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shihalyfie · 3 years ago

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Kizuna drama CD: Detail spotting and nuance analysis

02 involved displaying its group dynamic through mundane interactions and wacky hijinks, and the circumstances of an eight-year block of time between Kizuna and 02, plus the fact that Hikari and Takeru operate separately from the others due to the movie’s circumstances, mean that the drama CD centering around the group is actually our most reliable source of info regarding how they’re doing at this time and how their group dynamic is going. Much like 02 itself, getting a lot of this nuance requires reading between the lines, so let’s take a closer look!

Since this is a drama CD and not animated material, I’ll be going through this in bullet points instead of screenshots.

The fact that the drama CD itself deliberately uses the same format as a 02 episode carries a very strong implication that, unlike their seniors who are going through an existential crisis about how much of their childhood experiences they can bring with them into adulthood, the 02 group is still roughly able to recreate the same atmosphere they had eight years ago. Noticeably, the ending song chosen for this is the first ED (Tomorrow My Wind Will Blow), the more lighthearted one used for the first half, before a lot of really emotionally vicious things started happening to them.

The phrase “it’s been a while” and variants thereof come up between this group a lot within this drama CD (and once in the movie itself, from Hawkmon to the others). Look closely at the circumstances of this drama CD and how everyone seems to be very intimately aware of each other’s situations, and the fact that this story obviously takes place only a short time before the movie itself -- so it really hasn’t been a very long time at all, but apparently even that much is considered a “long time” for them. (It also seems like they’re going out of their way to make sure they’re still keeping in regular contact even when they can’t actually meet up.)

Daisuke says, very clearly, that Iori was the one he intended to approach “first” because he was so busy -- but he’s shown walking in with Takeru, meaning that the two of them are on very good terms now and seem to have been hanging out independently.

Daisuke wanted his plan to be a “surprise” reveal to the others, and the actual practical purpose of his plan (it being a career study trip for him) seems to have been very low on the priority list to the point it takes the CD’s entire half-hour runtime for him to finally bring it up. Before then, he’d been cheerfully fantasizing about all the fun things he’d get to do with them, and it even says a lot that he’d also wanted to discuss this at a karaoke bar of all things, so, really, in his head, “hanging out with friends and having fun with them” is the actual priority (especially since there’s basically no reason he needs to have the others on his ramen research trip, he just wants them there because he does).

The fact that the boys have to sneak in the Digimon to avoid getting extra charges means that society will now recognize them as patrons to be regularly charged.

Daisuke is asked by Iori which people he intends to bring to his trip, which implies that the 02 group isn’t technically an exclusive club or anything...but then Daisuke proceeds to list off the 02 group by name, implying that this group does indeed have a particularly elevated level of importance to him.

Look carefully at the nuances surrounding whom Daisuke wants to invite to his trip: he wanted to invite the seniors as well, but resigned himself to the fact it’d probably be impossible because they were too busy...only for the others to point out that the rest of the 02 group is also busy, but everyone is confident that they’ll make it work, and Daisuke wants them there to the point of listing them by name. So in other words, Daisuke likes everyone and would like everyone around in the ideal situation, but when push comes to shove, the rest of the 02 group is whom he really wants to have around, and said group can be reliably counted on to do whatever it takes to make it work.

The way everyone casually describes each other's circumstances (and in specific detail, not just generally describing what they're up to) says a lot; Armadimon's still talking with Hawkmon about Miyako (meaning Miyako and Iori are still regularly in contact), Takeru's up-to-date with Ken's life to the point of knowing his upcoming schedule, Daisuke's fully aware of how busy Iori is, and, later, the one to affectionately greet Hawkmon is none other than Wormmon, who, back in 02, used to only really be close with Ken himself and V-mon. You can see that everyone’s still constantly involved in each other’s lives, including their own partners being up-to-date on each other (compare the more distant relationship their seniors are portrayed with in the movie itself, both with each other and with their partners), and you can also see that Ken and Wormmon have fully integrated themselves into the group to the point it’s a completely casual affair (Iori, the one who infamously had the longest and most drawn-out process in accepting Ken, is the one to personally ask him about his preferences).

That said, note that Takeru and Iori still seem to be on surname basis with Ken, even despite obviously being much closer with him than they were before; unfortunately, it seems that having been on surname basis with him so long in 02 became a habit, leaving Daisuke and Miyako as the only ones currently known to have switched to given name basis with him.

It’s interesting that Ken, not Daisuke, is the one explicitly stated to be keeping up with soccer to the point of having schedule commitments, whereas no mention of this whatsoever is made with Daisuke, and it’s entirely possible that Daisuke actually quit playing it in an organized fashion. This is, however, consistent with their personalities, in that Ken would likely want to keep up with organized extracurricular hobbies, whereas Daisuke may enjoy soccer as a hobby, but not enough to continue committing to a high-level team. (Remember that Daisuke took a while to get a regular position even back in elementary school; as much as he liked the sport, he also wasn’t particularly outstanding at it, and especially not in comparison to Taichi, Sora, or Ken.)

Miyako leaving for Spain seems to have been a recent thing, since it has to actively be brought up in conversation as a reminder (and Daisuke seemed to initially have not taken into account that she wouldn’t be easily able to join the trip in that case, since the issue of the D-3 hadn’t come up yet). When she shows up later in person, everyone’s shocked, as if it’s unnerving for her to be back in Japan already.

Daisuke still seems to have a thing for Hikari, but note that this doesn’t really go beyond “wanting to hang out with Hikari a lot”. Also, he says this in plain view of Takeru without bringing him up at all, and Takeru himself has nothing to say about it (not even awkward laughter), meaning that he really has no object in this whatsoever.

It’s interesting to see that Armadimon, who used to have to ask about how human society works quite often in 02, is now well-versed enough in Japanese culture to be really passionate about it.

As usual, Iori does not mince words (when it's about Nagoya specialty food, at least).

Also as usual, Ken is surprisingly academic about his interests and a huge nerd.

Note Takeru's awkward "I don't really want to insult you, but also, that's weird" reaction to Ken’s speech about the hot springs -- very classic Takeru, not quite being honest for the sake of keeping the peace and awkwardly trying to be nice about it -- in contrast to Daisuke, who just honestly goes straight for the commentary. That said, regardless of how unusual of a hobby everyone around him clearly finds it, note how they all still decide to accommodate it anyway and support his interest in it.

Hypocritically, V-mon calls Daisuke out for being “embarrassing” regarding his fixation on Hikari, only to suddenly get caught off-guard by Tailmon shortly after...

Hikari's behavior has the most clear-cut contrast from herself in 02, consisting of her very assertively stating what she wants, for herself -- very important because her problems in 02 revolved around her compulsively being unable to voice her own thoughts if it meant putting a burden on others. Here, Hikari gets argumentative about what she, personally, wants to do. Given that she doesn’t quite act like this in front of her seniors in the course of the movie, and is depicted as being particularly in-sync with Miyako here -- and given how Miyako was instrumental in reaching out to her during the events of 02 -- it’s pretty easy to see how Hikari became able to assert herself like this.

Similarly, much like how Tailmon was portrayed as lightening up a bit between Adventure and 02 thanks to her new, happier life, here, she seems to be exactly on the same page as Hikari in terms of wanting to fight people for something materialistic.

Hawkmon says that it's "only natural" for them to show up whenever this group is getting together, and, indeed, Miyako was technically uninvited because everyone thought she was busy in Spain -- but was clearly in contact with them (or at least Hikari) to know that this meeting was happening. (There’s probably a group chat.)

This is implied to be the first time the 02 group has seriously considered using D-3 gate exploitation to visit each other and to travel. The group had already made use of this exploitation during 02 itself (to have Palmon delivered to New York back in 02 episode 38 and to meet up in the Digital World), but it is true that they hadn’t been necessarily using it even when it arguably would be more convenient than Tokyo transportation and Imperialdramon. So in other words, for the last eight years, through all the meetups they seem to have been having with each other (and remember, Ken lived in Tamachi, not Odaiba, at the time of 02, and there’s no guarantee that nobody in the Odaiba neighborhood didn’t move at some point), they were perfectly fine with using the inconvenience of Tokyo transportation to meet each other, or to meet up in the Digital World instead -- but then Miyako found herself in another country, and decided that she wasn't going to stand for being separated from the others for too long.

As usual, Hawkmon still has to be Miyako’s concerned minder when she’s on the verge of going out of control.

Miyako had already been implied to be in Barcelona thanks to the scenery outside her window and the movie end credits, but her speech about Spain drives it in even further with the Gaudí references.

Despite Spain being possibly the one of the worst possible options for what's later revealed to be Daisuke's motive for this trip (ramen research), it seems that Miyako baiting him with mention of the soccer league was enough to get him momentarily distracted (and also indicates that Daisuke still clearly has an active interest in soccer even if he may not be regularly playing anymore).

Speaking of which, it’s pretty obvious that Miyako knew exactly what to bait Daisuke with in order to do this.

Takeru, the group's resident moderator, is of course the one to step in and prevent Tailmon and Armadimon from wreaking too much havoc (Daisuke is mostly just slightly intimidated) -- but you might also notice that he's otherwise not saying anything about the group's chaotic antics, and in fact is guilty of enabling them even further...

Daisuke continues to have his penchant for pointing out the elephant in the room -- he's exactly right, how is Wormmon supposed to put on skis?

It is, of course, only natural that Miyako would be sensitive to knowing about currency exchange and the use of American dollars in the Digital World, given that she presumably hasn't forgotten the Digitamamon incident from 02 episode 14.

For the first time in 19 real-life years, we finally learn what Daisuke’s original motive for wanting to get into ramen making was: in true Daisuke fashion, he himself has no idea (but he just really likes ramen).

Daisuke "credits" his friends for giving him insightful advice and helpful resources in thinking about his career and future plans, but, as it turns out, everyone else wasn't thinking nearly as much of it -- either they hardly remember it, or it wasn't actually supposed to mean anything insightful. It's obviously not to say that they're not fully supportive of him (the events of this drama CD blatantly indicate otherwise), but rather that Daisuke attributes everything important and helpful in his life to his friends to ridiculous degrees, even when it's something completely ordinary like a train ticket that anyone should know about.

As always, Daisuke is very realistically aware of his own limitations, admitting freely that he was actually lacking in experience and insight to follow his dream (especially since he took the "advice" from his friends very, very seriously).

Note how quickly everyone changes their tune and immediately decides to unequivocally support Daisuke the moment they realize there's actually a very important reason to him that he wants to go on this trip.

Also note that when Hikari compliments Daisuke, Daisuke is completely at a loss -- yet again, Daisuke's been so busy rolling around for Hikari's approval that he hasn't accounted for what to do when he actually gets it.

Daisuke picking New York, of all locations, as his stop to research ramen certainly explains why Ken has to ask "why ramen?" during the movie itself -- as this drama CD indicates, and as per the events of 02 episode 50, he absolutely knows why Daisuke would want to get ramen, but ramen in New York, which isn't exactly the cultural center of ramen making, is a different story.

The fact that this was a planned multi-day trip also explains why the group changes clothes and is in New York for multiple days over the course of the movie (because they probably had a hotel, too). It also further contextualizes the likely reason Miyako felt like dealing with Menoa’s request was too much work -- she wanted to be on this trip instead -- and says a lot about how she’ll dump a request on her seniors when it’s too much hassle for her, but accept that same request back if it’s something she gets to do with her friends.

Takeru and Hikari are explicitly stated to be scheduled to join the trip on the second day, meaning that them operating separately from the quartet during the events of the movie was sheer scheduling circumstance -- and since we find out in the movie that Takeru was the one to inform Yamato about Daisuke's whereabouts, this CD here clarifies that Takeru has this knowledge because he himself was set to be on this trip (and would have been, if the events of the movie hadn't gotten in the way).

Probably the most interesting take-home from this narrative is how absurdly close the 02 group is portrayed as, and in very, very stark contrast to their seniors in the movie itself -- who are said to be drifting apart as they all find their individual paths. Here, the 02 group is the opposite; while they do seem to have their own goals (Hikari and Daisuke are outright identified as having some of the clearest ones), it’s obvious that those goals are secondary to being able to hang out with and support each other (in other words, they still have those goals, but they’re much lower priorities for them). This is consistent with how these dynamics were portrayed back in 02, since the Adventure group had been portrayed as being prone to drifting apart as early as Our War Game!, whereas the 02 group was built from the ground up as needing each other’s mutual support much more deeply -- it’s just that, now that they’re all much older, this distinction in group dynamic is much more prominent.

#digimon #digimon adventure 02 #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #detail spotting #shihameta

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darkpoisonouslove · 3 years ago

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Tangled: The Series Review

I just watched Tangled: The Series and I finished all three seasons in four days. TL:DR It’s good. It’s really, really good and I definitely recommend. This might be the best thing that has come out of Disney in the last decade or more. Now head under the cut for a more detailed look at the show and my thoughts on it.

Plot

The plot is actually pretty simple and is a direct continuation of the storyline from Tangled: Before Ever After. Granted, there are a lot of elements that answer questions not only from that movie but also from the Tangled movie itself but they are introduced with a lot of time in between that lets you process and even get disengaged at a couple points.

Not gonna lie, the pacing can be pretty slow sometimes and you almost forget what the end goal of the journey is but that allows for a lot of character work to be done (which I will talk about in a sec). It doesn’t seem like it has enough plot for three seasons but they do end up filling it out. Sometimes it’s a little frustrating but it works about 98% of the time.

The finale of season 3 wasn’t overly hyped up by the set up so it didn’t feel anti-climatic like it so often happens when shows just oversell their final showdown in the build-up and then it’s just... eh. Here the emotion and suspense definitely felt proportional to the action you’re getting most of the time.

Characters

The characters were great! They build up on what we’ve seen from Rapunzel, Eugine and Cassandra in the two movies and gave a lot of screen time to side characters as well. Pascal gets two episodes that are centered on him and he gets his own arcs! He’s a chameleon! And you feel for him as an independent character and Rapunzel’s friend, not just her pet. There are a lot of moments where other citizens of Corona that aren’t part of the main focus of the show get attention as well to a point where the kingdom truly feels populated and the world comes alive off the screen. It’s truly moving to watch most of those stories develop.

A little complaint I have would be with Rapunzel’s parents. The focus on them wasn’t bad–not at all–it just wasn’t enough. To be fair, I was actually surprised that they even touched on them but when you truly examine how they did, it just isn’t enough. We get a look at the trauma of losing a child mostly through Rapunzel’s father who definitely got more screen time than her mother but, ultimately, neither of them feels well developed. You are just not sure who they are as people and it feels unsatisfying precisely because the show tried to focus on them. It just didn’t work out fully.

Other than that, most of the characters just work really well. They all get arcs and go through a lot of character development that makes you attached to them and you really get invested in the story which is great. I genuinely cried a couple of times because I was so touched.

Villains

The villains might just be my biggest issue with this series. They have some good minor villains, some cases that are engaging despite the frustration they breed and a couple of villains that are just frustrating in their execution. I’m going to break this down a little to express what I mean.

The main villain of the show is okay but is a little underwhelming. She’s not on screen until season 3 and the thing is that she feels a lot more menacing while she is just a presence that hangs over the main cast rather than she is when she is actually present. (Now this might spoil a little simply because there is no other way to word it) Her servants come off as more menacing than she does. The only time she’s truly pulling her weight is in the finale that I already mentioned was just the right amount of hyped up so that you don’t end up disappointed by it. I was pretty neutral about her and liked her more when she was just an incorporeal tale the heroes were hearing about.

There were several minor villains that worked great. They were the right amount of menacing and the show actually allowed itself to go into pretty dark territory with some of them. Most left lasting consequences for the main cast of heroes and were just all around perfect. The thing that I have an issue with is all (and those are several) the villains that switched over to the good side because it never felt executed correctly. It was either rushed or not well motivated. The writers of the show were making a point about how kindness can touch any kind of person but it still felt forced and not focused on enough. All of these cases would have benefited from a bit more time for the change to happen.

There are two villains in the series that are particularly frustrating when it comes to that because with them changing morality was like flipping a switch. With the first one both the good-to-bad and bad-to-good changes were just not motivated enough and were ramped up to eleven. It just leaves you thinking “You should go to sleep and then you’d calm down” but instead he ended up nearly getting dozens of people killed just because he couldn’t think to count to ten. And in the other case, the switch to the side of evil was definitely motivated in insecurities that were festering over time but the flip-flopping between good and evil was just really annoying and didn’t feel like it was grounded in particular thought or even emotion. It was just happening because the plot demanded it which was extremely jarring after two and a half seasons of a character driven show. And despite the clearly overtaking insecurities, watching this character make some of her choices is unbelievably frustrating because they just don’t make sense. No matter how hurt she is, she is just acting like she either is unable to think or like she doesn’t care about anyone but herself which clashes with the moments in which she is considering going back to the side of good. It is baffling and the worst point of the writing in any aspect.

Relationship Drama

Or rather the lack of anything I would describe as relationship drama aka unfounded jealousy and wild miscommunication that would take half a minute of intelligent conversation to be resolved. I was so pleasantly surprised by the way the relationship between Rapunzel and Eugine was handled. They are both supportive of each other and forgive mistakes. They talk about their feelings and resolve conflict whenever it arises. They trust each other even when it appears that the situation doesn’t warrant that. It is just a healthy relationship that is absolutely heart-warming and adorable to watch.

I am especially thrilled about the fact that they brought up Rapunzel rejecting Eugine’s marriage proposal in Before Ever After and touched on how it would feel to a girl who’s spent her whole life confined to one place to be thinking of settling down (not ideal since in a way it implied that marriage is a trap or at least boring and would cut off your opportunity for adventure but at least they talked about it). And I am especially pleased that they gave the characters time to explore their relationship and also explored the idea of them being in one without being engaged. Really, the message that you can love someone and still not be ready to get engaged is valuable and not something I would expect from a story about a Disney princess.

Some more highlights to talk about and some minor spoilers (don’t read if you don’t want to know more) – they explore how Rapunzel inspires Eugine to be better but it isn’t framed as her being his only salvation. It is framed exactly as what it is – Eugine seeing Rapunzel’s kindness and deciding that he wants to be better for himself and for her, too. I really appreciated that. They also have this episode in which Rapunzel and Eugine have to play parents and I liked the way it was handled. It truly felt like they have the connection between them to support a family and raise children but they are not in a rush and that goes back to the idea that they don’t need to get engaged and married if they don’t feel ready even though they might appear ready.

Lore

I loved the lore of the series. There is a lot more we learn about Corona as well as Rapunzel and the abilities of her hair. There is more information about the world and the surroundings of both the characters and Corona as a kingdom. We get a great expansion of the fantasy element of the world as well as the history and politics of it and I was immersed in the way it made the story and the characters richer. The show is doing its own thing and it is following whatever has already been established about the world and building on it in order to make both the story more compelling and to answer questions that have been raised in the movies without being answered. It’s doing quite well on that front.

Originality

A lot of times I would think that we are going down the route of a certain trope but then they’d put a fresh spin on it or at least a new angle that isn’t usually brought up and made the story that much more engaging. The show dealt with some serious topics that I never would have expected from a Disney princess property. They actually explore Rapunzel grappling with the responsibility that will fall on her shoulders once she’s queen of Corona and it was done in a very realistic and honest–even raw–way. Definitely not something you think you’ll find in the show when you sit down to watch it. There were certainly some cliches and moments that I wish they could have subverted the tropes they were using, but overall, I was often surprised by the way they handled the matter they were writing about.

#tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel #eugene fitzherbert #review #thoughts

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kinetic-elaboration · 4 years ago

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December 10: Endings

The posts that have been going around about all these bad, nonsensical, random tv endings we’ve been seeing recently (GOT, T100, SPN), have made me think about what makes a good television ending in my opinion.

I admit that concluding a series is probably quite tricky because most shows, if they’re not miniseries, are conceived without a known end point in mind. A show runner can build an idea around a 5-season arc, but he might not actually get 5 seasons. He might only get 1. Or he might get 10, if the show is popular. So unlike a movie or a novel, the first episodes need to set up a general premise, a universe, a theme, but not necessarily a specific plot with X number of specific plot points leading to a pre-ordained conclusion. There has to be a flexibility to the narrative. But when the whole thing is completed, it should feel, ideally, as if it WAS pre-ordained, as if the show was always meant to have as many seasons as it got and was working toward its conclusion the whole time.

So, roughly, I think shows that stick the landing do so because the showrunner knows what the show is, at its core, about, and crafts a finale that relates to the central theme(s) and brings the main narrative to a logical and emotionally resonant conclusion.

This is very rough and very general, and it’s a formula that applies more to some shows than others. TV is incredibly varied after all. I mean, first off, not all shows know their last season is their last season going in. You can’t judge the final episodes of, to use two examples of shows I liked that were unceremoniously axed recently, The Society or Altered Carbon as “finale episodes” because they were never meant to be finales. Then you have a show like My So-Called Life, which does have a Classic ending, despite ending all too soon--mostly because every episode of that show was classic, and it only had one season, so its season finale being a fitting ending to the season automatically means its series finale was a fitting ending to the series.

(It’s such an outlier that I can’t really compare it to anything but honestly--this is how to do an open-ended cliffhanger and still make it feel like a conclusion. But that’s a whole different post.)

My formula above also doesn’t apply well to sitcoms, because they aren’t really about anything, in terms of plot. Like the name says, they set up situations: a group of people who are family, co-workers, friends, and then lets those situations play out in a funny manner for as long as there are jokes to tell. Sitcoms to me end well if they don’t overstay their welcome, if they remain true to the characters (because it’s the characters, not the minimal narrative, that defines the show), and if they hit an appropriate ‘ending’ tone. But the biggest thing for me is if the sitcom went on for too many seasons. Even if the final episode isn’t the greatest, it’s fine. But if the last 2-4 seasons were lackluster, it tarnishes the whole legacy.

‘Procedural’ type shows are yet another category, and I’m not entirely sure how to characterize those, or what makes a strong ending for that sub-genre. I’m using ‘procedural’ broadly to include, like, Bad Guy of the Week type shows--for example, Charmed, which I thought should have ended after S7. Again, I think it’s about not letting the whole thing go on too long, and then staying true to characters and tone in the finale itself.

So looking just at dramas that have a season’s warning before their finale--which, really, are the type of shows that are most likely to make people ANGRY with shitty endings, because they lure the viewer in with the idea that a singular, coherent story is being told. Maybe it’s convoluted. Maybe it’s winding. Maybe it’s hard to tell where they’re going with this. But if it all comes together in the end, none of that matters--and if it doesn’t come together, what was the point of all the seasons that came before? It becomes, retroactively, a betrayal.

The more plot-driven the show (if it has a mystery, a conspiracy theory, a quest), the greater the betrayal if all fizzles out. But I think the same feeling can arise from shoddy conclusions in dramas more generally. The L Word is one of my comfort shows but that last season is a MESS all the way down, the finale especially. There definitely wasn’t a point to anything, and it wasn’t even entertaining as, like, a dramatic soap.

But then I think about shows whose endings I really liked. For example, Six Feet Under had a great final season and one of the best finale episodes/ending sequences ever. The show up to that point had been about death, and that theme had always been centered most particularly on Nate: his fears of the family business, his previous brushes with death because of his AVM, etc. So of course the show had to end by killing one of its mains, coming full circle with the pilot, showing real grief hitting home--and of course Nate’s personal journey as the main character had to end with his death. Everything about the conclusion was fitting, not even counting the final montage.

I also really liked the conclusion of Big Love, for similar reasons: it was thoughtful, and it successfully teased out the main strands, both of plot and theme, that had run through the show up to that point. The most important thing had always been depicting this family, their problems but also their strength and their love for each other--so, as the showrunners said, it had to conclude by showing you that the family survives. They are strong, and their bonds endure. But the ending was, and had to be, bittersweet too, because anything less would seem to sweep under the rug the real tragedies of the last seasons. Not everyone gets happy endings. And the unhappy endings relate specifically to the toxic patriarchy that’s haunted all of the characters from the pilot. Alby has a chance to turn away from his father and the compound life--but the forces arrayed against him were too strong, so there was no deus ex machina for him, and he ultimately just became fully the evil villain. And Bill is taken out not by the state or by the compound but by an aggrieved man who feels he’s been emasculated, forgotten, who is raging against being so Unseen. What a way to make clear what the common denominator in all of the threats of the past 5 seasons has been.

I also give major points to shows whose finales feel like they’re trying, even if they’re imperfect, especially if the imperfections are because of factors outside the showrunner’s control. For example, I saw someone list Dollhouse as one of their ‘worst endings’ but I have to disagree. I like the ending of Dollhouse. It wasn’t supposed to be 2 seasons. That’s well known. But that’s how many seasons it got, and I think honestly they turned that into a plus rather than a minus. Dollhouse was its best when it was rushing to a conclusion, when it was fast-paced and exciting. Did it always make complete sense? No. Were there some pretty big holes in the plot? Yeah--S2′s Big Bad was absolutely and transparently a retcon instituted between S1 and S2 and I get that, and I forgive the show for that. I thought bifurcating the epilogue as two extra episodes after each of the two seasons was genius, and I liked that it allowed the show to have its cake and eat it too: a happy ending, with the main, immediate, singular Big Bad eliminated, at the end of S2, and a more bittersweet, more complicated, post-apoc ending in the bonus episode. Yeah, I can see the seams; I know there were a lot of constructed work arounds in there because the show was intended to be longer. I think the ending was presented in good faith.

I also, perhaps controversially, liked the ending of Veronica Mars (the original 3-season show; I didn’t see the reboot). The way the season aired was weird and didn’t do it any favors: having a long break before the last couple of episodes, which existed outside of the two Big Case arcs of S3, makes those final stories feel tacked on and random. Basically impossible to have a strong finish with that kind of structure. But the very end of the last ep had the bitter, dark feel of a noir, which is what the show was, a mash up of a noir and a high school drama. I liked that they leaned on the noir rather than the high school aspect, because it was the more creative way to go imo. Also, I appreciated that S3, in general, learned from S2′s mistakes. Yes, the college years are always going to be lackluster compared to high school, in any series that starts with its characters in high school. But VM recognized that no overarching mystery was going to compare to the Lilly Kane murder, so it split the Big Mystery into two Medium Sized mysteries, and I thought that was smart. All of which makes me inclined to think fondly of the conclusion. As with Dollhouse, its weakest points seem to be compromises it had to make, not really its fault but just an inevitable imperfection of the form.

It’s pretty easy to list aspects of a bad ending: a sense that events are arbitrary, a disrespect of characters, a rushed construction, a jarring tone, and most importantly a disconnect between the finale and what came before. If the show appeared to be a narrative (as opposed to a situation), but it doesn’t feel like a complete and coherent whole at the end, then the conclusion was bad.

I didn’t watch GOT or SPN and I stopped watching T100 at the end of S4 (though I do feel confident from tumblr that the ending was Bad), so I have somewhat of a hard time thinking of shows that I thought had really bad endings. I can think of dissatisfying endings that came from shows being cancelled without warning. I can think of shows that lasted too long in general or otherwise had fallen from their greatest heights by the time they limped to a conclusion (unpopular opinion: Friends fits in this category--that show should have been 4 seasons, maybe 5 tops; Boy Meets World and Dawson’s Creek are comfort show favorites of mine but they both should have ended with high school, like, pretty objectively speaking; iZombie started a slow downturn after S2 and by the end of S4 was kinda unwatchable. I literally stopped halfway through the finale.). I can even think of shows that lost me by the end even though objectively they probably had good endings (for example, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend--I couldn’t get through S4 and the finale sounded... technically well-constructed but like it would have driven me nuts).

But then I guess most shows with shitty finales technically had shitty last seasons in general. Truly notorious crash-and-burns don’t come out of nowhere. I mean I’m sure there are counter-examples to this (what’s that one with the kid and the snow globe lol?) but unless you try for a weird last-minute twist, or unless you’ve got your audience hoping against hope that an impossibly twisty story is actually very smart instead of very ill-planned, it’s generally clear before the last episode if a narrative has lost its way. I don’t tend to watch a lot of ‘twisty-turny conspiracy’ shows, and when I do I am supremely skeptical all the way through, so it’s hard for me to think of examples I’ve personally watched of a last minute “what the fuck was that” conclusion.

#the year 2020 #2020: fandom thoughts #the entire purpose of this ramble is for me to avoid introspection rn because i'm in such a bad mood

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sepublic · 5 years ago

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World building Ideas for Hazbin Hotel

-Be it some one-off joke, or an entire character with a dedicated episode or something, it’d be hilarious to see a real-life person in Hell, either arriving there, still adjusting, or else having been around for quite a while. For example, Vlad the Impaler could still be a regular presence in Hell that’s feared for his atrocities, or he’s already been offed by either another demon or one of the Angel exterminations. Some historical figures are celebrities, and recent arrivals to Hell are sometimes floored at seeing these people in Hell as demons. Others are incredibly disappointed, because lo and behold they didn’t expect some of these people to have ended up in Hell...

-A brief mention/plot point of demons who wait in Hell for people they know to arrive. Some will wait decades for a person, be it an enemy or a loved one, to arrive in Hell... and some continue waiting even long after that person should’ve died, insistent that they’re just taking their time, that they will arrive in Hell. Perhaps Sir Pentious is in denial over his son having actually gone to heaven, whilst simultaneously delighted by the concept but saddened over being separated from him. A murderer might be in constant rage and denial over the likelihood that their sworn nemesis went straight to Heaven, while they were condemned to Hell. A demon could be nervously crossing their fingers, desperately hoping they don’t EVER see their loved one arrive in Hell, while others are constantly waiting at the center of Pentagram City, scouting those they’re waiting for amidst the new arrivals. Some demons arrived in Hell, only to be immediately killed by a sworn enemy who had been waiting for them the entire time. Others are just casually expecting someone they know to show up, having seen more than enough to determine where that person will end up. Angel Dust’s brother and sister are in Hell, so there’s at least one precedent for family members regrouping together after death.

-Likewise, conflicts and clashes between various groups in Hell would be interesting. Seeing war criminals from either side of a war banding together with old allies to take on their now-demonic enemies, or demons who single out those affiliated with a group they despise. There could be various wars throughout Hell between groups who refuse to let go of the ideals they held in life and despise those that are contrary to those beliefs.

-On a similar note, I think the idea of a ‘Punisher’-type of demon would be a fun concept. Imagine having a soul who in life went on a rampage against those they deemed sinners or otherwise terrible people, only to arrive in Hell themselves. Would they be crippled by the realization that they, too, are a sinner? Or would they instead keep moving on and start habitually targeting other Demons in an attempt to spread further justice? Was this demon once terrible, but then chose to redeem themselves afterwards by purging Hell?

-One question I’ve always wondered- Demons can be injured, but they can only be truly killed by Exterminator weaponry. With that in mind, if a Demon is horrifically torn apart and eviscerated, but the damage wasn’t done by an Exterminator weapon, would they just naturally come back together? Do they automatically heal, or are the wounds kind of permanent until someone helps stitch them back together? Do Demons have a natural, inevitable healing factor, and is there a hospital industry for speeding up the recovery process? And if Demons can fully grow back lost limbs and organs, is there a twisted market for harvesting such commodities from demons against their will? Or will the separated body parts just cease to exist upon separation from a still-living demon?

-It’s a common trope in fiction of humans summoning Demons, and Helluva Boss confirms that contact between Hell and the surface is possible. An episode dedicated to the logistics behind someone trying to summon a Demon with a ouija board or pentagram would be fun and probably hilarious to witness. What sort of things do demons ask for in return? Are they sometimes just randomly summoned against their will, or is a summoning like an open-ended call that can be opened by any demon nearby who’s willing to make a deal?

-Likewise, it’d be neat if there was a market for stuff from the human world. I can imagine a lot of old-timey demons being fascinated by modern culture and interested in how it’s constantly thriving. Do news stations interrogate/interview new arrivals to Hell to learn what’s been going on Earth ever since they died? Do some new arrivals embellish details, and do others arrive with stuff? Perhaps the demon-summoning I mentioned earlier could be a way to gain access to human items from the modern era through deals. There could be a whole market for movies and songs, especially those that demons were looking forward to before they suddenly died.

-In a twist of delicious irony, I’d really like to see a bigoted Christian-type character who hated on the LGBTQIA+ community struggle with the realization that, hey, they’re in Hell despite all of the prayers and devout worship they did to God; As it turns out, being a vicious homophobe is pretty much a guaranteed ticket to Hell! This type of character would probably sign up at the Hazbin Hotel to make amends with their wrong beliefs and become an actual good samaritan and Christian- Although they may need protection from Demons who particularly hate Christianity and its practicers and are bitter against God for their circumstances.

-Have other Demons attempted to lead rebellions against Lucifer? They ARE Demons, after all... I think a show of power, even if as a brief flashback, that showcases how Lucifer deals with insurgents would be great to witness. Likewise, while Hell seems pretty lawless in general, I do wonder if there are at least some basic laws set in place by Lucifer; Bars that are set very low, but nevertheless bars that are set to begin with. And with that in mind, is there a ‘police’ of sorts that Lucifer controls to keep these laws in motion, as well as contain any unruliness? Or does he leave it to the lesser Demon Overlords, or most terrifying of all, does he deal with all instantly and personally?

-Are there ever awkward incidents where Demons encounter people they knew on the surface by total accident, and both realize mutually that they went to Hell? Likewise, what if a Demon finds their ancestor or a relative that they always thought was nice/knew was pretty terrible?

-This is really dark, but considering child murderers ARE a thing in real life, what’s it like for those kids? Do other Demons take them in, or are they left to fend for themselves? Are there some Demons who automatically scout out new arrivals for certain qualities that are sympathetic to them, in turn introducing the new arrival to a ‘found family’ of sorts comprised of Demons from various time periods?

-Do some Demons who happen to have the same type of animal form just naturally gravitate towards one another? In the Angel Dust prequel comic there’s a gang full of Shark demons, and while it’s possible they’re all related to each other (hence the similarities), is it also likely that one dude looked at a fellow Shark, was all “You’re a Shark and so am I! We should stick together.” and that’s just how a gang came into existence? Are there requirements to join a gang depending on what form you have, and is there discrimination on certain forms? Are some forms requiring accommodations that are offered in Hell, for a price?

-More than likely, there’s probably some demons who hate the modern generations that have followed after them and prefer the ‘good old days’. This dislike can range from a general bias, to outright murder on sight (they ARE Demons, after all).

-Are there schools in Hell? Do some modern demons teach classes explaining to older demons how to utilize new technology that gets introduced to Hell (for a price, of course)? Do some Demons just go on eternally without an education, some unable to read due to circumstances and/or the time period, and are there those who will profit off this potential market by selling lessons?

-Seeing as how I.M.P. is a business for Demons with unfinished ties to their old lives, are there other businesses relating to inter-Demon connections? Are there private investigators and researchers who will help Demons track down whoever killed an associate of theirs?

#hazbin hotel

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mc-lukanette · 5 years ago

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Any chance we can get something wholesome and good and Lukanette flavored to wash the taste of that bad ep away, because they absolutely did Luka dirty for his hero debut.

Honestly, let’s be completely real here: every hero has gotten a terrible debut in some way.

Alya only makes a good fox in the fact that she’s color-coded for it. Mirage doesn’t fit Alya as a superpower. Also, a chunk of this episode involves kids being obnoxious and no one wants that.

Nino was not built up properly for a protective miraculous and “Anansi” was centered more around Alya and Nora than himself.

Chloe… yeah.

Roi Singe got completely overshadowed, ignored, and was only brought in when there were, like, four minutes left in the episode.

Ryuko revealed herself right away and negated any chance at seeing her in the future unless they find a way around it.

And here, we had to endure all of that other stuff in order to get to Viperion. The reality is that no hero got a good debut (maybe Max will though, we don’t know).

Also… confession time, not even going to lie: I’m not as mad at this episode as everyone else is.

When Aspik was revealed alongside Viperion, this is basically exactly how I thought it would go and also exactly how I wanted it to go (hear me out).

Looking at this episode at face value is that “Marinette is just being dumb.” The deeper, more specific value is that which ships are working, which aren’t, and why.

Like, firstly, this is pre-”Silencer.” That has nothing to do with what the ideal situation is; it’s just a fact (I don’t care what Astruc said). Luka confessed in “Silencer” and Alya mentioned at the end of the episode that “Luka and Adrien haven’t chosen anyone either.” That statement would not be true if Marinette believed that Luka already confessed to her.

When Marinette is around Luka, she can process reality, and her friends even point this out. When she’s around Adrien, she does not think, and that’s what this episode is pointing out. “Silencer” further confirms this by showing how Marinette acts around Luka without Adrien present.

And just talking about the “guitar scene” in general, let’s look at this from Marinette’s standpoint.

Marinette does not offer up Adrien immediately. It’s Alya who jabs a thumb in Adrien’s direction. Yes, she’s actually gesturing to Luka, but let me ask this:

What is Alya’s defining trait when Marinette is around Adrien? Pushing Marinette to interact with him. When Alya isn’t direct enough to actually point out Luka specifically, I’m not even remotely surprised that Marinette thought that Alya was directing her towards Adrien because that’s usually all that Alya does, and what better way to get close to Adrien than to offer him up to Jagged Stone, who Adrien is a fan of (since he got Marinette to sign his CD case)? Adrien was even closer to Marinette than Luka was distance-wise, so yeah, of course she’d notice Adrien first.

Also, note Luka’s face when Marinette asks him about offering up his guitar (which I’m not mad about because Luka gave her his guitar at the start of the episode and she’s not a musician like Adrien is); he’s calm and he goes along with it with a smile. He’s not mad or even upset that Marinette isn’t seeing him because he recognizes that all Marinette is seeing right now is Adrien.

So, no, I don’t blame Marinette. I blame her friends for talking about her being with other people behind her back, mocking her, and then not trying to bring it up with her. Alya does in a way, but she fails to do literally all of the things that she’s supposed to as Marinette’s best friend, the worst of which is reigning in Marinette’s worst instincts.

This is what I always mean when I talk about Marinette’s friends. They make faces and complain about Marinette’s worst behaviors, but they don’t take steps to fix them. No one stepped in when Marinette clearly got the wrong idea from Alya, and Marinette continued riding that idea because no one is telling her that she’s wrong (when Jagged points out Luka–saying that he was better EQUIPPED (i.e: the fact that he has a guitar)–Marinette registers what Adrien said about being a pianist, meaning he wouldn’t have a guitar, which is why she focused on the fact that Luka had a guitar and not Luka himself).

Alya, at best, implies early on that Kagami might be right, but Kagami called Luka Marinette’s boyfriend. Thus, Marinette thinks that Alya is teasing her, because Luka being a friend to her is just a fact. Luka was the only one to make a proper attempt at calming Marinette down by talking positively about Adrien having Kagami (without touching explicitly on the romantic aspect; a sweet, gentle move on his part).

And, heck, just going back to the guitar scene, Marinette even laments her decision immediately afterward when she’s away from everyone else. Once she got away from Adrien, she instantly acknowledged that she made a mistake and that she didn’t know what she was doing.

Marinette doesn’t process information around Adrien. She needs direction to do so, and that’s exactly what Adrien gives her when he tells Ladybug that Luka would be good for the snake. If Adrien hadn’t shown up that day, she would’ve picked Luka right away.

This episode is a case study of why the love square doesn’t work and why Lukanette and Adrimi do (at least at this point in time). Marinette can’t function around Adrien (especially when he shows up out of nowhere) and Adrien has a hard time focusing on anything but Ladybug when he had a chance to woo her as Adrien. This episode basically dealt with Ladrien and Adrienette in one shot while “Silencer” dealt with LadyNoir.

I knew that Luka wasn’t going to get a lot of screentime in his debut, because Luka is the type to be an active player (and, again, the fact that both Adrien and Luka had the snake at some point due to the leaks, so I figured Adrien would play a role here), and I’m okay with that because Luka shines when he does get to play an active role.

So, me personally? I’ll be honest, I really liked this one. It’s not perfect, no, but I had fun. It touches on a lot of stuff I was wondering about and, even if some of that was painful, it felt inevitable.

Like, this episode did so many things that I wanted/enjoyed:

- LUKANETTE INTERACTIONS AHHHHHHH THEY PLAYED GUITAR TOGETHER. (and the fact that it was so casual was basically the Instagram movie picture times ten; also, Luka tried to make Marinette feel better about Adrimi and that’s sweet)

- ARIMIIIIIII; THAT SCENE WAS ADORABLE AND I NEED MORE OF IT.

- Marinette freaking out because she couldn’t wave back to Adrien due to holding Luka’s guitar was a nice touch.

- ANARKA AND JAGGED OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE ONE OF MY AUS CAN BE THEORETICALLY COMPLIANT WITH CANON NOW.

- With half of the girl squad talking about Lukanette VS Adrienette, this makes it a fantastic sequel to “Frozer” in a narrative sense. Likewise, we get more insight on how far Luka is willing to go to support Marinette’s crush on Adrien. “Frozer” was bittersweet for him but this episode was him being fully accepting with whatever came into her head. He just enjoys time with her and that’s all he needs.

- Jagged thinks that Luka is cooler than Adrien and he would totally be on board with Lukanette; I don’t make the rules, I just point out the facts.

- LUKA WAS SO DETERMINED TO HELP LADYBUG BY DISTRACTING DESPERADA, BLESS.

- SAAAAASS. (oh, sorry; I mean SASSSSSSSSSSSSSS)

- I know I talk a lot of salt about Adrien, but the fact that he kept trying to save Ladybug and then gave up the snake himself after realizing that it was pointless was a nice moment. I think this fits well with “Reflekdoll” and Adrien acknowledging that there are some roles he’s just not meant for. He felt bad and it hurt him to constantly see Ladybug get zapped because he couldn’t focus and that was a good character note for him. Also, everything he does in this episode feels very in-character for him and not technically in a bad way.

- Ladybug’s face when Adrien (as Aspik) tells her that he’s Chat Noir; it was like her world was crumbling down and it was a beautiful moment even if she got immediately zapped before replying.

- omg luka is so determined to help because Desperada attacked his family and friends i cry (also, the little Miracle Box looks heckin’ SMALL in his hand)

- LUKA IS SO EXTRA AND I ADORE IT KJSFGNFDJNGFDG. HIS VIPERION TRANSFORMATION IS BEAUTIFUL AND HE’S SO FLASHY AND FABULOUS. THE FACT THAT HE’S SO CHILL YET SO EXTRA IS AMAZING.

- Viperion. Just–Viperion in general. Luka OWNED that miraculous and he had a PLAN, oh my god.

- Luka’s soft look as Ladybug leaves. hkngjfngdfg

So, yeah. Ultimately, I think Marinette’s friends are the low point of the episode (because, oh, when Marinette wants to move on from Adrien in “Frozer,” it was a problem, but when they see Luka and Marinette interact here, they’re totally okay with her moving on? What kind of friends–) and I obviously didn’t like the fact that some things were oversold and others were underplayed, but everything else? I either understood it or outright liked it.

#((Yes though; I have fanfics lying around))#((What kind of wholesomeness do you want?))#type: review #episode: Desperada

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dweemeister · 4 years ago

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The Big City (1963, India)

By the mid-1960s, Satyajit Ray had proven himself to be one of India’s best filmmakers. He had earned the acclaim of audiences, critics, and filmmakers for the Apu trilogy (1955-1959), The Music Room (1958), and Devi (1960). But no matter the filmmakers or where they come from, a succession of films that do not connect can leave one scrapping for work. This is where Ray found himself in the early 1960s after a handful of works that could not match the lofty standard of his first films. So Ray turned, for the first time, to his native Calcutta (located in West Bengal, where Bengali is the official language; some of Ray’s previous films were partially set in Calcutta) and contemporary times for inspiration and incorporated his interest in featuring women as the center of his films. The result was The Big City – also known by its original Bengali title, Mahanagar – which reinvigorated Ray’s creative output.

Like many of Ray’s films, The Big City paints how individuals reckon with the constant cultural changes that come to their doorsteps or workplaces. But unlike the aging zamindar walled away from the world in The Music Room, The Big City depicts a modern struggle for gender equality that persists in India and the world over – a situation defying time and place. Ray’s achievement here signaled to viewers that he has more to say outside the impending march of modernity and dehumanizing urban demands on those from rural areas.

Housewife Arati (Madhabi Mukherjee) is concerned about the financial situation of her family. Living in a cramped apartment, her husband Subrata (Anil Chatterjee) and only son Pintu (Prasenjit Sarkar) are facilely supportive when she states her intentions to find a job; citing tradition, father- and mother-in-law Priyogopal (Haren Chatterjee; no relation to Anil) and Sarojini (Sefalika Devi) voice their opposition. Despite these gaggle of voices under one roof, Arati nevertheless finds and excels as a door-to-door saleswoman. In her early days of employment, Subrata is resentful of his wife, but he swallows his pride when he is laid off from his job at the bank after a bank run. With Arati now the sole worker, she will soon contend with workplace drama between her new Anglo-Indian friend and coworker Edith (Vicky Redwood) and her boss, Himangshu (Haradhan Banerjee) – the later of whom promises to help Subrata find a job.

What a simple story this is, with Ray’s screenplay adapted from Narendranath Mitra’s short story “Abataranika”. I write that not in disparagement, but awe. Few filmmakers can take such a grounded and domestic story and wrest torrents of sympathy, disappointment, and admiration for the characters within. Ray is one of those gifted few, extracting solid performances from his acting ensemble. Mukherjee, who would turn in an even more accomplished performance in Ray’s Charulata (1964), gives Arati poise, intelligence, and the moral righteousness that make it unthinkable to root against her. To play Arati as overly meek would undermine The Big City’s themes; to play Arati as an upending-the-patriarchy-and-taking-names feminist commando would rob the film of any dramatic interest (in addition to being improbable, given the circumstances). Mukherjee strikes this balance in ways that suit her character, with her best work ahead of her. Arati’s sense of justice is steadfast at the film’s climax, rendering her unsure whether her principled actions have been worth the consequences. That the film provides an uncertain, incomplete answer – despite Subrata’s counsel and attempt and reassurance – is to its credit.

Her friendship with her Anglo-Indian friend Edith marks the first instance of a Ray film commenting on racism. Anglo-Indians are those of mixed Indian and British descent. Many Anglo-Indians, if they could, attempted to pass as British so they could have more secure professional and political privileges. In The Big City, English-speaking Edith (her Bengali is limited to a few words and phrases, though it appears that Edith mostly understands Bengali) certainly could “pass” as British, but she is neither accepted in Anglo nor Indian circles. The tension between Edith and Himangshu in his racist beliefs about her character. How this situation develops is a testament to Ray’s attention to how out-group minorities in India can be treated (even if Edith, as a character, is never developed beyond the fact she is Arati’s friend), as films with clearly defined mixed-race characters are rarities across cinema. This was groundbreaking for Indian cinema in its ethnic-linguistic entirety (not just Bengali-language filmmaking, which Ray was the paragon of), especially in Ray’s intersecting of race and gender.

As one sees through Edith and Arati’s friendship, Britain’s colonial legacy was never far from the surface during the first decade of Satyajit Ray’s films. The train that entrances Apu and his sister, Durga, as they frolic among the kans grass in Pather Panchali (1955) foreshadows the Westernization of India’s urban life that Apu will encounter and struggle with as a teenager and a young adult. Actors Anil and Haren Chatterjee must contend with their characters who uphold the incompatible values of traditional gendered roles (in the sense that women should only be homemakers) and the stressors of a capitalist society. For Haren Chatterjee, as father-in-law and former schoolteacher Priyogopal, we see an elderly man not only dependent on his adult son and daughter-in-law but also his former students. He is helpless without them, but too proud to fully retract his denouncement of Arati’s professional plans. Ray and Haren Chatterjee portray Priyogopal with understanding – this old man’s guarded humiliation, no matter his opposition to his daughter-in-law’s work, is not to be celebrated. The displacement he and, to a lesser extent, his son feel reflects how, in a capitalist society, those not engaging in production are automatically excluded. Woven into the patriarchal society that Priyogopal and Subrata have been raised in and have live all their lives, these disruptive times expose their masculine insecurities – given purpose and form in earlier times, but now altered to something neither recognizes.

With no countryside to juxtapose with the urban, streetcar wire-filled landscape, what does Ray say about the promises of the big city? Often in contemporary Western cinema, the city is a vibrant, cosmopolitan place that, though potentially engendering an individual’s loneliness, is welcoming and conducive to ambition regardless of gender or race. Those promises of upward social mobility and civic harmony are not devastated by The Big City, but the film states that the transition from obsolete traditions to the cosmopolitan ideal is difficult, and unrealized in the case of Arati and her fellow female coworkers. The variant of capitalism here, to Ray, remains tied to traditional views of gendered roles at home and in the workplace, satisfying the needs of few. Ray is open to capitalism’s prescriptions and its supposed egalitarian goal, but it is a distant dream in The Big City.

With a trained eye for detail, Ray can make scenes susceptible to feeling staged feel as natural as can be. Scenes about family dinners, socializing among coworkers, and a trip to the doctor’s office contain dialogue that believably would be said in those settings, behavioral tics appropriate for certain situations, and production design that never calls attention to itself as production design. For Ray and longtime collaborator, cinematographer Subrata Mitra, the patient framework and unhurried approach to the film enliven Arati’s journey and Subrata’s and Priyogopal’s inner turmoil. Inspiration might also have emerged from Ray’s childhood – Ray never knew his father, and was raised and educated by his mother, who balanced a sizable professional workload alongside household duties. As his mother’s only son, Ray could see how difficult it could be for a widower with children in India. Those memories influenced how Apu’s mother in Aparajito (1956) was portrayed and certainly lends to Arati’s moving characterization for The Big City.

After a successful international film festival run abroad, The Big City’s first South Asian debut outside of India occurred at a Dhaka film festival (then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh) in 1964. So anticipated was the film that thousands of women lined up for tickets, which sold out quickly. A riot and police violence ensued, forcing the festival organizers to schedule ten consecutive screenings of The Big City (that’s roughly seven minutes in between showtimes). Needless to say, The Big City rejuvenated Ray’s directorial career, catapulted Madhabi Mukherjee to stardom, and praised among Bengali audiences and those, like Edith, might have trouble speaking the language.

The Big City is a film where the dramatic resolution acknowledges the limitations of the systems in which it was created and the setting of its original release. Yet in its cultural specificity, it contains universal themes of gender equality, the difficulty of appealing to human decency, and the unbelonging of mixed-race individuals. Greater examples of Ray’s auteurism exist, but The Big City demonstrates his signature artistic and humanistic daring.

My rating: 8/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, click here.

#The Big City #Mahanagar #Satyajit Ray #Madhabi Mukherjee #Anil Chatterjee #Haradhan Banerjee #Jaya Bhaduri #Vicky Redwood #Sefalika Devi #Haren Chatterjee #TCM #My Movie Odyssey

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maditationweb · 5 years ago

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Jedi Philosophy

I, like many, grew up with dreams of wielding a lightsaber, learning the ways of the Force and becoming a Jedi. I suppose it's something that I never fully grew out of, as I trace my now long history and training in the martial arts to the classic tale of Star Wars. But as we grow older, we're supposed to forget about our heroes, and let childish fantasy be forgotten. While this may seem like prudent advice, I believe that it is the loss of our dreams that rob us of far more than childish naiveté.

Nor does it seem that I am unique or alone in this position. Starting in 2001, national censuses of many countries started to receive responses to a citizens' religion as "Jedi". And why not - the image of the Jedi is a potent one: a spiritual warrior, dedicated to both uplifting others as well as developing his own skill, focus and inner power.

And yet, it is a myth; a thing of childish fantasy. What possible reason, aside from a fear of growing up and facing the world on adult terms, could we have in holding the ideal, image and philosophy of the Jedi in such regard that so many would report it as their religion? I don't think any of the census jedi actually own a lightsaber (at least not a working one), or have cultivated their connection with the Force to the extent that they are able to lift small cars into the air with a thought and a gesture. And yet, our fascination with the impossible remains.

You see, our minds are, on an evolutionary standpoint, rather new to the whole language gig. 200,000 to 300,000 years ago, our early ancestors were more focused on skills of survival than on social communication and deciphering the atom. What that means is that our minds are good at remembering (and imagining; the two are not that far apart) visual stimuli (originally categorized into 'things I can eat' and 'things that can eat me'), and spatial orientation ('things I can eat can be found here, things that eat me are over there'). As we began communicating with one another and developing language, we didn't abandon these things. We began to tell stories and myths - some to entertain, some to make sense of the things we could not understand in the world. The new power of language didn't rewrite our minds, it adapted itself to what was already there.

And within this framework of storytelling and mythology, the foundations of how we relate to and understand our world is found. I'm not trying to dismiss scientific understanding - far from it. Science is the mechanism that has allowed us to take the unreal and make it real howtomeditatelikeaJedi.

For starters, another value of the mythology of the Jedi is that it belongs to us. I'm not trying to challenge the copyright or the legal ownership Mr. George Lucas has on the franchise he created, I'm pointing out that the myth that we have all grown to connect with is OURS in the same way that the stories of Hercules and the Argonauts belonged to the ancient Greeks. There is no baggage there, no traditions from a bygone era. At the same time, the philosophy Mr. Lucas used in the movies had real world inspiration: primarily the warrior philosophy of the Japanese Samurai, Bushido. It's also where inspiration of many of the costumes came from - in fact, Star Wars, Episode IV was BASED on an old, black and white, Samurai movie called "The Hidden Fortress".

My purpose in outlining all of this is to establish that while Star Wars and the Jedi are completely fictional, this does not preclude them, or the philosophy we can draw from them, from being significant. Joseph Campbell is the most famous researcher and philosopher who analyzed and discussed the power mythology has in reflecting our own inner journey, and I encourage anyone who is interesting in learning more about this phenomenon to look to his works for further knowledge.

This leads us to the topic at hand: the philosophy of the Jedi themselves. Most places I've visited on the web typically draw reference and quotations from the Star Wars movies and books and extrapolate based on the author's interpretation of them. However, as we saw above, the roots of Jedi philosophy lay in Bushido (primarily), and in the traditional warrior culture and philosophy of many other cultures. To fully appreciate the philosophy of the Jedi, it is beneficial to understand where these.

There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. -The Jedi Code (Based on the meditations of Odan-Urr)

This is the traditional Jedi Code which you can find many interpretations of throughout the Internet (just Google "Jedi Code" and you'll find a raft of them).

1. There is no emotion, there is peace.

Most interpretations of this tenant agree that it is not referring to REMOVING emotions (come on, it's not like we're talking Star Trek here...), but in learning to not be overwhelmed or controlled by them. On the surface, it warns against the passionate abuse of power - to strike out in anger, fear or revenge is to give in to the Dark Side.

Yet we need to look deeper to fully appreciate this: remember that a Jedi's greatest foe is himself, not some external enemy. The Jedi seeks not to become passion-less, but free from the limiting perception, the 'tunnel vision' that we will touch again in the third tenant, that overwhelming emotions can bring. At the same time, this tenant powerfully expresses the position of the Jedi to become responsible for the peace around him. Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is our ability to cope and adapt to it. There are a thousand legitimate reasons we may or may not be as happy, successful or content with our lives or whatever situation we may be placed in. While we can often point to a person or thing that prevented us from achieving, the Jedi realizes the real enemy is within himself, and it is always cloaked in an emotion - be it fear, anger, or more deceptively... pride.

2. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

This is another well travelled but often misunderstood (or at least only partially understood) tenant. Yes, it refers to a Jedi's dedication to learn, grow and become greater tomorrow than they are today. It refers to their dedication to truth, especially when faced with knowledge that is uncomfortable or inconvenient. But... too often we associate the concept of knowledge as something we gain from the OUTSIDE. But the greatest challenge, the greatest place of ignorance any of us will face, is our lack of understanding and knowledge about ourselves.

The Chinese General and master tactician Sun Tzu wrote, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

The message is to observer yourself truthfully, examining even the 'nasty bits' that we would prefer to pretend don't exist. When we do, as strange thing happens: those dark places become illuminated and cease to be hooks where the Dark Side can take root.

3. There is no passion, there is serenity.

In many ways this is a repeat of the first tenant - which isn't a redundancy, it only stresses the importance of the first tenant. At the same time, it also contains additional meanings.

It is very similar to the concept in Japanese Bushido known as "No Mind" - not as in "mind-less" but as in a state completely free from distraction. The mind, powerful as it is, can travel to any point in the past (memories), future and any place in between (imagination). But when the mind is still, calm, and free of internal 'chatter', the capabilities of the individual become incredibly heightened.

Even without talking about a 'Force', this is true. The mind at peace is capable of lightning fast reaction and response - there is no doubt, fear, pride or anger to cloud its actions. Martial artists strive to understand and make this state of mind habitual though meditation - in the same way that the Jedi do. The best way to describe this state is that of a tornado - the outside of the tornado is chaotic, furious and powerful, yet the center is calm. So too is the Jedi's mind, even when there is chaos around it, it has a calm, uncompromising inner center. For the Jedi, this state of mind can also be referred to being "one with the Force."

4. There is no chaos, there is harmony.

Ah, harmony... something martial artists have been talking about for hundreds of years. Of course physical balance (harmony of the body) is part of this, but this we understand is an extension of the mental balance within the Jedi. If the mind is frantic, distracted or troubled, it is obvious in the physical stance and posture. Balance is often depicted as the "Yin/Yang" symbol in Chinese philosophy, in a similar way that the Jedi depict the force as "Light" and "Dark". It is a depiction of opposites: hard and soft, left and right, up and down, inner and outer. More importantly (again, for our current purposes) is that these opposites are in a state of constant CHANGE. Hard WILL BECOME soft, and soft WILL BECOME hard. The longer something remains at one extreme, the closer it comes to becoming its opposite. This is the natural law of the universe - when we work against it, we become weaker. When we work with it, we are able to cultivate more power and energy to accomplish our goals.

Water for example is soft, yet given time will erode the hardest stone. In the same way, if we try to get stronger by overworking our minds and bodies, we will end up insured, over-stressed and weaker. Understanding the natural law of balance is essential.

An old Buddhist fable goes that three monks one day walked down to the river for some water. This particular area of the river had fast and unforgiving currents, and was well known as an area where people who have fallen in had drowned. As they arrived, they noticed an old man on the opposite bank slip and fall into the water. Frantically they raced about calling to the old man and trying somehow to help, seeing his head bob up to the surface just before quickly being drawn back down. After what seemed like a hopeless time, they began to mourn the loss of another life to the unforgiving river.

Suddenly, farther down the river, one of the monks spotted the old man walking out of the river laughing to himself at the folly of it all. Racing over to him, they found he was in fine health, if a bit embarrassed at having slipped into the river.

"How is it," the monks asked, " that you have survived these rapids, when so many others, many far stronger than you, have lost their lives here?"

"Simple," replied the old man. "When the current brought me to the surface, I took a deep breath. When it pulled me down, I didn't fight it, I just held my breath and waited for the current to bring me to the surface again."

At first, this interpretation does not seem to jive well with the depiction of the conflict we see between the Jedi and the Sith, but I disagree. Remember the second tenant, we must seek knowledge over ignorance, especially within ourselves. The Sith are examples of warriors who have forgotten this, and allow themselves to place power over wisdom, while the Jedi, understanding the natural law of change, achieve balance of the Light and Dark forces that naturally exist within us all. This is what is means to walk the Path of the Light Side - it is walking in balance.

5. There is no death, there is the Force.

This is similar to the Samurai maxim to ``embrace death,`` since a return to the Force is still an end to a Jedi`s life as he or she currently knows it. In embracing death, in accepting the eventual end of his life, the Samurai lets go of any remaining fear that holds him back. At the same time, knowledge of one`s mortality heightens one`s appreciation of life, both one`s own and others.

This is also the ultimate expression of non-attachment, and accepting the knowledge that all things are transitory and impermanent. To remain attached to any person, place or thing is to open oneself up to suffering, fear, anger... and the Dark Side.

And yet, as the old saying goes, ``the more things change, the more they stay the same.`` When we accept change as inevitable, we realize that while friends, for example, may leave us, new ones will move forward to fill that void. Such is the way of the Force.

#jedi #meditation

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ryanmeft · 6 years ago

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The Favourite Movie Review

If you happen to suffer from Anglophilia, The Favourite may very well cure you of it. America’s obsession with everything British owes a lot to the fact that movies and TV have painted our overseas cousins as being upstanding, intelligent, and just a little above it all. If Brexit hasn’t killed off that impression for you, take a look at this movie: the court is petty, the most common language is insults, the royal helpers fight like bloodthirsty schoolgirls, and the Queen is mad. How delicious.

It’s the early 18th century, and there are a few issues surrounding the rule of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman); namely, that she’s battier than a thousand-year-old attic. Among her many lovable antics: telling off the servants for things she told them to do, being pushed around in a completely unnecessary wheelchair which she likes being rolled very fast in, falling on the floor and screaming, demanding royal courtesy be paid to an army of rabbits, deliberately making herself sick on sweets, and generally being so out to lunch she frequently forgets there’s a war on with France. In fairness to her, this is England, so remembering when there is and is not a war with France is a full-time job. My only serious regret about all of this is that, while having wheelchair races with herself, she at no point shouts “Vroom vroom”.

These days, we might have sympathy for such an unfortunate soul, but Queens then and now are not so much persons as objects of political desire. The Tory party, here identified only as the opposition, wants to end War With France Number 76b quickly, because the taxes needed for it are taking money out of the pockets of wealthy landowners and, as Tory leader Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult) sneeringly informs us, putting it in the hands of those darned merchants; one is reminded of the airline shareholders who griped that the employees were getting paid before they did. Anne’s primary confidant is Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz, and yes, she’s his ancestor), the Duchess of Marlborough. She wants the war, in which her husband (Mark Gatiss) is a leader, to be funded and fully supported. Just as you think she is the one of the two with the more honorable intentions, the movie corrects you: her support for her husband has more to do with the benefits of being married to a war hero than with any real affection. She is, in fact, shtupping the queen, something left in absolutely no doubt. This is a movie far more frank about sexuality and especially lesbianism than even most indie films dare to be. In that regard, it is incredibly forward thinking; at one point Anne is quite explicit about tongues and her preferred use for them. In other regards the movie’s attitude toward sex is less progressive but no less frank, as it is frequently used to attain power.

This fine arrangement is threatened by the arrival of Sarah’s cousin Abigail (Emma Stone) who has fallen on hard times after her father, from what I could gather, burned down both their house and himself. She initially becomes trusted by the Queen entirely by accident, in fact through the only unadulterated show of good Samaritanism in the entire movie. She will soon learn that in this place, no good deed goes unpunished. She evolves, if you can call it that, until she fits right in with the nearly murderous intrigues of royal life. Sarah pushes: she threatens her life, has her beaten, and attempts to humiliate, ruin and tear her down. Eventually, Abigail will become the better fighter, even engineering a scenario that leaves Sarah rotting in a brothel while she moves to solidify her own position. Nor are Sarah and the Queen the only ones to be used or abused by her. The film goes as far as to subtly suggest she, unlike Sarah, is not even that into sex, as she pursues marriage to a randy nobleman (Joe Alwyn), then loses interest once she has him, and the royal benefits the marriage provides.

What to make of the ensuing battle of wills between the deteriorating Queen, her bickering fixers, and the Parliament? I’ll tell you what not to make of it: the idea that this movie has a feminist viewpoint. It seems that way initially, with both nominal and real power in the hands of a woman. One of the founding, most cherished myths of the movement, though, is that the world would be an inherently better place if women grasped the shorthairs of power. It’s impossible to say if that would be true. What I can say is that the screenplay, written twenty years ago by historian Deborah Davis and “freshened up” more recently by Tony McNamara, practically dies laughing at the idea. It will be tempting for those who want to see Sarah and Abigail in a certain light to say they are only responding to the viciousness of the world they live in, but they voluntarily go far, far beyond any schemes cooked up by the pompous, white-wigged men of the government. The simple truth an attentive viewer might notice early on is that it really, truly would have been possible for the two women to come to some agreement. The other simple truth is that neither wanted to; both wanted to win at the expense of the other. It is not that the men are spared---they are variously pompous, corrupt, callous, or incompetent. It is that power in film is usually shown as mostly corrupting or being corrupted by men, and here women are equally as eager to get in on the game. Sarah’s complicity in this is the most tragic, as it’s clear she really does care about the Queen; yes, at no point does she actually stop trying to manipulate her. No one is spared: even the scullery maids are needlessly cruel.

The main triangle that comprises the heart of the drama is infused with three of the most gripping performances you’ll see at the movies. The irony of Rachel Weisz having her big breakthrough as the nerdy, shy girlfriend of then-more famous Brendan Fraser in The Mummy is strong; she’s since gone on to be the more dominant actor, and it isn’t close. She has one of those mannerisms that can control a room; later, when her more subtle ways of squeezing the Queen have begun to falter in the face of Abigail’s tactics, she gets more forceful, and such is Weisz’s presence that we are shocked when it doesn’t work. Stone’s big hit role in Zombieland was more hard-bitten, but she too would need meatier roles to display what she can really do, and here gets her best to date. She starts out truly just wanting a second chance after going through a hellish youth and being dumped into another bad situation. Eventually, those who would push her to be horrible learn a lesson, as she can be far more vicious than they ever intended.

Somehow, Colman’s Anne is constantly on the verge of sheer, out-in-the-yard-barking-at-the-moon lunacy, yet never devolves to the level of parody, and maintaining her insanity while also not becoming a Jack Sparrow-esque joke must have been among the more demanding things asked of an actor. Most of the water cooler talk centers around the more widely recognized Stone and Weisz, but Colman needs to be both stark raving mad and entirely sympathetic or the movie falls apart; we need to believe this is a person two intelligent, driven, vivacious women would be willing to get in the mud for, even as they manipulate her to their own ends. This is one of the few cases where we can safely impose modern ethics on the past. Anne is mentally ill, and should have been cared for, but there was no chance of that ever happening.

The world her court inhabits has been recreated by director Yorgos Lanthimos, working for the first time since before his critically acclaimed Dogtooth with someone else’s script, as a place that lacks the sumptuousness with which English finery, English dress, English buildings and English everything else are usually treated in American cinema. That’s probably because Lanthimos is Greek, and whereas Britain to us is the ideal parent---upright and mature yet far enough way that we don’t need to call that often---to him it may be just another country in Europe. The halls of St. James’s Palace (My best guess; the film never says) are not particularly ornate or beautiful, or at least they are not portrayed that way. Robbie Ryan chooses to shoot many scenes in near darkness, with candlelight, and the result is that much of the palace appears gloomy, close and not especially grand or even inviting; there is one moment in which Sarah speaks through a door whose other side is hidden by a tapestry when we could well believe the house as a setting for a ghost story. Nor are the actresses spared the visual signs of moral decay. Though the costume department drapes them in every bit of finery you expect from pompous royals, both competing women are literally drug through the mud, and Anne shows little care for her personal hygiene. We are reminded that this was a dirty world in more ways than one, and whatever glamorous ideas we might have of the past are shot out from under us. Like the highly underrated Marie Antoinette, almost the entire movie takes place within the cloistered walls of the royal residence; I doubt most of those involved in the drama ever spare a look for an actual citizen of the crown.

Lanthimos’s last film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, inspired strong feelings in me. Specifically, it inspired the desire to beat it with a stick. I am morally opposed to films that seek to prove how much smarter they are than the audience. Similar to his more popularly received film The Lobster, The Favourite is quite intelligent in the way it approaches its themes: power, political games, and the puncturing of the myths we build for ourselves surrounding both royalty and the romance of the past. It ascends to greatness because it never once alienates the audience in order to say these things. Just leave your fantasies of ladies and gentlemen in flower at home; those guys aren’t in this movie.

Verdict: Must-See

Note: I don’t use stars, but here are my possible verdicts.

Must-See

Highly Recommended

Recommended

Average

Not Recommended

Avoid like the Plague

You can follow Ryan's reviews on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/ryanmeftmovies/

Or his tweets here:

https://twitter.com/RyanmEft

All images are property of the people what own the movie.

#emma stone #rachel weisz #the favourite #england #movies #olivia colman #joe alwyn #nicholas hoult #mark gatiss #yorgos lanthimos #winston churchill #britain #brendan fraser #france #the mummy #zombieland #robbie ryan #deborah davis #tony mcnamara

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theparaminds · 6 years ago

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It’s not as though Natalie Green knew what this year held in store or what would exist at the end of the road. Though, at every step of the way, he kept going. Embodied in both his music and his story of perseverance, is a rare example of an artistic soul that found peace where few would ever dream to look. It took months of learning and continued questioning of himself and what he wanted to be. But in the end, it resulted in a man anew.

With a new project taking shape in studio sessions that contrast his earlier life, Natalie Green is finding a voice he previously was nervous to share, speaking louder than before. The ideas, memoirs and anxieties he hopes to express have become clear. With every note, he continually finds himself as much as he does connect to those who battle the same confusions.

Natalie Green now stands with a new asset he hadn’t held prior, the ability to embark on the path he wants, not the one life throws him upon. He can stand and become the artist he visualizes, the artist he knows is essential to reveal to the world. For the first time in a while, Natalie Green is in control, with a steering wheel in hand and a road of possibility on the horizon.

Our first question as always, how’s your day going and how are you?

Things have been hectic, but good. Good busy you know? There are different kinds of busy and this one has been all positive.

On your last EP last year, it sounded like you weren’t fully at peace, do you find that you are now after a year of personal introspection?

Yeah for sure, when I was writing the EP, I was in a really terrible place physically, emotionally and mentally. It was a passion project when it came out, I didn’t have to think about it. Whereas now, I’ve got a place, I’m not just in my car anymore, I emotionally feel a lot more centered, I have my head on straight. I’ve found friends and people that I love to surround myself with. Everything’s been a thousand times better.

When you’re looking within this shift you’ve undertaken, where do you think you’ve personally grown the most, whether artistically or as an individual?

I think I’ve gotten more empathetic towards people. All people. As well, I feel more self-aware. What I realized when living in my car was that I didn’t know myself. Living in a house again with roommates made me, in a new way, learn more about myself, and where I needed to spend a lot of time mentally. As far as musically, I feel more confident, I think that’s apparent in my vocals and instrumentation, they’re far more personal in that sense.

With the new year in season, being a time of reflecting upon the past year, do you have any memories that stick out to you as positive through the difficult and turbulent times?

There’s a lot. I don’t know if there’s one specific moment, but definitely moving into the apartment. I also got to play a private show in my friend’s backyard for all my close friends. That was a big moment for me. There’s a lot of moments where I had friends reassure me, and believe in me when I wasn’t doing so myself. One of my best friends from back home came to live here a little while ago, that was really special to have him back. The whole tour with Roy, of course, was inspiring, to see him do all that and becoming closer to everyone I went on tour with will forever be in my memories.

With that tour, and even more so working on Cat Heaven, happening while you were working on your own projects, did they influence the way you approached your new work?

There are certain things I learn from other people I can implement in my own music later. There will be something I’ll figure out while I’m working with someone, be it a sound or a new style, I can kinda pull out later. A lot of it is just talking to others and learning their inspirations and how that reflects in their music. Then turning and comparing that to my own influences and seeing how I do the same. It’s all just inspiration.

To touch on that idea of inspiration, you’ve mentioned in the past how you have a wide range on influences in your life in terms on music, but in the last year, which artists have really been influencing the work you’re putting out?

There’s been a lot of really great artists I just got into this past year-ish, but a big one is Michelle Zauner, who’s the singer for Japanese Breakfast. I’m hugely inspired by her, the fact she directs her own music videos and does all her own creative output, it’s really amazing. I’ve also loved the movies of Michel Gondry and the writing of Charlie Kaufman, anything they work on is amazing and so intoxicating.

With this new album you’re ramping up to release, has there been a difference in approach to how you wrote songs and lyrics? And how does that process look like?

I mean it’s been different for almost every song, I tried to do the album the same way I did the EP, and it wasn’t working right. Every song I wrote just felt lacklustre or the same. So to change it up, I had to change my methods, like the first song I wrote, I did two guitar parts first and then I sang, then produced over. That is very different to the EP which was songs first then lyrics. There are certain songs where before I recorded, I had a guitar riff and just wrote the song in a very traditional way, just chords and singing. Maybe loops would be first at times, and then they’d be built off of. Everything has been different.

It’s interesting because it sounds like you’ve really been adding more to your skill set as an artist, would you say that if you had a tool belt of music, that you’ve been adding towards it in the last while?

Yeah, definitely. I’ve been doing that my whole life honestly. I started in bands, not knowing how to produce or anything, but I could play guitar and from then I learned the bass just to add of that. Then I learned production, and that is forever useful. Now I’m working more to be an artist and learn what that entails and requires. Every time I learn something new I really take that and hold onto it until needed.

If you could create your ideal music creation space, where would it be and how would it look like?

That’s interesting, It would really just need to be a secluded place. A place I could disappear and a place I could be as loud as I want as late as I want. No interruptions, all the equipment I needed. Some food, drinks and a bathroom, that’s all I need.

Over the year you’ve posted some concerts you went to, like Paramore in the summer. Are there other shows you saw live that really had an impact upon you and maybe changed the way you approach live shows yourself?

Well, of course, the tour with Roy, he’s been super inspiring in general and watching the man work is amazing. He has a lot of fantastic ideas and he goes through with them. I saw Daisy as well, and they’re so good live. Solange was also amazing with her stage design and her choreography. I also saw Soccer Mommy pretty recently, and it wasn’t too extravagant but it was so well done and exciting to see as a fan of the music.

When you’re on stage, even something like the backyard show you mentioned earlier, what’s the emotion you’re trying to achieve and what is the mindset that you find yourself within at that moment?

When I played that private show, I realized all my songs were pretty mellow and hard to dance or move to. All except for Beachwood didn’t translate very well. So with this new project, I want them to translate really well live, to feel energetic, to feel lively. The songs are just fun. But I keep that emotion in and make sure that I don’t lose what made the earlier work so special and important.

What’s been the overall message you’re trying to pursue this new work and what is it you’re hoping to convey?

I kinda just want to tell my story. Or a story of mine. If people learn things from that, its great, but I’m just saying what happened in my experience. What I realized is that there’s a lot of shitty things that happened to me in my life, but the truth is that things could be a lot worse, so far they’ve been pretty good for the most part. While I had those tough days, I’m still here kicking it.

I apologize if it’s a repeated question, but with the topic of your story, what’s the meaning behind the stage name you’ve taken upon yourself?

It is and it isn’t part of my story in a way. A big part of that choice was that I wanted to separate myself from my old name and work. I wanted this to be super new. The name is taken from two names of people I am very inspired by. And it also, to me, sounds like the quintessential hot girl from a high school, the girl in the coming of age movie they all go after.

If you had a message to artists out there who may find themselves in the same space as you have previously found yourself within, those who may feel as unsure, what would be your lesson to pass on?

I think it doesn’t matter if you’re as confident or as talented as you want to be, as long as you recognize what sounds good to you, just put out the song. It doesn’t matter if you think your voice was bad, just keep progressing as an artist. If you wait for that progression you’ll never put stuff out, you’ll never be happy. With whatever you have right now, just start putting something, anything, out.

Follow Natalie Green on Twitter and Instagram

Listen on Soundcloud and Spotify

All Photos by Guthrie King

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sunnysidewrites · 7 years ago

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Best Friends to Lovers!Seokmin

HAHAHA THAT’S RIGHT FOLKS!!!!!! I PULLED THIS SHIZ ON YALL!!!1!11!! this is part 2 of seokmin’s bday present. and yes i know im over a month late leAVE ME ALONE!! THIS IS THE FIRST BULLETPOINT AU OF 2018!!! AND YES ITS AT THE END OF MARCH!!! FORGIVE ME CHILDREN!!!! i had SOOOO much fun writing this but maybe a bit too much bc i think i went overboard,,, but i cant help it that he needs so much love!!!

this is THE. LONGEST. BULLETPOINT. AU. I’VE. EVER. WRITTEN. it has definitely surpassed assassin!cheol pt 2 by a long shot and im a little concerned honestly bc i go OFF whenever i talk about my biases, especially the underrated ones. (wonwoo, you’ll get your turn one day wait for me bby)

happy bday to my sunshine pt 2. i love you so much that words will never be able to express it, even as a writer who writes as a hobby and has to Put Things Into Words. you’ve been such an amazing influence not only on the members, but also on carats and other diverse fans. i’ve always believed the saying that the brightest smiles hold the most pain, and i may not know all of your struggles, but i know how much you have to hide behind this idol front. we love you unconditionally, so please keep shining for us. also allow yourself to be sad and other negative emotions, but there must be darkness in order for the light to be appreciated, right? thank you for being the ball of sunshine we so deeply love. 💕💕💕

warnings: might give you diabetes on how soft and sweet i was feelin!!! as a double bias, it is hard to give everyone equal love so this is the 1 time i could fully dive into it!! also seokmin is a flirty and jealous drink sipper

Part 1: Be There In Spirt

Seokmin was your go-to for anything and everything

Whether it was to find a movie buddy or seeking advice, he was always there

You first met him at some social event your friend dragged you to

“So you can talk to more people!” Your friend would respond when you asked why

You really didn’t care much, if at all, for parties unless someone you’re acquaintanced with was also there

Your friend was too occupied with other people, so you just grabbed some food and juice and settled yourself in the kitchen

Someone entered the door and you could hear the volume of his muffled voice even from the other side of the door before he entered

You were just chilling at the countertop with your back to him and munching on your tortilla chips with salsa that you didn’t care who entered

He noticed that you were the only one there and you were eating and occasionally sighing mood tho

As he was opening his soda, he asked you pointedly, “is the food good, at least?”

You were startled and slightly jumped at the sudden sound of someone’s voice

You turned around to be greeted with the goofiest yet brightest smile

Is it possible to see that bright of a smile or one at all when someone’s drinking? Bc he definitely made it work

You just finished swallowing your food and merely brushed your hands and shrugged, “it’s pretty bland like this party,” which earned a heart laugh from the boy

“You got dragged here, too?” You nodded and cracked a smile. “What, was the whole antisocial ‘take refuge in food’ act a dead giveaway?”

He smiled and lightly chuckled, “that, and how you were muttering about getting dragged here as you munched on your chips,” he gestured to your now empty plate

“Hey, correction — I said that I was brought here against my will”

“Like that’s such a big difference,” he says with a smile on his lips as he finishes up his soda

“And it’s not every day that I meet a cool, tortilla-chip-eating person at a social, but maybe I would let myself get dragged out more often”

You kinda stared back at him and slowly blinked bc like

Was that a hint of flirtation in his tone or were you just that self-centered?

Maybe best of both worlds

You raised an eyebrow at him, “you want to see a loner at the snack table?”

“It’s easier to approach you or anyone like this, isn’t it?” He flashes another one of his infamous pearly grins and reaches in your bowl to steal a chip and pops it in his mouth

You jokingly say, “Oh, you think we’re friends now?”

He laughs throatily and puts his hands up in defense

“I think we’re past the stage of bonding over stale chips and salsa at this point”

And you’re cut off shortly when his rowdy group of friends interrupts the friendly banter y’all had rip :(((

Those darn cockblockers

“I’ll see you around, Tostitos,” he throws in a wink and gives you a short wave as he backs away from the door and leaves you as quickly as he entered

You shake your head and look at the sad, crinkled bag of chips and salsa

“Did he just nickname me after a brand of this stale party food??????”

What an iconic first impression tbh bless

Ever since then he would have this weird nickname system of naming you after foods you would eat to make fun of you or just joke around

“Cheer up, cheese puff!” ok this actually sounds kinda cute and now I’m soft :’(((

“Be there or be square, you pretzel”

You: “that didn’t even make any sense”

“Don’t be salty” ba dum tss

“Can you help me out, (peanut) butter cup?”

“Whatever you say, nerd...s”

“Okay you’re not getting any of my other candy then, seok”

He’s the only one out of your friend group — actually just everyone in general — to yell directly into your ear as a greeting

He calls it “cute”………………….. ok seok

But it’s ok bc he gives out the best hugs

Or maybe it’s just the best to you heheh ;)))

Invented!! Bear!! Hugs!!

The best ones that crush your lungs and you can barely wheeze out a breath

Your ideal hang out session with him involves screaming at the top of your lungs while playing Mario Kart and having a whole junk food feast sprawled out on the coffee table

“bRO YOU MADE ME SWERVE”

“GET OUT YOU’RE IN MY WAY”

Bonus: the chips and candy are also sometimes used to pelt at each other

It’s honestly more of a damn jungle when y’all are together it’s amazing LMAO

The type to crash at your place unannounced whenever he wants

You would open the door and he would just stroll in and look through your fridge like he’s lived there all his life

“WHY are you going through my fridge??? You need to go home, I have things to do today”

“Eh, we can just work alongside together—you’re running low on juice”

“Imma juice you boi if you don’t leAVE”

Your friend group most likely carries a pair of earplugs whenever you’re together

But underneath their rolling of eyes, they lowkey highkey ship the hell outta y’all

They even sometimes drop gigantic hints for you to get together but,,, things don’t exactly go their way

“Hey, Seokmin, my parents are having a barbecue this weekend. Maybe bring a plus one? Like uhhhhhh Y/N?” Real subtle

And he’d be like “what, Y/N??? Why would we need a plus one??? Aren’t we all going together anyways?”

The same thing happens on your end too smh

“My cousin is having a birthday party, you wanna come with? You can bring a date or whatever, probably Seokmin or something”

“Seok??? He would probably burn the place down HAHA but ya I guess I can bring him *shrug*”

And every time, both of you would ask: “but why (that other person)??? I can bring (insert another random member)”

GET A CLUE BABES!!! OH MY LORD

And they would just shake their head like sigh look at these naive kids

Mingyu: so are we just gonna let them be dumb like this orrrr????

Cheol: yeah let’s just leave them alone — nO THEY DON'T SEE HOW PERFECT THEY ARE TOGETHER WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING I’m with u on that one cheols

So this is the O Great Seungcheol’s plan: make each other jealous without knowing y’all would get jealous

A foolproof plan, amiright folks????

And what other cliche perfect way to do that than a WEDDING

it just so happens that Seokmin’s aunt is conveniently getting married and he’s inviting the whole crew

And the guys are like mwHAHAHA THIS IS PERFECT

Everyone’s talking about who’s bringing who as a date and things like that and you’re just chilling and scrolling on your phone

And everyone’s making eyes at each other without you knowing bc they’re like ok y’all time to initiate I Still Get Jealous Plan

“how about you, Y/N? who are you taking?”

And Seokmin subconsciously wants to know too bc he’s tuning in with the rest of them LOL

And you don’t even bother looking up at your screen bc that’s how indifferent you are to this whole thing

“I don’t really care, I guess anyone who doesn’t have a date or something”

Seokmin is about to open his mouth and ask you since that’s your usual thing

BUT SHOCKER!! SOMEONE BEATS HIM TO IT!!

“How about going with me? I don’t have anyone”

And you expected Seokmin to say those words, but you look up and see Jeonghan smile at you

THE LOOK OF B E TR A YA L ON SEOKS FACE DID THE TEMPERATURE JUST DROP BC IT IS C O L D IN HERE

Admittedly, you feel a little odd going with someone who’s your best friend and go-to for everything but hannie is your friend, so you don’t mind too much

So you’re like “o-oh sure that works”

And you steal a glance at seok but he has an unreadable expression and is smiling like usual

And for some reason you feel your chest drop just the slightest bit bc you thought he would at least fight for you a little bit and say something like

“heY HEY Y/N IS MY GO-TO FOR THESE THINGS”

But he doesn’t at all,,, and his lips looked a little strained when he smiled

and jeonghan is looking all slyly at seok bc he knows just a minute ago he could feel the back of his head being burned off by Seokmin’s glare

The convo picks up from where it previously left off and things are back to normal but the atmosphere is a little heavy

The day of the wedding comes and you’re about to finish dressing up

You’re waiting for half of them to pick you and meeting the other half at the venue

And ofc, in this half includes seok and jeonghan yikes

You hear your doorbell ring, and you’re like oh they’re here!! You say bye to your parents and put on your coat and shoes

When you open the door, you find yourself in front of Jeonghan and he’s like holy crAP

He’s awestruck and is looking at you like :OOOOO

“Jeonghan! Uhhh,,,, do I look weird???”

And he snaps out of it and is violently shaking his head like nO NO N O ofc not you look amazing

And you’re like heck yea I do I spent time looking this good :)))) (you don’t actually say this but it’s a thought)

and you get a funny feeling in your stomach and you realize you’re anticipating what Seokmin would think

If you got a good response from your “date,” surely your best friend would say smth good too??? Right??? That’s how this works???

Little did you know Seokmin (and everyone else) witnessed what happened and they’re like oMG Y/N LOOKS GOOD

Seokmin couldn't help but feel it should be him in Jeonghan’s shoes but he couldn’t refute the fact that you did indeed look like a million bucks

As you get in the car you lock eyes with him and you’re like hey Seokmin!!!

But you’re instantly b l o w n away by how CRISP HE LOOKS

His brown hair that’s usually sitting down and hides his forehead is now slicked back but in a way that still stands up and exposes more of his forehead and outlines his masculine face shape

His sharp suit perfectly fits on his toned body and you’re fully convinced you’re looking at an angel

YALL KNOW WHAT LOOK IM TALKING ABOUT. YOU KNOW.

You have to actually hold back a squeak bc you’re shook af

And he’s dying bc of how cute you are and wow are his palms sweaty???

You end up sitting in the middle of him and jeonghan and you’re just sitting happily and waiting to see what kinda food is at the wedding lmAO

but the real meal here is you eh??? Eh??? ;))))

Seokmin seems a little nervous and tense sitting next to you looking that good like he’s actually a little intimidated

You’re waiting for him to speak up and he’s clearing his throat and stammering a little bit

“Y-you look really nice, Y/N”

And you’re like ahahahhahhdgdhhhcjdbdhhd

“Thanks, seok, you clean up really nicely too”

And both of you can’t look each other in the eyes bc you’re gonna actually combust if you do

And everyone in the car is looking at each other like hehehhehehehh it’s workinggggg

When y’all finally arrive at the venue, you get out of the van with the help of Jeonghan’s hand

Seokmin: conceal don’t feel :))) channel your inner Elsa man :))))

And jeonghan is glancing back at Seokmin every so often to test him

And Seokmin is starting to catch on like ,,,, why is hannie always looking at me

He tests him even more when he casually holds your shoulder and drapes his arm around you

And Seokmin is like !!! ELSA WHERE ARE U

Jeonghan is being a little too touchy in seok’s eyes and Seok is silently fuming over the drinks

Soonyoung is like dude I can feel your dark energy all over my soup what’s up with you???

Seok is about to explode at this point and anything can set him off

“isn’t Jeonghan being just a little too touchy-feely with Y/N? That looks like borderline harassment. They’re not even dating!”

And soonyoung is silently laughing bc he’s like oh you fool lmao

“You sound a little too overprotective over your best friend. Well — if that’s really the reason why you are”

“Of course I’m just worried — dID YOU SEE THAT ARE THEY FEEDING EACH OTHER”

Soonyoung: u need help bro

“Steal a dance with her later” soonyoung says and seok is like uh what Im not gonna make a fool out of myself

All soonyoung does is shrug and winks and he goes back to eating

Soon enough the dancing portion begins and jeonghan takes you out to the dance floor

And it’s nice bc you’re just having pure fun and dancing goofy moves, not to mention Jeonghan is great company

But you’re a little disappointed you and seok weren’t able to talk and have fun the way y’all usually do

Jeonghan has sensed this the whole day and he says “I’ll be out of your hair soon enough”

You’re taken aback by his statement and you’re like “what no you were really fun to be around tonight!!”

And he laughs and ruffles your hair like “no need to cover it up. I knew this would provoke him” and you both look across the room where seokmin is standing alone, sipping on his drink as he pretends he wasn’t just looking at you dancing for the past ten minutes

The upbeat song transitions to a slower song and jeonghan pats you on the shoulder

“Here’s lover boy’s cue ;)))” and he bends down to your ear and whispers

“But I could stay here longer and mess around with him a little longer”

You push him away laughing and say “let’s not torture the poor guy any more than you already have”

Both of you are laughing and SURPRISE SEOKMIN APPEARS

and he claps his hand on hannie’s shoulder and says “May I?”

And jeonghan nods and looks between the both of you and is all ;)) have fun kiddos and winks at you right before he leaves

And now there were only 2

You didn’t realize you would be so nervous until your heartbeat nearly spiked up when he came into contact with you

DHHDHDJDJ SORRY IM FREAKING OUT WRITING THIS WOWIEURJ SCREAMS

It’s good I’m good we’re good this is good

His cheeks are tinted pink as he attempts but fails to make eye contact with you once again

He gently takes your hands and places them around his neck and then places his own around your waist

It’s only at this moment that you’re able to make proper eye contact for possibly the first time that entire day

You’re slowly moving to match the slow tempo and you can feel your face getting hotter in the heat of the moment

It stays intimate and silent for a few moments before the both of you try to break the silence

“Umm,,” “So,,,”

Androgen you laugh at how awkward you’re both getting

“This is probably the first time we’re not screaming for the whole area to hear”

He chuckles and nods slowly

“I think my breath is just taken away” he says so softly that the music could have drowned his voice out if it weren’t for the close proximity of you and him

and you’re like ??? By what??? Are you feeling ok??

“By you”

And you’re like bLUUUSSSSHHHing big time

“A-ah, stop it, I only tried to look a little more presentable today,,,,”

Jeonghan somewhere in the distance: that’s not what you told me this morning!!

“You always look beautiful no matter what”

And now you’re at a complete loss of words bc well how do you respond to your best friend who’s shooting compliments one after the other so easily????

You’re desperately trying not to melt into a puddle in his arms but it’s a little hard

“You’re charming as always, Lee” and he’s like ;)) ofc ofc

“You’re a good-looking fellow yourself, not just me. Have you seen the girls who were drooling over you today??”

He blankly blinks at you and shakes his head

“Well, I didn’t notice actually. All of my eyes were on you tonight,,,,,”

FUCUEHEYDH IM SCREWMJRN IM SC REA MIN F

You’re a full fledged tomato by now and you’re trying to bury your face in his chest so that you could save face from this horrid embarrassment

“Okay, tone it down, Seok,,,, I cant handle all of this complimenting for a night”

He laughs and pulls you closer to his chest, his grip on your waist a little more secure

“I don’t know where this is all coming from either, but now that it is, I might as well say it all”

“What was that drink earlier???”

“I swear I’m 100% sober rn ask soonyoung!! Anyways, I didn’t think much of anything when I first met you honestly, but looking back at it, I think there was already some bit of attraction since then”

“You liked me when I was eating chips and salsa??? Really???” You look up at him incredulously

“It may not be the most flattering moment, but it was cute how you were hunched over your bowl LOL”

You: lemme just DIE

“If Jeonghan weren’t your date today, I’m not sure if I would have ever realized this. Maybe at some point, but at a much later time. I think it would have consumed me anyways”

He notices you’ve gone quiet and he’s like oh lord what if I messed up omgofkfkkf

“So,,,, yeah,,, i get it if you don’t feel the same way,,, I don’t wanna make things weird if you’re uncomfortable knowing this,,, but it was made crystal clear tonight that I really like you more than a best friend. I think I always have”

And you’re breaking out into giggles bc you realize how dumb you’ve both been

And he’s like !!!???!!!! why are you laughing omg I’ve done it you think I’ve gone mad

“tbh Seokmin I was disappointed that you weren’t my date since you usually would fight the members if they asked me”

“I kinda thought maybe I’ve been forcing you to do it too much with me?? and the other guys and you can do whatever you want”

“Seokmin, we’re best friends i would have picked you in a heartbeat”

And he’s like skdjjdjh is it suddenly hot in here it’s just you ;)))

“But as for the feelings…… it is weird”

He’s like oh :((,,, yeah I knew it would be kinda weird—

“—that we’ve liked each other all this time and it took us this long to realize it through some dumb wedding date thing”

And his face immediately lights up and you’re about to clutch your heart by how pure he is :’))))

He almost blinds you with his smile and he pulls you in so that your slow dancing position turns into a hug and he’s giggling into your hair and is spinning you around

*INHALES DEEPLY* MY GOD SOMEONE PROTECT THIS PURE BUN IM GONNA CRY I LOVE HIM SM

You can't help but giggle with him since his laugh is so infectious and you’re both a bubbly giggling mess my lord I think I just got diabetes

Poor baby was deathly scared you were gonna reject him but he’s so relieved you didn’t!!! :’))))!!!!!!

He slowly pulls apart from the hug and you’re both looking at each other hesitantly, bashfully

and In The Moment all you’re thinking about is how warm and how right it feels to be in his arms

You’re both still in your hugging position, his arms wrapped around your upper back/shoulders and your arms around his torso

You’re a little out of breath because of all the laughing and spinning, and both his and your eyes flicker to the other’s lips

You’re not sure who leaned in first but the next thing you know, your faces are only centimeters apart, his hand on your cheek

And then you feel something warm and soft on your lips

Holy hELL, am I really kissing Seokmin???!!! You’re silently freaking out and it’s just like

Your brain: ⁉️⁉️‼️‼️⚠️⚠️⚠️

You can feel his smile against your lips as he lightly tugs you closer to him and engulfs you in his embrace

But your mind gets fuzzier with every passing second so you let yourself enjoy the moment

Until you hear distant cheering in the back

“yyyYYYEESSS WE DID IT BOYS FREAKING FI NA L L Y”

You and Seokmin pull away and look back like wtf is happening

Sure enough, the other 12 guys are whooping and cheering and you would have thought it was your own wedding

,,,,refer to husband!seokmin

Seokmin’s just like “wait y’all planned this???”

Jeonghan: ya it was so fun teasing you this past week lmao you’re welcome tho :))))

Seokmin: I’m gonna eat your share of ice cream for the next month :))))

And everyone’s just like “y’all literally took years to realize this you should thank us uhhh”

Seokmin’s about to open his mouth to spout out some more objections but you tiptoe to peck him on the lips to make him shut up

“eeeEW UGHH nvm I already regret doing this”

“Seungcheol I will eat your share of ice cream too”

On the ride back home, you’re both comfortably leaning on each other, your head on his chest and his on top of yours

You’re so worn out that you sleep the whole way back home

Bonus: the guys in the car are giggling softly and take secret pics

Extra bonus: they taunt you both and use it as blackmail but in reality they’re jealous and want you to use it as your phone wallpaper

Extra extra bonus: he gives you a goodnight kiss at the front of your door and the guys scream in disgust and hurry him to return home :’)))))

ICONIC COUPLE OF THE FREAKIFN CENTURY OH NY GODHD!!!!! I LOV!!!!! MY PURE CINNAMON ROLLS!!!!!

#write-svt #seventeen #seventeen seokmin #seventeen dk #seokmin #dk #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #seventeen headcanons #seventeen au #seokmin imagines #seokmin scenarios #seokmin headcanons #seokmin au #dk imagines #dk scenarios #dk headcanons #dk au #my post

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sofiadragon · 2 years ago

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As someone who goes hard for death of the Author I need to add one huge fact that puts an enormous thumb on the scale:

In the movie, there are no civil rights violations mentioned. That's just in the wiki. They only talk about Avengers missions and the fact that with SHIELD gone the Avengers are a fully independent vigilante group that doesn't answer to anyone [and especially not any part of the US Government according to CAWS.]

This is key for me. If all the stuff in the wiki was what was on the papers given to Steve Rogers then I would be team Cap. The ankle monitors, being treated like walking WMDs instead of people... it is clearly over the line. The problem is that in the movie the only issue anyone really talks about is this:

Is it OK for the Avengers to cross international borders with no approval from local authorities and perform vigilante justice with no oversight?

Well, no. If your initial reaction isn't no, then take the Avengers out of it and substitute any random gang that protects their territory and see if you feel the same way. Lots of gangs the world over protect their own - if you live there, if you follow their rules, then no other force is going to come in and do anything to you from the police on down to rival gangs or freelance crooks. If somebody vandalized a local church /temple /community center then the gang might go out of their way to beat the crap out of them and nobody in the entire neighborhood would have seen it happen in broad daylight in clear view of 7 apartment buildings.

Spiderman, Daredevil, and similar small-time heroes are absolutely analogous to the best parts of these gangs - idealized versions because they don't fund their exploits by collecting insurance money or selling drugs or do anything else unsavory other than beat up people - who are highly likely guilty of some crime that we don't punish with physical violence anymore and may well be let off on the technicality of having been a victim of vigilante justice.

That's vigilante justice in the real world. The MCU phases 1-3 were much, much more grounded than the comics - less zany and more realistic. So we don't have a world like the comics with enhanced criminals popping up right, left, and center. They are very rare, if only because the inhumans and anyone like them have been in hiding or nearly killed off due to shield/hydra hunting them for so long. Phase 4 seems to be leaving that behind, for good or I'll, but CACW was very much grounded in real world situations.

If you only watched the movie, the main reason why the Accords are bad is that the counter- terrorist swat team went in guns blazing against James Buchanan Barnes and opened with a lethal grenade instead of a flashbang. "The Accords were going to kill an innocent man!" Well, that's just the state of law enforcement. Going up against a known serial killer or a seasoned assasin? Lethal force will be authorized. Should it be the first option? No, I'd prefer not, but I'm pretty anti-gun for a military spouce raised between a sheepfold and an orchard. Well trained officers of the law should start at a reasonable level based on the threat they expect and escalate when necessary. I'd say they should probably have used a flash bang, but this squad chose to go in with lethal force because the Winter Soldier merited that threat level by their assessment. Nobody knew Zemo existed at that stage and law enforcement isn't omniscient. Even the superheroes make big mistakes in the MCU.

Also, are baseline human anti-terrorist squads affected by the freshly ratified Accords? Most UN resolutions have a period of time between being made and taking effect. Since this didn't happen in the USA, that squad wasn't working for Ross or the CIA like Carter. Even the wiki seemed vague on that, but the movie doesn't say anything at all about the lethal force being out of line for taking down the Winter freaking Soldier.

It does imply that Rogers and Romanoff said beep about Bucky to anyone since the events of CATWS, which means these people are 100% expecting to go up against a fully operational Hydra assasin with no mercy or humanity.

One final point, because I saw a post today and it made me want to scream: If people are going to give Cap a pass on the extremely risky and selfish move he makes at the end of Endgame because "that's the writers fault, not Caps fault, you can't say he values his personal relationships over the lives of huge numbers of innocent people" then I have to apply the same pass to Tony. He's all about transparency and accountability and wouldn't be down for any of the stuff in the wiki based on his characterization in IM 1 and 2. He certainly wouldn't let his Iron Man tech be used by the government, so he wouldn't accept the Accords if he would be forced to fight against his will by them.

Let’s talk Civil War.

(Ik. It’s been years. I’m sorry. I’m stuck in the past.)

Other than the fact that Tony’s side of the Accords is the non-contested accepted correct side in the entire fucking world except the USA (seriously, the entire world is telling you you’re wrong and you still insist otherwise? Maybe y’all’s really do belong on Team Cap), let’s dissect every Team Cap fan’s POV and rebut them.

1. The government should not impose on powered people’s freedoms.

Aside from the fact that this shows a fairly concerning blatant ignorance of the United Nations and all forms of international government, I can name on one hand the number of countries where “freedom” is portrayed as it is in the USA. Do you know what the stance on freedom is in the rest of the world? Your personal freedom ends at the safety of the community. (This is especially interesting during COVID and the vaccine and masking) Your life is your own, do whatever shit you want to do. No one gives a fuck if you want to eat ham or turkey for dinner. But when your “personal freedom” starts putting other’s lives at risk, it’s a fucking problem. It’s not “personal freedom” when you’re marching into a school wearing bombs. It’s not “personal freedom” when you start carrying a machine gun and threatening anyone you think is wrong. That is effectively what most of the Avengers are. They’re walking around with weapons and threatening anyone that doesn’t agree with them. And if you can’t see why that’s problematic, I don’t trust you.

2. The Government should not monitor individuals.

All governments monitor individuals and if you think otherwise, then I’m sorry but what fantasy world are you living in? Governments monitoring individuals is, usually, what leads to them catching terrorists before they blow up your local gas station or school. Governments monitoring individuals is an everyday occurrence in the entire fucking world and for due reason when people start threatening to murder world leaders or hate crime minorities. The Avengers getting monitored by the government is no different than any other civilian but for the crucial factor that the Avengers can and have acted on their threats based on personal disagreements.

3. The Government is corrupt.

This again just shows a blatant ignorance of international law and the United Nations, and, frankly, entitlement. The Accords were never going to give the United States government complete control over the Avengers when the initial problem was that US citizens were parading around with their weapons without any regard to international concerns. Further, even if any government is corrupt the way Hydra infiltrated the US government, the United Nations consists of 193 countries, 117 of them voted for the Accords, all of them would still have a say in what the Avengers do. Tell me, and use your logic please, how it could possibly be easier to corrupt 193 countries, the entire fucking world, than it is to corrupt 6 weaponized individuals all US citizens?

4. General Ross is known as the bad guy and therefore the Accords are bad because he supports them.

Correlation not causation. The Accords were written by at least 117 countries and amended by all 193 of them. Under international law, every country is allowed their representatives of their choosing, but all representatives must be present for something to actually pass. Meaning, yes, the US representative was a corrupt piece of shit, but there’s at least 192 other representatives (some countries choose to have multiple), thus, again, we go back to the argument of, is it easier to corrupt one individual or a whole board?

5. The Avengers would never have been deployed because countries have opposing decisions.

The Avengers were never supposed to be deployed for Earth-level threats anyhow. “So when the world needed them, they could fight the battles we never could” ~ Nick Fury. Key words: when needed, never could. In other words, the Avengers were not supposed to be constantly on missions, only when there was a need for a team of heroes. Further, they were not meant to fight the everyday bad guy, not terrorists or thieves or murderers, the Avengers were made to fight Extinction-level threats. It takes years of training to learn how to correctly, legally, and safely catch the everyday bad guy. None of the Avengers have gone through that training, and them being involved in such missions has canonically resulted in mass casualties. And when it comes to extinction-level threats, darling, not a single human is going to go, “well, I want the planet I’m living in to explode”, therefore, the Avengers will be deployed for those, aka: their correct purpose.

6. Some countries can’t fight their bad guys.

If you cannot see how this is blatant American Imperialism propaganda, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s true, some countries struggle with crime rates, but it is still their right as a country to decide when and how to ask for help rather than have it be imposed on them. Are you also walking around saying “we had to send our military to Afghanistan and blow up their lands, they couldn’t deal with their bad people” or “we had to take over Iraq, Syria, etc”? It’s not the place of the US government to choose how other countries deal with crimes, and it is most certainly not the place of 6 weaponized (white) US citizens to do so either.

7. Some countries are corrupt and choose not to fight their bad guys.

This effectively makes the Avengers political weapons (one of the valid concerns of the Accords), and proves exactly why the Accords are needed. Are the Avengers supposed to assassinate any world leader they deem corrupt? Because that is what it would be, assassinations. How is that not abuse of their powers? How can it be justified in any shape, way, or form? What would make them different than dictators then? “If you don’t agree with me, I’ll assassinate you and replace you with someone who does”.

8. The Superhuman Registration Act is a bad thing in the comics and the Accords are in its place.

True, the Registration Act was a terrible thing, but it comes under very different circumstances in the comics than it does in the MCU, and to ignore the political climate and story of the MCU is downright idiotic. The MCU is an entirely different story and universe than Earth-616. Why are you watching the MCU if you just want the story of the comics? Go read the comics then. This screams either one of two:

A. A lack of cognitive abilities.

B. A child throwing a fit because they didn’t get exactly what they want.

And honestly, neither is a cute look.

Did you also throw a tantrum when they replaced an orientalist racist depiction of a Chinese villain by a white man in Iron Man 3?

9. Captain America is an amazing hero in the comics.

Again, in the comics. Not the MCU. In the comics, Peter Parker’s best friend is Harry Osborn, not Ned Leeds. In the comics, Pepper Potts marries Happy Hogan, not Tony Stark. In the comics, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff are Romani-Jewish, not white. In the comics, Alexei Shostakov is Natasha Romanoff’s husband, not father. Catch my drift? The comics are different, and MCU Steve Rogers is not 616 Steve Rogers. To pretend otherwise is boring.

10. Team Cap is hot.

Honestly, the blond blue eyed look isn’t my cup of tea, but I get it. What I don’t understand is why you have to justify all their actions to love them? I adore Tywin Lannister. I’m not walking around justifying him wiping out entire families and ordering the sexual assault and murder of Elia Martell and her children. You can like someone and admit they’ve done some fucked up shit. It’s not that deep. It’s deep when you try to say they’re in the right for the fucked up shit they did.

11. Bucky.

Honestly, Bucky is his own whole complex post and if I get into it here, this post will last for days, so I won’t. I will admit that Tony was in the wrong for some parts of that, but even yet, Rogers was entirely in the wrong for everything he did “for” Bucky, and this whole dilemma could have been prevented if Rogers had for one singular second thought to go about everything the legal way. (I could make another post if I’m encouraged enough)

12. The Avengers are the good guys.

That’s the Doylist explanation. We as outside viewers know that. The Watsonian explanation is entirely different. World governments in the MCU don’t know for sure the Avengers are the good guys. What they know is that the Avengers have been involved in the complete destruction of government buildings, intelligence buildings, an entire country, and more. Do you know what we call people who blow up governmental and intelligence buildings full of innocent civilians here? Terrorists.

13. The Accords.

This isn’t an argument I’ve seen per se, but more of a general misunderstanding I’ve seen on both sides. It doesn’t surprise me though. Civil War shows one single thin file as being the entire Accords, that Rogers flips through quickly and decides is a mistake. There is absolutely no way that is correct for the United Nations. UN documents can be thousands of pages long, they’re written by legal professionals from at least tens of countries, they cover every possible scenario and they’re open to amendments. They’re worked on so long that it takes years for them to be passed. They’re filled with so much legal jargon that one singular flick will result in you understanding nothing. More likely though, Rogers was given a brief introduction and summary. Thus, him immediately deciding he doesn’t like it without even knowing what it is, gives the same energy as a child throwing a tantrum for being forced to try kiwis for the first time.

It is possible that I’ve forgotten some arguments, I’m only human after all, but if you, (respectfully. I will not be answering anyone who throws slurs or hate speech), have any, I don’t mind dissecting them.

Lastly, to wrap up my post, all I have to say is one question. Is it possible that the whole world, that at least 5-6 billion people, are wrong, and Steve Rogers is correct?

#the accords #team iron man #both Steve and Tony make very emotional choices that are the wrong one for the greater good #but both of those choices are also very human #i'm a moderate: center-Iron Man #my AO3 bookmarks look pretty biased but it's because I find anti-cap fanfiction to be good fun #One doesn’t eat a warhead candy because they want all their food to taste like pure citric acid #steve was hung up on his trauma with hydra and made it everyone's problem #tony just watched his parents die and was no more rational than Loki in the back half of Thor 2011 #truth slaps #sometimes truth slaps you in the face then kivks you down the stairs #lightly salted post

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briangroth27 · 7 years ago

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The Shape of Water Review

The Shape of Water is an enchanting 1960s-set fairy tale told very well; a powerful, expertly-made work of art about the marginalized in our society. Director Guillermo del Toro got outstanding performances out of his stars while capturing the style and feel of the era perfectly, then used the time period to comment on today’s social issues through a story about the downtrodden rallying together against the establishment to preserve life and love.

Full Spoilers…

Sally Hawkins brilliantly conveyed character and emotion entirely through her expressions and sign language as Elisa Espostio (Sally Hawkins), a mute cleaning lady at a top-secret government laboratory who falls in love with an amphibian man (Doug Jones) captured in Latin America. It’s great to see a mute lead character and even better that the film doesn’t allow it hold her back at all, despite what those in power might think of her capabilities. Conveying the romance with and genuine love for the Amphibian Man was mostly on Elisa’s shoulders and Hawkins absolutely sold every bit of it. A wonderful moment late in the film includes an unexpected musical sequence that perfectly illustrates the impact he has on her heart, showing love can transcend even the strangest of barriers. That said, I don’t think Elisa is fully human herself, but the product of an earlier romance between a human and a different aquatic cryptid: her mysterious “scars” and backstory of being found by a river felt like a classic superhero secret origin. If that’s the case and the Amphibian Man healed her gills instead of creating them, then their relationship not only fuels her voice, but allows her to discover her truest self.

I also liked the easy friendships Elisa shared with her coworker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) and next-door neighbor Giles (Richard Jenkins). It was a nice and all-too-rare touch that these platonic relationships were just as important to Elisa’s life as her burgeoning romance with the Amphibian Man. It was a relief to find Elisa living a fully-functioning life even while she was longing for romantic love. I loved Zelda’s reactions to the Amphibian Man and to updates about Elisa’s love life. In addition to comic relief, Zelda brought common sense to Elisa’s interest in the Amphibian Man, at first keeping her friend’s head level and later recognizing that risking her life and career to help Elisa save him was something they had to do, even though she was greatly concerned for her best friend’s safety. Zelda being so dismissed in her marriage and having her decisions undercut (even if it was to save her life) by her husband (Martin Roach) was a solid mirror to Elisa and the Amphibian Man’s more mutually respectful relationship and to Strickland’s (Michael Shannon) domineering, controlling marriage. While Zelda was a fully-formed character, it would’ve been nice if she had a subplot of some kind of her own, like Giles did. His failed advertising posters (and failed interest in a guy (Morgan Kelly) working at a not-so-great pie shop) gave the movie a glimpse of the world and society outside the lab that we didn’t get from many other characters. Then again, perhaps it’s the fact that Zelda and Elisa work together and Giles doesn’t that made his world feel bigger than hers. It may also be that his ability to pass as an “acceptable” member of society grants him the ability to travel a wider world than Zelda can, as exemplified by the Pie Guy kicking an African-American family out of the pie shop. Despite his long reach, the sadness and rejection encompassing so much of his world, be it from the Pie Guy or the ad agency he was trying to sell to, painted a haunting picture of the world inhabited by those who “proper” society ignored or—at best—used, and I hope the world Elisa gets to travel to at the end of the film is happier and more equal. Still, I liked that Giles had a sense of hope to him; even if the world was clearly weighing on him, he still believes in the possibility of “happily ever after.”

The make-up for the Amphibian Man was mind-blowing and the movie deserved the Best Costume Design Oscar for it, while Doug Jones did an amazing job of conveying emotion and a sympathetic nature under all those prosthetics. The biggest thing I would’ve liked to see more of in the movie was his backstory. Actual god or not, I wanted to know what he wanted (beyond freedom and to love Elisa), what he thought of the world of men, etc. Who were his followers in South America and what “primitive” rituals did they use to worship him? What did he give them in return? Did he even register that he was worshiped as a god, or do his thoughts transcend those labels? What was his thought process as he went from worshiped to imprisoned? I wish he could’ve communicated better to give us some grander idea of his opinion on things, because his actions made him seem torn between gentle emotions and instinct-driven outbursts, like killing one of Giles’ cats. Perhaps it would be an interesting comment on society if this “god” were really just a different sort of animal and the people who worshiped it had simply projected their need for a god onto him, but I’m almost always against “grounding” half-measures in stories like this (if you’re gonna go there, go there), so I interpreted him as truly a god and would’ve liked to know more. That said, having Elisa fall in love with someone so outlandish was a strong metaphor for how those in power at the time (and honestly, in the present as well) saw homosexual and interracial love.

Michael Shannon’s Colonel Richard Strickland was a great villain and I loved how his control-freak nature demanded everyone around him become subservient, much like the paranoid American government he works for and represents demanded conformity. This made him simultaneously threatening and weak, hiding behind a thin veneer of socially-acceptable power. I especially liked his reaction when he found out just how replaceable he could become if he didn’t find the Amphibian Man; his easy dismissal in the event of his failure also contrasted nicely with how Zelda was always willing to cover for Elisa, from rescuing the Amphibian Man to simply holding her place in line to ensure she clocked in on time. Clearly there’s no friendship, loyalty, or leeway among the conformists, only control or destruction. Watching him break down as many people around him as he could—even his wife (Lauren Lee Smith), forcing her to be quiet while he focused on what he wanted out of their sex life—was very uncomfortable, so it was great to see his frustrated reaction to his inability to intimidate or break Elisa and Zelda. Not allowing his wife to speak was a great contrast to the Amphibian Man, who helped Elisa to not just talk, but to sing. The whimsical, silver screen nature of their classic Hollywood dance sequence also contrasted perfectly with the rot just under the “idealized” surface of 1960s America that Strickland upheld. Though the dance sequence is pure fantasy, it’s the only place where “the good old days” were actually good.

Another aspect that perfectly utilized the era was Dimitri Mosenkov/Robert Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg), a Soviet spy embedded in the lab. Like the threat of the Other found in African-Americans, the gay community, and a sea god, the Red Scare epitomized America’s desperate drive to destroy what it couldn’t control or understand. As I’ve seen noted elsewhere, it was very cool that the film subverted expectations and had Mosenkov not only help Elisa save the Amphibian Man from vivisection at the hands of the Americans, but that he gave Elisa information on how to keep him alive once she’d extracted him. That he cared more about the Amphibian Man as a living thing than as a means to attain Soviet superiority by vivisecting it was great; I definitely expected him to try to give him to his spymasters, where the South American god would’ve met the same fate the American military planned for it. It’s certainly a powerful indictment of our government that this spy sent to undermine us had more humanity than our people, who are only concerned with being “the best” no matter what that does to their souls. The fact that Mosenkov literally had a secret identity is also a nice thematic tie to Giles’ closeted homosexuality, Elisa’s mysterious origins, and the hidden power and passion the oppressed in this time concealed from their conformity-demanding government.

Universal’s classic Creature from the Black Lagoon was an inspiration for this film, and The Shape of Water is an excellent sort of remake, touching on similar themes while updating them and making them relevant to a modern audience. It was very smart of del Toro to explore the limitations of social mores of 1962 by focusing on a cast made up of those without power back then (who are still facing under-representation and lack of power today). However, I would argue that while setting this in the past has the desired effect of getting the audience to let its guard down, it also allows the audience to distance themselves too much, letting us say “those problems have been solved” and never forcing us to inspect ourselves. Still, I absolutely loved the score and the entire 1960s aesthetic del Toro achieved! I could easily have seen this taking the Best Cinematography Oscar.

The Shape of Water looks beautiful, has an excellent cast who are all on point, and has a very strong love story at the center of a powerful tale of those without power subverting the accepted system. I definitely recommend it!

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!

#the shape of water #sally hawkins #doug jones #amphibian man #creature from the black lagoon #octavia spencer #zelda #giles #elisa esposito #michael shannon #colonel strickland #richard jenkins #michael stuhlbarg #dimitri mosenkov #guillermo del toro

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harrimir · 6 years ago

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Upgrading Your on-line Gaming Setup With Netgear Hardware: Is It worth It?

Over the final 12 months, I’ve been looking to drastically improve my on-line gaming setup. It’s no longer that my normal connection speeds were especially slow or my remote interactions rather laggy. Multiplayer suits of Overwatch and Sea of Thieves ran well ample, and most video game downloads chugged alongside at a more than applicable tempo except i used to be on the psnetwork—why the insistent statistics cap, Sony?.

however here’s the thing: For a small while, i used to be buying 250Mbps internet service and not ever even getting near that marketed velocity. Most connection checks petered out at a measly 140Mbps, which isn’t anything else to scoff at, but I wasn’t getting what i used to be procuring. After dealing with that minor frustration, I knocked my plan right down to 150Mbps and, to be fairly sincere, nothing in reality changed. speed checks nevertheless reported a max of round 140Mbps.

bottom line became this: I just knew that my hardware became surprisingly out of date and that definite improvements can be made that might alternate my cyber web experience for the enhanced, so I reached out to Netgear in an try and are trying a few of their extra enjoyable gaming-connected items. They were kind ample to send over three compelling items of hardware, and what follows is my honest event with each and every gadget.

CM1000 ultra-high pace Cable Modem MSRP $169.ninety nine

As i discussed above, I’ve been getting around 140Mbps down load and 6Mbps add on a comparatively out of date Motorola SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 modem. I feel I’ve been using that equal piece of hardware for around 10 years now, supply or acquire, so I’d say I’m due for an improve. Enter Netgear’s DOCSIS 3.1 beast, and what the field reproduction dubs as delivering the “World’s quickest Cable cyber web” at “up to 6Gbps downstream and 1.8Gbps upstream”. if you’re unique with what DOCSIS three.1 is, here’s an outstanding video describing the technology. In a nutshell, it’s an up to date protocol that allows for fiber-caliber internet speeds over current cable web infrastructure. Granted, your web provider issuer needs to present that form of lightspeed option, after which you certainly deserve to be paying for observed speed.

That talked about, I’m not currently procuring gigabit information superhighway I wish!, so i will be able to’t verify that selected tier of provider on this new modem, unfortunately. however after tinkering round with things, what i will say is that, strictly out of the field, the machine definitely looks to have stronger my network condition vastly. without even touching my historical router, I conveniently swapped out my SURFboard modem with the clean CM1000, had the cable enterprise activate it, and right away administered a wired ethernet velocity test. With simply the modem trade on my own, my clocked velocity went from 140Mbps to round 180Mbps—dazzling damn fantastic. add velocity still hovered surprisingly low, round 6Mbps, though I suppose that’s extra of a controversy with my frequent service area.

The CM1000 allows for some critically speedy cable internet speeds.credit: Netgear

on the grounds that installing, the CM1000 has delivered constant connection and speeds with none deserve to be rebooted, all whereas staying mostly cool to the touch. For journalistic functions, I bumped my carrier tier back up up to 250Mbps just to see how the modem would react, and now I’m getting a whopping 300Mbps ! download. The upload velocity doubled marginally to round 12Mbps, which I’ve study is more than satisfactory for many excessive nice gameplay streaming. I’d say this is all an awful lot proof that Netgear’s hardware will increase whatever thing speeds you’re currently paying for.

So the question turns into here: Does the standard gamer need this cable modem? It pains me to say it, however probably no longer. which you could fully nevertheless get through with more run-of-the-mill hardware, primarily in case you’re most effective purchasing lessen-tier internet speeds. but if you have Xfinity from both Cox or Comcast and wish to supercharge your connection with more moderen gigabit cyber web which you’ll want the blanketed DOCSIS 3.1 to permit, or in case you’re without problems trying to future-proof your getting older home network, I’d wager it’s value the just a little high asking expense. The CM1000 is in reality the caviar of cable modems: A tasty luxury.

XR500 Nighthawk pro Gaming Router MSRP $299.ninety nine

I have to say that my trusty Netgear Nighthawk R7000 has treated me smartly through the years, and honestly, it’s no shabby router via any stretch of the creativeness: A swish design, three adjustable antenna with impressive wifi signal energy and a bunch of normal firmware updates left little or no to complain about. however now that I’ve tried Netgear’s personal Nighthawk seasoned Gaming XR500, it’d be basically problematic to head again, as I suppose like I’ve graduated to the networking massive leagues.

The Nighthawk pro Gaming router has all of the commonplace instant community facets we’ve all come to predict, together with 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz and visitor networks. There’s even a sensible connect function that unifies and intelligently sorts all incoming device connections beneath an single, automated SSID in reality easy, in fact. Don’t overlook Quad circulate and MU-MIMO for sooner all-around connections, and fancy beamforming technology that provides additional-stable wireless indicators. also, there’s 4 antenna as a substitute of my general three, which managed to enhance my wireless connection speeds by using about 20Mbps. Then there’s the further gaming stuff, which is what makes the XR500 in reality stand out.

Netgear’s XR500 is a very strong choice for hardcore gamers.credit: Netgear

first off, the main UI browser dashboard DumaOS allows you to display screen literally everything occurring in your community in real time: ordinary download endeavor, normal add exercise, ping, as well as the bandwidth utilization of every connected device. that you can then go past that to the QoS, or quality of provider, and dictate which gadgets ideally gaming consoles or PCs get to use essentially the most bandwidth at any given time. i will be able to see this coming in handy for large households where on-line gamers should coexist with heavy-usage Netflix and Hulu streamers. that you would be able to moreover utilize the Geo-Filter, which draws up a global map that lets you control the gap of online connections to multiplayer servers with a purpose to curb lag. It’s a very amazing set of features that presents some critically customizable options for dedicated game enthusiasts.

yes, it’s an expensive—and extreme, some would argue—networking accent geared nearly fully towards the hardcore gaming market, however I consider that it hits the bullseye in terms of what that demographic desires. It’s additionally a superb choice for anybody who with ease desires greater authority over their home network. It’s having comprehensive agency over the Handmaid’s tale binge happening within the living room while Fornite and Overwatch rages upstairs, all while somebody is watching outlandish ASMR movies on YouTube in the basement and a kick back-out Spotify mix plays within the backyard. My biggest criticism is that it doesn’t consider like it prices $300; i might have favored a pleasant metal casing as hostile to the low-cost plastic Netgear selected to go along with. perhaps it turned into for overheating causes.

SX10 Nighthawk seasoned Gaming change MSRP $299.ninety nine

Rounding out the trio of premium Netgear hardware is one severely pricey networking swap. searching suspiciously like the spaceship from ‘80s Disney sci-fi traditional Flight of the Navigator, the SX10 in contrast to the XR500 fully seems like an elegant piece of package for your palms. With foremost steel housing, it weighs in at just over three pounds, so we’re talking particular doorstop fabric right here. You recognize, some thing that looks like it might effortlessly outlive the cockroaches. Such solid fabric may come throughout as overkill for whatever as purposeful as a swap, however I appreciate the attention to aspect. Makes it more durable to by accident tug the device off a desk or entertainment center.

blanketed onboard are 2 10GMulti-Gig ethernet ports, eight 1G ethernet ports, a whole bunch of customizable RGB LEDs and a physical button to manually flip the lights on and off. just like the Nighthawk professional Gaming router, the SX10 has an attractive in-depth interface that lets you fully customize your network experience. you’ve got the power to manage each and every of the 10 ports, so the rest wired without delay to the swap is commence for bandwidth allocation. that you could also alternate the hue of any LED gentle to your liking, whatever thing specially positive for determining certain video game consoles or PCs at a glance. keep in mind that one of those 10 ports is reserved for connection to a cable modem or router.

The SX10 has a number of ports and LEDs for total customization.credit score: Netgear

regardless of some salt-of-the-earth reliability, the SX10 is possibly the hardest Netgear contraption to recommend on its own, and never most effective because of the steep fee. It’s without doubt a high quality piece of hardware with quite a lot of alternatives game enthusiasts curious about their wired ethernet have a great deal to be enthusiastic about right here, nevertheless it feels much extra like an augmentation to the XR500 than any kind of standalone product. That’s not to say you couldn’t spend it absolutely independently of the aforementioned router and find a ton of great use. I’m easily seeing the SX10 as an unbeatable partner piece to an already rocking XR500 setup. probably that’s nitpicky aesthetics, however there it’s. besides the fact that children, if you do should extend your wired ethernet alternatives and choose to fork over the money for this swish little manage container, you gained’t be upset, not in the slightest degree.

Netgear provided complimentary evaluation product for insurance purposes.

#gaming

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dipulb3 · 4 years ago

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Sony VPL-VW325ES 4K projector review: Epic home theater

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/sony-vpl-vw325es-4k-projector-review-epic-home-theater/

Sony VPL-VW325ES 4K projector review: Epic home theater

I’ve reviewed a slew of home theater projectors in the last 18 months, and many of them were very good. The VPL-VW325ES, quite simply, blows them all away. And it’d better, because it also costs five times as much as most of those projectors.

Stunning image

Stunning contrast ratio

Relatively quiet

Don’t Like

Pricey

Not very bright

Lacks the color of lasers

While there are many reasons the VPL-VW325ES performs as well as it does, the main one comes down to two simple words: contrast ratio. Using a trio of 4K SXRD liquid crystal on silicon chips, the VPL-VW325ES puts out a contrast ratio that’s 60 percent better than the next-best projector I’ve measured recently, and more than 10x better than most of the other projectors I’ve reviewed. That contrast allows the Sony to create an image that looks significantly more realistic, with more apparent depth, than anything that costs less.

And a lot of projectors cost less. You could buy a good used car for less than this projector. I know, I have. And despite the high price, this Sony is not particularly bright. A few years ago its 1,500 lumens would have been fine, but these days 2,500 is common and over 3,000 isn’t unheard of. Because of its excellent contrast ratio, however, the VPL-VW325ES still blows away brighter PJs like the Epson 5050UB, but you need total light control in your room. Otherwise its remarkable black level is wasted.

You can think of the VPL-VW325ES is the OLED TV of projectors. It looks stunning in every way, but it’s also very expensive and absolutely needs heavy curtains at least, blackout curtains ideally. For the select few who can afford it, and have a room that suits it, it’s fantastic.

Sony VPL-VW325ES: This is what a $5,500 projector looks like

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By the numbers

Resolution: 4,096×2,160 pixels

HDR-compatible: Yes

4K-compatible: yes

3D-compatible: No

Lumens spec: 1,500

Zoom: Motorized (x2.06)

Lens shift: Motorized

Lamp life (Normal mode): ???

The 325ES is a “true” 4K projector, in the digital cinema sense. It sports a resolution of 4,096×2,160, an extra 552,960 pixels over those wimpy Ultra HD projectors and their 3,840×2,160 resolution. However, unless you send the projector 4,096×2,160, it’s only using the 3,840×2,160 portion of the chip, with black bars on either side. However, the black level is so good you can’t really notice these bars unless you’re really looking for them.

And why is that black level so good? The 325ES uses a different technology than most projectors. Epson, for instance, uses LCD chips, similar to most TVs. Nearly all other projector manufacturers use DLP chips made by Texas Instruments to create an image. Sony uses SXRD, their own version of a tech called liquid crystal on silicon. This is a far more expensive technology and is only found in high-end projectors like Sony’s own and JVC with their D-ILA variant. However, LCoS is capable of significantly higher contrast ratios than the other two, which is by far the most important aspect of overall picture quality, as we’ll discuss in a moment.

Read more: DLP vs LCD vs LCoS: Projector tech pros and cons

The big bucks for the 325ES also get you a motorized lens with extensive shift and zoom options. You can move the image vertically +85% and -80%, and horizontally +/-31%. This means you can fit the 325ES in a wide variety of setups, including ceiling mount, shelf behind your sofa, and more. The 2x zoom range means you can fill a 2.35:1 screen for movie nights, then zoom down and just fill the center 16×9 portion for TV watching.

At first glance the lumen spec is not impressive. For $5,500 I’d have hoped for more light, and you can buy a far brighter projector for far less money. As we’ll discuss in the comparison section, this doesn’t matter as much as you’d think, but it does limit how large a screen you can have, and it means you absolutely must have total light control in your room.

Sony being Sony, they don’t reveal how long the lamp in the 325ES will last. This is… peculiar and rather baffling. My Sony projector, an older but more expensive model, had lost significant brightness after 3,000 hours, enough that I felt the need to replace its lamp. So feel free to use that as a rough estimate. At 4 hours a night, that’s about 2 years of use.

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

Connect your movies

HDMI inputs: 2

PC input: No

USB port: 1 (0.5A power)

Audio input and output: No

Digital audio output: No

Internet: LAN (for control)

12v trigger: Yes

RS-232 remote port: Yes

Remote: Backlit

Befitting a projector designed for home theaters, the 325ES has a limited suite of connections but lots of control options. No legacy connections either, just HDMI. Honestly, this is fine. I’m always surprised to see analog connections on a projector these days.

What you do get is a variety of connections to control the projector with a home automation system, including RS-232, LAN, and even an IR input.

There is a USB connection, but it’s only capable of 0.5 amps, which won’t power most streaming sticks. Again, that’s fine as if you’re spending 5 grand on a projector I would hope you have something leftover in the budget for a receiver.

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

Picture quality comparisons

There isn’t a lot of competition in this price range, but it’s worthwhile to compare the 325ES to some recent, cheaper, and quite good projectors like the Epson Home Cinema 5050UB and the LG HU810P. Even a passing glance can see the 325ES blows them away, but is it nearly twice as good as the price implies? We shall see. I connected all three via a Monoprice 1×4 distribution amplifier, and viewed all side by side by side on a 12-foot-wide, 1.0-gain screen.

The Sony is, as you’d hope, on a complete other level. Even at roughly half the brightness of the other two my eye kept coming back to it. The contrast ratio is just that intoxicating. Compared to the Epson, in that projector’s highest contrast mode, the Sony’s black levels are just a bit deeper, and its highlights just a bit brighter, so there’s noticeably more depth and realism to the image. The highlights just pop, yet the blacks are so deep as to seem to lack light. In the Epson’s higher brightness mode, it’s of course far brighter than the Sony could ever hope to be, but in that mode the black level is much higher, so black letterbox bars, for example, are far more noticeable. The Epson’s image is great, but the Sony’s is greater.

Contrast ratio is to projectors and TVs what speed is to a race car. Sure, it might have lovely curves and brighter lights, but when it comes down to it, the fastest car wins. This is why OLED TVs nearly always win multi-TV shootouts and endless editors’ choice awards. LCOS is the OLED of the projector world.

What surprised me is the detail. This is partly due to Sony’s elaborate image processing, which you can disable, and also the exceptional contrast and having 3,840×2,160 discrete pixels. The Sony looks more detailed than the Epson and even more than the extra-sharp LG. There is some motion blur, which the LG lacks, but even so it still looks very, very detailed. Where you notice it the most, like hairs and wrinkles on a face, the Sony does 4K detail more justice than the other two.

That powerful processing, similar to what’s found in its high-end TVs, also allows for far, far better HDR processing than most other projectors. All projectors that can support HDR have to modify that signal to work, since no projector has the brightness or dynamic range to fully handle HDR. There’s enough processing power in the 325ES to remap the HDR signal and create an image largely free of artifacts or severe clipping, both of which I’ve seen on lesser projectors.

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

There is one aspect where the Sony is merely “really, really good” and LG comes out on top and that’s with color. The Sony is capable of exceptionally accurate and lifelike colors… with HD. It doesn’t have nearly the depth of color of the LG and its laser-powered rainbow of HDR flavors. Deeper crimsons, violets and greens are on tap with the LG. The Sony looks good, but less impressive for sure. Even the Epson, in its wider-gamut mode, can produce deeper colors than the Sony. However, I should be clear this is just with the wider colors available with HDR. The Sony is more accurate than either the LG or the Epson when it comes to non-HDR/WCG colors. Which is to say, with all content the Sony will look great, but with HDR/WCG content the colors will be better on Epson and LG. Not a huge deal, but a 325ES-like projector with a laser light engine would be incredible. Sony does make those, but they cost $20,000.

So is it possible to get a better-looking projector? Sure, but you’d need to spend even more money.

Theater in your home

Superlatives fail. The 325ES is far more cinema-like than any projector I’ve reviewed recently. Would I buy it? That’s the real question, right? $5,500 is a lot of money. That’s a decent used car, a chunk of a down payment on a house, or roughly three months of traveling anywhere in the world. The image quality you can get from the Epson 5050 is excellent, and that projector is not only $2,500 cheaper but also significantly brighter.

So as much as I love how incredible the 325ES looks, I don’t think I would spend my own money on it. But then, I’m just a lowly (Amazon bestselling) writer who spends his money on travel and cars he never drives. I’m sure there are plenty of you reading this who wouldn’t blink at spending $5,500 for the image quality possible with the 325ES. If you can afford it, this is the Porsche of the projector world — and man, is it sweet.

Geek Box

Test Result Score Black luminance (0%) 0.014 Good Peak white luminance (100%) 126.2 Average Derived lumens 1136 Average Avg. grayscale error (10-100%) 1.696 Good Dark gray error (20%) 0.861 Good Bright gray error (70%) 1.936 Good Avg. color error 1.666 Good Red error 3.109 Average Green error 1.387 Good Blue error 1.774 Good Cyan error 1.421 Good Magenta error 1.257 Good Yellow error 1.048 Good Avg. saturations error 1.45 Good Avg. color checker error 1.4 Good Input lag (Game mode) 36.4 Average

Measurement notes

There’s not much to say about the VPL-VW325ES, it’s just good in whatever mode you want to use. I found the Reference picture mode to be the most reference-like, and in this mode both the primary and secondary colors were spot on their Rec 709 targets. Easily the most accurate projector we’ve measured in recent years.

There wasn’t much variation in total light output across the different modes, so I stuck with Reference and measured 126.2 nits, or roughly 1,136 lumens. For comparison, in the Epson 5050UB’s most accurate mode, it was capable of 192.3 nits, or roughly 1,732 lumens. The Low lamp mode dropped the light output by roughly 30%. The Bright TV mode was about 10 nits brighter with slightly worse color accuracy.

Contrast ratio, of course, is this projector’s strength. In the same mode that puts out 126.2 nits, the black level is 0.014 for a contrast ratio of 9,014:1. Across its various modes, it averages 8,327:1. For comparison, the next closest projector in terms of contrast ratio is the Epson, which averaged 5,203:1. The average for all the projectors we’ve reviewed in the last year, not including the Sony and Epson, is 660:1. Though, admittedly, they are all significantly cheaper than the 325ES.

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