#I’ve not seen a single scene of the new series and I’m already loving it

[neutron-stars-collision]

It’s fucking hilarious that apparently Fifteenth is going to be seen dancing at the club in Cardiff, where I used to go on nights out. Absolutely hilarious

[guardianspirits13]

Ok. I’m still trying to gather my thoughts and settle my hyperfixation after episode 3 of the Percy Jackson show, but one of my conclusions is that this is one of very few adaptations that actually understands the term ‘adaptation’ and furthermore what makes one successful.

On a fundamental level, understanding and respecting the source material is a must. You need to not just know the bullet points of the story, but you need to know the ‘why’s’- why does this story need to be heard, why do people like it, why does it stand out from the others in it’s genre, etc.

Second, you need to deconstruct the source material and piece it back together in a way that makes sense for the new format. Copy-pasting almost never works, since there will inevitably be discrepancies between the readers’ imagination and the adaptation that can distract from immersion.

Third, you need to provide something new. Why does this story deserve to be told in a different format? What can this add to the original themes of a story? What can we change to make the message come across more on screen? Will this dialogue really be as funny when it’s said out loud?

We’ve seen a lot of terrible “adaptations” of animation and books and musicals into movies/tv shows, and I think even among the better ones there is a dissonance between the desire to stay faithful to the source and the desire to make a good adaptation, with whatever changes that may necessitate.

I think while we’ve watched the casting of this series, the hints here and there, and final the premiere with bated breath, they’ve been playing the long game. They cast Walker as Percy before he was in the Adam Project. Many people expressed…unsavory…feelings when Leah was cast as Annabeth, but those of us that trusted the team behind this project- including the author himself- did our best to welcome her and were repaid tenfold with her performance in this episode particularly.

Most of the scenes in this episode were not at all how I imagined them in the book, but I adored it. They took what they were given and expanded on it. They created a mini-arc for the trio learning to trust each other. They gave Medusa a labyrinthine lair. Annabeth is a 12 year old walking into a convenience store for the first time in 6+ years with $200 in her pocket, of course she’s gonna buy as much as she can carry.

The love and care and artistry that went into this single episode brings me so much joy and gives me so much hope. Like I was already excited for a faithful adaptation, but seeing these characters come to life on screen, once you see their chemistry with each other and how they speak and push and pull at each other’s emotions, it has never been more clear to me the amount of care and foresight that went into this show.

Rick said that these kids are the characters he created and for like 2 years I’ve trusted that that was true, but today it was proven beyond the shadow of a doubt.

I am just…in awe.

[mere-mortifer]

♥ Sanji/Reader Rec List ♥

40+ fics & authors suggestions! Click here to view this on a separate web page for easier navigation ♥

Sometimes I’m normal about fictional characters, other times I become psycho-sexually obsessed with them and relentlessly look for fanworks where they get smooched and hugged into oblivion. And by characters I mean Sanji.

So here’s a non-comprehensive list of Sanji/Reader fics that I love, most of them rated Explicit. This got sooo long because I kept finding other works to add while scrolling through my bookmarks and reblogs, it goes to show how good the fandom is! (Assume, unless otherwise stated, that Sanji is more on the sexually submissive side, since I like what I like and seek out that dynamic specifically.)

Authors I love

I’m starting this list with a few mentions of my favorite authors, although I’m sure I’m stating the obvious with most of these and you all know them already. Who cares! Go re-read their stuff! Leave a comment! Give them your money!

1. One Piece Works by @onlymurphy

Not to fall into hyperbole, but I owe OnlyMurphy my life. If you’re here reading this list then surely you love this author already, so this a good excuse to re-read the entire Grow Old With Me series. Sanji’s characterization is top-notch, and if you enjoy explorations of his self worth issues and how they would affect an otherwise loving romantic relationship then look no further. Also the author is a very talented smut writer (very talented writer in general, make no mistake), and that's the greatest accolade I can give them. Imagine me putting a gold metal around their neck but I’m the one who's moved to tears about it.

Honorable mentions for the filthiest-yet-very-romantic works in their catalog:

🌶 Do That Again

🌶 Wildest Dreams

🌶 If I’m Lucky

2. One Piece Works by @citrinae

I’m linking the masterlist for this author ‘cause I really like all their Sanji-centric fics, and I’d love, love, love to see more. Sanji is so princely and devoted, just an absolute dream of a man, and he’s putting a lot of effort into making the reader feel loved. He gets stellar results in my opinion.

3. One Piece Works by @thus-spoke-lo (GoldExperience86 on Ao3)

There are three fics in particular by this author that I couldn’t pick a favorite from if you held me at gunpoint: 

🌶 Let Me Help 

🌶 Worth the Wait

🌶 Dear Diary 

Have you ever read a sex scene so good you bypass getting horny and go straight into mourning, knowing you won’t be able to read it for the first time again? That has not stopped me from reading all these roughly a million times. Click on those links. Look at me in the eyes, listen very carefully: click on those links. I say this because I love you and want you to be happy. 

You will find other fics by them in the rec list because 1) I couldn’t resist and 2) I’m pretty sure they have more things posted on Tumblr than Ao3, at least as separate one-shots.

4. 🌶One Piece Fics by @untolduttering

Author, I know deep in my soul that you love Sanji as much as I do. Fortunately I’m okay with sharing. If anything I'm glad I'm not alone in the trenches.

Check out all her fics and snippets, her writing is incredible and I’ve loved every single thing about Sanji she’s ever posted. Each time I open Tumblr and I see a new post by her, my day gets a little brighter. She writes one of my favorite versions of Sanji ever, insatiable and devoted and so, so hot. He couldn’t be more my type if he tried. 

I want to single out her vampire!Sanji one-shot because I haven’t seen this trope used by anyone else and I liked it a lot! It fits so well, what with the theme of hunger and Sanji’s inability to ask for what he needs:

Hunger 

The meta post that inspired the fic

5. One Piece Works by @fanaticsnail

Fanaticsnail, you’re the only one who has ever made me willingly click on a smut fic that involved Doflamingo just because Sanji was there, too, and I love your Sanji so damn much (p.s.: everyone go read it, 🌶 Seat Number Four).

One of their fics also appears in the Sex Pollen section, and since that one is particularly filthy let me add here two fluffy, romantic fics where Sanji is all cute and flustered by the reader:

Kiss The Cook

Your Flirty Chef

Yearning & Pining

The title of the section is pretty self-explanatory: fics where and the reader are not together, but God knows they want to.

6. 🌶 Wanting by @froggiewrites

This fic…holy shit. I’m genuinely writing this with tears in my eyes. The yearning & pining & longing mixed with the sexual tension so thick you can cut it with a knife makes for a truly incredible read. Only for real Sanji lovers, if you’re not nodding along at each desperate thought the reader insert has about this man then I’m sorry but you’re only a casual Sanji liker.

7. 🌶 My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand by ladyhabanera

[screaming crying throwing up] no yeah I’m very normal about this fic, I like it a totally normal amount. In the Ao3 comments I say that “Sanji is so so dreamy—a heady mix of submissive and deeply romantic”, and then if you scroll a little you find my other comment which is just me yelling in all caps at my second reread. I not only stand by both, but I’m doubling down. 

8. Puzzled by @mynewblackdress

What a lovely series, and what a lovely trope…misunderstandings due to bad communication are as irritating and useless in real life as they are incredibly fun to read about. The reader is convinced that Sanji’s earnest compliments are his fucked up way of making fun of her, and it takes a while before they figure out that he means every word. Give it a read if you want a break from the sea of smut that I’ve added to this list, and you're the mood for opla!Sanji in particular. 

9. Sweet Confession by @softonshanks

I have one specific weakness that I’m glad to often see in fics: Sanji getting a hug while he’s busy cooking, and he’s all cute and flustered about it because he didn’t expect the affection.  And this fic has that + Sanji’s a pining mess for the reader, who he’s FWBs with despite the fact that he’s totally in love with her + she’s taller than him and he loves it. I’ve hit the jackpot. I’d love to see more Sanji fics from this author, so much so that I’m gonna ask her pretty please in Italian: Sara, ti prego, facci sognare.

10. 🌶 Your Name by @strawhatsoraya

Now, the one pining in this fic is me. Sanji and the reader are actually complete strangers, but if what appeals to you in mutual pining fics is the gut-wrenching depth of the feelings described, then I think you should check out this little one-shot. My notes on Ao3 are “Tfw when a pwp hits your id so well it bypasses making you horny and goes straight to suicidal”—do with that what you will. Also, check out the rest of this author’s fics and make a whole evening out of it.

Ft. Zoro

Get that stinky Mosshead out of my sight…no, wait, let him stay. I guess we can take turns on Sanji or something.

11. 🌶 Picture You by @froggiewrites

I don’t usually read Sanji fics where Zoro is heavily involved, but I’m glad that that didn’t stop me from clicking on this one (also, to be fair, they take turns on the reader. Well, the reader takes turns on them.) My note on the Ao3 bookmark is “God-tier sad horny Sanji characterisation”...couldn't have said it better, me from the past. 

12. 🌶 Shaken Up Hearts by @lyriumcoloredskies

Okay so I lied, maybe I do like it when Zoro is heavily involved, as long as it’s a collab to team up on Sanji. Sanji gets lovingly demolished in this one, but before he gets there he’s sad like a kicked puppy about not being allowed to kiss both you and Zoro. Who am I to say no to a heavy dose of Zosan in my het Sanji smut?

13. 🌶 Nuvole e Lenzuola by redtendou

This one’s niche because it’s written in Italian. I was stunned by the author’s ability to make a graphic sex scene actually work despite Italian’s atrocious sex-related lexicon–trust me, it’s a struggle. If you’re into Zoro and the reader ganging up on Sanji and you understand Italian, definitely give it a read.

Spa day for the soul

Fics where you take care of Sanji, or Sanji takes care of you, or where there are actual spa activities thrown into the mix. God knows this man needs some TLC once in a while.

14. 🌶 My Pampered Prince by @sheerxfiction

It’s Sanji’s turn to spend some time flat on his back on the kitchen table–it’s what he deserves. If you’re craving a brilliant smutty fic where Sanji gets pampered then you've foudn it, the reader take really good care of him in this one–and I have to give bonus points for the heavy dose of Sanji’s self-worth issues and the readersinsert fighting back against his refusal to get taken care of. Get loved, idiot.

15. 🌶 Shower Time by @chibieggplant

Cute, hot, sexy–I’m talking both about the writing and Sanji in this fic. He takes a shower with the reader and spends the entire time in disbelief that he gets to tenderly wash her body, feeling quite embarrassed by how into it he is, despite the fact that this an established relationship fic. And that’s how I like my boys!

16. 🌶 Vinsmoke Sanji: Not all Men are Rats by livingonadaydream

I love, love, love fics where Sanji gets pampered…but it doesn’t hurt to read the complete opposite once in a while. A very sweet Sanji makes sure that the reader gets a very happy ending.

First Time

We'll never know the canonical sexual history for any One Piece characters because Oda is, unfortunately, a coward. However I'm not surprised that Sanji is considered by many the most virgin to have ever virgined in the history of virginity—so here's a list of fics where you pop his cherry. Be delicate, please...he's very sensitive.

17. 🌶 Say When by @venomatically

This one has to be the first I tell you about. If you go check the comments on Ao3 you’ll find me absolutely losing my mind after my first read, and there’s no quick comment I can add here to fully explain how much I love this author, her writing, and–Good Lord in Heaven–the way she writes Sanji. He’s a virginal pervert. He’s got that dog in him and it happens to be a cute little puppy. He’s so sweet and adoring he can’t bear to tell you how often he thinks about fucking you. I need someone to invent him in real life, it’s not even funny anymore. (Also, if you like to see Sanji actually get a little depraved, check out her other fic, too: 🌶 Letting Off Steam)

18. 🌶 Lust by @tetzoro

Ooh, this one’s hot. It starts so poetic and romantic, but as Sanji loses himself in the feeling the descriptions get more carnal. I love his POV here. Also it involves one of my favourite things ever: the readers starts on top but when it gets too good Sanji can't resist and he flips her over to do all the work himself. Who else cheered?

Sex Pollen

While writing this rec list I realized I have at least four sex pollen fics where Sanji eats something he shouldn’t and then…I wanna say “regrets it”, but the consequences are that he has hot sweaty sex with someone he’s really into. If he were to notice the trend I think he might start putting the wrong thing in his mouth on purpose.

19. 🌶 It’s a what flower?! by @sanjifucker42069

From the blog name alone I knew I’d found a kindred spirit. They have written for both the animanga and OPLA, and to be honest it’s hard for me to pick a favorite work. That’s a lie, this one’s my favorite. The author has a great sense of humor, and this fic in particular is both very funny and incredibly hot. I love how desperate and pathetic Sanji gets, and how hard the reader insert is trying to keep things PG before it becomes obvious they just have to fuck! Good problems to have if you ask me.

20. 🌶 a fever you can't sweat out by @cryocandy

I remember reading this one day right before work. My shift was about to start, and I was sitting by myself in the car reading the smoking hot sex scene for no good reason at all, ensuring that I wouldn't be able to focus on anything productive for the rest of the day. Sanji in this fic is so dreamy and cute and pathetic, all qualities enhanced greatly by the amazing writing. If you don’t think you like fuck-or-die fics, do yourself a favour and read this one anyway. 

21. 🌶 Needy Boy by @maddddstuff

My note on Ao3 for this one was “Single-handedly made me into spanking btw, if you even care”, and I stand by it. He’s the one that gets spanked by the way, in case someone was in doubt.

22. 🌶 Someone Help Me by @fanaticsnail

Sanji’s a mess in this one. A total and complete mess, and I loved every word of it–also, since in the first part Sanji is struggling against the effects of the sex pollen all on his lonesome, this fic might also appeal to my fellow Sanji whump fans.

Dom!Sanji & Co.

Just because I have a preference for Sanji being a sub it doesn’t mean I will scoff at fics where he’s more dominant in bed. Here are the ones I stumbled upon that I’ve really liked! (Also I’m using the term “dominant” very loosely here, in some of these fics he’s simply more assertive in bed.)

23. Too Much (Take Me Home) by @secretwritingspot

This is THEE dom!Sanji series for me. There’s no sex in it, it’s more of an exploration of the sub/Dom dynamic and why someone would crave submitting to another person. Sanji finds himself in the dominant role with little warning, but he’s damn great at it in his usual adoring and tender way. I’m linking the first fic of the series, but the author has written more for this scenario!

24. 🌶 Leg Day by 1LucaCola1

The title says it all; fantastic premise for a smoking hot pwp fic. If I had the opportunity to train and make good use of Sanji’s expertise, I’d also push myself too far until my legs were shaking, and then let him do other things to me to make the shaking even worse.

25. 🌶 very professional nights by @missfrustration

Ugh, I love this one! Sanji is your superior at the Baratie, and he’s so very stern with you until he isn’t at all. Love the bait and switch of a Sanji whose professionalism makes him act a little cold when clients’ satisfaction is on the line but simply melts when he’s alone with the reader. And everything he ends up doing to the reader in this fic, I’d hardly call a punishment.

26. 🌶 Doodled Hearts by Twisted_Inkwell

Soft dom Sanji fucks you hard but he’s sweet talking to you in French the whole time. I don’t know what else to add to convince you to read this one, that should be plenty.

In the kitchen

To fuck the cook, you’ll have to look for him in his natural habitat. Then you can proceed to ruin the kitchen table for everyone else.

27. 🌶 Midnight Snack by BombasticBastard

This fic is a part of a Sanji/Reader/Zoro series, but I’m linking Part 2 where it’s just you and our lovely boy. As the title says, the reader is craving a midnight snack and goddamn, she gets the best one the Sunny’s pantry has to offer. This could also go in the Dom!Sanji category because he quite literally talks you through it, as the kids say nowadays, but he also showers the reader in compliments & he confesses his love, so overall he’s too much of a big ol’ softie to call him dominant in any way.

28. 🌶 All It Takes by mooseskulls

Reader catches Sanji being the pervert that he is, stolen underwear and badly-hidden moans included. This one has both a gender neutral version and a transmasc!reader one, I thought that was lovely–this way lots of different people can enjoy the “getting bent over the kitchen counter” scenario. 

29. 🌶 Compliments to the Chef by @tigreblue

The Author says this is their first fic–if that’s the case, they’ve got a bright future ahead of them. We all know Sanji doesn’t easily accept love and gratitude, but some good ol’ finger-sucking ought to convince him. Things degenerate beautifully from there.

Dark(er)

By darker I mean that I’m adding here fics where Sanji is something other than an absolute sweetheart. You’ll understand how actually dark any of these fics are from my comments and the authors’ tags, but they all have the general vibe of “Sanji is a sleazy pervert” in varying degrees of illegality.

30. 🌶 appetite by @groubee

Ooh…this one’s fucked up. Sanji is an unreliable narrator that makes non-con somnophilia sound kinda cute, actually (it really isn’t.) In his defense he’s written as some sort of incubus-slash-sex-demon. The author doesn’t go into detail but they don’t need to, it’s all about the sickly sweet mood (emphasis on sickly) of a tender lover who’s also a horrible, horrible person.

31. 🌶 Letting Off Steam by @venomatically

He’s a freak in this one, but he’s soooo nice about it and he’s soooo thankful that you’re letting him be a complete pervert who can get away with waking you up by stroking his cock over your face. 

32. 🌶 Smile for the Camera by @thus-spoke-lo 

This one broke my heart and turned me on at the same time, I give it a full five stars. It’s a short and sweet one-shot where Sanji breaks down all your walls and then does the same to your trust in men…enjoy!

33. 🌶 Compliments to the Chef by @thus-spoke-lo

I realize only now that this fic and Smile for the Camera are by the same author. That’s not gonna stop me from reccing this little series, too–in the notes on Tumblr you can see that this was written for a “sleazeball collab”, which should tell you something about Sanji’s characterization. While reading this I felt like that lady in the comic about sexual harassment on the workplace…like yeah maybe I would be okay with it if the guy was hot enough. And by workplace I mean a shitty restaurant, and by guy I mean Sanji in the role of the line cook who smokes too much and is very transparent about wanting to bang you on the counter where lunch service is prepared.

34. 🌶 Use me by moosetracksandscenechanges

This fic! My God! I’m adding it here not because there are hard kinks or morally dubious dynamics between the characters, but I still think it fits. It has its sad moments due to a generally darker atmosphere and a more aloof version of Sanji (not that aloof, still recognisably himself)...but also he willingly gets tied to a bed. Sub Sanji lovers stay winning. My hopeless romantic heart hopes that Sanji and the reader will actually get together, but there’s a lot to love about the fwb dynamic they’ve got going on right now. A bittersweet read in the best way.

35. Conjugate the Ways by @secretwritingspot

Oh, Sanji has a foul mouth in this one, but he’s speaking French so he’s forgiven…also the reader has no idea what the hell he’s saying to her. It’s creepy in a cute way! The fic doesn’t include actual smut, it’s just Sanji fantasizing out loud about the things he wants to do with you, but if you’re in the mood for some good ol’ sexual tension, give it a read.

36. 🌶 Ma chérie by marriedtosanji

He lied to you! About being French, of all things! I would never forgive him. He’s really good in bed though, so he makes up for it. The smut here is so delightful it does a 180% and goes back to breaking my heart over the fact that I’ll never meet a cute stranger in a bar who wants to seduce and is also Mr. Sanji Onepiece himself. 

Voyeurism

I swear this isn’t even in my top 10 kinks, I guess that Sanji’s character simply inspires a lot of authors to put him in situations where he’s staring. Watching. Ogling. Observ–you’ve got the gist of it. 

37. “It’s entirely too obvious [...]” by @ofallthingsnasty

[giggling and kicking my feet] the reader makes Sanji sweat cold in this one…I love when he’s nervous, I love when he’s desperate for forgiveness! He doesn’t do anything bad, but the fic is all about him watching the reader eat and obviously liking it a bit too much. The mood is suggestive but overall it stays pretty innocent until the end.

38. 🌶 Voyeurs by snackshack

Thank you Zoro and Nami for your help in making this happen, we couldn’t have done it without you. Sanji and the reader are in a freak4freak relationship, a match made in Heaven. Very good smut and a delicious premise!

39. 🌶 Perversion by glossyjoonie

@Sanji: babygirl you suck ♥ Short and sweet fic part of a larger collection (there are other Sanji-focused chapters, check out those ones, too!) where Sanji gets caught spying on all his favourite ladies: Nami, Robin, and you. Robin sticks around for a while in this one, but in the end the reader is the one who shows Sanji what happens to boys who misbehave.

40. 🌶 Just Between Us by @mytanuki-kun

This man is always spying on you in the shower, in bed, from behind a bush or whatever…it’s about time he gets a taste of his own medicine. I adore this fic, I remember reading the first chapter and hoping the author would update as soon as possible because I was hooked. Sanji catches you ogling him in secret and he plays into it cause he’s a horny bastard and the love of my life. The writing is incredible and Sanji’s characterization is so, so dreamy and sexy and adorable.

That’s all, folks. You have enough material to survive a nuclear war, you can spend many happy decades closed in your bunker eating canned food and reading reader insert One Piece fanfiction. 

My final, desperate request is this one: does anyone have the link to a Sanji fic where he’s 40 years old and he hired a babysitter (you) for his kid, but then one night the kid is somewhere else and you two end up hooking up? Please? Pretty please? I think it was part of a collection or series but I can’t find it anywhere!

[tabithatwo]

I love Yellowjackets okay it’s CLEAR if you observe my insane habits around this show but listen to me stay with me they so clearly did NOT have the 96 timeline planned out enough when writing the adults in season one. Or it got changed or added to or whatever to a Strong Degree. Maybe this is execs trying to make the show and it’s characters more palatable for mainstream success?? idk it feels possible to me.

But SHAUNA? Present Shauna was haunted by Jackie almost every scene of s1. It was so painfully clear how much Jackie’s presence was felt by her entire family CONSTANTLY. The bunnies, the conversations they had, the hallucinations all of it!! Jackie Jackie Jackie dead girl alive haunting the narrative. This season? Radio silence. And like pls don’t tell me shauna just has too much going on this season to feature any Jackie haunting like rewatch s1 she was PLENTY FUCKING BUSY having affairs and being blackmailed by her husband and doing murder!!! Jackie was so woven in to her character that NOTHING was untouched by her. So what, now we’ve seen Jackie’s death in 96 so she doesn’t haunt her anymore in present?? Now the baby is the strongest presence looming over her family? (This is said in an interview with the show runners and I’ve talked about it in another post!) When it wasn’t felt at all s1? No, you don’t want to spoil things in 96 so it is tricky, but there could’ve been hints. We always knew the baby would go poorly at the very fucking least. And the lack of Jackie haunting is a HUGE change. If you don’t think so, go back and watch s1 like I promise you it was POTENT. So does shifting the cause for her violence to being heavily based on losing the baby make a general audience more sympathetic to her? I think it might.

Misty?? Crystal???? If you watch s1 present Misty, there is no presence of crystals loss impacting her. They didn’t even have Crystal as a character. Misty was shown with a very unwavering proclivity to feel EXCITEMENT during horrible things. That continued into adulthood. Yeah, as we see characters more, we get more details. Sure. But the issue is the present timeline characters are only shifting based on the unfolding events of 96, you know what I mean? Like I’m sorry but the impact of Crystal and Misty’s panic around her and this new crushing GUILT for what she’s done was not a presence in s1 adult Misty. To make way for this crystal arc, teen Misty just doesn’t give a single FUCK about Ben anymore? Not obsessing with him or controlling him? And you might say she transferred her obsession. She got bored of her toy. Okay MAYBE yes, but in present day she doesn’t transfer. Walter would be a new option and she’s locked on natalie. Adult Misty has kept tabs on every single Yellowjacket, she has room for multiple lines of obsession. Her just dropping anything with Ben is odd and what makes her more sympathetic? Being a fucking monster to Ben? Or accidentally causing crystals death and mourning her and feeling an influx of guilt for her shitty actions?

I WORRY that we’re seeing a series of unplanned (therefore unshown in the adult versions of them that we ALREADY HAD in s1) events to increase sympathy and likability. I could probably think about this for more of them but shauna and Misty really stand out. YES you can and should develop characters as a series evolves, but the issue is if you show them in the PRESENT you can’t make them EVOLVE based on what you’re revealing in the PAST, does that make sense? It can inform their present actions, you can highlight different facets of them, all sorts of stuff. But this feels like something wayyy beyond that.

I hope I’m wrong and I hope they bring it back around <3 like so sincerely <3 and if you disagree and this makes perfect sense to you I’m happy for you <3 I wish that I did not feel this way <3 I’ve been trying to live in denial land about this all season <3 but it’s hitting hard right now <3

[markantonys]

Oh well now that you’ve told me we get more Elayne content as the series goes on I’m definitely still excited to read the later books!

Gawyn! I’ve seen so very little of him so far but from what I have he seems like a sweetheart. I love a good sibling relationship and how he and Elayne team up against Galad is great to see, keeping an eye on that one… Very frustrating for Egwene to be fawning over the wrong brother though smh

Haha poor Mat! I’m definitely warming to him more, I’m nearly finished TDR and he’s just put a flower in his hair while sneaking into the palace 😭 Which speaking of new locations and characters, that will be SO exciting to see. I know book fans have been complaining about the changes to the show but it makes sense for them to have saved Caemlyn for s3, there’s just so much going on!

Yeah, I’m looking forward to being on the other side! I think this is preferable bc honestly, based on my taste, I think the show is on the whole making changes for the better (the women getting more spotlight from the off, actually making queer coded relationships canon lol) so having the show to look forward to after reading the books is so much fun.

*the books are obviously the source material and fantastic please don’t shoot me book fans

first of all, congratulations on having the most correct and relatable takes on everything in the series so far djdkjf right down to anxiously adding "please don't shoot me book fans" after daring to express that you think the show is good and perhaps even better. keep us updated as you go along, i love hearing your thoughts! as always, to my reader followers, please do not mention any book spoilers past TDR in replies/reblogs on this post. we must keep this anon pure! anon, i will be tagging this post as book spoilers for the sake of show-onlys since we're discussing some s3 stuff, but rest assured i haven't included any spoilers past where you are (bar vague stuff like "X character has a big storyline in Y portion of the series").

gawyn is MY BOY. he's like a son to me, and you can't imagine the sheer serotonin boost i got when he was unexpectedly namedropped in s2 just when i was starting to worry he might be cut or merged with galad (neither of which would make sense to do, but other readers kept predicting that baselessly and i couldn't help worrying). he's definitely a slow-burner character with his biggest storylines occurring late in the series (another thing to look forward to in the later books!), but both brothers become more prominent in the book 4-6 era, so i will be interested to see what you think of that since they're definitely Just Kinda There giving us nothing in the first 3 books haha

and this is exactly why the show was wise to hold off on caemlyn, gawyn, galad, morgase, and elaida until s3! while i would've loved to see them earlier and while the EOTW caemlyn sequence is dear to my heart, in the medium of TV where the need to build sets and hire actors constrains what you can include when, it makes way more sense to hold off on introducing major locations & characters until such time as they are truly needed in the story, which for the Caemlyn Crew is season 3 since they don't get up to very much in the first few books. going to all that casting & set-building trouble for a single scene in season 1 or casting gawyn & galad just to bop around not doing much at the white tower in season 2 wouldn't have been practical. not to mention that there's been so much else going on, like you say! better to save this crew until we have enough space in a season to spend proper time with them.

and i love the show's approach of introducing elayne first and getting her into our hearts, then introducing the rest of her family in the next season when we're primed to be interested in meeting them, having already spent a whole season with her and having come to love her, and having heard intriguing little tidbits about her family and upbringing. caemlyn is my favorite location in the books and the trakands are my favorite family, so i can't wait to see them next season!!!! i'm so curious to see what kind of aesthetic they'll go for with caemlyn, and noble andoran fashion too. and given what a great damodred family backstory they crafted out of almost nothing in the books, i suspect we'll be in for a treat with some meatier family dynamics among the trakands (who do already have great dynamics in the books, but i bet there's more that can be done!)

mat putting a flower in his hair!! 😭😭 he's a baby! man that reminds me of the green man in EOTW and when he only gave flower crowns to the girls and not the boys, that made me so mad djkjfjg whenever i see anyone be sad that the green man didn't make the show, i'm like "nah FUCK that guy, he didn't give the boys flower crowns!"

and i am COMPLETELY on the same page as you with still preferring the show even after having read the books because the changes it makes are in line with my personal taste and improve aspects of the books i didn't like. the aes sedai are one of the most unique elements of the series, and i love how much focus the show has given to them early on! i love that egwene and nynaeve get to be ta'veren too! i love that moiraine and siuan are in a canonical present-day relationship instead of relegated to "being gay is just a phase in college"! i love alanna's polycule! i love that the male characters are allowed to be sensitive and vulnerable and to openly express emotions and affection! i love that the friendships and romances and enmities are all deeper and more emotional across the board! i love that the show focuses on the emotional impacts of the plot on the characters! and the show also really excels at picking out a smaller number of supporting characters and beefing them up (like liandrin and alanna) instead of including a fuckton of supporting characters, none of whom are very distinct or well-developed. the show always chooses to whole-ass one thing rather than half-ass two things, and that's another thing i love! the ability to distill these very long-winded books down into a more streamlined version of the story while keeping its core intact was crucial for an adaptation to work well, and rafe & co are so good at that.

anyway, i know that some readers like to tout the narrative that reading the books will make you like the show less because you'll see how much better and more detailed the books are, but that could not have been less true for me. it just made me love and appreciate the show even more, and look forward to seeing how my least favorite book stuff might be improved and how my favorite book stuff might be changed or given a fresh spin or made even better! and i'm glad to hear i'm not the only show-to-book person who feels that way <3

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

my re4r analysis  (spoilers for gameplay, story/plot, characters, aeon)

analysis here is without information about separate ways for re4r so please keep that in mind as my opinion may (and will mostly likely) change slightly 

(for my separate ways analysis read here)

gameplay

It very much falls in line with a newer modern interpretation of the series. There’s gameplay that caters to new and old audiences. If you’ve already played re4, you’ll still find re4r enjoyable as well.

the dark and moody look to the game is so well done and overall the visual designs are beautiful and devastating stunning.

there is still a considerable amount of things cut that I don’t think was detrimental to the overall gameplay style. 

the lack of QTEs was a good thing, and the parry system was the perfect way to allow players a new way of playing resident evil games. 

each chapter felt like the right amount of time, and has an amazing amount of replayability.

Because of the open world nature of the game, there are many possibilities to miss things and I’ve seen many people accidentally miss things because they rushed their first playthrough or didn’t bother to check every single little thing.

og re4 players can play on standard or hardcore and still have an INCREDIBLY difficult time finishing the game with a good rank

there’s still a bit of adaptive difficult, if you’re on hardcore and continue dying, it will help you out and switch to assisted if it’s continual deaths. 

story/plot

pacing was very well done, but again, some scenes were removed for a lot of characters and i wish they were still included in some way

the changing of luis was JUST the right about of lore that was needed to flesh out a more cohesive story. why we want to know more about him and why he’s doing what he’s doing. (this also leads to why we need separate ways and how he works with Ada)

a lot of people tend to not read the notes but you are missing a lot of the story that way.

It does feel like a few things are missing, (again maybe it will be better with separate ways) but particularly with krauser I feel like a lot is missing)

I also laughed too hard at the “fight”-xposition (exposition + fight)

there were a few retcons with how the scenarios worked out but i either liked them or felt indifferent about it

characters

leon 

I actually initially disliked the attitude change they gave for Leon. He seemed so rude and distant, even from Ashley. Og re4 he was incredibly sweet to ashley, his voice getting higher and more gentle sounding. Whereas in re4r, Leon just ignores Ashley a lot of the time. He’s cold and it may be a facade he plays to get over the trauma he had gone through.

(Although I do like the scene where Leon comforts Ashley because she’s upset after she “changed” and attacked him. It was the right amount of comfort needed with a bit of humor as well.)

He doesn’t want to feel anything good, maybe he thinks he doesn’t deserve it. It’s a much colder interpretation of Leon (think Vendetta Leon) In the end, I don’t really hate it, but I wish we got to see some sweetness with him. He was nice to Ashley one time, Luis only when he was dying, and Ada when he lets her go after their initial meeting. (It’s the first time he smiles in the game- when he sees Ada.) 

I kinda miss the canonical cheek scar Leon has from og re4 that is still there in re6. I guess this cut is retconned for the newer timeline. 

I’m still a fan of Nick for Leon’s voice but I will say that I much enjoy him as re2r Leon as opposed to re4r. It’s still obviously familiar to me, and although I still think he did decent work, I am still a fan of Matt Mercer for Leon as he was the one I fell in love with first. 

His design is good as well, and I don’t mind the slight alterations. 

Ada

Now a lot of people think that her character has been completely changed and or “ruined,” but I really think that capcom had decided to work on Ada’s “redemption arc” as soon as humanly possible in the canon. 

I do like that she seemed more like a person in this interpretation. She’s not constantly putting on the “Sexy spy lady,” facade. And since a LARGE majority of RE fans outside of aeon stans, still to this day think of Ada as an “evil” woman. I think it’s fine that capcom decided to get her to show more of an emotional side, that she does pine over Leon. And that despite her job, she still tries to help Leon. (but people who play Separate Ways or her re6 campaign, would KNOW that Ada continually and consistently tries to help Leon and save him.)

Even though she had “more screen time” in re4r than in og re4, I do miss the few scenes that were removed with her.

Lily’s expressions for Ada are SO incredibly heartbreaking and oh boy did they push up the angst. 

Lily’s voice for Ada grew on me more and more, she she has a coldness that makes sense for her character’s growth and development. The fact that men were thinking she’s not sexy enough is more of a them problem than anything.

Because Ada’s re4r design is incredibly hot and sexy and I 100% think capcom decided to keep her almost entirely covered with clothing to keep her from being overly sexualized. (And her old outfit didn’t make sense for the cold weather but... I digress.) 

Ashley

I don’t know how they managed to do it but they made her an extremely likeable person. She’s ambitious but scared. Terrified but excited. She’s the perfect self insert :P BUT yes, I do enjoy how they changed her and allowed to somewhat be able to be more capable.

She does “flirt” with Leon a lot but I barely blame her. But her subtle hints at flirting go on deaf ears lol As Leon continually ignores her or rebuffs her statements. And furthermore calls her a kid/young girl twice when talking about her in third person. 

A lot of people still think that Ashley’s just being nice to Leon rather than flirting, which is also fair. We need to have more platonic relationships in games, and the fact that capcom explicitly removed the ability to hold Ashley’s hand because they didn’t want the relationship to be interpreted as romantic says a lot. (I didn’t care much for the removal, but it made the few times that they did hold hands make it seem more friend like rather than romantic, I do agree with that.)

Even towards the end of the game when Ashley asks for Leon for her protective detail, he still turns her down. “You don’t need me.” Rather he encourages her to protect herself. 

I think her AI was a bit dodgy at times, it’s so easy to get her killed. Too easy imo. And having her downed all the time was a bit annoying. Even in good playthroughs that I watched, people lost Ashley after she died over something really stupid.

Luis

WE love love love more lore and backstory. The fact Luis helped to make nemesis??? WOW

His banter with Leon and Ada (god I’m hoping for more in separate ways) is SO SO good, and he’s so flirty and unserious at times, which makes his death so much more upsetting. He’s trying so hard to atone for his sins and even from the beginning we can already see he’s very similar to Ada. Wanting to do good despite all the red in his ledger. he wants to make amends in any way possible. 

Also Luis has smokes later!! Did Ada remember?? Where did he get the smokes from :’)

The switch from Ada to Luis, saving Leon in that fight made me like Luis more, but also a bit sad that this scene was cut from Ada. Especially since capcom has a habit of favoring their male characters as opposed to their women characters.

Jack Krauser

I initially did not like his voice. It just seemed odd to me, but once I had more information on why the actor decided to go that way. it kind of made sense for his character. That he was “silenced,” in some way so that it actually affected his vocals. His rasp that’s not sexy but damaged sounding. 

His design is.. interesting.. I made a point to realize that he looks like a messed up Matt Donovan from TVD, and i can’t unsee that so that’s great LOL

His scenes are a bit lackluster, the only one I really liked was when he showed up after killing Luis.

That man is not straight.

Hunnigan

I do not like that she was basically gone for the entire rest of the game after she loses connection with Leon. She doesn’t even get confirmation at the end of the game if Leon and Ashley are even safe. I felt like they really did her dirty imo.

LOVED her redesign though she is gorgeous 

it’s wesking time

I WANT EVERYONE TO GET OVER THE FACT HE DOESN’T SOUND LIKE WESKER. We (og fans) know that Ada is talking to Wesker at her second? scene, and it would’ve been way too obvious to viewers that it was Wesker if he was like MMRHRHAAHWWW YESSSSS IM WESKERRRRR IT’S WESKING TIME KITTENWHISKERSMEEYAEAAHSSS That bit of his voice is JUST enough for me to still read it as Wesker. And the banter between Wesker and Ada. 

“Don’t come crying to me when you get bit.” “Control your dog.” OH MY GOD. Ada’s, “He’s a good boy, predictable.”

This also removes the whole fight with Ada and Wesker though. “I don’t play by your rules Wesker,” so I don’t really know how I feel about that, but in saying that, this ALSO fleshes out the relationship between Wesker and Ada. The fact that Wesker already knows about Leon and Ada in THAT kind of context makes me WOW.

Did Ada go crying to Wesker about Leon before? OH MY GOD SO GOOD

I also think his redesign is good, tbh most of the redesigns were UP >>>> as opposed to og re4

The Merchant

Every single playthrough I watched, everyone wanted to kill the merchant and found him annoying lol

He kind of grew on me and I do like his voice even though people hated it because it wasn’t a carbon copy from og re4

whatareyabuyin?

The Enemies

I don’t want to go into every single enemy type so 

the ones that scared me the most were Armaduras and the Regeneradors

At some point during the game, the enemies are a bit repetitive but at the end it’s not that much of a complaint since you’re still hit with new enemies a lot. 

I HATE THE BUG ONES even though those are the easiest to kill they just scared me randomly the most

“IF YOU CAN MELEE A BUG- IT’S TOO DAMN BIG.”

aeon

now ever since the game came out people have been asking me my opinions on aeon “do i think the ship is ruined?” etc.

Absolutely not. If anything, it helped the ship. 

OG re series had Leon be this flirtatious, (often times cringe) type of ladies man, where it kind of doesn’t make sense? 

“I’m a one lady type of guy.” Is a complete retcon from og Leon. (This is also since his gf in re2 is retconned in re2r, and his flirting with Hunnigan is also retconned. And he’s outright mean to Ashley a lot in re4r tbh or just ignores her. He’s also a bit rude to Ada (which is actually more justified tbh since he’s angry with her, but he doesn’t have a reason to be mean to Ashley.)

We have to remember that between 1998 and 2004 is 6 years of NO CONTACT FOR THEM. Leon thinks Ada is dead. And he’s had 6 years of trauma, mental anguish and survivors guilt. Which heavily affects Leon and how he interacts with the world. He’s just genuinely a lot meaner. He sees the world as broken still. And when she just shows up alive, he’s allowed to be angry. Instead of having re4 Leon just be like

“Your right hand comes off?” “No THANKS BRO.” He still has some one liners here and there, but he’s not as goofy as fuck anymore. He’s more grounded. (And you’re completely allowed to enjoy re4 more than re4r, that’s an okay opinion to have imo.) I firmly believe that both can still be enjoyed.

Now for Ada we have, is what I believe is what capcom intended for her. She was immediately labeled as “an evil woman,” and nothing else. And capcom wanted to get rid of that idea immediately. “Nothing personal Leon,” she is just doing her job. And in that ending she betrays Wesker as soon as she realizes that he’s going to kill billions of people. She may have a questionable moral compass but ultimately she’ll do what she thinks is better. And she KNOWS THIS. She’s very much the lesser of two evils type when it comes to her work.

“Have you changed Ada?” “What do you think?” She wants her actions to be louder than her words. She never has her finger on the trigger when she first sees Leon. (re2, she never had bullets left in her chamber when she threatened him with her gun) 

She invites him onto the helicopter knowing that Leon would say no. She even has the back up with the keys and bear (thank you capcom for the bear) Capcom clearly wanted to show that Ada still wants him, even in ways that general audiences couldn’t see. (Where as aeon stans who played separate ways, and her re6 campaign, already know that Ada tries to save him whenever she can. Same with Damnation. She warns him and does what she can to get away.)

I think the whole banter of “you owe me,” is simply a way to continue their relationship, that there’s a promise of seeing each other again. 

I’m honestly not the hugest fan of the whole marvel “WE SAID THE THING :D” because true og fans know that separate ways is Ada’s campaign. BUT it serves for the angst. We know that we don’t see aeon on screen till damnation which is another 6 years but the developers have already stated that their lives continued on off screen as well. That’s where we get the re5 off screen “that night.” 

When the developers were remaking the games, they knew that the whole re2 “They fell in love immediately,” and then they said, “that’s not right, there needs to be more interaction first.” Which COMPLETELY goes with where capcom is going with a more realistic interaction of the ship. 

The fact that they flipped the “she’s like a part of me I can’t let go,” to “HE’S like a part of me I can’t let go,” is a BIG change for how capcom is interpreting their relationship and expressing it WAY MORE CLEARLY that Ada is interested. 

A LOT of people still see Ada as someone who doesn’t care about Leon, which is the furthest thing from the truth. The fact that Capcom felt the need to do the reversal really shows that they always intended for the ship to be mutual. That it was merely their lifestyles and jobs that would make it difficult for their relationship to work. Which is what AEON FANS ALWAYS KNEW.

But this is for outsiders, new fans who don’t have all that information. That the slightest bit of a redemption arc, and VISIBLE hurt from Ada from Leon’s “rejection,” is what people needed to see to see that they are still mutually interested in each other. 

Even after receiving the bear keychain, Leon still looks longingly at Ada as she flies away. He doesn’t question her, he simply accepts the fact that their jobs make it so that he can not follow her. 

And reminder again we have 6 YEARS to flesh out what happens next.

Overall, I still very much enjoyed the game, I feel like a few things were missing but not entirely enough so that I felt like parts were missing, more like beats were missing. But again, with separate ways, we’ll maybe get to see more of the other side of the story.

gameplay 8/10

story/plot 9/10

characters 7/10

aeon 8/10

overall 32/40

and as leon said it,

“take it however you like it.”

[tokuvivor]

DuckTales Character Songs! (Part 1)

I’ve been trying to come up with something unique to do here on Tumblr. And it always sorta came back to this. A couple reasons. 1. I had my own radio show in college, so I already know what it’s like to try and nail songs down for what you want to convey. 2. Last year, I did a bunch of playlists for Weblena Week, and I’d say it worked out pretty well.

So, I give to you: my list of DuckTales character songs! Now, I’m going to be sticking to one song per character, ones that I feel suit them very well. I’m going to start out here with the 9 principal characters, then major recurring characters from each of the seasons, totaling out to 4 parts in all.

Of course, I can’t take all the credit here. I’ve done a fair amount of brainstorming on this before with @glowyjellyfish. That said, let’s get started!

Scrooge McDuck

Money (That’s What I Want) by Barrett Strong

The song is kinda self-explanatory. Scrooge is one of the richest ducks in the world. He has an entire building for all of his savings. Plus, this sums up his mindset at the beginning of the series really well, before he really let himself open back up to his family. And this version of the song just has the right swaggering vibe to it. Also, RIP Barrett Strong.

Huey Duck

Surface Pressure by Jessica Darrow from Encanto

Just like Luisa Madrigal, Huey has all of this pressure on his shoulders as the oldest sibling. Trying to live up to expectations. He wants to show Dewey and Louie that he has it all together, but sometimes, he just doesn’t. It all builds up until it’s ready to blow.

Dewey Duck

Hall of Fame by The Script feat. will.i.am

Dewey is a very grandiose character. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was his daily mantra or something. “You could be the greatest, you can be the best, you can be the King Kong banging on your chest.” He wants to be seen. He wants to be a legend.

Louie Duck

Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears

Louie is ambitious. He wants to climb to the top of the food chain. He wants to rule the world. He knows it’s not going to be easy, he’ll have a lot of competition, but he won’t let it stop him.

Webby Vanderquack

Roar by Katy Perry

This one has definitely struck me as a Webby-ish song for some time. Seeing this song from her point of view, I’d say she’s kinda facing her past (“You held me down, but I got up”). She’s been sheltered for most of her life, and now that she has all these new opportunities, she’s going to break out and take them.

Donald Duck

Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra

This song is appropriate for Donald in two ways. One, the fact that he was stuck on the moon during the second half of Season 2. And two, his relationship with Daisy. After all, it is kind of a love song, too. Plus, I can totally see Daisy envisioning Donald singing like Sinatra, considering that one scene in Louie’s Eleven!

Bentina Beakley

Have You Got It in You? by Imogen Heap

At least in my opinion, it’s tough to find songs that really fit Mrs. Beakley. But I think this song definitely works for her. A lot of the time, Beakley tries to keep everything together, but she has to deal with a ton of bullshit on the daily, so it can be hard. I think the line “Let me have it all, let me have a battle on. Easy target, look, can we just, just get it over with?” suits her because of her spy background, and the fact that sometimes, all she probably wants to do is snap on somebody, get it out of the way, and get back to her task at hand.

Launchpad McQuack

Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra

I think the title is very appropriate, considering that Launchpad is a pilot. I think the tone of the song, as well as a few of the lyrics, very much suit his carefree personality. Even though he doesn’t always keep his eye ahead, Launchpad likes flying or driving around without a care in the world. Especially with Mr. Blue Sky out and about.

Della Duck

Got to Fly by Marian Call

This song perfectly sums up Della’s desire to go to the stars, then being stuck on the moon, having the consequences of what she did hit her all at once, and then having her mind racing at 1,000 miles an hour over all the things she needs to do, especially after she gets back home (ADHD struggles).

So that’s it for now! Next time around, I’ll be doing major recurring characters initially from Season 1. In the meantime, let me know what you think of these!

[mentalblabbermouth]

May the 4th hit me like a truck and i'm still stuck like a fly to a windshield 3 months later

(just posting notes from my ramble doc, i should just get the app at this point)

Man it’s lonely not having people outside of online spaces being just as obsessed with the same media. My sib and I have kind of drifted apart in terms of tastes in shows/fandoms and my folks aren’t interested at all. I don’t really have any friends in my hometown that I could just go on impromptu hangouts to the mall or park with, and the ones I do have their own long established clique and they’re into different stuff. It’s not like in college with living on campus, and all those friends are miles away. These days it’s hard to even find a free day. I think it really comes down to I wish I had someone to turn to and be like “this character connects to this and foreshadows this and did you know etc. etc.” basically infodumping but actually being listened to with the same amount of enthusiasm. 

   I want to talk about Star Wars, casual mainstream stuff I guess, like I’m late in the game but just started the Bad Batch and I got so excited hearing the narrator again. I used to watch the Clone Wars when I was little so it was a huge hit of nostalgia. Funnily enough I’ve basically gotten the highlights of the whole series through reaction posts, fanart, clips, and finally decided ok I’ll check it out after reading a fic (it was "Success Rate" on Ao3 btw). I wasn’t initially interested when the Bad Batch first came out until their personalities really started to show and of course sibling family moments. And I’ll admit the fandom space from what I could see on insta genuinely looked like fun from the sidelines. 

   The Dad Batch is so real, watching the very first episode knowing what happens later on and how much they grow it’s bittersweet and touching. Literally the moment Hunter sees Omega it’s like the remnants of the paternal Mandalorian instincts kicked in. This man was already set on becoming a father figure even if he hadn’t realized it. I just thought it was the fans doing their thing but no I witnessed it with my own eyes they’re all girldads and now I wish I got into the series sooner. 

   Also because I’m an animator at heart I love catching the little side glances between the brothers and the little quirks. For being voiced by the same guy, each of the Bad Batch have their own distinct personalities and mannerisms and I’m having such a good time.

   Omega is such a sweetheart, I don’t get how people could not like her! She’s literally baby and I know she grows up at the end of the series, so seeing how she started out she’s so small! She’s just a kid! She’s their little girl! They love her immediately and wholeheartedly! I didn’t know that in the first episode Order 66 just hits them like that, everything is confusing and chaos, the world they’ve known their whole lives is crumbling down. But they risk their lives and their freedom and return to Kamino for her! 

   The food fight scene was great, absolutely love how they’re ready to throw hands.

Nothing is more euphoric than finding a piece of fanart you remembered liking years ago but not remembering the artist so you go on a long search detective style and then find it! Yes it was Bad Batch content—I liked the occasional art even though I had never seen a single episode until now and I’m living rn absolutely delighted to find the piece was part of TBB Zine! Catching up on quality content now with context is healing rn (just in case the piece is by clone.enthusiast aka Bird on insta, forever treasuring this I’m smiling)-update: i think with the whole Meta AI thing the artist left Instagram and I'm so sad i can't find them.

Anyhoo, wanted to get that part out of my system. Been busy with a new job that's been so draining that I haven't finished Season 1 yet. Burnout has made picking up a pencil feel like holding a hot iron that it just hurts idk. Thinking of making a Tumblr blog just for professional art portfolio things since Instagram is now a hot garbage fire and lots of people are moving to Cara. I don't think i'll leave Insta myself since I've got mutuals there and there's still awesome art around. But yeah that's what's life been lately, if you've read this far, thanks!

[scooby-review]

Scooby-Doo Where Are You? S1 - E1-4

1. What A Night for a Knight

Scooby Doo Where are You? was a show born from Hanna Barbera’s need to regain the saturday morning cartoon market. Following complaints of their violent cartoons, they sought out a new show that would remedy the public's disdain for their cartoons, which ended up being The Archies Show, a low risk show given its nature and popularity in comics already. Not to mention that the concept is simply a hit as far as making money is concerned - releasing a cartoon with bubblegum pop songs alongside is a sure fire way to rake in money, and of course, it did. 

Following the success of The Archies Show, a new cartoon was created in a similar vein, one which started off as a horror inspired cartoon of a band solving mysteries in their spare time evolved into Scooby-Doo following mandates of making the show more accessible to its demographic. Yet what remains is still a grungy show, the backgrounds and score alone conjure an eerie tone, not to mention the villains which are spins on classical monsters and, usually within season one at least, ghosts. Comedy was blended with the horror aesthetic, creating a striking show that spawned oh so many imitators by Hanna Barbera themselves. 

This first episode acts as a glorified pilot with aspects of the show being incomplete and messy. To list a few, Shaggy is the leader in this episode, Fred is unnamed and the roles of each member is slightly or completely off. Yet, they nail the formula of these mysteries, which is rarely shaken up in any meaningful way. 

The episode follows the gang researching the disappearance of an archeologist who was transporting a set of armour to a museum. Each episode of this iteration of the show can be summarised in a single sentence, on a basic level, once you’ve seen one episode of the show, you know them all. This isn’t a critique from my perspective, the show has a simple formula that I’ll delve into in a later episode where it’s more prevalent, but this works entirely in its favour. Every mystery has its own flair, each monster unique even if just in design, each setting deviates from the last, with this season being surprisingly varied. 

The museum is a great setting, it allows for a vast variety of props and background pieces, although, I hope it’s revisited at another point in the franchise at least, which I’m certain it will be. Given how cheaply produced the episodes are, I feel the setting is not used to its potential - it’s sound, sure, but there’s so much more in these walls.

While discussing the setting, it’s a better time than any to discuss the backgrounds. Painted by the Ex-Disney artist Walt Peregoy, every location is lavish, they are filled with a wide berth of character feeling creepy and homely at the same time. They develop the world and give it a familiar flair; without the backgrounds and score, the show simply wouldn’t carry the same aesthetic it does and would be remembered in a completely different way. 

Despite the beautiful backgrounds, the animation doesn’t harbour the same quality. Being blunt, the animation is the result of the show being produced so cheap, resulting in countless animation errors and a generally clunky appearance. For the time, it has its charm, which maybe is nostalgia talking, I think I’ve seen Where are You? the most. One such animation error I love is in one scene we see Fred reach for something in the Mystery Machine, his arm extending on and on. 

Beyond the growing pains and technical side of things, I do really love this episode. It has a simple mystery, as does most of this series, again the low budget means there’s a lack of side characters, therefore, if you see one, you know they play some role in the mystery, usually as the villain. But this never stops the show from being entertaining. Again, the characters are all out of whack here, their dynamic slightly off, but the small pieces they do give are fun, such as Shaggy being the best gymnast in school and proceeding to dive into a window. 

Plus, I do love the villain of The Black Knight. As we will see, many of the villains are silent stalking characters in the vein of slasher killers that would eventually rule the 80s. Scooby got there first, using hulking costumes for the first two episodes, alongside other general disguises, most of which aren’t driven by horror at all, instead slapping the word ‘ghost’ around the name and calling it a day. But this silly trope works for me, it’s certainly done to enhance the horror aesthetic, but I’m happy to eat it up regardless! 

The episode is fun and messy, and that’s all I wanted! With a fun art forgery motive, I had a great time here! 

I’ll be ranking every episode, season, show and villain as I go! I’ll attach the scores at the end with a final ranking post when I finish the season!

2. A Clue for Scooby-Doo

I love this one for just how different it is in comparison to the rest of the season. 

A Clue for Scooby-Doo follows the gang encountering the ghost of sea diver, Captain Cutler, who died at sea when his boat was wrecked and is now back for revenge. 

The villain in this episode stands out a bunch, the old scuba diving suit is already creepy, yet it grows even more interesting and unique with the lime glowing aura he carries with him, it’s a nice little design motif throughout the episode, seen in his footprints and the seaweed. 

I think this one is so fun because of how much is going on: you have the gang going scuba diving into underwater caves, a man called Ebeneezer Shark, Mrs Cutler who looks like a witch for some reason, a weird plot twist to the villain and an ongoing mouse joke that I can’t say I understand but hell if I don’t love it! With so much going on, it’s impossible not to be entertained. The worst episodes of Where are You? follow a single thread of the mystery and then lead to some wacky hijinx before petering out, but here everything simply keeps building and building, it’s perfect! 

This episode also holds the infamous blonde shaggy! I’ll point out my favourite animation errors as we go, I think this one is so well known because of how impossible it is to miss. 

We see the villain's motive here being that he was intending on selling the boats he stole. Until episode seven, every motive is ruled by greed and a desire for money. More recently the show has been described as having anti-capitalist messaging as a result of this. Every time, the villain is stealing for money, the teenagers are the ones to undercut this system, showing when this is the case. The mysteries aren’t grand cases of murder or varied crimes, but theft. Yet, we never learn enough about the villains to know if they’re rich. The show boasts a moral compass of black and white - stealing is wrong. There’s never a reason for the theft, money rules all, and since no other reason is given, we can assume the rich, or well off, are stealing from others. This paints the left leaning politics we see people associate with the show, and I think it matches given the gang's hippie affiliation. 

Good always prevails over the human evil within the show, dulled down to a completely understandable level. Simply, people who are money hungry are bad if they go about it in the wrong way. 

Also, I love how in this iteration of the show there’s no self awareness or questioning if the ghosts are real or not. Here, they are until proven otherwise. Of course, the scepticism works, especially for Velma and when the series get more developed, i.e Mystery Incorporated, however, I appreciate the earliest corners of the franchise playing everything straight constantly. The fear is that the ghosts may be real, this is the standard for every episode. 

3. Hassle in the Castle

Hassle in the Castle, alongside A Night of Fright is No Delight, often feel like the baseline Scooby-Doo episodes, taking place in vast castles or mansions that are filled with traps. 

After the gang finds themselves lost in the fog, they end up on a Haunted Isle where a ghost is haunting an old, abandoned castle. This plot is the most basic possible for the show, stripping it down to its essentials and core elements, and I love it so much. 

Starting with the villain, the Phantom is literally just a sheet ghost. Every episode so far has followed a ghost of some kind, but this is the most basic form of it. In contrast to what has come before, the Phantom talks and has a more fluid design than the rigid villains from before. What stands out most is his laugh however, an iconic shriek that makes him instantly recognisable! Despite the bland design, he carries so many iconic poses which can actually be seen on the model sheet, it illustrates to me the difference between creating him and the other two, their designs are instantly recognisable, they are simple archetypical suits, whereas the Phantom juxtaposes this, brought to life and characterised through a voice and a menagerie of iconic poses. 

I think this episode is the funniest yet. I was giggling the whole time! Here we see a single location episode, and everything here lands for me. I think the silly haunted hijinks are so fun, things like the weird ass ghost sandwich joke and the talking skull, they’re so fun and ultimately still make no sense come the explanation at the end. This being that the culprit is a trained magician, using wires and special effects. Sure. Yet, this silliness makes it so much better, it’s creepy in the moment and gets the show's best blend of its horror and comedy genre. 

Speaking of genres, I hate the laugh track, it’s the most basic level of hand holding a show can do, but I think it’s done in this show to please censors, to aid in proving the show not to be too scary with creepy moments played for laughs thanks to the canned laughter. 

Also, the gangs characterisation is stronger here, I love the little details we learn about them and the way their friendships are expanded on. We rarely see them beyond these moments in their mysteries, so it’s nice when they feel like actual friends! Plus here we see Shaggy in peril, his body cut in half during a magic trick, something we rarely see but a concept I love! Having the gang in more direct danger, than Daphne being trapped without consequence, is really great! 

Overall, just a perfect episode - definitely the one I would recommend people watching most! It’s everything Where are You? should be! 

4. Mine Your Own Business

I bloody love this mouse gag. 

Mine Your Own Business follows the gang lost in a desert (This comes along because Shaggy was holding the map upside down?) and stumbling upon Gold City, a ghost town. When they check into the nearby inn, they learn of a ghostly miner scaring everyone off. 

Personally, I hate desert settings, I find them boring! This episode is no different, it’s fine, sure, but if you find the setting and villain of an episode boring there’s not usually loads more to love!

The episode's monster, Miner Forty-Niner is a play on the term given to a prospector during the California Gold Rush of 1849, which the whole episode is inspired by. This being where gold was found in California which saw flocks of fortune seekers arriving in the state. This idea is paralleled in the character of Hank (the miner), who is attempting to scare everyone away in order to purchase the land for cheap, not for gold, but for oil, giving it a contemporary spin. In the episode Fred describes oil as liquid gold, again showing the shift in what makes people money, from riches to necessities, yet the people who collect it sell it off for high prices, it creates a poor market ruled by the few that can exploit the many. 

Beyond that, the villains dumb. Like he doesn’t change his costume? He places a mask on, wears his everyday clothes and then adds some height with stilts. Yet, this stupid man, Hank, honestly deserves this wealth! Because the only other person in the village, Big Ben doesn’t realise that his friend who dresses the same as the miner, is the miner. The nuance in the mystery here is supposed to be that Big Ben is the correct height for the miner while Hank is wearing the correct clothes, but in this case I feel the mystery works better if Big Ben is the villain! The visual clues are therefore red herrings. 

Yet, I kind of love Big Ben? He’s the first side character whose stood out to me, but I found his reaction to the whole thing really funny, he was giving republican uncle. 

Despite not loving this one as much as the others, I do think the episode is an interesting case study into how the show creates its creepy atmosphere, this being through isolation. There’s something deeply terrifying about being nearly alone. We have the knowledge someone wants rid of the gang, the reasoning doesn’t matter when we know this! This allows the show to benefit off of its cheap budget, the style and atmosphere however then leads to a less satisfying mystery - there's a trade off here, but it’s one I’m more than willing to accept most of the time. Almost every episode is in this format, and it works well for a while! I think they get their mileage from the isolation while also sprinkling in other horror tropes and ways to add to the atmosphere. 

And finally, I love Shaggy! He’s my favourite member of the gang so far in this iteration! I just find him to be the best characterised, and I love the detail of his imitation ability and the way he’s able to throw his voice, it lends itself to escaping problems in the plot but also it’s simply funny and an interesting character trait that gives him more depth. I also really love his relationship with Fred and how excited, at least for this version of the characters, they are to stay in the same room during their hotel stay. 

While not my favourite episode, that really comes down to my personal preferences and I completely understand why people like this one! Most of the things I’ve detailed have shown the gold streaks within what I found to be a bland, dry episode!

Episode Rankings: 

Hassle in the Castle

A Clue for Scooby-Doo

What a Night For a Knight!

Mine Your Own Business

Monster Rankings: 

Phantom

Ghost of Captain Cutler 

Black Knight

Miner Forty-Niner 

Thanks for reading!

Next Review: SDWaY S1 E5-8

[strideofpride]

anything you’ve been watching/reading lately that you’d recommend? i think you have stellar taste in media (aka it often matches mine lol) so am curious! hope you feel better soon 💖

Ummmm yes, love this ask!!! (Also I’m so flattered 🥰 you have great taste as well btw)

Books:

Mo Ryan’s Burn It Down! If you’re at all interested in the entertainment industry and how it all gets made, this is basically required reading

the Succession script books (pricey but personally worth it)

I just finished Jill Gutowitz’s Girls Can Kiss Now and felt very seen, a wee bit too relatable

And I’m currently also reading Ann Patchett’s This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, which is a great book for my fellow writers to read

Substack:

I’m a paid subscriber to Hunter Harris’ Hung Up newsletter and I’ve never once regretted it lol

Gotta shout out Dracula Daily as well as the one podcast I listen to rn, re: Dracula (I listen and read at the same time which is perfect for me lol)

Gilmore Women - a Gilmore Girls recap newsletter that talks about everything wrong with each episode lol. I sped through the first six seasons and now I’m depressed that I’m caught up lol

TV:

Minx s2 - it is on Starz which I know most people don’t have but this season has been EXCELLENT

Only Murders in the Building s3 - it’s like a comfort show for me at this point, despite being about murder it makes me feel so cozy. Nora Ephron vibes

The Bear s2 - everyone’s been talking about it already but I just finished and god it was GOOD

The Sopranos - everyone should be doing # Sopranos Sunday with me!!! It’s so fun!! This show is soooo good, really living up to the hype for me

Acapulco - really cute show, makes me wish I was still on vacation in Mexico

Poker Face - bring back standalone episodes like this!!! Bring back character actors doing incredible guest star roles!!!

The Other Two - just. It was the funniest show on TV. It really was. 30 Rock’s spiritual successor which is pretty much the highest praise I can give it

Movies:

Red Eye - I rewatched it after Oppenheimer and it really holds up. Fun, tight thriller that is only like an hour 20 lol. Also Brian Cox aka Logan Roy is in it (and Jayma Mays my beloved)

Theater Camp - as a Jewish theater kid who went to and/or worked at a summer camp every year of her life from ages 4-20, there was no way I wasn’t gonna like this

Mamma Mia series - obviously everyone on tumblr knows about these already but I made my family watch them with me for the Fourth of July and god if I could live in the world of any movie it’d be this one ❤️

Man Up - very cute & fun British rom com I first discovered in college and rewatched this summer. Everyone has incredible comedic chemistry in this, and Lake Bell & Simon Pegg have great sexual chemistry as well (quite a lot of British faces who were nobodies when this was made who’ve gone on to bigger things - most notably Phoebe Waller-Bridge who’s only in a single scene)

X-Men: First Class - my favorite superhero movie ❤️

Indiana Jones series - I rewatched the whole series and saw the new one in theaters this summer. The first and third are literal masterpieces. Second one is mean spirited and racist. Fourth actually has quite a bit of charm, but then it fell apart in the back half. The new one…woof. Nobody but Steven Spielberg should be allowed to direct Indy movies.

Asteroid City - the longer it’s been since I saw it, the more and more I think it might be Wes’ masterpiece

Past Lives - incredible. But I know you already know that one lol

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret - perfect, perfect film.

The Other Guys - we need Adam McKay and Will Ferrell to get back together, the fate of studio comedies hangs on this (anyway this movie is hilarious - but also if hell is real Marky Mark is obviously gonna burn for all eternity)

Comedy:

John Mulaney: Baby J - I saw him do this special live when he was touring it and I’m mad he cut the FBI bit but he’s still got it

[quartings-main-blog]

Pseudo Harem Reviews: Episode 1

I don't want to clutter my art blog with 12+ nerding out posts, so I'll be posting episode reviews here every week instead!

Animation

It’s a bit on the cheaper side, but that’s okay since the art style is very faithful and nice, even down to the slightly crooked mouths in some scenes- which I personally find a bit charming! Another change I like is adding a blue-grey tint to Rin’s hair to stop it from blending too much into other dark objects like her blouse!

I do wish that the animation got to be a bit higher quality at points. To list a similar show for comparison like Tomo, it at least had some dynamic animation for action shots and better lighting in the night scenes. At least showing some visual or audio cue for Rin’s switch in personas would help. Also I'm not sure I like how the personas are listed as stuff like "spoiled girl" instead of "Spoiled-Chan", "Spoiled Rin", "Sweet-girl" or anything to solidify their identities more. I can only hope a potential dub is able to figure out how to make it work!

Voice Acting

I’m not a longtime fan of Saori Hayami like some of the people who follow her in Spy X Family, Oregairu, and more, but I like the work she does here as Rin! I agree with the few people who say her voice is a biiiit too adult for a high schooler, but I at least like her voices for Cool-chan and Spoiled-chan. Her takes on Cheeky and Tsundere could be a bit more on the high-pitched side though. Still excited to hear more though!

Nobuhiko Omamoto as Eiji is nice too in one of the more subdued roles I’ve seen him in- he does a great job of capturing Eiji’s straightforward and goofy sides and you can feel why Rin likes him early on!

And I’m still crossing my fingers for a phenomenal dub too, which should hopefully get more new viewers onboard with this show! (PLEASE don’t be a bad dub…)

Music - OP and ED

So far nothing major to note in the soundtrack- just your standard highschool romcom style score. I will say I love both the OP and ED as songs- they’re great and I’ve already added what I can to my playlists! And I do hope we get the Rin and Eiji version of the opening down the line too (and maybe some extra surprises hopefully?)

It’s just a shame when the opening suffers from some of the cheapest animation in the whole show- it’s supposed to be the thing that hooks viewers into watching, but over half of it is just a bunch of still PNGs, barely showing the actual Pseudo Harem gimmick until the chorus.

At least the ED has cooler and more creative visuals with the anime-to-manga hybrid beginning, the rap verse from Rin, and better showing off all her personas (I find it a bit funny they’re trying to showcase every single one rather than the main 4-5 to entice new viewers more and maybe provide more contrast haha)

Pacing

And here we have the elephant in the room. I was so hyped for this series I didn’t even consider that the short disconnected nature of the series’ early chapters would lead to a very disjointed first few episodes.

If the show wanted to spend more effort on animation, they could have either rearranged the chapters so that the similar ones in the same settings got paired up into bigger scenes like how Squid Girl did it. If I could have everything my way, I would just extend the episodes with lots of original content, but I know that’s unrealistic.

If not, then short connecting scenes or establishing shots could help, or even interlude cards if you really want to save on budget. From what I’ve heard new viewers say, they all really liked the series concept, the characters, and their dynamic, but they were really put off by the pacing, assuming it would be this way for the whole show. And sadly, I can’t blame them for being disappointed since they don’t know the series will go into longer arcs and better-paced episodes as it goes on.

The choice to move their first meeting to the first scene was also very odd, as it shows why Eiji likes Rin, but creates a weird and unclear timeskip where she likes him by the Ch1 gym scene immediately after, and also kind of diffuses a bit of the tension on whether Eiji actually likes Rin or just the Pseudo Harem for the first 40 chapters or so.

I can only hope the show better arranges the scenes to keep the viewers’ attention from Episode 2 onwards!

Extras/Overall

I still had tons of fun with this pilot though! I do hope it shapes up a bit more in the animation and pacing departments, and I hope new viewers will give this show the usual 3-episodes chance at the very least! This is still my most anticipated anime of 2024 and I can’t wait for more!

[whumpslist]

A bunch of answers 4 and recap

Hi everyone,

I’m sorry for my lack of answers, I’m trying to keep up with the current airing whumps’ lists but also completing the finished shows’ one and the new seasons’ episodes’ ones:

* The current airing shows’ lists are all updated: Law & Order SVU, The Flash, Magnum PI, Taxi Driver; I’ll soon watch Carnival Row and update it with the first two episodes aired as well;

* I am doing a whumpslist for Will Trent, which is currently airing, and the books by Karin Slaughter the TV show is based on, I'm still undecided whether to publish it or wait to complete them all. What would you prefer?;

* I have to update the Titans' list with the first part of the fourth season;

* I’ve finally updated the Prodigal Son's list with the second season (I will reblog it right after this post); The Boys' one has already been updated with the third season;

* I’ve recentely updated Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan and Strike (TV show and books) too, and posted a new K-list, The Veil;

* I have started to watch the second season of The Witcher (I’ve watched the prequel Blood Origin and enjoyed it so much);

* I have K-drama The K-2 list to complete from... forever, I will gather my courage to finish it and goodbye one of my favorite character; same for The Musketeers, only a bunch of episodes left to review...

You can find all the lists and the links into the Whumpslist’s links Sheet here. Plus, I've made another sheet to include all my gifs, short clips and audios posted as Tumblr allows only a certain amount to links into a single post.

-- . .- -. .-- .... .. .-.. .

Meanwhile I’ve received many messages, I’ll gather the answers here into a single post.

Have you ever seen doctor who or torchwood? cuz they have a lot of whump, especially jack harkness

Doctor Who would take an eternity to be watched from the first episode, besides it’s not my kind of show so I’ve never watched it. Neither Torchwood, and that’s because I don’t like John Barrowman very much.

in your endeavor post, what ep was the second to last gif from?

Hi Anon, I suppose you mean the post of January 12th. It’s from Endeavour 1.00 “The Origins of Inspector Morse" when he’s listening at the Rosalind Galloway’s disc.

Ooo have you watched ER I’ve wanting a whump list for John Carter

Sorry @marahm30, I’ve never fully watched it back in the days, only some (whumpy) episodes already reported into The Whumpapedia.

I love love love your lists! Do you think you'd ever do Stargate SG1? I have a list of the daniel whump eps from the first handful of seasons, I'd be happy to help if you wanted to make a list

Maybe, @ravenwingdark, but surely not in the foreseeable future, my hands are full.

would it be possible for you to do Rise of the teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Series and the movie? I saw that you had done the 2003 version and was wondering if you would do the 2018-2020 one

You’re mistaken, @the-true-alpha-04, I’ve never watched nor compiled a list for it neither I will do it in the future, sorry @rachealwolf25.

Clay Spencer

Nope, as I’ve already answered it several times: I will not do a list for SEAL Team, I've only made a gifset for episode 2.17. Despite the potential, it’s pretty lacking in whumps (even if the last season had some improvements). The ones shown are widely reviewed in The Whumpapedia, though.

Do you know any good Chloro Man scenes from shows?

Interesting trope, Anon! Not one of my kind, so I can’t really recall some specifically, but I report it in my lists when it happens. Maybe you can use a selected filter to serch it into The Whumpapedia, though.

Could you do whump lists of…Forever, TVD, The originals, Legacies and other crime sci-fi shows?

It’s highly unlikely it will happen, sorry @anonymous-persona, especially the vampire shows, because of the immortality things, whumps are almost pointless...

Hi! would you be able to make a list for the Mandalorian? specifically pedro pascal’s character! thank you

I’ve thought of making one while I was watching it, but they are just a few, plus Pascal always wears the mask and it’s limitating.

do you know of any whump from All Saints, the '00s australian medical drama? the stabbing episode whumpypepsigal posted was amazing, but the whumpapedia doesn't have much to offer for more... i don't know if the show just isn't very whumpy or if it hasn't been combed through yet, but maybe you'd know, or people in the notes would? thanks!

Nope, I don’t know the show. After receiving your message, I’ve looked for it but I was unable to retrieve it. Please, let me know if you have more luck.

That’s all, folks!

[dude1818]

Revue Starlight: The Movie

Just finished Revue Starlight: The Movie. Possibly the most gorgeous anime I’ve seen, the soundtrack was even better than the show, and there was absolutely zero narrative cohesion

I didn’t know if the movie was going to be a remake of the show or a sequel, and apparently it didn’t either. It nominally takes place in their third year of school, except nearly every fight is a redux from the show. They’re all incredible and should be inserted into the show at the appropriate time, but they don’t make sense to happen in the third year

The movie had a lot more of baby Karen and Hikari, and I loved it. They were so cute, and it really fleshed out the backstory. The cost of this is that there was absolutely zero characterization of the other seven girls. What made the show so good was how each episode fleshed out the relationship between two or more of the girls, culminating in a conflict that was settled via the revue. In the movie, each scene starts in media res at the start of a fight, with no explanation of who the girls are or what they’re fighting about. If you already know the story from the anime and can remember the several missing scenes that led up to the fight, that’s fine, but it doesn’t work at all for a movie

The biggest offenders are the two new fights: Mahiru vs Hikari and Nana vs everyone. M vs H would’ve been wonderful to include in the anime, so I’m glad it gets to be shown here. Except, in the narrative established by the movie, the two characters have never interacted before! Hikari is brought in straight from England to find Karen and Mahiru intercepts her, but there’s no way they would know who the other is yet

Even worse is the Nana vs everyone fight. They did Nana so dirty in the movie. So the movie has established that the girls are about to graduate, and now Nana initiates her time loop plan. (Not that it’s mentioned a single time that her killing all of them is because she’s going to reset the timeline. At one point much later she mentions her “repeat performance” with zero context, and that’s it.) Obviously this contradicts the anime, which shows she never wants to give up her first year of school, and merely by making to graduation she’s lost her ability to force a time loop. What makes even less sense is that even though she defeats the rest of them, it has no effect on the narrative. No one ever brings up that Nana killed all of them on the train, even though the timeline should’ve reset there and didn’t. Nana wasn’t even a villain the anime, so this feels like they took the fandom interpretation of her character :/

There were some things that were done really well. While the fights were good in the anime, I love how they included a lot more transformations between cuts this time. Besides being stunning to watch, bringing the stage to life like that really built up the fact that the swordfights are a metaphor for their acting competition (or vice versa). I particularly enjoyed that Claudine got little fangs for the first part of her fight with Maya, although I’m disappointed they cut the reveal that Maya secretly learned French just in case she had the chance to reveal that Claudine’s “private” praise of her wasn’t so private

I also realized about halfway through that we hadn’t seen Karen’s transformation sequence yet. It did get a gasp out of me when I saw the opening for “I Am Reborn” during the Karen vs Hikari fight at the end, even if it didn’t play out the whole thing

Overall, as cool and gorgeous as the movie was, it was a big letdown. It only makes sense as a series of set pieces remastering scenes from the anime, and the narrative glue was either lacking or straight up nonsense. While Revue Starlight the show was a solid 9/10, Revue Starlight: The Movie was a 6/10 at best. It didn’t even have Starlight in it

[riverdale-retread]

OSCARS 2024 UPDATED 3:19 P.M.

I’m Not Over Charles Melton’s Oscar Snub

New York Magazine, February 2024

Photo: Monica Schipper/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images

I don’t consider myself particularly invested in awards shows, but this year has proven to be different. Somehow, I’ve taken on the role of the unofficial Best Supporting Actor campaign manager for Charles Melton. Blame it on my years obsessed with Riverdale (seasons one through three only, don’t hate) and my love for an underdog, but so far, the “job” is off to a great start. That was until the Oscar 2024 nominations were released and CNN falsely promised me his academy award nomination. Turns out, his name was nowhere on the list of nominees, and May December was almost shut out entirely.

While he may not have won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, at least we were treated to a wholesome red-carpet moment between Melton, dressed in custom Giorgio Armani and a tiny sparkly earring, and his mom, Sukyong. Was that not a wholesome enough moment to guarantee we witness it once again on March 10? If the Golden Globes are a hint at anything, it’s probable Oppenheimer’s Robert Downey Jr. will take home the Oscar, though I’d much rather it go to Mark Ruffalo for his absurd performance in Poor Things.

In any case, Melton has already taken home two trophies for his role in Todd Haynes’s May December, in which he plays Joe Yoo, a man in his mid-30s reckoning with his relationship — one that started when a woman began grooming him when he was 13 — as he sends his children off to college. Next to Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, it could’ve been easy for Melton to blend into the background, which is sort of what he did in the ensemble cast of Riverdale (while he played a hot high-school jock, he was definitely not the “It” guy), but instead, the actor steals every single scene he’s in with his thoughtful and breathtaking portrayal of Joe.

Disappointment over this snub aside, if Melton’s first major film performance has garnered this much attention already, the sky seems to be the limit for what’s to come. This is a man who often honors his mom at awards shows (cute), is obsessed with Todd Haynes (same), and generally seems eager to get better at his craft (we love a man with ambition). If you haven’t seen May December yet, you might question Melton’s recent claim that spending six years on the CW was basically like going to Juilliard, but if you’ve watched Riverdale, then you already know that acting on a series with that many outrageous subplots is enough to train a performer to be great. C’mon Oscars, look at what you’re missing out on.

[jacquelinemerritt]

Diamond is Unbreakable: Episode 1 Review

Originally posted April 3rd, 2016

A solid beginning to the fourth part.

One of the most interesting things about Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is its commitment to genuine fresh starts at the beginning of every new part. Phantom Blood was a gothic horror story about vampires and family betrayal, Battle Tendency was a classic Hero’s Journey to defeat an ancient evil, Stardust Crusaders was a “bro-trip” around the world in fifty days, and Diamond is Unbreakable is a “hangout film” set in the town of Morioh with a bunch of dorky highschoolers.

These stories couldn’t be more different, and yet they’re bound together by a commitment to the absurd, the ridiculous, and the bizarre that pervades every scene. There’s not a single fight in this series that doesn’t have the tension cranked up to eleven the whole way through, and every weird, potentially off-putting moment is balanced out by the series’ constant assertion that everything happening is par for the course within the world.

Case in point, the first episode of Diamond is Unbreakable introduces us to Josuke Higashikata, a superpowered high school freshmen who gets violent if you insult his hair. Not only is this character normal for the series, he’s actually the protagonist of this part, and in the first scene we see him in he goes from a demure turtle-wrangler to a badass cloaked in shadow, all at this tiny provocation.

That’s not all there is to Josuke of course; as Jotaro Kujo, the protagonist from Stardust Crusaders, talks to him he shows an incredible amount of humility regarding his position as a lovechild bringing grief to the Joestars, and he also displays some cleverness in his fight with robber at the convenience store, using his Stand’s restorative abilities to punch through a woman safely and embed the robber’s knife into his stomach.1

The rest of the episode is focused on introducing us to Josuke’s family and the town of Morioh. His grandfather is a kind elderly cop who loves his daughter, a fiery-tempered badass whose rage clearly impacted her son. They unfortunately are also given the duty of providing exposition for Josuke, explaining who he is in ways we’ve already seen, which doesn’t make for a particularly engaging conversation.

Morioh is also introduced in fairly broad strokes as a peaceful town with a sinister secret, with one aspect of its underbelly being made clear with the introduction of a deranged criminal. This introduction pales in comparison to the opening scene of the episode, which sets a far more insidious tone by making us watch as a severed woman’s hand makes breakfast to a cheery song on the local radio. It’s a hell of an opener, and it’s guaranteed to set the tone for the rest of Part 4.

Rating: 4/5

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Stray Observations

1It’s also worth noting that Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure takes a lot of cues from the horror genre, especially body horror, and I’ll be damned if it isn’t effective.

So, I’m not actually the biggest fan of subs because of how literal the translations tend to be, and that was pretty readily apparent in this episode (I watched it on CrunchyRoll; it’s totally possible that there’s a fansub out there that’s stronger). Honestly, the only reason I tend to watch subs more often is because of how weak dubs’ voice acting tends to be, even though they tend to have more figurative and colorful (and thus better) translations (which I imagine arises from a need for actors to actually read the English version of their lines).

Josuke is probably my second favorite Jojo, though I’ve yet to finish Stone Ocean, which might change my mind.

My favorite Jojos in order: Joseph, Josuke, Jolyne, Giorno, Jonathan, Jotaro.

My favorite parts in order: Battle Tendency, Diamond is Unbreakable, Phantom Blood, Vento Aureo, Stardust Crusaders. I’m not ranking Stone Ocean until I’m finished with it.

[meandmypagancrew]

Someone made a post to where you can watch each version btw !

https://www.tumblr.com/yagami-raito-kun/727310201249792000/the-bad-news-i-have-fallen-headfirst-back-into-my?source=share

But thank you so much for putting up with my questions!! Hopefully they made enough sense >_<

But Im also was wondering how you got into death note in general if you don't mind me asking? :D

Well. This is sure embarrassing but… I don’t know how I got into Death Note. I can tell you that I got into the demo because Jeremy Jordan (Light) is one of my favorite musical theatre performers and I would follow him anywhere, but I already knew about Death Note and had read much of the manga and seen a lot of the anime.

But… I don’t know how or why. Unfortunately, due to a medical condition, I’m fucked in the head. There are entire chunks of my life that I just… they’re blank. I’m in my mid twenties now and my brother swears that about 15 years ago I loved Code Geass, but I have no memory whatsoever of this. I have no idea what it’s about and I can’t tell you the name of a single character in that series. I looked up the opening, hoping it would spark something, but I would have told you I had never heard that song before in my entire life. There’s only one scene in that entire anime that I even vaguely remember but my brother swears I was obsessed with it.

I can tell you I’m not really an anime person in general. The only animes I’ve watched in full (that I remember) are Shoujo Cosette and Layton Mystery Tanteisha and in both of those, I watched them because I liked the source material first (Les Misèrables and Layton’s Mystery Journey, respectively).

But I can’t tell you how I got into Death Note. I just don’t know. My memory is missing so much… it almost seems like Death Note has literally always been there, because I really don’t remember a time before it or where I didn’t know about it.