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bespectacled-panda · 4 years ago

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after seeing dumpywoof’s post I was inspired to do a tier list of my own!!! and boy howdy do I have some hot takes of the century it turns out,,,

the seasons are more or less organized in descending order within the same row as well (e.g. MC 4 > MC 5). also, shamefully copying dumpywoof & putting a detailed & overly verbose explanation for each season:

S Tier

Terraria 3: For me, absolutely nothing compares to Terraria 3. No other season combines such perfect participant dynamics with such heart-wrenching drama—not to mention the existence of Team New Kids who make me cry on a daily basis, or the incredible fake twist ending. It would be a sin to put this season anywhere but alone at the very top. Also props for being the only (1 of 2) post-show that actually includes all of the cast.

A Tier

Minecraft 4: This is the best season for shenanigans alone, hands-down. It’s largely just the participants shooting the shit together, especially in the latter half of the season when it gets down to just the four of them. & I have a huge soft spot for men being wholesomely foolish together I suppose, so here it goes fhdhfhd.

Minecraft 5: To be honest, I have not seen this season since it released, which is a crime, I know, I’m sorry :orb: But I remember it being very very good, & I cannot imagine my taste will have changed that dramatically in just a few years, so. in truth, this one might be actually better than MC 4, but as I have not seen it in many years I can’t say that for certain. Either way, though, it’s definitely one of the best seasons out there.

MineZ 1: To me, MineZ 1 is the reverse of MC 4: low on shenanigans & high on drama. It’s pre-Todd era, but the editing in this one is honestly Todd-level, I would say. It’s so incredibly tense, especially the scene with McJones & PBG trying to escape the caves, and I feel like the sheer stress of it all brought out a new side of a lot of the participants, most notably Dean—who sounded genuinely agonized at times. A very very quality season all around, IMO.

Terraria 2: This season probably objectively deserves to be B tier, but I am it giving A tier for personal bias. I just,,, love the dynamics okay. Jeff & McJones especially made for a killer duo. It was a rare instance of McJones being the funny man himself rather than being the straight man to someone else’s funny man; he was super uncharacteristically goofy & almost borderline flirtatious at times, it really made for some good moments fhdhfjd. Plus then you got McJones solo commentary at the end which I greatly enjoyed. Just,, a very enjoyable season, very mid-HC era, very light & easy to watch, all that good stuff.

Diablo II: Man,,,,this absolutely 100% does not deserve A tier, I know, I’m sorry, but I just can’t bring myself to put it lower. I have A tier love for it :orb: Admittedly, the game is horrendously ugly and confusing to watch, but the shenanigans + the cast dynamics win me over in the end. Paul especially was great in this, & I hope he makes a return someday. Loving fathers Paul & Jirard with their sorceress son McJones making their way through the end-game just cannot be beaten. (Anti-shoutouts to Ross though, I don’t know anything about him, I am sure he is a lovely man, but GOD. WHY DID HE KEEP RUNNING OFF ON HIS OWN & GETTING LOST BUT THEN FORCEFULLY REFUSING HELP,,, ROSS YOU ARE THE WORST DHDHFJDJD)

B Tier

Minecraft 7: Boy,,, this is going to be a controversial take fhhfjdjf. I just don’t know how to explain it, but something about MC7 felt,,,, Very off. I don’t know what it was, just something about the season seemed very,,, almost like you could tell things were falling apart behind the scenes, & they were trying to pull it back together but weren’t quite succeeding. It’s not a bad season in any regards, of course, I just,, don’t enjoy it nearly as much as a lot of others,, it’s missing that crucial spark of life in my opinion,, also Dean leaving to go to work was kind of strange,, I get it, it’s probably difficult to work around his real-life job,, but it felt strange,, he got like temporary immunity. Nothing like that had ever happened before I don’t think. And also they never even explained why Dean wasn’t there for like three episodes fjdjfjhd,,

Minecraft 3: God I feel like I just keep digging myself into a deeper & deeper hole here fhsjfjd,,, but man, I did like MC3 to be honest. It wasn’t the best season, it kind of went nowhere, but I liked the cast & there was a lot of good funnymoments. Smooth & Shane were very good guests who I feel like really rounded out the season, & Jontron did not come off as terribly overbearing as I believe that he has in other seasons. Overall, pretty decent, I’d say.

C Tier

Minecraft 2: MC 2 & MC 3 are very similar, but I think MC 2 is slightly worse, both in terms of entertainment & cast. NCS & Kyrak did not hit like Smooth & Shane did,,, and I feel like just everything that happened in this one was fairly forgettable. I was torn as to whether this should be a B or a C, but I put it here in the end just to drive home that I really don’t like it as much as MC 3, I don’t believe.

Minecraft 6: Oh lord, this is a nuclear take fhdjfjd. Again, this isn’t a bad season at all, it has its good moments, especially Chad & Dodger, they are angels & I love them & want them back. But boy,,, just. Many things went wrong here. None of the twists panned out like,, at all, which I know isn’t necessarily anyone’s fault, the concept of this twist & of twists in general is very good. But it fell so flat here, especially with the revival. There was,, no debate at all about what to do. They hyped it up like they had this big decision to make, but then nobody made any effort to dramatize it at all. It was basically just Dean deciding by himself and everyone just sitting back & letting him. For the record, I have no qualms with the fact that Dodger was revived, I fully agree that she deserved it over McJones, but it was not played well at all IMO,,, I do have to admit, though, with a fair amount of sheepishness, that the thing that most sullies this season for me is McJones’s death. Just,,, his horrible, so so avoidable, insanely early death, coupled with his retirement shortly thereafter & him becoming so jaded with hc that he expressed borderline hostility & hatred towards it just,,, hurts. I kinda don’t wanna see the events of MC 6 now knowing the aftermath. I understand fully that this particular point is not something most people care about to say the least dhfhdjd, but,,, in all honesty, I really don’t have any desire to rewatch this one, as objectively good as it might be. It was a win but it felt like a loss, if that makes sense. Also the post-show lacked all three people I actually wanted to hear from fhdjfjd neither the two people who could’ve been revived nor the actual person who did the reviving were there to share their insight & perspectives on it :pensive:

D Tier

Starbound: man,,, starbound. This is a very mixed bag for me. On one hand, I disagree with people who say that it was boring or that nothing happened, I found it very tense, Todd’s editing had me on edge throughout every episode. But on the other hand,,, man. Very few memorable moments, what even happened in this one,, also I feel like the game mechanics/plot weren’t explained very well, I feel like I remember being vaguely confused all the time as to what was happening. Probably will not ever rewatch either.

Have Not Seen

DayZ: I will not ever be watching this season both because I do not know anything about DayZ & because from what I’ve heard it was an absolute disaster, I’m just not interested in getting involved in that fhdhfjdk

Terraria 1: There’s not really a reason I haven’t watched this one. Just,, I haven’t made my way down to the earliest seasons yet. Although as mentioned before, I have seen a few clips of this season, & Jontron seems to be pretty obnoxious in this one, so I don’t how much I’ll enjoy the parts with him in it, but I definitely do want to watch it someday.

Minecraft 1: The same as Terraria 1, I just happen to not have seen this one by chance. But unlike T1, I am much more looking forward to actually watching it, it seems really good, I want to experience that legendary very first season at last dhdhfjd

MineZ 2: Man,,, many things about the behind-the-scenes of this season make me sort of uncomfortable honestly. Just,,, the visceral second-hand shame & embarrassment of someone in the hc fandom being so rude & bothersome to the cast,, somehow it makes me feel personally responsible even though I didn’t do anything fhdjfj,,, Also,, once again continuing with the trend of me being saddened by McJones expressing dislike for seasons fhdjfjd,, I do recall him saying, regarding this season, something like “I think it would’ve been better if we just never did this,” which,,, ow. That doesn’t make me particularly enthused to watch it fhdjfjd. I probably will end up watching this season someday to be honest, but I’m not looking forward to feeling the cast’s frustration & unhappiness with the situation,, (EDIT: I want to be clear that there is no actual drama surrounding minez 2!!! it is a perfectly fine season, there is nothing wrong with it, it just happens that I personally am bothered by the fact that there was a lot of like,,, frustration coming from the participants regarding the player who was stalking them. this in no way means that minez 2 is an objectively bad or problematic season!! if minez 2 is your favorite season I completely respect you, there is nothing wrong with that!! there is a lot to like about the season as a whole!!! I just personally care too much about mcjones having a bad time in seasons bc it’s what ultimately led to his retirement, & that makes me sad fjdhfjdjd. but it has come to my attention that my wording made it sound like there was drama about minez 2, which there never actually was, I am very very sorry for my unintentional yet poor choice of words.)

#私がポストしたもの #about time I have a 'my own posts' tag #I hardly make them but they do exist from time to time #also god. good lord this is so long.#get me talking about pbg hc & I just won't ever stop fhdhfhdh #shoutouts to anyone who actually reads this #also again. this is by no means my opinions on objective season quality. fhshfjdj #this is just my opinions on how much I personally like & would rewatch each season

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razberryyum · 5 years ago

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The Untamed/陈情令 Rewatch, Episode 6, Part 1 of 2

(spoilers for everything MDZS/Untamed and a little for Princess Weiyoung)

[covers MDZS chapter 18 and a bit of chaps 56 and 66]

WangXian meter: 🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰

(a 🐰 is earned every time there is a WangXian scene or even when they’re just thinking of each other…there’s so much Wangxian-ness in this episode, one post couldn’t contain all of it)

Team CQL went rogue for the two major events featured in this episode—the Cloud Recesses drinking incident and the WangXian bathing scene—and really, bless them and their ancestors for that decision. Not only did the changes provide Wei Ying and Lan Zhan with additional bonding time, but they actually had significant bearing on future events.

Originally in the novel, Lan Zhan didn’t actually partake in the drinking incident that got Wei Ying punished: some nameless disciples, Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng were the ones who actually took part in those activities. Lan Zhan only found their drunk asses the next morning and dragged Wei Ying off for disciplinary action (although, from the way the scene was described in the book, it actually seemed like he was more angry at Wei Ying for looking at porn, lol). However, for the live action, that entire scenario was transformed into Lan Zhan actually getting drunk for the first time, albeit against his will. Of course it would have been better if he willingly joined in, but at that point in time, that would have been illogical, not to mention completely out of character for him, so even though Wei Ying sort of did Lan Zhan wrong, there was probably no other way he could have gotten him to share a drink with him otherwise.

I am especially grateful for this change because that is the moment when my eyes were finally open to Wang Yibo’s talents as an actor and I started to really appreciate his performance. Prior to this episode, I was actually wondering if he was playing stoicism so well because that’s really all he was capable of doing, but then, when he dropped that rigid façade and gave us a charmingly adorable drunk Lan Zhan, I realized that everything that came before were indeed acting choices, that he was definitely able to do more than that. Not to mention, he also had pretty good comedic timing. I started to look at him in an entirely new light after watching this episode, and the rest is, as they say, history.

Upon revisiting this episode last night, I finally realized something that I never thought of before, and I feel actually pretty stupid for not even making the connection until now. During the Koi tower scenes in the present, when Wei Ying as the paperman was eavesdropping on Jin Guangyao and his wife’s conversation, I couldn’t figure out how JGY was able to put Qin Su under his control the way he did, but in watching this episode again, it finally came to me: he probably used a modified version of the charm that Wei Ying used on Lan Zhan in here. After all, JGY was one of the many people who raided the Burial Mounds and took over the Yiling Patriarch’s possessions after his death, so it would make sense for him to discover this particular memento as well. When I first watched this episode, I was mainly just impressed by how powerful the charm is that it would be able to put someone like Lan Zhan under its spell, considering he’s not just some lay person, but rather someone who already had a pretty high level of cultivation by then. I simply saw it as yet another indicator of just how talented and powerful Wei Ying was even at that young age. But now, thinking that Team CQL may have laid the groundwork for something that was going to happen so much later just makes me so much more impressed with their planning.

Of course I could simply be overthinking this whole thing and JGY’s magical powers could just be his own magical powers, or something common to the cultivation world that my dumb brain just overlooked, but for those few seconds when I thought I came upon a fascinating connection, I was quite proud of myself, so allow me to coast on that sense of euphoria just a little while more.

Bonding and other cuteness

Of course I loved every single moment of the Drunk!Lan Zhan sequence, starting with that tiny little flirtatious gesture by Wei Ying. Seriously, how CUTE is that?? Makes me smile every time I see it, and I’ve rewound that little moment numerous times. How anyone can be resistant to Wei Wuxian’s charms I can never understand, but clearly Lan Zhan was still holding out on him. I’m glad that Team CQL chose this incident to reveal the nature of the Gusu Lan head ribbon since it directly led to Wei Ying’s bonding moment with Lan Zhan. Even though the other man was still generally cold to him, it was really sweet that Wei Ying still felt comfortable enough to share the precious memory of his parents with him.

It’s a real shame that Lan Zhan didn’t remember any of it the next day, but I did take comfort in the fact that he still knelt by Wei Ying like a united front to receive Uncle Lan’s wrath and punishment. I’m sure most of that was motivated by his own pride and sense of righteousness, but I still found it touching, especially with how much Wei Ying was defending Lan Zhan so that he would be spared the disciplinary action. Wei Ying was much less protective in the novel during that scene–he was mostly indignant–even though he was still the one to blame for Lan Zhan’s involvement in the whole incident by basically tricking him into breaking curfew. I love that even though Team CQL changed the drinking incident, they still managed to maintain the spirit of its novel counterpart, much like they did with the Phoenix Mountain Hunt.

And then of course there was this:

Which was obviously a treat for our imaginations to get our creative juices flowing so that we can imagine on our own what might have taken place during the night that led to Wei Wuxian waking up in his half-dressed state. For this gift, I am eternally grateful to the production team.

Jiang Cheng Has Fun For Once

I was actually surprised that Jiang Cheng would join in on the drinking party because up until then he had spent most of his time basically disapproving everything Wei Ying did while also seemingly in a constant state of worry that he would embarrass their sect. Imbibing alcohol was clearly a violation of Gusu Lan rules so it’s kind of amazing that Jiang Cheng willingly join in on such an act of rebellion. Nie Huaisang, on other hand, I totally expected to be a part of the shenanigans…I would’ve expected nothing less from him…but Jiang Cheng was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed seeing him let loose like that, especially since we got to find out what he looked for in a mate.

The sad thing is Wen Qing actually fit all of his requirements for a wife, except for that family one, which i in the end, proved to be the most important one after all since it became the deal-breaker, dooming their relationship before it even got a chance to get started.

Another rather sad aspect of seeing Jiang Cheng so at ease and acting like a total goofball is that this really would be the only time we would ever see him this way. His time at Cloud Recesses was probably the most enjoyable and carefree for him. I doubt he was ever able to enjoy himself the same way again. It actually makes me wonder if he EVER was able to have fun, period, during the last 16 years. Just thinking about what he’s gone through makes me wish I could give him a great big hug.

Reason #10 for Why I love Big Bro Lan Xichen

His amused reaction to hearing about Wei Ying’s transgression:

…which was immediately followed by his “oh shit” response to hearing his little bro was also involved.

Big Bro Xichen is just too adorable, AND HE DESERVES ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD DAMMIT.

Uncle Lan is One Mean Mofo

Seriously, what’s with Lan Qiren’s obsession with the number 300? I really need to know if there’s some significance to that number since it’s featured in BOTH of the major disciplinary incidents in the show that were carried out by Uncle Lan. For this first outing, those rulers looked downright brutal; it’s a utter miracle that Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were even able to survive being beat 300 times with that medieval torture device. At the very least their spines should’ve been broken, paralyzing them for the rest of their lives. In the novel they were only caned 100 times, which is still a lot but it’s still a somewhat grounded enough number that I could believe they would be able to heal from their injuries. But 300? They should be maimed. I’ve noticed that with chinese dramas though: they tend to be excessive when it comes to inflicting punishment. I actually stopped watching a show once because the main character was being beaten repeatedly in the stomach (Princess Weiyoung) while being held prisoner. That particular character should not have survived that beating…at the very least he would’ve needed his nutrients to be delivered by IV for the rest of his life (even though IVs didn’t exist yet) because there was no way his stomach was ever going to work again after that. I was almost offended by how ignorant the screenwriters were about basic anatomical and biological functions so I decided to just stop watching (well, the fact that I wasn’t that into the show anyway probably contributed to my decision as well) Of course the 300 floggings weren’t enough to discourage me from continuing forward with The Untamed, but it did throw me out of the show for a good moment because I couldn’t get over how ridiculous that number was. Uncle Lan really has a sadistic streak in him

Not to mention, he was also surprisingly tactless. He had just learned about Wei Wuxian’s mom from big bro Xichen and I couldn’t believe that he would just throw that info at the Wei Ying in such a careless way, only to shut him down when the poor guy desperately asked for more details about his mom. Uncle Lan had to know enough about Wei Ying’s background to understand how sensitive he would be in regards to his deceased parents, so I was actually taken aback by how heartless Uncle Lan was being during that scene, so much so that for a while after, I really wasn’t feeling much love towards him. Although, now that I think about it, love is probably a misnomer any way since I doubt I would ever love Uncle Lan nor can I even say I ever actually liked him–he’s too much of a fuddy-duddy for my tastes. It’s more like I just accept his existence, appreciate his importance to the Lan brothers, and I find his disapproval of Wei Ying kind of amusing. But in that moment, I definitely did straight out dislike him for being such a cold SOB, especially towards Wei Wuxian.

To be continued in Part 2…(posted)

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imgoodloveenjoy · 5 years ago

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Chexton isn't perfect but Sexcel is toxic.

I’ve been a fan of Chicago Med since season 1, I love the growth of the characters and seeing them come into their own and blossom through their storylines. In the beginning, I liked Marcel, he represented a wild, fun and interesting addition to the cast and characters until the writers decided to make him messy. Now, I can excuse messiness but I can’t excuse the arrogance of Marcel’s character especially with him disrespecting one of my favorite characters, April. Since April and Marcel are working closely together, the way he speaks to her rubs me the wrong way so I’ve compiled a list of instances of Marcel directly disrespecting April:

1. Season 5, episode 3:

* In this episode, a woman came into the ED with a newborn infant. April thought she should’ve been checked out, which I agreed with as childbirth is a traumatic vaginal, physical & emotional experience and to make sure the placenta had passed. Voicing this concern with Marcel throughout the episode, even mentioning when she had her suspicions that the baby wasn’t hers, he aggressively bit back at her just to go behind her back and do what he admonished her for suggesting (and taking credit by making it seem like him doing the tests was all of his idea) while also sedating the patient, which resulted in DCFS not being able to talk to her and possibly find the truth and help the real mother sooner. Marcel could’ve talked to April about the issue, especially since a recessed placenta can cause extreme sickness and death for a mother, and he and April could’ve worked through the issue together as teammates instead of him being authoritative & holding his position over her head.

2. Season 5, episode 8:

* This is the episode where Noah has been beaten. Although I agree with Marcel about Noah needing surgery, he didn't have to speak the April the way he did. That's her baby brother laying there and he should've taken her concerns into consideration, a total lack of empathy. Lanik was running point as Noah's doctor and was discussing the options for treatment with his sister and all-knowing Marcel comes in, speaks over April & telling her "It's not your call", when it's most likely that April is designated to make decisions about his care when he's unable. Being aggressive with her that she isn’t in charge of his care and, once again, disregarding her medical input just feels like an asshole. April then apologizes to Marcel when he should be apologizing to her. This situation also lets us into a little window that feels like he always has to be right even to the point of not consulting with his own patients or their guardians about how they want their care to go & what their options are. He's right, they're wrong = Connor 2.0. To directly insult her about her brother's care is sickening and full of ego.

3. Season, 5, episode 10:

*This episode once again shows us how Marcel isn’t very communicative with his patients or the people on his team. He has a patient who has expressed a fear of being under anesthesia and Marcel, AGAIN, goes straight for the surgery instead of offering all avenues of service to his patient and advocating for what he feels would be the best course of action. "As much as I value your input, Nurse Sexton, I am the surgeon and this is the plan" cuing Noah being visibly uncomfortable by that statement.

Speaking with his patient would’ve told him that the father died under anesthesia and that could be evident of some kind of underlying issue, as we just had a similar issue with Elsa's patient, who was allergic to the anesthesia and had a deadly reaction. Even Noah notices that they're arguing a lot, which isn’t healthy for a work environment. Marcel tries to blame his horrid communication skills on April telling her that if the patient needs emergency surgery, it’s on her. No, it’s on you, Marcel. I'm sure if he had just talked to his patient, there wouldn’t have been any dramatics and the patient would’ve done the surgery but since Marcel is hiding things (double entendre intended), the patient ops out, feeling uneasy. April did what Marcel should’ve done and what she suggested he do in the beginning and communicate medical action to the patient about what his options were. Marcel has no problem popping in on other people's patients offering surgery as an option, why is it so hard for him to offer non-surgical options for his patients? It's like he just wants to cut into people, almost psychopathic. In the end, April oddly apologizes when she did nothing wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This brings me to another thing I've noticed: Marcel works really well with Noah because Noah is in training. Noah defers to Marcel's medical judgement and seems ready to try to please him. Meanwhile, April has been in the medical field long enough to know how some things are supposed or should go so she offers up her medical opinion, and has in the past to Will, Natalie, Connor and Ethan. Marcel probably feels like this calls in to question his judgment and snaps on her, wanting things his way while treating April as a glorified assistant. The only thing April did wrong was to not let Noah and Marcel know that she had this conversation with the patient when he requested to know his other options; Marcel was more in the wrong for not doing this in the beginning and for yelling at April, he doesn’t seem to work well with a team and April didn’t need to apologize. They will both find out that hiding things to make things go your way, won’t work.

Another thing is he relies on calling April "Nurse Sexton" as to remind her of his elevated status versus hers. It’s like he's telling her "You’re just a nurse, therefore inconsequential" as though she doesn’t know enough or have had enough experience with patients as he has, probably more as many of us in hospitals see the nurses more often than we see the doctor. April's position as a nurse isn’t because she cannot be a doctor, its due to her misogynistic upbringing where her status could be the same or better than the men in her family. She voiced this concern when Noah first came to Med and when hiding her relationship with Ethan - knowing that nurses are seen as lowly in the medical field when they're really vital.

Final thoughts: Marcel needs to pack that ego in. He’s condescending to April every time she has an idea or concern about someone’s medical care. I do think his pairing with Natalie, someone who’s always as self-righteous as he is and rarely ever apologizes, will cause him to look back at his behavior and make some changes, hopefully. Not like April who seems to cow to his behavior. It would be interesting to see him work with Dr. Latham, someone who’s just as skilled, knowing and strong willed as he is who will really challenge him on ethics. We’ll see what happens in the coming episodes.

#chicagomed #chicago med #april sexton #ethan choi #crockett marcel #chexton #sexton #sexcel #one chicago #character analysis #brian tee #yaya dacosta #dominic rains #chicago pd #chicago fire

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machihunnicutt · 5 years ago

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What the Downton Movie Owes Me (but will probably not give me): Some Thoughts on Thomas Barrow

yes...I wrote 1k+ words on this. I’m so sorry.

I’m watching Downton Abbey for the 3rd (4th?) time with my sister who hasn’t seen it. I love this glorified soap opera to death, y’all, with the full acknowledgment that this show does a horrible job with a lot of its plot lines designed to tackle complicated issues: disability (the ableism against Bates via the house that he never gets apologies for, Matthew and his spinal injury/wheelchair that is always framed as life-ending and making him nothing but a “burden”), class (the Branson/Sybil marriage is alright, but there are countless missed opportunities to interrogate the relationship between upstairs and downstairs, particularly Carson’s attachment to a family that monopolizes his life and the lives of all its employees), (I’m going to leave race and gender alone because I think it does a pretty decent job when these issues come into play but feel free to lmk if there’s something I missed!), and sexuality, which is what I want to get into.

So granted, I understand that I’m not the target audience for this show. I understand that Downton’s gay characters were not written primarily to be relatable, multifaceted representations of gay people in a period drama. I get that Downton’s target audience is older, straight people for which representation isn’t super important. But, I have watched this show at least 3 times now and I’m still angry about its treatment of Thomas Barrow, so I’m going to break down why:

1) Things We Know About Thomas Barrow

I really like early seasons of Downton because, for all its drawn out drama and plot twists, it cares a lot about character development and consistency. Many characters (dare I say the majority) do mean and bad things and yet, we are still empathetic because we’ve spent time with them, understand why they make the choices they do, and see them learn from their mistakes (early seasons Mary is an excellent example.)

Thomas Barrow is my favorite Downton character because of the great narrative work they do in this regard. In the first episode we learn several character traits of his that continue to be important throughout his arcs:

- He doesn’t trust easily and has few friends in the house. (AKA, boy’s got a bad attitude. It’s better to act like you hate everyone than give them the chance to reject you.) I found this immediately endearing (because of who I am I guess lol), and though I understand why people don’t like his character because of this, I think it’s a good move for a character you intend to have grow over a long period of time. Opening up, accepting help from others, and showing kindness are all parts of Thomas’ future storylines, actions that show his slow growth from this facet of his character. I also think it’s important to note that when Thomas does make friends he is loyal to them (I’m excepting O’Brien from this category given there’s so much backstabbing between them that it’s a stretch to call them friends) and will take risks to protect them (Examples: befriending Lt. Courtenay and later fighting Dr. Clarkson to keep him at the hospital; befriending Lady Sybil and speaking kindly about her when he doesn’t have nice things to say about anyone else upstairs, later earnestly mourning her death in a show of vulnerability he generally masks; befriending Jimmy and looking out for him when he gets drunk at the fair, going as far to get beaten up to save Jimmy; befriending Andy and helping him learn to read; befriending the kids of the house and saving them from that one nasty nanny who was mistreating them.)

- He’s a romantic. The man wants to be loved and jfc I wish the show gave him a good love interest.

- He’s easily manipulated. (More on this later, but for now...) The Duke plays him, and it’s cruel, but it shows how easily Thomas can be tricked when he’s offered affection and the chance to leave Downton for something better. (Also note: from day one, he’s wanted to leave Downton!)

- He’s the evil gay trope. The gay villain trope has a long and complicated history and sure, you can say Thomas’s sexuality and role as an antagonist aren’t connected, but the show doesn’t exist in a vacuum and it feeds into a long history of villainizing LGBT and LGBT coded characters. The thing I hate most is that they get really close to subverting it in Thomas’ best moments (his work in the hospital during the war, his relationship with the kids, his gradual opening up to people in the house) but alas...

2) Why I Hate The Jimmy Kent Arc More Than Anything

Okay, so it makes sense for Thomas to be manipulated by O’Brien. That’s consistent with his character and I don’t fault the show for melodrama because that’s what it does. What I hate, is that the show depicts Thomas’ attraction to Jimmy as predatory and when he is punished for trying to kiss Jimmy while he’s asleep (which is assault) the house (and I’d argue, the show) frames this as bad only because Thomas is gay and Jimmy is not. In the show’s narrative Jimmy is mad because he’s homophobic, not because he’s been violated. And his and Jimmy’s ensuing friendship would be genuinely sweet if it really was just an issue of homophobia and not one of ASSAULT!

I’d argue, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t portray Thomas as predatory and then brush it aside to make a statement about tolerance, because assaulting people is bad regardless of the sexuality of the perpetrator. You either need to punish his actions for what they are or get better at story telling and not rely on the predatory gay stereotype.

But, secondarily, I’m bothered by this arc because it doesn’t seem in character, to me. I know Thomas does a lot of bad, stupid things, but I don’t think it makes sense for him to be predatory. In his best moments he is protective, romantic, and loyal. Yes, we see him as rash and naive, but his actions never felt right for the character, to me. I just think it’s lazy writing to handle his attraction to Jimmy this way, especially given the development of their friendship afterward. It would’ve been so much more satisfying and narratively interesting for Thomas to express his feelings for Jimmy in a respectful way. Jimmy is the only character we see Thomas have genuine feelings for (not motivated by upward mobility as in the case of the Duke or I guess(?) racial stereotyping in the case of Kemal Pamuk...but lbr his pass at him was mostly a plot device) and I think the arc would’ve been so much more fulfilling if we saw it as Thomas’ attempt to love someone fully and honestly, even if it ultimately doesn’t work out the way he wants it to. And I don’t get why they didn’t do this! Because the Jimmy/Thomas friendship ends up being sweet, and useful for each character’s development. They just had to make it gross by beginning with an assault. Just a huge, lazy, waste of a potentially good idea.

3) The Last Season Was Bad For A Lot Of Characters But They Did Thomas Extremely Dirty

I don’t know where to start with the last season because I think they ran into so many problems because they forgot how to use great characters effectively (Mary is a prime example!!) and started just throwing them into dramatic situations for the sake of plot and not keeping actions consistent with established character.

For example, life at Downton is the roughest it has ever been for Thomas in season 6, to the point where he is alienated by most in the house (I’m not going to talk about how badly Carson treats him and how much of a tyrant Carson is in the last season because again, I think it comes down to the writers forgetting how to use their characters effectively) and attempts suicide. All in all, I just don’t like this because it’s predictable and overdone. Gay people in period pieces almost always have overwhelmingly tragic stories and it’s not fun for me to watch anymore. What most disappoints me though, is that when everyone else is getting paired off in the fan-servicey ending, Thomas’ consolation prize is being the butler??? To a house full of people who’ve hated him??? He’s wanted from the beginning to leave Downton and in the end he doesn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, if the show had shown me his change in attitude and relationship to the house, given me this character development in meaningful ways, and not used a suicide attempt as a half-assed catalyst for change, I would be all for Thomas as Downton’s butler. I think that if they’d done the work of making it a believable and constructive next step for his character, that I’d really like it. I think Thomas’ relationship with the kids (particularly George! I’d watch a whole movie about that!) is well done and I think it echos Carson’s relationship with Mary, but better. But you! have! to! do! the! work! to! get! the! audience! there! You can’t give me a whole season of Downton nastiness and Thomas suffering and then expect me to buy that this is his happy ending.

4) What I Want From This Movie

I don’t think I’ll get it (though a love interest for Thomas via the trailer is encouraging), but here’s what I want:

- Show me why Thomas Barrow as Downton butler makes sense. And if you can’t, let him leave and be happy somewhere else because he deserves it.

- Show me how he’s grown. Show me his relationship with the kids and how he’s better than Carson because I need it!!

- Let Thomas be in a relationship that is healthy and not manipulative or coercive or a plot device for drama.

- Let him be in love and don’t make it a sad story. Please.

I find Thomas Barrow such a compelling character because he isn’t perfect. He makes mistakes. He does bad things. He grows. He changes over the course of six seasons. He’s a gay character in a period drama whose story isn’t about being ashamed of who he is. It isn’t about denial or apologies or pretending he’s someone he isn’t. And I think that’s significant. I just wish they’d done a slightly better job. :)

(Thanks for reading. I’m gonna keep being a Thomas Barrow stan even when no one watching with me thinks I’m valid lol.)

#thomas barrow #downton abbey #downton movie #awi makes things #downton abbey rant #jimmy kent #lgbt media #rant

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mononoke-no-ko · 6 years ago

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[TRANS] Code Geass Gaiden: Lancelot & Guren -Suzaku arc- Ep03 (interlude + part 1)

Source (1,2). This Schnee kid is kinda dumb. Feels like in this chapter he got some death flags too. Anyway translation for the next part (newest release) will be up in another couple of hours.

SIDE: Suzaku III

Prelude

Previous episode’s after talk.

-Minsk, Belarus. Britannia base camp-

Ledo: So you're here. Suzaku: Ah, Ledo? Thanks.

Suzaku: ...what, do you have something to say? Ledo: Thank you. Suzaku: For previous battle? Ledo: Yes. Under that circumstances, with that power difference. Even though Lord Kururugi is one of Knights of Round, surviving that battle should be almost impossible. If it’s just anyone, dying would be a matter of course.

Ledo: But you survived. For me it’s strange. Suzaku: What the, you make it sounds like it would’ve been better if I died. Ledo: ! I apologize, that’s not my intention... Suzaku: Haha, just kidding. You’re right... even though there was a gap in terms of Knightmare’s ability, the difference in overall battle force was enough to be a threat. That’s because fundamentally Knightmare focuses on combat that makes use of its maneuverability, so a single blow can cause fatal injury.

Ledo: Yes. That’s why enclosing your enemy to give a chance for your ally to escape, such fighting method should not even be considered. But you did it, disregarding the danger you might have to put your life in. Suzaku: That’s the answer, Ledo. Ledo: ? Suzaku: Me, you, Schnee, everyone. I don’t want anyone to die. That’s why my body moved on its own. Rather than someone else, it would be better if I was the one who died.

Ledo: This person... Suzaku: But you know, inspite of that, I won’t die. “I” cannot die. ...just kidding. In the end it might just that I was lucky. Schnee: Lord Kururugi! You have a call from His Highness Schneizel!

Schnee: U-um, Lord Kururugi! About previous battle, it was my fault, so... Suzaku: I’m glad that you’re alive, Schnee. Schnee: Ugh... Why is he so... It would be better for him to scold me...! Ledo: Lord Kururugi’s eyes at that time... they seemed to directed at someone. Someone who's isn’t here...

Part 1

Suzaku (on channel): Schnee, Ledo, it’s a deployment order. It seems the troops stationed in the outskirts of Poland are attacked by a group of Knighmares. According to His Highness Schneizel, right now we seem to be the only troop that can be sent there. Prepare for immediate sorting. Ledo: Is it the lots from Europia army? Even after they got beaten that badly, they’re still in the mood to fight... ...Schnee? Schnee: Hm? Yeah, I know right. Let’s go.

Ledo: ...do you really hate being saved by Lord Kururugi that much? Isn’t it good enough that you’re still alive. Schnee: ...There are things more important than life. Ledo: You mean things like ‘honor’? I can’t comprehend it. It’s better to survive even though it’s unsightly rather than dying frivolously. Schnee: I don’t need to be understood. This is my personal matter. Ledo: I get it, but you need to change. Otherwise you’ll die. Schnee: Dying for your fatherland is a matter to be celebrated.

-Three Knightmare Frame units are hung on the VTOL and flown... -

Suzaku: The enemy turned out be the defectors from Euro Britannia. Schnee: !! The enemy is fellow Britannians...!? Should I point my blade at Britannians!? Suzaku: Create a breach by causing disorder among enemy troops. Both of you will rush through enemy line from that opening, and create a chance for our comrades to retreat. Ledo: Yes My Lord. Suzaku: Schnee?

Schnee: Yes... My Lord. Just like Ledo said... I should change my sentiment. Those who oppose fatherland, even if they are compatriots, are enemies!

Schnee: Stop thinking... These people aren’t Britannian... they are criminals!

Enemy soldier: Schnee Hexen, isn’t it?

Schnee: ...how do you know my name!? Enemy soldier: You are a famous person. The story of how the future head of Hexen family becomes a subordinate under Knight of Seven is also known in Euro Britannia. Schnee: It’s not my hobby to have a chit chat with an enemy! Enemy soldier: Hahaha. My bad. It’s not only for that.

Henrik: It’s me, Henrik. Don’t you remember? Schnee: Henrik... Gerard. Henrik: I’m glad that you remember.

(flashback) Henrik: The purpose of us, Euro Britannia, is to recapture our country’s land that was stolen by EU. But I think it’s wrong to devastate the land and annihilate the enemy for that reason. Because a state belongs to the people. We as nobles must not take that for granted. (end of flashback)

Schnee: Why!? You were worrying about the future of Britannia! You who were thinking of the people that deeply!

Henrik: Exactly because I was thinking. I realized that Britannia’s means that expanded damages of war with its military power is wrong. Schnee: !! Please surrender. If you do that you will surely be able to restore your honor. You will be able to fight for your ideal again. Henrik: You haven’t changed, Schnee. You are a good person.

Henrik: But this world is not as beautiful as you think. Schnee: It was a trap...!

Ledo: Schnee! Kill those guys quickly! Your Sutherland has the superior ability right?! What are you playing around for?! Schnee: I can’t! These people are Britannians, you know?! Why do I have to kill them!? Henrik! Please surrender! I’m begging you!

Schnee: Uooooh!!

Schnee: I can’t evade it!

to be continued

PREVIOUS CHAPTER. LIST OF CHAPTERS. NEXT CHAPTER.

#code geass #suzaku kururugi #schnee hexen #ledo ofen #Code Geass Gaiden #code geass manga #translation

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fixomnia-scribble · 7 years ago

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Blue Bloods 8x09 Ramble

“Pain Killers”

Spoilers, etc.

If “Pick your Poison” was the episode in which all the bad stuff piled up like a garbage strike in its third week, this episode was the one in which everyone had reasonable but opposing points to make. Fitting that the final scene was simply Jamie sighing and scratching his crinkled brow in utter resignation.

The presence of paroled or post-sentence child molesters in the community is one of the most divisive topics imaginable, whether one is a parent or not. Some believe that they should never be released into the community. Some see them as fair game and social punching bags. Some believe that, having served out their sentence and living under a lifetime of tight restrictions, they should live as any other citizen, including being legally protected from assault. The family dinner table discussion was, shall we say, lively and could have gone on forever with no backing down on either side: Danny, Henry and Jack firmly in the vigilante-sympathetic camp, Erin, Nicky and Jamie (the lawyers and maybe-someday lawyer) in the legal-right-to-exist camp. (Once again, the kids are finally allowed to have adult opinions and remind the adults that they are quite aware of the world. Right on.) And Frank in the middle with the somewhat bizarre claim that he would likely have issued a similar pre-emptive beat-down on a ex-con child molester living nearby, “But then walked himself to the nearest precinct and turned himself in, because the laws are there to stop people doing that.” (paraphrased) Still shaking my head over that equivocating little hypothetical. People don’t generally do that. I rather think Frank would’ve let fly with this meat hooks, been assisted in covering it up by his colleagues, and carried it around with him for the rest of his life, some days feeling justified and some days feeling like a bad cop and servant of the law.

Even professional cops have a huge division of opinion, as Eddie and Jamie noted. Eddie was right to wonder if they could be held liable for harassment if they questioned the guy without a reason, or warned him they were paying attention. Jamie was right to let the guy know that his neighbours were circulating information about him, and that the police were aware of the situation. He might’ve driven the point home a little harder that the police were there to protect him, too, from bodily harm. But as the fellow later noted - he was half hoping to be beaten to death rather than live out his life without absolution, universally hated. (Also, nice split-second timing with these two, as usual. Jamie, mildly: “You wanna wait in the car?” Eddie: quick glance of “I’d really rather sit this one out, but you are my partner and I got your back.”)

Nice to see Erin and Abetemarco again! I’ve missed them. Even with two lines in the entire episode, Abetemarco delivered his usual deceptively simple depth of feeling and support of Erin - I do love how he does that. And we now know he’s a father of three. I bet his kids are charming and goofy.

Baez’ fentanyl OD through fingertip contact with evidence was horrifying, because it’s happened. I know of five cops so far who have experienced contact exposure to the most minute traces of opioids and required hospitalization. Danny (Donnie) really came through as a frantic cop trying to stop kids OD’ing (who are the age of his own kids), and haul his partner through a week in a coma only a few months after the death of his wife. The smarmy little prep school dealer and druggie buddies, of course, had parents who are lawyers. While I would not have wished death on either of them, it was sweet to see the dealer’s face fall when he realized he’d painted himself into a corner.

Interesting to hear the doctor’s side of the opioid crisis debate, for once. (And I loved the actress playing the ER doctor!) Doctors are trying to provide better health outcomes, and proper pain control is certainly part of that. (And many with chronic pain are still routinely turned away and treated as drug addicts for even asking for the opioid pain control they need to function at all.) As the doctor noted, they don’t have the resources to monitor post-operative patients all the time. (i.e. administering pain meds during single-dose outpatient visits.) But it does place doctors unwittingly in the drug pipeline, as they prescribe opioids that patients then turn around and sell.

There was a third plotline involving the Governor, State Troopers and a logjam in in the tunnel due to random police checks, but honestly I zapped through it because it was boring.

#Blue Bloods #Bluebloods #episode ramble #jamie reagan #eddie janko #danny reagan #maria baez #frank reagan #erin reagan

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storytime-reviews · 7 years ago

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Teen Wolf Review-Genotype and Broken Glass

I can’t believe that next week is the series finale of Teen Wolf. I can’t believe that there is only one more episode of this show left to watch. Because, after everything, I’ve really enjoyed this show. I started watching Teen Wolf just before season 3B began, and quickly fell in love with the characters. So as much as I think that it’s time for Teen Wolf to end, I’m definitely going to miss these characters. These two episodes reminded me of what I loved about Teen Wolf in the first place. I wasn’t here for the plot (which let’s be honest, has had some pretty confusing moments), but rather for the relationships between the different characters. More than shipping, I fell in love with the strong friendships and interesting dynamics between allies.

I’ve been pleased with the run of this season, although I do believe that some relationships could have done with more time to develop, especially considering that we are now left with only one episode. This season 6 B concept was so great, but I think it would’ve been much more effective if the events could unfold over a much longer period of time, a whole season would’ve been best. That way, the plot could spread out the fear for much longer and still focus on the main characters as well as providing scenes with the new hunters (which have taken quite a bit of screentime from the main characters in their final few episodes). Whilst I believe this concept could have been executed much more effectively, I have enjoyed this season so far and cannot wait for the final episode.

GENOTYPE:

Your Other Half

As much as I’ve seriously come to love all of the scenes we’ve gotten with Liam and Theo recently, it was nice to see Theo interact with someone else for a change. It’s actually interesting to compare his scenes with Mason, because until now I would’ve said that of all the characters there, Liam hated him the most and trusted him the least. But, over the last few episodes, there’s been some real teamwork and perhaps even trust between the two of them, which is heavily contrasted against Mason’s outright wariness of Theo. On Theo implying that he’d like to become a part of the pack, Mason gets angry, saying that pack means trust, and obviously none of them trust Theo after everything that he’s done. Whilst Mason and Theo are clearly antagonistic towards each other, they do manage to find Aaron together, even though they don’t stop him from finding his other half. What was interesting however, is when Theo tries to take Mason’s pain and cannot, with Mason stating that you have to care to be able to take someone’s pain. Surely this is foreshadowing, meaning that Theo will take someone’s (Liam’s!) pain next week and demonstrate that he actually cares about them!

Hiding in Plain Sight

Whilst Mason agrees with Theo’s suggestion that they focus on Aaron, Scott and Liam aren’t entirely convinced, and so they spend this episode trying to find the identity of the other half of the Anuk-ite. Liam is the one with the breakthrough, recognising the voice of the biology teacher, therefore, she must know the person that has become the other half of the Anuk-ite. Liam of course is no fan of Scott’s plan, after all it wasn’t that long ago that Nolan and Gabe were beating him up at school, and he certainly gets a shock from his biology teacher at his reappearance. Of course the strong Nazi allegory begins in this episode, with Liam calling Nolan and Gabe Nazis, obviously due to their testing of every student. It takes a lot for Liam and Scott to get the truth out of the teacher, and it turns out that Quinn, who we met in a recent episode, is her daughter, and the other half of the Anuk-ite. What was most surprising is that the biology teacher has been a werewolf this whole time, and she even managed to pass the sound and wolfsbane tests that Scott and Liam created. In fact, she hid it all down so well that Scott has to help her trigger her shift in order to heal, after being attacked by Quinn. It’s also interesting that all this time, so many of her biology lessons have been used to explain supernatural changes, particularly chimeras, and this whole time she has not only been a werewolf, but an alpha.

What was ridiculous is that Scott choose to send Liam after Quinn and Aaron whilst he stayed with the teacher who is bleeding out. Scott has much more experience, and so this is honestly terrible decision making by Scott in this instance, especially because Liam ends up having to face both Quinn and Aaron. He is easily defeated by them, and so the audience has to watch as they pass spiders through each other’s mouths whilst kissing (super gross, wish I didn’t have to see that), and this makes me think that they deliberately chose for one side to male and the other female so that they could do this. Afterwards, there is some kind of struggle for dominance, and Aaron comes out on top, becoming the full Anuk-ite. Liam is simply lucky that Lydia gets to him in time, otherwise he would’ve been turned to stone. Now, the pack realises that they need to learn to fight without eyes, and so this sets up Deucalion’s next interaction with them, which I looked forward to.

Bullet or Poison?

The Lydia and Malia scenes in the hospital lighten the tension at first with some truly comedic moments, courtesy of Malia. Malia is always one of the go to characters when the writers are aiming to inject some comedy into the script, and her constant interruptions of Lydia’s attempts to connect with the hellhound are amusing. This of course is thrown on its head towards the end of the episode when the two girls managed to save the hellhound from the bullet, only to submit him to silver poisoning as they try to get information from him. Whilst Lydia and Malia’s scenes began as attempts to lighten the episode’s tension, they end with both girls distraught in the knowledge that they literally brought someone back from the brink of death, only to knowingly kill them in only a couple of minutes. Malia does however make a valid argument when Lydia is hesitant to go ahead with the plan because they do not have his consent. Either way, they learn very little of use in his dying words. It’s hardly helpful to suggest they keep the two halves apart, and they already know that. The only new information they gather is that the Anuk-ite can turn someone to stone if they look at it. So basically, it’s Medusa. Thankfully however, Lydia is able to save Liam because of this.

Unholy Alliance

The Anuk-ite searches for the hellhound in the morgue, only for creepy ass Gerard Argent to speak from the shadows, saying he is already dead. Of course, Gerard was never going to put himself in harms way unless he had a plan, and it’s certainly a strange one. Gerard correctly assumes that the Anuk-ite wants to be free, and therefore, they may become allies in order to kill Scott and get what they both want. This is Gerard however, and I’m sure he has some kind of plan for getting rid of the Anuk-ite once Scott’s pesky pack has been dealt with, but he’s not one to shy away from holy alliances in order to succeed in his ambitions. Just like the Sheriff warned Monroe in the previous episode. So Gerard offers to weaken Scott for the Anuk-ite, suggesting that the monster is too weak to take on Scott alone. Whilst I didn’t have much interest in this scene, Gerard is always up to something shady after all, I did get chills when Gerard said, ‘The rumor is you need silver to kill a werewolf. The truth? You need an Argent.’

BROKEN GLASS

This title is haunting when we learn its meaning towards the end of the episode. As Mason and Corey drive along an empty road to the hospital, Mason comments that tonight is like Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass), and this comment simply highlights the Nazi Germany allegory that has been present throughout season 6B. Throughout this episode, the tension is heightened as the various groups discover that tonight is the night that Gerard and Monroe truly start their war. This tension is simply highlighted by the use of the soundtrack in pivotal scenes, which do send chills down your spine at some points.

Torture Chamber

The scene with Ethan being tortured by Monroe in front of the new members of Gerard's army simply furthers the Nazi Germany allegory that has been portrayed throughout season 6B. This scene very much plays out as a fascist terror group, ready to wreck havoc and violence on innocent people out of fear and hatred. It’s actually such a disturbing scene to watch, particularly due to the presence of actual kids there. Even more so, with Monroe actually putting the spotlight on the kids as examples for the adults to follow. It’s no wonder that Nolan looks so frightened and disturbed listening to her rhetoric and violent promises. This scene, however, is effective in emphasising the obstacles that the pack will face, countless townspeople and plenty of weapons for all.

It’s no wonder that Nolan starts to regret his actions when he sees everything that Monroe is willing to do. It’s all started to become too real to him, and so of his own accord he decides to help Liam and the pack. Even here, the immense enemy that the pack faces is emphasised, as Nolan points out to Liam the doctors and nurses in the hospital that are part of the army. The power of this fascist group is further highlighted by the reactions of other students to Nolan. They flinch away from him, afraid of what he might say to Monroe and the others about them. In stirring up anger and hatred towards the supernatural outsiders and joining a fascist group, Nolan himself has become an outsider of sorts. But even his attempts at redemption cannot save him, for though Liam appears to accept that Nolan has changed and is regretful of his actions, Monroe has been using him, and the last we see of Nolan in this episode is being beaten up by Gabe. This is what Nolan gets for changing sides.

‘You’re coming for me’

One of my favourite scenes in this episode would have to be when Sheriff Stilinski gets pulled over by one of the deputies, who advises him to stay out of their way, because they’re not coming for him. The classic Sheriff Stilinski response? ‘If you’re coming for my friends, you’re coming for me’, and combined with the music which really sets the tone of this moment, I genuinely did get chills watching this scene. The war finally feels real now, as people are choosing sides, are choosing whether to stick with their friends and innocents, or give in to fear and hatred. Parrish tells the Sheriff that both deputies and nurses have started to collect reports of accidents in which patients healed miraculously in order to find supernaturals, and it really starts to hit home that Gerard’s army is making lists so that they can systematically eliminate them all.

Legend

I absolutely loved the way that Derek’s story was framed in this episode, with Chris listening to the cop tell a ‘legend’ about someone even more interested in finding out the truth about a mass murder, and hunting down the men responsible for it. It was actually a rather brilliant way of reintroducing Derek into the show, with his scenes partnered with the voiceover, emphasising that the tale is shrouded in mystery and superstition, even though the audience, like Chris, are aware of the truth of the situation. I was also very much looking forward to Chris finding Derek, because I always really enjoyed their changing dynamic in earlier seasons, as they went from enemies to allies. Derek learns that Gerard is after him, just as Chris is coming to try to bring him back to Beacon Hills. Derek is not enthused by the idea, but he and Chris do appear to be getting onto the same page, that is, until Kate shows up.

In some way, I was disappointed by Kate’s reappearance, especially because she interacted with Derek. Surely Derek has been haunted long enough on this show, and I thought it was too much for him yet again to be faced by his abuser, who also murdered most of his family. Derek deserves better than that, so I honestly hope that in the final episode Kate gets her comeuppance, and that Derek isn’t forced to endure her for too much longer. But after reading a post by another fan, I must note that this time he sees Kate, Derek is much more sure of himself, and he’s able to handle it better than previously, without being utterly destroyed, and I’m glad for that. A clearly vengeful Kate takes Derek’s wolfsbane and so he must go after her, but not before telling Chris to warn Scott about Kate. I hope that we’ll get to see these two characters interact more in the final episode. It’s always strange seeing Chris and Kate together after Chris changed, because they have such wildly different approaches and views. Whilst Kate is willing to do anything to get revenge on Scott, for Allison’s death I suppose, Allison’s own father is willing to risk his life time and time again to help Scott and the rest of Allison’s friends. One of my predictions for the final episode is that Chris will save Scott but end up dying. But it’ll be ok-because he’ll get to be with his daughter again, and he died saving Scott, the first person she loved, and who held her as she died. It’ll all be very poetic.

Blind Optimism

The scenes between Lydia and Peter, and Scott, Malia and Deucalion produced most of the comedic moments of this episode, which helped to relieve the tension somewhat, and allow for shifts in atmosphere. This was necessary in order to allow other scenes to have a fuller impact, but it’s also significant to note that once these two groups are together at the end of the episode, the optimism and hope has almost completely dwindled, and the previous humourous effects become negligible. Malia and Scott provide much of the lighthearted moments of the episode, as they attempt to learn to fight blind, thanks to Deucalion, who gives them lessons on sound, heat, balance and pressure. Deucalion's frustration at Malia and Scott (‘I’m starting to wish I was blind again’) provides just as much of an amusement for the audience as well as the inability of both Malia and Scott to really make much headway in this fighting style. Deucalion of course has had years of practice, whilst Scott and Malia are just looking for the highlights, but it’s not that simple. Scott remains optimistic, although Deucalion is far from convinced that this will work out. I did very much enjoy the dynamic between these characters however, especially seeing former enemies Scott and Deucalion working together, with Deucalion as the strategist imparting his wisdom. It’s honestly such a shame that Deucalion dies, because I was really enjoying their scenes together and had been hoping for more of them. Just as Scott starts to get a handle on this style of fighting, Lydia and Peter bring with them some extreme pessimism on their future in this war.

Lydia and Peter’s initial meeting at Scott’s house was particularly amusing as they both tried to dodge the other’s questions, before realising that they weren’t moving forward. The awkwardness due to their past history also helped deliver their amusing lines, although even these quickly decline as Peter realises that Lydia is hiding something from him. The crux of the matter is that Lydia dreamed that they were all turned to stone. Every single one of them, suggesting that they would lose. This, in effect, is what she says when she and Peter manage to figure out where Scott and Malia are. Whilst Deucalion has just witnessed Scott finally succeed at fighting him blind, and states, ‘you might just survive this,’ Lydia adds, ‘None of us are going to survive this.’ Because this is literally what she has just witnessed. Whilst Lydia earlier suggested that her dream could be optimistic if they prevent it, so far on this show we have seen her predictions come true, even if they came true in unexpected ways. What I’m suggesting then is that perhaps they are all mostly turned to stone, but perhaps they also manage to break free from it. I wonder if Jackson’s kanima abilities are somehow related to this, for Lydia wakes from this dream asking ‘where’s Jackson’.

I can’t believe that next week’s episode will be the final episode of Teen Wolf. I love these characters so much and will miss them, but it’s time to say goodbye.

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starspatter · 7 years ago

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Why did you drop Fullmetal Alchemist after that episode?

Spoiler rant ahead (for both the 2003 and 2009 series).

I’ll preface by saying I have seen the original animé series and enjoyed it - even up to and including the ending, which is a major reason why I held off on watching Brotherhood for so long since I was largely satisfied with the conclusion I got.

That being said, watching AMVs over the years did make me curious about the “alternate/official takes”, as it were - in particular the scene of crying Winry holding a gun and Ed comforting her since it was featured so often. So it was one of the “big scenes” I was looking forward to when my friend finally convinced me to (re)watch the series with him (it being his second viewing).

Once it was revealed Scar was the one who killed Winry’s parents instead of Roy, I knew the above had to be a result of the inevitable confrontation over it, and was eagerly anticipating said meeting and the explanation as to why Scar killed them. Surely, with everyone so vocally supportive of FMAB, their deaths must be even more intense and heartbreaking than the original! …Right?

And so what was the reason for their deaths?

…

Because their eyes were blue.

That’s it.

If that’s not the dumbest, table-flipping excuse enough to kill someone, I don’t know what is.

But let me clarify by backing up a bit: It wasn’t Winry’s breakdown scene specifically that made me want to drop the series. It was everything building up to it within the episode itself that just made me… so apathetic that I couldn’t even be bothered to care.

Maybe it’s just me, but I had a very visceral reaction to just how… cliché the presentation of the Ishvalan War was. Of course the Amestrian soldiers were seen as blue-eyed devils who relished in massacring women and children! Because look! Racism and violence = bad! No shit Sherlock.

Of course, I know these are still real-world issues that need to be addressed, but I’m just getting a little tired of relying on the trope in fiction to signal who the “bad guys” are, is all. Perhaps it’s bc I saw Wonder Woman recently, which handled these subjects in a much more unbiased and mature manner (if not exactly perfect either). There’s grace to be had in subtlety.

And that’s a problem I have with the presentation of the story in general. A lot of its messages I feel I’m being beaten over the head with. Perhaps the animators are partially at fault, I haven’t read the manga so I can’t compare how heavy-handed Scar’s backstory was there. And yes, I’m now aware of the later twist that Envy was the one behind starting the war, but I can’t say I’m a big fan of that development either for the very fact he felt the need to monologue about it, complete with maniacal villain laughter. To boil things down to even further “black and white” left a horribly bad taste in my mouth. (Another reason I prefer the Homunculi of the original.)

The whole thing made me absolutely loathe Scar’s character in this version for how hypocritical he was being. And I thought, maybe he’d redeem himself a bit by the end when Winry calls him out and he realizes the error of his ways - but no, he is entirely unrepentant. Yes, I know they later have another heart-to-heart and sorta settle their differences and he eventually becomes their ally, but the fact he was so stubborn in the first place doesn’t endear me to him. I know people’s minds don’t change so easily, but for God’s sakes those doctors saved your life. Even if you slaughtered them in a fit of rage and confusion, shouldn’t you feel some remorse when their grief-stricken daughter is staring you right in the face?

And from Winry’s side, I vastly preferred her emotional conflict over finding out Roy was responsible for her parents’ deaths in the original and having to come to terms with that knowledge. Roy’s reasons for killing them were much more complex and compelling IMO, to the point he was so tortured by guilt he was nearly driven to suicide by it. Scar’s arc in Brotherhood just doesn’t compare.

The writing of that singular episode made me so mad I refused to watch any more episodes for a while, since it effectively killed any excitement I had up to that point. I was also afraid that other future “spoilers” i had been looking forward to would similarly be disappointing after all the hype. I only resumed after a month-long hiatus when I saw another friend was also rewatching the series and singing praises for it. By that time my anger had died down and I could at least stomache to continue.

All that said, I am enjoying the series now, especially upon learning more of Hoenheim’s history. (I’m really just here for Hoendorkdad interactions with his sons. *shot* Plus I’ve found a new motivation in making MCA comparison posts.) Unlike the whole “Red Eyes good Blue Eyes bad” debacle, the revelation that Ed and Al were descendants of the ruined country Xerxes, as indicated by their golden hair and eyes, was a good example of clever storytelling and world-building. It was a nicely slipped in detail that wasn’t hamfistedly called attention to; I hadn’t even noticed it until my friend pointed it out. …Although it’s still later deliberately spelled out anyway. But whatever. Point still counts.

Still, it was hard getting there after Scar’s backstory ep, since suffice to say it left a permanent “scar” on my viewing experience no matter how good the rest of the show may be. Anytime the Ishvalan War was brought up thereafter and the vices of “prejudice” stressed it reminded me of how I just wanted to gag myself with a spoon during that episode, and tried to speed past that part of the plot as quickly as possible lest it sour the overall score further. I mean, when you spend half the entire episode bored/sick of it and just wishing for it to end, that’s a warning sign.

I may be looking at the original with rose-tinted glasses (it’s been a while since I saw it as well), but the thing is, I’m starting to recognize that FMA (both the original and Brotherhood) is, in essence, very much a baby’s first shounen/animé, constantly hammering its morals in for the kids at home. And as far as introductory series to the genre go, it’s good! Great even. I just… kinda wish I hadn’t waited so long to see the universally lauded “sibling series” when regardless of whether I had seen the original first or not, I probably would’ve enjoyed Brotherhood a lot more had I watched it when I was younger and not after I’ve consumed a ton more media since then.

#anonymous #starspeaks #I still haven't finished the series btw #I'm at the endgame basically

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sweetdawn129 · 8 years ago

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My Thoughts on 5.17

I don’t really know if I have a point to this post, so it’s just me rambling. But I felt compelled to write something down after processing last night’s episode.

I was nervous about it because of the spoilers I read in the weeks preceding the air date. But I instinctively knew it was going to be a game changer – the kind of episode people will include in the discussion anytime the show is discussed in retrospect. Years from now, hopefully many years from now, when Arrow ends, Oliver’s confession will be pointed out as a moment that significantly impacts the overall narrative, the cast and the fandom. The episode was that good.

Not “good” in the sense that everyone liked it. It’s nice when everyone or a majority of people like an episode. Good ratings are big business. But at the core, the television industry understands it won’t please everybody all of the time. I don’t mean to sound like I’m romanticizing “Hollywood,” but television shows are expressions of art. Art is created to make us feel something. The writers, directors and cast have a story they want to tell and something they want you to feel from that story, and they don’t always succeed in their efforts. But at the bare minimum, they don’t want you to be apathetic. Love it, hate it, be disgusted by it, thrilled by it, confused by it, stimulated by it, hurt by it, inspired by it…feel something. In its execution of “Kapushion,” Arrow really hit that mark.

When I watch any television show, let alone one based off a comic book superhero, I definitely engage in suspension of disbelief. I decide to buy into the premise of the show and let it take me on the journey. I understood from the beginning that Arrow would have some crazy situations that are extreme and that it’s in the interactions between the characters where the viewer can find something to relate to. Because of that, Arrow invested a lot of storytelling time in helping us get to know the character of Oliver Queen so we could understand him enough to relate to him and root for him. And with me, Arrow succeeded. I loved Oliver Queen from the start. I appreciated this flawed human being who seemed to just be trying to do his best to save his family, his friends and his city. As I watched more episodes, I realized it was his way of trying to save himself…whether he knew it or not.

I know there are some viewers out there who feel that last night’s episode took Oliver and the show to someplace from which Arrow can’t come back. I admit the line, “the rest was me practicing” gave me chills down to my bones. It was dark…darker than I ever thought a CWshow airing at 8/7 CST would go. And it’s up to each viewer to decide for themselves what’s appropriate for them to watch. Television broadcast guidelines aren’t perfect. I can only speak for myself, but as it relates to the narrative of Arrow, I wouldn’t ask them to do anything differently in episode 5.17.

I made a list of every trauma I could remember that Oliver suffered during his 5 years away and in the 5 years since he’s returned to his city. The list was so long that I chose not to include it in this post, and that was just what I could remember off the top of my head – everything we watched play out onscreen before last night. I also thought about everyone he’s killed in the last 10 years. In Arrow let me believe I knew Oliver. I understood him. I forgave him for his shortcomings. And I thought myself magnanimous in my love for someone who used violence on a daily basis to solve problems.

But I was wrong.

Until last night, I didn’t really know all of Oliver. I didn’t completely understand him. How can I forgive or love someone when I didn’t understand his transgressions or the nature of his character? It’s not the secret itself that he revealed in his confession – it’s what that moment revealed about his ability to trust others and his ability to trust and love himself. Suddenly so many of the behaviors he exhibited over the past 5 years that frustrated me make so much more sense. I’m not excusing his douchebag moves, but I now have a much better understanding of his fears that pushed him to make those decisions.

I’m married. I think that a lot of married people will say the person who knows you best is your significant other. I argue that the person who knows you best is yourself. You can lie to someone else, but you really can’t lie to yourself. You can be in denial or repress feelings and memories, but you know your faults like no one else. You know the darkest parts of your soul – the hurtful comments that go through your mind that you don’t say out loud, the fleeting violent thoughts you might have when someone pisses you off, the selfish desires you find yourself trying to fulfill at the cost of someone else’s feelings. In a way, Oliver has been pretty honest about his darkness with those who know about his crusade. He has shown his lack of self-love over and over again, but no one fully understood why. Last night’s episode showed why Oliver seemingly and willingly accepted his own death many times over in the past 5 years.

Because he didn’t think he deserved to really live.

He judges himself everyday based on his worst moments, moments that were not of his making and caused by extreme violent trauma inflicted upon him over and over again. In those moments, particularly in Russia, he took comfort in the control he had over his own life every time he channeled his PTSD, which manifested itself in anger and violence, into killing someone he judged to be a bad person. He was making his own decisions, he thought, because he wasn’t a weapon being used by someone else (Amanda Waller, Reiter, even the Bratva). His ability to control his own life, even if it was shown in his capacity to take others’ lives, was more than he had since The Gambit sunk.

It felt good.

It felt justified.

It felt righteous.

And he liked it.

Please understand that I don’t believe for one second that Oliver really enjoys taking lives in the way Chase has insinuated, the way that Chase enjoys it. Oliver is not a sociopath like Chase is – Oliver would never kill someone he loves like Chase killed his own wife, no matter what the reason. Oliver was manipulated into that confession – the waterboarding, those questions, the threats to the people he loves, those questions again, being beaten, those leading questions again but with even more bait in the dialogue, watching Evelyn get “killed” right in front of him because of him, and then there’s that question again…He figured out where Chase was leading him, what Chase wanted him to say and he said it. He broke. He said it to make Chase stop. He would have said anything to make Chase stop. He begged him to stop. Oliver doesn’t beg…ever…except to protect the people he loves, never to protect himself. This time, he couldn’t take it anymore. What Oliver confessed wasn’t the truth. If it felt true in his worst moments, it certainly is not true now.

What Oliver actually confessed was his greatest fear.

He’s never been to therapy. He may not really understand why killing didn’t feel as wrong as it did the first time he did it. He doesn’t understand that his mind hasn’t been whole or really healed since he got on that damn boat. He had bones in his body that were broken that never properly healed and he is fine. The mind doesn’t really work like that. He fears he is a monster, he fears the monster has no path to redemption, he fears the monster has caused all of the pain his loved ones have endured since he returned to Star(ling) City. He judged himself by his worst moments, and because he did, he’s never fully trusted himself. This lack of self-love crippled his ability to trust others as well. This fear that he is a monster has colored every decision he has made, both the ones I’ve hated and I’ve cheered. Either he was afraid he isn’t worthy of living because of the monster inside, or he reached out and tried to live in the light so that the monster inside would die.

Now that I know Oliver’s secret – his worst fear caused by his worst moments – I actually do understand him. And I can truly forgive him. And now I know that I really do love the character of Oliver Queen. It might be strange for others to think that way about a character who has killed so many people. And this next thought might be stranger still…I think he is a hero. Yes, he is a dark and flawed hero, but if his worst moments were my worst moments, I don’t know if I would have survived, let alone have enough strength of character to try to right my father’s wrongs, save my friends, save my family, and save my city…over and over and over again, at a great personal cost. Maybe I would’ve been institutionalized or snapped and killed innocent people, both of which happen in everyday real lives.

Oliver Queen is a hero. Last night’s episode only reinforced that for me.

Oliver Queen is a hero. No one will ever convince me otherwise.

Oliver Queen is a hero. So, now let’s make sure that he gets the girl…

@nalla-madness @almondblossomme @taurusclh @hope-for-olicity @tdgal1 @coal000 @marytagus

#arrow spoilers #arrow 5.17 #oliver queen is a hero

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valhallalullaby · 8 years ago

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I needed to write about my relationship with women on vikings and especially with Aslaug for weeks.

Firstly, I've seen many posts here talking about how Hirst kills female characters on this show, and the thing I have to say to this is : hell yes, y'all right. I used to love Vikings to the bones for its female characters, Lagertha(s1-2), Helga, Siggy senior, Porunn, Aslaug and Kwentrith, for example. Not mentioning all the loss of potential with all these characters and more. Cough cough- Yidu.

The only proper, and proper is a huge word, death a woman had in this show is actually Siggy senior, dying as she lived, bravely.

We never had the chance to see what Gyda, Thyri and Siggy Bjornsdottir could become. We actually never had the chance to see any female characters growing up in the viking world surrounded by men. Let us be honest, the women are the heart of this show. Fearless, fierce, brave women. Beginning with Aslaug, yeah, well, that's the all point of this post.

Like everyone else who started watching Vikings without any knowledge of the norsemen culture, I disliked her when she showed up. And I think that if you're not that interested in understanding the characters of this show, you'll stay stuck thinking Aslaug is a homewrecker.

The main point I like about Queen Aslaug is Alyssa Sutherland. The amount of hate she gets on social networks for protraying this character is disgusting. Yet, she stays polite and kind-hearted, and she is very protective of Aslaug. I honestly think that we couldn't have dream for a better actress to play the queen Aslaug is.

I recently watched a 40min long interview of her speaking of Aslaug. And you should all listen to it very carefully. Stop pretending Lagertha is a usurped victim. In the first EVER episode of Vikings, Lagertha says to Ragnar not to sleep with too many women in Kattegat. That says a lot about their relationship. Lagertha DECIDED to leave her husband because he humiliated her. And for that, I looked at her with a large amount of respect. Lagertha has been through many shit, so did Aslaug. Ragnar only was to blame for this. HE decided to sleep with another woman, who could bare him sons. What asshole could leave his wife cause she can't give him sons?(Henry VIII, and I think Hirst has a lot of Henry VIII issues to deal with).

Like Alyssa pointed out in this interview, Aslaug grew up alone, as an orphan. She is a volva(not a witch as catholic meant it), she « sees things other cannot ». She knew when she met him that she bound to give Ragnar his sons. And I don't mean she isn't cunning, of course she is. And clever enough to become queen. When she realize that she is pregnant with Ragnar's child, her only concern is for her son not to grow up without knowing his famous father, like she did. Imo, this was not out of ambition, but mainly for her child to be born. Alyssa also said that Aslaug is scared of Lagertha, and that she keeps her in high respect. In series two, Aslaug actually says that she would like to be more like Lagertha. She knows Lagertha is a fierce shield-maiden, with a HUGE pride. And that's why she also left Ragnar to go make her own fame and history. Again, like Katheryn said in an interview to promote season two, « If there is anyone to blame, it should be Ragnar. I don't think Lagertha blames Aslaug for this. »

So what is this 4B bullshit again ? Fanservice.

When Hirst wants us to look for strong women on this show, he makes them shieldmaidens. What about Helga, what about Siggy senior ? What about Kwentrith, Aslaug, Judith, making their own way without being in a shieldwall ?

I mean it like I say it, Aslaug never murdered Ragnar in his sleep for her children. He raped her, yes Ivar is born of a rape, sorry. He beaten her(If s1-2 Lagertha had known this, she would have murdered Ragnar herself, being a victim of an abusive husband too). She had all the reasons to kill him, and imo she never did for her sons. So, thanks to shitty writing, she wasn't the best mother but in the other hand, she cared for her children. She took care of them, raised them when Ragnar felt like he didn't want to be king anymore. Wow, daddy of the year. She rose Kattegat to the title of major trading center, and kept it secure. Of what we saw, the « look what mess she made of my home » was not canon at all. This storyline bares many contradictions it makes me angry. Both for Aslaug and Lagertha.

Hirst tried his best to make her a villain. The saddest part of this is that the one scene when Ragnar comes to apologise to his wife was Travis's idea. Hirst gave so much zero fucks that he didn't have this idea. Cause Ragnar and Lagertha forever. Even I, wouldn't do that with my one true otp.

What of « women should stick together more, and we should rule » ? Lagertha forgave Aslaug, in season two it was water clear. And suddenly, she became power hungry for a place she left willingly twenty years ago ? I rolled my eyes so much I saw my brain. And on what purpose ? It almost looks like she was taking Kattegat back to rule with Ragnar again. Yo, Lagertha deserves better than this shit. That was stupid and out of character.

In one of the latest episodes, Sigurd says « What is a warrior without his honor ? » Well, apparently queen. Since murdering someone with an arrow in his back in acting with honor.

Now back to Aslaug and how she deserved better than to be pregnant 1,5/3 season she was alive. She is the daughter of a dragon slayer and the most famous shieldmaiden to ever live, for Odin sake. We never had a chance to see how she ruled when Ragnar was raiding or being selfish in exile. Everyone just assumed that she ruled badly. Ragnar is allowed to sleep around but not her ? Even if at this point of season three, imo she didn't give anymore fuck about Ragnar. She asks him to come home for his sons, only for them. Bjorn is allowed to give up on his daughter and everyone assumed that Aslaug was responsible for her life and well-being ? It's more easy to blame her than one of the mighty sons of Ragnar, isn't it ? Don't forget that, at this point, Aslaug was completely alone with five children to look after, neglected by her husband who was everything but kind and gentle to her. And that she felt betrayed by a man she cared about, once again.

I don't mean men to be role model fathers but come on, Rollo leaving Gisla on her own in Normandy, not knowing if his nephew would kill him ? Ragnar leaving for almost ten years ? Bjorn not minding his own daughter death ?

Aslaug freed Porunn so she could become what she wanted, a shieldmaiden and be with Bjorn. Aslaug freed Yidu so she could leave if she wanted to. Aslaug took risks to keep Ivar alive, risk even to have her own people hating her, fearing to be cursed by Ivar illness.

I would've liked to see more of Helga/Siggy/Aslaug friendship. But women on this show are only worthy of attention if they can fight in battle, apparently. Proof is that Helga is going mad, Aslaug is dead, Siggy too, Kwentrith too. Judith and Gisla character development ? Destroyed to enlight men's storylines. Honestly, Ubbe saying that he and Hvitserk aren't jealouse cause they are « vikings » ? Rolled my eyes once more. Margrethe deserves better than being a Ragnarssons sex toy. Astrid deserves better than watching her lover lamenting herself over her one true lost love.

Aslaug not teaching her sons to be respectful of women is what made me even more angry with this season. Being neglected herself by their father, whom she loved truly once upon a time, I don't think she would EVER allow them to treat women like things. Even Torvi's development is reduced to ashes now. And I was honestly rooting for her at the end of 4A. She should remind Bjorn that she still have this crossbow she killed her second husband with, sometimes.

I admired Lagertha in the first seasons, but now I can't recognize her anymore. It's hard not to be resentful toward her since 4B started even if it’s all the writer’s fault. Even Katheryn is lost with all this, she doesn’t know on which foot to dance on interviews. Season four actually destroyed more characters than I could mention.

Writing strong female characters isn't writing them acting in a manly way. Female characters are diverse, powerful and brave in many ways, not only in a shieldwall. Stop killing off women Hirst, please. And give Lagertha her mind she seem to have lost.

#vikings #vkwomen #vkaslaug #vklagertha #vkhelga #vkpost #vktorvi #vkastrid #vkkwentrith #vkjudith #vkmargrethe #vksiggy #vkyidu #vkgisla #vkporunn #alyssa sutherland

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mandibierly · 8 years ago

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'SIX' Postmortem: Dominic Adams Talks Michael and Rip — and One of TV's Timeliest Backstories

Dominic Adams as Michael Nasry (Credit: Brownie Harris/History)

Warning: This interview contains spoilers for the seventh episode of SIX‘s first season, “Blood Brothers.”

This week’s episode of History’s SIX, Season 1’s penultimate episode, ended with Akmal (Zeeko Zaki) locking Rip (Walton Goggins) in a room with Muttaqi (Jarreth Mertz) after Michael (British actor Dominic Adams) had successfully convinced Akmal that the emir was going to kill him next. As thrilling as that cliffhanger is — presumably that truck carrying Michael and the girls to Boko Haram turns around, and SEAL Team 6 in on its way — it’s how we got there that’s at the heart of the episode, and, in fact, the series.

Trapped in a cell together, we got to watch Rip and Michael, the Muslim-American terrorist whose unarmed brother Rip had killed in 2014 as the pair was surrendering, have multiple conversations. We learned more about each of their backstories — and Michael’s in particular makes this some of the most timely storytelling on TV. Related: ‘SIX’ Postmortem: Edwin Hodge Talks Chase’s Backstory, #BlackRiflesMatter Patch

The episode’s writers, executive producer Bruce C. McKenna and series co-creator David Broyles, were very malleable when you and Walton Goggins had ideas about the intricacies of the conversations between your characters. A particularly moving one was when Michael shares that he dropped out of college after his immigrant father was beaten half to death for being a Muslim, and Rip says college wasn’t an option for people like him — he only had two choices, jail or the military, and he chose the latter because he wanted to be a badass so his abusive father could never hit him again. What was important to you to convey? To be honest with you, this character is one that I don’t think has been shown in this way in U.S. television before. I don’t think we’ve seen a terrorist who’s American, who is articulate and intelligent, and who isn’t some wild fanatic. He isn’t somebody in a faraway land that we don’t know. He’s a guy who grew up as an American, and that’s what he was. He’s a Michigan boy who loved sport and loves his college and loved all aspects of life until events in his life conspired that meant his whole sense of view shifted. It’s a very complicated and complex thing to approach. It was really just important to me that it was approached with responsibility and integrity to tell Michael’s story. Look, I don’t condone any sort of senseless violence on any side. But it’s about trying to convey why Michael truthfully feels that there is reason for his actions and why he got driven, and why he felt he needed to get to that point in the first place. So it was just so important to me to be respectful to that ideology, even if it’s something that is so different to how we think and feel and act as individuals.

It’s still coming from the same root place of emotionality and life experience. And it was just so important to me to make sure that we have that with Michael so that he isn’t some two-dimensional monster who, you know, just wants to destroy America.

Hearing Michael’s backstory, you can’t help but think about the concept of the immigration ban and the affect that could have on someone like Michael before he was radicalized. The last six weeks, it’s only resonated deeper with me as an individual, and it’s only gotten more important — these are situations that can happen, that do happen, that will happen. And it’s just about understanding that nobody is right all the time. And my personal opinion is that in war, nobody wins. There is no winning when you’re already at the stage of losing lives on both sides. That to me is not a place of winning. And mistakes and bad choices and bad actions are taken on both sides. That is, ultimately, what this particular element in the show is all about, as far as I’m concerned.

Michael’s fascinated by Rip, and he’s searching for Rip to have the realization that what he did was wrong. He wants an apology that is truthful and that he feels is heartfelt. He wants to feel that this man knows that he did something that was wrong. That is ultimately, in a very simplistic way, what Michael wants in terms of Rip. And whatever validation that would create in Michael’s mind… would that ultimately soothe him? Or would it then just come back to the fact that he has his own demons and his own cross to bear as far as his own responsibility towards his brother?

Related: History’s SIX: 5 Things to Know About the Navy SEAL Drama Starring Walton Goggins

There’s that conversation in which Michael expresses that sense of responsibility, saying his brother would still be alive if it weren’t for him. Rip repeats a saying: “You can’t feed a lion lettuce,” and adds, “That’s what I am.” Rip then apologizes, and Michael responds, “It’s what we are.” How powerful is that? It’s ostensibly showing two people that you would think are so different have more similarities than they could possibly imagine. And this idea of them being two sides of the same coin.

(Credit: History)

Michael and Rip then share a look, and Rip jumps up asking for Muttaqi, whom he tells Akmal’s sister has been compromised because she’s not answering on the game. That look, that’s the moment they accepted they had to work together to divide Akmal and Muttaqi? To me, it’s they’d realized that they’re in a very hopeless position here, and the only way that either of them even had the remotest chance of figuring this out is to put their heads together, is to be in cahoots. And at that point, they’d spoken so nakedly, so vulnerably to each other. That’s what’s so fascinating: it’s like they share things that neither one of them has shared with anybody else before. They’re sitting there with their mortal enemy — this demon, this boogie man that Rip has become to Michael, and this faceless bad guy that Michael is to Rip — yet they’re there sharing intimate, vulnerable truths in ways that they’ve never done in their life. Michael has not spoken about Omar and what [his death] really meant to him to anybody. To me, it’s the first time he’s ever gotten that out. I can’t speak for Rip, but I would imagine that vulnerability of speaking about his father and his background and his childhood is also not something that he would’ve shared very often, if at all.

Walton Goggins as Richard “Rip” Taggert (Credit: History)

This doesn’t mean that they’re best friends, but all of a sudden, in the most unlikely and strangest of circumstance, they have a common bond. And they know that if they are to have any chance of saving their lives — and ultimately for Rip, saving the lives of Na’omi and the girls, and for Michael not going back to Boko Haram and being murdered — it’s banding together [in this moment]. There’s a begrudging realization of that, which has been earned through the last couple of scenes and those moments that these two have shared. So that look is absolutely the full stop, the period at the end of that realization that they have to work together.

The SIX season finale airs March 8 at 10 p.m. on History. The show has been renewed for a 10-episode second season, which will begin filming this summer.

Read more: ‘This Is Us’ Star Chrissy Metz Teases What’s Next on ‘What Now?’ #BuffySlays20: See ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Merch Celebrating the Show’s 20th Anniversary ‘Walking Dead’ Ahead: The Rise of Darth Smartypants

#_revsp:wp.yahoo.tv.us #_uuid:394f64b7-eb97-36dd-a0de-3480ac63665c #SIX #_author:Mandi Bierly #Dominic Adams #_draft:true #Walton Goggins #history #_lmsid:a0Vd000000AE7lXEAT

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horrible-monstrosity · 6 years ago

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So how the fuck does the toe thing work? Macademia here is of course astoundingly far from the first series to pull out some nonsensical "evolutionary levels" thing in explaining its plot driver, but the particular way it's implemented just make it so, so much worse. So the toe joint missing is a sign of, effectively, the "next evolutionary level", as the body "streamlines" itself, and also it goes hand-in-hand with having a quirk (though we don't know if that's a 100% thing or just a very strong correlation). But with two such "evolved" parents, both having quirks and presumably supertoes, it's still possible for the kid to have the old toes (and no quirk). So Midoriya has... devolved? What? Really, if they had skipped the evolutionary-streamlining thing and just had it be an arbitrary indicator, it would have worked fine, but this is... complete nonsense.

hero ep 4 would be nice if dek did something actually smart when he was behind the others at the start instead of just running blindly behind them. even just splitting off in a different direction so he wouldn't be competing against absolutely everyone for targets or sumtin. "nothing is nobler... than SELF-SACRIFICE!" showing Deku not only with multiple decimated limbs fucking flailing in the wind like windsocks but with the fucking skin on his knuckles removed, exposing shredded raw red flesh... this is disturbing to me. How old is this kid again? Like, 13? So fucking noble Seriously, this entire plot is just somehow... brainless. Deku and AM never, at all, tried out the powers, even though not doing so puts Deku at a massive disadvantage by not knowing what he can do (leaving him paralyzed by nervousness since he's still in the mindset of being powerless... he'd likely still be a bag of nerves but it would be at least mitigated somewhat) and also not knowing what the results would be. But at the same time, for not knowing that one jump and one punch would destroy his fuckijg bones, he sure takes it damn well when it hits him. Hell he gets to be the most analytical and observant he's been so far (that is, at all) aside from what's implied by the notebooks, realizing he can save himself by breaking the other arm. He should try breaking a limb before every battle from now on, it seems to make him smarter. Also how much contrivance did this scenario take? Not only does no one else go for the big bot- even if it's zero points you'd expect some of them to want to show off- no one notices floatgril under the debris. Either that or none of them except Deku would save a bystander, which seems... please, no. And then, however stupid it was for Deky to have never used his powers until now, the only reason him not breaking multiple fucking limbs doing this isn't immediately deeply horrifying is that the kissy lady is there to magucally heal him. (Now it's just deeply horrifying if you actually stop to think about it.) Man, imagine how long this series would've been if there hadn't been a magically contrived way to get out of that actual consequences, lol. Or imagine if he'd had a reasonably realistic reaction to it. This shit's fucked. And then his mom... does she know he went to the UA admissions test? Does she know what happened there? If she knows he went shouldn't she have been expecting he'd have to do hero things and should have had the crap beaten out of him trying? What did he even tell her happened? What would even be on the written exam for this sort of a school, anyway? Would Deku's previous hero observation stuff have helped him at all? You'd think it would... No, really, a hero school should teach them about and require them to know things about how profession heroes do their thing, and what scenarios they could run into, and shit. But instead it's some vague unspecified nothing and he barely passes. ok

episode 5 i guess i lost track of what's what in my notes The teachers all go on about "hMhMm iT'S lIkE He cAn'T cOnTRoL hIS pOwErSS" but no one thinks to, like, I dunno, take him aside and give him some heroic special ed, maybe figure out what the fuck's wrong with him or something. It's not like it wouldn't be worth the effort- he's shown he has massive power he just can't control, and everyone there knows he has the perfect hero attitude. He's a fucking asset, but... naw, just sit by dumbly and let him keep breaking every bones. What would even be the cover story if that happened? Does the rest of the faculty know how AM's quirk works, or would they have to come up with some convenient lie (and how's AM dealing with being a teacher with the time limit on his powers, anyway)? It wouldn't even be hard to come up with some simple story, and it would probably make things easier if someone got suspicious- just like "he never realized he had a quirk because it takes such a high level of (whatever) to activate it, and that is also why he has so very little practice with it". Now you have a consistent, plausible story you can wave at people who get suspicious. Maybe be like, he first activated it 10 months ago or whenever, got injured, it's healed since then but he started training himself physically because that would help. Look, now it's literally the truth but with one thing swapped out, it'll be so easy to keep the story straight and at least part of it can be corroborated by anyone who saw him training during that time. I'm a fucking genius.

"you'll learn to master it" so when does he start learning how to not break bone- well, I already know the answer to that, in the second season at least he's still sacrificing his skeleton, now with new exciting moves like "breaking one finger bone per attack" and "break a broken bone a second time in the same fight, multiple times". What does improvement even look like here? What does training to control the power look like?

"you must be very perceptive" this isn't true, but it should be. Not in the way glasses guy thinks it is, that he slyly sought out the best way to pass the test by saving someone, but that he was writing notebooks full of hero analysis and shit.

i like how am's talking about how "oh don't cook your egg-powers too fast, that's the key to control!" but I aaaaalready know beku's just going to break his fingers instead, forever

"uh how's throwing a ball to infifinity possibible??" you literally just fucking saw how she just floated it out of the fucking atmosphere you dumb fucks

"someone like you should never be allowed to enroll in this school"... but wouldn't it be better for him to be somewhere he can learn to control his shit? "hurr ur not reddy" well where and when the fuck is he supposed to get ready? this is a school, we're not already on the battlefield you fuck. kid shoulda broken his middle finger instead and then flipped him off what did waiting til the last second even accomplish? his finger's still fucking borken. is it somehow less broken than it would be otherwise? If you're going to bother with something like that, why not have it have an actual impact, like this time it's only severe bruising? Like, have Midi make actual progress with controlling his powers? No? Okay... - had to fight through the pain- what, they didn't call the medic over a broken fucking finger? and after all that shit he didn't even use his powers again, not even on the last test. I thought the entire point was rationing your powers so you could use it more often in smaller bursts... and then he gets last place, so doing it meant nothing anyway. fucking good more contrivances, the teacher known for expelling first-years didn't expel anyone because deku is just that cursed. I can't even call it plot armor, because that implies the plot is going out of its way to make things better for the hero, not worse. healing takes energy, but last time when he broke three limbs it was fuckijg fine. ha ha don queston it

I know, heroics is sacrifice n shiet, but we're just watching a kid destroy himself over and over again to literally no gain. It's not like he's helping anyone by doing this, and there's no sign he's even improving himself with this either. This isn't herosim, it's just torture. Isn't a part of heroics supposed to be keeping yourself alive and healthy enough that you can actually do things? What would AM do if, because of his tendency to waste his now-limited hero power on pointless shit, once a serious battle came up he tried to stop it and got himself killed? Well, he'd die, but what would he think of the fact that he failed because he put his own health dead last? Does All Might have any loved ones who might be upset by his death? Did the author think any single aspect of this story through at all?

Also, if the point of learning to control his power is to stop breking bones every time he uses it... training and fighting normally while in this state is not only pointlessly painful but just plain pointless, because when he can control it he won't be strategizing around strategic skeleton use anymore- using it will be completely different. The entire fucking plot of this show is centered around this and there's no sane reason for it. Just... stop. This is so stupid...

#macademia

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meiklemons-blog · 7 years ago

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Assignment #4

Blade Runner, 1982

1.There are a number of themes running throughout the movie. Can you name some of them and discuss the relevance of at least 2 of them as they pertain both to concepts of the future and topics that were relevant in the 1980s in America?

One of the major themes that comes to mind is technology and modernization. Blade Runner takes place in a world dominated by technology which has completely steered the earth in a direction away from the preservation of nature and towards wastelands, pollution, and acid rain. The world looks muggy and dark with the only light source being artificial. Almost all animals have gone extinct, which has led to manufactured animals like Tyrell’s owl and Zhora’s snake. Human women have no appearances as well. Zhora and Pris are the only female appearances, other than the giant hologram advertisement of women, and were designed to look like super models and serve as pleasure models.

Another theme is society and class, which in Blade Runner seems to be in a state of total chaos. Los Angeles is run by an enormous company, the Tyrell Corporation, which creates replicants for the purpose of slave labor. Though this society is incredibly technologically advanced, the undertone is that there are groups existing at the bottom of the food chain, participating in a dog-eat-dog fight for survival in a grimy underworld. It appears to be multicultural, but people don’t have the freedom to participate in their society’s governance since it’s dominated by a corporation. For one thing, you see our society and class is not too far off from how it’s portrayed in Blade Runner. You wouldn’t believe the

2. A key puzzle raised by Blade Runner is whether we can definitely distinguish between real humans and artificially engineered replicants. Suppose that no test (either objective or subjectively introspective) could show this for sure, would that mean that a given replicant was indeed fully human?

Suppose that every human being on this earth was given a series of questions to test their empathy. I believe that it is highly unlikely that everyone would pass. Sociopaths, psychopaths, and autistics; perhaps, will not score so highly. Emotions themselves will never be a perfect test of humanity for sociopaths, psychopaths, and autistics are human themselves but lack humanity. To answer the question, yes I believe that a given replicant can be fully human, or even more human. Pris says, “We’re not machines,” and Roy Batty says, “We’re physical.” They’re genetically engineered biological humans. Everything about them is human, except the fact that they’re not born from the womb and don’t have childhood memories.

3. One of the more dramatic philosophical points made in the movie is that we can’t trust our memories; that they may have been implanted in us regardless of how true they seem. What is the main reason that we trust our memories as more or less accurate accounts of our past events?

Memories are a subjective experiences, they are not recordings. These recollections of past events are often “enhanced,” or impaired through emotional output which makes them more susceptible to forming false memories, not just details to a scene, but entire fabrications of it. Memories are real to us and no one else’s experience can outperform our reality.

4. Rachael became convinced that she was a replicant when Deckard described some of her private childhood memories to her. What would it take for you to seriously question the truth of your memories and consider instead that they might be implanted in you as result of a drug or mental defect?

There’s already a lot I question about my being. Often times than not, I question if my dreams are my true reality whereas my waking life might be not, because my dreams are so vivid and stir up experiences and emotions that seem so real, that they almost seem like memories of a past time. In my later years, I learned to simply become more aware through the act of cognitive thinking and diligence and self therapy. As someone who used to be ruled by her emotions, the only mantra to keep me back in line is “Where’s the evidence?” When the devil in my brain lurks to tell me that I am worthless, I am a failure, I am unloved, etc; as opposed to acting out on those thoughts and sinking into a state of depressive episodes and wondering who I am and why I’m here like I used to; I now look at the objectivity and the evidence that lies before me to really prove whether what I think is true or not. Often times, what I think is wrong; my emotions are temporary and fictional. To answer the question, one would need to provide my evidence that I’m not human. If they’re not sufficient, then I will believe I am who I am.

5. Are there any questions raised in the movie about whether Deckard himself is a replicant? If so, what are the clues? If so, what sort of impact should this have on Deckard, particularly in view of his feelings about Rachael?

In the director’s cut and the remastered version, there is a scene of Deckard dreaming of a white unicorn. We don’t know what wakes up from is just a dream or actually an implant after fellow cop Gaff leaves a unicorn origami in front of his doorstep. Throughout the movie, Deckard’s being is questioned when Rachael asks him, “Have you ever answered these questions yourself?” and when Gaff exclaims to him at the end of the final fight scene with Roy Batty, “You’ve done a man’s job, sir!” Other than the fact that he acknowledges Rachael being attractive, he doesn’t think very much of her because his job is to simply retire replicants. He has no use for her or desire for her until her display of emotion puts him in a position where he sees her as a human being.

6. A moral message of the movie may be that it was wrong to enslave the replicants and use them as forced labor since they were so human-like in both appearance and thought process. Is there anything that would need to be different about replicants in order for us to feel that it’s OK to use them for labor?

The running theme of humankind is invading and enslaving people. People were once considered to be property and were used for physical and sexual labor, being traded and beaten, until just recently! African Americans weren’t considered human beings at one point. In some countries, slavery still exists. The point is, we should’ve learned from our past mistakes not to enslave people, and in order to stray away from repeating the same mistake again of ever offending a specific demographic, replicants should not have been designed to look like humans in the first place. Nexus-6 was designed for battle and destruction, what was the reason for them to look human in the first place if they’re job was to just destroy? Why not just make them plain machines? Now in the case of Blade Runner, there’s no turning back on this. We now know that Nexus-6 are conscious and more alive and well as humans. Now we have to claim responsibility for their life and being and treat them kindly. They’re a new kind of human being, and we have to give them rights.

7. What strategies are used to produce meaning in this film?

Because the significance of eyes in this film, they use imagery of a close-up eye in the beginning to set the tone of the movie. And in the eye itself you see the reflection of a hellish landscape that Roy Batty saw and described seeing in his death scene. There is a scene of Rachael’s eye being magnetized in her Voight-Kampff test, scenes that put emphasis on the orange glow of her eyes and the owl’s eyes.

Another strategy used in the theatrical version of this film is Deckard’s narration, which I’m not a fan of. But it’s used so the audience can get into his head and see what he’s thinking. Vangelis’s composition for the soundtrack of this film is absolutely amazing and does such a great job setting the mood for the movie.

Blade Runner 2049

1. What is the significance of an emphasis on eyes in the original movie (1982 version)

The film opens up with an extreme close up of an eye which fills the screen and reflects the hellish landscape. Everything physical about a human being can be perfectly replicated except the finest details of emotion and empathy, which is reflected through eyes, literally the window to the soul. Both human and animal replicants are manufactured with eyes that give off a dark orange glow, which is a bit of a design flaw. While replicants are superhuman when it comes to strength and agility, their eyes are essentially kryptonite. Not only do the reflective pupils betray their true nature, they’re unable to pass the Voight-Kampff test because their eyes don’t react as a human’s would. The Tyrell Corporation boasts that its replicants are “more human than human,” the eyes are the great divide between man and machine. In Roy’s quest to meet his maker, he seeks out Chew, a genetic designer for eyes, who created the eyes of the Nexus-6. Roy refers a lot to eyes and sight when he says to Chew, “If only you could see what I’ve seen with your eyes,” and to Deckard, “I’ve seen things you humans would’ve believe.” Eyes also seem to play an important part in killing, like when Leon attempts to gouge Deckard’s eyes out and when Roy jabs his thumbs into Tyrell’s sockets. The film references a lot to the relationship between sight and memory.

2. What is the significance of eyes in Blade Runner 2049? Does it expand the symbolism? If so, how?

The new Blade Runner 2049 appears primed to expand the exploration of eyes and identity with mind-bending visuals. In the neon flashes and noirish glitters, Jared Leto’s character, Niander Wallace, muses on the act of giving and taking away life from replicants like a blind god. His white irises have a sinister and mysterious beauty with limitations caused by his lack of sight. Joi’s giant hologram does not have human eyes but a pair of completely dark, almost black orbs; to indicate that she has not taken the role of a personally sexualized female fantasy and housewife specifically catered to a single individual, but that she is at her default setting. The eyes are also studied to determine the authenticity of a being just has Deckard uses Rachael’s green eyes to prove that the clone of her in front of him is indeed a clone. K or Joe takes out the eyeballs of the first Nexus-8 he retires in the beginning of the movie.

3. What are the overriding themes explored in the new Blade Runner? How different are they from the original movie? What significance do they hold for today’s culture?

Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 show a world heavily influenced by Asian culture, fashion, technology, and corporations. The main difference between the two is that Blade Runner has Asian characters and Blade Runner 2049 did not have a single one. White-washed Hollywood might have something to blame for this, I mean come on, Los Angeles in the year 2049 should be much more diversely multicultural. But suspend all disbelief, maybe this has something to say about the white-washing of humanity in general --- all replicants are white, all humans are white, etc. Another powerful theme I realized in the new Blade Runner is just how masculine the movie is. Other than the fact that the main character is male, you see there are no single female human character in the movie other than Robin Wright’s character. In this world, real women aren’t needed anymore. Women are high maintenance and not perfect. In this world, you can have the best version of a woman you want: modelesque, low maintenance, specifically catering to your every need, sexually stimulating, and with the OFF switch. It’s a man’s world, a white man’s world.

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