#and do NOT tell me its for non-spoilery reasons that shes still included with the girls and always wears cute feminine outfits in merch

[villainartist]

there is smth to be said abt how chihiro is always always always depicted in feminine clothing in merch + supplementary material despite her horribly written backstory like.

at some point, if she really wanted to 'stop pretending', she could easily make the choice to wear smth more unisex and 'subtle' but she always goes for the cutest, most feminine looking outfits and its like girl........ girl.....!

[jessilyria]

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY SEASON 2

Hello! This covers everything from trailers, promo pics, interviews, and articles. Pics and links will be included. The info is in vague chronological order (as much as it can be.)

Needless to say, this post contains SPOILERS and is LONG ^‿^

If you’d like a non-spoilery version with just the basic facts please check out my Umbrella Academy Timeline.

***********************************************************************

According to Steve Blackman, season 2 is about second chances and the endgame is still to stop the 2019 apocalypse (X).

The opening scene of season 2:

The siblings arrive in the past at different times, but all in the same spot - an alleyway with some dumpsters which leads out onto a high-street. 

Noticeable locations on the high-street include a beauty salon for black people, and an electronics shop which later on closes down and becomes a base for the group.

The order they arrive in is the order the promo pictures were released: Ben & Klaus, Allison, Luther, Diego, Vanya, Five.

It will likely take a while before the whole team is reunited, and possibly longer before the siblings begin to meet the new characters: “It was several episodes before we all started to interact with each other” (X).

Ben & Klaus land in February 1960 (X). As Klaus is sober, his powers continue to develop and he uses them to impresses some people. (X)

"Klaus effectively starts the hippie movement off early by founding a cult whose philosophy is based on the lyrics of pop songs that have yet to be written. “Don’t go chasing waterfalls. Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to,” he tells one awed follower." (X)

"Destiny's Children! Let us commune with music." *starts whistling*

But Klaus isn’t as happy as he seems in this new life of cult stardom. “He can’t deal with the praise; it’s just become strangulating.” (X)

There’s also tension between Klaus and Ben, but its unknown whether this is because of the cult, because Klaus is "trying to rekindle his relationship with Dave" (X), or because Klaus’ evolved powers mean Ben can now possess him (X). Either way, Ben’s “determined not to be invisible to the ones he loves, willing to go further than ever before to make his presence known.” (X)

As Klaus is wearing the same outfit as the promo pics (and has a long beard which he later loses), its likely the following scene takes place early on.

Klaus: Now what? Ben: Remember when I told you the engine was overheating? Klaus: Yeah, well, being smart doesn't make you interesting. Ben: Neither does your beard.

Ben: You think I’m just going to keep following you everywhere for another three years? Klaus: Yeah, you are my ghost-bitch, remember?

*************************

Klaus: My skin was on fire! Ben: Good! I’ve got to get to San Francisco, I have unfinished business.

Allison is second to appear in 1961 (X). "Confused and looking for help, Allison walks into a diner and is greeted by a “Whites Only” sign, then chased across town by a group of white men until she finds sanctuary in a beauty parlour for Black women that doubles as a meeting place for civil-rights activists." (X)

Its been confirmed that the below image is from ep 1. (X)

Have you experienced discrimination by your employer?

She meets a man named Raymond Chestnut who is a “born leader with the smarts, gravitas, and confidence to never have to prove it to anyone. He has the innate ability to disarm you with a look, and is a devoted husband.” (X)

Luther appears on April 10th 1962 and lands on a dumpster.

He ends up working for Jack Ruby (X), a mysterious man who owns a nightclub (and who fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald after Oswald was in custody for JFK's assassination). Luther’s job involves being a driver, bouncer, and underground fighter.

Its been confirmed that the following scene is from ep 1. (X)

Diego appears on Sep 17th 1963. One of the first things he sees is a televised address from President JFK.

He ends up in an insane asylum for stalking Lee Harvey Oswald and spouting “delusional claims” about JFK’s assassination (X). Its here he meets Lila Pitts, “a chameleon who can be as brilliant or as clinically insane as the situation requires”. She’s also "unpredictable, mischievous" and "sarcastic" with a "twisted sense of humour." (X)

Vanya appears on Oct 12th 1963 (X). “She arrives and gets hit by a car, driven by a woman (Sissy). She smashes her head on the cement... She remembers her name, but nothing else.” (X)

She gets a job on a ranch as a live-in-nanny for Sissy, a "fearless, no nonsense Texas Mom" who "married young for all the wrong reasons" and is "eager to rediscover what love has to offer." (X)

Because she has forgotten her past traumas, Vanya is “much more confident and more in touch with her emotional self” (X). She forms a unique bond with Sissy’s son, Harlan, who is non-verbal (X). Its been confirmed that the following photos are from ep 1. (X)

Vanya: I wish I remembered something.
 Sissy: The doctor said it would take time. Don’t push yourself.

Vanya is also slowly discovering her powers on her own.

Five appears with Hazel on Nov 15th after witnessing the world going down in nuclear explosions.

Five: What was that? Hazel: The end of the world, November 25th 1963. Five: And where am I now? Hazel: Dallas, ten days earlier. Five: ...I need to find my family.

But of course its not going to be that easy, the Commission is still out there and “will hunt us down wherever and whenever we go.”

In the trailer we are introduced to the head of The Commission, a fish named Carmichael. He sends three Swedish assassins, Oscar, Axel, and Otto, to hunt down Five and the others.

At some point they acquire a milk-truck and one of them dresses as a milkman. On a location shoot, the Swedes were seen in their truck outside a house in an urban area. They check a map and one of them pumps a shotgun (X).

Whilst searching for his siblings Five encounters a man named Elliot, an "alien obsessive (who) witnesses The Umbrella Academy's separate arrivals." He agrees to help Five find the others. (X)

“3rd EVENT, April 10th 1962″ is above photos of Luther arriving, “September 17th 1963″ is above photos of Diego arriving, and the right column are photos of Vanya arriving still in her White Violin outfit.

Five manages to find Diego in the asylum and they have a conversation.

Five: Listen to me very closely, you gibbering moron. You are not going to do a goddamned thing. Diego: Why not? Five: Because we have to stop the apocalypse. Diego: But that doesn't happen for another 60 years. Five: Not that apocalypse, this is a... new one. It followed us.
 Diego: *begins laughing*

At some point after this the Swedes storm the asylum.

“Who are those guys?!”

Diego and Lila seem to make their escape from the Swedes and the asylum pretty quickly however. Its been confirmed that the below pic is from ep 2. (X)

Based on Diego’s outfit and length of beard, the following two scenes take place around the same time. First, a heated car conversation which Five crashes.

Diego: You don’t know anything about me! Lila: I know everything. You are an open book written for very dumb children. Diego: I am n-not trying to b-be a hero, okay? Lila: Then why are you doing this?
 Five: *appears in the backseat* Because he is an idiot. Lila: Who the hell are you? Five: Hi, I’m his loving brother. Diego: Who left me to rot in the nut-house. Five: To protect you from yourself.
 Lila: Thats quite sweet. Diego: Okay. Both of you. Out.

And second, a dark encounter with a familiar figure...

Reginald Hargreeves & Pogo

The summary for episode 2 also mentions that “an incident at the bar leads Luther to Vanya,” and “Five finds an unsettling surprise in the film Hazel left behind,” which likely links to this image:

Its been confirmed that the following scene is from ep3 (X). Klaus is seen emerging from a river - now confirmed to be the River Ganges in India/Bangladesh which is considered sacred and purifying (X). Considering the series spans 10 days and is set in Dallas, this scene is very likely a flashback.

Note Ben in the background.

Klaus is also seen in similar attire in a wealthy looking house, which is potentially part of the commune where the cult operates.

Note Klaus no longer has his long beard.

And here’s Ben in what looks like a room in the same house. It's interesting to note that Ben (or the actor) is looking straight into the camera, implying its a first person point-of-view.

Apparently also in ep3 we have this delightful gem of Klaus being Klaus. (presumably theres a pool at the commune?).

Episode 3 also sees the Swedes chasing Vanya in a cornfield until she uses her powers to defend herself.

Thanks to this, Five is able to track Vanya down (X). It's been confirmed that the following pic is from episode 3. (X)

And based on Vanya's clothes, Five then takes her to a cafe to explain a few things.

Vanya: Are you gonna tell me what the hell's going on? Five: When you were a baby you were bought by an eccentric billionaire. He raised you in an elite academy with six other siblings with extrodinary powers, but in the year 2019 in order to avoid the apocalypse we jumped into a vortex and ended up being scattered throughout the timeline in Dallas, Texas. Vanya: ... Five: Any questions? Vanya: ... what do you mean the apocalypse?

At some point ollowing on from this (but unknown which ep) Luther and Vanya have this conversation:

Vanya: What caused the apocalypse? Luther: ... You did... but not alone. I was part of it, we all- Vanya: How? Luther: You got angry. Lost control, you... blew up the moon. It slammed into Earth wiping out everything.

In ep3 we see both Allison and Raymond actively involved in the protests against the segregation by taking part in a sit-in (X).

Allison: I’d like to be served, please.
 Waitress: *pointing to a Whites Only sign* Can’t you read, girl?
 Allison: Seven languages.
 Customer: Oh, you smart one, huh?
 *The door opens and many other blank protesters enter.*
 Allison: We’d like to be served, please.

However, it goes badly as "police brutally attack (the) peaceful protestors." (X).

The summary for ep3 says that “Allison reconnects with Klaus,” and in ep4 she is “searching frantically for Ray.” It seems, based on the following pics, that she finds Ray in jail and Klaus & Ben have a hand in getting him out.

Note the word "buearu" on the window and Ray in the background.

Based on Klaus' outfit, its sometime around this point he goes on a massive bender. We see him running with a bottle of whiskey, his gleeful cult following him, and dancing in a drinks aisle.

Note that Klaus is bleeding from his lip.

Following on from this, Klaus wakes up on Allisons floor, feeling worse for wear.

Ben: And how are we feeling this morning? Klaus: Ugh, peaches and cream, how are you? Ben: Curious. How many more rock bottoms are you going to have to hit before you start taking care of yourself?

In episode 4 “Vanya contends with a crisis at the farm.” Could this link to her developing romance as, despite Sissy still being with her husband (X), she and Vanya begin exploring a relationship?

The summary confirms that in ep4, “Five, Diego, and Lila crash a party at the Mexican consulate.” But the Swedes are still hot on their tail.

Note the third Swede in the background, chasing Five?

After surviving this, they return to their base. The following pic has been confirmed as happening in ep4 (X).

At some unknown point the Swedes (or two of them) also go after Allison, though it appears she fights back (and kills one of them?).

"They weren't here to sell vacuums!"

Also at some unknown point, Allison and Luther have a catch up. Based on Luthers partially healed face, this is after his conversation with Vanya in ep2.

Luther: We did it again… apparently.
 Allison: Did what again?
 Luther: Ended the world.

Also at some unknown point Vanya and Diego reconcile: “I don’t remember what I did, but I’m sorry, if that means anything,” Vanya tells Diego as he threateningly juggles a knife. “It does,” he responds, before accepting her as a confidant he can turn to for advice on how to handle his feelings for Lila. (X)

It appears that ep5 is when the whole family finally reunites. The episode summary explains how “summoned to an emergency meeting, the siblings hatch very different plans for how to spend their last 6 days on Earth.” (I have no idea what order the conversation goes in as each bit is a snippet from a different promo vid).

Five: Klaus, is Ben here? Klaus: No, unfortunately ghosts can’t time-travel. Ben: Are you kidding me?

Five: (I/We) really screwed the pooch on this one, the whole going back in time and getting stuck thing. But the real kick in the pants here is… we brought the end of the world back here with us. Klaus: Oh my god, again? My cult is gonna be so pissed. I told them we had until 2019. Five: We have until Monday.

Klaus: Is it Vanya? Allison: Klaus! Klaus: What? Its usually Vanya.

Vanya: None of us are supposed to be here, right? I mean, what if its us?

Luther: Diego's been stalking Lee Harvey Oswald. Diego: Hey, you're working for Jack Ruby! Klaus: Allison has been very involved in local politics. Allison: Okay, you started a cult! Ben: Thank you!

“We have to make it right again, before everyone and everything we know is dead.”

Following on from this, Klaus, Vanya and Allison have some bonding time in the beauty parlour.

Vanya: How do you guys deal with this? Allison: What? Vanya: I mean all of it. Time travel. Seeing the dead...?

Vanya: I’m gunna tell Sissy that I love her… I don’t want any secrets.
 Klaus: Yeah? Allison: Yeah! Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Yes. Cos, y’know, if, if its all going to go tits up the least I could do is be honest with my husband. Klaus: Oh… does that mean I have to face my cult? I just hate group breakups, thats why I stopped dating twins.

“Klaus, Vanya, and Allison end a moping session by dancing together to Twistin’ the Night Away.” (X). Its been confirmed that the following pic is from ep 5. (X)

In episode 6, “Dave visits Klaus’ compound” and “the siblings meet their father for dinner” in a Tiki bar. Its been confirmed that the following pic is from ep 6 (X).

An interview with the cast has them talking about ‘the elevator scene’ and how hard it was to shoot because everyone kept cracking up. (X)

Five: All right, quick run down. Luther; super strength, Klaus can commune with the dead, Allison can rumour anyone to do anything-
 Diego: Yeah except she never uses it.
 Allison: I heard a rumour you punched yourself in the face.
 *Diego punches himself in the face.*
 Reginald: *looking at Vanya* And you?
 Luther: Uh, maybe we don’t… take Vanya for a test drive.
 Klaus: Oh yeah thats probably not a good idea…
 Vanya: What, I think I can handle it.
 *Despite everyones protests, Vanya explodes a fruit bowl.*

Based on Luther and Klaus’ outfits, the following scenes also take place sometime around the same time (ep6/7).

First, Luther pulls up to a house in an urban area, he gets out the car and has a conversation with a man (X). This is the same house where the three Swedes were seen in their milk-truck at night.

Note the gun and flask on the seat.

Next, Allison and Raymond deal with a body (of a Swede?) while Klaus & Ben don’t help. The summary of ep6 also mentions that Allison gives Ray a peek at her powers, which is maybe why he’s on board to deal with a body.

But what's the big flash that startles them? Well it may have something to do with all this craziness:

Note the chairs and people on the ceiling.

It’s hard to tell but since Ben is there, this could be Klaus being thrown backwards? The outfit certainly looks similar.

In an interview, the cast talk about how the room had to be painted completely white (then returned to normal), and how nice it was for the character of Ben to be able to share a moment with Vanya (X). This implies Vanya looses control and Ben is able to talk her down.

At some unknown point, it looks like the siblings all return to the academy.

Note that the background behind Klaus implies he’s sat in the same seat that he did as a child.

An interview asked the question "You all eat 'brain' at a family dinner..." (X) and in a different interview the cast talk about the brain acid trip (X). Could this be when that happens?

Either way, things likely don’t run smoothy. “Reginald still proves just as capable of preying on their deepest insecurities, while somehow leaving them attacking each other instead of him.” (X)

The summary for ep7 mentions someone named Carl issuing a warning to Vanya, and in ep8 it states that the FBI torture her, so its most likely the following images are from this time:

The tape recorder is turned off...

The figure from behind slaps a cloth over Vanya’s face as she takes on the appearance of The White Violin.

“A dimly lit room... Vanya is strapped to a chair. The floor is soaked with water. At the moment she is being tortured for information... After an electric shock the lights on the ceiling begin to flicker. “‘Is she doing that?’ asks a fearful FBI agent.” (X)

Also in ep7, “Five travels to 1982 to carry out his new mission”. Theres a possibility that Luther is also involved in this as a promo pic has snow surrounding the house, which I don’t think would happen in November in Dallas?

Five: I need a spotter. Luther: What is that? Like a wingman?

The summary for ep8 includes the fact that “Diego discovers what causes the apocalypse.”

“Everything in our new lives is connected to the plot to assassinate the president. That can’t be a coincidence.”

The fact we see the gun Five was going to use to assassinate JFK, implies this scene takes place on Nov 22nd, 3 days before the apocalypse. And we know from the summaries that in ep8 “Five concocts a risky plan to intercept another version of himself.”

Old Five, young Five (who’s still really old Five), and Luther.

However this may not go to plan as the summary for ep9 says, “the Fives plot against each other.”

And the summary for episode 10 is: “reeling from the events at the Dealey Plaza, the siblings head to the farm to help save Harlan.”

MOMENTS I CAN’T PLACE:

Someone flips over a table in what looks like it could be a distillery. Based on outfit and hair this could possibly be Lila, Klaus, or (less likely) Diego. Five is also there.

A similar (the same?) person flips over while avoiding gunfire. There are targets and what looks like training equipment, and the person shooting is standing under a large umbrella.

If the flipping person is Lila, then this may link to what the summaries reveal about her arc: In ep5 she confronts her mother, in ep6 the Handler is mentioned (albeit talking to Five), and in ep9 she learns the truth about her parents…

Five sneaks through a room with a camera and lights. On the blackboard the word “Pogo” is written, implying this could be Reggies house and this room is where he is teaching and studying young Pogo.

Diego walks into a control room. It looks like there might be 2-way glass. Could this link to ep8 when Diego discovers what cases the apocalypse?

Five is seen in a building with wooden panels on the walls.

Based on the background of this shot of Carmichael, the building could be part of The Commission.

“You...”

Five gets buried in rubble. Aidan looks chill about it though.

***********************************************************************

Well done for making it all the way! 

I’ve tried to avoid speculation as much as possible and keep the language suggestive. I don’t know all the facts, I WILL have made errors, probably many! So please take all this with a suggestive grain of salt, I am just a hooman trying to use her squishy brain.

Please let me know if you spot any errors, think of anything else I can add, or if you want more info about any specific event ^‿^

[madegeeky]

Giftening 2020: Obligatory Vote for These Post (spoiler version)

Want the non-spoilery version? Seriously, though, super spoilery for main plot points for a lot of these. Skip the ones you don’t want to know about.

Ones with * are my nominations, so you know where my biases lie. :P Ones in bold are my top pick for the categories. I did not include things that don’t need the boost (like Utena).

ANIME 

Aggretsuko - A tv show about an unassuming shy red panda woman who works in an office building and deals with the stress of it by going to karaoke and screaming out death metal. The show largely deals with her making friends with two women who she admires and a dude who likes her. The dude who likes her is actually a geniunely interesting storyline because at the end of the first season (which I’ve not seen beyond), he basically admits that he’s built this image of her in his head that isn’t real and he wants to know the real her. (Which, fuck yeah.)

Fushigi Yuugi* - This is a story about two teens who used to be friends fighting over a man which is literally the antithesis of everything Jet is. And yet, Jet watched the whole damn thing. Watch her squirm as she has to deal with that in a liveblog format. You can get a preview of some of that in Doc’s liveblog of it that she did for Jet.

NON-ANIME ANIMATED

Archer* - This is an animated parody of James Bond made for adults. It's offensive as fuck because Archer, the titular character, is a James Bond stand-in and that character can also be offensive as fuck. In fact, one thing to appreciate about this show is that all the characters are shitty, awful people and the show never attempts to excuse their shitty, awful behavior. Plus, it's one of the few shows where half the main characters are women. I am a tiny bit hesitant to rec this for a liveblog due to the offensivness however, as far as I can tell it's not popular on tumblr, and those are generally the ones that cause the most trouble so... 

Daria - The story of a misanthropic teenager, her family, and her best friend. The characters are specifically meant to appear to be tropes before slowly being unveiled as three dimensional people. It's got a dry sense of humor that I think Jet will enjoy. I actually didn't know until years after I watched this that it was a spin-off of Beavis and Butthead (which I hated) so don't let that dissuade you. 

LIVE ACTION

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - I haven't seen past a certain point because it starts going super deep into exploring depression and that is one of my main triggers for a depressive episode, so I cannot speak of later eps. However, this show starts out funny and silly and evolves into a show exploring how toxic the main character actually is and how unhealthy her coping mechanisms are. It's amazing to see a character type whose actions are usually excused or written off as funny instead be specifically called out as being awful and toxic. (It was a Shit Show is still one of the best songs I've ever heard and Mr. Geeky and I sing it to each other whenever shit hits the fan.) 

Hannibal* - If you know of Hannibal, you know the basics premise is that of a man who eats people and is chased by the FBI. The writing in this is some of the best writing I've ever had the pleasure of seeing in a piece of media: it's subtle, smart, and trust its audience to follow along without having their hand held. However, what's really great about the TV show is that it's not afraid to do its own thing. It constantly fucks with your expectations and deconstructs and explores tropes in ways I've never seen before. I haven't seen the ending yet but I highly doubt it's going to end in a place where Silence of the Lambs will happen. The acting is fucking great and even though Anthony Hopkins gives an amazing performance as Hannibal Lector, after seeing Mads Mikkelsen play him there's no going back to Hopkins. In general, if you're looking for something original (which is ironic considering it's based on a book and there are several movies) and smart, I cannot recommend this enough. 

Russian Doll* - (Doc, please skip this one, as in 5 years when you're done with Two Storms, this is one of the things I'm considering nominating should I ever win a liveblog again.) I don't really know how to explain this show because it's so fucking weird and is so focused on character and ideas that the plot is both super simple and extremely complicated. It's a story about a woman who starts to relive the same day over and over again except, instead of the typical thing where it starts over when she falls asleep, it's only until she dies (so sometimes she lasts for hours, other times for a couple days). However, almost immediately there are signs that something else is going on, that something outside of the main character's repeating day, something has gone horribly wrong. (Count the fish.) It's a very thoughtful, character-driven show, more about exploring ideas than plot which I, personally, didn't mind at all. Another one I highly recommend overall with much less blood and gore than Hannibal.

Xena - IT'S FUCKING XENA PEOPLE! Okay, but just in case you don't know what the show is about is through cultural osmosis, Xena is a show about a woman who used to be a truly horrible murderous bitch and her continual attempts to make up for the wrongs she has done. The main relationship in the show is between Xena and her (girl)friend, Gabriel, and although the show can be ridiculously silly (time is made up and history doesn’t matter!), it also explores deep, dark issues. One of the best things this show explores is the idea of redemption and forgiveness and that perhaps nothing Xena does will ever get her those things.

LIVESTREAM

Crank* - Jason Statham plays a man who has been given a poison that slowly cuts off his adrenaline, meaning that eventually he'll die. He has to do increasingly ludicrous things to get his adrenaline pumping overtime to make up for it slowly being cut off. It's one of the most fucking bananas thing you'll ever watch but is just a bunch of fucking fun. (CW: Public sexual assault. I only mentioned because it’s a scene that last for a bit. It's a complicated scene so I won't get into it here but send an ask if you want more details.)

Dale and Tucker vs Evil* - Dale and Tucker, two hillbilly best friends, are going into the woods to fix up their vacation home when they stumble across some college kids. Random circumstances make the college kids think D&T have kidnapped their friend and so they decide they need to attack D&T to get her back. Hijinx ensue. I don't want to say much more because there's a moment that is, to this day, still one of the funniest fucking things I've ever seen, largely because I did not see it coming.

GAMES

Doki Doki Lit Club - This is a game about games. You play a guy in a dating sim. Your first playthrough everything seems normal enough. You join the literature club, meet and talk to girls, and then one of the girls commits suicide. And then game restarts and the girl who committed suicide just... doesn't exist anymore. Your replay the exact same days but it's as though she never existed. Things only get weirder from there. This game does a great job of turning dating sim tropes on their head, as well as exploring games in general. (Content warning for a lot of things. Let me know if you want more details.)

Slime Rancher (stream) - There's really not much to spoil here. You play a woman who is in charge of a ranch full of slimes. There's some messages you'll find, left by the old owner, telling story about their romance. There also some messages between you character and a deliberately gender-ambiguous significant other. And that's about the closest to story you get. Otherwise it's just catching and ranching slimes.

Subnautica* - Fucking fuck I love this game. When this game first starts it appears to be your typical survival game with no real direction other than what you want to explore. But then you find an alien structure. And you realize that your spaceship didn't randomly crash. And you find out that there's no way get off this planet except to explore deeper and deeper and find out what the aliens were doing on this planet. A genuinely beautiful story, told mostly through entries in data pads and voice messages left behind, this ending is one of the most moving ends I've ever experienced and I never ever would have expected to be able to say that about a survival game.

We Happy Few* - In this alternate universe, the Germans invaded Britain during WW2 (although, through exploring the world, you learn that the differences started well before that). When the story starts up, the Germans have left Britain behind and Britain, for unknown reasons, appears to be cut off and/or abandoned by the rest of the world. The majority of the country is constantly hopped up on a drug called Joy, which is specifically used to help them forget something horrible that happened in the past. (I have theories.) The story starts when your character goes off his Joy and gets kicked out of society. There's a general sense of unease about everything and the more you learn the more that unease grows. The art style is great and the world building fascinating.

MISC (there’s nothing spoilery here but it feels weird to not have it)

Interactive Horror Story Livestream - Doc has talked a bit about this in at least one of her Xmas streams and it sounds amazing. Not only is Jet hilarious with horror stuff but knowing Doc’s writing skill, it will be something that we’d never want to miss.

Bean Boozle When Failing a Hard Game* - I am a sadistic bitch, I admit to this, and I love watching people eat Bean Boozle, the jelly bean of horrible flavors. One of my favorite videos content creators has done is playing an incredibly difficult game and then being forced to eat a random one every time they fail. 

[reactingtosomething]

Kris Reacts to The Defenders (cont’d)

"For Whatever It’s Worth, I’m Glad You’re Here.”

Find my off-the-cuff mini-Reactions to the first five episodes of The Defenders here. A full-sized Reaction with some others may be forthcoming later in the week. SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP for the rest of the season. Some non-spoilery, mostly Daredevil-related thoughts first.

I feel even more strongly than before that to get very much out of The Defenders, you really should watch both seasons of Daredevil. There are for sure lots of quality Jessica-Luke moments, don’t get me wrong, and in the unlikely event that your favorite Defender show is Iron Fist, Colleen Wing gets a surprising amount to do. But the most important non-Defender characters, including significant villains, are from Daredevil’s supporting cast.

I love Matt Murdock (although not as much as Caroline loves Matt Murdock), but he has got to stop referring to New York (or is it just Hell’s Kitchen, or Manhattan? I’ve never been sure) as “my city.” Especially when Daredevil never really gave us a sense of what either the Kitchen in particular or NYC in general means to him. In fact, I’d love a moratorium on all superheroes referring to “My City,” especially if we rarely see them interacting with the people and places of “their” cities in meaningful, specific civilian capacities. The bar here is set by Luke Cage, which in two episodes does more to flesh out Harlem than the entirety of either Daredevil or Jessica Jones (which are otherwise the best entries in the Defenders series) did for Hell’s Kitchen.

The Defenders shares a composer, John Paesano, with Daredevil. This is not surprising, as these shows also share showrunners, Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez (who were producer-writers under Drew Goddard and later Steven DeKnight in Daredevil s1). What is surprising is how much I like the music in these shows. It’s pretty melody-light, and vaguely “atmospheric,” and there’s a lot of repetitive percussion, which all taken together is generally a style that annoys me. But what usually annoys me about that style is that it’s intended to blend into the background, to not really be noticed at all. And Paesano’s music, while it isn’t always super prominent in the sound mix or anything, uses simple but still hummable leitmotifs that -- even if in your experience their overall impression is to blend in -- can be recognized as very Of This Show. In other words, unlike many movies that have melody-light or even effectively melody-less scores, often with aggressive percussion, things scored by Paesano actually have musical identities (including Mass Effect: Andromeda, whose musical identity is probably the second-best thing about it, after combat).

Take the first music we hear in season 2 of Daredevil, “The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen”:

At first this seems like it’s just gonna be generic chasing-and-punching music, from literally any post-Bourne action franchise, but around 1:14, the ostinato that’s the backbone of the title theme kicks in. It’s much faster than in the titles, but instantly recognizable. Even if you don’t consciously recognize it in the moment, you probably feel a distinctly Daredevil vibe. It goes away again for a bit as the action of the scene ends, but returns as we see Matt (relatively) clearly for the first time in the season, a devil perched on a chapel.

This music from the climactic fight of the s2 finale, “They Have Nothing Now,” is another good example, riffing on both the ostinato and the main melody that starts about 18 seconds into the title theme.

Contrast this with the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, which do have a melodic instrumental theme, but which you almost certainly don’t associate with the movies or the characters. Partly this is because it’s just OK, but mostly it’s because what anyone remembers about those soundtracks are the needle drops of the Awesome Mixes. Don’t get me wrong, the Awesome Mixes are cool and all. But they also consist of music that most people would not specifically or exclusively associate with Guardians. Weirdly, the same composer worked on Atomic Blonde, which takes a similar approach to its music. This always seems to me like a missed opportunity. It’s like your movie or your show is somehow incomplete. What is Star Wars without John Williams? Or Batman: The Animated Series without Shirley Walker, 30 Rock without Jeff Richmond, Battlestar Galactica without Bear McCreary, Game of Thrones without Ramin Djawadi? What is Wonder Woman’s No Man’s Land without “No Man’s Land”? 

Anyway, all this to say that I’m a weirdo who REALLY LOVES A LOT that when a character briefly plays an instrument late in The Defenders, what they play is the show’s simple, vaguely Danny Elfman-esque title theme, rather than some overused classical piece.

Moving on... spoilers below!

There’s a lot about The Defenders that doesn’t work, and we’ll get to some of it. But unexpectedly, what’s stuck with me -- perhaps its single greatest achievement -- is that after the shitshow of his solo series, it renders Danny Rand pretty likable. Or at least, much easier to empathize with, much more often, than in Iron Fist.

In episode 6 when he’s tied up and Luke is babysitting, Luke (sarcastically) asks him to recount again the story of how he earned the Iron Fist by punching a dragon in the heart. Danny has a very bad sarcasm radar, and complies, and Luke has to remind him that he doesn’t give a shit or even really believe him (EVEN AFTER ALL THE WEIRD SHIT THAT’S HAPPENED). And Danny gives this sigh that back in Iron Fist I probably would’ve found petulant and childish. It does still feel, for lack of a better word, very young here. But I also found myself honestly feeling bad for the guy. He’s trying so hard, and in episode 4 he was the only one who (this is crucial) like the audience was rooting for the team to be a team, yet everyone keeps treating him like an annoying little sibling. Also, he’s telling the truth, he’s been telling the truth since he got back to New York (admittedly in the least persuasive ways possible at the start of Iron Fist), and since he got back to New York almost no one has believed him. And finally there comes the one guy in The Defenders who doesn’t have to believe Danny because he knows that Danny’s telling the truth: Stick. But then Stick is the one who wants to take Danny off the board at the top of episode 6, pulling the rug out from under him just when it seemed he had an all-in ally and even a potential mentor (something he realized he still needed very badly late in Iron Fist). This can’t be a fun place.

So that sigh actually carried some decent emotional weight for me. All the more because Luke immediately realized he’d genuinely hurt Danny’s feelings, and not just “get over yourself, you privileged white boy” feelings but “this is a central part of his identity that I’m mocking mercilessly” feelings.

Now, to be clear, Danny is an annoying little sibling. But Iron Fist never really recognized this, because it wanted Danny to be an imposing, menacing badass when what it needed him to be -- what The Defenders makes him -- is sweetly goofy and eager-to-please, a puppy who just happens to also be a trained killing machine. Danny’s the kind of guy that the cast of Leverage would call “adorable” with equal parts condescension and fondness, the kind of guy about whom you might say “bless his heart” and actually kind of mean it.

It should surprise no one who knows me well that despite all of the above, I Extremely Approve of Elektra pretty easily outclassing Danny in their fight at the end of episode 7, Iron Fist or no Iron Fist. 

But as Caroline mentions in her thoughts on her Patreon (and as she discussed in her Daredevil s2 reviews), it’s never super clear what it means for Elektra to be “the Black Sky.” For that matter it’s still unclear (though more deliberately) what the full potential extent of Danny’s Iron Fist powers is. And I think The Defenders could’ve gotten a lot more mileage out of parallels between Danny and Elektra as “living weapons.”

In general I’d hoped, perhaps foolishly, for a lot more from Elektra than we got. I didn’t have any problems with the acting, to be clear; I’m basically in love with Elodie Yung, entirely on the strength of her absurdly charismatic performance in Daredevil. But because Elektra doesn’t come back to life with her memories, Yung has to spend most of The Defenders keeping that charisma locked away, until a Plot Twist (Elektra killing Alexandra!) that I’m not convinced entirely works. I went along with it wholeheartedly anyway because it meant Yung got to unleash her full powers again. Or it would’ve been her full powers, if there’d been a lot more time to flesh out exactly what and who Elektra 3.0 is. 

We get a complete-ish answer by the end of the show, when it becomes clear that Elektra not only has her memories of Matt back but is still in love with him. But this is a character whose main challenge in her first life was that she was never permitted to figure out for herself what she wanted to do with that life, and “hijack the Hand’s plan to return to K’un Lun, and more importantly become immortal” -- though immortality certainly makes sense as a thing Elektra would want -- doesn’t come close to concretely addressing the ultimately relatable existential crisis (what is my place in the world?) that she faced in Daredevil. 

Sigourney Weaver is able to sell a desire for immortality as Alexandra Reid’s overriding concern because we meet her getting a (vaguely defined) terminal disease diagnosis, and because we spend a lot of time with Alexandra dwelling on her physical fragility and on her concerns about legacy. Yung’s Elektra doesn’t have that way in, and the writers don’t have the time or space in the last act of the season to do more than gesture broadly at Elektra’s desire to finally decide her own destiny. I think the reason this doesn’t land as well as it ought to is that it’s framed as a Villain Monologue, delivered to Danny, a character with whom she doesn’t have history. She doesn’t have this conversation with Stick (she just stabs him), and worse, she doesn’t really have it with Matt outside the chaos of a fight scene, though at least they get that last (?) kiss.

There’s a lot of lazy dialogue in The Defenders, especially in the finale, though thankfully these actors for whom we have a lot of banked affection just about pull it off. The last line of the cold open -- Luke’s “let’s go do something crazy” -- is... just kind of there? Which is a weird choice for the first big punctuation mark in the climactic chapter of this crossover event. He could’ve said that at basically any other point of the show; this should have been a line he could only say at this moment. 

Trish’s “Jess is a good friend speech” to Karen is not great. It’s not awful, either, but it’s not all that specific: Jess doesn’t do any of the things most of us in the real world ask our friends to do, “but when it comes to the real stuff, the stuff that’ll last forever...” What is that stuff? That Trish is interrupted by Malcolm and Foggy with some Bad News feels a little like the writers just didn’t know how to finish that sentence. How exactly are Matt and Jessica good friends? Yeah yeah yeah, they save your life, cool, standard superhero. But what’s the last time Matt in particular was 100 percent emotionally there for you? I do remember Jess and Trish’s friendship being my favorite part of Jessica Jones, but it’s been almost two years and some details would’ve been nice. 

Actively bad is the exchange that ends this scene: “That was the epicenter.” “Of what?” “Everything.” That’s just -- come on. That’s nowhere near as profound as it seems to want to be. That Midland was the epicenter of the earthquake is PLENTY to convey to the others that “ohhhhh that WASN’T a natural earthquake and shit’s about to go down.” In the abstract, “EVERYTHING” may sound more important than “the earthquake.” But the latter was a major inciting incident of The Defenders, and because none of these characters actually knows all of the other pieces the Defenders themselves are concerned with, the specificity of the earthquake is what should have been prized.

(In general, though, I did love that Karen and Trish got a scene together.) 

Luckily the best lines -- or at least, the best line readings -- of the episode come in the scene immediately afterward:

JESS: If you’d told me a week ago that I’d be here, with you two, about to blow up some building and fight ninjas to save New York... LUKE: (sigh) MATT: (chuckle) For whatever it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here. JESS: What? MATT: No, circumstances could be better, I’m just saying, you know -- I’m glad we found each other. LUKE: I’m not hugging you. MATT: (resigned sigh) JESS: You guys ready or what? LUKE: No. MATT: ...No. JESS: Sounds about right.

The sheer endearing-ness and tonal perfection of this moment is hard to convey in writing. Charlie Cox’s delivery of Matt’s “No” in particular is just terrifically world-weary. The other thing I need to say about this scene is that I identify a weird amount with Matt’s series-long resistance to the team culminating in a belated moment of emotional openness, only for him to be met with the realization that the emotional availability of others doesn’t work on his schedule. 

It’s possible I’m reading way too much into this. After all, I also identify with Luke’s resistance to hugging it out.

(My favorite dialogue in the show is probably still the “Are those pork?”-through-“God, you’re weird” exchange of episode 4.)

Another dialogue thing that stood out to me in the finale was the repeated trope of The Moment I Saw You.

Elektra, to Matt: “We’re together. Something I’ve wanted since I first laid eyes on you.”

Claire, to Foggy, about Matt: “But there was no talking him down. He had his mind made up the day I met him.”

This isn’t remotely unique to The Defenders, but it is a trope I tend to find annoying. I don’t think I believe in love at first sight, is probably part of my problem here, and I guess I get it if your mileage varies on that particular account. But it also feels lazy that it happens twice in a relatively narrow span of time, and about the same character, no less. Arguably more importantly, this is -- I know I lean on variations of this word a lot -- such an unspecific thing to say, in a show that had SO MUCH specificity at its disposal in the solo series. Why “since I first laid eyes on you” rather than a callback to something Matt said that night, or to their Sexy Sparring Session? Why “the day I met him” rather than a reference to Claire stitching Matt back together, or finding Matt in a literal dumpster?

(I liked that Claire and Foggy got an “our mutual friend” scene, but as others have said, it’s super weird that Claire and Matt never had a moment.)

There’s probably also something to say here about destiny and purpose, which ties into Elektra and Danny, and into the formation of the team itself, but again the show didn’t really make the time for that. I'm absolutely not suggesting that they needed 13 episodes -- I just don’t think they really managed their time well -- but with so many characters to serve, maybe 10 would’ve been interesting? To give Elektra a more robust arc post-Alexandra, if nothing else?

(About Alexandra -- I read some reviews to the effect that Sigourney Weaver held the first few episodes of The Defenders together through sheer force of will and Sigourney Weaver-ness, but I did not feel that way at all. I mean I thought she was very good, but the writing mostly wasn’t deep or clever enough for her to take the character of Alex anywhere near the level of Cottonmouth or Kilgrave or Wilson Fisk, and I think this “Sigourney Weaver is the best thing about The Defenders” take was mostly wishful projection on the part of people who know her corpus much better than I do. I’ve seen Alien but not Aliens; #sorrynotsorry.)

I did love that both in the premiere and the finale, Luke got to call back to Pop’s “Forward” mantra, without repeating the full “Forward always, always forward.” It was a nice way to show that Pop’s philosophy is thoroughly a part of him now, and that -- unlike Jessica, the person he’s with for the second callback -- he’s really deliberately thinking about his future.

I also liked, or wanted to like, that Jessica said maybe they could get coffee, but I wasn’t entirely sure what was intended by this. See, in Luke Cage, “coffee” turns out to be a euphemism Luke uses for sex, or at least a one-night stand.  But he’s with Claire now, which may be a reason he doesn’t deliver the established winking response from his own show: “I don’t drink coffee.” (Misty said it to him back then; he replied, “Neither do I.” I don’t think Luke not drinking coffee was a thing in Jessica Jones, and even if it was, it would totally be in character for Jess not to remember.) Apart from the lack of a callback response, my uncertainty comes from “we should get coffee” almost inevitably meaning, in my experience, “we are definitely not going to make the effort to get coffee,” even if we’re both totally sincere about wanting to catch up, which seems like a relatable social phenomenon Jess would snark about. 

To backtrack a bit -- that big fight scene in episode 7, against Gao and Bakuto and Murakami? It was... not shot well. Way too claustrophobic, and at least by the high standards of Daredevil, way too choppily edited. Most of the fights in The Defenders were underwhelming -- really missed Philip Silvera’s work -- but that one in particular stood out as a mess. (Caroline remarked that it’s a shame the fighting styles of the team aren’t better differentiated, at least in the show’s latter half; this is particularly true for Matt and Danny. It’s interesting that although Finn Jones is overall much better at the action here than he was in Iron Fist, the fights in The Defenders do lose a fair bit of the wushu character that previously distinguished his hand techniques, at least, from Matt’s.)

Anyway, I could probably say more -- I’m particularly sorry I haven’t done justice to the Jessica-Luke dynamic, or to the Daughters of the Dragon -- but I’ve lost most semblance of a train of thought here, so I’ll stop. I do recommend checking out all of Caroline's Random Thoughts, and, as always, the episode reviews over at The AV Club. (As of this writing the AVC is currently on episode 5.)

Though I did want a lot more from The Defenders in a lot of ways, as with the pretty strange and uneven Age of Ultron it was still a lot of fun to spend time with these characters, both alone and together. This was very much a show that did not manage to be more than the sum of its parts, but at least many of those parts were very pleasant. And frankly, I’m glad the run of episodes 6 through 8 was the last thing I watched this weekend, rather than the trainwreck (Tormund banter, zombie burning, and Dany’s winter wardrobe notwithstanding) that was this season’s penultimate episode of Game of Thrones.

I’m also cautiously optimistic about the possibility of a Luke Cage-Iron Fist team-up show, and to a lesser extent even -- I can’t believe I’m gonna say this -- the next solo season of Iron Fist (which will have a new showrunner -- Scott Buck is helming Inhumans, something about which I have strong feelings that we just can’t get into right now -- and add Simone Missick’s Misty Knight to its roster). If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is.

[comprosedreviews-blog]

Wednesday with Monica

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

My Goodreads rating: ****

Goodreads’s rating: ****.04 or something like that

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is the first in a trilogy by Laini Taylor, and follows a seventeen year old girl with blue hair, raised by a demon who deals in—not souls, not youth, not evil acts, but—teeth. All sorts of teeth. Shark teeth, bear teeth, fish teeth, human teeth, ALL THE TEETH. Karou doesn’t really know what the teeth are for, nor how she came to be raised by a race called Chimeras. She hardly knows who she is. What she does know is that creatures are marking the doorways—portals, more like—that she’s used all her life with black handprints and that things are beginning to change.

(the real synopsis is better)

I started out ADORING the book. I loved the author’s prose, the descriptions, the main character, all the characters, the settings... t’was really a joy. And let me tell you, this author can write. She’s so talented, I am definitely going to pick up her other books in the future and probably hold them dear forever… however…I got to the part with the romance and I was like… uh. No. No way was a book THIS hyped only to have one of my least favorite tropes of all time within the pages.

Here’s a bit of a rant for you guys to treasure in your heart for all of time: INSTA ROMANCES ARE A PLAUGUE UPON THE YA-VERSE. Like actually, if I read another I might scream. SCREAM.

And that’s what this book felt like to me when the two ‘love birds’ met. They were pulled together and that was… well it. I felt none of the gradual connection I crave in books featuring romance and all of the heads-over-heals foolery that happens when people are ‘drawn’ to one another immediately. So why did I give this a four star rating? Well, I was in too deep, I wasn’t about to turn tail and hide from the book, I can rarely find it in myself to give up on a story until its conclusion, so I read on. AND. THAT. END. THOUGH. It changed everything for me. It changed what I thought was an unconditional love at first sight love into something deeper. Something more. It grew the protagonist so much in my eyes that now I will read the sequel and I will like it. I will go into specifics in the spoiler section, but know this my non-spoilery friends: If you get to the beginning of the love story and you believe that this is just another insta-romance, I believe that you will be really pleasantly surprised by the ending. It’s sort of a game changer where this trope is concerned.

SO, if you are of the kind who LOVES interesting characters, is in for a spoonful of weird with a dash of romance and a decent helping of intrigue… I guess you should read this book. Look past what appears at first glance to be insta romance, and come back and read the rest of this review… because I’m about to discuss the stuffing out of this book. THE STUFFING.

AND look past that cover… because it almost made me not buy the book. I swear the book is worth more than the cover makes it seem. The writing is actually beautiful. It made me PAY ATTENTION to the scene setting, to the exposition, to all of it.

OKAY, that’s all for the non-spoilery section.

SO… yeah. Bye People Capable Of Being Spoiled

Sayonara!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bye-Bye!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~There are spoilers ahead!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay my friends. Let’s talk. About spoilery things (*cough* leave if you haven’t read *cough*).

Before I go into a long drivel about the characters I just gotta say, the world building in this book was on point. I loved how Laini Taylor chose to introduce the Chaemera the first time. How she decided to put them in Karous sketchbook, and have Karou describe her life in stories to her nonmagical friends. AND BRIMSTONE and ISSA AND ALL OF THEM. Even when they were off page they were developing in Kaorus mind, and tat shift, though it had always been part of the characters, still was part of the reading experience which was SOLID.

Okay, okay. Now for…

THAT ENDING. I gotta talk about it. I have to. So, the reason that the book has been redeemed partially in my eyes is that Karou saw through that longing for Akiva. She saw past her feelings for him that she had maintained through her evanescence and chose her family something she said she’d choose every time.

The reason I hate the insta-romance trope so much, is that the unexplainable yearning for another person—that comes immediately and is not at all warranted by any sort of personality on either character’s part, particularly the love interest—blinds out protagonists and makes them compromise the bits of them that we loved in the first place. It’s annoying, it’s obtrusive to the plot, and it’s above all else incredibly unrealistic.

Laini Taylor wrote one of the only insta-romances I can force myself to stand because she did not allow Karou to be overtaken by that weird love she harbored for Akiva. And while refusing to make a promise to wait for Akiva was—err—nice, it did not sell me on the idea that Karou was aside from being a love struck teen, her own individual. Until that ending.

Because Karou did not forgive Akiva. She did not allow herself to be blinded by love.

Applause for Laini Taylor!

Does that completely make up for the weird and inexplicable compulsion to be together? That’s debatable. I understand that she was trying to go for the fact that in another life they had loved each other. That this strange longing for one another’s presence was really the remnant of a long past love that never was brought to fruition… but even when we were thrown into that past where they fell in love with each other, I had a hard time understanding why Madrigal would fall for the dying angel.

It was a touch. A touch, a moment of compassion, and then a sort of aching that she couldn’t explain and that I am still unable to explain.

I’d say it’s because he’s beautiful because after just a few moments like that that’s all it could be, right? But all the angels are beautiful, and she had slain angels before. It certainly was nothing he did. He had killed other Chimera, and she had no reason to think that he was different. But she spared him… because she felt he was different? I would have loved to see, for once, a reason. A reason for her to feel the way she felt. I think that it’s just too easy to write that they fell in love with one another’s soul and that’s all. That because they saw each other, Madrigal felt enough compassion to not kill him. And Akiva, enough longing to invent a new kind of magic just to see her one more time.

I don’t think I would have had as much of a problem with what went down, had they fallen for each other at the party. But it was clear to me that they already felt deeply about each other in those first few seconds of her sparing his life. That’s what made me go ehhhh, I can accept Akiva may be feeling something for her because she saved him, but her… I don’t see that happening. Why save him and not others? Why feel for him after doing so? I can see there’s a special bond that comes with saving someone, but it isn’t a romantic one, and it doesn’t warrant the desperation each of them had to be in one another’s presence… if that makes sense?

Now I don’t mean to offend. Like I said, I myself am confused by my own feelings towards this book, and other people will have different opinions than me and that’s okay, but this romance felt a little too forced in the beginning for my believing it, and was really only redeemed by Karou making her own decision to separate from Akiva after learning the truth.

On that note, let’s talk about Karou.

I LOVED Karou. She’s fierce, she’s loyal, she’s lovely, she’s… Karou. She makes so many choices I don’t expect in the book and never conforms to what other characters expect of her. She makes her own way, is incredibly independent but still does not block other characters out. She enjoys company, she even wants it, but she does not NEED it. She never has.

But you know that, because you’ve read the book, right?

From the very beginning when she’s harassed by her ex, I started to like her. She didn’t let him get to her, she stood her ground, and when he came at her all naked—sorry, I mean disrobed—in the art studio to be drawn, she acquired her vengeance. What a wonderfully hilarious and characterizing incident to show us the limitations of power and the lengths that Karou will use them too. The itches, every last one of them, were funny and exhilarating and one of my very favorite scenes in the novel.

Oh Kazimir, she thought, you shouldn’t have come here today. You really should have slept in.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA.

And later, when she’s with Zuzana and they’re talking about Akiva and his—um—genetic pool, she’s funny at the same time as being serious. And she says, with realization, that they are enemies. Because they are, even if Akiva would rather forget it, she sees the line between him plus the angels he represents and her family of ‘devils’. This was the first point that we see Karou distinguish what she wants from what she is willing to let go of. She wants Akiva and peace and her family, but she will always choose her family as we saw with her refusal to make a promise that she would wait forever for Akiva and her decision to go without him because of what he did at the end.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Karou, who lived on hope.

We see her transition from knowing nothing to knowing everything about who she is and why she is there, to having her entire reason for being there squelched as Akiva revealed his betrayal. But let’s backtrack a little to her realization and her living through her past life.

I am so happy that the author included this segment of the story. I liked being able to experience the things with Karou, to see who she was, and who was with her and who wasn’t. I loved that Brimstone had chosen her before all of this, that Chiro had been a sister, that everyone expected Karou to do the exact opposite of what she did at almost every turn of the road. The defiance that then-Madrigal displayed was both characterizing and character-widening, and really just touched me in the feels. Because again she was SO UNEXPECTED.

Also, that nod to the blue hair thing. YES.

We also get to see some recurring character faults—the frivolous wishes, the curiosity that is all consuming, and the need to feel special—and strengths—the curiosity that leads to her determination, the unshakable will, the ability to be herself in spite of expectation. I’m seriously in love with this character and this part of the book because of how well it aligned with the Karou we encountered in the first half.

Akiva also had a personality in this part, which I think he was lacking much of in the beginning (DON’T SHOOT ME I KNOW THAT LOTS OF PEOPLE LIKE HIM). He just seemed to be… in love. And that’s it. He was in love and he had a tragic past, but he wasn’t really… anything else. Until that flashback. When we see him away from Karou and when he pushes magic to a limit unknown to Seraph-kind. When he proves himself to be intelligent and then he dances with her at the party and well… that’s about it. He’s driven, apparently smart, and powerful.

But then, what else makes him Akiva? That’s a question I kept having to ask myself. If we took away his love for Karou, who would he be? He wouldn’t have driven himself to work for the magic that he had created, he wouldn’t have sought the kind of revenge he sought, he wouldn’t have become as great of a swordsman, and he wouldn’t have the mysterious mercifulness he had in the book. I don’t know his voice quite yet either. I don’t know what choices he would make. I don’t really know him. I know his love, and that makes him not as interesting to me. I want my love interests to be able to stand apart. To be able to be heard as much as seen. To have something they stand for apart from their lover… and Akiva didn’t have that so much. He had a brief spark of personality in the flashback, but not enough to make me heartbroken by Karou’s choice at the end. I’m hoping that the sequel will change this, I think Taylor opened the door for it to change, gave him a backstory and gave him something he is good at. I want to see him develop.

You know who I really really enjoyed in this book? Zuzana. I liked her more than Akiva and almost as much as Karou. I believe it’s because of her strong intro in the beginning of the book. THAT’S RIGHT. WHEN SHE THREATENS TO TASE KAZ’S BUTT. I might have died a little bit reading that.

So Zuzana’s just this short fierce best friend that is described as a fairy and as THE DARK OVERLORD OF ALL. Okay, so that’s not really ever said, but that’s the implication. She provides conflict in the form of whether Karou can continue living her human life and her Chaimera one. Can she continue to leave and come back, will Zuzana forgive her for doing so? In the beginning that was a solid no, but as the truth spilled out that changed and omg was it great to have another female acting as a best friend and actually being supportive of her friend. There was never really any jealousy, or outlandish anger because Karou hadn’t told her the truth. Just acceptance and understanding. It was a healthy friendship—if not a little weird—and it was nice to see that in a YA especially considering how totally unhealthy relationships tend to become in these books. Young readers are impressionable, so I’m glad that Taylor decided to do that. Even when Zuzana decided that she was NOT okay with Karou leaving, it was clearly because she was afraid for her friend, and never did she give her an ultimatum. IDK, I just really appreciated that.

So that’s all I’ve got this week. Did I miss something? Do you have something to add? What did you think? Comment or send an ask!

~Monica

P.S. My next review is going to be on a similar WAVE length. 

[marvelandponder]

You Might Wanna Stop That, Glim Glam

Or maybe not? 

Dark magic in Equestria is a subject I’ve been pretty interested in since its first appearance in The Crystal Empire Parts 1& 2. Especially seeing how our introduction to it involved this:

And, what’s scary about all that is that it’s pretty easy to pick up. Just based on that very vague description about hatred and fear and the demonstration, Twilight was able to replicate the spell later in the episode (keeping in mind she’s still a unicorn, so it doesn’t even take alicorn power levels).

So, not only is Princess Celestia able to cast some dark magic, our main character has been capable of casting dark magic spells for 3 going on 4 seasons now. A fact which has never been questioned once.

Dark magic, as the name so helpfully suggests, usually has some morality issues attached to it. Or at least some grey areas. As opposed to white magic (which Wikipedia tells me is what it’s actually called), dark or black magic is often depicted as some kind of ritualistic practice usually used for sinister and/or selfish gain.

Hell, just look... pretty much anywhere else in pop culture. In the Harry Potter series, the dark arts are practiced by Voledemort and his sordid crew, it’s something to be defended against if you’re a good wizard. In Lord of the Rings, dark magic is used to forge the One Ring---’nuff said there.

And yet, there seems to be some grey areas when using dark magic in the land of Equestria.

Often, enchanted objects like the Alicorn Amulet or the cursed spell book use some form of dark magic to corrupt the user. I mean, at one point Trixie wanted Rainbow Dash to “writhe in agony.”

And yet using dark magic in small doses like Celestia and Twilight do in The Crystal Empire doesn’t seem to have consequences. It also takes a while to be addictive, like it is for Rarity, because Twilight uses it at least twice in the episode, and then again a season later to use Zecora’s memory potion in Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1.

So with that established, it seems to be a powerful, non-alicorn could learn to use dark magic in small doses and not feel the effects Trixie, Rarity, or even, to use an extreme, King Sombra did.

And who do we know that can justify the use most any kind of magic, if put under enough pressure?

Starlight Doesn’t Play Well with Others--- Just Magic

I think in particular there’s three aspects of Starlight’s character I personally like most and that’s:

1) The snarky and even cynical sense of humour she manages to sneak into the most optimistic show I know (without taking away from the light-heartedness), 2) The anxiety she has about socializing in general despite being a Friendship student (this, as Gamelink Reviews so awesomely pointed out, makes the most sense as Social Anxiety Disorder)--- which kinda helps explain the whole never tried visiting Sunburst thing, by the way. and 3) Her fun interpretation of morality when it comes to magic.

Every Little Thing She Does was a lot of fun for me because of how it incorporated all three. She’s very obviously in the wrong, but as the episode shows you instead of just telling you, she’s still extremely dependent on her natural aptitude towards magic, so that’s the solution that makes the most sense to her.

Especially when she’s anxious about disappointing her teacher and new friends (seriously, go watch Gamelink’s theory, it makes so much sense). She means surprisingly well for someone who can justify actual mind control to get a task done.

And, by the way, that habit of combining spells seems to be something she and Sunburst share. If you remember, Sunburst’s solution to the problem in The Crystalling was to combine the relic reconstitution spell with a whole whack of other spells and the Crystalling itself. Plus, Starlight never would’ve been able to do all that time-travel magic if she hadn’t combined Starswirl’s time-travel spell with the map’s Harmony magic!

This, by the way, makes me wonder if Starlight was ever really as powerful as Twilight. Like, it kinda makes you scratch your head when you see an alicorn and a unicorn reach a stalemate in a magic duel--- Twilight should be more powerful than Starlight, right?

But perhaps Starlight’s natural abilities in magic are actually just about the same as Twilight’s were when she was unicorn---except, when Starlight uses strategies like combing spells to make them more powerful, she can match wits with her.

That would certainly make more sense to me (you would have to be a very masterful spell caster to do that, so she’s still quite a powerful unicorn and it’s not something just anyone could do---in fact, in the Crystalling, Sunburst gives all those different spells to a number of different magic users).

Combining spells is a simple yet awesome concept, but that does bring me back on topic, at long, long last: Are any of the spells Starlight has used so far dark magic? And if so, are there any implications to that?

[Light spoilery sentence ahead] I might need to update this post when season 7 comes out judging by those spectacular teasers, but for now, how’s about we go for a spin on Glim Glam’s wild ride?

Starlight, Starbright

Let’s start back at the most logical place to start: the beginning, and Starlight’s Cutie Mark Stealing spell.

By the way, should any of the spells she uses be dark magic, it might explain why she’s able to perform them. Like I alluded to earlier, as naturally gifted a magic user as she is, she’s still just a unicorn. Dark magic spells, on the other hand, seem to give the user access to a greater amount of power that they wouldn’t have previously been able to use on their own. Just look at Trixie.

It’s sort of like the Dark Side of the The Force from Star Wars, except it’s used a lot less frequently in MLP.

So, the Cutie Mark Stealing spell.

Watch this scene again and tell me if you notice any out of place details.

Wow, you already caught it? Geez, you guys are smart, what am I even here for?

Well, I’m still going to ramble on, just so I can hear myself type! As you remember from watching the episode, the Staff of Sameness there is just an old piece of driftwood Starlight found in the desert, just a lightning rod for her magic---meaning, all magic used in this scene comes from her.

But not all magic she uses in this scene is the same colour.

We can see that the light from the Cutie Mark vault is thrown over everything, so it might be easy to miss if you’re not looking for it, but when Starlight levitates the staff of sameness, the magic she’s using is her own light teal.

However, when she uses the Staff of Sameness as a conduit for the Cutie Mark Stealing spell, the magic is an entirely different colour and comes out in a powerful blast. It’s more... baby green, if you will. Kinda sickly looking.

Kinda exactly like the magic Rarity used in Inspiration Manifestation, or at least the parts around her eyes.

Sure, they’re different spells, and dark magic has come in a few different fashionable colours, but that’s a pretty dead on match in my books.

But... the eyes have it, don’t they?

Whenever dark magic has been used by someone in this series, there’s usually a pretty easy tell, but Starlight’s eyes are clear. Welp, that’s my theory busted. Go home, everybody!

But, then again, this isn’t the Alicorn Amulet, Rarity’s book of curses, or the hate and fear thing. It’s not coming from an external source, and it’s not coming from emotions deep within. This is a specific spell with a specific purpose.

In the same way that Friendship and Love magic turns the users’ eyes white, it might be true that there are some spells more powerful than others on either side of the spectrum, and those are the ones more likely to have an effect on your physical appearance.

There’s also the fact that Starlight’s very methodical about how she presents herself to the ponies in her village. Every night, she uses make-up to cover up her cutie mark.

Starlight’s magic being in two different colours is a small detail, but if her eyes were to glow green or something of that nature, don’t you think that would make it harder for her villagers to buy into her beliefs? Oh, we’ll definitely trust the pony with the sinister glowing eyes!

... Unless there’s an added bonus to using that piece of driftwood. Some way to hide the effects so if she is using dark magic, ponies can’t see it in her eyes.

Maybe the only reason Starlight is levitating that stick is so she has something to levitate. As in, maybe she’s using a levitation spell to cover up the fact that she’s using dark magic.

Come to think of it, Starlight’s now famous for combining spells, so we know she can cast more than one at once. If a simple levitation spell keeps the magic around her horn bluish teal, maybe it can also keep her eyes clear.

When she had it, Rarity used her dark magic for everything, including levitation, but Starlight has reason to hide it. So, she’s really just levitating the staff to appear as if the dark magic in the Cutie Mark Stealing spell isn’t effecting her. Both hiding the fact the she’s not all that equal to the others and that she’s using something far more sinister to take away their cutie marks.

So, the first spell we’ve examined and already we found our answer: Starlight has used dark magic. We’ll talk about what that means in a sec.

For now the question becomes, does she still use it, even after being reformed?

We already mentioned how the time-travel spell she uses is really just a combination of two powerful types of magic (hence how she could do it and not another great wizard like Starswirl the Bearded), and both of those are on the up and up, I think. The map’s Harmony magic doesn’t need our scrutiny, and Starswirl’s time travel spell originally didn’t do any harm---it’s supposed to be a paradox-correcting time-spell.

But that’s not the last time Starlight dabbles in powerful magic, and here’s where things get even more interesting.

You would think the spells Starlight’s using in Every Little Thing She Does would qualify as dark magic. Together, they make a mind control spell, and even on their own they sound pretty sketchy. Fiducio Compellus? Persaudari? Those sound like the kinds of spells some evil royal adviser would use in a Disney movie.

But, even when those spells are combined, Starlight’s magic doesn’t change appearance in any way. And in fact, when Starlight completes the spell, her eyes go white.

Now we’ve definitely seen that before:

But hang on, that doesn’t mean Starlight’s spells are necessarily good---this just in, mind control: still evil, free will: kinda important.

Instead it seems to indicate “white” or Harmony magic we would normally classify as good, and the dark magic we know corrupts most every user it comes in contact with after prelonged exposure, aren’t necessarily coded as Good magic and Evil magic.

One tends to be righteous and good and the other not so much, but there can be grey areas. Less powerful spells here and there that fall under the categories of either white or dark magic, but can be used in ways other than they were intended to be used, if the magician is resourceful like Starlight. 

This is important because, this sort of gives us some context as to why Starlight would try to combine these spells. They’re not inherently bad---none of them are dark magic spells. It’s just, the way she uses them that makes them a wee bit evil.

That makes a ton of sense, given her experience. Back when Starlight was a dictator, she used a dark magic spell to get what she wanted, but, she felt, in small enough doses or infrequently enough that it wouldn’t effect her too much.

We can’t know how much it actually affected her but even if it did, Starlight’s always been good at justifying morally questionable things for a good cause. And especially if there are smaller less powerful dark magic spells that don’t corrupt the user---meaning, it’d be easy to justify using Evil/dark magic if you can use it in a good way. 

... She’d kick ass in debate club, let me tell you.

In my recent Top 10 Reformed Villains list, I suggested Starlight might have developed this debate-winning ability because of the cycle she trapped herself in after Sunburst left---which was a catalyst, to be sure, but not the actual reason she was alone. With Gamelink’s helpful diagnosis of Social Anxiety, I would wager Starlight developed that reasoning the more she isolated herself.

After all, even in real life the more you isolate yourself, the more insecure you get that if you did try to reach out, you’d only be rejected. Which means you go into social situations looking for that rejection, and that in turn makes social situations a much more nerve-wracking process.

But, knowing Starlight, I suggested in those lonely years she’d be looking for something to blame other than herself or Sunburst, who she still thought fondly of, it seems. And that’s where the cutie mark thing slowly developed---as a way to push the blame anywhere but on herself.

It’s why Twilight’s line at the end of the Cutie Remark is so effective in getting Starlight to reform:

Twi: “So try again! Make new friends! And if something happens that you can’t control changes things, work through it together. That’s what friendship is! ... Just imagine all the friendships waiting for you if you just give them a chance.” Star: “How do I know they won’t all end the same way?” Twi: “I guess it’s up to you to make sure they don’t.”

And at that point, Starlight decides to take responsibility for her relationships, for everything. Even though she ended up getting off too easily in the punishment department (probably), she wasn’t going to blame anyone or anything else for her failures.

No more going after Twilight in a twisted, sadistic way to get back at her for ruining her perfect village (eye for an eye justice; how Babylonian of you, Starlight)---she knew she was a dictator/cult leader, and the ponies took their marks back by choice because they wanted to.

And even though she’s had to deal with her fair share of anxieties going forward into season six, she’s still living by that motto. 

She reunited with Sunburst. She made a new friend in Trixie decided to followup after their first fight. She, uh, tried to follow Twilight’s instructions and not let her down (even if she still misses the point sometimes). And in the end, assumed the responsibility of a leader again without the crutches of magic or throwing the blame elsewhere if something were to go awry.

So, knowing that, it’s easy to see why she could justify some messed up spells.

First and foremost, like we said, they probably aren’t dark magic, if for no other reason than the fact that I think after taking responsibility for her usage last time, she’d probably want to avoid it. At least, so long as the situation isn’t truly desperate. 

Second, justification should really be her special talent. She can convince herself of anything.

Third, she obviously shouldn’t have used magic at all, but that’s the point: we know her anxiety (whether you agree that it’s actual Social Anxiety Disorder or not) clouded her ability to see what Twilight actually expected of her was just to spend some time with them. 

Starlight’s anxieties and doubts can still make normal social situations into pressure cookers, if she worries enough. It really does make her a regular Crazy Twi.

You know, season 2 Twilight, who famously decided to make a friendship problem by... using a ‘Want it Need it” spell which... in hindsight seems a bit close to mind control in and of itself.

And that time she was so stressed about and impending disaster she wanted to stop time itself forever?

On Equestria Daily, (correct me if I’m wrong) but I believe it was Sethisto who explained that Starlight’s appeal to him was that she reminded him of the mad scientist aspect of Twilight’s character from the old days. I, for one, definitely agree.

Starlight’s unique in other ways (for instance, a constant fear of rejection that Twilight never really had), but in that respect she really does take after her teacher. An anxiety-prone lunatic with god-like powers and the intellect to work around their own limitations.

That’s what makes this snarky maniac so interesting to me. She’s certainly complex. Despite the fact she means well and genuinely does want to make friendships, she’s our gateway into some really dark, questionable areas. Or, depending on how she uses magic and why, maybe just grey areas. It’s what makes her redemption worthwhile to me.

Well, that, and the cute friendships she’s made along the way, of course.

And with that said, here’s to a new season! May we see her wrestling match with morality and friendship develop new and interesting ways.

MLP editorials? You want them? I’ve got loads! In fact, this post marks the 20th MLP editorial I’ve written (I just get a kick out of the fact that it’s releasing on March 20th), and you can find them all right here! Or if you’d rather, here are the most recent three, right here for the clicking:

IDW Comics, Derpy Editorial, and Top 10 Redeemed Villains

Year of the Pony

Header Image Wouldn’t be Possible Without...

Magic Circle by BlackPaperMoon-95 Canterlot Background by EStories Starlight Vector by Osipush

All the part of that image were edited to fit together, as usual, but these are the people who made them beautiful to begin with! Go check out those talented artists!

Transmutation and Summoning Circles Only Ever End Well, Obviously