#but i do think this is a stupid-ass decision and a great example of pointless and random shock twists being prevalent in comics for a while

[softgrungeprophet]

ah yes mr trebek i will take "plot twists ~no one saw coming~ because they don't make sense and are stupid" for $500 lmao

[missnight0wl]

If you have any problems with me being Rakepick’s fan, me being overly passionate and invested in her character, my analyses and theories about Rakepick or whatever, I have two things to say to you:

If it really bothers you so much that you feel the need to share it with someone, why don’t you come to me? The anonymous messages are on on my blog, at least for now. What’s the deal with people talking about problems they apparently have with me with someone else? And I’m not even talking about the recent reblog. Do you think that I won’t see the messages on other blogs and recognise that it’s about me? Do you think that somebody else can explain my ideas better than I can? If you have problems with my theories or you just want to call them pointless or “reaching”, write to me. Are you worried that I’ll respond with arguments you can’t argue with? Are you afraid I’ll insult you? I never claimed to be the nicest person, but I think I’m not that bad. Sure, I swear a lot, but in the vast majority, it’s aimed at Jam City and their stupid writing decisions. So, what’s the deal with that?

If the things I write make you uncomfortable, bother you, you feel attacked, or you simply dislike the ideas I write about, especially when it comes to Rakepick – please, unfollow or block me. I mean it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that if you don’t like Rakepick you can’t follow me. If you don’t like her, but still find something on my blog you enjoy… I’m kind of surprised, to be honest, but that’s also great. Otherwise, I just don’t see why you shouldn’t remove me from your Tumblr experience. Seriously, I never had the desire to be popular in this fandom or even liked. I’m not saying that I actively want to be disliked, but I’m here just to put my ideas into the world (and because it’s easier to control than Reddit). If someone likes them – fantastic! If not, I don’t need you to see them. I don’t want you to see them if they annoy you.

Also, I apparently insult people who don’t like Rakepick. Now, I never called anyone “stupid” simply because they don’t like her. I never will because that’s not what I think. In fact, I don’t recall ever calling anyone that word in specific, but maybe I’m forgetting something. Either way, the only times when I spoke negatively about people being against Rakepick referred always to situations where they comment on my long-ass analysis and/or theories, totally ignoring what I discussed in the said posts. For example, people talking about Umbridge having a Patronus under my analysis of Rakepick’s symbolism. Situations like that take place because of two possible reasons:

People comment on my posts WITHOUT even reading them. If that’s the case... it’s actually plain stupid. Seriously, I’m not even sorry, it just is. Also, don’t do it, please. Like, EVER. No matter if it’s my post, someone else’s post, if it’s about HPHM, other game, book, movie, politics, science… Just don’t comment on something you didn’t actually read. Even if you think you’re familiar with the topic, if there’s a longer text, there may be some information you didn’t know. If you didn’t put time and effort into familiarizing with something someone else has to say, it’s pretty rude to expect that they’ll waste their time on reading your comment and possibly explaining to you something they already explained.

People did read my post but TOTALLY missed the point. In that case, I’m a bit sorry, but… I also can’t think of you too highly... Again, I’m talking about very specific situations! Like, I’m aware that perhaps I’m not always super clear about everything, but if you talk about Umbridge to debunk my theory after I explained in 800+ words (with quotations to the outside sources) why it’s important that Rakepick’s Patronus is a lioness… Either you have serious problems with reading comprehension or you just weren’t paying attention at all. If it’s the latter, you kind of wasted your time, and now you’re wasting mine.

Now, I don’t want to say that I’m always right in my theories about Rakepick, but here’s another thing: until this day, no one was able to really debunk them. Like, with proper argumentation. I never had anyone come to me and say: “All right, but you’re forgetting about [this and that] which suggests [this and that], and that contradicts your assumption”. Nobody ever said: “The way I understand [this and that] is different. I think it means [this and that] which proves [this and that]”. All people have is: “Rakepick is evil because she tortured Merula and killed Rowan”. But if you come to me with those arguments, I’ll show you other essays I wrote to prove that it’s just not true. Such things happen in the stories, y’know, especially the ones intended to be mysteries stories. And surprisingly, nobody could properly debunk those essays either! But you know what? I’d love to have a discussion like that. I’d love someone to finally explain to me how this story can work WITH Rakepick being evil and WITHOUT leaving dozens of serious plot holes. Believe me, I really tried to make it work, and I failed each time. Things simply… don’t add up. And my main point is that they CAN add up! And I did it: I joined many dots from the very beginning of the game in this analysis: Why Rakepick didn’t appear before Y4? HPHM explained. So, if I’m showing you that 2 + 2 is 4, why you insist that it’s 5 when your only argument is that Jam City is bad at maths?

And if we got to Jam City’s bad writing already… If you think that Rakepick is gonna be truly evil because the writers just don’t know what they’re doing anymore – that’s fine. I mean, I don’t exactly agree with that. I believe that they’ll follow the original plans for the story, they’ll just do a shitty job at explaining things, but that’s a topic for a separate conversation. Still, I’d like you to understand that there’s a difference between saying:

“You’re wrong. 2 + 2 is 5 because JC is bad at maths.”

and

“I see what you’re saying, and you’re right that according to that 2 + 2 is 4, but I think JC is gonna say it’s 5 because they’re bad at maths.”

Do you see it? 

Now, I don’t want to complain here, but... I write long analyses on HPHM for my own pleasure, and it is satisfying for me. However, it doesn’t change the fact that it takes some time and work, so when people actively dismiss it, it feels a bit rude. And if you actually think I’m wrong in saying that 2 + 2 is 4, then explain to me why you think so. Or if you have doubts about my reasoning, send me an ask. I think it happened just once that I got a question like: “Hey, I don’t get one thing about your theory. Could you explain it?”. I’m not talking here about discussions I have with people in reblogs or comments, though those are also brilliant, and I appreciate them. Sometimes people ask about their ideas inspired by my theories. Either way, I have to say – it’s a great feeling to get responses like that. Because it shows that people not only read my posts but that they make them think. And as I said, I might not always explain everything the most clearly despite my efforts. But then just ask me.

That’s pretty much all I wanted to say, I guess. So yeah. If you actually can explain to me why you don’t agree with my views on Rakepick, my inbox is open. It can take me a while to respond because there’s kind of a revolution in my country right now, and y’know, the world is basically burning in general, so my mind might be elsewhere. But I’ll get to it eventually.

[bunnylouisegrimes]

Episode 8 Review

The usual spoilers

Alright, this episode was pretty good in the beginning with some stuff here and there I didn’t like, but that ending... that ending leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

Normally I start with the bad first, then the good, but I feel I should do chronological order for this one since most of the good is before the bad.

For starters, I enjoyed the very beginning with Chris at his dad’s funeral. For once, seeing an aspect of Vic’s childhood was interesting. You feel pretty bad for Chris because of the rough childhood he had, and you feel bad because he became his father. It’s good that he’s definitely changed tho. He pissed me off (and I’m sure everyone else off) last season, and to see him get emotional all those years before is definitely something. Seeing him grow now is rewarding.

I do really like how both of Vic’s parents see her bridge and are amazed by it. Idk why, but I always find it incredibly satisfying in a story when all the characters understand something/everything. I’m sure we all do, but clarification in a story has always brought me a satisfaction comparable to that of watching those satisfying video complications on YouTube.

How Bing is alive still... I have no idea. Maybe because he was sitting and that helped slow down the blood flow? Honestly, I really wanted them to get information out of him, then have him die. Look, there is a part of me that feels bad for him and sorry for him, but his actions are way less forgivable than Charlie’s. If you ask me, despite him talking with Vic (and hell, maybe at this point he does feel bad for what he did, although that is hard to believe because he did genuinely enjoy raping people, and rape is one of those actions it’s very hard to find really any redemption in once you commit it), I don’t see anyone forgiving his ass, and they shouldn’t. I also think Bing has always been a ticking time bomb. Who knows, if Charlie hadn’t come into their lives, he could’ve hurt Vic if she came off as “too nice” to him. We see what he did to his mom, despite her loving him and being the only good person in his life. He interprets love as something darker, and while it’s horrible that he thinks that way, and I understand what his childhood did to his mind, he has the knowledge that it’s wrong to do it (I mean, he has to subdue people with the gas, and he clearly sees his victims are unwilling) and he should stop it, yet he doesn’t. Charlie actually believes that what he’s doing is right, and there is a part of you that can see that in some regards, he is right, keeping kids away from harmful parents. What good comes out of rape? The only good that comes out of it is the benefit to himself for getting his sick pleasures. He does it all because he can and likes it, no other purpose. He could’ve gotten help, he could’ve tried to keep that all in and express it in a safe environment, he could’ve restrained himself from doing these things... yet he didn’t. If he had just killed the parents and strictly did nothing of a particularly cruel nature, you could understand Bing more and respect his character. But since he didn’t... it makes things harder. Is it respectable that he admitted he’s wrong? Yes. Should he be forgiven? Well... not really, at least imo. If Bing has any redeeming qualities, there are very few. Since he is kept alive, I hope he’s either rotting in prison or kept in a place where he can maybe get help that he needs. I think most importantly, I’m more than a little annoyed at this whole, “Yeah, we’ll write the rapist more sympathetically before we do the main antagonist, who’s actions are questionable and one could understand his intent. He doesn’t rape anybody and finds the act repulsive and kills rapists... but he’s less sympathetic just because he’s the main bad guy 😀.” Yeah, okay writers...

Moving on from the only truly bad thing in the episode before the ending, everything else seemed to be fine. I’m concerned with Maggie and Tabitha’s relationship, I really hope they’ll be okay. Tabitha was badass getting the respect and recognition she deserves for the work she does. Even though she made the stupid decision of going into that church by herself and possibly getting killed, I do love the balls she has, I just hope she doesn’t get herself killed by being stupid. Her and Maggie are a great couple and I love them. I feel bad for Vic and I hate that she feels so low about herself. I did like her talking with her dad. The confrontation with Millie was interesting, and I’m curious to see what’s in store with that. Based on the “next time” preview at the end of the episode, we finally make it to Christmasland, and I’m very interested (but also a little anxious) about what’s gonna happen next.

Now, the ending... this damn ending...

First of all, when Maggie was confronting Wayne, why didn’t she grab his ornament? Maggie is not a stupid character. Did she get hit by the car last season and not make smarter decisions on how to avoid it (ex, maybe getting in between two other cars)? Sure, but we’ll cut her slack, it was a very in the moment thing. This? I mean... they were anticipating this. You mean to tell me she couldn’t have thought of trying to get that ornament out of his hand and taking it away from him? She tricked the Hourglass for Christ’s sakes. It looks like from the preview she’s collecting their ornaments, but still, especially in that moment, she would’ve grabbed his. It might’ve made Wayne have a strength over his old self... what’s weird is in the book, he’s holding onto both sides of himself throughout his entire journey, in this they’re making it seem as though he has no control anymore. Which leads me to my next point...

Where is Craig in all of this? What, so his efforts didn’t do dick? What was the point in having him the last two episodes? I believe in the book, Wayne’s grandma (aka Linda McQueen), is helping him in a spirit form, and also by him “thinking backwards.” Craig was helping him by reminding him of Vic and staying by him. It would’ve made so much more sense for Craig to be by his side still (or hell, in the car if he can’t leave it and telling Wayne to “remember the plan”), Wayne “puts” the ornament on the tree (or Maggie takes it off after he puts it on), and Craig stays by him. Nope, let’s make his character useless. Who knows if he’ll return next episode, I’m hoping he will, but even if he does, it’s still annoying that his character has done little to nothing at this point when there was so much potential, and it seems to be almost too late. I’m glad Wayne didn’t eat Maggie or Lou like I feared (Lou did get a nip I suppose, which was a little unneeded if you ask me). I was hoping for more potential from Craig, guess we’ll have to see if there will be...

Another point: WHY THE HELL IS THIS CAR TOO OVERPOWERED? Seriously, it makes no sense. You can make Charlie’s abilities as op as you want so long as it’s not ridiculous, I could see that. But the car? That’s his total weakness. It can be stronger than the average car, but if lighting it on fire deals with it, explosions would. That is beyond lazy writing.

Now, the worst part: Chris’s death. Of course, let’s kill a character when he just seemed to redeem himself (but the character that rapes people and can’t really be redeemed, we’re gonna keep him alive, maybe he’ll get a redemption arch 🙂). Once again, writers, why are you making the most stupid choices? While his death wasn’t as stupid as his death in the book where officers shoot him down when he’s trying to protect Vic from one (this is all under Tabitha’s command, let’s just say she’s not that great of a cop in the book or with Maggie, I enjoy her character changes for the show), his death, the way I see it, is still insulting and pointless. Realistically, they could’ve kept him alive, what is the point of not? Also, I know that bike is heavy, but why wouldn’t Vic get up and kick some ass? Of course, her bike would act up just as the Wraith is coming towards her (what is the point of that too?). I really think Chris’s death was just for shock value and filler, and to make Charlie look like an even worse villain (because they reeeeally want to drill this point home, if the way his backstory is presented in the show wasn’t proof enough, which is stupid because we UNDERSTAND WRITERS. It’s you guys that don’t understand that Charlie is established as the villain through being the antagonist and his conflicting actions). While I’m glad they didn’t kill an even more important character (ex, Maggie or Lou or Vic), it’s still stupid to waste all that character development on Chris just for him to go out anyways, all for shock value filler and to make Charlie worse. Again, not saying he’s a saint, not saying it’s out of the realm of possibility for him to want to get revenge on Vic this way, but still, isn’t he already getting revenge on her through Wayne (plus, to him it’s poetic justice that he’s “saving” him from her). There’s really no point to Chris’s death. This reminded me heavily of TWD when they would pull that shock value filler crap with killing characters, and making a villain look worse than needed (an example is what they did with Negan in the show by writing him as even more evil and less redeemable than he is in the comics). I genuinely hope they don’t pull more of this.

All in all, this episode had it’s good moments I enjoyed, but there was definitely some stupidity and bad moments I despised. Let’s hope these last two episodes where shit gets more serious will be better. I’m hoping this show does not turn to crap through a series of stupid decisions, much like TWD did. I will be sorely disappointed at AMC...

[themattress]

My Opinions on the KH OCs

SORA: I adored Sora from KH through KH2. But then I became disillusioned with him because they kept making clones of him, pushed his positive Messianic qualities to the extreme, and then went too far the other way in 3D by making him into this over-the-top childish idiot who screwed everything up and was denied Keyblade Master status, all amidst proclamations that he was a "dull, ordinary boy" who "the Keyblade didn't choose" (which is an outright LIE.) For the most part, KH3 brought my old love for Sora back by usually characterizing him the same way KH2 did...and then it basically killed him off in the end, punishing him for doing good, all while Xehanort gets rewarded by being able to go to Heaven even after a lifetime of doing evil without a shred of remorse. What. The. FUCK? When Sora faded away at the last minute, so too did any remaining interest in this series.

KAIRI: Loved her in KH, she was so damn interesting and relatable, and her role in the story was a perfect twist on the classic Disney Princess role. Her role and characterization in KH2 weren’t as strong, but her new design, actions, connections with other characters and endgame development made up for it, as did the fact that she was still voiced by the lovely Hayden Panettiere. Add to this how strongly she factored into COM, and Kairi was clearly the original trilogy’s emotional heart. Then that heart got removed and never put back, as Kairi was excluded from the games to the highest degree possible, all leading up to a horrifying bait-and-switch in KH3 where she was finally returning to prominence and looked to become a stronger character than ever before, only for the exact opposite to happen, not at all helped by the voicework of Alyson Stoner. What Nomura’s done is a travesty. #KairiDeservedBetter.

RIKU: Loved him in KH, where he was like a Final Fantasy character turned Disney villain and he played that role incredibly well. I thought he was fumbled when he starred in his own story mode in COM, but I never really blamed him for that and more the writing around him that pushed him into an unnatural position that even he didn’t seem to want to be in. Despite not truly appearing as himself until the endgame of KH2 and having flatter characterization, Riku still redeemed himself excellently through being a party member helping against the final boss, along with a beautiful reconciliation with Sora. Like his other friends in the Destiny Trio, things went downhill afterwards. Riku became so overexposed, shoved down our throats, and positioned as the series Deuteragonist who phased Kairi out of existence while being given more badass feats than Sora, that I lost my liking for him entirely and consider him to be a blatant Mary Sue. This sadly didn’t change with KH3, and it only looks to be getting worse.

ROXAS: Despite falling way short of the hype, I enjoyed Roxas in KH2. He was likable and sympathetic, and he did a good job servicing one of the game’s deepest themes. But then, because he was (confusingly, IMHO) uber-popular, he got his own game featuring his time in the Organization, and he never left that bland portrayal behind, with every subsequent game he appears in having it be Days!Roxas instead of KH2!Roxas, to the point where KH2!Roxas was demeaningly retconned into having “ceased to exist” when he fully re-merged with Sora despite what was said and shown to the contrary in KH2, all for the sake of giving him a shamelessly fan-pandering perfect happy ending. Roxas thus became one of the characters whom I most associate with the downfall of the KH series, and thus one of my least favorites. 

NAMINE: Namine was a character that I loved in COM and KH2, despite being pretty confusing even back then, since she had a real humanity behind her. I was very disappointed that afterwards, she became more and more of a convenient plot device and mouthpiece for Nomura’s convoluted lore rather than a legitimate character, with her characterization regressing to and being regurgitated from her debut appearance. The scale and scope of her powers got ridiculous, the retcon of Sora having promised to thank her when that was never the case is beyond stupid, and she fell prey to the same retcon Roxas did of “ceasing to exist” when she merged with Kairi and thus needing to be “saved” in order to cure her “hurt”. Naturally, she’s right up there with Kairi as one of the most frustratingly-handled characters.

XION: I was immediately turned off by this character due to how blatantly fanfic Mary Sue-esque she was, then warmed up to her considerably as I actually played the game and saw how she was utilized, only to be turned off of her again when Nomura completely went back on her firmly established tragic fate for the sake of a schmaltzy happy ending that neuters what was effective about the character, in essence turning her right back into just a fanfic Mary Sue. I don’t actually blame Xion for this, but she’s still my least favorite main KH girl.

VENTUS: Kind of the same deal as Xion - didn’t like him at first because he was a lazy retread of Roxas and whose connection to Sora cheapened things, warmed up to him after playing the game and seeing him in action (I especially love his voice by Jesse McCartney, which is very distinct from Roxas), only to go right back to not really liking him when we ended up never hearing the end of him and how he is the reason behind so many events and character motivations, especially once he was retconned into hailing from the X time period.

TERRA / LINGERING WILL: While I’m not too attached to him, I still low-key love this guy. Yes, he’s an idiot, but an understandable, well-meaning and likable one, who also has a very charismatic-looking design and is badass in combat. Everyone loves the Lingering Will, but I don’t think it would be as effective if it didn’t come from such a flawed screw-up like Terra. It’s uplifting that even if you do nothing but fail, your will to succeed can achieve some form of success in of itself. He may have got the shaft in KH3, but he made the most of what he had.

AQUA / ANTI-AQUA: In BBS, I felt Aqua was more enjoyable than Ven but not as much as Terra, making her a pretty fittingly balanced character in my view - I loved that she was the first fully playable female character in the series and did a lot of neat stuff in the story, but I hated how devoid of character development she was compared to her male friends and how her English voice actress constantly missed the mark in her delivery. In 0.2 BBS, she was put in a lousy story, but she became a much more interesting and developed character as a trade-off. Sadly, it all fell apart in KH3, where aside from her brief stint as the terrifying Anti-Aqua, Aqua became an incompetent joke of a “Keyblade Master”, jobbing in every major fight she had and jobbing badly, with that development from 0.2 BBS amounting to nothing. In the end, Aqua wound up right back where she began - between Terra and Ventus in my favor.

MASTER ERAQUS: Love his design, love his voice-acting, love his premise as a character - do NOT love him. In a story where all the heroes act like idiots, Eraqus takes the cake, and becomes outright unlikable when he attempts to murder Ven and Terra under very flimsy reasoning. And KH3 only makes him worse, with a severe disconnect existing between his younger self and his older self, and helping to contribute to the game’s bullshit ending.

DIZ / ANSEM THE WISE: I loved him as the tragic, Monte Cristo-esque figure as shown in COM, Days and KH2, especially when voiced by the incomparable Christopher Lee. He had the perfect send-off in KH2, which made it such a slap in the face when BBS’ secret ending retconned him into having surviving, only for him to do jack shit but be a plot device, and not a very good one at that. Bringing Ansem the Wise back was one of the series’ biggest sins, and stands as a textbook example of Nomura not knowing when to just let a character go.

HAYNER, PENCE & OLETTE: I like these kids, they’re a lot of fun in all their appearances.

MASTER XEHANORT: I really enjoyed Master Xehanort in BBS, when he was just a simple Darth Sidious expy voiced by the great Leonard Nimoy, a character whose chief purpose was backstory for the villain we already knew who went by the same name. But then Nomura decided that he was the main antagonist of the whole series and retconned that everything that ever happened was part of his convoluted master plan...a plan with very muddled objectives and motivations, not to mention contradictions at many turns. This turning of Xehanort into a Villain Sue had severe consequences in KH3, where not only was he weakly voiced by Rutger Hauer, but he was written terribly: only showing up at the end, fridging Kairi for no reason, being beaten in a surprisingly easy boss fight, having his entire motivation changed, and receiving one of the most audience-insulting endings that a villain could possibly receive, especially one as remorselessly evil as him.  The final slap in the face was revealing that he was a pawn to someone else, derailing the entire point behind the stupid-ass “Xehanort Saga” decision! So in the end, Master Xehanort was pretty damn pointless.

TERRA-XEHANORT: The original Xehanort introduced in KH2. While his origin is something of a headache (he’s an amnesiac Master Xehanort possessing the body and heart of Terra), it still works, IMO, and creates a character who is much more interesting than either of the two characters it took to form him, despite (or perhaps because of) his relative lack of screentime.

ANSEM: Terra-Xehanort’s Heartless is both the original incarnation of Xehanort in the series and both me and Nomura’s personal favorite. Sadly, Nomura screwed him up when he brought him back for the “True Organization XIII”, first going too over-the-top evil when part of his appeal was that he genuinely (and pompously) believed that he was the one in the right, and then suddenly being far less evil than he should be considering that he’s a freaking Heartless! The Ansem that I adore will always be the one from the original KH and Riku’s mode in COM, the hammy philosopher who is totally drunk on darkness and is seeking it for his own sake, not for the sake of some absurdly convoluted grand plan of Master Xehanort’s.

XEMNAS: Terra-Xehanort’s Nobody is the best villain in the KH series and the most consistently good of the Xehanort incarnations. While certainly at his best as the Superior of Organization XIII in KH, COM, Days and KH2, he actually managed to still be a captivating presence as part of the “True Organization XIII” in 3D and KH3 even if his character lost a lot of its depth thanks to the bullshit retcon that he was following Master Xehanort’s grand plan all along. He’s terrifying, loathsome, humorous and pitiable all at once...he’s just fantastic!

XIGBAR / BRAIG / LUXU: Oh, what a roller coaster this guy has been - I didn’t particularly care for him as Xigbar at first in KH2, then grew to really like him thanks to extra exposure in KH2:FM and Days, then came to love him as Braig in BBS, then went right back to disliking him when he became Xigbar again in 3D, and now am hardly able to stand him in KH3 when it’s revealed that he’s Luxu. Like Namine, he’s become a total vehicle for Nomura’s bullshit.

XALDIN / DILAN: I love Xaldin. He’s badass, intimidating, and despicable, and he really stands out by being linked so heavily with the Beast’s Castle and the Beast himself. His boss fight on the castle bridge is the stuff of legends. Dilan is a bore, though, especially in KH3.

VEXEN / EVEN: Somehow, this is one of the few characters who manages to remain consistently entertaining and well-written in all his appearances, helped out a lot by Derek Stephen Prince’s performance. As both the mad scientist Vexen and the well-intentioned scientist Even, he’s someone I just can’t take my eyes off of whenever he’s on screen.

LEXAEUS / ELAEUS: Boring but admirably power as Lexaeus, with the potential to be more interesting thanks to his intellect and rapport with Zexion. Just plain boring as Eleaeus. 

ZEXION / IENZO: Everything about Zexion had potential, but it just never came together properly and left him as an underwhelming villain. He has much more success as Ienzo, being very likable and interesting; honestly one of the best KH-original characters in KH3. 

SAIX / ISA: This character is one of the more frustrating ones to me. I liked him just fine in KH2, but not as much as I would’ve liked to. I liked him more when he got more scenes in KH2:FM, and I straight-up loved him in Days for being such an effective Hate Sink as well as a really interesting and tragic character. But I did not care for his cameo appearances in BBS and 3D, even though he still carries some of what I enjoyed about him with him in KH3, he also receives new baggage that makes his character less appealing...namely, the fact that his motivation all along was based around some random girl we never heard of until now. Still, if there’s one thing that remains consistent, it is that Kirk Thornton does a phenomenal job in the role. I honestly think most of Saix’s effectiveness comes from that badass voice.

AXEL / LEA: Sigh...you oughta know this one by now. I love Axel the Nobody, I think he was one of the series’ finest villains, and think he had an effective character arc despite some bumps along the road. I can’t stand his human self, who is a watered-down, obnoxious, whitewashed Mary Sue version of his Nobody self who is only here for fanservice, only given a major heroic role and his own Keyblade because Axel was a favorite of both fans and the development team. He’s sadly one of those characters who becomes the victim of his own popularity, with what made him popular to begin with lost as a result of increased exposure.

DEMYX / ???: He’s funny, I like him. Don’t have any stronger feelings than that.

LUXORD / ???: With his slick design, gambling gimmick, classy gentleman demeanor, and English voice by Robin Atkin-Downes, I’ve always liked Luxord, but I don’t think he’s ever truly lived up to his full potential...until KH3, where he’s a standout in both the Caribbean and the Keyblade Graveyard. I especially love his respectable rival dynamic with Jack Sparrow.

MARLUXIA / LAURIAM: A lack of clear motivations aside, Marluxia is an excellent villain. I love how he’s got flower powers, a pink sycthe, pink hair and a pretty-boy face and yet has this very masculine and imposing demeanor, not to mention a diabolically clever and manipulative personality. His battles and battle themes are also always impressive in every game he appears in. And while I don’t care for him being a Keyblade wielder, I actually like him as Lauriam too. He’s surprisingly sympathetic and is a neat contrast to his Nobody.

LARXENE / ELRENA: I love Larxene, she makes being the only female member of the Organization count by being one of the most aggressive, despicable, frightening, humorous and oddly endearing members all at the same time, getting a tragic death scene in COM and some softer moments in Days and KH3 that add depth to her while never causing her to lose her edge.  And like with Lauriam, I like Elrena despite not caring for the Keyblade angle.

VANITAS: Vanitas is awesome. He’s an evil version of Sora who does evil things because he enjoys being evil and has zero fucks to give about it. Haley Joel Osment really brings his gleeful brand of evil to life, making it always a pleasure to see Vanitas in both BBS and KH3. And thus I’m really glad he didn’t get redeemed in the end - pure villainy is his whole appeal!

RIKU REPLICA: Despite being an over-the-top retread of Riku’s role in KH for most of COM and having one boss battle too many, Riku Replica was still a good character and with one of the most tragic arcs in the series, which really made his death scene stand out. Of all the characters to ruin due to Nomura not letting go of them, I thought he was safe, but nope! He was pointlessly brought back in KH3, played a worse and more convoluted role, and had a much weaker “happier” send-off that clashed with how other aspects of the story were being treated and only reinforced Riku’s Special Snowflake status. Of course, even before that happened, the replica concept that he introduced to the series had spiraled into a much more needlessly confusing state, so I guess his legacy was doomed either way. Poor Repliku!

DARK RIKU: A confusing composite of all Riku’s alter-egos: Riku when he was possessed by Ansem, Riku Replica, and Data Riku, enlisted in “True Organization XIII”. I’m not sure what the point of this guy was. Or if he’s basically another version of Repliku, why not just make him the only Repliku in the story and spare us that convoluted nonsense with the other one?

YOUNG XEHANORT: Haaaaaaaaaate....haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate....

KAIRI’S GRANDMOTHER: In the first KH, but only a real character in BBS. But getting Kathryn Beaumont (original voice of Alice and Wendy Darling, and thus a Disney Legend) to voice her was absolutely brilliant and made her single scene stand out as the game’s best.

And that’s about it. The rest are all the datascape clones I don’t give a shit about (Data Sora, Data Riku, Data Roxas, Data Namine, and Data Sora’s Heartless) and the cast of X that I also don’t give a shit about (The Master of Masters, the Foretellers, Ephemer, Skuld, Brain...the only ones I like are Chirithy and Strelitzia, but only on the shallow basis that they’re cute.) 

And I am NOT sticking around this series to properly meet Yozora...

[mysteryspot-duhh]

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - a bad good movie

I had the opportunity to watch the movie last Sunday. I left the theatre feeling quite confused, not disappointed but a little unsatisfied and feeling that TFA is a much better movie than TLJ. Bear in mind that the new trilogy are the ones that i see in theatre but i’ve seen the OT and the prequels multiple times.

Coming home, in the spirit of wanting to know what others think about the movie, i logged in on tumblr, and i saw all this hate towards it. I thought- this can’t be right, the movie is flawed but it still is a decent movie. I read the points from both sides of the arguments and it has taken me up a whole week to collect my thoughts and evaluate the movie by myself. I conclude, yes, the movie is heavily problematic and yes, I liked it.

The problem lies in the execution.

Yes, Rian! Execution. I still love you for giving me this movie though.

Here I’m gonna addressed some complains and how I think it can be made better. Or not. Depends. I’m just letting out my own frustration.

1. Leia Organa is force sensitive and this has been established since the OT. But, the execution for the scene is quite ridiculous hence, the phrase Mary Poppins in Space. Some people may have liked it and I have no problem with it BUT the scene did take me out of the moment. I’m fine when Leia opens her eyes, her fingers start twitching and she’s reaching out. It’s great!!! I got excited and i realized- yeah queen! Use the Force!!! Use the Force that I knew you have and go back to safety. The moment the scene shows the wide shot, that’s when the magic dies. The scene could just cuts to Poe and the crew looking bewildered, mouth gaping and all. Because the next thing we see is Leia already resting and what happened could easily being told to the viewer by the characters when they discussed the vacuum in the ranks. Just like how they said about admiral ackbar’s death. IT’S JUST A MEME PEOPLE! Mourn him in your sleep.

2. Poe has the most intriguing storyline in this movie. A young hotshot thinking the rebels should fight back, guns blazing. Wants to be a hero but fails to be a leader. I know as I’m watching, that Leia is grooming him to be the next leader showing him what happens when you do thing recklessly. People die, Poe! He got demoted, yes, but the execution of him being demoted is not enough. Leia just slap him and said, you’re demoted. And that’s it. For viewers, hell yes of course it feels just like a slap to the wrist. Poe needed a good ‘getting demoted scene’. Not saying that Poe should be slapped harder. The slap is not needed at all in my opinion. Show Leia’s frustration to a high level. Show that Leia herself have high expectations for him, emphasize that he let her down and him being demoted as he is not yet ready. Use dialog that viewer would know instantly, she’s not angry, just disappointed. Heh. As it turns out, Poe still don’t understand this and still want to be a hero, show a Poe scene which he resents Leia’s decision, maybe have him yells out his frustration. I mean if my boy Kylo Ren got to smash his mask, why can’t Poe throws his helmet?

3. Rose tasing Finn when she thought he wanted to run away IS NOT ABUSE!!! It’s the same thing as people smacking other people on the head for doing something stupid. Finn was NOT INJURED!!! The hate for this particular scene is ridiculous.

4. Complains about Canto Bight storyline being useless has some truth to it. I know the storyline wants to show Finn’s character development from someone who only cares about himself and those close to him to someone who cares about the world, why the rebels are needed. But again man, execution. Sorry Maz Kanata’s fans, her cameo is not needed. The scene before Maz’s scene, I was lead to believe- yeah, they gonna meet the person who can sneak them into Snoke’s ship. But nooo~ you have to have Maz’s telling you to find a person with red thing on his lapel and then bring him to break the code and all. Urgh. It’s a side quest to a main quest. It’s frustrating. I would cut that scene and just have Rose or Billie Lourd’s character to just say 'i know someone from Canto Bight who could break codes that could help us, but with a price’.

When they go to Canto Bight, instead of failing to find the codebreaker- yes, I know the whole thing is about failure- Finn and Rose would have to convince DJ who they found successfully to join them but DJ don’t want to help them. DJ is in the casino, not in an unnecessary prison, enjoying his life reaping benefits. Their failure is not being able to convince DJ to help them. They would have this debate on benefits of war, resistance is futile, that’s just how the world works. DJ only helps them once Rose herself said 'what if i give u this? My necklace blah,blah and such’. I know in the movie Rose gave him the necklace, but it would be better if she OFFERED the necklace showing she’s willing to sacrifice a precious thing for the cause. Mirroring Paige’s sacrifice for the rebels.

DJ’s character is great and I love how Benicio Del Toro portrays him although would be great without the stutters.

The fathiers and the slave kids is significant, I know. But what if, this is pointed out by DJ and Rose. Like Rose would say 'yeah, i grew up like this, i want to end this’ and DJ being the cynical he is 'yeah, but that’s pointless’ and Rose just heads over there and release the stampede just to prove a point. Hahha. THAT WOULD BE WILD, RIGHT? Then she proceed to inspire the kids in her own words right then and there. Oh, since the pointless prison thing didn’t happen, BB-8 would not be separated and just be happy to tag along and see Rose being a bad ass REBEL.

Finn’s development would be significant this way as he sees an embodiment of his problem and who he needs to be. DJ who only cares about himself and Rose who joins the Rebel for a cause. Then, the line between him and Phasma 'you’re scum’ 'REBEL SCUM’ has more impact as Finn chose the Rebellion.

5. Captain Phasma is this generation’s Boba Fett. That’s all I have to say. Rian! Why???!

Yes. I do think 'it’s salt’ is this generation’s 'it’s a trap’

6. I like Rey’s parents to be nobodies and Snoke dies, but POOR EXECUTION. It’s almost like an afterthought. I partially blame JJ Abrams for setting these up. I honestly don’t care during TFA about these, but I understand fans’ frustration. Just make the scene stands on its own. I don’t care you subvert expectations, just do it right. Let your fans down, respectfully. You could just insert a little backstory on Snoke like maybe in the scene when Snoke says Kylo 'still has his father’s heart’. Because that’s the first scene viewers saw Snoke in person instead of hologram. Hell, Snoke could be just a passerby at the Jedi Temple who coincidentally met Ben Solo who happens to train with his lightsaber ALONE and sense this boy IS ALONE and that he could be 'more than he is now’. It makes sense, Rian!

Rey random could be visually shown instead of that Twilight-esque moment. 'Say it! Say it’. I don’t watch twilight, Rian! but I know memes, Rian! Use the footage from TFA if you don’t want reshoots. It adds weight to the revelation, Rian!

I really hope JJ don’t backtrack this revelation in ep IX. Just add weight to it. Please.

7. Admiral Holdo withholding information. Yes I understand she has a higher rank she gets to do that. But, just to create tension for plot to progress is just baaaaad. The movie played with the notion of 'huh, there’s a spy in the Rebels’ as Poe accused her of being the bad guy. This point should be explored more, for example, the bad ass Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo withhold the information as she’s afraid the escape plan leaks. This could be shown as little as she discussing it with the lady- i don’t know her name, sorry- who introduce her in the first place. Or any other explanation?? I don’t care?? But explain why she withhold the information with more weight.

8. The moment when Poe realized Finn and Rose failed just fell short. A passing moment that is. Add more weight to it. Show the viewer the moment Poe realizes his mistake and regrets it. Not just the word 'they failed’. Maybe add, 'i sent them to their death, same as the bombers before. I made the same mistake.’ It’s not up to the viewer to analyze what’s going on in the scene. It’s the movie’s job to do it.

9. I don’t have problem with Luke’s storyline. I LOVED IT THE MOST. There. I said it. He’s a grumpy hermit and I loved it. I’m living for this storyline. He’s more a human as he live and become more a legend as he dies. The force projection is the best. It reminds me of Avatar: The Last Airbender. If Luke went there by himself, he would feel forced to ~maybe~ kill his nephew. He didn’t want to do that. AS YOU ALL SAID BEFORE, MY LUKE WOULD NEVER KILL HIS NEPHEW #NOTMYLUKE #JAKESKYWALKER. So the whole point is to give what’s left of the Rebellion to run away and spark the fire. It achieved that. Plus, my boy Kylo Ren looked like a fool. That dumb ass dork.

10. I love my girl Rey, but her storyline did fell short. The scene when she lifts the rocks didn’t affect me as much as the moment first she took the lightsaber in TFA. This is why people been calling her Mary Sue- although I can defend her in TFA. The scene cuts to Rey already lifting the rocks, not shown how hard it is to lift the rocks.

Ultimately, I like the movie even maybe will grow to love it, given time. This is the first Star Wars movie that makes me think and write all of this. I’m not a huge fan of writing, mind you. Sure it has HUGE problem with the execution, but the theme and complexity of the characters make it up to me.

[serenagaywaterford]

1) Feel free to keep rambling! Not only I love talking with level-headed fandom people, but our opinions seem to converge (even if my wording comes off as weird/wrong because of Tumblr's word limit). Anyway. I had many issues with S2, besides Serena's arc I mean (I'll get back to her). Blessed be the goddamned plotholes! Fred becomes a cockroach that just won't die (Red Center), because he's essential to the plot. Same goes for Aunt Lydia. (Although I'm kinda glad that she's alive, because

2) I LOVE Dowd’s acting and I’m excited about her background story.) Emily comes back from the Colonies and is smfh 100% healthy. Moreover, Gilead has been surprisingly lenient with Fred and Serena’s constant fuckups in S2 (mutilated fingers aside). June won’t leave with Emily, bc MOTHERHOOD (more like there’s a s3 on the horizon and drama is needed). And don’t get me started on that slow pace. The beginning and the finale were explosive of course,but some mid-season episodes?

3) They were dragging on and on. Examples? 2x11, where only 2 things happen: a) June gives birth to Nicole, b) Fred and Serena make it clear that they want to tear each other apart (duh). The only redeeming qualities of that episode was the wolf symbolism and the excellent cinematography. I get it, the series is successful and has more seasons ahead. But if only they had squeezed some episodes, it would have been so much better.

—-

OMG YAY!!! I’m gonna answer these in pieces since I’ll prolly flood a giant essay otherwise. Cos, lbr, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear I had multiple personalities and was secretly sending these to myself from a fugue state, that’s how much we agree! Cos I’ve just read through all your messages and sat here going “YES! YES!” lol. I think you, me, maybe 5 other people on tumblr, and 1 TV reviewer are of the same mindset and it’s such a relief to find others who are reasonable and critical about the show/Serena.

Yes, Fred not dying was just so fucking stupid I couldn’t deal. Like, it’s not even like, “Well, he didn’t die which is crazy but he’s horribly injured and disfigured cos I dunno, he was like 15 feet FROM A MASSIVE BOMB EXPLODING.” But noooo. Instead we get Fred in hospital with a scratchy throat for like a few weeks, and when he comes back he’s got a little bit of a limp. No burns, nothing. And, to top it off, he’s got all the strength and balance of a perfectly healthy man to whip the shit out of his wife. I get they needed to get him out of the way and out of service so Serena and June could have all sorts of treasonous hi-jinks together but surely… they could have considered having Fred not 15 feet from the bomb. It killed handmaids that were way farther away than that. Just a thought. Deffo an eye-roll moment.

Aunt Lydia I’m less irritated about simply cos, like you, I love Ann Dowd and think she’s done a fab job. And we honestly haven’t got enough of her backstory and I wanna know that too. I think this show can only really captivate if it tells ALL the women’s stories, not just the victims. Like how does a woman become an Aunt? How do they justify that? Or is it simply a type of socio-religio-politcal brainwashing, akin to a lot of Nazi Party supporters? Is she a True Believer? Like, honestly, wtf is up with her? Like, cos so many of us can empathise with the Handmaids and we understand how that came about–but it takes more sides to tell a full story. So, Aunt Lydia being back… I’m not too fussed about. I really do consider Emily so damaged that I would never trust her with a baby–but that’s me. She’s been so broken, so traumatized, and like I don’t blame her at all ofc, but she needs softness and patience and no stress ever again. Like, she is not well emotionally by any stretch.

Which leads into the Colonies bullshit. That was just really bad writing. She, Janine, etc, were there for MONTHS. Like, June ran away and was gone for 92 days (Thanks for that count, Serena!). And then add on whatever time passed between her being returned to the Waterfords house and when Lilly set off the bomb. That is a long ass time to be splashing about in radioactive waste. Emily’s teeth were falling out, right? Like, how she went from literally dying of radiation poisoning to “Totally healthy enough to pop out some totally healthy babies!” I’ll never understand. The loss of the Handmaids in the bombing isn’t a good enough reasoning. A dictatorship like Gilead could easily have just conscripted a bunch of Econowives with the sweep of a pen. That is how these militant theocracies work. They’re already half-indoctrinated anyway. It was dumb to put Emily and Janine there in the first place if you knew they had to come back, as they are main cast members.

I always thought Fred and Serena were getting away with too much but I wrote it off as Fred (and Serena lbr) being a HUGE part of bringing about Gilead in the first place so they get some leeway. But then, you see Warren and Cushing being dealt with fairly severely for basically hearsay. (Okay, Warren’s I get cos you had outcry from Janine in a massively public display and backup from Naomi.) I guess because Fred/Serena’s fuckups were a little more ~private, they could excuse/lie about them/cover them up them easier? Cushing was dealt with way to easily. Like… no. “Fred” signs some paper and suddenly Cushing is being disappeared immediately. I suppose Fred took over Pryce’s place in the hierarchy? Who knows. And from what I understand, nobody in SOJ knew about June’s escape to the big country house. But c’mon, one Handmaid kills herself, the new one another starting shit every where she goes with other Handmaids and is pals with two of the most notorious other Handmaids (Emily and Janine), then is “kidnapped”, is partners with the bomber, then runs away again, then again… Sigh.

June not leaving… I just… it was so obvious that she wouldn’t cos otherwise there is no show. But why bother with all that drama then. Like, what if Emily hadn’t been there??? June had no way of knowing she’d be meeting up with Emily. She would have just dumped Nicole in some van and run back? Ugh.

And the pace was bad. ITA. There are whole episodes I don’t even bother with on rewatches. I thought the season premiere was great, then it fell of a cliff and lost my interest until about the 5th episode? Then it got going nicely (altho 2x07 wasn’t great either), then took another nosedive in 2x10 and sort of coasted almost aimlessly until the finale. I don’t like to hate on June but honestly the really 100% June-centric episodes bore the shit out of me. 2x02/03 and 2x11 being the biggest culprits. I’m just tired of the excessive use of flashbacks that all basically say the same thing now. And Moss is a great actress but there’s such thing as too much of a good thing. Not to mention, Nick and June bore me to tears as well (SACRILEGE! Send the indignant rabid fangirls on a rampage into my inbox!) so when there’s a lot of focus on that clusterfuck of inanity, I tune out. I can’t help it. I find them so annoying lol. (Which is were I usually lose common ground with basically everyone in this fandom cos everyone loves Nick for some reason I just cannot understand. If you like him, I apologise! I just can’t. I liked him more at the beginning but as it’s gone on the less I give even the slightest shit about him.)

Also, like I found 2x02 and 2x03 to just be… a waste of time? Like, okay, we got to see the Econopeople and how they live or whatever but to me, there was zero point to the whole thing because we all know June isn’t going to get away with it. So, why waste 2 whole episodes building to something everyone knows ain’t happening just for the sake of some worldbuilding that I’m guessing could have been done some other more cogent way? 2x04 was basically just to show more breaking June down in various ways. Then 2x05 was just to show the Colonies and had a lot of filler in it about that. I still don’t understand the point of the “wedding” bits. It wasn’t uplifting or hopeful at all. It was still really dark, like killing the Wife. I only really liked watching Serena go apeshit because her babyslave isn’t making proper gossipy conversation. It’s just an interesting angle cos finally Serena gets what she asks for with a super obedient Offred, and low and behold, it actually sucks and she wants June back. Story of Serena’s life and she never fucking learns lol. And Aunt Lydia flexing on Serena was hilarious. I just enjoy watching them go head to head. Not to mention the grotesque child brides thing. Gross. Super gross. Like, a bunch of stuff happened but I’m not convinced it needed to be dragged out over 4 episodes like that. Not to mention it was all really depressing. I remember watching and going, “JESUS, this show is fucking depressing. Why am I torturing myself?”

But yeah, 2x11 was super slow and all the important things that happened (that you listed) could have taken 10 minutes. Like I get too that she had to see Hannah in order to… make her decision in the finale make sense??? Was that the reason? I still don’t know. All of this could have been dealt with way more quickly and with just as much emotional gravity had it been done well.

I really like Moira but she’s been given shit all to do. I liked how we got a little insight into her and Odette. A LITTLE. But a huge weakness is that the Toronto peeps are so divorced from the drama that it often seems, not pointless, but something like it. It definitely slows the pace down to a crawl. That’s why I thought 2x09 worked well because it married both worlds. (I will never understand why 1x07 exists the way it does. What a stupid episode. I do not care about Luke’s journey, tbh. I’m here for the women–good, evil, or inbetween; not an entire episode devoted to him–especially not when we could have had Moira’s instead. I accept that his is intertwined with June’s attempted escape but… meh. It’s just like I will never care about Nice Guy TM Nick’s backstory or character. I don’t care about Fred’s childhood, or Warren’s marriage, or Luke’s manbabying, or Nick’s manpain. Eek.)

I dunno. Personally I think it could have been tightened up a bit better. But again, what do I know? I’m just a viewer. I’m sure other viewers have completely the opposite opinion.