vanellope feels trapped by how small and limiting the world of her game is, she’s itching for something new and exciting to break up the monotony; she needs change. ralph is happy with the way things are to the point that he fears change and will actively work against it; he has become overbearing and clingy and needs to learn to give his friend space. this isn’t a bad premise at all, but the way it’s handled is so. oof

so, they go into the internet, right, and vanellope finds this game, slaughter race, that is the epitome of everything she loves and has been yearning for; violence, cool cars, like-minded people. she starts to hang out with the characters there, and ralph sees this as a threat to his friendship with vanellope, so he decides to infect the game with a virus to make it boring and hopefully make vanellope lose interest. again, not bad ideas for an interesting narrative! where it falls apart is in the execution

first of all, this is obviously toxic ass behavior. like, just a really shitty thing to do. vanellope found something that makes her happy, and ralph wants to drag her away from it just so she’ll spend more time with him, and not make any other friends besides him. it’s garbage behavior. this would be completely fine if the movie didn’t treat ralph like?? a victim??? rather than a person who made a shitty decision????

like okay yes they do make it clear that this was Not The Right Thing To Do, but the whole time there’s this attitude of like.... i think they’re trying really hard to push ralph as this dumb lovable guy who means well but messes up despite his good intentions, so when he does mess up & do something shitty it’s with this kind of earnest attitude that makes him still feel like The Good Guy

like when he does that to vanellope the tone is a lot more lighthearted than it should be, he’s standing there literally going “hmm how can i stop her from leaving me,., i know, i’ll take away the thing she loves so she has no choice but to come back to me! what a good idea!” like he sees absolutely Nothing wrong with that. it really rubs me the wrong way, like they’re almost trying to get you to root for ralph in this situation, like they want you to want ralph to succeed in doing this awful thing so he can succeed and “save” his friendship w/ vanellope

it would have been different if like, going off of the other idea i had about the virus, right. it’s now the same virus from the tron game, so the audience already knows about it and how dangerous it is because they were warned about it at the beginning of the movie. ralph also knows this, but he decides to use it anyway because he’s that desperate and afraid to lose vanellope. the scene where he makes this decision, rather than having him belt out the plot synopsis version of his thought process, is more dramatic, weighty. we see him really Thinking about it, weighing the options in his mind, it’s clear that he understands the consequences. 

this way there is already some guilt in the equation from the beginning so that when it blows up in his face and almost literally kills vanellope there is a real Consequence to his mistake, and it’s a harsh wakeup call as to how horrible he’s actually being. like a “i knew it was wrong and i did it anyway, so now i pay the price” kind of thing, instead of the movie’s “oh no!! i didn’t know it would be this bad!!! i thought i would just be ruining things for my best friend in a harmless way!!” like, the movie really wants to take the blame off of ralph and make him seem as innocent as possible and it’s a Real Bad Look imo.

changing things this way would also give their subsequent fight a lot more punch because instead of ralph being like “ghfnkgjsdkg i didn’t mean to!!!!1” he would be like “i did a bad thing and i’m sorry” and when vanellope feels betrayed and denounces their friendship (as she has every right to) it would feel so much more deserved and therefore painful, the Good kind of painful that this movie tried to have & desperately needed to do well

it also would have been good for ralph’s individual character development, because hmm what were some of the major themes from the first movie? being a bad guy? making an effort to do good in spite of that?? being a hero??? being mindful of your actions and the effect they have on the people around you???? not to mention the WHOLE thing about him desperately trying to break out of the box the label “bad guy” had put him in, and how now in THIS movie vanellope is essentially trying to do the same thing? how now ralph is the one literally trying to force her back into that box (in this case, her game) just so that things are easier for him??? do u see where im going here

this could be the point where ralph realizes he needs to let vanellope go & chase her own happiness because he remembers how terrible it felt being forced into a role that made him miserable. he can now see how suffocating and toxic he’s being and there’s no need for a fucking Ralph Virus to come along and tell him that to his face because he’s emotionally intelligent and capable of deep personal introspection and deserves way more credit than this movie gives him, god

eliminating the need for the ralph virus is good because 1. who thought that was a good idea, it shattered what little was left of my suspension of disbelief instantly and 2. it once again took the weight of villainy off of ralph’s shoulders by giving the movie an even Bigger Baddie to compare him to, thereby making him the lesser immediate evil (like, it pulls all his toxic behavior away from him and dumps it instead into this big “”Evil”” caricature version of ralph so that the Real ralph can be the Good Guy and take it down)

instead of that, give ralph the benefit of figuring out his own shit, and then reveal that the virus wasn’t destroyed in the slaughter race reboot and is now infecting various parts of the internet (it’s been at it this whole time, but only got noticed after it had spread too wide to contain, it’s a Real Big Problem now. also it’s just a Normal Not Ralph Virus, Just A Plain Old Good Ol’ Fashioned Monster). have him go after it on his own, to take responsibility for the thing that was His Fuckin Fault, symbolizing him acknowledging how serious and destructive his obsession with vanellope has become and trying to fix it. get vanellope involved. have them figure out their shit

the climax can play out however, just the most important things in the end are that ralph gives a real apology, shows that he really learned his lesson, maybe gives some kind of speech about it, and there’s no bullshit where vanellope realizes he was just insecure & therefore his actions are more understandable, the resolution comes from ralph apologizing honestly and expecting nothing in return and vanellope being touched by this and giving him a second chance because he is her best friend and she knows him well enough to see that he genuinely has learned from this experience and will strive to do better and she loves and trusts him and was never going to leave him behind in the first place because their bond is so strong & there’s still the thing where she gets to live in slaughter race & they keep in touch long distance now bc that was a good way to show that ralph has learned his lesson & is now giving vanellope the space she needs and both of their arcs are resolved and their friendship is stronger than ever despite (or rather because of) change, happily ever after, the end

sorry i got tired but u know, w/e; points were made, rambles were had, mission accomplished. may i never spend this much time or effort thinking about this movie again, amen

[starlightkeybright]

yes hello, i’m very passionate about horror games’ stories k

after rewatching silent hill homecoming and downpour after 2-3 years or so from the first time i watched them lmao, i got some opinions firstly, homecoming is worse, they're both bad, but homecoming is worse SO PROS AND CONS homecoming: had a very bad otherworld, literally ripped from the movie, had nothing to do with the plot, oh, it's metal and blood and the fires of hell and gross bodies everywhere, oh my!! it's fucking nothing downpour: had an interesting otherworld, had an actual theme that fit with the basic plot of the game. it's more grey and blue and there's water fucking everywhere and cages/cells and gravity is all weird and it's a little different for just about every visit 1 dp 0 hc homecoming: had bad creature designs, but at least they're silent hill-esque, freaky monsters and crap, and a couple interesting boss designs; this is the one that was buried alive so it's like this, this is the one that liked dolls so it's a freaky doll thing, this one was strangled to death so it's a freak woman with a bunch of hands and strangling herself. however pyramid head is in there for like one scene for NO fucking reason, he has no reason to be in any silent hill game other than 2, he's a symbol purely for james. same goes for the nurses, unoriginal and also just in there cuz of the movie. and there's only like 4 other creatures and they're not that great, a 5th one being dogs cuz...dogs downpour: doesn't even have actual creatures!! all enemies are human like and literally only like 3-4 variations, they're more zombies than anything, and then there's one that's literally a blow up doll statue that controls blow up doll ghosts so you have to break the statue to get the ghosts to disappear, but why the fuck is a fucking blow up doll, who fucking knows. also some mutant thing that looks dumb, who cares 1 dp 1 hc homecoming: the very base/core of the story is interesting! people wanted to leave silent hill but silent hill was like "ok, but every 50 years, each of the 4 core families has to kill one of their kids and in a certain way, k" and the reason why shit gets fucked up for those people is that the chosen child did NOT die, it was the sibling instead so silent hill got pissed off. as for why the wrong kid died isn't that great; why the fuck did he take him out there in the middle of the lake in the middle of the night? why is he acting like a 12 year old dick brother when he looks like 25 (actual age 19 i think too). also the whole fighting mechanic is bad but it's there cuz he's a soldier! he knows how to fight cuz he was in a war! not important what war, just a war! but wait, one of the plot twists is HE WAS NEVER A SOLDIER, HE WENT CRAZY AFTER ACCIDENTALLY KILLING HIS BRO SO HE WAS IN A MENTAL HOSPITAL AND HE CAME UP WITH THE IDEA THAT HE WAS A SOLDIER, AND THAT JUST TOTALLY SHITS ON THEIR REASONING FOR THE SHITTY FIGHTING MECHANICS SO??? downpour: so, some dickface kidnaps his kid, very implied raped, and killed the kid. so the guy gets himself arrested on purpose so he can go to the same jail as the dickface so he can get his revenge by killing him. he gets the help of an OBVIOUSLY asshole c.o. in order to do it, so he does it. c.o. is like "i do this for you, and you owe me one" so eventually the c.o. stops by again all "hey you know that thing i let you do? i'm calling in the favor now, kill this one guy i'm sending you with" "ok, what guy?" "just some guy" "does he deserve it?" "oh, TOTALLY, and you can totally believe me on that no problem" of course it turns out the hit was on the obviously GOOD c.o. here's where things get interesting. in the good ending, it's implied and shown that the guy didn't even finish off dickface. HE'S....IN SILENT HILL....CUZ HE SINNED....CUZ HE KILLED THE DICKFACE, BUT HE DIDN'T KILL THE DICKFACE...SO WHY IS HE IN SILENT HILL IF HE'S INNOCENT....more than that, in the same good ending, it's shown that he didn't hurt the good c.o. either, SO HE LITERALLY DID NOTHING WRONG, HE COMMITTED NO SINS WHATSOEVER...and THEN it's explained why the chick cop hates his fucking guts, cuz the good c.o. is her father...but in the good ending, she forgives the guy, cuz he didn't fucking do it, he didn't lay a hand on the good c.o. so in the good ending, no one did anything bad, except for asshole c.o., which the chick cop is implied to get revenge on when they return to the real world for good ?? dp ?? hc at their base there's some good! there's a good story there, a good start to base something off of! plus homecoming goes with the main plot being about the ~cult~, and downpour is more about the personal type of story which is basically 1 and 2, the first being both personal and about the cult, but more the cult, and the second being completely personal but the execution is just....BAD for downpour and homecoming for all the endings in the homecoming, none of them are good, in terms of being good. there's good endings, but they're shitty...oh, they just leave and walk away and get to live happily ever after, cuz reasons. the fucking best ending for homecoming is the ufo ending cuz it's fucking hilarious the endings are decent in downpour, with the good ending actually being good........mostly SERIOUSLY THOUGH, IF MURPHY IS COMPLETELY INNOCENT, IF HE KILLED NO ONE, WHY THE FUCK IS HE IN SILENT HILL, HE DIDN'T SIN, HE HAS A SHITTON OF GUILT, BUT HE DIDN'T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING WRONG, NO ONE DIED BY HIS HANDS also it's not clear why the chick cop is there either, she obviously didn't sin either, but i guess she's there cuz of the connection of her father and murphy, it's implied she goes thru her own version of silent hill, but doesn't explain why? in short, the both of these did have potential to be good, there's some good elements in both, but they're both so fucking bad homecoming being worse for the shitty fighting and not completely explained story/timeline 1, 2, and 3 are good, i haven't seen all of 4 to give a solid opinion, shattered memories gets points for being a good story even if the gameplay is shit, and i've seen nothing on origins and that's my review of homecoming and downpour lmao