#and again its just nice to see a protagonist who i can relate to on this level

[new-hyperfixation-every-month]

started listening to jar of rebuke today. im somehow 14 eps in already and im OBSESSED with jared. ive said "hes just like me fr" at least 5 times per ep

[sp-ud]

Every time I see a "Hazel doesn't really need fairy godparents, she has good parents and friends, so what if she's sad they moved and her brother is off at college? Thats nothing compared to what Timmy or Dev have going on." I want to cry.

Have you considered that maybe that's the point? I know here on tumblr it's mostly people who were fans of the original show and are now in their early adult lives and teens who probably heard of the original but haven't watched it but checked out ANW for one reason or another. But don't forget, this is still a show for younger kids.

Hazel reflects a lot of the realistic internal struggles younger kids deal with, especially when suddenly thrown into a completely new phase of their lives like moving to a new city, going to a new school, or an older sibling going to college.

And that's a good thing, it's good to show kids that even if their lives aren't Horrid they still can have issues. They're still allowed to struggle 'even though' they have good parents, 'even though' they aren't bullied, 'even though' most of their issues are internal.

And that is why it's good Hazel is the protagonist and not Dev. While yes from a fandom perspective I get why people are drawn to the character with the most blatant angst potential, that like. Would be a terrible show. Even if it was meant for a YA audience and not kids.

But back to Hazel, she's so brilliantly written with her struggles because it's like yeah. I can see any 10 year old being in her situation. Minus the whole fairy godparents. Lots of kids struggle with making new friends, or knowing how to deal with being somewhere completely new, and so many other things. Its nice to see, and once again I think this choice by the writers was very intentional.

Also maybe some of yall need to think about possible unconscious biases you have that could be causing you to focus on the sad white boy and not the black girl who has plenty of her own complexities and issues. And why when you do focus on Hazel why you only focus on how she can support Dev.

Hazel is an interesting and well written character and I'm sick of there being like no talk or anything in the fandom about her without it being attached to Dev. It's her show goddamn it. The writers made her the protagonist for a reason and wrote her the way they did for a reason so please don't just ignore her. Go rewatch the show and actually pay attention to her.

And a final semi-related note, some of yall need to stop forgetting Hazel's 10. The amount of criticism towards her that can instantly be countered with "She's 10" is insane. I know for some of us it's been a while since we were 10, but I think we can all agree we were all far from being perfectly logical and emotionally intelligent at age 10.

[jthealien]

I was going to do a quick analysis on the comic’s title in relation to Buddy and uh. here I am now 900 words later. hope at least one person enjoys this,,

TLDR: Maybe the real Cinderella Boy was the weird goth friends we made along the way.

So I was doing my routine pondering of Dreams by Night (because symbolism and parallels are like crack to me) and this line right here might my favorite piece of dialogue in the whole comic:

Really this scene as a whole might be my favorite moment, but that line in particular — and its implications — are so fascinating to me.

Chase yet again breaks the conventions of a story, but this time it's the story of Cinderella Boy itself. In this case, Chase relinquishes his title of The Hero — or more accurately — The Protagonist. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that right after this moment is our first glimpse of Buddy outside of Chase’s perspective. Outside of the narrative up to that point of him being a villain.

I also don’t think it's a coincidence this is something as unreliable as a dream: a (quite literal) look inside Buddy’s head and thought process. Again, further establishing the unreliability of the story’s narrative as we know it.

I’ll stop before I go full blown analysis mode on the comic’s meta themes of narrative and conventions (saving that for another time). But I do bring up all this stuff about changing the view of the narrative, because I want to talk about another implication of ”This can be your story too.”

Which is that the title of Cinderella Boy actually refers to Buddy (or at least also refers to him).

Chase does fit a lot of the qualities of Cinderella and that story. I mean, it’s the very first story we see him in. But, I also think the Cinderella story fits Buddy even more.

List:

—A young person trapped in a horrible situation, stuck wearing rags and being treated as a pawn for a higher authority’s bidding. (Cinderella being a servant for her “family” and Buddy being a servant for Ex Libris).

—Said higher authority being cruel (The Evil Stepmother and the Old Man)

—The young person is assisted by a lady who gives her nice clothes and an avenue to escape reality. (Violet acting as a fairy godmother-like figure).

—Young person falls in love with a man who can rescue them from their troubles (the Prince and Chase), but doesn’t reveal their identity to the man

—Both Cinderella and Buddy are just nicknames, but that’s how everybody refers to them.

So yeah, lots of parallels to Cinderella with Buddy, at least based on the little we know about him.

I also want to bring up something we see in the very beginning of Cinderella Boy. In the first episode, we get a cliff notes version of Cinderella’s story. Colors (especially background colors) are really important in the comic, representing emotions and characters. And what is the main color that reappears again and again in this episode?

Purple.

The petals and roses that surround the snippets of story and the revealing of the main character, all Buddy’s signature color. The petals only turn pink — Chase’s color — when Chase actually appears.

Side note: The inclusion of both purple and pink side by side in this episode also alludes to the fact that, from the start, this is both Buddy and Chase’s story. (Seriously, go check it out, there’s so many instances it’s hard to unsee when looking for them).

Also, where else have we seen purple roses? Oh yeah, Chase’s dream in Dreams by Night. I’ve already rambled about its importance to shifting the narrative. Granted that’s not the only place purple roses appear, but it’s the most relevant.

Beyond just the colors, the actual descriptions of the heroine in the first episode should sound pretty familiar. A person “unknown to all” and “dressed in humble rags.” Sounds a lot like Buddy, from what we see in his dream at least.

Ok, so having discussed all of Buddy’s connections to Cinderella and the comic’s title maybe being about him, this is the part where I start speculating and jumping fifty different sharks. I want to make some predictions about Buddy based on the Cinderella story.

List (the sequel):

1- Buddy is an orphan. (Not far-fetched of an assumption to make about him in general, since in Beach Boys VI he expresses what seems to be confusion about the idea of having a family).

2- The palace’s clock is important in Cinderella, and Buddy’s dream heavily features a clock. So, Buddy’s likely running out of time for something. To find the keys or just being able to see Chase, either/or. What’s going to happen when that time is up? Well…

3- Mimicking Cinderella running away at midnight, Buddy’s going to be forced to leave the stories for good, likely as the season finale.

4- I think Buddy’s going to leave behind a metaphorical glass slipper, an identifier. What do I think it’ll be? His name. (Considering the current relationship between Buddy and Chase. And the fact we’re getting close to the end of the season and therefore a Buddy name reveal, I don’t think this is too improbable).

4.5- This is the most out there one, but Buddy’s name might be related to the name Ella, which is Cinderella’s original name in many interations. Maybe Ellis, Elliot, or Elijah.

It’ll be fun to see if any of these are actually close to what’ll happen. And with that, I’ll end my red string board session for now. :]

[pruneunfair]

manhwa/webtoons that I enjoy and recommend. *spoiler warning*

Not sew-wicked step mom

Very wholesome iteration of the traditional snow white fairy tale, but still can tackle very serious topics correctly. Abigail is still a human in terms of emotion and can make mistakes, Blanche isn't the annoying kid archetype I usually see and I have come to care about her, and the king, Sabrian's past that explains his avoidence of Abigail and the strained relationship with Blanche was handled with care regarding the often misused topic of SA.

Cursed princess club

The first webtoon that got me to stay on the app, Gwen is a great protagonist that slowly learns to love herself again with the help of not just her friends and family but also coming to peace with herself. Characters are flawed and many learn to grow, the relationship between Gwen and Frederick takes the perfect amount of time to progress without dragging on, and there are characters who do/say something cruel to the protagonist but they aren't villainzed and allowed to grow! (Frederick and Aurelia)

This Isekai maid is forming a union

This one is on webtoon canvas and it made me feel validated in my opinions on the usual tropes in otome isekai such as workplace abuse, racism, capitalism, "raising your lover" (ew) and even more obscure ones like gentrification. The first few chapters are mostly about deconstructing toxic manhwa tropes but it grows to have its own plot and story, there are many characters too who aren't exactly the greatest people but still have backstories that explain their behavior, while they aren't excused it does make them so much more human.

foam of the sea

This was a new one I was recommended and it met my expectations. There FL Margaret is a complex character with her own flaws learning to adapt to living a commoner life after she dies and comes back, the cast of characters all have their own stories and while they aren't exactly as fleshed out, this manhwa only has around 30 chapters. It could just be me but I also think that Margaret is autism coded and I found her surprisingly relatable.

Another manhwa that kept me on webtoon after cursed princess club ended. Pereshati is one of the most realistic regression protagonists I've seen and I actually felt her emotions during angsty scenes especially ones that involved the step-mom. There's a realistic relationship progression with Therdeo and in the beginning even after they marry, they aren't exactly close. Best of all, other characters like Saoirse, celphi all are their own person with their own pasts and goals, even the maid staff is treated like actual people and not props.

Not your typical reincarnation story

While it's not the greatest isekai story I've ever seen it's still a good one, it doesn't immediately try to promote woman vs woman in the form of Edith and Rhyse getting along with an attempt at friendship, the ML Killian, while not my most favorite still has great character development as he slowly breaks away from the authors control and when it comes to the perceived white lotus Rhyse, it's likely that as the main character she's being controlled the most and it's a little heart breaking knowing that no matter how hard Edith tries, the narrative will force them to be enemies. A nice commentary on the way authors will warp their own narrative even if it doesn't make sense to the plot.

[longitudinalwaveme]

A Rant About Flash and Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

This post will contain spoilers for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League under the cut.

So, I watched a video of the cutscenes of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and....well...let's just say that it frustrated me enough that I rage-quit watching part of the way through. (Usually, I don't rage-quit stories, because usually I don't hear about the stuff that would make me rage quit until after the story has been out for awhile, and so I don't get caught off-guard by it. This is one of the few times where a story managed to catch me off guard with a plot point I hated enough to make me quit.)

But I'll cover the non-spoilery Flash-related stuff (which did not make me rage quit) first:

-For the most part, the game pretty much nailed Captain Boomerang. He was an utter scumbag, but he was also really funny and more competent than you'd expect---so pretty much exactly what Digger is supposed to be.

-That being said, I think the game might have gone a little TOO far in making him a scumbag? Like, I know that's a part of his character, but after a certain point, he becomes a bit too unlikeable to be a main protagonist. It definitely doesn't help that positioning the Squad against the Justice League means that there isn't the mitigating factor of him fighting people who are even worse than he is.

Basically, if Digger has to fight---and win against--- the Justice League for plot reasons, maybe don't make him as awful as the nastiest versions of his comic book self? It makes him winning fights against heroes, mind-controlled or otherwise, VERY unpalatable.

-Also, he should have used boomerangs more and guns less. I know this is partially for gameplay purposes, but he's Captain Boomerang, not Captain Shotgun. He can use boomerangs to do anything---so why not lean into that?

-Between the super speed gauntlet and the fact that he has to win fights against the Justice League, I almost feel like Owen should have been this game's Captain Boomerang. Owen fighting the mind-controlled Justice League would be a lot more pleasant than maximum-jerkwad Digger fighting them---since, y'know, Owen is actually nice most of the time. He'd be a lot easier to root for.

-In spite of the fact that the game seemed to have a fairly good grasp on Digger, I can't say the same for its grasp on the Flash. I don't know why DC has been having so much trouble with adapting the Flash as of late, but it's getting very frustrating.

-More specifically, the game features the not-so-triumphant return of what I call Warry (the hybridized Flash that mixes elements of Barry and Wally together). He has Barry's name (and eye color), but he's hot-headed, brash, and impulsive, and the rest of the Justice League treats him like a rookie. In other words, his personality and relationship with the League are very reminiscent of Wally. This is a very, very, very longstanding issue of Flash adaptations, but I'm not thrilled to see it happen again.

-Although that's not really the worst part. The worst part is that this version of the Flash is just....really annoying. Like, more annoying than Wally at his worst. He honestly feels like Axel Walker cosplaying as the Flash. (Granted, part of that might be because he spends over half the game being all evil due to Brainiac's mind control, but even before that he seemed very, very young and somewhat obnoxious.)

-It also didn't help that I found the sound of his voice to be annoying. The performance itself was good, there was just something about the voice itself that rubbed me the wrong way. Digger had an abrasive voice, too, but he's supposed to be annoying and abrasive, so having an annoying voice made sense for him. Not so much for the Flash.

And then there was the thing that made me rage-quit the game (SPOILERS AHEAD):

And then the Suicide Squad killed the Flash. Like, for-real killed him. (I mean, I know that the game is called "Kill the Justice League"....but I didn't expect them to ACTUALLY kill the Justice League. I was assuming that it was hyperbole for the sake of a cool game title, especially since having the Justice League get killed would be really depressing. I am not happy to be proven wrong.)

And yes, I know that within the context of the game, killing the Flash is the only way to stop him, but it still feels like a total cop-out given how many superhero stories involve mind-control, and how many of those stories prove that there are a hundred other ways for characters to snap someone out of mind control.

And if for some reason the character HAD to die, it feels really mean-spirited to let maximum dirtbag Captain Boomerang be the one to do it. I love Captain Boomerang, but I have never wanted to see him kill the Flash. Because I like the Flash, and I like it when the good guys, y'know, win.

And that is why I rage quit watching Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.

[stardustizuku]

Part 1: The Love Square. Why it worked, and why it failed.

People who aren’t as interested in Magical Girls as I am, specifically Magical Girl Animes with Romance, may not understand why the Love Square was such a big deal. Why it was the core; the life of the series.

Okay, so how many times have you seen a love triangle unfold? Quite many, I must guess. Some really good, and some, uhm, not so much.

In Magical Girl Animes they’re common – and the most popular ones have one very particular dynamic. Let’s run down it, shall we?

Our main character falls in love with another man, someone unreachable, unattainable. It’s someone she genuinely looks up to, and is most likely popular already.

I call this character “The Prince”

In Princess Tutu, it’s Mytho. In Shugo Chara it’s Tadase. In Tokyo Mew Mew it’s Aoyama. Sailor Moon has Motoki Furuhata in Season 1, and Mamoru in Stars.

He is the type of guy you want to fall in love with. Nice, kind, good-natured, a good leader, pretty and everything.

There’s one issue, though. The person who our Main Character’s crush likes is not her, but her alter ego. Mytho is in love with Tutu, not Ahiru, Tadase is in love with Amulet Heart not Amu. The one she becomes thanks to super natural magic.

Then, there’s the opposite. I like to call them the “Rebel” character.

You know who I’m talking about. The Ikuto, the Kishu, the Fakir or even Seiya of the story. They serve to be a contrast to the “Prince”. They’re often times, the only one who gets to see through the MC’s disguise and comes to understand her. “Rebel” characters are rarely in love with alter ego, but instead feel attraction to the MC or the “real one”

These are all fan favourites characters that fall under the “Bad Boy” trope. And for good reason.

Bad boy characters are popular with little girls, teen girls, women or even AFAB people in general since they call out something in our society. There’s very real pressure put forth by either parents or society to adhere to certain gender roles, and what they mean.

In other words, you’re “supposed” to be a good girl.

You have to get good grades, you have to smile all the time, you have to be polite, and you have to play nice. A bad boy character in fiction allows the viewer (in this case and for simplicity) girls to push back or be rebellious in a very safe way.

You don’t have to be good, you’re just following the steps of a bad guy with a heart of gold. He will help you break out of your shell, and be more confident. You get to feel like you’re trying to be the good girl society tells you to be, while finally exploring these darker aspects of your personality.

In YA and more mature books, this can involve anything from trying alcohol, having sex, or allowing oneself to be angry (exploring the “bad” or “not good” emotions AFAB people are always told they shouldn’t have).

But in audiences more aimed towards children, like those in Magical Girl animes, shoujos or tween cartoons, they exist in a more subdued way – although still tapping into this idea of rebellion against the status quo.

That’s why these characters are fan favourites.  

So, to summarize. You have the MC in love with a “Prince” who in turn is in love with the Perfect Girl version of the MC. And a “Rebel” who is in love with the Real Version of the MC, flaws and all.

This particular dynamic is used as a thesis of sorts in any good story. Only by understanding both the real and idolized version of the MC can a man can “win” the love of our protagonist. And only by our MC knowing who she is, what her alter ego means, or how she relates to these dichotomies, can she understand herself.

And really, depending on how each show tackles its themes, it can have different answers. Tokyo Mew Mew offers the idea that the Prince is the correct option, while Princess Tutu says it’s not. Then there’s those with open endings such a Shugo Chara. Again, they use the dynamic, the thesis of their characters, to come to a conclusion that neatly ties to the theme.

Princess Tutu, for example, ties the ideal version of Mytho with the tragedy of a fairytale. Ahiru has to let go to be able to reach a conclusion. In Tokyo Mew Mew Ichigo sees her flaws (the cats ears) as something someone as perfect as Aoyama could never love – yet he shows he isn’t perfect and that he loves her with or without the perceived flaws she has.

That said,

It’s exactly why I loved Miraculous Ladybug when it first aired. It managed to boil down this interesting dynamic into the Love Square. The perfect and the real, the idolized and the true.

Ladybug represents the perfect version of Marinette. Adrien represents the perfect version, while the real one is Chat Noir. Chat was both the “Bad Boy” and the “Prince” all in one. Both Marinette and Adrien were in love with the “Perfect” or Idolized version of each other.

This was something never before seen. It would make for amazing content, right? Explore why we prefer an idolized version of someone, realize that true love means caring even when you’re not perfect. What our perceived “flaws” meant to others, and if they were truly flaws – or if our environment was the one teaching us they were. The possibilities and themes were limitless. We could have had something great-

No.

Sorry, we. We didn’t get that.

What we got were padded episodes, new love interest that refused to deal with this complexity, and a stagnant rship that refuses to explore any of the flaws of their characters - why they’re not perfect, or even a reason why they stay in love

This is why the Love Square fails. This, is the core of why and how it works. People can expand upon this in million different ways, but you inevitably come back to this.

The real and the idolized. The want vs the duty. The expectations and the responsibilities.

Instead of having an episode where Marinette realizes that Adrien isn’t perfect, that he isn’t a model 24/7 or that he has flaws, secrets and fear just like anyone else, we got Kagami.

Instead of Chat realizing that Ladybug isn’t perfect, that she isn’t always composed, that it’s just a persona put forth to feel more in control of a situation, we got Luka.

Both characters that I love, but they bring very little to the themes the Love Square was introducing, to begin with!

More focus should have been put in how these two bounce off each other.

How much better would the story had been if we got to see Marinette and Chat have a conversation? The two very flawed, very real, very confusing version fo these characters, just trying to understand each other.

And by the way, this is exactly why MariChat is the most popular dynamic.

Marinette acts like a girl. Scared, confused, and lonely. She isn’t a hero, she isn’t her perfect version. She is just Marinette. While she can put the mask on, at the end of the day, it’s still just a mask. And Chat? Well, we get to see him. Not the model, not the paper cut out, but a silly kid who wants to break free from a life of imprisonment by the parent who’s supposed to love him.

We get to see something real.

But, unfortunately we do not get that.

Their relationship stays static. The reason for this is a bit obvious.

The writers, to my opinion have come to this bizarre conclusion:

Developing this dynamic would mean changing dynamics, ending the status quo morphing the story into something new. And they assume a “new” means an “end”.

They’re thinking that the endgame is Adrien and Marinette realizing their identities, so they don’t wanna develop it for fear of bringing an ending “too close”.

Say you have 7 seasons prepared, you can't have them find out their identities in season 5 because their reveal should be in season 7. It should be the last couple of episodes even. After that, they'll date and it's over. So better drag this on for seasons on end.

This just proves to me: flawed writing skills and lack of direction.

WHICH wouldn’t surprise me seeing how Chloe ended up.

It is plain bad writing. Changing stuff doesn’t necessarily mean an endgame is near. It just means things are changing.

I’ll be mean to this series and compare it to the Magnus Opus of Magical Girls: Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon got together with Tuxedo mask in the first season, yet the writers were able to up the steaks of their relationship through its 5-season run: Through memory loss, a long distance romance, anxieties of hurting one another, or simply…developing their relationship. People change. And so does how they interact with other people.

These created amazing episodes that highlighted how much Usagi and Mamoru loved and cared for each other. It wasn’t just chance, it wasn’t just fate. This took work, it took time, and it took trust. This wasn’t something so easily lost. That’s why SailorMoonStars hits the hardest.

In the very last season, Usagi is in a long distance rship with Mamoru. And it breaks her. We see that she misses him, dealing with the turmoil of him not answering her messages. She’s devastated, seeking comfort in other people, but unable to forget him. Not even as Seiya begs her to take him instead of Mamoru, can she bring herself to give him up– because they’ve been together for a long, long time. And we’ve seen that.

We see her reminiscent. We see her break down and cry because he hasn’t called her. We see her thinking of him when she’s with Seiya. We see her be in love with him and we see how much it affected her that he’s ignoring her.

And by the last few episodes, we get a payoff. We find out Mamoru is dead, and that he died confident that Usagi would be strong enough to protect the Earth in his stead. That he believed in her, and he thought of her until the moment he died - uttering her name as the last thing he could do.

That’s why when Sailor Moon defeats Sailor Galaxia, the woman who killed the man she loved, through purification and not violence – it all feels right.

It’s a very simple but powerful story, packaged in 45 episodes. With enough room to breathe, digest it, but not drawn out enough for it to be annoying.

All this, when the relationship was already established. We could have had something like this in Miraculous Ladybug, if the writers WERENT drawing out the reveal and get together until the very last second!

ChatBlanc could have been an AMAZING multi-episode mini-arc.

No time-travel thing. They find their identities, they date for a few episodes, something goes horribly wrong, and Marinette has to find a way to fix the mistakes she's made. Much like Sailor Moon R.

Maybe by the end of it, she fixes it but sacrifices most of her memories. The only thing she recalls is that she knew Chat's identity, Paris almost got destroyed, and that leads to her putting distance between them.

Or maybe one day she wakes up with the memories of Chat Blanc and spends and entire season trying to know what happened, and when she does, she's horrified.

Idk, million amazing things could have been done with this episode to further develop these two's relationship. Complex, interesting, beautiful things.

But no. Because, apparently, thinking of love post-reveal is too much. Instead, we watch them run and run in circles. Chat Blanc was a single episode, and half of it was time travel shenanigans.

And all of this, just because the writers don’t actually know what they want to do with the love square. So they add new rivals, new teams, new accessories, side plots - all to avoid touching the actual core of what made the series great.

It strongly reminds me of Star vs. in that scenario the creators also weren’t sure where to take the show.

It wasn’t until season 2 where they started the subplot of Star realizing Mewni colonized Monsters that it started having a sense of self. And it showed in the romantic subplot, which was all over the place. They didn’t know what they wanted, so the romance in that show was a mess. Lack of direction and intention, aside from the knowledge that Star and Marco were the end game

I personally don’t hate Star vs. I don’t like how it handled romance but I will give it much leeway because the actual plot of Intergenerational conflict and coming to terms with the harm your ancestors have done to others - is quite compelling and not something I see tackled often.

But Miraculous does not get that. Its episodic plot is simple and refuses to get into the murky waters of its own premise.

The only thing it had going was The Love Square. Because I assure you, very few people give a crap about the Miraculous being stolen.

So, their lack of willingness was the first thing to ruin the Love Square. Fine.

But it’s not the nail on the coffin. The real reason why this suffered, was something that happened waaaay before all this.

Because one thing that the show refused to explore up until late into season 3 and start of season 4 was the specific parts of the “Ladybug” character. What I mean is, what “ideal self” she is as “Ladybug”. And how her existence affects Marinette. This is the fundamental flaw that issss...

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[astralriver]

Usotsuki Satsuki wa Shi ga Mieru/Liar Satsuki Can See Death

By 了子/Ryouko

"Hey... Tomorrow, you're going to die." Minazuki Satsuki, 16 years old. By all accounts your average 2nd year high schooler, apart from being a social misfit always declaring her classmates' impending deaths. They've nicknamed her Usotsuki (Liar) but her eyes are special indeed. What she sees with them is.. The grand return of Ryoko-sensei, author of Shi ni Aruki! A horror-suspense manga fighting backwards against fate. For every death (question), there must be a reason (solution)

This post is gonna attempt to be a somewhat spoiler free review/reccomendation of Liar Satsuki Can See Death. I will try to cover most of what people should know going into it but i will say now that if you enjoy murder mystery with some interesting characters and some light gore wont bother you then please jump right in its a brilliant read.

Content warning for Liar Satsuki Can See Death, Themes of Abuse, Neglect, Gore and Suicide.

In Mangadex there are currently translations available for:

Latam Spanish[Up to chapter 69(nice)]

Brazilian Portuguese[Complete]

Indonesian[Up to chapter 2]

Vietnamese[Up to chapter 3]

English[Complete]

Ryoukos first work Shi ni Aruki/Walk to Death is set in the same universe. Despite this it is not required to be read before Liar Satsuki, however I will say it gives some wonderful context to how trauma manifests in this world. If you do want to read it I will warn its alot darker than Liar Satsuki so if you struggle with gore/topics of suicide or trauma I would be careful approaching Shi ni Aruki.

I will put any spoilers i need to cover under the cut.

Now, Liar Satsuki Can See Death has been rotating in my mind violently for months. If it even gets a bit more attention cause of this post i will be so happy. The concept of the manga lies in our protagonist Minazuki Satsuki being able to see premonition bodies of people who are gonna die 24 hours before they do. She uses this to inspect how they died and use the clues to change fate and keep them alive.

More than that Liar Satsuki is a look into trauma manifesting as powers surrounding death. (Shi ni Aruki covers this more in depth for the mechanics but its present all throughout Ryoukos work.) Its a story of healing through trusting the people around you and growing as a person. Satsukis sight for death directly relates to her trauma and how she takes on a responsibilty for everyones safety. Her lack of care for herself while honorable from the outside spirals her into constant danger, reflecting back on her trauma that she isnt able to overcome alone. It ends up consuming her life, her only goal being to keep everyone alive and safe as she obsessively considers every possible danger.

I would once again seriously recommend just reading the first chapter as it is one of the best opening chapters of manga I have read and manages to land the concept so neatly.

And on top of that, going back once you know more about each character is incredibly eye opening. I would honestly read the story again from another characters perspective just to see what it was like for them.

Anyway.

Throughout the manga Satsuki is challenged on her core ideals, on her self and her actions. New characters, plot setups and groups are constantly switched out while at its core the theme remains a murder mystery. The manga takes the times to give lighthearted moments between all the thriller action and never shys away from showing just how much each character is developed (Ryouko is excellent with their characters). I would call the manga formulaic but it so regularly switches out the cast, their motives and how they challenge Satsuki that it always feels fresh. Its not afraid to frame her as wrong, or to show that people arent inherantly good. It is wholeheartedly human in its exploration of trauma and ideologies. Akira and Satsuki being the most prominant part of this as Akira fights Satsuki constantly to see her happy while Satsuki neglets herself in favour of keeping people alive. People that they are both aware hardly care for Satsuki.

This has all been without mentioning the pacing, use of frames and art of this manga that are all just incredible. Casual scenes showing papers getting picked up by wind becoming relevant later. The details of pacing and elements of environment being used to help convey each scene it is beautifully done. Ryouko is a genius!

From here i cant say much more witout spoiling major plotpoints so before then i will link a wonderful music video made by Re:Riza for the first chapter! Please check out their other work too!

Speaking of foils. Mikami Kai, the student council president is the perfect antagonist foil. He begins to come across as just an annoyance but as he shows up more often his nature begins to show. Kai is Satsuki, they share the same eyes and they share the same trauma, just on opposite ends. Where Satsuki holds the pain of failing to stop someone from dying, Kai holds the pain of failing to help someone soon enough. He is weak and unable to do much but his eyes help him set up exact situations of accidental deaths. Despite him thinking he is doing the right thing he is only murdering those who dont fit into his worldview.

This is where Satsuki shines. She is relentless in her resolve to keep saving people. And its through her friends challenging her that she fully commits to that unwavering determination. Without them she might have given up but shes seen enough proof that its worth all the pain. Expanding on that she grows past helping people out of guilt, she finds reason in knowing shes helping people because she cares, because she knows it will be okay, because she will make it better. Her story is one of healing trauma and ive never seen it done so well.

Komachi Komako is a girl surrounded by death. She has dealt with it alone her whole life just like Satsuki. For her however, the world is uncaring and she is just waiting for the people around her to die. Even then the greatest kindness he can offer is comfort in death, all she can do is make sure their last moments are peaceful.

She is unable to see a future to hope for and as she realises whats been happening to Satsuki, she realises she is the source of her pain. Komachis story might seem out of place if you havent read Shi ni Aruki but her pain and life are interwoven with Satsukis. As death follows her and Satsuki can clear away that fog of death. (I still personally ship Akira and Satsuki but.) For Komachi looking back to the story she truly has no one on her side and has no reason to beleive that she can be saved. It is only in the final moments that Satsuki, bright as she always is, breaks through that fog of death that surrounds Komachi. This is Satsukis prestiege, she knows herself now and isnt acting out of guilt. This is Komachis break into hope, as she is once again pulled away from the edge, but this time shown that there will be someone there by her side. For the first time in her whole life she is not alone.

This post is long enough, i want to talk about Shiina Miho but ive rambled enough!!! (Shes really good though i love her). Thank you for reading if you got this far! I love this manga and could talk about it all day so i hope at least some of that reached you.

[goodluckclove]

Writer ask game, let's go. 10, 19, 38, and 39 please c:<

Shit. Oh shit, oh fuck.

Okay yeah let's do this, Mushy.

10. Do you set yourself deadlines?

I mean I definitely used to. I've said before that I got my start in National Novel Writing in a Month, or NaNoWriMo, where you write 50k words in 30 days. The org has since proven itself to be less than reputable with its recent scandal, but I still stand by the belief that endurance sprints like that are a great way to get the muscle formed to write long-form projects. And you can just do it too, you don't need the backing of a semi-scammy nonprofit.

But now? Not really. I kind of set goals to keep work moving. I'll be like hope I finish editing by the end of this week. But I very rarely make it a hard deadline with actual...I don't know. Stakes? My brain don't work like that.

19. How do you keep yourself motivated?

I stand by the methodology of giving yourself a little reward after writing sessions, although at this point I space mine out more than I would suggest newer writers to. For me this is usually a fun drink or nice little baked good - I'm especially fond of what I refer to as a medium-fancy cake. Something with mousse. But it can be anything really.

Small breaks also help, although I am less good at keeping up with that. I actually haven't taken a full day off in like three weeks but shh don't tell anyone. I'm also very fond of reading over what I've already written and just enjoying it. Or reading books that relate to my character's interests - I'm reading a very interesting book on bird lore that I know Edgar from Songbird Elegies would love.

38. Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had

My weirdest play is probably Naked Lunch: The Musical, which follows a happy-go-lucky, classic musical lover who gets roped into adapting the essentially grindhouse experimental William S. Burroughs novel into a musical and goes a little insane in the process. He imagines himself befriending the ghost of William S. Burroughs, and the ghosts convinces him that to adapt his work properly he needs to do a lot of drugs and have a lot of gay sex, both of which go very poorly. I think Lin Manuel Miranda is mentioned as an unseen side character that my protagonist sees in the audience and threatens to beat up?

And my weirdest novel turned play is Bloodletting, which is based from a dream I had when I was detoxing off of weed - I was like addicted, not a casual stoner. I essentially dreamt that someone made me drink their blood and the blood got me high again, and from that point I developed a sort of sci-fi world where street drugs are so potent that they turn the blood of addicts into a new intoxicant that they can then sell as its own drug. I think they can also sell their blood to major medical organizations and have it used in pharmaceuticals. I still like this concept and might reuse it since I can't find the finished play it turned into.

39. Weirdest character concept you’ve ever had

Bloodletting had a romantic couple made up of a drug dealer and the AI house he was squatting in. My second novel had a leitmotif of the characters experiencing a feeling of "static" in their heads that I later on made into a sentient side character. I think I wrote a short play with a cannibalistic Guy Fieri. I started writing another play based around Sonic the Hedgehog where it was planned for Shadow to non-ironically become a rabbi, but frankly if you consider his character I do not think that's too far from canon.

I'm still percolating a project to do either alongside or after Songbird that's like Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City but with an all-robot cast. And the main character eventually transitions from a human-passing robot to some form of non-human looking machine and is much happier for it. Which I'm excited to put to paper.

[terriblewomanyuri]

When I started Hoshikuzu Telepath, I expected a mediocre CGDCT and slight yuri undertones that started and ended at the forehead-elepathy.

DAMN was I wrong.

Warning: MAJOR spoilers. This is pretty much a summary occasionally mixed in with my thoughts.

In short, if you haven't read Hoshikuzu Telepath, you should read it. It's really fucking good.

In long:

First off, Umika is a believable anxious character. She doesn't just get sad or withdrawn, she'll cry if she gets too overwhelmed or worried. That isn't to say there aren't anxious people who just shut down, but it is nice to see a character who cries and is still presented as emotionally strong.

Because Umika is! So many stories present protagonists that supposedly get up after being knocked down, but there's never the impressions that they're knocked down, just pushed back. They don't cry, get frustrated, or react poorly, they just have an obstacle they need to get around and, while the progress they make feels satisfying, it never feels like they overcome the internal strife they supposedly have.

With Hoshikuzu Telepath, things actually get worse before they get better. There's almost always something stressing out one of the members of the main cast, because they're all girls with some level of trauma, but it doesn't become oppressive at any point.

To start, Matataki joining was pretty lighthearted. There were some rough spots, but it kind of felt inevitable she'd join. The subsequent competition, Umika's panic attack during her speech, and the listless air of defeat after the competition was not where I expected the story to go, but it was what got me hooked.

The heartfelt conversation between Umika and Yuu in the lighthouse... that was YURI! It also sets up the core of Umika and Yuu's relationship and it's connection to light. And, of course, the fact that while Umika thinks she's an absolute failure, other people at school think its awesome that she makes model rockets is great! Because, yeah, that's what all people in a field of expertise experience at some point, or at least what they deserve. You have experience and think you're terrible, but someone without experience thinks its cool.

To be honest, I think Matataki is my favorite character. I'm a sucker for mechanics, I'm a sucker for characters with a gay little fang, and I relate to a lot of her character. Her relationship with Haruno is great, especially when she realizes she can't blow the material down the rocket tube because that would mean an indirect kiss. And of course, Haruno coming in when she's brooding, yelling about how she's gonna beat her in a competition and make her lose, then taking her goggles... excellent.

Side note: I would not object if this managed to become poly yuri. The relationships between our four main characters are all well established and they aren't relegated to only having deep and intimate character moments with their narrative foil.

Matataki facing off against Haruno, Umika, and Yuu was great, and her losing on purpose so she could go back to being alone was an amazing character moment. And then Haruno calling that she used an engine too small? AGHHH! Matataki getting pissed off and trying to push everyone away again is great! She's not just someone who says some kinda mean things and doesn't ever mean them, she genuinely says this to hurt, not because she hates anyone, but because she distrusts them. And earlier, she made Umika cry with her words, which just makes Umika coming back and making a speech about wanting to make a place where all of them can pursue their dreams and be comfortable... it feels so genuine because we've SEEN her pursue this goal!

Umika getting sick from all this exertion is a bit contrived, but it leads to some good yuri, so I have no complaints. Also Umika's mom works at the aquarium. I wonder if we'll get the state-mandated aquarium yuri date? Umika's gay little dream about Yuu is cute, and her asking Yuu to not do forehead-elepathy with anyone else is not just adorable, but a portent of the drama to come, as Yuu immediately does whatever Umika wants due to her desperation for someone who cares for her. While it just looks like a cute, two-sided yuri crush at this point, we can tell it's sowing the seeds for something that could be seriously codependent looking back. Also, while forehead-elepathy is obviously a (debatably) platonic stand-in for kissing, it feels way gayer. This is also where Yuu starts becoming aware of her feelings for Umika.

And here is where I start going feral over the chapter taglines. "I must be the only one who noticed that our hands are touching," shows Yuu's love for Umika so clearly. Umika is thrilled to have a companion like Yuu, and while she's pretty gay about it, she does not realize the extent of her influence on Yuu. Yuu thinks that Umika is the only one who truly and wholly accepts her and thus is desperate to be exactly what Umika wants her to be. Yet she also doesn't think that Umika could reciprocate those feelings, and thus worries about how their relationship would progress. Thus, she thinks that she's the only one who notices their hands touching.

The lighthouse meeting here demonstrates this perfectly. Yuu is following a request Umika gave her while delirious from fever with immense discipline. Then, Yuu is thrilled when Umika gets better at talking to other people. Then she's terrified. Terrified of Umika drifting away from her, terrified that if Umika doesn't need her anymore, she won't want her.

Umika gets better at talking to people and gives her presentation at the club leader meeting pretty well and tells Yuu about it. Yuu tries to voice her worries, but ultimately is afraid that Umika will push her away and plays it off and tells Umika that she's not doing forehead-elepathy with anyone else because Umika asked her too. And Umika doesn't remember, she apologizes, and Yuu calls herself stupid for it.

And the ending tagline here is GRAHHH. "An arm's length is so frustratingly short." Yuu wants to keep herself away, because she's becoming worried. She wants Umika to get better, and if Yuu gets too obsessed with Umika, she might try to stop that.

Yuu thinks that it's fine if Umika doesn't get better at talking to other people, because Yuu will always be able to understand her. And she feels terrible, because she wants Umika to get better at talking to other people, so the only person she can blame is herself.

She gets worse, but lets take a diversion to look at Haruno and Matataki and their gay ol' times together. Haruno arriving to Matataki, ready to ride on her motorcycle in a skirt, only for Matataki to put her in jeans and a biker jacket is great, but the fact that they talk about it being to Matataki's "taste," is... GRAHHHHH!!!

Haruno pouring out her worries about herself, talking about how she's grown, and thanking Matataki for helping improve is adorable. Haruno leaning over the railing, losing her balance, and falling back into Matataki's arms is adorable. And then Haruno says "I love it when... you're so strong and kind, Matataki-chan!" She was about to confess, I guarantee you.

Then Matataki gives her a new choker??? And Haruno grins like an idiot when she gets it and asks if she fits Matataki's tastes more now??? And then when Haruno asks her for help finding out what her grandfather's dreams were, she says "I love you!" when Matataki agrees????? They're so girlfriends.

Anyways, they've got a radio to the aliens now that only works intermittently and Yuu is FUCKED UP. She is panicking, torn between elation at possibly meeting her people and fear at leaving Umika. When they go to the coordinates, in the woods, where they think the UFO is going to land eventually, it doesn't come immediately. Then night passes and Matataki and Haruno leave Umika and Yuu to it.

Umika is positive, as usual, but then Yuu starts getting worried about her possessiveness. And then it gets fuckin' wild. The 4koma template that's only been broken for big moments is broken again as Yuu pins Umika to the ground and covers her mouth and starts talking about how "Only you could tug at my heart like that..." Then she starts caressing Umika's hand and face and talking about how Umika doesn't need other people, about how Yuu can understand her just fine, about how they should "stay together... forever." Then Yuu is overwhelmed with guilt and says that she doesn't really want to do any of that and runs off terrified.

I was NOT FUCKING EXPECTING THIS. I did not anticipate the series would delve into an actual toxic lesbian relationship, but here we are!

And, of course, Umika doesn't give up. Her digging through the grounds with her bare hands because she thinks that what the coordinates marked was actually a piece of meteorite that could restore the function of the radio... she really does love Yuu.

I'm getting a bit tired, so I won't go into their reconciliation, but it's nice seeing Umika realize her feelings for Yuu. And the fact that they both realize and say, in front of Haruno and Matataki, that they feel jealousy over each other in a way different than from friendship... c'monnnnn canon lesbians lets go, canon lesbians.

Also Matataki is getting interested in the Cosmic language (which is Esperanto! Pretty nice.) and I'm betting she's going to confess to Haruno in it so she can admit to herself that she's in love and then pass it off as an insult when Haruno asks what she said. Of course, this is going to be followed by Haruno saying it to Umika or Yuu, who will tell her what it actually means. Investing in this now.

The series does seem to be getting lighter now, what with Matataki in a maid outfit for the culture festival. I do like the scene where the middle schooler looks at the display from the Rocket Research Association and Umika shows her what everything does. It's nice seeing someone passing on their knowledge to someone and getting them interested in the field while sharing their passion. Even if they're only 15 (Umika, probably) and 14 (the middle schooler, probably) years old.

Also the yuri is getting cranked up after that mutual confession of jealousy, with Yuu and Umika pretty much flirting in public.

Also, can't remember when it happened, but Matataki really did say "Fuck them kids." Poor teacher gets constantly ignored, too.

This ended up being more of a summary than an analysis. Ah well.

The TVTropes page is also desperate to emphasize that these girls AREN'T EXPLICITLY ATTRACTED TO EACHOTHER GUYS ALRIGHT THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT CANONICALLY YURI!

TVTropes is wrong btw. They're gay. Gay as fuck.

[rooftopvibes]

Books I read in March

Virginia Woolf / Mrs Dalloway

„Kill yourself, kill yourself for our sakes. But why should he kill himself for their sakes? Food was pleasant; the sun hot; and this killing oneself, how does one set about it.“

Septimus is traumatized by his years in the army and losing his friend. We get a look into his life and how he sees the world: very threatening but also beautiful. Septimus wants to kill himself, he says over and over again. His wife seems ashamed and doesn’t quite know how to handle the situation. Then there is the other protagonist Mrs Dalloway, she invite many people to a party, old friends and her past lover. We get to see how fast people grow old, they talk about memories like it was yesterday. We also realize that Mrs Dalloway is much like Septimus.

It was my 2nd time reading this novel but it’s the first time I read it in english. It’s not so easy to read since there are many characters and the situation/atmosphere changes very quickly. I have to admit the first time I read it I didn’t like it because I didn’t understand it well but after getting used to Woolf‘s writing style it‘s easier to read. I love her writing style so much because you get such a great insight into the characters mind and it feels so lively, so real. Even though bad things happen I still find the atmosphere very comforting and I wish to live in one of Woolf’s novels. Still I got lost especially at the end of the novel when the party is happening because there were so many characters. My favorite chapters are the ones with Septimus I find him such an interesting character and also relatable so I would love if there would be more chapters about him. All I can say is that it’s a great book but even after reading it the 2nd time I still got confused and lost sometimes so I feel like I need to read it a 3rd and many more times to fully understand.

Mary Shelley / Frankenstein

„How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery!“

Victor Frankenstein creates his monster who he abandons as he sees his satanic look. The monster haunts him and begs that Victor creates a female companion so he must not be alone. The monster seems like evil as he kills some of Victor‘s family yet he is also human like with a heart that loves nature and other human being. So we ask ourselves who is really the monster Victor or his creation?

I read it the 2nd time but in english unlike the first time I read it. I enjoy this novel a lot. It’s the father of horror so I think everyone who likes horror should read this novel. Unfortunately in movies we see the creation as something evil when in reality it has a lot in common with its creator. I love the scenes where the monster just wanders around in nature, it is a nice atmosphere in which happens so much horror.

Stefan Zweig / Angst (fear)

„She could not read anymore, she couldn’t do anything, demonic chased by her inner fear“

Irene is married to a young man whom she betrays with a pianist. Her secret affair will soon be the subject of her fear which almost leads her into death.

I enjoyed to read this novella a lot, I think it has the potential to be longer so the only bad thing about it is that it is so short. I felt the fear of the protagonist. Like in many novels of Zweig we get a clear insight into the protagonist‘s soul. It is very beautifully written and the storyline is also good and very exciting.

N. H. Kleinbaum / Dead Poets Society

„We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion.“

Five boys find out about this mysterious Dead Poets Society which was invented way back when their inspiring english teacher was still a student. They go into a cave and have their meetings. Besides that we also experience love, trouble with their parents and fulfilling their dreams beside all the struggle.

I like this novel a lot, it’s easy to read and the atmosphere is beautiful. My favorite character is Todd because I could relate a lot to him and it’s very nice seeing everyone making a process even though the end is very sad. Yet the process the characters made isn’t gone and their experience will always be in their hearts.

Dostoevsky / The Gambler

„Do you know that one day I'll kill you? I won't do it because I'm no longer in love with you, or because I'm jealous, but—I'll just kill you for no better reason that I sometimes long to devour you.“

The gambler is about a man who we watch slowly get addicted to gambling. We get to see his downfall. We get to read about the very complicated relationships with Polina, a grandma whom everyone wishes to be dead to get her money suddenly she appears into the picture, perfectly healthy. It’s about obsession and a reflection of Dostoevsky‘s addiction to gambling.

At the time I read this novel it was difficult to me to concentrate but I was still able to read it so I would say it is one of the lighter novels (even though it was my 2nd time reading it). It is exciting, at times it feels like you yourself is sitting in the casino. The relationship with Polina is also full of obsession just like the gambling. It is interesting to see how the narrator slowly falls into gambling addiction. I like the end a lot since it’s open but we can assume that the narrator didn’t stop gambling.

[kingedmundsroyalmurder]

Chapter three answers one of my early questions: Eric is 24.

Eric is also something of an anomaly amidst LMM protagonists in that he doesn't seem to enjoy nature much. This is a very pretty description of Lindsay, but it lacks the rapture of her other books. Valancy and Emily and Anne and Jane all find their bliss in nature, each in her own way, but Eric just kind of looks at the scenery and goes, 'yep, that sure is some scenery. is something going to actually happen around here?"

(I am cranky about the fact that I relate to this. I am a city girl at heart, and that's well and good, but I don't like sharing character traits with this man. So far he has mostly just been lightly insufferable but I know full well that he gets worse.)

“Courting is a very pleasant thing which a great many people go too far with.” This is, like, the anti-Eric sentiment. Eric has no use for courting and wants to skip straight to the ending, i.e. marriage to a perfect woman. Again, he is kind of Barney Snaith through a mirror darkly in that respect, although chronologically I suppose Barney Snaith is Eric Marshall through a mirror... lightly? I don't know what the opposite of the phrase would be. But you see what I mean.

" Far below the fields a calm ocean slept bluely." I am not the first person to pull this one out, but really Maud? You couldn't have come up with a more elegant construction than 'slept bluely?' Lucy Maud Montgomery, heralding the arrival of the Blue Meanies more than half a century before their time.

"Mrs. Reid drove on with a soft feeling in her leathery old heart, which had been so toughened by long endurance of poverty and toil, and a husband who wouldn’t work and couldn’t be made to work, that it was no longer a very susceptible organ where members of the opposite sex were concerned." Like with the prose, you can tell that Maud is good at sketching characters, but hasn't fully mastered it yet. This is... a passage that exists all right, but it doesn't have the charm of her later sketches.

It's also laying the bones for what I assume is going to be a running theme: Eric is irresistible because of his inherent charm and charisma and he melts even the hardest hearts without trying. (I can also tell already that this is one of those stories that tells you its protagonist is charming and beloved by everyone without ever actually showing them being charming or even nice to anyone.)

"He had a lithe, supple body, with sloping shoulders, and a lean, satiny brown throat above his open shirt collar. His head was covered with thick, silky, black curls, and the hand that hung down by the side of the wagon was unusually long and slender. His face was richly, though somewhat heavily featured, olive tinted, save for the cheeks, which had a dusky crimson bloom. His mouth was as red and beguiling as a girl’s, and his eyes were large, bold and black. All in all, he was a strikingly handsome fellow; but the expression of his face was sullen, and he somehow gave Eric the impression of a sinuous, feline creature basking in lazy grace, but ever ready for an unexpected spring." Look, everyone pulls out this passage, I know. But. For real. Why does this book not end with Eric's MLM awakening? (It's because it was written in 1910, is why.)

So let's recap the scene setting. Eric, a big(ish) city rich boy has come to a small town and is bored by and fairly dismissive of its inhabitants. Again, this is in marked contrast to someone like Jane Stuart, who is a big city rich girl come to a small town (also on PEI) and is utterly delighted by every single person she meets. We have a lot of eugenics and eugenics-adjacent themes about the Right Sort of people and who can and cannot be the Right Sort. The average people of Lindsay, biologically, are the Wrong Sort. The old man and black-eyed boy seem to be of a Different Sort and therefore can't be regular Lindsay farmers.

Oh, and also people who are Old and Tired have clearly never been anything other than that. Mrs. Reid "has never felt a rosy emotion" in her life. The mysterious older man "did not look as though [he] had ever smiled." There is a version of this story where Eric's journey is about letting go of his assumptions and finding the value in the common folk. There is a version of this story where Eric gets to know his students and their families and starts to empathize with them and see the value of their lives and their struggles and their triumphs.

There is a version of this story that is a fairy tale, basically. I don't think we are in for that version of this story.

Also Larry West is apparently consumptive :(. I do hope he lives and we can headcanon that he gets better!

[deathsmallcaps]

I saw Wish! It was cute, and overall I think it was okay. It had some lovely callbacks, and was entirely original in its main plot, which is nice.

A lot of the issues people theorized it would have (pop-y songs, overdose on adorkability*, generic culture for the characters and outfits, imperfect casting in relation to character’s ethnicities, commercialization upon modern social justice interests such as reformation, and inability to commit to darkness) were there.

*man I usually love talking animals but like. Sidekicks are supposed to be comic relief and support, not distractions. Valentino wasn’t that bad, but still. Then again, I’m not the target audience. I do love that he was a baby goat. (As someone who has helped baby goats, unless they’re cold, they HATE clothes. When they’re cold, then they can just fall asleep in them, it’s very cute.)

But there were good points too (nods to Disney history without distracting the narrative, no romantic storyline* a genuine villain with a in-story further descent, desperate **betrayal spurred on by the societal structure the villain/government sought to preserve, themes of a right to self-determination and liberty vs. ‘protection’, how privilege warps you and makes you defensive, different body types and abilities, lovely animation, and so on).

*for the record, I love romance, and I know the last couple DP movies had no romances either. But idk how you could watch Raya and the Last Dragon and not even THINK about Rayaari lol.

*as soon as I saw the character, I thought ‘Oh he looks like Hans’ and I knew lmao

To comment specifically on Asha: her character creation definitely fell into the adorkability trap. But she’s very sweet, loving and capable, and I really enjoyed her relationship with her family. Making her a fairy (?) godmother at the end totally fit with her story. And her actress, Ariana DeBose, has a fantastic voice, and I can tell she totally gave it her all.

I’m glad her Mom isn’t dead (classic female protagonist issue) but I do have reservations that both Black princesses have dead Dads. I’m by no means the most qualified to speak on that, but I do know that it’s an issue often raised by Black fans on Black character’s backstories.

I do really, really love that Asha is mixed though. I know there’s a lot of issues of colorism* in Hollywood, both in live action and animated productions, but as a sister to a mixed Black boy, I know how much characters like Asha would have meant to my brother as a kid.

*interestingly enough, the movie didn’t fall into the trap of the lady half of the pairing being light than her male partner. Asha’s paternal family is white, and her Mom is Black.

My brother was never into Disney Princesses, but when Miles Morales (from Spider-verse) came out in 2018, right before my brother turned 13, and I think that was the first time he really connected to another kid character on screen. Miles is arguably mixed, often feels like a fish out of water, and grew up too damn fast, both physically* and emotionally. And I know that there has to be a bunch of little kids (and adults too!) who see Asha and feel seen. And I’m so glad for them.

*my brother was always tall, but he hit 6 feet by age 14, is 6’6 (183cm) now, and may still be growing, much to his chagrin.

Wish is not the magnum opus of Disney. Out of the two animated theatrical films Disney put out this year, I think Elemental is the better of the two*. But by no means do I think it’s terrible. It was genuinely fine.

Interestingly enough though, I do believe it to be an incredibly accurate representation of Disney’s modern output and behavior. Perhaps in that sense, it is a triumph.

*though I’m severely biased. I saw that movie 6 times in theatres and coincidentally rewatched it today. I cried each time.

Also for the record, I nearly finished* painting an Asha doll before I saw the movie today. I felt very pleased with myself. Here she is next to a Kida doll that I finished today.**

*I forgot her necklace and got her shoe color wrong, ugh. And I think I’ll try to make her side-braid’s more apparent. I will keep the flower though, just as a nod to both of her sidekicks and because I think it’s pretty lol

** Disney put out a line of mini Disney princess dolls that I … kind of became obsessed with. And have been painting to look like other Disney female Protagonists lol. Kida has an Aurora head (hence the unfortunately small nose) and a Moana body, while Asha has a Moana head (hair texture roughly matched) and a Elsa body (white and purple outfit from the sequel). If you’d like to see more, I have a post from a couple weeks ago about my work so far.

[moviemunchies]

How do we make the Hunger Games more intense? Welp, we make our protagonist live through it AGAIN and also there’s an active rebellion going on!

Hooray for teen dystopian fiction!

After winning the 74th Hunger Games together (an unprecedented victory; usually there can be only one winner), Katniss and Peeta have to go on a victory tour of the Districts. Because the reason they won is because they played up the star-crossed lovers angle, they need to keep pretending to be madly in love for the Capitol’s media. This puts considerable strain on their relationship with each other, but also with other people–Katniss’s hunting friend Gale reveals his romantic feelings for Katniss, for instance. Katniss is also suffering PTSD from the Hunger Games themselves, which makes everyday life incredibly difficult.

And also! Resistance to the Capitol is growing, and they want to use Katniss as a symbol! After all, she stuck it to the Man during the Hunger Games, right? But that also means people are willing to risk their lives in front of her during the victory tour.

But it gets worse! Because President Snow, wanting to punish Katniss for stirring up trouble, decides that for the 75th Hunger Games, they’re going to pit past winners against each other! Katniss is the only living female victor from District 12, so she has to compete again! But there’s something going on with the other competitors that she doesn’t quite understand…

This installment feels very much like it took a lot of what was key in the first film and amped it up to eleven. Which makes sense–this is a good idea for a sequel! The Games themselves are not as large a part of the actual runtime, which I also think works. There’s a lot more going on than the Games themselves–that’s just a screen for the brutal regime of the Capitol, a gladiator show that they use to entertain and beat down the masses. 

But they’re also inescapable? The Hunger Games cannot be forgotten. Not just because Katniss has PTSD, but also because they are a huge part of the system! It is a screen, but it’s a horrible, damning screen that shows how messed up everything is. It permeates every part of Katniss’s life, even though she wants to get away from them. Even when they aren’t literally forcing her to participate in the Games again, she has to keep thinking back to her time in the Games because both the Capitol and the rebellion used her time there as a symbol for something.

When the Games aren’t there, they’re there. It’s an interesting dynamic.

Now I don’t think that Katniss’s relationships with Peeta and Gale are as fleshed out as they are in the books. I’m not sure how I feel about that–on the one hand, it’s a shame, because fully-rounded characters are always nice, and we haven’t had enough time with Gale to really get the full range of how he feels about Katniss, and how she feels back, and how this relates to the whole thing with Peeta. Liam Hemsworth does quite well with what he’s given, though. 

On the other hand, the fact is that the love triangle shenanigans were one of my least favorite parts of the books, so I am not exactly crying about its absence here.

Because of the way this story’s structured and done, not only are new characters introduced, but you have reason to care about most of them. The problem with the original is that you know almost all of the other competitors are going to be killed. This one has you realize there’s something weird going on right away. You’re also fully introduced to a couple of political figures who will undoubtedly be important and complex when we see how it all plays out.

[I suppose President Snow IS in the last one, but we get much more of him here in direct interactions with Katniss.]

If you enjoy the first film, this one should scratch your itch for more. It’s not directly about the Games as much as the first one was, because now Katniss is coming to terms with how the Capitol works and her role in it. The rebellion takes center stage by the end of this installment, indicating that the conclusion is going to be more about that than the Hunger Games, and I look forward to that.

[I think turning the third book into two movies would be a good opportunity to expand on the rebellion and how it works, and its history, as I felt that the book didn’t do as good a job on that. I strongly suspect that it does not do that though, and it’s just following the trend set by Harry Potter of dividing the final installment into two parts.]

[datastate]

current tierlist! all in relation to one another. i'm still working on the more detailed reviews for each & i'm very sleepy atm, but here's the gist:

S TIER - YAKUZA 0:

the story was well done! i really loved each character and how everything came together by the end. it was really impressive how they managed to foreshadow so much within the first chapter, only ever expanding off of what was already introduced. even as the story continued, there still left enough doubt in each player's mind to wonder if there's another factor/motivation they haven't yet found out, really putting them in the place of each protagonist. the game did well with handling two protagonists, and the culmination of their overlapping arcs was very interesting to see - even if it was something the player already assumed, it wasn't frustrating seeing the characters in the moment not realize its true importance... you looked forward to seeing how it'd be revealed to them. as this prequel was made in retrospect, i understand there are some characters/systems they cannot carry over due to the limitations of the first few games without creating inconsistencies. however, my main critique was a narrative choice toward the end which was needlessly tragic. more salt in an already-existing wound, when this incident could very well have been pushed off - especially with pre-existing chronic conditions the character in question had, and the fact this moment was precisely what had been driving the entire story. i am not particularly disappointed with how it ended, but i do feel that there was much more that could've been done before jumping to the next act. it was admittedly disappointing, and something i preemptively feared the story would do. while i enjoy dark/emotional topics, this felt like a senseless, unsatisfactory narrative choice that could've been easily avoided or explained away. however, with the story choice they took, i appreciate their confidence in how they used this to wrap up the story. overall very good! characters were definitely its strong suit and they created a lot of interesting dynamics.

A TIER - YAKUZA 3:

again, characters were the main draw of this one!! i enjoyed the mystery of the first arc, and how the tension steadily built as we finally got to see the effects of yakuza on civilian life. it was nice seeing how characters took yakuza loyalty to heart - even to the point of doing the horrible things they ended up doing, against the wishes of the very one they're devoted to, if it's for their 'health' ... that sort of dynamic is always interesting to me. i liked seeing another aspect of kiryu's compassion here, and i'm always a fan of older mentor figures giving advice to younger ones who look up to them. with the nakahara family as well as those within the orphanage, i feel it did a wonderful job establishing kiryu's experience & his new goals outside of the yakuza. it's very nice seeing him settled down and feeling so much more joyous/thankful - especially with everything else he's already gone through, it feels like. a well-deserved break, and it's nice seeing him fight for something that isn't necessarily what the tojo clan asks of him, but something he personally chose. it just happened to fall in line with the tojo's priorities, meaning he's of use... my main gripe with this game, despite how much i enjoyed it, was the ending & how the yakuza games treat disabilities as temporary (makoto & saki). but i will mainly focus on the ending for now: it was very cheap to kill someone as soon as they came to the realization of how much harm they've done. i will not dig into every last detail here, but i feel as if it would've added much more to keep this character around for a longer amount of time to grow as a person and possibly fuel further (eventual) internal conflict for the clan if the chairman recognized points of contention. we have seen how ruthless this antagonist can be, and letting them return to the clan with a new perspective in mind could've really improved making the games feel connected & create natural conflict for future games considering what we already know about this character & the lengths they can go to.

C TIER - YAKUZA 2:

interesting concept, poor execution... it wasn't necessarily terrible, but the characters weren't as compelling as they could've been to make me care for furthering the story, and i had been stuck with knowing (some of) the twists from the earliest chapters, where... this story definitely relied heavily on the air of mystery over all else. you can definitely tell y0 was made after a few of these yakuza games with how they've improved their storytelling, because this just. did not live up to its potential. i liked the remaining dojimas & it was fascinating seeing kiryu realize how wrong he's been due to his trust of people, but still choosing to accept the responsibility of what comes with more caution rather than giving up entirely. majima was a treat here, & i did enjoy seeing his story through. he really is a man of extremes when it comes to that malicious compliance, and i really did enjoy how he naturally tied into this + his assumptions were justified due to previous experience being manipulated by people within the omi alliance. the recontextualization of y0 made this match up very well i always like seeing moments where he's more perceptive than he usually lets on. (& this may just be me, but the mafia they were against felt a bit. more like caricatures than people with a drive/resolve to thrive against hardship - partially because we weren't even given reason why they chose to form here, or how the yakuza previously wronged them to make them charge so heavily. especially after the treatment of other asian countries in y0, even if they were foreign mafia, this gave me a lot of whiplash...)

D TIER - YAKUZA 1: cw for spoilers & brief reference of sexual assault

not in F because we meet haruka... but everything else really does feel a bit cliche and the descent of [main antagonist] just made me feel like this

corruption arcs can be really good! i usually really love reading up on them, but... this particular one felt very forced. i feel like there was more that could've been done to prove how the remaining yakuza were pushing nishiki's paranoia over what kiryu would do once he left, pushing him to doubt kiryu (despite him. going to jail for him), and if there was more given over how he became possessive and demanding over time, eventually culminating in another impulsive murder where he realizes... he can't go back, and then loses those morals entirely if only to keep himself & yumi safe, damn whoever gets in the way, then. it'd work much better because he's now become someone who he would've once considered worthy of death, as dojima's possessiveness was, but he's more 'righteous' now. there was some pushing from others for him to be better, some shows of manipulation, but never quite enough specifically centered around kiryu as to 'prove' he couldn't trust him. i also feel that jingu was a very. poor replacement. this sounds. horrible, but i believe yumi's disconnect with haruka would've been better off if haruka was dojima's daughter. this would also contribute to why she visited her under an alias, as well as the idea that kazama & yumi felt the need to hide haruka from tojo/nishiki, for fear of his reaction. as yumi begins to recognize nishiki's becoming more of a lone conspirator, maybe if she's again been put in harm's way under threat for the nishikyama family, that's when she abandons him for a safer life with kazama's help. but because nishiki's had to take up kiryu's mantle, prove he's much more than kiryu could've been, he can't follow yumi into a peaceful life and resents her for that as well. for abandoning him, too, and instead going to kiryu who took the fall for both of them. kiryu just always has to be better, doesn't he? & that's also why nishiki ends up surveying kiryu as soon as he leaves, because he's searching for yumi through him because. even in the end, they're inseparable. and kiryu hasn't changed in the least: he still wants to trust both of them, as deceitful as they've become. (though both disallow people to be close to them anymore; yumi's is more for safety, nishiki's is because he's. lost & is actively destroying his support system lol) maybe, nishiki works with jingu's information network to try to find yumi again, not realizing that jingu would accept this because he'd also realized the tojo clan was suffering after being stolen from - he didn't know this guy knew that, meaning he was putting yumi in more danger when he gave him the money for his silent search. yumi stole the money for when nishiki's finally disposed of (he's painted a target on his back, begun to brute force things as kiryu had), so she can send haruka somewhere safer (if kiryu's still out of the life, then with him; even sera would be a better choice considering how calculating he can be & carefully hide her w people loyal to him alone), etc. etc. there are still ways to tie him into this and be so selfish, but. honestly, i feel like his corruption arc is a bit more nonsensical than nishiki's already. nishiki's constantly in an incredibly stressful environment and lured in by greed/praise/allure of safety, but jingu had. solely wanted money. no other factor. if he went into the business looking for money, he'd stay looking for money... nothing out of the ordinary there, is it. we already have nishiki betraying the people he loves, we don't need this business man out here too. but. to do all that, it requires upheaving most of the story. and it is not the game we get, sadly. so here it remains.

[ajoytobeheld]

Film 2010

January 1st, 2011

Films I thought Were Good Last Year

So….

Lets start with “Cracks,” which I know was released on the cusp of 2009 BUT it didnt make it to my local arthouse cinema until 2010, so for me, that counts. I frequently go the cinema alone because its pointless to socialize in dark rooms and the lack of a normal 9-5 job means there aren’t many people willing to bunk off work to see the daytime showing of a film about psychotic lesbian teachers… (or are there?)

Anyway, lonesome cinema trips are a cathartic experience for distracting me out of what ever bad mood I have found myself in and at that point, early 2010, I had a case of mild heartbreak (emo music! Moping! etc) and this film lifted my spirits. It is a cheesy sentiment yes, but none the less true..

Winters Bone

A film about meth, squirrels and snow. Wonderfully underplayed and I was pretty smug throughout because I snuck in my own penny sweets.

Toy Story 3

I had so much doubt with its lack of Josh Whedon on writing credits and it’s presentation in pointless 3D but luckily it was great. I also think its nice for Tim Allen to have something to do.

Youth in Revolt

Do you dimly remember when Michael Cera was in Arrested Development and you thought “he’s good, i see a bright future for him as long as he doesn’t get pigeonholed as the same character in everything and become really annoying…plus he looks a bit like a dinosaur.” Well, our fears came true. Pigeonholed and more dinosaur like everyday, which is why it was a surprise to me when I enjoyed his dual performance as the protagonist Nick Twisp and the protagonists French moustache twirling alter ego Francois in this well written and silly film. Plus he manages to perform in it without ruining a comic franchise.

BONUS.

The Social Network

Thought it was gonna be okay, but it was actually better then okay and overcame that whole nasty Benjamin Button misfire by Mr Fincher, and I also think its one of the only films i could happily sit through twice in the space of a week.

Fish Tank

I feel there is a theme of cheating in this because once again this film came out in late 2009 but once again it was not avaliable for most Cardiff based mortals to view until 2010. Andrea Arnold has made a few films about put upon women and this film details the dancing ambitions of a girl who becomes embroiled in a very inappropriate relationship with her mothers boyfriend. Step Up it is not. The star of the film Katie Jarvis is much like 90’s star Shola Ama.

Jarvis was “spotted” after Arnold witnessed her arguing with her boyfriend at a train station much like Ama gained a record deal after she was heard singing on a tube. But I have higher hopes for the career of Jarvis.

The Runaways

I double billed this film with something else I cant remember, so that couldn’t have been as good…. Kristen Stewart proves she isn’t all mumbly hair sucking and she kind of rocks this

Kick Ass

This film made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside many many times.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I confess I have not seen the rest of the millennium trilogy but this first effort was a well constructed who dunnit which may have felt televisual but if its good enough to require a America remake for those who cant read subtitles then that’s something….

Whip It

I saw this film when we were trapped in London because of the DAMMED VOLCANO. I was feeling pretty distraught about fate sending me back to Cardiff when I really wanted to be in New York so I needed some escapism.

I swallowed my reservations about this possibly being shit and gave it a go….and its bloody amazing. It doesn’t follow the generic “girl coming of age”  formula I expected plus has a line I can really relate to.

“I didn’t have a Barbie-roller-skates-phase, I had a fat-kid-sits-inside-and-reads-phase.”

The Killer Inside Me

It always feels strange to see a film alone in the afternoon about a sociopath who brutally beats up Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson, but sometimes your just in that kind of mood. Much like “Lust, Caution” I went to see this film based on the controversy that surrounded it, and much like  “Lust, Caution” I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was, and how a few well publicised scenes do not dictate what a film is actually about.  Though Michael Winterbottoms film is brutal and tough viewing it is also very good and at time hilarious, and the horrific violence of those few scenes did not feel like a effort in misogyny from the director, rather an effort in showing how truly unfeeling and narcisstic Casey Afflecks character is. The ending is pretty insane as well.

Monsters

When watching this I was aware of a building sense of unrest within certain fractions of the audiences, they were turning to each other and asking “is this title perhaps a bit misleading? There are definetely less monsters and more soft focus then I was expecting…Shall we sit here and giggle inanely instead of watching the film because we are too stupid to appreciate it? YES LETS.” Loved this film.

Of Gods and Men

I dragged my mother and sister along to this telling them a French film about Trappist monks in Algeria could be a bit of a laugh. Subtle and beautiful and I cried my eyes out like a little baby during the scene soundtracked by Swan Lake.

Other Notable Mentions

Eclipse

Harry Potter

Buried

Another Year

Ponyo!

Worst film Eva

Sex and the City 2

[talenlee]

Hollow Boys

There’s this anime, Love After World Domination that, once again, was an anime from the 2022 season of absolute banger anime, and it was funny and it looked nice and it delved into a familiar trope space and it had a good comic timing and its protagonist, Desumi Loveafterworlddomination was extremely cute and gifed up well and also dressed like what I can only describe as a horny skeleton bunny girl dominatrix, so in the context of is it a good show to watch it pretty easily sat above things that looked bad and weren’t funny. It was described as a romantic comedy, and occasionally, you’d see people talk about it in the context of having a good pair of romantic leads and how it had two protagonists and how they had good chemistry and this is a lie. There are no leads, there are no protagonists, plural. There’s Desumi, and it is a show about Desumi, and there’s nothing wrong with that, because Desumi is extremely cute and sweet and funny and hot and I bet you could catch genders off her.

The beef I have with this series, and why I never bothered to do anything Story Pile about it, is because half of the core of the show isn’t there.

Here’s the high concept for Love After World Domination: It’s a sentai series, like you know, a Power Rangers style story, where the villain’s strong lieutenant type and the red ranger of the sentai group are secretly in love and dating, and trying to hide their wholesome relationship is the situation of the comedy that follows. Setting aside that this seems like a really obvious plot point that I kind of suspect a bunch of sentai series have already done, though, in Love After World Domination, the point is to focus on Fudo, the red ranger, and Desumi, and how they relate to one another.

And Fudo is the problem.

The problem with Fudo is not that he is bad. In fact, he is unfailingly nice and kind and he has a very prudent, respectful attitude towards Desumi that means he does not react badly to her outbursts (which in the case of the story can look like violent attacks, but y’know, heightened reality and all that), nor does he try to make her problems about himself. When she is anxious about something the story is expecting of her, he does not attempt to counsel her to make a decision that he would, or to follow his ethical code, but instead recommends that she do what is best for her, based on her own experience and perspective. It’s a really good, respectful mindset.

That is also almost everything we know about Fudo.

There’s a little bit more. Fuudo has written a book. It’s about bugs. The fact he has written anything at all is a punchline. He also works out a lot, and knows a lot about his exercising. Because he exercises a lot, he can be a good student, because all of his classwork can be, in his mind, related back to muscles and working out, which is a way for a mind to work.

That’s it. That’s how Fudo works. He is a good student, uncritically positive towards Desumi, in love with her, and supportive of what she wants to do without ever trying to address the complex issue of her organisation being villainous (at least in the anime I’m sure things change over time). That’s all there is to him, and the result leaves me feeling disappointed with an anime that spends so much time making its woman protagonist so good that her love interest is so lacking.

Fudo is hollow.

I can’t help but think about this in the context of The Locked Tomb books, because I have brain worms. In The Locked Tomb books, particularly Harrow The Ninth there is an exquisite, indulgent love of words and their interfaces in the ways people talk. Characters talk in such a way that you can tell who they interact with commonly and how, the experiences they’ve had and how they shaped them. It isn’t just that someone gives good advice or bad advice, showing their place in the story, it’s that they express ideas in that story that also express who they are as characters.

When Gideon knows something complex it is a surprise, when Harrow is reduced to a simple explanation, it is also a surprise because you know that those characters are not typically like that.

Fudo is consistently good and nice and unselfish, and those are moral and ethical things; those are, themselves, communication frameworks, as almost all moral arguments are. It’s the way you tell people what you do and don’t think is reasonable and how you want to be treated, how you want to develop and express a framework for your approach of the world. The problem with Fudo, and many characters like him, is that that’s it.

I do not know why Fudo is this thoughtful or respectful. I do not know if his context or his upbringing or his family helped guide him to think of things this way. I do not know if his mother’s attitude helped inform him how to think of other people, or how his sexual harrasser teammate’s behaviour is somehow acceptable in the context of being heroes. In fact, those things, coupled with his all-purpose ‘best answer’ mindset is kind of weirder, when you think about how they don’t seem to have had any impact on what he does or thinks.

By comparison, even when a character in The Locked Tomb is saying the worst possible thing they can, you can tell who they are, and why they use those words to describe what they’re doing. Their words are not just the best thing to drop into a sentence at that point, they’re not just the words a character needs to hear, but they are words being expressed by a character.

This is really a problem that persists more in romantic fiction that centres women characters than men, by the way; we have a lot of girls in media who exist to reassure a mid boy that in fact, he is good, really, and they like the way he strings along a harem of whatevers, really, ha ha and they’re not poly but I mean, unless, you know? This is because women are often commodified in fiction in general.

But I want to talk about it as it pertains to boys, because I am a boy, and I think that telling girls to be better at being girls is not really my lane, while when it comes to talking about boys and what boys should be doing and the lessons we should be taking from romantic media is that yes, we can do better, but also, being better doesn’t mean being perfect and nothing at the same time. You can have your own personality and damage and interests and reasons for expressing empathy and respect, without it being stuff that makes you come across as a Persona protagonist trying to get perfect social links on the golden play through.

Fudo is a nice boy. That is all there is to him, because Fudo, as presented in the anime, is pretty much hollow, and I really like that the sweet romance he has with Desumi was played out with a character who was actually something, a person with traits she could like, and not just the first and only convenient option that happens to say perfect things for no good reasons.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Media