#basically I need more horror focused adaptations

[fairwellersmustache]

Hoping, wishing, praying, etc. for a Jane Eyre inspired Mike Flanagan mini series

[brucebocchi]

Ranking 2024 anime, Pt. 2: #40-31

hey, this post is also available on my ko-fi, so please check it out and consider tipping/donating as i do this for free and am currently between jobs. you can find part 1 of the list here. thanks!

Alright, on we go to the list proper. The first post was probably whiplash-inducing, going from a bunch of shorter stuff I loved to whole seasons I hated, but we can only go up from here. I watched a lot of anime this year, as the numbers indicate, so there's a little positivity to be found even in the lower rankings.

As always, OPs are linked in the series titles. Watch them, they're almost all great.

40. Metallic Rouge

One of the biggest disappointments of the year, one which I didn’t think could be outdone (and I’ll get to that one shortly). Metallic Rouge had so much going for it as a Studio Bones original for its anniversary, and managed to fumble all of its promise and goodwill in slow, agonizing fashion. 

It’s a shame, too. Metallic Rouge still looks awesome; the character and mech designs are excellent, the space-cyberpunk aesthetic is undeniable, and the animation can be terrific when it counts. The story, on the other hand, is so completely asinine that I was sick of this show before it ended. I’ve mostly forgotten what even happens, partly because it was that infuriating to keep up with, and partly because I feel like the writers forgot too; the bulk of any actual story felt backloaded into the last two or three episodes because they focused too hard on vibes for a while. I think they were trying to go for some “G-Witch by way of Detroit: Become Human” something or other, but all of it rang hollow. I’m still not sure whether it needed more runtime or better writers. Probably both.

Not worth your time. Just watch the OP and imagine a better show than what we got.

39. Mysterious Disappearances

I’ve thought so little about this show since it went off the air that I don’t really have anything new to say. Looks pretty lousy most of the time, not that interesting, oddly horny, and the plot structure gets kind of cloying after a while.

I know I harped on that last point when I reviewed it at the end of the spring season, but something funny happened after I did. Back in July, I mentioned that I took issue with the formula of “we encounter a paranormal anomaly, it’s identified as a yokai or urban legend, we learn its tragic backstory, our protagonists give it closure, and we move on” because it felt manipulative after I realized that it happened with every arc, and then I went ahead and read DanDaDan, which basically does exactly the same thing but a hell of a lot better. Comparing a middling work like this to DanDaDan of all things feels unfair, but they cover pretty similar ground. Maybe it’s sharper writing, or maybe it’s just a more engaging work. Who’s to say?

I’d also said in my review that Mysterious Disappearances unintentionally gives off the vibe of a poorly-archived mid-2000s series, but I hadn’t realized just how right I was: It turns out that studio Zero-G just went ahead and made up its own ending even though the source material is still ongoing. Better shows did the same this year, but the studio and I seem to have the same level of faith that this anime’s ever coming back.

38. My Deer Friend Nokotan

Honestly? Fuck this show.

I’ve already gone into what I did and didn’t like about Nokotan after it went off air a few months ago and I don’t care to revisit that while it’s still relatively fresh. Not nearly as funny as it pretended to be, yet still not even confident in its own sense of humor. The OP's still a bop (calling it "Shikairo Days" was a genuinely great joke), and a small handful of gags do land, but not enough to prevent this from being a massive disappointment.  At the same time, Nokotan was still somehow not the biggest letdown of the year.

37. Uzumaki

This was the biggest letdown of the year.

When an anime adaptation of the legendary Junji Ito horror manga was first announced in 2019, it was hard not to get excited. Even when I’d mostly fallen out of anime fandom, I knew damn well who Junji Ito was and I knew Uzumaki. Adult Swim was funding the project, a prestige studio in Production I.G. was handling the animation, and they even nabbed Hereditary composer Colin Stetson for the score. Ito’s manga is famously very difficult to adapt well, and it looked like we finally had a project being taken seriously. Delays and radio silence in the ensuing years were disappointing, but I was willing to be patient if it meant everything was being handled right. When the trailer dropped this summer, it looked like it would be worth the wait.

And for one glorious episode, it seemed like everyone’s patience paid off. Uzumaki’s debut episode was one of the most visually arresting pieces of animation I’ve ever seen: The entire look and feel was faithful to Ito’s inimitable style, from the meticulously detailed linework to the stark black-and-white color grading of his manga’s pages. On top of that, the animation itself was absurdly good; the process of rotoscoping 3D motion capture seemed arduous, but the end result was beautifully lifelike for a story where that quality could only serve to instill further terror. Several of the most iconic images from the early chapters looked incredible in hi-def motion. Sure, the pacing was a little fast, but this was a four-episode miniseries. We could deal. This was just too good.

And then came the second episode.

I’m not going to over-elaborate or relitigate every single thing that went wrong here, because it’s a lot. Uzumaki was in development for a long time, and that five year gap between announcement and release included several detriments to the production process, not the least of which being COVID, animation production changing hands between several studios, and new leadership for Adult Swim’s parent company that now favors profit over product, especially when it comes to animation that doesn’t involve DC characters. Plenty of us figured that all of these delays and a run of only four episodes meant that they had the time to hammer out all the issues and give us the best possible product. That, unfortunately, was not the case.

Responding to complaints about the decline in animation in the second episode, executive producer Jason DeMarco (who, to be blunt, has overseen several mediocre-to-awful anime products released under the Adult Swim brand, including my bottom-ranked anime of 2023) claimed in a quickly-deleted Bluesky thread that there is indeed a higher-up to blame and that they were left with an ultimatum to either drop Uzumaki after just one episode, let it go the way of so many other Warner Bros non-releases under David Zaslav’s disastrous leadership, or release the whole miniseries in its half-baked state. They went with the third.

So, what we got was an uneven, often sloppy work; another mediocrity to throw on the pile of failed Junji Ito adaptations. All goodwill established in the first episode is soon undone by wonky character models, uncanny walk cycles, and movement that looks like PNGs being dragged across a background at the most inopportune times. Plenty of viewers, myself included, were willing to overlook the accelerated pacing after the first episode, but that issue was thrown into stark relief by the second when entire chapters of the manga began playing out simultaneously, and one was even reduced to an afterthought for a cheap “scare” at the end of episode three. 

Not that I thought Uzumaki necessarily needed a full 12-episode season for a proper adaptation or anything; Ito’s output can often be light on story, and dragging it out too far risks losing interest. What makes Ito’s stories actually work, though, is a proper sense of setting and space to let tensions rise. That didn’t entirely happen here; while the atmosphere of Kurozu-cho does plenty resemble what we’ve seen from Ito’s pages, and Stetson’s atonal saxophone does a lot of work to raise the level of unease, things just kind of happen. Few things really get the chance to land as intended, in part due to the production quality cheaping out at climactic moments.

This was the last anime I finished this year even though I’d watched the first two episodes after they aired and it went off the air in October. I was looking forward to the last two episodes that little. There are still bits and pieces of great animation and faithful adaptation here and there, but not enough to regain any goodwill from the second episode’s wheels visibly falling off. Maybe it’s finally time to declare Junji Ito’s works unadaptable once and for all. 

Definitely watch that first episode, though. At this point I kind of wish that’s all we’d gotten.

36. Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!

Straitlaced Nice Guy moves to a new town, laid-back gyaru from his class immediately takes a liking to him, a couple other girls enter the picture, shenanigans ensue, and a slow-burn romance begins in parallel. Nothing special on paper and nothing much more special than that in execution. The setting is lovely, though, and it really made me want to visit Hokkaido one day. Nicely done, tourism board.

If you watched this and were put off by it, I don’t blame you; I probably would’ve been too if I hadn’t decided to read ahead in the manga. I will say this, though: If you liked Hokkaido Gals even a little, read the manga. It’s a minor investment, but if you can get over the halfway mark, it gets surprisingly good and has a really lovely ending. 

The anime, on the other hand? Meh. Doesn’t look super great and didn’t have enough time in 12 episodes to overcome most of the issues the source material had to move past to get to what made it worthwhile. It would take another season or two to get there, and that probably isn’t gonna happen. Great OP, though (I'm starting to repeat myself, I know). Just read the manga.

35. No Longer Allowed in Another World

Boasting one of the most audacious premises for an isekai I’ve ever seen, No Longer Allowed in Another World doesn’t shy away from the implications of an Osamu Dazai isekai, has the dark humor to match, and provides some fascinating commentary on the type of person who tends to consume wish-fulfillment isekai. Unfortunately, the presentation was a little lacking and threatened to lose my attention several times. I think the idea is much better on paper, to the point where I might test that theory and go read the manga.

34. The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

The next dozen or so anime in the rankings fall into a category of either “well-made anime that I found kind of frustrating” or “middling anime that I kind of enjoyed.” The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic is very much the latter. It’s a standard isekai on paper; demon king, special powers, what have you, but it has a likable cast and laid-back vibe for much of its runtime that made it pleasant enough to watch.

As I said after the winter season, I really liked that Wrong Way spends a lot of its early story ensuring that the protagonist expends the time and effort necessary for him to become the hero he’s meant to be instead of the narrative just handing it to him from the start, which instantly sets it apart from most other wish-fulfillment isekai. It’s far from the best-looking anime I watched this year, but it has a mid-00s throwback look and feel to it that works more to its benefit than in Mysterious Disappearances. Nothing groundbreaking and a little too backloaded, but an enjoyable enough experience and one I’m looking forward to seeing come back. 

The only really upsetting thing about this show is that Atsuko Tanaka (Major Kusanagi, Bayonetta, Kainé), who was tremendous as the intimidating Captain Rose, is no longer with us. She was an exceptional talent with an iconic voice who will be sorely missed, and future seasons of this show won’t be the same without her.

33. Go! Go! Loser Ranger

Though not a bad anime by most metrics, I still consider Loser Ranger a minor disappointment. It mostly looks great, and “what if The Boys was a sentai series” is a killer premise, but the story so far is extremely frontloaded. Almost too much happens in the first four episodes, and then the bulk of the last arc of the season takes place in a goddamn parking garage. I’m still annoyed by that. Still looking forward to season 2, but I wish the debut season had been 24 episodes to avoid the sour taste in my mouth.

Did you hear that echo? Yep, that's me telling you to watch yet another OP. Easily the best part of the show and one of the best of the year. Tatsuya Kitani can't keep getting away with it.

32. Astro Note

2024 turned out to be a banner year for Rumiko Takahashi’s older works making their way back to modern screens, and one of those entries wasn’t even hers.

Astro Note is an overt homage to Takahashi’s less-famous romcom Maison Ikkoku, which ran parallel to Urusei Yatsura for most of the latter’s run. Like Ikkoku, Astro Note follows a down-on-his-luck young man living in a boarding house full of bizarre miscreants who only stays because the manager is super pretty. Unlike Ikkoku, and unbeknownst to our protagonist, said manager is actually an alien who is practically turning the house over to find a secret alien MacGuffin.

This show looks lovely and has a delightful cast and some surprisingly moving subplots, but it’s nothing too special otherwise. There are some fun creative flourishes here and there, like the alien stuff shown in flashback being made to look like an older space opera anime, but aside from a very fun turn near the end of the season, Astro Note rarely rises above the level of simply “pleasant.” And that’s fine, but it doesn’t quite live up to the material it’s aping, and what we’ve ended up with is just a nice distraction. 

I’m so glad I finally decided to read Maison Ikkoku though.

31. Shangri-La Frontier, second cour

It’s been a running joke for me that the more I watch Shangri-La Frontier, the less I’m sure whether I like it or not, and now with 25 episodes in the tank, I’m less sure than ever. The back half of the debut season improved on a few of the things that annoyed me about its first cour by focusing more on the high-quality action and introducing minor stakes to the proceedings, and then everything else surrounding it made it feel no less like I’m just watching a guy playing a goddamn video game, and the stakes still mostly seem to amount to "he wants to be good at it."

You may notice that I didn’t include the second season in this review, and that’s because I flat-out didn’t care to pick it back up. I’d been busy during the fall season and continuing a show I didn’t enjoy that much just wasn’t a high priority. It’s continuing into January, so there’s time to catch it while it airs, but I’m still not in any hurry.

[cosinelanguage]

Double Overtime -- extended author's notes

as with the last long fic I wrote, I have some extended author's notes on the fic haha. posting them to Tumblr was fun the last time, so without further ado:

Hockey Details

I went into this set up being like ‘i know a reverse sweep isn’t likely but it IS dramatic so i’ll do it’ and then i watched in awe/horror as the Panther’s 3-0 lead shrunk down to 3-3 and the oilers were set to pull of a reverse sweep (and spoil the end of my fanfic.). The oilers ALMOST did it but whiffed it at the end. Still, wild timing for me. We’re living in one of Connor McDavid’s failed timeloops. 

I have a like, novice level understanding of hockey but a huge amount of enthusiasm. A time loop was the best plot to get around that– i only have to focus on one hockey match rather than the logistics of an entire season or more. There’s still a lot more i could do if i understood the game more, but hey, i was here for the fights and i provided for myself. 

The Baratie Steelheads and the Syrup Village Sockeyes aren’t the most fitting names for the both (types of salmon), but they are names that were on the Seattle Kraken’s original team name shortlist, so it was an easter egg for myself.

Sanji’s entire contract thing is definitely over the top plot contrivance, but there’s a certain amount of over the top required when adapting his backstory. The Steelheads leaving Baratie is inspired by the poor Arizona Coyotes being relocated. RIP to the Coyotes, coolest jerseys in the league squandered by poor management

Most the fights were actually based on hockey clips from twitter lol. thanks for the insp hockey

Character Details

I didn’t include all the character details for the strawhats, primarily because it’s Sanji’s POV and he’s mostly focused on zoro. But, for the list, with more details about characters with less screentime lol:

Luffy: Captain, Center. I think he’s pretty versatile and also sometimes plays LW/RW, but he’s primarily the Strawhats center and captain, with a huge near-elastic reach

Zoro: Defenseman, though a particularly offensive d-man and an enforcer. Roughly, this is basically an unofficial role for the guy who starts fights with people who make dirty plays. 

Nami: Technically the social media manager of the team, acts more like the team’s overall manager. Team manager kind of seems like a lazy spot to put her in, but i like to think she’s a travel enthusiast and expenses it all on the company card lol

Usopp: LW/RW, and one of the top scorers when he’s backed up properly. Pretty underrated when initially being recruited, but shines under the Pirates’ strategy

Sanji: LW, and a pest. Basically he annoys people into fighting him HAHA. the perfect role for him. I wanted him to be LW primarily for the whole pirate king’s wings energy

Vivi: owner of the alabasta ducks! And a former olympic figure skater. Her and nami have a complicated on again / off again relationship, which mostly comes up whenever there’s a Ducks vs Pirates game (and they either get together / break up)

Chopper: ok, chopper was a complicated decision. I was caught between him being a gentle giant of a defenseman VS him being team doctor, but in the end decided that doctor required less justification

Robin: Robin was difficult to fit in. I ended up deciding on her being the Pirates local commentator. Commentator is fun at the least because there’s a lot of context/history/etc of the players on the ice you need to know to be good at the job, and i think she’d be HILARIOUS

Franky: Goalie! Franky fits well as goalie, first of all because of how beefy goalie equipment is, and second of all because a goalie with a big personality is quite fun. There’s something extremely fitting about him doing the ‘super’ move with leg guards

Brook is the Pirates DJ! What Else. i think he picks great songs for the stadium. zoro tells him to use mamma mia as sanji’s song and sanji nearly sends him into an early grave.

Jinbe: coach He was initially the goalie in a very early draft, but coach makes sense in terms of how he’d be able to support the team and his general level headedness. There’s a lot of clips of Paul Maurice, the Panther’s current coach, having this absolutely chill energy about him that’d work so well

Plotting/Planning Thoughts

I decided on ‘Double Overtime’ as the title pretty quickly, just because it’s (a) a hockey term and (b) a fun way to describe two people (double) caught in a time loop (overtime). The emphasis on double overtime as a win condition came after the title

I decided on ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Waterloo’ as the main song insp for these early on. Mamma Mia itself is this good mix of an upbeat song that’s just a bit sad and just a bit ominous, and the lyrics can be fun for a time loop (‘here I go again’). Waterloo was always the credits song (‘i feel like i win when I lose’ come on now)

I decided that I’d post in early June like the actual Stanley Cups, and 6/6 was decided on as the in-date and IRL start of the time loop because it’s Germa Day (66): something kind of poetic about Germa fucking up their perfect win on Germa day 

Time Loop Win Condition

The time loop win condition! Zoro was always going to win and Sanji was always going to lose, but the details took a bit to figure out. I knew it was going to incorporate (a) him trusting Zoro and reaching out for help (impossible task for him), (b) him wanting to play hockey on a team that doesn’t hate him, (c) remix of Sanji’s Baratie arc, and (d) the concept of double overtime. 

There was a lot of changing around on what exactly Sanji would be able to do; initial drafts actually had him coming out pretty clean from the double overtime deal (saving the Baratie) but that didn’t feel earned, I liked the kind of bittersweet selfish sacrifice of letting the team go, otherwise it’d feel a bit too contrived. this is already a late reveal loophole— it wouldn’t feel earned without that tinge of regret 

In the end i liked what I went with, though I think I could’ve built up a little bit more before hand, and had a bit more emotional consequence to Baratie’s relocation. But ive written like, FIVE separate sad zeff phone calls in the last few months, i decided i had Enough. I had to Limit Myself. Only one sad zeff phone call this time for me ok

things to do differently

Look at me!!! Finishing a fic before i post!!! This was good actually, and meant the pacing was better than what i did with my last long fic lmao. Still had some issues imo, but considerably stronger on keeping scenes regularly paced. I should always do this.

IMO after reread (after it being finished for weeks) i think one of the weaker points is just really sanji’s apology– zoro figures out the duel time loop deal fairly fast (benefit of relying on other people) and folds pretty easily. I mean he’s unfortunately smitten but it doesn’t change the fact that he was hurt. There’s a specific degree of pulled punches I do sometimes with emotional moments that I’d like to get better at, but live and learn lol

Intermission 

Hey i had a lot of notes on zoro’s POV the entire time loop. and also a lot of thoughts on the fade to black scene of my T rated fanfic. There were three main points I wanted to explore with Zoro’s POV

First: there’s a fun contrast with Zoro (VS Sanji) both feeling utterly alone as the lone person in the time loop and having an actual support network. Sanji talks to basically Iva, Zoro, and Reiju only during his loop, and all of them he keeps at arm’s length, but Zoro is both deadset on winning for his team, and lets his team helps him. Sanji is meanwhile stewing in his own anger alone, despite knowing he’s not the only person stuck there

Second: Zoro is way more of a time loop speedrunner. He has the timeline down pat. He thinks about the details of the game. He’s shaving off minutes of conversations. Sanji doesn’t plan as much, primarily because Zoro’s an unknown that shakes up the loop too much. 

Third: the hookup lol. i liked the idea of their hookup being good but limited emotionally due to how closed off and testy sanji still is about the time loop– in the end an extension of him refusing to show zoro his own injuries. There is that enticing flash of vulnerability at the end, but then Zoro’s back to square one. 

One of the first times i’ve written not like, funny porn for Z/S (which is my default), so look at me. Varying the porn i guess. congrats

epilogue

I have a lot of thoughts on an extended epilogue HAHA. i felt bad adding a secret sad smut chapter but not having the chance to do the opposite; i had one going but i spent like 4k on a luffy recruitment scene and decided… another time…

Zoro is smug about the whole ‘you only get to touch the stanley cup if you WIN!!!’ thing and uses it as an excuse to be the one to touch sanji in the pwp, since he never got the chance in the loop.

I also think luffy takes the stanley cup into the middle of the ocean, gives the one piece speech as usopp livestreams, and tosses it into the sea. Zoro and sanji have to save it (this is how it’s revealed sanji is somehow being traded to the pirates)

[pixeldotgamer]

✨All My WIP Projects✨

Since the results of that Twitter poll I did show people REALLY wanna know what I'm working on, I figured I'd just announce/summarize most of the things I have in development right now!

This will be pretty long so it's getting tucked under a read more!

Don't Tell My Wife / DTMW (Game, Horror VN) Status: Active Development

DTMW is my entry for SuNoFes2024 on Itchio! Folks may actually recognize this one as I streamed some concept art a while back, and even posted some as well!

This game focuses on a Husband and Wife in the woods. Specifically, the Husband and something he's been trying to plan for a while. Now there's only one week left and his Wife has taken notice.

"You have one week to get your plans sorted. You thought you had more time than this. Don't let her find out."

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Treacherous Flesh (Game, RPGMaker Horror) Status: Research & Writing

TF follows the story of Ila, a woman who contracts a deadly illness and must wait 8 months for treatment. The game follows her over that time as her symptoms worsen, and her body turns against her.

Like many of my projects, TF pulls from a personal feeling. This game is an outlet for my own ongoing health problems. I started working on this game after being told I had to wait 8 months for an ultrasound I need for diagnosis. It's month 4 of 8 now.

Probably the most outright depressing thing I'm working on, this game actually means a lot to me. This is an outlet, but I'm also hoping it resonates with people who may be going through what I am.

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Dead Girl's Club (Game, VN) Status: Research & Writing

DGC follows a girl from a religious cult town tracking down the male "murderers" of girls from said town. The game is a very blatant look at the transmasc experience tackling themes of family, community, passing, more.

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Computer Angel (Game, Point & Click/Interactive Fiction, Horror) Status: Concept Development

Computer Angel comes from my own fascination with the concept of "angels speaking to you through your screens" and such, whether for horror or comfort.

In CA, your aunt has just passed away suddenly and you end up with her computer. As you investigate the machine to use for yourself, you realize there's something in the computer. Something that would very much like to make your acquaintance.

With 3 narrative paths depending on your choices, I want CA to be a spooky and surreal little game! While the concept has been fleshed out, this one is on the back burner until I dedicate myself to learning GameMaker which is the engine I want to use.

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Pop-Rock & Curly (Game, Point & Click) Status: Research & Writing

A brainchild of mine from 2019, where I said to myself "What if I made a detective/robber OCs but they're lesbians?" and then PR & C just. existed in my brain?

After just having them rattling around in my brain but never drawing them more than once, I decided to adapt them into a game! I've always had a love of P&C games, so it only makes sense I take a stab at one (Art from 2019)

The game follows detective Pop-Rock, who is personally requested by Curly to help as she rats out her no good boyfriend who has stolen a big flashy item. Using this as a chance to improve her reputation, PR ventures into the cities criminal underworld.

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Juno Law (Game, VN) Status: Pre-Dev Done, Art Concepts Started

Juno is what I'd call my first "modern" game idea, the first game idea I can pinpoint where looking at it I could go "Wait this could actually be a game!" Basically a "what if I made an PWAA game" type deal

We got lawyers, punny names, gimmicky designs, and more! While not what I would call a fangame, Juno is meant to be my love letter to Ace Attorney that I started cooking up after playing the main 6 games. I actually was pursuing this as my first game!

Juno is a LARGE game. The biggest of anything even on this list in scale. Because of that, I've had it on the back burner since I finished the full game notes back a few years ago. The game is completely outlined! All characters, trials, plot lines, all of it!

I'm really passionate about Juno, but I knew I had to be honest with myself; This is just too much for my first game! My weakest skill, in my opinion, is my writing. So, starting out with massive narrative VN? Maybe not, haha. Someday though, I want to make it.

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7. Cleopocha (Game, ???) Status: Concept Development

Cleopocha is about an android idol named Chapel, who starts dreaming of their past personas. It's a game largely about identity and asking what do we own those who came before us, especially when we don't remember them?

My current sticking point with Cleopocha is actually genre! The story I want to tell needs breathing room in a way a VN can't provide, but I'm unsure if an RPGMaker type game is quite right. What should the gameplay even be? Those kinda questions 🤔

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A2amB (Podcast, Liminal Space Horror) Status: Research & Writing

I've had this fascination with doing some kind of story based podcast as far back as 2019, where the title A2amB comes from! The name is a placeholder from the idea I had way back then. (Art from 2019)

The story now is WAY different than the first concept. Salvaging characters and concepts from a MOTW campaign I was running, the podcast is now about a liminal space mall and the people stuck within it. (Art from Aug 2023)

Casey Day, local computer repairmen and burnout, gets dragged into the liminal mall and is stuck fumbling around trying to get out again. Besides twisting halls, a mannequin cult, and unpleasant personalities - Casey will also be haunted by his own issues.

I've been on a steady dev pace with A2amB, but I'm still figuring out what I want from the story, as well as how I want to deliver it. So currently I'm just locking down the pacing and themes in a way I find satisfying. I'll probably have to trim a lot of ideas..

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And there's the bulk of what I'm working on! I need to refine my pitch process a bit, but I honestly just love gabbing about ideas!! I have no set release dates for these projects, they'll happen when they happen! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

[g0ldenboyy]

─ 🎭 ( MICHAEL EVANS BEHLING. THIRTY. CISMALE. HE/HIM/HIS.) have you heard about LUCAS RIVERS yet? i’m pretty sure they’ve been living in the city for ONE YEAR. they’ve been cast in the production of MAMMA MIA as SKY. before being brought onto this project, i’ve heard that they’re known to be DRIVEN, ADAPTABLE AND LOYAL. but on the downside, they’re known to be HEADSTRONG, OBSESSIVE, AND HOLD GRUDGES. because of that, i would say that they’re known to be THE PRODIGY. behind the scenes. i hope that they’re prepared for showtime! this is going to be quite the long production!

Basics.

full name: lucas james rivers. nicknames: luke, mostly? hometown: pittsburgh, pa current location: new york, ny age: 30. birthday: 10/31. star sign: scorpio. pronouns: he/his/him sexuality: bisexual king label: the prodigy personality: he's extroverted, likes to be the center of attention, a bit brash, and sort of cocky. think your high school qb all grown up. he's full of himself, proud, and stubborn. but he's also extremely welcoming, likes to make new friends, and ride or die for his friends. he's the team captain trying to make sure everyone is having a good time at the team bonding event but also sneaking drinks in the back of the bus because he's here for a good time. a one-time jock all grown up. likes: sitcoms, horror movies karaoke, cats, late nights, breakfast food, dance parties, road trips, novelty/touristy t-shirts dislikes: cold weather, period pieces, music snobs, tequila (bad experiences/memories), black coffee, reality tv dating shows fears: not making anything of himself, his family not being proud of him, spiders (especially those Big ones), irrelevancy, death...but not the concept just like...the after? he's a failed catholic rip trivia: 1 of 5 siblings, likes to do karaoke in his free time,

Bio.

lucas came into the worst fast and furious, arriving nearly a month early. that was pretty much an omen of things to come.

he was a very active kid, but he didn't really like school. to burn off some of his energy, luke's parents enrolled him in pretty much every after school activity available. baseball, soccer, band, piano lessons...you name it. anything to get rid of the excess energy and get him to sleep at a decent hour.

by middle school, he started focusing more on soccer. one of his siblings played, and it was easy for his working parents to dump them both off at the same practices and games. he liked it alright, though he was more fond of the slide tackling than the goal scoring.

with five kids, lucas knew that if he wanted to go to college, he'd probably need scholarship help. luke wasn't even sure if he wanted to go to college, but his parents wanted him to go, so he played on through high school. it was fun. he had friends on the team. and he was pretty good at it. win/win/win.

junior year, his team made the playoffs. lucas suffered a knee injury in the semi-final that led to surgery and an eight month recovery.

because he couldn't play soccer (or baseball) that year, lucas tried a few other extracurriculars to buff up his college application...and keep himself busy.

ultimately, he ended up involved in the school's production of beauty and the beast (as gaston, of course). it opened up a whole new world for him. he still played soccer the following fall, but for spring? he was all about that spring musical. just call him troy bolton.

the injury caused him to lose a step. he was still a talented player, but his offensive prowess wasn't as strong. he shifted from midfield to outside back, a more defensive role. he managed to snag a scholarship, still...to a d2 school.

...which actually ended up working out awesome for him, because they had a smaller (but dedicated!) theater program. he was able to slide in and earn supporting roles starting freshman year, and by sophomore year, he'd landed a leading role.

...and that's where he met alex.

at first, they butted heads. she thought he wasn't as invested in the show's success. he thought she was too uptight. but with long days of rehearsal and late nights of running lines, one thing led to another and they were a thing by tech week.

they played leads in several shows through college. they moved in together by spring semester junior year. they talked about the future: manhattan, broadway, working odd jobs and auditioning but doing it together.

only when lucas proposed to her closing night of their last show together, she turned him down. she turned him down! that wasn't how the shows ended. what had he done wrong?

instead of packing his bags and moving to the city after graduation, lucas took an opportunity he hadn't thought he could take: a role with the national tour of hamilton. he spent two and a half years playing laurens and phillip and having the time of his life.

he liked it so much he joined a couple of other shorter tours: he played harry in chicago and timon in the lion king during the 2023 tour.

about a year ago, he finally decided to give up the tour life...mainly because of a pregnancy scandal involving a co-star followed by a real bender that led to him getting kicked from the cast. (yes, she was pregnant. no, there was no baby. draw your own conclusions).

he's been in nyc for just about a year now. he plays at a piano bar when he's not auditioning (which is pretty much all the time). he walks dogs and doordashes to help pay rent. he has roommates.

but he's just landed his first broadway role as sky in mamma mia!

the catch? old friend alex is starring as sophie.

Wanted Connections!

roommates! i picture him living with 3-4 roommates. either they were all struggling at the same time or maybe they just saw lucas' ad on craigslist and took pity on them. i picture them running lines together, making 2am diner runs, trying to find the actual best ny style pizza, and binge watching buffy: the vampire slayer

the co-star. the one from one of his tours (open to whichever show). they were involved, probably casually, and had some kind of pregnancy scare. maybe they're both in ny now?

siblings. i wrote luke having 4 siblings. i'm not particularly fussed about where lucas falls in there. he gives youngest sibling energy but also could be middle and his personality is just him trying to stand out. either way, some of his siblings being in the broadway scene could be fun. maybe they were always into theater and when luke troy bolton'd his way onto the scene it caused friction. or maybe they were always friendly. either way would be fun to have!

fwb. while lucas is still kiiiind of hung up on his ex and isn't looking for anything serious, i could see him having a fwb agreement with a buddy...or two.

sworn nemesis. or just somebody who shows up at all the same auditions as luke. it's become a running joke.

i'm open to discussing pretty much anything, though! excited to be here and to write with you guys!

[lavendelhummel]

There was so much in these first WoT episodes that my head couldn’t deal with it until I had written down at least my basic thoughts about them. So here is what my brain made me scream into the keyboard before being able to watch on (ep1&2) - for obvious reasons it’s 75% Moiraine, but I mean have you looked at her??

Where is the dark friend social? Because they have the aes Sedai symbol in stone on the ground outside.

Love the phrasing „The one who walks the world, the one who was and will be, but is not yet the dragon“. Because Rand is but is not yet the dragon!

Obviously the „we are in the middle of a meeting, a quite important one, really“ is great and hilarious. Also I said it before and I will say it again I love Ishamaeals nihilism and I think it wasn’t used as good as it could have been in the books, the ending about what good and evil and grey even means couldn’t have played more with him, I hope the show goes there. And his speech is great. But I really thought he would feed that girl to the trollocs for a second.

Also he says „monster“ not trollocs, which strikes me as AoL -speech? Children in the 3rd age know what trollocs are, in his childhood, they wouldn’t have known, they didnt have „monsters“ outside of stories…

Also i noticed for the first time „father of lies“ is an interesting name for the forsaken, who in his own mind is simply saying the truth, „Life is an endless, pointless repetition“. He doesn’t really lie, does he? Here at least he does not towards the girl, while many people probably would have.

Obviously the first Moiraine scene is devastating, what else can be said? I mean except for the fact that she es so beautiful still, that i may have stopped breathing. Her movements are so precise. She has a task and she does it and no matter what’s going on inside here, she is determined to fulfill the selfmade task without delay. 

Also her outfit- the hair-thingies that are of the Lady Moiraine Damodred and look expensive and the physical work clothes she wears, show so nicely the different aspects of her character. 

Light, how many buckets this bath must need. And why does she need this big bath? She does, because she is her and she would never take a smaller one, just to have less work but, Light, Moiraine!

Also what is that necklace that she doesn’t take off during the bath?

It is good to see her focused on herself and not in daes daem‘er mode.

I can‘t with the way she looks at her hands. Those slow movements as she stretches them, holds them. It is more than devastating. You can feel her loss through these movements. So precise still, and such controlled movements! The looking at her hands, because feeling them is not enough, doesn’t work, because they do not feel right, are not working as they should, but they are, they are doing her bodies movement so precisely. And yet not enough. And her eyes. The way she looks at them. So present and absent at the same time. Such horror and resignation at the same time. And then the hand sinks in the water and — and her eyes again, drawing upwards in that last sequence, its so devastating. 

Ahhhhh she is so pretty! Love Moiraine surrounded by books! Ahhh her voice! I mean, her voice in general, but how she sharpens it and how it is her voice and the same but its different from how it was before. Especially towards Lan. And she doesn’t look at him. 

„Everyone has a choice. And every choice as a consequence.“!!! That is such in important sentence for life in general. I want to print it on a tshirt (and give it to my sister). Also Moiraine is so pretty. Also „Door.“ The hurt. Uh, she is hurting so bad and hurting him so bad because she doesn’t know what else to do. 

Egewene in the Amyrlin‘s study 👀. Interesting. But where is siuan? Love the White tower optics. 

Omg Alanna. she is even more than she is in fanfics and that says something. 

It’s so great that they adapted the „novices watching the wardens train“ from New Spring. Just because of the sillyness and New spring-ness. And also shows that Egwene is not that much in with the other novices. 

Obviously the Nyn/Egwene convo is great, Dont smile, I have enough character, etc. It’s Them!! And they introduce more aes Sedai lore. „Even the amyrlin“ haha, they dont know Siuan Sanche at all do they? 

Love serious Alanna. Good to see she’s more than sex and snacks again. Why isn’t Egwene using her hands? As a challenge to herself? because of her her cultural exchange later? Did she hurt them? 

Who is that bald grey sister? She is intriguing me. 

„Who’s ever been hurt by a little talk (BY AN AES SEDAI!!!)? Hmmmmm.

OMG How is Moiraine this pretty? Poem in blood! In old tongue! Omg Moiraine‘s hands. Her nod ahhhh. Her smugness, ahhh I love her. 

THE WHEEL WEAVES AS THE WHEEL WILLS!!!!! +  LIGHT BE WITH YOU

I really like show Nyneave more than book Nyneave! She is as headstrong but at the same time more reflective and less caricature. 

I do get the disappointment that its not Siuan who throws Nyn at the wall but I think its so interesting that it‘s Liandrin! Does she do it with the same intention? This Liandrin is so much more than a dark sister! She might be evil and she is unlikable but she cares. I think? Because we dont really know if it‘s an act so we? But it feels as if she really cares about other aes Sedai, including Nyneave as she is a woman who can channel. And that fits but is also messy and interesting. And the thing about wanting Nyneave to reach that power, that no one, not even her can take from her is great. And the thing about not everyone accessing Saidar the same way, that anger can be a way and that the teachings of the White Tower are not always the only way. 

The talk Perrin has with Ingtar is great too, because it gives actual substance to the whole violence thing. Anger is scary! Anger can make you use violence, that makes so much more sense than the „i am a big guy“ thing from the books. Also good that they mentioned Laila again. And it takes away the whol Nyneave = anger personified away. Other characters obviously deal with this too! I really like this non-caricature version of her better. 

Moiraine!!! + Lan!! Also the little eyebrow movement she does when he walks out. saying „its fine. It’s not fine but i deserve this. I am too stubborn to cry. I am distancing myself from him and from myself and i will not even think about it. I will work now.“ Her little eyebrow movement that says „I hurt but i wont show it“. 

I love that it‘s Bel Tine again. I love their lanterns and lights and it all. Also interesting that Egwene remembered and Nyn didn‘t. Because as much as Nyneave is about community and protecting her wards, so is Egwene, Egwene is about glueing together old traditions and new ways of life, here as she is building a Two River lantern in the White Tower, and later when she is wielding a trident. 

Question: is that Aldieb? Also Dagger Moiraine!! Is she for real fighting two *fades* alone with nothing but a knife? And getting him by staying calm and observant. 

When she says „Lan.“ And you can har that she has not said it in months. It is her voice, the voice that has interviewed Boyle Damon and the other 19 people but this is *her* voice saying „Lan.“ Adressing *him*. Getting his attention. And this voice is hoarse (ok maybe also because she cant really use her breathing muscles with her sliced abdomen, but) because she hasn’t talked to him in months, not really, not to *him*, and now she is saying his name. 

This is the most brutal thing ever. It’s simply brutal. Her face. The power, she feels it and then it isn’t hers and i mean good that they live but this is the most brutal thing ever. What aren’t you telling me? Everything. That it’s impossible but it mustn’t be impossible. This is brutal. 

2)

Rand having acoustic hallucinations while working in the mental health asylum has very strong me-during-my-psychiatry-rotation-vibes (the difference being he went and got a job there and me deciding not to stay, no, nope lets stay with my lovely lymphomas)

But it fits his character very well! He is good at that!! And I also love how we are getting introduced to the sword forms this way! It’s a good way do put them in words. 

That asshole reminded me of the girl internet anxiety disorder lecture mocking how you could be afraid of these things, with people with this disorder sitting there and having to listen. People suck.

I miss the intro!

Ok Moiraine in this outfit is killing me. How am i supposed to follow any dialogue when she is sitting there looking like that? But Light! Not only Lan (her responsibility! But she couldn’t! She couldn’t protect him, heal him, she could do nothing!) but also herself must have been healed with the One Power, and yes she has had that done before and wouldn’t have been able to heal herself either way, the situation is so different. That must have been such an awful situation. Feeling the power, knowing it touches you, but you cant touch it. Not only having someone use it in your presence but *on* you. Oh Moiraine. Oh Moiraine. 

She has been exiled from the White Tower!!!!!!! And Verin knows!! I cant continue  watching this show. The difference between her „I“ now and her „we“ in season 1 and Lan’s continued „we“! And how she doesn’t manage to block the tenderness out of her voice, when she says „you are still weak from the healing“, and then noticed her slip up and voice slightly changed but not too much for it to be obvious adds that little quip to drive him away. Oh Moiraine. 

I don‘t really like what they are doing with Perrin‘s senses, why is it visions suddenly? Not only to portray on screen but also him thinking it is happening now, and Elayas calling it visions? I like him and Hurin merged though, it makes sense. 

Liandrin bringing Nyneave to the Yellows!! She gets her, and she knows what it takes and she really wants Nyn to break the block! And Nyn‘s awe!!! She found the thing Ivon and Maskim asked about last episode! It’s great to see this this early on, and not just later as in the books where her blind rage over Moiraine takes up most her motivation so long. But, Liandrin saying healing is a response to symptoms and disease… hmm. I mean sure it can be, and honestly its super important because easing symptoms is important?! But you can also treat causally as they did right there, that was not a symptomatic treatment on the girl. Plus prevention is a thing. Sorry Liandrin, I do see why the yellows wouldn’t have wanted you. The way she says „I am allowed to teach Accepted“ hahaha Liandrin trying so hard being cool. 

Some of the greatest pairings in the history of the world were formed between novices in adjacent rooms!!! Yay for the pillowfriends?!?!! Who is Elana Katab though, do we know her?? But really this is so cute, her wanting to be close to Egwene immediately and proposing it like this and talking about a shared future (seconds after meeting *cough* seconds after introducing herself as daughter heir *cough cough*) 

Ouhhhh the foreshadowing in the convo between Alanna and Sheriam!! Ouhhhlaa this show is too much for me. 

Omg Verin talking about oath loopholes!?!?!?!?!

P.S. Why is Moiraine so pretty?

The pond!!!! The pond story and they tell them!! And they are smiling. 

So much foreshadowing!! Mat!!

She didn‘t! Did she really say „When i am with you, I can pretend i am with him,“?? Ouhh she‘s bad. „Pretend I am whole again,“ you mean pretend you never bored that freaking hole in the dimension or what?! Also yeppp she is hot. Shit.

„I knew when the time came, you‘d be able to survive on your own.“ Thats what she wasn’t telling you, Lan. For 20 years and she never planned to survive this with you. She knew you‘d survive on your own. (But doesn’t this contradict the Myrelle plot?)

*Her loyalty is with the dragon reborn.* Thats Moiraine. Always and *always* will the dragon, will the world, will fate itself come before anything. 

And then she says his name „al‘Lan Mandargoran“ and rides away. Oh my heart. Oh Light.

Fuck, the suldam and Damane are creepy. I mean, they should be and they are creepy-creepy-creepy in the books too, so… but unexpectedly seeing them on screen? Yeah mission accomplished they are creepy. 

Also creepy: Rand’s little smile at the end. I guess things are going to happen.

[sillycyan]

40 41 42 43 FOR FUN FACTSS

HELLLOOOO WHATSUPP HELOOWAHTSUPP I only had one prewritten so I had to write those reall quick.. OKAY WELL WRITING THIS PART NOW I FINISH AND DAMNN HOLYY YAPPATRONIII THIS IS GETTING THAT LINE THING FOR SUREE- but thank you for more numbers I'm really trying to get these out!&(!&!!!

40. Donis used to live in “model apartments” so he didn’t take up his aunts space. He now has compensated for the lack of space and privacy by owning a huge condo.

Donis grew up in North Prale, in a wealthy neighborhood, living with his aunt. As a teenager, he started hearing stories from other young models about their experiences living in "model apartments", small, cramped spaces shared with other aspiring models. These stories usually came from those whose families weren’t as well off, with some even being kicked out of their homes to make more room. These stories stuck with Donis, making him question if he was taking up too much space in his aunt's life, maybe even holding her back in some way. He was very determined to give his aunt more space and gain some independence for himself, Donis made the decision, not even asking for a second opinion, but a decision to move out and live in model apartments. His aunt was baffled, stunned even, by his choice and tried to talk him out of it, not wanting him to leave. But Donis was adamant, seeing it as a good opportunity to gain life experience and humble himself, something people said he needed. However, life in the model apartments was far from what Donis expected. The apartments, located in Manviet, were small and uncomfortable, 90% of the time having him to share a room with multiple other models who were constantly being rotated in and out. It was intense and overwhelming for him, as everyone was desperate to keep their jobs and would do anything maintain their appearance. It was a new environment, and Donis struggled to adapt. Though he had enough money to stay for a while, the experience opened his eyes to the darker, more niche parts of model culture. Eventually, Donis had enough. He decided to leave the model apartments behind and get his own place. He bought a huge condo in Manviet, a city he had grown to like despite everything he experienced in it. He 100% has some horror stories he’s been keeping down for years..

41. Nori and Donis fake dated.

It all started with a fan posting that they'd pay a lot of money to see Nori and Donis on a specific gameshow, one that typically was meant for couples. The idea quickly gained traction, and many others joined in to agree. Nori saw the post first and suggested it to Donis, thinking it would be a fun way to hang out and an excuse for her to fly back into the country. Donis started off confused, but he wasn't against it. They went to Reign, who managed both of their things (Nori is basically in Reign's care while she is the country), and, even with his attempts to talk them out of it, he eventually helped them in coming up with a safe plan. The plan was simple: they would pretend to date for a while, appear on the game show as "new lovers," and then stage a public "breakup" making it clear they were still friends. Everything went as planned. They started posting photos together, Nori "moved in" with Donis for a short time, and they were seen doing couple-like activities in public. Getting on the game show was simple, they answered a few questions, won, and created some merch that sold out quickly. Despite it being an act, it’s easy to think that if they had kept it up any longer, they might have developed real feelings for each other. However, they were both focused on the money and the fan praise, which stopped them from recognizing what was going on between them. A few weeks after the "breakup," some people began to wonder if it had all been a hoax, and why they would go to such lengths to fake date. They were just chasing that bag..

42. Donis is actually very self conscious about how others think of him.

On the surface, Donis shows up to be confident, carefree, and always does what he wants without any hesitation. But beneath that exterior, he is highly conscious of how others perceive him. He often thinks about what others say about him, both online and in person, and sometimes even second-guesses compliments. This concern he had with how others see him is a big reason why he works so hard to stay on top of trends and keep up with his appearance. He shares a moment with Meil while working on a commercial that intended to challenge gender stereotypes. Donis was comfortable wearing a skirt, dress, and even more feminine, bright makeup for the shoot, but he was concerned that people would perceive him differently as almost a type of consequence. He was concerned that they would think he was doing it for the money, rather than genuinely caring about the issue. Donis talked with Meil about these feelings, unsure of why he felt that way. Although Meil had some trouble completely regaining Donis's confidence back, it was comforting for him to hear that he did not view him negatively.

43. Reign secretly keeps close contact with Ameriel for the sake of Meil.

Since the "Three Day Incident" (I have yet to explain that sorry) that landed Meil in the hospital, Reign has kept in close contact with Ameriel, Meil's doctor. This setup most likely violates some sort of rule, but Ameriel wanted to keep a close eye on Meil in case something similar happened again or if she couldn't reach him directly. Reign agreed, and the two have remained in touch ever since.

[keanbeanproduction]

My sci fi horror monster story with romance!

OK here we are again giving a short summary to a story I’m working on right now. it like 80 pages into this one that’s 80 pages unedited and not put into actual book. Formatting. By the way thought I should’ve pointed out. I think I’m gonna take a pause on the fantasy story and just work on the one that I could possibly finish within the next month or so then get someone to help me edit it and add more in to help it flow better, because I really have a problem with flow I can definitely get a story written fast I just need help getting all the ideas together and fixing spelling since I use a speech to text program since I actually can’t physically type that fast or I get stuck.

Oh, anyways, I’m just gonna tell the first part of the story the not the rest. Basically it starts out with this officer, a security guard Carla, working at this facility of a company called mother goose, and they recently at this facility have gotten a new subject something that’s been in containment for 20 years, but now is finally waking up or is going to wake up and she happens to see it and they call it a bother because all their experiments are named after Mother Goose nursery rhymes, and/or stories and of course it’s Baaba black sheep for this one and baba, it’s like this weird hybrid dinosaur thing that constantly can evolve itself to any situation but it’s extremely painful for it cause it’s own skin falls off as if it was shitting, forcing itself to shed with us so we can just adapter situations which includes radiation and search doesn’t mean it can’t be killed like if he could be damaged before I can adapt to things like if you’re coming to like doomsday from DC Like Bubba can definitely be beaten to death by another experiment and actually die from that and not come back, so kind of not like doomsday except he just has adaptability like SCP 682, but not to the point where a different dimensional versions gonna pop up. Anyways, Carla is able to save Baba‘s life because he almost dies immediately when coming out of the Beasley artificial womb, he’s been living in for 22 years able to Use his own psychic abilities that he got from the DNA of his actual human mother the rest of the DNA is literally just a mash up of prehistoric animals, and what other animals they could put together and fit into him and the rest is him just adapting to the world around him Which includes them as he grows starting out from like this weird like slimy creature into like the actual like weird dinosaur thing he is into having tattoos on his body that won’t go away now because they were testing if they would stay in his body actually feeds the ink and the tattoos so they don’t go away now as well as each of his claws, having him a different purpose one being like almost hook like for climbing, but they also just can go away. Even his tongue is like a chameleons, but also like a tentacle completely maneuverable with almost a hand like appendage that he can use to open everything. So anyways, Bubba does end up, escaping in the facility and the rest of the book focuses on Carla, trying to unearthed things about the Mother Goose organization with the help of a nurse that worked there along with the daughter of one of the scientists whilst Baba is out, exploring her surroundings, which if I’m getting this correct the story takes place in basically Finland and so it’s currently in that time of year where it’s like dark for 3 to 2 months straight and Bob is just exploring including encountering a mutated polar bear, which actually was created by his brother who is watching him and there’s references to his siblings later in the story, even the fact that he can remember them because the psychic link they had allowed him to feel them when they actually were still together before they were separated, which he is, the only one still contain his siblings were able to escape a long time ago and so now he’s trying to find a way to get far away from the facility but as well, dealing with his feelings towards Carla, as well as Carla, having feelings towards him, because Barbara himself is still very much human despite looking like a complete monster, and something big is revealed later in the plot when Carlos steals his x-rays, as well as what Bubba‘s hiding form looks like which father does show different forms which he can shed he has no singular form except the one he currently just has which has for but it’s a possibility. If he moves to warmer climate, the fur will go away but mostly, he looks like the weird dinosaur thing that I described in one of the chapters. actually one of his forms is nicknamed the nun or the worshiper it is like this weird humanoid basically humanoid demented looking nun thing that uses basically what octopus have.

[dailycharacteroption]

Elemental Monk (Monk Archetype)

(art by Jesika Art on Artstation)

 While we’ve had plenty of monks that gain the elemental fist as a free bonus feat, or master one element, Pathfinder shockingly didn’t have a purely elemental-focused archetype until late in the system’s lifespan (which isn’t to say you couldn’t make them elemental focused, but rather it would be through feats, rather than an archetype)

The way of the elemental monk focuses on the various elemental styles of the five most well-known types of genies: Djinn, Efreet, Janni, Marid, and Shaitan, mastering all five styles at once in an effort to be perfectly balanced.

This focus on balance means they are less focused on raw discipline than most monks, allowing themselves indulgences every now and then to offset what would normally be a very lawful outlook.

The end result is a powerful warrior monk able to adapt themselves to many different situations

 While other monks that master the elemental fist work on channeling a single element, these monks instead master all four, able to switch between acid, cold, electricity, and fire even between individual strikes!

They also learn how to enter the stances for the five different genie style, be it fierce and intimidating Efreet Style, acrobatic Djinn Style, fluid and graceful Marid Style, solid Shaitain Style, or flexible Janni Style.

As they grow in mastery, they also learn to implement the second, and finally third stage of each of those styles

But true masters can take this further, able to become totally immune to the associated element when in that stance (or in the case of Janni Style, able to shrink and grow as needed), becoming unparalleled masters of all five styles.

This mastery of the elements charges their attacks with a balanced energy that pierces the defenses of chaotic foes, and lets them perfectly pierce the defenses of elementally-aligned foes.

Additionally, true masters can use their connection to the elements to plane shift themselves and others to the elemental planes, though coming back to the material plane is harder.

What’s interesting about this archetype is that while it technically does not give you the elemental styles all at once, you can still enter any of them as a swift action as many times as you want each day. This basically means that they are integrated into the archetype’s teachings themselves, and that you do not need to spend feats to pursue any of them, you just have them, which can be quite useful for helping you decide on your build. In any case, be sure to research the benefits of each style so you can pick the right one for the right situation as well.

 These monks have to be true neutral, rather than any kind of lawful, but what does that mean for them? I feel the answer has to lie in perspective. From their point of view, the elements are evocative of a single, primal fact. And that is, chaos simply order without omniscience, and order is nothing but something we impose on the world around us. In this way, they find it in themselves to find personal discipline while also accepting that they will never be able to control everything, and that is more powerful than punching things with your fists on fire will ever be.

  Elka Tempesthoof is an atypical example of a monk, being a centaur and all, but when her fists and hooves blaze with elemental power, there can be no denying her mastery of the elements. It took a long time to modify the styles to suit her form, and she might be able to share insights on other modifications to other martial artists.

 Resistant to all four elements, the fiendish serpentine constructs known as abrakarn vipers easily negate the advantages of the elemental fist. As such, the legendary elemental monk Vicass captured and repurposed one of these horrors for use in his tomb, a perfect way to test if a true successor of his discipline could make do with the Janni Style, often forgotten by monks who have never been tested enough to run dry of elemental energy.

 The House of the Elements, that legendary school of the five genie styles, came together from the five masters putting aside their differences and discovering how much more they could learn from each other. This cooperation crumbled, however, after the master of water perished, and their grief and differences drove them apart. Now the monastery stands empty aside from lurking horrors and whatever secrets might be left behind.

[lookbluesoup-rp]

LFRP - I'lyrha Rinha

THE BASICS:

Age: Mid-20s

Race: I-Tribe Seeker of the Sun Miqo'te

Gender: Female (She/Her)

Marital Status: In an Open Relationship, Polyamorous

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

Hair: Calico

Eyes: Green

Height: 5ft (152cm)

Build: Sleek, practical muscle, befitting a life spent sailing

Distinguishing Marks: Long silky calico fur, scars on knuckles & back, one gold tooth

PERSONAL:

Profession: Red Mage (Previously a notorious pirate/slaver)

Hobbies: Meddling in other people's business | Getting into barfights | Napping in the sun | Drinking | Fishing | Training & Derring-do

Residence: None, she's a pilgrim!

Birthplace: Somewhere along the Ilsabard coast

Fears: Being recognized as an outlaw | Voidsent | Witches putting curses on her (I know)

Major Traits: Gregarious | Competitive | Proud | Adaptable | Sly | Penitent | Flirtatious | Brave | Snarky | Insecure | Curious | Honorable (ish)

RP INFORMATION:

DM me here, you can also check the intro post pinned for my discord and whatnot.

I prefer more flexibly-paced, story-focused RPs and to write in Discord, on Tumblr, or through GoogleDocs (preferred)

Regular adventures, shenanigans, etc are great! Serious/mature themes, moderate gore, horror, whump, & sensuality are also good as long as boundaries are clear/respected.

One-offs and longer interactions both are fine! Friendships, rivalries, enemies, romances, all good!

PLEASE read the info in my intro post!

RP HOOKS:

(below the cut)

Heart & Steel: You're in trouble. Be it bandits, rampaging goobbues, an abusive master, or a vengeful second-in-line-for-the-Duchy trying to get you out of the line of succession, it's Lyrha's job to defend those who cannot defend themselves. Fate draws her to your aid, and honor demands she sees you through to the end of your troubles. Or, perhaps she's more interested in the potential of a reward... It's, uh, little hard to be sure.

Heart & ... Steal?: While Lyrha's generally reformed into a model wandering heroine, she does occasionally blur the lines between right and wrong. Poncy stuffy Lordlings who look down on their servants and have more than they need are just asking to have an heirloom disappear mysteriously. That corrupt tax collector who took the flour some farmers needed to get through next winter can dine on limestone dust instead. And the predatory broker demanding three times the price she paid for a treasured mother's wedding ring just to get it back won't notice their ransom has been swapped out with a glamoured copper band. If Lyrha's stealing from another thief.... is it really stealing?

Birds of a Feather: Lyrha's griffin isn't exactly the most... well-mannered of beasts. For that matter, neither is Lyrha. Either she's managed to offend her bird (not difficult) or it's managed to offend her (also not difficult), and now it won't come to her call. And you, lucky soul that you are, have somehow been roped into helping her appease, soothe, flatter, or maybe even find the temperamental beast. Preferably before it maims someone. ...Did she mention it's part Vochstein?

Pound of Flesh: Try as she might to put it behind her, Lyrha's history is back to bite. Years spent sailing with notorious pirates and trading in human chattel has given this "queen" quite a reputation in some circles. And quite a bounty. There are no small few across Eitherys who would pay handsomely for her capture -- authorities, bereaved families, and slighted blackguards alike. Others would like nothing better than to hunt her down themselves and take their revenge.

Live By the Sword: Be it in an act of heroism or unfinished business from her past, I'lyrha has been badly wounded. Maybe she came to you for help, or maybe you were just in the right place at the right time to see that she needed it. Maybe you're the one she was trying to protect. Whatever way, this Red Mage is in need of healing, hiding, or both. It's an opportunity for a bit of altruism on your part, or else a chance to demand a bargain with someone who knows they don't have better options.

Once A Pirate...: I'lyrha's learned to behave. Mostly. Except she's still got the mouth of a sailor. And she still can't seem to avoid causing a ruckus at every local tavern. She stared too long, or spoke too uncouthly. Gave insult. Maybe to you. Maybe it was about honor, or money, or a boast, or a pickup line, or a mistaken identity. Either way, it can't be allowed to stand. Get ready for a good, clean, honest 1v1. Not a bar fight. No, a duel. A duel. Hey, wait, put that chair down

I'm Not SUPERstitious: Yes, Lyrha's afraid of ghosts. And sirens. She crushes all her eggshells to bits. She won't kill albatrosses, or eat bananas, and she whistles to summon the wind. Maybe you've done something she considers bad luck, or her obsessive eggshell-smashing has caught your attention. Maybe something on your shirt means she won't make eye contact. It's as good a reason as any to strike up a conversation with a stranger. ALTERNATIVELY: You have requested/hired Lyrha's assistance dealing with a voidsent problem. She'll help you. But she's going to complain the whole time.

Seasalt: Lyrha knows how to live off the sea. Be it a small fishing boat or as part of a larger crew, she's a useful addition to a vessel of any size. She knows the currents, too, and places to hide along the coast... and how to best keep from drawing unwanted attention to valuable cargo, from the Ruby Sea to Limsa Lominsa.

@mooglemeet

[blubushie]

for jess - a9, a24, b7, c8, d4, f4, h9, i6

for charles - b1

for you - L1

have fun, you HAVE to answer ALL of them (you don't have to answer all of them)

I love you I love you I love you. Original post.

A9 Jesse: Does your OC make a lot of excuses? For themselves? Others?

Not for herself. She does make a lot of excuses for other people, namely her father and Mundy and especially for Mundy when she's speaking to her father about him. She has to defend the object of her affections from her angry dad and when she's discussing it with her father she consistently downplays just how bad things actually were during that month of captivity (mostly because she knows that if she told Charles the whole truth Mundy would be dead by the end of the week).

A24 Jesse: What are some of your OC’s biggest personal obstacles? This could be emotional, physical, social… Are they aware of it? Are they trying to overcome it?

Trauma and her estranged relationship with her father. She's convinced herself that what she's gone through really wasn't that bad—I reckon that her father telling her horror stories from the war didn't help much—but it definitely haunts her and that lingering trauma is anything but gone. She gradually works through her trauma with Mundy (they do it together) and her struggle shifts more to focusing on her relationship with her father and her sense of self-worth. She's aware of the trauma and how difficult her relationship with her father is, but the self-worth isn't something she even realises is an issue. She isn't making an effort to overcome any of them however, and resolves to just work through them in time.

B7 Jesse: How do they respond to babies crying in public?

Mostly indifferent to kids. Crying is a mite annoying for her but she just tries to ignore it. She's definitely the type to go over and start doing silly faces so the kid stops crying.

C8 Jesse: Is your OC more practical or ideal morally? I.e., do they hold people to high expectations of behavior even if it’s not realistic for the situation, or do they have a more realistic approach and adapt their morality to be more practical?

Definitely more on the practical side of things. She's a mercenary, so she doesn't necessarily have some high standard of morality—in fact, Jesse is not as innocent as she seems.

D4 Jesse: Would they like to be immortal? Why, why not? If they are immortal, would they rather not be?

She's definitely the type to say she wants to be immortal and then three hundred years later be desperately trying to come up with ways to put herself in the ground because she can't take it anymore. Jesse loves deeply and hard, and eventually the point of seeing everyone she loves get old and die and not being able to join them would get to her head.

F4 Jesse: How clean are they overall with home upkeep?

She has chores around BLU Base (does her own laundry, makes her own lunch, in charge of her own effects) but her room has clutter everywhere like a mad lady's washing despite how often Suki pesters her to clean it. It's not so much that she's a slob, just that she forgets and procrastinates when it comes to keeping things tidy. At the least she knows where everything in the clutter is so it's necessarily a complete mess, and it's much better now than it was when she first got to BLU.

H9 Jesse: What are some things that your OC finds to be an instant turn-off in potential partners?

"Not Mundy." Seriously though, it would be someone who can't listen. She yabbers constantly because her mind is basically always going and she needs someone who can just listen sometimes.

I6 Jesse: Could they eat the same thing they enjoy over and over and not get bored of it quickly?

“I grew up dirt poor, alright? Y’know what’s the cheapest meat you can buy? Chicken. I was raised on that shit. Never get tired a’ chicken.” Jesse loves chicken. Fried is her favourite but she loves the parmi Mundy makes. Thanks to Mundy she also ends up having a craving for rabbit since it tastes similar to chicken but just a mite more gamey.

B1 Charles: Do they believe you have to give respect to get it, or get respect to give it?

Charles is very formal and is of the understanding that some people are automatically owed respect regardless of whether they give any back (specifically the British monarchy and superiors in rank, for example). When it comes to his teammates he's a mite up himself and doesn't necessarily see them as equals with the exception of Okumura. He'll typically be the first to extend an olive branch when it comes to respect, but that's more of his diplomatic tendencies and negotiation skills coming through than anything else. Normally he holds himself to a high regard and would expect respect to be given to him first, and then he'll extend some back to you.

L1 author: How have your characters changed since you created them?

Quite a bit! Mundy was originally from Wiluna, WA, but I tried to keep close to canon and despite the physical impossibility of being shot out of New Zealand and landing "a mile away" in Outback Australia (everywhere on the east coast is too green for where his home is, and the Tasman Sea spans a lot wider than a mile) I decided to keep that as close to canon as I could and had him be from Tilpa, NSW instead. (Shout out to Tilpa, I love that little town.) Jesse was originally a bloke, and then I decided to make her a chick and she was briefly paired up with Liem but during some writing exercises I realised she worked better as having a brother-sister relationship with him than anything else. Instead I briefly considered pairing her with Jeremy, but even if Jeremy and Miss Pauling didn't end up together, according to the comics Jeremy is completely loyal to Pauling and I try to stick to comic canon as much as possible. While writing Chapter 4 I realised that I really liked the chemistry between Jesse and Mundy, and the rest is history!

[agentnico]

A Haunting in Venice (2023) Review

Still cannot get over this movie's first teaser trailer that was released which made it seem like some Conjuring spin-off and then right at the very end we see Poirot and his moustache appear. People who knew nothing about Kenneth Branagh's Poirot movies would have been so confused as to who that man was.

Plot: In post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a séance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.

I do enjoy a solid murder mystery movie, yet with Kenneth Branagh's take on the famous Agatha Christie sleuth, up until now I feel his adaptations have been playing it too safe and in the process losing the excitement of the source material. It doesn't help that both Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile are based on the two most famous Poirot tales, as such the reveals in both weren't all that mysterious seeing as many people already knew what happens due to the books. However with this third outing, it seems Branagh may finally be finding his groove, as for starters this mystery is based on a lesser-known murder from the detective's adventures (a short book titled Hallowe'en Party), and more so the movie is not in fact a fully faithful adaptation of that story.

Both Christie's novel and A Haunting in Venice introduce us to a spooky Halloween-set mystery with multiple deaths and plot twists, as the famed detective tries to uncover the truth after being lured into the case by mystery writer Ariadne Olivier (played in the movie by Tina Fey). Yet there are not many similarities between the two stories. For one unlike the original novel which is set in the English countryside, the movie swaps that setting for the sinister Venezian palazzo. To be fair, Branagh evidently seems to be a fan of the 1973 occult-themed thriller Don't Look Now, as he tries to mimic that movie's style in portraying Venice as a place that has a sense of mystery and mystique in the air, with the ever-growing feel of dread and despair. That leads to the next point - the supernatural. Unlike the previous outings in these Poirot films, this one attempts to add something new to the murder mystery genre by adding a flair of horror into the mix. Set mostly at night, with creepy voices heard in the background and eerie imagery throughout, Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukus fill each scene with unsettling darkness, and there's even a shed of jump scares throughout. Also rain. Lots of rain, rain and rain. Visually this movie looks really good, and in fact, it is nice to see less use of CGI here compared to Death on the Nile where the green screen was basically the main star of the movie. The horror stuff didn't always work and I do believe the jump scares were a tad excessive and unnecessary, especially as the lighting and look of the movie already provided that needed sense of harrowing terror, but I do appreciate Branagh attempting to actually make something more original with his Poirot films.

Speaking of Branagh's Poirot, you can tell he absolutely adores playing this character, and to be fair he does a splendid job as always, with his lovely Belgian accent and adorable persona, so as always it was delightful seeing him chew up the scenery. The rest of the cast does well too. It's not as A-list as the previous films, but I think that was to the movie's benefit, for instead of focusing on the actors you actually can enjoy more connecting with the characters themselves. Tina Fey is out of her comfort zone by playing a more serious role compared to her known comedic performances. Michelle Yeoh is fantastic as the mystic psychic, and leaves an impression, especially during the séance scene where she completely loses herself in her 'possessed' madness'. Jude Hill, who's mainly known as the kid from Belfast, was great as the son of the doctor, as even though he's just a kid, he's very mature for his age and shows that he knows more than you'd expect, and Hill is great in delivering this and was one of the standouts.

The mystery itself is unfortunately pretty predictable. The journey to the reveal is solid, however, most of the resolutions are very easy to work out and I do wish there was a bigger plot twist than what we got, but overall I believe A Haunting in Venice is the best Poirot outing in Kenneth Branagh's trilogy, as it manages to finally find its own voice and take a risk of trying something different. It visually looks great (have I mentioned there is lots of rain??) Branagh's Poirot is adorable, but the narrative itself is a bit thin still. If there are more of these Poirot adventures made, I feel like Branagh should give directing duties to someone else, but still stay as the actor for Poirot, as from all three films the one thing that's always been a positive was his performance as the Belgian sleuth. But yes, this is a step in the right direction for this murder mystery franchise.

Overall score: 6/10

[finsterhund]

Liveblog kinda I guess?

Someone recommended I watch the horror movie "Come Play" (2020) because "that's basically you" and yeah ten minutes in and this is pretty much exactly what 2010s Cayden embodiment would be. Except pure and not deranged lmaoooo.

So far this seems to be a more typical horror movie so it's more of an "eat snacks and try to guess when a jump scare is happening" experience which is usually what I watch. It's serviceable if generic. Not really bringing anything new to the table or being too interesting. I've been focusing a lot on artsy indie horror of late so it's good to change things up and go back into something knowing it's not going to completely flood my brain. It's nice to have neurodivergent kid protagonist representation that doesn't turn the kid into a source of "ooooh scary" for the sake of "disability weird and creepy" either. I kept bracing for "autism scary" but they never resorted to that.

Jealous of the cool house he lives in. This is quickly becoming a pattern.

The picture book monster designs are straight up spectres. I swear to fuck. If the little common spectres could grow up I guess. I want the in-universe book as like a hardcover or something it's cute. Can't tell if it's a ploy or if it's really a heartfelt monster friend yet. That's the fun of it. Could be either OR BOTH. I'd love to see that more in things. Where a supernatural creature is a predator with hunting instincts but it's not evil and will potentially under ideal circumstances be able to pack bond with humans who are otherwise a prey item.

Not gonna lie thinking about it now having it being central to the plot of a movie I am somewhat jealous of the availability of digital speaking devices possible with today's technology. I would have been far more articulate if I had something like that when my selective mutism was at its worst. May have made it easier for me to break into the wider world. Get more of a headstart. Saying that though the movie is quick to remind that neurotypicals can be fucking mean and stupid about accessibility tools. Not to go on and bash neurotypicals for seven hours straight but people get so fucking weird about this sort of thing. Call us unable to adapt to things but can't just roll with it when it comes to fairly cut and dry extensions of the self.

By the time I finally had an assistance device (first laptop) it was in high school and everyone learned to mind their own fucking business. I'd get chewed out by the occasional teacher but they quickly discovered I can't write for shit and that it was the only possible way I could take notes.

I'm expecting the "phone bad" plot to be stupid and drag my experience down but we will see.

I'm not liking the parents very much but how much of that is personal bias I cannot say. I may just be very stressed at the moment and projecting onto characters I know next to nothing about yet. The mom seems ok but the dad has a classic case of the "not really being there in equal measure as the mom is" that might imply worse.

Props to how you can really hear the parent's opinions and the learned ableism through the kid in Oliver's class whinging about how he gets "special treatment" for having use of a phone for accessibility. It really sounds like the sort of stuff you just know the kid is parroting from their shitty parent. The teacher could have handled it better than making it about that kid doing something to not deserve his phone as a toy. Should have instead been explaining that Oliver literally needs his for accessibility. But a lot of the time that is how these situations are mishandled by well-meaning but otherwise incorrect neurotypicals. The "clap back" at the kid who played Fortnite on his phone rather than explaining that the nonverbal kid uses his as a TOOL. and that's what's different.

The scene where the one kid from the bully's group lures Oliver with surface niceness just to get him away from prying eyes so their group can berate him is perfectly illustrated also. Because yeah they know to superficially not bully someone with disabilities, they know how to play nice, and the whole "pretending to be your friend to fuck with you" shit was very prevalent. I like how despite this being handled well it's not overly triggering like it could be.

God watching this just makes me wish we could have grown up together. This is a fictional fucking character but I know what he's going through so much and it's just not fair.

A lot of the spooky shit is interesting and isn't overdone visuals. Like the part with the papers in the car park. The camera filter scene also got me too. Because I am scared of cameras and the dark and faces. 🙃 The movie doesn't have deep psychological environmentally impressive fear building but the simple jump scares don't feel shitty either. It's basic for a horror movie but inoffensive.

Also I was right in the beginning to feel sus about the parents. They're having fights about Oliver and the mom is going on about how much she wishes she could "get rid of that part of him" so that she "wouldn't have to deal with it" as if it isn't literally a facet of who he is. The dad responds that it wouldn't be him then. The mom I swear to fuck I hate her. Shut the hell up "you have any idea what it's like for your own child to never look you in the eyes?" Bitch shut up. The kid doesn't feel comfortable with eye contact it's one little fucking thing to you but it's really significant issues for him. The mom is going on about how he apparently loves the dad but hates her. Oh I don't know autism warrior mom Karen perhaps he is able to tell and feel the way you talk and think about him? Like this? Right now? And that's why he doesn't feel comfortable or safe around you? Do you magically think he doesn't understand or feel the energy and vibes you emit about him? He's autistic, not mindless. For fucks sake. You think because he doesn't do things the way you think is the only way to do them he isn't able to at all? Gah. The dad being less present in his life is a double edged sword. Negative in that he could be there more for him but positive in the fact that when he is there he isn't a fucking bitch. Of course the kid is going to like him more. (I am taking this too personally I realize but jesus christ does this really hit at a sore spot)

"Larry" communicating with the same speech program Oliver uses is supposed to be creepy. They have him looking shocked and play suspense chords but I just think it's sweet. They're able to use the same aid and it's probably the first time Oliver has really had that sense of familiarity. I know that this is a monster and it's probably gonna try to eat him or something but so far the literal spectre ass looking demon thing has been more compassionate, respectful, considerate, and willing to be accessible to Oliver than any other major character. It's just scary and from another dimension. It feels like the monster is an allegory for having a disability that you're ostracized for.

Fucking screaming at the mom planning get togethers with the bully just because she's friends with his mom. Again, this is a common thing and it doesn't work out anywhere near as much as it should for parents to keep doing. But the mom being a fucking shit I realize she's likely never going to intentionally try to go out and find other disabled and/or neurodivergent kids to introduce Oliver to. These sorts of parents hope their kid will find "normal" friends that will make them "more normal" they already have to "suffer" "dealing with" their disabled kid they're not going to want to care for his peers too. 😔

The mom fucking going "can you try and have some fun for me?" You are literally forcing your kid to hang out with someone they don't want to, that I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt in assuming you aren't aware is bullying him. You are taking away what little autonomy he has in his life at the present. God. And the cherry on top is him leaving a situation that's uncomfortable to him (terrified his phone is possessed) and the mom of course assumes it's all about her, that he's avoiding her.

God the bully's whole friend group gets invited to the sleepover and the literal first interaction I see of the bully's mom with him is her joking about how she wants to get rid of him and load him off on Oliver's mom. Just casually joking about not wanting to be around your son to his face. That's lovely.

Christ the bully's mom asking Oliver's mom if she can say hi to him. As if he's her pet and not his own person. 😬 100% why the bully is like this.

CHRIST THE BULLY KIDS WERE LIKE "WHYS HE BEING WEIRD?" AND BEFORE THE BULLY'S MOM CAN TELL HIM OFF OLIVER'S MOM SAYS "ITS OKAY" I want Larry to kill this fuck so bad. She then goes on to explain stimming... I guess. The fact that the moms are talking about his personal developmental milestones also just right in front of him and the other kids. Man for fucks sake stop it. Can you at least make the effort to pretend to give him a level of privacy and dignity?

It's really hard at times to not want the bully kids to get got by the monster lol. Sometimes their lines make it clear they're just wildly misinformed and other times there's that level of cruelty that I still don't know where some kids get it from and other times they're behaving a bit too "adult wrote the lines" bully cliche.

Larry being described as pale when he's been depicted until this point as corpse-black threw me for a loop. Was hoping this wouldn't end up being another pasty white "rake-esque" creature. It got old fast lol

I get the feeling that if the bullies don't die they're gonna end up friends with Oliver through shared trauma. Jokes on you nobody's getting out of this neurotypical.

Yeah the "real life" Larry design is just uninspired copy of the rake. The visual effects are good but man.

I don't get why they blamed Oliver for that shit with the book though. Like they witnessed all the bulbs go and the creepy ebook and the table move on its own. What do they think he's got telekinesis or something? What happened really doesn't seem like something they'd all collectively make up the same story to blame on him. If that actually happened they'd be going on about ghosts or some shit surely? Frustrated me and I had to pause for a bit.

Have yet to see "phone bad" at all and maybe they won't do that. But the mom is a sack of shit so don't hold your breath.

God the mom thinking he did it. Yeah I'm sure your kid did all that with his mind. Of course.

Also next day at school one of the bully kids has a chew stim????? He's never shown with one before. He's only got it now that their ringleader is absent from school? Which shows I guess that they join him in picking on the more obviously neurodivergent kid to try and prevent him from targeting them as well? Sadly a realistic thing that happens also. Bully kid is clearly traumatized so I guess my joke about nobody leaving this story neurotypical is coming true to some extent. Then he confesses it wasn't Oliver but the Larry entity. The weird thing is the mom believes now too because she was in the house when it again started fucking with shit but even though it's shown to have control over the house she zeros in on the tablet. Eventually the dad finally takes Oliver and immediately he's a better parent. Brought him to his job at a toll booth car park and encourages him to participate and explains to him aspects of the job that make it accessible. Saying that you can watch cartoons when you're not dealing with customers. I feel he means well.

Find it funny that everyone's immediate first reaction to the Larry book showing up randomly is to read it. And read it aloud. Oh neat a spooky monster kids book is on this ipad. Gonna read it out loud. I've got nothing better to do.

Again, the different ways they show that the invisible entity is in the physical world and where/how it's moving is pretty cool. The cameras, the laser sight measurement tool, THE STICKY HAND. The use of the sticky hand is GOATed

This fucking speech therapist is bringing up PHYSICAL EMPATHS. Aka pseudoscience. Being like "the reason you are also experiencing this creature from Oliver's imagination is because you love him very much" which is bullshit because 1. she fucking doesn't. 2. The closest observed condition that this could even remotely be compared to is Folie à Deux. There is no fucking basis of "empaths" as having psychosomatic reactions like this in real life wtfffffff. Everyone in this movie except for the goddamn monster and kinda the dad is absent incompetent negligent or stupid to the point of infuriating ineptitude in being there for Oliver. Christ. Then this stupid fucking mom is like "oh I destroyed *that* device. As if the problem was a single thing and not idk. It did stuff in your fucking house. What is the logic of this!? They even discussed how Oliver has been using multiple screens for so and so long period of time wtffffff

Oh I fucking knew it was the bully kid's mom who was why he turned out that way. The reveal felt so validating. These poor kids. The bitch tricked her kid into thinking Oliver hated him and turned him against him. Jesus Christ. Felt so gratifying when they realized and made up. She is now the character I want to die the most. Second is Oliver's mom obviously.

The later parts of the Larry book make it clear that the monster is at the very least possessive and will kill those who get in its way but still no confirmation if it has ulterior motives to making friends. It looks like it's just really possessive and lonely. Are they trying to set it up as being evil???

The scene with the streetlights going off behind the car is sick af. God. Too bad Larry himself the real world version sucks. Got a closeup of his face and it's just not working for me as a design. Took the mom way too long to realize that this thing wasn't tied to just the one tablet. The way it talks by skipping channels to different words is a neat concept but ruins the mystery of it. Okay Larry you go and villain monologue to the mom through the TV. That's great. Finally we get to the "phone bad"-ism where "everyone's so lonely looking at their screens all the time that it literally created Larry out of their loneliness" man wtf. If you love someone who's in another continent go fuck yourself I guess. You're actually lonely. You don't have real relationship through the screen. Never mind the fact that the main character is literally only so reliant on electronics because it's his fucking accessibility device. He is using it to communicate in person. God they didn't think this through. Also this movie literally came out in 2020 I think Larry being born is small potatoes compared to the obvious alternative of everyone dying from a certain pandemic. Hmmm 😬

I was really hoping it wouldn't pull a "phone bad" but somehow it held off on doing so and then did so in a way that's somehow worse.

God the mom being like "Larry is lonely? How do you think I would feel if Larry took Oliver?" Always making it about you. Not to mention the fact that you treat him bad and talk shit about him and say that he doesn't love you as much as his father because he won't overstep his own personal boundaries for your benefit. Everything you've done and said up until this point would indicate that you'd enjoy your life better if it did just go and take Oliver.

God the mom is something else. running around like a chicken with its head cut off grabbing every screen in sight in the house and yeeting it out the door when the obvious solution is to take Oliver somewhere else. Then when I think it won't get any worse she's unscrewing all the fucking lightbulbs. Making a racket. Oliver is having a meltdown and the bitch screams at him "can't you just be normal for one second" oh I dunno. You're acting like a complete mindless stupid dumb animal right now, assuming it's because you're stressed. Maybe have some of that fucking "you love him so much empathy" the speech therapist thinks you have for once and understand that he's stressed and scared out of his mind. The irony that Oliver has handled everything better than her is obvious to seemingly everyone except her and the writer. Ugh.

Saw a blurry dark camera angle of toys on the floor and immediately went "lol Skinamarink" so my brain is broken obviously.

Oh fuck it wasn't the bully's mom who lied and manipulated the situation and ruined the friendship (???) It was Oliver's stupid fucking mom? (Honestly I think it was equal parts both of them but ymmv. I do not understand this reveal) And during this reveal she's trying to force him to look her in the eyes. And they're hiding from the monster. And poor Oliver writes that he wants it to take him because she ruined his friendship 😭 god. I just can't.

First decent thing this shitheel does is recognize that Oliver calms himself with the SpongeBob theme song and hums it to him. It came out of nowhere. Really didn't feel this character has grown enough for this moment. Doesn't feel deserved.

Yeah the clearer the shots we get of Larry the more I can see his real world design sucks. Disappointing. I must stress the practical effects that bring him to life are incredible. Great effects. Just I'm so tired of oversaturated trope of tall pale humanoid creature. He's got pretty boring designed feet and hands too like. It's like if they took all the style out of the monster designs in Little Nightmares. So you're left with mildly uncanny valley stretched out hairless man.

The mom is something else. "This thing is powered by electricity. Why do you keep saying for us to go to the field???!!" Oh I don't know 😒 truly one of life's greatest mysteries.

The mom sacrificed herself to the creature which is honestly the only way I think she could have redeemed herself. Kinda saw this coming with the "only goes away when you finish the story, give it your hand" thing. Doesn't feel at all earned. I mean yeah she gave up her life to protect him even though she did it right in front of him and further traumatized him 🙃 again, the story keeps having this issue where it will suddenly insist the whole universe revolves around Oliver's mom.

There's some pretty big storytelling inconsistency whiplash in this movie. It really had no business sympathizing with the mom so much. She literally caused every non supernatural problem and significantly worsened the supernatural ones. In the end she like... comes back as a ghost and spends time with him and definitely loves him unconditionally now. We hope. The movie wants us to think this. She has the teensiest amount of redemption and it implies more than shows that she's learned from her negligence and wrongdoing.

I did like a lot of what this movie did but god the autism mom martyr complex shit is genuinely wrong and bad. The narrative that parents of autistic children are heroes and the true "victims" of the "disease" for their insurmountably good deed of not abandoning their own children and blah blah blah is wretched. It's the mindset that makes the "charity" Autism Speaks so insidious. They don't care about autistic people. They care about the poor undeserving neurotypicals who are forced to have autism in their lives 😒

This movie could have been an absolute banger if it instead focused on Oliver dealing with this creature. Hell, I was hoping that he would bring it into the real world to stay rather than what it wanted which was the reverse and after the friendship he had with bully kid was repaired he'd introduce Larry into their newly forming friend group or some shit. Or that the creature was insidiously trying to take advantage of the situation to capture him or something. But no. We got "phones bad" because they somehow created this creature who only wants friends but is also violent and scary, and several times is shown in a comparative way to the autistic boy, and we have shitty mother redemption. God.

It really felt like there was a good story here and a lot of stuff was really good but the bad shit is impossible to ignore. The actors were all good but yeah there's some serious issues with the writing and message. Very frustrating. They didn't use the kid being autistic for horror because instead they made the monster essentially a representation of a neurodivergent child and blamed his creation on the use of the very same electronic devices that the autistic boy used to empower himself and have more autonomy. Yeesh that's a big issue.

Oliver was such a tender sweetheart literally didn't deserve any of this.

I went into this thinking "oh boy this is just run of the mill monster horror shit that has a relatable protagonist unlike the artsy horror this isn't gonna make me use my brain" but no that quickly changed.

It is worth noting that I never finished the Babadook because of all the issues I had with it. This feels like it wanted to right those wrongs but still valued neurotypical comfort and status quo over neurodivergent child acceptance.

Idk I'm probably way too hard on the mom character but just this once can we have an autistic kid being loved not in spite of his autism but including his autism? Please?

[thatscarletflycatcher]

"You think shipping a victim with her rapist is better than the character being disabled for a while"

Look, if you cannot escape the level of the plain text of the novel to address the meta level that all that happens in the novel are choices the writer made, and you cannot ask why he made them, then you and I are not speaking of the same thing, and will not understand each other.

When you are adapting a text, you need to stick to at least the main plot points of the story. Jonathan Harker goes to Transylvania and becomes the count's prisoner. The count goes to England. Jonathan escapes and marries Mina. Lucy is attacked, killed and turned by Dracula despite the efforts of Van Helsing and the suitors. The suitors kill the bloofer lady. The gang gets together, Mina gets bitten, they destroy the boxes, Dracula flees, the gang pursues him, [redacted].

The fact that Mina gets turned cannot be avoided because her bond with Dracula is what allows the gang to know what he's doing. Bram chose to write it that way. Any of us could have chosen 100 different ways in which Mina doesn't get nerfed the way she does, but then either the plot (not the characterization, the main beats of the plot) changes significantly, not allowing for the ending as-is on its bare bones, or you are left with a character that serves no narrative function.

Characters with little or nothing to do in a plot can be fine in a book, if their inaction is the point because it is telling us something about the character's situation or personality. Lady Middleton in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility is such a character: her whole point is that she's little more than a sexy lamp, insipid and empty.

But inactive characters in movies and series tend to exist only for comedic effect. Unlike in a book, where such character's presence is only noticed when the narrator is focusing on them, in a movie you cannot remove them from the scene. If you are adapting Sense and Sensibility and keeping Lady Middleton, you will have to place her in every family scene, but give her no reaction, no lines, no action, because she doesn't have any in the source material in those scenes. Your only other choice is to change her characterization so as to give her something to do that doesn't disrupt the plot as is. This second route is taken every time Margaret Dashwood appears in an adaptation of S&S; she's given lines and very minor things to do, perhaps something symbolic representing the desires of other characters, but nothing that can change any of the basic plot happening.

Now, here you have Mina. Mina is a crucial character in the first half of the story, a very active character. Reached the end of September, Bram has been left with no idea as to what to do with her because the book cannot end just yet and he cannot bring himself to kill her because of many reasons. So he breaks the characters figurative arms and legs so that she can get bitten and turned and taken off the action (as a side note, I know spoilers and I don't think that justifies or changes it) and then he can manufacture delays to make the action last till November.

You are an adaptor of the book. You are working on a context where emphasizing the purity and fidelity and Victorian sex mores of the work would be read as repressed. The book makes it so that the attacks on Lucy and Mina are about Dracula destroying the morale of British men and taking their women, the ones that can bear children and therefore the future of British culture and society, to destroy it. Dracula himself says it in a line. But that is VERY xenophobic and antisemitic and that shit won't fly on a post wwii world. You cannot make Dracula really the foreigner coming here to rape women and destroy England.

But you also cannot have Mina not being turned and keep the original plot, because then she will be chilling in the background for half the movie with nothing to do, and that creates comedic effect and you need horror and suspense.

Your options are very limited unless you are making an adaptation in name only. So you think:

Oh, I can make at least one of them a reincarnated love of Dracula! I have solved the xenophobia-antisemitism problem (mostly), AND I have removed the implication that Mina's assault is all about getting at the men in her life, AND I have given her the current acceptable version of "she's a white wealthy woman and therefore delicate and in need of being protected at all costs" which is "she's experiencing romance/sexual attraction beyond the constricting barriers of her time and place."

I have said it before, I will say it again: I'm not saying it is a good idea, I'm not shipping it and I'm not saying is unproblematic. What I'm saying is that the mechanics of it make sense, and that the idea doesn't come out of the absolute nowhere, it isn't random and it isn't necessarily about romanticising rape or machismo.

[blindbeta]

Blind / Low Vision Person’s Review of “Blind” by Rachel DeWoskin and Why Writers Should Not Underestimate the Benefits of a Sensitivity Reader

[Content warnings: spoilers for the book. Ableism. Brief mention of an accident involving eye trauma. Mentions of suicide. Stereotypes about blind people. Also this review, because I focused on the portrayal of blindness, comes across negatively. Please know that I have no hate for the author and might even read another book she wrote. However, I did not like the way this book portrayed blindness and, as difficult as it is, I wanted to be honest in my review.]

I struggled with the title, and I’m not even sure benefits is the appropriate word. What I want to convey here is not Brought to You By Big Sensitivity Reader Company vibes, but more This Book Was Not Good and It Needed a Sensitivity Reader Very Badly vibes.

Blind is about Emma Silver, a high school student who goes blind in a traumatic accident. Here is a good summary and review by a blind person. I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated well. I’ll start by saying this will only be a review of the portrayal of blindness — I’ll try to leave my other opinions out just to keep things focused.

Unfortunately, focusing on just blindness means that it will not make this review more positive, because this book is about a blind girl recovering from going blind. In a way that is both inauthentic and swerves well out of the author’s lane. I say that because, as I hope will become apparent, this book consists of main character Emma being sad about being blind for the majority of the book. The book doesn’t simply have a character who goes blind. That is the main character’s entire arc.

This is a long review. However, I believe it will be invaluable for my readers and anyone who is interested in writing a blind character. Because this book passes most of my minimum standards for writing blind characters and was still lacking due to many factors, including stereotypes. I included many sub-headings so you can find specific topics easily.

Helpful Links

I include these links in the review. I’ll list them here for easy finding.

Here are two reviews of the book by blind readers: one and two.

Here is a video of the author talking about some of research she did for the book.

Here is my post Things I Want to See More Of / Less Of.

Here is my post about writing a blind character adjusting to being blind and being all sad about it when you aren’t blind yourself.

And finally, here is the post I shared that lists misconceptions about blind people.

The Author

The author, Rachel Dewoskin, is not blind. I did as much research as I could, but even if I hadn’t done so before reading the book, it was obvious she wasn’t blind herself. There are too many inaccuracies and offensive moments. This becomes a problem not because her MC was blind, but because she told a blind person’s story and used tropes in ways I think would be better off written by a blind person. If I’m going to read a story like this, I don’t want to read it from the perspective of a person who isn’t blind. When I get into the details of what went wrong, I hope you’ll see why.

Did the author do her research? Yes. The author met with blind people, clearly researched assistive technology and cane skills, and even taught herself contracted Braille. She talks a little about it in this video.

In fact, I wanted to say I am so impressed and grateful this author immersed herself in things like Braille and cane skills. None of my followers have shared that they went to a Lighthouse For the Blind or taught themselves to read Braille or spoken so passionately about why they loved it.

But sometimes research falls short. Or it is simply not enough.

That’s why I’m writing this review. For you writers writing blind characters when you aren’t blind. Because while the author clearly had good intentions, while the author clearly did her research and put in the time to learn and listen in ways I don’t think many of my followers have yet — the book was not authentic enough for me.

This book needed several sensitivity readers. If it had any, I would be surprised.

The Cover

The audiobook seems to have Braille on the cover, but I can’t tell if it is accessible or simply a picture of Braille. The cover features the word Blind in white print on a black background, with what seems to be Braille in rainbow colors that also spell out the title. I’ll reserve judgment here, since I don’t know the answer. If the Braille is tactile, then the cover is fantastic.

In the video I linked, the author seems to be holding the hardcover edition of the book with Braille on the cover. I can’t tell if the Braille is actually tactile or not.

What I Liked About the Book

I wanted to list a few things I liked about the book.

1. The main character is Jewish.

2. Emma has a large family full of well-developed characters and realistic portrayals of various ages. Everyone reacts uniquely to her blindness and I thought these characters were all used well. The scenes with Emma and her older sisters as well as the scenes with her mom were really great.

3. Emma gets therapy for her trauma. She also gets training to use a cane. These are annoyingly rare in stories.

4. As I said, the author clearly did her research. This is obvious when reading the book and In everything I found when researching the author after I finished it. I want to give the author praise here. I thought her explanations of technology Emma uses were the most accurate I have seen so far, both in books and when doing sensitivity reads.

What I Didn’t Like

I will start with this: Emma, after a year of learning to use her cane, is still using a cane inside her own house. After a year. This is not realistic, nor does it seem comfortable at all to use a cane in one’s own home. I don’t know anyone who does this and according to the other reviews, I am not the only one who was surprised by this.

Basically, this story would be okay with some inaccuracies. That’s to be expected. The real issue I had with this book was that it uses tropes the blind community generally hates and that the book is literally about !!! a character going blind and adapting. That’s the story. If you remove the blindness and the trauma, the story falls apart.

The author told a story that was not hers to tell and she did so badly.

If you are confused about why I dislike this, please read this post called Writing Blind Characters Accepting Being Blind When You Aren’t Blind Yourself.

What Did The Author Do Badly?

Trauma and Blindness

The story starts when main character, Emma, goes blind after a fireworks accident. Not only is this cliché, but it also tics one of my boxes in my Things I Want To See Less of post. This author wrote about a character going blind due to a traumatic accident. Link to the post.

In telling a story that was not hers to tell, here are some harmful things in the book:

The author does not do a good job of separating Emma’s trauma from her blindness. To be fair, this is difficult and most people don’t know to go about doing so with purpose. There are a lot of times in the book where the fact that Emma is traumatized leads to her saying a lot of terrible things about blindness and blind people that are never corrected or contradicted in the story. Again, if you are not sure why this is a problem, read the link I shared to my post.

Here are a few times this issue came up:

-Emma develops a habit of rocking, which myself and many reviewers know to attribute to trauma, but it isn’t clear if the author thinks blind people rock, as the stereotype indicates. Is Emma rocking as a trauma response or because she is blind? The book doesn’t make it clear. This is a time where authors need to be clear.

-Emma assumed she will never get a job, be kissed, get married, etc, after going blind.

-Emma yells about being ruined due to her blindness. The first two hours of the audiobook consist of Emma complaining about being blind. She mentions never being able to get a job a few times, assuming she won’t be able to work. While blind people do struggle with employment, this is due to discrimination, lack of transportation, lack of accommodations, lack of community support, and other systemic issues.

-Emma calls herself disfigured.

-Emma states she wanted to die. In another part of the book, when a background character we never met, Claire, completed suicide, Emma wonders if she was so focused on Claire because she wondered if she wanted to kill herself too.

-On the subject of the character, Claire, Emma states: “How easy would being gay be compared to being blind?”

This is especially damaging because some people are blind and gay. It also isn’t fair for Emma to compare them and the systemic issues that are faced by blind people and gay people. Emma not only trivializes homophobia, but also decides being blind is worse. For Emma, being blind is the worst thing ever, which is very isolating to read.

There are times where the fact that Emma is traumatized was not only grouped in with her blindness, but where the author used trauma to write ideas about blindness that are ultimately harmful.

This book, if readers of the blog want to read it, should be a lesson on why separating trauma from blindness is important. Whether that means making clear distinctions in the narrative itself or just not writing about a character going blind after a traumatic accident.

Let’s continue the overall things done badly.

Stereotypes and Tropes About Blind People

1. Rocking —

I have already mentioned the rocking thing above, but to reiterate here, not all blind people rock to orient themselves.

2. Touching Faces —

Emma and another blind character literally feel each other’s faces, one of the most hated tropes for blind people. In another scene, Emma feels another character’s face without asking.

3. Where Are the Audio Descriptions? —

Emma compares her life to a horror movie she couldn’t watch. This is a subtle reinforcement of the idea that blind people don’t watch films or television. The book makes no mention of audio descriptions. I suppose Emma and all the other blind characters simply don’t watch films or shows anymore.

4. Supposedly Fake Service Dogs —

Emma gets a dog that is specifically said to not be a guide dog. Emma brings this dog to restaurants and to school. Emma explains that she can get away with bringing her dog because no one wants to tell the blind kid no. This was, as you may be able to imagine, frustrating to read. Plenty of blind people have been denied access to transportation and buildings with a guide dog that is supposed to be able to travel freely. Emma’s blindness would absolutely not be a big help to her in bringing her dog places where it is not allowed. In showing Emma getting away with bringing her dog into restaurants when he is explicitly not a service dog, the author is contributing to a huge myth that prevents actual service dogs from traveling freely. Yes, this is only a book and it probably isn’t falling into the hands of someone powerful — however, it has probably been picked up by a business owner, a driver for public transport, a teacher, etc.

5. Avoiding words like see and look —

Emma avoids words like see and look. She also gets angry at her friends for using such words. At one point, Emma’s friend says something and Emma snaps, “I can’t see”. This prompts her friend to, according to Emma, never make that mistake again. Toward the end of the book, Emma is still avoiding such words.

Here is a list of misconceptions about blind people. Look at #6.

Here is another review of this book that also touches on this issue. The reviewer states: “The strange thing is that I’ve never known any blind person avoiding the use of words like “see” or “look.” Again, I’d hate for sighted people to read this book and think that blind folk all avoid words with visual associations; in fact, the only blind friends I talk to moan about sighted people avoiding the use of such visual words because they think we’ll be offended!”

6. All Blind People Are Apparently Totally Blind —

At one point in the story, Emma attends a school for the blind. Another character, who I think was Emma’s mother, says that the campus is beautiful. Emma makes this remark: “Why bother making a school for the blind beautiful? It’s lost on everyone anyway.”

Wow, Emma, that was rude. This is another example of where Emma’s pain and anger cause issues for readers. If they take this at face value, they may think that blind people don’t notice or appreciate beauty. More importantly, they might also assume, like Emma, that all blind people can’t see. As I have stated many times on this blog, most blind people have residual vision. Not everyone is totally blind. This is why, like beautiful grounds, schools for the blind also have things like stairs with high contrast.

7. Subtle Use of the Idea That People With Low Vision Should Rather Strain Themselves Than Be Blind —

This one was less obvious for me. However, once I thought about it again, I understood what I was reading in this character. There’s a rather outgoing character named Seb whose personality is very refreshing in this story. Seb attends the school for the blind with Emma. Seb has low vision.

So Seb wants to get a job. Remember how Emma was afraid she wouldn’t be able to get a job now that she is blind?

Instead of showing Seb getting a job to prove that idea wrong, he knows he has to conveniently not mention being blind when he applies, showing up in sunglasses and without a cane. The book states he worries he wouldn’t be able to fill out the application.

Here is what the book states:

[Quote] “He got hired without telling any of the guys who ran the place that he wasn’t sighted; I know because he had confided in me and Dee the week before that he wanted the job—if friend worked there and said they had an opening—but Seb was worried he wouldn’t be able to fill out the application. So he showed up one night before closing time, wearing sunglasses and not carrying a cane, and asked all casually if he could grab and application and bring it back the next day.

And he spent all night filling it and brought it back the next day. He didn’t mention that he was blind or that the application had taken six hours to finish with the help of his sighted brother.” [End quote]

Seb has no obligation to reveal any personal information to them. If he wants to fill out the application on his own time, in a way in which he feels comfortable, that is fine. However, the book implies he thought he would not be hired if they knew he was blind. Rather than talk about the employment discrimination that is such a huge problem for blind people, the book decides to skip over this. And rather than address Emma’s fear-based expectation that she will never get a job, presumably because she doesn’t think blind people can do anything, the book ignores it.

Seb getting a job, especially in this way, does absolutely nothing to assuage Emma’s fears. Or challenge any possible low expectations the readers may have.

Seb fills out the application by himself and it takes six hours. Six. Hours. His brother also helps him eventually and it still takes that long. No one I know, even with intense internalized ableism, would sit there for six hours doing something like that.

Seb should be using a magnifying device or a scanner app. There is tons of technology out there for people with low vision and the author chose to include absolutely none of it in the book. Instead, she chose to show a character struggling for six hours without exploring his reasons for doing so. Does he do this because of internalized ableism? If yes, how can the same character tell Emma the school will get rid of her “Poor Blind Kid bullshit”?

Now, in some families and some cultures, it would be more appropriate for a family member to help. However, the author tells us nothing more about Seb’s culture, his family life, or his motivations. I assume he did not ask for his brother’s help until later, because I can’t fathom why having a family member help from the start would take six hours.

Why is a character doing this in a story that is supposed to be about adjusting to blindness? Clinging to his remaining vision instead of using a few adaptive tools to make things easier on his eyes hardly makes him a good role model for Emma. Why is a character modeling independence in this specific way? In a way that tells Emma that it is better to struggle with a little vision than to be totally blind?

This is reinforced when Emma says some kids, including Seb, pass well. This is something that cannot be given nuance unless it is written by someone who experienced it. Otherwise, the story shows Emma over and over again that being blind is bad. Undesirable. Which is ableist.

Do people struggle with this? Absolutely. Did the author write it well? No.

And Here Are a Few Things That Could Have Been Done Better

In this section, I wanted to go over things I thought could have been done better. They aren’t necessarily harmful, but I wanted to mention them.

Sunglasses

The main character wears sunglasses when she goes out. This is likely because she has a scar she feels self-conscious about, but this is still a big stereotype that the author could have taken more care with.

O&M Issues

So Emma has someone come around to teach her orientation and mobility, which was nice. The author put in her research here as well. However, the instructor leaves after a time, which seems odd. Rather than work with her around her schools or other locations, he decides she has learned all the basics. I received O&M training until university.

Now Let’s Examine The Blind Characters vs Tropes

In this section, I want to go over the biggest tropes in the stories structure, the number of blind characters, and what I normally advise to get around these issues. We’ll see how this advice compares to how the book turned out.

So, the things to look out for are:

-tokenism

-blind characters going blind through trauma

-blind characters being sad about being blind

Examining Tokenism

Emma is not the only blind character. The blind characters include: Emma, Sebastian, Dee, and Annabelle. I normally say to have one other blind character at minimum. The book meets that requirement.

Examining Blind Characters Going Blind Through Trauma

I also normally suggest avoiding characters going blind through trauma, especially main characters. If the writer would like to go ahead with this, I normally suggest 2 or 3 other blind characters who didn’t go blind through trauma. With 2 as the minimum. I admit, I prefer the main character not to be the one going blind through trauma, simply because the main character has so much power in the perception of the reader.

Let us examine each character.

Emma - went blind through a traumatic fireworks accident

Sebastian- unknown

Dee - unknown

Annabelle- went blind through Retinitis Pigmentosa

On the topic of Dee and Seb, Emma does mention they may have better hearing, which she claims you only have if you lose your sight before the age of ten. We can guess that Dee and Seb both went blind in early childhood or were born blind, but we aren’t sure. What I want here is explicit confirmation that other characters didn’t go blind through accidents. We only get that with Annabelle and her RP.

Not only that, but the other blind characters are not in the novel as much. Annabelle only shows up at the end, seemingly as a way for Emma to help another recently blind person to show how she has developed. Seb and Dee are only in a few chapters, mostly as flashbacks. They don’t get much backstory or development either.

However, it fills my minimum requirements, so I’ll let it pass.

Examining Blind Characters Being Sad About Being Blind

This is literally Emma throughout the entire book. Until the last few chapters.

Annabelle has a similar, shorter arc, although she is only 9 at the time. Annabelle comes in near the end of the book.

It is normal for people to need an adjustment period, particularly if they are young. However, to have the entire book consist of Emma being sad and having trauma focused mostly on her blindness is not something I’m okay with. Especially because, as I wrote in this post, it can leave non-blind readers with a very negative impression of blindness. Again, why would I want to read about this arc from an author who isn’t blind? Why make the entire book about adjusting to blindness?

Anyway, then we have Seb and Dee.

There characters were refreshing in this story, which is mostly Emma being sad and angry.

Dee doesn’t seem to be sad, but we don’t know much about her. She does seem well adjusted and laidback. She and Seb go skiing, so that’s something.

Sebastian gets a little more attention in the story. He does tell Emma the school for the blind will knock the “BPK bullshit” or “Poor Blind Kid bullshit” right out of her. I thought it was funny. Sebastian also has a big personality and interests outside of moping about being blind. He enjoys skiing and, according to Emma, he would have no problem with presenting on the Lighthouse For the Blind in front of people who aren’t blind, unlike Emma, who struggles with calling attention to her blindness. Which I can understand, what with the awkward questions her sighted classmates give her.

However, Seb also has an issue with hiding or fighting against his low vision in some parts of the story. If Sebastian were the main character, I could understand some of the things he does. However, this does not go well at all with Emma’s arc.

Anyway, Seb and Dee don’t get nearly enough time in the book for me to feel 100% comfortable using them as exceptions.

How Would a Sensitivity Reader Help?

If I were doing a sensitivity read for this book, I would suggest including more about Seb and Dee and the school for the blind. I would have explained that the way the story sidelines them shows Emma is not okay associating with her blind friends. I would have asked for more backstory, more contrast between them and the main character, and possibly a few more blind characters Emma met at the school for the blind.

If the writer was insistent on having Emma go blind in an accident, I would have suggested reducing the time she spent depressed and shifting the focus from her blindness to her traumatic accident. I would have had the author work harder to separate the two, even if it took Emma a while to do so. I would have also suggested reducing Emma’s remarks or have them called out. For example, her comments about not being able to get a job or beautiful schools being lost on blind people. Sebastian would have been excellent in this role.

I would have worked with her to either get rid of or subvert the list of stereotypes. Most of them are easy fixes.

I would have told her blind people don’t use canes in their houses. I would have given suggestions for assistive technology for Seb to use. I would have helped her with the section on trauma and blindness, reducing or erasing a lot of the issues I included there. I would have suggested giving Emma an arc that isn’t entirely about adjusting to blindness, even if her story starts with going blind.

I probably would have seemed nicer about my feedback because the author still had opportunity to make changes.

The author could have done more research on stereotypes and cane usage, but I think there is an important lesson here about the benefits of sensitivity readers.

In the end, a sensitivity reader would have fixed most of the problems in this story, despite the amount of research the author did. Research cannot always teach you everything and that is where a sensually or authenticity reader comes in. Moreover, there is a certain respect in involving communities you are representing. In paying them in money or exposure. In listening to their voices and respecting what they say. If the author was willing to learn Braille and sit with blind people to learn about canes and technology, why did she stop at getting sensitivity readers? Why does it feel like she didn’t want to include the blind community in any meaningful way?

I hope this helps someone.

-BlindBeta

[shihalyfie]

Just a few notes about Ghost Game in regards to some discussion about its ghost/potential youkai theme:

I know a lot of people are bringing up Yo-kai Watch, which I think is a completely understandable and fair comparison because it’s a popular monster-collecting franchise that deals with this kind of topic, but...if you’ve actually seen the Yo-kai Watch anime, it doesn’t resemble this much in tone at all. Ghost Game’s promotion has constantly been leaning on it having a proper horror/scary atmosphere, which Yo-kai Watch prominently does not; in fact, one of its most notable traits is that it’s more about using youkai to explain extremely mundane phenomena like “people forgetting things they need to be remembering” and silly hijinks that often involve things like fart jokes. For that reason, it’s also extremely episodic and doesn’t have much of a dramatic plot; the games are more toned down about this aspect and have more drama, but that’s also partially due to the difference in format (and, moreover, it tells you something that the second game's plot was adapted into a movie instead of being part of the TV series). That’s one of the reasons it was considered a Pokémon rival, because it had the same “accessible to everyone” appeal and was intended to be an indefinitely continuing extendable franchise. If we’re just strictly speaking in terms of tone, you’d even make a better case for the early episodes of Appmon (which shares a writer with its anime, while we’re at it). Not even the whole series of Appmon.

You can also see this in terms of target audience too; with the exception of the reboot (which presumably had to use the same age levels as the original Adventure for obvious reasons), every Digimon TV series since Savers has focused on middle school children, and the primary target audience for Digimon has traditionally been preteens, whereas the original incarnation of Yo-kai Watch was very much aimed at a significantly younger wider-appeal demographic (same as Pokémon’s).

If you do want to make an accurate Yo-kai Watch comparison, there’s the Shadowside iteration of the franchise (which did have darker and more dramatic story-based elements), but I think it’s pretty unlikely Digimon would be taking anything more than a few minor cues; it probably wouldn’t be a good thing to be using Shadowside as a major reference of success, given that, uh, it didn’t do nearly as well financially (I’m saying this as someone who enjoys this, so I don’t mean this as a dig). It’s like saying that something’s trying to ride off of Digimon’s hype, but then the example cited is Frontier or Appmon.

The “ghost story” genre with going out and solving mysteries regarding them is not an uncommon one in Japanese media (see Natsume’s Book of Friends, Mononoke, Mob Psycho 100), and people paying close attention to Ghost Game’s production and staff are actually suspecting that this is more taking cues from GeGeGe no Kitaro -- which is basically known as the franchise about solving spiritual mysteries in Japan. And, incidentally, also produced by Toei! To the point it shares staff! Including Sawashiro Miyuki, voice of Gammamon, voicing Kitaro in the most recent version of the anime. Kitaro very much does have the horror atmosphere Ghost Game is advertising itself as having, to the point Sawashiro (presumably very self-aware about her position in this) outright namedropped it, and on top of that, it was the show that used to hold the timeslot that Ghost Game now has. So if a kid was watching Kitaro on that timeslot in 2018, it’s presumable that they might like something with a similar atmosphere, and it makes sense that Toei and Bandai would want to keep in mind what they could do to attract kids to the show when they’re about to lose the card of “Adventure-loving parents convince their kids to watch it”.

Moreover, horror stories mixed with Digimon aren’t new to the franchise; this is its first incarnation in kids’ anime in particular, but Cyber Sleuth/Hacker’s Memory indulged in a lot of that atmosphere, even for things that technically had nothing to do with ghosts or spirits (“doll quest”, anyone?). So while it’s possible it’s taking some cues from Yo-kai Watch because of its popularity boom a handful of years ago, I don’t think that’s the primary franchise it would be wanting to take after given the differences, and because Yo-kai Watch itself takes cues from Kitaro (the aforementioned Shadowside branch had a crossover with it, too), it kind of feels like saying any magical girl series released after Sailor Moon must be ripping it off -- a magical girl series may take cues from it due to its popularity, but it’s hardly the first magical girl series to ever exist.