#and I personally think is less their strength than comedy. They’re great at drama but I think they’re even BETTER at comedy so.

[waterberry-strawmelon]

Quick question for all my Dungeons and Daddies homies out there—

Is season 2 as funny as season 1? What are the best things about season 2? How easy or difficult has it been for you to reconcile the season 1 versions of the sons versus the season 2 versions of the sons grown up? (Or in other words, how have you been able to handle the characterization differences/changes/developments that occurred in between seasons?)

I’d love to hear people’s personal experiences (especially any listening differences!) between seasons 1 and 2 :)

[sol1056]

wuxia: a general yet probably too verbose introduction to the genre, pt2

and now we get to the actual conventions -- although more accurately, these are just the ones that I either noticed the strongest or had the most difficulty adjusting to, when I was first getting into wuxia. 

Not all stories have these elements, and of course in a genre as varied (and as old) as wuxia, there are twenty exceptions for every rule. What’s more, one story’s mild admonishment (”well, X is frowned on, but I guess if you’re just low-key about it”) can become the next story’s worst taboo (”omg you did X, you must be shunned! SHUNNNNNNNNNNed.”). 

Like any other living genre, authors will shift/tilt convention as needed to drive a story’s conflicts. 

btw, it’ll probably be a few days before I can do an introduction to MDZS, which should give time to @guzhuangheaven, @atthewaterside, @dramatic-gwynne, @the50-person, @drunkensword (and anyone else) to point out everything I misunderstood, over-emphasized, misinterpreted, or just plain missed. 

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

1. Hierarchy still matters. A student’s respect for their teacher, a child’s respect for their parents, younger siblings/students to elder. You’ll see this in how people are called (ie 3rd uncle, elder sister, 2nd brother), but this doesn’t mean everyone goes around dutiful and obedient. Err, wuxia is actually more of the opposite. I mean, a good story requires conflict between characters, and what better way than someone overturning (or at least appearing to overturn) the hierarchy?

In that vein, creating new relationships that take precedent over old relationships is anywhere from disrespectful to a full-on violation of natural law. As in, learning from someone other than your teacher, joining a new family in lieu of your birth family, running away to get married -- hell, just running away! -- are all potential sources of trouble. At the same time, wuxia has a really strong comedic streak (all the martial arts also make for great slapstick). Squabbling families with headstrong, misbehaving kids who break the rules, well, that’s a classic that can be played for melodrama, comedy, or both.

2. Swordsmanship is the pinnacle (or the most prevalent) of martial arts. The protagonist is either going to be (or end up) the best swordsman (or swordswoman) ever, or they’re going to use a weapon that’s unlike any other -- and if the latter, they’ll either be reviled for it, or lauded.

3. Despite the fact that swords are heavy and a real pain to carry around, characters carry their swords. All the time. Everywhere. In historical dramas, swords hang from belts, but not wuxia. Plus, characters will place swords on the table, across their lap, lean them against chairs, put them on the floor, and it doesn’t seem to map to whether they’re among allies or enemies, on guard or relaxing. The sword goes with them everywhere, and is always within reach. (And again, this general convention can go strict in some stories, like MDZS, where the failure to carry a sword is seen as a major breach of etiquette.)

4. The general term for ‘members of a sect’ or ‘people who study martial arts’ is ‘cultivators’. To cultivate is to grow something: cultivating [internal or spiritual] fields to gain a [skillset] harvest. Cultivation isn’t just going to the practice hall and swinging a sword three hundred times; meditation, study, even copying out texts are also ways to cultivate. 

5. Wuxia characters may also be called swordsmen/swordswomen, wandering heroes, or martial heroes. If the story pivots on getting into a sect (or achieving some rank in a sect), then the characters will be considered cultivators (of a given path). If they’re introduced as just swordsmen, that seems to indicate it’s a story where sect politics plays less of a role. Or both terms may be present, to differentiate between sect-members/students versus people who defected (or are self-taught). 

6. Wuxia as a genre is remarkably egalitarian. Expect women martial artists to throw down with (and hold their own against) male opponents. Learn to fear the older women in wuxia; they’re often the most dangerous. Not to say there aren’t damsels in distress in wuxia, just that there are usually as many female warrior characters, too.

If the story has multiple sect leaders, usually at least one is a woman -- and if not, one of the men is married to a woman that everyone knows is the truly powerful/skilled one. Near-equal cast percentages are common, too, both in the foreground (and not always for the sake of pairing off for romance), and in the background, when you catch shots of the rank-and-file sect members.

Basically, you can expect the average wuxia to pass the Bechdel test with flying colors. It may not always pass all the other gender tests, but conversations (and deep friendships) between female characters are usually on-screen (not just implied), and often a strong part of the storyline.

7. The super-hero-like skills -- leaping from or to an extreme height, tossing someone a great distance, getting thrown far and getting up again -- are a good map to things like gunslingers who can shoot a playing card at eighty paces blindfolded. Or Robin Hood getting a bullseye through the arrows of someone else’s bullseyes. Wuxia tends to expect even superlative skills at a beginner’s level (so you’ll see student-characters doing such), but it’s all just ways to say, these characters have studied the sword while the rest of us were waiting for the translation team to release the next episode.

8. Those skills are not magic, which occupies a different category. Whether shown or implied, wuxia’s ‘martial arts’ (if exaggerated and unrealistic) are still studied. When magic shows up, it’s often derided, because it’s a shortcut. There’s an insincerity, a kind of bad sportsmanship. The reaction in-story is much like real world reaction to athletes using performance-enhancing drugs. It’s cheating, and it’s disrespectful towards your opponents, that you refused to match their efforts with equal effort of your own.

9. Every story has its own definition of what is, or is not, ‘magic’ and thus a shortcut. Wuxia is usually pretty good about making clear what the story considers ‘orthodox’ or ‘right’: look for characters introduced as authoritative voices in the story’s world, and what they do is probably a good indication of accepted skills (that is, not-magic). Well, unless the character cackles a lot, in which case they’re probably an example of magic/unorthodox approaches.

9. Qi -- energy -- is the root of a character’s power (or lack thereof). Plenty of wuxia only reference this concept in passing, but some codify it into a necessity -- as in, some people have the ‘right’ kind of qi, and some do not. Or that it takes years to develop so the hero is permanently behind until they finally get to doing the work. Whether nature or nuture, this qi is how a cultivator can leap high bounds while the background farmer or merchant characters must scramble to find a ladder.

10. Over the years of television, ‘manipulating qi’ -- shoving energy at someone through the hands/feet, a sword, a musical instrument, something else -- has developed its own set of stylized movements. It’s a lot of arm-waving and finger twirling and whatnot (often circular). I think of it like riding an invisible bike to charge the generator; releasing it means the TV has the juice to kick on. Or the tazer can release, or whatever.

11. There are a bunch of virtues being promoted by wuxia, from a tangle of daoism, buddhism, and confucianism -- things like loyalty, sincerity, honesty, humility, respecting one’s parents (or teacher), benevolence, and justice (or righteousness). Plus a disregard for wealth or glory for personal gain.

The good (or enduring) wuxia stories seem to be the ones that find a way to make a virtue into a point of conflict -- as in, loyalty to what/who, questions of what it means to be righteous in this circumstance or that, and so on. The virtue is still at the heart of things, the conflict lies in how it’s interpreted or applied.

12. Wuxia predates Confucianism and Buddhism (and possibly Daoism), so it’s got a long history of cherrypicking to mix and match as it pleases. Some things you might see, and the influencing source:

horsetail whisks, used for purifying a space and removing evil influences, traditionally carried by Daoist priests as a sign of their rank. 

an emphasis on Yin and Yang as driving opposing energies (sometimes good and bad, sometimes required to be balanced), also a Daoist concept.

most mystical elements are also Daoist influence: like qigong (coordinated posture and movement to increase/improve health, spiritual strength, and martial prowess), alchemy, astrology, etc.

mudras (hand gestures, cf Naruto) are predominantly Buddhist, meant as a way to focus oneself. When these show up in wuxia, the origin is still ‘to focus oneself’ but being wuxia, the result is usually a burst of visible power.

if a story revolves around learning to forgive/forget and to have compassion (over vengeance), that’s the Buddhist influence showing.

if filial piety, the observance of rites, or questions of ethics/morality are significant themes, that’s probably confucianism’s influence.

The lines are way blurrier than I’m going into, here. After all, the three perspectives have competed and coexisted for hundreds of years. There’s a fair bit of cross-contamination, as it were. 

13. A lot of wuxia -- and I mean a lot of wuxia -- can be boiled down to coming-of-age stories: a young hero faces trials and tribulations on his (or her) way to finding a place in society. Sometimes it’s working their way up through the levels to claim the top spot; sometimes it’s being rejected from the school they wanted, and continuing to fight that fate until they’re accepted and demonstrate they deserve to be there.

This focus on younger heroes also means that wuxia is rife with idol dramas, where the majority of the cast are young/first-time actors, chosen for their looks and their similarity to the character (so as to not require too much of a stretch for them, acting-wise). On the other hand, this does often mean the pretty is almost overwhelming, since it’s looks and not long-time acting experience that set the bar.

14. Compared to other Chinese literary genres, wuxia is somewhat unique in its emphasis on individualism, but this isn’t to say you should expect full-throated american-style rugged individualism. I’d say it’s less about the individual breaking free of social rules, and more that the individual must find a way to interpret those social rules and forge a compromise between what they’re required to be vs who they want to be.

The best illustration I can think of is a parental dictate of “I want you to marry and have a family,” that sets off the story’s conflict. By the end of the story, the now-adult child realizes the message wasn’t meant literally so much as a way to say, “I want you to grow up, have a place in this world, surrounded by people who love you.” The error wasn’t in the parents’ blindness to the child’s needs, but in the child’s interpretation of the parental message. 

(Unlike historical or modern dramas, which often have a lot of daddy issues -- thanks, Confucius -- wuxia is relatively free of that. Child-parent conflict is common, but truly dysfunctional on the level of modern melodramas, not quite so much.)

15. The fights are balletic and acrobatic; they’re meant as an abstract representation of a fight. You want reality, go watch an HK or Korean action movie/show. Wuxia is where you go for the twirling, the leaps, the spins, all the kinds of moves that no decent fighter would ever do, ‘cause turning your back on the enemy gets you killed -- but wuxia isn’t about that, it’s about the cool visual factor.

16. Historically and aesthetically, the costumes are closest to the Ming dynasty  -- layered and belted ankle-length robes with long, flowing sleeves. Partly because the Ming dynasty seems to be a favorite setting (for whatever quality of actual time period a story even bothers to identify), but also (at least, my theory is) because those big sleeves make for dramatic gestures when swinging a sword.

17. There are newer wuxia that show some Game of Thrones influence (or, in the movie adaptations like The Four, some grimdark-slash-steampunk influences) but for the most part, wuxia is rather brightly-lit. My theory is that it was traditionally designed to be visible on (literally) smaller TVs, out in rural villages and whatnot. Frex, the darkest things get in wuxia, visually, is a day-for-night blue, since filming at night for real makes for an awful dark screen. 

This is changing -- I’ve seen a lot more wuxia that are genuinely filming at night -- but the same show may also do day-for-night just cause they’re on a tight schedule and can’t sit around until it’s dark again to shoot the next scene, so they make do. 

18. Older filming styles still dominate in wuxia, and the one you may notice the most is a particular move where the speaking character turns away from whomever they’re talking to, walks towards the camera, and speaks in the direction of the camera. It’s just not something people normally do, but it happens all the time in wuxia.

I think it comes from the days of only having one camera, so either you took the time to reshoot to get reactions (not really possible on shoestring budgets with tight deadlines), or you made sure the frame could include the speaker and the listeners. (Or it might be coming from the stage, where the actor must face the audience to be heard.)

The basic blocking, lighting, and so on sometimes reminds me of afternoon soap operas from the 80s, done with videotape rather than film. Not cheap so much as lower budget. 

19. If you want historical authenticity, this is the last place to look. The costumes will be flashy, especially for the hero and his love interest: layered and embroidered, with modern fabrics in bright, sometimes neon!, shades and combinations (Nicholas Tse, I see you).

Older wuxia, the characters rarely got dirty, a wound from a fight was represented by a streak of clearly-fake (and somewhat diluted) pink syrup, and plenty of times a character will go through an entire battle and not even be sweaty or dirty. (Game of Thrones is changing this, too, though -- I’m seeing more dishevelment, though it’s still relatively minor compared to post-battle LotR or GoT.)

20. You can tell the budget from two things: how many costumes and how many wigs. A lower-budget wuxia (or one made at rapid pace) means characters go to bed in their day-clothes, with headpieces still on. Wigs are expensive, and a quickly-made wuxia means you get one wig, and that’s what you’re always wearing, rather than a wig for sleeping and another for waking. Same goes for showing characters in their day-clothes versus what they’d wear for night, or when relaxing, or whatever. (Or having two versions of the same costume, one pre-battle and one post-battle.)

21. About that historical bit -- at least up to the Qing dynasty, Chinese men usually wore their hair in a top-knot once they reached adulthood. Wuxia’s aesthetic is for everyone -- including elderly men -- wearing their hair mostly down with only a small top-knot to pull back their bangs. This just isn’t how anyone wore their hair, but it’s a massive visual clue that the story takes place in the jianghu, where normal society’s rules don’t apply.

22. I think I mentioned the Ming dynasty -- not sure why, but it seems to be the most favorite target. (You’d think it’d be the Qing, since they were outsiders, but nope.) The literary precursors of wuxia had a strong streak of ‘the government is corrupt and/or full of idiots, we’re better off doing our own thing over here,’ which led to various dynasties cracking down on wuxia as a kind of rebel literature.

It’s kind of ironic that wuxia’s history of overturning the natural order confucian principles (that is, treating individualism as an equal virtue, and elevating commoners to hero-status for *gasp* leaving their place of birth to wander around and do good deeds) is what made wuxia immensely popular during the cultural revolution, when China was busy deconstructing (often violently) so much of its cultural past. Wuxia stood apart, as something that had been quietly deconstructing all along, and thus shot up in popularity for finally being in tune with the zeitgeist.  

(Wuxia in all its forms has always, perhaps unsurprisingly, been massively popular among the common classes. Wuxia is not, never has been, a high literary form; watching wuxia means you’re watching the latest iteration of an ancient yet truly pop-as-in-popular-as-in-common culture.)

I get the impression the chinese authorities have an uneasier relationship with historical dramas (which can walk a fine line of implying that imperial past as a good/positive), whereas wuxia’s place in the mythical jianghu diminishes its ability to threaten via social commentary. This isn’t to say wuxia isn’t in dialogue with the social and political environment in which it’s made; all literature is, by virtue of being of its time. It’s just a bit more coy about it, and its loudest political-type trait -- of dismissing the imperial system/capital as corrupt, evil, or otherwise contemptible -- fits with a desire to see the dynastic past as something to be discarded and/or dismissed, not emulated.  

23. Oh, and one last thing: wuxia is very, very, very chaste. A lot of the romantic relationships are almost entirely implied -- a lot of longing looks, maybe the exchange of a significant gift, I mean, we’re talking a genre that considers holding hands to be pretty daring. I’ve seen entire series where you know those two will end up together, but if you can’t read the visual cues, you’d think they were just close friends (if not socially-awkward acquaintances).

That said, when wuxia breaks that so-chaste rule, it’s like having a table dropped on you. There’s a drunken makeout scene in The Legends that had my jaw on the table because holy smokes, that was unexpected. Mad passionate wild abandonment just isn’t a thing in wuxia.

[ETA: don’t get me wrong, wuxia in general is hugely passionate. Just not on a sexual level; it’s on the emotional level that wuxia will go to eleven, repeatedly.]

...okay, that wasn’t even in the neighborhood of brief. hell, it wasn’t even in the same state as brief, but I did warn you. Wuxia’s a huge genre, after all. An entire book might still only scratch the surface, but hopefully this suffices as a general introduction.

[blackhatclubblog]

Top Ten Shows with #s in the titles

Because there are many ways to divide dramas, and this is one. XD The K2 Oh, yes, let's start with the one that should have been so much cooler. What should have been the core of the story: is it possible for a good, if terribly broken (kudos to the show for portraying PTSD), man to save a bad, and equally broken, woman with the power of his friendship? Unfortunately, they thought a ridiculous lot of action, a few good actors, and the potential for awesome could save an 11th hour gutting of the best parts of the drama in favor of an absolutely idiotic (and entirely inappropriate) loveline with a actress who could not hold her own against the other leads. It did not work. I will say the action scenes are still fun and the OST is one I still enjoy, though. Right along with the glorious speculation on what could have been. XD 7th Grade Civil Servant ...'k, and this was a DNF. It was a stupid, slapstick spy comedy that even fans of such (of which I am not one) did not enjoy. I was hoping, because it had Joo Won in, but...no. I could barely make it through the beginning. Two Weeks Okay, I liked this one. It is a drama not really for children or the undiscerning...but a good story in multiple ways. It’s one of those incredible redemption stories that I adored but that which is slightly harder to recommend to everyone indiscriminately. Basically, the MC made a terrible choice in attempting to protect someone he loved, and his life was destroyed. When the story starts, he is in a very bad place, and the story doesn't shy away from the depths to which he has sunk. When his ex-girlfriend finds him and tells him that she actually had the baby he demanded she abort, and that baby is now a young girl dying of leukemia who needs him donate stem cells...his life takes a different turn. Watching him fight step by step to believe that he can change, that he can become the person those he loves need so desperately, and come to a full understanding of what exactly he has done in the past...it's incredible. {There is a scene where he ends up helping a stranger deliver her baby, and the moment it truly hits him what he almost forced his girlfriend to do and that he might never have met his daughter if his girlfriend had followed through...gah.} This ^ scene, sure, might lose a few points for why is a man on the run from the police and the bad guys helping a random lady deliver a baby of all things? and is this too on the nose in forcing him to make up for not supporting his own family when he should have done so? But it all depends on how you feel about symbolism. XD Also, I just discovered, doing my usual fruitless search for a good MV of Two Weeks, that Japan has also done a version, which stars Miura Haruma. Which A) brb, watching that now, and B) that leads directly into: 5 Minutes to Tomorrow A man enters the twisting reality of a highly concerning pair of twin sisters...which one died and which one came home as his wife?  This also counts as a DNF, I guess, because I have tried to watch this movie 2-3 times and fallen asleep promptly every time, which is not a great recommendation for any kind of murder mystery. To be fair, the Chinese or Japanese movies I have watched have been few and far between. All of the latter, however have been the fault of the following drama: Bloody Monday 1-2 This is totally cheating and I really don't care. There are rare Korean or Japanese shows with seasons, so I'm utilizing that unique aspect. XD Anyway, it's been a while since I watched it, but I highlight it for 2 reasons: Miura Haruma and Sato Takeru.   Okay, just kidding. But I keep checking out and then dropping Japanese films and shows in hopes of one or the other of these two will be in another show as brilliantly addicting as this one. So far, Sato Takeru is the only one who has managed it. What made Bloody Monday so good? Plotting, pacing, characters. It is a j-drama/dorama, so be warned that compared to the k-dramas I tend to watch it is a little more graphic in terms of language, death, clothing choices, subject matter...but if you're looking for a fight-the-terrorist-save-the-world story utilizing a genius hacker and his best friends and a brilliantly charismatic villain..this is it. The villain subconsciously inspired a decent amount of my Contract to Time Travel character Ja-Il - his intelligence, his charisma, his relationship with his siblings...but one of the main reasons I love it is that the MC is so resoundingly true. When it comes down to saving his country or betraying his principles, what choice will he make? Tactically he may be stupid, but he's still practically a child, and the strength of his convictions matters to me. Also, I loved that season 2 did not pick up with everyone the same. It showed how people were hurt, how people were changed, how people grew up, from season 1. It hurt, but it felt real. Queen for Seven Days Speaking of watching new dramas because of who is in them...Park Min Young SLAYS in every drama I've seen her in (including rom com, which I DO NOT EVEN WATCH but which I have watched for her and pretty much died laughing over)...and Yeon Woo Jin (who...now that I think about it...I have watched a rom-com with him in it too...yikes...this is not me...) Maybe I'm an idiot for wanting to ruin the two rom-coms I've enjoyed in my life by seeing two of their leads in a tragedy, but...I have heard nothing but high praise for every aspect of this drama except the trailers, and once I get past my current stack of tragic historical dramas, I'm definitely going to watch this one. Five Fingers This one is on hold...to be honest, I only ever wanted to watch it because of the opening sequence of piano music, which I watched. All I know is it's about pseudo-brothers and revenge and pianos? And there's a fire in there somewhere? Which sounds like a fun combination, but I'm not sure as a story that has enough weight to pull me completely in. I might do better with my time to just learn some piano music for myself.... 38 Task Force Okay, for something not a revenge tragedy...this weirdly named show is for fans of Leverage and Seo In Guk. The relationships weren't quite so well done as I'd hoped, and the cons (which then became the point of it all) were minimally memorable. I remember one of them involved the main conman giving a speech at a fancy place...and another involved him coming up with a car out of thin air...and another had something to do with antiques and throwing money everywhere. So. I remember enjoying it enough to watch it...but not much else. Rating: Eh. School 2013 Aw...one more drama that is neither tragedy nor romance. It's a school drama about guilt, honesty, dreams, the impact of adult role models on troubled children, and a David-Jonathan friendship that went horribly wrong. As such it is a lot less weighty than most of the others on this list...yet while you're watching it you forget that the only thing at stake is the friendship of some high school boys and possibly their futures. Which I think is something Korean dramas sometimes excel at - is the tragic destruction of a friendship going to destroy the world? No, but when you're in the situation it might feel like it is, and the drama manages to pull you in so that you feel what they're feeling. Six Flying Dragons Sooooo....back to tragedies....*cough* Caveat: I have not yet finished this. But just the first few episodes plunged me into the founding of a nation and the creation of a man - I love how Korean dramas are not afraid to spend the time setting up the world and showing you exactly what choices were made to make someone the person they became. And maybe it’s a bloody mess of history but it’s tragic and fascinating and even if largely fictionalized there is so much to learn from history, let alone about story-telling. I’m looking forward to watching this one as a whole.   What is your favorite drama or movie with a number in the title? Which of the above have you watched? XD

[imagitory]

D-Views: Muppet Treasure Island

Hi, everyone! Welcome to another installment of D-Views, my on-going written review series for films that fall under the Disney umbrella, as well as those that were influenced by those films! For more reviews for movies like Mary Poppins, Treasure Planet, and The Prince of Egypt, please consult my “Disney Reviews” tag and, of course, if you enjoy this review or any of the others, please consider liking and reblogging!

Today’s film is one of my childhood favorites, starring a cast of some of my favorite people, as well as frogs, pigs, and even whatevers. This is Muppet Treasure Island! (Thank you for your votes, @the-alexandrian-alchemist, @silvvergears, @extremelybears​, @livinlifelikeishould​ and @karalora​!)

Ever since 1976, the characters of the Muppet Show have been American pop culture icons. The show itself won a total of 21 Emmy nominations and four television awards over its long run, and by 1990 its cast had also starred in several critically acclaimed films (The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan) and the very popular animated TV show Muppet Babies. And all of that wouldn’t have been possible without the Muppets’ creator, Jim Henson.

Like at the Walt Disney Company, the loss of their leader in 1990 hit Jim Henson Productions very hard. One silver lining, however, is that just like with Walt Disney, Jim Henson was memorialized not just by the characters he created, but by his many achievements and the many friendships he’d made in life. He received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame alongside Kermit the Frog; was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame; earned a memorial in his hometown Hyattsville, Maryland; was posthumously named a Disney Legend; was the focus of the heartfelt TV special The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson; and was laid to rest with two formal funeral services complete with performances of some of his favorite songs. And just like the Walt Disney Company, even after the death of someone who meant so much to them, Jim Henson Productions got back up and promised to do more in the memory of their lost leader. Jim’s son Brian Henson took the reins and directed the Disney-co-produced Christmas movie The Muppet Christmas Carol in 1992, before he moved on to their next project and today’s subject, Muppet Treasure Island.

So, here’s the thing -- I have a LOT of nostalgia for this movie. I will be upfront about that. But even with that acknowledged, I was sort of stunned when I found out how lukewarm the reaction to this movie was, when it was released in theaters. Sure, I knew it hadn’t broken the bank, but even if it earned about $34 million worldwide, it received no honors or awards, only hit third at the box office opening weekend behind the movies Broken Arrow and Happy Gilmore, and even now only boasts an average 73% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Critics at the time criticized how it was more “Treasure Island” than “Muppet”, with Roger Ebert calling it “less cleverly written” and Gene Siskel even more coldly deeming it “boring.” Although I’ll readily acknowledge that reading those reactions makes me want to run outside and scream “FUCK YOU, GENE SISKEL” at the top of my lungs, I promise to give a more rational review of this movie instead, one hopefully that acknowledges any possible shortcomings, but also will celebrate this film and how completely NOT boring it is.

One of the best things about this movie hits us in the face right off the bat -- the music, written by scoring giant Hans Zimmer and Nick Glennie-Smith. As much as I enjoy a lot of Muppet musicals, I attest that Muppet Treasure Island has the most cohesive score overall of any Muppet production. The Muppets were always creatures of the short, sweet vignette -- of the variety show -- of many disparate pieces sewn loosely together into a whole like a patchwork quilt. Even though The Muppet Christmas Carol’s soundtrack comes very close in its cohesion and I would say The Muppets (2011) -- my personal favorite Muppet movie -- is truer to the spirit of the Muppet Show in its music while also paying tribute to old-fashioned movie musicals, Muppet Treasure Island just paints a full-bodied picture from the off-set, building on refrains that return and morph over the course of the picture. From the very beginning, we get that this venture is NOT a standard Muppet movie. Like The Muppet Christmas Carol, the Muppets’ humor will only be part of the story told -- in TMCC, it takes a backseat to sincere emotions like love and redemption, while here in MTI, it takes a backseat to adventure and swashbuckling action.

The score also seamlessly flows into our first song, “Shiver My Timbers,” which just screams “pirate!” I’ve loved pirates ever since I was a little kid, and Muppet Treasure Island was one of the main reasons why. I was okay with Peter Pan, but Muppet Treasure Island was what really got me excited about pirates. They were rough, ruthless, and dangerous, but it was exciting to face off against them in an epic musical adventure, even if your only weapons were a couple of artfully thrown starfish. In the 90′s, pirate films weren’t really “in” -- it wouldn’t be until 2003 with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean that they became popular again -- but I think Muppet Treasure Island, through its music, really embraces the fun, action-packed thrills that Disney would later capitalize on in the Pirates films.

After our prologue, we meet Billy Bones (played by the perfectly cast Billy Connolly) and, of course, our hero, Jim Hawkins, played by newcomer Kevin Bishop. Kevin was the very first of a hundred kids who showed up for the audition to meet the casting agents, and he was selected for the part then and there. Sadly post-Muppets he moved on to stage and television, but for what it’s worth, I quite like Kevin in the role of Jim. He’s distinctly depicted as a boy, complete with a pre-puberty “boy soprano” singing voice (which I acknowledge is an acquired taste, but I personally enjoy), but that characterization only serves to accent how large of an arc he goes through over the course of the film. He starts off as smart, sincere, honest, and dreamy, but also very innocent and trusting, and over the course of the story, he learns to ground himself in who he is and what he believes in, to the point where he has to sever ties with someone he once considered a friend and mentor. Accompanying Jim in his journey are Gonzo and Rizzo, who largely serve as comic relief but do still serve as good friends and companions to Jim, as evident by the three characters’ “I Want” song, “Something Better.” Yes, Gonzo and Rizzo are sidekicks, but they’re still distinct personalities that bounce well off each other and “straight-man” Jim. Originally the filmmakers had considered simply having Gonzo and Rizzo being two characters called “Jim” and “Hawkins” respectively (splitting the part in two, not unlike what they did with Statler and Waldorf in The Muppet Christmas Carol), but due to concerns that the choice would result in a lack of heart in the finished product, that idea was scrapped. I think it ultimately was the better decision to leave the drama to the humans -- it’s not that the Muppets can’t conjure sincere emotion (just look at “Pictures in my Head” or “Man or Muppet”), but I still think having any of the existing Muppets fulfill the “coming of age” narrative the original Jim Hawkins goes through would’ve been a bit of a stretch. Even in The Muppet Christmas Carol or non-Muppet-show Jim Henson production Labyrinth, the main characters with a story arc are played by human actors who are able to ground the picture despite the cast of colorful, irreverent characters.

One of the main criticisms that critics of the time lobbed at this movie is that it feels more “Treasure Island” than “Muppet”, and in a way it’s a decent point, if not phrased very badly. Unlike in other Muppet projects, the humor plays second fiddle to the plot and the characters are not the characters we know from the Muppet Show with their Muppet Show backstories and consciousness. In The Muppet Christmas Carol, the film could very easily be seen as a “production” being put on by the Muppets, even if it’s never overtly stated as such, thanks to Gonzo (as Charles Dickens) constantly breaking the fourth wall. In Muppet Treasure Island, however, Gonzo and Rizzo have their own non-Muppet-show history as friends of Jim Hawkins way before ever meeting the other Muppets like Kermit and Sam the Eagle, and Kermit and Miss Piggy have a whole soap-opera romance that involves a wedding and getting marooned by pirates (we’ll get to that later). So yes, this is more “Treasure Island,” but it’s not less “Muppet” -- it’s less “Muppet Show.” These Muppets have different histories, but they’re the same characters despite this. Gonzo is an eccentric thrill-seeker -- Rizzo is a cowardly cynic -- Kermit is a soft-spoken pacifist -- Fozzie is a lovable dimwit -- Piggy is a self-centered diva. Think of Muppet Treasure Island as a Muppet AU fanfiction -- these may not be exactly the characters you know, and yet...they are! They’re the exact same big personalities with the same quirks, strengths, and weaknesses, just in an alternate universe. And honestly, I think it’s really cool, to see these sorts of characters so exclusively used for comedy in a world that’s not flat-out comedic -- one that’s kind of dirty and rough around the edges, with swashbuckling action and real danger around every corner.

The nice thing is that although yes, the comedy isn’t the central focus anymore, there is still really good humor in this film, a lot of it thanks to the shift in tone. There’s just something so very, very funny to me about Billy Bones’s death scene being followed up by Rizzo, Gonzo, and Jim just flat-out freaking out and dashing out of the room screaming like stupid kids, or the tense action scene where the pirates storm into the inn being punctuated by Rizzo trying to help Gonzo load the gun, only to spill the bag of bullets, or the epic entrance of the illustrious Captain Smollett’s carriage ending with the tall, solemn coachman stepping aside to reveal the Captain himself, played by Kermit the Frog. I think it plays into the ideas of subverting expectations and building up a punchline properly before delivering the joke -- as each scene is built up, we’re left constantly unsure if the film’s going to play things straight or just be completely irreverent, and the contrast is what can make a joke much funnier than in a purely, solely humorous scenario. There are a few points where the contrast can become a bit labored, but I laugh so much more during this movie that I ever have watching my favorite reruns of the Muppet Show, no matter how much I enjoy them. It’s something that, again, the Pirates of the Caribbean films would capitalize on much later. (Too bad they couldn’t incorporate that humor into any catchy musical numbers! Disney, where’s my Pirates of the Caribbean musical?)

Aha, and now we come to the brightest of the shining stars in this film -- our villain, Long John Silver, played by the amazing Tim Curry. I’m sorry, it’s an incontrovertible truth that Curry is a unique, magical ingredient that, when added to any movie, just elevates the cinematic dish to a whole new level and leaves you drooling for one more scene with him. I remember someone once saying that Curry is sort of like a Muppet in human skin thanks to his outrageous, yet likable acting, and...yeah, it makes it so that he fits perfectly in this movie, where he has to interact so closely with the Muppets. The nice thing is, though, that he also has a lot of chemistry with his human co-star Kevin Bishop, to the extent that you sincerely feel for the relationship that forms between Jim and Silver even if you know Silver’s intentions from the start. I particularly like their exchange in the ridiculously catchy “Sailing for Adventure,” as well as their scene at the front of the ship where they discuss their fathers and the stars.

Just as the adventure is getting going, however, it stops dead with the wind’s abandonment of the Hispaniola. Out of nowhere, the ship breaks out into the most ridiculous, most “Muppet” of all of the musical numbers, “Cabin Fever.” The song was one of my favorite parts when I was little and it’s always made me laugh, but it’s definitely the biggest detour of the movie that up until that point lived in its own pirate-centric world. It’s a very short-lived detour and as I said, it’s ridiculously funny, but it doesn’t have any bearing on the plot and I could see how people might find it kind of pointless, particularly since it doesn’t even feature three of our main characters, Jim, Silver, or Smollett. One other critique I will give the film is that some of the effects nowadays don’t look very real, like the Hispaniola being composited over still matte paintings -- there are points where the production values remind me a bit of the old Wishbone TV series, where they have to angle the shot just so or get creative just to try to make the ship look as big as it should be. But honestly, there were points where Wishbone impressed me with those same sorts of layering and green-screen effects despite its limited budget, and those cheaper effects don’t look tacky or out-of-place, so I personally don’t mind them that much.

Because this is a Muppet movie, it’s unsurprising that our Mr. Arrow (played by Sam the Eagle) isn’t really killed, instead just being tricked off of the ship by a manipulative Silver, but it says something that, even with that softened plot turn, the stakes are not completely dismantled. We still see the pirates as a legitimate threat when they kidnap Jim and take over the Hispaniola, even when they burst into song. Tim Curry’s “only number,” “A Professional Pirate,” is a perfect expression of his expert, charming showmanship, which in my mind truly can’t be matched by any other performer in Hollywood, past or present. No one gives a performance like Tim Curry. It makes it so that even when I was a bratty kid getting irritated about Silver calling privateer Sir Francis Drake a pirate and using “buccaneer” as a synonym for “pirate,” I would sing this song at the top of my lungs, trying to even reach 75% of the energy Curry put into his vocals.

At long last, Miss Piggy makes her grand debut as “Queen Boom Sha-Kal-a-Kal,” a.k.a. Benjamina Gunn. Although the diva doesn’t end up getting much screentime, she certainly gets a grand entrance, complete with an elephant steed decorated with flowers and a full musical number complete with a tribal chant and ethereal vocalizing. And true to form, when she lays eyes on her one true love, Kermit...she smacks him so hard that he’s thrown backwards off his feet and into a gong. What’s particularly interesting about Piggy in this movie is that although she and Fozzie are voiced by Frank Oz as always, both she and Fozzie were actually puppeted by Kevin Clash, as Oz was unavailable during this film’s production, and Oz’s vocals for both characters were added in post-production. Despite the difference in puppeteer, however, both characters are just as likable as ever -- I’d honestly had no clue that they weren’t performed by the same person! The film even got to use the full-bodied remote-controlled puppets for Kermit and Piggy for the love duet “Love Led Us Here,” which is kicked off by an Evita joke I never got as a kid but as an adult makes me grin like a friggin’ idiot. Fortunately the duet is inter-cut with Silver and the pirates finding the treasure, rather than it being chock-full of romantic flashbacks or prolonged looks between the two lovebirds, giving it a lighter tone than it would’ve had otherwise.

With a much reduced crew comprised only of Rizzo, Gonzo, Squire Trelawney, Dr. Honeydew, Beaker, and the newly returned Mr. Arrow, Jim comes to Benjamina and Smollett’s rescue and returns to Treasure Island to face Silver and the pirates. The action scene is full of humor, but because of the world established in the rest of the film, I would argue it still has stakes. The blows still hurt and there’s still a threat of defeat and danger, most notably when Long John Silver prepares to fight. Even if you don’t think the Muppets are going to die persay, you still feel the suspense in wanting to see what’s going to happen next. And when Silver surrenders, he himself can see the real treasure Jim found on his adventure -- a family...a group of people Muppets who will support him and encourage the very best in him.

Silver’s escape scene is a beautifully heart-wrenching scene -- one that could only have been earned by two excellent performances over the course of the film by Kevin Bishop and Tim Curry. Even though both Silver and Jim know that they’re different people and they could never walk the same path, it doesn’t mean that they don’t still greatly esteem and care about each other. In Jim’s case, it’s especially difficult, given that in parting ways with Silver, he has to cut loose of a very poor potential father figure who would’ve only dragged him down in the long run, but who was so likable in his own damaged way. It proves to be a very bittersweet scene sprinkled into a very happy, cheerful ending, complete with the chipper island-inspired end credits bop “Love Power.”

Muppet Treasure Island is -- in my opinion, at least -- one of the best Muppet movies ever made. It broke away from quite a few Muppet conventions, like the characters breaking the fourth wall and being aware of themselves being in a movie or TV show, and embraced a much less humorous tone in both its writing and cinematography. Yes, it reimagined a classic book like The Muppet Christmas Carol did, but this movie took the next step, embracing the world of the original novel as well as the set-up and immersing the Muppets’ cast of characters in it. Although I can see why some people would be more partial to the original Muppet movie formula and love it a lot myself, I really, really respect Brian Henson and the rest of this film’s crew for taking the Muppets in such a different direction. It was an entertaining, action-packed, funny pirate movie before those sorts of movies became popular again, and it remains my favorite “pirate” movie of all time, as well as my personal favorite incarnation of the Treasure Island story (barely beating out Treasure Planet). I know childhood nostalgia can play a role in what media can give you joy as an adult, but I truly don’t think it’s the only factor here -- it’s also just a really good movie, and I can only hope that more people will consider giving it a chance and have just as much fun Sailing for Adventure as I did!

[odanurr87]

2019: My year in K-Dramas - Part 1

I’ve been getting into kdramas for a few years now, but I usually only watch one or two at a time. This year I watched a lot more (and that’s not counting The Bride of Habaek, which I dropped when it became clear it was a very bad adaptation of the manhwa; Crash Landing on You, which started airing a couple of weeks ago; nor Tomorrow With You, which I haven’t yet finished, what’s probably not a good sign), a few being rewatchs of old shows that I like. Seeing as it’s unlikely I’ll ever write up full reviews for each like I did for Goblin (you can read my review here), I decided to compile this list to tell you what I liked and didn’t like about each, what I feel worked and what didn’t. I’m also including a qualitative metric (Rewatch meter) that tries to gauge how likely it is that I’ll find myself returning to the show in the future (Low, Medium, High). Naturally, your very own meter may differ from mine.

For future reference, these are the shows I watched in 2019 and that I aim to cover in this series of posts:

While You Were Sleeping (2017)

W (2016)

My Strange Hero (2018)

The Secret Life of my Secretary (2019)

Angel’s Last Mission: Love (2019)

Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon (2017)

When the Camellia Blooms (2019)

Bring it on, Ghost (2016)

One More Time (2016)

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (2010)

My Love From The Star (2014)

Descendants of the Sun (2016)

Regardless of which show did better, overall, I find myself drifting more and more towards Korean dramas than your run-of-the-mill American TV show, save for a few bright exceptions, such as The Expanse. Heck, they’re better than most Hollywood movies nowadays.

Since I’ll probably end up writing a lot, I’ve decided to split this review list into two parts. Let’s start with the last kdrama I watched and work my way backwards... if I can remember, that is.

WARNING! There will be spoilers so read at your own risk.

While You Were Sleeping (2017)

Bae Suzy as Nam Hong-Joo, and Lee Jong-Suk as Jung Jae-Chan.

Release Date: September 27 - November 16, 2017

Episodes: 16

Available on: Viki

Summary: Nam Hong-Joo is a young journalist who has had bad dreams about the future since she was a kid, but she has never been able to change the outcome. Jung Jae-Chan is a rookie prosecutor who moves in across the street with his younger brother. When Jae-Chan has a prophetic dream of his own about Hong-Joo being involved in a car accident, and the tragic events that follow, he makes an impulsive decision to interfere, changing Hong-Joo’s fate and that of police officer Han Woo-Tak in the process. When the three of them start having dreams of one another, they realize their lives are somehow entwined. Together, they decide to use their knowledge of the future for good, but changing someone’s fate is never straightforward, and the consequences for doing so may be more than they can handle.

What I liked:

The concept and writing. This is the second show I’ve watched, in chronological order, with Lee Jong-Suk as a lead where I’m really attracted by the concept. Imagine if you could take the precogs from Minority Report and give them (relatively) normal lives inside a kdrama. This is the result. Even better, having Hong-Joo and Woo-Tak have different and often contradicting dreams about the future makes for an interesting twist, as we see prosecutor Jae-Chan struggling to navigate these prophetic waters in search for the best outcome. Curiously, the show makes a point early on about how Jae-Chan’s the variable upon which their dreams diverge, but nothing really comes off it. Naturally, the concept of multiple diverging futures gives the show’s cinematography a chance to play around a bit, often comparing the same event in alternative timelines, or in the same timeline but at different moments in time. It may sound complicated, but it’s pretty to grasp once you start watching. Furthermore, the writing’s pretty tight all around, what’s not a mean feat when you’re juggling multiple realities, with some very emotional payoffs as the show draws to a close. Perhaps its weakest point is exactly how this prophetic dream ability is transferred from person to person (a theory is put forward which doesn’t entirely convince me), and the unnerving (and unexplored, fortunately) implications should someone less honourable were to have these dreams.

When The Nightmares Started. This is the best track in the entire show and if it’s not the main theme, it damn well should be. It has moments of calm, a hint of romance and hope, and that awesome shit-is-about-to-get-real cue starting at 1:38 that never fails to make a scene tons more epic. Your dish-washing experience will be 100% more epic playing to this track, guaranteed!

The Justice League (and friends). This show could’ve probably gotten on my bad side real fast if it had created a villain with the same superpower as the heroes (depends on the execution to be honest) and, indeed, I thought that was the direction it would inevitably take, revealing at some point that (evil) defense attorney Lee Yoo-Beom also had prophetic dreams and had been using them for his benefit all along, muahahaha! Instead, the show gave us three average people, connected by their prophetic dreams, who decide to team up and use these visions for good. It’s not always easy to change the future, as it has many ramifications, and therein lies the show’s narrative potential that it manages to exploit, perchance to its fullest. Even in the very last episode there’s a hint that maybe the people they’ve helped throughout also have dreams of their own that they use to help others, sort of a pay-it-forward chain. It may be somewhat unrealistic, but it’s a good note to end the show on all the same.

Kim Won-Hae as Choi Dam-Dong. Easily the best supporting character in the show, delivering a stronger and more rewarding performance than in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, where he played two characters (he was pretty funny as the over-the-top head of development planning at Ainsoft), veering towards the more serious/dramatic/emotional end of the spectrum, although with some comedic elements mixed in. I was surprised by how strong his arc turned out to be, and my respect for his character went up by several points when his arc comes to a close and we finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together. This man can do both comedy and drama, so kudos to him.

What I didn’t like:

Mr. Perfect (also known as Han Woo-Tak). It’s not that I dislike him, far from it. Woo-Tak is so good, smart, selfless, and even good-looking, that he kinda undermines the OTP just by existing. He’s really setting unreasonable standards for any man to compete against. I mean, he even plays Cupid for the OTP... while also being in love with Hong-Joo! On the plus side, the show doesn’t really try to push the romantic triangle angle, what usually has mixed results. The one thing I did mind is how the show hints at him potentially being a better attorney/prosecutor than the main lead since that’s kind of Jae-Chan’s thing. I mean, if you take everything that makes the lead special and give it to someone else, is he still the lead?

OTP: A stronger performance from Lee Jong-Suk than in W, complemented by a relatively (and I cannot stress this word enough) weaker performance by Suzy in some aspects (I think Han Hyo-Joon’s Oh Yeon-Joo in W does sad love better than Suzy as Nam Hong-Joo, but it’s a matter of preference), results in a better pairing with more chemistry. Suzy is great and lovable at being the quirky Nam Hong-Joo (watch the video below if you’re unconvinced) and Jung Jae-Chan is a lot more vulnerable than Kang Chul ever was, but I was left wondering at times whether this couple would’ve gotten as much traction were it not for the strength of their past connection (especially with Mr. Perfect around).

Verdict: What can I say? While You Were Sleeping was an excellent show from beginning to end. If I were to nitpick, I would’ve chosen the end wedding to be the one between Jae-Chan and Hong-Joo since that honestly makes more sense, and maybe I would’ve made Woo-Tak more of a bro than a somewhat-but-not-entirely romantic rival (think Seo Dae-Young in Descendants of the Sun).

Rewatch meter: High

W (2016)

Han Hyo-Joo as Oh Yeon-Joo, and Lee Jong-Suk as Kang Chul.

Release Date: July 20 - September 14, 2016

Episodes: 16

Available on: Viki

Summary: W is a bestselling webtoon by cartoonist Oh Seong-Moo that follows the adventures of Kang Chul, an Olympic gold medalist framed for the murder of his family, who’s eventually acquitted and becomes a multi-millionaire who fights crime (think Bruce Wayne but without the costume). Tired of his creation, Seong-Moo decides it’s time to kill the protagonist and put an end to the series (much like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle decided to kill Sherlock Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls). Oh Yeon-Joo is Seong-Moo’s daughter, a doctor and passionate fan of W, who is one day mysteriously transported to the world of the manhwa, where she sees a dying Kang Chul and saves his life. Intrigued by his mysterious saviour, Kang Chul decides to learn out more about her and Yeon-Joo finds herself constantly returning to the world of the manhwa. Will Kang Chul learn the truth about her and his world? And if so, what will be the consequences?

What I liked:

The concept. It’s not an altogether original concept, and I’m reminded of Schwarzenegger’s Last Action Hero (Who Framed Roger Rabbit before that), but it’s also not one that you see often on the screen, big or small. The idea of being able to enter the world you’re reading about and meeting the characters you know and love is extremely appealing and there is some fangirling from our protagonist initially. Naturally, since she knows everything about this world, it’s good fun to see her inadvertedly reveal something that she couldn’t possibly know and deal with the reactions/consequences. What’s better is how Yeon-Joo tries to figure out the laws of the manhwa world by applying the real-world concepts of cliffhangers and dramatic revelations, often to hilarious effect. Seeing how the manhwa continues to write itself to reflect events in W’s world, and the reactions by readers (and by Yeon-Joo) in the real world is really entertaining, especially those from the more passionate W fans.

The transition between animation and live-action. I love the blend between animation and live action, as in the example below. There are more subtle transitions, like when a character’s hand oscillates between the real world and the cartoon world. Perhaps it’s a very simple filter but it looks good. Also, what little we see of the manhwa is very well drawn.

Han Hyo-Joo as Oh Yeon-Joo. Despite the fact that Yeon-Joo’s character becomes less proactive in the second half of the series (as I will discuss below), she was the one who really carried the show for me, certainly on the emotional side of the spectrum, where Kang Chul felt a little flat throughout (to be fair, he’s more the analytical type and he’s a manhwa character). She was also able to convey humour quite well, especially in the earlier, funnier, episodes.

The execution (of the first half). The first episode doesn’t waste a second setting up the story and there is never a dull moment. Watching Yeon-Joo read the latest episode of the manhwa and witness her reaction as she sees herself in the comic was gripping and I was eager to see what the next episode would bring. The show was also fairly consistent with the rules of travelling back and forth and what one could and couldn’t do in the cartoon world. We were witnessing an epic struggle between the cartoonist who wanted to kill his creation with his stylus and the daughter who wanted to protect him so much that she had willed herself into his world (if that’s not a good setup for a love story, I don’t know what is). And all the while, Kang Chul was putting the pieces of the puzzle together in his universal and unrelenting search for truth. Every episode brought something new to the table and, much like the manhwa, ended with some revelation or cliffhanger that kept you on the edge of your seat asking for more. Unfortunately, I think that was also its downfall.

What I didn’t like:

The execution (of the second half) and the overall pacing. I think the (relative) downfall of this series was trying to do too much too early. It worked for the first half because the show had a lot of material it could burn through and, in a way, it was refreshing that it was willing to do so. Sadly, my thoughts eventually turned from, “What’s going to happen next?” to “What can even happen next?” The story was moving so fast that I began to wonder where exactly it was going, and that’s when some of the flaws started to seep through. Episode 9 focused on the aftermath of Yeon-Joo resetting events, thus making Kang Chul forget all about her. While I certainly felt for her when she met her amnesiac husband, this was largely thanks to Han Hyo-Joo’s performance (and good track selection), for Kang Chul had been her husband in name only. Had we previously seen more episodes of their life together, this scene would’ve been a lot more impactful, and her desperate crying outside the operating room more heartfelt. Then, the plot thickens as we move into the (overly) dramatic second half of the show, with the introduction of a villain who knows about the real world and starts manipulating events in the manhwa for his benefit... by possessing cartoonist Oh Seong-Moo! What? This was never established as even remotely possible! (not to mention it doesn’t make sense) As you can imagine, this is whereabouts the rules of this universe start to break down and anything goes. Furthermore, when this villain is defeated in Episode 13, the show suddenly remembered it already had an antagonist perfectly cast for the part and finally decided to put him to use, although too little too late for my taste. As if that weren’t enough, a character is killed because drama, since any other explanation would make no fucking sense. This death is entirely nonsensical and I was beginning to conclude the show should have ended a lot sooner.

The amount of flashbacks/dreams/recaps/plans. I don’t mind a good recap or a flashback every now and then, but there came a point where the show started abusing this narrative device a little too much. The show spent a lot of time either: going over things we already know; featuring lengthy dream sequences that are very transparent and serve no purpose (although, incidentally, would make for a better ending); or laying out how events are supposed to go only for them to go in a completely different direction. While they are sometimes necessary, most of the time they were just padding that actually detracted from the story.

How secondary the supporting characters in the manhwa truly are. I know Kang Chul is supposed to be the protagonist but his bodyguard and secretary aren’t given a whole lot to work with throughout the show. I wish they had been active participants in learning the truth of their world rather than passive bystanders.

How Yeon-Joo becomes less proactive in the second half. Maybe it’s just a feeling, but I think our female protagonist became more reactive and less proactive in the second half, with Kang Chul being the one who mostly directed the course of events. It didn’t help that she kept fainting every now and then, what meant she had to spend some time in bed, what was a shame since she was the more interesting character. To be honest, I think the whole father arc should’ve been over and done with in the first half, with Yeon-Joo stepping up to be the new cartoonist.

OTP: Undercooked, but Han Hyo-Joo manages to almost convince me.

Verdict: It’s hard not to say W is one of the most refreshing shows I’ve seen in a while, even despite its more prominent flaws in the second half. I don’t like how powerful the drawing tablet became, especially after it was established that the manhwa could, at times, overrule the will of the real world, as clearly depicted when Kang Chul refuses to commit suicide. I’d rather the manhwa characters had resolved things on their own, aided by Yeon-Joo, without having to resort to some ultra-powerful plot device. Furthermore, I think the show should’ve taken things a bit more slowly rather than try to surprise us every episode, and use that time to build the relationship between Yeon-Joo and Kang Chul. Another thing I feel the show didn’t exploit to its fullest was the fact that Yeon-Joo knows just about everything that’s transpired in W’s world, what maybe could’ve aided Kang Chul in his investigation (sadly, this is undermined by the fact that the murderer really has no identity, what I find odd). Last but not least, Kang Chul never remembering his “past life” was a missed opportunity.

Rewatch meter: Medium

My Strange Hero (2018)

From left to right: Jo Bo-Ah as Son Soo-Jung; Yoo Seung-Ho as Kang Bok-Soo; and Kwak Dong-Yeon as Oh Se-Ho.

Release Date: December 10, 2018 - February 4, 2019

Episodes: 32

Available on: Viki

Summary: When Kang Bok-Soo was a high school student, he was falsely accused of committing acts of violence and ended up expelled from school. Those who brought the accusations against him were his first love, Son Soo-Jung, and a fellow student, Oh Se-Ho. Nine years later, Bok-Soo saves Soo-Jung’s life and suddenly finds himself a mediatic sensation. In order to improve the school’s somewhat tarnished image, he’s invited back to finish his studies. Bok-Soo hesitates, but when he learns Soo-Jung is a teacher there and Se-Ho is the new director, a latent desire to get revenge surfaces. Will Bok-Soo finally get his revenge on the people who wronged him nine years ago? Or will he spend most of his time doing anything but? The latter.

What I liked:

Teacher Park. He’s the kind of teacher everyone would like to have in high school and an example of moral rectitude that Soo-Jung tries to follow. You can tell he really cares for all the students and always tries to be fair and just, no matter the personal cost.

Soo-Jung’s arc. Probably the character who experiences the most growth throughout the show, in no small part thanks to her starting point. She’s the only teacher who stands up for her students, is willing to expose the corruption in the school, and goes so far as to quit her job because she feels she didn’t earn her spot fair and square (despite Oh Se-Ho telling her she was hired because of her qualifications). It is worth noting that when Mr Park gives the other teachers the chance to own up and resign honourably nobody does.

What I didn’t like:

The series meanders a lot early on. Initially, I watched till Episode 14 and dropped it because nothing was really going on. Bok-Soo says he wants to get revenge but his heart really isn’t into it. He certainly doesn’t have a plan like, say, Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo, or Emily Thorne in Revenge. In fact, for those first 14 episodes, it only seemed he went there to suffer some more at the hands of the same people who wronged him all those years ago. What leads me to...

Son Soo-Jung isn’t a very likable protagonist initially. I don’t know if this is done on purpose to get us to side with Bok-Soo, but it doesn’t seem like a very smart strategy to have us dislike the lead’s main love interest for almost half the length of the series. I mean, that’s what the antagonist is for. It seems like at every opportunity she twists the knife on Bok-Soo’s back a little more, so much so that a hurt Bok-Soo outright demands, “Why don’t you just ask me what happened instead of constantly making assumptions?” (I’m paraphrasing) Her response, basically telling him to fuck off, didn’t win her any points in my book. That’s about when the writers probably realized their mistake and started filling us in on how Soo-Jung’s life was also miserable after Bok-Soo was expelled so please don’t hate her. They also pull a 180 when she stands up for Bok-Soo during a disciplinary hearing, what I thought was quite out of character for her at the time. The two seem to patch up their relationship awfully fast, what struck me as odd as they didn’t seem to have much chemistry. Having said that, Soo-Jung’s character certainly grows after Episode 14 and has a very satisfying arc, ultimately being the only teacher worth a damn in this school, other than Mr Park.

“Is Kang Bok-Soo’s revenge finally starting?” After I initially dropped this show at the Episode 14 mark, a video popped up in my YT feed with that title (only they used the actor’s name instead of the character’s). It was a scene where Bok-Soo went about exposing the many deeds of corruption within the school. Great, I thought, shit is finally hitting the fan... in Episode 26. I resumed watching from that mark until the end. The series had finally managed to get me invested, almost as it was over, and I decided to watch the episodes I’d missed.

OTP: There are some cute moments but I still didn’t feel the chemistry (what, ultimately, is my entirely subjective take).

Verdict: I don’t feel this is a true romance drama like others on this list, if ever it tried to be, what’s decidedly strange because there are many episodes dedicated to exploring the relationship between Bok-Soo and Soo-Jung with little else going on. Instead, I see it as more of a critique on the Korean education system and the immense pressures students are subjected to in order to meet unreasonable standards, with some romance elements sprinkled on it so that it’s not too depressing. That’s my take on it anyway. As such, it has some enjoyable aspects to it, like seeing Bok-Soo share nuggets of wisdom every now and then, or the students standing up for Bok-Soo and their school, or the revenge/investigation finally kicking into high gear. It’s just unfortunate it took so long to get there and didn’t really encourage me to do so.

Rewatch meter: Low

The Secret Life of my Secretary (2019)

From left to right: Koo Ja-Sung as Ki Dae-Joo; Kim Young-Kwang as Do Min-Ik; Jin Ki-Joo as Jung Gal-Hee; and Kim Jae-Kyung as Veronica Park/Park Ok-Sun.

Release Date: May 6 - June 25, 2019

Episodes: 32

Available on: Viki

Summary: The story follows Do Min-Ik, a prominent director at T&T Mobile Media, and his secretary, Jung Gal-Hee, as together they deal with the onset of an illness that prevents Do Min-Ik from seeing faces, the result of a possible attempt on Min-Ik’s life by some unknown party. On the corporate drama side, this undermines his shot to succeed his (jerk of an) uncle as Chairman of the company, and we see Min-Ik and Gal-Hee struggling to hide the truth of his illness and overcome the many obstacles set on their way to chairmanship. On the romance side, his inability to recognize faces causes him to mistake his secretary for Veronica Park, a rich heiress and leading figure in the film industry, whom he eventually falls in love with... what is kind of a problem since the real Veronica Park develops a crush on Min-Ik’s best friend, Ki Dae-Joo (also a director at T&T), while Gal-Hee falls in love with her boss. And, just in case we didn’t have enough corporate drama, we learn early on that someone may be embezzling from T&T and all the signs point to Dae-Joo. How will this all turn out?

What I liked:

Do Min-Ik and Jung Gal-Hee working together. Min-Ik is one sharp boss, and the moment he’s unable to recognize faces, he starts devising other strategies to recognize people, such as identifying them by their height. Gal-Hee pitches in with the different directors’ hairstyles, and eventually Min-Ik is even able to recognize them by their specific tics. Another example is the first stockholders’ meeting where they team up to prevent Min-Ik’s dismissal. Everything goes so smoothly that it prompts Veronica Park to ask Gal-Hee, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Did you write the script to this play?”

What I didn’t like:

The deceit lasting so long. Min-Ik doesn’t start as the best of bosses, we see that in the first episode, but that very same episode opens the door for him caring for Gal-Hee more than he’s willing to let on. The show does a good enough job of explaining his rather rude behaviour towards his secretaries and why he always fires them within a year, what makes the deceit all the more hurtful. However, the problem I have with Min-Ik not realizing Gal-Hee was pretending to be Veronica Park, is that this happens for 24 episodes! That means we only have 8 episodes left for him to feel betrayed about the whole thing yet also recover in time to start dating Gal-Hee. I don’t feel this was enough time to successfully explore their relationship.

How weak/bland every other story is. The attempt on Min-Ik’s life and the police’s investigation of it is handled abysmally, with the detectives only appearing from time to time to create what some writer thinks is drama. They’re so useless that the perpetrator actually has to turn himself in! I thought Dae-Joo was a bland character throughout, so I had zero interest in his relationship with Veronica Park. The same goes for Gal-Hee’s family. Even Min-Ik’s mother somehow pulls a 180 out of the blue. The only other plot thread that caught my eye was the possible embezzlement and that was wrapped up horribly, what leads me to...

No one facing the consequences of their actions. No matter how much the writers want to frame this secret organisation within T&T as Robin-Hood-like, the fact remains that they were stealing. Not only that, but they can be directly tied to the assault and attempted murder of Do Min-Ik, among other crimes. Sure, they’re all fired at some point, but they all get hired back thanks to Min-Ik. Nobody faces any jail time except for the guy directly responsible for Min-Ik’s accident who actually apologizes to him and turns himself in. The leader of this shadowy organisation comes out unscathed and has her machinations to see Dae-Joo become chairman of T&T rewarded when...

Dae-Joo becoming the chairman of T&T. What a payoff. The blandest and most uninterested character in the entire show becomes the chairman when the character we’ve been rooting for throughout, the only one who’s willing to put everything on the line to help the downtrodden secretaries, gets the short end of the stick. I guess it’s true when they say no good deed goes unpunished.

OTP: There is some chemistry there and I wish we had seen more of it, but sadly the (official) relationship between Gal-Hee and Min-Ik takes place a little too late.

Verdict: Usually, most of the kdramas I’ve watched and liked, to some extent, have some scenes that are imprinted on your mind (much like Gal-Hee’s face is imprinted on Min-Ik) and that you find yourself returning to from time to time. With this show, I honestly had to struggle to recall any such scenes, even with the aid of YouTube playlists. This is not helped by the fact that I can recall none of the music used, and that’s not a good sign. Memorable scenes and songs usually go together, as the next show in my list will prove. Ultimately, The Secret Life of my Secretary, while entertaining enough, didn’t live up to my expectations and, as such, it’s unlikely I’ll be rewatching it any time soon.

Rewatch meter: Low

Angel’s Last Mission: Love (2019)

Shin Hye-Sun as Lee Yeon-Seo, and Kim Myung-Soo (Infinite L) as Kim Dan.

Release Date: May 22 - July 11, 2019

Episodes: 32

Available on: Viki

Summary: Kim Dan, a troublemaking angel with a kind heart, is 24 hours away from Heaven when he meets the beautiful, talented, yet cynical and arrogant, prima ballerina Lee Yeon-Seo. Recently blinded by an accident during a performance, Yeon-Seo somehow manages to spot Kim Dan, who should be invisible to any human. His curiosity sparked, he follows Yeon-Seo around and eventually, in a fit of impulsiveness, saves her life in a car accident. However, for having interfered and saved a human’s life, Kim Dan is fated to turn to dust... unless he’s willing to undertake one final task. His mission? He must help Yeon-Seo find true love, but will he be able to keep from falling in love himself? Obviously not. And, naturally, Yeon-Seo has some evil relatives who are out to get her, because it wouldn’t be a kdrama otherwise.

What I liked:

The songs. I can’t vouch for the entire OST for I haven’t listened to it all yet (Correction: I’ve now since listened to all of it and it really has a lot of good tracks), but there are at least a handful of songs that will stick with you like glue. I can’t say if I like the songs more because of the scenes in which they play, or if I like the scenes more because of the songs that are used, but I can say the songs play an important role in engraving these scenes into my mind. Songs like ‘Sweeter’, by Jess Penner, that play when we’re playfully exploring the relationship between Yeon-Seo and Kim Dan; or ‘Pray’, by KLANG, when some important relevation or dramatic scene is about to transpire; or ‘Oh My Angel’, by Chai, that plays during the more romantic moments; these songs have made it into my Spotify list and are a must-listen on a daily basis for now.

The humor. Beyond the interactions between Kim Dan and Yeon-Seo, which sometimes make for very humorous situations, my hat’s off to the characters of Archangel Hoo, Dan’s senior (played by Kim In-Kwon) and Chung Yu-Mi, Yeon-Seo’s butler (played by Woo Hee-Jin). The former has dozens of opportunities for humor as he’s able to take the form of any human and keeps surprising Kim Dan by keeping tabs on him. The latter is probably the closest thing Yeon-Seo has to a mother (or maybe an older sister), and can be playfully mischievous when she starts noticing our leads may have feelings for each other. There are two scenes that perfectly embody the show’s humor that I would be remiss if I didn’t direct you to. Be aware they contain spoilers.

The leads and their chemistry. You cannot make a kdrama work if the leads don’t have some sort of chemistry (well, I suppose you could but it would be a bit of an uphill battle) and Shin Hye-Sun and Kim Myung-Soo have that in spades. This shows not only during the more romantic scenes, what’s expected, but also during their fights, what’s even better (if that makes any sense). This isn’t the first time I’ve seen L acting, in fact, he played the character of Yoo Tan in the short kdrama One More Time, with actress Yoon So-Hee playing his love interest, Moon Da-In. He sold me on that show then, as did Yoon So-Hee, but I feel his acting’s improved in this, or maybe the script and length of the show allows him to flesh out his character more, showing us more sides of his personality as the show draws to its end. And it’s really amazing to see how effortlessly Shin Hye-Sun can don the skin of the strong, cold, and harsh Yeon-Seo in one scene, and then swap it for the playful, romantic, and vulnerable Yeon-Seo that Kim Dan falls in love with in the next. Just watch more of those KBS World TV clips if you don’t believe me. These two steal every scene they’re in, but I feel Shin Hye-Sun is really the standout here. (At the time of this posting, Shin Hye-Sun has won the Top Excellence Award (Female) in KBS’s 2019 Drama Awards for her role in this show, so congratulations to her on an award well deserved!)

What I didn’t like:

How the show meanders towards the end. I laid out the plot in the most succinct way possible, but it’s hardly that straightforward. Dan’s mission should, in theory, be over when Yeon-Seo learns to love again, but then the show would then be over a lot sooner than Episode 32. The writers know that so they move the goalpost, at some point revealing that Dan also had to learn to love for the mission to be truly over. Not only that, but they both had to be willing to sacrifice everything for their loved one in order for God to believe their love was sincere or something, what leads one to think they need to commit suicide and the other to think they need to commit murder. I don’t know, by this point the show’s either stretching things out to reach the 32-episode mark or they’re milking each scene for every ounce of drama they can get, probably both. This problem gets compounded by the fact that...

Some (other) things don’t make a whole lot of sense. To start with, the theology and consistency on this show is all over the place. The same God that apparently ordered a couple of angels to shoot someone, gangsta style, because an angel broke the rules and fell in love with a human, is moved by our lead couple’s Romeo-and-Juliet love story and by Yeon-Seo’s ballet performance. Oh, and by the way, shooting someone is not how unruly angels are dealt with, God can simply pull a Thanos and have them vanish into mist, so why did he decide to use a gun that one time? Because drama! God also decides that the best time to send Dan to Heaven is when Yeon-Seo is lying commatose in the hospital (what a dick), to which Dan says, “Fuck it, I’m staying here,” and God lets him return as an angel so he can help Yeon-Seo wake up, interfering once again and thereby ceasing to exist... except he’s still an angel an episode later! What the f*** is going on here?! Archangel Hoo broke the rules once and he got the Thanos treatment, so how come Kim Dan gets so many second chances?

Some characters are either superfluous or their arcs are unclear. As an example of the latter, there’s the character of Ji Kang-Woo (played by Lee Dong-Gun), Yeon-Seo’s ballet instructor and Kim Dan’s rival for Yeon Seo’s affection. It’s revealed early on that he’s an angel-turned-human after breaking the rules and falling in love with a human himself... whom the gangster angels promptly killed. It’s never explained why she had to die while Yeon-Seo and Kim Dan are allowed to stay together, but apparently Kang-Woo is satisfied that his pain was necessary so he could help them trick God or something. I’ve no idea. But the award for the most superfluous character has to go to Ni-Na’s secret ballet instructor who only appears when the script dictates and is not developed at all. I can’t even remember if she had a name! What was her point even?

OTP: Probably one of the best pairings of the year (says the guy who’s watched maybe 4-5 2019 shows out of who knows how many).

Verdict: This is a case of the pros outweighing the cons. There’s simply too much that works for me, so many scenes and songs that stayed with me thanks to the strong performances of our leads and some of the supporting cast. I was never unaware of its more glaring flaws, what prevents this show from reaching Goblin levels of quality, but I could easily find myself rewatching it from time to time.

Rewatch meter: High

Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon (2017)

From left to right: Park Bo-Young as Do Bong-Soon; Ji Soo as In Guk-Doo; and Park Hyung-Sik as Ahn Min-Hyuk.

Release Date: February 24 - April 15, 2017

Episodes: 16

Available on: Viki, Netflix

Summary: Do Bong-Soon has a secret: she is insanely strong, a superhuman ability that has been passed down to the women in her family for generations. She also aspires to create a video game with herself as the main character. When Ahn Min-Hyuk, the CEO of gaming company Ainsoft, chances by her as she’s beating up half a dozen thugs, he’s instantly mesmerized by both her beauty and strength. The recent target of anonymous threats, Min-Hyuk decides to hire Bong-Soon as a bodyguard (she ends up being more of a secretary) and she accepts with the promise of joining the planning department of Ainsoft once the culprit is caught. Meanwhile, detective In Guk-Doo, Bong-Soon’s secret crush and childhood friend, investigates a series of strange kidnappings and murders in Bong-Soon’s neighbourhood. When the culprit targets Bong-Soon’s best friend, Bong-Soon and Min-Hyuk find themselves involved in the hunt for the criminal.

What I liked:

Gangster Bong-Soon. Okay, maybe saying she’s a gangster is a bit too much, but after beating a bunch of school bullies into submission, they soon look up to her as their new boss, taking orders from her and even looking out for her so that her secret isn’t exposed. It’s pretty funny then that Bong-Soon has to save her crew from being harassed by the new neighbourhood bullies, acting the part of a gangster for a short while.

The need for training. I appreciate the fact that Min-Hyuk foresaw the need to help Bong-Soon have full control of her strength, although he also created routines to bolster up her endurance, not to mention some of the moves she learned could have come in handy when she was depowered (sadly, she doesn’t use them). And all of this training does indeed pay off, as we see Bong-Soon fight smartly and using only as much strength as is needed to get the job done, as opposed to her Episode 1 self who used way too much strength with hilarious results. You can witness the results of Min-Hyuk’s training in the fight with the “new bullies” I mentioned previously, as well as the one at the beginning of Episode 9. Beyond fighting, her training also had positive results in her everyday life, like now being able to hug people without worrying about choking them.

The leads and their chemistry. The chemistry of these two is off the charts (it’s over 9000!!!). Everything about Park Bo-Young as Do Bong-Soon screams cute, from her short height to the way she talks, and even her glares of disapproval when Min-Hyuk does something he shouldn’t have. She’s also confident when she needs to, but not afraid to show vulnerability around the people she loves. I could shower similar praise on Park Hyung-Sik as Ahn Min-Hyuk, especially where the vulnerability department is concerned. Male leads tend to be more stoic (like In Guk-Doo), so it was quite refreshing to see how devastated Min-Hyuk was when he learned the identity of the one threatening him, or how crazy-in-love he is around Bong-Soon (she’s his kryptonite). Min-Hyuk is never afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve and it shows in every single scene. These two can just stare at each other in silence and convey more emotion than any spoken word.

The humor. I’m not talking about the dumb hospital scenes that feature humor more similar to what you’d find in a crappy Hollywood “comedy” (peeing jokes, really?), but things like Hyung-Sik’s ad-libbing throughout the show (he’s having a blast), or the more funny interactions between Min-Hyuk and Bong-Soon, even the ever-changing Romeo and Juliet scenes as Bong-Soon’s feelings for the different characters evolve.

What I didn’t like:

The sudden disappearance of Min-Hyuk’s family. Initially, the show has two distinct storylines: the string of kidnappings/murders, on the one hand; and the threats to Min-Hyuk, likely related to the question of who in his family will become the new Chairman of Ohsung Group. As expected, Min-Hyuk has several brothers who are a bit jealous of his success with Ainsoft and intuit their father will name him the Chairman, so it makes sense one of them is behind the threats. Once the storyline is resolved however, Min-Hyuk’s family is completely out of the picture, even during his marriage, what I find extremely odd.

The randomness of the depowering rule. Very early on the show explains that, while the women of the Bong-Soon family are blessed with superhuman strength from birth, they can easily lose this ability should they try to use it for less than honorable pursuits. It can be something as simple, and apparently harmless, as using this strength to become an Olympic weightlifting champion, as Bong-Soon’s mother soon found out, but it’s usually tied to using this ability to hurt innocent people. Naturally, once this rule was made known, it was only a matter of time before Bong-Soon would lose her powers as well, and this did indeed happen towards the end of the show. The problem I have with it is two-fold: its execution and its consistency. Bong-Soon doesn’t purposefully hurt an innocent man, she’s tricked into doing so by the villain. One could argue that whatever higher power granted this ability can’t tell the difference, except that argument falls apart entirely when you realize Bong-Soon has already purposefully used her power to hurt innocent people, like that one time she crushed Min-Hyuk’s foot to keep him silent (among multiple examples). That this event is played for laughs should have no bearing on the outcome. Furthermore, we later see Bong-Soon pleading for her strength to return so she can save Min-Hyuk, so it would appear that whatever higher power was listening is intelligent. At the end of the day, we all know this happened because the writers didn’t want to limit the fun possibilities of Bong-Soon abusing her power a little bit, saving it for the right moment to amp the drama. So, in reality, I was aware of it, and decided to roll with it.

OTP: Cuteness overload.

Verdict: This is one of the strongest shows in this list (no pun intended), more so given how much it’s able to pull off in 16 episodes as opposed to other shows’ 32, which is why I’m more lenient in terms of its writing. This is simply a good, fun, show, easily rewatchable thanks to the cute OTP. While its soundtrack may not be on par overall with the one from Angel’s Last Mission: Love, it still features some solid, memorable, songs (’Heartbeat’ by SURAN being the most obvious, but also ‘Double Trouble Couple’ by MAMAMOO, or ‘Super Power Girl’ by Every Single Day), not to mention a highly effective and comedic use of sound effects. Definitely one of my favourite shows.

Rewatch meter: High

And that brings us to the end of Part 1. I hope you had a good time reading through this post, maybe even found a show to your liking. What were some of your favourite shows in 2019? Stay tuned for Part 2!

[girl4music]

Hercules VS Xena: Striking differences

If you want the defining difference between Xena and Hercules… it’s actually not so much to do with feminism or gender representation. Those are the finer details, sure. But from a first-look standpoint, it’s that Xena is made for audiences that can understand and relate to its depth in production and writing of the emotional and mental kind, and Hercules is made for audiences who enjoy the writing and production of the physical kind. The action and the excitement. Of course, you get both with both shows, but you can tell one is more geared to one side than the other side. And I think the shows grew with the audience rather than the other way around. The stories got deeper and darker and much more complicated the more the audience tuned in and asked for what they wanted to see and hear of more. Therefore, I have to bring up the striking differences between both shows. If you want a show with good characters that only do good, watch Hercules. If you want a show with good characters that fluctuate, watch Xena. Redemption is a huge part of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’. There are many episodes that deal with the themes of redemption and reconciliation that are very powerful. The main character, Xena, never quite is of one side or the other side. She’s both and she comes to reconcile with both. As does those that love her and believe in her. She comes to be in balance with light and with dark, with good and with evil, with peace and with war. And it’s not just her that does either. Many of the characters in Xena deal with these themes in very different ways. From the few episodes I’ve bothered to watch, ‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’ doesn’t have that. It’s because the characters are innately good that there’s no depth, no complication, and no moral standing of which to learn from. I’m not saying it’s not an entertaining show. I mean, it’s action-packed, there’s lots of fight scenes and there are interesting characters that do deal with important issues. However, it doesn’t seem convincing because it lacks the negative sides of those issues. Avoids telling the darker stories and therefore, you can’t take it seriously enough. I’m not being hater; I’m just being honest. In my personal opinion, the better show is Xena because it’s just got so much more to it. It’s a lot more mature and intelligent. It’s catered to an older audience than Hercules is. Requiring a broader and expanded consciousness so that the serious and important matters can be understood. Children can watch it, but it is more for the adults I’d say, or at least young adults. However, many of its fans did watch it as a child. Shaping their world view and philosophy as they grew into an adult, and eventually coming to understand what they were watching. I’m no different to that. That is very much my background with the show as well. As I watch it as an adult, I acknowledge, consider and understand its themes and lessons so much so more than I ever did as a child. That’s why I’m saying Xena is meant for an older audience and Hercules is meant for a younger audience.

I remember reading this interview segment in a Tumblr post awhile back where Kevin Sorbo talked about Xena and what he believed was wrong with it. Two themes were mentioned, seemingly “issues” to him. He said that the violence and the lesbianism were the aspects of the show that were “issues”. I think the word he was really looking for is “controversial”. Xena is a more complex and sophisticated show and it used violence to make the point clear that goodness, righteousness and peace is not black and white. It’s very difficult to not result to violence in dire situations. They were not encouraging violence. They were using it to teach a lesson, as well as explaining that just because you do result to violence in certain circumstances, you’re not inherently a violent person. You just did what you believed you should do in the moment and that that’s okay. The violence and the darker themes to the show made those lessons all the more powerful and inspiring. As for the lesbianism… I can see why that would have been an actual “issue”. Consider that at that time, even multi-cultural and interracial heterosexual couplings was still very new to mainstream TV. They were pushing boundaries with that alone, never mind homosexual couplings. I think the producers and writers did the best they could with it. Overall, Sorbo’s views are very one-sided and he wasn’t thinking about the bigger picture. Which is that you can’t have the positive themes without the negative themes if you are to understand the importance of them. That’s what he didn’t realize and failed to mention in that interview. The point to this post is not to compare or judge or criticize. It’s to explain to people that if they want to understand the way life works and learn how to handle it, they’re better off watching the more mature, intelligent and darker show than the one that avoids those themes altogether. Furthermore, all the really interesting characters in ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ are the ones that are “searching”. This showcases that it’s human conditions and conflicts that make for really great TV entertainment. People love characters they can relate to for their flaws and mistakes rather than their heroism. It’s definitely a huge factor as to why Xena stands the test of time and became more successful and popular than its predecessor, Hercules. That within this action/fantasy show, there were these themes and lessons that make it far more than just “the hero that saves the innocent”. That there is strong and substantial material that goes far deeper than the surface. So much so that you actually start to enjoy the show for its comedy and lighter episodes; such as ‘A Day In The Life’ and ‘Been There, Done That’. You begin to crave them when you realize just how dramatic and intense this show can be sometimes. It really adds to its vibe. The camp is something both Xena and Hercules is well known for. The exaggeration, the subtext, the homoerotic nature of the characters etc… However, I personally think for Xena, it propelled the show, but with Hercules, it degraded it. And that’s mainly because in Hercules, there wasn’t enough balance. The scales tipped more towards the silly and the satirical. Because of this, the drama and the tenser sides to the show didn’t feel honest or serious. Whereas in Xena, it did because it was not afraid to go in-depth with the darker side to the show. It made the audience question the characters and the storylines.

Okay, so getting on to the finer details of having gender representation, I’d like to explain another reason why I believe Xena was more popular and successful than Hercules was. They always tried to make Hercules “the man”. Had to consistently point out his masculinity and physical strength and ability to catch the female eye. They wrote the character as if he had to be a certain way to be the good person or the right person. Whereas with Xena, there wasn’t any of that. Xena was a woman who had all those so-called “masculine” traits while still being female. A female that could do anything a male could do… or in some cases… better than a male could do them. She had the physical strength of ten men combined. She wasn’t written to look or be like “the man” in particular. But because the traits and skills she had were more known for a man to be capable of than a woman in those times… she was stereotyped as a more of a masculine character than a feminine one. At least to me it seemed she was viewed that way. In my personal opinion (I’m not saying they were trying to make it look this way), Xena was the one that carried more feminine energy and Gabrielle was the one that carried more masculine energy. But that’s just my personal perspective. I have my reasons to think and believe that and to interpret those characters’ energies like that.

Before you get me wrong, I’m not saying that it’s just about female representation. It’s not just about showing these fluid traits in females. It’s not all about feminism! I’ll point out that in an episode of Xena, there is a female character that hated men. That blamed men for all their problems. That was always making them at fault for everything… just because they were men. But the show producers/writers gave the very clear message that it’s not always men at all. That sometimes a woman can be just as cruel and selfish and hard. That it could go both ways and women can abuse and misuse men just as much as men can abuse and misuse women. That there’s no “more or less than” between them. It depended on the situation that the characters were in than on the individual character’s gender or type. That very much stood out for me when watching Xena. From what I’ve seen of Hercules, (which isn’t very much, I’ll admit) it seemed to be that the women were always depicted as the dainty, soft and sweet little things that were always falling all over the men and didn’t have a bad bone in their body. And that the men were always the strong, capable, physical and abusive ones. Again, don’t get me wrong! I’m very aware it can be like that. But it’s not always like that. It’s just a stereotype. A stereotype is where if you see a certain characteristic or behaviour in one or two people, you immediately assume or interpret everyone to be in that same mentally constructed category that just doesn’t exist. It’s just not a realistic picture to paint of either gender or type of person because humans are very fluid in their energies. Xena showed the times when men could be the soft, compassionate and kind type of person. It also showed when women could be the cruel, selfish and hard type of person. There was no “she’s masculine” or “he’s feminine”. They weren’t trying to give the depiction that you’re either one or the other and it has to be that way. They were saying that it was both. That females have what is considered “masculine” traits and males have what is considered “feminine” traits and none of it was wrong or inappropriate. It made the statement that whether male or female… they were still the same species. They were still human. In fact, they didn’t only show it with humans. They showed it with the Olympian gods too. With immortals. Not necessarily considered human but shown in the human image. From my perspective, at least, I would say that’s a very strong and substantial reason to watch the show; Xena, over the show; Hercules, or to judge on what show was better produced/written, even if it was the same people that created and worked on both shows. Because it seems to me that one was definitely much more thought out than the other in producing and writing. Xena has definitely shown me what it is that I look for in TV shows/movies/books/games or other forms of entertainment and art. Good producing/writing and dynamic characters that are not stereotyped. That do not belong to any particular category or labelled in any solid or permanent way. Characters that are fluid and interchangeable and versatile. Characters like Xena and Gabrielle and Callisto, that can make you see the individual person in both positive and negative ways, enough to realize that they are completely human and real. Enough to be relatable and so you can resonate with their mindsets. I don’t understand how or why there is such striking differences between these shows. Because given the fact Kevin Sorbo didn’t play Hercules and the show was at the same level of producing/writing as Xena, I probably would have loved to watch it just as much, if not more. There were some potentially great characters (both male and female) from Hercules that weren’t introduced in Xena that could have done with a better or longer arc, so you could get to know them more and could see that they weren’t produced/written in a stereotypical way. Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps both shows have dynamic characters and give the same messages and I just haven’t done enough research or watched enough of the other show to judge accurately. But this is only my personal perspective and opinion on both shows regardless. I’m not saying it is fact because both shows are left to interpretation anyway. Take out of it what you will. I think I’ve made a satisfactory analysis to draw from to create your own. I’d very much like to read or hear yours.

"Hercules is the hero we hope is out there. Xena is the hero we hope is in all of us." - Liz Friedman, executive producer for 'Xena: Warrior Princess'.

[fantroll-purgatory]

(credits to eternal_galaxys,metalchairz and idk where the other for the hair damn.)

If you remember the other credits please tell us so we can add them! ^_^

FIRST: Alternia or Beforus or some type of AU? Beforan Name (preferably include how you came up with it and why): Ernaci (from Erenacinae, the scientific name of hedgehogs) Sozpat (a butchered version of sociopath which is a bit of her. I need to think of better names bc I suck at it.)

Sociopathy is a term that’s been out of circulation for a while because it’s not actually very helpful and has mostly been used to stigmatize mentally ill ppl. Reading what I’ve read of her character, it seems less to me that she’s a standard or stereotypical “sociopath” (not a real thing) and is instead just Low Empathy. …I’m almost tempted to make a Shadow the Hedgehog joke here because of how you’ve described her personality, but I… shall refrain…. Still, it might be worth looking to him for some inspo since you’re hedgehog themeing her!

Either way, if you want to keep a similar sounding name, maybe you could do Schope, as a reference to Schopenhauer, a philosopher who helped establish the idea of the Hedgehog Dilemma. 

Age: 7.5 sweeps

Strife Specibus: needlekind (knitting needles but doesnt use it for knitting.)

Fetch Modus: (none yet)

You could have something like… a quill modus to further drive home the prickly theme. Everything is stored inside a spike ball. She has to reach in to grab it, but if she’s not careful she can get hurt.

Blood color: Indigo

Symbol and meaning: Sagira (Prospit, Mind)

Trolltag: doubleedgedBlabbermouth

Quirk: I actually don’t know aside from perfect caps. also commas instead of periods. Also speaks with some internet lingo. I just don’t know how to incoperate the hedgehog spikes to her quirk lol. Hun,,, you got a big storm coming on you,,,

\You could put spines around all her messages,,,/// <- Like That

Or you could have her use ->->-> When she’s being accusatory.

Special Abilities (if any): Super strength from being an Indigo-blood but doesn’t use it that much.

Lusus: Hedgehog in the size of an adult cat.

Verie Cute. I could make a joke here about like… having a hedgepony, As a hegemony pun. But that’s more of a ‘bluebloods having horse lusii’ joke and not a necessity. 

Personality: Ernaci is that one person who tries not to be an asshole. She is brutally honest (a double-edged sword) that it can hurt others without her knowing. Talkshitting is fine for her since she doesn’t feel bad after doing so. Ernaci has good intentions and ideas, it’s just that she struggles to word shit correctly so she gets misunderstood (put-foot-in-mouth 24/7). She is stuck between being a porcupine and emotionally/physically intimate. Ernaci really tries her best to overcome her flaws but the other side of her doesn’t want to change so she’s stuck again. She has a hard time showing emotions because she suppresses it. She’s also peak hedgehog’s dilemma.

EDIT: also things to add for Ernaci Sozpat: she’s also stuck between not caring about her reputation and actually giving a fuck about it and on asking help or just fucking stay like that forever.

I like this a Lot! You made her a mind character and I think all of this plays really well into that. The identity conflict, the objectivity. Mind players value action over feeling, they’re about the physical and not the spiritual and so that’s definitely something you can do with her. She knows how to Act, she knows how to Think, but she doesn’t know how to feel. And that means that when she gets close to people she can hurt them. 

So this creates a really interesting character dynamic! Desiring to get close but knowing it’s not a good idea but not knowing how to fix it or even if she wants to fix it. Being harsh with others and possibly drawing their criticism because she doesn’t understand feelings. It’s great tension!

As I said above, I also think she’s more low empathy than “sociopathic,” which just means she can’t understand how other people are feeling. It’s something you can research about online for further portrayal!

Interests: gossips, rom-com media, comedy media, film noir, self-deprecation memes, internet, internet drama (I want to add more interests but can’t think for something related to mind)

Mind is a hard one to really grab Interests for because it really is all about action. And usually facades, too. If she likes internet drama, she could probably even like like… internet trolling. Putting on a fake persona and stirring up shit on forums.

Title: Mage of Mind since she has mild sociopathic tendencies and also has to come to terms with her mind. (how can i portray her correctly lol)

I’ve said as much, but I really do agree with this. She understands Mind, Logic, Thought, and as a result she tries to passively push and form emotion to fit the mold of logic but it just doesn’t work. 

Land: (i havent thought of this one)

Land of Frost and Spines, maybe? Something chilly and spiky. 

Dream Planet: Prospit

Trivia: The songs that i’ve picked for her are also one of my favorite jams Bad Girls by Tennis, Sinful by Marina and Bad Reputation by Joan Jett. Also a lot of hedgehog jackshit because Hedgehog’s dilemma lol.   Honestly she kinda sounds like a Rage player writing this.

And oh I kind of projected on this character oof.

I like her a lot! And dw, I think she soudns more like a mind player than a rage. 

Design time!:

Sorry for the lack of transparent background once more. But here we go! 

Hair: I made her hair a liiiittle spikier just for the Hedgehog Theme. 

Face: Her eyes looked a little too familiar, so I change them up a bit to make her look slightly harsher. I also turned her lips blue just for some Variety. And I gave her a suspiciously heartshaped mole because... Marina Diamandis. 

Body in general: I just did some color and outline edits to make things visually read a lil better! 

Sign: I just made it smaller so it wouldn’t be hidden by the kerchief. 

-CD

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Biweekly Media Roundup

- Everything Everywhere All At Once (Movie) - Desperately need to find a way to force my loved ones to watch this. What a fantastic experience, not since The Good Place have I seen a piece of media that so expertly marries incredibly moving and relevant themes about life and morality with absolute batshit chaotic comedy and the most out there scenes you will ever bear witness to. 10/10 Everything I could ever want.

- Interior Design Masters (TV) - I mean I like interior design but boy do I wish they would stop putting the contestants in teams, it’s fine sometimes but I wanna see just one complete vision for once.

- The Umbrella Academy (TV) - While I’m not sure the season was as cohesive as the first when it comes to themes or narrative, I did have a lot of fun with this one. I appreciate all the sibling interactions we got, the multiple dance scenes, the end of the world wedding and outside destruction effect, and more Lila. Also Klaus’ whole plot was great, as usual. And of course the music is on point and incorporated so well into the scenes, which has been one of the series greatest strengths from day 1. I’m glad this hasn’t fallen into the Stranger Things/Westworld Seasonal rot and as a whole each new season has been more or less as entertaining as the previous ones, though in some cases it does kinda feel like they’re making some of it up as they go so hopefully they do actually have a master ending they are working towards, even if the exact details are malleable. 

- First Kill (TV) - Enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting to, and I did figure I would like it. It was just the right mix of sincerity and corniness, and I just adored how much each of the families loved each other in their own odd little way. I was of course on board from the moment I read the monster/monster-hunter lesbian drama/comedy premise but there was a lot that surprised me, like how well written and likable both of the mothers were, how unfetishized the lesbian relationships were (no homophobia or creepy frat bros to be found), and how they actually bothered to write an interesting ongoing plot outside of the forbidden romance.

- Witch Hat Atelier (Manga) - Still great, eagerly awaiting anime news. 

- Land of the Lustrous (Manga) - Back from a 1+ year long hiatus, it was actually really nice to see all the gems vibin on the moon, though of course the last part had to remind us about poor Phos and their horrible awful no good very bad 10,000 year solitary vacation. 

- Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes (Video Games) - Caved in and got it because I miss these characters and wanted to see the new supports. I’m getting more used to the gameplay, though I still prefer 3 houses, and am a bit disappointed that there weren't nearly as many supports as I was led to believe, but I am liking newcomers Monica and Shez and can’t say I’m not having fun so eh.

- Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations (Video Game) - AS a whole this game has been leagues better than it’s predecessor so far, with the first two cases being bangers and the third being adequate enough. I love all the extra time with Mia and think the crimes are at least a bit more sensical this time around. My main complaint is that I miss Franziska, who was great, and am kind of disappointed in Godot, who’s design I like but who’s personality seems to be unessisarly mean and boring which I really did not expect from his design. Maybe he’ll get better in the last case, I do want to like him, it’s just not working for me.

- Shadows House (Anime) - Very underrated light horror/mystery, finished season one with my sister in time for the current airing of the second season. It’s hard to talk about without giving anything away given how good the series is at throwing you blind into it’s setting and slowly revealing wtf is happening in interesting and organic ways, but suffice it to say it’s got a really unique premise that I’m super intrigued to get more of. 

Listening to: Patron Saint by Regina Spektor, Cold Cold Man by Saint Motel, Cardiac Arrest by Bad Suns, Killin’ It by Foxy Shazam, Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money, Sympathy by The Goo Goo Dolls, Planetary (GO!) by My Chemical Romance, Heathers OST, Cat’s in the Cradle by Harry Chapin, Encanto OST, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon OST

[sagesins]

Writing Tag Game

Tagged by @sheikofthesheikah. Because she knows I’m a recluse and drags me out into public occasionally against my wishes. So abusive.

Short stories, novels, or poems?

Short stories are my favorite. If an author can impart a tale, a character, an emotion, a connection, all in less than a few pages? That’s amazing to me. That’s magical. 

What genre do you prefer reading?

Fantasy. History. I like stories that show a peoples or persons culture and/or religion. 

What genre do you prefer writing?

Same as above. I like suspense as well, and making characters be bad guys, or seem like them for a while.

Are you a planner or a write-as-I-go kind of person?

I can write by the seat of my pants really well. Like, on the spot I come up with some amazing plots. But, planning is where I shine, I think. 

What music do you listen to while writing?

I like quiet when I write. If there’s sound it’s either chill tunes with no lyrics, or nature sound effects tracks like a rain storm.

Favorite books/movies?

ICO: Castle in the Mist - Miyuki Miyabe (Damn good book based on the game. Seriously didn’t expect it to be so good. It’s not your typical fantasy novel, there’s no deep characters persay, its more about the story and the magical feel to the world.)

As for movies, anything Miyazaki is a win. ROTG and HTTYD too.

Short art films are often times my favorites though, such as works by Studio 4°C. On that note, their short gothic fairytale Kigeki (Comedy) is one of my favorites. If anyone is interested, this is the best copy I could find online, which isn’t that great since the film came out in 2002. 

Any WIPs?

I think I have one for Shink on my FF.net account. It was inspired by a prompt maybe? I can’t really remember. I should probably go remove it someday since it probably won’t ever be finished. Otherwise, there’s one story that’s been in my head as a WiP for over a decade, I just never find the strength to put it to paper.

If someone were to make a cartoon of you, what would your standard outfit be?

A blanket.

Make a character description of yourself.

No thank you.

Do you like incorporating people you know into your stories?

No. But I project myself and people I know into characters in small snippets. It can be cathartic at times.

Are you kill-happy with characters?

Mmmm... no? I enjoy causing suffering without death. Death is an easy escape sometimes. Unless it’s causing death to make other characters suffer.

And yes @sheikofthesheikah, you are a kill-happy fart-face. 

Dream job?

Making video games. Writing a novel.

Coffee or tea while writing?

Tea. Coffee is for wake up and drama/news reading time.

Slow or fast writer?

Fast.

Where/who/what do you find inspiration from?

History mainly. Art too.

If you were put into a fantasy world, what would you be?

The mad pellar. Not evil, just a fucking idiot who doesn’t help anything at all, and makes things worse.

Most favorite book cliche? Least favorite book cliche?

Favorite: Rebirth. It’s a broad cliche, but basically character going through hardship and/or tragedy to become something different and hopefully better. Although them becoming something far worse is fun too.

Almost Kind of Hate: Dream scenes. Dreams that are vague foreshadows and almost don’t make sense are totally okay. But coherent conversations and meetings in dreams? Not cool. And usually that’s how they’re used. Dreams should be vague mists that should leave readers and character confused and uncertain and perhaps willing to do something stupid they otherwise might not, not with a fresh conversation in their memories and a firm sense of purpose. It’s a cop-out way of having characters deal with or interact directly with another character or come to learn something.

Favorite places to write?

I don’t have a laptop so, at my desk? I dream of having a nice window with a view of snowy trees while I write though. Maybe someday. I miss having fresh air when I write, so maybe I should say by an open window or outside in general.

Favorite scenes to write?

Action. Fighting. I hate going into writing them, moan about it to @sheikofthesheikah like a toddler. But, I’m good at it, and when I get going I can snowball those puppies into a damn roller-coaster.

Most productive time of day for writing?

Middle of the night. Though really anytime is good.

Reason for writing:

Right now, to let myself and @sheikofthesheikah have a place to relax. We really only rp at the moment, and it gives us a place to vent and escape the anxiety of our lives. Plus I don’t think I’ve gone more than a month without writing since I was thirteen, it just feels wrong not to write.

I don’t have anyone to tag other than @sheikofthesheikah, and since she already did this...  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[reactingtosomething]

Reacting to Sweet/Vicious

Part I: Remember Fondly When 4th Meals Were a Thing and Breakfast at Night Reigned Supreme

The Setup: It started, as much does, with a tweet. That tweet was followed, as many are, by regret. Fortunately, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is a generous sort.

Robinson’s glorious but short-lived vigilante dramedy Sweet/Vicious was always on the list of candidates for an all-hands Reaction -- Miri started watching a day or two after Kris did, back in the fall, so Liz and Marchae added it to their (lengthy) to-watch lists -- but we didn’t put a timetable on it until our loyal reader @crazyhannibalthedaisiesslayer suggested it.

In this post (and its continuation, on Friday), we cover the first three episodes: “The Blueprint,” “The Writing’s on the Wall,” and “Sucker,” and many thoughts and feelings about campus sexual violence and related topics.

LIZ: First thing: I only had time to watch the first 3 episodes, although I wish I’d been able to see more!

Kris you here?

MIRI: Ok, that’s how many I rewetted!

MARCHAE: I watched 4

KRIS: GOSH DARN IT

MIRI: DAMMIT rewatched 

hahahahahha insert gif here

So, Liz and Marchae, what did you think????

MARCHAE: It is oddly addicting

KRIS: Why oddly?

MARCHAE: I think because I used to work in student affairs and dealt with some of the scenarios so in that way it is weird to see a comedy/drama of this topic

LIZ: I am IN LOVE. I thought episode one was amazing and I am pretty much hooked. I am here for the message and the premise and i think every college campus needs these 2 ladies!

MARCHAE: however the characters are 100% engaging and you want them to win so hard...

I called my mom after episode one and was like should i feel bad for wanting to see the guys get beat up

LIZ: The way they show the victims of sexual assault and discuss their stories is just so real even though the show suspends our disbelief in other ways so much

MIRI:  Marchae, I don’t think you should feel bad

How do you feel about how stylized it is? I love it, but I feel like it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea

LIZ:  Rapists who are getting away with it 100% and ruining their victims lives? no I would not feel bad

KRIS: When I first saw trailers for it (while my old roommates watched MTV reality shows) I was like oh, man, I don’t know, this seems like it might be trashy and exploitative

MARCHAE:  I do agree Lizzie... it’s weird because my brain wants this to be a straight drama

yet i am oddly satisfied with the moments of comedic relief

LIZ: I didn’t think the stylization was OVER THE TOP

MIRI: Yeah, it’s a hard show to sell but SO GOOD

LIZ: theres a lot of comedy

MIRI: I think it all works together beautifully

LIZ: agreed

I was pretty much in love

KRIS: I was almost upset at how good it was

MIRI: For me, the cold open of ep one says it all

KRIS: I had to text Miri immediately

LIZ: and then they were singing defying gravity in the car and i was like

KRIS: THERE’S A LEVERAGE WRITER

MIRI: You were definitely upset

KRIS: THE EMOTIONAL CLIMAX IS A WICKED SINGALONG

MIRI: THERE IS???

LIZ: yeah

like

MIRI: WHo?

KRIS: BRANDON MYCHAL SMITH FROM YOU’RE THE WORST

M Scott Veach

MIRI: Cool!

LIZ: oh end of sentence about defying gravity.. i felt like the show understood my soul

MIRI: Moment of appreciation for Brandon Mychal Smith playing SUCH a different type of comedy equally well

LIZ: ALSO.. it takes a certain type of weird ass show for all 4 of us to be VERY on board.. and I also like that about it

KRIS: He’s one of the only men who can say the word “bitch” and not make me a little uncomfortable

MIRI: True!

hahahahaha

LIZ: Is that Harris?

MIRI: Yes!

KRIS: Yeah

LIZ: I LOVE HIM

MIRI: Yay!

KRIS: One of the reasons I really wanted us to do 3 episodes was so you could see the start of his thing with Fiona

LIZ: What do you think about that?

MIRI: Is that the sorority girl?

KRIS: I like it!

Lemon as the one of us with the most first-hand sorority expertise what’s your general sense of the Zeta dynamic?

LIZ: I identify with the sorority characters who are actually smarter and much more .. defined as human beings than most would give them credit for or that they initially come off as

KRIS: (Harris gets crystallized so instantly with the line “I’m not saying I have sexual dreams about Ruth Bader Ginsberg... but I’m also not saying I don’t”)

LIZ: I mean.. I had several (male) friends and family members say to me when I joined my very small.. one of a kind local sorority.. “oh so you’re a sorostitute?”

MIRI: SUCH A LINE

LIZ: Yes i have a note about the RBG line

MIRI: UM that’s horrible and fuck them

LIZ: right, but that kind of mentality and characterization of college aged women who are friends with other women in the form of a sorority is so widespread

MIRI: The pilot honestly does SO much to characterize Jules, Ophelia, and Harris so quickly

KRIS: I do really like how they initially lean into the less generous expectations about sororities and then flesh out I think all of those characters in great ways

Mackenzie was a sleeper favorite for me

(the anxious redhead safety chair)

LIZ: this gives them facets.. like fuck what you thought about me and also.. I don’t have to not like to do my makeup or sometimes dress up for me to be a smart or valid female.

MIRI: I feel like Kennedy takes a little longer, but not in a bad way

Liz, you are amazing and I love you

LIZ: i don’t know many shows that give girls that kind of credit.. very legally blonde of this show..except Elle Woods was the exception there

MARCHAE: They have to save Kennedy (I say this not Having seen more than 4 epi)

KRIS: You will be pleased

MIRI: Definitely

LIZ: Visually, I am impressed with the shows set designs, makeup, and wardrobe

MARCHAE: I feel like they have to hold her close because of nick and Jules 

LIZ: hold who close?

oh kennedy

MARCHAE: (Also back to thumbs on the phone)

KRIS: I LOVE the world-building, especially on what I assume is a pretty small budget

MIRI: I do love her moment when Ophelia tells her she has a very calming presence and she’s just like “I know"

LIZ: yeah i am also worried about her

KRIS: Lemon talk about makeup

MIRI: Yeah!

LIZ: ITS EXPENSIVE

KRIS: (please)

LIZ: what else?

oh as far as this show is concerned

MIRI: yes, world building 

LIZ: Jules and Ophelia (yes to the names btw)

have such amazing looks and their hair is bouncy like they are comic book drawings, but their makeup isn’t like that (bc that would be fucking bizarre) and I love how the fresh rosy-cheeked and bright eyed look of Jules is enhanced with her makeup and Ophelia’s brows and eye makeup are dark and defined/ grungy at times, but she is also kind of sweet because they don’t cake her up or give her a heavy lip.. idk if that makes sense to anyone else

their eyes are so expressive as actresses

and then they’re important because of the ninja outfits

MIRI: That all makes sense to me and I would never have thought of it at all

KRIS: it is right on the edge of my comprehension

MIRI: Sidebar: SUPER excited for you to see more Orphan Black and discuss that makeup

LIZ: but I am pleased with the fine line between real world and cartoonish that the MUA on this show kind of stride beautifully to give them unique looks that foil one another and bring out their strengths and sometimes their faults

KRIS: Ophelia I think I understand best in this context

MARCHAE: YESS LIZ!!!

I do want to ask a question

LIZ: It is more subtle with Jules, because she is made to look more fresh, but I mean everyone on any show has lots of makeup on

ok done w makeup ranting/ observing

MIRI: What’s up, Marchae?

MARCHAE: *sorry liz...go on***

LIZ: oh no thats pretty much it

are you getting things in real time marchae? (with your computer)

MARCHAE: I wanted to chime in about wardrobe because it’s super similar to the way in which makeup is handled... and you definitely know who these people are and the kind of persons that this show is trying to share

MIRI: Ooh, please do!

LIZ: oh yes, the wardrobe feels almost theater like to me.. do you agree or am i wrong

MARCHAE: ( It was touch and go for a moment but me and my thumbs are finally #winning on the computer... I couldn’t take the tiny keyboard anymore)

LIZ: bless you for trying

MIRI: I never really notice Ophelia’s wardrobe that much, but the props they have for her are iconic and say so much

MARCHAE: I think it does... the show feels VERY comicbook-esq like I mentioned it reminds me very much in aesthetics to deadly class and there is another comic that focuses on a high school that I’m blanking on

LIZ: was this ever a graphic novel or comic book?

MARCHAE: but you get a lot in terms of wardrobe via colors that they use for these characters... Ophelia is almost always in darks, Jules in pinks and pastels

I quick checked and didn’t see it

KRIS: it was original to Jenn Kaytin Robinson

I mean she did a shit ton of research, and the producers watched The Hunting Ground and stuff

LIZ: nice..and yes I agree with the colors

MARCHAE: But these choices are interesting because they are almost opposite to the characters we meet in the show

LIZ: and the fact that Jules keeps her identity even as a vigilante with her pink backpack

MARCHAE: so Jules we meet as the original vigilante and she’s the one in the brightest colors ALWAYS in the show

LIZ: and then Ophelia has that car!

MARCHAE: that backpack is definitely our hint

MIRI: Because she’s trying SO hard to still be that girl

KRIS: Oh that’s so interesting. Jules is super dark and “damaged” and Ophelia’s ultimately a sweetheart.

MARCHAE: and Ophelia is always in darks

LIZ: right!?

MARCHAE: **taps nose at kris**

MIRI: I like that even when they put Jules in the Spitters are Quitters shirt, it’s light colored

MARCHAE: so its totally the opposite of what we see

in terms of how they are portrayed in their “normal life”

any who enough of my rant

LIZ: I find Ophelia to be much more innocent.. not because of being sexually assaulted, but because she is kind of playing catch up and barfs when she kills a guy and Jules obviously took this mission upon herself to become a kick ass fighter and to start doing something

MARCHAE: liz i absolutely agree

ophelia definitely the more innocent seeming of the two

KRIS: Ophelia’s so fucking great

MIRI: Yeah, Ophelia thinks of herself as So Hardcore but is basically a sweet 19 yr old with some abandonment issues

I love her

MARCHAE: and she tells you as much in her dialogue

LIZ: I love her!

MARCHAE: some is an understatement miri

KRIS: I loved the vomiting and I don’t even know why

MARCHAE: she has ALL the abandonment issues

LIZ: i loved that it was pink

MIRI: Because it’s pink!

KRIS: I guess the unexplained pink?

MARCHAE: the vomiting is AMAZINNNGNGGGGGGGGG

LIZ: yes

MIRI: It’s absurd and so totally the show

LIZ: hahahha

KRIS: wow we are ALL on a wavelength tonight

MIRI: But it is!

LIZ: like.. I don’t need to see chunky soup barf

i get it

MIRI: The show is 100% going to show you the puking

MARCHAE: i usually don’t want to see it at all period ever

but it works for the show

MIRI: But it’s also going to make it funny and stylized

MARCHAE: and that character as kind of a she seems hard core but is not!

OH OH

KRIS: LeBong James

MIRI: YES

MARCHAE: so my question and this was a thing that kind of made me curious

LEBONGGGGG

MIRI: She’s a nerd ❤️ 

LIZ: There is a lot of suspension of disbelief in this show.. not bc girls can’t fight injustices, but because of how they  should’ve gotten caught and how Ophelias mad hacker skills save the day alot

LEBONNNGGGGGGG

MIRI: I feel weird being the only one who hasn’t said LeBong

MARCHAE: (THEY MURDERED SOMEONE CLUMSILY AND CHICA BARFED ALL OVER THE SCENE!!!!DNA MUCH)

there it goes

LIZ: Also the male assailants aren’t even cookie cutter like on other shows or movies

MIRI: I KNOW BUT JUST GO WITH IT

KRIS: Without spoiling anything I’ll say they’re generally really good about chickens coming home to roost

Maybe not DNA specifically? But the show is serious about Consequences

MARCHAE: so question... what institution do they go to where there is an assult like every freaking second

LIZ: they are all different and some are even charming (most are) and they have different personalities and hobbies.. like Nate is acting like a really good boyfriend to Kennedy so if we didn’t know what he’s capable of, we’d forgive his jerk reaction to her missing his football thing bc of his super sweet apology

MIRI: Well, it’s Darlington University, right?

KRIS: Well A) that doesn’t actually strike me as unrealistic but B) I got the sense of a “backlog” of assaults -- they’re using that wall, which was started who knows how long ago

MIRI: So it’s at least big enough to have masters programs

KRIS: not responding to like the student weekly or something

MIRI: True

LIZ: i mean i know so many people in so many schools (large, small, medium and very small) who all have sexual assault stories

MARCHAE: thanks for the wall reminder

LIZ: i didn’t find the number to be at all shocking

KRIS: yeah

MARCHAE: I think maybe again its the dissonance of this being a drama/comedy that has me a bit jarred

LIZ: maybe the number of guys that were turned in or reported seems high, but SO FUCKING MANY are floating around in my mind right now

MARCHAE: i dealt with lots (more than i have ever wanted to) but not weekly by any stretch

that definitely doesn’t mean it wasn’t happening

MIRI: Well, just because the show aired every week doesn’t mean it’s only a week in universe

LIZ: right

thats true

MARCHAE: thanks gang

MIRI: And Kris is right--they definitely go into past exploits some

KRIS: That wall, man

MIRI: It is BRUTAL and so effective

MARCHAE: yeah the reminder of the wall definitely does it.... i literally was like

DAMN this is INSANE and darlington should be shut the hell down

KRIS: I texted Miri something like “I never do this but there’s a pure drama beat that made me 😭😭😭😭”

LIZ: I wish every college had a wall

KRIS: and it was definitely Ophelia handing Jules the Sharpie

MIRI: He did and I treasure that text

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

LIZ: oh something that I meant to google.. could be such a coincidence

MARCHAE: UGHHHH

LIZ: at my college, in the same kind of font.. the party dorm/ suites were called “Reimert Hall” and they are like “see you at Leimert” spelled the same and then they show “Leimert Hall” and it is creepily spot on

KRIS: Huh

MIRI: Whoa 

LIZ: not related to the wall

separate

MARCHAE: we did have a question from one of our readers and I promised I would bring it up to react to

LIZ: lol.. it is student housing but.. idk weird to me but maybe not to anyone else

MIRI: Yes, I want to talk about that!!!

LIZ: go for it! I don’t know the question

MARCHAE: about student housing or the question from our loyal reader

i get confused sometimes

KRIS: our loyal reader

LIZ: I’m assuming she means from the reader

MIRI: The question

yes

MARCHAE: BWHA

sorry

LIZ: mine was just a point thrown out and doesn’t really leave much to comment on haha

MIRI: Share the question with us, Marchae

MARCHAE: OH MY GRIEF I  am typing then stop to read...

LIZ: I know.. Kris and Miri are too fast for me

MARCHAE: ok so the reader wants to know if we read Ophelia as bi

MIRI: Sorry!

KRIS: NO STOPPING the overlapping is half of our charm

MIRI: Omg Kris

LIZ: There was one thing that made me think that

MARCHAE: GO!

MIRI: Ok, I am deeply bi-ased (hahahahahah) so I want yawl to discuss it first

LIZ: hahaha

MARCHAE: STAP!

MIRI: 😉

MARCHAE: go lizzie

@miri you are my everything LOL

LIZ: Harris said something about her being with Jule (I’m having a brain fart and can’t remember if it is jules or rule..)

MARCHAE: her being with rules?

LIZ: and I think Ophelia was like “not like that” kind of blushing

jULE*

damnit

KRIS: For all of my striving toward wokeness I am generally still slow to pick up on, I guess, Sapphic vibes -- although being a social media-engaged Supergirl fan is training me better -- but I did also note that on my rewatch

LIZ: but it was a micro second kind of moment that made me think.. oh she dates girls too.. cool

so what do you think Kris

KRIS: This is pretty convincing to me:

http://wistfulwatcher.tumblr.com/post/154191025349/harris-has-most-definitely-seen-ofeefs-kissing-a

MIRI: Kris I offer my services if you ever need a consultant on this quest

LIZ: OHHH and PERSON yes thats smart

MARCHAE: AHHHHHHHHHHH

I didn’t even pick up on it!

MIRI: Ahhhhhhhh shit I didn’t even notice the person thing

MARCHAE: SWEET

i also think there is a lot of tension with Ophelia

MIRI: Ok, Reacting to Something officially rules Ophelia to be bi

Or pan, who knows

LIZ: I kind of also thought that was just a more interesting way of putting it..  like IS THERE A LIVE HUMAN JUST RIGHT THERE IN YOUR HOUSE?

MARCHAE: the writing and ACTING are smart like that

KRIS: And on my search for gifs to add to the post later, the scene in the cemetery -- “I think you’re amazing” -- seemed to be another touchstone

MARCHAE: yes!

MIRI: So when we got this question I was like “huh, are people seeing that?

Outside of shipping her and Jules?”

MARCHAE: but we also know that Ophelia doesn’t have friends

MIRI: But upon rewatch it’s pretty solidly set up

MARCHAE: so before the question i suspected that she was just kind of enjoying her new friendship with this person

LIZ: wait whats solidly set up

MARCHAE: she’s wanted that

LIZ: her being bi?

KRIS: yes

LIZ: just confirming

MARCHAE: then after the question we received not only did I pay more attention, but I think again there is definitely some tension

MIRI: I’m honestly so jaded from shows that like to dip their toe in the idea of something happening but will never go for it that I tend to only accept stated queerness

MARCHAE: and she might have a crush on jules!

MIRI: But it does feel very genuine and deliberate here

Which is lovely!

MARCHAE: agreed miri

LIZ: good!

K: consider it canon

KRIS: I think it was a writers room with only one straight man

LIZ: Im HERE FOR THAT

MARCHAE: That’s kind of awesome!

KRIS: (the past tense here kills me)

MIRI: I love it

UGhhhhhhhh I know

LIZ: wait

is it done?

forever

KRIS: I don’t think I’ve ever been so upset about a cancellation

LIZ: LAWD

MARCHAE: yup

LIZ: I CANT

KRIS: They’re shopping it to streaming sites

MIRI: Guys, sorry we’re making you fall in love with a cancelled show

LIZ: THIS FUCKING WEEK

MARCHAE: yeah i found out today

yeah

MIRI: OMG did we not tell you???

LIZ: *BREAK FOR EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN*

MARCHAE: i was PISSED OFF

LIZ: NO

I DIDNT KNOW

MIRI: I’M SO SORRY!!!!!!!

MARCHAE: and like this is why I DON”T WATCH TV

LIZ: This is the devils week. why not this too!?

anyways

MARCHAE: LOLOL

LIZ: also.. good girls revolt was amazing (to me)

MIRI: I loved it!

MARCHAE: also can i just have my moment for the fact that this show also digs into the issue of racism

LIZ: why can’t bad bitches get a win? why

yes

MARCHAE: and handles it kind of nicely

KRIS: That scene was surprisingly upsetting

LIZ: super upsetting

KRIS: I love that it’s the cop we saw be nice to Jules

MIRI: Yes! Let’s talk about that froyo scene

It’s so well done

MARCHAE: reminded me of trayvon martin

MIRI: And the other cop recognizing that it’s wrong, but not stepping up enough to actually stop it

MARCHAE: i also love that is it harris?

LIZ: like he was being racially profiled.. but he also had the one good thing he was looking forward to smashed on the ground

MARCHAE: yup

LIZ: yeah just kind of being like “sorry, but this is kind of what we do, i won’t stop it”

MARCHAE: it is heartbreaking and realistic

KRIS: That younger cop also comes back

MIRI: I’m glad that they played it very seriously

LIZ: ooo

MARCHAE: I was glad that he didn’t want to be seen as only one kind of black when he fought back with the paper editor as well

KRIS: This show has a really deep bench of minor-ish supporting characters

MARCHAE: they better had!

KRIS: MM I think that’s episode 4

On a lighter note I also really appreciate the importance of froyo to the world-building of this college town

LIZ: yes I’m not familiar

MARCHAE: YES

MIRI: Froyo continues to matter

As does pizza

MARCHAE: and dairy queen soft serve

LIZ: In college, we would plan a whole trek to froyo (we got one a few min away my senior year)

MARCHAE: GURL

MIRI: We once drove to Waffle House at 4 am in the snow

In South Carolina

KRIS: From earlier than I remembered, too -- Ophelia running away from Barton and running into a guy carrying a cup -- “Tart?!”

MIRI: where they can’t handle snow

KRIS: YES the pizza place

MIRI: Huh? What is the cup thing?

KRIS: of froyo

LIZ: Food culture in college .. is something very important and lets think abouthtat

MIRI: OHHHH

KRIS: Ophelia has no patience for Basic things, clearly

MIRI: Also that running away scene is great

LIZ: and by think of that .. I mean.. remember fondly when 4th meals were a thing and breakfast at night reigned supreme.

MIRI: Ophelia has a lot of opinions and I have a lot of feelings about her

KRIS: (I love Jules’s “I like sunsets on Instagram”)

LIZ: ophelia is hilarious.. i love her comment “she’s literate”

KRIS: Ophelia’s ramen diet

MARCHAE: LOL

LIZ: and also that girl [Fiona] trying to be sexy and saying “there are no drapes” so seriously

MIRI: Yeah I definitely want to see that girl eat a vegetable

LIZ: and giving up and being  like “IM SHAVED” ahaha

KRIS: Lemon I laughed so loud at “She’s literate?” on my rewatch

MIRI: I love that girl!

MARCHAE: there are a ton of one liners

LIZ: yeah the popcorn for breakfast made even me feel like OH HONEY NO NUTRIENTS

KRIS: So real

MARCHAE: that’s usually my breakfast on sundays after i mop

LIZ: miri what are your many opinions about ophelia

MARCHAE: and i’m old

MIRI: WAIT

LIZ: my dogs eat better than I do so I get it

MIRI: Marchae eat real meals please I worry

LIZ: and you mop before you eat

MARCHAE: yes almost every sunday

MIRI: Ok back to my many opinions: as stated I LOVE HER

LIZ: i had a banana, fake chicken, vegan pasta and granola today.. that is kind of healthy

MIRI: I also really love her need to belong

MARCHAE: i eat popcorn, drink a pepsi and catch up on my shows

LIZ: her need to belong to who or what

KRIS: just in general

LIZ: I guess I am really new

MARCHAE: YES

KRIS: to have friends, to have a cause

MIRI: She’s obsessed with the idea that she’s this cool fuckup who doesn’t need people, but she needs people so MUCH

LIZ: I get that

MARCHAE: its evident from episode one almost immediately

LIZ: we all do! even when we aren’t good at.. people!

MIRI: She jumps head first into this insane vigilante thing

LIZ: MARCHAE

MIRI: and kicks it into a higher gear

LIZ: STOP DRINKING SODA

MARCHAE: i think it makes her so relatable too and you fall in love with her

LIZ: IT WILL KILL YOU

MARCHAE: (mostly only on SUNDAY AFTER MOPPING but WITH POPCORN)

LIZ: I know, she is the perfect.. not robin.. robin

MIRI: She hurts Harris so easily but would be devastated if she actually lost him

LIZ: yeah i love her apology scene to him

MARCHAE: but he loves her no matter what

MIRI: She thinks she’s beyond needing that sort of connection because she can’t have it with her mom

LIZ: just a girl standing in front of  a boy.. asking for her job back

KRIS: Yes her bad-friend-ness is great

MARCHAE: *snap snap snaps fingrs*

MIRI: But she’s wrong

KRIS: Dammit Ophelia you know I can’t resist Notting Hill

MIRI: and she needs people so badly

Also she’s just hilarious and brilliant and I love her and Harris’s friendship so much

LIZ: her mom was so rude to her on the phone it made me sad especially because Jules doesn’t have a mom.. and I know those were really briefly introduced to me, but I’m sure those are important issues

MIRI: OH YOU JUST WAIT

On the subject of friendship, there are a ton of examples of girls being very affirmational to each other that really interest me

LIZ: I also love that Harris is.. presumably straight and is not afraid to love RBG or Notting Hill

KRIS: I’m so jealous you’re experiencing this show for the first time

MIRI: Because sometimes they’re played for laughs

But not most of the time

and I love that

MARCHAE: YES!

MIRI: Like, the high girls just need to hug!

LIZ: I wanted to be in the back seat of their car screaming along to Defying Gravity

MIRI: And sometimes Kennedy is a bit ridiculous with her goddess stuff

MARCHAE: i love your love for defying gravity liz

MIRI: But for the most part it is 100% genuine

MARCHAE: Kennedy is the most

MIRI: And so what I do with my friends

LIZ: yeah kennedy suggesting that shit to ophelia was HILARIOUS

basically like “HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO GOOP.COM?”

MIRI: kennedy is indeed the most

MARCHAE: I am so CURIOUS about what happens when Jules tells her

KRIS: That shot where I assume Fiona and Gabby are on a dolly when they enter Vinylton high on shrooms is perfect

MIRI: So I love that there’s drunk girl in the bathroom type compliments and Woke Freshman type compliments AND really genuine support for each other

KRIS: sorry I was just slow there

LIZ: i think that kennedy will eventually (i mean who knows since it is cancelled) be an ally and join the cause or at least be supportive in a protective way

MIRI: OH JUST WAIT

MARCHAE: if she does I may ink myself!!!

KRIS: I repeat, I am so jealous you’re experiencing this show for the first time

MIRI: It’s a very well plotted season and that is all I will say

MARCHAE: *hugs kris*

UGHHHH i’ll probably finish it this weekend

LIZ: hahaha kris I’m feeling like that repetition is to keep yourself from spoiling

KRIS: There is Jules-Kennedy closure, for sure

Yeah, so, we went really long, even for us. Find the rest of our Reaction here.

EDITED 20 April 2019: You can and should buy Sweet/Vicious on Amazon, Google Play, or iTunes. If you’re here because you just watched Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s Someone Great, maybe now’s a good time to renew calls for Netflix to add S/V to its library.

[scriptstructure]

Hey! Question about structure (which is built into your name so yay). I've found that when writing longform, I tend to structure things into three acts. First act: set everything up. Second act: Things that were set up happen. Third act: Consequences of things that have happened. It seems to work pretty well for me, but I'd be curious to dive into the lit side of structure a little more, since all my experience with studying structure is from drama. (1/2)

(2/2) Problem is, the three act structure in plays seems to be most often used in comedies that I hate. I do not write comedy. Plays that I love tend to divide either into five acts or two acts. I’m not sure how people who study literature talk about dividing up a story? Could you share a little on how novels are traditionally sectioned, and the theory behind that? Are there examples of novels that use that three act structure? What about other ways of breaking things up? Thanks!

Well, the great thing about novels is that they’re such a diverse form that you can structure them in pretty much whatever way you can think to do it. Of course some are going to be more ‘traditional’ than others, but experimentation never hurt anyone ... literary experimentation never hurt anybody.

You’ve got your basic concepts of what goes into each of the acts down pat, but you’ll probably want to think about the differences in form between stage and page.

In a play, the three acts are generally balanced in terms of length, and they’re separated by an intermission where the audience can get up and get a snack or use the facilities. A play is consumed in a single sitting (usually) and having the acts be nearly the same length each makes for an easy viewing experience, and helps hold up the structure of the piece.

(Thinking here about other formats, a tv show might have 4-7 acts depending on how long it is and how many commercial breaks there are in it, audio plays and podcasts often have 2-3 acts intercut with sponsored ads, pay attention next time you’re watching or listening to something, and think about how they structure the story in relation to the ad breaks)

The main difference between a three act play and a three act novel is that in the novel, the acts will often not be of a uniform length. Your first act will usually be around a quarter of the book, the second act often half or more than half of the total length, and the third act is very brief, wrapping up plots and loose ends and sometimes giving lead-in for the next book (if there is one).

I, personally, don’t tend to think of novels in terms of the three act structure except for after the fact. When reading a book I can often look at it in terms of acts, but when writing there are other markers that I use to guide the writing process.

Remember, when you’re writing a novel, it’s less about a series of predetermined marks to hit, than it is about working through a number of problems (interpersonal, political, material, emotional, etc), to solve the main Problem that is fuelling the whole narrative. The One Ring has to be destroyed, Hannibal Lecter is having dinner parties, a space ship that was meant to have disappeared twenty years ago has suddenly reappeared. The drive of the story is going to move toward resolution of that problem, and the events between the start of the narrative and the end of it are going to be a series of challenges, negotiations, stumbling blocks, mistakes, and victories.

So what do you want in the three acts of a novel? You’ve got it fairly right, there’s set-up, event, consequences, but those are pretty nebulous concepts.

First Act:

Establish the setting and character. You don’t want to have a bunch of your page-time taken up just telling the reader what the town looks like or what the protagonist eats for breakfast, use this as an opportunity to show the readers what normality looks like to your characters, however briefly, and then have it interrupted by ...

The Inciting Incident -- the moment your sense of normalcy is thrown off, a Problem is revealed to the characters and/ or to the reader, and we realise that there is going to need to be action taken to confront that, this leads into ...

First Major Conflict which will be the high point and wrap-up of your first act. At this point, you’ll often see the protagonists come off second-best. It’s early days yet, and failure will motivate them going into ...

Second Act:

Building Momentum, as the protagonist learns more about the Problem they face, and make decisions about how they’re going to confront it. They may go up against several minor conflicts as they learn and progress.

First Climax will come at the point where the protagonist has build themselves up to strength, no longer that weak farm-boy, now they’re a warrior, a leader and all-round toughie, ready to take on whatever the Problem throws at them, until ...

The Crisis. Having built themselves up from nothing, there’s a whole lot to lose when something new comes to light and they find themselves rethinking their whole worldview and understanding of events. The nadir of the crisis will make the first climax look all the higher. But coming out of the crisis will make the protagonist stronger, will spur them on to go on and face ...

Third Act:

The Renewal comes after the troubles of the crisis. The protagonist knows more now, they know how they’re going to overcome the Problem, and they know who they can ask for aid, what they’re going to need. They rebuild their confidence as they put together what’s going to be needed when they take the fight to the Problem in ...

The Climax. The final confrontation. Note that while I’ve been writing with a marked lean toward action-oriented plots, you can use these same narrative markers in an emotional story arc (a disagreement between family members for example, or an argument between rival academics). The point is that at each position in the story a dynamic shift occurs which gives us new perspective and understanding of the narrative and characters, and how all of these events have come to unfold. In the final confrontation, the protagonist will usually overcome the Problem, wipe their sweaty brow and ...

Cool down. Sometimes called the Return Home, or the Return Journey, this is the point where plot lines are resolved, and characters go back to the world that was Established in the beginning of the first act, only to find that Something is Different. Perhaps the town they grew up in has been massively altered by the events that have transpired, or maybe the difference was the experience the character gained along the way. Due to the story happening and the Problem being solved, the world feels different now. Maybe it’s a difference the character can be happy with, maybe it sets up a new Problem for them to solve.

But here’s the thing

It’s a little too neat, to my understanding, to slot things into a structure like this. Please don’t think of this, or any structural guide as being the be-all and end-all of writing a story. 

It’s probably more useful to you to think in terms of these being questions you can ask yourself when you get stuck -- how far am I through my story? Do I know what happens next and why? What kind of shifts are going to occur for my characters and the world around them?

If you’re very interested in looking into narrative structure in novels, I’d suggest starting out with Joseph Campell’s The Hero’s Journey, which goes through many many plot points that can occur in a story, and discusses the structure of a narrative through the lens of (you guessed it) a journey. If you want a little more in-depth and a little less easy to read, you could look up Vladimir Propp’s 31 Functions/ the Morphology of the Folk Tale, which ... is where Campbell cribbed a whole lot of his notes from.

[tsnficmasterpost-blog]

POST-DEPOSITION

no wealth and no ruin by antistar_e: In which Mark Zuckerberg gets a job, learns important life lessons, makes friends, finds the love of his life, and dies. Not necessarily in that order. ★★★★★

how one thing leads to another, a story of coincidence by antistar_e: At 42, Eduardo Saverin has three things to his name: a plane ticket, one half of a formerly conjugal bank account, and a list.

place that don’t know my name by antistar_e: Looking up at the mess of stars above New (New New New) Singapore, he stops being Eduardo Saverin, absentee CFO of Facebook, and starts being Eduardo Saverin, time traveling companion to a mad man in a blue box who keeps on calling him Frank.

place between here and the destination by antistar_e: You know what's cooler than one million dollars? Eduardo Saverin, time traveler.

selective hearing by antistar_e: Marilyn's right, of course. The dilution wasn't the first time Mark plotted against Eduardo.

a seahorse gilt in gold by antistar_e: The first reported fatal case is in May, and within two months, Eduardo learns how to shoot people in the face. | remix of ‘the time is come when the day is done.’ ★★★

the time is come when the day is done by moogle62: Mark is in California. Eduardo is in Florida. There's a whole country full of zombies between them, but Mark's not going to let a little thing like the potential to be eaten stop him from getting somewhere Eduardo wants him to be. ★★★

what not to do when your boss is dating the guy he had erased from his memory by moogle62: In which Mark has a new mystery significant other, or so Dustin claims, and there is not enough alcohol in the world to make Chris's life any less stupid.

didn’t want to be your ghost by anonymous: Mark has an one-night stand with somebody and calls out the wrong name: Eduardo's. The person sells the story to the media, and things get kind of crazy. ★★★★★

never marry for money (you can borrow it cheaper) by hapakitsune: Mark and Eduardo get drunkenly married. Chaos ensues. ★★★

our endless numbered days by hapakitsune: You can’t change your situation. The only thing that you can change is how you choose to deal with it. Or, the one where Mark has cancer.

oriented towards the other by hapakitsune: Mark's empathy has been blocked off for years, for his own safety as well as comfort. But if he wants to win Eduardo back, he's going to have to embrace his ability and re-learn how to live with other people. ★★★

just the memory of your face by hapakitsune: Mark wakes up in bed with a husband he doesn't remember and a life he can't imagine having.

these things get louder by fledmusic: Mark finds out that everybody, including his mom, thought he and Eduardo were dating at Harvard. ★★★

almost, finally, finally by fledmusic: The first year of Mark and Eduardo's long-distance romance, featuring PDAs in formal wear, revelations about cookies, drama over Facebook info updates, and realizations that absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder quite so much as it makes the heart grow frustrated. ★★★★★

do you like me, yes/no? by ifeelbetter: Mark doesn't react well when he finds out the whole staff have been nursing a crush on Eduardo.

(act) as if the world is watching by grim_lupine: A lot of things are different from when they did this last. ★★★

in the details by grim_lupine: Where Mark learns the details.

the water under the golden gate by roaroftheninth: Eduardo’s father dies. Twelve days later, Eduardo jumps from the Golden Gate bridge. Neither of these things are the beginning or the end of this story.

cryptography for beginners by thedeadparrot: A few years after the depositions, Mark sends Eduardo an e-mail. Now Eduardo just needs to figure out what it says. ★★★★★

technical debt by thedeadparrot: Mark is trying, and he thinks Eduardo is trying, but their resentments go so deep it feels like their friendship can't go anywhere at all, like there's this huge architectural flaw in their code that they're trying to hack around when they should be trying to go back and rethink everything, like they need to tear it all down so that they can rebuild it all from scratch.

been at this far too long by beyond_belief: In which Eduardo learns how to argue with Mark, and Mark learns to be somewhat less of a jerk.

curious incident of eduardo in the night-time by jibrailis: Eduardo drunkenly tries to break into Mark's house to get back something of his. Mark isn't about to let a challenge go. ★★★

throw your back into it by jibrailis: Sex is not the enemy. Except when it is. The one where Mark is a slut, Eduardo has performance anxiety, and there are cross-country booty calls. ★★

strength in numbers by maxette: "Mark, you couldn't make a cat happy—you couldn't keep a plant alive, never mind make me—give me anything I—" Eduardo says and walks out. Mark takes that as a challenge.

learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss by forsanethaec: Mark receives intelligence that Eduardo hasn't left Palo Alto yet after the depositions and goes to his hotel to see what he can see.

unblock this misery by forsanethaec: One angry email from Singapore to Palo Alto snowballs into something that Eduardo had almost learned to stop hoping for.

trivial pursuits by fairy_tale_echo: But the top two players are always the same: E.S. and M.Z. None of the other players ever rank anywhere near them, it’s always just the two of them: Eduardo in first place and Mark just a few hundred points behind. No matter how long he plays or how well he does, every god-damn day he comes in second to Eduardo. ★★

draw me a map by fairy-tale-echo: The thousands of miles, both literal and figurative, Mark and Eduardo travel and the countless postcards and letters they write over five years as they grow up and towards each other. How do you get yourself back to a place you haven't been yet?

no big deal by fairy_tale_echo: The one where denial ain't just a river in Egypt. ★★

pieces from my heart by indecentexposed: Mark gets drunk, watches the video of the depositions, and comes to some startling realizations.

all that is left is all that i hide by therealw: Mark hires a prostitute that looks remarkably like Eduardo. The paparazzi spot them out somewhere. ★★★

the farther i fall i’m beside you by therealw: Wherein Mark, for the first time ever, actually listens to what a lawyer has to say. "You know what we're here for?" Marylin continues before he can interrupt, "I mean, what this really feels like?"

with a golden ring of wisdom in my cave by therealw: Wherein there's much discussion of a ring and Dustin makes LotR jokes. Set five years after the settlement. "On the last day of the depositions, Eduardo had thrown the small, worn-looking velvet box at her." | sequel to 'me who makes the monsters.' ★★★

always golden rocks to throw by therealw: Eduardo's plan was pretty much foolproof. He would attend the ceremony, politely converse with the guest sitting on his right during the first half of dinner and the one on his left during the second, just like his mother taught him, then have a glass of champagne and, as soon as Chris and Sean had finished their first dance as a married couple, get the hell out of there. | sequel to 'me who makes the monsters.'

old roads i go down by yellowteddysuit: Where Mark gets amnesia, and all he knows is that he's lost the last 'however many' years, and he's scared; he's got Eduardo's number in his phone, so of course he calls him. Eduardo, who's still angry, tells him what he's missing from those years.

tires sing to the asphalt by addandsubtract: In which Mark and Eduardo take a road trip across the us, and have a lot of issues. They seriously have a lot of issues. ★★★

how to make a second chance by blackeyedgirl: Mark goes to sleep in Palo Alto in 2007, and wakes up in Harvard in 2004. Meanwhile, Eduardo is in Palo Alto dealing with a Mark who seems to have forgotten more than just today's shareholder meeting. Both of them are wondering how many words it would take to change what happened next.

bugfixes in the redesign by blackeyedgirl: "Were you always this evil or is it a new development?" Mark tries to use his powers for good (or at least for Eduardo's benefit). Eduardo notices him trying.

delays in communicating by blackeyedgirl: Eduardo and Mark are both great at communicating. Just, lately, not with each other. They start sending messages without ever getting around to talking. Chris and Dustin watch and wait.

forgiving what we cannot forget by blackeyedgirl: Because there's nothing like an open wound, Eduardo sends for the deposition statements. He doesn't recognize the people in these pages.

share function by blackeyedgirl: Eduardo knows better now than to sign things without having them checked out by his lawyers first. So apparently what he needs are better lawyers. ★★

teeth in the grass by ninhursag: The one where Eduardo thinks they are in a tragedy with subtitles and pouring rain and his life is so hard, while Mark thinks they are in a romantic comedy and it is awesome. They meet in the middle. ★★★

on the path unwinding by thisissirius: In which Eduardo turns into a cute zoo animal, and Mark comes to a realization that he needs a human Eduardo around to deal with.

write it on the skyline by thisissirius: Chris bullies Mark away from the computer, fights him with words and angry gestures, tells him to get the fuck away from this stuff, I mean it like it’s detrimental to Mark’s health to be trying to find his best friend.

sky that’s always blue by abriata: Or, the one where Eduardo can control the weather, and Mark has to do something about it before Sean gets struck by lightning. ★★★

you only live twice (unless you're facebook. then you live forever) by lawofgravity: After he signs the nondisclosure agreement, Eduardo Saverin disappears off the face of the earth. Because he joins the CIA. He embraces the life of Super Secret Agent Man Eduardo Saverin. That is, until Facebook is threatened by terrorist plots and only Eduardo can save the day.

you came along and you cut me loose by pendules: Five happy endings Mark and Eduardo never had (and one they did).

[wishingfornever]

12/14/17 – No Contact:  NationState Anniversary

It would appear that a year ago, MN was created.  Hrm…  Interesting. I thought I made it sooner.  I was in Texas at this time.  I thought I was in California when I created MN.  Or when Castro died.  Well, he died in November… yeah, I was in Texas.  Weird.  My memory is turning to crap.

Hrm… I coughed up some mucus mixed with blood.  That’s a really bad sore throat.

244. I’m almost at 240.  That’s great.  Then 40 more pounds and I reach my goal.  Which should be in about April.  April is going to be the month for me.  2018 will be the year for me.  I’m optimistic. :D

Watching Moana on Netflix.  Charming movie thus far, of course it just began. I have one quip.  This wisewoman is sharing the history of the tribe with these toddlers and they’re all scared except for the titular character.  Two things that I take issue with:

Firstly, there are more male toddlers than female toddlers.  That would be a truly rare occurrence to see in a culture such as theirs.  Women have always outnumbered men historically.

Second, this old bat is talking about how everyone is going to die and Moana is smiling like a maniac.  All the other children are afraid.  So, I guess this has two points within it’s own point.  Moana shouldn’t be smiling and it’s alright to be afraid.  She is young, she has a lot of reasons to be afraid because if she’s not then she won’t grow up and will be carried off by predatory animals in the middle of the night.  That said, why not tell the story when they’re old so that they won’t break down in tears and will remember their own history better?  Just saying.

Also, why doesn’t Moana have any siblings?  Especially since her father’s father’s father’s father’s father was chief that continued to son onto son onto son?  Idk, I don’t understand how their government works.  I like the poetic meaning with the rocks on the tallest part of the island, though.

Fuck, how old is this fucking chicken?  Where are they getting their fabric from?

Moana isn’t a super narrow princess that we’ve grown accustomed to in Disney movies.  She’s kinda buff.  :o

Oh, shit.  Moana’s grandma killed Steve Irwin.  :o

Ugh… Just finished Moana.  I feel like crying.

I ended up crying.  Watched Lava by Disney/Pixar.  Cute song.  Very touching.  I’m very emotional right now, I guess.  Anyways, it’s time to walk Max.

Back. Watching the Jungle Book.  The one with CGI animals.  One of the wolves refers to a boar as wild.  Like, really?  You’re fucking wild!  >:C

I noticed how there were hand drawn animations in this one (at the beginning) and in Moana.  I guess Disney is still watching out for their old cartoonists.  That’s nice of them.

Just like the old Jungle Book, they cheat.  They’re recycling CGI animals from OTHER Disney movies and using them in slightly edited scenes!  GAWD!!!  Kidding, kidding.

Oh, Sher Khan sounds powerful.  Good voice actor.

Fucking hell, Bill Murray is ruining the movie for me.  Like, GOD DAMMIT. Everyone refers to Mowgli as the “Man Cub!” and speak very properly and in a distinguished manner.  Then Bill Murray comes in speaking his fucking slang and just being… well, himself.  Says, “Kid.”  Like, really?  I wish they got someone else to be Baloo.

Something I do like about the movie is how the animals have their own customs, traditions, cultures, languages, governance, and even religion.  It’s crazy.  So much lore.  :o

Eh… the bear-necessities song seems out of place.  Guess I was hoping it’d be more of a drama rather than a comedy/family movie.  I mean, Bill Murray isn’t a bad actor but I don’t find him very… well, dramatic.  He’s more comedy which is probably why I prefer someone more fluid with the other voice actors.

Mowgli forgot his rope.

Christ, Christopher Walken is King Louie.  “I want… to… be like… YOU… I want… to… TALK… like you… in coherent sentences.”

I take back everything I said about Bill Murray.  Christopher Walken, however…  And yet again, the song feels out of place.  Want more drama.  Then again King “Louie” doesn’t sound like it belongs to begin with.  All the other names are SUPER Indian.  King Louie, however?  Sounds French.  I’ll look into it sometime.

Gigantopithecus? Is that what King Louie was in the original?  I thought he was an orangutan.  Ah, well.  It’s kinda cool they’re using an extinct creature.  It makes it extra creepy, like he were some sort of old god.  I was wondering why he was so big.  I feel like they changed the song since then.

HE SAYS “FIRE” IN THE FUCKING SONG!!!  WHAT THE FUCK!?!  THE LORE!!! YOU’RE BREAKING THE LORE!!!

Wait, Mowgli did a monkey crawl thing up the steps.  Now that he’s running in terror, he knows how to run up them like a normal person? Consistency…

This is a weird thing to note, but Christopher Walken has a lot of screen time.  Kaa’s voice actor has such a pretty voice, I was hoping we’d get to hear more of her.  Maybe she’ll show up again.  I’ll look up the cast when the movie is over.

I like how the monkeys swarm but can’t really do much damage.  Like, lol, they the zerg.

Oh, fuck.  Zerg is a perfect comparison.  They have a hivemind.  The temple collapses and they immediately coordinate a rescue effort. All in unison.  In sync.

Mowgli is sneaking into the Human Village.  I bet you he’s going to steal the fire and then leave.  Obviously not trying to join them.  Also, wasn’t it daylight a minute ago?

Now, I’m pretty civilized.  But is it common to have a bonfire in the middle of the village every night?  I feel like that’s a waste of resources.  Also, how did he reach that torch?  It’s like twice his height up.  Also, how would they know fire is red?  When it’s more orange?  Not the point.  Red flower.  Aren’t most animals colorblind?

Fuck, that was a quick run.  I thought it took him days to get to that village.  It took him far less time to get back.

Ah, fuck!  Mowgli just proved Sher Khan’s point!  Whaaaaaat?!  Moral complexity in a Disney movie?!

Sher Khan killed Baloo?  Oh, shit.  That was brutal.  I wonder who would win.  A tiger or a bear.  Doubt they’d interact very often, tbh. Bears would win on strength but tigers are strong AND agile.  Like, oof.  They’re a feline.  And Sher Khan is like… vicious.  Baloo is lazy.  Guess that settles that.

Drat. Sher Khan fell to his death.  Though, admittedly, the fall probably didn’t kill him because tigers are just oversized cats.  Rather, I’m fairly certain the fire did.  Disney likes having falls into fire.  Hrm…

Fuck! Baloo lived!

Elephants don’t strike me as the sort to alter the environment but I’m not an elephant specialist.

Alright, it’s over.  I wonder what will happen when Mowgli gets older. Like, will one of the female wolves be offered to him as a “bride” or whatever?  Will he fuck a wolf?  Is he a furry?  And what of King Louie?  Will he come back for him?  And also, his diaper.  Why does he never take it off?  I’m aware that it’s indecent and I don’t want to see an underaged penis.  However, how would he know what decency is?  And does he ever poop?  Where does he poop?  Does he eat meat raw?  It seems like he must have.  Can you actually eat meat raw?  I think humans used to be able to but the organ responsible is no longer functional.  There are so many questions.  Really, he should have been brought back to the human village at the end to avoid, “When his balls drop, will he fuck animals?” question.  I might be the only one asking it, but I’m asking it.

Oh, the outro is fucking awesome.  Christopher Walken/King Louie crawling out of rubble and then singing in these temple ruins inside a book. Pretty cool, not sure if it’s canon.  If it is, then that means he lived and Mowgli better beware.

Shere Khan?  I’ve spelled it wrong this entire time.  :o

HOLY FUCK!!!  KAA WAS SCARLETT JOHANSSON!!!  ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!? Like, that’s a name I’m familiar with and I’m not that great with names.  Jesus Christ, you fucking got her to play Kaa for a SINGLE scene?  Less than that?  Like, so little.  I feel like she should have had more screen time.  Like, really.  She must have been EXPENSIVE to bring in.  Geez.  :o

Just googled Akela’s character.  It’s Gus from Breaking Bad.  Or the Dentist from Payday.  That dude is usually a villain.  They’ve got a great cast.  He was a very powerful pack leader, I thought. Surprised his character died.

Then again, these actors are pretty expensive.  Maybe that’s why they’re only in it for a little bit?  Or because plot.

Alright, so that was it for the big names.  I heard that in the original story of the Jungle Book, Mowgli had elephants destroy his village at the very end and killed everyone.  Not sure how true that is.  If it’s very true, then the book is immediately better.

Eh… looking for something else on Netflix.  Recommended for me… all anime.  I don’t watch anime.  Esther does.  Her spectre is back. :/

Going through critically acclaimed.  That means they received high reviews. They’re considered good movies.  One of these movies:  Antz.

I’ve seen Antz.  I remember it from when I was very young.  Allow me to assure you, it wasn’t very good.  It had Christopher Walken in it. That’s not really relevant to the quality, just thought it’d be interesting to point out since the Jungle Book also had him.

Holy shit, Antz is a children’s movie?  There was an attempted rape scene in it.  Christ.  :o

Anastasia… that was a decent movie.  It’s not a Disney movie.  I know this because I cracked a joke involving Disney.  I think it was the supposed hatred for Jews?  I don’t remember the joke.  Anyways, everyone quickly YELLED at me, calling me VERY mean things and informed me in a not so polite manner that Anastasia is made by Fox.

Whoops! Anyways, I remember that a lot because it was in my World of Warcraft days.  Dark times, even then. Late high school, early… no school?  Idk, but you get it.  I basically had this guild I rolled with called the Bloodfury Clan. Orc-Only RP guild on an RPPvP (Role Play Player versus Player) Server.  It’s where my writing talents sort of… came to me. These folks were very professional in a very brutish way.  It was great.  We never referred to our guild as a guild.  It was a Clan. Because ORC!!! The head of the Clan was this Puerto Rican woman.  A lovely person.  Kil’Gora.  Or Kilgora because the game wouldn’t allow punctuation in your name, but lorewise!  It was Kil’gora.  Real name was Miri.  I looked up to her.  She was very influential.  Helped me through… a lot of dark times.  Mostly caused by my dad.

I don’t remember if it was before or after my comment… I think after.  But over Ventrilo, she sung to me.  Out of the blue.  Just… randomly sung.  She knew I was going through a particularly rough day, so she sang to me.  She sang a song from Anastasia.  I cried. It may seem like I cry a lot, but I assure you, crying for me used to be rare.  I hated crying.  I didn’t want to seem weak.  She was there for me.  And she was the first person to hear me cry.

Esther, however, was the first person to see me cry.  Weird how that works.

Anyways, a nickname of hers was Ariel because of her Disney singing voice.  I pointed out to her that Anastasia isn’t by Disney but by Fox.  It surprised her too.  I also told her that the internet thought I was a fucking retard for not knowing.  That didn’t surprise her.  Tough love.

Decided to send her a message.  Just something reassuring.  Life hasn’t been easy for her.  And considering how Puerto Rico has been this year, I’d say she’s probably worried about home.  She doesn’t live there anymore… but it’s still her home.  Weird to say.

You know, I never really considered California home until I left it.  I was alone in Texas with plains.  I felt like I was in the middle of a golden ocean.  Why was it golden?  Because it was piss.  I missed the mountains.  They were always so reassuring.  Then I come back and realize that I never wanted to come back.  And I couldn’t return to Texas because my dad fucked my credit.  Well… I have now.  I don’t really look outside.  I don’t really pay attention to the atmosphere.  A lot has changed.  But, I keep my troubles to myself. To many, they see me and think, “Wow… he hasn’t changed one bit after all these years.”

The reality is, I’m always changing.  I find new horrors, new regrets, new kinks in my personality.  Every day, I feel more unhinged.  What they see is what I rehearse.  I plan conversations ahead of schedule, I alleviate thought and avoid improvisation.  Should they deviate from the path… chaos.  Panic.  Fear behind a shy smile.  I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to say.

Thus, many will see that I say the same thing over and over.  This is intentional.  This is the conversational package that will get me through my life.  How long will that last?

Years ago, I predicted that I would die at the age of 27.  This was during the Bloodfury Clan.  So, perhaps I will die next year.  Maybe I shouldn’t enlist afterall.  Regardless, it’d be more convenient if I do perish.  Simpler, rather.  Not that I seek my own death but I will not seek to prevent it, either.  If I die, then I will die.  If I live, then I will live until I die.  The age at which I die is irrelevant.

However, I will be disappointed to die at 28.  That might actually piss me off.

Anyways, backtracking.  Fun fact about Orc RP:  It’s basically descriptive grunting.  Like, it’s comical at times.  You have to be fierce. Not necessarily sub-human but definitely animalistic.  I was THE BEST recruiter Bloodfury ever had.  At least… I think?  Not sure.  Might have changed since then.  I’d post my advertisement in General Chat and Trade Chat.  People would often comment with how well written it was.  I had longer adverts, too, but Blizz prevented me from using them because spam filter.

Drat.

My best advertisement was actually a ripoff from the Napoleon: Total War intro cinematic.  The thing is, I didn’t even own Napoleon: Total War until I was in Texas.  I had already stopped playing WoW by then.

Not the point.  The point is, people would send me a “Tell” or “Whisper” which is a direct and personal message directly to me.  Tell me if I need to slow down.  Anyways, we’d set up an interview to see if they can RP.  Turns out, not many people can.  It’s easy.  Write a coherent sentence, right? You’d think.

Most people are illiterate.  And though my advert was well-written, it appealed to EVERYONE.  So, a lot of Non-Orcs and Non-RPers would have to be turned away.  It was a shame, but purity.  You know how that goes.  #fascism

When the interview began, I started with a single statement.  “The Prey approaches.”  Nothing more primal than referring to someone who is your lesser as prey, something for you to sink your fangs into and tear their flesh out.  It also establishes dominance.  Not sure how, though.  Miri said she LOVED that line because it was just… perfect.  Orcs don’t HAVE to be stupid.  They can be, but that’s not their purpose.

Big, dumb orcs?  No.  Orcs are brutes, but that doesn’t mean they’re stupid.  Orcs should be Laconic, forceful, direct, perhaps impatient. Orcs can be really smart but they should still be prone to their instinct.

I mentioned a story here, I’m fairly certain.  Of my orc in a forest? I might not have, but if I have then consider this a recap.  The orc ended up looting a dwarven doll and then it broke and he angrily threw it at a tree so hard it shattered.  He was basically an angry gorilla, pounding the floor and screaming over something so trivial. My Orc wasn’t dumb.  He had my intellect, which has been praised by many.  It’s also been denounced by far more, but fuck them; me am smart Orc!

PvP was my thing.  It was my character’s lore.  I basically leveled from 57 to 60 using NOTHING but Alterac Valley, one of the PvP modes. PvP, btw, stands for Player vs Player.  So, I would attack other players.  Miri got me turned on to WORLD PvP where you gank people. Gank means you ambush them while they’re questing.  I was REALLY good at it.  Like, I set up AMAZING ambushes.

Back in the day, you had to walk to dungeons.  Now, you just magically appear there for… reasons.  But back then?  No.  You had to be there in person and then you could summon people to join you.  What I did was I waited at one of these dungeons.  It’s entrance was an opened top box.  On the top parts, were pillars and debris to depict the dungeon being ruins or whatever.  What I’d do was have my cat, who was named “Mittens” because I’m a badass Orc Warrior but lol.  I RP’d with Mittens.  She was canon.  It was… the best.

Mittens would break to be on one side.  I’d use a bunch of potions to make my character small and turn him into a skeleton.  I’d wait on the other side of the box.  When someone entered, I’d pop out behind cover, throw my axe at them, pop back in, and wait.  They’d look around, see the cat, and look at it.  Then, when Mittens had their attention, I’d pop out from cover again and charge into their backs and just BEAT the everliving shit out of them.

Other times, I’d stalk people.  Wait to strike.  Like this one Paladin who I was following.  She jumped down and bubbled (meaning she cast a spell making her immune to damage for a limited time).  When the bubble faded, I charged her.  She took so much damage she tried to heal.  I spellblocked her in the middle, meaning that spell and any spells like it were unable to be cast for a limited time.  Her defeat was SO absolute, her only response was to /cry.

I felt a little bad, so I apologized for it on my Alliance character almost immediately after.  She was really nice it seemed.

Anyways, another time there was another Paladin.  He was doing daily quests. He was pulling all these monsters all at once so he can kill them all at once and complete the quest faster.  I saw this and ambushed him. Me plus ALL these monsters meant he had no chance.  I won.

When you die, you have to find your body as a ghost and then you come back to life.  He does this and immediately heals.  He finds me.  I wave. He changes his armor to PvP specific armor.  He changes his specialization from Player versus Environment (PvE) Paladin to PvP Paladin.  I get worried.  I message Jer that I might need help.  Then I realize he has no mana.  I tell Jer, “Nevermind” and charge him again.

A Paladin is worthless without Mana.  He loses again.  I laugh and I laugh.

I use player’s instincts and strengths against them while feeding on their weaknesses.  When you get attacked, you find where they attack from.  You see a fortified position or a sign of previous occupation (like say a cat that follows a player anywhere they go) and you prepare for an assault from that position.  Then you get attacked from what you thought was barren and had no sign of life because you didn’t expect a 6’5” Orc to actually be a 2’ skeleton hiding behind the least cover possible.  The most powerful spells in someone’s arsenal will be used carelessly when they’re not threatened.  So, if you wait long enough, they’ll expend what they think they won’t need and will be vulnerable for attack far sooner. Preparing for confrontation means you’ll have to reallocate resources.  Failure to account for the resources lost means you’ll be targeted before you can replenish.

I could have written a world PvP book.  Like, I suggested to clan members who were getting into PvP to get the Helmet and Shoulder armors last when it comes to PvP gear because it’s the easiest to recognize because they actually have unique models.  If you have ALL the armor besides the helmet and shoulder armor, you’d be VERY well-geared, but you won’t look like it.  Thus, you’d be underestimated and that’d give you an advantage in the initial engagement.

I miss PvP.

Anyways… watching Anastasia.  If you ever read this and think, “Maybe Orc RP is kinda cool?” it is.  At a time, I knew plenty of Orcish words that I’d just throw into conversation to make it sound so much more authentic.  My axe was named “Lok’tra” which is an Orcish song about great battles or whatever.  I LOVE naming weapons.  ^^

Hrm, I’m not sure how historically accurate those uniforms are.

300 years?  Um, not in 1916…  1913 would be 300 years.  Though, I guess it was just rounding down at that point...  But traveling to Paris?  During WWI?  Not with that German Uboat threat.  And this bitch, with Rasputin?  The Tsarina LOVED Rasputin because he saved their son.  And then he said when he dies, their entire family would die.

This is something petty to point out, especially since it’s accepted regardless… but “Tsar” is better than “Czar.”  I’m sure “Tsar” looks less pleasing, but the Russian character they use is basically a “Ts.”  Pronounce the T and then the s.  Czar is still correct, of course, but Tsar is perhaps more correct.

Rasputin did die from drowning.  But it wasn’t an accident.  He was assassinated by Russian nobles (not the Romanov family) who didn’t like how much power he had with the Tsar and the Tsarina.  Or he was assassinated by the British.  Long story there.  The fun story is that he was poisoned.  Excessively.  And then he was shot. Excessively.  Then he was tied up.  Excessively.  And then he was tossed in a river.  His body was discovered and he had freed himself of the rope.  He had drowned, though.  He was a pain in the ass to kill.

Also, a fortnight?  Really?  The Romanovs were killed in 1918.  Not 1916. Or 1917.

Wait, this bitch is taking a train to Paris?  A train?  Bullshit.  Not with WWI.  Like, no way.  She could be taking it to a sea port, but still. Not very likely.

Saint Petersburg?  Still?  1917, we’ll say, so in 7 years.  She’d be 23 when it switches to Leningrad.  So, I wonder how old she is.  If it’s not too long, then she’d be stuck in a Russian civil war.

Oh, that’s dumb.  They have a newspaper saying, “Anastasia Lives” and the “A” is the Russian character for “D.”  That’s the only Cyrillic letter there.  The rest are western letters. Commissar wouldn’t have a tie at this time.  At least he shouldn’t, fairly certain they had only collars.

How come the main characters are the only people without Russian accents? More importantly, why would they have Russian accents?  They’d be speaking Russian, not English.  Thus they wouldn’t have much accent to themselves.  Thus, it’d be more natural to have them use anglophone accents instead of Russian accents speaking English. Like, if they speak French?  They can speak French in English but should have a Russian accent because French isn’t Russian so they would have an accent.  It’s just… trivial, I guess.

TEN YEARS?!?  FUCKING CHRIST!!!  Anastasia was born in 1901!  Assuming it all happened in 1916, that means she’d be leaving that orphanage at the age of 25.  There is no Russian Civil War at this point, and it’d DEFINITELY be Leningrad.

Backing up to the Russian accents thing… something that I’d think would be cool would be Russian slang equivalents or idioms.  I say that because there are a lot of American slang and idioms in movies like this.  Like saying, “Pal” or “Guys” or whatever.  When making someone sound foreign, you don’t need to give them an accent.  Just alter the way they speak.  It’ll still sound foreign when clearly spoken in English.  A good example is Jade Empire.  I think the character’s name was Smiling Mountain and he introduced you to the in-game language and then spoke regular English again.  Mind you, Jade Empire is based in Fantasy China so they wouldn’t be speaking English.  Thus, they reflected the foreign language through clear, concise, and proper wording and very poetic touches like Spear-Catches-Leaf.  Of course, that’s a name.  They’re are a lot of names like that, obviously… but the point of those names is that you understand the language so you know what the names mean.  Very pleasant.  :D I already hate the fucking dog.  Fuck the dog.  I hate the fucking dog.  Die.  Dog.

Also, I want to see this movie in Russian.  I feel like it’d be better.

The squirrels should be hibernating.

The animation is weird.  Like, multiple layers… the footprints in the snow move at a different pace than the snow does when the camera is moving.  Peculiar.

No exit visa!  No ticket!  Glory Arstotzka!  I love how he actually has a hammer and sickle.  Red uniform was a thing for at least one unit during the civil war, not sure if he’d have one though.

Fairly certain the palace wasn’t abandoned.  It was probably re-purposed. Might be wrong though since the governance did move to Moscow.

Singing the song Miri sang to me… It was touching, almost brought me to tears.  Then I realized that all the dancers look the same.  I realized Anastasia is a schizophrenic.  Maybe not the real Anastasia. Just Anya. Tsar Nicky looks good for a 50 year old man. Or at least a ghost.  Then again, he was always an attractive man I thought.  That is unusually rare for royalty.  I’m not sure why that is.  Look at the queen of England.  Who will inherit looks like he was kicked in the face by the ugliest horse in the stable.  Who won’t inherit actually is a decent looker.

Of course, the uglier son… I heard he is supposed to be a very kind man.  Could be wrong.  But he is honorable.

She said she was 8 when the revolutions happened… um… no?  She was born in 1901 not 1908-1909.

I’m fairly certain Tsar Nicholas II’s mother died before Anastasia did. The entire movie is her going to find her grandmother, who clearly played favorites.  What a bitch.

I like how Rasputin actually expresses joy when he sees his old bat friend.  It’s touching.  :D

They get a period correct map but they couldn’t get the rest correct? Actually, how am I sure this map is correct?

It’s not!  Estonia isn’t on there!  Or rather, it doesn’t have any borders, really… implying it’s a part of Russia!  Come on!  >:C

It bothers me that Vladimir is the only one with a Russian accent. Either everyone does it or no one does.

Where did they get horses?  Did they steal them?

The fuck is Tasha?  The boat is in Germany?  Why is Tasha everywhere?

Ugh… I always found France pretentious and overrated.  Like, at a point France dictated what was considered art and what wasn’t considered art.  Rembrandt is an example of what wasn’t considered art. However, more people recognize Rembrandt than any of the French artists of the same period.  

Holy crap, someone’s actually speaking Russian.  Really?

Where did they get the palace?  In France?  The French Republic?  They leasing out Versailles now?  Who are the nobles?

Dmitri gets hit in the head with debris.  Then the dick.  Then Anya says, “THIS IS FOR DMITRI!!!”  Like, make sure he’s dead first. Otherwise, he might already have one.  Won’t need two.

They eloped?  Oof.  Where are they going?  Leaving Paris, it seems.  Can’t go back to Russia because… well, they’ll kill her there. Curious.  Probably a dumb idea.  The monarchy could establish a government in exile, of course.  That’s if she didn’t elope.  She doesn’t think about Russia.  Self-absorbed brat.  This is why the Romanovs were shot.

Huh. The voice actors are up there.  Kelsey Grammer.  His last name bothers me.  Christopher Lloyd was the Doc from Back to the Future. John Cusak.  Kirsten Dunst.  That’s all I recognize.

Oh, fuck.  It’s 1 in the morning.  Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.  Um…

[acsversace-news]

Welcome to Career Watch, a vocational checkup of top actors and directors, and those who hope to get there. In this edition we take on global star Penélope Cruz, who’s delivering lauded performances on multiple platforms, in English and her native Spanish.

Bottom Line: Cruz is a Goya and Oscar-winner (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) who chases challenging material around the globe. This year she and husband Javier Bardem not only opened Cannes with Asghar Farhadi’s Spanish mystery drama “Everybody Knows” (Focus Features) — which went on to rack up over $6.5 million in France — but Cruz transformed herself into blonde Italian fashion icon Donatella Versace for her first-ever foray into television. Ryan Murphy’s “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” (FX) scored 18 Emmy nominations last week including Supporting Actress in a Limited series for Cruz. Next, she’ll play her sixth role with mentor Pedro Almodovar, playing his mother in autobiographical drama “Dolor y gloria” along with Antonio Banderas.

Career Peaks: The brunette actress has been an international star since her first movie with Almodovar, 1997’s “Live Flesh.” That was followed by “All About My Mother,” and Almodovar’s small-town semi-autobiographical “Volver,” for which she shared the Cannes Best Actress award with the female ensemble, and became the first Spanish actress to earn a Best Actress Oscar nomination. She won the BAFTA and Best Actress Oscar for her warm and witty role opposite Bardem in Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” She also scored an Oscar nod for her supporting performance in musical “Nine” (2010).

At Cannes 2018, “Everybody Knows” debuted on opening night, instantly sold to Focus Features, and became a big hit in France. Spain’s power couple Bardem and Cruz (who have been working together since “Jamón Jamón” in 1992), helped Iranian Oscar-winner Asghar Farhadi (“A Separation” and “The Salesman”) develop the mystery family drama over five years as he sent them treatments for their feedback. “Every day is an adventure,” said Cruz, who accepted equal pay with Bardem for the movie. “Asghar got in my dreams; he didn’t let me rest even when I was sleeping. He’s a poet. He could work anywhere. He is very humble. He asked a lot of questions. Like all his movies, the universal theme is about exploring the complexity of human relationships and behavior. We always have more to learn.”

Assets: The ballet-trained actress can do anything in three languages: her native Spanish, English, and Italian: comedies (“To Rome with Love,” “Vicky Christina Barcelona,” “Waking Up in Reno”), thrillers (“Gothika,” “Elegy”), westerns (“All the Pretty Horses”), melodramas (“Everybody Knows,” “Twice Born”), tragedies (“Ma Ma”), musicals (“Nine”), big-budget studio pieces (“Spectre, “The Counsellor,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and “Murder on the Orient Express”), and costume dramas (“The Queen of Spain”).

Latest Awards Play: With “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” showrunner Ryan Murphy wanted to show Donatella Versace “in a serious light,” he told TV Guide last January. “What we did with Penelope was show her with heart. In many ways it’s a tribute to Donatella.” Over twenty years of working with the Versace fashion house, Cruz had met Donatella several times at parties, she told me on the phone. “She has always been kind to me; they have dressed me over the years for the Oscars. I felt a lot of responsibility to play her, I like and respect her and am a huge fan of her work with her brother.”

After Murphy called, she said she felt she needed to call Donatella and ask her, “or I couldn’t move forward. She was not involved the development in any way. She said, ‘if somebody is going to play me I’m happy it’s you.’ I felt in that call, that she knew I respect her and like her.”  Cruz told Murphy: “I’m going to do it, as long as we treat her with respect.”

Murphy based the series on Maureen Orth’s 1999 non-fiction book “Vulgar Favors: The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” which Cruz did not read. “I didn’t want to read the book,” she said. “I went by the script, and doing my own research in terms of Donatella and the relationship with her brother.”

The accent was a challenge for a Spanish actress playing playing an Italian character speaking in English. It took three to four months of prep. Already knowing Italian made it easier. “For me the key was trying to find the way she speaks,” Cruz said, “so different, a pitch lower, with an Italian accent. She does a rock and roll thing in the way she speaks. I tried to have something of her in there, hopefully some essence of that person.”

Cruz’s Donatella is strong and determined to save her brother’s empire after his death, the only woman surrounded by men, sticking to her guns. “She’s emotionally in such a sad difficult place,” said Cruz, “and has to start making difficult decisions. She’s going to do this in the name of her brother, keep her brother alive through Versace. She got a lot of strength from that love, to keep the empire going in such a difficult time.”

If Cruz got hung up on some dialogue or wanted to add some research she had found, she felt free to discuss it with Murphy. Shooting television was “so different from film,” she said. “They’d make some new dialogue changes the day or two before. You have to be ready for it, you have to have the character in you to be able to improvise. It’s a great exercise for actors, there’s no other way to follow the rhythm of TV.”

She worked with her costume and hair and makeup teams from “Volver” and “Broken Embraces” and went for Donatella’s cigarettes. “We didn’t want to do caricature,” she said. “It’s the wig and very little makeup, my eyebrows were like no eyebrows because they’re so blonde, which changes the expression. We made my lips a tiny bit fuller on top with makeup. The costume was a corset for her tiny waist; she has an amazing body, she exercises a lot, even today her body is incredible.”

Cruz doubts that Donatella has seen the film, but she did send Cruz flowers the day of the premiere, “with a beautiful note to wish me luck,” she said.

Latest Misfires: Despite good reviews for her performance, Cruz couldn’t save 2016 cancer drama “Ma Ma,” which topped out at $1 million worldwide, nor poorly reviewed period epic “The Queen of Spain,” or little-seen “The Brothers Grimsby” and “Zoolander 2.”

Current Gossip: While she put in three years in the starlet spotlight (2001-2004) as the girlfriend of Tom Cruise after his breakup with Nicole Kidman (Cruise and Cruz co-starred in ill-fated “Vanilla Sky”), she left him, hooked up briefly with her “Sahara” costar Matthew McConaughey, and then in 2010, Bardem; they have raised two children together. Bardem and Cruz have learned not to take their roles home with them. “We both started very young in our twenties,” said Cruz. “Then, I felt that to torture myself and stay in character for months, the better the result would be. I have discovered that’s not true. To jump from reality to fiction many times in one day, I love that beautiful dance back and forth between both dimensions. This is work that we do, it would not make your life better if you use things from your private life. The fact that we know and trust each other so much really helps.”

Next Step: Cruz is currently filming her supporting role in Almodovar’s “Dolor y Gloria.” Banderas plays Almodovar. “Life is funny,” she said. “I’m Antonio’s mother in the part when he’s a little kid. It’s very beautiful. A lot of things are obviously about Pedro, others are more fiction. I think he’d agree this is an homage to his mother.” Coming up is the Simon Kinberg spy thriller “355,” which she helped producer and costar Jessica Chastain to sell to Universal at Cannes, along with Lupita Nyong’o, Marion Cotillard and Bingbing Fan. Also in the works is the Todd Solondz fable “Love Child,” co-starring her “Versace” costar Edgar Ramirez.

Career Advice: Hollywood often sees Cruz as a luscious attachment to a male star, but as Woody Allen and Pedro Almodovar have proved, she is capable of so much more. More often than not, Hollywood fare offers less than meets the eye, with limited range. She’s probably best off chasing world-class auteurs, whether or not the films are in English. As she ages, more character roles will come her way. And she should keep grabbing rich roles on television. “I want to do more,” she said. “I can get security with experience and some validation, but at the same time, I feel as insecure as the first day of a new film. I don’t want to lose that. Every character is new, you have a new challenge, that is what is so addictive about acting. I imagine when I’m 80 I will feel the same way. Insecurity has to be there to keep an actor growing and enjoying and hungry for knowing.”

[minhthangcoi9993-blog]

Review Game Detroit: Become Human

It’s a testament to the breadth of Quantic Dream’s branching storylines that I felt terribly guilty as the credits rolled after my second playthrough of Detroit: Become Human, as I’d played against my personal moral compass to test how far I could push the story’s exploration of the morality of artificial intelligence. This was very much the opposite of my mostly peaceful first run, and Detroit obliged my wickedness to a surprising degree, leaving a trail of bodies of those who had previously survived in my wake. And while it never seems to know when enough heavy-handed expositional dialogue is enough, Detroit: Become Human manages to be a frequently moving melodrama that bends to your choices with meaningful results.

Each of those playthroughs took around 10 hours to complete, and during that time Detroit’s pace rarely lags thanks to the deft juggling act it performs, alternating between three android characters across multiple chapters: Kara, a housekeeper who must care for a little girl named Alice, Connor; a prototype police model whose assignment is to round up ‘deviant’ androids, and Markus; a carer model who believes androids should share equal rights with humans.

The trio of performances is excellent. Bryan Dechart is delightful as Connor thanks to his deadpan innocence, which makes for a great foil against the whirling dervish of his cynical partner, Clancy Brown’s Lieutenant Hank Anderson. Valorie Curry brings quiet strength to Kara, and excels at selling her love for her ward, Alice, who is quite possibly the least charismatic video game child to have ever existed. Jesse Williams employs all of his dreamy Grey’s Anatomy warmth as Markus and is never unlikeable, no matter how you choose to play him.

Based on your choices, you can change their personalities and the tone of their individual stories. In my first playthrough, for example, the relationship between a humble Connor and the android-hating Anderson played out like a knockabout buddy comedy. In my second, I let Connor’s ambitions take over, and his story was of a different genre.

Though Markus appears to fundamentally remain endearing no matter what you do (unlike Connor, who really can be played as a hero or villain), there’s a tug-of-war going on within him that throws up some of Detroit's most interesting moral quandaries. Kara’s story seems less tonally flexible but is the quietest and most intimate, which provides a welcome contrast to all the running and explosions you can opt into in the other two stories.

Play more Jelly Doods

Hot new 60 Second Burger Run

For the most part, supporting characters adapt to the way you choose to play, but there are occasional misfires. When I played as ‘nice’ Connor, for example, Anderson was far too aggressive toward him to be believable. When I played as ‘mean,’ or even ‘indifferent’ Connor, his fury made a lot more sense. At one point, Markus gained a lover very abruptly, and I felt I’d missed a slow burn somewhere. It’s noticeable when your choices feel they’re going against the grain of a more robust story.

I found all three of Detroit’s central characters to be dramatically interesting, which meant putting them in compromising situations – or worse, killing them – was a real fear throughout. It’s testament to the writing and performances that I found making decisions “just to see what would happen” teeth-clenchingly hard.

I'm a Real Boy

The backbone of Detroit’s story – meaning the one that’s relatively fixed in place despite the choices you make around it – is big, ambitious fun that takes Phillip K. Dick's question of whether androids dream of electric sheep to the nth degree. In doing so, however, it does suffer from a multitude of plot holes. Marcus appears to gain magical android powers when it suits him; Hank is impressed when Connor solves the most basic of mysteries; and one twist makes absolutely no sense if you look back on that particular storyline after having finished.

These were noticeable (and often pretty funny), but they weren’t deal-breakers for me. Detroit is audacious and silly as hell, but it’s got real heart to it. There were enough moments of quiet tenderness to keep me emotionally invested, and the stakes were suitably high - particularly in its final act - to keep me thrilled.

With this in mind, there is a lot of clumsy exposition and dialogue I was willing to forgive, as one would while watching a fun B-movie. But occasionally, Detroit ignores the standard writing rule of “show, don’t tell” to such an extent I was yanked out of the story. Bad guys spout monologues that spell out Detroit’s themes in capital letters. (There’s a compartment for androids on public transport, in case you didn’t get what Detroit was going for here.) Select side characters, like Hank’s harrowed police chief and the inexplicably wise and mystical Lucy - are loudly cliched, so we understand what their roles are without any real character development.

With the remarkable performance-capture technology – and performances – Quantic Dream has at its disposal, there’s no real reason for such heavy-handedness. Nor do I think Detroit is incapable of subtlety; some of the scenarios here are unusual and profound. But I wish its ideas had more room to breathe before being trampled by someone spelling out the meaning for us.

Characters are certainly capable of non-verbal expressiveness. The level of detail you can see in their faces is astounding; facial hair, blemishes, freckles, and moles are rendered in stunning detail, particularly in checkerboard 4K on the PS4 Pro. The animation is just as good; as Kara and Alice hurry through the rain on a freezing night, hunched over and miserable, I could have been watching two humans from the side-streets.

The world here feels very real, too, built with a sense of history. This is a miserable, dark version of a future Detroit where androids are so omnipresent that they’re old news, sold in chain stores for the price of a discount mobile phone. Little details from the sidelines tell the story of a burst tech bubble, like basements filled to the brim with discarded models or a street performer advertising the fact he is playing “human music.”

Though the path you are guided through in Detroit’s world is as linear as previous Quantic games, I felt like there was more time to enjoy these beautifully detailed environments. One of my favourite sequences involved chasing graffiti tags to find a particular location, which ended up being an eerie, silent excursion in a forgotten corner of the city. There’s also a marvelous scene in an abandoned amusement park which still creaked with enough life that I got a sense of what it might have been, once upon a time.

The way you interact with Detroit’s environments hasn’t evolved much from Quantic Dream’s usual formula, which is unobtrusive and mostly works. Action sequences are generally executed using timed button presses, swoops of the thumbstick, and occasional motion control, which evoke the action you are performing on a case-by-case basis. An android detective mode allows you to scan your environment to reconstruct crime scenes, and fast-forwarding and rewinding through these is a lot of fun, as is a new ability to ‘pre-construct’ scenarios before you execute them. I would have liked the opportunity to play around with the latter ability more than I was allowed to, in fact.

Like Beyond: Two Souls before it, though, Detroit: Become Human struggles to justify its multiple fight scenes with meaningful interactivity. Clicking on buttons at just the right time while struggling with an angry android encourages a welcome sense of participation in the fight, but you have to screw it up disastrously to fail. I understand that making combat a proper challenge runs the risk of introducing an immersion-breaking sense of trial and error, but I was left wishing the stakes were just a little higher after I ‘won’ each fight without really trying. Why make them interactive at all if the input feels so meaningless?

Of course, the way you play Detroit is primarily through the choices you make within it. While there’s that backbone of a story that can’t be shattered, which can occasionally result in frustration when it makes a decision for you to keep you from straying too far off the beaten path, I found its branching paths to be multiple and deep. Quantic Dream has been smart in making this multitude of paths transparent through flowcharts introduced at the end of each chapter, showing you just how differently it could have played out if you’d made another choice, enticing you to play through again.

Not every alternate choice leads to a drastically different story, but some will. Sometimes it might lead to the same result, but by a surprising new means. Sometimes it might change your relationship with another character and unlock a path that wasn’t there before. Sometimes it might result in death, whether that be of a supporting character or one of the central trio (they can all die at points throughout Detroit), or a dramatic action sequence with unexpected consequences. Comparing endings, not only between my first and second playthroughs but with other players, was astounding, particularly when I assumed everybody’s story had wrapped the same way as mine and found that nobody’s had.

For me, this is the biggest draw of Detroit. One playthrough really isn’t enough to see what it has to offer, and characters and world-building are interesting enough that it was a pleasure to go back to see what I’d missed in scenarios that are deceptively complex.

The Verdict

Detroit: Become Human is a poignantly pulpy interactive sci-fi drama where your choices can impact events to a greater and more satisfying degree than in most games of this type. Though I wish its story had been handled with a softer touch, especially considering the subtlety that can be conveyed through its tech and performances, its well-written and acted central trio were vital enough to me that I found myself feeling genuine distress when they were in danger and a sense of victory when they triumphed. Most importantly, Detroit offers a multitude of transparent branching paths that entice further playthroughs, and choices have a permanence that raise the stakes throughout.

[newfreakintown-blog]

Rosalind Robertson (the DIY Couturier) Lots of fashion, too many cats, some mental health and occasionally politics. I've got a rare genetic disease (EDS - Ehlers Danlos Syndrome) that makes me a medical hot mess of severe pain and joint instability. I spend my sick-time DIYing accessories... ABOUT ASK ME ANYTHING ARCHIVE 21 Tips to Keep Your Shit Together When You’re Depressed. A while ago, I penned a fairly angry response to something circulating on the internet – the 21 Habits of Happy People. It pissed me off beyond belief, that there was an inference that if you weren’t Happy, you simply weren’t doing the right things. I’ve had depression for as long as I can remember. It’s manifested in different ways. I did therapy. I did prozac. I did more therapy. My baseline is melancholic. I’d just made peace with it when I moved, unintentionally, to a place that had markedly less sunshine in the winter. I got seasonal depression. I got that under control. Then I got really, really sick. Turns out it’s a permanent, painful genetic disorder. My last pain-free day was four years ago. So, this Cult of Happy article just set me off. Just… anger. Rage. Depression is serious – debilitating, often dangerous, and it’s got an enormous stigma. It leaves people to fend for themselves. It’s bad enough without people ramming Happy Tips at you through facebook. There is no miracle behaviour change that will flip that switch for you. I know, I’ve tried. A friend of mine suggested that I write something from my point of view because, surprisingly, I manage to give an outwards impression of having my shit together. I was shocked to hear this. And I find this comical, but I see her point. I’m functioning. I’ve adapted. I’m surprisingly okay. I think the medical term is “resilient”. So, here it is. My 21 Tips on Keeping Your Shit Together During Depression 1) Know that you’re not alone. Know that we are a silent legion, who, every day face the solipsism and judgement of Happy People Who Think We Just Aren’t Trying. There are people who are depressed, people who have been depressed, and people who just haven’t been hit with it yet. 2) Understand that the Happy People are usually acting out of some genuine (albeit misguided) concern for you, that it’s coming from a good place, even if the advice feels like you’re being blamed for your disease. Telling you these things makes them feel better, even if it makes you feel like shit. (If they insist on keeping it up, see #12.) 3) Enlist the help of a professional. See your doctor. You need to talk about the ugly shit, and there are people paid to listen and help you find your way to the light at the end of the tunnel. 4) Understand that antidepressants will only do so much. They’re useful, they’ll level you out and give you the time you need to figure out your own path to getting well. They can be helpful. There are lots to choose from. They may not be for you, and even if they are, they take some time to kick in. Conversely, they may not be for you. Work with your doctor. 5) Pick up a paintbrush, a pencil, an activity you got joy from in the past and re-explore that. Or, sign up for the thing you always wanted to try. There is a long history and link between depression and creativity. It’s a bright light of this condition, so utilize it to your best advantage. 6) Eat nutritionally sound, regular small meals. If you’re having trouble eating, try to focus on what you’d like to eat. I went through a whole six week episode of tomatoes and cream cheese on a bagel twice a day. Not great, but it was something – helpful context, I’m a recovered anorexic. Conversely, if all you want to do is scarf down crap, try to off-ramp it by downing a V-8 and doing #9 for 15 minutes, and see how you feel. Chucking your blood sugar all over hell’s half acre is going to make you feel worse. 7) While you’re doing #3, get some bloodwork done. If you’re low on iron or vitamin D, or if your hormone levels are doing the Macarena… these can all contribute to zapping your energy or switching your mood to Bleak As Hell. 8) If you’re in bed and the “insomnia hamsters”, as I like to call them, are on the wheel of your head, watch Nightly Business News on PBS. This has the effect of Nyquil. Swap out your coffee for herbal tea. If you just cannot sleep, try the next tip…. 9) Learn how to meditate. Start by focusing on your breathing. Not sleep, not thoughts. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Meditation is focusing on being present in your body, not careening around in your brain. It may not be as good as sleep but it will give you some rest and recharge you. 10) Face a window as often as you can – at work, at home. Look out into the world. Watch. Observe. Try to find something you find pretty or interesting to focus on. And, handily remember that one in five of those people out there feel the way you do. 11) Cry. Better out than in. Sometimes it’s not convenient or career-enhancing to cry, so find a private place as best you can and let the tears go. Carry Kleenex and face wipes and extra concealer if you wear makeup. You can always claim allergies. 12) Any “friend” who resolutely believes that your depression is because you’re lazy, because you’re not trying hard enough, who blames you for not bootstrapping out of it- that friend needs to be cut off. Polite (#2) is one thing, but there is a limit. You don’t have to explain, you can just not respond. You feel badly enough, you don’t need their “assistance”. 13) Limit your time with people who drain you. You know who they are. Often you don’t have a choice- but you can put the meter on. And, subsequently, be aware of what you’re asking of those close to you. 14) Everyone has shit they’ve got to deal with. What you have been saddled with is your shit. Recognize, just as you’re not alone, you’re also not unique. The grass may look greener, you may be jealous or envious of others who don’t have to deal with depression, but you likely do not know everything that’s going on with them. 15) Let go or be dragged. This is an old Buddhist saying. It’s a very useful way to frame aspects of depression. Betrayal, anger, fear… letting go is a process – often a painful and difficult process - but it’s ultimately going to show you the path out of this terrible place. Repeating the mantra can help when you’re feeling gripped by these feelings. 16) Wear clothes that make you feel confident. It takes as much time to put on nice clothes as it does to put on sweatpants. You will want to wear the sweatpants. Fight the urge. The whole “look good/feel better” campaign isn’t limited to cancer and chemotherapy. Or women. 17) Avoid fictional drama and tragedy like the plague. No Grey’s Anatomy, no to The Notebook, or anything that won a Pulitzer prize. You’ve got enough going on In Real Life. Comedy only. Or trashy stuff. Old episodes of WonderWoman? I’ve got the box set. Mindless drivel, like the latest CGI blockbuster. Or clever, funny books. David Sedaris. Jenny Lawson. Fiction exists to elicit emotion, and the emotion you need to express most right now is laughter. 18) Simple exercise, if you can. It can be something as simple as taking the stairs up a flight, or walking around the block. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, it doesn’t have to involve climbing a mountain or running a marathon. Baby steps. 19) Depression will lie to you. Depression will try to tell you what others are thinking. That you are unloved and unworthy, that others think little of you or don’t care – or even wish you harm. You are not a psychic. Keep repeating that. “I am not a psychic”. Repeat. The only way to know what another person is thinking is to up and ask them. 20) If you are well and truly losing this battle, reach out to someone. I’ve been the random friendly-but-not-close person who has fielded the occasional outreach. I like to think I’m not judgemental and generally resourceful, and others have thought the same, so they called and asked. You know someone like me. And they will help you. 21) Forgive yourself. I’m writing out all these tips, and I can’t always muster the strength to even stick my nose outside, or walk up the stairs, or eat my vegetables. Today, I got outside for ten minutes. I will try again tomorrow. And I will try again the day after that. This list will not cure you. This list will not flip on the happy switch. God, I wish it were that easy. The theme here is to not to unknowingly sabotage yourself. All these little things? Like your blood sugar, or watching nonstop episodes of House, or endless Try Harder lectures from your Perpetually Perky sister? They all make dealing with depression just a tiny bit harder than it needs to be. And it’s hard enough, all on its own. (New: Downloadable, printable, nonsweary version of the 21 tips here.) UPDATE: Wow, guys. Thank you. The feedback has been wonderful - all I wanted to set out to do was something helpful. For those of you who want to see the original rant, Here it is.. www.diycouturier.com/post/41923259437/to-the-person-who-wrote-21-habits-… And here’s the response to my response (?) - basically, after posting my retort, the happy people came at me with torches all over the interwebs. www.diycouturier.com/post/42465364887/trollin-trollin-trollin#_=_ Also, a few people have mentioned that having a critter is a great thing to keep you on track, that taking care of something and having something rely on you keeps you going. I went back and forth on including that, but for some, it’s just not feasible to have a cat or a dog… but my cat is my Prozac. And, I wrote this in Canada, where we have universal health care. It breaks my heart that people don’t have access to professional support. You can sometimes find a community health centre, or sometimes your work benefits will have an employee support or assistance plan as part of your insurance. If you’re without benefits and hitting desperation, phone someone. Friend, family - even your local distress centre. Stay well, my melancholic interweb friends…xoRR ANOTHER UPDATE six weeks or so later… This - um, wow. I dropped off for a while - stuff, life, illness management boring blah blah - and this sucker is *still* flying around. I googled this, and it’s all over hell’s half acre, which is amazing, and I still can’t quite believe it… I’m STILL getting lovely emails and messages - thank you so much. I’m just awed by your response. On the Funny Note - a lot of people reposting this seem to think I’m male, which is wildly entertaining… because I work in sex and gender health policy issues… but I don’t really care how you gender me, so long as we’re talking. Nov 15 2013 - Update again. THANK YOU. NOTE: This work is under a creative common copyright. Feel free to discuss, but someone recently blogged her own “words” to each point without crediting me. I’ve put them out there under this type of copyright so they can be shared because I want to help, but please, don’t alter my work.